Super Ponyronpa: Cacophonous Symphony

by TrackdNTraild

ACT 1: Hunger

Starlight wakes up in her dorm's bed, and the first thing she's aware of is her stomach growling. She forces herself to get out of bed, and feels nausea in her stomach and chest as she gets up. The hunger seems to be getting to her, and when she walks to the door she hopes to get to her kitchen and get some food. Only... she notices the scanner to the door again, and she's reminded of where she is. She can't get food; the only place where food exists is blocked off. She sighs, and scans herself out of her room.

She remembers when this motive was put into place by Philomena, how insistent most of the ponies were that they would go outside and eat grass. She decided that with the pain in her stomach, she was going to join them. If she had to eat grass to survive, then she could do that. It's not like it tasted horrible, anyways; most hayburgers she had eaten before used grass instead of lettuce anyways. Granted, she never ate it entirely by itself, so she didn't know how it really tasted without additives. She walked down the hallway and out to the entrance.

She covered her eyes when she got outside, having to adjust to the bright sun beating down on the world around her. She blinked sleep from her eyes, feeling her eyes adjusting slower than usual. She walked onto the path, and soon turned onto the grass. She noticed other ponies were out eating grass too, even Prince Blueblood had gotten off his own saddle and chose to bend down to bite blades of grass off. Though he was royal, even he wasn't immune to the effects of going hungry, and it was already starting to show.

Starlight bent her own head down, snapping some grass between her teeth. As she ate what she had grabbed, she found out she definitely preferred the grass being on some kind of sandwich. The taste was bland and watery from dew. At least she was getting hydrated, she didn't even think they had anything to drink as long as the Restaurant Row was blocked off. She swallowed down the chewed up grass with some difficulty, but she hoped her stomach would appreciate the little food she could get. It didn't have much nutrition, but something was better than nothing. She bent down and bit off a few more blades from her spot.

"Hey Starlight," She heard a voice behind her. She turned her head, seeing Feather Bangs walking to her. He had an entirely different aura about him. He looked tired. He's hungry too, Starlight thought.

"Hey," She said when she had swallowed down the grass she was eating.

"Guess you're taking what Applejack said to heart, huh? About eating grass?"

"I am." Starlight bent down and took another bite of the grass.

"I don't blame you." He cleared his throat and looked around. "Everypony else seems to be doing that too. My stomach's been growling since I woke up... I really didn't wanna have to join them, but the headache from not eating yesterday is reeeally killing my vibe."

"You might want to eat then," Starlight said when she had finished eating. "It's not doing much for me, but as long as it's edible, then we have to eat something. I just wonder how Philomena is going to react seeing us all eating grass..."

"We're ponies, why does she care?" Feather Bangs said before bending his head down and taking a small bite of the grass beneath him, just to get a taste of what it would be like to eat it. He let himself finish before he looked at Starlight again. "Besides, it's like you said, it's just something edible. It ain't gonna do much for us in the long run, but it might prolong us starving."

"That's the goal." Starlight patted the stallion on the back with her hoof. "I'm gonna talk with the other ponies, I'll just eat as I go. You get your fill of this spot as much as you can."

"Be careful, Starlight." Feather Bangs nodded to her. "Eat while you talk, it's more worth it."

"Thanks for the advice." Starlight smiled before she walked away, letting Feather Bangs 'enjoy' his grass.

The first pony her eyes locked onto when she walked away was Rarity. She was laying down on the path next to the grass, staring at it with disgust. Starlight could see discomfort in the pony's eyes, and disgust in her frown. She knew the mare was unhappy with the realization she would have to eat grass. She walked down the path to meet with the fashionista.

"How are you holding up, Rarity?" As if she had to ask. Starlight bent down and ate some grass again so Rarity could talk.

"Horribly, darling," Rarity groaned. Her stomach growled for a moment, and Rarity rolled onto her back to hold onto it. "Having to eat grass is not settling with my designer stomach. I'm not sure if it's hurting me, or begging for more, but whatever the case may be it is not settling right with me!"

"You probably just need to eat more," Starlight said. "Any food you can get is important, plus the dew that's on the grass can help keep you hydrated. I don't think there are any drinks anywhere but the Restaurant Row, so we'd have to suck the water off the grass anyways."

