Chapter V: Run, Alligator. Run~
The maze’s walls are way too tall for my liking… I understand that they didn’t want people to cheat, but they’re almost intimidating at this height. The bigger issue is the fact that I have to follow Rainbow Dash through this maze as well. One of them has the cheat sheet and I’m hoping it’s Dash. I’m not all too confident in Apple Bloom’s ability to steal the sheet from one of her best friends. Then again, Apple Bloom has defied my expectations before, so I really shouldn’t underestimate her.
Following Dash through this wood maze is easier said than done. It’s like she can’t decide where to go. If this was a normal maze, then it would be a lot faster, but there are like three puzzles inside here that we need to complete before we get out. This is where the cheat sheet would come in handy, assuming they actually have it. If I’m wrong, then we’re pretty much giving the win to whoever does have the sheet. Though, I doubt I’m wrong about this. I heard them blatantly talking about answers and clues. They even said Luna’s name. It has to be them…
“So, are you trying to piggyback off of me for answers?” Rainbow Dash says in a loud tone to make sure I can hear her. She’s only about five steps in front of me, but I suppose she wants to make herself heard. “I know I’m pretty smart, but do you really think I would know the answers to the puzzles in this maze?” That’s the problem, Dash. I don’t think you know the answers. I’m sure you know them.
“Come off of it, Dash. There are only a few correct paths to go down in this maze, so I’m just going the best way I can.” Flipping my hair back, I can’t help but search Rainbow’s body again for any piece of paper that might be visible. No such luck… “It just so happens you’re going the same way.”
“Sure,” Rainbow says with a chuckle, walking backwards to connect her eyes with mine. “A siren who was smart enough to cause chaos between me and my friends going down the same path I am as a coincidence? If anything, I’d say you’re nervous about these puzzles, Dagi.” Rainbow Dash sticks her tongue out at me, quickly smirking before stopping.
“I’m not nervous about these puzzles. If anything, I think I would finish them before you. I’m just relying on you to find the puzzles.” That is only a half truth… I’m relying on her to find the puzzles and have the answers in her pocket.
“Wanting me to find the puzzles for you? How honorable of you, Dagi,” Rainbow teases me with a laugh, holding her stomach for a moment.
“You can’t always live ‘honorably’ when you have been alive for thousands of years, so cut me some slack, will you?” Winking at Dash, I can’t help but smirk, teasing her in exchange. If she does have the cheat sheet, then I will have to backstab her soon, but it’s fun to joke around with her.
“God, I forgot you’re that old. Are you sure it’s legal for you to buck Sunset?” Realizing her error, Rainbow Dash slaps her face with an angry grimace. “I mean, fuck. AJ tries to never swear to an ungodly standard. How many times have you two fucked anyway?” I can’t help but raise my eyebrow at Rainbow Dash’s question, my mind wondering whether I should honor that question with an answer.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” I ask her with a chuckle, shaking my head at the absurdity of the conversation.
“Are you saying that you two haven’t…” Putting her index finger through a hole her other hand makes, she awkwardly smiles at the gesture, trying to ask the same question. “You know, danced under the sheets.” It’s almost comical how she isn’t afraid to say the vulgar statement, but when it comes to saying the word “sex,” she would rather jump in a ditch.
“Dash. If you’re assuming that Sunset has resisted me of all people up to this point, you’re crazy.” Locking my eyes with Rainbow Dash, I give her the best smirk I can, almost taunting her with my confident outlook on myself. “Second, we’re in a school, Dash. I don’t think this is the best place to talk about this, but if you must know, Sunset and I have had our fair share of ‘nightly adventures.’” Walking around a corner, my eyes widen slightly at the wall we’re approaching. Rainbow Dash, seeing my confused expression, turns around to look at the wall. In front of us is a large statement written using black paint. In a way, I can’t help but feel slightly intimidated by the large letters, both of us stopping in front of the wall. “‘The world’s loneliest hours summon me. I calm those in need. I’m the last thing you hear as the world closes around me. What am I?’” I read off the statement, looking down at a horizontal line where an answer would be put. There’s nothing for us to use to write an answer, so I suppose we would need to keep it in our head when we get to the end of the maze.
