Day 12, 09:13

Pinkie rested against the railing in the central chamber, her head tilted, admiring the change in view. There were now a single spiral staircase, curving around the wall to the very highest point of the chamber, passing by the armoury, the waiting room, the throne room and even more.

“Do you want to go investigating first?” Octavia asked from behind her.

“No,” Pinkie replied simply, “it can wait. You wanted to go to the observatory, right?”

Octavia nodded, walking left across the platform and leading the way up the spiral staircase. As they climbed, Pinkie looked out over the edge into the dark abyss below.

“Did you ever find out what caused the stairs to move?” Octavia asked curiously.

“No,” Pinkie responded. “Does it even matter?”

“Maybe,” Octavia stated, “maybe not.”

Arriving at their destination, they marched into the waiting room and quickly switched down the corridor to the observatory.

“There aren’t many of us left,” Octavia announced. “Us, your sister, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Rarity. The Mastermind was right, this won’t last much longer.”

“Which is why it’s more crucial than ever that we end this game before the Mastermind succeeds at whatever they’re planning,” Pinkie replied.

Entering the observatory, Pinkie was hardly surprised to find it in pristine condition, not even the exit to the battlements remained destroyed from her fight with the spectral armour. Octavia walked over to the orrery before turning to face Pinkie, her hoof outstretched.

“The planet,” she stated, making it sound more like an order than a request.

Pinkie obliged, reaching into her saddlebags and fishing out the two halves, passing them across to Octavia. She stood for a moment, scowling at the blood covered half.

“Do you think removing that could have damaged it?” Pinkie asked, gesturing between the planet in Octavia’s hooves and the orrery behind her.

“I don’t know,” Octavia muttered, setting the broken orb on to the ground before searching through her own bags. “This machine is very complex, and very delicate. The slightest change could have dramatic, even catastrophic effects. And unfortunately I still don’t know nearly enough about it to be sure.”

Octavia sounded thoroughly annoyed with herself as she began pulling out stacks out notes and books, slamming them down onto the floor around her. Pinkie just watched on with mild disinterest as she began fussing over the broken planet.

“Pinkie,” Octavia said with a sigh. “I’m going to need to do a lot of work here, do you know if the armoury is still sealed off?”

“It shouldn’t be,” Pinkie replied. “I don’t think we ever re-barricaded after going in there for the tools to take your door down.”

“Alright, I’ll probably have to head down there to get this fixed,” Octavia stated, nodding to the two halves.

“Can you manage that?” Pinkie asked. “As in, do you know what you’re doing?”

The faintest smirk appeared on Octavia’s face.

“If you haven’t noticed, I know a thing or two about technology,” she informed her. “While music is my passion, I had a good teacher… once.”

Pinkie nodded, slightly unclear but delving no further. She began to retreat from the room when Octavia called out for her again.

“I presume you’ll be investigating the higher floors?” she asked.

“Yes, as well as checking in on the others,” Pinkie replied over her shoulder.

“Well, obviously I’m not here to tell you what to do,” Octavia began, her tone implying the exact opposite. “But could I request something of you?”

“I guess so,” Pinkie replied hesitantly.

“You said at the trial this morning that you found that picture in Twilight’s old house,” Octavia reminded her.

“It would make sense that it was the house she grew up in,” Pinkie replied. “Why?”

“Home is where the heart is,” Octavia muttered to herself before raising her voice once more. “If you get a chance, could you go back there?”

Pinkie turned around to face Octavia directly.

“Why would I do that?” she asked suspiciously.

“Because I think the answers we seek are hidden there,” Octavia replied, staring up at the orrery.

“What makes you think that?” Pinkie queried, confused.

Octavia didn’t answer at first, instead she stared into space, her eyes fixed on the orrery.

“I heard it,” she said at last, “in my nightmares.”

Day 12, 09:35

Pinkie cast a last glance over her shoulder as she stepped out of the waiting room. Her eyes scanned over the central chamber, up past the landing outside the throne room to the final two higher up. She was about to begin ascending the staircase when a scream cut through the silence.

Pinkie froze, her head spinning to the lowest landing where the scream had come from. She wasted no time in galloping down the staircase to the central chamber entrance, arriving at the end of the corridor in time to see a rainbow blur zoom out of the residential tower and speed out towards the entrance hall.

Pinkie broke into another gallop, easily covering the distance between herself and Rainbow Dash, coming to a halt at the foot of the entrance hall staircase, her target visible just beyond the gates. Pinkie slowed her pace, approaching Rainbow slowly, watching as she repeatedly pounded the circular pool with her hooves, shouting at the top of her lungs.

“Give him back!” she screamed, repeating over and over again as she punched the water.

The rush of hoofsteps alerted Pinkie to the arrival of Maud and Rarity behind her.

“Rainbow,” Pinkie called out, trying to no avail to get her attention. “Rainbow, calm down. What’s happened?”

“He took him!” Rainbow screamed, still too busy bloodying her own hooves to look at Pinkie. “He took Soarin!”

Pinkie froze mid-step, gritting her teeth. She hadn’t even considered the possibility of Soarin’s body being taken while they were busy with the trial.

“Rainbow, I know this is hard, but you have to calm down,” Pinkie insisted.

Rainbow refused to pay her any heed, still shouting demands and profanities at the Mastermind while pummelling her hooves into the centre of the courtroom. Pinkie was about to open her mouth once more, intent on raising her voice at Rainbow, when a grey blur pushed past her. Maud stormed over to Rainbow who barely had a moment to react before she found her limbs being held painfully behind her back.

“Don’t hurt her!” Rarity cried out, hurrying forward alongside Pinkie.

Rainbow struggled desperately against Maud’s hold, but Pinkie knew she hadn’t a hope of escaping.

“Rainbow you have got to calm down!” Maud ordered, her voice unusually authoritative. “You are doing nopony any favours by acting up and hurting yourself.”

Rainbow gave one last mighty struggle before her body fell limp in Maud’s grip, and she became racked with sobs. Maud seemed to cool down, her grip loosening ever so slightly as she helped Rainbow to her hooves and began leading her away from the pool which was now stained with her blood.

“I’ll take her to her room,” Maud whispered to Pinkie as they passed by.

Pinkie nodded in agreement, allowing the pair to leave so that only her and Rarity remained outside. Once they were gone, Pinkie looked over to her friend who looked very shaken.

