Day 14, 06:00

Pinkie glanced down at her hoof computer, confirming that it was indeed six and the voices hadn’t just stopped briefly to lull her into a false sense of security. Satisfied the latest nightmares were gone; Pinkie gave a loud yawn as she stood up from her desk chair and stretched out her legs and back. It had been a very uncomfortable night trying to sleep on the chair as opposed to her once comfortable bed. When she first lay down on it however, she was struck with a very vivid memory of maggots and quickly leapt off it again.

She hadn’t even thought about sleeping the night before, still too caught up in her revelations regarding Trixie. Her distinct lack of sleep however was finally catching up to her, and she found her whole body wavering dangerously as she stumbled towards the door. Turning the handle, she slouched out into the hallway, encountering no one as she navigated her way out of the tower and into the entrance hall.

The other four were most likely still asleep, or trying to get some sleep, Pinkie only hoped they would have better luck than she did. Walking out of the entrance hall, Pinkie made her way towards the kitchen, perhaps a snack would help keep her on her hooves. She was however, sorely disappointed to find that the cupboards were almost stripped bare, even the chest freezer was cleared out.

Pinkie didn’t have the heart to take anything for herself, what little food was left needed to be shared between them. Leaving the kitchen with great reluctance, Pinkie instead headed for the study where she immediately collapsed in her favoured armchair. She simply sat there for a moment, her head lulling, her eyelids drooping. Rousing herself she removed her saddlebags and set them on the table before her, opening them up and searching through the contents.

She had certainly been pleased to return to her room last night and find the documents she had hidden beneath her bed undisturbed, and with no further need of the books she had found, she was glad to return the documents to her pack. Bringing out Twilight’s documents now, Pinkie laid them across the table. She needed to have a proper read through them and now seemed like the perfect time while waiting for the others, particularly as she was eager to hear if Octavia had made any deductions regarding the missing machine.

Pinkie was not positive at this stage that Trixie was the Mastermind, her apparent presence at the gala aside, there was still her cutie mark etched into the throne and the vault door opening when her name was spoken. And that was saying nothing regarding the contents of her psychological analysis, if she was delving into dark magic then it was probable she’d had some interaction with the horn.

Still, even if Trixie was the Mastermind, what was Pinkie supposed to do with that knowledge. Presumably she would need to confront her, but they had covered almost every inch of the castle and found no signs of where she or anyone could be hiding out.

No, that’s not true at all…

Pinkie grimaced; there were indeed many locations they hadn’t yet searched. The labyrinth, the dungeon, Luna’s room, who knew how many others. There had to be more answers somewhere, if not in Twilight’s writings then where? The answer was obvious, but as of yet it was just another dead end.

The book we found in the chapel…

Pinkie had almost forgotten about it since they had all sat together in this very room, figuring out the mystery behind its untranslatable writings. Looking over to the fireplace, Pinkie saw the book perched on the mantle, her eyes drawn to the latch bearing the glyph that remained the only thing between Pinkie and the tome’s secrets. Pinkie looked back to the documents in front of her, if the key to unlocking it wasn’t hidden somewhere in Twilight’s writings, Pinkie didn’t know what she’d do.

Day 14, 07:46

Pinkie peered up groggily as she felt herself being shaken awake, looking up at the concerned eyes of her sister.

“What time is it?” Pinkie asked croakily.

“Almost eight,” Maud replied. “Did you not sleep last night?”

“Not much, no,” Pinkie admitted, sitting up and looking about herself.

A small pile of documents sat to one side, while many more still lay scattered about waiting for Pinkie to read through them.

“Are any of the others up yet?” Pinkie asked returning her gaze to her sister.

“Not that I’ve seen,” Maud began.

As if in response to the very statement, the door to the study swung open and Rarity entered. Despite showering regularly and wearing a clean dress, the stress coupled with lack of sleep managed to make Pinkie look like a homeless pony. The others weren’t faring much better, all baring the same gaunt visage, and Rarity despite her best attempts to resist, somehow ended up looking the worst of all.

“I, um…” Rarity began uncomfortably. “I checked on Rainbow, she’s still there.”

Pinkie had to think for a second as to what Rarity was talking about before mentally slapping herself. After the trial they had carried Rainbow back to her room, in a vain attempt to defy the Mastermind. Pinkie hadn’t even thought to go check in on her this morning.

“It’s okay,” Rarity said suddenly, as if reading Pinkie’s mind. “You have other things to do, she would understand.”

“What are these anyway?” Maud asked, picking up one of the documents.

Pinkie wouldn’t have been able to snatch it away in time even if she’d wanted to, but that would have just appeared more suspicious than anything else, so instead she decided to tell the truth.

“I found them when I was in town yesterday,” Pinkie explained. “In the same place I found the picture of Twilight’s family. They are the… plans for the first game.”

“I see that,” Maud whispered, squinting her eyes. “Do you think it’ll help?”

“Maybe,” Pinkie replied uncertainly. “There were other documents regarding the orrery and the hourglass, Octavia has them. Right now I’m just hoping these ones will shine some light on how to open that book.”

Maud followed Pinkie’s hoof to the book upon the mantle.

“Didn’t you say it was locked with a glyph?” Maud asked Rarity.

“I said that’s what I thought it was,” Rarity corrected. “And I also said I don’t know enough about magic to be sure.”

