Day 6, 14:10

Pinkie entered the entrance hall in time to see Rainbow Dash and Derpy walking down the main staircase.

“Sorry Pinkie,” Dash said upon seeing her. “But we couldn’t find anything.”

“That’s okay,” Pinkie said, trying to hide her disappointment. “We’ll just discuss the information we do have and maybe we’ll come up with something.”

“And if we can’t?” Derpy asked, sounding terrified of the prospect.

“Let’s not think about that right now,” Pinkie said, unable to stop herself from picturing them losing today.

Hearing more hoofsteps from behind them, the trio turned to see Octavia, Rarity and Fluttershy walking down to meet them.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t find anything more substantial with that spell Pinkie,” Rarity said apologetically, arriving on level ground with them.

“It’s alright, at least it confirms what I already think happened,” Pinkie replied, hoping to put a more positive spin on it.

“Shall we go?” Octavia asked the group. “We don’t want this trial running so late that we’re stuck out of our rooms after ten.”

“You must be feeling confident if you think it’ll last that long,” Rainbow commented as the group began walking towards the castle gates.

“I just prefer to prepare for any and all eventualities,” Octavia replied simply as they made their way into the courtyard where the others were already taking up position.

“Ah hope you’re ready to make a hat trick out of this,” Applejack said to Pinkie as she passed by.

“A hat trick is three successes AJ,” Rainbow Dash pointed out.

“Well then ah hope she’s working up to one,” Applejack retorted.

“The case is pretty bare bones right now,” Pinkie admitted stepping onto her own circle. “But as long as we think logically about it and work together, we should be able to figure it out.”

“Confident as ever Pinkie Pie,” the Mastermind stated as the runes at their hooves flashed into life, the banisters rising up in front of them, and the portraits of Filthy Rich, Spitfire and Cheese Sandwich all taking the place of their fallen friends.

“I’ve been wondering,” Shining began. “Why is there an empty space?”

Pinkie followed his gaze to the vacant circle opposite her; of course she never had told the others about the circumstances of the missing pony in the last game, as that might have led to some awkward questions regarding the Mastermind’s identity.

“If memory serves me right…” the Mastermind answered slowly, “I’m a stickler for even numbers.”

Pinkie’s eye twitched, remembering Twilight saying those exact words when the empty space was brought up in the last game.

You’re just mocking us; I promise you’ll regret that.

“It doesn’t matter,” Pinkie cut in, hoping to change the subject before the Mastermind could say anything more on the subject. “I already checked the sixteenth room and it was empty. It’s obviously not important.”

Of course Pinkie didn’t believe that for a second, but whatever she needed to say to keep the others focused on this trial.

“If you that’s what you believe Pinkie,” the Mastermind said casually. “Now, if there are no further questions to be addressed, I call this trial to order.”

Trial 2: Cheese Sandwich

“You know,” Derpy started, sounding a little sad, “I kind of feel sorry Cheese never got that party he wanted.”

“Oh please,” Fleetfoot snapped. “We had better things to than entertain his childish fantasies.”

“I’m still unsure how there is any more to this than ‘he was pushed off the edge’,” Rarity pointed out.

“Well for starters, we know he was lured up there using this party invitation,” Pinkie responded with. “Which we found, in his room, on his desk.”

“Well how did he come to get the invite?” Applejack asked. “Ah mean, did the killer hand it straight to him?”

“Probably not,” Pinkie argued. “For starters they tried to pretend it was from me, if they did in person they ran the risk of being asked questions and having their lie brought into suspicion.”

“Plus, they most likely delivered it this morning before he woke up,” Maud added. “It does say the party was ‘right now’. They probably banked on him going straight there, in which case they would needed to have gone there ahead of him to prepare.”

“Prepare for what?” Soarin asked bewildered. “How much preparation does it take to ask somebody to stand at the edge and push them off?”

“Actually, we found something that suggests Cheese was forced to the edge,” Pinkie pointed out, nodding to Fluttershy who produced the cracked syringe and half empty bottle of curare.

“Drugs?” Fleetfoot said in surprise.

