Ch.1 Abnormal Days Part 1
Death’s bound to happen. It’s a universally accepted, undeniable fact. It’s accepted because it’s not possible to fight or run away from.
We all die someday anyway.
But does that mean I have to accept his death?
For it to happen to him... can I just accept that!?
My legs collapsed upon seeing the body. All I could do was intake as much air as I could, and exhale as much as I could.
I’m hear some hoofsteps approaching, but I just didn’t care.
The following gasps of panic and screams didn’t matter to me either.
It’s noise to me anyway.
“Ding~Ding! A body has been discovered! After a brief period of investigation, a class trial will begin!”
...huh?
“By the way you bastards! I want you to meet me at the King’s Court, at the Rarity statue! You’ll do it, right? I have very important information to give before you begin snooping around for the culprit among you!”
Oh.
Wait, why aren’t you the culprit then, Monobear? Does it really have to be one of us?
I thought these ponies were friends.
If it turns out that one of these ponies around me is the killer...
I stood on my hooves and began walking out of the dressing room.
I ignored the noise behind me and headed to the place where Monobear said to meet.
Nothing else matters. If it means getting at that little bastard, then all the reason for me to be there!
Maybe it’s the blood rushing to my head, but I have never experienced this emotion at it’s peak before.
_________________________________________________
8:16 AM
We all arrived at the statue, with all the noise following me.
Once I reach the statue, Monobear pops up, sitting on top of the back, as if he’s riding Rarity. He’s even surrounded by his guards.
Monobear shrieked back a little the moment he saw my glare, making me wonder if he sensed my urge to trample him limb from limb right now.
I dont’ give a damn if he’s a teddy bear.
“W-w-wow! Such killing intent! I didn’t even get to speak yet! Learn some manners before spreading that icky aura around me!” Monobear taunted. I guess his own little fear was just sarcasm.
“I know you killed him.”
“Uu~pupupu~! You’re a stupid one! If I killed one of you, wouldn’t that defeat the whole purpose of causing you despair?” He countered my claim effectively. As much as I hate to admit, he did have a point.
“D-despair!? What happened to harmony?!” Scootaloo asked.
“With despair, there’s no need for harmony! Isn’t despair so much better? You get to open your eyes to the wonderfully glorious hopeless reality before you! So much better than that stupid harmony! Come now, surely you’d rather just embrace despair and feel better about yourselves~!” Monobear laid on his side nonchalantly. “It’s obvious that one of you wanted power to go back to your home and save your loved ones! Honestly, who wouldn’t want to do anything for power?”
“So that’s why you sent those horrible and awful pictures! You edited them with strange and unbelievable magic I bet!” Snails surmised.
“Oh, you should know better to think that a sleight-of-hand can make me dance as good as me!” Guess that’s Monobear’s way of saying that he can’t use magic.
He even started to move his body in a rhythmic way by spinning around, moonwalking, and even spinning around on his back, ending back in the pose he was in before.
“Holy crap, he can dance!” Dinky applauded the bear’s little performance, but I can see Miss Cheerilee glaring at her, making her stop and apologize.
“But aren’t you just a teddy bear? Maybe you’re being controlled by some crazy pony’s ghost!” Pip said, irritating the bear.
“Geez, so persistent with the questions! Blah, blah, blah! Let me get to the point!!”
“So are you going to tell us what that ‘promotion’ is?” Rumble asked.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk!” Monobear wiggled a finger teasingly. “So impatient! It isn’t that simple! The real fun begins after the investigation!”
“Real fun? How the heck is any of this fun to begin with!? Somepony’s dead and you’re blaming us!” Tiara seethed.
“Wait, are you talking about the ‘class trial’ you mentioned during your announcement?” Silver spoon asked.
“Ding-dong! Correct! We’ll all merrily go to the trial room, and you get to act as the jury to discuss and decide who among you is the culprit! If you correctly point out the culprit, then they alone will be executed! If you fail, then everyone else will be executed while the culprit receives their promotion!”
“Executed!? The heck do you mean by executed!?” Snips nervously asked.
“It’s as I said! An Execution! Death by poison! Electrocution! Skinning alive! Meat processing into delicious sausages!” Monobear provided tons of examples, hammering in exactly what he meant. “In fact, I have a glorious, wonderfully hot example! Behold!”
