Whodunit?

by jasontaylorblogs

Chapters

• The Invitation
• The Reactions
• The Nightmare Begins
• To Hunt a Devil, Floor One
• To Hunt a Devil, Floor Two
• To Hunt a Devil, Floor Three
• To Hunt a Devil, Basement Floor
• The Nightmare's End and the Murderer's Lament
• The Scars of That Night

The Invitation

To my most dearly beloved friend,

You have been cordially invited to attend a special party being held at my mansion.  The party shall be held exactly one week from today.  My mansion is located just outside of Canterlot, in the tranquil plains below the esteemed city.  I had the mansion built from scratch specifically so that this party may be held in your honor.

This party is being held to thank you for all of the work you have done to keep our beautiful land of Equestria safe from harm.  I truly hope that you would come and enjoy yourself at my own expense, for it is not often such an esteemed party is held in your honor.  I do so hope you consider this offer with utmost priority.

In an attempt to sway your mind and convince you to come, I have attached to this letter an invitation and a pamphlet that will describe exactly in detail all the festivities that will be held.  I would ask that you take a long look at the attachments before deciding whether or not you wish to attend.

For a simple run down of the events awaiting you at my mansion, allow me to list the main attractions:

• 5:00pm:  The main bulk of the party shall start.  By then I expect all of the guests to have arrived that are going to.

• 5:30pm:  Butler shall announce the names of all the party guests that have arrived at this time.  With care taken to ensure that their friends and guests are accommodated.

• 6:00pm:  The festivities shall begin.  The basement shall be opened as a game room for fillies and colts.  The main bulk of the mansion shall be opened for entertainment and fun for the stallions and mares.

• 6:30pm:  I shall announce the game that we shall play.  This will be an all-night event that will allow all guests of all ages to win prizes and have fun.

• 7:00pm:  The game shall begin with one guest of my choosing.  The real party will begin at this time.

• 8:00pm:  I shall announce a break from the game, and we shall feast in the Dining Hall on all of our favorite foods.

• 8:30pm:  The game shall resume.  Everypony will be welcome to explore the mansion and hunt for the prize.

• 9:00pm:  I shall announce a new rule to the game that will go into effect at this time.  The game shall become even more involved and fun for the ponies who still wish to play.

• Any time after 9:00pm will be spent playing the game.  There will be a small meal prepared as a midnight snack, but there will be no more interruptions from the game.

I truly hope that these activities will draw you to my humble abode on the evening of the party.  I truly hope that you will attend and enjoy yourself.  Although I will not be able to greet you face to face, I shall leave carefully planned and scheduled events and announcements for Butler to follow.  He is an amazing servant, and I am sure he will do everything in his power to ensure you have a good time.

He will ensure that the game is played fairly and there is no cheating involved.  He will also ensure that the food is of the highest quality and the decorations are of the fanciest design.  This is all for you, my dear friend.  I do so hope you place your trust in Butler, as he has been an amazing friend to me throughout my years.

I hope to see you all there at some point.  I will not be available to greet you in person, but I shall most definitely see you before the party is over.  Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to read this message, and I hope you end up at my party.  I hope you will enjoy yourself.

~With all the love in the world,

Your Host, The Master of the House.

P.S.:  Attached to the back of this letter you should find not only your invitation, but also a pamphlet that will explain in great detail just what exactly will be happening at the party.  Please look them over so as not miss out on any important information.

……

Thank you for taking the time to read this pamphlet!  I hope its contents will help persuade you to come join in the festivities on the night of the party!

First and foremost, we have the meet-n-greet at 5:30.  This is where Butler shall introduce to everypony in attendance the ponies they will be partying with.  It will be short and sweet, lasting only a few minutes as Butler reads out the list of everypony that signed their names on the list as they entered the mansion.  This will be an important time for everypony to get acquainted with their fellow ponies.

After the meet-n-greet is finished, the festivities can begin at 6:00.  The basement of the mansion shall be filled with child-oriented games and entertainment, so that they may remain out of the adults’ manes.  The majority of the first floor will be opened to the adults.  Beyond the Dining Hall will be a specially-stocked bar of alcoholic beverages.  Also open to the adults will be a karaoke room for entertainment and a pool hall for games.

After roaming around on your own for half an hour, Butler shall plug a recording of me into the Public Announcement system that will broadcast a message to all the rooms in the mansion.  I shall announce the first set of rules and the conditions to winning the game, as well as the penalty for losing.  At 7:00, I shall choose one guest at random to begin playing the game with, and the fun will spread to every other pony in the mansion.

At 8:00, Butler shall play another announcement saying that dinner shall be served in the Dining Hall and that the game will be suspended until the food has been eaten.  After thirty minutes of eating, the game shall resume, and I shall open the entirety of the mansion to everypony for exploration in hunt of the special prize.

At 9:00, Butler shall play another announcement recorded by me explaining a new rule to the game.  This is where the true fun shall begin.  For the remainder of the night the game shall be played with everypony still wanting to play.  Until the sun rises the next morning, the rules of the game shall remain in effect, and everypony is entitled to a penalty or prize.

I’m curious to see just who will win the grand prize for the night, and who will be disqualified before the last rule is announced.  I hope that you join me on the night of the party as a form of friendship and good tidings.  I hope that you enjoy not only the festivities and the refreshments, but also the game.  I promise there will not be a single dull moment after the introductions are made!

To My Dear Beloved Guest:

You are hereby cordially invited to attend a party in your honor at

My mansion on the outskirts of Canterlot.

There will be food, fun, and festivities, including but not limited to

Alcoholic beverages, a tasty plethora of delicacies and desserts,

Karaoke, and a game room for children.

I do hope that you arrive on the night of the party so as to have fun and

Accept this sign of friendship from me to you.

From your loving host,

The Master of the House

...

Twilight Sparkle stared at the mysterious message lying on the table in front of her.  She looked back at Spike as he shrugged his shoulders, just as unsure about the invitation as she was.  She sighed as she turned off the light and lay back in her bed.  Her mind was stuck on the message given to her just minutes before.  She decided she would look back over it when she wasn’t so tired.  She rolled over in her bed and quickly fell asleep.

Unbeknownst to her, there were quite a few other ponies doing the exact same thing at the exact same time…

The Reactions

The Mane Six

Twilight Sparkle woke up extra early the next morning and began her routine run around Ponyville to gather her friends.  The only difference between a normal day and today was that she had the invitation to show to her friends.  After almost an hour of examining and re-reading the invitation, Spike and she decided it would be best to consult their friends before making a decision.  Rested snuggly on her back, Spike continued to read over the letter and pamphlet.

After she had successfully gathered all of her friends, she noticed that the group of ponies all seemed bothered by one thing or another.  Twilight decided it would be best to go meet with Zecora before starting a discussion about the invitation, and so she led her friends off to the small hut in Everfree Forest.  Before long, they were sitting in Zecora’s hut discussing the matter at hand…

“I received this strange letter last night right before going to sleep.  It doesn’t say who it’s from; it just talks about a party at some mansion.”  Twilight explained as Spike held up the small package he had been carrying.

Applejack’s eyebrow raised in curiosity, “So uh…is the party sometime next week?”

Twilight nodded, “Yeah, how’d you know?”

Rainbow Dash spoke up, “Because I got an invitation to the same party last night.”

Applejack turned to look at her.  “Ya did?  But uh…What about you fellas?”  She looked around the room to the rest of her friends.

In sequence, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity all nodded.  They had all received a strange invitation to a party hosted by an unknown host.  Fluttershy pulled her letter from the pouch at her side, and handed it to Twilight.

Looking over the two letters carefully, Spike announced, “Yep, it’s the same letter!  You all got the exact same message!”  With a confused look on his face, he handed the letter back to Fluttershy.

The ponies looked at one another.  Zecora spoke up, “Would you care to read the letter?  After all, the more I know the better.”

Twilight cleared her throat, and then started reading the letter.  She also took it upon herself to read the pamphlet and the individual invitation enclosed in the package.  The ponies sat quietly as their friend read aloud the message written on the mysterious letter.  Zecora listened intently, hoping to find some sort of hidden meaning behind the words.  

She announced sadly after Twilight had finished, “I am afraid I see no mystery.  This is simply a party in honor of thee.”

Twilight looked at her, and back to her friends.  “So…should we go?  I mean, we have no clue who the host is…or even what this ‘game’ he keeps talking about is!”

Pinkie Pie bounced happily, “I say we go!  After all, it is party being held for us!  Not to mention there will be fancy decorations and delicious food!  And games!”

Looking around to each of her friends, Twilight sighed, “If we are going to go, we need to get ready.  The mansion is just outside of Canterlot, so we need to be in the city before the party.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged her shoulders, “Meh, I don’t see why we shouldn’t go.  It could be fun.”

The ponies in the room smiled as they all agreed.  They decided unanimously that they would go.  Spike took the pamphlet from Twilight’s hoof and scanned one of the paragraphs carefully.

After he read over the paragraph he wanted to, he announced, “The pamphlet says that anyone with an invitation can bring guests.  So does that mean me and Zecora can go?”  The baby dragon looked innocently at Twilight, glancing quickly toward Zecora.

Twilight smiled, “Of course you two can go!  What do you say, Zecora?”

Without saying a word, the zebra smiled and nodded her head.  Twilight assumed that the nod was a yes, so she cheered, “Great!  We can all go to Canterlot together!  This party can’t be too bad, right?”

The group of ponies stayed at Zecora’s house and visited for a little while longer.  They immediately started discussing who they thought the host was and what they thought the game would be about.  Little did they know, there were other ponies in Ponyville having the same discussion.

Cutie Mark Crusaders

Applebloom dashed from the gate of Sweet Apple Acres, determined to get an early start on her never-ending hunt for her special calling.  She was headed for Rarity’s house so that she could pick up Sweetie Belle before heading over to Scootaloo’s place.  Once she got the gang all together, they could start their day’s adventure in search of their cutie marks.

While she was running on the road to Sweetie Belle’s, a voice called out to her, “Hey Applebloom, wait up!”  She turned around to see a gray-coat, yellow-mane Pegasus flying toward her.

“Hey Derpy, how are ya doin’?” Applebloom cheered as the Pegasus flew closer to her.

Derpy reached into the pouch at her side, “I’m doing pretty good this morning.  I’ve got a lot of letters to deliver.  Are you on your way to your friends’ houses?”  She pulled three packages from her pouch.

“Sure am!  Do ya need somethin’?”  Applebloom happily cheered.

Derpy handed the packages to the filly, “One of them is for Sweetie Belle, and the other’s for Scootaloo.  You don’t mind taking them to them, do you?”

Applebloom laughed, “Not at all Derpy!  I’ll make sure these get to ‘em!”  With a nod of her head, Applebloom took off running down the road.  Derpy closed her pouch and flew back into the air, off to deliver more letters.

It didn’t take long before Applebloom was banging loudly on Rarity’s door, calling for Sweetie Belle.  When the door finally opened, Sweetie Belle greeted her with a cheer and a smile.  “Hey Applebloom, I didn’t expect you so early!  Rarity just left with Twilight, so I’m free to go!”  She leaped out the house and closed the door.

Without another word, the two were off to Scootaloo’s house.  Not even thinking about the packages she was carrying, Applebloom didn’t bother to give Sweetie Belle hers.  It wasn’t long before the two excited fillies ended up running into Scootaloo in the town’s marketplace.  She was buying a new skateboard at the stall of miscellaneous junk.

She greeted her fellow crusaders with a determined laugh, “It’s about time you two showed up!  Today’s the day we get our cutie-!”  She was interrupted when Applebloom remembered the packages she had taken from Derpy.

“You two have packages!  Derpy gave ‘em to me to give to y’all!”  She handed the other two fillies their respective packages.

Sweetie Belle looked at hers with curiosity.  “Let’s go someplace a little less crowded to open them.”  She looked around to see all the people crowded in the marketplace.  

Without wasting any time, the three headed straight for their secret Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse.  They hastily opened their packages to find a letter, pamphlet, and invitation to a party.  Enthusiastically and with a little struggle, the fillies read their letters.  They looked at one another, smiles covering their faces.

Applebloom exclaimed, “We’re gettin’ invited to a party in Canterlot?  This is amazing!”

Scootaloo scoffed, “It’s just some dumb party.  I’m sure it’ll be boring.”

Sweetie Belle laughed, “You don’t think it would be fun to play that game?  It sounded really mysterious and exciting!”

Applebloom added, “We should go!  If we can get our sisters to come with us, we could make it!”

Scootaloo sighed, “Fine.  If we can get a ride to Canterlot, I don’t see why we can’t go.”

Sweetie Belle suddenly remembered something important.  She gasped, “Rarity got a letter just like this one last night!  It had the exact same stuff in it and everything!”

The other two fillies looked at her with confusion.  They started discussing who they thought might have invited them to a party in Canterlot.  Then they let their minds wander off to think about what the game could be and just what kind of prize they would receive for winning.  The trio of fillies decided it best to go right ahead and talk to the older ponies about going to the party.  What they didn’t know is that the older ponies had already decided they would…

Friends’ Rendezvous

Doctor Whooves and Big Macintosh were sitting at a table just outside of the only café in Ponyville.  Although the place hadn’t opened yet, they sat patiently for it to open so they could have their lunch and be on their own ways.  The two had been friends for several years, just about since they were colts.  They got together every day for lunch at this small café.

Big Mac was telling Doctor about a mare that lived a little ways down the road outside of Ponyville, and how he had had his eye on her for a while.  Doctor encouraged Big Mac to go ahead and try and get with her, advice that Big Mac wouldn’t have expected from such a quiet stallion.  As the two were discussing this matter, Derpy Hooves flew up beside them and greeted them with a cheer.

“Howdy fellas!  Still waiting on the café to open?”  She had seen them earlier that day, but didn’t realize she had mail for them at the time.

“Eeyup, still waitin’.  Ya need somethin’ Derpy?”  Big Mac greeted her with a smile and a wave.

She pulled two packages from her pouch, handing one to each of the two stallions.  “These are for you guys.  Seems to be a lot of these packages going around town…”  She saluted the stallions and went on her way.  She had more mail to deliver.

Doctor looked at his package incredulously.  “Who in Equestria would be sending me an unmarked package?”

Big Mac chuckled, “Who in Equestria would be sendin’ you a package at all?”

Doctor frowned, starting to tear open his package.  “That really hurts, you know!” he laughed.

The two stallions stared at the contents of their packages.  They read the letters and pamphlets to themselves.  Then they exchanged confused looks and laughed.

“’You are hereby cordially invited’?  Could this person be any more proper?  What do you make of this strange package, Big Mac?”  Doctor chuckled as he looked at the small invitation card.

Big Mac sighed, “Eeyup, it’s a party invite.  O’ course, I think we oughta accept ‘em.  But that’s just me.”

Doctor smiled, “I admit this ‘Master of the House’ does make it sound like a fun endeavor.  Alcohol, food, games, karaoke…  It sounds like it has a little of everything!”  Doctor looked at Big Mac with a fire in his eyes.

Big Mac returned the look with one just as fiery.  The two sat and discussed whether or not they would be going.  Then their minds wandered off to think about what kind of delicious booze and food would be served.  They didn’t care anything about the game or the prize; they just wanted some exotic consumables.  What they were unaware of is that all around town, ponies were receiving the exact same invitation…

The Rich Pony in Town

Filthy Rich sat in his office at his store ‘Rich’s Barnyard Bargains’, doing all of the taxes and filling out the financial forms for the previous day’s earnings.  As he counted up all of the money and filled out all of the journals and ledgers that accountants are supposed to handle, he heard a slight rapping on his office window.  Getting up from his chair and walking over to see what was causing the noise, he was greeted by Derpy’s smiling face.

He quickly opened the window, a smile on his face.  “What can I do you for, Ms. Hooves?”  He was polite, calm, and spoke gently.  Something one would not expect from such a comparatively rich pony.

“Hey there Mr. Rich!  I got a package here for you and your daughter.”  Derpy handed him two packages from her pouch.

Mr. Rich (for the sake of not calling him Filthy) nodded his head, “Why thank you, Ms. Hooves!  It’s nice of you to drop them off directly to me…The receptionist doesn’t always get the job done right.”  He smiled at her.

Derpy nodded, lifting herself back into the air, “It’s not a problem, Mr. Rich!  You take care now, okay?”  With that, Derpy was off to deliver more mail.

Mr. Rich sat back down in his chair and resumed his financial work.  After a few minutes of ignoring it, the package started to bother him.  He marked his place and his count, closed the journals that were spread across his desk, and pushed them to the side.  He opened the package addressed to him.

He read the letter with intrigue and excitement.  Looking at the pamphlet, his excitement only grew.  “An invitation to a party in Canterlot?  I wonder what kind of big name business pony wants to meet me.”  He smiled as he thought about all the business opportunities he would have if he went to a party in Canterlot.  

If he met the right people, he could probably start a chain of ‘Rich’s Barnyard Bargains’ stores all across Equestria.  He decided right then and there that he would be going.  He looked at his daughter’s package, noticing that it was identical to his own.  Opening it, he found that the same letter, pamphlet, and invitation had been stuffed in it.  He smiled as he thought about taking his daughter on a trip to Canterlot, a vacation he’s never had the time to do before.

He decided he would make time for such a prestigious party.  He wondered how Diamond Tiara would react to being told she was going to Canterlot for a few days.  He also wondered just what kind of business ponies would be at the party, and what he could do to get their attention.  What he didn’t know was that he wasn’t the only pony in Ponyville getting invited to this prestigious party…

The Ponyville Ponies

There were four mares gathered outside the same café as Doctor and Big Mac, and they were also waiting for the place to open so that they could enjoy their own lunch rendezvous.  Lyra Heartstrings, Nurse Redheart, Cheerilee, and Vinyl Scratch were all sitting at the same table, sharing their gossip news and talking about their private lives.  They had apparently all known each other for a long time, and were happy to sit and talk for hours on end about each other’s personal affairs.

Just as they were getting into a heated discussion about their relationships, Derpy arrived with a cheer.  “Hey everypony!  How are you all doing this morning?”  She smiled and waved as she landed beside the quartet of mares.

Cheerilee replied with a cheer, “We’re doing just great!  How about yourself, Derpy?”

Derpy sighed, “Just flying here and there and everywhere.  I’ve got some mail for you.”  She pulled out one package after another, until all four of the mares gathered at the table had identical packages in their hooves.

Nurse Redheart spoke quietly, “Thank you Derpy.  Do you know who they’re from?”  She looked at the package, noticing it didn’t have a return address or identifiable mark of any kind.

Derpy shrugged her shoulders, “I have no idea.  Nopony’s package has had a return address.  I was just told to deliver ‘em, so I’m in the dark too.”  With a smile, Derpy lifted herself back into the air.

Lyra thanked Derpy in a sing-song voice, “Thank you, Derpy!  You take care now, okay?”

Derpy nodded her head and went off on her way.  She still had a few packages left to deliver.

The mares quickly opened their packages and read the contents very thoroughly.  With a squeal of excitement, Vinyl Scratch exclaimed, “We’ve been invited to a party in Canterlot!  I haven’t been there since Princess Cadence’s wedding!”  The other mares began to chatter and discuss the party invitations.

They discussed whether or not they would go, and what they would do if they went.  A couple of them thought about inviting friends.  They let their minds wander off thinking about what kind of amazing stallions they could meet in Canterlot.  Maybe they could get one to fall for them.  What they never would have guessed was that there were invitations just like theirs being sent all over Equestria…

Derpy’s Invitation

Derpy Hooves busily flew all over Ponyville, delivering package after package.  After going all morning long without stopping, she was finally down to her final package.  Arriving back at the post office, she noticed that the package was actually addressed to her.  Opening the package without hesitation, she found a letter, a pamphlet, and an invitation to a fancy party that would be happening in Canterlot.

Excited to relay the news to her filly friend Dinky Doo, Derpy left the post office without wasting any time.  She headed straight for Dinky’s house, with every intention of inviting her and her sister to the party.  After all, the letter did say the guests could have friends with them.

She was greeted by Dinky’s smiling face and excitement to see her.  Amethyst Star greeted Derpy with a sheepish smile and a sigh.  “Good morning, Derpy.  What are you up to?”  Amethyst wasn’t too fond of Derpy’s influence on her sister, but she didn’t mind their hanging out together.

Derpy clapped her hooves in excitement as she told the sisters about the invitation she had received from the mysterious Master of the House.  She showed Dinky the pamphlet on all of the activities and games that would be waiting for her at the party.  Amethyst listened intently, wondering just who exactly would invite Derpy to a party in Canterlot.  After Derpy had finished explaining everything in the letter to the sisters, Amethyst had to speak up.

“Look Derpy, I’m happy for you, truly.  But why exactly did you come here just to rub it in our faces?” Amethyst sighed in irritation.

Derpy shook her head in disappointment, “I would never come over just to brag, Amethyst!  I came over to invite you two to go with me!”

Dinky’s eyes lit up with excitement, “You really mean that Derpy?  You can invite us?”

Derpy nodded her head, “Yep!  The letter said we could bring friends, so I wanted to see if you wanted to come.”

Amethyst’s jaw dropped in shock, “Y-you’re being serious right now, right?  You’re actually inviting us to go to Canterlot with you?”

