A Dangerous Sparkle

by David Silver

38 - What Does This One Do?

Spike and Soft Mane joined Pinkie at the control panel, looking up and down its wide array of buttons with a little fear and anticipation.

"So you're saying that one made Twilight's parents appear, but all crazy coco," asked Spike, "So... Wait, the voice said how can we help, right?"

Soft Mane raised a finger, "Mother said that you'll find love on your own. You can't force it." She wrapped an arm possessively around the larger Spike, "No one forced me. Did anyone force you, Spike?"

Spike looked confused a moment, "Huh, no, Twilight was just wandering Ponyville and I saw her."

Soft Mane stuck out her tongue, "I meant about me! But there you go. Even if my dragon knight is clueless sometimes."

Pinkie leaned up on the rail, peering down at Twilight and her team wandered the maze, "Well that's kinda good but what do we do to get them through the maze?" Her belly brushed up against a knob, giving it a mild turn. Suddenly pits opened in scattered dots across the maze, one just before a startled Dawn Event. "Oops!" She backed away from the control panel quickly.

Spike drifted up as far as the magic of the place would let him, barely seeing over the rail. "Is there an exit?" he murmured, trailing the paths with his eyes busily. "No.... no... maaaaano... Wait, there, to there..." He wove a claw through the air while he followed the lines of the maze, "And a left... Yea!" He landed beside his companions with a grin, "I found it."

Soft pointed at the buttons, "Maybe we can nudge them towards that then?"

Spike approached the button and pulled out a roll of paper from a pocket, followed soon by a quill and some ink. "Alright! Let's do this the Twilight way." He started scratching away at the paper, taking note of where each button was in relation to the other, the color, and nature, be it button, lever, or dial.

Pinkie suddenly brightened, "Look!" She pointed to a thin rose colored line that ran to some of the buttons. "It goes to the one with the pit, and some of the others. I betcha those are the maze wide things."

Spike dutifully marked down the possibility while asking, "Can you try one, gently? Be ready to undo it."

Soft reached up and pressed the smallest button she could find that had a rose line heading towards it. It lit up on pressing, showing a heart at the end of a stick. "How do we know what it did?"

Pinkie reared up on the rail, carefully avoiding the buttons, "We watch and see."

It didn't take long for a reaction. As Twilight and her group wandered through the maze, Dawn Event hopped back with an arrow in his shoulder. Instead of seeming to be in pain, he moved to Twilight and... were they kissing? Twilight's wings flared out behind her for the seconds it lasted before both pulled apart and spun away from each other.

Pinkie reached over and slapped the button, turning off the arrow icon. "Yep. Maze-wide love arrows! I'd love a few of those for hearts and hooves day."

Spike shuddered at the thought of Pinkie wielding a quiver full of love arrows as he took note of the effect.

"So who's this Rarity? Another dragon?" asked Soft Mane suddenly.

---

Dawn Event lowered his head, "My apologies, Miss Sparkle. I succumbed to a trap of this place. I did not mean to offend."

Twilight faced away from Dawn, a hoof over her snout where she could still feel his un-prompted smooch. "That's... ok. Let's just get out of here before something even crazier happens."

Long Road watched with poorly concealed jealousy, though neither of the other two were paying him attention in their effort to avoid contact with each other. He let out a soft sigh and marched ahead, "The maze can't go on forever. We just have to be more stubborn than it is. Dawn, you're a cleric. Do you know any spells to contact our friends and check on them?"

Dawn's ears moved from down to back, "Ah, you are correct. I always have a spell for that on hoof. Why didn't I think of that earlier?"

Twilight rolled a hoof as she ambled along on the other three, "Well go ahead. I'd like to be sure they're alright, and not just physically. This place is full of strange things."

Dawn slowed his walk as he beseeched his gods in strange words. immediately after he spoke, "Spike, This is Dawn Event. We are in a Maze. Where are you? You can reply. We are well, if lost. Twenty-five words only."

---

Spike's writing suddenly scratched out of place as a voice entered his mind and whispered to him. "Dawn's talking to me!" he cried, "Uh, hey Dawn. We can see you. We're on some kind of balcony and we have to get you through the maze. Go straight and take the second left."

---

Dawn frowned, "I said twenty five words. They are well it seems, and they can see us. He said go straight, but cut off shortly after."

Long Road raised an ear at Dawn, "Can't you cast it again?"

