Day 4, 08:01

Pinkie lay, spread eagle on her bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. The aftermath of yesterday’s trial had been… subdued. Everypony had somewhat silently agreed to just go to their rooms for the night. Perhaps some of them left the solitude of their rooms at some point, maybe to get dinner, Pinkie wouldn’t know, she certainly didn’t.

“Vinyl is coming up to check on you,” the Mastermind’s voice said, Pinkie wasn’t half surprised that they could speak to her in any room. “You’re the only one not present at your morning get together, the others are getting worried.”

Pinkie didn’t respond, how was she expected to respond to an omnipresent being that took pleasure in watching them kill each other?

“You’re going to be here a long time,” the Mastermind continued, “you might as well try to enjoy your new life instead of moping in here alone.”

That made Pinkie sit up. “You don’t want us to live here do you?” she asked in a low tone, “all that stuff you said about us living together in this mansion forever, it was a load of crap wasn’t it? The simple truth is, if we had accepted that from the start you would have just found some other way of making us turn on each other.”

“You’re making me sound like some kind of sadist Pinkie,” the Mastermind replied, in a mock hurt tone. “I resent that accusation.”

“Really,” Pinkie said, clearly not buying the act, “then why don’t you tell me what the point of all this is if it’s not to watch us slaughter each other, because I don’t believe for a second you really wanted us to live here together.”

“The truth?” the Mastermind began thoughtfully, “the truth is…”

“Pinkie!” a voice rang out, followed by a loud rapping on the bedroom door. “Please tell me you’re in there!”

“It’s open Vinyl,” Pinkie called back disappointed, she guessed the Mastermind wouldn’t be coming back. The door swung open and Vinyl slinked in, her glasses absent. She briefly looked at the inside of the door, seeing the key wasn’t in the lock.

“Tell me you didn’t leave the room unlocked all night,” Vinyl demanded, sounding both furious and worried. Pinkie didn’t answer, she hadn’t locked the door, she didn’t know why. Guessing she wasn’t going to answer, Vinyl gave a small sigh and sat on the end of Pinkie’s bed. “Look, I know yesterday was hard on you, it was for everypony. But we can’t just lie down and accept this pathetic excuse for a life. We need to fight back, and to do that we need everypony to work together.”

“I know,” Pinkie whispered, not meeting Vinyl’s eye.

“Do you? Because it looks to me like you’re lying up waiting for someone to come do you in!” Vinyl shouted, causing Pinkie to flinch. She seemed to regret it almost immedietly. “I’m sorry Pinkie, I didn’t mean to say…”

“No,” Pinkie said abruptly, “you said exactly what you meant…”

Vinyl cringed as Pinkie turned to look at her, preparing for the worst.

“And it was exactly what I needed to hear,” Pinkie finished, smiling slightly. Vinyl blinked in surprise before smiling herself. “I’m sorry for being so moody.”

“Don’t be,” Vinyl insisted, “anyone in your position would be.”

“So,” Pinkie began a little more upbeat, hoping off the bed. “How about we go see the rest and discuss how we’re gonna get out of here?”

“You took the words right out of my mouth,” Vinyl replied, an together the pair walked out of the room, running straight into Coco who had her ear pressed up against the closed over door.

“Oh,” she squeaked in a panicked tone. “I’m sorry for eavesdropping, I was just worried about Pinkie so I came to check and I heard you talking and…”

She didn’t have time to finish before she was pulled into big hug, knocking the air from her lungs.

“Aww, thank you so much Coco,” Pinkie cooed into the smaller ponies neck while she embraced her. “I appreciate it.”

“As sweet as this whole scene is,” Vinyl chipped in, “you might want to loosen up there or the next trial is going to be to find out who suffocated Coco Pommel.”

Day 4, 08:24

“Ah look, she’s finally decided to stop being lazy,” Blueblood commented upon seeing Pinkie enter the room. Fleur, who was sitting across from him, narrowed her eyes, her horning glowing as an apple found its way forced into Blueblood’s mouth.

