Chapter Three:
A Maelstrom of Murder
Deadly Life
Rarity uttered another spine-tingling shriek, clapping her hands to her head before fainting. I just caught her in time to save her from cracking her head on the tile.
“Holy hell,” Adagio muttered, staring wide-eyed at the bloated corpse. “What happened to her?”
“Murder,” Trixie squeaked as she clapsed her face in her hands. Tears drizzled between her fingers. “It happened again. It happened again!”
DING-DONG DONG-DING
That wretched happy tone signaled Monoponie’s appearance on the poolside screens. He had a large pot of coffee gripped between his forehooves, chugging it like a frat boy on a Friday night. “A body has been discovered!” he chortled. “Please gather at the indoor pool in the fitness center, at once!”
As his image winked off, I gently set Rarity down on the floor, and popped out my first aid kit from my backpack, locating some smelling salts. I wafted them under Rarity’s nose till she sat up, coughing and spluttering. “Ugh, really, darling, must you use that wretched substance?”
“Sorry,” I frowned apologetically as I helped her sit up. “But we can’t be having you passed out right now.”
Rarity let out a sorrowful moan when she saw Pinkie’s body again. “Oh why did this have to happen? Pinkie Pie didn’t deserve this…”
Applejack was the first to arrive, galloping in with her whole body tensed up like a steel suspension cable. “Was it Pink--oh mah sweet lord,” she gasped, skidding to a halt. She took off her hat and held it to her breast.
Diamond Tiara barreled in next, took one look at Pinkie’s body, and cursed.
Flash and Twilight arrived next, with Flash bursting out screaming the instant he saw the body. Twilight gripped his arm, silent tears running down her face.
Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were the last to arrive. Rainbow grit her teeth, her fists squeezed so hard at her sides they turned white. Scootaloo stomped her foot, glaring at us with a combination of rage and sorrow, tears streaming from her eyes. “Someone did it again,” she spat. “Why? Why can’t we stop killing each other?!”
“Because it’s just too much fun!” Monoponi blurted as he flashed into existence in a large sweeping flight over the pool, coming for a landing right before us. He twirled on his hooves to look at the body. “Well well, Pinkie Pie perished particularly painfully, didn’t she? Ahahahaha!”
“Sure looks like it,” Adagio agreed, her fale turning pale tinged with green. “Her body’s so swollen too. How long ago did she die?”
“Oh, you don’t really expect me to just tell that to you, do you?” Monoponi mocked, holding a hoof to his mouth. “Upupu. That’s what the investigation is for!”
Diamond Tiara slammed a fist into the closest nearby object, in this case one of the bleachers. “But this is impossible! We set up guard schedules and everything! We should’ve had someone patrolling in here all night! How did the killer get through all that? Why didn’t anyone notice her body?”
“Oh, what’s that, your pathetic little security measures failed?” Monoponi rushed at her, eliciting a scream of terror before he retreated. “Ahahaha, you’re still the same old coward. Diamond Tiara, the useless stupid rich kid no one likes or respects. Is it any wonder your plan failed?”
Gritting her teeth, Tiara scrambled to her feet and backed away from the alicorn, putting several of us between her and him. “Goddamn little shit,” I heard her mutter.
“Well, now that that’s out of way,” Monoponi said, twirling about on his hoof till he faced the rest of us. “Are there any other wastes of time you idiots want to indulge in? Hmm?” He held up a hoof to his ear. “What’s that? No pointless accusations of your Captain? No piddling about with pretending you’re all innocent little fillies and colts who’d never harm a hair on anypony else’s head? No? Good! You’re finally learning.”
His horn flashed, and our Monopads all bleeped at once. “Now, before you get started on the investigation, I’m going to ask you to check your Monopad. There’s a special little surprise in store for you, upupupu!”
Feeling a sense of dread overtake me, I switched on my Monopad screen, tabbed over to evidence… and almost dropped the pad on the floor.
Fact #1: Monoponi File IIIa: “The victim is Fluttershy, the Ultimate Veterinarian. She was executed by machine gun turrets on the promenade at approximately 6:15 PM Tuesday evening, due to her theft of a tourmaline encrusted gold ring from the jewelry store.”
“What?” I breathed. “Fluttershy?! But I thought she was executed for rule breaking! What does she have to do with Pinkie Pie?”
Similar outbursts of incredulity arose from everyone else present, except for Rainbow Dash. Shaking in fury didn’t come close to describing the outpouring of anger from her. An aura ignited all around her, glowing in a brilliant burst of white-hot rage scintillating with every color of the rainbow, burning so bright I could barely stand to look at her. What the hell? Since when does Rainbow Dash have magic?!
“Good heavens!” Rarity burst out, hiding behind Applejack, pointing a shaky finger at the glowing Dash. “What on earth is happening?”
“Aaaah!” Trixie cried, diving for the doorway to the courts.
“Woho, that’s not supposed to happen!” Monoponi blurted, a look of panic rising on his face. His horn lit up in dark crimson, lashing out like a bullwhip to curl around Rainbow Dash. She spun like a tornado as he drained the aura from her, leaving her sprawled on the floor, clutching her head and moaning. “Muuuch better. Must’ve missed some the last time.”
I knelt down to look over Rainbow Dash and had to leap away to avoid a sudden splash of vomit, the poor girl heaving up every last bit of food in her belly. As I took out my first aid kit, searching for something to soothe her aching stomach, I said, “The last time? What do you me--”
“No questions! I won’t say a single word! You’ll get nothing from me!” Monoponi clammed up, shoving both forehooves into his mouth to block it off, and mumbled some more inanities I couldn’t make out.
“Fine, whatever.” I could worry about whatever the hell that was later. I dug out some chewable tablets and unwrapped them. “Here, take this, Rainbow.”
“Thanks,” she muttered, tossing them into her mouth.
“Nevermind the glowing light show!” Tiara interrupted, stomping a foot for attention. “What’s up with Fluttershy being a victim?”
All amusement vanished from Monoponi’s face as he gnashed his teeth, wriggling all six limbs in frustration. “Because someone tricked me! Some little shit planted that ring on Fluttershy, and made me do the hard work of killing her for them! This is an outrage! I won’t stand for such mockery, such devious trickery on my ship! No one makes a fool out of Captain Monoponi!”
Oh my god. Is that what Pinkie Pie was talking about to me last night? “But,” I said aloud, “why didn’t you call a trial after it happened?”
“Upupu, the blame lies with you, Sunset!” Monoponi giggled, pointing a hoof squarely at me. “I told you I heard your little conversation the other day! You said there’d be two victims! Well, now there’s two victims! Ahahahaha!”
Several people cast dark, furious glares my way, but I tried to ignore them. It’s not my fault. I didn’t kill Pinkie. I didn’t kill Fluttershy. I won’t accept the blame for this. “So you deliberately goaded us into killing someone else just so you could run a trial for both of them.”
“Exactly!” Tittering, Monoponi twirled on his rear hooves like a ballerina, then settled back down on all fours. “After all, if I’m going to hold a trial, why not make it big? Bold? Exciting even!”
“Wait, if there’s two victims,” Scootaloo pointed out, growing horror ever increasing on her face, “Does that mean there are two blackeneds?!”
My heart hammered like a rampaging elephant trying to burst out through my chest. “Two blackeneds…”
“Is it even possible?!” Rarity squealed, looking close to fainting again. Applejack took a step closer to her, ready to catch her if need be.
“Are there two? Is there one? Who knows?! Well, I do, but I won’t tell you, upupupu!” With a flourish of his horn our Monopads received the second file. “I’ll tell you this. If and only if there are two blackeneds, you’ll have to find both of them to succeed in this trial! Failure to find one will mean your death!” His muzzle split open, revealing his sharp, jagged teeth, dripping with drool. “And nothing would make me happier than to put all of you idiots out of my misery at once!”
“Great,” Twilight grumbled dryly, throwing up her hands so they could clap at her sides. “Wonderful. Fantastic. Brilliant! Absolutely amazing!” She shook her head in disbelief. “Don’t even know how many people we’re looking for this time. How will we know what is and isn’t important?”
“Don’t ask me!” Monoponi retorted, waving a hoof dismissively at her.”That’s for you to decide, not I!”
“Excuse me, Monoponi,” Adagio said, her smile and tone dripping with acidic non-sincerity. “But if there’s two blackeneds, who gets executed? Will you kill them both?”
We all fell silent. It was a damned good question. Who would be executed? I’ll bet he’ll make us pick. He’s that kind of sadist.
“Hmm… hmmm… “ Monoponi spent several minutes scratching his chin, then set a hoof to his mouth. “Ahaha, I know! I won’t tell you!”
“What?” the siren blurted, all traces of respect gone in a flash of ire. “Why not?”
“Because it’s more fun this way,” Monoponi giggled. “You won’t find out who dies until after you’ve successfully determined whether there's one or two blackeneds! Oooh the suspense will be so thrilling! Eyahahahaha!”
“Grrrr…” Adagio hissed, her hands curling up like claws.
I set a hand on her shoulder. “Easy there, Adagio,” I said in a soothing tone. She shrugged me off, but nodded at me all the same.
“Are we done here?” Monoponi demanded, glaring at us all. “Yes? No? Yes? No more questions? Well then get to it, idiots! Your investigation time starts now!” He disappeared in a brilliant flash of crimson light.
Here we go again. Once again, we’ve got to track down the culprit. Or culprits. Whichever it may be. I set my features into grim determination, nodding to myself. Either way, I’m ready. Let’s do this.
Before I did anything else, I bent down again to check on Rainbow. “How’re you doing, Rainbow?”
Rainbow’s cheeks bulged and she clapped a hand to her mouth, rocking back and forth for a moment before relaxing. “Not good,” she moaned. “Like I was tossed through a dryer on spin cycle. At a thousand miles an hour.”
“Maybe you should guard the body, then,” I said, smiling sympathetically.
“But… I… Fluttershy--”
“I know,” I said, holding out a hand. “I know. Don’t worry. I’ll crack the case for you, I promise. Alright? You need to take care of yourself. Being drained like that isn’t good for you.”
“Do you know what Monoponi did, Sunset?” Twilight interrupted, glaring at me. “Wait, what am I saying. Of course you do. Because you’re--”
“I’m only going to say this once,” said Adagio Dazzle as she clapped a hand on Twilight’s shoulder so hard the researcher yelped in pain. Adagio spun Twilight around and focused her wintery cold predatory gaze with bared teeth, causing the younger woman to freeze up in fright. “Don’t. Waste. Our. Time. If you want to accuse Sunset, save it for the trial. Got it?”
“Mmhmm!” Twilight mumbled, nodding like a bobble head.
Adagio flashed her a mocking smile then shoved her away stumbling into Flash Sentry’s waiting arms. “Good.”
“Hey, what the hell, Adagio!” Flash protested, cradling Twilight protectively. “You don’t have to threaten her like that!”
“Shut it, Sentry,” Adagio barked, looking every bit the rude, nasty woman she’d been on the first night of our voyage as she flipped him off. “We don’t have time to argue.”
Flash sneered, his upper lip quivering. “Come on, Twilight, let’s go search somewhere else.” He took a brief moment to glare daggers at me before they left the room altogether.
I sighed in frustration. “Adagio…”
Adagio whirled on me, grimacing. “Like I told him, no time, Sunset.”
