Fanfic / Danganronpa: In Harmony's Wake

Danganronpa: In Harmony's Wake is a Fusion Fic between Danganronpa and My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, primary set in the My Little Pony: Equestria Girls world.

Sunset Shimmer, twenty-four years old, woke up on a cruise ship, without knowing how she got there, or why. She encountered fifteen other souls, all of them trapped aboard by a mysterious pony known only as Monoponi, who told them there for one purpose, and one purpose only:

To kill each other.

Now struggling to survive while desperately trying to recover what memories she's lost, Sunset is thrust into a deadly situation, where anyone, at any turn, could become the next killer. Who will survive? Who will die? What is Monoponi's true goal? Who is he, really?

Sunset can only hope to find out before she, too, becomes a victim of the killing game.

Now complete.

A spin-off story called Danganronpa: In Harmony's Wake: Lost Moments was eventually released. It is a collection of pieces covering various scenarios and moments from In Harmony's Wake, ranging from alternate scenarios/endings, to various little moments from perspectives other than Sunset Shimmer's.

A sequel, Super Danganronpa 2: On Harmony's Shores, began publishing on December 31, 2022.

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Danganronpa: In Harmony's Wake provides examples of:

• Absence of Evidence: This ends up being the final thing that convicts the blackened of the first case. Timber Spruce claims that after he got sick from the tainted cider, he spent a little time cleaning up the bathroom, and refers to this when suspicion falls on him. But, Sunset points out that according to Rainbow Dash, the bathroom was spotless when she checked it out herself. Given that Timber was supposedly sick from both ipecac and laxatives this should be impossible, proving that he was only faking being sick with the others.
• Accidental Murder:
  • This is a big point of the second trial. It is discussed that the Death Trap was activated by the stage lights, and Flash Sentry realized that he was the one handling the lights for Trixie's magic show, wondering if that means he was responsible for Apple Bloom's death. Monoponi however declares activating a trap does not make you the blackened, only setting it up with the intent of killing someone. However, the true blackened of the case intended to kill Sunset with the trap, and killing Apple Bloom was an accident due to her interference.
  • It is later revealed that Adagio accidentally killed someone once. She explains a few years ago, she and her sisters came across three homeless men and they used their magic to manipulate them into arguing so they could feed off it as a quick snack. But they underestimated how much hate the three had for each other, resulting in one of them being beaten to death.
  • This is zig-zagged with Fluttershy's death. It is discussed in the trial that Pinkie Pie was the one who planted the ring on Fluttershy, which got her executed for allegedly breaking the rules. But, Pinkie Pie acted as an Unwitting Pawn, being tricked into planting it on Fluttershy as a surprise, and is thus considered innocent. The one who faked the note, tricking her into planting the ring, was actually Sci-Twi. Although she never intended for things to go that far, believing that Fluttershy would notice Pinkie planting the ring and stop her, as a way to teach Pinkie a lesson about the Killing Game, the fact was she still planned everything and put it in motion herself, meaning it was ultimately her fault and it was not an accident.
• The Ace: Subverted; Monoponi gives everyone an "Ultimate" title, but these are not actually real like the ones from the games. Several of them are actually just insulting, such as Ultimate Rich Kid, Ultimate Boy Toy, and Ultimate Nobody, while four of them aren't even given titles. One is the series standard ??? while the other three are literal slot machines constantly spinning and unreadable.
  • This goes on to become the crucial clue that proves Sweetie Belle's guilt in Chapter Two, as the Monoponi File states Apple Bloom, the victim's title as Ultimate Builder, proving that either dying or causing death results in them being granted a title. A quick check of the profiles by Sunset reveals Sweetie's title has become Ultimate Sapper.
• Acquitted Too Late: Fluttershy is executed by Monoponi for allegedly stealing a ring from one of the stores. However, at the start of the investigation for Chapter 3, Monoponi reveals that he discovered Fluttershy in fact did not steal, and the ring was planted on her, leading to her falsely being executed.
• Adaptational Jerkass: In canon, Wallflower Blush was a quiet individual who didn't talk much due to her shyness, and would only occasionally snark at others for never remembering her and acting like she wasn't there. Here though, she goes out of her way to be much ruder to everyone in the Killing Game, insulting everyone every chance she gets. This is justified though, due to the Laser-Guided Amnesia everyone suffers from, not remembering their friendships from the past, so this is what Wallflower would be like if she never made any friends in High School, turning bitter and alone.
• Adaptational Villainy: Diamond Tiara's mother, Spoiled Rich, was never good in canon to begin with, but her actions there were just limited to being a Gold Digger, an emotionally Abusive Parent, and a general annoyance to others. Here however, Diamond Tiara claims that her mother raises dogs to be killers and abuses them by making them fight each other. She also raised her daughter the same way, verbally abusing her and wanting her to be as vicious as she was. Diamond Tiara is sure that if she was born with any siblings then her mother would have made them fight to the death too. As bad as Spoiled Rich was in canon she never did anything that sick and wrong.
• Advertised Extra: Played with; Timber Spruce was initially listed as one of the main character tags of the story, despite being the first blackened of the story and thus dying by the end of the first chapter. Eventually though his tag was removed and replaced with Flash Sentry.
• All for Nothing: The second interlude chapter reveals that Gloriosa is safe, so Timber's murder of Wallflower and his own subsequent death were for no reason at all.