“Speak when spoken to,” she said snidely before turning to Pinkie, all the while ignoring Blueblood’s choking noises. “I’m glad to see you up and about, we were beginning to worry.”

“Thanks, I’m sorry for causing a bother,” Pinkie replied, rubbing her foreleg sheepishly.

“Not at all,” Fleur dismissed, telekinetically pulling out three chairs for Pinkie, Coco and Vinyl. “Come, get something to eat. Braeburn has kindly taken up the role of cooking.”

“Yeah, and we’re gonna run inventory on the kitchen every day to make sure nopony sneaks off with anything dangerous,” Braeburn chipped in.

“So what are we going to do today?” Pinkie asked while buttering a bread roll.

“Well I’m gonna keep looking into the screens,” Vinyl replied pouring herself a glass of orange juice, “plus I thought I’d take a look at that staircase in the entrance hall. The Mastermind must be operating it remotely too.”

“Trixie will be in the library,” Trixie added, appearing behind Pinkie causing her to jump. “Carrying on with what Twi… we started the other day.”

“You know, it can’t be all work and no play guys,” Soarin pointed out, “you’ll drive yourselves up the wall if you don’t take time to relax.”

“Every minute spent relaxing is a minute that could be spent figuring out how to get out of here lost,” Trixie stated coolly.

“Hey I’m not saying that’s not important,” Soarin quickly began to explain; “I’m just saying that if you all get stressed out you won’t be able to achieve much.”

“So what would you suggest?” Fleur asked, sipping her tea.

“Well as an athlete I can safely say exercise is the best way for reducing stress,” Soarin informed them, “how about it? Cloudchaser, Lightning Dust, we could go flying in the afternoon, and we’ve got that pool, why don’t we use it?”

“Huh, I do kind of like swimming,” Trenderhoof admitted, smiling at the idea.

“That’s the spirit,” Soarin encouraged, “we should make a routine of it, every morning at about ten we head over there and do a few laps.”

“That actually sounds like fun,” Trenderhoof agreed, “count me in.”

“Anypony else?” Soarin asked looking to the others.

“I’d be game for the flying,” Lightning said, “but swimming isn’t really my thing.”

“Great,” Soarin said, before addressing the whole group. “Just find something you enjoy, trust me, we’ll all make more progress because of it.”

I have to admit, he does make a good point. I could do a little running every morning, it would give me a chance to search the grounds more, and then when I’m done I could see if Vinyl or Trixie needs help.

“I think that sounds like a great idea,” Pinkie said at last, taking a bite out of her nearly forgotten roll.

Day 4, 10:46

Pinkie plopped herself down on a stone bench, fanning herself with a hoof as she panted profusely. She had to hand it to Soarin; exercise was good for relieving stress. Pinkie stopped fanning and looked around her. If it wasn’t for the giant mansion clear as day from any point on the grounds, she would have been thoroughly lost. She decided some time ago to stray off the path and take her run through the garden itself.

She’d never seen so many plants in all her life, certainly not living at Ponyville. Trenderhoof really hadn’t been joking when he said plants were Orchid’s specialty. Picking herself up she began to walk again, this time barely looking where she was going as she examined her hoof computer. The thing seemed to be a compact library, all Pinkie had to do was point it at any random plant and she would be flooded with information on it.

Pinkie was so amused by this feature that she didn’t even notice the figure step out of undergrowth and creep up behind her, at least she didn’t until her tummy rumbled and her nostrils flared: the Pinkie sense combo meaning she was being followed.

Pinkie spun around, bringing her hooves up to shield her face, not that she needed to as her stalker made no attempt to attack her. Instead Blueblood stood quite still, staring down at her with undisguised loathing.

“What do you want?” Pinkie demanded, taking a hasty step back from Blueblood.

“What? Are you the only one allowed to take that Wonderbolt’s advice?” He asked as if he were talking down to a child. “Or maybe you’re the only one who’s allowed to wander around these grounds.”

“I mean why are you following me?” Pinkie specified, not about to take any of Blueblood’s crap, “I suggest you answer, because after the way you’ve treated my friends I’m pretty tempted to buck you to the moon.”

