Danganronpa: Eclipse of Harmony

*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.