Musical Labyrinth

Her eyes opened, Celestia didn’t know what happened. All around her were stone walls and floors made of marble. It was dark and grim, she can feel water under her hooves. It took her a minute to stand. Whatever made her lose consciousness made her body numb. She remembered being in her bedroom with Luna. A figure broke through the window, creating a puff of smoke.

She was unfamiliar of this place. There were torches on the walls. To her surprise, this wasn’t a prison cell, it was a starting point. A plaque hung near the doorway. It had writing in Times New Roman.

Every person thinks they know music, they were mistaken. Just like others before, you have been chosen for the Musical Labyrinth. A complex maze where your musical skills are tested and the key to escape.

No matter where you go there’s always a challenge. Some objectives have their own time limit. You can go solo or become a team with other participants. Some will help, others may betray you. You have been tasks how are they’re accomplished is up to you and others. There’s a giant clock above you; it represents the amount of time left. If time has expired, all participants will have their fates met and sealed.

There will be surveillance cameras watching every step you take. There are TV screens hidden in the walls which you can use to navigate. Any tampering or attempts in cheating, there will be consequences.

Your time limit consists of 10 hours. Once all participants leave their starting positions, there’s no turning around.

Celestia lost her bravery. It happened when she stared at the door. She was quick to notice the unlocked door. Carefully opening it, without knowing what can occur. She saw the clock on the ceiling. Its hands stood still, the image was giving her the creeps. The door slammed shut behind her. It suddenly vanished, Celestia gasped. The starting room was gone as well. It was like a way of preventing any pony, pegasus or unicorn from returning to where they came.

On her mind, she needs to find her sister. She’s not worried about her safety, she wants to know if she’s in the same location as her.

Celestia followed the path she’s currently on. It was only a few turns before reaching a dead end. She weighed her options, she can’t go back because the starting point is gone. She decided to fly.

She flew above the ground searching for Luna or any pony who might be there. Her search was short lived. She felt a shock hitting her body at a fast rate. The fall made her land on her right wing. She now knew why no participant escaped by flying.

She stared at the wall. She closed her eyes, blocking all thoughts, her mind is a complete blank. She used her magic to search for something hidden behind the bricks. There was a hole hidden behind one of them. She used her hoof to push the brick. Instead of going in, it popped out like a piece of toast. She inserted her horn in it and the wall was split in half. It opened like a curtain revealing a path.

Celestia felt rewarded. She thinks she's getting closer to leaving this trap.

Waking from a nightmare, Luna dreamed that it was Nightmare Moon, who was responsible. The black smoke was similar to her dark blue and violet mist she uses to sneak around.

She was in the starting room. She saw the plaque, the same one Celestia read. She read every word while asking herself where she was. There was another plaque on the other side. It had the same font.

If you have musical talents, instruments will be available in the labyrinth. They can be at your starting area or in the labyrinth. They range from autoharps to keytars. Some of the tasks have a supplied instrument, while others require one.

There will be s that can help you finish a task, skip it completely, etc. They're hidden in the walls and floors of the labyrinth.

Luna never played a musical instrument let alone the kind made in the present day. She knew Vinyl and Octavia played instruments, she hoped they can help her. Both her and Celestia share the same thoughts.

She opened the door. She can see a fork in the road. Each of the paths have traps: the right path has pikes on the walls which come together if any pony steps on a specific stone on the floor; the left path shoots trails of fire if any pony hits the tripwire; and the centre path has hidden machine guns if any pony crosses a laser beam.

Luna saw a keyboard stand at the intersection, there’s a synthesizer with 64 keys. Staring at the instrument gave her a sense of wonder. It wasn’t like anything this Alicorn witnessed. There were a lot of black and white keys. Buttons scattered above them, along with dials and switches.

There weren’t any clues or hints given to her. She found some broken pieces of stones from the walls and floors. She used each of them test the traps. The laser turned back on, the tripwire is replaced with another one, and the stone re-emerged. She thinks the synthesizer is the key to disabling them.

Her hooves were too big to press each key. She had an idea. Her horn glowed, one of the keys pressed by itself. The sound of G natural echoed everywhere. She was fascinated with the instrument. She adjusted the switches and pressed the buttons.

She faced the left path, she pressed five keys, two black and three white. She stood on the stone, it sank, nothing happened. She didn’t take the path just yet. Two more to disable. She found that she can’t use the same settings to disable the traps. It was the first challenging task she encountered so far. Facing the right path, she pressed two keys, one black one white. The tripwire detached and wasn’t replaced. Once she faced the middle path, she pressed one black key. The laser automatically turned off. She had to change the settings after pressing the keys.

