//------------------------------// // An A-Mazing Trap // Story: MLP: FML 2 - Chaotic Changes // by Maniac92 //------------------------------// “Well…” said Discord, squinting at the blazing glow of Celestia’s horn. He conjured sunglasses onto his face and said, “You don’t look thrilled to see me.” He scratched his chin with his talon, the Elements of Generosity and Kindness hanging from his arm. “Can’t imagine why.” “Discord.” Celestia growled, her horn pointed directly at Discord. “Put. The Elements. Back.” “Hmm…” said Discord, pretending to think about it. He shrugged and said, “If you insist.” He snapped his fingers and the Elements disappeared in a puff of smoke. Celestia glared at him, the light in her horn not dimming in the slightest. “Where did you put them?” “Don’t you trust me?” asked Discord, sounding hurt. “No,” replied Celestia immediately. Discord smirked and said, “Good policy.” He sighed dramatically and said, “If you must know, I transported them somewhere close to home.” “Where?” demanded Celestia. Discord chuckled. “Where’s the fun in me telling you? You’re going to have to find them yourself.” He looked at the others and said, “Or, rather, send your little tools off to find them for you.” “How did you escape your prison so quickly?” asked Celestia. “I kept painting special runes on your statue to slow you down. The Dicks of Sealing should have given us more time.” “Your dicks couldn’t keep me hard forever, Celestia,” said Discord with a smirk. “…I have the weirdest boner right now,” whispered Rainbow Dash. Discord immediately snapped his head towards her direction. “Well…you must be Rainbow Dash, correct? I’ve heard a lot about you.” “You…have?” asked Rainbow. “Of course!” said Discord. “I mean, it’s not every day you meet a pony that can do a Sonic Rainboom. Why, with your talents, the Wonderbolts must be better than they’ve ever been!” “I…uh…I’m actually not part of the Wonderbolts yet,” said Rainbow. “Really?” asked Discord. “Hmm…can’t imagine why. Maybe something’s holding you back?” “Like what?” asked Rainbow. “Are you really going to have a conversation with the Princess’s enemy?” asked Rarity. “We need to-” “Why, if it isn’t the lovely Rarity!” said Discord. “I hear you’re an up-and-coming fashion designer.” Rarity turned her gaze away from Rainbow in order to flutter her eyelashes at Discord. “Go on,” she said. Discord sighed dramatically and said, “Oh…if only you lived in Canterlot. Everyone who’s anyone would flock to your door in order to buy your wares.” “Rarity?” asked Fluttershy. “Maybe you shouldn’t listen to-” “FLUTTERSHY!” roared Discord in a demonic voice. Fluttershy screamed and hid behind Rainbow Dash. “Oh sorry,” said Discord in his regular voice, “I thought that was what you do, isn’t it? Alternate between normal and psychotic?” “I-” began Fluttershy. “No!” said Pinkie happily. “That’s me, silly!” “Ah yes,” said Discord, frowning as he looked at Pinkie, “The Pretender. Are you enjoying using my powers?” “Uh-huh!” said Pinkie with a big grin. “I have a blast using them!” “So do I,” said Discord, snapping his fingers. The floor beneath Pinkie started to glow red. A purple glow surrounded Pinkie and quickly pulled her to the side right before a pillar of flames shot up out of the ground. “Damn,” muttered Discord as the fire died down, “I missed.” Twilight glared at him as the glow in her horn faded. “I don’t know who or what you are, but-” “Oh, but I know all about you, Twilight Sparkle,” said Discord, grinning at her. “Tell me, how do you feel about Celestia not telling you that your friend has some of my powers?” “…She had her reasons,” said Twilight. “Her reasons…” repeated Discord slowly. “Well, she always has reasons, doesn’t she? Always has some plan, some trick up her sleeve.” He looked over at Celestia and said, “Even if they take centuries to come into fruition.” “What do you-?” began Twilight. “Enough!” yelled Celestia. “Twilight, take your friends and find the Elements! I’ll stay here and hold off Discord.” “A fight? You?” asked Discord, chuckling. “Don’t you usually send your little weapons off to do your dirty work?” He smirked at Celestia and said, “Have it your way. Send them off to find their precious Elements. Those five aren’t a threat to me.” “Five?” repeated Applejack. “What about me?” “Hmm?” hummed Discord, looking at her. “Ah! Applejack! I nearly forgot about you!” He chuckled and said, “My apologies, I suppose I was just caught up in talking to the important ponies.” “What?!” hollered Applejack. “Ah am important, you-” “Applejack, we don’t have time for this!” said Twilight, turning around. “We need to go find the Elements!” She pushed Applejack out of the