//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Unfortunate Seventeen - Deadly Life part 1 // Story: Danganronpa V.E: Creating Chaos // by Lusaminia //------------------------------// POV Change: A.K. Yearling “A body has been discovered! Will everyone please meet in the upstairs lounge for further instructions!” Everyone else was already upstairs when I had arrived, and the sight of the body almost made me hurl. Ditzy had informed me of who it was, and without her I probably wouldn’t have been able to tell who it was at all. That dead body was none other than Rarity, her fur, mane and tail burnt away from having spent an unknown amount of time in the fire. Her skin was even worse, being deformed by the now un-lit fireplace on the left side of the room. I had thought nothing could be worse than Twilight’s body, but looking at the unrecognizable figure of Rarity told me wrong. “Wh-wh-what?” Pinkie was near the state of hyperventilating, Bon Bon doing what little she could to comfort the Ultimate Party Planner. “This… this is not okay. None of this is okay. How could anypony see this as okay?” “When did any of us say this was fine?” Applejack asked, her hat covering her mouth, eyes wide in shock. “Ah never asked for this, and ah don’t think anyone else did as well sugarcube. This… is easily the most horrible thing I’ve seen in my life.” “For once I’m in agreement with you Applejack,” Flam agreed, not even able to look at the body. “I’ve seen a fair number of ugly things in this is by far the ugliest and worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” He did his best to look at Ditzy without eyeing the body in front of her, the mail mare curled up in the corner of the room with tear filled eyes. “You were the first one to get here, did you see what happened?” “No,” She managed to reply, though her voice was failing her. “T-The room was locked a-a-and the only reason… I only discovered this because Bulk busted down the door!” “The door was locked?” I asked, looking to busted wooden door that was lying on the floor next to me. “I guess that would explain some things, but that only makes this entire thing more troublesome. I… I guess this is what you would call a ‘locked room mystery’, though how the hay did somepony pull that off?” “That’s what you all have to find out!” I winced as Monokuma suddenly shot out from behind me. He had no regard for the pain and misery we were all feeling at that moment, his voice as cheerful and excited as ever. “Now now, just hear me out before you tell me to go away. I know my voice is the last thing you want to hear right now, and I’m honestly quite upset too, but the problem with being a machine is that your voice only has one setting. In truth I’m actually quite depressed.” “If ya think that’s gonna make any of us feel bad for you, then go find somepony else!” Applejack shouted, her words matching how the rest of us felt at that moment. “We want a moment to grieve our friend right now, so just leave us the buck alo-” Before she could finish her sentence something speeded past us and into the Ultimate Farmer’s mouth. An apple, along with part of her hat, were both stuffed deep into her muzzle, a look of shock and disbelief in Applejack’s eyes. Monokuma burst out laughing at the sight, and I swear I could even hear Flam chuckling slightly. It did definitely help to distract from the horrible things in front of us, but it didn’t change the fact Rarity was still dead. No amount of laughter could change that, and we just had to accept it. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do that,” Monokuma told us, having finally stopped his blood-curdling laugh. “It feels good to actually interact with you all, it makes this killing game so much more enjoyable for me. Well, even though I would love to mess with old McDonald we still got a murder ahead of us, and you all know what that means.” “Actually, I really have no idea what the means,” Thorax replied, seeming slightly uncomfortable by all the glares that were now directed at him. “I know about the killing game, yes, but what else is there to it? Is there something I’m missing?” Nopony answered his question, everyone looking for another to take the responsibility of telling him the truth. “Okaaaay. Since most of you know what that means, I’ll skip the boring stuff and get straight to the point,” Monokuma said, taking out a very familiar looking group of folders out from behind his back. Though considering the look of absolute disgust on Redhearts face, I probably didn’t want to know where the folders actually came from. “I’ve got all you need to know right here in the Monokuma File, though even I’ll admit some details are a bit… uncertain. I know about the burns but the mess of her figure made it impossible for me to get much more about the cause. You might think of it as a lack of information, but I prefer to call it a plot-twist waiting to happen.” “Oh