The Mystery of Stonehallow Manorby F74mM4B73ChaptersIn Honor of XLast-Minute WaltzMare-in-the-boxIn Honor of XChapter I In Honor of X by: F74mM4B73 Special thanks to a friend 6-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-9 It was a fair day in the middle of fall and Rarity and Fluttershy were at the cafe over an outdoor table for two having some tea. It was again one of those days where they just had their spa day. Rarity had her pink sunhat on and both of them looked undoubtedly refreshed. "These are definitely the times where you would want to stay in a high-class Canterlot hotel suite and sit leisurely while reading a good book," Rarity sighed, "if only there aren't so much work on my hands. I have to make ten copies of my new design to a client in Manehattan." "Well... I guess I could offer to help... if you don't mind," replied Fluttershy. "That's really nice of you, Fluttershy, but I think I could manage." "Umm... okay. I still have a few errands to do anyways." They took a sip on their teacups when a white envelope in Rarity's name appeared right in front of Rarity. The two ponies abruptly dropped their teacups and the tea spilled over the saucers. Fluttershy immediately took cover under the chair. "Oh my!" uttered the startled Rarity, "Why in the world would an envelope suddenly appear here. It seems that it might be sent through magic." "Maybe... you should try... opening it?" replied Fluttershy timidly. With the glow on her horn, Rarity carefully unsealed the envelope and revealed a piece of paper. The letter was written in flawless cursive. Rarity began to read the letter: "My fellow pony, I am pleased to tell you that you are invited to my dinner party at 7PM in Stonehallow Manor. Dress your best and don't be late. Sincerely Yours, X" "Well, this is odd..." said Rarity, "Why would someone send me an invitation anonymously? I mean, a pony like me shouldn't just be invited in secret." Fluttershy got back on her chair, "At least you are invited to a dinner party." "Aw, Fluttershy... if only there was some way you can come with me, too, so we can have some fun together." At that moment, another same-looking envelope in Fluttershy's name appeared in front of Fluttershy. The startled pony once again hid under her seat. Rarity took the envelope and opened it. "I guess you'll be coming with me after all," said Rarity. Fluttershy slowly got up, "I guess... it is a bit strange that someone would send us an invitation without telling his name." "We still need to find out who this 'X' pony is. Also, we need to find directions to this Stonehallow Manor." "Maybe we should ask Twilight at the library." "Brilliant idea, let us head to Twilight at once!" It was just after lunch when the two ponies finished treating themselves and trotted their way to the library. On their way, they were able to bump into Applejack and Pinkie Pie, who was as jumpy as ever. "Hiya there," greeted Applejack, "what're y'all doin' here?" "We recently received an invitation to a dinner party from a certain pony who called himself 'X'," answered Rarity. "Oh my gosh! oh my gosh! oh my gosh!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, "I've got the same letter as you guys! Applejack and I were just asking ourselves about it. Who do you think is this 'X'? Is it Zecora? Maybe it's Mr. Fancypants! Or maybe it's Princess Celestia herself!" "That's what we're trying to figure out as well," responded Rarity, "Fluttershy and I were just heading to the library to ask Twilight." In a second, A white envelope in Applejack's name magically popped up in front of Applejack, which startled everyone and they all jumped a couple of steps back. Applejack took a closer look inside and the same message that was written to the other three had finally reached her. "Ah guess I'm invited, too," said Applejack, "what're we goin' to do now?" "We get ready for the party!" replied Pinkie happily. "Umm... guys?" said Fluttershy softly, "I'm sorry to bother you... but I think we should go head to Twilight and ask her where the Stonehallow Manor is?" "Oh right," said Rarity, "Let's all head to the library." In a couple of minutes, the four ponies found themselves at the front door of the library. Applejack took a knock at the door, and within a few seconds they were greeted by Spike. Spike let them in and the group spotted Twilight who was reading the same letter as they had. "Hiya there Twi," greeted Applejack, "It seems that you had just received yer invitation." "Spike had received his invitation before I did," replied Twilight, "Do any of you have any idea who this 'X' pony is?" "We were asking ourselves that, too" responded Rarity, "but none of us seem to know. We were going to ask you if you have any clue where this Stonehallow Manor is." "No I don't," she responded, "but I do have an original copy of the map of Ponyville. Maybe we can look for directions there. Spike, will you please fetch the map for us?" "Will do!" announced Spike. Spike went to take the ladder at the right side of the library and walked towards the leftmost bookshelf. He held the ladder at the middle of the bookshelf in place and started climbing up. Spike spoted a ten-foot roll of parchment on the bookshelf and took a hold of it. Because of the small extent of his arm, he contracted his arm and the map started to roll towards him and off the bookshelf. Out of panic, Spike lost grip on the rung and fell back as the map fell toward him. Then, Twilight quickly used her magic to levitate Spike and the map and gently placed them down. Spike sighed with relief, "Whew, thanks Twilight." "Dont mention it," she smiles. Twilight used her magic once again to adjust the map at the left side of the room. The others backed away and watched in amazement as Twilight rolls out the parchment until it clearly showed a twenty-foot wide bird's-eye view of Ponyville printed in vintage color. Each residence and establishment in the vicinity was clearly labeled in dark ink, and the map extends from the corner of Sweet Apple Acres to the edge of Everfree forest. Everypony looked around to find the Stonehallow Manor. After a few moments, Fluttershy spoke up, "Is this the one?" and all turned to where she's pointing at the edge of the Whitetail Wood. There revealed a mansion labeled 'Stonehallow Manor' bigger than any other house in Ponyville except for the Rich residence. In a split second, a blue figure crashed through the front door of the library and sawdust rapidly spread across the small expanse of the library. As the sawdust settled, the distorted blue figure appeared to be Rainbow Dash standing over the pile of run-down wood. "Twilight! Twilight!" Rainbow yelled out, "I need you... to..." seeing more than one pony than expected standing side by side with surprised looks on their faces. "Let me guess..." she continued, "all of you got that freaky invite." "Yes we did," replied Twilight, "but next time, try to knock first." "Yay! Now all of us can go together!" shouted Pinkie happily, as she flings out some confetti out of her pockets. "This is gonna be so fun! Maybe I should bake a huge six-layer cake. Then, I'll give some to everyone, and then we'll use the leftovers to have a food fight!" "Uhh, Pinkie dear," replied Rarity, "I believe this is a civilized dinner party. We don't what our host to hate us... whoever he is. Although, I don't have much time to make all of us dresses for this party. Maybe, we could wear the dresses we wore at the Gala." "Sure!" everypony agreed unaminously. "Then let's meet up in front of the Whitetail Wood before seven," proclaimed Twilight, and one by one the other five ponies said their goodbyes as each of them leave through the gaping hole that used to be the front door of the library. ~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~ Later that evening, each of them met up again at the park in front of the Whitetail Wood finding out that they're not the only ones who were invited. Twilight and Spike arrived first and wore the same garments as they did before. Pinkie Pie came after, and she was accompanied by the Cake family. Mr. Cake wore a coat with red and white stripes, a matching tie, and a matching hat. Mrs. Cake, on the other hand, was wearing a specially made light blue dress with a short train. Riding on a single stroller with the Cakes was Pound Cake wearing a red bow on his chest, and Pumpkin Cake wearing a similar bow on her head. Rarity came with Sweetie Belle, and Fluttershy brought Angel along. Rainbow Dash came flying through the open air and landed in front of them. Applejack met up with them last as Apple Bloom, Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith are seen right behind dressed as decent as the rest of the ponies. Big Mac had accompanied Cheerilee with Scootaloo right beside her. The group sauntered through the path of leaves in various hues. Unusually, the path had been adequately lit with lanterns, which had not been there in the first place. As they walked through a turn, most of the ponies were surprised to find the lanterns leading them to a cobblestone path, which couldn't be seen before probably because of the plant life that must have covered the unseen. Each pony reluctantly followed the path that soon left them in front of the wide gates of the mansion. A large house surrounded by a mossy brick wall