“I know, I know… we still need someone else to guard the body with Rainbow though.”
Scootaloo stepped forward, raising a hand. “I’ll stick with Rainbow Dash. I’ll make sure she’s okay.”
Smiling, I handed over my first aid kit. “Take this, then. She’ll probably need more antacids.”
Tossing off a two-fingered salute, Scootaloo took the kit and started keeping watch.
Okay. Time to check the file. I switched my Monopad back on and clicked over to the second file.
Fact #2: Monoponi File IIIb: “The victim is Pinkie Pie, the Ultimate Party Planner. The victim’s body has multiple injuries, including blunt force trauma to the head, puncture wounds on the arms, and the fifth metacarpal bone of both hands are broken. Signs of opioids were discovered in the victim’s blood.”
“Whoa nelly,” Applejack breathed as she read over my shoulder. “Poor girl went through the ringer, didn’t she?”
“She sure did. No time of death either, so who knows when it happened.” looked up at the body, recoiling in disgust at the sight. “Did you want to examine the body with me?”
“If it’s all the same to you Ah’d rather keep an eye on Rarity,” Applejack said, shaking her head. “It’s not a pretty sight, so Ah don’t blame her if she doesn’t want to stick around.”
Trixie’s hand shot up. “Um, Sunset, if it’s okay with you, Trixie wants to help.” She stood up shakily, stabilizing herself by grabbing onto my shoulder.
I arched an eyebrow at the illusionist, noting how pale she looked. “Are you sure? This is gonna be pretty gross.”
“Yes,” Trixie said, gulping nervously. “Trixie hasn’t been much help in the past two investigations. She doesn’t want to sit on the sidelines this time.”
“Alright then. Adagio, do you have the gloves?”
The siren reached into her pockets and tossed us each a pair of disposables. “Right here.”
I thanked her, slipped them on with a snap, then made my way towards the body. Pinkie’s bloated corpse drifted in the water, just close enough to be reached without going in. Not wanting to get soaked, Adagio and I carefully took hold of the body and dragged it out of the water, splashing water everywhere into our shoes. “So gross,” I groaned.
Every part of her exposed body was like sandpaper, red, rough, and dried out, like she’d suffered chemical burns. Her lips, eyelids, fingers, arms, legs, and cheeks had swollen up like she’d been filed up by a bicycle pump. Her mouth was open, too, exposing her tongue, like a fat slug. Her hair was sticky with blood in many places, difficult to make out due to the similar color.
Fact #3: Body Condition: “The body was discovered floating face up in the shallow end of the pool. Every part of the exposed skin is covered in red rashes similar to chemical burns.”
Remembering the Monoponi file, I decided to examine her head first, searching for the wound, and found it right on the back of her head where the parietal and occipital skull bones met. It was nasty, a huge gash torn open to the bone, revealing dozens of cracks zigzagging out from the impact site. The entire back of her head was stained pink with her blood. My gorge rose, but I forced it back down, trying to maintain some form of clinical detachment. “Jeez, Pinkie, this must’ve hurt bad,” I muttered.
“What do you think caused it?” Adagio wondered, equally disgusted.
Trixie took one look at the wound and cringed, holding her arm to her mouth. “Trixie doesn’t want to know,” she mumbled.
*Updated* Fact #3: Body Condition: “The body was discovered floating face up in the shallow end of the pool. Every part of the exposed skin is covered in red rashes similar to chemical burns. The back of her skull was broken open by the impact of a blunt object.”
I moved on to her arms. She was still dressed in the jacket I’d lent her, the leather ruined by the water damage. I rolled up the sleeves and checked her left arm first. Sure enough, there were the puncture wounds mentioned, a whole bunch of little ones spotted up and down her arm. “Needles,” I said in a melancholy tone. “She was injecting herself with needles.”
“That’d explain the opioids mentioned in the Monoponi file,” Adagio said, nodding.
“She injected herself right in front of me once, yesterday,” I said, squeezing my eyes shut. “She made me turn away so I couldn’t see her do it. Damn it, I should’ve just stopped her then.”
*Updated* Fact #3: Body Condition: “The body was discovered floating face up in the shallow end of the pool. Every part of the exposed skin is covered in red rashes similar to chemical burns. The back of her skull was broken open by the impact of a blunt object. There are multiple puncture wounds, consistent with needles, on both of her arms.”
“Why is she wearing one of your jackets?” Trixie asked, holding up the material in question.
“Oh, I gave it to her, because she was shivering and cold,” I answered. “Probably a side effect of withdrawal from whatever drug she was using.”
Adagio stood up, stretching out her arms as her knees popped and crackled. “Mrph, we should check her room, see if we can’t find what she was using.”
I raised a hand to my chin, only just barely remembering in time not to actually touch myself with the blood soaked glove. “But aren’t the rooms locked?”
“She might have her room key on her still,” Trixie muttered. Sticking out her tongue from the effort, she fumbled through Pinkie’s skirt pockets till she pulled out something shiny, dangling it in her hand. “Here we go. One key.” She set it down and scooted it over. “Huh, there’s actually a second key here. Nothing else though.” She tossed the second key over.
“Wait, really?” I asked, arching an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t she have her Monopad?” I took a moment to search Pinkie’s pockets, including the pockets of the jacket, but I didn’t find anything. “I thought we were supposed to keep our Monopads on us at all times.”
“Yeah,” Trixie mused with a frown. “That is what Trixie thought too. Maybe someone took it?”
“But that’s against the rules,” I pointed out. “Unless that rule doesn’t apply once someone’s dead.”
“Maybe it doesn’t. We never asked,” Trixie said, shrugging.
Shrugging back, I decided to examine her hands next. Unfortunately, due to the swelling, it was very difficult to tell what was and wasn’t broken in her hand. The skin of her hands had started to slough off, especially along the pinkie finger and wrist. Whatever broke her hands inflicted serious damage, enough to leave them especially vulnerable to watery decomposition.
*Updated* Fact #3: Body Condition: “The body was discovered floating face up in the shallow end of the pool. Every part of the exposed skin is covered in red rashes similar to chemical burns. The back of her skull was broken open by the impact of a blunt object. There are multiple puncture wounds, consistent with needles, on both of her arms. The skin along both hands had started to slough off.”
Adagio stripped off her gloves. “I’d say we’re done here. I want to go check out that scene in the weight room. We didn’t get a close look at it.”
Trixie sprang up from the body in a hurry, holding an arm to her mouth. “Trixie is all too happy to follow.”
“Sure, go ahead. I just want to give the body a quick once over, in case we missed anything,” I replied, kneeling back over it.
I felt Adagio’s hand grip my shoulder. “No time, Sunset. Come on.”
“Wha--hey!” I found myself dragged up to my feet, spun around, and pushed back towards the weight rooms. “But we weren’t done! What if we missed something?”
“I doubt we did,” Adagio growled. “Come on.”
Fine, jeez. I stripped off my gloves and tossed them in a bin as we passed by the courts. We entered the weight room, finding Diamond Tiara walking around, snapping pictures with her Monopad. I quietly took in the scene.
The puddle of blood we’d noticed was right in the center of the room. It was a good six inches or more across, congealed and half dried into an ugly rusty dark pink color. There was a single bloody footprint sticking out of the puddle, just the heel portion, so it could’ve belonged to anyone. All of the equipment around the pool was disturbed, knocked over, or moved out of position.
Fact #4: Weight-Lifting Room: “The central mat is covered in a large half-dried bloodstain with a single bloody footprint heel emerging from it. The equipment in the room was moved around and disturbed, suggesting a struggle.”
I bent down to look closer at the bloodstain and the surrounding area, for anything out of place. “Hey, look at this, guys,” I said. There were a number of hairs scattered around the scene, all over the place. Some of them were curly and pink, just like Pinkie’s hair. The rest were yellow and straight. All except for one. That one was wavy and purple. Odd.
*Updated* Fact #4: Weight-Lifting Room: “The central mat is covered in a large half-dried bloodstain with a single bloody footprint heel emerging from it. The equipment in the room was moved around and disturbed, suggesting a struggle. Curly pink hairs and straight yellow hairs were discovered at the scene, alongside a single wavy purple hair.”
“Hmm…” Trixie muttered, scratching her chin, narrowing her eyes at the two of us. “This isn’t either of you, right?” Adagio’s icy returning stare said it all. Trixie let out a yelp and stepped back. “Sorry, sorry!”
“Anyway,” Adagio groused, scanning the room, “I don’t see the murder weapon anywhere. What do you think they used?”
“Check the shelves,” I ordered, moving over to them. I scanned up and down the shelves of kettlebells, medicine balls, dumbbells… and then I spotted one, with just the slightest hint of pink on it. I pulled on it, winced, then took hold of it with both hands. “Jeez this is heavy.” I held it up as high as I could so I could check the weight. Seventy pounds. No wonder. I managed to turn it around in my hands enough to see the pink splotch I noticed. It was very faint, barely present on one end. Like someone cleaned it off and missed a spot. I checked for any other bits, but I didn’t see any.
Fact #5: Dumbbell: “A seventy pound dumbbell, with a small splotch of blood on one end.”
I handed it over to Adagio, who, to my surprise, easily handled it in one hand. “Huh. Pretty heavy,” she murmured. She held it up over her head, then gave it a couple of practice swings. “This wouldn’t be easy to use for most people.”
“Yeah,” I murmured. “Probably only yourself, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and maybe Flash Sentry could use it.”
“And Rarity,” Trixie added. “Rarity is way stronger than she looks.”
*Updated* Fact #5: Dumbbell: “A seventy pound dumbbell, with a small splotch of blood on one end. Only five people could use it as a weapon: Flash Sentry, Adagio Dazzle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity.”
While Adagio set the dumbbell down, I walked over to Diamond Tiara. “Hey, Tiara, did you see anything stand out we hadn’t noticed yet?”
Tiara smirked. “Yeah, actually,” she said, pointing at a shelf of free weights in the corner. “Take a look under that shelf.”
Navigating through the machines, I bent down to look under the shelf. Sure enough, there were several loose circular weights there, dripping wet onto a towel tucked underneath them. A jump rope was threaded through each of the weights, tied in loose knots at both ends. Each weight was a good fifty pounds.“What the heck?”
Fact #6: Free Weights and Rope: “A group of four fifty pound free weights, placed under the free weight shelf, dripping with water. They were tied together with a jump rope threaded through and knotted loosely at both ends.”
“Weird, isn’t it?” Tiara commented as I stood back up.
I glanced at Adagio, who shrugged. Poor Trixie looked utterly baffled, holding her hands to her chest as she pouted. “Trixie doesn’t understand.”
“We’ve still got a lot to examine, Trixie, don’t worry,” I said, patting her on the shoulder. “Actually, Tiara, while I have you here, do you think you could share with me the guard schedule over the last day? We didn’t get a time of death for Pinkie.”
Diamond Tiara rummaged through her pack and pulled out her notebook. “Here. Take a picture. S is for stationary, P for patrol.”
