Trials and Errors

Chapters

Venture forth
Errata pt.1
Errata pt.2
Ferrox

Venture forth

The rabbit was small and white, and sat on its rear in the centre of a path thinking rabbit-y thoughts. It then skipped daintily away, off to forage in the undergrowth for tasty treats, and came to the ancient, matte white wall which behaved as the edge of its world.
To all the creatures of its forest, the wall acted as defining proof that the world was flat. After all, why else would a vast blockade be needed if not to shield the rest of the animal's kingdom from the void that lay beyond? Sure, the odd cuckoo would tell them that over the wall was just more land, but everyone knew that the birds were lying.
The rabbit stared up at the wall, once again admiring its cleanliness and purity, and not for the first time debating whether the animals of the wood were right about its purpose. These musings were quickly put to rest, of course, when a stellar implosion of epic proportions appeared in the sky beyond it.
The rabbit returned to its foraging , content with this clearly infallible proof.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Far off in Canterlot, a princess with a flowing mane walked up to a podium placed at the city's edge, turned her back to the rolling hills, and spoke to a crowd
"... And the medal for best ice skating goes to..."
There was the sound of an envelope being neatly torn, and then a short pause. The crowd waited in silence.
"It's the town favourite, for the second year running, Twinkle Toes!". Princess Celestia smiled as a small white unicorn with a neatly trimmed blue mane walked up to the podium to accept her reward. The crowd applauded, and Twinkle began thanking friends and family.
Behind her, as all attention focused on the young filly, a white outline of a small triangle drew itself on the air behind the podium. A similar circle began to sketch itself around it, and this became neatly encapsulated in a square, from which more circles began to grow, spreading from the centre of its four sides. A pentagon slotted itself around the pattern.
Lines continued to weave simple shapes around the pentagon, as each of the layers began to rotate steadily in alternate directions. More and more patterns were added, moving at higher and higher speed until the design hit two yards in diameter and spun at such velocity one could only just make out each of the signs. It was impossible to ignore now, and the onlookers gawped as a churning wormhole flew from the centre, swallowed the princess whole, and vanished.

The geometric designs' spinning eased to a stop, the lines flickered out, and a pony began to scream.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight sparkle yelled, and ran out of the door. "This is not possible, I mean, Not POSSIBLE." she babbled. "There has to be some mistake! There has to be! Oh, thank Celestia, APPLEJAAACK!"
Applejack looked around from her stall in the market.
"What in tarnation?"
"No time to explain, sorry, but will you help me gather the others?"
Applejack's face turned from confusion to seriousness. "You got it!" she replied as she galloped off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike opened the door. He called out to the fleeing lavender coated pony.
"SO WHAT DID THE LETTER EVEN SAY?"
No answer came. Spike sighed.
"I'LL JUST Go and get some supplies?" he called.
No reply.
"Why yes, I am fine, Twilight, thanks for asking." Spike grumbled, heading back inside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a short sprint, Twilight arrived at the carousel boutique, and hammered on the door.
No answer.
"No, no, NO! Rarity can't be out, she can't!" she stressed. She tried again, but to no avail. Once more, she battered the door, and peeked through a window before giving up doorknocking and speeding back towards Fluttershy's house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike left the library, a small bag on his back, and began to head towards the town square in pursuit of his friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie pie greeted her halfway, and to Twilight's surprise, so did Rarity. Twilight asked what she'd been doing down at Fluttershy's cottage.
"Well," Rarity answered eagerly, "she and I have been doing a teensy little ...project." she replied, nodding to the glistening garment on her back.

The "project" was a silvery white sheet, silk-like in quality, covered with sweeping purple spirals and trimmed neatly in lace. Whenever the sun caught it, the threads shone beautifully, dappling the ground nearby; whenever it was moved, it seemed to glide behind its wearer, tracing shapes on the air as if drifting through water. It was pure, and stainless, and utterly dazzling.

"The idea for it came to me when I was reading this article in a magazine..."
"That's great, Rarity, but we don't quite have time. Sorry." Twilight interrupted politely. "You can tell us later, okay? Okay."
She gathered herself.
"Girls, Princess Celestia was taken away from yesterday's Canterlot Awards Ceremony in some kind of wormhole, and it is up to us to..."
"Celestia's been KIDNAPPED?"
It was Rainbow Dash.
"What? Who by? Do we have to rescue her? Will there be monsters? Like, big ones? Can I..."
"We don't know any of those things; that's our big problem" Twilight interrupted. "The magic that was used is far beyond anything I've ever heard of, literary or otherwise. What that means is we have no leads. She could be anywhere, with anypony"
Twilight turned back to the rest of the group, which now included a slightly confused Spike holding a bag. Spike flung it to her, and she slung it over her back "What we're looking for is something hugely powerful that has never been recorded in books" she said "so something, um, like..."
"Really old?" Fluttershy suggested. All the others stared. "Sorry" she said, to nobody in particular.
"Actually, I believe she may have it" Rarity reasoned. "Of course, It would have to remain unseen for centuries, but what else would stop something existing in the written word?".
The others thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
"So that's settled!" Pinkie pie said cheerfully."Let's all split up and go find a dangerous thing we know nothing about!"
The group laughed a little, and turned to go. All except Twilight.
Twilight did nothing.