that stretches as far as they could see through the dense forest. Behind the trimmed grass and topiaries is a mansion standing on a stone foundation made of some of the finest redwood. The walls are supported with tall windows, and the dark-colored roofs are glimmering under the moonlight. Most of the ponies were in awe and their thoughts were running in excitement as they started their expectations on what each pony would do in the mansion; however, the gates were locked shut, and all of them were starting to wait impatiently for their host to appear. On their minds, each pony wonders, "Who is 'X'?" Last-Minute WaltzChapter II Last-Minute Waltz 6-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-9 It's now almost seven o'clock, and the crowd of formally dressed ponies are standing agog waiting for the gates to open. Everypony thinks that the gates will open at exactly seven. The ones who brought watches continually checked the time and counted down in their heads. The others would just chat with other ponies. Besides the ponies that had already arrived, there were other guests that came to the party after them also handsomely dressed. There was Mayor who wore light-gray slacks and a white blouse with a khaki saddlebag. There also arrived Filthy Rich in a blue coat with a white long-sleeves shirt underneath accompanied by Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, both dressed in evening gowns of their favorite colors. Dr. Whooves in a white tux arrived with Derpy Hooves flying by in a slim white dress. There were Lyra and Bon Bon who both came in loose dark-colored gowns with matching saddlebags of their own. Berry Punch, Daisy, and Cherry Berry appeared with dresses of different designs and colors probably made by Rarity, and Raindrops was behind them wearing a sleeveless pink dress carrying a matching purse on her mouth. "Oh, I remember this place," said Filthy Rich, "This used to be my home before the family moved out." "Daddy, why did you move out of this mansion in the first place?" asked his daughter, Diamond Tiara. "It's a bit of a funny story actually... When I was still a very young colt about half your age, the Rich family who stayed here lived prosperously with our family business. We also had many servants to take care of the household. At that time, it was just weeks before a baby unicorn was born, who was your uncle, Dirty Rich. One night, the front door was left open, and no one noticed it 'til morning. Your uncle was one of the first to wake up and walked down the stairs to see a lot of fireflies that must've came in. There were hundreds of them maybe thousands, and the maids were already trying to shoo them away. Without caution, your uncle Dirty Rich used his magic, and transformed them into mice. The mice ran all over the house, started biting on the furniture and woke up our parents. Everyone panicked and quickly packed as much stuff as possible and ran out to Ponyville. Before, I still wanted to go back and visit the house, but my parents didn't dare walk near its premises. I wonder how this house came back in good condition." Seconds later, a faint dong of a grandfather clock that sounded from inside stopped everypony's conversations and notified them that it was finally seven o'clock. A muffled rasp became a resonated creak as the iron gates finally opened for the guests to enter. Everypony ambled through the white-brick pathway of the neatened front lawn, the front door also opened in front of them. Each pony carefully took their steps over the maple floor of the living room. Each guest's faces widened in surprise and amazement; every piece of furniture in the house looked to be in mint condition. Filthy Rich began to revisit his nostalgia. Even if he wanted to stay in the house for a little while, his current household was still rather larger than his first one. He contemplated that he wanted to thank the pony who took care of the place even if it is too late for him to occupy the space again. Besides, the 'X' pony would've been residing in the mansion all this time. "I remember visiting this place when I was a filly," said Mayor, "The furniture looked much better than the way I saw this house before." "I must agree Ms. Mayor," replied Rarity, "I mean, look at all this stuff! The material and the patterns of this furniture were obviously some of the finest in the land of Equestria! It's as if these were stolen from Princess Celestia's chambers. Even the decor in this room itself could outshine my boutique... I feel so jealous! On the contrary, restoring all this antique furniture would cost an enormous fortune." "This is a mighty-lookin' house," said Applejack looking impressed, "The pony better be good at handlin' critters and fixin' this furniture 'to a perfect condition. Might I'd just hire that pony to fix the barn." "Although most of the decor seem to look a bit s-spooky," said Fluttershy as she imagined the possible horrors lurking in the house. "I really, really, really, really, really want to throw a party in here!" yelled Pinkie Pie, "We could play hide-and-seek in the whole house, maybe even the whole forest! I better get started! I'll go to the kitchen and bake us a cake." Then, Pinkie pranced happily to make her way to the kitchen. "Umm, Pinkie?" hesitated Twilight, "We are still in the middle of another party by... whoever set this up." As Pinkie was about to exit the living room, a sudden smoke cloud puffs in front of her and spreads across the entry way to the adjacent main hall. Pinkie backs away as every other pony covers their eyes as the smoke quickly disappears in gusts. The miniature chandeliers sway slightly while everypony looks through the smoke to find a familiar mare in blue and white wearing a blue and silver dress. "Fillies and gentlecolts!" the blue mare announced, "Welcome to my humble abode. It is my honor to-" "Trixie!" shouted Rainbow Dash as she flapped her wings, "What are you doing here?!" "Yeah!" Pinkie cried out, "Step aside! I'll be going to the kitchen to bake our cake! Now, if you would excuse me!" Pinkie with her head held high was about to walk past her when Trixie placed her hoof on her forehead and prevented Pinkie from moving forward. "Silly ponies," said Trixie with vain, "I expected this much attitude from you by the time you would see me. Don't you that it is rude to interrupt my introduction. Anyways, shall we begin?" "Begin what?" question Twilight. "The party of course." Trixie chuckled, "Why else would all of you come here so handsomely dressed?" "Well, I don't have to deal with any of this junk!" yelled Rainbow Dash, "I'm outta here!" Rainbow Dash wrenched both of the front doors wide open and flapped heavily away from the house until she crashed through some sort of force field which glowed a pale blue on where she hit herself. With her face fixed flat parallel to the wall, she slowly slipped off the impenetrable wall of magic until she falls on her back flat on the grass. Most of the ponies went out to the front lawn to help. Derpy opened her wings and flew high until she also hit her head beside Rainbow Dash's face-plant. She falls to the sod beside Rainbow, and both ponies try to recover. "What just happened here!" cried out Twilight, "Trixie! I suspect you would trap us here!" "Oh, I'm sorry," Trixie replied sarcastically, "Did my magic startle you?" "Why are you keeping us here?" "Oh, don't worry. I expected some 'runaway guests' so I just cast a magical force field that will prevent my dinner party from losing guests. But don't worry, you have nothing to worry about. I promise I won't do any harm. Now, if you would all follow me back inside." Hesitantly, they followed her back into the mansion with lowered expectations. Rainbow Dash and Derpy were patting off soil from their dresses and went behind them more heedful than usual. The mansion looked gloomier in most of the guests' eyes as they looked at the living room a second time. Trixie with her head held slightly higher led them through the main hall. The main hall composed of vases over tall wooden platforms holding Foxtail orchids and lavenders with ferns at the bottom. The walls are painted a light-beige hue with dark brown panels on the ceiling corners made of pine wood. A wide marble staircase leading to the master bedroom and a few other halls was distinguished on their left. The ponies were walking over a broad rug of indigenous design towards the room they're all about to head. "Now, here is where we feast!" proclaimed Trixie waving her right hoof to the corner of the expanse. It was the dining room. A long table covered by a white-laced tablecloth was beneath an alignment of candles and vases of the same flowers as in the main hall, which stands over the table under a brightly-lit, brass candelabrum. The ponies slowly take their steps into the dining room in astonishment. "I don't know what's going on here," Twilight whispered to Trixie when she stopped before entering the room, "but you better not do anything fishy." "Oh, Twilight, relax," replied Trixie softly, "You have too much to think about. No wonder you're the stressful one. Just don't ruin yourself and have fun." Twilight being the last pony to enter grumbled into the room, and Trixie followed behind. Everypony began chatting amongst themselves in the room. Trixie conjured a bell