Fact #7: Guard Schedule: “The guard schedule on Wednesday into Thursday is as follows:
2:00 PM Trixie S/Scootaloo P
6:00 PM Adagio Dazzle S/Scootaloo P
10:00 PM Diamond Tiara S/Pinkie Pie P
-----Midnight---
2:00 AM Twilight Sparkle S/Rainbow Dash P
6:00 AM Applejack S/Rarity P
10:00 AM Flash Sentry S/Sunset Shimmer P
“Thanks,” I said, noting this down. Then I turned to Trixie and Adagio. “Why don’t we look around the rest of the fitness center? I want to make sure we don’t overlook anything.”
I first took a couple minutes to glance over the cardio room, but I didn’t see anything out of place. Nor was there anything out of place in the open space room, apart from a single missing jump rope, presumably the same one tied to the weights. Then we went into the locker room. Most of the lockers were empty, but one was closed, with a simple padlock on it. “Hmm, I wonder…” I pulled out the second key we found on Pinkie’s body. It was a perfect fit. Inside I found... “What the hell?”
It was the picture. The picture of Applejack and Rarity, along with their sisters, eating at the diner. “Why was this on her? Last I knew, I had it in my… pocket…” My face turned pale. “Uh, Adagio, Trixie, did either of you happen to empty the pockets from my clothes when you did laundry yesterday?”
“Of course I did,” Adagio snorted. “I remember seeing the picture. I put it with a couple of other things on top of my basket. I know I put it back in your cabin.”
“Did you?”
Now it was Adagio’s turn to blanch. “I thought I did…”
“Wait a minute. Let Trixie see that picture, please,” Trixie requested, holding out a hand.
Fact #8: Photo #1: “A picture of Applejack, Rarity, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom eating together at a diner. Applejack and Rarity are wearing matching rings.”
“Oh, right, you haven’t seen this yet, have you?” I said, handing it over with a light blush to my cheeks. “Sorry, Adagio, Pinkie and I found it exploring, and we were trying to keep it quiet. We were worried it might cause… problems.”
“Trixie can see why,” said the illusionist, gaping at the picture in awe. “Rarity and Applejack were married… Trixie did not see that coming.” She handed it back over to me.
I shrugged, and made sure to tuck the picture away safely. The question is, did Pinkie find it, or was it planted?
I checked the locker, running my hands through it in case there was something else. And sure enough, in the back, I found a Monopad, with a name etched in golden letters on the back: Pinkamena Diane Pie. “Huh, here’s her Monopad,” I said as I switched it on. There were several unanswered texts from various people this morning, when we were searching for her. She’d sent check-in-texts during her guard shift, every fifteen minutes like clockwork. She had nothing recorded on the audio. Nothing on pictures either, save for one. "Holy... look at this!"
“That’s… ominous looking,” Trixie said, cringing.
Fact #9: Photo #2: “A picture taken by Pinkie Pie’s Monopad in the weight room, showing the silhouette of someone with long hair approaching her with a dumbbell in hand, blanked out due to a bright light behind them. Pinkie’s skirt is visible in the picture.”
“She must’ve taken that just before she died,” Adagio said, shaking her head softly.
Did she? If she did, how’d the Monopad end up in the locker? And why did she have the key? Something about this doesn’t feel right. I switched off Pinkie’s Monopad and placed it carefully in my backpack, along with the lock and key from the locker. I had the feeling they’d prove important.
“Okay, now just the sau--”
“Sunset,” Adagio cut me off instantly, her eyes flashing with crimson. “We need to investigate Pinkie’s room. We don’t have time to waste.”
Okay, enough’s enough. “Adagio, what is your deal? Why do you keep trying to rush us?” I crossed my arms over my chest, refusing to back down as I matched Adagio glare for glare. “Are you trying to hide something?”
“No!” Adagio spat, baring her teeth. Her jaws opened just a tad, as if threatening to lunge for my throat. “Don’t be a fool!”
“Then tell me why you keep pushing us along,” I insisted, lowering my stance and inching my forehead forward, like I was bringing the horn I didn’t have to bear.
“Grrrrr… augh!” Adagio threw up her hands in disgust, giving up the fight. “Because of Rainbow Dash. You understood what we saw, right? That was real Equestrian magic she used.”
The beginnings of a pounding headache arose in my skull. “I’m well aware of that, Adagio.”
“A-and you saw what Monoponi did, right? He drained her. Like some kind of siphon!” My siren lover gesticulated wildly as she spoke, every word more frantic and crazed than the last. “That takes dark magic. Evil magic. The kind that corrupts you, warps you, perverts you into a twisted soulless demon!”
“I know that Adagio!” I retorted, groaning. “But we can’t just drop everything to focus on that. We need to focus on the trial. We have two blackeneds to find, remember?”
“But if Rainbow Dash has magic, doesn’t that mean it’s possible we all have magic?” Adagio gripped a handful of her bushy hair, pulling at it in her frustration. “What if all we have to do to get out of here is--”
“Um, excuse Trixie,” interrupted the illusionist, a look of utter bafflement on her face, “but how do you know how magic works, Adagio?”
Adagio stiffened, her breath quickening. “Uh. er, I, that is--”
“I told her all about it,” I said, jumping in to cover for her. We’ve kept her secret so far. I’m not about to let it out now. “The day after the first trial. She asked me all about it, so I told her as much as I remembered.”
Trixie leered at me, eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Really. But Trixie thought you told us all you could the other day. And you never said anything about this… dark magic stuff.”
I gave her a big toothy smile. “Hey, Twilight just asked me about what Monoponi could do. She never said I needed to tell her everything I knew about magic.” My smile dimmed. “And I had no idea Monoponi could drain magic from others until I watched him do it.”
“Oh.” Trixie blinked once, twice, then shrugged. “Trixie supposes that makes sense.”
I watched Adagio visibly relax, returning to a more sedate posture. “Adagio, I know you’re worried about that magic, but we really should focus on the investigation. We’ll look into the magic afterwards, I promise.”
“Fine,” Adagio harrumphed. She bowed slightly and held out one arm, beckoning me to move forward. “After you.”
We made our way through the other exit from the locker room, into the corridor with the hot tub and sauna. I kept my eyes peeled as I scanned over the area. At first, nothing seemed out of place. The hot tub was undisturbed, the sauna still set to the same temperature. So I poked my head inside, and that’s when I saw it. The interior side of the sauna door was dented. Like something had smacked into it, impacting the metal. The door handle was damaged too, from blunt impacts. There were splashes of blood in the dents and on the handle as well.
Fact #10: Sauna Door: “The sauna door is dented on the inside, with traces of blood in the dents. There is also damage to and blood on the interior door handle.”
“That’s odd,” I said, running my hand along the door. “What caused this?” I glanced at both Trixie and Adagio, but they just shrugged. “Well, I’ll note it down.”
After doing so, I returned to the indoor pool. Pinkie’s body was still laying there, protected by Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash was sitting up and looked less pale than she did earlier. No one else was around. “Okay, give me two seconds to examine the body one more time,” I said as I pulled out a fresh pair of gloves, “and then we’ll go to Pinkie’s cabin.”
Ignoring the glare of irritated impatience Adagio shot my way, I quickly gave the body a once over, checking for any additional wounds or damage or something we missed. It wasn’t until I took a look under Pinkie’s shirt that I saw something… odd. Right above her left breast was a puncture mark. It didn’t look like the ones on her arms. It was stretched out, like something larger penetrated her. Or maybe it was the swelling that made it look that way. Either way it struck me as important.
*Updated* Fact #3: Body Condition: “The body was discovered floating face up in the shallow end of the pool. Every part of the exposed skin is covered in red rashes similar to chemical burns. The back of her skull was broken open by the impact of a blunt object. There are multiple puncture wounds, consistent with needles, on both of her arms. The skin along both hands had started to slough off. There is a large puncture wound on the body’s chest, right above the left breast.”
Now satisfied I’d found everything, I stripped my gloves off and joined Adagio and Trixie in making our way towards the cabins. While on the way, I stopped briefly in the shopping quarter. “I want to check inside the jewelry store,” I said. I poked around, seeing if there were any leftover receipts in the bin or discarded bits of trash, but I saw nothing. There was nothing else of note on the promenade itself either, as most of the mess from her execution had been cleaned, and what was left meant basically nothing.
“Trixie doesn’t know what you expected to find,” grumbled the illusionist as we resumed our course towards the cabins, heading via the bridge deck, since Pinkie’s was right on the end by the lounge.
I brought out Pinkie’s room key as we reached her cabin, and unlocked the door. Entering it, I was immediately overwhelmed by the sheer level of pink in the room. Everywhere, on every available surface, Pinkie Pie had plastered something decorative, ranging from leftover pink streamers from the pool party, to tons of pink construction paper carved into a variety of shapes such as stars, hearts, and balloons, and even in some places outright pink spray paint. She must’ve gotten that from the theater prop shop. A quick peek into the bathroom showed she did the same thing in there, with everything except for the shower and sinks. “Good grief, Pinkie Pie,” I muttered.
“How can she stand this much pink?” groaned Adagio. She whipped out her sunglasses and put them on. “It’s unbearable!”
“Trixie agrees.” Trixie squeezed her eyes into slits, holding up an arm like a shield.
“Alright, well, let’s try and see what we can find.” I said as I got down on my hands and knees and rifled through cabinets. I found nothing of interest in the bathroom other than the usual supplies such as towels, toilet paper, shampoo, etc, though I did find a large number of extra toothpaste tubes, in a variety of flavors. Moving on to the rest of the cabin, as I checked under the bed I saw a spare towel covering something. “Hello, what’s this?” I wondered as I reached in for the object. Removing the towel, I found a large tote bag, identical to the one I saw her carrying the other night. I held it up to show Adagio and Trixie. “This is probably what she kept her drugs in.”
“Ugh, drugs,” Trixie said, sticking out her tongue. “So unsavory.”
“I dunno, an edible from time to time can be pretty relaxing,” Adagio smirked, grinning wider when she saw Trixie’s look of dismay. “What, you don’t care for marijuana?”
“No thank you,” Trixie muttered, backing off. “Trixie is far better off without any mind-altering substances.”
“Well I doubt she was on weed,” I said. I took a deep breath, and opened the bag. My heart sank as I pulled out six large latched cases, each one marked as a different type of opioid drug. Oxycodone, morphine, and heroin. Three of the cases contained only empty syringes. The other three each contained four syringes. Of these, three were mostly empty, but one syringe in each case was completely full and untouched. She probably hadn’t gotten to them yet.
Fact #11: Drug Cases: “Six cases of injectable drugs, two oxycodone, two heroin, two morphine. One case of each type only contained empty syringes. Each of the other three cases have four syringes, two of which were two-thirds empty, one of which was entirely empty, and with the fourth full and untouched.”
“Holy shit,” Adagio muttered, staring at the cases in disbelief. “You’d think only one of these would be good enough. Why did she need so many?”
“Pinkie Pie did everything excessively.” I let out a mournful sigh. “Even drug abuse, it seems. Damn it, Pinkie, I told you that you could talk to me about your problems. You didn’t have to resort to this.”
“But why though?” Adagio shook her head as she assisted me in placing the cases into my backpack, for evidence purposes. “I’ve seen people strung out on drugs before, but not someone like Pinkie. She was too… wholesome.”
“I think there was something she deeply regretted,” I said, sighing again. “She asked for some advice last night, when I gave her my jacket, about having possibly done something very bad.”
Trixie coughed, getting our attention. “Trixie might have an explanation.” She held up a hardcover notebook, marked “Pinkie’s Diary” in large looping letters on the front. “Trixie found it hiding behind her desk.”