• Amnesiac Lover:
  • At the start of Chapter 3, Pinkie, Sunset, and Adagio find a picture that shows that Applejack and Rarity are married to each other. The same photo also confirms that Sweetie Belle was also married, but it is unknown to whom.
  • During the final trial, after Sunset regains her memories, she remembers that Flash Sentry and Sci-Twi were dating before the Killing Game too, having gotten together after Sci-Twi had a nasty breakup with Timber Spruce, and the two even flirted with the idea of marriage together. She later reveals that Scootaloo and Diamond Tiara also started dating each other just before everything happened.
• And Now for Someone Completely Different: The story mostly follows the perspective of Sunset Shimmer, but the Interlude chapters change focus from her and the passengers to focus on Princess Twilight Sparkle.
  • During Chapter Five, when everyone believes Sunset has died, Trixie takes over as protagonist. Even when Sunset returns later on in the trial, the story continues to be from Trixie's perspective.
• An Arm and a Leg:
  • In the first execution begins with Timber Spruce having both of his arms cut off with a chainsaw while he is chained to a tree.
  • Following the third execution, Monoponi punishes Trixie by cutting off her right leg. It doesn’t kill her though, since Monoponi immediately uses a healing spell to close the wound and prevent infection and blood loss.
• Anyone Can Die: Naturally, since it's a Danganronpa crossover, death is prevelant. No one is safe. Not even the main character.
• Badass Boast: Applejack gives one to all the other passengers before they head to the second trial, right after she tells Monoponi to burn in hell, showing that she is deadly serious about this.
  Applejack: Listen up, y’all! Ah’m only gonna say this once. One of y’all killed mah sister. One of y’all is a low-down dirty rotten snake. Ah aim to take you down. And if somehow, by some miracle we vote wrong? Before Ah die, Ah’ll kill you mahself.
• Bait-and-Switch: This is done when revealing the victim in Chapter Five. Adagio kidnaps Sunset and locks her in the archives, intending to leave her there to die of dehydration. Part 4 of the chapter ends with Sunset's narration fading in and out, begging not to die, only for the body discovery announcement to play. The next chapter changes the narration to Trixie's perspective and leads the reader to believe they found Sunset's dead body, only to reveal Adagio is the victim instead.
• Batman Gambit: The Mastermind's entire plan amounts to this against Princess Twilight. By torturing her through the video feeds showing the Killing Game, not only does the Mastermind get revenge on her, they also guarantee that she will mount a rescue attempt and come into the human world, bringing herself straight to the Mastermind, who can then capture her and drain her of her magic.
• Being Evil Sucks: Diamond Tiara suddenly starts acting much nicer and cooperative in Chapter 3. When Sunset questions her on the sudden complete change in her personality, Diamond Tiara explains that all being mean has gotten her so far in the Killing game is punched, threatened, and mocked. So she has grown tired of it and is trying to be better. Many of the passengers are wary this might be just an act, especially Sunset, but are willing to give her a chance.
• Bland-Name Product: Apart from the MLP series staples such as MyStable, Flitter, and Snapgap, there's also a few others running around the story, including, oddly enough, the names of the planets. According to Wordof God this is because the author wanted the planets to be named differently than real life, to mirror the way in which she renamed various countries to be MLP-style puns on real world nations, such as the Amareican Union. Thus the planets are flipped to their Greek counterparts, i.e Mercury becomes Hermes, Venus becomes Aphrodite, Mars becomes Ares, etc.
• Bludgeoned to Death: The first victim, Wallflower Blush, is killed this way. After being choked out, she was struck in the back of the neck with frozen ice until her brain stem was broken.
• Bridal Carry: Applejack carries Rarity this way after the second trial, since she is too devastated from watching Sweetie Belle's execution to walk properly.
• Bring My Brown Pants: Applejack ends up pissing herself in fear when Adagio threatens her to stay quiet about her being a siren.
• The Bully:
  • Diamond Tiara is pretty much a generic Alpha Bitch rich girl. She doesn’t hide that she thinks she is superior to everyone else. Though her main target is Sunset Shimmer, who she constantly calls suspicious and tries to make everyone think is the traitor.
  • Adagio Dazzle is also this, but her number one target is Trixie, who she never hesitates to belittle and insult in someway. She does at least try to take it easier on her though after she and Sunset start sleeping together, and Sunset tells her Trixie is her friend too.
• Can't Take Criticism: Monoponi, and by extension the Mastermind, is this. Unlike Monokuma, who continuously brushed off every insult and threat the characters threw at him, even seeming to take delight in it, Monoponi constantly demands respect from every passenger, threatening to execute them for the slightest insult or rule violation.
• Casanova Wannabe: Timber Spruce flirts with a lot of the girls and tries to act cool around everyone, and none of them are impressed by him. This leads to everyone finding it totally believable that he would send a fake love letter to Wallflower, to lure her into a trap.
  Sunset: You might think you’re charming, Timber, but you’re really not. You’re just kinda skeevy.
• Casual Danger Dialogue: After everyone believed that she was dead, Sunset strolls into the trial with her arm in a sling and casually says “Hey guys. What’d I miss?” while everyone else is in the middle of a debate with their lives at stake.
• Character Narrator: The story is told entirely from the perspective of Sunset Shimmer, with the exception of the occasional interlude featuring the perspective of Princess Twilight Sparkle in third person: see Multiple Narrative Modes.