and sounded it that every other pony heard it and glanced at her. "I was expecting some more guests," proclaimed Trixie, "Does anypony know if another guest would be coming?" The ponies looked at each other and agreed that there is no other pony who is running late. "I guess this is all of you," she grinned, "Others might be busy, although I'm satisfied to know I have ponies who would come to my party in such short notice." The dinner guests felt somewhat unconcerned since they didn't have a liking for Trixie. Trixie said once again, "I might have to shorten the number of seats since we lack a number of guests." Trixie's horn began to glow a faint blue. The tables and chairs levitated slightly and each piece of furniture and decor started to shake; each party guest was backing away from the sorcery taking place. The farthest chair from Trixie merged towards a nearer one and the merged entity combined with a nearer one; the process kept going slowly. The table shortened as the legs merged with each other with the decor over it following. The tablecloth shrunk in length still maintaining its unique patterns. Trixie eventually set the table down in the center with the seats matching with an equal number of ponies in the room. Everypony clapped in wonder as Trixie wiped away the few drops of sweat on her face. "Thank you; thank you," she curtsied, "Thank you all. I believe you may now find your seats." Everypony took a few minutes to find their place on the dinner table. Trixie sat on one end while she insisted Mayor to sit on the other. The Cutie Mark Crusaders sat beside each other. The Apple family and the Cakes had found their places facing each other. Lyra, Bon Bon and Berry Punch happily found themselves sitting beside each other which goes the same with Raindrops, Daisy and Cherry Berry. The Rich family has their place beside Mayor's with Silver Spoon reluctantly beside DIamond Tiara. Derpy dragged Doctor Whooves to a seat beside hers. Rarity and Fluttershy were still chatting towards their seats, and Angel hopped onto his owner's lap. Twilight and Rainbow had found themselves on Trixie's left and right sides since every other seat was occupied; both were still grumbling and didn't dare show their faces to Trixie. Trixie announced once again, "Now that everypony has their place on the table, we shall now feast!" The unicorn's horn shimmered once more and out comes hovering covered platters from the kitchen doors. Wine glasses followed behind each platter that came out and gently landed in front of each pony. "I know every single one of you," she proclaimed, "so on my behalf, I present you with your choices." Every platter cover flew up and vanished, and to everypony's surprise, a gourmet style of their favorite dishes was under the platter still warm and fresh. Salads, sandwiches, fruit, and pastries of their choices had captured the ponies' appetites. The glasses were filled from the bottom to top a variety of wines and juices according to the ponies' choices. Even if the guests' were stunned once again, they look down as if it might kill them. "What are you all waiting for?" asked Trixie towards her visitors, "Eat up!" Derpy tasted a muffin on her plate. Her face showed a liking towards it and munched over the plate full of pastries. Others followed and eventually, all started to eat beaming with smiles. Trixie let out a smirk in front of her two seatmates, although Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash just continued eating trying to face away from Trixie. Rainbow Dash was one of the first to finish and Scootaloo who is beside her kept asking her questions about her interests. Other ponies took the time to look around the ground floor of the mansion. Twilight finished her salad before Trixie did. "Did you get a chef to make all this?" asked Twilight skeptically, "Did you make this by magic?" "Of course, I made everything by magic." Trixie answered, "Even if I have cookbooks in the library, I only use those recipes for myself. What better way to serve a crowd than to use magic." "But how did you know all our favorite foods?" "Let's say I had a way to spy on you, maybe for seeking revenge. but I know I would use the information soon enough." "Into a dinner party? How did you do it? A crystal ball? Surveillance? People would find you in town somehow. Also how did you survive when you never even showed yourself in town." "Technically I did... Do you know a pony who was new in town a few months ago? Orange in color with a dark mane and tail? "Umm.. yeah, Dixie? What about her?" "That's actually me using the Inverted Colors Spell. What ever you told her told me, and since I made friends with about everypony in town, thanks to Pinkie Pie over there, I was able to know about everypony's interests." It gave a chill down Twilight's spine as she thinks about how much Trixie knows about each pony in the house. She still thinks Trixie has something up her sleeve. "Then... how were you able to restore all this furniture? I'm guessing magic?" "Of course, my dear." When about everypony had finished eating and just chatted with one another, Trixie clapped her hands to gain everypony's attention. Each guest was in a lighter mood than when they first saw Trixie again. "Now that everypony has finished eating, we shall now head to the ballroom." She used her magic once more to levitate the plates back to the kitchen. Then, she hopped out of her chair and walked towards the ballroom entry. "Follow me," she instructed. The ponies slowly got out of their chairs and followed her towards the tall entryway of the ballroom. The ponies gazed in amazement as they looked around the bright panorama of the ballroom. The majority of the ballroom was coated in an eggshell, Villa Vecchia-style wallpaper. Two tall windows viewed a nice landscape of the forest and had crimson drapes tied to the sides of them. A few chairs and tables sat on the sides of the room for ponies to lounge on. The floor and ceiling were made of the same oakwood. Five brass chandeliers bigger than the one in the dining room rested with chains to support the anatomies. The one in the center stood out from the others because of its size. "I'll give you the time to take a look around the house." Trixie declared, "Now, for the waltz!" Trixie's horn glowed as the whole room slowly began tuning some classical music. The ponies' moods became relaxed. Mr. Cake and Mrs. Cake went to the dance floor first, and both waltzed around the center. Pinkie Pie took the twins and pranced behind the first couple. Big Macintosh asked for Cheerilee's hoof and waltzed behind the Cakes. The Cutie Mark Crusaders ran towards the center of the room and span around together. Derpy Hooves grabbed Doctor Whooves and dragged him towards the center and tried to mimic the waltz. Others wanted to sit and watch. Other ponies took their times to look around the house. Filthy Rich, who is grinning, approached Trixie, "I must say, you really took care of my old house." "Oh," replied Trixie, "This was your house? I didn't know, although no one was occupying it. It was clearly abandoned." "It's fine. I plan on giving you this house anyway since you did such a good job on replenishing the condition of the interior." "Well, of course. After all, you have a bigger household than this." "If I could have your permission, may I visit this house again sometime? Seeing the sight of this mansion again made me look back to my early days." "Sure. Just make sure to send a letter first before you come. For now, I have a show to do." She left the conversation and stood in between the walls of the entryway. "Fillies and gentlecolts," Trixie announced, "I will be back for a show! Brace yourselves for a performance to remember!" She headed to her way upstairs and the guests continued with what they're doing. While the five couples were dancing, a small saw slid out from the ceiling and started cutting a circle around the chain supporting the center candelabrum. Mr. and Mrs. Cake happened to be in the center of the room. Unfortunately, they were also directly under the chandelier, blissfully unaware of the impending disaster. "It was actually nice to take some time off to attend this party," said Mrs. Cake. "Yes it is," replied Mr. Cake happily. During their waltz, Mrs. Cake felt something powdery fall on her snout and she swept a foreleg across her face to remove the substance. As she looked up to determine the source of the powder, the saw completed cutting the last few inches of the circle and the chandelier plummeted down to the ballroom floor. Within the split second before the chandelier crashed, Mrs. Cake had the time to take a step back. CRASH! The powerful impact on the floor created a giant dust cloud that filled the whole ballroom. Shards of glass flew everywhere, injuring nearby ponies. Everypony's spirits fell as they try to find the cause of the heavy impact. Mr. Cake had been lucky. The spike at the bottom of the chandelier crushed his skull, killing him instantly. The opposite was true for Mrs. Cake. One of the downward pointing branches impaled her midsection, tearing holes through her skin deeply and making her bleed profoundly. She thrashed violently, trying to free herself from the huge piece of metal pinning her to the floor. Before the dust settled, most of the ponies had