Ace Attorney: Scootaloo

by Yukito

Rating: everyone
Tags: Other, Scootaloo, Diamond Tiara, Slice of Life, Crossover, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 20761

Sweetie Belle is on trial, and Scootaloo is defending her from Diamond Tiara.

The third classroom trial is underway. This time, the defendant is Sweetie Belle, and as Cheerilee is no longer in charge, the defence attorney Scootaloo may find that she'll have to exercise different techniques in order to carry her friend towards a 'Not Guilty' verdict.

Published 2014-06-05 22:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-06-05 22:30:02 UTC

Turnabout Vandal

The bell rang, and the fillies and colts of Cheerilee’s classroom filed outside hurriedly in a crowded manner. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle remained inside, as they were requested to by Apple Bloom. The classroom was to be the defendant’s lobby whilst the class set up their courtroom outside.

Since Cheerilee had refused to hold another mock trial in the classroom, the students decided to hold their own trial. And Scootaloo had volunteered to be the attorney for the accused Sweetie Belle.

“I can’t believe they sprung this on us all of a sudden!” Scootaloo yelled. “I didn’t even know about all this until today! And the only evidence they gave me was… this stupid spray can.”

“My left hoofprint is on that, right?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Scootaloo nodded. “Yeah, and it seems there’s a lot of paint still inside. Judging by the casing, I’m guessin’ the colour’s green?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Sweetie Belle answered. “… D-Do you think we’ll be alright?”

Scootaloo huffed and kicked her chair. “This whole thing sucks!”

“Language, young lady!” Cheerilee scolded from her desk where she was marking papers.

“I only know the basics of the case and I didn’t get any time to investigate! I don’t even know who the prosecution will call as their witnesses!”

“But I really didn’t do it,” Sweetie Belle said, sniffing as tears began to well in her eyes.

“And I believe you!” Scootaloo told her quickly. “… Don’t worry. If worst comes to worst, I’ll be there for you.”

“… Thanks,” Sweetie Belle said with a smile.

“Alright, we’re ready now!” Archer exclaimed as she burst into the classroom, startling everypony inside and causing Cheerilee to scatter her papers everywhere. The disgruntled teacher glared at her pupil, who quickly fled from the scene.

“… Guess we’d better be going, then,” Scootaloo said, leading the way outside with Sweetie Belle following behind.

Cheerilee sighed as she leaned out of her chair to pick up her papers. “Do you need any help, Miss Cheerilee? No, but thank you for offering. It’s the least we could do after we caused you to drop them in the first place…” Cheerilee straightened out her papers and resumed her marking. “Kids…”

Everypony gathered around the playground to watch as the three fillies set up their makeshift courtroom. The defence was to stand at the seesaw, and the prosecution was situated opposite, at the elephant-shaped spring animal. The judge was given a cardboard box to stand in the centre and just a bit back, watching over the entire ‘courtroom’.

The judge – Apple Bloom, donning a black robe and a long, white beard – took her place and cleared her throat, before slamming her squeaky hammer onto the box. “Court is now in session fer the trail of Miss Sweetie Belle. Is the defence ready?”

“The defence is, uh, totally ready! Yep! Never been more ready for anythin’ in my life!”

Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes. “Scootaloo, y’all seem a bit tense. Maybe ya wanna loosen up a bit first?”

Scootaloo gulped and nodded her head. “Uh, sure.” She took a step back from her box and started squatting. “One, two. One, two.”

Apple Bloom sighed and shook her head. She then turned to the prosecution. “And is the-”

“The prosecution is ready,” Diamond Tiara said with a grin. “About time I stood on this side. Didn’t feel right over there.”

“The defence is ready, Your Honour!” Scootaloo shouted, shaking the ground around her as everypony covered their ears.

“The defence will refrain from bustin’ our eardrums!” Apple Bloom ordered with a glare to her friend, who simply grinned sheepishly in response. “… Scootaloo, ah hope y’all understand that ah’m not pickin’ sides here. Ah don’t wanna believe Sweetie Belle is guilty, but-”

“I get it, Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo said. She then bumped her hooves together and smiled. “But don’t worry. I’ll prove her innocence.”

“Hmph. Whatever. I’ll know if you’re picking sides or not, blank flank,” Diamond said, leaning on her own cardboard box. “If I see any hint of base, I won’t hesitate to call you out on it and have you replaced.”

“You mean ‘bias’,” Sweetie Belle said from the stand.

“Objection!” Diamond slammed her hoof onto her box. “The defendant will only speak when spoken to!”

Sweetie Belle squeaked and nodded her head quickly. “Objection!” Scootaloo yelled. “The prosecution will refrain from scaring the defendant!”

Apple Bloom’s gavel silenced the two arguing fillies. “Order! Order!” When the two had settled back down again, Apple Bloom nodded to Diamond Tiara. “Prosecution, your opening statement.”

Diamond nodded her head and pulled out a sheet of paper from her bag. “At nineteen hundred hours yesterday – that’s… seven p.m. – the filly known as Sweetie Belle was caught vandalising the town hall by several eyewitnesses, and then fled the scene. The witnesses gave chase and cornered Sweetie Belle in front of Carousal Boutique, trying to escape inside. Her sister Rarity was not in, so there was nowhere to run.”

“What happened then?” Apple Bloom asked.

“… She ran.” The playground fell silent and the crickets chirped around everypony. “Apparently she’s good at that.”

“Well, we do have ta escape danger on a daily basis,” Apple Bloom admitted. “Very well then. Call forth yer first witness.”

Silver Spoon, Button Mash, Berry Pinch, Snails and Pipsqueak lined up at the long line of boxes that was set up as the makeshift witness stand. “Witnesses,” Diamond Tiara addressed, “Your names and occupations.”

“Objection!” Scootaloo shouted. “Why are there so many?! You and Apple Bloom only did ‘em one at a time!”

“Because that would take too long,” Diamond Tiara said. “We only have so long until recess is over, you know?”

“But… But…”

“As I was saying. Witnesses, state your names and occupations.”

“My name is Silver Spoon,” Silver Spoon announced as she adjusted her glasses. “I’m, like, Di’s best friend and the top student in this school.”

Button Mash tapped away at the buttons on his videogame console… and continued tapping… and continued tapping. “We already know who he is,” Diamond said. “Let’s move on.”

Berry Pinch smiled and bowed. “I’m Berry Pinch. I’m an honour student and one day I want to be just like my mother. Only not intoxicated twenty-four-seven.”

“I’m Snails,” Snails said. “… … … Oh. Uh… I like bugs.”

“Aaaaand last but not least,” Diamond said as her eyes turned to the last witness.

“G’day fellow classmates! My name’s Pipsqueak, but all me mates jus’ call me Pip! I like t’ pretend I’m a pirate, or a bandit, or a secret spy working for the shadowy Nightmare cult!”

“Wonderful,” Apple Bloom deadpanned. “And y’all are witnesses ta this here crime that happened last night?”

“That we are!” Pipsqueak answered cheerfully. “The five of us were asked t’ come out an’ play by Sweetie Belle, we were!”

“Well, you four were,” Silver Spoon corrected. “I just happened to be passing by.”

“When you say you were ‘invited’…” Scootaloo began.

“They mean by written invitation,” Diamond Tiara answered before Scootaloo could finish her question. “This is the invitation in question. It just states a time and place to hang out.” A grin crossed Diamond Tiara’s face. “And before you ask, yes, it’s in Sweetie Belle’s hoofwriting.”

“Did you send those invitations out?” Scootaloo asked Sweetie Belle in a whispered voice.

“No! I don’t know anything about them!” Sweetie Belle answered.

Apple Bloom nodded. “The court accepts this evidence,” she said as she had her bailiff, Shady Daze, collect the evidence for her. “Witnesses, please begin yer testimony on what ya saw that night.”

-WITNESS TESTIMONY-

“I was just passing by when I saw it. A cloaked figure was spraying graffiti on the walls of the town hall.” – Silver Spoon
“Use Potion… Cast Fire2… Defend… Limit Break…” – Button Mash
“The figure was definitely Sweetie Belle. She ran away and we gave chase.” – Berry Pinch
“We chased her all the way to her sister’s house, where she was banging on the door. She looked kinda scared…” - Snails
“I hate t’ say it, Miss Scootaloo, but we caught her red-hoofed. She had a spray can in her hoof.” – Pipsqueak

-END TESTIMONY-

“It sounds like y’all have a solid case against her,” Apple Bloom said with a hint of dread in her voice. “… Scootaloo, y’know what y’have ta do, right?”

“It’s cross-examination time now, right?” Scootaloo asked.

Apple Bloom nodded. “Ah’m sure ya get how it works by now, but since ye’re new at it, ah’d like ta give ya some pointers.”

Diamond Tiara shrugged. “Fine by me. She’ll need all the help she can get.”

“Alright then, here’s the deal. Witnesses aren’t necessarily always lyin’, but they might be forgettin’ some details or rememberin’ ‘em wrongly. If somethin’ sounds fishy, press ‘em for more info. When somethin’ sounds really fishy, present evidence ta show the contradiction.”

Scootaloo nodded. “Press and present. Got it.”

“… Good luck, Scootaloo. Yer cross-examination starts now.”

-CROSS-EXAMINATION-

“I was just passing by when I saw it. A cloaked figure was spraying graffiti on the walls of the town hall.” – Silver Spoon

“Hold it!” Scootaloo slammed a hoof onto her bench. “If the figure was cloaked, then you couldn’t possibly know it was Sweetie Belle!”

“Objection!” Silver Spoon shouted. “It was her! I did an investigation afterwards and found the cloak in her room!”

“… … Y-You did?” Scootaloo asked, now sweating rather heavily.

Silver Spoon nodded. “Oh, I forgot to mention. I’m also the detective in charge of this case.”

“Objection!” Sweetie Belle yelled. “That’s my job!”

“Well, I don’t think you can do that when you’re the defendant,” Scootaloo told her friend.

“B-But…”

‘Aw, geez. She’s about to cry over this…’

“Anyway, the cloak was found in her room,” Silver Spoon repeated.

Apple Bloom nodded. “The court will accept this evidence.”

“By the way,” Scootaloo started as the purple, frilly cloak was collected by Shady Daze, “The incident only happened last night. When did you find the time to investigate?”

“Last night,” Silver Spoon said. “I just asked Sweetie Belle’s father if I could see her for a bit… He was surprisingly easy-going about it.”

“That’s my dad alright,” Sweetie Belle said with a sigh. “He doesn’t believe in curfews or early bedtimes.”

“… That sounds awesome,” Scootaloo said.

“As riveting as this all is, perhaps we should move on?” Diamond Tiara suggested.

“Use Potion… Cast Fire2… Defend… Limit Break…” – Button Mash

“Hold it!” Scootaloo slammed both hooves onto her bench, nearly collapsing it. “Button! Put away your dumb game and take this seriously!”

“DUMB GAME?! I’ve spent nearly eighty hours on this game and I’ve finally got a good start with this save file. I’m this close to finally beating my mum’s speedrun time!”

“Do it in your own time! Don’t you get that Sweetie Belle’s on trial here?!”

“… Oh, right. Sorry, Sweetie Belle, but Diamond Tiara said I’d get an achievement for being a good witness.”

Scootaloo face planted her bench. “Seriously?” she asked, her voice muffled by her bench. “That’s got to be perjury or something.”

“Aaah,” Sweetie Belle sighed in a dreamy tone as she fiddled with her mane. “He’s willing to sacrifice the thing he cares most about in his pursuit of all achievements. What a true stallion.”

“… You have issues, too, y’know that?”

“Well, if the defendant is okay with it, then ah guess ah am, too,” Apple Bloom said as she slammed her gavel. “The testimony will go on.”

‘Give me a break!’

“The figure was definitely Sweetie Belle. She ran away and we gave chase.” – Berry Pinch

“Hold it! How can you tell that?!” Scootaloo asked. “She was wearing a cloak, after all!”

Berry Pinch nodded. “Yeah, but when she raised her right hoof to spray higher-”

“Hm?”

“-I could see her coat and her mane. They were unmistakably Sweetie Belle’s.” Berry Pinch smiled and gave a light giggle. “I have twenty-twenty vision, you know?”

“That seems like important information,” Apple Bloom said. “Please add it to yer testimony.”

“Sure!”

“I have twenty-twenty vision, you know?” – Berry Pinch

“Hold it!” Apple Bloom facehooved and gave an exasperated sigh. “Ah meant the other bit! About the coat and the mane!”

“… Oh!” Berry Pinch blushed as the foals around her giggled and laughed at her mistake. “Eheheh… S-Sorry about that…”

“When the figure raised their right hoof to spray higher, I could see their coat and mane. It was definitely Sweetie Belle.” – Berry Pinch

“Hold it!” Scootaloo stood with her hoof outstretched for some time. “… A-Are you sure?”

“Absolutely,” Berry Pinch confirmed with a nod.

“… N-No chance you saw wrong?”

“Objection!” Diamond Tiara sighed and shook her head. “This is sad. Apple Bloom, stop this line of questioning now before your friend embarrasses herself even further.”

Apple Bloom nodded. “Ah agree. These questions seem ta be goin’ nowhere… By the way, that’s ‘Your Honour’.”

Diamond Tiara gagged. “I think I’ll pass. You’re lucky I even allowed you to sit in a higher seat than me.”

Scootaloo scratched the back of her head as her teeth grinded together. ‘Okay, that didn’t go so well… Let’s try the next one…’

“We chased her all the way to her sister’s house, where she was banging on the door. She looked kinda scared…” – Snails

“Hold it!” Scootaloo put a hoof to her chin. “And was she wearing her cloak at that time?”

Snails nodded his head. “Yeah. Though her hood was down. I guess it fell down while she was running.”

“Wonderful news,” Scootaloo said in a sarcastic tone.

“Heh. Wanna just give up now?” Diamond Tiara teased.

Scootaloo replaced her hoof to her chin. “By the way, when you say that you gave chase, does that mean you had your eyes on her at all times?”

Snails shook his head. “I lost her at some point, but then there were five of us there, so even if one of us did lose her, I don’t think all of us would.”