He beckoned our attention to the sky, where his image would normally appear for his announcements.
What appeared on screen...
Was a blindfolded yellow mare with her mouth tied up and hooves strapped to a black wall. Her blood red and bright yellow mane rustled about as she struggled to no avail. The camera zooms out, further and further, revealing a large, cylinder column made of steel, erected in the middle of a field during a beautiful sunset.
Suddenly, the structure begins to turn and tilt slowly, pointing itself at the sun. Afterwards, the cylinder is closed off by several clear discs.
It didn’t take long for a large truck to arrive. Fitted in it’s flatbed, is a strange device in it’s flatbed resembling a disc launcher, loaded with the same type of thin, rounded glass disc the tube got sealed off with.
Once the truck is parked, one-by-one the discs launch, soaring through the air and past the cylinder, passing by the sun. Each time a glass faced the sun as it flew, a small beam would shoot into the cylinder.
The camera zooms in on this poor mare, showing that the darkness she’s tied to is lit on fire bit by bit with each laser.
Back to the glass launcher, rapidly firing those things through the air, as if it’s making the sun shoot a laser into the barrel, lighting the mare’s surroundings on fire, and even hitting her too. Eventually, her blindfold was burned off, and her eyes were filled with the tears of terror as the flames slowly consumed her entire body.
It didn’t take long for the cylinder to act as a cannon by firing the mare off into the sunset.
“Toasty~! Upupupu~ It took a while to get that one buttered and ready!”
We had no words for such a horrific way to die. No response.
Only fear for our lives.
“That could be all of you if you don’t find the culprit!”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!” Sweetie Belle’s tears and anguish was enough to represent not just my feelings, but everypony’s feelings.
“So like, what’s the point of us killing each other if we’re just gonna die anyway!?” Dinky asked.
“Silly Dinky! The real question is, what do you have to lose? When your minds, hearts, hooves and guts are overflowing with despair, then what do you truly have to lose?” The bear gleefully asked.
“So somepony has to die when one decides to kill another. That’s the game?” Rumble asked.
“Smart one, aren’t you, Rumble? Your title fits you well!” Monobear praised, but I doubt Rumble was happy about it.
“One last thing! check your ID Bands to look at a file of your fallen classmate! I call it the Monobear file! Through that, you can see details about the victim’s death, as well as the time the death occurred! On top of that, you can use it to log in any evidence you find to use against your ‘friends’! You should thank your benevolent king for considering that you’re all a bunch of amateur investigators!”
I see.
Monobear makes a good point when he said things would be pointless if he did it, so by logic, one of us has to be the culprit.
I hate to believe it, but everypony was on edge when they each received those pictures.
I’m sure some weak-willed pony finally snapped. Whoever that somepony is, I’ll just have them executed. I just need to investigate, and get that culprit executed.
I already decided I will avenge Featherweight, and the trials are the perfect outlet for that.
“Surely now that you all understand, I’m looking forward to the trial even more now! Uu~pupupu~”
“Hey, wait!! YOU SET ME UP!” Grace snapped, but Monobear left anyway. She’s already tied up, restrained by the hooves with a rope and unicorn magic.
With Monobear gone, I take a deep breath, and focus my mind.
I’ll work hard to find every bit of evidence there is!
Of course, I felt a hoof on my back again, grabbing my attention.
“Shady, wait!” Truffle was the one to stop me. For a minute, I thought It was Rumble. I honestly didn’t want to hear him out when he just randomly ate a cookie right in front of me.
“I don’t have much time. Make it quick.” I said, to which he swallowed his snack quick.
“Listen... *huff*... I get that you’re angry that he’s gone, but we need a plan!” Truffle desperately tried to make me stop, but he’s still out of breath from all that running.
“Oh come on, We have our culprit hogtied! Amazing roping skills by the way, Apple Bloom!” Snips said before letting out a yawn. “Can’t believe I have to wake up to this.”
“Well come up with one yourselves! I don’t have time for this!” I tried to shake off Truffle’s hoof off, but he just galloped in front of me.