“Earlier, Fleur, Applejack and I found that syringe discarded beneath the oven in the kitchen,” Pinkie explained. “After taking it to Fluttershy, we managed to determine that it had contained a substance called ‘curare’.”

“Um, that’s right,” Fluttershy confirmed quietly. “I compared the residue on the inside of the syringe to the contents of the bottle and, um, they matched up perfectly.”

“I’m confused,” Derpy said scratching her head. “What does curage do?”

“Curare,” Pinkie corrected her. “It’s a poison that causes paralysis and death in large enough quantities.”

“So the killer used this drug to paralyse Cheese,” Rainbow summarised, “then pushed him off the battlements?”

“But why go to that length at all?” Shining asked. “If Cheese was already on the battlements, it would have been just as easy to give him a strong push, but if the killer drugged him in the observatory they would have had to carry him to the battlements. I know Cheese was a skinny guy, but that still would have been tough for anypony to pull off.”

“Well we do have a number of strong ponies here,” Soarin pointed out. “I mean you and Applejack especially; it was you two who raised that gate after all.”

“Actually, I don’t believe strength factors into it,” Pinkie argued. “For starters, I’m certain the killer drugged Cheese in the observatory as Rarity’s spell managed to detect what looked like a struggle there. Even if the killer injected Cheese from behind, he still would have reacted before the paralysis kicked in.”

“As for how the killer got him to the battlements,” Octavia said, taking over. “Pinkie and I managed to find a wheelchair jammed in the mechanism of the orrery. It is probable that the killer intended the drug to kill Cheese, but when it became apparent they hadn’t used a large enough dose, they retrieved a wheelchair from the Infirmary. As there is both ramps leading to the observatory and the battlements, it would have been easy for anypony to transport the paralysed Cheese to the battlements and tip him over the edge.”

“But then why dispose of the wheelchair in the orrery?” Fleur asked. “It would have been far easier and less detectable to return it to the infirmary.”

“It must have been an accident,” Pinkie suggested. “They may have been panicking after what they did, weren’t paying attention and dropped it into the gears.”

“Now are we sure the wheelchair was used?” Fleetfoot asked. “And it wasn’t dropped in there by Armour during his drunken raid?”

Shining Armour scowled but didn’t bite back.

“It was definitely done this morning,” Octavia confirmed. “It caused the orrery to stop functioning, and it was definitely moving last night before I retired to my room.”

“What I want to know is how a syringe full of curare went missing from the infirmary?” Fleur asked, looking to Pinkie. “Didn’t you assign someone to manage inventory there?”

Fluttershy shrunk slightly where she stood.

“Yes, but we believe the materials were taken before I assigned Fluttershy to the infirmary,” Pinkie stated.

“So in conclusion,” Maud said. “The killer stole a syringe full of curare sometime between the discovery of the infirmary and Fluttershy being assigned there. They then planted a party invitation this morning, most likely sliding it under his door. They waited for him in the observatory, and injected him with the drug when he arrived. Once he did not die, they obtained a wheelchair and used it to transport him to the battlements where they tipped him off. Finally, upon their escape, they accidentally dropped the wheelchair into the orrery, causing it to break.”

“That’s all correct so far,” Pinkie said nodding.

“What ah want to know is where me gettin’ locked in that cellar comes into this!” Applejack exclaimed.

“Uh, what now?” Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Not long before the trial, ah was searching the cellar for clues,” Applejack explained, “when some varmint locked me in.”

“How awful!” Rarity exclaimed, shuddering.

“Hang on, what’s the cellar got to do with any of this?” Shining asked, bewildered.

“I’m not sure, but clearly somepony didn’t want us snooping around down there,” Pinkie pointed out.

“Well did you find anything down there?” Rarity asked.

“Nothing since me and Pinkie first looked down there,” Applejack began before seeming to remember something. “Hey Pinkie, what about those colours on the table?”

“Uh, colours?” Derpy repeated, raising an eyebrow at Pinkie.

“Huh,” Pinkie said, tapping her chin. “I hadn’t thought about those.”

She then looked down at the part invitation.