‘I want to believe that she’s innocent, but with this many witnesses, proving that’s gonna be hard…’

“I hate t’ say it, Miss Scootaloo, but we caught her red-hoofed. She had a spray can in her hoof.” – Pipsqueak

“Hold it!” Scootaloo presented a spray can from her saddlebag. “I assume you mean the spray can that was given to me this morning.”

“Yes’m! That’s the one! Was holdin’ onto it real tight she was, that is until we scared ‘er away an’ she dropped it in a fright!”

“… T-Thanks. That’s all,” Scootaloo said with a sheepish grin.

“I can’t believe they all think I did it,” Sweetie Belle said in a disheartened tone.

“This testimony is strong,” Scootaloo said. “But there’s something about it that’s bugging me…”

“… Well, remember what Apple Bloom said. Press if you feel something’s wrong, and present when you feel that something’s really wrong.”

“Right… Press and present…”

“I was just passing by when I saw it. A cloaked figure was spraying graffiti on the walls of the town hall.” – Silver Spoon
“Use Potion… Cast Fire2… Defend… Limit Break…” – Button Mash
“The figure was definitely Sweetie Belle. She ran away and we gave chase.” – Berry Pinch
“When the figure raised their right hoof to spray higher, I could see their coat and mane. It was definitely Sweetie Belle.” – Berry Pinch

“Objection!” Scootaloo pulled the spray can out of her saddlebag and presented it to the court. “You say that the figure raised their right hoof to spray higher, and that that’s how you could identify them as Sweetie Belle. Is that correct?”

Berry Pinch nodded. “That’s correct!”

Scootaloo gave a victorious grin. “Then that’s too bad, because that would be impossible.”

“!” Berry Pinch began to sweat. “W-What do you mean?”

“This spray can was checked for hoofprints by our good friends and at the Ponyville Police Station. Their hoofprinting analysis is still new, but they were able to make one thing perfectly clear. The hoofprint on the can belongs to Sweetie Belle, but it is a left hoofprint.”

“L-Left?” Berry Pinch asked. “Then that means…”

“You got it. There’s no way that figure you saw was Sweetie Belle. After all, if it was, then a right hoofprint would have been found!”

“N… NOOOO!”

“By Jove, she’s right!” Pipsqueak exclaimed.

“I never noticed that!” Snails shouted.

“Way to hit her weak spot for massive damage!” Button Mash cheered.

The entire gathering burst into mumbles at the new revelation. Apple Bloom silenced everypony with her gavel. “Order! Order! Scootaloo, ya did it! Ya proved that Sweetie Belle couldn’t have possibly-”

“Objection!” All eyes turned to Diamond Tiara, who was grinning in a way that made Scootaloo feel very uncomfortable. The filly offered a slow clap for the defence. “Bravo. Bravo. You found your first contradiction… but too bad for you, as the prosecution already has that covered.”

“Y-You’re lying!” Scootaloo said.

“Hmph. We’ll see. First of all… Judge?” Apple Bloom flinched as Diamond Tiara sent a glare her way. “What was that you said about playing a neutral role? Keep this up, and I’ll have to have you replaced.”

“Eep!” Apple Bloom bowed her head quickly. “P-Please forgive me! Ah’ll do a better job next time!”

“… Apple Bloom really wants that job,” Scootaloo whispered to Sweetie Belle.

“She’s been both defence and prosecution. I think she’s just trying to do all roles at least once,” Sweetie Belle whispered back.

“Now, on with the show,” Diamond Tiara said as she turned to her friend. “Oh Silver Spoon, would you kindly show our friends the other spray can that you found in your investigation?”

“‘O-Other’ spray can?” Scootaloo asked.

“It was found in Sweetie Belle’s bedroom,” Silver Spoon said, pulling out a second spray can from her bag. “The colour inside is the same as the one found in Sweetie Belle’s hoof, but there’s one key difference between them… this one has Sweetie Belle’s right hoofprint on it.”

“Y-You’re kidding!” Scootaloo insisted.

“Moreso than that, we confirmed with Princess Twilight that the paint from the can matches the paint on town hall.”

“How did you get Twilight to do that for you?”

“Simple. I just pretended that it was for a science fair project. But let’s not distract ourselves from the main point here. That can is decisive evidence of Sweetie Belle’s guilt.”

“N… NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Apple Bloom gulped as she nodded to Shady Daze. “T-The court will accept this evidence… but Diamond, just one question: why in the heck did y’all wait until now ta make such important evidence known?!”

Diamond harrumphed and flicked her mane. “Because if I had shown it earlier, then this trial would have been over already. Scootaloo seemed to want to defend so much, I felt it would be cruel to take that away from her.”

‘You filthy liar!’ Scootaloo thought as she bared her teeth at the smirking filly standing opposite to her. ‘You just wanted to torture me, that’s all there was to it!’

Apple Bloom slammed her gavel. “Well then, it seems that we’ve exhausted this cross-examination… and ah’m afraid ta say that ah’m prepared ta render mah verdict at this time.”

“N-No way!”

“‘Fraid so,” Diamond Tiara said with a large, toothy grin. “The evidence is stacked against. Her hoofprint on the tool used to commit the crime matches with the testimony we have, and that rather unique cloak of hers was found in her room… after she was caught wearing it.”

Scootaloo slammed a hoof onto her bench in frustration. “I can’t believe it’s going to end already! Is this really the best I can do?!”

“Scootaloo,” Sweetie Belle whispered. “It might be a little late, but…”

“What?!”

Sweetie Belle flinched. “… I-It’s just that, during that testimony just now, something felt odd… When Berry Pinch talked about how she could identify the culprit as me, I thought I heard something.”

“You too? I thought it was just somepony in the crowd… Do you think it’s important to this case?”

Sweetie Belle shrugged. “… Something inside me is saying ‘yes’.”

“… Good enough for me. We can’t exactly make things even worse for ourselves.”

“Then if there are no further objections,” Apple Bloom said, “This court finds the defendant, Sweetie Belle-”

“Objection!” All eyes turned to Scootaloo. “N-Not just yet! The defence… isn’t finished with their cross-examination yet!”

“But Scootaloo, ah’ve already given ya plenty of time,” Apple Bloom said. “And ah don’t really see what else y’all could get from this.”

“Just… please, give me one more chance! I know I’ve found something!” ‘Well, not really, but it’s sink-or-swim now!’

“Heh.” Diamond Tiara simply shrugged. “Sure. Why not let her have her chance? We’ve got plenty of time until recess is over, after all.”

“Well…” Apple Bloom put a hoof to her chin.

“But only one more chance,” Diamond Tiara added. “I just want to see you humiliate yourself even more, but I don’t want to be here all day. It gets tiring after a while.”

“… Alright then,” Apple Bloom said. “The cross-examination will resume, but if ya can’t find anythin’, ah’ll end it immediately.”

“Thanks, Apple Bloom.”

-CROSS-EXAMINATION-

“I was just passing by when I saw it. A cloaked figure was spraying graffiti on the walls of the town hall.” – Silver Spoon
“Use Potion… Cast Fire2… Defend… Limit Break…” – Button Mash
“The figure was definitely Sweetie Belle. She ran away and we gave chase.” – Berry Pinch

“Hold it! How can you tell that?!” Scootaloo asked. “She was wearing a cloak, after all!”

Berry Pinch nodded. “Yeah, but when she raised her right hoof to spray higher-”

“Hm?”

“-I could see her coat and her mane. They were unmistakably Sweetie Belle’s.”

“Hang on!” Scootaloo turned her attention to Button Mash, whose head was pointed upwards as his chin rested on his hoof. “Somethin’ on your mind there, Button Mash?”

“… Huh?”

“I said, is there something about Berry Pinch’s last statement that struck you as odd?”

“Well… she said that she saw the spray can in Sweetie Belle’s right hoof, but… when I really think about it, I’m sure that I saw the can in her left hoof.”

“!” Scootaloo slammed her hooves onto her bench. “A-Are you absolutely sure about that?!”

“Objection!” Diamond Tiara mimicked Scootaloo’s previous action. “What are you talking about?! The prints on the can that was just submitted were right hoofprints!”

“… Sorry, but that’s what I remember,” Button said with a shrug.

“I-Inconceivable!” Diamond protested. “… Well, it changes nothing! Regardless of which hoof she used, we have two cans with her prints on them from different hooves.”

“Objection!” Scootaloo shouted with an outstretched hoof. “If the culprit was holding the can in their left hoof then Berry Pinch couldn’t have seen what she claims to have seen, meaning she couldn’t have identified the culprit as Sweetie Belle!”

“Objection!” Diamond Tiara slammed her hooves onto her bench. “And what proof do you have of that? Maybe she was just confused! Berry Pinch, where were you standing when you saw the culprit? To their left or to their right?!”

“To their right!” Berry Pinch answered. “I know I was, because I approached the town hall from the direction of Roseluck’s flower shop, and the culprit was at the left side of the front of the town hall!”

Scootaloo gave a pleased grin. “Well then, that settles it.”

Diamond Tiara grinded her teeth for a few seconds, before giving a huff and flicking her mane. “We still have more witnesses that saw the can in the right hoof than witnesses that saw it in the left.”

“Objection!” Scootaloo shouted. “You can’t just ignore this fact! What if he’s the one who remembers it right, and everypony else is wrong?!”

“Objection!” Berry Pinch shouted. “I’ll have you know that I have twenty-twenty vision! I would never mistake a right hoof with a left hoof!”

“Maybe not you, but take a look at our other witnesses!”

Everypony did indeed look. At Snails who had at some point become distracted by a butterfly flapping by his face, and at Pipsqueak, who was wearing an eye patch over one eye and whose fringe partially covered his other.

“Objection!” Diamond Tiara shouted. “What about your witness? He’s so stuck to his videogame I doubt he would have seen anything!”

Apple Bloom slammed her gavel. “… It seems ta me… that so long as any doubt remains, a verdict cannot be rendered.” Scootaloo shot a huffing Diamond Tiara a victorious grin. “Therefore, we must asser… ass… establish now, just what exactly our witnesses each saw at the moment they saw the culprit.”

“… You got a lucky break this time,” Diamond Tiara said to Scootaloo. “But your luck can’t last forever.”

“We’ll see about that,” Scootaloo retorted. ‘I somehow managed to scrape by and bring out a new testimony. This is where I start to turn the tables on this trial!’

-WITNESS TESTIMONY-

“When I passed by the town hall I saw the figure spraying those patterns with their right hoof. I was focussed more on the figure so I’m sure I saw correctly.” – Silver Spoon
“I’m certain it was the left hoof! I was paying real close attention!” – Button Mash
“Um, well, I’m positive that Sweetie Belle- I mean, the culprit, raised their right hoof… I didn’t really see much beyond that…” – Berry Pinch
“Actually, I didn’t get a good look at whoever sprayed all that paint. When we all showed up Berry pinch shouted to her and she ran away real quickly.” – Snails
“I’m afraid me head was a bit in the clouds at that time. I don’t really remember which hoof the culprit used.” – Pipsqueak

-END TESTIMONY-

“It seems that two of our witnesses didn’t even see anything of any value,” Apple Bloom said. “Diamond, didn’t y’all question them before the trial?”

“… Hmph. It’s not like I had much time,” Diamond Tiara said in an irritated tone. “Regardless, the two witnesses with the best vision both contradict the dweeb with the goofy hat.”

“Objection!” Sweetie Belle yelled. “His hat isn’t goofy! It’s just not in style yet!”

‘… Interesting how she doesn’t argue the ‘dweeb’ part,’ Scootaloo thought to herself.

“In any case, there’s a clear contradiction here,” Diamond Tiara said before shooting Scootaloo a snakelike grin. “You’d better get to the bottom of it, or we’ll just assume that Button Mash here remembered wrong.”

“… I’m ready.”

-CROSS-EXAMINATION-

“When I passed by the town hall I saw the figure spraying those patterns with their right hoof. I was focussed more on the figure so I’m sure I saw correctly.” – Silver Spoon
“I’m certain it was the left hoof! I was paying real close attention!” – Button Mash

“Hold it!” Scootaloo bit her lip as Button Mash’s attention stayed fixated onto his videogame, as opposed to moving towards her. “Uh, Button? No offence, but you… kinda have an obsession…”

“I don’t have a problem! I can quit anytime I want!” Button Mash yelled.

Scootaloo slammed her hooves onto her bench. “Button, tell me the truth. When you went to meet Sweetie Belle at the appointed time and place, were you or were you not playing you game?”

“… Yeah,” Button Mash said.

“… … S-So then… how can we be sure that you were, as you put it, ‘paying real close attention’?” Scootaloo asked, sweating heavily as she dreaded the incoming answer.

“Uh, let’s see… Oh yeah! It was because I got curious by those strange patterns on the wall!”

“What?”

“Hang on!” Scootaloo turned her attention to Pipsqueak. “Somethin’ on your mind there, champ?”

Pipsqueak held his head in his hooves and closed his eyes tight as if trying desperately to remember something. “Well… I’m trying really hard t’ think back t’ the incident, Miss Scootaloo, but I can’t seem t’ recall any ‘strange patterns’. All I saw were circles.”

“Circles?” Scootaloo asked. “Come to think of it, I haven’t really seen the graffiti on the wall.”

“… Oh!” Apple Bloom facehooved herself. “Right! Diamond was supposed ta provide pictures of the crime scene!”

The entire audience was in an uproar about this oversight. Apple Bloom raised her gavel to silence them.

“Silence!” Apple Bloom blinked, wondering who had so rudely interrupted her interruption. Scootaloo seemed just as confused and startled, until a loud bang directed everypony’s attention to the fuming pink filly making a nice hole in her bench with her hoof. “T-That wasn’t my fault! I was testing you, you stupid blank flank, and you failed! What’s wrong with you?!”

Scootaloo narrowed her eyes. “So… you forgot, basically?”

“Silence!” Diamond Tiara removed her tiara and threw it at Scootaloo, allowing it to bounce off and, much like a boomerang, return to its thrower.

“W-What the heck?” Scootaloo asked, confused as to what events had just transpired.

After replacing her tiara onto her head, Diamond Tiara continued. “I said that that wasn’t it! Don’t you listen to what ponies are telling you?!”

Apple Bloom slammed her gavel several times. “Order! Order! … Diamond Tiara, ah take it y’all have the photos with ya?”

