Dear Twilight Sparkle,

It is our my sincerest hopes that this letter reaches you in good time. Truth be told, to this day I remain oblivious to certain aspects of the modern age, particularly the reliability of this system I commonly hear referred to as the mail. A thousand years ago when we wished to have the written word reach desired eyes, we used private pegasus couriers, but now sister dearest informs me that letters must be transported in batch to Cloudsdale where they are sorted and divided, before being sent to other locations all over Equestria before they can at last be delivered to their intended recipient. Celestia assured me this system is fast and efficient, and while I trust her judgement I fail to see the innovation in this.

I digress however. I write to you bearing a request for a friendly meeting. I am sure you are familiar with the Arcane Manor, West of Galloping Gorge, once home to the famous magician Orchid the Omnipotent. It has been under the ownership of the crown for over a century, and I recently felt inclined to walk its halls. Upon my visit however I encountered some… peculiarities. I am hesitant to specify exactly what it is I have discovered here, but I believe that if it is indeed what I think it is, then you, as a fellow scholar will most certainly wish to be here with me to conduct a thorough investigation into it. I would have brought this up with Celestia, but it would appear since my banishment she has become too embroiled in managing the kingdom to delve into the mysteries of magic like we used to. It is a shame, but I understand and respect her professionalism. Instead I would extend the invitation to you, to come and join me in exploring the possible secrets held by this place, and perhaps strengthen our ever growing friendship along the way.

If the postal service can indeed live up to its claim of a ‘one day delivery’, then you should be reading this letter on Friday evening. If that is right and you are interested in meeting, then I would appreciate it greatly if you could travel out here post-haste. I have enclosed the necessary funds to hire a carriage from Ponyville to Galloping Gorge, where it is only a short walk to the manor. I hope that you accept my offer and I shall see you come Saturday evening.

P.S. I would also be interested in meeting your friend Pinkie Pie also. I have not had the opportunity to interact with her since that all too memorable Nightmare Night over a year ago, and I’d like to be able to change what I believe was a poor start to a relationship. If you could extend this invitation to her also, I would be most appreciative.

“Is there something wrong?” came the all too chipper voice of Pinkie Pie, pulling Twilight from her reverie.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” she responded wistfully, not meeting her friend’s eye, instead her eyes remaining unfocused on the letter grasped before her in her pink aura. Pinkie Pie blew a loud raspberry, obviously not buying Twilight’s poor excuse for a lie of reassurance.

“Oh Twilight, you’ve been reading that letter since we got off the cart,” Pinkie informed her, “something’s clearly bothering you, and nothing spoils a good vacation more than a mopey friend.”

“Well…” Twilight began, trying to choose her words carefully, trying to ignore the overly inquisitive stare of her friend mere inches from her face. “Does it strike you as weird that Princess Luna would invite us both out here for research purposes?”

Twilight gestured a forehoof in front of them, inviting both their eyes to sweep over the view in front of them. The Arcane Manor was a true architectural masterpiece, even Pinkie could appreciate that, with its sprawling gardens, ornate walls and intricate sculptures.

And that was to say nothing of its size; the manor house itself was an immense structure dominating over the landscape, with four floors visible from the outside just because of the layout of the windows. If Pinkie had to guess, having little to no concept of measurements, she’d say it must be a thousand acres. Twilight on the other hoof knew for a fact it was in fact roughly seventy acres, grounds and all.

“And why did she really feel the need to send this letter through the mail?” Twilight continued, drawing Pinkie’s attention back to the letter by brandishing it in her face.

“Oh Twilight, you worry too much,” Pinkie said with a little giggle, Twilight wondered briefly if she even meant to do it or if laughing was just a reflex for her. “She probably just didn’t want to be a bother to Spike by sending through him since she doesn’t know him very well.”

“That’s…” Twilight began raising her hoof, only to have her rebuttal die in her throat, “is actually a reasonable thought.”

“What I tell yah!” Pinkie exclaimed, apparently bored of waiting and starting to bounce her way down the gravel path leading up to the gates of the manor grounds. “There’s nothing to worry about!” She called back over her shoulder, “now come on, last one to the gate is baked bad!”