“I’d like to see a puny filly like you try,” Blueblood said, giving Pinkie the first genuine smile she’d seen on him, although it was easily creepier and more threatening than cheery. Pinkie took another step back, but Blueblood stepped forward.

“Don’t try anything!” Pinkie warned him, slightly afraid herself. “I’ll scream!”

“Oh get over yourself, if I wanted to kill you you’d already be dead,” Blueblood said rolling his eyes. Pinkie halted, surprised by the bluntness of what he said.

“Then what do you want?” Pinkie repeated.

“I just wanted to say…” Blueblood began, but he didn’t get any further than that.

“Hey!” a voice rang out above them. They both looked up to see Cloudchaser hovering overhead. She swiftly descended, dropping next to Pinkie and facing Blueblood in an aggressive pose. “You mind telling me what you’re doing out here?”

“Nothing,” Blueblood replied casually, turning away from the pair.

“Don’t let me catch you around her or anypony else you hear!” Cloudchaser shouted after the slowly retreating Blueblood, he didn’t acknowledge her threat. Once he was out of sight Cloudchaser turned to Pinkie, a look of relief on her face. “You okay? He didn’t try to hurt you did he?”

“No, I don’t know what he was gonna do,” Pinkie replied honestly.

“Well we should probably head back,” Cloudchaser said warily, “and we’ll tell Fleur about this, she seems to be good at keeping Blue in line.”

“Sure,” Pinkie agreed, “thanks for showing up anyway.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Cloudchaser insisted, “we girls gotta stick together.”

“How did you know we were out here though?” Pinkie asked as the pair began to walk back towards the mansion.

“Well I thought I’d take Soarin’s advice and go out for a little flight,” Cloudchaser began to explain, “he’s over at the pool and I think Lightning headed back to her room, probably to catch some zees. Anyway, I saw him walking around the gardens; he kept looking at his hoof computer. I figured the slimy weasel was up to no good, so I followed him just to make sure.”

“Wait, he wasn’t following me?” Pinkie asked surprised.

“I guess not,” Cloudchaser admitted, “I assumed he just came by you by accident until he started getting up in your face.”

“Strange, I wonder what he was doing out this far,” Pinkie pondered.

“With that guy, who knows,” Cloudchaser said brushing it aside. “Let’s just get back to the house and find Fleur.”

“Sure,” Pinkie replied absent minded, glancing down at her hoof computer as she walked.

What could Blueblood have been looking up that led him out here?

Day 4, 16:33

“Well, after taking this thing apart piece by piece and putting it back together again, I can safely say I have no idea how it works,” Vinyl said, standing over the now reassembled screen on the dining room table. “You can stick it back up Gizmo.”

“What?” Gizmo explained, still panting from when he had to take it down for Vinyl in the first place. “Can’t you jusht ushe your telekineshis?”

“Well what kind of gentlestallion would you be if you made me do it on my own?” Vinyl asked in mock horror. Redheart shook her head disapprovingly, but failed to hide her smirk from Pinkie Pie who was sitting next to her. “But I guess, I can do it if you really won’t help out a mare in need…”

“No wait!” Gizmo exclaimed, jumping to his hooves and rushing forward. “I can do it, don’t you worry about it.”

“Thanks, you’re a dear,” Vinyl said walking away and leaving Gizmo to the heavy lifting.

“You are just terrible,” Redheart said, not even trying to hide her amusement.

“Yeah I know,” Vinyl responded proudly.

“So you really didn’t figure out anything?” Pinkie asked despondently.

“Well I figured out some stuff, I just said that a minute ago for dramatic effect,” Vinyl admitted, earning a sigh of frustration from Redheart which she ignored. “Basically its run by a power crystal, which is receiving its power input from an outside source, my guess is that source is the Mastermind itself.”

“So they really are a unicorn?” Pinkie asked.

“Most likely, but like Trixie said, it is possible for another race to use magic given the right tools and training,” Vinyl explained. “Now magic isn’t my thing, but from what I could tell, the magic is being sent from somewhere inside this mansion!”