“Well what is a glyph?” Maud asked. “It looks like just another rune to me.”

“They are very similar,” Rarity admitted. “While runes are basically letters, Glyphs are symbols comprised of runes… or bits of runes, it’s all very complex.”

“Chrysalis managed to break the runes outside,” Maud recalled. “Could that be done here?”

“I doubt it,” Pinkie said, indicating the documents before her. “Twilight went to great lengths to make sure no aspect of the game could be sabotaged. I bet the only reason Chrysalis was able to do what she did is because Twilight didn’t account for changeling magic.”

“And am I to take it we can’t just solve this problem the earth pony way?” Maud asked with a faint smirk.

“The earth pony way?” Rarity repeated warily.

“Buck it until the problem is solved,” Pinkie elaborated. “And yeah, while that’s good for farm work, I have a funny feeling it won’t do us much good here.”

“Maybe Octavia will know what to do,” Maud suggested. “She always seems to know what she’s doing.”

Rarity shuffled awkwardly upon hearing Octavia’s name, Pinkie figured she was still feeling guilty over their fight yesterday.

“I’ll bring it up with her,” Pinkie stated, “but she’s probably busy trying to find the…”

Pinkie stopped as the study door opened once again and Fluttershy peeked in.

“Good morning,” she murmured as she stepped in. “I’m not interrupting am I?”

“No, we were just discussing how to open that book,” Pinkie filled in, turning back to the documents before her.

“Leave that for now,” Maud instructed, taking the sheet Pinkie had just picked up and placing it back down on the table. “We should get some food.”

“There’s not much left,” Pinkie said with a frown.

“Then I’ll go look for more,” Maud assured her. “But you won’t do yourself any good if you keel over.”

Pinkie nodded wearily, standing up.

“Also we need to take our pills today,” Rarity added.

Pinkie’s face contorted, thankfully Rarity and Maud weren’t looking, Fluttershy on the other hand…

Day 14, 09:47

Pinkie picked up a shard of stone from the courtyard floor. She looked it over, trying to figuring out which piece of Cadance this was. Pinkie had liked Cadance, true she hadn’t known her well, but despite that Cadance always treated her like they had been friends since birth.

You deserved better than this.

Pinkie set the lump of stone onto the now empty pedestal. She Ran her hoof along the grainy surface, thinking back to the few times they had spent together as well as recalling the stories Twilight had told her of her old foalsitter. A fond smile crept onto Pinkie’s face, faltering slightly when her hoof ran over something slightly different from the rest of the stone block.

Curious, she leaned down and peered at the spot she had touched. Lifting her hoof away she saw a small marking crudely carved into the pedestal. It appeared to be a simple circle with a single horizontal line running through it. Instinctively Pinkie began looking around the rest of the pedestal, but found nothing else resembling the carving. Stepping back she looked it up and down, wondering what the marking signified.

She was just about to walk over to the other statues, see if they had anything similar on them, when she noticed a glint of light lying in the dust at the base of the pedestal. Walking over, Pinkie reached down and picked up the reflective object. It was a very small shard of metal, with what appeared to be a curved blade on one of its edges, although it was very worn down, chipped in some places. It seemed to be some kind of blade, bent and broken off something else by the looks of it.

Shrugging slightly, Pinkie deposited it in her saddlebags in the same compartment as the key so it wouldn’t get lost, before standing up and going to inspect the other statues.

Day 14, 11:02

Where does the light come from?

“Pinkie Pie?”

“Yeah?” Pinkie called over her shoulder from where she stood, gazing up at the rose window in the chapel.

“I found something of interest,” Octavia continued, walking up the aisle and standing beside Pinkie.

“The third machine?” Pinkie asked hopefully.

“Unfortunately not,” Octavia grumbled. “Besides, don’t you think I’d be a little more excited if that had happened?”

“I suppose,” Pinkie admitted turning to face her. “What is it then?”

“This missive Twilight wrote,” Octavia said handing the sheet over to Pinkie.

Pinkie took it from her and skimmed over it, it was the one where she had revealed the existence of a third machine.

“What about it?” Pinkie asked, having read it all before.

“Look closer,” Octavia insisted. “There’s something I think you overlooked.”

Pinkie looked back down, taking it slower this time as she reread it. Now that she was focusing more, she quickly noticed what Octavia had meant, her eyes widening as she read the second last sentence.

Still, just as I delved into the secrets of the Five, I will restore these three machines…

“Secrets of the Five?!” Pinkie read aloud, furious at herself for having overlooked it.

“Perhaps she’s referring to the book,” Octavia suggested.

Pinkie nodded absently, trying to piece together what this revelation meant.

“I’ll leave that copy with you,” Octavia said turning to walk away again. “I’ve already memorised it.”

Pinkie was barely listening to Octavia, completely unaware that she was once again alone in the chapel. Her head was spinning with questions and answers, desperately trying to add two and two together.

The book was titled ‘Five’; Twilight was researching into the Five. Behind the face of a friend… the friend must have been Twilight, and her face…

Pinkie galloped from the room, barely stuffing the paper into her saddlebags as she went. She sped past Fluttershy as she crossed over the entrance hall balcony, she called after her but Pinkie didn’t slow down. She knew now, the way to open the book had been in her hooves for days. Turning into the residence tower she charged into her bedroom, galloping to the bedside table and sweeping the framed photo of Twilight’s family up.

