It's A Wonderful Case

by Winged Cat

Let's Investigate Together

Next morning came all too early for Blueblood, though out of long habit he rose with the sun. It would just not do for the direct blood relation of Celestia herself to be seen as groggy or tired at the hour when Celestia performed one of her two daily miracles, even if he did need coffee's help. His displeasure was short-lived, and by the time he reached the jail he was properly awake, the trot having gotten his heart pumping and his blood circulating, washing out remnants of the night's weariness.

The jail was a functional back end to the courthouse's ostentatious front, cubical and secure with unique security measures from all three tribes. The building itself was of earth pony manufacture, stone stronger than the mountainside Canterlot rested on, tough enough that if some calamity were to obliterate Canterlot it would be among the last structures standing; some of its guests over the years could have triggered such a calamity, so the real intent was to shield Canterlot as long as possible, buying time for Celestia to throw the jail far away. Bottled lightning and wind dotted the facility, allowing the guards to stun and buffet any would-be escapees from afar; the control center was located near the jail's top, and the cells undeground, so as to make seizing the controls harder than merely reaching the street level entrances and escaping. The softest security measure was the numerous peace spells that dotted the facility, subtly encouraging any within against violence; mind control spells were mostly banned in Equestria, "unconsensual mental domination" being a crime in the same category as rape, and even here where they were seen as possibly necessary, only the gentlest of touches was permitted.

Blueblood believed these spells were why the facility, which he thought should objectively seem stark and depressing with its minimalist decor and plain grey walls, instead felt serene and tranquil. Not that he wanted to get used to being here, although once or twice when he had felt extremely distressed he had resorted to taking refuge in some unused office, letting the magic calm his mind as he worked through his troubles. He had seen his own face in the mirror during one occasion, and the image had emblazoned on his memory such that he recognized the expression before he recognized the guard it was on as he entered. "Oh. Good morning, hello again."

"Hmm?" The guard looked up, snapped out of his reverie. "Oh! Good morning, Prince Blueblood. Yeah, I wanted to see if I was just dreaming last night or if this case really has passed the Twilight Threshold, so I signed up for morning shift here. And if it has, well, I'm on bailiff duty later so I'll get a ringside seat."

Blueblood raised an eyebrow.

"Oh! Right, you wouldn't have heard yet. Uh, Luna heard about the case and said it was important enough that she's going to be judging it personally. She said it's showing up in a lot of nightmares, so for Canterlot's sake she set the trial for this afternoon, so word of the verdict can spread tonight."

Blueblood nodded as he walked inside. "I see. Well, I shall have to conclude my investigation today. What is the 'Twilight Threshold'?"

"Anything that calls for Twilight Sparkle. While cleaning up after the Lord Tirek incident, some of the guards put together that she tends to be called in for the worst troubles. I remember, a few years ago, looking down at Ponyville when I saw a thermomagical rainboom explosion on Sweet Apple Acres. I scrambled a team to check it out and broke out that emergency long range teleport, but it turned out it was a planned demolition. Applejack, one of the farmers, said Rainbow Dash did it, though Twilight talked her through it or something. This was a few hours before the Want It Need It incident; we were waiting for the train back from Ponyville, so Celestia had us help them clean up from that. If that's the same Rainbow Dash this changeling killed, I can see why the Princess would want revenge."

"Hmm." Blueblood looked behind the guard, smiled, and looked back at the guard. "So this 'Twilight Threshold' means that whenever Twilight is called for, prepare for collateral damage?"

The guard nodded. "That's a good way to put it."

Blueblood shrugged. "That's just the nature of being the most destructive of cases. You could hardly blame the Princess for that."

"I suppose so, sir. But still, whenever she's..." The guard trailed off as Blueblood's smile intensified. "She's right behind me, isn't she?" He turned around.

Twilight stood just outside the jail, bleary eyed with her suit slightly unbuttoned and glaring at him with an unreadable expression.

"Um. Good morning, Princess?"

