Super Danganronpa 2: On Harmony's Shores

by Dewdrops on the Grass

01. Prologue: "Welcome Back To Despair!" Part 1

Darkness. Cold. Pain.

So much pain. Agonizing, excruciating. It won’t stop why won’t it stop please make it stop!

Then nothing.

Nothing for a very long time.

Until I breathed once again, tasting the air. It tasted metallic, foul, like mine tailings infused with the air. Light beat down on my face, pounding and harsh. My whole body ached like I’d been dipped in water and had it wrung out of me like a dishrag.

I managed to climb to my feet, brushing dust off my jeans and tan striped sweater. I coughed a few times as I tried to peer at my surroundings through the intense sunlight, my eyes watering while they adjusted. Eventually I made out my surroundings.

A desert landscape, the brightest sunlight gleaming on the drabbest browns and ochers. Dry barrenness surrounded me on all sides, closed off by chain-link fences three times as tall as me. They were lined with razor wire and crackling with electricity and… something else, judging by the unusual colors that shifted in a chaotic mess.

I tried to think, “How did I get here?” and “Where is this?” and “What happened to me?” I knew those made sense to be wondering. But the answers were all the same, just “I don’t know.” Whenever I tried to think of anything outside the present moment, it felt like my mind was slipping and falling and tumbling down a hill of I Don’t Know and I Don’t Know and I Don’t Know forever, and I almost screamed from the terror it caused. I had to stop and focus on this place. I had to just figure out what to do.

I gathered myself and took a more careful look around. I was standing on a worn-down, beaten up road that might’ve once been asphalt but was now bits and pieces of torn up stone and concrete. In one direction it led towards a nearby set of hills, where I could see in the distance what looked like the entrance to a mineshaft, though the way to it was blocked off by a gate.

The other way led towards a structure of some kind made from brick and stone, with a rough-shorn roof full of old shingles. The overall shape and design implied it had been built in the 40s or 50s, which meant it was probably full of asbestos and other lovely things buried in its insulation. The sheer size of it, stretching at least the length of a football field if not larger, suggested it was an old schoolhouse maybe, or perhaps some administrative building for the mineshaft behind me. There was a single set of double doors facing my side, and access to the rest was blocked off by more of the fences, so I really only had one option for where to go, unless I wanted to bake in the sun.

Brushing my hair out of my face, I made my way towards the building. At first my footsteps ached my leg muscles and back, like I hadn’t walked in a long stretch of time, but soon enough those kinks worked themselves out. I decided I was annoyed. It felt right. I was probably getting knocked down a peg. I probably got my stupid hopes up, “Oh, I bet I won’t wake up tomorrow in a desert hellscape,” and this happened just to teach me a lesson. This all felt right.

As I neared the building, I realized I wasn’t the only one here: there was another woman leaning against the doors, sitting up holding her head, groaning.

One I recognized immediately.

“Sunset Shimmer?” I said, my voice shaking.

She looked up instantly at the sound of my voice, her expression haunted. “...Wallflower?!” she gasped. “Wallflower Blush?”

“Uh. Yeah.” I looked away a little, crossing my arms defensively. “It’s me.”

She continued to gape, her face paling with every second, like she was seeing a ghost. "You’re alive,” she breathed.

Then she rushed me, her hands starting to run all over my shoulders and arms, completely invading my personal space! I thrust her away, shouting, “Stop that, don’t touch me without asking like that, Sunset, god!”

Sunset looked appropriately abashed as she stepped back, even as she started to chuckle a little. “Sorry, it’s just… you’re, I thought you were…” She shook her head. “Never mind. That’s not the only mystery we need to solve right now. We’ve got bigger things to worry about.”

For some reason, as she said that, she stared at her left arm. I couldn’t imagine why; it didn’t look any different than her other arm. It was a normal human arm, like any other.

Whatever.

“Like figuring out where we are and why we’re here?” I asked.

“Yeah, that,” Sunset agreed. She eyed me again, and smiled softly. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

I blinked. “Um…” I started to wrack my brain for the answer, only for a sharp pain to pierce through my head like a knife. “Ahh! I… I don’t…”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, Wallflower, it’s okay,” Sunset said, reaching out as if to pat me on the shoulder, then thinking better of it. “My mind’s a bit of a mess too… last thing I remember, I was… never mind. Not important.”

“If you say so,” I muttered. I stared up at the building before us. “So we should go inside, right?”

“Probably.”

I held out a hand. “After you, then. You’re the brave one.”

She winced at that, as if I’d struck a nerve. “Right.” Letting out a huge breath, she pushed the doors open.

Inside we found a short corridor that led to another set of double doors, this one labeled, “Mess Hall.” There was one other door in this corridor, but opening it up revealed a broom closet, full of outdated cleaning supplies that, like the building, looked right out of the 40s or 50s in design. Probably not even usable anymore.

So with another brief pause we pressed on into the Mess Hall.

And suddenly, PEOPLE. Not a big group, maybe three or four, all talking and chatting until we came through the doors, at which point they went completely silent and looked. Somehow by coming into this room I had horrified or offended or disgusted these strangers, the shock on their faces making it feel like a million eyes were on me.

My body started shaking as I began searching for somewhere to hide, taking a few steps back, even as the others all started shouting at once, questions like, “Where were you?” and “Where have you been?” and so on, louder and louder it made me want to cover my ears and scream!

And then a voice cut through everything, a feminine one laced with a thick country accent. “Quiet, y’all! Can’t ya see you’re overwhelmin’ the poor girl?”

