//------------------------------// // Chapter Five: Whistle for the Wind Part 5 // Story: Danganronpa: In Harmony's Wake // by Dewdrops on the Grass //------------------------------// Chapter Five Whistle for the Wind Deadly Life My name is Trixie Lulamoon. Or, if you prefer, the Great and Powerful Trrrrriiiiiixie! About two or so weeks ago, I and fifteen others woke up on a cruise ship out in the middle of nowhere, forced into a killing game by some demented winged-horse that calls himself Monoponi. Since then, a lot has happened. Over half of us are dead, either by each other’s hands or by Monoponi’s executions. We’ve discovered a lot of things, including that Monoponi stole our memories. Oh, and did I mention I killed someone? Yeah. I did. It was pretty stupid of me. I only survived being executed because Monoponi really wanted to kill Twilight Sparkle. And I only did it because I wanted to help my best friend Sunset Shimmer escape. But that’s all in the past. Ever since the others have kept me locked up in my cabin. I haven’t been out much. Sunset comes by to visit, though. She and Rarity, they’re the only ones who still treat me like I’m a human being. Except Sunset’s gone missing. For over twenty-four hours. No one knows where she is, no one’s found her… or her body. Everyone else thinks she’s dead. But I know she can’t be. Sunset’s been keeping us alive from the beginning. She helped guide us through the trials, she’s supported me… I can’t give up on her. I won’t. I’m pretty sure I know who did it, too, but no one wants to listen to me long enough for me to tell them, except Rarity. And she thinks I’m crazy. “It’s too obvious,” she said. “Adagio’s not that stupid,” she said. Mememe, whatever, Rarity. So there I was, sitting in my cabin, reading a book, having just finished another helping of instant ramen when all of a sudden the body discovery alarm goes off. And I’m like “Oh no, is it Sunset?!” It took forever for someone to show up. I said I was locked in, right? Sunset put the lock on the door. Because Diamond Tiara made her. Tiara’s mean. I don’t like her. She’s been pretending to be nice ever since my magic show, but I know better. I don’t trust bullies. That’s why I don’t like Adagio. She’s been nothing but a bully. Speaking of Tiara, she was the one who opened my door. “Hey, Trixie,” she said, squinting at me through tired eyes. Her whole demeanor was haggard, withdrawn, like she hadn’t slept for a couple of days. Maybe she hadn’t. And for some reason, she was wearing a sword on her back, in some kind of harness. “Come on. We’ve got an investigation to do.” Biting at my lower lip, I said, “Is… is it Sunset?” Tiara heaved a heavy sigh. “No. It’s… you’ll see. Just come on already.” I reached out for my crutches laying next to my bed. “Okay, just give Trixie a minute,” I muttered as I slowly climbed to my one remaining leg. I only have one leg. Monoponi took the other one away as punishment for my murder. It hurt. A lot. Like a lot a lot. Like more pain than you could imagine, an explosion of pain bursting like a brilliant cascade of fireworks, only this wasn’t fun to watch. Making sure to grab my cloak and hat, I followed Tiara out of my cabin and down to the library. She pulled at my shirt every so often, trying to hurry me up, but have you ever tried to move around on crutches? It’s not easy! It’s hard work. I’m not that strong either. Eventually, we got to the library. Of course, the body was all the way down on the first floor, not on the third, and Tiara wouldn’t let me use the elevator outside. Crutches are bad enough, but crutches and stairs? Not a good mix. Still, I got there eventually. Everyone else had already gathered around, and like Tiara, they all wore weapons on their backs. I recognized Rarity right away. Rarity’s a good person. She made me the most amazing magic outfit once, and she’s the only one other than Sunset who’s forgiven me for what I’ve done. I think everyone else says she’s sexy, but I wouldn’t know. I’m not into girls. Or boys. Or anyone. There was also Applejack. Ergh, Applejack. She’s such a jerk! I thought she was nice for a while, if a bit of a bumpkin. Her accent’s pretty funny to listen to. But then she started treating Rarity like crap, and doesn’t trust me one bit. I don’t blame her for being mean to me, but she shouldn’t be rude to her wife like that. Did I mention they’re married? Because they’re married. Yeah. I was surprised too. Scootaloo was glaring down at the body, but for once she didn’t seem that angry. I’ve barely talked with her. She’s nice, but she’s also a bit… dim. Then again everyone said that about me, and look how I showed them in the last trial, haha! But she also gets super mad every time someone dies, so I wondered why she wasn’t mad now. As for the body, if it wasn’t Sunset… I stepped forward to see and took in a sharp breath, seeing the blood-soaked corpse with its overabundance of hair. “It’s Adagio.” Adagio Dazzle. She’s a siren. Or was a siren. They’re some kind of creepy lizard thing from Equestria. That’s some other world that Sunset, Adagio, and Monoponi are all from. Because Sunset’s a pony. Which is some kind of magic unicorn horse thing. My life is weird. “That’s right!” squeaked the high pitched voice of Monoponi as he appeared in a flash of crimson light. “Poor Adagio Dazzle. She lasted far too long if you ask me. Your Captain expected her to be one of the first blackeneds!” “But, what about Sunset? We still haven’t found Sunset!” Rarity shrieked, her knees knocking together. “We don’t even know if she’s alive!” Scootaloo added, glaring angrily at Monoponi. Monoponi postured on his hooves, spreading out his wings. He’d be cute if he wasn’t so undeniably evil. “Who cares? Sunset Shimmer isn’t the one you morons should be worrying about. The victim is the one you need to investigate. You’ve got an upcoming trial, after all!” “Now hold on a second there,” Applejack said, glaring down at him. She glares a lot. “Ah seem to recall there bein’ a rule sayin’ if someone misses the trial, they’re executed. If Sunset misses the trial--” Monoponi rolled his oversized eyes. “Very well! Since you morons won’t let this go, knowing you, I will say this. If Sunset Shimmer is alive, she will have until the end of the trial to make an appearance. So long as she attends the end and votes, she will not be executed. But if she fails to show up, then that’s the end of the line for her.” He held a hoof to his fuzzy chin. “Assuming she’s still alive that is, upupupu.” “But we can spend our investigation trying to find her, right?” Tiara asked. The horse thing shrugged. “As always, your Captain will allow you to spend the investigation period doing whatever you wish. But don’t forgeeeet, you still have a murder to solve. If you fail to find the blackened, you know what’ll happen!” He rose up on his rear hooves to slap both forehooves to his chest. “And nothing would please me more than to finally be done with you people for good!” “But, but, we need Sunset,” Rarity whimpered. “We can’t figure out who did it without her.” “Not my problem.” Monoponi’s horn glowed with an eerie light. My Monopad beeped insistently at me, as did everyone else’s. “There’s the Monoponi file. Your time starts now. Good luuuuck!” He disappeared in a pop of air and a flash of light. “Great. Now what do we do?” Scootaloo said, throwing up her hands in frustration. “I don’t know where to start without Sunset!” Tiara sighed, doubling over at the waist. “Uuugh. Me neither. I can try to take over for her but…” “But you ain’t exactly as smart as she is,” Applejack quipped. She shot back up and glared at Applejack, rising up on the tips of her toes to shove a finger in the farmer’s face. “Hey! Just because you’re right doesn’t mean you have to put it like that!” Applejack’s hand reached out and took hold of Tiara’s finger, then pushed it down to her side. “Ah’ll only say this once Tiara: don’t get in mah face like that.” “Tch!” Tiara took a few steps back and crossed her arms over her chest, her face steaming from a pink flush to her cheeks. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to--this is a tense situation, okay?!” “Ah know it is! You think Ah’m not scared? ‘Cause Ah am!” Applejack demonstrated by quaking in her boots. “Ah don’t know what to do either. Ah followed Sunset along on one investigation but Ah can’t say Ah remember much about how it works.” Rarity burst into tears, reaching out to grab hold of my shoulder. “Oh, Trixie, what’re we going to do? Without Sunset, we’re… we’re doomed!” I allowed her to weep into my cloak, and gave her a reassuring pat on the back. “Don’t worry, Rarity,” I said, reaching up to adjust my hat. “There’s one person here who can handle this.” Everyone turned to face me, presenting a sea of unhappy faces. “Oh no you won’t!” Tiara growled, pointing an accusatory finger at me. “No one’s going to trust a murderer like you!” “Ah can’t believe Ah’m sayin’ this, but Ah agree with Diamond Tiara,” Applejack said with a snort. She jabbed her thumb at her neck and moved it across in a slicing motion. “We trust you, we’re as good as dead.” “But, wait, guys,” Scootaloo said, looking back and forth between us with a concerned frown. “She’s been pretty good….” she trailed off into a yawn, tapping her hand against her mouth. “..oh excuse me. She was good in the trials. Remember the last one? She proved Sunset wrong a couple of times.” Her frown deepened. “And she kind of… proved me wrong too. A lot.” Rarity pulled out a silk handkerchief from her pocket and dabbed at her eyes, then blew her nose with a sound like a foghorn. “Indeed! I’m willing to put my faith in Trixie.” She shot a nasty look at Applejack. “Besides, what other choice do we have?” Applejack shook her head, snorting like a thoroughbred. “Alright. Fine. But Ah’m still gonna watch the body. Ah don’t trust her.” Tiara rolled her eyes. “Uuuugh, okay, okay. Do your thing, Trixie. But don’t you dare fuck up! I’m not going to die today because you made a mistake investigating the killer!” “Trixie promises you, she will do her best!” I said, with the perfect confidence of a stage magician. “Rarity, will you accompany Trixie?” My seamstress friend’s face split into a relieved smile. “Most definitely, Trixie. Lead the way!” *INVESTIGATION START* First thing I chose to do was open up the Monoponi File. Time to see if he’s given us anything worth a darn. Fact #1: Monoponi File V: “The victim is Adagio Dazzle, the Ultimate Songstress. Time of death is approximately between 2:00 AM and 5:00 AM Wednesday morning. The victim possesses multiple injuries to the head and two laceration wounds to the neck. Toxicology shows no poisons or substances of any kind in her system.” “Hmph. Trixie supposes it was too much to ask for a cause of death.” Grumbling to myself, I glanced at my partner. “Rarity, we should examine the body. Trixie doesn’t have any gloves with her. Do you have some?” Rarity rummaged through her skirt pockets and pulled out a couple of pairs. “Yes, here. I started carrying them… thinking Sunset might need them.” She let out a haggard breath and sniffled. “Oh Sunset…” “There there,” I said, patting her shoulder with the gloves. “Trixie is just as worried about Sunset as the rest of you, but we need to concentrate.” “Right, of course,” Rarity said as she struggled to compose herself. I slipped on the gloves, and then very, very carefully got down on my one knee. Have you ever tried to crawl around on one knee? It sucks. It’s not fun. But I did it anyway, because everyone was counting on me, and The Great and Powerful Trixie never lets her fans down! Not that they’re my fans. Whatever. At first glance, the body was pretty nasty looking. Adagio was coated in blood, from head down her shirt all the way to her legs. The blood had soaked into her clothes, completely ruining them. It also soaked into her voluminous hair, rendering it some sort of awful peach color. Her eyes were frozen open in an expression of shock, like she’d been dazed by something before she died. I moved forward so I could examine her head. Peeling back some of the hair revealed an ugly bruise right on her forehead, like something clocked her. “Oh my, that’s an awful wound,” Rarity commented, cringing back from the body. “Now I know why I didn’t do this the first four times…” “Trixie wonders what did it,” I mused. “Something blunt. We will have to keep an eye out for a weapon.” Fact #2: Body Condition: “The body is covered in blood, soaking the clothes. There is a large contusion on the forehead, suggesting a strike with a blunt object.” I continued to examine her forehead, before turning her head over to look at the back. I noticed straight away she had something poking out of her neck, embedded in a large puncture wound at the base of her skull. I pulled it out and held it up to the light. “A shard of glass?” “An enormous shard,” Rarity said. “That shard is almost as large as your hand! And look, it has numbers on it!” Squinting at it, I brought it forward to take a better look. “So it does.” *Updated* Fact #2: Body Condition: “The body is covered in blood, soaking the clothes. There is a large contusion on the forehead, suggesting a strike with a blunt object. There is a severe puncture wound to the back of the neck, at the base of the skull. A large piece of glass was found embedded in the wound.” Fact #3: Glass Shard: “A shard of glass found embedded in the head of the victim. There are a few numbers written on it: ‘11037.’” I set the shard down and examined the puncture wound further. It looked smooth, not ragged at all like I would expect from a shard of glass. I next checked the lacerations the file mentioned. Laceration was putting it mildly. Someone had sliced open both of her carotid arteries, which likely explained most of the blood. “This must be the cause of death,” Rarity declared. “Why else would someone slash her throat open?” *Updated* Fact #2: Body Condition: “The body is covered in blood, soaking the clothes. There is a large contusion on the forehead, suggesting a strike with a blunt object. There is a severe puncture wound to the back of the neck, at the base of the skull. A large piece of glass was found embedded in the wound. Both carotid arteries were slashed open.” “Could be,” I allowed. Moving on, I ran my