"Guuuh. It's too early in the morning." She yawned, shook herself, and looked a little more awake, fastening the suit's last button in the process. "Alright, let's do-" She took one step forward and froze, wings spreading a bit. "Oh, right, the peace spells." Her horn flashed, then her aura blinked once over her body. "Alright, shield's up, let's go."

Blueblood and the guard blinked in unison.

"Shield? Against the mind control spells? I know they're not a subject everypony studies, but you work here so you've got your own, right?"

Blueblood recovered first, and gestured at the guard. "This...is a pegasus. As you reminded me just last night, pegasi do not normally cast spells. As for myself, I must admit that I have not encountered that field of magic, and I am fairly certain very few unicorns would have reason to be familiar with it."

Twilight waved a hoof. "You're just like Rarity when I tried to teach her illusion magic. 'Unicorns have limits,' she said. 'Nopony else can just pick up new types of spells for fun.' I know my cutie mark gives me a talent for magic, but the same thing happens for history and biology and geology (except for Maud) and everything. Why is it so hard for other ponies?"

"If you could solve that," Blueblood offered, "I do believe you could put much of our educational system out of work overnight. Although perhaps finding something else to do would become easy as well."

Rolling her eyes, Twilight addressed the guard. "Anyway. Is the prisoner ready for interrogation?"

The guard saluted. "Yes, and I'll escort you if you're ready. Report from overnight shift is they had illusion busters ready but she made no effort to hide herself. When she wasn't sleeping she was just depressed. All she would say was she was trying to remember what happened. Oh, and they found more of Rainbow Dash's feathers on her."

Twilight gestured down the hall. "Lead the way. 'On her'?"

The guard began walking, leading the royal pair to a stairwell as plain as the rest of the facility, with thick but currently unlocked doors at either end. "Well, in the cell around her. They suspect the feathers must have been stuck to her, and fell off once she stopped moving for a while. The changeling hasn't left her cell since being arrested; they even brought the doc to her."

Blueblood and Twilight both stepped into the door at once, almost walking into each other. Twilight stepped back, as Blueblood was sure she would, so he walked forward, winding up second in their single file formation. "A sound precaution. Ever since that dreadful changeling queen attacked, relations with the changelings have been sour. Though they appear to have gone to ground again."

"If this changeling is guilty of murder," Twilight growled as she entered the staircase, "I will rip out her soul and dissect it, until I find out where she came from. Then I will hunt down the queen that birthed her, and give her one chance to prove this changeling wasn't acting on her direct orders. If she was..." Her horn and eyes glowed ominously as she spoke in echoing whispers, "I. Will. Let. Go."

For just a moment, Blueblood thought he saw the shadows themselves fleeing in terror. He was fairly certain he did not imagine that newborn's wail, though there were no children in earshot. Despite being deep within a stone building, the scent of a meadow in floral bloom tickled his nose until Twilight's glow shut off. After spending a few seconds trying to describe the patterns he felt on his fur, he decided against it, but focusing on that let him confine his tongue's report to quickly forgotten short term memory.

The guard almost faltered as he exited the bottom of the stairs "W-wasn't soul extraction found barbarous and outlawed as a method of execution?"

"It was." Blueblood looked around the jail cells. He had rarely actually come down here, and so was surprised that the stone here was dark blue, perhaps reinforced from the original construction. The facility had originally been designed with just ten cells, with plans to add more as needed. It was a testament to Celestia's rule that, for all the population expansion since then, only one major excavation of new cells had been needed. Even on its rowdiest night ever (the last time Canterlot had hosted the Triple Tribe Cup, which was also the year that sports league was retired in favor of the modern Equestrian Games) Canterlot's jail had not needed more than a hundred cells. Apparently last night had been peaceful, or perhaps the local criminals also believed in the Twilight Threshold and decided to take a break, because right now only one was occupied.

Ling either had not heard them enter or was ignoring them, looking at her reflection in a polished section of wall that served as a mirror. Not that there was much else to do: the furnishings consisted of a soft slab bolted to the wall that acted as a bunk, and a privyhole in the corner in place of a toilet that could be smashed into shivs.