“I hadn’t even thought of Soarin,” Pinkie muttered.

“No, me neither,” Rarity agreed. “Poor Rainbow, she was barely keeping it together before this.”

Pinkie nodded, glancing around the courtyard awkwardly while Rarity breathed deep.

"We... we should go inside," Rarity suggested. "Pinkie?"

"Huh?" Pinkie said, looking away from the statue of Cadance. "Yeah, sure."

Did her statue always look so sad?

As the pair walked towards the castle gates, Pinkie looked at Rarity to see if she had noticed anything unusual, but she seemed lost in her own thoughts.

“Something on your mind?” Pinkie asked.

“Oh, I was just imagining how I would feel in her position,” Rarity replied, her voice sounding distant. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost Spike.”

“I, uh, never congratulated you,” Pinkie said awkwardly as they walked through the entrance hall, earning a confused look from Rarity. “When you told me in your letters about the pair of you, I never congratulated you.”

“Oh, that’s quite alright,” Rarity insisted. “You had plenty to be dealing with.”

“Still, how did it happen?” Pinkie asked suddenly curious.

“It wasn’t long after you left Ponyville,” Rarity began, “I’d been begging Spike for a while to come stay with me. The thought of him all alone in the library after what had happened… Shortly after you left, he finally agreed. After that it just seemed to happen without me even realising it. We were both in pain, but we found comfort in each other, and before we knew it we were suddenly happy again.”

Pinkie nodded, smiling slightly at the thought.

“I’m not saying we never had problems,” Rarity corrected, “but being together just made the following months so much easier. I only wish Fluttershy had had someone like that…”

Pinkie froze, her head spinning to face Rarity.

“Excuse me?”

“Well,” Rarity hesitated, suddenly uncomfortable. “Everyone was in pain following Twilight’s… passing, even more so when you left. Rainbow had the Wonderbolts and Applejack had the farm, they each had something they could throw themselves into, to help block out the pain, but Fluttershy… she became a lot more reclusive once you left. She wasn’t even going to attend the Gala until I told her you might be there.”

Pinkie just stared at her friend, her insides turning to ice. She had received so many letters from her friends while at the farm, Rarity telling her about her blossoming relationship with Spike, Rainbow telling her about being accepted into the Wonderbolts, Applejack just asking how she was doing, but nopony had sent her as many letters as Fluttershy. But Pinkie had been too… broken, too wrapped up in her own problems to really look into what they were saying, to even read some of them.

Rarity was staring at Pinkie, knowing full well how she felt. Pinkie wouldn’t be surprised if Rarity hated her for it, but instead there was only pity, always pity.

“When this is over,” Rarity picked up before flinching slightly. “If this is ever over, what will you do?”

Pinkie’s head spun, Rarity’s revelation about Fluttershy coupled with what Maud had admitted to her in her room churned together in her mind.

“I don’t know,” Pinkie said at last. “I really don’t know.”

Day 12, 10:20

“How’s she holding up?” Pinkie asked as her sister stepped out of Rainbow’s room, closing the door behind her.

“Badly,” Maud replied simply. “When she’ not crying she’s shouting and being aggressive with us. Better just to leave her at peace, maybe Fluttershy should talk to her.”

“I’ll suggest it to her if I see her,” Pinkie replied as the pair started walking towards the central chamber.

“So the new rooms?” Maud queried.

“I haven’t seen them yet,” Pinkie informed her. “I was about to investigate when I heard Rainbow screaming.”

“What do you think they’ll be?” Maud asked as they entered the chamber, craning her neck so she could see up to the top.

“Well what rooms are more important than the throne room?” Pinkie countered, as she led the way up the spiral staircase.

“Just because they’re higher up doesn’t necessarily mean they’re more important,” Maud pointed out.

“They must be important to the Mastermind if we’re only being allowed to see them now,” Pinkie retorted.

“That reminds me,” Maud said suddenly. “How come you never had the pegasi just fly up and see what was up there?”

Pinkie hesitated.

“I guess I hadn’t thought of that,” she lied, hoping Maud would drop it.

Thankfully she did and they continued their journey in silence. Passing by the throne room, they climbed the last stretch to the second last landing, where a simple door was placed against the wall. Glancing at Maud, Pinkie turned the handle and opened it, revealing a wide, scarcely lit room. Poking their heads through the door, they saw that the room was filled with counters spaced equal distance apart with paths between them in a grid format. On some of the counters were stacks of notes and books, others had various scientific equipment like test tubes, alembics and burners, but most counters were covered in plant pots.

Stepping into the room and approaching the nearest counter, Pinkie found it smothered by a huge variety of plants she had never seen before, all sporting a wide range of exotic colours. Hanging over each counter was a flat, electric light, filling the room with a soft humming.

“What is this place?” Maud thought aloud as she walked up beside Pinkie.

“It looks like a laboratory,” Pinkie answered. “I told you the manor had one, but that one didn’t have any plants.”

“No, I wonder how they’re still alive,” Maud muttered. “Surely they’d need more sunlight than this.”

“They’re UV bulbs,” a voice explained quietly from the door.

Pinkie and Maud both looked up to see Fluttershy peeking through the door.

“They use the same radiation as the sun that plants need for photosynthesis,” she continued timidly. “Also, I think there might be sprinklers attached.”

“Well that explains that,” Pinkie said to Maud before turning her attention to Fluttershy. “There’s a problem with Rainbow Dash, we were hoping you might be able to have a word with her.”

Fluttershy squirmed awkwardly.

“I know, I just came from there,” she replied. “She didn’t want to see me. Rarity told me what happened with Soarin.”

“Hopefully we can find him,” Pinkie assured her. “Last time the Mastermind kept all the bodies in cold storage in the manor, they’re might be something similar this time.”

“I also heard a lot of noise from the armoury on my way up,” Fluttershy pointed out.

Maud looked to Pinkie, her eyebrow raised.

“That’s just Octavia,” Pinkie explained. “She’s trying to repair that piece of the orrery.”

“Well if that’s all that’s in here,” Maud interrupted, gesturing to the rest of the lab. “We should head on upstairs.”

Pinkie nodded, exiting the room to the landing where Fluttershy stood.

“Are you coming?” Pinkie asked Fluttershy as they began climbing the stairs.