hall, the other girls running after her. Discord looked at Celestia and smirked. “Still pretending to be a good guy, I see.” “Shut up,” growled Celestia. Her horn glowed and she pointed it at Discord. “I won’t let you get away!” “Boy,” said Discord, raising his eyebrow at Celestia, “You sure seem desperate to fight me. Funny…” He gave her a vicious grin and said, “You’d think you’d be a bit more concerned with helping Luna.” “W-what?!” asked Celestia. “What did you-” “You blinked!” said Discord cheerfully. He snapped his fingers and disappeared, leaving Celestia alone in the hall. “Dammit!” growled Celestia. She quickly spread her wings and flew out one of the shattered windows. She flew up to the top of the castle. She quickly landed on the balcony of one of the tallest towers. “Luna!” she yelled as she ran to the glass doors, which were shut. The curtains on the inside of the room were drawn, hiding the inside from view. “Are you in there?” There was no response. Celestia growled and pointed her horn at the doors. A golden beam of light shot out and struck the doors, knocking them off their hinges and into the room. Celestia quickly ran in and shouted, “Luna!” “Celestia?!” said Luna, who was standing in front of her bed. “How were you able to get in? I’ve been trying to get out of here for hours!” “Thank god,” said Celestia, running over and hugging the other Alicorn. “Discord said you were…wait…” She paused and pulled away from Luna. “What do you mean, you’ve been trying to get out of here?” The ruined glass doors were suddenly moved back into place by an unseen force. Celestia and Luna heard an audible click as the lock shut on them. “Sorry ladies,” said Discord’s smug voice, “But I’m going to have to put you both on house arrest for the time being. You’re simply much too dangerous to be around other ponies.” Celestia growled and pointed her horn at the glass balcony doors. A bright golden light glowed from her horn…and then fizzled and died. “Did I forget to mention that I put a spell on Luna’s room before I visited you, Celestia?” asked Discord’s voice. “My mistake. Let me fill you in on the nitty-gritty, shall I? I just made it so unicorn magic doesn’t work for whoever is in the room. It’s just a little spell I picked up from…from…” There was a pause. “Ah…damn. You know when something’s just on the tip of your tongue and you can’t remember it? I hate that feeling.” “Discord!” yelled Luna. “Let us out of here immediately!” “Hmmm…” said Discord’s voice. “I don’t think so. I’m much too busy, you see. I have six ponies that I’m just dying to talk to, after all.” He chuckled and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll be along shortly to let you out. I think I can pencil you in around…a thousand years from now. Give or take.” “Discord…” growled Celestia. “Don’t look so upset, Celestia,” said Discord’s voice, “I’m sure Luna can teach you what it’s like to be stuck in one place for a thousand years. At least I gave you a furnished bedroom to live in and not some barren, lifeless moon.” “He’s got a point,” said Luna. “Luna!” hissed Celestia. “Not that I’m blaming you or anything!” said Luna quickly. They heard Discord laugh. “You two kids have fun!” he called. “I know I will…” Luna sighed and hopped up onto her bed. “Now what?” she muttered. “We keep trying to get out,” said Celestia. She sighed and said, “I only hope Twilight and the others find the Elements before Discord catches up to them.” Meanwhile: “WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE THE ELEMENTS ARE?!” yelled Twilight. “YOU SHOULD KNOW EVERYTHING!” “My powers don’t work like that,” said Pinkie as the group stood outside of the castle. “The only reason I usually know what’s going to happen is because I have my script.” “But what about all those weird things that happen around you?” asked Rainbow Dash. Pinkie shrugged and said, “I can only do those types of things when I think it’s funny. Otherwise, I’m just a regular pony.” “Ok,” said Twilight. “Then let’s take a look at your script. That should tell us where the Elements are, right?” “I never got a script for this season,” replied Pinkie. “The script I do have is for the first season. The only thing I could tell you is stuff that already happened.” “Great…” sighed Twilight. “Now how are we going to find the Elements. All Discord said was that they were ‘close to home’.” “Well that sucks,” said Rainbow. “Hasn’t he been a statue for over a thousand years? Who knows if his home even exists anymore.” “Statue…” muttered Twilight. Her eyes widened. “Statue! He must mean the Elements are in the Princess’s statue garden!” “Are you sure, darling?” asked Rarity. “Where else could they