Pinkamena: Redemption(?)

by Timegal25

Day + Evening 1 - New Game

Minerva slowly got up from her chair, walking over to her phone. She was on a commercial break, and she needed to call in a favor. She scrolled through her list of contacts, mostly labeled as ‘losers’ and ‘assholes’, getting to the bottom and selecting a name.

She looked around her broadcasting room, smirking as she waiting for the pickup. So many photos of people she had talked with, assorted awards and keepsakes, and scratched and busted up blue megaphone among many other items.

“Ah, hey there! How’re ya doing?” She knew this would be a hard sell, so it was best to put on a few fake compliments. “uh huh, uh huh, sounds real rough. Listen, I need your help with something real quick.”

She began to walk around the studio, keeping and eye on the time remaining before she would be expected back on the air, “listen, I need you to come here and help me deal with someone,” she paused. “no, it’s not because I forgot, it’s because I have other interests that I have to tend to at the moment. No, listen. Listen. It won’t take long, I promise you. And, if you get yelled at… I’ll personally vouch for you, alright?” She listened to the other end, before smiling. “ah, great! I’ll text you the details. Tell me how it goes later. And hey, it’s a change in your normal routine, right?'

---

“Well, should we just close up the shop for the day?” Melody asked, watching as the crowd slowly began to dispatch.

Grey thought on it for a few seconds, before shaking her head. “Nah. At least one of these people is bound to check this place out,” she said, before looking over at Pinkamena, “Diane, you gonna be alright?”

Pinkamena nodded, watching the two head back into the shop, feeling a bit of the cool ac hitting her skin. She watched a few people follow suit, going into the shop to either get some new music or just cool down. She could see the tank people slowly walking away, talking amongst each other.

“So, adjusting to your first day in town alright?” Pinkamena turned and saw Pinkie happily skipping over. She didn’t seem at all phased with anything that had just happened.

“...I think so, but it certainly wasn’t easy,” Pinkamena replied, watching the sky. It was still somehow only the early afternoon. “I just wanna get some food or get some sleep or something…” she said, slowly starting to make her way towards Sugarcube Corner.

“Oh, sorry, but we can’t let you go just yet,” another voice called out to her as Pinkamena saw a teenage girl walk up to her. She had long black hair and seemed to be wearing some kind of odd looking hoodie. The girl looked her over a few times. “Wow, you really went through this whole day without a single piece of equipment on you, huh?” she asked aloud, smirking.

“... What exactly are you talking about?” Pinkamena asked as the girl dug around in what seemed to be a bag shaped like the head of a… pig?

The girl pulled out a phone and handed it to her. “Here. It’s basically a burner smart phone but it should do the job,” she explained as it turned on. The screen was a dark purple with the letters RNS on screen. A mini-skull with wings cackled as it activated. “You now have an official profile on the Reaper Networking Service.”

Pinkamena felt blindsided, barely understanding a word this girl was saying. “Sorry, who are you?” She looked over to Pinkie. “You know her?”

“Nope! A lotta people I’ve never met seem to showing up in town today, huh?” Pinkie asked, giggling. The cat girl just sighed, rolling her eyes.

“Name’s Shoka Sakurane. Not that it matters much. This town isn’t usually where I work,” Shoka explained, before placing a small pin in Pinkamena’s hand alongside her new phone. “and here’s your player pin. Don’t lose it.”

Taking a closer look, the pin was emblazoned with the image of what appeared to be some kind of red skull against a black background. “Consider yourself lucky, you get to use our brand new design for it,” Shoka continued, before looking over at Pinkie. “… Sorry, but I only brought one for lanky and gruesome over here.”

“So, what exactly is this thing for?” Pinkamena asked, still trying to comprehend everything.

“It’s best if I explain with your partners around. I’m gonna guess it was the two you rode the motorcycle with?”

“I guess…? I really don’t know what today is.”

Shoka simply shrugged. “Most don’t on their first day so at least you’re not alone. Come on, I need to explain this to the whole group,” she said, before walking past the two and heading into the record store.

Pinkamena let out a long, agitated sigh. “This is why I never left my room,” she muttered under her breath before following the younger girl in.

