Shall we Play a Game?by BlurredTheLinesChaptersChapter One: SetupChapter Two: A Test of GenerosityChapter Three: A Test of HonestyChapter Four: A Test of MagicChapter Five: A Test of LaughterChapter Six: A Test of Loyalty/A Cruel Twist of FateChapter Seven: Endgame/A Test of FriendshipChapter One: Setup“Aah, what a beautiful day” Pinkie Pie says as she rises from her bed, with a stretch. She opens a window to take in the morning light, and gives a friendly wave to a pony passing by. She then closes the window and takes a glance at the calender hanging on the wall. She gasps and says “it's today, I'd better get going!” She throws on her saddlebags and and hurries down the stairs. As she reaches the bottom of the stairs, a voice calls out to her. “Pinkie?” “Yes, Mrs. Cake?” she replies as she turned around to face her. “We're heading out on a trip today, mind the store for us while we're gone, would you?” “Okay, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, you can count on me!” “Take care, Pinkie” Mrs. Cake says as the two walk out the door. “Okie dokie lokie” Pinkie says as she follows suit. The first stop of Pinkie's trip through Ponyville brings her to the Carousel Boutique. She knocks at the door. “Come in” a voice from inside calls. She opens the door and says “hiya, Rarity” “Pinkie Pie? What's the occasion?” she asks, a curious look on her face. “I'm holding a party and Sugarcube Corner and you all are invited!” she says, a wide grin spread across her face as she hands out an invitation. “Well,” Rarity says in response, “it has been a slow day here at the boutique, I suppose I could close early today. Very well, I shall be there.” “Yay!” Pinkie shouts as she runs out the door, her next destination in mind. Her next stop brings her to Sweet Apple Acres. “What'cha heading out here for, Pinkie?” asks Applejack as she sees her friend walking up the dirt road. “I'm having a party, and you're totally invited!” Pinkie says excitedly as she starts hopping up and down. She then hands Applejack an invitation. “Hoo boy, I sure could use a break, count me in.” Pinkie darts off toward the next house. The trip now brings her to the town library. Pinkie walks up to the door and knocks at it. “Who is it?” ask a voice from inside. “It's me Twilight,” Pinkie says as she opens the door, “and I'm inviting you to a party.” “Oh?” asked Twilight, “What's the occasion?” “You'll see...” Pinkie said teasingly, as she handed her an invitation. Twilight opened it and skimmed its contents. “Spike!” She called, “I'll be leaving this afternoon, take care of things while I'm gone.” “Can do” Spike replied from upstairs. “Now, about this party...” Twilight starts to say as she turns to face Pinkie, but she was already gone. Next on her journey, Rainbow Dash's residence. Rainbow Dash is sitting in her room, reading the latest Daring Do novel, when a paper airplane soars in from the window, landing between her and the book. There appears to be writing on it, so she sets the book down beside her and opens it, discovering the words “look outside” written on it. She peers out the window to see a waving Pinkie Pie on the ground below. She went outside and flew down to speak with her friend “What brings you out here, Pinkie?” “I'm inviting you to a party, that's what” she says, holding out an invitation. Rainbow Dash stares at the invite for a second, taking a moment to consider any prior commitments. Thinking of none, she then says “yeah, sure, I'll be there.” “Woohoo! One to go!” Pinkie says as she takes off. Her final stop is Fluttershy's cottage. Pinkie knocks at the door and asks, “Fluttershy, you home?” “Yes,” came a soft reply. “you're invited to a party at Sugarcube Corner” says Pinkie Pie, holding out an invitation. “Everyone else is gonna be there!” “That sounds like fun. Sure, I'll go” says Fluttershy. Pinkie then merrily hops on back to Sugarcube Corner. “Now Angel,” Fluttershy says, addressing her pet bunny, “you'll behave yourself while I'm gone, won't you?” Angel gives her a flat look. “Angel...” she says, an admonishing tone in her voice. Angel gave an annoyed sigh, and shook his head in agreement. And so, the group made their own separate ways to Sugarcube Corner. “Oh look, the gang's all here” says Rainbow Dash as the rest of the group approach. “Any reason you can think of that she'd throw us a party?” asked Twilight. “Who knows,” Applejack chimed in, “it is Pinkie Pie we're talkin' about.” “What Applejack said,” Rarity says, “She'll look for any reason to throw a party. Or have you forgotten the birthday party she thew for her pet alligator?” “O-or the party she threw for Gilda...?” Fluttershy added meekly. “Right...” Twilight says, “Well, let's head inside.” The room is dark, very much so. As the door closes, the room becomes pitch black. “Who shut the door?” “O-oh, sorry...” “Somepony find a lightswitch.” “Ow, who stepped on mah tail?” The lights went on. “Surprise!” yells Pinkie at the top of her lungs. The room is decorated with a myriad of colorful balloons, streamers, and a banner hangs in back that reads “Happy Anniversary”. “'Happy Anniversary'? What's that supposed to mean?” Twilight asks. “Three years ago today you first came to Ponyville, and we all became the bestest of friends.” “Aw, how thoughtful” she replies, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks. “Well, don't just stand there, it's time to party!” Pinkie says excitedly. “Who wants cupcakes?” Pinkie then brings out a tray of cupcakes. “Ooh, I'll have one!” Rainbow Dash says, grabbing one off the tray. The rest of them do so as well, and they each take a bite. “Uh, hey Pinkie? Do these cupcakes taste off to you?” Rainbow Dash says with a confused look. Pinkie blinked bewilderingly. She then takes a bite for herself. “Oh yeah, they do taste o-” she begins, but passes out before finishing her sentence, as the others had. They awoke to an unfamiliar location.”Where are we...?” Twilight asks wearily, the effects of whatever knocked them out still apparent. “Huh?” Rainbow Dash grunts as she regains consciousness. “All right, show yourself, whoever you are!” “I see you're awake...” A mysterious voice says, seemingly coming from outside the room. “Y'all are messing with the wrong ponies” Applejack says in a threatening manner. “You all are here to play a game.” the voice continues. “Hey! Don't ignore us!” Rainbow Dash shouts. An image magically appears on one of the walls. It depicts a wooden unicorn puppet, with odd red and white markings painted on its face. “All you have to do, is complete the games I've set for you, and you all go free.” “that's it?” Twilight asks. “Fail a challenge, and, well, there won't be another challenge to fail...” the voice continues. “An' what's that suppose'ta mean?” Applejack asks. “If you fail, you won't be heading home... ever.” The group took a collective gulp. The stakes were set high, and they knew it. “Now then, let the games begin.” The voice says, and the image disappears. “So where's the-” Twilight begins to say, but collapses, and so do the others. Author's Note I'm kinda wondering if maybe I spent too much time on setting up for the party, and not enough time on what happens next. A bit nervous posting this, tbh Chapter Two: A Test of Generosity“Uhhh... My head...” Rarity says, still in a daze. Something feels off. She swings a hoof, nothing but air. This comes as a shock to her, removing any trace of drowsiness she previously had. Rarity is in a harness, suspended over a pool of a foul-smelling sludge. Upon one of her legs is a shackle, which appeared to be anchored by chain in the middle of the rancid mire. A staircase off to her left seemed to lead up to the ceiling, but with no visible way out. An earth pony in a cage hangs opposite of her. “Well, well, the fair Rarity awakes...” a familiar voice calls. “You again? What more do you want with me, you fiend?” She asks pointedly. The magic screen returns, and the visage of the unicorn puppet along with it. “Just a game, my dear, but I doubt you are in a position to decline.” “Well, get on with it, then.” “Certainly. The rules are simple, you and the pony before you are trapped in this room. Only the key hidden in the muck you see below you can free you, but only one of you. The choice then, is yours. Do you free this stranger in a generous act of self-sacrifice? Or do you act only in your own interests and save your own skin? You have twenty minutes before this room floods, taking the both of you with it.” The ropes keeping her suspended went slack, dropping her into the foul substance. “Ewwwww” Rarity shrieks, completely horrified by everything she had just experienced. “I think I'm going to be ill!” she cries, as a sickening feeling washes over her. After a few moments of deep breathing, she manages to regain her composure, although not entirely, as she was still standing in the disgusting collection of filth. “Well, no use standing around” Rarity says to herself to steel her nerves, as she begins to tap at the ground with her hoof, in search of the key. “Oh, please hurry” the pony in the cage says pleadingly. She continues her search, when her hoof contacts something hard, but it doesn't feel like a key. A puzzled look crosses her face as she grabs hold of it with her magic. She lifts it out of the muck and immediately retreats from the sight. It is a bone. “I-i-is that a-a-” the caged pony stammers. She regards the bone with an abhorrent look on her face. Her heart begins to race as thoughts of the sludge’s contents do so in kind. Her magic dissipates, and the bone disappears into the mire. She runs off to the staircase so she can take a moment to collect her thoughts. But as she gets close, the chain grows taut, and she falls into the sludge. Rarity jumps to her hooves after her fall, more unnerved than she had been. “It'll be ok, just calm down, we'll find a way out of this” The caged pony calls out to the nervous mare. Heaving a deep sigh, Rarity responds, “Yes... You're right... I just have to find that key.” In that moment, holes open up in the ceiling and a large amount of sludge pours from them, filling up the room a good deal more than it had been. The horrid gunk, which had previously been about knee-high, was now higher than her shoulders. “I'd better hurry, it seems” Rarity says, nervously staring at the new level of muck. She continues her search, when her hoof strikes something hard, smaller than a bone this time. Her heart soars as she lifts the object from the sludge, to discover that she had indeed found the key. “Hmm...” Rarity hummed curiously as she studied the key. It didn't seem any different than any normal key. She needed to test something. She then fishes around nearby in the hopes of finding a bone. “I hope whoever this was won't mind me doing this...” Rarity says as she transforms a section of the bone into a replica of the key. “This had better work...” she says anxiously as she moves the bone key to her shackle. The tooth of the key goes in and a mechanism inside snaps the end of the key off. Rarity gasped and pulled out the key tooth. “So that's what they meant by that...” Rarity then goes to place the metal key into the keyhole. “Wait,” The pony calls out, “are you sure that's a good idea?” The key goes in, and it taps against the back of the keyhole. Nothing. She is hit with a burst of inspiration and removes the key. She holds her shackled leg to her ear and strikes the metal band with the bone. Rarity makes note of the sound, and does the same with the key. It's the same sound. “Aha! I've got it!” she declares as she brings the key back to the keyhole in her shackle. As the lock clicks open, the mechanism snaps off the tooth, and seals it into the lock. The ceiling at the top of the stairs opened up, revealing a way out. The pony in the cage eyed the opening cautiously and asks, “you're not gonna leave me, are you?” “Of course not, how could I ever do something so heartless?” She then transforms one of the chain's links into a copy of the key. Rarity walks over to the cage and says, a slight degree of uncertainty in her voice, “Oh, I do hope this works.” At that moment, another deluge of the fetid goop pours down from above, knocking Rarity off her feet, and with it, the key. “Oh no!” she exclaims as it falls into the muck. The amount of sludge dumped in this time was even greater than last time, it was now about half full. Rarity now had to try to swim in the sludge to keep her head in