Dawn shook his head, "I only prepared it once. Unless you wish to rest in this place, that is all we get. He mentioned being on a balcony of sorts, and being charged with getting us through the maze."

Twilight tapped a chin once before nodding, "Can they signal us?"

"He did not mention," replied Dawn.

Twilight stepped forward and took a right turn, pausing there on the wrong passage and waving up at the sky. "Let's test!"

---

Pinkie give a soft 'huh', "Twilight's on the wrong hallway and she's waving. Why would she do that?"

Spike snapped two claws together, "Press a button, any button."

Soft was at the panel in a hurry and mashed the bright red button.

---

A figure stepped out from a smoothly sliding wall. It looked just like Twilight and smiled at her. "Hello, me. Your friends think they can force love, but it doesn't quite work that way." She sauntered towards Twilight as her companions frowned and moved forward almost as one to guard her. "Now now, I'm not here for violence! I'm here to offer a test." She reared up on her hind-legs and clapped her fore-hooves together. Suddenly the two Twilights were standing back at the intersection.

Long and Dawn spun around to face them, ready to assault the fake Twilight, but both had similar expressions of confusion as they looked at each other. They circled around each other, seeming to look for imperfections. They reached out with shaking hooves to feel the other's faces before both snorted in frustration.

"She is clearly the fake," stated one, leveling a hoof.

"What? No! I'm not a fake!" protested the other, "I'm the original Twilight."

Long Road frowned, "What did you buy from me, before I joined your party?" he challenged, readying his blade.

One Twilight looked eager to answer, but words failed to come out of her mouth and her expression sank. "I don't remember."

The other nodded with a similarly moping expression, "I don't either, but I know I'm the real Twilight."

Dawn shook his head, "Do either of you remember anything before now?"

They replied in unison, "I remember being me, Twilight Sparkle."

Long Road stepped forward with blade at the ready, "You have a choice and only have time to do one thing. You can get a new dress to replace the one that got mud all over it. You can get a new book to read. You can work hard to make some gold for your family, or, you can just relax because it's a nice day out." He pointed. "Write down your answer."

Both Twilights drew out ink and paper in harmony and began to scribble their answer before placing it on the ground and backing away so Long Road could retrieve them, With a quick glance he pointed to the Twilight on the right, "That is the real Twilight."

Suddenly smoke erupted from beneath them and there was only one Twilight, but the look on her face was more taunting than normal. "You pass the first part. She is safe, for now. What color are my eyes?"

On bringing it up, both stallions looked at the impostor only to see her eyes were a rainbow of colors, offering no hints.

Long Road snorted, "I know that one!"

Dawn raised a brow, "Do you? I admit to not taking note of that."

Long Road nodded quickly, "Purple, darker than her lovely lavender coat."

The copy suddenly had the right color eyes and clapped her hoofs together in applaud, "You know her so well. Last test, speak truthfully of why you have borne this to heart so fully?"

Long Road looked nervous, ears twitching softly. "I... cannot tell a lie. If it will bring her back, I will answer."

The copy nodded quickly, "On my honor," When they looked at her skeptically she sighed, "Fine. On my life. She will be returned after this question, or you can slay me where I stand and I will not resist."

Long Road shook his head, "Very well. I know this because I admire her. Her spirit, her youth, her sharp mind. She embodies many things I respect and I would never forget her habits, or the shade of her lovely eyes." Long Road looked back up, having looked at the ground as he confessed, only to find a startled Twilight gaping at him.

"I... didn't know," said the Twilight, a hoof over her mouth, "Uh... we should... get going."

Dawn confirmed, "They switched back. I believe we are with the real Twilight now." Twilight was quick to nod. "I do ask what the point of all that was?"

Twilight raised a hoof, "I was hoping for a flash or a shout or something, but I think this works just as well. If we run into a trap or demon, we're going the wrong way. If nothing hops out, we're going the right way."

Long Road nodded, ears hanging low, "I hope you're not too disgusted, Miss Sparkle."

Twilight perked an ear at him, "What? Oh... uh... I'm flattered, really. I haven't had a lot of stallions compliment me like that." She smiled at him with a sincere warmth and turned to move the right way through the maze, allowing Dawn and a somewhat uncertain Long Road to follow her.

---

Pinkie reported, "They're moving on!"

Spike shook his head, "Yea, glad that's over. Two Twilights would mean twice as much work." He lifted himself up to watch them wander in the correct direction, "I think they got the message though. No button presses unless they go the wrong way."