"Hold on a second." she said after a pause.
"What? Why?" Asked the rest.
"Because I reckon we can narrow this down a bit further..." Twilight said slowly. She paused in thought, staring into middle distance for a while. "Rainbow dash!" she piped up. "You can fly, right?"
"Well, duh."
Twilight ignored her, and kept on talking without stopping. She began to pace. staring at the floor. "So you've seen most of Equestria from above... and so has most of the Pegasus community over the last few thousand years... So for something to stay hidden for that time, it would need to be covered up and unseeable from the sky... In a cave, perhaps? No, the entrance would be visible... A cave in a forest? Like the Ursa Minor one? In fact, a forest alone would hide things well enough... So Everfree forest? No... That was the seat of power at one point, so hidden things are unlikely, and besides, Applejack searched around it for 'future danger' and found nothing, so it can't be there...". She looked up.
"Girls, can you think of any other Equestrian forests?"
There was a pause.
"Everfree? Wait, you said that..." said Pinkie Pie.
"Whitetail wood? That's pretty big!" suggested Applejack brightly. Rarity laughed.
"Come now, Applejack! How could something possibly stay hidden in a place as benign as Whitetail wood! Everypony runs through it in full every single year!"
"Actually," replied Twilight, "That' s not entirely true. The race is more symbolic than functional, which is why not everypony needs to participate, and so we only run through the most direct route."
"But still, it's hardly going to present a danger to a would-be explorer..."
"True, but perhaps its dullness meant nopony ever really bothered exploring it properly... And besides, it's the only possible place we can think of so far that fits all criteria, so we might as well prove ourselves wrong and get it over with..."
Twilight smiled weakly. Rarity sighed "Well, all right then..." she agreed reluctantly.
"So... what Twilight's basically saying is that it has to be in Whitetail wood because it could be anywhere." said Spike. "Is it me or is that argument just a tiny bit flawed?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At last they had arrived at the edge of the woods, and stopped to contemplate the task at hand. Applejack was first to speak.
"So, uh, how do we find one thing different in among all those trees?" she said, partly to herself.
"Let's split up" Rainbow dash said heroically "I will take this half," she made a vague gesture that roughly indicated the whole of Equestria, "and you lot can do the other half."
"But R.D..."
"Applejack, I am an expert on this subject. I have read loads of adventure books, and this is just, sort of, what you do, okay?" She slid an imaginary helmet on. "ONWAAARDS TO ADVENTUURE!!
Now, which way to go first?"
Fluttershy piped up "Straight on from here until the big fir tree, then a half turn left and you should be facing it." she said. "Keep low or you'll miss it."
The others stared in amazement.
"This rabbit told me" she explained proudly, holding out a small white ball of fur.
"Apparently there's a great big wall that's been there for as long as anyone can remember, so that must be it, you see."
"Well then, perfect!" said Twilight in shock, slipping the map she had been studying into her bag. "Come on girls, let's go!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"…and so the entrance the bird told me about must be somewhere just around... here."
Fluttershy stopped. Before them stretched three long, winding paths.

The great white wall that was so famed amongst the fauna of Whitetail wood was in fact one of six, grouped into three trails by the paving, ancient, cracked, but purest white, that joined them together. Each one was in some way different. The first was heavily netted overhead and appeared to be made with the intention to be a sort of flying course, judging by the way it occasionally swept upwards or went into loops. These sections were made not of stone but of some sort of tough, woven wood. The second was open air and appeared to be made specifically for unicorns, with enchanted blockades and boulders too great for even the most trained pony to lift without magical aid, and the last, built for earth ponies, was filled with devious puzzles and intricate traps, designed to confuse and confound all but the most ingenious of pony folk.
The group stared, making tiny noises of awe.

And then, all of a sudden, a sound like a universe scratching its fingers down a chalkboard resonated around them. The ponies covered their ears, Spike grimaced, and Pinkie pie attempted to bury her own head. It seemed to come from the walls themselves, and surrounded the friends, drowning them in a sea of sound. They gasped and groaned, and began to feel faint as they fell, and fell...
And then the noise subsided, and was replaced by a low hum.

The hum spoke.

WELCOME, it said, TO HOWLMORE PATH.

Errata pt.1

Applejack was first to recover from the barrage of sound. She was furious. "Where are you? WHO are you? What've you done with Princess Celestia?" she shouted bravely at the voice.
The voice's reply was patient and emotionless.
I AM IN HOWLMORE PATH. I AM HOWLMORE PATH. I PLACED PRINCESS CELESTIA AT THE END OF HOWLMORE PATH. SHE IS SAFE. SHE SLEEPS IN A COMFORTABLE CHAISE LONGUE.
"How're we supposed to know you ain't lying?"
I AM AN INFORMATION SYSTEM. I AM NOT DESIGNED TO LIE.
The others had recovered
now, apart from Pinkie, who was still digging her head out frantically
YOU MAY ENTER YOUR DESIGNATED SECTION OF HOWLMORE PATH IN YOUR DESIGNATED TEAMS. THESE ARE AS FOLLOWS. LOYALTY AND KINDNESS ARE TO ENTER THE PEGASUS SECTION. MAGIC AND LAUGHTER ARE TO ENTER THE UNICORN SECTION. HONESTY AND GENEROSITY ARE TO ENTER THE GENERAL SECTION. THIS IS A TEST OF YOUR ELEMENT. YOU MAY ENTER HOWLMORE PATH IN YOUR DESIGNATED TEAMS.
"...so why isn't Rarity going to the unicorn section?" asked Twilight.
"I assume it's something to do with her supernatural senses;" Rarity replied, nodding to Pinkie. "they far outdo mine."
They obeyed their respective orders, and Pinkie Pie, slightly muddied, got up and followed suit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Applejack and her companions had barely walked ten metres when they found their first challenge. A huge checkered floor, each slab a pressure pad directly connected to the arrow traps on the panels that loomed ominously above.
She stared at it, then turned to the others.
"Well how do you suppose we cross THAT?" she asked.
Rarity's reply confused her somewhat.
"Do you think," she asked In reply "that it reloads itself?"
Applejack was taken aback, but answered nonetheless.
"Erm, well, I guess not?"
"If it's arrows," Spike added, "that would tend
to do enough damage not to need reloading."
"Excellent" Rarity said briskly "in that case, stand back." She pulled up the hood on her dress, and stepped onto the first square. Instantly an arrow shot out, heading straight for the back of her neck. Spike cried out "NO!", and leapt for her, but it was too late.

