08. Chapter One: "Lost Memories in the Desert Sands" Part 6
Chapter One:
“Lost Memories in the Desert Sands”
Part VI
Fact #1: Monohuman File I: “The victim is Pear Butter, the Ultimate Backstabber. Her body was discovered in the Therapist’s Office at 12:45 PM. Cause of death is strangulation. She also has a non-lethal wound on the side of her head.”
Fact #2: Kuchen Wrapper: “An enormous empty wrapper of kuchen left on the pantry floor, still laden with crumbs and fingerprint marks.”
Fact #3: Pear Butter’s Body: “A guitar string is tied very tightly around her neck, underneath which is a ring of dark, red spots about a quarter-inch wide. She had a bleeding wound on her temple. Her wrists are bound with a party streamer.”
Fact #4: Objects On Desk: “A stress toy, a paperweight, some of Pear Butter’s foundation, a piece of blank paper, and Pear Butter’s pad were on the desk. The paperweight had a trace of blood on the underside.”
Fact #5: Pear Butter’s Guitar: “The guitar is badly damaged. It looks like it was smashed against a hard surface more than once. A string has been torn off. There is blood on some of the damaged wood. According to Juniper Montage, this is the only acoustic guitar in the entire complex.”
Fact #6: Gouge Marks: “There are marks gouged into the desk, as if it was violently struck.”
Fact #7: White Noise Machine: “Pear Butter’s white noise machine was discovered turned off when the body was discovered, despite her habit of keeping it on. It was off for an uncertain amount of time, and it was in power-saving mode, meaning it could turn itself off automatically. The timer displayed ‘2245.’”
Fact #8: Wallflower’s Account: “Sunset, Rarity, Vignette, and Wallflower were playing a board game for an hour prior to the discovery of the body. Prior to that, Sunset and Wallflower were in Sunset’s room, after an argument occurred outside in a discussion with Vignette, Rarity, and Fluttershy.”
Fact #9: Alibis: “Shining Armor and Autumn Blaze were discussing leadership outside the Mess Hall.
Zephyr Breeze was with Derpy Doo and Big Macintosh fixing the broken dining room table, but was out of sight for at least twenty minutes before the body was discovered.
Cheese Sandwich was with Cranky Doodle in the breakroom for several hours.
Sour Sweet and Fluttershy were having a discussion outside.
Trixie claims she was trapped in the pantry since after breakfast.
Juniper states she was in her room working on a screenplay.”
Fact #10: Pear Butter’s Guitar Music: “Pear Butter was playing her guitar approximately twenty minutes before her body was discovered. The music had an odd vibration quality to its sound, and stopped roughly seven to fifteen minutes before the body was found.”
Fact #11: Derpy’s Account: “According to Derpy, about ninety minutes prior she accidentally bounced into the dining table, damaging one of the legs to the point it fell off and the table collided with Zephyr Breeze knocking him to the floor. She, Big Macintosh, and Zephyr proceeded to fix the table together, which took about an hour. Afterwards she and Big Mac came outside and reminded Wallflower’s group about lunch.”
Fact #12: Pear Butter’s Behavior: “As far as we know, Wallflower was the last one to see Pear Butter, in her office, three hours before her body was discovered.”
Fact #13: Sunset’s Pad: “Sunset’s pad was stolen when she briefly separated from Wallflower. It was later found in a potted plant in the main hallway. Sunset noticed no signs of it being tampered with.”
When we stepped out of the elevator after what felt like an hour long descent, we filed out into a room taller and wider than I expected for a courtroom that lacked any audience seating. Carpet took the place of hard flooring or the stone I expected from being deep inside a mine, homey and comfortable, likely warm too, if I could press my bare feet against it. The walls bore a barn-red paint scheme with stylized images of pear trees and, for some reason, the occasional image of two trees twisted together, one pear, one apple. I noticed Big Macintosh start sobbing softly again when he spotted that.
Despite the otherwise homey environment, harsh fluorescent lighting beamed down on us from above, illuminating everything in an unsettling manner reminiscent of interrogation chambers in television police dramas. A throne of gargantuan proportions dominated one side of the room, painted in Monohuman’s colors, and Monohuman himself sat in it, patiently waiting for us to find our spots. Above his throne were six lights, all of which were unlit.
The rest of the space was taken up primarily by sixteen podiums, arranged in a circle all facing each other, each one bearing a nametag and, to my relief, a stool for sitting down on that would leave us as standing height. At least we wouldn’t be forced to stay on our feet the whole time.
I found my spot quickly enough, right between Fluttershy and Vignette, and discovered the podium contained a twist. While ostensibly wooden and otherwise unremarkable, there was a recessed slot for our pads to sit in. Placing my pad in it caused it to light up and an indicator on the podium I hadn’t noticed switched from red to green. The evidence appeared on screen, ready to be selected. Experimenting with it showed a hologram of said evidence appeared in the center of the podiums; a cool piece of technology. Or, more likely, magitek, given Monohuman himself was magitek, this could be more of the same stuff. Either way it looked like it would be useful.
If horrifying.
Looking up from my podium I noticed two things right away. First was a single video camera hanging right in the middle of the circle, pointing straight down at the floor. Past it, right across from me, Sunset Shimmer smiled and waved, looking like she wished I was standing next to her. But to her right…
…A portrait of Pear Butter, greyscale, marked by a pink X and with her personal symbol marked on it.
I knew instantly why it was there, but before I could say anything, Juniper took one look at it and raised a hand. “Excuse me, Monohuman sir, why is there a portrait of Pear Butter sitting there?”
Monohuman gave Juniper a disbelieving look. “It should be obvious, but then you are a bunch of simpletons. Her portrait is here so that she can still participate in the trial, in a sense, even if she’s dead.”
“...oh.” Juniper at least had the good grace to look embarrassed, because he was right: it was obvious.
And I wasn’t the only one to think so; half of the others shot Juniper similar looks, though Big Macintosh’s looked more murderous than surprised.
“Now that the usual stupid question is out of the way,” Monohuman said as he clapped for attention, “Are we all prepared? Everyone set their pad on their podium? No? Well hop to it, Sour Sweet, we don’t have all day. Better. Now, let’s briefly go over the rules. You are all here to determine the culprit behind Pear Butter’s death. As she was an innocent human, the culprit is considered a Grey Blackened, and must fight for their right to live by acting to fool you all in this trial. If you succeed, I will execute the blackened alone, and the rest of you will return to your lives in the complex, at least till another one of you eventually gets murdered. If, however, you fail, I will execute everyone besides the blackened, and they will get to leave the complex and return to their normal life.”
He sat back on his throne. “You may argue and debate to your heart’s content, or at least until I get bored and order you to vote. So try not to be boring. Now… begin!”
“Okay, Sunset,” Shining Armor said immediately. “You’re…” He trailed off, because the camera in the center of the room swiftly pivoted to point directly at him.
“Oh, that’s just to record things; don’t let it bother you!” Monohuman said.
“You record the trials, too?” Fluttershy whimpered, cringing as the camera pointed at her.
“And just in a bunch of frontal shots?” Juniper asked, the camera pointing right at her raised eyebrow. “Sounds kinda boring.”
“Just shut up about the camera!” Monohuman fumed. “Act natural, you won’t even notice it after a while. Do the trial! Shining Armor was saying something, go go go!”
Blanching, Shining Armor tried to ignore the camera spinning to face him as he spoke. “...Yes. I was just asking Sunset what she thinks we should do, because she’s the expert here. How’s this supposed to proceed?”
“Seriously, I’ve never been in anything like this before,” Cheese added with a shrug. “I never even took debate in high school. Or college.”
“I would presume it’s a bit more than just a debate, darling,” Rarity replied.
“Rarity’s right,” Sunset nodded. “We’ve got a lot we have to go over. We need to start with establishing the facts of the case, and go from there.”
“Well, we all know it was Pear Butter who was murdered,” Cranky said with a scowl as his hand gripped a non-existant coffee mug. He sighed then looked over at Monohuman. “Hey, is there any chance we can get something to drink while we’re here?”
Monohuman laughed in his face. “Something to drink? While on trial? Puhuhuhu! Ahahaha! Oh that’s a good one, Cranky. Tell me another.”
Cranky grunted. “Anyway, she was killed in her office.”
“Well, duh,” Sour Sweet blurted, spreading her hands out. “We were all there. We all saw the corpse.”