“Just stop talking and listen! Personally, I think Snips has a point! You just saw what happened to that pony! The same could happen to all of us if we don’t work together! And on top of that, we haven’t seen Grace Lightning at all until today, so of course she’s the most suspicious, but-” Truffle said, but Grace was so livid, he couldn’t finish what he had to say.
“Hey fatass! I said I was set up by that friggin’ toy!” She continued to struggle from her ropes.
“And you say we weren’t!? Didn’t you get your motive too!?” Diamond Tiara snapped back, countering Grace’s claim..
“Of course I did, but-” Grace answered, but Tiara wasn’t having any excuses.
“Then that settles it, everypony! Let’s all participate in gathering evidence so we can vote her guilty! I’m not letting myself get burned to a crisp with you blank flanks! I’m too good for that!”
“You bitch... you are SO dead, you hear me!? DEAD!” Grace seethed at the wanna-be princess, but the moment her eyes met Miss Cheerilee’s, they slammed shut suddenly.
“See?! She’s threatening to take my life! Whatever shall I do?!” Diamond scoffed at Grace’s threat. “Get real! You’re an idiot! And I’m not letting you find evidence either! You’ll just muck up the crime scene since you forgot to clean up your mess!”
“Ah’ could find more rope? Tie’er up more! It’s no different from ropin’ up cattle, right? Mah sis Applejack taught me how to rope up wild animals!”
“You’re on the list too, bitch!” Grace was livid, directing her fury to Apple Bloom.
“Apple Bloom! S-shouldn’t we try to hear her out?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Huh? But Ah’ ain’t ready to die yet! Not till Ah’ find mah talent! Ya’ll have super talents! Everypony here has precious super talents used for this here game! Why dun Ah’ investigate so Ah’ can find mahself a lil evidence too? Ah’ might finally get one’a them fancy titles at last!”
“Apple Bloom, this isn’t about finding talent! Somepony just died, and we may be next!” Scootaloo scolded, but Apple Bloom came to me instead, ignoring her friends.
“Shady! Need a lil’ help? Got Miss Cheerilee on a leash an’ everything! She can prolly sniff out the culprit!” Does this mean Apple Bloom’s on Doggy Duty today? If that’s the case, I don’t need to check the ID band.
I rose a hoof, about to tell Apple Bloom off, but if Miss Cheerilee’s supposed to join in our investigations, I can’t really refuse. I recall a rule about the dog’s participation being a requirement in any investigation.
In fact, I might be going crazy, but having our teacher help us out might be good.
I’m fairly certain she won’t go pointing hooves at anypony, but I’m sure she may help discover a little evidence.
Dunno if she’d even be willing though. But does she have a choice? Her position in this game is way worse than ours.
“Fine. I’ll need all the help I can get.” I reluctantly accepted Apple Bloom’s offer.
I looked at Miss Cheerilee, her eyes filled with worry and distress. Maybe she doesn’t want me to be so hell bent on finding the killer. But I don’t think she understands what it’s like to lose somepony I considered a brother.
“Yay! SUPER HIGH-SCHOOL LEVEL CUTIE MARK CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATOR!” Apple Bloom shouted.
Tiara ran in front, holding out her hoof. “I meant what I said! Don’t you dare tamper with the crime scene, you blank flanks!” She ordered, “We better get somepony to watch it!”
“Why just ‘somepony’? You know that ‘somepony’ may be a culprit and tamper with the crime scene. If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be wise to get at least three ponies to watch the crime scene? If one of us is really the culprit...” Ginger stopped, knowing that she didn’t have to finish that sentence.
“Ginger has a point.” Rumble nodded.
“I concur.” Silver Spoon agreed.
“I’ll help guard the crime scene then! I’ve never really got a good look at a real dead body before!” Pip said, trembling. I don’t know if it was fear or excitement.
“I’ll guard the scene too.” Silver Spoon sighed.
“Ugh, I’d rather go investigate. I-I need evidence! If there’s a trial, we need evidence to convict her!” Tiara nervously declared, then walked off.
“W-whoa, wait up! Don’t leave us!” Snips ran off after her.
“Don’t leave me behind!” With Snails galloping right behind.
“So who’s gonna watch Grace Lightning, huh?” Dinky asked.
“You dumbasses are still on that!? I said I didn’t do it!”