Rarity was entirely unharmed. She stepped onto the next square, and the same thing happened. The arrows shot out, hit her cloak, and simply bounced off without leaving a scratch. Soon she had reached the other side, and tested the last trap with her hoof. No arrow was fired.
"The straight line I followed ought to be safe to cross now!" she called back. She laughed at the shocked expressions in their faces. "Come over here and I'll explain!"
They obliged, dumbfounded.
Spike shook himself."That was AWESOME, Rarity!" He said in amazement. "How'd you do it?"
Rarity was flattered. "Why, thank you, Spike! I... suppose it's time I told all." she said, blushing.
"Ain't that the truth!" Applejack said. Rarity giggled, and began relating her story.
"Well, I was reading a column in a magazine about the ‘Fashions of Tomorrow’ and it talked about a new idea for a special type of guardsman's gear."
"It had been discovered that a spider's web, if used as a fabric, would be stronger than steel and far more flexible, tough enough to withstand even the sharpest of swords, and this paved the way for the most fashionable Guards' armour ever possible! But, of course, there were drawbacks. Spiders are notoriously unfriendly, even towards one another, and could not produce enough web, when not in the groups they so despised, to make any suits whatsoever!"
"And then I had a brainwave. Most ponies, of course, are certain that it is impossible to tame a spider and force it to make friends, but then, I suppose, most ponies do not know Fluttershy. And so I asked her if she would be an absolute darling and try her hand making a spider farm, and by Celestia did she do it! I had enough fabric for a demo version in no less than a week, and produced this." She nodded to her dress. "And then all this horrid affair with the kidnapping happened, and I thought ‘Well I can't put it back now... What better way to test this new project than out in the field it is designed for!’, and here we are!"

She smiled proudly.

Applejack gaped.

"So, uh, am I right in thinking that there fabric is arrow proof?"
"That's the idea of it, yes."
"And spike proof?"
"HEY!" Spike yelled.
Rarity giggled affectionately.
"In more ways than one, yes." she said, "But not impact proof. Falls will still hurt."
"All the same, that's... Blow me, that's impressive..." Applejack mumbled, and they continued to trek along the path.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was not long before Twilight sparkle and Pinkie Pie came across a similar trap system. Twilight attempted a few spells, but the dangers would not reveal themselves. She sat down and began to think. At once, Pinkie interrupted her.
"I have an idea! I have an idea!" she chirruped. Twilight sighed, and asked what it was.
"Use my special senses to guide us across 'em all!" she sang. "Climb onto my back and make doing this possible!
Twilight considered this.
"Good idea, Pinkie," she replied, "just don't take any unnecessary risks."
"Well DUH!" Pinkie replied. "That's obvious. Just trust me, Sparkle. I got this thing covered."
She giggled. "Now hold on tight!"
Twilight did. Pinkie pie stepped forward onto the first tile, and immediately shut her eyes tightly. "THAT is an UNNECESSARY RISK!!" Twilight screamed, as Pinkie bounced out of the way of the hefty rock that instantly fell from above. She jumped from tile to tile, babbling to herself. "Hmmm, not this one, not this, NOPE, not that one," she muttered as stones tumbled from traps above. "AHA!" she cried, and stopped. "This one is safe, so that should help find a pattern, wait, no it's not..." She hopped away, as three great rocks crashed onto the tile they had been standing on. Twilight screamed in terror and held on for dear life, but still Pinkie pie didn't seem to be too bothered by the imminent danger. Rocks clattered, shattering the paving. And then, at last, Pinkie stopped jumping. "Now...". She focused, her eyes squeezed tightly shut, "Yes, this one is definitely safe, so..."
"Pinkie?" Twilight interrupted.
"Yep?"
"We're on the other side."
"Oh! That explains it!"
Twilight slid off Pinkie's back. She stared at her for a little before speaking again.
"Erm..."
"Yep?"
"You can open your eyes now, Pinkie."
"Yep."
There was a pause
"So are you going to open them?"
"...Do I have to?"
"Fine, no. Just, just be careful, don't..."
"Don't what?"
"Nothing, Pinkie, nothing."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow dash sped through the path, dodging pillars, ducking obstacles and never even touching the sides. Her mane blazed behind her, leaving a weaving, arching rainbow. She laughed and whooped to herself. "This. Is. Awesome." she said under her breath, and grinned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Far back in the maze, Fluttershy was in trouble. She was trying to keep up with Rainbow dash, she really was, but she simply couldn't. She flew slowly and worriedly, dodging the pillars as best she could. She breathed deeply, and straightened up. "This time," she said bravely, "this time for sure!"
She gathered herself, grimaced, and tried going faster again. She dodged the first pillar with ease, and the second one similarly, but the next few were arranged in a zigzag. As she weaved between them, she let out a tiny scream, barely missing the blockades until she came to a pillar that stretched straight across the path, slammed into it painfully, and flopped to the ground. She got up again and rubbed at her nose, which was now red and swollen. "Ouch," she whined, and sat down dejectedly.

From around the ponies, the air spoke a single word.
LOYALTY, it said, and fell silent once more.

