Turnabout Silver Lining

by Lunar Raven

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Original Character, Mystery, Tragedy, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 7561

A pony on trial for a crime she claims to have not committed, a prosecution team in for the kill, and a rookie defense team trying to learn what they need, to help their client. Will an innocent pony be rendered guilty, or shall she be freed?

Note: In the event of those unaware, this story is based on the Ace Attorney games for the DS and 2DS/3DS. Though based on them, the attempt was made to make it as unique as possible. Any similarities beyond the trial system itself are unintentional.
Additional note: I apologize for not cover picture, I am not artistically-inclined(nor a good story writer), and I do not have the resources to get one done.

In the midst of the night, as all is laid to rest, a household in Appleloosa was active, its workers still at work to keep the house maintained. As a lone maid is sent to do her duties, a calm night turns dark, as the master was killed by unknown entity.

Accused of doing the deed that she denies doing, two rookie defense attorneys were called to serve as her defense, to prove her innocent of the crime. Will they succeed, or will their inexperience lead to the demise of an innocent pony? The fate of their client lies in their hooves.

Published 2017-01-05 17:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2017-03-16 19:15:55 UTC

Meet The Client

Author's Note

Welcome to my new attempt of story writing!

I will forewarn all of you: I am not a good writer, by any means. My fluency with the English language is limited to communication and formal essays, and my skills in those areas do not translate well into the world of creative writing(my teachers lied to me all those years of elementary school).

Even though my writing is horrendous, I hope you still find some enjoyment in the story, and are interested in its continuation. Should there be enough interest in the story, I will continue it, and if there is not a lot of interest, then I will end this attempt like I have many stories from my past, and let it burn in the pits of the Fimfiction servers.

Well, this Author's Note is getting too long, I will have something else to mention in a blog post later, depending on the interest in the story proper.

Have a blessed one!

Meet The Client

“Hey!” A voice called from the realm of reality, in an attempt to stir me from my peaceful slumber. I responded with the same snoring as prior to the attempt.

“Hell-o~!” The voice tried again, poking me repeatedly, I shifted in annoyance, coming to consciousness with the feminine voice attempting to coerce me into getting up with an added poking and prodding.

“Oi! Wake up!” She finally shouts, giving my face a small slap. I open my eyes at that and look at her.

“Are you pegstralian now or something?” I asked drowsily, adjusting to the bright lights of the room.

“Look who is talking, mister ‘Bloody hell’!” She retorts, glaring at my still, lying body.

“You know, it is better in the bed than staring at it,” I tease, causing her to become flustered and turn red.

“Sh-shut up and get ready, Raven,” She responds, leaving the room with a huff.

“My silly Holly,” I say aloud, chuckling.

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Raven Star, a Rookie Attorney who has been training under the guidance of my mentor Night Light. The pony from before, Holly Leaf, has also been training with Night Light. Today marks our first year of being with Night Light, and he had called for a meeting in the boardroom of his Law Office, where both me and Holly resided.

I had slept in again, due to lacking an alarm(something I need to remedy), so Holly woke me up so that I would not be late. Putting on a brown suit with a blue tie, I open the door of my room, to find a slightly-less-flustered Holly waiting with a black suit ending in a skirt, two ponytails both having identical red bands keeping the hair together at the end. A rather simplistic look, I must say, but it serves its purpose.

Smiling at her, I comment as we begin trotting to the boardroom: “You seem excited.”

“Well, it is our one year anniversary since going under his wing, perhaps we will be doing something special!” She replies, her eyes twinkling.

“What, like get a client of our own to defend or something?” I suggest, opting to keep my hopes from going too high. I have been hoping to finally be able to actually be part of defending a client, instead of being an observer, but Night Light has been clear that he will only allow us when he perceives us as being ready.

“I..doubt it,” Holly admits, frowning. “For you, I could see, as you have been nothing short of perfect, but I doubt that Night Light would want me defending a spoon..” She continues. I reasoned that her response may have something to do with an outburst she had some trials back, where she snapped at the defendant in the middle of the trial, and almost got held in contempt of court as a result. Honestly, he deserved it for being such a dick.

“Holly, everyone makes mistakes. You have been a very quick and willing learner, anypony would be lucky to be defended by you,” I reply. “Regarding not making mistakes, have you forgotten how I left the evidence bag here after me and Night Light went all the way to Canterlot? Kind of hard to quickly get back to Ponyville to then return to Canterlot with only half an hour before the trial was set to begin,” I continue, eliciting a chuckle from the mare, making her smile again.

