Solstice

Chapter 3: Midnight

The silence of the maze was eerie. She was alone, save for the few sounds of other ponies around her. At first she tried to fly above the hedge wall, but quickly realized that her wings were gone, along with her horn, like the other ponies. Then she began to run blindly in a random direction, desperately seeking Luna. The maze itself seemed to be alive and malevolent. As she came to a crossroads, she saw two ponies fighting. One bucked the other on the side of the head, and as she fell, she whimpered pathetically, and the other ran away. Then Discord appeared in front of the pony who had been left behind. They exchanged words that Celestia could not hear, then Discord bent down, and rubbed the mare on the cheek. The mare’s eyes went multicolored for a moment, and then her coat and mane grayed into a sad version of their former colors, and both she and Discord disappeared from the Maze.

Celestia now realized where the armies of gray ponies had come from. Discord made them out of normal ponies. Hollow shells of their former selves, they served Discord because that was exactly what their new natures compelled them to do. It was sickening.

“Are you just going to sit there and wait until Discord decides it’s your turn, or do you want to find your sister?”

The stallion that addressed her was shrouded in a light purple cloak with yellow and blue stars on it. On his head was a matching hat which obscured his face. He stood on top of the hedge wall, and jumped down to the ground. “You’ll never save your sister by watching and waiting. Plus, you have the chance to save more than just your sister today. You just have to play by a different set of rules.”

The mysterious pony turned to face her, but it was impossible to see under his hat. His horn glowed, and a bubble spread out, surrounding them. “There, now no one can see or hear us.”

Celestia interrupted him, “Who are you anyway? And why should I trust you? As far as I  know, everypony in this maze is an enemy.”

“You have no reason to trust me. But I will tell you that I am a member of the Order of Magicians set forth by Starswirl the Bearded himself. And I want nothing more than to finish Discord. His empire is sowing disharmony and mistrust among ponies. Something I do not stand for,” he replied.

“Right. How does this help me save Luna?”

“Because, simply from observing your devotion to your sister when she was taken, and observing her devotion to you, which you obviously would not have seen, I believe you two are able to defeat Discord. But first you must prove yourselves worthy.”

“How?” Celestia said incredulously.

“By exemplifying certain virtues. Honesty, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty and Kindness.” he replied.

“Why?”

“I can’t tell you, in case Discord finds you and reads your thoughts, or worse. I need to leave you now. My magic is powerful, but even it cannot stand against the power of concentrated chaos, which Discord embodies.” he explained, “Find Luna. I will guide her to you. Remember, you can only do this together,” he explained. With that, he leapt to the top of the hedge wall and disappeared from sight.

It wasn’t long before Celestia found Luna, almost too easily. She thanked the mysterious magician for that. Together they walked through the maze, enjoying each other’s company. While they walked, Celestia explained to Luna about the situation with the virtues.

“I guess we’ll need to look for opportunities then.” Luna said with a chuckle. “A lot of ponies were taken, and though it hurts to say it, it should be a while before Discord gets to us.”

“We can certainly hope so, Luna,” Celestia replied. She was about to go on, but before she could, they came to an open area of the maze and saw a young filly lying on the ground. It tried to feebly crawl across the opening, wincing in pain with every movement. Finally it came to a rest, and could go no further.

Luna started to move toward the filly. “Luna, there’s nothing we can do,” Celestia started, but Luna interrupted her.

“Discord’s not going to have any use for her, Tia. It’s the least we can do.”

Luna knelt beside the filly. She had a pink coat with a white mane and tail. “Hey, what happened to you, little filly?”

The filly picked its head up with extreme effort and looked at Luna. She coughed and choked out, “Discord...he sent...chocolate milk rain. But it froze whoever it landed on...there was a...stampede...” she squinted at Luna, “Are...are you a...princess?”

Luna smiled at her, “Do you like princesses?”

The filly weakly smiled back, “Yeah...someday...I wanna be...a...a...” she closed her eyes. In a moment, she was still.

Celestia walked next to Luna. She uttered one word, “Why?”

Luna turned to her, “Some people just need to be shown a little kindness.”

They continued on through the maze. Celestia was beginning to get disoriented from all the twists and turns. She decided it was best to forget what direction they were going in. Their best option was to keep looking for other chances to make themselves worthy of the virtues. Though after the last incident, they were much more sober about this goal.

