//------------------------------// // 02. Prologue: "Welcome Back To Despair!" Part 2 // Story: Super Danganronpa 2: On Harmony's Shores // by Dewdrops on the Grass //------------------------------// Prologue:  “Welcome Back To Despair!” Part II As Sunset’s screams pierced the sky, everyone else’s voices rose in a complex aura of confusion and demands that pounded my ears like a repeated concussion wave, explosion after explosion of anger that made me want to clap my hands to my ears and join Sunset in screaming. Fortunately she was swiftly silenced, though not by any of us, but by Monohuman, whose snapped fingers preceded a bubble surrounding Sunset in silence. She continued to scream, now pounding on the inside of the bubble, looking more terrified than I’d ever seen a human being look. “Oh do be quiet, would you?” Monohuman said, giving Sunset a stern look. “You wouldn’t want to become the example for how the rules will be enforced, hmm?” That shut Sunset up immediately as she fell to her butt, shaking her head furiously. The look of terror only increased as her face started turning blue. “Let her go, Butler!” Pear Butter ordered. “Now!” Monohuman shrugged, and another snap of his fingers released, causing Sunset to fall to her knees, gasping and gulping down air. “Now then, since we have some blessed silence, I’m certain you all have many, many questions. Let’s clear something up from the start, shall we? This program is no longer about some absurd goal of getting along between different species. It is now a killing game.” “...killing game?” Fluttershy gulped. “I-I don’t like the sound of that,” Rarity muttered, shivering as she reached for Fluttershy. “Oooh, look at you, so fierce, so intense,” Sour Sweet said before her face dropped into a snarl. “What do you mean, killing game?!” “Precisely that,” Monohuman said, twirling his walking stick. “A game where killing is the goal. In this case, of course, you’re not just killing anyone. This is not so barbaric as that. No, the goal is to hunt down and eliminate the enemy. To destroy the intruders, annihilate the invaders. In other words, you are to kill the ponies.” “But why oh why would we ever ever want to do a thing like that?” Autumn blurted, shivering as she gripped her dress. “The ponies didn’t do anything to anyone!” “Because if you wish to get out of here alive, you have no other choice,” Monohuman said simply. He snapped his fingers. All around the complex I noticed things start to sprout up. New monitors upon which his face appeared, seemingly at random. And the cameras. Security cameras everywhere, popping out of the walls, the ceilings, the roofs, like someone wanted to capture every angle of every inch of this whole place.  “Here. Allow me to update you on the rules of our little game. Perhaps these will help enlighten you.” He snapped his fingers once more and everyone’s pads beeped. I swiftly brought mine out to see the rules starting to change right before my eyes. Rule #1: All residents must stay within city limits until the program is completed. Rule #2: Don’t disclose to anyone which dimension you come from!!  Remember, the point of this program is demonstrating if humans and equestrians can get along.  If anyone knows your origins, then it’s possible unintentional bias could influence our results! Rule #3: You must answer all surveys promptly and completely.  Your data will really help us out! Rule #4:  It’s important we all–There are six invaders.  All the invaders must be killed. Rule #5: Any attempt to harm Monohuman or cause damage to the security cameras, monitors, or other town property that is not strictly for the purposes of committing murder will be harshly punished. This rule is up to Monohuman’s discretion. Rule #6: Anyone who murders another resident will be considered a blackened.  When a dead body is discovered, Monohuman will analyze the corpse to determine its origin.  The status of the blackened is determined by the results of this analysis.   Rule #6a: If the victim is an Equestrian, the murderer is a Pure Blackened. Rule #6b: If the victim is a human, the murderer is a Grey Blackened. Rule #7: Pure Blackeneds are subject to dismissal from the program.  They will be immediately sequestered in a safe area, and once the program is concluded, they will be allowed to go free. Rule #8: Grey Blackeneds will be subject to a trial.  When a dead body is discovered, an investigation period will occur with its length as defined by Monohuman. All participants may spend this time as they choose, but investigation is strongly encouraged.  The trial will begin immediately after this period. Rule #9: During a trial, participants (with the exception of Pure Blackeneds)  must debate to determine who is the blackened. When the participants are certain, a vote will occur. All attendees must vote. Rule #10: If the blackened is successfully identified, they alone will be executed. If, however, a majority of the participants vote incorrectly, the blackened will be allowed to go free, and the remaining participants (with the exception of Pure Blackeneds) will be executed.   