Danganronpa vP: Harmony of Despair

by witegrlninja


The Triangle Waltz: Hope, Harmony, Despair - Deadly Life 3

"Ah... no...?" Coloratura's voice shook. "Why would you say that?"

"If Bulk's massage could not help your pain, then medicine could," said Nurse Redheart. "And while you got yourself pain medicine for your foreleg, you also could have grabbed a blood pack from the minifridge. The question is... why?"

"Well... I didn't," she replied nervously. "What would I need a blood pack for?"

"To pour the blood on the floor underneath the knife," Lightning Dust snorted. "But then where did the knife come from?"

"UM... THE KITCHEN?" Bulk Biceps suggested.

"Fucking duh, obviously," Lightning rolled her eyes. "I mean, how did the knife appear behind Flam's desk? I wasn't in the bathroom looking around long enough for anypony to get it from the kitchen... I know I said a couple minutes earlier, but it was really maybe thirty seconds between going in and Coloratura screaming."

"Are you sure it was really only thirty seconds...?" Redheart glared darkly. "A couple minutes and thirty seconds are two completely different lengths of time in this case."

"Yea... just, you know, an expression," Lightning coughed nervously, as if being scolded. "Now that I think about it, it was definitely way less than a minute. I only remember getting to search the toilet before the scream."

Redheart continued to glare for a few moments, then sighed. "...Very well. Thirty seconds is not much time to accomplish so many tasks. The knife had to have been hidden relatively close by."

"Uh... Twilight's room is closest to Flam's, I think..." said Coloratura.

"Couldn't have been me," I answered immediately. "I was upstairs with Flam the entire time before you screamed, and there was nothing found in my room."

"Hmm... Rarity's, maybe?" shrugged Lightning.

"Goodness, no!" Rarity shrieked.

"No, we checked her room, too... nothing like that knife was in there," asserted Flam.

"Uh... Redheart's?"

"Now you're reaching past a time limit of thirty seconds," Redheart sighed at Lightning. "My room is all the way at the other end of the corridor from Flam's. Not to mention that if the culprit is indeed Coloratura, everypony in the vicinity would have heard her running back and forth from those rooms in order to retrieve and plant the knife within the time you searched the bathroom."

"Nopony joined us up on the second floor, either," said Flam. "Twilight and I surely would have noticed that."

"WELL... WHERE COULD IT HAVE BEEN?" Bulk whined.

If Coloratura retrieved the knife and planted it within thirty seconds, where could the knife have been hidden...?

...

...Oh! That must be it!

"The knife must have been hidden in the G A R B A G E R O O M!" I spoke.

"Eh?!" Coloratura whimpered, her eyes wide.

"The Garbage Room is only a few meters away from Flam's room," I explained. "We searched everypony's rooms, but nopony ever went in there!"

"Yes... it would've been simple enough to sneak out of Flam's room and grab the knife if it was that close at hoof!" exclaimed Rarity. "Couple that with emptying the blood from the blood pack onto the floor before setting the knife down, and that wouldn't take much time at all!"

"I-I never had a blood pack on me!" Coloratura gulped. "Don't you remember, Lightning? We searched my room and found nothing!"

"...Shit, that's true," Lightning huffed.

"That's nothing... you simply hid it after planting the knife," said Redheart. "Everypony was focused on that knife in the puddle of blood."

"I did not! Where would I have hidden it?!" argued Coloratura.

"It matters little... not much searching was done after that discovery," said Flam.

"Oh, yea... I was so convinced Flam had done it, I just went straight for the elevator to get this over with," said Lightning.

"And then Coloratura left too, just a few moments later," said Redheart. "Did she join you in the elevator room?"

"Huh? No," Lightning straightened up. "I didn't know she came after me."

"That's because she did not," Flam suddenly spoke with conviction. "After the announcement to make our way to the trial grounds played, Miss Twilight and I found her in the Garbage Room!"

