The Mystery of Rainlock Mansion (partic. only)

[Red Charge]

What a strange morning, the early winter mist was hanging heavily over Equestria, the birds were quiet, and animals were nowhere to be seen. Only the soft rustles of the wind through the trees was heard throughout the realm.

Not at all during regular mail delivery hours, had a group of letters appeared in the mail-slots of several completely unrelated ponies. Fine, cursive writing adorned the exotic looking envelopes, bearing the names of the ponies they were addressed to:

Candlelight Prose, Wildfire, Lost Star, Selenia, Trace Silver, Heartstring, and Fluttershy.

Funnily enough, no pony has seen who delivered these strange letters, nor do the letters have any return address. Only a large logo imprinted on the paper itself, of a darkly colored shield with the initials R.L

"Dear guest,

You are hereby cordially invited to the First Grand Masquerade Ball held at Rainlock Mansion, Manehattan. Masks will be handed out upon entry to the mansion. The masquerade ball is in celebration of the brilliant Dr. Rainlock, one of the most esteemed minds in Equestria.

Dr. Rainlock's research into Magical Theory has greatly helped advance many fields in the Mages' Circle. The Doctor's studies of plants and herbs, as well as animals under different conditions have also helped improve the caring and environmental efficiency.

The mansion itself is open entirely to the visitors, including the vast Greenhouse, containing some of the rarest plants and animals in Equestria, as well as the Weather Room, an innovative idea by Dr. Rainlock to help Pegasi with weather control. Dr. Rainlock has also generously opened his great library for all guests, who will join in this one time offer.

And of course, the treasure vaults: As a diligent treasure hunter and spelunker, as well as geographer, Dr. Rainlock has assembled quite the collection of rarities and antiquities, as well as various valuables from travels, cataloging them in a museum inside the mansion, yet unopened to ponies anywhere. The Doctor has also decided that since interest in treasure hunting has died, the maps to yet unexplored locations will be displayed in said museum.

And last but not list, the Doctor has assembled quite the amount of fashion-ware from travelling all over the world, and shall generously display them in the Hall of Mirrors, for all of interest to see: Pony clothing from ages past, griffin fashion yet unseen in Equestria, and even rare commodities from the far north and east.

We hope you can all participate in this one time only ball, for depending on the turn out, the Doctor will decide whether to open the mansion to the public, or to forever keep it locked.

With best regards,

Gale."

Further inside the envelope was a coach voucher, explaining that upon arrival to Manehattan carriages will await to take the guests to the Mansion. How considerate. The invitation seemed sincere, if mysterious. But one thing was for sure, every single one of the ponies invited had a reason to go. What could go wrong with a simple masquerade party?

[zeeth]

Lost Star walked into her dorm room and looked at the envelope on the floor. "R.L.? Who in Canterlot has heraldry like that?" She swept it up with her horn and opened it, pulling out the letter. Her schoolbags dropped on the floor near her bed as she unfolded the odd mailing.

Hmm. Lost "tasted" the letter, and let her horn feel the pull of its secrets. She went to her bookshelf and pulled out a map of Equestria. Manehattan... I need an atlas. A dot glowed on the map. Wait...

"MANEHATTAN??" The filly stared incredulously at the letter. Then she started reading instead of skimming.

"Hey, keep it down," yelled a pony in the room next door. "Some of us have class in the morning!" Lost made a face at that muffled voice, and kept reading the letter.

"Masquerade? Masks provided? What, are they enchanted or something? I'd better check my spells just in case." Then she paused. "Wait. I don't have a dress. I need a dress!"

The frantic spinning in her head slowed a bit as the next few paragraphs caught her attention. Then that spinning stuttered. "Unexplored locations?" Something about the word 'unexplored' tickled at her.

"Nevermind a dress, I'll wear a blanket if I have to! How do I get to Manehattan, do I have a transport spell or a ..." something was tugging at her horn. "Oh. There's a ticket? How did I miss that?" She rummaged the envelope, and the voucher dropped out. "There we go!"

Triumphantly, the unicorn pranced about her small room, making a clatter with her hooves on the wooden floor. The pony who'd spoken up before yelled, "Go to sleep!" But Lost barely heard her.