Now she has to choose which path to follow. She trotted to the centre path. There wasn’t any particular reason for choosing it. After all, the maze did not appear in any history book. Not a single record of it, due to the fact none of the ponies, pegasi and unicorns lived to tell the tale.

Unlike the Alicorn princesses, Shining Armour the only one who stood awake during the abduction. After he was dropped in the starting area, he searched for a way out. He didn’t see the plaques to learn the rules. He clumsily pushed the door, making him fall on his abdomen.

The door behind closed, he watched the room disappear. This wasn’t his concern, he wanted to find his love Cadance.

He remembered when they were in the Crystal Empire, serving a brighter tomorrow. They were adored by the crystal ponies. He was writing a letter to Twilight, his adoring sister. Derpy Hooves arrived, exhausted with her wings killing her. He handed her the letter and the grey pegasus flew out the window. He heard Cadance cry out his name. When he arrived to the throne, Cadance was fighting a figure. It was difficult to describe from his point of view. They banded together, they used their magic at it, to no avail. Then it grew larger consuming the rulers in one move. He still can’t see the face. All he knew was that it was made of smoke. Its eyes weren’t as big as King Sombra’s, they were just average-sized.

He stopped thinking and searched everywhere for her in the maze. He ran all around, it was impossible to run around in circles. He ran into a dead end, but instead of hitting the wall, he ended up at an intersection. This blew his mind on so many levels.

He found a loose brick in the wall. He removed it with his horn. A TV screen suddenly turned on. Shining Armour removed more bricks, making other TV screens turn on by themselves. Two of them showed Celestia and Luna. He was glad that he wasn’t alone. He called their names, none of them can hear his voice. There weren’t and speakers or intercoms to communicate. All he can do is watch. He checked every screen for Cadance, none of them showed any sign.

He continued searching, he took a right, then he took a left, and this ended him up in a room with multiple doors. The first door is just an ordinary wooden door, the second one is an automatic door, the third door is made of glass, the fourth door doesn’t have a handle and the last door is a double door.

Instead of an instrument, there’s a key on the ground. He lifted it off the ground. He couldn’t find a keyhole in any of the doors. He found that the only way to enter the right door, involves in making the keyhole appear. It will fit the key, but in this labyrinth, there are pitfalls and traps if no one’s careful.

He can see some parts of the floor in the shape of drum pads. He placed the key down and stomped the pad on his left. It sounded like a cow bell. He stomped the pad on the left, it sounded like an ordinary drum. The last one he stomped sounded like a bass drum pedal.

He stomped around, he saw the keyholes slowly appear. He used his hoof sounding the cow bell, he created a drum roll and made the sound of the bass drum.

All the keyholes appeared on the doors. Shining Armour lifted the key and inserted in the door with no handle. He was right. He must continue searching for Cadance. He can’t stop thinking what has happened to her.

A drop of water landed on her cheek. Cadance woke up, her eyes slowly opened before getting to her hooves. She can remember what happened before she was taken.

Cadance and Shining Armour were addressing all ponies of the Crystal Empire. It took nearly four hours, for all of the crystal ponies to go about their business. It was a long day for the rulers. Cadance took a rest while Shining Armour wrote a letter Twilight Sparkle. While sleeping, the figure slithered inside. She opened her eyes and was frightened by the appearance. She used her magic against it. The beam just went through it, like light emitting through glass. She stood her ground, she knew she can’t do it alone. She called Shining Armour for help. He trotted in willing to help. They fired magic at the same time. Just before the figure consumes them, Cadance can see its evil grin.

After remembering what happened before, Cadance went searching for her husband. She noticed the giant clock on the ceiling, along with the electric wiring. She inhaled and exhaled before closing the door. The hand on the clock started ticking. 10 hours and counting.

Cadance approached her first challenge. After stepping in a square, four barred-cages surrounded her. A fifth one fell from above, creating a jail cell. Her scream almost made the restraints that hold all five break.

She discovered that emitting a sound will release her. She knew it had to be a high note. She emitted a few short bursts of high notes. She didn’t want to strain her voice and hurt her throat. She breathed in and out a few times. With one final big inhale, she gave off a note so high, the cage started shaking.

It crumbled everywhere, Cadance jumped away from the falling cage. The noise echoed everywhere. She covered her ears, it was slightly painful hearing it.

She continued going down the route wondering where she could be.