• Cool Boat: The cruise ship contains a remarkable amount of luxuries aboard, including a massive promenade with automated restaurants, warehouse sized shops ranging from sporting goods to jewelry to fabric stores, and more traditional ship-board shops such as a duty-free or convenience store. It also features an Olympic-sized pool on the deck, and large personal cabins for each of the passengers.
  • As of Chapter Two, the list of facilities has expanded to the following:
    • A Video Arcade featuring a large assortment of video games and consoles, standard arcade games, and other games such as Skeeball, complete with a prize counter selling deadly weapons for use in murder.
    • A three story library dedicated to all sorts of useful information on a variety of subjects, alongside fiction and manga.
    • A huge theater with a massive stage and a large prop workshop full of tools and materials.
  • Chapter Three introduces two new large facilities.
    • A fitness center as large as some on land, with several large rooms full of equipment, ranging from cycling machines and other cardio, to tons of weight lifting, a room for martial arts and yoga, and an attached basketball court and squash court. There's also an indoor pool and accompanying hot tub and sauna.
    • There's also the automated spa, which is like any other spa except completely run by robotics. The usual features are included, such as massage tables, massage chairs, manicures and pedicures, mud baths, table showers, and so on. The spa is one of the most calm and peaceful places on the ship.
    • While not a facility, chapter three also unlocks an access corridor, one of the employee-only corridors that snakes through the ship and provides a back-door entrance to many of the ship's facilities leading up to a series of staircases that empty out next to the cabins. This gives people a new way of moving about the ship that avoids the promenade, making it harder to keep track of people coming and going.
  • Chapter Four brings in three different facilities all with an exciting theme:
    • A go-kart race track, with room for up to six go-karts racing at a time, complete with proper safety equipment and automated safety systems. Racers are required to wear helmets, knee pads, and shoulder pads at all times and are secured with seat belts and a restraining bar.
    • An ice skating rink, with built in hockey nets that can descend from the ceiling when requested, allowing for either a skating setup or a hockey setup. It also features an equipment "rental" shop that offers everything from designer ice skates to hockey equipment, arctic coats, and more.
    • An indoor skydiving center, with two tubes for two skydivers at a time. Like the ice rink and the go-kart track, it's replete with safety systems, including a security harness that prevents people from falling to their death if the fans fail.
  • Chapter Five presents two final facilities:
    • A museum themed around astronomy, complete with an IMAX theater and a balcony for telescope observation. The museum includes sample cases for space rocks as well as holographic displays of the planets, including one featuring Earth that claims to have real time tracking of the ship's location. The museum also contains a director's office which has a computer and printer. No real information is available on it but it does allow the passengers to print out notes.
    • A non-denominational temple/church, with a main hall featuring many altars for worship, a separate music room full of all kinds of musical instruments, a "Sunday School" type room for children, and a restroom facility. The temple is geared towards allowing just about any form of worship.
    • The archive room on the first floor of the library also opens up, with a key allowing access located inside. The door features a double cylinder lock, meaning it has to be unlocked with the key from both sides.
  • Then there's the Avenger, Princess Twilight's flagship. It is a cruiser straight out of the First Great War, far more powerful and larger than any ship Equestria had prior to Princess Twilight's reign. Despite the advancements, however, everyone aboard is worried they will be no match for Monoponi.
    • In Chapter 6 Part 4, their fears are confirmed when the Mastermind easily destroys the Avenger with a pair of cruise missiles, after declaring the only reason the Avenger did any damage to the cruise ship was because the Mastermind allowed it.
• Crocodile Tears: In Chapter 5, Adagio does this when crying over how "worried" she is when Sunset suddenly disappears. Of course she isn't actually worried, since she's the one who kidnapped her and left her for dead. Rarity is pretty much the only one who doesn't see right through her sob story though.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Of course! It wouldn't be Danganronpa without these. These are mainly reserved for the execution of the culprits, but the deaths the victims suffer can be pretty graphic too.
  • Wallflower Blush is killed by Timber Spruce via choking her to unconsciousness with a makeshift rope and then busting up her brain stem with a long, narrow piece of ice to the back of her throat.
  • Timber Spruce is tied to a tree and has his arms cut off by Monoponi before being cut in half at the hip.
  • Apple Bloom dies to a trap laid by Sweetie Belle in the form of a spear launched via a coiled spring, stabbing her up through the back and out the chest, until she slowly slides down it like meat on a shish kebab.
  • Sweetie Belle is whipped several times by Monoponi before falling into a tunnel where she is sliced several times by various blades, leading to her being Gutted Like a Fish by the final blade and falling into a pit filled with spikes that impale her entire body, even puncturing her right eye through the back of the skull.
  • Fluttershy is executed via six different gatling miniguns because she stole a ring from the jewelry store. This only occurred because Pinkie Pie planted the ring on her, thinking it was a surprise present to Fluttershy from Rainbow Dash, when in reality the note that told her that was faked by Sci-Twilight Sparkle.
  • Pinkie Pie is killed by Trixie by deliberately injecting her with morphine, oxycodone, and heroin after suffering heat stroke in the sauna that knocked her unconscious.
