“Welcome to the courtroom!” Cheshire announced again. “Let’s begin with a simple explanation of the school trial – Your task is to reason out the identity of the culprit, and vote on who the villain is!

“Should you discover the villain correctly, they alone shall be punished! But if you vote for the wrong perp… Then I’ll punish everyone besides the villain! And they will be allowed to leave Wonderland!

“Yeah,” Freya took advantage of that and looked towards the odd sign that stood behind the stand next to her, which displayed the face of Elo with a pair of queens crossed out over her face. “Mind explaining what the Tartarus this is about?”

“Oh, I’d feel so shameful if I left anyone who perished behind in these proceedings,” Cheshire explained as he pushed up his top hat. “After all, bonds are a precious thing, wouldn’t you say? Even if you knew her for a few days, the bond you all share with her will last as long as you live.”

“Another question over here,” Hawkward sighed as he lifted his hoof up into the air. “Is the murderer really one of us?”

“Of course!” Cheshire cackled loudly. “Your villain is definitely one of you. After all, thanks to the cameras everywhere, I can attest that the villain is one of you.”

“But you’re not going to tell us, are you?” Hawkward guessed with his eyes narrowed.

“Not until after the vote,” Cheshire chuckled. “After all, I need to make sure that this trial is completely fair for both sides. And since its essentially thirteen to one, that’s a strenuous job. Any more questions?”

“Yeah, there were about fifteen of us,” Kopuz pointed out as he looked across the room to the empty stand. “So, what’s with that stand?”

“Oh, no real big meaning,” Cheshire responded, pulling a fish out from his hat. “There was a sale at the furniture shop ‘Buy fifteen courtroom stands, get one free’! So of course I had to jump on that sweet deal!”

“Alright, just one more question, and then we’ll begin!” Cheshire announced with his paw thrown in the air. “Of course, if you have any questions about anything, feel free to ask – But I’d like to get the ball rolling!”

“Ah right, forgot I was dealing with a bunch of noobs,” Cheshire admitted before he took a bite of the fish. “Well, I’ll toss you a bone this time, why not start with the case summary? Just so everyone’s on the same page?”

“Alright,” Kopuz rolled his head on his shoulders. “Everyone who didn’t kill Elo, don’t raise your arm!”

“Alright, enough!” Cheshire hissed as he waved the fish bones he had in his paws. “Get on with the show!”

Tracer gulped before he took a deep breath, ‘Alright… Here it goes, I don’t know if I’m ready for this, but ready or not, I have to step forward to do this!’

“Let’s start with the victim,” Hawkward announced, taking charge. “Elo Castling was the victim here!”

“Way to state the obvious!” Freki chimed in with a thumbs up. “Good on ya!”

“And the murder took place at the White Rabbit’s Storage,” Misch admitted. “In the main hall of it.”

“So, m-most likely,” Alchymist muttered out loud. “Elo was taken by surprise in main hall, and was killed without even knowing it!”

Alchymist flinched when Tracer shouted, the goggle wearing stallion stood at his stand with his hoof raised up. For a few moments, Tracer just stood there, his eyes narrowed down at a confused Alchymist. “W-What?!

Tracer blinked a few times, still maintaining his pose. ‘Wha… What’s come over me…? Without thinking, I just shouted.

‘And I yelled it at the top of my lungs, hoof outstretched, ready to take on anyone!

Tracer then slammed both of his hooves onto the stand, “Actually, Alchymist, one look at the crime scene tells a different story – There were several feathers scattered all over the place and…”

“Sounds broken to me!”

Now it was Misch’s time to yell, the black griffon with her talon pointed at Tracer, odd thing though was that the yellow markings on Misch’s black feathers were glowing brightly. “There’s no way that the feathers would indicate that!”

“Uh, Misch?” Tracer questioned, a little surprised that he was shot down so quickly. “Why are those marks glowing?”

“After all, the feathers were nowhere near Elo’s body,” Misch ignored Tracer with a coy smile. “Plus, they’re all centered around that table and chair, and there was no blood seen there!”

“True,” Tracer admitted with a smirk. “But there’s another piece of evidence that suggest that there was a struggle.”

“There was a blue shard next to Elo’s body,” Tracer started to explain… When all of a sudden a large holographic screen appeared in the middle of the courtroom, freaking out pretty much everyone. “GAH!”

“Oh, right, forgot about that,” Cheshire chuckled. “I thought it’d be easier for everyone to see the evidence if I projected it when you find it. And thanks to a little spell, all you need to do is picture it in your mind, and the right evidence will show up on the screen.

“And don’t worry, I won’t tamper with any evidence, Tartarus, if you don’t believe me, you can always carry it with you if you like. But still, keeps your hooves, paws, hands, or claws clean.”

“Uh, thanks?” Tracer commented, still a little confused. He lifted a hoof up towards the screen and saw that it flew down in front of him. When he placed a hoof on the screen, he saw that the blue shard spun along with it. “Okay, I have to admit, this is kinda cool.”

“Oh, uh, right!” Tracer chuckled sheepishly before he smacked the screen right towards Misch. “As I was saying, there was a blue shard next to Elo’s body, and on it there was some blood on it, and I know exactly what this is from.”

“You’re talking about the blue vase, right?” Godfrey asked as he snapped his talons, having a screen appear next to his head, which displayed a blue vase with sunflowers in it. “There was a vase like this in the hall of White Rabbit’s Storage a day or so ago, but it seems to have vanished.

“Yes,” Tracer answered with a nod. “And as Misch pointed out with the feathers, why would there be a broken vase piece away from where it was initially?”

Tracer stood there at the stand, taking a look at his hoof, ‘W-What just happened here? It feels like I’ve done this before… But, that’s impossible, all I’ve ever done is be a delivery colt, yet, it just came naturally to me to point out contradictions…’

Misch stood there with a dull look on her face before she laughed and rubbed the back of her head, “Hehe, looks like I was wrong. Good on ya!”

“She gave up quick,” Freya muttered out loud. “But this brings up another question, there has to be more than just this single piece of vase, where’s the rest of it?”

“Did ze culprit not take it wiz zem?” Francis suggested. “Ze lighting in zere isn’t ze best after all, ze could’ve picked up ze rest and missed zis piece.”

“I dunno ‘bout that,” Zure interrupted as she leaned against the stand. “I mean, if they were willing to dispose of evidence, why didn’t they pick up the feathers when they were leaving?”

Everyone’s eyes fell onto Lore once more, the red pegasus began to tear up slightly, “B-But I didn’t do it!”

“We can save the accusations for later,” Crowquill brought up. “And if we begin questioning the feathers and vase’s placement at this time, we’ll just go in circles. We’ll find a connection between the two soon, but for now, let’s focus on other factors of the case.”

“How about how the killer and victim got into the building?” Freya asked below she clapped her paws, allowing the screen to pop up next to her showing the door and key to White Rabbit’s Storage. “After all, the door was locked, and the key to the storage facility was left in the cafeteria until I had it. It would be a simple matter for the culprit to pick up the key at night and use it to open the door.

“More than likely, they must’ve called out Elo, the two got into a scrap, and that led to Elo’s demise.”

Ferya smiled before she turned towards Kopuz, “Why not have the minotaur answer that? After all, he was the one who read out that letter she had under her hoof.”

“Oh yeah, that note did say something about meeting near the time of death,” Kopuz stated as he pulled the paper out from his pants. “Yeah… Should I read it out loud again?”

“I found a way out, a way that Cheshire hasn’t blocked out.
However, I lack the proper abilities to reach this way out.

If you want to escape, then meet me at White Rabbit’s Storage at 2 a.m., and don’t tell anyone about this. The less who know about this, the better chances we have at keeping this secret from Cheshire.”

“Yeah, if someone got a letter like that,” Smokey muttered out loud. “No doubt that they’d want to see if it was on the up and up.”

“And with this, we’ve got a solid idea how the crime took place,” Freya chuckled with a smile.

“If I may speculate, I think I’ve got this crime already figured out,” Freya continued with her paw lifted up. “Let’s say that the culprit slipped this letter under Elo’s door, she sees it and decides to head to the cafeteria to get the key. After that, she heads to the storage – she goes in where the killer was waiting for her.”

“And how could the killer be inside waiting for her if Elo had the key?” Zure questioned.

That didn’t stop Freya from smiling at Tracer, “Tell me, Mr. Earth Stallion, you were the first one to see the body – Recall the state of the window of the White Rabbit’s Storage.”

“Yes, and since it was opened, anyone with wings could easily reach the window,” Freya continued as she lifted her paw towards Lore. “Or could jump like Tracer. As the killer tried to enter the room, their wings must’ve gotten caught on the window, and a number of feathers floated to the ground. That didn’t stop them from their goal, seeing their target right under the window they took the knife… And struck!

“Of course, Elo must’ve noticed the killer as they were diving and turned just in time to see her attacker, this resulted in the struggle we mentioned earlier, and how there could be more feathers scattered about.

