Mischief Makers

Fluttershy’s eyes darted around frantically. Since she and her friends had split up she hadn’t seen hoof or hair of anypony, especially not Festivities or her twin. While she was slightly grateful for that the eery silence that now hung over her was worse than the twins crazy antics. Occasionally it was broken by the odd giggle off in the distance, but whenever Fluttershy turned to look she found nothing but her own reflection staring back at her. This in turn only served to increase her levels of anxiety, until it was broken by a sharp crack filling the hallway and making her jump back in fear. The sound was soon followed by a familiar moan which brightened the pegasus’s mood. She quickened her pace down through the maze and eventually came upon a section of the floor covered in shards of glass. Fluttershy unveiled her wings and carefully flew over the shards, landing right in front of a shattered octagonal shaped mirror that seemed to also act as a window, since she could see a ring of similarly shaped mirrors looking through it. And standing in the center was Applejack.

“Confound it, give me back mah hat!”

The mirror’s surfaces vibrated, almost as if they were laughing, and Fluttershy then noticed a rolled up brown ball that was being bounced off of the rippling glass. Specifically, this happened whenever Applejack tried to get close to it. She came close to catching the ball, but the mirror bounced it away at the last second and she instead slammed into its surface which, oddly, bounced her away as if it was rubber. She flew through the air for a few seconds before landing with a groan in front of Fluttershy.

“Shy?” Applejack asked, a smile quickly forming across her face. “Boy am Ah glad t’ see you.”

Fluttershy returned the smile and helped her friend to her hooves. “Are you alright?”

“Ah will be just as soon as Ah get mah hat back.” Grunting, Applejack turned back to the mirrors, who were busy passing the brown ball between one another like a group of school children. With a determined look she rushed back into the center of them and swatted the ball out of the air before the next mirror could catch it. She smiled triumphantly and placed it on her head, where it immediately unfurled back into her hat.

“Now then, Shy, why don’t we get out of this crazy place?”

“But what about the others?” Fluttershy asked as they walked back through the shattered mirror.

“We’ll find em, it’s just like when we were in Discord’s maze, minus the corruption part.”

Fluttershy winched back at the memory of when she’d been turned into a horrible brute by the draconicus’s magic. She hung her head shamefully and stared at the floor. Applejack was quick to notice this and places a hoof on her shoulder supportively.

“C’mon, we got t’ think positively.” she said before taking a quick glance at the pathway. They were quickly coming upon a left hand turn. “Why, Ah’ll bet Twi and the others are just around the corner.”

At this Fluttershy lifted her head slightly and smiled back to her friend. Applejack returned the smile and they both rounded the corner, where they did indeed find something. However, instead of finding their friends or even one of the twins they were met with the sudden arrival of another pony. Most of the figures body was concealed in a thick black cloak, specifically around the head. The only parts exposed were its legs, which were a pale grey colour. Fluttershy squeaked in off guard fright and backed up, but the pony didn’t move a muscle to look at her.

“Well Ah’ll be, Ah didn’t think there were any other ponies caught in this game.” Applejack said after the initial shock had died away. “Think yah could help us fin finding a way out of here?”

Again the figure made no movements of acknowledgement, merely keeping its head staring in the direction of the two friends. Applejack cocked her head curiously and held a hoof in the air. Still the stranger was unmoved, even when Applejack waved her hoof back and forth rapidly.

“Hello? Yah gonna help or not?” Applejack asked, being met again by silence. “Well then, could yah at least move so we can get through?” Again, nothing. “Confound It, c’mon Fluttershy, we’ll find another way.”

“You play the game well...”

Instantly the farm pony froze. That whispery voice sounded eerily like the one from her dream from that morning. She looked to Fluttershy, whose eyes had widened as she too recognized it. Quickly the two turn back towards the figure.

“What did yah say?”

A tiny smile seemed to form from under the hood. Then, without shifting its positioning one inch, the figure began backing away from the two friends.

“Will it last you through... that is the question.”

