Musical Labyrinth

There were messages on the walls. Carved by unicorns, warnings of how the mastermind manipulates any pony, pegasus and unicorn. There’s another agenda, on this criminal genius’ mind. None of them lived to describe this perpetrator. Once they caught a glimpse, it was the last image, before being erased from existence.

Neither Twilight nor Applejack could think someone or something could do such a thing. They stood near each other before being separated from the group. They didn’t expect it to happen. As if it couldn’t be any more twisted, they saw a door with the exit sign above.

“This might be a trap,” Applejack said with suspicion.

Twilight didn’t argue, her friends are the only ones she trusts. She used her horn to open the door. Using her hooves might be risky. Something might happen once the door opened. They closed their eyes and hoped for the worst. Silence, and a gust of wind, barely lifted their manes. They entered, unaware what’s in that doorway. They checked the other paths they might choose: one had subwoofers blasting loud music, the second path had gramophones rigged with nitroglycerin. One path could blow their eardrums and the other will blow them to pieces. They must take the chance. Once they walked in, they weren’t in their home of Equestria. It’s a living room with a TV screen. It hanged above a fireplace. The room had sofas and a coffee table. A remote laid on the table. Neither Applejack nor Twilight knew what it was or what it does. A piece of paper attached with sticky tape read: Press Play.

Applejack had trouble hitting the play button. Her hooves were bigger than the remote.

“Er, Twilight?” Applejack insisted.

Twilight smiled, she knew what her friend is asking her to do without speaking. She closed her eyes and her horn glowed. The remote grew larger to about four times its original size. Applejack pressed the play button and the TV screen turned on automatically.

Music started playing, displaying images that look like they were part of a game show. Another remote, just the same size, emerged from the ground. A crane with a hook place it on the coffee table.

“That’s generous,” said Twilight.

The remotes suddenly changed into panels with buttons. Lucky for them, the buttons were big enough for their hooves to press. The table was split into two; each table held each panel. Instructions appeared in bold letters and different colours: Achieve a perfect score after finishing every round to continue. Answer incorrectly and you have to start again. All questions and rounds are different every time you play.

The first genre was R&B, the first round was “Guess the Intro.” Twilight and Applejack were given the hardest round, since they know nothing about music of Earth. Instead of guessing the song’s title, different possible answers flashed on screen. They had to press the big white button to select one.

Applejack faced Twilight, thinking she might know anything. “Do any of your books have any info on this?”

Twilight checked every book she carried. “None of my books explain anything about the music from where Wes originated. If we don’t complete this, we’ll be erased forever. And that clock doesn’t bluff.”

They saw the clock above them. The minute hand ticked, one minute gone. They didn’t have time to waste. They must play the game.

“We better get this over with,” sighed Applejack.

The first track played, each possible answer appeared for about 5 seconds. There were eight in total. They hit their buttons at the same time, with their eyes closed. The answer they picked was He Wasn’t Man Enough by Toni Braxton. They got the answer right.

Seven more song intros played, the possible answers weren’t the same as the previous ones. The tracks were: Alicia Keys’ No One, 411’s Dumb, Mis-Teeq’s Scandalous, Jennifer Lopez’ If You Had my Love, Pussycat Dolls’ I Don’t Need a Man, Mariah Carey’s Honey and Lauren Hill’s Everything is Everything.

They celebrated in passing the first round. They almost hugged each other, only to have their excitement cut short, by the start of round two. It consists of multiple choice questions and the genre was pop music. They placed their hooves near the panels, waiting for instructions.

A set of rules explained: In order to select an answer, use one of the four corresponding buttons. It displayed four coloured circles: magenta, violet, cyan and pink. It was an unusual colour choice for buttons.

“Either this creep has poor colour scheme, or is just toying with us,” said Applejack.

“There’s no telling how many more rounds are there.” Twilight couldn’t keep off the fact that time is depleting. Just as long as she and Applejack cooperate with each other, they will be able to exit the labyrinth.

The first question appeared: Justin, Lance, JC, Joey and Chris are members of which boyband? Their options were N*Sync, A1, Kajagoogoo and The Osmonds. They appeared in the same colours as the four buttons. Equestria didn’t have a boyband or girlband. Applejack accidentally pressed one of the buttons, the one she pressed was the magenta one.

“Did you know the answer?” Twilight asked.

“I pressed a button by mistake and this happened.” Applejack just pointed to the screen.

The next question appeared: Maroon 5 won a Grammy for the hit “Makes Me Wonder” in which category? Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, Best Performance by a Vocal Group, and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals were their options. Twilight did what Applejack did and pressed one of the four buttons. The one she pressed was the violet one, containg the correct answer.

The third question was: Who was the Backstreet Boys’ manager? Malcolm McLaren, Doc McGhee, Lou Pearlman, Peter Grant. Twilight and Applejack both hit the cyan button simultaneous. Normally at a situation like this, the person who answered the quickest will win. Surprisingly that never happens in this case.

Twilight suddenly realized something. “Why aren’t we competing against each other? Isn’t that the purpose for a game?”
“Maybe we’re competing against whoever’s doing this to us.” Applejack reminded Twilight of the culprit.

