The Third Trial's Saddest End

Alternate Scenarios
Chapter Three: “A Maelstrom of Murder”
The Third Trial’s Saddest End

Earlier this morning, before the investigation…

Trixie carefully opened the door to Sunset’s cabin as quietly as she could, doing her best not to wake her best friend. The last thing she needed to do now was be caught. She had everything else prepared and ready to go for her backup plan. All she needed to do now was plant the syringes in Adagio’s first aid kit.

She spotted the kit sitting atop the dresser, and inched forward on the tips of her toes, closer and closer. Just before she reached it however, an empty can--a leftover from a last minute soda Sunset had guzzled down just before bed--was sent flying by her foot, crashing into the wall with a clatter that sounded to Trixie like it was louder than a gun going off.

Sunset shot up in bed, arms raised in self defense despite her eyes still being shut. “Hgh, what, who’s there?” she muttered as she opened her eyes. She spotted Trixie standing there, though in her half-asleep state she didn’t notice anything amiss. “Trixie? What’re…” she trailed off into a massive yawn. “What’re you doing up so early?”

Inside her head, Trixie was screaming in panic. She still had the syringes in her hand, which she’d managed to tuck into her cloak the instant she heard Sunset awaken. “T-t-Trixie h-had a bad dream!” Trixie stuttered, giving Sunset a smile so strained it threatened to tear her cheeks apart. “She, uh, she’s going to take a shower now! Excuse Trixie!”

Sunset watched Trixie zip into the bathroom like an Olympic sprinter launching off at the sound of the starting gun. “Uh, okay then,” she muttered. She stared at the bathroom door mindlessly for a moment, trying to process the sudden interruption in her sleep before smacking her lips together. Her mouth was too dry. And she was waking up. “Screw it, I might as well get up now.”

Inside the bathroom, Trixie tossed off her clothes in a hurry and threw herself under the spray of water, turning it as hot as she could stand. Crap, crap crap crap! I can’t plant the syringes now! Sunset’ll see me! What do I do?! She let the water run through her hair and cascade down her body, washing away any scent of pool water. Okay, okay, this isn’t so bad. Everything else still points to Rainbow Dash, right? A-and the other clues point to Adagio. Maybe I just need to hold onto the syringes after all.

Fumbling for the soap, she drizzled a substantial amount onto her loofah and rubbed it across herself, building up a fine lather. Maybe this is for the best. If, if Sunset figures out Rainbow Dash didn’t do it, she… The loofah dropped from her hand as a sudden realization struck her mind. Oh my goodness. She could’ve caught me! What was I thinking, putting the syringes in Adagio’s kit? Adagio isn’t in here! Sunset knows that!

Laughter bubbled up inside her stomach until it erupted from her lips like a volcano spraying its magma down its sides. Trixie, you are a genius. This is for the best! Even if Sunset figures out I did it, she won’t be able to prove it! There won’t be anything pointing to me! Okay, so what do I do with the syringes then? ...of course, I should dump them in the bathroom. Hide them inside my dirty towel. Sunset’ll never notice.

A knock pounded on the bathroom door. “Hey, Trixie, you almost done in there?” called Sunset. “I really need to piss. Like, bad.”

“Almost finished, Sunset!” Trixie called back, even as her lips spread in a sinister smile.

~*~

Later, during the end of the trial…

Adagio bowed her head, then raised it again. All signs of anger had vanished from her face, replaced by a cold-hearted neutrality, or perhaps resignation. “Let me just say this: if you fools vote for me, all you’ll be doing is killing us all.”

“Trixie doesn’t buy it!” Trixie shouted, slamming a hand on her podium. “Sunset, do the thing! Prove she did it!”

My eyes met Adagio’s, like two boxers squaring off before a fight. I searched and searched, looking for some sign of guilt, of regret, of anything to indicate she was lying. But I didn’t see it. All I saw was sincerity. A certainty of purpose. And that caused the gears in my brain to turn over yet again, and consider one other possibility I hadn’t bothered to consider before now. A possibility that loomed up inside me, seeming more and more plausible the more I thought about it. Obvious, even, in retrospect. Damn it. God damn it.

A thought occurred to me. A plan formed in my head. And as my own gaze shifted to belief in Adagio, I saw her eyes soften, the Adagio I knew peeking through again. I gave her the slightest of nods, and she nodded back. Okay. Here goes nothing.

“Adagio,” I spoke up, “there’s something we need to check. Would you please do me a favor?” By Celestia I hope I’m right. Please tell me I’m right. Because if I’m wrong, then Adagio did it after all.

“What is it?” Adagio replied simply, her demeanor unwavering despite the softening of her eyes.

“Can you show us your first aid kit?”

I saw a dawning smile of comprehension briefly appear on Adagio’s face before it vanished. “Fine,” she muttered, still playing the act. Rummaging through her backpack, she pulled out the massive kit. “Here,” she said, handing it to Rainbow Dash, who passed it to me. “Go nuts.”

“Um, what are you doing?” Twilight asked, frowning in bemusement.

Flash, still rubbing his chin, said, “Yeah, Sunset, what’s this about?”

“Just checking something,” I said. I leaned down to unlatch the kit, took a deep breath, then opened it up.

But there was nothing inside, save for the usual first aid supplies. My heart sank further and further until it practically smushed itself into a paste and dripped out the bottom of my shoes.

“No…” I whispered as I looked up at Adagio, horror warring with endless sorrow. “No!” I repeated louder, my sorrow flash boiling into rage. “No, no, no! God damn it Adagio!”

Adagio, utterly flabbergasted, recoiled back from my display of anger, her own hackles rising. Her amethyst-hued gaze hardened like diamonds. “What?” she growled.

“You really did do it, didn’t you?!” I railed, gritting my teeth so hard my whole face hurt. “God fucking damn it, Adagio, I thought you were better than this! I thought you had sense! Was this why you wanted to sleep elsewhere? Because you planned this? Were you lying in wait, in case an opportunity manifested itself?!”

Hurt warred with sheer fury in Adagio’s eyes as she brought her hands up, so curled into that claw-like motion I could see them shake from the strain. She bared her sharp teeth at me, all predatory furor as she snarled, “Sunset, don’t be a fool! You’re talking to me about sense?! Where’s the sense in accusing me when you know damn well who really did it?!” She whirled and pointed her hands at the woman standing next to me. “You!”

“Trixie?!” Trixie blurted, taking a step back behind me like she was using me as a shield. Despite her obvious trepidation, Trixie fired off a fierce glower at the siren. “Hah! Don’t be stupid! Trixie couldn’t have killed Pinkie Pie! She was sleeping in Sunset’s cabin!”

Adagio rolled her eyes in an exaggerated, furious motion, reaching out like she wanted to strangle the illusionist. “Oh please. I’ve slept with Sunset often enough to know how heavy a sleeper she is. You could’ve easily snuck out of the room.”

I laughed in Adagio’s face, the taste of it bitter and nasty, like coffee left out on the burner for over twelve hours till it had been reduced to a blackened sludge. Despite the laughter, inside all I wanted to do was cry. “Are you serious, Adagio? She woke me up this morning, fresh out of bed. She didn’t go anywhere.”

“That’s right!” Trixie said with a firm nod. “Trixie had a bad dream, so she woke up early to take a shower.”

“Or,” Adagio retorted, “you were showering to wash off the pool smell, because you’re the one who moved Pinkie’s body!”

“Uh, Ah hate to interrupt,” Applejack said, scowling at the siren, “but Ah can’t see Trixie doin’ that. She ain’t strong enough to move them weights!”

“Yeah, seriously!” Rainbow Dash agreed, hatred coating her words. “But you, Adagio? You’re plenty strong enough! And you’re a fantastic swimmer!”

“That’s right, she is!” Rarity agreed, stepping forward as far as she dared to protect Trixie. “I remember watching her race Sunset in the pool the other day. She swam like she was born in the water.”

Flash nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I remember seeing something like that too.”

Twilight, still shaky from her own admission earlier in the trial, fixed Adagio with a cool gaze. “I was right after all, wasn’t I, Adagio? You really are a killer.”

Scootaloo tossed off a dismissive hand at Adagio before grimacing. “I always thought you seemed shifty. You’ve been nothing but a jerk to Trixie from the start. Like anyone’s going to believe you blaming her for what you did, murderer!”

Diamond Tiara nodded in agreement. “I can’t see Trixie killing anyone. But Adagio? She’s a psycho!”

“Don’t call me that!” Adagio railed. She pointed a furious finger at Trixie. “I can prove it. I can prove she did it! Search her! If she didn’t plant the syringes in my first aid kit, they’re on her!”

Glancing at Trixie, I saw for the briefest of seconds a flash of fear pass across her face before she schooled it to a determined frown. “Fine. You wish to search Trixie? Trixie will consent to the search!”

I looked up at Monoponi, trying to keep my temper under control. “Monoponi? We might have to step away from our podiums so I can search her. Given it’s for the trial, is that alright?”

Monoponi leered at me, a hoof held up to his chin as he cocked his head. “Very well! Your Captain will allow this.”

Trixie and I both moved a good ten feet or so away from the podiums, where we could be easily seen by everyone. “Sorry, Trixie,” I said. “I don’t really want to do this.”

“It’s fine, Sunset,” Trixie replied with a smile as she took off her cloak and held up her arms. “Go ahead. Search as hard as you need to. Leave nothing untouched.”

Trying not to feel like the grossest pervert in the world for this, I patted down Trixie’s body, checking every spot I could. I tried to minimize the amount of invasive touching, because I could see Trixie frowning in discomfort. Once done I made sure to search through her pockets and finally turned her cloak inside out and ran my hand along the entire lining. I found nothing. “Sorry, again,” I said.

Trixie shook her head and smiled back at me. “Like Trixie said, it’s fine. Trixie was happy to prove her innocence.

“Well Ah think that settles it, far as Ah’m concerned,” Applejack said as the two of us returned to our podiums.

“No it doesn’t!” Adagio screamed, slamming her fists down onto her podium so hard she sent massive amounts of wood chips flying through the air like grapeshot. “S-she must’ve h-hid them somewhere else! If she didn’t have them--”

“Stop lying, Adagio!” I howled, swinging my arm through the air like a scythe. “Do you know how sick I feel right now? I thought I could trust you, but I was wrong! I was so wrong! I never should’ve trusted you.”

Adagio let out a wordless screech, clawing a hand down her face in frustration. “You stupid pony! Why won’t you listen to me?!”

“You want to know why I won’t listen?” I said, my heart hammering in my chest as my pony instincts screamed in my brain. “Because what I should’ve listened to from the start was my instincts! I knew you were bad news and I didn’t listen because I was too horny to pay attention!”

Twilight glanced my way, curiosity brimming in her gaze. “What do you mean, Sunset?”

Adagio took in a sharp breath, her anger evaporating into stark horror. “No, don’t… don’t do it, Sunset. Don’t tell them.”

Too late, you murderer. I raised an accusatory finger and pointed it at my former lover. “Oh I’m going to tell them, because there’s no point hiding anymore. Of course Adagio’s a murderer, everyone, because she’s not even human!”

“What?!” Rarity gasped, clasping both hands to her face.

Scootaloo jumped back from her podium. “Holy shit… how do you know?”

Twilight adjusted her glasses and shook her head. “Why am I not surprised?”

“I know,” I said, ignoring the look of pure shock on Adagio’s face, “because she told me, back before the first trial. She’s from Equestria like me, but she’s not a pony. She’s a siren. They’re predators. They feed off of negative emotions. Ponies and sirens are natural enemies, but she claimed she trusted me over the rest of you because we're both non-humans. In retrospect, I should’ve known she was using me.”

“Using?” Adagio whispered. “No. No, I wasn’t… I wasn’t using you, Sunset… I…” Her sorrow twisted up into rage once more. “I loved you! There, I said it! I fell in love with you, you stupid pony bitch. Think about it! Why would I kill Pinkie Pie if it wasn’t to use the plus one to allow us both to escape?”

I shook my head, anger turning my heart to stone. I refused to let her words affect me anymore. “Bullshit. Maybe that’s how you justified it in your head, but you know me. You know how much I’d hate you for killing someone just to save my life. I never wanted that! I would never want that! And you know that damned well. Which means if you killed Pinkie Pie you didn’t do it for me! You did it for your own stupid selfish self!”

“Is it time to vote yet?” Diamond Tiara said, her voice growing bored. “I’m done with this shit.”

“Me too,” Scootaloo seconded as she scowled at the siren. “I’m ready for this to end.”

Applejack nodded, her nostrils flaring. “Ah’m in agreement. Let’s vote now!”

“W-wait just a moment,” Flash said, raising a hand. He looked over at me. “Aren’t you going to go over the case one more time before we do it? Just to be safe?”

I shrugged. “Why bother? We all know who did it. I’m as hungry as the rest of you. Let’s get this over with.”

Monoponi hopped up in his seat. “Well if even Sunset’s saying it’s time to vote, then it’s time to vote! Now then, since we’re voting for two blackeneds, not just one, you’ll have to be sure you vote in order! Fluttershy first, then Pinkie. Don’t forget, if you fail to vote, it will result in your death.”

“Rrrgh… rrrAAAGH!” Adagio roared, her voice shifting to resemble something torn from a lizard throat rather than anything mammalian. “You… you fools!” Her eyes flashed a solid crimson. “You stupid fools! You’re going to kill us all!”

Our alicorn captor lit up his horn and with one quick pull he sapped away the magic Adagio was pouring out. “That’s enough of that! Get to voting, you morons. Your time starts now!”

The displays lit up before us, the image of faces ready for the choice. Without hesitation I pressed on Twilight’s face first, then Adagio’s. Inside I was trembling with overwhelming fury and heartbreak. Why I thought I could ever trust a siren with my heart, I didn’t know. It was one of the worst decisions of my life. But at least I knew that now. At least I knew now what she was truly like. She really was the monster I thought she was all along.

I hoped Monoponi would let us vote for who gets executed, because I planned on voting for Adagio.

The thirty seconds of voting passed quickly, the central display lighting up with the vote tallies. The votes were nearly unanimous in both cases, with almost everyone voting for Twilight and Adagio respectively. Only one person chose differently, voting for Trixie as Pinkie’s blackened. A single glance at the siren bent over her podium, now weeping tears of frustration, told me who it was.

I waited for Monoponi’s usual display of fireworks showing we’d gotten it right. But for some reason they didn’t fire. As the seconds passed, a growing sense of unease filled my insides, a worry forming in my brain. “Uh… Monoponi?” I said after a solid minute had passed with no fireworks. “What’s the holdup?”

“Well now,” Monoponi said, his muzzle twisted with uncertainty. “This is quite the quandary. Quite the pickle. Quite the dilemma even!”

I exchanged a look with Rarity, then another with Flash and a third with Twilight, all of whom seemed just as worried as I was. “What do you mean?” I ventured. “What’s wrong?”

“Well you see,” Monoponi answered, waving a forehoof in circles, “you got Fluttershy’s absolutely right!” He pointed at Twilight’s face on the central display, and above her formed the usual fireworks exploding into the word GUILTY, albeit without the usual accompanying noise. “But when it comes to Pinkie Pie…”

To say those words caused my blood to freeze didn’t come close to representing the dawning terror filling me. My whole body burned as if soaked in liquid nitrogen, frozen stiff and solid thicker than any ice. “Y-y-y-you d-d-don’t m-m-m-mean…”

“Upupupu ahahahah ahahahaha eyaahaha hahahahahaha HAHAHAHAHA!” Monoponi’s rising laughter filled the entire courtroom as a new word exploded into being over Adagio’s face, a word that caused everyone to scream in sheer fright.