breathing room. She glances over at the cage. Even it is partially submerged, with the pony inside up to their neck in the stuff. She took a deep breath and dove into the mire, and began blindly striking at the ground, in search of the key. After a short while, she could no longer hold her breath, and surfaces. Two more times she tried, both times ending in failure. “It's got to be around here somewhere” Rarity says desperately. Another torrent of sludge rains down from above. The room is soon going to run out of air. She took another breath of air and dives into the muck once more. She searched in desperate hopes of finding the key, going so far as to stay down in spite of her lung's protests. As her body struggles to take in oxygen, her hoof struck the key, and in a burst of elation, she grabs the key and returns to the surface, gasping for air. She shoves the key into the lock. Nothing happened. The key turns and the lock clicks open, and the cage door swings open. “Thank you!” the pony says, briefly hugging Rarity. The two then made their way to the staircase. They ran out of the room and the door closes behind them. “Glad to be out of that mess, huh?” Rarity says, turning to face the other pony. But there is nopony to be found. Chapter Three: A Test of Honesty“Ugh...” Applejack grunts as she regains consciousness. “Again...?” she says wearily, trying to shake off the feeling of drowsiness. After a few moments, she finally regains her senses. The room is dark, the only light source hangs overhead, providing just enough light to clearly discern everything in the room. Looking about herself, she appears to be shackled to the floor, and a pair of "jaws" with wicked-looking jagged blades seemingly ready to snap at a moments notice. A similar contraption sits in the center, with a pony bound to it as well. There's a groove in the floor to the machine's right, leading toward the wall. Upon further inspection, the pony looks familiar. “Apple Bloom!” Applejack shouts, reaching out a hoof toward her sister. “Sis!” Apple Bloom shouts back, a fearful look in her eyes. “You've awoken...” A voice calls out from the distance. A section of the wall lights up. The magic display of the unicorn puppet returns. “'An want do you want?” says Applejack, her words pointed and full of anger. “Patience Applejack, one might lose their head that way...” the voice replies. “Wadda'ya mean by that?!” A hole opens up in the wall, and a circular saw-blade emerged. Its sights were set on Apple Bloom. “The rules are simple, try to free either yourself or your sister, and those mechanisms you're chained to activates, with ruthless effectiveness. Take too long, and well, suddenly Apple Bloom isn't half the pony she used to be. Now, see that button in front of you, Applejack?" "Yeah, 'an what about it?" Applejack says in a curtly fashion "The only way to save both yourself and your beloved sister, is to say these words, and I quote: 'Apple Bloom, I never want to see you again' and press that button. Once you do, she'll be plunged down the pitfall she stands on. Though I can't say I can guarantee her safety from there...” Her heart sank as she hears these words. “'Ya can't expect me 'ta do that!” she says defiantly, looking to find some alternative. “You know the consequences should you refuse. You have ten minutes.” The screen disappears, and a section of the wall opens up behind Applejack. The blade begins spinning viciously, all too eager to serve its intended purpose. “Applejack, help me!” Apple Bloom yells, her terror-stricken eyes transfixed on the spinning saw-blade. Applejack slammed her hoof into the ground in anger. How could he ask me to do something so cruel and vicious? she thought. She turns her eyes to the ground, in an attempt to combat her conflicting emotions. As time passes, the spinning blade inches its way toward Apple Bloom, A daunting reminder of the impending danger. “Come on, Applejack, save me” she calls out to her sister, who could only regard the situation with heartache and indecision. Applejack wanted nothing more than to see her sister safe from harm, but at what cost? It would break her heart to hear those words. Though that would be the least of Apple Bloom's worries, should she say nothing. Ten minutes never seemed so long, nor so short. Five minutes had passed and the blade was halfway to its sinister destination. “Its gettin' closer, do som'thin!” Apple Bloom says nervously, eying the blade that was now only a few lengths away from her . “Don't worry Apple Bloom, I'll think of som'thin” she says, in an attempt to comfort her. A vain effort, as she was still torn about doing what that pony said. It would be easy enough, but the consequences? Not only would it make her a liar, but she'd have to turn her back on her own sister in a dire situation. But there was a chance the two of them would be freed if she did so. It would be fine, right? With time almost elapsed, the blade's teeth sliced through the air, in deadly close proximity to Apple Bloom. “Sis, just do it!” She shouts, tears beginning to well up in her eyes, “it'll be fine, just have faith!” Now was the time to act. She grits her teeth. “Apple Bloom,” Applejack yells, her voice carrying over the sound of the blade, “I never want to see you again!” She slams her hoof on the button, and Apple Bloom plummets into the pitfall, and the trapdoor closes behind her. As she fell, the weight of Applejack's words hit her hard. Even though she knew Applejack didn't mean it, it didn't make it any less painful to hear. Tears begin streaming down her cheeks. The shackles around Applejack's legs unlocked, and she ran straight for the center. She begins pounding at the trapdoor, “Apple Bloom, are you okay?” The pounding continues, tears welling up in her eyes. “Apple Bloom, are you there?” she continues to pound on the trapdoor, shouting for Apple Bloom for a few minutes, until her voice grew hoarse and her hooves too sore to continue. “Apple Bloom...” The pounding ceased and she collapses to the floor, tears flowing from her eyes, “I'm sorry...” Author's Note This one's a bit short, but there's only so much looming danger you can add before it becomes The Crystal Empire 2.0. That, and I couldn't really think of anything else I could add. EDIT: Blargh, I went back and looked at this chapter, and couldn't stand how I'd written it. It was the first chapter I'd written for this challenge, and it certainly showed. so I changed it from "I didn't learn anything" to actually having a clear sense of consequence for her failure. Chapter Four: A Test of MagicTwilight awoke to find herself in another strange room. She quickly scans her surroundings. There appears to be a narrow walkway leading off to a doorway on the other side of the room, with a few obstacles in the way. The rest of the room is featureless, seemingly dropping off into a pit. More immediately, however, is something about her. Something is binding her wings. “Ah, Twilight, you're awake. Let's see if you can puzzle your way out of this. Step forward so the game can begin.” The sights and sounds of their mysterious captor return. She walks forward. There are four hoof-shaped indents in the floor. She steps into them. “This seems easy enough” Twilight responds confidently. “Oh but there are a few twists” they continue. A part of the floor retracts, that was previously holding the walkway in place. With the beam freed, it begins rocking up and down, balancing out the weights at either end. “First things first, that banding around your midsection interferes with your ability to use your magic, and your wings of course. Second, there is a pit of acid below you.” Twilight looks down. A thick, sickly green-looking liquid sits in bottom of the room. Her eyes widen in terror. “Third, your balance is being maintained by the plates your hooves are standing on, should you find your legs give out, your life shall soon follow. Of course, take too long and the room will fill with acid. Thirty minutes is your time limit.” Hmm, first, let's see if this thing really does inhibit my magic like they said, Twilight thought. She prepares to use a teleportation spell to move her to the other side of the room, but finds herself unable to muster the energy to do so. “So it's true...” she says to herself. She lifts one of her legs to test the beam. It drops down, almost throwing Twilight off her balance. “Hmm...” she moves one of her back legs off the plate slightly, allowing room to place her front leg on it. As she does so, the beam rises, becoming level once more. “Aha...” Twilight says aloud, as she looks around the room for a way to put this new piece of information to use. She spots the corner of the alcove she was sitting in a moment ago. The corner looks just close enough to push against. She shifts her other back leg to accommodate the other leg currently sharing a space with her front leg. Twilight carefully moves her leg over to the other plate, taking care not to lift it off either plate. No change. The beam remained stable. She uses this method to turn herself around, so that she's facing the wall. But now what? She couldn't remove a hoof to push off the wall. But she did have her horn. Its better than nothing. She tilts her head forward, reaching out with her horn in an attempt to touch the wall. Contact. She pushes her head to the side, in the hopes the beam would rotate. Which it does, and she is now a little bit closer to the corner. Twilight looks over toward her destination. Its a long way to go. She pushes off the wall again, inching closer to the corner, and farther away from the wall each time she did so. “Uh, what now?” Twilight ponders, looking for an answer. But there is only one. She'd have to push off as hard as she could and hope its enough to get her to the other side. Twilight let out a sigh, steeled her nerves, and made a push for the opposite wall. As the beam swings across the gap, she turns her head to face the next corner, in preparation for the next part of the crawl. She reaches the other side and her horn touches the wall. She takes a moment to look down at the acid pool. It seems higher than when she first saw it. As she continues her efforts to make it to the exit, she found the wall getting closer to her. The side of her face is now touching the wall, and she could no longer use her horn to continue on. A simple solution, though, just push with her face. But as she does so, she discovers something. The wall is rough, sharp bits sticking out here and there, scratching and scraping at her cheek as her face slides across the surface of the wall. Just bare with it, Twilight, you can do this, she thought to her self. She keeps going, feeling the sting of the rough wall's edge with each movement. Now at the halfway point, Twilight checks the level of the acid again. It is definitely higher than when she'd started. “I'd better hurry.” Twilight presses on, her cheek cut and scratched by the jagged edges in the wall. Now at the second corner, she takes another peek at the pit. It is nearing the level of the beam. Just one hoof removed, and she'd be uncomfortably close to the acid. One more corner, and I'm on the home stretch, Twilight thought. She readies herself for the next jump, and pushes off But as she does so, something in her neck pops, sending out a jolt of pain. In the lapse of concentration, Twilight hit the other wall with the right side of her face. The impact twists her neck at a sharp angle, further compounding the injury. She let out a cry of pain as she hit the wall. Fighting against the pain, she pushes away from the wall to turn her head around, and inches off to the exit. The distance closed and the exit in sight, Twilight regards the moment with joy and apprehension. She is standing on a free-floating platform, if she messed up on the jump, she might not make the landing. Gathering her composure, and all the strength she had, she makes the leap of faith. The platform shifts as she pushes off with her back legs, throwing her off her intended jump. Twilight's heart sunk as felt it move. She closes her eyes and braces for impact. Twilight lands hard on the other side, but safely. She opens her eyes and let out a sigh of relief. A click is heard and the door to the exit begins to close, and the level of the acid begins rising at an alarming rate. She jumps to her hooves, and makes a dash for the door, reaching the other side just before it closes. As the danger fades, so