already rushed in to help. However, thier efforts where in vain. Even Doctor Whooves, a skilled paramedic, was unable to save her. He, with the help of several desperate ponies, was able to successfully extract the chandelier branch from Mrs. Cakes body, but they were unable to patch up the huge gash. After a few moments of continous struggle, Mrs. Cake became still. Mare-in-the-boxChapter III Mare-in-the-box 6-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-9 Everypony was at shock at the sight of the untimely deaths of the Cakes. They all started to panic. Pinkie Pie covered the twins' eyes as much as possible, but they wouldn't stop crying. They all wanted to leave the house if not for the magical force field around the mansion. At the same moment, the whole house reverted to an unpleasant state. The chairs and tables had scratches on them. Parts of glass shattered away from windows and ornaments. Wallpaper was scratched out of the walls. The candles in the house blew away. Rust appeared in every metallic object in the house. The ponies could even hear roofings starting to break away. Everyone was yelling at the ground floor. "Why is this happening?!" "How could the Cakes die like this?!" "I wanna go home!" Twilight tried to quiet the ponies down, but to no avail. Instead, she asked Pinkie to help, and she took out an airhorn and the irritating sound of it blew through everypony's ears. "Stop!" shouted Pinkie, "Twilight has something to say!" Everyone now went closer to Twilight, still in fear. Twilight began to speak, "Okay, I know there is some major mishap right now, but we need to investigate further into this." "How do we do that?", asked Rainbow Dash loudly, "Two ponies just died here! We need to get out!" "For one thing, the ceiling supporting the chandelier was cut off in a seemingly ideal shape. So my guess is... this was murder." Everyone gasped, more fearful than ever knowing that there's a murderer in the mansion. "Trixie's the murderer!" concluded Twilight, "It all makes sense! She brought us here to have us murdered. Everything here is run by magic, so this house was never fully restored in the first place." Applejack yelled, "Let's get that darn varmint!" Everypony rushed going upstairs hoping that Trixie would be caught. A few ponies insisted on staying downstairs because they didn't want to go anywhere near the killer. The rest of the herd ran up until they were in front of the master bedroom. Applejack kicked the doors open to find nothing. The ponies checked the closets only to find most of Trixie's clothing. Not much stuff could be found under the bed or in the drawers. In conclusion, Trixie wasn't there. The ponies went back to the hall and looked around them. The rest of the hallway splits into different sides of the house as the ponies tried to decide on which way to go. "I think it's the left side." "I think it's the right side." The ponies hesitated until Rarity cried, "Why can't we just simply split ourselves?" The ponies agreed and they come up with Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Fluttershy leading the left side, and Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie leading the right. The ponies simultaneously opened each guest room. Each room contained the same aged furniture: a bed, a drawer, a closet, some lamps, and a desk. All six guest rooms had no sign of Trixie. The ends of the room were the siblings' bedrooms: Filthy Rich's on the left, Dirty Rich's on the right. Both groups opened the doors to find furniture nearly the same with one another. A door lay in between the rooms, and Applejack kicked the door open for both herds to meet up again. During investigation of the siblings' rooms, the ponies from downstairs came running from the Filthy's room. They were panting from running, and they all had despair in their eyes. "Did anything happen?" asked Rarity. Raindrops who was trying to catch her breath spoke up, "Cherry Berry... Berry Punch... killed... knives!" The rest of the ponies were in shock. "We should go check on them!" stated Twilight. "No!" Lyra cried, who was also downstairs, was also trying to catch her breath, "We can't risk... getting near the killer, besides... we still need to get... Trixie." The ponies agreed, but they didn't know where else to go. "I remember," Filthy Rich uttered, "Behind the clothes of the closets here are the attic doors." At the same time, the ponies opened both closets and dug through the clothing to reveal the attic doors. They opened the doors showing dusty, carpeted stairs leading to the attic. Each pony slowly watched their steps toward the dusty loft with some roof that fell to the attic floor. The wooden beams and pillars of the house were somewhat deteriorated but intact. There were a few chests laid beside furniture covered in white sheets. There was a faint light in the middle of the room showing a gaping hole on the floor, big enough that a pony would fit. Sure enough, there was a rusty saw beside the hole with little wood shavings stuck on its teeth. Twilight used her magic to create a ball of glimmering light to illuminate the dark attic. Knowing that this room would probably be the only place Trixie would hide, the determined ponies slowly took a look around the loft. Everypony checked under the sheet-covered furniture and looked into the chests. Most of the objects found in the chests are either old clutter before the abandonment or some of Trixie's unused equipment for her magic performances. Angel was hopping along behind Fluttershy while she was opening a toy trunk in the back of the room. Fluttershy went out to examine another chest while Angel hopped behind her until he stepped over something wet. He stopped to see a dark fluid under his hind legs. He went to Fluttershy and pulled the back of her dress. "What is it, Angel?" asked Fluttershy, when Angel pointed towards the small puddle of the liquid leaving tracks behind Angel's path. Fluttershy sniffed at the substance. "Umm... guys?" Fluttershy told every other pony, "I think I've found something here." The ponies went towards Fluttershy to examine for themselves the dark fluid on the floor. Twilight brought the light with her and the color of the fluid brightened a dark red. Upon sniffing, Twilight knew it was blood. More smears of blood was traced to the edge of the room at the side of the puddle. They followed the trail until the end up in front of a large trunk covered by a white sheet. Pinkie Pie bit a corner of the white sheet and pulled it away from the trunk. Streaks of blood can be seen at the side of the chest. The Crusaders opened the chest to find mostly spare silvery-blue fabric from Trixie's costumes. Twilight slowly levitated the fabrics away and slowly revealed blue fur. At the bottom of the chest, a unicorn's lifeless body was uncovered with a long, deep gash running down her back. It was Trixie. Everypony stood speechless hoping to find the expected killer but unexpectedly dead. Nopony had a clue on what to expect in the house. They all started to converse rushingly amongst one another. "Did she commit suicide?" asked Mayor. "I'd think it's impossible. I mean, what kind of pony commits suicide after a murder?" replied Twilight. "That murderder must still be out there then," said Applejack as she looked out the window. She noticed the faint blue spherical wall covering the house. "He or she cannot really escape with that stubborn forcefield blocking every possible way out of this joint." "So I guess the killer must still be lurking around the premises," replied Rarity. "I-I'm s-scared..." said Fluttershy, hiding behind Rarity's dress, "I-I don't wanna... d-d-die..." Angel unintentionally hopped over Fluttershy's dress. Fluttershy squealed and jumped up as she zoomed towards the back of Twilight's dress. Angel who tumbled scratched his head and stomped her feet repeatedly showing complaint of Fluttershy's immediate reactions. Spike pulled Twilight's dress and said, "Also, aren't there also two ponies downstairs who were just murdered as well?" "Oh right!" replied Twilight. She announced, "Everypony, we have to check on Cherry Berry and Berry Punch downstairs. If we all go down together, I don't think the killer would attack without getting caught." Steadily watching their paces, the ponies quickly but carefully made their way back towards the ground floor. Each pony was more watchful with their surroundings than before. They watched for each other while on the way down. The ponies, who first witnessed the attacks of Cherry and Berry Punch, led the others towards the dining room. When they passed through the doorway, at a distance they can see two pink ponies of different colored manes lying lifeless over puddles of blood. Doctor Whooves went over the scene and checked the two ponies' bodies. After a while, he finally spoke, "I'm sorry to say that they are dead." "Five murdered ponies..." uttered Twilight, "right at the bottom of our noses... with not much in common... this doesn't make any sense!" "No pony here is safe!" yelled Applejack. "I really need to bring the twins to a safer place," told Pinkie, "This bloody mess, especially with one that's their parents', is not going to make them feel any better." "We have to take some action right now," proclaimed Twilight, "I'll need to tell Princess Celestia about this. The others... let's go catch that killer!"