INNOCENT.

“That’s right, my stupid little passengers!” Monoponi cackled as the screams rose in volume. “It’s my turn to say you’ve got that wrong! Because you did! You chose the wrong person to vote for! Such a shame. Because you know who the real blackened was?”

Every light in the courtroom suddenly went out, plunging us into darkness and eliciting even more shrieks. Then a single spotlight blazed to life as a drumroll played through the courtroom speakers. It scanned the room, swishing about like it was searching for its target before it focused on someone I’d already begun to expect.

Trixie. Trixie was the blackened. Adagio was right! Trixie was the blackened!

“Congratulations, Trixie Lulamoon, on successfully beguiling your fellow passengers~!” Monoponi said as he brought the lights back up, allowing me to see the looks of anger, rage, betrayal, and shock decorating everyone’s faces save for Trixie’s own. “Because you did it! I’m so proud of you! I knew you could do it!”

Applejack, roaring in fury, shot forward from her podium, followed swiftly in turn by Rainbow Dash and Flash Sentry, all three of whom bum rushed Trixie, only to be swatted away by Monoponi’s magic, scattering them like bowling pins. He wrapped up Trixie in his field and lifted her up onto his throne, allowing her to stand on it while he took flight to hover in front of it, with a forcefield up to protect her. I saw her beat on it with her fist, trying to shout something only to be muffled into silence by it.

“You monster!” Rarity shrieked at the top of her lungs even as Monoponi’s magic held her back from moving. “You horrid little monster! How dare you murder Pinkie Pie?!”

“You lyin’ sack of trash!” Applejack added as she climbed to her feet, rubbing her sore behind. “Ah oughta tear you in half!”

“I told you all,” Adagio said, her voice low and heavy. “I tried to warn you… I tried.”

“Trixie…” I breathed. “How… how could you… how did you…” My heart leapt into my throat as I realized what happened. “Oh my god. You were going to hide the syringes in the first aid kit this morning, weren’t you! You woke me up by accident! If I hadn’t left that soda can there, we wouldn’t… this wouldn’t… it’s my fault…”

“Okay, that’s enough out of all of you!” Monoponi shouted, his magic lashing forward, grabbing us all up with ropes of pure magic, with a gag for good measure. “You don’t get to talk anymore unless I say so. You know, it’s a shame that things turned out this way. I had hopes that you would never lose a case, Sunset. I expected you to solve everything. I gave you every opportunity, afforded you every chance, always provided enough time… you weren’t supposed to lose. This really messes up my plans, you realize. I needed you all to last longer than this. Oh well!”

He flew forward and got right up my face, his jagged teeth dripping with saliva. “I could always wipe your memories again. Start over with fewer people. But I’m not going to do that. Know why? Because I follow the rules. And you know what the rules say, when the blackened wins the trial.”

No, I wanted to say. Please, no! But I couldn’t speak. Nothing I could do let me get past the magic holding my mouth shut. All I could do was shake my head furiously like a rag doll.

“Sorry, Sunset, but you can’t beg out of this now,” Monoponi said. He patted my head gently with a forehoof, then faced Trixie. “So, because the motive did happen to include the ability to take a fellow passenger along with you on your Rescue, I’ll let you decide, Trixie!” He dropped the forcefield protecting her. “Go ahead. Who do you want to live alongside you? Who are you saving?”

Don’t pick me. I don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve to live after fucking this up. Pick someone else. Rarity, Scootaloo, Flash, someone other than me.

But my prayers fell on deaf ears. Quietly, Trixie raised a finger and pointed directly at me. “Sunset Shimmer. She’s my plus one,” she said, her voice shaking. “S-she’s the one I want.”

Monoponi released me from his magic bonds and dissolved my gag, allowing me to move and speak again. “Congratulations, Sunset, it seems Trixie cared so much for you she was willing to kill for you! Isn’t that wonderful? Don’t you feel loved?”

I didn’t respond. I ignored him in favor of rushing over to Adagio, who was tied up at her podium, staring at me with unreadable eyes. “Adagio,” I said, my voice shaking like crazy, tears in my eyes, my heart hammering at a million miles per hour in my chest as my whole body became drenched in sweat. “I didn’t--I thought… oh my god I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to… to…”

I stopped talking. The look in Adagio’s face said all she had to say. You killed me. You killed me and everyone else, you idiotic, moronic, dense motherfucking pony. This is your fault. We’re going to die because of you.

Glancing around the room, meeting the eyes of every other person bonded, I saw a similar look of hatred, of blame, of accusation. Your fault, their eyes said. All your fault.

Bowing my head in shame, I found my feet guiding me towards Monoponi’s throne. I collapsed against it, crumpling up in a heap at Trixie’s feet. Trixie hopped off the throne to join me, wrapping me up in an embrace I didn’t want. “I’m so sorry, Sunset,” she said, words that I didn’t want or need to hear.

I wanted to shove her away. To hit her, to shout at her, to scream in rage. But all my emotions were spent. All that was left in me was the gnawing, gaping maw of emptiness that was despair. I thought I’d known despair before, when Fluttershy died. When Apple Bloom died. But it was nothing like now. The emptiness, the sheer scale of it was so overwhelming, it felt like I’d never feel anything again.

I broke. I broke, and I would never be restored.

“What, nothing else to say, Sunset? No objections, no pointless fighting back against the inevitable?” Monoponi said. He grinned that insipid toothy grin at me. “Well good! Because I didn’t want to hear it anyway!” He whirled to face the others. “As for the rest of you, it’s time!” He stripped off their gags, allowing them to scream once more. Their shouts of dismay and cries for help filled the room, begging for mercy, pleading to live, to escape, to do anything to stop their fate.

Monoponi picked up Trixie and I in his magic and separated us to stand on each side of his throne like we were his lackeys. He hopped back up on it, grinning at everyone. “Now then, I’ve prepared a very special punishment for failing to find the blackened!”

More shouts and cries of distress filled the air, everyone talking at once. I couldn’t make out any specific words, but I saw the anger, the fear. The overwhelming sense that they were all about to die.

“Let’s give it everything we’ve got. Iiiiiiiit’s punishment time!”

A big red button rose on a pedestal before him. I felt him wrap up my arm in his magic, and Trixie’s too, using the two of us to hit the button together, lighting up the displays on the wall. Chains, collars, and manacles descended from the ceiling, latching on to everyone else and hauling them all out of sight.

GAME OVER

You failed to find the blackened.

Time for the punishment!

The screens split into eight separate sections, showcasing everyone heading down a separate path. They were all subjected to the usual bumps and bruises, slamming against protrusions in the corridors. Then the screens switched to showcase one large room, split into eight sections like an octagon, marked in eight separate colors, with each person being executed dropped onto the color that most closely matched them:Twilight’s lavender, Scootaloo’s cerise, Rarity’s white, Applejack’s orange, Rainbow’s cyan, Flash’s deep blue, Diamond Tiara’s pale pink, and Adagio’s tangerine. Manacles popped up out of the floor to take hold of their wrists and ankles, tying them in place. Collars snapped around their necks, chains connecting them all together like a big circle.

HARMONY’S LAST GASP

The Group Punishment

Execution: Executed

One at a time, they were subjected to individualized torture. Twilight was up first as a large beaker of acid descended from the ceiling poured itself all over her, causing her to thrash and scream in sheer agony. Her jerky movements pulled on everyone else’s collars, choking them and bruising their necks. Then a sparking wire popped up to fill her body with electricity, causing her to howl from the excruciating pain until she fell silent and unmoving.

Applejack was next, pummeled by bushel after bushel of rocks painted to look like apples until nearly every bone in her body was broken, and then she was smashed to bits by a giant tree.

On and on it went. Giant sewing needles repeatedly pierced Rarity’s flesh until she was sewn into a large piece of fabric, leaving her bleeding to death from dozens of holes. An oversized muscle car bearing his symbol drove into the room and squashed Flash under its tires. Adagio was lifted up and turned upside down, dunking her head into a tank of water and keeping her there till she drowned. Rainbow Dash's restraints pulled on her limbs until she was torn in half, her screams filling the air. Scootaloo was slowly crushed under the weight of a gigantic red scooter.

Diamond Tiara was the last to go, forced to stand helpless as a large, ravenous, rabid dog barreled into the room and tore into her with great abandon, keeping her alive as long as possible while slowly consuming her.

Then when it seemed everything was over, the whole room filled up with gas and a spark ignited, setting everything ablaze and burning everyone and everything, bodies and all, to ash.

As the screens went dark, leaving Trixie and I stunned from the sheer cruelty the others were subjected to, Monoponi hopped off his podium and wrapped a foreleg around each of our shoulders. “You know something, Sunset, Trixie? I really have to hand it to you. That was fun. Even if my plans are ruined now, that was a whole lot of fun. I can always accomplish my goal some other way. But you two? You’re free to go.”

It’s all my fault. I did this. There’s no point anymore.

As he released us, the elevator doors opened. “Go ahead. Take it. Go to the top. It’ll take us a while to get back to shore, so you can still enjoy the luxuries the ship has to offer. Please, feel free to eat, drink, and be merry! You’ve earned your Rescue!”

Slowly, ever so slowly, I stepped forward, one foot at a time, until I was in the elevator. Trixie followed me without saying a word. Neither of us spoke as it took us back up to the promenade. As we rode, gears turned and shifted in my mind. A decision was reached.

The only thing I could do.

When it opened, Trixie sallied forth. She tried to smile at me, and said something I didn’t hear. I wasn’t listening. I didn’t want to hear it. I knew what I needed to do. I had to do it. I didn’t have a choice.

I went into the sporting goods store, and found the strongest, stiffest rope that I could. Placing it in my backpack, I also made sure to pick up the heaviest dumbbell I could find. When I left the store, Trixie was waiting for me, asking me something, wondering what I was doing. Without a word I raised the dumbbell up. Her eyes widened, pupils shrinking to dots as she backed away, shaking her head furiously, holding her hands up for protection. But she couldn’t get away.

I brought the dumbbell down upon her and didn’t stop until I’d smashed her head apart like a melon.

Leaving it and her body where they had fallen, I continued outside onto the bridge deck. The warm sea air filled my nostrils with the scent of salt, the sound of the waves crashing against the ship almost peaceful in a way. Reassuring me I’d made the right choice. That I was doing the right thing. The only thing I could do now.

I walked over to the edge of the railing, and tied one end of the rope to it, then fashioned the rest of the rope into a noose, which I lowered around my neck. I then climbed over the railing, hanging from it with my arms behind me, letting the wind pass over me, blow through my hair, across my face, like the caress of a lover’s touch.

I took one last breath of sea air, and dropped.

The Right Target Part 1

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Alternate Scenarios
Chapter Two: “What Lurks in the Depths”
The Right Target
Part 1

I heard the sounds of the box closing, plunging me into darkness. I could still hear gasps of awe from the crowd as Trixie successfully shrank the box down to something far smaller than should’ve been possible with me in it. “And now! You will see!” I heard the sching of a sword being removed swiftly from its sheath. “As Trixie plunges the sword into the box!”

“Holy crap!” I heard Rainbow Dash cry out as the first sword sank in.

“But that, of course, is insufficient for the Great and Powerful Trixie!” Trixie cried as another sword was drawn out and promptly shoved into the box at a different angle.

“Oh no!” someone moaned. I couldn’t tell who.

“One more, for good measure!” Trixie said, withdrawing the final sword and shoving it into the box from the top on down. ““Now, Trixie knows what you're thinking. She's behind the table, right? Allow Trixie to show you how wrong you are!" The table spun just as she said, with more gasps of shock and surprise. “And now, Trixie will remove the swords.”

Three quick sounds of swords being removed later, and I heard Trixie shout, “Trixie will now open the box!”

True to her word, the box opened right back up, light filling my eyes once more. As she finished opening it, I slowly sat up, blinking spots away. Trixie held out a hand for me to take as she assisted me in getting out of the box, right back out onto the big X of tape. As I came out, I had to close my eyes and hold up my hand to block the spotlight beaming straight down on us.

“Wow!” I heard Apple Bloom breathe from just off stage. “Ah knew she’d be fine, but still… wow.”

“And as you see, Sunset is unharmed!” Trixie said, raising up both our arms as she took a deep bow to the sound of brilliant applause. The claps and cheers echoed throughout the theater, and from what I could see of the crowd, even Adagio looked impressed now, one lip curled up in appreciation as she nodded several times.

We rose up, Trixie’s face split from ear to ear with her smile as she took a second to glance at me, letting out a quiet squealing noise, before we took another bow.

But right as we did, I heard something… odd. Like something snapped. Then a whistle of something falling. Locating the sound with my ears, I pivoted on my heel and caught sight of what looked like a large bag crashing to the stage floor.

SCHLUNK!

At first, I didn’t know what happened. An overwhelming sense of fullness struck me, like I’d just consumed a massive meal. Except it wasn’t just in my stomach. It was in my chest, and my back, and… a..nd…

There was a spear in my chest. There was a spear in my chest. There was a spear. In. My. Chest!

PAIN

Overwhelming excruciating pain filled my every sense as I choked, my throat filling up with blood. I slipped backwards, more agony shooting through my body like bullwhips cracking against every nerve as I sank down until I could sink no more, propped up by the spear like a goddamned shish kabob. My vision swam and greyed at the edges.

“...Sunset! Sunset!”

I gasped. Tried to open my eyes. Movement around me. Little lashes of pain brushed against me, people’s hands, bandages, I couldn’t tell. “A….Adagio?”

Tangerine and lemon hair filled my vision, bushy and vibrant as ever despite the color fading from the world. “Sunset!” Adagio snapped, her eyes wider than dinner plates. Her whole body shook as she tried to hold my hand. “Don’t you dare die on me!”

“D...ie?” I coughed, spitting up blood all over Adagio’s clothes. Black bars filled both sides of my vision, as if life itself had suddenly turned into a widescreen movie. “I… I’m dying… huh…”

“No you’re fucking not!” Adagio roared, even as tears streamed forth from her eyes. Her sparkling, amethyst eyes. So beautiful. So gorgeous, even now. “We’re going to save you! I won’t let you die, damn it! I won’t!”

Somewhere in the background, behind Adagio, I heard other voices murmur, including Trixie’s. But I couldn’t make them out. My hearing dulled like my ears had been stuffed full of cotton. What little left I could see was hazy, dark, full of static like television snow. “I… it’s o..kay… A..dagio…” I murmured. “I… I…”

“No! God damn it, no!” Adagio screamed. She released my hand, and tried desperately to wrap roll after roll of bandages around my chest wound, pressing her hands into my dress, coating herself all over with blood. So much blood. Too much.

Too much.

“A...adagio… please…”

Adagio snarled wordlessly and glowered down at me, eyes blazing. “No! I won’t hear it! I… I won’t!”

I tried to raise my hand to hers, managing to get it up about half an inch before it fell. I could barely see her now. So dark. The pain faded away, replaced by cold. Ice cold. Freezing. As if the pure essence of winter itself swaddled me like a newborn babe.

So cold. So… cold… I… I had something to say… had to say it, before… before…

Blood oozed from my mouth as I tried to smile. “A...adag...io… I… I… love… yo...u....”

She reached out for me and

“Nooo!” I shrieked, unable to look away as the light faded from Sunset’s eyes. “No… no… please…”

I fell over backwards, landing in the massive pool of blood, splattering even more of the foul liquid everywhere. Nothing around me registered, my eyes locked solidly on Sunset’s corpse.

On. Sunset’s. Corpse.