does the adrenaline, and with it, her strength. She collapses to the floor, her heart racing. Twilight passed her test, she's alive, and that is all that matters. She wonders for a moment how the others are doing, and if they had it any better or worse than she did. Twilight picks herself back up and begins a slow unsteady walk down the dark hallway. Chapter Five: A Test of Laughter“My head...” Pinkie Pie groans as she awakes with a wince. ”Ah, the guest of honor awakes.” The mysterious voice returns. “Wha, huh?” She says drowsily, and looks around the room. Its a party, complete with decorations, food, drinks, tables and place settings. “Oh, but I'd mind the refreshments if I were you. The punch was poisoned, and the cook in charge of making the food put some terrible ingredients in them.” “What kind of party is this?” Pinkie says with an uneasy look on her face “A 'farewell to Pinkie Pie party' if you cannot complete this challenge” the voice responds. She gulps at hearing this. “The rules are simple, in one of the items of food, there is the key to the door. The catch: you must use your mouth to find it, using your hooves to search for the key is off-limits. Oh, and another thing: no laughing.” “Why would I laugh?” she asks, confused. “You'll see soon enough... The moment you laugh, a magical trap set in the room will activate, and the festivities will be, cut short. You've got fifteen minutes to find the key.” Pinkie took a look at the food table. It is loaded with pie, cupcakes, and many other kinds of desserts. “Oh, where do I start...?” she complains, staring at the large amount of food before her. She grabs a cupcake near her and takes a bite of it. As she bites down, something sharp cuts the inside of her mouth. Pinkie immediately spit out the mouthful of food out. Shards of glass stuck out from what she'd spit out. She rubs her cheek in pain, now wondering what other “ingredients” are in the other items of food. Pinkie picks up another pastry, and takes a bite of it. She withdraws it as she feels a sharp pain in her mouth. Nails. Pinkie tries a pie next, taking a bite. She feels something small stab into the roof of her mouth, and suppresses a scream, fearing it would have made it worse. She spit out the food, but the object remained imbedded in her mouth. Pinkie grabs the object, and removes it. A sewing needle this time. “Oh, what a cruel joke...” she says, feeling the pain in her mouth. She places a hoof over her mouth to suppress a giggle. Her voice sounded funny. That's what they meant, Pinkie thought. She took another look at the food table. She hadn't even made a dent in it. Pinkie let out an uneasy sigh, dreading what was to come. She continues checking the food, fighting through the pain, and the new injuries she sustains taking bites of the food. She makes it one third of the way through the table's contents before giving up. “No more, no more” Pinkie cries, the inside of her mouth a mass of pain. Her voice still sounded funny, but she is in too much pain to feel like laughing. Oh, if I were a key, where would I be, she thought to herself. She looks around the room. The cake, that's it! The answer was simple in hindsight. She walks over to the cake. Surely something as important as this would be the hiding place of the key, Pinkie thought. She braces for the worst, and gingerly takes a bite. Nothing. Although the injuries didn't make it any less painful to eat. She took another bite. Still nothing. Her assumption was correct, it seems. All that remained was to find it. Pinkie shoves her face into the cake, thrashing it about, and taking the occasional bite, in the hopes of finding the key. After a bit of this, she bites down onto something hard, and raises her head. Pinkie wipes the cake off her face and removes the item from her mouth. Her heart leapt when she sees it. “The key!” she says in a squeaky voice. Pinkie drops the key on the table and places both hooves to her mouth. Her voice sounded even more hilarious than ever. She was having a hard time stifling her giggling. But try as she might, a sound escapes her lips. Pinkie gasps and begins nervously looking around the room in search for signs of the trap. A few minutes pass, and nothing happens. She heaves a sigh of relief, and grabs the key from the table. At this time Pinkie notices something. She feels lightheaded. Pinkie makes her way over to the exit. No features whatsoever, save for a keyhole for the lock. She makes a motion to put the key in the lock. A miss. Pinkie shakes her head and tries again. Another miss. She tries once more, taking care to make sure the key goes in the lock. Success! She turns the key and the lock clicks. The key disappears into the keyhole and the wall raises up, allowing Pinkie to leave. As she crosses the doorway, the door shuts behind her. Pinkie falls against the wall and heaves a deep sigh of relief. Of all the things that had happened to her today, there was one thing she was certain of: that was one party she wishes she wasn't invited to. Chapter Six: A Test of Loyalty/A Cruel Twist of FateRainbow Dash awoke with a groan. She blinked wearily, and rose to her hooves. She took a moment to look around the room. Off in the distance, She spots some form of contraption, and two ponies in the middle of it. One of them is a unicorn, the other... “Fluttershy?!” Rainbow Dash yells, shocked to see her friend on the business end of the machination. “Well well, awake from your nap, Rainbow Dash?” The familiar sights and sounds returning. “You... What's the big idea of you dragging Fluttershy into this mess?!” She snaps, a tone of resentment in her voice. “Simple, really. I want to see where your loyalties lie.” “What kind of answer is that?” Rainbow Dash asks, still very much upset. “Here's the challenge set before you: a large spiked plate hangs over both your friend, and the stranger to her left. The moment either one of them moves off the pressure pads they're standing on, both of the plates will drop. You won't have enough time to save both of them. The moment you move off your pad, the doorway out will begin closing. You will have sixty seconds before it closes, and anypony not on the other side of that door won't have a ghost of a chance when it closes. Of course, fail to make a decision in five minutes, and you won't even save yourself, Rainbow Dash. You'll need to think fast, and act even faster if you want any hope of making it out alive.” The voice disappears, their ultimatum delivered and the countdown begins. Rainbow Dash looks over at the two captives. Fluttershy hunched herself in to as small a space as she could, all she could do was regard the looming spiked plate with terror. The other was a unicorn, somepony she'd never seen before. I just can't either of these two die, she thought. Rainbow dash begins racking her brain, searching for a solution that would save both of them. But she can only think of one, the plan hinges on the hopes that he knew a certain spell. “Hey you,” she said, addressing the unicorn, “you know any spells?” “Well, I can use levitation” he replies. “Good. Let's go!” Rainbow dash says, triumphantly. She then takes off, running full speed in his direction. As she steps off the pad, a click is heard, and the doorway of the exit begins closing. At first her comment struck the unicorn as odd, but when he looks to his right and sees the cowering pegasus, he realizes the plan and readies a levitation spell. As Rainbow Dash closes the gap between her and the unicorn, and takes a leap, throwing her self headlong at him. The unicorn sees this and braces himself, making sure to maintain the spell he was casting. She collides into him, pushing the unicorn out from under the plate. Rainbow Dash looks to her left, and sees Fluttershy being pulled out of harms way. It worked, she thought, glad that nopony had to suffer a horrible fate. The group hit the ground, safe from the plate. The plates landing shortly after them, And Fluttershy lets out a bloodcurdling scream. Her heart sunk and a lump forms in her throat after hearing her friends scream. She looks to her left. The unicorn's efforts hadn't been enough. Her right hind leg is trapped under the plate. She runs over to Fluttershy and attempts to lift the heavy plate. “Just go on without me...” she cries meekly, with tears in her eyes. “Nothing doing” Rainbow Dash replies with effort, as she musters her strength, lifting the plate off her friend's leg. “A little help here!” she addresses the unicorn once more. He levitates her from under the plate and she drops it. She picks up Fluttershy and tosses her over her back. Her friend in tow, Rainbow Dash makes a beeline for the door, which is about half closed at this time. As she nears the door, she could feel Fluttershy slipping off her back. She begins running at a faster pace, in the hopes that she'd clear the door before Fluttershy fell. Crossing the doorway, she slips off Rainbow Dash's back, landing in the path of the closing door. Turning in her step, she reaches out and grabs her front leg, and in one swift motion, pulls her away from the door. The door shuts, and a wave of relief hits Rainbow Dash. A few moments later, a loud crash is heard from the other side of the door, and the ground shakes. The group stares at the door, feeling an equal mixture of shock and solace, glad that such an outcome had not befallen them. “You saved me again...” Fluttershy says, looking up at Rainbow Dash. “Like I always say, I'd never leave anypony hanging” Fluttershy smiled at her friend who would risk her life to save hers. “Though, I can't take all the credit, I did have help after all” she says. “Oh, and thanks again, I couldn't have done it without-” She turns to look at the unicorn, but he was nowhere to be seen. “Where'd he go...?” Twilight spots the end of the long hallway in sight. It wasn't the way out of here, but it was a fair sight better than the dark and narrow hallway. As she drew closer to the exit, she heard a voice ask “Who's there?”. The voice sounded familiar. “Applejack?” she replies. “Twilight, is that you?” Twilight crosses the exit of the hallway, and there is her friend standing in the room. “Oh, aren't you a sight for sore eye, Twilight.” Applejack says, relieved to see one of her friends. “Uh-huh” she agrees, turning her head to look at Applejack. But this causes a bolt of pain to shoot down her neck, and she winces at the sensation. “Is something the matter?” she asks, seeing the pain on Twilight's face. “Oh, I injured my neck earlier...” she says, rubbing her sore neck. “Here, lemme see” Applejack says, bringing a hoof to her neck. She rubs the back of her neck a bit. “Hmm, does it hurt when I do this?” she asks as she twists Twilight's head to the left. “Owww... Yes...” Applejack places her right hoof on the left side of her face. She then places her other hoof on the backside of her head, opposite of the other hoof. “What are you-?” “This might sting.” With a swift twist, and a pop, the pain in Twilight's neck vanished. “Ow! Hey, it's gone! Thank you, Applejack.” she says, glad to be rid of the neck pain. “Ah, no trouble at all. Just glad to help out a friend is all.” She then let out a sigh. “What's wrong, Applejack?” She closed her eyes, hoping to shut out the memory. “Its... a long story...” At this time Rarity emerged from one of the hallways on the other side of the room. “Rarity? What happened? You look awful...” Twilight asks her, with a look of concern. She just winces, refusing to answer. “let me guess, long story?” She nods. Next it was Pinkie Pie's turn to show up. She joins the group and sits down, places a hoof to her cheek, and begins rubbing it, with a pained look on her face. “Is something the matter?” Twilight asks. She nods but says nothing. “May I see it?” Pinkie opens her mouth. Twilight casts an illumination spell, and takes a peek in her mouth. Her cheeks, tongue, and the roof of her mouth are covered in numerous cuts and scrapes. She recoils in shock at this sight. “What happened...?” Twilight asks, a notable tone of concern in her voice. She just looks at her with a sad look as tears begin welling up. She brings Pinkie in for a hug, pats her head, and says “It's okay, you don't have to answer that now.” The group hears hoof steps off in the distance. They all turn to face the sound, wondering who was coming next. Its Rainbow Dash, and she has a worried look on her face. “We've got a problem!” Author's Note And