---

Minerva whistled as she poured herself a drink. Another break was on and she needed to cool off. Even with all the AC and the fans and everything, it could still get hot in the studio. She heard a knock at the door. “Yeah, you can come in. Notes or something?” she asked, not turning her head as she heard someone enter.

“It has been far too long since we properly got to talk, Minerva.” A man’s voice called out to her as she looked. A pale blonde man was standing at the entrance of the room. He had a feint smile as she approached. “I must say, you’re doing well for yourself.”

“Shiba. What do I owe the… pleasure?” Minerva asked, putting on an obviously fake smile.

Shiba simply continued to look around the room. “Oh, you don’t need to put on the act. You didn’t really think you could just borrow Shoka without anyone knowing, could you?” he asked, stroking his hair back. “Ayano would never let her go to another town all by herself.”

Minerva took a long, audible sip from her mug. “It was only for one little thing. I can’t really leave this job when I’m in the middle of a broadcast.”

“Oh, of course. I totally understand. I’m just saying that it’s better that she not be on her own. Especially in a place that’s as unique as this,” Shiba chuckled, looking at all the awards and photos. “Tell me, how long has this been going on?”

“Well, we just truly started back up today. It’s been at least… a month or so since there was a last full week and-”

“Does Leilani know a new game has begun?” Silence filled the room for a few long seconds. “How interesting…. I think I’m starting to get the picture here.”

“And what picture is that, exactly?”

“Starting a new game without telling everyone, trying to get one of my crew to help you without asking us for approval. Why, I’d wager a guess and say that you were going to try and convince Shoka to work with you for the whole week. Am I right, Minerva?”

She only tapped the sides of her cup as he laughed. “Apologies, but I can’t let you just take Shoka like that. Not only is she invaluable to my team as a whole and how they function, but Ayano would burn you right up!” He smirked, sitting down in her chair. “Let’s make a deal, since me and some of the others are here, how about we help you properly get this first day heated up?”

“What’s the catch?”

Shiba simply smiled, chuckling. “You can see for yourself when this day properly comes to an end.”

---

Melody watched Shoka flip through racks and racks of CDs while also making glances at her phone. “If you’re looking for something specific, you can just ask.”

Shoka shook her head, continuing to flip. “Didn’t even think they’d have a Tower Records out here,” she said aloud to no one in particular, before walking up to the counter. Pinkamena and Grey were there, watching her. “Right, so. You three are now new players in the Reaper’s Game. We’re happy to have you, I guess.” She put three blank pins on the table. “Since things work differently around here, we thought it would be best to start you off with blanks.”

Grey picked one up, looking at it. An image of a rabbit standing on an ice float appeared. “Woah.”

Melody took one, seeing what seemed to be a flaming music note on it. “Huh.”

Pinkamena picked up the third, seeing a knife cutting through a cake appear. “Fitting. So, what do these things do exactly?”

Before Shoka could answer, another woman placed a hand on her shoulder before stepping in front. She had on a shirt covered in images of what appeared to be tropical trees as well as having an iguana sitting rather comfortably on her shoulder. “That is for you to find out on your own,” she said, shooting an icy glare at Pinkamena. “All you should know is that by taking part in challenges for the rest of this week, you can win anything you desire. I think that should be enough to keep your interest.”

Grey let out an annoyed groan, the woman looking at her. “I feel like this is just some way of extending my community service.”

Melody chuckled, patting her on the shoulder. “Aw, come on. This can’t be anything major. Maybe it’s just how they’re welcoming Diane here to town?” she said, smiling.

While the two were talking, Pinkamena was deep in thought as she looked at the two pins in her hand. Taking the past day or so in, it felt like she was stuck in a long dream and was destined to wake up at any moment. Would getting through a week be what fully brought her back to life? Was this Minerva’s goal all along?

“You’ve got a chance to figure this out coming up soon,” Shoka said, breaking her train of thought. “you’ll be getting your first task, right about…”

Pinkamena’s, Grey’s and Melody’s phones buzzed as a new message popped up on all three’s screens.

Silence the Noise in the town market.

The woman softly took Shoka’s hand and started to walk her out. “And with that, we’ll check back on you when you have this accomplished.”

“Later losers.” Shoka waved as they walked out.

The three looked at each other, wondering what their best course of action would be. They all somewhat wanted to doubt any of it was real… but the message Pinkamena had gotten before the tank attacked them seemed to line up with the message they had just gotten.