Derpy nodded, and Amethyst leaped with joy.  She gave Derpy a tight bear hug, super excited to be going to Canterlot.  She had always wanted to visit the royal city, but she’d never had the time or the money.  Now she would be going, and going to a party no less!

The trio of ponies talked excitedly about the things listed in the pamphlet, each of them thinking about a different part of the festivities.  Amethyst was wondering just what kind of famous ponies she would be meeting.  Dinky thought about what kind of games they would have to play in the children’s playrooms.  Derpy thought about how much fun it would be to just visit Canterlot again.  She hadn’t been there since Princess Cadence’s wedding, after all.  What the trio wasn’t expecting was that there were other creatures and ponies outside of Ponyville planning their trips to the party…

The Old Troublemakers

Gilda the griffon was flying ever so peacefully through the clouds, staring down at the forest below her as she relaxed.  She wasn’t flying for any particular purpose, and she had no idea where she was going.  She was just having a little fun, keeping an eye out for any unsuspecting creature to prank.  She couldn’t remember the last time she pulled a really good prank.  It had to have been the day that pink pony threw a party for her.  Yeah, the party that ended up showing her true nature to everypony in Ponyville.  Even Rainbow Dash didn’t want to hang out with her after all that ruckus.

Gilda closed her eyes and sighed as she continued her lazy flight.  Without warning, a pony flew right into her path and collided with her, both of them tumbling to the ground below them.  Gilda crashed through the roof of a small caravan that was parked just inside the tree line.  The other pony landed in the tree nearest the caravan.

…

Trixie let out a deep sigh as she stared into the mirror of her caravan.  She looked at herself and at her bit purse.  Ever since she had been completely humiliated by the purple unicorn and the Ursa Minor back in Ponyville, she hadn’t had any type of business at all.  Her funds were emptied, and her heart sank with despair.  The Great and Powerful Trixie was now just another broke unicorn looking for work.

She thought about the events of the night that had ended up with her leaving Ponyville in humiliation.  That purple pony had calmed the Ursa Minor and sent it home, whereas she simply cowered in front of the great beast.  Letting out another sigh, she looked up at the roof of her caravan.

She thought she heard screaming heading towards the building, but cast it off as her imagination.  Just as she was about to get up to step outside, a large bird-like creature crashed through the roof of the caravan and landed right on top of her.  She let out a scream of fear and pain.

Gilda immediately regained her balance and leaped off of the unicorn below her.  They shared irritated, angry glares.  Gilda screamed, “What the heck are you lookin’ at, pony?”

Trixie replied angrily, “Do you have any idea who you are talking to?”

Gilda raised a claw in the air, “No, why don’t you inform me?”  A frown stretched across her face.

Trixie used her magic to pick up a wooden plank from the pile of debris now covering the floor.  “I am the Great and Powerful-!”  She was cut off in mid-sentence by a banging on the caravan’s door.  

Gilda hastily snatched the door open with her raised claw.  She greeted the pony on the other side with an angry glare.  “What do you want?”

The pony took a deep breath before answering, “S-sorry about that little collision.  I’m kind of glad I found you though.  Um, I have a package for one ‘Gilda the Griffon’.”  The pony pulled a package from his pouch and handed it to the griffon.

“A package?  Who’s it from?”  Gilda’s face twisted in confusion.

Trixie interrupted the conversation very rudely, “Ahem!  Excuse me!  We were in the middle of something!”

The stallion looked at her, recognizing her as the failed magician Trixie.  He just so happened to have a package for her as well.  “Excuse me, Ms. Trixie?  I also have a package for you.”  He tossed her the package, which she caught with her magic.

Waving his hoof in goodbye, the stallion took off back into the air.  He had other mail to deliver.  The two creatures left in the caravan looked at one another, then back to their packages.  They nodded, and started ripping the packaging off.  Reading through the contents of their packages, smiles began to grow on their faces.

“A party in the royal city, eh?  Could be the perfect place for some major prankage.”  Gilda opened her wings wide and flew into the air.  She was out of Trixie’s sight before she could say anything.

Trixie laughed, “You have a point, griffon.  This could be the perfect opportunity to prove myself as a professional entertainer!”  Trixie looked into the mirror, a sly expression covering her face.  She decided she would go to this party, and prove to all of its guests that she was an amazing performer.

Each with their own intentions, Gilda and Trixie began their own preparations for the party.  But just a little ways away, in a small town in the woods, three other creatures were being invited to the same party, with their own intentions…

Down On Their Luck

Flim and Flam sat beside the massive contraption they were once proud to call the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000, staring at their empty bit purses.  After they had been forced to leave Ponyville for trying and failing at taking over the Apple family’s farm, they had had nothing but bad luck and even worse business.  In fact, their business was so bad that they barely had enough bits to eat with, let alone anything else.

The two brothers sighed simultaneously, their stomachs growling loudly.  They sat on the side of the road, watching as carriages of ponies were crossing back and forth in front of their cider stand.  It seemed that nopony in this town cared for cider at all, let alone some strangers’ cider.  They watched on in envy as the ponies in nice clothes and fancy suits walked by, seemingly ignorant of the brothers’ presences.

They heard shouting coming from down the street by the local hotel.  It was an unfamiliar voice they had never heard before in this town, so they decided to go check it out and see just what the commotion was.  A huge crowd gathered outside of the hotel, gathered around a small stage that had been set up.  The shouting voice sounded confident and determined.  Everypony in the crowd cheered as it continued shouting inspirational phrases.

…

After being beaten in a game of determination by the shyest pony he had ever met, Iron Will’s confidence and luck plummeted.  Having been faced with the realization that his inspirational program had actually caused Fluttershy more harm than good, he doubted every second of his speeches.  But business was business, and he had to make bits to eat.  He continued travelling across Equestria, delivering motivational seminars everywhere he went.

His roaming had led him to Manehattan, one of the biggest and most crowded cities in all of Equestria.  If he was going to help anyone and make bits, this would definitely be the place to do it.  He set up a stage near the city’s only hotel and began doing what he always did.  He uttered motivational phrases and continued with his confident charade.  He was happy to see a crowd of ponies gathered around him as he continued his seminar.

But then, just as he was starting to feel good and get a little more genuine confidence, two stallions trotted up to the front of the crowd and began mocking his performance.

“Look what we have here, Flim!”  Flam laughed as he waved his hand around, gathering the attention of the crowd.

“I see it, Flam!  It’s a minotaur trying to offer us advice on how to be more confident!”  Flim chuckled, joining his brother in front of the crowd.

Iron Will breathed steam from his nose, his anger becoming apparent.  “Who do you two stallions thank you are?  Iron Will is the best motivator in all of Equestria!  If my seminar doesn’t help you turn your life around, nothing will!”  Opening his arms to the crowd, Iron Will hopped off of the stage and looked at the FlimFlam brothers with wide eyes.

Flim lifted his hat from his head, twirling it around in his hoof.  “You say that you can motivate, but I don’t believe you!”  He nudged Flam in the side.

Flam began stroking his mustache.  “If you could only prove how motivational you were, maybe we’d get off your back.”  He laughed as he removed his hat and tossed it at the minotaur.

Iron Will stamped his foot, “Haven’t you ever heard of Iron Will’s motivational seminars?  Are you stallions completely bonkers?”  The anger was now apparent to the crowd, and they began to back away slowly, fearing a fight may break out.

Flim and Flam both chuckled in unison, “For a motivator, you sure are aggravated!”

Iron Will was about to launch himself at the two brothers, until a Pegasus landed in front of him and held out his hooves.  “You gotta stop this senseless bickering, Iron Will!  You have an image to maintain!”  The Pegasus opened the pouch at his side, pulling out a small package and handing it to Iron Will.

The FlimFlam brothers looked on in confusion as the minotaur ripped open the package.  The Pegasus floated gently over to them, holding out another package.  “You’re the FlimFlam brothers, right?  Well, this package is for you.”

The brothers looked at it with curiosity, then took it and began opening it.  By this time, the crowd had gone away, wary of a fight and bored by this bickering.  The Pegasus waved his hoof at the three creatures he had just delivered to, and was off into the air immediately after.

Looking at one another, the three of them stopped their bickering and read the letters they had opened.  Thoughts of a glamorous feast in a mansion full of celebrities filled their minds, and to each of the three another hope filled their heads.  For Flim and Flam, this could be a chance to get their cider business running again.  For Iron Will, this party would be just the confidence booster he would need to get his seminars back on track.

The three of them wouldn’t have guessed that the ponies that had made them feel down and out in the first place would also be invited to the party…

Canterlot Celebrities

Octavia was elegantly sitting on the stage in a large country club, playing her cello with an eloquent melody and sound.  The fellow members of her small orchestra complimented her music tenfold.  To her, it was all about style and grace, and less about length and complexity.  She let a smile cross her face as she played the last few notes of her song and the crowd gathered in the club applauded her.  She nodded to her fans as she left the stage.  She stepped behind the large curtain at the back of the stage and into a large door with a golden star emblem carved into it.

Octavia was greeted with a smile from Sapphire Shores.  With a light hug and a small cheer, Sapphire directed Octavia into a large-cushioned chair in the room.  Gathered in the room were some of Canterlot’s most famous celebrities.  Hoity Toity, the fashion designer; Photo Finish, the world-famous photographer; Fancypants, the most influential and important stallion in Canterlot’s social circle; Sapphire Shores, a famous Canterlot pop-star; and Octavia herself, a concert cello player.  

All of these celebrities sat in this large VIP room that extended from the main body of the country club.  To each of these celebrities, this place was a safe-haven from the paparazzi and constant fuss that everypony made while they were around.  It was nice to get away from the prying eyes of the adoring public.

The celebrities applauded Octavia’s performance on stage just a few moments ago, and she blushed as Hoity Toity commented on her performance.  “Your posture and physique is simply marvelous!  You simply must let me use you as a model for my next design!”

Octavia chuckled sheepishly, “I’m not quite sure about that, Mr. Toity.”

Photo Finish scoffed, “You are too shy for your own good, Ms. Octavia.  You are a celebrity!  This is the life you live!  Embrace any opportunity you have to further your fame!”

Sapphire Shores agreed, “You simply must let go of childish notions of shyness and privacy.  Being such a well-known musical genius will break down all of those walls.”

Octavia tried to keep her composure, but being in a room with so many famous ponies was getting to her nerves.

Fancypants spoke his opinion, “Your music is marvelous, dear.  I can only suggest that you show a little more emotion to your crowd.  After all, the fans like to be recognized from time to time.”  Octavia blushed.

Hoity nodded in agreement, “Yes, quite right.  Your emotionless expression can be quite depressing at times.  You must appeal to the fans before they will truly love your art.”

Octavia was about to say something when a loud banging sounded from the door.  After a few moments, the door swung open wide and a stallion Pegasus walked through into the VIP room.  In the presence of the celebrities, his knees began to shake.

His voice quivered as he spoke, “To the celebrities of Canterlot:  Hoity Toity, Photo Finish, Fancypants, Sapphire Shores, and Octavia, you have all received priority mail from an unknown sender.”  He pulled five identical packages from his pouch and handed them to the celebrities in respective order.

The ponies took the packages with curiosity and proceeded to open them.  The stallion nodded and excused himself from the room, fearing that his knees would give out on him.  The five ponies looked over the contents of their packages carefully, being sure to examine each word carefully.

Hoity Toity clapped his hooves together, “A party outside of town?  This could be exciting!  And since it’s invitation-only, we can easily escape the eyes of the paparazzi!”

Sapphire Shores giggled, “Of course we’ll be attending, correct?”  She looked at Fancypants.  Out of the group of celebrities, it seemed that they tried to stay together whenever possible.  It also seemed that Fancypants gave the final say so.

“Of course we shall attend!  We must maintain our public images by honoring this nameless pony’s request!”  Fancypants lifted a hoof into the air, speaking in a matter-of-fact tone.

The celebrities sat around for the next little while discussing the matter of this party.  They decided just what exactly they would do while at the party so as not to ruin their reputations or harm their social standings.  They weren’t concerned with the food or the company or the games.  They were concerned with their images.

The celebrities never would have guessed that they wouldn’t be the most famous ponies at the party…

The Wonderbolts

Soarin’, Spitfire, and Fleetfoot were getting warmed up for their daily exercises in the Wonderbolts’ own private flight grounds.  They had a big show coming up in a few weeks, and they needed to be at the top of their game.  The other few members of the Wonderbolts were going to be out of town on the day of the show, so these three took it upon themselves to train without the others.

The Wonderbolts’ exercise regimen was brutal, forcing each one to the limits of their stamina, muscle strength, and speed.  The rough exercise was part of what made them enjoy doing their performances.  It helped tone their muscles and increase their stamina.  The exercise also helped to keep them in tip-top shape and perfect health.  The last time any member of the Wonderbolts fell ill was due to food-poisoning.

The only stallion in the performing group, Soarin’ took it upon himself to keep them on their toes.  The exercise regimen would be intensified for the next few weeks, until the day of the actual performance.  Just as the trio of pegasi were about to begin their five-mile dash around the secluded training area, a Pegasus pony they had never seen before landed just in front of their starting line.

Soarin’ dropped to the ground to address the Pegasus.  He asked in an irritated tone, “Is there any particular reason you’re disturbing our exercises?  And just how did you find this place, anyway?”

Spitfire and Fleetfoot landed besides Soarin’ as the Pegasus explained himself.  “I have a package addressed to the members of the Wonderbolts performance group.  It comes as priority mail from an unknown sender.”  He pulled the package from his pouch and handed it to Soarin’.

Fleetfoot looked closely at the package.  “Are you even allowed to mail items with no return address?”

The Pegasus shrugged his shoulders, preparing to take his leave.  Spitfire laughed, “I don’t know how you managed to find this place, but you’re one helluva delivery pony.”

Soarin’ looked at the Pegasus with anger, “You’d best not tell a soul where this place is, got it?”

The Pegasus nodded, taking flight and leaving the area immediately.  Spitfire and Fleetfoot stood by while Soarin’ tore open the package.  He read the enclosed letter aloud to his teammates.  He then proceeded to read the pamphlet and invitation to them.  They looked at one another, not sure of what to think.

“It’s probably just some over-zealous fan wanting us to make a personal appearance.”  Soarin’ scoffed as he handed the letter to Spitfire.

Spitfire looked at the pamphlet.  “What’s your point?  A party’s a party.  Free food, entertainment, and a chance to win some sort of prize.”

Fleetfoot clapped her hooves together.  She exclaimed, “I think we should go!  It would make the fans happy to see us attend, plus I bet it will be tons of fun!”

Soarin’ looked at her with a smile, “I agree.  We’ve been working so hard lately that a single day off won’t kill us.”

The three Wonderbolts placed the package on the ground in their carrying back, and then lifted back up into the sky.  They weren’t going to cancel practice just because of an invitation.  They would take a break on the day of the party to get ready and attend.  Their minds were filled with thoughts of just how the party would go and how many of their fans they would get to meet.

Of course, they wouldn’t have expected to meet with the Royal Family at such a mysterious party…

The Royal Invitations

Princess Celestia sat on her seat that settled for a throne as she stared down at the mysterious letter she had received the previous night.  She had called for a meeting of the entire Royal Family.  Princess Luna stood beside her sister’s throne, reading the letter for herself.  Princess Cadence and Shining Armor were gathered on the other side, also looking the letter over.  Prince Blueblood tapped his hooves impatiently, waiting for one of the four to explain just exactly why this meeting was called.  Four royal guards stood in front of the door to the throne room, patiently awaiting their captain’s next orders.

After minutes of examining the letter and pamphlet and invitation, Shining Armor had to speak up.  “The letter talks about a mansion the host built from scratch, but there hasn’t been any recorded construction at all in the last few months, aside from repairing the damage the Changelings did to the town.”  His face was twisted with confusion and uncertainty.

Princess Luna spoke softly, “There is a good chance that this is some sort of trap, but if what the messenger told us stands true…we aren’t the only ones to receive this package.”

Princess Celestia looked up at her sister, “What do you mean, Luna?  We aren’t the only ones to receive this package?”

Luna shook her head, “No.  In fact, it was Twilight Sparkle and her friends who received identical packages last night.  According to the messenger, there were even more packages to send this morning.  There were twenty-nine identical packages in all, if the messenger was correct.”

Celestia’s eyes opened wide at the sound of her student’s name.  “So, perhaps I ought to write to Twilight asking what she makes of this mysterious message.”

Princess Cadence spoke up, “I think we should go.  This party does sound like fun, and since it’s invitation-only…”

Shining Armor finished for her, “…we won’t have to worry about any random pony showing up and trying to muck everything up.”

Cadence smiled at her husband, “That’s right.”

Prince Blueblood impatiently scoffed, “So, we’re going to some random party held by some unknown pony?  Sounds perfectly safe to me…”

Shining Armor spoke up, “We’ll be bringing a few of my highest-ranking guards with us.  I assure you that if anything happens, the guard will have it covered.”

Celestia looked down at the letter in front of her.  She had a bad feeling in her gut.  But seeing the optimism and enthusiasm of the other princesses and guard captain, she decided to cast it off.  She also knew that nopony would miss out on the chance to attend a party outside the prestigious town of Canterlot.  Anypony that was invited would attend, that was almost certain.

She smiled as she thought about what might be waiting for them in the mansion on the night of the party.

Looking back on it, she should have trusted her gut.  She should have sent out a mass message to all of the invited ponies and told them to stay far away from the mansion.  But she didn’t, and for that she would hate herself in less than one week…

The Nightmare Begins

Less than one week later, forty-five guests were gathered in the woods on the outskirts of Canterlot, standing outside the three-story solid white mansion that was meant to be their place of partying.  Everypony that gathered outside of the mansion took a very careful survey of every other guest.  Many of them were not happy to see certain guests.

For example, almost everypony could feel the tension between the Apple Family and the FlimFlam Brothers.  Tensions were also high between Gilda and Pinkie Pie.  Twilight and Trixie also had a bit of tension apparent to the rest of the crowd.

Even in the presence of the celebrities from Canterlot and the Royal Family, the feuds between the different factions of ponies were more obvious than anypony would have liked.  Although many of the guests were laid back and carefree, many of them had problems with at least one other guest.

Standing in the orange glow of the setting sun, everypony waited for the mansion’s front doors to open and to be ushered inside.  The whole group was a ticking time bomb of anger and grudges.  Many ponies were considering just heading back to town, but the curiosity of how the party would play out kept them around.

At 5:00pm, the doors of the mansion burst open, and a large group of ponies marched down the stairs in single file, lining up on either side of the staircase.  Each of the ponies either wore a black-and-white tuxedo or a black-and-white dress.  They were all maids and servants of the Master of the House.  Following behind the group of ponies was one particular stallion.  He stood taller and was more muscular than the rest of the servants.

He held a megaphone to his mouth, shouting into it so as to attract the attention of everypony standing outside.  “My Master would like me to welcome each and every last one of you to this humble abode.  There are a few ground rules that must be laid out before I can allow you to enter the mansion for the party.”

The servants on the left side of the staircase unrolled a giant scroll with a single word written in large lettering at the very top:  NAME.

The stallion continued, “Although we have guests of many different titles gathered here today, every last pony that enters this mansion is equal to any of the others.  We have celebrities, heroes, royalty, and simple workers all gathered here today.  But know this before you enter this mansion:  All of you are equal rank in the eyes of my Master.”

Every member of the crowd looked around at each other with curious and confused looks.  The stallion continued, “Once you enter this mansion, you are no better than any other guest.  There will be no Prince or Princess; no Celebrity status; no employee or employer.  To my Master, every last guest gathered here tonight is equal and deserving of just as much respect as any other.”

A few of the more snobbish guests scoffed at this claim.  The stallion still continued, “If you have any type of feud or problem with another guest here tonight, it is asked that you either leave immediately or forget about your problems for the duration of this party.  If you are unable to forgive and forget, then I must ask you to leave.”

After the stallion finished saying this, most of the tension between rivaling ponies simply disappeared.  Many of the feuding factions gave their apologies and acceptance of the other faction.  Before long, the entirety of the tension was completely gone.  It amazed several of the ponies just how easily such great tension was disposed of.

The stallion waited for the chatter to end before continuing, “Now that such boring rules have been stated, let us begin with the introduction of the party.  My name is Butler.  I am a loyal servant of the Master of the House.  Although I regret to inform you that my Master cannot be here to welcome you in person, I shall handle every need you will have.  If you have any questions, please seek me out once we are inside the mansion.”

The guests looked around from one to another, wondering just why their host couldn’t greet them.

“Now then…  As you enter the mansion, I would ask that you sign your full title on the list you see beside me.  Please put down whatever it is you wish to be called when addressed by the staff here in the mansion.  Once you sign your name, you will be given a collar to wear during your stay here at the mansion.  The collar is used to ensure there are no uninvited ponies wandering about.”  Butler waved his hoof at the scroll and the mare that carried a large bucket of collars.