Pinkie gazed at the picture for a few seconds, looking past the cracked pane of glass at the four happy unicorns. Flipping the picture over, Pinkie unlatched the back of the frame and allowed it to swing open. Almost instantly the photograph fell free, gliding to the floor while something shiny dropped like a stone with it. Pinkie crouched down, picking up the photo and the object that had been stashed behind it.

It was a thin, silver medallion, much like a coin, but while one side was blank, the other was engraved with a familiar symbol. Taking a few seconds to place Twilight’s photo back on the cabinet so as not to damage it, Pinkie then turned and ran from the room once more. As she raced back to the study, she thought briefly that she should maybe find Octavia and the others first, it might be better to have them all present when the book was opened.

However Pinkie’s curiosity overcame her wisdom on the matter and she quickly pushed the thought to the back of her mind. She couldn’t waste any more time, she was going to open that book right now. The others would understand why she didn’t wait for them; they knew this was a pressing matter. Pinkie arrived at the study without encountering any of her friends or sister along the way, finding the room deserted as well. She wasn’t bothered however, walking quickly up to the fireplace and lifting the heavy tome from the mantel before setting it on the coffee table.

Pinkie’s eyes flickered between the symbols on the medallion and book strap, they seemed to be almost perfect matches and Pinkie didn’t doubt they were intended for one another. Taking a deep breath, Pinkie reached out with the medallion, bringing it closer to its counterpart. Once they were a few inches apart they began repelling one another, Pinkie struggled to keep pushing the medallion closer, it was like trying to touch two positive magnets. As the book and medallion continued to repel one another however, the glyphs began lighting up, glowing brighter and brighter until…

The strap around the book snapped, both it and the medallion in Pinkie’s hooves crumbling to ash. Pinkie reached out with both hooves, they were trembling slightly with anticipation. Finally she would learn the secrets, finally she would have the answers, and then just maybe… she could win the game. Pinkie a took a few shuddering breaths before she opened the front cover…

She looked down at a blank page.

No worries, some books do that.

Not deterred she flipped to next page, finding it too to be blank. Pinkie stared in disbelief before turning to the next one, and the next one, and so on rapidly picking up speed.

“No, no, no, no…” she muttered frantically as she was greeted with blank page after blank page. “No!”

Pinkie let out a scream of frustration, slamming her hooves down and staring in fury at the completely blank book that now lay opened at roughly half way.

After everything… it was a dead end?

Pinkie sagged, she couldn’t believe it, it had been for nothing. She had no answers and no other avenues to explore, she was completely lost. Backing up slightly, Pinkie collapsed into her favoured armchair, her legs weakening… only to land hard on her rear end.

Confused she turned around to see why her armchair wasn’t directly behind her, only to find that her armchair wasn’t in the room anymore… and that she wasn’t in the study anymore. Pinkie had been so enthralled by the book that she hadn’t paid the slightest attention to her surroundings, so that now she wasn’t entirely sure when she had left the study and arrived…

Where am I?

Pinkie paced around the new room, it was spacious but well furnished with a number of plush armchairs around an opulent coffee table. There were bookshelves lining some of the walls, filled with just as many trinkets and magical artefacts as books. A giant desk dominated most of the room with a chair behind it which closer resembled a throne. She knew this room well; it was Celestia’s private study, the very room she had revealed to Pinkie the truth about Twilight.

Pinkie wasn’t so much confused as to how she came to be in this room now, as why the entire room was an ethereal blue colour, like she had lenses in her eyes, tinting her vision.

“This is…” a voice spoke, causing Pinkie to spin around. “Very interesting.”

Pinkie stared in bewilderment at Princess Celestia who sat in one of the armchairs, reading through a collection of documents. But Pinkie was even more shocked to see the other pony sitting opposite her.

“I want to thank you again for choosing me to study the horn Princess,” Twilight gushed excitedly. “It was such an honour that you would choose me and I think the discoveries I’ve made will really revolutionise our views of the whole world.”

Celestia grimaced from behind the documents so Twilight couldn’t see, but Pinkie saw, Pinkie knew it wasn’t an honour that Celestia had bestowed upon her student but a curse. Still, Pinkie had to wonder what was going on, both Twilight and Celestia had appeared out of nowhere and both of them had the same blue tint as the rest of the room. Was this a dream? Or a memory?

“Well I look forward to reading these in more detail,” Celestia said, putting the documents down and picking up her tea cup instead. “However, could you give me a brief rundown now of your findings?”

“Gladly,” Twilight replied, excited. “In a nutshell, I believe my research has provided definitive proof for the existence of divine beings. Five to be precise, each one embodying some natural aspect of the world and its inhabitants. By default they exist in a… metaphysical form, more as concepts than actual conscious beings. In this form they are most constant, simply existing and exercising a base level of their powers. However, I found out that the spirits can assume direct control of hosts, giving them a more direct influence over what exactly their powers achieve.

“In most cases these are temporary,” Twilight continued, “and only offer limited power for the spirit. But, they can take on a true vessel, where they bind completely with a living form allowing them unlimited control and direction of their abilities. That’s how this fits into Sombra’s horn; it would appear he became the true vessel for one of the five spirits.”

“Well that would certainly explain his powers,” Celestia agreed. “I had never witnessed anything like them until Luna and I fought him. So what happens to the spirit when the host is destroyed as was the case with Sombra?”

