1 – the author does not own or have any claims over MLP: Friendship is Magic, its elements or characters.

2 – Tale for entertainment purpose only,

3 – Please enjoy. Getting closer now, your opinion is more valuable than ever.

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Twilight looked at the young pony for long minutes, waiting for him to speak. Twice he opened his mouth, seemed to forget what he was about to say, closed it.

"I really liked your tips about levitation, Twilight."

"Thank you, Snails. Now, about Trixie…"

"That's right, Trixie."

Another long seconds of silence.

"Well?"

"I was massaging her shoulders, Snips was tending for her mane. He is very good at that, you know."

Twilight just nodded, wishing Snips keep going, instead of starting to talk about his friend.

"She was talking about how she deserved that good life. Snips leaved the room to sharpen his scissor."

Twilight nodded again. Here it comes.

"Eeeh, because he is really good with manes, you know?"

"And… and?"

"… and I kept massaging."

Twilight needed every ounce of patience and control to keep smiling. Discord helped some, appearing dressed as a doctor, turned on a flashlight on one of Snails ear, and the light came off on the other one.

"She said 'and to think this could end up with that crook stallion'."

After another long silence, Snails decided to end the story himself.

"And she kept talking about the good life. Oh. Aaaannnd"

"Yes?"

"And Snips returned."

"Right. Right." Twilight took a deep breath. "It's a strange expression for her to use. Are you sure she said 'crook stallion'?"

He blinked twice.

"I think so."

"Is that all?"

"Oh… she also said…"

"Yes?"

"She did not like wheels."

Twilight sighed.

After a while, she managed to get rid of Snails, and turn to her crime analysis.

"Let's say Snails is right."

The draconequus made a choral of Discords appear, and all sang "Snails is right" Twilight dismissed the antic with one hoof.

"If we take the mares out of the list, we will end up with only Sugar Skull… and Zephyr Breeze, according to Rainbow's latest parchment."

She looked at the two names, thinking.

"I would not describe anyone as a 'crook'. What am I overlooking?"

"Her father would fit the description better."

"He did not know about Trixie."

"He is a performer, dear Twilight."

Discord was behind a magician table, performing cups and balls. He turned a cup, empty, turned another, to reveal Spike was somehow, under it. "Lying is part of his act."

"Let's imagine…"

Twilight saw herself and Discord on a bed, both with long hair, he wearing very round glasses.

"Assume, I will assume he is a suspect. How would he know about Trixie?"

"You said she was trying to make amends with everyone. What if she contacted him?"

Twilight thought a while.

"Possible. But they waited her whole life to meet. Why rush things going to Mareami?"

Discord appeared behind a game show table, the visor in front of him marking "1 million bits."

"Why, Twilight, because… I don't know."

The visor turned to zero, as canned 'booos' were heard.

She thought a bit.

"At any rate, I think we could take another look at him. In fact, let's solve two problems at once. Spike."

The dragon was looking at the metal cup, wondering how he ended up inside it.

"Huh? Yes, Twilight?"

"Pack my things. We are going to Canterlot. We will face Luna and ask her to probe into Jack Pot's dreams. And ask the girls to meet me there."

Canterlot Castle. Luna's tower.

It took a lot of convincing for Discord and Spike allow her to face the Princess of the Night alone. Twilight watched respectfully as she raised the moon.

"You don't know what corruption is, Twilight Sparkle."

"Princess Luna?"

"Discord corrupted all your friends. Greed corrupted your friend Spike. Vengeance consumed Trixie Lulamoon. And, of course…"

She made her eyes glow and assumed the Canterlot voice

"I myself am not alien to the subject, am I?"

"N-no, princess."

"But you are pure. Not even the Spirit of chaos could break you."

"You are wrong, Luna. I… was corrupted once. By an excess of sense of responsibility, I went through a temporary insanity that…

"Ah, the enchanted Doll."

"Precisely."

Luna looked deeply into the moon.

"Are our corruptions comparable?"

"I felt to lesser emotions, nevertheless. I am not immune."

"Look down there, Twilight Sparkle."

She approached the balcony and saw the ponies of Canterlot, some cheering on restaurants, some going to bed.

"Do you think anyone there is immune to such a fall?"

"I don't think so."

"Then I stand corrected. You know what this evil is."

