//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Unfortunate Seventeen - Daily Life part 2 // Story: Danganronpa V.E: Creating Chaos // by Lusaminia //------------------------------// I had woken up before the morning announcement sounded throughout the castle, quickly throwing the covers off my body as I got up. I did a few quick stretches to loosen up my muscles, wanting to get out of my room as soon as possible. Last night was rough, not because of bad dreams or nightmares but rather because I had fallen asleep in the most awkward position you could imagine. The pain I felt from simply turning my head a centimeter or two was awful, and I had to leave it tilted to one side to not feel the strain on my neck muscles. Not the worst luck, but I’ve slept in much worse. With my head awkwardly tilt to the side, I opened the door leading from my room to the entrance hall. Waiting down on the ground area was the rest of our group plus one rather timid changeling who A.K. no doubt invited after hearing about why he is here. I felt horrible for Thorax, even though he was the only pony… changeling? I’ll have to figure out which one is correct, but basically he is the only talentless one in this entire castle. That in and of itself explains why he was a substitute and not one of the original guests here. I swore under my breath at Monokuma for bringing him here, no matter what it means. “Um… you seem rather stiff there Ditzy,” Flam observed, everyone giving a look that perfectly showed how off my neck muscles felt. “Woke up on the wrong side of the bed? Nightmares perhaps?” “I guess it’s the first one,” I admitted, my neck starting to feel uncomfortable from just being tilted. “Last nightmare I had was about Monokuma destroying on the muffin factories in Equestria, and that was two days ago. Truth be told I feel like I was hanged and somehow lived despite the broken windpipe.” Everyone was silent as I said that last part, and it quickly came to my attention just how wrong that must’ve sounded. “If it was all possible, I would probably bleach my memory,” Doctor Hooves told me. “That picture was much clearer than I wanted it to be, and I’ll admit you are probably right.” “Horrible word choice aside, I think we need to get moving,” A.K. said as she stepped into the center so everyone saw her. “I’m sure we’re all aware of what happened to our companion Thorax here, but we need someplace where we can discuss without Monokuma hearing. Thankfully, our knew friend here found something on the second floor.” She turned to Thorax, who seemed to step back in fear as our eyes landed on him. Nonetheless he motioned for us to follow him, leading us back to the stairs I had taken up to the second floor yesterday morning. I could see how nervous he was, his hooves shaking as they went up the stairs. He even missed a step and almost fell backwards, Flam saving him by pushing back up the next few steps. As we reach the top of the stairs Thorax ran up next to a wall and waited for us to catch up. “So… what did you find up here?” I asked as I looked around the empty hallway. “Nothing seems out of place or wrong here. Heck, I don’t even see signs of a hidden door anywhere.” “I believe… actually it’s more of a guess if anything, but something about this place feels familiar,” Thorax explained, though I could see just how unsure he was through those blue eyes, which I had noticed seemed to glow in the shadows of the hallway. “Actually, I don’t even know if it’s worth the time to check, but before I met Ditzy and Flash I found this.” With that a very familiar scene played out before me as an entire section of the marble wall started to move as if it made of rotted wood. Thorax was applying no pressure to it as well, and in a state of shock I watched as a room nopony had known about appeared before me. The wall stopped just enough to let everyone inside, though it did look strangely out of place amongst the room. Actually, the very room itself felt rather out of place, seeming more attune for a school environment than a castle. “I’m sure you’ve notice the different style of architecture by this point, not just in this room but the castle itself,” A.K. explained as we enter. “The gothic first floor, the mixture of modern and victorian styles on this one, you wouldn’t expect such a mash of different styles. Now, for a room like this to differ from the trend we had seen to this point, it’s both odd and unnatural.” “Yet for some reason I feel a familiarity in the room, or in this castle in general,” Thorax tells us. “I’m sure