I took the diary, and read through it quickly. The first few entries covered the first couple of days on the ship, before anyone died. They had a happy feeling about them, high energy, exuberant and cheerful. She recorded her musings and thoughts about the people around her, and her daily activities. A couple of pages were dedicated to her party planning for the pool party.
Then I reached the entry after Wallflower’s death, and it all went downhill from there. Each entry following the first trial grew more and more melancholic, heartbreaking even. Pinkie admitted, the day after the trial, that she went and bought her first drug, some morphine, from the pharmacy. As the entries wore on, Pinkie admitted to further and further issues, treating the diary as her only confidant. After the second trial, though, things broke. She admitted she used more and more morphine, just to get by. She felt isolated and alone, with no real friends amongst the rest of us. She said she was tempted, more than once, to get something harder, like oxycodone or heroin, but she was always able to resist it.
There was one entry, the day of Fluttershy’s death, where she showed a bit of hope. A bit of excitement that she was forming a new friendship with Fluttershy. But then the very next entry afterwards made my blood freeze in my veins so hard my heart threatened to shatter.
Fact #12: Diary: “A diary discovered in Pinkie Pie’s cabin, wherein she admits using drugs. The following is scribbled repeatedly on several pages, in barely discernible handwriting: “What have I done oh my god what have I done she’s dead she’s dead and it’s my fault it’s all my fault I killed her I killed her why why why why why?!”
“Holy fuck,” I muttered as I read on. Every entry after the first one like that was identical, each one more and more difficult to read, until finally, there was the very last entry.
*Updated* Fact #12: Diary: “A diary discovered in Pinkie Pie’s cabin, wherein she admits using drugs. The following is scribbled repeatedly on several pages, in barely discernible handwriting: “What have I done oh my god what have I done she’s dead she’s dead and it’s my fault it’s all my fault I killed her I killed her why why why why why?!” The last entry in the diary reads: “Thank you Sunny. I’ll do what needs to be done.”
“What the hell did you tell her to do?” Adagio asked, ripping the diary out of my hands so she could read back through it herself.
“Nothing!” I said as I leapt to my feet, glaring daggers at the siren. “I didn’t tell her to do anything. She asked me what to do if someone told her something was okay when it wasn’t, and I said to talk to them about it. That’s all I did.”
“Hmph.” Adagio scanned the diary, her eyes widening at every fresh entry. “Wow. I thought she was crazy, but she was completely nuts.”
“None of us are doing well, Adagio,” I retorted with an unhappy sigh. “None of us are coping in a healthy manner.”
Trixie snorted. “Trixie doesn’t see how that justifies getting hooked on three different drugs at once.”
“She got them from the pharmacy, right?” Adagio asked. “Should we go there and check the receipts?”
I carefully took the diary back from Adagio and placed it into my backpack. “We can, but the diary said she bought them over the course of a week or so. I’m not sure it’s necessary.”
Adagio arched an eyebrow at me and sneered. “Oh really? Tell me, Sunset, where in the Monoponi file does it list a cause of death?”
“Uh…” I briefly looked back at the file. “Oh crap. You’re right. It doesn’t. Wait, does that mean she might’ve--”
“Overdosed?” Adagio answered for me. “Yes. The diary said she’d ‘do what needs to be done.’”
Trixie raised one hand in confusion, her face twisting up. “But then how would she get those injuries? Trixie isn’t sure this makes sense.”
“Well it’s worth investigating either way,” I said, heading for the door. Let’s… wait.” Right as I was about to leave, I spotted the bin by the door. There were a few scraps of paper inside. I picked them out and started putting them together piece by piece. Most had been irreparably rendered illegible due to some sort of water damage, but there was still a bit that was readable, for some definitions of readable. It was chicken scratch, heavily slanted to the left, the style vaguely familiar. I’d seen it before somewhere. Maybe the library log?
Fact #13: Discarded Note: “A handwritten note torn to shreds, found in Pinkie Pie’s wastebasket. The handwriting is messy and heavily slanted to the left. Most of the text was illegible, save for the following words: ‘help me surprise Fluttershy.’”
“Well well well,” Adagio said, grinning dangerously. “This could be our ticket to figuring out who did Fluttershy in.”
I stuffed it into my pocket. “Agreed. Let’s get moving. We’ll hit the pharmacy first, then I want to hit up the library to compare this to the book log. After that we’ll check the access corridor, in case there’s some clues there.”
As we passed by the food court, we ran across Twilight and Flash. “Oh, Twilight, good, I need to ask you something,” I said, remembering the guard schedule.
She and Flash wore matching sneers of disdain as I approached. “What do you want? Come to have your girlfriend beat me up some more?”
“I can, if you’d like,” Adagio chuckled dangerously, raising a fist up.
“Cool it you two,” I ordered, sighing in exasperation. “Twilight, I wanted to ask you about your guard shift last night. You worked from 2:00 AM to 6:00 AM, right? The stationary position by the stairwell?”
She stared up at the ceiling, blew a sigh out through her teeth, then brought out a notebook. “Yes, I did,” she answered in a grudging growl. “Four hours of little to do save for reading a book. I hope that’s helpful.”
I rolled my eyes at her sarcasm. “You didn’t hear anything during that time? No noise, no one came by?”
“Uuugh. No. I didn’t hear a thing. Rainbow Dash walked by a couple of times on her patrol, and we did the usual texting check ins, but that was it. Nothing else.” She arched an eyebrow. “Satisfied?”
Fact #14: Twilight’s Account: “According to Twilight, she heard no noise during her entire shift from 2:00 AM to 6:00 AM. She saw Rainbow Dash twice during the night, and performed her regular fifteen minute interval text check-ins.”
“No, not really, but it’ll do,” I groused as I noted that all down, then paused, and hummed. “Actually, wait, there is something else I want to ask you both. Did either of you see anyone acting suspicious around Pinkie Pie’s cabin on Tuesday, before 6:00 PM?”
Twilight scoffed. “Not really, no. I was in the library most of that day. I think I went back to my cabin around maybe 2:30 for a bit, but then I went back to the library.”
“Yeah, I remember seeing you there,” Flash mused, scratching his chin. “I came out of my cabin and saw you walk past me.”
Trixie cocked her head. “Isn’t your cabin close to the bridge deck though? Trixie would think Twilight would go the other way, since it’s faster.”
“I wanted a bit of fresh air,” Twilight said, crossing her arms. “That’s why I left the library to begin with. That, and I needed the bathroom. Happy now?”
*Updated* Fact #14: Twilight’s Account: “According to Twilight, she heard no noise during her entire shift from 2:00 AM to 6:00 AM Thursday morning. She saw Rainbow Dash twice during the night, and performed her regular fifteen minute interval text check-ins. She spent most of Tuesday prior to 6:00 PM in the library, with a brief break for the bathroom and fresh air around 2:30 PM. Flash corroborated this account, stating she passed by his cabin on the end by the lounge.”
“Yes, thank you, Twilight,” I answered. “Flash, did you see anyone else other than Twilight?”
“Uh, you and Trixie walked by right after she did,” he said, snorting. “You were so busy talking I don’t think you noticed me standing there.”
“Aheheh, sorry,” I said with a sheepish laugh as I shared a look with Trixie, who shrugged. “Anyway, thank you. Come on girls, let’s get moving.”
“Trixie will not apologize for being focused on her conversation,” Trixie said grumpily as we headed for the pharmacy.
“Nor should you,” Adagio said, with a surprisingly supportive smile. Then it switched to a smirk. “Not like you’ve got the brain capacity to do anything else while talking.”
“Hmph!” Trixie puffed up her chest and slapped a hand to it. “You just can’t fathom the depths of focus Trixie’s mind can achieve.”
As we arrived, I checked the pharmacy register, but after searching it for a good few minutes, nothing of value came up. I saw the purchases Pinkie made, but no other illegal drug purchases. I did notice with interest that Rainbow Dash stopped by the pharmacy around 3:00 AM to buy some pain reliever. “I thought the pharmacy was only open overnight on Tuesday,” I said.
Trixie pointed to a sign hanging right outside the doorway that read “Now 24/7!”
“Naturally,” Adagio groaned, slapping a hand to her face.
“Well this was a bust,” I said, frowning. “Let’s head to the library next. We should probably hurry. We’ve been investigating for an hour already; I doubt Monoponi will give us much longer.”
We hurried to the library, making our way quickly to the second floor. The library log was right where we’d left it after the second trial. There were a few more entries, of course, but that wasn’t what I was concerned about this time. I wanted to match the handwriting. So I set the note side by side with the log, and scanned, and scanned. “Wait… there!”
I found a match all right. But not the one I was expecting.
Fact #15: Library Log: “The handwriting of the log entry ‘Daring Do and the Cornerstone of Light: Rainbow Dash X/O’ is a near perfect match for the handwriting of the note found in Pinkie Pie’s wastebasket, apart from being slightly slanted to the right.”
*Updated* Fact #13: Discarded Note: “A handwritten note torn to shreds, found in Pinkie Pie’s wastebasket. The handwriting is messy and heavily slanted to the left. Most of the text was illegible, save for the following words: ‘help me surprise Fluttershy.’ The handwriting near perfectly matches a sample of Rainbow Dash’s handwriting.”
Trixie’s eyes bulged as she looked between the note and the log. “What? Rainbow Dash? B-but that--”
I held up a hand. “I know, but don’t speculate right now. We’ll figure this one out in the trial.”
We made for the access corridor next, swinging by via the fitness center route. Diamond Tiara was still hanging around the weight room. “Hey, Tiara, real quick,” I said, calling her over. “I meant to ask if you saw or heard anything during your watch last night.”
“Uh, not really,” she said, her hands squarely on her hip, an irritated expression plastered on her face. “I saw Pinkie Pie pass by once, around 11:00 PM. She went down the stairwell and into the access corridor. Didn’t see anyone else till Twilight came to take over. Pinkie kept sending her regular check-ins so...”
Fact #16: Diamond Tiara’s Account: “According to Diamond Tiara, she saw nothing and heard nothing during her entire guard shift, save for seeing Pinkie Pie around 11:00 PM, going down the stairwell into the access corridor.”
“Thank you,” I muttered as I quickly jotted that down. “Excuse us.”
We headed behind the front desk and into the access corridor proper. I hadn’t really been in here since we first explored, and for good reason: the place was creepy as hell. Dimly lit and dreary, it took us a while to scan through the place, searching for some kind of clue, somewhere. But we saw nothing, the whole way through until we reached the laundry room. I performed a perfunctory examination, and was startled to discover one of the dryers was full of towels, still warm. I quickly checked the washing machines, and found another bundle sitting damp in a large puddle of pink-stained water. The machine, overfilled, failed to complete its cycle. No way of knowing how long those had been sitting there, though. These weren’t digital machines, but shitty low-budget crank dial ones. I gave the towels a sniff just in case the pink wasn’t blood, but the metallic tang was unmistakable.
Fact #17: Towels: “A bundle of towels were found stuffed in the dryer in the laundry room, still warm. Another bundle was discovered in an overfilled washing machine, soaking in a pool of blood-stained water.”
“Well that’s definitely connected,” Adagio said as she examined the wet towels. “Whoever filled this must’ve been in a hurry.”