Diamond Tiara huffed and produced a single photograph from her bag. “There wasn’t really much to see at the scene. This single picture is all of the graffiti.”

Apple Bloom nodded her head. “The court accepts this photograph as evidence.” Apple Bloom took a quick look at the photograph. “… Well, those are certainly some er… interestin’ doodles…”

“Everypony in our class should know by now that Sweetie Belle likes to doodle strange things on her paper,” Diamond Tiara said with a grin. “Miss Cheerilee’s shown us her ‘fabulous works of art’ many times, now.”

“Ah don’t really see any simple circles, though.”

“Huh? That’s certainly a mystery, init?” Pipsqueak asked. “I’m certain I saw them, though.”

“I didn’t see any,” Snails said. “But then I wasn’t really looking, so maybe…”

Berry Pinch shook her head. “I was more focussed on the figure. I only saw the patterns that were already made.”

“I didn’t see any circles,” Button said.

Silver Spoon shrugged. “The figure was blocking my view for the most part, and I’m not the one who took the photograph, so this is the first I’m seeing of the patterns, truthfully.”

“You didn’t even visit the scene of the crime?” Sweetie Belle asked with a smug grin and her forelegs crossed. “Not much of a detective, are you?”

Silver Spoon’s eye twitched as she gave the defendant a hard frown. “There wasn’t much time! I asked Featherweight to check it out, okay?! The patterns in that photograph there were all that he found, and trust me, his eyes are sharper than anypony’s.”

“Well, Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom asked. “Y’think y’all can find these ‘circles’ that Pip mentioned?”

“… I think I can, actually,” Scootaloo said, putting a hoof to her chin as she examined the photograph. “It’s actually kinda obvious. The circles are right here…” Scootaloo pointed to a spot in the picture. “Take that!”

“Those are the circles?” Apple Bloom asked. “Hmmm… now that y’mention it…”

“Right. When you look at the whole thing, it just seems like another weird doodle. But when you think about it, it’s two circles attached to a ‘c’… I think.”

“Of course! … An’ what does that tell us?”

“Well, if Button didn’t see the circles as Pipsqueak did, then maybe… he got there earlier than Pipsqueak?” The entire playground fell silent. “I mean, the circles are on the far left, right? So maybe they were made last?”

“It’s true that the culprit made the leftmost patterns last,” Silver Spoon said.

“… Out of curiosity, y’all were there at the same time, but… did y’all arrive together?” Apple Bloom asked the witnesses.

“I was just passing by,” Silver Spoon said. “I think I got there around when Berry Pinch yelled out to the figure.”

“I passed by Snails on the way there and we walked together,” Berry Pinch explained. “I think Pip arrived last, and Button was already there before us.”

Scootaloo nodded. “Alright, so that means that Button Mash arrived first, which tells us… what, exactly?” she asked with a sheepish grin.

Apple Bloom sighed. “Ye’re supposed ta tell us that.”

“Heh.” Everypony’s attention turned to the source of the quiet laughter: Diamond Tiara. “I’ll tell you what it means… It means that Sweetie Belle is guilty.”

“! W-What are you-” Scootaloo began.

“Take a moment to consider what this means in regards to your precious contradiction,” Diamond Tiara said. “Button Mash saw Sweetie Belle holding a spray can in her left hoof, whilst Pipsqueak saw it in her right. It would be impossible for her to be holding the can in both hooves at once if they both only saw her using one hoof.”

“Right, which is why we’re having this cross-examination right now.”

Diamond Tiara shook her head. “There’s no need anymore. Because the situation has changed. They didn’t witness the crime at the same time. Button Mash witnessed it before Pipsqueak.”

“… I guess so, but what does that- AH!”

“Finally caught up? That’s right. The answer to this mystery is simple: Sweetie Belle changed hooves partway through her crime. That’s all there is to it.”

“I-It can’t be!” Scootaloo slammed her hooves onto her bench. “Then why didn’t Button Mash see her changing hooves?”

“Just think back to his testimony. He admitted as much that he was more focussed on the patterns than the culprit. Not to mention his attention to real life is… limited.”

“She’s got a point,” Button Mash said. “I was looking more at the wall than the culprit, and I got pretty bored really quickly.”

“So in short, your contradiction never truly existed. As for why she switched hooves? Clearly her hooves must have gotten tired. Thus, all of the loose ends are tied up in nice, pretty bow.” Diamond Tiara gave a court bow.

“That can’t be it!” Scootaloo protested. “There has to be more!”

“Silence!” Diamond Tiara yelled. “If you have an argument, you’ll have to provide evidence! At this point, Sweetie Belle’s guilt is so clear it puts the Crystal Empire to shame!”

“Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom said in a grim tone, “Ah’m afraid she’s right. If y’all can’t give evidence to counter Diamond’s claims, ah’m gonna have ta give mah verdict now.”

‘… Okay, just think, Scootaloo. Diamond Tiara claimed that Sweetie Belle switched hooves, but…’ “W-When you said that Sweetie Belle switched hooves… doesn’t that contradict only one hoofprint being present on the spray can?”

“Objection!” Diamond Tiara shook her head. “I want to say ‘nice try’, but that was just pathetic. Need I remind you that there are two spray cans in the court record? Clearly she went in armed with both of them at once.”

‘Darn it! I just can’t catch a break here! Unless I can prove that Sweetie Belle didn’t swap hooves… or at least put some doubt onto the theory… But how? I don’t have any evidence that can do that… Hm? Wait, I don’t have any evidence, but I can think of something.’

“Scootaloo, isn’t there something strange about Diamond’s reasoning just now?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Doesn’t it kinda go against what we know?”

“I was thinking the same thing, but… can that be used as evidence?”

Sweetie Belle shrugged. “Well, why not? I mean, we got this far by showing two testimonies that contradicted each other, so…”

“… I’ll give it a shot.” Scootaloo slammed her hooves onto her bench. “The defence is ready to present!”

“You’ve got evidence to counter my claims? Unlikely,” Diamond Tiara said.

Scootaloo shook her head. “Not evidence… I’m going to show that your reasoning is off, because it contradicts previous testimony that we’ve heard.”

Apple Bloom hummed in thought, before nodding. “That sounds reasonable. But Scootaloo, ye’re treadin’ on thin ice here. There’s gonna be a harsher penalty if yer’re jus’ wastin’ the court’s time.”

“She’s really getting into her role as judge,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Unfortunately for me,” Scootaloo sighed.

Apple Bloom slammed her gavel. “Well then, let’s hear Diamond Tiara’s reasoning one more time.”

“… Very well then,” Diamond Tiara said. “The culprit – Sweetie Belle – switched hooves partway through her crime. The reason? Because her left hoof was getting tired. Simple, right?”

“Objection!” Scootaloo pointed a hoof to Truffle Shuffle, who was busy typing away on an ever-growing court transcript. “Can you read out Snails’ testimony for the court?”

Truffle Shuffle stopped typing and scanned through the transcript. “‘Actually, I didn’t get a good look at whoever sprayed all that paint. When we all showed up Berry pinch shouted to her and she ran away real quickly’.”

“… Supposedly, Sweetie Belle’s hoof was tired, and that’s why she switched to her right. Now, Sweetie Belle’s not exactly the most athletic pony we all know. And yet, we’re supposed to believe that she outran five witnesses all the way to her sister’s place, on a tired hoof? That seems pretty fishy, if you ask me.”

“She’s right,” Berry Pinch said.

“She’s got a point,” Button Mash said.

“She was pretty fast,” Snails repeated.

“Like a speedin’ bullet, she was!” Pipsqueak added.

“… I ran out of breath trying to keep up with her,” Silver Spoon admitted with a blush.

The audience began mumbling again until Apple Bloom’s gavel silenced them. “Well, it seems that, while the prosecution has given a reasonable theory, the defence has also cast a harsh light of doubt on said theory… Anythin’ ta say ta that, Diamond Tiara?”

“… That was better than your last flimsy attempt, I’ll give you that,” Diamond said. “But that was only one theory. I still have another: one spray can ran out of paint, so she switched to the next.”

“Objection!” Scootaloo shouted. “Need I remind you that the spray can with her left hoofprint was given to me? And I already checked it out. There’s plenty of paint in there.”

“Hey, Scootaloo!” Scootaloo turned to face Sweetie Belle, only to find the filly pointing the spray can at her before pressing the button.

“YIKES!” Scootaloo backed up and looked at the green paint on her body. “SWEETIE BELLE! WHY?!”

“I was just making sure there was still paint in there!” Sweetie Belle said, cowering behind her forehooves. “T-There is…”

Apple Bloom nodded her head. “It seems neither side has found anything truly conclusive from that testimony, though at least we now know why our witnesses saw the spray can in different hooves. Scootaloo, ah’ll let ya continue this cross-examination now.”

Scootaloo tried to wipe the paint off of her coat, only to find that it was one there good. “… Uh, sure…” Scootaloo took a deep breath. “I’m ready.”

“When I passed by the town hall I saw the figure spraying those patterns with their right hoof. I was focussed more on the figure so I’m sure I saw correctly.” – Silver Spoon

“Hold it!” Scootaloo put a hoof to her chin. “So you were looking more at the culprit than the patterns. Was there anything else that you noticed? Anything that could help identify the culprit?”

“All that really stood out was the cloak. Oh, the top of it was pointed, as if there was a horn there. Other than that, there was nothing that stood out to me.”

“Huh?”

Scootaloo turned to Sweetie Belle. “What’s up?”

“Uh… It’s nothing… I think…”

“Let’s move on, shall we?” Diamond Tiara asked. “We don’t have all day, after all.”

“I’m certain it was the left hoof! I was paying real close attention!” – Button Mash

“Hold it!” Scootaloo bit her lip as Button Mash’s attention stayed fixated onto his videogame, as opposed to moving towards her. “Uh, Button? No offence, but you… kinda have an obsession…”

“I don’t have a problem! I can quit anytime I want!” Button Mash yelled.

Scootaloo slammed her hooves onto her bench. “Button, tell me the truth. When you went to meet Sweetie Belle at the appointed time and place, were you or were you not playing you game?”

“… Yeah,” Button Mash said.

“… … S-So then… how can we be sure that you were, as you put it, ‘paying real close attention’?” Scootaloo asked, sweating heavily as she dreaded the incoming answer.

“Uh, let’s see… Oh yeah! It was because I got curious by those strange patterns on the wall!”

“We have established already that Button’s attention was drawn more towards the patterns than to the culprit,” Diamond said. “This line of questioning is pointless.”

“… I guess you’re right,” Scootaloo conceded. ‘I should focus on the rest of the testimony. There’s gotta be something there.’

“Um, well, I’m positive that Sweetie Belle- I mean, the culprit, raised their right hoof… I didn’t really see much beyond that…” – Berry Pinch

“Hold it! Are you saying that all you saw was the moment that the culprit moved their hoof?” Scootaloo asked.

Berry Pinch nodded. “That’s right. When I got there with Snails, I first spotted Button Mash and asked him if he had an invitation, too, Pipsqueak arrived shortly afterwards and pointed out the culprit to me. I then shouted and the culprit ran away.”

“Scootaloo, is there something wrong with the witness’ story?” Apple Bloom asked.

“… No, there isn’t,” Scootaloo said. ‘I hate to admit it, but it’s all sound. I’ll have to look for a contradiction somewhere else.’

“Heh,” Diamond laughed with a pleased grin. “Why bother? This case is over.”

“Actually, I didn’t get a good look at whoever sprayed all that paint. When we all showed up Berry pinch shouted to her and she ran away real quickly.” – Snails

“Hold it!” Scootaloo put a hoof to her chin. “So you didn’t see anything at all that could help you identify whoever was wearing that cloak?”

“Not until we cornered Sweetie Belle at her sister’s house,” Snails said. “I don’t know when, but at some point her hood must’ve fallen off and I could see her clearly.”

“Not the most reliable witness, if you hadn’t seen anythin’,” Apple Bloom said.

“Objection!” Diamond waggled her hoof and tutted. “Just remember, Snails was there with four other witnesses, who all gave chase to the hooded figure and all could identify that same figure as Sweetie Belle. On his own he may be useless, but together, they form a sort of competency.”

‘Wow. Very tact, Diamond,’ Scootaloo thought as sweat dripped down her head.

“Witnesses, continue yer testimony,” Apple Bloom ordered.

“I’m afraid me head was a bit in the clouds at that time. I don’t really remember which hoof the culprit used.” – Pipsqueak

“Hold it!” … … “W-What were you thinking about, if I may ask?”

“Objection!” Diamond Tiara slammed a hoof onto her bench. “Don’t try stalling for time, here! Irrelevent questions have no place in this courtroom!”

Apple Bloom shook her head. “Scootaloo, if’n ya don’t have any questions relatin’ ta the case fer the witness, ah’ll have ta end this line o’ questionin’ right here.”

“R-Roger…” ‘I’m not even sure I can say ‘worth a try’ for that one…’

Apple Bloom slammed her gavel. “Is that all yer questions, Scootaloo?”

Scootaloo clenched her teeth together. ‘If I end my questioning now, we’re sunk! But on the other hoof, I can’t think of any contradictions in that testimony! What do I do?’

“Hold it!” Sweetie Belle pulled Scootaloo to the side. “Excuse me, can we just have a minute to talk here?”

“… Very well,” Apple Bloom said. “But only one minute. Ah’ma countin’.”

“What is it, Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo asked.

“Ask to continue cross-examining. I think there’s still something we need to ask one of them.” Sweetie Belle explained.

“There is? I didn’t find anything odd there.”

“I’m not sure yet myself, but when you questioned Silver Spoon, something didn’t feel right.”

“… Silver Spoon, huh? Wonder if she’s telling lies to help Diamond Tiara.”

“Minute’s up,” Apple Bloom declared. “Well? What’ll it be, Scootaloo? If you have no further questions-”

Scootaloo slammed both of her hooves hard onto her bench. “The defence still has one more question. We request that the cross-examination go on.”

“… Ah can’t see what further questions y’all could possibly have, but since we still have plenty of recess left, ah’m gonna allow this. Any objections, Diamond Tiara.”

“… None,” Diamond answered. “But remember, Scootaloo, stalling for time won’t change the outcome of this trial.”

