Danganronpa: Eclipse of Harmony

Chapters

CHAPTER 1: Welcome to the Hotel Despair Part 6
PROLOGUE: This Could Be Hell
CHAPTER 1: Welcome to the Hotel Despair Part 1
CHAPTER 1: Welcome to the Hotel Despair Part 2
CHAPTER 1: Welcome to the Hotel Despair Part 3
CHAPTER 1: Welcome to the Hotel Despair Part 4
CHAPTER 1: Welcome to the Hotel Despair Part 5

CHAPTER 1: Welcome to the Hotel Despair Part 6

"Wha? WHAAAAAAAA!!!" Zephyr Breeze just about fell over himself as he backed up to where Scootaloo was still shaking.

"No way! This is messed up!" Snips was holding up better than Zephyr and Scootaloo, but not by much.

"No...this can't be...Capper!" Octavia was on the verge of tears. Lemon Zest and I both remained silent as we stared into the elevator, trying to comprehend what we were seeing.

I couldn't believe my eyes. There, inside the elevator, lay Capper's body. It was a surreal experience. Just last night, we'd been casually flirting at the bar. And now there he was...dead. I couldn't believe it. No, I wouldn't believe it! He might still be alive, he might-

*Ding Dong Dong Ding*

The monitors all turned on, and Monokuma appeared exactly as he would in the morning and nighttime announcements. "A body has been discovered! Everyone, please gather in the lobby! Now then, after a certain amount of time has passed, the hotel trial will begin!" The monitors then turned off abruptly.

We all stood there in disbelief. Was Capper really dead? Monkuma must be lying, right? That's what we all wanted to believe, but...I knew that it was just wishful thinking. We'd been having so much fun yesterday that we completely forgot that we were living in a nightmare. Then all of a sudden, Lemon Zest seemed to get her faculties back before anyone else. While the rest of us were still frozen in disbelief, she rushed towards the body. She didn't make it very far.

"Now hold on there!" Monokuma appeared from seemingly nowhere, blocking the doorway and threatening her with those dangerous looking claws of his. "Not a step further! Nobody investigates a thing until I say so, got it? It wouldn't be fair if you got a head start before everyone else got here, would it?""

"Out of the way! He might still be alive, we might be able to save him!" She looked ready to beat the stuffing out of the bear to get him out of the way, damn the consequences.

"Might still be alive? Are you stupid? Didn't you hear the body discovery announcement? It only plays when three or more people discover a dead body!" He eyed all of us, malice radiating from his very being. How could something so small be so terrifying? "Now let's get this straight. Capper, the Ultimate Con-Artist, is dead! Deceased! Stone cold! Cadaverific! He has ceased to be! This is an ex-person!" Lemon Zest slowly stepped back, barely holding her tears back as she angrily stared at Monokuma.

It was about that time that everyone else arrived. Looking at both groups led by Limestone and Trouble, nobody else seemed to be missing. The newcomers' gazes followed our own to the open elevator. And that's when everyone else really started to freak out.

"WHAT THE HEEEEEEELLLL?!?!?!?!" Iron Will cried out, both hands on his head.

"Capper! Oh goodness, no!" Rarity started crying a little before she suddenly fainted. Thankfully, Trouble Shoes was close enough to catch her. He simply gave a somber stare, shaking his head sadly. Meanwhile, Apple Bloom and Cozy Glow went to try and calm down Scootaloo, and also Zephyr by proxy. Aria didn't say anything, nor could I read her expression.

"Th-this is a trick! Yes, it must be a fake! Trixie demands to know where the real Capper is!" She said that, but I didn't think even Trixie believed what she was saying. It was just a desperate grasp at hope.

"GOD DAMMIT!" Limestone collapsed to the floor, slamming her fist down hard as tears began to form in her eyes. "This wasn't supposed to happen! We were all supposed to get along and find a way out together!"

"So it finally happened." Moondancer said calmly. "I hoped it wouldn't, but I guess it was only a matter of time before somebody took Monokuma's bait."

"Good! You're all finally here!" Monokuma shouted gleefully. "Now that everyone's made it, go ahead and take out your MonoPads! We're gonna go ahead and knock out some of your inevitable questions early this time! Take a look at the-"

"This time?" Aria interrupted him, speaking angrily through clenched teeth. "This isn't the first time you've implied that you've done this before. Just how many of these sick games have there been, you little freak?!"

"Puhuhuhuhu! How many, you ask? ...Enough." The bear let his vague answer hang for a few beats before he hopped over to the singer and pointed a claw up at her. "Now stop with the interruptions and look at your MonoPads already! I've added some new Hotel Regulations!"

It was only for the briefest of moments, but I swore I saw her expression falter into fear for a moment. If it did, she was quick to mask up again. With a frustrated grunt, Aria did as she was told along with the rest of us. As I pulled up the regulations tab, it became apparent that Monokuma had decided to add some new rules.

Guests must live at the Hotel Despair for the foreseeable future.
“Nighttime” is from 10 pm to 7 am. The restaurant, kitchen, and courtyard are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution.
Violence against Hotel Manager Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of surveillance equipment.
Attempting to break into a locked room is strictly prohibited.
With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore the Hotel Despair at your discretion.
Anyone who kills a fellow guest and becomes “blackened” will check out, unless they are discovered.
Littering will not be tolerated! All trash must be disposed of in the proper trash receptacles. Don’t trash the hotel! (Murder scenes don’t count as littering)
Mealtimes are from 7 am to 8 am and 5 pm to 6 pm. The kitchen will be off limits during mealtimes in order for our eclectic staff to do their jobs. Attending mealtimes is not mandatory but is highly recommended if you want the best food the Hotel Despair has to offer!

9. The "Body Discovery Announcement" will play when three or more guests discover a body for the first time.

10. Once a murder takes place, a "Hotel Trial" will begin shortly thereafter. Participation is mandatory.

11. If the guilty party, or "blackened," is exposed, they alone will be executed.

12. If the "blackened" is not exposed, they alone will check out and all remaining guests will be executed.

13. Monokuma or hotel staff will never directly commit a murder.

14. If there is an accomplice involved in a murder, only the "true blackened" (the one who carried out the murder) may check out.

15. Additional hotel regulations may be added if necessary.

After we were all given some time to read the new rules, Monokuma hopped over to stand on the nearby front desk. "Alright you bunch of sad sacks! Do you have any questions? Hmm? Hold on." He put his paw over his forehead as he peered out into the crowd. "Hey! This isn't the time to be sleeping! Somebody wake up the prima donna and make it snappy!" He was referring to the fainted Rarity who had been gently placed on the floor by Trouble Shoes at this point. Before any of us could say or do anything, something moved up in the dark lobby balcony above. Whoever or whatever it was, it tossed a huge bundle of lit firecrackers down to the first floor, halfway between the group and the statue of myself. And then, they began going off.

Rarity woke up alright. She screamed and dove to try and take cover behind something, anything, with her hands over her head. She very likely thought they were gunshots. I had a good look at her face when she caught sight of the firecrackers and the statue. Her eyes had widened like saucers as she looked up at the image of my former self, lit up by the explosions with that horrible grin. It was sickening enough for me to see it from where I was. Rarity waking up to that, it must have been outright terrifying. She was trembling as both Trouble and I rushed to help her up, trying to comfort her.

I glared at Monokuma. "That was fucked up and unnecessary."

"It sure was funny though! Maybe that'll teach her to get over her little fainting problem!" Monokuma then started tossing yet another type of tablet towards us without warning. What was this, the third different one? We all managed to catch the one thrown to us, with the exceptions of Rarity and Zephyr. I caught Rarity's for her and gently handed it to her while she tried to shake off what just happened, to which she gave me an appreciative, albeit weak, smile. While Scootaloo had gotten a hold of herself, Zephyr was still freaking out a little bit. He was halfway under the Christmas Tree, trying to hide. He didn't have a good view of the firecrackers, so maybe he thought they were gunshots at first too. Apple Bloom caught his tablet as he slowly started to get up on his own.

"What are these? More videos to fuck with us?" Limestone snarled.

"Oh, nothing like that! This is the Monokuma File!" He said it proudly and with lots of energy.

"The what?!" Lemon Zest looked like she was about to throw up. "Why the hell would anyone be attracted to-"

"You idiot! He didn't say Monokumaphile, he said Monokuma File!" Moondancer made sure to separate the words so that Lemon understood her mistake. Of course, she looked like she was going to be sick herself now that she'd said what the somewhat dense rocker girl was thinking. In fact, the entire room looked extremely upset by it.

"Oh...uh...sorry." Lemon's face flushed red with embarrassment as she tried to pretend she was invisible.

"Uh-huh. Yeah, that's not an extreme blow to my self confidence or anything." Monokuma was looking down and sounded depressed. However, that didn't last long as he perked up after a mere few seconds. "Anyway! Let's get on with it. The Monokuma File will offer you some information about the murder! After all, you're not professionals. I can't just have you going into an investigation blind, can I?"

"Information about the murder?" Octavia questioned. "I take it that means you know who did this?"

"Of course! I couldn't offer fair judgment at the Hotel Trial if I didn't! I caught everything on camera!" He pointed up to one of the security cameras to illustrate. "I've got all the information. But don't think you'll be getting any hints from me! I will neither help nor hinder your investigations. It wouldn't be fair otherwise!"

"Okay, fine. Then what about information we can't get otherwise?" Cozy Glow broke away from her group and stepped closer to the bear. She wasn't even attempting her cutesy schtick. She was all business. "We're not allowed to break into locked doors. There could be important clues in the victim's room. You aren't just going to leave that locked, are you?"

Monokuma seemed to consider this for a moment before shrugging. "You make an excellent point! For the sake of the investigation, I'll unlock the victim's room. Anything else?"

"Yep. How do we know anything in this file is the truth?" Trouble Shoes asked. He made a great point.

"Ugh! Seriously? You lot are so untrusting!" Monokuma seemed genuinely offended. "I've already told you before, I don't lie about these things! Everything in that file is the truth! And everything I say about the case will be the truth! Of that, you can be certain. It wouldn't be fair or fun otherwise! Now, if you have any important questions about the investigation, feel free to call for me! Otherwise, keep all questions about the trial to yourselves until it's time! I'm getting bored, so we're getting this investigation started already!" Without another word, Monokuma hopped behind the desk, vanishing from sight. Then, he suddenly appeared again. "Oh, and don't worry about the elevator! I've already made sure it's locked in place, so it won't close on you or anything!" After that addendum, he disappeared for real.

We all looked at each other in silence for a moment before each of us looked at the Monokuma File. As I opened it up, it showed a gray silhouette of Capper's body with a bright pink spot on the left side of his head, consistent with where the injury on his body was. I remember thinking it was weird that the injury was highlighted with pink instead of red, but that wasn't an important detail to focus on.

Monokuma File #1
The victim is Capper, The Ultimate Con-Artist. The estimated time of death is around 12:00 midnight. The body was discovered in the elevator as it opened to the hotel lobby. The cause of death is a single killing blow to the left side of the head with a blunt instrument. There are no signs of other conspicuous injuries and no traces of foreign substances like drugs or alcohol.

Truth Bullet Obtained: Monokuma File #1

"So he got killed in the elevator?" Snips spoke up after we all read it.

"Yes, Trixie thinks that should be obvious." The magician pursed her lips as she tried to put the pieces together.

"Hold on, stop." I stepped up and addressed the group. "Let's not jump to any conclusions yet. We need to investigate first. Save it for the trial."

"I absolutely agree." Rarity, who had recovered from the earlier ordeal, was studying the Monokuma File closely before putting it away and stepping towards the crime scene. "In any investigation, you must find all the facts, no matter how trivial they may seem."

"They're right." Moondancer adjusted her glasses. "And before we start, we should set up a few rules of our own. I believe we should all investigate in pairs or groups. That way, the culprit can't risk tampering with evidence. Second, we should post at least two guards to watch over the body."

"Moondancer makes a good point. Everyone, separate into groups. I'll take one of the guard posts." Limestone volunteered, standing to one side of the elevator.

"Iron Will volunteers to take the other guard position. If anyone tries to tamper with anything, you'll be feeling the pain!" And with that, we had both of our guards.

The rest of us began to split off into groups. Unsurprisingly, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Cozy Glow all congregated together. Snips tried to be a part of the group as well, blushing a little bit and looking down as he addressed Cozy Glow. The blue-haired girl put on her sugary sweet act in response while both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked at each other, unsure of what to do. After a brief conversation, she convinced him that his expert skills were needed elsewhere. And so, he saluted her and went to pair with Trixie. I felt bad for the guy, but he was really proving that his title of Ultimate Sycophant was somewhat accurate. Moondancer paired with Trouble Shoes, Octavia paired with Aria Blaze, and Lemon Zest paired with Zephyr Breeze.

That left Rarity as my investigation partner. I was somewhat relieved at this fact. Out of everyone here, Rarity was someone I was growing to like and trust. That said, she was still a suspect. I didn't want to believe she could be capable of such a thing. I didn't want to believe that about anyone here. But the fact of the matter was that one of us was a murderer. Someone had given into their motive video and killed someone to get out.

"Well, where shall we start?" Rarity looked to me with a grim expression.

"I guess we should start with the body." I shrugged.

Rarity grimaced. "I was afraid you were going to say that. Alright, lead the way dear."

I stepped into the large elevator with Rarity in tow, avoiding stepping in the dried blood while the two guards watched us carefully. "I'm assuming we don't have anyone with medical expertise to confirm what the Monokuma File says?" After nobody gave a positive answer, I sighed and shook my head. "Yeah, I thought so. Well...here goes."

As I got closer and bent down, the first thing I noticed was the somewhat metallic smell of blood around him. Yet another unsettling thing about dealing with a dead body. Still, at least it hadn't started to smell yet. Even though the blood had dried, it was still easy to tell that the wound was pretty nasty. The blood ran down the side of his head, drenched his shoulder, and trailed down towards the entrance of the elevator. I wasn't an expert by any means, but it was easy to believe a hit like this to his temple would cause instant death. The Monokuma File was probably accurate. All things considered though, it didn't give me much comfort knowing that he didn't suffer.

The next thing I noticed was his left sleeve. There was a gash in it, as if it had been cut by something. His skin was visible, but there was no wound. This gash in his clothes definitely wasn't there last night at the party. Other than that, his clothes looked the same as yesterday.

Truth Bullet Obtained: Gash in the Sleeve

I next began to look through his pockets. Unfortunately, all he had on him was his MonoPad and room key. And since Monokuma said he was unlocking the victim's room, there was no reason for me to take the key.

"Sunset, take a look at this." Just as I was getting up, Rarity pointed to a bloodstain on the elevator's floor. "Doesn't this seem strange to you?"

As I took a closer look, I realized she was right. The blood made a trail that ended at the entrance to the elevator. At first, I simply assumed that's how the blood had pooled and it dripped into the elevator shaft. However, the way it was shaped and smeared made it clearer to me that Capper's body had been dragged, leaving a trail of blood behind.

Truth Bulled Obtained: Elevator Blood Stain

"Yeah. And now that I think about it...there's no blood splatter anywhere. It should be on the wall too, shouldn't it?" I pointed to where he was leaning against the back wall. There was barely any there, only a small stain from where he was propped up against the wall.

"Indeed it should. I'm thinking we should check elsewhere, aren't you?" She began to exit the elevator, turning back to see if I was following. Figuring that there was nothing else to learn from the body, I nodded and followed.

"Now, let's lay out what we should do next." Rarity seemed relieved to be out of the elevator. I couldn't blame her, I felt the same way. Dealing with a dead body for the first time, especially when it's someone you knew and liked, was a harrowing experience.

"Alright." I took a deep breath and went over it with Rarity. "We'll need to talk to everyone to get their alibis and any testimony they might have. We'll also need to check a few places. I'm thinking the lounge, Capper's room, and wherever else the elevator opens up into. If anywhere else comes up during the investigation, we should go there too." It would be nice if we could check everyone else's rooms too, but I doubted that would be particularly easy to do. Not to mention, we had no idea how much time we had before this Class Trial was supposed to start. The smartest thing to do seemed to be investigating the most relevant places first.

"Very well. I suppose we can start with Limestone and Iron Will, since they're right here." Rarity motioned to the two guards, who were both staring at us, probably having heard everything we said. I blushed just a little. I wasn't about to admit it, but I was so focused that I completely forgot that they were there for a minute. As for everyone else, they seemed to have spread out since Rarity and I had taken first look at the body.

"I'll go ahead and tell you this." Limestone spoke up first. "I investigated this elevator on the first day. Aside from the lobby, it goes to two upper floors and a basement. The upper floors are blocked off, so you'll probably wanna check out the basement. There's a door that leads to some stairs in a small hallway near the courtyard exit. All that was down there was a big boiler room and a utility storage closet."

"Iron Will will cover the alibis!" It was Iron Will's turn to speak. "Both Iron Will and Limestone Pie have rock solid alibis!" Limestone rolled her eyes at the rock joke. "Capper was killed at midnight, right? Well, that clears a few of us! Limestone, Lemon Zest, Trixie, Snips, Scootaloo, and Iron Will himself! Scootaloo and Iron Will left the party at about 12:45 in the morning. The rest stayed to clean up. And nobody was gone on bathroom breaks for more than a couple minutes at a time. Public bathrooms are right next to the lounge after all."

"Yeah, the rest of us were there til about 1:30 or so. The big guy's on the level here." Limestone nodded.

"Wait." I interjected. "What about Apple Bloom? She was still there when Rarity, Octavia, and I left. Also, what time did Capper leave the party?"

"Apple Bloom left a few minutes after you did." Iron Will crossed his arms and thought. "Actually, Scootaloo tried to follow her, but Apple Bloom told her to stay put and keep enjoying herself. Capper, he left at about 11:45 I think?" He looked at Limestone to be sure he was getting the time right, and she nodded.

"I see. Thank you both for everything. We'll see you later." I motioned for Rarity to follow me as we made our way toward the stairs to the boiler room.

Truth Bullet Obtained: Iron Will's Account

As Rarity and I descended the stairs to the basement, I was reminded of Limestone's complaints from the first day. It was pretty damn hot in here! As we reached the dark basement, I flipped on a light switch and turned a corner. Unlike the hotel proper, the basement wasn't decorated to look nice in any way. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all dark concrete. The entrance was built like a wide hallway with the elevator on the righthand wall. Further down, the room opened up into a spacious area with pipes going through the walls and ceiling everywhere. There was another door further down, most likely the utility storage room that was mentioned. I could hear the pipes and boilers working to keep the place heated.

The first thing Rarity and I made sure to look out for was blood on the floor, and we spotted it immediately. There was a trail of blood leading from the elevator to the open area of the basement. Upon closer inspection, it was smeared around in odd places. It looked as if someone had tried to wipe it up but gave up partway through.

Truth Bullet Obtained: Trail of Blood

"Looks like we were right. He was dragged into the elevator." I stated as I followed the trail. The more spacious part of the basement held a few large boiler tanks and valves. Sitting next to one of the boilers by a wall, a small wooden table sat with various tool scattered around it. The trail of blood led directly to a large bloodstain right in front of this particular boiler and the table.

"And lo, our intrepid duo finds themselves at the true scene of the crime!" Rarity spoke dramatically, as if reading aloud from a mystery novel. I turned back and raised an eyebrow. She blushed a little and began fiddling with her curls. "Ahem...sorry. I believe I got a bit carried away for a moment there. I know this isn't the time, I just wanted to try and-"

"Hey, it's fine. I get it." I smiled and gave a soft chuckle. "Thanks for trying to brighten the mood a little." I knew that we all had different ways of coping with stressful situations. If this was what helped Rarity, then I wasn't going to give her grief for it.

Rarity gave me a look of gratitude before clearing her throat and re-entering investigator mode. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe there may have been a struggle here." She motioned to all the discarded tools scattered everywhere. Wrenches, screwdrivers, ratchets, pliers, hammers, all sorts of tools spilling out of a large tool bag on the floor. "In fact, one of these may very well be the murder weapon."

I took a knee and looked over the tools closely. That's when I saw it. Close to the bloodstain, there was a large crowbar laying there, one end of it coated in dried blood. I lifted it from the clean side, testing its weight a bit. Yeah, this was definitely heavy and sturdy enough. "I don't want to say anything definite yet, but I think this might be it." This was probably the weapon that killed him instantly.

Truth Bullet Obtained: Bloody Crowbar

Truth Bullet Obtained: Scattered Tools

Before I got up, I noticed a glint of reflected light from between the boiler and the wall from under the table. There was something back there. Thinking it might be important, I grabbed the longest wrench I could find and used it to try and grab the item. I didn't want to touch any of the pipes or the boiler tank itself for fear of getting burned, so it took a minute of careful maneuvering before the item was finally in full view. It was a kitchen knife with dry blood on its blade. I pulled it out and looked at it curiously. It matched the ones that were normally in the hotel kitchen.

Truth Bullet Obtained: Bloody Kitchen Knife

"Well that's unusual. Why would there be a bloody knife? Capper had no wounds except the one on his head, correct?" Rarity questioned as she helped me up.

"I have no idea, but we can't focus on that right now. We'll figure it out at the trial."

"Very well, you're right. Well speaking of unusual clues, I've found one of my own. Look there." She pointed to the boiler I had just been crawling dangerously close to. On the front of the boiler, there was a small blood stain, no more than an inch or two in diameter. It was too far and precise to be splatter from the killing blow, so what was it?

Truth Bullet Obtained: Boiler Bloodstain

"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder." I stared at it for a few moments more before shaking my head and heading to the utility closet. There were stepladders, spare tables of various sizes, chairs, tablecloths, lightbulbs, brooms, all sorts of things. Oddly enough though, there were no chemical cleaning supplies. Tossed haphazardly behind some equipment was a bloody tablecloth, no doubt what was used to try to wipe up the blood trail. It seemed the culprit had given up on cleanup after being unable to wipe the blood up very well.

Truth Bullet Obtained: Bloody Tablecloth

After taking a few more quick looks around, Rarity and I decided that we were done here and ascended the stairs back to the first floor.

As we got back to the lobby, we saw that Snips was investigating the body while Trixie looked on from just outside the elevator. Seems she was getting him to do the dirty work. We stopped and asked them to corroborate what Iron Will and Limestone had told us, which they did. Our next stop was the lounge.

As we entered the lounge, we saw that Lemon Zest and Zephyr Breeze were inside, investigating. And the place sure didn't look like it was cleaned up after the party last night. At least not entirely. There were various bottles of alcohol sitting on the bar along with multiple empty glasses. The DJ table and the surrounding area was covered in stacked up records while another stack sat on the bar near the empty glasses.

"What the hell?" I looked at the state of the place in confusion.

"That's what I said!" Lemon Zest exclaimed with exasperation. "I had all those records put up neatly last night before I left, and now look at them! Not cool, man!"

"Not to mention the bar." Zephyr mentioned. "Sure, I wasn't here at cleanup, but I don't think Limey would've just let all this sit out." I rolled my eyes as I remembered Limestone's distaste for anyone but her family calling her that nickname.

'Better not let her hear you say that.'

Rarity looked at all the alcohol scattered about. "That's quite a lot to just leave sitting out. And you're sure these weren't here when you cleaned up?" Lemon Zest nodded her head.

"Maybe they belong to the culprit?" Zephyr stared at the bottles with an uncharacteristic frown. "Maybe they felt guilty and came to drown their sorrows?" As he put forth the possibility, I had to admit it made some amount of sense. I wasn't sure yet though.

I approached the bar and examined it. There were three empty cocktail glasses. I immediately noticed something. Inside of each of them, along with some remaining white liquid, were cherry stems. Each pair of stems were bent in a way that I recognized. And then I took a closer look at the record albums sitting nearby. There were six of them, and each one was by the artist DJ-P0N3. They all either had her on the front or back cover in some way.

"One of those is in the player." Lemon Zest spoke up. "Just in case you're wondering why 'Jam With My Melody' isn't in its case." I looked through and sure enough, the album by that name was missing its record. Oddly enough, I also noticed it was the only one where DJ-P0N3's eyes were showing. She was lifting her glasses up and winking.

Truth Bullet Obtained: Empty Cocktail Glasses

Truth Bullet Obtained: DJ-P0N3 Records

Having seen enough here, I approached Zephyr Breeze. He was chatting with Rarity when I interrupted.

"Oh, hey there Sunny. What can the Breeze do for you?" He leaned back against the bar.

"First of all, call me Sunset. Second, I'd like to hear your alibi for the murder last night."

Zephyr sighed and shook his head. "Afraid I don't have one. I left the party at about 11 and went straight to my room. Didn't see anyone, so I guess I can't really prove it. I'm thinking a lot of us who left early are in the same boat. Cozy, Moony, Aria, and anyone else that left before midnight are suspects."

"He's right, I'm afraid." Rarity sighed, shaking her head. "Even us. We may have left together, but there would be plenty of time for either of us to make our way to the basement after we parted. One of us would simply have to leave after making sure the other was in her room." And just like that, Rarity had voiced a worry I hadn't wanted to think about. She was right though. We left at 11:30 and were only together for maybe...5, 10 minutes tops?

I sighed and put a hand to my forehead in frustration. Getting alibis wasn't going to be so easy after all. I took a deep breath to steady myself and began to head out. As we were leaving, I thanked Lemon Zest and Zephyr. Lemon shrugged nonchalantly while Zephyr turned slightly and shot a finger gun at me while winking. I wished he would stop doing stuff like that, especially at a time like this. Once we were in the hallway, we ran into Moondancer and Trouble Shoes.

"Sunset. I was looking for you." Moondancer approached. "I'd like to speak with you a moment. Alone." Without waiting for me to answer, she dragged me a fair bit away while Trouble Shoes assured Rarity that everything was fine.

Once we were out of earshot, I crossed my arms and looked at the librarian suspiciously. "Okay, what's going on?" I made sure to keep my voice down.

"First of all, before you ask, I was in the library from the time I left up until 2 in the morning. No, I don't have anyone who can corroborate I was there the whole time. Trouble Shoes can, however, attest to me entering the library right after we left the party." After pausing a moment to make sure I got all that, she continued. "Now, you seem to be a competent enough sort. So I'm going to let you in on something. I highly suggest you investigate the pharmacy."

"The pharmacy? Why?"

"Don't interrupt me. I'm not done. Investigate the pharmacy and be thorough. I'm also offering some free advice. I highly recommend you recall the order in which everyone left the party, as well as exactly where their destinations were."

"Why would I need to-"

"What part of 'don't interrupt me' do you fail to understand? Were you raised in a barn?" It took everything I had to not sarcastically respond with 'no, a stable.' However, I clammed up and let her continue. "Good girl. As I was saying, there are no irrelevant details in a case like this. Our lives are on the line. Investigate every angle, no matter how trivial it may seem." She stopped speaking, and after a few minutes she let out an annoyed sigh. "Yes, you can speak now. I'm done."

"Oh, thanks so much." I tried not to sound too sarcastic. I was used to Moondancer being a bit condescending and aloof, but she was really being insufferable right now. I'd just about had it with her today. "Thanks for the tip. Is there anything else you can tell me?"

"Plenty. But I'm saving most of it for the trial." She started to turn and walk away, but she paused, turning around again. "But I suppose I can give you a hint. Listen well. At minimum, there are four liars." Without another word, she began walking away, leaving me completely dumbfounded by her words. She motioned for Trouble Shoes to follow her and the two entered into the lounge.

Truth Bullet Obtained: Moondancer's Account

After joining back up, Rarity and I stared at each other for a moment. She then spoke up. "And what was that all about?"

I almost told her everything right there, but then I remembered those cryptic last words. At minimum, there are four liars. What did that mean? I had no way of knowing yet, so I decided to keep some of that to myself. "She told me her alibi and recommended we investigate the pharmacy. She also said we should make a list of when each person left the party. She's also a lot ruder than I gave her credit for!" I said that last bit through gritted teeth and she gave me an apologetic look.

"I see. Well, I'm sure she means well. We're all in this together after all. Unless she's the culprit that is." Rarity frowned as she said that. It seemed to me that she felt deeply uncomfortable throwing any sort of accusations to anyone. I didn't blame her. I felt the same way. "By the way, Trouble Shoes says he went straight to his room after leaving the party and saw Moondancer go into the library. He says he was in his room until morning."