“That was pretty dumb of you,” She responds, sticking her tongue out at me.

“There is my dear Holly,” I say, booping her snout, having my hoof slapped as a response.

“Not funny,” She says.

“Very funny,” I say in response, as we approach the boardroom. Opening the door, I hold it, and motion for Holly’s entry. “After you, my dear,” I comment.

“My appreciations, good gentlecolt,” She replies, chuckling, as she heads inside, and I close the door.

The first thing we see is our mentor sitting at the main table, with two seats across from him. Motioning for us to sit down, he jokes “Good morning, glad to know Holly got up in time.”

“I keep telling him to get an alarm..” Holly comments, causing Night Light to laugh.

“Come now, his birthday is not too far off, perhaps you can get the cheapskate one,” Night Light says.

“Hardy har har, sir,” I respond. If I had more money to spend, I would purchase one. However, we do not get paid much of anything, simply for food and the like, and the alarm I had back during classes at Manehattan Law School broke in transit, when I was already broke. Pay us more if you want me to get one, old pony.

“Anyway, you two are probably wondering what I have in mind for you today, since it has been one year since you have been training under me,” Night Light begins, both me and Holly nodding in affirmation.

“Well, I will spare the dramatics and frivolous words and be blunt,” He begins, as though that should come to any kind of shock to either of us. “The office was called for a case involving the murder of the late Lady Blossom, a pony of fair wealth who retired to a manor outside of Appleloosa. The accused is a mare by the name of Silver Rose, a young maid who is pleading not guilty to the murder, and is in need of a defense team. As you two have been with me for a time, I am going to hand over the reigns of this case to both of you to handle, as a test. Should your performance prove adequate, then you two can either continue working together, or split off, pursuing cases that we get asked to be part of,” He finishes, a smile on his face as we look at him in shock, turning to each other to confirm what we were hearing.

“You are serious?!” Holly exclaims, almost bouncing off of her seat.

“Indeed. Remember though, you need to take this serious. Like I have always said, what happens at the end will either let the innocent fly, or kill the wounded where they stand,” He replies, putting on a serious look to make sure it sinks in.

“Yes sir,” Holly replies, trying to condense her happiness. Night Light smiles again.

“In any case, I have arranged a meeting with the detention center in Appleloosa for both of you to meet with your client. I have also made the appropriate arrangements with an Inn for you both to stay in during this case, only one room due to limited space in the Inn. I expect to receive updates on the case in my mailbox as it progresses. Hurry along now, your train leaves in half an hour! Make sure you do not forget anything,” He says to us, the last sentence aimed at me, hopefully as a joke.

“Is this not exciting?!” Holly exclaims again as we wait in the line to board our train.

“Do not get me wrong, I am excited too. We need to make sure to stay serious though, as he said. We cannot give off the wrong vibe to any of the ponies there, especially not our client,” I say to her, my words seeming to sink in.

“Alright..anyway, what is the plan whenever we get there?” She asks. The line moves up.

“First, check in with the hotel, get all of our stuff unpacked in the room, and get cleaned up as needs be. Then, we will proceed to the Detention Center to have a talk with our client, and figure out what we can. Finally, we will investigate the manor, before returning to the Inn to get rested for the trial tomorrow,” I reply. The line moves up.

“Wait, tomorrow? Why so soon?” She inquires. The line moves up.

“Now look at who does not listen,” I joke. She did not find it humorous. “To answer your question, the way I understand from what he told us before we trotted out the door, the prosecution has apparently already gathered what they need to form a case, and because of the pony involved, the town of Appleloosa wants it over with quickly, and justice served,” I explain. The line moves up.

“I guess that makes sense, I wish we ha-” She starts, before a pony behind us speaks up.

“HEY! Lovebirds! Get your flanks moving and board the stinkin’ train!” He yells, making us realize that we should have boarded by now, and were holding up the line. Our cheeks red at his ‘lovebird’ comment, we get to the open rail car door, show our tickets, and proceed to the appropriate room, where we would be for the next two hours, once the train began moving. Some time later, it did begin moving, and we were on our way.

“So..any funny stories to tell?” Holly asked. It was then I knew how long and boring this trip was going to be.

Deciding to humor her, I respond: “Let me tell you about a teacher of mine who believed birds made islands grow..”