“This can’t be happening,” spilled from my lips. “This… this can’t…”

Why is this affecting you so badly? A voice ran through my head. So she said she loved you. So what? It’s not like you were with her that long. She was just a bit of fun. You were going to kill her yourself, weren’t you? Remember?

“Shut up,” I whispered, barely even aware I was talking aloud to myself.

Surely you haven’t forgotten what you are, Adagio. You are a siren! So you’ve lost your lover. Who cares? Get up and stop sniveling like a stupid little pony. You can always find another fuckbuddy. Maybe that Rainbow chick. She’d probably be good for a few lays.

“Shut up!” I hissed, louder this time.

What, not her? Fine. Someone else then. Anyone else. Just so long as you get up from the floor. Do you know how weak you look right now? How vulnerable? You’re pathetic. Sunset didn’t mean anything to you. Don’t act like she did. She was just a piece of ass you had fun with. Nothing. More.

“Shut up!” I screamed, slamming both of my fists into the pool of blood, scattering fresh droplets everywhere.

“Adagio?” gasped a voice from behind me.

Startled, I leapt up from the floor and whipped out my knife, ready to gut whatever fool had the audacity to speak my name. But I froze when I saw who it was.

Trixie. Staring at me from beneath that top hat, her eyes full of tears, her face covered in snot, red and puffy from crying. She took a step back when she saw the knife, her expression filling with terror. Like me, the front of her outfit was covered in blood, since she’d been standing right next to Sunset when… when…

Pathetic.

“What. Do you. Want. Trixie?!” I growled, brandishing the knife forward.

“Trixie… I…” She blinked, closed her eyes, then from somewhere within herself she summoned up whatever puny bit of courage she had and opened her eyes again. “I heard what Sunset said to you. I was trying to make sure you were okay.”

My upper lip pulled back, showing my teeth. I bit down with my sharpened canines and drew two tiny spots of blood from my lower lip in a show of ferocity. The knife in my hand quivered forward, like it ached to plant itself within Trixie’s ribs. “Say that again,” I snarled. “Say it again and I will gut you and wear your intestines like a scarf!”

Despite my harsh words, Trixie didn’t budge an inch. Indeed if anything she seemed less frightened than before, sticking her nose up in that asinine snobbish way that made me want to vomit. “It’s fine if you don’t want to admit it,” she said. “I understand. But I’m not your enemy, Adagio. You know who is? The one who took Sunset from us.”

“Us?!” I hissed, my free hand snapping forward to grab Trixie by her suit coat, wrenching her off her feet. My knife swept up to press at her throat. “What do you mean, us?!”

“You know exactly what I mean,” Trixie said, refusing to back down. “We both cared about her. Admit it or don’t. But we did. And I’m not going to let whoever did this get away with it!”

For a moment, just a moment, I considered sinking my knife’s blade deep into her throat. Rip her useless life away. But I didn’t. The voice was right about one thing. I am a siren. Sirens don’t kill. But we do get revenge. We do seek justice when we’re wronged. Trixie said she’s not going to let anyone get away with this, hmm?

The voice spoke again. Neither should you. You want to live, don’t you? Forget about Sunset. Focus on you. You’re all the matters now. Survive. You’ve lived far too long. You’re not going to die here, not now, not ever. Find them. Find them, and keep yourself alive.

I released Trixie and stuffed my knife back in my pocket. “Fine. But let me make one thing very clear, Trixie,” I said, holding up a finger. “You say one word about my involvement with Sunset to anyone else? I will end you.”

One corner of Trixie’s mouth quirked up in a half smile. “Deal.” She stuck her hand out, prepared to shake.

My face twisted up in disgust as I glared down at her hand before slapping it away. “Don’t push it.”

DING-DONG-BING-BONG

I didn’t bother listening to Monoponi’s body discovery announcement. We were already in the theater. No one was going to come running. But I did take a moment to observe everyone else, now that I wasn’t lost in my own head.

Sorrow covered most of their faces, ranging from Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy’s pitiful crying into Flash and Rainbow’s embrace respectively, to Applejack holding her hat to her breast and bowing her head, her sister beside her doing the same, to Rarity with Sweetie Belle in a stranglehold, babbling inanities about how glad she was it hadn’t been her sister on stage, to Pinkie Pie on her knees, her hair flat against her skull, to Diamond Tiara and Scootaloo--

Wait a minute.

My eyes shifted back to Sweetie Belle, who stared at Sunset’s corpse. Her expression struck me as odd. I couldn’t be sure why. She had the same tears in her eyes as everyone else. The same shock. The same gaping mouth of disbelief. And yet… something was off. Like she was… confused. Confused about what?

Monoponi popped into existence before us on the stage. The alicorn scowled at us, his wings twitching, flapping aimlessly like he was trying to smack people with them. “So…” he said through gritted teeth. “Looks like Sunset bit the big one! What a shame. It sure is a pity, isn’t it?!”

Arching my eyebrows, I leaned forward, adopting a mocking smile full of false sincerity. “Oh, what’s the matter? You seem upset.”

“Upset?! No, no, no, your captain isn’t upset!” Monoponi railed, spouting obvious lies. “Of course I’m thrilled to see another body! After all, who doesn’t love a wonderful, blood-curdling, spine-tingling investigation, hmm? No one! Even if the one who should be leading it is lying dead on the stage…”

Momentarily I glanced over at Diamond Tiara, our self-professed leader. I expected her to speak up. But she didn’t. She withdrew into herself, giving me one glance, quickly nudging her head in Monoponi’s direction before leaving the stage to take a seat away from the others.

Scootaloo, meanwhile, broke into angry ranting, exchanging pointless barbs with Monoponi, accusing Flash Sentry of killing Sunset because he worked the lights. The usual tripe from that moron, in other words. Eventually she shut up, allowing me to step forward again.

“If you don’t mind,” I said, injecting as much fake sweetness into my voice as I could muster, “I think I’ll take over. It’s not like any of you fools are smart enough to solve this crime, hmm?”

“H-hey!” Flash objected, raising a half-hearted fist. “Twilight’s just--”

“Crying like a mewling infant, like everyone else?” I interrupted, a savage grin stretching across my face. “Please. Why don’t you sit down and let someone with a brain do the thinking for you?”

His lips thinned, his eyes flashing in a cute attempt to scare me off. “Whatever,” he grunted after a minute, returning to his coddling of Twilight.

“That’s what I thought,” I sneered as I turned to face the alicorn. “So, Monoponi. Hand over the file already. You want us to get to investigating, right?”

Monoponi’s eyes glowed a deep crimson, just for a moment, just long enough to spark a frisson of fear in my belly. But the glow faded. He lit up his horn, filling the air with the sound of bleeping Monopads. “Fine. But before I go, let me make something very clear to you, my little idiots! The secrets rule is still firmly in effect. You are not to share or discuss the secret I gave you with anyone! You can puzzle out anything to do with the secrets on your own!” Then he vanished with a crack and a flash of light.

So. The motive is critical, then, I mused. I glared at the crowd of my ‘fellow’ passengers. I wonder who had Sunset’s secret. Was her secret the reason she died?

“Trixie,” I barked, waving the illusionist over. “You’re with me, understand?”

Trixie stepped forward and gave me a grim nod. “You can count on Trixie.”

“Good.” Facing the audience, I considered for a moment and then pointed to Applejack and Scootaloo, who seemed the least useless at the moment. “You, you, you’re guarding the body, got it?”

“Ah beg your pardon?” Applejack snorted, eying me with a suspicious look. “Ah don’t know who died and made you lead--”

“Sunset. Sunset died,” I interrupted, calling upon my siren strength to fill my gaze with an unmoving, uncaring energy. The kind that told this farmer I’d swat her like a fly if she dared speak up again. “So now I’m leading things. And I’m ordering you to guard the body. Understand?”

Applejack took a few steps back, breaking into a cold sweat as she gulped. “Uh, yes ma’am,” she muttered.

Flashing my cold gaze over to Scootaloo, who hadn’t moved an inch from Diamond Tiara’s side, I said, “What’re you waiting for?”

Diamond Tiara chose that moment to come to life, stomping over to growl at me like a lion cub trying to scare off a group of hyenas. “Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing, Dazzle? I’m our leader! I’m the one who tells people to guard. I’m the one who… who…”

She trailed off as I took a single step forward. And then another. And another. Till I was bare inches away from her, smiling down in such a frigid, cold manner it was like I was channeling a Windigo. Calmly, I raised a single hand and placed it on her shoulder. “What’s that now, Tiara?” I said. “I don’t think I heard you.”

Her whole body wriggled and writhed like a squirming eel, whimpers escaping her lips. “N-nothing,” she stammered. “I-I didn’t say anything.”

I patted her shoulder, then pushed her aside. “Good girl.” Then I looked back over at Scootaloo. “Any objections?”

Scootaloo scowled at me, but said nothing as she approached Sunset’s body and took up a defensive posture, watching over it. After a moment, Applejack joined her.

“Well, now that that’s out of the way,” I said, facing the crowd. “Enough whining and crying. We have an investigation to perform.”

*INVESTIGATION START*

Ignoring the looks of disbelief a few of the other morons shot me, I pulled out my Monopad to consult the file.

Fact #1: Monoponi File II: “The victim is Sunset Shimmer, the Ultimate ???. Time of death is 7:45 PM. Cause of death was blood loss due to a massive stab wound through the torso.”

Hmph. Not even fifteen minutes dead, I thought as I checked my Monopad time. It read 7:58 PM. And of course, he doesn’t bother to tell us her so-called talent either. Not like it matters. Unless it has something to do with why she was killed, it’s meaningless.

“Uh, pardon, Adagio?” interjected Apple Bloom. “Mind if Ah tag along with you and Trixie?”

I considered her for a moment. I had little to no opinion of her, since she and I never bothered to interact. She kept to herself, and that was good enough for me. “Why?”

Apple Bloom frowned, her features contorting with shame and… was that guilt? “Ah… Ah kinda feel like maybe this is mah fault.”

Fire bubbled up inside me, boiling my insides like I’d swum into a hydrothermal vent. “Explain,” I seethed. “Now.”

Yelping just like her older sister would, Apple Bloom took a step back and raised her hands as if to ward me off. “Ah don’t mean like that! Ah ain’t sayin’ Ah killed Sunset! Ah just mean… ah, hell, look, lemme come with and Ah’ll explain on the way, okay?”

I glanced briefly at Trixie, gauging her reaction, but she just shrugged. So, turning back to Apple Bloom, I blew a sight out through my teeth then said, “Alright. Fine. Let’s go then. We check the body first.”

“...right,” Apple Bloom said, swallowing nervously as she followed us over.

The metallic scent of spilled blood filled my nostrils as I knelt down in the pool, caring not a whit for how warm it still was. Unlike the other fools I was saddled with, blood didn’t bother me. Sirens smelt blood in the water all the time. We didn’t just eat negative emotions, after all. Most of the time we fed on fish. And other sea creatures. Even in this accursed human form I was stuck with, I made sure to eat fish as often as possible.

Still, this wasn’t the blood of my prey I was smelling. This was the blood of my. Of… my.... Of Sunset Shimmer. A human. Yes. Just a human. Nothing more.

With a sigh, I dug my hands in my pockets and pulled out a pair of gloves, one for each of us. “Here,” I said, tossing them to Apple Bloom and Trixie. “Let’s try to make this quick.”

Not bothering to pay them any heed, I focused on Sunset’s body. She lay propped up by the spear, like some of my siren cousin’s more macabre warning trophy displays, splayed out almost spread eagle. Her eyes bugged out of her sockets, pupils shrunk to mere pinpricks, still showcasing the sudden shock. Despite that, her open mouth had twisted into a smile, making me recall her last words. Her admission of love.

No. Don’t think about that. Don’t even begin to think about that.

Focusing instead on her wound, I pulled back most of the bandages I’d slathered on in my vain haste to save her life. Doing so allowed me to see the full extent of the spear lodged inside. From the thin serrated spike all the way to the two-tined crossguard, she’d had her whole chest torn open. Though mostly obscured by the pink of her blood, I could spot a few of her internal organs poking out. Feeling along her back told me the same was occurring there, even if we couldn’t see it.

I recognized the spear instantly. It was just like the spears used by the Kirin, in Equestria. I couldn’t say that of course. “This came from underneath, didn’t it?” I said, running my hand on the blood-coated shaft. “It popped up like toast from a toaster.”

“Ah’d say so,” Apple Bloom nodded. “Looks just like yer swords, Trixie. Same kinda design. Qilin, Ah think.”

Fact #2: Qilin Spear: “A polearm with a thin serrated tip and twin-spiked crossguard, its origins unknown. The spear impaled Sunset Shimmer from underneath, popping up out of the stage.”

“Trixie doesn’t know why that might be,” Trixie said, shaking her head as she bit at her lip nervously. “She didn’t have anything to do with this.”

“Hmm… Ah’d say it’s too soon to conclude anythin’ like that,” Apple Bloom said after a moment. “But Ah’ll tell ya what. This weren’t no accident. This was a trap. See, look.” She pointed down at the floor, brushing aside the blood enough to expose some duct tape. “It came up right outta that guide you put down for Sunset. Ah’d say they were gunnin’ for her specifically.”

“When did you put those on the stage?” I asked.

Sorrow filled Trixie’s eyes as she pulled back from the scene. “Trixie… yesterday. Before dinner. This… this is Trixie’s fault. She told everyone she laid down the marks. She all but gift-wrapped Sunset to the culprit!”

Fact #3: Trixie’s Guidemarks: “The culprit laid a trap for Sunset Shimmer, using the guides of duct tape Trixie laid down the previous day.”

I’m sure Sunset would’ve wasted time comforting Trixie. Offering her some words of wisdom, some bullshit about how it wasn’t really her fault, how the culprit would’ve found another way. But I had no desire to coddle such weakness. We weren’t going to find this culprit by wailing about our feelings all day. Instead I focused on Apple Bloom. “You said you felt this was your fault. How?”

“Well, you see…” Apple Bloom sighed, frowning at Sunset’s corpse before shaking her head. “This mornin’, there was a drill missin’ from the prop shop. Ah’ve spent a lot of time workin’ in the theater lately. Ah should’ve realized somethin’ was up when Ah saw that. But Ah was too busy worryin’ about how Ah was gonna make the sword display for Trixie. Ah’ll bet the culprit used that drill for this here trap. Ah… Ah should’ve realized it! If I’d seen it Ah would’ve saved Sunset.”

Fact #4: Missing Drill: “According to Apple Bloom, a drill was missing the morning of the show. Its whereabouts are unknown.”

Snorting, I rejoined, “You didn’t have time for that, unless you wanted to die in Sunset’s place.”

“... Ah’d have been okay with that,” Apple Bloom muttered.

Rolling my eyes at such absurdity, I glared back down at Sunset’s body and gave it one last lookover, then stood up. “We’re done here. We should move on.”

“Uh, no offense, but maybe you two should get cleaned up first,” Apple Bloom said, wincing as she looked at my blood-sodden clothes. “Y’all’re gross.”

I glared down at the blood on my clothes, then shook my head. “We can do that when we’re near the end. Let’s keep moving, shall we?”

Apple Bloom, still uncertain, nevertheless led Trixie and me backstage, where we found the thing we’d all heard crashing to the stage: a bag of tools, with an attached chain painted black with a quick release. I glanced up above where the bag must’ve fallen from and spotted a hanging chain. I only saw it because it was swaying back and forth in the theater’s air currents; like all sirens, I’m very good at spotting movement.