  • Sci-Twi is executed via being strapped to a six-spoked wheel and having various magical effects wash over her, including electricity, acid, water, ice, earth, and finally to finish it, fire, which burns her to a pile of ash. This was all performed by a spectral version of Midnight Sparkle, her own evil transformation from My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Friendship Games, with the execution name referencing the movie's song that prompted her transformation.
  • Rainbow Dash is murdered by Flash Sentry by lining the bottom of her go-kart with sharpened ice skates and then deliberately crashing into her, causing the skates to slice open her femoral arteries at the back of the knees, resulting in her slowly bleeding to death while having a final conversation with her murderer.
  • Flash Sentry kills himself in the act of murdering Rainbow Dash. He'd been sick with mononucleosis, which caused his spleen to swell. When he crashed into Rainbow, his spleen burst, sealing his fate. Sadly he was effectively kept alive on necromancy-based life support by Monoponi just so he could be executed.
    • Flash Sentry is then executed via Monoponi using Rainbow Dash's body as a puppet to chase Flash around, beat him, rip off a piece of his arm with her teeth, then smash his face into his own car, blinding him. It ends with her ripping open his chest, pulling out his heart and tearing it in half, and then punching him in the face so hard it splits his brain into pieces.
  • In a rare aversion, Adagio Dazzle is killed by Trixie in a swift, relatively painless fashion, by stunning her senses with a barrage of pranks, including a burst of confetti, burning incense candles that both stank and flickered, and a series of instruments set to rattle, then beaning her over the head with a rock to stun her further and finishing her with a stab to the back of the neck.
  • Trixie is executed by Monoponi via being strapped to a stage full of fireworks, peppered by smaller ones, and then repeatedly subjected to the Gale-Force Sound of larger fireworks, while having her eardrums healed every time they burst so she can suffer. Then she is pelted by stones until her limbs break, and finally has a massive firework explode in the sky that summons up a gigantic Monoponi face. She's then placed into a cannon painted like Pinkie Pie's party cannons and fired up into it to be Eaten Alive. What's left of her head lands on one final firework, which then blows it to bits.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • When Sunset and Adagio have a swimming race Adagio dominates it, lapping Sunset several times while laughing the whole way. It certainly helps that Adagio is technically a siren and thus spent most of her life in the water.
  • The same thing happens later when Sunset Shimmer joins Adagio, Flash, Rainbow, and Scootaloo in go-kart races. She smokes them every time thanks to her motorcycle driving experience and reckless driving techniques.
• A Death in the Limelight: Fluttershy gets a lot more focus in Chapter 3 then she did in the previous chapters. However, she is executed by the end of Part 2, due to (supposedly) breaking one of the rules and stealing from one of the stores.
• Descent into Addiction: The third investigation confirms that Pinkie Pie turned to drugs to help her function after the first trial, due to witnessing such a horrifying execution. Things got worse after the second trial, and reaches its climax when Pinkie apparently causes the death of Fluttershy.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: Apple Bloom dies from her fatal wound while being cradled in Applejack's arms.
• Disappointed in You: Rarity tells Sweetie Belle she is disappointed in her, after it is confirmed that Sweetie Belle made the Death Trap that killed Apple Bloom.
• Discard and Draw: After the second trial, Monoponi removes the feature on the Monopad that let the passengers track their locations, due to considering it to be a misuse, and informs them all about the texting app in the Monopad, telling them to use that from now on to share their locations.
• Drama-Preserving Handicap: The cruise ship the passengers are being held on could probably be easily located with satellite technology, allowing a rescue to be performed much easier. However, everyone agrees to try to keep the government out of this situation for now, since it would mean exposing Equestria, magic, and the various portals. This means that a potential rescue takes longer to plan and execute, meaning it is more likely more of the passengers will die in the meantime.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • Almost none of the participants in the killing game, except for some exceptions like the sisters and Rainbow and Fluttershy, who have known each other for years, realize they were friends back in high school, because their memories of each other were stolen.
  • Adagio tells Sunset how she is a siren from Equestria, and she and her sisters at some point were defeated and had their magic stripped from them. What neither of them realize though is that Sunset was the one responsible for that happening to them.
• Dying Declaration of Love:
  • Apple Bloom uses her last words to tell Applejack she loves her, before dying in her arms.
  • Flash and Sci-Twi both tell each other they love them before Sci-Twi is dragged away to her execution.
• Even Evil Has Standards: As Adagio explains, sirens might feed on negativity from others and manipulate creatures into fighting, but they don’t kill people.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • After everyone witnesses the first execution at the end of the first trial, everyone is completely shocked and disgusted by it, even Adagio Dazzle and Diamond Tiara, who up to that point made it clear they didn't really care about anyone else in the Killing Game.
  • Sunset might hate Trixie after the third trial, due to her betraying her trust and murdering Pinkie, but she doesn't want to go out of her way to bully her and make fun of her for her new handicapped status from having her leg cut off.
• Exact Words: In the third trial's aftermath, Monoponi allows everyone to vote on which blackened would be executed, by saying "Whichever one has the majority wins!" However, when the majority votes for Trixie, he reveals this means Trixie gets to live, and it's Twilight who gets executed.
  Monoponi: I said, whoever you voted for won! I didn’t say what they won!
• Eye Scream: Sweetie Belle, Twilight Sparkle, and Flash Sentry all suffer partial or total blindness during their respective executions.
• Face Death with Dignity: Both Sweetie Belle and Sci-Twi attempt this before being lead off to their executions, only for both to panic and break when actually dying.