“What’re yah mumblin’ about?” Applejack asked, taking a step towards the figure who was still backing away. Suddenly the figure vanished, revealing that behind it was a large door shaped mirror. Muffled voices seemed to be coming from it, but they were too faint for either pony to make out their words.

Applejack carefully approached the mirror, half aware of what she was doing, with Fluttershy sticking close by. As the gap between them and the mirror lessened the voices became somewhat clearer, though still muffled to the point of unrecognized ability. The two of them were able to make out basic words.

“Behind you...”

“Duck...”

“Look out...”

“What’s going on?” Fluttershy asked from behind her friend.

“Ah don’t know, but it sounds like it could be the girls.” Applejack replied. “Either way, Ah don’t think we have a choice at the moment.”

She brought a hoof forward and places it onto the surface of the glass, which rippled under her like water. Before she or Fluttershy could react a powerful vacuum sucked them forward and into the mirror. There was a bright flash seconds before impact, and when it died the two were sitting in the middle of a floor covered in mirrors. Looking closer the two friends realized that it wasn’t a floor, but rather the limb of a massive tree. Mirrors covered its surface like jigsaw pieces, making it seem as if the thing was a mass of eyes and faces whenever they looked at one. Though neither of them noticed since the mirror they exited from left half of their bodies hanging off the edge of the limb. Since Fluttershy could fly she assisted Applejack in reaching a safer location, only for a familiar giggle to echo around them.

“Hehe, hey there Applejack, Fluttershy. Glad to see you came to join the party!”

Startled, Applejack spun her head around to see Festivities grinning at her. Then another Festivities poked her head over the first one’s shoulder, and then another poked her head over as well.

“What in the...” Applejack began. Fluttershy squeaked and backing away from the three identical mares until she herself bumped into something. Turning to look she saw four more Festivities grinning at her.

The clones giggled in unison and walked towards her. They only got one step in before a blast of purple magic hit the one on the furthest right, knocking her into the rest like a stack of dominoes. The clones all gave quick cries of amusement before vanishing in green smoke. Fluttershy was still too shocked to move, but her eyes were able to catch the image of Twilight appearing in her peripheral vision.

“Fluttershy, are you ok?” she asked while helping her up. “Where’d you and Applejack come from?”

Fluttershy’s eyes went wide with shock before she could say anything. “Oh my..."

“Twilight, what the hay happened t’ you?” Applejack asked, having dispatched with the clones around her.

“It’s a long story,” Twilight replied before she began to lean towards her left. Fluttershy noticed and helped support her.

Applejack shook her head at the bizarre scene. “Well, yah mind tellin’ us what’s goin’ on?”

“Festivities wants us to find her among these clones she summoned from the mirrors.” Twilight explained. “She said the only rule was that none of us could fall off this structure.”

“That’s it?” Applejack questioned, to which Twilight nodded slowly.

“Yeah, but it’s not as easy as it sounds. They keep dropping soap and other slippery things to make us fall, and we’re still no closer to finding out which of them is the real one -” She then ducked suddenly as a clone came flying down. Once it has passed she fired a burst of magic into its back, bursting it into another cloud of smoke.

“Where are Pinkie Pie and Rarity?” Fluttershy asked after a moment.

“They’re around here somewhere.” Twilight replied. Not a second later another clone came flying by. She didn’t make it far before a light blue streak came in and impacted with her side.

“Dang it, I was sure that was the real one!” Rainbow Dash lamented. Once the smoke from the clone dispersed she she ceased immediately. “Fluttershy, Applejack, when did you both get here?”

“Um, just now.” Fluttershy said.

“Yep, the gang’s all here. So what say we wrap this up and proceed with the game?”

Everypony’s head turned skyward as around twenty Festivities flew into view. Two more also flew up from the right with particularly silly looks on their faces, only to get blasted by a ton of confetti and popping into smoke a second later.

