Day 8, 07:42

Pinkie sighed in bliss as the hot water rushed down over her, washing away the memories of the previous day for a few glorious minutes. She was just starting to get relaxed, about to reach for the bottle of shampoo before the water cut off without warning. Snapping her head up confused she found the tap turning of its own accord, the confusion didn’t last long however as she quite quickly guessed what the cause of this was.

“I was enjoying that,” she said to the empty bathroom, disgruntled.

“My apologies,” the Mastermind replied, sounding half believable, “but you have a guest at your bedroom door and it would be rude to keep them waiting.”

A guest?

Annoyance making way for curiosity, Pinkie stepped out of the shower, shaking most of the water off before throwing a towel around herself and stepping out of the bathroom. Indeed there was a light knocking on her bedroom door.

Probably Coco by the sounds of it.

Smiling a little despite how chilly she now felt, she walked over to the door, turned the key and pulled it wide open. Coco was not standing on the other side.

“Oh Pinkie,” Soarin began embarrassed, seeing her wrapped up in a towel and still soaking wet. “Sorry, I didn’t realise you were busy, it’s alright, I’ll just go.”

“It’s okay, I’m just finished,” Pinkie lied, “what did you need?”

“Actually I was just checking to see if you were coming down to breakfast,” he said awkwardly, “it’s almost eight.”

“Sure, let’s go,” Pinkie replied, taking her key and saddle bags and stepping into the hallway.

“Uhh…” Soarin began looking pointedly away from Pinkie, “are you sure you want to go looking like… well, that?”

“Huh, what’s wrong with this?” Pinkie asked looking down. Sure a towel wasn’t the most appropriate attire for eating a meal, but it wasn’t like they wore clothes generally.

Stallions are weird.

“Oh nothing’s wrong, nothing at all,” Soarin replied hastily, “you know what, it doesn’t matter, let’s just head.”

“Okie dokie lo…” Pinkie began to say, but her voice trailed off when the pair of them turned to walk down the corridor, and she saw Blueblood standing at the end, watching them. Pinkie couldn’t be sure from this distance, but Blueblood seemed to be giving her an odd look, but as quickly as she noticed it he looked the other direction and walked away.

“What a creep,” Soarin muttered as the pair began to walk.

“Yeah,” Pinkie agreed, “I can’t wait until we get out of here and we never have to deal with him again.”

“You and me both,” Soarin concurred with a small laugh, Pinkie joined in good naturedly. “I wanted to thank you.”

“Hmm?” Pinkie looked over at Soarin, surprised by his suddenly serious statement.

“Yesterday,” he continued, “you proved I was innocent, I never did thank you for that.”

“It’s alright,” Pinkie whispered. “You were innocent, I wasn’t about to let you be accused.”

“That’s twice now you’ve found the truth,” Soarin commented. “I think Lightning Dust was right, if there’s anypony that can get us out of this, it’s you.”

“Coco found the hair,” Pinkie reminded him, “she also found Joe’s shirt. I think if that proves anything it’s that together we can get out of this.”

“You didn’t strike me as the modest type,” Soarin said, sounding amused.

“And you didn’t strike me as the loyal type,” Pinkie countered. “Did you really mean all that stuff you said yesterday?”

“About the Wonderbolts? Of course I did,” Soarin confirmed. “Most ponies only see us as performers, but then that’s what we mostly do in times of peace.”

“You said you dropped out of school,” Pinkie reminded him. “How did you come to be a Wonderbolt?”

“It was all thanks to Spitfire really,” he informed her. “The two of us have been inseparable since we were foals growing up in Cloudsdale. She’s one smart cookie on top of being a flying prodigy, so she was pretty much guaranteed a no stops trip to the top in whatever field she chose. That field was the Wonderbolts. She could have cut me off, she had plenty of friends so she wouldn’t have been missing anything, but she never did. She always took time to help me practice despite all the work and expectations she was carrying on her own shoulders. She was the real loyal one, I wouldn’t be anywhere today without her.”

“She must be worried about you,” Pinkie pointed out, her own thoughts drifting to her other friends in Ponyville and her family back on the rock farm.

“Probably, god I hope I see her again someday,” Soarin said wistfully.

“Sounds like somepony has a crush,” Pinkie said slyly, nudging Soarin in the ribs. He just rolled his eyes.

“Pinkie, don’t say that,” he said sounding half amused, half disgusted. “She’s like a sister to me.”

The pair laughed began to laugh, only stopping when another voice joined them.

“What are you two laughing about?” Vinyl asked, stifling a yawn.

“Nothing,” Soarin said quickly, before Pinkie could incriminate him. “Let’s just head to breakfast, I think we’re already late.”

Day 8, 08:10

“Well that’s everypony accounted for,” Fleur said with a little nod as Pinkie, Soarin and Vinyl entered the dining room.

“Hey, did any of you girls know we had a shed?” Braeburn asked, setting down a platter of toast.

“A shed, where?” Pinkie asked, surprised.

“Just outside the kitchen door to the grounds,” Braeburn explained. “It looks like some kind of gardening shed, there’s a lot of wood stacked up outside it.”

“How in Equestria did we miss that?” Vinyl asked.

“We probably didn’t” Trixie answered, “Trixie believes the Mastermind has only just allowed it to be revealed.”

“What is that freak up to now?” Vinyl muttered grabbing a slice of toast.

“What’s inside?” Pinkie asked.

“No idea,” Gizmo answered, “it’sh locked up tight.”

“And of course,” Cloudchaser finished, “we can’t force our way in.”