Twilight’s mouth twitched as she tried to suppress the grin that was fighting to make its way onto her face. Instead she just shook her head half exasperatedly, shoving the letter into her saddle bags and trotting to catch up with her bubbly pink friend. Pinkie threw another glance over her shoulder at Twilight trying to catch up, clearly misinterpreting this as a serious attempt to meet her challenge, Pinkie picked up the pace, becoming nothing more than a pink blur dashing across the path. Twilight sighed in annoyance, but didn’t realise that she had also running faster. It was only when she and Pinkie were galloping neck and neck and she finally allowed herself to break out into a wide smile, throwing herself utterly into the game.

“Careful Twilight!” Pinkie shouted over her panting breath, a sly grin on her face, “we wouldn’t want you to chip your page-turning hoof!”

Twilight let out a bark of laughter, knowing full well it was a joke. “Coming from you? The closest you’ve come to running a race is sitting in a balloon!”

“Tough words coming from somepony who’s…” Pinkie called back suddenly breaking into a sprint and leaving Twilight behind. “Eating my dust!”

“Oh no you don’t!” Twilight exclaimed, more to herself, spreading her wings. Pinkie looked back one last time as she neared the wrought iron gate, only to see a ball of lavender fur and feathers rush past her, skidding sharply to a halt in front of the gates. Pinkie trotted to a halt a couple meters from Twilight who was now dancing on the spot, either out of a sense of victory or because her landing had set her hooves on fire, she wasn’t quite sure. “Champion! Ouch!” Twilight sang out, “I am the, Ack! Champion!”

Pinkie couldn’t hold it in any longer; she burst into a raucous fit of laughter, collapsing to ground where she continued to roll in hysterics. Only then did Twilight seem to catch on how silly she must have looked and ceased her victory chant, her face bright pink. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” Twilight said in her best attempt at a neutral voice, although the slight cracking gave away she too was at risk of cracking up.

Pinkie sat bolt upright upon hearing this, springing to her hooves and walking purposely over to Twilight, whose face was now trembling with barely contained laughter. “Yeah I suppose you’re right,” Pinkie said in a mock wistful tone, punctuating her sentence with an exaggerated sigh. “Maybe I’m just being immature…”

“Quite right,” Twilight said curtly trying not to look at Pinkie, knowing she was up to something.

“After all, there’s nothing funny in the slightest about singing… Champion!” Pinkie exclaimed, while breaking into a parody of Twilight’s own ridiculous dancing. “I am the champion!”

That was the tipping point for Twilight, who ended up doubled over with tears of laughter in her eyes as Pinkie’s impersonation went on. Pinkie quickly stopped her act and returned to laughing alongside Twilight. How long did they stay there laughing? Neither of them were really sure, it could have been seconds… minutes… maybe even hours. But when they did at last stop, Twilight looked Pinkie straight in the eye, still smiling brightly and said, “Never change Pinkie.”

Pinkie smiled back, her eyes shimmering, but she didn’t respond, she didn’t need to. Together they turned to face the gate and the manor beyond, Twilight summoning her magic to swing them open before them.

“Let’s go,” Twilight said, her and Pinkie stepping forward onto the grounds…

That’s when they both felt as if their hearts stopped dead in their chests. Blood pounding in their skulls, the air squeezed from their lungs, their legs weak, collapsing beneath them. They looked to each other, their mouths opening, trying desperately to say something to one another, but to no avail. As they felt themselves slipping out of consciousness, they could distinctly hear, as if from very far away, the sound of the gates closing behind them.

“I think they’re coming around…”

“If they got a princess… oh god… oh god”

“There has to be a way out of here…”

“Oh god…”

“Get a hold of yourself…”

“Somepony help me…”

“Wake up you two!”

Twilight and Pinkie’s eyes snapped open simultaneously upon hearing the shout. Doing so immediately felt like a mistake as their vision began shifting dangerously giving them the distinct feeling that they were about to pass out again. It didn’t last however and after a few painful seconds, their surroundings began to swim into focus. They found themselves looking at each other across a table; each sitting slumped on a posh dining chair. Casting their gaze around the long room they found themselves in, they noticed a number of ponies around them. Some sitting in their own seats around the long dining table, other ambling about examining their surroundings. The room itself had a high vaulted ceiling, with a crystal chandelier flooding the room with light. The floor was comprised entirely of checked marble, and the walls made of wooden panelling. Twilight would bet any sum of bits the room they were in was one inside the Arcane Manor.

“Hrmph!” exclaimed the same voice that had just shouted them awake. Pinkie’s eyes widened in surprise, and Twilight spun around in her seat, coming face to face with the figure. Some ponies you could see day in, day out, and still forget their face, other could leave a mark after a single meeting. This pony was certainly one Twilight wouldn’t be able to forget in a hurry, the azure coat, the aquamarine mane were identifiers enough without the star adorned hat and cape.