“No! I keep t-telling you t-that it isn’t me!” Lore squeaked back with tears in her eyes. “W-Why don’t you believe me!?”

“Well, if you had an alibi at the time, that’d be a start,” Freya answered back coyly. “Until then, the only one with red wings and feathers is you Lore…”

Freya reeled back when she heard Tracer’s voice, “What’s wrong with my theory?”

‘There are a few things, but I’ll start with just one of them…’ Tracer thought to himself. “Is Lore really the only one with red feathers?”

“In case you didn’t notice,” Freya countered back as she looked at all the winged creatures in the room. “She’s the only one with red wings – The griffons have black feathers and Crowquill has white.”

“Yes, but there’s still one pony here who hasn’t revealed what they really are,” Tracer retorted before his attention turned towards one certain individual. “Isn’t that right, Hawkward?”

The red stallion blinked a few times, realizing that a few others were looking to him, “Huh?”

“You think he’s the one with the red feathers?” Geri questioned as he had a paw to his chin. “Well, he does have the same coloring that Lore… But he’s an Earth Stallion.”

“No he isn’t,” Tracer replied as he waved his hooves. “Remember when we first met? Misch tried to fly away and almost got fried by the storms?”

“Ugh, do you have to bring that up?” Misch asked with a blush on her feathers.

“S-Sorry,” Tracer coughed before he continued, the screen at his side lit up and showed Hawkward with Misch on his back. “But yeah, if you guys remember, Hawkward actually managed to catch Misch in the air. As a traceur, at the angle he was at, there was no way for him to jump into the air as high as he did…

Hawkward rolled his head on his shoulders when he realized that everyone was looking to him. The stallion sighed loudly before he shook his head, “So, you think based off of that one scene that I’m a pegasus? And to a longer extent, that I’m the villain?”

“Well, I was just trying to say that there’s another possibility,” Tracer chuckled sheepishly.

Hawkward sighed loudly, “I suppose I’ll have to dispel these accusations immediately.”

“WHOOOHOOOO!” Misch jeered as she waved her talons in the air. “Take it off!”

“Normally I don’t need to remove my vest,” Hawkward stated as he pulled his vest off. “But I need to make a point here.”

It was then that two wings immediately snapped up at Hawkward’s side, with the stallion groaning as he stretched his wings, “Ah, been a while since I just stretched these bad boys…”

Tracer’s jaw dropped, and he wasn’t the only one, pretty much stood in awe at the sight of Hawkward’s wings.

“No way,” Misch was the first to speak up, before stars appeared in her eyes. “You’re a thestral!? That’s... so... AWESOME!”

Hawkward smirked as he slipped his vest back on. “Heh, thanks, oh and Tracer, you’ve got some good memory there – but your observation skills aren’t on par. Good theory though, you may wanna try a different angle.”

“Uh, why’d you try to hide them?” Freki asked, poking the wings since he was next to Hawkward. “If I had bat wings, I’d strut them around, dood.”

“The why is more trouble than its worth,” Hawkward sighed before he swatted Freki’s paw away. “And stop touching them! They’re sensitive.”

“Uh, Freya,” Tracer called out. “You said that the culprit took the knife… I’m guessing you’re going on that knife that was on the scene.”

“Geri told me that there was only one knife on the scene,” Freya answered back before she looked away with a blush. “I didn’t see it myself since I kinda have a thing about seeing blood, but according to the Cheshire file, the victim was stabbed.

“True, but can we be sure that the knife is the murder weapon?” Tracer suggested as another holographic screen appeared in front of him, this one displaying the knife at the scene.

“C’mon, it’s a knife,” Freya scoffed. “Elo was stabbed, it’s not brain surgery…”

“But the fact that there’s no blood on the knife,” Tracer countered before he threw his hoof into the screen and sent it flying towards Freya. “Proves that it couldn’t be the murder weapon!”

Freya yipped as the screw passed right through her, which made the diamond dog wince in surprise.

“But couldn’t the blood have been wiped off or something?” Kopuz suggested, his arms crossed in triumph. “That would explain why there wouldn’t be blood on the thing, they wanted to clean up the crime scene – Just like they did with the vase!”

“And they left the knife with the body and all those feathers behind?” Tracer countered. “If you were the perp cleaning up the crime scene, wouldn’t you want to get rid of everything that pointed to you as the culprit? It would almost be like Lore was intentionally trying to get caught if she did the crime, but if she’s denying it, it wouldn’t make sense!”

“Yeesh dood, you don’t need to yell,” Kopuz groaned, his hand at the back of his head.

“Tracer’s not wrong,” Crowquill added. “About the knife not being the murder weapon. While there is blood on it, it’s only on the handle. And we can confirm this.”

Crowquill tapped his hoof on the stand in front of him, but nothing happened. He then sighed and clapped his hooves together, allowing the screen to pop in front of him, the display showing the knife with and odd blue glow on the handle save for a small gap on it. “Luminol tests show that there wasn’t a speck of blood on the blade, although there was plenty of it on the handle.

“And for those who don’t know, even if the blade is wiped clean, there would still be traces of blood on it, but this is spotless.”

“Lu… Lu… Lu-what-now?” Francis questioned. “Is zat some sort of dressing zat moi needs to learn about?”

“It’s a chemical that reacts with the iron in blood,” Hawkward explained, now with his bat wings now sticking out of his vest. “It turns blue and can be used to help determined where blood has been – And we found it in the back of the storage room. It also reacts with horseradish sauce too!”

“Really?” Godfrey asked with his talons crossed. “What was something like that doing there?”

“Ah, the reason for that,” Cheshire chuckled, waking up from a small snooze. “Since you guys aren’t professionals here at crime investigation, I figured I’d sprinkle in a little help here and there.”

“Whatever,” Freya growled before she pumped a paw in the air. “Let’s say that the knife isn’t the murder weapon, then what the Tartarus was it doing there in the first place? And while we’re at it, where did it come from and who brought the damn thing?”

Tracer rubbed his chin, indeed, even if the knife wasn’t the murder weapon, why it was even there in the first place was a little unnerving. Did the killer bring the knife with them? Or was there something else here…

Everyone turned towards the goat in the room, who had a large blush on his face. “It’s a kitchen knife. Moi would recognize it faster zan if it was Monday’s morning rush hour. In fact…”

Francis clapped his hooves against the stand a few times, and unlike with Crowquill, the holographic image of the knife appeared before him. Francis lifted one of his hooves up and ran it along the side of the holographic knife. “Zis particular knife was made for ponies. You see ze grooves in ze handle? It’s to allow a better grip for anypony to use in zeir mouz – But if ze culprit was a pony and used zis knife…”

“There wouldn’t be blood on the handle,” Tracer finished up with a smirk. “So the knife could’ve been a trap laid out by the culprit to throw us off.”

“But if that was the case,” Godfrey spoke up. “Then why didn’t they put blood on the blade instead of the handle? Wouldn’t it make more sense to do it like if their goal was to throw us off track?”

“M-Maybe they didn’t have a choice in the matter?” Lore suggested, earning all eyes on her again, and made her shrink down slightly. “I… I mean, what if blood got onto the handle and it wasn’t intentional?”

“You mean like they used something else, and didn’t notice the knife till it was too late?” Freki commented.

“Well, even though it isn’t the murder weapon,” Hawkward questioned with a hoof brought to his chin. “I think we should still look into it – After all, if the murderer brought the knife with them, then why didn’t they use it?”

“We can all agree this knife came from the kitchen,” Geri added before he snapped his paws, having a screen appear in front of him. “But the questions at paw are when was it taken and who took it. If we believe the note, then it was probably taken before two a.m., agreed?”

Everyone seemed to nod in compliance to the Diamond Dog’s suggestion, with that, Geri tapped on the screen, with ‘Knife taken at 2 a.m. or earlier’ appearing soon after. “So, I’ll pose this question to everyone, was anyone in the cafeteria around that time?”

“Wouldn’t Francis fit the bill?” Kopuz commented, holding up his crystal ball in his hands. “He practically camps out in the kitchen.”

“Even moi needs his rest,” Francis sighed with a shake of his head. “But, if you must know, moi was in ze kitchen till, oh… when Moi got back to ze room, it was roughly about ten o’clock, so moi would say… nine-forty-five… ish?”

Everyone turned back to Francis, who was frowning as he thought deeply. “Well, in ze kitchen, zere are a few knives on ze wall near ze fridge – Each varying in size.”

With another clap of his hooves, the screen appeared over Francis’ head, showing off the knives that were mounted on a customized stand. One of the knives looked oddly familiar, “So yes, ze knife did come from kitchen, but it was zere when moi left.”

“Can we really trust Francis though?” Smokey brought up. “No offense dood, but if you’re the only one in the kitchen at the time, then who’s to say that you didn’t take the knife and key?”

That was when Zure waved a hoof. “I was in the cafeteria when Francis left, in fact, thanks again for the tea, Francis.”