“Oh, in that case, we’re totally gonna release you and let you kick our flanks for this later!” Dinky’s sarcasm only made Grace narrow her eyes dangerously at the cheeky mare.
“I’m sorry for this, b-but, what you did... nopony can overlook!” Sweetie Belle sighed, feeling a sense of guilt.
“If we have evidence, then we’ll believe you.” Twist added, then nervously continued, “I-It’s not that we don’t believe you! We just want the evidence to prove you’re innocent!”
“It’s pointless if somepony’s going to die no matter what when this is over.” Rumble laid the hard truth out, before readying himself for flight.
“Hey, what about you?! Don’t tell me you’re going to fly?!” Scootaloo noticed Rumble spreading his wings.
“Of course I am. I need a birds-eye view of the area, so I can learn the environment a bit.”
“Aren’t you gonna join him?” Dinky’s remark earned her a glare from Scootaloo this time. “G-geez! Can’t take a joke at all!” She complained. “I’m sorry, alright? You don’t gotta be mad!”
“Scootaloo, you can draw basic lines, right?” Rumble asked.
Scootaloo rose an eyebrow, responding to Rumble’s question, “Well, yeah. Anypony can do that, right?”
“Okay. We’ll look at the area together and make a map of this place. We may be able to see any escape routes the culprit took here.
“Ugh... you... you’re all... huff... terrible ponies...” Truffle struggled to say while catching his breath from the running earlier. “You... putting Miss Cheerilee... through so much stress...!”
“But It’s not our fault!” Dinky responded defensively.
“Grrr...”
He’s definitely too tired to argue, but his eyes tell me that he definitely wants to blame us for falling for that motive.
“I need... to catch... my breath...” Truffle laid down on his side, taking deep breaths.
He needs to work out more.
________________________________________________
INVESTIGATION START!
________________________________________________
8:30 AM
Apple Bloom, Miss Cheerilee and I head to the Rarity shop, the location of the body.
Stepping over the clothing racks, I can see that a few of them are bent, and all of the shelves have been knocked over.
On top of that, there are some thick scuff marks that trail to and from the body, appearing to be made by a set of wheels that rolled in the blood.
Was Grace Lightning here after all? I remember these wheels being used when she tried to charge at Monobear the night she got injured.
When I finally have the body in my line of sight, I can see Pipsqueak, Ginger Snap, and Silver Spoon there already, guarding the scene.
Before talking to them, I activate my ID band and move my hoof to the left, scrolling along until I find the Monobear File logged in. A photo of Featherweight is displayed, with his face crossed out in blood. Next to it, are the details behind his death.
-The Victim is Featherweight.
-The estimated time of death is around 7:30 AM
-The body was found in the Rarity Clothing shop.
-The victim died in the second changing room
-The victim’s right forearm is outright broken.
-In addition, the victim appears to have suffered a concussion.
-The victim’s head is also covered with several cuts.
A breath escapes my mouth on reflex, as my brain struggles to accept this reality.
But several cuts around his head, and a concussion?
Judging from these notes and the state of this store, a huge struggle took place, ending with Featherweight dead.
I walk up to Featherweight’s body, but I could only stand there, motionless. To be honest, I didn’t know what to think.
Great, now I’m getting cold feet.
Come on, move! You have to avenge him!
“Heeeeeeeeeeey, Shady! You’re on a mission! Use your hard-working talent to investigate!” Apple Bloom’s reminder snapped me out it.
I don’t like how she worded that though.
I take a closer look at the body, heaving a deep sigh every few seconds, while taking care to not step in the blood.
It seriously hurts to do this, but I have to find his killer. No matter what.
I look at his right forearm, and notice that it’s bent in a very unnatural way. It looked as if somepony performed some kind of wrestling hold on him.
Taking a closer look at the source of blood, I notice that a majority of it was flowing from under the mirror.
Maybe there’s more to this than I thought. But first, I’ll see what everypony here has to say.
“Maaaaaan... I’ve seen plenty of fake bodies, but never the real deal, ya know?” Pip put a hoof to his nose. “No doubt about the smell either!”
“This is quite an atrocious sight.” Silver Spoon adjusted her glasses, then continued. “Featherweight was only trying to help all along. I never pictured him as the reckless type.”
