• Published 11th Jan 2020
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Danganronpa vP: Harmony of Despair - witegrlninja



Twilight, her friends and some familiar faces are trapped in a school with Monokuma. What is that crafty little bear up to this time?

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Mortal Peril, Mortal Ignorance - Deadly Life 3

"WHAT?!"

As everypony's shouts and gasps of surprise and horror made their rounds around the room, Princess Luna remained silent. Her expression darkened dangerously - I could feel her anger threatening to suffocate me.

"Twilight Sparkle... do not make such distasteful jokes," she growled. "You know this better than anypony present: I would NEVER harm my sister! Never again!"

"I... I am afraid I am not joking," I gulped. "I know you would never harm Princess Celestia intentionally."

"BUT... YOU JUST SAID..." Bulk Biceps tried to argue, but trailed off.

"Are you saying... it was an accident?" asked Flam.

"Exactly..." I sighed. As much as I knew how important my words now were, it pained me to let them escape my mouth.

"No... I refuse to believe this!" Luna shouted, her eyes wild with rage. "How exactly do you purport that I killed my dear sister?!"

"Well..." Nurse Redheart spoke quietly, unsure if she should risk angering the Lunar Princess any further. "You did say that you had been charging your magic with the help of the silver platter... the resulting magical blast would definitely be enough to cause the damage we saw."

"Not to mention your attack nearly fried my beautiful, limpid eyeballs!" Fleur snorted.

"But I wasn't even facing the school! We have already been over this!" she argued.

Hmm... there should be a way to explain this... I just need to think...

...

...Oh! That must be it!

"The R I C O C H E T..."

"What?" Luna blinked.

"The barrier... all of our attacks against it... they bounce right off!" I explained. "One of your magic blasts must have bounced off of the barrier in just the right way that it went right into Celestia's room!"

"But to think that one of Luna's magic blasts made its way into Celestia's room as perfectly as thread through a needle's eye..." Rarity breathed.

"Dang... that's a million-to-one shot if I've ever seen one," Rainbow Dash commented.

"Pretty sweet shot, except that it killed somepony... that fuckin' sucks," Lightning Dust muttered.

"But- But even so, everypony's attacks against the barrier lost their power and dissipated after striking it!" Luna reasoned. Though she remained unconvinced, her pupils were visibly shrinking in growing horror. "Why would my own be any different?!"

"Well, your Highness... you are a hell of a lot stronger than the vast majority of us ponies," said Trixie.

"Ah remember seein' Twilight try teh break the barrier," Applejack spoke up. "When she charged her magic for a bit, that attack stuck around longer than the other ones did."

"Yes... now, logic says that if that's the case, then the stronger the attack, the longer it'd take for the energy to dissipate," said Flam.

"And if you were using the silver platter to amplify your own attacks... I daresay even that residual energy would be enough to burn a hole through me!" Discord grabbed at the center of his body and pulled it apart to prove his point, twisting backwards until his head emerged through the gap that was his chest a few seconds ago. After repeating the move a few more times until his body was twisted like a loaf of braided bread, the lumps and twists melted away to reform his body proper.

"No... NO!" Luna snarled. Her mane and tail suddenly bristled and glowed with an eerie blue light. Her body blackened with anger and despair as the accusation wormed its way into her heart, no matter how she tried to explain it away. Cries of anguish and shrieks of rage erupted from her muzzle as her teeth grew into fangs. As myself and the others recoiled in terror of what she had become, her eyes became viperous slits full of cold fury as she screamed and spat out any sentence she thought could help her.

"You... you traitor! YOU DID THIS!" she roared in the Royal Canterlot Voice. "I AM INNOCENT! I DID NOT KILL MY SISTER! YOU DARE ACCUSE ME?! WHY WOULD YOU ACCUSE ME?! I'LL HAVE YOU BANISHED TO THE MOON FOR THE MERE SUGGESTION!"

I... I know, Luna... I don't want to believe it, either, but... it's the only explanation...

"An insult against my power is an insult against my sister's! SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO BLOCK THE ATTACK!" Even as Luna thrashed and wailed, I gasped as I realized one final truth, blinking away my tears.

...I'm sorry, Luna... This is my proof!