hands down her limbs and lower body, looking for any wounds or anything the Monoponi file failed to disclose. It wasn’t till I reached her pocket that I found something crumpled up inside. I pulled it out to show to Rarity. Fact #4: Printed Note: “A typewritten note discovered in the pocket of the victim, printed off the museum printer. It reads ‘I know what you did. Meet me at the museum theater tonight, at 2:30 AM.” “The museum theater?” Rarity said, frowning at the paper. “But why did we find the body here, then?” “Perhaps the culprit is trying to disguise the scene of the murder?” I suggested with a shrug. “Trixie thinks we shouldn’t speculate. Sunset always said that. But Trixie is sure of one thing. This note came from the museum printer. Trixie knows there’s nowhere else on the ship that could produce a typewritten note.” “Mmm, true,” Rarity allowed. She glanced at me, frowning in concern. “Then we should check there, when we’re done here.” Nodding in agreement, I returned to my examination of Adagio’s body. Checking down her legs and onto her shoes, I almost concluded there was nothing else until something fell off when I shifted her leg. I picked up the something, which turned out to be several pieces of bloodied confetti, stuck together because of the blood. *Updated* Fact #2: Body Condition: “The body is covered in blood, soaking the clothes. There is a large contusion on the forehead, suggesting a strike with a blunt object. There is a severe puncture wound to the back of the neck, at the base of the skull. A large piece of glass was found embedded in the wound. Both carotid arteries were slashed open. A few pieces of bloodied confetti were discovered sticking to the victim’s leg.” Fact #5: Bloodied Confetti: “Strings of bloodied confetti found on the body of the victim. Their origin is unknown.” I filed that away for later consideration. “Okay, Trixie thinks we’re done with the body,” I said, brushing off my hands. “But she thinks we need to look around this area for other clues.” “Are you expecting to find something?” Rarity asked as I began to crawl around the area where the body had been found, poking under bookshelves. “Trixie isn’t sure yet.” I continued to crawl, at a miserably slow pace, till I ended up in front of the archive door. I glanced up at it and frowned. “Did anyone ever search the archives for Sunset?” Rarity shook her head. “No, I didn’t consider it. The archives are locked up. And the rules forbid breaking open locked doors, remember? So how would Sunset find her way inside to begin with?” I tried to reach up to touch the doorknob, but I didn’t have the leverage. “Will you please humor Trixie?” I heard her mutter something under her breath as she reached out to try the doorknob. It spun without effect. “Satisfied?” “Almost,” I replied. I peeked under the door, and saw nothing but darkness, darkness, and more darkness. I decided to reach under anyway, just in case I could feel something. I felt along the entire door frame and almost concluded nothing was there till I hit something. “What?” Feeling along the edges of it, it seemed like something rectangular, with a familiar texture. I tried pushing it with a finger but it seemed resistant. “Hmm, Rarity, there is something stuck under this door. Do you have something Trixie can use to move it? Something thin.” “Uh, well, I suppose you could try this,” she answered, pulling out her sewing kit. It was in a rectangular, very thin plastic case I saw as she handed it to me. “Please try not to lose it.” “Trixie will do her best.” I took the case and ran it underneath the door frame, like I would a credit card. I had to strike the object underneath the door a few times but eventually I heard the sound of tearing tape, the object falling to the floor. A quick sweep of the sewing kit later and I had the object in hand, instantly recognizing it. “Is that…” Rarity gasped, holding a hand to her mouth. I nodded. “It’s Sunset Shimmer’s Monopad.” Fact #6: Sunset’s Monopad: “Sunset’s Monopad was discovered in the library, on the first floor, taped to the underside of the archive door.” “But why is it here?” Rarity asked as she took it from me to look it over. “I don’t understand. Does this mean…?” I reached up to take it back from her. “Trixie thinks it means Sunset is either alive in the archives… or her body is in there. She’s not sure how, but somehow Sunset got inside. And given the pad was taped to the door… Trixie thinks Sunset didn’t go in willingly.” Fact #7: Sunset Shimmer: “Sunset Shimmer has been missing since some time after 7:45 PM Monday evening. No sign of her has been found anywhere, save for her Monopad being discovered near the archive door. It is possible she is deceased.” Rarity’s face curled up into an ugly frown, wrinkling her features and making her look like a troll. “So someone did kidnap her!” Her gaze fell upon Adagio’s body. “Do you think maybe--” “Trixie thinks we can figure that out at the trial. For now, she’s hoping Sunset is inside.” Holding up Sunset’s Monopad, I pointed at it and said, “She’s also hoping this is a good sign. If it was taped to the door, that might mean whoever put Sunset in there wanted to keep it out of Sunset’s hands. So Sunset might be alive. And if she is, we can’t take this.” “Wait what do you me--Trixie! What’d you do that for?!” Rarity wailed. I pulled my hand back from shoving the pad far enough underneath the door no one could reach it, then for good measure rapped on the door a few times, quietly enough that I didn't break the library volume rule. “Trixie gave Sunset her pad back. Really, it should be obvious. And remember what Monoponi said.” Fact #8: Monoponi’s Ruling: “According to Monoponi, if Sunset Shimmer is still alive, then she will not be punished unless she fails to make it to the trial before it ends.” “If she’s going to have a chance to make it to us, she needs her pad.” And for that matter, a message. I pulled out my own Monopad and put together a brief text message, letting Sunset know the situation and begging for her to hurry. “But… oh, I suppose you’re right,” Rarity sighed. She pulled out her handkerchief and wiped away fresh tears from her eyes. “I’m so worried for her. She means so much to m--I mean, to all of us.” I glared at her. “You have a crush on her, don’t you?” I said flatly. The instant ignition of Rarity’s cheeks said it all. “Wha-why, I-I-I-no. No of course not.” She let out a rapid nervous sounding giggle and waved a dismissive hand at me. “D-don’t be silly, darling. She’s just a friend. A good friend.” “Uh-huh. Sure.” Snorting in annoyance, I reached up for the door knob and used it to climb up so I could lay against the door. “Can you please give Trixie her crutches?” Rarity took the opportunity to rush away, returning swiftly with the crutches I’d dropped. “Here you are.” She gave me a sympathetic look. “If you’d like, I’d be willing to carry you around again, like I did during the last investigation. We’ll move faster that way.” Now my cheeks lit on fire from the blood rushing to them. “Trixie would rather walk this time, thank you.” Taking my crutches, I positioned myself carefully so I could walk. “We