We decided to hold off on making any sort of list of departures until we had some sort of account from everyone who left before the murder. We still needed to hear from Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Cozy Glow, Octavia, and Aria. We ran into the latter two in the lobby on our way to the pharmacy.

"Hey, I was just looking for you two." I approached them as they conversed near the front desk. "Do you have a minute? I want to ask you about where you were last night."

"Alibis, huh?" Aria crossed her arms and blew a bit of hair out of her face while she regarded us with an unimpressed look. "Yeah, whatever. I left at about 10 and went straight to my room. I stayed there all night."

"And I left the same time as you two." Octavia added before trying and failing to stifle a yawn. "I went straight to my room and stayed there all night as well." She yawned again and looked embarrassed. "I'm terribly sorry. I couldn't sleep and it seems to be catching up with me."

"It's fine, don't worry about it." I kept any suspicions I had about those two to myself and instead shared mine and Rarity's alibis in exchange. "Thanks for sharing."

We then left them behind and entered the pharmacy. Nobody else was in there so we had the place to ourselves. "What is it we're looking for exactly?" Rarity asked as she began to walk around.

"I'm not really sure. She wasn't exactly forthcoming." I looked around at what they had and was both impressed and a little uneasy. On one hand, they had just about anything you could need. Medication for aches, coughing, allergies, insomnia, vitamin supplements, if it was over the counter, they had it somewhere. There was also plenty of ointment, cream, bandages, basically anything you could think of that a pharmacy might have. However, there were also some stronger drugs. Prescription pain killers, anxiety medication, anti-depressants, the works. And multiple types and dosage sizes at that. Having these so readily available was potentially dangerous.

"I think I may have found something." Rarity bent down behind the sales counter and pulled five items out: some small scissors, a partially used roll of gauze, some rubbing alcohol, a partially used bag of cotton balls, and a half-empty tube of burn cream. "There are some bloody cotton balls in the trash bin back here, but I am not touching those."

I looked over the items and had an idea. I went to where each item would be placed on the shelves. And sure enough, each of the five spots looked like they were missing one item compared to the rest of the surrounding products. "Okay, those definitely all came from these shelves. This is probably what Moondancer wanted me to see. But how did she know to check here in the first place?"

"Hmm...one moment, dear. I need to check something." Rarity stepped from behind the counter and looked out the door for a moment before leaving. When she came back in a few minutes later, she had the most smug look I'd seen on her the entire investigation. "I see, I see. Well isn't that fascinating."

"What is it?"

"Ah ah ah! I can't be spilling all of my secrets, can I?" She held up a finger and wagged back and forth. She then chuckled and gave me a gentle pat on the back. "Don't worry darling, I'll reveal it at the trial. Think of it as me leaving you in suspense." Seeing that she wasn't planning on relenting, I just shrugged and went with it. There wasn't time to argue about it.

Truth Bullet Obtained: Pharmacy Products

Truth Bullet Obtained: Rarity's Secret

Our next stop was the victim's room in the east wing. On the way there, we ran into the last three individuals we needed to see, leaving someone's room and entering the hallway. Cozy Glow, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo. Scootaloo was in the clear since she'd been at the party the whole time, but the other two weren't.

"Oh gee, my alibi?" Cozy responded to my question. "Golly, I'm sorry. After I left the party, I just went right to bed. I was feeling awfully tired if you remember."

"And I left just a couple minutes after y'all did. Came straight to my room and went to sleep." Apple Bloom added.

I was pretty annoyed by this point. Not a single alibi I'd gotten for those who left before midnight could be verified! Even my own and Rarity's left enough time for one of us to go commit murder. Even with Apple Bloom a few minutes behind us, it wasn't farfetched to reason that the culprit would have waited for her to get to her room too. Rarity was still a suspect. And in the event she's innocent, I was no doubt still a suspect in her mind as well.

It wasn't until after the three had left that I realized something important. They hadn't exited the victim's room. Nor had they exited any of their own, all three of which were here in this wing. No, the room they exited belonged to Iron Will. Why and how had they done that? Iron Will was still guarding the body. And lockpicking broke the rules. Did he maybe leave it unlocked? But then why would they think to look in there in the first place? There were just too many questions. With an exasperated sigh, I opened the door to Capper's room and began to look around.

It was a room much like the others I had seen so far and he kept the place very neat. The only thing out of place was his Mini MonoPad sitting on the desk. Even though he was dead, learning what Capper's motive video was might offer some insight. I picked it up and turned it on.

The video started identically to how mine and Cozy Glow's did. It showed a chibi version of Capper standing in the middle of a city. Monokuma's voice came over the speaker. "Capper, the Ultimate Con-Artist! A renowned cat burglar who's done jobs in Klugetown, Panthera, Canterlot, Manehattan, Las Pegasus, and more! He didn't do it alone though! He and his gang The Alley Cats were the best there was at what they did. Capper, Chummer, Max, Shadow, Molly, and Admiral Fluffington. This gang was inseparable!" Five other individuals congregated around Capper and they all seemed to be happy. Then, everything went dark and the other five disappeared. "But oh no! Something has happened to this gang of thieves! Are they safe? Are they even alive? Who knows!" A text graphic appeared on the screen that said, 'Check Out of the Hotel to Find Out!'

Truth Bullet Obtained: Capper's Motive Video

"Oh dear...as I feared, he had someone precious taken as well." Rarity was bowing her head somberly. I found that I was actually jealous. He had so many friends and their identities weren't being kept a secret from him. Once again, I wondered what Monokuma's personal grudge against me must be. There must be one for him to be targeting my memory and dredging up my past like this.

"I suppose now we should lay out the order of departures?" Rarity reminded me. I nodded and we went to grab a pen and piece of paper from Capper's stuff.

Trouble Shoes, Moondancer, and Cozy Glow were the first to leave the party. Trouble Shoes went straight to his room in the west wing, claiming to have stayed there until morning. Moondancer was seen entering the library at around 9:15 pm. She claims to have been there until 2 am, but no one can corroborate this. Cozy Glow went straight to her room in the east wing and claims to have been there until morning.

Aria Blaze left at 10 pm for her room in the west wing and claims to have been there until morning. Zephyr Breeze left at 11 pm for his room in the west wing and claims to have been there until morning. Octavia Melody, Sunset Shimmer, and Rarity all left at 11:30 pm. Octavia went to her room in the west wing and claims to have been there until morning. Sunset and Rarity walked to their rooms together in the east wing. Both claim to have been in their respective rooms until morning.

Apple Bloom left the party a few minutes after 11:30 pm, heading towards her room in the east wing. She claims to have been there until morning. Capper left at 11:45 pm, presumably heading to the basement where he was murdered at midnight. Scootaloo and Iron Will left the party at 12:45 am and headed to their rooms in the east wing. Limestone Pie, Snips, Trixie Lulamoon, and Lemon Zest all left at 1:30 am. Limestone, Trixie, and Lemon went to their rooms in the west wing. Snips went to his room in the east wing.

Truth Bullet Obtained: Order of Departure

And with that, we had finished writing it all out. I don't know why Moondancer wanted me to do this, but I did it. What was she up to? She came to me but wouldn't be up front about anything. Did she trust me or didn't she? And why did she have to be such a pain in the ass about it all?

"Oh, what's this?" I was brought out of my thoughts by Rarity bending down to reach into the trash bin. She pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. As she opened it up, she perked up. "It's a note!" She placed it on the table, smoothed it out a bit, and we both began to read it.

Meet me in the boiler room at midnight. I may have found a way out and I want your expert opinion before giving the others hope. - C

Truth Bullet Obtained: Note in the Victim's Room

We were both quiet for a moment before Rarity finally broke the silence. "So...it seems we still have a small bit of time. Is there anywhere else you can think of?" She avoided voicing what we both were clearly thinking. The C signature at the end of the note. There were some unsettling implications if it were to be believed.

"Um...actually, do you mind going to the kitchen and seeing if any knives are missing?" I was reminded that I had wanted to do that. However, there was something else that had occurred to me to try earlier during the investigation. I couldn't do it with Rarity nearby though. "I'm going to check around, see if we might have missed anything." It wasn't entirely a lie, but I wasn't being entirely truthful.

"Yes, I suppose I could check just to be sure." Rarity got up and started to walk out, but stopped. She turned and looked at me with some concern. "Are you going to be alright?"

"I'll be fine. Thanks." I lied. I wasn't sure if I was ever going to be fine again after today. But I forced a smile and got up to follow her.

We parted ways in the lobby. Once Rarity had entered the restaurant and was out of sight, I stepped outside into the courtyard. This was a longshot, but I had to try. I went straight for the centaur statue, trying to seem like I was merely on a walk to clear my head for the cameras, and leaned back against it to "rest."

It took a few moments, but I soon heard that gravely voice in my head.

'Ah, so you return to speak with me. I imagine it has something to do with that ghastly announcement earlier?'

'Yes. Wait, you can hear what goes on out here?'

'I cannot see, I cannot feel, I cannot smell. But I can hear, to an extent. Though sometimes I wish I couldn't.' He grunted in annoyance. 'That creature's voice echoing all around...his voice is even more grating and irritating than-' Whatever he was going to say, he cut himself off. 'So it's true then. One of your lot has died?'

'...Yes. It's true.' I paused as I thought about how I wanted to go about this. 'I know it's unlikely, but I was hoping you might know something.'

'I know a great many things, child. But unfortunately, nothing about how this death came about. However...' He let his words hang for a minute before continuing. 'I may still be able to tell you something worthwhile.'

'You can? Well what is it?' Maybe he knew why we were all here in the first place? I was starting to get excited at the prospect of getting some sort of answers.

'Aren't you an eager one?' He let out a dry chuckle. 'I can't just tell you everything for free, you know. There must be a price to be paid.'

'A price. Fine, name it.' My enthusiasm dried up as quickly as it had appeared.

'Oh, nothing unreasonable. I merely ask for more conversations in the future. Believe it or not, being locked in a statue is quite boring.'

'Oh. If that's what you want, then sure.' I suddenly felt a lot less uneasy about the whole thing. If talking was all he wanted, then I could manage that. 'I'll try to come talk when I can. I just need to be careful about it. I'm being monitored.'

'Thank you. I look forward to your next visit. Sadly, I can feel our connection fading once more. Whatever magic you employ can't pierce through this barrier of stone for long it seems.' He sounded forlorn, almost sad about it. It must have been a long time since he had anyone to talk to. 'I'll leave you with this. Someone else has been paying me visits. I don't know what they want, but they have not attempted communication of any sort. I advise you to be careful, Sunset Shimmer. You never know when an enemy is lurking nearby.' And with that, the connection ended.

'Gee, thanks for being cryptic about it. I guess I'll have to ask more when I come back.'

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong!*

The monitors all lit up and Monokuma was sitting in his usual spot. "Ahem! Time's up! Your investigation is at an end! Please report to the gazebo in the center of the courtyard maze immediately for the Hotel Trial!" The monitors then all turned off.

'How do those monitors and cameras work out here without any problems? Maybe they're magically protected from the elements?'

The answer to my internal question didn't really matter. I was just trying to distract myself from the harsh reality in front of me. We'd soon all be subjected to whatever Monokuma's Hotel Trial was. Which also meant we were about to fight for our very lives. Not seeing any point in delaying, I made my way to the hedge maze.

Author's Note

Hey, I managed to get one more chapter in before the new year!
So here we are, the first investigation phase has been completed! What do you think? Do any of you have the answer yet? I tried to make sure it wasn't too easy while also laying out as many clues as I could. So while it's true that not all the answers are there yet, I hope there are enough breadcrumbs to lead you all to point the finger at the culprit! Next time, we get into the trial!

By the way, should I try to make a map of the hotel and upload it? This may just be me being self conscious, but I'm not sure whether I'm getting across the intended layout of the locations as well as I could be. A map could fix that. The only downside is that I'd have to make multiple versions of the map for when new parts of the hotel open up. (Does that count as a spoiler? I think we all knew ahead of time that more of the hotel would open up, right?) I don't know, what do you all think? Am I overthinking this?

Edited to fix a minor mistake and fix a little bit of formatting.

PROLOGUE: This Could Be Hell

’Ugh…my aching head. What happened?’

“Hey…can you hear me…?”

Whose voice is that? They didn’t sound familiar. I slowly opened my eyes, blinking as my vision adjusted to the light. I groaned as I looked up at the speaker. She was a girl who appeared to be a bit younger than me. Her skin was pale pink, and her baby blue hair was done up in complex curls and tied with pale yellow ribbons. She wore a sky-blue dress with a red rook on its skirt, a red-orange sash, a light green vest, and yellow sneakers. Cute freckles dotted her face while a pair of wide reddish eyes with long lashes stared down at me with concern.

“Are you okay? You seem pretty out of it.” The mystery girl frowned as she spoke with a tinge of worry. “To be honest, me too. I’m sure everyone else feels the same. Since we suddenly…got put in this weird situation.”

Weird situation? What was she talking about? I tried to think back to how I might have ended up with this strange girl looming over me.

’Let’s see…I’d better go over this from the beginning.’

My name is Sunset Shimmer. I live in Canterlot and am currently attending Canterlot University. I took a couple of years to figure myself out after high school, but now I’m studying computer science and planning to minor in education. I work part time at a sushi place in the mall. My hobbies include playing guitar, singing, video games, and hanging out with my friends. All in all, a pretty average human doing average human things. Well, there is also the fact that I’m actually a unicorn from another world who turned into a demon and tried to enslave the whole high school as a zombie invasion force until I had some sense knocked into me by a big rainbow laser. Yeah, that’s a whole thing. It’s fine though, I became a much better person afterwards. With the help of my magical geode that lets me read minds and transform into a magical girl (yes, seriously) I do my best to keep Canterlot safe from stray magic leaking in from my home dimension of Equestria. My friends and I are pretty good at it too. The details are all admittedly extremely fuzzy though.

The last thing I remember happening is leaving a big get together with my friends. We were at one of their houses for a party of some kind. Was it a birthday party? If so, then whose was it? For some reason, I couldn’t remember. Even more concerning, I couldn’t seem to recall the faces or names of anybody that was there save for myself. That couldn’t be right. As I thought more, I discovered putting names and faces to most people in my life post-Equestria wasn’t working.

’Who were my friends again? That’s concerning. Ugh, I’ll get back to that problem later.’

I remember going home, locking up, feeding my pet gecko Ray, and then…nothing. Everything just fades to black. Looking down at my clothes, it seemed I was still wearing the same thing. I was clothed in a purple tank top with my cutie mark on the front, an orange skirt with a purple and yellow stripe on it, one of my leather jackets, and a pair of black and purple boots. Thankfully, I didn’t seem to smell bad. I must have at least had a chance to shower.

“…Hey, are you listening?”

I snapped back to the present. Uh oh. She sounded like she was getting a little annoyed at being ignored. Giving a small nod, I began to slowly get up. She offered a hand which I gladly took. Now that I was able to get a better look around, I realized that I had no idea where we were. Currently, we stood in a hallway with multiple doors on either side. Aside from one that looked different from the others, each door had a blank plaque next to it on the wall. One end was a dead end with an ice machine, and the other ended in another closed door. I noticed a few security cameras and for some reason a monitor screen.

“It’s some kind of hotel, I think. Not sure why we’re here though!” She responded as if reading my mind. I raised a quizzical eyebrow at her. “I figured that’s what you were wondering. I’ve already been looking around for a little bit and run into some other people. Don’t worry, it’s not like I’m a psychic that can read your mind or anything.” I chuckled a little bit at me of all people being told that. The irony wasn’t lost on me. “Oh, my name’s Cozy Glow by the way! It’s so nice to meet you. I know this is a pretty unusual circumstance, but I hope we can be great friends!” She held out her hand with a big, adorable smile that almost made my heart melt.

“I’m Sunset Shimmer. It’s very nice to meet you, Cozy Glow.” I gave her a quick, friendly handshake. Despite the myriad of questions running through my mind, Cozy’s attitude was doing a good job of putting me at ease. “I’m sure we’ll be great…friends…” I trailed off as I realized something. Letting go of her hand, I grasped at my neck. My geode was missing! I couldn’t see it with a glance around the area. Did Cozy Glow take it while I was asleep? No, she had no reason to suspect it was anything more than a simple necklace.

“Sunset…are you okay?” Cozy Glow was giving me a worried look. The panic must be showing on my face. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself.

“Sorry. I just noticed that my necklace is gone. Have you seen it? It’s an orange chain with a round red stone hanging from it. There’s a sun symbol on it too.”

“Hmm…sorry, I haven’t seen anything like that.” Cozy suddenly hugged me out of nowhere. She spoke in a sweet, gentle tone. “It sounds like this necklace is very important to you. Don’t worry, Sunset. I’ll help you find it. And um…don’t freak out, but your phone is probably gone too. Me and the other two I spoke with don’t have ours either.”

With a grimace, I checked my jacket pocket. Sure enough, my phone wasn’t there. I simply let out a heavy sigh. After a few moments, I broke off the hug and crossed my arms. I appreciated Cozy’s friendliness, but we wouldn’t get anywhere just standing around. Maybe there was somebody around here who could help us figure out what was going on. “Cozy, you said you ran into some other people, right?”

Cozy Glow beamed at that and nodded, bouncing her curls as she did. “Yep, yep, yep! I met two people already and suggested that we should split up and look for anyone else. Oh! We should go look for them together! I’d sure hate to be stuck in a place like this all alone, wouldn’t you? Come on Sunset, you can lead the way!” She grabbed me by the hand and pointed ahead, as if the two of us were about to go on some grand adventure together.

If only I knew how terrifyingly correct that was.

It turned out every single door except the one Cozy entered the hallway through was locked. With nowhere else to go, we ventured forth. The door led to a short hall with two doors on the left and opened into a larger area. Before I could get a good look, two people suddenly exited one of the doors. The first was a pink girl wearing a maroon jacket with its sleeves rolled up and lightning bolts emblazoned on the pale blue pockets. She wore a dark blue bowtie with long socks to match, plaid skirt, and dark shoes with crystal-like buckles. After a moment, I recognized it as a variation of the Crystal Prep Academy school uniform. That was odd, considering she looked to be about my age. Her long hair was varying shades of green and she wore a pair of pink headphones. Walking next to her was a large man wearing a ridge top style cowboy hat. He had black shaggy hair, a tan complexion, and a bit of stubble on his chin. He wore jeans, cowboy boots, a plain white shirt, and an open brown coat.

Cozy Glow was the first to make a move. Without missing a beat, she approached the two and gave a friendly wave. “Hi there! I’m Cozy glow and this is my friend Sunset Shimmer. It’s so good to meet you two! It’s so good to know we won’t have to go through this alone.”

’Wow, she sure is friendly and outgoing. She kind of reminds me of a more subdued…a more subdued who? Dammit, I just had it! Ugh, I don’t have time for this. I’ll try to think of it later.’

I approached and gave a small but friendly wave. “Hey, it’s nice to meet you. You wouldn’t happen to know where we are or why we’re here, would you?”

The girl, who had been smiling up until this point, let her expression fall a bit. “No, we were kind of hoping you might have some sort of idea. We just woke up in there a few minutes ago. Not much in there by the way. It’s some sort of clinic or something. Oh yeah, the name’s Lemon Zest by the way! Go on big guy, introduce yourself!” She elbowed him and he let out a sigh.

“The name’s Trouble Shoes. Not that it really matters. If none of us know nothin’, we should all mosey along our own way.” His tone of voice, while not unfriendly, was tired and no-nonsense. It seemed like he wasn’t much of a talker. Still, he had a point.

“Alright, we won’t keep you. It makes sense to cover more ground separately anyway. It was nice to meet you two.” I gave them both a friendly smile, though I couldn’t help but notice Cozy Glow seemed to have a troubled look on her face. It lasted only for a moment, but I saw that slight frown. However, the second I looked at her, she put on that big grinning expression again as if nothing had happened.

“You too! Maybe later we can all hang out or something! C’mon you big grump!” Lemon Zest began to go into the other door, dragging a reluctant Trouble Shoes behind her. With the way forward clear, we continued onward.

Exiting the hallway, we came into a large open room that was unmistakably a hotel lobby. Cozy was right, we were in a hotel. The first thing that caught my eye was an enormous Hearth’s Warming- no, Christmas Tree in the center. I still get that holiday name confused sometimes. It turns out that Equestria and the human world have a lot of similar holidays to one another. As I wondered why one of those would be here, it suddenly hit me. A lot of hotels tend to put those up in the winter for the holidays. Right, that made sense. Was it the holiday season though? For some reason, I couldn’t quite remember. It must be, right? I decided to put those thoughts out of my head once again and examine the room.

The room was open with a visible second floor balcony. It was well lit with multiple chandeliers and wall mounted lights. On one wall was an enormous grandfather clock, showing the time to be just after 10 in the morning. The stairs were blocked off by a gate though, so we probably wouldn’t be getting up there any time soon. An old-fashioned elevator sat between the stairs and a gift shop. The front door was huge and flanked by two winged statues and large windows. Well…what I assumed to be windows. Strangely, they were covered in thick metal sheets and fastened to the wall with oversized bolts. Before I could think of investigating, I heard a commotion to the left of us at the front desk where three more people were talking.

“Honestly, what kind of a hotel leaves the front desk completely unattended? There isn’t even a bell to ring! The least they could do is put up a ‘Back in 15’ sign. Ugh, no landline either. As if my phone and purse missing wasn’t bad enough.” The girl who spoke first had gray skin, long black hair, and purple eyes. She wore a white collared shirt with a pink bowtie and a purple vest buttoned up. Her skirt matched her bowtie and had a treble clef design on it. She wore long white socks and a pair of black Mary Janes.

“Oh, I know darling. My things having gone missing is quite concerning. Still, it is quite peculiar. I can tell it’s been cleaned recently so it’s clearly not abandoned. It’s such a shame too. I’m quite impressed with the vintage aesthetic of this place. Why, it looks like it came right out of the 1920’s. Well…the unfortunate decisions with the windows and indoor gargoyles notwithstanding.” This girl had alabaster white skin and bright blue eyes framed by an expertly styled mane of purple hair with a sparkling blue barrette shaped like three diamonds in it. She wore a pale blue shirt, a blue skirt with three light blue diamonds on it, a purple belt with a buckle shaped like two crescent moons of the same light blue color. Her boots were long and the same color as her belt, except for the top which matched her skirt and yet another light blue diamond shape near each knee. She completed her ensemble with a gold bracelet on each wrist and makeup so expertly done that her face seemed to almost glow. This girl was gorgeous. On top of that, there was something about her that felt…comforting. Almost familiar. I was sure I’d never seen her before though, so where was that weird feeling coming from?

“Ladies, ladies. Let’s not get ourselves wound up about this. Maybe they’re in a meeting or something and lost track of time. As for our stuff…I’m sure it’ll turn up. Well, whatever the case, we don’t have a say in the matter so why worry? Let’s just kick back and relax for a while til someone can give us the rundown on this whole situation.” The last to speak was a gamboge-skinned man with green eyes leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. His dark hair was done up in a greaser cut and he had a wily grin on his face. His most distinguishing article of clothing was a burgundy duster he wore over a dark shirt. His blue jeans were tucked into a pair of black boots with tan toes and soles. As we approached, he stood up and gave the other two a tap on the shoulder. “Well, well, what do we have here? Good morning, ladies. You wouldn’t happen to work here by any chance, would you?” The other two followed his gaze, sizing us up.

“Sorry, we don’t. We’re just as confused as you are to be honest. I only woke up about 15 minutes ago. I don’t remember a thing about where we are or how we got here. My name’s Sunset Shimmer by the way.” I held out a hand to the other group as Cozy piped up.

“And my name’s Cozy Glow! It’s sooo nice to meet you all!” Cozy made sure to stay a few feet behind me, seemingly wanting me to take the lead. She held her hands behind her back and was rocking back and forth on her feet like an excited child. Weirdly though, while she was good at glancing at the others to not seem too conspicuous, almost all her focus was squarely on the purple-haired girl.

’Is Cozy getting a weird feeling from her too? I’ll have to ask about it later.’

“I figured as much, but it didn’t hurt to ask. I ain’t too disappointed though. The name’s Capper.” He reached for my extended hand and bent down to kiss it before rising back up with a flourish of his coat. I could feel myself blushing. “Sunset Shimmer and Cozy Glow, eh? Two visions of loveliness with equally lovely names.” Now Cozy was blushing in tandem with me. The line was cheesy as hell, but Capper somehow made it seem genuine. The man seemed to radiate natural charisma. I found myself thinking I wouldn’t mind getting some drinks with him under better circumstances.

“Oh Capper, you’re simply incorrigible. Are you going to speak this way to every girl you meet here? Keep that up and you’re bound to break a few hearts.” The purple-haired girl had a look of amusement on her face as she stared right at me. That cute smirk, the raised eyebrow, those lidded blue eyes…my face turned even redder under her gaze. She took my hand in a gentle handshake and gave me a friendly smile. “My name is Rarity. It’s a pleasure to meet you two. Despite the unusual circumstances, I do hope we can all become friends.” Rarity seemed to have picked up on what was going through my head. She gave me a playful grin and a flirtatious wink. When she turned to look at Cozy Glow, her hair swished beautifully, barely touching me with its gentle curls. I swear she did that on purpose. I stared at Rarity in dumbfounded silence for a moment before shaking it off. She didn’t approach Cozy Glow out of respect for her clear desire for distance but gave her a friendly smile as well. For her part, Cozy seemed amused at my current flustered state.

’Gah! Down, girl! This is not the time to get all hot and bothered. There are far more important things to do right now.’

“Are you two done teasing the poor girl? If so, we should probably stop dilly dallying.” The other girl stepped forward giving a stern look to both Capper and Rarity. Capper simply shrugged while Rarity gave a sheepish grin. With a curt nod, the girl turned to me. “My name is Octavia Melody. I’m sorry if they made you uncomfortable.”

“Ah…no, it’s fine. I don’t mind, really.” Now able to fully get ahold of myself, I shook Octavia’s hand and then crossed my arms. “Though if none of us know anything about what’s going on, I guess we should keep looking around. We’ll cover more ground if we split up. What do you say we meet back here later with anyone else we find?”

“I agree. That seems to be the best course of action. In fact, Capper here already tried to get into that door behind the front desk. Locked, unfortunately.” I looked to where Octavia was referring, seeing a door labeled ‘Records’.

“I coulda got in if you gave me a little more time. The lock isn’t particularly complicated. If I had the right tools, I’d have had it open in a jiffy.” I took a mental note of that. If Capper was decent with lockpicking, that could come in handy later. I wasn’t too shabby myself, but I was rusty. I hadn’t really had the need to do it much since my days as a delinquent.

“Capper dear, I told you. We don’t know who this hotel belongs to or what they might have us here for. For all we know, breaking into a private room could invite retaliation. Until we know more, I feel it’s best to hold off on that sort of thing.” I suddenly felt extremely grateful that I hadn’t tried to pick any of the locked doors in the hallway I woke up in. Rarity might just be right.

“Well, if that’s all then I think Sunset and I should get going! It was very nice to meet you all! Let’s all meet back up later and tell each other about what we found! Come on Sunset, this way!” Cozy grabbed my hand and rushed us toward a door just south of the hall we entered the lobby from. I turned around and waved goodbye to the trio as we left.

After bidding farewell to Rarity, Capper, and Octavia, Cozy Glow and I found ourselves in a large two-story library. Rows of bookshelves lined the walls and floor with a few tables set aside for reading. As I looked up, I noticed movement on the second-floor balcony. “Hey Cozy, I think somebody’s up there.”

Once we reached the second floor, I got a better look at who I’d seen. She wore a black turtleneck sweater, a purple skirt with a crescent moon on it, and black tights. She had her red and purple hair tied both in an upward ponytail on top as well as cascading down her back. It was a unique hairstyle to say the least. Her pale-yellow skin and purple eyes were framed by a pair of glasses. She was pacing the edge of the room, examining the metal sheets bolted over where windows should have been.