Apple Bloom nodded and slammed her gavel. “Then the cross-examination will continue.”

‘If Sweetie Belle’s right, then the one that I need to press is Silver Spoon…’ Scootaloo thought to herself, wiping the sweat off of her brow as she readied her nerves.

“When I passed by the town hall I saw the figure spraying those patterns with their right hoof. I was focussed more on the figure so I’m sure I saw correctly.” – Silver Spoon

“Hold it!” Scootaloo put a hoof to her chin. “So you were looking more at the culprit than the patterns. Was there anything else that you noticed? Anything that could help identify the culprit?”

“All that really stood out was the cloak. Oh, the top of it was pointed, as if there was a horn there. Other than that, there was nothing that stood out to me.”

“! Scootaloo, that’s it!”

Scootaloo turned to Sweetie Belle. “Uh, that’s what?”

“There, during her testimony! Didn’t you see her acting odd?”

“… No different than usual.”

“Excuse me,” Sweetie Belle said to Silver Spoon, “But could you just repeat that one more time?”

“… I have no idea what you’re up to, but sure.”

“Okay, Scootaloo. Pay real close attention to her hoof.”

“Her hoof?” Scootaloo noticed that Silver Spoon’s hoof was resting on her glasses. “Uh, I don’t really get it, but…”

“Trust me. You’ll see what I mean.”

“All that really stood out was the cloak.” Silver Spoon’s hoof remained as steady as a rock. “Oh, the top of it was pointed, as if there was a horn there.” Scootaloo was finding it hard to keep her attention focussed on that hoof any longer, and she still hadn’t seen whatever she was supposed to see. “Other than that, there was nothing that stood out to me.”

“! Wait, did she just-”

“I told you,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Her hoof was twitching,” Scootaloo muttered. “But does that really mean anything?”

“Rarity told me ponies give ‘tells’ when they’re covering something up,” Sweetie Belle said. “It’s how she always knows when we’re up to something.”

‘To be honest, I never thought we were fooling anypony with our innocent acts, anyway.’ Scootaloo watched as Silver Spoon’s hoof continued to twitch ever-so-slightly, nudging her glasses in the process. “So what does it mean? That she’s lying or holding something back?”

“Why don’t we ask her about it?” Sweetie Belle suggested. “We won’t know otherwise.” Scootaloo nodded her head. There really wasn’t anything to lose, she felt.

“Gotcha!” Scootaloo put a hoof to her chin and narrowed her eyes. “Silver Spoon, is there something you’re not telling us?”

“! W-What do you mean?” Silver Spoon asked. “I’ve told you everything I know!”

“… I don’t think you have. Maybe you’re not aware of it, but when you said ‘there was nothing that stood out to me’, you started to play with your glasses frame.”

“My… glasses frame?”

“I think you’re hiding something. I think you did see something that stood out to you.”

“… Okay, I’ll play along. If you’re so sure, why don’t you tell me what it is that I saw?”

‘I don’t have any evidence, but I’ve got a pretty good idea.’ “Naturally, since you were playing with your glasses, that’s exactly what it is that you saw… You saw a pair of glasses, or at least something that made you think that the culprit was wearing glasses.”

“… You know what? You’re right,” Silver Spoon said, surprising Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. “I think I saw what may or may not be glasses… but as I wasn’t sure, I didn’t say anything. After all, nopony else saw any.”

Apple Bloom blinked a few times. “So… you might’ve seen the culprit wear glasses?”

Silver Spoon nodded. “That’s right.”

“Objection!” Diamond Tiara slammed a hoof onto her bench. “Why is this the first I’m hearing of this?! Nopony ever said that the pony they saw was wearing glasses!”

“Well, that pony had their hood up,” Silver Spoon said. “But I approached from a different angle from everypony else. You see, they approached the town hall from behind the hooded pony, but I approached from the front. I got a sideways look at their face and saw a sharp reflection, but when you think about it, that could have just been the clasp of their cloak.”

“It does look like it’d shine pretty bright in the sunlight,” Apple Bloom admitted.

“There’s more, though. It was the shape of the hood itself. Remember how I said that a horn seemed to poking up at the top? Well glasses also stick out a bit to the sides.”

“And that’s what you saw?” Scootaloo asked. “There aren’t many ponies who wear glasses in Ponyville, so I guess you’d only notice something like that if you wear glasses yourself.”

“Objection!” Diamond Tiara yelled. “Need I even point out how ridiculous you all sound right now? Those little ‘signs’ that Silver Spoon saw could have been anything! There’s no concrete proof that that figure was wearing glasses! Unless you intend to supply those glasses yourself?”

“… W-Well, I can’t really-”

“Then I rest my case,” Diamond said with finality. “The culprit was none other than Sweetie Belle, and you have failed to provide a solid case opposing that claim. Now all that’s left is the verdict.”

“Hold it!” All eyes turned to Scootaloo, but she remained silent. All eyes turned to Apple Bloom, but she was also silent. Finally, all eyes rested on the witnesses as Snails spoke up. “Uh, excuse me, Miss Tiara?”

“What is it?” Diamond Tiara asked in an annoyed tone. “Can’t you see we’re in the middle of an important conversation right now? If you need the bathroom, I already told you to go before we started this trial!”

“No, it’s not that!” Snails said. “What Silver Spoon said, it made me remember something!”

“And that is?” Apple Bloom asked.

“While we were chasing after the hooded pony, I bumped into somepony!”

“! You did?” Scootaloo asked.

“Yeah! It was after the culprit ran around a sharp corner and we followed after them. It was Twist that I bumped into! I remembered just now ‘cause of the whole glasses thing. She and Silver Spoon are the only ones in our class who wear ‘em, after all.”

“You’re right,” Scootaloo muttered. “Wait a minute, if the culprit was wearing glasses, then does that mean-”

“Ah, except that Twist wasn’t wearing her glasses at the time,” Snails said before putting a hoof to his chin. “I asked her if she lost them, but she told me she was tryin’ out contacts.”

“Twist is wearin’ contacts?” Apple Bloom asked. “Huh.”

“Too bad, Scootaloser,” Diamond Tiara laughed. “Though even if Twist were wearing her glasses at the time, there’s no way I would tolerate you accusing somepony based solely on a shaky memory.”

“But she was there when everypony gave chase, and like Snails said, she’s the only other pony in our class who wears glasses!” Scootaloo protested.

“Silence!” Diamond Tiara removed her tiara and threw it at Scootaloo’s head. It returned to her hoof and she adorned it once more. “Like I said, Silver Spoon’s memory is questionable at best! Furthermore, Twist wasn’t wearing her glasses at the time. There’s nothing whatsoever to implicate her!”

“B-But…”

“Furthermore, who was it that everypony found at the end of their little chase? Whose hoofwriting is it that was found on those invitations? And whose hoofprints were found on the cans that match the paint on the town hall’s walls?” Diamond Tiara pointed a hoof at the accused. “It was all Sweetie Belle. That’s what every sign points to.”

“N… NNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Everything fell silent. Everypony watched with bated breaths as they awaited the final decision from Apple Bloom. “Scootaloo? … Diamond Tiara’s totally right.” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle’s heads both sank at the grave news. “At this time, there is nothing to implicate Twist as a possible suspect.”

“Don’t feel so bad,” Diamond Tiara said with a grin. “If this incident makes it difficult to enter whatever commoner high school you were aiming for, I’ll have Daddy pull some strings for you. Aren’t I just the most generous pony ever?”

“However,” Apple Bloom continued, “A new witness has been presented, one who has not been questioned yet. We can’t ignore that.”

“What?” Diamond Tiara asked in a flat tone.

“Remember what Miss Cheerilee taught us: we can’t overlook anything, or we might miss somethin’ valuable. Therefore, we must hear from this new witness, but only as a witness, an’ not as a suspect. Is that understood?”

“… Tch, whatever,” Diamond Tiara replied.

“U-Understood, Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo said.

Apple Bloom nodded. “Since we don’t have enough time left, we’ll end off here an’ finish at the park after school, at around four. Is that okay with everypony?”

“Yes!” the entire crowd of foals replied.

“Then in that case, court is adjourned.” Apple Bloom slammed her gavel one final time, and everypony scattered across the playground to talk about the case.

“Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo said as she approached her friend. “… Thanks.”

“Ah only did what was right,” Apple Bloom said with a mild blush. “… Y’all don’t seriously suspect Twist, do ya?”

“Right now, I dunno. But I do wanna question her.” Scootaloo looked over at Diamond Tiara, who was smacking Snails across the head with a rolled-up magazine and yelling at Button Mash. “Say, do you think you could tell Miss Cheerilee that I got a bad stomach and went home?”

“Ya wanna cut class?” Apple Bloom with a tilt of her head.

“I just want to investigate. I never really got a chance to do so this morning,” Scootaloo explained. “C’mon, I really need this! There could be some killer decisive evidence out there that we’re all missing out on!”

“… Well, I guess it would only be fair ta let y’all investigate like Diamond did, but-”

“Knew I could count on ya!” Scootaloo shouted as she ran off quickly. “Don’t worry! I’ll find just what we need to get Sweetie Belle off the hook!”

“Scootaloo, wait!” Apple Bloom watched Scootaloo jumped over the nearby fence and disappear into the distance. “… Well, at least she’s still got her energy.”

Scootaloo arrived at the town hall at around half-past-two o’clock, according to the large clock in the town square, and could see much security around the building. “Looks like they beefed up security ‘cause of the incident.”

“Of course they did,” a voice said behind Scootaloo.

“?!”

“Mayor Mare wasn’t happy when she saw all that paint on the town hall’s walls this morning.” Scootaloo turned around to find a flash of light greeting her face. When the flash subsided, she found Featherweight pointing a camera her way. “Sweetie Belle had better hope she isn’t found guilty.”

“Y-You! Why are you here?! You should be in school!”

“So should you,” Featherweight pointed out.

“Uh, oh yeah…”

“Apple Bloom asked me to help you out. She said you might need my camera if you find anything.”

“Apple Bloom did? … Well, I guess you can come along, then. Your good eye might actually help me out here.” Scootaloo looked back towards the town hall.

“This place was already searched thoroughly last night. You’ll find nothing.” Featherweight turned to the path leading away from the town hall. “The path that the chase took place on, however, was not. We never had enough time to look into that.”

“If the pony who sprayed all this graffiti wasn’t Sweetie Belle, then that pony must have disappeared at some point during the chase when Sweetie Belle crossed paths with them.”

“Makes sense,” Featherweight said. “You suspect Twist, right? The point where she intercepted with Snails isn’t that far ahead. Come.”

Scootaloo followed after Featherweight as the scrawny colt hovered just slightly above the ground, snapping pictures of various thing as he moved.

The time was around twenty-to-three o’clock when the two reached the point where Snails had reportedly bumped into Twist. It was indeed a sharp corner, and around said corner was a straight, wide path with a four-way junction not too far past the initial corner.

“So what d’you think?” Scootaloo asked. “Seems to me that somepony would easily be able to hide from sight here.”

“Indeed. I’m actually quite curious as to why anypony would chose to run straight at this point, as Sweetie Belle allegedly did.”

“Oh my. Two naughty little foals skipping school to go on a date?”

“Huh?” Scootaloo asked as she and Featherweight turned around, only to find nopony there. As they turned back, Scootaloo began to ask, “Who-”

She was cut off abruptly by an explosion of smoke and a bouquet of flowers in her face. “Perhaps the two of you may wish to chose a better spot, though. One where ponies would not be as likely to see you.” The blue unicorn wearing the purple pointed hat and cloak combo smirked at the two foals. “Don’t worry. The Great and Powerful Trixie will pretend that she saw nothing.”

“Y-Y-Y-Y-You!” Scootaloo shouted, pointed a shaking hoof at the showmare standing tall and proud. “You’re the pony who enslaved Ponyville that one time!”

Trixie’s face soured immediately and she huffed. “I will thank you not to bring up that incident!” Trixie flicked her mane and regained her cocky smile. “So, where were the two of you planning to go whilst playing hookey? Perhaps you’d like to see a romantic dinner show?”

“We’re not a couple!” Scootaloo yelled. “It’s also not dinnertime!”

Trixie tapped a hoof to her chin. “Trixie prefers to follow her own schedule. Why wait an extra six hours after lunch to have dinner, just because it’s ‘the norm’?”

“Because you’ll get fat,” Scootaloo deadpanned.

“… Well, if the two of you are not on a date, then why are you skipping school? Perhaps you came for an autograph?”

“Uh, no… We’re investigating the vandalism of the town hall that took place last night.”

“Ah, that,” Trixie said, tutting as she shook her head. “Such a shame, that this is how the children of today have been brought up. Still, at least there’s still some hope.”

“Huh?” Scootaloo asked. “What do you mean?”

“Children should not be out defacing public property or awakening dangerous beasts from their slumber. They should be more like you two: harmlessly playing ‘cops and robbers’ and not causing any trouble.”

“Actually, I’m an attorney,” Scootaloo corrected.

“… Then why are you investigating? That’s more a detective’s job, don’t you think?”

“My friend’s on trial for the crime, and I’m going to prove her innocent, no matter what!”

Trixie stared at the filly’s strong, determined gaze for a second before smiling. “Well, then in that case, the Great and Powerful Trixie wishes you luck.”

“Uh… thanks.”

“Here, perhaps seeing one of the Great and Powerful Trixie’s great tricks will motivate you!” Before Scootaloo could protest, Trixie had removed her hat and placed it atop Scootaloo heads. After tapping her hoof against it twice, Trixie removed the hat to reveal a chicken underneath it. “Ta-da!”

There was no applause. Only utter silence before the chicken jumped off and walked away.

“Miss Trixie,” Featherweight finally said, “I don’t suppose you happened to see the incident take place last night, did you?”

“Oh, you wish to question Trixie about the incident? Very well, I’ll play along, though unfortunately I was nowhere near the town hall at that time. Though Trixie did see a group of foals running this way sometime after seven. Perhaps those are your culprits?”

“! You saw them?!” Scootaloo asked. “Those are our witnesses! They were chasing the real culprit!”

“Ah, that foal with the fashionable purple cloak,” Trixie said. “Trixie is glad to see that your generation is finally starting to appreciate true fashion.”

“What do you mean by that?” Featherweight asked.