After two hours of back and forth and rest, the train finally reaches Appleloosa, signalling its arrival with the ever-popular screech of its whistle and brakes combined. After all the fun of leaving a train, that I do not care to detail, me and Holly stood looking at the town that made Sweet Apple Acres look like Manehatten in comparison in regards to the country-feel.

“So this is Appleloosa..this is one of the few places that I have never been to,” Holly stated, looking around and admiring the simplistic look of the place.

“Not really surprising, the town is rather bland for most outsiders, from what I hear. Apparently the last event of relative interest was many moons ago, before the era of crime began with the fall of the elements,” I replied. “Something about a land dispute between them and a herd of bulls,” I continue, shrugging.

“Sounds interesting,” Holly replies, not really sure what else to say, leading to silence.

“The history books flanderized it a bit I think, but I would pay bits to see flying pies used as weapons to deter a threat,” I say, chuckling. “In any case, we should probably get to the Inn, so we can have enough time to investigate the manor,” I continue, pointing to the Inn in question. Holly nods, and we proceed to uneventfully make our way to the Inn, reaching it in no time.

As we near the steps leading to the small porch, two unicorns step out, the leading one noticing us and motioning for us to halt, which we obliged with for lack of reason to resist.

“You must be the rookies,” The lead pony bluntly states, an attitude I would probably have to get used to.

“Judging by your attire, I would say you both are likely the prosecution team, no?” I respond, ‘analyzing the competition’ as it is said, herself doing the same. The brown-furred lead pony had on a blue suit with a skirt, similar to Holly, and a stylized black and white mane, an intertwined braid off her right side, held together with what appeared to be a purple star clip, with her tail the same style, another purple star clip keeping it together as well.

“Indeed, at least you can notice the obvious. Should make the case slightly less boring, but no less quick to the detriment of your client,” She replies, chuckling to herself. “I suppose I should introduce both of us, even though you will not know us for more than today and tomorrow. My name is Solid Clue, and this is my partner Lunar Sonata,” She continues, identifying both her and the silent, blue-furred pony next to her, who was wearing a red suit ending in a skirt(seriously, did all of the mare attorney suits have skirts or something? Not complaining, but still).

‘A pleasure to meet you both.’ The silent pony writes on a notepad, levitating it over for us to read.

“Not to be rude..but why are you writing instead of talking?” Holly, who had thus far been silent as well, piped up in inquiry. The other mare winced at the question.

‘That is because I am a mute, been so since birth,” Lunar replies, Holly putting her hoof to her mouth in shock.

“I am sorry, I did not know..” She says, upset now at herself, Lunar noticing and waving her hoof at Holly.

‘No, no, it is quite alright, whatever your name is.’ Lunar swiftly writes, smiling at Holly. I realized then that I had never introduced us two.

“That being written, I realize I never introduced us two. My name is Raven Star, and this is Holly Leaf. This is our first case without our mentor,” I say in introduction of us both, shaking Lunar’s hoof, as she, unlike Solid Clue, had a shred of manners.

‘A pleasure to meet you both. I trust that we will get to the bottom of this case.’ She writes, Solid Clue reading it as it was written and laughing again.

“Who is this ‘we’, Lunar? Remember, our job is to prove that pony’s guilt, not to entertain the fantasies of two ponies in over their heads. We need to head to the manor to make sure there is nothing else of interest from the detectives, come along now,” Solid Clue says, continuing on her way to the manor without another word.

‘I am sorry, she is an..interesting pony. She is just trying to do her job the best she can.’ Lunar writes, showing us before galloping off as we nod in affirmation.

“Well that was..strange,” Holly comments to me, looking at the two ponies getting farther and farther away.

“Indeed..seems we need to be careful when we get to the trial, something tells me that she is not going to go easy on us,” I comment in response, Holly agreeing with a nod. “Oh well, no need to worry about it. We should go and get checked in, and visit our client,” I continue.

“Right,” Holly says, and we both walk into the Inn.

As Solid and Lunar are walking off..

‘You did not need to be so hard on them, you know. They are practically still children, on their first case away from their mentor. Some slack would be nice to give.’ Lunar writes, disappointed in Solid Clue. This leads to said pony stopping, whipping around, and glaring at her partner.

“I do not care what they are. This is the real world, not some television show of colorful ponies learning about friendship! You know what happened those moons ago, and all that went down as a result. It is our job to bring these criminals to justice, not to be stopped by those blindly defending them!” Solid retorts, turning back around and continuing to walk.

..dick. Lunar thought as they continued trotting to the manor, a deafening silence hanging in the air.

