The Heart of an Author - Truths · 12:24am Jun 17th, 2014
Howdy! This blog post contains spoilers current to the most recent chapter (Chapter 16) of The Heart of an Author.
Chapter 13
“Everything I speak in red is the truth! There’s absolutely no need to doubt it!”
“Unicorn magic in no way factored into the commission of this crime or the construction of this closed room."
“Hidden doors? Pffft. Knocks would be rolling in his grave if he could hear you now. There is only one door to Rarity’s room.”
“Everypony that entered or exited Rarity’s bedroom in the past forty-eight hours did so via the door and used it like doors are normally used.
“For the purposes of this game, ‘pony’ refers to any sapient creature capable of free will.”
There are only two keys that can lock or unlock the door to Rarity's bedroom. Furthermore, the door can only be locked or unlocked with one of the two keys."
The key to Rarity’s bedroom was in the envelope Fluttershy received."
"The envelope Fluttershy received and the envelope you received were the same."
Chapter 14
"Nopony can pass through a magical barrier created by Twilight Sparkle without breaking it."
Chapter 15
--- GOLDEN CLOSED ROOM
"No tricks accomplishable solely by unicorn magic factored into the construction of this closed room.""There are no hidden doors in this room. A hidden door is defined as anything a pony could use as an entrance or exit that is not discovered by the detective."
"All the windows are locked from the inside. Why, that just leaves the door, right? How could anypony possibly escape?"
--- GOLDEN CLOSED ROOMFrom now on, the three preceding truths will define a 'Golden Closed Room'."
“There’s no closed room in the first place! The door to Celestia and Luna’s study has an auto-lock on it.”
“In this game the study has no auto-lock! The only way to lock or unlock the door is with the key.
“There is only one key that is capable of opening the study!”
“Everything I say in red is the truth! I thought we trusted each other?”
The culprit took the key from Fluttershy, and used it to lock the door behind them.”
“Fluttershy’s key was destroyed, and can no longer be used to lock or unlock a door!
“The culprit was still hiding in the study when I tore open the door!”
When I was inspecting one of the rooms in the study, the culprit snuck out behind me!”
“At the time Twilight Sparkle entered the study, there were no living ponies inside the study. This applies to all three interior rooms.”
“Fluttershy entered the room, locked the door behind her for some reason, and then fell victim to unknown trap X! The details of the type of trap that would produce a result like this are irrelevant. There are all sorts of devices that could remotely kill somepony, even with fire or ice.“
Nopony in the study was killed by a trap!”
"The death was a suicide! Fluttershy was threatened or coerced into taking her own life after locking herself inside, probably to spare somepony else. Some method of self incineration was used, or something capable of disposing of the body after the fact."
"Fluttershy did not commit suicide, assisted or otherwise."
"Fluttershy isn't dead! Somepony faked her death, using the ashes of something else to make it look like she has been burned alive!"
"Those ashes belong to Fluttershy!
"In regards to the first closed room, the envelope remained sealed from the time Fluttershy received it till the time you opened it.
--- Real World
"I wrote this mystery to be solvable. Um, to the best of my ability, anyway."
“Knocks’ 1st. It is forbidden for the culprit to be anyone not mentioned in the early part of the story.
But, um, if a character’s purpose is to be used as a mere tool or as a weapon for others, their presence in the narrative need not be foreshadowed. Thus, it would not contradict Knocks.
Chapter 16
The Letter
“There are no more than eight ponies in this mansion.
Fluttershy is dead.
Pinkie Pie is dead.
Rarity is dead.
At midnight, everypony in this mansion will be dead.
I will kill you.
…
Who am I?”Fluttershy Vs. Twilight Real World
“Every closed room is a ‘Golden Closed Room’.”
The culprit was able to set the chain lock from outside the door by using a tool or device such as a wire.
“For the purposes of this game, no tool or device capable of setting a chain lock from the outside exists.
“For every closed room, the culprit was still inside the room hiding at the time Twilight opened it!”
“Right after Twilight Sparkle opened the study but before she entered it she paused, coughing on the dust kicked up by tearing the door open. The culprit was hiding nearby, and slipped out of the room right before Twilight actually entered it!”
“For each of the closed rooms, the culprit was not present inside the room at the time the door was opened.”
“Before the key to Rarity’s room was sealed in an envelope, it was used to create a mold! Afterwards, the mold was used to create a key, which was used to commit the crime before the culprit destroyed it. At the time Twilight received the key, there were only two keys total.”
“For the purposes of this game, no devices exist capable of forging a new key out of a mold.”
After committing the crime in the study, the culprit hid themselves somewhere like a dresser drawer before killing themself. Pinkie Pie’s corpse was hidden in the same manner. This bypasses both red truths, as a dead body is no longer ‘the culprit!’”
“Knocks’ 8th: It is forbidden for the case to be resolved with clues that are not presented.
the culprit did not die in the study.”
“Rarity and Applejack committed suicide in the second closed room! After Applejack confessed the truth about her relationship, Rarity freaked out, and after they reconciled they agreed that the only resolution was a lovers suicide!”
“It’s more plausible than your last try, but Rarity and Applejack did not commit suicide.And since I already know what you’ll try next, Rarity and Applejack did not kill each other.”
“For the first closed room, the culprit dismantled the shed in some fashion and then rebuilt it around the bodies!”
“The shed has remained intact for the entire duration of the game.”
“The culprit killed Pinkie Pie and put her in the shed, then fed or strapped some kind of small bomb to Fluttershy! After forcing Fluttershy to lock herself in, the culprit detonated it, killing her!”
For the fourth closed room, the culprit—”
FYI, one of the red truths on this list is supposed to be blue.
2212572 Bah. Thanks, fixed. This web of color codes gets confusing sometimes.