"Y-Yea? I told you two, I was looking for evidence!" Coloratura protested. "I thought that maybe you or the culprit might have hidden something in there!"

...Something was hidden in there, however... I think I can figure out what it was if I just think about it...

...What piece of evidence related to a blood pack is missing? ...The empty blood pack, of course... What did Flam and I smell just before we found Coloratura in the Garbage Room? ...Burning chemicals! ...If we smelled that, then where would one expect to find such a thing? ...In the incinerator!

"...You weren't looking for evidence, you were disposing of it!" I shouted. "Just before Flam and I went inside the Garbage Room, we smelled burning chemicals... burning plastic!"

"Y-You did?!" Coloratura gasped, her breath quickening as her face froze with panic.

"Yes... the room was quite warm because the incinerator had just been used, wasn't it?" added Flam.

"The handle was really hot when I opened the hatch... really should've used my magic," I said. "And inside, on top of all the ashes were shriveled black bits."

"Sounds like burnt plastic to me," nodded Lightning. "Sometimes my Washouts would throw wrappers and stuff into the flames of rockets and burning rocket fuel... looks just like that."

"And come to think of it," Redheart broke in, "...we never did find the notepad where the note Applejack had in her possession came from. Perhaps you burned that as well!"

"So it was you..." Rarity spoke lowly and dangerously as she glared at Coloratura.

"I... n-no!" Coloratura shrieked, trembling. "W-Why would I kill Jackie?! We were friends!"

"That's true, the two of you were rather close..." Rarity put her hoof to her chin in thought. "In fact, I would even say you seemed to have a bit of a girl crush on her."

"Wh-?!"

"Oh, don't be coy. I saw the way you looked at her," continued Rarity. From where I stood, I could tell that she wanted to smile, but given the circumstances she forced herself not to.

"Is that so?" Flam straightened up. "Well, who wouldn't, really? She was a fine, lovely mare-"

"You didn't like her for her, though!" Coloratura snapped suddenly, her terrified demeanor suddenly switching to a glare of pure rage. "I saw you 'flirting' with her... you were eyeing her like a piece of sweet apple!"

"How dare you?!" Flam snorted. "My intentions were never anything but pure!"

"Oh, please... everypony knows you're a charlatan," Coloratura seethed. "You've been leering at her ever since we got here. I bet you've been planning on weaseling your way into her life so you could take advantage of her, and the wealth of her apple orchards, regardless of whether or not you both got out alive!"

"...My dear, you do know my brother and I own a casino resort? I make far more than she does," Flam recoiled uncomfortably. "But that's not the point. It's true that I wounded her in the past... more than once," he sighed, casting his gaze at the floor in shame. "In being trapped with her here, the constant threat of death looming over our heads, I felt it was only right to apologize while I could, and prove I had become a better pony since we last met. And in getting to know her better... well, I became enchanted by her."

"Tch... what is it about her and her ability to attract the big city-types...?" Rarity grumbled under her breath.

"For the first time in my life, my words failed me. I became the typical stuttering buffoon around her, too entranced by her inner - and outer - beauty to form coherent sentences. I tried various times to make my intentions known to her... but she always gently pushed them aside with that soft, melodious giggle of hers. Finally, she told me that she just wasn't interested, that she would rather remain friends... and you know what? That was plenty enough for me. Just knowing that she had forgiven me and was willing to include me in her life... that was enough," he sighed wistfully.

"Oh, would you just shut the fuck up?!" Coloratura roared in disgust. Everypony jumped at her sudden harsh language. "Do you have any idea how much of a simp you sound like?! I think I'm gonna be sick!"

"WHOA," Bulk gasped. "HEY, THAT SOUNDED LIKE A HEALTHY REJECTION TO ME!"

"You killed her because you were jealous!" Coloratura continued. "You killed her because she was never into stallions in the first place!"

"...Eh?" Rarity blinked.

"Yes, that's right... she was into mares, and guess what?! She liked me! And yes, I liked her, too!" she fumed.

