Super Ponyronpa: Cacophonous Symphony

by TrackdNTraild

ACT 2: Exposure

Author's Note:

Things are getting intense! Do Starlight and Twilight really have any idea what they're doing at all?

The next morning, Twilight and Starlight already had their plan set in motion. Before the day was out, they had convinced Philomena to call a meeting in the morning because they had something important to share. Philomena hadn't been paying attention; if she had known what they were planning, she would've done something to stop them. When Starlight woke up to the morning announcement, and Philomena calling everypony to the main lobby, she was glad that she still had her memories of yesterday. She felt energized as she woke up, and stretched her back, letting her joints pop as she prepared herself. She knew Twilight would be ready too.

When she came out into the hall and saw other ponies leaving their dorms, she was surprised that Twilight hadn't woken up early for once. Twilight looked at her with a tired smile, and nodded before beginning to rub sleep out of her eyes. Starlight yawned, and began walking down the hall with the other ponies, and Twilight at her side. As they walked, Twilight used her magic and brought back the yearbook she had found. She held it in her hoof close to her chest, prepared for what was to come of this event. As every pony joined in together in the lobby, Philomena appeared on the podium with a smile on her beak as always.

"Welcome everypony!" She cawed. "I was told yesterday to call a meeting today. It appears that some of your fellow ponies have a very important announcement to make! And I couldn't say no anyways. Starlight, Twilight, come make your announcement!"

The phoenix leapt down from her place, and Starlight took a breath. Twilight fluttered her wings beside the mare, before she flew herself onto the stage. Starlight joined her, trying to keep her head high and her expression neutral. It was difficult to hold it together, but she was just as determined as Twilight had been yesterday. Twilight chose to step forward first to give Starlight time to fully calm herself.

"As we all know, the second floor opened yesterday," Twilight began. "There were 5 new spaces for us to explore, including an obstacle course, library, fashion studio, a theatre, and a greenhouse. Starlight and I spent a little time exploring the library yesterday, but I found something very important that we thought was important enough to show the entire group. And that even includes Philomena."

"Me?" Philomena squawked. "Now why would little ol' me be involved?"

"It's because..." Starlight stepped forward, preparing herself for the dramatic effect moment. "In this yearbook, there is one thing in common with the ponies here. I only know few of the ponies in the book, but I know their stories, and the simple fact is that some of the ponies in this book are students of Celestia, more focus being on the unicorns of course."

"I'm in this book," Twilight stated bluntly. She opened the yearbook and flipped to the page. "As well as Pinkie, Sunburst, and a mare that I used to know named Sunset Shimmer, all of them are in this book. The unicorns have all been Celestia's prodigy, her pupil."

The crowd gasped when she turned the book around to showcase the images of the ponies. She wasn't lying, and they were all shocked. Looks were cast to Sunburst and Pinkie in particular in the crowd, and murmurs were spread about.

"Twilight and I have come to a conclusion from this book," Starlight continued. "This school is run by Princess Celestia, just like the School for Gifted Unicorns. This school follows the same principle, but with more than just unicorns, or ponies who can harness enough magic to draw even her attention."

"And Philomena is Celestia's pet," Twilight said as she turned to the phoenix. "So we want answers from you."

"We wanted to call this meeting to address this," Starlight said as she approached the bird. "We know that Princess Celestia put you up to this, and we want to know why! Why did she put us in this mess? Why are we being forced to kill eachother? How did we even get here?!"

"Ah ah ah, because of the motive I can't answer that last question!" Philomena giggled.

"Whatever!" Starlight stomped her hoof, regretting raising her voice momentarily. "Just answer us. Why are we here?"

"I'm not allowed to divulge such important information," Philomena snickered. "But, you were right. This is one of Celestia's schools. As for why you have to kill eachother, she'd kill me if I exposed that info. Maybe not literally, but you know what I mean! I won't deny the things that you've said, but I'm not allowed to answer that information. I would rather not risk my own safety because a few pesky ponies are pushy."

The ponies waited in silence for Philomena's bracelet to buzz. She shook her talon teasingly when it did not, and laughed. Twilight and Starlight felt their ears pin to the sides of their heads, and their hopes died just a little more. They found some of the truth they were looking for, but it wasn't enough. They still had no way to get out of here. What was the point of exposing the idea that Celestia manufactured the killing game?

"Well!" Philomena huffed as she calmed down. She flapped her wings and flew up into the air. "If you ponies are done wasting my time, I'll be off to hide away until a murder is committed. Feel lucky, you two! You might've just given a pony a reason to commit a murder!"

Philomena cackled as she disappeared up the staircase in the second floor, leaving the ponies behind. Starlight felt her stomach twisting, and Twilight had a look of despair on her face. She looked back at the crowd, hearing their murmuring, and it didn't help her case at all. Starlight wanted to say something, but she wasn't sure what. She was just as broken-hearted as Twilight was. Their plan worked as they had wanted it to, but it still didn't give them the results they needed. Worst of all, their information gaining was entirely pointless; they knew Celestia ran the school, but they couldn't even get Philomena to talk. They were no closer to solving anything.