and, um, I’ll be investigating with Thorax,” Fluttershy explained, and in all this time it hadn’t dawned on me that she wasn’t even shaking in fear from any of this. “Monokuma… well, put me in charge of helping him out before we, uh, got… together. I-it’s not like I’ll be much help anyway.” “And that is why you and I are such good friends Fluttershy,” Monokuma reminded us, those words probably being the must unexaggerated thing I’ve ever heard him say. “Your the brains and I’m the brains, we need no brawn to get things done. Oh, and while we’re talking about pairs, allow me to quickly state that only the pony who does the killing is considered blackened, so don’t think an accomplice can take your blame and .” “Yeah yeah, whatever,” Redheart said, rolling her eyes. “Just give us the Monokuma File so we can get to the important part. None of us want to die right now because you took away all of our investigation time.” With a defeated sigh, Monokuma placed the Monokuma File on the ground and ran away. One at a time, we each went forward to pick up a Monokuma File, some doing try their best to not look at the body as they did. I didn’t hide like they did, looking the body straight head on as I took the second to last copy of the folder. I barely knew Rarity, and even though I had some resentment towards her for being a walking soap opera, I couldn’t but feel horrible for what happened to her. Nopony deserved to die and look this way, and it’s for that reason that I’m investigating. Trixie put her trust in me, and I have to now return the favor and find out who did this. Investigation start! “Before we get anywhere, I’m going to suggest that Ditzy stays with me here to guard the body,” Flash told us, stepping forward. I opened my muzzle to object, but he had already started to explain why. “As the one who discovered the body, she is a prime suspect and should not be placed out of the eyes of the royal guard. Bulk gets a pass because we were training in the courtyard earlier today.” “What? Why am I a suspect?” Ditzy asked. “I swear I didn’t kill Rarity, and I would never kill anyone. Rainbow, back me up here please.” “You were alone until Bulk showed up, and while I deeply apologize for suspecting a pony who risked everything to save our lives a few days ago, I can’t let that cloud my judgement,” Ditzy immediately opened her mouth to object to what Flash was saying, but we both knew he was right. There was a significant gap of time from when I had last seen her and when the murder occured. The Ultimate Guard, seeing the look of worry on Ditzy’s face, than bowed to her. “Ditzy Do, I won’t stop you from investigating the immediate crime site, but know that this is for the best.” “Hey, don’t worry Dee,” Rainbow said as she bumped her friend with her front right hoof. “I’ll go with A.K. and investigate with her. It’s the least I can do after trying to drag you into something you didn’t want to do earlier.” “I… I understand,” Ditzy said in submission, hanging her head before looking back up to Rainbow Dash. “It would only make me more suspicious if I went against this, so I’ll stay here. Rainbow, I’m relying on you and A.K. to clear everything up, got it?” “Then let’s start now by checking the Monokuma File,” I chimed in, walking up to Ditzy and Rainbow’s side. “That always should be the first thing we do whenever a murder occurs, cause then will have a basic idea of what happened if nothing else useful pops up.” “The victim is Rarity Belle, the Ultimate Dressmaker,” We looked to Redheart, who was already reading out everything that was recorded inside of the Monokuma File. “She was killed in the lounge located on the second floor at 11:45 am. Her body has burnt to the point of cutting of magic circulation, but it is undetectable if any other injuries have been inflicted. The severe burning has deformed her body to the point where it is impossible to tell if there is any other significant injuries.” “That’s… a horrible way to go,” Bon Bon stated, something which I think all of us, even the murderer perhaps, agreed with. “Still, that means she been sitting there for at least a good twenty five minutes, which is more than enough time for evidence to be tampered with.” Burnt to the point where no other injuries can even be detectable, hearing that only further set how difficult this would probably be. The door was locked, a pony burned to the point where we don’t even know if the method of murder was different, and Monokuma couldn’t even get a solid idea on what other injuries were dealt to begin with. I didn’t say anything, but this made me more than uncomfortable with how elaborate the murder was. No doubt this had all been planned out, but how the heck did they know Rarity would be here? How did they know there would be enough time to hide the actual cause of death. Monokuma File #2 has been added to the truth bullet section of your handbook “Hey Dee, quick