Ding dong bing bong
“Good morning ‘guests’, it is now 8:00am. I hope you are all feeling well rested and respectful, you know, like you should be. Look, all I ask is that one of you die real soon so I can vent my stress out on something more than a bunch of idiotic horses. So do that, and make it snappy!”
Part of me was surprised that Monokuma was still angry, but I should have expected it. I’m sure most ponies are probably still angry at me about what happened at breakfast yesterday. It made me not want to get up and hide away like Pinkie has been doing. The fact that I haven’t seen her after all this time astounded me, remember how happy-go-lucky the Ultimate Party Planner was. Hopefully she is still eating.
“Guess it would be more worrying if I didn’t show up after yesterday’s affair,” I convinced myself. I had to force my body off the bed, not feeling the want to move or do anything at the current moment. “Why do I feel so heavy right now?”
Do what I could to wake myself up, I walked to the door of my room and opened it. Part of me had expected somepony to be there, mainly Applejack or Flash ready to question me about Celestia knows what. That didn’t happen, and I was instead greeted with the view of the opposite balcony, bedroom doors closed. I let the door slowly close behind me as I stepped out, only to find something run right into me.
“There you are?!” A voice said as I hit the floor.
“Wh-what-“
My words fell silent as I saw who it was, and it brought me a mixture of relief of fear. The one who had run me down was Pinkie Pie, who was now standing over me with an oddly intense look on her face. My question about whether she had been eating or not was answered, noticing that she had gotten far skinnier since I last saw her. Unhealthily skinny to be exact, as I could see her ribs expanding and could see her breathing harshly. The Ultimate Party Planner almost looked starved from what I could tell.
“You did it, didn’t you?” She yelled at me, the words spitting out with ferocity. “You were the one who gave me that letter, admit it! Admit it!”
“Pinkie, what are you talking about?” I asked her, but the words only seemed to make her angrier.
“Don’t act dumb with me however you are!” Pinkie suddenly blinked, seeming lost and confused before advancing once again. “Why did you give me that letter? Tell me. Now!”
“Pinkie, is something wrong?” I asked.
“That’s Ditzy you’re tackling Pinkie, not Hooves” I heard Bon Bon call as she dragged Pinkie Pie off of me. The Ultimate Party Planner met the Ultimate Candymaker’s eyes, or just to the right of their eyes I realized. “One is grey, one is brown. It’s not that hard to tell them apart. I mean, how could someone mix up those two accents.”
“Oh, oopsies,” Pinkie giggled cheerfully. She turned back to me, “Sorry, I’m actually not very good when it comes to voices. I’ve met so many ponies that their voices kinda blend together.”
“It’s fine Pinkie, but you should still be able to see a difference,” I pointed out, still confused about on how such a mistake could be made.
“That should be obvious,” Pinkie answered. “I lost my contacts! Truth is I actually have very bad eyesight, and without them I can’t make out pony’s faces.”
That caught me off guard in more ways than I could count. Pinkie, the Ultimate Party Planner, capable of remembering names, birthdays, likes, dislikes, and pretty much everything, was slightly blind. It would have been obvious if she was wearing glasses, but contacts could explain why I wasn’t able to see a difference. If voices did mix together as badly as she said they did, it did make sense how she could mistaken me for someone else.
“It doesn’t help that the two of you have thick accents,” Pinkie continued as I registered everything going on. “Yes, they're kinda different but when one sounds so foriegn and the other sounds straight outta Manehattan they really do just blend together.”
“I have an accent?”
“Don’t worry, it’s normal to not realize it,” Bon Bon explained. “Anyways, we can continue this at the dining hall. Something… dire has just come up.”
“You mean the letter Pinkie mentioned,” I asked her, getting a nod. “You know where it’s from?”
“Ditzy,” The Ultimate Candymaker sighed, a look of disappointment on her face. “When someone says ‘we can continue this at the dining hall’, they mean ‘we can continue this at the dining hall’!”
I was shocked by the sudden aggression in Bon Bon’s voice. She seemed so laid back that I didn’t even realize she could get angry that quickly. Guess I learned two new things today, or three counting the accent.
“I-I’ll meet you there then,” I said, waving goodbye to them. Deciding to see if anyone else was still in their rooms, I turned around, and was met with a wide-eyed Rainbow Dash hovering in the air. “Oh, um, hey Rainbow… how long have you been standing there?”
Rainbow look down to me, clearly processing however much she had heard.
“You have an accent?”
——— Chapter 3: Dungeons and Death ———
Not too much later I met everyone else down at the dining hall, who were busy greeting Pinkie again for the first time since Rarity’s trial. The look on her face was similar to the one that I had seen on her for a split second: complete confusion. She greeted everyone back as they said hello to her, but she hesitated to say any ponies name. The only two who weren’t greeting Pinkie was Applejack and Flash, the former staring at me with cold eyes.
“Seems like someone here doesn’t know what subtlety is,” Rainbow mumbled under her breath, blocking the Ultimate Farmer from my view. “Just ignore her Dee. That mare doesn’t understand the term ‘accidental’.”
“Say’s the same pony who has to be told what an accent is,” I joked, Rainbow giving me a look that spoke ‘touche’.
“Ah, nice to see you’re alive Ditzy,” A shiver went down my spine as I turned to see Redheart behind me. A cocky, sinister smile donned her face as she put her muzzle to mine. “I do hope nopony cause you any trouble last night.”