“Wait a second!” she exclaimed, holding it up. “Maybe that’s where the killer made this.”

“So the crayons are down in the cellar,” Soarin finished.

Maybe, but why would there be crayons in a cellar? All there was down there was…

“It’s so obvious,” Pinkie said, mentally kicking herself for not having seen it sooner. “The wine bottles?”

“Uh, what about them?” Shining asked, still sounding embarrassed.

“The wax seals around the corks,” Pinkie pointed out. “Crayons are made of coloured wax.”

“Oh,” everypony said in unison.

“Well that solves one mystery,” Fleetfoot said, “but it doesn’t explain who did it.”

“Maybe Shining Armour,” Fleur proposed.

“Hey!” Shining Armour exclaimed.

“We already know he was in that cellar playing around with wine bottles,” Fleur continued, paying him no heed. “And with his wife encased in stone over there, he has more reason that most of us to want to win this game.”

“I don’t think that’s possible,” Fluttershy chipped in. “Shining was in no state this morning to carry out the murder.”

“Thank you Fluttershy,” Shining said gratefully.

“Plus I don’t believe a unicorn was responsible for this,” Octavia added.

“Why?” Rarity asked. “Not that I’m complaining, but still.”

“It’s like Fleur said,” Octavia continued. “They would never intentionally put the wheelchair in the orrery, it would be too easy to find. So we can assume dropping it down there was an accident, but as Rarity proved, a unicorn could remove it safely using magic without getting too close to the gears.”

“There’s still the panic aspect,” Pinkie reminded her. “But I do agree, it is unlikely that a unicorn was responsible, particularly since we can rule out Shining Armour for his health, and Fleur was present at breakfast this morning when the murder must have taken place.”

“But that doesn’t leave an alibi for Rarity,” Applejack pointed out. “Or any of the ponies who were late to breakfast.”

“Well I was with Rainbow all morning,” Soarin chipped in. “So I can vouch for her.”

“Right so that just leaves Rarity, Octavia, Fleetfoot, Derpy, and Fluttershy,” Applejack summed up. “Shining as well, but you’ve already excused him. Although ah haven’t for that mess he helped create this morning.”

Applejack shot Shining Armour and few others glares and they shifted uncomfortably.

“Oh lighten up,” Fleetfoot said, not reacting to Applejack’s look. “It was an accident; I mostly blame Derpy for it.”

“Alright then, where were you all this morning?” Pinkie asked. “Why were you all late to breakfast?”

“Exercises,” Fleetfoot answered simply. “Pegasi need to fly around, bad for their wings otherwise.”

Pinkie looked over to Rainbow who nodded in agreement.

“Where were you flying?” Pinkie asked.

“Outside, over the town,” Fleetfoot answered.

“And you never saw anything on the battlements?” Pinkie asked.

“Course not,” Fleetfoot replied. “On the off chance I happened to be looking at the right place at the exact time, I was still too far away to have seen anything. Plus I would have told you if I had.”

“Really?” Rarity asked. “Because you didn’t mention those cleaning supplies last time.”

“Are you still going on about that?” Fleetfoot asked exasperated. “I told you, I didn’t think they were relevant.”

“However that was possible,” Rarity muttered sarcastically.

“In conclusion,” Fleetfoot said, gritting her teeth. “No, I didn’t see anything.”

“Alright, what about the rest of you?” Pinkie asked, looking to the remaining four.

“Well, I was sleeping,” Rarity said. “I was still having trouble getting any sleep at night, and I figured you wouldn’t object to me lying in for a few extra hours after what you said yesterday.”

“Me too,” Derpy chipped in. “I stayed up most of the night reading the books Fleur picked out for me.”

Pinkie looked over to Fleur.

“She was having trouble finding relevant research topics,” Fleur said shrugging. “Before I came over she was ready about botany.”

“I was in the library this morning,” Octavia stated when Pinkie looked in her direction. “I needed to compare the notes I had made last night.”

“What exactly are you researching again?” Soarin asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Time and space,” Octavia answered as casually as if she were saying what cereal she had this morning.

“Oh, and nice light topic then,” Soarin said sarcastically.