"Normally, she would... but she was caught completely off guard."

"I... wh-what?" Now Luna's voice shook as cruel realization washed over her features.

"I fully believe that if she had known it was coming, Celestia would have blocked your attack, or at the very least moved out of the way," I continued. "We both know that."

"If she had the window open, then maybe she was watching you blast that barrier!," said Pinkie Pie. "And then POW! Right in the kisser! She never expected one of your blasts to come rocketing right into her face!"

"Whether she was watching you or not, however... it happened too fast for her to react," Redheart bowed her head. "She was dead in an instant." There was silence as the blackness of Luna's coat gradually faded away, and her mane and tail lost their glow. Her eyes were wide as dinner plates, and her pupils were nearly nonexistent. She sat with a heavy thud as she faced the floor, and tears began to drip from her cheeks.

"I..." She could barely speak, instead trying her hardest not to break down sobbing. "...I... can't... believe..."

"Just to be absolutely sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt," Fleur suddenly spoke up, leering towards the Lunar Princess, "can we go over this... scandalous story one more time?"

Her lips curled upwards into a sadistic smirk. Although I just wanted this to all be over, although I felt horrible having to force Luna to relive her mistake... I saw Monokuma nodding out of the corner of my eye, leaning closer.

"Alright... this is how it happened!" I cleared my throat.

"Well... Ever since we all woke up here, we've all been trapped inside a magical barrier set up by Monokuma. According to him, the barrier is supposed to be completely impenetrable. But, that wouldn't stop us from trying to escape, of course.

"Today, Luna spent the afternoon trying to pierce through Monokuma's barrier, but to no effect... until she found what she suspected to be a weak point. However, it was barely detectable, and she had trouble pinpointing its exact location. Nevertheless, she informed her sister, Princess Celestia, of her discovery and told her that she would try her best to break through, even foregoing the dinner party if she felt she was getting close.

"After some study, she figured that once she had found it, she might have been able to break through with a reflected magic blast. Indeed, during the dinner party, I happened to see her pass by the entrance to the cafeteria and disappear around the corner. She did not notice us - nor did I go after her, and she then entered the warehouse.

"Once inside, she tore the place apart looking for the largest, most reflective surface she could find, which turned out to be a silver platter. Leaving the other shiny objects in a pile to put back later, she then returned to her post outside beside the barrier.

"The dinner party ended at 9pm. While some of us lingered in the cafeteria and dormitory areas, most of us returned to our rooms. Before I left the cafeteria, Celestia asked if we could talk in her room. I agreed, but did not go immediately, as Rarity and Trixie asked me to help with the last of the garbage from the party. As it would only take me a minute or two, Celestia said she'd be waiting for me in her room. That... that was the last time anypony saw her alive.

"While I was with Rarity and Trixie, unbeknownst to us all, Luna was using the silver platter to bounce her attacks back towards the barrier as she repeatedly struck it with her magic. She focused and maintained the beam for up to a minute at a time, drawing upon all of her might and the magic growing exponentially between the barrier and the platter, the sheer force of the attack pushing her back even as she braced herself...

"Finally, she ended her attack, and the beam was cut off. The resulting energy reflected off of the barrier, unsuccessful in striking the weak point. But while Luna focused on her next attack... unbeknownst to her, to all of us... that ricochet fired at the perfect angle, directly through Celestia's open window in her room, where she just so happened to be standing. It was so swift, so sudden, that she never had a chance to react or protect herself, and the resulting blast... k-killed her. And then I opened the door to her room shortly afterwards, only to discover her partially-incinerated body.

"We never would have known what happened if it wasn't for Fleur staring out her own window next door at the exact same time, who was temporarily blinded by the intense light such an attack would have created. Worst of all... Luna, Celestia's dear little sister... had no idea what had even just occurred.

"And so, with all the evidence gathered... I propose that this is exactly what happened. The killer... can only be you, Princess Luna!" I finished, grasping the podium with my hooves so hard it creaked under my power. I felt no sense of justice nor righteousness within me, however... only cold, hard logic and remorse. Tears came to my eyes once more as I took a few ragged breaths... even from across the room, I could see Luna doing the same.