“N-no, not at all,” I replied taking a step back, only for her to close the space yet again. “Look, Redheart, I’m glad you’re concerned about me but can you please be a little more… considerate.”
“Ahem,” I turned once again to see Bon Bon standing on the dining table, clearing her throat a little. “As much as I want Pinkie’s reunion with us to be a joyful one, we have a matter to discuss, one that is deeply troubling at that.”
“Ya mean other than the fact one of us here ruined our only chance of speaking to our families ever again?” Applejack quipped, glancing at me real quickly as she said that.
“And if certain ponies would please shut up and actually listen, perhaps I’ll make it clear that Ditzy was actually doing us a favor,” As she finished, she glared at Applejack in frustration. When no response came, she dropped the glare and continued. “Last night, somepony here delivered a message to Pinkie’s door, one that I found when I decided to check in on her today. At first, I thought it was a threat on her life by somepony here, but it turned to be worse than that.”
“Worse?!” Doctor Hooves asked, the rest of us echoing his thoughts in one way or another.
“Yes, and we should’ve known something was off,” Bon Bon answered, her words carried a weight with her that backed up exactly what she was saying. “When Monokuma said those messages were from our families, we should have known something was off. He got to us, and more importantly, we did exactly what he wanted us to.”
“Are you saying that these messages are not from our families?” A.K. asked, not seeming convinced at what was being told to her. “And how would you know that when he cut them to shreds?”
“Because that message Pinkie received wasn’t written by anypony here. Someone put her letter back together,” Bon Bon explained, and a gasp resounded from the rest of the room. “And while it wasn’t written by one of us, the pony who gave it to her last night is in this very room, hiding, knowing exactly what they have done.”
I could see everypony looking around, with the only exceptions being Pinkie, Redheart and I. It’s not that the shock didn’t hit me, but rather I was stunned somepony here was able to do that. If it was only a few tears I could except it, but the fact someone would even consider trying to put together all those tiny pieces was insane. I doubt A.K. would even be able to do that, and she was the ultimate author.
“What’s so bad about that?” Fluttershy asked, seeming confused. She was speaking in that creepy monotone voice that she used during the trial. Monokuma had affected her more than I thought. “Monokuma went through a lot in order to make sure you all got some word about your families. He even had me pick which ones to give you guys, so it should be anything to worry about.”
Bon Bon looked to Pinkie, whispering something to her. She nodded in response and pulled a piece of paper out of her mane. It was her reforged letter, something made clear from the tape holding it together. The Ultimate Party Planner then attempted to hand it to Bon Bon, who again whispered to her friend. The only word I could tell was exchanged between the two was a ‘sure’ at the end, to which Pinkie replied to with a nod. With that she reached for the letter and turned back to us.
“Fluttershy,” Bon Bon addressed the Ultimate Animal Caretaker. “If you really did pick these out, then tell me if this is correct.”
Fluttershy nodded and smiled in response. With that, Bon Bon took a deep breath, and begin reading the letter to us.
“Dear miss Pinkamania Diane Pie,”
“Aw, they spelled it wrong again,” Pinkie said, and the only thought that went through my head was how a relative could screw up the name of a family member.
“We regret to inform you that your sister, Maud Pie, recently committed suicide.”
My heartbeat skipped, and I looked to Pinkie who was looking forward. Her eyes were wide, pupils dilated, and mouth hanging as she heard the words. Everyone had a similar response, even Applejack, who seemed to forget about her vendetta towards me as she heard these words. Bon Bon had also stopped, struggling to continue reading the letter.
“We are sorry to have to inform you about this loss, and ask that you visit your parents at home to help them, as well as help you in this time of need. Friends are also invited to attend Maud’s funeral, which is to be held on-“
“Stop,” Pinkie told Bon Bon. The Ultimate Candymaker did just that, turning to the pony next to her as they tried their best to hold the tears in. “I don’t wanna hear anymore. It’s fake, I know it is. Maud wouldn’t do something like that, she wouldn’t. She… she-”
“No, that’s how I remember the letter going,” Fluttershy interrupted, unfazed by the entire ordeal. “It’s a shame something like that had to happen, but isn’t it better knowing instead of not?”
“Shut up! You don’t understand!” Pinkie yelled at Fluttershy, no longer able to hold back my tears. “Don’t act like you know what’s good for me you… you…”
Pinkie didn’t finish that sentence, instead bolting out of the room, nearly missing the door in the process. The way Bon Bon had said it earlier, and the way Pinkie had attacked me made me thought she already knew. It's clear she hadn’t, and that thought stung me as I realized I was doing nothing to help her.
“The hell were you thinking Fluttershy?” Flash asked, clearly frustrated by the lack of care being shown from the Ultimate Animal Caretaker. “Pinkie already had enough to do with after Rarity was killed, why fan the flame even more?”
“I never said this is what you wanted to see, I just said it was something about your families,” Fluttershy answered in response. “Monokuma taught me how do show death to ponies, and even more so how to accept it. One day, I will die, and you all will too, but you’re too busy denying everything to accept that. That’s all he wants you know, and all his creator wants as well. Accept death, and nothing can ever hurt you.”
Despite multiple ponies attempting to stop her, Fluttershy managed to sneak out of the crowd and through the door. Arguments broke out afterwards, and just like Pinkie I was done seeing death I was done with these. I know some others left as well, but who I didn’t know. I just wanted to get out.
I just want to deny the fissure separating us all.