Fluttershy nodded rapidly and quickly rushed up the few steps to reach them. The final stretch was longer than any other, taking a complete circuit around the chamber. Remembering what Soarin had reported on the first day about how the staircases alternated between floors, Pinkie realised they must have been incredibly high at that point. Arriving on the final landing they found themselves outside an archway, leading to a foyer with three separate doors.

“Well,” Maud said, her eyes wide as she looked between the doors. “I guess you were right about the higher rooms being more important.”

The door in the middle was fairly plain apart from the gold plaque in the centre, but it was the other two that drew their attentions. The door on the left was a huge set of double doors, a mixture of deep midnight blue and black, ornate moons set into the frame. The door to right was similar except it was white and yellow in colour, the moons replaced by suns. All three seemed to reach the same conclusion just from looking at the doors.

The princesses’ private chambers.

They all stood in silence for a moment; eventually Pinkie broke it by walking over to Luna’s door, reaching out and testing it. She wasn’t surprised in the least bit to find it locked; she was fully prepared to assume that Celestia’s would yield no results when Maud walked over and opened it successfully.

“I wasn’t expecting that either,” Maud said in response to Pinkie’s wide eyed expression.

Walking over to her sister’s side, they both looked into the Princess’s quarters. It was predictably well furnished, ornate and majestic. The three entered in single file, Fluttershy hesitating behind Maud for a few seconds as if contemplating whether this counted as trespassing. The room they entered was only a lounge area, with archways leading off to a bedroom and bathroom respectively. Taking the lead, Pinkie began searching the various surfaces and interiors for anything of interest.

Pinkie reflected on how she would once have considered this a grave disrespect to the Princess’s privacy, whereas now she felt a sense of righteous pleasure in that very disrespect. To her dismay though, all drawers and cabinets were striped clean. A quick glance into the bathroom relieved Pinkie of the slight fear she had of discovering the bathtub full of purple hair dye. Entering the bedroom, she continued her search aided by Fluttershy.

The first thing she noticed in Celestia’s bedroom was the latticed window that had the perfect view of the main courtyard, serving to show Pinkie just how high they truly were. It was a little daunting to say the least, seeing the princesses’ statues as little more than specks on the ground below. After closing a jewellery case sitting atop the vanity, she was just about ready to give up, when Fluttershy called her name. Walking over she found Fluttershy holding a rolled up scroll, the seal of which was broken.

“It was under her pillow,” Fluttershy explained.

Pinkie nodded approvingly, taking the scroll and choosing not to question the instinct that had driven Fluttershy to look under Celestia’s pillow.

Dear Princess,

As per your request, the object has been transported to your private chambers within the specially enchanted case you provided us with. Once again I can only apologise profusely for such negligence on my part and the part of my men that almost resulted in the accursed horn being stolen right beneath our noses. I can assure you that once you have seen it sealed away in the new vault, we will take every precaution to avoid such a breach in security again.

Signed Iron Sight, Captain of the Royal Guard.

Pinkie stared at the letter for a few more stunned minutes before finally passing it over to Fluttershy and Maud who quickly scanned its contents.

“The accursed horn?” Maud quoted. “Does he mean…”

“Sombra’s horn,” Pinkie confirmed, her voice distant. “Someone tried to steal it… and it was moved to a vault. The one in the throne room, perhaps.”

“But didn’t you say that’s where you found that gun?” Fluttershy asked in a worried voice.

“I did,” Pinkie replied. “Which means either they moved it again, or someone succeeded in stealing it.”

“The date on this letter suggests the attempted theft happened while you were in Canterlot following the first game,” Maud pointed out.

Not for the first time Pinkie found herself wondering about the mare who had worshipped Twilight, the one who was found dabbling in the dark arts, the one whose cutie mark had been etched into the back of the throne.

“Trixie…” Pinkie murmured.

Maud rolled up the scroll and handed it over to Pinkie, who stuffed it away in her saddlebags.

“If there’s nothing else here we should check out that other room,” Pinkie stated, leading the way out of Celestia’s chambers back to the foyer.

The middle door, while not nearly as extravagant as the other two, was still incredibly fancy looking. Stepping up, Pinkie examined the gold plaque.

The office of Royal Advisor Kibitz.

The name meant nothing to Pinkie, but she quickly guessed that it must be that of the aged stallion who always assisted Celestia in her schedule. Testing the handle, she found this too was open. Stepping through she found herself in a much more confined space lit by a single candle upon the desk, one she imagined would not be extinguished like the torches all around the castle.

The room was filled with filing cabinets, lining each of the walls. These along with the desk gave the room the perfect image of organised, the desk being laid out with nothing but a single large ledger. Alongside this were several quills and ink pots which were set out in a very ordered manor in a way that reminded Pinkie strongly of the way Twilight placed out her stationary.

Maud followed Pinkie inside the cramped office, but Fluttershy remained outside as there wasn’t much more room available. Squeezing behind the desk, Pinkie plopped herself down on the surprisingly uncomfortable desk chair, its stiff back forcing her to sit poker straight. Looking down at the book, Pinkie flicked through various different pages, finding that it seemed to be written documentation of all the transactions made through the royal bank.

Pinkie turned to a paged indicated by a ribbon bookmark near the end of the filled in pages. The title simply indicated it to be a record of all the tickets sold or given for that year’s Grand Galloping Gala. At the very top of the list were the names: Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie. In the following columns beside each of their names they were all marked as ‘Honorary Guests’, which Pinkie assumed to mean they didn’t have to pay for their tickets. They were also all ticked as being VIP, and in the final column there was a ‘plus one’ written in line with Pinkie’s name.

“Records of who got tickets to the gala,” Pinkie explained. “This is a good place to start; we have pretty much agreed the Mastermind had to have been at the gala.”

“So you’re going to read through…” Maud reached over and began flicking through pages until she reached the end of the section. “Over a dozen pages and hope one name jumps out at you?”

“Well I’m open to suggestions,” Pinkie snapped back impatiently.

“I suggest you let me do this,” Maud replied simply. “We both know I’m better at tedious stuff like this, that would leave you free for more… dynamic stuff.”

Pinkie considered it, she already had a feeling what name she was looking for, she just needed to find it, but Maud seemed resolute.

“Are you sure?” Pinkie asked, a bit curious as to why Maud was being so insistent.

“I am,” Maud answered in a sure voice.