Butler waited for a few seconds before continuing, “The night will go about as stated in the letters you received.  Once all the names have been signed and all the collars have been worn, the introduction party can begin.  I shall read off the names of the guests in alphabetical order based upon your preferred name.  After a little while, I shall plug a recorded message of my Master into the mansion’s PA system, and it shall announce the rules of the game we are to play tonight.  Once the introduction party is concluded, both the children’s playroom and the bar shall be open to all ponies.”

There was some chatter coming from the crowd at the mention of the playroom and bar.

Butler continued, “Before 6:30 arrives, the playroom and bar are fair game.  I would ask that all of you gather back in the foyer before that time arrives.  The game and its rules will be announced at that time.  Now, you may begin signing your names and entering the mansion.  Please be respectful or your fellow guests and of the Master’s antiques and portraits.”  With a wave of his hoof, the scroll was placed onto the solid stone surface of the walkway so that everypony would be able to sign their names.

In a slow process, the forty-five guests all signed their names in succession.  Although Butler had said that everyone was equal, all formalities were still in effect.  The lesser ponies made way for the Royal Family and the celebrities.  Without much fuss and conflict, everypony soon had their names signed on the scroll, and they were standing inside the foyer of the massive mansion.  

Golden trimming surrounded every portrait and window frame, while diamond studded oak was used as the material for the guard rails on the stairs and doorways.  The carpet was pure red velvet, and the ceiling looked to be made of white marble.  The doorknobs were all cut from pure opal.  A massive chandelier swayed back and forth from the ceiling, diamonds hanging down from it and refracting the light into different colors.

Nopony had ever seen a room so beautiful, not even the Royal Family.  None of them expected such a magnificent décor from an unnamed pony.  Every last jaw dropped as they entered the foyer and were blasted by the beauty of the whole atmosphere.  Whoever was hosting this party was a very rich pony, and had a definitely amazing sense of style and flair.

Mesmerized by the beauty of the decorations and paintings, the guests barely heard Butler when he announced it was time to make the introductions.  The guests had been gathered in the foyer for nearly thirty minutes already, unaware of anything but the fancy designs.

Butler spoke into his megaphone again, and the front doors closed behind the guest ponies.  “I can tell by your expressions that you were not expecting such a beautiful atmosphere from an unnamed host.  I cannot blame you, personally.  I was surprised the first time I laid eyes on this foyer.  I’m afraid that the entire mansion is not this beautiful.  The foyer was made especially remarkable because it is where most of the party will be held.  Now, I believe it is time for me to introduce you to your fellow guests.”  Butler paused here to let the ponies think for a bit more.

Princess Celestia interrupted his speech suddenly, “Excuse me, Butler.  Can you tell us just exactly who our gracious host it?”

Butler shook his head and frowned, “I am afraid I cannot, Celestia.  Although I have worked for the Master for several years, I have never had the pleasure of a meeting.  I know just as much about the Master as you do.”

Princess Luna stamped her hoof, “How does one work for a pony he has never even made contact with?”

Butler sighed, “I’m not sure how it happened.  I received a letter from the Master one day asking me to do a favor.  I followed the letter’s instructions and ended up with a home and money.  I didn’t complain.  Now, allow me to introduce you all.  I would ask that you simply take a bow or step forward when your name is called.  Please do not interrupt me.”

One of the other servants handed Butler a much smaller piece of paper than before.  On it was written the name of everypony in attendance.

Butler called out the list of ponies, pausing to allow the pony to bring attention to itself.  “Amethyst Star; Applebloom; Applejack; Big Macintosh; Bon Bon; Cheerilee; Derpy Hooves; Diamond Tiara; Dinky Doo; Doctor Whooves; Fancypants; Filthy Rich; Fleetfoot; Flim and Flam; Fluttershy; Gilda the Griffon; the self-proclaimed Great and Powerful Trixie; Hoity Toity; Iron Will; Lyra Heartstrings; Nurse Redheart; Octavia; Photo Finish; Pinkie Pie; Prince Blueblood; Princess Cadence; Princess Celestia; Princess Luna; Rainbow Dash; Rarity; the Royal Guards; Sapphire Shores; Scootaloo; Shining Armor; Soarin’; Spike; Spitfire; Sweetie Belle; Twilight Sparkle; Vinyl Scratch; and lastly, Zecora.  You have all been invited here because of either a connection to a friend that was invited, or because the Master really likes you.”

With that, every last guest in attendance was called out in alphabetical order.  Having been told everypony’s names, the guests soon began their casual chatter.  Butler took a deep breath as he recovered from reading the list.  Then he called everypony’s attention back to him.

“The game room in the basement and the bar beyond the Dining Hall are now open to everypony.  Please enjoy yourselves, and try and be back here in the foyer before 6:30.”  With that, Butler placed his megaphone on the small table upstairs on the ledge overlooking the foyer’s first floor.  He motioned the servants to follow him as he entered the double-doors behind him.

It wasn’t long before conversation started to break out between all of the guests.  To any outsider looking in, you would’ve figured they were all best friends.  Most formalities were dropped as per request of the mysterious host, and all hostilities were forgotten at the door.  Everypony had something in some shape, form, or fashion to gain from this party, and so they all decided it best to comply with the rules laid out by Butler.

The princesses, Shining Armor, and all of Twilight’s friends were gathered together in one small area of the foyer’s first floor, talking.  They were discussing the matter of the mysterious host and the beautiful decorations hanging all around the room.  They talked about their anticipation for the game that would be announced before long, and discussed the matters of all the tension that was apparent before the party started.

Most of the guests gathered in groups, trying to make casual conversation and follow the rules of the party as best as possible.  Although most of the Ponyville ponies couldn’t help but be awestruck by the celebrities and Royal Family, most of the other guests didn’t seem shaken by any of the hoopla around them.  The groups of ponies happily made conversation and discussed miscellaneous subjects, all the while waiting for the real party to begin.  Even though other rooms were opened to them, all of the guests decided it would be best to hang around in the foyer until the game was actually announced.

It didn’t take long for the small groups to become defined.  As you can probably imagine, everything was split into cliques of similar personality or qualities.  All of the celebrities gathered together, along with the richer of the ponies.  All of the would-be antagonists managed to find common ground in their grudges against the Ponyville ponies.  All of the fillies gathered together in a group with Derpy and Spike.  Twilight, her friends, and the Royal Family were all gathered as one group.

The Wonderbolts simply wandered around the foyer, saying their hellos to every last group.  To most groups, this was still felt to be a big deal, as several of the mares swooned over meeting Soarin’, and several stallions were mesmerized by the beauty of Sptifire and Fleetfoot.  Rainbow Dash was just all around entranced with getting to once again meet with the Wonderbolts in general.

To go into great detail on the conversations that were shared between the many different groups would take much more time that I feel like wasting.  Rest assured that, no matter what one guest’s feeling were for another, there were no cross words spoken.  In fact, it seemed that if one had nothing good to say, one did not say at all.

As the large clock that hung on the wall above the door struck 6:30, Butler and a few other servants burst from the upstairs room.  Standing on the ledge overlooking the foyer, Butler picked up a small microphone and flipped the switch on a large black box.  Feedback screeched from the speakers that dotted the room for a few moments, before finally giving way to actual input.

Butler cleared his throat before speaking into the microphone, “To my Master’s dearly beloved guests, I would ask you to quiet down now as I play the first recording my Master has left for you.”

Everypony in the room shut up immediately, not wanting to be rude.  Butler took a small white box and connected a blue cord to it that ran from the larger black box.  Making sure that everypony in the room was silent, Butler pushed the play button on the recording.  What followed made everypony in the room stand on edge, and filled Butler with an unimaginable horror.

“Ladies and gentlecolts,” the voice that played was distorted, obviously to cover up the owner’s real voice, “I am glad that you could make it to my humble abode for this wonderful party.  As I have promised, we shall play a game.  This game shall begin in thirty minutes from the time this recording starts.  Allow me to explain just what this game will be…

Now that you are here in my mansion, I am afraid that I cannot allow you to leave.  That is, of course, unless you win the game.  Over the course of tonight, I shall kill each and every last one of you.  There is nothing you can do to stop this.”  There was a long pause here, and everypony started looking around the room frantically.  Butler’s eyes grew wide as he listened to the recording.

It continued, “Yes, each and every last one of you will die tonight.  There is only one way to avoid this horrendous fate:  You must find me and prove that I am the host.  Here is the catch…I have taken all the precautions necessary to not be caught.  I took the liberty of inviting myself to the party as a guest, and have left no sign that I am the host.  As far as anypony is concerned, I am within your numbers as I speak.” Another pause.  Eyes began darting around the room.

“You will not be able to tell who I am by simply looking at me.  I have ensured that I will fit in perfectly.  Any guest at this party can be me.  Even if you know you aren’t the host, no one else can believe you.  At any rate, allow me to elaborate on the game.  Starting at 7:00pm, I shall choose one random pony to be my first victim.  After that, I shall kill anypony I have the opportunity to kill.  The only way to stop the killing is to find me and give me evidence that I am the killer.  Either that, or kill me.  But then, no one will believe you.”  With a maniacal laugh, the voice paused to allow this information to soak in.

“I will not cheat, however.  I shall not use my wings or my horn or my strength, whichever I may possess.  I wouldn’t be able to use magic even if I could, anyway.  I have placed a magical barrier around this mansion that shall negate all magic used within.  And all of the walls and windows are made of indestructible material.  Yes, you are all quite trapped in my mansion.  But, it is not all bad, I don’t suppose.  I have left objects scattered about the mansion that will very subtly point to my identity.  All you ponies have to do is find them.  Teamwork will be key in surviving this game.

Now it is time for the rules of the game.  Rule number one, do not try to cheat.  This means you should not, under any circumstance, try and use your magic or destroy the windows after the first victim has been claimed.  Rule number two, do not cause any physical harm to another guest, unless you are killing them for being me.  After the first victim is claimed I shall be the only one causing physical harm.  Rule number three, don’t try to enter the master bedroom.  That room is reserved for the finalists of this wonderful game…

Those are the rules.  The collars I instructed Butler to give you are filled with a battery with enough voltage to stop a pony’s heart.  Should I catch you breaking these rules after the first victim is claimed or trying to remove the collar, I shall use a special controller in my possession to end your life on the spot.  That will be my least favorite part of the night.  I hate having to kill in such a mundane way.

Anypony that survives until morning light will be set free, and this game will end.  I should suggest that you don’t go to sleep.  Good luck everypony, and try not to drive each other crazy.  I will speak to you again at dinnertime.  I hope you live until then.” With another maniacal laugh, the recording stopped.

Every guest snapped their attention toward Butler, whose eyes were filled with the greatest horror imaginable.  Imagine how it would feel to find out that you had been working for a maniacal sociopathic killer.  He had single-handedly brought every single guest here right now into the mansion.  He couldn’t believe it.

“Th-the Master has always b-been one for j-jokes!  Nopony needs to w-worry!  None of you will be dying tonight.  It’s just some of Master’s dark humor.” he stuttered as he rushed through the double doors behind him.

Everypony in the room searched the room suspiciously, their eyes scanning every last pony thoroughly.  Celestia moved to the center of the room and announced, “A sick joke or not, a threat such as this must be dealt with.  If staying here will be our deaths, then we should leave.”

She nodded towards the door, and the four royal guards immediately began trying to pry it open.  After minutes of struggling, every stallion in the room joined in.  Even with the stallions’ combined efforts, it was a hopeless endeavor.  Even Iron Will lent a hoof at opening the door, but it was to no avail.

One of the royal guards gasped, “It’s sealed shut, Your Highness.  It won’t budge.  There’s not even a draft flowing through the crack.”

Luna stamped her hoof, “There is no way the door is sealed!  Nopony has had a chance to tamper with it!”  She bowed her head as if readying a spell to blast the door.  The stallions moved out of the way, the magic energy covering Luna’s horn.

But when Luna released the magic energy, it shot a few inches and evaporated into the air.  The energy didn’t go anywhere.  In disbelief, Celestia tried her own magic, but the result was the same.  Twilight tried to perform a basic spell such as moving the portrait on the wall slightly askew, but her magic didn’t even form around the painting.

“This is what the host meant by ‘magic barrier’.  We’re sealed inside this place with no use of our magic!”  Twilight exclaimed, a sense of horror filling her being.

The clock struck 7:00pm, and a loud ringing filled the foyer.  Once the ringing had stopped, a gut-wrenching scream could be heard coming from the room on the west side of the foyer.  With a loud banging sound, the screaming suddenly stopped.  Nopony wanted to imagine the source of the scream, or why it had stopped.

With dread in his heart, Doctor Whooves stepped toward the western door.  The ponies in front of him moved slowly out of the way, allowing him easy passage.  Nopony made a sound as Doctor moved through the foyer.  You could almost hear the pounding of the hearts in the room.  Doctor moved ever closer to the door, swallowing the lump in his throat.  With a single burst of speed, he let out a horror-filled scream as he charged through the door.  What he found on the other side made his scream change into a throat-shredding cry of terror.

The ponies closest to the door charged through, tired of the suspense.  What they saw made them collapse with fear.  It wasn’t long before everypony that was standing in the foyer had crowded into the Dining Hall to see what had happened.

There it was, hanging from the chandelier on a long rope, swaying side to side over the table’s centerpiece.  The limp body of a filly swayed ever so gently in the breeze of the air vents that poured air into the room.  With a scream of terror, one of the guests charged through the crowd to see the filly.

“D-Diamond…T-Tiara…?!”  Mr. Rich’s voice quivered horribly as he saw the familiar pink coat and purple-white mane of his daughter hanging from the rope.  His eyes filled with tears and his knees gave out on him.  He collapsed to the ground at Doctor’s hooves, unable to speak or think.

The guests all stood there, paralyzed by the realization that their host wasn’t joking about his game.  They immediately began to wonder who would be next as they watched Diamond Tiara’s body sway from the rope.  Unable to speak, nopony was able to try and comfort Mr. Rich.  Nopony could move from their place as the horror hit them.

They were trapped in a mansion with a sociopathic murderer.  The worst part was that the murderer could be any one of them.

With a choked sob, Mr. Rich cried out, “Why the FUCK would anypony want to do something like this?!  What the hell?!”

Taking a deep breath, Doctor forced himself to walk over to Mr. Rich.  “I’m…sorry, Mr. Rich.  But…what’s done is done…”

Mr. Rich lashed an arm at Doctor, making direct contact to his face.  “How dare you say that?!  This is my daughter!  Don’t try and cast this off like it’s nothing!”  Another punch hit Doctor.  Doctor stood there and took it.

“I’m sorry Mr. Rich.  There’s nothing we can do now.”  Doctor took another punch.  Bowing his head low, he sighed, “I’m sorry for doing this…but you need to calm down.”  With one quick chop to the side of the neck, Mr. Rich was out like a light.  Doctor caught him as he fell limp.

The other ponies watched as Doctor climbed up on the table and grabbed a steak knife from a set of silverware on the table.  Standing at the tip of his hooves, he was barely able to reach the rope with the knife.  With a sigh, he cut the rope and caught Diamond Tiara as she fell.  There was no sense leaving her hanging…

“This is just the start, I’m afraid.” Doctor sighed as he cut a large chunk of the tablecloth off, wrapping Diamond in it.

Celestia stepped forward, her body trembling at the sight of Diamond’s corpse being wrapped in the cloth.  “There has to be some way for us to escape this place.” she said as she looked away from the scene.

Doctor scoffed, “Sorry Princess, but we’re stuck here.  We can’t force our way out, and magic is useless.  We either have to live until morning, or find the sick bastard that did this.”  He picked the knife up in his hoof, holding it up to the chandelier’s light.  “That fucker had best hope I’m not the one to figure out who the hell he is!”

None of the other guests could speak.  Staring at the knife with the light shining off of it, they were speechless.  None of the Ponyville ponies had ever imagined they would hear Doctor say something like that.  Nor did they ever expect for anything like this to happen.

Big Mac walked up to Doctor, slapping the knife from his hoof.  “An’ what if ya find this fella?  Are ya gonna kill him?”  Big Mac’s voice was filled with a tone of anger.

Doctor looked at the knife and back to Big Mac, “No.  I would never kill him.  I wouldn’t kill anyone.  But I would make sure he was begging for death before I finished with him…”

With a swift kick to the chest, Doctor was sent flying.  “An’ how can we be so sure you ain’t the killer?!  Ya sure were eager enough to be first in here!”  Big Mac shouted to the fallen pony.

Doctor leaped to his feet and charged at Big Mac, meeting head-to-head.  “What the hell are you talking about, you mule?!  I was standing beside you the whole damn time!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Iron Will leaped to their sides, ripping the two stallions apart by the scruff of their necks.  “You two oughta be ashamed of yourselves!  This isn’t how Iron Will would expect friends to act!  We have to work together to solve this mystery!”

With an angry shout, Luna stepped up onto the table.  “If we don’t stop this pointless bickering we’ll all end up like that poor filly!  We have to get it together and stop this fighting!”

Gilda laughed, “Like we can trust you, Princess?  Any of us could be the killer, even you.”

Luna gave Gilda an evil glare.  Just as she was about to say something, Spike let out an angry shout, “Why don’t all of you idiots just shut up!  This fighting is getting us nowhere!”  His voice sounded different, almost more mature.

He shoved his way forcefully through the crowd, walking over to where Doctor had wrapped Diamond in the tablecloth.  Iron Will carried the two bickering stallions away from the table.  Reaching down and grabbing something the other guests couldn’t see, he held his claw up.  “You’re telling me you don’t see this cord?”  He traced the thing with his other claw, grabbing it at another point.  He pulled the two points apart, snapping the cord taut in his hand.

Twilight moved forward, unsure of just what Spike was getting at.  “So what if there’s a thin cord?  What are you trying to do?”

Spike scoffed, “If this cord were tied to Diamond’s hoof, and she had been placed on the chandelier before the host’s message, then all the host would have to do is pull it and she would come tumbling to her death.  This means that…anypony in the foyer before she died could have easily killed her…”

With that, Big Mac and Doctor’s tensions settled.  But now that anypony could have been the killer, they had no leads to go on.  There were no motives for doing this.  There were no windows of opportunity for anypony to leave the foyer before.  Whoever the host was, the person was a genius at devising cunning plans.

Spike looked at the crowd, “Any one of us could easily be the killer.  There’s no way of telling who pulled the cord.  We can assume that they were in the foyer when the clock went off, because the cord reaches into the foyer.”

“We have no leads to go off of.  We have no evidence.  The only thing we know about this killer is that he is among us.”  Celestia stepped up on the table beside her sister.

Luna continued, “We cannot use magic, and we cannot force our way out of the mansion.  There are forty-four of us here tonight, excluding the servants and Butler.”

Twilight stepped in front of them on the ground, “If we want to find out who our host is, we’ll have to find the evidence he left lying around.  We should split up into groups, and search every nook and cranny we can find.  The only place off limits is the master bedroom.  I believe that if we-”

Gilda scoffed, “If we team up we can find the killer.  If only it was that simply, you dweeb.  What about the group that gets the killer?  They’re just screwed, huh?”

Rainbow Dash pushed her way from the crowd, anger in her voice, “If only one person comes back from a group, we can pretty much assume that person is the killer!”

Shining Armor spoke up from the back of the crowd, “No matter what our course of action, we have to remain cautious of the ponies around us.  I would suggest groups of no less than four people.  That should give us roughly ten groups to explore the mansion with.  The more ground we cover, the faster we’ll be able to end this nightmare.”  

Most of the crowd nodded and chattered in general agreement.  There were a few ponies here and there that didn’t like the idea of splitting into groups.  Celestia spoke up, “Now we simply must put the groups together.  We can’t have all of the strong guests group up.  We need to make the groups as evenly distributed as possible.”

Another wave of agreeing chatter rose up from the crowd.  Spike pulled a piece of parchment from the pouch at his side.  “I also think it’s important to be in a group with people you don’t trust.  If one of your friends is the killer, you might not know until he’s stabbing you in the back.  But if you’re with people you already dislike, then you’ll be on edge and cautious.”

With a quiet mumble of agreement, the guests finally broke the crowd and spread throughout the room.  They were making Spike’s job as easy as possible.  He was writing down the names of ponies he thought might be good teammates because of their tensions or conflicting natures.  If the ponies stayed on edge all the time, it would be harder to catch them off guard.

Smiling as he finished writing the list, he read it aloud to the guests in the room.  Although there were some slight problems between members of certain groups, none of them were vocalized as they gathered together in their parties.  This was for the best.  They trusted Spike’s judgment in this matter, considering how keen his senses were to find the cord in the first place.

So there they were, eleven groups of guests.  These would serve as the lifelines and search parties throughout the night.  If anypony was killed in a group, the murderer would be exposed as a member of that group.  Keeping this in mind, most of the guests felt comforted knowing that if anyone died, the killer would be that much easier to pinpoint...

Fillies, colts, stallions, mares, a griffon and a minotaur, all gathered together in groups of four, awaiting their orders from the baby dragon.  Sure, things would be a bit harder from now on, but the Master of the House enjoyed a little challenge from time to time…

To Hunt a Devil, Floor One

It had taken Spike all of ten minutes to list out everypony and group them together on the parchment at his feet.  Using one of the FlimFlam brothers’ hats, he ripped up a separate piece of paper with everypony’s names on it.  After taking a few names out and placing certain guests in groups with others that he knew they didn’t like, he randomly drew the remaining guests from the hat.  He was pleased with the results.  Although he had completely broken the circles of friendship among the guests, he felt that it was for the best in this horrendous scenario.

