They all clamored and tripped into the room to see. It was true- the spot where they circled around earlier, where the unconscious changeling had lay, was now empty. Questions flew through the crowd.
Rainbow let out a whistle to grab their attention. "Everypony, spread out! Search for some kind of clue as to what happened!," she barked. Fluttershy ran to check under the couches, Applejack knelt down to examine the carpet, and Pinkie started to toss thing out of the desk drawers. Key Keeper came behind her and re-organized the mess she created. Sugar Belle stood next to Coco, making sure she and the gem were uninjured.
Rainbow noticed Rarity heading out the door. "Where do you think you're going?," she snapped. Rarity huffed, "I'm just going to find the little mares room to…powder my muzzle." Rainbow blinked and replied, "Your makeup looks fine to me." Rarity rolled her eyes and walked out the door.
Rainbow went over to Twilight , who was doing some kind of scan over the room. "Twilight, I thought you said that he had been hit by that memory…spell…thingy." Twilight ceased her scan and turned to her. "He was! Or at least I thought he was…" She held a hoof to her chin. "I wonder what effects this could have on the artifact if it 'missed'…or maybe the artifact just wasn't calibrated to work on changelings…"
Rainbow flew to the others as Twilight began to mutter theories, drawing in the air with her hooves as she talked. She zipped over to Fluttershy, who was now poking around the fireplace. She suddenly gasped, "Maybe QC attacked the cook!" Pinkie and Rainbow turned to her, shouting, "YES!"
Key Keeper and Twilight stared at them blankly. "How?," they asked at the same time. Rainbow shut her mouth, Fluttershy shifted her hooves as though illustrating something, while Pinkie turned back to what she had been doing- reading one of the folders on the desk.
Rainbow gave a start and flew over to her when she realized she was reading [i]her[/i] folder. She snatched it out of Pinkies hooves in one smooth motion. Smooth, if not for that she ended up scattering the contents over the floor.
"Aw, it was starting to get good!," whined Pinkie. Rainbow bristled out and yelled, "Well, this is my file, it belongs to me, and it is NOT YOURS TO READ!" A rustling of papers made her swivel her head. Fluttershy had come over and was shifting the papers into her hooves.
"Um…I was just… gathering them up?," she squeaked. As Rainbow opened her mouth, she yelped and ran off. Rainbow sighed and threw the photos and papers back into the folder as a disorganized mess, slamming it back on the desk. Key Keeper activated his horn, ready to fix the mess, but a glare from Rainbow stopped him short.
"Ha!," cried Applejack from her place at the carpet. Everypony ran towards her, but she held out her hooves to keep them standing back. She began to point out grooves and prints made in the carpet. "This here shows that some creature was here for a bit, but got up quickly, and here," she pointed to groves headed to the door, "these tell us they headed that way in an awful hurry."
Pinkie chirped, "That was amazing, Applejack! How'd you know all that? Are you a physic?" Applejack's cheeks turned pink. "Nothin' like that," she chuckled, "I just know how to read tracks. First time doing it with carpet though. But unfortunately, I don't know how I could read tile floors, so we don't know where QC went after he left."
Rarity sighed in relief as she came to a door painted with the letters "RESTROOM" in gold print. "Honestly," she huffed, "You'd think one of the first things to be in a large mansion would be easy-to-find restrooms."
She started to jiggle the stuck handle. Although I wonder if emotion-only-diet changelings even need to use it…Maybe I could ask Twilight… No, no! That is not a topic of polite conversation, Rarity!
The door finally opened.
Something large, black and heavy lunged at Rarity.
She screamed.
Everypony's ears perked up as a scream echoed through the house. They all galloped out the door, crying, "Rarity!"
They eventually found her, still screaming loudly and trying to back away as QC loped on top of her. "Get off her, creep!," yelled Rainbow, who flew forward to strike the mad changeling in the gut. He went flying, skidding limply across the floor, his chassis making a horrid scraping sound.
QC stared at them from his place on the floor with open grey eyes. Twilight cantered over as the others watched Rarity. Free of the weight, she brought a fan out of her dress and fanned herself as she brought a hoof up to her head.
Sugar Belle activated her horn, casting a magical aura around Rarity. But she was no skilled mage, and as Rarity fainted and fell, the spell dispersed and she fell onto the tile floor. "Sorry!," squeaked Sugar Belle as she offered a hoof to help the forcibly awakened Rarity up.