The owner of said voice pushed through the crowd, a tall woman with long tresses of tangerine colored curly hair, wearing a flannel button up shirt and a pair of ripped up jeans, the kind that were ripped up by actual use and not because it was some stupid style. She carried a guitar with her, slung on her back via a strap.

“Hey, Wallflower, it’s alright. Ah’m here now, okay?” she said, approaching me gently, her voice much softer. She held out a hand, palm upward, for me to take if I wanted.

I stared at the hand like it was the jaws of a viper. “...who’re you?”

She took a brief step back, her mouth twisting up in a confused frown. “...It’s me, Wallflower. Pear Butter. Don’t you remember?”

“I’ve never seen you before in my life.”

Her frown deepened, and for a moment her eyes flashed with what might’ve been suspicion. Then she relaxed. “Alright, listen…Ah’m not gonna hurt you, Ah promise.” She turned to Sunset, her tone shifting to something more professional. “Glad you finally got here. Where’d you find her?”

Sunset looked at her blankly for a moment; she clearly had no more of an idea what was going on than I did. “Out on the road.”

“Outside in the heat? Lord. Listen, Ah’ll help her out, you need to check the butler. It’s been actin’ weird.”

Without waiting for a response, Pear Butter turned back to me, all warmth again. “C’mon, let’s take you somewhere quiet where you can have a glass of water.”

I hadn’t realized how completely parched my throat was until she mentioned it. Sunset gave me a quick nod; even if she was confused herself, she seemed to know and trust this lady. “Sure,” I said as I took Pear Butter’s hand. It was warm and soft, and felt nice to hold.

She gently led me out to the corridor, letting the doors close behind us. Immediately I felt better, not having to see all those faces… looking at me.

“There ya go, that’s better, ain’t it?” Pear said with a happy laugh. “Sorry if everyone was starin’. We were real worried about where you were. Everyone was about to peel off and start searchin’ when you and Sunset walked through those doors. What were you doin’ out there, anyway?”

“I don’t know, I…I just woke up outside.” I kept eyeing her even if she was seeming less threatening by the minute. I wanted to distrust her or resent her or something, but she was just too genuine and kind. “You really know me?”

“Eeyup.” She gave me a smile, but the longer she held it, the more strained it started to seem. “This ain’t the first time we’ve met.”

“...it isn’t?”

Pear Butter’s smile nearly shattered. “Err, no. It ain’t. Ah’m a therapist, Wallflower. Ah’m your therapist, actually. You… really don’t remember?”

I shook my head. “No… no I–aaah!” I grabbed my head as another sharp pain sliced right through it. “I don’t…have… a therapist.”

“...right.” Pear Butter’s smile vanished. “Well, tell you what. Ah’ll see if Ah can’t help jog your memory a bit while we go around meetin’ everyone. Ah’m pretty sure you oughta know everyone else here in some capacity or another, but… Ah’m gonna guess you don’t remember any of them either?”

I shook my head again. “I didn’t really get a good look, everyone was yelling. The only one I know I recognized is Sunset.”

She clearly didn’t believe me, but she adopted a smile anyway. “Well, let’s see if we can’t change that… mebbe you just need somethin’ to jog it.” She walked over to the mess hall doors and pushed them open, then nodded. “Looks like the coast is clear. Only one person still in there. Everyone else’s wandered off.”

“Okay.” I took a deep breath and clenched my fists. I could handle one stranger. “Let’s go.”

She entered the Mess Hall with me in tow. Sure enough, one person was left around, this one a man nearly as tall as Pear Butter, pale of skin but with dirty blond locks spread all over his head in a shorn short fashion. Muscles bulged underneath his clothing. Like Pear Butter, he was wearing flannel and jeans, though his flannel was a different pattern altogether. He had his hands stuffed in his pockets and was smiling, albeit bashfully.

“Oh Ah should’ve known if anyone’d wait for us, it’d be you,” said Pear Butter with a laugh. “Go fetch Wallflower a glass of water, could ya? Poor thing’s been outside in the sun.”

The huge man nodded and went to some drink station, filling a glass at a water dispenser. He returned and handed it to me, a friendly smile on his face.

Seeing water in front of me rendered me so ravenously thirsty I started chugging without even thinking to say thank you. Luckily, neither of them seemed to care. Pear Butter patted the man on his shoulder affectionately. “Wallflower, this here’s mah son, Big Macintosh, though he usually just goes by Big Mac. Ain’t that right, Mac?”

Big Macintosh blushed profusely, looking at his mother with stars in his eyes. “Eeyup,” he muttered. When I gulped down the whole glass, he roughly stuck a hand out my way, which I shook… even if he wasn’t paying me much attention, his grip felt like it almost broke my hand.

Pear Butter laughed again as she pulled him into a hug. “Oh you silly boy… he never says much. Kind of like his papa was, except at least his papa knew how to talk to women,” she teased.

Big Macintosh rolled his eyes, but said nothing.

“It’s… nice to meet you, Big Mac,” I said hesitantly. I hoped she didn’t think I’d be interested in him…

“Yup,” Mac replied, nodding sagely as if he’d said something profound. Saying nothing else, he reached his other hand out towards me; I eventually realized he wanted me to hand him the empty glass, which I did.

“Anywho, Wallflower and Ah are gonna keep headin’ around. You gonna stay here?” Big Mac shook his head, and pointed in the direction of the kitchens. “Right, Ah get it. Come on now, Wallflower.”