“That isn’t really important right now,” Pinkie interrupted. “What about you Fluttershy? Why were you late?”

“Me?” Fluttershy said, surprised at being put on the spot so suddenly. “I was just getting washed up, you know, showering.”

“Washed up?” Maud repeated. “But I saw you showering last night.”

“Oh, well my room was particularly stuffy last night,” Fluttershy said, not meeting Maud’s eye. “Very sweaty.”

Pinkie frowned, Fluttershy didn’t sound like she was being honest, but then she could just be nervous what with everypony looking at her and asking her questions.

“Alright, so Rarity and Derpy were sleeping in,” Pinkie wrapped up. “Fleetfoot was doing morning exercises, Octavia was researching, and Fluttershy was washing. And you were all late to breakfast and caused this mess Applejack mentioned?”

“Not me,” Octavia specified. “I never went to breakfast; I have no idea what happened.”

“Well we were all there,” Fleetfoot confirmed.

“Ah told ‘em they would have to make up their own food,” Applejack chipped in. “As ah wasn’t stickin’ about. Then not five minutes later, they managed to turn the whole place upside down.”

“Well Fluttershy and I were outside talking when this happened,” Rarity pointed out. “We only came in when we heard all the noise.”

“It was my fault,” Derpy admitted sadly. “I stumbled and fell into the stack pots that were sitting by the sink for washing.”

“There was a lot more than just a few pots knocked over,” Pinkie commented, remembering the mess her and Fleur had walked in on.

“I may have got startled by the noise and freaked out a bit,” Derpy continued, looking down at her hooves.

“Okay, so now we know who messed up the kitchen,” Rainbow said. “Maybe we should get back to the murder case now.”

“Actually we never left it,” Pinkie informed her, to the surprise of most of the ponies gathered. “Like I said, I found the syringe under the oven. It is my belief that it was hidden under there during this incident.”

“Oh, so it was one of them,” Fleur said, indicating the ponies who had just been talking. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”

“Well it wasn’t me,” Fleetfoot insisted.

“Or me,” Derpy chipped in.

“Well I certainly di…” Rarity began, only to be cut off by Pinkie.

“Alright, we get it, you’re all going to deny it,” she said deciding to skip to the end.

“So how will we figure it out then?” Maud asked.

“You know what I don’t understand,” Derpy said suddenly. “Why didn’t Cheese just use his magic to avoid being killed?”

“His magic?” Octavia asked, quirking an eyebrow at Derpy.

“Yeah his magic,” Derpy insisted, oblivious to what was wrong with this question.

“Derpy, Cheese didn’t have magic,” Shining explained. “He was an earth pony.”

“Then why was he called a witch?” Derpy asked, confused.

Pinkie’s ear twitched.

“Who calls him a witch?” Fluttershy asked.

“He did,” Derpy insisted. “He said he was Cheese the sand witch.”

“Wait, you thought his name was sand witch?” Rainbow asked, bursting into laughter. “It’s sandwich, you know, like what you eat.”

“Oh,” Derpy said in sudden realisation, before her eyes became wide in horror.

“Slipped up a little there,” Pinkie said quietly.

Everypony turned to her, to see her looking at Derpy with narrowed eyes.

“What do you…” Derpy began, her voice slightly higher than usual.

“Fleur,” Pinkie interrupted. “You said Derpy was reading about Botany. Was the book called ‘Natural Remedies and Medicinal Plants’ by any chance?”

“That… does ring a bell,” Fleur admitted.

“Then I think I know who the killer is,” Pinkie said, standing up straight.

“Derpy!”

There were a few gasps, some exclamations of surprise and confusion, and amidst it all, Derpy’s eye twitched.

“You see, Fluttershy told me something interesting about the poison Curare,” Pinkie began. “It’s found in certain animals, but also in certain plant extracts. Therefore it’s the kind of thing one would find listed in a book about natural medicines, the same book Fluttershy had already found lying out in the library before I assigned her to take inventory in the infirmary.”

“Now hang on,” Derpy said quickly. “Yeah I read that book, but so could anypony, like you said, it was just lying out.”