Looking at Rainbow Dash, a thoughtful look takes a hold of her face, her hand holding onto her chin slightly. Of course it had to be a riddle. If I’m lucky, Rainbow Dash doesn’t have the answer for this… I think she said something about some of the activities had clues instead of a full answer. “Sounds a bit ominous,” Rainbow Dash says slowly, her eyes tracing the words over and over again. She brings her hand to her forehead quickly, mouthing the word “think” to herself. Did she… forget the hint?
Let’s dissect this… What would be the world’s loneliest hours? That would be the night, wouldn’t it? I can’t imagine it would be anything other than late at night. The second part of the riddle tells me that this figure calms those in need. Whatever this is… Is it the moon? Wait, that doesn’t make sense. It said that I can hear it. You can’t quite hear the moon. What does it even mean when the world closes around it? Get back on track, Adagio. One step at a time. Who would be in need at night? I mean, you could say just about anyone since everyone has probably had some trouble during the night, but that is a bit too broad… “I assume you don’t know the answer?” I ask Rainbow Dash, looking over to her. Her face looks just a bit more troubled than before, her hand scratching her head slowly.
“Um… No…” Locking her eyes with mine, she nervously chuckles, shrugging her shoulders. “Do you have any idea? I have a… hunch. If you have some idea about this, I’ll tell you mine.” I call bullshit. You don’t have a hunch, you have a hint. One you can’t make sense of. Knowing Dash, she would probably be itching to grab the cheat sheet to take another look at it right now, so maybe Scootaloo has it instead? Though, if Rainbow Dash gives me her hint, it might actually help me get done with this riddle.
“I think this riddle is telling us that whatever it is appears at night. The world’s loneliest hours after all.” Rainbow Dash’s eyes widen at my statement, quickly looking back at the riddle with this newfound information on her mind.
“Uh… Y-yeah, I knew that. But um… I was thinking the riddle is also somehow about… rest. ‘Those in need’ sounds like people who need to rest.” Rest, huh…? I bet that was the hint she was given for this puzzle. Rest. People who need to rest. Night time. The riddle says we can hear it. What would we primarily hear when we’re about to sleep? The wind? Unless it’s referring to infants, then it-
Wait a moment… When we’re going to sleep, the last sense we focus on is our hearing. Those in need… If they were infants, then the last thing they would hear would most often be the hum of their mother. The world closes in on the sound in a sense. Night time. Sounds. Sleep. “It’s a lullaby…” Turning around quickly, I walk down the hallway, hearing Rainbow Dash quickly follow me.
“Wait. What? How are you sure it’s a lullaby…?” she asks me, walking up to my side.
“It would take me a while to explain…” I remember lullabies well… I don’t think anyone sang them to me when I was a young siren, but I remember Sonata was really stressed when we were first banished here. Sometimes, the only way she could relax and sleep was if Aria and I sang her a lullaby. I have quite a bit of experience with them… This is the only answer that makes sense to me. I doubt Rainbow Dash has the cheat sheet on her. If she did, she would have stayed back to look at it again to check if my answer fit with the hint.
Before I can say anything else to the rainbow-haired woman, both of us notice a blur come rushing around a corner in front of us, approaching me quickly. My arm is grabbed quickly, the blur pulling me into another pathway, away from Rainbow Dash as quickly as possible. “Am I glad to see ya!” a young voice tells me as I look down at her face, seeing the all too familiar cowgirl dragging me along.
“What’s the reason for dragging me this time?” I try to ask as we run into different hallways, quickly making distance from where I had last seen Rainbow Dash.
“I got it!” she quickly tells me, showing me a piece of paper. “Scoots had it on her! Now she’s tryna find me as fast as she can, so um… That means Dash is gonna be on our tails too.” She actually got it…? Damn it… When you leave the maze, you have to give the answers to the puzzles to the moderator to get a gold piece. If they’re on our tails, we can’t waste that much time at the end of the maze without them catching up to us.
“Did you-”
“Yeah, I finished the other two puzzles with Scoots. Do ya have the answer to the third one?” she asks me with pleading eyes, hoping that I finished the last obstacle of the maze.