Melody stretched out her arms, attaching the pin to the front of her work apron. “Well, we can put up the ‘out to lunch’ sign up and get to the market in like five minutes if we go now.”

Grey did the same with her pin, stepping out from behind the counter. “Might as well get this stupid thing over with, I guess. Probably just shutting off some sort of boom box or something. You ready to get this done with, Diane?”

Pinkamena nodded, before walking past them out of the store and towards the town market. The other two watched her before quickly getting the sign ready to hang on the door.

---

Minerva watched Pinkamena’s group make their way to the town market, taking another sip from her mug. She was no longer in the mood for hard booze now that she knew Shiba and some of his group was palling around town. She should’ve just saved the explanation for what was going on for tomorrow.

Looked as her phone buzzed in her pocket, seeing a new text message. “You look well, Minerva. :)”

Looking around, she saw another rather pale looking man looking at his phone. The bright pink phone case with bunny ears and black hat made him stand out. “Ah, Kaie. Always happy to see you,” she said, walking over. “I’m going to guess that he’s also here as well if you tagged along.”

“Sadly, yeah. He’s here to make sure that the first challenge goes well. :(“ Kaie texted back, knowing exactly who she was implying.

“Isn’t that just great… well, I suppose all we can really do now at this point is just watch and wait, huh? Shame that the tank didn’t count. I made sure all the other players still had their pins! And I worked so hard to get it out here too!”

“You really went big in your first challenge, huh. :O”

“I suppose, but what better way to create a good first impression for the newbies, right?” She paused, thinking. “Tell me, did you hand out pins to anyone around here?”

“Maaaybe ;3”

“Well then, that’ll make my job much more interesting than it already was.”

---

Ponyville market looked about the same as when Pinkamena had last stepped foot in it. People were walking about with bags pull of fruits or flowers or small tiny knick knacks. The only difference is that she couldn’t feel as many pairs of eyes watching her nervously. For now, anyways.

Grey looked through the crowd and tried to listen. “…No sign of any speakers or anything. Not sure how we’re supposed to find or hear anything in this.”

Melody looked at all the people walking around. “Doesn’t even seem like a day where Vinyl Scratch would have a pop up concert either. Maybe we should split up?”

Pinkamena looked though the message one her phone. Something about it was off, but she couldn’t tell what.

“Hey, Pinkamena!” Pinkie called out, bouncing over to her. The rest of the elements were in tow, seemingly looking around the market as well. “Guess what? We’re part of this game too!” she said, happily.

“Oh, that’s nice. Again, I need to ask. Are your days usually this busy?” Pinkamena asked, trying her best to keep from letting out another sigh. Her want to isolate was growing more and more, but she knew she couldn’t just do that. Especially not if more people like Minerva were keeping watch of her.

“Eh? It depends on what we’re doing. Sometimes it’s just helping break up two friends fighting and then free to do whatever, other days it’s racing to stop power hungry threat number seventeen or whatever,” Rainbow Dash explained, arms stretched out behind her head.

“I do wish that man explained more of what our task is supposed to be. I’m not sure what noise we’re supposed to silence, since the market is always rather busy and noisy,” Rarity complained, scrolling through her phone.

Twilight nodded, doing the same. “There must be something we’re missing… do you three have anything?”

“If only that man who brought us into the game wasn’t so nice… I couldn’t muster up the courage to ask him any questions…” Fluttershy added as the two groups began conversing with each other, slowly getting more on Pinkamena’s nerves.

She looked more at the message, thinking. What the hell was she missing? She felt her hand’s grip on her phone grow tighter. The voices of others talking and the market around her started to fade out. “… focus…” she said to herself, before taking a long deep breath. Her player pin glowed and suddenly, the world around her looked different. Everything looked as if there was a tint on it.

“What the…” Looking at everyone around here, she could see what looked like word bubbles above their heads as they passed by. She could see something red in the distance. It looked like… a floating symbol of some kind of animal? “This is-”

Pinkamena was quickly snapped out of it by Grey shaking her on the shoulder. “Yo, Diane. You got any idea on what the hell we’re supposed to do?” she asked, looking up at her.