“Think his motive could’ve drove him to behave that way?” Ginger asked.
“If only we knew exactly what motive he got.” I suggested.
“Ah’ say we go to his house! It’s still open!” Apple Bloom cheerfully declared.
“Apple Bloom... stop that.” Silver Spoon bit her lip, getting those words out.
“Stop what?” Apple Bloom looked genuinely curious, oblivious to what was wrong.
“That... smiling. You’re too happy for some reason. Any normal pony would find that somewhat disturbing.” Silver Spoon sighed.
“Oh. I see. Normal. Do blank flanks always behave as such? Am I not allowed to smile and be happy?”
“......” After a brief pause, Silver answered, “No. I won’t blame you being a blank flank. It’s just-.”
“Then could ya hush?” Apple Bloom maniacally grinned. “Unless it’s about how to get mah cutie mark!” She ended with a wink, unnerving Silver Spoon.
“Alllllllllllllright everypony! Who wants to talk about murders~??” Pip nervously intervened.
Silence. The only thing that was used to respond.
“This is serious, you moron.” Ginger scolded him.
“Geez, sorry. I just thought I’d offer my take.” Pip sadly pursed his lips.
“In that case, I’ll hear you out.” Silver offered.
“Ah, thank you! I somehow knew you’d get me, Silver Spoon!” Pip gleefully hopped up and down thanks to her throwing him a bone. “Alright, listen! When me and my buds up in Trottingham have to do a horror flick, we usually study up on gruesome ways to kill the victims! Especially if we decide to do a quick slasher flick!” Pip then pointed a hoof at Featherweight’s body, “Didn’t that file say that Featherweight’s got a concussion? That’s not enough to kill somepony unless you do it right, ya know?!”
“Do it right?” I asked, wanting clarification.
“Well, In most of our flicks, If we decide to headshot the victim, we usually go for a blunt object for a weapon, like a bat! That can do massive damage to the skull, even break it if you strike hard enough! Brain damage and all, ya know?”
“What about a simple buck then?” I asked.
“Hmm... well, depends the power of it! But u~usually, a buck tends to send a poor smuck flying, ya know?”
Wait, that means Featherweight was bucked through this mirror! Is that really all there is to it though?
“But that doesn’t explain why there’s so much blood here. What about that?”
“Well, I’d think that the blood comes from the neck ya know? Like, plenty of slasher flicks have the killer target the neck for good measure. Srrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeek!” Pip ran his forehoof through his neck, making a throat-cutting gesture. “Yeah, sure, the blood spray is played up and it’s pretty laughable when that happens, but that seriously can happen if you get the right spot, ya know?”
“I can see that.” Ginger mentioned, glancing then gulping.
“I see. Now that you mention it, it makes a lot more sense.” I told him.
“Hmph. You carry more knowledge than I initially believed.” Silver praised him.
“Really?! Awesome!” Pip hoofpumped, glad that he was useful. “Also, Shady, I’m not doing any disrespect, right? I mean, I know the difference between reality and movies, ya know? And that this is real, ya know? Like, not fake and whatnot, ya know?”
“No. In fact, I think I have a different angle to work with.” I answered, reassuring him.
Miss Cheerilee still continued to look at me with worried eyes. She then started turning her head back to the body, and then upwards, like she’s tracing something.
But I’ve already seen all I could from this side, unless I’m missing something?
I didn’t want to, but I move closer to the body, specifically getting a view of his neck.
.......
So his neck appears to be scarred from going through here, yet there’s nothing piercing him from this side.
“C’mon, Shady! Follow’er eyes! It’s like listening to whenever Winona finds a bone!” Apple Bloom complained. Did she have to compare Cheerilee to the Apple Family dog?
Yet, Miss Cheerilee is still looking upwards, and back down at the body. I’m not getting it, but I’ll have to trace her eyesight upwards.
...
An air duct!?
The hatch is gone! But how? Last I checked, we didn’t have any screwdrivers! Yet, there are four loose screws lying under the body.
I look down again, and I find a set of hoofprints that head away from the body, and seemingly merging with the scuff marks.
“So you noticed the prints?” Silver Spoon asked. “See anything strange about them?”
“Hey, I noticed first!” Ginger complained.
“You were too slow then. I guess you don’t understand basic deductive reasoning, yes?”