Back to our heroes..

“You have got to be kidding me!” Holly exclaims as we look upon our room, having checked in and gone to our room. It was a neat little room, with a big dresser, a table with four chairs around it, a functional, albeit small, bathroom, and what Holly was referring to, a single, queen-sized bed, with nowhere else to sleep in the whole room.

“Calm down, Holly. I have slept on the floor before, I can do so again,” I respond, putting my stuff down and looking for any additional blankets or the like, as to not take one of Holly’s.

“But..I cannot let you do that..” Holly says with a frown, as I locate an additional blanket and pillow, likely for if-your-husband-is-drunk moments, and make the room on the floor.

“Holly, I know you do not really want us both sleeping in that bed together, it is fine,” I say, turning. Unknown to me at the moment, she was blushing, and looking out the window.

“I never said that..” She mumbles, incoherent to me, sighing.

“What did you say?” I ask her, causing her to turn a darker red.

“N-nothing at all!” She replies. I look at her suspiciously, shrug, and continue on my work, finishing it soon after. By this point, the redness has mostly faded, but traces still exist on her face.

“Due to the time we have already wasted, I was going to unpack whenever we get back to the Inn, so that we can be sure to make the make of the sunlight we have left. Any objections?” I ask, to her shaking her head. “Very well then, let us head to the Detention Center then,” I continue, bringing a smile to her face.

“Hurray!” She cheers, eliciting a chuckle from me. With that, we head to the center in question.

“Badges,” The guard pony simply says as he halts us both with a spear, another guard pony doing the same motion but staying silent, a blank face on their faces, like all other guards. As response, me and Holly show him both our attorney badges, modelled after a symbol found in the old history books, where diamonds represent the now-dead Elements of Harmony, on the outside of a circle reminiscent of a compass, with a purple diamond in the middle, symbolizing the element of ‘magic’. A lot of good that ‘magic of friendship’ did, huh, princess?

“You may enter. The receptionist can help you locate the pony you are looking for,” The guard pony from before states, as they both lift their spears to allow entry. We proceed through, staying silent, knowing how little they care for frivolous dialogue.

“I swear, they get more and more rude every day..” Holly whines as we trot to the desk.

“They are just doing their job, cannot fault them for being careful and short nowadays,” I say, defending them, even though I share similar sentiments. Afterwards, we arrive at the desk.

“Welcome to the Appleloosa Detention Center, who do you seek audience with?” An earth pony mare with an orange coat and a mud-brown mane and tail inquires of us from behind the desk, projecting a fake small smile.

“We are the attorneys for the pony Silver Rose, arrested yesterday,” I reply, the receptionist’s face turning dark for a second before returning to the fake smile of before.

“I see..I will inform the guards. Go through the double doors, and down the hallway to the right three windows,” She says, unlocking the door to let us through, and speaking on the intercom. Going down to the window we were told to go through, I looked around and saw how bland and cold the place was.

“How dreadful..” Holly laments, frowning as she too notices the atmosphere.

“At least it is clean,” I offer, earning myself a glare. “Just saying,” I continue, and she keeps up her glare. We arrive at the window, and I take out a notepad I keep in an interior pocket, and a pencil from another pocket, in order to take notes. Not too long after we arrived, a unicorn mare with a coat of mixed coloration of sky blue and white, and a mane and tail of light silver, her mane covering up her right eye, which was sky blue, and her tail drooping given the circumstances.

“So..you are my attorneys, huh?” She asks, her face showing evidence of recent tears, that she attempted to wipe away prior to meeting with us. It was truly a sad sight to behold, but I had to remain focused.

“Yes, we are, Ms. Rose, we were sent by our mentor Night Light, an att-” I begin, before getting cut off.

“I am quite aware of that pony, no need to elaborate on it,” She says, looking annoyed now.

Strange. I thought. Odd change of mood.

“Very well. He determined that we were well-equipped to handle a case alone, so he assigned us to yours,” I tell her, a smile forcing its way through at the fact that I was actually here doing this. She did not look amused.

“Oh, he did. How swell, my life at the hand of two rookies. Thanks, dick,” Our client responds, the last comment referring to our mentor. Holly did not care for this response.

“Hey, no need to be rude! I do not know what your beef is with Night Light, but that is nothing to take out on us. This may be our first trial, but we want to do all we can, and help prove your innocence, unless you would rather we go,” Holly snaps at Silver, causing her to flinch and look downwards.