Rainbow dash gasped. How could she? She had completely forgotten about Fluttershy! She rushed back, following her own trail, searching.
Soon, she came to a wider section of track, on the ground, that she had just passed through. "What was this bit for?" she pondered, staring around it properly for the first time. A chicken caught her eye. Rainbow dash laughed. "How did that get in here! It's sealed from all sides!" she said to herself.
And the chicken's eyes glowed red.
Rainbow dash froze, perhaps a little more literally than she might've hoped, and plummeted towards the ground.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy was bruised and battered, but persevering brilliantly. She shot as fast as she could along the track, dodging neatly between obstacles, her face set. Suddenly she saw something ahead. The path was sweeping down to what looked like a wide arena on the ground. And in that arena, there was something cyan. She grinned. "Thank goodness for that!" she said.
It turned grey.
Fluttershy gasped in terror. She powered forward, ducking and diving dangerously between the obstacles. The statue was only a couple of metres from the ground now, and Fluttershy squealed as she put on a final burst of speed, grabbing the statue upside down with the brittle stone wings missing the floor by centimetres. She winced at the extra weight, but hoisted it upright and placed it on the ground in safety.
Panting, she looked around the arena. A chicken's head caught her eye from behind a bush, and she instinctively pounced it, knocking it to the floor, before towering over it menacingly. The cockatrice looked up in fury, before letting out a scream, struggling, whimpering hopelessly, reversing its work on Rainbow dash and fainting.
"What did I do?" Fluttershy thought out loud. She giggled. "I suppose word must spread pretty fast among cockatrices!"
Rainbow dash regained consciousness, slowly. "FLUTTERSHY!," she yelled in joy, and trotted over to hug her.
Suddenly Rainbow realised something.
"I was turned to stone in mid air! You saved my life!"
Fluttershy grinned, clearly enjoying the attention for once.
"Oh, it was nothing, Rainbow dash." she said modestly.
"Are you KIDDING? It was EVERYTHING!" Rainbow raved, "If I had hit the ground, I would've smashed into, like, a million pieces!"
Fluttershy rolled her eyes, still beaming to herself. "Come on now," she said, attempting to suppress a smile. "We need to find our princess!"
"Right! And from now on, I'm never gonna leave your side!"
Rainbow dash paused.
"I'm sorry about that..." she mumbled at last, "I just, sort of, forgot..."
"Oh it's fine, I forgive you." Fluttershy replied. She tried to change the subject, but failed unwittingly. "What was the voice doing when it said, you know," LOYALTY, "like that?"
The voice replied.
THE PATH WILL NOW FURTHER HINDER PROGRESS ALONG IT. IT WILL ATTEMPT TO LEAVE YOU BEHIND.
"I think I just made this a lot harder for everypony..." said Rainbow dash sadly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh good. It seems our friend Rainbow dash has failed at something." said Rarity icily.
As her group walked onwards, she mulled over the path's last statement. "'Leave you behind'?" she asked her friends, "What on earth could it mean, do you think?"
"Beats me!". Applejack laughed. "But I reckon we're gonna have to run, that's all I'm saying!"
Rarity smiled. "And you, Spike, any thoughts?"
"Huh?"
"On what Howlmore path meant by leaving you behind?"
"Oh. I dunno, probably getting tied up or something."
Rarity was silent for a moment as they walked.
She edged closer to Spike, her dress nearly brushing his side, and asked gently, "Is everything alright?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, fine."
"Only you seem a little upset, you know, as if something is bothering you."
Spike sighed sadly, and opened his mouth to speak, but stopped.
The ground beneath him had begun to shake.
Spike stared down, stepping back just in time for a huge white wall to burst upwards from the earth beneath his feet, cutting out his reply. Rarity shrieked, and leapt back. "Oh, NO!" She whimpered. "Now I'm all alone! What will I do? HOW WILL I SURVIVE!!!"
"Oh, you poor thing." said Applejack, the slight anger of being forgotten about unhidden. "All alone."
"Oh, Applejack, I quite forgot..." Rarity said embarrassedly. She dried her eyes and stared up at the new wall.
"I suppose that's what it meant by 'try to leave you behind'" she said humourlessly. "So, anyway, off we go...Applejack?" She turned, and realised that a second blockade had sprung up around her.

"Oh good," she said to herself, "now I can break down in peace."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"And so I was like *whoosh* and then I caught up and he ran off again so I was like "OH NO YOU DON'T" so I was like *whoosh* and then I caught up with him again and that time it was weird because I was in a bridge and he ran off again so I was like "OH NO YOU DON'T" and then I ran an caught up and..."
"Pinkie pie, we could be about to fall into a huge trap or be attacked by monsters. I am trying to concentrate and YOU are NOT HELPING."
"sorry..."
"It's fine, really. Just, you know, quieten down, please?"
Twilight sparkle turned to her. "Uh, Pinkie?"
"Y-ello?"
"Why are your eyes shut again?"
"Because it's FUN! I can see loads of pretty lights and stuff!"
Twilight sighed. This was going to be a long day.
And suddenly a manticore pounced in front of her, and all of tartarus broke loose.

Pinkie pie darted into action. She bounced neatly round to the other side and, while the monster was still turning round, bit its tail hard. She clung on, sinking her teeth in further as the monster slashed angrily at her.
Twilight had seen her chance. Her horn was already pulsating in a bright purple and her eyes glowed a dim grey.
In the meantime, Pinkie's grip was faltering. She tried to yell something to Twilight, but it was lost to the monster's scorpion tail. The beast writhed and slashed furiously at its passenger. It knew it had nearly won.
A fully charged Twilight called out to her friend.
"You have to let go or I might hit you!".
Pinkie's grip slackened and she was flung along the ground, away from the beam of searing white that shot out of Twilight's forehead. It smashed the monster backwards, transfiguring it into a frog that flumped soggily on the ground.
Pinkie pie got up and galloped over to Twilight. "Oh WOW. You're gonna need to show me that again sometime!"
Twilight smiled. "Come on, there's no way I could've done it without you!" she replied. "Letting go when I told you to... That takes real bravery. You were the hero! That spell would've been useless one-on-one!"
Pinkie pie beamed. She took one last look at the unscathed yet terrified frog on the ground, and giggled. "Classic" she said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A monstrous green dragon snaked out of a wicker grille in front of Applejack. She yelled to Rarity and Spike, who, for the first time since they had been split up, heard her. The grille led down to a pit that contained a hydra, and its three heads were guardians of their respective paths. They drooled at the sight of food.
It seemed they each had one head to fend off.
Applejack watched as the twirling neck ahead of her reared up and shot forward. She bucked it hard in the face, and it recoiled, a bruise already forming. "Take that, you vermin!" she yelled at it. The other heads whined, flailing their monstrous necks high above the walls of the maze, and, inexplicably, the bruise vanished. The three healed heads reared up to attack again. Rarity dodged, spun, and danced around the head, in an intricate ballet that made her dress appear to waltz with her. It followed her hungrily, as its neck twisted slowly into a huge knot. Spike spotted his opponent coming for him, and headbutted its forehead. It fell to the ground and covered its wound with its serpentine neck. Yet all it took was one call from the head on Applejack's side to undo the knots and heal the cuts. They persevered, but the beast never stopped healing.
A thought popped into Applejack's mind. "What if we beat them all at the same time?" she called. "Then none of them heads'll get to heal the others!"
Rarity gasped. "Of course! Applejack, you're a genius. On the count of three."
Rarity, Spike, and Applejack breathed in, and stopped attacking.
"One,"
Three heads stared down at the now apparently defenceless targets.
"Two,"
They snapped hungrily and moved in on their prey.
"Three"
Spike leapt, roaring loudly, and smashed his tail down between the creature's eyes.
Applejack bucked the side of her foe's jaw and sent it crashing into the wall.
Rarity waited until it was almost upon her before hopping lightly and slamming her hoof into her enemy's nose.
The three broken heads let out one last failed cry before slinking back into their cavern beneath the path. Friends cheered and complemented each other as the grille sealed up, and their voices became separated once more. They strolled on, perhaps a little less lonely than before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Errata pt.2

