Mischief Makers

Applejack let out an annoyed grunt as she leapt over a flowing stream, ducking immediately after so as to not hit the signpost that read Danger, bridge is out. Not the most difficult obstacle so far, but annoying nonetheless. Immediately after reaching the other side the farm pony dashed towards a nearby rock and flattened herself against it just as the light made another rotation.

The orange pony stuck her head out from the cover and took a quick observation. The bishop was barely a run away from her current position, though there was something large blocking her path. Another rotation of light revealed that the object before her was actually a large, thick maze of black vines. They wove tightly together, making thick walls and narrow passageways. The vines even grew into a roof in some areas, though they allowed the light to still shine through in others.

Applejack hesitated for a moment and looked around for any other ways to her destination. This turned out to be a waste of time, though, and she let out a sigh of receipt before running towards the maze. She barely made it into the safety of the vines before the light made another sweep over the area. She got one last quick look before the vines close over, forcing Applejack through the maze.

“Congrats, Applejack, you've made it this far in record time.” The farm pony spun her head around in confusion, stopping at Games Master’s head poking out of the vines.

Applejack’s face was devoid of amusement. “Why can’t ya just do somethin’ like a normal pony fer once?”

Games cocked her head in confusion before stepping fully out of the vines. “Why would you want to do something normal? Don’t you know the old saying; Different is heartache, different is pain, but I’d rather be different then be the same!” she finished the sentence with a fit of giggles. “Mom used to tell that to me and Fest all the time. But enough of that, you’re almost to the end Applejack. Just get through this maze and two cards will be yours. But watch out for all the traps and challenges I've placed in here.”

“Ah can handle anythin’ y'all can dish at me.”

Games Master looked at Applejack and smiled slyly before stepping aside. “Well then, I won’t hinder you anymore. Good luck.”

Applejack trotted past the pegasus without even a second look before heading off through the maze. As she turned her first corner, however, she was confused to find that the maze suddenly ended. Or at least that’s how it appeared before the vines snaked forward and wove themselves into new walls, simultaneously sealing up the way she had come through. The farm pony wasn't taken back by this. If anything it just served to further aggravate her.

~~~

Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie Pie sat on a large fluffy couch in the middle of town hall. A shimmering mist sat between them, from which they could see the images of Applejack going through the maze. The three friends watched her efforts and cheered her on the best they could, for all the good it did the situation.

“Evenin’, might we be able to interest you in some refreshments?” a voice spoke from their left. The three ponies turned to look and were met be the same two Stone Tokens from before, although the one wearing the hardhat now had on a stone bellboy cap. Between the two was a large silver cart adorned with all manner of drinks. “Everythin’s on the house.”

“Ooo, what do you have?” Pinkie asked.

The hat wearing token let out a sigh. “We’ve got some water, and a large selection of juice.”

“Oi, could you be any less enthusiastic?” His partner asked.

“Look, I’m only doing this because the boss told us to keep these three well cared for until she gets back.”

“Yeah, but could you at least pretend to be invested?”

“...No.”

“Hey, can I still have some drinks?” Pinkie chipped in, bringing the tokens attention back to her.

“Our apologies, mam,” the first token said. “What can we give you?”

Pinkie pointed a hoof to a carton of apple juice, which the hat wearing token carefully handed her. She smiled thankfully and went back to sitting with the others.

“Say, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what exactly are you two?” Twilight asked the two tokens.

The first one scratched his head. “Now ain’t that a question? I guess you could say we’re just pawns in the boss’s game. Whenever she need us, we’re there. Once she doesn’t, we’re gone.”

“That sounds really upsetting.” Pinkie said in a quiet tone.

“It’s not the best life out there, but it’s all we’ve got,” the second token continued. “Besides, the boss is nice to us, even if she’s got some odd ways of showing it.”

“Uh huh, and how exactly does a pegasus summon stone minions?” Twilight inquired.

The first token was about to respond before his partner shoves his hat into his mouth. “You know we’re not supposed to say!”

The first token nodded and slowly removed the hat from his mouth, placing it back on the seconds head. “My apologies miss, we’re not supposed to give away the boss’s secrets, you see.”

“I thought as much,” Twilight sighed. “I know the answer is staring me in the face. Why can’t I see it?”

“What if it’s chaos magic?” Rarity suggested. “I mean, they do seem to lack order with their tricks, and it has a certain Discord-esque feeling, don’t you think?”

Twilight brought a hoof to her chin. “That seems...”

“Girls, come quick!” Pinkie cried while pointing to the mist. Twilight pushed the thought to the back of her mind for the moment and peered into the mist with Rarity and Pinkie. As they did, the stone tokens decided to sit themselves down in the far back of the room and make silent bets between themselves.