“Phooey. You win this round, Silver Spoon. But I assure you I know things you’re not supposed to know. You can’t expect too much from a little girl scout like me.”
You two can’t seriously be competing about this.
I take a closer look at the hoofprints and scuff marks, noting the merging point. A little further back, I see the scuff marks extend further back. It’s as if the hoofprints merged like a set of rails, marking the black into the color of the blood.
“So you do see it.” and added that comment.
“Hey, what do you guys mean? I don’t get it!” Pip complained.
The mares sighed, “He’s hopeless.”
“Psh. Detective stuff is lame anyway, ya know!”
That settles it: I have to look at the other side.
I leave the clothing shop with Apple Bloom and Miss Cheerilee. On the way out as I followed the blood trail, the thick, dreadful color vanished slowly as I walked closer to the exit, leaving only the darkened markings.
I definitely have to remember this trail.
I make a sharp turn from the exit, and walk through the second alleyway. But on my way,
Apple Bloom held Miss Cheerilee by the neck, bringing their cheeks together as they noticing something important. “Hey, what’s that? C’mon girl, tell Apple Bloom whatcha see!”
I can hear Apple Bloom whispering to Miss Cheerilee, making me turn around to find out what’s going on.
I can see our teacher give this crusader a strong scowl, but closed her eyes in defeat. Her ‘paw’ pointed at the ground by a drain, and I see a small spot of blood in the concrete.
No way.
This can’t be Featherweight’s blood, right?
I’ll keep note of this.
I proceed through, reaching the back entrance of the Rarity Shop.
The last time I was in here, I didn’t find anything important, other than a series of boxes, filled with supplies for the shop, mainly various cloths, linens, and and threads. We couldn’t find any lethal items, and concluded that the ones we took off the shelves are the only killing goods available for that particular shop.
I turn on the lights, and again, there’s nothing but a series of boxes that occupy a majority of this place. The floor’s tiles are black as well, so any sign of Grace being here are obscured by the color.
What’s odd though, is that there are two towers of boxes standing alone against the wall in the middle.
I actually sigh in relief, but I then see Apple Bloom knocking the boxes over with her body. What she uncovered, was the lifeless eyes that took my breath away.
My throat began to feel thick and heavy and I couldn’t take it. I doubled over and covered my mouth, trying to get it together.
I can’t let myself falter. I have to avenge him!
“Hey, what’s wrong? We have to see what the murder weapon is! Your friend would be so proud, he may give you his cutie mark!”
At that moment, I felt my blood boil once more. All of the fury I saved for the culprit, suddenly started to direct itself to Apple Bloom.
But then, I heard her collapse to the ground, landing on a couple of empty boxes.
I could see that Miss Cheerilee’s eyes were full of anger and tears after slapping Apple Bloom like that.
“What’d ya slap me for?”
Miss Cheerilee didn’t bother to speak.
“Ya can’t tell me? Ya can’t sign the reason to me? It hurts. Ah’ just want to help everypony! Why am Ah’ hurt?!” Apple Bloom shouted, her eyes leaking as well.
You ever stop to think that you’re just going insane?
I nearly blurted the words out.
“Gotta endure a lil’ pain if Ah’m gonna help everypony alive and earn my cutie mark!” She suddenly smiled, and turned her attention to Featherweight’s body, getting a closer look at it.
Wasn’t she just sad a minute ago?! How in the world did her mood just go from something sympathetic to this demented phase again?!
Has she always been like this, or did this behavior begin when Monobear came?
“Wow!” Apple Bloom shouted. “Look at this!”
I was hesitant at first, but I did as she asked, all while watching Miss Cheerilee close her eyes and let out a “dog’s” sigh.
Bloom pointed her hoof at Featherweight’s head, causing me to avert my eyes. I just feel a sense of anguish every time I look into those eyes that were once full of hope. His face had a few cuts around the cheeks and forehead, mostly due to the mirror I’m guessing.
But I look at the blood coming from his neck like a waterfall.
It looks like the blood ran to the ground and under the mirror. From the looks of it, the boxes were used to block off the blood and redirect the puddle. Definitely noting that one.
“Noooooo, not the blood! Ah meant the hole in his neck!” She pointed again at Featherweight’s head.