Keeping in mind that Mr. Rich would be out for an undeterminable amount of time, he made sure to arrange the guests in groups that were able to scour any place they were sent to investigate.  Receiving a map of the mansion from Butler, Spike assigned different wings of the four different floors to the different groups of ponies.  The mansion was massive, and the groups would have to split up to cover everything.  There were three aboveground floors, each covering at least 60,000 square-feet of area.  The basement was barely half of that, covering 30,000 square-feet belowground.

He assigned each group a letter and a wing of the house.  With Butler’s guidance, he was also able to pinpoint where the library, bedrooms, and entertainment rooms could be found on the map.  Taking into consideration the size of each floor and the abilities of each member of the groups, he assigned a semi-correspondent wing to each.  Without hesitation or complaint, each of the groups set off to explore and investigate their wings of the mansion.

Filthy Rich, Guard 2, Guard 3, Fancypants-----1st Floor Dining Hall

Two of the four attending Royal Guards were grouped in with Filthy Rich and Fancypants, assigned to ensure nothing else happened in the Dining Hall.  They wouldn’t be able to leave, even if they were assigned a different room anyway.  Mr. Rich was still out cold from when Doctor Whooves karate chopped him on the neck.  Fancypants was pretty useless as well, not capable of much more than frightened muttering.

The two guards paced back and forth through the Dining Hall, always facing opposite directions on opposite sides of the room.  They’d been given a job, and they were going to do it as well as they could.  While Mr. Rich lay asleep against the eastern wall and Fancypants sat in a chair beside him, the two guards were ever vigilant.  Diamond Tiara’s body had been moved into the foyer before the groups were sent on their own ways, so the corpse no longer sat upon the table.

The two guards stopped their pacing every now and then to stop and exchange casual conversation.  Their names were Steve and Stan, respectively.

“Never would’ve guessed something like this would happen.”  Steve sighed as he took a seat at the table.

“Nothing fun ever happens on our shift, and then this shit…”  Stan shook his head.

Steve managed a chuckle, “At least we ain’t sitting at the castle listening to Cadence and Captain get freaky.  Every damn night with those two!”

Stan couldn’t hold back a laugh, “Yeah, it could be worse, though.  We could be that poor stallion over there…”  He looked over at the unconscious Mr. Rich.

Steve bowed his head, “Yeah, true enough.  Poor guy.  I wonder what he was thinking when he snapped like that.”

“He probably wished it was him.  Or that it was anyone other than her.” Stan sighed.

Steve nodded, “I can’t blame the guy.  I would’ve completely lost it.”

The two decided it was best to drop the subject, and resumed their patrol of the Dining Hall.  They continued marching back and forth past the two silent stallions, waiting for anything and everything to happen at once.  The clock struck 8:00, and a voice came over the PA system calling everypony into the foyer.  The two guards looked over at Mr. Rich and Fancypants.

“I’ll get the poor fella, you two go on ahead.”  Steve said to Fancypants and Stan as he lifted Mr. Rich onto his back…

They walked into the foyer to see a horrific and terrible sight.  Fancypants fell to the ground, covering his head with his hooves.  Steve and Stan both let out identical, horror-filled screams…

Big Macintosh, Flam, Fleetfoot, Sweetie Belle-----1st Floor W Wing

The four of them were given orders by Spike to investigate the remainder of the West Wing of the first floor, beyond the Dining Hall.  Happy to oblige, Big Mac led the way through the large oak doors at the back of the Dining Hall.  He was more than happy to get away from the sight of Diamond Tiara’s corpse wrapped in the tablecloth.  The other three ponies were just as happy to get out of the high-tension room.

Of course, the room just beyond the Dining Hall happened to be the bar.  The first thing in sight as you walk into the room was a massive shelf filled with a plethora of exotic and rare alcohols.  Flam nearly lost his footing as he approached the bar.  Big Mac let him go about his business, before Fleetfoot interrupted.

“I don’t think now’s the time to be drinking, Flam.  We have to keep our senses focused.”  You could hear the irritation in Fleetfoot’s voice.  

Flam scoffed, “I would never consider drinking such delicious beverages while a minor is about, thank you very much!”  He pointed at Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie Belle responded with an indignant shout, “You don’t have to talk about me like I’m some helpless filly!  I’m stuck in this nightmare just like you.”

Both Flam and Fleetfoot looked at Sweetie Belle with awe.  Flam chuckled, “Why of course not, Ms. Belle!  You deserve just as much respect as any of us other guests!”  He was clearly mocking the rules Butler had given them before this mess started.

Before the other ponies could say anything else, Big Mac interrupted with excitement in his voice.  He called to them from the far end of the bar, “Uh, y’all oughta take a look at what I found.”

With the other three ponies gathered around him, Big Mac pushed a couple of bottles of alcohol to the side, revealing a white brick sticking out of the black-brick wall behind the shelf.  The four of them shared looks of curiosity, and with a nod from Flam, Big Mac pushed the white brick into the hole behind it.  The quartet heard a faint clicking sound, and the shelf full of alcohol popped an inch from the wall on the side they were standing on.

“It’s a secret passage!”  Flam excitedly exclaimed as he slowly pulled the shelf further out.

Behind the shelf was none other than a wide corridor leading deeper into the mansion.  Sweetie Belle looked up at the others, “If it’s a hidden hall, there has to be something good in there!  Maybe it’s some of the evidence we need!”

Without hesitation, both Big Mac and Flam darted down the hall, Fleetfoot and Sweetie Belle following close behind.  If they had really found something, maybe they could leave and help the others explore.  The group of eager ponies reached the end of the hall, taking note of the doors on either side of them.  With a nod, Big Mac turned the knob on the right door and slowly pushed it open.

A light immediately turned on in the room, where just moments ago it was pitch-black.  Carefully, Flam stepped into the room, examining every corner and object with his eyes for some sort of booby trap.  The other ponies followed behind him, being careful not to let their guards down.

Just as soon as Sweetie Belle’s tail had cleared the doorway, the door slammed shut behind them.  With a loud rumbling sound, the ceiling above them shook wildly.  It suddenly started descending from its perch at the top of the room, inching its way slowly downward to the floor.  It was coming in to crush the ponies trapped within.  A recording of a voice could be heard above the rumbling sound.

“I guess you stumbled into the wrong room.  You know, if there isn’t someone to pull the switch in the room above you, the ceiling will continue to fall.  When I promised I wouldn’t cheat, I meant I wouldn’t personally cheat.  My traps are still fair game.  You had best hope you have someone that can save you, ponies.”

With a laugh, the recording stopped.  It was the host’s voice.  The four ponies staring in horror at the falling ceiling let out gut-wrenching cries of terror, unsure of whether they would reach anyone or even if anyone was there yet to hear them.  They lowered themselves as close to the floor as they could to allow for more time for rescue.  They continued their horror-filled screams.

Just when they thought it was the end of their road, the ceiling stopped ever so suddenly and rocketed back up to its original position at the top of the room.  The door swung open without cause, and the ponies looked at each other relief washed over their faces.  With shaky knees and a relieved sigh, Big Mac stood up and walked to the doorway.

His voice cracked as he said, “Let’s get the hell outta this room.”  Fleetfoot and Flam followed him as he left the room.  Sweetie Belle stayed behind, something on the wall catching her eye.

She walked over to the wall beneath where a portrait had once hung before being knocked off by the ceiling.  She noticed a small off-color square sitting where the portrait had been covering.  She trotted over to the square and pushed it in, just as Big Mac had pushed the brick before.  She let out a surprised scream as the wall in front of her lifted itself off the ground and into the ceiling.

Hearing a noise, the other ponies immediately darted back into the room, noticing the now-missing wall.  A stench of rot filled the room.  Directly in front of where the wall had been was a desk with open drawers.  On the far side of the room was a bookshelf with a single missing book and a hole in the floor.  Blood surrounded the outside of the hole.

Holding his nose so as not to smell the rot, Flam stepped over to examine the hole.  He let out a small scream in horror as he saw the corpse of one of the Royal Guards impaled on some rusted spikes.  Just as the other ponies were walking into the room, Butler’s voice came over the PA system asking everypony to return to the foyer.  The group left the study in a hurry, heading back the way they had come from.

They had no clue what to expect when they entered the foyer and saw Fancypants on the ground covering his face.  They noticed the blood running from the center of the room…

Twilight Sparkle, Trixie, Guard 4, Celestia-----1st Floor NE Wing

As much as they had hated it, Twilight Sparkle and Trixie had been grouped together.  Of course, Twilight maintained a positive attitude and outward appearance while Celestia was around.  Another one of the Royal Guards had been assigned to this group, although he didn’t see why he was needed.  All three of the unicorns could easily handle themselves.  His name was Mark.

The group had been assigned to the northernmost area of the first floor, on the opposite side of the foyer as the Dining Hall.  With hopeful thoughts and wary minds, they entered the wing of the mansion with care and caution.  Twilight was amazed to find herself in a private study full of large, age-old books.  If they were going to find any evidence, this would be the place.  A personal study used by their host for getting away from everything around him.

Twilight immediately began searching the shelves book by book, looking for anything that might give them some clue as to who the host was.  Celestia took it upon herself to start searching on the shelves opposite Twilight.  Mark simply paced around, checking to make sure the three of them weren’t up to anything suspicious.  Trixie began searching the desk and drawers in the corner of the room.

After what felt like ages of searching, Trixie exclaimed, “Eureka!  I’ve found something!”  Celestia and Twilight darted over to her side, Mark standing stiff as a board to watch the trio.

Trixie showed the other two a small black box she had found with the word ‘PLAY’ written on it.  Sharing a look of happiness with the other two unicorns, she pushed the button.  The host’s voice began to talk, just as when he announced the rules before.

“You’ve done well to find this recording, ponies.  I’m afraid that this message is not the only thing you will need to find my identity, but it will definitely help.  If you can solve my riddles and find the secret document hidden in this study, you shall be one step closer to finding who I am.  To stop playing this message and give you more time to solve the riddle, simply push the play button once more.” The voice paused for a minute or so before continuing. “The first riddle will be simple.  ‘I hold many pages, yet have not a binding. What am I?’"  Trixie pushed the play button, stopping the playback.

“’I hold many pages, yet have not a binding’…?” she repeated the words slowly.

Celestia looked around the room, knowing that the answer was somewhere within.  With a shrug of her shoulders, she shook her head in confusion.  Twilight looked around the room, scanning every object carefully.  After she had scanned the entire room, she sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

Mark laughed, “If you can’t solve the easy riddle, there’s no chance of us getting the clue!  It’s a bookshelf, you silly mares!”  Mark pointed at the long expanse of shelves along the walls.  “A bookshelf holds pages, but it doesn’t have a binding like a book.”

The three unicorns shared embarrassed looks, surprised that they couldn’t solve such a simple riddle.  Trixie continued playing the recording.  “Did you have trouble?  I feel bad for you if so.  Riddle number two is fairly simple.  ‘Of all the colors of the rainbow, I travel the farthest.  What am I?’”  The recording paused again.

Twilight clapped her hooves together, “It’s red!  Red has the longest wavelength, so it travels the farthest!”  Looking over at the bookshelf, she searched for a red book.  There were quite a few on the shelf closest to the door they had entered in from.

With a nod from Twilight, Trixie played the recording again. “I do ever so hope that you found no problems with the previous two riddles.  This one is a challenge.  ‘I was once owned by only the wealthy, but can now be owned by all.  I cannot be bought from a store or taken from a library.  What am I?’”  The recording ended abruptly.  That was the entire thing.

The three unicorns looked at one another.  Trixie thought aloud, “Only wealthy people owned it, but now everypony can.  You can’t get it from a store or take it out of a library.  We’re talking about books, right?”  

Twilight nodded, “It’ll be one of the red books on the shelves over there.  But there’s quite a few.  Looking through them all would take forever.”

Mark shrugged his shoulders, “It’s a phone book.”  The three mares looked at him in awe.  He continued, “Back in the day, only rich people had phones and phonebooks.  Nowadays everypony has one.  You can’t find them for sale in stores, and a library won’t let you check it out.”  He stepped over to the shelf to look for the phone book.

The three unicorns exchanged looks of embarrassment as they realized they had just been one-upped by a guard.  Both Celestia and Twilight considered themselves smart ponies, but they wouldn’t lie about not having a clue what the riddle meant.

“Aha!  Here it is!”  Mark placed a hoof on the largest book on the shelf.  It was a paperback, thin-page book.  On the binding it read ‘Canterlot Calls:  A Contact Reference’.  He started to pull the book from the shelf when the floor opened up underneath him.

Before any of the ponies had a chance to react, the guard that had been standing in front of them was suddenly gone.  In his place was the echo of the terrifying scream he had let out before allowing gravity to take its toll.  With a loud squishing sound, the scream faded, and blood spewed from the hole.  The three mares on the opposite side of the room didn’t dare move from their positions.

A loud, pain-filled groan rang from the hole in the floor.  “I-I guess…that makes sense.  Bookcases…are always tr-trapped…in st-stories…”  With a loud gasp, the voice faded.

Twilight took a deep breath and started inching carefully toward the hole.  She didn’t want to imagine what had happened to the guard to kill him.  With a stamp of her hoof, Celestia darted off in a run to the hole.  Nearly knocking Twilight over as she passed, Celestia was staring into the hole with horror and a sick feeling in her gut.  She waved a hoof as if telling Twilight to stay away.

Twilight reached the hole, looking directly into it.  What she saw horrified her and nearly made her vomit.  Large, rusted, metal stakes sprang up from the ground.  Mark had fallen right on top of them, puncturing through the side of his head and straight through his chest.  His hoof had been caught on the top of a nearby spike, and the force of the fall split his shoulder from his body.  Below him lay the long-dead corpses of several other unrecognizable ponies, slightly decayed.

The stench of rot quickly filled the room.  With a single, horrified nod, Twilight snatched the phone book from the shelf and darted out of the door.  Celestia and Trixie followed, trying to escape to gag-inducing smell.  After leaving the room and slamming the door behind them, they looked at the phone book that had cost Mark his life.  When the clock suddenly struck 8:00, Butler’s voice called over the PA asking everypony to return to the foyer.

Taking a few steps forward around the large staircase, the three unicorns watched as two bodies fell from the top of the chandelier, and landed with a squish on the ground.  Blood and guts spewed from the bodies.  Twilight let out a scream as Fancypants stepped out of the Dining Hall and collapsed.  Two other guards followed him…

Applejack, Flim, Amethyst Star, Photo Finish-----1st Floor SE Wing

As much as Applejack didn’t care for celebrities like Photo Finish, she hated Flim and Flam even more.  And who did she get stuck with?  Flim, of all the ponies.  She expected it after Spike said something about being with people you don’t trust, but she still hated it.  They were told to explore the southernmost area of the first floor, on the opposite side of the foyer from the Dining Hall.  Applejack wanted nothing more than to get the searching over with so that she could get away from Flim.

The area they had been assigned was actually a really small room compared to what they had expected.  It was a single narrow hallway that reached a dead end and a bathroom.  Thinking that there was nothing for them to actually investigate, Applejack wanted to turn around immediately and head back to the Dining Hall.  Before she made it to the door, Flim stopped her with a curious tone.

“Applejack, I think we oughta check this bathroom.  Mystery novels are notorious for having hidden rooms behind giant mirrors.”  Flim was being genuine when he said this.

With a sigh, Applejack pushed Flim out of the way, entering the bathroom and turning the light on.  Photo and Amethyst followed the two ponies inside.  One thing was certain:  this bathroom was large enough to fit at least twenty ponies in comfortably.  The four ponies immediately began searching every nook and cranny of the room.  They checked in every drawer and behind every curtain.  Flim even took the time to check every corner of the floor.

With an irritated groan, Applejack said, “So much for this place holdin’ a secret.”

Amethyst spoke up, “Uh…AJ, could you take a look at this for me?”  She was pointing at a small blue knob protruding from the wall beside the full-body-size mirror that stood against the wall opposite the door they had entered from.

Applejack face-hoofed, “You gotta be kiddin’ me.”

Flim didn’t say a word as he walked over to the knob to examine it.  Waving for Amethyst to back away, he tried pushing the knob further into the wall.  With no effect, he pulled the knob.  When that did nothing, he tried twisting it.  With a clockwise motion, the knob made a clicking sound, and the mirror slid to side opposite the knob.

Applejack’s jaw dropped.  Flim laughed, “I told you there was something here, ‘AJ’.”  He mocked her nickname, a smile covering his face.

Photo Finish scoffed, “Let us get on with this then!  No sense in wasting such precious little time we may have left!”  She stomped past the two bickering ponies, walking right into the passage that the mirror revealed.  Amethyst followed close behind her, the other two bringing up the rear.

The group found themselves in a large, solid white room.  There were a few small shelves in the corners of the room.  The ponies decided to each search a different shelf.  One pony for each shelf, one shelf for each corner.  The room was divided into four different sections by gray lines drawn on the floor.  Each section was the same size, almost as if it was meant to be four different rooms in one.  Applejack took the lower right corner; Flim took the lower left corner; Amethyst took the upper right corner; and Photo took the upper left corner.

Within the first minute of digging through the drawers, Photo shouted excitedly, “Hurrah, I have found something!”  She held up a small notebook that read ‘The Master of the House- My Thoughts’.  She tossed the book across the floor to Applejack and began rooting around in the drawer once more.  Applejack picked the book up.

“This has gotta tell us somethin’!”  She cheered as she read the cover.

“And look here!  I found something el-!”  Photo Finish was about to pull another object from the shelf, when a rumble sent the roof falling down on top of her.  With a loud crunching sound, Photo’s voice went away.

Staring at the corner of the room with horror, the other three ponies screamed.  The ceiling had fallen in place with the lines on the floor.  Sitting on the giant stone slab were Vinyl Scratch and Doctor Whooves, both of which rubbing their heads in pain.  Doctor looked around to see the mortified faces of the three ponies around him.

“Wh-what happened?  Is something…”  He saw the blood trickling from underneath the slab of stone.  His eyes widened with horror as Octavia and Bon Bon poked their heads into the hole in the ceiling.

Butler’s voice called to them from over the PA system, and everypony in the room stood paralyzed for a few moments.  The two mares above them jumped down the hole, landing on their hooves beside their teammates.  They were ignorant of what Doctor had immediately realized.  Applejack shook the tears from her eyes, and darted down the passageway back to the bathroom.  Flim and Amethyst followed immediately behind, Doctor ushering the rest of them from the room…

What had he just done?

Floor One Reunion

Five groups of ponies darted into the foyer almost immediately after Butler’s voice called them back.  Twilight’s group, Fancypants’s group, Big Mac’s group, Applejack’s group, and Doctor’s group all gathered in the foyer and witnessed the horror of two ponies dying.

The five groups gathered together around the pool of blood in the center of the floor.  None of them could speak about what they had just seen happen.  That is, until Steve and Stan noticed the absence of the guard that should’ve accompanied Celestia.

Steve raised a hoof and screamed, “Where the hell is Mark?  He was supposed to be with you three!”  He pointed his hoof at Twilight’s group.

Celestia bowed her head as she spoke calmly, “I’m afraid he died helping us recover evidence about the host.  A trapdoor opened under him, and he was impaled on spikes.  He died trying to help us…”  Her voice trailed off as Twilight and Trixie gave her sympathetic looks.

Flam spoke up, “So that’s who that guard was…”

Big Mac’s eyes widened, “The guard in the pit in the study?  The place Sweetie Belle found?”  Flam nodded.

Trixie shouted in confusion, “When were you in the study?!  We never saw you!”

Fleetfoot replied, “Sweetie Belle pushed a switch and the wall moved.  The room was empty when we got there…except for Mark’s body.”

Fancypants was finally able to get up from the ground.  “Where, dare I ask, is Photo Finish, Ms. Applejack?”

Applejack and Doctor turned away, while Flim and Amethyst held back sick groans.  Finally Doctor spoke up, “I killed her!”  Applejack shot an angry glare at him.

The entire group gasped before Applejack could say anything.  Hooves immediately raised in anger and blame.  Applejack screamed, “It ain’t what it sounds like!”  The crowd immediately shut up to let her talk.  “He must have hit a switch or somethin’ upstairs, because the ceiling just fell right on top of her and…crushed her… His group was searchin’ the room above ours, and they must have tripped somethin’!”

The commotion stopped as Applejack explained the situation.  Tears fell from Doctor’s eyes.  Despite his friends’ attempts at comforting, he had still killed Photo Finish.  He couldn’t forget something like that.

“And who are these two victims?”  Stan stepped forward into the pool of blood.  His hooves got soaked, but he continued approaching the bodies.