“The Mastermind’s here?!” Pinkie exclaimed, Redheart simply opened her eyes wide but didn’t say anything.

“That’s what it looks like,” Vinyl emphasised, “but like I said, magic isn’t really my thing, I’ll have to get Trixie to look into it later, if she ever comes out of that library.”

So the Mastermind is this mansion with us. But we’ve been in every room… every room except one.

“Hey careful with that Gizmo!” Vinyl shouted as Gizmo nearly dropped the screen trying to remount it on the wall. “That thing’s high quality, I plan to sell it once we get out of here.”

Vinyl turned back to the others, Redheart was giving her a disbelieving look.

“What?” Vinyl asked innocently, “Might as well have some good come from this whole escapade.”

Day 5, 09:34

“And that’s how Equestria was made,” Pinkie finished causing Vinyl to burst out laughing and Coco to give a polite smile.

“I told yah she was full of the best stories,” Vinyl said, clapping Pinkie on the back.

“Yeah, that one was really funny,” Coco agreed before spotting Lightning Dust walking around the corner towards them. “Oh Lightning, we’re going for a jog, would you like to join us?”

“Nah, I can never do hard exercises right after eating,” Lightning explained, “I’m just gonna head to my room to do some light cardio for my flight with Soarin later.”

“Don’t we have a gym for that?” Vinyl asked.

“Yeah, but that nerdy guy is in there,” Lightning mentioned, cringing at the thought. “He keeps chatting me up and it’s really freaking me out.”

“Aw, Gizmo’s a nice guy,” Pinkie insisted.

“Maybe he is, he’s just not really my type you know,” Lightning continued, “Braeburn on the other hoof…”

Lightning gave a low whistle, Vinyl nodded in agreement.

“I can’t really speak there,” Pinkie said, “I’m pretty sure he’s my cousin.”

“Seriously?” Lightning asked sounding hopeful. “Do you think you couldn’t, I don’t know, speak me up to him? See if he bites.”

“I’ll see him in the kitchen during dinner time,” Coco chipped in, “I could bring it up then if you’d like.”

“Would you?” Lightning asked turning her slightly shimmering eyes to Coco, “I’d really appreciate that.”

“Oh it’s no bother,” Coco insisted blushing slightly.

“Thanks anyway,” Lightning said, making to walk around them. “I’ll catch you girls later; have fun on your run.”

“We will,” Pinkie called after her

“She seems to have gotten a lot friendlier since we first got here,” Coco commented as they carried on walking.

“Yeah, I was hanging with her yesterday in the sauna,” Vinyl began, “I think the whole trial thing really shook her, she said she’s been trying to get on better with everypony since.”

“That’s nice,” Coco said quirking an eyebrow, “and terrible I think.”

“I think we were all affected by the trial,” Pinkie stated staring at her hooves as they were walking.

“You girls don’t think he deserved that do you?” Coco asked quietly, “I know what he did was wrong but…”

“No,” Vinyl said determined, “nopony deserved to go out that way.”

“Maybe not,” a voice said behind them. They all spun around to see Fleur standing a few feet behind them. “But don’t forget, the punishment for murder is only exile, but the punishment for treason is death. While I don’t agree with the method employed, I stand by the fact that he got what he deserved.”

“That’s all well and good, but do you mind not sneaking up on us!” Vinyl exclaimed, looking like she was recovering from a heart attack.

“My apologies,” Fleur said sincerely, “I was hoping to speak to Pinkie.”

“Me?” Pinkie repeated surprised, Fleur nodded. “Uh, sure. You two head on, I’ll meet you outside.”

“Sure,” Vinyl said hesitantly. When they were several metres away she called back one last time. “We’re heading out through the door beside the pool, we’ll see you there.”

“Sorry for dragging you away from your friends Pinkie,” Fleur began once they were out of sight.

“Don’t be silly, you’re my friend too,” Pinkie replied giggling slightly. Fleur’s elegant façade slipped for a brief second to reveal a look of genuine surprise before it was replaced and she carried on talking.