“Got ‘em, Rarity!” Pinkie Pie cheered, rolling her party cannon over to the spot where the clones had stood with the white unicorn trotting up beside her. “Hey Applejack! Hi Fluttershy!”

The Festivities all giggled and clapped their hooves together happily. Then, in perfect unison, they each joined their hooves into a circle and cheered.

“Ho Ra, Ho Ru, Ho Ri

Sound off now, one, two, thee

Fly around the mirror tree

And hide so none can see!”

The clones then raised their hooves and flew off all around the tree. The six ponies were quick to follow suit, with Rainbow Dash flying after them and Twilight firing more magic while Fluttershy supported her.

“Applejack, here,” Pinkie called before tossing her friend a mass of streamers all woven together to form a lasso. Now normally the farm pony would have questioned how such a
feat was possible, but then again, this was Pinkie Pie.

She gripped the makeshift lasso between her teeth and quickly began to spin it around her head. Timing just right, she let it loose just as one of the clones was circling close to the ground. The clone giggled in surprise before vanishing into green smoke.

Applejack grunted in annoyance and recovered her lasso. “How in the hay are we supposed t’ know which is which?”

“It might be easier without the bug in your ear...”

The chilling voice caused Applejack to jump back in surprise, dropping the lasso in the process. Her eyes were frozen downwards, allowing her to catch a glimpse of something vanishing from the mirror below her.

“Applejack, are you alright?” Fluttershy asked.

Applejack nodded and collected the makeshift lasso in her mouth again. As she twirled it above her she began to eye the clones, waiting for one to come within range. However, they’d learned from before and now stayed a considerable distance from her lasso’s range. Luckily for her they still had Rainbow Dash and Twilight to contend with, and they frequently knocked the clones off course and dispersed as many as they were able.

Then Applejack spotted it. Right as five of the clones scattered from one of Twilight’s attacks she’s caught a glimpse of an object in the corner of her eye. One of the clones had something hidden behind her left ear. Looking closer in Applejack was able to identify it as a black six sided die.

“Rainbow, Twi, that one there,” she called, gesturing towards the ‘clone.’ Twilight nodded in agreement and fired a blast of magic. The pegasus caught it in the corner of her eye and twirled out of the way, ducking under another of Rainbow’s attacks directly after.

“Hehehe, looks like you found me!” the pegasus giggled while talking the die out from behind her ear. Simultaneously all the clones evaporated “But can you catch me?”

“Only one way to find out.” Rainbow said in a challenging tone.

Festivities returned the gesture with a grin before flying off. Rainbow Dash zoomed after, her rainbow body reflecting perfectly off the hundreds of mirrors that made up the tree. Despite her advantage in speed, the rainbow mare always came up just short of catching her giggling opponent. She’d simply slide to the side or twist her body around Rainbow’s outstretched hooves. The closest Rainbow had gotten was thwarted not by her opponents skill, but by the mirrors reflecting the glint of her silver bracelets into her eyes. Her friends could only watch in desolation as she veered far off course and into one of the higher limbs of the mirror tree. This was soon followed by the echoes of shattering glass.

Festivities brought a hoof to her mouth and gasped. “Oh boy, I hope I still have warranty on those mirrors.”

During her momentary pause both Twilight and Applejack attempted decided to take advantage of the opportunity and sent their respective projectiles forward. The ends of Festivities’s mouth curved upwards and in a split second she turned around, grabbed the end of the lasso in one hoof, and used it smack the magic back at the group of ponies. The blast from the magic sent them all sprawling in different directions.

“Hehe, it’s been sooooooooo long since I had a game this fun!” Fest cried, flying down towards her opponents and making a fake sniffle. “Makes me sad that it must end so-”

She never got to finish that sentence, for at that second a pair of rainbow coloured hooves came down and slammed into her chest. She grunted in shock and went tumbling backwards, allowing her to see the triumphant figure of Rainbow Dash looking back. She grinned and emitted one final giggle before falling into an adjacent mirror and vanishing.