Twilight and Pinkie had reached the more magic orientated section of the maze, and despite her wide arsenal of spells, Twilight was still finding it tricky. In the last section alone, she had been asked to teleport a balloon onto a hook in order to blast air through a small turbine in order to open a portcullis, which she then had to lift manually anyway. This kind of multitasking required her to look up many spells in the book Spike had so helpfully packed for her often, and this, combined with magical exertionwas taking its toll on her, and Pinkie Pie's constant stream of questions were not easing the situation. She was sure the pink pony could help in some way, but until she could be bothered to figure it out it would be she who did the work, and Pinkie who did the play.
In the meantime, Twilight was being asked whether she would rather be "a ball that can bat or a bat that can bawl?"
Twilight contemplated this tiredly for a few moments before muttering "Questions..." and sealing Pinkie's mouth up with some magical tape.

From around the group, the low hum formed a single word.
MAGIC, it said, and returned to nothing once more.

The realisation of what she had just done hit Twilight like a slap in the face, waking her from the numb tedium of her tasks. The tape ripped its grip from Pinkie's mouth and vanished into fine dust. "I'm so sorry! I can't believe I even did that! What was I thinking? Can you ever forgive me? I just... got angry, I suppose... Are you okay? Are you mad? It's okay if you are, but are you?"
Pinkie pie found this hilarious, and collapsed into a fit of giggles
"Oh man, the irony, the IRONY!". She thumped the ground. "What? What is it?" Twilight sparkle asked.
She paused. She considered.
A look of realisation trickled over her face and she began to snigger childishly, falling to her back like her friend as she continued to laugh, and laugh, and laugh.
She looked over at Pinkie pie.
"I'd be the bat." she said.
"Huh?"
Twilight only smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soon, the new magical abilities bestowed upon the maze by these failures were to be utilised.

Applejack jumped. The walls had just addressed her. "What is it?" she asked in the toughest voice she could muster. "Also, what's so special 'bout me that I get a secret meeting with y'all?"
I WISH TO WARN YOU THAT THE TASK YOU ARE TO FACE WILL BE DIFFICULT, it replied
"And why's that?" she asked defensively. "What's so tricky 'bout the truth?"
HAVE YOU EVER TOLD A LIE?
"No!"

HONESTY, said Howlmore Path, and the word reverberated across the walls and along the ways, and a new phase of trials began.

Rarity galloped towards the pedestal. It was white and silver, and pyramid shaped. The key at its peak, around a metre from the ground, sat on a small circular platter flecked with gold
Using her magic, she plucked it neatly from the top and examined it. It was jewelled, and important looking, and Rarity held it to the light, watching the sun's rays shine through the gems. She considered stowing it in her dress, but instead held it safely by her side for whatever time it would be used, and walked until she came to a junction, at the exact same moment as Applejack did.
"Ah, Applejack." Rarity said icily. "So you failed too."
"Woah, hey, it ain't my fault! I was tricked!"
"And now the path can use lies. How fitting. I mean really, how is it that in our group we seem to have but one pegasus able to pass a simple task?"
"Look, I'm sorry, okay? Can I have that key, please?"
"Ugh, no! You'll probably lose it or lie about it or something. And besides, I found it."
And Rarity froze.
She backed away from Applejack as the understanding of what was going on trickled into her mind, and began to berate herself sadly.
"Oh you fool, Rarity, you fool. Stupid, stupid, obvious. This isn't a key, she isn't Applejack, this is deception. This is a test. And you've failed."

And right on cue, the path echoed with the word GENEROSITY. Rarity began to beat her head against a wall as the mirages faded and she was left alone once more.

In a cell at the end of the route, a lock clicked.
A dark blue, humanoid figure stepped out of its prison, its twin diamond eyes glinting in the light. If it had had a mouth, it would have been grinning greedily. It shot off at impossible speed, heading for its first mark.

Applejack yelped as a blue blur shot past her, taking her hat with it.

Twilight's shoulder was wrenched to the left as her saddlebag was lifted from her back.

Rarity didn't even notice as a hand slipped into a pocket in her dress and neatly lifted out its contents.

The figure absorbed its newfound bounty and vanished into the shadows of the path.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In a wicker loop, a blue Pegasus and a yellow Pegasus were flying together. They chatted, barely bothered by the low speed they were moving at, taking in the sights. Though even the highest parts of the track were covered by canopy, Whitetail wood was still a glorious sight. The trees wavered lazily in the cool breeze and the fauna of the woodland chased, and hopped and flitted around, in a glorious landscape of rich colour. As the two admired the scenery, Fluttershy began describing the individual birds and how to identify them. Rainbow dash paid a lot of attention, considering that she was far more interested by the predatory birds than their tiny prey. Time moved slowly, and as the path ducked down towards a wide, flat-roofed disc on the right hand edge of the path, she found that, for the first time in a long time, her face dropped at the sight of whatever this coming challenge was. "I guess I was enjoying the slow life..." she said to herself.