“Probably,” I agreed.
“Well, isn’t that everything?” Trixie asked as we left the laundry room. “Trixie isn’t sure there’s much else we can find.”
I paused to gather my thoughts, then snapped my fingers. “I still want to ask Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash about their guard duties. And Rarity and Applejack for that matter. They should all still be at the pool. C’mon.”
“Uuugh, back and forth, back and forth,” Trixie whined as we sped down the access corridor. “Trixie thinks we could’ve picked a more efficient route for this investigation!”
“Oh stop whining,” Adagio retorted, her breathing even and steady despite our quick pace. “It’s good exercise.”
As we returned to the indoor pool, I remembered a detail I learned the other day, during the exploration. I wasn’t sure if it would matter, but I decided to note it down just in case.
Fact #18: Indoor Pool: “The indoor pool is twenty-five yards by thirteen yards, with a depth ranging from one to three yards. The pool uses PHMB instead of chlorine.”
Then I ventured over to Rarity and Applejack, who were sitting by the bleachers, facing away from Pinkie’s bloated body. “Hi, Rarity, Applejack,” I greeted, trying out a small smile. “Sorry to bug you, but do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions real quick?”
Rarity let out a world-weary sigh, then smiled right back, one watery and sorrowful. “Of course, darling. What is it?”
“Two things: I wanted to know where you were after dinner last night, and if you saw or heard anything during your guard patrols this morning.”
Applejack pressed her index finger and thumb to her mouth, her face flushing. “Well, we, uh, we went to the spa together.”
“It was truly divine,” Rarity added, a bit of proper cheerfulness twinkling in her eyes, if only for a moment. “One of the best spa experiences I’ve ever had.”
“Likewise.” Applejack let her hand drop. “Ah think we were there till about nine? Then we went back to our rooms. As for mah guard shift, Ah didn’t see nothin’, but I thought I heard some footsteps down the stairs at one point. Maybe around 7:20 AM? Ah wanted to go check, but Ah figured it was better to stay at mah post.”
“What about you, Rarity?” Adagio inquired. “Did you see or hear anything?”
“Unfortunately, no.” Rarity shook her head, then stopped, blinked, and rubbed at her chin. “Actually, wait. I might’ve seen someone come out of the pharmacy this morning, just after 6:10 AM. But I was on the far side of the promenade, and they went towards the bridge deck, so by the time I reached the pharmacy they were gone. I didn’t think much of it. But other than that, I saw and heard nothing until we started searching for Pinkie.”
Fact #19: Applejack and Rarity’s Account: “According to Applejack and Rarity, they were at the spa most of Wednesday evening following the 6:30 PM meeting, and departed for their cabins at 9:00 PM. During her guard shift, Applejack heard footsteps at the bottom of the stairs around 7:20 AM. Rarity saw someone emerge from the pharmacy at 6:10 AM, unable to tell who it was due to being on the far side of the promenade.”
“Thank you, both of you,” I said, nodding gratefully. “Sorry to bother you.”
As I turned to leave, Rarity set a hand on my shoulder. “Darling, Sunset… if you don’t mind, I’d like to spend a bit of time with you, perhaps tomorrow?”
My jaw fell open for a moment before propriety made me snap it shut. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Please.” Rarity fixed me with a pleading, needful gaze. “I would very much appreciate it.”
I smiled, feeling some of the tension I’d held in my chest the past few days melt away. “I’d love to, then.”
We parted ways with Applejack and Rarity, making our way over to Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo. “Oh, hey,” Scootaloo waved. “Did you need to check the body again?”
“Actually, I wanted to ask the two of you some questions about your guard shifts last night, if you don’t mind,” I said, smiling sympathetically at poor Rainbow Dash, who was still pale and shaky.
“Uh. Yeah. I can, I can do that,” said the athlete, sitting up just a bit straighter. “Shoot.”
I brought out my notepad. “Rainbow Dash, you went to bed early, before the evening meeting, right?” She nodded. “So when you got up for your guard shift, did you happen to see or hear anything suspicious?”
“Nope!” she said immediately. “Didn’t see a thing. I made sure to look everywhere too. Even saw Twilight a couple of times.” Her eyes briefly widened, and she let out a sheepish laugh. “Oh, uh, I did stop by the pharmacy. I had a really bad headache. Still kinda do. That draining thing Monoponi did was nasty.”
“You didn’t see anything? Not even here, in the pool?” Adagio added, her eyes narrowed into slits.
Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I dunno what to tell you. I came by here, like, three times. I never saw anything.”
Trixie snorted, glaring at me. “Well that can’t be right, can it? Pinkie’s body was floating in the pool all night.”
“We don’t know that yet, Trixie. Hush.” I turned to Scootaloo. “What about you, Scoots?”
“Uuuuh…” Scootaloo scratched the back of her head. “I mean, I saw a lot of you wandering around all over the place during the whole day. I was kinda patrolling during the day, for like eight hours. I don’t think I ever saw anything suspicious.” She blinked, and cocked her head. “Well, wait. Now that I think about it, there was one thing. I saw Diamond Tiara hanging around the cabins on Tuesday, maybe at 3:20 PM? She was just walking back and forth, muttering to herself, something about working up courage. I dunno what for. I know that was the day before yesterday, but it seemed important.”
Fact #20: Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash’s Account: “According to Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash, neither one saw anything suspicious during their entire guard shifts. Rainbow Dash did stop at the pharmacy around 3:30 AM. Scootaloo did, however, see Diamond Tiara walking back and forth by the cabins, muttering to herself about courage, on Tuesday, about 3:20 PM.”
I sighed in annoyance as I wrote that all down. “Thanks. That helps, at--”
DING-DONG BING-BONG
The screens switched on, revealing Monoponi lounging on his chair on the bridge, snifter of brandy in his magic grip. “Ah, time sure flies when you’re having fun investigating, doesn’t it?” He took a sip of his brandy. “But all good things must come to an end. You know where to go. See you there, my lovely passengers!” With a burst of static the screens turned off.
“Well, guess that’s all we’re going to get,” Adagio grumbled. “I hope it was enough.”
“It’s enough to have a picture of some things, I think,” I said as I glanced briefly at the evidence. “I still don’t know who did what, though. Or if there’s even two blackeneds.”
“Trixie isn’t convinced there is,” Trixie said as we started walking towards the promenade. “Trixie is willing to bet there’s only one and they’re trying to fool us into thinking there’s two.”
“Ah’m with Trixie on this one,” Applejack said as she and Rarity walked beside us. Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash lagged not far behind. “Ah can’t see it being any other way.”
“Well we shouldn’t assume anything,” Rarity pointed out, with an unhappy sigh. “We’ve been wrong before.”
“Mmhmm.”
Soon, we were all gathered at the food court, waiting before the elevator to the courtroom. All ten of us. There should be twelve of us here. Actually, scratch that. Sixteen. We never should’ve had a murder to begin with, let alone four. But Monoponi won’t let us be, will he?
Speaking of whom, he flashed into existence, settling down on all four hooves before us and taking a bow. “Well, well, here we are again, my lovely passengers. Once more unto the breach, once more we descend into the bowels of the ship, to see which one of you idiots decided they’re too important to stick around this time. Or, in this case, which two of you. Maybe. Who knows? I do, but I won’t tell! It’s up to you to figure it out!”
Rainbow Dash, despite her pallid, sickly condition, took several steps forward, her whole body quivering with rage. “Oh you’d better believe we’re gonna figure it out!” she yelled. “Fluttershy was my best friend!” A few tears drizzled down her cheeks as she spoke, the fire inside her snuffed out. “She was my best friend… and you killed her, you monster.”
“Oh, believe you me, Rainbow Dash, I’m just as mad about it as you are!” Monoponi said, throwing up his forehooves in disgust. “I still can’t believe one of you little shits managed to trick me. Me! I’m not supposed to be a murder weapon. I’m only supposed to dispense justice to the filthy murderers wandering about this ship.”
“Fuck you,” Rainbow Dash cursed under her breath as she turned away from him, not willing to risk his wrath.
“We can’t forget about Pinkie Pie, either,” Scootaloo said, slamming her fist into her open palm. “I don’t know who killed her or why, but she didn’t deserve to suffer the way she did. This is for her as much as it’s for Fluttershy.”
“Certainly,” Rarity seconded, a look of dark fury casting a shadow over her features. “Pinkie Pie, whatever her faults, was a blessing on this earth. To steal her life away for your own selfish desires… I won’t forgive it!”
“Ahem!” Monoponi cleared his throat, silencing the crowd. “If you’ve all pontificated enough? We should get things underway. Va-va-valuse!” A blaze of crimson light surrounded his horn and lanced out to pierce the oversized lock on the trial doors, disintegrating it in a burst of sparkles and light. The gates swung open, the hinges screeching in protest. With one last bow and a gesture to proceed, Monoponi vanished.
Once again, we boarded the elevator. And once again, my thoughts turned to the case at hand.
Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. Two victims. One cut down unfairly for a crime she didn’t truly commit. The other, torn apart by her own drug abuse, slain in a way we’d yet to uncover. Were these murders connected? Or were they separate?
Were they both the victim of the same crazed killer, cleaning up after their own mess? Did two separate people take their lives, for different reasons?
Whether there were two killers, or just one, why these two? Why Fluttershy? Why Pinkie Pie? Both were the most innocent souls aboard this ship. Neither one would’ve ever hurt another. They were no threat. There was no danger from them.
They deserved to live. They deserved to survive. Their loss would haunt me to the rest of my days.
It was up to me to avenge them. To find their killer or killers. Twice now I’ve done it. Twice now I’ve cracked these cases. Twice now I’ve saved our lives. And I’ll do it again.
I will save our lives in this trial of life and death!
Interesting how AJ could guess who died.
Uh... might want to check that.
Heh, alliteration
Most likely possibility: The killer was whoever had that area during that time.
She was turning Super Saiyan!
Has to be Pinkie, who did that, then
That implies two fighters besides Pinkie, and I know exactly which two.
Oh no...
OH NO
Okay...
OH FUCK
Okay, here's what I'm sure happened with Fluttershy:
Dash wanted Pinkie to get the ring to help her surprise Pinkie, but Twilight somehow convinced Pinkie to frame Fluttershy for stealing.
As for who killed Pinkie, one of two things happened:
1. Twilight killed Pinkie and set the scene up in the weight room to try to frame Dash for the murder
2. Dash killed Pinkie and tried to frame Twilight for it
I think (and HOPE) it's the first, with the yellow hairs having somehow been cut from her hair while she was either asleep or distracted
10626478
OMG. Thank you, Google autocorrect. Fixed. Thank you for pointing that out.
Goodbye.
I have no idea.
ID BE THE WORST DETECTIVE
You said it was fair game to Google the big words so I did, and what do you know, the metacapral is the pinkiy bone. Who could've broken it, I think it was Pinkie herself. She broke a Pinkie Promise to someone, a big one, and sticking a cupcake in her eye wouldn't be enough penance.
Now it seems like you're hinting that the killer is Applejack. I mean, long yellow hair, exceptional strength, saying "was it Pinkie" when she heard the body discovery but you've outwitted my guesses at every turn so far, so I don't think that's right, I do however think I had one part right Pinkie intended to kill someone in the sauna, but they fought back and killed her instead..
