“YOU’RE THE ONLY ONE!”

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“Elsie. It was you, wasn’t it?”

There was an uproar of gasps.

“What!?” the mare screamed, staring daggers into my eyes. “You must be joking! I had nothing to do with it!”

“Cut the crap!” I shot back. “You’re the one who killed Yoko!”

“Based on what!?” Elsie sneered. “You have absolutely nothing on me.” She smiled sadistically. “Ladies and gentlecolts, this is what happens when someone gets too confident for their own good. It goes to their head.”

“Greyscale, what’s going on?” Dish Panner asked nervously, her eyes large and trembling. “How could you even arrive at that conclusion?”

“You’ll have to trust me on this,” I replied. “There’s no other way it could’ve happened.”

“Oh, is that so?” Elsie said pompously. “And who do you suppose set up that nail bomb?”

I gritted my teeth. Despite my accusation, Elsie was somehow even more self-assured and assertive than before. But I had to stick to my guns. “That was your doing, too. You were responsible for Yoko’s death by allaccounts!”

“Is this true!?” Lancet cried.

Elsie sighed and uttered a deep groan. “Of course it isn’t true. At what point have I been implicated?” She straightened up and snorted. “I’ll give you one chance. Just let everyone know you had it wrong or you were joking around, and you can avoid being embarrassed in front of everyone.”

“Well,” Button said, squirming. “He did guess right the last time.”

“So!? Is that supposed to mean something!?” Elsie pushed her glasses back into place and proceeded in a more reserved manner. “As I said, I’m innocent, and as I’m sure you’ll all agree, it is innocent until proven guilty. Or are rash accusations now acceptable?”

Come on, I thought, doing everything I could to prevent a smile from creeping onto my face. I want you to do it. I want you to twist and turn and bury yourself deeper. I want you to spend every ounce of energy trying to deny what should have been obvious from the very beginning. I couldn’t just come out and explain it all. My senses were twofold. My nerves tingled and my heart leapt continuously. I would prove my worth, show Mesmer and the others just how great I could be. But also, I would savor every last drop of triumph. I was not about to spill the beans and sink my own ship. I wanted… needed it to be perfect. Shetland’s transgression was a practice run. This time, I was ready and waiting. “Do you have any other suggestions?” I asked goadingly. “From where I stand, you had the best opportunity out of any of us to commit murder.”

“Greyscale,” Sanscript said reverently, seeming to hold back a piece of himself as he spoke. “You’re being rather vague. I’m not saying I disbelieve you, but you’re not being very pragmatic.”

“It’s fine,” Mesmer cut in with. “There are more weapons at a detective’s disposal than just facts and logic. Perhaps Greyscale is exercising a more psychological approach.” He grinned. “Or maybe he’s just an inherently bad detective.”

“Not this again,” Copper sighed, covering her eyes. “Grey, I thought I told you to ignore this creep.”

“Excuse me!” Elsie cried. “I’m being accused of murder and you’re acting as if that’s ordinary. Look into my eyes and tell me I set off a nail bomb and stabbed Yoko to death. I have no memory of such acts!”

I ignored her. My battle against Elsie was just window dressing. The centerpiece was my feud against Mesmer. “Tell me,” I said. “Had you figured it out before the trial started?”

“I’ll tell you once this trial is over,” Mesmer replied. “You still have a job to do.”

“Oh my!” Reph let out, clutching at his chest. “You mean to s-say you expect it to be over soon? M-meaning Greyscale is right!?”

“This is pathetic,” Elsie said, rolling her eyes. “First of all, let me get this straight: Greyscale, you’re accusing me of both Yoko’s murder and the nail bomb incident. Not one, but both. Didn’t you just argue that it was likely to have been two separate ponies that were responsible?”

“I didn’t say it was likely,” I replied. “I said it was possible.”

“S-so you agree with me?” Reph said, smiling a little. “If two of them went there after the first trial, they would’ve run into each other! The chance was t-too high!”

“That’s my other problem!” Elsie barked, pointing a hoof at me. “Why were you so insistent on that being the only time anyone could’ve taken stuff from the MonoMart?”

“But it is,” Sanscript said. “Isn’t it? I thought we had eliminated all other potential opportunities. It couldn’t have been before the trial, of course, as we were able to deduce that even Shetland didn’t acquire anything from there.”