here I was thinking this'd be a short chapter. I don't know what it was, but something just clicked as I was writing, and the words just kept coming. Chapter Seven: Endgame/A Test of FriendshipThe group huddles around Fluttershy “What happened?” Asks Rarity, her voice a bit shaken. “What do you think? Part of this demented pony's 'games'” Rainbow Dash says, her eyes on Fluttershy's wounds. “All right, stand back, I need to check a few things.” Twilight says, making a gesture to give her some space. They took a couple of steps back, and she begins inspecting her. The wound looks serious. A number of deep puncture wounds down the length of her leg, bone visible in a couple of them. She opens one of her eyelids to check her eye. Twilight then puts an ear to Fluttershy's chest, to check breathing and heartbeat. After this, she lightly pushes against her chest. She didn't stir. She put her hoof to her chin, processing all the information she'd just collected. It all led to one conclusion, and she didn't like it. “Well,” Twilight said finally, “From what I can tell, she's beginning to exhibit the signs of shock.” Pinkie gasps. “Is that serious?” “Yes.” The rest of the ponies share a look of concern. “Don't 'ya know some kinda healing spell or something?” Applejack asks. “No, I don't... But if we could bandage her wounds, she would have better odds, but she will need medical treatment soon.” “Say no more, Twilight, I have just the thing in mind.” Rarity says, stepping forward. “You wouldn't by any chance happen to know a spell that you could use to cut my tail, would you?” “Well, I could try” she says. Rarity makes a gesture of where to cut, and Twilight readies a spell. She manages to cut off a section of her tail, which Rarity then uses to transform into a length of bandaging. Twilight then takes it, and casts a spell on it, and wraps it tightly around Fluttershy's leg “The spell I cast should help stop the bleeding, but it's not a cure-all.” Twilight tells the rest of the ponies. “My my, you've all made it to this point. Well, almost.” The now all too familiar voice returns. “Y'all are headin' the right way for a flank kickin'!” Applejack shouts, feelings of rage fueling her actions. “Make that a double!” Rainbow Dash adds, sharing Applejack's desire for violence. “Heheh, I see you two haven't lost your spirit. Perhaps I should be disappointed.” They huff a sigh of indifference. The two remain unfazed, staring daggers at the display of the puppet. “Well, in any case, congratulations are in order. You've made it to the final round. For this game only one of you may play. I will give you a few minutes to decide amongst yourselves who goes.” “Well, Fluttershy obviously can't go, I mean look at her, the poor dear.” Rarity says, gently stroking Fluttershy's mane. “What about Applejack?” Pinkie suggests. “This is the last 'game' of theirs, its no doubt worse than any of the games before it. we can't just arbitrarily decide this, we need to discuss it.” Twilight warned. They spent the next few minutes debating between themselves as to who should go. The debate proves futile however, as nopony could settle on who to send. One of them speaks up. “I'll go.” “Rainbow Dash, think about this. You don't know what they've got planned.” Applejack says, worried about her friend. “Look, you've all had something bad happen to you, right? Nothing bad's happened to me, I'll go” she responds. “Are you sure you wanna go through with this?” Twilight notices the look in Rainbow Dash's eyes. She places a hoof to Applejack's shoulder. “Let her go.” “But Twilight-” She glances at Fluttershy, and returns her gaze to Applejack. She sits down and sighs. “Just be safe, okay?” Rainbow Dash looks over at her unconscious friend “I'll try...” she says, not as sure of herself as she had been earlier. “Have you decided?” the voice asks. “I'll do it” Rainbow Dash says, stepping forward. “Very well, then,” A hole opens up in a wall, “on to the final challenge.” “Good luck” Twilight says. “Thanks, I'll need it.” After walking down a long and narrow hallway, Rainbow Dash finds herself in another room. It is completely bare, save for a small platform in the middle of the room. The voice returns once more. “Please step onto the platform, so we can begin the game.” She makes her way over to the platform, and hesitantly steps onto it. As she does so, a band appears, binding her wings. “Hey, what gives?!” Rainbow Dash yells,struggling against her bindings. “In order for you to properly play this game,you are disallowed the usage of your wings. It's the rules you see.” “Then what's this 'game' of yours, anyway?” she retorts. “Simple, see the two buttons in front of you?” She looks at the buttons, one is red, the other, green. “Press the red button and you will plummet to your death.” “Why would I do something like that?!” Rainbow Dash asks, astonished that they would even suggest such a thing. “If you want to save your friends you would. Press the green button, and you go free, but your friends might not be so lucky. So the choice is yours: either throw yourself into the pit, sacrificing your life for your friends, or turn your back on them to save yourself. Take as long as you need.” Her heart ached as she stares at the buttons. A lump forms in her throat. How could she choose anything else? There was no way she could put herself before the needs of her friends. They were in a pinch, and she couldn't just leave them. Still, it didn't make it any less difficult a choice to make. its her life on the line, after all. Rainbow Dash takes a moment to find her resolve. She closes her eyes and presses the button. The trapdoor opens under her hooves, and she falls into the hole. She holds out her front and back legs, hoping to stop her fall short. Her hooves touch the walls of the pit and she stops. Rainbow Dash takes look at the bottom of the pit. A number of spikes at the bottom, ready to skewer her should anything go amiss. I guess this is it, she thinks to herself. She could only hold on for so long, and Rainbow Dash knew it. “R......ow Da...” She thought she heard something. She listens closer. “...inb... ..sh...” she definitely heard something that time. “Don't worry, Rainbow Dash, we're coming!” Her heart leapt at those words. “Twilight?!” She smiles. Help is on the way, she just has to hold out until they get there. As time passes, so does her strength. Rainbow Dash finds it harder and harder to keep herself aloft. “Come on... Just a little more...” she says with effort, desperate to cling to the wall. But one of her legs buckle, and she falls further into the pit. Rainbow Dash's heart lurches in her chest as her back leg gives out. She turns to her side as she falls, to give herself the best chances of survival. She returns her hooves to the walls in an attempt to slow her fall. She partially succeeds, but it isn't enough to stop her completely. A number of spikes sink deep into her flank. Rainbow Dash lets out a cry of pain as she lands on the spikes. She uses her remaining three good legs to keep her as high off the spikes as she could. But with only three legs, it wasn't enough to keep her from slipping farther down. Even though she no longer had the momentum from her fall, the spikes are sharp enough that new ones found their way into her flesh with each bit of distance she lost. “Rainbow Dash!” somepony calls out from above. She looks up. “Twilight?” Twilight levitated her out of the pit, laying her to rest on her uninjured side. “Are you okay?” “Better now that you're here.” “Looks like we'll need another bandage” Twilight says, assessing the injury. Twilight cuts her tail short and turns the cut section over to Rarity, who fashions it into another bandage. With Rainbow Dash's wounds tended to, the group heaved a collective sigh. “Oh, Rainbow Dash, are you okay?” somepony asked. She looked to see who it was. “Fluttershy! You're okay!” She was relieved to see her friend conscious. Enough to make her forget about her injury, if only for a moment. “when y'all left, that pony put up a screen for us to see what went on in this room” Applejack says. “We'd heard and seen everything that had happened” Rarity added. “You were soo brave to risk your life for us like that” says Pinkie Pie, hugging her friend. Twilight notices something off in the distance. “Look, a doorway” She says pointing to it. There was something strange about it. It was brightly lit, moreso than any room they'd previously been in. “That wasn't there before...” Rainbow Dash says, confused. “It must be the way out, come on” Twilight says. “Uh, a little help?” “I got'cha. Pinkie, you take Fluttershy.” Applejack says helping up Rainbow Dash. They leave the room, heading up the stairs. It leads into another room, but this one's different than all the others. It appears somepony was living in it. Applejack notices something sitting in a corner. “That doll! That pony was here recently!” “Applejack, calm down,” Twilight says placing a hoof to her shoulder, “Look around, they're long gone.” She took another look around the room. The place is in a state of disarray. Like somepony was in a rush to gather their important items and took off. She stomped at the floor with her hoof and let out a frustrated sigh. “Here's the door out of here” Twilight says as she opens it. The bright light of the day shines in, and the ponies shield their eyes as they become adjusted to the sunlight. As they walk out, they see a pony laying in the grass. Applejack gasps at the sight. “Apple Bloom?” The pony's ears perk up, and they turn around. “Applejack!” Applejack left Rainbow Dash's side and runs toward Apple Bloom. The two embrace, and Applejack begins crying. “I'm sorry I did something so horrible to you...” “It's okay, Applejack, you did it to save me, you had no choice.” Apple Bloom says, resting her head on one of Applejack's fore legs. “Oh, Apple Bloom...” Applejack says, and strokes her mane. “But one thing I can't figure out, though, is how you got out here.” “I don't know,” she replies, “after that door closed, everything stopped, so I ran to the door. But I don't remember making it there. Next thing I know, I'm out here, and I have this note.” She then holds out a letter. “Let me see that” Twilight says, removing the letter from Apple Bloom's hoof. She takes a moment to read it. “Hey, there's directions to the nearest town.” she says, pointing off to a town on the horizon. “Well, if for nothing else, that pony's good on their word.” Applejack says begrudgingly, staring off in the distance. “We should get going” Rainbow Dash interjects. Apple Bloom notices the bandaging on Fluttershy's and Rainbow Dash's legs. “What happened to you two?” The two look at each other, then back at Apple Bloom, and say in unison “Its a long story...” A few days later, the group meets at Twilight's house, to reflect on the recent events. “I'm so glad that ordeal is behind us.” Rarity says, sitting on her chaise lounge. “Hey, you got off easy, missy, all you had to do was wallow around in a pool of muck” Applejack retorts. “Do you even know how many baths it took to get that horrendous stench out of my coat?” Rainbow Dash interrupted the argument by saying “Well, at least its not my wing that's injured this time.” “They did say you would have to watch your flying for a few days, lest you reopen your wounds.” Twilight reminded her, taking a moment to adjust her neck brace. “I know. At least I'm not stuck in some boring old room for hours on end.” “So Pinkie, how's the liquid diet?” Rarity asks. “Fine” she responds, taking a sip of the milkshake in front of her. She had been put on a liquid diet for a few days to allow her mouth to heal. “Oh, and Fluttershy, how's the help been with your animals?” Some of the residents had volunteered to assist Fluttershy with her care-taking when they'd heard what happened to her. “It's been going okay.” she says. She thinks about something for a moment, then says, “What do you think happened to that pony who took us hostage?” They all turned to look at her. A good question, one they had no answer to. Twilight considers this for a second and says, “Do you really think somepony could steal away a princess and get away with it? I'm sure the Royal Guard in Canterlot are forming a search for them as we speak.” “I suppose so” Fluttershy responds, turning to the window to take a look at the moon. Author's Note asdasdgafgasd so much text. this is the longest chapter I've ever written.