Then she saw who had written. "Gale? Wait, why haven't I heard of Dr. Rainlock, anyway? Was I asleep in that class?" Gale Rainlock?

With a sigh, the filly looked out the window. It was rather late, after all. She took a good breath and composed herself, looking around the room. A careful burst of magic, and she'd tidied up what she could; and then Lost threw herself into bed.

She knew she'd be up for hours thinking about this. Class in the morning was going to be awful.

[Selenia]

Selenia finished reading and put down the letter. She had a lot of work to do to get ready for such a party. Firstly, it was in Manehattan, so she would have to keep up on her etiquette, and secondly, it was a masquerade. That required a very special dress.

She wished she could take a short trip down to Ponyville and commission that up-and-coming fashion designer, Rarity, for a dress, but she didn't have the time or money to get something that high quality. A Rarity original could wait for another occasion.

Also, the letter seemed quite queer in the way it was written. No return address or sender. And the description specifically highlighted his expansive personal library, which she had wanted to gain access to for years, and his detailed research in magical theory and relations with the Mage's Circle, which she was trying to gain entry into aswell. I was as if certain aspects of this invitation had been chosen specifically for her. She shoved all suspicions aside, figuring that worrying about anything would ruin the experience and also waste time.

But this Dr. Rainlock seemed like her kind of pony, very sophisticated and learned, Selenia was sure she would have a wonderful time talking to him later in the party. And Selenia also pondered why, out of all ponies, pick her to come to this party.

But the clock was ticking, and time wasn't truly on her side. She grabbed what money she had and ran out of the library to search out a designer in Canterlot.

[dragoonofdeath]

Wildfire stared hard at the letter laid out on her pillow as she sat there on her bed, wishing it would go away. "Why would anypony invite me to a fancy party? Masks? Masquerade ball? Must be a prank." Her eyes drifted from the letter to the envelope, the ticket loosely hanging out of it. "Even if it's not, I don't have anything 'fancy' to wear. I have my old dress from when I graduated flight school, but it's way to small..." The letter didn't specify a date for the 'party' but she knew it was probably soon, and if this pony was of a "prestigious" sort, she would probably hurt his ego if she didn't show. She looked back at the letter, eyeing the one part that actually had her interested. She had never heard of a weather room, and she wanted to know what this guy had come up with. She looked out her window, noting it was way to late to go shopping for an outfit. She stepped over to her closet and picked out an old cape with a hood, black with silver trimming, a few holes and patches of grey showing its age and misuse. "Forgot I had this...It'll do. I hope." She looked back to her bed and was suddenly tired. She walked over and flopped down into the bed, hoping her sleep wouldn't be interrupted by embarrasing thoughts of making a foal of herself at a party she didn't really want to go to.

[treasuremare]

Manehattan! City where dreams come true! ...Or something like that. Trace Silver couldn't quite recall their slogan, and to be honest, she didn't care too much about it either. A large city like this held little value for a pony of her nature. She was only stopping in town to sell some of her findings and spend the night in a real bed for once. Maybe a shower or two, to get out the dirt that normally lived in her mane.

It didn't take Trace long to find a hotel she could stay in for the next few days while she was in town. After paying for a room, moving all her bags to said room, with the help of several Bellcolts, and making sure her cart would be safe out behind the hotel, she made herself comfy in her new temporary home.

After a shower and meal, a letter slipped in under her door. Peering at it with a raised eyebrow from her bed for a few seconds, she hopped up and quickly moved to the door, opening it and peered out into the hall. No pony was there. Strange. She turned and closed the door, lowering her gaze to the letter with her name printed on it. She picked it up and brought it over to the table to begin her inspection.

Trace read through the letter many times, flipping it over to check the back for anything just as often. Something about the letter rubbed her the wrong way. The main factor being that she almost never got mail. She moved around too much for it, which made it quite hard for mail ponies to track her down. Second, she was barely checked in for an hour before the letter showed up. Third, how did this Gale or Dr. Rainlock hear of her. Its not like she boasted her name around after each of her findings.