The two of them joined the rest of the group, who began to gather around the limp changeling. Twilight ran several tests over him before standing up to declare, "Well, he's certainly under that spell now. Plus some injuries from magic." She pointed out scorch marks on his legs and wings. "From the injuries, and this knock on the head," she gestured, "We can deduce that a magic user attacked him from behind, knocked him out, and used the spell."
Rainbow hummed suspiciously, "So we know it was a unicorn…" Fluttershy took a small step away from Rarity and Sugar Belle. Twilight glared and said, "While that is the simplest explanation, we don't know the full abilities of the artifacts. They could give users other forms of magic, for all we know." Rainbow huffed, "I thought scientists like you used that thing…O-chan's Blade or something."
Twilight grunted, "It's called Occam's Razor! Plus, using one point of data to come to your conclusion is just…just unscientific!" Rainbow opened her mouth to argue, but Pinkie interjected, "You guys, fighting's not going to do anything but waste time! And now we have to find who did this, and with what artifact, and now we don't even know where it was done…" she babbled, bouncing around the circle.
Key Keeper lifted the unconscious changeling with magic. "Hold it!," cried Applejack. "We can't move him unless we can bring the artifact with us. We don't want him to go into a coma…or worse." Key Keeper let out a groan, "I suppose we should leave him here to trip over, then, while we focus on learning information that doesn't even remotely help us! IT DOESN'T MATTER WHERE IT WAS DONE, OR WHICH ARTIFACT THEY USED!"
Fluttershy cowered and whimpered, "T-there's no need to shout." Key Keeper snapped, "I'M NOT SHOUTING!" A small pause as the ponies glanced at each other. "ALRIGHT, I AM! I'M SHOUTING, I'M SHOUTING, I'M SHOUT-" he was cut off as the balloon-shaped gem, now actively glowing, hit him in the back of the head. His knees crumpled and he fell to the ground.
Rainbow hovered next to the top of the bathroom's doorframe, dusting her hooves against each other. "We don't have time to be freaking out here," she snapped, "now stop yelling and let's take him to the Study." Twilight levitated QC and the gem carefully, giving Rainbow a glare. "You really should be more careful with these. We don't want them damaged." Rainbow landed, looking sheepish. "Sorry."
They headed back, Sugar Belle helping the stunned Key Keeper, who was rubbing at a lump on his head. Twilight placed both victims flat on the couches, the gems tied to their front hooves with handkerchiefs donated by Rarity. Rainbow stood at the desk, facing the others. Taking charge again, she asked, "Okay. Who had access to the balloon gem?"
Pinkie waved her hoof high in the air. "Oh! It was given to me, but I dropped it when we ran to the Kitchen! And you and Applejack dropped yours then! And Fluttershy dropped hers before the lights went out, Rarity dropped hers after she drank the water, and Twilight had dropped hers in the dark!" She beamed at the group, who looked at her in awe.
Applejack shook her head and groaned, burying her face into her hat. "So basically, everyone had access to all of the artifacts. So we don't know who did it." The others all groaned at this. Fluttershy let out a small, scared "I didn't do it."
Key Keeper walked around the room, gathering the gems. "I think we should lock these up. The star, the butterfly, the apple, and the lightning bolt gems. There's some…maniac about, using dark magic, and we need to keep these out of their hooves." The ponies cheered in agreement as he placed the dim gems in the cupboard and locked it.
The cheers stopped as he started to place the key on his key ring. "What are you doing with that?," asked Fluttershy. "Putting it on my key ring," he stated obviously. "Why?," questioned Fluttershy suspiciously. "To keep it safe, of course."
Rarity approached, stating, "That means you can open it whenever you want." "And it means that you can't." Rarity continued as the others surrounded him. "What if you're the one behind this?" The others gasped. "I'm not!," protested Key Keeper.
"But what if you are!," exclaimed Rainbow, giving him a small shove. Key Keeper stuttered, "I-If I've got it, I know…I'm…safe?" He gulped as the seven glaring mares surrounded him. A flicker of magic flowed through Twilight's horn.
After another gulp, he stuttered again, "Hey! Let's throw it away! That sounds much much safer." The mares cheered, and Key Keeper was swept along with the herd as they rushed to the front door. He was pushed to the front of the crowd, and he began to sweat as he felt their eyes and hooves pressing on his back.
He lifted the key up high with his magic, brought it back into a ready-to-throw position, and flung open the door.