The Darkness and the Shadows

With a hiss of steam the train pulled to an abrupt halt at the station. The ten uneasy passengers each returned to their seats and began gathering up their luggage. Twilight fired up her horn and used her magic to open up the overhead compartment where she had stored her simple saddlebag filled with some school supplies. Even now she wanted to keep up with her schoolwork.

She turned around to see Cheerilee standing behind her with a saddlebag of her own slung over her shoulder.

"Does anything about this seem...off to you?" asked Cheerilee.

"Well yes," said Twilight with a nod as she adjusted her saddlebag on her back. "I mean, it isn't exactly the most normal thing ever for ten random ponies to receive letters telling them to come to Iselin Mansion. I mean, hasn't that place been abandoned for a few years now?" Cheerilee nodded and the two began to walk out of the train.

"Something like that," she said. "But I'm even talking about beyond that." Twilight shot Cheerilee a quizzical look.

"What do you mean?" asked Twilight. Cheerilee sighed and shook her head.

"I guess it's nothing important," she said. "I may just be being delusional."

"But--" However Cheerilee had already exited the train. Twilight frowned and hopped onto the platform herself. Silently the ten ponies filed towards the looming figure that was Iselin Mansion. The walk was a quiet one, mostly everypony kept to themselves. The only noises were the occasional whispers between Applejack and Apple Bloom and the sproinging noise that Pinkie Pie made whenever she bounced forward.

Twilight's feeling of unease steadily increased as the group neared the mansion. In its prime the mansion would have undoubtedly been a thing of great splendor. It was a masterpiece of Gothic architecture. Its foreboding large windows dominated the front of the house and the way that they were positioned almost made the house appear to have a face staring down at them as they approached. The spires on the roof seemed to reach up to Celestia's heavens and the house was painted in a dark gray color that made the whole thing more off putting. As the group crossed a rickety bridge, Twilight got a good look at the grounds of the mansion. The mansion took up most of the tiny island but the grounds themselves were something to be admired as well. To Twilight's surprise, the grounds were very well kept. The grass was neatly trimmed and a healthy shade of green while the hedges that made up the path were neatly trimmed as well. In fact, the grounds reminded Twilight of Celestia's own, minus the animals. The whole island was devoid of life save for the group that was now walking towards the massive oak front doors.

Twilight took the lead and used her magic to slam the hard metal knockers on the door to signal whoever was inside that their guests had arrived. To the surprise of the ten, the front doors opened by themselves to reveal an ornate, but empty, front room.

"H...Hello?" said Twilight. She turned back to the group with a confused look but clearly none of them knew what was going on either. With a shrug, Twilight walked inside and once the group saw that she was safe, they followed.

Twilight led the group through the front door where she saw a note on a table in front of her. Curious, she used her magic to bring it closer to her and she unfolded it and read it aloud.

My dear friends, I am so glad that you could all make it. To your right is a door that reveals a hallway that leads to the main dining room. I am sure that you all must be very hungry so feel free to eat as much as you like. Afterwards, you may go up to your rooms to settle in. However, it is imperative that you do not take too long to settle in as I am sure that you will not want to miss our meeting in the sitting room. All will be made clear there. Enjoy your meal and have a good evening. I shall see you soon.

Twilight glanced towards the door to the right and the group uneasily began walking towards it. Rarity used her magic to open the door for everypony else and one by one they filed through towards the dining room. When they reached it, they saw a gigantic table, easily large enough to seat all ten of them, packed with all kinds of delicacies. It was a feast fit for Princess Celestia herself and the group was rather eager to dig in. Twilight circled the table and saw that a placecard indicated where she should sit. A note on her plate directed her towards her room.

"Well everypony, I suppose we should dig in then," said Rarity. The group gave approving nods and they began eating.

* * * *

Twilight, full from the delicious meal, put her saddlebag down on her bed. Her room was just as ornate as the rest of the house. There was a giant four poster canopy bed in the middle of the room with a plush mattress, likely stuffed with clouds, and a clean feather pillow. There was a large dresser against the opposite wall and a door next to that led to Twilight's own private bathroom which had a gigantic bathtub inside that would rival Celestia's own in terms of sheer size. She didn't know what she needed with such accommodations but boy was she grateful for them. This may just turn out to be a relaxing weekend.

Speaking of that, she remembered that she had somewhere to be. Promising herself to come back and test out that bathtub the moment she was free, she exited her room and went towards the sitting room in question.

When she arrived, she found that she was the last pony there. All of the others were inside already. Twilight scanned the room for any hint of their host but instead, all she found was a long table with nine notes on it. She frowned and looked around at the others.

"Has anypony shown up yet?" she asked. Rainbow Dash shook her head.

"We just came here and there were these notes on the table here. A note taped to the front said we had to wait until everypony was here before we read them." Twilight frowned and looked around at the group.

"Well, we're all here so...so I guess we might as well just read the notes. I'm sure it's nothing bad."

"Maybe it's an invitation to another party!" said Pinkie Pie excitedly.