should check the museum next.” “Alright, let’s go--oh!” Rarity pointed at the ground before we’d gotten five steps away. “How did we miss this?” I peered down to see what she was talking about. “More blood,” I said. Frowning, I followed it along the floor. The streaks reappeared every so often, in streaks, leading underneath the first floor door to the promenade. Opening the door, I discovered it continued, leading all the way to the museum. “Hmm…” Fact #9: Blood Trails: “Trails of blood were discovered on the first floor of the library, leading out onto the promenade and to the museum.” “Do you think whoever the culprit was dragged the body?” Rarity inquired. “Trixie thinks it’s possible,” I answered vaguely, not really paying attention to her as I ambled my way to the museum door. Once I opened it, I took in the scene. More blood trails led a clear and obvious path to the museum theater. I also saw Scootaloo searching the area, but I left her alone for now. “This way.” We entered the museum theater. Sadly, no shows were playing, meaning the theater was brightly lit. But it did make the most obvious clue in the room stand out. “My word, that is a lot of blood,” Rarity gulped, holding a hand to her mouth. “I think I might be sick.” Fact #10: Museum Blood Stains: “Stains of blood were found across the museum, including streaks leading out the door to the promenade from the theater, and a massive pool in the theater itself.” “Ugh, Trixie would rather you didn’t,” I said, cringing at the thought. “The smell of blood is awful enough as it is.” I leaned down to get a closer look at the pool. It was quite uniform, spread out in a rough oval shape. I poked at it with the end of one of my crutches, then frowned. “The pool is thinner than it looks.” Rarity groaned, but leaned in to look closer. “Oh. Oh, you’re right. It’s smeared all over the carpet. Maybe when the culprit dragged the body out?” *Updated* Fact #10: Museum Blood Stains: “Stains of blood were found across the museum, including streaks leading out the door to the promenade from the theater, and a massive pool in the theater itself. The pool is thin, the blood underneath smeared on the carpet.” “Perhaps,” I said. I used the end of my crutch to point. “It does look like there’s a trail here, leading out. But why are there no footprints?” Rarity grimaced and held her nose. “I don’t know. Can we go now? This smell is atrocious.” She looked away from the pool, then I saw her eyes narrow. “Wait. What’s that?” “What’s what?” She bent down and reached underneath one of the theater seats, pulling out a scrap of paper. “Hmm. It’s another note. This one is handwritten. It says ‘see the stars.’ Well what on Earth does that mean?” Fact #11: Handwritten Note: “A handwritten note found on the floor of the museum theater. It reads: ‘See the stars.’” Frowning, I snatched the paper out of her hand to look at it myself. Then I crumpled it into my pocket. “Trixie thinks it doesn’t matter.” “Um, Trixie, not to be presumptuous,” Rarity replied, looking askance at me, “but how can you be sure? There’ve been many clues in the past that seemed meaningless only to turn out to be vital.” “Hmph!” I stuck my nose up in the air. “Very well. We can compare the handwriting to the library log later. Satisfied?” She bit her lip, and pulled at it with her left hand. “Um, no, no I’m not. Thinking about that note, I wonder if it… would you excuse me a moment?” “What?” I raised my eyebrows in confusion as Rarity turned tail and headed out the door to the observation balcony. “Where’re you going?” But I got no answer. Instead, I had to wait. So I took a seat. I wasn’t about to exhaust myself standing for no reason. Do you know how much energy it takes to walk around on crutches? It’s a lot! I hoped I’d get to eat before the trial. Despite the ramen I’d had for breakfast, I was starving. Eventually Rarity returned, carrying something large in her hands. It was one of the telescopes from the balcony. “Rarity, what--” “Trixie, take a look at this,” she said, setting the telescope down in front of me. A proud smile tugged at her lips. “I was right.” I scoffed in irritation, but looked anyway. The telescope’s tube had its reflecting glass shattered. There were bits of torn tape and paper inside it. “Huh.” Fact #12: Broken Telescope: “One of the telescopes on the museum observatory balcony was discovered with its mirrors broken. There were a few torn bits of paper and duct tape inside.” Rarity struck a pose and giggled. “I knew that note had to mean something. See the stars. As in, looking at the stars, with a telescope. Something must’ve been in this telescope. Perhaps something useful to the culprit was stashed there?” I pulled the telescope closer so I could get a better look at it. “Hmm… Trixie wonders…” “I was thinking, it might be the key,” Rarity continued. At my questioning look, she said, “To the archive door, darling. If Sunset is locked away in there, there must be a key, yes? So whoever put her in there--” “Adagio. Adagio was the one who kidnapped her,” I interrupted, pushing the telescope aside. “Trixie is certain of that. And if there was a key here, it’s not here now.” Rarity’s lips thinned. “Trixie, we discussed this. I told you, Adagio said to me how sorry she was about her behavior towards Sunset. When Sunset went missing, she was frantic, horrified. She helped me search for her. Why would she do that if she was the one who kidnapped Sunset?” “You know what?” I pulled out my Monopad and switched on the audio recording function. “Why don’t you go ahead and tell your good old pal Trixie what exactly you were doing yesterday. For the record.” Raising both eyebrows in surprise, Rarity took a seat, and fluffed at her hair. “Well, you see, yesterday morning, after we discovered Sunset was missing, Scootaloo, Diamond Tiara, and I all searched for Sunset together. It was tiring work, and by lunch I was so exhausted I needed to rest. I didn’t see Adagio until that evening. I confronted her about it, because I suspected, like you did, that she did it. She told me she’d slept in and only just found out about Sunset being missing.” A deep frown etched wrinkles on Rarity’s face. “I’m telling you, she was heartbroken. She helped me search the entire ship from stem to stern, but we found nothing. I came to visit you, then went to sleep around 11:00 PM.” Fact #13: Rarity’s Account: “According to Rarity, she, along with Diamond Tiara and Scootaloo spent all of Tuesday morning searching the entire ship for Sunset Shimmer, after they discovered she was missing. She found no trace of Sunset anywhere. She spent most of the afternoon in her cabin, worrying anxiously, and attempted to search again that evening. She ran into Adagio and frantically begged her to tell Rarity where Sunset was. She said Adagio was also distraught, and apologized for throwing Sunset into the pool Monday afternoon. She and Adagio searched together to no avail, and Rarity retired at 11:00 PM.” I stopped the recording. “Thank you,” I said, putting my pad away. Grabbing for my crutches, I stood back up. “We should check the rest of the mus--” “Trixie, Rarity, come here, come here!” came a shout from the theater door. We swiftly made our way out. Well, Rarity did. I strolled. Again, crutches. They suck. “What is it, Scootaloo?” I inquired. “Did you find something?” “Yeah, I did,” Scootaloo answered. She waved for us to follow her over to the displays of rocks. I saw why straight away. One of the boxes, the one for Ares, was completely shattered, glass strewn all over the floor. As I stepped closer, I noticed one of the larger shards had numbers on it, as, it turned out, did the remaining part of the case. A quick check of the display for the case showed the same numbers, all in one long string. Fact #14: Ares Sample Case: “The rock sample case for the Ares missions was shattered. On the display for the case is the number 324110379899. The last four digits of this number are also present on the case, and the first three were discovered on a piece of glass on the floor.” *Updated* Fact #3: Glass Shard: “A shard of glass found embedded in the head of the victim. There are a few numbers written on it: ‘11037.’ The numbers correspond to the sample number on the Ares rock sample case in the museum.” “Good discovery, Scootaloo!” I said. “Trixie thinks we can safely conclude the shard in Adagio’s head came from here!” Curiously, Scootaloo, instead of beaming under the praise, looked away, as if upset. “Sure. You’re welcome.” Rarity delicately stepped around the glass, careful where she put her feet. She hummed as she leaned down to take a closer look at the case, then reached in and pulled out a rock seemingly at random. “Something looks suspicious about this ro--aaah!” she dropped it on the floor as soon as we all saw the underside. The rock was coated pink with blood. Fact #15: Ares Rock: “A rock taken from the Ares sample case, allegedly originating from the planet Ares. It is heavily stained pink with blood.” Trembling and groaning, Rarity scanned about, searching for something, anything to wipe her hands on, and finally settled on my cloak. “Hey!” I protested as she wiped off the small trace of blood she’d gotten on herself. “That is Trixie’s cloak you are staining!” “Oh, I’m sorry, darling. I’ll wash it, I promise,” she said, still trembling. “Uuuugh, I cannot stand touching blood.” Scootaloo frowned, arching an eyebrow at the seamstress. “Really? Then what do you do when you have your--” “We don’t talk about that!” Rarity hissed sharply. Holding up her hands in surrender, the younger woman took a few steps back. “Oookay. Sorry.” “In any case, Trixie believes this is a vital clue. Like she said, good work.” I reached out to pat Scootaloo on the shoulder. “Did you see anything else in here?” “No, but I’m going to keep looking,” Scootaloo replied. She frowned, her brow creasing. “I can’t figure out who would’ve killed Adagio, or why. Unless she really did kidnap Sunset.” “Actually, wait a moment, if you would please,” I said, pulling out my Monopad. “Would you please, for the record, tell Trixie what you were up to yesterday?” She shrugged. “Sure. So yesterday morning, after we saw Sunset was missing, I searched around with Diamond and Rarity.” She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. “After lunch, I went to find Adagio. She acted like she was worried, but… I wasn’t sure. So I kept looking around for Sunset.” She dropped her arms to her sides and her brow creased further. “You know, now that I think about it, I saw Applejack more than a few times while doing that. She was… acting weird. Like she was trying to sneak around the place. I didn’t think much of it then, but now I wonder… anyway, before I went to bed last night, I went to the church.” Her cheeks filled with pink. “I prayed for Sunset’s safety. I want her to come back to us. I hope she’s okay.” “You and Trixie both,” I said sincerely, giving Scootaloo a sympathetic smile. “Thank you.” Fact #16: “Scootaloo’s Account: “Scootaloo claims she spent Tuesday morning searching with Rarity, then went to find Adagio and asked her about Sunset. She spoke to Adagio that afternoon, and said Adagio claimed to be worried about Sunset too. She wasn’t sure she believed Adagio, so she spent the rest of Tuesday searching for Sunset. More than once she spotted Applejack ‘acting sneaky.’ Before she went to bed, she went to the church for a late night prayer session, to pray for Sunset’s safety.” “Let’s go check the director’s office now, Rarity,” I said, putting away my Monopad. “Good luck, Scootaloo.” Scootaloo waved as we departed. It was a quick journey to the director’s office. I kept my eyes peeled on the way, but nothing seemed out of place. Nothing, that is, til we arrived in the office. A nasty but familiar scent filled my nostrils. “Ugh. What is that? Where is that?” Letting out a frustrated loud groan, Rarity glanced about the office before kneeling down under the desk. “Ew, ew, ew!” she muttered as she pulled out a stained prayer mat from beneath the desk. Like most of the prayer mats from the church, this was effectively a large rug, beige and brown, with general symbols of suns, moons, and stars all over it, rather than any specific religious symbology. The stain, naturally, was blood. A lot of blood. Fact #17: Prayer Mat: “A prayer mat found underneath the desk of the museum director’s office. It is heavily stained with blood.” Rarity backed away from it as soon as she pulled it out, holding her hands up high like she was at gunpoint. “That’s it! No more! I can’t take touching all this blood! I’m sorry, Trixie, but you’ll have to examine this.” “Very well,” I said with a roll of my eyes. I pulled out the office chair and sat down so I could have my hands free. Taking hold of the prayer mat, I looked it over for anything out of place. At first, there didn’t seem to be anything too unusual. This prayer mat had been designed with a velcro strap, so it could be wrapped up and tied when not in use. But the strap had been… extended, for lack of a better word, by a rope. A rope made from other straps, taken off of other prayer mats presumably, and knotted up. How peculiar, but ingenious. That wasn’t the only thing that stood out though. Before I set the mat down, my keen, beautiful eyes spotted something clinging to the ropet. Two somethings, to be precise, two long, large threads of purple fabric. “Where did these come from… oh!” I glanced up at Rarity, whose eyes, I noticed, seemed to widen in fear. “Rarity, these look like they came from your skirt.” *Updated* Fact #17: Prayer Mat: “A prayer mat found underneath the desk of the museum director’s office. It is heavily stained with blood. The securing strap had several other straps tied to it, knotted up to form one long rope. Two strands of purple thread were discovered on the rope. They match the shade of Rarity’s skirt.” “What?” Rarity gasped, lowering her arms so she could recoil into herself like a turtle. “I-I-I don’t know how those would’ve gotten there.” Narrowing my eyes in suspicion, I looked up and down at her skirt, then pointed. “Then why is one part of your skirt frayed?” Blushing profusely, she lowered her hands to cover the damaged part of her clothing. “Never you mind that. I-I… I caught it on a corner