Blueblood made no pretense of being able to tell one changeling from another, not that he had personally encountered any before. Still, something about how the suspected murderer carried herself looked familiar, even if witness and circumstantial evidence did not already rule out any possibility that the one before him was not the same entity he had encountered yesterday. He looked around the cell. "Hmm, I don't see any blood."

Twilight approached the cell, taking in the spartan cell in a way that made Blueblood wonder if she had ever seen a jail before. Her voice was much calmer than it had been on the stairs. "Oh! Trying to identify her tribe? Good thinking, but you can see a changeling's blood color in their wings. See the blue? At least we know she doesn't belong to Chrysalis's hive: they're turquoise. And unlike how pony blood turns red, changeling blood keeps its color when exposed to air."

Twilight's voice apparently got Ling's attention, because she suddenly looked at the door and locked eyes with Twilight.

Blueblood glanced from one to the other to confirm their lines of sight. "Do you know her?"

Twilight shook her head. "No, we've never-"

"Twilight!" Ling leaped at the iron grid door and pressed her face and forehooves into it. "You've gotta get me out of here!"

Twilight went very still.

The guard stepped in front of Twilight, breaking line of sight. "How do you know the Princess?"

"Duh! Because she's Twilight! She..." Ling squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed the back of her head. "...o-oww."

The guard sighed. "Sorry, she gets like that when she tries to remember anything past yesterday. She swears she has no memory of encountering Rainbow Dash, and no explanation for why she had the deceased's feathers on her."

Twilight finally snapped out of her surprise, stepped around the guard, and growled, "I don't know who you are, but know this: I am here to avenge my friend. If you are found guilty, I plan to ask the court if I may personally execute you. I am the last pony you can expect mercy from."

Ling's eagerness died in an instant. Like a slow motion parody of a doll with its strings cut, she slowly collapsed in a heap, eyes staring at nothing.

Twilight watched the collapse while breathing through clenched teeth. "Excuse me." She turned around and ran back upstairs.

"Huh." The guard scratched his head. "She hasn't reacted like that to anypony else."

"Indeed." Blueblood stuck a hoof through the door, enough to prod the changeling between her ears. "Hey."

"Ow." Ling shrank from his touch and turned her head away from him. "Go 'way."

"That hurt? But I just barely touched you."

Ling slumped, not getting up but writhing snake-like, further back into the cell, making a noise like scraping metal over stone. "Yeah, I've got a few bruises. If you're wondering why you aren't seeing them, blame this changeling skin of mine. Even I can't see them."

"Hmm, interesting. Now-"

Still not looking at him, she waved a hoof. "I don't remember doing anything bad to those ponies who say I messed up their shops, I can't remember this Rainbow Dash, I don't know where her body is, maybe I got drunk by draining her to dust, if you're going to kill me for killing her just bucking do it already!"

Blueblood frowned. "Now see here, I am here to help you! I will thank you to refrain from...err...I was unaware that changelings used common pony idioms like, well, that b-word."

"Seriously?" That got her to turn over and face him. "We've got legs, we can do what you do. Is that all your questions, or do you want me to burp up more of her feathers? Something's sure turning my stomach. Maybe there's still a bit of her wriggling in there. Want to crawl in and have a look?" She opened her mouth wide.

Blueblood looked at the guard, who gave a weak smile. "Last evening's shift tried to interrogate her. Apparently they got a little zealous."

"Hmph. I fear they have closed down this line of questioning for us." Blueblood headed for the stairs. "Good day, miss. I do apologize for the unpleasantness you have been through so far."

Silence hung in the air until he reached the stairwell, when Ling spoke up. "So...you're not freaked out?"

"Why would I be?" Blueblood stopped, one hoof on the bottom stair, looking back.

"At, well, this." Ling gestured to herself. "Everypony else is scared, 'Ooh run run the evil changeling is here,' or thinks I killed Rainbow Dash."

Blueblood did not allow himself a smile. Sometimes threatening to abruptly cut off conversation could spur new thoughts that had been reluctant to come forth, and it appeared that tactic had been successful once again. "Did you kill her?"

"I don't knooow." Ling frowned, looking at the floor. "But I don't think...I, well, I don't think I'd want to."

