Mischief Makers

“How is this fun?!” Rarity cried to nopony in particular as she narrowly avoided another volley of rubber pieces. She’d been going for about three minutes already and was lucky enough to have avoided any contact with the projectiles. Yet as the seconds went on the rubber hail seemed to increase its assault, by now staying just behind her carefully curled tail. Rarity might have wondered just where the rubber was falling from - especially since there wasn’t so much as a cloud above her - but considering all else that had happened so far it seemed trivial.

Her four friends were standing a good ten feet away from her, partially because of the threat of being hit and partially because of the long line that seemed to move with whatever direction Rarity was running in. The ponies - specifically Rainbow Dash - had quickly learned that any attempts to cross the line was met with what seemed to be an invisible wall of some kind. So the best they could do was shout words of warning for their friend.

“Rarity! Move left!” Twilight shouted.

“No, your other left!” Rainbow cried a second later.

“No, your other, other, other left!”

“Pinkie Pie, when did you get here?” Applejack asked, causing the other ponies to turn their heads for confirmation.

“Just now,” the pink pony said. “the puzzle wasn’t all that hard, see?”

With her right hoof she gestured over to the spot her friends had last seen her in. Next to the still draining hourglass was a large portrait of what seemed to be a performer's stage. Standing atop it was a swamp green unicorn mare with a bright smile on her face. Her mane and tail were both a pale green and purple colouring, and while her mane was neat and tidy her tail was wild and tattered. All around her cards were being swept up as if in some form of magical wind. Her cutie Mark was a magician’s hat and wand.

“Hey Fluttershy, something wrong?” Rainbow asked. Her friends hadn’t spent more than a few seconds looking at the picture before turning back to Rarity, with the exception of the yellow pegasus.

“Oh, sorry Rainbow, it’s just...I feel there’s something familiar about this mare.”

“There is?” Rainbow asked before peering closely at the magician. And sure enough, even though the rainbow mare had never seen this pony before, there was some familiarity in her smile and posture.

“Yah know,” Applejack pitched in. “as interestin’ as Ah’m sure that puzzle is, Rarity seems a tad more important right now.”

The two pegasi turned their heads away from the puzzle and back to their friend. She was still running around and dodging the projectiles. Fluttershy felt bad about just sitting on the sidelines as her friend preformed what seemed to be a potentially harmful task. This struck the yellow pegasus as odd, seeing as how the two had stated they didn’t perform any harm ponies. Then again Rarity had yet to be hit by a piece.

Thinking of the pieces caused Fluttershy’s gaze to shift towards all of the fallen rubber that laid scattered in the grass. After a while they stopped looking so random and seemed more organized than before. Like they formed a shape of some kind.

“I think she’s on her last minute.” Twilight said with relief. She seemed to be in the right, seeing as how the rubber pieces were beginning to fall at a slower rate than before. even so they still were landing just inches from any particular piece of Rarity’s body. Then the sound of a bell chimed from nowhere and they stopped falling entirely.

Everypony trotted over to Rarity, Twilight reaching her first. “Rarity, are you ok?”

“I’ll be fine, just so long as we can get out of this horrendous competition!”

Fluttershy smiled and walked toward her friend. A cracking sound caught her attention as she placed her hoof down, causing her eyes to widen. Before she could warn her friends tiny cracks formed all over the ground. There was a loud splitting sound and suddenly the ground came out from beneath the six ponies, sending them tumbling down into a large hole strangely shaped like a chess king. The hole then instantly began to repair itself at an alarming rate, not even giving enough time for Rainbow to unfurl her wings. Not that she’d needed to since the fall was the equivalent to a one story drop and a fluffy stop, courtesies of a massive pillow. The ponies only got a second to look at it before the hole sealed up and the were plunged into darkness. Or at least until Twilight illuminated her horn with magic to give them some form of light.

“Great, now where are we?” She asked to the darkness, only half expecting to get a reply.

Applejack got up from the pile of fluff and shook her head. “Ah’m confused, didn’t Rarity win her game?”

“That she did,” The voice of Festivities echoed through the darkness. “but that was just a warm up. This is the actual game, everypony!”

A tapping sound echoed through the darkness, and the ponies decided to move as close together as possible. The sound grew louder and louder until its source came rolling into view; a black six sided die. It came to a halt between the six, with the same number faced up. It glew a green glow and beams of magic came sailing out from all directions, illuminating the darkness and revealing its contents. Rows upon rows of mirrors of all shapes and sizes filled the cavern.

“What the...How in Equestia did you make this?” Rarity gasped.

“Oh, it was nothing special,” Everypony turned to their left and spied Festivities’s image gradually approaching them from inside the mirror. “All you need is some duck tape, know how, and of course a little magic never hurt.” At this she held up her hoof and the die vanished in a ball of green fire, appearing again on her hoof.

“You’re not in my sisters domain anymore, girls,” she continued. “You’re in my game now, and to win is very simple. All you need to do is catch me!” Her eyes danced like fire and she let loose a flurry of giggles.

