Day 1, 12:20

Time seemed to have come to a standstill, as every pony in the room stared at the now open door with barely disguised apprehension. The Mastermind’s words were still ringing in their heads, even though the screen had now reverted to its blank format. Occasionally their eyes would dart to another pony in the room, each one conveying the same unspoken message… Will they try to kill me?

“Oh for the love of…” cried out a voice, pulling everypony from their silent accusation to instead stare in surprise at the sky blue Pegasus with the shock of yellow mane. “This is ridiculous! There’s no axe wielding maniac waiting for us out there, but if you’re all too baby then I’ll go first!”

With that gallant statement she stormed forward, trying very hard to keep her face steely and determined. When she reached the door she stopped ever so briefly as if wishing somepony would call out and take her place. When none did, she gave a small swallow and stepped firmly through the threshold.

What had they really been expecting? Certainly at the mention of axe wielding maniacs they had realised what a silly notion their trepidation had been, but none the less they all released a collective sigh of relief when the mare turned to face them, a triumphant smirk on her face. The next few seconds consisted of the rest of the group funnelling out of the dining room into a spacious corridor before semi intentionally forming a circle and looking around at one another, as if sizing each other up.

“Well that was downright idiotic of you,” Trixie chastised the Pegasus, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had risen. “But then I wouldn’t expect any less of an airhead Pegasus.”

“Hey!” She snapped back, “Watch it missy, you’re talkin’ to the one and only Lightning Dust here!”

A small beeping encouraged Twilight and Pinkie as well a few others to glance down at their hoof computers, which were now displaying a new screen, this one showed a digital image of the Pegasus as well as a table of text, detailing some basic physical information. The whole thing was headed by the line: Lightning Dust, Daredevil.

“You say that like Trixie is supposed to have heard of you,” Trixie replied smugly. This statement resulted in another wave of beeps and a new image appearing on everypony’s screens, this one showing Trixie with the heading: Trixie, Showmare.

“You’re one to talk Miss Third Person!” Lightning retorted, earning a dark glare from Trixie.

“Um, please don’t fight,” a timid voice spoke out, one that would have been missed entirely if Trixie had opened her mouth again. Instead everypony turned to see the small Earth Pony Twilight and Pinkie knew from their trip to Manehattan.

Coco Pommel, Fashion Designer.

“Yeah,” Soarin agreed, “if we’re gonna get out of here, we can’t start turning on each other.” His sagely comment was followed by another series of beeps.

Soarin, Wonderbolt.

“Very well,” Trixie replied in a much more civil manner, “Trixie was merely attempting to make it clear to… Lightning, how utterly foolish it is to just storm through a door that only opened at the command of a mysterious psychopath who wants us to kill each other, without at least checking for traps first.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Mom!” Lightning spat back, turning away from Trixie, who did the same while turning her nose in the air.

“That doesn’t seem right at all,” the unnaturally tall and skinny unicorn chipped in thoughtfully, a hint of a Prance accent hidden by her upper class tone, “this… Mastermind, wishes us to kill each other as part of their game. They would surely find little amusement in watching us die any other way.”

Fleur Dis Lee, Noble.

“Finally, somepony of intelligence within this group of dullards,” Blueblood moaned, earning him some angry glares, even a withering look from Fleur herself.

Prince Blueblood, Noble.

“Ignoring that,” Braeburn said dismissively, “I think that little lady had the right idea, we should be working together if we’re gonna get outta here!”

Braeburn, Apple Farmer.

“Actually, I said tha…” Soaring began before being cut off.

“Do any of you really believe for a shecond that that Mashtermind is jusht going to let ush leave?” Asked the scrawny stallion wearing the glasses and bow tie, his lisp made all the more prominent by the copious amounts of spittle he sprayed upon speaking.

Gizmo, Tinkerer.

“Ugh! Say it, don’t spray it!” Cloudchaser replied in a disgusted voice, putting as much distance between herself and Gizmo as possible.

Cloudchaser…

“Escort!” All the stallions exclaimed at once, staring in disbelief at their screens.

“Yeah,” Cloudchaser responded with a slight giggle, “a girl’s gotta pay the rent somehow.”

“Put ‘em away boys,” Redheart said in a disgruntled tone.

Redheart, Nurse.

“Oh sorry,” Trenderhoof said nervously, while noticeably crossing his hind legs.

Trenderhoof, Writer.

“But yes, in answer to your question,” he continued pointing to Gizmo, “I believe that while the Mastermind will try to stop us, we can overcome them if we put our heads together. Especially, if I might add, with the help of an Alicorn Princess.”

Twilight blushed as everyone’s eyes turned to her. “I’ll try my best,” she said awkwardly, saved from the penetrating stares by the round of beeps signally her own information being displayed on everypony else’s hoof computers.