Chapter One: Setup“Aah, what a beautiful day” Pinkie Pie says as she rises from her bed, with a stretch. She opens a window to take in the morning light, and gives a friendly wave to a pony passing by. She then closes the window and takes a glance at the calender hanging on the wall. She gasps and says “it's today, I'd better get going!” She throws on her saddlebags and and hurries down the stairs. As she reaches the bottom of the stairs, a voice calls out to her. “Pinkie?” “Yes, Mrs. Cake?” she replies as she turned around to face her. “We're heading out on a trip today, mind the store for us while we're gone, would you?” “Okay, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, you can count on me!” “Take care, Pinkie” Mrs. Cake says as the two walk out the door. “Okie dokie lokie” Pinkie says as she follows suit. The first stop of Pinkie's trip through Ponyville brings her to the Carousel Boutique. She knocks at the door. “Come in” a voice from inside calls. She opens the door and says “hiya, Rarity” “Pinkie Pie? What's the occasion?” she asks, a curious look on her face. “I'm holding a party and Sugarcube Corner and you all are invited!” she says, a wide grin spread across her face as she hands out an invitation. “Well,” Rarity says in response, “it has been a slow day here at the boutique, I suppose I could close early today. Very well, I shall be there.” “Yay!” Pinkie shouts as she runs out the door, her next destination in mind. Her next stop brings her to Sweet Apple Acres. “What'cha heading out here for, Pinkie?” asks Applejack as she sees her friend walking up the dirt road. “I'm having a party, and you're totally invited!” Pinkie says excitedly as she starts hopping up and down. She then hands Applejack an invitation. “Hoo boy, I sure could use a break, count me in.” Pinkie darts off toward the next house. The trip now brings her to the town library. Pinkie walks up to the door and knocks at it. “Who is it?” ask a voice from inside. “It's me Twilight,” Pinkie says as she opens the door, “and I'm inviting you to a party.” “Oh?” asked Twilight, “What's the occasion?” “You'll see...” Pinkie said teasingly, as she handed her an invitation. Twilight opened it and skimmed its contents. “Spike!” She called, “I'll be leaving this afternoon, take care of things while I'm gone.” “Can do” Spike replied from upstairs. “Now, about this party...” Twilight starts to say as she turns to face Pinkie, but she was already gone. Next on her journey, Rainbow Dash's residence. Rainbow Dash is sitting in her room, reading the latest Daring Do novel, when a paper airplane soars in from the window, landing between her and the book. There appears to be writing on it, so she sets the book down beside her and opens it, discovering the words “look outside” written on it. She peers out the window to see a waving Pinkie Pie on the ground below. She went outside and flew down to speak with her friend “What brings you out here, Pinkie?” “I'm inviting you to a party, that's what” she says, holding out an invitation. Rainbow Dash stares at the invite for a second, taking a moment to consider any prior commitments. Thinking of none, she then says “yeah, sure, I'll be there.” “Woohoo! One to go!” Pinkie says as she takes off. Her final stop is Fluttershy's cottage. Pinkie knocks at the door and asks, “Fluttershy, you home?” “Yes,” came a soft reply. “you're invited to a party at Sugarcube Corner” says Pinkie Pie, holding out an invitation. “Everyone else is gonna be there!” “That sounds like fun. Sure, I'll go” says Fluttershy. Pinkie then merrily hops on back to Sugarcube Corner. “Now Angel,” Fluttershy says, addressing her pet bunny, “you'll behave yourself while I'm gone, won't you?” Angel gives her a flat look. “Angel...” she says, an admonishing tone in her voice. Angel gave an annoyed sigh, and shook his head in agreement. And so, the group made their own separate ways to Sugarcube Corner. “Oh look, the gang's all here” says Rainbow Dash as the rest of the group approach. “Any reason you can think of that she'd throw us a party?” asked Twilight. “Who knows,” Applejack chimed in, “it is Pinkie Pie we're talkin' about.” “What Applejack said,” Rarity says, “She'll look for any reason to throw a party. Or have you forgotten the birthday party she thew for her pet alligator?” “O-or the party she threw for Gilda...?” Fluttershy added meekly. “Right...” Twilight says, “Well, let's head inside.” The room is dark, very much so. As the door closes, the room becomes pitch black. “Who shut the door?” “O-oh, sorry...” “Somepony find a lightswitch.” “Ow, who stepped on mah tail?” The lights went on. “Surprise!” yells Pinkie at the top of her lungs. The room is decorated with a myriad of colorful balloons, streamers, and a banner hangs in back that reads “Happy Anniversary”. “'Happy Anniversary'? What's that supposed to mean?” Twilight asks. “Three years ago today you first came to Ponyville, and we all became the bestest of friends.” “Aw, how thoughtful” she replies, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks. “Well, don't just stand there, it's time to party!” Pinkie says excitedly. “Who wants cupcakes?” Pinkie then brings out a tray of cupcakes. “Ooh, I'll have one!” Rainbow Dash says, grabbing one off the tray. The rest of them do so as well, and they each take a bite. “Uh, hey Pinkie? Do these cupcakes taste off to you?” Rainbow Dash says with a confused look. Pinkie blinked bewilderingly. She then takes a bite for herself. “Oh yeah, they do taste o-” she begins, but passes out before finishing her sentence, as the others had. They awoke to an unfamiliar location.”Where are we...?” Twilight asks wearily, the effects of whatever knocked them out still apparent. “Huh?” Rainbow Dash grunts as she regains consciousness. “All right, show yourself, whoever you are!” “I see you're awake...” A mysterious voice says, seemingly coming from outside the room. “Y'all are messing with the wrong ponies” Applejack says in a threatening manner. “You all are here to play a game.” the voice continues. “Hey! Don't ignore us!” Rainbow Dash shouts. An image magically appears on one of the walls. It depicts a wooden unicorn puppet, with odd red and white markings painted on its face. “All you have to do, is complete the games I've set for you, and you all go free.” “that's it?” Twilight asks. “Fail a challenge, and, well, there won't be another challenge to fail...” the voice continues. “An' what's that suppose'ta mean?” Applejack asks. “If you fail, you won't be heading home... ever.” The group took a collective gulp. The stakes were set high, and they knew it. “Now then, let the games begin.” The voice says, and the image disappears. “So where's the-” Twilight begins to say, but collapses, and so do the others. Author's Note I'm kinda wondering if maybe I spent too much time on setting up for the party, and not enough time on what happens next. A bit nervous posting this, tbh
Chapter Two: A Test of Generosity“Uhhh... My head...” Rarity says, still in a daze. Something feels off. She swings a hoof, nothing but air. This comes as a shock to her, removing any trace of drowsiness she previously had. Rarity is in a harness, suspended over a pool of a foul-smelling sludge. Upon one of her legs is a shackle, which appeared to be anchored by chain in the middle of the rancid mire. A staircase off to her left seemed to lead up to the ceiling, but with no visible way out. An earth pony in a cage hangs opposite of her. “Well, well, the fair Rarity awakes...” a familiar voice calls. “You again? What more do you want with me, you fiend?” She asks pointedly. The magic screen returns, and the visage of the unicorn puppet along with it. “Just a game, my dear, but I doubt you are in a position to decline.” “Well, get on with it, then.” “Certainly. The rules are simple, you and the pony before you are trapped in this room. Only the key hidden in the muck you see below you can free you, but only one of you. The choice then, is yours. Do you free this stranger in a generous act of self-sacrifice? Or do you act only in your own interests and save your own skin? You have twenty minutes before this room floods, taking the both of you with it.” The ropes keeping her suspended went slack, dropping her into the foul substance. “Ewwwww” Rarity shrieks, completely horrified by everything she had just experienced. “I think I'm going to be ill!” she cries, as a sickening feeling washes over her. After a few moments of deep breathing, she manages to regain her composure, although not entirely, as she was still standing in the disgusting collection of filth. “Well, no use standing around” Rarity says to herself to steel her nerves, as she begins to tap at the ground with her hoof, in search of the key. “Oh, please hurry” the pony in the cage says pleadingly. She continues her search, when her hoof contacts something hard, but it doesn't feel like a key. A puzzled look crosses her face as she grabs hold of it with her magic. She lifts it out of the muck and immediately retreats from the sight. It is a bone. “I-i-is that a-a-” the caged pony stammers. She regards the bone with an abhorrent look on her face. Her heart begins to race as thoughts of the sludge’s contents do so in kind. Her magic dissipates, and the bone disappears into the mire. She runs off to the staircase so she can take a moment to