• Fair-Play Whodunnit: The author states that by the time the investigations are finished, the murders are entirely solvable before the trials begin, even encouraging readers to try to figure out who the culprit is before the characters do.
• Faking the Dead: It is revealed that the Mastermind, Cozy Glow, did this. The dead body that seemed to be her in Equestria was actually her human counterpart. This allowed her to secretly plan her revenge in the human world.
• Flipping the Bird:
  • Diamond Tiara flips everyone off in the first trial when they momentarily suspect her of being the culprit.
  • Timber Spruce also flips off Flash Sentry after Flash points out a flaw in his defense.
  • Flash flips off Monoponi after the first trial, when Monoponi claims he gave them peace and comfort but it was one of them that chose to disrupt that by killing someone.
• Frame-Up:
  • Most of the evidence gathered during the second murder investigation seems to point to Apple Bloom as the one who set up the Death Trap. However, the problem with that is Apple Bloom was the victim of the case, sacrificing herself to shove Sunset and Trixie out of harms way of the trap.
  • It is confirmed before the third investigation begins that someone planted the stolen ring on Fluttershy and tricked Monoponi into believing she broke the rules by stealing it, leading to her being executed for absolutely no reason.
  • It turns out in the third trial that Rainbow Dash was framed by Trixie so well that Rainbow Dash herself thought she committed the murder, and in turn tried to frame Applejack and Rarity for it. Trixie also planted evidence to point towards Adagio being the killer, in case everyone figured out Rainbow was innocent. Ironically, this was what ultimately got her caught.
• Genre Savvy: The Danganronpa game series exists in the Equestria Girls world, and Sunset Shimmer remembers playing them. Thus, she recognizes several moments taken from the games, like announcing the Killing Game, the various motives and trials, and the Scrum Debates.
• Gone Horribly Wrong: Sci-Twi tried to teach Pinkie Pie a lesson about foolishly trusting others on faith alone in the Killing Game. She faked a note from Rainbow Dash to Pinkie, telling her to help surprise Fluttershy by secretly planting a ring on her in one of the stores. Her intention was for Fluttershy to spot her planting the ring and stop her, but instead she ends up successfully planting the ring, and Fluttershy is wrongfully executed for allegedly breaking the rules via theft.
• The Hero Dies: Sunset Shimmer, the main protagonist of the story and the one whose point of view the narration has followed through every chapter but the Interludes, is killed in Chapter 5 by Adagio Dazzle. Subverted later, when it is revealed that Sunset is still alive, and arrives in the middle of the trial with her arm in a sling.
• Hope Spot: At the end of the third trial, Monoponi gives the passengers a chance to vote on which of the two blackeneds, Sci-Twi or Trixie, will get executed. Almost everyone wants for Sci-Twi to survive, since unlike Trixie she didn't actually mean for anyone to die, and everyone but Trixie and Sci-Twi herself votes for Trixie. However, Monoponi reveals Sci-Twi is the one getting executed. He attempts to justify this with Exact Words, saying he never said what the majority vote would win, but Sunset sees right through him, realizing he was planning to execute Sci-Twi from the start.
• The "I Love You" Stigma: Adagio accidentally tells Sunset that she loves her, to the surprise of both of them. Before Sunset can asks her anything else though, Adagio changes the topic, clearly enraged by her slip of the tongue, and leaving Sunset to ponder if she loves Adagio too. After Sunset gets her to say it on purpose to her, she realizes her own feelings and tells Adagio she loves her too.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Apple Bloom is impaled through the back and out the chest with a spear via a Death Trap.
• Karmic Nod: Trixie accepts her fate of being locked away in her cabin by the others during the early parts of Chapter Four because she murdered Pinkie Pie but wasn't executed for it.
• Kick Them While They Are Down: At the end of the third trial, Trixie is punished by Monoponi, by having her right leg cut off, and nobody shows any sympathy to her or attempts to help her, not even Sunset. When Trixie tries to apologize to Sunset for what she did, saying she just didn’t want to risk losing her best friend, Sunset slaps her across the face and tells her she already has.
• Leader Wannabe: After the first trial, Diamond Tiara appoints herself leader of the group, even though she barely has any qualities needed to be a leader and always tries to make Sunset out to be the traitor and/or culprit. Nearly everyone else thinks Sunset would be the better choice, but she declines the position. During the second investigation though, Sunset takes command once again, much to Diamond Tiara's frustration. This is subverted after the second trial, when she starts acting nicer to everyone and taking her position as leader more seriously.
• Let Me at Him!: Twilight loses it when Monoponi lets out that she had sex with Flash after their first date and tries to attack him, forcing Sunset to restrain her while she screams that she is going to smash him to pieces. She only calms down after Flash speaks to her and tells her that Monoponi's not worth it.
• The Lost Lenore: Sci-Twi is this to Flash Sentry. The two start a relationship shortly into the Killing Game, but hit a few rough patches along the way. Shortly after they make amends, Sci-Twi is found guilty for killing Fluttershy and is sentenced to execution, with her and Flash only having enough time to tell each other they love them and share a Last Kiss together before she is dragged away and executed.
• The Matchmaker: Sunset encourages Flash and Twilight to get together at Pinkie's party. The two are a couple before the end of the night.