“Yeah!” Pinkie exclaimed, throwing a hoof around Twilight’s shoulder and talking over her own beeps. “Twilight and I have saved Equestria a bunch of times, this will be easy peasy.”

“Yeah, if there’s anypony who can help us out of this mess, it’s Twilight Sparkle,” Doughnut Joe chipped in in a gruff voice.

Doughnut Joe, Doughnut Maker.

“Ahem.” Vinyl said noticeably.

Vinyl Scratch, DJ.

“There, now that we’ve all been introduced,” she continued with a smirk, “What are we actually going to do?”

“Well,” Fleur began in the same thoughtful tone, her eyes closed giving her face a serene quality, “we should probably start by exploring this mansion, both for weak points and, presuming we do have to spend some time here, the living faculties.”

“Why do we need to do that?” Cloudchaser asked, “What’s stopping us from walking out the front door?”

“I think it’s safe to say there will be a magical barrier of sorts,” Fleur explained, her eyes still closed, “hence I think it would be best for Princess Twilight to check the perimeter. Would you object to that your highness?”

Twilight was completely thrown off, both by the request and the gaze Fleur turned on her as she made her request. Those pale violet eyes were mesmeric, hypnotic almost.

“O… of course I will,” Twilight stammered, vaguely aware of how un-princess like she must have just appeared.

“Good,” Fleur responded before turning her attention back to the rest of the group, “If there’s nothing left to be said I think we should begin.”

“Hold on a second!” Lightning Dust cut in, her gaze sweeping over everypony, mistrust clearly visible. “I’m not about to go wondering about this crazy place, I ain’t about to give any of you a chance to stab me in the back!”

“Do you really think any of us are going to play that maniac’s game?” Vinyl asked in disbelief. Lightning opened her mouth to retort, but was cut off by Pinkie Pie.

“Hey, how about this for an idea?” Pinkie spoke up, “There’s fifteen of us, so what if we go searching in groups of three?”

“How ish that any better?” Gizmo asked, scratching his head in confusion.

“Simple actually,” Pinkie continued, sounding pleased with herself. “That mean old Mastermind said we had to kill without anyone else finding out about it, that means we can’t use accomplices, and we can’t kill somepony in front of somepony else because even if we intend to silence them, there’s a risk they could escape and alert the others. In groups of three we can be sure that nopony will try to kill any other pony because they’d be almost guaranteed to get caught.”

“Pinkie Pie, that’s genius!” Twilight exclaimed.

“It’s not entirely without risk, but Trixie must admit it is a fairly solid plan.”

“Very well then, we shall instigate Pinkie’s excellent plan,” Fleur announced, “everypony group and head ou…”

“Hold on a second!” Exclaimed a voice, punctuated by the stomping of a hoof. Everypony turned to see Blueblood staring down upon them all. “I will not be ordered around like some commoner, I am a prince and I will have the last say here!”

Twilight had just about had enough of Blueblood’s comments by this point and was about to tell him to shut up when Fleur began laughing. Everypony was a bit caught off guard by this, even Blueblood, but Fleur continued to laugh her silky laugh.

“What is so funny?” Blueblood demanded. Fleur’s laugh teetered off, but she continued to grin slyly when she looked at Blueblood.

“You are,” she replied simply, but continued when Blueblood opened his mouth again. “You actually fancy yourself a prince, just because it’s your first name.”

“I am a prince because I am the nephew of Princess Celestia herself!” Blueblood spat back, this didn’t shift Fleur’s smile at all.

“Oh please, I know even you don’t believe that,” she said, “Princess Celestia only made you and your ancestors honorary members of the royal family, so you could continue to feel important and not disrupt her attempts at unifying the three pony tribes. Face it Blueblood, you’re no prince, you’re nothing more than a jumped up Nobel.”

Blueblood stammered, his face twisted in outrage. Even the other ponies gathered looked shocked at Fleur’s statement. Before he could form a coherent response however, Fleur turned her attention back to Twilight.

“You were right about one thing however,” she said, still partially addressing Blueblood, “A Prince should have the last say, or princess as the case may be.”

Blueblood then directed his anger at Twilight, a fire of pure undiluted hatred burning in his eyes. Twilight stood up straight, refusing to wither under his gaze, refusing to appear weak in Fleur’s eyes.

“So Princess Twilight,” Fleur said once more, “do you agree with the plan.”

Twilight met Fleur’s eyes, she was hard to read, Twilight couldn’t be sure what it was she was seeing in them. When she made her response however, she made sure to be looking back at Blueblood when she did. “I do.”

Day 1, 13:05

“I mean damn girl,” Vinyl exclaimed, “you have got some sass; you hear what I’m saying!”

“Yes Vinyl, I gathered that the last dozen times you said so,” Twilight replied as they walked down the wide marble staircase in the entrance hall. Vinyl was definitely growing on Twilight, it quickly became apparent why her and Pinkie were such good friends, with their bubbly attitude and outgoing nature they could have been sisters.

