Trigger Happy Equines

It wasn’t long before everyone made their way to the swimming pool. As expected, many reacted with shock and sorrow. Button refused to leave the locker room, his nerves decidedly shot. Maribelle had run to his aid, her entry into the male locker room now allowed due to Monobunny’s alteration of the rules. Rather than point menacingly at the doorways the machine guns drooped, posing no threat to anyone anymore. Not that it was much consolation. Pinkie Pie was dead.

Inky was utterly hysterical, tears spilling violently down her cheeks as she yelled Pinkie’s name helplessly. Less than twenty-four hours ago the pair seemed inseparable – joking, drinking and getting along like the best of friends. Now they were forever apart.

Copper stood dejectedly in the corner, averting her gaze from Pinkie’s corpse and failing to hold back the tears. She would never get the chance to offer Pinkie an apology.

Shetland sat in disbelief, his cool, authoritative demeanor completely diminished. Scalpel stood at his side, whispering what I could only assume to be assurance. She too, however, looked distraught.

Yoko clenched his eyes shut as if to banish the very sight before us. I looked again, desperate to believe that this was all a ruse, that Pinkie was just pretending, that she was just sleeping, that anything, anything else had happened. It was nothing but wishful thinking.

Amidst the commotion Monobunny dashed across the tiles and leapt up onto the diving board, gesturing towards Pinkie like a gameshow host showing off the star prize. “And here we have our first victim! As it’s your very first body discovery I think it only fair to run through some important points to get you all started. The only way to ensure your survival is to deduce the one responsible for Pinkie’s death.”

“I-I-It’s you!” Reph cried shakily, pointing threateningly at Monobunny. “You’re the only one!”

“Better save that line for later!” Monobunny said with a chuckle. “You’re wrong, by the way. I don’t kill anyone unless I absolutely need to and I absolutely did not kill Pinkie Pie! How many times do I have to tell you? I. Don’t. Lie!” Monobunny hopped down to the floor, revealing a slip of manila paper from behind his back. “Now as is custom for murder investigations I offer you all the Monobunny File! This will give you important information about Pinkie’s death that’s vital to discovering the truth!” He proudly folded out the slip of paper on the ground and stood back. “Go on! This is for all of you!”

There was an exchange of looks between ponies, an immense hesitation to follow Monobunny’s commands. It was Dopple who finally stepped in, opening the paper up and reading through a line of text. “Pinkie died this morning.” A moment of silence. Dopple turned the paper over with a puzzled expression. “That’s it. That’s all it says.”

“Give me that!” Shetland ordered, snatching the paper from Dopple’s grasp. His eyes scanned the same line. He turned the paper over. He shook his head. “Pinkie died this morning.” He looked up and glared at Monobunny. “I thought you said this was vital information. This tells us nothing!”

“Au contraire,” Monobunny said mockingly. “It gives you just the right amount of information. No more, no less! If I told you too much the case would be too obvious. Not enough and it might even be impossible! And before anyone tries using semantics to claim the Monobunny files aren’t accurate, my declaration of honesty is passed down onto anything I give in writing. Everything else is up to you to deduce. I really do genuinely hope you all solve this case!”

“A blatant lie,” Dish Panner scoffed. “Why would you wish us luck?”

“I’m tired of repeating myself, you know. Besides, of course I want you to find the culprit. That means the game will continue and even more murders will occur! Well, that’s it from me. Use your time wisely! Once I say time is up, time’s up! You’ll have to stop your investigation right away! Goodbye, my budding detectives!” Moving with shocking speed, Monobunny darted through the doors to the female locker room and disappeared, leaving the fourteen of us to contemplate what he’d said.

“We don’t have a choice,” Mesmer said matter-of-factly, cutting through the silence. “Our best chance of survival is to do as he says.”

“You’re right,” Inky said, wiping her eyes. “We can’t get justice for Pinkie by standing around doing nothing.”

They were right. We were merely rats in a maze, just as we had been since the start. Monobunny wasn’t to be defied. And as terrifying as his presence was, there was something even scarier. One of us was Pinkie’s killer. One of us had murdered that cheerful, friendly mare in an attempt to escape. There was no getting around it no matter how much I didn’t want to believe. I took a deep breath, mentally preparing myself for the task ahead. My investigation had begun!

== Investigation Start! ==

First, I checked the slip of paper that Shetland and Dopple had read. As expected, their description was accurate. Although it seemed worthless, the information at least crossed off one possibility.