Rule #11: Monohuman will never participate in a murder. Any attempt to use Monohuman to cause a murder will result in immediate execution. Rule #12: A body discovery announcement occurs when three surviving participants discover a body. This signals the beginning of investigation. Rule #13: The program will continue until one of three conditions is met:  All Equestrian participants are dead. A Grey Blackened successfully escapes detection during a trial. Only two active participants remain. Note: Condition 1 will be impossible to meet if an Equestrian is a Pure Blackened.  Therefore, it is in humans’ best interest to strike quickly if they suspect anyone of being an invader. Rule #14: “Murder” is defined on a common-sense basis.  In the case of any ambiguity, Monohuman will clarify the Blackened’s status to the Blackened privately.  Rule #15: If an Equestrian commits suicide, there is no blackened and no trial.  If a human commits suicide, a trial will commence as usual, and the Grey Blackened is the victim themselves. Rule #16: Any attempt to admit wrongdoing prior to the conclusion of the trial will be met with immediate execution.  Rule #17: Except for attempting to open locked doors, participants may freely explore to their desire.  Attempting to leave town is prohibited; you would quickly die of exposure anyway. It took me many attempts to read through all these rules… there were so many! And so complex. Grey blackeneds? Pure blackeneds? What? And I wasn’t the only one confused. Questions began rising from the group, people asking what this rule or that rule meant. The only one not questioning was Sunset, whose shaky, sweaty grip on her pad left me uneasy. Sunset seemed to know what was going on. I’d have to talk to her later. “I don’t get it, man,” Zephyr Breeze squealed. “I don’t understand what any of these rules mean!” “What’s a blackened?” Derpy wondered, cocking her head. “Means they murdered someone, Derpy, try actually reading the rules,” Juniper snapped. Derpy withdrew in on herself. “But the ponies didn’t do anything bad!” “Stuff it!” Monohuman barked, and silence befell the crowd. He tutted, rubbing his nose with his hand. “It seems you need a bit of explanation, a clarification of these rules. I would think them easy to understand, but then, I am capable of comprehending what I am reading, unlike some of you simpletons.” He pointed to his side with his baton and an illusionary screen appeared to showcase a series of images as he spoke. “It’s really quite simple. As stated before, the object of this exercise is to eliminate the enemy, the dreaded Equestrians. They are foreign to this Earth and must perish for their crimes of existing. None of you will leave here alive if you do not successfully complete this task.” “But… but there’s stuff in here about killing humans…” Zephyr hesitantly said before being loudly interrupted by Monohuman. “Gah! It’s easy! If you kill an Equestrian, you’re safe! But if you kill a human, it’s just normal Danganronpa rules.” “Whoa, hold on,” Cheese cut in. “Normal donglewhatnow?” “It’s a video game! Don’t worry about it.” “But…” Cranky cleared his throat. “Shut up, everybody! Look. What all these complex rules boil down to is, kill an Equestrian and you walk away scot free. Kill a human, and you’re going to get executed if you’re caught.” Monohuman nodded. “Precisely. The rest are to help clarify certain sorts of… situations. We want to avoid any ambiguity, after all, or any manipulation of the rules.” For some reason he cast a glare directly at Sunset Shimmer as he said that, who shied away under his gaze. “And speaking of the rules, for those of you who failed to comprehend my previous example, allow me to make it perfectly clear what happens should you disobey them.” He pointed to his illusionary screen, where an image of some woman that looked vaguely familiar, with massive pigtails of pink hair standing on… something…only to start twitching as spears impaled her from every direction at once. “Oh sweet summer squash!” Cheese gasped, clapping hands to his mouth. “That’s disgusting!” “And painful!” Monohuman said with a decidedly menacing gleam to his eyes. “Rest assured, any who are caught and must be executed will suffer horrifically before they die, as is only fair and proper for someone who can’t be arsed to kill the right target. We’re not here to murder our fellow humans, after all: we’re here to eliminate the pretenders among us.” He tossed his baton in the air and caught it. “And be assured of one other thing: each and every one of you already has a planned, personalized punishment in mind. While I would rather not implement them if it can be avoided…I will enjoy myself thoroughly if I get to carry them out.” “This is insane!” Shining Armor yelled.  “This is just a sick game!” “Yeah, because sick games are fun!” Monohuman enthused, then he paused.  “...And, to tell you the honest truth, I don’t know who the ponies are, myself.  I do have a way to find out, but it only works on dead bodies.”  He shrugged.  “Hey, think of this as an adventure.  What an exciting story we can make!  Who will be the heroes?  Who will be the villains?  Who can survive?!”  “But… but this doesn’t make sense!” Derpy yipped. “If the point is killing ponies, why are you rewarding someone who kills a human and gets away with it?” Monohuman rolled his eyes, putting his whole body into it. “I swear, you have no sense of drama. I have to allow the hateful Equestrians some sliver of hope, don’t I? If they didn’t have some way of winning, then none of you humans would realize the truth. You’re at war.”   