Discord snapped his fingers and reappeared in front of the ponies. Celestia was fuming. "Enough stalling Discord! What have you done with the Elements of Harmony?!"
Discord chuckled. This'll be fun. "Fine, now lets play a game. I'll tell you a riddle that will lead you to the Elements." He snapped his fingers and disappeared again. His hollow voice echoed through the hallway.
"Twists and turns are my master plan, then find the Elements back where you began... "
The halls grew silent as the voice faded away. Celestia and Luna looked at each other. "Can we go home now?" Fluttershy pleaded.
"What do ya think he meant by 'twists and turns and then to back where we started'?" Applejack asked.
Twilight pondered for a little while. Suddenly she gasped and pressed her face to the window looking over at the maze. "I got it! He must mean the Canterlot Maze!"
Celestia smiled. "Good luck girls,"
Twilight and the girls bolted down the hallway and out of sight. Luna glanced at her sister. "Tia, do you think Songbird will be safe?"
"I'm sure she will, but she's not a filly anymore Luna and you know that."
Luna hung her head. "I...I just wish I hadn't turned to the dark side. I lost my baby girl, I never got to see her grow up,"
Celestia wrapped a wing around her sister. "I know Luna, everyone makes mistakes. Even if you left her, she loves you the same."
Luna nodded with a little tear in her eye. "That was my deepest regret though, there are so many things I never got to see; her school days, sweet 16th, her 18th! Tia, I missed so many birthdays, so many times where I could have celebrated the day she came into my life. I wish I had listened to Polaris that night, he told me that if I committed a selfish deed, I would lose her,"
"Luna-"
"Tia, just...I need to go,"
Luna walked out the hallway, while Celestia watched as she left. Now, she was alone in the long hallway.
Celestia walked slowly along the tiled floor, her golden shoes clacking against the marble. She stopped in front of a certain stained glass window. In the centre was a familiar black and blue alicorn, herself and a small white and blue filly. "Oh Lulu, I regretted that day so much, I am partly to blame. I was the one who wielded the Elements against you and drove you from your daughter. If only I could turn back the time and stop it from happening." No pony was around to see a single tear drip from the princess's eye.
Discord rubbed his hands together as he watched the six ponies scamper threw the maze. This was going to be fun. He hadn't had this much fun since he met...Songbird...
That filly brought joy to his lonely life of solitude. At only three years old, she did so much. Now...after a thousand years she had forgotten him. He clenched his fist, trying to control his anger. He had saved her from that Timberwolf and this was the thanks he got! "Hmph," he said. "I can't believe this, she meant so much to me. I thought I finally found somepony who cared about me, but I guess you can't trust anyone,"
He looked down and spotted Applejack. He grinned as he thought of something. "She has replaced me with this six ponies. Maybe I should change them a little bit, starting with you Applejack," he snapped his fingers and snapped up three large piles of apples.
Applejack looked around the clearing in the maze. "Where am I?" she wondered. Her eyes caught sight of three piles of apples rolling towards her. "Who are you?" she asked, slightly scared.
"The keepers of the grove," said the deep red one. "You may ask us-"
"One question?" said the lighter red one.
"Past, future or present," said the green one.
"But be warned, that the truth may not always be pleasant." they all said, while circling her.
"Alright, I got a bad feeling about this Discord. What's gonna become of us when we get outta this place?"
The 'keepers' led her over to a small pool. "The answer you seek, go ahead and take a peek," said the green one.
Applejack peaked into the water and was shocked to see her and her friends arguing. "No, our friendship...over?"
Above her, Discord was pulling on the puppet strings that controlled the 'keepers', chuckling to himself.
"No, it can't be true. It just can't!" Applejack wailed.
"Well the truth is what can make the heart ache," said the green one as it faded into Discord's voice. "Sometimes a lie is easier to take," he said as Applejacks eyes turned spiral and her colour dulled. The 'keepers' disappeared and part of the hedge opened up, revealing Twilight standing there.
"Applejack!" she cried, running to her friend. "I thought I heard voices over here, who were you talking to?"
"I was talking to no pony!" Applejack snapped. "Come on, we best get going,"
Twilight watched in confusion. "Did Applejack just...lie?"
