Musical Labyrinth

Wes stepped in to find Michael McCarthy’s office. The walls decorated with silver, gold and platinum records. Numerous awards stacked on shelves. Photos of bands and music artists with McCarthy appearing in most of them. He knew where he was, he’s in the office of his former manager.

Derpy, Vinyl and Octavia came in to see TV screens, planted across the decorated wall. They found a dead body on the floor, blood smeared on the control panel. Three buttons stained by a blood splatter. Wes inspected the body. “He’s dead.”

McCarthy’s head wound could be from being slammed on the control panel. He found other injuries including bruised arms, broken legs and fragments of wood in his face. Wes looked at the desk, the top had a hole in the centre.

“He had a beating.” Vinyl lifted her sunglasses to see the corpse.

Octavia gazed worryingly. She knew he’s a control freak, she didn’t think he had to suffer.

“Who did this to Michael?” Derpy asked.

“Looks like he wasn’t working alone,” Wes concluded.

“There’s another?” Octavia asked.

“Afraid so.”

Wes inspected the desk, Derpy Vinyl and Octavia searched around the room, carefully avoiding Michael’s corpse. He scrambled through every drawer, searching through ever folder. He logged on the computer, it’s left on for hours. He spotted numerous emails sent back and forth to an unknown address. He went online to find the domain name, it doesn’t exist.

They’re suddenly startled by a loud rumbling sound. One of the walls pushed open, then came hoof steps. Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Shining Armour and the rest trundled in. Vinyl, Octavia and Derpy felt relieved.

“Princess Celestia, we’re glad you’re safe.” Octavia hugged Celestia under her right wing.

“We all knew you can save us. We didn’t lose faith,” said Luna.

“I don’t seem to understand why would someone wants us gone,” Celestia wondered.

“Or dead,” Rainbow Dash said firmly.

Twilight remembered what she saw in the labyrinth. “There were carvings by other ponies who were in labyrinth. I think they knew who it was.”

Wes finished searching through the desk. “There’s more than one, and he’s one of them.”

They found Michael lying on the floor. Pinkie jumped in fright. “A human!”

“He’s dead,” Applejack told Pinkie.

Pinkie shrieked and jumped again.

“Who killed him?” asked Cadance.

Wes continued searching through the computer. He found the emails written in calligraphy. He found the name of the sender. A ball of light appeared and exploded. The one responsible speared in front of their eyes.

“Prince Blueblood.” Wes turned around the monitor, revealing the unicorn’s signature.

They also gasped in shock, Rarity was more surprised than the rest.

“You’re behind all of this?” asked Celestia.

Blueblood removed the charming, handsome smile, and replaced it with angry frustration. He wasn’t taking the victory lightly. “After all I put in, you managed to fail to see the meaning.”

“You did a sloppy job in leaving no trace behind.” Wes directed Blue Blood to McCarthy’s body.

“He’s just a pawn. A Servant.”

“What do you mean fail to see the meaning?” Twilight asked.

Blue Blood sighed in frustration. Teaching the royal sisters, Crystal Empire couple and average equines will probably understand his intentions. “Taking the role of a prince has its responsibilities. What they don’t tell you is how to tackle serious matters. Everything I put in is taken for granted. Whenever I try to step in, I’m immediately overshadowed. That’s before I found a teleporting spell that can send me to other worlds. While I was in the human world, I managed to remain hidden. They don’t take kindly to talking unicorns.”

“Did you try turning into a human?” Vinyl asked.

“Some pony’s catching on. While I was in human form I had to find someone particular. A person who knows about music, shunned by the public and those who worked with him. Similar to me.”

Wes knew how mainstream music can change every few years. One minute it’s filled with alternative rock, then it’s filled with z-grade rap. There are numerous musicians who occasionally break into the music industry, by not following the crowd.

“You came up with this scheme and Michael went along with it?” Wes took a shot in the dark.

Meeting McCarthy was a blessing for Blueblood. He can manipulate a human behind his back. “He liked the idea of a Musical Labyrinth. He wasn’t aware of my real scheme. He got power hungry. He wanted to exploit every mainstream musician. I couldn’t bring myself to stop him. He couldn’t predict his fate.”

“So his death is accidental?”

“Self-defence,” Blueblood corrected.

“Now we know what caused the ceiling to drop, while we were in the labyrinth,” said Applejack.

Rarity suddenly broke down. She rushed to Blueblood, grabbing his chest. Her eyes drenched in comedic, dramatic fashion. “Please, tell me it’s all a lie. That night we met, was that a lie?”

Blueblood didn’t answer. He just stared with a grim look. Wes counted down when Rarity is going to break down even more. Rarity cried so loud, her tears flowed like waterfalls. Blueblood tried to release himself from her grasp.

“This just got embarrassing,” Wes remarked.

Fluttershy flew to Rarity. Even though she cried in the over-the-top manner, it gave Fluttershy a chance to confront Blueblood. She showed rage in her eyes. “You placed us in a labyrinth, forced us to play games, avoid traps, just so you can prove a point?!”

Blueblood leaned back once Fluttershy flew close to his eyes. He made her angry.

“You made her mad!” smiled Pinkie.

Wes noticed a camcorder. It’s still in record mode. He pressed the stop button and rewind. He found the cause of McCarthy’s death. He connected it to the computer, connected to an overhead projector on the ceiling. He played the moment when Blueblood and McCarthy began an argument.

Blueblood was in human form. McCarthy couldn’t stop throwing a fit. He’s already in financial difficulties.

“Michael, listen for once.” Blueblood tried to calm Michael down.

“Unless you’re a financial consultant, back off right now.”

“You could have at least hear me explain, why you’re in financial strain.”

Michael stopped his fit. “Go on.”

“After nearly 40 years, your spending spree consisted of marketing. Whether it succeeded or failed, you still waste money.”

“Many of the artists I worked with became successful. I must keep the marketing going.”

“Some continued their acting careers,” Blueblood reminded Michael.

Michael showed Blueblood the monitor. It displayed numerous charts showing the record company’s financial statistics. “Yet we earn less than what we spend. We’re in a recession.”

“Taking my advice would help your financial difficulty.”

“I can’t rely on outside sources. Buying my property will clash with policies that won’t come to terms and won’t change by those who made them.”

Blueblood held down Michael’s hands. Michael threw blueblood to the shelf. Trophies fell to the floor, some remained on the shelf. When he got to the feet, he tried to reason with Michael. The owner of the record company had rage fit. He couldn’t turn back, he went over the edge. He continued his assault on Blueblood. He punched Blueblood unaware he’s wearing a disguise. Blueblood unwillingly zapped Michael from his horn. Michael pushed a wood plank in the wall, revealing a control panel and screens of the Musical Labyrinth. Blueblood is now a unicorn. He panicked and zapped near Michael’s feet. Michael fell forward, his head slammed the emergency off button. A sudden break of his neck and haemorrhaging in his head, killed him in an instant.