Sunset shook her head. “I know it feels redundant but trust me. We’ve got so many things we have to figure out, it’s important to keep in mind what we know for sure.”
“Oooh, ooh, if we’re going over what we know, we know she was strangled!” Zephyr contributed.
Fluttershy glared at her brother. “You don’t need to sound so enthusiastic.”
“Well, yes, she was strangled, that much the Monohuman file says,” Sunset Shimmer said, tapping her screen.
“Hang on a second,” Juniper protested. “How do we know we can trust this Monohuman file? What if he’s lying?”
Monohuman chuckled, flashing Juniper a look I could only describe as bitch, please. “You have every reason to feel doubtful, Miss Montage, but I assure you; the Monohuman file contains nothing but the truth. I want you to discover who the blackened is, but I must be fair, and give the blackened a chance. So the file doesn’t contain all the information you’d need to solve the case, but you can always trust the information in it. That’s my Monohuman guarantee!”
Juniper stared flatly at him, then glanced over at Sunset. “Is that true?”
Sunset nodded. “It is. The… person running the last game was a lot nastier than Monohuman has been so far, but even their files contained the truth. We can trust what we read in it; it’s never misled me before.” She coughed. “So, as I was saying, she was strangled. The question is how.”
Derpy squinted. “Isn’t it the guitar string?”
Shining Armor frowned, rubbing his chin, but said nothing.
“Seems cut and dried to me,” Cheese Sandwich said.
“Yes, clearly it is the guitar string tied around the victim’s neck!” Trixie declared, thrusting out a finger.
Having watched this byplay so far without getting involved, mostly due to anxiety and feeling like Sunset had a handle on things, I found myself wondering about that. The guitar string seemed like the obvious answer, but was it really? It didn’t seem to match up with the marks we saw.
“Um, Trixie,” I started to say.
Sunset abruptly thrust a finger at Trixie. “No, that’s wrong!” and tapped a button on her pad.
Fact #3: Pear Butter’s Body: “A guitar string is tied very tightly around her neck, underneath which is a ring of dark, red spots about a quarter-inch wide. She had a bleeding wound on her temple. Her wrists are bound with a party streamer.”
“See how there are dark red spots underneath the guitar string? Wallflower and I saw this during the investigation.”
Trixie raised an eyebrow. “And? How does that invalidate the obvious fact it is the guitar string that is tied around Pear Butter’s neck?”
“Actually, I think I see what Sunset’s getting at,” Shining said as he scratched his chin. “These red spots are visible even with the guitar string tied around the neck.”
“Not sure I’m seeing why that matters, Shiny Hiney!” Zephyr said.
Shining scowled. “For the last time I… ugh. My point is that if the guitar string caused the marks, the marks shouldn’t be visible.”
Derpy snapped her fingers. “Of course! So the fact they are visible means it couldn’t be the guitar string, otherwise it would cover them up.”
“Exactly,” Sunset said with a small smile. “Like I kept telling people during the investigation, we never, ever want to assume anything. Whoever the culprit is likely wanted to obscure the actual cause of death, so they tied the guitar string around her neck to make it look like she was strangled with that. But if she had been, we’d see other signs, like deeper cuts, maybe even streaks of blood; a guitar string is going to cut flesh when you use it to strangle.”
Big Macintosh slammed a hand on his podium. “Ah wanna know who did this! It don’t matter how she died; what matters is figurin’ out who!”
Derpy frowned in understanding. “I’m sorry, Big Mac, but we gotta figure all this stuff out if we want to know who it was… right, Sunset?”
“That’s right,” Sunset agreed. “Sorry, Big Mac. I know this is rough for you. It’s only going to get rougher the more we get into this.”
He turned his head, snorting. “...fine. Ah don’t like it, but fine.”
“Okay, so if it wasn’t a guitar string they used,” Juniper said, “What was it?”
“Oooh, I know!” Sour Sweet chirped with an obviously fake grin on her face. “She was totally strangled to death by the culprit with their bare hands!”
I raised a finger. “Um–”
“No, that can’t be it either,” Sunset said with a simple shake of her head. “Those marks don’t line up with fingers. See?” She held up her arm and dug into it with the fingers of her other hand for a moment, till we could see small indentations that almost immediately faded. “They’d look something more like that. These markings look a lot more like some kind of rope.”
“Well, was there any rope in the area?” Derpy asked with a curious expression.
Autumn Blaze, who’d been silent with a pensive expression, chose that moment to speak up. “No, I think it was something else. Something similar. Like… maybe the party streamer?”
I nodded, whispering under my breath, “That makes a lot of sense.”
Sunset considered that for a moment, then nodded. “I agree with that., I think it was the party streamer. That makes a lot more sense than the guitar string.
“Cut! Stop the tape!” Juniper objected, tossing out her hand. “There’s no way that can be right.”
Sunset sighed and let her face fall into one hand. “Hoo boy, here we go. Alright, Juniper, why do you disagree?”
Juniper smirked. “Firstly, even if the guitar string wasn’t the method they used to strangle her, it doesn’t mean it was the party streamer. It could have been something else, like one of the electrical cords in the room, or even something the culprit took with them to dispose of elsewhere.”
Sunset crossed her arms. “Maybe, but if my experience from the last game taught me anything, it’s that people rarely dispose of evidence like that. They’d rather hide it some other way, in plain sight usually.”
Juniper’s smirk slipped. “Oh, so just because the party streamer is present, that means it was used to strangle her? It still doesn’t make sense.”
“Why?” Sunset asked, holding out her hands. “What’s wrong with the idea?”
Rolling her eyes, Juniper pointed out the picture of the crime scene. “The answer should be obvious, but since you’re apparently too blind to see it, I’ll point it out for you. The party streamer is tied to her wrists! Since it was tied there, that means the culprit needed to tie her up before they could strangle her. So unless there’s a way she could’ve been strangled without being tied up, it’s impossible!”
“Err, well, you see,” I started to say
“I’ll rip your argument to pieces!” Sunset vowed, pulling up evidence.
Fact #3: Pear Butter’s Body: “A guitar string is tied very tightly around her neck, underneath which is a ring of dark, red spots about a quarter-inch wide. She had a bleeding wound on her temple. Her wrists are bound with a party streamer.”
Juniper sighed and held her nose. “Oh my god, we just looked at this. How does this have anything to do with what I’m saying?”
“Look closer at the picture,” Sunset said, pointing to the wrists. “Notice something about them?”
Peering close, Juniper shook her head. “No… there’s nothing.”
“Exactly,” Sunset said, a smile appearing on her face. “If she’d been tied up and then strangled, we would see some sign of a struggle, marks on her wrists that showed her trying to pull away, something. But we don’t. Her wrists are unmarred. Which means the culprit likely tied the ribbon around her wrists after she died, and used the guitar string to hide the real murder weapon.”
“But… why?!” Cranky suddenly barked. “That’s just so… The point is guessing the person. The murder weapon doesn’t even matter!”
“The culprit wants to confuse us,” Sunset explained. “Sometimes there’s no point but that. Whatever the case, the streamer has to be what killed her.”
I let out an exasperated, almost sad sigh as nods and murmurs of understanding went around the room. I don’t know why I was bothering trying to say anything. Sunset clearly had this handled… even if I was figuring this stuff out at the same rate she was. Really, it was obvious to me the guitar string wasn’t the cause of death, and the only other thing similar to it was the party streamer; why did we have to go through this whole song and dance just to point this out?
“Sunset,” Rarity spoke up, “Are trials always like this?”
“Oh, they get much worse, trust me,” Sunset answered. “Though I’m really hoping he’s left out the thing I hate most.”
“What’s that?”
Sunset shivered. “Not saying. Not saying a word.”
Rarity stared at her quizzically for a moment before letting it go.
“Okay, fine. So the streamer was the murder weapon,” Juniper said with an irritated shrug. “What does that tell us?”
“It tells us that the culprit purposefully tried to obscure what happened at the scene,” Shining Armor said. “Which might be obvious, but it’s always best to have confirmation. This also brings a lot of other things into question.”
“Oh, um, like these you mean?” Fluttershy asked as she tapped her pad.
Fact #6: Gouge Marks: “There are marks gouged into the desk, as if it was violently struck.”
Shining nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been wondering about those. What caused them?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Sour Sweet said with a roll of her eyes. “It was when the culprit attacked Pear Butter. I mean, she’s got a big head wound and everything.”
