//------------------------------//
// ACT 2: Free Time 
// Story: Super Ponyronpa: Cacophonous Symphony 
// by TrackdNTraild 
//------------------------------//

Starlight mentally ran through all of the potential ponies that she could talk to today. She had already spent time with Sunburst, so she wanted to get to know the rest of her class as well. She and Twilight had been hanging out since yesterday, so she could very well cross her off the list. She hadn't spoken to Fluttershy since they got there... She decided it would be time to hang out with a new pony, and she knew who to pick. She explored through the school, looking for the pony in question. Eventually she came across them in the garden, and she wasn't afraid of approaching.




>> FLUTTERSHY FREE TIME EVENT 1: START! <<




Fluttershy sighed after Starlight had approached. She seemed as though she was down about something. Starlight didn't like the sad and still fearful look on Fluttershy's face.

"Are you okay?" She asked, bringing the pegasus out of her thoughts.

"O-oh, hi Starlight." Fluttershy waved her hoof when she noticed Starlight. "I-I've just been thinking about a few things..."

"Do you want to talk?" Starlight sat down beside her.

"O-only if you'd like to listen," Fluttershy said with a sweet smile. "I-I wouldn't want to u-upset you with my venting."

"It's no problem." Starlight shook her head and smiled back. "If you've got something to say, you shouldn't feel bad about saying it. It's not good to hold back bad thoughts, regardless of how silly you think they are."

"Y-you're right..." Fluttershy cleared her throat and scratched her head. She took a deep breath before she began talking again. "B-back home in my cottage, I-I've got a pet bunny. I-I've got a whole sanctuary of animals t-that I take care of for the vet i-in PonyVille too. I-I've been in here the whole time w-wondering if they're doing okay... I-I hope that the vet pony has b-been helping take care of them."

"You can't be the only pony they rely on," Starlight mused. She brought her hoof to her chin. "I'm sure other ponies are helping out because they know how much you care for animals. You're the Ultimate Animal Caretaker, it just wouldn't feel right leaving those animals to fend for themselves when your talent has been based around helping them."

"Mhm." Fluttershy nodded as Starlight spoke. "I-I have faith in my friends that they're taking care o-of them all. I-I'm just worried about my bunny, Angel. H-he's always been a bit... o-obnoxious. N-no, that's too mean... stubborn? I-I guess? H-he's always trying to get in my w-way, even when I'm busy. I-I don't know if any p-pony but me could d-deal with him."

"He's just a little bunny, how bad could things possibly get?" Starlight chuckled as she tried to think about the question.

"V-very bad," Fluttershy said to bring Starlight out of her thoughts. "I-I had to go a whole week just keeping him out of trouble. I-it's a miracle none of the s-snakes and wolves a-at the sanctuary tried to e-eat him. O-oh, but I think one t-tried..."

"Well, good thing he didn't get eaten," Starlight laughed nervously. She'd hate to think that in the time Fluttershy has been trapped in this academy, that he's actually gotten himself eaten.

"I-I'm worried that he has been," Fluttershy said, agreeing with Starlight's inner thoughts. "That's why I-I want to leave this place. I have so many c-creatures and critters that I'm taking care of, t-the other ponies don't fully know what they're d-doing. If Angel starts causing trouble t-that'll make matters worse too. They don't know h-how to treat him like I do."

"I think you need to have more faith in them." Starlight tapped her hooves on the ground. "If you spend all your time worrying, you're only going to make yourself panick. If you start panicking, then you'll end up only thinking about horrible things and you won't be able to sleep. Even worse, you might get out of here and have spent the entire time worrying about itty bitty things, only to find that nothing was wrong. You need to try and think positively, Fluttershy, or else you're going to needlessly hurt yourself."

"O-oh..." Fluttershy cupped one of her cheeks in her hoof, feeling blush creep onto her face. "I-I feel so silly..."

"It's alright." Starlight patted Fluttershy's back gently. "You're just trying to think about what's best. There's nothing wrong with being careful, but there's such a thing as being too careful, get it?"

"I-I understand." Fluttershy returned the smile to her face. "M-my heart's still beating fast, but I-I think I'll be okay. I-I just have to believe everything will b-be okay."

"That's the spirit," Starlight said with a smile.

"Yeah... I'll be okay. I can keep it together," Fluttershy said. For the first time since Starlight had known her, Fluttershy spoke without a stutter. For some reason, it made her feel proud, as though Fluttershy had come a long way.


>> Starlight's friendship with Fluttershy has deepened. <<


"I'm going to head off." Starlight brought herself to her hooves and stretched her back. 

"I-I'll see you later." Fluttershy waved at Starlight. "A-and thank you."

"Don't mention it." Starlight patted Fluttershy's back before she walked away. The conversation was pretty short, but Starlight felt like she had learned a lot about Fluttershy, and she was able to help her. She was still bored, however. There didn't seem like very much that she could do. She thought hard about more ponies that she could meet with, but remembered that she hadn't fully explored the library or even read any books. The thought of the library made her uncomfortable because of her embarrassing herself with Twilight, but she tried to let it slip by as she headed inside.

She climbed the stairs, and walked down the hall into the library. She noticed Twilight, Doctor Whooves, Prince Blueblood, and Sunburst all sitting at a table, silently reading. Twilight lifted her head and waved a silent 'hello' to Starlight. She waved back and smiled before she went through and checked the genres of each of the shelves. She remembered when she had talked to Rainbow Dash on the first day, right after they found the dorms. She recalled that Rainbow Dash had wanted her to read the 'Daring Do' book series. She found an adventure book section of the library, and sure enough she found the books Rainbow Dash was so obsessed with.