As we walked away, she said, “He’s a nice enough boy but don’t worry, Ah know he’s not your type. Bit too masculine for you.”

I blinked, startled. “How did you–”

“Ah told you before, Ah’m your therapist,” Pear Butter cut me off. “We’ll get you rememberin’, don’t you worry.” Under her breath, she muttered something I couldn’t catch.

Pear Butter led us out through one of the other exits to the mess hall and into a side corridor which extended for some distance. The first room just off the corridor was a sizable break room, with old-timey couches arranged to face coffee tables. A sink and a single hotplate were set up on a counter on the far side, next to a set of snack and beverage machines that, despite being of older style, were lit up and apparently in perfect working order.

There was another man standing here, this one with slicked back dark hair and a receding hairline, wearing a sweater vest and tie along with slacks. His almost greyish skin stood out, as did his grumpy expression. “Oh, wonderful, you’re back to pester me some more,” he grunted as he drank from a can of soda.

“Now now, Mr. Doodle, you know that’s not why Ah’m here. Ah’m just takin’ Wallflower back to mah office.”

“Not sure why you’re bothering. I remember you though, Wallflower, from my math classes. You were a quiet kid.” He glared at Pear Butter. “I like quiet.”

“I’m… sorry?” I said, not understanding.

He grunted, but with a little warmth, then held out a hand. “Cranky Doodle, math teacher, Canterlot High. Guess you’re having some memory issues, huh kid?”

I stared at his hand for a moment, then hesitantly shook it. “Yeah. You could say that.”

“Well, I hope that works itself out.” He sighed and looked at the can of soda in his hands. “I remember this design on cans when I was your age. When I agreed to this program I didn’t think they’d stick to authenticity like this.”

“Program?” I asked. “What program?”

He eyed me for a moment, then shook his head. “Ask Pear Butter. I don’t feel like explaining it to you, sorry.”

“Mr. Doodle!” Pear Butter chastised. “Ain’t you supposed to be a teacher?”

“Yes, ma’am, but I didn’t come here to teach. I came here to do a different job.” He glared at Pear Butter. “And cut it back on the ain’ts. I can’t stand that fake country folksy thing. You weren’t talking like that when you first showed up; it’s making you sound less intelligent than you are.”

She fired off a truly withering glare then, which I didn’t understand. “Ah’ll thank you not to correct the way Ah speak.”

“Hmph.” There was no warmth to that grunt.

Pear Butter bristled, her hold on my hand strengthening. “Well, never you mind then. Come on.” She all but dragged me down the hallway, past a number of vacant, closed offices, to a cheerier one at the end of the hallway. This one was set up with decorations that befit the therapist, including a paperweight of a red barnhouse in the snow with little figurines of herself, her son, and three others… one masculine that must’ve been her husband, and two other women, presumably her daughters, who looked vaguely familiar in a way that hurt to think about.

For some reason she had a party streamer hanging up on the wall behind her chair… the streamer said “Village Debut!” and nothing else, which didn’t tell me anything. Must’ve had some sentimentality to her.

There was also a white noise machine by the door which she moved out to the hallway and turned on as soon as she walked in, which started up a pleasant buzzing sound I could hear even after she shut the door. It put me at ease. It felt familiar.

“Are you really my therapist?” I asked.

“Eeyup.”

“Are you good at it?”

She froze in place, giving me a look that wavered between offended and confused.

“Gh!” I felt my cheeks heating up and pressed my palms against them in chagrin. “No, I mean… do I… trust you? Have you helped me?”

She smiled again, all genuine warmth. “That’s for you to tell me when you get your memories back. Ah always had a talent at helpin’ folks figure out what’s best for them. Ah don’t like to go around imposin mahself.”

I slightly relaxed.

“Alright, take a seat now, Wallflower,” she said, indicating the comfortable armchair in front of her desk. “When you woke up, did you have a tablet on you?”

“Uh, no, nothing,” I said as I got into the chair. “Am I supposed to?”

Pear Butter frowned. “Yes, but Ah’ll let you take a look at mine for the moment. They took our phones when we joined the program and gave us these for messagin’ each other during the program… Ah find ‘em a little clunky, but Ah guess that’s on purpose. Here. You’ll understand.”

I took the proffered tablet… it was roughly twice the size of a typical smartphone, just barely possible to fit into my jeans pocket. I switched it on. At first there was a brief screen pop-up that stated “Welcome, Pear Butter!” and then it switched over to a new screen, an intro:

I stopped reading at once, almost dropping the tablet in my confusion. “...Equestrians?” I whispered. “This is…about ponies and humans living together?”

“Oh! So you do recollect what ponies are. Ah’m glad to hear that,” Pear Butter said, taking her tablet back.

“Uh, yeah.” I tried not to swallow too hard as I did my best to avoid thinking about why I knew about ponies and Equestria, as doing so made my brain ache. “So is that why there’s all these fences?”

“Mmhmm. Far as this program is concerned, we’re here to stay for the duration. Those are there to protect us from protestors or… others… that might find us and try to hurt us because of what we’re doing.” She looked at me hopefully. “So your semantic memory might be fine. Do you remember comin’ up here, meetin’ Big Mac and Mr. Doodle?”

“Yeah. Everything since waking up.”

She smiled. I reminded myself it was her job to be nice, but I was already feeling only semi-bristly. ‘Look, Ah know it’s scary right now,” she said, “but trust me, this is all hopeful news. Do ya know when your memory loss starts? What’s the last thing you remember before wakin’ up?”