“I know but still, the way you gave it to Blueblood was nothing short of awesome!”

“It was Fleur who did most of the ‘giving to’,” Twilight emphasised, “I just tried to assert myself.”

“And boy did you,” Vinyl replied laughing, “he looked like he was about ready to murder you…”

Both Vinyl and Twilight stopped dead in their tracks as the possible implication of Vinyl’s words sunk in.

“I didn’t literally mean…” Vinyl began.

“I know you didn’t…” Twilight replied. The awkward silence began to stretch until it was finally snapped by periodic clopping and high pitched singing of Pinkie Pie catching up behind them.

“Sorry I took so long girls,” Pinkie apologised bursting in between them, “I don’t know how long we were asleep but I really had to go!”

“That’s alright Pinkie,” Twilight assured her, glad of the change of subject.

“So this is the main door then,” Vinyl pointed out drawing both Twilight and Pinkie’s attention the front of the entrance hall where a pair of incredible tall and heavy looking double doors stood wide open. Beyond them lay the perfect view of the main pathway leading from the front of the mansion all the way out the surprisingly long distance to the iron gates where it all began. As the trio strode over to the doors, a familiar beeping caused them all to look down at their hoof computers, upon which a new stark white screen had appeared, this one showing nothing but text.

Due to the nature of the front doors, they will be opened and closed automatically. They will close and lock every night at 22:00, and only reopen at 07:00 the following morning. Every other door in and out of the manor house will remain unlocked throughout the night.

“I wonder how many doors there are,” Twilight thought out loud. Once they all read the message they carried on their way through the doors and out into the fresh air.

“Woo, you smell that?” Vinyl asked giving a low whistle, “that is the smell of freedom.”

“Don’t speak too soon,” Twilight said forebodingly, “that doesn’t look like freedom…”

Vinyl quirked an eyebrow, confused by the wide eyed stares on both Twilight and Pinkie’s face. Looking back out over the grounds, she telekinetically raised her sunglasses off her eyes and saw what she had missed. Instead of seeing a sky of calm blue, she was instead greeted by an overcast of swirling, pulsating colours, making the sky look like some organic cloud had been stretched right over their heads down to the horizon.

“What the heck?” Vinyl said slowly, “is that a force field?”

“It looks like it, but certainly not any I’ve ever seen,” Twilight replied, taking the first steps over the concrete slabs forming the floor just outside the front of the mansion.

As the three mares walked down the final steps to the gravel path, Pinkie spoke up. “Hey Vinyl, we never did ask, how come you’re here?”

“Me?” Vinyl asked, dragging her attention away from the eldritch sky. “I got this letter hiring me to do the music for a party here.”

“A letter?” Pinkie repeated both her and Twilight giving Vinyl the same curious glance. “Could we see it?”

“Sure,” Vinyl obliged, pulling a crumpled sheet of parchment from her saddlebags and passing it over to Pinkie. Guessing what Pinkie was going to do, Twilight brought their own letter out from her bags and brought it over next to the one Pinkie was now holding.

“The writing’s identical,” Pinkie pointed out.

“No big surprise,” Vinyl replied casually, “they were obviously fakes intended to lure us all here.”

“Which raises the good question,” Twilight began, passing Vinyl’s letter back to her and returning her own to her bags. “Who is behind this?”

“Any thoughts Twilight?” Pinkie asked, sure the unicorn could easily deduce the answer. Twilight indeed opened her mouth, seemingly ready to make a suggestion, but then she seemed to have an afterthought and instead turned to Pinkie with a smile on her face.

“Actually Pinkie, why don’t you tell us your thoughts on it.”

“Me?” Pinkie repeated surprised, she didn’t have any clue who could be the one responsible for this. But Twilight was watching her expectantly; even Vinyl was looking to her. “Well I’d first assume it was someone who had reason to be angry at us, one of our old enemies perhaps. But that wouldn’t explain why anypony besides us two are here…”

Twilight nodded, encouraging her to continue. “If it was however, then the question is which? Discord obviously has the power, but killing isn’t really his style. Besides he’s been reformed, if he was going to turn on us he’d have us all here as well as the princesses. Now this is right up Chrysalis’s street, but as a changeling she wouldn’t have nearly enough power to do all this, plus her magic is green, so this force field wouldn’t be all multi-coloured.

“With Nightmare Moon gone that leaves only Sombra,” Pinkie continued, “It’s hard to say since we barely interacted with him, but he lost his physical form and powers so even if he would do this he probably couldn’t. Sorry Twilight, I don’t have a clue who could be behind this.”

Pinkie looked back to Twilight expecting to see disappointment, but instead Twilight was grinning proudly, and Vinyl was smirking and nodding her head impressed.