“Well, if it was a temporary host,” Twilight began, “then the spirit is just exorcized and returns to its conceptual form, but if it was the true vessel as in the case of Sombra… The spirit must bind completely with the host to achieve this stage, as such, when the host is destroyed; the spirit is destroyed with it.”

“But that can’t be right!” Celestia exclaimed, causing Twilight to flinch. “That doesn’t explain how the horn is still…”

Celestia quickly caught herself on, remembering Twilight was still present and the lie she had told.

“Maybe your writings will explain things in greater detail,” Celestia said hurriedly swiping up the documents only to have them whipped from her grasp by a disembodied eagle claw.

“Really now,” Discord began, materialising fully as he continued to wave the documents out of Celestia’s reach. “Must you ponies always stick your muzzles into things that really aren’t any of your business?”

“Discord?” Twilight said confused. “What do you know about this?”

“Far more than you,” Discord retorted, “and that is how it should stay.”

“Wait…” Twilight began, realisation dawning on her. “You’re one of the spirits! One of the Five, aren’t you?”

“If I say yes will you drop this subject?” Discord asked grumpily.

“No,” Twilight replied simply.

“Alright I’ll tell you everything,” Discord said, taking a seat and helping himself to tea.

“You didn’t need a lot of persuasion,” Twilight muttered.

“It’s Discord Twilight,” Celestia reminded her. “He can never resist telling a story.”

“Hush now Celestia,” Discord said, zipping the white alicorn’s mouth shut. “The only reason I’m telling you anything is because you’ve already figured most of it out yourselves.”

“So everything I said is true?” Twilight asked surprised. “They were only hypothesises so far, I still needed to confirm them.”

“Well now you don’t need to,” Discord assured her. “Which means you can now spend your time doing something useful like searching for the antidote.”

“I’m sure I will want to do that as soon as I know why,” Twilight agreed. “But right now, what can you tell us about the Five?”

“The Five, how quaint,” Discord tittered. “Well pretty much everything you said is true, five spirits embodying natural aspects of the world, the degree to which we exercise our power determined by our physical state.”

“Is that your true vessel?” Twilight asked, looking Discord up and down.

“It is indeed, you like?” Discord asked, a spotlight appearing above him as he assumed a body builder pose. “Many years ago, some of my worshippers had it specially made for me.”

“Couldn’t you have just taken any body as your host?” Twilight asked.

“As a regular, restrained host yes,” Discord agreed. “But for a true vessel, it needs to embody what the spirit represents.”

“So if you represent chaos, what are the others,” Twilight asked, completely forgetting about Celestia who sat patiently fuming with her mouth still zipped shut.

“Well perhaps most importantly there is Gaia and Grim,” Discord listed. “The spirits of life and death respectively. Quite boring individuals, Grim especially hates me.”

“Whatever for?” Twilight asked half sarcastically.

“During my rule over Equestria I made the ever so wise decision that nobody should ever have to die,” Discord explained, apparently not picking up on Twilight’s attitude. “Grim wouldn’t have any of it, but it was one of the rare occasions where he took a host and I decided to take advantage of that.”

“You killed Death?!” Twilight uttered in disbelief.

“No!” Discord exclaimed. “Aren’t you listening? I don’t like killing, I simply imprisoned him. Once sun butt and her sister zapped me with the elements however, he escaped and set about killing everyone again. I admit there was a little bit of an overpopulation crisis…”

“A little bit?!” Celestia bellowed, finally wrenching her mouth open. “Ponies literally couldn’t move there were so many of them!”

“Long story short, it was around that time contraception was invented,” Discord added nonchalantly. “All the spirits have their purpose in this world, mine was to create obstacles for you to grow and overcome.”

“So what about the other two spirits?” Twilight asked. “What do they control?”

“Ah, well first you have Bliss,” Discord continued. “Now I like her, anytime you feel joy, happy, contented, relaxed, lucky or love, that’s Bliss. All positive feelings come courtesy of her."

“And the last one?” Twilight asked, causing Discord to grow slightly darker.

“Well, just as Death is the opposite of Life,” Discord began, his voice slightly cooler. “Bliss has an opposite in the form of negativity. Hate, anger, sadness, loneliness, simply having a bad day, that’s the work of Despair. The other spirits, even myself to a degree, we do what we do because it’s our purpose. It’s all part of keeping the world spinning, but Despair… let’s just say I wasn’t disappointed to hear you blasted him into oblivion.”

“Blasted him into…” Twilight began confused before realising. “Despair is the spirit that was in Sombra.”

Discord nodded solemnly.

“Hang on,” Celestia interrupted. “If Despair was destroyed along with Sombra, how is that we still feel negative emotions?”

“Well it wouldn’t do for one of us to get destroyed and throw the whole world into imbalance,” Discord reasoned. “If a temporary host is destroyed we revert to our default state, but if a true host is destroyed we become even less. We still exist to the very smallest degree, but it takes years, centuries even for us to become what we once were.”

“This is incredible,” Twilight said, scribbling down notes. “There’s so much that I hadn’t learnt yet, and to find out that it’s all true…”

“Hang on!” Discord explained. “I only told you all this so you wouldn’t keep sticking your nose into it. How would you like it if I started picking apart your existence?”