• Moment of Weakness:
  • For Rainbow Dash, when Pinkie confesses to her that she was the one who planted the ring on Fluttershy that got her executed and blamed her for it, Rainbow storms out of the sauna, slamming the door behind her and turning up the heat. When she comes back later, she finds Pinkie Pie inside, dead. She is horrified that she apparently killed her, but it turns out to be subverted since she didn't kill Pinkie, much to her relief.
  • Trixie just happened to be in the fitness center at the wrong time, watching Rainbow Dash storm out of the sauna and turn up the heat. Seeing the perfect opportunity before her, Trixie gave into the motive, intending to escape the ship with her best friend Sunset Shimmer, and killed Pinkie Pie.
• Multiple Narrative Modes: On occasion, the story switches away from Sunset's first person perspective to feature Princess Twilight Sparkle from a third person perspective, where we get to see how she works to try and rescue the passengers from the killing game.
  • Although it's still first person, Trixie takes over as protagonist for Sunset for the Chapter Five investigation and trial because everyone thought Sunset was murdered by Adagio by being trapped in the library archive room to the point of dying from dehydration.
• Mythology Gag: Plenty are made to the Danganronpa series.
  • The participants in the Killing Game once again suffer Laser-Guided Amnesia.
  • The first chapter includes a party to try to prevent a murder and bond the group together, like in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. Though a murder does take place during the party, nobody finds out about it until the next day after the party is over.
  • The second chapter relates to everyone's secrets like in the first game, but the messages they receive are all shuffled, with everyone receiving someone else's secret. The difference is that this was intentional, unlike in Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, where the mixup was accidental.
  • Also in the second chapter, there is a magic show that results in someone's death. Sunset even asks Trixie if her big trick in the finale will involve a water tank escape with piranhas being dropped in.
  • Also in the second chapter, there is an off-handed comment by Sunset while exploring the library to Rarity that the archives won't matter unless someone turns out to secretly be a Serial Killer with a Split Personality, referencing Toko Fukawa from Trigger Happy Havoc.
  • In Chapter 3, Sunset shares with everyone how there is always a double murder for the third trial. This ends up being zig-zagged, since Fluttershy is executed for breaking the rules by stealing but when the actual motive is given to everyone Monoponi declares one of the requirements for it is to only kill one person.
    • This then ends up turning out to be true to form after all, when it is revealed Fluttershy was murdered after all because someone planted the ring on her.
  • In Chapter 3 of the third game, there is a rule added regarding multiple blackeneds, that turns out to be pointless, because the same person killed both victims. In this story's chapter three, however, there really are two blackeneds.
  • In the Danganronpa games, the only Chapters to features two murder are the third. So when Flash dies in the middle of the investigation of Rainbow's murder in Chapter Four, Sunset is so shocked she ends up fighting with Monoponi over the pointlessness of it all.
  • Chapter Five finally makes the requisite 11037 joke, in the form of a part of a larger set of numbers that corresponded to the glass case containing rock samples from the planet Ares. Naturally this occurs when the protagonist role has been taken over by Trixie, meaning the protagonist fails to catch the joke in the narrative.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: When an argument between Applejack and Diamond Tiara escalates into a fight after Applejack calls Diamond Tiara a bitch, Applejack quickly takes control of the fight and subjects Diamond Tiara to this, throwing her into a table and beating her while she is down. The others end up trying to restrain her.
• No Sympathy: None of the other passengers show any concern or sympathy when Trixie has her right leg cut off by Monoponi, with nobody even trying to help her stand or get used to her crutches. Though this is justified since Trixie had murdered Pinkie Pie.
• Obvious Rule Patch:
  • The passengers use their Monopads to track where everyone is throughout the day, and use that information during the trials to discuss who was where at what time to easier discover who the culprit is. After the second trial, Monoponi declares this to be a "misuse of resources" and makes it so the Monopads no longer track their locations. However, he does say it is fair to use the Monopads to text your location.
  • After Monoponi was unwittingly used as a tool for murder, being tricked into believing Fluttershy stole a ring from a store and execute her for it, only to discover that Sci-Twi set the whole thing up by writing a fake note from Rainbow to Pinkie and having her plant the ring on Fluttershy, he later declares that if anyone causes someone to break a rule on purpose, they will be punished instead.
• Once More, with Clarity: During the trials, usually when an important clue is brought up or someone is suspected of being the culprit, a flashback will highlight that particular piece of evidence or something the suspect previously said or did that draws more attention to them.
• Poor Communication Kills: An unfortunate literal example. When Flash Sentry gets sick with mononucleosis, Rainbow Dash buys him two medicines, tramadol and methylphenidate, to help him get better. But, neither of them were aware that taking these two medicines together can causes seizures or even death, and when Flash took them, he suffered one that caused him to pass out and hit his head. When he awoke, his head injury and illness impaired his sense of judgment, and he mistook Rainbow's attempt to help him as an attempt to kill him. So he decided kill Rainbow first.
• Positive Friend Influence: It is noted that Adagio has become a lot nicer since she and Sunset got together.