somewhere. When I was searching for Sunset. Of course, I would’ve fixed it, but all my thread went missing!” She lowered her right hand to her side and raised the left one up to stroke her chin. “I’m not sure how. I left it all in the theater workshop, where I’d been making Sunset some replacement clothes. It should’ve still been there.” Fact #18: Rarity’s Clothes: “Rarity’s skirt was frayed. She claims it was due to catching it on a corner while searching for Sunset yesterday, and she hadn’t been able to repair it due to her thread going missing. She hadn’t changed due to her other skirts being dirty.” “Why didn’t you buy more then?” Grimacing, Rarity admitted quietly, “Because I couldn’t afford it, all right? This cursed budget Monoponi’s limited us to. Even the most basic of cotton costs a relative fortune. Honestly, it’s like the early days of living with my parents all over again.” “Uh-huh,” I said, my tone not at all convinced. “And why didn’t you put on a fresh skirt? We all have spare clothes.” Smushing her lips together like she’d just bit into a lemon, Rarity muttered, “Because they’re all filthy, all right? I forgot to do laundry.” “Sure,” I muttered, still unconvinced. “Whatever.” I shrugged and wheeled myself over to the computer. “Trixie can ask you more at the trial.” Rarity stepped around the mat so she could see the monitor while I navigated through the OS. “What’re you hoping to find?” “Trixie’s not sure,” I answered as I moved the mouse around. “But she knows the note was printed from here. She’s looking for something that shows it.” I checked the recycle bin for any discarded word processor documents, but there was nothing. Then I checked the printer log, and smiled. “You see? Trixie knew it.” Fact #19: Printer Log: “The log of the printer in the museum director’s office. It shows two documents were printed, on Monday at 11:55 PM and Wednesday at 4:30 AM.” “Two? We found one, but what was the other?” Rarity asked. “We will need to keep an eye out,” I said, grabbing for my crutches so we could move on. “Trixie believes we should search the church next. If the prayer mat came from there, there could be other clues.” As soon as we left the museum, we ran into Applejack. “Oh, there y’all are. Ah was tryin’ to find you.” Crossing her arms over her chest, Rarity took a single step forward, placing herself between Applejack and me. “And why is that?” she growled. The farmer bristled. “Rarity, for pete’s sake, how many times do Ah need to apologize--” “Stop.” Rarity held up a hand for silence, then shook her head. “You still aren’t listening, Applejack. I told you, we are through. It’s as simple as that. Please just accept that already. Our lives aboard this ship are horrid enough as it is.” “Tch,” Applejack muttered, before hanging her right. “Right. Ah’ll… Ah’ll stop.” “Thank you,” Rarity said with a simple nod. “Now, what was it you needed?” Applejack glared at me for a moment, then returned her gaze to Rarity. “Ah wanted to relate somethin’ Ah found in Sunset’s cabin. Ah went lookin’ for clues there, in case we missed somethin’ yesterday, and Ah found… this.” From her pocket, she withdrew a fancy knife, with a black handle of ebony and obsidian. There was a single spot of blood on the underside of the handle. I recognized that knife. Sunset told me about it. It came from that weird altar in the church. Fact #20: Sacred Athame: “A sacred knife from the black altar in the church hall. It has a small spot of blood on the underside of the handle. It was allegedly discovered in Sunset’s cabin by Applejack.” I took the knife from her and examined it for a moment, then pocketed it. “That’s weird. Trixie hasn’t a clue why that would be in her cabin.” I frowned. “Rarity, when we’re done with the church, Trixie wishes to take a look at Sunset’s cabin for herself.” “Of course.” Turning to the farmer, I pointedly asked, “Where did you find it, exactly?” “It was sittin’ on the bed,” Applejack said with a shrug. Then she frowned. “Why’re you goin’ to the church?” Briefly, I explained about the prayer mat. “While she has you, Applejack, Trixie would like to ask you what you were doing yesterday.” “Uh, Ah’d rather…” she trailed off when she saw Rarity’s infuriated glare, a sheepish smile forming on her face. “So uh, anyhow, yesterday mornin’, after Diamond said she didn’t get a text from Sunset, Ah went to check and found she was missin’. Straight away Ah figured it had to be that low-down siren who did it, so as soon as Ah could find her, Ah confronted her. She gave me some fool sob story about how she was so sad Sunset was missin’, and she regretted kickin’ her, and all this bunch of hooey Ah didn’t believe for a second. So Ah spent the rest of the day keepin’ track of her. Ah saw her talk to everyone else save you, Trixie, and she told ‘em all the same thing.” Fact #21: “Applejack’s Account: “According to Applejack, she was the one who discovered Sunset was missing. She confronted Adagio about Sunset and there was a brief confrontation. She said Adagio denied all involvement, and claimed she was just as worried about the missing Sunset as the others were. Applejack refused to believe her, and chose to subtly track Adagio for the rest of the day.” That explains what Scootaloo meant about Applejack being sneaky. “Did you see her do anything?” “Uh… no. Ah didn’t.” Applejack let out an irritated sigh. “Maybe she knew Ah was trackin’ her.” “Or maybe she was innocent,” Rarity retorted angrily, “and you were persecuting her for no reason.” Applejack drew herself up defensively. “If she was innocent, Ah’m a mule’s backside.” “Oh, so we’re in agreement then.” I broke into laughter as Applejack spluttered and mumbled angrily, glaring at the two of us. “She sure has the attitude of one,” I seconded. “Oh that’s it,” Applejack growled, drawing the bat off her back and pointing it at me. “Ah can put up with it from Rarity, but Ah ain’t about to let you insult my pride like that.” I looked down at the bat, raised my eyebrows, then smirked. “Ah, Trixie sees. It takes a special kind of pride to threaten a disabled person with a weapon over mere words. A special, fragile kind of pride.” Her lips thinned, her nose flaring as she huffed, then put her bat away. “Point taken,” she admitted, and walked away without another word. Rarity turned to look at me the instant she was gone. “Are you all right, Trixie? I was worried for a moment there she was going to hit you.” Continuing to smirk, I brushed off imaginary dust from the front of my shirt and started walking towards the church. “Do not worry about Trixie. She can handle Applejack.” “Still,” Rarity replied, biting at her lip as she followed. “Applejack keeps becoming more of a brute with every passing day. I don’t know what I ever saw in her.” “She lost her sister,” I said, my smirk fading away. “Trixie knows that’s no excuse, but--” “You’re right,” Rarity said harshly, her expression darkening considerably. “It’s not.” I let the matter drop, seeing no reason to aggravate her further. We stepped into the church foyer, and immediately I found myself gagging on the intense smell that assaulted our nostrils. “Augh!” I moaned as I tried