I wanted to facepalm so badly at that assertion, but fortunately I was far from the only one to see the problem.
“Uh, no, I don’t think so,” Vignette objected with a laugh. “Look where they are. They’re not on Pear Butter’s side of the desk. They’re on the other side. Meaning that if they came from anyone, it was Pear Butter. Not the culprit.”
Cranky grunted. “That’s obvious. So does it mean Pear Butter defended herself?”
“She must have,” Fluttershy agreed. “She tried to attack the culprit.”
“Oh my stars,” Rarity gulped. “Does this mean we were wrong about what happened? Is it possible this was… self-defense on the part of the culprit?”
“No,” Shining said, shaking his head. “No way. It takes a lot of excess effort to strangle someone to death. If the culprit was attacked by Pear Butter and they were defending themselves, all they had to do was stop once she fell unconscious. Even if she revived almost immediately it would give them plenty of time to get out of there and call for help. So even if it was self-defense at first, they deliberately murdered her.”
Big Macintosh turned to face Rarity, his eyes brimming with black hatred. “Where the hell do you get off accusin’ my Momma of tryin’ to murder anyone?! You prissy little–”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence, Big Macintosh!” Rarity barked back. “I considered Pear Butter dear to me. She was always kind and welcoming; of course I cared about her! Why do you think I spent so much time looking after you during the investigation?”
Big Macintosh snorted. “Maybe you were coverin’ up your guilt.”
The room stood stock silent for a moment as Rarity quivered with outrage, baring her teeth only to swallow the expression as she struggled to maintain control over herself. “What. Did you. Just say?”
“Ah said, maybe you were coverin’ up your guilt!” he repeated, pointing at her.
Rarity slammed her palm down on her podium. “You… why would I ever… what possible reason could I have for killing Pear Butter, hmm?!”
“Maybe you thought she was a pony,” Vignette suggested, her smile growing. “I mean, she certainly was acting quite strange. And wasn’t she the one to call Shining out when he said horseshit?”
“What? Vignette?! How could you even suggest such a thing?” Rarity gasped. “You know perfectly well I couldn’t have murdered Pear Butter.”
“Oh? Do I?” Vignette chuckled.
I found myself shrinking away from Vignette as I was glared at by proxy, while Sunset sighed and shook her head. “Jeez, Vignette, you were with us even. Wallflower, remember what you told me during the investigation?”
Fact #8: Wallflower’s Account: “Sunset, Rarity, Vignette, and Wallflower were playing a board game for an hour prior to the discovery of the body. Prior to that, Sunset and Wallflower were in Sunset’s room, after an argument occurred outside in a discussion with Vignette, Rarity, and Fluttershy.”
“...yeah, I remember…” I whispered.
Sunset gave me a sympathetic half smile, then turned to Vignette. “In case I need to remind you, Rarity was with us playing a board game for an hour before Pear Butter’s death. There’s no way she’s responsible for killing Pear Butter.” She cast a brief glare at Big Macintosh as well. “Got it, Big Mac?”
Big Macintosh scowled and looked away. “Whatever. Don’t prove nothin’. We don’t know when mah Momma died.”
“Uh, yeah, we do,” Sour Sweet insisted. “She had to have died shortly before we found her. Nothing else makes sense.”
“Got any proof of that?” Big Macintosh fired back.
Sour Sweet rolled her eyes. “Yeah. I do. And you should know too, dumbass. You were there.”
Big Macintosh’s expression soured considerably, but he stubbornly refused to give in. “Ah don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”
“Oh for fuck’s–tell him, Sunset.”
Sunset’s lips thinned. “Big Mac, I get it.I know you want us to figure out who killed your mom. But all you’re doing is wasting our time. You know exactly why we know when she died.”
Fact #10: Pear Butter’s Guitar Music: “Pear Butter was playing her guitar approximately twenty minutes before her body was discovered. The music had an odd vibration quality to its sound, and stopped roughly seven to fifteen minutes before the body was found.”
“You were in the Mess Hall; you heard this better than those of us outside!”
Trixie thrust out her hand, her cloak billowing behind her. “Then we can safely say that Pear Butter was killed barely minutes before her body was found.”
“Wait a minute,” Derpy said. “I dunno about that. Something doesn’t feel right.”
“I’m with Derpy on this one,” Autumn Blaze agreed. “Like it says right here… an odd vibration quality? What the heck does that mean?”
Sunset frowned. “That’s on me. It sounded odd, like it was vibrating a little strangely… she was playing weird.”
“That’s not what bugs me,” Derpy said. “How do we know it was Pear Butter playing the guitar?”
“Well, who else could it have been?” Cranky said. “We found the guitar all smashed up. Meanin’ it had to have been her guitar, and she never let that thing out of her sight. She was always wearing it.”
“Wait, how do we know for sure there weren’t any other guitars around?” Rarity asked.
“Yeah, what if it was someone else’s?” Sour Sweet added.
“Not possible,” Juniper said. “You know why, right Sunset?”
“Yup.”
Fact #5: Pear Butter’s Guitar: “The guitar is badly damaged. It looks like it was smashed against a hard surface more than once. A string has been torn off. There is blood on some of the damaged wood. According to Juniper Montage, this is the only acoustic guitar in the entire complex.”
“Besides the fact the guitar was smashed up, it was also the only one in the complex according to Juniper. Remember, she had the keys to the music shed since we first got here, and while there were other guitars around, they were electric guitars, not acoustic. They’d sound completely different.”
Vignette flashed us a coy smile and raised her hand. “Oh, but Sunny, that doesn’t mean it was Pear Butter playing the guitar. She’s not the only one here who knows how, right?”
Sunset shrank back from her podium. “...err, no…”
Shining Armor frowned and shook his head. “I see what you’re trying to suggest, Vignette, but it doesn’t line up. Cranky was right; she never let that guitar out of her sight.”
“It doesn’t matter anyway!” I snapped. Everyone turned to look at me, which I was expecting, but it still took me aback for a moment. I gathered myself and explained. “The guitar was directly involved in her murder! Even if someone else was playing it, which yeah, doesn’t make sense anyway, she still had to still be alive!”
“Guh, right,” Cranky grumbled. “Because the killer had to make us think she was killed with the guitar string for no damn reason but to screw with us.”
“Okay, so if we assume Pear Butter was playing her guitar,” Shining said, frowning, “then that means when it suddenly stopped… was that when the culprit killed her?”
“It could be that’s when the culprit attacked,” Autumn Blaze suggested, “and then BOOM the culprit was cracked on the head with the guitar!”
“No, that’s wrong,” Sunset immediately declared. “There’s no way the culprit was hit by the guitar. Look at the condition of the guitar again.
Fact #5: Pear Butter’s Guitar: “The guitar is badly damaged. It looks like it was smashed against a hard surface more than once. A string has been torn off. There is blood on some of the damaged wood. According to Juniper Montage, this is the only acoustic guitar in the entire complex.”
“If the culprit were hit by a guitar that got this smashed up, they’d have a clear and obvious head wound.” She glanced around the room. “And I think it’s safe to say no one here has a head wound.”
“Then how’d the guitar get blood on it?” Derpy asked, scratching her chin.
“Wait, I’ve got it,” Sour Sweet said. “Here’s what happened: the culprit did something to really piss Pear Butter off, so she attacked them with her guitar! She missed, causing the gouge marks and damaging the guitar. Then the culprit ripped it out of her hands, smashed Pear Butter in the head with it, and then while she was dazed grabbed the party streamer and strangled her to death! It fits, see?”
Fact #3: Pear Butter’s Body: “A guitar string is tied very tightly around her neck, underneath which is a ring of dark, red spots about a quarter-inch wide. She had a bleeding wound on her temple. Her wrists are bound with a party streamer.”
Sour Sweet smirked in satisfaction, crossing her arms. “It all works out.”
“No it doesn’t,” I muttered.
She blinked and looked at me. “Did you say something, Wallflower?”
“...no…”
She raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. “Anyone have a problem with what I suggested?”
“I do,” Sunset said. “Look closer at Pear’s head wound.
“What about it?” Sour Sweet asked. “It’s bleeding. Fuck, it was still bleeding when we found her!”
Sunset sighed. “No.”