• Redemption Equals Death: In Chapter Three, Trixie kills Pinkie Pie in a cruel, arguably malicious way, to selfishly preserve Sunset's life and her own. She feels utterly horrible about it the whole time, and spends Chapter Four being locked away and hated by everyone, even Sunset for a while, until Sunset and then Rarity re-befriend her. By Chapter Five, she's forgiven by Rarity and Sunset, and is given a way to leave her room by Sunset, in secret. This is what allows her to witness Adagio's attempt to murder Sunset, and gives her the chance to fully enact her redemption by killing Adagio in a relatively painless manner and using Monoponi's promised stay of execution on Sunset to extend the trial long enough to allow Sunset to free herself from the archive room, and preserve everyone elses lives to boot by preventing Adagio from winning the trial. Of course, by the end of the trial, she's outed herself as guilty, and we all know what happens to the blackened when they're caught...
• Redemption Rejection: Adagio seems to become a lot nicer when she and Sunset become a couple, but it all goes out the window when Adagio learns that Sunset is the one responsible for her losing her magic. She destroys Sunset's room and property, attacks her, and eventually leaves her to die, declaring she no longer loves her.
• Replacement Goldfish: In Chapter 4 Rainbow Dash essentially uses Flash as a replacement for Fluttershy. The two of them became friends thanks to bonding over having someone they cared about taken away by Monoponi, but Rainbow is mainly comforting Flash during his panic attacks and trauma from watching Sci-Twi die, much like how she used to comfort Fluttershy.
• Sanity Slippage: Sci-Twi slowly becomes colder over the course of Chapter Two's trial, culminating in mad rantings over Adagio Dazzle's secret the day before Pinkie Pie is murdered.
• Second Love: The final chapter reveals Sunset and Rarity have gotten married and thus serve as this for each other, since Sunset was previously in love with Adagio and Rarity was previously married to Applejack.
• Scrappy Mechanic: In-Universe, Sunset absolutely hates the Scrum Debates from Danganronpa. So she is always annoyed when they end up doing one in the trials. By the end of the story everyone else in the group has grown to hate them just as much, except Diamond Tiara who admits they were kind of fun.
• Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: During the trial in Chapter 3, Flash calls out Monoponi for apparently breaking one of his own rules, specifically Rule #11: "Monoponi will never directly participate in a Rescue Attempt", since he was the one who falsely murdered Fluttershy. Monoponi declares he considered that, and thus allowed the rule to be "bent" just this once, declaring that since he was tricked like the rest of them, he was ultimately just a tool used for murder. When Rainbow Dash tries to call bullshit on that reasoning, Monoponi simply says he makes the rules and decides how to interpret them.
• Secret Secret-Keeper:
  • Enforced by Monoponi in the second motive. He gives everyone someone else’s secret, which can range from a personal secret to who the traitor in the group is, but forbids them from sharing who received whose secret or what they were, adding to the paranoia between the group.
  • Fluttershy admits that she knew that Sunset and Adagio were a couple shortly after the first trial long before they revealed it in the second trial. According to her it was because she noticed Sunset buy Adagio some sunglasses and knew what it meant.
• Shame If Something Happened: When Applejack discovers that Adagio is a siren, Adagio tells her she is a predator, and therefore very dangerous. Although she says Sunset has been teaching her how to be nice, she would hate for there to be a reason for her to "suddenly" forget all of her lessons. She does all this while invading Applejack's personal space and never raising her voice.
• Ship Sinking:
  • In Chapter 3 it is revealed that Applejack and Rarity were married previously, before their memories were erased. However, during the trial of that chapter, Rarity sides against Applejack when Applejack accuses Diamond Tiara of being Pinkie's murderer, and calls Applejack out on her pettiness. Applejack responds by giving Rarity a Spiteful Spit and declaring she can't believe she was ever married to someone like her.
    • By Chapter 4, Rarity and Applejack give the relationship thing one more chance, making it appear like they'll stick together this time, but it goes horribly wrong, and Rarity declares they're through this time.
  • Flash and Sci-Twi’s romance comes to an unfortunate end due to Sci-Twi’s execution at the end of Chapter 3.
  • Adagio and Sunset Shimmer's relationship ends violently when Adagio finds out that Sunset is responsible for taking away her magic.
• Spiteful Spit: During the third trial, when Rarity speaks in Diamond Tiara's defense and stands up to Applejack for her pettiness and bitterness, Applejack responds by spitting in Rarity's direction, with it landing between the empty podiums between them, and cruelly remarking that she can't believe she was ever married to Rarity.
• Survivor's Guilt: After Sunset just barely avoids being killed by a Death Trap thanks to Apple Bloom saving her, but at the cost of her own life, she is filled with guilt and fear during the investigation, especially when it becomes clear she was the intended victim.
• Take Me Instead: Rarity begs to be executed in Sweetie Belle's place after the latter is found guilty at the end of the second trial.
• "Take That!" Kiss: In the fourth trial, Monoponi "congratulates" Diamond Tiara for making a correct assumption about the smoke detectors by cupping her cheeks and telling her he could kiss her, causing her to vomit behind her podium at the idea. This gets a Call-Back later when during the last trial, the Mastermind, Cozy Glow, says she and Diamond Tiara never did get to kiss, and mockingly flirts with her, asking her if she wants to make up for lost time before puckering up and making kissing noises at her. Diamond Tara just covers her mouth to stop from throwing up again and begs her no, to which Cozy just shrugs and says it is her loss.
• Taking the Bullet: Apple Bloom notices the Death Trap right before it activates at the end of Trixie's magic show, she has just enough time to shove Sunset Shimmer and Trixie out of the way to safety, at the cost of being killed by the trap herself.