I put a hoof to my face, swallowing my spit, “Can’t you just tell me what you see?”
“Aincha you a Super High-School Level Hard Worker? Ya ain’t gonna make me do all of the work now, are ya?” She asked. That question made me wince.
“Apple Bloom, please! I just can’t!”
“Ooooooh? Then can you truly trust me? Ah may lie to ya! Ah’ may say there’s noooooooothin’ here, when there’s obviously sooooooomethin’ here~!” Apple Bloom then sighed, “If yer expectin honesty from me, then think again. I ain’t my sister and Ah’ll neeeever be~!”
I see.
She’s forcing my hand here. I honestly didn’t want to look at the body any more than I have to. I didn’t want to come face-to-face with this gruesome sight for long.
But I guess I have no choice. If I don’t, we’re all dead.
Fine! I’ll do it!
I took the first step forward. And then another hoof. and another. I kept stepping forward, inching closer to his head.
I look closely underneath his neck as his head hung low.
I can see a small wounded opening underneath, where all the blood is flowing from. Not to mention, the wound has a distinct lack of mirror pieces. In fact, the hole is somewhat small. An inch or two, maybe?
Looking at the hole his head made to the mirror, I doubt any of the shards could’ve been used to go deep enough into his neck. Maybe another item was used as the murder weapon?
I’ll have to keep that possibility in mind.
I continue to look around, and to the right of the body, I notice a ladder against the wall, formerly hidden behind the boxes, clearly exposed now that Apple Bloom knocked all the boxes over.
“A step-ladder!” Apple Bloom pointed out.
“A ladd- Ugh, we are not having this stupid argument!” I chided, shaking my head furiously to get such that crap out of my head.
I can clearly see the ladder going up into a hole in the air duct. Looking closely, the hatch to open it was nowhere in sight. On top of that, the edges of the opening seem jagged and damaged.
Did someone get rid of the hatch? Then again, that is an odd place to even have an opening to begin with.
I decide to approach the ladder and climb inside.
If I were the culprit, I would crawl slow and easy, so nopony could hear me. To be honest, I need to know if that was possible, so I start by crawling as slowly as possible.
“Ah’ can hear ya!” Apple Bloom suddenly shouted.
...What? Is she talking about my hooves knocking against the steel around me?
Okay, let’s try to shimmy my way through!
“Did ya think ya think my lil’ ears couldn’t hear that racket??”
I see. There was no way the culprit could’ve gone through here without making a sound. Yet, as I go through here, I make the turn to my right, and find the exit, and beyond that, the lid to the shaft right there in front of me, out of the way.
I’ll note this too.
But that’s strange. If the culprit escaped through here, how did everypony not notice that!?
I climb out of the shaft the way I came, and hop down the ladder.
“Ah saw whatcha was thinkin’! I ain’t a dummy! Why else would ya go up there?”
“Whatever.”
“Whatcha find?”
“....................”
I didn’t really respond with anything. Just a long, grumbling, sigh. I’m still a bit rustled over her comment about Featherweight earlier.
The clues I’ve found so far are odd, but they’re leading me to believe that maybe Grace is not the killer. Yet, even if she isn’t, where the heck has she been the whole time?
Heading out of the storage room, I head to the central courtyard to meet with Sweetie Belle, Dinky Doo, and still-restrained Grace Lightning.
“Oi! Blue snooper! Get over here!” Grace called me out.
Guess I failed to avoid eye-contact.
“Ya gotta tell me you found something to prove my innocence! I want these damn ropes gone, now!” Grace’s began struggling again.
“No.” I replied quickly and bluntly, all while taking a brief step back.
“DAMN IT!! I keep telling everypony, I didn’t do anything!”
“Then why was everypony chasing you earlier!?”
“Ah! Err... look, just know I ain’t kill him, got it!?” Grace replied. I could only put a hoof to my face.
Your responses aren’t helping your case, you know.
“You know, thanks for asking her the same questions we did earlier! Great work, Shady!” Dinky complemented. Though, I felt a bit of sharp annoyance from it.
“I wanna believe her. Something’s off about her words, but I think she’s hiding something big!” Sweetie Belle said. Now that I think about it, she wasn’t using her magic to restrain Grace anymore.