I also took note of " The handwriting is messy and heavily slanted to the left" As a left handed person myself, I happen to know that the slant unusually follows your dominant hand, meaning Rainbow could've tried to disguise her handwriting by switching to left hand. If I can pin down some evidence that Rainbow swings both ways, erm in baseball I mean, then it'll be real tough to prove her innocence.
I'm not committally guessing her either, as I don't believe she could've triggered the magic unless she was genuinely surprised. We also know from DR3 that it's not impossible to hide a drowned body until the last minute, so I believe Dashwhen she says she didn't see the body.
Good chapter, I've got some ideas about who and how but nothing certain yet. And I am bad at solving mysteries. I'll have to go back and sift through some earlier chapters.
I am thinking that it could be Rarity. 90% of found evidence suggests she is involved somehow. And then there is Rainbow's note. The yellow hair is a bit tricky, my first guess was Fluttershy but corpses can't walk. So my second guess Applejack?
PS I don't know why I thought that Flutter had yellow hair. Maybe because in real life people have to use hair dyes to get the hair color she normally uses.
10626679
You're right. AJ does have yellow hair. Somehow I completely forgot about that. If she's involved somehow, I'll feel a bit better about all this
So question. This is one of the rules for this killing game from the prologue:
Rule 6 says the Rescue Attempt is the murder of a passenger. So that means Monoponi broke the rule. Even if he was tricked into it, that's no excuse. The pony said so himself when he killed Fluttershy. So that means either the captain broke the rule and as per the rules, should be punished. OR the killer who tricked Monoponi into killing Fluttershy should have been punished immediately after Monoponi realized he was tricked. Unless there's some multi-level trickery to what happened.
I don't really know what to think here. A lot of evidence points feels damning towards one person until I saw this one:
I remember it being mentioned that there was a book on handwriting in the library. That makes me instantly doubt the rest of the evidence. And because it was a book, I instantly want to suspect Twilight. But why? And originally I thought they had a motive not to kill at this point until the next day. Maybe I was overthinking it.
I'm looking forward to this trial so I can find out who. This one's confusing me the most.
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My justification for this, and for that matter, Monoponi's (EDIT:This is acknowledged in part 7) is that rule deals with Monoponi being aware of and participating in a murder attempt in the sense of cooperating. What this culprit did, however, was use Monoponi as the murder weapon. So it wasn't a direct participation in the sense that Monoponi had no idea it was happening, and once it did happen, Monoponi decided "screw it I'll allow it for the sake of a murder." This will not be the only bent rule Monoponi allows for this trial.
10626787
If it makes you feel better, I had a moment where I thought "Yellow hair? Fluttershy!" I think it's because Fluttershy (the pony) has a yellow-ish coat.
Okay- I was wrong about dash but i still think Twilight. Or Rarity.
why?
Twilight- hates sunset. Went to library. Handwriting looks same in library log and wastepaper basket note
Rarity- Rarity is strong- bell. Could it have been her walking around at 7;20?
Applejack- actually, thinking about it, there was a strand of yellow hair and purple hair. Could the 2 love birds be in this together? Also, how did she know if Pinkie was killed?!
Okay... so the yellow hair could be Applejack. Her hair is considered to be blond/yellow. Rainbow Dash also has yellow in her hair. Both of their hair straight.
As for the purple, Rarity is my best guess since it is pretty wavy. Though Rainbow hair’s contains purple, it’s not straight. That throws me off.
They could’ve just fallen off during the day, but it’s more likely that they were shed during the struggle.
Wait... could there be TWO murders for the same victim? Applejack and Rarity were on watch duty together. Could they have done it together?
Rainbow Dash definitely could’ve written the note. She could’ve been trying to disguise her handwriting by writing with her left—that is, if she’s a righty. I think that’s the case because... okay don’t judge me... when I was younger, I would practice writing with my left hand—Because I was worried that if one day, I break my dominant hand, I won’t be able to complete my homework, resulting in a falling grade. (I wanted to be prepared just in case that happened)—and it would always come out looking like chicken scratch no matter how hard I tried.
Maybe Dash wanted to surprise Fluttershy with a gift and went to Pinkie for help.
Dash is suspicious because she was pretty quick to respond that she didn’t see/hear anything when she was on patrol...
Theories:
1. Applejack and Rarity murdered Pinkie. Why? I’m not sure. As for Fluttershy? I have no clue in that theory.
2. Rainbow wanted to surprise Fluttershy with a gift and told Pinkie to get the ring. While they were shopping, Pinkie grabbed the ring and not wanting Shy to see, hid it in her bag/pocket in panic, meaning to take it out before they scan it. Rainbow blames Pinkie for Shy’s death and murdered her for it.
3. Twilight planted the ring on Fluttershy. Flash and Twilight weren’t together at that time. Sunset was with Flash. Possibly as a diversion? When Shy died, Dash accused Pinkie because she was with her when the ring was stolen.
I don’t know I’m pretty stumped and my theories/ideas probably sound lame and don’t make any sense.
Alright, let's see...
As far as Fluttershy goes... it sounds to me like Twilight tricked Pinkie into thinking Rainbow wanted to surprise Fluttershy with the ring. She's the one who mentioned the handwriting book, after all, and she spends a lot of time in the library... why she planted it in her pocket, though... hmm.
Now, to Pinkie... I have a couple theories.
1. Not likely: Overcome with guilt, Pinkie overdosed on multiple drugs, beat the shit out of herself, broke her own pinkies and died in the pool. But that leaves out quite a bit of evidence.
2. Probably likely: Rainbow ambushed Pinkie at the end of her shift, beat the shit out of her, then tied her to the weights and jump rope and threw her into the pool, expecting her to die. Then in the morning, either Applejack or Rarity found her, removed the weights, then doused her with the pool chemicals and threw her in the sauna until she asphyxiated, then threw her back in the pool. This would explain the vast majority of the clues, including a good deal of the fitness center's damage and crime scene, as well as the wet weights and the towels crammed into the laundry. Either attack could have happened first or second, and any combination of the three girls could have been involved - Applejack has straight yellow hair, Rarity has wavy purple hair, and Rainbow theoretically has both (my own hair is straight, but I have found a couple naturally wavy ones before).
10627017
Everyone was already searching for Pinkie, who was missing from the meeting. That, coupled with screaming... her being found dead would've been my first thought, too.
There has to be a better explanation for the tossed aside note in the trash.
If I thought the note would have incriminated me in the killing game I would certainly used the lighter to burn it. That goes for hairs too. The amateurish mistake if I ever saw one.
10627026
Not at all. Your theories are pretty good! I quite like the idea of practicing writing with non-dominant hand just for the sake being prepared. It may have been born from anxiety, but being prepared IS good, generally speaking.,
10627028
Ooof, Pinkie being triple-teamed? So unfun. This is not how you spend quality time with friends. But more seriously, I quite like that theory you've got there.
so if i Smash this with this:
then it would have been scootaloo maybe but if i Smash this with this
it's rainbow Dash but if i Smash this with this
so it is still rainbow Dash but then we have this
giving the chance to flash but let's see what would happen if we use this
once again the suspicion came tot rainbow dash
okay that doesn't count so this suspicion is back to rainbow dash
still rainbow Dash but
this gives applejack the suspicion so my new choice is applejack but
since applejack is a farmer i'd say her
so far my only suspicions are pinkie herself applejack and rainbow dash
so far pinkie told the truth making her blackened one but who's blackened 2 let's find out
Fact #14: Twilight’s Account: “According to Twilight, she heard no noise during her entire shift from 2:00 AM to 6:00 AM. She saw Rainbow Dash twice during the night, and performed her regular fifteen minute interval text check-ins.”that makes rainbow Dash blackened 2 so anything Else let's see
i'd say it's flash now let's look
so rainbow did it
still rainbow Dash
okay so it's rainbow dash but
who else but diamond tiara next clue is
rainbow Dash duh but
so my finale suspicions are pinkie and rainbow dash
Man, this is another tricky one. I see a lot of evidence here that points to several different people. I might be wrong but right now I still think that Pinkie was responsible for Fluttershy's death by hiding the ring on her, but she didn't mean for Fluttershy to die. Maybe she and Rainbow had an idea to surprise her and cheer her up, but it went horribly wrong. Then when Pinkie confessed to Rainbow, Rainbow killed her in a rage.
I won't be surprised if I am way off, but like I said this was a hard one. I doubt the trial is going to be easy for Sunset and her friends either. Not only are they not entirely sure how many blackeneds there are this time, Twilight is still gunning for Sunset and now it seems like Flash is just as mad at her as his girlfriend is.
Not gonna lie, I was hoping that Rainbow Dash would go all super form and beat the Sh--- out of Monoponi.
So, I have a few theories. If I remember, that it was Fluttershy who wanted to get a nice gift for Pinkie to cheer her up. Which means that since both of them were at the jewelery shop at the time, somebody was already there and they might have taken the tourmaline bracelet and placed it somewhere in Fluttershy's possesion which led to her death.
As for Pinkie's case, she has been taking drugs this whole time during the killing game to try and keep herself from being sad and depressed, and it keeps getting worse until her mind broke when she witnessed Fluttershy getting killed. I think that Pinkie was overwrought with guilt that she might have been the one to sneak the stolen jewel and framed Fluttershy for theft. Once she realizes her mistake, Pinkie could've gone into the gym area, and tried to beat herself up for what she had done. I think that it's possible that Pinkie might have killed herself by using the drugs.
Now, I know how bad this is really been for Rainbow Dash since this is about wanting to avenge her best friend Fluttershy. But when it comes to the proof, all of the evidence sadly points towards Rainbow as the potential blackened. It makes sense when you think about it, It can be possible that Rainbow killed Pinkie for revenge due to the fact it might've been her fault and beat her with the dumbbell and used the drugs on Pinkie that she dies of overdose.
You know what? Let's go the unpredictable route and say that Flash Sentry probably killed Pinkie, just for the motivation for wanting to escape with Twilight. Or, maybe that Twilight knew and tasked Flash to be the distraction as for she's the one who planned the murder, while Flash played the role of the killer. It's likely possible that Flash took the dumbbell from the gym and tried to kill Pinkie, but she saw him and they had a struggle, finally, Flash knocked her by the pool, and took the drugs and used it on Pinkie, so that she dies of drug overdose.
My final prediction, would have to be Rarity. Because for one, she has a good eye for when it comes to jewelry, and I for one believe that she could be the potential suspect for framing Fluttershy for theft. That would be my guess.
This case is really me think, I kinda want to route for Rainbow Dash surviving the trial to avenge Fluttershy, and yet all the evidence points to her as the killer. And I find it frustrating! But whatever the case, I want to cover all of my bases when it comes to guessing the blackened before the trial.
Btw, have you considered the fact that whomever knows who the traitor is, might have already died? It could be that either Fluttershy, or Pinkie Pie knew who the traitor was, but they are already dead, which means that the others are not going to be able to find the traitor so easily.
So far, the most suspicious to me are Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity, mostly because of the hair at the crime scene and that they're among the only five strong enough to lift the bloody dumbbell. The culprit fought Pinkie in the weight room, but what happened afterward, I'm not so sure. Something clearly happened in the sauna, though, so I have a feeling that's going to play a big role here. Maybe it's part of the reason her body is partially decayed?