“And then as Derpy herself admitted,” Pinkie continued. “She was the one who caused the chaos in the kitchen, the perfect cover for discarding a vital piece of evidence. And if I’m right in thinking, Rainbow, who did you assign to search for crayons on the ground floor after I asked you?”

“Derpy,” Rainbow said quietly, sounding as if she didn’t quite believe it herself.

“And as Applejack confirmed, she was locked in the cellar shortly after I instructed the pegasi to search for crayons,” Pinkie pointed out. “Obviously the killer would want to lock up the cellar to stop us from figuring out where they made the crayons.”

“But that would mean Derpy has the key to the cellar,” Maud pointed out.

“Care to turn out your pockets?” Fleur asked coolly.

Derpy quickly glanced back at her saddlebags and mail satchel.

“Please do,” Pinkie requested. “And finally of course, the biggest clue came in the form of the party invitation. Besides giving away that Derpy mistakenly believed Cheese’s name to be sand witch, as it read on the card, she also signed my name, being one of the few ponies who was aware Cheese had approached me about throwing a party. And of course the writing…”

Pinkie held up the invitation so everypony could see the crooked letters of different sizes.

“Matches the notes Derpy was making in the textbook she was carrying when I ran into her in the entrance hall,” Pinkie concluded.

Derpy made a hoarse noise, her mouth hanging open, her eyes wide.

“I guess that also explains the wheelchair,” Fleetfoot added. “Only Derpy would be clumsy enough to steer that thing down there.”

“Well Derpy, do you have anything to say for yourself?” Octavia asked.

Derpy’s mouth closed, twisting into a grimace as if she were trying to swallow some particularly unpleasant medicine as her eyes went ballistic in their twitching. Then it exploded…

“Oh come on!” Derpy bellowed. “This is so unfair. After all the bloody effort I put into this stupid plan, I’m going to get caught out because I miss heard some guys name?!”

“So you did kill him,” Rarity said, still sounding half doubtful.

“Of course I did!” Derpy snapped. “Did you think I was really going to sit in this damn castle for months waiting while you read books?! I’m only here because I delivered that damn letter to Pinkie at the Gala, and you know why? Because I needed the overtime!”

Derpy was seething with rage, everypony was leaning back, terrified by this sudden transformation.

“And now…” Derpy’s voice faltered slightly, catching in her throat. “Now it won’t matter, all that overtime, all those extra jobs, murdering another pony, none of it’s going to matter; I’ll never see her again.”

That seemed to be the final straw for Derpy who collapsed where she stood, sobbing.

“I just wanted to go home,” she wailed. “I just wanted to see my baby girl.”

Pinkie cringed, looking away from the broken mare to her left. Nopony else spoke; all were too shocked by Derpy’s shifting emotions to be able to formulate a coherent sentence, all but Fleur it seemed.

“So that’s it?” she asked without emotion. “You wanted to see your daughter again, so much so that you were willing to kill another pony and have eleven others executed?”

“You think I didn’t know what I was doing?!” Derpy exclaimed, tears still streaming down her face. “You think I didn’t spend hours crying over it already?! If any of you had children, you’d understand. You’d do whatever it took to be with them again, no matter the cost.”

“We could have escaped,” Pinkie said, keeping her voice in check, still not looking at Derpy. “Nopony else had to die.”

“You keep saying that, but do you actually believe it?” Derpy asked, turning her angry gaze to Pinkie. “Because I didn’t, I didn’t want to wait and become another casualty while you took your sweet time trying to escape.”

“So when you said you felt focused, determined,” Pinkie continued, her voice weakening slightly. “This is what you were determined to do?”

“Yes,” Derpy answered simply.

Pinkie nodded, turning her attention to the castle, readying herself for what was to come.

“Well that was fun,” the Mastermind’s voice echoed across the courtyard, “for me at least. Now you all know what comes next.”

The dials in front of each pony lit up, indicating it was time to cast their vote. Pinkie sighed once, reaching out and turning her dial to Derpy. The ghostly image of the wall eyed Pegasus swam into view in the pool just in front of Pinkie. Fleetfoot and Fleur turned their dials without any hesitation after Pinkie had paved the way, over the next minute or two the other all gave in. Even Fluttershy relented and turned her dial, looking thoroughly miserable as she did.