Truth Bullet Added: Monobunny File #1

Pinkie died this morning.

Next, I moved towards Pinkie’s body which still lay on the diving board, her blank stare sending a shiver up my spine. Without realizing it, I bumped into Dopple. “Greyscale,” she said, squinting as she looked into my eyes. “Are you okay? I mean, all things considered.”

“Yeah,” I replied hoarsely. “It’s a shock, but we’ve got bigger things to worry about.”

Dopple nodded. “Then should we work together? It’ll help us figure this out a bit quicker.”

“Alright. First we should examine Pinkie’s body.”

“Agreed.” Dopple turned to the others. “Can one of the unicorns lower Pinkie’s body onto the ground, please?”

“Wait,” Elsie said. “Won’t that incur a punishment?”

“Not so,” Scalpel said. “According to the rules you’re only punished if you use levitation on a living participant, not a dead one.” Focusing her magic, she enveloped Pinkie’s body in a warm orange glow and lowered her slowly and delicately to the floor, the keycard around her neck swinging gently like a pendulum. Now that she was right in front of us I couldn’t help but remark at how peaceful she looked. In a way, she was rather beautiful.

“I’ll see her over,” Scalpel said. “As a qualified surgeon, I can look for certain signs.”

Dopple’s expression grew wary. “With all due respect I would rather not leave Pinkie’s body alone to one pony. At this point every single one of us is a suspect and should be treated as such. Perhaps someone else could help you?”

“I can,” Maribelle said, approaching us from behind. She was still in her maid outfit, not having had the chance to go swimming for obvious reasons. Rather than looking distraught her face bore an air of determination. “I have extensive first aid knowledge, perhaps not to the fair doctor’s level but enough to give an accurate post-mortem.”

Dopple nodded. “Thank you, Maribelle.” She turned to me. “Let’s leave this job to them and come back later.”

“Right.” We began to walk towards the store room when I noticed something. “Dopple, when we were here earlier, weren’t the windows open?”

“I think so,” Dopple replied. She stepped towards Shetland who was stood a few feet away, looking over Pinkie’s body forlornly. “Shetland, you and Scalpel checked this place earlier. Were the windows open when you came in?”

Shetland rubbed his chin. “Actually, they were open when we arrived but Dr. Scalpel closed them. Something about covering certain bases while we looked for Pinkie and Inky.”

Truth Bullet Added: Swimming Area Windows

The windows were open during the morning but were closed by Dr. Scalpel during the search for Inky and Pinkie. After finding Pinkie’s body the windows were still closed. There are no handles on the exterior meaning the windows can only be opened from the inside.

“Thank you,” Dopple said. Together we walked towards the store room. It was dim inside but enough could be seen to allow a search. Sanscript and Dish Panner were inside, working their way through stacks of swimming floats. “You find anything?”

“Nothing,” Sanscipt replied. “We’ve levitated every single float and pawed at every corner but nothing has turned up. The only object of potential interest is the ladder but I fail to see how that has any bearing on Pinkie’s death.”

Truth Bullet Added: Ladder

An old wooden ladder can be found in the store room.

Thinking back, it occurred to me that something else was found here earlier, something potentially important.

Truth Bullet Added: Pinkie’s Towel

During the search for Pinkie and Inky, Shetland and Dr. Scalpel discovered a towel in the swimming pool store room. Judging by its appearance it could have only belonged to Pinkie Pie.

Next, Dopple and I went to search the male locker room. She took a quick look at the machine gun tripod with security camera on top, pointing down on us from above. “This is off now but it would’ve been active at all times before Pinkie was discovered, right?”

“You’re right.” Now that there was no risk I took a moment to test a certain theory. I tried maneuvering the tripod to see if it was possible to adjust the machine gun’s positioning but to no avail. Either it was insanely heavy or it was bolted to the floor. Either way, it meant moving it was impossible. But then I thought of something. While the camera was a meter or so out of my reach, a pegasus wouldn’t have that problem. “Dopple, do you think you could try adjusting the camera?”

Dopple obliged immediately and leapt up, hovering in front of it. She tried twisting and lifting the camera from its post but it wouldn’t budge. “Unless I tried flying into it at speed there’s no way of pointing it in another direction, and if I did that I’d probably break it which would be against the rules. Hang on, I’ll check the other one.” She quickly zipped over and inspected the tripod next to the female locker room before coming back. “Same again,” she said. “Of course it’d defeat their purpose if you could just point them in another direction. We can check the outside ones but I expect they’ll be just the same.”

