//------------------------------// // 8: "The Garden of Forking Paths" // Story: Celestia XVII: The Broken Princess // by brokenimage321 //------------------------------// “Not for nothing am I the great-grandson of Ts'ui Pen. He was Governor of Yunnan and gave up temporal power . . . to create a maze in which all men would lose themselves.”  “Ah…” Rarity began hesitantly. “Cece, darling, are you sure this is the right hedge maze?” I swallowed. “No,” I said, the word almost catching in my throat.  I had led us to the right spot. I knew I had. But the maze that I remembered from my entire childhood—a sight so familiar, it faded into the background—wasn’t there. Instead, we stood in front of a tall, pointed arch, flanked on either side by a thick tangle of leaves and branches.  “So?” Rainbow said, “Let’s get goin’!” She flapped her wings and lifted off. “The sooner we get going, the sooner we can—” And then something happened. I’m not even sure how to describe it. It was something like…  You know how you can see your nose, right in the center of your vision, but it’s been there for so long that you’ve forgotten it’s even there? It was something like your nose suddenly disappearing—like something so fundamentally a part of you that you don’t even think about it, suddenly being wiped away. But when it disappeared, it took your sense of smell with it. No, it was more than just smell… and… No, that’s not right—It was almost like going blind, but in an eye that you didn’t know you had— Geez, it’s so hard to explain… how do you put into words what it feels like to have part of your soul torn out by the roots?  I staggered to one side and gave a strangled gasp. Beside me, Rainbow Dash fell to the ground with a painful crunch, and I actually heard Rarity swoon.  “What was that?” I croaked.  “What was what?” asked Pinkie Pie, innocently.  I looked around. Rainbow was climbing unsteadily to her hooves, Fluttershy was trembling, Twilight’s eyes had glazed over in a nameless panic, and Rarity looked like she was about to fall over. Pinkie and Applejack, however, just glanced at each other in confusion. Twilight looked up at me and stared for a moment, before her eyes suddenly grew wide. She reached up and groped for something in front of her, her movements growing frantic.  “Twilight, what’re you—?” I began. But before I could even finish, I knew exactly what she was doing. And, with growing horror, I reached up and felt my own forehead—and found nothing but a smooth, unbroken patch of coat.  My horn was gone. I shot a glance at Rarity and saw that her horn, like mine and Twilight’s, had also disappeared. I turned to Fluttershy and Rainbow, already knowing what I was going to see, but desperately hoped I was wrong: not only had our horns disappeared, but so had our wings.  “W-what in Eques—?” I spluttered.  And then, a shadow fell across the sun. “Weclome, foolish mortals,” intoned a voice, “to the Canterlot Hedge Maze.” I squawked, then spun around and stared. And when I saw the shape standing over us, I trembled.  Discord stood in front of the gate, his claws spread wide in a gesture of mock welcome. Part of me wanted to laugh at him—after all, he looked like something dug out of the bottom of the animal kingdom’s bargain bin. Every part of him was mismatched: his limbs were covered alternately in skin and scales, while his body was coated in coarse brown fur. Even his wings didn’t match. His face was the only thing I could almost take seriously: it looked almost like a pony’s, but twisted somehow out of shape. The whole effect was faintly ridiculous, like one of those mix-and-match toys you entertain foals with.  And yet, as stupid as he looked, I couldn’t have laughed at him if I tried. He towered over us, his body long and ropy. His mismatched claws were long and wickedly curved, and his fangs glittered in the sunlight. His golden eyes were bright and sharp, and full of malice. And—though I couldn’t tell how—I knew he hated me.    Rainbow growled, then took a step forward. “What did you do with my wings?” she cried. “I am your host, Discord,” he continued smoothly. “Kindly step forward please, the game is about to begin.”  None of us moved. Discord smiled a little wider. “The rules are quite simple,” he continued. “I will be waiting for you at the center of the maze. If you manage to make it all the way to the middle, then I will return what I’ve taken from you, no questions asked, and we can all go our merry ways. But…” his eyes sparkled again “...if, for some reason you find yourselves unable or unwilling to complete the task, then I win. Winner take all,” he added mischievously. I tried to keep eye contact with him, but I had to look away. There was something off about him, a subtle wrongness I couldn’t put my hoof on, that made my eyes water whenever I looked at him. “Whaddaya want more wings for?” Pinkie piped up. “You already have two of your own…” Discord’s gaze flicked over to Pinkie, a faint snarl of irritation crossing his face, but he quickly regained control. “I’ve taken your wings and horns,” he continued in his same, icy-velvet voice, “to keep things interesting. After all, it’d be no fair if you could simply fly or teleport your way to the center. Besides,” he added, grin widening again, “we don’t want dear Applejack and Pinkie to feel left out, do we?” Pinkie gave an uncomfortable giggle that quickly trailed off into silence. Twilight shot her a look, then stepped forwards.  “What right do you have to play games with us, anyways?” she snarled.  “Excuse me, Miss Sparkle,” Discord snapped irritably, “I’m trying to give my Evil Villain Monologue.” He gestured in frustration. “I’ve been very much looking forward to it, so I think it’s exceptionally rude of you to interrupt.” Twilight’s eyes widened in surprise. Discord sighed heavily, then started pacing.  “I play games,” he said, “because it’s my nature. Spirit of chaos, trickster god, et cetera.” He turned his evil eyes back to Twilight. “Just as it’s in your nature to be a busybody know-it-all.” “Leave her alone,” I said sharply. “She’s not a—” “Cece, lay off,” Twilight growled at me. “I don’t need your help.” I stared at her in shock. She shot me a glance of profound irritation, then turned back to look up at Discord. I followed her gaze, and saw, to my surprise, that Discord was staring right back at me. Something inside of me trembled.  “So much for friendship studies, eh?” he said with a smirk.  Before I could respond, he turned away.  “I should mention, Your Highness,” Discord added, almost offhandedly, “I’ve also taken the liberty of rearranging some of the maze’s major features. I’m sure you’ll still find the place at least somewhat familiar, but we don’t want you gaining too unfair of an advantage based on previous experience, now do we?” “We’ve already said we’ll play your game,” I said, my voice trembling slightly. “You don’t need to rub it in.” Discord smiled again. “Then you misunderstand the nature of the game, Your Highness.”  I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, he bowed.  “Entré donc, madame et mesdemoiselles,” he said, gesturing to the open gate behind him. “You have two hours to find me in the maze, and I am loathe to waste another second of your time on such a fascinating conversation.” He looked around at us, meeting each of our eyes in turn. “Besides,” he added, his voice dropping to a purr, “I will be seeing each of you very, very soon.” And with that, he was gone.