I stupidly thought about the answer to that question and was rewarded with an electric shock to my eyeballs. “Ugg.” I put my hand to my head, wincing. “It hurts to even think about it. I have some memories of high school, because that’s how I recognized Sunset, and nothing after that. But I also know I’m not in high school anymore.” I scowled, frustrated. “It’s all vague, I don’t know.”

“That’s fine! You’re doin’ great.” She glanced at a clock on the wall. “Listen, Ah’m gonna have to talk to Sunset. Me and her are the only ones workin’ here, but it ain’t exactly equal. Ah’m just here to help folks get along and deal with any conflicts. She’s the one who actually runs the thing.”

She leaned forward, as if letting me in on a secret. It was endearing. “Lord knows Ah’m glad she’s here. The rest of us came up a couple of days ago to get settled in, but she had to stay in Canterlot an’ talk to some pony princess. She probably found you ‘cause she saw you from the air when she was landing.”

My mind reeled. Landing! Like an airplane?! “This… seems pretty huge to just have one person running it,” I remarked.

She just shrugged. “Well, truth is, the whole thing’s really bein’ run by some kind of magic computer.” She rolled her eyes. “Ah mean, it’s actually magic. Ah’m thinkin’ you mighta accidentally got zapped by some of the stuff we’re using to power the thing, and that’s why this is happening.”

I winced, and not because of my memory-pain. I had not been blessed by forgetting the worst thing I ever did, why I of all people should know a lot about Equestrian magic causing amnesia. “Magic computer?”

“Yup,” she said, breezy and charming. “Also a holographic butler.”

“...Holographic…”

“Butler, yeah. Darn computer does everything, and that includes contactin’ the outside. But lord knows I ain’t got a clue how to use it. That’s why I gotta talk to Sunset.”

I felt myself tense up a little. I suddenly remembered what that Cranky guy had said, about Pear Butter putting on an ignorant, down-home persona to make me think she was harmless. Was she still doing that? If she was my therapist, she must know a lot about me. She must know about the memory stone. Was I being totally dumb to trust her? Was I being paranoid to think I was being dumb?

Apparently completely unaware of my swirling thoughts, she continued. “So, we’ll ask Sunset and she’ll rope in some other magic-knowing folks to help. But until then, let’s just get ya settled back in, okay? Ah’m hopin’ this’ll get cleared up and you’ll still be able to participate.” She snapped her fingers. “Oh, right, you probably need a refresher on the rules. Here.” She swiped her tablet to another screen and showed it to me again.

I felt my stress levels rising, and I turned the tablet off and handed it back without bothering to finish reading it. This was just more stressful stuff. “You said something about protestors. People don’t like what we’re doing?”

Pear Butter sighed. “No, no they don’t. And Ah for one don’t get why. It ain’t like ponies are harmful; shoot, they’ve had a lot less wars than we humans have had. They’re all cuddly and cute and friendly. Really, the only weird part in mah mind is how every one of us has a pony duplicate and vice versa.”

Before I could even begin to question that, there was a knock at the door, which then opened. “Ah, there you are,” said the man standing there, tall, pale skinned, wearing a cyan blue button up shirt and a pair of black slacks as well as a police cap. There was another person standing behind him, a woman dressed in a flowing forest green silk dress with identically colored sandals and a huge bush of fiery orange hair surrounding her head. I vaguely realized these were two of the people I’d seen when I first got here. The starers.

The woman didn’t stare now. Instead, she nearly trembled, her face an expression that looked like she’d eaten ten tons of sugar and was about to explode from the high. “How’s she doing?”

“Ask her,” Pear Butter said, gesturing to me.

“Uuuuh…” I shrank into my chair, not sure what to say.

He gave me a smile he probably thought was disarming, but struck me as more patronizing. “Hey, you’re alright. Everyone’s heard you’re having some memory issues; I’m Shining Armor. This here is Autumn Blaze.”

“Oooh it’s so good to see you up and about Wallflower because I mean we spent soooo much time chatting the first night you got here and I think we really got each other like spiritually and then you kinda just disappeared into your room the second night and no one had seen you and then all of a sudden you were outside on the trail to the mineshaft like what were you even doing out there–”

“Ooookay, Autumn, that’s enough,” Shining said, cutting off the babbling nonsense that was so rapid and fluid I hadn’t been able to understand more than every other word. “We get the idea. Point is, we were all a little worried about you. I’m glad to see you’re okay. Hopefully whatever’s going on with your head will fix itself soon.”

“...thanks, I think.”

“Hey, I have an idea!” Autumn Blaze said. “Let’s take Wallflower around to the others and see if we can’t jog her memory!”

Pear Butter frowned. “Ah’m not so sure that’s a good idea… y’all know she’s got some serious anxiety, right?”

“Oh, pfft, she’ll be okay once she gets up and around, you’ll see. It wasn’t like she was all that anxious when we first got here,” Autumn said.

“Excuse me,” I said, trying not to let my irritation show at being discussed like I wasn’t even in the room. “I think I can make my own decisions. And I think I’m going to go. Without any of you.”

I got up and fled before any of them could object, blitzing back down the hallway and into the mess hall. Big Macintosh was sitting at one of the tables chowing down on some eggs, but I ignored him, heading for the set of doors on the other side. Maybe I could hide in some other set of offices down there, since it looked like it mirrored the corridor I’d been in.

Only the door didn’t open.