Truth Bullet Added: Machine Gun Cameras

There are four machine guns on the third floor, each one attached to a security camera. These look over the entrances on both sides of each locker room and instantly activate the machine gun if the camera spots a male trying to enter the female locker room or vice versa. According to Monobunny, the gunfire is impossible to dodge no matter how fast you are moving. The cameras cannot be moved. There are no signs that any shots have been fired.

We entered the male locker room, Button still recovering in the corner while Inky snooped around, looking baffled. Despite being distraught she was making a concerted effort to look for clues. “What happened in here?” she balked, pointing to the stack of locker doors.

“Oh that,” I replied. “When we first came in here yesterday Shetland said we should remove the doors so nobody could hide any weapons. They didn’t technically break the locks, so Monobunny allowed it.”

Truth Bullet Added: Male Lockers

Yesterday the doors on each of the male lockers were torn off by Shetland and Yoko. The only items in the lockers are towels belonging to myself and Yoko which we left after our swim before the 8 o’ clock meeting.

“A good idea,” Dopple said, rummaging through the discarded doors and scanning them thoughtfully.

“You know,” Inky began, “I thought maybe someone could have used those doors to block a hail of bullets! But I checked them over and they all seem fine.”

Dopple finished looking them over. “Agreed. Though I think if you tried using something as thin as these as a bullet shield they’d be torn to shreds. Anyway, Inky, I have to ask something important. What were you doing this morning before you were picked up?”

“Oh.” Inky rubbed the back of her head bashfully. “I was outside the MonoMart a bit before seven o’ clock, waiting for it to open. Being able to run around and eat whatever I want in a store was a dream come true!”

“Were you there the whole time?”

“Yeah. As soon as the clock read seven the doors let me in and I walked around eating foods and drinking various… things. Only a few beers, mind you. Unfortunately, I completely lost track of time. Then Maribelle, Button and Dish Panner came along and told me Pinkie was missing.” She grimaced at those words. “Looking back, it was a stupid thing to do. I should’ve gone to see Pinkie early that morning but I didn’t think…”

“It’s okay,” Dopple said reassuringly. “None of us could have predicted this. By the way, while you were in the MonoMart did you see anyone else? That is, aside from when Maribelle’s group turned up.”

Inky shook her head. “No, nobody.”

“Are you sure? Nobody could’ve come in while you were unaware?”

“No way. I would’ve heard the greeting that plays when someone comes in, and the entrance is the only, well, entrance. I only heard it two times, first when I went in at seven and then later when Maribelle and the others came in.”

Truth Bullet Added: Inky’s Account

Inky was at the MonoMart from just before 7 o’ clock until being found during the search, roughly around 8:30. Nobody else entered the store during that time.

“It’s strange,” Dopple said, inspecting one of the lockers. “The lockers are incredibly spacious for no good reason.”

I shrugged. “Maybe Monobunny expected us to store all kinds of weapons.”

“What weapon would need this much space?”

“A halberd!” Inky exclaimed. “Or maybe a cannon? Or how about a stone pillar?”

Button groaned from the corner. “No, that’s stupid!” He took a deep breath and wiped at his eyes. “I wish we’d kept the doors on, that way I’d have another hiding place if someone tried to kill me. And someone’s gonna try and kill me, I just know it!”

“We don’t know that yet,” Dopple said.

“Yet!?”

Leaving Button to his own devices, Dopple and I went back into the swimming pool area and were immediately faced with Mesmer bearing down on us with a stern glare. “You two. I need you to confirm Yoko’s story. The three of you entered the dining room last, just before eight o’ clock. Tell me, what were you doing before that?”

“We came here around half seven,” Dopple replied effortlessly, unfazed by Mesmer’s intimidating manner. “We swam for a little while and then came straight to the dining room.”

Mesmer’s frown intensified. “That’s all?”

“Yes.” Dopple motioned for me to respond.

“Uh, yeah. All we did was swim. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

Truth Bullet Added: Pre-Meeting Swim

Yoko, Dopple and I were in the swimming area roughly between 7:30 and 8 o’ clock. We didn’t come across anything suspicious at that time.

“Another thing.” Mesmer turned to me this time. “You and Copper were tasked with watching the stairwell between the first and second floor during the search. What did you see at that time?”