question,” Rainbow said, immediately take her role as my partner in crime, or rather partner in solving crime. “Look, I don’t want to think your the murderer after what you said to me in the library early this morning, but how did you even find Rarity’s body? How did you even know it was Rarity?” “I… I never meant to find the body, it’s probably best to say the murderer lead me to the body,” She explained, leaving me and Rainbow confused. “A-a-allow me to explain, okay? After talking with you two earlier today I made my way to the library to do some reading. When I arrived, it looked like it had been completely trashed, like the time a rain cloud had followed me into my house and destroyed everything. Anyways, I decided to clean… it… oh no.” “You cleaned up the library not know that somepony had been murdered,” I finished, seeing the look of horror and realization in the Ultimate Mail Carrier’s eyes. “It’s okay, you didn’t know anything about what happened in here, and I guess it would work out for the actual murderer as well. Instead of getting rid of evidence themselves, they have someone else destroy it for them without even knowing it. Definitely helps in case they get caught.” “Yeah, I guess so, but it doesn’t change the strange part about this all,” Ditzy continued, doing her best to keep strong. “You guys already know the door was locked, that shouldn’t even be possible! The door doesn’t even have a lock on the inside, Bulk told me that after we busted it down.” “But… if that’s the case, how the heck did they lock the door?” Rainbow asked, clearly just as puzzled about this as I was. “You can’t lock something if it doesn’t even have a lock itself.” “I don’t know, but it clearly isn’t something normal,” I answered. “Thanks Ditzy, hold strong for us, go it?” Mess in the library has been added to the truth bullet section of your handbook Ditzy’s account has been added to the truth bullet section of your handbook By the time we had finished talking with Ditzy, most of the others had already dispersed around the castle to search for clues. The only ones who remained besides for us was Redheart, Flash, Bon Bon, and a frozen Pinkie Pie. Redheart was doing everything she could to examine the body and search for anything else that could indicate another cause of death. Flash was keeping a watchful eye on Ditzy, which was expected giving what he had said at the investigation’s start. Bon Bon simply stood there, doing what little she could to try and wake up Pinkie from her current state. “Um, isn’t there supposed to be one more thing over here?” I turned to Rainbow, who was looking at the fire tools located to the left of the fireplace. “Isn’t there supposed to be a thing that, if I remember correctly, pushes around logs that are going to fall out onto the floor?” She was indeed correct, something was missing from the incredibly tiny tool rack next to the fireplace. I didn’t have a fireplace so I didn’t really know what any of them did, but one spot was clearly empty. Why it was empty, though, is the main thing I have to worry about. It was unknown whether the culprit had used it, but we couldn’t rule out the possibility. However, if they did use it, what was it used for? Missing fire tool has been added to the truth bullet section of your handbook The next thing I did was check the door, hoping to confirm what Ditzy said was correct. With Rainbow’s help I turned the door over and leaned it against the wall, and the answer was exactly what I was hoping for. From where the hinges on the door was the lock for the room was placed not on the inside of the lounge, but rather in the hallway. It was also unmistakable that the door wasn’t locked from the outside because the mechanism was horizontal, not vertical like most standard doors. The otherside had a simple push area, like the kind you were likely to see at a hospital or public venue. “Wait, this makes no sense,” Rainbow said, shaking her head and examining it again. “This can’t be right. No way in Celestia’s name is it possible that this is the inside of the door. How in the hay could it have been locked?” “That’s the question, but something tells me we won’t find any answers to it here,” I explained to her. “The culprit clearly intended to hide whatever means were used to lock the door. Hiding the means to getting in and out is how they attempt to get away, making it look like a suicide. Finding that will be the key to unraveling the murderer.” “I might have an idea then,” Redheart told us as she walked up to my side. “Remember how the Monokuma File stated that the body was burnt to the point of stopping magic circulation? Well, that’s the thing about unicorn magic: it doesn’t stop once they are dead. That’s why curses and barriers protecting belongings of the deceased are still active even after the caster has died. Only way to stop it is to burn the horn, which takes a lot longer than you might think.” “Sorry, I’m