Eventually all vote were cast except Derpy’s own, which the Mastermind must have presumed she wasn’t bothering with, as the images of Derpy’s face disappeared from the pools surface to be replaced with the clock hands. Pinkie watched with an almost bored expression as they began rotating, barely paying attention as they sped up and slowed down, the minute hand stopping in front of her for the briefest of moments before snapping in front of Derpy alongside the hour hand.

“Well done everypony, you correctly deduced the killer’s identity,” the Mastermind praised. “And now Derpy, for the murder of Cheese Sandwich, I sentence you to death.”

Derpy cast one final venomous glance around the other ponies, her eyes settling on Pinkie Pie just as the runes flashed and she fell into the darkness below. It was only a few seconds before the pool rippled once more, showing the image of a large cylindrical container made of glass. Derpy was currently inside it, flying desperately around, bouncing into the walls and lid like a trapped fly. Pinkie only just noticed the plastic tubes feeding into the top of the glass prison, realising what Derpy’s method of execution would be just before they began ejecting streams of water.

Derpy instinctively landed, shielding her head with her forehooves from the water pouring in over her head, steadily filling up the base of the container. Looking around herself in a wild panic, she began striking out against the glass wall. It made several dull thuds, but Pinkie knew it would never give. Derpy apparently realised it as well as the water reached up to her chest, churning around her body.

She started kicking her legs and flapping her wings in a desperate attempt to stay afloat as the water began filling out to where her head had just been. A number of times her head would dip just below the ever rising surface, each time she would give a single mighty kick, bringing her to the surface where she would take large gulps of air. The water had almost reached the top of the container, but Derpy was still valiantly kicking to remain above it.

Once she couldn’t go any higher she began hammering against the lid, scraping around the edges in desperate hope of finding a latch or something that would allow her to open it. She quickly realised she was out of hope as the water rose the final few inches, covering over her face which was pressed up against the lid, sucking in whatever last scraps of air were available before she was completely submerged.

Derpy sunk slightly, her limbs still waving wildly as she floated in the now full container. Her eyes blinked rapidly, her cheeks were blown up to hold in all her remaining air. She managed to last a good minute or two, but then her movements became more erratic, her chest swelling like it was about to burst. Eventually she couldn’t hold on anymore, and breathed out. Pinkie’s view was temporarily obscured by the jet of bubbles streaming from Derpy’s head, but they very quickly burst showing a very panicked Derpy.

Then, suddenly she gave what looked like a hiccup. Pinkie could only assume she accidently allowed a little water to enter, and once Derpy had started, she couldn’t stop. Derpy’s body began writhing once more as water flooded into her lungs through her mouth and nostrils, her legs thrashed around, but all too soon her movements began to slow, her eyelids sinking shut. After a few more seconds, the only movements Derpy displayed were a few random twitches as her limp body floated to the top of the container.

The pool rippled, and the image of Derpy’s dead body floating in her watery grave was removed. The runes around Pinkie’s hooves ceased their glowing and the banisters retreated into the ground. Pinkie stepped away from the engravings, making her way around towards the castle gate where Octavia, Fluttershy and Fleur were already walking towards, the rest not quite finding the strength in their legs yet.

Fluttershy walked swiftly ahead, not waiting for Pinkie to catch up with her, leaving Pinkie to walk alongside Octavia.

“So,” Pinkie said as they walked up the main staircase. “Time and space?”

Octavia looked over at Pinkie, a sly smile on her face.

“Find me tomorrow,” she instructed. “I’ll tell you all about it.”

Author's Notes:

Chapter 2, complete.
So, who was right? That is the question.
Firstly we have ClickClackTheBrony, to nobody's surprise by this point, but we also have shout outs for BrutaVinci and WachownMan who both correctly identified the killer. Well done to the three of you and better luck next time to the rest.
I hope you're all enjoying it, the first part of Chapter 3 will be uploaded on Tuesday or Wednesday.