He sneered, ugly and exaggerated. “Look at you, complaining about complicated rules, when really it couldn’t be simpler. They want to kill you, and if you want to survive, you have to strike first. That’s it.”  “...no.” Everyone parted, turning to see Sunset Shimmer, who surged forth, slamming her right fist into her left palm as she gave Monohuman the angriest glare possible. “I won’t let you do this. Not again! I’m not going to stand by and watch another game happen! Not this time!” “Oh? You were entirely helpless then, Sunset Shimmer. What makes you think this is any different, hmm?” Monohuman asked, rubbing his chin. “According to everyone, I helped put this program together,” Sunset fired back. “I made you. You have to listen to me.” Monohuman rolled his eyes. “How droll. In any case–” “I said stop!” Monohuman let out a slight sigh. He set his walking baton down and scooted to the edge of the stage, sitting down on it like a kid dangling their legs off a swing set. Then he waved Sunset over and placed an arm on her, almost grandfatherly like. “Sunset, my dear, as much as you think you have any power here at all, let me be clear. You don’t. You are powerless to stop me.” Sunset jerked backward, yelping in pain.  It took a moment to even figure out what was happening.  She was being pulled back and up by her hair, even though nothing visible was there.  She struggled vainly, then froze as Monohuman held up his hand, which was bizarrely glowing red, and then thrust it forward towards her face.  He stopped just inches away. “You did help build me, indeed you did.”  Monohuman’s hand suddenly burst into flames.  Sunset tried to recoil away from the heat but some invisible force kept her in place.  “So you should know better than anyone not to bet against me in a fight.” He stepped away nonchalantly, Sunset dropping to the ground.  “I detest this hostility,” he mused, stroking his chin with his now completely normal hand.  “Sunset, I’m on your side, really.  You’re special.  You’re our star!” Somehow, instantly, darkness fell over everything, but just as suddenly, spotlights turned on illuminating Sunset and Monohuman.  Sunset was on her hands and knees, panting or maybe sobbing.  “I won’t do it!” she yelled. “Oh, but you’re so good at it!  This may be overstating things, but part of me wants to call you… the Ultimate Survivor.” Her denials were just a weak moan, and he strutted over to her, grinning.  “But it’s hard.  You’re such a complicated, dynamic protagonist!  Everyone trusts you.  Everyone loves you.  But does anyone know the dark secrets you have inside?  Does anyone know what a black, toxic heart beats in your chest?  I think you actually might be the Ultimate Phony.” Sunset’s spotlight clicked off, and he swung his arms wide, beaming.  “Oh, but we can’t forget your supporting cast!  Let’s meet them.”  He posed like a Broadway star.  “I’ll get myself out of the way first.  I am quite the marvel.  The Ultimate Computer, the first to merge human technology with Equestrian magic!  And.”  He grinned, jumping up onto his toes.  “I can dance like a fiend.”  He tap-danced, feet moving so fast it was dazzling, and it was almost as dazzling when he suddenly stopped, pointing out with his baton. A spotlight appeared where he was pointing, a trembling form with pink hair.  “But I can’t hold a candle to this young lady!  Just look at her, folks, cringing and whimpering like the champion she is!”  He leaned forward as if telling us a secret.  “Her name’s Fluttershy, if you don’t know her.  She has the flimsiest backbone I’ve ever seen.  In fact, I think I’d go so far as to declare her the Ultimate Doormat!” “Hey!” an offended voice called out, and laughing, Monohuman spun as a new spotlight came on above the speaker, who paled and shrunk as she suddenly found herself in his sights. “Oh, well now!” Monohuman places his hand above his eyes as if trying to look a long distance.  “Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten you, off-brand Fluttershy!”  He laughed.  “I’m joking!  It’s Sour Sweet, and uh oh, folks, she looks mad at me!  But I’m not worried.  In five seconds, she’ll be nice, then I’ll turn my back and she’ll be mean again.  But of course, because she’s the Ultimate Two-Face!” Sour Sweet’s light cut off and another came on, directly over Shining Armor, whose pale skin actually did shine in the glare.  “Cheese, it’s the fuzz!” Monohuman yelped, before settling into a smooth grin.  “Oh, never mind!  It’s just Twilight Sparkle’s brother.  Also known as Cadance’s husband.  He might have a name, but who cares?  To me, he’s just the Ultimate Second-Best.” Pop pop and suddenly a new person was illuminated, the reflection from his glasses almost blinding me.  “Fuzz, it’s the Cheese!” Monohuman cackled.  “Cheese Sandwich, that is.  You’ve got to excuse him, he’s working hard to try to find himself and so he’s between personalities right now.  But maybe someday he’ll meet someone he can base his entire life around emulating, and people will like him!  But until then, he’s just my buddy, the Ultimate Cipher.” Cheese’s spotlight turned off, and next was Trixie.  She stood confident and defiant, but she was also visibly shaking. Monohuman snaked over to her, looming, his shadow blocking out half her body.  “Folks, here we have a bona fide, genuine savant! Just look at how she carries herself!  