“Trixie!” Twilight exclaimed, rising unsteadily to her hooves. “What are you doing here?”

“Trixie wishes to know the same thing,” she responded in her usual condescending voice. It was too much to hope her apparent change following their last meeting would be permanent it seemed. “Trixie was summoned here under the pretence of obtaining ancient spell books. However it would appear ‘spell books’ meant drugging Trixie and locking her in a room with these imbeciles.”

Trixie was gesturing to the rest of the ponies gathered in the room, few of which were actually paying attention to what Trixie was saying to be offended by it. But Twilight too had stopped listening, as the memories of what happened just before she passed out came flooding back to her. She spun around to face Pinkie, whose eyes were also wide with the apparent realisation of their situation.

“So wait, you were knocked out as well?” Twilight asked, turning back to Trixie. Trixie rolled her eyes like she was dealing with someone else’s foal.

“That is what Trixie said, yes,” She snapped back irritably. “From what Trixie has gathered we were all lured here under some pretence or another, knocked out and awoken in this room.”

It was only now as Pinkie joined her, that they properly examined who all was in the room with them. Surprisingly, there were quite a few they recognised. Standing next to the door, occasionally giving it a small push were Applejack’s cousin Braeburn, alongside Soarin the Wonderbolt. At the end of the room, examining what appeared to be a large blacked out monitor mounted on the wall was the Pegasus they vaguely recognised from the time they visited Rainbow Dash at the Wonderbolt Academy. From what they could remember, Rainbow had some fight with her over her reckless behaviour and she ended up expelled from the academy.

Next to her was a scrawny Earth Pony stallion they recognised from Ponyville wearing thick rimmed glasses and large bow tie, neither of which helped him look less like a nerd. There was another pony there, but they were obscured from view by the other two. At the table itself, another handful of ponies sat scattered about. They noticed the timid fashion designer Rarity had helped in Manehattan, as well as the writer Trenderhoof who despite their circumstances was talking animatedly with her, she on the other hoof was shrinking noticeably under his gaze.

There was also Doughnut Joe who was standing awkwardly behind a chair as if wondering whether he should sit down or not, Nurse Redheart who looked to be massaging a headache, Cloudchaser who was chatting quite casually with Fleur Dis Lee, the famous model from Canterlot.

“Don’t forget him,” Trixie whispered uncharacteristically, tilting her head subtly behind them. Twilight and Pinkie both turned slightly so they could see who she was referring to. Everypony in the room seemed to have gravitated towards the end with the monitor, everypony but one, who was sitting on his own at the opposite end of the room, watching the rest with undisguised contempt.

“I see Blueblood is still as pleasant as ever,” Twilight said icily, turning her attention away from the ‘prince’.

“How long were we out?” Twilight asked.

“Trixie is unsure,” she responded hesitantly, “Trixie believes we all began waking up around the same time, and that nurse was only awake a few minutes before you two.” Twilight nodded, seemingly lost in thought. “If that is all, Trixie is going to see if she can blast the door down.” With that surprisingly casual statement she walked away, leaving Twilight and Pinkie standing alone.

“I’m sorry,” Pinkie said quietly out of the blue, causing Twilight to look up in surprise. “I guess you were right about that letter being suspicious.” Pinkie attempted to give a weak smile which ended up looking more like a grimace.

“Don’t worry Pinkie,” Twilight tried to assure her, “There’s nothing stopping us from just teleporting out of here.”

“Oh yeah!” Pinkie exclaimed, brightening up instantly. She shuffled over, pressing up against Twilight, inviting her to cast the spell. Twilight shut her eyes and focused all of her energy to her horn, while picturing the manor gates where they had shared their laugh. Once she was satisfied she had drawn on enough magic to transport them, she allowed herself to release it… Only to fall to the ground, screaming in agony.

“Twilight!” Pinkie screamed in horror, collapsing next to her and grasping her in her forehooves. All the ponies in the room stopped what they were doing when they heard the scream, and were now looking at them with fear and confusion, some like Soarin and Nurse Redheart rushing forward to try and help. The screams quickly ceased however, replaced by heavy laboured pants.

“What happened?” Redheart asked, trying her best at remaining calm while kneeling down to examine Twilight.

“I… I don’t know,” Pinkie stammered, “she tried to teleport out of this room and then…”

“Magic overload perhaps,” Redheart suggested examining Twilight’s horn while tentatively touching it with the tip of her hoof.