this is a coincidence, but it still feels strange. For some reason I feel like a prisoner and yet not one at the same exact time. It doesn’t make any sense.” “So what exactly is this room?” Flam asks, grabbing a scroll from one of the many shelves that lined the opposing wall. “I thought that it was a writer’s study at first considering the amount of paper but none of it is blank. Even I don’t really understand anything written on these and I’ve seen a lot!” He unrolled the scroll that he held, revealing a strange circular pattern printed onto it. I’d never seen anything like it before, and from the looks on Flam and Doctor Hooves they didn’t either. The strange lines and shapes that were inside probably meant it had something to do with magic, but I didn’t know what it was for the life of me. Times like these made me wish that Twilight was still around. The Ultimate Magic Researcher would probably know a thing or two about this. “I’ll admit, I’ve never seen something like this before,” A.K. said, something which I caught me by surprise. “It’s some sort of incantation from what I can tell, but what it does as beyond me. Never really been too sure how some magic really works. Anyways, we’re getting sidetracked, we have something important to discuss.” “Oh, and what might that be?” Flam asked, as we all sat down. “I thought you just wanted to show us this.” “Well that was part of it, but that isn’t all,” A.K. continued. “The reason is actually because of Thorax himself, and how he doesn’t have a talent. Now you’re welcome to object, but having no talent makes him a vulnerable target, and we know it’s only a matter of time until Monokuma gives another motive. So, I’ve decided that it would be a good idea to give him a… false talent.” “I’m not the only one who doesn’t like where this is going,” Thorax mumbled, though he probably didn’t account for all of us hearing him. “Right? Isn’t it wrong to take something that doesn’t belong to you.” “Hasn’t stopped your kind before, ow!” Doctor Hooves joked, getting a jab in the shoulder from A.K. “Oh, so Ditzy simply gets stared at from a bad joke but I don’t.” “That hanging thing wasn’t meant to be a joke!” “Can everyone just… stop for a few seconds?” A.K. said in aggravation, doing her best to not hold her head in her hooves. “Look, long story short Thorax is an easy target, so we give him a talent that both isn’t true but also not entirely false. In that case it would make sense for him to be the Ultimate Infiltrator. That is your place in your hive, right?” “Well yes but… I was never really good at it,” Thorax looked at the ground. “I’m better at copying ponies than I am at infiltrating. Though I think a copycat and a con artist are relatively similar so… I guess I’ll take the title. Besides it would be wrong to intrude on Flam’s area of expertise.” “A changeling with some sense of formality,” Flam stated out loud to himself. “I like that.” Ding dong bing bong “Ahem, may I all have your attention. Morning is upon and that’s all good, but there is something of even greater importance to discuss. I want everyone to meet in the dining room, but I’m sure you’ll probably be their anyway to get something to eat. I’ll see you all there!” “Do you think...” I never finished that sentence, but I didn’t have to as everyone else seemed to get the same exact feeling. “Guess now was the perfect time to have this meeting.” ------- Chapter 2: Unfortunate Seventeen ------- As we reached the dining room we realized that we were the only ponies that were still up. No one else had arrived yet, and even when they did everyone seemed exhausted for some reason or another. Octavia, Rarity, and Rainbow were the first ones to show up, the Ultimate Cellist being the only one who seemed to actually have a good night sleep. Then came most of the others, who were just as exhausted if not more so than Rarity or Rainbow. The only pony who actually seemed to be in high spirits besides from us and Octavia was Pinkie, who was bouncing around the room like normal. “What happened to you all?” I asked, getting mumbles and groans in response. “Pinkie decided to throw a ‘cheer up and smile party’ to keep everypony's minds off of what happened to days ago,” Bon Bon explained with a yawn. “Most of us didn’t get to sleep until one o’clock.” “Honestly ah think this would have been a lot easier if that damn bear didn’t tell us to wake up right now,” Applejack complained as she sat down at the table. She crossed her hooves in front of her and put her head down. “Ah needed that sleep fer Celestia