~*~
We moved on to check the rest of her head. “Here,” I said, pointing at her temple. “There’s the wound the Monohuman file mentioned. It’s still bleeding…”
“It’s oozing,” Sunset corrected. “People don’t bleed after they die, but sometimes the wounds will still ooze for the first couple hours after death. Trust me, I know from experience.” She frowned at it. “Actually, come to think of it, it looks like it hardly bled.”
~*~
“Like I pointed out to Wallflower, the wound was oozing, not bleeding. And if she’d been struck before she died, she’d have blood all over her clothes and it would be far more obvious; head wounds bleed a lot more than most other wounds, because of how much blood is going to the brain. The fact that she barely has any blood on her at all says to me this wound was inflicted after death.”
Shining Armor nodded. “I agree with Sunset. I got a pretty good look at the body myself while I was guarding it, and the head wound stuck out to me as unusual for how little it had bled. Like Sunset said, we should’ve seen blood all over the desk, all over her clothes, and so on if she’d been hit in the head before she died.”
“Not to mention a blow like that could’ve done serious damage,” Fluttershy added, standing up straighter. “I, um, I may just be a veterinarian, but I’ve seen what happens when animals take even small blows to the head. Concussions, brain hemorrhage, subdural hematoma… all could’ve easily contributed to killing Pear Butter on their own.”
Autumn Blaze raised her hand. “Oooh, ooh, aaaand, if they were hitting Pear Butter with the guitar while she was still alive, why not just keep hitting her till it killed her? Why bother strangling her at all?”
“Okay, okay, I get it, god!” Sour Sweet snapped, throwing rude hand gestures. “So she was hit on the head afterwards. Why?”
“Same reason the streamer was tied around her wrists,” Sunset said. “It’s all to cover up the cause of death.”
“Gaaauuuugh!” Cranky moaned.
“Not very effective since we tore it apart in under an hour,” Vignette mused.
“Well since there’s no point, they succeeded in making us waste an hour!” Cranky snapped.
Sunset shook her head. “No, we’re nowhere near solving this yet. This is just the basic stuff we’re picking apart. Now that we’re getting somewhere with the cause of death, we need to move on to figuring out the circumstances of why and how.”
Shining Armor spoke up. “There’s one other aspect of this we haven’t explained, and it’s bothering me.”
“Huh?”
He pointed to the clue.
Fact #10: Pear Butter’s Guitar Music: “Pear Butter was playing her guitar approximately twenty minutes before her body was discovered. The music had an odd vibration quality to its sound, and stopped roughly seven to fifteen minutes before the body was found.”
“We don’t know what caused that odd vibration quality to the sound. And I think it’s more important than we realized.”
Sunset frowned. “Yeah, I can’t get over that, too.”
“Maybe it’s because she was playing guitar through the door?” Derpy asked.
Sunset stared at her pad for several moments without responding, though from the look in her eyes I could see gears turning. Like she was mulling over something in her mind, putting it together piece by piece.
For some reason I briefly pictured her riding a snowboard being towed by a taxi while dodging falling letters, of all things.. I shook my head to clear that image away; all this anxiety and everything was fogging my brain.
“No,” Sunset said finally. “That can’t be it. Because there’s something else we’ve missed.”
Fact #7: White Noise Machine: “Pear Butter’s white noise machine was discovered turned off when the body was discovered, despite her habit of keeping it on. It was off for an uncertain amount of time, and it was in power-saving mode, meaning it could turn itself off automatically. The timer displayed ‘2245.’”
“Wallflower, can you explain to everyone what this is about, please?”
“M-me?” I gulped as the entire courtroom full of people all looked at me at once. I had to grip my podium to keep from falling over, my heart stampeding in my chest as it threatened to hurtle its way out of my mouth and onto the carpet. “Uuuh, w-well… she has a machine in her office that makes a lot of white noise… During a session, she put it out in the hallway, just outside the door. It helps clear and relax the mind, and it keeps anyone outside from overhearing the session.”
“Oh yeah, I remember that now!” Sour Sweet said. “It was this big thing that sounded like a car engine, or a really loud air conditioner. I almost forgot about it after the first few minutes because it blended into the background.”
Zephyr stared around the room, his expression blank. “I don’t get it. What’s this got to do with the guitar?”
“Everything,” Sunset said. “If this white noise machine was going, then it should’ve obscured the sound of the guitar. Even if the door was open, it wouldn’t cause the sound of the guitar to vibrate; it would’ve wiped it out entirely. Whoever was in the office could hear the guitar, but no one else could.”
“...but the machine was off,” Shining said with sudden realization. “And we don’t know for how long.”
“Quick, everyone!” Derpy said. “Was there anyone close enough to hear the white noise machine?”
“Uh, well, Cranky and I were in the break room down the hall,” Cheese said.
Cranky nodded, drumming his fingers on the podiums until he suddenly snapped them. “That’s right, I remember now. We could hear the damned thing even in there; it was that loud.” He scratched his head. “At least it was…it turned off at some point.”
“When?” Vignette asked immediately, leaning forward. “It could be vital.”
Cranky shrugged. “I wasn’t really paying attention to the time; I was too busy fending off Cheese.”
Vignette arched both eyebrows, an amused smile dancing across her face. “Fending him off? Was he being overly friendly?”
Cranky’s face burned like fire. “No he was not!” he thundered, slamming a palm on his podium.
Cheese’s face likewise bloomed red as he waved his hands over his head. “No way, nuh uh! No offense, Cranky,, but you’re too old for me. If I was gonna go for a guy here it’d be Zephyr.” He looked away, a silly smile gracing his face as he tapped his fingers together. “O-or maybe Shining Armor.”
“None taken, Cheese,” Cranky said, adjusting his tie and shirt back into place as he scowled at Vignette.
Zephyr Breeze beamed, running a hand through his hair. “Well, naturally you’d be into the Zephyr, but I’m afraid I’m into girls only.” He winked at Cheese.
Shining chuckled. “That’s flattering, but I'm married.” He held up hand and dangled his fingers to show a wedding ring I’d somehow never noticed on him before.
Cheese’s blush intensified to every exposed bit of his skin as he stared down at his podium. “Err, right, right… sorry, didn’t mean to bug anyone…”
Autumn Blaze leaned over and stage whispered, “Psst. Are you into girls too, or just guys?”
“...both?” Cheese answered, looking back at her. “Why?”
She flashed him a thumbs up but said nothing else in response.
“Anyway,” Cranky called out. “If we can move on from this high school crap? What I meant was, Cheese was asking me for advice.”
~*~
“Oh come on, you’ve traveled the world!”
“No.”
“But you’re so knowledgeable. I could really use a mentor.”
“Then go see Shining. Or Pear Butter. Or anyone else except me, kid.”
“I’m not a kid, I’m twenty-five.”
As I opened the door I heard the voices of Cheese Sandwich and Cranky Doodle arguing away. Cheese had his hands up in the air, gesticulating wildly, while Cranky cradled his coffee cup, trying not to snarl.
“Oh, sorry to interrupt,” I muttered, turning to leave.
“No, wait, Wallflower, perfect timing!” Cheese Sandwich said, forcing me to turn back around. “Look, you remember what we talked about yesterday? How I said I was looking for someone to help show me the ropes?”
“...yeah?”
Cranky sighed and set his mug on the table, laying back in his chair. “Look, kid,” he said, addressing me, “before you start trying to help him, didn’t I make it clear to you the other day how much I just want to be left alone? I don’t. Want. To be. Around people. It’s not a hard concept.”
I shrugged. “I wasn’t planning on encouraging him, Cranky.”
He grunted. “Good.”
~*~
“But I thought he had to go practice his accordion,” I pointed out.
Cranky pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yeah, so apparently ‘practice the accordion’ means ‘pantomime squeezing your hands together while you keep bothering Cranky.’ He kept asking for hours, even after Wallflower left,” Cranky finished. “So that’s why I don’t remember when the white noise machine turned off; I wasn’t even looking at a clock.”
Vignette resumed her normal position at her podium, her chin jutted up. “Fine. That was pointless.”
“No, it wasn’t,” Shining said, tapping his palm. “We’ve established the certainty that the white noise machine was turned off before we heard the guitar playing. Which means whatever caused the vibration must’ve been something else.”
“This… feels wrong anyway,” Sunset mused. “It didn’t just sound like there was something in the background; it sounded bad. Like she was playing wrong, or like…”
She stopped talking and just stood there, realization and concentration in her eyes.
“Um,” Sour Sweet offered, “it sounded liiikkkeeeee…?”
