The elevator descended deeper and deeper as we all struggled to think of anything positive to say. Somepony among us had so coldheartedly murdered two more of our friends, after all... two of my best friends. And for what? With the motive this time being what it was, why would anypony pick now, of all times, to kill?
Finally, the elevator came to a stop with a loud creak, and the doors opened up into the familiar trial room. This time, Monokuma had decorated it to resemble a dungeon - solid stone walls glowed with an eerie light, and much of the curtains, draperies and candle sconces had been taken away. The bear himself sat on his throne, a paw to his chin in pensive thought.
"My, my... it feels pretty toothless with all these empty seats," he remarked, motioning to Discord, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash's newly-added portraits. All of their greyed-out faces were covered in red paint: while Fluttershy had a red butterfly over her face, Rainbow had two crossed lightning bolts over hers, and the paint on Discord's portrait resembled a living Rorschach inkblot test, constantly moving and morphing.
"And whose fault is that?" Applejack growled under her breath.
"Now, then... let's begin! It's the beginning of the long-awaited class trial!" Monokuma continued, motioning to our podiums. "Please enjoy it to your heart's content!"
And so, as we took our places, the curtain to the third class trial was about to open. Discord, Ultimate Chaos, and Fluttershy, the Ultimate Animal Caretaker... it was she who first got Discord to open up to the idea of friendship, and soon one of our greatest enemies became one of our greatest friends... even if he had an incredibly unconventional way of showing it sometimes. And sweet, timid Fluttershy... when I first met her, she was an anxious, agoraphobic mess of a mare. But over the years my friends and I helped bring her out of her shell, and she gradually became just as assertive, brave and capable as any of us.
...The pony who killed them both is among us. I still don't know if I can believe it... but whether I believe it or not doesn't matter anymore. Unless we figure out the truth, we'll never escape from this hell.
...That's why... I must find it, no matter the cost.
For our sake.
For our friends' sake.
For Discord... and Fluttershy.
*Class Trial! All rise!*
"Let's begin with a simple explanation of the class trial!" Monokuma announced once again, as if we could forget by now. "During the class trial you will present your arguments for who the killer is, and vote for 'whodunnit'. If you vote correctly, then only the blackened will receive punishment. But if you pick the wrong one... then I'll punish everyone besides the blackened, and that pony will earn the right to graduate!"
"Yea, yea, whatever. This one's gonna be over real quick," Fleur waved her hoof.
"Oh? Why do ya say that?" Applejack replied, her eyes narrowed.
"I already know who did it!" she crowed, looking very pleased with herself.
"You do? Who?!" Rarity gasped. A wide smirk spread on Fleur's muzzle.
"Discord, of course."
Everypony gasped, myself included.
Wh-What...?
"And how, exactly, do you know that?" Redheart asked, skeptical.
"Would you like to know how I know that? Let me tell you..." Fleur continued now that she had everypony's attention, her words dripping with a demure sweetness. "It was around noon, the other day... I was entertaining myself by practicing trick shots on the billiards table in the Recreation Room-"
"Wait, you know how to play pool?" Coloratura blinked.
"DON'T FUCKING INTERRUPT ME," Fleur shrieked angrily, shocking Coloratura back into silence. "Where was I? Ahem... as I was lining up my next shot, I happened to glance into the hallway, and I saw Discord passing by to the left. Naturally I thought nothing of it, so I went back to my game. But then I saw him again, not five minutes later, passing back to the right. I thought it odd, but not too out of the ordinary."
My lips pursed. I had to agree that it seemed a bit strange that Discord had done that.
"Then ten minutes later, as I sink the last ball, I just so happen to see Discord again, passing back to the left. By now I had become suspicious, and I peeked into the hallway just in time to see him slinking inside the Chemistry Lab. I muffled my hoofsteps with a quick spell and took a tiny peek inside... and I saw him snatch a bottle from the blue shelves! A full bottle. Now, tell me... does anypony here see a problem with that?"