“Cloudchaser told me what happened yesterday,” she continued.

“Oh,” Pinkie replied, she should have expected this. “What did you want to know?”

“For starters, do you remember exactly where you were?” Fleur asked. Pinkie thought about it a moment before answering.

“The North-East corner of the grounds I think,” she replied, almost certain. “I’m not sure where precisely or how far out I was. Why?”

“From what Cloudchaser told me,” Fleur continued, looking briefly over her shoulder to ensure they were alone, “I don’t believe Blueblood set out to follow you, but rather stumbled upon you by accident. So I want to know what he was doing out there.”

“Maybe it’s nothing suspicious,” Pinkie suggested, although she didn’t believe it herself. “Maybe he really did just want to take Soarin’s advice.”

“Cloudchaser said she saw him looking at his hoof computer repeatedly,” Fleur said, apparently ignoring what Pinkie had proposed. “Don’t you see anything odd about that?”

Odd? What would be odd about it? After all I was using to get tonnes of information about different plants I could…

“Oh,” Pinkie said, as it dawned on her what Fleur was hinting at. “He can’t read. So what was he looking at on the computer?”

“That’s exactly what I’d like to know,” Fleur said nodding, “There’s no map of grounds, and all information provided on plants and features outside is purely text based. So what could he have been looking at?”

“Or listening to,” Pinkie suggested. “But, what do you think he’s doing?”

“I don’t know,” Fleur admitted, “but I don’t trust it. If I had to point out the weak link in our group it would be him.”

The pair stood in the corridor in silence for some time before Fleur finally spoke up.

“Pinkie, do you think you and I would be able to go out walking tomorrow?” she asked casually, “see if we can find where you encountered Blueblood.”

“Sure, if you think it will help,” Pinkie replied, surprised at the request.

“I believe it might,” Fleur specified, “anyway, I will let you get back to your friends now. Thank you for your time.”

“Don’t worry about it, what are friends for?”

That slip again… is she really so surprised to be considered a friend?

Day 5, 15:20

“And you waited until now to inform Trixie of this!” Trixie reprimanded. She had already been tightly wound at having been disturbed while reading, finding out that Vinyl had taken a whole day to inform her of what she found out from the screen, seemed to be the last straw.

“Sorry Trixie, we were busy,” Vinyl tried to justify.

“Busy running around outside and lounging in the games room,” Trixie corrected. “Trixie knew no good would come from that stallion’s suggestion of finding time to relax, it would seem you have all lost focus of what we are trying to achieve here!”

“Hey we want to get out as much as you do,” Vinyl snapped back, “but Soarin had a point, you’ve been in here for almost an entire day, and how much have you found?!”

“Trixie is very close to making a breakthrough,” Trixie stammered, “She is sure of it.”

“Quit talking out your ass Trixie,” Vinyl continued, “you need a break, and you can’t argue otherwise because you’re getting nothing done here.”

“How about you tell us what to look for and we take over reading for a bit?” Pinkie suggested, hoping to defuse the tension a little. “You could maybe head down to the sauna or the pool.”

“Trixie doubts either of you would know what to search for,” she began, before seeming to cool off a little. “But I suppose I could do with a break. I’ll go take a look at that power crystal now.”

“I thought you said you were taking a break,” Vinyl questioned.

“Trixie is,” she replied, “this won’t pose much of a challenge.

“Fine,” Vinyl said, defeated, “I’ll get Gizmo to lend a hoof.”

“Trixie can just use telekinesis to lift the screen down.”

“Yeah but it’s more fun having Gizmo do it, trust me,” Vinyl replied, brightening up enough to flash a cocky grin.

Day 5, 19:04

Pinkie stared at the portrait. It was the same as it had been when her, Twilight and Trenderhoof had stood here. So why was she so enthralled by it now? Almost subconsciously Pinkie raised her front left hoof, pointing her hoof computer at the painting. She heard the familiar beep as it seemed to register what it was looking at. Swinging her hoof back to eye level she stared at the screen that had now appeared.