“Hmm,” Freya mused to herself. “So, did Francis take the knife and key, or not?”

“I’m not so sure about the knife,” Zure replied, looking to the side. “However, I was at the table with the key to the storage room on it. And it was there when I left.”

“But that leaves the same problem for you,” Freya pointed out. “What’s to say you didn’t take the knife?”

But Zure smiled brightly, “Actually, I’ve got an alibi for that. Isn’t that right Misch?”

For a few seconds, everyone waited to hear from the griffon in question, but instead…

“Zzzzz,” Misch was snoring lightly as she had her head planted on the stand.

‘How in the world did she fall asleep?!’ Tracer thought to himself with a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head.

“Huh!?” Misch yelped loudly as she snapped her head up. “Oh, did we figure out who did it?”

“You wanna say that to my wrench!?” Misch snarled back as she lifted up a wrench from the back of her belt and held it up. “I don’t care if you’re a dragon, I’ll still smack you upside the head!”

For a moment, everyone’s eyes fell onto Smokey, the dragon narrowed his brow at the black griffon – and then broke out in laughter, “HAHAHAHAHA! You’ve got spunk! I’ll look forward to you trying that!”

Zure sighed loudly as she tapped her hoof against the stand a few times, “Misch, please focus. Remember what we did last night?”

“Huh? Oh yeah,” Misch commented as she scratched the side of her face with the wrench. “Last night, heh, that was quite the fun little ride last night.”

“So, besides having an interesting coupling,” Godfrey sighed, using his green scarf to cover up the blush on his face. “Was there a point to you two spending the time together?”

“It wasn’t like that!” Zure barked out, her face completely red. “After seeing those pictures yesterday, neither of us could really sleep, so we just spent the… We just hung out.”

“Aw, don’t be like that, Zure,” Misch mumbled as she looked to the side. “Didn’t we have so much fun last night?”

The blush continued to heighten on Zure’s face, so much so that there seemed to be a little steam appearing around her head, “No! Don’t make that claim! Keep it up and you’ll drive me insane!”

“Looks like it’s a little too late,” Kopuz chuckled. “And you’re rhyming again.”

“T-There’s still a point!” Zure sputtered out, her face buried in her hooves. “Me and Misch hanged out in the cafeteria joint! Drinking tea and playing cards were all we did to an extent, and even after that, the night together we spent!”

“That’s still kinda leaving the implication you’re trying to avoid,” Alchymist commented, a flat look in her eyes.

“What Zure’s saying is that we were spending the night together,” Misch giggled with a talon to her face to stifle her laughter, much to Zure’s displeasure. “Neither of us took the key and it definitely wasn’t us who took the knife.”

“And how long were you two in the cafeteria?” Crowquill asked, seemingly unfazed by the whole interaction between the two girls.

“Tartarus, does it look like I have a watch on?” Misch sighed, holding up her talons to prove the point. “But, it was probably around two…”

“Well, from Zure,” Misch explained. “She said it was around two before we left the cafeteria – I guess she was looking at the clock in there.”

“Hmm, fine, I’ll accept that neither of you nor Francis took the knife or key,” Freya admitted. “But did anyone else show up at the cafeteria? Like say Lore?”

“Why do you keep… Keep on trying to pin this on me?!” Lore bawled, now hiding behind her stand.

“I’m not interested in slinging blame,” Freya answered back. “But if there’s a chance that you’re the culprit, I’m not taking any chances.”

“Well, she didn’t,” Misch answered quickly. “Lore didn’t come to the cafeteria at that time. If she did, then it was after me and Zure left.”

“That’s not necessarily true,” Alchymist muttered out loud. “I… I mean, r-remember, she’s a pegasus, so she could easily have flown into the kitchen through a window and grabbed the knife.”

“Nope, not possible!” Francis cheered out. “Ze kitchen does have a window, but unfortunately, it’s a small window, you’d have to be ze size of a bird to fly in!”

“Then we’re at a standstill!” Freya yelped out. “If it was around two that you two left, then there wouldn’t have been enough time to get the knife and make it in time to commit the murder. And, if no one came to the cafeteria, then how the Tartarus did the knife get there!?”

“Who said no one came to the cafeteria?” Misch countered, her brow narrowed down.

“Uh, didn’t you?” Freki asked, his ears drooping slightly. “I mean, Lore didn’t and…”

“Yeah, but you guys only asked about Lore,” Misch replied with a smirk. “There was someone else who walked in while we were ‘playing cards’.”

“And you didn’t bring this up earlier because…?” Hawkward asked, clearly annoyed.

“… ARE YOU SERIOUS!?!” Alchymist shouted as she slammed her hooves into the stand. “There are lives on the line, and you’re pulling jokes and being stupid!”

“Huh?! Whose lives are on the line?!” Misch questioned, reeling back in surprise.

That clicked in Tracer’s head, “You’re talking about… You mean it was Elo who got the knife?”

“Hmm, well then, isn’t this interesting,” Freya mused with a smirk on her face. “If that’s true, then it was the victim who brought the knife to the scene with her.”

“Now hold on,” Hawkward shouted out. “Can we really decide if Elo took the knife? Misch, Zure, did either of you see her with the knife? And what time did you see her?”

“Well, no,” Misch answered back. “And we saw her about one in the morning.”

“She barely said two words to us,” Zure added. “I assumed she was just getting a drink or something. I didn’t see any knife on her, and something like that would stand out if she hid it in her clothes.”

“No, I think there was a way,” Tracer interrupted before he lifted up his ID. “One of the rules states that unicorns have to tell what spells they can use if asked, and Cheshire knows all the spells that unicorns here know.”

“So, how about it Cheshire?” Tracer asked, his gaze now set on the top hat wearing cat. “Does… Or did Elo know a spell that could hide a knife?”

“Hmm, let me check the listings,” Cheshire stated as he pulled his top hat off and reached into it. When he pulled his paw back, Cheshire had a long list of spells. “Ya know, I’m kinda glad the first one who got offed was a unicorn, once this trial is done, I can get rid of this list since it won’t matter anymore.”

“Now, here are her spells!” Cheshire announced with a paw pumped into the air. “Levitation, weather forecasting, dissimulation, transformation, construction, imitation… A lot of ‘ations’ in this list, and I’ll give you guys the list to look at in your ID’s for this trial. Compared to Alchymist over there, Elo seemed to be a prodigy!”

Tracer pulled his ID out and began to look for the list of spells until he came to it.

Elo Castling’s Spells
Levitation (However, the levitation would only work with items under ten pounds)
Weather Forecasting
Dissimulation
Transformation
Construction
Imitation
Stupefy

“This is the complete list, right?” Tracer asked, as he looked over the listing again.

“Well, that settles that argument,” Hawkward stated smugly. “Elo did take knife.”

“Hey, slow down! How the Tartarus can you figure that?!” Smokey growled loudly.

“Dissimulation,” Crowquill explained. “It’s just a fancy word for cloaking.”

“But wouldn’t Zure or Misch have noticed if Madame Elo used a spell?” Francis asked, tapping his hoof against one of his horns. “Moi means zat unicorns usually have zat aura around zeir horns, no?”

“Actually, some spells require only a one time casting,” Alchymist explained as her horn glowed slightly. “While stuff like levitation requires continuous concentration to make it work, other spells can be applied once and last for a certain amount of time – Depends on how strong the unicorn’s magic is.”

“So let me see if I got this straight,” Geri suggested as he tapped on the screen in front of him. “If everything we solved is right, then sometime yesterday, the villain slipped that note to Elo…”

“That’s possible,” Geri continued. “After getting the note at whatever time, Elo must’ve thought about the note’s contents. Even if that was written, it’d be a farfetched ideal so she knew it was a trap – So she went to get the knife to defend herself. However, when she reached White Rabbit’s Storage, the culprit must’ve caught her off guard and the two struggled… Afterwards…”

“Hmm, interesting,” Freya admitted. “If the victim took the knife, that changes things drastically – Lore may not have taken the knife, but she still could’ve done it!”

“My window theory from before can still be used,” Freya interrupted as she ran a paw on the fire ruby around her neck. “And I even know what the murder weapon is.”

Freya snapped her paws, and the screen appeared over her head, revealing the broken vase piece, “If you recall, there was a piece of broken vase on the ground. It’s obvious that the vase was used to bonk Elo out since there’s blood on her head and the Cheshire file mentions head trauma, so who’s to say that another shard couldn’t be used as the dead to kill her?

“In addition, if the knife was brought by Elo, when the blow to her head happened, blood must’ve gotten on the handle – And I’m sure a pony who can’t use magic would elect to not use something that’s already covered in blood.”

‘… Could a vase piece be used as the murder weapon?’ Tracer thought to himself.

“It’s the scene of the crime itself,” Crowquill answered immediately as he rubbed his chin. “Freya, are you saying that the villain waited for Elo, when Elo came in, she was attacked with the vase, knocked out and then killed her with a piece of vase. Is that right?”