“No Pinkie that was perfect,” Twilight gushed, “I couldn’t expect you to reach a definitive conclusion, but that was all incredible displays of deduction.”

“Thanks Twilight,” Pinkie said sincerely, beaming at her friends. “I did learn from the best after all.”

“Really? Who was that?” Vinyl asked curiously. Twilight and Pinkie shared a smile before looking back at Vinyl.

“Well there was this time we were delivering a cake on a train…”

Day 1, 15:41

“Alright, that’s the last of us,” Braeburn announced as Blueblood, Trenderhoof and Gizmo entered the dining room.

“Good,” Fleur said, rising from her chair to address them all, “now that we’re all here we can report back our findings. I think it best we start with Princess Twilight.”

Twilight nodded, standing up and looking out over her waiting audience. “Well Pinkie, Vinyl and I did as Fleur suggested and went to check the perimeter. When we came to the front doors we received a message on our computer things, they read…”

“Don’t bother Twilight,” Vinyl interrupted, fiddling with her own hoof computer, “I got this.” A few seconds later the room was filled with another wave of beeps causing everypony to look down at the computers, the message that had appeared to Twilight, Pinkie and Vinyl now displayed before them all, this one now displayed against a black background.

“How did you do that?” Twilight asked, impressed.

“E-mail,” Vinyl replied simply, “I work with technology all the time; it’s no biggie for me.”

“So the front door is automatic,” Fleur recited from her own computer, “a bit like the dining room door then. Alright carry on.”

“Once we got outside we noticed the sky, you probably saw it from the windows?” Twilight checked, receiving a number of nods she carried on. “We guessed it was some kind of force field, and once we reached the entrance gate, we managed to confirm that a magical dome is indeed encasing the entire manor, grounds and all.”

“What are its effects?” Trixie asked in a surprisingly professional tone.

“From what I could gather it not only keeps us inside physically, but it also prevents us from sending objects like letters outside it,” Twilight replied, “and while I can’t be sure, something the Mastermind said makes me think it’s also projecting an illusion spell to the outside, hence I wouldn’t count on being rescued.”

“If that thing ish magical,” Gizmo spoke up, “then how come it’sh all thosh coloursh? Aren’t unicornsh magic only shupposhed to be one colour?”

“That’s true,” Trixie responded, “However there are legends that suggest the most powerful unicorns could manipulate the colour of their aura.”

“So the Mastermind is a unicorn?” Soarin asked.

“Possibly,” Trixie replied, “however we can’t rule out anything else, it is possible for other pony races to perform magic given the right knowledge and tools, and this place has a huge library as well as several research labs.”

“Who else were you with?” Fleur asked, looking to Trixie.

“Trixie was grouped with Coco and Redheart,” she stated matter-of-factly, “we took it upon ourselves to search the third floor.”

“So you discovered a library and research labs,” Fleur repeated, “anything else?”

“That floor seems dedicated mostly to study purposes,” Trixie continued, “beyond that we encountered a locked door, none of Trixie’s spells would unlock it and when she prepared to destroy it instead we were sent a message on our computers stating that if we forced open any doors, we would be punished. Trixie was going to ignore this, but Coco insisted she didn’t, so to avoid any more fighting I chose to relent.”

“That’s probably for the best,” Fleur said, “we shouldn’t take any unnecessary risks. So who was searching the second floor?”

“That was us,” Trenderhoof stated raising a hoof, “all the bedrooms are on that floor, they’re pretty spread out.”

“And the rooms themselves?” Fleur asked.

“Well they’re all locked, so we could only see inside our own,” he replied raising his own room key to prove his point. “They’re pretty much identical, double bed, dresser, ensuit bathroom with a shower and toilet.”

“So that’s it, just the bedrooms?” Fleur asked doubtfully.

“There was also a laundry room and shared wash room,” Trenderhoof replied, “It’s got saunas and stuff.”

“Alright, that just leaves Braeburn’s group and my own,” Fleur said gesturing to herself, Cloudchaser and Lightning Dust. “All we found were the typical living accommodations; the main kitchen is just down the hall from here as well a cool room where all the food is stored, according to the message we received on our computers, the food is restocked weekly. As well as that there are also several parlours and what I believe are game rooms.”

“Well me and the guys here were checkin’ the other side of this floor,” Braeburn announced nodding back at Soarin and Doughnut Joe, “There looks to be a whole sports facility, indoor pool and all. Besides that this mansion seems to be made up mostly of corridors, it would be like a maze if not for these handy little things.” Braeburn gestured to his hoof computer which was displaying the digital map of the house.

“Well I think we’ve gotten a good bearing of the house, thank you all for your cooperation,” Fleur announced, most ponies smiled back appreciatively at her, mostly notably among those who didn’t were Blueblood who pointedly looked away from her. “I know we’re all eager to get out of here, but I am famished, and we can hardly investigate on empty stomachs.”