Fact #5: Bag of Tools: “A heavy sackcloth bag, filled with a selection of random tools. The bag was tied around its top with a length of chain many feet long, ending in half of a quick release clamp. The chain was spray-painted black. The tools came from toolkits in the prop shop inventory.”

Fact #6: Black metal Chain: “A chain hanging from high up on stage light rafters. It was spray painted black, and ended in half of a quick release clamp.

“Hmm…” Apple Bloom stared up at the hanging chain, scratching her chin. “Ah’m startin’ to wonder somethin’... but we’ll need to get the ladder from the prop shop.”

“Did the tools come from there?” Trixie asked as we wandered inside.

“Ah’m sure they did,” Apple Bloom replied. She poked around briefly then opened up a cabinet on the far end of the room, revealing a bunch of tool kits that had been emptied. “Yup. Came from here all right.” Then she walked over to the ladder. “Right. Adagio, can you help me move this?”

“What exactly are you thinking?” I asked, my tone laced with irritation at how vague she was while we moved the ladder out to the theater stage.

“You’ll see,” she said. Then she strode over to the end of the stage. “Hey, uh, Flash, can you do us a quick favor? If ya don’t mind, Ah mean.”

Flash separated from his weeping girlfriend so he could step forward to hear better. “Um, I guess? What’s up?”

“Can you go back up and switch off the stage lights? Ah need to check somethin’ up there. Pretty sure it’s connected.”

Nodding, Flash turned back to Twilight, gave her one last reassuring hug, then headed up for the lights booth. Soon the lights switched off.

“Okay, care to explain now?” I growled, glaring daggers at Apple Bloom.

In response she pointed up the ladder, then scrambled up one side. Groaning in frustration, I followed her up the other side after giving Trixie a brief order to stay. Once up at the top however, I finally saw what Apple Bloom was talking about. The culprit rigged the missing drill up upside down, with its power supply hooked into the stage lights.

“Yup. Just like Ah thought. See the drill here?” Apple Bloom asked, pointing at it. “Ah’ll betcha mah whole college fund the culprit rigged this up as a timer. See, the power button’s taped down and it’s set to the lowest setting. The chain goes up onto the ceiling… looks like it goes all the way down the far wall. And there’s a rope here too.”

*Updated* Fact #4: Missing Drill: “According to Apple Bloom, a drill was missing the morning of the show. It was discovered taped upside down to the beam supporting the stage lights, set to its lowest setting and with its trigger taped down. The power supply was jury-rigged into the nearest light.”

Fact #7: Rope: “A rope tied to the stage light support beam. It had been chewed through by the bit of the drill, splitting it apart.”

“You knew this was here?”

Apple Bloom shook her head. “Ah suspected. The culprit had to lay some kinda trap, and they must’ve used that chain to pull a lever or somethin’. But they had to time it, so they needed somethin’ to use. Ah’m not sure usin’ a drill and rope is the first thing Ah’d think of, but it makes a lot of sense.”

“Then they used the stage lights to start the timer,” I said, nodding as I considered the drill.

“Ah think so. But let’s be sure. ‘Scuse me a sec.” Apple Bloom wriggled her way down the ladder in record time, then a few moments later the stage lights came back on. They were only on for about twenty seconds, but it was enough time to see the drill switch itself on. Satisfied, I returned to the stage floor and briefly told Trixie what we found.

Trixie pressed her lips together in an uncertain frown. “But who would be smart enough to do that? Trixie knows she couldn’t.”

“That much is obvious,” I snorted, ignoring the look of irritation she sent my way. “But you’re right. There aren’t many who could.”

Sunset Shimmer could’ve done it, said the voice. Maybe this was suicide. Maybe she was going to kill Trixie and took the blow at the last minute.

I bit my lower lip hard enough to draw blood, furious with myself for even considering that notion.

Apple Bloom walked back over to us and looked at me questioningly. “So the drill was movin’, Ah take it.”

“Yes, it was,” I answered with a sigh. “I don’t suppose you would know who could’ve rigged that up.”

Apple Bloom considered that a moment, then said, “Well, Ah know Ah could’ve. Ah didn’t, but Ah could’ve. Twilight too. Maybe Sunset herself.”

“No!” I shot back instantly. “It wasn’t Sunset. She wouldn’t do this.”

Trixie blinked owlishly, cocking her head to the side. “Of course it wasn’t. Why would Sunset kill herself?”

“Exactly. So it must’ve been someone else.”

Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes, staring at me for a moment with an unreadable expression, then shrugged. “Well, Ah don’t think we’re gonna find out by just lookin’ around here.”

“Agreed,” I said. I pointed backstage. “Let’s check under the stage. Then we can track down where that spear came from.”

Apple Bloom led us backstage, and pointed out the chain crawling along the wall. Now that I knew to look for it, it was obvious. How the hell was the culprit expecting to hide this? Or were they? Maybe they wanted us to find it. She then led us over to the hatchway leading down under the stage.

Once down there it didn’t take us long to follow the chain right over to the obvious trap. It was a mechanism created from a base platform of wood, spring loaded on a lever, with wooden guides all around the spear shaft to ensure it went right up the way it was supposed to. The lever was pulled back, with the chain hanging tightly on its end, obviously responsible for its current state. It was creative on the culprit’s part. Original. Innovative, even. If it hadn’t stolen Sunset away from me, I would’ve approved their ingenuity.

Fact #8: Spring Loaded Trap: “A trap fashioned from a spring, lever, and wooden guides under the stage. The spring was discovered unwound, the lever pulled towards the backstage wall by the black metal chain.”

Oh please. No one stole Sunset. All you lost was--

My hand balled up into a fist and planted itself into the closest available wall, smashing it apart and splattering the area with splinters and wood dust. My knuckles burned like fire, ripped open by the punch, bleeding freely. I allowed the pain to fill my senses, drowning out that incessant voice in my head. “I am Adagio Dazzle,” I whispered. “I am a siren. I am not going to torment myself with thoughts of doubt, or uncertainty, fear, or loss.”

“Woah!” Trixie cried out, leaping away from me, in the process banging her head against the low stage ceiling. “Ooww… What’d you do that for, Adagio?”

“You okay there?” Apple Bloom added, wincing as she stared at my bleeding knuckles.

“I’m fine,” I said, brushing her off with a dismissive wave. “This understage is stifling. Let’s get out of here.”

As soon as we reached the main stage again, we found Fluttershy waiting for us. The irritating little weakling had a bunch of little pieces of cut up rope in her hand. “Um, excuse me, Adagio,” she mumbled, hiding her face behind her hair like a coward. “But, um, I found these around Sunset’s body.”

*Updated* Fact #7: Rope: “A rope tied to the stage light support beam. It had been chewed through by the bit of the drill, splitting it apart. Many pieces fell to the stage below and were discovered near the body.”

Resisting the urge to swipe them out of her hand, I took them gently, muttered a brief “thank you” and then stuffed them in my pocket. Then without another word I turned and left, with Trixie and Apple Bloom in tow. Only once we were out of the theater did I bother to stop and examine them. “These match the other rope, right?” I said, shoving them into Apple Bloom’s hands.

Apple Bloom sighed and examined them, then pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket, wrapped them up in it, and stuffed it back in her jeans. “Uh, yeah, Ah’d say they do. Guess that confirms what we knew.” She eyed me, doubt etched across her face as if it had been cast in stone. “You sure you’re okay?”

Snarling, I whirled and grabbed the front of her shirt. “Stop. Asking!”

Apple Bloom arched her eyebrows, sniffed, then to my shock pulled her shirt out of my grip, showing not a single sign of fear. “Ah think you need to calm down, Adagio. Ah’m askin’ because Ah care. Ah ain’t tryin’ to pry into your affairs. You ain’t gotta spill your heart to me. But Ah can tell losin’ Sunset’s hurtin’ you somethin’ fierce. And Ah ain’t gonna lie, Ah’m feeling pretty bad about it too. So Ah get it, if that’s what’s wrong.”

A trickle of cold ran down my spine, as if someone had dropped an ice cube down my shirt. “What?” I gasped, taking a step back. “What makes you think I give a single shit about Sunset Shimmer?”

Trixie butted in with an exaggerated roll of her eyes. “The same thing that convinced Trixie. We all saw you screaming Sunset’s name. You tried to save her life. You held onto her as she died. To Trixie, that made it obvious you cared for her.”

“Ah wouldn’t’ve put it that bluntly, but yeah, that,” Apple Bloom added with a nod. “Look, it ain’t none of mah business what you were to each other. Like Ah said, Ah ain’t tryin’ to pry. Ah’m just tryin’ to help, ‘cause we ain’t gonna solve this if we’re too busy rippin’ each other apart like a couple of timberwolves fightin’ over a bone.”

You see? Everyone saw how weak you were. Everyone knows. You’ll be next. You’ll be the next target. Didn’t you warn Sunset? You told her she was number one on everyone’s hit lists. And what do you do? You put yourself forward as the next target. You solve this crime, and everyone will hunt you down.

“Then what do I do?” I whispered.

Oh, you should still solve the crime, Adagio. Just be prepared. Trust no one. Find someone to use, someone you can throw out as a shield. Then if someone does attack you, you can leave them to die instead.

“Who is she talking to?”

“Ah think she’s talkin’ to herself.”

“But who?” I whispered again.

You could use either of these two to do it. Especially Apple Bloom. She’s practically begging to be a martyr. Let her get closer to you. Let her think you’re opening up to her. You can use her that way. Maybe Trixie too. Just be careful. You don’t need to risk actually caring about them.

“Wow. Trixie thinks she must be really upset if she’s going crazy like that.”

“Trixie, Ah like you, but can ya lay off the judgement a little? Please?”

My decision made, I refocused my gaze on Apple Bloom, deliberately schooling my face into one of flustered outrage. “You know what? Fine. No. I’m not okay. I’m furious. I’m ready to rend the one who killed Sunset limb from fucking limb!” I allowed a few tears to drip down my face, and held my hands up as if I was hiding. It wasn’t hard to fake. “Sunset mattered so much to me…”

And just like I expected, Apple Bloom closed in and offered out a hand to take. I deliberately hesitated a moment or two before accepting it. “Ah can see that,” she said, giving me a smile she must’ve thought was reassuring, but struck me more as nauseating. “Ah’m sorry she’s gone. Ah’m… Ah’m especially sorry Ah didn’t see the trap before.” Her smile dropped as she released my hand, glaring angrily at the floor. “Ah should’ve. Ah should’ve seen somethin’. The culprit painted those chains but they didn’t paint the drill. Ah could’ve spotted it. Then Ah could’ve saved her.”

“Like Adagio said,” Trixie spoke up, “you would’ve died in her place. If anyone should be blaming themselves, it’s Trixie.” She sighed, her whole body hunching over. “Trixie made the guides. Trixie told everyone where she’d be…”

Okay. You’ve got them now. Reel it in. Slowly.

I sniffled, wiped at my nose, and then approached them both, setting my hands on their shoulders. “It’s not your fault,” I said, allowing my voice to tremble. “Neither one of you did this. Don’t be stupid.” Then I took my hands away and turned away from them, and spoke in a harsher tone, “Look, let’s just get moving, okay?”

I smiled on the inside as I saw both Trixie and Apple Bloom give me a grateful look. “Sure. Let’s go,” Trixie said.

Our next destination was the game corner. The spear came from there, I was sure of it. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were inside, but I ignored them, pushing past them to reach the prize counter. A quick scan of the area and I’d located a pair of spears identical to the one used to slay Sunset, with an obvious space for a third empty and bare.

*Updated* Fact #2: Qilin Spear: “A polearm with a thin serrated tip and twin-spiked crossguard, obtained from the game corner prize counter. The spear impaled Sunset Shimmer from underneath, popping up out of the stage.”

“Well, Ah guess we can be sure it came from here,” Apple Bloom commented as she sighed at the sight of the empty cabinet. “Ah’ll check the register. See what pops up.”

Trixie and I watched as Apple Bloom went to work, swiftly producing a print out that I snatched up before the other two could look at it. I read through it carefully, more than a little confused… until I reached the last entry, at which point my blood boiled. I shoved the paper into Apple Bloom’s chest hard enough to knock her over as I screeched, “What the fuck is this?!”

Fact #9: Prize Counter Receipts: “Tickets scanned:
Sun1621DT x 10: DS1a Purchased
Sun1623DT x 10: DS1b Purchased
Sun1625DT x 10: DS1c Purchased
Sun2240AB x 10: QS1a Purchased”

Apple Bloom glared at me, her left hand balling up into a fist at her side for a moment before she released it, then looked at the paper. And then her eyes bugged out of their sockets. “What in tarnation?!”

“Please give it to Trixie?” Trixie said, holding out her hand. Apple Bloom handed over the receipt, a dumbfounded expression taking hold of her face. As Trixie scanned the paper, her eyebrows rose and rose until they disappeared under the brim of her hat. “AB? Apple Bloom? You bought the spear?”

“No, no, Ah didn’t, Ah swear!” Apple Bloom cried, shaking her hands like crazy as she backed up away from me. “Ah had nothin’ to do with it!”

“But it’s your initials on the receipt!” I hissed, my hands curling up like claws as I took a step towards her, every bit of siren instinct screaming for me to slice her to ribbons. “How is that possible if you didn’t buy it?!”

“Woah, woah, woah, chill out, Adagio!” interrupted Rainbow Dash, breaking her way between us and holding us both off with an arm each. “Cool it. You can figure that shit out at the trial, okay?”

“Ah’m serious, Adagio,” Apple Bloom added, worry warring with sorrow on her face as she frowned. “Ah didn’t buy the spear. Honest.”

You’d better relax, you know. You’re not going to be able to use Apple Bloom as a shield if you turn her against you.

“Grrr… fine. I’m sorry,” I growled, drawing back and crossing my arms over my chest. “But we will figure this out. And if I discover you really were responsible for this--”

“Then Ah’ll accept whatever punishment Monoponi dishes out,” Apple Bloom interrupted with a grim nod. “But Ah’m tellin’ ya, that won’t happen.”

With a final snort, I snatched the receipt out of Trixie’s hands and shoved it in my pocket, then left the game corner.

“Wait, where are we going now?” Trixie wondered as we stepped into the promenade hallway.

“Library,” I said, pointing at it. “Might as well, while we’re here. Keep quiet while we’re inside; we don’t need to give Monoponi an excuse to kill us.”

I wasn’t sure what I was looking for when I stepped inside, but luckily it found me. Rarity, who’d been poking around the shelves on the third floor with Sweetie Belle, came over to me at once the instant she spotted us. “Ah, Adagio, would you care to come with me? There’s something I think you should see.”

“All right,” I said, shrugging.

I allowed her to lead us down to the second floor counter. Once there she picked up the logbook. “I… I thought maybe you’d want to take a look at this. It might be useful.” Then for some reason she walked away, fast, clutching her fists at her sides, her eyes full of tears.

“What’s her problem?” Apple Bloom muttered.

Shrugging once more, I looked over the logbook. I’d signed it myself, of course, when I checked a particular book out. I briefly considered crossing out the entry, but Trixie and Apple Bloom were watching. I’d have to accept whatever teasing they’d dole out.

And then I spotted the last two entries and rage bubbled up within me like a frothing mug of espresso. “Apple Bloom,” I hissed in the loudest whisper I could manage. “I hope, for your sake, you can ‘explain’ this too.”