"No... Sister..." she whimpered. "...My dearest S-Sister... I-I'm so s-sorry... I-I failed y-you..."

"Welp, I'm convinced," Fleur straightened her posture. "I see no need to continue this affair." Despite her frightfully-gratified demeanor, the rest of us were speechless. This was no cold-blooded murder - this was a freak accident. Would Monokuma not count this as such?

"Puhuhuhu..." the two-toned bear giggled, breaking the silence. "Looks like you've reached your verdict! Then are we ready to cast our votes? You all have a lever in front of you... use it to make your selection!"

I glanced down at my podium - a hatch opened up in the center, and upon a rising platform a lever marked only as "guilty" appeared beside sixteen large buttons with individual faces on each one. Celestia's was grayed out and left dim, while the other fifteen were illuminated...

I hated what I had to do next... what I was forced to do. Pressing Luna's button meant condemning her to death, for an accident she did not mean to cause, for a life she had no intention of taking. But if I refused to press it... the rest of us would die. Luna would be able to go free... but then what? And what of the others, they were entirely innocent!

"Oh! Just to remind you all... make triple sure you vote for someone! You wouldn't want to be punished for something so minor... right?" Monokuma leered cheerfully.

Damn it all...!

I closed my eyes, forcing my tears to recede. I... I had to do it. For the sake of the others.

Luna... forgive me.

I pressed Luna's button. It remained illuminated while everypony else's dimmed. The "guilty" beneath the lever lit up and began flashing garishly. Feeling sick to my stomach, I pulled it down. All around me, I heard levers being slowly pulled one after another.

"Okay! Then let's get excited!" Monokuma stood up in his seat, far too inappropriately-thrilled for the situation. "Who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one? What's it gonna be? What's it gonna beeee?!"

Behind and above Monokuma, a gigantic monitor came to life. An image of the bear proclaiming "Monokuma Vote! Who is found guilty?" was the first image to appear. It then changed into a slot machine, with everypony's faces as the symbols. We watched with bated breath as the symbols slowed...

...and landed, three in a row, on Princess Luna's face. "Guilty!" flashed beneath the images, suddenly surrounded by showering gold coins and flowers like a lurid celebration. Above us, in the center of the room, between all of the podiums, a yellow party ball popped open and rained down confetti upon us.

"Ooh! I feel horrible, but he sure does know how to celebrate!" Pinkie stared up at the party ball, smiling, yet her eyes showed she was clearly feeling dead inside.

*Class Trial End! All Rise!*

The image clapped shut with another image of the two halves of Monokuma's face before fading away into blackness. The bear himself hopped off of his seat and grinned madly.

"Uh-oh! Looks like you got it right on the money!" he laughed. "The blackened in this case, the one who killed Princess Celestia... was none other than her own sister, Princess Luna!"

"But... I did not mean to...!" Luna sobbed.

"Indeed, this was not murder!" Flam protested.

"It was genuinely an accident! Ponyslaughter at the very worst, but not murder!" Redheart added. A tiny part of me felt relieved that I wasn't alone in my feelings, but something told me that Monokuma wasn't going to agree.

"You can't... you can't punish her for that!" Coloratura wailed. "It's not fair!"

"Ohhhh yes I can!" Monokuma howled. "It doesn't matter if it's an accident, self-defense or intentional, a murder is still a murder! If you kill someone, that's murder!"

"No! That's entirely wrong! We have laws-!" Luna shrieked.

"Screw the laws, I'm Monokuma!" His expression fell suddenly. "...Buuuut, as far as motives to kill are concerned, a total freak accident is by far the most boring. I mean, it's not even a real motive! No extra secrets to reveal, no positives to lord over the perpetrator with, and mocking their truly-shocked expressions is soooo lame... I almost don't even want to go through with the punishment."

Oh...?

Though I dared hope he truly would let Luna live, it took only a few seconds for me to realize Monokuma was smiling behind that frozen grin of his. I could feel the air thickening with despair as he quietly giggled, and that giggle soon grew into raucous laughter.

"But what kind of bear would I be if I went back on my word?! It seems there's no point in basking in the afterglow, so let's hurry up and begin the punishment!"

"No!" Fluttershy cried.