Watching from above, Discord grinned. "Soon they'll all know how I feel,"
Pinkie bounced down through the maze, not grasping the seriousness of the situation. She stopped when she saw a clearing full of balloons with faces on them. They were laughing at something. Pinkie squealed at the sight and bounced around. "This is amazing!" She let out a gasp as she fell into a mud puddle. The laughter increased, directly at her. "Hey what gives?!" she snapped.
In a flash of light, Discord appeared above her. "What's the matter Pinkie Pie, I thought you liked laughter?"
"It's different, they're laughing at me,"
"It's hard to be different, your friends laugh at you all the the time,"
Pinkie stood up and shook off the mess from her coat. "My friends laugh with me, not at me," she explained with a smile.
"Is that so," Discord said as the laughter started again, louder this time.
Pinkie trie her best to shut out the noise. "No! Stop laughing at me!"
"Oh poor Pinkie Pie, and I thought laughter made you happy," Discord murmured as Pinkie's eyes turned into spirals and her coat dulled.
"Happy, I don't think so," she growled.
The balloons disappeared and Discord watched from a safe distance. "I used to laugh all the time with Songbird, too bad she replaced me with you Pinkie," he scoffed.
"I was expecting an audience with the princess, not outdoor sport-" Rarity was cut off as she bumped into something. Her eyes adjusted to see three diamonds in the centre of a huge stone. "Oh my," she uttered.
Discord's face appeared in the diamonds. "Welcome to your lucky day Rarity, you have found the one thing in Equestria that could rival true beauty."
Rarity's eyes instantly turned to spirals. "What do you think?" Discord asked in a mock tone.
"It's beautiful," Rarity shook her head. "No, I must get to the centre to meet the others. Oh who am I kidding!" she then started digging away that the rock, as her coat turned grey.
Once the rock was cleared away, Rarity marvelled at the humongous diamond she had uncovered. But in reality she had was carrying a humongous boulder.
Discord watched as Rarity heaved the hunk of rock around. "I once had something as precious as a diamond, now she has forgotten me,"
Fluttershy jumped out from the hedge she had been hiding in. "Okay I can do this, I can-" she screamed as three butterflies appeared. She was about to run and hide again when realised what they were. "Wait little butterflies, don't leave me!"
Fluttershy followed them into an empty clearing. She turned around when one of them spoke. "Fluttershy, looks like you've been left behind by your so called friends?"
Fluttershy shook her head. "Oh no, I'm sure they are doing what ever they can to find me,"
The butterflies were in actual fact Discord. He was confused as to why this pony was being so difficult. She's kinda cute though...
No, no! Stop it! Keep it together Discord.
"Well it must be so upsetting to know how weak and helpless they think you are,"
"Not at all, I am weak and helpless and I appreciate they're understanding."
"But they're always pointing out your flaws aren't they?"
"Not really, in fact I think I'm awfully lucky to have friends who want me to be the best I can be,"
Finally, Discord had had enough. "Oh that's it! You've been kind for far to long my dear, time to be cruel," he tapped her on the forehead and she instantly turned grey.
Rainbow Dash was determined to find Discord. She didn't have far to look as she quickly found him lounging out on a piece of cloud.
"I can see why you like these clouds so much, very comfy."
"Get off there and put them up!" Rainbow snapped, holding up her front hooves.
"Hey, I'm here to deliver a message."
"I've got a message for you, punk!"
"Listen closely, this is important," he teleported himself next to her. "All theses choices you shall make, the right one or a big mistake. If the wrong choice you choose to pursue, the foundations around you shall crumble down."
Rainbow's eyes turned spiral as she saw a vision of Cloudstale crumbling down. "Noooo!" she cried.
A present appeared in front of her. "Your wings are in there, you can either choose to stay and play or leave the game, your choice."
Rainbow's eyes turned back to normal as she snatched up the box. Her wings appeared on her back as she made her choice. "To Cloudstale!" she cried.
Discord watched the pegasus fly away. His heart ached as he remembered the little filly who he had loved long ago. "Loyalty my hoof! Songbird forgot me and replaced me with these ponies." He snapped his fingers and the Maze disappeared. The five ponies now stood in the middle of a dirt crater.
"Well well, how does it feel to not find your precious Elements?"
"Looks like we might be in for a storm of Chaos!" he said, as lighting struck out of nowhere. He let out a frightening laugh as clouds of cotton candy appeared in the sky.