“Well, Trixie has seen at least two fillies wearing that cloak in the past week or so.”

Scootaloo gasped. “You said two?” Trixie nodded. “Do you know who they were?”

“Trixie barely knows the adults in this town, let alone the children. Plus, both times that Trixie saw them, they had their hoods up. She could only tell their genders by their voices, though perhaps at your age a colt could use that high a pitch, too.”

“Oh… I see…”

“Ah, but one of them did approach Trixie the other day,” Trixie said. “She asked Trixie to make something for her.”

“Make something?” Scootaloo asked. “What did she ask you to make?”

“It was an invitation of some kind,” Trixie said. “Trixie cannot remember the details, but basically the filly challenged Trixie to create four copies in hoofwriting identical to a sample she had given me. Trixie found the request odd, but when that filly suggested that Trixie couldn’t do it…” Trixie laughed and gave a proud grin. “Well, let’s just say that nopony should underestimate the Great and Powerful Trixie.”

“An invitation…” Scootaloo pulled out the invitation that was submitted as evidence earlier from her saddlebag and showed it to Trixie. “Is this the one?”

Trixie took the invitation into her magic and examined it. “Ah, yes. This is indeed it. You can tell because Trixie had put a little surprise into it.”

“A surprise?” Featherweight asked.

Trixie nodded. “Well, just add water, and you’ll see. A little favour, since it seemed that the filly was holding some kind of party or something.”

“Add water, huh?” Scootaloo made a mental note of that as she took her invitation back. “Hey, d’you think you could testify for us in our courtroom later today?”

“Sorry, kid, but the Great and Powerful Trixie has prior engagements today. Though a written testimony should be just as good, if you’d like that instead.”

“That’ll do,” Scootaloo confirmed as Trixie produced a notepad and a quill with her magic. She scribbled down her testimony and signed it, and then offered the quill to Featherweight. “It is customary to have a neutral party also sign testimony like this.”

“What makes you think I’m neutral?” Featherweight asked.

“Like yourself, Trixie has good eyes,” Trixie answered. “You just give off a general air of neutrality. Like you don’t care one way or another how the story unfolds.”

Featherweight stared at Trixie for a few seconds before taking the quill and signing the testimony. Trixie then took the testimony and, to Scootaloo’s horror, ripped it into piece before her very eyes. “What-” A hoof went to Scootaloo ear and, with a grin, Trixie pulled out the written testimony from and gave it to Scootaloo. “Uh… thanks, I guess,” Scootaloo said before shaking off the confusion. “This’ll really help!”

“Well then, if that is the end of your questions, the Great and Powerful Trixie must bid you adieu!”

“Add-what now?” Scootaloo asked, looking up from her saddlebag after storing her evidence, only to find that Trixie was gone. “… W-Well, I can’t really think of anything else I wanted to ask her, anyway…” Featherweight stepped forward, walking away from Scootaloo. “Huh? Where’re you goin’?”

“I saw something,” Featherweight said. “After that mare disappeared, I saw a glint over here.”

“A glint?” Scootaloo asked before following Featherweight towards a bunch of bins lined up against a wall. She noticed that there was glass on the floor. “Is it the glass around here?”

“No. I can smell something more,” Featherweight insisted.

“… Trash?”

“A scoop,” Featherweight said as he dove behind the bins, pulling something out that made Scootaloo gasp and jump into the air. “A big scoop!”

“Those are… Twist’s glasses!” Scootaloo shouted. “A-And look! There’s green paint on them!”

Featherweight took a photo of the glasses. Part of the left frame and most of the left spectacle were coated green. “I saw something else, too,” he said as Scootaloo collected the glasses. He reached behind the bin again and pulled out some purple cloth which, when unfolded, made Scootaloo gasp and jump once again.

“The cloak!” Scootaloo shouted. “The second cloak!”

Featherweight reached into the cloak and pulled out two spray cans. “Green spray paint.” He took more photographs before Scootaloo collected the evidence into her saddlebag.

“T-This is perfect! This proves that Sweetie Belle didn’t do it!”

“Not just yet,” Featherweight said, causing Scootaloo to tilt her head in confusion. “For now, we don’t even know if they have anything to do with this case. We need to find out if the paint matches the paint on the town hall, and more than that, we need to prove that these items have nothing to do with Sweetie Belle.”

“B-But these are Twist’s glasses! Isn’t that enough?”

“For now, we shouldn’t relax just yet,” Featherweight said. “Diamond Tiara is a stronger opponent than that. We should continue investigating to see what more we can find.”

“… You said ‘we’.” Featherweight simply stared back in silence as his response to that. “Does that mean… you’re on my side now?”

“Not really,” Featherweight said, scratching the back of his head. “This is just turning into such a great story, I’d hate to see it end prematurely because you underestimate your opponent.”

Scootaloo sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “Well, whatever. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to do a little more investigating, and there was somepony that I wanted to see before the trial picked up where it left off, anyway.”

“Oh? I’m guessing that would be Miss Rarity?”

Scootaloo nodded. “Sweetie Belle was carrying that can of spray paint when she ran to Rarity’s place. I’m thinking Rarity might know why. At the very least, it’s worth asking.”

“Exactly. I didn’t see anything else around here when I checked, so we should probably go there now.”

Scootaloo watched Featherweight begin to walk away with a puzzled look on her face. “What? When did you check?”

“When we were speaking with Miss Trixie before. I scanned the entire area several times. C’mon. We don’t have much time before school ends and the trial continues.”

Scootaloo continued watching Featherweight moving away and, with a shrug, followed after the colt.

It was around fifteen minutes past three o’clock when Scootaloo and Featherweight found Rarity. After being unable to find the mare at Carousal Boutique or at the spa, the two foals asked about and were able to find out that Rarity had been sighted going towards the library.

“What are you two doing out of school?” Twilight asked as she gave the two a stern look. “Education is the path to a good future, and rules are in place so that society doesn’t descend into anarchy!”

“Uh, yeah, but y’see, the thing is… Miss Cheerilee let us go early!” Scootaloo said, earning a very sceptical look from Twilight. “On account of… being such good students?”

Featherweight stepped forward. “We’re actually doing a special article for the school’s paper,” he said.

“We are?” Scootaloo asked. “I mean, we are!”

“It’s about the vandalism that took place last night. Miss Cheerilee let us go early since it’s an extracurricular activity.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes, staring deep into the colt’s eyes, which remained steady under the hard, suspicious gaze. “Oh, well why didn’t you say so?” Twilight asked, suddenly smiling very brightly and earning a relieved sigh from Scootaloo. “I would be happy to help in whatever way I can!”

“Actually, we’d like to speak with Miss Rarity,” Featherweight said. “We believe she might know some things that can really help us… er, write our story, that is.”

Twilight’s face fell and she took a step back. “Oh,” she said in a flat tone. “I see. Come on in, then…”

‘… Maybe there is something she could help with,’ Scootaloo thought to herself as she watched Twilight’s crestfallen state. The filly pulled out the pair of glasses from her saddlebag. “Hey, Twilight? Could you check the paint on these glasses for me and let me know if they match the paint on the town hall?”

Twilight took the glasses into her magic and examined them. “Well it certainly looks the same, but I’ll go out to the town hall and run a more scientific check for you, if you’re willing to wait for about thirty minutes.”

“That should be fine,” Scootaloo said. “We’ll talk with Rarity while we wait.”

“Did I hear my name mentioned?” Rarity descended down the stairs from the library’s upper floor and was surprised to see the two foals standing before her. “Heavens, is school out already?”

“They’re here to ask you some questions about the vandalism that happened last night,” Twilight explained. “I’m going to go visit the town hall to check the paint on these glasses. Would you mind keeping them company while I’m gone?”

“Why not at all,” Rarity said with a smile. “I’ll be happy to assist our young junior detectives with finding out who was behind this most tasteless crime!”

“I’m not a detective!” Scootaloo shouted! “I’m a-”

Featherweight put a hoof to Scootaloo’s mouth, muffling her speech and catching her off guard. “What she means is, we’re journalists. We’re writing a column on this incident.” Featherweight leaned closer to Scootaloo and whispered, “We can’t her know her sister’s on trial.”

“Why not?” Scootaloo whispered back.

“Think about it! She’ll interrupt the trial and demand everypony leave her sister alone, and then I won’t have a story, and you won’t be able to prove Sweetie Belle’s innocence!”

“… Okay, fine,” Scootaloo sighed. “Yeah, we’re journalists. So let us ask you a few questions and we’ll be outta your hair.”

“Oh, please. You don’t have to worry about being a bother to me,” Rarity said as she sat down at Twilight’s table, beckoning for the two foals to join her. Scootaloo and Featherweight both sat opposite to Rarity and she asked them, “Now, whatever would you like to ask me?”

Scootaloo put a hoof to her chin. “Well, I guess the first thing would be if you happened to see the incident happening, or anything unusual at around that time?”

“Well I certainly did not see it myself, otherwise I would have apprehended the young prankster and given them a stern talking-to! As for anything unusual, I cannot think of anything off of the top of my head. Though really, I don’t believe I even know when the incident took place.”

“Our sources have told us that it was around seven,” Featherweight said. “Were you anywhere around the town hall at that time?”

“Oh, heavens no. I was… Hmm, let’s see here…” Rarity tapped a hoof to her chin for several moments as she hummed to herself in thought. Finally, she gasped as her memory came back to her. “Aha! Now I recall! I was waiting for Sweetie Belle to deliver something to me at my house.”

“Deliver something?” Scootaloo asked. “Like a spray can?”

“Why… that’s exactly it,” Rarity said. “How ever did you know?”

“Uh, lucky guess. So what’s the deal with the spray can?”

“Well, I’m doing a spot of redecorating. Green is going to be in a few seasons down so I am preparing my workroom in advanced for that. The trouble is that my pet cat Opal likes to scratch the sides of the can and chew on the nozzles, so I asked Sweetie Belle if she could be a dear and store them at our parents’ house.”

“So at what time did Sweetie Belle arrive?” Scootaloo asked.

“That’s just the thing. She never did. I had asked her to come by at around seven as that is not long after her karate classes end, and my house is along the path back to our parents’.”

“Sweetie Belle does karate?”

“She’s a blue belt so far,” Featherweight reported. “Her kicks are so strong that the instructor has to wear special equipment when training her.”

“She’s just like her older sister,” Rarity boasted with a proud smile. “A lady must protect herself, especially one as pretty as moi.”

‘How is such a shy and humble filly related to this pony?’ Scootaloo cleared her throat. “So any idea why she didn’t show up?”

“Oh, I imagine that she did, but I was not in at the time. You see, word had reached me about a sale at Ruby’s jewellery shop of up to eighty percent off everything!” Rarity’s smile turned into a sour pour and she stomped a hoof against the floor. “When I had gotten there though, the entire thing turned out to be a hoax!” she added with a huff.

“So Sweetie Belle must’ve just missed you and gone on home without waiting, huh?”

“That’s certainly what I believe. Of course it’s also entirely possible that she had forgotten.”

Scootaloo reached into her bag and produced the two spray cans that she had found earlier. “Are these the cans of paint you use?”

Rarity took one into her magic and identified it closely. “Ah, yes! There’s no mistaking it! This is a custom brand made from crushed and ground-up gemstones to offer maximum shine! Why, this is even the exact same colour I’ve been using for my redecorating.”

“How can you tell?” Featherweight asked. “The shade might be slightly different.”

Rarity shook her head. “I can tell from the ingredients on the back.”

“… You’ve memorised the ingredients in spray cans?” Scootaloo asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Only the gemstones,” Rarity explained. “Those are what provide the spray cans with their colours, after all.”

“So these are the same as Sweetie Belle’s,” Scootaloo muttered as Featherweight made a note of that. “And are they easy to find?”

“Well, they’re not the cheapest paint cans, but they are also by no means rare.”

“D’you think you could write that down?” Scootaloo asked. “Er, our… article, will need written testimony like that.”

“Oh, no problem at all.” Rarity used her magic to levitate a quill and some parchment from Twilight’s desk. “I’m sure that Twilight won’t mind. Aaaand… done!”

“Sign it?”

Rarity raised an eyebrow, but complied nonetheless. The parchment was then taken by Featherweight, who also signed it beside Rarity’s signature.

“So, was that every question that you had for me?” Rarity asked.

Scootaloo thought about it for a few seconds. ‘There’s still something else that’s bugging me. Maybe I should show her that.’ Scootaloo reached into her saddlebag and pulled out the purple cloak that was also found earlier. “You recognise this, right?”

“Oh! That’s the same type of cloak that I bought for Sweetie Belle!” Rarity exclaimed, feeling the soft fabric with pouted lips. “But it’s all dirty. Scootaloo, dear, you really should take better care of such fabulous designs.”

“It’s not mine!” Scootaloo told Rarity. “I, er, I mean I found it outside. I was wondering if you knew whose it was, since Sweetie Belle still has hers. I figured you made it or something, but… you just said ‘bought’?”

“You think that I made this?” Rarity giggled and reached a hoof forward to pinch Scootaloo’s cheek. “Oh, you little flatterer.”

Scootaloo pulled her face away and quickly rubbed the sore spot on her cheek. “Then where’d you get it from?”

“A store up in Canterlot,” Rarity answered. “I knew that this would look just right on Sweetie Belle, so I bought it for her. She really seems to love it.”

“So then, it’s not a one-of-a-kind item?” Scootaloo asked. “Anypony can get one?”

“That’s right,” Rarity confirmed. “In fact, now that I think about it, a filly approached me just last week who was wearing one of these. Maybe this cloak belongs to her?”

“A filly?” Scootaloo asked, exchanging a knowing glance with Featherweight. “Can I ask who?”

“I’m afraid that I don’t know. Her face was obscured by her hood’s shadow. She came to me with asking if I knew of anypony who could create high-quality wigs and I referred her to a friend of mine, Toupée Charmer. Though I warned her that his wigs are rather expensive, since such things aren’t exactly in demand in this town. However, I was surprised when he had told me that the filly had sparked a new creative design that would take the world by storm.”

“Take the world by storm? In what way?”

“I’m not so sure, either. He told me that he wants it to be a surprise, but said that the world of theatre will soon be showering him in bits. His only hint was to think of Yin and Yang.”