I tried it a few times until I heard someone politely cough behind me.

“Um, excuse me, Wallflower? That door is, um, locked. For a reason.”

I turned around to see the second familiar face I’d spotted since waking up here, belonging to a woman wearing a pair of turquoise shorts bedecked with silhouetted butterflies and a green t-shirt. Flowing pink hair covered one eye, which she brushed out of the way as she spoke. “The butler told us all not to go in there.”

“...Fluttershy?” I ventured.

Fluttershy beamed. “Oh, wonderful! You remember my name! That’s such good news. You remember talking yesterday?”

I shook my head. “No, I think I just remember you from high school.”

Fluttershy just frowned sympathetically. Luckily, the awkward pause was quickly interrupted. “Oh, Fluttershy, darliiiiiing? Where are you?”

Another familiar voice preceded an equally familiar face entering the room. Like Fluttershy, she wore a pair of jean shorts, decorated with diamonds, and a t-shirt in cyan blue with ruffles on the sleeves and around the bottom. Elegantly coiffed purple hair danced about her face, still perfect despite the desert environment. “Oh, there you are. And Wallflower too!”

“...Rarity, right?” I said.

Fluttershy’s smile widened. “Look at that, Rarity, she recognizes us both!”

“Oh thank heavens,” Rarity said. She held out an arm as if to give me a half hug, but didn’t actually touch me. For a second I hesitated, then nodded, and she came the rest of the way. “And here I was beginning to think I lost my friend.”

“Rarity? Are you in here?”

Rarity’s eyes widened considerably at the sound of Sunset’s voice. “Hide me!” she said to Fluttershy.

Before I could ask what they were doing, the two disappeared into the kitchen.

Sunset Shimmer entered the mess hall shortly there afterwards, halfway out of breath. “Hey, Wallflower. Did you see Rarity head this way?”

“Who?” I said, grinning inwardly.

She stared at me, then sighed. “Right. Never mind. It’s… it doesn’t matter. She’s avoiding me anyway. Not that I get why. We’re supposed to be…” She trailed off, her face more than a little haunted. “You know what, Wallflower, something’s wrong around here. And I don’t like it.”

“Pear Butter…” My voice inadvertently faded out, but I was able to bring it back with only a slight delay. “Uh. She said you’re supposed to be running this place.”

“...What?” Sunset froze, startled. “That’s ridiculous, I’ve never even been here before.” She looked around foggily.

“She said you talked to a princess and then flew here right before you found me.”

“Flew…?” After her initial bewilderment, Sunset grimaced. “I have a really bad feeling. I’m pretty sure you and I are not the only ones whose memories have been messed with.”

My mouth fell open. “What? What do you mean?”

“I’ll explain later,” she answered. “Look, let’s just see who else is here first, okay?”

Before I could respond to that she all but dragged me with her outside the mess hall and back into the desert sun.

Outside I could see we were in a much larger complex than I had initially expected. There was a cobblestone road in front of us that split off into several directions, with the one pointed forward leading towards a central plaza with a wooden prefab stage set up facing the opposite direction from the mess hall. Beyond that the road stretched out to a pair of two story brick and wooden buildings that looked like dormitories or group housing. The road continued to lead off from there.

To either side of the plaza the road split off leading to two equally sealed and imposing looking gates, with metal plaques reading “2” and “3” respectively.

In front of the stage was someone that caused Sunset to freeze in place, her jaw dropping in shock. “...her too?” She whispered.

The her in question sported a flowing midnight blue skirt and matching long sleeved blouse. She wore a pair of boots of the same shade as her clothes with purple straps bedecked with cyan stars. A fluffy witch’s purple witches hat also covered in cyan stars sat atop her head, framed by her flowing silvery locks which cascaded down onto a purple cloak she wore tied by a gemstone clasp. The whole outfit looked far too hot for this weather, but she didn’t seem the least bit bothered.

“Well, well, there you are, Wallflower, Sunset,” she said, crossing her arms, glaring especially at Sunset. “You were supposed to get in this morning. Is there a reason you’ve made Trixie wait so long before you came to see her? Hmmmm?”

Sunset abruptly leapt onto Trixie, joyful laughter burbling forth from her like a fountain as she squeezed Trixie in an embrace tight enough to take her breath away. “Oh, Trixie, it’s so good to see you again! How did you–”

Trixie’s hand came up to push Sunset away, inadvertently smacking her in the jaw. “Sunset Shimmer, you are being too rough with Trixie!” she squawked. She managed to get herself untangled and brushed off the dust, giving Sunset a fierce glare. “Honestly, Sunset, compose yourself.”

I tried not to laugh at Sunset’s confused look of half shame, half shock as I approached Trixie. “Hey Trixie, how’ve you been?”

Trixie huffed. “Trixie would be far better if that butler would open up access to the rest of the village already. She’s slept two nights in those silly dorms and she would rather not keep repeating the experience. This isn’t college anymore. Not even to mention the annoying clothes situation, or…”

“So we’ve been here a while already,” I interrupted, hoping to head off a rant.

Trixie arched her eyebrows suspiciously. “Yesss… Wallflower, you really don’t remember much, do you? I’d heard that was the case.” She narrowed her eyes. “Or are you pretending for sympathy? Trixie won’t give it to you if that’s the case.”

I snorted. “Why the hell would I do that?”

Trixie shrugged. “Trixie doesn’t know. But then, Trixie doesn’t understand how you would suddenly lose your memories. Or why you would disappear early last night only to show up on the far side of the mess hall. You do remember that we were told there’s nothing out that way other than the mines, right?”