“The answer is a lullaby. That’s what I think it is at least. Dash ended up telling me she thought it had something to do with rest, so I think that was the hint for it.” Apple Bloom looks confused for a moment, but she quickly shakes her head, leading us down a couple more pathways.
“One of us will need to go to the end and all. The other should keep a hold of this cheat sheet. Which job do you want to do?” My mind races as we run down the corridors, trying to think of our options. We can’t just keep running in circles… Eventually, we’ll run into a dead end and they will catch up with us. If one of us gets the gold piece, then the second one can get out of the maze without having to stop. I didn’t think it would be this difficult to steal a damn cheat sheet. Maybe trying to get it inside this maze wasn’t a good idea.
“I’ll hold onto this,” I tell Apple Bloom as I grab the sheet from her hand. I know she’s technically faster than me, but I have a lot of experience with mazes. Perhaps I can distract them enough for Apple Bloom to get the gold piece, allowing both of us to go on to our next activity. Without having to say a thing, Apple Bloom holds out her hand quickly, prompting me to give her the gold pieces from my bag.
“Just make sure ya don’t lose it!” Apple Bloom tells me with a thumbs up, finally letting go of my arm to run down a hallway, both of us going our separate ways. Despite how big this maze is, the sound of footsteps bounces off all the walls of the gymnasium. The familiar sounds of sneakers squeaking makes me aware of just how many people are inside this maze. Two of those people are hunting me down… I’m not that afraid of Scootaloo, but Rainbow Dash can catch me pretty quickly… I just have to hope there’s some corner I can duck around if she sees me.
Looking ahead of me, a wall comes up quickly, indicating the end of this pathway. At the bottom of the wall, the final couple of planks are removed, giving just enough space to slip through the crack. “Dagi!” a familiar raspy voice yells somewhere behind me. No one else should know why she’s mad at me for now, but if all the other teams are alerted to the fact that I have the sheet and I’m stuck in the maze, I may be screwed. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to do this much physical activity… Quickly getting down to the floor, I make my way through the gap, looking at the new surroundings around me. Why am I always getting into weird situations like this? Can’t I just once have a normal day with Apple Bloom? But no. I have to crawl around and run around like it’s a race. If I had a dollar for every time something has gotten out of hand with her, I’d be a millionaire at this point.
Quickly standing up, I jump over a small ledge put in the middle of the corridor as an obstacle. Going around a corner, I see multiple people looking at one of the puzzles of the maze, making my way through the teams. “Excuse me…” We only have a few more activities to go before we will have all the gold pieces required to finish this competition… All I need to do is get out of this maze as quickly as possible without getting caught. That’s all… Thankfully, I don’t think Rainbow Dash or Scootaloo will tell anyone else that Apple Bloom and I have the cheat sheet since they want it back. The tricky part is getting past them… Running down a hallway, I look up at the ceiling of the gymnasium, trying to use the light fixtures to give me a rough idea of where I’m going.
The sound of loud footsteps echo nearby, making me slow down. Within a moment, a bright blue woman appears in front of me, her eyes widening in surprise to see me. “Dagi…” Rainbow Dash slowly approaches me with an angry and amused look, causing me to take a couple steps back. I’m not necessarily afraid of her, but I don’t think I can outrun her without some clever maneuvers. “I have to admit. It was smart to split up and follow both Scootaloo and I. I legitimately didn’t catch onto that until it was too late.” Upon seeing the sheet in my hand, Rainbow Dash takes another step towards me, holding her hand out to me. “Come on, Dagi. Just give it back to me. We were given it fair and square after all.”
“If you call the fact that the vice principal is helping you cheat fair, then sure. You’ve been super fair this whole competition.” Tightening my grip on the paper, Rainbow Dash’s eyes shoot back down to my hand, a smirk coming over my face. “Apple Bloom and I only have a few activities left to do. Just let me go and I’ll let you come second, alright?”
“Ha! Hard pass,” Rainbow Dash responds, her eyes locking with mine again. Clenching her fist, Dash grinds her foot into the ground, trying to intimidate me. If there’s anything I have learned from being a siren, there’s more to power than just raw speed or strength, Dash… “Alright. You asked for it,” Rainbow Dash lets out before running full speed towards me. Without having a moment to think about my next move, my hand throws the paper above us, slipping around her as her focus is centered on the paper. Just as her hands reach up to grab the falling sheet, I kick her legs hard enough to trip her without leaving a bruise. “Ow!” Rainbow lets out after her head slightly hits the maze wall, looking up at me with a frown. “Dirty move!”