In Honor of XChapter I In Honor of X by: F74mM4B73 Special thanks to a friend 6-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-9 It was a fair day in the middle of fall and Rarity and Fluttershy were at the cafe over an outdoor table for two having some tea. It was again one of those days where they just had their spa day. Rarity had her pink sunhat on and both of them looked undoubtedly refreshed. "These are definitely the times where you would want to stay in a high-class Canterlot hotel suite and sit leisurely while reading a good book," Rarity sighed, "if only there aren't so much work on my hands. I have to make ten copies of my new design to a client in Manehattan." "Well... I guess I could offer to help... if you don't mind," replied Fluttershy. "That's really nice of you, Fluttershy, but I think I could manage." "Umm... okay. I still have a few errands to do anyways." They took a sip on their teacups when a white envelope in Rarity's name appeared right in front of Rarity. The two ponies abruptly dropped their teacups and the tea spilled over the saucers. Fluttershy immediately took cover under the chair. "Oh my!" uttered the startled Rarity, "Why in the world would an envelope suddenly appear here. It seems that it might be sent through magic." "Maybe... you should try... opening it?" replied Fluttershy timidly. With the glow on her horn, Rarity carefully unsealed the envelope and revealed a piece of paper. The letter was written in flawless cursive. Rarity began to read the letter: "My fellow pony, I am pleased to tell you that you are invited to my dinner party at 7PM in Stonehallow Manor. Dress your best and don't be late. Sincerely Yours, X" "Well, this is odd..." said Rarity, "Why would someone send me an invitation anonymously? I mean, a pony like me shouldn't just be invited in secret." Fluttershy got back on her chair, "At least you are invited to a dinner party." "Aw, Fluttershy... if only there was some way you can come with me, too, so we can have some fun together." At that moment, another same-looking envelope in Fluttershy's name appeared in front of Fluttershy. The startled pony once again hid under her seat. Rarity took the envelope and opened it. "I guess you'll be coming with me after all," said Rarity. Fluttershy slowly got up, "I guess... it is a bit strange that someone would send us an invitation without telling his name." "We still need to find out who this 'X' pony is. Also, we need to find directions to this Stonehallow Manor." "Maybe we should ask Twilight at the library." "Brilliant idea, let us head to Twilight at once!" It was just after lunch when the two ponies finished treating themselves and trotted their way to the library. On their way, they were able to bump into Applejack and Pinkie Pie, who was as jumpy as ever. "Hiya there," greeted Applejack, "what're y'all doin' here?" "We recently received an invitation to a dinner party from a certain pony who called himself 'X'," answered Rarity. "Oh my gosh! oh my gosh! oh my gosh!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, "I've got the same letter as you guys! Applejack and I were just asking ourselves about it. Who do you think is this 'X'? Is it Zecora? Maybe it's Mr. Fancypants! Or maybe it's Princess Celestia herself!" "That's what we're trying to figure out as well," responded Rarity, "Fluttershy and I were just heading to the library to ask Twilight." In a second, A white envelope in Applejack's name magically popped up in front of Applejack, which startled everyone and they all jumped a couple of steps back. Applejack took a closer look inside and the same message that was written to the other three had finally reached her. "Ah guess I'm invited, too," said Applejack, "what're we goin' to do now?" "We get ready for the party!" replied Pinkie happily. "Umm... guys?" said Fluttershy softly, "I'm sorry to bother you... but I think we should go head to Twilight and ask her where the Stonehallow Manor is?" "Oh right," said Rarity, "Let's all head to the library." In a couple of minutes, the four ponies found themselves at the front door of the library. Applejack took a knock at the door, and within a few seconds they were greeted by Spike. Spike let them in and the group spotted Twilight who was reading the same letter as they had. "Hiya there Twi," greeted Applejack, "It seems that you had just received yer invitation." "Spike had received his invitation before I did," replied Twilight, "Do any of you have any idea who this 'X' pony is?" "We were asking ourselves that, too" responded Rarity, "but none of us seem to know. We were going to ask you if you have any clue where this Stonehallow Manor is." "No I don't," she responded, "but I do have an original copy of the map of Ponyville. Maybe we can look for directions there. Spike, will you please fetch the map for us?" "Will do!" announced Spike. Spike went to take the ladder at the right side of the library and walked towards the leftmost bookshelf. He held the ladder at the middle of the bookshelf in place and started climbing up. Spike spoted a ten-foot roll of parchment on the bookshelf and took a hold of it. Because of the small extent of his arm, he contracted his arm and the map started to roll towards him and off the bookshelf. Out of panic, Spike lost grip on the rung and fell back as the map fell toward him. Then, Twilight quickly used her magic to levitate Spike and the map and gently placed them down. Spike sighed with relief, "Whew, thanks Twilight." "Dont mention it," she smiles. Twilight used her magic once again to adjust the map at the left side of the room. The others backed away and watched in amazement as Twilight rolls out the parchment until it clearly showed a twenty-foot wide bird's-eye view of Ponyville printed in vintage color. Each residence and establishment in the vicinity was clearly labeled in dark ink, and the map extends from the corner of Sweet Apple Acres to the edge of Everfree forest. Everypony looked around to find the Stonehallow Manor. After a few moments, Fluttershy spoke up, "Is this the one?" and all turned to where she's pointing at the edge of the Whitetail Wood. There revealed a mansion labeled 'Stonehallow Manor' bigger than any other house in Ponyville except for the Rich residence. In a split second, a blue figure crashed through the front door of the library and sawdust rapidly spread across the small expanse of the library. As the sawdust settled, the distorted blue figure appeared to be Rainbow Dash standing over the pile of run-down wood. "Twilight! Twilight!" Rainbow yelled out, "I need you... to..." seeing more than one pony than expected standing side by side with surprised looks on their faces. "Let me guess..." she continued, "all of you got that freaky invite." "Yes we did," replied Twilight, "but next time, try to knock first." "Yay! Now all of us can go together!" shouted Pinkie happily, as she flings out some confetti out of her pockets. "This is gonna be so fun! Maybe I should bake a huge six-layer cake. Then, I'll give some to everyone, and then we'll use the leftovers to have a food fight!" "Uhh, Pinkie dear," replied Rarity, "I believe this is a civilized dinner party. We don't what our host to hate us... whoever he is. Although, I don't have much time to make all of us dresses for this party. Maybe, we could wear the dresses we wore at the Gala." "Sure!" everypony agreed unaminously. "Then let's meet up in front of the Whitetail Wood before seven," proclaimed Twilight, and one by one the other five ponies said their goodbyes as each of them leave through the gaping hole that used to be the front door of the library. ~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~ Later that evening, each of them met up again at the park in front of the Whitetail Wood finding out that they're not the only ones who were invited. Twilight and Spike arrived first and wore the same garments as they did before. Pinkie Pie came after, and she was accompanied by the Cake family. Mr. Cake wore a coat with red and white stripes, a matching tie, and a matching hat. Mrs. Cake, on the other hand, was wearing a specially made light blue dress with a short train. Riding on a single stroller with the Cakes was Pound Cake wearing a red bow on his chest, and Pumpkin Cake wearing a similar bow on her head. Rarity came with Sweetie Belle, and Fluttershy brought Angel along. Rainbow Dash came flying through the open air and landed in front of them. Applejack met up with them last as Apple Bloom, Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith are seen right behind dressed as decent as the rest of the ponies. Big Mac had accompanied Cheerilee with Scootaloo right beside her. The group sauntered through the path of leaves in various hues. Unusually, the path had been adequately lit with lanterns, which had not been there in the first place. As they walked through a turn, most of the ponies were surprised to find the lanterns leading them to a cobblestone path, which couldn't be seen before probably because of the plant life that must have covered the unseen. Each pony reluctantly followed the path that soon left them in front of the wide gates of the mansion. A large house surrounded by a mossy brick wall that stretches as far as they could see through the dense forest. Behind the trimmed grass and topiaries is a mansion standing on a stone foundation made of some of the finest redwood. The walls are supported with tall windows, and the dark-colored roofs are glimmering under the moonlight. Most of the ponies were in awe and their thoughts were running in excitement as they started their expectations on what each pony would do in the mansion; however, the gates were locked shut, and all of them were starting to wait impatiently for their host to appear. On their minds, each pony wonders, "Who is 'X'?"