“No, Trixie, I don’t,” I shot back. “The only things I seem to remember so far are your face, Sunset’s, and Fluttershy and Rarity’s. Everyone else is a stranger to me.”

“Uh huh. Sure.” Trixie snorted, then waved us off. “Then go introduce yourself again. And take Sunset with you. Trixie doesn’t want to get tackle-hugged again. Seriously, Sunset, Trixie knows she’s fantastic and fabulous but really.”

“No, wait, I still have questions!” Sunset said as I took her by the hand and pulled her away. “Darn it, Wallflower, I need to know how she did it.”

“Did what?” I asked.

She looked right back at me sharply. “...never mind. Like I said, I’ll explain later.”

“...okay…”

We wandered past the stage, which held a single lectern and not much else other than spotlights, and headed down the path towards the dorms, which I noticed with interest happened to sit in a small clearing full of desert brushes and a garden full of succulents. “You know what,” Sunset said as we decided to enter the one on the right, labeled, “Dorms One,” atop its door. “This is really starting to creep me out. I don’t remember why we’re here… someone was asking me about surveys before I found you again and I had no idea what they were talking about.”

I shrugged. "Don't look at me."

As we entered the building we found it split up into two floors of four rooms each, giving eight total. Each one bore a nameplate and a picture of a face–I recognized several of the ones I’d already seen, including Pear Butter, Shining Armor, and Autumn Blaze.

Standing in front of one, obscuring the nameplate, were two men chatting away. One wore a sunshine yellow polo shirt and dirty ripped up blue jeans, with an explosion of curly brown hair all around his head. The other was taller, wearing some kind of bell bottom jeans in a shade of aqua, and a sleeveless vest in some kind of off-pink shade decorated with what might’ve been amoeba or geodes, and a man bun of blonde hair atop his head.

The blonde one spotted us immediately and fired off finger guns in our direction. “Hey hey, check it out, Cheese! It’s Sunset and Wallflower!”

“Oh, hey there, little ladies!” said Cheese as he turned to wave. “Good to see you again. And glad you’re back, Wallflower! I was half ready to start tracking you down if you didn’t turn up. What happened?”

“Uuuuuuhm…” Sunset and I exchanged a look and shrugged. She then flashed Cheese an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I uh… we both woke up with some kind of memory issue. Can you just… remind us who you are real quick?”

Blondie made a pathetic looking face and held his hands up to his cheeks. “Oh nooo, don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten moi? How could you? I’m only the bestest little brother that ever was and I know you know Fluttershy!”

“...just humor us, please,” Sunset said.

Cheese let out a belly laugh and clapped his friend on the shoulder. “Sorry about that. This here’s Zephyr Breeze, Fluttershy’s brother, and I’m Cheese Sandwich, accordion player, song writer, and man of the world! I don’t blame you if you don’t remember me; we only met for the first time a couple of days ago.”

“But I’ve known you two for years!” Zephyr objected, his face even more pathetically screwed up in sorrow now. “You’re like, well… not my best friends, but you’re friends! Kind of. You know, we hang out. Sometimes. When you’re with Fluttershy. On occasion.”

Cheese let out a quiet laugh. “Oh, give it up, Zephyr, I’m sure they’ll get their memories back. Probably just hit their heads on a walk last night or something and that’s why they were missing.” He eyed us, his smile dimming a tad. “Though I’d be careful if I were you. The desert isn’t the safest place at night. Don’t go wandering off. There’s a reason they put those fences up.”

“Right. Thanks.” Sunset grabbed my hand. “We uh… we’re gonna… go now.”

Before the other two could say anything, Sunset took us back outside and to the other dorm building before she stopped to momentarily catch her breath. “Yikes. Didn’t expect Zephyr Breeze.”

“That’s Futtershy’s brother?” I asked. “Did you see the look in his eyes when he spotted us? Like he was sizing us up or undressing us with his eyes or something.”

Sunset winced. “He’s not… so… bad?” she ventured. She kept up the optimism for a moment, then drooped and sighed. “From what I remember, Fluttershy keeps him in line.”

“I hope so,” I said as we stepped inside the other dorm. This one felt a little more familiar to me, and I could see why because right up the stairs on the landing, the first two rooms were Sunset’s… and mine.

There was also another person just leaving her room, who was somewhat grey in skin tone like Mr. Doodle, but with a far cheerier expression, dirty blonde hair cascading around her shoulders. She wore a thigh length cotton tan dress with an orange belt tied around her waist, black capri shorts underneath and a pair of brown boots covered in a series of bubbles . When she spotted us she let out a brief, “Oh!” and smiled warmly. “Hi Sunset, hi Wallflower! How’re you feeling? Pear Butter said you weren’t feeling too good.”

Although I didn’t recognize who this was, Sunset seemed to, smiling back just as warmly. “We’re fine, Derpy, thanks.”

“Derpy?” I whispered.

“Her name’s actually Ditzy Muffins Doo,” Sunset whispered back. “But she prefers Derpy. Says it’s more honest to her personality.”

“Yup, that’s right!” Derpy said, grinning. As she smiled her eyes started to go cross eyed before she shook her head briefly to clear it up. “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to overhear, but… good ears.”

Good ears, she said. Or she could read lips. Despite her friendliness, something about her seemed a little off. But I wasn’t about to betray my suspicion to her. “Don’t worry about it,” I said.