"I know..." The white mare complained as she got to her hooves. "I never thought I would drop so low as to eat grass, but it is for the best if no pony truly wants to hurt another. Though, I'm sure some of us are thinking of it."

"Honestly, I get it," Starlight coughed into her hoof. "It's not that I'd want fancy foods or soda to drink, I just want something to eat that's going to give me a bit more nutrition and stop my stomach from hurting. If we're already feeling horribly from not having eaten for just a few days, imagine how bad things could get later on down the line."

"Well don't make me think like that Starlight!" Rarity squeaked as she dove into the grass, ripping free full blades and chewing them down. "I'll eat this entire field of grass if you make me think so dreadfully!"

"Sorry..." Starlight chuckled nervously. She knew Rarity wasn't seriously mad, but she still felt nervous. "A-anyways, just try and eat as much as you can. I'm going to talk to the other ponies."

"You should eat too, darling." Rarity patted the mare's back. "Starvation must affect our magic in some way, and we want to be able to use it well in the future."

"Thanks." Starlight walked away from the mare and let her eat. She looked around, not sure who she could talk to now. She spotted Rainbow Dash sitting up in a tree with her legs crossed. Suddenly, Starlight got an idea. She ran from the area to the market plaza in a frenzy. Some ponies must've gotten concerned with how fast she ran away. She looked through each of the market stalls again to find food, but found nothing. Her last resort was the one place she hadn't seen herself; the fruit tree orchard. She trotted there, as it was just behind the plaza. The trees there were huge, and looked like they were full of fruits. She noticed Applejack was already there before her, and was bucking the trees with all the force in her back legs.

"Are you trying to get fruit, Applejack?" She asked.

"Tryin'!" Applejack replied with another strong buck to the trunk of one tree. "Ain't got nothin' so far. Ah can't see any fruit, but Ah figured it could be stuffed up in them leaves there. Ah've almost tried all of em, and ain't found nothin. Seems like the trees got picked cleaned b'fore we got here."

"Dammit..." Starlight sighed and facehoofed. "They had this motive planned from the start it seems. I was for sure we would get a one-up on them with these trees."

"They gotta only have these trees for Restaurant Row," Applejack moved to another tree and slammed her legs into it. "Whatever's growin' on em is an important ingredient in makin' food in there. Ah ain't got a clue in the dang world how they gon' get any other food while even we're locked up tighter than a barn's cider cellar. And Ah know that for a fact, if you're wonderin'."

"I figured." Starlight rolled her shoulders. "Well... I'm going to head back to the entrance. If you find anything, there's no point in bringing it back, since you'll likely be the only pony who can enjoy it."

"Ah doubt that Ah'm gonna find anythin' at all, sugarcube," Applejack said as she bucked another tree. "But ya might be right, and Ah'll do what Ah gotta."

Starlight left the farm pony in peace and walked on her way to the entrance. She stopped and ate some of the grass from beside the paths. It was the least she could do. Everypony would have the front entrance cleared of grass eventually, that only left the rest of the school to feed from. She sighed as she swallowed another lump of grass down. Her growling stomach hadn't calmed down at all, but she hoped that it would eventually.

"Having fun, Starlight?" A caw called down from the top of one of the speaker poles.

"No, I'm not," Starlight said as she looked up. She glared at Philomena directly in the eyes. "Starving ponies and telling them to kill eachother is not fun!"

"Well, it seems to be working!" The phoenix cackled as she flew down to land in front of Starlight. "I heard it from you and Rarity yourselves! Even you'd consider it because you don't like starving!"

"Just because we'd consider it doesn't mean we're serious." Starlight stomped her hoof defiantly. "I for one would never want to act on my violent thoughts in any circumstance."

"Hah! That's rich!" Philomena laughed, falling onto her back and clutching her sides with her wings as she did so. "You're embarrassing yourself! Every pony cracks at some point!"

"Well, I won't." Starlight stepped over the phoenix and began walking down the path again. "I'll eat grass for the rest of my life if I must."

"Good luck, cause the rest of your life ends at the end of the week!" Philomena raised herself into the air, and disappeared into the school once again.

Stupid bird, Starlight thought. She continued to defy the ideal of her murdering a pony for her own gain. She'd never be so selfish in her life. Well, not again at least. She could never see herself committing a murder, and especially not here; it's not like she really has the tools for it anyways. No, don't think like that Starlight! She vehemently shook her head in defiance. She couldn't be thinking about murder, that would tempt her further. She stepped off to the side and bit into the grass again. She made it her new main focus. The grass taste was starting to grow on her, and she actually found herself liking it.