"I do."

"And you know no one is immune to it."

"Yes."

"Then you know my actions are justifiable."

"I don't follow, Princess Luna."

"Celestia. My sister can fall, too. And would you, Twilight Sparkle, raise the Elements of Harmony against your mentor?"

"I…"

"Turn her into stone? Sent her to the sun?"

Twilight looked away

"I… would do the best for Equestria"

"Your hesitation is the answer I needed. That's why the Amulet must stay in my power, Twilight Sparkle. I can't risk having an Equestria under Evil Celestia and no Elements to defeat her."

Twilight Sparkle remained silent for a while.

"Should I fall to Nightmare Moon again, Celestia has Cadence. The elements. Balance of powers is needed, Twilight Sparkle. Verily, this is one of the reasons for Discord's Freedom. The Spirit of Chaos can help defeat bigger evils."

"I am not sure. I think power should be shared based in companionship and friendship, not mutual distrust. That's how we reformed Discord, and overcame many hardships."

Luna smiled.

"Are you firmly behind such hypothesis?"

"Otherwise I would not be here."

"Then you may be closer to find your purpose than you think, Twilight Sparkle. But let's talk about other matters of equal importance. You came to ask me about Trixie."

"Well, yes. I imagine the Night Guard brought you many suspects. Do you cleared them?"

"I try and not abuse the trust of my little ponies on their princess of dreams."

"You probed me."

"Alas, I did. But its not a matter of personal pride."

They stood there, looking at the ponies going here and there about their lives.

"Two. I asked two about the murder on their sleep. Neither close to be the culprit."

"Would you mind looking at another one?"

"I hereby coin another law, 'thou shall not abuse your princesshood'."

Twilight blushed

"Directed to myself, Twilight Sparkle. Do not worry. Well, who is that pony?"

"It's an unicorn, working at Las Pegasus. His name is Jack Pot."

"An entertainer? If so, this kind goes to sleep after midnight. Come back later."

But Jack Pot only got some shut-eye after one in the morning.

That resulted on a grumpy Twilight by the morning.

"Morning, Twilight." Said Spike, pointing to a tray full of fruits and flowers "The chef brought your breakfast half hour ago, I hope you don't mind I helped myself to some…"

"Coffee, Spike, and keep it coming." He obliged.

"So, how's things with Luna?"

Twilight took the dark liquid on a sip

"Jack Pot is innocent. He was telling the truth, he never met Trixie, and Luna and I strength his idea of meeting Spectacle, to make amends with her."

"Good"

She wolfed another half cup of coffee, and started to rub he temple with a hoof.

"But, Spike, I still don't have any good suspect. Crook stallion… crook stallion…"

Her thought was interrupted by Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, flying through the window. The blue Pegasus did not waste time, going straight for the food tray.

"Oh, awesome. Royal grub."

Twilight sighed and took another sip of her coffee.

"So, Rainbow, what do you discovered?"

"After I told you about Zephyr? Not much. I got a train to Canterlot and here I am."

Fluttershy studied her hooves.

"I found… not much. They were very busy in the castle annex, everypony was moving boxes and papers around… I did not want to bother. But you can talk with that castle employee now. He is back."

"Really? Was he in vacation?"

"No… not… quite… seems that the administration building was being reformed, so all the employees took the documents and everything and went to work elsewhere. They returned today."

"What do you mean? Elsewhere in Canterlot? Another city?" Twilight heart skipped a beat, her head quickly trying to join the pieces of information.

Rainbow Dash stopped worrying about her stomach.

"Wow, how can royalty get these mangos at this time of the year? They're fantastic, Twi, have one. About the pencil pushers, you would never have guessed, they were at the old equestrian fort near Mareami. I could have talked with him there."

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were startled by Twilight dropping her coffee mug.

"Luna and Celestia! I know who killed Trixie!"

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Ta-daaaaa, wait for the next chapter

OK, answer time for the transformations of Discord at Chapter 15, One-sided Romance Atempt. Apart from Sherlock, there's:

1) Hercule Poirot, by Agatha Christie

2) Nero Wolfe, by Rex Stout

3) Miss Mapple, by Agatha Christie

4) Robert Langdom, by Dan Brown

5) Kinsey Millhone, by Sue Grifton

Who did you got right?

See you folks soon