“Great, so that’s two locked doors,” Soarin groaned. “And we’re no closer to figuring out how to open the other one.”

“Not yet no,” Trixie admitted before seeming to remember something. “Oh and I examined that crystal in the screen, you were right, it is receiving its signal from somewhere in this mansion, but I can’t seem to trace it. No doubt the Mastermind is blocking us.”

“I bet they're sitting upstairs behind that locked door laughing away at us,” Vinyl suggested, rapping a hoof on the table.

“Most likely,” Trixie agreed sipping a cup of tea.

“Anything else interesting happen?” Pinkie asked looking to Fleur.

“Well, we decided to do inventory on the alchemy lab like we do with the kitchen,” she explained. “Redheart and Coco are up there now.”

“So what do the rest of us do?” Pinkie asked.

“Well I’ll be going up to help them now,” Fleur continued, “I was just waiting here until you three showed up.”

“Trixie shall continue her research,” Trixie said dully.

“It’sh been over a week,” Gizmo pointed out, “haven’t you found anything yet?”

“If Trixie had found something of interest she would have brought it to everypony’s attention,” Trixie snapped back, sounding irritable.

“Well it’s good to see you’ve been such a productive member of the group,” Blueblood commented snidely.

“Said the pot to the kettle,” Cloudchaser muttered, before hastily adding when Trixie flashed her a glare. “Not that I think you’re not being productive… that wasn’t the best phrase I could have used.”

“And what, pray tell, are you going to be doing?” Trixie asked, still sounding bitter.

“I don’t know,” Cloudchaser admitted sounding bored, “any of you guys want to head over to one of the game rooms?”

“I could go for that,” Soarin said, “you in Braeburn?”

“Huh? oh sure,” he replied, sounding distracted.

“Pinkie? Vinyl? Gizmo?” Cloudchaser asked.

“Nah I’m good, I’ve got something I want to look into anyway,” Vinyl explained.

“And I’m going to head outside, see this shed,” Pinkie added.

“I think I’m going to jusht shtay in my room,” Gizmo said nervously.

“Suit yourself,” Cloudchaser said standing up. “You guys coming?”

The three departed from the room, Gizmo following shortly after, leaving only Trixie, Pinkie, Vinyl, Fleur and Blueblood in the room.

“Dare I ask what you plan to be doing?” Fleur asked, looking over at Blueblood.

“I’d rather you kept your nose out of my business,” he replied snootily. Fleur nodded as if to say she hadn’t expected anything else.

Day 8, 08:30

“So what exactly are you doing?” Pinkie asked as her and Vinyl stepped outside the dining room, the others all heading off in their own directions.

“I wanted to take a look at the staircase to the courtroom,” Vinyl explained, “It’s probably a dead end like the crystal in the screen, but… I just want to be sure.”

“Alright, I’ll see you back here at lunch time,” Pinkie said making towards the kitchen.

“Sure thing,” Vinyl called over her shoulder as she headed off in the opposite direction.

See you at lunch time… those could very well have been my last words to her.

Pinkie froze mid-step, shaking her head to rid herself of the depressing thought.

Don’t think that! Nopony is going to die, not anymore. Just focus on the shed right now.

Indeed as Pinkie walked through the kitchen she began to grow quite curious as to this mysterious shed that appeared out of nowhere. If the Mastermind had indeed been hiding it, then why reveal it now? And why leave it locked?

Stepping out onto the gravel path, Pinkie looked down the side of the house, the shed clearly visible. It was a simple, yet proud looking wooden structure, with a low angled green slate roof. Almost the entire front wall was dominated by a set of double sliding doors, similar to those on a barn. As Pinkie walked she saw the silver chain and padlock woven through the door handles.

The chain is obviously brand new.

Walking up beside the shed, Pinkie peeked around the corner, indeed there was an abundance of chopped logs and bags of kindling branches. It wasn’t exactly cold in the mansion, but it might be nice to get a fire lit up in the evening. Pinkie smiled at the thought and backed away from the corner, turning around and slamming straight into Blueblood.

“Blueblood!” Pinkie exclaimed jumping back. “Seriously, are you stalking me or something?!”

“I guess you could say that,” Blueblood admitted. That was not the answer Pinkie had been hoping for, immediately the first thought that jumped to her mind was to turn and run as fast as she could from him, but it was drowned out by the other thought that reminded her the last time Blueblood had snuck up on her he had mentioned something about wanting to tell her something.

“What do you want?” Pinkie demanded, trying to sound confident, but she was still shaken and her voice betrayed that. It made Blueblood smile, the same creepy, threatening smile he’d had that last time.

“I’ve been trying to get you on your own for a while now,” he said, taking a step closer. Again Pinkie’s brain screamed for her to run, but she found herself paralysed.

“Why?” Pinkie asked, her mouth dry.

“To do this…”

Shit! He’s about to murder me! Run for the fu… Wait… Is he kissing me?!

Pinkie was frozen stock still, her eyes as wide as dinner plates while Blueblood locked his mouth with hers, kissing ferociously. Pinkie was still struggling to comprehend what was going on.

Does not compute!

It wasn’t until it registered in her head that Blueblood’s forehooves were working their way around her body that her mind kicked into overdrive and she leapt back, kicking out with her forehooves as she did.

“What the buck was that about?!” She screamed, her eye twitching. Blueblood just cocked an eyebrow.

“What? Am I not allowed to be attracted to a mare?” he asked sounding uninterested, like casually making out with mares he’s shown no signs of attraction to previously was just something he did generally.