She returned to the courtyard, seeing ponies finally beginning to talk again. They still looked tired and hungry, but at least there was noise in the courtyard. Starlight was happy that the ponies were trying to talk again; she hated the silence more than anything else in the world. She looked around, wanting to talk to somepony but she wasn't sure who. She noticed Twilight sitting off to the side on her own, diligently plucking pieces of grass from the ground with her magic before she would eat them. Starlight decided to approach her, wondering what she was doing.

"What are you doing, Twilight?" She asked when she was near enough.

"Selecting grass to eat," Twilight replied when she finished her mouthful. "Not every blade of grass seems to be good. Ponies have walked on them and gotten germs on them, or the grass is dying is some places and needs to be picked out because it's inedible. I've been combing this area getting rid of grass that is covered in bacteria, and grass that's dying. It's a process, but it's the one way I can make sure that I don't get sick from eating it."

"Wow, that's really smart Twilight," Starlight said. "I never even considered that. I've been so hungry that I've just been diving headfirst into the grass and eating as much as I could. I hope I don't get sick."

"I'm sure you'll be okay." Twilight patted the mare's head. "Besides, if some of us do get sick, I'm sure there's a medical station somewhere on the campus, but Philomena hasn't said anything about it."

"It might be on the second floor, but we have no way of getting up there," Starlight sighed. "There are locked bars all over the second floor railings and around the staircase itself. Either Philomena has to open them for us, or we need some sort of key to get in."

"Or..." Twilight gulped down some more grass, and nervousness came to her face. "Maybe when some pony dies, Philomena will reward us by opening up the second floor."

"Don't make me think of that, Twilight," Starlight groaned and covered her face in her hooves. "We don't need another reason for ponies to be killing eachother. I'd rather we don't do it at all."

"Sorry, but I'm thinking of every possibility," Twilight whimpered. "One way or another, I know some pony here is going to die. I can just feel that it's going to happen. We're not going to be able to keep our promise of refusing to kill somepony. Somepony is going to shatter out entire philosophy because they're too hungry to think straight."

"Maybe you're right..." Starlight sighed in defeat. "But let's just try and keep our heads high. At the moment, I have faith that we're going to be alright. When we get through getting our strength back by eating the grass, we need to find a way to get to the second floor and start looking for a way out of here that isn't through the magical dome and the front gate."

"Right." Twilight nodded, feeling her confidence growing back. "Y-you're right, that's exactly what we should be focusing on. I should keep eating myself, and you look like you haven't ate much either. You need to eat so you can think straight too."

"Trust me, I've been eating as I've been walking around." Starlight smiled. "I'll be sure that I can keep my strength up this time around."

The two fell quiet as Starlight walked away. The courtyard was growing silent again, and Starlight was not a fan. She was doing her best to focus on eating grass, but she could only focus so long. It was getting to the point where she didn't want to eat, but she forced herself to so she had a better chance of staying alive. For the majority of the day, that's all that any pony did. They sat around a talked very little, and were eating as much grass as they could get their hooves on. Starlight was surprised when she heard the sound of a microphone turning on, and realized just how dark it had gotten.

"Greetings everypony!" Philomena's annoying voice rang out over the speaker. "Ahem. This is a school announcement! It is now 10 p.m., so it is officially nighttime! The pool and Restaurant Row are going to be closed off, as well as the front gate! Please make your way to your dorms to get a very good rest for your next morning at the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Ponies! Good night everypony! Sleep tight! Don't let the bed bugs bite!"

"It's already nighttime?" Starlight said in disbelief. She blinked, and was made aware of the dark sky overhead. She had been so engrossed in eating grass that she ignored virtually everything else. The growling in her stomach had slowed, but her anxiety was through the roof. She couldn't believe how much time had passed... Every pony around her was already walking back inside the school before the doors could close, and she followed along only so she could think when she was inside.

When she walked inside, she watched other ponies enter and head to the dorms. Many of them had tired expressions, and some were even hanging their heads. The entire school was filled with despair. She spotted Feather Bangs and Party Favor chatting on their way to the dorms, but couldn't quite hear what they were saying. She did know that Party Favor didn't look happy, and that worried her. The doors shut behind her, making her jump and look up at them. The building was so dark at night, she hadn't realized just how dark it could be. She ignited her horn, using her magic as a light source so she could safely make her way back to her dorm.