"Er... Flam, Lightning and I emptied all of those bottles of poison," Coloratura spoke uneasily.
"And we glued the empties to the shelves, and then Flam cast a spell on the glue for good measure," added Lightning.
"Exactly," Fleur nodded once. "Not only were those bottles supposed to be empty, they were also not supposed to be removable. But, it would seem that the charlatan there is doubly such when it comes to magic strength."
"Now, I say, I must disagree with that assessment..." Flam muttered under his breath.
"So Discord earned himself a full bottle of poison. Then he arranged a... quaint little tea party with that Fluttershy mare... and then... he poisoned her food and drink in order to kill her!" Fleur finished assertively.
...Wait... something doesn't feel right about that...
"But Discord also wound up dead at the table," Redheart cut in. "How would you explain that? Surely if he meant to kill Fluttershy so he could escape, he would have kept better track of what refreshments were poisoned."
"How am I to know?" Fleur shrugged. "Maybe he couldn't deal with committing a little murder, and decided to kill himself, too."
"He was kind of a crazy bastard, right?" asked Lightning. "Maybe he grabbed more than one poison to do her in, and he lost track of them?"
"I concur!" I agreed. "Redheart's tests on the refreshments showed that there were three different substances hidden in the food and drink!"
"THREE?! BUT DIDN'T HE ONLY NEED ONE?" gasped Bulk.
"Yes... I read all of the labels when Miss Coloratura, Miss Dust and I were disposing of the poisons," said Flam. "Each one was plenty on its own to cause death."
"Three, huh? Well, I suppose there's no kill like overkill," mused Fleur.
"But it makes no sense," said Redheart. "Why use three when only one is necessary?"
True... that part does seem fishy...
"In order to murder one of us, three different substances were used and hidden within the refreshments," asserted Redheart. "Let's go over which refreshments those were."
"Ah... the teapot, the deviled egg tray and the cucumber sandwich platter," I nodded. "Those all reacted to my Food Tampering Detection Spell."
"Correct," said Redheart, finally pulling out her small stack of test results. "And I identified three different substances concealed within those items... since they are unknown at the moment, I have been referring to them as Substances A, B, and C. First, let's examine the teapot."
The teapot... alright...
"The teapot tested positive for Substances A and B," Redheart continued. "During the investigation, the tin of the tea that was brewed inside the teapot was found."
"The Juniper Green Sencha... Discord told me to use it," Pinkie whimpered. "H-He said it was her favorite..."
"Yes, well... regardless, the tin of tea also tested positive for Substances A and B," said Redheart.
"Juniper Green..." Rarity hummed in thought. "Fluttershy and I have shared many a teacup at the Ponyville Day Spa, and I know they serve that kind of tea... but I cannot recall ever seeing her selecting it to drink."
"SO... NOT HER FAVORITE, THEN?" asked Bulk.
"No... in fact, I believe I remember her selecting a tropical blend more often than not..."
"But... b-but he said... it w-was a lie...?" Pinkie sniffled.
"Ah'm afraid so, sugarcube," sighed Applejack. Pinkie began to cry softly.
"Alright, so the tea was not actually a favorite," said Flam. "Is there anything else about it to talk about?"
"No, I believe we can move on," Redheart shook her head once. "Next I'll bring the deviled eggs to our attention. They tested positive for Substance B, but not Substance A. Furthermore, no evidence linking it to a tainted ingredient within the Kitchen was found."
"That's right... Flam and I found no trace of deviled egg ingredients there," I agreed.
"Uh... that's probably my bad," Pinkie spoke shakily. "I used a bowl and whisk to mix the yolks and other ingredients for the filling... you guys know how if egg dries out it's really hard to clean? So I put it in the sink to soak after I was finished..."
"I see... besides being deceived, you washed away the evidence..." Fleur snickered.