“Yeah, Elo was killed in the main room,” Freya replied with a wave of her paw. “It’s easy to see that.”

Once again, Freya was interrupted by Tracer, but this time the diamond dog growled in annoyance, “Ya know, that’s really getting on my nerves. You’ve got until ten to stop doing that!”

Of course Tracer wasn’t going to stop! “Yeah, but are you really sure that Elo was killed in the main room?”

“… You’ve got some evidence that proves me wrong, don’t you?” Freya sighed, her ears drooped down in defeat. "This isn't the place to do that!"

‘Isn’t that the point of the trial? To find the truth?’ Tracer thought to himself with a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head. “Well, yeah, you see, in the backroom, Hawkward and I discovered Elo’s glasses underneath one of the shelves.”

“Oh yeah, she was missing her glasses, wasn’t she?” Godfrey mused with his talons at his crest, ruffling the feathers a bit.

“Oh! I know!” Freki cheered with his paw lifted up into the air. “Maybe the killer grabbed them and put them in there to hide them?”

“But what point is there in that?” Tracer replied as he tapped his hoof on the stand a few times, making the holographic screen appear over his head showing the glasses. “There’s no evidence on them, and there wouldn’t be anything to gain to hiding them.”

“If the killer didn’t bring them,” Zure began to surmise. “Then the only other one at the scene must’ve done it… And that would be Elo…”

“That means she wasn’t knocked out when the vase hit her?” Kopuz stated out loud. “But then what does that mean?”

“Either Elo was dragged to the backroom, or that she followed the culprit to the backroom,” Crowquill suggested, a hoof on his chin. “I would say that it’d be the second one though, since we found her body in the backroom – What would the killer gain by dragging Elo to the backroom and then back into the main lobby?”

“Does that mean that Elo was killed in the backroom?” Smokey suggested. “But was there any blood in there?”

“Humph, your attempts to derail my argument are futile,” Freya chuckled, her tail wagging. “Even if the murder occurred in the backroom, the victim was stabbed with a vase shard, and went to gather the other shards.”

“But would a vase shard be strong enough?” Tracer asked, looking at the screen that had the single vase shard.

“Unless you can prove otherwise,” Freya countered back. “My theory’s sound. And if no one has any other objections, I say we should start the vote.”

“Are… Are you sure?” Kopuz asked with a bead of sweat before he lifted his crystal ball in front of him. “I mean, I can think of one thing we can still discuss… Like how they got into the place.”

“Didn’t I already explain this?” Freya sighed. “The culprit used the window, not only would it surprise someone, but it’d also give them a chance to get the vase.”

Kopuz smiled as he lifted his free hand up, his pointer finger aimed directly at Freya. And then he was quiet as he pulled his hand back.

“Well, yeah, I was just drinking in the moment,” Kopuz chuckled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. “I’ve always wanted to yell that – And when am I gonna get a better chance than in an actual courtroom?”

“I’m starting to sound like a broken record,” Smokey grumbled, rolling his eyes. “But you’re a fricken’ idiot.”

“N-No, that’s not it!” Kopuz added in. “When I meant by ‘they’ I was talking about both – the victim and the perp. The window is possible for the perp, but how the Tartarus did Elo get in there?”

“Is that all?” Freya asked. “Simple, Elo just teleported herself inside the building. I’m not an expert on unicorn magic, but I know that if you can picture the location you wanna go, you can easily teleport…”

The listing of Elo’s Spells appeared over Tracer’s head before he snapped his hoof into the holographic screen, which forced it to fly over to the female diamond dog, “Sorry, but that’s not possible, teleportation wasn’t one of the spells that Elo knew.”

“Urk!” Freya yipped as she lifted her arms up to block the screen from hitting her.

“Alright then, smarty-no-pants,” Misch chuckled. “Then how do you think Elo got inside?”

Now the spotlight was on him, Tracer gulped loudly as he closed his eyes. ‘How did Elo get inside? I… I think I know!’

After a deep breath, Tracer smiled, “If we’re talking how she got in, then that’s easy. She just used the key.”

“But Elo didn’t have the key,” Zure stated. “And I remember seeing it before me and Misch returned to my room. She wouldn’t have had time to grab it and get to White Rabbit’s House.”

“… Before I say anything else,” Tracer coughed out as he turned towards Freya. “Freya, do you remember this morning? Before we discovered the body you were trying to get into the White Rabbit’s Storage with the key?”

“That key that you used and Zure saw,” Tracer continued. “Can we be sure it was the real key to White Rabbit’s Storage?”

“What the… What the hell kind of crap is that?!” Freya barked back. “There was only one key! The lock was just jammed and…”

Once again, Freya reeled back when Tracer yelled, the goggled wearing stallion had his front hooves on the stand. “I’m a little surprised that you don’t know about this Freya, but Geri and I found a second key stuck between the cushions in that chair in White Rabbit’s Storage.”

Freya turned her surprised gaze down on Geri, “W-what?! Why didn’t you tell me about this?!”

“Well, I was trying to find you,” Geri started with a nervous look on his face. “But, I got roped in on something by Crowquill and before I could tell you all the details, we were all called here… Not my fault you ran on ahead, Madam Freya…”

The white pegasus merely smirked and turned to the side, “That’ll come into play soon enough.”

“Whatever,” Hawkward scoffed. “So there’s a second key, but the key that Freya had didn’t work… Does that mean it was a fake?”

“There’s someone here who can answer that,” Alchymist pointed out. “Uh, M-Mister Cheshire…?”

“Hai?” Cheshire sighed before he tapped his hat and the two keys in question popped out of it. “I knew it was a mistake to lend this key out to you all, trying to replicate my precious key! Just what were you lot trying to do? Become one of the legendary KeyBlade Masters?! Well, pretty much anyone can become one of those now-a-days... Good thing the locks on my doors are magically enchanted, otherwise there might’ve been a chance this could’ve be used.

“Alright, so if that’s the case,” Kopuz commented with a puzzled look. “Where did that fake key come from?”

“We’ve got an alchemist and a sculptor,” Francis pointed out, his eyes passing between Zure and Hawkward. “Surely it wouldn’t be an issue for eizer of zem to pull zis kind of trick.”

“Plus we’ve got another unicorn here,” Smokey added with his eyes falling down on Alchymist. “Maybe some funky magic was what was used to make this key.”

“B-But I don’t know any s-spells like t-that,” Alchymist admitted as she looked down.

“Smokey, I think you’re on the right track,” Tracer announced, his eyes closed in thought. “But, remember, there was another unicorn with us.”

“So, you’re saying Elo made it?” Kopuz questioned back. “But, when did she do that? Oh, and I just remembered, Trace, both you and I watched Elo locking the door to the storage and then passed it off to me.”

“Yes, but Elo did something odd with the key,” Tracer stated, thinking back. “She levitated the key down in front of her, and then she turned around and asked us to return the key. It could’ve been then when she swapped the keys.”

“But what makes you think she made the key in the first place?” Smokey countered.

“Look at the spell listing,” Crowquill answered before Tracer could. “There are at least three spells that Elo could use to create a false key – Construction, transformation, or imitation. And if we follow the timeline, along with Zure and Freya’s testimonies, there wouldn’t be anyone else but Elo who could do that stunt.”

“So, where does that get us?” Godfrey asked. “So Miss Elo created a false key and gave it to the Split Ends duo. But why? If she did that earlier in the day, wouldn’t that mean she got the letter earlier?”

“Actually, there might be another reason,” Tracer thought out loud. “I mean, think about it – aren’t Elo’s actions weird? She replaced the key with a fake and took the knife, this seems just plain strange…”

“Yeesh, when you put it like that, it seems like Elo was the one planning to kill someone,” Kopuz stated bluntly.

All around the courtroom, there was an odd silence that reverberated through the air. Kopuz chuckled sheepish before he spoke up, “Uh, did I say something stupid?”

“No, in fact, you’ve just given us a proper alternative to look at this crime,” Crowquill answered, a smile on his face.

“Huh?” Kopuz questioned before he puffed out his chest and held out his crystal ball. “I mean – Yeah! Behold the powers of the Elite Clairvoyant! I foresaw that this case wasn’t as simple as it seemed!”

“Whether or not he’s a jackass,” Crowquill continued onwards. “There is an option that we haven’t looked at.”

“You know I’m standing right here, right?” Kopuz sighed loudly with his head lowered in defeat.

“So, what exactly is this other option?” Freki asked. “I mean, I don’t wanna think that any of us did this… Let alone Lore…”

“It’s simple,” Crowquill offered. “Elo wasn’t innocent in all this, in fact, she herself could’ve been planning a murder. She was the one who swapped the keys, giving Kopuz the fake, while keeping the real one for herself, and she was the one who took the knife that was found at the scene…”

“YOUR CLAIM IS WEAK!”

Smokey had flames spilling out of his mouth as he lifted his claws up, “Yeah! I’ll admit that she did all that – but does that mean she was planning something dubious?!”