“Wha- then what was that appalling activity you had me do?!” Rarity cried.

“LIke I said, that was just a warmup.” Fest giggled before walking off the left screen of the mirror. She reappeared inside of another, much taller one and then brought a hoof forward. The glass rippled like water and she casually walked out in front of the ponies. Not a moment later her body was covered in both a purple and light blue aura and she found herself unable to move.

Fest let out a yawn and turned boredly towards Twilight and Rarity, whose horns were both illuminated. “Aww, and I thought we’d come so far as friends.”

Her die glowed bright green with magic, which quickly spread over her body. Both unicorn suddenly found themselves on their knees, straining to keep their spells up. Then, the spells burst off of Fest’s body like confetti and floated casually to the ground.

“Magic would end the game too quickly, girls, so you can’t catch me with it.” Fest said, placing her die behind her ear while simultaneously jumping out of the way of both Rainbow Dash and Applejack’s attempts to flank her. She performed a triple flip before diving into a short square mirror. Not a second later her face appeared on every other mirror and giggles giddily.

“Quit hiding!” Rainbow cried. She met with another round of giggles. The mirrors then set about rearranged themselves into six long pathways. The giggling began to fade into an echo that seemed to be coming from each path at once.

“I guess we’d better go looking,” Twilight said. “If somepony sees her call us and try to keep her busy as long as you can, got it?”