“Yin and Yang?” Scootaloo asked. “What’s that?”

“It’s the balance of good and evil forces in the world,” Featherweight explained.

“That’s true, but I believe he was referring to the play about a young mare with another soul inhabiting her body,” Rarity said. “When Yin takes over, Yang’s hair as white as snow turns black, and her kind exterior becomes twisted and cruel.”

Scootaloo put a hoof to her chin. “I don’t really get it, but if that filly bought a wig, then-”

“I’m back!” Twilight announced as she entered the library, altering the others to her presence. “Good news! I was able to confirm that the paint on the glasses matched the paint on the town hall’s walls!”

“Awesome!” Scootaloo exclaimed as she jumped to her hooves and grabbed the glasses from Twilight’s magic. “With this, there’s no way we’ll lose now!”

“‘Lose’?” Twilight asked.

“U-Uhhh… L-Lose at making the school’s best article, of course!” Scootaloo stashed all of her evidence into her saddlebag and glanced at the clock. It was about time for school to finish up, meaning that the trial would be starting in half-an-hour. “Well, thanks for answering all our questions for us! C’mon, Featherweight! We’d better go make that article!”

Featherweight nodded and rose to his hooves, bowing to the two mares before snapping a photograph of the two of them and then leaving behind Scootaloo. Twilight and Rarity simply shrugged before Twilight shut the library’s door.

“So now that we know that the paint of these glasses match the paint on the town hall, we just need to know one more thing,” Scootaloo said. “Who they belong to.”

“The precinct is all the way on the other side of town,” Featherweight said. “There’s no way you can get there and ask for a hoofprint examination before the trial continues.”

Scootaloo clicked her tongue and glared at the ground. “Darn it, I was so close! If only I just had a little more time…”

“… If you want, I can have the evidence examined for you,” Featherweight said, surprising Scootaloo. “The cloak will probably have nothing, but the cans and the glasses might show just who they belonged to.”

“You’d really do that for me?” Scootaloo asked.

“For my story, yes,” Featherweight responded.

Scootaloo sighed. “Well, whatever. Just make sure you don’t take too long, and I’ll keep the trial going ‘til you get back.” Featherweight nodded his head as Scootaloo relinquished the glasses and one spray can. “… Thanks for doing this.”

Featherweight blushed and scratched the back of his head. “Uh, no problem.” Putting the evidence into his own saddlebag, Featherweight took off down the town, running as fast as his little legs would allow him to.

Meanwhile, Scootaloo turned her gaze towards the direction of the school. “Alright then, let’s do this. One ‘not guilty’ verdict for Sweetie Belle comin’ right up.”

After returning to the school, Scootaloo found Apple Bloom waiting for her with Sweetie Belle. The other foals had already moved to the park, and the three of them walked there together in complete silence. The tension was thick in the air, and when they arrived at the makeshift courtroom made out of cardboard boxes in the park, Scootaloo felt like her stomach was about to empty.

She noticed that Sweetie Belle’s legs were shaking and that she had a long face. Putting a hoof to her friend’s shoulder, she said, “Trust me. It’ll be okay.” Those words seemed to calm not only Sweetie Belle, but herself as well.

“Okay, we’re ready for you,” Archer said as she guided Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle towards the courtroom. The two took their places at the defence’s bench, opposite to Diamond Tiara.

Apple Bloom, now donned once more in her judge’s outfit, took her own place at the centre cardboard box, set a bit back so that she could watch over the entire courtroom.

“Here we go,” Scootaloo muttered to herself. “It all ends here.”

The gathering was loud as fillies and colts were discussing the previous trial and placing wagers on the current one. Passing bystanders stopped to look at the scene wild mild interest and curiosity before continuing on their ways.

Apple Bloom’s squeaky hammer slammed down, silencing the ponies around her. “Court will now continue fer the trail of Miss Sweetie Belle.”

“The defence is ready, Your Honour!” Scootaloo shouted, her voice loud and clear.

Apple Bloom nodded. “And the prosecution?”

Diamond Tiara was busy applying polish to her left forehoof and refused to answer Apple Bloom’s question.

“Ah said, is the prosecution-”

“Silence!” Diamond Tiara placed her hoof polish down and glared at Apple Bloom. “I refuse to acknowledge this sham of a trial any further! The very fact that we are even having this second courtroom session is pathetic!”

“Objection!” Scootaloo shouted. “You won’t be saying that after I’m done proving Sweetie Belle innocent!”

“Silence!” Diamond Tiara removed her tiara and threw it at Scootaloo. It bounced off of the filly’s forehead and returned to Diamond’s hoof. “You got this far on flimsy theories and pure dumb luck! I’m so confident you’ll lose by the end of the first testimony that I’m not even giving this trial my full attention anymore!”

Apple Bloom slammed her gavel a few times. “Diamond Tiara! Would ya please stop throwin’ yer tiara at the defence?! That can’t be safe!”

“Actually, it doesn’t really hurt that much,” Scootaloo said.

“Maybe you’ve just crashed into so many walls that it doesn’t even bother you?” Sweetie Belle suggested.

“Idiots. I’m using a Nerf tiara today,” Diamond explained.

“They… make Nerf tiaras now?” Scootaloo asked in a state of utter bewilderment.

“Idiot. Obviously I had it custom-made for this trial.”

“Um… why?” Scootaloo’s question was answered by another tiara to her face. “… Oh.”

“Now, if we’re quite done, perhaps you wouldn’t mind just wrapping this all up already?”

“That’s what ah’m tryin’ ta do,” Apple Bloom said, “But ah need the prosecution ta let me know it’s ready first.”

Silver Spoon cleared her throat, attracting everypony’s attention to the fact that she was standing right beside Diamond Tiara. “Yeah, about that… Diamond has asked me to take care of all the boring stuff for this trial.” Diamond Tiara picked up her polish and resumed polishing her hooves.

Apple Bloom sighed. Diamond Tiara could get notoriously stubborn when things didn’t go her way. “Well, so long as she’s present, ah guess that’ll be enough. Now, when we left off last time, we had discovered that a new witness had come ta light an’ ah had decided that we should hear from her. Has the prosecution prepared the witness?”

Silver Spoon glanced at Diamond Tiara, who was examining her forehoof, and then turned back to Apple Bloom. “Di says ‘yes’.”

‘She didn’t say anything!’ Scootaloo yelled inside her head.

“Very well then. Let’s hear from the witness,” Apple Bloom said.

Twist stood at the witness stand, smiling sweetly as she adjusted the glasses on her face. “Wow, this is super exciting!”

“Ye’re wearin’ yer glasses now?” Apple Bloom asked. “What happened ta yer contacts?”

“Oh, they weren’t working out,” Twist said with a frown, before immediately smiling once more. “But hey, glasses aren’t so bad! So, what should I do now?”

“Well, if y’all could just testify as ta what ya saw that day, that’d be real helpful of ya.”

Twist closed her eyes and reached into her saddlebag. As she opened her eyes, she pulled her hoof out quickly, revealing several lollipops in her hoof, which she threw backwards into the crowd of foals behind her. As expected, the foals immediately began to fight over the tasty treats.

“No problem! Sorry Sweetie Belle, but I’ve gotta tell the truth!”

‘More like your version of the truth,’ Scootaloo thought.

-WITNESS TESTIMONY-

“I was just passing by that street on my way home.
“There was nopony else there when that chase happened to pass by me.
“I had my new contacts in, so naturally, I saw everything clearly, including Sweetie Belle’s face as she ran past me.
“I didn’t see any glasses on Sweetie Belle. I think Silver Spoon must’ve just seen wrong.
“I didn’t even know about the vandalism until this morning, and I certainly don’t have any motive for it.”

-END TESTIMONY-

Apple Bloom hummed in thought. “It seems that she really is nothin’ more than a witness.”

Diamond Tiara grunted. “Uh, she says ‘I told you so’,” Silver Spoon translated.

“Just one question, Twist,” Apple Bloom said. “Why didn’t y’all come forward before?”

“… Well, I didn’t really feel comfortable with telling on one of my classmates,” Twist admitted with a frown. “I’m not exactly very popular to begin with, y’know.”

Apple Bloom nodded. “Ah understand. And Scootaloo, please remember that she is not a suspect,” Apple Bloom said. “Badgering the witness will also not be tolerated.”

“Don’t worry, Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo said, punching her forehooves together with a confident grin. “I’ve got this in the bag.”

Diamond Tiara gave a disinterested yawn. “Di wants you to just hurry up and admit defeat already,” Silver Spoon said.

“Then if you are ready,” Apple Bloom said, “You may begin.”

-CROSS-EXAMINATION-

“I was just passing by that street on my way home.
“There was nopony else there when that chase happened to pass by me.
“I had my new contacts in, so naturally, I saw everything clearly, including Sweetie Belle’s face as she ran past me.

“Hold it!”

“I had my new contacts in… so naturally… I saw everything clearly…”

“Gotcha!” Scootaloo rubbed a hoof against her chin. “Say, Twist, is everything okay?”

“Huh? Uh, everything’s fine,” Twist said in a confused tone. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, it’s just that, during that last testimony, your eyes shifted about when you said ‘I saw everything clearly’.”

“! D-Did they now? Well, so what if they did? It’s nerve-racking being up here.”

“No, I think it’s something else,” Scootaloo said. “The fact that it happened when you talked about how you could see clearly leads me to think that you were lying about that. Maybe… you couldn’t see at all?”

“… Heh. Sorry, but with my contacts in, I could see everything just fine.”

“That is, if you were wearing contacts.”

“… Then where’s your proof that I wasn’t. You can’t prove anything, can you?”

“Oh, I think I can.”

“?!”

“Here’s the proof that you couldn’t see as clearly as you claimed during the incident.” Scootaloo reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a photograph. “Take that!” She present the photograph to Apple Bloom. “These are a pair of glasses that me and Featherweight found during our investigation.”

“…”

“Twist, these are your glasses, aren’t they? They were found at the scene of the chase behind some bins. The fact that they were there shows that you were wearing glasses that day, not contacts. At some point you threw them away, meaning that you couldn’t possibly see anymore. Isn’t the right?”

“… Ngh!” Twist’s glasses began to fall from her face and she quickly push them back up. “T-That’s… I… !” Twist took a deep breath and regained her composure. “… Those glasses aren’t mine.”

“… What?” Scootaloo asked, starting to sweat.

“Right. Those glasses, they can’t be mine. I mean, like I said, I didn’t wear any that day.”

“Objection!” Scootaloo held the picture up once more. “Anypony from our class could tell that these are yours!”

“Why? Because they look similar? Who’s to say that somepony else just doesn’t own a pair with the same frame?” Scootaloo growled, but gave no further response. “You see? It was a nice try, but unless you can prove that they’re mine, your argument is nothing but conjecture,” Twist concluded with an angelic smile.

“Ah’m afraid she’s right, Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom said. “Also, remember what ah said that Twist is not a suspect.”

“Ngh!” Scootaloo began to chew on her hoof. ‘What do I do now? How can I prove that those glasses are hers?'

“Di would like to know if you’re ready to end this farce of a trial already,” Silver Spoon announced.

“While ah doubt that Diamond even knows what ‘farce’ means, ah’ll agree that this testimony seems rather solid. Scootaloo? Do y’all have any last evidence to present ta the court?”

“… I… I’ve got nothing…” ‘C’mon, Featherweight! What’s takin’ ya?!’

“Then I guess this cross-examination is now over then, right?” Twist asked, pulling out several more lollipops from her bag and throwing them to the crowd of foals behind her. “Does that mean I’m done here and can go back to the gallery, now?”

“Yes, it does,” Diamond Tiara said, placing her hoof polish down. “It also means we can now get the verdict that should have been given last trial.”

“Okay!” Twist turned to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle and waved a hoof. “Bye guys! Sorry I couldn’t have been anymore help!”

Twist turned around and began to leave. “Hold it!” Twist stopped, and everypony looked around for the source of the interruption. Their eyes fell on Featherweight, who was panting as he approached the stand. “You can’t end the trial just yet!”

An uproar began to stir up and Apple Bloom silenced it with her gavel. “Order! Order! What’re y’all goin’ on about?!”

“Silence!” Diamond Tiara removed her tiara and threw it at Scootaloo.

“WHY ME?!” Scootaloo demanded.

“What are you doing, Featherweight?!” Diamond Tiara demanded, ignoring Scootaloo’s protesting cries. “This trial is over! Why are you butting in all of a sudden?!”

“I just got back from the Ponyville Police Station,” Featherweight reported, “Where I asked the police there to check some items for hoofprints!”

“And?” Scootaloo asked. “What did they find?”

“… The glasses that we found, along with the cans, all had Twist’s hoofprints on them!”

The crowd burst into a rising uproar again, and this time it took many slams of Apple Bloom’s gavel to quiet them down. “Order! Order! AH SAID ORDER!” When all was silent once more, Apple Bloom asked, “What’s this about ‘the cans’?”

“Oh, right. We found two cans along with the glasses,” Scootaloo explained. “We confirmed with Rarity that they are the same type that she gave to Sweetie Belle, even the exact same colour.”

“Hold on,” Apple Bloom said, “Sweetie Belle got those cans from Rarity?”

Scootaloo nodded and produced Rarity’s written testimony. “She told us that she’s redecorating her room, and that she asked Sweetie Belle to hold onto the cans for her. The reason Sweetie Belle was carrying a can to Rarity’s last night was because Rarity asked her to take one over.”

“Objection!” Diamond Tiara yelled. “Family testimony is not admissible! She could be simply covering for the defendant!”

“Objection!” Featherweight shook his head. “I was there when we questioned Miss Rarity. Miss Rarity knows nothing of this trial, nor even the suspicions towards her little sister.”

“Featherweight, you… What’s you game?”

“I’m just looking for a story,” Featherweight said simply.

Scootaloo slammed her hooves onto her bench. “In any case, we now know that those glasses belong to Twist. After all, how else could her hoofprints have gotten onto them?!”

Diamond gasped and took a step back. “I-Impossible!”

Apple Bloom turned her attention towards Scootaloo. “What are y’all suggestin’ here?”

“… Well, think about where Twist was found. It was just around a sharp corner, meaning that she would have had plenty of time to remove her cloak and hide her spray cans before her pursuers caught up with her.”