Wait... she did...? Did Applejack...?

"...Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe that's how relationships work," Redheart drawled. "So far, all the evidence points to you being the killer... so why would you kill Applejack if you both liked each other? Given that the motive this time around was the ability to take another pony with you to freedom while the rest of us were executed, then why murder the one you likely would have wanted to save?"

"I..." Coloratura's breath hitched in her throat. Steaming tears began to form in her furious eyes. "I... I-I... didn't mean to..."

"Didn't mean to?" I pressed.

"I-I wanted to escape with her... I wanted to save her and have her fall for me... so we would be together forever..." Coloratura sniffled. "But... I didn't know if she liked me the way I liked her..."

"...So you wrote the note in Flam's dialect," Redheart's eyes widened slightly. "You knew that she and Flam were friendly with each other, so you figured she would be more receptive to a note from him asking her to meet somewhere."

"She was surprised to see me in there..." Coloratura nodded, sobbing more and more. "We talked for a little while, about stupid things... I was so nervous telling her how I felt, I couldn't just come out and say it all smooth, like... him," she pointed at Flam. "But I finally did, and she... s-she..."

"...I'm guessing she said 'no'..." Rarity frowned.

"S-She said she was flattered... but she wasn't interested in any relationship right now," Coloratura answered darkly.

...Oh... I see...

"WELL... WHO WOULD BE? THIS IS A TERRIBLE PLACE FOR ROMANCE," said Bulk.

"She wasn't interested in any relationship... any relationship... ANY relationship..." she repeated, grasping her ears as if haunted by the echo of Applejack's words. Redheart thought quietly for a moment, her hoof to her chin.

"...You took that to mean she was already in a relationship with Flam," she finally answered.

"When Applejack most likely meant that now wasn't a good time to begin a romantic relationship with anypony," I added.

"Always pragmatic, she was," Rarity sighed sadly.

"I-I can see that now... but at the moment, I was convinced that I'd lost her to Flam," Coloratura whimpered. "I got so angry, so jealous... all I could ask her was why? What does he have that I don't have?! S-She tried to talk me down, tried to reason with me, tell me that no, she wasn't interested in him either, b-but all I could think of was them, the two of them, together..."

"Talk about counting your chickens before they've hatched..." Lightning grunted.

"A-And then... I lost it. I pulled out the knife and threatened to go to Flam's room, ring the doorbell and kill him as soon as he answered it..." she continued. "I-If he was out of the picture... I would have her... all to myself..."

"OH YEA... WHERE DID THAT KNIFE COME FROM?" asked Bulk.

"You couldn't have gotten it on the way to the Weight Room, the Cafeteria was closed to us by that late at night," added Redheart.

"I... I've had it... for a while..." Coloratura admitted. "I took it from the Kitchen the first evening we all spent in this place... I was so terrified of being murdered, I wanted to defend myself if somepony attacked me. I-It's been hidden under my mattress all this time..."

"But you took it with you to your meeting with Applejack... why?!" Rarity growled.

"I... I-In case I saw anypony else in the halls on my way..." Coloratura trembled. "I-I didn't mean to kill Jackie! Once I brought it out, she tried to wrestle it out of my hoof."

"I see... that's why the Weight Room was such a mess," hummed Flam.

"S-She... she hurt me... threw me against one of the machines... I-I was so angry, at her, at him, I...!" Before she could finish her sentence, Coloratura slammed her face between her forelegs on the podium. "Oh, Celestia, what have I done?!" she screamed through a sob.

It... It was unintentional... a murder spurred on by the heat of the moment...

"And then what?" Redheart asked emotionlessly.

"I-I... tried to help her... I took out the knife... so much blood... I grabbed towels... applied pressure..." she cried.

Oh, no... you're not supposed to remove the object from a stab wound...!