I had thought she was a pathetic mediocrity, a loser who would never do anything worth paying attention to.”  Trixie’s cheeks were reddening, but in rage, fear, or embarrassment, I couldn’t tell.  “Apparently she’s actually special and great, though, she told me so herself.  Folks, say hello to Trixie, the Ultimate Try-Hard!” “Stop!” called out a voice, and Monohuman actually paused in surprise.  When I saw who’d spoken, I was surprised, too.  A spotlight now shone on Derpy as she pointed in anger.  “Why are you saying these things? Why would you just want to hurt us?  Why… uh.”  She withered, apparently realizing she was now the center of everyone’s attention and Monohuman, for the first time, did not look amused.  She took a cautious step back, but in her fear she placed her right foot down on the back of her left shoe.  When she tried to pick up her left foot, she flailed, spun, hopped backwards once, and plopped right down onto the ground, face-first. Monohuman wasn’t unamused anymore.  He roared with laughter, applauding.  “What a delightful moment!  I swear, you can’t plan things like that, they just have to happen.”  He shook his head in mock appreciation.  “Or rather, they certainly happen to this girl a lot!  After all, it’s Derpy Doo, the Ultimate Klutz.” When Derpy’s spotlight turned off, Monohuman seemed to suddenly disappear.  I was confused until I saw him under the new spotlight that had turned on.  He was standing behind Autumn Blaze with his hand covering her mouth.  Her eyes were wide and frantic. “So sorry for the invasion of personal space!” Monohuman announced.  “But how else was I supposed to get through this next introduction without being interrupted?  You know how these musical theater people are.”  He glanced down, pantomiming concern.  “Whoops, she’s got a bit of a temper on her, I better hurry this up.  Folks, you know her, you love her, you’ve been trapped in a conversation with her that lasts for hours, it’s Autumn Blaze, the Ultimate Motormouth!” Next was Zephyr, who looked confused more than anything else.  “Oh!” Monohuman exclaimed, “I’m relieved this one isn’t the ultimate motormouth.  Not sure I’d want to touch him.”  But he slinked close, simpering.  “Ohh, he’s a fascinating specimen, though.  He can’t do anything.  It’s really quite remarkable.  A grown man, and the one thing he’s managed to accomplish in his life is learn how to feign confidence in a way that makes everyone hate his guts.  Please meet Zephyr Breeze, the Ultimate Own Worst Enemy.” The next spotlight popped on over Pear Butter, but almost instantly, Big Mac lunged into the light, between Monohuman and his mother, glaring.  Pear Butter, for her part, barely seemed to notice. She was just peering blankly into the crowd; it felt terrifyingly like she was looking right at me. “A twofer!” Monohuman yelped in delight.  “Y’know, this is appropriate.  See, the tall one is Big Mac, and to be perfectly honest, he doesn’t bring much to the table on his own.  If he didn’t have his family, he wouldn’t have anything, and he certainly isn’t going to win any awards for his sparkling personality. But that’s why we love him: Big Mac, the Ultimate Homebody!” Monohuman danced up to them, his leer especially malicious.  “Ah, Pear Butter!  The exact opposite of her son.  Such a charmer!  Warm and helpful and just a liiiiitttttttlllle bit dorky, to give her that real mom-next-door energy.  But she doesn’t really care about family.”  That finally caught Pear Butter, who looked at him with horrified fierceness.  “No no, her family made the mistake of trusting her, and she made them pay for it.  That’s why she’s the Ultimate Backstabber.” Pear Butter’s rage fell into darkness, and the next light illuminated Cranky.  Monohuman delightly inhaled to begin his spiel, but Cranky scowled and held up a hand.  “I’ll do it,” he said. “Eh?” Monohuman leaned back in exaggerated shock.  “You’ll…” “I’m Cranky Doodle!” Cranky rasped sourly.  “I hate everybody and I’m not fun and I’m always annoyed by everything.  And I’m probably something like the Ultimate Grouch, right?  That pretty much what you were going to say?” “Eh.”  Monohuman crossed his arms, unimpressed.  “It lacked pizzazz.” “Hate pizzazz.  Wastes time.” “Hummph.  I was also going to talk about how old you are.” “And I’m old!” Cranky snapped, waving his arms around.  “There.  Let’s just move on.” Monohuman shrugged, and Cranky disappeared, Rarity lighting up near me.  “Ahhhh,” Monohuman sang.  “After that display of inelegance, it’s so nice to move on to someone who appreciates style.  It’s never a boring day with her around!  She’ll pick fights about things you said months ago and have long forgotten!  She’ll actively daydream about elaborate fantasies she’s created of her friends’ love lives!  Yes, she’s great (but don’t use the wrong adjective when describing her hair or it’ll ruin her life forever), it's Rarity, the Ultimate Drama Queen!” And Juniper was next, and even though I barely knew her, it was shocking to see how terrified she looked.  Her arrogant certainty was completely gone.  “Well well, what have we here?” Monohuman announced.  “Why, it’s a future up-and-coming star in the making!  She’s a real triple threat.  She can plan to write screenplays, she can think about how maybe one day she’ll direct, and she can imagine herself acting!  