be?” replied Twilight. “We’re already close to the garden anyway. It couldn’t hurt to check it out.” “Hold on now,” said Applejack. “What if by ‘close to home’, Discord meant our homes? What if the Elements are back in Ponyville?” Fluttershy frowned. “I…don’t think so…” “Why would he put them in Ponyville?” asked Rainbow Dash. “It’s not like he wants us to find them.” “Sorry Applejack,” said Twilight, “But I really doubt Discord would make it that easy for us. Let’s go check out the garden.” “B-But…” began Applejack. She watched as everyone began walking away. “Goddammit…” she muttered to herself. A few minutes later: Twilight frowned at the pedestal that used to hold Discord’s statue. “There’s nothing here…” she muttered. Rainbow Dash frowned as she noticed Rarity and Applejack looking around the garden. “What’s with you two?” she asked. “…Sweetie’s class is supposed to be here…” muttered Rarity. “They were takin’ a field trip to these gardens today,” said Applejack. “Ah hope they didn’t run into Discord.” “Oh, don’t worry about them,” said a voice. Everyone turned to see Discord casually leaning against the entrance to a hedge maze. He lazily waved at them and said, “I did happen to run into a class of young foals today, but…” “What did you do with Sweetie Belle, you ruffian?” asked Rarity. “And Apple Bloom!” yelled Applejack. Everyone turned to look at Rainbow Dash, who stared back at them in confusion. “…What?” “You’re supposed to be concerned about Scootaloo,” said Fluttershy. “Who?” asked Rainbow. Fluttershy sighed and pressed a hoof to her forehead. “The one that wanted to listen to you about getting your Cutie Mark.” “She has a name?!” asked Rainbow. “Relax ladies,” said Discord. “I didn’t do anything to those kids. In fact, I even gave one a present.” “What type of present?” asked Twilight. Discord smirked. Hours ago: Discord smirked down at Snails and said, “Well…you’re part of Snailovitch’s brood, aren’t you?” “Who is that?” asked Snails. “It sounds made up. Maybe you should ask Miss Cheerilee?” Discord looked over to where Cheerilee was herding the rest of the class away from him. “She seems busy,” he said to Snails. He chuckled and said, “Would you like a little gift from me? It belonged to your ancestor.” “Is it a cell phone?” asked Snails. “Mom and Dad said I can’t have one.” “It’s better than a cell phone,” said Discord, snapping his fingers. An amulet made of black metal appeared in his grasp. A red jewel had been placed in the center of the amulet, glowing sinisterly. “…Looks neat!” said Snails happily. “It sure does,” said Discord. He held it out to Snails and said, “Put it on.” The second Snails touched the amulet, it shot forward and pressed itself to his throat. A metal band expanded from it, wrapping around the colt’s neck. Snails’s head jerked and he shut his eyes as red sparks shot out of the jewel. When he opened his eyes again, they had changed to a blood red color. “How do you feel?” asked Discord, smiling viciously. Snails blinked and his eyes went back to their normal black color. “Hungry,” he said happily. He blinked again, his eyes going red. “For conquest!” he growled. He laughed evilly and said, “I’m going to take over Canterlot!” His eyes went back to black. “And then I might get some lunch, because I really am hungry.” “Have fun with that!” said Discord. He turned and started walking away. “Now-” An axe flew by his head and struck the ground in front of him, blade first. Discord slowly turned around to see Sweetie Belle glaring at him. “If anyone’s going to take over Equestria,” she growled, holding a mace in her hooves, “It’s going to be me!” Snails growled, his eyes going red again. “Over my dead body,” he snarled. His horn glowed with an evil red light. Sweetie glared at him and said, “That’s the idea.” With a shriek, she charged at Snails with her mace raised high. Now: “Huh…” said Rarity. She paused for a second. “I suppose that explains the distant explosions we keep hearing.” “Probably a safe bet,” said Discord. “Your sister has anger issues, by the way.” “How dare you!” said Rarity, glaring at him. “My darling little Sweetie Belle is an angel!” Suddenly, they all heard Sweetie’s voice yell, “DIE DIE DIE DIE!” “Just listen to her melodic little voice,” said Rarity. “…Right,” said Discord slowly. He shook his head and smirked at everyone. “Well, it seems you all got here quicker than I anticipated.” “Where are the Elements, Discord?” asked Twilight. “Hmmm…where could they be?” replied Discord. As he pretended to think, he moved away from the entrance to the maze. “I can’t seem to recall…” “You put them in the maze?!” questioned Twilight. Discord smiled and said, “Maybe…why don’t you look