"You can't!" Discord shouted, his paw stretched out in front of him.

"Now, then... I've prepared a very special punishment for Princess Luna, the Ultimate Strategist!"

"Don't do this, Monokuma! It ain't right!" Applejack sobbed, grasping at her hat.

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

"At least let me say my goodbyes!" Luna bawled.

"...D'oh, alright, fine, but make it snappy," Monokuma sighed, muttering. "Geez, I hate this part... it's so boring." Luna sighed deeply and heavily as she stepped down from her podium, hanging her head in despair. I and the others ran quickly to her side, everypony trying their best to remain strong but not really succeeding.

"I am... so truly sorry, my little ponies..." Luna heaved, her voice quivering despite trying her best to remain calm. "I've... failed you all... again... I can only hope that through this punishment, I may atone for my sins... my failures..."

"No... Luna... why?" Discord whimpered as he and Luna shared one final hug. "Why don't you fight against him...?"

"And then what, my friend?" Luna spoke quietly as she took turns embracing each of those closest to her one last time. "My immortality is gone, and resistance is futile... my fate has been decided, whether I fight against Monokuma or not. I will die either way. And even if I were to survive at the expense of my friends, what would the rest of Equestria think? That their Lunar Princess so coldly threw away the lives of the others for her own survival? And what about my poor sister? Has Nightmare Moon finally made good on her promise to rule alone, perhaps? No... no matter what I could say to try to remedy the situation... the nation would be split apart. The few Nightmare conspiracists that still exist would see to that." She sighed dejectedly.

"But... it wasn't your fault..." Fluttershy stuttered.

"It was an accident!" Rainbow whined, scowling through wet eyes. "We all know that...!"

"My beloved sister is dead by my own hooves... just like I vowed over a thousand years ago. Even then, I was not myself, I never wanted this... the fault is my own, even if by accident. I should have been more careful..." Luna began to cry harder as she held Pinkie, whose own eyes were crying waterfalls.

"You're too hard on yourself, darling..." Rarity sniffed, her mascara a runny mess on her cheeks. After her, I was the last to receive her embrace.

"...You always were..." My voice shook as Luna and I shared our final hug. "...Celestia often said so in her letters. She wanted nothing more than to prove to you that she forgave you completely for the past, and that she loved you so dearly..."

"Twilight..." Luna released me, her horn glowing a gentle silver. Suddenly, a small, diamond-shaped amethyst materialized into existence between us. At the same time, Luna's ebon crown glowed the same color. The small, oval-shaped blue moonstone that sat in the crown's center, usually obscured by her horn and mane, removed itself from its socket and joined the amethyst in midair.

"In the event she was ever destroyed, Sister wished for you to have this crown jewel to remember her by," Luna explained gently as she levitated the gems towards me. "I wish for you to have mine as well."

"Luna..." I took them up in my own magic. I had no words to describe to her how touched, nor how sorry I was. "...Th-Thank you..."

"It's up to you now, Princess Twilight..." said Luna. "You must keep everypony together. Ensure that you all survive against this madness, and ensure there are no more killings, whether intentional or by accident... I have the utmost faith in you."

"I... but-" I tried to speak, but Luna held up a hoof.

"My sister and I were always meant to rule together... and we were meant to abdicate our throne together... that is the way of the Sun and the Moon. But now..." she gently tapped her right hoof on each of my shoulders, "...now is the reign of peace, of serenity... of Twilight."

Fresh tears stung my eyes. Though it had only been in the beginning stages of its planning, this wasn't how my coronation was supposed to go...

"Hm... being immortal, I never really considered the afterlife... I wonder... will Sister be waiting for me?" Luna sighed once more, then hardened her gaze and turned towards Monokuma. "I am finished... it is time."

"Done? Good, I was starting to fall asleep..." Monokuma replied. "Now, without any further ado..."

"Goodbye, my little ponies." Luna bowed her head a final time. The crown jewels dropped gently into my hoof, and I grasped them tightly.

"It's... PUNISHMENT TIIIIIME!"

As Monokuma sat back down on his throne, a large, red button suddenly appeared before him. He pulled out a small toy hammer and grinned madly as he smashed the button with it. A trap door suddenly opened beneath him, and he quickly plummeted out of view as the large monitor above came back to life.

