「MMMM」: Pinkie's Story /// Chapter V: Guilty Until Innocent

Previously, on The 「Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness」: Pinkie's Story...
https://pastebin.com/A8VgHF2w

"I've cracked it, Twilight. You might not believe me, but I KNOW just who it is to blame for the grief I'm experiencing."
>Twilight groans, although she gawks at the staunchness you're showing
>"Yeah? And just who would that me, Ms. I'm-the-detective?"
>With a sudden rise in anger, you point at Applejack with 「PPP」's presence looming near
"Applejack, I TOLD you not to even consider touching that cake!"

-----

>You are Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter
>And it fills you with great pleasure to finally find a plausible lead to the pony that devoured almost half of the 「MMMM」
>You're saddened that it was one of your friends, but hey, it's about the Cakes' cake and not you
>Or at least that's what you tell yourself
>Applejack's face is drained of color as you accuse her of the horrible deed
>"Me? The one that ate your cake? Pinkie, Ah might have had my eyes on it since Ah walked in here, but Ah'm not that greedy!"
"Say that to my face! Anyone could tell that you're a prime culprit for destroying the 「MMMM」! Couldn't keep your filthy hooves off my 「MMMM」, eh?"
>Intervening, Twilight steps in front of Applejack with a bewildered expression
>"Now you're just accusing people for no good reason! Take a deep breath and tell me with complete seriousness that you think it was her!"
>You take a deep breath
"It was her. And unlike before, I actually have some evidence to support it!"
>"I sincerely doubt that. Motives and stories don't have a place when it comes to investigations!"
"Hear me out, Twilight. 'cause if I know one thing, it's that I'm onto something!"
>Twily sighs, nodding her head as she begins to prepare herself for your great story
>You can just tell that she's going to be amazed with your groundbreaking hypothesis
>"Fine. Go ahead and tell me how Applejack could have committed the crime."

>You are Applejack (Pinkie Edition), the Element of Honesty
>And you're going to be completely honest here, that cake Pinkie had back there looked delicious
>You didn't understand half the mumbo jumbo that came outta her mouth back there, but you can simplify it to "This is best cake of all time, Celestia be damned"
>Of course, you need to find a way to get the cake without Pinkie seeing you
>You have just the thing to get a bite quickly
"「Bad Apple!!」."
>The curtains unravel and coat the room in darkness, allowing you to sneak a bite of the cake
>SQUELCH
>Whoops, you should have watched your hooves, now there's cake on them
>Oh, well, it's not that bad, you get messier whenever you work at the barn
>Rushing to the door, you feel giddy inside from what you taste
>Mangoes, marzipan, enough sugar to keep you up for a week or two... It's enough to make a mare go—
>"「Triple P」!"
>What in tarnation
>Pinkie jumps on top of you, wrangling your neck to get you down
>You squeal, being so close to be discovered and outed to your friends
"Get offa' me, you brute!"
>Pinkie retches and jumps away, and you take the opportunity to run back to your room
>You're never going to do this again, that much is for certain

>You're back to Pinkie
>And even you have to admit that was kind of flawed
>What are the chances of Applejack having a special ability like you? Didn't you think before that it wasn't Applejack?
>Regardless, you think that there's a large chance that it was her, and you'll exchange no mercy due to the crimes against your baking
>Twilight, however, completely disagrees
>"You're kidding me. How can you possibly think Applejack's to blame with a story like that? There's no cake stains on the floor at all!"
>Applejack clears her throat, nudging Twilight to whisper something to her
>"Maybe she's gone a bit cuckoo from the disappointment of the cake bein' eaten? Ah don't know nothin' about bad apples."
"That's what you say, Applejack! You said so yourself that you had your eyes on it! You're guilty until proven innocent!"
>"This has gone far enough, Pinkie! Just calm down and think this through!"
>Twilight levitates you with magic before you yell out more accusations, taking you into her sleeping cabin
>Closing the door, she takes a deep breath before glaring at you
>"Pinkie, I don't know what you think about this, but this is serious. I've read some mystery novels, and all of them absolutely did NOT involve the assistant accusing people at random! Take this like someone... stole your baking supplies!"
>Gasping, you nod quickly to show complete understanding (despite not listening to Twilight at all)
>"Good, now let's get back there and find the culprit. It's not Applejack."

"It's most definitely Applejack!"
>"PINKIE! I told you to take this SERIOUSLY!"
>Laughing, you look around the room to see if anyone agrees with you
>By the looks on their faces, they most certainly agree with Twilight instead of you, which is a slight blow to your pride
"What? I'm sure she's a 「Bad Apple!!」! If not, then who else could it be?"
>Silence
>Maybe they were so astounded by your logic that they were rendered speechless?
>Either way, you need to say something before the awkwardness gets too much to handle
>You're going to have to shelve Applejack as a suspect for now, but you believe she might have played a part in this
"Alright, fine. I understand. Applejack's the most honest pony around, so why would she lie and say she didn't do the thing?"
>A glare towards her soon follows, but you continue your speech anyway
"Clearly, the suspect must be someone no one could have possibly expected... But for ME, PINKIE, they were so obvious it's not even funny!"
>Pulling out the hat and the pipe you were going to use earlier, you adorn them and stride towards a certain donut pony
"So your ego finally caught up to bite you, huh, Joe? I knew you weren't to be trusted!"
>Joe coughs, uncomfortable with just how close you are to him
>A fellow stallion with a special ability has every right to be uncomfortable after the stunt he pulled yesterday
>Of course, Twilight objects to your accusation with cynicism
>"And how was it him? He might be a bit quick to gloat, but he's certainly not that bad! Right?"
"That's what he wants you to think, Twilight. Take it from me, he's not to be trusted..."