“No! I mean… whatever! I mean… WHAT?!” She yelled, her eyes shrinking to pinpoints.

“You’re clearly confused right now,” Blueblood said dismissively, “I’ll give you some time to think about it.” With that he turned and began walking to the kitchen door. On the way he stopped briefly and looked over his shoulder, “it would probably be best if we kept this under wraps.”

And less than a several seconds later, he was gone, leaving an utterly bewildered Pinkie Pie standing next to the shed.

Day 8, 09:03

“Stupid Blueblood…” Pinkie muttered under her breath as she traipsed across the path.

He kissed me! Why would he kiss me? Does he like me?... This is Blueblood, he doesn’t like anyone. So why would he kiss me?

“Stupid Blueblood!” Pinkie repeated.

“Who’s stupid?” a voice asked behind her. Pinkie spun around, thinking for a wild moment it was Blueblood returned to stick his tongue down her throat again.

“Oh Trixie, it’s just you,” Pinkie said relieved upon seeing the blue unicorn.

“Were you expecting somepony else?” Trixie asked confused. Pinkie opened her mouth, intent on telling Trixie everything that had just happened. But as she did, something yanked at her tongue, causing her to reconsider.

“No,” she lied, “I’ve just been on edge, two murders and all you know.”

“Trixie understands,” Trixie said nodding sagely, walking up beside Pinkie. “Everypony is nervous, few will admit it but Trixie can tell.”

“So…” Pinkie began, trying to think of something to say to change the topic. She then noticed that Trixie was holding a large tome in her magic. “What’s with the book?”

“Trixie found this in the library,” Trixie explained, holding the book out in front of Pinkie. “It is the journal of Rosethorn, the original owner of the Arcane Manor.”

“Original owner?” Pinkie repeated, genuinely confused. “But I thought Orchid…”

“Orchid was the last unicorn to live here,” Trixie elaborated, “but the house itself is much older.”

“Okay, so what did you find?” Pinkie asked. Trixie opened the book to a page where a white ribbon bookmark was placed.

“This passage refers to the building of a crypt at the north end of the grounds,” Trixie informed her. Pinkie squinted her eyes at the text Trixie was referring to, but she couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

“I can’t read a word of this,” Pinkie complained.

“I’m not surprised,” Trixie admitted, “it’s written in the pre-Discord Era style of writing. It became obsolete over a thousand years ago because the cramped, steep angled letters were too difficult to read, and it was written with very little pressure applied so it faded quicker over time.”

“Neat!” Pinkie exclaimed, not sure if that was an appropriate response or not. “So you’re going to find this crypt?”

“We might as well,” Trixie said with a little shrug, “you’re welcome to come along.”

“Sure,” Pinkie agreed, allowing Trixie to lead the way.

“Also could I put this in your saddlebags?” Trixie asked, holding up the book. Once Pinkie nodded, Trixie telekinetically opened Pinkie’s bag and slid the book in. The two walked together in relative silence, occasionally making small talk which inevitably teetered out and left them walking in silence once more. Pinkie tilted her head back and stared up at the multi-hued sky, it was weird, despite no sun penetrating it, the rest of the surroundings looked the same as if they were bathed in the light of a summer’s day.

“Did you ever find anything on the magic around this place?” Pinkie asked as she watched the swirling sky.

“Some books make reference to an ancient and powerful form of magic which sounds a lot like what we’re dealing with,” Trixie explained, “But it’s mostly the stuff of legends, no real basis for understanding it let alone learning to use it.”

Pinkie nodded, tilting her head back down in time to see their destination before them. It looked as if the path just widened out for a brief stretch, the gravel replaced with stone slabs. In the centre of the plaza was a rectangular stone tablet, several names chiselled into it. The top name read ‘Rosethorn’, while the bottom name read ‘Orchid’.

“This looks like the place,” Trixie said, her horn glowing pink. The tablet was wrapped in her aura and she began to strain, attempting to lift it away from what the pair presumed was the entrance to the crypt.

As Trixie continued straining and struggling, Pinkie drifted away a little, examining an odd, slightly out of place slab. Tentatively resting one hoof on it, she found nothing happened, so she added her other three hooves, putting all her body weight down on the slab. The slab sunk, dipping slightly below the level of all the others, and a low rumbling sound emerged behind Pinkie. She looked around to see the tablet sliding to the side to reveal a dark passage leading down.

Trixie was still gritting her teeth and clenching her eyes shut, but when she heard the rumbling cease she opened them, smiling at what she must have believed to be her own triumph.

“Trixie knew she could do it!” Pinkie stayed silent, opting not to burst Trixie’s bubble. “Let us carry on.”

With that the pair began descending into the dark of the crypt, Trixie’s horn lighting up, illuminating their surroundings. The crypt was small and cramped, carved entirely from what looked to be limestone. The narrow room was lined with alcoves on the walls, some holding open sarcophaguses with visible pony skeletons lying in them. Walking up to the nearest, Pinkie saw a faded plaque on the side of the coffin, it simply read ‘Foxglove’.

“Well I don’t know what we expected to find down here,” Pinkie said, “but I’d say a bunch of long dead ponies is right on the money.”

“Pinkie,” Trixie said in an odd voice, slightly further down the room. Pinkie looked over to see Trixie staring into one of the open coffins, a disturbed look in her eye. Walking over slowly, unsure what to expect, Pinkie glanced down at the plaque that read ‘Orchid’, before looking into the coffin itself. It was completely empty.

“But… where did he go?” Pinkie asked, looking around all the other coffins to see if he was bunking with one of his grave buddies.