“..you are right. I am sorry for what I said. I really do need help, and if you are here to offer it, who am I to reject it?” She replies, releasing a sigh. Coughing, she looks back up at us.

“Please tell us your side of the matter,” I request from her.

“Gladly,” She replies, before delving into her account of that fateful night.

“Silver Rose!” A reddish-brown Earth Pony stallion said, to get her attention.

“Yes Mr. League, what is it?” She responded, hurrying to his side.

“Granny has requested for some milk to be delivered to her upstairs, post-haste. Get to it,” He said, which Silver acknowledged with a salute, as was customary in the household.

She proceeded to get the milk prepared, and, on a platter, as was also customary, she galloped upstairs, and came to the room of Lady Blossom just a couple of minutes after the request was relayed. She knocked on the door to ensure that she could enter, where she was then met with an eerie silence, before then hearing a loud thud.

Opening the door quickly to check on the Lady, she noticed a silhouette near the window, but did not bother giving chase, opting instead to check on the Lady, noticing a blood knife nearby.

“N-no..” She said, looking over her dead master, at a loss for what to do or say in that moment. A few seconds later, a pony came in through the window, which she identified as the thief that tended to protect the house and the Lady for some reason.

“What did you do to her?!” The pony shouted, tackling Silver to the ground where she stood, nearby the knife.

“I-I did not do anything!” Silver exclaimed, the other pony growling in her face. It was then that Big League burst into the room as well, and yelled in shock as well, and noticed Silver on the ground.

“He was right..I should have listened to him!” He spatted aloud.

“Calm down, you big brute! Get the sheriff here, and have her apprehended. I will keep her here until your return,” The other pony told Big League.

“Alright, Snake. I will send for Push Broom to come up here as well,” Big league says in response, Snake saluting as Big League gallops away. Turning back to Silver, Snake scowls at her.

“You are going away for a long, long time,” He said with a finality, keeping her there until the sheriff arrived with two other ponies at his side, apprehending Silver.

“That is all the worthwhile information I have for you. I know it is not much, but those were the events that transpired that night,” Silver says, looking honest, but noticeably hesitant.

“What did Big League mean by “I should have listened to him?”” I ask, finding that a bit odd, Silver shakes her head.

“I am not sure, but I am guessing it would be our Janitor, Push Broom. He tends to run his mouth a lot, perhaps he said something about me, whatever that may be,” She says in dismissal, seemingly hiding something from us.

“I am going to assume you are not going to tell us anything more than that, so let us move on from that topic for now. You say you saw the pony leave, did you catch any noteworthy details?” I ask her.

“Not really. It was happening so fast that I could barely make out the pony. I think I saw wings though,” She replies, shrugging. Holly then piped up.

“Another thing, what is the story of that Snake person you mentioned? That is a bit of an odd name for a pony, and you were a bit vague,” Holly asks, leading to Silver to close her eyes and think it over for a moment, before opening her eyes once more.

“Snake is a nickname hiding his real identity, for whatever reason that may be. Due to no evidence against him, he has never served jail time, but the entire Appleloosian police force and all the workers of the manor know that he steals from the household and other places time and time again. However, he is not known to harm anypony, unless they themselves try to do anything to Lady Blossom or her household. I am under the assumption he was doing a patrol, heard the thud, and came to investigate. Although, it is a bit odd that he somehow failed to see the pony escape. That should have been a huge clue as to who killed her,” Silver explains, as I continue to document what she says.

“This is kind of off-topic, but why is there a Janitor and a Maid? Do they not serve the same basic purpose?” Holly asks, confused. Silver actually manages a small chuckle.

“Usually, yes, but the household was a little different in that element. The janitor is an impersonal but faithful role that keeps the house clean and spotless, while the maid, formerly myself, would serve the family and the guests, taking care of things pertaining directly to them, which may include janitorial duties,” She explains, to which Holly listens, intrigued, as the conversation gets off-track.

“To get back on track, I need to ask two more questions in particular. The first one is: Is there anything you can think of that the prosecution may use as a reason you may killed her?” I ask, and she slightly tenses up at the neck, that I am able to notice due to an odd trait of mine allowing better perception and analysis of things that others may look over. Holly calls it me being weird and a perfectionist, but in this case, it serves me well.

“No. I have served as a Maid for her since I was still in Ponyville Elementary. She was like a mother to me. I would never do anything to go against her,” She responds, tensing up at the neck again, proving that she was not telling the whole truth.