Grabbing the sheet, I simply smirk down at her, shrugging my shoulders. “Sorry, Dash. This siren has a competition to win. I have an ego to maintain after all. You understand, right?” Quickly jumping back from Rainbow Dash’s attempt to grab my foot, I run down the pathway she came from, hearing her scramble to get up. I have to take advantage of this opportunity to put some ground between us. Jumping over some boxes in the middle of the path, I pull my phone out as fast as I can, aiming the camera at the sheet. Just in case I fail to keep this, I should take pictures of the answers and hints so that we can still have a chance at winning. Snapping a couple pictures of each side of the sheet, I push the phone back into my bag, looking behind me. Within a moment, Rainbow Dash comes running around the corner, vaulting over the same boxes with a determined look on her face.
“Come back here, Dagi!” she yells for me, causing me to run as fast as I can. I may not be an athlete, but I’m still Adagio Dazzle. I can do this. I have to. Besides, Sunset sort of trained me for this by forcing me to participate in that alligator maze. You can do this… You can do this. Taking a deep breath, I take a sharp left, pushing past a couple of people still patiently making their way through the maze. Focus. This is something I’ve been trying to recapture… That confident feeling of being me. I am Adagio Dazzle. I can finish what I started.
Feeling a smirk come across my face, I pull over a ladder to provide another obstacle for my pursuer. Unfortunately, this path leads to a dead end, but it seems I still have some luck on my side. At the bottom of the wall is another crack that someone can fit through, making me run as fast as I can, falling to the ground to slide through. This is reminding me way too much of that damned alligator maze, but if I was able to beat that, surely I can do this. Even if I am going against Dash.
Picking myself up quickly, I reach into my bag, finding the small notebook I carry with me. Without wasting a moment, I quickly pull out multiple pieces of paper, shredding them up. In no way are these pages as big as the cheat sheet, but if they’re ripped up, they can look like one full page was torn to pieces. I primarily use this notebook to write down anything of importance, but these pages will serve me better as a distraction for now… Looking up at the ceiling, I can instantly tell where the beginning of the maze is. One faulty light keeps flickering and I remember it distinctly being above that vending machine Apple Bloom and I got drinks out of. Running down a hallway and making a left turn, I see the large entrance to the maze, immediately recognizing an orange girl waiting for me. Thankfully, Apple Bloom is nowhere to be seen. “Adagio! Stop!” Scootaloo calls out to me, getting herself in a stance as if she was ready to stop me. I doubt that she could, but she would probably slow me down enough for Rainbow Dash to get here.
“You want the sheet, Scootaloo? Here!” I respond with my own yell, throwing the pieces of ripped paper in the air. As soon as the information registers with her, a shocked expression comes over Scootaloo’s face, making her rush to try and grab the pieces. Just like I had predicted, she lets me pass by, prioritizing what she thinks is the torn cheat sheet. It won’t take her long to realize what I did, but at least it let me get past. Honestly, I’m not even sure I can finish the rest of the activities with Apple Bloom if they keep chasing me like this. If that’s the case, maybe my whole job at this point is to distract them.
Running out of the gymnasium and into the school’s hallway, I pull my phone out, quickly tapping Apple Bloom’s contact. My finger sends her the pictures as fast as I can, nearly dropping my phone in the process. “Finish the final tasks without me. I have to distract Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash. Good luck,” I type into the text box, sending her the message without a second thought. For now, I need to put the most distance between all of us… As long as they think I’m the only one who has a copy of the cheat sheet, they shouldn’t go after Apple Bloom. How will I get away from them…?