“You don’t think…” Trixie began, still looking disturbed.

“Think what?” Pinkie asked, worried as to what Trixie was hinting at.

“Orchid the Omnipotent was a powerful unicorn,” Trixie said, “specialising in all fields of magic. What if one of those fields… was how to evade death?”

“Then he could be still be alive?” Pinkie asked, starting to get a good idea of what Trixie was suggesting.

“Could be in the manor at this very moment…” Trixie stated.

“The Mastermind,” Pinkie whispered. Trixie gulped and nodded slightly.

“Perhaps so,” she said biting her lip. “Maybe… maybe he wasn’t buried here at all. Let me see that book a second.”

“How will this help you?” Pinkie asked reaching into her saddlebags. “Didn’t you say this was written like a thousand years ago?”

“Yes I did, but still it might give us some…” Trixie trailed off as Pinkie pulled the book free, something clattering onto the crypt floor as she did.

Both mares stared down at the floor, Trixie’s light glinting off the ornate gold key that lay there.

“Where… did you get that?” Trixie asked, picking the key up with her magic.

“Me? I never had that!” Pinkie insisted.

“Pinkie, it just fell out of your bag,” Trixie pointed out. “Are you saying it just fell in there?”

“I don’t know how it got in there,” Pinkie said again. Trixie just stared back at her doubtfully.

“We should show this to the others,” she said at last. Walking towards the exit of the crypt, Pinkie following in her wake.

How did that key get in my bag?

Day 8, 10:23

“So what’s this about?” Cloudchaser asked as her, Braeburn and Soarin all arrived in the corridor on the third floor. Trixie didn’t say anything at first, merely levitated the golden key out from behind her back and showing it to all the others.

“Is that…” Fleur began, looking between the key and the locked door behind them.

“We think so,” Trixie stated.

“Where did you find that?” Redheart asked, amazed.

“Well…” Trixie began, her eyes flicking to Pinkie beside her. “We found it in Orchid’s crypt in the grounds.”

“Wait, you mean the guy who lived here?” Vinyl asked.

“The very same,” Trixie confirmed. “I found out he might be buried in the grounds, and while on the way there I ran into Pinkie Pie, together we entered the crypt, found the key and discovered something… interesting.”

“What was that?” Coco asked nervously.

“Orchid isn’t down there,” Pinkie explained.

“He’sh not?” Gizmo repeated, “but then where ish he?”

“Well…” Trixie began hesitantly, “we think he’s behind us.”

The ponies stared in silence at the door behind Trixie and Pinkie, trying to decipher the meaning of Trixie’s revelation.

“You don’t think he’s dead, do you?” Fleur said in little more than a whisper.

“Only one way to find out,” Pinkie replied with a weak smile. Trixie turned around slowly, bringing the key down to the lock. All the ponies gathered held their breath, waiting for the moment of truth, even Blueblood was staring, enthralled at the prospect of seeing beyond the door. The key slid into the lock without any opposition, and with one final breath, Trixie turned the key.

A satisfying clunk echoed throughout the corridor, Trixie glanced back, wide eyed.

“Did… did it work?” Soarin asked, hardly believing their luck.

Looking back, Trixie reached out with a hoof, and turned the door handle… causing it to swing open.

Pinkie and Trixie stepped through together, unsure what they were about to encounter.

What they did find however, was a spacious master bedroom, a giant four-poster bed planted in the centre of the room. Extravagant and elegant furnishings surrounded the walls, everything from mahogany wardrobes to gold trimmed vanities. One by one the ponies stepped into the master bedroom, examining every surface, nook and cranny. However as each minute tricked by and they continued to uncover nothing that might identify the Mastermind or help them escape, their hopes so high upon entering the room began to dwindle.

Desperate not to lose heart, Pinkie trotted over to the other single door in the corner of the room, so easy to overlook. Vinyl was watching her, as if expecting a guillotine to swing down as Pinkie opened it. Thankfully nothing of the sort happened, instead the door swung wide open without any bother, revealing a stark white bathroom.

Stepping inside Pinkie found it to be far bigger than any of their en suits. Despite the larger size however, she found it mostly bare, most of the room occupied by a raised dais upon which rested a magnificent bathtub. Edging towards it, Pinkie began to notice something off about it. The rim of the bath was not entirely white, but instead had splodges of purple splashed over it. It only became more pronounced the closer she got and the further she could see into the bath.

Once she was right up beside it she found the entire base obscured by shades of pink and purple, and resting on the floor of the tub were a dozen unmarked, plastic bottles, similar to the ones used for holding shampoo.

This looks like… paint? But why on earth would anyone paint a bath tub?

Day 8, 10:56

None of the ponies were happy as they traipsed back into the hallway. They had been expecting something more, something helpful. Instead they got a messy bath tub and a fancy, yet ultimately pointless room.

“Well that was uneventful,” Vinyl muttered as they all stood together outside the previously locked door.

“So much for the master key,” Blueblood said bitterly, levitating the key out of the lock and holding it in front of them.

Master Key?

“Did you just call that the master key?” Pinkie asked, curiously.

“Well yeah, it opened the door to the master bedroom,” he replied as if it were obvious.

“But what if it really is a master key?” Pinkie specified, grabbing the key from in front of Blueblood. “Like a key that can open any lock.”

“Doesn’t that seem like a bit of a stretch?” Cloudchaser asked.

“Maybe,” Pinkie admitted, “but there’s still one locked door.”

The other ponies had to think about it for a moment before Fleur remembered.

“The shed.”