"I-I didn't know...!" Pinkie wailed.
"It's alright," interrupted Redheart. "Seeing how only one substance was detected in the eggs, I don't think the lack of ingredient evidence matters too much. Let's move on to the final items: the cucumber sandwiches."
"Ah, yes," said Flam. "These were a bit of an anomaly, weren't they?"
"Correct. The cucumber sandwiches were the only refreshments to test positive for Substance C, and neither Substance A nor B appeared. Furthermore, only half of the cucumber sandwiches tested positive for Substance C, while the other half did not. During the investigation, a jar of mayonnaise was found in the Kitchen's refrigerator, which also tested positive for Substance C, and only Substance C," Redheart finished.
"Just half of the sandwiches? That seems odd," said Coloratura.
If only half of the sandwiches tested positive for Substance C, and the mayonnaise also tested positive for Substance C, then that means...
...
...Oh! That must be it!
"It's not that odd," I said. "It only means that only half of the sandwiches had mayonnaise in them."
"Just half with mayo?" asked Applejack. "Why not all of 'em?"
"I... I can answer that, too..." Pinkie sighed sadly. "Fluttershy liked mayo on her sandwiches... Discord liked... liked..." Pinkie coughed and choked on her words, as if they were too hard to speak.
"What did he like?" I asked gently. Pinkie gulped powerfully, took a deep breath and lowered her voice to a whisper.
"...Miracle Whip."
Fleur, Rarity, Lightning, and Flam gasped loudly in horror.
"That... monster...!" Fleur spat.
"Eww... how could anypony like that shit?!" Lightning shivered.
...I think Miracle Whip is fine...
"...Ah think it's alright," Applejack shrugged.
"It's got a nice tanginess to it," agreed Coloratura.
See...?! Perfectly acceptable!
"No... no, those are fighting words...!" Rarity glared.
"Calm down, everypony," Redheart sighed. "Now is hardly the time to argue about condiment preferences."
Suddenly, a spark of realization flashed across Bulk's face. "WAIT A MINUTE... DON'T DEVILED EGGS USUALLY HAVE MAYO IN THEM?"
"Ah, I believe so..." Coloratura paused to think for a moment. "Why?"
"THEN HOW COME THERE'S NO SUBSTANCE C IN THE EGGS?"
"...Discord and Fluttershy liked their deviled eggs spicy," Pinkie's shoulders dropped. "There was one time I first made it for them, and they said that it should be spicier, so I made another batch with more mustard and less mayo, but it still wasn't spicy enough for them. So I kept adding more and more mustard and taking out more and more mayo to compensate... eventually when the filling had no mayo and lots of mustard in it, they finally liked it. I-I've made it that way for them ever since."
"Oh... oh, that's fucking nasty," Fleur gagged, sticking out her tongue.
"I dunno, it made sense for Discord to like them that way! And, well, Fluttershy never said she didn't like it... maybe some of his chaos rubbed off on her...?" Pinkie squeaked.
Heh... maybe... For a moment, the thought brought a smile to my face.
"Alright, we've gone over all of the tainted foodstuffs... now what?" asked Flam.
"Now, we get to my final test results," Redheart raised her voice slightly as she held up two sheets of paper. "Just before we were called to the elevator, I took blood samples from the two decedents and ran the same toxicology tests on them. And I believe the results will answer some of our questions."
Everypony, Flam and I especially, leaned onto our podiums in anticipation.
"First, Discord's blood: Substances A and B were present, but not Substance C. And in Fluttershy's blood: all three Substances were present."
"Interesting..." Flam murmured.
"Yes, but of what significance is that?" asked Rarity. "Substances A and B were found within both of them. Substance C was found in the mayonnaise, and mayonnaise was present in half of the sandwiches because Fluttershy preferred it."
"But... there's a difference, right?" said Lightning. "If Discord wanted to kill Fluttershy, then this leads to Substance C being the poison that most likely did it!"