“I second that,” Vinyl said standing up, “hows about we head down to the kitchen and fix up some late lunch?”

“Let me,” Doughnut Joe offered, walking to the door, “cooking is kind of my thing.”

“I’ll help,” Coco called out quietly, running out the room behind him. Once the pair had departed, everypony else relaxed into their chairs, a few starting some casual conversations.

“Well everypony,” Fleur announced, drawing their attention once more, “I am feeling confident that this little game won’t last much longer.”

“Is that what you think is it?” A familiar voice asked, almost sounding amused. Everypony in the room seemed to stiffen in their chairs, looking to the monitor which had once again come to life, showing the same distorted screen. “And why is that I wonder… Is it perhaps because you genuinely believe you can defy me and escape?”

“Mastermind,” Fleur said smoothly, “I was wondering when you’d show up again. And yes, in answer to your question, I do believe we can beat you.”

“Such confidence,” the Mastermind said, “one such as you is wasted on the outside world.”

“You say that like you’ve got some beef with Equestria,” Vinyl said, quirking an eyebrow.

“That’s silly,” Pinkie exclaimed, laughing a little, “Equestria is the best, how could anypony not love it?”

“My beef does not lie in Equestria itself, rather those who plague it,” the Mastermind replied, its voice rising in pitch slightly.

“Look buddy,” Soarin cut in, “there are tonnes of great ponies out there, generalising like that just isn’t cool.”

“And if you have a problem with ponies,” Redheart began, “then why did you bring us here.”

“I have my reasons,” the Mastermind replied enigmatically.

“We get it, you’re mysterious,” Cloudchaser said, sounding bored, “what do you want?”

“Teaching you some manners would be a good start,” Mastermind replied in a low tone that made Cloudchaser gulp slightly. “But for now I simply wished to remind you of your current predicament.”

“Your game,” Trenderhoof stated, “well if we haven’t made it clear yet, we’re not playing. We are not going to kill each other.”

“Are you sure?” Mastermind asked, a hint of enjoyment in its voice despite all the static. “Can you really be sure that everyone else in this room has the same selfless standpoint as you? Can you really tell me, you’d trust every one of them with your life?”

Trenderhoof seemed to shrink in his seat, not daring to respond or make eye contact with anypony else.

“Um, who are you?” Gizmo asked, causing everypony to give him a condescending look. “I jusht thought I’d ashk.”

“Well you’re welcome to try and figure it out,” Mastermind invited, “but don’t expect me to make things easier for you… Oh, I think I smell your lunch approaching.” Indeed the sound of hoofsteps could be heard outside as well as a faint aroma drifting through the air. “Until next time.”

The screen went black once more and the sound cut, when Coco entered the room pushing a tray of doughnuts she found the atmosphere one icy silence. “Is… is something wrong?” she asked, sounding terrified that she might have done something wrong.

“Its nothin’ kid,” Vinyl assured her, “let’s just eat.”

Day 1, 17:02

“Whoa, who’s that old guy?” Pinkie asked, staring up at that oil painting dominating the wall from floor the ceiling in the parlour. Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but she was beaten to the punch by Trenderhoof who was standing next to her.

“That’s Orchid the Omnipotent,” he said gesturing to the picture of the pale pink stallion with his receding purple mane and gold trimmed reading glasses, posed looking thoughtfully away from the painter. “So named for his knowledge in all fields of magic, and not just the one associated with his cutie mark, which was plant magic, hence the space dedicated to gardens outside.”

Twilight looked at him, raising her eyebrows in surprise. “I had to write an article on him back in school,” he explained with a non-committal shrug.

“Sounds a lot like you Twilight,” Pinkie said, “knowledge of all fields of magic.”

“Thanks Pinkie,” Twilight replied blushing slightly, “I hope I can reach his level someday, he was a truly great unicorn.”

“Ha, as if!” A voice spoke out behind them causing them all to spin around. They all silently groaned as they saw Blueblood marching forward to them.

“Are you seriously going to stand there and deny Orchid was an amazing unicorn?” Twilight demanded, not in the mood for Blueblood’s ego.

“Oh he was a good magician, no doubt about that,” Blueblood said like it wasn’t anything worth mentioning at all. “He just wasn’t much of a stallion, I mean look at his horn.”

They all did, Pinkie couldn’t see what the issue was, it looked to about the same length as Twilight’s. However looking over at the others she saw Trenderhoof was facing up to Blueblood, looking thoroughly ticked off.

“Are you implying there’s something wrong with stallions who have short horns?” He demanded, seething with rage. It was then Pinkie noticed that his horn was a relatively normal size, what she’d come to expect from most unicorns, but Blueblood’s was far longer, similar to Twilight’s own brother she recalled.