“No, that’s wrong,” Elsie said sternly. “Now, even if we’re to assume that I was the unicorn who set off the nail bomb – which I wasn’t! – someone could very well have taken the knife from the MonoMart before we even found Pinkie’s body. Greyscale, perhaps you know who I’m talking about? Someone who would’ve been very good at concealing such an item? Someone who, even during a building-wide search, would’ve had good reason to believe they could’ve gotten away with it?”

I exhaled deeply. She wouldn’t have done that, was what I wanted to say, but then I reached reflexively for my neck. “You’re talking about Copper.”

“So you do know!” Elsie blared, stomping in front of her, the sound echoing throughout the hall. “But I bet you were thinking, ‘oh, she would never do that’, right?”

I flinched. “Well…”

“Just because you fancy the hooves off of her, you blind yourself to the possibility that she could be the killer, even when you know for a fact that she had more opportunity than anyone! Truly a dismal stallion, you are.”

“Now wait a second!” Copper cried. “What are you even talking about?”

“Don’t listen to her,” I said. “I don’t… I mean, I know you’re not the killer, Copper.”

“I know you do, because…” Copper looked away, blushing. “Greyscale came into my room the other day, alright?”

“Alright!” Inky cried in celebration. “About time someone got some action!”

“It wasn’t like that!” Copper snapped, glowing even redder. “He suspected me of something and so, searched my room from top to bottom. He didn’t find anything.” She looked up at me expectantly. “Right, Grey?”

I had a choice. I could either affirm Copper’s position to throw Elsie from her podium, to which nobody could disprove, or I could follow the path of truth and rely on logic to win the day. I gulped, realizing what I had to do. “Copper, I’m sorry, but we both know that time I searched your room doesn’t count. I wasn’t anywhere near thorough, meaning you had the perfect opportunity to move the knife somewhere I wouldn’t be able to find. And besides, you practically goaded me into searching your room, meaning you could’ve been well prepared.”

Copper’s face fell. Despite showing no tears I could feel as though she was crying on the inside. She didn’t respond, merely staring back with a mixture of guilt and disbelief.

“Excellent!” Elsie chimed. “I can admire your honesty. Perhaps now you’ll all take my accusation a little more seriously and we can get to the bottom of this.”

But I knew Copper wasn’t the killer. Everything pointed to Elsie. Everything! But if I was to prove my point, I would have to disperse the suspicion now cast on my friend. I would have to stand and fight!

Truth Bullets

Monobunny File #2

Trail of Blood

Fireplace Guard

Broken Window

Crowbars

Elsie: Did everyone forget what happened during the search for Pinkie Pie?

Lancet: What are you getting at?

Elsie: We thought maybe Copper was involved in Pinkie’s murder, and yet she was proven innocent. But she left the group and entered the MonoMart!Isn’t that suspicious?

Maribelle: She told us she was getting something to drink.

Inky: You’re saying she got a knife instead?

Elsie: We all dismissed her actions since she wasn’t Pinkie’s killer, but at the time, she would’ve had no idea that Pinkie was already dead. Thus, she could’ve taken the knife, flown back in through her windowand hidden it before rejoining the group!

Copper: I never did that!

Dish Panner: I did think it was odd that you headed out for a drink in the middle of a crisis.

Elsie: And as you might expect from the Ultimate Illusionist, she would’ve been able to concealthe knife with ease. My, what big wings you have!

Copper: What part of your accusation is based in fact!?

Button: Didn’t Greyscale just say he was invited into Copper’s room? That he was let inside without a fuss?

Copper: That’s true…

Button: And that he didn’t properly search it!? Almost sounds like you wanted to use that to prove your innocence!

Reph: But can she really have done that?

Sanscript: Are you saying she waited around for a chance to use the knife?

Elsie: It makes sense, doesn’t it? You hear a big bang and suddenly there’s a half-dead pony in reach, unable to defend himself, with someone else’s murder attempt to take the attention away. It was the perfect opportunity to sneak in and kill while she had the chance!

Lancet: Is there not a chance Copper couldn’t have been there at the time?

Copper: I didn’t do it, okay!? Grey, you’ve got to talk some sense into them!

Wait a second, something was said that proves this whole theory can be blown apart. I can’t let Elsie take control of this debate!

Author's Note

I'm sure you all have a number of questions and points you'd like to make, but there are still a number of chapters left before all is said and done.

In the meantime, it's back to playing along!