Unexplainable Causes

Chapter 1: Invitations

The rain beat heavily upon the glass that separated Celestia's royal castle from the outside world, which had undeniably changed after a series of events that will haunt Ponyville and the surrounding areas for an innumerable amount of years. The Sun Goddess, her mane no longer holding it's usual vibrancy, looked forlornly out the window, and sitting upon the balcony was her little sister, weighed down with grief, Princess Luna. Though she could never prove it, it seemed, in her best judgment, that perhaps the rulers of all of Equestria were stricken with sadness more so than anypony else, save possibly the survivors, whose minds delved into the nearly unexplainable situations that had occurred in the refurnished, yet abandoned mansion, which sat atop a small cliff east of Ponyville.

The likeliness of anypony ever moving past this calamity is, quite frankly, slim to none. The happenings that had occurred in that house not more than two days ago is unarguably the worst thing that has ever happened to the small town, and possibly, all of Equestria.

And to think, the objects that had started it all, that had caused the whole disaster to transpire, were six pieces of parchment, all of which had the following message written in remarkably neat handwriting:

Congratulations!

You've been invited to a dinner party in your honor for your services toward Equestria. The party will be house in 3478 Brookemere Road inside a newly refurbished mansion and will take place in two days. We all look forward to seeing you there!

-The Party Master!

If they had known what was about to transpire in that house, they never would have even read the invitation.

***

If the six invited mares had grown up in downtown Manehattan, none of them would have ever considered showing up to the mansion, but they all lived in the quiet and friendly Ponyville, where it was unnecessary for locks and weapons. They lived in one of, if not the, safest places in all of Equestria; none of them gave it a second thought as they packed belongings, readying themselves for the party in their honor from an unknown host who went only by the name of The Party Master.

Not surprisingly, the six invitees, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy, were all very eager to share their invitation with each other, and after a slight realization, they came to know that they had all gotten the same invite, which raised a few questions of a suspicious nature.

"I don' get it" Applejack stated, breaking the awkward silence that had befallen the group, and understandably so.

The new information started to dissuade them until logic finally showed itself through, not surprisingly, Twilight Sparkle, who then said, "Maybe it's in all of our honors. It says for our services toward Equestria, which we have all been a part of; in fact, almost every time, we were together when we saved Equestria. So it makes sense; we all gave services toward Equestria, and we're all being honored for it." They all voiced their agreements, apparently all satisfied with the explanation, and parted from each other, for the party was tomorrow and they needed their sleep. Applejack and Rainbow Dash retired to the farmhouse, Twilight to her library, Pinkie to the Bakery, Rarity to the Boutique, and Fluttershy to her cottage on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. With the hours finally waning and the moon high in the sky, they slept, quite peacefully, all eagerly awaiting whatever tomorrow had in store for them.

***

It was a normal, beautiful morning in Ponyville the next day as Princess Celestia raised the sun, letting it's warmth bathe the valley town in shimmering, golden light. Logic stood that because they were all invited to the same party, they all traveled together, and after a short while, they met at the outskirts of Ponyville, ready to travel. It had rained slightly throughout the night, and as they left the town, they left hooveprints in the soft earth. For most of them, it was the last time their hooves would ever touch the ground in Ponyville again.

With the road ahead of them, they ventured onto a path that had been formed after the years of hooves crushing the ground into a visible trail, and after some time, came across an abandoned shack, which they used to their advantage, and took a moment to rest their legs; for though they had walked little in matters of distance, the terrain was rather difficult to traverse and they found it necessary to rest. Searching around the shack, they found a small pond, in which they wasted no time indulging in it's cool, refreshing waters, and after some minutes had passed by, they journeyed on with theirstomachs full of water.