“I’m not implying anything,” Blueblood began, turning and starting to walk away, “I’m stating it makes you look like a mare.”

Trenderhoof’s face went scarlet as he pursed his lips together, clearly trying to repress the urge to shout after Blueblood.

“Oh, I never knew horn length was a sign of masculinity,” Pinkie said in wonderment.

“They aren’t!” Trenderhoof snapped, “I mean they are, but…”

“Hey it’s alright,” Twilight assured him, “There’s nothing wrong with having a short horn, it doesn’t make you any less male.”

“Thanks Twilight,” Trenderhoof replied, his shoulders sagging greatly, “I shouldn’t let him get to me.”

“Yeah, now come on Trendy, turn that frown upside down,” Pinkie said cheerfully, throwing a hoof over his shoulder, “we’ve still got plenty of exploring to do!”

Day 1, 19:54

“It’s getting kind of late,” Coco said tentatively, “don’t you think we should call it a night?”

“It’s okay Coco, you can head on to bed if you want,” Twilight replied, looking up from her book to offer a polite smile. “I think we’ll stay here and read for a little longer.”

Coco nodded and departed from the library leaving Twilight and Trixie to their reading. The room remained silent for a long time, not counting the persistent bouncing of Pinkie who had taken it upon herself to read the spines of every book in the library. The silence was broken at last by Trixie speaking up.

“Do you trust everyone?” She asked simply. Twilight didn’t answer right away, mulling her answer over.

“Yes,” she said finally. Trixie raised an eyebrow but didn’t respond. “I know some ponies here aren’t the most pleasant, but I genuinely don’t believe they have it in them to kill another pony.”

“You always insist on seeing the best in other ponies,” Trixie replied, still scanning over her own book, “I’m not sure whether it’s a good thing or not.”

“Hey girls, check out what we found,” Pinkie announced, causing Twilight and Trixie to both look up from their respective books to see Pinkie and Doughnut Joe approaching, the latter carrying a book. “It’s a really old recipe book filled with all these neat dishes!”

“Some are pretty eccentric, but I could give a few of them a go,” Doughnut Joe chipped in, he then seemed to catch himself on. “Oh, we weren’t interrupting you two were we?”

Twilight and Trixie looked at each other briefly, seeming to come to a silent agreement before looking back. “No it’s okay,” Twilight assured him, “we were just about to leave anyway.”

Day 1, 23:12

“Twilight,” Pinkie’s voice called out, “are you asleep?”

Twilight, who had been sleeping quite peacefully groaned at the sound of her friend. “What is it Pinkie?” she called back.

“I was just wondering if you were asleep?” Pinkie replied.

“I’m obviously not asleep, or I wouldn’t have responded,” Twilight stated irritably. There was a long moment of silence in which twilight briefly wondered if Pinkie had left and returned to her own room.

“Oh yeah,” Pinkie said at last, giggling. Twilight sighed, accepting that she wasn’t about to get back to sleep any time soon, she telekinetically lifted her key from the top of the dresser, put it into the lock and opened the door. Pinkie merrily trotted on in and plopped herself down at the foot of Twilight’s bed.

“Did you want something?” Twilight asked curiously when she sat up only to find Pinkie staring at her. Pinkie sighed loudly, her hair deflating slightly.

“Twilight, are we ever going to get back to Ponyville?” she asked miserably.

“What? Pinkie how could you even think that?” Twilight asked, surprised at seeing her normally so optimistic friend looking so forlorn about their current situation. “Listen to me Pinkie Pie, no matter what happens, we will leave this place. We will go back to Ponyville and see our friends, you hear me?”

Pinkie nodded, looking slightly reassured by Twilight’s words. Twilight scooted forward and embraced her, comforted by Pinkie returning the hug.

“I trust you Twilight.”

Day 2, 10:33

“Hey everypony,” Vinyl greeted the dining room while stifling a yawn, “sorry I’m late, I slept like a log. Those beds are amazing; when we get out of here I’m takin’ one of those with me!”

“Well now that we’re all here,” Fleur began looking around at all the gathered ponies, “I think we should probably meet here every morning, for breakfast obviously, but also to plan out what we shall do.”

“It should probably also be stated that we should all meet at nine,” Trixie added, “that way we aren’t left waiting on the sloths.”

“Alright, alright,” Vinyl said, “I’ll get up earlier, no need to bite my head off.”

“So,” Fleur interrupted before Trixie or anyone else could chip in, “has anypony any thoughts on what we should do.”

“Well Trixie and I found some interesting spell books yesterday,” Twilight announced, “I’m not sure what we can find, but given a little time we might be able to come up with something that could help us get out.”

“Excellent idea Princess,” Fleur replied happily, “I’m sure we’ll all be free in no time with the pair of you working on it.”