"Stop it Discord! You're not placing fair!" Twilight snapped.
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you don't get do you. I'm Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony."
"How are we suppose to find the Elements when you took away the maze?!" Twilight asked.
Discord scoffed. "Wait, did you actually think the Elements were in the Maze," He chuckled. "Remember what I said; Twists and Turns are my master plan, then find the Elements back where you began,"
"They were never in the Maze!" Twilight cried.
"Absolutely, now if you don't mind, I have some chaos to spread!" Discord said as he teleported himself away.
Twilight tried to think, but with all her friends fighting, it was hard to. "Think Twilight think!" She gasped as a realisation hit her. "'Back where you began'?! They must be in Ponyville!"
Songbird felt numb. There were too many emotions in her head right now. She was happy that her childhood friend was back, but at the same time she was a sitting duck locked in her room with two guards out front. She had given up trying to bribe them to let her out, for they were two of her mothers bat-pony guards and they only took orders from their mistress.
Sobbing, though no tears came out, she reached under her bed and brought out the box that contained the cotton candy cloud. She was a strong mare, after losing two beings that she loved, she had learned not to let anyone go from her heart. After her mother returned, she had learned not to label ponies as being evil to core. Her own mother was living proof of that and with luck, Discord could join that list.
She had to get out of this prison cell. Yes, it was her room, but in the situation she was in now, it was a prison cell. Her eyes lit up as she remembered a skill she had obtained. While Rainbow had the Sonic Rainboom, Songbird possessed the Sonic Scream.
The Sonic Scream was one of the skills that Songbird could do with her voice. The Scream was so loud and so powerful, that it could smash brick walls that were three feet thick to pieces and knock a pony out cold. It was this skill that she had obtained herself and no pony else could do. Her other talents were The Siren Voice, where she could hypnotise ponies, though she only ever used it for emergencies. The third skill was her favourite, the ability to heal the sick and injured by singing a special song she had wrote herself. Even if the pony was at deaths door, it could bring new life into them. The Sonic Scream however, was her most powerful gift.
She grinned, knowing that her balcony doors were made of glass. With the Sonic Scream, she could smash the glass as if it was flour. It was perfect. Why hadn't she thought of that before?! She practically kept of the bed, which she had been sitting on and stood in front of the glass balcony doors. Quickly, she grabbed her saddle-bag and placed the box inside. For the Scream to work, she had to get it exactly right...
She stood tall, her front left leg stepped in forward and her back right leg stood back. She closed her eyes, sucked in a huge breath of air, aimed and let it out, her eyes turning white. The sound waves were practically visible as they caused a majority of items to fall from the shelves. Outside, the two guards were blasted into the opposite wall, knocking them cold. Luna shot her head up when she heard the scream and assumed the worse, worried for her baby girl she galloped up stairs. With the amount of intense pressure on the glass, the doors shattered into millions of pieces and the rest of the door was blown off it's hinges and sent flying somewhere in horizon. Songbird finally relaxed and breathed in a huge breath of air, her lungs weren't on fire as she had plenty of practice over the years.
The sound of fast hoof steps coming towards her bedroom door meant that she had only a few second to leave the room. Songbird spread her wings and took off at a speed that could be matched by Rainbow Dash. Discord and her friends were no longer in the Maze anymore, meaning that they could only be in one place. Ponyville. Her heart sank as she saw that amount of chaos around the landscape. The chaos that she had loved so much as a child, was now destroying her home.
There was only one thing on her mind then. Get to Ponyville as fast as possible.
Songbird landed in what she assumed was the town square. It was hard to tell as a large number of houses and shops were floating in a sky of pink. Songbird felt a single tear drip down her cheek. What happened to the Discord she treated as a brother. She loved him for his chaos, but...this was not the chaos she loved.
She felt her heart break in two at the state of Ponyville. Where were her friends? Her ears picked up on a few voices. Familiar voices. "Twilight!" she cried, racing in the direction of the voice.
She gasped when she saw Discord sitting on a throne, her friends standing there with their Elements. She watched as Twilight's horn lit up and the Elements started to spark. NO! SHE WAS NOT GOING TO LOSE HIM AGAIN!
Summoning all her strength she sprinted towards them. She could see the fear in his eyes. Firing up her own Element, she jumped in front of him and let out one final. "STOP!"