//------------------------------// // Ch.1 Class Trial Part 1 // Story: DANGAN RONPA Equestria: The Elements of Hope and Despair! // by Nyte-Blade //------------------------------//         The mechanical sound of the elevator doors opening sent several volts of anxiousness through my body.         My eyes were drawn to the center of the room, and the circular stands that surrounded Rarity’s cutie mark in the center of the floor. There were sixteen stands, all stuck together, meant for all of us. Up ahead is Monobear sitting on his throne, kicking his legs about like an impatient child. Next to that throne, was a separate stand, surrounded by littered doggy treats. Pretty obvious on whose stand that belongs to.         The walls seemed to be made of giant slabs of uncut gems all around, each of them various shades of purple, like they were just dragged from the mines uncut. Aided by the light, that gave the room a shine and elegance, in an unorthodox way.         On the ceiling, I counted at least four crystal monitors, with nothing displayed yet. “Get in here already! You’re making me bored with your confused gawking!” Monobear ordered, standing in his chair and raising his arms. I look back at the stands in the middle of the room, and notice a pole with monochrome photo of Featherweight attached, smeared with a giant red X.         “Hey! What’s going on!? Why the picture!?” I had to ask about it.         “Now, now, I was generous enough to even let Featherweight join you bastards! You wouldn’t be able to focus if your friend was left out, right? You believe in the magic of friendship, right?! Just use your imagination and pretend he’s talking! You’re such a horrible friend for wanting me to just forget about him!”         I really hate this bear.         Goddamn it all.         “He’s just toying with you. Don’t let him get to you. Just focus on a calculated revenge.” Rumble whispered to me.         “Huh?”         I was seriously surprised by his sudden encouragement. He wants me to have my revenge, huh?         “Instead of focusing on Featherweight, try to focus on Grace. I learned that the key to this whole case is not about whether or not she is innocent, but by how much.”         Before I could ask him anything else, he headed to his place at the stand, leaving behind that random advice.         But the key, being ‘how much’? I know she’s involved, but does the case revolve around her to the point that I have to determine her level of innocence?         How the hell am I supposed to figure that much out? I never had to solve mysteries before!         Is it because of my experience snooping around and working hard to get that scoop that everypony wants to read?         Whatever.         I still have a goal. And I won’t miss out on this chance.         I’ll take my place on this stand and out the asshole responsible for killing him.         I guess if one were to look from above, adopting a clockwise view, I’m standing at the 3 o’clock position.         Clockwise from here, is Dinky Doo, Silver Spoon,  Diamond Tiara, Pipsqueak, Twist, Rumble, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Snips, Snails, Truffle Shuffle, Grace Lightning, Featherweight (well, his picture anyway), and Ginger Snap. ______________________________________________         “Okay you bastards! It’s time to begin our main event of the day, the long-awaited, heart-pounding, Class Trial!” Monobear gleefully carried on, “As I said before, the purpose of the trial is to discuss amongst yourselves and find out who finally caved in and kill a donkey amongst you! Think it over, discuss, and tear each other apart! This is a time where friendship brings the most despair! So why don’t you start by discussing how he died?”         Monobear was nice enough to give us a topic to start with.         “W-we were just getting on that!” Diamond Tiara chided the bear.         “Still, he’s got a point. So like, he died when we saw him, right?” Dinky asked.         “You mean he was already dead then when we saw him! Why do you think we ended up chasing Grace Lightning down?!” Tiara said.         “And I told you, I didn’t kill him! Why the heck would I, huh?!” Grace obviously wasn’t having any of her suspicions.         “Should’ve never run away like a coward.” Twist muttered.         “You sayin’ I’m a coward?!” Grace’s eyes widened dangerously at Twist, quickly making her back down and retract her comment.         “She’s got a point however. You ran, and that made you look guilty. If you have any troubles, you honestly should’ve talked to our teacher! At least she would’ve helped!” Truffle chimed in.         “Not when I can’t understand a goddamn thing she’s saying, wide load!” Grace slammed her forehoof on top of her stand.         “Hey, don’t knock the fat! It took a good effort to get where I am!” Truffle retorted.         “But seriously Grace, what happened?” Sweetie Belle asked, keeping her composure.         “Look, it’s nothin’ to do with you, got it? Just know I didn’t kill that guy. All he did was try to talk to me, but that went south pretty damn quick.” Grace answered calmly despite her scowl.         “AHA!” Diamond made her victory calling already.         “W-what?!” Grace asked, unnerved at the sudden outburst.         “You just outed yourself! Good going, you idiot!”         “Hah!? The hell you on about!?” ___________________ NONSTOP DEBATE EVIDENCE BULLETS: -Monobear File -The blood from under the mirror -Scuff marks on the floor Diamond Tiara: Like I said, you just implicated yourself! Grace Lightning: And like I said, I don’t know what the hell you mean! Dinky Doo: So things didn’t go south? They went north, right?! Silver Spoon: You just implied you did it, and you even contradicted yourself. Grace Lightning: And I don’t see how! Just because things go south, doesn’t mean there’s a wall to smash into, dammit! I should know, I’ve crashed many ponies into walls! Diamond Tiara: Then lemmie give you a rundown on what happened! Diamond Tiara: Featherweight tried to talk to you, while you were in the shop for some reason, staging a murder... Diamond Tiara: And then you kicked him so hard, he died when he crashed through the mirror! The shards attest to that! Grace Lightning: Wait, what!?          YOU GOT THAT WRONG! ____________________________________ “What the heck, Shady?! I had her!” Diamond Tiara chided me for yelling, but she’s way off. “No, you didn’t. You’re not even freaking close! Didn’t you look at the crime scene? You noticed the blood, right?” “Well yeah! Everypony saw it!” “And where was the source?” I asked, hoping she’s not stupid. “Source...?” She muttered to herself, closing her eyes. “Ah! Under the mirror!” “Exactly. That’s why you’re wrong. you're so gung-ho on keeping the spotlight on Grace, you're failing to see the obvious.” I said, somewhat glad she got what I was saying. “I-I knew that! I was just testing you blank flanks, that’s all! Nothing else!” She’s doing a poor job at hiding her mistake. “You know, I’m pretty sure a brief bout of violence isn’t allowed in court, so I’ll retrain my usual urges to clock you in the head. Just this once.” Scootaloo’s eye was twitching, focusing on the wannabe Princess.         “Shady, elaborate on the contradiction, please.” Ginger requested.         “Right.” I took a deep breath, trying to prevent my emotions from surfacing too much. “We know that when Grace Lightning knocked Featherweight through the mirror in the shop, it gave him a concussion, but that didn’t kill him. Didn’t you notice the blood? A buck to the head and crash through the mirror wouldn’t cause all of that.”         “I can attest to that one, ya know!” Pipsqueak chimed in. “See, it’s just like in common slasher gigs! If it was reaaaaaaaaally a blow to the head, it’d be a more messy scene, like, SPLOOSH! Ya know?”         “Could you not look so excited when talking about head explosions?” Silver Spoon asked, trying to hold her composure, but it’s obvious she’s unnerved.         “Come on, if you’re gonna make heads go sploosh, then turn it into a ball of locusts afterward! I’d tolerate it better!” Snails demanded.         I think a head exploding into locusts would be even worse.         “Come on, you know that’s awesome when done right! Especially when it’s so unexpected, ya know!” Pip kept his enthusiasm going.         “You should try to get back on topic.” Twist muttered.         “Oh, right!” Pip scratched his mane, “Sorry bout that! But anyway, if it was really a headshot, there’d be more uhh, how do I put it... head chunks and stuff, ya know? The neck’s also a great spot due to all that blood rush!”         “Rushing which way? North or south?! Pfft!” Dinky covered her mouth with her forehooves.         “Don’t say it like that!” Snails chided, holding his own head in shock.         “Still, the neck, huh? You’re basically saying that Featherweight was cut somehow?” Ginger asked.         “He’s right. I went and looked at the body myself.” I said, sighing deeply. The image of Featherweight’s body is still vivid. If I didn’t have to look, I wouldn’t have.         Hold those emotions back, Shady. Save them for when it’s over.         “Hey, Ah' was there too!” Apple Bloom finally spoke up.         “Were you, now?” Diamond rose her eyebrow the moment Apple Bloom mentioned her part of the investigation.         “Sure was! Got a good look at that body n’ everything! So much blood all coming from the neck!”         “So which way was he cut?” Rumble asked her.         “Hmm, Ah’ think he was cut this way!” Apple Bloom waved her hoof left and right briefly.         “You mean horizontally.” Ginger Snap put a hoof to her lip, “That’s a pretty good tactic. Maybe our culprit thought this murder through.”         “That means he was killed from the other side?! B-but how!? Grace has those stupid wheels, but she’s not that fast!” Way to fire those shots, Diamond.         “Well, at least I’m faster than Rainbow Dash.” Grace said nonchalantly.         “Oooh, burn!” Dinky held onto her stomach, laughing out loud.         “Hey, you take that back!” Of course Scootaloo wasn’t gonna tolerate that.         “Still though, the way he was cut, there’s no way he was killed from the initial side, from which Grace bucked-”         “Oh come on!” Snails shouted. I wish he’d stop trying to imply things here.         “Ahem,” Silver Spoon rolled her eyes, “kicked him through the mirror...”         “You sure he really died on the other side? Maybe his neck just impaled a mirror shard when he was sent flying, I dunno?” Snips asked, somewhat skeptical. But the current theory makes the most sense.         “No, there’s actually a way to prove it.” I said.         IT’S OBVIOUS!         “The air vents in the shop. Did anypony look up, above the body?” Answering with evidence, I’ll steer this discussion in the right direction!         “Oh man, that’s right! It was open like crazy, ya know?” Pip clenched his head.         “Ah hah! I knew there were some crazy shenanigans going on!” Guess Truffle’s throwing in his two-bits now.         “Shenanigans? What shenanigans?! Spill it!” Diamond ordered.         “The vent was an escape route! When you screamed, didn’t you see the blood already?! That’s why you wanted us to chase her down!” Truffle said, throwing the ball back into Diamond Tiara’s court.         “Aah, now I get it...” Diamond's eyes focused on Grace once again.         “Wait, you’re back on me being the culprit again!? I’m not the culprit! Damn it, I’m used to having a lawyer for this crap!”         Sure, Grace’s complaint aside, I thought Truffle was going to suspect Diamond Tiara of being the culprit for a minute there.         “Just how many crimes do you commit?!” Snips asked. I’m surprised he’s not using that against her.         “I just break a lotta bones of ponies who piss me off! And you’re all gonna join’em if you don’t stop accusing me!”         “Then tell us what happened already!” Diamond Tiara ordered.         Here we go again... __________________ NONSTOP DEBATE          EVIDENCE BULLETS: -Open vents -Scuff Marks -Hoofprints Grace Lightning: I told you dumbasses that I ain’t kill no pony! WHAT THE HELL IS IT NOW!? Diamond Tiara: You were stupid enough to contradict yourself by saying that he angered you! Snails: Should've never bucked him to death! Snips: Pretty obvious you’re the culprit. The weapon could’ve been those mirror shards anyway! Grace Lightning: You’re freakin’ stupid! I ran after kicking him! That’s the end of that! NO BUTS! Snips: Where’s your evidence then? Grace Lightning: I couldn't get any evidence thanks to you assholes restraining me! Sweetie Belle: I didn't want to, but you ran away! You should've just talked to us instead of dodging questions! Dinky Doo: Ooooh, so you’re saying you DIDN’T leave a trail behind?! AGREED! _____________________________________          Dinky literally jumped at her stand, startled.         “W-what?! I was being sarcastic! Can’t you tell sarcasm!? You can’t agree with sarcasm!” Dinky chided me, but I had evidence supporting her claim, even if the sarcasm was obvious.         Weird. I wonder if I’m going for or against her claim. No time to think about that.         “Well, I ignored the sarcasm, because those words are actually the truth. And the evidence to back that up are the scuff marks!”         “Scuff marks? What are those again?” Dinky asked, pursing her lips.         “Guess you don’t know common knowledge.” Twist muttered to herself.         Grace heaved a deep sigh. She didn’t want to, but she had no choice to explain the one thing she knows. “Idiots, scuff marks are those black curved lines you see on the ground every time I make hard turns with my wheels, get it? Got it!?”         “Huh, so wait, that means Grace didn’t do it! Doesn’t this prove her innocent?” Sweetie Belle happily asked.         “Psh, it better, or I’ll be pissed.” Grace’s grin grew devious, from ear-to-ear, like she wants to be angry.         You still are! Your eyes and expression aren’t helping!         “Those black trails on the ground. I knew they were scuff marks, but I always thought they made a steady trail. I wasn’t aware that they were exclusive to sharp turns.” Silver Spoon commented.         “Hah!? The heck you mean?! Don’t you watch Roller Derby?!” Grace acted as if Silver Spoon committed a sin.         “Roller Derby is just one of the few sports that the Sterling Family considers uncouth and barbaric.” Silver Spoon answered.         “You’re on my kill list now, bitch... insulting my very core! MY SOUL!” Now i can see the veins popping up on Grace's head...         “About the marks... you’re referring to that blood trail, aren’t you?” Ginger politely asked for elaboration.         “That’s right. That trail ran from the body to the exit. Everypony who’s seen the body knows this, no? Surely it wasn’t coincidence that your scuff marks somehow merge with the blood trail.” Silver Spoon answered, putting the heat back on Grace.         “YEAH! I got where this is going! You’re basically saying that she jumped from the vent, and just happened to run into the blood!” Snips nodded, “Yep, I’m pretty damn smart!”         “Bite me!” Grace’s eyes made her look like she was powering up for something fierce.         “Hah! You don’t scare me! You’re nothing against good ol’ brain power!” Snips boasted, puffing his chest out.         “If only you applied yourself during school, otherwise Miss Cheerilee wouldn’t have had to scold you nutty butts!” Truffle warned, still irking everyone with that teacher's pet attitude.         “Nutty butts? Really?” Dinky asked.         “He’s got a point though. We were incredibly lazy and troublesome! The Great and Powerful Trixie would attest to that!” Snails tipped his top hat.         “It sounded better in my head! Leave me alone!” Truffle folded his forearms, looking away.         “Yeah, well, I explained how my wheels work, and yet you dumbasses are so dumb! This is giving me a huge headache, like my head could explode any minute! Aaaagh!” Grace groaned while grabbing her head, fed up with all of the suspicion. Yet, Pip ended up hiding behind his stand, ducking.         His head popped up a bit, looking at all of us, wondering why we’re staring at him. “W-what?! I thought her head would blow up for real, ya know!” Pip looked at us like we were the crazy ones for thinking how weird he is.         “But still, something doesn’t feel right!” Sweetie Belle chimed in.         “And what would that be? I’m not interested in a Blank Flank’s blank theories!” Diamond threw her usual insult. Despite that, Sweetie Belle didn't seem fazed at all.         “I just figured that the wheels move in a circular motion, right? Wouldn’t there be a splash? Even a little bit? I thought blood would be thick, so there should’ve been a splash of some sort, especially if she ran away!”         Sweetie Belle’s onto something. I can even remember that time when she tried to fight Monobear on the first night here. When her wheels are active, she tends to rev herself up before charging head first into danger.         Not to mention, nopony noticed a single drop of blood on her hooves. I'm sure that if they did, Diamond Tiara would've been all over that.         “How can you be so sure? The evidence could be circumstantial!” Diamond still insists her theory isn’t worth anything, but I have proof that Sweetie Belle’s not that far off the mark, so-to-speak.         THERE!         “Look at those scuff marks on the ground again.” I said, supporting Sweetie’s words.         “Eh!? Again?! We already confirm-” I wasn’t going let Tiara go on her tirade.         “Closer! Just look closer! Can’t you see the direction those wheels are turned?” I pointed out the evidence I picked up at the crime scene.         “Agh! No way! Those scuff marks are turning in the opposite direction!”         Now she sees it. Seriously, this is weird. Didn’t she look at the crime scene herself?         “Hmm, hmm... that makes a lot of sense.” Rumble nodded, then noticed that everypony turned their attention to him. “Don’t mind me, I’m still learning about the crime through you all.”         “So you have nothing to say?!” Scootaloo asked, surprised at Rumble’s off-handed comments.         “I’m not ready to drop my pipebomb yet. I’m saving it for the right moment, you see. Continue the discussion. Get back to talking about Grace Lightning’s involvement.” Rumble said.         “Oh, so you’re one of THOSE ponies! You think I did it too, huh!?”         I’m surprised that Rumble isn’t afraid of Grace’s glaring at all. He’s as calm as ever.         “Oh, I don’t think you did it. Not at all.” Rumble waved off.         “Now you’re just being sarcastic! Don’t mess with me!”         “Now, now, I’m not sarcastic in the slightest. All I want to do is help this trial along by pointing out how obvious it is that you’re not the killer, Grace.” Rumble smiled, then added, “Of course, what I’m about to say isn’t my pipebomb, but pointing out some obvious facts that should’ve been understood from the very beginning if you ask me.”         “Obvious facts? What obvious facts?!” Snips, just like the rest of us, looked to Rumble to hear his words. But what the heck is this 'pipebomb' he keeps mentioning?         “Think about it; The scuff marks, the air vents, the broken door to the changing room, the blood, the whole chase scenario that Diamond Tiara woke us up for... It just means that there was another pony who was awake in the morning other than Grace and Featherweight, that’s all. Think about it, Grace was the one who sent Featherweight flying through the mirror in the clothing shop, right? It would be impossible for her to climb into the vent, get to the other side, kill him, then crawl back. It’s common sense when you add up the time.”         Wait, waking everypony up?         That explains it why they were chasing Grace to begin with when I stepped outside this morning. Diamond Tiara had to wake up during the morning announcement, right?         “Somepony else... Geh!” Diamond Tiara suddenly realized it. I could see her sweat becoming more apparent too.         She suddenly realized that now she’s the suspicious one.         “Hold on! HOLD ON!” Diamond waved her hooves in a panic, “D-don’t look at me like that! I’m not the culprit! I swear! I’m not! Daddy always told me to be a good girl!” "You bullying us all through our childhood contradicts that." Scootaloo scoffed at Tiara's pleas.         “No wonder you’re so demanding.” Twist muttered under her breath. “And no, I’m not taking that one back. You’re super suspicious right now.”         “For Celestia's sake! I’m surrounded by dunces!” Diamond Tiara panicked.         “Heh, now you know how I felt! HOW’S IT FEEL NOW, HUH BITCH?! Gonna weep? Call for daddy!?” Grace taunted, showering in Diamond's fear.         “I-I... I DON’T NEED DADDY FOR THIS! I'M A GOOD STRONG GIRL!” "Uu~pupu~! You don't even know if your precious daddy is alive after all!" Monobear's precise opportunity to twist the knife worked wonders. The words of a teddy bear produced a fury from the wanna-be princess like I've never seen before. "Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!!!"         Seeing Grace and Diamond exchange glares reminded me to never get on their bad side.         “Now, that depends on the conclusion we reach when we look through the sequence of events, you see.” Rumble said. "So calm down and recall."         “Alright, look, I was the first to find the body, blood and all! I saw Grace there, and I ran to wake everypony up! COME ON, GRACE! TELL THEM!”         “Oh, I dunno~ I really don’t feel like it now that you put me through all of that BS earlier! Who the hell do you think you are!?”         “Thanks for confirming it for us, Grace. You instantly cleared Diamond Tiara of all suspicion in one fell swoop.” Silver Spoon sighed, but smiled lightly.         “Wh-how! HOW!?”         “Instead of outright lying about not seeing Diamond Tiara, you denied telling them. That’s an indirect confession.” Silver answered in a matter-of-factly tone.         “Agh! I wanted her to suffer, dammit!”         “So much for that entertainment.” Scootaloo sighed.         “Phew, thanks!” Diamond grinned from ear-to-ear at her friend. Yet it looked like it took everything she had to produce that smile.         “So... Diamond Tiara isn’t our suspect. Then who is? We’re under the assumption that the culprit escaped from under our nose using the vents, but didn’t that escape occur during the chase? At least that’s what I see. Such weird tactics...” Ginger pondered. “Yeah, that’s right! There’s still the issue with those vents, ya know!?” Pip scolded, steering them back to this important part of the topic. “Wait a sec, if that air vent was opened, how the heck did the culprit sneak past us like that then!? And wasn’t the vent open from the other side as well?”         “What if Grace was used somehow? We were so focused on her, of course the culprit would use her to escape. Not to mention, Grace doesn’t appear to be smart enough to plan something like that.” Ginger said, pondering a possible escape route.         “You sayin’ I’m stupid?!” Grace seethed.         “I wonder about that.” Ginger tried to hold back her giggle.         “If the culprit used the chase with Grace to get away, then any one of us could’ve done it. You know that, right?” Rumble gravely reminded us.         In other words, Grace Lightning was just a mere decoy.         “W-what?!? NO WAY!! THAT MEANS I’M A SUSPECT AGAIN?! I’m Diamond Tiara! I’m too good for this!!”         “It would appear so...”         “Don’t act so special! We’re all equal ponies! I’m a suspect, just like you!” Truffle hurriedly said.         “Don’t sound so retarded.” Twist muttered as usual, voicing more contempt than normal.         “Heh! I’m glad for that! Means I’m not the suspect anymore!” Grace puffed her chest out, happy as ever.         While Apple Bloom is giggling to herself quietly, we’re all grasping at straws!         Back to square one... that means I’m a suspect too, right? No, I don't think I’m special just because I’m Featherweight’s friend. But still... it’s hurtful to think I may be a suspect too. But there has to be a way!         Come on, think, Shady! THINK!         Don’t stop thinking!         .........................         .............         ......         !!!         I GOT IT!         “I have a suggestion.” I spoke up solemnly.         “Huh? What kind of blank theory you have!? Spill it!”         “It’s not a blank theory if it’ll make a breakthrough in the case.” Silver Spoon defended me, surprisingly.         After a quick grumble and grinding her teeth, Tiara caved. “Fine! Go on, tell us what you got!”         And Apple Bloom’s grin grew even wider. I guess her role in this crime is coming up, and she knows it. She probably has plenty of ammo saved just for this, and I’ll have to be ready.         “We’ll use Featherweight to commence a process of elimination.”