collect her thoughts. But as she gets close, the chain grows taut, and she falls into the sludge. Rarity jumps to her hooves after her fall, more unnerved than she had been. “It'll be ok, just calm down, we'll find a way out of this” The caged pony calls out to the nervous mare. Heaving a deep sigh, Rarity responds, “Yes... You're right... I just have to find that key.” In that moment, holes open up in the ceiling and a large amount of sludge pours from them, filling up the room a good deal more than it had been. The horrid gunk, which had previously been about knee-high, was now higher than her shoulders. “I'd better hurry, it seems” Rarity says, nervously staring at the new level of muck. She continues her search, when her hoof strikes something hard, smaller than a bone this time. Her heart soars as she lifts the object from the sludge, to discover that she had indeed found the key. “Hmm...” Rarity hummed curiously as she studied the key. It didn't seem any different than any normal key. She needed to test something. She then fishes around nearby in the hopes of finding a bone. “I hope whoever this was won't mind me doing this...” Rarity says as she transforms a section of the bone into a replica of the key. “This had better work...” she says anxiously as she moves the bone key to her shackle. The tooth of the key goes in and a mechanism inside snaps the end of the key off. Rarity gasped and pulled out the key tooth. “So that's what they meant by that...” Rarity then goes to place the metal key into the keyhole. “Wait,” The pony calls out, “are you sure that's a good idea?” The key goes in, and it taps against the back of the keyhole. Nothing. She is hit with a burst of inspiration and removes the key. She holds her shackled leg to her ear and strikes the metal band with the bone. Rarity makes note of the sound, and does the same with the key. It's the same sound. “Aha! I've got it!” she declares as she brings the key back to the keyhole in her shackle. As the lock clicks open, the mechanism snaps off the tooth, and seals it into the lock. The ceiling at the top of the stairs opened up, revealing a way out. The pony in the cage eyed the opening cautiously and asks, “you're not gonna leave me, are you?” “Of course not, how could I ever do something so heartless?” She then transforms one of the chain's links into a copy of the key. Rarity walks over to the cage and says, a slight degree of uncertainty in her voice, “Oh, I do hope this works.” At that moment, another deluge of the fetid goop pours down from above, knocking Rarity off her feet, and with it, the key. “Oh no!” she exclaims as it falls into the muck. The amount of sludge dumped in this time was even greater than last time, it was now about half full. Rarity now had to try to swim in the sludge to keep her head in breathing room. She glances over at the cage. Even it is partially submerged, with the pony inside up to their neck in the stuff. She took a deep breath and dove into the mire, and began blindly striking at the ground, in search of the key. After a short while, she could no longer hold her breath, and surfaces. Two more times she tried, both times ending in failure. “It's got to be around here somewhere” Rarity says desperately. Another torrent of sludge rains down from above. The room is soon going to run out of air. She took another breath of air and dives into the muck once more. She searched in desperate hopes of finding the key, going so far as to stay down in spite of her lung's protests. As her body struggles to take in oxygen, her hoof struck the key, and in a burst of elation, she grabs the key and returns to the surface, gasping for air. She shoves the key into the lock. Nothing happened. The key turns and the lock clicks open, and the cage door swings open. “Thank you!” the pony says, briefly hugging Rarity. The two then made their way to the staircase. They ran out of the room and the door closes behind them. “Glad to be out of that mess, huh?” Rarity says, turning to face the other pony. But there is nopony to be found.
Chapter Three: A Test of Honesty“Ugh...” Applejack grunts as she regains consciousness. “Again...?” she says wearily, trying to shake off the feeling of drowsiness. After a few moments, she finally regains her senses. The room is dark, the only light source hangs overhead, providing just enough light to clearly discern everything in the room. Looking about herself, she appears to be shackled to the floor, and a pair of "jaws" with wicked-looking jagged blades seemingly ready to snap at a moments notice. A similar contraption sits in the center, with a pony bound to it as well. There's a groove in the floor to the machine's right, leading toward the wall. Upon further inspection, the pony looks familiar. “Apple Bloom!” Applejack shouts, reaching out a hoof toward her sister. “Sis!” Apple Bloom shouts back, a fearful look in her eyes. “You've awoken...” A voice calls out from the distance. A section of the wall lights up. The magic display of the unicorn puppet returns. “'An want do you want?” says Applejack, her words pointed and full of anger. “Patience Applejack, one might lose their head that way...” the voice replies. “Wadda'ya mean by that?!” A hole opens up in the wall, and a circular saw-blade emerged. Its sights were set on Apple Bloom. “The rules are simple, try to free either yourself or your sister, and those mechanisms you're chained to activates, with ruthless effectiveness. Take too long, and well, suddenly Apple Bloom isn't half the pony she used to be. Now, see that button in front of you, Applejack?" "Yeah, 'an what about it?" Applejack says in a curtly fashion "The only way to save both yourself and your beloved sister, is to say these words, and I quote: 'Apple Bloom, I never want to see you again' and press that button. Once you do, she'll be plunged down the pitfall she stands on. Though I can't say I can guarantee her safety from there...” Her heart sank as she hears these words. “'Ya can't expect me 'ta do that!” she says defiantly, looking to find some alternative. “You know the consequences should you refuse. You have ten minutes.” The screen disappears, and a section of the wall opens up behind Applejack. The blade begins spinning viciously, all too eager to serve its intended purpose. “Applejack, help me!” Apple Bloom yells, her terror-stricken eyes transfixed on the spinning saw-blade. Applejack slammed her hoof into the ground in anger. How could he ask me to do something so cruel and vicious? she thought. She turns her eyes to the ground, in an attempt to combat her conflicting emotions. As time passes, the spinning blade inches its way toward Apple Bloom, A daunting reminder of the impending danger. “Come on, Applejack, save me” she calls out to her sister, who could only regard the situation with heartache and indecision. Applejack wanted nothing more than to see her sister safe from harm, but at what cost? It would break her heart to hear those words. Though that would be the least of Apple Bloom's worries, should she say nothing. Ten minutes never seemed so long, nor so short. Five minutes had passed and the blade was halfway to its sinister destination. “Its gettin' closer, do som'thin!” Apple Bloom says nervously, eying the blade that was now only a few lengths away from her . “Don't worry Apple Bloom, I'll think of som'thin” she says, in an attempt to comfort her. A vain effort, as she was still torn about doing what that pony said. It would be easy enough, but the consequences? Not only would it make her a liar, but she'd have to turn her back on her own sister in a dire situation. But there was a chance the two of them would be freed if she did so. It would be fine, right? With time almost elapsed, the blade's teeth sliced through the air, in deadly close proximity to Apple Bloom. “Sis, just do it!” She shouts, tears beginning to well up in her eyes, “it'll be fine, just have faith!” Now was the time to act. She grits her teeth. “Apple Bloom,” Applejack yells, her voice carrying over the sound of the blade, “I never want to see you again!” She slams her hoof on the button, and Apple Bloom plummets into the pitfall, and the trapdoor closes behind her. As she fell, the weight of Applejack's words hit her hard. Even though she knew Applejack didn't mean it, it didn't make it any less painful to hear. Tears begin streaming down her cheeks. The shackles around Applejack's legs unlocked, and she ran straight for the center. She begins pounding at the trapdoor, “Apple Bloom, are you okay?” The pounding continues, tears welling up in her eyes. “Apple Bloom, are you there?” she continues to pound on the trapdoor, shouting for Apple Bloom for a few minutes, until her voice grew hoarse and her hooves too sore to continue. “Apple Bloom...” The pounding ceased and she collapses to the floor, tears flowing from her eyes, “I'm sorry...” Author's Note This one's a bit short, but there's only so much looming danger you can add before it becomes The Crystal Empire 2.0. That, and I couldn't really think of anything else I could add. EDIT: Blargh, I went back and looked at this chapter, and couldn't stand how I'd written it. It was the first chapter I'd written for this challenge, and it certainly showed. so I changed it from "I didn't learn anything" to actually having a clear sense of consequence for her failure.