Cozy Glow was just about to give a friendly greeting as we approached, but the girl held up a hand and cut us off. “My name is Moondancer. I don’t know where we are. I don’t know why we’re here. I don’t know how I got here. I don’t care who you are. If you want to talk to somebody, there are plenty of others. Now if you’d be so kind, please leave me alone.” Without giving us so much as another glance, she walked down to the first floor.

I stood there agape for a moment, completely caught off guard with how rude and dismissive that girl had been. “Well. She seems fun.” Cozy didn’t respond to my display of sarcasm. I turned to her, seeing that she was frowning again, visibly deflated. I couldn’t really blame her. Moondancer’s attitude was completely uncalled for. I placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a warm smile. “Hey, don’t let her get to you. She’s probably just bad at coping with stressful situations or something.”

Cozy’s expression softened a little before going right back to her usual sugary sweet self. “Oh, don’t you worry about me, Sunset. I’m totally fine, promise! She just took me by surprise, that’s all. Golly, she’s probably super freaked out and won’t let herself trust anybody. Poor thing would feel so much better if she just let somebody be a friend to her. It’s just so sad!”

“I…guess so?” I was a little shocked at how quickly Cozy bounced back. Either this girl had some killer mood swings, or she was really good at hiding her feelings. I decided not to push the issue for now. After all, I only just met her, and we had more pressing matters to attend to.

There was a door on the second floor of the library, but it was locked so we had to return to the lobby. We made certain to avoid Moondancer on the way out. As we exited, I got a better look at the two stone statues by what I presumed to be the front door. The one closest to us gave me pause. This was no ordinary gargoyle. It was a girl in a dress with feathered wings spread wide. Her long hair was standing on end and a crooked horn extended from her forehead. The look on the creature’s face was manic. This thing…it was familiar. The plaque on the statue’s base was partially weathered away, but I could read the first word: Midnight. Why was this so familiar? Where had I seen this statue before and why was it making me so uncomfortable? Yet more questions for later. I shook my head and went to try the front door. As I expected, it was locked. So I then looked toward the other statue.

The moment I laid eyes on it, my blood ran cold. ’No. No no no no no no no no no no no no no.’ My heart began to beat so fast that it felt like it was threatening to burst out of my chest. I began breathing rapidly, hands gripping my arms so hard I was making marks with my fingers. I didn’t know how; I didn’t know why. But standing before me was the perfectly captured stone image of a demon. Not just any demon. It was me. The bat wings, the fiery hair and tail, the pointed ears, that cruel smile…and worst of all those eyes. Staring into my soul and filled with nothing but sheer malice.

’Why is this here? Where did it come from? Why now?’

As I was shaking in place trying to make sense of it, I felt someone embrace me. I didn’t even see her get in front of me. A sweet and soothing voice whispered in my ear as Cozy Glow gently rubbed my back. “Shh…it’s okay. Just breathe. Deep breaths. You’re okay. You’re alright. I’m here.” We stayed like that for a few minutes. Slowly, my breathing began to steady. My heart rate went back down to a more acceptable rate. I relaxed and simply stayed there in her embrace. I turned to face away from the statue before breaking off the embrace.

“Cozy Glow…I…thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. I know an anxiety attack when I see one. I won’t pry, but if you want to talk about it later, please. Talk to me.” She smiled at me. Not that cutesy grin she gave almost everyone we came across. No, this one was different. It felt warm. Caring. I saw concern and understanding behind those eyes. It didn’t last long, however. Her expression was soon back to that saccharine sweet look she always wore, and her tone was back to overly cutesy. “I’m only doing what a friend should do! Now come on, let’s find something else to get our minds off this, okay?” She began strolling across the lobby towards the elevator. I followed her, but it was my turn to stare with concern.

’Cozy Glow…what is your deal? I can tell you’re putting on a mask. Why are you wearing it?’

As the two of us approached the entrance to the east hallway, our attention was caught by the elevator grate opening and two people stepping out. The first was a tall, thin man with teal skin, purple eyes, a few hairs on his chin, and blonde hair done up in a manbun. He wore brown loafers, dark blue pants, and a dark orange vest with purple teardrop shapes on it. Around his neck, he wore a gold pendant and gold beads around each wrist. The other was a woman with bluish gray skin, light green eyes, and short cropped light gray hair. She wore a green tank top, jean shorts, black boots, and a pair of black fingerless gloves. Based on her expression, I guessed she must be irritated.

“Maaan, why’d we have to go down there? That was like, so uncool. It’s way too hot down there! Can’t we go somewhere nicer, Limey?” The man was a whiny one, that was for sure. The girl rounded on him as they exited the elevator.

“First of all, you don’t get to call me that. Only family and close friends call me Limey. We’re nowhere near close enough for you to even consider it. You call me Limestone, Ms. Pie, or don’t address me at all. Secondly, you’re the one that said we should see where the elevator leads and pressed all the buttons, dumbass!” Oh yeah, she was irritated alright.

“Well how was I supposed to know everywhere but the boiler room and lobby was locked off? What kind of sicko just dangles two floors at you that you can’t even go to? Not cool, man. Not cool.” The man used his hand to fan himself.

“Probably the same kind of sicko who kidnaps a bunch of people and locks them in an empty hotel! Now quit your whining. Hot as balls down there, cold as tits outside, you’ve got a shitty track record dude. I’m deciding where we go next.” She crossed her arms and started to walk off.

“Excuse me, but did you say you’ve been outside? Is there a way out?” I stepped up to them before they went off on their own way again. The duo stopped and turned to look at me. “Sorry to interrupt, but I couldn’t help but overhear.”

The man immediately changed his demeanor and got a big grin on his face. He stroked his chin and leaned in close. “Oho, I see. Seems like you’re in need of assistance. Well lucky for you, Zephyr Breeze is here to answer all your questions, mademoiselle.” I instantly felt uncomfortable. Whereas Capper and Rarity seemed to simply be flirting with and teasing me, I felt like this guy was sizing me up. And he liked what he saw. I looked back to Cozy for help, only to find that she’d made herself scarce. Thankfully, Limestone stepped in.

“Okay, back it up. Personal space, buddy.” She put her hand in front of his face and forced him back a few feet. “So, it’s not just me. You’re just gonna do that to every single woman you see here, aren’t you?”

With a nonchalant shrug, Zephyr kept his wry grin as he looked back and forth between the two of us. “Well, I can’t help it if the ladies flock to moi. I’m especially a magnet for you cool types. Why there’s this sporty girl back home who’s just crazy about me. But don’t worry, there’s plenty of Zephyr Breeze to go around. So don’t go getting jealous, Limey.”

“Limestone. Pie.” She practically growled at him as she said that.

I did my best to ignore him and turned to Limestone. “Limestone, huh? It’s good to meet you. I’m Sunset Shimmer. So…what was this about finding a way outside?”

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up. There’s a courtyard you can get to through a small hallway behind the stairs. It’s walled in on every side and the doors out there are all locked. Nothing but a giant topiary maze and a shed blocked off by a big iron gate. There are some weird stone statues around the maze, but I didn’t feel like looking too long at them. There’s snow everywhere and I’m not exactly dressed for cold weather.”

“I see.” I made a mental note to check those statues out later. If they were anything like the other two I just saw, they may be important. “Well, thanks anyway. I’m going to keep looking around. I’ll see you later.”

“Stay safe, my shimmering angel.” Zephyr did finger guns at me, winked, and clicked tongue. I couldn’t help but shudder at that. And with that, he began walking off in the direction of the library. Uh-oh.

“Please don’t call me that.” I deadpanned with half-lidded eyes, fists clenched in annoyance.

“Ugh. I’d better follow him. The whole reason I’m even sticking around him is to try and mitigate that nonsense. At this rate, he’s gonna get himself punched. He’s annoying as hell and might even deserve it, but this isn’t exactly the best time to be petty.”

“That’s probably a good idea. If you don’t stop him, then I can basically guarantee that’ll happen. There’s a girl in the library and she is not in a good mood right now.”

“Ah. Noted. Nice meeting you, Sunset. Hey, Zephyr! Don’t go running off on your own like that! I said I was deciding where we go next!” Limestone ran after him, entering the library and closing the door behind her. Once she was gone, I started looking around for Cozy. It wasn’t long before I saw some blue curls peeking from behind the Christmas Tree.

“Cozy, there you are. Are you alright?” I stepped forward to see her stepping out from behind it with a relieved look on her face.

“I’m sorry if I worried you. Buuuuut, remember when I said I met two people already? Well…Zephyr Breeze was one of them. Sorry for…leaving you to him and not warning you.” She rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment, looking down at her toes like a child who was caught doing something bad.

’Oh. Okay yeah, that makes sense.’

“It’s alright, Cozy. Believe me, I understand. He’s definitely a little…much.” I placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her chin up to look me in the eyes. “But you listen to me. If he or anyone else makes you uncomfortable in that way, you come tell me right away. I’ll make sure they leave you alone.”

“You will? How do you plan on doing that? He didn’t seem too dissuaded by Limestone telling him off.” She looked at me with genuine curiosity, as if she couldn’t fathom how someone friendly like me could keep creeps from messing with her. Oh, if only she knew.

It may have been a few years, but you don’t exactly forget how to be a master manipulator. I’d simply find a way to get him under my thumb. And while it was never my first resort, violence was always an option. I could be very creative. Ugh, it almost sickened me how easy it was for me to put myself back in this mindset. I put on a wide smile. “Oh…don’t you worry about that. Let’s just say that anyone who crosses the line with you will wish they never met Sunset Shimmer.”

My tone and the look on my face must have said it all. Cozy Glow went through a myriad of emotions very quickly as she stared at me. The first I picked up was amazement, followed by gratefulness, followed by…approval? It was just for a split second, but she looked genuinely impressed. That was quickly replaced by a twinge of fear which she quickly covered up with wide and innocent looking eyes. “G-Golly…”

I stepped back and gave her a pat on the back. “Hey, nobody messes with my friends. You helped me back at that statue earlier and I genuinely appreciate it. So, if you need my help, I’ve got your back.”

Cozy Glow stood in silence for a minute, her expression completely unreadable. Finally, after giving me a grateful nod, she turned and went towards the hallway. “Thanks a bunch, Sunset! You’re a really nice person, you know that?”

’I don’t know if I’d go that far. But I’ve definitely come a long way. I’m not that demon anymore. I don’t know who put that statue here, but it’s here for a reason. Whoever’s behind this knows me well enough to taunt me with it and to take away my geode to disarm me. That sucks, but I don’t necessarily need it to use magic. I’ll have to find out later if I can still pony up. Hmm, I wonder if there’s a guitar somewhere in this place?’

We noticed a pair of open double doors and stepped in to find a large hotel restaurant where a woman and a very large man were arguing. The room was laid out with plenty of tables and cushioned chairs. There was a serving window into a kitchen and a pair of swinging doors right next to it. As with most rooms, the windows were blocked off with metal sheets.

“All Iron Will is saying is that he thinks we should check the kitchen out. There’s no telling how long we’ll be here, and this impressive physique requires a lot of protein. If this place isn’t up to snuff, then Iron Will is going to have to completely rework his workout regimen to compensate.” This man was tall, at least seven feet, and heavily muscled. He wore black shoes and dark blue jeans with a black belt and silver buckle with the design of a bull’s face carved into it. He wore an open blue collared shirt with the sleeves torn off and a black tie, showing off his bronzed chest and abs to everyone. I had to admit, it was pretty nice to look at. His square jaw was framed by a black mustache and goatee. His hair was a combination of spiked in a fauxhawk up front with the rest styled into a shoulder-length mullet. Finally, he had a small silver nose ring piercing his septum.

“And I’m saying that doesn’t matter right now! We should be more concerned with getting information and getting out of here. And would you stop referring to yourself in the third person? It’s seriously annoying.” The other girl had light fuchsia skin, purple eyes, and purple hair with aqua streaks in it done in twin ponytails. They were held in place by silver star-shaped pins, identical to the one on her belt buckle. She wore purple pants, more vibrant than her hair and with some sparkles on her thighs. Her high heeled boots were dark violet, her sleeveless shirt pale off-white, and her jacket green with its sleeves torn off.

“Iron Will is only allotted a small amount of first-person referendum, and only when it makes contextual sense. Doing anything more than that would break character! And that is something that Iron Will simply cannot abide! Surely you must agree that a certain degree of showmanship is necessary for performers!”

“Yeah, when we’re performing! If I’m not on stage or interacting with fans, I can’t be bothered to give a shit.”

“If that’s the case, then Iron Will thinks it must be very sad to be an Aria Blaze fan.”

“Do you wanna fucking go, man? I’m stronger than I look, I can take you.”

Deciding that it was best not to get involved, Cozy and I stepped back and slowly made our way to a different door. I was grateful that she followed my lead on this. While she didn’t look too bothered by the display, I couldn’t help but get an uneasy feeling looking at that girl.

Aria Blaze. I’m sure I don’t know her. So what’s with this feeling?

We entered a different door and closed it behind us so as not to hear any more of the argument. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to blows. We ended up in a laundry room. Washers and dryers lined the walls as empty baskets sat on the benches and tables. I noticed a magazine rack in the corner, though nothing in it really caught my eye. It seemed to mostly just be modeling magazines and tabloids. Just then, two more people entered the room. The first was a girl with pale yellow skin, orange eyes, and long red hair with a large pink bow in it. She wore a green shirt, rolled up blue jeans, a brown belt with a square golden buckle, and orange boots with red soles and a flower design on both sides of the top of each boot. The second was an orange skinned girl with short purple hair and dark purple eyes. She wore a black hoodie over an aqua shirt, black boots over aqua socks, and dull green cargo shorts.

The redhead was the first to spot us. “Oh, howdy there, y’all! My name’s Apple Bloom. This here is Scootaloo. You wouldn’t happen to know where we are or nothin’, would ya?” She was clearly a friendly sort, and her southern drawl added a charm to her speech.

Cozy Glow stepped up without giving me the chance to say anything. She had that trademark sugary sweet smile on her face. “Oh gee, I’m sorry but we don’t know anything either. But it’s so nice to meet you two! My name is Cozy Glow. That’s Sunset Shimmer. We’re ever so happy to see you two! In a scary place like this, it’s good to have friends, you know?” What was she doing? She was being a lot more forceful with these two than anybody else.

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow but went along with it. “Yeah, uh you too.”

“Well ain’t you a friendly sort!” Apple Bloom on the other hand seemed to be completely unfazed. “It’s great ta meet ya, Cozy Glow. If y’all wanna be friends, then Ah’m happy to oblige! Once we figure out what’s going on, maybe we can all hang out together! The more the merrier, I say!”

“Oh golly, I’d love that so much! Gee, who’d have thought that I’d make fast friends in such a strange place like this. Oh, Sunset? You can go ahead without me! I wanna talk to these two a bit more and there’s still more to explore! I still haven’t seen that other person I met when I woke up after all. Maybe you can find them for me?”

“Uh…okay. Sure. We’ll meet up in the lobby later. Stay safe, Cozy.” She bid me the same well-wishes and went back to her conversation. After bidding the newly formed trio farewell, I left the room. I looked back at the laundry room door one more time and sighed. Cozy Glow was just a walking enigma to me. She seemed nice enough and I meant what I said when I promised to protect her if need be. Still, there was something under the surface that gave me pause. Her reactions to everyone have been wildly inconsistent. I get wanting to avoid Zephyr and ignoring Limestone by proxy, but I get the feeling she wants to do the same to whoever this other person is. Surely if they were just as bad, she’d have warned me, right?

She seemed alright with Lemon Zest but got visibly upset when Trouble Shoes ignored her. When we met Rarity, Capper, and Octavia, she got shy and kept her distance. She couldn’t keep her eyes off Rarity. And I was pretty sure it wasn’t for the same reason as me. She was troubled about something. When Moondancer told us off, she looked like her heart was going to break before putting on her mask. Combining that with Trouble Shoes’ dismissiveness, she must not deal well with rejection or hostility. Her willingness to avoid Iron Will and Aria Blaze with me helps with that theory. Her reaction to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo was what puzzled me the most. She tried bonding tightly to them immediately. Yeah, they all looked a little younger than anyone else I'd seen, but not by much. They couldn’t be more than 3 or 4 years younger than me at most. Then there was the statue. Her concern seemed truly genuine.

’Puzzling over this is getting me nowhere. I’ll just have to keep an eye on her. I hope she's feeling okay.’

I took a walk around the places Cozy and I hadn’t visited. My first stop was the door Lemon Zest and Trouble Shoes had entered, which turned out to be a well-stocked pharmacy. They had everything, even some heavy-duty prescription stuff. There was also a security camera and a monitor in here. I wouldn't be surprised if those were in every room. I wondered if someone was watching us through them right now. Just the thought of it was creeping me out.

There was another stone statue here as well. It was a tall, slender unicorn-shaped statue with no face, just smooth stone. There was a plaque that gave its name.

’The Tantabus, huh? Never heard of it, but damn that’s kind of creepy.’

My next stop was the gift shop near the front desk, but it was locked. So instead, I proceeded to the courtyard outside. If it weren’t for the two statues at the front door, I probably wouldn’t have bothered. But I needed to see what statues Limestone was talking about. I started moving counterclockwise around the enormous hedge maze. Seriously, it had to be at least 20 feet tall. Talk about excessive.

’It’s pretty cold. I shouldn’t spend too much time out here.’

The first three statues were completely unfamiliar to me. A timid-looking human girl named Wallflower Blush, an angry woman dressed in leaf-like clothing called Gloriosa Daisy, and a rotund toad-like woman with a hooked nose named Hydia. The fourth statue was the first to give me pause. For one thing, its base was broken, as if there used to be more to it. It also had no plaque to label it. It looked like a unicorn, except there were holes throughout its body and insectoid wings on its back. It was baring its fangs, snarling with hate. I then realized what I was looking at. A changeling. I’d read about them in the forbidden wing of the Canterlot Royal Library before, but Princess Celestia assured me that they weren’t a threat to ponies and hadn’t been for generations. Still, they had plagued my nightmares for some time after learning about them. I was still a filly back then after all. I shook my head.

’Get ahold of yourself, Sunset. It’s just a statue.’

I placed my hand on its muzzle to ground myself and instantly regretted my choice. My mind was flooded with the feeling of someone watching and listening. The sheer malice that radiated from this statue…it was overbearing. This statue…no, this thing was alive! I quickly retracted my hand and retreated towards the next statue, shuddering.

’That’s a hell of a way to find out my mind reading magic is still there…sort of. It hadn’t activated when I touched anyone else and just now it was too weak to get anything more than a base emotional connection. I guess that’s better than nothing considering my geode’s missing.’

The next one, I recognized all too well. I’d seen depictions of him in storybooks about the Crystal Empire. King Sombra, the Umbral Lord who took the entire Crystal Empire with him when he was banished to another dimension. Not chancing touching this one, I moved on to the final statue. I didn’t recognize this one either, but I at least knew the species. It was a centaur. He was scrawny and looked pitiful, as if he was cowering away from something. Much like the changeling, there was no plaque identifying it. Also like the changeling statue, the base was broken. Were they once part of the same display? The breaks in the stone seemed to match up. In that case, who was he? The only centaur I was passingly familiar with was Lord Tirek, but he had been imprisoned in Tartarus for centuries. Not to mention, stories depicted him as far more impressive than this guy. Whoever he was, his identity would have to remain a mystery for now. Having had enough of the outdoors, I went back in to warm up.

I returned to the hall where the laundry room and restaurant were. Further down, there was a pair of public restrooms. Seeing another fancy door just past them, I entered and found myself in a lounge of some kind. Couches, small tables with chairs set around them, a good-sized bar, and a small stage furnished the room. Near the stage was a smaller Christmas Tree, the kind you’d see in your average home. In the corner was another statue, this one simply of a unicorn pony. I couldn’t tell much from here, but her cutie mark seemed to be a star with what I imagined to be strands of magic aura coming off it. That wasn’t my main concern right now. There were two more people here. The first was a stout young man wearing a black t-shirt with a pair of scissors on it, blue jeans, and green sneakers. His skin was light blue, and he had an orange mullet. He’s not who had my attention, however.

Riding atop the pony statue was a woman with light blue skin, long whitish gray and blue hair, and purple eyes. She wore a purple star shaped pin in her hair. Her shoes were blue and purple with yellow stars on them covering up dark blue socks. Her dress was purple and light blue with a magic wand emblazoned on the side. She wore a dark blue hoodie with yellow cuffs and banded waist.

“Hmm, Trixie supposes it’s comfortable enough, though the proportions are all wrong for a real horse. Still, unicorns are magical and perfect match for The Great and Powerful Trixie! You! What was the name on that plaque again?” She was certainly bombastic. Bossy too. Also totally wrong, that was an entirely anatomically correct unicorn mare as far as I could tell. Not that she’d believe me.

“Uh, it says Starlight Glimmer, oh Great and Powerful Trixie.” Great, the short one was buying into her act. Oh well, it was probably all harmless.

“Excellent! The Great and Powerful Trixie shall ride Starlight Glimmer, her new faithful great and powerful (though not as great and powerful as Trixie), magical unicorn assistant! As soon as Trixie figures out how to properly incorporate this pony into her show.” She suddenly stood up and pointed toward the stage. “To the stage, noble steed! Uh…AAAHH!” Thump. Aaaand she fell. Yeah, that was to be expected. That wasn’t exactly a smart thing to do. I managed to stifle a laugh. I’d feel bad if she actually got hurt after all. I stepped further in as the boy rushed towards her.

“Trixie! A-are you okay?” The boy helped her up and sat her down in a chair as she regained her composure. She stood back up and dusted herself off with a harumph.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie is more than okay! Pratfalls are but child’s play to a master of the stage such as herself! And lo, it seems her performance has brought an audience. Trixie doesn’t usually give free shows, you know.”

’I’ve gotta give it to her. She sure recovers fast.’

“Sorry to just eavesdrop like that. I didn’t want to interrupt. My name’s Sunset Shimmer. Do you two have any idea where we are? Oh, and you wouldn’t happen to know a girl named Cozy Glow, would you?” She’d mentioned the other person she met should be around here. Maybe it was one of these two.

“C-Cozy Glow? Y-yeah, I know Cozy Glow” The boy was suddenly nervous and blushing. Bingo, this was the one. “My name’s Snips. I met her and this weirdo Zephyr Breeze a while ago. She said we should split up to cover more ground. Did she…say anything about me?”

Okay, clearly Snips had himself a little crush. I had a sneaking suspicion that the feeling wasn’t mutual. Better to stay out of this one. “She just said she had met some others before she woke me up, that’s all.”

“Oh…gotcha.” He seemed a little disappointed. I felt bad for him, but it wasn’t exactly my business.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie knows no such person. However, she is pleased to make your acquaintance, Sunset Shimmer. Hmm…you look strong. Perhaps you can assist Trixie in moving Starlight Glimmer to the stage later. She is…quite heavy.” I had to imagine that if this statue was based on a real pony like some of the others seemed to be, the real Starlight would likely take exception to that.

“Uh…yeah, I guess I could try later.”

’Oh god, this one isn’t alive too, is it? Surely it isn’t.’

The idea of a pony being encased in stone like that was simply sickening. That was something you did to unstable chaos lords (and evil changelings apparently), not innocent ponies. No, just because one of them was possibly alive didn’t mean the others were. Sure, maybe there was more than one living presence in these statues, but my statue’s existence meant it was impossible for all of them to be living. I chose to believe the changeling statue was an anomaly until proven otherwise. Before I could go further down that train of thought, a sound rang loudly throughout the building.

*Ding Dong Bing Bong*

The monitor in the lounge lit up, static obscuring a figure sitting behind a desk. A voice spoke up, high-pitched and urgent sounding. “Ahem. Excuse me? Is this thing on? Can you hear me? Will all guests please convene in the lobby by the front desk. Hurry up, there’s an urgent announcement! Don’t be laaaaate~”

“Oh good, perhaps now Trixie can finally get some answers about what the hell is going on here.”

“I hope so.” The three of us left the lounge for the lobby. Little did I know that that ringing bell and high-pitched voice would soon come to be the bane of my existence. The monster behind that voice would drag us down into the pits of hell itself.

One by one, we all filed into the lobby. Trixie, Snips, and I were the last to make it. Cozy Glow turned and smiled at me, but stayed where she was with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. Lemon Zest let out a low whistle as she looked around. “Man, sure are a lot more of us than I thought.”

“Seems exactly the right amount to me.” Moondancer replied without even looking at Lemon Zest.

“And just what is that supposed to mean? If you know something, then The Great and Powerful Trixie demands you tell her!” Trixie got in her face, staring daggers at her. Moondancer wasn’t intimidated, however. She simply narrowed her eyes.

“It’s obvious. This is a hotel. Of all the available areas, there are two groups of eight locked doors with ice makers near them. Sixteen in total for those of you who might be a little slow. It’s safe to assume those are guest rooms. The intercom referred to us as guests. Therefore, sixteen seems to be the correct number. Maybe you’d have realized that if you properly examined your surroundings instead of fooling around and stopping to talk with everyone.” Wow she was condescending. But before anybody could retort, that same voice from the intercom spoke.

“Hey there, howdy hello! Is everyone here? Good! Then let’s get things rolling! Here we go again!” From behind the front desk, something popped up into the air and landed on it in a sitting position. It was…a teddy bear? The bear was about two and a half feet tall. Its body was split down the middle, white on its right side, black on the left. Its right eye was a standard black button you’d expect to see on a teddy bear. Its left eye resembled a stylized bloody gash. On its left side, its mouth was formed into a wide grin showing off its teeth. Its belly was completely white with a bulbous bellybutton sticking out. Finally, a strange tune started to play from the intercoms to accompany this bear’s entrance.

“…Is that a fucking teddy bear?” Aria Blaze spoke up with a mix of confusion and disdain.

“And what’s with the weird music?” Scootaloo piped up.

“I am NOT a teddy bear! Seriously, I’m getting real sick of people making that assumption. And don’t diss the theme song, little missy!” He stood up and held out one paw, angrily shaking it as claws appeared. After a moment he retracted them. “Ahem. I am Monokuma! And I am this Hotel’s owner and operator! And as the manager of this fine establishment, I’m here to give you guests the greatest experience of your lives!”

All of us just stood there, dumbfounded. I felt my skin begin to crawl. This Monokuma…everything about him felt wrong. There was definitely magic at play here, and whatever was behind it was sinister. I was already on edge, but now I was beginning to become genuinely afraid.

“Allow me to explain! I have taken the liberty of putting together a fantastic vacation for you all! This mountain resort will have all you ever wanted! All the great food you could ever want, loads of entertainment, good company, the works! Ah, it’s truly an excellent place to spend the holidays. The best part is, it’s completely free for all of you!”

“Whaaaat? Heck yeah, that sounds hella awesome, dude! Woo, vacation partaaaay!” Zephyr pumped his fist into the air in excitement.

“Now hold on there, Mr. Excitement! You didn’t let me finish! It’s free, but don’t expect it to all be fun and games. After all, what kind of host would I be if I didn’t keep you all on your toes?”

“Yep, there it is. Kidnapping notwithstanding, there’s always a catch with these sorts of things.” Capper was nonchalantly examining his fingernails and acting bored by everything.

“That’s right, there is indeed a catch! You can have all the fun you want on this vacation of yours. In fact, you’ll have so much fun that you’ll never want to leave! Which is good, because you’ll all be spending the rest of your lives here in this hotel.” His voice got a lot more sinister as he spoke that last sentence. There was a brief moment of silence before the entire room erupted in protest.

“What the hell?! You can’t just keep us here against our will! That’s like, super illegal, dude!” Lemon Zest held onto her hair with both hands, looking back and forth franticly.

“Great. Things are just getting’ worse and worse.” Trouble Shoes huffed.

“There’s no way! You’ve gotta be screwing with us!” Scootaloo didn’t seem convinced.

“I am not screwing with you! I am no liar; of that you can be 100% sure!” Monokuma raised his arms, incensed at the idea of being called a liar. “And just so you know, you’re completely cut off from the outside world. So no need to worry about anything but what happens here in this hotel!”