Folks, it’s our own film industry dynamo (in a hypothetical future), Juniper Montage, the Ultimate Wannabe!” Juniper’s light turned off and the next came up over my own head.  Or rather, that’s what I thought at first.  It was actually lighting up Vignette Valencia, who was standing right next to me.  And it was unsettling, because she looked… calm.  She poked idly at her pad, looking more like someone waiting in line than someone being menaced by a magic death-machine. “Well well!” Monohuman announced.  “A celebrity!  A real celebrity!  How lucky are we, folks?”  He paused briefly to cast a sardonic smile around the crowd, and in that moment, Vignette actually spoke up. “You were wrong,” she said, still playing on her pad. He froze, perplexed.  “What?” “You were wrong before.  About yourself.”  She looked up then, giving him an offended glare.  “You totally are not the first computer to merge Equestrian magic with human technology.  My phone was.” Monohuman’s mouth actually dropped open in shock. Vignette rolled her eyes.  “I mean, whatever, it’s not a big deal, this isn’t a callout or anything.  Just getting the facts straight.”  She held up her pad.  ‘Hey, how do you send messages on these things?” “You can’t,” he answered, still gobsmacked.  “We disabled…”  He realized what he was doing and stomped his foot.  “Argh!  You ruined my whole introduction!” “Um.  Wow.”  Vignette placed her pad under her arm, sighing.  “You’re a pro, right?  Do pros complain, or do they win the crowd back?” “Forget it!” he bellowed.  “It was all planned out, and now it’s ruined and just forget it.” “Ugh, pros sulk, apparently…” “The Ultimate Narcissist,” Monohuman announced.  He grimaced as Vignette disappeared into the darkness.  “She’s the worst.”  He paused thoughtfully.  “No, Zephyr’s the worst.  Okay, anyone left?” I cringed, dreading the light coming on and exposing me to whatever horrible things he was going to say, but nothing happened.  I looked around, confused. “Nope, nope, looks like that’s it!” Monohuman said cheerfully.  “I’m a computer, I have perfect memory.  If I did forget anyone, they’d have to be reaaalllllyyyyy forgettable, huh?” Oh. “They’d have to pretty much be nobody.”  He smiled directly at me as I stood unseen in the darkness.  “The Ultimate Nobody.” In an instant, everything lit back up, prompting many yelps and covered eyes.  I barely noticed.  The Ultimate Nobody. My chest felt tight and my eyes burned.  I was so relieved that spotlight hadn’t turned on, and that was the worst part.  Being forgotten and ignored, being nobody… it was comfortable.  Monohuman was so cruel, to teach me that lesson. “You’re a real quirky mélange,” Monohuman was saying, striding calmly back to the stage.  “How sad, how exciting, how thrilling that we’re going to have to say goodbye to some of you?” He floated up, then spun around.  “Six,” he declared, the number appearing on the screen behind him.  “Six invaders.  Find them, kill them, and we all get our happy ending. For now, tata!” With a final snap of his fingers, he disappeared, leaving us all to recover from the horror of what he’d bestowed upon us. “Well, it seems clear to Trixie that she cannot trust any of you!” Trixie shouted, cutting above the whispers that had filled the crowd. “Not even her so-called friends. She won’t have anything to do with any of you.” She snatched up her pad and marched off towards the dorms. Derpy started following after her, but after Trixie tossed something at her that created a shower of sparks and smoke, Derpy backed off and returned to the crowd, which was full of people starting to clamor about how to escape. “Look, there, there’s gotta be some way we can turn those fences off, right?” Zephyr Breeze said. “I-I mean it’s not like they’re just powered from nothin’. We’ve gotta have access somewhere.” “Ah doubt it, Zephyr,” Pear Butter said with a scowl. “Ah’m bettin’ y’all dollars to doughnuts they’ve got the power source all locked away.” “Besides,” Sunset added, her face still stained with tears as she sought out Rarity among the crowd, wrapping an arm around Rarity’s. “As soon as we even try, he’ll kill us. Trust me. I’ve… seen it happen before.” Her haunted eyes spoke volumes. Rarity made a face, patting Sunset on the shoulder while trying to pull away from her and not having much luck. “I don’t suppose you could share some details of this former experience of yours, hmm?” Sunset blinked, then gaped at Rarity. “Wait…don’t you remember? You–” She slapped a hand to her mouth, then shook her head. “...no, I can’t… I shouldn’t. He could be listening. It’s not safe.” She moved in to hold Rarity closer. “I can’t risk you getting hurt.” Rarity’s mouth twisted up in a frown. “Sunset, I realize we are friends, but you are being a bit too– “All right, y’all, listen up!” Pear Butter, who’d hopped up onto the stage beside Shining Armor, clapped for our attention. “Ah think it’s safe to say we’re all in trouble right now.” “No, really?” Sour Sweet squeaked, her hands clasped together. “I thought we were all perfectly safe!” Pear Butter shot her a dirty look. “Stop it, Sour. This ain’t the time. Look, Shining Armor and Ah, we’re the closest to real authorities here. Well, us and Mr. Doodle, but somethin’ tells me he ain’t gonna join us up here.” Cranky held a pair of fingers up to his lips like he was about to take a drag on a cigarette, then dropped his arms disdainfully when he realized he didn’t have one. “No way. I