"Trixie thinks that idea is incredibly foolish," said the blue mare snootily. Twilight rolled her eyes and passed out the notes to the ponies they were addressed to before unfolding her own.

Slowly her eyes scanned the contents of the note.

As she read the note, all joy and happiness was sucked from her face. Her eyes, which had previously held traces of her perpetual smile, expanded to reflect her horror at what she was reading. With each line the smile receded more and more only to be replaced by a look of sheer horror.

"Oh no," she whispered.

At that moment, Rarity let out an ear-piercing shriek, causing Twilight to snap out of her own horror and look up at the rest of the group. Each one of them was reading their own note and each one had a look of sheer horror on their faces. Rarity's note was on the floor and Rarity herself had backed into a corner and was looking at the note like it was a poisonous snake, tears flowing form her eyes.

The other eight ponies merely stared in horror at their notes, each not believing what they were reading but unable to deny the evidence in front of them. Twilight looked down at her own note and gulped.

"Uh...can I have everypony's attention?" She said weakly. The other nine ponies looked up at her with fear etched into every pore of their bodies. "I...I take it that none of your notes were...good."

"Nnope," whispered Big Macintosh.

"T...Trixie doesn't feel that s...she deserves this," said Trixie.

"What did yours say?" asked Pinkie Pie. "If your guys' are anything like mine, then I want to know just what kind of ponies I'm with tonight."

"I agree," said Rarity. "As much as I don't want to, we should read our notes aloud. I...I'll go first." Rarity gingerly used her magic to bring her note over to her and she unfolded it and cleared her throat.

Rarity, I have brought you to this island tonight so you may stand trial for your crimes against ponydom. I hereby accuse you of the murders of your best friends for the purpose of making them into dresses. You willingly betrayed their trust before you destroyed them and that is beyond horrible to me. Do not expect to survive the weekend. May Celestia have mercy on your soul.

Rarity looked up with tear filled eyes.

"I didn't do it," she whispered.

"That's not important right now," said Twilight. "What's important is what is being said. We have to keep reading."

The others nodded and the readings continued.

Cheerilee, I have brought you to this island tonight so that you may stand trial for your crimes against Ponydom. I hereby accuse you of the graphic murders of your entire elementary school class during the performance of the school play 'Reginald the Sly.' You thought them weeds so you snuffed them out and I cannot abide that kind of evil. Do not expect to survive the weekend. May Celestia have mercy on your soul.

Fluttershy, I have brought you to this island tonight so that you may stand trial for your crimes against Ponydom. I hereby accuse you of the kidnapping of one of your friends for the purpose of force feeding her regression formula so that you could perform the duties of a 'mother' to her. When she outlived her usefulness, you took her into your shed and cut her up with a chainsaw. You are a disgrace to pony kind. Do not expect to survive the weekend. May Celestia have mercy on your soul.

Big Macintosh, I have brought you to this island tonight so that you may stand trial for your crimes against Ponydom. I hereby accuse you of the sexual assault and graphic murders of your younger sister and her two best friends as well as your other younger sister. You are not a pony in my eyes, you are a monster. Do not expect to survive the weekend. May Celestia have mercy on your soul.

Rainbow Dash, I have brought you to this island tonight so that you may stand trial for your crimes against Ponydom. I hereby accuse you of the murder of your best friend with a large knife in her place of employment. Your guilt then caused you to become a prominent member in the Rainbow Factory where they performed illegal experiments on ponies under your direct supervision and encouragement. You disgust me. Do not expect to survive the weekend. May Celestia have mercy on your soul.

Trixie, I have brought you to this island tonight so that you may stand trial for your crimes against Ponydom. I hereby accuse you of the kidnapping, sexual assault, and murders of three innocent fillies as revenge for perceived slights at the hooves of their sisters. You manipulated their child-like innocence before you showed them the true dark side of ponies. You are the lowest form of pony. Do not expect to survive the weekend. May Celestia have mercy on your soul.

Apple Bloom, I have brought you to this island tonight so that you may stand trial for your crimes against Ponydom. I hereby accuse you of the murders of several classmates for the purpose of getting your cutie mark as well as influencing two friends to do the same. No cutie mark is worth that. Do not expect to survive the weekend. May Celestia have mercy on your soul.

Twilight Sparkle, I have brought you to this island tonight so that you may stand trial for your crimes against Ponydom. I hereby accuse you of the murders and psychological torture of your best friends for the sake of scientific experiments. You abused the ponies who loved you the most. You sicken me. Do not expect to survive the weekend. May Celestia have mercy on your soul.

Pinkie Pie, I have brought you to this island tonight so that you may stand trial for your crimes against Ponydom. I hereby accuse you of the murders of no less than two dozen ponies including your best friend for the purpose of baking them into cupcakes. Your joy and devotion to your sick craft makes you one of the most evil beings in existence. Do not expect to survive the weekend. May Celestia have mercy on your soul.

After the nine notes were read, the ten ponies looked around at each other, hardly daring to say a word.