“I realized what would make that vibration sound,” Sunset explained. “It sounded like someone playing a guitar that was damaged.”
My mouth fell open. “But… how could anyone play that guitar we found? It was all smashed up!”
“I don’t think anyone could play that,” Sunset answered. “The guitar we heard definitely had all its strings, first of all, and it was more together than this. But it’s something you noticed yourself, Wallflower. That guitar has taken at least two heavy blows. What if one was during the murder…”
“...And the second was later, after Pear Butter was already dead,” I finished.
Sunset nodded. “We reasoned before that the killer hit Pear Butter with the guitar after she was already dead. If that’s what destroyed it, they definitely could have played it first.”
I frowned. That was true, but it still didn’t answer the question of the white noise machine or…
“Gaagh!” Cranky moaned, startling me. “What would even be the point of that?!”
“I don’t know,” Sunset admitted, “but it helps us more than the killer probably knew.”
“Hashtag agreed!” Vignette sang. “Thanks so much for finally getting back around to this. Because if the killer played the guitar, that narrows the list of suspects a little, right?”
“They didn’t just play it,” Rarity pointed out. “They played it well. Big Macintosh?” She gently turned to the grieving man.. “Was there a difference between your mom’s playing and what you heard today?”
Big Macintosh swallowed, then said, “...Ah couldn’t hear one.”
Derpy snapped her fingers. “Great, then we can narrow it down to whomever is good at playing guitar.”
“Juniper, there was a list of people who could play instruments on the music shed door, right?” Rarity said.
Juniper blinked, then scanned her pad and nodded. “Yeah. Here it is.”
- Guitar: Sunset Shimmer, Pear Butter, Trixie, Bic Mac, Wallflower Blush
- Synthesizer: Rarity, Juniper Montage, Cheese Sandwich
- Accordion: Cheese Sandwich
- Electric saw: Derpy
- Violin: Shining Armor
- Tambourine: Fluttershy
- Turntables: Cranky Doodle
“Violin? Truly, Shining?” Rarity said with an amused expression.
Shining crossed her arms. “Yeah. Every member of my family can play it. It’s refined.”
“Oh, of that I have no doubt,” Rarity replied. “I forget sometimes that you come from a family of wealth, given your chosen profession.”
“You forget that I’m the brother of one of your best friends?” He said, raising an eyebrow.
Rarity tittered, hiding her face as she blushed. “N-no, of course not. I-I just mean, I don’t usually think of Twilight as… rich.”
“Um, Rarity, I really don’t think this is important right now,” Fluttershy said, tugging at Rarity’s sleeve.
“No, no, I suppose not. Apologies.”
Big Macintosh cleared his throat and slapped his pad. “Ah think one name is speakin’ louder than the others, here.” He glared direct at me, and I could somehow feel his enormous stature. “‘Specially knowin’ something else.”
Sunset winced. “...Yeah. We do have to talk about this eventually.” I froze as she pulled up the evidence I knew would come to light sooner or later.
Fact #12: Pear Butter’s Behavior: “As far as we know, Wallflower was the last one to see Pear Butter, in her office, three hours before her body was discovered.”
Everyone turned to face me once again. “Oh, so you were the last one to see her, huh?” Big Macintosh sneered. “Mighty suspicious, that is.”
“She was very angry with you,” Shining added, suspicion entering his gaze. “That would give you motive.”
“M-m-m-motive?” I gulped. “No, no! I didn’t do it!”
“Sounds like what the blackened would say!” Juniper shouted. She pointed right at my face. “She’s guilty! Look at her! She’s been so quiet this whole time.”
“Sure has,” Zephyr Breeze said, glaring at me. “Trying to hide something, Wallflower? Huh?”
I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. I wanted to flee the room, to run somewhere, anywhere at all to get away from this.
And then Vignette spoke up. “Sorry, everyone, but Wallflower didn’t do it.” She smirked. “She was with Rarity, Sunset, and I, remember?”
Fact #8: Wallflower’s Account: “Sunset, Rarity, Vignette, and Wallflower were playing a board game for an hour prior to the discovery of the body. Prior to that, Sunset and Wallflower were in Sunset’s room, after an argument occurred outside in a discussion with Vignette, Rarity, and Fluttershy.”
“As far as I’m aware, prior to the times she listed here, she was with Sunset.”
“T-that’s right!” I said, finally managing to speak up for myself. “A-and Big Macintosh saw me right after I had my session with Pear Butter.”
“Oh, Ah saw you, alright. Ah saw you runnin’ like you were scared of somethin’, sweatin’ up a storm.” He punched his right hand into his left palm. “And now that Ah think about it… you were runnin’ away from the murder you committed, weren’t you?”
“No, I wasn’t!” I insisted.
“It’s still way too sketchy,” Juniper grunted. “She argued with the victim and could play the guitar. She’s suspect number one.”
“No, that’s wrong,” Sunset retaliated, her mouth twisting up. “Wallflower… I don’t mean to insult you by saying this, but… you’re not good enough at the guitar to play at this level.”
“T-that’s right,” I said. “I even told Derpy as much.”
~*~
“Wallf–OOF!!”
I spun around to see Derpy lying face-down on the floor. She groggily pushed herself up to her knees, then gave me a grinning thumbs up. “I’m okay!”
I approached her cautiously, but when she reached up it was pretty automatic to just take her hand and pull her up to her feet. She tittered, blushing slightly. “Thanks! Hey, so even though everyone’s mad and stuff, I still wanted to go to the music shed and get my instrument. And I wanted to see if you wanted to come with me! Do you play anything?”
“Um, yeah. The guitar, a little.” It was embarrassing even saying that. “I’m not very good.” There was a weird pause before I remembered she had asked me something else. “Oh. Yeah. I guess, let’s go.”
~*~
Derpy nodded. “That’s right. I remember that pretty clearly.” She gave me a smile. “Don’t worry, Wallflower. I’ve got your back. I know you didn’t do this.”
Big Macintosh glanced between Sunset and me, then let out a wordless growl and let his hands drop to the podium. “Fine. Let’s say Ah accept that for now. If Wallflower didn’t do it, who did?”
“It had to be someone good enough at guitar to imitate Pear Butter,” Derpy said as she looked at the ceiling. “Which means they must’ve been playing for years.”
Fluttershy nodded. “Then maybe the list will tell us? It… oh my…”
Sunset gaped at the list and let out a pained gasp. “No… damn it, no!”
“What, what is it?” Zephyr demanded.
Sunset closed her eyes, tears running down her face. “I think I know who killed Pear Butter,” she whispered. Then her eyes snapped open as she pointed right at Trixie. “Trixie Lulamoon, you’re the only one!”
Trixie took a step back from her podium. “What?! How dare you accuse Trixie? We’re friends, Sunset.”
“Uh, yeah, you’re jumping the gun, don’t you think?” Juniper argued. “Just because she can play…”
“It’s not just the guitar,” Sunset said, her voice tight. “It’s everything.You’ve been playing the guitar for years, more than well enough to copy Pear Butter. You were missing for hours before we found you conveniently locked up in the pantry. No one saw you during that whole time. And you could’ve easily done everything after Wallflower left the office but before Big Macintosh, Zephyr, and Derpy were dealing with the broken table. It all fits.”
“...and she has been staying away from the rest of us,” Fluttershy added. “Like, um, maybe she’s been planning a murder.”
“The evidence does seem to fit,” Shining said.
“It most certainly does not!” Trixie insisted. “Trixie has no reason to want to kill Pear Butter, or anyone else. Trixie has been keeping to herself because Trixie wants to live. Why would Trixie risk her life by killing someone?”
“Because you thought she was a pony?” Sunset pressed. “She sure acted like it at times.”
“Yes, you would know all about how a pony acts, wouldn’t you, Sunset Shimmer?” Vignette suddenly spoke up. “If anyone could tell–”
“Shut up, Valencia,” Sunset barked. “This isn’t about me! This is about Trixie. And I’m having a hard enough time confronting her on this as it is, so keep your fucking mouth shut.”
Vignette laughed and held up her hands in surrender, remaining silent.
Trixie let out an angry squeal. “But, Sunset, Trixie told you when she was locked up in the pantry. She’d been in there since just after breakfast. Remember? Wallflower shut her in there!”
~*~
“Trixie, you were in the pantry since breakfast, right?” I asked. At her glare I added, “I’m just double checking.”