“Cut off? So those metal plates are here to keep us from getting out.” Moondancer had her arms crossed and glared daggers at the bear. “And just how do you expect to get away with keeping us here? With this many missing people, the authorities are going to be on high alert.”

“Puhuhuhuhu.” I instantly hated that laugh of his. It was so condescending. “Don’t get your hopes up. I’m sure by now, they know you’re missing and are running around like chickens with their heads cut off! The police, the military, those useless schmucks can’t help you! So, you’re better off just accepting that you’re stuck here!” Most everyone stared at him, aghast as his claims. But he had a point. With magic clearly being at play, the normal authorities didn’t stand a chance. A simple concealment spell on the area alone would be more than adequate to keep them away. I could only hope that somehow, my friends could contact the Princess through the portal. I was once again frustrated at how I couldn’t remember any of their faces or names. Surely that was this Monokuma freak’s work as well.

“Come on, man! You don’t know who you’re messing with! There’s a lot of people who’ll be real upset that Zephyr Breeze is missing!” Zephyr tried to be boisterous, but the panic was clear in his voice.

“Missing? Yes, you are missing. Missing the point, that is! Nobody can help you, so deal with it! Everyone will live a harmonious communal lifestyle in this hotel, abiding by all its rules and regulations. And don’t worry about food or common conveniences. With our extensive resources, that won’t ever be a problem! I’ll get to those particular details later. There’s a more important matter to discuss first. You see…there is one way for you to leave the hotel…” I already didn’t like where this was going.

“S-seriously?!” Snips spoke up, sounding somewhat hopeful.

“Absolutely! You see, as the hotel manager, I’ve put a special little clause in just for you. I call it the check-out clause! As I mentioned, we want this communal lifestyle to be one of ’harmony’. But if someone were to say, disrupt that harmony, they alone would be permitted to leave the hotel. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the check-out clause!”

“And just what do you mean by disrupting harmony?” Octavia was understandably skeptical, as were we all. In addition, I really didn’t like how he emphasized disrupting harmony. The others wouldn’t get it, but I was sure the use of the word ‘harmony’ was no coincidence. It was a deliberate choice. Before I had time to think any further about what sort of implications that held, the bear responded.

“Puhuhu…Well, you know…” Monkuma put his paws to his mouth, giggling as the next few words left his mouth. “By disrupt the harmony, I mean…you’d get to leave…if one of you were to murder someone.” We were all too stunned to speak. “Stabbing, bludgeoning, crushing, poisoning, boiling, hacking, strangling, drowning, blowing up, how you do it doesn’t matter. You must kill someone if you want to leave. It’s as simple as that.” He pointed at all of us. “The rest is up to you. Give it your all. Be creative!”

“You young’uns all represent hope for the future. Up and comers in the world, all of you! Some are already finding great success in your respective fields, some still on their way to it. Ultimates with ultimate talent if you will. It’s just so…sickening. Taking that hope and seeing it get murdered creates a darkened shadow of despair.” Monokuma placed his paws on his belly and opened his mouth wide, revealing sharpened teeth. “And I just find that so…darn…exciting! I call it…the Killing Resort Life at the Hotel Despair!”

“K-kill each other?! There’s no way we can do that!” Apple Bloom stepped forward, hands on her hips as she stared Monokuma down without fear.

“You…you want us to kill each other? That’s…no! C-can’t you just let us go? If you do, we promise we won’t tell anyone. Please?” Cozy Glow was hiding behind Apple Bloom, peeking from behind her shoulder with tears starting to form in her eyes. I stepped over and placed a hand on her shoulder, hoping to comfort her a little. However, my eyes never left Monokuma. I stared at him, a mix of rage and fear steadily building within me.

“Waaaah waaaah waaaah. Keep crying about it, it’s not gonna do you any good! Listen. From this moment on, this hotel is your home. If you wanna do something about it, then you’d better kill kill kill! You could also just go die. After all, if you die then you can leave too! …In a body bag! Aaaaahahaha!” Monokuma laughed loudly as Cozy sniffled, tears starting to run freely down her cheeks. I couldn’t blame her. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo joined me in trying to calm her down as we all stared at the despicable bear with hatred.

“How dare you, you awful bear! Why I ought to come over there and give you a piece of my mind!” Rarity seemed just as angry as me. She clenched her fists and started heading towards Monokuma. As much as I wanted to do the same thing, I got a sinking feeling that that wasn’t a good idea.

“Wait, don’t- “ Nobody was listening to me.

“Yeah! He can’t take us all on. Let’s beat him to a pulp until he lets us out of here. Come on big guy, let’s go!” Limestone nudged Iron Will as she also approached.

“Iron Will agrees with this course of action! Prepare to get bodied, teddy bear!”

“Before they could get too close to him, Monokuma started laughing. “Puhuhuhuhu…AAAHAHAHAHA!” Suddenly appearing from hidden compartments in the walls and ceiling, large machine guns began pointing at all of us. Everyone approaching was brought to a sudden halt. Rarity actually fainted, though Capper thankfully caught her. “You didn’t think it would be that easy, did you?”

Limestone crossed her arms and stared at the bear with a smirk. “You know, for a second there, I kinda did.” I had to hand it to her. Most people wouldn’t be able to keep their cool and give a snarky reply like that. This girl was tough. Though looking closely, she did have a nervous look in her eyes that she hid quite well.

“Then you’re a lot stupider than you look! Sheesh, look at all you ruffians! Trying to attack your host like that? And here I am taking valuable time out of my day to explain how things work to you! Talk about childish. But don’t you worry. I’ll let you off with a warning this time. But any further violence against me will be met with appropriate punishment! Is that clear?”

“Crystal.” Aria Blaze spoke with so much vitriol in her voice that I honestly found it a bit scary. She had her fists clenched as if she were ready to fight, yet she didn’t make a move with the others. Based on her interaction with Iron Will earlier, I pegged her for a hothead who wouldn’t hesitate to throw hands. Despite that, it seems like she also figured out that fighting Monokuma was probably a bad idea. The rest of us nodded in agreement with her as Rarity came to.

“Good! Be good boys and girls, or else! You’ve seen all these security cameras around, right? Rest assured that if you break a rule, I’ll know about it! So don’t try and get cute with me! Now, to commemorate the beginning of your stay with me, I have two things for you! First, if you’re going to be living together, I should introduce you all properly! So, without further ado, allow me to introduce in no particular order, the sixteen Ultimates who will be staying with us!” Monokuma snapped his fingers (I’m not entirely sure how that even works for a teddy bear), and a spotlight appeared from the balcony above us. It shined on Octavia first.

“Here we have Octavia Melody, the Ultimate Cellist! Age: 24.”

“Next, say hello to Apple Bloom, the Ultimate Carpenter! Age: 21. Not as good at farming as her older siblings, but at least she’s got something going on!” Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes but chose not to dignify him with a response.

“This lovely lady is Rarity, the Ultimate Fashionista! Age: 24”

“This strapping lad is Trouble Shoes, the Ultimate Rodeo Clown! Age: 26.” There were a few surprised faces in the crowd, mine included. ’Huh. Didn’t peg the guy for an entertainer.’

“Say hello to Scootaloo, the Ultimate Skater! Age: 21.”

“This is Snips, the Ultimate Sycophant! Age: 21.”

“The ultimate what? Uh, what does that mean?” Snips looked around, genuinely confused.

“A person who acts in deference toward someone important in order to gain advantage. In other words, a toady, a minion, a flunkey.” Moondancer adjusted her glasses as she spouted off the definition.

“What?! That’s so not cool!” Snips looked quite offended, and I felt pretty bad for him. Then again, what I saw of him with Trixie did line up with Monokuma’s assessment of him.

“Well, aren’t you such an egghead! Fine, next we have Moondancer, the Ultimate Librarian! A true fount of knowledge, that one. Age: 24.”

“That girl over there is Lemon Zest, the Ultimate Rocker! Age: 24…um, hang on. Why are you wearing those headphones? You do realize you have nothing to listen to, right?” Monokuma put a paw to his chin, pondering.

“Um…well you see…these were kind of expensive so…” Lemon Zest kicked her shoe to the ground, hands behind her back.

“Oh whatever. Not like I actually care. This is Iron Will, the ultimate Wrestler! Age: 25. He also doubles as his own Hype-Man!”

“I AM THE HYPE!” Iron Will shouted at Monokuma, apparently using one of his allotted uses of the first person.

“Oh my god, someone kill him.” Aria Blaze huffed, staring at the big man in annoyance.

“Now hold on there, little lady! You’ve got the right attitude, but we’re not done here! Looks like you’re next though! Aria Blaze, the Ultimate Backup Singer! Age: Older than she says she is!” His tone was extra condescending towards her. She simply stared wide-eyed and with her mouth agape. I wasn’t sure what made her angrier, the jab at her talent or her age.

“This ‘specimen of manliness’ is Zephyr Breeze, the Ultimate Slacker! Age: 23.”

“What the hell, man? Slacker? I’ve had tons of jobs! Call me a professional job sampler. Or hey, why not Ultimate Ladies Man?” I rolled my eyes at Zephyr’s protests. Monokuma simply ignored him completely.

“This lovable rogue is Capper, the Ultimate Con-Artist! Be careful with your purses around him, ladies! Age: 25.”

“Hey! I ain’t no petty purse snatcher. I’ve got far more class than that.” Capper seemed genuinely offended. However, he wasn’t denying being a con-artist.

“That over there is Limestone Pie, the Ultimate Landscaper! Age: 26.”

“Give a warm welcome to Trixie Lulamoon, the Ultimate Magician! Age: 24.”

“What?! The Great and Powerful Trixie is placed in the tail end of things but not saved as the best for last? Is Trixie but an afterthought to you?” The magician crossed her arms and harumphed loudly, her cheeks puffed up a little bit in anger.

“Uh-huh. Anyway…next up is Cozy Glow, the Ultimate Crybaby! Oh sorry, I mean Ultimate Chessmaster! Age: 21.” Looking over to her, I saw a dark look on Cozy’s face as she stared at Monokuma. It was honestly a little scary.

“And last but not least, it’s Sunset Shimmer! Age: 24! What’s her ultimate talent, you ask? Why she’s none other than the Ultimate Demon.” Monokuma’s voice lowered when he mentioned my title. My face fell, eyes wide. I began trembling. I don’t know what I was expecting. Waitress, Gamer, Magical Girl, even Bully considering some of these titles seemed meant to taunt their holders. I wasn’t prepared for being called the Ultimate Demon in front of everyone. In hindsight, it should have been obvious something like this would happen. After all, why stop at taunting me with a statue? Everyone was staring at me now, wondering just what that title could mean.

’I can’t tell them. Not right now. They wouldn’t understand.’

“Hmm…wait a minute. Some of these are sounding a little too familiar! Magician, classical music, rock n’ roll, wrestler, especially a fashionista of all things…” Monokuma pondered for a moment while Rarity crossed her arms and started pouting at the perceived insult toward her profession. “Hmm…I guess there are only so many different talents out there. Listen, if one of you turns out to be a secret serial killer again, I’m gonna be a little bit annoyed!” We all gasped at the implications. This monster had done this before. He then looked at me again. “Hmm…I wonder if an Ultimate Demon qualifies as a potential serial killer? Eh, we’ll just have to wait and see!”

“Uhhh Sunset, you know I’m chill with you, right?” Zephyr Breeze moved to where there was a fair bit of people between him and me. “No need to set me in your sights hahaha…” My expression darkened further.

“Don’t be so gullible, dumbass. He’s just trying to pit us against each other.” Aria Blaze of all people was the one who stood up for me there. I appreciated it, but it didn’t exactly do much to alleviate my current mood. I was positively steaming. The only thing keeping me in check was the threat of getting pumped full of lead.

Cozy Glow must have noticed my expression and taken pity because she stepped forward in front of Apple Bloom and me to face Monokuma. Her tone of voice was cold and angry, but also quivering with fear. The poor girl was on the verge of crying again. “You shouldn’t treat people like this. All your silly Ultimate titles are doing is making us upset. Why are you doing this? What do you want?”

“What do I want?” Monokuma stood straight with his arms at his side. The music finally stopped. He spoke in a monotone voice. “Despair. That’s all.”

Cozy’s trembling began to get a bit more violent. “You want…despair? Golly, is that it? That’s all you’re after? There’s really nothing more to it than that?”

“Hmm…nope! Not a single thing more! Dis bear’s all about despair! Puhuhuhuhu!” He put his paws to his mouth as he giggled at his own bad pun.

“That’s all? Despair? Just despair? But…there’s got to be more to it. You have to want something else...” Cozy Glow trailed off and began looking down. The poor girl was barely holding herself together.

“Cozy Glow?” Apple Bloom spoke with concern, putting a hand on her shoulder. I placed a hand on her back and gently rubbed it but stayed silent. Cozy crossed her arms and was trying her best to keep herself from breaking down. At this point, everyone was looking at her with varying levels of concern.

“Aww aren’t you just socute? I can hardly bear it! What, do you think you’ll melt my heart with that helpless little girl act? Sorry toots, that ain’t happening! So, you might as well suck it up and listen to the rest of my spiel. Here, catch!” Suddenly, Monokuma reached behind the desk and pulled out a box filled with electronic tablets. He then started tossing one at each of us.

Most of us were able to catch them without much issue despite the brief window of warning. Snips got smacked in the forehead with his, Octavia fumbled hers for a moment before recovering, and Lemon’s clattered to the floor. Scootaloo caught not only hers, but stepped in front of Cozy and caught hers before it could collide with the distraught girl’s face. Scootaloo gently handed it over with a reassuring smile, and Cozy managed a thankful grin between sniffles.

“Allow me to explain what you have in your hands there! This is the Monopad! Inside is listed all the school regulations as well as a slew of other information you can look at whenever you want! There’s a map of the hotel’s facilities that are available to you. Information about all of you Ultimates is available too! Name, talent, age, height, weight, blood type, bust size, likes and dislikes, that sort of thing!” As Monokuma explained the device, I turned mine on. As it booted up, it displayed my full name before the home screen showed up.

“Bust size?! Why does that have to be listed?” Octavia looked positively scandalized.

“…Nice.” Zephyr raised an eyebrow and started looking through his pad.

“Seriously dude?” Limestone facepalmed at the sheer audacity of this man.

“There’s more to it than that! These things are all personalized so that there’s no chance of a mix-up. They’ve got a camera and a notepad app installed. They’re incredibly durable and completely waterproof. Drop it, step on it, leave it out in the cold, submerge it, these babies just won’t stop ticking! Just try taking a hammer to it and smashing it to pieces, it won’t work! High temperatures are a bit of an issue, buuut I’m sure that won’t come up again!” The bear laughed to himself about something that the rest of us weren’t privy to.

“Again?” Capper raised a suspicious eyebrow. However, he was completely ignored.

“With all that out of the way, it’s time for me to skedaddle! I can only take so much of you sad sacks at once you know! But if you do need me, simply call out and I’ll be at your beck and call! I am in the business of hospitality after all. Oh, and here are your room keys.” He set a box down on the desk with sixteen keys in it, each one with a room number and a name printed on a tag. “See ya later!” Monokuma bid us farewell and leaped up to the balcony.

For a few minutes, we all just stood there trying to comprehend what just happened. After some time, I decided to look over the rules. I’d rather not accidentally give Monokuma a reason to punish me. ’Let’s see what nonsense rules he came up with.’

Guests must live at the Hotel Despair for the foreseeable future.
“Nighttime” is from 10 pm to 7 am. The restaurant, kitchen, and courtyard are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution.
Violence against Hotel Manager Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of surveillance equipment.
Attempting to break into a locked room is strictly prohibited.
With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore the Hotel Despair at your discretion.
Anyone who kills a fellow guest and becomes “blackened” will check out, unless they are discovered.
Littering will not be tolerated! All trash must be disposed of in the proper trash receptacles. Don’t trash the hotel! (Murder scenes don’t count as littering)
Mealtimes are from 7 am to 8 am and 5 pm to 6 pm. The kitchen will be off limits during mealtimes in order for our eclectic staff to do their jobs. Attending mealtimes is not mandatory but is highly recommended if you want the best food the Hotel Despair has to offer!
Additional hotel regulations may be added if necessary.

The rules seemed simple enough, but I was worried about the last one. Who knows what kind of sick rules Monokuma might add later just to mess with us? I turned my Monopad off and looked to the others. They were all wearing similar expressions to me. We were trapped. As far as we knew, there was no way out. No way out except…to kill someone.

I had lived through some dark times in my life. I’d seen some nasty things. But nothing could have prepared me for what was to come. My stay at the Hotel Despair was without a doubt the worst time in my life. Despair…what a fitting word for everything Monokuma stood for.

Author's Note

If you’ve made it this far, welcome to my take on a Danganronpa/Equestria Girls crossover! Thank you so much for giving it a chance. There are a few things I would like to mention, so please bear with me!

I won’t be having a strict upload schedule. If I try to do that, I’ll burn myself out and nobody wants that. I’ll try to be somewhat consistent in releasing new chapters, but a strict schedule is just asking for trouble.

Let me tell you about Free Time Events! For the uninitiated, these are one-on-one conversations in the Danganronpa games between the protagonist and a character of their choice. I’m taking a page out of witegrlninja’s book and asking who you, the readers, would like Sunset to spend time with. Just leave a comment! It won’t be a strict voting process or anything, but I’ll consider what people are feeling and try to lean into it. That said, the first two are already chosen and written. I wanted at least a couple already done so I could have some finished chapters as a release buffer. In the spirit of what I’m going for though, I was not the one who chose who got these first slots!

Finally, the cast. Seems like a strange assortment of characters, huh? Well, I have good reasons for my choices. Perhaps I’ll expand on that a little bit in a blog post?

Anyway, thanks for bearing with me! I hope you look forward to how the story develops! If you have any healthy criticisms or pointers, feel free to send them my way. I'm new to the world of writing fanfic, so I'll take all the help I can get! :pinkiehappy:

CHAPTER 1: Welcome to the Hotel Despair Part 1

Once we all looked at the rules on our Monopads, we collectively decided to check out our rooms. After collecting our keys, we split into two groups heading in opposite directions. There were eight rooms in each guest wing, four north and four south. The rooms in the west wing, starting clockwise from the top left, were assigned to Moondancer, Limestone Pie, Trixie Lulamoon, Trouble Shoes, Octavia Melody, Lemon Zest, Zephyr Breeze, and Aria Blaze. The east wing rooms were assigned to the following in the same order: Myself, Snips, Scootaloo, Iron Will, Apple Bloom, Rarity, Cozy Glow, and Capper.

As the eastern group approached our rooms, Snips tried to step up to reassure Cozy Glow, but Capper put a hand on his shoulder and simply shook his head softly. Now wasn’t the time. Even Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and I weren’t attempting to keep her calm anymore. No, we all needed to process things at our own pace. Without a word, we all entered what would be our new living quarters for the foreseeable future.

The room itself was nice all things considered. There was a king-sized bed with plenty of pillows, a writing desk, a wall mounted TV and remote, a minifridge, a nightstand, a fancy dresser, an alarm clock, a small couch with a coffee table, and a reading lamp. There was of course also a security camera. The bathroom had a nice shower/bathtub combo and everything you’d need to keep up good personal hygiene.

The closet held a bunch of outfits identical to the one I wore, along with some winter-wear for outside. The dresser had underwear, night shirts and gowns, pajama pants, and a few swimsuits. There was also a sewing kit, but I put it down the moment I noticed a set of instructions on how to “efficiently end lives” with everything inside. Finally, there was a first-aid kit in the bathroom. It had basics such as bandages, alcohol, cotton balls, etc. Real basic stuff. I’d probably have to go to the pharmacy if I needed anything more.

For a while, I simply sat on the couch and tried to make sense of what was happening. Who was Monokuma? Why was he doing this to us? Why take sixteen strangers and put them into this killing game? He claimed that his only goal was sowing despair, but was that really it? I had a feeling that Cozy Glow was on the right track when she questioned it. It just didn't make sense to me.

“Okay. Let’s lay out what I know so far.”

Obviously Equestrian magic had something to do with it. The presence of the statues was a dead giveaway, as was the deliberate use of the word ‘harmony.’ As far as I know, I’m the only Equestrian with permanent residence in the human world, so it would make sense to kidnap me. Whoever Monokuma is, he knows a lot about me. The statue, my ultimate talent, my missing geode…I’m important to him and it probably has to do with me being Equestrian. But what did the others have to do with any of this? Why orchestrate this killing game? And what was the relevance of the statues? There were just too many mysteries. I’m going to need some help.

“I wish she was here. She was always good at mysteries. Dammit, why can’t I remember her name?! Or face…or voice. Or…any of them. Ugh, what the hell did you do to my head, Monokuma?”

My friends. The ones who had saved me from myself. The new princess from back home. I had very vague thoughts, but nothing came to me. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that any memory from after I first emerged from the mirror into the human world was fuzzy at best. Attempts to force myself to remember gave no results other than a minor headache, so I stopped trying. That avenue of thought wasn't going to get me anywhere.

At approximately 11:30, there was a knock on my door. I went to open it and saw Limestone Pie standing there. “Hey Sunset. Listen, I’m trying to gather everybody in the restaurant for a group meeting. We need a gameplan and we won’t get anywhere just moping in our rooms all day.” I looked out the door and saw she had brought along Octavia and Lemon to assist. With a shrug, I left my room and locked it behind me. Before long, I was sitting in the restaurant along with most of the other unwilling guests. Someone had rearranged the tables into one long table for us all to sit at. We all sat in silent apprehension as the last few people filed in. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Cozy Glow, Trixie, and Moondancer all hadn’t yet arrived.

Trixie and Moondancer filed in next, both looking annoyed at having to gather with everyone. Finally, after a few more minutes, the last three arrived. Once everyone was there, Limestone sat at the head of the table. “Thanks for coming, everyone. I have a few things I’d like to discuss with all of you. It won't take long. So, let’s get started.”

“What exactly is this meeting about, anyway?” Scootaloo spoke up, raising a hand as if she were in a classroom.

“Well, the first thing I’d like to get out there is for everyone to clear up these “Ultimate Talents” Monokuma assigned us.” Limestone said. “Most of them are self-explanatory, but there are a few of you I’d like to get some clarification from so nobody jumps to conclusions. Specifically, I’d like to hear from Capper, Snips, Aria Blaze, Cozy Glow, Lemon Zest, and Sunset Shimmer. Any objections?”

Capper was the first to speak up. “It’s just like the label says. I’m a con artist. I’d also accept hustler, rogue, mountebank, or charlatan.” The rest of us were aghast at how open he was about his misdeeds. He simply shrugged it off. “Oh, don’t be like that. I only mess with folks who deserve it. You know, like…Robin Hood.”

“Oh I’m sure you’ve got a heart of gold.” Aria rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms. “The explanation for mine is simple. Monokuma just wanted to insult me. I’m not a backup singer, I’m an equal part of the pop sensation trio, The Dazzlings. The fact that Adagio named the group after herself doesn’t mean shit.”

“Um…who?” Apple Bloom didn’t show a hint of recognition, nor did the rest of us. There was an awkward pause.

“…Seriously? None of you? We’ve been around for years! We opened for PostCrush for crying out loud!”

“Did you? Huh. Must not have been very memorable.” Trixie’s reply had Aria silently seething, moving her mouth and wringing her hands in rage.

“And what’s this about your age? Says here you’re older than you say you are?” Scootaloo brought up a good point. Aria Blaze was the only one of us who had their age hidden. Why was that? I wouldn’t be getting an answer to that question quite yet.

“You…l-lots of famous people lie about their age! It’s none of your damn business!” Aria looked like she was ready to strangle Scootaloo.

“So famous that none of us have heard of you.” Lemon Zest muttered under her breath.

“What. Was. That?” Aria growled almost like an angry beast, causing Lemon to quickly regret her offhanded remark.

“Nothing!” Lemon carefully leaned away from Aria and gulped fearfully. “A-anyway! I…kind of don’t have a job right now. Aaaand I spend a lot of my free time jamming to all kinds of music. I don’t know if I’d go so far as to call myself the Ultimate Rocker, but I guess it kind of fits?”

Snips was next in line, and he still seemed annoyed at his title. “Mine’s just an insult! I’m no sysafend!”

“Sycophant.” Moondancer corrected.

“Right, that. I’m no sycophant! I’m my own man!” He puffed out his chest and closed his eyes, just barely opening one to see if Cozy was paying attention to him. She was, and the moment he turned away to try and be inconspicuous, she rolled her eyes. “But…if I had to guess why Monokuma called me that, I did used to follow people around a lot in high school? Still, he should’ve called me the Ultimate Barber or something! That’s something I’m good at. I cut my buddy Snails’ hair all the time!” I raised an eyebrow at that. I wouldn’t have pegged him as a barber. Guess you can’t judge a book by its cover.

“I’ll go next.” Cozy seemed to be much more composed than she had been earlier. She’d even taken the time to wipe her face and reapply her makeup after her tears had caused it to run. “The Ultimate Chessmaster is a good title for me. I’ve always enjoyed chess. I’ve got a natural talent for it. It’s not just chess though. I like all sorts of board games. If we find any, I’ll be happy to play with you all to pass the time!” And there it was, her trademark overly sweet attitude. Seems like some time to herself really did some good. Though I wondered why Limestone would want clarification of Cozy’s Ultimate Talent. A chessmaster is someone who’s good at chess. It seemed self-explanatory to me.

And now it was my turn. I felt everyone’s eyes boring into my soul. How could I possibly explain a title like The Ultimate Demon to them without sounding totally insane? I took a breath and decided to just stick with the barest of basics. “Well…mine’s not entirely inaccurate. I…used to be a pretty terrible person.” A few faces looked a bit shocked, but most kept a look of stoic impartiality. “I made a lot of people’s lives miserable. I wouldn’t be surprised if any of them thought of me as a demon. I’m sorry, I don’t want to get any more into it than that.”

“That’s it? You expect Trixie to accept such a pitiful answer? How can we trust you if you don’t tell us everything?” The haughty magician huffed in dissatisfaction.

“If she doesn’t wanna talk about it, that’s her business. Leave it be.” To my surprise, Trouble Shoes spoke up in my defense. I shot him an appreciative look and he simply nodded his head.

“It wouldn’t matter anyway.” It was Moondancer’s turn to interject. “Even if she did explain in minute detail, I still wouldn’t trust her. As a matter of fact, I don’t trust any of you. And if you’re smart, you’ll all follow suit. We’re in a killing game, remember? Any one of us could be a future murderer.”

“No way in hell I’d ever kill anybody!” Apple Bloom shouted and slammed her fist on the table. “You don’t know what yer talkin’ about, Moondancer! Maybe you’d kill to get outta here, but Ah never would! Mah family raised me better than that!”

“How can you be sure?” Moondancer retorted.

“What do ya mean?” While still angry, Apple Bloom looked a bit confused by the question.

“How. Can. You. Be. Sure?” Moondancer spoke slower in a condescending manner. “Can you really say you’d never kill someone? What if your family were held hostage? What if the only way to assure their safety was to kill someone else? Can you really say you wouldn’t do it? Can any of you?”

Apple Bloom stammered for a moment, but she had no response. Moondancer’s logic was sound. We all took a few moments of silent contemplation. She was right. With the right motivation, who knows what any of us are capable of? Before we could go too far down that train of thought however, Limestone got all our attention.

“Okay, that’s enough of that.” She stood up and put her hands on her hips, looking at all of us with an air of authority. “Moondancer has a point, and that’s part of why I asked all of you here. If we’re going to survive this, we need to establish some ground rules we can all agree on.”

“Rules? Yes, that would probably be for the best,” said Octavia. “While I doubt a killer would follow any rules, the rest of us doing so might make it more difficult for them to kill.”

“Exactly.” Limestone nodded in agreement before sighing and sitting back down. “It’s not exactly a foolproof idea and I can’t strictly enforce them, but I think it’s worth trying.”

“And who exactly died and made you the boss of us?” A still peeved Aria sarcastically remarked.