"Oof-" Some pony bumped into her, and she recognized the voice. "O-oh, sorry Starlight."

"It's okay Fluttershy." Starlight patted the mare's back. "Here, let's use my horn to make sure you get in your dorm safely."

"O-okay..."

Starlight helped Fluttershy see where her scanner was so she could get in her dorm, and she brightened her horn so she could see inside. Fluttershy looked back at Starlight with a smile before the doors closed. Starlight hummed before she scanned herself into her own dorm, and let the magic from her horn fade out. She took a deep breath, and headed to her bead. She pulled herself underneath the covers, and stared at the dark wall. She couldn't deny the horrible despair that she was feeling. It was a mix of the headache and her stomach growling, but maybe Philomena was getting to her, as well as her talk with Twilight.

She had to be realistic; some pony was going to do something that they were going to regret, and she was going to have to help her fellow ponies find out who made the mistake. The thought filled her with anxiety, and made her want to sick up all the grass she had eaten throughout the day. She screwed her eyes shut, and curled in on herself. She wished she had some of the plushies she had as a foal. She felt like a helpless foal again, and she just wanted to act like one. At some point in the night, she drifted off to sleep, entirely oblivious as to what was going on in the night, if anything at all. She trapped herself in dream land with the comfort of white clouds and a land made of food.

When she woke up, the first thing she was made aware of was the sound of voices outside her door. She yawned, and rubbed sleep from her eyes. She stretched her limbs and groaned as she felt her stomach growling again. She stepped outside and rubbed her eyes.

"What's going on..?" She yawned, and stepped into the crowd of 5 ponies.

"Something we didn't expect to see," Twilight said, horror in her voice.

"L-l-look at the d-d-door..." Fluttershy stuttered and pointed to the door of Party Favor's dorm. Starlight looked up, her eyes widening in shock and her ears flattening. Underneath Party Favor's door, blood had pooled out and dried overnight.

"H-how could this happen?" Sunburst could barely keep his composure.

"We need to get in there and see what happened!" Shining Armor stomped his hoof. "Maybe there's still something that we can do!"

"But we can't get in!" Rarity whined through tear filled eyes. "O-only he could, and he has to be in there!"

"I might be able to help!" Philomena squawked from the back of the crowd. The ponies parted the way to allow Philomena to come forward. "You actually don't need to scan your hooves on the door! There's a special code in your Phoenix Pads that allows you to open the door! I manufactured that part to make for more easy killings, hoho!"

Philomena covered the scanner so she could punch in the code without other ponies seeing it. The doors open, and the crowd audibly gasped as what they all expected dropped in front of the door... Party Favor's dead body.

Author's Note:

SOMEPONY FINALLY IS DEAD HOORAY Now that somepony has died, PLEASE do not spoil who it is in the comments! Direct naming, as well as the use of gendered pronouns is forbidden! Keep things fair for new readers!

Lots more actions in this chapter instead of dialogue! I don't apologize for lots of dialogue, this series is based off a visual novel of course. Plus, dialogue is my style!

Fun fact of the day, it only takes 2-3 days of starvation for a horse to be badly affected by starvation, and one week for them to starve to death.

I looked into this for research while working on this first motive, so that's what I'm basing it off of! It's been almost 2 days that everypony hasn't eaten, so complications are starting to rise. Let's hope things don't get too terrible!

Comments

[superfun]

I thought for SURE the first dead body would be somepony else.

[vcsting]

ohh man one down but....who done it???

[Kauetheadventurer246]

Looks like Blueblood was able to survive the first Act it seems. Unless he is the blackened, but something tells me he isn’t… This time around.

[TrackdNTraild]

11245758
Now that I'm looking back on it, I'm really wondering who you thought the victim was going to be

[Starlight Fan]

Are we allowed to name the ponies who did the deed in the chapter that it’s revealed?

[TrackdNTraild]

11299719
If you're going to, it'd probably be best to spoiler tag it, or just not mention it at all. They still show up on the front page of the story.

[Slamp5000XL-3-0]

Bueno, un poco apresurado el assesinato pero igual me gusto el capitulo