“No…” Twilight managed through her pained breathing, “something… powerful is blocking my magic… directed my magic output inwards instead.”

Redheart flinched, apparently understanding the implications of what Twilight had said. “Pinkie, help me get her into a chair,” she ordered. Pinkie obeyed without hesitation, pushing her head under one of Twilight’s forehooves and lifting her up gently. Together with Redheart they returned Twilight to the seat where she had woken up on placed her down, trying their best to ensure she was comfortable.

“Will she be alright?” Pinkie asked, struggling to keep her fear in check.

“I think so,” Redheart assured her sincerely, “as an Alicorn she shouldn’t be affected nearly as bad as your run of the mill unicorn.” Pinkie nodded appreciatively, turning to leave Redheart to her examination, and ended up walking headfirst into another pony.

“Sorry, my bad,” Pinkie said, massaging her head where they had collided.

“No worries Pinkie Pie, you know for an Earth Pony you always did have your head in the clouds.”

Pinkie stopped rubbing her forehead. She knew that voice. Opening her eyes she looked up, greeted by the familiar sapphire mane, pearly white coat and purple shades.

“Maybe you were a Pegasus in a previous life,” Vinyl Scratch continued, still in her usual upbeat tone despite their circumstances.

“Vinyl!” Pinkie exclaimed, a genuine smile forming on her face, rushing forward to embrace the unicorn. “How did I not see you before?” she asked, her eyes navigating around the room looking for an explanation. She quickly found one when she saw the monitor at the end of the room, the pony that had been obscured from their vision previously now gone from there entirely.

“I’m like a ninja,” Vinyl said, politely pushing the overly attached pony off her. “How’s your friend?” She then asked in a more serious voice. Pinkie stopped smiling instantly, turning to look at Twilight, only to be greeted by Nurse Redheart again who was smiling warmly.

“She’ll be okay,” she assured them, “nothing that could keep the princess of magic down for long.”

Pinkie grinned again, moving past Redheart back to Twilight, Vinyl following her closely. Twilight did indeed look a lot better, she still looked very woozy, but she didn’t appear to be in any pain.

“I guess whoever put us here, doesn’t want us getting out that easily,” Twilight said weakly as Pinkie approached.

“I know what you mean,” Vinyl chipped in, “that door hasn’t budged an inch no matter what we’ve thrown at it, and that includes that Braeburn guy.”

Twilight looked over at Vinyl, surprised by her sudden appearance. Pinkie took note of this, quickly cutting in, “Twilight, you remember Vinyl Scratch don’t you? She lives in Ponyville; she does the music for a lot of my parties.”

“Oh yeah,” Twilight responded, still not entirely sure, “I’ve seen her around, I think.”

“I move around Equestria a lot for work, so it’s not surprising if you haven’t seen me out and about,” Vinyl explained.

“No wait,” Twilight began, suddenly remembering, “You were the DJ at my brother’s wedding reception.”

“Yeah I was,” Vinyl said, sounding glad at the recognition, “that was one of the best gigs I ever did, really got my name out…”

“Well that’s boring!” A voice said, causing every pony in the room to fall silent. For the voice had not come from any of them, rather it seemed to echo all around the room. It didn’t even sound natural, neither masculine nor feminine, rather complete distortion in barely distinguishable audio form. It was then followed by a low crackling noise as the monitor flashed into life, the plain black screen now replaced with a sea of greyscale noise.

“I had hoped your first meeting would be a little more dramatic,” the voice continued, now apparently coming from the monitor itself. “Alas, beggars can’t be choosers and all that.”

“Hey buddy!” the cerulean Pegasus shouted out, having fallen to the floor out of shock when the screen came to life. “Who the hay do you think you are? Locking us in this room!”

“Who am I?” The voice repeated, sounding almost amused. “I… am the Mastermind.”

“The Mastermind?” Trixie repeated, giving a little snort of laughter, “someone’s a little full of themselves.” She didn’t seem to notice the looks everypony gave her.

“Say what you will,” the Mastermind continued, seemingly undeterred, “But I’m sure that if we are to live peacefully alongside one another, we will need to show one another some respect.”

That comment wiped the smirk from Trixie’s face, leading to an outbreak of low muttering between everypony in the room. Twilight and Pinkie simply shared a nervous glance, but didn’t say anything.