She would have tossed the letter away, forgetting about it completely, had two aspects not caught her attention. The treasure vaults and the maps. She had to see for herself if these were, not only real, but lived up to the hype the letter built them up to.

She put the letter down and eyed the voucher that would take her there. She chewed on her lip as she thought it over. She did have the room for a few days, and she was already in town. Maybe a little party would be good for her, a little interaction after working alone most of the time. She nodded to herself, she'll go. But she would need something to wear...

Trace grinned and walked up to her window, glancing out over the city. What better place could there be to gather everything a Mare would need for a party on short notice. She had her plan. She turned from the window, grabbing two of her bags and headed out. She had a lot of shopping to do.

[fluttershy]

"Oh dear." Fluttershy put the letter down and looked out the window at the gloomy morning sky. She wasn't surprised at the anxious knot twisting in her stomach at the thought of attending a party with a bunch of ponies she didn't know. What did surprise her was a feeling of foreboding. Who was this Dr. Rainlock anyway? And why had he invited Fluttershy and not somepony else? Surely Twilight Sparkle would have been a more worthy candidate.

And yet...

Fluttershy simply couldn't refuse an invitation like this. Not when it gave her the opportunity to meet rare animals and view plants she might never have seen before. Queer feelings or no queer feelings, Fluttershy was going to this masquerade!

She shuddered and accepted the comforting nuzzle of a few bluebirds who had chanced to fly in through the window. "It's okay..." She said quietly, "I'll be able to be brave... it's a wonderful opportunity. Oh, but if only I could bring a friend, I would feel ever so much better about it."

One of the birds tweeted softly at her.

"Invite Ranger? What a good idea! I'm not sure if he's free, but it certainly would be lovely to have somepony there with me that I know."

Feeling cheered, Fluttershy made her way over to her closet to choose what to wear. Her first impulse was to grace the masquerade in the outfit Rarity had made for the Grand Galloping Gala. But- the outfit was much too light for a winter party. Fluttershy pushed it aside with a sigh, and her gaze was drawn to a silky green dress. It was simple, but effective, and certainly winter appropriate! Although, it was rather wrinkled for some reason. Fluttershy pulled it out and brought it over to her ironing board. Setting her iron on low heat she began smoothing the dress, humming as she worked.

[sarma]

There was no mistaking it, Candlelight was relatively impressed by the invitation. The thought of an elegant soiree in the presence of an esteemed intellectual mind such as the great Dr. Rainlock certainly excited her. With her attendance it would prove to be a wonderful night, with both the expected sophistication of the inhabitants (granted since they were residing in a city as Manehattan.), and including the exceptional probability of both impressive business ventures and academic improvements; there wasn't much reason to not attend.

Her wardrobe for such events had been lacking attention lately anyways. So few "parties" in Ponyville seemed to keep up the standards of the extravagant social gatherings she had been accustomed to back in Canterlot. Curiously she had even found herself attending fewer of them after this realization. Transportation to Manehattan also didn't present itself as a problem to Candle, who could only be assumed to have thought up a way to reach the city in only the most expensive, most over the top way possible. If only just because.

There were in fact, several particular points that stood out from the letter's list of excellent eye-catching traits that intrigued her. Quietly she had to wonder though, just who else would be attending such an affair? Clearly only the greatest scholarly minds would be present, correct?

[heartstring]

As the morning sun was peeking over the horizon, Heartstring was just stepping through the door of his loft apartment. After finishing yesterday’s photoshoot he and the other models went out for a night on the town. It was adventurous night that half of them wouldn’t remember and the other half would never talk about. Needless to say there were only two things on the pony’s mind: a shower and sleep.

“Oh the effects a long night can have on a pony.” He stated observing his reflection in the full-length mirror he kept by the door. The normally jovial Heartstring was replaced by one that appeared worn-out and haggard. His mane looked as far from kept as possible, frayed in some places and matted in others and stained by Celestia knows what, his fur was no less shaggy and the bags under his eyes were deeper than his saddlebags. He sighed and tried to put on the biggest smile he could muster.