The rest of the crowd watched as Stan leaned down to examine the corpses.  A stampede of hooves could be heard coming from upstairs.  The double doors burst open, and Butler darted over to the ledge overlooking the foyer.  He had a terrified look in his eyes, and his body shivered horribly…

To Hunt a Devil, Floor Two

Spitfire, Applebloom, Hoity Toity, Blueblood------2nd Floor NE Wing

Spitfire couldn’t have been any more upset with the baby dragon.  To think of the group she’d been thrown into nearly made her angry.  She was stuck with a spoiled-rotten Prince, an over-zealous celebrity, and a filly from a small country town.  As far as she was concerned, she was the only one capable of doing anything at all.  Having to explore the Northeast wing of the second floor didn’t help matters.  She would’ve preferred to stay near the Dining Hall, but that was just too much for the little dragon to allow.

Whereas Spitfire felt angry at the group she’d been cast into, Applebloom didn’t pay any mind to the useless Canterlot ponies that followed behind her.  She knew when something bad was going on, and she wasn’t going to try and make this a game.  She knew that this was serious business and that it needed to be handled with care.  She trotted along in pace with Spitfire as they made their way to the rooms they had been told to investigate.

The entirety of the second floor was just what it appeared to be from the foyer.  At the top of the stairs were the large double doors that Butler and the servants always seemed to disappear into.  On the west side of the second floor was a single door.  On the east side were two doors, one on the north side and one on the south side.  Spitfire’s group was told to investigate the northern room.

Spitfire stormed through the door with little consideration for traps or clues.  She was simply too preoccupied with her own thoughts to care about searching thoroughly.  Applebloom, on the other hand, was determined to find something in this wing that could help put this nightmare to an end.

The first room they came to after opening the door was simple enough.  It looked like an average bedroom, with a queen-sized bed and a few dressers and shelves.  There was a cupboard leaning against a wall next to a glass door that appeared to lead out onto a balcony.  Blueblood stared out of the door with a longing gaze.

He sighed, “What I wouldn’t give to be back in the castle…”

Spitfire shot him an angry glare, “Well you’re not, so get to looking!  The sooner we find evidence the sooner we can leave this place!”

Hesitantly, and with caution, Blueblood moved away from the door and began searching the other areas of the room.  Hoity Toity was already checking one of the many dressers for any type of journal or diary that could tell them who the host was.  Digging down deep into the dresser, Hoity managed to find a small notepad with two words written on the cover:  SS Plot.

Hoity called to the other three ponies in the room, “Excuse me dears, but I believe you may wish to see this amazing find.”  He turned around, holding the notepad out in his hoof.

Spitfire snatched the notepad from him, looking carefully at the cover and opening it to read the contents.  Spitfire’s eyes widened as she read the text that was hastily scribbled in the book.  She laughed, “I guess you celebrities aren’t useless after all!  This is an awesome find!”  She handed the book back to Hoity.

Applebloom’s voice cracked as she asked a question that sent shivers down everypony in the room’s bodies.  “Um…Why’s the door locked?”

Spitfire turned to look at the door in disbelief.  She watched as Applebloom tried to open the door, but the knob wouldn’t budge.  Before anypony could speak, the wall behind Hoity shifted and spun, swallowing the pony as it revolved around and trapped him on the other side.  Spitfire’s eyes lit up as she realized that Hoity had the notepad.

“FUCK THIS PARTY AND THIS DAMN MANSION!” she screamed in anger and disbelief as she realized that the very thing that could end this nightmare had been stripped from her hooves.

Blueblood stuttered, unsure of what to think, “C-calm down, Ms. S-Spitfire!  Th-there must be some way out!”

Spitfire glared at the ignorant prince.  “That notepad gave us the host’s identity!  Now Hoity has it and is probably about to die!”

Applebloom walked over to Spitfire, “Who’s the killer?”

Spitfire opened her mouth to speak, but as she did a silver object flew from the wall behind them and embedded itself right into her throat.  The force of the object tore straight through and burst from the other side, narrowly missing Blueblood as it bounced from the glass door.  

Spitfire collapsed on the floor, gurgling as she tried to talk.  She was drowning in her own blood, unable to tell her teammates who the killer was, and certain that Hoity would be killed and the notepad would be taken from his corpse.  She fell limp on the ground, blood pouring from the gaping hole in her throat.  Applebloom screamed in terror as she watched the blood pour.

Blueblood had nothing to say.  He simply stared on with terror in his eyes.  He couldn’t even think after watching that.  The two remaining ponies sat in the room for almost an hour, unable to think or speak or do anything.  When Butler’s voice came over the PA and told them to gather in the foyer, the door to the room swung open.  The two ponies darted from the room in a panic.  Spitfire was dead and Hoity was missing…

When they arrived at the top of the stairs, they saw a whole group of ponies gathered below and Butler leaning over the ledge with horror in his eyes and his muscles trembling.  Applebloom realized where Hoity had gone after being swallowed by the wall.  He was lying in a pool of blood in the middle of the foyer…

Cadence, Lyra, Guard 1, Sapphire Shores-----2nd Floor W Wing

Princess Cadence didn’t mind her group too much.  Although she didn’t care much for celebrities, she was happy with a normal pony and a guard in her group.  Lyra, however, didn’t feel the same.  She didn’t want to split up with Bon Bon, but she knew what Spike had said about letting her guard down was true.  The guard was indifferent.  He would have preferred to be with Princess Luna or Celestia, but he was fine with Cadence as well.  At least he was guarding Royalty, unlike Steve and Stan.  His name was Vince.

The group of ponies had been asked by Spike to examine the wing of the mansion directly above the Dining Hall:  The second floor West wing.  They happily obliged, thinking they would be safest near the Dining Hall.  The room above the Dining Hall was empty.  It was literally empty.  There wasn’t any type of decoration or painting or anything.  All that was in the room was a window looking outside and a door at the north end.  The group decided to head on through.

The second they opened the door, they heard a horrible rumbling sound coming from within the room.  They hurried down the small corridor into a square room.  To the left was another small hallway, and at the end there appeared to be a moving wall that was sliding downward.  Without wasting any time, Vince rushed down the hall, eager to see what was causing the wall to move.

Reaching the end of the hall, he heard muffled screams of terror coming from below the wall.  When the other three arrived next to him, Cadence shouted, “Is that someone screaming?!”  She could barely hear the voices over the sound of the rumbling.  

Lyra noticed the wall lowering below the doorframe.  “Look, up there!”  She pointed a hoof into the now-visible room, a small button on the wall catching her eye.  She also noticed another slab of concrete lowering down with what was now the floor.

“Oh no!”  Vince leaped into the small opening the moment he could, realizing that the floor was going crush whoever was screaming below them.  He leaped up to push the button.

As he did, the floor and ceiling stopped moving.  He let out a sigh of relief.  The other ponies took a single step toward the room, when it suddenly shot back upward very rapidly.  With a single muffled scream, Vince was gone.  Staring at the stone wall in disbelief, Cadence simply mumbled, “But…why?”

Sapphire Shores jerked around to face the direction they had just come from.  “Did you hear that?  It sounded like something moving back in the other room.”

Following her back to the other room, Lyra gently took Cadence’s arm, who was still stunned by what she had just witnessed.  Upon entering the previous room, they all gasped when they noticed that a small square was missing from the wall opposite them.  It was the wall that would be overlooking the centerpiece of the Dining Hall table.

Carefully, Lyra crawled into the small hole, unsure of where it would take her.  Following it through, she called to Cadence and Sapphire to follow her.  Nodding to each other, they both crawled into the hole one after the other, unsure of what to expect on the other side.  When they emerged, they found themselves standing in a small circular room, decorated in gemstones and classy furniture.

There was a single bookshelf on the far side of the room, stuffed full of books.  Lyra walked up to the bookshelf, looking over the titles of the books.  Cadence and Sapphire examined the other objects in the room.  When Lyra squealed in excitement, both of the Canterlot ponies flinched in fear of the worst, unsure of what caused the squeal.

“Look at what I found!”  She shouted in a sing-song voice.  She held up a small red book with gold lettering on the cover.  It read ‘About the Master:  Her Home’.

Cadence and Sapphire shared excited and enthusiastic cheers as they darted over to Lyra’s side.  When Butler’s voice called from the speaker on the ceiling, they nodded and crawled back through the hole.  They burst out of the door that led to the foyer with smiles on their faces.  That is, until they reached the top of the stairs.

They saw Applebloom and Blueblood staring down in horror on the other staircase.  They noticed Butler leaning over the ledge, his muscles twitching wildly.  They looked down the stairs and saw all of the ponies gathered together.  They also saw the pool of blood, and part of the source of the blood.  Vince’s body lay down there right beside Hoity Toity.  One of the other guards was standing in the pool, examining the bodies…

Doctor Whooves, Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, Bon Bon-----2nd Floor SE Wing

Doctor Whooves was quite content with the group he had been assigned.  There was only one pony in the group that he didn’t know too awfully well, and that was Octavia.  Vinyl Scratch and Bon Bon were both common faces in Ponyville, so Doctor didn’t feel too worried about either of them being the insane killer.  He still remained on his guard, however, so as not to fall victim to such a crazy murderer.

Both Vinyl and Bon Bon were happy to be grouped up with Doctor.  After seeing how he acted in the Dining Hall after Diamond Tiara’s murder, they felt certain that Doctor would protect them if anything happened.  Octavia wasn’t too familiar with any of the three ponies, so she kept to herself and didn’t say much.

Doctor’s group had been instructed to investigate the Southeast wing of the second floor.  Doctor happily obliged the little dragon’s direction, considering how easily the dragon found the cord that was used to kill Diamond.  With a hopeful outlook on all of this, Doctor trotted up the stairs and through the door that led to their wing.  The mares followed close behind, not wanting to be left behind.

The room that the door led to was nothing but a long, narrow hallway.  At the end of the hallway was a bathroom.  Doctor slowly pushed open the door to the bathroom, motioning for the mares to follow close behind.  

Once inside the room, the group split up, looking for anything out of the ordinary or evidence of any sort.  After spending minutes scouring the room, the mares had given up searching.  There simply wasn’t anything in this room that didn’t already belong in a bathroom.

Disappointed, Vinyl sighed, “I don’t think we’ll be getting anywhere looking in this wing.”

Doctor smiled widely, “You really ought to keep your chin up, Vinyl.  I’m certain there’s something in this room that we’re missing.”  He placed a hoof on her shoulder.

Bon Bon giggled, “What gives you that idea, Doctor?”

Doctor raised a hoof in the air, “Call it a sixth sense of mine!  I just can’t shake the feeling we’re overlooking something important!”

Octavia walked past Doctor’s funny pose and examined the mirror behind them.  She pointed at a small blue knob jutting out from the wall beside it.  “What do you suppose this is?” she asked.

Doctor looked at the knob closely, wondering just what it was.  He tried to pull it, but it didn’t budge.  He then tried to push it, but received the same results.  He tried twisting it, and it moved clockwise.  As he twisted it, he heard a faint clicking sound and the mirror beside him slid right to the side, revealing a hidden passage.

“Well what do you know…?”  Vinyl Scratch perked up a little at the sight of the hidden passage.

“Let us continue our investigation, my lovely lady friends!”  He bowed his head, waving his arm, gesturing for them to go first.  Vinyl and Bon Bon giggled as they walked past him.  Octavia simply blushed without making a sound, an annoyed look on her face.

Doctor sighed as he followed the mares through the passage.  He still couldn’t believe how big of a fool he made himself seem earlier in the Dining Hall.

The group arrived in a square, solid white room.  Well, it was solid white aside from the gray lines painted on the floor.  The room was divided into four sections, as if it was meant to be a bedroom for quadruplets.  In each section there was a shelf full of odds and ends.  Doctor took the far left corner.  Vinyl took the far right.  Octavia covered the near left corner.  That left Bon Bon with the near right corner.

Each pony began rooting around in the shelves, looking for any kind of hint as to who the host of this sick game was.  Before long, Doctor found a strange notebook with something written in blue ink on the cover.  It read ‘The Master of the House- The Truth’.

Doctor cheered, “Alright!  I think I’ve found something useful!”

Curious to see just what it was, Vinyl Scratch walked over to his side to read the cover of the book.  She tripped on a small object that had fallen off of Doctor’s shelf and landed on the ground against the wall.  She felt something give way behind her and the floor began to vibrate.  Without warning, the slab of stone fell from its spot in the room and landed with a loud bang in the room below it.

The room was identical to the one they had just been in.  Doctor rubbed his head, noticing Applejack, Flim, and Amethyst Star staring at him with wide eyes.

“Wh-what happened?  Is something…”  He saw the blood trickling from underneath the slab of stone.  His eyes widened with horror as Octavia and Bon Bon poked their heads into the hole in the ceiling.

Butler’s voice called to them from over the PA system, and everypony in the room stood paralyzed for a few moments.  The two mares above them jumped down the hole, landing on their hooves beside their teammates.  They were ignorant of what Doctor had immediately realized.  Applejack shook the tears from her eyes, and darted down the passageway back to the bathroom.  Flim and Amethyst followed immediately behind, Doctor ushering the rest of them from the room…

What had he just done...?

Second Floor Reunion

“And who are these two victims?”  Stan stepped forward into the pool of blood.  His hooves got soaked, but he continued approaching the bodies.

Applebloom’s voice called from the top of the eastern stairs, “Hoity Toity!”  She leaped down the stairs two or more at a time, Blueblood right behind her.

From the western stairs, Cadence’s voice rang out, “Vince!”  She and her companions darted down the stairs toward the group of ponies below.

Stan shouted in confusion, “Vince?  Th-this is Vince?!”  He looked at the corpse closest to him.  Sure enough, it was one of the other guards assigned to the party with Steve and himself.  They were the only two of the guards left.

Applebloom ran through the pool of blood at the center of the room, “Hoity!”  She ran to the celebrity’s side, rolling him over on his back.

“Get away from there Applebloom!  It ain’t no place for ya!”  Applejack started to run in after her sister.

Applebloom cried, “No!  He has to have the book!  He has to!”  Blueblood trotted up beside her, helping search the body.

With a gasp of excitement, Blueblood exclaimed, “I found it!  He still has it!”  He read the title of the notebook aloud to the crowd of gathered ponies.  “SS Plot!  A notebook that Spitfire was certain would tell us who our host is!”  He held the book up to show the crowd.

Everypony gathered slightly closer, standing outside of the pool of blood.  Suddenly a terrified scream came from Butler, “Look out Prince Blueblood!  Behind you!”

Blueblood turned to look behind him, but it was too late.  The front door burst open, a massive tree flying right at him.  He had just enough time to shove Applebloom out of the way before both he and Stan were hit with the full force of the tree.  The doors slammed shut tightly behind the guests once more.

In an insane turn of events, the host’s name was ripped from their hooves for the second time in an hour…  Everypony in the room let out a shriek of terror as the realization of what had just happened hit them.  The tree was stuffed snugly between the east and west staircases, and it wasn’t going to budge.

Shining Armor’s voice called from the third floor balcony.  He had witnessed everything.  Him and all of the other ponies that were investigating the floor…

To Hunt a Devil, Floor Three

Rainbow Dash, Cheerilee, Scootaloo, Zecora-----3rd Floor N Wing

Rainbow Dash had fire in her eyes as she led her group to the top floor of the mansion.  She simply couldn’t allow such a horrible person to go free.  The sooner they finished checking their area, the sooner they could help the others find evidence.  With this in mind, Rainbow rushed her group into the door at the northern end of the third floor.

Scootaloo was excited to explore their wing of the mansion.   She knew that there had to be something for them to find.  Cheerilee, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure about all of this.  She was just a simple school teacher; she didn’t know the half of what to look for.  Zecora was just as excited as Scootaloo.  She prepared herself for the worst of what the mansion may throw at them, and kept one eye open at all times, observing the surrounding area.

The group found themselves in one massive room at the top of the mansion.  The room was filled with cabinets and dressers and cupboards, all filled to the brim with random junk.  A single door sat on the far end of the room with a sign above it that read ‘Master Bedroom- No Access’.  Remembering the rules of the game, Rainbow decided it would be best to ignore the door for now.  She didn’t feel like being zapped to death by a collar.

The four ponies split up, searching different corners of the room in hopes of finding something that would help them find their host’s identity.  This was the room just outside of the master bedroom, so there had to be something important in it, right?

Looking closely at a small bookshelf on the western wall, Zecora found a title that caught her eye.  “Everypony come quick, and take a look…at the mysterious title of this book.”

Walking over to her, Rainbow Dash took the book and read the title aloud.  “’Regarding the Master of the House- Evil Incarnate’?  Do you think this will tell us something about who it is?”  Rainbow flipped open the book and began scanning the pages for any kind of clue.

Cheerilee screamed as a section of the western wall behind them shifted and slid away from its spot.  Turning with caution and ready for anything, Rainbow dropped the book and took a sturdy stance on the ground, stamping her hooves in anticipation of something.  But nothing happened.  The wall simply moved from its spot and revealed a small passage.  Sharing a confused glance, both Rainbow and Zecora started walking down the path.  Scootaloo followed close behind.  Cheerilee picked up the book before following them down the hall.

After walking for a few minutes, the group emerged in a large gray room.  The floor seemed to be made of solid concrete, and paintings dotted the walls.  There was a single button on the far side of the room, and it took everything in Rainbow’s power not to leap up and push it.  Carefully checking the corners and shelves of the room, the group decided to finally push the button.

With a wide smile, Rainbow floated up to the button and punched it with her hoof.  A horrendous rumbling sound began as the floor started to vibrate.  The wall to the right of the entrance shifted slightly, revealing another secret passage, and the floor began sinking lower, the ceiling following it.  Without hesitation, the four ponies leaped into the newly revealed secret passage, watching as the floor sank steadily.  Not curious to see what waited for them when the ceiling reached their level, they took off down this passage.

Kicking her way through the door on the far end, Rainbow Dash found herself in a solid white hallway.  Just as her group emerged from their passage, Shining Armor’s group emerged from the door opposite to them.  They stared at one another in confusion, before a large wall of fire formed at the eastern end of this new hallway.  It was moving towards them…

Shining Armor, Rarity, Spike, Luna-----3rd Floor S Wing

Spike had received the luck of the draw.  He’d been placed into a group with the captain of the Royal Guard, a princess, and the pony he had had a crush on for quite a long time.  Of course, he didn’t let his guard down around any of them, knowing that they could all potentially be the killer.

Shining Armor was pleased with his group.  He’d been stuck with one of the princesses, one of her sister’s friends, and a very observant baby dragon.  He smiled as he climbed the stairs leading to their wing of the mansion.

Luna couldn’t complain about her group.  She knew just how capable all three of her teammates were, so she wasn’t worried about anything.  Rarity was also aware of how strong Luna and Shining Armor were, so she didn’t have any complaints.

“Okay, we need to investigate the south wing of the top floor.”  Spike directed Shining Armor as he trotted up the stairs.

Shining Armor repeated, “Alright then, the south wing.  That shouldn’t be too hard.”

With determination and curiosity in his eyes, Armor burst into the room that would be their hunting ground.  The two mares followed close behind, wary of just about any type of trap that could be placed.  The room they found themselves in looked almost exactly like a normal bedroom.  There were cupboards and dressers, a large queen-sized bed, and a glass door that appeared to lead out onto a large balcony.

Examining the room thoroughly with his eyes, Armor noticed a small section of the wall that was off-color from the rest.  Trotting over to it, he told his teammates to stand back and stay on guard.  He placed a hoof on the small square of differently-colored wall, and it slid back further into its spot.  The wall began to rumble, and a large section slid forward, nearly knocking Armor off his hooves.  Looking behind the moved section of wall with curiosity, Spike stroked his chin.

The scent of rot filled the air.  With a gag, Rarity asked, “D-do we have to go through there?”

Luna closed her eyes and nodded, the stench nearly making her choke.  “Yes, I’m afraid so.  If it’s a hidden passage, there must be something back there.”

Armor swallowed a cough, “Y-yes.  The sooner we get to the other side, the sooner we might escape the stench…”  He didn’t sound too sure of that.

Spike returned to their sides after checking behind the wall.  “You ponies might want to close your eyes for this…”  Without a question, the three ponies closed their eyes tightly.

Taking Rarity’s hoof, Spike pulled her down the passageway, Luna and Armor holding on to her side.  Taking a long look around as he hurried through the passage, Spike’s gut started to churn.

The mutilated corpses of dozens of ponies lined the walls.  Dried guts hung from their torsos, and body parts were ripped and torn away from the main body.  The sight of all these dead ponies only made the smell worse.  Whoever their host was, this wasn’t the first time he played such a sick game.

Finally arriving on the other side, Spike was horrified to see even more corpses scattered across the room, chained and tied to different machines and tables.  He lost his footing and collapsed on the ground.  Feeling the tug on her hoof, Rarity opened her eyes, an act that she immediately regretted.  She let out a horrified scream, causing Luna and Armor to open their eyes.  They both let out terrified shouts of disbelief.

The wall behind them slid back into place against the wall, leaving them trapped in this horrendous room.  Desperate to escape the sight and smell, Armor darted down the hall to their left, the other ponies following closely behind.  Spike managed to stand back up and darted down the hall after them.  Armor burst through a small metal door, taking a deep breath of fresh air.  His teammates followed after him.

They found themselves face to face with Rainbow Dash’s group.  At the east end of the hall, flames roared to life.  They were moving right toward them at a fast speed…

Third Floor Escape

The two groups of guests didn’t have time to exchange formalities as the wall of flames rushed at them.  With a single nod of agreement, both groups took off down the hall in the opposite direction to the fire, hoping they could find another room or a separate hall to travel down to escape the fire.  Reaching the end of the hall, they found themselves with no such luck.