and find out?” Rainbow Dash smirked and flapped her wings. “No problem, I can just fly over and-” Discord snapped his fingers. Rainbow and Fluttershy’s wings, as well as Twilight and Rarity’s horns, disappeared in puffs of smoke. “Oh my god,” said Rarity in horror, “We’re earth ponies now!” “No!” yelled Twilight. “Anything but that!” “How could this happen to me?!” screamed Rainbow. “The horror!” sobbed Fluttershy. Pinkie and Applejack rolled their eyes at the other four’s dramatics. “It ain’t that bad,” said Applejack. “Now we’re going to have to work on a farm or something!” cried Rarity. Rainbow Dash shuddered. “Don’t even joke about something like that!” Applejack frowned at the two of them. “Ya know what?” she asked. “Ah ain’t gonna try to convince ya. Be miserable for all Ah care.” “Don’t mind if I do!” said Rarity, getting into the fetal position and rocking back and forth. “Oh calm down,” said Discord. “You’ll get your wings and horns back eventually. I just took things away from all of you in order to make sure you wouldn’t get through the maze as easily.” “All of us?” asked Pinkie. “But you only took things away from those four.” “How observant of you, my little thief!” said Discord. “But you’re mistaken. I’ve taken something of yours as well.” “What did you take?” asked Pinkie, confused. Discord snapped his fingers and a black binder appeared in his hands. The words MLP: FML 2 were written on the front of the binder. “This really is a fascinating read, you know,” said Discord, smirking at the look of horror on Pinkie’s face. “B-but…” began Pinkie, looking stunned. “That’s my script! Give it back!” “Hmm…I don’t think so,” said Discord. He chuckled and said, “You stole some of my powers, so it’s only fair if I steal something of yours.” He opened the binder and thumbed through the pages. “Don’t worry. I’ll give it back soon enough and you can go back to creepily observing everything about your friends without their knowledge or permission.” “I don’t do that!” hollered Pinkie. “You don’t?” asked Twilight, genuinely surprised. “…Well…” began Pinkie. “It’s only when I’m bored and need a laugh.” She blinked as everyone frowned at her. “…What?” Applejack shook her head and turned back to Discord. “So what did ya take from me?” she asked. “You?” asked Discord. “You?” He started laughing uproariously. “Why would I take something from you?” he asked, wiping tears out of his eyes. “You don’t have anything for me to take…aside from apples, that is. Why don’t you just leave things to the important ponies, alright Applejack?” “What?!” demanded Applejack as her face grew red. “Ah am important you son of a-” “Applejack, we don’t have time for this!” said Twilight. She turned to Discord and said, “We’ll make it through the maze and find the Elements. Then we’ll come back to stop you.” Discord grinned sadistically and said, “I’m looking forward to it.” He snapped his fingers and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Twilight turned back to the others and said, “Don’t let him get under your skin, girls. He’s trying to make us angry.” “He’s succeedin’ at it too,” said Applejack, glaring at the spot where Discord used to be. “As long as we stick together, we’ll be ok,” said Twilight. “We’ll make it through the maze and find the Elements. We will stop Discord.” She looked at the entrance to the maze and asked, “Is everyone ready?” “Ready!” said Rainbow Dash. “As I’ll ever be,” said Rarity. “Ready to get my script back!” said Pinkie. “Ready…to run if things go south,” said Fluttershy. “Ah’m-” began Applejack. “Alright,” said Twilight, cutting Applejack off. “Let’s go!” She walked off towards the maze, the other girls following her. “But…Ah…” sputtered Applejack as she was left behind. She sighed and muttered, “Goddammit…” She walked after the others as they stepped into the maze. The second the girls’ hooves touched the ground, walls shot up out of the ground and hid them all from view. “Girls!” yelled Applejack, running to the entrance to the maze. She reached one of the hedge walls and tried pushing her way through. “Are you all alright? Can any of you hear me?!” There was no response from the girls. Applejack sighed and looked to the side of the entrance, where one of the walls was open and waiting for her to enter. “Alright asshole,” she muttered as she walked towards it, “Ah guess we gotta play by your rules, huh?” She took a look down the row, gulped, and walked inside. A wall shot up behind her, blocking the exit and trapping her in the maze. Applejack sighed as she looked back at the blocked exit. “No way back now…” she muttered. With no other options, Applejack turned and started walking deeper into the maze.