Day 8, 11:18

“Are we going to keep running around this manor all day?” Vinyl asked, whining a little. “I wouldn’t be bothered but that last one was such a bust I’m not in the best mood.”

“Hopefully this will work,” Pinkie said, noticing that Vinyl wasn’t the only sceptical one among them. Wasting no more time, Pinkie took the padlock, examining it.

It certainly looks to be the right shape for the key. Here’s hoping…

Putting the key into the lock, Pinkie gave it a hopeful turn. The padlock sprang open.

“No way,” Cloudchaser said in awe.

“It really is a master key,” Fleur said, sounding surprised.

“Who would have thought that Blueblood would figure something out?” Vinyl said, “even if it was by accident.”

For once Blueblood didn’t retort, too surprised himself that it worked to have even acknowledged Vinyl’s comments. Pulling the chain free of the handless, Pinkie pulled the doors open. The inside of the shed was very dark and incredibly cluttered. Vinyl, Fleur and Trixie all lit up their horns, Blueblood joined in after they all gave him a look. This time they couldn’t all wander about as freely as they could in the master bedroom, not without knocking over a dozen gardening tools and possibly impaling somepony on most of them.

The shed was packed with everything including rakes, hoes, shovels, callipers, tongs, and every tool the ponies could think of had been shoved in somewhere.

“Hey look at this,” Braeburn said, holding something out. Pinkie looked over to see Braeburn with a box of matches. “With that wood outside, I’ll be able to light up a decent fire in one of the sittin’ rooms for us.”

Pinkie smiled, remembering her earlier notion when she first saw the wood, but then that also brought back the memories of Blueblood and the kiss. Looking over she saw Blueblood and Fleur were standing, looking over something. Walking over Pinkie saw it was the remains of a lawnmower, its razor sharp blades sticking out in frightening angles. Fleur grasped them all in her aura, safely pulling them from the wreckage and laying them out flat on one of the less cluttered tables.

“That was just asking for trouble otherwise,” she said to Pinkie after placing them all away safely.

“So nothing in here either?” Pinkie said, disappointed.

“No, I suppose not,” Fleur admitted, “But you were right about the key being a master key.”

“I wonder what else it unlocks,” Pinkie said thoughtfully, holding the key out between her and Fleur.

“Why don’t we go and figure that out now,” Fleur proposed. “I think we’ve discovered all there is in here.”

The pair made their way out of the shed, the rest having already exited and were now standing around outside.

“If that’s all, Trixie is going to return to the library,” Trixie stated, “She has… been given much to think about.”

“Yeah,” Vinyl chipped in, “I think I’m going to get back to what I was at.”

“Yeah, me too,” Gizmo added hurriedly, “I have… important stuff to do.”

Pinkie opened her mouth to ask Gizmo what exactly he was doing, but he had already sped away.

“I’m gonna haul some of this in,” Braeburn said, dragging a bag of sticks around the corner. “Soarin, you mind giving me a hoof with this?”

“I think I’ll go get started on lunch,” Coco said, watching as Soarin went to help Braeburn.

“I’ll help,” Redheart said, “I’ve got nothing else to do at the minute.”

“God, it’s all work, work, work,” Cloudchaser complained. “I think I’ll hit the gym for a bit. Catch you girls later.”

That left Pinkie alone with Fleur and Blueblood, the latter of which didn’t stay put, instead opting to walk off without offering any sort of explanation.

“So Pinkie,” Fleur said, dragging Pinkie away from watching Blueblood walk away. “Shall we start our investigation?”

Day 8, 13:21

“So in conclusion,” Fleur announced to the gathered ponies around the dining table. “The key can lock and unlock both doors to the grounds from the kitchen and the pool, as well as all internal doors except for our bedrooms.”

“I suppose that’s good,” Cloudchaser said, “I wouldn’t feel comfortable knowing anypony here could just waltz into my room while I was sleeping.”

“That raises a good question,” Soarin chipped in, “who is going to hold onto the key. I mean let’s face it, if anyone here was going to commit a murder, that key could potentially be the ultimate tool for them.”

“If we’re going by who’s least likely to kill us, we can probably all agree Coco should hold onto the key,” Trixie suggested, causing Coco to squeak in surprise.

“Me? Oh I’d really prefer somepony else took it,” Coco insisted, sounded panicked.

“Yeah, whoever keeps it needs to be able to protect it,” Vinyl added, “and no offence kid, but you’re kind of a push over.”

“Oh I know,” Coco agreed, sounding more relieved at having a legitimate excuse not to be saddled with such a burden, than offended by what Vinyl had actually said. “Maybe Pinkie should keep it.”

“Me? Really?” Pinkie repeated surprised.

“I don’t see why not,” Fleur pointed out, “you’ve certainly proved yourself to be responsible what with the last two investigations.”

“And you were the one who found the key…” Trixie reminded her sounding vaguely suspicious, before adding, “in that crypt.”

“I don’t have a problem with Pinkie holding onto the key,” Redheart said.

“Me neither,” Braeburn agreed, soon everypony was nodding in approval of the idea; even Blueblood gave a non-committal shrug, which seemed positive coming from him.

“It’s settled then,” Fleur said, returning the master key to Pinkie. “Pinkie will be responsible for the master key.”

“That meansh she’ll be held accountable if it goesh misshing, right?” Gizmo asked.

“I suppose,” Fleur admitted, “but I doubt Pinkie will let that happen.”

“No sir-e!” Pinkie exclaimed, putting the key into the small inner compartment of her saddle bag.