As for Fluttershy's death, Pinkie definitely played a role in it. My only question is, if she planted the ring on Fluttershy, why would she do that?
Not sure why Diamond Tiara was talking to herself, but I don't think she's involved with these killings.
Hmm, quite a few worthy suspects, a lot of evidence is constantly shifting suspicion from one to another, most of the evidence seemingly points to Rainbow Dash, however that just seems too easy, though I do think Rainbow Dash & Pinkie Pie had a heated exchange before her death, and while it's possible she may have attacked Pinkie out of anger from learning the truth behind Fluttershy's death, I don't think Rainbow Dash is the Killer. I still partially suspect Flash, Adagio, Applejack & Rarity, though there's not a whole lot of evidence to support my suspicions.
'Daring Do and the Cornerstone of Light' Someone's a Kingdom Hearts Fan May your Heart be your Guiding Key
10627515
That's pretty much the conclusion I came to as well, but that outcome seems a little too obvious, I think Applejack and/or Rarity somehow played a role in Pinkie's death as well, the question is to what extent?
10628499
Yup. Although Kingdom Hearts 3... kind of odd. I loved Port Royal's redux though, because wow. And the worlds in general. It'd be nice to revisit some prior worlds in the series with the KH3 treatment. Imagine Halloween Town or Agrabah that size! Gosh I'd love that.
I do wish there were some decent pony crossover stories with KH, but every single one I've read has been... not up to the standards I need to be able to enjoy reading it.
Also, just want to say: I appreciate everyone having so much fun with the theory making. It's pretty great.
10628586
I'm gonna be honest, I was disappointed by Kingdom Hearts 3, it's not a bad game by any means, but as someone who has followed the series since the beginning, Kingdom Hearts 3 felt more like setup for the next game than an actual conclusion to the Xehanort Saga, and the BIG 7 Lights Vs 13 Darknesses Battle that had been set up since Birth By Sleep... felt pretty underwhelming. I wanna say that Square Enix did a lot of meddling behind the scenes and that's why Kingdom Hearts 3 turned out the way it did, but I just don't know.
Port Royal was hands down the BEST World in the game, I also liked Toy Box, Monsterstropolis & The Kingdom of Corona, but they were only half as good as Port Royal, and less said about Arendale, 100 Acre Woods & San Fransokyo, the better.
Yeah your right, there's really not a lot of good Kingdom Hearts / MLP Crossover stories, the only one I've found that I enjoyed was 'KINGDOM HEARTS: Fractured Friendship', though it does take a few chapters before it starts to get good. I'm actually in the drafting stages of my own Kingdom Hearts / MLP Crossover, where a Previously Forgotten Member of Organization XIII with no memories, mysteriously awakens within the Everfree Forest, quickly becoming known as 'The Demon of the Everfree', and becomes a sort-of Unsung Protector of the Ponies without them actually knowing that they truly exist, until more & more rumors of 'The Demon of the Everfree' begin to spread, causing a certain trio of curious fillies to search & 'capture' the illusive Demon, but quickly they form an unbreakable bond of friendship, but the lesson of never judging a book by it's cover, hasn't quite sunken in with the rest of the denizens of Ponyville... but I doubt my story will ever become a reality, plus I'm currently working on my own Danganronpa / MLP Crossover but with wholly original characters (Minus One Canon MLP Character), the Characters themselves are all but complete, and the fourth trial is written (The fourth trial being the first trial I conceptualized) but I'm trying to establish an overarching narrative that ties everything together, as well as coming up with Motives (Still deciding on the Motives) and Trials themselves, you make it all look so easy with your incredible story, but in truth, it's really bloody difficult
10628717
I will admit I was also quite disappointed by KH3 as a whole. You're not wrong about executive meddling messing with things. If nothing else, Arendelle was a perfect example. The villain for that world was supposed to be Elsa, and if they'd been allowed to do it it would've been brilliant. Instead they had to take what they'd already made and rework it after 95% of the work was already done. And we all saw the result. Ugh. But the worst part about it was that it felt like 90% of the story happened at the Keyblade Graveyard. Which isn't unusual for Kingdom Hearts--the first game was the only one to feel like it properly integrated the world stories into the overarching story in a way that mattered--but it was especially bad here. Kairi especially was done dirty. ReMind helped a little by letting us play as Kairi, but only a little.
I like the concept you propose with your story. As for coming up with these motives and trials... it's not easy. It's not, at all. It took a lot of effort on my part to come up with them. You might want to consider joining the Danganronpa group Shade7 created, as there are a lot of good tips on how to write Danganronpa style mysteries in there. The most important thing however is twofold: your mysteries should use the settings introduced effectively, and write the Closing Argument first. Even if it's just a rough draft (and you'd better believe mine constantly change as I write the Chapter out) by writing it first, you can then take it apart piece by piece to distribute as clues.
What you can do for practice, I suggest, is to take two characters, a single room, and a time of day. Put the characters in that room, and have one find a way to kill the other using what should be in that room. You can have this room be anything, such as a gym, a kitchen, or even your own living room. Take a look at such a place, see what's there, what might be used. Think about what happens when an action is taken.
It also helps to have a soundboard. I've been using my husband as one and it helps a lot to bounce ideas off of others.
10628728
That is some excellent advice, I had a feeling starting with the Closing Argument was the way to go, as that gives a fully constructed overview of the case before you mercilessly chop it to pieces proceeded by scattering said pieces all over the place, I might look into Shade7's group, I could use all the help I can get.
The problem I face aside from connecting the Motive, Culprit & Trial altogether, is that I simply have too many ideas that I honestly can't decide on which ideas to choose from, especially when it comes to motives, two examples of motives I have:
1. Everyone is infected with a Modified Type Poison Joke that gives everyone a Positive Effect or Negative Effect, however there is always a catch to both sides, for example: You may get a seriously debilitating negative effect, but are given an advantage in another area. (Think Monokuma's Despair Disease from DR2 but more practical)
2. The Group is split up evenly by glass panels, both sides can see the other, but can't pass through to the other side, nor can either side hear the other, however both sides are prohibited from committing a murder on the same side as they reside (Though there is a loophole to this).
It's difficult to come up with new and fresh motives, not that I have an issue with recycling previous motives, though I'm compelled to tweak them in some manner, for my story I'm considering recycling V3's Monokubs Pad which holds everyone's secrets, though I may just have Monokuma reveal the secrets themselves, but it's up to the characters to connect the dots so-to-speak.
Then there was an incredibly intriguing but incredibly difficult to make work motive that I came up with, where Monokuma chains two characters together and are stuck together until a murder is committed, however I felt that alone would make the case overly simplified in the sense that any rational character would simply kill the one they're chained to, however then I thought to impose a restriction where you cannot kill the one whom you are chained to, THAT'S where I hit a roadblock with that idea.
Sorry if I just bored you / wasted your time with my idea's, none of which are set in stone, but once I start talking / typing about potential stories / idea's I have, I can't restrain myself. Nevertheless I thank you for all your advice and your time, and I can't wait to put it to work. I also can't wait to see how the Next Trial for your story goes, it's shaping up to be a most interesting mystery, as Gundham Tanaka once said 'Let the curtain to this bloodied spectacle be lifted for all to bare witness!"
10628783
Not at all. Those are some fascinatingly interesting motive ideas. Difficult to work with, but if you can make them work, then you'll have some excellent cases. One thing though: you'll want to be careful with how many complicated ones you use. You can just as easily derive a fascinating mystery from a very simple motive as you can a complicated one, so don't feel like you HAVE to make it complicated. Getting so lost in individual details like that makes keeping up with the whole much more difficult.
I will say of the three you presented here, my favorite one is the poison joke one, because that fits the setting best. It feels the most unique, like it can only happen in a pony based Danganronpa, whereas the other two could happen in any Fangan. Which doesn't make them BAD--you'll notice that technically applies to all three of the motives I've presented thus far in my story--but it does mean that they feel slightly less unique. Which, again, not a bad thing. Just means that you'd need to put a twist on them that makes them fit into the story in such a way that they're used well. So, again, drawing on my story: I used secrets, which is one of the most common motives around, but I added a personal twist on it by the framing device and the nature of said secrets.
Also, and I hate to say it this way because it might feel disheartening: you're going to be recycling motive ideas. There's been so many Fangans written, so many scenarios people have used that it's almost impossible to come up with truly unique ideas. Thus it's best to take ones that definitely work and twist them so they fit your story in their own way, because that's what ALL writing is, in the end: the execution. Ideas are plentiful, but execution is what makes a story.
No pun intended.
Question: I don't remember, but has it been established that you can set the monopad cameras on a timer? That is, set it to go off in five seconds or whatever?
I think it's likely Pinkie was killed when someone ODed her with one of her own syringes and then poured pool chemicals over the hot sauna rocks and locked her in there; she tried to break the door down and broke her hands instead. The head wound was post-mortem and both it and the jump rope weights are red herrings.
Whiiiiiich means that photo was fake evidence, and the killer either 1. Does not have long hair and used a wig from the costume shop, or 2. Does have long hair and is an idiot.
I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the jump rope thing, but it sure seems like nothing but the heavy weight could cause the skull wound. And the issue there is, anyone could pull the weight down so it fell and hit Pinkie, but only those listed people (or someone secret?) could put it back up on the shelf, or pose for a picture holding it with one hand.
So assuming that the killer is not an idiot, that means it's.... Flash? He's the only short-haired person who could lift the weight. Or maybe Adagio, who has long hair but it's very distinctive so she'd have to use a wig anyway?
Hm, still feeling Trixie, though there wasn't much evidence for her this time.
10629133
The Monopad cameras do not have a timer function. They're like most smartphone cameras: dumb, with basic flash functions and zoom, but nothing else. No filters or timers or anything fancy.
10629196
Huh, so either the killer had an accomplice or that's just a random photo taken earlier while someone was just innocently lifting weights.
EDIT: makes sense, if the killer looked and saw that, they'd fake the dumbell as the cause of death. But then the question remains, if they're not strong, how'd they get the dumbell back up on the shelf? (wait, is the dumbbell shelf up high or not? I can't tell)
10629266
It's not that high off the ground. I believe most standard dumbbell racks are low set for safety reasons, and this one would be no different. I might have to go back into the first part and edit it to make that clearer.
10629329
Nah, it's clear; I just got it in my head someone pulled it off the shelf onto Pinkie's head, even though that's not necessarily what happened.
Also just noticed:
“She might have her room key on her still,” Trixie muttered. Sticking out her tongue from the effort, she fumbled through Pinkie’s skirt pockets till she pulled out something shiny, dangling it in her hand. “Here we go. One key.” She set it down and scooted it over. “Huh, there’s actually a second key here. Nothing else though.” She tossed the second key over.
Notable by its omission is a description of Trixie actually taking that key from anywhere off Pinkie's body. Almost as if the person trained in legerdemain is merely pretending to find it.
10629426
Alrighty. Let me know if there are any other unclear details. I'll be more than happy to edit for clarification. I think sometimes when I describe things in this story I forget not everyone can see the picture I see in my mind so sometimes the description falters.
I'm really hoping that Rarity isn't actually involved in this. Everything seemed to point too easily to her. I just find it weird that you have her as one of the major tags instead of tagging the main 7. ...wait... Wasn't there more character tags? I thought I remembered Wallflower being on there... Great now I'm just confused in general....