“Alright,” Pinkie said, standing up from the chair which she was grateful for. “I’ll come back later and check in.”

After a little shuffling and squeezing about, Pinkie and Maud had managed to swap places with the latter sat behind the desk, quill in hoof while Pinkie exited the office to where Fluttershy was waiting patiently for her.

“So now what?” Fluttershy asked tentatively.

“Well for starters, where did you see Rarity?” Pinkie asked.

“In the kitchen,” Fluttershy replied. “She was making some lunch.”

“That’s fine then,” Pinkie continued. “Maud and Octavia are both busy, can you make sure they eat something and keep checking on Dash?”

“Of course, but where will you be?” Fluttershy asked, sounding worried as Pinkie started walking towards the stairs.

“We’re still short on food after Chrysalis stealing most of it; I’m going into town to search for more.” Pinkie was sure Fluttershy would have no trouble eating that lie.

“Well okay, but be careful!” Fluttershy called after Pinkie even as she was already trotting down the staircase.

Pinkie waved behind her to indicate she had heard, frowning all the while.

Please stop worrying about me Fluttershy, I don’t deserve that.

Day 12, 11:43

Pinkie glanced back at the iron gates leading back to the castle as she walked down the main street of the town. It was more out of habit than any actual fear of being followed, but then as she walked towards the familiar courtyard, she was reminded of a similar scenario only a few days before where she had followed Fluttershy here. As she walked, she enjoyed the familiar feeling of her now clean dress once more hugging her frame; she had almost felt naked without it. Reaching the archway set into the wall, Pinkie peered around into the usual crate filled space.

Just like it had been on her second visit here and ever since, the door she had come through was nowhere to be seen. This time however, Pinkie walked through the courtyard to the blank wall where she knew it was supposed to be, reaching up with her forehooves and feeling all over the bricks. Try as she might however, there was nothing to been seen or felt. Could it be she had simply imagined the area with the well? Perhaps she had woken up here and she was simply misremembering everything that came before.

No, I still have the key!

Reaching into her saddlebags, Pinkie fished out the slender metal key she had been carrying since she first came here. That place had definitely existed, so why couldn’t she reach it now? Curious, she glanced down at her hoof computer, hoping the map would hold the answers for her. It didn’t matter that the map didn’t even cover the town, as she had discovered coming back to the castle with Fluttershy, because her computer had somehow turned itself off.

Tapping the screen yielded no results; Pinkie was left frowning, wondering if her computer had broken itself. Idly she began backing out of the courtyard, still staring at her computer so that once she was back onto the main street she was able to see the screen blink to life once more as if nothing had happened. Intrigued, Pinkie stepped back into the courtyard, watching as her computer died once more.

Pinkie deposited the key back into her bag and returned to the street, pondering on her most recent discovery as she continued her journey. It was entirely possible the computer was losing signal, but as she continued down the main street and further away from the castle she noticed her computer remained resolutely on. Even when she reached the dark alley her and Fluttershy had traversed, it stayed switched on. Shrugging it of so she could remain focused on the task at hand, Pinkie stopped looking down at her computer so she concentrate on where she was going.

The alley was just as wet and dingy as she had remembered, every cold puddle she stepped in sending chills up her spine. She was thankful when she turned the corner and arrived in the plaza still bathed in its yellow glow. Something however, was off.

Pinkie stared at the single house standing in solitude, the house she now knew to have once belonged to Twilight Sparkle’s parents. It hadn’t been in the best condition when she had last been here, looking as if it were about to collapse. Now however, it appeared to have passed that point, looking as if a localised hurricane had hit it, ripping the upper floor off and reducing the rest to a hollowed out shell.

Walking up to the house, Pinkie tried to ignore the cardboard boxes that had been strewn over the plaza. Ascending the front steps she found the front door buckled, falling off its hinges when Pinkie set a hoof against it. The interior wasn’t much better, the hallway not littered with dust and debris from the ceiling when it had caved in. At the end of the hallway was the staircase, only ascending a few steps before the rest had been smashed away.

Walking towards them however, Pinkie saw something she hadn’t noticed the last time she was here. A small door had been ripped off the side of the staircase; together with the rest of the destruction revealed a staircase leading downwards to what Pinkie could only presume was the basement. Creeping down the cold, stone steps to the basement, Pinkie found all light extinguished as her head passed under the remains of the shattered staircase.

Pinkie wasn't deterred however, a memory of crawling through a passage connecting fireplaces springing to mind. Tapping through screens on her hoof computer, Pinkie was glad she still had the option of a light. Turning it on, her screen lit up with a bright light, and while it was awkward to walk on three legs down the stairs with her other hoof bent to allow the light to shine in front of her, she quickly made it to the bottom and was greeted with a rather interesting sight.

The basement was striped clean like the rest of the house had been on her last visit, all apart from a single shoddy desk placed against the far wall, covered in documents, and a noticeboard above it plastered in dozens of drawings. Pinkie walked over, shining her light on the notice board. The pictures appeared to be designs and blueprints. Pinkie recognised television screens powered by crystals and leg mounted computers.

These were Twilight’s designs for the technological aspects of the game; there were even some models Pinkie didn’t recognise as well as different versions of the ones she did know including the hoof computer she was fitted with now. Ripping that particular design from the wall Pinkie looked it over, noticing the alternate sketches displaying the prongs extended, one particular section of writing by this caught Pinkie’s eye.

Measurements important! Uncle Excalibur’s gun won’t fit otherwise.

Pinkie quirked an eyebrow at this.

Twilight’s uncle had owned the gun? The same one who had given the medal to Shining?

It made sense, it was a weapon after all and being a unicorn he was perfectly capable of using it. The designs also detailed the internal workings of the computer, but Pinkie couldn’t make heads or tails of it. She knew a little bit about technology, she had needed to when throwing together her party canon and flying machine, but she hadn’t an inkling when it came to all this jazz.

Turning her attention away from the notice board, she instead directed it to the stack of documents on the desk. Taking one at random, Pinkie opened it up and began scanning the text, her brow creasing as she progressed.