“Um, nothing. We didn’t see anyone move between floors and we kept watch until Shetland and Scalpel finished their search of the swimming area.”

Truth Bullet Added: Greyscale’s Account

During the search for Pinkie and Inky, Copper and I kept watch from the landing of the stairs leading to the third floor, watching the opposite stairwell that led down to the first floor. We were joined shortly by Scalpel and Shetland before searching other areas.

Without a response, Mesmer strode past us into the male locker room.

“What’s up with him?” I remarked.

“Remember what Monobunny said,” Dopple replied. “Our investigation has a time limit. Mesmer’s just being careful. Come on, we should see if Scalpel and Maribelle have found anything about Pinkie’s body.”

We got our answer without fuss, Maribelle seeming somewhat elated as she told us. “Her neck is broken.”

I was stunned. “Really?”

“Yes, I can lift her head to show you how limp it is. It’s like a rag doll.”

“No thanks!” I blurted out, already uneasy enough just thinking about it.

Dopple, however, was far braver than I was and took to prodding Pinkie’s head. “You’re right. Does she have any wounds, any marks, any other possible signs of injury?”

“No,” Scalpel said. “No bruising and no cuts of any kind. We thought perhaps she had drowned considering where she died but there are no signs of that.”

“It’s a real blessing,” Maribelle said exasperatedly. “It means Pinkie passed away quickly and without suffering. Such a thing is truly worth being thankful for. May all of us be lucky enough to drift into our eternal sleep painlessly.” She put her hooves together in prayer. I couldn’t help but be disturbed by this behavior, even if she may have had a point.

Truth Bullet Added: State of The Body

Pinkie suffered a broken neck. There are no signs of additional injuries or other possible causes of death.

Just as Dopple and I were able to walk away, Maribelle put out a hoof to stop me. “Oh, just a second, Greyscale. I’ve been meaning to ask, what did you find when you went inside Pinkie’s room during the search? I saw Shetland break in through the window and I was watching intently. I really did believe Pinkie had been in there since morning and I find it hard to believe she was already gone.”

“Sorry,” I replied. “It was just as you all saw it later on.”

Truth Bullet Added: Pinkie’s Room

During the search Shetland broke into Pinkie’s room through the window and opened it from the inside, allowing Copper, Scalpel and myself to search it. Despite this we found no clues as to her whereabouts.

Dopple and I walked into the female locker room this time in which Reph and Elsie were inspecting. It looked identical to the male locker room but with the layout in reverse. However, all of the lockers still had their doors intact.

“Wait here,” Dopple said to me before walking back out to the pool area. “Excuse me!” she shouted. “Could every mare please come to the female locker room? This is vital to our investigation.” After a minute or so all seven mares were gathered inside. “Now,” Dopple began, stepping in front of her locker. “We’ll all use our keycards to open our lockers. Anyone who refuses will be treated as suspicious. All agreed?”

There were a few mumblings before each mare obliged and their lockers were spread wide open, baring all. They were all empty except for Dopple’s, which contained her towel from the morning swim. In an effort to denounce suspicion she allowed the rest of them to unravel it, to which they found nothing. Only one locker was left.

Dopple and I approached Pinkie’s body again, our focus on the keycard tied around her neck by a black cord, the same as everyone else’s. “We’ll need Scalpel’s help,” she said, holding the card up. “Our keycards can’t be removed and the cord is too short to lift over her head, same as everyone else’s. We don’t have anything to cut it with so the easiest way is for someone to levitate her body over to her locker and then–”

Before Dopple could finish her sentence, Pinkie’s keycard came off in her hoof, the cord snapping neatly.

“How did you do that?” I balked. I tried pulling at my own keycard to see if it would do the same. Just as before, the cord around my neck remained intact.

“I don’t know. I just yanked it a little and it gave way.” Dopple inspected the two ends of the cord. “This looks like a very precise cut. But this doesn’t make sense. If it was like this when we got here it should have fallen off. When Scalpel lowered Pinkie’s body the keycard was swinging freely, just as you’d expect.” She held the two ends up to me. “There’s a slight discoloration on both ends, possibly some kind of substance.”

Truth Bullet Added: Pinkie’s Keycard

During the investigation the cord around Pinkie’s neck snapped after Dopple pulled the keycard. The cut is decidedly neat, not the result of a vicious tear. Both ends appear to have a small amount of translucent substance on them.