not following any of that,” Rainbow admitted, her head slightly tilted. “What would that have to do with this.” “You know how the griffons came into existence, right?” Redheart asked, the Ultimate Stunt Flyer shaking her head in reply. “A long time ago, back before the three tribes were united together under the same flag, a spoiled pegasus noble ventured off into the far mountains of the continent in search of a great treasure. She met an old unicorn there, who claimed that the treasure was his most prized possession and he had put an eternal curse on it. The noble didn’t care and took a large sum of his treasure when he wasn’t looking. As soon as she left the mountains she was turned into what we know today as griffons, and the curse still lives even after the unicorn who cast it has past.” “I’ve heard this story before,” I told her, “The noble took it back to her family and became griffons as soon as they touched the gold. In fear of being found that fled to the mountains, where the griffons reside today,” I didn’t tell her about my own personal experience with the story, having been tricked by a rival of mine into finding it and bringing it back to a museum. The only thing keeping me a pony anymore was my own outfit, which I never took off anyways, but Redheart didn’t need to know that. “I thought about doing a Daring Do novel for it, but never actually got to writing it.” “Perhaps we could work on it together when it’s all over.” Rainbow suggested as she nudged me with her elbow. Of course, I knew full well what she actually meant, knowing how some fans always want to be in there favorite books or comics. “Yes, I left that part about because I thought it wasn’t important to what I was trying to say,” Redheart explain to me. “However, it’s clear that Rarity was burnt in order to not only cause a locked room mystery, but also to hide the fact they were here. It should have taken around twenty-five minutes for the horn to burn to the point of stopping magic circulation.” “Is that the same amount of time Bon Bon told us has past since the murder happened?” I questioned. “Yes, and while I don’t want to think about it, part of me thinks this is a suicide,” Redheart admitted, something that took both me and Rainbow by surprised. “I now it’s horrible to say, but think about the motive we were presented with. Rarity was extremely excited about the idea, but she was so vocal about it that it would make her an obvious killer. Perhaps, knowing she couldn’t escape, Rarity commited suicide so that the gala tickets went to two others.” “Yeah, Monokuma did mention that to me yesterday when I asked,” Rainbow explained. “I had planned to commit murder and bring Dee with me, but she said that she wouldn’t except the ticket and would rather die if I murdered somepony. If you planned to commit suicide, Monokuma would give it to those you were closest to.” “Well, at least you remembered reason in the end, but I need to get back to examining the body now,” Redheart told us. “It might take the entire investigation period to do this one autopsy report due to how hard it is to tell a burn mark from an entry wound, especially since the fur is nothing but ash now. That would have at least been red blood on white fur.” The amount of information that I had just received had actually made my head spun. We now know the door could only be physically locked from the outside, as that is where the actual lock is located. Magic was a possibility if it was indeed locked from the inside, but the amount of time meant that the spell had to have been activated after the murderer had already killed her. Suicide was an option, but that’s all it really was. Theories weren’t anything you would be able to use in a normal courtroom, but this isn’t a normal trial, which meant even those were useful. Locking mechanisms has been added to the truth bullet section of your handbook Magic circulation has been added to the truth bullet section of your handbook Suicide theory has been added to the truth bullet section of your handbook “Are we done yet?” Rainbow asked. “I don’t think that there was anything else that could possibly be evidence in here.” “Done, yes, but only with the actual scene of the crime,” I told her. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but we are going to need to check the entire second floor and collect as many alibi’s as possible from those who are currently elsewhere. The library, Chemistry lab, and that secret room on the other side of the hallway need to be checked,” I was able to tell that Rainbow was getting antsy, but I wasn’t done just yet. “However, I think we should check Rarity’s room as well, something might be hiding there. Also, depending on what ponies tell us, we might need to check some other places too.” “So library first, right?” Rainbow said. “Surely something of importance must be there if they made the room seem like such a mess.” “Yeah, and it’s the reason Ditzy is the primary victim to.” I gritted my teeth as I said that, my mind filling with ‘what if’ scenarios that could possibly play out. “This isn’t just because of Trixie, is it?” I looked back to Rainbow, but wasn’t able to get a response out before she continued. “Yeah, I know about what really happened during the first trial. Dee told me, and something tells me that what she said to you earlier today is making you uncomfortable right now.” Part of me wanted to tell her I was wrong, another wanted to just act like I didn’t hear any of it, and another wanted to just stop investigating. None of those were actually my response, however, and I suddenly found myself tearing up. I never told anyone about being an orphan, having believed that my parents had died, but Ditzy’s words earlier… it both stunned and shocked me. Was it possible that I actually had a sister, or that my family wasn’t actually dead? “I’m scared Rainbow,” I told her as we walked into the hallway, too afraid of Ditzy seeing me cry right in front of her. “I’m scared of so many different things right now, and all of them have at least some relation to Ditzy. I’m worried that she is actually the culprit, or that everyone will wrongly accuse her and we’ll all die. I’m worried that, after all this time, I might not be able to actually have somepony I can call a family.” “Then don’t worry about that kinda stuff,” I looked to Rainbow, her face full of sympathy. “I get what it’s like to almost lose somepony dear to you, or for your friend to be laughed at, but that’s what a sister or friend is there for. No matter what anypony says, you gotta believe in your friends, even in the worst situations. Sure, belief alone won’t change the truth, but if you know the truth will hurt, then you should be ready to accept that possible outcome.” “... Right,” I replied, wiping the tears from my eyes. “I’m not gonna let my potential sibling die tonight, but if that is what truly happens, then I’ll be ready to accept what’s to come.” “Then let's stop crying and start finding,” Rainbow told me, crossing her front hooves as she flew in the air. “We got a friend to save.” I could see why Ditzy like Rainbow so much, but like she said I didn’t have time to stand around and talk. I followed the Ultimate Stunt Flyer into the library, which looked almost exactly the same from the last time I was here, key word there being almost. It looked perfectly normal at first glance, but a glance at the books on each self told me that somepony had definitely not payed attention to what genres go where. This must have been Ditzy’s attempt at cleaning everything up, and luck for us it made her story believable. “Hmm,” Rainbow was in deep contemplation as I check around the room, noticing before I did that one of the bookshelves was teetering over. “Daring watch out!” Before I could reply I suddenly felt the massive weight of a bookshelf collide with my body. I suddenly found myself kissing the library’s carpet floor, buried under a mountain of romantic novels. It was humiliating, and I was starting to wonder if the realization of me and Ditzy being related has given me her bad luck. Thankfully, Rainbow lifted it up before I started to feel to claustrophobic under the bookshelves, but set it back down after I was out. Looking back, I suddenly saw why. There was a window located behind the bookshelf, and an open window at that. “I thought that window looked weird.” Rainbow said. “You mean you knew that this window was here?” I asked. “Couldn’t you have brought that up earlier, before I was crushed by a gigantic bookcase?” “Sorry, but I only knew about the window, not where it was actually located,” Rainbow explained to me. “The second floor only has one window, something that I noticed from flying, but it was invisible from the inside. I guess this must be that window, but why the hay is it open right now?” “The culprit must have also know about its location and used it for something,” I theorized. “Probably tossed a piece of evidence outside that would give them away.” “Well they made a huge mistake, because they didn’t put it back up correctly,” Rainbow replied. “Oooo, I’m gonna make this murderer pay for what she did. Not just for making Ditzy the prime suspect, but for acting like they are so clever.” I could see part of where Rainbow was coming from, but we had to assume the murderer was smarter than we thought they were. Trixie and Twilight had created a murder case to see if we could be trusted to survive this, but that wasn’t the case here. The blackened this time around wasn’t testing us, otherwise they wouldn’t have gone to such lengths. It’s fair to say they’re trying to leave, and the only way they knew about was to commit a crime. Mess in the library has been updated with recently found information Second floor window has been added to the truth bullet section of your handbook “I don’t think we