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March 18th 2:00 PM
Edgeworth wasn't sure what was worse. The fact that he was being accused of murdering an animal. Or that the one accusing him defied all logic.
The one who screamed was a pony. A purple pony with wings and a horn. A darker purple mane with pink highlights.
"Well?" The pony growled angrily. "What do you murderers have to say for yourselves?"
"Mr. Edgeworth." Kay spoke. "I know I have crazy flights of fancy sometimes. But I think that pony just talked."
"So it seems." Edgeworth muttered, before bowing to the pony. "My name is Miles Edgeworth. I am a prosecutor. Not a murderer."
Kay followed Edgeworth's lead and introduced herself as well. "And I'm Kay Faraday! I'm the- Edgeworth's assistant."
The pony stared in confusion for a moment before introducing herself. "My name is Twilight Sparkle. . . .and that pony there was one of the politicians that were visiting here." She gestured to the body.
Miles studied Twilight before a clever smirk crossed his features. "I suppose you won't drop the notion of us being involved so easily."
"Nope. You were in this locked room for who knows how long. And you were found crouched over the body. When Celestia gets here with the Detectives, you'll be found guilty and banished." Twilight explained.
"Then how about a deal?" Miles proposed. "Allow me to investigate this room, and show you why we couldn't be the murderers. Perhaps then we can have a more civil discussion?"
Twilight mulled it over. "I'll have to watch you closely to make sure you don't try to destroy any evidence."
"Of course." Miles agreed. "I expected no less."
Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Then go ahead. Investigate. But I assure you my logic is solid!"
"We'll see." Edgeworth tapped the side of his nose before facing the room. The first thing I need to do is gather information from the crime scene. My life, and Kay's, rides on this.
Investigation
Start
The first thing Edgeworth did was scan the room for anything else that stood out. Unfortunately, it was spotless.
"For the scene of the murder, the room is unusually tidy" Edgeworth noted.
"Perhaps the victim was caught unawares?" Kay guessed.
"Perhaps. Or perhaps not." Edgeworth replied, before his eyes landed on the window. How he missed it before he didn't know. But the window was wide open.
Edgeworth examined the door that Twilight had entered from. "Besides the obvious, there's nothing new here." He muttered to himself. "The room was locked when we woke."
Twilight was following Edgeworth's progress around the room, but was surprised when he approached her.
"Excuse me, but I have a few questions about. . .well everything really." Edgeworth admitted.
"I suppose I can answer a few." Twilight stated. "But don't stray too far off topic."
"Of course." Edgeworth agreed. "So first: Where are we?"
"You are in a meeting room in the Crystal Palace of the Crystal Empire." Twilight explained. "Judging by your lack of knowledge, you must be from a different world."
"An astute observation." Edgeworth spoke, a little sarcastically.
"But just because you're from somewhere else doesn't mean you get off the hook that easy!" Twilight retorted.
"I figured not." Edgeworth sighed. "Next question: What kind of pony are you?"
Twilight paused for a moment before pulling a children's book out of thin air in a flash of purple light. "Please. Read this. . .encyclopedia. It details all forms of ponies, and then some."
"It's. . .a children's book." Kay pointed out.
"Well I'm sorry! This is very basic stuff here!" Twilight huffed.
"And I'm glad to have any information." Miles assured Twilight. Because I'm going to need all this information and then some to escape this strange dream.
Edgeworth gently opened the book and looked inside. Each page detailed the different races of ponies, and their attributes.
Page one had an illustration of a normal looking pony pulling a plow. It explained that this was an Earth Pony, which had the ability to farm and manipulate rocks in some cases.
Page two showed a pair of winged horses flying through the sky. One carried a storm cloud. These are the Pegasi, who can fly and manipulate the weather.
Page three was a pony levitating objects with magic from it's horn. It was a unicorn. Unicorns all have different levels of magic, but levitation is the most basic spell.
The fourth page showed a pony more closer to Twilight. Both wings and a horn. It was labeled "Alicorn". Alicorns have the ability of all three pony races, but only four known alicorns currently exist.
"Wow. Who knew ponies were capable of being so awesome?!" Kay gasped as she read over Mile's shoulder. "I could use a pegasus to help in some of my heists. Heck, I could be a true Yatagarasu if I had wings of my own!"
"And then I'd have to make Gumshoe haul you in." Edgeworth pointed out.
"Well you'd have trouble if I was a pegasus. I'd be able to outrun, or out fly, Gummy." Kay retorted.
Edgeworth jotted down the book in his organizer. "Either way, this book is a great help."
After putting the book away Edgeworth moved over to the crime scene. Besides the cloth, everything was still untouched.