“I see. One last question then. Did you kill the late Lady Blossom?” I ask, watching for any suspicious body language. Nothing out of the ordinary, save for her getting annoyed once more, which was understandable.

“No, I did not. I do not know who did, but I did not do so,” She responds with a sigh, as I smile at her.

“Do not worry, we will take this case, and prove your innocence. Just be patient, and try to rest up before tomorrow, okay?” I ask, and Silver smiles back and nods.

“I thank you both..please, find whoever killed her,” Silver said, as she gets up to leave.

“We will. We will come back should the need warrant it. Otherwise, see you tomorrow,” I say to her.

“Alright,” She says, and proceeds to leave, Holly saying her goodbyes as well. As we both walk out of the Detention Center, one thought continues to pop up in my mind.

What is that mare hiding from me?

Initial Investigation

“Who are you?” A pony asks me and Holly when we arrive at the manor, having travelled there without much hassle, and fairly silent.

“We are the defense for Ms. Rose,” I reply, me and Holly showing our badges to the pony.

“I see. Well then, allow me to introduce myself. I am Detective Bright, commonly brought into murder investigations, though I am called to wherever I need to go,” He introduces himself, offering a hoof to us both, which we politely shook.

“A pleasure. My name is Raven Star, and this is my partner Holly Leaf, our occupation already stated before,” I say, to his confusion.

“What occupation would that be?” He asks, looking genuinely clueless.

“Defense attorneys..for Ms. Rose’s defense..” I repeat slowly, his face showing realization.

“Oh, that is what you meant. Since you are attorneys, you probably want to see what all we have regarding the case thus far, let m-” He starts to say, before an all-too-familiar pony behind him coughs loudly to get his attention.

“There shall be none of that business,” Solid Clue says to the detective, glaring at him.

“But the-”

“I am aware of who they are, you dimwit. That information will be shown to them in court tomorrow. For now, we are going to hold onto it,” She interrupts once more, making me a bit angry.

“That is not fair!” Holly exclaims, the mare simply moving her braid to the other side of her body and chuckling.

“Welcome to the real world, hun. This is about the verdict, nothing more, and nothing less, Your little client is going to have a..fun time, by the end of this,” Solid responds, her voice dripping with the sarcasm that I once thought was only reserved to my family. Before Holly could get into a heated back-and-forth, I stepped in once more.

“Ms. Clue, if you are going to be of no help, then allow us to do our own investigation, and figure out what we need to by ourselves, and stop wasting our time,” I say to her bluntly, causing a scowl, before it returns to an expression of neutrality.

“Fine then, waste your precious time. We are done here,” Solid replies, as Lunar appears, greeting us with a nod. Solid trots off, and Lunar follows, before quickly writing a note(you can sure write a lot with magic and a pencil, apparently), and sending it over to us. With it, she heads off.

“What does the note say?” Holly asks me, as I look to it once more.

To the defense,

I must keep this note brief, so I will skip the frivolities. There is a lot of reasons to expect the guilt of your client, but there is something off that I cannot put my hoof on. Whatever that is may be of you and your client’s benefit. Inquire about the escape route, that should point you in the right direction.

-Lunar

“That is it. Hey, Detective Bright, could we examine the crime scene itself?” I ask, hoping that we were not barred entry from that place as well by that of Solid Clue. Thankfully, he nods.

“No problem at all, I will take you there, as I have to keep a watch on you,” He admits, making me a bit uncomfortable. Oh well, I suppose it cannot be helped.

When we arrive, the first thing we notice is a bit of an odd smell, and we ask the detective about it.

“That stench is some milk that was spilled in here, which seems to have been spilled by the Lady as she was attacked,” He explains, which I immediately noticed something off about.

“How are you so sure it was the Lady’s? Could it have not been Ms. Rose? We heard that she was tasked with delivering some to her quarters prior to her death,” I ask, the detective shaking his head.

“We thought about that too, but our questioning turned up nopony seeing her go upstairs with the requested milk, just preparing it, and it disappearing. The silver platter is also nowhere to be found, so we are assuming that it was hidden in the wash alongside the cup,” He explains.

Spilled Milk added to the Court Record<
Missing silverware added to the Court Record<

“What if the killer took the platter?” Holly asked before I could.

“And where would the killer have been able to take it without getting spotted? I am sure your client also told you about the fact that ‘Snake’ had come and checked on the Lady, correct?” He asked, and I nodded my head. “He did that after hearing a loud thud, from when the Lady Fell, having been patrolling the outside. He testifies to not having seen anypony leave the residence, and the only pony that he saw was Ms. Rose, inside the room, the knife also being nearby her,” He explains, as I abstain from pressing on some of that until I can figure some stuff out.