“Huh?” Tracer yelped when he realized that Smokey was looking at him intensely. “Uh, Crowquill’s the one who made the claim, why are you looking at me like that?”

“Don’t think I didn’t notice,” Smokey barked back. “You’re the one who suggested that Elo’s actions were weird in the first place, Crowquill just finished your train of thought!”

‘What sort of sense does that make?!?’ Tracer thought to himself. “So, what exactly are you objecting about Crowquill’s theory?”

“It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out,” Smokey replied with his claw pointed towards his head and his tongue sticking out. “I’m talkin’ ‘bout that letter! The one we found with Elo! Remember now?!”

“Oh, is that all?” Crowquill questioned with a smile. “Well, who’s to say that the letter was for Elo? Perhaps she wrote the letter itself and the perp planted it on her to throw off the investigation?”

“And just how the Tartarus are you able to make that claim?!” Smokey snarled.

It was then that Crowquill’s eyes narrowed, “Geri, do you still have the item that I gave you?”

The bowtie wearing diamond dog blinked a few times before a realization dawned on him, “… Now I see what you were getting at all this time.”

“You mind filling the rest of us in?” Godfrey asked. “What are you two talking about?!”

“I think we mentioned it earlier,” Geri explained as he reached into his vest. “But Crowquill pulled me off to the side during the investigation and asked that I follow him. Where we went was to the victim’s room.”

“Ze victim’s room?” Francis questioned. “But, how did you two get in zere?”

“It wasn’t hard,” Crowquill replied as he reached into his surcoat and pulled out a student ID. “I just borrowed Elo’s ID so I could get access into her room.”

“And what does this have to do with anything?” Smokey asked. “So you went to her room, big fricken’ deal!”

“It is a big… Effing deal,” Crowquill replied, a little unsettled by Smokey’s language. “Geri, if you’ll be so kind.”

What Geri pulled from his vest was a simple notepad that he held up, “This is was Crowquill had me pick up. And now I see why… If I may?”

“My vest is bigger on the inside,” Geri admitted as he took the pencil and began to gently slide the lead over the paper. "I'm currently warming up some pop-tarts in my left inner pocket."

“And you claim that my beliefs about Slendermane and the Witch of Thorns are weird,” Freki chuckled.

“Ya know, Witch of the Thorns!” Freki laughed out loud as he pumped his paws up into the air. “The unicorn that’s been haunting Equestria and practically terrorizes…”

“Alright, enough!” Geri sighed as he lifted the pencil up and tossed it to the side. After a moment looking at the pad of paper, Geri chuckled, “So, this is what it comes to.”

Slamming the pad of paper onto the stand, a holographic screen popped over Geri’s head which displayed the notepad, only this time it had a large amount of lead sketches with white lettering in between the sketching. “Looks like we’ve got something very interesting there.”

Tracer, and everyone else looked to the screen over Geri, which displayed the text on the paper…

“I found a way out, a way that Cheshire hasn’t blocked out.
However, I lack the proper abilities to reach this way out.

“Yes,” Crowquill answered back. “However, in order to make sure that the evidence wouldn’t be corrupted, I asked Geri to hold onto the pad of paper and accompany me to the room so I could have a witness.”

“Yeah, and I can attest to that as well,” Cheshire announced with a sigh of relief. “Consider it another bone to help you all along with your first trial.”

“So, Elo… Elo was plotting to kill someone?” Zure gasped, her hooves up to her muzzle. “But why?!”

“The why doesn’t really matter now,” Hawkward stated. “Especially considering that our lives on the line. The how is more important, so we can make a few inferences, take for example who she gave the fake key to – Perhaps she was planning on making it look like Kopuz was the actual killer if her plan went through.”

Rather than answer the minotaur’s question, Hawkward continued, “She might’ve even planned on doing more with the real key – Possibly slide it under Kopuz’s door or simply return it just to solidify suspicion on the Minotaur.”

“But… Her plan backfired,” Freki whined with his ears lowered. “I can’t believe that she’d plan this… But, doesn’t that mean that the culprit was only defending themselves?”

“Whether or not it was done defensively,” Cheshire cleared his throat loudly. “That doesn’t matter! Murder is still murder!”

“In any case,” Hawkward stated. “We’ve managed to find out that whomever received the note, that’s the guilty party here.”

“That’s what we gotta find out, Feather Head,” Smokey spat out. “But just how the Tartarus are we gonna do that?”

“Personally, I think we’ve already got the culprit,” Freya sighed, her eyes falling down on Lore.

“Come off it already,” Smokey grumbled loudly. “Why do you think the little pegasus did it anyway?”

“Do I need to bring up the red feathers again?” Freya countered. “Since Hawkward’s shown that his wings don’t have feathers, she’s the only one who could’ve left them at the scene.”

“Not so fast!”

“If it really was Lore,” Tracer interrupted with his hoof at his chin. “Then there are so many things that don’t make sense – Like why she would bother cleaning up most of the vase pieces.”

“Maybe she just missed one,” Freya countered. “Simple enough to explain.”

“But there’s more,” Tracer continued onwards. “There’s also the matter of the door and key.”

“This morning Freya, you and I had a hard time getting into the White Rabbit’s Storage,” Tracer stated, remembering back to when he and Freya tried unlocking the door. “At the time, we thought that the door was broken… But remember what key we had at the time.”

That define detail dawned on the diamond dog directly, “Wait, are you saying…”

“Yes, we had the fake key with us!” Tracer shouted out. “The real key was locked inside of the storage house. And this proves that Lore isn’t the culprit!”

“Slow down a tick!” Misch interrupted. “You’re going too fast, how does that prove her innocence?”

“What it means is that the scene we saw was tampered with by the real culprit,” Crowquill explained with a wave of his wing. “I think we talked about this before, but it bears repeating. If you were the villain and had to get away with a crime, wouldn’t you want to erase all traces of you being there?

“If you went to the trouble of cleaning up the vase, locking the door, throwing the key back into the storage room, and for good measure, taking the actual murder weapon – Why wouldn’t you take the most damning piece of evidence with you as well?”

Freya opened her mouth to find a counter argument, but after the words didn’t come to her, she just grabbed her head and howled loudly into the air.

“S-So… Does everyone b-believe that I didn’t do it now?” Lore sniffled, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes with her sleeve.

“Y… Yeah,” Freya whimpered with her ears drooping down in defeat. “I’ll concede the fact that she didn’t do it…”

Tracer and Smokey looked to the sides, trying to cover their faces and hide the blushes.

“How very touching,” Godfrey sighed with a wave of his talons. “But, since we’ve wasted so much time in defending the little horror novelist, we’ve still got a problem. Because, if we follow your logic, then the only ones who couldn’t be the culprit are Lore, Misch, and Zure – The rest of us don’t exactly have alibis for the evening.”

“Oh yeah, we still need to pick a culprit,” Kopuz said. “How the Tartarus are we gonna do this?”

“That doesn’t seem very wise,” Zure commented. “We’re talking about our lives here, we’d need to be extremely sure about our choice!”

“D-Doesn’t anyone have any questions?” Alchymist asked as she rubbed her shoulder. “Something t-that we could… Ya know, k-keep discussing?”

“I sure have one,” Lore stated with her brow narrowed. “Where did those feathers come from? They certainly didn’t come from me!”

“Well, maybe someone took them from you,” Freki suggested with a goofy grin. “Don’t you winged folk often shed those feathers?”

“Yeah, but not by that amount,” Crowquill explained. “And before you ask, if they’re forcibly pulled by anyone else, there’d be damage to the wings, so much so that we’d see it.”

“Ooh! Ooh! I got it!” Misch called out. “What if the culprit used their own feathers, and just colored them!”

“You’re only saying that since you’ve got an alibi,” Godfrey growled under his breath.

“But there were so many feathers there,” Geri countered. “Would they have time to pull the feathers from themselves?”

“I doubt that they would have to do that,” Hawkward stated with a smug look plastered on his face. “After all, there were a number of pillows in the backroom, all one would have to do is open one up and use the feathers inside of it. Rip one open and slather the feathers in blood, and you’ve got yourself some false evidence blaming Lore… Or myself if they too thought I was a pegasus and not a thestral.”

“Alright, so that explains that,” Zure brought up. “But how’s that gonna help us find the culprit?”

“Didn’t anyone see Elo slip the note under someone’s door?” Freki asked.

“If anyone did, they would’ve brought it up already,” Smokey sighed with his claws at his sides. “Same goes if they saw someone going to or from the scene.”

“Hey, hey!” Cheshire shouted out as he jumped up and down on his throne. “Enough! Will you guys pick a villain already? I’m starting to get bored over here, and I might just add a time limit to this trial if you don’t hurry up.”

“It’s easy to just say that,” Godfrey sighed waving a talon. “But we’re trying our best here, but the culprit only left red herrings for us.”

“But isn’t there a clue we can use?” Zure asked, gulping loudly. “C’mon, there’s gotta be something!”