"BUT DISCORD'S DEAD, TOO," said Bulk. "SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?"
I need to think this through... I'm sure if I just use logic, I'll find the answer... If Substances A and B were present in both Discord's and Fluttershy's blood, but only Substance C was found in Fluttershy's blood, then what could Substance C possibly be?
...
...Oh! That must be it!
"...What if one of the substances wasn't a poison, but an A N T I D O T E?" I asked slowly.
"A-An... an a-antidote?" Pinkie choked.
"An antidote?" Fleur groaned. "That's fuckin' stupid, why in Equestria would he do that?"
"No, Twilight brings up a good point," Redheart interrupted. "The other day in the Chem Lab, I took it upon myself to mix together some antidotes to as many of the poisons as I could. When I checked the shelves where I placed them as I was getting the machines ready for my tests... I noticed that one of them was missing."
"...Why would you make antidotes for poisons when they've already been disposed of?" Fleur glared suspiciously.
"In case something exactly like this happened..." Redheart drawled, pinching the bridge of her muzzle. "Although, it would have been greatly preferable if the poisoning victims had realized something was wrong and came to me for treatment."
"Ladies, please..." Flam interjected. "Alright, so perhaps one of these substances was not a poison, but in fact an antidote. Is there a way to tell which substance it was?"
"Unfortunately, not exactly..." Redheart sighed, grimacing. "The machines weren't programmed with the information needed to put names to the substances. However..." she paused as she shuffled through her papers to pull one out, "...I did determine that either Substance A or B is a slow-acting poison."
"And... how did you determine that?" Coloratura spoke carefully.
"Nothing sinister... after I told Twilight about the missing antidote, she took it upon herself to find the empty slow-acting poison bottle. When she found it, I destroyed it to have a new, full bottle appear, and then I tested the substance inside that bottle."
"Yes, and furthermore, when I found the empty slow-acting poison bottle, most of the label had been scratched away," I added.
"Hmm... maybe he noticed I was in the Rec Room when he was acquiring the poison," huffed Fleur. "He might've tried to scratch off the label to hide what he'd taken."
"Wait a minute... somethin' here don't make sense to me," cut in Applejack.
She's right... I think I see it, too...
"Say Discord took the slow-actin' poison, to... kill Fluttershy. Then who took the antidote? And whut about the third substance?"
"The third substance, I have no answer for... but as for the antidote? Perhaps Fluttershy caught on to Discord's scheme, and she grabbed it for herself?" Flam suggested.
"BUT THEN WHY HIDE IT IN THE MAYO?" asked Bulk. "WHY NOT JUST TAKE IT DURING THE TEA PARTY?"
"Fluttershy was always cautious..." Pinkie sniffled, her eyes staring at nothing. "I-If she had heard that Discord was trying to k-kill her at the tea party... she n-never even would've l-left her room today."
"I still can't believe he would've done such a thing..." Rarity sighed. "Discord adored Fluttershy, he would never do anything to hurt her!"
...Oh... OH. Oh, Celestia...
"I'm sorry, but that's wrong!" I shouted, realizing something terrifying. "Rarity... you're absolutely right... Discord would never hurt Fluttershy."
"Er... you do realize Fluttershy's pretty fuckin' dead, right, Twilight?" Lightning winced.
"Yes, but just hear me out," I replied. "AJ, Pinkie, Rarity... we've all been friends with Discord for years, and we've watched him grow closer and closer to Fluttershy ever since."
"They were... basically in love with each other, without ever actually saying they loved each other," Pinkie whimpered.
"So I think... what if Discord took the slow-acting poison... AND the antidote?"
Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity and Coloratura gasped loudly.
"You're... you're saying this was... a kind of suicide?" Flam paled.
"Not quite a suicide," uttered Redheart. "...A suicide designed to actually be a murder."
"Wh... W-What...?" Pinkie breathed.