“Excuse me,” a quiet voice piped up. Everyone looked around trying to figure out where it came from, not realising it came from the little Earth Pony with the ice blue hair until she spoke up once more. “But what exactly do you mean, live alongside one another?”

“Why… that is the very reason I brought you all together here,” the Mastermind replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “So that we could all live together in this mansion… forever.”

That received an outraged response from almost every pony gathered; even Blueblood rose to his hooves and shouted out against this. “Are you really so dim-witted to believe you can keep me locked up in here for a week let alone forever? As soon as my auntie sees that I am missing, the entire Royal Guard will be searching all of Equestria for me! They will storm this place and you will pay for your lack of respect!”

The voice didn’t respond right away, instead breaking out into a fit of maniacal laughter. “Oh Blueblood, still as naïve as ever it seems,” it replied at last, causing Blueblood’s cheeks to glow bright red. “The guard can come search this mansion all they want, they will find it completely empty.”

“But… but what about our homes?” Braeburn suggested desperately, “our families will miss us, do they mean nothin’ to you?”

“Yes,” the Mastermind replied simply, “they mean nothing to me.” The room once more broke out into a panicked frenzy of discussion. “Oh come now,” the Mastermind said over the noise, effectively silencing them all, “here you will have everything you desire to live out your lives in luxury and comfort, isn’t that what all ponies seek?”

“We want freedom!” Doughnut Joe shouted out, before looking away embarrassed when his outburst drew the attention of everypony in the room.

“I see…” the voice said after a long period of static silence. “I offer you everything and this is how you repay me…” The room tensed, afraid of what was coming. “Very well, you want your freedom… Then earn it.”

The silence remained, but this time it was more curious than afraid. “I offer you a chance to win your freedom from this place… a simple game, but one that will require you to use every ounce of cunning you have, for the only way to win this game… is to kill another pony in this room!”

Pinkie and Twilight’s eyes opened wide in horror, everypony else had similar reactions, some shouting various exclamations and swears. “And not just kill,” the voice continued, ignoring the burst of reaction, “but get away with it too. If you can murder one other pony and convince everypony else you had nothing to do with it, then you will be allowed to leave this place and return to your former life.”

“These are my terms, you can either play the game or accept your new lives here, the choice is yours. Just remember… not everypony around you will be so willing to let go of their freedom.” This comment sparked a wave of glances between each of the ponies gathered, checking for the slightest hint of malicious intent in one another’s eyes. “Whatever your choice, I present you each with a welcoming present to aid you in your new lives.”

With that, over a dozen brightly wrapped boxes flashed into existence around the table, inviting everypony to open them. There was one in front of Twilight, as well as another on the opposite side of the table she assumed was intended for Pinkie. Warily she mustered her telekinesis, and upon finding it want going to backfire she reached out and grabbed Pinkie’s present, bringing it over to her. Some ponies had already dived in, tearing the paper off and opening their box, others were more hesitant about it. Twilight and Pinkie shared one last nervous glance before both tentatively opening their own box.

Inside each box lay two objects, the first being a fairly ordinary key with a large metal key fob attached. The second was what drew the attentions of everypony in the room. It appeared to be a metallic hoof cuff, with two straps on one side, and a small black screen on the other.

“Within each of your boxes is a room key and a personal computer,” The voice explained, “if you attach this to one of your forehooves you will be able to use it to access data on your living accommodations as well as your house mates.”

Twilight and Pinkie obeyed and strapped the computers to their left forehooves, each one blinking to life immediately. Each screen showed a digital Birdseye view map of the Dining room, filled with various blinking dots which no doubt indicated the locations of the others. As well as this, at the top of the screen each of their names were displayed as well as some accolade.

Twilight Sparkle, Princess.

Pinkie Pie, Party Planner.

“Well I don’t know about the rest of you,” the voice continued once everypony had secured their computer, “but I think we are going to have a lot of fun together.” This comment received a number of venomous glances at the monitor. “I think that leaves only one thing to be said…” the Mastermind began forebodingly. A loud creaking noise drew everypony’s attention to the double doors that had been remaining stubbornly closed up until this point, now swinging slowly open.

“Let the games begin!”

Author's Notes:

Yet another story to add to the ever growing list of things I will probably never get finished. Ah well, this idea wasn't going to leave my head otherwise...
So, this is my first attempt at a murder mystery, so it will probably be crap. I encourage everyone to comment their predictions on who will be the victims and culprits, although preferably in a way that won't be considered spoilers. And as always, criticism is welcome.