don’t want any part of any of this.” “Figures,” Juniper sneered. “Like anyone ever respected you when you were our teacher.” “Hmph.” Cranky’s grunt held more amusement than scorn, to my surprise. “Cool it, people,” Shining ordered, his police authority serving to silence any further protests. “Look, like Pear Butter said, we’re in a bad situation here. And we’ve got to be smart about how we deal with this.” He looked to Sunset. “You keep acting like you’ve been in a situation like this before. Any advice?” Sunset stared back silently before shaking her head and clinging even harder to Rarity. “...no.” Arching a solitary eyebrow, Shining let out a quiet sigh. “Fine. Then we’ll set our own ground rules. Monohuman wants us to kill the Equestrians among us, so I say we avoid ever trying to figure out who might be an Equestrian and who’s human. So no asking about personal history or world history or anything like that; anything that could betray someone’s ignorance or otherwise trick them into revealing who they are has to be avoided. We can’t risk giving anyone even the slightest hint that they might have someone they can kill scot free in front of them.” “And Ah agree with him,” Pear Butter said. “Ah was brought on board for this program to be the therapist monitoring the situation, make sure we’re all gettin’ along. And if there’s one thing Ah know about survival instincts and how stressed we’re all feelin’ right now… it’s how temptin’ it might be to give in to the out that Monohuman’s offerin’ us. And we cannot do that. None of us deserve to be hurt, let alone die, just so others might get out.” “Not to mention the way the rules are written, if you kill the wrong person, you’d have to be okay with all of us dying just so you could escape,” Shining added. “I’d like to think that none of the people here are that selfish, but… like Pear said. Survival instincts. We’re all in serious danger. I’ve walked the beat. I’ve seen the stupid shit people pull when they’re trying to survive a dangerous situation.” “So Ah’m gonna add to what Shinin’ was sayin’,” Pear Butter continued. “Ah hate to say it, but… we gotta keep away from people we know really well. Close friends… family…” She looked longingly at Big Macintosh as she said that last word. “Much as we want to be close to each other, if it turns out one of them’s a pony, it’s gonna be mighty hard to fool the other for too long. We can’t risk it.” “So lemme get this straight,” Cheese said. “You’re suggesting no one pals around with their friends and no one asks any questions about other people’s history? Isn’t that a great way to leave us even more stressed out?” “That’s why Ah’ll be makin’ mahself available to any and all who need to come talk to me,” Pear said. “We can get through this.” “We should also establish a few more rules of our own while we’re at it,” Shining said. “We should be meeting up regularly for meals, three times a day. 8:00 AM, 1:00 PM, 6:00 PM.” “Oooh, great idea,” Sour Sweet said as her face swiftly shifted from sappy to cold. “That way someone can poison everyone at once!” “Don’t be ridiculous,” Shining replied. “We’ll be assigning someone to cook for each meal. Then we’ll know who’s at fault if someone gets poisoned.” “So long as they didn’t poison the entire food supply,” Vignette said casually, flipping her hair. That sent the crowd silent for a moment. “What? You really think someone couldn’t do it if they wanted to?” Vignette asked. “Trixie has a point: we can’t trust each other. We shouldn’t be relying on other people to make food for us.” “A-and there’s nothing in the rules that says someone can’t kill more than one person at once!” Derpy pointed out, her face full of fear. “W-what if someone… what if they think…” “No way am I gonna die from someone tryin’ to poison me!” Zephyr blurted. “I’m too pretty to die!” “Ugh, please, you’re at least two makeovers away from ‘pretty’,’” Rarity muttered.  “Hey!” Fluttershy protested, getting up in Rarity’s face. “That’s my brother you’re talking about. Yes, he makes me mad… a lot… but don’t insult him like that.” “Yeah, Flutterbutter, you go! Defend me!” Zephyr cheered. “Oh for pete’s sake,” Cranky moaned, slapping a hand to his face. “Stop being stupid. Look. How about we just all get our own food, but we still meet up so we all know we’re still alive. I think we can manage that.” “Ah think so as well,” Pear Butter nodded. She crossed her arms and surveyed the crowd. “So what do y’all say? Think you can manage this?” “...if it helps keep us alive, I’m all for it,” Cheese said after a moment. “I’ve got too many songs left to write, too many people to meet!” “I’m still planning to be a number one movie star, and I can’t do that from in here,” Juniper said. “So how’re we going to get out of here?” “We’ll start working on that,” Shining said, eying Pear Butter. “As soon as we figure out something, we’ll let everyone know.” “Oh that’s a relief,” Autumn Blaze said, ruffling her hair. “I mean just imagine if we were all trapped in here for ages and we started killing each other and then seeing all the blood and guts and gore and all the bodies what would they even do with the bodies I mean other than burn them I guess because that’s the best way to dispose of bodies but anyway what I’m trying to say is I hope we all get out of here before anyone dies because it’d really suck if only some of us made