“What if we looked at what happened in the storage building?” Freya suggested. “The initial struggle could reveal something.”

“Sounds sound,” Hawkward replied as he crossed his front hooves. “So, let’s start from what we know, Elo invited someone to White Rabbit’s Storage around two in the morning. When they entered, they probably didn’t know that Elo had the knife hidden or cloaked.

“But when she launched their assault, they must’ve noticed it… But how?”

“Levitation,” Alchymist coughed out. “If a unicorn u-uses levitation the aura around their horn lights up… and the item in question as well gets that aura. Even if it was cloaked, the levitation aura is a continuous spell that would have a glowing aura around the knife.”

“If zat’s ze case,” Francis muttered with his hooves to his chin. “Zen zey must’ve been able to dodge Elo’s surprise attack, no?”

“And if they dodged,” Freya continued onwards. “They probably dodged near the table and chair in the room. Elo probably was getting ready for a second attack when her target noticed the vase and used it. Alchymist, since you’re the only unicorn left, what would happen if something were to hit a unicorn’s head while they were using magic?”

“Um, w-well,” Alchymist was actually blushing as she turned to the side. “If a unicorn’s h-horn is, um, t-touched by something while a s-spell is being used, it d-disrupts our c-concentration. The s-spell would stop.

“And… And if there was head trauma during a s-spell’s c-c-casting, there’d be… There’d be a backlash.”

“Um, w-well, it can cause disorientation,” Alchymist listed off with her eyes closed. “Have temporary blindness or even knock a pony unconscious. B-Because so much of the mind is being focused on magic and controlling it, any physical disruption could cause damage… T-Then again, any head trauma could c-cause that…”

“And since Elo had a head wound,” Freya reasoned, her right paw lifted up. “Her target must’ve managed to score a hit with the vase.”

“But remember, thanks to the glasses that were in the backroom,” Godfrey pointed out, tapping his beak with his talon a few times. “We learned that Elo was able to get back there at some point. Maybe when the vase did hit, it didn’t fully knock out Elo and she was still aiming to take a life to leave?”

“But what would the perp be doing in the back room?” Kopuz asked, running a finger alongside his broken horn. “Wouldn’t it make more sense for them to just leave?

‘Maybe there’s a reason for going back there,’ Tracer thought to himself. “Maybe there was something that the culprit needed from the backroom…”

“Well, that’s impossible to figure out what they were really going for,” Hawkward answered back. “But since the glasses were there, and not on Elo, we can say that she was probably murdered there.”

“But there was a lack blood on the scene,” Smokey countered. “How can you say for sure that it is where she got killed? Why wasn’t there any blood?”

“If that was the case, I can explain that,” Crowquill explained. “When a blade, real or makeshift, pierces a body, it then acts as a cork for the blood. Yes, some blood will slip out, but not enough to spill out onto the floor in that amount we saw in the main hall, so long as the blade is straight it can be done easily.”

“Wait, so does that mean that the murder weapon would be something like that?” Freki asked before he broke out into laughter. “So Freya’s guess about the vase being the murder weapon was wrong!”

“But was there something like that in the storage building?” Zure asked. “The only thing that could apply to that is the knife, but we’ve already proven that it wasn’t the weapon.”

“… No, there was one more thing that could do it,” Tracer replied as he turned his eyes down at a certain feathered being. “Isn’t that right, Godfrey?”

For a moment, the stylish griffon looked towards Tracer and then realization struck him hard, “W-Wait a minute… You’re not gonna say that…”

“Yes, the murder weapon was your pair of scissors!” Tracer yelled out with his hoof thrown towards the griffon.

Everyone looked towards Godfrey, who had now brought his talons yup to his shirt’s pocket and covered up the pair of scissors that were in it. “N-Now wait a second! I told you I lost them! I asked you to help me find them and…”

“Yeah, but that could’ve been a simple cover up,” Hawkward explained with a smirk. “And it would explain where the murder weapon went and why it was pulled from the body. It would’ve given who did it away…”

“B-But… You can’t just decide that!” Godfrey countered back. “After all, you can’t say for sure if it was the murder weapon! And even if it was the murder weapon, as I said, I lost a pair of scissors in there! The murderer could’ve just grabbed them and used them as the weapon!”

“I didn’t do it!” Godfrey roared loudly, his feathers slowly becoming ruffled.

Tracer took a deep breath and closed his eyes. ‘…Whoever the perp is, the only clues they left were the ones in their favor, but…’

You just need logic and a clear head. You just need to consider everything that you know, and you’ll find something.

Crowquill’s words echoed in Tracer’s head, and the stallion slowly lowered his goggles over his eyes. ‘That’s right – I just need to clear my mind. There’s something there, something that can…’

‘Not a bad smell, but, is it shampoo? I’ve never smelt a shampoo like this before…’

‘Can be used for perfume, clothing, medicine or even be used as a food or drink…’

‘That’s… That’s…’ Tracer lifted his head up before he drew his next breath. ‘That’s it!’

“NOT SO FAST!”

Everyone turned back towards Tracer, the many looks of surprise and confusion we’re trained on him. Smokey was the one who said what was probably on everyone else’s mind, “You’re not bullshitting us, are you?”

“You know, I should probably take offense to that,” Kopuz sighed loudly as he shook his head.

“Alright! That’s it!” Kopuz growled before he slammed his fist into the stand in front of him. “Now you’re just being racist, you lousy walking pair of boots!”

“Oh, you wanna come over here and say that to my face, leather ass?!” Smokey baited as he lifted his claws.

“Uh, guys?” Tracer chuckled nervously. “We’re kinda in the middle of a trial here…”

Before the two could actually take a step from their stands, a bright light erupted throughout the courtroom, emanating from Cheshire. “I love random violence as much as the next guy, but I just cleaned the courtroom and if I have to clean up any blood or teeth, I’m gonna get mad! So here’s a penalty for you two!”

The minotaur and dragon didn’t hear a word of that, and as such, didn’t notice the two large Cheshire statues that fell from the ceiling and slammed into their heads. The statues shattered on contact and the two yelled out in pain.

“Next time,” Cheshire huffed. “They won’t be just props, they’ll be made out of stone!”

It was then that Cheshire turned to Tracer and bowed towards him, “Now, you were saying?’

“Uh, right,” Tracer muttered, a little nervous. “Well, as I was saying, I know who did it… The key to this mystery is in the feathers.”

“Huh? But weren’t the feathers just a trick to throw us off?” Misch asked. “How could they possibly tell us who did it?”

“Hawkward, you said that the culprit used blood to dye the feathers, right?” Tracer inquired from the thestral.

“Of course,” Hawkward answered, his wings outstretched, which prompted Geri to try to touch the wings again. “Why?”

“Well, if that was the case,” Tracer explained as he rubbed his chin. “Then, why would the feathers smell sweet?”

There was a little bit of silence in the room, until Misch snickered loudly, “Oh this is rich – You actually smelled the feathers? Ohohoho, your debauchery knows no bounds, especially since we originally thought that the feathers belonged to Lore…”

Lore’s red face slowly began to turn into a bright shade of pink with her hooves at her face, “Oh Tracey – I’m flattered, but I’m not really interested in a relationship during this situation. Don’t you know one of the cardinal rules of horror genre? The couple always has a tragic ending.”

“You’re all idiots,” Smokey grumbled loudly with a roll of his eyes aimed at Tracer. “And you’re a pervert.”

“G-Geri! C’mon, speak up!” Tracer pleaded, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. “You smelled the feathers too!”

“What the?!” Freya yelped, her gaze downed on the taller of the Diamond Dogs. “Geri!? What the Tartarus?!”

Geri merely sighed loudly as he ran a paw through his hair. “Yeesh, I just realized how much I’ve been asked of today… Yes, we did smell them, but only because they had a very distinct smell – And they didn’t smell at all like Lore. In fact, they had a very sweet smell, almost sickening really… But how does that point out the perp?”

Tracer’s eyes narrowed down behind his goggles, his gaze set on a certain individual. “It took me a while, but I thought the smell was familiar – And I now know.

“Godfrey, the feathers smelled the same as the lemonade you made this morning.”

For a moment, the stylish griffon just stood there, his talons crossed over his chest. After yawning, Godfrey ran his talons through his feathers on his head, “Hmm? I’m sorry, Split Ends, you said something about my lemonade? I can always make another batch when we’re done here at the trial, if you’d like.”

“Tracer, are you accusing Godfrey based on the fact he made lemonade?” Crowquill asked. “And just because it smelled similar to a drink he made?”

“Seriously?” Godfrey grumbled with a roll of his eyes. “Even Skunk Hair thinks this is applicable?”

“You’re just making a leap of faith here,” Godfrey countered, his talon lifted up into a fist. “After all, how can lemonade be used to change the color of feathers? I’m a stylist, not a unicorn, I can’t make things turn color just like that.”

“You wouldn’t need magic,” Tracer retorted before he turned towards a certain zebra. “Zure, do you remember what you were discussing with Godfrey yesterday?”