“Hey, Derpy, why’re you wearing your old Battle of the Bands outfit today?” Sunset asked as Derpy walked past us to the stairs.

Derpy shrugged. “Just felt like it. I like this outfit. The colors are nice. And it blends in with the desert.” She coughed into her hand. “A-anyway, I’m really hungry, so I’ll see you at the morning meeting later.”

“Wait, morning meeting?” Sunset questioned as Derpy walked off.

“Forget it, I’m sure we’ll find out,” I said. I pointed to our rooms. “We should check these out while we’re here. Maybe our pads are in there.”

Sunset’s face paled. “Pads? What… what pads?”

“I dunno, some tablet thing Pear Butter said we all had. She called it a pad.”

Sunset let out a high-pitched laugh that sounded decidedly unnatural. “Oh! Of course, that’s… that’s what you meant. You wouldn’t have… no, you wouldn’t joke about that.”

“Wouldn’t joke about what?” I questioned.

“never mind. Let’s just check our rooms.”

Rolling my eyes, I went over to the one marked as mine and tried the doorknob. Naturally it was locked, but on a hunch I searched my pockets, and sure enough I pulled out an old fashioned key, unlocking it. The instant I entered, I had to revise my opinion of these rooms significantly.

They were set up more like an opulent hotel room than the cheap college dorm I’d been expecting. A single king sized bed sat along one wall, facing an old-fashioned CRT television sitting atop a chest of drawers made from cherry wood. A mahogany desk with a blotter and accompanying lamp sat against another wall, with a wooden backed rolling chair to sit down in. To one side of the desk was a small minifridge, labeled with a sign that said, “Drinkable fluids only!”

Poking about the rest of the place I saw a tiny kitchenette with a single stove top burner next to a small sink, opposite which was a walk-in closet. Briefly poking inside revealed a number of outfits of mine. There was a door next to the kitchenette which, when opened, revealed a larger than I would have expected bathroom with separate standing shower and claw-footed tub, as well as another sink for handwashing. I noticed the shower even had my favorite brand of shampoo placed on the caddy shelf bolted inside, and my medicines were on the sink.

After taking a moment to use the facilities and grab a bottle of water from the mini fridge, I poked around some more and finally found what I was looking for: a tablet identical to Pear Butter's save for having my name on the label, and my name popping up when it was switched on. I swiftly stuck it in my pocket then left the room, making sure to lock up.

I found Sunset waiting for me, looking more worried than ever. "Hey. Did you find that pad you were talking about?"

"Yeah, didn't you?"

She shook her head. "Nope. Maybe I dropped it somewhere."

"Well we won't find out here," I said.

"Right."

As we left I spotted two other buildings I hadn't noticed. One was a small shed with a locked door that read "musical instrument storage." And from what I could see through the small window on the door, it wasn't kidding. All kinds of instruments were piled inside, decorating shelves and a few scattered about on the floor with their cases half open.

"Hey! Don't touch that!"

I turned to see a grumpy looking woman with dark turquoise hair tied with a pair of old fashioned movie reels for a hairclip, sporting a black skirt and a purple coat over top of a cyan blouse. She held up a large keyring from which a single key dangled. "I already claimed music shed duty. You can get one when I say you can."

"Uh, sorry, I was just checking the place out," I said with a sigh.

She continued to frown, then it turned into a scowl. "You really don't know who I am, do you? It's me, Juniper Montage. You know, future movie star? Hello?” She framed her face with her hands and posed in a completely unhelpful way. “I told you all about my ten-year plan to make it big?”

"...what are you talking about?"

She snorted with disgust and walked off without another word.

"Oh, look at that, you upset little miss movie magic over there."

I turned at the sound of the new voice to see a human, maybe a year or two older than me, giving me a look like she was my mom. The look didn't fit her outfit at all: skinny denim shorts and equally skinny shoulderless shirt, over which she wore some kind of full length brown leather open vest that had numerous tassels dangling at the bottom. Shining blue eyes stared out from beneath a dirty mixture of pink and white hair in a fashionably messy tossle, and atop that she sported a tiara with sprigs of holly resting above either ear.

She held a pinkie to her mouth. “Not that that’s really all that difficult, since she’s so whiny.” The judgemental expression faded, replaced by a wiley smirk. “In case you need the reminder, Wallywall, it’s Vignette Valencia.”

“Wallywall?” I repeated in a quiet murmur. Shaking my head, I put out a hand and said louder, “Nice to meet you, I guess.”

Her smirk widened as she briefly took the tips of my fingers and shook them, then brought them up to her lips and gave them a kiss. “Oh my dear, you really don’t remember. What a shame. I guess I’ll have to impress you all over again.”

Sunset’s eyes flashed with irritation. “Wallflower doesn’t appreciate flirting, Valencia.”

“Ooh, laying a claim on her now, are you, Sunny? I thought you had eyes for–”

“Shut up!” Sunset barked.

Vignette let out a charming laugh. “Oh don’t be so silly, Sunset, of course I’m not actually that interested in Wallflower. I’m used to stunning and charming the world, of course, but normally it happens through a screen! When you do it irl, you get to see things like the cute little faces Wallywall makes!.. It’s all in good fun, relax.”

I would’ve objected but I was too busy caught up in a furious blush, staring at my fingers where she’d kissed them.