“That’s better,” he said, giving himself a halfhearted pep talk “remember: smiling is good for the face muscles.” As he spoke, Heartstring noticed something slide under his door. He turned to see that the most handsomely adorned envelope he had ever seen was lying on the floor in front of his door. He walked over to the letter and sat back on his haunches before picking it up and turning it over several times. He normally collected his mail from the boxes downstairs. His sleep-deprived mind couldn’t fathom why the letter was here, especially at this absurd hour. Heartstring carefully broke the seal and removed the contents of the envelope. He skimmed through the letter, until he reached the part that was obviously meant to get his attention.

“THEY HAVE FASHION FROM THE GRIFFIN KINGDOM?!” The stallion’s high-pitched squeal was probably enough to wake the entire floor, but that was the least of his concerns. Griffins were renowned as the best smiths and artisans. The pride they had in their work made finding anything griffin-made rare in Equestria, difficult to obtain for even a noble. Heartstring HAD to see Dr. Rainlock’s collection. He turned, galloping to his room to choose an outfit for the event, exhaustion forgotten in his excitement.

[Ranger]

Ranger may not have gotten a letter, but Fluttershy's constant pleas finally wore him down. "Fine," He said to the brightly coated Pegasus. "Fine, I'll join you, already have my own mask anyway." He sighed, "I just have to go do something tonight, and tomorrow I'll get a suit." He promised, he had to go trap the entrance to Everfree forest, make sure nothing comes out of there. Everfree Forest was recently a focal point for animal activity of the aggressive kind. And with more and more attacks reported every day, he had to ensure the safety of the citizens of Ponyville. And so he went.

The next day, despite his reluctance to leave a pony he had just met, he went and rented a fine suit for himself, being measured the entire day, before finally securing one. He did not remove the wooden mask from his face however. And awaited a signal from Fluttershy as to when they would leave for the ball.

[Red Charge]

And not many a nights later, another letter arrived in the mail, stating the precise date of the ball, a date that somehow fit all of the schedules, as though it was planned that way. The carriages arrived precisely on the time stated in the letter, and awaited for the ponies to mount them. The horses pulling the carriages did not seem to mind an extra pony in Fluttershy's carriage, and Ranger secured transport easily.

The ponies were surprised to find that in each of the carriages was a masquerade mask, to each pony a different one:

To Selenia, a fox, to Lost Star, a dog, to Heartstring, a peacock, to Trace, a raven, to Fluttershy, a rabbit, to Wildfire, a Tiger, to Candlelight, an owl.

The masks seemed regular in appearance, all of them were white with colored engravings and decorations, seemed to fit each pony exactly. And so, before they could even stop to think, the carriages began moving, carrying them the long journey to Manehattan.

It was a full moon's eve, yet it seemed darker than usual on their way, something not quite right about it, but then again, this has been the general feeling throughout the last couple of weeks regardless, but such a strange night to throw a masquerade.
One would wonder why the strange Dr. Rainlock would suddenly throw such a party. Many ponies far and wide coveted a chance to enter the Doctor's mansion, and raid the volumes of knowledge in its libraries, the treasures in its vault, or the very ideas of the Doctor himself.

One could only hope the party itself would not be as dull as the Grand Galloping Gala, hopefully the good doctor throws a better dance than Princess Celestia.

[Selenia]

The date mentioned on the second letter came around and Selenia entered the awaiting carriage to find a mask waiting for her on the velvety cushions of the posh carriage interior, a fox mask. She picked it up and examined it, then tried it on. Perfect fit, as if it was tailored specifically for her.

She also liked the fact that it was a fox, just like her: sly, cunning, curious, and more importantly; dangerous. She pulled a small mirror out of her pocket and examined the mask on her face. It looked nice, and so did she with her newly made dark purple dress. Even though She didn't care much for fashion, the layered gown would sure make an impression on anypony at the party.

The carriage lurched forward, catching her off guard and off balance. She dropped the tiny mirror and grabbed hold of the seat, and reached out to catch her mirror. But right as she was about to get it, it hit the floor of the carriage and shattered, little bits of glass tinkling on the floorboards of the moving carriage.

