//------------------------------//
// ACT 3 START: Questions for Recovery 
// Story: Super Ponyronpa: Cacophonous Symphony 
// by TrackdNTraild 
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"S-Starlight?" The mare snapped back to reality as a soft voice spoke beside her. She didn't remember when she sat down at the table next to Fluttershy until she heard her voice.

"S-sorry..." Starlight stuttered the apology to the pegasus mare. "Were you talking to me?"

"N-no..." Fluttershy shook her head and put her hoof on Starlight's shoulder. "It's just that you... y-you look really sad. A-are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Starlight forced a smile. "I'm just... I-I'm feeling really upset after yesterday's execution still."

"Oh, I-I understand," Fluttershy sighed and fluttered her wings. "I can't believe somepony like Applejack c-could've done something so h-horrible. B-but, even if she did, s-she didn't deserve to go l-like that..."

"No pony does." Starlight's ears pinned to the sides of her head and she stared down at her empty portion of the feast table. "Death is a horrible thing, but what makes this so different is Philomena's way of making it happen. Some ponies are fated to die by some means, and there's no denying that, b-but... but Philomena makes the killers suffer! You can't help feeling bad for them... Rarity and Applejack have both went in the most horrible ways. I do miss Cheese and Party Favor of course but..."

"It's okay..." Fluttershy patted the mare's back when she heard the frustration seeping into her voice. "We-we're all going to get out soon. A-and we'll be safe and happy again... r-right?"

"...Right, yeah..." Starlight smiled at the mare. "I'm sorry for being so negative, this all just... it's still a lot to take in. We haven't been here long and we've lost so much."

"I-I know... " Fluttershy whimpered and pawed at the ground by her seat. "But... l-let's not try and dwell on it. Y-you should eat something, Starlight. R-remember what Twilight said? 'You need food s-so that you can think s-straight.'"

"Right! Thanks, Fluttershy." Starlight got out of her seat. "But, I think I'm just going to get a shake. I don't think I could really stomach actual food... Oh, that reminds me uh... While I have it in mind, is Pinkie-- er... Pinkamena... is she still cooking for us all?"

"S-surprisingly, she is," Fluttershy answered. "I-I'm not sure why... it might be b-better to ask her yourself. S-she's in the kitchen right now."

"Alright," Starlight said with a nod. "Once I get my shake, I'll go and see her. You be sure to eat too if you haven't already, Fluttershy. I'll see you later."

The ponies waved their goodbyes. Starlight walked to the smoothie shop to make her shake. Sunburst and Rainbow Dash were the only other ponies inside. Sunburst turned on the blender as he made himself a smoothie, and when he was done, Rainbow Dash began talking to him. As Starlight approached, it was clear that they had been talking for a while.

"I just don't get it." Rainbow Dash landed on the ground and folded her wings on her back. "It's like she can just... change sizes at will! I'm telling you whatever that thing is, it is not normal, and it's not a phoenix for that matter."

"So what is it then?" Sunburst asked as he poured his drink into a glass and began washing out the blender. "Maybe she is actually... changing the size of the pony she's executing?"

"But how?" Rainbow Dash scratched her head. "We don't see what happens when those ponies get dragged off..."

"That's exactly it then." Sunburst took a few sips of his smoothie before he spoke again. "She does something in that dark hallway that we can't see before she broadcasts it."

"Huh, that makes sense..." Rainbow muttered. "Oh, hey Starlight, I didn't see you there."

"Hey." Starlight waved her hoof. "You guys were talking about Philomena right?"

"More or less." Sunburst shrugged. "Rainbow Dash was confused about the executions."

"I just don't get how Philomena and the machines and props are so huge!" Rainbow exclaimed. "The blackened ponies are sooo small, like Rarity with the sewing machine and Applejack with the farm equipment... but how the hell are the machines themselves so big? And how is Philomena so huge? We've seen how big she is, she isn't even pony sized! So how does she do that?"

"I'm more inclined to go with Sunburst's idea," Starlight said as she filled the clean blender with bananas, milk, some peanut butter, and some chocolate syrup. "Philomena most likely shrinks the ponies in that hallway and we can't tell because it's so dark. What we're actually seeing is a mini-pony, and Philomena is entirely normal sized. The angles just make it look really dramatic. Only the blackened ponies would know that though..."

She turned on the blender, and the room was filled with the sounds of the ingredients being cut up and mixed. Sunburst watched the blender quietly, and Rainbow Dash seemed to be thinking hard. Starlight turned off the machine when the mix looked smooth enough. She poured it into a glass and began sipping it, after which the ponies continued their conversation. 

"We could always try asking Philomena ourselves," Sunburst stated. "She just might give us an answer."

"We could try!" Rainbow said, and flapped her wings. "I mean, it's not like it's some huge secret that she's trying to hide from us. But, we could always use it to our advantage somehow?"

"What good would that information be though?" Starlight asked and wiped some of the smoothie from her mouth. "I mean, how can we use it? Sure it'll satiate your curiosity for now, but in the long run I don't think it will be that useful."