Knife added to the Court Record<

“Is there no other method for a pony to escape unseen?” I ask, him once more shaking his head.

“Not a chance, pal. There was an undisturbed window at the end of the hallway, and the staircase was travelled by Mr. League soon after the incident. No servant saw anything suspicious in the house either. Those are the only two ways that the killer could have escaped, save for the balcony, that we know was not done,” He says, me having no real objections to voice on that, simply standing there silent. Holly however, was not so sure of that.

“Could Snake not have been either lying or mistaken, since it was at night?” She asks, the detective putting a hoof to his chin at that.

“The likelihood of the latter is unlikely, due to his..questionable connections, and the former would be likely under normal circumstances, but considering the party murdered, I doubt it,” He says after a moment.

“Why is that?” I ask him.

“Regardless of who Snake is as a pony, it is undeniable the care he had for the Lady and the house, even though he is known to be a thief, allegedly of course. Nopony really knows why he cares so much, but that is irrelevant to the case,” He responds.

“I suppose that is all we really need to ask at the moment. Do you have a copy of the Autopsy Report though, perchance?” I ask, the detective nodding in response, hoofing me a copy of it.

Autopsy Report added to the Court Record<

“Thank you. I suppose it is time to begin the investigation then,” I say, looking around the murder scene in question, Holly doing the same.

-Investigation start-

Looking at the place where the Lady was stabbed, I consult the Autopsy Report, noticing an oddity.

“Detective, the Autopsy Report mentions a bruise on the mare’s head, yet it is apparently ‘not pertinent to the case.’ How can you be so confident about that?” I ask.

“It was reported that she had recently had an incident of tripping, leading to her banging her head on a table downstairs. Due to the recent nature of it, the bruise was tied to that incident, and there is no evidence to the contrary,” The detective replies. At that, I nod, and move to the balcony, the other potential escape route. First analyzing the door, I notice that the lock was broken.

Broken Lock added to the Court Record<

“Noticed it too, huh? We were wondering about that as well, but as far as this case is concerned, it is not likely that it involves this case, due to Snake’s testimony,” The detective says as me and Holly look at it.

“How can you be so trusting of an alleged thief?” Holly asks bluntly.

“Already told you pal, regardless of his actions, he cares about this residence. It is highly unlikely he would lie like that, if it meant getting revenge on the killer of the Lady,” The detective retorts, Holly simply turning away, ending the conversation.

Deciding it best to analyze the balcony area, I first look to see if there was any reasonable way down, yet finding no way of doing so, unless a pony was to fly off. After that, I look for any disturbances from a bird's-eye view, finding nothing but well-kept bushes and freshly-cut grass below. Not seeing anything else worthwhile, I return inside, trying to find anything of note, yet not finding anything, as all pertinent evidence has been taken to be analyzed.

“Done, pals?” The detective asks us, me nodding my head.

“Actually detective, any chance we could trot around the outside of the house, since that was where Snake was at the time? It may be important,” Holly asks, the detective looking confused at that.

“I guess, knock yourselves out. The outside is unrelated to the case, so it is clear for you to look around,” He says after a moment, Holly nodding with a smile, before practically dragging me out of the room, the detective simply shrugging and turning away.

-Investigation pause-

“Holly, why exactly are you dragging me? I can walk just fine,” I say after a moment or so after they left, Holly gasping and cutting her magic, blushing.

“S-sorry, I got a bit carried away. I think I figured something out regarding that note, but we need to head below the balcony to confirm it,” She responds, still smiling, but me cocking my head in confusion, yet continuing to trot with her, as to not waste time.

“What would that be? I saw nothing but undisturbed bushes, and the detective sai-” I begin, before getting cut off.

“I am aware of what the detective said, and I am not blind. However, the detective has to be wrong, if Silver is truly innocent. Thus, that is the only place worth looking around at at this point,” Holly explains, as we make it out the front door.

“I suppose so,” I agree, as we arrive at the place in question, and we begin our investigation.

-Investigation resume-

The first thing I do is look up at the balcony from below, once more seeing that there is no feasible way for somepony to leave without flying.

“Still no way to have left, and if Snake is correct..” I say, trailing off.

“Then Silver Platter is guilty..” Holly completes, looking at the balcony herself. “However, that cannot be the case. There must be something here, otherwise Ms. Sonata would have never pointed out the Escape Route!” She continues, as I look at her doubtfully.