“Yes. Trixie realized she ran out of bread so she went back in there to grab another two loaves. But the door was closed on her!”
I flashed back to that morning and cringed really hard. “Oh crap. That might’ve been my fault. Did you come in while we were washing dishes?”
“...yes, Trixie did. She snuck around you hoping she wouldn’t be seen.” Trixie’s eyes flashed. “Did you shut the door on Trixie?!”
“...yeaaaah…” I admitted, moving to hide behind Sunset.
It was a good move, because Trixie screeched wordlessly and reached both hands out towards me, fingers curling like she ached to get them around my neck. “How dare you trap Trixie in the pantry?”
“It was an accident, Trixie, calm down,” Sunset said. “It sounds like she didn’t know you were in there, so she closed the door.
“Yeah, I was just leaving and saw it was ajar when we’d left it closed so I closed it,” I babbled. “I had no idea you were inside.”
Trixie snarled again, then dropped her hands. “Fine. But Trixie will remember this!” She stomped off back towards the offices, perhaps to do some investigating of her own.
~*~
“You even told Trixie to calm down, that it was an accident. Are you taking your words back now?”
A few more tears ran down Sunset’s cheeks. “I don’t want to… but it felt a little suspicious even then, the way you insisted on it. I’m sorry, Trixie, but… please stop trying to defend yourself. Please don’t make this even harder on us than it already is. There’s other evidence, too.”
Fact #13: Sunset’s Pad: “Sunset’s pad was stolen when she briefly separated from Wallflower. It was later found in a potted plant in the main hallway. Sunset noticed no signs of it being tampered with.”
Trixie gasped. “What?! What are you even talking about? Your pad?!”
“I don’t know how it ties in yet, but I don’t need to. You’re the only one who could possibly have stolen it out of my pocket without me noticing!”
As Trixie and Sunset continued to shout back and forth at each other, I found myself wondering why Sunset was so convinced Trixie was responsible. It didn’t make any sense! Trixie was right… She had no motive. And I was certain she was innocent. I knew for a fact that the pantry door was closed until it was suddenly ajar again.
“Trixie isn’t the only one who was alone! Juniper said she was alone in her room. Why is Juniper not suspicious?”
“Because I don’t know how to play a guitar, Trixie,” Juniper fired back. “I can barely play my synthesizer.”
“Besides, the dorms are too far away from the Mess Hall for Juniper to kill Pear Butter and then get back over there without being seen,” Sunset pointed out. “Whereas if Trixie killed Pear Butter she never needed to leave the Mess Hall. All she needed was a chance to slip past and get into the kitchen. And she either did it before the table was broken, or she used the chaos of the broken table to cover up her movements by sneaking past while no one was watching.”
There were so many problems with that logic I didn’t even know where to begin with objecting. But even as I started to open my mouth, it dried out, my tongue feeling like a huge piece of meat hanging in the noon-day sun. My whole body was slick with sweat and shaking like a glass of water in an earthquake, threatening to spill over and be lost. Someone had to defend Trixie...
But no one else was doing it!
“You know, I think that does answer just about all of my questions regarding the crime,” Shining said with a nod. “There’s a few mysteries still, but I’m sure Trixie can let us in on them after we vote.”
“Vote?” I whispered, my whole body flashing from desert heat to frozen wasteland at the thought. No, we couldn’t vote! If we voted, we’d be voting for the wrong person!
“Stop saying Trixie is guilty! Trixie would never murder anyone!”
“Save it for the judge!” Zephyr said as he pointed at her. “I say we vote now!”
Cranky rubbed his chin. “I’m sure not seeing any issues left here. Trixie’s the only one who could’ve done it.”
“I don’t want to believe it, but…” Derpy slowly sighed and shook her head. “Who else could it have been?”
“Ah’m ready to vote, Monohuman,” Big Macintosh declared. “Ah think we all are.”
“No, we’re not,” I breathed. “Someone stop this… please, stop this!”
Trixie was in tears now, slamming her fists on her podium. “You stupid fools! If you vote for Trixie all you’ll be dooming us all!”
“No, I don’t think we will be,” Rarity said with a sad sigh. “I’m also ready to vote.”
“Me too,” Fluttershy added.
“No, no, no!” Trixie wailed, smashing her podium hard enough to send wood chips flying. “You mustn’t! You can’t!
“I think you’ll find we can, Trixie,” Cheese Sandwich said in an uncharacteristically serious voice. “I’m good to vote.”
Vignette glanced over at me as I continued to shake and stammer and act useless. “Hmm. If only someone could speak up on Trixie’s behalf,” she murmured in a low voice, quiet enough no one else could hear it. “If only. But it would take courage… and a spine.”
I gasped at her, utterly flabbergasted. “What?”
Vignette winked at me, then turned away. “If people are going to vote, I will vote,” she said.
Autumn Blaze looked back and forth between Trixie and Sunset. “I dunno about this… but if Sunset’s sure, then it has to be Trixie, right? Sunset’s the one who knows what she’s talking about.”
“Well, it’s sounding like everyone’s ready to vote,” Monohuman said, sitting up straighter on his throne. “Final check: are you sure?”
“Of course we’re sure,” Sunset declared. She pointed at Trixie. “Trixie Lulamoon is guilty and there is no evidence whatsoever to the contrary!”
“No evidence?” I breathed. I looked down at my pad.
My eyes grew large. My heart stampeded in my chest, threatening to burst altogether.
Courage, and a spine… courage and a spine.
…and the willingness to see things through…
I stood up straight. I wiped away my sweat and tears.
I raised my finger.
And I shouted.
“No Sunset, that’s where you’re wrong!”
Sunset reeled back in utter shock as everyone else in the room looked my way, bafflement crossing many faces. But this time I stood firm, refusing to back down, no matter how scared I felt.
Trixie shot me a look of pure gratitude. “Thank you!” she shouted. “At least someone has some sense!”
Sunset recovered quickly, looking at me like I was insane. “What are you talking about, Wallflower?”
My confidence only grew as I met her glare for glare. “I’m talking about this.”
Fact #2: Kuchen Wrapper: “An enormous empty wrapper of kuchen left on the pantry floor, still laden with crumbs and fingerprint marks.”
“When we first let Trixie out of the pantry, I saw this on the floor. I didn’t know if it was important, but you said to document everything and figure it out later. And I’ve figured it out, Sunset.” I turned to Trixie. “Trixie, did you eat this kuchen while you were stuck in the pantry?”
Trixie’s cheeks bloomed like roses, but she nodded nevertheless. “Yes. Trixie was starving, and panicked. She needed to eat something to calm herself down.”
Sunset sighed. “Come on, Wallflower, that’s ridiculous. No one would eat an entire cake like that.”
A half smile briefly graced my face as I tapped my pad again. “They would if the rules forced them to.”
#2: Any food taken from the pantry that was not part of Monohuman’s breakfast preparations must be consumed in full if opened. No snacking and putting things back!
Sunset’s teeth set on edge as I continued. “Trixie had no way of knowing what was part of Monohuman’s breakfast and what wasn’t; she’d been avoiding eating breakfast with us because she didn’t trust it. So as soon as she opened that kuchen, she knew she had to finish it. Right, Trixie?”
“Right!” Trixie nodded enthusiastically. “It took forever to eat the whole thing, but Trixie was up to the challenge!”
I saw a number of people’s expressions shift, growing less certain by the second. It was working!
“And there’s more evidence of it too,” I said. “Sour Sweet, do you remember what happened between you and Trixie during the investigation?”
Sour Sweet’s face turned green. “Bleugh! How could I forget?”
~*~
As we left the break room, we heard shouting coming from the Mess Hall. “...it’s disgusting!”
“Trixie needed the bathroom very badly,” insisted Trixie, who stood not far from the public restroom, her clothes even more disheveled. “She was trapped for several hours.”
“Yes,” Sour Sweet retorted daintily, “But, because some of us care about an eensy-weensy little thing like common courtesy, we at least try flushing the toilet instead of leaving it there when we take a massive shit!”
“How dare you? Of course Trixie flushed the toilet!” Trixie balled her fists up. “Don’t accuse Trixie of poor toilet etiquette.”
“Pfft. Then go back in there and get it flushed. Hurry it up. And find some air freshener… it smells nasty.”