are gonna find anything more in here,” I told Rainbow. “The next closest place is the hidden library room on the left side of the second floor. I want to check something there.” “Well, you’re the expert here, even if it is only through literary means,” The Ultimate Stunt Flyer admitted. “Lead the way A.K.” As we exited to the far side of the hallway, the first thing that caught my eye was something that was rather… off. The wall that opened up to the secret library I was talking about was being guarded by Fluttershy and Flash, but that was the problem. Flash shouldn’t have been there, especially since he was suppose to be watching both Ditzy and the crime scene. Even then Fluttershy wasn’t anywhere near Thorax, who she said she would investigate with. “Flash! Fluttershy!” I called out to them, my brain trying to figure out exactly what was going on. “What are you two doing? Where’s Thorax right now? And Flash, aren’t you supposed to be watching the actual site of the murder?” “Um, A.K.,” Fluttershy said, her voice barely audible. “That isn’t actually Flash. It’s , well, Thorax in disguise, but please don’t tell anypony else.” “We’re guarding the the secret library entrance just in case the murderer tries to grab something from inside,” Hearing the voice of Thorax coming out of Flash’s mouth caught me by surprise, and apparently he noticed how wrong it felt as well. “Oh right, suppose to talk like Flash. Ahem,” He cleared his throat, that alone sounding much deeper than Thorax’s normal voice. “Am I doing it now?” “Yep, but wouldn’t the Ultimate Guard be rather angry if he found out you were posing as him?” Rainbow asked, beating me to the question. “Actually, this was all his idea to begin with,” Thorax explain. “He told me earlier today that I was going to be a double of him and watch the inside of the hidden library. I don’t know why, but I think he had a feeling something like this would happen. The murder I mean, not you confusing me for him.” “Not that it really matters anymore, since the murder has already been committed,” Fluttershy said. “I mean, perhaps Monokuma is right and this really is all for the best. Maybe this killing game is actually a good thing and not bad like we all thought.” “What do you mean it’s a good idea?!” Rainbow shouted at the mare. “Ponies shouldn’t die for any reason, and wouldn’t it be better to live a full life instead of killing each other just to leave?” “But Monokuma told me that he was doing this so that we could all accept the inevitable,” Fluttershy explained, and I couldn’t help but feel like the bear had managed to brainwash her in someway. “Why go on living years from now when it’s only going to cause you more pain? That’s the reason he does these killing games: so that we would accept the death that awaits us if we manage to survive.” “It’s best to give up on persuading her you two,” The disguised Thorax told the two of us. “I’ve already tried, but it seems that Monokuma has convinced her these killing games are a good thing. Though, if almost everypony here did actually gang up on her during the last trial, than I guess I could understand why she would befriend someone like that.” Rainbow, despite wanting to argue, took Thorax’s advise and walked into the secret library. I couldn’t help but feel concerned for Fluttershy, knowing that Monokuma must have used her insecurity against her. Only yesterday was she telling us that she did this as a step to stop the killing, but now she has done a complete one-eighty. Still, we did get some important info out of here, and that came in the form of Thorax’s account. I could check with Flash if it’s true or not during the trial, but right now I had to cover as much ground as possible. Thorax’s account has been added to the truth bullet section of your handbook “Oh, before I forget,” I turned back to Fluttershy as I was about to enter the secret library. “Did you notice anything weird earlier today? Anything that could point to this being somepony other than Rarity. I’m having a hard time thinking such a death would be a suicide.” “Well, there was something strange outside earlier today,” Fluttershy told me. “It was kinda like a tiny marshmallow stick, the one you would be from the market to roast marshmallows on during a campfire. The thing was the it was very small and looked like it had been made entirely out of metal.” “Do you think that it’s possible this could have been a murder weapon?” I asked her. “While it is entirely possible she was killed from being burnt in the fireplace, we don’t know what other injuries would be dealt.” “I don’t know, better to leave that to an expert like Redheart.” She replied. “I’m only the Ultimate Animal Caretaker, I wouldn’t know anything about that.” Fluttershy, when this trial is over, I’ll try and fix whatever Monokuma has done to you. That’s a promise. Fluttershy’s account has been added to the truth bullet section of your handbook