“She could have been simply trying to throw us off, you know. Make us waste time and everything,” I say, to her shaking her head and giving me a firm expression.

“I do not believe she would do that, she is not like that other one!” She retorts, turning around to continue her search.

Mares, I will never understand them. I think to myself, shrugging before looking around once more, noticing Holly looking through some bushes. With nothing to lose but time, I decide to do so myself in the bushes in front of the balcony, and I find a black feather within.

“What is that?” Holly asks, as I take it out of hiding and look at it.

“Looks to be a feather, probably from some kind of bird or something,” I respond, prepared to disregard it before Holly levitates it over to her with her magic, looking at it.

“I would not be so quick to judge it, this may be just the clue we need to crack this case!” Holly exclaims, myself not as hopeful.

“You do know this is not some video game where a simple ‘OBJECTION’ can completely destroy the prosecution and lead to a Not Guilty, right?” I ask her, her giving me a flat stare in return. “Alright, alright, we will keep it! Geez,” I continue.

Black Feather added to the Court Record<

“I do not think there is much else we can find here,” I say to Holly, she seeming to be in agreement. Just then, Solid Clue comes in, looking furious.

“What are you doing here without the detective? I told him to keep a good eye on you both!” She exclaims, eying us intensely.

“Ms. Clue, this scene was apparently declared unrelated, so we were free t-,” I say, before being cut off.

“Says who? Leave the premises immediately, I must have a word with the ‘good’ detective. If you are still spotted here after I depart, you will be taken into custody. Begone!” She retorts, before turning around and storming to the location of the detective.

“Poor detective bright..” Holly mutters, myself sharing the sentiment, but refusing to show it.

“Come now, he will be fine. We will not be if we do not hurry up and leave though, so we may want to go do so,” I say to her.

“Right. Back to the Inn, I guess?” She asks.

“I suppose so. There is not really anything to ask Silver about,” I say, to which Holly nods.

“Yep. Hopefully she is okay,” She worries, me smiling in an effort to try to comfort her.

“I am sure she is as okay as she can be, let us get going,” I say, as we both trot back to the Inn.

Meanwhile..

“DETECTIVE BRIGHT!” Solid Clue shouts, causing said detective to become alert at once, looking at the poor door that might have just broke with her slamming it.

“What is it, pal?” He asks, oblivious to her anger, yet becoming all-too-familiar when she drags him face to face with her using her magic.

“I said keep an eye on those two, I do not want them snooping around unsupervised!” She says, glaring at him.

“The area outside was declared unrelated, save for the witness, so I assumed-”

“That is your problem, assuming! If this case gets messed up because of you, I would expect some severe penalties headed your way. Get back to work!” She responds, pushing him away and storming out of the room.

“Geez, it is like she expects me to control everypony everywhere at all times in the investigation or something,” He mutters, returning to doing nothing more than watching over the crime scene.

Later that night..

“Hey, Raven?” Holly says, hoping I was still awake, which I was.

“Yes, Holly?” I respond, curious as to what she was wanting.

“I am scared about tomorrow..what if we fail?” She asks, her voice trembling. Hearing as such, I stand up, and go over to her, sitting down on a spot on the bed she made for me as I approached.

“We will not fail, I promise you that,” I say, Holly not being convinced.

“How can you promise something like that? It is as you said, this is not a videogame with some definitive end or anything,” She replies, me closing my eyes for a moment in thought.

“That may be the case, but we know the truth of the matter. As long as we know what the truth is, we simply have to prove it. No matter what happens, we simply have to keep that goal in mind, and we will be fine. We cannot do anything if we do not get some rest though, so stop worrying, and go to sleep, okay?” I respond, trying to console her, and, at least for now, partially succeeding.

“You are right..thank you Raven. Goodnight,” She says with a smile, wiping away some tears from her fur.

“Goodnight to you as well, my dear Holly,” I say to her, turning to head to my own bed, not noticing her blush as I start drifting into sleep.

Before I manage to do so though, I think to myself: Now if I can only convince myself of the same..

Author's Note

Hey, remember this story? Me neither. I wanted to try to complete a halfway competent chapter though, and publish it, to gauge whether or not I should actually get back to writing this properly.

This would also be the part where I put the Court Record, but I am on my phone, and it is almost impossible to publish this chapter to begin with, so I will put that here later, if I think about it.

Have a blessed one!