>You are Pony Joe (Pinkie Edition), and you're stylishly posing for the movie intro starring you in it
>You have a feeling that "Donuts Are Forever" is going to be a smash hit, particularly with your spy role in it
>Your activities as the spy "Con Mane" really helped you get into character, and for that, you're thankful
>You've been given a new mission from the stallions at MI6, and that is to dispose of a cake made by two people
>Carrot Cake, and Cup Cake
>On the way to Canterlot, you've had to take up a pseudonym in order to blend in with the other bakers
>"Pony Joe" is your new name, and with the special ability you have, there's no conceivable way you can fail this mission
>After having a milkshake with two lovely mares, you set off to begin the objective
>Crafting 「Donutopia」 was no easy feat, but the end result is your 「Pride and Joy」
>Now, to get onto the train without any troubles or suspicion
"Oi, Pinko. What the fudge did you just say about my food?"
>Scratch that, you messed up
>You're going to have to fight this mare... HEAD ON
>Wait shit
>Never mind
>You didn't, you actually fucked up and the pink one managed to get the upper hoof on you
>You're not sure how you did it, but you managed to get back to your sleeping cabin with Pinkie none the wiser
>You're going to have to think this through, or you can kiss your job goodbye
>Just how can you destroy the cake without any problems?

>It's night time, and you, Pony Joe, are right outside the door to the cake
>You're grateful that everyone else has gone to bed, or else you'd be good as gone
>Using spy technology, you cut a hole through the glass and chuck a smoke bomb to distract Pinkie
>"Huh? What's this? Ew, that smells disgusting!"
>THUMP
>Did you say "distract"? You meant "knock out"
>The lads really outdo themselves with the gadgets nowadays, it's completely insane
>What is also insane is the gadget you're going to use next
>Straightening the bow on your suit, it releases a gas into the air, surrounding the cake entirely
>This isn't just your normal kind of gas, as a matter of fact
>Through some sort of science, it makes the light reflected off of Luna's Moon visible, and amplifies it so it can cut anything if reflected off a mirror
>You were afraid you'd need to use 「Pride and Joy」 for this, but apparently not
>Either way, that's a massive load off your back
>Grabbing a handy mirror given to you by a Con Girl you met way back when, you reflect the light onto the cake and cut it into perfect precious pieces
>The two mares from earlier come out of nowhere, but it doesn't affect you at all
>Such is life as a dangerous spy
>"Donuts Are Forever" is appearing in theatres soon, by the by. Check it out if you can!

"...And that's the thing! Not only did he fight me yesterday, this is a marketing ploy to make us want to buy his story! He reduced the Cakes' Cake to a publicity stunt! I'm not gonna forgive you for this, 'Donut Joe'!"
>Twilight notices the fire in your eyes, and decides to quell your anger before you act out of anger
>"Get a hold of yourself, Pinkie! Pony Joe's not a spy, and I'm very sure he's just a normal pony that isn't a spy at all! There's no laser system! There's no sudden mares that come out of nowhere!"
>Growling, you look at Twilight, then back at the pony you're accusing
>There's something about him that sets you off, even with the spy plot or nothing
>That fight you had when you both started still confuses you, mainly because of two factors
>That chocolate moose and him being at the sleeping cabin when you finished fighting just doesn't make sense
>He's hiding something, and you know it, but something still doesn't seem right
>"Yeah, Pinko, I'm not THAT interesting. Are you still mad over the scuffle we had yesterday?"
"Yes, Joe, I am. You think you're so clever, but I'm going to find out what you're hiding soon enough!"
>Sighing, you turn around and look spitefully at the desserts that haven't been ravaged by the mysterious figure
>「Donutopia」 still looks as good as it did yesterday
>The 「Exquisite Éclairs」 still look mouthwatering
>And lastly, the 「Chocolate Mousse Moose」 is—
>Hold on a second
>Something about its eyes look off
>You could have sworn its pupils moved to meet yours, but it could be a trick of the eyes

>"Pinkie? Are you alright?"
"Yeah, Twilight, I'm doing really fine. I'm just inspecting the crime scene for evidence to support my theories!"
>Truth be told, you're busy inspecting the 「Chocolate Mousse Moose」 to search out every possible detail you can
>You poke it, and it wobbles around
>But what if it's naturally like this when it forms back to its natural state? You might be a party gal, but you ain't stupid
>You must know what this truly is, and the only way to do so is through Pony Joe
>But how can you do it while everyone else is around? It's barely nine in the morning, and it's a matter of time before you all reach Canterlot
>In the meantime, you look back to Twilight in confusion
"I believe that the culprit is a tough one to catch. So many diversion tactics, so many factors to come into play... 真逆! I think I've got it!"
>"What was that?"
>「PPP」, ever so helpful, takes care of the words for you
"What I'm trying to say is that the culprit is Mulia Mild—"
>Mulia shivers, and Twilight groans, turning around and beginning to walk towards the door
>"If this is another one of your loosely-strung theories, I'm not going to hear it."
"Now hold on there, Twilight!"
>Walking behind the moose (and to everyone's surprise, particularly Applejack and Donut Joe), you appear right behind the door Twilight was about to open
>"Uh-uh! I'm not hearing it this time. We're all going to have a twenty minute break and then we can get back to investigating. I'm having a headache."

>The rest of the room agrees, going back to their respective cabins to clear their heads
>Leaving you and the moose in a room together
>You head to the door, intending to apologize to Twilight, right before you hear something creak
>You figure it's you, but you turn around, and your blood runs cold
>Mulia's 「Chocolate Mousse Moose」 isn't there anymore

><==To=Be=Continued====