~~~

Celestia knows how long Applejack walked in what seemed like a never ending straight line with the snaking black vines. Occasionally they’d move in front of her and form into some form of canopy that seemed at first to block the orange pony. Luckily, though, it was actually to hide her from the light of the bishop. At least they’re still being fair. Applejack thought to herself.

After the light passed again the vines twisted forward and formed into a large wall, dominated by a ponies face. It let out a slow yawn and then fixed its gaze onto the orange pony.

“It’s about time you got here,” it cried before noticing Applejack’s total lack of interest. “What, not surprised at all?”

“Ah’ve seen weirder”

“Fair enough,” it said, looking around the area quickly. “Ok, you want to get passed me and finish the game, right? Well to do that you need to complete a little puzzle.”

Applejack’s eyebrows dropped in annoyance. “Yeah, Ah thought as much. Can we get this over with?”

The wall nodded in agreement and seven vines shot towards Applejack, stopping just in front of her face. On their tips were tiny buds - six of which quickly burst into bright blue flowers. Each one had five darker pedals around the, shaped like miniature diamonds. The last one opened into a tall white rose.

“One of these blue flowers you see has a slight difference from the other five. Your job is to find that difference and show it to me. You have until the rose wilts, good luck.”

The vines around the walls mouth curved into a smile as the rose slowly began dulling in color. Applejack didn’t wait around and immediately began looking over the flowers. Alright, its gotta be something small and inconspicuous. She thought while looking over the flora. Is it the coloring? No, the size?

By this point the rose’s had dulled to an almost pale yellow. The first of its many pedals shriveled up and slowly fluttered off of the main body. The wall eyed the pedal and caught it on the tip of its vine. It then proceeded to eat the pedal without a second thought. It repeated the process with each of the other pedals, never letting a single one touch the ground and getting an odd look from Applejack.

“What? I’m not letting good flower pedals go to waste.” it said. Applejack shrugged in response and went back to looking at the flowers. “Oh, and can you please take as long as it takes to answer, these are really tasty.”

Applejack ignored the wall and went back to staring at the flowers. Whenever she tried to focus on one for any period, though, her eyes would play tricks on her and make the colors seem to merge together or the patterns reshape. It hurt her eyes after a while, but she remained focused on her task.

Applejack then noticed a tiny speck of purple located on one of the flower leaves. At the moment she wasn’t sure if it was real or not, but it was better than nothing. “This one here.” she said pointing to the flower.

The wall of vines pulled the flower towards it and popped it into its mouth. it chewed slowly before turning its face and spitting in disgust. “Yeah, that’s the odd one. You can go through.”

The vines quickly undid themselves and slithered away, and Applejack wasted no time in proceeding through. The vines then reformed by her sides again and crept after her. Applejack paid them no mind and kept on heading for the bishop. By now she was no more than a minutes run away from victory. So focused was she on reaching her goal that she didn’t feel her hoof brush against a hidden tile on the floor. The vines quivered as she removed her hoof from it, causing the orange pony to look at them in confusion. Suddenly they fell to the ground and went limp.

“Aww, too bad Applejack,” Games Master’s voice seemed to be projected from the air itself. “You went and activated one of those traps I mentioned, and now there’s no protection for ten seconds from the light, which is coming this way right now.”

Dread welled up in Applejack as she quickly shot her head towards towards the beacon. Sure enough, the light was fast approaching her, and where she stood there wasn’t any visible cover. In a panic she tried to run in the opposite direction of the light and ended up stumbling over the vines. Quickly she looked up and saw the light inches away from her. All she could do was brace herself as it advanced and slowly overtook her.

To Applejacks confusion the light never touched her. Looking at the path of the beam, it seemed that when the circle of light came to her it was overtaken by another circle. This one was black and seemed to creep and shift ever so slightly. It confused the farm pony, but at least the game hadn’t ended - to her knowledge. By the time the light passed fully over her protective circle the life had returned to the vines, who came snaking back to her side. Not wanting to waste another moment, she rushed ar quickly as she could towards the bishop.