“Hiding big red targets of suspicion you mean!” Dinky smiled, but we knew what she really meant.
“You’re already on the list, bitch. I’ll kill ya when I’m free!” At this point, Grace’s behavior reminds me that of an angry dog.
“Good luck with that one.” Dinky looked away, giggling.
When Grace turns her attention to Miss Cheerilee again, she shuts her eyes once again.
“Why do you keep doing that?” The moment I asked, Grace’s eyes open, full of fire and anger.
“Doing what?!” She responded the way I expected her to.
“That thing! You close your eyes every time you see Miss Cheerilee!” I clarified.
“Ha! Err, that’s because I hate seeing her in that dog outfit! It’s like, sad! It makes my eyes water, and it’ll blow my image if those floodgates opened! I’m tellin’ the truth, dammit!”
Right. She’s definitely hiding something. And I have a feeling it’ll be a huge breakthrough in the case if I can just find out what.
Speaking of Miss Cheerilee, I need to ask Dinky a question.
“Wow, I didn’t know I had such a pretty face!” Dinky joked about the moment our eyes met. “Eh, what’s up?”
“It’s about the Doggy Duty thing. Monobear said we had to take Miss Cheerilee out on walks, but how early?”
“You’re seriously asking me that? I heard from Ginger that that weird band thingy woke her up earlier than usual. You know, she said something about it going beep-beep, really loud and stuff.” Dinky answered.
*DING*
And with that, Monobear suddenly pops up out of nowhere.
“There you are. You’re number one on my kill list!” Grace smiled viciously.
“You bastards really can’t bother to properly restrain a hog!? You’re lame! You have to gag her to shut her up, or the local animal authorities will catch you!” Monobear ranted.
“What the hell do you want?” I asked.
“I came to confirm Little Dinky’s notion about the Doggy duty of course!” He rubbed the back of his head, gleeful as ever.
“Wait, so it’s true?” Dinky asked.
“If you bastards would check your ID Bands, I wouldn’t have to bother explaining!”
“You don’t tell us when you add rules!”
“On the contrary, that’s where staying diligent comes in! Don’t you always grab the newspaper everyday? That’s why it’s called NEWS! The ‘New’ part showing what’s new! Of course, my ninja skills need work before I can do that!”
“Get to the point!” Grace seethed.
“Just thought I would add, that whenever someone on Doggy Duty turns out to be a victim, the duty is instantly transferred to another, so the puppy will never suffer from that idiot’s abandonment!”
What!?
“The victim was killed! That can’t be abandonment!” Sweetie Belle seethed.
“And it’s his fault for dying! People these days are sure irresponsible! It’s why there’s so many stray dogs out there in this world!” Monobear looked crestfallen, yet it just made my blood boil.
“What do you mean by that!?” I asked.
“You got a brain! I’m not gonna explain to someone with the common sense of a common cur! Upupu~”
Monobear quickly left, but what he said...
If somepony on doggie duty dies, the responsibility is transferred immediately to somepony else...
I turn around to ask Apple Bloom.
But she’s already gone.
Damn it! She slipped away! I have to find her!
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3142044
The time of death, was definitely tough to determine, because I want there to be a wide enough gap between the death and the culprit having time to escape and create an alibi due to chasing Grace Lightning.
Also, The death announcement? That's actually an important factor to this case! :D
At least you're on the right track, and honestly, I'm nervous.
I think Imma gonna look over it one more time, make sure that everything is as I envisioned. >_<
The clues in the next chapter autta give a better vision on things.
He appearef to have been the victim of a wrestling move that directs us to pip,he appears to have been bucked that cast suspicion on ab,cheerilee is to be treated as a dog that gived truffle a motive,(btw who is the kirigiri of this group is it suppose to be rumble?)
Ha! That ladder joke could only be from the Ace Attorney series. Very clever.
Also, Applebloom, what the frick girl?! Take a step back and reflect at how you're behaving for Celestia's sake! You're getting more insane than freakin' Pinkamena!
I just realized: Yellow pony with blood red and yellow mane, death by rays of sunlight reflecting on the floating discs causing a fire... THAT WAS SUNSET SHIMMER! What the heck was she doing back in Ponyville? Shouldn't she still be in the human world?