“I guess I could lend a hoof with that,” Trenderhoof proposed, “I don’t know a lot about magic but I’m a pretty thorough reader.”

“I’ve been thinking about that monitor up there,” Vinyl pointed out, gesturing to the Masterminds screen. “If the Mastermind’s communicating to us through that, maybe I can figure out where it’s receiving its signal from.”

“Good, the rest of you can go about your own business,” Fleur dictated, “Just try not to get in any of our way.”

“By that, am I to take it you’re actually going to do something to help instead of ordering us all around?” Lightning Dust muttered, not quietly enough to be have been missed by Fleur.

“I am going to continue to search the house,” she responded, her voice remaining calm despite the insult, “these old buildings are notorious for secret rooms and passages. It is possible we overlooked some yesterday.”

Lightning Dust just shrugged, most likely having brought up her complaint just for the sake of complaining and not actually receiving a legitimate answer. “If there are no further objections,” Fleur continued, “I shall hopefully see you all back here for dinner.”

Day 2, 17:56

“So I guess I’ll keep trying tomorrow,” Vinyl finished while taking a gulp of cider from her glass. “My head’s fried.”

“No worries Vinyl,” Soarin assured her, shoving a forkful of salad into his mouth. “Gizmo can take over for the rest of the evening.”

“I can?” Gizmo exclaimed, surprised at being dragged into the conversation.

“Of course,” Soarin replied like it was obvious, “you’re a tinkerer, you know how to work all that techy stuff don’t you?”

“No, I work with widgets and mechanisms, I don’t know the first thing about electronics,” Gizmo insisted in a panicked tone.

“Well that’s the next best thing,” Soarin responded with a shrug, “just fiddle about for a bit, what could go wrong?”

“Yeah Gizmo, be a team player,” Vinyl goaded, levitating a slice of tomato into her open mouth.

“What about you girls?” Redheart began before Gizmo could begin arguing again, looking over at Twilight and Trixie sitting across from one another. “Did you come across anything?”

“Plenty of interesting stuff,” Twilight began, “Not anything that can help us, but then there is a lot of books up there, it’ll take a while for us to find anything of value.”

“How ‘bout you Pinks?” Vinyl asked through a full mouth. “What have you been up to?”

“Oh I’ve been planning out how I’m going to murder everypony in their sleep,” Pinkie replied casually while cutting her cucumber up into slices. The handful of ponies around her fell dead silent, staring at her with wide horrified eyes. “Pffftttt,” Pinkie exclaimed before bursting into hysterical laughter. “Oh the looks on your faces! Priceless!”

“Nice one Pinkie, you even had me going there,” Vinyl said joining in with her laughter, everypony else remained slightly nervous and awkward.

“But seriously, I tagged along with Fleur,” Pinkie said at last, wiping a tear from her eye.

“Cool, did you find anything?” Vinyl asked enthusiastically.

“We found the chimneys between all the fireplaces are connected,” Pinkie explained, sparking the interest of the others in the group. “If you climb up one, you can crawl through little tunnels into the others.”

“Did Fleur make you climb up the chimney to find this out?” Twilight asked surprised.

“Of course not,” Pinkie assured her, “I volunteered to. After that Fleur and I went to the shared wash room and got cleaned up together.”

“You did?” Soarin asked, a pink hue creeping over his muzzle.

“Yeah, what’s weird about that?” Pinkie asked, totally oblivious.

“Uh, never worry about that Pinkie,” Vinyl said, laughing nervously before turning on Soarin, “and you, cold shower, now!”

“Lighten up Vinyl, I’m kidding,” Soarin said, rolling his eyes and flashing a smirk.

“Twilight,” a voice spoke out causing them all to look up from their plates, “I need to talk to you.”

Twilight stared back at Blueblood, trying to decide whether it would be better to tell him no outright, or get it over as quickly as possible. In the end she decided she would at least try to be civil.

“Talk away,” she replied curtly, wiping her mouth with her napkin.

“In private,” Blueblood specified. Twilight looked back at her friends who were all giving her wary looks, before turning back and answering.

“Fine, just make it quick,” she said in a neutral tone before standing up and following him from the room. As they left through the door, Coco was forced to jump out of the way to avoid having both her and her tray of desserts knocked over.

“Is something going on?” she asked in a worried tone as she hurried over and began placing down bowls of steaming chocolate pudding in front of each pony.

“Oh it’s fine,” Vinyl replied lazily, “they’re just having a polite discussion.”

“Hey, I hope you’re getting something to eat and not just serving us,” Redheart said concerned as Coco placed a bowl before her.

“Oh yes,” Coco replied happily, “Me and Joe are eating our food in the kitchen while preparing every…”

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” Twilight screamed from outside the dining room causing everypony to fall utterly silent and snap up straight. Twilight’s exclamation was followed by a loud smacking noise and Twilight storming back into room, seething with anger.