“Regardless, now we have it,” Dopple said. The two of us walked back to the locker room where Elsie, Dish Panner and Inky remained, exchanging information. To their surprise, Dopple walked up to Pinkie’s locker and opened it. “This is…” Inside was the inflatable ring Pinkie had obtained from the MonoMart during Monobunny’s tour. It was deflated.

Dish Panner sighed. “And here I thought you were about to find an important clue.”

Dopple ignored her, examining the ring closely. “This is odd,” she said, holding it up to the group. “It’s not just deflated, it’s been ripped open.” True to her word, there was a gaping hole in the material roughly three inches across.

Truth Bullet Added: Inflatable Ring

Inside Pinkie’s locker we found the inflatable ring she’d taken from the MonoMart. It had been torn open, leaving a sizeable hole.

We’d amassed what seemed like only a few clues, the answer to the whole mystery eluding me. After checking the third-floor hallway and finding nothing, it seemed we’d exhausted all of our options. That was to be expected, really. The hour or so before the body announcement had been spent looking feverishly across the whole hotel, the MonoMart, the surrounding area, even Pinkie’s locked room which bore no traces of information. The only other place I could think was the extra room on the second floor, but none of us could have entered it.

“We’ve looked everywhere,” I said to Dopple as we stood next to the swimming pool, scanning the water. Even the drains had been searched now without discovery, and the ultra-clear water had no way of hiding evidence from us. “There’s no choice but to wait until our time’s up.”

Dopple was deep in thought, her eyes slowly scanning the scene again and again. Suddenly she looked up and gasped. “The roof,” she uttered. “During the entire search not one of us went up on the roof.” She sprang to her hooves. “Could someone open one of the windows!?” she ordered. “And could Copper, Shetland and Reph accompany me?”

“What’s this about?” Shetland asked.

“The four of us are pegasi, which means we’re the only ones who can go up on the roof. We need to make sure there’s nothing up there before our time runs out. Quickly!”

Dopple’s request was granted. Scalpel twisted the window’s handle open with her magic and the group of four fluttered outside. A few minutes later they returned.

“Did you find anything?” Elsie asked.

“No,” Shetland answered. “It was worth checking, though. Good idea, Dopple.”

Dopple, rather than looking disappointed, remained unfazed. She walked straight towards Maribelle. “Can I ask you something?”

“Oh, of course.”

“What happened when you and Button got here, just before the body announcement?”

Maribelle took a moment to think. “We each went to our own locker room. I was just about to undress when I heard Button scream. I ran through the swinging doors and saw Pinkie lying there on the diving board. I just couldn’t believe it and I stood there in shock. That’s when I heard Monobunny’s announcement.” She grimaced. “I know I’m the one who found the body, but you don’t think I did this, do you?”

“I can’t say for sure,” Dopple replied.

Maribelle sighed heavily. “I understand. I just wish we could all believe in each other. I still have faith that all of us are innocent. I think this is just one of Monobunny’s tricks.”

Mesmer scoffed behind her. “Stop being so naïve. It’ll get you killed.”

*DING DONG DONG DING*

Once again we heard Monobunny’s shrill tone emanate throughout the room. “Your time is up! The investigation is now over. Please make your way out into the courtyard and through the entrance to the courthouse for your first murder trial! Don’t dilly-dally or I’ll have to punish you! See you there!”

“Courthouse?” Elsie cried. “I remember no such thing!”

“Even so,” Mesmer said, already walking, “we can’t stay here. Thanks to someone who couldn’t help but slaughter for their own gain we’ve no choice but to debase ourselves to this insanity.” Without looking back he strode through the locker room and out the other side.

“He’s right,” Copper said, trotting weakly in his direction. “We’d better go.”

The rest of us followed tentatively, Inky offering a somber goodbye to Pinkie as we left. My heart was pounding rapidly. I couldn’t help but think I’d missed something vital, some piece of the puzzle that would shed light on the truth. If there was, I’d missed my chance forever. If we couldn’t solve the mystery of Pinkie’s demise it would mean death for all of us and freedom for the killer. I knew I couldn’t let that happen.

As soon as we’d made it outside the hotel a strange sight appeared before us. The wall that had concealed the room with shackles had been lowered, but instead of the same bare, white stone walls was a black cave, a set of double doors bearing the design of Monobunny’s split monochrome visage. Nobody had to ask; we all knew where we were headed. Once through the doors we entered a tunnel, a set of stairs leading down into a pitch-black abyss.