A blood-red cartoon graphic of Princess Luna appeared in the center of the screen. Monokuma's image soon came walking towards her from the left, and as he passed by he grabbed Luna by the mane and dragged her, kicking and screaming, offscreen towards the right. All the while, the top of the screen read "Game Over" and the bottom read "Princess Luna has been found guilty. Time for the punishment!" while morbidly-upbeat music played.

My ears flicked as I heard a clanging noise. I turned just in time to see a manacle attached to a long metal chain clap around Luna's throat. The chain tensed, and she was rapidly dragged through another trap door, screaming in terrified shock. The monitor went black for a moment, then reactivated to show what looked like the inside of a missile silo. A small group of Monokumas (oh gods, there's more than one of him?!) were at various terminals - hitting buttons, pulling levers, checking and double-checking charts and graphs. A tall, thin missile sat in the background, the chain from earlier retracting into its center. Moments later, Luna came flying into view and slammed into the missile's body, dazed and unable to fight the chains that suddenly appeared from behind the missile and wrapped around her, firmly trapping her.

High above, a circular patch of ceiling slowly split open, revealing a perfect blue sky. It creaked to a stop once fully opened; each and every Monokuma then held up their paws in a "thumbs up" gesture, and as the bottom of the missile began to steam, a glowing, red 10 suddenly appeared on the screen's bottom right corner.

*Ultimate Strategist Princess Luna's Execution: Executed*

*Spaghettification*

We watched in silent horror as the 10 counted down, the missile fuming and roaring to life with jetfire. Luna strained against her bonds to no avail, face stained with fear.

9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

As soon as the countdown hit zero, the missile blasted off from the silo. A camera panned back as Luna was launched from a peak in the middle of a mountain range within an endless forest, disappearing into the sky within seconds. Somehow, the camera followed her as she zoomed through the stratosphere and into outer space - past the moon, past the Sun, past other stars, planets, asteroids and comets - until the missile was aimed directly at the center of a small black hole.

Luna silently screamed in the endless void as she thrashed wildly, desperate to alter the missile's trajectory, but it was all in vain. The missile flew closer and closer towards the black hole, with time and space itself warping around her as it went. Her body flattened and contorted into impossible shapes, blood streaming from her eyes, nose, mouth and ears and seemingly evaporating in the intense gravity. By the time she had nearly entered the black hole, her body was so stretched out and deformed that she was staring at the back of her own head.

And then... just as the missile touched the black hole... in a stroke of sheer impossibility, the missile exploded. Shards of Luna's regalia, bones, blood, fur, hooves and horn peppered the nothingness for a mere fraction of a second before zipping inside, never to be seen again. The camera panned out, allowing us a full view of the silent void for a few seconds before the monitor finally deactivated.

Just like that... Princess Luna was gratuitously, violently, irrevocably dead.

~

"YAHOOOOOOOO! EXTREEEEEEEEEEEEME!" Monokuma shouted gleefully as he popped out of another trap door and back into the room. "Phew... the adrenaline is rushing through me!"

I felt like I was going to throw up. I stared at the floor, bracing myself, watching the tears drip down beneath me as I took several deep breaths. I almost couldn't even process what I had just seen.

"Lu... Luna..." Discord whimpered, his jaw stretching and dropping until it literally hit the floor.

"Are... Are you fucking serious right now...?!" Lightning gasped, furious tears streaming down her face. Fluttershy fainted, dropping silently to the floor. Bulk followed shortly after. Pinkie stood like a weeping statue as her mane deflated and became pin-straight.

"W-Why...? Why... why... why..." was all Coloratura could squeak out as she curled into a ball on the floor.

"Ugh... was all that... really necessary...?" Even the haughty Fleur was taken aback.

"Of course," Monokuma replied matter-of-factly. "Didn't you learn when you were in elementary school? If you badmouth someone, the teacher writes it in a note and makes whoever you badmouthed read it to you in front of the class. When that happens, only then do you think about how it feels to be badmouthed... the same applies to murder!"

"No it doesn't!" Trixie shrieked. "That wasn't even close to the same thing!"