Their travel continued, much to the annoyance of Rarity, who whimpered about the traveling conditions and inquired toward Twilight as to why they hadn't asked the princess for a carriage. Twilight, who didn't have a real answer to the question, simply reassured her companion by saying, "Don't worry, Rarity, we're almost there." Rarity softly grumbled her hopes that Twilight was right, and sure enough, ten minutes later, after traversing a small bridge, it was proven that the purple unicorn was correct. They had arrived at what appeared to be their destination, and after some inspecting, their assumption was proven correct as they looked upon the house; for to the left of the double wooden doors were the numbers 3, 4, 7, and 8, in said order which, from what the ponies had recollected, was indeed the proper house number.

The mansion appeared to be three stories tall, and even through Twilight's extensive research, not much was known about it's origin. The records didn't even have a previous owner listed. It seemed pleasant enough, though. It was well groomed, for there were no hanging strands of moss, nor were there overgrown grasses; in fact, it was quite the opposite. The grass was freshly cut, the bushes, in contemporary shapes, were neatly trimmed, and the house itself looked impeccable. The whole area seemed to radiate with a sense of sophistication and security, which under the circumstances, was quite odd considering there was no pony to be found. Not a single other pony was in sight, which led to a bit of uneasiness coming from the group as each said there own version of the phrase, "Where is everypony...?"

Their words were short lived; however, for seconds later, the double doors opened up, bringing light on the identity of the host. Fearing their eyes had deceived them, the group of six ponies had to adjust their vision, but even after the second look, the host's identity hadn't changed, for standing in the door way, was in fact, a small, purple dragon, who was unmistakably Twilight Sparkle's assistant, Spike, who now stood with a slight grin on his face as he said, "All this trouble to throw you girls a party and you won't even come in?" He had tried his best to sound displeased, but the little dragon couldn't help but laugh. And upon further inspection, the mares noticed that Spike was not the only one in the house, for standing behind him were multiple ponies from town, though it did not surprise them there were others; after all, it was a party...right?

***

It seemed as though Spike had thrown them a dinner party of sorts, which differed greatly from a Pinkie Pie Party, in formality and attendance. Among various other ponies, there were a few who stood out above the rest, which included the Mayor of Ponyville, the Great and Powerful Trixie (much to their surprise), Cheerilee, Ponyvilles teacher, and Dr. Whooves, all of which conversed amongst themselves.

"Spike, did you do all this?" Twilight asked her assistant.

"Well, not all of it, but it was my idea. None of us ever got to thank you properly for, you know, saving Equestria and all, so I decided to throw you a dinner party!" he finished with excitement.

"Oooh, a Dinner Party?" Rarity said with much enthusiasm, which was slightly ironic considering she had complained about going beforehand. Each of the invitees stated their thanks to the purple dragon, who accepted the praise with a flush of color in his cheeks, and went about the process of preparing the dinner; after all, it was a dinner party!

Unfortunately for the party-goers, the mentioning of dinner sent Pinkie Pie over the edge of happiness as she bounced about the area, loudly proclaiming her love of food and speaking in long, incoherent sentences that could never have been decoded. The happy pony giggled and hopped around the long table, defying the laws of physics, (Screw physics, she's Pinkie Pie!) as she momentarily stopped in midair, contemplating the meaning of, "Settle down, Pinkie!" which had escaped the mouth of the school teacher, Cheerilee in efforts to subside the party pony; however, her efforts were, not surprisingly, in vain, for the pink mare ignored the statement and continued bouncing.

Her friends watched their filly companion and slightly giggled; "Same ol' Pinkie Pie!" they all thought happily.

The ponies went about, conversing with their fellow citizens, with Rarity being the center of attention, as she always was at dinner parties. Surrounded by sophisticated ponies, expensive wine, and luxurious furniture, Rarity was in her element; this was home to her. She walked about, soaking in the atmosphere, discussing everything ranging from her past to her new line up of dresses, but soon, the festive talking had come to a pause as they were called to dinner.