No information available.

Day 6, 01:01

Pinkie lay once more, spread eagle on her bed, not because she was feeling down in the dumps but because she was roasting under the covers. She longed to breathe some cool air, but she knew she shouldn’t leave the room, it was too risky. Instead she stood up and approached the window. Unfortunately when she got there, it was exactly as it had been the last dozen times she had come here with the intention of opening it.

The glass was completely flushed to the frame, which was in turn flushed to the window sill, making it impossible to open. Pinkie sighed in frustration, waking over and collapsing on her bed once more. She knew she’d regret breaking it later, but at this point she was sorely tempted. Her eyes were just sliding shut when a beep caused her to open them again.

Snapping her head up, she looked over at the bedside table where her hoof computer sat, the screen lit up for some reason. Curiously she reached out for it, finding it was displaying a new screen.

Room settings.

Confused, she browsed through the new page, finding several options available to her including room service and escort service, but the one that caught her attention at that point was one of the few that weren’t greyed out.

Air conditioning.

Clicking into this she was greeting with a slider bar, currently siting at zero. Feeling hopeful, she slid the pointer to the right and was immediately rewarded with a surge of cool air blowing into the room from what she had assumed was the skirting boards. Shifting the slider to a point she was satisfied with, she lay back on her bed, smiling happily despite the thought floating around her skull.

Why did my hoof computer turn on and go to that page just when I needed it most?

Day 6, 09:10

“Are you ready to go Pinkie?” Fleur asked, approaching the mare outside the dining room.

“Yeah, sure,” Pinkie said, waving goodbye to Vinyl who was heading off with Coco and Braeburn. Fleur simply nodded and began leading the way towards the kitchen. Pinkie made to follow her, but seemingly on instinct she glanced over her shoulder and peered into the dining room. Was it her imagination or had Blueblood been watching her?

“Pinkie?” Fleur called, having reached the door to the kitchen before realising Pinkie wasn’t behind her.

“Oh, sorry,” Pinkie called, trotting forward. Together the pair entered the kitchens and began making for the rear where they knew was a small utility room with a door to the outside.

“The gardens are truly breath taking, wouldn’t you agree?” Fleur asked as they walked out to the grounds.

“Huh, oh yeah, they’re pretty awesome,” Pinkie agreed.

“I had asked Princess Twilight if she would like to walk through them with me on the second day,” Fleur continued, her voice taking on an odd tone. “She seemed delighted at the prospect; however… it never came to be.”

“I’ve been wondering,” Pinkie began, she sounded tentative, this might be a touchy subject and she didn’t want to upset or annoy Fleur. “Why do you always call Twilight, Princess Twilight?”

“Because she is a… was a princess,” Fleur answered, as if it were obvious. “It would be rude of me not to address her as such.”

“But Twilight really didn’t care for titles, anything really that made her seem more important than anypony else,” Pinkie informed her.

“I know, she did tell me,” Fleur admitted, “She truly was a modest one.”

“If she did, then why do you insist on calling her by it?” Pinkie asked again. Fleur fell silent briefly, seemingly lost in her own thoughts.

“I guess… it’s just a personal thing,” she said at last. Pinkie nodded, realising she shouldn’t pry, but to her surprise Fleur carried on talking. “I’m not from Equestria originally.”

“Oh, um, yeah,” Pinkie said, “I did notice the accent.”

“A lot of ponies do, it’s hard to shake off,” Fleur admitted. “I was originally born to middle class family in Prance; I lived there for ten years of my life.” Pinkie didn’t say anything, merely listened. “My sisters and I were never spoilt, but nor did we struggle, our parents worked for an honest living and thus we got by. We had the essentials, food, shelter, but more than that we had each other. I never realised at the time how lucky I was.

“But all good things come to an end,” Fleur said, her voice turning dark. “When the civil war in Prance broke out, it was chaos, cities were burnt to the ground, families were torn apart, and ponies were killed in the street. It quite quickly became impossible to live there. My family along with a few others from our neighbourhood, sought to escape, to flee to Equestria to seek asylum. We travelled for days, only moving under cover of dark and hiding in the burnt out husks of homes, or the buildings that used to be homes.