“! Scootaloo, are ya really sayin’ that-”

“That’s right!” Scootaloo pointed an accusatory hoof towards Twist. “The defence hereby accuses Twist of vandalism and attempting to frame the defendant for her crime!”

“Silence!” Diamond Tiara was glaring daggers towards Scootaloo by this point. “You! Do you even realise how absurd that all is?! She was trying to frame Sweetie Belle? How exactly would she even know that Sweetie Belle would pass by that street at that time?!”

“Simple,” Scootaloo said. “Sweetie Belle takes karate classes, and they end at around that time.”

Apple Bloom’s eyes widened in surprise. “Really? Ah didn’t know that… Wait! Then wouldn’t that be an alibi for Sweetie Belle?”

“I already checked that out,” Featherweight said. “Her karate class ended thirty minutes before the incident. There would be plenty of time for her to stop by the town hall and vandalise the wall, and then make it to Rarity’s by sprinting.”

“Oh. Ah see…”

“Since Sweetie Belle was on her way to Carousal Boutique, a smart filly like Twist could estimate the time that she would cross that street. Even if she was a little off, as long as she kept to that street, there would be plenty of corners to hide from her pursuers, who would immediately hone in on Sweetie Belle upon losing her!”

“Oh!” Sweetie Belle said suddenly. “That’s why the previous witnesses thought that I ‘rocketed ahead’! Because I was already much further along the street than Twist was!”

“That’s right!” Scootaloo confirmed. “However, Twist must have got some of the paint onto her glasses. As well as being a pain to see through, it was also a very obvious piece of evidence, so she removed them and hid them with her cans!”

“N… NNNNNOOOOOO!” Diamond Tiara yelled as she held her head in her hooves.

“Hold on,” Silver Spoon said. “What about her purple cloak?”

“That’s easy,” Scootaloo said. “Sweetie Belle had been wearing it everywhere lately, because it was a gift from her sister. However, it wasn’t made by her sister, as you might think. It was purchased from a store in Canterlot, meaning that anypony with that cloak could pretend to be Sweetie Belle.” Scootaloo reached into her saddlebag. “As for proof of this… Take that!” Scootaloo produced the purple cloak and presented it to the court. “This was the final item that we found on that street!”

“I-It’s identical ta the cloak that was found in Sweetie Belle’s room!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. The crowd burst out into a series of mumbles that Apple Bloom swiftly silenced with her gavel. “Order! Twist, w-what’s goin’ on here?! Did ya really-”

“Objection!” Twist slowly turned around, a dark frown covering her face. As soon as she was facing Apple Bloom, the frown turned back into its angelic smile. “Oh, I guess those were my glasses. My bad,” she giggled.

Scootaloo slammed her hooves onto her bench. “‘My bad’ won’t cover it! We know these are yours now!”

“… Well, yeah. But so what?”

“S-S what?” Scootaloo asked. “What d’you mean ‘so what’?”

“I mean, just because they’re mine… what does that prove? That I dropped them there during the chase?” Twist adjusted the glasses on her face. “Or maybe I dropped them before the chase, at an earlier date.”

“!” Scootaloo bit down on her lip. “T-That…”

“I’ll concede that those are my glasses. The only reason I denied it before was because I had forgotten, but I remember clearly now.”

“… Quite right,” Diamond Tiara said after taking a moment to compose herself. She then gave Scootaloo a wicked grin. “Besides, there’s another piece of evidence that disproves your wild claims.”

“Another piece?” Apple Bloom asked in a surprised tone.

Diamond Tiara nodded. “It seems as though our witness has noticed it, too. So then, let’s have her explain it herself.”

“Sure!” Twist said in a cheerful tone, before digging into her bag and pulling out a hoofful of candies in their wrappings and throwing them backwards into the crowd of ponies behind her. “I’ll make sure it’s a sweet testimony this time!”

-WITNESS TESTIMONY-

“Those glasses are mine, but I dropped them there a couple of weeks ago.
“I was helping my dad with painting his new wagon when some paint got onto them. They were an old prescription anyway, so I decided to throw them away with the spray cans.
“They must have fallen out of the trashcan when I threw them in there. It was pretty full.
“Anyway, I have nothing to do with this incident. I certainly have no motive for vandalising the town hall.
“And besides, Sweetie Belle practically left her calling card there. There’s no doubt that it was her.”

-END TESTIMONY-

“There you have it,” Diamond Tiara said. “The glasses and the spray can have nothing to do with this incident.”

“Hold on! What about the purple cloak that we found?!” Scootaloo demanded.

Twist simply shrugged. “I’ve never seen it before in my life. Maybe somepony tried to throw it away and it fell out, like what happened with me?”

Scootaloo grinded her teeth together. ‘I… have no response to that…’

Apple Bloom nodded to Scootaloo. “Then if ye’re ready, begin yer cross-examination.”

“S-Sure…”

-CROSS-EXAMINATION-

“Those glasses are mine, but I dropped them there a couple of weeks ago.

“Hold it!” Scootaloo put a hoof to her chin. “If that’s true, then why did nopony find them until now?”

Twist shrugged. “Maybe they just weren’t easy to spot. Or maybe somepony did find them but just didn’t care.”

“… I guess that’s possible,” Scootaloo reluctantly admitted.

“Right, so as I was saying…”

“I was helping my dad with painting his new wagon when some paint got onto them. They were an old prescription anyway, so I decided to throw them away with the spray cans.

“Hold it!” Scootaloo held up the two spray cans. “While it’s true that one is empty, the other clearly isn’t. Why would you throw away a perfectly good spray can?”

Twist put a hoof to her chin. “I never noticed. My dad’s the one who told me to throw them away. Maybe the nozzle got stuck and he thought it was empty? He never was very good with DIY stuff before.” Twist gave a sheepish smile and scratched the back of her head. “Um, but don’t tell him I said that, please.”

“… Fine,” Scootaloo sighed in a defeated tone. “Moving right along…”

“They must have fallen out of the trashcan when I threw them in there. It was pretty full.

“Hold it! Didn’t you notice when you threw them away?”

“They hadn’t fallen out when I put them in and turned around,” Twist asserted. “But then thinking back to it, I wouldn’t be surprised if they had fallen out after I had left.”

“Unless you can prove otherwise, you’ll just have to take her word for it,” Diamond Tiara told Scootaloo with a grin.

‘Yeah right,’ Scootaloo thought as she flopped onto her bench. ‘Like I can prove that. This cross-examination really isn’t going well.’

“Anyway, I have nothing to do with this incident. I certainly have no motive for vandalising the town hall.

“Hold it!” Scootaloo put a hoof to her chin. “Maybe that’s too general a statement to make. What if it didn’t matter what you were vandalising.”

“Objection!” Diamond Tiara shook her head. “If you’re going to make such bold statements, then you had better have the evidence to back them up.”

“Well, Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom asked. “Do you have proof that Twist’s motives have nothin’ ta do with the town hall itself?”

“… No,” Scootaloo admitted, bowing her head in defeat.

“Heh. That’s what I thought,” Diamond Tiara said. “Well then, witness, let’s just move on with your testimony.”

“Sure!”

“And besides, Sweetie Belle practically left her calling card there. There’s no doubt that it was her.”

“Hold it!” Scootaloo shouted. “What do you mean by ‘her calling card’?”

“I mean the evidence that proves I had nothing to do with this incident,” Twist answered, stirring up the crowd behind her.

Apple Bloom’s gavel silenced them. “If that’s true,” Apple Bloom began, “Then let’s see it. This so-called evidence of yours.”

“Sure thing, although this is really more the prosecution’s job.”

Apple Bloom turned to Diamond Tiara. “Well then, let’s see it. What’s the ‘calling card’ that shows that Twist had nothing to do with this incident?”

“Have a look!” Diamond Tiara presented a piece of card to the court. “This is one of the four invitations that Sweetie Belle had written and given out to our witnesses. Recall that they are all written in her hoofwriting.”

“! Those invitations…” Scootaloo muttered.

“But I didn’t write those!” Sweetie Belle protested.

“Silence!” Diamond Tiara yelled. “This is your hoofwriting! Are you suggesting that there’s somepony else in our class who could mimic such hoofwriting perfectly, and four times, no less?!”

‘… Actually,’ Scootaloo thought, rubbing a hoof against her chin, ‘Not from our class, but…’ “… Your Honour, have the witness add this to her testimony.”

Apple Bloom nodded and slammed her gavel. “Witness?”

“Of course!” Twist responded with a smile.

“Sweetie Belle wrote out those invitations and sent them to those four witnesses, so there’s no mistake that she’s the one who vandalised that wall.”

“Objection!” Scootaloo pulled out her own invitation from her saddlebag. “I’m afraid that that’s not true. You see, Sweetie Belle didn’t write these.”

“! W-What’re y’all gettin’ at, Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Silence!” Diamond Tiara removed her tiara and threw it at Scootaloo. “Explain this at once! Are you honestly suggesting that there’s somepony in our class who can copy hoofwriting to that extent?!”

Scootaloo shook her head. “Not from our class,” she said. “You see, I ran into somepony during my investigation, who said that she was asked to make four copies of a certain invitation, all in the exact same hoofwriting as a sample that was given to her.”

Twist jumped, whilst Diamond Tiara simply scoffed. “You must be joking, right?”

Scootaloo shook her head. “She even told me that there was a simple method to prove that they were her work. All we have to do is… just add water.”

“Water?” Apple Bloom asked, receiving a nod from Scootaloo. Apple Bloom hummed in thought for a second, before slamming her gavel down once. “Bailiff! Prepare some water from the nearby fountain immediately!”

“T-This is ridiculous!” Diamond protested as Shady Daze ran with an empty bottle towards a nearby drinking fountain. When he returned, he poured the water onto the invitation on Scootaloo’s bench as she held it out.

“… AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle rocketed backwards, as did Shady Daze, as the invitation sparked to life and erupted into a show of fireworks for all of five seconds. It ended with a pattern shaped like a crescent moon and a star-tipped wand. “T-There! That’s the cutie mark of the mare who told us that!”

Apple Bloom blinked. “T-That’s certainly one way ta mark yer work,” she said. “So, ah’m ta understand that these invitations are…”

“Forgeries,” Scootaloo finished. “Designed by somepony to frame Sweetie Belle.” The crowd once again broke out into an uproar, but Apple Bloom made no attempts to silence it this time, too invested in Scootaloo’s story to even notice it herself. “The one who gave us this useful information also told us that they had seen two fillies wearing the same purple cloak that Sweetie Belle has been wearing lately, and that one of them had asked her to make those invitations!”

“Ye’re kiddin’!” Apple Bloom shouted. “W-Well, which one?!”

“Unfortunately, she was unable to identify them,” Scootaloo said. “We have her written testimony right here.”

“Let me see that!” Diamond Tiara demanded, though her request was denied as the testimony was given to Apple Bloom instead.

“‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’?” Apple Bloom read.

“T-That showmare?!” Diamond Tiara asked. “You can’t honestly expect her testimony to be reliable, after the whole ursa minor fiasco!”

“Why not?” Scootaloo asked. “It’s not like she has anything to personally gain from lying to us, and we did find the second cloak, after all. Besides that, Rarity has also mentioned seeing a second filly wearing the same cloak!”

“I… ITCAN’TBE!” Diamond Tiara yelled as she held a hoof to her chest and breathed heavily, Silver Spoon quickly patting her friend’s back.

“Deep breaths, Di! Deep breaths!”

Scootaloo slammed her hooves onto her bench and then pointed at Twist. “Twist, are you finally ready to admit the truth?!”

Twist looked around quickly, biting her lip and sweating heavily. “I… I…”

“Sweetie Belle’s ‘invitations’ have been proven to be fake, and your glasses and two spray cans were found with the other purple cloak, along the path of the chase! There can be no doubt now as to your crime!”

“Objection!” Twist shouted, stomping her right forehoof onto the ground. “I-I already told you, I lost them weeks ago! T-There must be a third filly with a cloak, that’s all!”

“Well Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom asked. “Isn’t that also a possibility?”

Scootaloo shook her head. “Remember that Silver Spoon stated that the culprit was wearing glasses. The only other fillies I can think of who wear glasses are either too small or too big to be mistaken from Sweetie Belle.” Scootaloo put a hoof to her chin. “Besides, I’m sure we could find out if Twist’s story is true by asking her dad.”

Twist gasped. “That’s… That’s…”

“Objection!” All eyes turned to Diamond Tiara, who rose from her hyperventilating position and flicked her mane coolly. “That won’t be necessary… because it’s clear that Sweetie Belle is guilty.”

“! H-How can you still be accusing Sweetie Belle, after we discovered that the invitations were fake?!”

“Heh. Clearly Sweetie Belle did that in the hopes of making it look like she was framed,” Diamond said. “Whatever the case, it does not change the fact that Berry Pinch saw that it was Sweetie Belle.”

Twist stared blankly at Diamond Tiara for a second, before giving a gasp of remembrance and then smiling at Apple Bloom. “T-That’s right. Berry Pinch saw Sweetie Belle’s mane and coat, right?”

“!” Apple Bloom slowly nodded her head. “Y-Yeah. That’s right…”

“Well, I’ll concede that my coat is similar enough to be mistaken for Sweetie Belle’s at a distance, but my mane is a totally different colour.” Twist tilted her head and gave a light giggle as she smiled even brighter. “I don’t think that somepony with twenty-twenty vision would make that mistake.”

Scootaloo bit the tip of her hoof as she thought about it for a second. “… Well, what if the witness used a wig?”

“If a wig was used,” Diamond began, “Then prove it. Show us the wig that the witness supposedly used.”

“… What now?” Sweetie Belle asked Scootaloo.

Scootaloo groaned and lowered her head. “It’s no use. We didn’t find a wig at the scene.”

“What’s that?” Diamond asked, putting a hoof to her ear. “Do my ears deceive me, or has the defence finally started to speak some sense for the first time this trial?”

“There has to be some way that she was able to hide that wig,” Scootaloo muttered to herself. “Okay, I just gotta stay calm and think about this… If Sweetie Belle’s innocent, then Twist has to be the real culprit…” Scootaloo closed her eyes and began to think.