The room was enormous, housing a table able to seat fifty ponies easily, which is a little over done considering that this was a somewhat private dinner party, as there were only 12 other ponies present, bringing the total guest count to 19. The rooms walls were lined with tapestries of all patterns and adorned with lit candles, glowing in defiance of the growing darkness outside. The floor, made of cured hardwood, resounded triumphantly as the many hooves walked across to take their seats. The dinner, which consisted of foods ranging from steamed vegetables and assorted hays and rice to desserts made of apples and other baked goods brought by Mr. and Mrs. Cake, was brought to the table, much to Pinkie's liking, and the ponies allowed themselves to indulge in the delicious aliments and drink. They conversed, laughed, and ate, letting the time slip by and about twenty minutes into the feast, Spike tapped his glass of wine with his fork, signaling the others to hold their tongues, and after a few moments of letting the crowd subside, he spoke, addressing the whole audience.

"Ladies and Gentlecolts, I would like to propose a toast, to these six mares who selflessly saved Equestria many times. I'd like to take this time to thank them properly, so here's to the Mane Six!" he exclaimed. The crowd accepted the task and raised their glasses with Spike, and after a small cheer, they all drank the sweet, yet bitter red wine in salute to the honored.

With their bellies full and their bodies worn down, it was agreed that the party should come to a close, and after cleaning the rooms and repacking their belongings, they all prepared to leave, and with bags laid carefully across their backs, the large group opened the door, ready and eager to begin the journey back home, but fate had a way of intruding, for as they walked outside, a strong gust of wind knocked them off balance. Dark storm clouds hovered over the valley, sending waves of air through it, creating a sort of wind tunnel that shot the harsh wind straight up to the house at the top; it seemed the large house had hidden them from the oncoming storm. Lightning flashed across the sky, sending the timid Fluttershy to the back of the group, with Rarity close behind her for comfort, shaking as she heard the loud crash of thunder against the stillness that followed the group.

"Well, it looks like we're not going anywhere tonight. I wouldn't even fly through this..." stated Rainbow Dash.

"It'll clear up by morning, we'll just wait it out," Twilight reassured the group.

There was no way any pony could travel home, the terrain was difficult enough; add a storm, and the travel would be extremely dangerous, so with their convictions set, the group returned indoors, sheltered from the never-ending buffeting of wind and debris. Moments later, a powerful rain poured from the sinister clouds, enveloping the mansion in a blanket of incessant noise as the torrential downpour sealed the fate of the ponies.

"That's one heck of uh storm..." Applejack said softly, not really directing the statement at anybody.The others muttered their agreements and disbanded.

In this large of a mansion, there were bound to be plenty of guest rooms, which was proven correct as Spike led the group through multiple hallways, letting them pick their own rooms, and after a short while, the group separated and retreated to their rooms, looking forward to the night's end and tomorrow's beginning. Though they could not put their hooves on why, the guests at the mansion suddenly felt uneasy; the mansion that was once beautiful in the sunlight suddenly looked menacing in the storm. Perhaps it was instinct, perhaps it was inherent knowledge, but however one would explain it, it would have done them good service to heed their feelings.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were the only ones to confront their feelings, and not surprisingly, the two lovers shared their grievances with each other, trying to find closure.

"Apples, something doesn't feel right..."

"Yep, I know whatcha mean. I can' figure it out none, either..."

"Well, at least we'll be outta here tomorrow, this place gives me the creeps."

"Aww, you scared er sumthin', Rainbow?" Applejack asked, teasingly.

"I'm not scared," Dash replied, quick to defend herself, "I just...I dunno..."

"It's ok, Dash. I know...now le's get sum shut-eye; the sooner we rest, the sooner morning will be here an' the sooner we can get outta here." With that, and a kiss, the two mares fell asleep on the large, exquisite bed that occupied most of the room.

The storm continued overhead outside the mansion, threatening the bond between the two with waves of loud precipitation, which seemed to radiate fear and discomfort. The ceaseless rain continued to slap against the walls, sending a barrage of resonance echoing throughout the halls of the mansion in an endless symphony of destruction.

***