Pinkamena slowly nodded, looking down at the message one last time. “It’s not noise we’re looking for. We’re looking for Noise with a capital N,” she said, before running to where she saw the symbol.

The two groups quickly followed, not fully sure what she was doing, but it was a start!

After reaching the end of an isle, Pinkamena found herself in the exact area where she had seen the symbol. Somehow it was all coming together even though she couldn’t explain how. She took another deep breath as the world changed once more. Looking up, she could see the symbol floating above her. It looked rather beastly, with what seemed to be sharp fangs. “… Be ready,” she said out loud with no one in mind.

Melody looked at her pin as it gave off a small shine as Pinkamena reached out and touched the symbol.

---

GET READY!

Are you Ready?

Pinkamena, Grey, and Melody found themselves looking at the glaring gaze of what seemed to be a giant bear, though looking even more ferocious. Instead of having normal paws, its appendages looked as if they were make of sharp and twisted metal.

“What the hell?!” Grey asked, sweating heavily. The beast snarled, charging at them.

All three jumped back, the ground feeling smoother than usual. It was if everything was lightly coated in ice. “Hey, how the hell are we gonna take something like this down?” Melody asked, looking around.

Pinkamena looked down at her pin. It was glowing. The next thing she knew, a knife was in her hands. Adrenaline was rushing through her body as she took a long, deep breath. “We do this!” she cried out as she ran in close, doing a few slashes on the thing sending it high into the air with a literal uppercut.

‘Fear is nothing but illusion!’

“Yooo, that was sick as hell!” Melody called out, before looking at her own glowing pin. “Let’s see if we can…” She pushed out her hands as suddenly, music notes shot out, homing in on the bear Noise. “Aw yeah, we got this!” She looked over at Grey. “Let’s see what you can do, Grey!”

Grey looked at everything going on as if it were unreal. She was still sweating up a storm as the beast closed in on her. Her pin was slowly glowing as she stomped on the ground. “Get the hell away from me!” A trail of ice lead from under her to the beast, causing a large ice pillar to shoot up from the ground and straight into the beast, shooting it high into the air.

“Yo, Diane! Get it!” Melody called out, Pinkamena using the weightlessness she was feeling to launch herself into the air. Somehow, her using the pin was drawing her in closer as she did a few more slashes on the thing. It felt good being able to use a knife in a such a way after so long!

With a downward jab, she was able to send the beast crashing back down, with Melody skating in up close and firing off a few more rounds at the thing. It was almost done but not out. It quickly swiped out, knocking both Pinkamena and Melody back, slamming into some kind of unseen wall.

Grey ran over, slowly helping both of them back up as they looked at the creature. “Alright, no more messing around. Let’s finish this thing off and be done with it,” Pinkamena said, her teammates nodding.

“Let’s drop the beat!” Melody said, smiling as Grey focused her pin’s energy out, causing three icicle pillars out piercing right through the bear.

Just as it stabbed right through, it was like time had came to a halt. White light started to shoot out from the creature as it slowly dissolved and vanished into pure static, a small pin dropping to the ground in front of the three as everything slowly went back to normal.

NOISE ERASED!

---

As Pinkamena looked around, she could see she was right back where she had touched the symbol. She was a bit hyper from everything that had happened, but otherwise she was alright.

“That. Was. Awesome! I was awesome! You were awesome! We were awesome!” She looked over and saw Rainbow Dash eagerly hyping her team up. It had clearly been a while since she had been able to get this kind of action.

“Haha, babe you were so badass,” Melody said, pulling Grey into a hug and kissing her a few times. “The way you summoned those pillars like that! Gah that was so cool!”

“I don’t even know how I did it, honestly… I just kinda wanted it to get away from me, ya know? You and Diane knew how to kick that thing’s ass though,” Grey responded, her normal facade breaking away as she blushed.

Clapping filled the air. “Oh, that was some good stuff! I gotta admit, Minerva picked out a good batch of players this time!” An older man with a small gray bag approached them. He gave off the vibes of being an asshole.

Pinkamena watched him as he eyed her up. “… You one of her friends?” she asked, slowly crossing her arms.

“Ehhh, not really. More a co-worker in the way I share a building with her,” he explained, before looking around. “Gotta admit, this place ain’t like my normal place of work, but I guess that makes things more interesting. Nyeheh!”