Soft waved her fingers over the buttons in a ready fashion, "Just tell me when, Sir Spike."

---

With a plan in mind, the two teams worked together if separately. The next time Twilight's group wandered off the path, they were forced to deal with a sudden pack of goblins. While no one goblin was a serious threat, there were dozens of them crowding around the group, poking, prodding, and bashing wherever the opportunity presented itself. Twilight sent many away with a well aimed lightning bolt before they crashed down on her, pinning her under the sheer bulk of nearly a dozen angry bodies. Fortunately, Dawn and Long waded into the thick of things, picking Twilight free with wide swings of mace and sword, and they were soon able to proceed.

As the exit of the maze came into sight, all three hurried into a full gallop to reach it. As Long Road set hoof into the hallway beyond, all six members were whisked away, standing before the Twilight copy from before.

"Congratulations!" she chimed with a broad smile, her voice that of Twilight's as much as her appearance. "You made it." She raised a wing at the concerned group, "Before you go rushing to stab me or something similar, I am here to deliver a message. My mistress, the mistress of love, Kara, would prefer that which is here remain here. If you go further, you will incite her wrath on you."

Dawn strode forward, "I am a cleric of all gods and have spoken to the dark mistress Kara. This is a matter of the Princess Luminace."

The not-Twilight shook her head, "Be that as it may, I have given her message. You may progress at your own peril if you wish." The not-Twilight's form shimmered, becoming something taller and striking, gazing at Dawn through half lidded eyes, "Or you will see more of me."

The shapeshifter faded away without another word. Long Road glanced towards Dawn, "Was that actually her?"

Dawn shook his head swiftly, "A servant, and a shapeshifter. The mistress of the doppelgangers does not visit the mortal world lightly, and never without a blood sacrifice. We will risk the anger of her."

Twilight stepped up alongside him, "I thought you were 'for all the gods'? Wouldn't making one angry for another be against that?"

Dawn paused for a moment, then shook his head, "No... If she wishes to hide it, and Luminace wishes it found, it is likely very important. It has grown larger than my own desires. If Kara will forsake me, so be it, I will not turn away from this quest." Determined, he walked ahead of the party, moving towards a book on a pedestal in the otherwise unlit room.

Author's Note:

Let's just pretend everything in the maze didn't happen! Long Road might be alright with the idea, but lessons are learned as hardships are endured.

All those twists and turns may be hiding typos in the dead ends, watch out!

Comments

[chronocrosser]

Very Good Chapter.

Have to say I felt as if something was developing between Twilight and Long Road and now it's been partially confirmed. Anyone else fell like Long Road will be thee new Flash Sentry in this universe.

This makes me wonder even more what is the Book of Love. Is it an Artifact that can grant it's reader special powers. Does it contain some sacred or magical information. Or is it Kara's diary from when she was mortal containing the story of her first or last love, and what will be consequences for bringing it back. Whatever it is or whatever it does I can't wait until the mystery of the book is reveled.

[Kage no Brony]

5504728

Calling it now: it's her diary containing information on her... interactions... with a certain being Luminence has had her eyes on.

[Seeking Dusk]

I shouldn't have read that supplement... Alas, it only confirms my theories and makes me all the more eager to see how this plays out!

[David Silver]

5853123 Funny thing, that supplement happened after this chapter.

[Seeking Dusk]

5853127 Really? Cool. Much like this story, I had that supplement in my records for a while. I had only mostly read it. Never did go too deep in the god's sections since I don't normally play divine casters.

[Silvia_Stargazer]

You can work hard to make some fold for your family

I'm pritty sure right here was supposed to be the word ,food, not ,foal.
But other then that great job. I'm really enjoying the story so far! Thanks!

[David Silver]

5864952 Fixed!

[Spell Check]

"Huh, no, Twilight was just wandering Ponyville

Twilight? Not Rarity? Or was he wandering Ponyville with Twilight and saw Rarity?

[David Silver]

5988127 He was riding Twilight while they were checking on the summer sun celebration and there was Rarity, and his life would never be the same.

[Vutava]

5988127
5988290
Since he didn't say Rarity, and Soft later asks about her by name, I think this needs a little revision.

[Venerable Ro]

I'm honestly surprised that it's taken him this long to work his way into a no-win dilemma between two deities. He must be a master of the non-committal lifestyle.

[David Silver]

9369997
When you are a filthy panthiest, you will work for and against different gods as the current demands it. Much like old-school shamans and such.