"Starlight?" She was drawn out of her thoughts as she heard Sunburst's voice, and felt him gently nudge her.

"W-what?" She was still in shock, but it could've been worse. She tried to return back to normal to hide her despair.

"I-I know it may seem like a bad thing," Sunburst began. "B-but, this information isn't exactly a bad thing. We can't use it now, but we've surely got an opportunity in the future! You never know when you're going to use information, that's why it's always so good to have it!"

"Trixie doesn't think it was that useful," The unicorn said bluntly. "But, she has to agree with Sunburst. This has helped us for future endeavors!"

"Plus, it made our morning exciting!" Pinkie snickered. "What a revelation to learn at 8 in the morning!"

"It's definitely something to wake up to, isn't it?" Feather Bangs laughed.

"Well, since it's over now, how's about we all head back and get some food in us?" Applejack spoke up. "We can talk about what we're thinkin' this info is gonna help us out with while we're eatin'."

"Yeah, why not?" Cheese clapped his hooves together. "It gives us something to talk about, at the very least. I've heard that if you talk while you eat, your body just kinda makes you eat more."

"Well if that's the case, then it sounds like you and Pinkie are going to be cooking a lot," Double Diamond snorted.

"I know my stomach is prepared for that!" Rainbow Dash patted her stomach and laughed.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Shining Armor spoke above the crowd. "Let's get going!"

The crowd cheered as it trotted outside. The voices of ponies temporarily filled the lobby before all the ponies left, leaving Starlight and Twilight on the stage to themselves.

"Every pony is in such high spirits," Twilight said. "Even though our plan went horribly wrong... every pony still has hope."

"That's what we want, isn't it?" Starlight tilted her head and smiled at the alicorn. "We want to bring hope to these ponies so we have less chance of killing eachother, and more opportunities to get out of here. Sunburst is right, I think. At the very least, we know who to blame when things go wrong."

"It still feels a bit strange though." Twilight scratched her head as she made the yearbook disappear. "Why would Celestia do something like this? I've been ruling alongside her and Luna for years. Does Luna even know what she's done?"

"If Celestia is doing this, maybe Luna helped her." Starlight shrugged.

"But that doesn't make any sense..." Twilight's head hung. Of all the ponies, her spirit was the lowest. "I'm more shocked with the fact that she didn't contact me or Cadance to help 'orchestrate' her event. We're all princesses, so it only makes sense."

"Maybe it's just because you were her student," Starlight mused. "Luna and Cadance are her family, and Luna is her sister. Luna would be the second closest pony to work on this with her, just because they're so close. Maybe Cadance wasn't contacted because she doesn't rule over Canterlot like they do."

"I guess so," Twilight sighed, finally accepting the truth and lifting her head again. "Well, we should go join everypony else. This would be the perfect opportunity to catch up with the Student Survival Committee."

"It would," Starlight said with a nod. "And today, I might actually get a bigger meal for breakfast."

"I think I'm going to skip out on breakfast," Twilight laughed nervously as she walked down the steps of the stage. "I'll just make myself a nutrition smoothie like before. You can indulge a little."

"Are you sure Twilight?" Starlight kept up the conversation as they walked out of the lobby.

"I'll be fine," Twilight assured her. "I just don't think my stomach can fully handle what just happened yet. I'd rather not take the risk of making myself sick."

"Yeah, I get that..." Starlight sighed. "You can still come sit with us once you make your smoothie. It might help your throat if it gets sore when we're talking."

"Yep." Twilight fell quiet was they approached Restaurant Row. Starlight went straight to the feast table, and sat down beside Feather Bangs and Shining Armor. The rest of the committee sat at the table around them, picking up conversation immediately. Starlight looked back, and watched Twilight walk into the smoothie store. She waited until the door closed before she turned back to the group, and finally put herself back into the conversation again. The breakfast went much more smoothly, and the table was buzzing with conversation. All in all, Starlight didn't feel absolutely horrible about their lack of information gaining from that meeting. Once she got her food, she knew her stomach could handle it, and she had her plate gone even before Twilight came back to join in on the conversation.

Once breakfast was over, every pony went their separate ways. Cheese and Pinkie stayed behind to clean up the mess of the table, and every other pony disappeared wherever they wanted to go. Starlight was left wondering only one thing when the ponies dispersed... who could she hangout with today?

>> FREE TIME: START! <<

Comments

[superfun]

With Celestia involved, I'm going to laugh if it turns out this was all one elaborate Nightmare Night party or something that Twilight had suggested.
That's probably not the case, but it IS the first thing that I thought of.

[TrackdNTraild]

11248804
LMAO that'd work for a good shitpost Maybe I'll write that after the story is all finished