it out alive.” “...riiiight.” Pear Butter sighed. “All right, on that note, y’all, dismissed. We’ll see y’all tomorrow mornin’ for breakfast.” As the crowd began to disperse, Rarity withdrew from Sunset’s embrace. “Wha–Rarity, what’re you doing?” “You heard them,” Rarity said, shooting Sunset a nasty glare. “No one who is too familiar with others should be spending time together. That includes… whatever this is.” As Rarity walked off, Sunset fell onto her butt, her face a mess of tears. “...oh. Okay. Excuse me if I thought…” Her face fell into her hands. I wanted to go over and comfort her, but after everything that had happened, I was eager to get away. And Sunset was being weird anyway… she was acting like she’d been dating Rarity or something, which was beyond absurd. Last I remembered, Rarity was a married woman. So I wandered away from the stage, not sure what to think. I was horrified, of course… scared for my life. The more I thought about it the more I realized nobody would likely miss me if I died. I could see it… someone killing me as the easy target… Pain. I cried out, clutching my throat and head as a flash of agony washed over me, similar to what I’d experienced before I awoke. Like a memory of pain, it was there and gone almost instantly, but it left me shaking nevertheless. And with a killer headache. I needed something for it. On a hunch, I headed back towards the dorms, to the one building I hadn’t checked out yet. Sure enough, it was a clinic built from brick and stone. Inside I found a 50s style clinic, complete with a standard waiting room and receptionist desk that had a few ashtrays laying around for cigarette butts. Behind the desk was a door leading to three different examination rooms, an x-ray room complete with functional x-ray machine, and a room marked “surgery” that contained a full set of surgical equipment on a tray. And medicines. Lots and lots of medicines; the storage for them alone took up half the building, all fronted by a small cordoned off pharmacy window. As I surveyed the pharmacy and its assorted goods, my heart skipped several beats. Just about anything anyone could ever need for any medical condition was stored here, from beta blockers to antihistamines to anti-psychotics, mood stabilizers, even… Without thinking about it I grabbed three bottles of medicine and shoved them into my pockets, one of them being my favorite pain reliever and the other two… I would need. I kept looking after I’d grabbed my stash and noticed with interest that some of the medicines included were a bit… odd. Like psilocybin next to marijuana. Or a whole section dedicated to shrooms, peyote, and LSD. No cocaine or anything though, even though I was half expecting to see some old turn of the century cocaine based cough syrup. Fortunately, despite my worries, I didn’t see any obvious poisons. No arsenic or cyanide. But there were plenty of sedatives and other things that could be used as poisons in the right dosages. Because of course, we needed plenty of tools for murder. Even as my eyes wandered over the labels I began to think about what else could be used for murder. Anything from the kitchen would do it… heavy pots and pans, knives, skewers if they had them. Hell, hold someone’s head in a kitchen sink full of water long enough and they’d drown. I hadn’t been inside the kitchen yet so I didn’t know what equipment was there, but my imagination was already filled with awful thoughts of someone forcibly turning on a deep fryer and forcing someone inside it face first… Shaking away the disgusting imagery I left the clinic, making my way to my dorm room in a hurry. I didn’t want anyone to notice my bulging pockets, lest they think I was planning to poison someone. I made it back without difficulty, right as the sun set on the horizon. The day had passed by more quickly than I expected since I got up, almost like time itself had been on fast forward. But then, I’d experienced a lot in a short amount of time. And I was scared. I didn’t belong here. I don’t know why I would’ve volunteered for a program like this to begin with. I shouldn’t be in this situation, I should be at home, in my bed, in my house. With my plants. I couldn’t remember, but if I was still myself, I knew i must have a lot of plants. Plants that are probably going without water, without proper attention. I’d probably put a lot of effort into raising those plants, some for years. If I lost them because I was stuck here, well… It would suck. But I’d get past it. Thinking about that though got me realizing that while I might not have people on the outside to worry about, everyone else probably did. And those people had no idea the danger we were in. They had no idea that we were likely to die. They probably thought we were all on some glorious vacation or something. Why weren’t the people who put this program together stopping Monohuman, though? I didn’t understand. Unless they were in cahoots. But the program was set up by the ponies, right? The whole thing made my brain hurt, and after the long day, all I wanted to do was sleep. So after a quick shower I changed into my pajamas and curled up in my bed. Sleep rarely came to me immediately. It eludes me like I elude the company of others, forcing me to chase it down, to use sleep aids, to drink gallons of warm milk when I was a kid, and tonight was no different. Worse, perhaps, because unlike before, when I only thought I was in danger from all my anxiety. This time I really am. Someone could try to break into my room. The rules made it clear Monohuman would make an exception for committing a murder. Maybe they couldn’t break down the door but nothing said they couldn’t shatter a window. And I might be on the second story but I wasn’t that high off the ground. Wishing I had thought to bring some boards to reinforce my window with, I clutched my blankets and snuggled harder into my bed. I don’t know how long I laid that way–hours, maybe?