Blueblood slowly removed his hoof from the stair and turned to face her fully. "Please, explain."

Ling looked at him. "I think maybe she was a friend or something, but I can't see her face. But I heard her, like, in my head. I think I had telepathy with her. Like she was my best friend, somepony I'd never want to kill."

"Do you know what happened to her?"

"Nooo..." Ling massaged her skull. "Whenever I try, all I can remember is getting hit, real hard, then I was on the ground with the wind knocked out of me and hurting real bad all over and ow-how-howww..." She sniffled, eyes shut tight in pain.

"Alright, back up, before that. You say that you were telepathic with her?"

Ling's expression of pain faded. "I...think so? She thought it'd be funny for me to walk around, not even doing anything but just being there, and watch all the fancy unicorns freak out. It's not like we walked in together. Just me, on my own, but I could hear her laughing in my head."

Blueblood nodded. "I see. Anything else?"

Ling shook her head. "No. I'm sorry...wait, no, there is something." She looked at the mirror-stone again. "I think...before I hurt...err, before whatever it was that hit me, I...she...one of us was hurting even worse." Ling tapped her heart. "In here. It hurt so bad, neither of us could think straight."

"Can you tell which one of you was hurting?"

"There was just so much pain, a-and regret...I can't sort out what's hers and what's mine. I can't hear her now, though." She looked at Blueblood. "I know she was my friend, I just know it. But I can't remember her saying my name. I...I think she's in trouble, somewhere. I know you won't let me out to look for her, but please...can you find her? Save her?"

"You think she's alive?"

"I don't knooow," Ling sighed, eyes downcast. "If she is then why can't I hear her any more?"

After waiting a count of ten to make sure no further thoughts were about to emerge, Blueblood turned back to the stairwell. "Well. What you have provided may help. Good day."

Upon reaching the ground floor, Blueblood saw Twilight standing with minor tremors, taking meditative deep breaths that gradually grew steadier. She looked at him as he approached. "Something about that changeling..." Twilight shook her head. "Accusing her felt like kicking a puppy. When I got my license I thought it was just another contingency, another way to be prepared. I never thought I'd be using it to argue for execution, let alone..." Another deep breath, then Twilight looked at Blueblood. "Does it ever get easier?"

Blueblood nodded. "With time. Fortunately for you, you do not have to do anything more right now. Incomplete though it is, the physical evidence so far says she did kill your friend. I have but hours to prove otherwise. If you do nothing, and I do not find counterproof in time, the case will be closed. That being the case, would it soothe you to assist me further, that you might be satisfied that we have all the facts before we set hoof in court?"

"It would." Twilight breathed out, relaxing as if exhaling her tension. "Let's waste no time." Thus readied for action, she sat down.

Blueblood waited to see what complex miracle of magic Twilight was undoubtedly conjuring. His patience was rewarded when a blank scroll and a quill popped into existence, and Twilight began writing.

"Step 1: get materials to make a checklist. Check! Step 2: make a checklist for the investigation. Check! Step 3: ...hmm. Blueblood, what do you usually do for step 3?"

Comments

[Emperor]

Welp, I'm going to assume that Rainbow Dash got her hands on Twilight's transfuser, which had a spell set on it that somehow backfired and turned Dash into a Changeling, scrambling her memories. The spell's incomplete, thus she keeps coughing up her own feathers, but Ling's blood is identical to Dash's blood (and it was said earlier that Ling was bleeding but never stated what her blood colour was), thus all the 'evidence'. Now it's time for Blueblood to go all Ace Attorney and put the evidence together. Twilight will still have a major guilt-trip about inadvertently threatening her friend with a death sentence.

On that note, ponies blood IS red all the time, just like any species with hemoglobin-based blood. It merely turns a lighter shade of red when oxygenated, but even deoxygenated blood is only a little bit of a darker red.

[son_of_heaven176]

6802521 I'm guessing a similar thing, namely that Ling is Rainbow Dash. I never thought to try to connect the transfuser with it, though.

[SoloBrony]

6802521 My impression thus far is exactly the same. Transfuser, incomplete spell, Dash is Ling.