It was a lion, chained and locked to a post in the centre, far enough from the walls to put the ponies just outside its reach. The ceiling was low, making it impossible to dodge the animal by flight, and meaning the two would have to skirt the edges closely the entire time.
Fluttershy's voice had dropped to a whisper. "Okay Rainbow dash, if you distract him, I'll come from behind and free the poor thing."
Rainbow dash gaped. "So we're confronted with a... relatively safe task and your first thought is 'Oh hey everypony, let's release the lion'?"
"Well we can't just leave him there! Look at him; he's starving..."
"Yes, and if we let it loose, it'll quickly satisfy its hunger WITH US."
"Ssshhh! Don't shout! You're scaring him!"
"He's scaring me!"
"Look, I will go this way" she indicated to her left "and distract the poor thing, then you can sneak off that way and take off the lock."
There was a pause. This worried Fluttershy and she flustered.
"U-Unless you don't want to, in which case that's fine by me, and you can do whatever you like, but I just think it would be better if you go that way and, um, I don't."
She smiled awkwardly.
"Fine, I'll go." Rainbow dash said. "But just so you know, this is totally mental."
In the time it had taken for their hushed argument to finish, the lion had moved over to them, and stood as close as was possible, about a metre away, sizing them up. Fluttershy tried to ease its worries as best she could, and began edging to the left, flattening herself unthreateningly against the wall as Rainbow dash snuck away. This calmed the lion slightly, and it began to make a low purring sound, sitting down. It edged back a little, and the chain fell slack.
Rainbow dash had reached the post and began to pick the lock on it with a twig. As she did so, Fluttershy, who had not been paying attention to the wall she eased along, came into contact with something that felt like some sort of impenetrable gel-like bubble, and cried out to herself. This startled the lion, which tugged on the chains hard as Rainbow dash clicked the lock free, sending it flying into Fluttershy who was thrown far to one side. Fluttershy gasped in shock as the beast was launched past her, sailed through the strange shield and out into the world beyond.

The young lion looked around it, and inhaled, the breeze of freedom seeming so much more fresh, so much more full of life than ever before. It pawed at the world playfully, and laughed a lion's laugh. As it bounded away, Fluttershy watched it, and smiled. Rainbow dash did the same.

KINDNESS HAS PASSED. The words reverberated over the course, and every pony, dragon, and even a few wild animals cheered, stomped, and smiled to themselves.

At last, the earth ponies' path was coming to an intersection, and for the first time it what seemed like a long time, Rarity was able to hear a voice. A dragon's voice.
She broke into a grin, and hid behind the last section of the wall, listening to his footsteps, poised to leap out and surprise Spike. He drew closer, and Rarity detected something in his voice she had not heard before.
It was sadness.
She left her post, and walked out to him slowly, to ask what was the matter. Spike saw her, and he stopped muttering, and nodded slowly, a look of cool acceptance passing over his face.

"You don't like me, do you." he said

Rarity was taken aback. She opened her mouth to speak, but Spike cut her short
"Don't answer, I already know."
Spike looked completely broken. He pursed his lips.
"All this time..." he muttered. "All this time I've been lying to myself. 'She wasn't using you to get that gem'," he imitated."'She didn't mean it when she said you stank of garbage.' 'She cares a lot about your feelings'. But you were, you did, and you don't." Spike was crying now, trembling with anger and tears.
Rarity was horrified. "Spike, no! None of that is true!"
Spike laughed sadly. Rarity's tone grew more serious "Truly, it's not. No! I'll prove it's not!"
She flicked her dress to hang down her side, and, in triumph, reached into a concealed pocket in the middle of it. And gasped.
The pocket was empty.
"It was just there! JUST THERE!" she said, searching frantically. "It never leaves my side! How could it be missing?"
"Is this some kind of a joke?" Spike asked skeptically.
"NO!" Rarity wailed.
Spike looked at her like she was insane. He shook his head in disbelief.
"It's just a game to you, isn't it? You play people. It's what you do. You trip them. They fall for you. And they shower you with gifts, because they think they have a chance." Spike's voice was cracking, and his eyes were red and puffy. "And you complement their hair. And their face. And their cute little waddle. And you don't care about their feelings, you just care about their adorable face and their free presents. You're a TEASE." he spat, and Rarity was crying too. She tried to speak, but barely forced out a word before covering her face with her foreleg and letting out a whimper. Spike stared at the ground in silence, ignoring her.

"You see, life's played a cruel trick on me." he choked "I'm a dragon. If I get given stuff, I grow, and go on rampage. And who do I fall for?" His voice rose in a crescendo. "IT'S THE ELEMENT IF GENEROSITY, THAT'S WHO. HA HA. How funny it must be to you ponies, a bit like everything else I've ever done." Spike kicked the wall. "Well I'll tell you what, I'm leaving your stupid friendship group. Because in it, I'm a slave. You don't like me, you don't respect me. You don't even trust me to handle myself." He paused and wiped his eyes. "I'll prove I can. I'll get out of this path and I'll prove I can. You'll see. You'll ALL see."
And he ran.
Rarity slumped against a wall, felt her legs give way, and slid slowly down to the ground, sobbing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight sparkle and Pinkie pie had been finding it difficult to progress due to the further levels of dark magic now inhabiting the path. As they walked, light green vines began to criss-cross the path, in a vague attempt to catch them out and trip them over into the thick mud that they walked through. Twilight attempted a forcefield around them, but the vines seemed to pass through with ease, slipping through what to them was just a fairly viscous fluid.
One of them twanged Twilight's horn, removing the field in time for another vine to trip her. She teetered for a little, and fell into another vine, sending her careering backwards into the mud with a loud splat.
Pinkie pie found this hilarious. She burst out laughing at the sight of Twilight lying face first in the mud. Twilight was less happy, but kept it to herself, instead just asking Pinkie pie politely to stop.
Pinkie pie couldn't.
"Please, Pinkie. It's really hurting my feelings."
But Pinkie continued to laugh. She couldn't help it. It was just so... Funny!

And, for the last time, Howlmore Path echoed with a single, resonating word. LAUGHTER, it said.
It knew that the mind games were about to begin.