Chapter Four: A Test of MagicTwilight awoke to find herself in another strange room. She quickly scans her surroundings. There appears to be a narrow walkway leading off to a doorway on the other side of the room, with a few obstacles in the way. The rest of the room is featureless, seemingly dropping off into a pit. More immediately, however, is something about her. Something is binding her wings. “Ah, Twilight, you're awake. Let's see if you can puzzle your way out of this. Step forward so the game can begin.” The sights and sounds of their mysterious captor return. She walks forward. There are four hoof-shaped indents in the floor. She steps into them. “This seems easy enough” Twilight responds confidently. “Oh but there are a few twists” they continue. A part of the floor retracts, that was previously holding the walkway in place. With the beam freed, it begins rocking up and down, balancing out the weights at either end. “First things first, that banding around your midsection interferes with your ability to use your magic, and your wings of course. Second, there is a pit of acid below you.” Twilight looks down. A thick, sickly green-looking liquid sits in bottom of the room. Her eyes widen in terror. “Third, your balance is being maintained by the plates your hooves are standing on, should you find your legs give out, your life shall soon follow. Of course, take too long and the room will fill with acid. Thirty minutes is your time limit.” Hmm, first, let's see if this thing really does inhibit my magic like they said, Twilight thought. She prepares to use a teleportation spell to move her to the other side of the room, but finds herself unable to muster the energy to do so. “So it's true...” she says to herself. She lifts one of her legs to test the beam. It drops down, almost throwing Twilight off her balance. “Hmm...” she moves one of her back legs off the plate slightly, allowing room to place her front leg on it. As she does so, the beam rises, becoming level once more. “Aha...” Twilight says aloud, as she looks around the room for a way to put this new piece of information to use. She spots the corner of the alcove she was sitting in a moment ago. The corner looks just close enough to push against. She shifts her other back leg to accommodate the other leg currently sharing a space with her front leg. Twilight carefully moves her leg over to the other plate, taking care not to lift it off either plate. No change. The beam remained stable. She uses this method to turn herself around, so that she's facing the wall. But now what? She couldn't remove a hoof to push off the wall. But she did have her horn. Its better than nothing. She tilts her head forward, reaching out with her horn in an attempt to touch the wall. Contact. She pushes her head to the side, in the hopes the beam would rotate. Which it does, and she is now a little bit closer to the corner. Twilight looks over toward her destination. Its a long way to go. She pushes off the wall again, inching closer to the corner, and farther away from the wall each time she did so. “Uh, what now?” Twilight ponders, looking for an answer. But there is only one. She'd have to push off as hard as she could and hope its enough to get her to the other side. Twilight let out a sigh, steeled her nerves, and made a push for the opposite wall. As the beam swings across the gap, she turns her head to face the next corner, in preparation for the next part of the crawl. She reaches the other side and her horn touches the wall. She takes a moment to look down at the acid pool. It seems higher than when she first saw it. As she continues her efforts to make it to the exit, she found the wall getting closer to her. The side of her face is now touching the wall, and she could no longer use her horn to continue on. A simple solution, though, just push with her face. But as she does so, she discovers something. The wall is rough, sharp bits sticking out here and there, scratching and scraping at her cheek as her face slides across the surface of the wall. Just bare with it, Twilight, you can do this, she thought to her self. She keeps going, feeling the sting of the rough wall's edge with each movement. Now at the halfway point, Twilight checks the level of the acid again. It is definitely higher than when she'd started. “I'd better hurry.” Twilight presses on, her cheek cut and scratched by the jagged edges in the wall. Now at the second corner, she takes another peek at the pit. It is nearing the level of the beam. Just one hoof removed, and she'd be uncomfortably close to the acid. One more corner, and I'm on the home stretch, Twilight thought. She readies herself for the next jump, and pushes off But as she does so, something in her neck pops, sending out a jolt of pain. In the lapse of concentration, Twilight hit the other wall with the right side of her face. The impact twists her neck at a sharp angle, further compounding the injury. She let out a cry of pain as she hit the wall. Fighting against the pain, she pushes away from the wall to turn her head around, and inches off to the exit. The distance closed and the exit in sight, Twilight regards the moment with joy and apprehension. She is standing on a free-floating platform, if she messed up on the jump, she might not make the landing. Gathering her composure, and all the strength she had, she makes the leap of faith. The platform shifts as she pushes off with her back legs, throwing her off her intended jump. Twilight's heart sunk as felt it move. She closes her eyes and braces for impact. Twilight lands hard on the other side, but safely. She opens her eyes and let out a sigh of relief. A click is heard and the door to the exit begins to close, and the level of the acid begins rising at an alarming rate. She jumps to her hooves, and makes a dash for the door, reaching the other side just before it closes. As the danger fades, so does the adrenaline, and with it, her strength. She collapses to the floor, her heart racing. Twilight passed her test, she's alive, and that is all that matters. She wonders for a moment how the others are doing, and if they had it any better or worse than she did. Twilight picks herself back up and begins a slow unsteady walk down the dark hallway.
Chapter Five: A Test of Laughter“My head...” Pinkie Pie groans as she awakes with a wince. ”Ah, the guest of honor awakes.” The mysterious voice returns. “Wha, huh?” She says drowsily, and looks around the room. Its a party, complete with decorations, food, drinks, tables and place settings. “Oh, but I'd mind the refreshments if I were you. The punch was poisoned, and the cook in charge of making the food put some terrible ingredients in them.” “What kind of party is this?” Pinkie says with an uneasy look on her face “A 'farewell to Pinkie Pie party' if you cannot complete this challenge” the voice responds. She gulps at hearing this. “The rules are simple, in one of the items of food, there is the key to the door. The catch: you must use your mouth to find it, using your hooves to search for the key is off-limits. Oh, and another thing: no laughing.” “Why would I laugh?” she asks, confused. “You'll see soon enough... The moment you laugh, a magical trap set in the room will activate, and the festivities will be, cut short. You've got fifteen minutes to find the key.” Pinkie took a look at the food table. It is loaded with pie, cupcakes, and many other kinds of desserts. “Oh, where do I start...?” she complains, staring at the large amount of food before her. She grabs a cupcake near her and takes a bite of it. As she bites down, something sharp cuts the inside of her mouth. Pinkie immediately spit out the mouthful of food out. Shards of glass stuck out from what she'd spit out. She rubs her cheek in pain, now wondering what other “ingredients” are in the other items of food. Pinkie picks up another pastry, and takes a bite of it. She withdraws it as she feels a sharp pain in her mouth. Nails. Pinkie tries a pie next, taking a bite. She feels something small stab into the roof of her mouth, and suppresses a scream, fearing it would have made it worse. She spit out the food, but the object remained imbedded in her mouth. Pinkie grabs the object, and removes it. A sewing needle this time. “Oh, what a cruel joke...” she says, feeling the pain in her mouth. She places a hoof over her mouth to suppress a giggle. Her voice sounded funny. That's what they meant, Pinkie thought. She took another look at the food table. She hadn't even made a dent in it. Pinkie let out an uneasy sigh, dreading what was to come. She continues checking the food, fighting through the pain, and the new injuries she sustains taking bites of the food. She makes it one third of the way through the table's contents before giving up. “No more, no more” Pinkie cries, the inside of her mouth a mass of pain. Her voice still sounded funny, but she is in too much pain to feel like laughing. Oh, if I were a key, where would I be, she thought to herself. She looks around the room. The cake, that's it! The answer was simple in hindsight. She walks over to the cake. Surely something as important as this would be the hiding place of the key, Pinkie thought. She braces for the worst, and gingerly takes a bite. Nothing. Although the injuries didn't make it any less painful to eat. She took another bite. Still nothing. Her assumption was correct, it seems. All that remained was to find it. Pinkie shoves her face into the cake, thrashing it about, and taking the occasional bite, in the hopes of finding the key. After a bit of this, she bites down onto something hard, and raises her head. Pinkie wipes the cake off her face and removes the item from her mouth. Her heart leapt when she sees it. “The key!” she says in a squeaky voice. Pinkie drops the key on the table and places both hooves to her mouth. Her voice sounded even more hilarious than ever. She was having a hard time stifling her giggling. But try as she might, a sound escapes her lips. Pinkie gasps and begins nervously looking around the room in search for signs of the trap. A few minutes pass, and nothing happens. She heaves a sigh of relief, and grabs the key from the table. At this time Pinkie notices something. She feels lightheaded. Pinkie makes her way over to the exit. No features whatsoever, save for a keyhole for the lock. She makes a motion to put the key in the lock. A miss. Pinkie shakes her head and tries again. Another miss. She tries once more, taking care to make sure the key goes in the lock. Success! She turns the key and the lock clicks. The key disappears into the keyhole and the wall raises up, allowing Pinkie to leave. As she crosses the doorway, the door shuts behind her. Pinkie falls against the wall and heaves a deep sigh of relief. Of all the things that had happened to her today, there was one thing she was certain of: that was one party she wishes she wasn't invited to.
Chapter Six: A Test of Loyalty/A Cruel Twist of FateRainbow Dash awoke with a groan. She blinked wearily, and rose to her hooves. She took a moment to look around the room. Off in the distance, She spots some form of contraption, and two ponies in the middle of it. One of them is a unicorn, the other... “Fluttershy?!” Rainbow Dash yells, shocked to see her friend on the business end of the machination. “Well well, awake from your nap, Rainbow Dash?” The familiar sights and sounds returning. “You... What's the big idea of you dragging Fluttershy into this mess?!” She snaps, a tone of resentment in her voice. “Simple, really. I want to see where your loyalties lie.” “What kind of answer is that?” Rainbow Dash asks, still very much upset. “Here's the challenge set before you: a large spiked plate hangs over both your friend, and the stranger to her left. The moment either one of them moves off the pressure pads they're standing on, both of the plates will drop. You won't have enough time to save both of them. The moment you move off your pad, the doorway out will begin closing. You will have sixty seconds before it closes, and anypony not on the other side of that door won't have a ghost of a chance when it closes. Of course, fail to make a decision in five minutes, and you won't even save yourself, Rainbow Dash. You'll need to think fast, and act even faster if you want any hope of making it out alive.” The voice disappears, their ultimatum delivered and the countdown begins. Rainbow Dash looks over at the two captives. Fluttershy hunched herself in to as small a space as she could, all she could do was regard the looming spiked plate with terror. The other was a unicorn, somepony she'd never seen before. I just can't either of these two die, she thought. Rainbow dash begins racking her brain, searching for a solution that would save both of them. But she can only think of one, the plan hinges on the hopes that he knew a certain spell. “Hey you,” she said, addressing the unicorn, “you know any spells?” “Well, I can use levitation” he replies. “Good. Let's go!” Rainbow dash says, triumphantly. She then takes off, running full speed in his direction. As she steps off the pad, a click is heard, and the doorway of the exit begins closing. At first her comment struck the unicorn