Last-Minute WaltzChapter II Last-Minute Waltz 6-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-9 It's now almost seven o'clock, and the crowd of formally dressed ponies are standing agog waiting for the gates to open. Everypony thinks that the gates will open at exactly seven. The ones who brought watches continually checked the time and counted down in their heads. The others would just chat with other ponies. Besides the ponies that had already arrived, there were other guests that came to the party after them also handsomely dressed. There was Mayor who wore light-gray slacks and a white blouse with a khaki saddlebag. There also arrived Filthy Rich in a blue coat with a white long-sleeves shirt underneath accompanied by Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, both dressed in evening gowns of their favorite colors. Dr. Whooves in a white tux arrived with Derpy Hooves flying by in a slim white dress. There were Lyra and Bon Bon who both came in loose dark-colored gowns with matching saddlebags of their own. Berry Punch, Daisy, and Cherry Berry appeared with dresses of different designs and colors probably made by Rarity, and Raindrops was behind them wearing a sleeveless pink dress carrying a matching purse on her mouth. "Oh, I remember this place," said Filthy Rich, "This used to be my home before the family moved out." "Daddy, why did you move out of this mansion in the first place?" asked his daughter, Diamond Tiara. "It's a bit of a funny story actually... When I was still a very young colt about half your age, the Rich family who stayed here lived prosperously with our family business. We also had many servants to take care of the household. At that time, it was just weeks before a baby unicorn was born, who was your uncle, Dirty Rich. One night, the front door was left open, and no one noticed it 'til morning. Your uncle was one of the first to wake up and walked down the stairs to see a lot of fireflies that must've came in. There were hundreds of them maybe thousands, and the maids were already trying to shoo them away. Without caution, your uncle Dirty Rich used his magic, and transformed them into mice. The mice ran all over the house, started biting on the furniture and woke up our parents. Everyone panicked and quickly packed as much stuff as possible and ran out to Ponyville. Before, I still wanted to go back and visit the house, but my parents didn't dare walk near its premises. I wonder how this house came back in good condition." Seconds later, a faint dong of a grandfather clock that sounded from inside stopped everypony's conversations and notified them that it was finally seven o'clock. A muffled rasp became a resonated creak as the iron gates finally opened for the guests to enter. Everypony ambled through the white-brick pathway of the neatened front lawn, the front door also opened in front of them. Each pony carefully took their steps over the maple floor of the living room. Each guest's faces widened in surprise and amazement; every piece of furniture in the house looked to be in mint condition. Filthy Rich began to revisit his nostalgia. Even if he wanted to stay in the house for a little while, his current household was still rather larger than his first one. He contemplated that he wanted to thank the pony who took care of the place even if it is too late for him to occupy the space again. Besides, the 'X' pony would've been residing in the mansion all this time. "I remember visiting this place when I was a filly," said Mayor, "The furniture looked much better than the way I saw this house before." "I must agree Ms. Mayor," replied Rarity, "I mean, look at all this stuff! The material and the patterns of this furniture were obviously some of the finest in the land of Equestria! It's as if these were stolen from Princess Celestia's chambers. Even the decor in this room itself could outshine my boutique... I feel so jealous! On the contrary, restoring all this antique furniture would cost an enormous fortune." "This is a mighty-lookin' house," said Applejack looking impressed, "The pony better be good at handlin' critters and fixin' this furniture 'to a perfect condition. Might I'd just hire that pony to fix the barn." "Although most of the decor seem to look a bit s-spooky," said Fluttershy as she imagined the possible horrors lurking in the house. "I really, really, really, really, really want to throw a party in here!" yelled Pinkie Pie, "We could play hide-and-seek in the whole house, maybe even the whole forest! I better get started! I'll go to the kitchen and bake us a cake." Then, Pinkie pranced happily to make her way to the kitchen. "Umm, Pinkie?" hesitated Twilight, "We are still in the middle of another party by... whoever set this up." As Pinkie was about to exit the living room, a sudden smoke cloud puffs in front of her and spreads across the entry way to the adjacent main hall. Pinkie backs away as every other pony covers their eyes as the smoke quickly disappears in gusts. The miniature chandeliers sway slightly while everypony looks through the smoke to find a familiar mare in blue and white wearing a blue and silver dress. "Fillies and gentlecolts!" the blue mare announced, "Welcome to my humble abode. It is my honor to-" "Trixie!" shouted Rainbow Dash as she flapped her wings, "What are you doing here?!" "Yeah!" Pinkie cried out, "Step aside! I'll be going to the kitchen to bake our cake! Now, if you would excuse me!" Pinkie with her head held high was about to walk past her when Trixie placed her hoof on her forehead and prevented Pinkie from moving forward. "Silly ponies," said Trixie with vain, "I expected this much attitude from you by the time you would see me. Don't you that it is rude to interrupt my introduction. Anyways, shall we begin?" "Begin what?" question Twilight. "The party of course." Trixie chuckled, "Why else would all of you come here so handsomely dressed?" "Well, I don't have to deal with any of this junk!" yelled Rainbow Dash, "I'm outta here!" Rainbow Dash wrenched both of the front doors wide open and flapped heavily away from the house until she crashed through some sort of force field which glowed a pale blue on where she hit herself. With her face fixed flat parallel to the wall, she slowly slipped off the impenetrable wall of magic until she falls on her back flat on the grass. Most of the ponies went out to the front lawn to help. Derpy opened her wings and flew high until she also hit her head beside Rainbow Dash's face-plant. She falls to the sod beside Rainbow, and both ponies try to recover. "What just happened here!" cried out Twilight, "Trixie! I suspect you would trap us here!" "Oh, I'm sorry," Trixie replied sarcastically, "Did my magic startle you?" "Why are you keeping us here?" "Oh, don't worry. I expected some 'runaway guests' so I just cast a magical force field that will prevent my dinner party from losing guests. But don't worry, you have nothing to worry about. I promise I won't do any harm. Now, if you would all follow me back inside." Hesitantly, they followed her back into the mansion with lowered expectations. Rainbow Dash and Derpy were patting off soil from their dresses and went behind them more heedful than usual. The mansion looked gloomier in most of the guests' eyes as they looked at the living room a second time. Trixie with her head held slightly higher led them through the main hall. The main hall composed of vases over tall wooden platforms holding Foxtail orchids and lavenders with ferns at the bottom. The walls are painted a light-beige hue with dark brown panels on the ceiling corners made of pine wood. A wide marble staircase leading to the master bedroom and a few other halls was distinguished on their left. The ponies were walking over a broad rug of indigenous design towards the room they're all about to head. "Now, here is where we feast!" proclaimed Trixie waving her right hoof to the corner of the expanse. It was the dining room. A long table covered by a white-laced tablecloth was beneath an alignment of candles and vases of the same flowers as in the main hall, which stands over the table under a brightly-lit, brass candelabrum. The ponies slowly take their steps into the dining room in astonishment. "I don't know what's going on here," Twilight whispered to Trixie when she stopped before entering the room, "but you better not do anything fishy." "Oh, Twilight, relax," replied Trixie softly, "You have too much to think about. No wonder you're the stressful one. Just don't ruin yourself and have fun." Twilight being the last pony to enter grumbled into the room, and Trixie followed behind. Everypony began chatting amongst themselves in the room. Trixie conjured a bell and sounded it that every other pony heard it and