–before I heard a knock at the door that spooked me. “Hey! Wally!” came a whisper. “It’s me, Sunset. Can we talk?” Sunset? Why would she be showing up at my door at–I glanced at my pad–2:00 AM? She was maybe the only one I could trust here. Right? I could trust her? Or I was about to die. Swallowing nervously and hoping I wasn’t making a huge mistake, I got out of bed and opened up the door. “What?” I hissed. Sunset pushed the door partially open. From what I could see she was wearing pajamas, same as me, nothing else.  “Not out here. Lemme in.” “...fine.” I moved aside to let her in. She closed the door gently behind her, then sauntered over to my bed and sat down on it. “C’mere, Wally… we need to talk about something,” she said in a quiet voice, patting the side of the bed next to her. My face flushed as I sat next to her. “D-do we really need to sit on the bed for this?” “Aw, Wally, don’t be silly,” she said as she offered to wrap an arm around me, to which I assented after a moment. She set it down around my shoulder and pulled me in, making my blush intensify. “We’re just two girlfriends sitting here chatting, right?” “G-g-g-girlfriends. R-right.” My throat dried out, making me desperately wish I had some water to drink. “What did you want to talk about?” She drummed her fingers on my shoulder for a couple of moments. “I wanted to see what all you remembered. You know how we woke up today, our minds all messed up and shit?” I nodded. “Well, you apparently remembered who a few people were, and you remember stuff from before all this…right?” “Yeah, like…” My face drooped. “The Memory Stone.” “Hey. Hey.” She held me closer and set her cheek against mine. “That was years ago, Wally. That’s all in the past; it doesn’t matter now. What matters is our friendship, okay?” “...right, sure.” I let out a quiet sigh. “What’re you getting at?” Sunset shrugged. “I just wanted to see if you remembered anything more recent. Like your therapy with Pear Butter, or, well, anything really.” I shook my head. “No. I don’t remember anything. I know I’m not in high school anymore.” I frowned. “Wait, how old am I?” Sunset chuckled and gave me a quick squeeze. “Twenty-five, Wally, same as me.” “Wow.” I looked down at myself, a little defensive that I was wearing the same sweater I wore in high school. Then again, it was a good sweater. I liked this sweater. I kind of liked the idea of having a bunch of copies of it in the closet.  “So, I guess that means I’ve got a lot of memories missing, huh?” Sunset nodded, and to my surprise she smiled a little. “Yeah. And, well, given the situation we’re in, it’s probably for the best that you don’t remember certain things. It should keep you safer, you know?” She snorted. “No, you wouldn’t, which is the whole point. Dumb question, sorry.” “Uh…” I stared at her, confusion written all over my face. “I don’t get it.” Sunset eyed me for a moment, then her eyes narrowed, a sensual smile gracing her face, sending my heart skipping a beat. “Just trust me, Wally, okay? I remember most of it, and it’s pretty hard for me to talk about. So if you remember just little bits and pieces? Don’t say anything to me, all right? It’ll just make things worse.” I nodded, understanding right away. “Yeah. I wouldn’t want to trigger you.” Her lips quivered in amusement. “No. You wouldn’t.” I shuddered as her touch on me increased ever so slightly in pressure. Between that and the way she kept…looking at me… I was feeling weird. Strange. Like I was into her or something. Which was ridiculous. “S-so, Sunset,” I ventured, “what if I remember everything all at once?” “Oh, that?” She let out a low chuckle that caused my heart to race, my mouth parting open in surprise. She pulled back, regarding me seriously (but god I couldn’t keep myself from seeing a spark in her eyes that made me shiver). “If that ever happens, come see me privately, okay?” She gave me one last squeeze, then suddenly was up and out the door, closing it behind her before I could even blink. The sudden lack of warmth next to me left me shivering in the cold as I stared after where she’d gone, completely flabbergasted. I’d never been… she’d never… what was… “What?!” I whispered. “What the hell was that?” The confusion left me spinning, my mind shaky and ready to collapse. She hadn’t even done anything but look and sit and touch but here at night in this intimate, dark room, feeling safe in the middle of a nightmare… What had I forgotten? What was Sunset to me? I fell over in bed, half ready to fall asleep right then and there.  At least, I thought I could, til I realized I was still a little too warm for comfort under the blankets. I tossed them off, but it didn’t help. Sighing, I headed for the bathroom to take a cold shower. Hopefully I’d be able to get some sleep after that. Hopefully.