Fact #10: Library Logbook:
“19th Century Prench Chemists: Twilight Sparkle X/X
Chemical Formulas 301: Twilight Sparkle X/O
Expert Calculus and Derivatives: Twilight Sparkle X/O
Shadow Spade: To Catch A Butterfly: Rarity Belle X/O
Sakaguchi Chise: Crusader Queen #1: Sweetie Belle X/X
Sakaguchi Chise: Crusader Queen #2: Sweetie Belle X/X
Strategies for Anger Management: Adagio Dazzle X/O
The Lesbian Kama Sutra: Adagio Dazzle X/O
The Art of Magic: Trixie Lulamoon X/O
Daring Do and the Cornerstone of Light: Rainbow Dash X/O
Love Doth Ran Smooth: Fluttershy X/O
Sakaguchi Chise: Crusader Queen #3: Sweetie Belle X/O
The Burning of the Stars: Apple Bloom X/O
Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering: Apple Bloom X/O
Springs and Pulleys: Apple Bloom X/O”

Apple Bloom took one look at the logbook and her face screwed up in pure confusion. “What… who… Ah didn’t check those books out!”

“Sssh!” Trixie said, her eyes widening in panic as she slapped a finger to Apple Bloom’s lips. And for good reason, because Apple Bloom had come dangerously close to shouting. “Be quiet.”

Apple Bloom nodded a few times, then said in a whisper, “Sorry. But Ah’m tellin’ the truth. This weren’t me. Ah mean, Ah was here last night, but Ah only checked out one book.” She frowned down at the logbook. “Though Ah’ve gotta say, whoever faked mah signature did it perfectly. If Ah didn’t know Ah hadn’t signed off on this, even Ah would’ve thought Ah had.”

I took the logbook back and shoved it into my bag, silently thanking my good luck neither of them noticed my own signature. “That’s two clues that point to you, though,” I said. “Not looking good for you.”

“No. Almost like someone’s tryin’ ta frame me,” Apple Bloom said, grimacing.

“Maybe someone is,” Trixie proposed, holding up a finger.

“But who?”

I shook my head. “Forget it. We’ve still got things to figure out before we’re done.”

Leaving the library, we almost ran face first into Flash and Twilight, who’d been about to step inside. “Oh, um, sorry,” Twilight mumbled as she stepped aside, allowing us to move past. “I didn’t… didn’t mean to--”

“S’okay,” Apple Bloom said, smiling at Twilight. “Hey, uh, listen, Ah got a question for ya while we’re here. Since you’re smart and all.”

“What about?”

Apple Bloom pulled out her Monopad and held it up. “There was some big glitch with these things last night, right? Ah heard everyone talkin’ about it this mornin’. Ah’ve been wonderin’ if it’s related.

Eying Apple Bloom suspiciously, I inquired, “What’re you getting at?”

“Oh!” Twilight said, blinking behind her glasses. She pulled out her own and nodded at it. “Right. Adagio, you might not’ve been aware of this, but the Monopad map glitched out entirely last night. Sunset…” her voice dropped, becoming low and heavy, full of regret as she sniffled, then shook her head to fight past it. “Sunset and I were watching the Monopad maps, keeping track of people’s movements. The map was off for two and a half hours. I’m sure it’s important.”

Fact #11: Monopad Map Glitch: “At approximately 10:30 PM the Monopad map experienced a glitch, erasing all icons. This glitch lasted for two and a half hours, ending at 1:00 AM.”

“Hmph. Good point,” I admitted grudgingly. Then I held out my hand and waved it in a circle. “So, go ahead, tell us where everyone was, since you were watching.”

Fact #12: Movements Tracked: “At 10:30 PM, just before the map glitched, the following people were outside of their cabins:
Twilight Sparkle, Apple Bloom -- Library
Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo -- Bridge Deck
Adagio Dazzle -- Theater
Diamond Tiara -- Game Corner
At 1:00 AM, all fourteen passengers were in their cabins.”

“Oh yeah,” Apple Bloom said, snapping her fingers in realization. “Ah forgot you were in the library last night.”

“Um, Adagio,” Trixie interjected, eyebrows raised. “This says you were in the theater last night. Why?”

“Ghg!” I hissed, taking a step back. “That… that’s not important. That’s the last thing that matters right now.”

Apple Bloom’s lips thinned, her expression flat-lining. “Uh huh. So when Ah’m implicated, it’s suspicious, but when you’re implicated, it’s not? That’s kinda funny.”

The urge to take her guts for garters rose up like a sudden burst of wind, but I repressed it. Barely. “I will explain at the trial,” I said after a moment. “But it has no real relevance.”

“If you say so,” Apple Bloom replied. “Anyways, thanks for the info, Twilight. Ah can’t speak for these two, but Ah’m gonna get cleaned up now. Ah can’t stand this blood bein’ on me anymore.”

“A shower does sound good right now,” Trixie murmured in agreement.

Groaning, I threw my hands up to let them clap at my sides. “Alright. But we’re making this quick.”

We swiftly made our way to the cabins. Apple Bloom and Trixie peeled off on their own, but before I went to mine, I happened to glance at Sunset’s door. It was open, unlocked. Just a crack, but still. The sight worried me. “Damn it, Sunset, I told you to keep this locked,” I whispered. I reached out to shut it.

Wait. You should check it. Check what’s inside. Maybe there’s a clue.

My mind had a good point. With a sigh I pushed open the door and examined the place. Like she’d always left it, it was fairly pristine, albeit with a couple bits of trash on the floor, like an empty soda can. Sunset was sloppy sometimes when she ate.

Was.

Swallowing back the lump in my throat, I continued to scan the room, looking for anything out of place, anything that stood out. At first I didn’t see anything, until I realized there was an odd lump under the bedsheets. Peeling them back, I found something I didn’t expect. It was a book, an old one. Not written in any human language, but in High Ponish. I could read it fluently, of course, since I was probably one of the only ones alive apart from those stupid alicorn Princesses that could actually speak it. But as I skimmed it, I grew more and more confused. What did this have to do with anything?

Fact #13: Equestrian Tome: “A decrepit, ancient Equestrian tome written in High Ponish that speaks about an artifact known as the Memory Stone that can affect memories. A brief skim of its details reveals the artifact leaves a strong, permanent imprint of its power on the minds of those it affects.”

“Where did you get this, Sunset?” I wondered aloud, before placing it in my bag. Something about it struck me as important, even if I didn’t understand how. Why else would it be here? It was almost as if it had been planted. But why?

My curiosity now raised, I moved on to search the room much more carefully, pulling out the drawers, tossing open the closet and searching the clothes. And good thing too, because at the back corner of the closet I found something else that left me flustered. A picture that, when combined with the book, made the gears in my head begin to turn.

Fact #14: Wallflower Picture: “A picture depicting Wallflower Blush using the Memory Stone on Sunset Shimmer, in front of Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack.”

I didn’t like what my mind concluded from this. I hated it, in fact. Loathed it to the core. It made no sense. But… was it possible?

I placed the picture carefully into my bag, and went for one final check around the room. I discovered nothing on the desk or elsewhere, but when I stepped into the bathroom, I spotted another picture on the sink, standing out like a sore thumb. Even a brief glance at it brought a chill to my heart.

Fact #15: Demon Picture: “A picture of a demonic Sunset Shimmer, with a crowd of hypnotized students behind her, and a group of six ponied up students facing against her: Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack.’”

A demon. I heard Sunset whisper something about that to herself once. I don’t think she realized I’d heard her. It was when we were in bed, after a session of passionate lovemaking. She was half-asleep, snuggled up to me, utterly spent and mumbling about inanities. At first it was cute, silly things, things she liked to whisper to me, things that I enjoyed more than I cared to admit to her. But then it shifted in tone. Became dark. Became whispers of apologies and regrets. And then over and over, she shook her head, and said, “I’m not that demon anymore,” repeating herself so many times it took me shaking her back to consciousness to get her to stop. I had no idea what she meant, but I was too tired at the time to ask, so I didn’t bother.

Now I wish I had. Maybe she could’ve explained what this meant. What this was about. Both of these pictures made no sense. What could they possibly mean?

Well, there was one possibility. An awful, horrible possibility. But I didn’t want to consider it. Not unless I had to. I wouldn’t bring these pictures up at the trial unless I had no other choice.

Though I was still burning with questions about it. Enough to wonder… and ask. I walked over to the door to the cabin and shut it, sealing the room, then looked straight at the security camera. “Monoponi!” I shouted. “Show yourself!”

Instantly, the alicorn flashed into existence before me, posing on the bed. “You raaaaang, Adagio? What can your Captain do for you, hmm? Got a question to ask me?”

“Several,” I said. I held up the two pictures in hand, and the tome. “What the hell is this?”

Monoponi held a hoof to his chin and cocked his head. “Hmm… hmmmmm… looks like pictures and a book to me!”

“You know what I mean,” I growled, losing patience rapidly. “Why are these here? What do they mean?”

His eyes narrowed as he dropped his hoof to the ground, then spread his lips in a toothy grin. “Upupu, you don’t expect me to answer you, do you? If you’re wondering whether they matter for the trial… I’ll say yes. But how? That’s up to you to solve. You’re the one who wanted to take over, after all.”

Biting back my initial urge to kick him in his stupid face, I said, “I suppose I did. Thanks for nothing.”

As I turned away, Monoponi called over my shoulder, “Wait a moment now, Adagio. Isn’t there anything else you’d like to ask me before you leave? Hmmmm? Maybe about a certain puzzle?”

Facing him again, my face twisted up in confusion, I whispered, “Puzzle?” Then I slapped a hand to my face. “Oh, right, the motive.”

“Ahem,” Monoponi said, clearing his throat. “I’ll take that as a sign you want to solve it. So, here it is for you: what is Sunset Shimmer’s true nature?”

The question made my heart skip a beat, then another, then three more for good measure. Gripping both fists by my side, I had to take several deep breaths for calm before I could respond. “She’s a pony, from Equestria.”

“Thaaaat’s right!” Monoponi said, summoning up a brief burst of fireworks. “But too bad for you, there’s no prize to be had! Someone already took it!”

My heart switched from skipping beats to drumming up a storm, pounding away at hundreds of miles per hour. “Who?”

“Oh no. I’m not going to say that. And I’m not telling you what the prize is either, so don’t waste your time asking!” Monoponi rose up from the bed and summoned up light on his horn. “Take what I gave you and leave it. You’d better wash up while you still have a chance, Adagio. You reek!” Then he vanished in a flash of light.

“Aaargh!” I screamed, punching my fist into the nearby dresser hard enough to break a hole in one of the drawers, causing my already damaged hand to bleed anew. I knew what this meant, of course. What it meant for Sunset’s secret.

This was why she died. Someone learned her secret, answered the question, and killed her for it.

Letting out growl after growl of rage, I left Sunset’s room in a hurry and entered my own cabins. Tossing off my ruined clothes into the trash, I hopped into the shower and washed as quickly as I could with scalding hot water, desperate to clean myself. Afterwards I threw on a few bandages on my busted knuckles for good measure, then put on a fresh pair of clothes.

And right as I stepped outside my cabin again…

DING-DONG-BING-BONG

Like before I didn’t waste time listening to Monoponi’s voice. I simply made my way to the food court, where I knew he’d summoned us to. Everyone else filed in soon after, whispering to each other, making stupid comments or saying other things I didn’t care about. I did, however, sidle up to Apple Bloom and Trixie, who stood together near one side of the room. “I found some things in Sunset’s room,” I told them. “I’ll show you at the trial.”

“You did, huh? It was open?” Apple Bloom said, raising up a hand.

“It was,” I nodded, gritting my teeth. “Monoponi planted clues there deliberately.”

“Sounds like something he would do,” Trixie said. She let out a sorrowful sigh, took off her hat, and clutched it to her chest. “Trixie wishes Sunset was here.”

“We all do, Trixie,” Apple Bloom said, giving the taller woman a hug, which Trixie gratefully accepted.

Monoponi appeared in another burst of light, drawing everyone’s attention, but I tuned him out. I didn’t need to waste time listening to him spout off more bullshit. Especially when he managed to goad a few people into arguing back with him. Though watching Pinkie Pie scream in rage amused me. I had no idea she could be so vitriolic.

Finally he finished his stupid speeches and unlocked the gates, disappearing as they squealed open. Only then did I step forward to grab everyone’s attention and speak.

“Listen up!” I said, demanding their attention with the full force of my siren charisma. “I’m only going to say this once to you idiots: I’m here to catch Sunset’s killer. You’re all going to help me. And whoever was responsible is going to die. It’s that simple. You’re a fool if you think you’re going to get away with this. Oh, and don’t worry. If we somehow vote wrong?” I reached into my pocket and pulled out my knife, catching the light with it to shine at them. “This’ll be in your throat before you can blink.”

Leaving the rest stunned in my wake, I sauntered into the elevator, and took up my usual position in the far corner. And as the rest filed in, I considered the case ahead.

Sunset Shimmer. A woman after my own heart. Taken from us long before her time.

Killed by a trap laid at Trixie’s magic show, right in front of us. No obvious suspect. No clear culprit. But someone was responsible nonetheless.

Sunset mattered to me. I didn’t want to admit it, but she did. I cared for her. As much as any siren can care for their lover, anyway. After all, if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have… well, nevermind that.

This trial would be vengeance. Vengeance for Sunset. Vengeance for me. I aimed to take down the one who did this, with my own hands if I had to. Maybe, if I was lucky enough, Monoponi would let me execute them. I could only hope.

Sunset, this is for you.

I will find that culprit, if it’s the last thing I do!

Just This Once: Everybody Lives!

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Alternate Scenarios
DANGANRONPA: IN HARMONY’S WAKE
Just This Once, Everybody Lives!

The first time it happened, it seemed like a fluke.

Timber Spruce had Wallflower Blush dead to rights. He had the water with the drugs. He had ropes he could use to strangle her, should she resist. He was prepared. She wouldn’t have a prayer.

But then she pulled that knife. She circled around him, keeping her distance. She spat some insult at him, ordering him not to get in her way.

In another universe, she might’ve pivoted on her heel then. She might’ve turned away, allowing him the opportunity to wrap that garotte around her throat and seal her fate.

But in this one, she didn’t. She used her brain. She kept backing away from him, shouting when he tried to follow, until she’d backed up all the way to her cabin door. Only then did she turn around and go inside, slamming it closed behind her.

Timber rushed forward, his hand reaching for the door knob, but it was too late. She’d locked it. He’d lost his chance. He’d lost the one opportunity he’d have to save Gloriosa.

Returning to his room in a daze, he locked himself inside, and dumped his tools of murder on the ground. Then he let out a hoarse scream and kicked his dresser, then picked up the desk chair and brought it down as hard as he could on the desk, snapping off the chair’s legs into splinters.

Toppling onto the bed, his face covered with tears, he had a moment of weakness. He reached for his remaining zolpidem pills, four in total, and slammed them back with as much water as he could drink from an untouched bottle. Then he threw himself on the bed and waited for death.

It didn’t come, of course. Oh it knocked him out. He slept not so much like the proverbial log but like a patient in a coma, only awakening sometime the next morning, and only then thanks to the frantic banging on his door.

When he opened it up, cursing the fact he still existed, Sunset, Flash, Adagio, and Twilight all burst in, screaming at him about how stupid it was that he pulled this crap after Sunset did. Sunset especially was all but apoplectic, because when he failed to return by midnight she’d been up half the night trying to find him, watching out for possible murders, hoping to save a life should someone strike. Adagio joined her in the search, and the two formed a rapid, fiery romance that exploded with passion.

Then Wallflower chimed in, and Timber broke. He broke down crying, admitting his plan, admitting what he intended to do, and why. Despite the initial fury, especially from Applejack, whose temper flared at its very highest at the abuse of her family’s cider, everyone found it in themselves to forgive him.