~*~
“Sorry if this is embarrassing, Trixie,” I said as I saw Trixie’s face turn a peculiarly thick shade of red, while a number of others recoiled in disgust. “But I only bring it up because eating an entire cake like that is going to cause you some stomach issues. And that can include, err, well… massive… shits.”
“Ugh,” Rarity moaned. “Must we discuss bathroom matters?”
Shining eyed me warily. “Wallflower, none of what you’re saying proves Trixie was in there when you say. She still could’ve eaten that entire kuchen after murdering Pear Butter.”
A few people nodded along with Shining, including Sunset. “That’s right,” Sunset said. “This was pointless.”
“Well, I disagree,” Vignette spoke up, to everyone’s shock including my own. “I think it says pretty distinctly that Trixie was trapped when Wallflower says she was.”
“...I’m with Wallflower on this,” Derpy said, nodding to me. “I’m not convinced it was Trixie just yet.”
“Me neither,” Fluttershy said with a sigh of relief. “I was going to vote if everyone else was, but… it doesn’t feel right.”
Sour Sweet grimaced, then said, “Yeah, you know what? After Wallflower pointed that out, I don’t think it was Trixie either. She couldn’t have eaten the kuchen that fast anyway.”
“And just because Trixie could have done everything doesn’t mean she did,” said Autumn Blaze. “She doesn’t have a motive.”
Rarity bit her lip, then let out a quiet sigh. “I’m sorry, but Shining Armor makes a good point. Your evidence doesn’t prove anything, Wallflower.”
“Wait a minute,” Cheese Sandwich said. “Does this mean we can’t vote?”
“We oughta,” Cranky grunted. “‘Cause Trixie’s still the culprit no matter what Wallflower says. No offense.”
Derpy blinked. “But how can we vote when we’re split down the middle like this?”
“NO!” Sunset shouted, panic written all over her face. “DON’T SAY THAT–”
Monohuman’s laughter cut her off. “Too late, Sunset! It seems not everyone agrees with you. And when we’re split down the middle like this, why, there’s only one way to solve it!”
“Um. Did I do something wrong?” Derpy asked, shrinking back.
“Not at all!” Monohuman answered as he spun his baton. “Quite the opposite. I think you’ll enjoy what comes next. And that’s to have a rip-roaring, thrilling, exciting shift-the-courtroom style scrum debate!”
He raised his hand, and strangely familiar music abruptly filled the air as everyone’s podiums raised up and shifted around, lining us up in two rows.
“What’s with the music?” Juniper cried out.
“I don’t understand what’s happening!” Rarity added.
Sunset repeatedly beat her head on her podium before giving me a furious glare. “This is your fault, Wallflower. We could’ve avoided this stupid shit!”
“Now now, enough whining, everyone,” Monohuman said. “Let the debate…”
IS TRIXIE THE CULPRIT?
BEGIN!
Big Macintosh started off their side. “Trixie murdered my Momma! Ain’t no one else who coulda done it!”
“We can’t be sure that Trixie murdered Pear Butter just yet,” Derpy said with a sad shake of her head.
“But Trixie could’ve played the guitar well enough to imitate Pear Butter!” Zephyr shouted back.
“Trixie’s not the only one who can play the guitar well enough, you know!” Trixie defended herself.
“But Trixie had a huge window of opportunity to kill Pear Butter,” Cheese said.
Fluttershy shook her head. “No, she didn’t. She had no window of opportunity at all, because she was trapped in the pantry.”
Shining Armor crossed his arms. “You have no evidence that Trixie was trapped in the pantry before the murder took place.”
“Yes we do!” Sour Sweet objected. “The kuchen is all the evidence we need.”
“But there’s no reason to believe she couldn’t have eaten the kuchen after killing Pear Butter,” Rarity objected.
“Not possible,” Autumn Blaze said. “No one could eat an entire kuchen that fast. She’d need hours.”
“That’s pretty shoddy reasoning,” Juniper argued. “We don’t know when Trixie was trapped in the pantry.”
“Yes we do,” Vignette said with her trademark smirk. “Wallflower told us exactly when Trixie was trapped: right after she finished cleaning the dishes.”
“So then how do you explain how she snuck past three different people in the kitchen just to get into the pantry?” Shining asked.
“Trixie is more than capable of stealth when she needs to be; getting into the pantry was child’s play,” Trixie struck back.
“Why didn’t any of you hear her walking through?” Cranky snorted with derision.
Autumn took this one. “We didn’t hear her because we were focused on doing the dishes.”
“So why didn’t she just wait to go into the pantry till after everyone was gone?” Rarity asked, eyebrows arched.
“She’d already had to wait as it was,” Sour Sweet retaliated. “She was hungry.”
Zephyr raised a hand. “What I don’t get is why she felt the need to sneak in the first place? Why bother hiding?”
Derpy, of all people, face palmed at this question. “Trixie didn’t trust anyone not to mess with her food; that’s why she had to sneak.”
Big Mac sneered. “So if Ah’m hearin’ you right, Trixie’s innocent because she was convinced the rest of us might kill her?”
“Yes, Big Mac, that’s what we’ve been saying all along,” Fluttershy said. “She’s innocent of the crime.”
Shadows fell over the rest of the group as my podium and Sunset’s rose even higher, putting us in a one on one face-off. I found myself squeezing my podium hard for support, but kept myself firm.
Sunset’s scowl screamed how stupid she thought I was. “Wallflower, why are you wasting our time defending Trixie when you know she has to be the culprit?”
I straightened myself up further. “I’m defending Trixie because the evidence doesn’t add up.”
“Then who else could have done it?” Sunset protested. “Can you answer that?”
I softly shook my head. “Not yet, I can’t. I don’t know who killed Pear Butter. And that’s my point. You don’t know either.”
Sunset briefly glanced at Monohuman with a questioning look on her face, as if wondering why this was still going. “But there’s decisive evidence showing it has to be Trixie.”
“No, there isn’t!” I retorted. “What decisive evidence do you have?”
“She was in the Mess Hall during the–”
“So were a lot of people!” I cut Sunset off, finding my confidence growing rapidly. “The Mess Hall was full of people at one point. Any number of people could’ve killed Pear Butter; in fact for all we know it took two people. Maybe Cheese and Cranky did it, for example.”
Sunset’s face screwed up as she barked a laugh. “But that’s ridiculous. There’s no reason they’d work together to do that.”
“Just as ridiculous as Trixie killing Pear Butter. She has no motive either, or did you forget?”
Sunset let out a wordless howl of rage. “Damn it, Wallflower, why won’t you just let us vote on this?”
I slammed my hand down on my podium and pointed right at her. “Because we can’t vote until we’re absolutely certain. And you should know that, Sunset. Maybe Trixie is the culprit, but you haven’t proven it beyond a shadow of a doubt yet. And until we have certainty, we can’t vote!”
With that last statement, the podiums returned to their former positions. I found myself feeling strangely elated. I… won. I won an argument. I won an argument!
Sunset’s scowl at me told me this was far from over. We had a long way yet to go before we’d figure out who killed Pear Butter.
But I knew one thing for certain. I was no longer standing on the sidelines. I was actively participating in this trial.
And I’d figure out who did this, no matter what it took.
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Will this story be as long as the previous one?
Howdy, hi~!
Hell yeah, hype. I did actually get some of the clues right, and love Wallflower really coming into her own for this. Love me a growing protag. Knew Trixie was also a red herring (though you point-blank told me that when I told you I had thought that). Sunset is really being a rookie here in terms of debate, the silly billy. Definitely not thinking clearly here on who is really the culprit and not paying attention to the evidence that's been compiled. Looking forward to seeing where the trial goes in the next chapter.
Why am I thinking there is something seriously off with Sunset? She wasn't like this before. As far as I can remember, at least.
That line Autumn gave to Cheese in the middle of all this. You just know that's going to lead to things later.
As for now, it's looking like it's either Big Mac or Sunset. I'm leaning more towards Sunset as she tried to get the trial over as soon as possible. She accused the obvious red herring and now has lost the first debate. It's not looking good for the OG. And I'm not convinced at all that this is the Sunset from the first story. Too many inconsistencies.
Also, Vignette. Of all the people that would stand out for me, she's the new flavor of the fanfic. I'm very curious to see what her deal is going forward.
That was intense!
Wallflower's first courage moment!
haha……the second Danganronpa story……came with extra updates!
that's pretty cute!
Vignette is pretty awesome, she keeps it turned on.
time to actually become a protagonist of the game!
let's proceed!