sake!” “But you can’t deny that we had lots of fun!” Pinkie exclaimed with a giggle. “It was hard to put things together since I didn’t have any emergency supply stashes nearby but it all worked out in the end. Besides, I think that party made everyone happier!” “I would probably be happy if Monokuma hadn’t ordered us to come here!” Flash told the Ultimate Party Planner. “Even though I had fun I still wanted to get some sleep.” “Aw, is that the sound of violins in the background?” It was at this point that Monokuma finally showed up, appearing on the other side of the table. Most of the ponies who were at the party last night groaned, with the exception of Applejack who was fast asleep. “Now as much fun as I would have poking fun at all you sleepyheads, I kinda need you all to pay attention. So wake up!” Monokuma reached behind his back and out of nowhere pulled out a newspaper. He got onto the table and stood over Applejack, reeling back the arm he held the newspaper in. With a loud smack he dropped it on Applejack, the sound echoing through the entire dining room and waking the Ultimate Farmer from her beauty sleep. Applejack snorted as she was brought back to reality, head zipping up and scanning the horizon. “Now then, if nopony else is asleep I would like to proceed with my announcement,” Nopony answered, most of which probably more worried about getting slapped by a newspaper than they were of Monokuma himself. “Okay! Now, I heard from a little birdy amongst you all that revealing secrets and stuff isn’t so kind, so I decided that it would be better to make the next motive a little less… personal I guess.” “Wait a second!” Bulk shouted. “What ‘little birdy’ are you talking about?! Who would ever willingly talk to you?!” “You could be a little nicer you know, even if he is the one keeping us trapped here,” We all turned to Fluttershy, everyone shocked that somepony like her was defending Monokuma. I had figured it out yesterday when Monokuma had introduced Thorax, but it was still a shock for the rest of them. “Um… could you please not stare… it’s really rude, and stuff.” “You can all question my dear friend later, I need to get the motive out before the end of the chapter, and that motive is none other theeeeeen,” Monokuma suddenly pulled out two golden tickets from thin air, quickly grabbing the attention of a few ponies in the room. “This: two tickets for the Grand Galloping Gala. Yes, you heard that right, two of them! One for the murderer, and one for the spotless of your choice! Both of you get a chance at freedom and all from the price of a single life. I guess you can call it a two for the price of one motive!” “The Grand Galloping Gala!” Multiple ponies cried out, one of those being Doctor Hooves. A.K. quickly smacked him over the head to remind him of what it meant. “Wait, so your saying that one pony here can essentially get another pony out without them having to kill anyone?!” Redheart asked, and while I could see her lack of interest in the ticket she was clearly wondering about the double survivor part of it. “If I did that I could not only bring one pony with me, but I would also be able to find the stallion of my dreams!” Rarity explained, her eyes sparkling as she looked longingly into the two tickets. “I could expand my fashion line and show it off to all the nobles in Canterlot!” “Nah that would be a waste,” I certain pain stuck me as I looked to the owner of the voice, seeing Rainbow Dash was just as interested, or even more so than Rarity currently was. “I would finally have a chance of joining the Wonderbolts, and I know full well who my number two would be as well.” I saw her look to me, and my heart sank as I knew exactly what was going through her head. I wanted to trust that Rainbow wouldn’t do anything stupid, but was her being stupid right now. She was completely serious about everything she just said, and she would take me with her as well! I knew that she wouldn’t leave without me, but Monokuma’s motive bypassed any safelocks that I had on her never being a murderer. Her loyalty to me, I really didn’t want to think it was the case but, this was a situation where Rainbow would willing murder a pony. “That’s right, let the idea of bringing a friend back to the outside world fill your minds with hope,” Monokuma preached as he held it up. “All you have to do is kill and get away with it, and I’m sure that this new motive will push you all to that decision!” “Um, Monokuma.” Fluttershy said, stepping forward and whispering something into his ear. She backed