"If Discord took both the slow-acting poison and the antidote, he could have hidden the poison in the refreshments you were making for them beforehand, while hiding the antidote inside something only Fluttershy would eat," I explained quietly. Pinkie stared in shock for a few moments, then gasped loudly.
"THE TEA!" she screeched. "Discord told me to use the Juniper Green tea!"
"AND THEN HE PUT THE ANTIDOTE IN THE MAYO FOR FLUTTERSHY'S SANDWICHES," Bulk shouted. "HE'D WIND UP DEAD WHILE FLUTTERSHY LIVED!"
Tears formed anew in Pinkie's eyes. "He... h-he used m-me..."
"As an unwitting accomplice..." Redheart sighed, slowly shaking her head.
"Poor little patsy..." Fleur smirked, snickering to herself.
"But wait, that still doesn't make any sense!" Coloratura butted in. "Did he mean to die so Fluttershy could escape? But he poisoned himself, so she couldn't have killed him!"
Pinkie began to cry again. "He... he wanted me to leave it unbrewed when I brought the tea and stuff to them... h-he wanted her to brew it... s-said she could c-control how s-strong it was..."
"Would that have even counted?" Lightning asked, turning to Monokuma.
"Hmm... teeeeechnically, Fluttershy was the one who made the tea drinkable, and therefore kill-able," the bear mused. "Soooo... yea! I'd allow it."
"I see... he truly loved her, didn't he...?" Coloratura began to tear up.
"Oh, Discord... sacrificing the rest of us so that your special somepony may escape and live on..." Flam shook his head. "I mean, I totally understand, but it was still quite rude of him."
"I... I don't know what to say..." Rarity stared at her podium despondently. "I... thought we were all his friends..."
"Guess Fluttershy meant more to him than we did..." Applejack grumbled, closing her eyes in disgust.
Discord... was that really your plan...? You loved Fluttershy so much you'd sacrifice the rest of your friends for her...?
"Alright, so we've figured out two of the three substances," Lightning spoke up. "What about the third?"
"That's right! Despite Discord's scheming, Fluttershy also died, despite being given the antidote," agreed Flam.
"Hmm..." Redheart put her hoof to her chin, deep in thought. "...Pinkie, you served Discord and Fluttershy the refreshments... when did you serve them, exactly?"
"Um... Discord planned the tea p-party to start at 3:00pm s-sharp," Pinkie replied through her sobs. "W-Why?"
"I see... I think I may have that final substance figured out, now that we've been discussing this," Redheart's face hardened.
"Oh? How so?" Fleur sneered as she glanced at herself in her makeup mirror, thoroughly bored with the trial.
"Simple... it has to do with the time of death," replied Redheart.
The time of death...? No, wait... I think I might know what she's getting at... I just need to think about it...
...What time was the time of death estimated to be? ...That's right, 3:30pm. And what time did Discord's and Fluttershy's tea party start? ...Right, yes, 3:00pm. Now, what did Discord use to poison himself and Fluttershy? ...The slow-acting poison!
...But was that too little time for the poison to take effect...?
"I think what Nurse Redheart is getting at is that a half hour is not enough time for a slow-acting poison to take effect," I spoke.
"Exactly," Redheart nodded in agreement. "But if somepony used, say... a fast-acting poison? A half hour is more than enough time to become lethal."
"Oh? And where would somepony find this... 'fast-acting poison' if all of the poison bottles were emptied?" Fleur leered uncomfortably at Redheart.
"The same way Discord acquired the slow-acting poison, of course," Rarity sighed.
"Correct. In fact... I think there's even evidence to prove that a fast-acting poison just might be the other mystery Substance in the refreshments," Redheart smirked.
There is...? ...Is it...
"Notice how Substances A and B were both present in the tea," she continued. "One of the two Substances is green in color, exactly the same as the contents of the slow-acting poison bottle."
"Ah, I see..." Flam nodded.