glanced at her. "I was expecting some more guests," proclaimed Trixie, "Does anypony know if another guest would be coming?" The ponies looked at each other and agreed that there is no other pony who is running late. "I guess this is all of you," she grinned, "Others might be busy, although I'm satisfied to know I have ponies who would come to my party in such short notice." The dinner guests felt somewhat unconcerned since they didn't have a liking for Trixie. Trixie said once again, "I might have to shorten the number of seats since we lack a number of guests." Trixie's horn began to glow a faint blue. The tables and chairs levitated slightly and each piece of furniture and decor started to shake; each party guest was backing away from the sorcery taking place. The farthest chair from Trixie merged towards a nearer one and the merged entity combined with a nearer one; the process kept going slowly. The table shortened as the legs merged with each other with the decor over it following. The tablecloth shrunk in length still maintaining its unique patterns. Trixie eventually set the table down in the center with the seats matching with an equal number of ponies in the room. Everypony clapped in wonder as Trixie wiped away the few drops of sweat on her face. "Thank you; thank you," she curtsied, "Thank you all. I believe you may now find your seats." Everypony took a few minutes to find their place on the dinner table. Trixie sat on one end while she insisted Mayor to sit on the other. The Cutie Mark Crusaders sat beside each other. The Apple family and the Cakes had found their places facing each other. Lyra, Bon Bon and Berry Punch happily found themselves sitting beside each other which goes the same with Raindrops, Daisy and Cherry Berry. The Rich family has their place beside Mayor's with Silver Spoon reluctantly beside DIamond Tiara. Derpy dragged Doctor Whooves to a seat beside hers. Rarity and Fluttershy were still chatting towards their seats, and Angel hopped onto his owner's lap. Twilight and Rainbow had found themselves on Trixie's left and right sides since every other seat was occupied; both were still grumbling and didn't dare show their faces to Trixie. Trixie announced once again, "Now that everypony has their place on the table, we shall now feast!" The unicorn's horn shimmered once more and out comes hovering covered platters from the kitchen doors. Wine glasses followed behind each platter that came out and gently landed in front of each pony. "I know every single one of you," she proclaimed, "so on my behalf, I present you with your choices." Every platter cover flew up and vanished, and to everypony's surprise, a gourmet style of their favorite dishes was under the platter still warm and fresh. Salads, sandwiches, fruit, and pastries of their choices had captured the ponies' appetites. The glasses were filled from the bottom to top a variety of wines and juices according to the ponies' choices. Even if the guests' were stunned once again, they look down as if it might kill them. "What are you all waiting for?" asked Trixie towards her visitors, "Eat up!" Derpy tasted a muffin on her plate. Her face showed a liking towards it and munched over the plate full of pastries. Others followed and eventually, all started to eat beaming with smiles. Trixie let out a smirk in front of her two seatmates, although Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash just continued eating trying to face away from Trixie. Rainbow Dash was one of the first to finish and Scootaloo who is beside her kept asking her questions about her interests. Other ponies took the time to look around the ground floor of the mansion. Twilight finished her salad before Trixie did. "Did you get a chef to make all this?" asked Twilight skeptically, "Did you make this by magic?" "Of course, I made everything by magic." Trixie answered, "Even if I have cookbooks in the library, I only use those recipes for myself. What better way to serve a crowd than to use magic." "But how did you know all our favorite foods?" "Let's say I had a way to spy on you, maybe for seeking revenge. but I know I would use the information soon enough." "Into a dinner party? How did you do it? A crystal ball? Surveillance? People would find you in town somehow. Also how did you survive when you never even showed yourself in town." "Technically I did... Do you know a pony who was new in town a few months ago? Orange in color with a dark mane and tail? "Umm.. yeah, Dixie? What about her?" "That's actually me using the Inverted Colors Spell. What ever you told her told me, and since I made friends with about everypony in town, thanks to Pinkie Pie over there, I was able to know about everypony's interests." It gave a chill down Twilight's spine as she thinks about how much Trixie knows about each pony in the house. She still thinks Trixie has something up her sleeve. "Then... how were you able to restore all this furniture? I'm guessing magic?" "Of course, my dear." When about everypony had finished eating and just chatted with one another, Trixie clapped her hands to gain everypony's attention. Each guest was in a lighter mood than when they first saw Trixie again. "Now that everypony has finished eating, we shall now head to the ballroom." She used her magic once more to levitate the plates back to the kitchen. Then, she hopped out of her chair and walked towards the ballroom entry. "Follow me," she instructed. The ponies slowly got out of their chairs and followed her towards the tall entryway of the ballroom. The ponies gazed in amazement as they looked around the bright panorama of the ballroom. The majority of the ballroom was coated in an eggshell, Villa Vecchia-style wallpaper. Two tall windows viewed a nice landscape of the forest and had crimson drapes tied to the sides of them. A few chairs and tables sat on the sides of the room for ponies to lounge on. The floor and ceiling were made of the same oakwood. Five brass chandeliers bigger than the one in the dining room rested with chains to support the anatomies. The one in the center stood out from the others because of its size. "I'll give you the time to take a look around the house." Trixie declared, "Now, for the waltz!" Trixie's horn glowed as the whole room slowly began tuning some classical music. The ponies' moods became relaxed. Mr. Cake and Mrs. Cake went to the dance floor first, and both waltzed around the center. Pinkie Pie took the twins and pranced behind the first couple. Big Macintosh asked for Cheerilee's hoof and waltzed behind the Cakes. The Cutie Mark Crusaders ran towards the center of the room and span around together. Derpy Hooves grabbed Doctor Whooves and dragged him towards the center and tried to mimic the waltz. Others wanted to sit and watch. Other ponies took their times to look around the house. Filthy Rich, who is grinning, approached Trixie, "I must say, you really took care of my old house." "Oh," replied Trixie, "This was your house? I didn't know, although no one was occupying it. It was clearly abandoned." "It's fine. I plan on giving you this house anyway since you did such a good job on replenishing the condition of the interior." "Well, of course. After all, you have a bigger household than this." "If I could have your permission, may I visit this house again sometime? Seeing the sight of this mansion again made me look back to my early days." "Sure. Just make sure to send a letter first before you come. For now, I have a show to do." She left the conversation and stood in between the walls of the entryway. "Fillies and gentlecolts," Trixie announced, "I will be back for a show! Brace yourselves for a performance to remember!" She headed to her way upstairs and the guests continued with what they're doing. While the five couples were dancing, a small saw slid out from the ceiling and started cutting a circle around the chain supporting the center candelabrum. Mr. and Mrs. Cake happened to be in the center of the room. Unfortunately, they were also directly under the chandelier, blissfully unaware of the impending disaster. "It was actually nice to take some time off to attend this party," said Mrs. Cake. "Yes it is," replied Mr. Cake happily. During their waltz, Mrs. Cake felt something powdery fall on her snout and she swept a foreleg across her face to remove the substance. As she looked up to determine the source of the powder, the saw completed cutting the last few inches of the circle and the chandelier plummeted down to the ballroom floor. Within the split second before the chandelier crashed, Mrs. Cake had the time to take a step back. CRASH! The powerful impact on the floor created a giant dust cloud that filled the whole ballroom. Shards of glass flew everywhere, injuring nearby ponies. Everypony's spirits fell as they try to find the cause of the heavy impact. Mr. Cake had been lucky. The spike at the bottom of the chandelier crushed his skull, killing him instantly. The opposite was true for Mrs. Cake. One of the downward pointing branches impaled her midsection, tearing holes through her skin deeply and making her bleed profoundly. She thrashed violently, trying to free herself from the huge piece of metal pinning her to the floor. Before the dust settled, most of the ponies had already rushed in to help. However, thier efforts where in vain. Even Doctor Whooves, a skilled paramedic, was unable to save her. He, with the help of several desperate ponies, was able to successfully extract the chandelier branch from Mrs. Cakes body, but they were unable to patch up the huge gash. After a few moments of continous struggle, Mrs. Cake became still.