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Yeah. I’m feeling the same way that it could POSSIBLY be Sunset. However, it feels weird because at the start you can tell she is the Support character for wallflower and be VERY important for the story later on. But now, she is starting to loose her edge
So this MIGHT be Human! Sunset with pony! Sunset memories as that’s the current theory. But, how is that the case I’m not really to sure until later
If we do lose Sunset THIS early. Then who will new support protag be
I loved the chapter and it seems like Wallflower is finally stepping up her game! The trial is on fire and my theories are being a little shaken up to be true (or not, always expect the unexpected!) Also, the more the chapter went on, the less I suspected Sunset from how helpful she was being, but then the ones that know how to play guitar appeared and, well... the Trixie thing happened and I was like, no, she totally sus. Sunset from the previous story would never do something like what she is doing now unless she was behind something. Sunset n°1 suspect. I still think that this is Human Sunset because of the way she acts at the end, so bitter and angry at Wallflower for having her plan ruined. Also, Pony!Sunset would never become a blackened after the events of the first game. Also, pretty sure that Sunset's pad will play a major role in this somehow is such a big detail that is being left out for some grand reveal in the next chapter.
To end my pretty lengthy comment, I just have a little rant to do in case of the worst-case scenario (aka. Pony Sunset is the culprit and Human!Sunset is a wrong theory): PLEASE don't ruin the ending of the first story. I really love how the first book ended and wrapped up the characters and I think that if P!Sunset ends up dying in this book after passing through the hell she passed and the lessons she learned there, it would leave a bad taste in my mouth when going to reread the first Book. The final was perfect, Sunset was a fantastic protagonist and she doesn't deserve this awful ending if it does happen. (Also, this is just a worst-case scenario rant, and I just wanted to let my feelings clear, and, overhaul, I love your stories and I want to love Book 2 as much as I loved Book 1 but Sunset being here again kind of makes me on edge.)
At this point I'm all but sure that it's Sunset cause the way she's insistent on trying to get this case closed so quickly. I'm expecting people to start poking at her knowledge of guitar and wanting to get the trial over with so quickly and people relying on her "Experience" to start. I'm still thinking she got attacked, bashed Pear's head in by accident in self defense... then she realized this was an escape route. Strangled her with the streamer, recorded the guitar on her pad as an alarm and set that part of the plan going then setting up her alibi.
Vignette is seeming to be taking the role of the Helper character instead of her it seems. That or antagonistic and I'm fully believing This is human sunset with memory injections. Fully believe monohuman'll execute her with a cackle, assured they're down one, then be shocked when he learns no, it's a human who died.
Still no clue on ponies and if it's not Sunset I'll be incredibly surprised.
“But, because some of us care about an eensy-weensy little thing like common courtesy, we at least try flushing the toilet instead of leaving it there when we take a massive shit!”
Trixie is now Nekomaru.
This is fun so far. I like how Sunset took the lead for the first part of the trial, since she was the protagonist of the previous game and has the most experience, causing Wallflower to be in the background for the most part and be invisible like she used to be. But once Wallflower defended Trixie she took control and actually won an argument against Sunset. That’s great character development.
Everyone else had good interactions too. I can understand Big Mac being so upset over his mother's death, but he needs to keep it together.
It's looking like Sunset is both an impostor AND the best friend as the first blackened, but I'm hoping that it isn't just a combination of 2 early-doors twists from the existing games. One thing giving me hope is that they've yet to address a couple of items - The recording function on the Monopad, which would allow someone who didn't play guitar to fake the guitar music. Pear Butter's son couldn't tell the difference between what he heard and the real Pear Butter playing, I don't think an experienced guitarist could necessarily replicate it well enough to fool him. And why was it in the fern anyway, if not to play guitar music in proximity of the office? That leads me to infer that the blackened is NOT one of the guitar players. My previous guess for the blackened is probably wrong because that person (Fluttershy) debated AGAINST voting for Trixie, however I can't let go of her giving away water, so maybe Zephyr did it, and he asked her to pass it around with no questions asked. Every bit of dialogue from him seemed to be a little push towards the wrong conclusion. If my new guess is right, I won't miss that person, so that works.
I wanted to make a separate comment for my thoughts on Sunset - a lot of people have guessed that's not the Sunset from last time, and I agree with that BUT (perhaps just out of a desire to be contrarian...) I don't think it's ANY Sunset at all, I think it's Ocellus. Been ruminating on why Sunset's going through her makeup so fast, and maybe it's because she's using it to mask her face completely. And Sunset's bicolored hair looks odd, even amongst the wide color pallet of people's hair in this universe. It probably looks dyed no matter what, so no one would question Ocellus's attempt at it. And if this mastermind is like the last one, they aren't completely omniscient, and know the players personally or with at most a few degrees of separation. That is to say that I don't believe this mastermind just happened to find the human Sunset, whom none of the main characters have ever run into, despite undoubtedly wondering about her at some point. Occam's Razor does not support Monohuman pulling something like that out of thin air.
The why still eludes me, maybe she was drafted in to the original no-killing program as a spy? Or maybe she got tipped off that it'd be wise to go human.
Wild guess, I'm thinking it was Juniper Montage. I know there wasn't any real one-on-one interaction between her and Pear Butter, but then again, sometimes it's the person you least suspect. As for the guitar playing everyone heard, while JM was not a guitar player, she knew how to use a synthesizer, which can be used to sound like other instruments, including a guitar. However, it probably wouldn't sound exactly the same, because it's not possible to create the exact sounds of an acoustic guitar with electronics (I looked this up online). That would explain why there was vibrations and fuzziness to the guitar playing everyone heard before the body was found. And let's not forget that Monohuman said that there was a special prize for trying to recreate the first killing game's first kill. Maybe Juniper found the clues somewhere, like the music shed. And she wants to be good in all aspects of the movie industry, so she tried to recreate the first murder scene. It's also possible that she got ahold of Sunset's tablet, recorded the synthesized music onto it and set it on a timer, stashed it in the plant pot before committing the murder.
I see a lot of people are pointing to Sunset as the culprit, but it doesn't feel right. Whether she Pony Sunset or Human Sunset with the former's memories in her head, I can't see either actually killing Pear Butter. Yes, Sunset has said she will keep Wallflower safe, but murder, I just can't believe that she would resort to that. If she did, and she was discovered, she would be executed, and she wouldn't be able to protect Wallflower.
Now, would Sunset tamper with evidence to protect Wallflower? Possibly. Maybe, since she knew Pear Butter would be in her office, maybe Sunset snuck into PB's room, because she wanted to find out why the woman showed such hatred towards Wallflower. She stumbled across the diary/journal, saw what PB wrote about Wallflower, panicked, tore out the pages and was heading back to her room, when she bumped into Wallflower.
I'm anxious and terrified to find out next chapter.
Honestly, I want Sunset to be the first culprit, for the sheer sake of having pony Sunset be in the interludes. If there are any interludes in this story, that is.
11510757
In the previous book, Princess Twilight did mention sending changeling infiltrators to the human world. So maybe this theory does hold a lot of credit. The Sunset here doesn’t feel like the one we know and love and I’m so excited to learn about what’s truly going on.
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Does that not make more sense than her being the Pony version, who died at some point before the events of the story?
11514811
... Actually thinking on it Applebloom from the first game also mentioned "seeing Ma and Pa again" when she died so now I'm a bit more confused too. Pony or human feels weird, unless last game's Applebloom turned out to be the pony version somehow
From leading lady to chief rival in the
classVolunteer's Trial. It's not lookin good for Sunset. But it does help give a nice start to Wallflower coming out of her shell more as she joins the protagonists table.As I catch up on this story, I notice a lot of comments suggesting this isn't actually the same Sunset from IHW, but rather, her human counterpart with fake memories implanted. It sure would explain everything regarding Sunset's newfound obsession with makeup. Not to mention, we haven't even talked about the ripped out pages from Pear Butter's notebook. Could Sunset have done that in an effort to protect Wallflower? But then again, why would Sunset willingly kill after everything she went through previously? Unless, of course, this is human Sunset, not Pony Sunset.
These last two parts of chapter 1 are going to hurt, aren't they?
Ah, how I've missed this! The speculation pre-trial, seeing what I got right and (inevitably) what I missed... By this point I'm certain who's guilty, but I'm not sure about the motive.
Man, I've really got to catch up to the current chapter!