My boots squeak against the tile floor as I run around a corner as quickly as I can, losing some of my balance for a moment. Within seconds, I can hear the loud slam of the gymnasium doors behind me, footsteps running down the hall. Damn it… I was hoping they would be distracted for a little longer… “Adagio!” I hear both of them yell my name, breaths going in and out of my lungs quickly. I’m not sure what I can do… I just know I can’t risk trying to hide right now. They’re far too close for me to try and lose them. So, for now, I just need to try and get away from them…
Running through the doors to the back of the school, the large outdoor area makes me stop for a moment, seeing dozens of people as well as a bonfire and a playground a good distance away. Out here is where most of the activities Apple Bloom and I did earlier in the competition, so I can’t help but feel a little surprised to see so many people here. I guess everyone just did the activities in a different order than we did… Shaking my head, I quickly run out into the crowd, making my way past multiple activity booths and the bonfire. Looking back for only a second, my eyes recognize the sight of Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo coming up to the door, looking out at the environment before spotting me. Rainbow Dash points to me quickly, both of them continuing their pursuit of me. Apple Bloom, you better get this done…
Sprinting past multiple people, I can’t help but draw the eyes of a lot of the people nearby. I didn't want all this attention, but I can’t change it now. Looking ahead of me, I notice a table coming up where somebody is selling pens for the event. Pens of all shapes and sizes are laid out across the table, making my mind run wild with ideas. Reaching out, I quickly grab a big handful of the pens, running past quickly. I try to give the man behind the table an apologetic look, seeing his confused expression as his eyes switch between me and the table.
Dashing towards the playground equipment, I feel my muscles start to get sore. This is where I either get that distance I need between us or I have to give up the cheat sheet… It all depends on how this goes. Quickly, I grab onto the ladder, getting on top of the playground set and running across a rope bridge. This wasn’t made for people my size, but at least it will work for now. Getting to the slides at the opposite end of the playground, I turn around and see Rainbow Dash climbing up the ladder, Scootaloo opting to run around the playground to try and cut me off if I choose to go down the slide. Smart… The only thing they can’t account for are the monkey bars right next to the slides. I just hope I have enough arm strength to pull this off… Throwing out a lot of the pens on the ground in front of me, I see Dash stop halfway across the rope bridge, raising her eyebrow at my action.
“Are you trying to trip me with freaking pens? You know I can see them, right?” Rainbow Dash asks me before laughing, the grimace on her face temporarily disappearing. Clearly, she seems amused by this, but the real reason I did this was to slow her down. I didn’t expect her to actually trip, but this will force her to be more careful as she approaches me. With a slight smirk, I raise my hands to my shoulder’s height, chuckling at the situation.
“Let’s just say it’s a last ditch effort. You’ve clearly caught me, right?” Winking at Rainbow Dash, I run towards the bars, grabbing onto them and swinging towards the ground. Scootaloo quickly runs around the slides to try and catch up to me, not expecting I would take this path. The best part about this? Rainbow is forced to either go through the pens or go back around, so this will buy me a couple minutes. This is buying both of us a couple minutes. Sprinting back towards the school, Scootaloo is surprisingly able to keep up with me as Rainbow Dash is significantly delayed.
“Come back here, Adagio!” Scootaloo yells at me, both of us making it closer to the school. A small part of me feels guilty for pulling the ripped paper stunt on her, but it’s only a small part. The rest of me knows I enjoy this game… Sunset, what have you done to me? Just a few months ago, I couldn’t hardly smile, but now, I can’t help but feel confident in myself and enjoy a silly game of cat and mouse. One where I’m the person making the rules. Maybe that part of me never left and she just reminded me of who I am…
Slamming through the school doors, I shut them right behind me, providing Scootaloo with an extra obstacle. I have to admit it. She’s pretty damn fast. Running down a hallway to my right, I make sure to go towards the more abandoned part of the school in case any moderators try to stop us. If I’m found with a cheat sheet on me, both Apple Bloom and I will be disqualified. Within moments, the sound of the door opening echoes down the hall, temporarily bringing light to the dark corridor. “Rainbow Dash! Go after Adagio! I’ll find Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo’s voice echoes, making the smile on my face disappear. They finally realized what I’ve been doing. Distracting them…
“Then go, kid!” Rainbow Dash tells her, the sound of footsteps running towards me filling my ears. Pulling my phone out quickly, I type in a message, still sprinting as fast as I can to avoid Dash.