And everywhere, at a low volume, there was laughter. It didn't mock, it wasn't cruel, yet it didn't care who or what it was laughing at. It chuckled, and guffawed and sniggered at anything anypony said or did.
Constantly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Both Fluttershy and Rainbow dash were confused. There was a wall of vicious spikes blocking the way ahead. The two had stared at it for a while, searching for a clue as to how to get past it, but nothing seemed to have any link to it. They now eyed it suspiciously, occasionally suggesting ideas that were immediately laughed off by the walls and grid that surrounded them.
"…maybe we could just, like, push it away?"
There was a cackle from the path behind her.
"Oh, but Rainbow, you might hurt yourself!"
"Still worth a try."
Rainbow dash flew up to the vast blockade, and, reaching a hoof between the spikes, gave the wall a gentle nudge.
It wasn't there. Neither were the spikes. They just looked there.
The task now was to fly into something that looked incredibly painful, and continue moving as incredibly painful looking things passed straight through your body.
As Rainbow dash began to flap slowly through the wall, she experienced the strange sensation of watching a spike enter the side of your head. It was not nice at all, and she began to feel a little queasy at the sight of it. One of them ran through her eye and she saw that the inside of the illusion looked like metal too. She eased through the wall, shaking in fear, and, on the other side, let out the breath that she'd been holding. Gathering herself, she realised something; She had found that horrible.
Now it was Fluttershy's turn.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rarity and Applejack had met up at another intersection in the path and were now chatting friendlily about their two businesses, economics, travel and now Spike's disappearance. "Believe me, Applejack, he was right at every single point. We've been mistreating him, I've been absolutely beastly for far too long a time, and... Well, almost all..."
"...Poor guy. I'm gonna miss him. He was too darn hardworking, weren't he, too good a guy to say no. I wonder how Twilight'll cope now he's gone. You just can't replace Spike..."
"...It was all my fault, I think. I was the snowball that caused the avalanche. By Celestia, I'm selfish."
Applejack laughed. "My, miss Rarity, you really gone and changed outta this little episode, ain't you!"
Rarity smiled weakly. "It's a pity I changed just a little too late..."
Something tugged on Rarity's dress, forcing her to grab it in her teeth to prevent its robbery.
It was a dark blue humanoid with diamonds for eyes.
Applejack ran up to it and bucked it hard, yelling at it, but it dodged her assault and continued to pull. Rarity realised quickly what this thing was, and decided that it was likely responsible for her missing goods. She let out a growl, and tore a sapphire from the ground nearby, launching it at her foe. It dodge the projectile, letting go of her dress, and split into twelve exact copies of itself, which began to circle her slowly and hungrily, cackling. Rarity galloped to a corner, forcing the mirages to stop circling her and file into a small curve. After a pause for the perfect moment, she quietly lifted a few gems from the earth behind them with magic and thrust them into the back of the monsters' heads. They sailed through all but the third one, which she bucked in the face as it recovered from the shock. The true beast wailed as she lifted more jewels from the earth around it, giving it a sharp uppercut and a blow to the side with her newfound weapons. It was thrown backwards, and landed painfully a couple of metres away. The embodiment of greed hissed for one last time before vanishing with its allies, leaving behind a hat, a bag, and a gem.
A fire ruby.
Rarity picked it up and stowed it in her pocket, hoping Applejack hadn't spotted it. She knew the orange pony wasn't one for secrets.
But Applejack had indeed seen. She practically leapt for joy, and ran over to Rarity, who smiled meekly.
"So was that the gem that, ahem..." Applejack asked, grinning.
"Yes."
"And you've kept it all this time?"
"Well, yes."
Applejack continued to stare at her, grinning knowingly, as they began to walk. "Stop that" Rarity said, embarrassed.
"Hay no, lovergirl."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pinkie pie was confused. She had taken her eyes of Twilight sparkle for a single second and in that time another two Twilights had appeared. Most ponies would be a little phased by this, but all of the Twilights seemed to be hugely interested in each other. The three were happily discussing theories on how their apparent solidness was possible, and the reasons behind the two fakes' assumption that they were the real ones.
"So when we reach the end, what'll happen to whoever turns out to be an illusion?"
"Oh, I reckon we'll all just be combined into one."
"Do you think so? How weird would that be! Remembering giving different opinions on questions you just asked!"
"We are literally talking to ourselves here, aren't we!"
They burst out laughing, and the walls and floor did too.
Pinkie pie was silent.
She had just seen something happen which she did not want to see; one of the Twilights had walked through a rock.
"She's not solid..." said Pinkie,
"...So the others had been lying when they said they were solid."
Pinkie pie paused.
"And Twilight doesn't lie."
Pinkie pie broke into a gallop, sprinting straight into the next obstacle, a door with a hinge placed along the base, which she hurdled neatly, shouting "Twilight!".
No answer came, and she continued to run.
For the first time in a while, she felt alone. Very alone.
She cried out for Twilight again, but all was silent but her own echo. "Somepony?" she panted. "Anypony?"
Up ahead was an intersection. She neared it, and gasped when she realised what it was.

It was, at last, the end of the path, with Twilight and all her other friends there, waiting for her.

Ferrox

The three routes converged at a vast dome, separated from it by by the magical shields covering the entrances. Each of them was a different colour: red, then dark pink, followed by a small gap and then orange, purple, and blue, representing the elements.
The three paths remained separate, but at last were linked by windows, allowing the groups to talk. Even the path's endless laughter seemed to have stopped.
And so they did. They sat, and chatted, and they smiled, and listened, and the time seemed to sit itself down among them, and time seemed to let the moment linger for a while, for the ponies to relax, for once, for a lazy discussion in the summer sun.
But soon the moment passed, and the six ponies tried walking through their doors. Most simply bounced off their respective colours, except for one.
Fluttershy stepped tentatively forth into the final test.

The dome was vast, roughly eighty metres in diameter and forty metres high, its structure forged from thick wooden trunks and plated in glass. The sunlight grew bright, and dappled the vast circular base, a simple circle, made of sand on flat stone.
And the maze cast one final, teleporting, spell.
A great black clockwork mechanism, ten times Fluttershy's height, stood up. It was headless, but its chest was wide, ending in a flat, digitless hand on one side and a great, silvered cannon on the other. Its movement in its upper body was limited by its cumbersome armour, but the inverse was true for its light, pump- like legs. These ended in a glassy, dome shaped air chamber and a vast rubber suction cup, shaped like a tyre.