“Nobody! And I’m trying to keep it that way so shut it!” Limestone slammed her hand on the table, startling the rest of us. Her face was contorted into a grimace as she clenched her teeth. Apparently not wanting to escalate a confrontation, Aria simply rolled her eyes and turned to face away from her.

“Oh, pay no attention to her. What are these rules you propose, darling?” Though clearly on edge like the rest of us, Rarity was doing a great job at keeping poise and classiness in her demeanor.

“Right. Sorry, I didn’t mean to get all worked up. Here’s the rundown.” Limestone held up one finger. “First, it’s probably a good idea to stay in our rooms during nighttime. The rooms lock and Monokuma’s rules say that breaking into locked doors is forbidden.” She held up a second finger. “Second, I’ll be holding morning meetings every day when the restaurant opens at 7. We’ll use those to convene and discuss anything we need to as a group. You’d better all show up.” She held up a third finger. “And third, we need to work together to find a way out of here. If anyone discovers something, you need to share it with the rest of us. That’s all for now. Any objections or questions?”

“Um, actually…Apple Bloom and I did find something out on our way to the meeting.” Scootaloo piped up and everyone turned their gaze to the duo. “After Limestone had gotten both of us, we said we’d go get Cozy Glow.”

“Yeah, we felt pretty bad for her.” Apple Bloom chimed in next, gently placing her hand on Cozy’s shoulder as she continued. “Considerin’ how upset she was, Ah decided we shouldn’t just bang on her door. So, we stood outside and tried talkin’ to her. Softly at first, but we got louder when she wouldn’t answer.”

“I didn’t hear anything. I didn’t even know they were there until they decided to ring my doorbell and start knocking.” Cozy shrugged her shoulders. “I think our rooms are soundproof. I was…crying a bit loudly at the time.” Her face got a twinge of red in it as she mentioned that.

“Yeah! When she finally opened the door, we asked if she’d been asleep. Then she looks at us all confused, asking ‘did you guys seriously not hear any of that?’ After that, we tested it a little more by yelling. And whoever was on the other side couldn’t hear a thing.” Scootaloo leaned back in her chair, putting her feet up on the table. “So, yeah. The rooms are totally soundproof. You’ll have to ring the doorbells or knock pretty hard for anyone to hear anything in there.”

Everyone sat in silence for a few moments before Moondancer spoke up. “Hmm…not bad, you three. That’s good information to have.” Despite the compliment, she didn’t sound particularly kind or complimentary. Was she always like this? And while I agreed that this was important to know, something about what was said was bothering me. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it though.

“Alright, then if there’s nothing else…meeting adjourned. Go do whatever you like. And make sure to follow the rules! I can’t force you, but you’ll be safer if you do!” With those final words, Limestone stood up and left the room.

With our first meeting concluded, our group began to disperse. Before leaving the restaurant, I made my way over to where Cozy Glow was sitting and gave her a worried look. “Hey Cozy, how are you holding up?” The curly haired girl tilted her head to the side slightly, as if she wasn’t sure why I asked that. However, realization dawned on her and she lightly giggled, giving me a big smile.

“Oh, I’m doing great, Sunset! Thanks for asking!” As I was about to question her sudden good mood, she put a finger up against my mouth to shush me. “Look, before you say anything, there’s no need to worry about me! Yeah, I was a little scared earlier, but I can handle it. I already told Apple Bloom and Scootaloo the same thing…oh!” It looked as though Cozy had come to a revelation as she quickly stood, dragging me up out of my chair as she did so. Placing her hands on my shoulders, she looked at me with a too big smile on her face. “That just gave me an idea! I’ve started trying to make some friends here and you should totally do the same thing! I mean, you and I are already great friends, I can tell, but it’s always great to have more! If we can all get along as best friends, then nothing that Monokuma jerk does will matter! Anyway, no time to chat right now, so I’ll see you later Sunset!” The strange girl flashed me one more smile and left the room, going off to who knows where.

“That…was something.” While I was taken aback at the way she was acting, I had to admit that she might have a point. Things wouldn’t be as simple as she was making them out to be, but making friends with everyone was probably a good idea.

I’ll deal with whatever’s going on with Cozy Glow later. Maybe I can convince Apple Bloom and Scootaloo to help me figure out what her deal is. She sure attached herself to those two pretty quickly after all.

Deciding to take Cozy’s advice, I scanned the room for anyone who might still be there. Aside from myself, there was only one other person still in the restaurant, slowly making their way to the exit. Deciding that she was as good a choice as any, I began to approach Lemon Zest. I had something I wanted to ask her about anyway.

“Hey, Lemon Zest? Do you have a minute?”

The green-haired girl turned to me, pointing at herself as if she wanted to make sure I was talking to her before answering. With a shrug, she gave me a friendly smile. “Yeah sure, what’s up?”

“This might sound a little weird considering our situation, but…do you want to hang out for a little bit?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, sure thing! I was actually just on my way to check out the lounge. Feel free to tag along!” I was admittedly expecting her to be a little less nonchalant about it, but Lemon Zest was taking my request in stride.

’I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. She seems like an easygoing person.’

And so, I proceeded to spend time with Lemon Zest. The two of us made our way to the lounge, which happened to be empty when we arrived, much to my relief. I was half expecting Trixie to be mucking about in here again. Once we entered, Lemon Zest made her way back towards the sound booth. “Just a sec, I wanna check on something.” I waited patiently as she did whatever it was she was doing. After a few minutes, she let out a triumphant yell. “Woohoo! Found something! Finally, I can actually jam to something!”

“Wait, really? I thought Monokuma said there wasn’t anything here for you to listen to.” True, the bear could easily be lying. But why would he lie about something so easily disproven?

“He said I couldn’t use my headphones with anything that’s here. He didn’t say a thing about music in general! And check it out, there are CDs and Vinyl records here!” She started piling a few of said CDs and records onto the sound booth. “We’ve got PostCrush, My Cantering Romance, Colt Play, Songbird Serenade, Feather Bangs, DJ PON3, Whinny Houston, Sapphire Shores, Coloratura, Elvis Hoofsley, even off the wall stuff like Weird Cheese Sandwich! Talk about variety! Sucks that this soundboard is too old to even think about it having Bluetooth tech for my headphones, but I guess I’ll make do and just jam out in here.” I recognized all the artists she named, but there were quite a few more in the pile who I had never heard of.

’Huh. Maybe I’ll end up expanding my music taste while I’m here?’

Before I got too distracted and forgot about it, I decided to ask a question that had been burning in the back of my mind since I met Lemon Zest. “So…about that school uniform you’re wearing. I’m pretty sure that’s a Crystal Prep Academy uniform. I’ve got to ask…how come you’re wearing a high school uniform? N-not that it doesn’t look good on you! It’s just, you’re the same age as me so it seemed like an unusual choice. I mean…ugh, this sounded a lot less rude in my head…” As I mentally beat myself up for being so inconsiderate, Lemon Zest just started laughing.

“Haha, don’t worry about it! I thought it was pretty weird too when I woke up with this thing on. Honestly, I hadn’t touched the thing since I graduated.” I felt a bit better knowing I hadn’t offended her. Then again, hearing that she had no idea how it got on her had some potentially uncomfortable implications. I chose not to mention them just in case she hadn’t thought about it. Realizing something I had said, she now looked at me with curiosity. “Hey, how did you know this was a Crystal Prep uniform?”

“Oh, that’s easy. I went to Canterlot High, so I saw a lot of that uniform any time the Friendship Games happened.”

“Whoa, no way! You went to CHS? That means we’re both from Canterlot! We’ve probably seen each other around town and never even realized it! We might have even seen each other at the games a few times!” She was clearly excited to meet someone from the same place as her. I couldn’t blame her. I felt the same way. In this strange situation, it was comforting to have a small bit of familiarity, even if we’d never actually met before.

“I’d say it’s likely. And that’s just one more reason for all of us to try and get out of here together. Once we do, we can hang out properly at the mall or something. I’m sure my friends would love you. You seem pretty cool.” I of course neglected to mention that I currently couldn’t remember a thing about said friends, but there was no need to worry her about that right now.

“Oh, I’m so down! My friends will probably like you too! I mean, some of them might take a little warming up to, but they’re awesome, I promise!” Based on how she was speaking, it sounded like she was having no trouble remembering her own friends.

’Good, I’m happy for her. But…why can’t I remember mine?’ I sighed internally and tried to focus on the positives for now. ’I’ll figure that out later. For now, I hope Lemon Zest and I can get along as friends.’

Got Friendship Fragment! Lemon Zest: 1/5

Lemon Zest and I hung out for a while, reminiscing on various hangout spots in Canterlot while occasionally sharing our tastes in music. Eventually, we split up and I began to wander the hallway towards the lobby. I refused to look in the direction of the demon statue. I stood there for a while, staring up at the towering Christmas tree. It was truly a thing of beauty, a complete contrast to the monster that kept us here. A monster whose motive was still infuriatingly unknown to me. What was his end goal? Why gather a bunch of strangers and make them kill each other? Surely there was something else to it, right? It was all just too weird. As I lost myself in thought, a lovely voice spoke from my left.

“It’s quite beautiful, isn’t it?” I turned to see Rarity standing next to me. When did she get there? I didn’t realize I was so deep in thought that I wouldn’t notice anyone approaching.

“Huh?” It took a moment for me to realize she was referring to the massive tree in front of us. I’d been so focused on trying to figure out Monokuma’s motives that I’d completely forgotten it. “Oh, yeah. It’s pretty for sure.” Rarity stared up at it for a moment longer before turning to look at me with a peculiar look on her face. Her finger tapped against her chin as she pursed her lips, clearly thinking about something. I raised an eyebrow, not sure what to make of her scrutinizing gaze. “Uh…is everything okay? Do I have something on my face?”

Rarity blinked a couple of times and gave me an apologetic smile. “Oh, I’m terribly sorry for staring darling. I have a habit of analyzing clothing, you see. Monokuma was accurate in calling me the Ultimate Fashionista. I’m quite in tune with the world of fashion. Although, what I’m most interested in is using that knowledge to make and design clothing for my clientele. It would be just as accurate for him to refer to me as the Ultimate Couturier if he so chose. And since you do have a rather…’eye catching’ style, I couldn’t help but take it in.” I wasn’t entirely sure if that was a compliment or not, so I didn’t say anything about it. Her eyes looked me up and down again before she cleared her throat. “Ah, but…that’s not why I wanted to speak with you. I apologize for getting distracted and carried away there.”

“Hey, it’s no big deal. I can understand getting distracted by your hobbies. If a guitar shows up, you can bet I’ll be fiddling with it as much as I can.” Rarity’s eyes seemed to light up for a brief moment when I mentioned my interest in the guitar. Maybe she was into music too? “Anyway, what did you want to talk to me about?”

“Oh, yes! That. To be honest, I wanted to apologize.” She began to nervously twirl a finger through her purple hair, not wanting to look me in the eye. I had to admit, it was kind of adorable.

“Apologize? What for?”

“Well…it’s about when we first met. When Capper began flirting with you, I couldn’t help but notice how well you received it. Not that I can blame you. He’s handsome and just oozes that roguish charisma.” The fashionista sighed as her mind wandered for a moment. No doubt she was fantasizing about something. Thankfully, she quickly snapped back to reality. “Anyway! Seeing you so flustered, I decided to join in and tease you a little bit. It was a spur of the moment decision.” After a moment’s hesitation, Rarity continued with a slight flushing of her cheeks. “And so…I wanted to apologize if I made you uncomfortable. Yes, it may have been harmless flirting that certainly paled in comparison to Capper kissing your hand. And yes, I had no way of knowing just how dire our situation was. Even so, it simply wouldn’t do for me to leave things as they are.”

I simply stood there in silence as I took in everything Rarity said. While I understood where she was coming from, she was really making a mountain out of a molehill here. Yeah, she had been a bit flirtatious, but that was nothing! And besides…I didn’t exactly dislike it. But instead of voicing any of this, I decided to let her have this. It wouldn’t be right to deny her apology, even if I felt it wasn’t necessary.

“Hey, it’s alright. There’s no harm done.”

“You’re sure?” she asked with a hint of trepidation.

“Yeah, no worries. If it makes you feel better, let’s start over.” I held out my hand in front of her, deciding to further take Cozy Glow’s earlier advice to heart. That girl was weird, but she was right about the importance of friendship. “Hi, I’m Sunset Shimmer. It’s nice to meet you. Would you like to be friends?”

Rarity widened her eyes in surprise for a moment before a relieved smile crept across her face. She reached out and shook my hand with a surprisingly firm grip. “A pleasure, Sunset Shimmer. My name is Rarity. Perhaps this can be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

We both laughed at the slight absurdity of it all. Here we were in a terrifying life or death situation, and yet we were acting so casual about deciding to be friends.

’Maybe we can get out of this if we all work together…as friends.’

Got Friendship Fragment! Rarity: 1/5

Rarity and I hung out for a little bit longer, mostly discussing fashion. I wasn’t an expert on it by any means, but I found it strangely comforting to hear her expound her interests. Eventually, we bid each other farewell. I briefly stopped in the kitchen to grab a small bite to eat before it closed for the night. I hadn’t had anything to eat today and I’d skipped the scheduled evening meal that was listed in the rules section of my Monopad. After that, I went to my room and made sure to lock the door behind me. I didn’t want to distrust the others, but I wasn’t about to take an unnecessary risk.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

The sound of a school bell rang throughout the hotel. It was the same chime that had played before Monokuma had put forth his announcement to come to the lobby. This time, the monitor in my room lit up with an image of the bear. I assumed all the other monitors in the hotel did the same. He was sitting in what looked like an office of some sort with various monitors showing locations throughout the hotel behind him. Sitting next to him was a glass of wine. I wondered briefly if he could even drink wine, but his shrill voice cut off any such thoughts.

“Mm, ahem, this is a hotel announcement. It is now 10 p.m. As such, it is officially nighttime. Please return to your rooms and relax. The doors to the restaurant and the courtyard are now locked, and entry is strictly prohibited. Okay then…sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite…”

And with that, the monitor turned off. Feeling the weight of the day catch up with me, I collapsed onto the bed without even attempting to change clothes. I'd deal with that later. I thought about what Monokuma said at the end and let out a frustrated groan.

“I swear, if there are actually bedbugs here, I might scream.”

Author's Note

And we're off! Remember to comment who you'd like to see Sunset spend Free Time with and I'll try to work with that!

CHAPTER 1: Welcome to the Hotel Despair Part 2

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

The monitor in my room lit up, Monokuma’s form appearing once more. Everything about him and his surroundings were identical to last night. Even his wine glass had been refilled. Or it was still full. Did he even drink the stuff?

“Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beautiful day!” The monitor cut off after the brief message, leaving me to start the day.

I groaned as I slowly began to roll out of bed. As much as I wanted to just go back to sleep, I knew that I shouldn’t miss the morning meeting. It wouldn’t look too good on me if I immediately ignored the rules that Limestone had laid out. And so, I got up, lightly cleaned myself up in the bathroom, promised myself to take a proper shower as soon as possible, and headed out the door.

Upon entering the restaurant, my senses were treated to the delectable aroma of a breakfast buffet. The buffet was stocked with bacon, sausage, pancakes, eggs cooked in various ways, multiple different kinds of cereal, milk, juices, a water cooler, toast, muffins, croissants, a waffle maker, fruits, the works! I was seriously impressed with the selection. This was among the best breakfast buffets I’d ever seen in a hotel. Seeing as how I wasn’t the first one here, I went ahead and loaded a plate with my preferences and sat down next to Octavia and across from Limestone, who were already in the process of eating. Eventually, everyone else filed in and began eating in silence. The atmosphere of the room was tense. Nobody spoke up, as if not addressing our situation would somehow make it better. Finally, Snips chose to speak up.

“So…um…looks like it wasn’t a bad dream after all…” He pulled on his shirt collar nervously as he looked around the room.

“Unfortunately, it seems our terrifying predicament is all too real.” Octavia spoke with relative calmness as she finished up her plate.

Silence returned to the room as we all internally contemplated our situation once more. Everyone had pensive looks on their faces, clearly trying to make sense of what had happened. I could tell everyone was scared to an extent, even those who put on a strong front like Limestone, Moondancer, and Trouble Shoes. Everyone seemed to be feeling the pressure. That is, except for her.

Aria Blaze simply sat further away from the rest of us, casually eating her breakfast without paying much attention to anyone. Not that she was stoic or anything. Far from it. No, she looked…annoyed. Maybe even pissed off. But I didn’t see a hint of fear in her eyes. It was frankly unsettling.

While I contemplated what Aria could possibly be thinking, Limestone suddenly cleared her throat and addressed the whole room. “Well, now that we’ve all had a chance to eat, I think we should get this morning meeting started. I think the first thing we should do is give each other any information we may have learned about the hotel.”

“What do you mean?” Lemon Zest piped up. “Didn’t we all already look around yesterday?”

“Doesn’t mean everyone knows the same thing.” Capper chimed in. “Besides, some folks might’ve found stuff that our less observant peers may have missed.”

“He’s right.” It was Octavia this time. “We should go over everything we know. Even if we can’t find a way out, there may be clues that could help us.”

Trouble Shoes shrugged. “Don’t think it’ll help much, but it couldn’t hurt.”

With no one voicing any further objections, Limestone resumed. “Good. I’ll start then. Zephyr Breeze and I investigated the elevator when we first got here. Looks like there are four floors: the lobby, the second floor, the third floor, and the basement. The second and third floors were both locked out. Pressing the buttons did nothing.”

“Yeah, it was real weird! The stairs leading up are blocked off too, so I guess they don’t want us going up there.” Zephyr piped up, seemingly not wanting to feel left out. “The basement’s got a big boiler room and a utility room with lots of tools and stuff.”

“There’s also a stairway leading down to the basement.” Limestone resumed. “The door to it is in a tiny hallway underneath the stairs to the second floor. Unlike everything else we investigated; it was unlocked.” She looked over the rest of the group for a moment. “I have more to say, but let’s see what the rest of you have to share first.”

“Iron Will took full inventory of the kitchen.” The large wrestler spoke up before anyone else had a chance to. “Based on what Iron Will has seen, we won’t be starving any time soon. Especially if what Monokuma said is true.”

“You spoke with Monokuma? What did he tell you?” Moondancer narrowed her eyes with suspicion at the big man.

“Simple! Iron Will simply wondered aloud how long supplies would last. After all, the Ultimate Wrestler’s training regiment requires that he packs a lot of protein! That’s when the bear showed up out of nowhere and said food supplies get replenished every night!”

“I see…we should probably check the kitchen to confirm that once its doors unlock.” Octavia was rubbing her chin thoughtfully. “If it is true, then at least we won’t have to worry about starving to death. Not that it makes our situation that much better…”

“What else did you find in there?” I spoke up this time, a pit forming in my stomach as a few possibilities came to mind. “Specifically, how many things in there do you think could be effectively used as a weapon?”

A heavy air fell on the room as everyone realized what I was getting at. Everyone that is, except for Iron Will. For whatever reason, he acted far too casually about it. What he said next…it was utterly bizarre.

“Weapons, huh? Let’s see…pizza cutters are a fun one, I’ve seen baking trays used, forks are a classic, and let’s not forget the trash can!” Everyone was just staring at him, open mouthed and dumbfounded. After a moment of confusion, it finally seemed to hit the big guy. He chuckled nervously, putting a hand behind his head. “Oh…you meant deadly weapons. Iron Will was focused on the art of Extreme Death Match Wrestling.”

I was simply at a loss for words. ’Death Match Wrestling? There’s no way that’s a thing, right?’

“Oh, that’s what you meant.” Limestone seemed to understand suddenly. “Sorry, this isn’t the time for wrestling gimmicks. We need to know about the actual deadly stuff.”

’Okay, apparently that’s a thing. Maybe I should start watching wrestling?’

“Ah, yes. Anyway…” Iron Will seemed truly embarrassed for his slipup. “In that case, there are eight cooking knives of different shapes and sizes, sixteen steak knives, a big metal meat tenderizer, pots and pans, and four huge meat skewers. That’s all that stands out as far as weapons are concerned. There’s also a door to what looks like a wine cellar, but it was locked up tight. If it’s ever unlocked, Iron Will suspects big heavy bottles will also be potential weapons. And that’s everything.”

“I’ll go next!” Lemon Zest leaped up excitedly. “So, I explored the lounge yesterday and I found lots of cool stuff!” She leaned in with an excited grin. “There’s a fully stocked bar there with tons of options, a small stage, and best of all, a sound booth! It plays both records and CDs, which is awesome! Because I found a ton of options there! Feather Bangs, PostCrush, DJ P0N-3, the genre list is a lot more varied than you’d expect!”

“What?” Octavia widened her eyes as she sharply inhaled a quick breath. She then spoke with some slight hesitance. “Did you say…DJ P0N-3?”

“Huh? Yeah, I did.” Lemon Zest seemed a bit surprised that the classy Octavia would even know who that was. Then something dawned on her. “Oooh, right. Ultimate Cellist. What’s the matter, don’t like her? I guess her stuff might be a bit outside of a classical music fan’s taste, huh?”

“Ah…yes. That’s precisely it. I’m terribly sorry, I didn’t mean to sound rude.” A frowning Octavia looked away, now lost in thought. I thought her reaction was a little odd, but I wasn’t going to push it. I knew that people could be very passionate about their musical tastes sometimes.

“Guess I’m next.” Capper spoke up as he leaned back in his chair. “I went around and checked all the doors. I can confirm that all the ones that seemed locked, absolutely were. Nothing stuck or the like. There’s also no feasible way to climb to the second-floor balcony in the lobby. You could try climbing the Christmas tree, but it’s too far away from the balcony to jump by my estimation.” He pointed behind him with his thumb. “Also checked outside in the courtyard. Without proper equipment, scaling the building ain’t happening. And before you ask, no. I checked the basement’s utility room and there wasn’t a ladder to be found.” I was genuinely impressed with how thorough Capper was. I guess being a criminal made him think about these sorts of things more than most people would.

“Speakin’ of climbin’.” Trouble Shoes interjected. “There’s shed out in the courtyard with a gate surroundin’ it. Thought about climbin’, but that’s a risky venture. The gate’s pretty darn tall and it’s spiked. Try it, and there’s a good chance you'll end up skewered.” As he said that, Capper nodded in agreement, which made the rest of us grimace at the thought.

“Well, what I’ve got isn’t really useful for getting out, but you guys should know there’s a laundry room over near the public restrooms.” Snips rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. He’d clearly been hoping to be more useful than that. I couldn’t help but give him a sympathetic smile.

“Worry not! Trixie shall go next and wow you all!” The boisterous magician stood as she addressed us all. “The Great and Powerful Trixie investigated that tacky giftshop! Most of the items inside were but paltry baubles. However! One item stood out above all the others. It was…a gatcha machine!” She paused for dramatic flair, but most of us were just looking at her a bit annoyed right now. “Not just any gatcha machine, mind you! With Monokuma’s image upon it, this devious device was dubbed the MonoMono Machine! It would seem the prizes are little figurines. Most of whom seem to be people Trixie has never seen before.” Then with a flourish, Trixie pulled three tiny figurines out of her sleeve. It was an impressive feat, but I’d expect no less from someone referred to as the Ultimate Magician. “By using three odd coins Trixie found lying around, she was able to procure these.” The three figurines she showed off depicted a red-headed girl with a witch’s hat, a pudgy chef, and what looked like Monokuma except with blue where the black should be. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to have…chest hair and a pacifier?

’Well that’s an uncomfortable image that I didn’t need right now.’

“And how is that useful information exactly?” Moondancer seemed annoyed at something seemingly so trivial being brought up.

“Well, the thing is…Trixie isn’t quite sure yet.” Trixie sat down, visibly deflating as she realized what she had found didn’t seem particularly useful.

“As I thought.” Moondancer huffed and crossed her arms as she looked at the rest of us in a condescending manner. “Honestly, you shouldn’t waste our time with such nonsense.”

“Oh yeah? And what exactly have you found?” Scootaloo jumped to Trixie’s defense, clearly not liking Moondancer’s attitude. Frankly, I had to agree with her. Trixie’s find might not have been useful, but that was no reason to be mean to her.

“Instead of galivanting around a pointless giftshop, I have been spending my time in the library.” Her stare was so fierce that Scootaloo couldn’t help but back off. “I’ve been familiarizing myself with what resources we have available. If you must know specifics, the shelves are riddled with books on science, the arts, a small collection of classics, and others I haven’t gotten to yet. There is also a small shelf of children’s fairy tales for those who are interested in such things. That seems more in line with the reading level of you all.”

“Excuse me?!” I stood up, staring at Moondancer with a fire in my eyes. I tried not to let my temper get the best of me, but I hated having my intelligence insulted. “Do you wanna repeat that?”

“Nope nope nope.” Limestone stood up and put a hand on my shoulder, urging me sit with her surprising strength. “We’re not doing this right now. Stay on task!” I growled in annoyance but did as she asked. Moondancer had a smug look which I really wanted to wipe off her face. Preferably with a punch.

“Um…I’ll go next if that’s okay.” Cozy Glow nervously inserted herself into the conversation, clearly trying to help de-escalate things. She gave me a warm smile before continuing. “Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and I looked through the pharmacy. They had all kinds of medicine and supplies. Pain medicine, ointment, bandages, vitamins, alcohol, feminine hygiene products, and more.”

“Ew.” Zephyr frowned and shuddered at that last mention, causing many of us to roll our eyes at him.

“Oh, grow up.” Rarity frowned deeply.

“Anyway, that’s not all.” Scootaloo interjected, wisely choosing to ignore Zephyr. “They had some more heavy-duty stuff too. I saw sleeping pills, anti-depressants, and a few things I’ve never heard of. Oh, also snacks. They have soda, candy, chips, the kind of stuff you’d see in a convenience store.”

“There was also the statue.” It was Apple Bloom’s turn to discuss the pharmacy. I did notice that when the statue was mentioned, Cozy Glow’s mouth thinned into a grimace before she quickly hid it. “There was this horse-shaped statue with no face in there. It had a plaque on it that said ‘Tantabus,’ whatever that means. Maybe that’s its name?”

“Could be. What’s up with those statues, anyway?” Trouble Shoes surprised me yet again by actually speaking up. He was so quiet that it was easy to forget he was even here. “It ain’t the only one scattered ‘round here. Must mean somethin’.”

“Yes, I agree. Nobody in their right mind would erect so many garish statues without a purpose.” Rarity looked deep in thought, trying to puzzle out the mystery. “Then again, Monokuma clearly isn’t in his right mind.”

I shuddered as the subject of the weird statues was brought up. I had been trying not to think about them. But Rarity was right. They had a clear purpose for being here. I just couldn’t puzzle it out. I took a deep breath and began to speak aloud what I did know. “As far as I can tell, there are ten statues. Six of them are clearly labeled with a plaque. One has its label partially obscured. Three of them have no label whatsoever.”

“Yes, it is quite odd.” Octavia chimed in. “The centaur, the angry beast with holes in its legs, and one of the demons have nothing to indicate what they’re called. The second demon is only referred to as Midnight, but there is clear evidence that there used to be more to the name than that before it was obscured.” Everyone turned their attention to her as she spoke, while I internally thanked her for taking over the subject. It may have been years ago, but the sight of my past in statue form had really messed with my head. And that was on top of my current amnesia problem. “We are already aware of ‘Tantabus’ in the pharmacy. The remaining statues are as follows: ‘Starlight Glimmer,’ the oddly proportioned unicorn in the lounge; ‘King Sombra’, the equally oddly proportioned unicorn in the courtyard; ‘Wallflower Blush,’ the seemingly normal girl; ‘Gloriosa Daisy,’ the woman garbed in leaves; and ‘Hydia,’ a short old woman. I believe that covers them all, doesn’t it?”

“Not quite.” Limestone spoke up again. “There’s one more in the middle of the hedge maze.”

“Wait, you went in there? Weren’t you afraid of like, getting lost or something?” Snips seemed genuinely impressed. Then again, he seemed the type to be easily impressed.