Mare-in-the-boxChapter III Mare-in-the-box 6-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-9 Everypony was at shock at the sight of the untimely deaths of the Cakes. They all started to panic. Pinkie Pie covered the twins' eyes as much as possible, but they wouldn't stop crying. They all wanted to leave the house if not for the magical force field around the mansion. At the same moment, the whole house reverted to an unpleasant state. The chairs and tables had scratches on them. Parts of glass shattered away from windows and ornaments. Wallpaper was scratched out of the walls. The candles in the house blew away. Rust appeared in every metallic object in the house. The ponies could even hear roofings starting to break away. Everyone was yelling at the ground floor. "Why is this happening?!" "How could the Cakes die like this?!" "I wanna go home!" Twilight tried to quiet the ponies down, but to no avail. Instead, she asked Pinkie to help, and she took out an airhorn and the irritating sound of it blew through everypony's ears. "Stop!" shouted Pinkie, "Twilight has something to say!" Everyone now went closer to Twilight, still in fear. Twilight began to speak, "Okay, I know there is some major mishap right now, but we need to investigate further into this." "How do we do that?", asked Rainbow Dash loudly, "Two ponies just died here! We need to get out!" "For one thing, the ceiling supporting the chandelier was cut off in a seemingly ideal shape. So my guess is... this was murder." Everyone gasped, more fearful than ever knowing that there's a murderer in the mansion. "Trixie's the murderer!" concluded Twilight, "It all makes sense! She brought us here to have us murdered. Everything here is run by magic, so this house was never fully restored in the first place." Applejack yelled, "Let's get that darn varmint!" Everypony rushed going upstairs hoping that Trixie would be caught. A few ponies insisted on staying downstairs because they didn't want to go anywhere near the killer. The rest of the herd ran up until they were in front of the master bedroom. Applejack kicked the doors open to find nothing. The ponies checked the closets only to find most of Trixie's clothing. Not much stuff could be found under the bed or in the drawers. In conclusion, Trixie wasn't there. The ponies went back to the hall and looked around them. The rest of the hallway splits into different sides of the house as the ponies tried to decide on which way to go. "I think it's the left side." "I think it's the right side." The ponies hesitated until Rarity cried, "Why can't we just simply split ourselves?" The ponies agreed and they come up with Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Fluttershy leading the left side, and Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie leading the right. The ponies simultaneously opened each guest room. Each room contained the same aged furniture: a bed, a drawer, a closet, some lamps, and a desk. All six guest rooms had no sign of Trixie. The ends of the room were the siblings' bedrooms: Filthy Rich's on the left, Dirty Rich's on the right. Both groups opened the doors to find furniture nearly the same with one another. A door lay in between the rooms, and Applejack kicked the door open for both herds to meet up again. During investigation of the siblings' rooms, the ponies from downstairs came running from the Filthy's room. They were panting from running, and they all had despair in their eyes. "Did anything happen?" asked Rarity. Raindrops who was trying to catch her breath spoke up, "Cherry Berry... Berry Punch... killed... knives!" The rest of the ponies were in shock. "We should go check on them!" stated Twilight. "No!" Lyra cried, who was also downstairs, was also trying to catch her breath, "We can't risk... getting near the killer, besides... we still need to get... Trixie." The ponies agreed, but they didn't know where else to go. "I remember," Filthy Rich uttered, "Behind the clothes of the closets here are the attic doors." At the same time, the ponies opened both closets and dug through the clothing to reveal the attic doors. They opened the doors showing dusty, carpeted stairs leading to the attic. Each pony slowly watched their steps toward the dusty loft with some roof that fell to the attic floor. The wooden beams and pillars of the house were somewhat deteriorated but intact. There were a few chests laid beside furniture covered in white sheets. There was a faint light in the middle of the room showing a gaping hole on the floor, big enough that a pony would fit. Sure enough, there was a rusty saw beside the hole with little wood shavings stuck on its teeth. Twilight used her magic to create a ball of glimmering light to illuminate the dark attic. Knowing that this room would probably be the only place Trixie would hide, the determined ponies slowly took a look around the loft. Everypony checked under the sheet-covered furniture and looked into the chests. Most of the objects found in the chests are either old clutter before the abandonment or some of Trixie's unused equipment for her magic performances. Angel was hopping along behind Fluttershy while she was opening a toy trunk in the back of the room. Fluttershy went out to examine another chest while Angel hopped behind her until he stepped over something wet. He stopped to see a dark fluid under his hind legs. He went to Fluttershy and pulled the back of her dress. "What is it, Angel?" asked Fluttershy, when Angel pointed towards the small puddle of the liquid leaving tracks behind Angel's path. Fluttershy sniffed at the substance. "Umm... guys?" Fluttershy told every other pony, "I think I've found something here." The ponies went towards Fluttershy to examine for themselves the dark fluid on the floor. Twilight brought the light with her and the color of the fluid brightened a dark red. Upon sniffing, Twilight knew it was blood. More smears of blood was traced to the edge of the room at the side of the puddle. They followed the trail until the end up in front of a large trunk covered by a white sheet. Pinkie Pie bit a corner of the white sheet and pulled it away from the trunk. Streaks of blood can be seen at the side of the chest. The Crusaders opened the chest to find mostly spare silvery-blue fabric from Trixie's costumes. Twilight slowly levitated the fabrics away and slowly revealed blue fur. At the bottom of the chest, a unicorn's lifeless body was uncovered with a long, deep gash running down her back. It was Trixie. Everypony stood speechless hoping to find the expected killer but unexpectedly dead. Nopony had a clue on what to expect in the house. They all started to converse rushingly amongst one another. "Did she commit suicide?" asked Mayor. "I'd think it's impossible. I mean, what kind of pony commits suicide after a murder?" replied Twilight. "That murderder must still be out there then," said Applejack as she looked out the window. She noticed the faint blue spherical wall covering the house. "He or she cannot really escape with that stubborn forcefield blocking every possible way out of this joint." "So I guess the killer must still be lurking around the premises," replied Rarity. "I-I'm s-scared..." said Fluttershy, hiding behind Rarity's dress, "I-I don't wanna... d-d-die..." Angel unintentionally hopped over Fluttershy's dress. Fluttershy squealed and jumped up as she zoomed towards the back of Twilight's dress. Angel who tumbled scratched his head and stomped her feet repeatedly showing complaint of Fluttershy's immediate reactions. Spike pulled Twilight's dress and said, "Also, aren't there also two ponies downstairs who were just murdered as well?" "Oh right!" replied Twilight. She announced, "Everypony, we have to check on Cherry Berry and Berry Punch downstairs. If we all go down together, I don't think the killer would attack without getting caught." Steadily watching their paces, the ponies quickly but carefully made their way back towards the ground floor. Each pony was more watchful with their surroundings than before. They watched for each other while on the way down. The ponies, who first witnessed the attacks of Cherry and Berry Punch, led the others towards the dining room. When they passed through the doorway, at a distance they can see two pink ponies of different colored manes lying lifeless over puddles of blood. Doctor Whooves went over the scene and checked the two ponies' bodies. After a while, he finally spoke, "I'm sorry to say that they are dead." "Five murdered ponies..." uttered Twilight, "right at the bottom of our noses... with not much in common... this doesn't make any sense!" "No pony here is safe!" yelled Applejack. "I really need to bring the twins to a safer place," told Pinkie, "This bloody mess, especially with one that's their parents', is not going to make them feel any better." "We have to take some action right now," proclaimed Twilight, "I'll need to tell Princess Celestia about this. The others... let's go catch that killer!"