… I honestly believe the Sapper will allow for greater flexibility in control over which spells a unicorn can or can’t use, but the glyphs need to be tailored to the unicorns in question to account for the lack of physical contact between the Sapper and the subjects. Until I can improve upon this I will need to use the Overloader, I’m not keen on it, I know for appearance sake I will have to attempt to teleport out and the Overloader makes that a very painful experience…

Pinkie looked between the document and the referenced designs on the wall, seeing to very peculiar devices. Pinkie presumed they were somehow used to prevent a unicorn teleporting, it would also explain the difference in reactions between Twilight in the first game and her brother in this one. Switching her attention to a different document, Pinkie continued her reading.

… I really hope Coco doesn’t kill anypony; I’m really starting to run out of space in the manor underground. Somepony has to be ruled out, frankly I’d prefer if it was Pinkie but I can’t take any chances with her, she has a habit of surprising me. As for Coco, she seems the least likely out of all the candidates so far to actually commit a murder, and even by some bizarre turn of events she does, I’ll just use the execution I was going to use for whoever her victim is. If anyone questions the semantics of it I’ll make something up…

… I lost power in the morgue today; if that happens during the game I may not be able to salvage the bodies. Pinkie has to go down here at some point, it won’t do for her to come down and find a bunch of decaying corpses…

… I had to make some major adjustments to my rune formations in the courtroom today. My initial designs posed a serious risk at the time of the verdict being delivered, under no circumstances can the guilty escape their punishment, it defeats the entire purpose of the game (besides the actual purpose of course). No, I will not allow this to be flawed in any way; everything will be absolutely perfect…

… I hadn’t exactly anticipated how difficult it would be to balance the designing of this game with my everyday life. This needs my full attention if it is to become the perfect test for her. Must Celestia keep calling me back to Canterlot for some inane task, can’t she see that what I am trying to achieve is vastly more important?! Then there is my life in Ponyville, I can only say I’m carrying out my duties as princess in Canterlot so often, besides I need to see my friends, to see her. This test will change everything, I want to cherish these final days of simple normality before I help her realise her destiny…

Pinkie stared, transfixed at the sheets spread out in front of her. She knew these games couldn’t have been thrown together at the last minute, but she was still amazed at the incredible levels of detail that Twilight had poured into making it ‘perfect’. Of course Twilight’s alterations to her runes probably didn’t take into account Changeling magic, and even if the current Mastermind had known about Fleur’s true identity, Twilight was no longer around to ensure the runes were kept up to date for the second game.

Pinkie read over some of the sections again, the memory of Twilight’s death resurfacing. Apart of her had always wondered why Twilight had allowed herself to be executed, why she hadn’t just cancelled the game and allowed herself to live. But Twilight had either felt certain Pinkie and the others would not have her executed, or she was so desperate to create a rigid rule structure that she was willing to let herself be killed if it came down to it.

The rest of the documents followed a similar trend, explaining the extreme lengths Twilight had traversed to prepare the game, including countless alternatives both in setting and in players. Perhaps the current Mastermind had simply picked up the spare pieces from Twilight’s game rather than making their own entirely out of the blue.

Not sure how any of this would aid Octavia or herself, Pinkie began shuffling the documents together; piling them up along with the rest of the drawings from the wall so she could take them back to the castle. It was only when she reached the end of the pile, that she discovered a brown folder, similar to the one Trixie’s assessment had been in, but instead labelled ‘Starswirl: Time and Space’.

Pinkie whipped open the folder in the blink of an eye, immediately greeted by a drawing of a very similar hourglass, one she had seen a long time ago with Twilight herself. More drawings showed how Twilight steadily improved the original into the final version that Pinkie recognised from the library tower. It was the same pattern for the orrery in the observatory.

So, it was Twilight who turned the prototypes into the final versions. Not really that surprising when I think about it.

Flicking past the sketches, bypassing the written notes for now, Pinkie found a single sheet of paper at the back of the folder, with a short paragraph written by Twilight.

I know I should be focused on designing the test, but ever since I finished with that horn and returned it to Celestia, I feel driven to complete Starswirl’s devices. Celestia seemed surprised when I brought it up with her, but encouraged me none the less. Nopony has attempted to finish Starswirl’s work into time and space manipulation, but we both agreed that after the task leading to my ascension, it seemed appropriate for me to try. So far it doesn’t seem too difficult, I wouldn’t be surprised if the reason nopony else has completed these before is out of respect for the original creator as opposed to any real difficulty. Still, just as I delved into the secrets of the Five, I will restore these three machines… who knows, they may even play a role in Pinkie’s test.

Pinkie couldn’t pack the documents in her saddlebags fast enough as she rushed from the basement, out of the house and back to the castle, desperate to share her discovery with Octavia.

Day 12, 13:15

“Pinkie!” Rarity exclaimed. “Are you alright?”

“Quite fine,” Pinkie muffled back, her face firmly planted in the stone floor of the entrance hall.

“Pinkie, you need to eat something,” Rarity insisted, kneeling down and cradling Pinkie.

“Yeah, I gathered as much when I collapsed,” Pinkie replied in a weak attempt at humour.

“Come on,” Rarity said, dragging Pinkie to her hooves. “The others are already in the banquet hall; you also need to take your tablet today.”

Pinkie allowed herself to be led like a dog down the hallway to the open doors to the banquet hall where Fluttershy, Maud and Octavia were all sitting in silence, their plates already cleared.

“Where's Rainbow Dash?” Pinkie asked, concerned but not exactly surprised by her lack of presence.

“She… wasn’t hungry,” Fluttershy murmured. “We left some food outside her room for her.”

Pinkie sighed as she was lowered into a chair, a very small portion of salad in front of her. Pinkie felt a pang of guilt as she dug in, she had told Fluttershy she would search for food, naturally she had never seriously thought to do so.

“Fluttershy says you were in town,” Octavia mentioned as Pinkie ate away.

“Yeah, I’ll talk to you in the study about it,” Pinkie replied, preferring not to admit to her lie in front of Fluttershy.

Octavia nodded, standing up from where she sat and leaving the room, presumably to wait for Pinkie in the study. Pinkie then looked to Maud who was watching her with her usual look of indifference, a look only Pinkie could see beyond to see the concern beneath.

“How’s it going upstairs?” Pinkie asked, hoping to break the uncomfortable silence.

“Okay,” Maud replied. “Come by before the end of the day and I should be finished.”

Pinkie nodded as Maud too stood up and left. This left only Rarity and Fluttershy present, both watching her closely as she ate.

“So Rainbow hasn’t left her room since I left?” Pinkie asked, Rarity and Fluttershy giving each other a worried look.