There were no doors or side-passages lining the hall.  It was one long, narrow passage that led to a dead end.  The wall of flames that was heading for them was caused by a bunch of flamethrowers connected side by side, attached to a rod on a track.  The rod followed the track down the hall, slowly picking up speed.

Cheerilee shouted, pointing a hoof behind the wall of flames, “It’s a switch!”

Everypony looked where she was pointing.  On the opposite end of the room was a switch.  It was set to the ‘on’ position.  Everypony had the same idea.

Luna shouted, “If we could hit the switch, maybe it would turn the flames off!”

The only problem was, none of the guests could use magic, and the flames were too intense to fly over.  They didn’t have any non-flammable projectiles to throw at it, either.  There was no chance of jumping through the flames.  They could see their salvation, but they just couldn’t reach it.

Then Scootaloo remembered something she had packed into her pouch before leaving for the party.  With a gasp of excitement, she opened the pouch at her side and pulled out a small makeshift slingshot and some rocks.  Looking at her with shock and confusion, the other guests watched as she readied a large rock into the slingshot.  She pulled back as far as she could, took aim, and let the rock go flying.

It tore right through the flames and connected with the switch.  Instantly, the switch turned red, and the flames shut off.  The rod and track retracted back to the far end of the hall.  Unsure whether to scold her for bringing a weapon or applaud her for saving them, Shining Armor cheered, “Great shot, little filly!”  He lifted Scootaloo into the air and hugged her tightly.

The remainder of the guests let out sighs of relief and fell to the ground, the intensity of the suspense wearing them out.  Just as the group was starting to relax, the wall beside them rumbled and shifted ever so suddenly to the side.  Without wasting any time, Armor hopped to his hooves and walked into the newly revealed passage.  He was happy to find there was no rotted smell.

After a few minutes of sitting there doing nothing, the groups decided it best to continue on their way.  They started heading down the passage.  As they were walking, they heard Butler come over the PA system and call them back to the foyer.  With a shared nod, the entire group rushed down the hall.

Just as they reached a small wooden door, a hatch opened in the middle of the floor, and the group was split once more.  Unable to stop herself in time to avoid falling down the pit, Cheerilee let out a loud scream as she fell into the dark expanse of the tunnel.  Rainbow Dash was just about the leap down the pit to try and catch her when Luna snapped her teeth down tightly on her tail, pulling Rainbow back.

“Lemme go!  We can still save-!”  With a loud squishing sound, Rainbow’s voice trailed off.  With the sudden realization that Cheerilee was now dead, and she held the book they had found in the room before, Rainbow let out an unintelligible scream of anger.

Luna opened her wings and leaped to the other side of the pit.  Allowing Scootaloo and Spike to climb on top of her, she wrapped her front hooves tightly around Zecora.  With a single push from her hind legs, she flapped her wings and landed back on the right side of the pit.  With only one casualty, the two groups charged through the door beside them.

As the seven guests poured from the door on the very eastern wall of the third floor, they heard Butler scream, “Look out Prince Blueblood!  Behind you!”

The group of ponies ran to the ledge overlooking the floors below them, and watched in horror as the front doors burst open and a tree caught Blueblood and Stan with full force, wedging itself between the east and west staircases.

Shining Armor screamed in horror, “How the hell is that even possible?!”

Without wasting another moment, all seven of them darted down the stairs toward the group of ponies on the bottom floor…

Third Floor Reunion

Shining Armor stood by the front doors of the mansion, unable to accept how they so easily swung open to make way for the tree.  The ponies that were all gathered together in the foyer stared on in disbelief of how suddenly two lives were taken right in front of them.  Applejack held Applebloom tightly, knowing that if Blueblood hadn’t pushed her out of the way she would be dead as well.

Butler sighed in fear as he climbed down the stairs to meet the group.  “I’m afraid the explanation is simple, Mr. Armor.”  He hopped over the rail on the stairs and landed on the trunk of the tree.  He walked over to a small hole and pulled something from it.

Holding the object into the air, the guests stared on in confusion at the circular object in Butler’s hoof.  He explained, “This is half of a chain-charm.  It binds itself to the other, identical, charm.  This half was placed inside the tree, and the other half was placed on the book Blueblood held up.  Without any type of solid object to obstruct the chain, the tree was called to the book, as per the charm’s effects.”

“Why the hell did the door open?!  It was sealed shut!”  Shining Armor screamed, thrashing his arms wildly in anger.

Butler continued, “I would assume the Master used the controller that was spoken about to temporarily disable the barrier long enough for the tree to pass through.”

With a sigh, Armor bowed his head low.  He looked at Celestia, “Sorry princess…”

“There’s no sense in mourning my nephew, Armor.  Unless we find our host, none of us may live long enough to pay our proper respects.”  Celestia stepped forward, tears in her eyes.  Nopony had ever seen Celestia cry, not even her sister.

Steve stamped his hoof and screamed, “Dammit!  This has gone too far!”  He darted over and leaped up on top of the tree.  “How many have we lost so far?!  This damn game hasn’t even been going for an hour, and we’ve already lost so many innocent ponies!”

Spike stepped up, pulling the list of ponies and groups from his pouch.  “Diamond Tiara was the first to go.  Out of all the groups gathered here right now, we’re missing the following ponies:  Photo Finish, Cheerilee, Hoity Toity, Prince Blueblood, Mark, Stan, Vince, and Spitfire.  That’s nine of us.  And we don’t really know how many casualties the last two groups have taken.”

Spike brought it to everypony’s attention that the groups assigned to the basement hadn’t yet returned.  With horror-filled gasps, everypony in the room turned to face the spot that the tree was clogging.  The door to the basement was being blocked by the massive tree’s branches and limbs.  With the sudden realization that their friends wouldn’t be getting back until the tree was removed, everypony in the room darted into the pool of blood at the center of the foyer, carving holes into the trunk.

They were trying as hard as they could to pull the tree, if even slightly, from its position between the staircases.  Until they managed to get the tree out, nopony in the basement would be meeting back up in the foyer…

To Hunt a Devil, Basement Floor

Pinkie Pie, Gilda, Nurse Redheart, Dinky Doo-----Basement E Wing

Pinkie Pie bounced enthusiastically as she led her group to the large wooden door between the east and west staircases of the foyer.  She didn’t too much mind being grouped up with Gilda or Nurse Redheart, but it was Dinky Doo she was concerned about.  Pinkie was a party-loving pony, but even some things have their limits.  She didn’t want Dinky to end up like Diamond Tiara.

Nurse Redheart carried Dinky on her back as she followed the over-enthusiastic pony in front of her.  As much as she hated to do it, they had to investigate the basement just as much as the other floors.  She only wished they had been assigned a bit closer to the exit.  Dinky happily sat on Redheart’s back as they followed Pinkie through the large doors into the basement.  She was ready to help do whatever she could to find the horrible pony responsible for all of this.

Gilda couldn’t have hated it any more than she already did.  Although she tried to hide it, she obviously still didn’t like Pinkie.  After what had happened at that party a year or so back, she still held a grudge.  But knowing that complaining wouldn’t help anything, she decided to go ahead and help search the basement.  The sooner they found the host’s identity, the sooner they could leave.

Spike had told them to go down into the basement and investigate the eastern wing.  Pinkie happily agreed to do so, and without hesitation, set off to the underground floor.  Leading the group with optimism and a smile, she trotted down the stairs to the basement’s wooden door.

Although the main room was fairly blank, light music played from a speaker in the far corner.  It was a light-hearted tune.  Nodding back to her teammates, Pinkie pointed at the large wooden door that would lead them into their wing of the basement.  With enthusiasm, she turned the knob and swung the door open, bouncing inside.

Gilda rolled her eyes as she watched the party pony enter the room with minimal care for traps or secrets.  She stormed into the room with an angry expression on her face, but was caught off guard by just what exactly she found.

Nurse Redheart mumbled to herself as she entered the room, “I guess this place was set up for the fillies…”

Gilda scoffed, “You got that right.”

The room was decorated by colorful streamers and balloons scattered about here and there, and little games were set up all throughout the large expanse.  There was a ‘pin the tail on the donkey’ area set up, some bean-bag chairs in one corner, and a bunch of other miscellaneous games.  Pinkie smiled as she looked around the room.  She hadn’t seen so many games in one room in a long time.

Not taking a chance with missing anything, Gilda ripped the donkey poster off of the wall with a claw, making sure there was nothing behind it.  She also tossed the bean-bag chairs out of the way, looking for any type of unusual object.  She didn’t find anything as she scoured the room.  With an annoyed grunt, she glanced over at Pinkie, who was examining the far corner of the room.

“You find anything yet?” she asked bluntly.

Pinkie shook her head, giggling, “Nothing besides a few finger-paints and decks of cards.”

Gilda rolled her eyes, glancing over to see Redheart and Dinky reading a book.  “What’ve you two got?”

Redheart looked over at her and said, “Our host’s name.”

Gilda’s eyes lit up at the sound of that.  “What do you mean by his ‘name’?  You know who it is?”  Gilda stomped over to Redheart’s side.

With a smile, Dinky exclaimed, “Yep!  This book has a picture of her in it!  All we gotta do is take it back to everypony!”

Gilda snatched the book from Redheart’s hooves, looking over the page carefully.  Her eyes lit up with excitement as she read the words written on the page.  Pinkie walked up beside her, curious to hear the reading.

Gilda read aloud, “’The Master of the House is a very kind pony, wouldn’t you agree?  She has so many games to play, want to see?  All you have to do is simply behave and play nice, then we can have fun all night long.  This party you’ve been invited to is a trap that is very obvious.  Sadly, it will be too late to stop it by the time you see this.’”  Gilda paused to think about what she was reading.  She looked around carefully to make sure nothing suspicious was going on around her.

She continued, “’My Master has asked me to write a book that will entertain you fillies…but I cannot do that.  There is nothing fun about her plan!  All I can tell you is that she cannot be allowed to get her wish.  She has no wings and has no horns, yet she is a bitch!  You must warn your party guests the moment this is read…  I’m afraid that by the time the party starts…I shall be dead…’”

Gilda stopped.  She couldn’t shake the feeling that somepony was watching her.  She wasn’t sure why, but she felt that something bad was about to happen.

Pinkie exclaimed, “So the host is a mare that doesn’t have wings or a horn?  She’s an earth pony!”  Redheart and Dinky smiled.  That narrowed it down to several choice guests at the party.

Gilda scoffed, “And wouldn’t she have to be rich, since she owns this mansion?”

Pinkie thought about it for a second, “Not necessarily.  There can be any number of explanations as to why she would have a mansion.  Maybe a relative is super rich and this is a vacation home…?”

Redheart nodded in agreement.  “I think we should return to the foyer.  This is big news.”

Turning to leave the room, Gilda’s heart skipped a beat when the doorknob didn’t budge.  Her head darted back and forth, examining the room.  Pinkie gave her a confused look.  She screamed, “Get down on the ground, now!  The door’s sealed shut!  This is a trap!”  She fell over on the ground with a thud, wary of anything moving in the room.  She expected some sort of projectile to launch from a random hole in the wall.

After a minute on the ground and nothing happening, Redheart sighed, “Are you sure you didn’t just turn the knob the wrong way?”

Gilda shot her an angry glare, “Of course I’m sure!  The door was sealed, which means something’s about to happen!”

Pinkie looked around the room.  She stood back up when she didn’t see anything.  “I think you may be losing it, Gilda.  I don’t see anything wrong.”

Redheart raised herself off of the ground, “I agree with Pinkie.  There’s nothing wrong here.”

Gilda let out a sigh and lifted herself up.  She looked around nervously.  “I’m telling you there’s something wrong.  The door won’t open!”  She twisted and turned the knob every which way, but it was to no avail.  The door wouldn’t budge.

Redheart turned to look at Pinkie.  As she did, something horrifying caught her eye.  There was a tiny red dot aimed at Pinkie’s neck.  Looking to the wall, a small needle was sticking out, a laser right above it, aiming.  With a scream, Redheart darted toward Pinkie, tackling her out of the way as the needle launched from the hole in the wall.  The laser shut off, and the needle made direct contact to one of Redheart’s blood veins.

In a short, throat-shredding scream, Nurse Redheart fell limp on the floor, her body convulsing wildly.  With a mortified expression on her face, Gilda leaped to Redheart’s side, plucking the small object in her neck out without hesitation.  She looked at the black needle at the end of the object.

With a groan, she tossed it to the far end of the room.  “Poison needle.  You oughta be fucking thankful, pony!  She gave her life to save you!”  She gave Pinkie Pie an extremely angry glare.

With a faint clicking sound, the door swung open.  Gilda lifted Dinky off of the ground and placed her on her back.  “Sorry kid, but this ain’t a place for you.  Let’s go.”  With a sigh, Gilda walked out of the room.

Pinkie followed, unable to say anything, her cheery demeanor replaced by a depressed frown.  Hearing a loud banging sound coming from the direction of the stairs, Gilda darted over to the door.  She couldn’t get it to budge.  She tackled it a few times, but it didn’t move.  Suddenly, a voice called to her from behind.

“Need a helping hoof, griffon?”  Gilda turned to see Iron Will standing behind her, two other ponies accompanying him.

“Sure, why not?”  Gilda shrugged her shoulders and tackled the door once more.

Suddenly, a loud rumbling sound rang out, and the walls on either side of the large rectangular room began sliding toward the center of the room.  With a shriek of angry horror, Gilda picked up the pace with her tackles…

Iron Will, Fluttershy, Soarin’, Derpy Hooves-----Basement W Wing

Iron Will took long, determined steps as he led the way into the basement of the mansion.  The baby dragon had given his group specific orders to check out the western half of the underground floor.  With an encouraging voice, he called his teammates to follow him.  He may have seemed over-enthusiastic, but he really wanted nothing more than to end this nightmare.

Soarin’ followed Iron Will’s directions, not wanting to impose on the minotaur’s dominance.  For a minotaur, Iron seemed to be fairly gentle.  Soarin’ let out a sigh as he looked at the group he’d been cast into.  He had an over-zealous minotaur, a super shy Pegasus, and a cross-eyed mail delivery Pegasus.

It didn’t take long for the groups to reach the door that would take them to their wing of the basement.  With caution and optimism, Iron Will pushed the door open and stepped inside.  He scanned the room with his eyes before signaling the ponies to join him.

As they entered the room, Derpy made a comment that sent shivers down Fluttershy’s spine.  “This place sure is pretty.  I wonder what kind of games the host was actually gonna play with the fillies…”

Thoughts filled Fluttershy’s mind as Derpy said this.  Looking around the room, she noticed it was empty, aside from a few tables with coloring books on them.  Fluttershy thought about what the host would have done to the children that actually went to the basement to play.  There could have been any number of traps and tortures prepared for the innocent ponies.  She shuddered and let a squeak of fear escape her lips.

Looking at Fluttershy with a sympathetic expression, Iron Will cheered, “We’ll all be perfectly fine!  Just follow Iron Will’s guidance and we’ll be outta here in no time!”

Iron nodded at Soarin’, and the two began searching the room.  Derpy sat on the ground beside Fluttershy, trying to keep her company so that the fear wouldn’t completely get to her.  After only a few minutes of searching, Iron Will exclaimed, “Eureka!  Iron Will has outdone himself this time!”  He held up a thin coloring book.  It contained multiple pages of the same picture.  It was one of those color-by-number coloring books.

He handed the book to Fluttershy along with some crayons to color it with.  Looking at the book, Fluttershy read the title aloud, “’The Master of the House’?”  She looked at the picture in the book.

Derpy exclaimed, “It’s a coloring book to tell us who the host is!  If we color the picture, we’ll know what she looks like!”

Soarin’ scoffed, “More or less, I’m sure.  There has to be more substantial evidence around here.”

Soarin’ turned to look at the wall behind him.  With a single horrified scream, he was thrown against the wall with a loud bang.  The other three looked at him in horror as blood poured from his chest.  Looking at the wall, smoke wafted from a hole in it.  Iron Will walked over to Soarin’s body, unsure of what to think.  He pulled a poster from the wall and covered the Pegasus’s body with it.

Looking back at Fluttershy and Derpy, Iron sighed, “We need to leave.  Now.”  He tried to push the door open, but found that it was sealed tightly.  Looking back at the two mares, he tried to remain calm.

Derpy looked at him with a worried expression.  “We’re stuck, aren’t we?”  She placed a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder as she let out another squeak of fear.

Iron looked around the room.  His eyes frantically searched for some other way out, for anything out of the ordinary that might help them get out.  With a sigh, he fell to the ground.  They were stuck in the room with no way out, Soarin’ lying against the wall, dead.

Derpy shook her head in disbelief, taking the coloring book and crayons from Fluttershy.  Iron watched as Derpy began coloring the picture.  He opened his mouth to speak, but Derpy cut him off, “If this picture tells us who did this…then I’m gonna find out!”  She had tears in her eyes and anger in her voice.

Fluttershy watched in fear as Derpy colored the picture with vigor and purpose.  She couldn’t help but admire her composure during all of this.  With a sigh, Fluttershy choked out, “H-how long do you think we’ll be s-stuck down here?”  She looked at Iron Will.

Iron shrugged his shoulders, not being able to even take a guess.  They might be stuck in there forever, but he would never say that.  Some time passed as Derpy colored the surprisingly detailed picture in the book.  She closed the book with a smile on her face.  “I got it done!”  She laughed as she tossed the crayons to the side, stuffing the book into a pouch at her side.

When a faint clicking sound rang out, the door swung itself open.  Without hesitation, Iron Will lifted Fluttershy into his arms and waved for Derpy to get out.  They three of them fled the room as fast as they could.  Iron Will heard a series of loud thuds coming from the main doorway into the basement.  Running over to see what it was, he put Fluttershy down and stopped right behind the group of ponies in front of him.  Seeing Gilda tackle the door made something in him click…

“Need a helping hoof, griffon?”  Iron Will called from behind her, two other ponies accompanying her.

“Sure, why not?”  Gilda shrugged her shoulders and tackled the door once more.

Suddenly, a loud rumbling sound rang out, and the walls on either side of the large rectangular room began sliding toward the center of the room.  With a shriek of angry horror, Gilda picked up the pace with her tackles…

An Unforgettable Sacrifice

Iron Will watched as the two walls started closing in on the group.  Rapidly moving toward the center of the room, the walls would crush them in a matter of minutes.  Iron planted his hooves in the center of the room, extending his arms wide.  He was going to try and stop the walls as they reached him.  Everypony gathered close to the door as Gilda tackled it over and over again.

Gilda sighed after a few more tackles, “Pinkie Pie…Take the book.”  She pulled the book from the other room out from under her wing and handed it to Pinkie.

Pinkie looked at it in confusion, “Why do you want me to hold it?  You’re going-!”

The rest of the ponies watched as Gilda walked toward Iron Will.  She stood beside him, her head facing one wall and her hind facing the other.  She chuckled, “If I can’t open the door by force, then I can at least give you ponies a little more time for help to arrive.  And even if you don’t make it out…It’s nice being able to help.”  As the wall reached Iron Will’s hands, he let out a grunt.

If only barely, he was able to stop the wall’s advancement toward the center of the room.  Gilda let out a groan as she stretched her body to its limits, placing her front claws on the wall in front of her and her hind claws on the wall behind her.  Iron Will and Gilda were serving as lifelines for the other ponies.  If they weren’t holding the walls back, everypony in the basement would be crushed.

Hearing a loud scratching sound come from the other side of the door, both Derpy and Pinkie tackled it.  To their amazement, it finally opened.  A few leaves and twigs flew into the room in a gust of wind, but the door was open.  Iron Will called from behind them, “Hurry up already!  We can’t hold this forever!”

With a tear-filled nod of her head, Pinkie shoved the rest of the ponies out of the room.  She saluted the two creatures holding the walls back.  She took a deep breath and fled the room, not wanting to watch what was about to happen.

Gilda craned her neck to look at the minotaur.  “You know, you ain’t half bad.”

Iron will chuckled, “And you’re a saint among griffons!  There’s still time for you to leave, you know.”

Gilda rolled her eyes and scoffed, “I’m doing more work here than you think, minotaur.  If I move, we’re still gonna die.”

Iron Will sighed, “I know.  The name’s Iron Will, by the way.”

Gilda smiled, “Gilda.  Pleasure to meet you.  You ready?”

The two looked into each other’s eyes.  They nodded once, and shut their eyes tightly.  They took deep breaths and counted to three.  On the third number, they relaxed their muscles and let the wall do its thing.  With a loud squish, Gilda and Iron Will were no more.

Everypony in the foyer stared on in shock and disbelief as the two creatures in the room allowed themselves to be consumed by the walls.  They watched as blood spewed from the crack between the two slabs of stone.  With tears in her eyes, Pinkie Pie handed the book Redheart found to Shining Armor…

Basement Floor Reunion

Tons of towels were piled into the middle of the foyer, being used to soak up the pool of blood left by Hoity Toity and Vince.  Everypony gathered back in the Dining Hall to discuss exactly what had happened to each of them.

