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…