“Right.” everypony said in near unison before they each took off down a separate pathway.

~~~

Six little ponies in the maze, yet none can escape from my gaze.

Oh where to begin, oh where to start? I’ll ask Lady Luck, for she is smart.

Fest giggled at her little rhyme and peered across the edges of the mirror she was in. Nopony was coming from the hallways, which meant she was free to plan. Carefully she rolled the die in her hoof and it was enveloped in green magic. She grinned as the numbers on the die changed into the heads of the six ponies, all smiling back at her. Once the magic died away she tossed the die in the air and caught it on the tip of her wing. Holding it up to her face she was delighted to see it was Twilight looking back at her.

“Sweet!” Fest cried to herself. carefully she slipped the die behind her right ear and leapt onto the side of the mirror, reappearing in another one ten mirrors down. As she traveled her mind was busy at work thinking of ways she could entertain the guests. Though she’d have to be discreet about it; she didn’t want her sister finding out about this little funhouse she’d spent a good deal of time making.

Relax Festi, take a chill strip why don’t cha? Games is gonna totally love this... right?

Finally she stopped in an ovulon mirror and peered through the glass. As she predicted Twilight Sparkle had just passed the mirror and was continuing down the hallway.

“Aww, ze little pony iz lost. Ve should help her.” Fest said to herself before flicking her die back into her hoof. With a quick toss it opened up and a large green serpent with a long black moustache came slithering out. It let out a long hiss and slithered towards the unsuspecting unicorn. It’s body arched skyward and it lashed forwards, only to be blasted backwards by a beam of magic.

“Nice try,” Twilight said as she watched the serpent vanish in a puff of confetti.

“Aww, why’d you go and do that Twitwi?” Fest asked from the mirror directly next to the unicorns head. She turned towards the pegasus and fired a spell at the mirror, causing it to shatter. Fest however, had already jumped into another, more diamond shaped one. “He wasn’t going to hurt you, just entertain you. I even had the maracas and everything.”

“I’ll pass, thanks.”

The corners of Fest’s mouth twisted themselves into a challenging grin. Casually she stepped out of the mirror, her red eyes flickering like fire. “Well, if that’s how you want to play.”

Before Twilight could call out Fest slid across the floor and tickled her nose with the tip of her wings. She giggled despite herself, which Fest - being the opportunist she is - used to lightly push the unicorn back towards a mirror shaped precariously like an eye. Then, on one fluent motion, she flapped her wings and jumped back as Twilight stumbled into the mirror. Fest smiled and then walked through the mirror as well, appearing in a circle of eye shaped mirrors with Twilight. The lavender unicorn wasn’t looking at her, however. Instead she was staring bewilderedly into an adjacent mirror.

“What happened to my eyes?” She cried. Looking in the mirror Twilight had discovered that her violet eyes had suddenly turned bright yellow.

“Neat little trick, isn’t it?” Fest said. Twilight looked at her reflection and was shocked to discover her eyes were now the same colour that hers had previously been. “These mirrors are so much fun to play with, each one a different change. Each one a new adventure. You never know what you’re gonna get!”

Twilight spun around and tried to tap Festivities with an outstretched hoof, but the pegasus simply giggled and arched her back until her head was touching the floor. She rolled out of Twilight reach and phased into another mirror. She waved back to her opponent, who saw that her eyes had now become orange.

“C’mon Twitwi, keep up if you can!” Fest waved giddily at her opponent before running off through more mirrors. Twilight galloped along after her, occasionally being forced into jumping through a few more mirrors to keep her in eye sight. By the third time she had one red eye, one green eye, a goatee, and was an inch or two shorter.

“Is there a reason for all of this?” Twilight asked in annoyance.

“I think the better question is why do you need a reason, Twitwi?”

“Stop calling me that!”

Festivities stuck her now bright blue head out of a mirror. “Did you say something?”

“Yes, Stop calling me TwiTwi! It’s annoying!”

“Ask and it will be done!” Fest said with a salute before pulling back into the mirror before Twilight could catch her. Instead Twilight stumbled through a triangular mirror and fell out of one with a wavy shape to it, causing her body to tilt more towards her left side. She groaned and tried to straighten herself out to no avail before bumping her leg into something.

“Twilight?” Pinkie said, before bursting into a fit of laughter. “Y-you look so silly!”

“Pinkie this is not the time for distractions,” Twilight said to little avail. “Did you see Festivities come through here?”

“Yeah I did, and so I called out for you girls like you told us to before trying to catch her. But then she jumped into this one really really tall mirror before I could get away. So I ended up falling after her!”

“Oh no,” Twilight’s eyes widened with concern. “Pinkie, did anything happen to you when you fell out of the mirror?”

“Sure did.” she replied. Absentmindedly she flicked her tail into Twilight’s field of vision. The unicorn’s eyes widened with shock; in place of her fiends candy floss like tail was pink scorpion’s tail. “Yeah, I thought it was weird at first too. But it’s actually not so bad once you get use to it. Sure, I miss my old tail, but I can live with this.”

“Pinkie...” Twilight began. “We need to find the others and get out of this crazy maze. Did you happen to come across them?”

Pinkie Pie shook her head. “Nope, I haven’t seen anypony since we split up.”

Twilight let out a sigh. “Alright then, let’s go, and keep an eye on the mirrors.”

Pinkie gave a small salute and the two began walking at a brisk pace down the isles of mirrors. For the longest time neither of them saw the slightest sign of anypony. Even Festivities giggling seemed to have died away, leaving a somber atmosphere in its wake. This, coupled with the changes both ponies had undergone, made time seem to slow down as they trudged onwards. Twilight was constantly stumbling due to her lopsidedness, and Pinkie was having fun arching and striking with her new tail.

The eery silence was finally broken by an odd shaking sound. Both ponies lifted their ears, causing Pinkie to smile and Twilight to shake her head in confusion.

“Maracas?”

“Ooo, sounds like somepony’s having a party, Twilight!” Pinkie said, now hopping in place from the excitement.

The two ponies followed the sound of the instruments until they were standing in front of a mirror shaped like door. It even had a door handle on it shaped, unsurprisingly, like a six sided die. Twilight eyed it carefully, half expecting something to jump out and surprise her. When nothing did she carefully grabbed the handle in her magic and opened the mirror.

The scene beyond had Twilight standing speechless for a moment. Rarity and Rainbow Dash were standing in the middle of a circular room, surrounded by green snakes identical to the one Twilight had seen earlier. Each of them wore a sombrero and were busy shaking maracas between their tails. What was even odder was that the snakes seemed to be trying to sing along to their music. Of course, being that they were snakes, they accomplished little more than enthusiastic hisses.

“Rarity, Rainbow, why didn’t you tell us you were throwing this awesome party?” Pinkie asked, causing the serpents to halt their music and look at her.

Rarity gasped when she saw her friends. “Pinkie Pie, Twilight, what ever happened to you both?”

“Long story, point is we need to find Applejack and Fluttershy.” Twilight said, slightly stumbling forward before Pinkie caught her.

The snakes looked between one another before smiling - much to the confusion of everypony - and returning to their dancing and music making. The ponies paid them no mind, with the exception of Pinkie who was shaking in rhythm, and continued on their way. The serpent s didn’t move from their spot, and soon the sound of their music faded away as the four friends walked alongside rows and rows of funhouse styled mirrors. Pinkie took the odd moment to look at her reflection in the distorted mirrors and make silly faces.

“Here’s a fun bit of trivia for you all,” Festivities voice said from Pinkie’s reflection, which quickly changed into the green mare. “It turns out mirrors don’t like it when you make funny faces at them.”

Instantly the mirrors folded in among themselves. The ponies all backed away in shock as the pile of glass and metal joined together and formed into an almost tree shaped structure. Festivities stepped out of the large central mirror and waves down at the ponies, and thanks to her positioning she was reflected in every other mirror on the tree.

“Alright girls, I think this game’s gone on long enough. So to make things simpler, I’m not going to run away any more. I’ll stay right here on this tree made or mirrors!” The moment she finished many of the mirrors turned to wood and formed a stairway up to where she stood.

Rainbow Dash eyed her skeptically. “That’s it, no more tricks or surprises for us?”

“Nope,” Fest replied. “Well, except for this one.” She gave the ponies a wink and suddenly all of her reflections walked out of their mirrors. The hundred or so copies then started giggling hysterically before flying up into a massive bunch and landing all around the mirror tree.

“You have got to be kidding me!”