• Teeth Flying: During their brief fight, Applejack knocks out some of Diamond Tiara's teeth.
• Throat-Slitting Gesture: Applejack does this to everyone else as part of her Badass Boast before the second trial.
• Together in Death:
  • As Apple Bloom slowly succumbs to her fatal wound, she tells Applejack that it is okay because she is going to get to see their mom and dad again.
  • In Chapter 4, Sunset hopes that if there is an afterlife then Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are reunited. She later hopes the same thing for Flash Sentry and Sci-Twi, thinking that if any couple deserves to be reunited it is them.
• Tomato in the Mirror: In the second part of Chapter Six the traitor is revealed. It was Sunset Shimmer all along.
• Toilet Humor: During Pinkie's party in Chapter 1, a bad batch of Apple Cider causes Applejack, Timber Spruce, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Diamond Tiara to get sick and run to the bathrooms. Rarity later makes herself look suspicious because she was too embarrassed to explain she accidentally defecated herself. This ends up becoming a major piece of evidence in the trial when it was concluded the cider was tainted, and Timber only pretended to be sick with everyone else so he could go off and commit a murder.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Fluttershy, unquestionably the nicest of the passengers and sharing the role as The Heart of the group with Pinkie Pie, is gunned down by Monoponi with several miniguns, serving as an example to the others for (supposedly) breaking the rules.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Twilight noticeably becomes a much bigger jerk in Chapter 3, claiming she no longer trusts anyone and seeing everyone as a potential killer.
• Trauma Button: Being called a bitch is one for Diamond Tiara. It initially seems like a Berserk Button, when she slaps Sunset Shimmer for calling her it. However, she later reveals how her mother constantly abused her and called her a "worthless bitch". Sunset realizes her reaction to being called that again was understandable.
• Two Girls to a Team: Gender reversed example. Unlike the games, where there is usually a Gender-Equal Ensemble among the cast, here the passengers are mostly girls, with Flash Sentry and Timber Spruce being the only two boys present. By the end of the first trial, Flash becomes The One Guy, due to Timber being executed. After Flash's death in Chapter 4, the group officially consists of only girls.
• Unnecessarily Large Vessel: The cruise ship they're living on is the size of the real life cruise ship Symphony of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world. It is ridiculously oversized for the number of people aboard, but this was intentional by the author, to provide a simultaneous feeling of vast emptiness and confinement in luxury.
• Was It All a Lie?: This is Adagio's reaction to finding out Sunset is responsible for her losing her magic.
• We All Die Someday: Fluttershy says this to Sunset Shimmer just hours before being executed by Monoponi for stealing.
• We Used to Be Friends: Sunset becomes friends with Trixie in Chapter 2, but after finding out that Trixie murdered Pinkie Pie in Chapter 3 and framed Rainbow Dash for it (and Adagio to an extent too), she is so enraged by this act of betrayal that she says Trixie isn't her friend anymore, just a monster. She even hopes that they get to vote which of the two culprits gets executed, just so she can vote for Trixie.
• What the Hell, Hero?: During the third trial, Sunset purses one lead from the evidence gathered, and declares that Rarity could have murdered Pinkie Pie and Applejack tampered with the crime scene to cover for her. However, this turns out to be completely wrong, and the two of them call out Sunset for accusing them even after everything they did to be friends with her. Just because Sunset is the main character of the story, that doesn't mean every single lead she purses is going to automatically be right.
• Wham Episode: The first two chapters follow a lot of standards for Danganronpa, but Chapter 3 is when things really take a turn. Throughout the chapter, Diamond Tiara tries to step up as a leader, it is discovered that Applejack and Rarity used to be married, Fluttershy is executed for supposedly breaking the rules, and a new motive is introduced that forbids the double murders that have always been the norm for Chapter 3. When Pinkie Pie is discovered murdered, it is revealed that Fluttershy was framed for breaking the rules, making her a murder victim too and opening up the possibility of two culprits. After a lengthy trial, several friendships are damaged, or outright ruined, Sci-Twi is executed for getting Fluttershy killed, and Trixie is punished for murdering Pinkie by having her right leg cut off, with Sunset ending her friendship with Trixie.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: This is how the blackened of the first case tried to establish their alibi. They tainted the apple cider at Pinkie's party, and when several people got sick from drinking it, they pretended to be sick too and ran off with everyone else to supposedly use the bathroom, when they were actually committing a murder. They later present themself as still being sick by taking some of the leftover ipecac.
• Xanatos Speed Chess: The Mastermind is revealed to have been doing this for nearly the whole Killing Game. Though they had a plan on who would kill whom and who would be the survivors, things quickly start falling apart when unexpected circumstances occur, like Flash and Twilight and Sunset and Adagio becoming couples, or the passengers not using the features of the Monopads they were expected to. Despite this though, the Mastermind is good at improvising and adapting, changing motives to suit the situation and manipulate the passengers into killing each other, though their plans still having a high risk of failure.
• Yandere: Adagio Dazzle. Shortly after she and Sunset start sleeping together, she gets jealous when Sunset becomes friends with Trixie, thinking she is being replaced. This leads to her threatening Sunset with a knife, until she is calmed down by being assured that Trixie and her are Just Friends.
• Your Head Asplode: In the execution in Chapter Five, Trixie's head is initially the only thing left, only to be promptly blown up by the last tube of fireworks.

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