to hold my nose, only to find it impossible while standing on my crutches. “What the heck is that?” “It’s incense,” Rarity said, her voice muted and silly because she had no difficulty pinching her nose shut. “It’s a lot of incense.” I pushed forward through the foyer into the main church hall, only for the smell to become even worse. And it wasn’t just the smell either. There were several puddles of melted wax on the floor just inside, so many I almost slipped placing one of my crutches into one. “Someone must’ve burned a lot of candles,” I said. Fact #22: Incense and Wax: “A substantial smell of incense was present in the church, far stronger than usual. The smell is strongest around several puddles of melted wax found on the floor near the door to the foyer.” “But why?” Rarity inquired as she scowled down at the melted wax. “It’s made an awful mess for no reason.” “Who knows?” I muttered. “Trixie doesn’t want to stand here smelling it. Let’s check the rest of the church. Please.” Closing the door to the hall helped cut off some of the smell at least, enough to let me breathe properly. Recovering my senses allowed me to take in the foyer as I searched for anything out of place. Straight away I noticed something odd. One of the rugs had been moved. It had been shoved up against the wall, next to the hallway leading to the church restrooms. Stepping over to it, I prodded it with my crutch, noticing the rug squelch noticeably. “This rug is soaked.” “Oh, as if there wasn’t enough of a mess,” Rarity groused. Fact #23: Waterlogged Rug: “One of the rugs in the church foyer was soaked in water. The rug had also been moved from its standard location and was pressed up against the wall with the hallway leading to the church restrooms.” Poking at it a few times more, I turned to Rarity and asked, “Do you know where this rug is supposed to be?” “I’m not sure. I haven’t spent much time in here,” Rarity admitted. “I came by on Monday to pray for Sweetie, but… if I’m not mistaken, this rug was supposed to be in front of the door to the hall.” I meandered my way back towards the door in question and peered at the floor to the best of my ability. “Hmm. Trixie doesn’t see any water stains. Maybe the rug was used to dry up a spill.” Catching sight of something, I tried to bend down and grab it, but I couldn’t reach. “Um, Rarity, if you could.” Rarity nodded and reached down to scoop up the object in question. “Hmm. This looks like confetti. It’s just like the confetti we found on Adagio.” “So she was here for some reason then.” *Updated* Fact #5: Bloodied Confetti: “Strings of bloodied confetti found on the body of the victim. Similar pieces of confetti were discovered on the floor of the church foyer.” “Trixie thinks this means the church is more important than we first though. We should check every part of it.” Feeling a rumble in my belly, I added, “Starting with the restroom.” “Good idea,” Rarity said, a faint blush coming to her cheeks. We headed for the restroom, and after we both took care of our business and washed our hands, we examined the area. At first we didn’t see anything, until I looked inside the third stall. It was a metal bucket, sitting atop the toilet seat. I grabbed it by its handle and brought it out to look it over. It was wet inside, with several droplets of water accumulated on the bottom. Turning it over, I noticed a label stamped on it, declaring it property of the ship’s theater. Fact #24: Bucket: “A metal bucket, with the words ‘property of ship’s theater’ stamped on the bottom. It was discovered in the ladies restroom of the church, with a few droplets of water inside.” “This is probably what drenched the carpet,” Rarity decided. “Though I still don’t know why someone would do that.” I took a quick peek at my Monopad and frowned. An hour and a half had flown by. All of the other investigations had ended by this point. “Trixie thinks we need to hurry. We might not have much time left.” The next place I chose to check was the rest of the main church hall, though apart from the wax nothing seemed out of place, save for the missing athame from the black altar. The Sunday School also held nothing of interest. The music room, however… the entire place had been turned upside down. Instruments were moved all over the place. Stands were broken or damaged. A couple of odd gourds with beaded netting on them hung from the ceiling by strings of cotton and linen. “What are these?” I wondered. “Oh, those are shekeres, darling,” Rarity said as she plucked one off its string. “They’re from west Farasia, near the coast. Very popular in South Amareican music too. I wrote a paper on them for high school music class.” She frowned at the string, then gasped in horror. “Wait a moment. These strings! These are mine! They-they were made with my thread!” She tore one from the ceiling and scowled at it, then scanned about the room. “And look, there’s more over there.” Reaching down she picked up a long string, this one a good twelve feet at least. “Oooooh! If I catch whomever it was that wasted good thread like this…” Fact #25: Music Room: “The music room was disturbed. Many of the instruments had been moved around. Two shekeres had woven strings of linen and cotton tied to them. There was also a single long string of cotton approximately twelve feet long discovered curled in a pile in the corner of the room.” I patted her on the shoulder. “There there, Rarity. Trixie is sure we’ll figure out who it was and why. We should move on. We still need to check Sunset’s cabin.” Rarity grumbled something under her breath and stuffed the long string into her pocket. “Very well. Lead on.” It took longer than I would’ve liked for us to reach Sunset’s cabin, even with the promenade elevators. Every second that passed left me worried Monoponi would call an end to investigating, but I had to see Sunset’s room first. It was vital. It had to be. Fortunately, we reached it without further incident. Before I stepped inside, I braced myself. Sunset, she means a lot to me. Like, a lot a lot. She’s my best friend in the whole world. My only friend, other than Rarity. If she died, I don’t know what I’d do. After a moment of deep breaths, I pushed open the door. The room was much like it had been described to me by Rarity last night. There were bloodstains on the floor and bed, which left me shaking. There was a missing sheet from the bed too. Sunset’s backpack was here, full of her stuff. And there was a nasty weapon on the floor. “We left things as they were,” Rarity said as I picked up the weapon. It was a pipe wrench, a big one, with blood smeared across the end. “We think whoever kidnapped her used this on her.” “She must’ve been beaten,” I murmured, tears coming to my eyes. Sniffling, I wiped them away and continued my examination of the room. There were stacks of ramen and other food piled on the desk, untouched and uneaten. Her ruined clothes were piled on the floor in the closet. And then I saw what was written on her pillow. Two letters, written in blood. “Rarity… look.” Fact #26: Sunset Shimmer’s Cabin: “Sunset Shimmer’s cabin was discovered unlocked Tuesday morning. Inside there were several bloodstains on the floor and the bed. One of the bedsheets was missing. Sunset’s backpack was left behind. A bloodied pipe wrench was on the floor. On the pillow was scrawled two letters in blood: ‘AJ.’