Everfree House

Leroy Saffron was a wealthy stallion, having accumulated enormous sums of money over many years of hard work and through inheriting his father's fortune. He had grown up in this manor, for it had initially belonged to his father before him, and his father before him and so on, all the way back to his great-great-great grandfather. His ancestor died of natural causes, the next the same way. This continued all the way down to his father, who had vanished one day without a trace. There was no evidence of wrongdoing or foul play, no paper trail, no cadaver- he just vanished one morning and never came back.

His mother having died when he was just a foal and his father gone, Leroy was now the rightful owner of the family estate, company, and land, taking command at a young age. Of course, Walter Comet, who had served the Saffron family since before Leroy was born, now had become Leroy's right-hoof stallion. Immediately the young heir took to formulating a business plan to rise back to the top of the world of distilling. This plane would double profits, supply, and sales, thus allowing for repair of the deteriorating reputation of the company while building his own reputation as one of Equestria's youngest millionaires and finest distillers. Saffron Distilling Corporation was once known for its fine alcohol, something which Leroy had every intent to restore.

He and his employees labored intensively over many years to create the best drinks known to ponykind, and did they ever succeed! He began to sell his product to many bars across Equestria, receiving numerous awards for the quality of his drinks. His products varied from fine beers in many flavors to wine made of the finest grapes grown on the Saffron property, which was sold to the wealthy Canterlot high-life. It wasn't long before the Saffron name was back on the map of the alcoholic beverage world.

Leroy used his profits to improve his empire; he would divide them equally between raising his employees' wages, renovating the numerous distilleries his father built, and taking just enough to live on. However, it was well known by anypony who worked with or for him that Leroy Saffron was a ruthless businesspony. He did not stand for any form of denial in his company, did not permit failure in any way, shape, or form. And those who crossed him he regarded as the worst of all. Anypony who crossed him would lead a miserable life from then on, or just disappear.

So, it was no wonder that when Walter Comet came into his office with news of somepony stealing from the profits and the supply that Leroy took matters into his own hooves. Now here he stood in this dark, musty basement across from a stallion who had been ratted out as the suspect. "You know," he said, "This is getting rather out of hoof."

The other stallion, bound to a chair, could do little more than whimper in response. Tape was stretched across his mouth, blocking any attempt of his to speak.

"You know what happens to anyone who crosses me." Leroy picked up a simple wooden bat in his teeth, swinging it ominously before setting it down once more on the bench, one of the four furnishings in the concrete-floored room. The other two besides the bench and chair were a furnace and a sink, which had unreliable tendencies. After a brief glance around, Leroy spoke again. "You're going to pay for this. And only when I think that you have paid in full for your inexcusable behavior, only then will you be released."

The stallion began to make attempts to plead for his life, but to no avail. His muffled cries wouldn't change the heart of Leroy Saffron. Ruthlessly the wealthy landowner swung the bat, striking the wrongdoer many times over until he felt his frustrations were vented and the employee had paid in full for his inexcusable hubris. Once the process was complete, Leroy tossed the bat into the happily burning fire in the basement's furnace, watching passively until the weapon caught. Now that it was burning merrily, he set about cleaning up the place.

First, the bloodstains on the floor from the still-bleeding body. He trotted over to the cabinet and took out a bucket and mop, filling the bucket in the crude sink. Mop in hoof, he began to furiously scrub the stains from the floor. Once that was all taken care of and the bloodstains were cleaned up, he grabbed a bag, wrapping the dead body in it. He used extra care as to not further damage the cadaver; any further damage would result in a longer burn time. So, tediously and carefully, the cadaver and its bloody limbs were loaded into the bag. Leroy then lifted the bag in his teeth, hoisting it up from the floor and hauling it to the stairs which led out of the basement. As he set it down he heard the audible squish an shifting of the dismembered occupant's limbs, and forced down the rising vomit in his throat.
Once that was taken care of, Leroy put all the cleaning materials back in their place before wetting a cloth, heading over to the chair. Taking the damp cloth, he wiped down the chair, in order to cover any hoofprints he may have left. After doing this he tossed open the double doors to the outside, tossing the bag up before he climbed out. He shut the doors behind him and took the bag, trotting off to a secluded spot near a creek bed out in the forest. Leroy then emptied the contents of the bag, having to scrape out some of the limbs before draping the trash bag over the pile of mutilated body parts. With a quick spell he cast the lot afire, staying put and watching it burn. There was no remorse, no regret, just a feeling of hatred. Just another necessary job to keep his monopoly running. He could easily replace this squeaky cog. Come to think of it, that mare staying in the manor- what was her name, Sapphire something? She would make a rather good employee. Leroy mused on this as he watched the pile burn, silently sending up a pillar of smoke into the starry night sky above the forest canopy...