It lifted its left leg, and, with a great rush of air, brought it down in a slow step forward. Fluttershy trembled in its advancing shadow, frozen on the spot. From the sidelines, other ponies shouted encouragement and panicked warnings as it raised its cannon, and launched a green ball of energy at her. She squealed in terror, flapping fearfully away.
"FLY SOMEPLACE IT CAN'T HIT YOU, SUGARCUBE!" shouted somepony. Fluttershy heard. She began beating her wings in the direction of the dome's peak. The monster seemed to watch her for a second, before it turned towards a wall. It strolled over, lifted its leg to point towards it, and sucked. The foot clamped itself to the wall.
And it lifted its other leg from the ground, placing it neatly ahead of its other. Slowly but surely, it began to walk up the side of the dome towards Fluttershy's new vantage point.
Fluttershy stared towards the rest of the group in panic, as if asking for help. None came.
She spun back towards the advancing giant, its neverending cannonfire barely missing her as she drew within its range. She screamed, ducked and dived, but the inevitable hit came, and sent her tumbling. She hit the ground hard. Rarity squealed, flinging her cape into the dome and over to Fluttershy to protect her from the onslaught of green orbs, and Rainbow dash cried out, launching herself at the barrier and knocking herself dizzy. She pummelled the red wall furiously, shouting.

Twilight sparkle called to the yelling Pegasus. "Rainbow dash, stop! Magical barriers don't break like that! You'll only hurt yourself!"
"I DON'T CARE!" Rainbow dash screamed, lining herself up for a second assault on the barrier, "I don't care. All I care about is that my FRIEND is in there being BEATEN UP." She hammered into the wall, and fell to the ground. "I've left her behind once before, and It nearly broke my wings off. I am NOT making that mistake AGAIN." And she flew into the wall with a great /crunch, and it vanished.
Rainbow dash paused in shock.
LOYALTY HAS PASSED, echoed the maze.
A smile broke out over her face, and she shot into action.

The clockwork fighter turned its cannon towards the tiny blue bullet heading straight for it. It fired a volley of pellets, but the attacker just arced its path to avoid them, homing in on it.

This was just the diversion Fluttershy needed. She held onto the cape tightly, and flew nimbly towards the black warrior on the ceiling. She reached it, unscathed, just in time to see Rainbow dash slam into the cannon's side, giving it a large dent. The two pegasi began to circle the mechanism slowly, confusing it as it attempted to hit the two of them at once. Its shots came noticeably slower now, as its damaged cannon strained to fire on target. It spun on a single foot, occasionally switching legs to compensate for loss of suction.
The pegasi were winning, but they hadn't won yet.
"So, um, what should I do?" asked Fluttershy.
"I dunno... You could try to target the weak point, I suppose..."
"...um... what's the weak point?"
"It's a break in its armour. They're usually over something really important. Something like, I dunno, like..." she tapped a hoof on her chin, a green ball blasting past her.
Rainbow dash's eyes widened. "Like the glass on its feet!"
They shot towards this, aiming a kick at the dome on its rotating foot. The machine began firing furiously at its own suction cups, the pegasi scattering away from the blasts. Rainbow dash shot back at it, but was knocked away by the fire, while Fluttershy dodged all the energy orbs but failed to do any particular damage.

Rainbow dash watched her in curiosity. "So you've got to sort of ...glide between them?" she muttered, and attempted this. She dodged the projectiles and slammed her hoof against the glass of the inverted machine's foot in triumph, getting in a couple of strong hits before being sent away by the cannon's fire.

Fluttershy watched Rainbow's powerful strikes attentively. She tested out Rainbow dash's technique the next time she could. It seemed to be working, and she laughed a little as she saw her friend move in for a few fatal hits, drifting neatly between the orbs. She smiled to herself. "Seems we've ended up teaching one another, haven't we?" called Rainbow dash
"Yes we have."
Rainbow dash grinned. "Float like a Fluttershy?"
"Sting like R.D."
And with one final strike, a chip appeared in the glass. Air surged through it, and the great iron warrior flailed its limbs wildly as it lost suction, firing out a few helpless shots as its grip faltered, its fight ended, and it fell thirty metres headfirst towards the rocks beneath.
The gears clicked angrily in the shattered remnants of the final challenge. There was a slow pause as the dust settled.

The six ponies cheered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Princess Celestia!"
The white princess walked forth from the magical boudoir provided by Howlmore Path. She smiled at the bowing group.
"Come now, there's no need for that, my little ponies." She said, signalling that they should rise. "You've saved Equestria twice already; it I should be bowing to you!"
The group stood up, smiling.
"I trust this journey has taught you many lessons."
"Oh, you would not believe!" said Twilight sparkle. She cleared her throat.
"It taught me that you should always talk about your issues with your friends, and resolve them before you do something that might hurt their feelings!"
Rainbow dash spoke up. "It taught me that you should never forget your friends, and not to be distracted by anything else."
Then Rarity began to talk. "It taught me that one shouldn't simply expect their friends to be there for them. You should let them know just how much you appreciate their help."
Now it was Pinkie pie's turn. "It taught me that sometimes when you're having lots and lots and lots of fun, your fun can be causing lots and lots and lots of not fun for somepony else!"
Applejack smiled. "It taught me that sometimes, your pride is not something to be proud of. If you get all defender-like and such, then you can be sure you're going to say something you'll regret."
Celestia turned to Fluttershy. "And you, my dear?"
There was a pause.
"Be yourself, and you can do anything" she recited.
Celestia chuckled, and Fluttershy, Rarity, Twilight sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow dash, and especially Pinkie pie, joined in.

FIN.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike stomped along, grumbling furiously. It had been a day since the events of Howlmore Path, and he had trekked up to a cave in a mountain to spend the night. This had done little to calm his rage, and the joys of staying up until late had been roughly cancelled out by the disappearance of free meals. It was breakfast time now, and he had left his cave to hunt for a few gems. He came across a big red one in the centre of his path, and grabbed it hungrily. As it moved towards his mouth, he spotted something engraved into it.
"it was in my pocket all along" read the fire ruby.
The purple dragon turned, smiling, heading in the direction of Ponyville