“For the last time, this is my natural mane color!” Zure groaned loudly, rolling her eyes.

“It looks really good,” Freki complimented as he smiled brightly. “That purple stripe is awesome!”

“I’ve styled plenty of Zebrican diplomats’ and celebs’ manes,” Godfrey explained as he drew a comb from his shirt pocket and pointed it at Zure. “And not a one of them had any multicolored hair like yours. Besides, I can tell a dye job when I see one.”

“Please,” Godfrey sighed with a shake of his head. “I’m a stylist – I use dye, I make my own dye, and I know how to use dye, and honey, that’s a dye job.”

Zure took a moment to think and then her ears shot up straight, “You’re right, he said that he could make his own dyes!”

“And this has to do with the lemonade, how?” Godfrey asked, clenching his talons tightly. “And while I will admit that I do make my own dyes, I don’t have the proper materials to make any here!”

“Is that a fact?” Tracer countered. “Cause I can answer your question and prove you wrong at the same time!”

“Well, to be fair,” Tracer continued with a nervous smile. “I’m not the one who can answer that – Alchymist.”

The unicorn mare jumped slightly when her named was called, but then shyed away slightly from Tracer’s sight, “Y-Yes?”

‘What’s up with her?’ Tracer thought with a shrug. “Alchymist, do you remember the conversation we had before the trial, ya know, in front of the rose bush?”

“This rosebush,” Alchymist sighed with her head lowered. “It was the only one with red roses on it.”

Now that she mentioned it, when Tracer first stepped out of that classroom and into Wonderland, he too noticed that one of the bushes was only red roses.

“It’s a crime to see so many flowers painted,” Alchymist spat out, her eyes narrowing down on the paint can of white paint near her. The unicorn mare turned around and slammed her hoof into the can and knocked it over. “Paint like this will just kill the plants! Cheshire should be the one on trial for cruelty like this!”

“Indeed, I wholeheartedly agree,” Tracer replied with a nod, his tall lean body leaning over Alchymist as he observed the bush. “This is a crime most foul.”

“B-But if you find the roses to this bush,” Alchymist requested with her ears lowered. “Could you g-give them to me?”

“Of course I will search for them,” Tracer replied with a smile, a bright spark glistening from his teeth. “But what do you intend to do with the roses? Add them to your already beautiful mane?”

Even though the compliment made the rose-violet colored mare smile, Alchymist still narrowed her eyes at the earth stallion, “E-Everything h-has a p-purpose. O-Other than j-just looking pretty r-r-roses can be used for perfume, clothing, medicine or even be used as a food or drink. I just w-w-wanted to make some rose petal tea to c-calm my n-nerves.”

“Damn Tracer,” Francis chuckled with a very goofy smile on his face with his feet in front of his muzzle. “First pervert, zen play-colt? Are you trying to cover all ze bases?”

‘I… I don’t know where to start with this,’ Tracer thought to himself with a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head. ‘Screw it! Save my life first, then save my reputation!’

“What needs to be taken out from that little… Memory, is that rose petals can be used for a multitude of things. Alchymist, is there any way rose petals be used to make dye and lemonade?”

For a moment, Alchymist thought to herself and then her eyes widened, “Yes… Yes there is! It… it’s even the same recipe! After you use the liquid to dye fabric, or in this case feathers, you can use whatever left over to make a refreshing lemonade.”

“… Wait, does that mean I drank something that was dousing feathers?” Tracer thought out loud before he stuck his tongue and gagged.

“Well, usually, one uses left over of the mixture,” Alchymist giggled, watching Tracer’s reaction.

“Oh? It can be used as a dye?” Godfrey mused with a bemused look on his face. “What an interesting fact.”

“Are you seriously claiming that you didn’t know that fact?” Hawkward asked.

“Indeed,” Godfrey replied, his arms crossed. “In fact, with Alchymist’s little explanation, I would think that she’d be the most suspicious at this moment. Throw in the fact that she’s a unicorn, well, it make it more believable that she’d be able to tangle with Elo.”

‘He’s got a point,’ Tracer thought. ‘But, it can’t be a coincidence! The roses taken, him making that red lemonade, the feathers… But…’

“And what if we vote for ya, anyway?” Smokey growled with some smoke billowing from his nostrils.

“Oh, if you’ve got that much faith in just a mess of a theory,” Godfrey yawned as he drew his scissors from his shirt pocket to clip a little bit off of the feathers atop his head. “And don’t mind gambling with everyone’s lives, feel free to get everyone killed.”

“He does have a point,” Freya sighed in defeat. “Lemonade and roses isn’t enough to convict him… We can't even prove it was his scissors that made the final blow. Now, unless someone saw Elo slip the note under his door, that’d be a different matter.”

“Actually, it wouldn’t,” Francis replied. “Ze name plates on our doors were taken down… For all we know, Elo did a random shoot of who her victim would be.”

“And it was done by the glimmerous flop!” Misch squawked out as she pointed a talon at Godfrey. “Thanks to that, I was trying for an hour to get into Tracer’s room!”

“First off, glimmerous flop?” Godfrey commented, spinning the scissors on his talons. “Secondly, I took the name plates down yesterday afternoon, way before Elo was killed. And as we discussed, she was the one planning the murder, not I, there would be no advantage for me to take the name plates down.

“Thirdly, if I did receive the note, I would hardly qualify being able to aid in escape – I’m just a simple Stylist. An Elite Stylist, but a stylist nonetheless, how could I aid a unicorn in anyway related to magic? Me as the culprit makes no logical sense.

“And fourth, I found everything I needed for lemonade in the kitchen this morning!”

Tracer reeled back at all the logic that Godfrey just threw at him and he lowered his head, ‘Was… Was I wrong? Godfrey’s logic…’

Tracer’s eyes widened before he felt around in his vest, and he remembered something, “That reminds me, Misch – Yesterday you said that you tore apart the washers and dryers, right?”

The lazy griffon yawned loudly as she stretched her talons up into the air. “Yeah, yeah, I know I made a mess. I had to use almost all the towels that were in there to clean the grease up.”

“I’m getting to that,” Tracer stated as he pulled out the wrapped up red fabric from his pocket, but left it hanging out slightly. “Misch, when you were done with the towels, you threw them into the bins – But did you see anything in them?”

“Uh, no,” Misch replied as she threw her talons behind her head. “It was empty – Why are you asking this?”

“Because I found this in the basket that had the grease stained towels,” Tracer stated as he pulled the cloth out. “The only reason why I didn’t bring it out earlier was because I wanted to know if it could be related.”

“And because Misch didn’t see it when she was done with her destruction,” Freya mused. “That means… That it could be planted there? What’s in it?”

“I… I don’t really have fingers,” Tracer answered back nervously. “So, I can’t really open it…”

It was then that a rose colored aura wrapped around the red cloth and lifted it into the middle of the court. Alchymist’s horn was lit up and her magic was slowly unfurling it, “L-Let me get that…”

Everyone’s breath stilled as the red fabric unfolded, and as it did, several small pieces of blue shards began to fall out, but there was one more item that was folded even deeper into red fabric.

“What the?!” Godfrey gasped with his talons lifted up to his beak. “Wh… What’s that doing…”

Everyone turned towards Godfrey who still had his own scissors in his talons, it was easy to see that both pairs of scissors were the same style.

“N-No…” Godfrey whimpered as he dropped the scissors in his talon. “I… I…”

“… He didn’t do it,” Tracer stated with his goggle covered gaze lowered.

“What do you mean?!” Freya barked. “We found the murder weapon! It’s a pair of scissors – and the only one who would use them is a stylist! He’s even got a pair that look just like it!”

“Godfrey lost his scissors a day or so ago…” the earth stallion stated with his head lowered. “If he did do it, he wouldn’t have brought attention to it, or he would’ve kept it on himself

Crowquill sighed as she saw Tracer’s reaction, “… Seems you have something to say, Tracer… But you’re holding back.”

“Tracer,” Crowquill ignored Kopuz. “If you want to succeed, have courage and step up front!”

And with those words, Tracer pushed up his goggles and narrowed his eyes. “Godfrey isn’t the culprit… The culprit is you!

The goat was rubbing his green ascot a few times before his eyes widened, “M-Monsieur Tracer!? W-W-What are you saying!? I… Zere’s no way moi is ze culprit!”

“Francis? The ~~cook~~ chef?” Freya questioned, looking at the surprised goat.

“At the moment, it’s just my theory,” Tracer admitted, looking away from Francis’s gaze. But then he lifted his head up and narrowed his eyes. “So if you have any counterarguments, I suggest you ready them.”

“I… Zen how about ze obvious!” Francis yelped out. “What’s your basis for accusing moi!?”

“The same reason we accused Godfrey,” Tracer stated. “You could’ve easily created the same kind of dye… Or lemonade in this case, since Alchymist said that both are the same recipe.”