"That won't stop me from being curious," Rainbow said, before turning and cupping her hooves around her muzzle. "Yo, Philomena! Get your feathery behind in here, I got a question!"

The ponies waited patiently. They each looked around the room, waiting for her to show up. In a flash of fire, the ponies had to cover their eyes as Philomena materialized in the room. She covered her beak with one wing and yawned into her feathers.

"What do you want?" She asked, flicking her tail feathers. "I was catching up on some sleep after that exhausting harvest!"

"Ugh..." Rainbow rolled her eyes, not amused with the bird's complaint. "I just had a question about the executions."

"Ooh!" Philomena's eyes immediately lit with life. She hopped from claw to claw before speaking. "Well well, ask away! I'm always happy to answer questions about things I actually care about!"

"Weeell..." Starlight and Sunburst glanced at eachother as Rainbow spoke to Philomena. "It's just about, you know... the sizing in the executions. The machines are super huge and you're super huge, but the pony in the execution is just so... small. How does that happen?"

"Good question!" Philomena clapped her wings together. "I like to call it my 'creative camera angles' but that wouldn't fool you guys! Actually, the machines were just built to be that huge, so they're like that for good reason! The dying pony is actually normal sized."

"What?!" Rainbow exclaimed, levitating off the ground. "But then how are you so big?!"

"That's not me silly!" Philomena hooted and cackled. "It's a giant Robo-mena!"

"Robo-mena..?" Sunburst mumbled, and blinked with confusion.

"It's my best creation!" Philomena laughed. "My master made it for me so I could conquer the world! ...But conquering the world isn't as fun as an execution. So, I just pilot it to kill ponies at the right size!"

"...Huh." Rainbow was dumbfounded. 

"Well, if that's all..." Philomena snickered as she flew into the air. "I'll be off now! I have some very special and very important 'things' to attend to. Toodles!"

The phoenix flew out of the building. Her laughter could be heard for a short time after she had left. Rainbow landed back on her hooves, eyes still wide with confusion and shock. She turned to the other two ponies. Starlight finished her smoothie and shrugged as she put her glass in the sink. Sunburst finished his own smoothie and began washing both cups, but it was obvious that he was just as confused.

"Well, it looks like we all were wrong," Starlight said after a few moments of silence. "Who would've thought."

"It still doesn't make any sense..." Sunburst mumbled. "And Philomena doesn't have that truth collar anymore so we can't tell if she was lying or not."

"But why wouldn't she tell us?" Rainbow asked. "Why would she lie about that? We can't even use the information that she gave us, just like Starlight said! I-I mean I'm not as curious anymore, sure, but even so there's still no real use for that! So Philomena just has these giant machines and a giant robot version of herself, big deal, why do we need to know that?!"

"It sounds more like this was just a waste of time," Sunburst said as he set the cups out to dry on a towel. He sighed and adjusted his glasses. "Well, information is information. I'm sure we can find a use for it, we just haven't been met with the right situation."

"Right." Starlight nodded in agreement. "Let's just try and hold onto this information while we can. You never know when you're going to need it. I'll make sure it's written down on my Phoenix Pad."

"I think I'm just gonna go back to my room," Rainbow grumbled as she trotted to the door. "I'm in a bad mood."

"Bye Rainbow Dash," Sunburst said and waved to her.

Rainbow glanced back, but didn't respond. She exited the room, and her hoofsteps fell silent was she walked through the grass outside. Starlight and Sunburst glanced at eachother, and a solemn mood draped over the room like a wet blanket. Starlight shuffled her hooves on the ground, discomfort crawling through her skin. She was able to hear her own thoughts again and she wasn't a fan at all. She sighed, catching the unicorn stallion's eyes and opening her mouth to speak.

"Sunburst, since things are already pretty serious... can I talk to you about something important?" She asked hesitantly.

"Of course," Sunburst replied right away. "I'm all ears."

"Well..." Starlight scratched her head and swished her tail. "You know I trust you a uh... a pretty decent amount. A-and... well, something happened last night that's been eating me up all day. I know I probably shouldn't talk about but I just... I can't hold back any longer without being able to just vent to somepony."

"This sounds really serious," Sunburst said. He approached Starlight and put his hoof on her shoulder. "I won't say a word to any pony else about this if you tell me, I swear on my life."

Starlight paused for a moment, taking in his words. She knew that she could trust Sunburst. She had gotten the closest with him over time, she did really believe that. Between him, Twilight, and the other members of the committee, she felt like she could place the most trust in them both. They were her closest friends, she didn't have much reason not to. She swallowed hard and stretched her neck, making sure that she was ready to talk about what happened at long last.

"It's... it's about one of the committee members. He asked me if he could join last night," She said tentatively. "It's Double Diamond."

"Oh! He asked to join?" Sunburst seemed to perk, some excitement flaring up in his eyes. "Well, I'm glad we have a new member. Maybe our cause will grow stronger the more ponies join us."

"Maybe, but that's besides the point Sunburst," Starlight continued. "He... he talked to me last night about something he'd been thinking about, and honestly I'm really scared."