They were somewhat distracted from this goal, because the sky, and everything around them went dark. Celestia attempted to light the darkness with a simple illumination spell, but nothing happened. She reached out a hoof to find Luna, but she couldn’t find her. She started to lose her mind from the utter lack of anything. Then the noises began. Subtle at first, but soon much more intense. Screams of pain. Sounds of death and suffering. These were not simply any old sounds, however. Each came from someone she knew in Fillydelphia. Then she began to see their faces in the darkness, contorted as if controlled by some demented puppeteer. And they all blamed her for their pain.

There was a much louder sound then, but it was not a terrible sound. It was

Luna, and she was laughing! “Is that the best you’ve got, Discord? You’re not gonna scare us with your dopey special effects!”

Celestia heard Luna laughing, and it gave her strength. She began to laugh too at their being fooled and taken so easily, and slowly the darkness began to dissipate. Soon, no remnant of the sounds or images was left, and Celestia saw Luna again. She stood there smirking slightly. “I’ve got two, sister. You’re gonna have to catch up.”

Now becoming used to the chaotic nature of the aptly named maze, Celestia and Luna treaded lightly. Soon they reached another open area, this one much larger than the first. Celestia looked around cautiously. There were other ponies in this area. All of them seemed to be trying to take a quick respite from the maze.

As they too began to rest, a rumble shook the area. A giant crevasse began to open in the ground, and it spread, dividing the area in half. Most of the ponies were unfazed by this development, from what they’d been through so far. A colt and a filly, however, screamed loudly, drawing the attention of Celestia and Luna. They looked over and saw that they had been separated from their mother, on the other side of the gap. Celestia decided right then and there that she was not about to let another foal suffer at the hand of Discord. She trotted over to the foals. She attempted to measure the gap. It was too wide for her to leap with a foal on her back. She probably wouldn’t be able to toss the foal without missing. Then she glanced down at her tail. She had been growing it out for a long time. It was pretty strong too. She wondered if she could turn it into a rope, and hoist the foals over the gap with Luna’s help. It could work...it might even fulfill the Generosity requirement. She called Luna over and explained the plan. Then she called to the mother on the opposite side and explained the plan as well. The foals were excited, and the mother looked relieved as well. Now it was time for the sacrifice.

Celestia moved her tail into her mouth and began chewing on it. To the foals she must have looked incredibly silly, but she could feel the strands separating. soon her tail was almost completely shorn, a small stump of hair left. deftly, and with Luna’s help, she knotted the foals into the hair and then, one end clamped in her mouth, she ran and leaped over the gap. Now Luna had to move quickly, because the foals were suspended over the chasm. The mother began to look rather worried as well. Luna was quick though, and jumped only a second after Celestia had. The foals were safely on the other side of the chasm, in the hooves of their mother.

Their mother turned to Celestia, “Thank you...”

Celestia stopped her. “It was the least I could do.”

They exited through a path on the side of the large area, while discussing how to meet the requirements for Honesty and Loyalty. As they turned a corner, they saw in a clearing a ruby. Not just any ruby a Fire Ruby. THE Fire Ruby! As they began to walk toward it, there was a white flash, and Discord appeared.  “Well, well. It seems you both have made it through my maze, and mostly unscathed at that. But now it’s time for your final test. I prefer having only one winner, but I’m...open to two winners. Let’s see. A test of your loyalty, perhaps? Yes. You, Luna, is it? Who is your true ruler?”

Luna glanced at Celestia, then back at Discord. “Celestia is my ruler. I will never serve you.”

Discord glared at her. “Celestia is as much a ruler as you are, you misguided filly. I’ll ask again. Who is your ruler?”

“Celestia!” Luna shouted back, “Once you’re gone, that is. And we’ll arrange that.”

Discord sighed, “Alright, fine, I see there’ll be no convincing you otherwise. I suppose you two win. Take the fire ruby and you’ll warp out of here, safe and sound.”

With that, he disappeared. Celestia and Luna glanced at each other.

“Friends to the end, Luna?”

“Friends to the end, Tia.”

They locked arms and marched toward the fire ruby. They disappeared in a flash of light.