“No, she’s locked up tight I’m afraid,” Rarity answered.

“I’ll go see her in a bit,” Pinkie offered. “Remind her that we need her.”

Pinkie and Rarity exchanged a little dialogue, and before long Fluttershy was drafted into helping Rarity moving the dirty plates back into the kitchen, leaving Pinkie all alone in the banquet hall.

She sighed to herself as she finished sucking on the final piece of lemon, still as hungry as she was when she first sat down. Looking beyond her empty plate she stared at the red and yellow capsule Rarity had left for her alongside a glass of water. She stared at it a long time before reaching out and picking it up, holding it up to her face.

The metal gauntlet riveted into her leg hadn’t caused her any pain since she first woke up with it, almost like it had become an extension of herself, just another part of her life in the game. Pinkie stared for a long time at the capsule, a dull look on her face as she thought back to what Maud had said to her just yesterday morning.

…you got thrown back into the game that hurt you, and wore it like a glove…

…you love it, you thrive on it…

…but you do want to play this game. You’re dependant on it…

…you’ll seek this life out.

Pinkie’s head hurt as she rose to her hooves, the capsule still balanced on her outstretched limb. She reached out and grabbed the glass of water, her whole body wobbling unsteadily. Pinkie raised the glass, downing the water in one gulp before placing the capsule onto the table and slamming the glass down upon it, crushing it.

She moved the glass and swept the remains from the table cloth, leaving only a faint yellow streak of powder before she stormed out of the room. She barely registered her movements as she wandered down the hallway into the study, running on autopilot. It was only when Octavia greeted her that her mind snapped back into focus.

“Are you alright?” she asked from beside the fireplace, watching Pinkie suspiciously as she took her usual seat.

“I’m fine, just tired,” Pinkie lied wearily, removing her saddlebags.

“I take it you found something,” Octavia noted, taking a seat opposite Pinkie.

“I did,” Pinkie confirmed, pulling the pile of documents free from her bag and sprawling them across the coffee table. “You could say I hit a gold mine.”

Octavia picked up a sheet at random, one of the designs for the hoof computers. Pinkie could see a mixture of confusion and fascination in her eyes as they scanned over it.

“What is all this?” she asked, picking up more sheets.

“They’re Twilight’s plans and designs for the game,” Pinkie explained. “She put… a surprising amount of thought into making it watertight.”

Octavia held up one of the documents and read a section aloud.

“In practice the game will only end when one player is left standing,” she recited. “However, for everything to work smoothly, the Mastermind can call an end to the game when there are six or less players left. This should ensure the presence of a few other pieces at least for Pinkie’s final test.”

“Like I said,” Pinkie continued. “A lot of thought went into planning every little detail. However there’s something in particular you should see…”

Pinkie pulled the final folder from her bag, which she had kept separate so as not to get it mixed up. Octavia accepted the folder as Pinkie passed it over, her eyes widening in awe as she read the label.

“This…” she uttered, apparently unable to say any more as she opened the cover and saw the first of many drawings.

“I guess this answers your question as to who completed the originals,” Pinkie informed her. “Although there is something at the back that may come as a shock.”

Octavia turned to the final page curiously, and began reading Twilight’s missive on her side project.

“Three machines!” Octavia exclaimed when she reached the end. “There’s a third one?! Nothing I’ve read has mentioned anything about a third!”

“What I don’t get is,” Pinkie began, leaning back in her seat. “If Twilight made designs on the two we’ve seen, why didn’t she do the same for this mystery machine?”

“Perhaps she did,” Octavia suggested, still staring at the different drawings. “Are you sure nopony else found these documents before you did?”

“I… I have no idea,” Pinkie admitted.

The thought of someone else making that discovery before she did hadn’t occurred to her.

“Well this is a huge help,” Octavia said, sounding incredibly appreciative. “You don’t mind if I keep a hold of this stuff on the machines do you?”

“Of course not,” Pinkie assured her. “You’ll make more use of them than I will. I’ll keep this other stuff though, but if you need to see any of it just ask.”

“Oh I will,” Octavia said, closing the folder and standing up. “Thank you again for retrieving this Pinkie.”

Pinkie gave a curt nod as Octavia left the study, almost skipping with excitement.

At least someone is happy.

Pinkie began piling the documents back up, packing the one more into her saddlebags, which were admittedly getting quite full. They were now crammed with all Twilight’s documents, the gun she now knew once belonged to Twilight’s uncle, the knife from the chapel, the picture of Twilight’s family, Trixie’s assessment and the mystery key she found when this whole mess began.

She didn’t mind the load however, it was all too precious or dangerous to risk leaving anywhere other than on her person at all times. With her bag once again packed, closed and strapped to her back, she left the study and headed off to try and comfort a friend.

Day 12, 14:21

“Rainbow Dash, you can’t stay in there for ever!” Pinkie shouted at the stubbornly locked door. “Soarin wouldn’t want you to…”

She regretted it almost immediately as she heard the loud slamming of the bolt and saw the door fly open to reveal a fuming Rainbow Dash, her teeth clenched and her eyes heavily bloodshot.

“Wouldn’t what?!” Rainbow demanded, storming up to Pinkie. “No go ahead, what were you about to say?”

Pinkie didn’t reply, merely stood her ground in the hopes Rainbow Dash would calm down in her own time.

“No, let me tell you what he would say,” Rainbow continued. “He wouldn’t say anything because he’s dead! He’s dead and he’s gone, and I’m never going to see him again!”

Rainbow turned away from Pinkie and began marching off down the decline.

“Rainbow, wait!” Pinkie called after her.

“No!” Rainbow screamed, spinning to face Pinkie once more, her face alive with a hatred she had never seen there before. “I thought I was okay with it, but I’m not. I thought I could respect his choice, but I can’t. He died to save you! It’s your fault he’s gone!”

With that Rainbow pivoted on the spot and continued her walk until she was out of sight. Pinkie stood feeling incredibly shaken. It was one thing to blame herself for everything that had happened, but to hear her best friend blame her in such a way left her feeling incredibly hollow inside. Pinkie suddenly felt very alone as she stood outside Dash’s still open room. Dragging her hooves she slowly made her way out of the tower.