up after she finished Monokuma looking rather puzzled. “Well yes, I guess it would be a little more fair to do that as well, but even your world isn’t completely fair,” He told her, his whispering voice nowhere near as quiet as his companions. “Look, you keep my secret and I keep yours, that was the deal right? I want to keep being your friend but you know full well what he would do to you.” “Oh, I see,” Fluttershy’s ears flattened a bit, but she quickly looked back with a face of courage and nodded to Monokuma. “I hope we can figure out something better for the future, but if this is the best he will allow right now then I can’t really complain.” “There, now your think my game!” Monokuma said before turning to us. “Well, I’ll let you all think this over a little bit. I gotta something I need to do so do whatever you want for the moment. Remember: this ticket buys freedom not just for you, but for the dearest friend here.” With that Monokuma vanished, and most of the ponies quickly evacuated the room. Compared to the react he got the first time around, everypony was a bit more eccentric this time around about actually taking the motive. I shared my concern with A.K. and Flam, the three of us immediately realizing the impossible. This is why Trixie said we had to do keep as many ponies alive as possible, but there will be more trials. “What in tartarus are you doing Fluttershy?!” We all turned to see Applejack yelling at the Ultimate Animal Caretaker. “Are ya tryin’ to encourage that piece of scrap metal to continue his game?” “I-I-I didn’t think he would t-t-t-take my suggestion as, y-y-you know, a murder motive,” Fluttershy told her. “I was hoping to maybe ch-ch-change his mind about everything… I guess.” “Well look what good that has gotten ya, now we really have to worry about a murderer!” Applejack continued to shout, berating the actions of the pegasus in front of her till she was about to cry. Seeing this, Applejack suddenly stop and sighed. “Look, ah know you didn’t mean for this to happen. Heh, yer the last pony I expected to try an’ encourage this, but that bear is to dangerous for you to be around.” “Well it isn’t like anyone else here has been very nice to me,” I heard a slight hint of anger of Fluttershy’s voice. “Ditzy, Rainbow Dash, and Monokuma are the only ones who have actually worried about me at all. I don’t remember you standing up for me when I was blamed during the trial, or anypony else for that matter.” “But Fluttershy yer… actually, forget it!” Applejack threw her hooves up in defeat, before storming off in rage. “Ya wanna get us all killed, it’s fine by me! Just don’t expect any sympathy when ah blame you at the trial.” She slammed the dining room door so hard that the ground shook, almost knocking over a plant in the middle of the dining table. Fluttershy curled up on the floor and started to cry, Applejack’s words clearly stinging. A part of me also wanted to tell her everything she had done wrong, but at the same time I could tell that wasn’t her reason for doing this. The small exchange Fluttershy and Monokuma had told me that she really meant to persuade him to use the tickets as some other form of a motive. She was also correct about the trial, considering that I cleared her name and it was Rainbow’s account that actually freed her. “Don’t worry Fluttershy,” I said as I knelt down next to her. “Applejack doesn’t understand what you were trying to do, and you have no need to feel bad about what you did.” “A-a-a-all I want was hick to stop somepony else from getting m-m-m-hick-murdered,” Fluttershy told me, hiding her face under her long pink mane. “W-w-w-why does hick e-e-everyone hate me?” “Not everypony hates you, that’s just how Applejack is,” Flam told the pegasus. “All those things I said about her at the trial, I meant all of them. I hate ponies who can’t get rid of their suspicions even if the evidence is stacked heavily against them. Long story short, don’t listen to a pony like her.” After getting breakfast and comforting Fluttershy we went our separate ways. A.K. wanted to keep tabs on some that she might thing held suspicions, and Flam wanted to give Applejack another piece of his mind. Fluttershy went to go talk with Monokuma, who she had vowed to ‘reform’ for what he did to Trixie (or what she thought he did). As for Thorax, he kinda disappeared into his room, which had formerly belonged to Trixie. That left me with nothing to do, and plenty of time to kill. Sadly, since there was still no muffins, I would have to settle with chatting with someone.