“I think we’ve learned quite enough for one day,” Celestia interrupted, snatching the documents back out of Discord’s grip with her magic. “Thank you again for taking care of that Twilight, and… thank you Discord for your input.”

Discord opened his mouth to retort, but froze when he realised he didn’t have anything, before quickly disappearing a puff of smoke. Twilight then stood up and started walking to the door of the study, stopping briefly to look back at a large clock on the wall that Pinkie hadn’t noticed before. In fact, now that she thought about it, she didn’t remember seeing a clock like that when she had been here herself.

“Is something wrong Twilight?” Celestia asked, glancing up from the documents.

“I was just thinking Princess,” Twilight began. “You know Starswirl’s inventions?”

Celestia looked up to the clock in surprise.

“Yes, the ones supposedly able to manipulate time and space,” Celestia replied. “What about them?”

“Well, I’ve just been thinking…” Twilight continued hesitantly. “That in the last thousand years or so, nopony has attempted to finish them. So… what if I did?”

“Hmm?” Celestia said thoughtfully, standing up and approaching the clock. “An interesting proposal, I must admit I’m surprised that you’re suddenly bringing this up. Do you not have anything else to be working on?”

“Oh, I have plenty to keep me occupied,” Twilight assured her with a small smile. “But I feel like this is important.”

“Well if you’re sure,” Celestia said with a small shrug. “As you say, nopony has attempted to complete his works in roughly a millennia. However, considering how you already completed one of his spells, I can’t think of anypony more suited to carry out this task than you.”

“Thank you Celestia,” Twilight replied appreciatively.

“I’ll send word to the library and observatory that you are to be granted access to the hourglass and orrery,” Celestia explained. “And you can come by here any time you wish to examine the clock.”

“Again, thank you,” Twilight repeated, offering a little bow to hide her grin.

Pinkie watched the entire scene unfold, never moving an inch, sometimes forgetting to breath. It was only when Celestia’s study began to dissolve around her, taking the two princesses with it that Pinkie finally snapped back to reality. She spun around and looked at the book just in time to see the fain blue hue creep back into its blank pages, and for the entire tome to close itself over.

Pinkie stared at the book in a stunned silence, her head spinning with the sheer amount of information she had just absorbed.

Five spirits…

Despair…

Vessels…

The third machine…

“The clock,” Pinkie whispered, her thoughts drifting to the giant clock face overlooking the courtyard.

Day 14, 11:35

Pinkie had been surprised at how little time had passed, it was if time had stood still while she watched the memory play out, but then considering everything that had happened up to this point, she really shouldn’t have been surprised. The giant clock looming over the courtyard was the third and final machine, it was so obvious considering its relevance to time, but Pinkie had also seen the phantom clockwork connected to the orrery in her nightmare.

At the time she hadn’t thought of it as being any more than another bizarre happening, but now she was sure what she had witnessed was proof that the orrery and the clock were linked in a way they could never have seen ordinarily. Pinkie didn’t doubt if she had gone to the library at night she would have found the same ghostly gears surrounding the hourglass.

Now however she needed to find her way up to the clock, or more precisely behind it where the internal mechanisms lay, which left her at a bit of a dead end. Her first instinct, and probably her wiser one too, was to find the others and tell them what she had discovered and together they would search for a way to the clock. That had been her first instinct, but as with the book she quickly discarded that thought in favour of rushing ahead and finding it on her own.

Besides, she hadn’t seen any of the others since she ran by Fluttershy on her way to the residence tower, and any time spent looking for them was time wasted that could otherwise be spent bringing this game to an end. Yes, it all made perfect sense to Pinkie, it was all justifiable.

Pinkie entered the chapel once more, her eyes immediately pointing up to the rose window. Noticing how the light shone through it, casting a multi-coloured glow across the room.

Where does the light come from?

The thought hadn’t even occurred to Pinkie in all her visits to this room, but once she had noticed it she couldn’t get it out of her mind. The pitch black sky outside bore no light sources, and while that didn’t put a dampener on their vision, it certainly didn’t create a light like the one found in this room and only this room. It was like the light of the sun was trapped in this one window. Pinkie drew the sacrificial dagger from her bag, passing her gaze across the rune engraved blade; she prayed she was right about this.

Taking one final look at the image of the Pegasus with her outstretched wings and her smeared face, before hurling the knife with all her might.

Pinkie was thrown off her hooves and sent flying back, slamming into the double doors of the chapel as the window exploded upon the knife’s impact. Coloured glass flew out in every direction, one catching Pinkie in the shoulder and leaving a deep gash. All light was extinguished from the circular hole in the wall with its jagged, broken glass creeping inwards.

“Well, at least the sound will have drawn the others,” Pinkie muttered weakly, trying to put a silver lining on it as she wobbled to her hooves, clutching at her bleeding shoulder.

Pinkie stared up at the now broken window, relieved that her rash action hadn’t been in vain. Despite how much darker the room was now without the eerie light source, Pinkie could still see the dark passage behind the window. Walking slowly over, Pinkie craned her neck, peering up through the newly formed hole. It appeared to be some narrow shaft heading straight up, with a metal ladder placed directly behind where the window once was.

Scooping up the fallen knife, Pinkie deposited it in her bag before trying to figure out how exactly she would get from the floor the passage almost three metres above. She could always wait on the others arriving, but again that urge to push ahead drowned out any such thought, instead drawing her gaze to the altar behind her. Pinkie glanced down at her injured shoulder as she unstrapped her saddlebags.