“I don’t like this!” Sancript yelped, backing away. “It’s like we’re being led into the depths of Tartarus itself!”

“I want to go home!” Button cried, clinging onto Maribelle for dear life.

To everyone’s surprise it was Inky who stepped forward first, small lightbulbs sparking to life on either side of the wall and lighting the way. “None of us are backing down,” she said defiantly, her face unflinching. It was a startling transformation from her earlier behavior. “We’re here to avenge Pinkie Pie, okay? I refuse to let the killer get away with what they did to her!” Inky began her march down the stairs, the sound of her hooves echoing in the dim light.

“She’s right,” Yoko said, his face scrunched up into a scowl. “Pinkie didn’t deserve this. Her friend Applejack is watching this, right?” He turned towards a security camera pointing down the flight of stairs. “Don’t you worry, Applejack. We’ll get justice for her!”

The two ponies’ fervor spread to the rest of the group. One by one we took our first steps, soon culminating in a cacophony of hooves on stone as all fourteen of us moved as one. I was still hesitant, finding myself merely going through the motions. I exchanged a glance with Dopple, her expression resolute. Copper, however, was limp and sullen, her gaze locked to the floor. She had perhaps been the most pessimistic of all of us and now her fears had come to fruition. I had no idea what I could even say to her.

And so we descended, the stairs stretching onwards and taking us deeper underground. The doors from which we’d entered creaked and finally closed, though from my quick glance behind us I couldn’t see anyone else up there. The only way forward was down. After about two minutes of walking the two lines of lights came to an end and we were faced with an ornate mahogany door without any handle to speak of. It towered above us all and stretched almost the entire width of the walkway.

Copper pressed a hoof up to its surface. “How do we get inside?”

Just as she spoke the door began to creak open of its own accord, revealing a most astonishing sight. The room before us was a colossal dome as big as an opera house, rows of wooden benches at least fifteen deep stretching around the circumference, its seats filled with hundreds of security cameras, all bobbing up and down excitedly on tripods. A red carpet lay at out at our hooves leading to a grand, circular stage, a bevvy of spotlights lighting it up like a gleaming white jewel. Suspended above the stage by chains and scaffolding hung from rafters was a golden stool upon which sat Monobunny, his paws gripping a gavel that stood as tall as he was. As we all reacted in stunned surprise a raucous applause began to emanate from the room, permeated with whoops and hollers from an invisible crowd.

“Don’t be shy!” Monobunny called, waving his gavel in greeting. “Step right up and take your place!”

We plodded forward tentatively, the security cameras rotating to track our movement as we made our way towards the stage. It quickly became obvious that there were semicircular sections indented into the outskirts of the stage with electric blue runes pulsing on the floor. A profile picture of each participant on a rectangular sign pointed outwards, accessible from individual sets of stairs. We all searched for our space, mine positioned between Scalpel and Maribelle. Once everyone had entered their station there was a low humming sound, each rune shining brighter until finally there was a loud clap, and we were all surrounded by streams of blue, wispy light that rose up the ceiling, encasing us in magical pillars.

“These magical runes will prevent you from leaving your posts until the trial is over and the accused has been chosen.”

I tried reaching outside of the pillar, only for my hoof to be blocked by an invisible force. I looked around in wonder, watching as others tried escaping their confines. There was the sound of a metallic crank and the signs with our pictures slid along a semicircular rail until they were behind us, allowing me to view the entire group and their signs along with them. It was then that I noticed Pinkie’s empty post, her sign tarnished with an ‘X’ splattered in red paint, exhibiting her status as deceased. But something else was far more curious – a spot between Button and Shetland with a sign that bore a black question mark. This stage was clearly made for sixteen.

“Wait,” Sanscript said. “We’re all here, so who does that one belong to?”

“Never you mind that,” Monobunny said, turning on his stall and waving a paw in Sanscript’s direction. “What concerns you all right now is the trial pertaining to the death of Pinkie Pie. May I call silence from the audience?” The blare of applause and cheering quieted to a distant whisper. “Now, are you all ready?”

I could feel the tension rising, my pulse quickening, my joints weakening, sweat dripping from my forehead. Someone among us was a murderer. They had cut down Pinkie Pie. Our fates were in our hooves now. Solve the case and live. Fail the case and die. I had to survive. I couldn’t let the killer go free.

Monobunny slammed his gavel down on the stool. I took a deep breath and grit my teeth.

“Let the trial commence!”