“Along the way we steadily lost the other families,” she continued, “whether it was because they decided to go their own ways or because the soldiers got them didn’t matter, I never heard of them after they left. Soon it was only my parents and my only remaining sister, two already lost to the hunger and the cold. We were so close to the border, at long last hope was in sight… but that was when they found us.”

Pinkie cringed, already knowing where Fleur’s story was going, but she didn’t stop her, she continued to listen as the pair continued to walk through the gardens.

“It was my parents’ final act,” Fleur continued, her voice cracking now, “giving my sister and I what little supplies we had and distracting the soldiers head on, giving us our opportunity to escape. We didn’t make it far, two weak, hungry fillies, looking back now we never had a hope. They caught up to us, that’s when it was all going to end, our parents’ sacrifice would be for nothing… but then she came.”

Pinkie looked up at Fleur, her eyes were shining with tears, but beyond those, Pinkie could see a light shimmering.

“Princess Celestia charged in,” she continued, awe painted on her face. “She brought the fury of the sun down upon the soldiers, and then offered its warmth to my sister and me. She took us to Canterlot, kept us in the castle, saw to it personally that we were fed and looked after, all the while travelling back and forth between Equestria and Prance, protecting the innocent and rescuing the needy. By the time the war came to an end, Canterlot castle resembled a refugee camp, and Celestia made time for every one of the ponies she’d saved.

“She comforted us when we were sad, played with us when we were happy, and she saw to it that every survivor was reunited with the families they had been separated from, and in cases where there were no families like me and my sister, she treated us like her own children.” Pinkie too was in tears now, although she kept quiet, letting Fleur finish. “I eventually took on a job in the Royal Court and earned my cutie mark doing so. I made enough through my own efforts that I was able to afford a house for my sister. I myself found a home with a kind young stallion who had helped me when I first began working in the court, who eventually became the love of my life and my husband.

“I am still to this day welcome amongst the Royal Court and Princess Celestia herself,” Fleur finished, “She is like a mother to me, I owe her everything. That is why I insist on referring to her and Twilight by their proper titles, if Princess Celestia believed Twilight was fit to stand alongside her, then I will offer her the same respect I would to Princess Celestia.”

Pinkie was dumbfounded by what she had just heard, she hadn’t expected that from asking a seemingly simple question, none the less she couldn’t help but feel immense respect for the mare waking beside her.

“That was…” Pinkie began, not sure what she could say, “I knew Celes… I mean, Princess Celestia was amazingly kind, but to do all that…”

“She is extraordinary,” Fleur agreed with a slight nod, her eyes shut.

At some point during the story Pinkie had led them off the path at around the point she remembered doing so during her run, and now she had the distinct feeling that they were getting closer to their destination.

“It should be right over here,” Pinkie said quietly, still shell shocked from hearing Fleur’s tale.

“This is where Blueblood snuck up on you?” Fleur asked.

“Yeah,” Pinkie confirmed stopping in the clearing they had spoken in. “He had said he wanted to tell me something, but then Cloudchaser jumped in and he dropped it.”

“Most curious,” Fleur replied, pacing around the clearing. Pinkie wasn’t sure what she was expecting to find, but after a few minutes she heard Fleur gasp. Pinkie spun around to see Fleur crouched down, examining something on the ground. Pinkie hurried forward and jumped down at her side, staring at the patch of earth Fleur was looking at.

At first glance it appeared perfectly ordinary, and Pinkie wondered why Fleur had gasped, but then she saw it. An indent in the dirt, created by a solid object being pressed into it, the object itself nowhere to be seen. An indent in the shape of a key.

Day 6, 15:56

“Are you girls serious?” Braeburn asked as he continued chopping vegetables. He sounded doubtful, but Pinkie was sure she saw a hint of hope in his eyes.

“You bet we are,” Pinkie confirmed, leaning against the kitchen bench. “Lightning Dust is all over you.”