This might hurt…

Day 14, 11:48

Pinkie hauled herself up over the edge, collapsing in exhaustion. It hadn’t been a high climb up the ladder, but with her shoulder injury as well as the numerous slices she sustained while jumping into the broken window, the climb became considerably more challenging. In hindsight she should have tried to clear more of the jagged glass lining the circular hole in the wall, but at least she’s had the forethought to take her dress off and leave it down in the chapel along with her saddlebags.

Good to know I’ve got my priorities straight.

Now that she had reached her destination, she raised her head and scanned the area around her. She appeared to be in a long corridor, the walls lined with countless whirring mechanisms. The cogs and gears were so packed in some areas she struggled to see the brick wall behind them, if not for the stone floor beneath her hooves she could have been convinced she was standing in the intestines of some great clockwork monster.

At the furthest end of the corridor she saw a golden light spilling into the corridor, illuminating her surroundings. Climbing to all fours, she began her journey down the corridor, gazing all around her as she walked. The various mechanisms around her all seemed to be stretching out from the source of the light like robotic limbs, splitting off at different points to feed into the walls, presumably travelling elsewhere in the castle.

As Pinkie neared the end of the hall, she raised a foreleg to shield her eyes against the intense glow, but as she passed through the final archway, she noticed the light dim considerably from behind her eyelids. Lowering her hoof, Pinkie opened her eyes and gazed around the room in absolute awe. If the tunnel she had just traversed was the intestines, then this was the stomach. All the devices and mechanisms that flooded into the hallway, split off from here, spreading out all around Pinkie like a massive web of copper.

And there, at the end of the chamber, where all those limbs converged, a huge, translucent white disc set into the wall. The other side of the clock, which seemed to be pulsating with the golden glow she had seen while walking up the corridor. Taking her time, Pinkie edged towards the clock face, her eyes scanning the room, mesmerised by how every piece fitted together and worked in tandem to create this metal behemoth. Pinkie imagined that if even a single bolt was loosened the whole thing would collapse.

Turning her attention back to the clock she could see the faint shadow of the hands of the other side, showing her that it was almost twelve. But then her eyes were drawn to the very centre of the clock, a single point where the light refused to touch. Pinkie froze as she saw what was being clutched in the very centre of the machine, held in place by several metal prongs, slowly siphoning off a dark pulsating energy from it. She had never seen it for very long, but she would never forget that curved, grey shard, fading to crimson red at the tip.

There was Sombra’s horn, at the very centre of Starswirl’s machines, giving them the constant power they needed to function. Pinkie had found it at last…

Then her head exploded in agony as something very solid, struck her very hard in the back of the skull. Pinkie's legs gave out beneath her, her body falling like a sack of potatoes to the floor. Her mouth hung open and she emitted a faint croaking noise. As she rolled onto her side and her vision began to fade, what little she could make out being nothing more than blotches of light, she saw something move over her, heading towards the clock.

Then there was only darkness as she faded out of consciousness.

Noise, lots of noise.

Her eyes cracked open weakly, her vision swam before her. All she could make out was flashes of light, coupled with the sounds of crashing and creaking and distant explosions.

A figure leaned over her.

“What have you done Pinkie?!”

Pinkie’s eyes shut again, her mind going blank as she passed out once more.

Day 14, 13:50

“Pinkie…”

“She’s going to be alright. She’s going to be alright dammit!”

“Pinkie…”

“I think she’s coming around!”

“Pinkie!”

Pinkie’s eyes opened slowly. Wherever she was, it was dim. She saw a few blurry figures standing over her.

“Pinkie, say something! Please!” One of the figures demanded, her voice sounding strained.

“M… Maud…” Pinkie murmured.

Pinkie’s brain felt like out was going to explode as she felt her whole body pulled into a suffocating hug.

“Easy Maud!” another voice said, panicking slightly but sounding relieved. “She looks like she’s in pain.”

Pinkie felt Maud’s grip loosen, but didn’t feel her body placed back down. As her surroundings began to come into focus, she was able to make out her sister’s tear streaked face mere inches from her own while Rarity, Fluttershy and Octavia all stood around, looking down at her with both concern and joy at seeing her awake.

“What happened Pinkie?” Octavia asked, her eyes flicking from Pinkie to something she couldn’t see.

Pinkie opened her mouth, her brain trying to formulate a response. Instead she turned her head to the side and threw up.

“We need to get her to the infirmary!” Fluttershy exclaimed.

“We can’t move her down that ladder in that state,” Rarity pointed out. “We have everything we need, don’t we?”

“Alright,” Fluttershy said reluctantly, stepping forward and gently nudging Maud. “Everyone give me some space. Pinkie, just relax and let me take care of you.”

Pinkie nodded weakly as Maud lowered her to the floor and Fluttershy approached with a needle.

Day 14, 15:10

Pinkie set the now empty glass of water down, her hoof still shaking slightly.

“Are you feeling alright?” Fluttershy asked, glancing at Pinkie’s thoroughly bandaged head.

“Much better,” Pinkie informed her, she would have nodded but she didn’t want to prove herself wrong by inducing another headache.

“You’re lucky to be alive Pinkie,” Fluttershy said in a low voice. “What happened?”

