//------------------------------//
// Apple Bloom 
// Story: Game in the Maze 
// by Swordoath 
//------------------------------//

	AppleBloom hadn't been paying much attention to the direction she'd run when the faceless pony frightened her and her friends. So it was certain she'd trip on a gnarled root poking up out of the ground. At least this time she didn't chip a tooth.
Rising to her hooves, she checked behind her for sign of the unnatural figure. Nopony was there, and she sighed in relief, stiffening when she realized that neither of her friends had been able to follow her. She was lost by herself in the garden maze, with a scary pony on the prowl.
"Sweetie Bell!" She called. "Scootaloo!"
When no one responded, she held her head low, kicking at a stray stone. They couldn't hear her. Thats all.
Not wanting to risk running into the faceless pony by back tracking, Apple Bloom continued through the maze. She left Apple seeds from her lunch behind so she could find her way back, or her friends could follow them and find her. The path she walked was mostly strait, a few dead ends branching off to the sides. After what seemed like forever, the path took a right, leading into a small glade with a reflecting pool and a few trees. She would've walked right on past them had she not noticed a piece of paper pinned to one. Closer examenation showed that the paper read "always watches, no eyes" in incredibly messy handwriting, along with a sketch of a cirlce with x's over where eyes would be. Apple Bloom, feeling this could be something she needed to show her friends, took the paper down and folded it into her saddlebag. She noticed a faint base note playing at a slow rate, something she hadn't noticed earlier. Apple Bloom continued through the glade, oblivious to the implications of the note she'd found.
It wasn't for a long while that Applebloom came upon another feature of the garden maze- it was a small alcove of stone, placed amidst the high, thorny walls that imprisoned her. Another note was resting in it, this one depicting a single tree, and the hastily scrawled words "LEAVE ME ALONE". This note, along with the one she'd already found, began to frighten the poor filly. What had she and her friends gotten themselves into? 
She simply took the note, stowing it away with the other, and continued on her way.
Eventually she turned upon a dead end, and was forced tor turn back. She screamed so loud her throat hurt when she was confronted with the faceless, freakishly tall pony. Applebloom turned back around and tried to push through the thorny bushes, tumbling out through the other side. She found herself in front of a fountain, a fountain tainted with blood.
Scootaloo's mutilated corpse bobbed up and down in the blood-saturated water, swirling around in  it's light current. Applebloom's eyes leaked tears of fear and sorrow, and she found herself running down the nearest path. She didn't watch where she was going, and ran into another dead end, this time, with the eerie pony standing at the end. She turned to run, but the pony appeared there too. She tried to scream, but her voice was dampered by the well of tears. Her death was swift and silent- she was dead before he first drop of blood hit the dirt.