He saw Twilight was approaching and bowed. “Princess Twilight Sparkle. I’ve heard a lotta good thing about you. Gotta a nice gig, running this whole place.”

“A-and you are? Did you have something to do with those monsters?”

“Normally, I do. But round these parts? I ain’t got nothing to do with em. Tanzo Kubo’s the name, and I’m just here to help make sure that youse all got recognition for taking all them Noise down,” he explained, walking over to the dropped pin. “Here, on the house,” he said, tossing it to Pinkamena. “You wanna make sure what you did today actually counts towards you winnin’? Make sure you collect them pins.”

Pinkamena could see the girls from the record store walking through the market, seeming to join him. She could also see Minerva watching from afar. She looked her right in the eyes and smiled, before turning and walking off.

“A land where the RG and UG are basically one. This’ll make for one helluva game…” Kubo whispered under his breath, before walking to rejoin the two girls. “Here’s hoping your Game Master is competent. If not, hope to see what else ya can do with that knife, Miss Diane.”

Watching them walk off into the distance, Pinkamena looked up at the sky. She watched the birds fly through the evening sky as her stomach grumbled. Man, today was longer than she ever thought.

---

“Welcome back to the Junk Garage. Today was one of those days, wasn’t it? First a wild tank goes through the town, and then new monsters pop up in the market. Life in Equestria, huh?” Minvera’s played over the speaker’s as Melody put a serving of cheese covered mashed potatoes down on Pinkamena’s plate. “Thankfully, The Elements of Harmony were once again able to help quell the danger before things got out of hand,” she continued on, happily.

“Though, people have been telling me that another group was there also getting in on the action. They don’t seem to have any titles as of yet… so maybe we’ll just have to think of one for them.”

Grey rolled her eyes as she put music on, continuing to eat. “Man, you always make so much good stuff,” she said, looking over at Melody. “Feel like such a big for always wanting more…”

Melody kissed her on the cheek. “Eh, don’t worry. I know what’s up. You’re just fine,” she said, giggling. “Man, today was the most action I’ve ever seen in my whole life I think.”

“Me too. Not sure if I’m nervous about what could come next, or interested,” Grey replied, looking over to Pinkamena. “How about you?”

“Me? Mostly, I’m just tired and need some rest. Good food though. I’ll repay you sooner or later for it,” she said, taking a few more bites of her potatoes and getting up and slowly walking to the guest room. Totally drained of energy and a brain full of thoughts, she needed a good night’s sleep.

She closed the door to the guest room and fell face first into her mattress. It almost swallowed her up it was so comfy.

She quickly drifted off, mind still racing over the fact that she was alive once more. Though, she had no idea how long that would stay true.

---

Ponyville. It looked so drab and desolate, with most of the houses and buildings having boarded up windows and covered in spray paint.

‘Where… am I?’

Carousel boutique was rotting, slowly being swallowed up by time and neglect. The cottage on the edge of the forest was slowly being reclaimed by nature. The path to the Apple Family Farm was slowly coming undone. A lone light shone from the top of the library.

‘Is this….’

Sugarcube Corner lay vandalized, windows smashed it and half of the roof caved in.

‘THE DAMNED RESIDED HERE’ was spray painted on the side.

‘Did she make it out in time… is she safe?’

People had come to destroy this place. The monster that resided there was dead, but they wanted to make sure of it.

In the skies above, the few that remained could see the clouds parting as a symbol formed above them.

It was finally time for the town to die.

---

Pinkamena lurched up in bed, drenched in sweat. It was the first time she had felt a fear like this in years. Her face was stinging. She slowly reached up and touched it, feeling a slight burning sensation. Looking at her hand in the moon light, she could see red on her fingers and palm.

Her facial scars were bleeding again.

DAY 1 - NEW GAME

END

Author's Note:

So this series will have characters from Neo: The World Ends With You. There won't be spoilers for a while so don't worry about that, and with the rate I put things out it'll be long over before I get to stuff like that. If your comments want to talk about spoilers, please just save them for the end of the comment and maybe have a [Neo:twewy Spoilers] warning or the like before getting to it.

Also please play Neo: The World Ends With You. Please. It's really, really good and I can't recommend it enough. GOTY 2021 for sure. And buy the soundtrack, it's Godly.