"If it weren't fer you, none of this would'a ever happened!" Applejack glared tearfully at Monokuma.

"Well, it can't be helped," Monokuma shrugged nonchalantly. "Rules are rules and this is the killing rule, after all!"

"Rules my ass... you should go to Tartarus for a million years for what you've done!" Rainbow screamed with rage.

"This... this is far too cruel..." Rarity whimpered, her hooves stained with ruined mascara. "I can't bear to see anything like that again..."

"It won't..." I forced myself to swallow and stood up straight. "...I'll make sure of it. Nopony else is going to die like that!"

"Oh? Don't tell me..." Monokuma smirked. "...you all swear to cut all ties with the outside world and accept living here forever?! But that's only if every single one of you can get onboard with that..." He giggled at the thought, and gradually began laughing harder and harder.

"You... you fucking evil little... why are you doing all this evil shit to us?!" Lightning snarled. Monokuma quickly ceased his laughter and stared smugly at us.

"Evil?! You make it sound like I'm some dark, awful, secret society type of guy! ...Or in this case, a dark, awful, secret society type of BEAR!"

"Answer us, damn you!" Fleur demanded.

"It seems like you're trying to use common sense to make sense of something that doesn't make sense! That's like trying to put a mile on a scale! I just don't think it's possible," Monokuma grinned.

"He's not going to tell us..." Redheart muttered.

"You fucking piece of shit..." Lightning growled, "...I'm gonna find you or whoever's behind this, and I'm gonna beat the living fuck outta you for this!"

"Puhuhu... you must really hate me to get so angry, huh?" mocked Monokuma. "Buuut if you do that, you're barking waaay up the wrong tree." At this warning, Rainbow put a hoof on Lightning's shoulder, shaking her head in concern. Lightning glanced over to her in silent response before glaring at Monokuma again. "What happened, happened because more than one of you decided you wanted to get out, right? No matter how much time passes, you can't cut free of your regrets from the outside world. You're to blame!"

"N-No! You trapped us all here, y-you monster!" Coloratura sobbed.

"Hmm... you're trapped, are you?" Monokuma smirked. "Well, if you want out so badly, you know what to doooo...!" His insane laughter rang in our ears as another trap door opened beneath him, and just like that, he was gone.

We were left to wallow in a nightmare turned reality. Nopony was able to move for a while, too scared to even think of it. Nopony even tried to speak in that time. Our faces were stone... our voices were dead.

But finally, after what felt like an eternity...

"I see... so that's how it is..." Redheart sighed, her face hardened.

"Huh?" We all looked towards her.

"He simply wishes for us to see the true face of despair... that is the point of this killing game," she explained. "To cause us all to turn against each other, killing each other and then being killed in an endless loop until nopony is left to stand trial, forever haunted by what they've seen... what they've done."

"That ain't gonna happen. Not again," Applejack stomped a hoof. "We can't let that happen!"

"You're right," I nodded. "We all need to do our best so that this never happens again!"

"Can you be so certain, though?" asked Flam. "Our best chance at escape was just killed before our very eyes!"

...He's right... but we can't give up hope just yet! ...I can't give up!

"Where there's a will, there's a way," I replied. "We'll find a way... I'm sure of it!"

"Yea! We'll get outta here... soon..." Rainbow nodded, putting on a brave face. Everypony nodded, feeling a little better, but not much.

"Then we should do all we can to prepare," said Redheart. "Let's return to our rooms and get some rest. Tomorrow, we'll come up with a new plan."

"Fine with me... this is already cutting into my beauty rest," Fleur yawned loudly.

I picked up Bulk in my magic while Discord carried Fluttershy. We quietly piled back into the elevator and began our ascent.

~

As the doors opened back up, we trudged into the school and into the dormitory, exhausted both physically and mentally. Everypony walked straight into their rooms, myself following suit after laying Bulk gently down in his own bed. I left the key to his room beside him and made sure his door was locked as I exited.

I let out a deep sigh and flopped face first into my bed, too drained to even shower first. The two crown jewels clinked melodiously as they fell from my grasp. I lifted my head just enough to see them safely levitated to the desk beside my bed before succumbing to a fitful sleep.

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