"This crystal is definitely covered in the same blood as the cloth. It's no long stretch to say that it is the murder weapon." Miles noted aloud. "Furthermore, it seems this cloth was used to absorb some of the blood."
Edgeworth scanned the pony. It was white furred with a greying blue mane..He had only one puncture wound on the back of his neck. Most of the blood there was dry at this point. More interesting was the fact that the ground underneath the victim was spotless.
"Well, Mr. Edgeworth." Twilight broke the silence. "It seems you're nearing the end of your investigation."
"So it seems." Edgeworth returned to Twilight. "I assume you've prepared your logic?"
"I have." Twilight smirked. "I imagine you wish to. . .what was it. . .examine me?"
Edgeworth paused for a moment before correcting her. "You mean a cross-examination?"
"Yes. That." Twilight answered quickly. "Now, hear my sound reasoning Miles."
ARGUMENT
Twilight's LogicA
"The logic here is simple."
"This room was locked the entire day. No one could get in or out without permission."
"When the victim came here, it was to presumably take a break."
"However, shortly after that, you two arrived here, and one of you struck him from behind, out of fear."
"That's when I came in, to see you hiding the body."
END
"So you believe our motive is fear?" Edgeworth asked.
"Correct." Twilight replied. "You are strangers in a strange world. The victim most likely startled you."
"I. . .suppose that is one explanation of events." Edgeworth shook his head. "But I do not think it is the most likely explanation."
"Then show me Edgeworth. Show me what is likely." Twilight rebutted.
Edgeworth bowed in response. "Of course."
REBUTTAL
"This room was locked the entire day. No one could get in or out without permission."
"Permission?" Edgeworth questioned. "From who would one get permission?"
"Princess Cadence, ruler of the Crystal Empire. Or the captain of her guard. Only they had the ability to grant permission." Twilight explained.
"And no one else could freely enter this room besides those two?" Edgeworth pressed.
"Just them and the cleaning crew. But the cleaning crew only works in the early mornings." Twilight explained. "So you can't just pin this on the maid."
"Of course." Edgeworth smirked. "Now, if you would continue your testimony.
"When the victim came here, it was to presumably take a break."
"He came here to take a break? And the Captain of the Guard let him?" Edgeworth pressed.
"Of course. This room wasn't scheduled for use today, and all the politicians here were to be treated as our honored guests." Twilight countered. "If it bothers you so much, just ask the guard who let him in."
"In time, I plan to. But for now, I wish to hear the rest of your logic." Edgeworth requested.
"However, shortly after that, you two arrived here, and one of you struck him from behind, out of fear."
"So, you believe that our motive was fear?" Edgeworth pressed.
"Correct. You are new here. You'd have no other motive." Twilight confirmed.
"You would be correct that we had no motive." Edgeworth agreed. "However, if we were afraid, how do you explain our demeanor now?"
"Perhaps you two calmed down and got a grasp on your situation." Twilight argued.
"I don't think that's likely." Edgeworth disagreed. "But I digress. Arguing motive changes nothing. Please, let me hear the last of your logic."
"That's when I came in, to see you hiding the body."
"So, if I have your logic correctly. . . We were in the middle of hiding the body when you got here?" Edgeworth pressed. "Meaning the murder just happened?"
"Clearly." Twilight confirmed. "You must not have had time to move the body."
So Twilight thinks that this murder just happened. Do I agree with this? Edgeworth thought to himself.
"I'm afraid this is where your logic falls flat." Edgeworth shook his head. "But if you had observed the crime scene as I had, you'd notice the blood on both the victim and cloth is dry. Meaning that this murder couldn't be recent."
"So the time of death changed." Twilight huffed. "Does that change anything?"
"Not at first." Edgeworth admitted. "Not until we begin asking some questions. First: when did the victim die? Secondly, where is the rest of the blood from his wound? As you can see, the floor is spotless."
"So you cleaned it up with the cloth. Case closed." Twilight smirked.
"The cloth appears to have some blood yes. But there would still be off-colored streaks on the floor. And the cloth itself should have more blood on it." Edgeworth countered.
"Then. . . What is the answer here?" Twilight sighed in defeat.
"The answer, is that there was indeed, a third party." Edgeworth finished his argument.
"So now what?" Kay asked the now quiet room. "Do we just stand around and wait for the police?"
"That would be for the best." Twilight agreed. "Perhaps they'll give us some insight we don't have."
Edgeworth nodded. "In the meantime, I think I have enough logic to answer some of my pressing questions. So, a moment of silence please."
Edgeworth closed his eyes as he began to compile all that he learned of this crime.
"What's he doing?" Twilight asked.
Kay grinned, "just wait, he's gonna blow your mind."
To be continued. . .