“Nope, never even for a second.” Limestone looked a little smug when she said that, which only made Snips look at her in awe a bit more. “I’ll admit its layout is a bit chaotic, but if you know what you’re doing, a maze like that is pretty easy to deal with. Anyway, there’s a gazebo in the middle with a big statue of Monokuma in it.”

“Of course he’d have a statue of himself.” Scootaloo scoffed. “Monopad, MonoMono machine, coins with his face on them…he probably calls those Monocoins or something. Dude’s got a serious ego going on. He’s not nearly cool enough to justify an ego like that!”

“Not cool?! NOT COOL?!?!” Monokuma’s voice rang out through the restaurant before he seemed to pop up out of nowhere, onto the table right in front of Scootaloo. She screamed in surprise and mild terror at this monster appearing in front of her. “How dare you?! I’ll have you know I’m the coolest bear around! Picnic basket thieves and honey addicts have nothing on me! Why, even that bear who fights in tournaments can’t hold a candle to the awesomeness that is Monokuma!”

Soon, our fear began to give way to confusion on just what the hell he was talking about. Still, Scootaloo began to scoot away from where the bear was standing. Thankfully, we were all done eating. Even though he expertly avoided all the plates when he hopped on the table, I doubt any of us would want to eat from those plates after this anyway.

“What do you want?” Aria seemed to be the only one of us who wasn’t showing any semblance of fear. Even Moondancer was visibly afraid when Monokuma arrived.

“Whazzat?” Monokuma cocked his head to the side, seemingly confused.

“Don’t play dumb with me.” Aria practically growled at him. “You came here for a reason, right? So quit wasting our time and just get on with it.”

“…” Monokuma turned to face away from her, hanging his head as if he were depressed. “Oh, how truly cruel of you. Treating your hotel manager in such a way. The things I go through for my beloved guests. Fine.” The monochrome bear recovered quickly and widened his grin. “I’ll get to the point. Buuuut…you might just wish I’d waited. Puhuhuhuhu!”

I got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. This couldn’t be good. Suddenly, Monokuma pulled out a bunch of little electronic pads similar to our Monopads. These had headphones built into them, as well as labels with each of our names on them. It looked like they’d been printed with a simple label maker and stuck on the pads haphazardly. He handed each of us our corresponding pad.

“There. Nicely labeled and given out personally by me. Now I know there won’t be any mix-ups!” He chuckled to himself as if he was in on a joke that none of us understood. “Now…what you have there are my patented MiniMonoPads! I’ve provided you with simple earbuds to give you privacy, but I’ll need them back after you watch the video stored on this!” Lemon Zest’s expression immediately fell.

“What exactly are you having us watch?” Octavia was skeptical, as were the rest of us.

“Puhuhuhu. Oh, nothing much. Just…a little personalized video I put together for each of you. Go ahead and watch it and find out!” I really didn’t like how cheery he was being about this. Seeing as how this was our only real option, we all put on our headphones and began to watch our videos.

The screen turned on, showing an image of the statue in front of Canterlot High and an admittedly adorable chibi version of myself. Monokuma’s voice came through the headphones. “Sunset Shimmer, the Ultimate Demon.” That title made me wince again, especially as the chibi version of myself began knocking down nondescript gray individuals and laughing. “Once the entitled protégé to a powerful teacher, she became a runaway and soon to be wannabe dictator. Before enacting her plans, she was defeated by her replacement and a group of high school girls! For whatever reason, she believes they saved her soul and now considers them and another girl she met later to be her best friends in the whole world!” Various gray figures illustrated my defeat and subsequent friendships. “Of course, now she doesn’t even remember them! I wonder why? I wonder what happened to them. Are they safe? Are they even alive? Who knows!” A text graphic appeared on the screen that said, ‘Check Out of the Hotel to Find Out!’

All the color drained from my face as the implications made themselves painfully clear. Not only was my memory gone, not only was I trapped, but my friends must be too! They must be in trouble! What if Monokuma was holding them somewhere? If he got to me and my geode, he might have gotten to them too! I slammed my fist on the table in frustration.

‘Dammit! How can I help them if I don’t even remember who they are?!’

The rest of the group wasn’t faring much better than me. Some were pale and staring in horror. Others looked angry. There was a whole cavalcade of emotions throughout the room.

“This is…this a joke, right? Right?!” Zephyr Breeze was shaking, looking as if he’d seen a ghost.

“Nope…nuh-uh…Ah don’t believe it!” Apple Bloom shouted as tears ran down her face. She was barely able to hold herself together.

“Bastard…” Limestone gritted her teeth, hands gripping the MiniMonoPad so tightly that her knuckles turned white. “If even half of this is true…”

"It's a lie. It's gotta be a lie, right?" Snips was looking back and forth between a few of us, trying to get some form of confirmation that this was indeed a lie. Unfortunately, nobody was able to comfort him.

“You monster!” Rarity shouted, leaning in close and staring the bear straight into his mismatched eyes. “If you’ve hurt her…I don’t care how many guns or whatever you throw my way! I will end you!” Rarity was like an entirely different person. It was honestly terrifying. However, I couldn’t blame her. I got the sense that her video was similar to mine. Someone close to her must be in trouble.

“Ah, ah, ah! Don’t be so hasty!” Monokuma waved his paw in a finger-wagging motion. “If you want to find out what’s going on with those little videos of yours…you simply must check out of the hotel! Call it a little bit of…motive. Puhuhuhuhu…AAHAHAHAHA!!!” And with his mocking laughter, that despicable bear ran across the table to snatch our headphones away from each of us. “Have fun deciding what to do with your new motives! See ya!” Monokuma then vanished as quickly as he’d appeared.

As we all sat in silence, I took note of everyone’s reactions. Most were exactly what I’d expected, a mix of fear, anger, disbelief, and worry. However, there were three of us whose reactions puzzled me. For one thing, Capper was barely reacting at all. He had a small frown, but it seemed to be more from being deep in thought than anything else. Aria Blaze looked upset, but she always looked upset. This didn’t seem to change her mood one way or another. In fact, it seemed that she was more interested in puzzling out what everyone else’s reactions were. However, the most surprising reaction of the bunch was hers.

Cozy Glow sat there, staring at her MiniMonoPad. Her eyes were wide, and tears formed in the corners. However, she didn’t look depressed or desperate. No…Cozy Glow looked absolutely livid. Her nostrils flared, one of her eyes was twitching, and her mouth was contorted into an angry snarl as she gritted her teeth. Seeing that look upon her normally adorable face…it terrified me. It terrified me because it was an all too familiar expression. I’d worn a similar expression many times in the old days when things just wouldn’t go my way.

After a few moments, she seemed to catch herself and closed her eyes, grimacing as the tears started to flow more freely. Without a word, Cozy Glow stood up and briskly left the restaurant, taking her MiniMonoPad with her. As far as I could tell, the only ones of us paying any attention to her prior to this were Aria, Capper, and myself. It was possible that Snips noticed her drastic change in mood when he was looking around, but I couldn't be sure. Everyone else was too absorbed in whatever their own videos held, so Cozy's abrupt exit caught them all off guard.

“Cozy, hold on!” Apple Bloom tried to stop her, but Cozy simply ignored her. With a sad sigh, the redhead sat back down.

“Let her be, Red.” Capper stretched his arms straight up as he stood. “I know you wanna be friendly and all, but that was some pretty heavy stuff. I’m sure she’ll be happy to talk to you later. As for myself, the mood’s gotten too dour for my tastes. Later.” He left without another word, lazily waving one hand as he went off to who knows where.

’He’s being far too casual about all this. Maybe Monokuma couldn’t find much to leverage against him?’

Even if that was true, he still had some serious leverage against most of us. I thought back to what Moondancer said the previous day: ‘Can you really say you’d never kill someone? What if your family were held hostage? What if the only way to assure their safety was to kill someone else? Can you really say you wouldn’t do it? Can any of you?’

I hadn’t wanted to consider the possibility, but the logical part of my mind knew she’d been right. Any one of us could become a murderer. And thanks to Monokuma, a compelling motive had entered the picture. We’d all have to stay on guard. The very real possibility existed that one of us, in the near future, would kill someone.

CHAPTER 1: Welcome to the Hotel Despair Part 3

The videos Monokuma showed us had shaken many of us to our core. Most of the group decided to follow Cozy and Capper’s lead, leaving to process this new development on their own. I considered suggesting we share what we saw with one another to try and foster some semblance of trust, but I quickly discarded the idea. With how intense many of those reactions were, I knew getting most of them to agree to such a thing would be a tall order.

‘Maybe I’ll suggest it later, when everyone’s had time to calm down a little bit.’

I decided to stay seated in the restaurant as I thought about what had just transpired. My friends, the ones who saved me from myself, the ones I couldn’t even remember…they might be in trouble. At the very least, Monokuma knew about them. He was probably the one responsible for messing with my memories. But to what end? I still had no idea.

Before long, I was left alone with one other person. Aria Blaze. She hadn’t moved from her seat the entire time, choosing to watch the others. And now her eyes were on me. Now that I was alone with her, that feeling from before came back. So much had happened that I’d almost forgotten about it. When I looked at Aria, I got this feeling of familiarity. But this wasn’t a pleasant feeling like with Rarity. Looking at her made me feel uneasy, as if I should be on my guard. And considering how she hadn’t taken her eyes off me since everyone else left, I got the feeling she must have some concerns about me as well.

Since she wasn’t making any attempt to approach me, I buried this unknown anxiety and moved to sit across from her. “Aria? Is everything alright? I didn’t do anything to upset you, did I?”

“No. Why would you think that?” Aria seemed genuinely confused by my question. On top of that, there was no malice in her tone, merely a hint of annoyance and confusion. Did she not realize how she looked, staring at me and frowning like that?

“Sorry, it’s just…you’ve been staring at me for a while. I thought maybe I’d done something.” Since she apparently wasn’t mad at me, I chose not to mention how things looked to me. Maybe that’s just her default expression?

“Oh, that.” She shifted her focus to her right, no longer looking directly into my eyes. “Sorry. Don’t worry about it. Just…trying to figure something out is all.”

“Trying to figure something out? What do you mean?” Now I was even more curious. She must be getting the same weird feeling I was. “If you want, I can try and help.” Aria was silent for a moment, looking as if she were considering it.

“Hmm…no.” Well, at least she seemed to think about it before shutting me down. “It’s not something you can help with. Talking to you about it would be pointless.” Okay, that just raised my curiosity even further. What was she trying to figure out about me? I thought about trying to push the issue, but I decided against it. I’d already seen how short this girl’s fuse seemed to be. I didn’t want to risk actually upsetting her.

“I see…well if you change your mind, I’d be happy to help.” Deciding it would be best to change the subject, I pivoted to something else I’d been curious about. “So, you said before that you were in a pop trio, right? The Dazzlings?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Adagio Dazzle, Sonata Dusk, and myself.” As she said those names, her expression temporarily broke into a more somber one before she caught herself. “Together, we make up the pop trio ‘The Dazzlings,’ not that anyone here seems to have heard of us. It’s pretty damn infuriating.”

I pondered on that for a moment. Even Lemon Zest, the so-called Ultimate Rocker, hadn’t heard of them. And I knew firsthand how many groups she was familiar with based on my experience with her yesterday. I hadn’t thought about it much before, but it was odd that a supposedly famous group would be completely unknown. Yeah, there were a lot of music groups in the world, but Lemon Zest seemed borderline obsessed with music. If ‘The Dazzlings’ were even moderately famous, there was no way she wouldn’t have at least heard of them. And yet, I didn’t get the sense that Aria was lying. Maybe there was something more to this. For now, though, I decided to try and make her feel better.

“Well, I sure wouldn’t mind hearing about you and your group. And hey, maybe we could all jam sometime. I’m no professional, but I play a pretty mean guitar…huh?” I stopped as I noticed Aria’s fists clenched and a dour look on her face. “Uh…are you okay? Was it something I said?” Then it clicked. Her friends. Adagio Dazzle and Sonata Dusk. They must have been what was shown in her video. “Oh…oh no, I’m so sorry. Adagio and Sonata…are they…?”

“They’re fine.” Aria clenched her teeth as she spoke, venom and vitriol in her voice. “There’s no way Monokuma really got to them. Sonata’s too slippery. And Adagio…if anyone tries to nab her, they’ll end up with a knife in their gut.” She spoke with such conviction that I knew she was telling the truth. This Adagio Dazzle sounded like someone I’d sure hate to piss off. Still, Monokuma wasn’t to be trifled with. Who knows what he’s truly capable of?

“I’m sure they are.” It was clear to me that Aria was doing her best to put on a strong front regarding her friends. I wasn’t about to upset her further by contradicting her. “That just means we’ll need to get out of here. When we do, I’d love to see you perform.”

Aria stared at me for a few moments in silence before grunting in what I assumed to be appreciation. “Well…maybe I can get you tickets to a show sometime. No promises.” With that, Aria Blaze exited the restaurant, leaving me all alone.

’She’s a bit…intense. But I can’t really blame her, all things considered. Maybe she’ll let her walls down if we can become friends.’

Got Friendship Fragment! Aria Blaze: 1/5

After I spent a little time with Aria, I left the restaurant and returned to my room. I was in desperate need of a shower and a change of clothes. After taking care of myself, I left to begin meandering around the hotel. While there weren’t very many places to go, it was still better than staying cooped up in my room all day. When I entered the hallway, I saw Apple Bloom heading towards her room. She didn’t seem as upset as before, but she was still clearly down in the dumps.

“Hey Apple Bloom, how are you feeling?” She stopped and turned around, giving me a weak smile. Poor girl was trying her best to put on a strong front, despite whatever was in her video shaking her to the core.

“Oh, hey Sunset. I’m not doin’ so great, but I’ll manage. Honestly, I’m more concerned about Cozy Glow. She’s locked herself in her room.” My expression fell as I thought about Cozy. What could have been in her video to warrant such a reaction? She looked as if she were about to attack someone. “Ah tried to go and talk to her, but she just told me to go away. Now I’m not sure what I should do. I can’t just stand by and do nothin’ when my friend’s hurting!”

I understood how she was feeling. Not being able to be there when a friend was going through something was a terrible feeling. That said, they’d only known each other for a day now. Cozy must have really endeared herself to Apple Bloom for her to be this concerned. Or perhaps the redhead was just this naturally caring about everyone. It was hard to say. Either way, I was touched.

“Hmm…I’ll tell you what. I’ll check on her later and see if I can get her to talk to me. Maybe she just needs a little bit more time to herself.” I gave my best reassuring smile as I placed a hand on Apple Bloom’s shoulder.

“Ya will? Thanks, Sunset. Be sure to tell her that Scootaloo and me are worried about her, okay?” She already seemed to be a bit less glum than before.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to tell her.” I waved goodbye as I turned to leave, hearing Apple Bloom enter her room and lock the door behind her as I did.

As I left the East Wing guest rooms, I heard a commotion going on in the laundry room. Letting my curiosity get the best of me, I peeked inside only to see Trixie stuffing what seemed like a mountain of laundry into one of the machines.

“Come on…get in there already!” She was clearly having trouble, so I went over without a word and helped her out. The source of her trouble seemed to be a blue cape getting caught on the door of the machine next to it. Her hands were so full she didn’t realize she’d gotten caught on something. “Phew…Trixie thanks you for your assistance, Sunset Shimmer.”

“Don’t worry about it. But I have to ask, why are you washing all of that? We’ve only been here for a day.” Surely there was no way she could have dirtied all that laundry already, right?

“Oh, it is quite simple!” Trixie put a hand to her mouth and laughed condescendingly. “Monokuma thinks he’s so smart, but he can’t fool The Great and Powerful Trixie! All those nice clothes in the closet and drawers, it was too suspicious! And so, Trixie realized…sabotage!”

“Sabotage?” I was so lost.

“Indeed, sabotage! For all Trixie knew, these could have been a trap! Filled with itching powder or some other diabolical means of torture! Therefore, Trixie had the brilliant idea of washing all her laundry before making use of any of it!” A look of annoyance passed over her face. “She was even forced to wash her sheets before going to sleep last night. Seriously, what kind of hotel makes the guests wash their own sheets?!”

I had no idea how to even respond to all of that. I was certain that nobody else had even considered whatever it was she was going on about. Not to mention that by her own logic, there was nothing to stop Monokuma from sabotaging the washing machine in a similar manner. It made sense that she was paranoid, but she was just making extra work for herself.

“Trixie would recommend that you follow suit at your earliest convenience.” I snapped out of my musings as Trixie addressed me.

“Uh, sure. I’ll be sure to get right on that.” Remembering the cape she’d had in her laundry pile, I leapt at the opportunity to change the subject. “So, that cape? Is that part of your magician act?”

“Oho! Is Sunset Shimmer interested in the art of stage magic?” Trixie did a little twirl and a bow before beginning to load up the detergent and start the machine. “It’s true, that cape is a piece of Trixie’s stage apparel. She was quite surprised to find that Monokuma had made copies of it and placed it in her room.”

“Yeah, I thought that was weird too. I saw lots of copies of my outfit too.” He could’ve just thrown a random assortment of clothes into the closets for us. What was the point of going through all the trouble to make copies of our outfits?

“Yes, Trixie assumed as much. But enough about that. You showed interest in Trixie’s profession and so she will reward you with a brief demonstration!” With a flourish of her hands, Trixie was suddenly holding three gold coins with Monokuma’s face on them. These must be the so-called Monocoins she’d found and used on the MonoMono Machine. Where did she keep finding them though?

“You see here that The Great and Powerful Trixie holds three Monocoins in her hand.” She held out her hand to make it clear these were all she was holding. “And now…watch as Trixie makes them vanish without a trace!” She clapped her hands together, opened them up again and…they were gone! “Presto! As Trixie said, the coins have vanished! But look! Not for long!” Without any warning, she reached behind both of my ears and pulled two of the coins from nowhere. “Tada!”

“What the…how did you-?” I was simply flabbergasted. While I’m an expert at magical spell theory and the application thereof, I had no experience when it came to sleight of hand and stage magic. I knew there was a trick to it, but what it could have been was eluding me. Then I realized something. She had three coins and had only reproduced two of them. “Hold on, where’s the other one?”

Trixie smirked and leaned forward, pointing towards my chest. “Oh, you mean the one currently sitting in your jacket’s pocket?” I blinked a few times and reached into my pocket.

“No fucking way.” I pulled out a Monocoin from my pocket. She was right, it was right there. I narrowed my eyes a bit, trying to sus out how she could’ve done this. I gave up after a minute and sighed, shrugging my shoulders. “I’ve gotta hand it to you, Trixie. That was seriously impressive. I have no idea how you did that!”

“Ah, tis but a paltry demonstration. But Trixie thanks you all the same and is happy you enjoyed it.” I tried to hand her back the coin, but she held up her hand to stop me. “Keep it. Consider it a token of Trixie’s appreciation for indulging her. Well, not that it’s worth much. Trixie doubts it’ll serve any purpose once we get out of here. And it seems the only use they have in this infernal hotel is that MonoMono Machine.”

“Thanks, Trixie. I really appreciate that.” I gripped the coin tightly before placing it back in my pocket. Regardless of what it was, receiving a gift of any kind in this place meant a lot to me. “So, if I ever get the chance, I’d love to see one of your shows. If this is what you call a paltry demonstration, I can’t imagine how great everything else is.”

I felt a small sense of pride when I saw Trixie’s cheeks get a twinge of red in them. “Oh…you would? Ahem…of course you would! Who wouldn’t want to see one of The Great and Powerful Trixie’s shows? You are welcome in Trixie’s audience anytime, Sunset Shimmer!” Yep, this girl sure did recover fast. Talk about showmanship.

’She seemed weird at first, but I actually sort of enjoy Trixie’s eccentricities. Maybe the two of us can become friends.’

Got Friendship Fragment! Trixie Lulamoon: 1/5

Trixie and I conversed a bit longer while she waited on her laundry, mostly about stage magic and how much goes into it. I used to think very little of stage magicians and “fake magic,” but it turns out that a lot of work goes into it. Once we said our goodbyes, I decided to make my way towards Cozy Glow’s room. I told Apple Bloom that I’d check on her and I felt like I’d let enough time pass.

I made my way to Cozy Glow’s room and knocked on the door. I waited a bit, but there was no answer. I knocked again, still no answer. Maybe she’d left her room? I started knocking again just as the door’s lock clicked and it began to slowly crack open. Cozy Glow was barely peeking through the crack in the door. All I could see was her eye. “Who is it? Oh, it’s you Sunset.” Her voice had that cutesy tone to it, but I knew she had to be faking it. Based on her reaction earlier, there was no way she was in a good mood.

“Yeah, I wanted to talk with you. Is it okay if I come in?” She seemed to think about it for a minute before opening the door just enough for me to step inside. Once I did, she shut it back and locked it. As I expected, her room was almost identical to mine. The only notable difference was that her bed was cleanly made. I’d completely forgotten to make mine, a bad habit I carried over from my everyday life. I also noticed that she’d tossed a pile of clothes onto the floor near the bathroom, which had its door open and its light on.

’Did I catch her in the middle of…oh. Okay yeah, I sure did.’

Looking back at Cozy Glow, I saw that she was wrapped in a towel and had curlers in her hair. My face instantly went red with embarrassment as I turned to face away from her. “S-sorry Cozy! If this is a bad time, I can come back later.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” She hopped over and got in front of me, looking into my eyes with what appeared to be genuine confusion. When she saw my flustered state, it seemed to dawn on her, and she laughed! “Sunset, I’m not naked! I just didn’t want whoever was at the door to see me in my underwear, so I threw a towel on.” As she mentioned that, I looked closer. Sure enough, her bra straps were visible on her exposed shoulders. The color was just so close to her skin tone that I hadn’t noticed them before. I gave a sheepish grin and a nervous chuckle, causing her to giggle some more. She then led me to her bed and urged me to sit. “Here, have a seat. What did you wanna talk about?” Cozy sat down next to me and smiled that too cutesy smile of hers.

’Well, it’s good to know she’s comfortable with me being here. Not that that’ll mean much in a minute. Guess I’d better get started. No sense putting it off.’

“Cozy…” I took a deep breath as I steeled myself. I had no doubt that she’d react poorly to what I was about to say. “I know what you’re doing.”

“Huh? You do? Golly, what am I doing?” She cocked her head to the side and blinked a few times, staring into my eyes with the most innocent look she could muster.

“That. You’re doing that.” I crossed my arms and met her gaze with a stern one of my own. “I saw how you reacted to that video. I might not know all the details, but I can tell that this cutesy schtick is an act.” She backed away slightly as I said that, freezing up as her false smile began to falter. “I’m no stranger to putting on a mask to fool the people around you. So, stop pretending like nothing’s wrong.”

“I’m sure that I have no idea what you’re talking about!” She recovered quickly, standing up and pacing around the room while staring me down with her saccharine grin. Disturbingly, she had an aura about her reminiscent of a predator playing with her prey. “It’s so nice of you to worry about me, but I’m doing just fine!” She leaned forward with a hand over her mouth, playfully giggling at me. “Golly Sunset, you need to trust your friends more!”

“Funny, I was about to tell you the same thing.” I wasn’t fooled by her act. Whatever the reason for how she was acting, I was determined to get through to her. Sure, I might have been being a bit too presumptuous, but seeing her bury her feelings underneath this act didn’t sit right with me. “You want to be friends, right? I’d like to consider you a friend too. But if we’re going to be friends, then we need to trust one another." I thought back to how she managed to calm me down after I saw the statue of myself. "...I'm choosing to put my trust in you. And so, I want you to trust me too, Cozy.”

“I don’t…understand what you’re trying to say.” Her façade faltered once more as she backed up against the wall. Her demeanor had shifted from stalking predator to cornered prey. I sighed. I really didn’t want to upset her. Given different circumstances, I probably wouldn’t have been pushing so hard. But we were all in danger here. If there was even a chance of Cozy acting on Monokuma’s motive, I had to do what I could to prevent it.

’But how can I stop everyone from falling into Monokuma’s trap? I can’t just have one on one talks with each of them, can I? I may be an empath, but I’m not a damn therapist.

“Look, I think you know exactly what I’m trying to say.” Not for the first time since I woke up in this place, I lamented my seemingly diminished powers. Being able to just touch her and peek inside her mind would have made this whole affair much easier. “You don’t have to tell me everything. Just…stop pretending that you’re not affected by all this! It’s okay to not be okay. I’m your friend. I know-“

“You don’t know anything!” She suddenly interrupted with a shout, staring at me red-faced and with fury in her eyes. Although I was prepared for her to potentially lash out, I flinched at her sudden shift in demeanor. Still, I held my ground. After a few tense moments, she straightened up and spoke softly. “I…I’m going to go finish cleaning up for the night.” She went into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

’Well that was...intense.’

I was about to leave, but then I caught sight of Cozy’s MiniMonoPad sitting on her nightstand. There it was: the source of her current foul mood. A thought occurred to me. Should I watch it? No, that would be a gross invasion of privacy. But then again, maybe I could help her if I found out more about her. Besides, wasn’t I just complaining that I couldn’t gaze into her mind? That seemed like a far worse privacy violation. Eventually, my curiosity won out and I grabbed the pad. They weren’t long videos, so I’d surely finish it before Cozy got done in there.

I turned the video on, thanking my lucky stars that the video wasn’t terribly loud without the headphones. It began with an adorable chibi version of Cozy Glow standing in the middle of a field with many nondescript gray figures walking by her. “Cozy Glow, the Ultimate Chessmaster.” Monokuma’s voice began its mocking narration. “It would seem that…she has nothing!” The gray figures dispersed, leaving Cozy all alone in the field, with tears streaming down her face. “With no friends or family to speak of, this cutie patootie is all alone! Friendless. Powerless. Useless! Puhuhuhuhu!” Where the ending text of my video encouraged me to find out the truth by checking out of the hotel, Cozy’s ended with a condescending ‘Better Luck Next Time!’

I was shocked. I knew her video had to be bad, but this was terrible. Did she really have nobody on the outside? Is that why she acted the way she did? To try and overcompensate in a desperate attempt to make any sort of connection? Now I just felt bad about confronting her. I placed the MiniMonoPad back where I found it and went to the bathroom door. I knocked gently before speaking. “Cozy Glow? I’m sorry. I probably could’ve handled that better. I was just worried about you. Listen…just remember that I’m your friend, okay?” There was no response, no movement whatsoever on the other side of the door. Just a long stretch of silence. I was about to leave when I finally heard it.

“…You watched it, didn’t you?” The voice was so soft, so vulnerable. Even when she was breaking down during Monokuma’s initial appearance she didn’t sound this vulnerable. Her voice was coming from lower to the ground than before. Realizing she must be sitting, I followed suit and leaned back against the door.

“Yeah. Yeah, I did. I’m sorry.” That was all I could really say on the matter. I should have figured she’d realize I’d watched it.

“You saw it and you still want to call yourself my friend? Why?”

“Why wouldn't I?”

“You heard what Monokuma said. I’m powerless. Useless.” I could hear the frustration building back into her voice.

“Why should that matter?” I still wasn’t sure what this whole thing about being powerless and useless meant, but I wasn’t about to let her feel worse about herself than she already was.

“Because…friendship is power.” She spoke that phrase with such steely determination that I knew she believed it to be true in the very core of her being. “And because I keep fucking it up, I’m just a powerless nobody.”

“Friendship is...power?” Despite not having the full context, it broke my heart to hear that she had such a fundamental misunderstanding of what friendship was. What had happened in her life to make her believe such a thing?

“Of course you wouldn’t get it.” Cozy scoffed. “It must be so easy for you. I've seen you getting along with everyone you meet. Little miss perfect Sunset Shimmer has many friends. I have…no friends.” She sounded so defeated as she began lightly sniffling.

'Oh, Cozy Glow. I think we're a lot more alike than you realize.'

As much as I wanted to tell her as much, I doubted she'd respond well to that right now. So, I decided to simply stay there so she wouldn’t be alone. After a few minutes, she managed to get ahold of her emotions and sat with me in silence. Eventually, I sighed and stood up. It was getting late.