"And the other substance within the tea? It is yellow in color, and there isn't very much of it mixed into the tea leaves... presumably because it sticks out like a sore hoof," Redheart pointed out. "Yet within the deviled eggs, only Substance B was found. And what is the primary color of a deviled egg?"
Well, that's easy...
"Yellow, right?" I answered.
"Precisely," nodded Redheart.
"Fucking... really? You're gonna waste our time playing Match the Colors?" Fleur groaned. "Somewhere out there, there is a tree, tirelessy producing oxygen so you can breathe... I think you owe it an apology."
"Please let me finish," Redheart muttered as she pinched the bridge of her muzzle again. "I need to ensure we're all on the same page before I make my point."
"I think I understand what you're saying," said Coloratura. "But what is your point?"
"There wasn't much'a the yellow stuff in the tea," said Applejack.
"And m-maybe they didn't even touch the deviled eggs before they died!" added Pinkie.
"But there was plenty of green slow-acting poison in the tea," said Fleur. "Perhaps there wasn't enough of the yellow bits in the tea to make a difference... it's not like there was any sign of a quick death."
...No... there is!
"I'm sorry, but that's wrong!" I pointed out. "When we first discovered the bodies, Discord was sprawled out across the table, staring at and reaching for Fluttershy, and Fluttershy was clutching her throat in alarm."
"So?" Fleur snorted.
"So... that seems to me like evidence of a quick death. A quick, unplanned death," I emphasized.
"Yes... Discord was expecting her to survive the slow-acting poison!" Flam realized. "So seeing that she was suddenly dying right in front of him was sure to be alarming!"
"But... are we sure it was definitely a fast-acting poison?" asked Coloratura. "There was so much more green stuff than yellow in the tea!"
"That's... not how slow-acting poison works..." Redheart sighed.
"Well, did the tea party actually start at 3:00pm?" asked Applejack. "Maybe Discord or Pinkie started it early!"
"It definitely did!" Pinkie whined. "I made sure I was on time!"
"I can't believe I'm saying this... but I can actually vouch for you on that, spaz," said Fleur. "I overheard you and Discord's little conversation about the time of the tea party... hard not to, though, since you were practically fucking shouting."
"Oh... oh yea!" said Pinkie. "And then later in the day, as I was putting the finishing touches on everything, you popped in for a snack of your own. I remember you... you actually complimented my cooking!"
"Oh, but of course... even ponies like you are useful at some things," Fleur replied smugly.
"I guess so, eheh," Pinkie chuckled, rubbing the back of her head. "You did say my macarons were perfect!"
"True. They were quite divine... I do apologize for simply swiping a few off of your platter, but I couldn't help myself!"
"And... and you were impressed by the choice of tea! ...Although, in hindsight, you could have picked some better words to describe the taste..."
"Ah... true," Fleur frowned.
"Er, what words did she choose?" asked Rarity. Pinkie sighed and took a deep breath to calm herself.
"Well... she said it was... 'to die for'."
...
As soon as the words left Pinkie's mouth, Fleur cringed.
...No...
Applejack sucked in a breath through her teeth. "Ooh... yep, not the best expression teh use, in that case..."
"Yes... had I known two of our... housemates were going to bite it, I would not have said that," Fleur glanced away.
...That's not true... you never have anything nice to say... to anypony...
"DISCORD DIDN'T GRAB FAST-ACTING POISON, THOUGH," said Bulk. "THEN WHO DID?!"
"Well, seeing how the only other pony here who was privy to the tea party's finer details was Pinkie..." Fleur trailed off, staring pointedly at the aforementioned pony. Many of the others followed suit, though with varying levels of suspicion.
"...What?! No! N-No, I didn't do i-it!" Pinkie stammered, tearing up again.
"No... it wasn't Pinkie," I spoke. "In fact..."
I'm afraid... it was you!
"...You seem awfully knowledgeable about the tea party yourself... Fleur de Lis."