Sugarcoat let out a soft, annoyed grunt as she walked through the hedge maze outside Canterlot Castle. She had noticed a bit of activity in the area as she was walking by, and had intended to only glance into the labyrinth for a few moments before continuing on. She certainly hadn't expected to get lost that quickly, and yet here she was with no clue where the entrance she'd walked into had gone. She made a mental note to herself to ask Princess Celestia for the address of the ponies who had made the maze so she could give them a piece of her mind, but that would obviously have to wait until she found the exit.
Sugarcoat groaned again as she turned a corner, a corner she was certain she'd already turned before. As she trudged her hooves through the dirt, her ears perked. There were sounds coming from the end of this corridor. Voices, although she couldn't make out what they were saying or who they belonged to. At this point, any change from the solitary searching was welcome, so she took off down the path as quickly as her hooves would take her.
The sight that greeted Sugarcoat was stranger than anything she'd seen since being transported to this world. Gone was the soil that had covered the rest of the maze's ground, replaced with a fine white powder. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be sugar. Sugarcoat resisted the temptation to lift a hoof and lick the sugar from it as she gazed over the clearing.
"Do you like this little oasis?" a haunting voice asked suddenly.
"Actually it's kind of annoying," Sugarcoat responded, eyes darting left and right in an attempt to locate the source of the voice. "It's a gigantic waste of sugar and it's going to attract tons of ants. Whoever made this section of the maze really needs to have their pay docked." Sugarcoat was not about to be pushed around by some disembodied voice.
"So cold and blunt..." the voice called out, almost mocking the unicorn. The sugar towards the end of the enclosure began to swirl, gathering together and gradually forming the shape of a large pony head. The sweet creation grinned a toothy grin at Sugarcoat. "Such an abrasive tongue...I do hope you know the effect such bluntness has on your friends."
"My friends?" Sugarcoat asked. As if in response, the field of sugar around her began to rise up, forming the shapes of familiar ponies. Color began to drip into the pony forms to accent them further.
"I can't believe Sugarcoat would say that to me..." the grainy form of Twilight Sparkle said sadly, her voice surprisingly authentic. "I try to be nice to her and all she does is hurt my feelings and tell me I'm not smart..." She sniffled pitifully, leaning into the orange pony next to her.
"It's okay, Twi," the false Applejack said. "She says the same things to me too."
"To all of us," the impostor Rarity said. She also moved to console Twilight, who had begun to cry sugary tears.
"We're just trying to be her friends..." fake Pinkie Pie moaned.
"And all she does is push us away," Fluttersugar sighed.
"Well if she's gonna be like that to us, then we don't need her!" the fake Rainbow Dash said, crossing her grainy forelegs. The others all grumbled and agreed, throwing out little barbs about their shattered friendship with Sugarcoat.
"Aww..." the giant head cooed, staring Sugarcoat down. "Look where your bluntness has gotten you...sometimes it's just easier to be less honest, isn't it?" The head's eyes began to swirl, but Sugarcoat seemed unfazed.
"They're more like acquaintances," Sugarcoat said plainly. "If they can't take the way I talk to them, then they need to grow backbones." The head looked surprised that it hadn't gotten to her, but wouldn't let up.
"Surely you can't really feel that way," the head sneered. "You spend so much time with them."
"Who cares?" Sugarcoat asked. "I'm spending time with you right now and you certainly aren't my friend. If you think I care about them, you're more stupid than you look. And considering you're a giant head made out of sugar, that's saying something."
The head frowned, letting all of the pony forms melt back into the ground. Its form began to swirl once more, a creepy laugh echoing in the clearing as it began to take the form of a horribly mismatched creature. The mishmash of claws, talons, and horns cackled as it colored itself in, staring down at Sugarcoat.
"You're a tough egg to crack, aren't you?" Discord asked. He snapped his fingers, and an egg colored like Sugarcoat appeared in his lion paw. With one quick motion, he crushed it in his grip.
"Eww...now why in the world did I do that?" Discord asked nopony in particular as he waved his dripping hoof in the air. "I guess the yolk is on me, hm?" He let out a guffaw, clutching his stomach in mirth. After a few moments, he stopped, noticing that Sugarcoat was not laughing. He let out a little hmph. "No respect for comedy in this one."
"I laugh at funny things," Sugarcoat stated.
"Oh, you are a card," Discord said, flipping a deck of cards in Sugarcoat's direction. The queen of hearts landed in front of her, its face replaced with hers. "But never mind that. We've got other business to attend to." He poofed a briefcase into existence, opening it up to reveal a number of headshots of Twilight and the others. "You're saying that these ponies aren't your friends?"
"They're not bad," Sugarcoat said. "But they're not my friends." Discord quickly turned away from Sugarcoat, pointing the tip of his tail at her.
"Then perhaps I'm approaching this from the wrong direction," Discord said, his face appearing on his tail. "Let's flip the script a bit." With a level of agility surprising for a creature of his size, Discord did a quick flip, landing to face Sugarcoat. "Perhaps this will have a bigger effect." A snap of his talon opened a portal in the air in front of Sugarcoat's face, and what she saw made her jaw drop.
"I'm so glad she's gone," Sunny Flare said, relaxing in Sugarcoat's old dorm. "Wasn't she so annoying?"
"Totes," Lemon Zest replied. "The way she was always insulted everyone all the time? Such a pain."
"She wasn't awful," Sour Sweet said gently. Then she sneered. "She was worse!"
"I bet you're especially glad she's gone, huh?" Sunny asked, looking to Indigo Zap. "She was your roommate. You had to deal with her like ten times more than we did." All eyes turned to Indigo, who was sitting on Sugarcoat's bed. She smirked lightly.
"She really shouldn't have lost her grip on my hand," Indigo said in a mocking fashion. The girls laughed and laughed.
The portal closed, leaving Sugarcoat stunned, mouth hanging open.
"Ohh, how sad," Discord moaned, holding out a handkerchief. "That's just the effect your bluntness has on others, isn't it? You should really cut that out." He reached over and dabbed a tear from Sugarcoat's eye, and as he did so, her colors began to dull, spreading from the point of contact until she was left a bland gray.
"It's okay, little Sugarcoat," Discord cooed. "You won't have to worry about that anymore."