Celestia XVII: The Broken Princess

by brokenimage321


9: "Fear and Loathing in Las Pegasus"

“Hallucinations are bad enough. But after awhile you learn to cope with things like seeing your dead grandmother crawling up your leg with a knife in her teeth. “

“Dammit, Discord,” I muttered under my breath. “Damn you and your shit-eating grin, and your…”

I continued to mutter profanities as I stalked through the maze. I was mad. But I had a right to be, didn’t I? Not only had Discord stolen the Sun Stone, stolen my wings and horn, and made us play some stupid game of his to get them all back, but he also split us up right as we were entering the maze. 

Should have seen that one coming, really. As soon as we set foot inside, hedges sprung up around us, blocking us from each other. Smart, really… I probably would have done the same thing, honestly, if it were me…

But that wasn’t the only thing Discord had managed to do to the maze. He said he’d “switched some things around,” but I think he and I had different definitions of the concept. I’d learned the trick to the maze a long time ago—follow the hedge on the left, and you’d head straight out every single time. Only, as soon as I started following the wall, the maze twisted, somehow. Every time, I started walking in circles. It was almost like the wall knew what I was doing, and decided to curve back on itself—but only when I was trying to follow it. I even tried it with the hedge on the right, just to be sure, but the exact same thing happened.

But even accounting for the mysterious shifting walls, I had the distinct impression that this maze wasn’t the same one that had been here this morning. The paths were strange and unfamiliar, and twisted in bizarre ways—corners that were too sharp, somehow, or sometimes not sharp enough. Paths that seemed to twist back in on themselves at the same time they ran along straight and narrow. And once, for just a second, I had the distinct, gut-wrenching sensation that I was walking on the ceiling, with the blue sky lying below me... 

Discord talked a big game about fairness, but he wasn’t playing fair. He was outsmarting me, and I didn’t like it. 

“...and shove those horns up your ass, you damn, dirty…” I muttered. 

And suddenly, I froze, and the words turned to ash on my tongue. My eyes grew wide. 

He wouldn’t.

But he had. Standing in the shade of the hedge was one of those—those changelings. Standing there, watching me, green eyes glowing against the hedge—

My breaths came hard and fast. I tried to scream—

fire and smoke and blood and pain

deep darkness choking

scales and claws and wings and fangs

a tunnel of fire and ash

billowing flames parting

black shape lunging

screaming—-

THEY’RE HERE, THEY’RE HERE--

Slowly, the clouds parted. I was gasping for breath, and drenched with sweat. My heart hammered so hard, it almost hurt. I lay on the hard-packed dirt of the maze, surrounded by deep gouges where I had thrashed around, a fine litter of broken twigs and crushed leaves all around me.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on my breathing. Slowly, I brought my lungs back under control. Slowly, my heartbeat returned to normal. I sighed, then clambered to my hooves and dusted myself off. I looked around—and, for one, heart-stopping second, I saw the changeling again. But no—it wasn’t actually a changeling. It was only a pattern of light and shadow, created from the shape of the hedge. What I had thought was two glowing eyes was a chance twig, bearing two leaves that poked out into the sunlight. 

I gulped, then looked away. I turned around trotted off deeper into the maze, away from the not-changeling, not even sure what direction I was heading anymore. Not even sure it mattered. As long as I got away from here. 

I knew that pattern in the hedge was just leaves and shadow. But part of me—a larger part than I dared admit—still saw only the changeling.