“Scootaloo is coming your way. Hurry.” Shit. I’m going to need to think of something soon. I can’t outrun Rainbow Dash forever without some sort of trick or maneuver to get her to slow down. I only have a couple pens left, but I doubt they would cause her to trip or stop in her tracks. If anything, me taking the time to drop the pens on the ground will only slow me down. Think, Adagio. Think… Turning to the left, I look at the classrooms on both sides of the corridor. Maybe I can try to distract Dash by running around desks? Each classroom seems to have two doors, so I can run in one door, distract Dash for a bit, and run out the second door. It’s my best shot at this point… Quickly running up to the door closest to me, I make my way inside. Looking in front of me, my eyes widen instantly, seeing the layout of the room. This isn’t a classroom… Instead, there are a couple of couches and a counter with standard lounge supplies. Unfortunately, this room doesn’t have a second door…
Turning around to exit the lounge, I’m quickly stopped by Rainbow Dash, holding both sides of the doorway with her hand. Both of us can’t help but pant slightly at the strenuous workout we just did, my foot taking a step back from Dash. “You… are so damn tricky,” Rainbow Dash states with an exhausted sigh, finally connecting our eyes. “Now. I’m going to need you to give me that sheet.”
“Is it my fault you two didn’t think of taking pictures of it just in case something like this happened?” I ask her in a teasing tone, backing up into the room even more. Regardless of my movement away from her, Rainbow holds her ground at the doorway. She’s clearly aware of the advantage she has over me. I’m pretty much trapped here…
“I probably should have thought of that, but I didn’t really think my friend would steal it from me,” Dash responds with a shake of her head, chuckling slightly.
“Don’t act like I’m the bad guy. We just took an opportunity.” Both of us laugh slowly, Rainbow Dash leaning against the doorway.
“Yeah, you’re right, but I need that sheet back now, Dagi. You’ve had your fun. Even if you don’t give it to me, Apple Bloom won’t be able to finish this without you.” Both of our eyes stay locked with each other, a deep silence filling the space between us.
“You have so little faith in Apple Bloom. We’ll come in first place and then you can come in second, just like I told you in the maze.” Rainbow Dash laughs at my statement, holding her stomach.
“I told you that’s not an option, Dagi. Come on. Just hand the sheet over and we can put this behind us.” Looking at the clock on the wall, I take a deep breath, pulling the piece of paper out of my bag. The best thing I can do is wait and try to withhold it from Dash as long as possible. I just hope that Apple Bloom can finish the rest with Scootaloo trying to interfere.
“You know, Dash. You two did a pretty good job. I had no idea you two were the ‘Moon Knights’ for the longest time,” I state with air quotes, walking over to one of the couches and leaning against the arm with a smirk.
“How did you find out anyway?” Rainbow Dash asks me, her curiosity getting the better of her.
“Would you believe me if I said I overheard you in the bathroom?” My question makes Rainbow Dash’s eyes open wide, a confused expression painting her face.
“Wait. Really?! We specifically went to an isolated part of the school so that people wouldn’t hear us! Why were you there?” Dash stands upright once more, her confused expression remaining on her face as she waits for an answer.
“Apple Bloom was taking me through a shortcut to get to our next activity and I was going to use the restroom. Well, that was until I heard you and Scootaloo talking to each other.” Before either of us can say anything more, a loud static plays from the speakers at the corners of the room, hurting my ears slightly.
“Teams of the School Days competition! We art eternally grateful to tell thou that we have a first place winner! Do thou best to complete the rest of thine activities and we’ll see you at the school’s auditorium!” Vice Principal Luna speaks into the microphone, trying her best to imitate some form of old English. Within a second, the color drains from Rainbow Dash’s face, her eyes averting mine momentarily.
“Huh. Maybe I did underestimate Apple Bloom.” Walking towards the rainbow-haired athlete, I hand her the cheat sheet before patting her shoulder, giving her the best smile I can.
“That was a good chase, Dash. It was some of the best fun I’ve had in a while. Thank you.” Without saying a word, Rainbow Dash gets out of the doorway, letting me get out of the room. Both of us lock eyes momentarily, Dash giving me a congratulatory thumbs up before I walk away from her.
“Well played, Dagi. Well played.”