“So either one us answers the question or both of us.”

The fourth question asked them: Which short-lived pop group were winners of the MTV reality TV show “Making the Band”? Hear’Say, Liberty X, Bear Force 1, O-Town.

Both Twilight and Applejack decided to press the pink button on each of their panels. This wasn’t some random guess. After getting it right, Twilight suddenly noticed something with this challenge. “I think there’s a pattern. We pressed the four buttons magenta, violet, cyan, and pink in that order. Maybe we should place it in reverse order.”

Once the fifth question appeared, they pressed the pink buttons again. Later on, the pressed the cyan, violet and magenta buttons. They answered the remaining four questions correctly. Round two came to an end.

“You’re right Twilight,” smiled Applejack. “How did you figure it out?”

“I used to solve mind-bending puzzle when I was a filly.”

Round three was about rock music. The challenge, unlike the last two rounds, doesn’t involve selecting an answer to a question. Instructions explained that they must match four albums to the names of different rock bands. The bands were Radiohead, The B-52s, Snow Patrol, AC/DC, Dio, Smashing Pumpkins, Scorpions and Phoenix. 32 albums were all over the place like jigsaw pieces in a box. The bands’ names were erased on the covers except for the titles. The rules explained that they should match four albums to the band names.

The albums were Pablo Honey, In Rainbows, Kid A, Amnesiac, Funplex, Whammy, Wild Planet, Bouncing off the Satellites, Final Straw, Eyes Open, A Hundred Million Suns, Fallen Empires, Back in Black, Highway to Hell, Powerage, Fly on the Wall, Holy Diver, Dream Evil, Strange Highways, Master of the Moon, Adore, Zeitgeist, Siamese Dream, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Blackout, Love at First Sting, Virgin Killer, Pure Instinct, United, Alphabetical, It’s Never Been Like That and Bankrupt. The band names were erased, it’s just album covers with the titles on them.

A trackball selects the album and drags it to the empty square with the band’s name. Then they press the green button mark with an A, and the red button with a C. The red button checks to see if they matched correctly. Once the green button’s pressed, there’s no going back. It will indicate that the players placed the albums in the right groups. If there’s a mistake, it’s an immediate game over. It was another cooperative round, instead of a competitive round.

“There are so many images, I feel like I just lost it!” Applejack exclaimed. “The next round is probably more difficult than the last.”

“Even if we learn more about Earth’s music, we still don’t know who’s doing this to us,” said Twilight.

She placed the album covers in different groups; the same way she arranged the books in the library. They were so distracted by the images, they couldn’t concentrate on completing it. The sound of clock ticking above them, indicated what is at stake. They quickly arranged the albums to the band names. With the press of the check button, they guessed wrong.

It was a total nightmare. It took some time for them to figure it out. Matching 32 albums became a chore instead of a challenge. They pressed the check button more times than they can count. After placing the final album, they hit the accept button. They were in no mood to celebrate. They wanted it to end.

The final round became a huge surprise. It’s all about music trivia, from music artists to chart-topping albums. Twilight and Applejack couldn’t predict on what they might be asked. The panels sank into the floor, and replaced with two microphones on stands. They’re told to speak into the microphone to answer.

“We’re doomed,” Applejack said in a worried way. “We don’t know a thing at all.”

Twilight had an idea. “I’ll just use my… No that won’t work.”

“What? What won’t work?”

“I can’t cheat. If I did, there might be consequences.”

“You’re right. We just have to at least try.”

The first question appeared: Which instrument uses a pick?

“A guitar,” answered Applejack.

Question number two: What musical symbol is placed at the beginning of the staff, defining the pitch of the notes?

“A Clef, just like Octavia’s cutie mark,” answered Twilight.

“How many questions do you think there are?” asked Applejack.

“Probably like the previous rounds.”

Unlike The first two rounds, there were ten questions in total. They were getting closer to winning when the last question popped on the TV screen: Who founded Motown Records?

“What?!” they said in unison.

“How are we supposed to know that?” Twilight thought this was going too far. “It’s like someone wants us to fail.”

“We have to take a stab at guessing.” Applejack couldn’t see any other option.

“What if we’re wrong? We’ll be doing this forever until we’re… gone.”

Applejack can see she’s just as frightened as she is. She’s worried that she’ll won’t see her family. Big Mac, Granny Smith, Apple Bloom and other family members will notice she’s missing. If the Mane 6, along with the rulers of Equestria disappear, evil forces will cause devastation and annihilation.

They both came with an answer, they were different from one and another. They faced each other nervously. They thought that if one of them might answer wrong, the other will respond with the correct answer.

Applejack told a stab. “Berry?”

Twilight suddenly jumped in. “Gordy?”

They waited, fearing that their journey has abruptly ended. The word “Congratulations!” slapped in their faces. Applejack collapsed in exhaust and Twilight fell backwards. They were too stressed to celebrate. A door magically appeared next to the TV. It open by itself, Applejack and Twilight got on their hooves, while walking slowly.

“That was tiring, I couldn’t take another question,” said Applejack.

“I hope the others are doing well,” said Twilight.

They didn't turn back after leaving. They hate being reminded of their experience.