Sapphire Moonlight woke with a start, a strange noise like a gurgled cry from the basement having jolted her back into reality. Swiveling her ears, she noticed the rain had stopped, and the thunder was now just a faraway booming sound. However, since she was born a pegasus and had extraordinary hearing, she could make out the sounds of hoofsteps several floors below between the rounds of thunder. Suddenly, there came a noise that made her stomach churn. It was like the sound of an egg being thrown at a wall, except much, much louder. Following this was a muffled scream, followed by even more of the cracking.

By the time it stopped, she was standing on the floor, ready to flee or to fight whatever came her way. Several tense minutes passed, and upon making certain there was no ghost roaming the ornate hallways of this place, she trotted over to the window. Here she noticed something very startling.

There was a pillar of smoke rising above the forest canopy. Perhaps a brush fire? No, definitely not, for there was the silhouette of a pony down there. The wind was blowing the smoke away from the manor, yet she could smell something she couldn't exactly place. It was almost as if it was flesh that was burning, mixed with the scent of wood. Her mind slowly began to piece things together, and it wasn't long before she wondered if somehow the pony and the smell of burning were connected somehow.

Hoofsteps interrupted her from her thoughts. Somepony was coming down the hallway. Was she about to be attacked, slain, boxed up and never heard from again? Panic kicked in, prompting the mare to hurriedly grab her saddlebags off the foot of the bed and scramble to the window. She fumbled with the latch as a knocking came from the door, a voice calling out to her.

"Miss Moonlight?" the voice of Walter Comet asked. "Are you okay in there?"

She continued to fumble with the latch, eventually tugging the window down just as the doorknob began to rattle. She began to exit when the door burst open to reveal Walter, who possessed a dagger, strapped to his leg in a holster. The sight of the weapon frightened Sapphire, who warned the stallion to stay back. Despite the warning, Walter advanced, drawing out his dagger. In the words of his master, there could be no witnesses. No doubt, this mare had heard or possibly seen something, so she had to be dealt with.

Sapphire could only stand rigid as a statue, unable to move for the second time that night in her fear-addled state. The only thing that snapped her back to her escape attempt was the sharp stab of pain as the sharpened silver dagger sliced a sizable gash across her leg and wing. At this, she broke free, bucking the dagger out of the stallion's teeth as he tried to make a second swipe. With a curse from the stallion, the mare took off into the night with a slight left dutch roll motion due to the imbalance of lift over her damaged wing. She flew up and away from the manor, heading for the dim lights of the town on the horizon.

A pony trotted up to the entrance of Ponyville, the brim of her hat casting a shadow on her fuchsia-coloured eyes. A trench coat obscured her body and cutie mark, leaving only her wings visible. She had business to attend to here; something about finding an old artifact in a castle in the nearby forest. She had journeyed for several consecutive days to find this town, having come all the way from Manehattan on a previous adventure. So, upon stumbling into town an hour before sunrise, it was only natural that she needed to find a place to rest.

The town wasn't much, but it was nice indeed. Buildings lined a simple maze of streets, all of which bore a similar appearance. Their roofs were lined with simple wood or tile, the sign outside oftentimes being the only indication of a difference. Most places were closed; perhaps she'd find a bench in a park or something to rest under. Traveling by hoof sure did wear a pony out, even if they were a relatively young, highly fit, and experienced adventurer.

As she went about in search of a hotel, the sun began to crest over the horizon. The birds began to chatter, singing their ever-so-bothersome song into the morning twilight. With a yawn, the mare began to think about her next book. Not only was she an adventurer, she was an author, too. An author currently suffering from a severe case of writer's block. There was nothing to write about, no new adventure, no nothing. How could she continue her insanely popular action-adventure novel series if she had no new adventures to narrate? Secretly she hoped she could turn this venture into something of book material, though she knew her chances were slim. Searches for artifacts varied from dull and easy to outright dangerous.

Something landing on all four hooves with a slight thud mere feet in front of her jolted the adventurer back to reality. Adjusting her hat and donning her thick red-framed glasses, the mare looked up and met the eyes of a deep-blue coated mare who appeared to be slightly worn. Her coat was ragged, her feathers torn and wings drooping slightly, and blood encrusted on her leg.

"Can I help you?" the author-adventurer asked, with a tone of minor concern in her slightly raspy voice.

"I must reach the authorities as soon as possible," the mare replied, obviously frightened.

"Oh? What's going on?" This was starting to pique the author's interest. It was highly uncommon for somepony to require the authorities in a small town like this one. Could this be the start of some new adventure?

"I suspect something's happened over at the Saffron Manor." She looked over her shoulder, fearful that she had been followed. "There were noises down in the basement; I heard them from my room. Then there was a fire outside the manor..." She shuddered at this. Never had she seen things so disturbing; what was only supposed to be an effort to reveal the truth had rapidly deteriorated into the single most horrifying night of Sapphire's life. It wasn't supposed to have gone this far.

The other mare nodded. "Follow me. I'll get you the help you need."

Convinced, Sapphire followed, limping along behind the enigmatic trench-coat mare. Hopefully she'd get this all sorted out, sooner rather than later.