Once out, she wasn’t surprised to see Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen, Pinkie wasn’t even sure if seeing her was the best thing right now. Flipping a mental coin, she turned towards the central chamber and began walking with her head hung low. The last thing she wanted was to throw herself on her sister, she had already done far too much of that. Perhaps she could visit Octavia, see if she had gotten anywhere now that she had Twilight’s notes to add to her own.

Her mind made up, if ever so reluctantly, Pinkie began to climb the staircase. Once at the waiting room, she took the usual door on the left and meandered towards the observatory. She was hardly enthused to see Octavia there, surrounded by reading material, scribbling notes as she fiddle with the tiniest of components on the orrery.

“How’s it going?” Pinkie asked, trying her best to sound upbeat.

“Good, excellent even,” Octavia declared, not even looking up from her work. “These notes have been invaluable, I was able to reattach the planet thanks to the instructions they provided. I never would have anticipated such a delicate process being involved before.”

“That’s good,” Pinkie said, her voice distant. “Anything else of interest?”

“Yes actually,” Octavia answered, looking up to Pinkie for the first time. “I now know a lot better how the machines actually achieve control over space and time; the existence of a third machine answers so many questions I’ve been having. But also, I am pleased to report that what the machines have done, is a continuous process. They have to be constantly fuelled by a magical source, so if that source is removed, the process is stopped and will begin to reverse itself naturally.”

“So you’re saying Canterlot will be returned to normal if we cut off the magic powering the machines?” Pinkie repeated, sounding quite surprised. “It’s really that simple?”

“Apparently so,” Octavia replied, sounding just as surprised. “Cut off the head and the body will die, so to speak. I would assume the Mastermind is in possession of this source, indeed, if they’re a particularly powerful unicorn they could fulfil that role themselves.”

“So the sooner we identify and defeat the Mastermind,” Pinkie began. “The sooner we can end this and begin rectifying matters.”

“Quite,” Octavia said nodding. “I still need to clarify some things, like the whereabouts of Canterlot’s citizens and their fate if the machines are stopped, but that shouldn’t take long.”

“Indeed, you’ve already figured out so much in only…” Pinkie looked down at her hoof computer. “Not even one hour.”

“I work quickly when the conditions are good like this,” Octavia explained, turning back to her work.

“Well then I won’t bother you anymore,” Pinkie assured her. “I’ll just get back to hunting down the Mastermind.”

Day 12, 20:03

Pinkie couldn’t help but smirk internally at how much Maud pulled off the whole secretary look, sitting behind Kibitz desk, the tips of her forehooves resting gently against one another, looking up at Pinkie with a look of complacency.

“I honestly don’t know how much help this is going to be to you,” Maud said yet again as Pinkie continued to give the once over to the list she had compiled.

“I’m just checking to see if anything jumps out at me,” Pinkie replied distracted. “If nothing does we’ll look into each pony in more detail.”

“That will take days, even with that condensed list,” Maud pointed out.

“Well Octavia thinks we can end this nightmare by tracking down the Mastermind,” Pinkie reminded her. “How else do you propose we do that?”

“Well they aren’t invisible,” Maud stated. “Surely if we keep searching we’ll find where they’ve been hiding out at.”

“Even at the very end of that last game we never got into Twilight’s secret room,” Pinkie replied exasperatedly. “And we spent days looking for that place.”

Maud threw up her hooves in defeat, leaning back in her chair as best she could despite the stiff back.

“Octavia says the machines are being fuelled by something magical,” Pinkie continued, still reading over the list. “If we had a unicorn who specialised in magic we might have been able to trace it.”

“But we don’t, we have Rarity,” Maud said flatly.

“I know, that’s why I said if,” Pinkie clarified as she reached a peculiar section of the list. “These aren’t pony names.”

“Those are businesses,” Maud explained, leaning over to see where Pinkie was at. “Sponsors and the likes, that’s how the Wonderbolts’ tickets are classified as well.”

Pinkie nodded, reading through the list of businesses who had been allowed to send representatives. There were some rather odd ones, Pinkie wasn’t surprised that Maud had picked them out and added them to the list.

Flim & Flam Bros.

Iron Will Fitness Scheme

Great & Powerful

Canterlot Drama Society

Pinkie’s eyes darted up the list, rereading what she had been sure was her imagination.

Great & Powerful?

“What is this?!” Pinkie demanded, putting the list in Maud’s face and gesturing wildly to the name.

“I don’t know,” Maud said, almost toppling off her chair in surprise. “I just thought it sounded weird because I was sure I’d heard you mention it before.”

“Show me it in the book,” Pinkie ordered, her heart hammering in her chest.

Maud obliged, opening the book to the correct section and turning it towards Pinkie. Scanning down the much longer list, Pinkie found the name she was looking for, along which was a little number one in the number of tickets sold. The next column bore a simple ‘not specified’ under the heading ‘Name of ticket holder(s)’.

“Pinkie, what is it?” Maud asked, before raising her voice. “Pinkie?!”

But Pinkie was already gone, running down the central chamber staircase.

Day 13, 11:19

Pinkie walked alongside Octavia up the central chamber staircase, one looking considerably livelier than the other.

“I ran into Rainbow Dash this morning,” Octavia stated, breaking the silence. “It’s good to see her out of her room, although she doesn’t look great.”

Pinkie didn’t reply, Octavia however took the hint and didn’t say anything more on the subject.

“So after all your running around last night, did you find anything?” she asked.

“That’s the worst part,” Pinkie muttered as they arrived on the landing just outside the lab.

Pinkie stopped talking when she noticed the door was open and she could hear voices inside. Curious she walked on in, with Octavia shortly behind. Rarity was chatting amiably to Fluttershy who appeared to be pruning a potted plant.

“Um, what’s going on?” Pinkie asked as she approached the pair.

“Oh, um, hello Pinkie,” Fluttershy greeted cautiously. “I was just doing a little gardening, it’s really quite therapeutic, you should have a go.”

“I think I’ll pass,” Pinkie replied, really not in the mood.

“Oh, that’s okay, you’re very busy,” Fluttershy said quickly. “Perhaps when this is all over you can give it a go.”

Pinkie picked up on the hopefulness in Fluttershy’s voice immediately, feeling a groan wishing to be heard. She noticed the stern look Rarity flashed her so she amended her following statement.

“Yeah, maybe I will,” she said, trying to inject the slightest bit of honesty into it.

Fluttershy beamed at Pinkie before returning to her own activities.