“Well, don’t tell her we told you that, but yeah she really is,” Coco agreed. Braeburn seemed to think about it for a moment.

“Come on what’s to think about?” Pinkie asked excitedly, “Lightning is a total catch; you two would make such a cute couple.”

“Oh it’s nothin’ against her,” Braeburn said horridly, “she’s really pretty, and she’s been right friendly to me these past few days. I just don’t know if a relationship would work, especially in here.”

“That’s understandable I guess,” Coco admitted slightly disappointed, “but at least think about it.”

“Oh you can bet I will,” Braeburn assured them, “a sweet girl like Lightning Dust, I’d be crazy to say I wouldn’t.”

“That’s good,” Coco said, lifting the plates of salad Braeburn had just finished preparing and adding them to her tray. “Pinkie, could you carry those jugs of water for me?”

“Sure thing Coco,” Pinkie said, balancing the jugs on her back and following Coco out of the kitchen. Once they were out in the hall they began silently squealing with delight.

“Oh Lightning is going to be so happy,” Pinkie whispered, “should we tell her?”

“Let’s wait until Braeburn makes up his mind,” Coco said cautiously, “we don’t want to give her any false hope.”

“Oh Braeburn will say yes, I can promise you that.”

Day 7, 12:00

Pinkie happily skipped down the hall, she really needed to thank Soarin for that advice on exercising, these runs were doing wonders for keeping her mood up. She hadn’t forgotten about Twilight, how could she? But she wouldn’t let this game get her down; she wouldn’t let the Mastermind beat her. Pinkie probably should have kept her eyes open as she skipped down the hall as she might have seen the puddle of water lying before her, and she might not have slipped and fallen on back.

“Ouch,” she said, although she wasn’t in any real pain. Sitting up she looked around her, trying to figure out what was going on. The water she had slipped on seemed to be part of a trail running along the corridor. In one direction she was sure the swimming pool was located, in the other she could swear she heard voices. Curiosity overcoming her, she stood up and proceeded to walk towards where she could hear the voices.

As she came around the corner she found Fleur, Cloudchaser and Lightning Dust standing outside a closed door.

“Hey girls,” Pinkie greeted, walking forward to join the group.

“Oh, hey Pinkie,” Cloudchaser greeted back upon seeing the newcomer. “Did you see the water too?”

“Yeah, what’s with it?” Pinkie asked.

“We’re not sure,” Lightning answered, “it led to this room but the door won’t open.”

Pinkie looked down at her hoof computer, bringing up the digital map. “It says this room is one of the parlours,” she said, not that that helped to explain anything.

“I think it’s been barricaded from the other side,” Fleur said, her horn glowing, “I might be able to shift it, but it’s going to be hard not seeing what it is.”

After a minute or two they heard the loud scraping of something dragging across the wooden floor. Once it stopped Fleur gave the door a little nudge. As soon as she did Pinkie was hit with a faint odour.

Cloudchaser sniffed the air, a confused expression on her face, “What is that smell?”

Lightning Dust sniffed a little before she exclaimed and clutching her nostrils, a twisted expression on her face.

It’s not that bad.

Fleur hadn’t reacted to the smell, but she had a wary look on her face, and Pinkie understood why. It wasn’t as strong as the last time she had smelt it, but it was no doubt the beginning of the same thing.

Fleur pushed the door open wide, Pinkie braced herself for what lay beyond…

She could never have braced herself enough.

Trenderhoof lay flat on his face, a large pool of blood formed under his head, one half of his skull caved in.

Oh no… not again.

Author's Notes:

You have once again entered the world of survival horror... I mean, murder mystery.
From now on I'm going to be updating less frequently to give more people a chance to read and propose theories, after all the game wouldn't be any fun if I published the final part of the chapter before any one had time to guess the identity of the culprit.
Also, I've noticed the horizontal rules used to signify jumps in time don't show up very well on the default 'light' and 'medium light' format setting. The irony being that these are the only format settings where the picture at the end of the trial shows up well.