“Exactly what I’d like to know,” Octavia added, stepping into view from where she had been examining the clock face.

Now that they were sure Pinkie was going to be fine, they now appeared a little more suspicious as to what they missed. Pinkie couldn’t blame them, as she looked around the clockwork chamber now almost in ruins she knew she had been utterly foolish in setting off on her own.

“You found the third machine,” Octavia continued. “Impressive, but how? And more importantly, what happened?”

“It was the book,” Pinkie whispered as Rarity and Maud stepped closer. “I managed to open it.”

“You did?” Maud asked surprised. “How?”

“That line you showed me in Twilight’s letter,” Pinkie explained, addressing Octavia. “I put two and two together and realised the key was hidden in the picture of Twilight’s family.”

“Behind the face of a friend,” Octavia whispered. “Of course. So what did the book say?”

Pinkie laughed slightly.

“It didn’t say a thing, it was completely blank.” The others all stared in horror at her, she quickly continued. “When I opened it up, I was teleported into a… memory, where Twilight… asked Celestia if she could finish Starswirl’s machines.”

Pinkie decided to leave out the part about the spirits, still not knowing how that fitted into any of this. Besides, it would take too much time to try and explain, better to just let them see the memory for themselves.

“They pretty much stated that the third machine was the clock,” Pinkie continued. “So I realised I just had to find a way of getting up behind it. It was pretty much pure luck that I figured out the entrance was behind the stained glass window in the chapel. After that I climbed up and came in here, where I found Sombra’s horn connected to the machine.”

“Sombra’s horn?” Octavia repeated, bewildered.

“Yeah, it’s right…” Pinkie began, looking over to the clock face, only to see an empty space where the horn used to be. “It’s gone! They must have taken it!”

“Pinkie slow down,” Maud instructed. “Who took it?”

“The one who knocked me out,” Pinkie replied. “They came up behind me and hit me on the back of the head. After that they must have stolen the horn.”

“That explains everything that’s been happening,” Octavia said in a low voice.

“What do you mean?” Pinkie asked. “Why is this room breaking down?”

“Not just this room,” Octavia corrected. “The entire castle is acting up, it’s how we knew something was wrong and came to find you.”

“The entire castle…” Pinkie repeated, sounding confused.

“You remember what I told you?” Octavia continued. “How the machines needed a constant magical source or else they would cease to function. Well if what you’re saying is true, then that source was Sombra’s horn, and now that it’s been separated from the machine, the changes the Mastermind made to Canterlot are reversing themselves.”

“So everything’s going back to normal?” Pinkie asked hopefully. “That’s what you said right?”

Octavia bit her lip.

“It’s what I thought,” she stated, the others all looking at her in confusion. “With the machines no longer functioning, Canterlot will return to its normal state… but it won’t be a smooth transition, and I can’t guarantee what will happen to us.”

There was a long period of silence, finally broken by Pinkie.

“So we’re on a time limit?” she asked. “Find the Mastermind and end the game.”

“Right now, that seems like our only option,” Octavia agreed.

“Then let’s get started,” Pinkie said with as much determination as she could muster, climbing unsteadily to her hooves.

“Hang on Pinkie,” Rarity cut in, sounding stern. “Why didn’t you come to us when you figured any of this stuff out? We could have helped you.”

Pinkie sighed and hung her head.

“I know,” she whispered. “I just… I don’t know what came over me. I just wanted to do it on my own.”

“Well you’re not in this on your own,” Fluttershy reminded her. “We’re here as well.”

“I know,” Pinkie replied dully.

Another long period of silence followed, broken by Maud.

“Let’s get going,” she suggested. “We can’t waste any more time.”

Rarity walked away before returning, carrying Pinkie’s dress and saddlebags.

“We found these in the chapel,” she explained. “I assume you want them back?”

Pinkie nodded gratefully, accepting them.

Day 14, 15:43

“It sounds… fascinating,” Rarity agreed as the group walked into the study.

“There’s way more to it,” Pinkie continued as she approached the table where she had left the book. “Including some stuff that’s just… well you can see for yourself.”

“So where did you leave the book?” Octavia asked.

“Right…” Pinkie began, her hoof hanging in the air as she pointed at the coffee table, completely devoid of books upon it.

Pinkie’s eyes darted up to the mantle, trying to remember if she had set the book back before leaving, she hadn’t thought so. As her eyes panned over the fire place however, she noticed a trickle of smoke rising from the hearth. Pinkie rushed forward, but it was too late, all that remained was the charred remains of the book and one of the wall mounted torches from the hallway.

“I take it you didn’t do this?” Rarity asked slowly, her eyes wide in shock.

Pinkie just stared at glowing embers and ash that had once been a book containing so many answers.

Day 14, 18:22

“Having fun?”

Pinkie breathed heavily from where she stood pressed against the wall, not daring to look around the corner lest the creature from her nightmares had chased her this far.

“What… what is that thing?” Pinkie gasped. “How is it here now? I thought they only came around after ten.”

“With the castle in this s… s... state, the nightmares are no longer confined to any set time,” the Mastermind explained, its voice sounding oddly funny, even jumping slightly. “They were never my doing, merely a by-product of the p… p… process by which the machines carry out their function. A process you d… disrupted.”

“I didn’t do anything and you know it!” Pinkie snapped back. “And why is your voice acting up like that?”