“Like I said,” Vinyl said as calmly as if she were stating the day of the week, being the only pony who didn’t seem to react to Twilight’s outburst. “Just a polite conversation.”

“Um, Twilight,” Pinkie began hesitantly as Twilight flopped onto her seat and began shovelling spoonfuls of pudding into her mouth. “Is everything alright?”

“It’s fine,” Twilight said coldly, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Are you sure?” Pinkie asked concerned, “it might hel…”

“I said I don’t want to talk about it!” Twilight shouted back, causing Pinkie to look away ashamed. Blueblood didn’t come back into the dining room.

Day 2, 21:14

“I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier Pinkie,” Twilight said for the dozenth time as her, Pinkie and Vinyl walked along the hallway to the bedrooms.

“I told you already, it’s okay Twilight,” Pinkie insisted. Indeed she had forgiven Twilight; she could understand the effect Blueblood had on ponies.

“What did he do that made you react that way?” Vinyl asked concerned.

“He…” Twilight began before sighing and shaking her head. “Doesn’t matter, he was just being an ass.”

“So nothing out of the ordinary then,” Vinyl replied, earning a smile from Twilight. They reached a door which Twilight stopped by.

“This is my stop,” she said bringing her key out of her bag. “I’ll see you girls in the morning.”

“Are you sure you want to call it a night?” Pinkie asked, “I’m feeling kind of hungry, we could go down to the kitchen and fix up a snack.”

“How are you still hungry after that dinner?” Twilight asked disbelievingly, Pinkie just shrugged. “Well no, I’m pretty tired, you can go if you want but I’m going to try and get some sleep.”

“Alright,” Pinkie relented slightly disappointed, “Sleep tight.”

“I will, goodnight girls,” Twilight bade before enter her room and closing the door behind her, the sound of the lock clicking, echoing through the hall.

“Are you coming Vinyl?” Pinkie asked, turning to the DJ.

“Yeah I could eat, let’s go.” As the pair walked down the corridor they carried on making small talk. “I’m just sayin’ Pinkie; if you can’t do it it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“I can to do it!” Pinkie exclaimed, reaching up with her hooves and clutching her nostrils shut and clenching her lips tight before trying to exhale as hard as she could. What quickly resulted were her eyes rolling back, her face turning blue, and Pinkie collapsing to the ground gasping desperately.

“Oh god, I can’t believe you fell for that,” Vinyl burst out laughing at Pinkie, who was now stumbling to her hooves, her head spinning.

“Oh ha, ha,” Pinkie said in a disgruntled tone, but her grin gave away she was amused at having fallen for Vinyl’s trick. “Very funny Vinyl.”

Pinkie playfully punched Vinyl in the shoulder causing her to stumble back into a large terracotta plant pot. The pot wobbled, threatening to tip over before Vinyl managed to grab hold of it and right it.

“Close one,” Vinyl said looking back to Pinkie, “now come on, let’s go grab that snack.”

Day 3, 08:49

Pinkie walked along the hallway to Twilight’s room, stifling a yawn. It had definitely been a mistake staying up so late. But she had managed to drag herself reluctantly out of her bed with enough time to get to the dining room before nine. As she reached Twilight’s room, she opened her mouth ready to call out, but was interrupted by the sound of approaching hoofsteps. Pinkie looked up to see Trixie and Coco approaching from the opposite direction.

“Would you two please hurry up,” Trixie said irritably, “we’re all in the dining room waiting for you.”

“Um, actually Trixie,” Coco began quietly, “it’s not nine yet, so they aren’t really late.”

“Well the earlier we can get started, the better,” Trixie stated curtly, reaching Pinkie. “Is Twilight in there?”

“Yeah I’m just about to knock,” Pinkie explained turning back to the door. “Twilight! Wakey, wakey!”

Pinkie reached out to rap her hoof upon the door, but as soon as she made contact with it, the door gave way, swinging open slightly. Surprised Pinkie glanced over at Trixie who just raised a curious eyebrow. Looking back, Pinkie stepped forward, tentatively pushing the door open, an unfamiliar feeling of foreboding rising in her gut.

The first thing Pinkie noticed were the red bed sheets hanging off the bed.

Wait red? Twilight’s sheets are white, I saw them last night.

From there Pinkie’s eyes travelled up… and her heart stopped.

Twilight lay in a crumpled heap on her bed, her head twisted around to face the door. Her mouth was hanging agape, her eyes wide and glassy, completely devoid of light. Her lavender coat was caked in dry blood, deep gashes covering her back and torso. A single black knife hilt sticking out of her ribs.

Pinkie shook uncontrollably, unable to tear her eyes away from the sight before her. At last she found her voice again, and screamed.

Author's Notes:

Poor Twilight... Poor Pinkie...
So, now for the obvious question, who is responsible?