“Z-Zat’s it?!” Francis growled with his fur standing on end on the back of his neck. “All… All you’ve done is propose a zeory! Zere’s nozing zat you can directly accuse me of!”

“Then there’s more,” Tracer stated bluntly with his eyes narrowed down. “Francis… Where’s your red ascot?”

“H-Huh!?” Francis yelped with his hooves lifted up over his head. “M-My ascot?!”

“You guys noticed right?” Tracer asked with his eyes narrowed. “Francis, your ascot’s changed color since yesterday.”

It was then that everyone turned towards the goat and zeroed in on the fabric that was wrapped around his neck. The goat was quick to bring his hooves up to his neck, but the green still showed on the sides.

Tracer sighed loudly, “… Yesterday, you were clearly wearing a red ascot, but now it’s green!”

“Y… you’re right!” Godfrey sputtered out. “The green one doesn’t match with his outfit, his beret has a red stripe in it! Are you saying that…”

“Yeah,” Tracer stated as he looked at the still floating evidence in the middle of the courtroom. “His ascot, the real ascot is right there! The same one that has the evidence that was removed from the scene!”

“T… That’s not mine!” Francis yelled out with a shake of his head, his hooves wrapped around his ears. “I… You can’t prove that! For all we know, Godfrey could’ve stolen it from me!”

“I… I don’t know,” Francis whistled out innocently. “Besides, I don’t have to prove that, you’re the one who’s accusing me! Mange de la merde!”

“He dropped his accent,” Hawkward commented. "But he's swearing in Pranch..."

“Geri, you told me that Diamond Dogs can identify some species by scent,” Tracer started.

However the tall Diamond Dog lifted his paw up, “I can see where you’re going with this, and yes, we can. If I may?”

Alchymist nodded and floated the fabric towards Geri. For a moment, Geri sniffed the cloth before he snarled, “… Yes, this does belong to Francis… He needs to wash this thing more often though, it reeks of his sweat… and something else…”

“Y-Yes, you proved that its mine,” Francis sputtered with his eyes narrowed down. “But you still haven’t disproved that it was taken from me! Ferme la bouche!”

“Once again, we can solve this,” Tracer stated before he turned towards Misch and Zure. “You two saw Francis last night, right? Around what time was it when Francis left and did you see any green on him?”

“It would’ve been a little after ten,” Misch answered as she scratched her head. “And I didn’t see any green… I think.”

“I think it would’ve stuck out on him,” Zure added before nodding. “In fact, I saw him tugging at his red ascot a little bit before he left!”

“So unless Godfrey or Alchymist jumped you,” Tracer explained back. “Francis! You’re the culprit!”

“But why would he use his own ascot to wrap the stuff in?” Lore asked. “Why not use a blanket or something?”

“Because Elo’s blood is also on it,” Geri stated as he held up the ascot. “He had to get rid of it because if any one of us Diamond Dogs smelled it, we would’ve picked up on it.”

“Remember, when he left Misch and Zure were still in the cafeteria,” Crowquill explained. “He had no idea if they were still there, and carrying a bloody cloth would’ve attracted attention. And burning bloody fabric isn’t a smell one would expect in a kitchen, and even then, it still would’ve left a terrible smell for a while.”

"And there weren't any matches in the backroom," Hawkward added in with a smirk. "So, burning it outside would've been next to impossible - And I doubt he could take down any trees for wood."

“Sorry, but that’s against the rules,” Cheshire chimed, his hat lowered over his eyes. “If someone were to throw trash like that into nature, not only would there be sirens blaring out, but I’d also announce who threw the trash to everyone!”

“N-No… I… I’M NOT THE DAMN CULPRIT!” Francis roared out, his hooves slammed onto the stand, nearly splintering it. “IT WAS GODFREY’S SCISSORS! IT WAS HIM WHO KILLED ELO! IT WAS HIM WHO DYED THE FEATHERS BY TAKING THE ROSES! IT WAS HIM WHO THREW THE KEY THROUGH THE WINDOW! HE DID IT ALL!”

Francis snorted out, his eyes blank with teeth barred, his entire body was shaking before he snapped his leg upwards. “I could’ve easily dropped my ascot after I saw Misch and Zure, anyone could’ve taken it and wrapped up those vase pieces and scissors in it! I’m being set up! Vous avez le corps d’un chien et le QI d’une durée de cinq ans!”

“W-What?!” Francis snarled back, his eyes a glow. “You’re… You’re actually agreeing with this lousy bȃtard?!”

“Everyone heard what he said, right?” Crowquill asked as he looked around the courtroom. “Isn’t it weird?”

“Aside from the fact that he’s accusing me?” Godfrey commented with a gulp.

Ignoring the two, Smokey sighed, “Yeah, he said it was Godfrey’s scissors.”

“That it was Godfrey who took the roses to make the dye,” Freki pointed out.

“And that the key was thrown through the window,” Crowquill stated as a matter of fact. “And in his argument lies a fault that has exposed him."

“Couillon! COUILLON! COUILLON!” Francis yelled out, his hoofed toes starting to dig into the stand.

“There’s one piece of evidence that we haven’t brought up,” Tracer said. “Its about the materials to make the dye. At the rosebushes where the roses were taken, there was a paint can that was knocked over.”

“COUILLON! COUILLON! COUILLON! COUILLON! COUILLON!” Francis continued to bark out loud. “COUILLON! COUILLON! COUILLON! COUILLON! COUILLON! COUILLON! COUILLON! COUILLON! COUILLON! COUILLON!”

Tracer slammed his hooves on the stand, with the holographic screen appearing over his head, showing the exact same scene that Alchymist had pointed out to him – Showing the odd hoofprint in the paint. “There, the culprit left a very distinct hoofprint – one with a slit straight down the middle.

“There’s only two here could make such a hoofprint – Kopuz or you Francis!”

“COUILLON! COUILLON! COUI… Huh?” Francis questioned, finally listening in. “I… I…”

Tracer pointed a hoof out towards the goat, sending the holographic screen flying through the air towards the ~~cook~~ chef. “All we need to do is compare the sizes, and then there shouldn’t be any more doubt who the murderer is!”

Francis just stood at his stand, his eyes dilating at the sight of the hoofprint.

“Tracer,” Crowquill stated out loud. “It’s time to end this, lay down the entire case for everyone.”

THIS IS HOW IT HAPPENED!

CLIMAX INFERENCE

Act1
Let’s begin when the culprit was called to White Rabbit’s Storage.

Either enticed by the prospect of escape, or curious of who knew wrote the note, the culprit headed towards White Rabbit’s Storage, unaware of what truly awaited them.

When the culprit arrived, Elo must’ve still had the knife cloaked with her magic, and when her target probably had their back turned, she levitated the knife and prepared to attack.

Act 2
But by doing that, she alerted her target with the glow of her horn, and they managed to dodge the attack. Perhaps Elo was surprised, or was preparing for a secondary attack, but whatever happened, it gave the culprit a chance for the vase and they took it.

They managed to hit Elo in the head which not only caused her head wound, but also managed to knock her out temporarily.

We don’t know what caused the perp to head to the backroom, maybe they were searching for something, but it was enough time for Elo to compose herself…

Act 3

Which was enough for her to try for a second attack, and although the perp was able to see her coming, there was probably nothing that they could do to detain her…

… Until they found Godfrey’s scissors and had no choice but to fight back.

They took the scissors and stabbed Elo once, and that was all it took to forever silence her murderous intent. Even if it was an accident, they had just committed murder, and had no choice but to continue with their crime.

Act 4
He must’ve gotten blood on himself since a certain article of clothing had gotten Elo’s blood on it. But the culprit wasn’t done yet – In order to make sure our investigation got off track even more, the culprit had taken a pillow from the back to use its

They must’ve locked the door to White Rabbit’s Storage so that no one could enter while they were working on their cover job.

Taking the red roses, hiding the evidence in the laundry room under the greasy towels, and then making the dye to recolor the pillow feathers – This was done to make our investigation almost impossible.

Act 5
For the finale, they reached the storage again and dumped the now-red feathers near the window to make sure we thought that the culprit had wings or was making it seem like there was another option for the culprit.

With the scene all set, the culprit got himself another ascot from the backroom, this one green and locked the door behind him – Tossing the key through the window for good measure.

Unfortunately, this was the murderer’s biggest flaw…

Isn’t that right…

Francis!?

“And that’s my theory,” Tracer finished off. “You got any objections to it, Francis?”

And slowly he lifted his head up, revealing the tears that stained his face, “Enough. I can’t do it any more… Zis… This… I’m a better ~~cook~~ chef than criminal mastermind…

“Upupupupu! Seems like we’re ready for the vote!” Cheshire laughed loudly as he leapt to the top of his thrown. “So now everyone, there’s a digital dial on your stand, you just need to touch and spin it to whoever you think is the culprit.

“And make sure you vote for someone – I wouldn’t want to punish someone who accidentally forgot to vote!”

Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc: Wonderland's Despair

by MangaKamen

Wonderland Trials - The First Proceeding