“Excellent,” Fleur said happily. “Now that that’s sorted out, what say the rest of you to getting that fire lit. After the week we’ve had, I can imagine few things more welcome than a roaring fire and cup of hot chocolate.”

Day 8, 19:52

Pinkie had to agree, it had been a day well wasted, lying in front of the fire, every hour or so somepony taking their turn go and prepare some more hot chocolate. Stopping for the first time in what was actually little over a week, but felt so much longer, to forget about everything and simply relax together. Even Blueblood sat in the corner, and made no snide comments to anyone, instead opting to sit and doze off on one of the arm chairs.

While Trixie had initially refused to join them, insisting that they had better things to do than sit and ‘chill out’, she did eventually creep quietly into the room, propping herself down by Pinkie in front of the fire before continuing to read the book she had brought down with her. At some point Gizmo had slipped out while none of them were paying attention, Soarin went to check on him but came back a few minutes later saying he was in his room and was content to remain there.

Pinkie knew they had work to do, they weren’t going to beat the Mastermind lying down, but she had no clue how to go about doing so. Trixie was working tirelessly on researching a magical solution to their problem, as well as attempting to pinpoint the exact nature of Orchid’s demise. Vinyl’s infatuation with the stair case in the entrance hall was running her ragged, and try as Pinkie might, she refused to tell anypony what her insistence behind it was. Braeburn took over the kitchen duties, Redheart was managing the alchemy lab, and Coco was running back and forth trying to help them both. Fleur was a natural administrator, always keeping track of them and organising their activities, all the while taking everypony’s wellbeing into account.

So where did this leave Pinkie?

It seems I only really do anything when there’s been a murder. Beyond that I just kind of stumble around, finding things by accident… like the key.

Once they were sure the key was indeed a master key, Pinkie couldn’t help but entertain the thought of there being doors they had yet to find. The shed came out of nowhere, was it entirely ridiculous to hope that other rooms would manifest as well? Pinkie had of course already examined the front gates exiting the manor grounds, but discovered it wasn’t even physically locked, just held closed by the freaking magic dome imprisoning them.

“Anyone fancy another cup before bed?” Coco asked, looking into her own empty cup.

“I went last time,” Cloudchaser reminded them, “it’s somepony else’s turn.”

“I’ll go,” Pinkie offered, standing up beside Trixie who was still enthralled by her book. Picking up the tray and collecting everyone’s cups before leaving the room with them balanced on her back.

She hummed to herself as she walked down the halls to the open kitchen door, angling in so as not to drop the tray, she placed it down as gently as possible on the kitchen counter. With that taken care of and none of the cups in pieces, she went about filling the kettle from the tap and setting it on the heat.

Now where is the chocolate kept again?

Pinkie turned around, and half screamed before clamping her mouth shut with her forehooves when she came face to face with Blueblood.

“Quit doing that!” she scolded him, quickly glancing out the door to make sure there were no approaching hoofsteps. “What do you want?”

“You don’t sound pleased to see me,” he pointed out, sounding slightly annoyed.

“Well you aren’t making it easy,” Pinkie answered, walking around him and busying herself in one of the cupboards searching for the chocolate. “And you didn’t answer my question.”

“I wanted to see if you’d thought any more about my proposal,” he replied simply, approaching her from behind.

“What proposal?” Pinkie demanded, “as far as I remember you just kissed me out of nowhere. Are you asking me out? What do you want from me?”

“I want you,” he said simply, Pinkie’s skin crawled at the thought of that, not to mention he was now close enough that she could feel his breath on the back of her neck.

Pinkie grabbed the chocolate, standing up and turning to face Blueblood. “You’ve been nothing but an ass to me and my friends since we got here.”

“That’s just the kind of pony I am,” he stated.

“And you expect me, or anypony to be attracted to that?” Pinkie asked incredulously, ducking under his hoof and moving back over beside the now whistling kettle, turning the heat off.

“I guess I’d hoped,” he admitted, his voice no longer sounding self-satisfied and condescending, but rather… sad almost. Pinkie sighed inwardly, before she came to this manor she would have tried her hardest to get along with anypony, even one as insufferable as Blueblood, and she definitely would not have made anypony sad. Was this whole ordeal changing her for the worse?

“Wait,” she called out as Blueblood walked towards the door. “You could lend a hoof here… I’d really appreciate that.”

Day 8, 22:33

Stupid Blueblood…

Pinkie rolled over in bed, desperate to fall asleep and stop thinking for a few precious hours.

Stupid Blueblood and that stupid kiss…

Pinkie picked up her pillow and fluffed it before slamming her head back down onto it.

Stupid Blueblood and that stupid joke…

Pinkie’s mouth twitched into a smile before she caught herself on and rolled over, smothering her face in the pillow.

Stupid Pinkie, you shouldn’t have laughed, you shouldn’t have asked him to stay…

Day 9, 08:06

“Hey Pinkie,” Vinyl said casually as Pinkie sat down beside her at the dining table, before doing a double take. “Whoa Pinkie, did you get any sleep last night?”

Pinkie shook her head miserably.

“Um, well, do you want to talk about it?” Vinyl asked worriedly.

Pinkie shook her head again, nibbling on a slice of toast.

“Well I’m going back to the entrance hall after breakfast to keep working; you can come and keep me company if you want.”

Pinkie nodded, still looking down trodden.

“Great talking to you too,” Vinyl muttered turning back to her own food.

Day 9, 08:39

“So what exactly are you trying to do here?” Pinkie asked from where she sat cross-legged on the entrance hall floor. Vinyl jumped upon hearing Pinkie speak.