“Cozy Glow…I’m going back to my room now. Whatever you might be thinking right now, please remember that I want to be your friend. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo too. You don’t have to be alone.” There was no response. “…Remember to lock the door behind me, okay?” Deciding I didn’t want to trouble her any further tonight, I left. I stayed outside her door for a little while until I heard the telltale sound of the lock clicking into place. Assured of her relative safety, I began to make my way towards my room.

I was barely inside for five minutes before I heard someone knocking. I went to the door and opened it to see Scootaloo on the other side.

“Hey Scootaloo, what’s up?” She seemed in an alright mood all things considered.

“Hey Sunset. I just wanted to give you this.” She handed me a note which read:

Late Night Fun Time “Screw Monokuma” Party! Tomorrow at 8 p.m. in the lounge! Drinks, music, and entertainment galore! No Bears Allowed!

“Limestone decided it might be a good idea to throw a party. You know, to put us in good spirits and try to keep us getting along.”

“Huh. I didn’t peg her for the party girl type. And this invitation seems unlike her.” I couldn’t help but smile at what was written. It was almost like an invitation to a child’s birthday party.

“Oh, she didn’t write the invitations. Trixie did that.” Okay, that explained a few things. “And as far as I can tell, Limestone said she was doing this because it’s something her sister would do. Apparently, her sister is, and I quote, ‘an expert at turning frowns upside down.’”

“Well, I’ll definitely be there.” This was perfect! I’d been agonizing about trying to figure out how to talk down everyone from whatever they might have seen in their videos when the solution was right there. We just needed to get together and try to unwind. Get ourselves de-stressed so we could think rationally about it all. We’d figure out how to escape without giving that damn bear what he wants!

“Awesome! I’ll see you later then. I’ve still got a few more to deliver.” With that, she ran off to finish her rounds. It wasn't until she was gone and I'd closed the door behind me that I realized my mistake.

'Dammit! I should've talked with her about Cozy Glow. I'll have to find her and Apple Bloom tomorrow.'

While I proceeded to mentally kick myself for the obvious oversight, the nighttime announcement played.

Ding Dong, Bing Bong!

That was exactly the same as last night. Maybe these things were pre-recorded? Either way, I was feeling tired. I got ready for bed and went to sleep, ending my second day at the Hotel Despair.

CHAPTER 1: Welcome to the Hotel Despair Part 4

Ding Dong, Bing Bong!

“Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beautiful day!”

'Ugh. It's just going to be the same thing every day, isn't it?'

I groaned in annoyance at Monokuma's morning announcement. While it was thankfully short, the sound of his shrill voice always made my skin crawl. Not to mention I was particularly tired this morning. The previous day had taken a lot out of me. After the monitor turned off, I turned over and fell back asleep almost instantly.

Ding Dong!

"Huh?" I stirred briefly at the sound, but was so weary that I couldn't place its source. And so, I once again faded into slumber.

Ding Dong! Ding Dong! Ding-Ding-Ding-Ding-Ding Dong!

My eyes shot open, that incessant ringing echoing in my head. The doorbell. That's what it was. Someone was ringing my doorbell. And they wouldn't stop. I slowly got out of bed and shambled to the door. "I'm coming, I'm coming." Not that whoever was on the other side could hear me through the soundproof room. I opened the door, revealing my awful bedhead to whoever was behind that infernal racket.

"Sunset!" Rarity practically shouted at me as she lunged forward, wrapping me in a tight embrace. "Oh thank goodness, you're alright!"

"R-Rarity...can't breathe!" The fashionista was stronger than she looked.

Finally realizing she was squeezing the life out of me, Rarity let go. "Sorry, I got a little carried away." After a brief bout of embarrassment, her expression suddenly shifted to a stern frown. She crossed her arms and gave me a paralyzing glare. "Sunset Shimmer! Do you have any idea what time it is?" I blinked in response, still in the process of fully waking up. Before giving me a chance to answer, she simply continued. "It is eight-o-clock in the morning. The morning meeting was supposed to start an hour ago!"

I widened my eyes as I remembered going back to sleep after the morning announcement. "Oh. Right. Sorry, I guess I slept in."

"Don't act so casual about this! You had us all worried sick! We waited for twenty minutes before dispersing. I tried to ring the doorbell earlier just in case you were still in your room. But since there was no response, I assumed you weren't." Did she do that? I did vaguely remember being woken up by a sound before falling back asleep. That must have been it. "After everything that happened yesterday, we assumed the worst and began searching everywhere for you." I could hear the worry in her voice as it cracked with emotion. Despite her clear anger, there were tears forming in the corners of her eyes. The more she said, the worse I felt. "I only came back here in a bout of desperation, and it's a good thing I did! If I hadn't, who knows how long you would have made us think you were...you were-" She choked down a sob, unable to articulate what she was trying to say. But it was obvious what she meant. They all thought I had been murdered.

"Rarity...I'm so sorry. I don't even know what to say." I averted my gaze, unable to look her in the eye.

"You don't need to say anything." She sniffled a little as she began to regain her composure. "I'm just happy you're alright. But please don't do this again."

"I won't. I promise." I fully intended to keep that promise. Which meant that I'd need to try and be a morning person for a change. That wasn't going to be pleasant.

"Good. You'd better keep that promise. Now, onto a change of subject. May I come in for a moment?" I shrugged and nodded my head, letting her step through the door's threshold and closing it behind her. "Thank you. Now, I don't mean to be rude, but you've got one of the most unruly cases of bedhead that I've ever seen. I simply can't allow you to go out in public like that."

"Oh. Gee. Thanks." I deadpanned as she dressed me down. I didn't think she was trying to be condescending or anything, but it didn't exactly feel great to be told my hair was a mess.

Rarity seemed to miss it, leading me towards my bathroom. "If you'd indulge me, I'd be happy to help you clean up a little. Not that I doubt your abilities or anything. You do normally sport an exceptionally beautiful mane of hair. I simply wish to make things go faster so the others won't have to keep worrying."

I stifled a chuckle at her use of the word "mane." If only she knew. "Sure. I guess I don't mind if you do that. Thanks." I got the feeling that while she was telling the truth, she no doubt also just wanted an excuse to mess with my hair. Not that I really minded too much.

"Splendid! Then let's get started!" And so, after waiting for me to clean up a little bit and change clothes, Rarity did my hair. I had to admit, she did make it go slightly faster than if I did it on my own. Soon enough, she was finished. "There! I would have liked to play with it a bit more, but alas, there isn't time right now. What do you think?"

I looked in the mirror and was pleasantly surprised. "Huh...it looks great!" She'd perfectly copied my usual style. Perhaps her talents as the Ultimate Fashionista carried over to hair as well? Under better circumstances, I'd be interested to see what she could pull off.

"Oh, I'm so glad you approve! Well then, shall we be going? We all agreed to convene in the lobby periodically until we found you." After I nodded my agreement, she opened the door and led the way as we left my room.

After we left my room, Rarity ushered me to the lobby without delay. Once we arrived, a chorus of gasps and shouts greeted us.

"Sunset! You're okay!" Cozy Glow rushed over and nearly tackled me to the ground with a hug. I was glad to see she wasn't locking herself in her room anymore.

"Well I'll be." Trouble Shoes nodded solemnly.

"It's about time." Aria scoffed, turning to look away from the displays of relief and affection.

Zephyr Breeze crossed his arms and let out a hearty laugh. "Haha! I knew she was fine all along. No way a girl like that was gonna let dying get between her and The Breeze."

"No you didn't." Moondancer scowled at him. "You were whining about how she was, and I quote, 'definitely and totally dead.' Also, don't say things like that. It's gross." He let out a nervous laugh as she scolded him. Without giving him a second glance, she adjusted her glasses and turned her attention back to a book she must have brought from the library.

"I'm sorry guys, I-"

"Hey now!" Iron Will stepped up and placed one massive hand on my shoulder, seemingly unaware he just interrupted me. "Iron Will appreciates a dramatically late entrance, but slow your roll! You need to work up to that kind of thing. Hell, you don't even have entrance music!" Before I could ask what the hell he meant by that, we were rudely interrupted.

"Entrance music!?"

Much to our dread, Monokuma appeared, accompanied by his own bizarre music coming from the speakers. "Did you say entrance music?"

"Oh no...not him again..." Scootaloo groaned, slumping into her chair.

"You want entrance music? Out of the question!" He pointed one of his sharpened claws out at us and proceeded to wave it in a disapproving manner. "Do you have any idea how much I'd need to spend on the licensing fees? And I'm pretty sure I'd need to spend it every single time I played each track! I'm not made of cash, you know!"

"You actually care about copyright law? Color me surprised." Capper looked at the bear skeptically.

"Of course I care!" His demeanor suddenly shifted as he put his paws to his face. "Puhuhuhu. Think about it. When the copyright lawyers come knocking, that's when beloved fan projects get the axe! And that, my dear guests, creates such delicious despair!"

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose in annoyance. "Okay, what's your point? If you just came here to mess with us, then go away."

"Oh. Okay then. I know when I'm not wanted." Monokuma bowed his head in apparent sadness. "Not even invited to your stupid party tonight. Well fine then, have fun without me!" With that, he slowly began walking away. A somber tune began playing on the speakers as he made his way out of the lobby. He looked back a few times to make sure we were watching before finally taking his leave and stopping the music.

Now that Monokuma was gone, everyone's attention turned back towards me. Apple Bloom was the first to speak up. "So, Sunset. Where were you? We were worried about you!"

My cheeks flushed as I remembered why we were all here in the lobby. "Oh...I may have sort of...slept in?"

"Slept in?" Limestone stepped up, arms crossed and looking at me like I had two heads or something. "Slept in?! How the hell were you able to sleep through that stupid announcement and your doorbell ringing?"

"Well, I think I might have briefly woken up, but I was so tired that I fell right back asleep. I'm sorry for causing everyone so much trouble." I averted my gaze from Limestone as I said that, too embarrassed to look her in the eye.

She stared me down for what seemed like minutes but must have really been only a few seconds. With a sigh, she shook her head is resignation. "It's fine. Just don't scare us like that again, got it?" Without waiting for an answer, Limestone began walking away. Everyone else began following Limestone's lead, breaking off into little groups or going off on their own.

My first instinct was to go check on Cozy Glow. After what we talked about last night, I was worried about her. However, she'd run off with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. Thanks to Monokuma's antics, I hadn't even noticed she'd put some distance between us after making sure I was okay. I saw the trio leaving the lobby in the direction of the lounge. From what I could see, it appeared that Cozy was acting the same as she normally did.

'I shouldn't be surprised that she wants to avoid me right now. She's got some intense baggage to deal with. I'll give her time, but I want to help her.'

Soon, the only people left in the lobby were Rarity and me. Standing beside the large Christmas Tree, it was strikingly similar to how our conversation started the other day. Except this time, she was frowning as she stared at me. Something seemed to be troubling her.

"Rarity, is everything okay?" As I stepped forward, she tensed up a little bit, causing me to retract my steps. "Rarity?"

She blinked her eyes a few times and seemed to snap out of it. "Oh! I'm terribly sorry, darling. I seem to have spaced out for a moment there. How very unladylike of me. I assure you everything is fine. I must be tired. I certainly hate to cut our time together short, but I believe I should go rest for a short while." She cleared her throat and began to step towards the exit hallway leading to our rooms. "If I don't see you beforehand, we'll reconvene at the party tonight!"

"Oh. Yeah, I guess that's fine. Oh, hold on!" She stopped and turned around, giving me a curious look. "Um...thanks. For coming to get me. I'm sorry I worried you."

The fashionista flashed a brilliant smile, showing no signs of her earlier unease. "Think nothing of it! I'm merely looking out for a friend. Tata!"

With those last words, Rarity left me alone in the lobby. Now that she was gone, I tried to think of what could possibly have given her that strange reaction. It looked as if she was deep in thought about something. And when I tried to approach, she got tense. Something was going through her mind. No doubt that was why she truly wanted to be alone. Unable to come up with anything, I let out a defeated sigh and wandered off in a random direction.

Before long, I ended up in the library. It was as fitting a place as any to kill time before the party later. While not nearly as impressive as Princess Celestia's, it was still a sizable collection. I roamed around its first floor, keeping a lookout for anything that might grab my attention. Soon enough, something indeed caught my eye. Taking up an entire row of a shelf by themselves were a collection of books from the "Daring Do" series. While I couldn't remember the details thanks to my muddied memory, I was suddenly aware that at least two friends had recommended the series to me before. And there was...something about a movie?

"Do you need assistance?"

I yelped and practically jumped out of my skin as Moondancer seemed to just appear next to me. She simply frowned at my outburst.

"Not so loud. This is a library, you know." She glared at me as she adjusted her glasses.

"S-sorry!" I lowered my voice to a more acceptable volume. "You just startled me is all. I didn't even notice you walking up to me.

A smug smile crossed Moondancer's face. "Of course you didn't. We librarians can be quite sneaky. Silence comes with the territory." Her expression became more neutral once again. "Now, did you need help finding anything?"

"I don't think so. I was sort of just browsing when these caught my eye." It was then that what she'd said truly registered with me. "Wait, hold on a minute! How would you be able to help me find anything? We've only been here three days. There's no way you've memorized everything here!"

"Not perfectly memorized, no. But I have catalogued every section and have a general idea of the kinds of books here." Oh, that was far more reasonable. Nobody would be crazy enough to try and catalogue every single book in such a short time, right? She eyed the shelf. "Are you a fan of 'Daring Do?'"

"Oh, not really. I've never read any of them." She seemed mildly disappointed at that. "I just remembered that a friend of mine recommended them to me once. Since we're stuck here until we figure out how to deal with Monokuma, I thought I might as well get some reading done." She perked up a little at that and seemed to be in thought.

"A friend recommended them to you, did they? I see. I'm sorry to say, they're not all here." The librarian curtly replied. "This isn't even half of them. 'Daring Do and the Ring of Destiny,' 'Fallen Idol,' 'Eternal Flower,' 'Curse of the Basaltic Caves,' and 'Quest for the Sapphire Stone' are all missing, to name but a few. And unfortunately for you, the first book in the series is among the missing."

"Oh. Well that sucks." I wasn't terribly broken up about it, but I couldn't help but be mildly disappointed. They seemed like fun adventure romps. "In that case, do you have any suggestions?"

"Hmm..." She seemed to be considering something before suddenly turning on her heel and walking away. "Follow me. You may find this interesting."

I followed behind her as she brought us to the second floor of the library. Against the back wall and near a metal-covered window was a shelf filled with thick books of many different colors. It seemed utterly ordinary at first, but then I saw the plaque embedded into the wood labeling the section: "Equestrian Literature."

'What's that doing here?! Why does she think I'd be interested in it? Does she know? There's no way for her to know!'

Without turning around, Moondancer spoke once more. "I know what you're thinking. And the answer is no."

'No? What? Is she reading my-'

She kept going before I could finish my thought. "It may say 'Equestrian Literature,' but it has nothing to do with caring for horses, equestrian sports, or horse-centric classics such as 'Black Beauty.'" I let out a breath I wasn't even aware I was holding when she said that. Of course that's what she meant, she had no way of knowing my origins. She turned back towards me just in time for me to have pulled myself together. Though I must have still had a look on my face. "I see that you're confused. That's no surprise, I was too."

I followed her to stand in front of the bookcase. "Why did you think I'd find this interesting?"

"Simple. You seemed interested in the 'Daring Do' series. And this entire shelf seems to be made up tomes detailing an entire fictional world centered around sentient horses, magic, dragons, and the like. Based on what little I've gleaned, I imagine someone interested in adventure stories would potentially be interested." She stopped to adjust her glasses and turned to look at me. "While I'm a bit perturbed that I've never heard of this written universe, especially considering it's made up of many different authors writing for the setting, it's quite the feat to be able to fill an entire shelf with one series."

I began to look closer at the books lining the shelves. Immediately I recognized many of the titles, all of whom I hadn't read in ages: "The Founding of Equestria," "Mistmane and the Mystery of the Castle," "A Hearth's Warming Tale," "History of the Crystal Empire," "Gusty the Great," "The Chaotic Age of Equestria," "Rockhoof and the Mighty Helm," "The Great Heroes of Equestria," "Beginner's Guide to Buckball," and so many more! However, there were three books that caught my attention more than the others: "The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide, 2nd Edition," "Predictions and Prophecies," and "Canterlot Castle: A History, vol. II."

Without really thinking about it, I pulled each of the three books out one by one. The first two were extremely old and rare books, though it seemed that "The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide" had gotten reprinted with potentially new information. The third book...that was the book where I learned about the mirror. The final catalyst for my betrayal of my mentor. Perhaps that's why I wanted it. In a strange way, it connected me back to the life I used to know.

"Really? Straight to volume II? Do you not want to read volume I first?" Moondancer raised an eyebrow at me.

"Huh? Oh!" I realized how it must look to her and quickly grabbed "Canterlot Castle: A History, vol. I" as well so as not to look suspicious. "I guess I just wasn't paying attention! You were right though, I find the idea behind all of this to be fascinating. I'll read through some things in my spare time and let you know later what I think."

"I see." She held a suspicious gaze upon me for a while longer before thankfully dropping it. "In that case, I look forward to hearing what you think. I'd read them myself, but I have other matters I've already devoted myself to. Take care, Sunset Shimmer." Without another word, Moondancer moved to the other side of the second floor and began to organize books. Taking that as my cue to leave, I descended the stairs and exited the library.

'She's a bit abrasive, but there's no denying her passion for literature. I could see myself becoming friends with her.'

Got Friendship Fragment! Moondancer: 1/5

I returned to my room after spending some time with Moondancer. I placed the books on the table, laid out next to one another. One of the last things I expected to find here was books from back home. Then again, I shouldn't have been too surprised. Considering the array of statues scattered throughout the hotel, it was clear that Monokuma was intimately familiar with not only Equestria, but me as well. First the statue of my demonic form, and now a copy of "Canterlot Castle: A History, vol. II."

"He's obviously taunting me, but why?"

The longer I stared at the tomes, the more prevalent the pit forming in my stomach became. The demon statue was a painful reminder of what I once was, sure, but this book...this book elicited a different type of pain. How long had it been since I'd been to Canterlot Castle? Since I'd been home? No, that wasn't home anymore. I betrayed Princess Celestia's trust and ran away. After all I've done, there was no way I could ever call that place home again. This book was a reminder of that broken trust. I learned of the mirror in this book. And instead of heeding my teacher's warnings, I ran to what I thought was my destiny, my right, to ascend as an alicorn princess. I laughed bitterly at the thought.

'I can't believe how arrogant and stupid I was. I was never going to be a princess. That destiny belonged to her.'

My heart ached as I admitted that to myself. I'd long since come to terms with the fact, but it still hurt. Perhaps the presence of the book and the statue made me feel worse about it than I usually would? Or it could be the fact that I still couldn't remember the name and face of the Princess of Friendship and the rest of my friends who saved me from myself. I couldn't even imagine their voices. Before I realized it, tears had begun running down my cheeks, only noticed as a drop fell onto the cover of the book.

'I miss them. I don't even remember them, but I still miss them so much.'

I wiped away my tears and stood up, feeling resolute. If I ever wanted to see them again, I needed to get out of here. And to do that, I needed information. And so, I began formulating a plan of action in my mind as I paced back and forth through my room.

'I'll leave the library up to Moondancer. I'm sure if she finds anything out of the ordinary, she'll speak up about it. That reminds me, I should ask her to keep a lookout for secret passages behind bookcases. She might make fun of me for suggesting it, but it's worth a try.' I paused and looked briefly towards the security camera in the corner of my room. 'I'll need to investigate as discreetly as possible. I can't just go hugging the walls for secret passages. What can I do in the meantime?' It was then that my eyes landed on the book titled "The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide, 2nd Edition." I recalled that one of the stated uses of said elements was to stop the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony by turning him into stone. And that's when it hit me. The statues!

The Changeling statue had been alive, of that I was certain. My powers may be diminished without my geode, but I was able to sense its hatred simply by touching it. How many of these other statues were alive? Could I get anything beyond a base emotional read? I wasn't sure if it would help at all, but it was a better than sitting here doing nothing.

I changed into some warmer clothes, picked up "Predictions and Prophecies," and left the room. My first stop was the lounge, and the Starlight Glimmer statue. Trixie, Lemon Zest, Limestone, and Snips were all in the room preparing it for the party tonight. I made a show of looking around and discreetly touched the statue. Nothing, much to my relief. I left the room after exchanging pleasantries and went to the pharmacy under the pretense of grabbing a bottled water. Upon brushing against the Tantabus statue, there was once again nothing. I stepped into the lobby next and touched the Midnight statue under the pretense of trying once again to decipher the second half of her name. Nothing.

Skipping my own statue, I went out into the courtyard. I brushed against the Hydia, Gloriosa Daisy, and Wallflower Blush statues without any reaction. I then stood hesitantly in front of the statue of King Sombra. As a being I was vaguely familiar with, this one was admittedly scary. However, after I touched its foreleg, there was no reaction.

'Was the first time with the changeling just a fluke?'

I lightly brushed my hand against the Changeling statue's cheek and immediately pulled back.

'Nope! Not a fluke! Not a fluke!'

I could practically taste this thing's hatred. I was extremely grateful that she was currently a stone statue. Otherwise, I didn't even want to think about what she'd do to me and anyone else she came across. I wondered once again what she could have done to end up in such a state?

Knowing that my powers activating in response to the living statue was no fluke, I turned my attention to the centaur. If this one was real, then maybe it would give me something more substantial than blind hatred. If I was lucky, maybe I'd be able to see into its mind. I could theoretically try that with the Changeling, but that would require touching it for more than a split-second and I really didn't want to subject myself to that feeling of hatred again if I didn't have to.

In order to disguise what I was doing to the cameras, I sat down on the statue's base and opened my book. I felt that I needed to justify my trip outside to Monokuma's watchful eye so as not to garner suspicion. Then, with a hint of trepidation, I brushed my hand against the centaur's leg.

Nothing.

I felt nothing. Just like the other statues. No emotion, no memories, no presence to speak of. If it wasn't for the fact that I was sitting down reading already, I would've given up and left. Thanks to that decision, I was still there when I heard it. Or more accurately, felt it, the thoughts projected directly into my mind.

"My my. This is certainly a surprise." A gravely voice spoke directly into my mind as if through telepathy.

"Are you...?"

"The statue upon which you sit? Yes. Yes I am. It would seem a connection has been made. How curious. Who are you?"

"Okay. Well this is new. My name is Sunset Shimmer. Who are you?"

"...They don't even do me the courtesy of labeling my prison? How insulting."

"You didn't answer my question."

"..." He was silent for a few moments, as if considering how to proceed. "I...am nothing but an old fool, imprisoned by his own greed and vanity. If you must refer to me by a name, you're free to come up with one yourself."

I didn't exactly like how evasive he was being, but it wasn't like I could force him to be truthful. My powers were weakened and I didn't seem to have full access to his mind.

"Fine. I'll come up with a name later. Why are you here in this hotel?"

"A hotel? Is that seriously where I've been relocated? Am I but a decoration for a business of hospitality?" He seemed pretty angry about that, not that I could blame him. It sounded pretty demeaning.

"Yeah, pretty much. Sorry. If it makes you feel better though, you're not the only statue around."

"Oh? I suppose misery does love company." He stopped for a moment before letting me hear a mental sigh. "The connection is weakening. I suppose I should be thankful for the conversation, however brief. Do come back and see me. Life as a statue can get quite boring."

"Sure, I'll be sure to do that." With that, the connection severed and I was alone with my thoughts once more. I was a bit annoyed that our conversation was cut off, but at least he showed interest in talking. I promised myself I'd try to get some useful information out of him next time.

After reading a chapter of the book, I stood up and returned to my room. I needed to get ready for the party tonight. Tonight would be the night I got everyone to get along and agree to find a way to escape together. At least, that's what I thought. Little did I know that our stay at the Hotel Despair was about to take a deadly turn for the worse.

Despair...I knew nothing of what that word truly meant. But I would learn very, very soon.

Author's Note

This one took a little longer than I'd wanted, but that's just life sometimes! This is why I don't make myself adhere to a strict schedule :derpytongue2:

CHAPTER 1: Welcome to the Hotel Despair Part 5

On my way back to my room, I was caught by surprise when the laundry room burst open and someone collided with me. "Aaah!" I fell flat on my butt with my book falling to the floor. I looked to see who barreled into me to find Zephyr Breeze looking somewhat disoriented as he stood up.

"Whoa...what the-" He caught sight of me and instantly his face went white. "S-S-Sunset?! Oh crap! Uh...I'm sorry! Please, please, please don't kill me!" He started putting some distance between us while bowing apologetically over and over again.

"...What?" I slowly got up, grabbing the book in the process. While I was annoyed that he ran into me and didn't even have the courtesy to offer to help me up, I was more confused at his reaction. "Hold on, why would I kill you? That seems like it'd be a bit of an overreaction for bumping into me."

"I'm not taking any chances! Oh please, Miss Ultimate Demon, I beg of thee to spare this mere mortal! For he did not mean for his studly swagger to intercept your path!" His eyes darted back and forth as he tried to find an exit path.

"What?"

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!" His eyes caught sight of the book and he wailed. "Predictions and Prophecies? Oh no, that's totally a demonic sounding thing to read! She is a demon! I'm screwed, I'm so screwed!"

"Zephyr. Breeze." My blood was boiling as I gritted my teeth. I really wanted to punch him, but I instead let my fist collide with the wall. Though it hurt, I was too angry to care. "Leave. Now!"

Without hesitation, Zephyr cried out in terror and ran off, most likely to his room to cower. Once he was out of sight, I marched to my own room and slammed the door behind me. If anyone was around to see me, I wasn't paying enough attention to realize it. Once I was inside, I locked the door behind me and sat down on the bed.

"GRAAAAUUGGH!!! Asshole!" I threw the book against the wall and fell backward onto the bed, tears stinging the corners of my eyes. While I knew deep inside that Zephyr was just really scared and also very likely a bit stupid, I couldn't help my anger towards him. Normally, I wouldn't let this sort of thing get to me. But the constant reminders of my past, the terror of our situation, and my memory issues made me much more sensitive to his words. Being called a demon right to my face and having someone genuinely terrified of me was a lot right now. I was ready to boil over. However, lashing out wouldn't exactly help my case, would it? Some of the others might start having similar feelings towards me as him.

'Dammit. Way to keep it together, Sunset.'

After taking a few minutes to calm down, followed by picking up the book and putting it with the others, I decided now would be a good time to shower and get cleaned up for the party.

'He'd better not pull that shit at the party tonight. I don't know if I'll be able to stop myself from hitting him next time.'

A warm shower really helped calm me down. After cleaning myself up and getting ready, I left the room. Before heading to the lounge, I went to the restaurant to get something to eat. The party started at 8, while the restaurant had a dinner buffet out from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. I didn't eat too much, though. I figured someone might have whipped up some snacks for the party.

I arrived ten minutes before 8. The lounge was set up quite nicely. The tables all had small plates likely taken from the kitchen set around them. In the middle of the tables were various hors d'oeuvres, along with pitchers of water. Lemon Zest was behind the sound booth, fiddling with records and CDs. It was no surprise that she wanted to DJ the party. Limestone was talking with Trixie on the stage, each on either side of the now moved 'Starlight Glimmer' statue. Capper was behind the bar, mixing up a cocktail for Octavia, who was currently the only one sitting there. Since the party hadn't officially started yet and there were still a few missing, I approached them.

"Is this seat taken?"

"Oh, not at all. Please, have a seat Sunset." Octavia smiled up at me while scooting over just slightly so we'd have a bit more room.

Just as I sat down, Capper finished up Octavia's drink, sliding it across the bar towards her with surprising accuracy. "There ya go, Octavia. Just the way you asked. Here's hopin' it lives up to your expectations."

Octavia looked at the drink for a moment, an unreadable expression masking her face. The drink she had definitely looked interesting. It was a frozen drink resembling a daiquiri, the bulk of which was snowy white, with the top eighth of it being a vibrant blue. Sitting on top were two cherries. They both lay on their sides with their stems bent at right angles so they were pointing up. The stems were bent an additional time, once again at right angles and towards one another, touching at the ends. With how they were manipulated, they sort of resembled a music note.