"Scared?" Sunburst blinked, and the joyous fire in his eyes died down. "What for?"

"H-he..." Starlight wanted to say it without being blunt, but she knew there was no way to make it sound any worse than it was. She choked down the air caught in her throat to take a deep breath... "He told me that he was scared... because he had been thinking about killing me."

"What?!" Sunburst's voice raised for a moment. He then looked around in a brief panic, coughing and clearing his throat and trying to pretend nothing had happened. "W-what do you mean?"

"He came to my room last night. I didn't let him in of course, but we talked through the door," Starlight explained. "He told me he had a full plan about how he would've carried it out, and he told me all the details. I asked, obviously, when he told me he had been planning to kill me, but I was still really... afraid when he actually explained everything. And to be honest, I might've been stupid enough to let it work. He told me he wanted to join the committee so that he could suppress those urges, but... I'm still scared, Sunburst. What if he backs down and actually does try to kill either me o-or some other pony? Our entire cause will fall apart because a committee member broke the oath!! A-and, h-he might..."

"Starlight, you're hyperventilating," Sunburst stated.

Starlight hadn't realized the rapid rising and falling of her chest. She blinked, putting her hoof over her chest and feeling her heartbeat. She could feel it against her skin without her hoof, but it intensified when she tried to feel for it. She closed her eyes, forcing herself to take deep breaths. Finally, when her chest began rising and falling at a slower pace, she opened her eyes. Her heart no longer felt like beating out of her chest, and her vision once more focused on Sunburst.

"I'm sorry about that," She said more calmly than before. "I'm just... really afraid of him right now. I get chills thinking about everything he told me."

"It's fine Starlight," Sunburst said with a smile. "I get it, you're just worried, that's not a bad thing. I don't blame you at all, in fact I most likely would react the same way that you are right now. If a pony confessed to wanting to try and kill me, I would avoid them too. And if you aren't already, I think that's what you should do for a while."

"That's what we agreed on," Starlight said. "I told Double Diamond that I don't want him near me, and luckily both our dorms and the trial room abide by this rule for us. When I feel comfortable enough to talk to him again, I can approach him first and apologize."

"Apologize?" Sunburst flicked an ear.

"For avoiding him." Starlight rolled her shoulders and stared at the floor. "I've always been the mare that chooses to avoid her problems instead of try to fix them. This is a problem and I'm choosing to stay away from it without getting to the root of the cause."

"That's not something to feel bad about," Sunburst assured her. "And to be honest, there isn't much that you can do. Double Diamond was already thinking about killing somepony, and it was specifically you he was after. Hanging out with him as if that didn't happen seems really strange. Like I said, if some pony told me directly they had been planning to kill me, I would avoid them. There are tons of books and informational news outlets that explain the serial killer mindset. One of those big points is that a lot of serial killers are friendless and loveless for the simple fact that they feel this undeniable urge and drive to kill ponies that are closest to them. If you kept talking to Double Diamond, and became too close with him, then he might go through with his plan for real."

"But it wouldn't work, would it?" Starlight mused. "He told me his plans directly, so I would be smart enough to never go with him alone."

"That's just it," Sunburst said, tapping his hoof on the ground. "Maybe you're smart enough as you are now, 'sober' so to speak, but what if you're upset? What if you're having a panic attack or you need a pony to rant to in private, and Double Diamond seems like the best pony to talk to? In your panic, you would entirely forget what he told you, and he would carry out the crime."

The realization hit Starlight, and her chest felt heavy. Sunburst was entirely right. Starlight was already known to be the kind of pony to panic, and she wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed when she was in a panicked state. She could very easily be making herself a victim, that's for sure. She never realized just how much she might be making things easier for ponies that weren't Double Diamond too. Even though her legs were shaking, and she knew that panic was soon to come, she felt like she could pull herself together to make herself less of a target. Of course, that would take time, but she might manage. 

But now she was regretting her earlier consideration of owing him an apology. At any rate, she felt like she needed to be apologized to. But he had already...

She took deep breaths, calming back down again to respond to Sunburst rather than delve into another spiral.

"I'll just hope that he doesn't ever go through with it," Starlight sighed. "Or try to, even with me avoiding him. I just hope no other ponies follow his example."

"That would look bad for everypony if that happened," Sunburst chuckled nervously, eyes glancing to the side. "Our committee's image could be shattered, and outside ponies may start to lose hope about leaving this school. But, let's not let those thoughts creep into our mind. We still have a long day ahead of us, Starlight. We may as well try and distract our minds and make the best of what we have in this school. There's still a lot of places we haven't explored, so we should try looking around some more."

"Right!" Starlight's usually chipper attitude was returning slowly. 

The ponies nodded to eachother with glints in their eyes. They exited the building together, silence overtaking them both. The other ponies were clearing out from the feast table, and she saw blots of colour in the distance. Other ponies were scattered around the courtyard, and when she looked back at her side, Sunburst was gone. She looked around, and saw him trotting joyfully over to Twilight and Shining Armor. It seemed like Sunburst had his own plans now, and she may as well make plans too. But there was so much time in the day... how could she possibly spend it?




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