‘If Twist is the culprit, then she either disguised her mane to look like Sweetie Belle’s, or Berry Pinch just saw wrong. Which one could it be?

‘She disguised her mane! I can’t imagine that Berry Pinch saw wrong with her vision, and she’d have no reason to lie about what she saw. So then, how did she do it? It could have been a wig, or mane dye.

‘She used a wig! There’d be no chance for her to wash out her mane dye in that short span of time she had after rounding the corner. So she removed the cloak, the glasses and the wig. But where did she hide the wig?

‘She hid it on her person! The wig wasn’t present at the scene, and she couldn’t have removed it at the town hall, so she must have taken it with her. But then, why didn’t Snails see it on her? Why?

'It looked like something else! It must have been made to look like something that didn’t stand out, but what? … Wait, didn’t Rarity say this wig was special? Something about Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang… Ah! C-Could it mean-

‘The wig had two sides!’

Scootaloo opened her eyes slowly. “I-I think I’ve got it…”

“If there are no further objections from the defence, then ah shall have ta end this cross-examination-”

“Objection!” All eyes turned to Scootaloo, who was staring determinedly at Twist. “Your Honour, the defence has solved the mystery! I know how Twist was able to disguise herself as Sweetie Belle!”

“! Y-You’re bluffing!” Diamond challenged.

Twist simply stared back with a neutral expression on her face. “When I questioned Rarity, I had learned that a certain filly in a purple cloak had asked about where she could find a wig. She was directed to a specialist wigmaker!”

“Objection!” Diamond Tiara slammed a hoof onto her bench. “Need I repeat myself? No wig was found at the scene of the crime, or at the scene of the chase!”

Scootaloo nodded her head, surprising her opponent. “That’s right. So we need to ask ourselves: why was there no wig found? The only possible answer… is that the witness took it with them from the scene!”

The crowd began to mumble at this new theory. “Silence!” Diamond threw her tiara at Scootaloo, who skilfully dodged it this time. “Are you insane?! Even a blockhead like Snails would notice if Twist had Sweetie Belle’s mane!”

“T-That’s right!” Twist said, her eyes shaking as she bit her lip. “Your story makes no sense!”

Scootaloo shook her head. “But it’s the only possibility. The trouble is, you’re right. The wig would stand out as it was. But actually, it turns out that this wig in particular has a special property.”

“Oh?” Diamond asked. “Then enlighten us. What’s this ‘special property’ of your make-believe wig?”

“She said that the wigmaker was inspired by the client’s request, stating that it would revolutionise theatre. In particular, he mentioned ‘Yin’ and ‘Yang’.”

“Who and what?”

“Two characters from a play,” Silver Spoon told Diamond. “Yang is a girl with long, beautiful white hair and a warm personality, but she turns into Yin, a girl with long black hair and cruel- … Wait.”

“That’s right,” Scootaloo said with a nod. “The colour of the hair suddenly changes. That got me thinking… what if the wig actually had two sides.”

“Two sides?” Apple Bloom asked. “Like a reversible jumper?”

“N-No way!” Diamond shouted. “You can’t possibly mean that!”

“Oh, but I do,” Scootaloo said. “The wig is designed to look like Sweetie Belle’s mane on one side, and Twist’s on the other. That way, she could just wear it over her real mane, and nopony would even notice the difference!”

“Silence!” Diamond Tiara slammed her hoof so hard onto her bench that it collapsed. “That is… beyond stupid! What about the horn, huh?! The culprit was seen to have a horn!”

“A fake horn is hardly a trick to make and dispose of,” Scootaloo argued. “In any case, we can prove whether or not Twist used this special wig!”

“Y-You can?” Twist asked, now breathing heavily as she looked all around her.

“For whatever reason, you didn’t simply hide the wig like you did everything else. In fact, you went so far as to make it reversible just so that you could sneak it away from the scene.”

“Why would she do that?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“I’m guessing a wig like that would be too much for her allowance to afford, so she simply borrowed it.”

“Though I warned her that his wigs are rather expensive, since such things aren’t exactly in demand in this town. However, I was surprised when he had told me that the filly had sparked a new creative design that would take the world by storm.”

“My sister said that?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Yeah. Maybe she was allowed to borrow the wig since she helped with designing it, but that would mean that she couldn’t simply leave it at the scene.” Scootaloo turned back to Twist, who had taken a step back from the witness stand. “I also doubt you had any time last night or this morning to return it, meaning that the wig should still be in your home!” Scootaloo pointed a hoof towards Twist. “The defence demands a search to take place immediately!”

“Silence!” Diamond Tiara’s hoof was shaking furiously whilst Snips and Snails removed the crushed bench and brought in a new one. “Do you really think I would allow such a search to take place?! All you gave are flimsy theories and wild stories! I will not allow you to invade the witness’ privacy on just that!”

Apple Bloom slammed her gavel. “Diamond Tiara raises a good point. A filly’s bedroom is a sacred ground, and shouldn’t be invaded lightly. However, Scootaloo’s story… surprisingly makes sense ta me.”

“A-Apple Bloom…” Scootaloo muttered.

“Therefore, ah’ll conduct the search personally,” Apple Bloom declared, giving Twist a reassuring smile. “Ah’ve been in Twist’s room before, and since we’re good friends, it won’t be so bad as some random filly or colt rummagin’ through her stuff.”

“Can it!” Everything fell silent as all eyes turned to Diamond Tiara, who had said nothing. All eyes then turned to Scootaloo, who was equally silent. Then all eyes rested on Twist… whose head was hung low as she panted heavily. “You… and me…” Twist raised her head. She was glaring daggers into Apple Bloom’s eyes. “We’re not friends!”

“T-Twist?” Apple Bloom squeaked, blinking at Twist’s outburst.

“W-What are you doing?” Diamond Tiara asked. “Are you trying to hurt my case?!”

“Can it!” Twist shouted, startling Diamond Tiara. “Do you really think I care about my case?! You don’t have to search my room! There’d be no point! … Because you’ll find the wig there.”

Everypony gasped and the crowd became awash of loud conversation. Apple Bloom’s gavel silenced everypony. “Twist… are y’all… confessing, right now?”

Twist, breathing so heavily that her glasses began to steam up, simply adjusted the glasses on her face and nodded her head.

“But… why? Why would ya do such a thing? Y’all are one of the kindest, sweetest fillies ah know. And ta frame one of our friends?”

“Can it!” Twist turned her glare towards Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. “What, just ‘cause they’re your friends, they’re mine, too? Tell me, at what point did you assume that we were still friends?”

“W-What? But… we never stopped bein’ friends, did we?”

“You… Ever since you met these two, you’ve never once come round to my house, or asked me to play with you… You abandoned me for these two! You betrayed me, so I decided to enact my revenge by separating you from your precious friends!”

Apple Bloom simply stared at the huffing filly in complete and utter shock. “T-Twist, ah… ah didn’t think… Y’all already had yer cutie mark, so ah thought that-”

“You never asked,” Twist said in a bitter tone. “You never said anything to me after your new friends entered your life. You just… forgot about me. You left me all alone, and it hurt…”

Scootaloo bit her lip as she watched the scene between the two. “Uh… h-hey, I’m sure she didn’t mean to-”

“Can it! What do you know?! You were the lucky one! You were picked over me!”

“That’s not true!” Apple Bloom shouted in protest. “Ah-Ah never abandoned ya, ah jus’… Ah was jus’ so distracted with tryin’ ta find mah cutie mark that ah… O-Oh Celestia, Twist, ah’m so sorry…” Tears began to well in Apple Bloom’s eyes and, as Twist turned back to face her, she could see tears coming from the other filly, too.

“Ugh!” Everypony’s attention was drawn to Diamond Tiara, who was rubbing her head with an annoyed look on her face. “Give me a break! You losers just had to turn this into some sappy soap opera, didn’t you?! Silver Spoon, we’re going.”

“W-Wait!” Scootaloo shouted. “You can’t just-”

“Trial’s over! You won!” Diamond Tiara shouted. “And now I’ve lost interest, so I’m going. Silver Spoon, let’s go!”

“Coming, Diamond!” Silver Spoon shouted as she followed after her friend. As the two walked, Silver Spoon glanced backwards to find Apple Bloom slowly approaching Twist, and the two fillies proceeding to hug each other. “… Hey, Di? If… If the two of us ended up hurting each other… do you think we’d be able to patch things up again?”

Diamond Tiara stopped and turned to give Silver Spoon an annoyed glare. “Don’t ask stupid things,” she said before turning back and continuing to walk on. “We’d never fight in the first place. I wouldn’t allow it.”

Silver Spoon simply stared for a second, before smiling and following after her friend.

Back at the courtroom, Twist was bawling into Apple Bloom’s shoulder whilst Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle simply watched and waited to see what would happen.

“I’m so sorry, Apple Bloom,” Twist said through her tears. “I-I don’t know what got into me. I was just so upset, so angry, I-”

“It’s okay, Twist,” Apple Bloom said. “Ah’m not mad… Ah’m really not…”

“I-I swear I’ll tell Mayor Mare the truth and wash off all that graffiti, right away.”

Apple Bloom shook her head. “Ya can tell her the truth, but ya won’t be in this alone. Ah’m ta blame, too, fer puttin’ a silly cutie mark before mah friend.”

Sweetie Belle called out to the two fillies to get their attentions. “I’ll help, too!” she told them. “And don’t worry, Twist. I’m not mad at you.”

Scootaloo scratched the back of her head. “Well, if you’re both gonna help her, I guess I’m in, too.”

Twist could hardly believe what she was hearing. With a final sniff, Twist was able to forge a smile. “Thank you…”

“So, uh…” The four fillies turned to Snails. “Are you gonna give a verdict now, or what?”

Apple Bloom sighed and rose to her hooves. With a nod, she took her place back at her box and nodded to Sweetie Belle. “Defendant, please take the stand.”

As Sweetie Belle passed by Twist, the latter filly said, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s really okay,” Sweetie Belle responded.

“No, it’s not. I planned this for weeks. I followed your movements to learn your routine and calculated the perfect way to frame you so that you’d be grounded, and I was planning to get Scootaloo next!”

“I said it’s okay,” Sweetie Belle repeated. “You’re sorry, right? That’s all I need to forgive you.”

“… Y-You’re… a really sweet pony, huh?”

Sweetie Belle giggled with a light blush. She then took her place at the stand and Apple Bloom cleared her throat. “Well then, it’s been a very long, stand trial, but finally, we’ve discovered the truth behind the vandalism of the town hall. This court finds Sweetie Belle, on the charge of vandalism, ‘Not Guilty’.”

Everypony in the crowd pulled out their party poppers and pulled them at once, cheering as they showered the courtroom in confetti.

Apple Bloom slammed her gavel one final time. “Court is adjourned.”

The following day at the Golden Oaks Library, Twilight Sparkle was visited by four little fillies.

“Dear Princess Celestia,

Making new friends is always such a joy, but we mustn’t forget our old friends, too! No matter how much fun you’re having, or how distracted you are with a goal, you should always remember the fun times you’ve had with your friends, the bad times you’ve had with your friends, the times that you’ve had each other’s backs, and especially, that your friendship is eternal. I learned the hard way that neglecting a friend is the fastest way of making somepony your enemy, and I was lucky that I was still able to regain my friend’s trust, even if I deserved to lose her forever.

On the other hoof, I learned that I shouldn’t just keep my feelings bottled up inside or wait for something to happen. I should have talked about my feelings, to my friend, or to anypony! I also learned that revenge is a sad, lonely act that only leaves you with a feeling of emptiness inside. Forgiveness, on the other hoof, is a pleasant act that leaves both sides feeling warm and can forms friendships between even the most unlikely of ponies.

All of us learned that friendship is magic, and eternal! We know that no matter what paths our lives each take, so long as we remember each other and stay connected, we’ll always be best friends!

From you very loyal subjects,
The Cutie Marks Crusaders (now four members!)”

Twilight smiled and rolled the parchment up. “I’ll make sure that Spike sends this off when he gets back.”

The four fillies, all clad in their red Cutie Mark Crusaders capes, all rose to their hooves and returned Twilight’s bright smile. “Thanks,” Apple Bloom said before turning to Twist. “So, what d’ya wanna do today? Since yer the newest member, we’ll let you decide.”

Twist put a hoof to her chin. “Well, how about we go make some sweets at my house?” she suggested. “Princess Twilight can come, too!”

“Oh, no, I don’t think that-”

“Princess Twilight!” a voice cried as the door to the library burst open. A pink and silver blur stopped itself at Twilight’s side, revealing two smiling fillies looking up towards their favourite princess.

“Oh, good afternoon, girls,” Twilight greeted. “What can I help you with? Another science fair project?” she asked with a teasing grin. “You sure do have a lot of those.”

Diamond Tiara giggled nervously. “Yeah, well, you know teacher. She loooooves her science.” Diamond shook her head. “Actually, Daddy is holding a special dinner party tonight and he said you’re invited!”

“Oh! Well, I’m honoured, but-” Twilight felt some kind of force pulling at her left foreleg. She turned to find that it was four little fillies working together.

“She’s already got plans with us!” Scootaloo shouted. “Go tell your dad that she’ll have to take a rain check!”

“Uh, girls-” Twilight felt another force, this one pulling at her right foreleg.

“The princess would rather dine with nobility than play in the mud with commoners like yourselves!” Diamond argued as she and Silver Spoon pulled at the princess’ leg.

“Girls, stop it! I-”

“Fine, then there’s only one way to settle his!” Scootaloo shouted, releasing Twilight’s leg and sending a challenging grin Diamond’ way.

Diamond Tiara also released the leg and returned Scootaloo’s grin. “Very well then. We’ll hold a trial to determine who has ownership over Princess Twilight!”

“What?! You can’t just-”

“Ah’ll find us an impartial judge!” Apple Bloom declared.

“I’ll come with you,” Diamond said. “The rest of you prepare the courtroom and inform the class!”

The fillies all rushed out of the library, leaving Twilight Sparkle on her own whilst they dealt with her fate. Twilight stared at the open door for a second before sighing and closing it with her magic. Grabbing a nearby quill and parchment, she began to write.

“Dear Princess Celestia… I am writing to formally request the phasing of Law Education from elementary schools in Equestria.”

-Turnabout Vandal: End-