"B-But s-she died anyway... and I-I was gonna be n-next!" Coloratura sobbed so hard she began to dry-heave. "I... began to put the towels away in the washing machine, but saw Flam's vests at the bottom... they were still wet. I used one to wipe Jackie's blood off of me after putting the towels inside... and then I grabbed the knife and ran back to the dorms... I threw the knife into the Garbage Room before I went to my room... I saw the notepad I had used and threw that in the Garbage Room as well, I couldn't stand to look at it... I spent hours in the shower, scrubbing the blood off myself over and over..."

We stood in silence for a while as Coloratura cried. Flam opened his mouth as if to speak but closed it again, electing to stare somberly at the floor instead.

"...So, it was you," Redheart finally spoke. "You murdered the one you cared about the most, and pinned the blame on the pony you hated most." Flam grimaced.

"I-" Coloratura started, but her breath cut short. It was suddenly as if something inside her had finally shattered - her pupils shrank into pinpoints, and one of her ears twitched and flattened to the side. "...No... no, it couldn't have been me...!"

"Wha- are you fucking serious?!" Lightning stammered.

"No... it wasn't me... it couldn't have been me!" Coloratura giggled madly. "No, no, no... it wasn't me at all!" Suddenly, an aura of dark turquoise surrounded her - in an instant the flashiest of clothes materialized onto her body, and her face became covered with gratuitous, glittery stage makeup. She twitched and laughed as she reasoned with herself, finally sinking deep into despair.

"No... it couldn't have been me! Why would I kill the pony I loved? I am the Countess, all ponies love me! I can have any pony I want! I will have any pony I want! It wasn't me who killed Jackie! Why would I kill somepony who loved me? Somepony else must have killed her!"

Coloratura... she's gone completely insane...

"No... I'm not the guilty one... you have no proof it was me! You have no proof that I was with Jackie in that Weight Room!" Coloratura shrieked with glee, tears mixing with the makeup on her face and running down her cheeks in muddy, black rivers. But as she clutched and groped at her face, smearing the makeup into even darker streaks, I gasped as I remembered the final piece of evidence that would seal her fate.

This is my proof!

"...There is proof, Coloratura... you left it on Applejack's forehead," I grimaced.

"Huh?! What?!" Coloratura froze.

"There was something waxy on her forehead... something that came from your lip balm collection. You must have kissed her on the forehead when you realized she was gone," I spoke quietly.

"I... I..."

"It's the only explanation. We searched Flam's room, and I don't remember finding any lip balm inside it," I continued. "Rarity had some lipstick in hers, but the waxy substance on AJ's forehead was transparent, not colored."

"True... I don't use lip balm," Flam nodded.

"...Oh... I see..." Coloratura sighed sadly. "...I did it... didn't I...?"

"I'm afraid so," said Rarity. Coloratura's aura faded, and with it disappeared the clothes and makeup, leaving the fur on her face wet and matted with tears.

"I... I did it..." she breathed despondently.

"I believe it's time to go over the whole case," Flam softly suggested. "Could we go over this one more time, from the beginning? Just in case somepony still thinks I did it..." I nodded solemnly as he glanced over to Lightning, who rolled her eyes in response.

Yes... as horrible as it is... we must be absolutely certain of the truth.

This is how it happened!

"The crime began a little before 11:00pm last night. Applejack's doorbell rang, and she found a note on the floor by her door asking her to meet somepony in the Weight Room at 11pm. Tucking the note away in her hat, she made her way there.

"Given the way the note was written, it was likely she expected to meet with Flam. When she arrived, however, a different pony was waiting for her. The two talked for a while, and they slowly built up their courage. Finally, they revealed their secret feelings to Applejack. AJ seemed pleasantly surprised, although taken aback, and told that pony that while she appreciated the sentiment, she wasn't interested in any relationship at the moment.

"However, that amorous pony misunderstood her explanation. They thought that Applejack really didn't like them at all, and that she was instead interested in Flam. They became jealous, and began grilling AJ about him. Hearing about all the times Flam had flirted with her only made them blind with jealous rage, regardless of AJ telling them she wasn't interested in him either.