Each group went into great detail as to what had happened to them.  The last two groups to speak were the basement groups.  After explaining everything that had happened and discussing the books they had all found, the remaining guests decided to sit quietly for a little while.

That is, until Fluttershy spoke up.  “We all found some evidence, right?  We need to end this, now.”

A chatter of agreement spread throughout the room.  The clock in the foyer struck nine, and a ringing filled the ears of every guest.  Everypony that had found some sort of evidence piled it onto the table.  They had been able to recover the ‘SS Plot’ notepad, but it was too soaked in blood to be of any use.

Everypony gathered close to the table to listen as Spike read the contents of every book to them…

The Nightmare's End and the Murderer's Lament

Everypony in the Dining Hall sat by quietly as Spike read the contents of each notepad to them.  Being sure to take notes, Twilight hastily scribbled key details on a piece of parchment laid out in front of her.  After all of the notes had been read and scanned over by other ponies, the guests sat back and listened as the pieces of the puzzle were put together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Taking into consideration everything written in all of the books, Spike took the notes from Twilight and started sorting them out.

“According to the notes Twilight took, I think we can narrow the possibilities down to only a few ponies here tonight.”  Spike began as everypony settled down to listen.  He paced back and forth in front of the table.  “Based on information presented in the filly’s rhyme book found by Nurse Redheart, and ‘About the Master:  Her Home’ found by Lyra, we can assume that the Master of the House is most definitely a mare.  Most likely in her late twenties and early thirties.”

Everypony moved forward in their seats, thinking through all of the possible culprits.  Spike continued, “I would now ask that all mares in the room move to this side closest to me.”  He waved a claw at the large portrait hanging on the wall closest to the door.  “All mares, no matter your age or type of pony.”

Happy to oblige, the mares moved to the designated side of the room.  Spike continued with a tone normally associated with an indifferent detective, “Amethyst Star, Applejack, Bon Bon, Derpy Hooves, Fleetfoot, Fluttershy, Trixie, Lyra, Octavia, Pinkie Pie, Princess Cadence, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Sapphire Shores, Twilight Sparkle, Vinyl Scratch.  You are the only ones capable of being the killer as it stands right now.”

Spike returned to the table, leaving all of the mares to stand in front of the crowd.  He looked back at the notes on the parchment.  “According to what was written in the filly’s rhyme book found by Nurse Redheart, ‘The Master of the House- The Truth’ found by Doctor Whooves, and ‘The Master of the House’ coloring book found by Iron Will, the Master of the House is an earth pony.”  He looked at the crowd of mares.

With a chuckle, Spike continued, “I would ask that all of you that are not earth ponies—Alicorns, Pegasi, and Unicorns—to please return to your seats.”  Once more happy to oblige, all of the non-earth ponies returned to their seats.

With a laugh, Spike named off the remaining mares, “Applejack, Bon Bon, Octavia, Pinkie Pie, and Sapphire Shores.  You are the only five that remain.  Would you like to go ahead and admit your guilt, or would you care for me to finish this investigation?”

The mares looked at each other with confused looks of uncertainty.  Without waiting for a response, Spike continued, “According to ‘The Master of the House- My Thoughts’ found by Photo Finish, we can assume that the mare has a sparkling and influential personality.  The author states that he finds himself ‘mesmerized by the positive aura that is emitted from the Master.’  This being the case, it must be someone who has directly influenced many people.  Although the gender is not mentioned in this notebook, it is quite clear that the mare has a pull in social circles.”  Spike turned on his heel, pointing a single claw directly at the group of mares still standing against the wall.

Spike screamed, “We can rule out Applejack, Bon Bon, and Pinkie Pie, simply because we never once hear about anything they do influencing another pony outside of Ponyville.  To put it simply, the culprit must be a Canterlot celebrity!”  With sighs of relief, the three remaining Ponyville ponies rejoined the group and took their seats.

Both of the two remaining mares shared horrified looks.  Spike shouted even louder than before, “I’ll ask again:  Care to come clean, or would you rather drag this out to the end?  You’ve already been caught, you know!”  Spike returned to the table.  Neither of the mares spoke.

Spike picked up the coloring book.  “Based on the color-code of pictures in this coloring book, the Master of the House is depicted as having a beautiful blue mane, peach coat, and orange eyes.”  He looked over at the two mares.  He smiled as he pointed a claw directly at Sapphire.  “If this isn’t enough to prove your guilt, then think about this:  The book Hoity Toity found was entitled ‘SS Plot’.  Plot obviously referring to your plan, and SS referring to your initials.”

The ponies in the room stared at the mare standing in front of them with anger and shock.  Sapphire turned her head to the side, trying to hide the smile that was growing on her face.  Nopony in the room moved or said a word.  They were all too shocked by this sudden realization.  Sapphire began to laugh as the seconds ticked by.

After minutes passed, she finally spoke to the crowd of ponies.  “Very good deduction skills Spike.  In fact, I simply must give each and every last one of you praise.  You’ve all done so well to survive the countless traps I’ve laid about the mansion.”  A psychotic grin covered her face as she spoke.  She stared directly at the ponies in the crowd, all of which were staring back with a burning rage.

Mr. Rich was the first to speak, having woken up just moments before.  “So…you’re the bitch that killed my daughter?!”  In an instant, he was on his feet charging at the killer in front of the crowd.

“Tsk tsk, Mr. Rich.  You simply should go back to sleep.”  She reached a hoof to her side, and with a flick of her wrist, electricity engulfed Mr. Rich in mid-run.  With a single throat-shredding cry, he fell limp on the floor, the smell of burnt flesh filling the air.

Fleetfoot’s hoof slammed down on the table as she leaped from her seat.  “Call me daft for saying this, but that’s cheating!  I thought you said you were going to play by the rules?!”

Everypony stared at Mr. Rich’s limp body as Sapphire replied, “Please explain to me which rule I broke?”

Twilight stood up from her seat, her hoof hitting the ground hard, “You said you wouldn’t use the collars unless another pony broke the rules!”

Sapphire smiled slyly, “Oh, but Mr. Rich did break the rules.  I seem to recall him landing a few punches on Doctor Whooves.  You know, rule number two did prohibit physical harm.”

Nopony in the crowd responded to that statement…because they all knew it was true.  Mr. Rich had broken the rule in a fit of rage after seeing his daughter’s corpse.  Without any sort of counterargument, nopony dared say anything else.

Sapphire continued, “But I do suppose that by that logic, I should kill Big Macintosh and Doctor Whooves as well, right?  I mean, they did hit one another.  Not to mention the karate chop to Mr. Rich.  But I think I may let you live for now, if you behave.”  She laughed a maniacal laugh, identical to the distorted ones in all of the recordings.

Flim stood up from his seat and took a few steps towards Sapphire.  He chuckled, “So, whatever happened to dinner, eh?”

Flam followed him, chuckling, “You really should be a better host for the guests you’re going to kill.  It’s simply not fair to kill us on empty stomachs!”

Sapphire placed her hoof back on her side, “Don’t come any closer you sales-freaks!  It will be the end of you if you do!”  Flim and Flam stopped their advances.

Sharing a smile, they both said, “What’s it matter if you kill us now, or later?”  They took a few more steps forward.

Everypony at the table looked at them as if they were crazy.  For the whole crowd to see, they were definitely crazy.  Sapphire exclaimed, “I said don’t come any closer!”  She moved her hoof closer to the box she had stuffed under her dress.

Fancypants stood up from his seat, walking toward Sapphire.  “This has been a simply lovely party, my dear Sapphire.  But I’m afraid the FlimFlam Brothers are correct.  We simply must be allowed a last meal, right?  Wouldn’t want us to remember you as a rude host, would you?”

Sapphire stepped back toward the door to the foyer.  She shouted once more, “Stop where you are!  Don’t come closer.”

Sighing deeply, Flam shook his head in disappointment.  He removed his hat and threw it back into the crowd.  Craning his neck to look at them, he winked.  Looking back at Sapphire, he shouted, “Now!” and lunged at the mare in front of him.

Without a second’s hesitation, Sapphire pushed another button, and Flam lit up just like Mr. Rich had.  Only this time, Flim sprang into action, tackling the murderer-pony while she was preoccupied pushing the button.  Being sure to avoid the side that the controller was on, he wrapped his limbs around her, restraining her arms and legs.

Sapphire let out a horrified scream, “Let me go!  Get off of me!”

Everypony was on their hooves, advancing toward their host.  She squirmed and struggled to break free from Flim’s grasp, but it was to no avail.  He was simply too adrenaline-pumped to let go.  Watching as his brother’s body fell limp on the ground, his grip tightened around the murderer.

“I’m afraid this is the end of you, Sapphire!”  Flim’s grip tightened even more, his eyes filling with rage.  He had every intention of killing her on the spot, if Big Mac hadn’t intervened.

Big Mac tackled his way through the crowd, knowing exactly what Flim was going to do.  Sliding up beside him, Big Mac delivered a kick right into Flim’s chest, causing him to lose his grip.  Before Sapphire could do anything, Big Mac was on top of her, pinning her hooves to the ground.  With a fire in his eyes, he simply said, “The shit you did tonight ain’t gonna be forgiven.  I ain’t lettin’ him kill you…because you don’t deserve to be able to die.”

Big Mac sent a hoof flying right into Sapphire’s face.  With a single pain-filled groan, she was out cold.  Making sure she was unconscious before shifting his weight, Big Mac carefully stood up from the ground.  He looked down at the murderer, barely resisting the urge to continue pummeling her with his hooves.  Everypony stared on as he backed away from the horrible pony.

Without wasting any time, Celestia stripped Sapphire’s dress from her body and ripped it to shreds, the controller falling as she did.  She carefully placed it on the table, aware of just what would happen if a single button was pressed on accident.  She looked around to the rest of the ponies.  “I think it’s safe to say we should remove these collars.”

Immediately, every hoof began fiddling around with the collars on their necks.  It didn’t take a minute for everypony to have their collars removed and tossed in a heap on the ground.  The group gathered around Sapphire’s unconscious body, anger and hatred evident in each pony’s eyes.

Doctor lifted her onto his back, laughing, “We should go someplace less crowded.  That way we can decide what our next course of action is.  We need to learn how to work that contraption and turn off the barrier.”  Nopony disagreed with him.  They followed him into the foyer, Celestia grabbing the controller from the table.  

Once in the foyer, Doctor tossed Sapphire onto the pile of towels that were now soaked with the blood of the ponies she had murdered.  Staring at the blood-soaked towels and the murderer on top of them, something began to make everypony curious.

Cadence was the first to speak up about this curiosity.  “Something doesn’t fit here.  Sapphire was with Lyra and me when Vince and Hoity were dropped from the chandelier.  She didn’t have enough time to leave and throw them off.”  Everypony looked at her with curious horror.  If what she said was true, then she couldn’t have been the actual killer, right?

Lyra supported Cadence, “That’s right!  She was with us when I found the book!  She couldn’t have thrown them from the chandelier!”

Everypony shared horrified looks.  Fancypants spoke up, “Another thing that doesn’t fit…  She was speaking with Hoity, Photo, and me when Diamond Tiara was hanged.  She didn’t have the chance to leave the room and take Diamond.”

A horrible realization came over the crowd of ponies.  Sapphire was obviously their host.  She had the controller and admitted to setting the traps.  But what if she wasn’t the only one?  What if she had an accomplice?

Applejack’s eyes darted to the double doors on the second floor.  She screamed, “Why the heck was Butler so freaked out when they fell from the ceiling?  His muscles were twitching and his eyes were wide…  What if he wasn’t actually freaked out by it at all?!”  Applejack looked at Shining Armor.

Armor knew what she was getting at.  “What if Butler was leaning over the ledge with the scared expression…because he thought he had been caught?!  What if he pushed them from the chandelier with some sort of tool, one that he was able to hide just in the nick of time?”  He clapped his hooves together excitedly.

A clapping sound rang out from above them.  Everypony’s eyes darted forward as Butler’s voice rang out to them.  “Very good, Mr. Armor.  You’ve pieced it together.  I must admit, I never thought you would make it this far.  You’ve spent the last two hours letting all of your friends die.  Is this really a success?”

Luna stamped her hoof at him, “And why would you help such a psychotic killer?!”

Butler shook his head before continuing.  He sighed, “I was taken from the back alleys of Canterlot and changed from a homeless, starving pony into a comfortable, well-fed stallion.  I was in Master’s dept.  I made a vow on my life to help her with whatever she needed.  And she needed to kill.”

Twilight shouted, “That’s just crazy!  There was no reason she needed to kill!”

Butler laughed, “Ah, but she needed to get it out of her system, so as not to snap in public.  The first time she played her game, it was with simple ponies that didn’t stand out too well.  The second time, the ponies became feisty, and actually stumbled upon some of her secrets, as you found out.  This time, she wanted a true challenge.  I simply suggested she invite all of you.”  He stopped to catch his breath from all of the talking he was doing.

Flim screamed up at him, “What the hell did you want with us?!  Most of us are just simple ponies trying to get by!  Why the hell did you invite us?!”

Butler shrugged his shoulders.  He explained, “You see, the Master wanted a challenge with her next game.  I suggested she invite the Royal Family, but she was hesitant.  She knew that if she invited the Royal Family by themselves, they would be suspicious.  So I suggested she also invite the Elements of Harmony, the heroes of Equestria.  She decided that together, she would invite the two groups.  To seem less suspicious, she also tracked down information on the heroes’ friends and families, and any other connections they had.  That is how every last pony here was invited.  You were either friends with a hero, or a hero’s family member.”

Everypony looked around at one another, realizing that it was true.  Everypony that had been invited was connected to one of the Elements of Harmony, whether it was a rival, a friend, a relative, or the friend of a relative.  And then there was the Royal Family and the Royal Guard.

Butler continued, “I thought it was a crafty plan, don’t you?  I had her invite you here so she could kill you, and played along with her orders.  I knew that it would only be a matter of time before she was caught.”

Everypony shared confused looks.  Shining Armor called to him, “What the hell are you talking about?  You wanted to get caught?”

Butler started winding his way down the stairs.  He had a smile on his face and tears in his eyes.  He didn’t speak until he reached the very bottom, and was standing face to face with Armor.  He sobbed, “I’ve been put through this twice before.  I’ve been forced to kill ponies to stay alive.  I couldn’t take it anymore, so when she asked for a challenge, I gave her one that she wouldn’t be able to beat…”  

He fell to his knees, tears pouring from his eyes.  Everypony stared on in shock.  “I’m sorry so many of your friends had to die, but I couldn’t tell you anything about her.  If I had, she wouldn’t have let any of us leave alive.  But now that you’ve caught her, I can end my wretched nightmare!  I don’t care what happens to me.  I don’t care if I’m sent to the dungeon or exiled from this country…I just don’t want to do this anymore!”  He sobbed, his face nearly touching the ground, his hooves covering his head.

Shining Armor looked at him with a sympathetic expression.  He sighed, placing a hoof on his head, “We can end this right here, right now.  All we have to do is disable the barrier.  I can take you both into custody, and you can be sentenced in court when we get back to town.”

Butler looked into Armor’s eyes, a deep sorrow filling them.  “You don’t get it, do you?  There’s only one sentencing for a pony like her!  She has to die, Mr. Armor, don’t you see that?!”

Armor shook Butler away from him.  Celestia stepped forward and said, “That is not for you to decide, Butler.  You will both be sentenced when we get back to Canterlot.”

“No!” Butler screamed.  “I won’t let her live after everything she’s done!”  He leaped to his hooves and shoved Armor to the side.  He yanked a small dagger from the pocket of his suit.  He darted over to Sapphire’s side, raising the dagger high.

Before anypony could intervene, Butler let out a relieved sigh as he brought dagger down hard into Sapphire’s throat.  He shouted as loud as he could, “Now the nightmare is over!  Now we can end this!”  He relaxed his muscles, his facial expression reverting back to that of a sad victim.  He breathed heavily, looking around at everypony.

He sighed, “I don’t care what happens to me once we get back.  I don’t care what my sentencing is.  I’ll be happy knowing that this sociopathic murderer is no longer able to kill.  I would also suggest sending a recovery party here to gather the bodies of all the dead ponies.  I feel sorry for the killing I had to do, but it was for the greater good…”  He closed his eyes and sat down on the pile of towels, right beside Sapphire’s now-dead body.

Looking on in both shock and admiration, everypony felt the burdens in their hearts lift as they realized the nightmare was over.

Butler pointed a hoof at Celestia.  He asked quietly, “Let me see the controller.  I think it’s time to get rid of this barrier.  You can magic yourselves back to Canterlot, right?”

Celestia handed him the controller.  “For the most part, yes.”  She looked around at all of the ponies.

After pushing a series of buttons on the controller, the front doors swung wide open, and a cool breeze of fresh air engulfed everypony.  Butler set the controller on the floor and fell back, worn out from the burden that had been lifted off of his shoulders.  He smiled as he listened to the chatter of the guests as they exited the mansion.  He waited for the guards to show up that would be carrying him away and gathering the bodies from the traps in the mansion…

With a chuckle, he muttered to himself, “The nightmare is finally over.”

The Scars of That Night

Everypony slowly stepped through the now wide-open doors of the mansion that had served as the death of so many of their friends.  They let the cool night air engulf them as they slowly moved themselves away from the mansion.  With a deep sigh, Celestia used her powerful magic—magic that could have saved so many lives had she been able to use it—to instantly teleport everypony in attendance back to the streets of Canterlot.

Inside the mansion, the bodies and remains of so many innocent ponies lay scattered about in traps and pieces.  Butler lay atop the large pile of blood-soaked towels in the center of the foyer, right beside the corpse of the murderer that had caused all of this.  He thought to himself just how regretful he was of the things he had had to do in order to end all of this.

In a flash of magic, almost four dozen Royal Guards appeared outside of the front gates.  They were here to not only arrest Butler, but to remove the bodies of all the ponies that had been killed within the mansion’s walls.  With the guidance of the guests that had suffered and survived the traps, the guards scoured the mansion and reclaimed the bodies of the ponies that had died that night…and the ponies that had died in the previous games.

It was sunrise before everypony that could be accounted for was found and marked.  For the few bodies that couldn’t be reclaimed—Gilda, Iron Will, and Photo Finish—they were simply going to be given memorial plaques at the service that would be held the following evening.  There were sixteen ponies that died that night—including Sapphire Shores—and only thirteen bodies could be recovered.

In Memory of the Fallen

The evening following the party was a sad one.  Celestia wasted no time in holding a memorial service for the ponies that had had their lives stripped from them over the course of the evening.  The coffins were laid out together in the large throne room of the castle.  All of the surviving guests were in attendance, and a bunch of the Canterlot crowd gathered as well.  Word had quickly spread about the previous night’s events, and everypony wanted to see just how true the rumors were.

After all of the coffins were laid out and marked, Celestia began the memorial service.  The crowd that had gathered listened in shock and awe as she explained everything that had happened in the outskirts of Canterlot the previous night.  She didn’t hesitate to go into detail as to how bravely and suddenly each pony was taken from them.  She was certain to stress how honorable Gilda and Iron Will died.  She announced everypony that had died in the mansion in alphabetical order…except for Sapphire Shores.  She would be last.

Finally, after making a small speech about every last pony that had been killed in the mansion, she turned her attention to the coffin that sat away from the rest, separated by a large space.  Butler stood beside the coffin, still dressed in the same suit he had worn the previous night.  With a look of shame and guilt, he looked out into the crowd as Celestia announced Sapphire’s death.

Her voice was filled with anger and spite as she announced the celebrity pony.  “Sapphire Shores, the final pony to die in the mansion last night.  She did not die an honorable death.  She did not die saving another pony or trying to help end the nightmare.  She was the nightmare!  Although many of you may find this hard to believe, you must accept this as fact.  She had placed the countless traps throughout her mansion and invited all of us to the party in the hopes of ending our lives.  Everypony being honored here today is only here because of the horrendous acts against ponykind that she has committed!”  Celestia paused to allow the chatter from the crowd to quiet down.

She continued, “This was not the first time she had done such a horrible thing.  She had done this twice before last night; the only difference was she didn’t get caught the last two times.  It is because of the living pony standing beside her that she has finally been brought to justice!”

Butler’s eyes filled with shock as Celestia announced him like he was a hero.  She nodded at him, and he knew what he had to do.  He turned to face the crowd.  With a sigh, he explained everything.  “I cannot be called a hero, everypony.  I am not one.  I am responsible for the deaths of several ponies at last night’s party.  However, I was simply doing what needed to be done.  So long as Ms. Shores thought she had an ally, she wouldn’t worry about getting found out.  But it goes deeper than that.”  He bowed his head, the tears swelling up in his eyes.

He continued with a sob, “The ponies that died last night only did so because of me!  It was I who suggested she invite these ponies to the party.  I felt certain that the Royal Family and the heroes of Equestria would be able to find out her identity and put this nightmare to an end.  I was correct, but at what cost?”  He fell silent as the crowd began to chatter again.  

The previous night’s surviving guests looked at him with sympathetic expressions.  Yes, he had killed some of their friends, but he only did so to ensure that Sapphire could be caught.  Shining Armor had seen the guilt and sorrow in Butler’s eyes the previous night.  It was genuine sorrow.