“It’s difficult to project my thoughts like this now that I’m no longer connect… t… ted throughout the castle,” the Mastermind replied.

“So it’s true,” Pinkie muttered. “Everything really is coming to an end. Tell me, what will happen if we don’t figure out who you are by the time this is over?”

“Oh let’s not go there,” the Mastermind said slyly. “My victory must come before that time.”

“Your victory?!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Forgive me, but I don’t see you or anyone salvaging anything from this mess.”

“You’ll see,” the Mastermind replied enigmatically. “In time. There is still t… t… time for that.”

Pinkie grunted and pushed herself off the wall, checked the coast was clear before running back towards the residence tower. She needed to find the others, they needed to figure out who the Mastermind was once and for all, but with everything that was happening to the castle Pinkie didn’t know how they’d find the time to think.

As she ran down the hallway from the central chamber she watched as her surroundings flickered, changing briefly from the dark grey she knew to the white marble of Canterlot, occasionally changing to something far more horrific. Shaking her head, Pinkie tried to focus. Darting into the residence tower, Pinkie rushed into her bedroom slamming the door behind her.

At least this room was a safe haven… for now anyway. Marching over to her desk, Pinkie upturned her saddlebags, dumping the contents on the surface, collapsing into her chair and staring at them.

Everything’s pointing to Trixie being the Mastermind. The assessment talking about her experimenting in dark magic, the letter to Celestia talking about the horn being moved to the vault, Trixie’s cutie mark carved behind the throne and the horn replaced by the…

Pinkie froze, instantly forgetting her train of thought a she stared at what was on her desk… or what wasn’t on her desk.

Pinkie threw open her saddlebags, searching desperately for some nook or cranny that it might have gotten stuck in. When she accepted it definitely wasn’t there, she began checking around the floor in case it fell off the desk. She turned her room upside down in case she had hidden somewhere and forgot. She screamed and swore, but it was all to no avail.

The gun was gone.

Day 14, 20:31

Maud tested the door of the banquet hall; the chair wedged under the handles did a perfect job of keeping it shut.

“So is this it?” Rarity asked, sounding and looking distraught, her face covered in dried tears. “We barricade ourselves in here and hope for the best?”

Pinkie didn’t know what Rarity saw, they all seemed to see different things, often at different times complicating things even further.

“I don’t expect a door to hold off nightmares,” Pinkie muttered. “We just need a moment to catch our breath…”

She turned to face them; Maud, Rarity, Fluttershy and Octavia all staring back at her.

“And talk.”

Day 16, 00:00

Night… Day… what did it really matter anymore? If it weren’t for the small digital readout on her hoof computer, Pinkie wouldn’t know whether it was supposed to be day or night. No sun, no moon, no stars. It had only been two weeks, yet it felt like a lifetime. What she wouldn’t give to be able to see them one last time, to know that the world is right, that no one else will suffer the same way she has.

Pinkie stared up at the clock face high above her, now permanently stuck reading a few minutes to midday. Every other night she would have been hiding in her room, counting the seconds until the nightmares disappeared for the day and she could be free for a few hours. But there was no safety, nightmares roamed free as the castle collapsed little bit by little bit.

Pinkie turned around slowly, staring at the tall iron gates leading to the town, now bent and warped out of shape, but most interestingly, wide open.

“Is something wrong Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked, approaching Pinkie from the side.

Rarity walked up and stood by her other side, following her gaze to the open gate.

“Do you think there’s something out there?” she asked warily.

Casting one last look back at the twisting, flickering castle, Pinkie set off towards the town, her friends in tow. As they drifted into the town, the other two repeatedly glanced around them, on the lookout for anything trying to take them by surprise. Pinkie’s eyes were focused however, on a single archway between two houses. As they drew closer to the passage, Pinkie noticed something dark smeared across the ground, as if something was dragged down the pavement through the archway.

Stopping just short of the entryway, Pinkie crouched down and ran her hoof over the smear. It was dry, turning to dust as she scraped at the brownish substance.

“Is that…” Fluttershy began, looking slightly sick.

Pinkie nodded warily, looking back up at the archway. Standing up, she slowly made her way over to it, taking a deep breath before peering in.

The small courtyard, squeezed between the houses was a mess, shattered crates and barrels lying everywhere. But it wasn’t the broken wood that drew Pinkie’s gaze, but the form lying spread eagle in the centre of it all.

Pinkie stumbled forward, her eyes wide, her mouth trying desperately to form words. Her legs gave out beneath her and she crawled the rest of the way. She heard a gasp behind her as the other two stepped through the archway.

“Maud…” Pinkie uttered, her voice trembling as she shook her sister’s lifeless body. “No… Maud! Please, don’t leave me… not you too...”

Pinkie stared at her sister as tears began welling up in her eyes. Maud’s face looked peaceful, wearing a small frown with her eyes gently shut. She looked as if she was sleeping, but the jewel encrusted hilt of the sacrificial dagger jutting out of her rib cage dismissed any notions of that.

Pinkie collapsed, burying her face into her sister’s breast as she let out an agonised cry, her entire body racked with sobs.

Author's Notes:

Here we are... this is it... after months of writing, the final chapter.
Get your thinking caps out, dust them off and don them one last time. I have nothing to give the winners except permission to feel incredibly self satisfied, but don't let that stop you. Who knows, you could put this on your CV when you're applying to become a real detective.