"Awww... Great job, Selenia." She sighed. It was her favorite mirror, but she could buy a new one. She picked up the largest piece of broken glass and looked at herself in it. The image she saw was fractured, a large crack down the middle of her face. She sighed again and stuffed it carefully in her pocket, trying not to think of the bad luck that came from a broken mirror.

She cleaned up the rest and wrapped it in a handkerchief, she could throw it away once she was at the party.

[dragoonofdeath]

Wildfire threw her hood up and stepped into the carriage, barely seating herself when the silent stallions pulling it began moving forward, making her stumble and fall on something sharp. She jumped up and glared at the mask, depicting a tigers face.
"A tiger? I hope this isn't supposed to be symolic or anything..."
She put the mask on and affixed her cloak, which after some washing and TLC, looked good as new. She sat down on one of the cushions in the carriage, looking out the window as the night sky rolled overhead. It would be a bit of a ride to Manehattan and she was already getting bored. Hopefully the party would be exciting.

[fluttershy]

Despite the fact that she had chosen a more seasonal dress, Fluttershy still found herself shivering in the cool air. The silk was no match for the breeze that lifted her mane and rustled through her wings. The moonlight glinted off the carriage that had been sent to pick her up. Had Ranger not already been inside Fluttershy might not have been able to enter, whatever her previous convictions might have been. However, she was reassured at his presence, and she entered the carriage.

On the seat lay a mask depicting the face of a Rabbit. Fluttershy examined it and pulled it on with a smile. It was so cute! She pushed it up on her forehead with one hoof and turned to Ranger. She hadn't actually spent a whole lot of time with him really, but the two had met once or twice in passing and shared some nice conversations. She understood that he too appreciated the natural world, and this made her feel less awkward when striking up a conversation.

"I just wanted to thank you again for coming with me. You really didn't have to, it was very kind of you..." Fluttershy trailed off and looked down at the floor. The carriage had begun to move, and although the ride was fairly smooth, the gentle rocking motion had Fluttershy's stomach churning again.

[Ranger]

"No problem at all Fluttershy!" Ranger laughed, "I'm happy I get to come with you, I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun. Besides, I want to know what kinds of rare plants and animals Dr. Rainlock has. I've actually been able to get a Dragon Crown, and I was wondering if he might know how I can grow some in my basement. But I'll tell you all about it when we get to the party!"

Ranger smiled at her behind his wooden mask, also giggling slightly at her bunny mask, "You look cute in that mask, it really fits you well!" He pointed at the bunny mask now on Fluttershy's head, it really did fit her perfectly, as though made for her, but that would be silly, Ranger thought. Who would do that?

[treasuremare]

Trace examined the mask in her hooves, shifting it around to look at it from different angles. What was it? She could see that it was obviously a bird of some kind. A crow maybe? She frowned and shifted it again, letting the light catch it differently. Perhaps a raven? She tilted her head and let out a small sigh. So, she was going to be hiding behind the mask of a feathered thief, snatching up little treasures when their owner wasn't looking. She rose a hoof to the ruby necklace she was wearing. She had it custom made for the event, using a gem she had gotten from a dragon's hoard. Another sigh. Okay, maybe it was fitting.

She slid the mask onto her face, it fit perfectly. Almost too perfectly. Her doubt of deciding to attend the event started creeping up on her again, so she shook her head to free herself from it. She had her reasons for going and she was going to see this through.

She shifted in her seat and glanced out the window of the carriage. She wasn't really looking at anything and just let her mind wander. She shifted again, running a hoof down her dress to smooth it out. She wore a strapless red dress that hugged her body, with a slit at the end to show off some leg. Trace hated it, but the mare at the Boutique where she got it insisted, saying she looked stunning. The mare also insisted that she wear mane extensions, since her mane was normally too short to do anything with. Along with the dress, she wore long, matching gloves and heels, and her necklace.

Trace really hated the dress, though. She found it too restrictive, not allowing her to move very freely. Oh, and the shoes! They made it hard to do anything more then a simple trot. Another sigh. But so what if she couldn't move easily. It was just for one night, and it was just some fancy party, right?