She grabbed the first book in the series, 'Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone.' Starlight already felt skeptical; the book title was a bit long for her. She kept the book with her anyways, heading over to the table the other ponies were sitting at. She sat down with Twilight, and opened up the book. For most of the day, her time was well spent reading the entire book. By the time she had gotten to the last chapter, it was dark outside. She hadn't even realized when the other ponies left the table, leaving her all by herself. Did they try and talk to her before she was done?

She shrugged, finishing reading the last chapter as she walked to the shelf of the adventure books she had picked it out from. She finished the chapter, shut the book, and slid it back into place on the shelf. She found that she had really liked the book, and she knew Rainbow Dash would be happy about that. She stepped out of the library, and looked around the hallway. She noticed on the opposite side of the hall, the door to the greenhouse was opened. She suspected that Applejack and Fluttershy were serious about leaving it open to spread more fresh air throughout the academy. Starlight didn't think it was a bad idea, after all the academy was mostly locked up at night.

She stopped to take a breath of the air from the greenhouse at the staircase. It filled her with a sense of calmness and peace, and it would help her get to sleep. She walked down the stairs, and she heard the sounds of hoofsteps. She looked, and noticed Sunburst coming from the other side of the stairs.

"Starlight? You're still awake?" Sunburst asked as she reached the bottom.

"Yeah..?" Starlight tilted her head. "Is that a surprise?"

"It is, actually," he said as he approached her. "We all left the library because the nighttime announcement was called. Didn't you hear it?"

"What?!" Starlight's ears drooped back and she pulled out her Phoenix Pad. Did it have a clock?

"I-I saw that you were really into your book, so I didn't disturb you, but seeing you awake at this time..." Starlight paused when she did find a clock on the Phoenix Pad. According to it, it was 12:37 in the morning.

"Why didn't you come get me?!" Starlight whispered yelled at the stallion so she wouldn't draw any attention. "If I had known it would take me that long to read the book, I would've saved the rest of it for tomorrow!"

"I didn't think you were still awake!" Sunburst countered, his voice still gentle somehow. "B-but let's not fight, you need to go to bed. No pony is going to be mad if you sleep in a little bit longer than usual, I can promise you that. A-and if you sleep in too late, I'll try to wake you. Does that sound fair?"

"Sounds fair to me..." Starlight sighed as she put her Phoenix Pad away. "But why are you awake, Sunburst?"

"O-oh, well..." Sunburst coughed into his hoof, blush coming to his face. He began walking down the hallway. "J-just going to the bathroom, no big deal. Anyways goodnight Starlight!"

Starlight could understand his embarrassment, but after what happened with Rarity... she didn't like that excuse. She glanced back in the direction he came, silently hoping not to see a blood trail. Luckily, she didn't, but she couldn't rule out anything. Unfortunately, she didn't have time to investigate on her own. She had to get to bed before some ponies thought that she was suspicious. She ran back down the hall to her dorm, scanned herself inside, and sighed happily as she flopped onto her bed. She was still upset that she had stayed up so late, but she supposed that it would be fine. She curled up underneath the blankets, and let her eyes close.

The silence enveloped her mind and her head fell empty of thoughts. She wasn't exactly sure when she fell asleep, but she did know that it didn't take her very long. When she opened her eyes, Philomena's voice was calling over the speakers saying the morning announcement. She yawned, and stretched out in bed. She hadn't slept as long as she wanted, but she didn't feel horrible from losing a few hours. In all honestly, it wasn't even that much; at least she could function. She got up and stretched her body, beginning to rub sleep from her eyes. She came out with a few other ponies into the hallway, each trying to wake up properly. None of them were morning ponies, and it showed.

Minimal conversation broke out in the hallway between the ponies as they began walking out to the feast table. As they approached, the conversations seemed to pick up a little bit more. The tiredness was beginning to fade as the ponies came to the table. Starlight appreciated the noise, but she was already feeling her head hurt because she had gotten less sleep than she was used to these last few days. She hoped that the pain would pass quickly. She sat down at the table, and heard the conversations die out slowly as ponies began to eat the things that had been prepared already. 

Starlight looked around the table, not really sure of what to say. For the first time in a few days, she just didn't feel like talking. She sighed, deciding to grab some of the premade food herself that she could eat. Some hay bacon and pancakes had been made, so she filled up a plate of them. She didn't grab much, just feeling like she wouldn't be able to eat a lot. She began eating, and let herself be enveloped in her thoughts. For the most part, the voices around her became muffled and she felt like the only pony at the table. Today was a weird day for her. 

As she ate, she was still aware of her surroundings however. Pinkie would come out of the kitchen on her own every so often to hand out food, and her tail would be twitching like crazy. Strange... She glanced at the ponies at the table, letting her thoughts drift into other territories. One thing she realized was that not everypony was awake today. She could only count a few empty spaces at the table, but still; ponies weren't here. Starlight didn't like the implications of that.

The breakfast was, overall, uneventful for Starlight. She sat and relaxed at the table as other ponies began wandering around. She spotted Sunburst talking with Feather Bangs and Trixie near the smoothie shop. Twilight and Pinkie were talking in front of the restaurant, and neither pony seemed happy. Other ponies were scattered in large groups or pairs, but Starlight was on her own. She supposed she enjoyed the loneliness today. Well, she didn't enjoy it, but it wasn't the end of the world when she was left alone for a bit of time. As the other ponies began to disperse, she sighed, feeling her heart steadily beating in her chest...

...And then suddenly, her heart rate skyrocketed. She heard blood pounding in her ears as she whipped her head around, looking at one of the speaker poles. Her eyes were wide with fear, and she felt her legs shaking as Philomena's voice crackled over the speakers.

"A body has been discovered!"