“Oh there you are Pinkie,” Vinyl said, feigning surprise at seeing her. “You’d better be careful, there’s this clone of you wandering around being all moody and not talking.”

Pinkie rolled her eyes, smiling for the first time since she’d mentally chastised herself the night before.

“But in answer to your question,” Vinyl continued coming over and sitting beside Pinkie. “I’ve been thinking a lot about the courtroom.”

“What about it?” Pinkie asked, nonplussed.

“Well it’s underground,” Vinyl reminded her, “so if that room is, what else could be?”

Pinkie tapped her chin with a hoof, she hadn’t considered that possibility.

“It had occurred to me a while back, but since that shed appeared out of nowhere I’ve been thinking about it a lot more seriously,” Vinyl explained.

“You think the shed was underground?” Pinkie repeated, quirking an eyebrow.

“Could have been,” Vinyl said shrugging. “Trixie seems convinced it was just being cloaked with magic, but it could just have easily been underground, waiting to be raised up to the surface at any point.”

“Which raises another question,” Pinkie began, drawing Vinyl’s attention. “Either way, why would the Mastermind choose to let us have a shed now?”

“Maybe they expect us to maintain the garden while we’re here,” Vinyl suggested. “Which if that’s what they think, they’re in for a cruel surprise. I’d sooner burn that psycho’s garden to the ground than tend it for them.”

“It can’t be that simple,” Pinkie insisted, “the Mastermind wants us to kill each other, he probably just gave us the shed as it’s filled with more tools for us to maim each other with.”

“He?” Vinyl repeated, “You think it’s a dude?”

“Well Trixie seemed sure that Orchid was the one behind this,” Pinkie replied.

“Just because his skeleton wasn’t in that crypt?” Vinyl said sceptically, “there could be tonnes of reasons for that, maybe his family wanted him buried somewhere else, maybe the crypt was robbed. I just find it hard to believe that a few hundred year old unicorn would be hell bent on making a bunch of random ponies kill each other.”

“I don’t know,” Pinkie said sounding defeated. “I just feel like there’s more to all this, and we won’t get out of here until we figure it out.”

“Speaking of figuring things out,” Vinyl said, swiftly changing the subject, “how come you were so mopey at breakfast?”

“Oh it’s nothing,” Pinkie insisted. “I can take care of it myself.”

“If you’re sure,” Vinyl relented, standing back up and walking over to the stairs again. “Just don’t do anything stupid, we need you.”

Day 9, 13:50

“I have to ask Pinkie,” Fleur began in an amused tone, “is there any game you aren’t an expert at?”

“Of course there is,” Pinkie assured her while lying across the snooker table, lining up for a trick shot. “Sure I’m pretty good at a lot of games. I have lots of these games at my parties so I get tonnes of practice.”

“Oh I’ve heard all about your parties,” Fleur said with a small giggle. “Fancy Pants told me about the time you hijacked the Canterlot Garden Party, it sounded most entertaining. I would have loved to have been there, but I was out of town visiting my sister.”

“Fancy Pants,” Pinkie repeated, forgetting about her shot and looking over at Fleur. “He’s your husband right?”

“Yes he is,” Fleur said smiling, “he and I have been happily married for fourteen years.”

“How…” Pinkie began hesitantly, sliding off the snooker table, “when did you realise you loved him? Like for sure, that he was the one.”

“Oh, I’m not sure,” Fleur answered thoughtfully, a far off look in her eyes. “It grew over time; it’s hard to place as it grew so subtly.”

“What did he do?” Pinkie asked, “did he do anything that really made you know?”

“He was always there for me, whenever things got hard he didn’t turn his back on me,” Fleur explained looking Pinkie in the eye.

Always there for you… Wouldn’t turn his back when things got hard…

“So who’s the lucky stallion?” Fleur asked suddenly, causing Pinkie’s heart to miss a beat. She snapped her head up to see Fleur giving her a knowing smile.

“I… No… uh…” Pinkie stammered, her face turning beetroot. Fleur just laughed warmly at this.

“It’s okay Pinkie,” she assured her, “you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. And don’t worry, I won’t tell the others, this will stay between you and me.”

“Thanks,” Pinkie mumbled appreciatively. “Um, I need to go… uh, do something.”

“Of course,” Fleur replied with a slight smirk. “I think it’s safe to say you were going to win anyway.”

With that Pinkie hurried out of the game room, pressing herself against the wall just outside the door. Just before she continued down the hall she heard Fleur ponder to herself.

“Oh, I wonder if it’s Soarin or Braeburn,” she said excitedly. “Or maybe it’s Gizmo.”

Pinkie groaned to herself as she slumped away.

Day 9, 19:20

Pinkie walked down the hall to the dining room, still lost in her own thoughts, only dragged out when she heard raucous laughter coming from the approaching room. Curious, she trotted in, only to have her mouth drop at what she saw.

Soarin, Braeburn and Blueblood were all sitting, laughing together, a number of wine bottles sitting on the table between them. Soarin had one hoof slung over Blueblood’s back while Braeburn lay with his face on the table, looking like he was about to pass out.

“Oh man!” Soarin exclaimed. “I was wrong about you man, you’re alriiiiiight… at least when you’re hammered.”

“I probably shoulda taken this up years ago,” Blueblood slurred before giggling. giggling!

“We’re all goin’ on a…” Braeburn sang from where he had his face planted into the table cloth.

“Ah’m serious man,” Soarin said, “startin’ tomorrow you and I are gonna be best friends.”