Even Wallflower did, later that day. She opened up to him. Talked to him, for hours, first at dinner, then later that evening, until friendship blossomed between them.

And both Wallflower and Timber alike found a new reason to live.

The second time it happened, Cozy wanted to scream.

After the failure of the first culprit to do his job and get the killing started, she’d spent several days trying to figure out what to do next. Even taunting Princess Twilight carried little appeal, not without a dead body to throw around. Her barbs lacked spines. Her threats failed to frighten. Instead all she accomplished was setting up Princess Twilight as confident, cocky even, ready to save lives.

So she decided to hell with it and unlocked the next part of the ship anyway. Despite the friendships growing, if she could just get Sweetie Belle to act, everything would be set in motion. The blood would flow, and once it started it could not be staunched.

At least, that was the idea.

At first, everything went to plan. Sunset found the planted cloak and hat, and accompanying picture. She befriended Trixie, and Wallflower too for that matter. Wallflower lived up to her name, blooming under the attention, growing happier and healthier by the day.

When Diamond Tiara attempted to acquire the mantle of leadership, far fewer protested. A few half-hearted insults were exchanged, but nothing too heated. Fortunately, Trixie still requested to throw the magic show, and rounded up Sunset and Apple Bloom to help. They built the origami trick.

Adagio’s brief flirtation with stabbing Sunset set Cozy’s nerves acquiver, but fortunately Sunset managed to talk Adagio out of killing her. This time.

Then when the secrets were revealed, Cozy grinned in glee as Sweetie acted exactly the way she predicted. She took advantage of the library rule to solve the puzzle, obtaining the prize. She still erected the trap, despite the additional complication of Wallflower and Timber running around, threatening to expose her plan.

The next day, Cozy buzzed with excitement. She couldn’t wait till that evening. A death by itself would destroy the bonds of trust, but a death in front of everyone? Apple Bloom bleeding out in Applejack’s arms? Trust wouldn’t just be destroyed. It would evaporate.

That evening, the show played. Trixie wowed the crowd. Flash swirled the spotlights. Sunset stood right atop the trap, unaware she was mere moments from being eviscerated. Right on cue, Apple Bloom spotted the drill, took flight, and knocked Trixie and Sunset out of the way.

But she skidded along the stage floor, the floor that Timber, in a fit of wanting something to do, had waxed earlier that day to get it nice and clean, at Wallflower’s bequest, for the sake of her friend Trixie. Thus, when Apple Bloom knocked Trixie and Sunset out of the way, she managed, just barely, to dodge the spear trap herself. It fired up, clipping the bottom of her shoe. It carved a piece of rubber right out of the sole, but that’s all did.

No one died.

Oh, trust was still shaken. Everyone panicked, scared, terrified even that someone had tried to kill. Again. In front of everyone this time.

Cozy, utterly furious, decided on the spot to force an investigation anyway. In her Monoponi disguise she announced a new form of trial, an “attempted murder” trial. Initially, of course, she tried to rule that if caught, the one responsible would be executed just as if they killed someone, but when every single last one of her passengers refused to cooperate with that rule in place, she made her biggest mistake yet, and gave in. She’d give them the choice of whether or not to execute them.

But only if they found them, of course. If they failed, they’d all die, just like they would in a real trial.

As she hoped this struck a significant chink in the armor of trust these morons had built up. The investigation only heightened the lack of trust to a fever pitch, culminating when Sunset, in a fit of sheer frustration, punched Diamond Tiara in the face over accusations of having tried to lure Apple Bloom into the trap.

When they went to trial, sparks flew. Tempers flared. Arguments arose, in a way that brought a distinct feeling of glee to Cozy, especially once Sunset’s secret emerged. That tore open a massive divide between Sunset and many other passengers, including a furious Twilight Sparkle.

Eventually, by trial’s end, Sunset had Sweetie Belle on the ropes. Despite the failure of Apple Bloom to die like she was supposed to, and thus provide the trial winning clue in the form of the Monoponi file, Sunset had found another clue just as telling, thanks to Wallflower and Timber. She used it with aplomb, and with it, forced Sweetie into confessing.

Cozy hoped by trial’s end that perhaps, just perhaps, they’d vote to execute Sweetie Belle. A few of them did. Diamond Tiara. Adagio, eager to eliminate any threat. Trixie, outraged by her ruined show. Applejack, so scared for her sister’s life that she drove a rift between herself and Rarity in the process. Twilight voted for execution as well, thanks to the lack of trust she had in all of them due to Sunset’s reveal.

But no one else did. Everyone else, especially Timber and Wallflower, voted it down like crazy. So Sweetie got to live. Live with the guilt that she almost ended someone’s life, for the sake of ending the game. Ending the game in a way that wouldn’t have accomplished anything.

And Cozy smiled. Maybe she hadn’t gotten her wish. Maybe no one was dead yet. But sooner or later, it had to happen, right?

The third time it happened, Cozy tore her hair out.

Oh she still tried to guide things along her original plan, opening up new parts of the ship, hoping that Twilight would take the bait. Rarity and Applejack hated each other thanks to the vote, after all. Surely all it would take is a little bit of pressure, and Twilight would murder them both, just like she was supposed to.

But of course she wouldn’t, especially not after the fight she had with Pinkie at the morning meeting. All Twilight did when she found the picture of Rarity and Applejack’s marriage was snort and toss it away, leaving it to be found later in the spa by Pinkie, Sunset, and Adagio. Instead, Twilight embarked on her atrociously foolish plan, to teach Pinkie Pie a lesson.

Pinkie Pie had lost a lot of cheer, since the game began. Despite the fact that no one died, the lack of trust among them, especially after the first attempted murder trial, sent her spiraling into a fit of depression. She hadn’t become close to any of them, and the loneliness gnawed at her. Thus when the morphine called, she gave into temptation. She found solace in the needles, in the way it took the edge off of life and left feeling just a little bit loopy. In the way it relaxed her, dulling her mind to the horrors around her.

Diamond Tiara, meanwhile, hatched a silly plan involving guard shifts, in the hopes of preventing another murder, attempted or otherwise. Of course with four more people around than were supposed to be, she had no shortage of volunteers. Three hour shifts were bequeathed, leading to a conversation between Sunset and Fluttershy, where Sunset encouraged Fluttershy to befriend Pinkie.

Meanwhile, Twilight set her plan in motion. She deposited the note, right where Pinkie would spot it, not knowing that her boyfriend Flash had seen her rising from the door. She then departed for the library, prepared to show herself when Pinkie inevitably was caught by Fluttershy.

So Fluttershy took Pinkie shopping in the jewelry store. And in another universe, she might’ve failed to notice the ring placed in her pocket. She might’ve stepped outside that store, been strung up by Monoponi, and executed, for a crime she didn’t even commit.

But not here. Here, Apple Bloom, who happened to be browsing the store for a gift of her own, wanting to find some way to cheer up the depressed Sweetie Belle, show that unlike her sister she held no grudge, spotted the box in Fluttershy’s pocket just before Fluttershy left the store. She called out, asking her what it was.

Then Fluttershy picked up the box, stared at it in confusion, and then looked at Pinkie. It didn’t take long before Pinkie broke down, admitting what she’d done, especially after Fluttershy turned on the disappointed glare. While upset, she understood Pinkie meant no real harm, and together the two of them went to confront Rainbow Dash. Rainbow, of course, had no idea what they were talking about, until Twilight showed herself and revealed her plan.

To say that led to an argument would be like saying the First Great War was a minor tiff. It took the combined efforts of Timber, Applejack, and Sunset to keep Rainbow from throttling Twilight to death. Flash had to be held back from defending Twilight by Rarity and Adagio. Whatever friendship he and Rainbow had built up tore itself apart over the incident.

Twilight lost control of herself. Even when she apologized for her actions, after Cozy announced the plus one motive, she’d buried herself in the grip of paranoia. She worried that every corner would bring someone trying to kill her, to take revenge for her stupid actions. This ultimately led to her wigging out on Sunset, when Sunset tried to make amends. She spent the rest of the day telling everyone Adagio’s secret about being a killer, claiming it proved she couldn’t be trusted.

Pinkie wasn’t much happier. Between almost getting Fluttershy killed and watching Rainbow Dash and Twilight fight each other, any sparkle of joy she’d gleaned from Fluttershy’s gift of bangles was lost. She descended further into the grip of her addiction. She purchased two additional drugs that night, and took them with her into the fitness center. Why, she didn’t know. Was she going to try to end it all, in one big blaze of glory?

But she found Rainbow Dash there, still seething from the argument with Twilight. Thanks to her presence, Pinkie didn’t try out any new drugs. Not yet. Instead she hung around Rainbow, as if trying to find some sort of companionship. Of course Rainbow, while tolerant of Pinkie for a while, eventually lost her temper when Pinkie followed her into the sauna. She shouted for Pinkie to leave her alone, and then stomped out, slamming the door behind her.

Pinkie was left to her own devices, and despite the comfortable warmth of the sauna, she gave in. She broke out her box of newly chosen drugs. But not the oxycodone or heroin that she might’ve chosen, in a different universe. Here she chose two other pure sedatives instead, including ketamine.

So when Trixie, terrified by Adagio’s secret, scared for Sunset’s life after the near death experience at the show, happened to be watching? She leapt into action. At first she held the door closed on Pinkie, her hand inching dangerously close to the temperature gauge, threatening to crank it up to max. But when Pinkie screamed at her to let her out, she lost her nerve, and opened the door. Then she went inside with Pinkie and tried to play it off as a silly prank, keeping Pinkie Pie distracted long enough that she seized the opportunity and injected Pinkie with all three drugs. Pinkie toppled to the floor, seemingly dead.

Trixie wanted to check, of course. She wanted to be sure, perform that “double tap” she’d read about in books. But she didn’t have a chance. Rainbow Dash’s return caused her to flee. She returned to Sunset’s room in a dead run, barely avoiding waking her friend up in the process.

When Rainbow Dash discovered Pinkie Pie precariously prone on the floor, she tried to wake her, of course. And failed, because she didn’t realize just how strong the sedatives were. So strong, in fact, that Pinkie’s heartbeat weakened considerably. Not enough to kill her, but enough that Rainbow Dash failed to find her pulse, thanks to Rainbow’s terror. Thus convinced she’d killed Pinkie Pie, she hatched a plan to cover things up. She set about preparing a gruesome scene, not knowing Pinkie was still alive. She knocked over the weight equipment, gathered up the towels, picked up Pinkie with them, and raised the dumbbell, about to seal her fate as the first true blackened.

And then Sweetie Belle intervened. Not on purpose. Sweetie had no idea Rainbow or Pinkie were even there. She’d been wandering the ship that night, just as depressed as Pinkie Pie, but in a different way. She’d been slowly coming to grips with her guilt, with the mistake she’d almost made. The gift given to her by Apple Bloom, a sparkling sapphire on a chain of gold, only threw her further for a loop, enough that focusing on it caused her to pay little attention to her surroundings, until she found herself in the fitness center, accidentally kicking the desk.

The sudden noise startled Rainbow Dash into dropping Pinkie’s body, the dumbbell falling to the side. Quick as a flash she disappeared into the connecting corridor to the indoor pool, while inwardly screaming in horror. She’d almost been caught! She couldn’t risk going back now! So she had to dump clues somewhere, anywhere. She’d found a picture earlier that day, the same one that inspired her to leave Applejack and Rarity’s hair in the weight room. So she decided to dump that in the sauna, not even noticing when she kicked the case of drugs under the bench, scattering the syringes everywhere. Then she circled around via the locker rooms and fled.

Sweetie, meanwhile, stumbled across the scene, what looked like a dead Pinkie Pie, laying in a bundle of towels among a set of destroyed weight equipment, and promptly screamed. And then the body discovery announcement rang, bringing everyone right there with her. Rainbow Dash and Trixie filtered in last, both equally horrified by their actions, and scared they were the first real blackened.

At first, Cozy was ecstatic. Someone finally died! She’d gotten the ball rolling! She’d have her first proper execution, and she didn’t care whether it was Trixie or Rainbow Dash. At this point whoever these morons voted for, she’d take. Whatever she could do to whittle the numbers down.

At first, the investigation proceeded with a sense of dread, a feeling of despair far stronger than any of the passengers had come close to feeling. And worse still, they all knew it was a shadow of what was to come.

Until Sunset figured out Pinkie Pie was still alive, that was.

Cozy lost it. She flew into a rage, her Monoponi disguise tearing the cardio room apart with sheer fury, before she managed to control herself. Even as everyone’s hearts soared, their fears lifted--especially Trixie and Rainbow--she proceeded to announce it as the second “attempted murder” trial instead. She also declared Pinkie could be exempt from the trial, just this once, since there was no chance she’d wake up anytime soon. Nor would she be allowed anyone to watch over her. Privately Cozy hoped that meant she’d pass away while the others were busy in the courtroom, allowing her to get away with an execution after all.

The rest of the investigation proceeded fairly smoothly after that, despite the occasional wrinkle between Twilight and Sunset, and Rainbow and Flash. Once in the courtroom, however, Sunset was forced to spend the first third of the trial defending Sweetie Belle, because half the passengers were convinced she was behind Pinkie Pie’s near death. She’d attempted before, after all. What was to say she wouldn’t again?

Of course that was ludicrous and Sunset proved it as such, leading into the real clues. Briefly she toyed with the idea of Rarity or Applejack being responsible, but given how much the two hated each other, the only way that made sense was if Applejack was trying to frame Sweetie. Or Rarity. Or both. And she just didn’t think that made much sense.

Eventually they figured out Rainbow Dash was there, and followed up on her. On how the picture ended up in the sauna. They came perilously close to convicting Rainbow Dash, something that Cozy, at this point, decided she couldn’t accept after all. She’d changed her mind. If they voted Rainbow Dash she’d say they were wrong and kill them.

Fortunately at the last second, Sunset caught on to why the drugs were really there. It took her hardly any time at all after that to conclude that Trixie was the real attempted murderer. She was furious, horrified, and threatened to end their friendship over it.

And then came the vote. In a fit of rage Sunset voted for execution this time. So too did Adagio, Diamond Tiara, Rainbow Dash, and even Rarity, who couldn’t stand the way Trixie had inadvertently put her sister in the hot seat for the second time. Twilight voted against it, just to spite Sunset, since that had never been resolved. Flash joined her. Fluttershy, of course, voted against execution.Then came Trixie’s turn, and she voted for her own execution too, thanks to Sunset’s rage. Wallflower hesitated, but this time she also opted for execution, just as furious at Trixie as Sunset was. Timber, naturally, voted against, and tried to talk Wallflower into changing her vote, but it was too late.

Trixie’s life hung in the balance. One more yea vote and she’d die. Sweetie Belle chose next, but she voted against, unwilling to put anyone through a tortuous death, not after she’d come to grips with what she’d almost done before. Apple Bloom, of course, voted against. Not to be left out, Scootaloo voted against as well.

Seven to seven. It was up to Applejack. Applejack, who’d voted for Sweetie Belle’s execution, who couldn’t stand Trixie. Cozy rubbed her disguise’s hooves together gleefully, leaning forward in anticipation of the yea vote.

And then Applejack voted against. “Ah shouldn’t have voted for it the first time. Ah’m sorry, Sweetie Belle.” And with the votes eight to seven, without Pinkie Pie getting to participate, Cozy was forced to end the second attempted murder trial without an execution.

Again.