The cellist waited a moment longer before taking a sip. Her face instantly lit up when she tried it. She put it down and positively beamed at Capper. "Oh, this is perfect! It's almost exactly how she makes them! You're truly an exquisite bartender, Capper."

The makeshift bartender gave a sly grin and shrugged his shoulders as if it were nothing at all. "Hey, don't give me all the credit. You told me the recipe. All I did was mix it up for you."

"Perhaps, but you did splendidly." She took another sip, a look of satisfaction on her face that I found refreshing.

"So, who's "she" exactly? Your regular bartender back home?" I asked casually while deciding what I might want.

"Oh, not at all. I don't bar hop enough to be considered a regular anywhere." She put her drink down and sighed, staring at one of the barricaded windows. "My girlfriend, Vinyl Scratch. Once we both became old enough to legally drink, we created special little cocktails for one another to celebrate." Her smile slowly dissipated as she stared into the drink. "Since I can't be with her right now...this is perhaps the closest thing I have. This and...oh, never mind. I shouldn't be bringing the mood down. This is meant to cheer us up after all! Besides, she'd want me to make the most of my situation."

Octavia's gaze went over to Lemon Zest, who was currently looking back and forth between two records in her hands, no doubt pondering which one to play first for the party. "You know...Lemon Zest actually reminds me of her a lot. They have very similar interests, though Vinyl is decidedly less talkative." She sighed listlessly before putting on a brave smile and turning her attention to me. "Tell me, Sunset. Do you have a special someone out there? That is, if you're comfortable talking about it of course."

I frowned and thought about it. My memories weren't messed up in that department too, were they? I couldn't think of anyone, but I did feel like something was there. Did I have a crush on someone? Frustrated, I stopped thinking about it and just answered with what I could remember. "No, not right now. The last time I dated someone was in high school, but...we were in a relationship for all the wrong reasons." I thought back to Flash, one of the few people I did remember somewhat well. Of course, knowing Monokuma, the only reason I remembered him was probably because of how I used him throughout our entire relationship. That never felt great to think about. At least I remembered that we made up later and became friends. It didn't make what happened before any better, but it was nice to know we'd moved on.

"Well you know..." Capper slid up to me and gave a playful smirk. "If you give me a shot, I wouldn't be against getting to know you a bit better. Who knows? Maybe I'm the friend that you need."

Octavia scoffed and lightly chuckled. "Oh Capper, you're incorrigible."

"Hey, can't blame a guy for tryin' his luck with a pretty girl, can ya?" He reached over and started concocting a drink before sliding it over to me. "I'll even buy you a drink. Not that the drinks here cost money, but...ah, you know what I mean! Here, have a screwdriver."

"Thanks. Maybe when we get out of here, I'll let you really buy me one sometime." I gave him a little wink and sauntered off towards the tables, leaving the con-artist speechless while Octavia giggled into her drink.

Before long, everyone else made their way into the lounge. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo came in together, choosing to sit next to me. Eventually Cozy Glow showed up, causing Apple Bloom and Scootaloo to wave her down excitedly. I gave a much more casual wave as she approached, sitting between the other two and across from me. She appeared to be in a good mood, but I wasn't sure if her smile was fake or not.

Everyone else filed in, taking the remaining tables. Iron Will, Moondancer, Zephyr Breeze, and Rarity sat at the table to our right. Snips, and Trouble Shoes sat to our left, leaving two seats open there. Aria went to the bar, leaving a few seats between her and Octavia. After a quick exchange of words, Capper began making her a drink.

Once everyone had arrived and taken a seat, Limestone took hold of the microphone and poked at to make sure it was on, causing some slight reverb in the room. "Hello? Okay good it's on. Hey everyone! Thanks for coming. So, I'm not exactly good at the whole party hosting thing. That's more my sister's thing. But I've been to enough of her crazy shindigs to get the gist of it. So here's how this is gonna work. We've got Lemon Zest working the music, Capper tending bar, and we're opening the night with a magic show from Trixie! So...enjoy!" She put the mic back in its holder and stepped off the stage, sitting next to Trouble Shoes with a reddish tint to her cheeks. Despite her forceful personality, did Limestone have a hint of stage fright?

"Ahem, allow Trixie to make one teensy weensy little correction to your description. Maestro, if you please?" Trixie glanced over at Lemon Zest who gave her a thumbs up and started playing some strange music. Trixie held her cape in front of her face and waved it around. "Ladies and gentlemen! Prepare to be amazed! Prepare to be enthralled! For you are about to bear witness to a show put together by the one, the only, the Great and Powerful Trrrrrrixie!" She threw a smoke ball to the ground, seeming to suddenly reappear atop the statue's back. The crowd applauded the optical illusion. It was an obvious one, but she had to be pretty fast to successfully pull it off.

"Of course, allow me to also introduce my great and powerful (but not quite as great and powerful as Trixie) assistant, Starlight Glimmer the oddly shaped unicorn!" I almost snorted in laughter at the description. Yes I'd heard her use that incorrect descriptor before, but it was still funny that she had an actual unicorn in her audience to disprove her assessment and she didn't even know it.

"For my first trick...behold, a classic!" She held out her hat and pulled out a rabbit! Although, upon closer inspection, it was actually a stuffed rabbit, likely from the gift shop. And it had a little dress on with a magic wand? That was an interesting stuffed toy for the gift shop to have. As everyone looked on in confusion, Trixie tossed it to the side. "Yes, it is a stuffed rabbit...thing. No one has done the rabbit in a hat trick with this sort of stuffed animal before, Trixie guarantees it!" We couldn't argue with that. Besides, it was still impressive how it was able to even fit in her hat without the thing bulging or falling off her head. She got a polite applause.

"You are too kind. Trixie has one more trick for you all tonight. For this, Trixie will need a volunteer from the audience! Now who shall it be?" Most of the group began raising their hands, some overly eager like Apple Bloom and others reasonably interested like Trouble Shoes. The only ones who didn't attempt to volunteer were Aria, Moondancer, and Limestone. Eventually, Trixie made her decision. "Hmm...you! Scootaloo, come up here!"

"Yes!" Scootaloo raised a fist in the air victoriously as she ran up and hopped onto the stage, standing next to Trixie. "Alright, let's make some magic! What do you need me to do? Are you gonna saw me in half? Oh, maybe put me in a box and stab it with swords! Make me disappear? Make me escape from a tank full of piranhas?!"

Trixie put a hand over Scootaloo's mouth to shush her. "Now now, Trixie understands you're excited. However, please let her explain what will be happening!" The excitable younger girl nodded rapidly and practically vibrated in place as Trixie continued. "First, Trixie must ask. While she can assure that no serious harm will come to you during this act (Trixie is not responsible for scrapes and bruises from self-negligence), there is the possibility of getting a bit...messy. Are you fine with that?"

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow before casually shrugging. "Yeah, I guess so. I can always shower later if I need to." I stifled a chuckle as I saw Rarity widen her eyes and let out a relieved exhale that she wasn't picked after all.

"Excellent! In that case, The Great and Powerful Trixie shall offer you these!" From behind the statue, Trixie pulled out two cans of soda. One was ginger ale and the other was orange. She handed them both to Scootaloo who looked a bit confused. "Now, Trixie will need you to shake one of those up. You may choose whichever you prefer, it matters not to Trixie. Just be certain you don't shake the other up at all. And keep both cans in full view of the audience at all times!"

"Uh, okay. Sure." Scootaloo started shaking the orange soda vigorously.

As she did, Trixie raised an eyebrow and pointed at the shaking soda. "You seem to be doing it effortlessly. Are you an expert with that kind of motion?"

"What are you talking- HEY!" Scootaloo's face turned red as the crowd erupted in laughter. After a second, Scootaloo joined in on the laughter as well. "Okay okay, I guess it was a little funny."

"There, you can stop now. Don't open it! For the next step, Trixie would like you to hold it still and place the unshaken can on top of it." She did as she was told, holding them both very still with the ginger ale on top. "Now, as for the bubbles that are all ready to erupt? Trixie shall transport them from the bottom can all the way to the top one!" We all looked on eagerly as she began doing some showy motions with her hands, sliding them from the bottom to the top of the cans. "Aaaand...voila! It is done. Scootaloo, you can take them apart now. Would you care to open the orange. It will have NO bubbles! And be sure to listen for the fizzy sound so you know it wasn't tampered with! It's still perfectly sealed."

Scootaloo did as she was asked, pointing it away from herself as she did. However, the expected carbonation explosion never happened. It opened like any ordinary can of soda that hadn't been shaken up. And just as Trixie said, we all heard the telltale sound of a fresh can being opened, fizziness and all, so it hadn't been messed with and decarbonated.

"How in the world?!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "I shook that thing insanely hard!"

"Now now, we're not done yet! Now, please open the unshaken can. As you can all see, it has not been tampered with. Nor have I shaken it at all during this act. It is an ordinary can of soda. They have both been sitting behind my assistant for quite some time now, as Limestone, Lemon, Capper, and Octavia can no doubt attest to." After a brief nod from those who were here even earlier than I was to confirm her words, Trixie continued. "And now...open the can!"

"Okay, here goes nothing." Scootaloo opened it up, this one also facing away from her. And to our amazement, the unshaken can exploded with fizz all over the place! despite aiming it away from herself, some of it did end up getting all over Scootaloo's arm and sleeve. She didn't seem to mind too much though. She was just as amazed as the rest of us. "Whoa! That's amazing!" We all applauded the well executed trick. There was probably some science behind why that happened, but I sure wasn't aware of what that was.

"Thank you, thank you. You did well, Scootaloo. You may have a seat. Though perhaps you'd like to use the sink behind the bar to clean up a little." Scootaloo gave an exaggerated bow to the audience before going to do just that. "For Trixie's next trick, she will be utilizing her assistant's help. Starlight, if you please?" Suddenly, the statue's horn began...glowing? What the hell?! How was it using magic? I was about to stand up and investigate when I noticed a discrepancy. It looked weird. I peered closer and realized that Trixie had actually stealthily placed something giving off a pink glow along the length of the horn, being held on with some sort of adhesive and mostly hidden from view of the audience thanks to the angle. It was barely visible, so I wouldn't have noticed it if I weren't actively looking. No doubt if she had a proper setup, I'd never have noticed it at all. That made a lot more sense. The fact that Trixie guessed correctly where unicorn magic comes from wasn't exactly a miracle either. It was really quite obvious.

"Good, her magic is charged up! Now Starlight, let us show them the magic of...levitation!" Trixie surrounded herself in her cape in a manner which hid her feet. She then slowly began to lift up...and when her cape was pulled to the side, she was standing in midair, about six inches off the ground! The crowd let out gasps and oohs as she showed off. I couldn't see any wires, so I doubted she was really in the air. But then how did she pull this trick off? I wasn't really sure. "Behold! Isn't this fabulous? But you haven't seen anything yet! Starlight, it is time for Trixie to mount you!" Trixie suddenly did a backflip and landed on Starlight's back, having stealthily grabbed whatever was making the horn glow on the way there. "Tada!" The crowd applauded, the magician bowing while still atop the pony statue.

"That, ladies and gentlemen, is the finale of tonight's show. The Great and Powerful Trixie thanks you for your time and hopes you enjoyed yourselves. Now...to the bar!" Trixie threw down another smoke bomb and quickly appeared near the bar, sitting between Octavia and Aria.

'Where did she get those smoke bombs?'

With the magic show over, Lemon Zest put on some music and we all chatted, danced, and just had an overall good time. Someone must have suggested karaoke at some point, because Lemon Zest suddenly shouted out to the group that she was taking requests for it. I was tempted, but I chose not to sing. I didn't want to run the risk of ponying up in front of everyone. That would not help the demon allegations right now. Strangely enough, I noticed that Aria was also avoiding the stage. Considering her career and how pissed she was at being called The Ultimate Backup Singer, I'd assumed she'd jump at the chance to sing in front of us.

After a few people had sung some songs, Lemon Zest suddenly shouted out from behind her booth. "Hey Iron WIll! Do a promo for us!" A few others cheered in response to the idea. I wasn't sure what a promo was, but I assumed it was a wrestling thing.

"HA! You want Iron Will to cut an off the cuff promo for you? Now that sounds like fun!" He got up on stage and grabbed a microphone. Lemon Zest put on some appropriate background music. Iron Will did a couple of flexes and took a deep breath before half exhaling, half growling. "So...Monokuma! You think you're so clever, trapping us all in here with you? Well...the joke's on you, buddy. You're trapped in here with me. You see, you're not dealing with the average athlete here. Because you see, Iron Will is 'The Minotaur'! And you don't wanna be trapped with a Minotaur. Do you wanna know why Iron Will is called 'The Minotaur'? Because Minotaurs are tougher and meaner than a bull! And if you take this bull by the horns, he's gonna use those horns to send you flying, and then knock you back down and pin you for a three count! BECAUSE THE NAME'S IRON WILL! IT RHYMES WITH KILL! AND YOUR CHANCES OF BEATING ME...ARE NIL!" With that, he dropped the mic and walked off, exhaling threateningly like an actual bull or minotaur would.

I had no idea how to respond to any of that, so I just clapped with the rest of the group. Limestone, Lemon, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Rarity surprisingly enough were all pretty enthused by the performance. I even saw Aria crack a smile. I still didn't really get it, but I started to get the feeling that maybe I'd enjoy wrestling if I gave it a chance. Yet another reason to add to the pile of reasons to get out of here.

A short time after that, Zephyr Breeze approached me from the bar holding a pair of drinks. When I noticed him approaching, I narrowed my eyes and frowned a little as he sat down next to me. He flinched for a moment before taking a breath and sliding one of the drinks towards me. "Hey, Sunset. Can we talk?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes before deciding it couldn't hurt anything. "Fine. What is it?" My tone

Zephyr gulped and followed up with a nervous chuckle. "I can't help but feel you're not so happy to see me."

"Oh. Really? Gee, imagine that. I wonder why that could be?" While I was being a bit rude and sarcastic with my response, I kept it quiet enough where hopefully only he would hear. While I was mad at him, I didn't feel like putting him on blast in front of everyone. "Maybe because when I saw you earlier, you were shouting about me, the Ultimate Demon, eating you or something?"

He winced and looked around nervously, but it seemed nobody overheard. "Yeah...the thing about that is..." He sighed and slumped in the chair a little. "Look...I wanted to apologize, okay? You caught me at a bad time and I might have said some things I shouldn't have."

"You...huh?" That was unexpected. My anger towards him began to diminish slightly. "Okay, I'm listening." I took a sip of the drink offered to me. Rum and cola wouldn't have been my first choice, but it was an acceptable peace offering.

"Yeah, so...don't tell anybody else but...I was seriously scared and freaked out at the time, you know?" It looked like it pained him to admit that. "Then I ran into you. Knocking you down, seeing that weird book, your ultimate title, and everything else...I guess I kind of jumped the gun a little bit."

"A little bit? You know, on the off chance I was a raging she-demon, I doubt I would've eaten you. Maybe just torture and enslave you to do my bidding." I laughed jokingly as I said that last part, but a part of me cringed a bit. If it was the old me, I'd have done exactly that.

"Ha! Well it's a good thing you're just a normal human then, huh? Hahaha..." He laughed nervously before getting his usual confident demeanor back. "So, I take it this means you accept my most humble of apologies?"

While I was usually pretty put off by his attitude, I let it slide this time. With a slight grin, I nodded. "Yeah, we're cool. Just try not to pull anything like that again, okay?"

"We're cool, huh? Well then maybe after the party, you and I could-"

"Whoa there, let's not get ahead of ourselves." Absolutely not. I was willing to be friends, but romance was off the table for me when it came to Zephyr Breeze. Still, I didn't want to upset him with a harsh rejection. His uncomfortable approach to women aside, it looked to me like he was at least trying. "Let's stick with trying to be friends, alright?"

"Alright, alright. Being friends with the Breeze is a privilege in its own right, so I'll drop it. Besides, you'll come around eventually! They always do." He did some finger guns at me while making a clicking noise with his tongue and winking before standing up and walking away. It looked like he was going to talk to Cozy Glow.

At about 9:15 p.m., three of the party guests began to leave. Trouble Shoes stated that he wasn't one for too much socialization at once and wanted to go to his room. Moondancer said much the same thing and left as well. Cozy Glow was the third who decided to leave early.

"This has been such a fun and lively party! Buuut I think I should go get some beauty sleep. I'll see you all in the morning. Bye!" With what I gathered to be a fake saccharine attitude this time around, Cozy gave a few of us hugs before she left without giving anybody time to really converse with her any further.

Once Cozy was gone, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo pulled me aside to one of the tables and motioned me to sit down with them. They both looked concerned about something.

"Hey girls, what's up? Is everything okay?" Everything was obviously not okay. How could it be okay in this situation we were in? But it was such a normal thing to ask, and having things feel normal when they could was important right now.

"Well..." Apple Bloom looked toward the lounge's exit and then back to me. "I'm not sure. I was hopin' maybe you could tell us. Do ya think Cozy Glow has been actin'...weird?"

"We figured you'd be the best person to talk to about this." Scootaloo added. "You seem to know her better than anyone else does. We're a bit worried about her."

I frowned as I listened to their concerns. While I didn't have all the answers, I'd been given a pretty good idea as to why Cozy Glow seemed off. I could just tell them, but divulging too much would feel like a breech of Cozy's privacy. That was something I didn't want to do unless absolutely necessary.

"I'm not really sure what's going on with her," I lied. "Maybe she's just handling our situation poorly? She wouldn't be the only one. This is all pretty stressful."

"On that, I agree with you wholeheartedly." Rarity sat down next to me seemingly out of nowhere, a mixed cocktail of some sort in her hand. "I do beg your pardon for butting in, but I couldn't help overhearing."

"Oh! Uh, Hi Rarity." Scootloo scooted over a little bit to give the surprise fourth person a bit more room at the table. "You heard what we were talking about?"

"Yes, I did. You were speaking about Cozy Glow, correct?" She took a sip of her drink, her expression one of pensiveness. "I...have something I think I should tell you. Of everyone here, you seem the closest to her, so it's only right I let you know."

"Let us know what? What's goin' on? Is it about Cozy?" Apple Bloom leaned in closer. I did as well, but I said nothing. What could she be talking about?

Rarity blinked a few times before letting out a sad sigh. "Yes, I'm afraid it is. I must apologize in advance. I know she's your friend, so this may not be pleasant. You see, I've noticed some...strange behaviors from her." As we looked on in curiosity, she continued. "It started on our first day here. When she and Sunset approached Octavia, Capper, and myself, I couldn't help but notice. The way she looked at me, the way she avoided getting close to me but nobody else...it was unsettling. If that were it, I would think nothing of it. However..."

"I have made multiple attempts to try and speak with her. Every time, she makes some excuse and leaves. It's clear she is intentionally avoiding me. But again, I could deal with that. What I cannot abide is what I've seen her doing." Rarity suddenly looked extremely uncomfortable. She looked around stealthily to make sure nobody was listening in. Once satisfied that nobody was close enough to us to hear over the music, she continued. "I've seen it when she thinks I don't notice. She'll stare at me, her gaze lingering on me with what I can only describe as sheer malice."

The looks on the other two girls' faces were of shock, and I was certain I shared a similar expression. I recalled how Cozy had acted strangely towards Rarity on the first day, but I hadn't thought too much on why that might have been until this moment. Before any of us could say anything, Rarity kept speaking.

"Any time she knows I'm paying attention, she puts on a false smile and pretends like everything is fine. Yet for some reason I can't fathom, this girl I've never met or heard of seems to despise the sight of me."

"That's pretty rough, but what does that have to do with us? If it's you she doesn't like, shouldn't that be between you two?" Scootaloo asked, which was a fair question.

"Because...while I haven't seen anything odd involving Sunset, there is something you two in particular should know. You three have come together as a group rather naturally since we arrived." Her expression faltered before she composed herself once more. "Well...as much as I'm loathe to tell you this, I've seen her making that same hate filled expression when you aren't looking. Sometimes she'll be making fists, squeezing so tight her knuckles turn white. And when this malice isn't directed at me..." She gulped as if she didn't want to finish. "It's always towards you two." She then said something that raised even more questions. "And that's not all. Sometimes she-"

"That's enough!" Apple Bloom shouted.

Apple Bloom seemed especially irate, but all three of us were aghast. There was no way that Rarity was telling the truth, right? And yet...it did make some amount of sense. I thought back to when Cozy and I first met Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. For some reason, she immediately latched onto the two of them and sent me off on my own. I didn't think too much of it at the time, but it was a bit of an odd thing for her to do.

"None of that doesn't make any sense!" Apple Bloom continued as she stood up. "We've been hanging out together and having fun this whole time despite being kidnapped! Tryin' to make the best of a bad situation together! It wasn't until we got those videos that she started acting weird. She was normal before that!"

"Well maybe not normal..." Scootaloo said. Before Apple Bloom could reprimand her, she added to her statement. "I mean she was weird in a good way! Now she's just being...weird."

"Girls..." Rarity was sympathetic in her tone. "I understand that it's not a very nice thing to hear. And whether you believe me or not is ultimately up to you. However, remember that we're all strangers here. Cozy Glow...I don't know what her issues are, but it's clear the girl is emotionally unstable at the very least. I'm only telling you this because I want you to be careful and-"

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong!*

And with that, the nighttime announcement signaled the official end to the day as well as an end to this conversation. It looked like Rarity had a bit more she wanted to say, but Apple Bloom and Scootaloo left the table. I also noticed that Aria Blaze had left the party altogether at some point while we were talking.

Apple Bloom, and by proxy Scootaloo, were avoiding Rarity in particular. Since I didn't want her to feel too bad about trying to open up about what she'd supposedly seen, I opted to hang out with her for the remainder of the party. Despite her somewhat uppity demeanor, she was actually easy to talk to. Something about being around her made me feel content. We mostly discussed our hobbies. As it turned out, we had a lot of similar taste in music and both loved performing.

At about 11 p.m., Zephyr Breeze decided to turn in. He tried to play it off cool with the line "The Breeze has left the building," but Lemon Zest quickly pointed out that this was all just one huge building. He laughed it off as he left, leaving 11 of us. About half an hour later, both Rarity and I decided to say goodbye to everyone and leave as well. Octavia left at the same time, bidding us farewell as she headed off to her room in the west wing. Since mine and Rarity's rooms were close to one another in the east wing, we decided to walk together.

"I'm sorry, by the way." Rarity broke the silence of our walk by surprising me.

"Sorry? For what?"

"For upsetting you all. I'm not trying to start any drama, but I'm quite worried. I don't want anything to happen to anyone." She looked back towards the entrance to the lounge briefly. "Especially those two. They remind me a lot of my little sister."

"Your sister?" Suddenly I remembered what had happened when we all got our motive videos. Rarity's outburst. "Oh...that's who's in your video, isn't it?"

The other girl nodded, lip quivering as she tried her best not to break down in front of me. "That's right." Suddenly her fists clenched. "And if that bear is telling the truth, he will pay dearly after I rescue her." It looked like Rarity was ready to punch a wall, but she managed to calm herself down and take a deep breath. "Her name is Sweetie Belle. She's about their age. It's uncanny how much they remind me of her. And that's why...I want to do what I can to protect them."

"So that's why you wanted to talk to us about Cozy Glow. Because of your sister?"

"That was certainly my primary motivation, but it was also the right thing to do. I just wish they'd have let me say the rest." When I raised an eyebrow and silently bid her to continue, she did. "I can't speak for when she stares at me, but with them...sometimes I catch her expression changing in a most peculiar way. It's as if she's confused about what she's doing and then she starts looking...sad." We reached her door by this point as she went to unlock it. "I'm afraid to confront her about it though. The one time she caught me staring in this state, she looked as though she wanted to kill-" her eyes widened and she shook her head at the notion. "No, I shouldn't think about such things. Not here. Suffice to say, she was angry."

It took me a moment before I found the words to say something. By the time I did, Rarity was standing in her open doorway looking at me. "I'm not going to pretend to fully understand her. But I do know she's dealing with a lot. Something's going on with that girl, and I think she needs friends more than anything. I'm glad that Apple Bloom and Scootaloo seem to want to be those friends." I looked at Rarity in the doorway and couldn't help but smile despite the situation. Friends. I missed mine, even though I didn't remember who they were. But Rarity was nice to be around. I enjoyed her company. This place was terrible, but it might be easier to endure if we had friends to rely on. "Thanks for telling me all this. I don't know how yet, but I know we can find a way out of this if we work together. This is gonna sound cheesy as hell, but I know for a fact that friendship can make us all stronger together."

Rarity widened her eyes in surprise at what I said. Yeah, I knew that it would sound weird to someone who wasn't familiar with the literal magic of friendship. Or so I thought. She actually let out a bit of a giggle. "I couldn't agree more, darling." She let out a yawn all of a sudden. "Oh dear. I believe I'll have to cut this conversation short, or I might find myself standing in my doorway til morning. Goodnight, Sunset."

"Yeah, you make a good point. We should sleep. Goodnight, Rarity." We waved goodbye to each other and she shut her door, locking it behind her. I proceeded to do the same thing. After brushing my teeth and getting into some pajamas, I passed out in bed, easily drifting off to sleep.

*Ding Dong Bing Bong*

“Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beautiful day!”

I woke up to the announcement and got myself ready for the day. I was feeling pretty good all things considered. The situation still wasn't ideal of course, but I felt like things were really starting to turn around for the group's morale thanks to the party last night. There were a few stumbles, but overall it seemed to be a rousing success.

I made my way to the dining hall, where I saw only a handful of the group: Limestone, Scootaloo, Trouble Shoes, Snips, Zephyr Breeze, Octavia, and myself. Limestone looked particularly annoyed that there were only seven of us there. We waited and chatted a little bit to pass the time. After about 20 minutes, Lemon Zest ran in.

"Sorry! I kind of lost track of time in the shower!" She sat down as Limestone shook her head in disapproval.

We kept waiting. But nobody came. I was starting to get worried. At 8:30 a.m., Limestone stood up, looking at us all. "Okay, listen up. Clearly nobody else cared enough to get here on time like agreed. I would've hoped that the scare with Sunset yesterday would've made everyone realize to not do that!" She huffed in annoyance while I sank into my chair, a bit embarrassed. "Alright, let's get looking and make sure everyone's okay. I'll check the west wing rooms. Trouble, you take the east. The rest of you, let's get looking around everywhere else."

And so we all went looking for those who were missing. It was a party, so of course a lot of us weren't going to be bright and early to breakfast this time around. But I couldn't shake this gnawing anxiety within me that something was wrong. Everything was going well and Monokuma had been awfully quiet during the party. At the time I was grateful to have a reprieve from his nonsense, but now I was all the more scared. We all entered the lobby and broke from there. I expected to be looking for a long time. I was about to exit to the courtyard and comb it and the hedge maze when I heard it.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

That was Scootaloo. Her scream of terror pierced the air in the lobby and its surrounding areas. All of us but Trouble Shoes and Limestone, who were away in their designated areas by now, were running towards her. She was backed up against the Christmas tree, eyes wide and pointing at the elevator. The elevator that had been closed when we left the restaurant. And inside, I saw something that would haunt me for the rest of my life.

In the elevator, slumped against the back wall with blood pooling from a nasty wound on the side of his head, lay the lifeless body of Capper, the Ultimate Con Artist.

Author's Note

It's here! It's finally here! It sure took me long enough, didn't it? Sorry about that!

Me: Okay, my little hiatus is over. I think I can have this out by mid October!
Life: Guess again, bucko! Mwahahaha!

Seriously though, I didn't mean for it to take this long to finish this chapter. Life has a funny way of keeping you from doing the things you wanna do and time just loves to go by faster than it has any right to!

But here it is, finally the first death! I wonder, did anyone call who would die first correctly? Does anyone have any wild guesses about whodunnit? We'll be getting into the investigation portion of the story next time! I hopefully shouldn't take too long this time around. My motivation is back and I feel excited to get more of this out there! Thank you to all of you who have been so patient with me while waiting. I only hope I can reward that patience with a good story.