"Then, the pony pulled out a knife, threatening to wake Flam up and kill him as soon as he answered his door, all so they could have AJ to themselves. Applejack tried to wrestle the knife away from them, making a mess of the Weight Room in the process. Then, in the heat of the moment, that pony stabbed Applejack with the knife.

"As soon as they realized what they had done, the culprit panicked. They pulled the knife out, which caused Applejack to bleed violently. They did what they could to stop the bleeding, using the nearby towels and applying pressure, but it was all in vain... Applejack bled out and died right there. Now that they had committed murder, the culprit did what they could to save themselves. They wiped the blood from their body using one of Flam's vests, still wet from being partially-washed. Then they put the towels and the now-bloodied vest in the washing machine and took the knife with them, later hiding it and the notepad they had used for the note in the Garbage Room.

"The next morning, as we all met for breakfast, the culprit reasoned away their sore left foreleg by saying they had slept on it funny, when in reality it was wounded from the fight last night. Then later on, after we had discovered AJ's body and were on our way to search everypony's rooms, the culprit made a quick stop at the Infirmary - not only to get pain medicine for their left foreleg, but also to grab a pack of blood from the minifridge. They waited until they and their partner were searching Flam's room, which just happens to be the closest to the Garbage room. While Lightning was searching the bathroom, the culprit snuck out, reclaimed the knife from the Garbage room, squirted out the blood from the pack onto the floor behind Flam's desk, then planted the knife there. They screamed, attracting everypony's attention and leading them to find the murder weapon, hidden oh-so-conspicuously behind Flam's desk and framing him for the murder.

"Finally, all there was left to do was to destroy the remaining evidence. The culprit slipped out of Flam's room and back into the Garbage Room, where they stuffed the notepad and empty blood pack into the incinerator. Though we found the culprit claiming to search the incinerator, the job was done and the evidence was destroyed. However, they probably didn't expect Monokuma to announce the end of the investigation quite so soon, leading to Flam and I noticing the scent of burning plastic.

"That should cover everything that happened in this case... Turns out that the murderer wasn't Flam after all... isn't that right, Coloratura?"

"...What have I done...?" Coloratura mumbled, covering her face with her hooves. My heart crumbled as I watched her slump into a puddle on the floor and cry... here was somepony who had loved another, but had built it up in her mind so much, the shadow of it had stricken her blind. And in her blind rage, she killed the pony she loved... if this wasn't what despair truly was, then I had no idea what could possibly be worse.

"Hmm... This result isn't all that exciting..." Monokuma finally spoke, slumping in his throne. But as the familiar lever and buttons appeared on our podiums, he snapped out of his disappointment and grinned. "Now then, please pull the lever in front of you and cast your vote!"

I gulped down my revulsion as I saw Applejack's greyed-out face, causing me to glance at the portrait that stood in her place at her podium - stamped with a bright pink image of an apple core over her face. Sighing sadly as we were ordered to condemn yet another one of us to their death, I pushed Coloratura's button and pulled the flashing lever. Around the room, I could hear the others wordlessly casting their own votes.

"Who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one?!" Monokuma shouted. The monitor behind him buzzed to life. "Monokuma Vote! Who is found guilty?" appeared, followed by the slot machine. We watched with bated breath as the symbols slowed...

...and landed, three in a row, on Coloratura's face. "Guilty!"

*Class Trial End! All Rise!*

"Judging by the results... You guys were correct once again!" Monokuma laughed loudly. "Getting four in a row without any mistakes is a splendid achievement! That's right, the one who killed her paramour Applejack in the Weight Room is none other than Coloratura! ...Yay, I said all that without bitin' my tongue!"

Hardly interested in Monokuma's achievement, we all stared sadly at Coloratura as she silently picked herself off of the ground, electing to kneel on her hind legs instead. Already I felt my body begin to grow cold and numb in anticipation for what was to come.