A flash of movement caught in the corner of Applejack’s eye. Quickly she stopped running just as the vines on her left side shot out and blocked her path. So, that’s how ya want t’ play, is it? She thought to herself as the vines twisted themselves into hurtling beams and other such obstacles. she judged the height of the beam and took a few steps back. Once she’d figured out all that she needed she ran forward and leapt easily over the beam. Immediately upon her a large mass of vines shot out and attempted to wrap themselves around her. She quickly jumped aside and slammed her hooves on top of them, running forward during the brief window of opportunity it created. The vines recovered as quickly as they could, but by then Applejack had already placed a hoof on the bishop.

~~~

“Oh Gamesie, I’m back.” Festivities flew around the outside of the town hall searching for her twin and eventually spotting her on a nearby cloud. “Hey, sis, you would have loved the challenge me and Rainbow Dash played. It was so...hey, is everything alright?”

Games Master had her back turned from her twin and was instead focusing all her attention on her chessboard. Fest rested her head on her shoulders to get a better look. In the center of the board there was an orange pawn standing next to a toppled bishop.

“Aww, did they beat your game, sis?”

“Yes, but look closer, Fest.”

Fest followed her sisters gaze and noticed that there was a third piece hidden among them; a black pawn with an odd aura about it.

Fest clapped her hooves excitedly and turned back to her twin. “Oooo, The Wildcard is back. Think we could have some fun with it?”

“Easy there Fest,” Games said calmly. “let’s not go swimming without knowing the temperature of the lake. We’ll learn what this wildcard intends to do first, then we can have some fun with it.” she finished those last words with a giggle.

“I think I’ve got you covered on that, sis.” Fest giggled and caressed a hoof through her mane. A second later Freddy poked his head out with an excited look in his eyes. “Freddy, I need you to keep an eye out for anything suspicious and report back to me, think you can do that?”

The little eel nodded happily before slithering out of her mane and giving her a quick lick on the nose. Fest giggled and planted a tiny kiss on his snout before playfully tossing him into the air and watched with her twin as he flew away.

~~~

“Applejack did it!” Pinkie Pie cried, nearly bouncing off the walls with excitement. Twilight and Rarity both cheered at the image of Applejack smiling triumphantly by the bishop until their pink friend brought them in for a group hug - though perhaps with a bit more force than she had intended.

“Pinkie...” Twilight gasped. “A little too tight...”

Immediately Pinkie’s grip lessened on the two unicorns. “Sorry girls,” she said before turning over to where the stone tokens were sitting. “So what happens now? DId we win? Can we go home now?”

“Give us five seconds and you’ll see.” the hatted token said.

Pinkie was about to open her mouth a second time when an odd sound caught her attention. Spinning her head around she saw that the mist was swirling wildly and giving off a faint glow. Suddenly it emitted an odd spitting noise and shot a rather confused looking Applejack at the three ponies.

The hatted token looked at Pinkie with a bored expression. “That answer your question?” She didn’t bother to reply him, however, instead focusing all her energy on hugging her orange friend.

“Pinkie...What happened?” Applejack asked in confusion. “How’d Ah get here?”

“To answer your questions Applejack, you won and I brought you here,” Games Master said, appearing from behind her tokens. “Now I do believe I owe you something.”

The green mare flicked her hood and the mist traveled into it. With a final flash of light it materialized as the cards that had Applejack and Rarity’s cutie marks. She gave her hoof another flick and the cards went flying outwards, landing perfectly on Applejack’s hat.

“Alright, how many more games of yours do we need to play?” Twilight asked as Games began to pick up her chessboard.

“Silly Twilight, I’ll leave that part up to you,” she replied. “Keep winning and very few. Lose, however, and we get to keep having fun. Oh, and speaking of fun, you’re all going to love this.”

Quickly she slid a pawn two squares on her board and the floor beneath the ponies vanished, giving way to a gaping hole. The four friends had only a second to cry out before it swallowed them up. They were tossed and tumbled down what felt like a hastily dug tunnel filled with odd rubbery objects bumping into them constantly. Suddenly there was a drop in the tunnel, and the four friends found themselves at the base of a hollowed tree. Pinkie was the first to recover and was hit on the head with a shower of rubber spheres.

“Oh, are you all ok?” A soft voice asked. Pinkie looked around and spotted Fluttershy standing next to a conveniently placed bush as a stream of balls moved past.

“Hey Fluttershy, and no I’m not. Now I have to restock for ball emergencies.” Pinkie said
un-enthusiastically.

“Fluttershy, what happened?” Twilight asked as she helped Rarity up. “Where were you, and where’s Rainbow Dash?”

The yellow pegasus lowered her head. “Me and Rainbow both played one of those mare’s games. I won one of them, but Rainbow didn't.” She turned her head towards the bush, which gave a small shift.

“Rainbow?” Rarity asked, to which the bush only shifted some more. “Darling, will you please come out?”

“No.” Rainbow’s voice said from the bush.

“C’mon, Rainbow, Ah know yah hate t’ lose but that ain’t no reason t’ hide from us.” Applejack said, giving the bush a little nudge of encouragement. It moved slightly away from her, causing the orange pony to adopt an annoyed look. “Rainbow Dash, stop mopin’ around and get out here.”

“I said no.”

Applejack looked to Twilight, who gave a small nod and lifted the bush with her magic. Once she’d fully uncovered Rainbow Dash she dropped the bush in shock. Underneath it was indeed their fast flying friend, but her mane was now a sky blue coloring. The normal rainbow coloring that defined her name was the current color of her coat.