10629736
No, Wallflower wasn't ever up there as a character tag. Timber Spruce was, though. I replaced him with Flash Sentry, a bit into Chapter Two's posting. I was playing with the idea of pretending he was important so his reveal as the first blackened would be more surprising.
Okay, I'm gonna give this a whirl. Mostly through process of elimination.
First, I'm surprised at how many people are suspecting Rainbow when there is very clear evidence as to why she didn't kill Pinkie. If Pinkie had confessed to her before the murder and Rainbow lost her temper enough to kill, she would have let loose her magic then. Instead, it's not until it was confirmed that Fluttershy was murdered that that happened. Her attitude throughout is what I'd chalk up to her loosing her best friend. She probably felt guilt over it too, wishing she'd done a better job at watching over Fluttershy. Point is, Rainbow isn't involved at all.
I'm also excluding Scootaloo. She's had no real motivation for one thing, and then there's the whole slot machine thing. It's not entirely impossible, but her involvement's been too minimal for me to suspect her.
Similarly, I think Diamond Tiara's in the clear. To little motivation, and to cowardly to risk getting caught. The pacing by the cabins before Fluttershy's death lines up with her working up the nerve to confess her secret to Sunset. Otherwise, I'll call it a gut feeling.
Okay, next off I'm gonna call the entire weight room and Pinkie's locker/monopad a red herring. That amount of destruction with just one fatal blow to the head? Na-ah. Also, when cleaning metal, it's unlikely to miss something like a blood stain. Even a little one. And the hairs are staged as well: Applejack and Rarity spent a lot of time attacking punching bags. That photo also was likely staged. The chances of Pinkie getting a picture that's perfectly situated so that a light blacks out the culprit? Also, if that was an honest photo that the killer was trying to hide, they wouldn't have hidden the monopad and not discarded the key. AJ and Rarity are being framed. The other thing I realized is that if the killer took a picture with Pinkie's monopad, they'd be just as likely to use it for false check-ins.
I strongly suspect that the weights and jump-rope were used to hold Pinkie's body underwater near the front edge so she wasn't spotted too soon. This is because A) water damage could help disguise evidence and B) It'd be harder to identify the time of the murder. This means that whoever did it had to go back to release the body and hide the wet weights. I also believe that she was killed inside the sauna. Exactly how/ in what order things occurred I'm not sure, but that's not terribly important.
The motive for tricking Pinkie into killing Fluttershy is still what's most baffling to me. And her diary leads to me thinking she did, in fact, confront whoever suggested it. However, we only know that the note was about surprising Fluttershy, not suggesting that Pinkie plant a ring on her. I know that the ring plant wasn't Pinkie's idea based on the way she talked about her situation to Sunset. I'm gonna discount Twilight on account of I doubt Pinkie would have taken any suggestions from her after their recent spat. (The confrontation thing still holds up for Rainbow.) Thing is, this murder happened before the motivation. I think someone was just trying to test the waters to see if Monoponi would follow through with his threats. An accidental murder. Again, not as sure on this one, so I'm leaving it up to be seen.
So that leaves three suspects: Flash, Adagio, and Trixie.
My actual theory is thus: Adagio and Trixie worked together on the murder with the intent of getting Sunset off as the plus one. Monoponi said that any accomplices would be disqualified for being a plus one, so that means that one of them would be willingly sacrificing themselves. (Most likely, Adagio committed the actual act while Trixie agreed to being the sacrifice.) To back this up: On the assumption that the photo was staged, there'd have to be someone holding the camera as well as someone posing. That is, unless there are mannequins in the store. (That'd be a whole nother can of worms.) The evidence against Adagio & Trixie is pretty evenly split. They slept separately and both had back-to-back night shifts. Trixie thought to look for the keys and was up early in the morning to take a shower, perhaps to hide the fact that she'd been wet from the pool? And the coincidence of Adagio trying to rush Sunset past critical evidence doesn't seem so coincidental, even with her magic excuse.
This theory isn't flawless, and I definitely haven't figured out all the details, but that's what I'm going with.
10629919
Wow! I am floored by the amount of thought you put into this. You'll have to wait and see how things bear out, but goodness gracious you put so much thought into this, I loved reading it. Thank you! There's more I want to say to it, a lot more, but the last thing I'd want to do is spoil you now.
10629946
No worries, I can be patient. It was pretty fun to peace that theory together, but that's just a testament to how great your writing is. I love a good puzzle (if my name is anything to go by) and your mysteries have yet to disappoint. More than anything, though, I'm impressed with how accurate your characterization has been throughout your story despite the nature of this story. The characters we know and love killing each other while never feeling out of character or breaking the suspension of disbelief? THAT is impressive! Great job on this project as a whole! Can't wait to see it pan out!
On a side note, do you still need someone for that art piece?
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It's not been easy to keep them in character. Not counting the use of profanity we wouldn't see on the show (since I try to limit it to extensions of how these characters would talk if they were allowed to use said profanity, hence why Rainbow Dash, Sunset, and Scootaloo are potty mouths while Rarity hardly speaks a word of it) it's still hard to keep them in character for certain things at times. So hearing I've done such a good job makes me feel very happy, thank you.
And yes, I do still need someone for that art piece. We can work out the details via PM, though as I said before, it would entail spoilers. So long as you're okay with that, then I'd be happy to accept your offer.
Based on all the investigation here, I can't see any possibility for Fluttershy's murder except Pinkie. I don't know why she did it, other than the standard wanting to escape, though, heck maybe she didn't didn't expect it to go to trial, after all the lack of anyone else having opportunity works against her. Also worth noting that Monoponi only introduced that "take one person with you" AFTER she did the deed, so perhaps her guilt moved her to find someone more deserving. That person of course being Sunset. And what better way of saying thank you than allowing her & her girlfriend to escape? Sure, everyone else would die, but in Pinkie's state of despair, two guaranteed survivors starts to seem like a real good deal. So of course, that segues into Pinkie's murder, and for the outlined theory above, the killer would have to be Adagio, but not because she wanted to - Pinkie ASKED to be killed. She approached Adagio and explained her idea that Adi could escape with Sunset . Of course, Adagio said no, no matter how hard Pinkie begged. Pinkie went as far to attack Adagio, in hopes of getting killed in self-defense, and their struggle left that mess in the weight room, and the damage in the sauna, but the siren refused to do any more than block/repel Pinkie. When Pinkie was tired out from all that. Adagio ran to get her first aid kit to treat the minor scrapes that Pinkie had gotten. But when she came back, she found that Pinkie had gone for the trump card - her needles. Pinkie had begun injecting herself to cause an overdose, so that no one could cash in on Monoponi's motive, and make it so if they screwed up the double murder trial, there'd be no survivors. But she was still breathing, which meant Adagio had mere minutes, maybe even seconds, to make a decision. And she chose Sunset. She had to go back to Sunset's room immediately from the murder, so she had to leave the first aid kit there.
...so I guess that the magic draining means that this probably isn't a Goodbye Despair situation? This is all real, and they're all really dying... That just makes me depressed. : (
i mean, would she say anyone did? well, maybe Diamond Tiara, haha
well now everyone has reacted seemingly genuinely with shock and horror, curious
oh wait, was there a rule on who counts as blackened if it's a suicide? hmm...
yeah that is a good question!
ah, nice! and Monoponi insists on a single murder because that would complete the double murder! ahah i should have seen this coming. well, that scratches off Rainbow Dash if the blackened was supposed to kill both. and the fact that the motive would have been there before Monoponi revealed that the blackened would get to save another definitely makes it a lot more difficult, argh. it's hard to imagine Rainbow killing anyone before that, but then again that is also true for everyone remaining now
ah, so the twist is that they've been in Equestria the whole time? but then how do they have modern devices? argh!
well, this makes me think of magic draining, which makes me think of Cozy Glow!
ah, okay, the split motive does make it a bit easier! i'm definitely guessing Rainbow Dash for Pinkie, and now that i think about it more, Twilight for Fluttershy. that could have been an experiment of some sort to see what Monoponi would do, gone wrong, and Twilight insisting that manipulation won't make her into a killer has a ring of doth-protest-too-much withthat lens!
dang, Flash just gets picked on!
well that explains what she was on...
okay, updating killer of Pinkie to Applejack, with her magic strength coming back unexpectedly much like Rainbow Dash's magic had. she would have the motive to save Rarity
dang, it usually takes a while to build up to using needles, doesn't it?
really? i feel like you'd be able to get something out of that clue!
that's Applejack and... Scootaloo? or Diamond Tiara?
okay, so weighing Pinkie's body down for some reason, until it was no longer needed? that doesn't make sense! yeah i got nothing for this one
Bicyclette also does not understand
oof, well that certainly makes things more interesting
oof, yeah, that is very ominous!
i am honestly surprised it's lasted this long
all of this is very confusing!
this makes me think of that scene in Pulp Fiction with the syringe... testing what counts as "killing", if someone dies and is then revived?
ahaha poor Adagio! i find it very charming, though
so true
literally cannot imagine Adagio taking an edible
oof, and yeah, addictive personality...
aww, simpler and happier times! augh, way to make everything much more heartbreaking by reminding us
ah, so it started a lot earlier! and oof, i wonder if there were clues hidden throughout the narrative with Pinkie up to here...
oof... and Sunset's been dealing with her guilt over anyone dying at all throughout this chapter...
so it might be one blackened then, tying up the loose end of Pinkie when she wanted to talk about things...
oof Trixie what a horrible thing to say about someone who's been suffering so much and is now dead!
and that points back to Rainbow Dash again, with her avoidance of everyone after Fluttershy's death being a cover for how she's been truly feeling...
aww, poor Flash! what is he, Wallflower?
ahaha this is such a Trixie brag
just what one needs after a rough night of beating Pinkie Pie to death, right?
ahah, and i guess i'm not so clever after all! but if my guess is wrong, argh, i have no idea who i'd pick now. back to Rainbow Dash/Pinkie being responsible for Fluttershy, and Applejack for Pinkie
ah, well, glad to see Rarity start to be able to enjoy things again
i see Adagio shares my suspicions!
well, that could mean so many things!
just the kind of thing someone who knows she is the second blackened would say...
oof, way to remind me 2/3 of the CMCs are dead now...
augh, okay, going over all the clues i have no idea what could explain all of these things! it really seems like either AJ or Rainbow Dash could have killed Pinkie Pie, but the "wavy purple hair" makes me think of AJ. but Pinkie Pie's notes seem to imply the last thing she did was to talk to the person who gave her the idea to "surprise" Fluttershy, which the clues state should be Rainbow Dash. but what motive would Rainbow Dash have at that point? the one person she would be trying to save is dead, and surely she feels nothing but guilt over the whole thing? though if she sees Pinkie Pie as having been responsible for Fluttershy's death (possible misunderstanding due to Pinkie being "out of it"?), it could be a sort of revenge
so i'm going to go with Pinkie Pie being the blackened for Fluttershy, while Rainbow Dash is the one for Pinkie Pie, but i can totally also see Applejack, argh
All the signs clearly point to r dash being the killer, but I’m STILL trying to connect Sci Twi to this murder for being a complete bitch to Sunset this act.
YOU MESS WITH THE SUN, YOU GET THE SHIMMER, BITCH