Celestia continued, “Though he may have killed last night…I truly believe that it was necessary.  If Butler had not played along with Sapphire’s game, then she very possibly could have snapped.  The horrifying reality is that at any point during the night Sapphire could have ended our lives with the push of a button.”  She looked over at the guests sitting in front of the crowd.

She continued, “Each pony that died last night did so in an attempt to stop Sapphire’s sadistic game.  Nopony last night shall be forgotten so long as we remember them.  To any and all who wish to pay their respects, you may do so now.”  Celestia stepped away from the throne, walking over to Blueblood’s coffin.

Every guest there had something to say about one of their fallen friends.  They all paid their respects and made their speeches about the ponies that had died.  Tears fell.  Shoulders were cried on.  The crowd became emotional, empathetic with the ponies that were pouring their hearts out in front of them.

The memorial service went on for a few hours.  After everypony had paid their respects, the coffins were carried out of the throne room by Royal Guards.  Everypony that had died the previous night was going to be buried in the Royal Graveyard just outside of the castle.  That was for the best…Instead of carrying the bodies all the way back to wherever they came from.  A royal burial was a huge honor…

Everypony that lived through the night had scars that would never go away.  They had all witnessed the death of a friend or the untimely end of a pony they had once known before.  Everypony had lost something that night…

Not So Down On His Luck

Flim didn’t have much to say all throughout the ceremony.  His brother was dead, what else was there to say?  Of course, Flam died to give him a window of opportunity to stop the killer.  Flim was perfectly aware that his brother’s death was noble.  He didn’t need the Princess to tell him that.  He didn’t say a word to anypony at the ceremony.  In fact, he just stood aside, letting everypony pour their hearts out.

After everything was said and done and the coffins were taken to the graveyard to be buried, Flim decided it was high time to leave.  The longer he stayed in Canterlot, the longer he’d be near the mansion that took his brother’s life.  He decided to stop by the local bar and grab a drink or two before leaving.

He sat at the bar, tossing back shot after shot of Sweet Apple Spicy Cider, a cider he recognized as a Sweet Apple Acres brand.  The name was catchy, and it had a nice kick to it.  Flim sat on his bar stool thinking about just what exactly had happened the previous night.  Lost in the world of his thoughts, he didn’t even notice Big Macintosh come in and sit beside him.

Big Mac placed a hoof on Flim’s shoulder.  He sighed, “How ya holdin’ up?”

Flim scoffed, “Can’t say I’ve been worse.”

Big Mac ordered two bottles of the cider.  “Ya got anythin’ planned for when ya leave town?”

He handed a bottle to Flim.  Flim chuckled, “Nope.  I don’t have a clue.  There’s not much for me to do.”

Big Mac popped the top from his bottle and took a swig.  “Y’know, ya could come back to Ponyville with us.  We could talk to Granny Smith about getting’ ya a job on the farm.”

Flim looked at him incredulously, “You’re offering me a job at Sweet Apple Acres, after what Flam and I tried to pull?”

Big Mac chuckled, “I think it’s about time to let bygones be bygones.  Your brother died to help us get outta that place.  I think it’s only fair to repay the favor.”

Flim slapped Big Mac on the back, cheering, “I think I may have to take you up on that offer, big fella!  But business talk can wait until we get back to Ponyville!”  Flim took a swig from his bottle of cider.

Big Mac raised his bottle in the air, “To Flam.”

Flim did the same, “Cheers.”

They chugged their bottles of cider until they were empty.  With a chuckle, Big Mac ordered two more.  The both of them sat there in the bar for the rest of the day, drinking away.  Sure, the scars would never actually heal, but at least there was something to look forward to later on down the line…

Doctor’s Lament

Doctor Whooves couldn’t help but feel guilty during the ceremony.  He knew that it was freak chance, but he felt responsible for killing Photo Finish.  Although it had been Vinyl Scratch that tripped and hit the switch that caused the floor to fall, Doctor still felt he was to blame.  His clumsiness in dropping something onto the floor caused Vinyl to trip in the first place.  The fact that Vinyl, Bon Bon, and Octavia were all ignorant of just how exactly Photo died only added to his guilt.  He couldn’t bring himself to tell them what had happened.

After the ceremony ended, Doctor decided he would head to the nearest café and grab a bite to eat.  None of the guests had eaten anything since they got back to town, and his stomach was growling horribly.  He sat in a small booth, waiting for his food to be delivered.  He was shocked when Vinyl Scratch, Lyra Heartstrings, and Bon Bon trotted into the bar and took a seat across from him in the booth.

Vinyl looked at Doctor with a sympathetic expression.  “You can’t blame yourself, man.  What happened was a freak accident.”  At some point since the accident, Vinyl had realized what happened.

Doctor sighed, “So, I take it you know what happened to Photo?”

Vinyl nodded her head silently.  Lyra placed a hoof on the table and said, “It wasn’t either of your faults!  The only pony you can blame is Sapphire!  You didn’t know that was going to happen!”

Doctor scoffed, “You think I don’t know that?  It doesn’t make me feel any better.  If I hadn’t-.”  The patrons of the café immediately started cheering and chattering loudly and wildly.  In through the door walked Fancypants.

He stomped straight for Doctor’s booth and plopped down beside him.  Crossing his arms, he scoffed, “You’re looking blue, old friend.  You simply must forget about it.”  He gave Doctor an angry glare.

“F-forget about it?!  Are you mad?”  Doctor slammed his hoof on the table.

Fancypants raised a single hoof and brought it across Doctor’s face, sending all of the customers in the café silent.  He raised his voice as he spoke, “You can’t blame yourself for a death that you didn’t cause!  If you don’t straighten up and forgive yourself, you won’t be able to focus on the more important matters when you return home.”

Doctor rubbed his cheek where he’d been struck.  He chuckled, “I’ve never heard of you getting so violent before, Fancypants.  This means a lot to you, huh?”

Fancypants slammed both of his front hooves on the table.  He screamed at Doctor, “I have lost three friends in less than twenty-four hours!  The last thing I’m going to let happen is for some innocent stallion to blame himself for Sapphire’s despicable actions!”

Doctor looked at Fancypants with shock.  The three mares sat silently as they watched the otherwise-collected celebrity fly off the chain.  Everypony in the café stared on in awe as they watched their beloved idol get angry for the seemingly first time.

Fancypants continued, “The only reason Photo is dead is because of Sapphire.  No one else is to blame, not even Butler.  Get over it and get your senses together!”  With a stamp of his hoof, he stood up from the table and stormed out of the café.  Everypony was left in shock and awe at what they had just witnessed.

Doctor smiled as Fancypants left the café.  “Thanks, I needed that.” he laughed.  He turned to look at the mares

Bon Bon scratched her head as she asked, “So uh…what are we gonna do now?”

Doctor laughed, “I suppose we’ll be heading back to Ponyville before long, right?  I mean, we do have jobs to get back to.”  He lowered his gaze to the table.

Lyra spoke softly, “It’ll be different without them.  They’ll be missed.”

She was talking about the Ponyville ponies that had met their untimely ends in the mansion the night before.  Filthy Rich, Diamond Tiara, Nurse Redheart, and Cheerilee…

Vinyl tapped her hoof on the table.  She asked, “How will we explain it to everypony?”

Doctor smiled again, “We’ll simply tell them the truth.  Everypony deserves to know the truth!  They died with honor, and that tale must be told!”  He clapped his hooves together, calling out to the waitress.

He ordered four beers, one for each of the ponies at his booth.  Upon receiving their beverages, Doctor held his class high.  “To the noble ponies who lost their lives last night!”  The mares raised their glasses high to meet his.

With a nod, they drank down their beverages.  Although the memories of the deaths they witnessed last night would linger with them forever, at least they had a reason to tell the stories…

Trixie’s Opportunity

Trixie sat around with the rest of the surviving guests while the ceremony continued.  Although she felt bad for all of the ponies that had lost their lives, she hadn’t known any of them personally.  Having witnessed the deaths of several of them, she couldn’t help but feel sad.  At the same time, she didn’t feel completely sorrowful.  She hated that they had to lose their lives, but she wasn’t going to burst into tears and mourn them.

That being said, she definitely wanted to leave the town and head back to her caravan.  She wanted to get as far away from the mansion as she possibly could.  She’d never been faced with death before last night.  She’d never had to fear for her life, or face her own mortality.  Watching as Mark had so instantaneously been taken from them right before their eyes…it made her realize just what evil some ponies are truly capable of.

Without saying a word to anypony, she left the castle as soon as the memorial service was concluded.  She didn’t feel like listening to tear-jerking stories of past exploits or hearing twisted tales of crazy antics they had gotten into in the past.  She just wanted to go home and put all of this behind her.

As she was walking through the streets of Canterlot, dead set on getting to the train station and heading back to the town she had parked her caravan close to, Fancypants ran into her.  He was flushed red and had anger in his eyes.  The two collided right into one another without warning, sending them both flying to the ground.

Immediately removing his head from the cloud it was in, Fancypants apologized profusely.  “I’m terribly sorry, Ms. Trixie!  Please, allow me to help you up.”  He extended a helping hoof to the unicorn.

She happily took it, saying, “It’s not a problem, Fancypants.  Thank you.”  He pulled her to her hooves, taking a bow.

He laughed, “I heard through the grapevine that you are a famous magician.  Is this true?”

Trixie raised an eyebrow, smiling.  She laughed, “Well, I used to be a performer.  But there was a small…incident…in a town a while back, and I haven’t quite had work since.”

Fancypants cheered, “Well, consider this your lucky break!  I happen to have a friend that’s looking for some filly-friendly entertainment!”  He pulled a small card from his coat pocket and handed it to her.

Trixie looked over the card, a smile covering her face.  She looked up to say something, but Fancypants was already on his way down the road.  With butterflies in her stomach, Trixie trotted down the road, looking for the address written on the card.  If Fancypants was offering her a job of this high a caliber, she must really be lucky.

The memory of the squishing sound Mark made as he hit the spikes would haunt Trixie forever.  But no matter what happened to her later on down the line, she had the chance to make a name for herself and get back to living a normal performer’s life…

Octavia’s Sonata

Octavia sat beside Fancypants during the ceremony.  She didn’t know any of the other ponies too well, and Fancypants was the only one she had any real connection with.  She listened as each of the other surviving guests gave their testimonies and last respects for the deceased.  She didn’t have much to say.  The only pony she had thought was a true friend ended up being a murderer.  She had nothing to say about any of the deceased ponies.

As soon as the ceremony was over, she was out the door and down the road.  She walked into the small country club she had been playing in just before receiving the invite to the horrible party.  She remembered all too well the smile on Sapphire’s face as the five celebrities received their invites to the party that would kill three of them.

To Octavia’s delight, there was nopony playing on stage.  She walked over to the operator of the country club with a frown on her face.  “Excuse me, but is it okay for me to play now?”  She bowed her head as the operator looked her over.

With a smile, the operator recognized her immediately.  He cheered, “Would you please?  We haven’t had any good music in here all day!”

Octavia walked up on the stage, readying her bow and adjusting the cello into a certain position.  Seeing her on stage preparing to play, everyone in the club shut up, eager to hear something good for the first time that day.

Closing her eyes, Octavia let her bow slide across the strings.  As she drew the bow across the first set of notes, a flame ignited in her heart.  The memories of the horrors she had seen the previous night filled her mind, and her heart fluttered as music filled her head.  She went with the flow of her emotions, letting her heart do the playing.  Maintaining a graceful and majestic posture, Octavia graced the audience with a powerful, moving melody that rang out with the flames of passion and sorrow.

She played for nearly ten minutes before the flames started to die.  She let out a sigh as she drew the bow across the strings for one last string of notes.  As the music faded and the fire died, everypony in the club cheered wildly for her.  The symphony that she had played in the moment of passion drew tears to everypony’s eyes and made them beg for an encore.  Octavia’s heart fluttered as the sounds of her melody echoed in her head.  She smiled at the ground, bowing her head low and readying her bow.  

The scars left by the horrors of the mansion would stay in the back of her mind forever.  At the same time, these scars gave her a muse greater than any other she’d found before, and filled her heart with a passion rivaled by none.  She was content with the fire in her heart…

Derpy’s Optimism

Derpy Hooves sat beside Dinky Doo and Amethyst Star during the ceremony.  Although she was sad that so many innocent ponies had died, she knew that they died for a good cause, and mourning them wasn’t necessary.  Derpy didn’t cry at all as everypony said their farewells to the deceased.  Derpy kept a smile on her face and a positive outlook on all of this.

After the ceremony, Derpy decided to take her friends to an ice cream parlor just a few blocks down the street.  They followed her into the shop, wondering just how she managed to keep such a happy smile on her face.

As they ordered their ice cream and sat at a small booth in the back of the parlor, Amethyst couldn’t help but question Derpy’s demeanor.  “Don’t get upset with me for asking this, but why are you so cheery right now?  I mean, some of our friends died last night…”

Derpy giggled as she said, “There’s only one pony that died last night that we should be sad for.”

Dinky poked her head above the table.  “Who’s that, Derpy?”

Derpy smiled and placed a hoof on the table.  “Sapphire.  She’s the only one we should be sad for.”

Amethyst’s jaw dropped in anger and she screamed, “How can you say that, Derpy?!  She’s a cold-blooded killer!”

Derpy shook her head, “Exactly.  All of our friends died as heroes, wanting to save everypony else.  Now that they’re gone, they won’t ever have to go through this stuff again.  They’re in a better place now.  But Sapphire, she’s not.  She died trying to hurt everypony.  Now she’s gotta suffer with the memories of what she did forever.”

Amethyst’s eyes filled with a deeper kind of sadness than before.  She spoke softly, “I guess you’re right, Derpy.  Our friends won’t have to put up with this kind of stuff ever again…”  Her voice trailed off at the end.

Dinky laughed, “They died to save us, so if we remember them, then they’re never really gone!”

Derpy placed a hoof on Dinky’s head, “Exactly…  As long as we don’t forget what they did, they’re not really gone.  But Sapphire…nopony will care about her after everything calms down.  They’ll forget her, and she’ll be gone forever.”  The server brought their ice cream to them.  The three of them sat in silence as they enjoyed their desserts.  

Although the horrors of the mansion will be with her forever, Derpy couldn’t be sad for her friends.  She knew that as long as they were remembered, they wouldn’t really be gone.  She smiled as she thought about how Iron Will and Gilda selflessly gave their lives to allow the other four ponies to leave.  She knew they were in a better place now…

The Fillies’ Reflection

Applebloom sat beside her friends as the ceremony went on.  Although she was only a child, she knew just what kind of sacrifices the ponies had made to help them get out of the mansion.  Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo sat quietly as the adults said a few things about the deceased ponies.

After the ceremony finished, Applejack gave the fillies a small bag of bits to go get themselves some food.   Happy to oblige, the three fillies headed down the road, looking for a place that sounded good.  There was small little café a few blocks away from the castle, right across the street from an ice cream parlor.  They went inside and had a seat.

After they ordered their food, another pony walked into the café, her mane ruffled and her voice shaky.  When she saw the three fillies, she joined them in their booth.  She sighed, “Rough night, right?”  Sweetie Belle recognized the mare’s voice.

She exclaimed, “Fleetfoot, is that you?”

The mare lowered her head to the table.  She quickly snapped, “Shh!  Don’t let anypony hear you!”

Applebloom looked at her with a confused look.  “Is somethin’ wrong?”

Fleetfoot chuckled, “No, nothing.  But I don’t want any of the fans to recognize me.  I usually look like this so as not to let anypony know I’m me.”

Scootaloo asked, “Why wouldn’t you want them to know?  I mean, they are your fans.”

Fleetfoot sighed, “Two of my friends died last night.  Everypony in town is making a fuss about it.  The last thing I need is hundreds of ponies attacking me with questions about their deaths.  I don’t think I can handle that right now…”

The server behind the counter called, “The usual, Ms. Hoofington?”

With a nod, Fleetfoot blushed.  She looked back at the fillies and whispered, “It’s an alias I go by when I’m trying not to be recognized.”

Applebloom laughed, “You couldn’t come up with a better name?”

Fleetfoot smiled, “It works.  So, what are you fillies going to do now?”

Sweetie Belle giggled, “We’re going home with everypony else.  We need to get back and tell everypony what happened.”

Scootaloo scoffed, “I think the adults will handle that, Sweetie Belle.”

Fleetfoot laughed, “Don’t sell yourselves short.  You fillies are pretty strong to still be as composed as you are after all of that.”

Sweetie Belle asked, “What are you going to do now?  You’ll have to tell all of your teammates what happened to Spitfire and Soarin’, right?”

Fleetfoot sighed, “Yeah.  I’ll have to tell them when they get back from vacation.  But before that, I’ll have to cancel the Wonderbolts show that’s coming up soon.  I hate having to disappoint fans, but I think they’ll understand.”  With that, all four of the ponies received their food.  They chowed down on the delicious meals they had ordered.  They decided it best to drop the subject of the ponies that had died.

The fillies witnessed something that they shouldn’t have been forced to witness for a long time, and they came out of it barely harmed by it.  Although the scars were there, the fillies were just young enough for the scars to not have much hold on their consciences.  Maybe one day the scars would emerge, but that wouldn’t be for a long time.

And as for Fleetfoot, her scar was obvious.  But even though it tried to break her, she wasn’t goin to let it.  With Soarin’ and Spitfire gone, she knew she had to keep the Wonderbolts in one-hundred percent tip-top shape in their memory.  She smiled as she thought about the sacrifices her teammates must have made…

The Final Closure

After the ceremony was over and the coffins were removed from the throne room, the members of the Royal Family, the heroes of Equestria, and Butler all stayed behind for the final piece of business that needed to be attended to.  Although Butler did kill Sapphire, he had still killed several innocent ponies.  He was ready for his punishment, and he wouldn’t disagree with anything that was thrown at him.  He was simply happy Sapphire was unable to kill any more innocent ponies.

The small remaining group of ponies that stayed back for the trial filled the room with an air of sorrow.  Although many of them felt it was a necessary evil that Butler had done, they also knew it was still an evil.  

Celestia cleared her throat before she addressed Butler.  “Butler…You have done a good deed in taking Sapphire’s life.  The crimes she had committed were unforgivable.  At the same time, you have still killed innocent ponies.”  Celestia paused here.

Butler spoke up, “I am aware of this, Princess.  I was aware of this the moment I suggested she invite you to the party.  I knew that no matter how it ended, this would happen.  I’m just glad it’s happening now and not later.”

Shining Armor spoke up, “You killed innocent ponies so that she would continue to trust you.  With that trust, you were able to keep her from snapping and killing us all last night in fear of losing the game.  But the evil you committed is still evil, no matter the justification.”

Again, Butler nodded.  “I know this, Mr. Armor.”

Princess Luna stamped her hoof, “I’ve made my decision on this matter, Butler.  Whether or not any other pony in attendance agrees with me, I’ve already made my call.”

Princess Cadence stepped up, “As have I.  Although you did wrong, you did so for the greater good.  I can say with full confidence that I believe you should be set free.”

The ponies in the room looked at her with awe.  Princess Celestia spoke up, “I couldn’t agree more.  I believe that the wrongs you’ve committed were for the greater good, and as such I give my blessing to let you go.”

Luna smiled, “The same goes for me.”

Armor chuckled, “Same here!”

Butler looked over to the eight guests still in attendance.  “What do you say?”

Twilight looked around to her friends and smiled.  They all nodded in agreement as she announced, “We think you’ve done a good thing, getting Sapphire out of the picture.  We think you should go free.”

Celestia laughed, “I suppose that’s it, then.  You’re free to go, Butler.”

Butler looked around to everypony in the room.  Tears fell from his eyes as he sighed, “Thank you, everypony.  I’m just happy to have this ordeal behind us.  But, what do we do now?  Prince Blueblood is dead, and so are so many of your friends…”

A Royal Guard walked forward from in front of the large doors.  He cheered, “What’s done is done, Butler.  We’ll move on, just as time does!  As long as we don’t forget our fallen comrades, they will never truly be gone!  But now…what will you be doing, Butler?”  Steve walked up beside him and placed a hoof on his shoulder.

Butler thought about it for a minute.  “I’m not sure.  There isn’t much for me now that Sapphire is gone.”

Luna giggled, “If you need a place to stay, or just need some work, the castle can always use another custodian!”  She shot a sneaky glare at Armor and Cadence.

Butler cheered, “I’d be more than happy to work here in the castle!”

Steve slapped him on the back.  “You might regret saying that, pal.”

Celestia mumbled, “Especially with all the late-night fooling around those two do…”  She pointed a hoof at Cadence and Armor.  Everypony in the room busted out laughing as the two ponies’ faces flushed red.

With a small bit of humor to cover up their wounds, the survivors of the horrible mansion party shared a casual conversation about their future plans.  Even though the scars of the previous night were cut deep into each and every one of them, they weren’t too worried about what the future held.  It would be a long time before another pony like Sapphire would come around.  She was one of a kind, a special kind of evil…

Everypony soon returned to their homes, their lives reverting back to a semi-normal state.  Or at least as normal as they could get in the crazy world they lived in…

THE END