. ” Rarity gaped as she picked up the pillow. “AJ?” she breathed. “As in, Applejack?!” Before my eyes, her face twisted up into the ugliest, grossest, angriest display of pure rage I’d ever seen. And I’d seen a lot of rage on this ship. “That foul, horrid… ooooh I don’t even have the words for this!” She tossed the pillow down. “We must’ve missed this the first time we were in here. Or maybe Applejack hid it when she found the room was open.” Gripping her fists so tight her knuckles turned even whiter than the rest of her, she declared, “If this was Sunset’s dying message, so help me, I will see Applejack ended for this!” “Ended for what?” Diamond Tiara asked as she stuck her head inside the room. She eyed the two of us and grimaced. “Oh. It’s just you.” Rarity whirled, growling under her breath before managing to get a grip on herself. She brushed a hand over her face, and when she dropped it, she was all polite smiles again. “We can worry about what I said during the trial. Tiara, have you found anything in your searches?” “Not really,” Tiara admitted, scowling at the floor. “I thought I’d try checking a few places, like the access corridor. Or the spa. Or the fitness center. Somewhere unrelated, you know, in case whoever the culprit is thought they could hide something there. But I didn’t find crap.” “It was worth searching,” I said as I brought out my Monopad. “Diamond Tiara, you’re the last person Trixie needs to interview. Will you please tell Trixie what you did yesterday?” Rolling her eyes, Tiara said, “Yesterday morning, I texted Sunset, asking if she was awake. I told her to text me during the meetings, since she was going to hole up in her room. I saw her the night before.” Her face fell, her frown turning sad. “I think I might’ve been the last person to talk to her. So I searched all morning for her. When we didn’t find her… I figured she was dead. So I spent the rest of the day by myself.” She turned away from us. “But I did go on a walk after midnight last night. I saw Scootaloo and Applejack walking around. Don’t know if that means anything.” Fact #27: Diamond Tiara’s Account: “Diamond Tiara claims she led a search for Sunset Tuesday morning, then spent the rest of the day by herself. She says she went for a walk after midnight and saw both Scootaloo and Applejack wandering around.” “Trixie is not ready to give up on Sunset just yet,” I declared as I put my Monopad away. “But thank you. Your contribution is appreciated.” DING-DONG BING-BONG Chills ran down my spine at that sound. On reflex, I turned to face the nearest screen, seeing Monoponi’s stupid face grinning at us like a loon. “Aaaah, it’s been such a lovely past couple of days, hasn’t it? No more Sunset, and now no more Adagio… truly, your Captain feels blessed! As should you! Your investigation is up. It’s time, my dear passengers. Time once again for the trial! I hope you’re excited! I know I am. Please assemble at the food court, posthaste!” As his image vanished, my whole body trembled with fear. “This is it,” I said. “Time for Trixie to put her money where her mouth is.” “I’m sure you’ll do fine,” Rarity said encouragingly, giving my left hand a quick squeeze. “I believe in you. If any of us can fill Sunset’s shoes, it’s you.” “Hmph! As if,” Tiara snorted as we all left Sunset’s cabin. “She’s probably going to get us all killed.” I said nothing as we walked, not feeling the need to respond. I was worried I’d manage just that. That I would fail, and everyone would perish. This wasn’t right. I wasn’t meant to do something like this. I’m not that smart. I’m clever, but I’m not smart. I’m not like Sunset. I don’t walk around with an encyclopedia in my brain. Every success I’ve had in the trials has been because I learned from her. Was I really ready to take her place? Like I had a choice. No one else wanted the job. No one else felt up to it. We assembled in the food court swiftly. The yawning immensity of the promenade felt all the more depressing considering how few of us were left. Where once stood sixteen, now there were only six. And one wasn’t here. Assuming she was still alive. Monoponi appeared in front of us with his usual flair, posing like a goofball. “Hello hello, my passengers! Look at you all. So few of you left! Isn’t it wonderful?” “More like awful,” Scootaloo replied with a strong glare. Shrugging, the horse thing replied, “Eh, suit yourself.” “Look, can we just skip the usual bullshit and get on with things?” Tiara said with both hands raised. “I don’t want to hear it. I want this over and done with.” “Very well, but first....” Monoponi’s horn glowed, and everyone’s weapons floated off their backs and disappeared in a burst of light. “No weapons in the courtroom! I won’t have these proceedings turn into a bloodbath.” He glared at us as if expecting us to object, then huffed. “So, no more witty retorts? No more questions?” “Trixie has one,” I said, raising a hand. “If Sunset frees herself, how will she get down to the courtroom?” “She’s not alive, you idiot!” Tiara retorted, flipping me off. “Stop wasting time. Sunset’s dead.” “Trixie refuses to believe that!” I shouted back, waving one of my crutches at her. “She won’t believe Sunset’s dead until she sees the body.” Monoponi hung his head with a world-weary sigh. “Oh, fine, fine. Allow me to say this then.” He raised his head and looked squarely at me. “If, and I do mean if that little shit is still alive, then I will keep the elevator unlocked and ready to go. But she has to get to the courtroom herself! She won’t get any help from me, of any kind.” He held up a forehoof to his mouth. “Upupu, I wouldn’t hold your breath though. She’s probably kicked it. And if you morons find the blackened before she shows up, I’ll make sure of it!” Turning to the giant oversized lock, he fired a jet of light at it with his horn. The lock disintegrated in a brilliant shower of sparks, a colorful display far too cheerful for what it entailed. The iron gates squealed their way open, revealing the elevator. With a single bow, Monoponi vanished. Without preamble we all boarded the elevator. Like the promenade, it seemed far larger, far emptier than it should have been, with only five of us aboard. And as the elevator descended, I contemplated the case we needed to solve. Adagio Dazzle. The siren from Equestria, Sunset’s lover, now dead. Gone. Eliminated by our culprit. I knew she was responsible for Sunset’s disappearance. I knew I wasn’t the least bit sad she’d died. And none of the rest of us were either. One of us took vengeance upon her. One of us sought to bring her to justice for harming Sunset. Sunset’s still alive. She has to be. I won’t accept anything else. So this trial isn’t for Adagio’s killer. It’s for Sunset. It’s to save Sunset. I’d have to drag things out, keep things going as long as possible, to give her time. It’s the only thing I can do to save her life. Sunset, this trial’s for you. I will save you! I promise!