“Aww, look at you all having so much fuuun!” another woman said in a syrupy sweet voice as she walked over. She wore a plaid skirt in stripes of dark cranberry red, black, and grey, and a royal purple vest overtop a white button up blouse, along with a fabulous bow tie. Her hair contained an unusual mixture of colors, primarily in mulberry purple but with aqua green streaks. Interestingly she also had a number of prominent freckles dotting her face, which stretched as she smiled.

And then she abruptly switched to a nasty growl, her face contorting as she snapped, “When you should be getting ready for the meeting!”

I took a step back. “Whoa, okay, uh…”

“Sour Sweet,” she said, rolling her eyes. “And yes, I’m that Sour Sweet. I’m the nice one.” She glowered. “I’m. So. Nice.” She glowered for another moment, then her eyes shined as she suddenly grinned, holding her hands together. “Oh everyone here gets along so well!” And she dropped them, frowning again. “Until they see me walk into the room.”

“Oh, be quiet, Sour Sweet, no one cares,” Vignette said. “Do you have a real reason for bothering us?”

“...actually, yeah.” Sour Sweet reached into the purse she’d held at her side and pulled out a pad, roughly shoving it into Sunset’s hands. “This is yours. Found it in the mess hall. Gahhh you just get here and immediately lose things. Great job establishing your authority.”

Sunset took it and stared at it, her face turning the shade of curdled milk. “...why do we have these?” she said, gulping.

Sour Sweet’s face screwed up in disbelief. “What kind of stupid question is that? You’re the one who brought us here as part of this stupid ponies and humans living together program. You should know it all top to bottom.”

“...right.” Sunset tapped it against her palm. “Just having a bad morning. Thanks for bringing it back.”

“Sure. Whatever.”

Sour Sweet seemed satisfied, but Sunset turned to the side, hugging her pad to her chest. “Of course,” she muttered, so softly only I could even tell she was talking. “Ponies, of course. None of you are really back, you’re just ponies, you’re…”

DING-DONG BING-BONG

A sound like schoolhouse bells rose up from speakers around the complex. “Speaking of the meeting, there’s the signal,” Sour Sweet said.

“Might as well get this over with,” Vignette grunted. “I’m sure we’ll have another pointless survey to answer.”

“You think he’ll care about Sunset and Wallflower’s memory issue?”

“Probably not.”

I turned to Sunset, hoping this new activity could keep her mind off whatever was eating at her. “Well, guess we’d better get… going… Sunset? What’s wrong?”

Sunset stood stock still, her hands gripped hard enough one of her knuckles split open and bled. The trickle of blood along her hand was a stark contrast to just how pale she’d turned. “Not again,” she whispered. “Not again… please, not again.”

“Not again?” I said. “Not again what, Sunset?”

She looked up at me, and I recoiled at the haunted, terrified look I saw there, like staring into an abyss of fear. “If you don’t remember, you’re lucky,” she said.

“...okay…”

“May I have your attention, please?”

I started as a voice came over the speakers next… an odd voice. Not in that it was high pitched, or distorted, or anything of that nature. It sounded like a perfectly normal human male voice, touched with a slight bit of age, and full of humor. Perhaps too much humor, like a very bad joke that nevertheless sends everyone in a room guffawing till they fall out of their chairs.

I decided immediately I hated this voice.

“This is your host speaking! Please make your way to the central plaza. I have an extra-special announcement for you today!”

As the speakers cut out, I glanced over at Sunset, who’d relaxed her grip till her knuckles were merely white rather than hard enough to induce bleeding. “Who was that?” she wondered.

I shrugged. “Dunno. Let’s go find out.”

After a moment, Sunset blew out a sigh and nodded, heading right for the central plaza. I followed, and soon we were lost among the crowd, all sixteen of us, staring expectantly up at the stage.

A figure soon appeared, shimmering into life like a projection of light, a man, dressed up in a slender tuxedo. At first he appeared to have color to him--dark brown skin tone, light brown hair, shining purple eyes--only to change right before our eyes, like some kind of transformation, until he was perfectly split between black and white, right down the middle.

Confused whispers filled the crowd, and I caught a few snatches, including Sour Sweet asking, “What happened to the butler?”

He pulled out a walking cane and spun it in his hands, smiling at the crowd. “Ah, welcome, everyone. I am your host, but as you can see, I’ve gone through a little bit of a… redecoration. I am no longer your mere butler, helping to run this little program. I’ve had a bit of a change of heart, and this little game of ours, this cooperation, this trial run? I feel like it could use a bit of spicing up. A change of direction, as it were.”

His smile vanished as his tone dropped to a dangerous octave. “A deadly direction.”

He held up his empty hand and snapped his fingers. Everyone’s pads began lighting up at once, and we all pulled them out to look. The same message that we all saw the first time appeared again, but this time…

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Cranky demanded as he hit his pad with his hand.

“All… invaders?” Fluttershy gulped. “What invaders?”

“Why, the ponies, of course!” said the former butler. He held a hand up to his mouth, and a chilling laugh emerged.

“Puhuhuhu… you foolish children. Thinking you can get along with monsters from another universe bent on annihilating our way of life. Well, no more, says I. I shall not participate in such folly, not when I can do something far more entertaining and delightful.”

I glanced over at Sunset, who was gasping, shaking, her whole body trembling. She looked like she wanted to scream but couldn’t. I wanted to pat her hand, but I was too focused on what this new guy was saying.

“Oh, and just so you all know, I’ve had a change in name. I am no mere butler anymore. I am now the Caretaker of this camp. But, for expediency, you may call me by another name. Let’s go with…

Monohuman.”

And Sunset finally screamed.