Blueblood gasped, his eyes welling up.

Well this is thoroughly disturbing.

“Soooo, guys, having fun?” Pinkie asked casually walking up to the table.

“Pinkie!” Blueblood exclaimed, jumping forward to give her a hug, before realising there was a table between them, and falling flat on it instead… and bursting into another wave of laughter.

“Where did you get all this wine?” Pinkie asked incredulously, examining one of the bottles. She was no connoisseur, that was Rarity’s department, but it looked incredibly classy.

“Blue here found it the master bedroom,” Soarin explained, putting on a spooky voice while saying the last two words.

“You forgot the ‘awoooo’” Blueblood reminded him, imitated his spooky voice.

“Oh yeah,” Soarin said like it should have been obvious. “Awoooo.”

“Awoooo,” Blueblood said back.

“Awoooo,” Soarin repeated.

“Anyway,” Pinkie said loudly, worried they might never stop otherwise. “Not that this isn’t riveting stuff, but are you guys sure…”

“Summer Holiday!” Braeburn finished loudly.

“Drinking is a wise idea?” Pinkie asked, ignoring Braeburn’s interruption.

“As if,” Soarin declared, “we could get murdered at any moment, we gotta live now while we still can.”

“Here-here!” Blueblood cheered.

“Well at least I’ll know who the culprit is if one of you is dead in the morning,” Pinkie said eying the bottles of wine, noticing most of them were already empty.

“So tell me Blue,” Soarin began, ignoring Pinkie. “You’re a guy, you got your eye on any mares?”

“Oh yeah,” Blueblood declared. “I got my eye on a beautiful little thing call Pin…”

“Ah, we don’t need to hear about that!” Pinkie cut in quickly, blushing slightly.

Beautiful?

“How about you?” Blueblood asked, suddenly forgetting what he was about to say.

“I’ve kinda taken a fancy to…” Soarin looked around dramatically, checking to see if anyone was around before saying in a stage whisper, “Coco.”

“Coco?” Pinkie repeated, surprised but not unhappy at the notion.

“Shhhh!” Soarin hushed her. “It’s a secret.”

“Dude, you should totally tell her,” Blueblood declared.

“Tell her? Oh no I couldn’t,” Soarin stammered, blushing.

“You told me Lightning liked me,” Braeburn mumbled from where he lay. Pinkie looked down at him surprised and saw he was narrowing his unfocused eyes at her. “I believed you.”

“I thought she did,” Pinkie insisted, before remembering the look Lightning Dust gave Braeburn after she had been caught out. “She really might have.”

Braeburn snorted, rolling over so he was no longer looking at Pinkie. “She had a funny way of showing it.”

Poor guy.

“Oh hey Pinkie,” Blueblood said suddenly, as if only noticing her there. “What are you doing here?”

Pinkie looked over at Blueblood, biting her lip, unsure of whether now was the best time for discussing this.

“It can wait,” she said at last, turning towards the door. “Don’t keep that up much longer, you’ll all regret it in the morning.”

Day 10, 04:14

Beep.

Pinkie’s eyes flickered open. She was awake, why was she awake? A dim light was illuminating her bedroom, but she had definitely turned off all lights before she had crawled into bed earlier that night. Rolling over, Pinkie glanced at her bedside table where the light was coming from. The screen on her hoof computer was lit up. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Pinkie reached out for the hoof computer, wondering what it could be displaying now.

The screen was displaying a stark white screen, with a single word typed in the centre.

Fire.

Pinkie stared at the word for a few moments, trying to register in her still half asleep mind what it meant. As she became more lucid, she became more worried. Leaping from her bed she stared out the window. It was almost pitch black outside… almost.

A small but bright light penetrated the darkness from far off into the grounds. The light flickered. Pinkie didn’t stare for any longer, strapping on her hoof computer and slinging her saddle bags over her back she sped from the room. Galloping down the corridor to the stairs, the carpet muffling the sound of her hooves. Taking the stairs three at a time, she landed on the first floor and continued running towards the entrance hall.

Have to hurry… Have to help…

Pinkie came skidding to a halt, mentally shouting at herself before turning tail and running for the kitchen which she had past. The main doors wouldn’t be open at this time, what was she thinking? Hurrying back to the kitchen Pinkie sprinted through the door to the grounds. Once on the gravel path outside she began glancing around. She couldn’t see the fire from here, she couldn’t see anything it was too dark. She continued running along the side of the house until she reached the corner and the fire became visible once more. It seemed to be on the main driveway from the gate to the front doors.

Not stopping to ponder what precisely was on fire in the middle of a gravel path, Pinkie continued running forward. As she began to draw closer to the fire she was able to start making out a shape. It looked like a mound, a mound of what though?

Picking up the pace, the burning mass became clearer and clearer, Pinkie could just about make out a proper shape. Now only several metres away, Pinkie found herself come to a complete halt as she saw what was on fire.

Is that a body?!

Those were unmistakably hooves. That was unmistakably a head. It was unmistakably…

SMASH!

Pinkie fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes as the hard object struck her on the back of the skull. Her vision flared briefly before beginning to cloud over as soon as her head smacked into the path. She could feel consciousness slipping away from her, saw the world growing dark. Just before the darkness swallowed her however, a silhouette stepped over her, and laughter was all she heard as she passed out.

Author's Notes:

The game begins anew! Who's done what to who? The time for wild accusations of now... not that I've given you a lot to go by.
As with Chapter 2, the updates for this chapter will be spread out, so you can expect part 2 on Friday (may be subject to change).