"I gotta tell you bastards, this has actually been quite interesting! Usually the 'secret coming to light' murder happens before the 'sacrifice' murder! Ohohoho... what a tweest!" smirked Monokuma, stifling his laughter.

"Uh... what do you mean by that?" Rarity asked tentatively.

"Who cares..." Coloratura rasped, wiping the last of the tears from her eyes. "...I killed Applejack... I deserve to die..."

"Now, there's no need to say that!" Flam paled. Everypony looked at him in surprise.

"Really?! But she just tried to frame you for murder!" yelled Lightning. "You should be agreeing with her!"

"And what good would come from that?! Just what kind of charlatan pony do you think I am?!" he retorted sharply. Lightning jumped and took a step back as Flam sighed. "Now that the truth has been exposed, I can't say that I can fully blame her. She clearly wasn't in her right mind."

"A pony in the throes of love is capable of doing horrible things for the one they love, but a pony in the throes of unrequited lust is capable of much, much worse," said Redheart. "...I've seen it too many times in my life."

"THIS JUST GOES TO SHOW THAT COMMUNICATION BETWEEN FRIENDS IS SUPER IMPORTANT!" said Bulk. "...AND MAYBE SOME THERAPY, TOO."

"...Oh, Jackie..." sniffled Coloratura. "...I'm so sorry... I'm such a horrible friend... a horrible pony..."

"Darling... the fact that you're feeling remorseful is proof that you're not a horrible pony," Rarity comforted as she moved to embrace her. "I can think of quite a few times I let my feelings for a stallion overcome my senses."

You're not kidding...

"But once you've realized it, you can work on it and-"

"I can't work on it!" Coloratura exclaimed, cutting off Rarity. "It was an accident, I didn't mean to do it... but I killed Jackie... and now I'm gonna die, too! Even worse... I deserve it..." Her body began to tremble violently as she wrapped her forelegs around herself; as much as she claimed she deserved what was coming to her, she was terrified of her impending doom.

"No, darling, you don't!" Rarity argued, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Indeed..." Flam walked over to Coloratura and placed a gentle hoof on her shoulder.

"Flam... I'm so sorry... for what I did to you," Coloratura sniffled as she gazed upwards at him. "You... really are a gentlestallion..."

"Don't even think of it any longer," Flam smiled kindly.

"...If I had managed to escape... I would have chosen you..." she continued, pausing to inhale loudly through her clogged muzzle. "I... felt so guilty after framing you... for-"

"Shhh..." Flam breathed, nodding in understanding. At the sight of their interaction, Rarity began sobbing loudly herself while Lightning and Bulk remained silent and still, unsure of what they could do or say to offer a little comfort. I wasn't quite sure, myself.

"...Well, look at it this way: you can apologize to Applejack yourself in a little bit," Pinkie suddenly growled. Coloratura began crying even harder.

Pinkie...!

"Was that supposed to make her feel better?!" Rarity yelled, shocked.

"SHE DID KILL ONE OF US... BUT SHE'S SORRY NOW," Bulk weighed on his front hooves before shrugging. "THIS WHOLE EXPERIENCE IS SERIOUSLY MESSING WITH MY VALUES AND EMOTIONS."

"Then I guess it's about that time!" interjected Monokuma. "I have prepared a special punishment for the Ultimate Pop Idol, Coloratura... is what I'd usually say, but the truth is, I've actually had this one stored away for a while. The hapless dunce it was originally meant for wound up getting killed by her would-be victim, so I couldn't use it then... But I can now! After all, I'm an eco-friendly bear who's all for recycling!"

"But..." Rarity argued weakly.

"...Oh, Celestia..." Coloratura began to hyperventilate. "Please... I'm sorry... I don't want to die...!"

"Let's give it everything we've got!"

But no matter how much she or any of us could have begged... deep down, we knew we were powerless to stop it.

"It's... PUNISHMENT TIIIIME!"