“Well, I’m going to head upstairs,” Octavia stated, drawing Pinkie’s attention back to her. “I want to see if that office you found has any records commissioning the improvement of the machines.”

Pinkie nodded as Octavia retreated from the lab, leaving her with her other friends. Fluttershy seemed too drawn into what she was doing to pay any heed to either of them, so Pinkie set off down a random aisle with Rarity at her side, admiring some of the more exotic plants.

“Have you seen Rainbow this morning?” Pinkie asked, causing Rarity to grimace.

“Yes, I tried convincing her to have some breakfast,” she explained. “I’m sure you can imagine how that ended. At this rate I’ll be surprised if she doesn’t…”

Rarity cut off, but Pinkie had an idea what Rarity was about to say.

“Rainbow wouldn’t hurt any of us,” Pinkie insisted as she examined a rather prickly plant. “She’s incredibly upset, and she’s trying to cope with aggression, but she won’t go that far.”

“I hope you’re right,” Rarity said forlornly. “At this point I can safely say there won’t be any more killings. Only six of us left and I don’t see any of us… Pinkie, No!”

Rarity grabbed Pinkie just as she leaned down to sniff some purple flowers which reminded her a little of bluebells, tugging her back with so much force that Pinkie was sent tumbling to the floor.

“What the…” Pinkie exclaimed, rubbing the back of her head which had knocked off another counter on her way down.

“I’m sorry Pinkie,” Rarity began seriously, “but that was Deadly Nightshade you were about to stick your nose in. Didn’t your parents ever teach you to identify them?”

“Maud did once when we were kids,” Pinkie replied, standing up and examining the flower a little closer, recognising it for what it was this time. “It was so long ago it just slipped my mind.”

“Well thankfully you don’t get effected just from smelling it,” Rarity continued as Fluttershy came running up behind her.

“Oh Pinkie are you alright?” she exclaimed. “Did you fall?”

“Sort of,” Pinkie replied, shooting Rarity a slightly irritated look.

“I said I was sorry,” Rarity reminded her. “Although I suppose my reaction was a little over the top.”

“Well did you hit your head?” Fluttershy asked, still sounding panicked. “You could have gotten a concussion.”

“I did but it’s not a big deal,” Pinkie tried to say, but Fluttershy seemed to stop listening after she confirmed hitting her head.

“Oh no! Quickly, just sit yourself right here and don’t move!” Fluttershy instructed. “Rarity can you help me find the painkillers in the infirmary? I’m still not sure where everything is after we tidied up.”

“Of course I can,” Rarity assured her. “But you should calm down; it’s not as bad as you think.”

Pinkie was left standing awkwardly as the pair left the lab. Her head had only hurt for a moment; she knew there was nothing to worry about. Walking back down the aisle her and Rarity had come down, Pinkie continued looking at the different counters trying to occupy herself while waiting for them to return. As she walked, a flickering light caught her eye. She was so used to the constant light of the electrical bulbs that the tiny flame of the Bunsen burner stood out to her.

Crossing over she found a pot of murky liquid set over the burner upon a tripod. Next to it lay a grimy pestle and mortar and a large textbook emblazoned with the title ‘Advanced Scientific Methodology’. Pinkie steered clear of both the book and the bubbling mixture, assuming it was something Fluttershy was fiddling about with before she arrived, she’d rather not get wrapped up in it or disrupt it any way.

Returning back to the door to the lab, Pinkie continued to wait for a few minutes for her friends to return. Eventually remembering there wasn’t actually anything wrong with her and she wasn’t obligated to stay put. With that in mind, Pinkie set off downstairs to assure Fluttershy face to face that she didn’t need treating for a bump on the head.

Day 13, 14:08

Pinkie marched down the hallway to the entrance hall, a scowl etched into her face. She wouldn’t have minded sitting through a subsidiary medical examination to assure Fluttershy that she really was fine in the head, but Fluttershy kept popping out for the most inane reasons, leaving Pinkie alone for lengths of time that could have been spent following up on her suspicions that Maud had fed the night before.

Pinkie didn’t want to believe that Trixie was the Mastermind, but it seemed everything she was presented with only served to illustrate that very possibility. Could Trixie really have fallen so far, let her sanity slip to the point where she was willing to follow her idol into committing the same atrocities? Pinkie refused to believe it was that simple, Trixie may have been a braggart the first time she visited Ponyville, and downright nasty the second time, but Pinkie saw a whole other side to her at the Manor.

There has to be more to this, even if Trixie is the Mastermind, there has to be a greater reason to do all this than just following in Twilight’s hoofsteps.

Pinkie was broken out of her train of thought as she entered the entrance hall in time to see Maud and Octavia entering form the other side of the balcony.

“Hello girls,” Pinkie greeted wearily. “Did you find those commissions you were looking for?”

“Afraid not,” Octavia replied. “Either they too were stolen or the whole thing was done off the books, which wouldn’t be surprising if you consider the sensitive nature of messing with time and space.”

“Well, at least you can rule it out,” Pinkie offered as they met at the top of the staircase.

“I suppose,” Octavia admitted. “And you? Did you get anywhere with the Mastermind’s identity?”

“Well,” Pinkie said hesitating, turning to walk down the stairs. “I do actually have a suspect.”

“Really? Who?” Octavia asked eagerly, but Pinkie never replied.

Octavia followed Pinkie’s glassy gaze down the staircase, out the gates to where a body lay sprawled out at the end of the courtroom.

“Pinkie, wait!” Maud called as Pinkie burst into a gallop.

Pinkie paid no heed to her sister as she ran across the courtyard, falling to her knees next to the body.

“No no no…” Pinkie repeated desperately as she checked for the slightest signs of life.

“Attention everypony!” the Mastermind announced, even as Pinkie continued denying the reality to herself. “Another body has just been discovered in the main courtyard. Your time for investigating begins now, and the trial will begin in due course.”

“Not you too Rainbow!” Pinkie wailed, burying her face in the multihued mane.

Author's Notes:

Second last chapter, hope you all aren't bored yet.
Now just to clarify, you can guess the culprit at any point from now until the final part is published. You'll probably want to wait until the second part is published in 2 days, but nothings stopping you from changing your guess, but the third part will be published roughly 3 days after the second part, and you need to guess before that.
With that said, I hope you enjoy this one, last chapter was a fun excursion but this one returns to the norm.