She shooed them up the elevator in hurry, then departed so she could scream, tearing apart the prepared execution chamber, blowing up tube after tube of fireworks inside the ship, just to excise some of the anger built up inside. Briefly, she considered abandoning the plan altogether. This wasn’t working, after all. She wasn’t torturing Princess Twilight. If anything, she was bolstering the Princess’s confidence. Every time these morons got close to death only to back away at the last second, it’d instill the pony fool with a sense of undue pride in them.

But no. She was committed now. She couldn’t do anything else. Even if she swapped to torturing them now, it wouldn’t have the same effect. She needed to break Princess Twilight’s will. Twilight needed her to see her friends killing each other, not just Monoponi.

So Cozy stuck to the plan. But if this happened one more time she’d snap.

The fourth time it happened, Cozy lapsed into sheer shock.

Pinkie Pie awoke the next day, but it’d take her a day or two more to properly recover. Fluttershy volunteered to be a nursemaid for her, watching over her as she rested. The party planner hated laying in bed, of course. She wanted to bounce around, to be energetic. But that wouldn’t do.

It didn’t take long before Fluttershy’s gaze had Pinkie confessing to her drug problem.

Pinkie found that going cold turkey hurt. It wasn’t just painful. It was excruciating, agonizing cold and burning like fire and breathing so fast she’d hyperventilate till her heart felt like it’d explode, then slowing down so much she practically lapsed into a coma. Then she did it all over again. All the while, Fluttershy watched over her. After the first day, Trixie joined her, in an attempt to make amends. That demonstration of remorse was all it took for Wallflower, Sunset, and Rarity to befriend Trixie once again, though they all held off from true forgiveness for now.

Cozy opened up the next portion of the ship, desperately hoping that with so many idiots running around, someone would find some way to die. She’d abandoned her original plan by now, with too many people around for it to work. No way she’d ever get Fluttershy to murder Scootaloo, not without a single death. But there were other options, perhaps. Twilight and Sunset?

No, she couldn’t do that. She needed Sunset around, in case she decided to wipe their memories and start all over again. It wasn’t likely, not with Princess Twilight watching, but she wanted to hold onto the trump card.

Then she remembered how Flash and Rainbow had acted towards each other the other day, and her disguised muzzle twisted into a sadistic smile.

Flash felt like complete shit the day after the second attempted murder trial. He didn’t know it yet, but he’d come down with mononucleosis, a final gift from their first go-around on the ship. So while Rainbow Dash, Applejack, the three younger ones, and even Diamond Tiara--who’d begun turning a new leaf, albeit more than a little reluctantly--wandered around excitedly exploring the go-kart course and the ice rink, he stayed with Twilight. He borrowed a notepad from Sunset, but otherwise he and Twilight stayed away from the others.

During a heart to heart with Rarity and Wallflower in the spa, Sunset decided it was time for everyone to share their secrets, since Monoponi made it legal, and they hadn’t bothered yet. It could potentially restore the trust that had been almost broken by the last trial.

Of course, that was a fool’s gambit. Sure, a few of the secrets were harmless, if embarrassing. Fluttershy almost burst into flames on the spot, she blushed so hard. Scootaloo’s left her groaning about how it was misleading. But then they became more dangerous. Applejack’s implied dirty political tricks. Rarity’s suggested she was violent. Diamond’s outright suggested she murdered someone and covered it up. Things got worse and worse as arguments broke out, then finally Applejack provoked a fight with Diamond Tiara, which exploded into a knuckle dragging brawl between several other passengers, including Rainbow Dash, Timber Spruce, Rarity, and others.

Finally Adagio, Sunset, and Wallflower managed to break everything up with a combination of muscles and sheer sass, but the damage was done. Whatever possible trust they’d gained in each other, they’d lost, and a lot of it. Worse, Rainbow Dash’s secret hadn’t even been exposed, nor had the one Apple Bloom possessed, leaving them suspicious. Especially when Cozy came around as Monoponi and made sharing them illegal again for seemingly no reason.

Later that night, Rainbow Dash tried to come by Flash’s cabin to apologize to him over the way she’d treated Twilight, and brought some medicine for him as a peace offering. Though he said he’d think about accepting the apology, he took the medicine anyway, hoping it would help him. Thus when he nearly bashed his head in from a grand mal seizure, Flash made a decision he would soon come to regret.

The next day saw a few apologies being exchanged, but no real understanding being reached, leaving the group with a simmering pot of tension ready to boil over at the slightest provocation. The introduction of the political favor motive did not help, especially when Rainbow Dash and Twilight broke down arguing with each other over possible ways it could be used, with Rainbow saying she was just speculating while Twilight slung accusation after accusation of Rainbow deliberately gunning for someone’s death, proving she was the traitor. To Rainbow’s credit, she didn’t stoop to insults, but the confrontation only led to Flash cementing his decision.

Rainbow Dash did her best to try and make amends with people by organizing a go-kart competition and a hockey game. For a long while, things seemed to go well. Sunset Shimmer dominated the go-kart competition, easily winning the top prize while Adagio took second and Rainbow took a distant third, her head spinning after a crash left her dizzy. The hockey game, however, nearly ended in tragedy after Rarity and Applejack broke down in a serious argument over how Applejack refused to give Trixie credit for taking care of Pinkie Pie. Apple Bloom adding her opinion to Rarity’s side only made things worse. It led to everyone dispersing, save for Flash and Rainbow, who decided to go back to go-karting together, with Rainbow unaware of Flash’s true intentions.

That evening, Flash sharpened Rainbow’s ice skates, just as he planned. He planted them, and prepared to make her crash, not knowing he was risking sealing not just her fate, but his own as well. They sped around the track, coming closer and closer to the hairpin turn, and Flash strengthened his grip on his steering wheel, preparing to jerk.

And then Pinkie Pie walked onto the track.

She’d been on a walk with Fluttershy, trying to get some exercise in after laying in bed most of the day. Fluttershy allowed Pinkie to wander where she wanted, paying little attention save for making sure she didn’t trip or fall. As a result they’d ended up going down the stairs of the access corridor, wandering the hall and exiting out through the door onto the track itself, right in the path of the go karts.

Both Flash and Rainbow slammed on the breaks, careening to a stop. Flash barely kept from impacting the wall, and avoided--just--causing his spleen to burst. He still felt a flash of abdominal pain as the sensitive organ bruised under the stress, but he wasn’t at risk for death.

Rainbow was another matter. Despite not actually crashing, the sharpened ice skates still struck a nasty blow, slicing open her legs. Not, luckily for her, at the arteries, but perilously close. Close enough that without prompt medical attention, she risked bleeding out.

While Flash leapt out of his cart and railed at Pinkie for appearing out of nowhere, Fluttershy silenced him in an instant with a harsh glare, then sprung into action with a first aid kit. She tried asking Flash to run for help, but also pulled out her Monopad and mass texted everyone to come running with first aid supplies, as his actions struck her as suspicious.

To his credit, he did actually go for help, returning swiftly with Applejack and Scootaloo, along with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, each carting their own first aid kits.

But Rainbow’s life was still in danger. She’d lost a lot of blood from the initial injury, and it took longer than anyone save Flash wanted to get her out of the kart, as she couldn’t pull herself out, and the safety mechanisms had locked up until Apple Bloom figured out how to force them to unlock. So when they got her out, she bled everywhere, her skin turning a dangerous shade of pale white. She drifted in and out of consciousness, rambling on about inanities and giggling like a loon.

It took the combined efforts of Fluttershy, Wallflower, and Timber, but together the three managed to staunch the bleeding, finally resorting to tourniquets, which allowed Timber to use his limited surgical knowledge and the few sparing tools they had to stitch up the wounds, using liberal amounts of alcohol for disinfectant. It was messy, gross, and any hospital staff worth their salt would’ve turned up their noses at his efforts, but it did the job. It saved her legs, and more importantly, her life.

Of course right after he finished, the body discovery alarm played. Or rather, the attempted murder alarm, as most of the passengers had come to think of it, no matter how much Monoponi tried to portray it otherwise. When Monoponi made his appearance, his demeanor lacked most of his usual cocky, malicious attitude. His words lacked any real malice or cruelty. Not from a lack of desire, but from a lack of energy. He was limp, pathetic.

Oh, he still got them investigating. He even forced Rainbow and Pinkie to come to the trial, which meant everyone had to scramble to find something for Rainbow to use as a makeshift wheelchair, since she didn’t have the energy to use crutches. They resorted, eventually, to an office chair taken from behind the fitness center desk.

The trial, for once, was mercifully short. Perhaps if Flash had time he could’ve distributed various evidence, made things confusing, especially if he’d accidentally killed himself in the process. But with how quickly things occurred, he never stood a chance. Sunset cornered him and forced him to confess within an hour of the trial starting.

This led to a long, drawn out conversation between Rainbow and Flash about their mutual misunderstandings, which took longer than it should have thanks to Rainbow’s difficulty with staying conscious. But by the conclusion of it, both had apologized, and Flash even broke down crying over how ashamed he was of his mistakes. Rainbow, to her credit, forgave him, openly, and said he could always make it up to her when they got off the ship. To which he agreed.

No one voted for execution this time.

Thus despite the lack of trust going in, everyone emerged from the trial feeling, if anything, more trusting of each other. They’d made it through four murder attempts, three trials, and still no one had died. They’d thrived, despite the environment they were in.

Cozy drove them out of the courtroom, and then collapsed on her throne. She wanted to cry, but she didn’t dare allow herself to do so. Not yet. She still wasn’t beaten yet. She still refused to give, refused to give up, no matter how many times these stupid, frustrating, friendship-loving morons failed to do what they were supposed to do.

Then she sat up suddenly, a maniacal gleam in her eyes, her mouth spread in a vicious, confident smirk. It was Sunset, wasn’t it? It was always Sunset who kept them going. Who kept standing up to her. Who kept them going. Who kept them all alive.

But Cozy had one final trick up her sleeve. One last, surefire thing to get the ball rolling on the murder. And if they faltered now, she was sure she could get them killing in a hurry.

This wasn’t over yet.

The fifth time it happened, Cozy broke down in tears.

After the trial, Rainbow Dash joined Pinkie Pie in a single room, as there was enough space on the bed for both. Pinkie still needed plenty of bedrest, because although she hadn’t been on the drugs for very long, she’d still gotten herself addicted. Breaking the habit wasn’t an instantaneous process.

But Fluttershy was happy to watch over them. Especially Rainbow Dash. Somewhere deep in her soul, she’d found her feelings for Rainbow… shifting. Changing. As if a spark of her memory from before the killing game still remained, reminding her that Rainbow mattered to her far more than she’d realized.

Twilight, meanwhile, spent a lot of time with Flash, helping him to feel better in the final stages of his illness, now that they’d figured out what he was sick with. It helped them bond and become closer than ever, despite his mistakes. She certainly forgave him, and, while she knew she shouldn’t, she still felt touched by how far he was willing to go to protect her.

Theirs wasn’t the only relationship that intensified, ever stronger. Adagio and Sunset had grown close, very close indeed. Despite the lack of any real death, Adagio had initially stuck close to Sunset out of fear. But, the more time she spent with her, the more she realized… she really had fallen in love. Real love, not just the usual siren possessive greed. She cared for Sunset, deeply. Maybe it was fast. She’d barely known Sunset for two weeks, not counting their lost memories. But it felt right, somehow. And with each passing day, Adagio became less and less of the evil siren she’d been, and more and more of that sardonic kind of anti-hero, the sort that used snark and wit to insult everyone, while still showing she cared. The so-called jerk with a heart of gold, in other words.

The only relationship yet to repair itself was Rarity and Applejack. The marriage picture had come to light during the second trial, as part of Rainbow’s attempted coverup, and it drove a rift between them, deep and seemingly impassable. Rarity even threatened divorce in the last trial, and sent Applejack spiraling into a depression as a result.

Cozy opened up the last part of the ship, this time not bothering with any preamble as she introduced it. This prompted Sunset to stand up to her, claiming her plans had gone completely awry, which only cemented what Cozy planned to do next. She’d planted that guitar in the music room, after all, just to see what happened.

And everything seemed to go Cozy’s way. When Sunset and Adagio happened upon the music room, Adagio played the tune, just as Cozy hoped. And just like Cozy hoped, Sunset played the countersong and prompted Adagio to choke her out, leaving Sunset horrified by what had happened, and scrambling to repair her damaged guitar.

Later, at the meeting, Diamond Tiara revealed the photo album of the Battle of the Bands, and all hell broke loose. Adagio, hurt, betrayed, and scorned, unleashed her fury upon Sunset, breaking two of her ribs in the process before being pulled off by the combined efforts of all of the strongest members of the group. Then she stormed away to her cabin to seethe. In the aftermath, when Trixie did her best to attend to Sunset’s injuries, using the skills she’d learned from Fluttershy, Wallflower, Rarity, and Sunset officially forgave her.

Deciding she needed to be as far away from the cabins as possible, Sunset spent some time with Twilight and Flash at the museum, both of whom went nuts over the displays. Twilight in particular spent a good half hour lecturing Sunset about all the various accomplishments in spaceflight the AU achieved, and in the process, finally apologized for the way she treated Sunset after the incident with Fluttershy and Pinkie in the jewelry store. She’d taken a lot of time to think about it, and between seeing Flash come close to murder, and the confrontation with Adagio, she realized she’d been wrong to blame Sunset for any of it.

Sunset forgave her, of course. She never wanted to be at odds with Twilight to begin with, and the two became friends once more, something Sunset especially treasured given her worries over Adagio’s mental health. After all, while no one had died, several members of their group had come perilously close to killing others.

Certainly everyone else thought Adagio was a threat. Many of the passengers gathered up weapons and took to carrying them around, whether it was one of the swords Trixie used for her display, the spear used for the spear trap--that one Timber took, claiming he was an expert with spears thanks to spear fishing--or a baseball bat.

Cozy, deciding an extra mote of tension among the passengers was needed, and frankly more than a little sick of dealing with them, brought them all together for a punishment-based motive, the Monocoins. Maybe being forced to eat nothing but instant ramen would finally get them killing each other.

It certainly didn’t help the feeling of tension, when Adagio saw all the weapons everyone was carrying. So hoping to bridge the divide between them, Sunset arranged to meet with Adagio at the indoor pool. Of course, despite Adagio’s request she didn’t go alone. She got Rarity and Timber to watch her back. Which proved to be a mistake, judging by how Adagio reacted when she spotted them. Adagio hurled Sunset into the pool, leading to Rarity rescuing her, and Sunset fearing for her life.

Later that evening found Sunset hanging out with Trixie, talking to her about strange dreams and her worries. Though Trixie requested Sunset stay for the night, Sunset refused.

And she regretted that. Deeply.

For it turned out she’d forgotten she’d given Adagio a key to her room, and the siren ambushed her there. Torturing her with a pipe wrench, Adagio declared she’d had enough of this place, of all these people who saw her as an enemy, and it was time for her to claim victory over them all. So after smacking Sunset around some more she forced Sunset through the promenade all the way to the library archive room, tied her up with zip ties, dosed her with ketamine, and locked her inside to die of dehydration.

Unbeknownst to Adagio, however, Trixie had seen the whole thing. Scared out of her mind, the illusionist hesitated for a while, before deciding she could confide in two of her other friends, Wallflower and Rarity. Or even in Fluttershy, whom she’d also become friends with after taking care of Pinkie and Rainbow Dash with her. But it was not to be. Cozy appeared as Monoponi and ordered Trixie not to interfere, on pain of death. Trixie, too scared to protest, gave in and agreed to Monoponi’s offer of a complicated murder mystery.

Inwardly Cozy celebrated.She’d done it. Even if Sunset didn’t die, Adagio and Trixie were sure to, one way or another. There was no way she could lose now.