The large, red button appeared before Monokuma. He grinned with excitement as he pulled out a hammer, hopped and did a somersault in midair, smashing the button as he landed. As he scuttled away afterwards, we watched as the monitor above his throne came to life with blood-red graphics.

"Coloratura has been found guilty. Time for the punishment!"

My ears flicked as I heard the tinkling of the chain and shackle, which quickly appeared and clapped itself around Coloratura's throat. She screamed as it yanked her away into the darkness. The monitor above briefly went black as we turned our attention towards it, this time barely reacting as it turned back on.

Multiple spotlights in a rainbow of colors illuminated a single microphone stand and a stage upon which Coloratura stood, the audience populated with multiple Monokumas. But this was no ordinary stage... the floors were covered in hundreds of deadly sharp spikes, surrounding Coloratura as she stood in the center of them. There was a metal beam she was standing on, which suggested that it was the hinge that allowed the two spiked halves of the floor to swing upwards. In front of her a short distance away sat another Monokuma on a plush chair, level with the stage. He held a clipboard in one hand and pointed to his right with the other - beside the stage was a meter of some sort that slightly resembled a thermometer. The vast majority of the levels marked on the meter read "death" while the very top read "freedom". As Coloratura took notice of the meter her eyes widened; I could see the realization on her face that there was still a chance to survive. But then the lights dimmed, and my heart began to pound against my ribcage.

*Ultimate Pop Idol Coloratura's Execution: Executed*

*Sayaka Maizono's Coloratura's Final Performance*

A song began to blare from speakers mounted all over the stage as the lights grew again in intensity. It was one I recognized, as did Coloratura. She cringed and rubbed her ears... the music must've been too loud for her so close to the speakers. But, swallowing her fear, she cleared her throat and began to sing.

Time for the spectacle, time for the show... the lights are bright and the colors glow...

For a few moments, the music soothed my nerves, made me forget all about the punishment and our predicament. Coloratura was hitting every note perfectly, and the meter beside the stage began to quickly fill with light. Even she felt more relaxed as she sang, and began to sway and dance to the music.

But at the first chorus, a spray of small gray and white objects erupted into the air like fireworks. Coloratura's eyes widened as they clinked and rattled as they hit the stage floor; I realized in horror that it wasn't confetti, but bits and shards of bones. Still, her voice didn't waver, and she continued to sing.

Give me more... razzle dazzle...

Offstage, a pair of fog machines activated, spewing a green-tinged fog over the stage floor. It billowed and rose towards Coloratura, who couldn't help but inhale it. Her face scrunched in disgust and terror, and any moment she had to breathe was spent coughing. But she still managed to hit every note with perfect pitch and tone, and the meter continued to rise.

Razzle dazzle... glitz and glam...

The song was nearly over. Coloratura locked her eyes on the meter, which was only a few inches from the top. Just a little more and it would be full... she would be free! I looked over to the judge Monokuma sitting across from her, sensing something terrible was about to happen. He was whispering with another Monokuma in the audience beside him, who was gesticulating wildly.

Suddenly, the judge Monokuma held up a paw... and to everypony's horror, the meter rapidly emptied as Coloratura sang her final note. Her eyes shot wide open as she stared in shock...

...And the two halves of the spiked floor clapped upwards together like a bear trap. Coloratura disappeared from sight in a cloudy mist of blood, which began dripping out from the sides of the jaws only seconds later. As quickly as it had happened, it was finished.

Coloratura, the Ultimate Pop Idol... was dead.

~

We stared in silence at the monitor long after it had shut itself off. Familiar emotions flooded my body... grief, horror, shock... despair.

There were only seven of us left now. Only two of my greatest friends were still alive. How much longer was this going to last? How much deeper into despair could Monokuma throw us?! We were so overcome by our emotions that we didn't even notice Monokuma reappear from the darkness and stare at us for a good while.

"...So, how much longer are you guys gonna stand around like that?" Monokuma tilted his head.

"...I give up..." Pinkie spoke so quietly I could only barely hear her. "I can't take this anymore..."