It was at this moment that the mirrors directly under the six ponies - including Dash - became liquid like and pulled them through.

~~~

Festivities continued to giggle, even as she felt herself finally being tossed from the mirror and onto the solid wood floor of town hall. Smiling brightly, she also noticed the fact that everything in the room seemed to have grown considerably bigger. Curious as to what trick her mirror had played on her she turned around and was met with the reflection of herself when she was but a filly. Her silver bracelets had fallen off and were scattered on the floor, and even her die was sticking out a little too much from behind her ear. Nevertheless, this did not in any way damper her good spirit of having lost. If anything it made her more excited because of the possibilities it presented.

What did, however, was the sight of her older sister and the look of anger that was brewing in her oceanic eyes. Festivities turned from the mirror and looked directly at her twin, deciding to face whatever was coming head on.

“Hi Gamesy!” She hadn’t used that nickname for her sister in years, but in her current form it seemed appropriate. “What’s up?”

Games Master casually slid a pawn across her board. “Oh, nothing much,” she said, bringing a hoof to her chin. “Only, hmm, I don’t know, YOU BROKE A RULE!”

Games brought her hoof down in a single fluid motion, scattering her chess pieces everywhere and causing Festivities to flinch and fall back in fright.

“S-sorry.”

“Sorry? Do you even know why you should be sorry?” Games’s eye now looked like raging tsunamis that, at any moment, would burst forth and flood the room. “Do you even know what you did?!”

All Festivities could do was shake her head.

“Of course you don’t,” Game’s inhaled, and bits of her fur looked as if they were taking on a more blue quality then green. “Our number one rule with these games is that they’re played fairly and evenly, correct? We can have some fun along the way, but in the end all participants have a fair shot at winning.” She waited for her sister to nod in response. “Well, thanks to your little mirror stunt, we didn’t do that! You made a game that was totally unbalanced! Or how about those changes? We only perform changes when the player loses! Not while they're still playing!”

Fest curled into a fetal position and held her hooves over her face. “I... I didn’t think-”

“No Fest, you didn’t think. You never think! You only act!” Games’s coat was now almost completely overtaken by blue, and the storms that were her eyes raged onwards. “Why can’t you ever just take a moment to think?! What would mom have to say to this?!”

The mention of their mother was too much, and Festivities finally broke out into tears. The site of her little sister balling seemed to snap Games back into reality, because her eyes immediately returned to their calm state and the blue coat began receding back to green. Once it was gone she inhaled deeply and walked over to her sister.

“Festivities...I’m sorry,” she said, placing a hoof on her twins shoulder. “I shouldn’t have freaked out like that.” She let out a sigh. “It’s just, you know our rules, so why would you break them?”

Festivities looked back at her twin and sniffled. “B-because I... I wanted to impress you.”

Games picked her sister up and embraced her in a hug. “Oh, Fest, you didn’t have to do anything to impress me, you already do every day.”

“I do?” she asked disbelievingly.

“Sure, I mean, you’re way better at entertaining ponies then I am. And the tricks you can do with that die of yours, they’re something special indeed.”

Fest smiled and hugged her big sister back. The two remained like that for a moment before Games hesitantly broke it.

“Sorry, but we do still have a game to be playing,” she said whilst gathering up her chess board. “Now, where is that little worm of yours?”

“Freddy’s not a worm, Mistress, he is an eel.” Festivities replied slyly. Games rolled her eyes and wandered over to the nearby window an opened it wide. Not a moment later a flash of purple shot through and Freddy was carefully wrapped around Festivities's midsection, hissing and licking her face affectionately. Fest giggled and kissed him on the nose.

“Well, I think you two can keep yourselves occupied while I go and wrap things up with our contestants,” Games said, picking up her chessboard holding it above her head. “Agent Festivities. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to stay here and play with Agent Freddy.”

“I do accept.”

“Good,” Games then handed her sister a chess rook with a note attached. Festivities read the note and her eyes widened just as Games teleported away in green light.

This rook will self destruct in five seconds.