Trixie planned and schemed that night, but ran out of time to act, as by the time she settled on a plan it was near morning. She’d have to act the following evening, and hope like hell Sunset lived in the meantime.

The next day saw everyone save for Adagio in a panic over Sunset’s disappearance. Adagio had planned her murder well, and played her role as a scared and worried person who, now that her estranged lover had gone missing, deeply regretted her actions. And yet, even as she lied and deceived her way through winning Rarity, Fluttershy, Apple Bloom, and even Sweetie Belle on her side, she felt a mote of real guilt worming its way into her heart. Genuine regret. She’d cared so deeply for Sunset, and even though Sunset was the whole reason she’d lost her magic, she… somewhere inside she still loved Sunset, no matter what she’d said to her. But she pressed on with her plan nonetheless, despite that sense of guilt growing throughout the day till it threatened to overwhelm her. She’d made her choice. She’d stick by it.

That night saw many people wandering the ship far later than normal. Scootaloo, so worried over Sunset, and so tired of feeling helpless, lost control and destroyed the music room, and one of the glass classes in the museum for good measure, before returning to her cabin, more ashamed than ever. Applejack, who’d been spying on Adagio all day, kept up a patrol until exhaustion claimed her. Diamond Tiara and Timber found themselves walking around aimlessly, and so on.

But eventually everyone went to bed except for Trixie, who finally had a chance to enact her scheme. While taking care of Pinkie Pie she’d learned a few interesting tricks, and thought Pinkie would appreciate the use of pranks. Thus she erected her trap at the church, complete with the incense candles, the confetti, the shekeres, and the bucket. Spotting the damage at the museum, she picked up a rock from the broken case to use as well, for convenience’s sake. Then she readied her knife, dropped off the note at Adagio’s door, and waited.

Consumed by her guilt, and now terrified she’d be caught out after all, Adagio obeyed the note’s instructions and went to the church. And just as Trixie planned, she spotted the bucket, and dodged it. She opened the door, and set off the trap, then was bludgeoned in the face by Trixie. Her senses overwhelmed, she fell back, vulnerable. Trixie reared back to strike.

And then Flash Sentry wandered in, and screamed.

Flash, who still felt more than a little guilty himself over his attempted murder, had a sleepless night. He’d gotten out of bed at 3:00 AM that morning and decided that perhaps he could ease his guilty conscience by praying at the church, like a few others had already. So, while he still moved slowly thanks to his sore stomach, he managed to arrive. Just in time to witness Trixie about to murder Adagio.

His scream distracted Trixie enough that her strike on Adagio missed, the knife falling out of her hand. Scared out of her mind, Trixie dove for the knife, making a snap decision that Flash would have to die too, now that he’d seen too much. But she didn’t get the chance. Adagio recovered quickly, far quicker than Trixie expected she could, and bashed Trixie from behind, sending her sprawling. Then, pushing Flash aside hard enough he smacked his head into the wall, she ran out of the room altogether, and raced for her cabin, unaware she’d left behind her reminder note in the process.

Poor Flash was left stunned, and more than that, confused. Between the blow to the head, his own fatigue, and the leftover effects of his illness, he didn’t know what he’d witnessed anymore. All he’d seen was a confusing mess, a flash of someone about to stab someone else, and then nothing. So, still reeling from the blow, he bent down to help Trixie get to her feet.

Trixie was left similarly dazed, but unlike Flash she had enough wits about her to realize this might still work in her favor. If this counted as an attempted murder, Monoponi might still call a trial. Sunset might still have a chance. She just had to get the key. So she played it up. She claimed Adagio tried to kill her, and screamed for Monoponi to ring the alarm.

And sure enough, the alarm played. Everyone was ripped from their sleep and forced to come down to the church, Adagio included. Adagio, furious beyond belief, was forced to watch Trixie ham things up, claiming to be the victim of an attempted murder, while she knew better. But she couldn’t out Trixie without outing her own plan as a result, and she knew where that would lead. She had to maintain the illusion.

During the resulting investigation, which Trixie took charge in because she claimed she was best suited to figuring it out, she found the note Adagio dropped. Then she took advantage of a spare moment to find and secure the key from the telescope where Adagio had left it, and used her skills with sleight of hand to slip it underneath the archive door, along with Sunset’s Monopad.

Then once more everyone was forced into the courtroom. Rainbow still needed her improvised wheelchair, still too dazed to walk easily on crutches, and Flash had to lean on Twilight to get around, but the tension was thicker than ever. Everyone was far more worried about Sunset than whoever tried to kill Trixie. If Sunset failed to arrive by the trial’s end, she’d die… and so too would their trust in each other.

The resulting trial was a nightmare of back and forth arguing, worse than any trial before it. Cozy had rigged up a light to show Sunset’s lifesigns, to make the tension even worse, and Trixie wasn’t the only one to notice. Wallflower did too, as did Apple Bloom and Fluttershy. So, partway through the trial, when the light faded, Trixie was not the only one to immediately burst into tears.

Cozy was ecstatic. Exalting in her true victory, she did her utmost to use her Monoponi disguise to throw this in everyone’s faces, taunting them over and over with how important Sunset was to them. While it made her feel even better, watching the despair that took hold of the passengers, it also had an unintended side effect.

Adagio broke. The guilt proved to be too much in the end, and when she’d realized she’d actually succeeded in killing Sunset, her heart shattered to pieces. So she confessed. She told everyone her plan, and gave herself up. She was ready to die, to be executed as the first official blackened, because she’d screwed up so badly.

Of course Cozy wouldn’t let the trial end there. Despite almost everyone screaming for Adagio’s head and more than a few passengers outright thirsty for her blood to be spilled, for the sake of vengeance, they still had to solve the attempted murder of Trixie. Adagio tried to take credit for that too, but Cozy would have none of it. This despair, this brutal chaos, this was what she’d wanted to see all along. Now that she finally had it, she had to savor it. Allow the taste to fill her mouth, enjoy it for as long as possible. So as soon as Adagio made her false confession, Monoponi declared she was lying, and a false confession wouldn’t be accepted in his courtroom.

In the middle of that confusion, Trixie’s heart broke next. Not only had she failed to save Sunset’s life, but she was going to have to out herself as an attempted murderer. Again. And this time she doubted she’d escape execution. So she prepared to give herself up too.

And then the elevator descended and Sunset stepped out. Dehydrated, yes. Filthy, injured in more ways than one… but alive.

The jubilation that filled the courtroom only barely overshadowed Cozy’s complete and utter rage-based breakdown.

Once the cheering had died down, Sunset confronted Adagio over what she’d tried to do. Adagio, too happy about Sunset’s survival to care what the others thought of her now, took a long time apologizing to Sunset, begging for forgiveness, promising to do anything to make it up to Sunset, that she never should’ve attacked her to begin with. She even forgave Sunset for taking away her magic. She just wanted to be with Sunset again. Forget everything else. They could be trapped on this ship for the rest of their lives, if it meant she’d be able to stay with Sunset.

Sunset, magnanimous as ever, forgave Adagio at once.

Thrilled by the fact that her plan had somehow succeeded despite her failure to off Adagio, Trixie proceeded to bring the trial to a rapid close, and happily admitted her own guilt. Though Sunset, not to mention Rarity, Wallflower, and a few others were furious with her, they all understood. Adagio even thanked her, because if Trixie hadn’t tried to kill her, Sunset wouldn’t have escaped, and really would have died.

Cozy tried to have Adagio executed anyway, by forcing people to vote on her as an attempted murderer. But true to form, although a few considered it, no one voted for her to die. And Trixie got away without a single yea vote either.

Though many of the passengers still distrusted Adagio after she’d shown she had the capacity to lie to their faces and try to commit murder… that was also true of many of them at this point. Their trust in each other had quaked, over and over, but it never fully broke. It never shattered, no matter what they’d been through. And so while a few still had doubts, they nevertheless attempted to move past them, even the more stubborn ones like Applejack and Diamond Tiara. They decided that, if Sunset could forgive Adagio, and accept her back, they’d accept Adagio too.

Only when they’d all left the courtroom did Cozy collapse on her throne and burst into tears. She’d failed. Her final attempt failed. She’d run out of time. Her sources in the Canterlot police department confirmed that Princess Twilight would be on her way in less than a day. And without the emotional and psychological torture of watching her friends die, there was little hope she’d make the mistakes that Cozy needed her to in order to trap her.

She spent a long time, a very long time crying her heart out over her failures, until she fell asleep on the throne, not awakening until early the next morning. Then she decided she still couldn’t give up. She still had to try.

If she could just capture Princess Twilight, she’d still pull off a win. That’s what she had to focus on now. She could still do it. She could.

Or so she hoped.

The sixth time it happened, Cozy surrendered.

Buoyed by the fact that her friends had never, not even once, killed each other, Princess Twilight boarded her ship, the Avenger, without bringing along the experimental nuclear device. She’d thought about it, heavily, as a possible backup plan. As a way to ensure Monoponi couldn’t escape. But then she dismissed that as a stupid idea. Maybe if lives had been lost, if there were fewer left on the ship, she’d be that desperate. But there was no need to risk ending everyone when there were so many lives to save.

So when she departed, she brought along a different backup plan instead. Starswirl himself would accompany her, and would protect the ship with his own magic while she went on ahead to take on Monoponi. While she still ran the risk of being captured, she knew that having him around meant there’d be a safeguard, a way to get out. Or at least guarantee the cruise ship sank, if all hope was lost.

Meanwhile, Cozy, having to work fast now, ordered everyone to gather on the bridge deck, refusing to give them the chance to eat or drink any breakfast, or even get the proper rest they needed after spending half the day before on the investigation and trial. She forced them into the final investigation, after scattering various clues around the ship.

Between Rainbow’s difficulties with walking, Pinkie Pie still suffering from her withdrawal, Flash’s lingering illness, and Sunset’s own injuries, the investigation went more slowly than everyone would’ve liked, especially with the ninety minute time limit Cozy slapped upon them.

But they made it through anyway, even if several of them needed a cane or, in Rainbow’s case, a buddy to wheel her around. They found all the clues, including the picture Cozy planted for Apple Bloom to find, along with instructions that she could reveal the secret she’d been given when the time was right. As well as clues suggesting the possibility that any single one of them could be the traitor.

Once in the trial, things heated up quickly. People found reasons to suspect each other, ranging from the invoices of Applejack’s farm selling goods to the ship, to Diamond Tiara’s stock certificate, Rarity’s black book, and so on. Only when Apple Bloom decided to reveal the secret she was given did everyone suddenly focus on Sunset. Even though Apple Bloom herself didn’t think it meant Sunset was traitorous by itself, she admitted it didn’t look very good, when put together with everything else.

Of course a few refused to accept the idea Sunset was the traitor. Adagio backed her, no matter what the others said. Trixie did too. So, to Sunset’s surprise, did Wallflower. Very surprising indeed, considering the way Wallflower had treated her at the start of the game. Over time she’d forgiven Wallflower and they’d become friends, by virtue of both caring for Trixie, but it still shocked Sunset that Wallflower would have that level of faith in her.

That trust didn’t shake at all even when Apple Bloom revealed the demon picture. Despite Apple Bloom declaring this meant Sunset had to be the traitor, she did so without malice, and stated that Sunset must have been used by the mastermind. She didn’t believe Sunset had it in her to plan this game, not when Sunset had dedicated herself to keep everyone alive, and especially not when everyone really had made it all the way here. Damaged by the experience, yes, but alive.

So to Cozy’s shock, the reveal of Sunset’s official Ultimate Traitor title not only did not break apart the group, it cemented them together, stronger than ever. Everyone backed Apple Bloom’s assertion, convinced by her words. Everyone believed Sunset herself, who refused to allow Monoponi to get to her. Everyone stood by her.

Still, not to be deterred, Cozy pushed them into figuring out the mastermind next. She threatened, cajoled, and did everything she could to make the situation as stressful as possible, even as Princess Twilight came closer and closer to boarding the ship. Finally she threatened everyone’s lives, holding them up by the throat and threatening to kill them one by one till Sunset solved her identity.

Fortunately for them, Sunset successfully figured Cozy out. She made her pronouncement to all, and Cozy took it upon herself to finally shed the Monoponi disguise and reveal her true form. Yet this still didn’t seem to elicit the level of fear in them she’d hoped. They were too strong as a group. Maybe if she was facing down five people, she could’ve had them horrified. Terrified. Afraid of her every whim. But sixteen? Even sixteen whom moments ago she really had been about to kill? No, she didn’t stand a chance, and she knew it. She had to bank on one last roll of the dice.

Princess Twilight broke into the ship and triggered Cozy’s trap. Though cautious, clever, and keen-eyed, Cozy had taken some time that morning while the others investigated to redesign the trap, make it harder to detect, harder to break. So despite herself, Twilight Sparkle was still captured.

Cozy crowed, for her victory had come at last. With Twilight Sparkle’s power ready to be drained, she could get rid of them. She didn’t need them. And she started with Twilight’s ship, launching the cruise missiles to blow it apart, not knowing that Starswirl had it shielded.

Of course even Starswirl the Bearded’s power was no match against such technological might, and he realized it. So when the cruise missiles swarmed in, he dropped the shield, and teleported the whole ship instead. It took all of his power to do it, and left the old stallion drained, exhausted, and in a coma, but he did. He moved the ship away just as the missiles exploded, far enough away that it was out of radio range.

To those on the cruise ship, however, it looked like Cozy had blown it up. The failure of the Avenger to respond to Twilight’s radio seemed to confirm that. That shook them, all of them, deep to the core. Their chance at escape had seemingly slipped through their fingers. They lost themselves as Cozy continued to explain her plan, now strutting about, oozing with smugness over her seeming victory.

But finally Cozy had enough of dealing with them, especially when Diamond Tiara’s counterspeech risked them using the magic of friendship on her. So she acted quickly, summoning up her strength to wipe Sunset out for good.

She hadn’t expected Sunset to turn that on her and use it to steal her own magic back. That was the final straw. That was what broke her, and she lost it. So infuriated, lost in rage, she tried attack after magical attack, growing more furious by the second as Sunset proceeded to, somehow, grant every single one of her fellow passengers magic. What few conflicts remained vanished during this process. Rarity forgave Applejack, and promised to get back together with her. Diamond Tiara and Applejack made friends. Scootaloo and Tiara asked each other out. Twilight and Adagio forgave each other. Pinkie Pie forgave Trixie. Sweetie Belle and Sunset made amends. On and on it went, more and more until sixteen ponied up passengers faced off against her.

The rainbow lasers tore Cozy’s power away. They stripped her of everything, every last bit she had. Helpless, hopeless to fight back against the power of friendship, she gave up.

At first the mood was bittersweet. Even if they’d won, eight hundred ponies had lost their lives. Twilight Sparkle, the human one, lost her brother. Princess Twilight lost a mentor and grandfather figure. Cozy still felt like she’d gotten something out of the deal.

That was until the Avenger came back over the horizon and contacted Princess Twilight by radio.

With the cruise ship in tow, the Avenger returned to Equestria via a portal, to allow those who’d been trapped aboard the ship to return home much faster than they would otherwise. Cozy was escorted to Canterlot, imprisoned in the dungeons until her sentence could be carried out. She’d be petrified, again, and placed in a sealed chamber where it would never be possible for her to escape. She’d never be let out.

Cozy couldn’t even summon up the energy to protest.

The rest returned to their lives, happy to have survived. Soon after, Sunset restored their memories. Though they’d been through a harrowing experience, through trauma and conflict and horror, they’d survived.

Just this once, everybody lived.

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