Trials and Errors

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.