//------------------------------//
// Duel 13-The Mansion 
// Story: It's Time to Duel! 
// by thisissparta789789 
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When the gang walked into the mansion, they were greeted by a small main hall with stairs on both sides of the wall. Rainbow Dash ran up them to the second floor to see if any of the doors up there worked. She tried every single one, and every time, it was the same result. "Agh! Damn it, none of these doors work!"

Suddenly, a hologram flashed up from the floor below. It was Nightmare Moon. "Why hello there..."

Twilight said, "What do you want?"

"Welcome to my little mansion of horrors, guys and gals." She then smirked. "As you may know by now, none of the doors on the second floor work."

"I know that," Rainbow Dash exclaimed, annoyed.

"To get to the next stage, you have to open the door in front of you on the first floor." Then, a guillotine opened up from the floor on a stage lift. "However, to open the door, 4 of you have to put your hand in the slots on this guillotine and figure out which button to press. If you press the wrong button, or if you take too long, the guillotine will fall, and your hands will be chopped off." She then smiled. "Have fun!"

As Nightmare Moon disappeared, Pinkie Pie said, "She is craaaaazy."

Flash Sentry walked up and placed his hand in a slot, saying, "Well, it's worth a shot." That's when they all noticed that above each slot was a number above each slot. The numbers were "00, 01, 10, 11." Flash's slot was 00.

"I'll go," Rarity said. However, Spike placed an arm in front of her and stopped her.

"No," he said. "I'll do it." He then placed his hand in the 01 slot.

Twilight nodded and placed her hand in the 10 slot. Applejack said, "Well, if nobody else gon' do it..." She placed her hand in the 11 slot.

Twilight then noticed a piece of paper hammered to the top of the guillotine. "Hey, look at that." She pointed at the paper with her free hand. "That paper up there said "blood.""

"But it's misspelled," Flash Sentry replied. "It says b, l, l, o, o, d. What does that mean?"

Then, the guillotine blade suddenly inched downwards a bit before stopping, startling everyone. Spike said, "Whatever it means, we better figure it out soon!"

Applejack said, "Try to find a clue on that paper!"

Twilight nodded and began to look at the paper intensely. "Hmmm... What's unusual about this apart from the spelling? Wait a minute... That's when she noticed something. "That second L looks a bit odd. It has a downward arrow on it."

Then, the guillotine inched closer again. Fluttershy said, "Oh no..."

Rainbow Dash then said, "Hey, I found another note on the ground on the second floor!" She then picked up the note. She read it, saying, "The guillotine does not like misspellings." She shrugged and said, "I don't know what that means."

"Hmmmm," Twilight said to herself. Then, she realized what the solution could be. "Applejack, press your button now!"

Applejack replied, "Are ya sure?"

"Just do it!"

Applejack nodded and pressed her button. Sure enough, the guillotine stopped, and the slots opened up, allowing the 4 of them to free their hands.

The whole gang breathed a sigh of relief. Spike said, "Thank God that's over."

Rarity said, "Say, how did you figure it out?"

Twilight replied,. "It was actually not too hard. You see, the word blood was misspelled on the first note. The second note said the guillotine did not like misspellings." She then pointed to the numbers on the guillotine. "Then, I just converted the numbers into letters. 10 became b, 11 became ll, 00 became oo, and 01 became d. I also noticed the first note made the second L look like a downward arrow."

Fluttershy said, "That's pretty good,. Better than anything I could do."

Then, the door behind the guillotine opened, leading to the next part of the mansion. The gang triumphantly walked past the guillotine and into the next room.

The next room was an octagonal room with 4 paintings on the wall. Unlike the first room, it was lit up. Rarity looked around and said, "What's the deal with this room?"

Suddenly, Nightmare Moon's voice said over an intercom, "Hello again."

Twilight replied, "What game are you gonna put us through now?"

"Nothing really. This is just a teaser for the final part of the mansion." Then, it appeared as though the ceiling began to stretch upwards. "You see, the door you entered through is now locked. The ceiling above you is not moving. Instead, you are being lowered, as this room is actually an elevator."

As the room lowered, the paintings' bottom halves were revealed, showing more grotesque images than as they originally appeared. Fluttershy began to shake in fear. "I don't like this..."

"Now, the elevator should stop right about now." Sure enough, the room stopped lowering on cue. "There are no doors out of here that are unlocked. However, of course, there's always my way."

Suddenly, several crashes of thunder were heard as the room turned dark. As Twilight looked up, she saw what appeared to be a hanged corpse above everyone in what appeared to be a cupola as a scream was played over the intercom.

Then, Applejack screamed, "Flashbang!" Suddenly, a loud boom was heard followed by another crash of thunder as everyone was stunned and the sound of a door slamming shut was heard. When everyone came to their senses again, the lights flipped back on.

Suddenly, Twilight said, "Hey, where's Pinkie Pie?"

"Oh no," Rarity said. "She's gone!"

Nightmare Moon's voice came over the intercom again, saying, "So, how did you like it?"

Twilight yelled, "Where the hell is Pinkie Pie?"

"I took her to another place. Don't worry, she's safe for now."

"For now?" Rainbow Dash then punched the wall. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Anyways, allow me to open the next door." A door opposite of the entrance to the room opened. "Before you go, I must warn you of the next challenge. You see, I hired a man who has a lot of skill in killing."

Fluttershy by now was crying and holding onto Rainbow Dash's arms. Flash Sentry asked, "What do you mean experience?"

"I hired a serial killer from my nation in exchange for a pardon. His name is the Hunchback Killer. He murdered 22 people over the course of 2 years at a summer camp with an axe. Now, two of you will step into the Hunchback Killer's lair while the rest of you wait here."

Then, a voice from the next room said, "Come here... Come here...

"I believe that's him. Now, I want... Fluttershy and Rarity to go in." Nightmare Moon then laughed. "Try to find a way to stop him. Good luck."

Fluttershy said, "No..."

Rarity walked over and patted her on the back, saying, "We'll make it through this. We just need to stop the killer."