"Please... that's enough..." moaned Rarity. "That's... enough..."

"No," Redheart stated resolutely. "We cannot break just yet. We must escape this place and put a stop to this."

"She's right," Flam nodded once. "If we lose hope now, Applejack and everypony that has died along the way will have died in vain. We must press onward!"

"Why...? What for...?" Pinkie asked with a whisper. "We're all going to die here..."

Pinkie... Rarity...

"...No, they're right," I affirmed, trying to keep my voice from shaking. "If we give up now, we'll never escape this place. We'll never see our loved ones again. And Monokuma will be free to do whatever he wants... what if he subjects another sixteen ponies to this torment, or more? What if he decides to do something even worse?!"

"Yea... we can't let that happen!" Lightning shouted, punching her two front hooves together. "We gotta see this through to the end, and that means we gotta find a way out and make that asshole bear pay for what he's done!"

"...Hey, I'm still here, ya know..." Monokuma sighed, slumping over dejectedly.

"NO MORE KILLING EACH OTHER. NO MORE NOT-TRUSTING EACH OTHER," nodded Bulk. "WE GOTTA FIND THIS MASTERMIND AND TRAITOR AND STOP THEM!"

"Traitor? What about the traitor?" Monokuma suddenly smiled. "...Ya know, you've done well in surviving this long, so how 'bout I give you a little hint?"

"A hint?" I asked, not entirely sure I wanted it. If it came out of Monokuma's mouth, it could only mean something horrifying. And sure enough, Monokuma began chuckling.

"Upupupu... oh, yes. Now listen up, because I'm not repeating myself! That dastardly traitor, the one who's responsible for all of you being here... is still alive."

Everypony gasped, myself included; my chest stung from the speed of my inhalation.

...Still alive...? The traitor is one of us...?!

"Still alive?" Redheart repeated, blinking.

"Yep. Can you guess who it is?" Monokuma smirked, giggling to himself. "Ooh, I can't wait for you guys to figure it out, it's gonna be so good! Upupupupu! ...Anyway, the class trial is over, so it's okay for you guys to leave now... but don't forget! The killing game is still going strong!" And with those parting words and another peal of cruel laughter, Monokuma vanished.

"...ALRIGHT, WHICH ONE OF YOU IS THE TRAITOR?!" Bulk shrieked, trembling with newfound fear.

"So much for trusting each other..." Lightning rolled her eyes.

"It doesn't matter," said Redheart. "The traitor has not made a move this entire time."

"True, but they might now, with so few of us left!" Rarity wailed.

"We need to put our trust in each other and work together," said Flam. "It's the only way we'll all live to see our homes and loved ones again! ...It's become abundantly clear to me that murdering each other simply isn't going to work."

"Yea... I'm all for no more murders," said Lightning. "Now let's get out of here... before that fucking bear decides to motivate us again."

Hastily agreeing, the others made their way for the elevator, with Rarity levitating a despondent Pinkie in her magic aura. I started for the elevator myself, but stopped as I noticed that Flam hadn't moved. He stood right where he was, biting his lip as he stared at the floor.

"Flam? Are you okay?" I asked.

"...Am I really a bad pony?" Flam asked painfully. "To think that so many ponies here have such a negative impression of me, to the point of framing me for murder... just how many ponies have I hurt?"

I didn't know how to respond to that. I could only gaze sympathetically at him.

"...I suppose I'll just have to work harder, to prove that I have changed. I... guess I still have much to atone for."

I forced my tired body to put a hoof on his shoulder. "I know you've changed... I can see it," I spoke with a tiny smile. "It'll just take some time for the others to see it, too."

Flam smiled in return. "...Thank you, dear. I'm... quite glad you and I have become friends."

My smile widened; my heart had felt like a clump of ice, but Flam's words ignited a tiny spark within it. Together we walked towards the elevator and joined the others. The doors closed behind us, and our ascent slowly began.