as odd, but when he looks to his right and sees the cowering pegasus, he realizes the plan and readies a levitation spell. As Rainbow Dash closes the gap between her and the unicorn, and takes a leap, throwing her self headlong at him. The unicorn sees this and braces himself, making sure to maintain the spell he was casting. She collides into him, pushing the unicorn out from under the plate. Rainbow Dash looks to her left, and sees Fluttershy being pulled out of harms way. It worked, she thought, glad that nopony had to suffer a horrible fate. The group hit the ground, safe from the plate. The plates landing shortly after them, And Fluttershy lets out a bloodcurdling scream. Her heart sunk and a lump forms in her throat after hearing her friends scream. She looks to her left. The unicorn's efforts hadn't been enough. Her right hind leg is trapped under the plate. She runs over to Fluttershy and attempts to lift the heavy plate. “Just go on without me...” she cries meekly, with tears in her eyes. “Nothing doing” Rainbow Dash replies with effort, as she musters her strength, lifting the plate off her friend's leg. “A little help here!” she addresses the unicorn once more. He levitates her from under the plate and she drops it. She picks up Fluttershy and tosses her over her back. Her friend in tow, Rainbow Dash makes a beeline for the door, which is about half closed at this time. As she nears the door, she could feel Fluttershy slipping off her back. She begins running at a faster pace, in the hopes that she'd clear the door before Fluttershy fell. Crossing the doorway, she slips off Rainbow Dash's back, landing in the path of the closing door. Turning in her step, she reaches out and grabs her front leg, and in one swift motion, pulls her away from the door. The door shuts, and a wave of relief hits Rainbow Dash. A few moments later, a loud crash is heard from the other side of the door, and the ground shakes. The group stares at the door, feeling an equal mixture of shock and solace, glad that such an outcome had not befallen them. “You saved me again...” Fluttershy says, looking up at Rainbow Dash. “Like I always say, I'd never leave anypony hanging” Fluttershy smiled at her friend who would risk her life to save hers. “Though, I can't take all the credit, I did have help after all” she says. “Oh, and thanks again, I couldn't have done it without-” She turns to look at the unicorn, but he was nowhere to be seen. “Where'd he go...?” Twilight spots the end of the long hallway in sight. It wasn't the way out of here, but it was a fair sight better than the dark and narrow hallway. As she drew closer to the exit, she heard a voice ask “Who's there?”. The voice sounded familiar. “Applejack?” she replies. “Twilight, is that you?” Twilight crosses the exit of the hallway, and there is her friend standing in the room. “Oh, aren't you a sight for sore eye, Twilight.” Applejack says, relieved to see one of her friends. “Uh-huh” she agrees, turning her head to look at Applejack. But this causes a bolt of pain to shoot down her neck, and she winces at the sensation. “Is something the matter?” she asks, seeing the pain on Twilight's face. “Oh, I injured my neck earlier...” she says, rubbing her sore neck. “Here, lemme see” Applejack says, bringing a hoof to her neck. She rubs the back of her neck a bit. “Hmm, does it hurt when I do this?” she asks as she twists Twilight's head to the left. “Owww... Yes...” Applejack places her right hoof on the left side of her face. She then places her other hoof on the backside of her head, opposite of the other hoof. “What are you-?” “This might sting.” With a swift twist, and a pop, the pain in Twilight's neck vanished. “Ow! Hey, it's gone! Thank you, Applejack.” she says, glad to be rid of the neck pain. “Ah, no trouble at all. Just glad to help out a friend is all.” She then let out a sigh. “What's wrong, Applejack?” She closed her eyes, hoping to shut out the memory. “Its... a long story...” At this time Rarity emerged from one of the hallways on the other side of the room. “Rarity? What happened? You look awful...” Twilight asks her, with a look of concern. She just winces, refusing to answer. “let me guess, long story?” She nods. Next it was Pinkie Pie's turn to show up. She joins the group and sits down, places a hoof to her cheek, and begins rubbing it, with a pained look on her face. “Is something the matter?” Twilight asks. She nods but says nothing. “May I see it?” Pinkie opens her mouth. Twilight casts an illumination spell, and takes a peek in her mouth. Her cheeks, tongue, and the roof of her mouth are covered in numerous cuts and scrapes. She recoils in shock at this sight. “What happened...?” Twilight asks, a notable tone of concern in her voice. She just looks at her with a sad look as tears begin welling up. She brings Pinkie in for a hug, pats her head, and says “It's okay, you don't have to answer that now.” The group hears hoof steps off in the distance. They all turn to face the sound, wondering who was coming next. Its Rainbow Dash, and she has a worried look on her face. “We've got a problem!” Author's Note And here I was thinking this'd be a short chapter. I don't know what it was, but something just clicked as I was writing, and the words just kept coming.
Chapter Seven: Endgame/A Test of FriendshipThe group huddles around Fluttershy “What happened?” Asks Rarity, her voice a bit shaken. “What do you think? Part of this demented pony's 'games'” Rainbow Dash says, her eyes on Fluttershy's wounds. “All right, stand back, I need to check a few things.” Twilight says, making a gesture to give her some space. They took a couple of steps back, and she begins inspecting her. The wound looks serious. A number of deep puncture wounds down the length of her leg, bone visible in a couple of them. She opens one of her eyelids to check her eye. Twilight then puts an ear to Fluttershy's chest, to check breathing and heartbeat. After this, she lightly pushes against her chest. She didn't stir. She put her hoof to her chin, processing all the information she'd just collected. It all led to one conclusion, and she didn't like it. “Well,” Twilight said finally, “From what I can tell, she's beginning to exhibit the signs of shock.” Pinkie gasps. “Is that serious?” “Yes.” The rest of the ponies share a look of concern. “Don't 'ya know some kinda healing spell or something?” Applejack asks. “No, I don't... But if we could bandage her wounds, she would have better odds, but she will need medical treatment soon.” “Say no more, Twilight, I have just the thing in mind.” Rarity says, stepping forward. “You wouldn't by any chance happen to know a spell that you could use to cut my tail, would you?” “Well, I could try” she says. Rarity makes a gesture of where to cut, and Twilight readies a spell. She manages to cut off a section of her tail, which Rarity then uses to transform into a length of bandaging. Twilight then takes it, and casts a spell on it, and wraps it tightly around Fluttershy's leg “The spell I cast should help stop the bleeding, but it's not a cure-all.” Twilight tells the rest of the ponies. “My my, you've all made it to this point. Well, almost.” The now all too familiar voice returns. “Y'all are headin' the right way for a flank kickin'!” Applejack shouts, feelings of rage fueling her actions. “Make that a double!” Rainbow Dash adds, sharing Applejack's desire for violence. “Heheh, I see you two haven't lost your spirit. Perhaps I should be disappointed.” They huff a sigh of indifference. The two remain unfazed, staring daggers at the display of the puppet. “Well, in any case, congratulations are in order. You've made it to the final round. For this game only one of you may play. I will give you a few minutes to decide amongst yourselves who goes.” “Well, Fluttershy obviously can't go, I mean look at her, the poor dear.” Rarity says, gently stroking Fluttershy's mane. “What about Applejack?” Pinkie suggests. “This is the last 'game' of theirs, its no doubt worse than any of the games before it. we can't just arbitrarily decide this, we need to discuss it.” Twilight warned. They spent the next few minutes debating between themselves as to who should go. The debate proves futile however, as nopony could settle on who to send. One of them speaks up. “I'll go.” “Rainbow Dash, think about this. You don't know what they've got planned.” Applejack says, worried about her friend. “Look, you've all had something bad happen to you, right? Nothing bad's happened to me, I'll go” she responds. “Are you sure you wanna go through with this?” Twilight notices the look in Rainbow Dash's eyes. She places a hoof to Applejack's shoulder. “Let her go.” “But Twilight-” She glances at Fluttershy, and returns her gaze to Applejack. She sits down and sighs. “Just be safe, okay?” Rainbow Dash looks over at her unconscious friend “I'll try...” she says, not as sure of herself as she had been earlier. “Have you decided?” the voice asks. “I'll do it” Rainbow Dash says, stepping forward. “Very well, then,” A hole opens up in a wall, “on to the final challenge.” “Good luck” Twilight says. “Thanks, I'll need it.” After walking down a long and narrow hallway, Rainbow Dash finds herself in another room. It is completely bare, save for a small platform in the middle of the room. The voice returns once more. “Please step onto the platform, so we can begin the game.” She makes her way over to the platform, and hesitantly steps onto it. As she does so, a band appears, binding her wings. “Hey, what gives?!” Rainbow Dash yells,struggling against her bindings. “In order for you to properly play this game,you are disallowed the usage of your wings. It's the rules you see.” “Then what's this 'game' of yours, anyway?” she retorts. “Simple, see the two buttons in front of you?” She looks at the buttons, one is red, the other, green. “Press the red button and you will plummet to your death.” “Why would I do something like that?!” Rainbow Dash asks, astonished that they would even suggest such a thing. “If you want to save your friends you would. Press the green button, and you go free, but your friends might not be so lucky. So the choice is yours: either throw yourself into the pit, sacrificing your life for your friends, or turn your back on them to save yourself. Take as long as you need.” Her heart ached as she stares at the buttons. A lump forms in her throat. How could she choose anything else? There was no way she could put herself before the needs of her friends. They were in a pinch, and she couldn't just leave them. Still, it didn't make it any less difficult a choice to make. its her life on the line, after all. Rainbow Dash takes a moment to find her resolve. She closes her eyes and presses the button. The trapdoor opens under her hooves, and she falls into the hole. She holds out her front and back legs, hoping to stop her fall short. Her hooves touch the walls of the pit and she stops. Rainbow Dash takes look at the bottom of the pit. A number of spikes at the bottom, ready to skewer her should anything go amiss. I guess this is it, she thinks to herself. She could only hold on for so long, and Rainbow Dash knew it. “R......ow Da...” She thought she heard something. She listens closer. “...inb... ..sh...” she definitely heard something that time. “Don't worry, Rainbow Dash, we're coming!” Her heart leapt at those words. “Twilight?!” She smiles. Help is on the way, she just has to hold out until they get there. As time passes, so does her strength. Rainbow Dash finds it harder and harder to keep herself aloft. “Come on... Just a little more...” she says with effort, desperate to cling to the wall. But one of her legs buckle, and she falls further into the pit. Rainbow Dash's heart lurches in her chest as her back leg gives out. She turns to her side as she falls, to give herself the best chances of survival. She returns her hooves to the walls in an attempt to slow her fall. She partially succeeds, but it isn't enough to stop her completely. A number of spikes sink deep into her flank. Rainbow Dash lets out a cry of pain as she lands on the spikes. She uses her remaining three good legs to keep her as high off the spikes as she could. But with only three legs, it wasn't enough to keep her from slipping farther down. Even though she no longer had the momentum from her fall, the spikes are sharp enough that new ones found their way into her flesh with each bit of distance she lost. “Rainbow Dash!” somepony calls out from above. She looks up. “Twilight?” Twilight levitated her out of the pit, laying her to rest on her uninjured side. “Are you okay?” “Better now that you're here.” “Looks like we'll need another bandage” Twilight says, assessing the injury. Twilight cuts her tail short and turns the cut section over to Rarity, who fashions it into another bandage. With Rainbow Dash's wounds tended to, the group heaved a collective sigh. “Oh, Rainbow Dash, are you okay?” somepony asked. She looked to see who it was. “Fluttershy! You're okay!” She was relieved to see her friend conscious. Enough to make her forget about her injury, if only for a moment. “when y'all left, that pony put up a screen for us to see what went on in this room” Applejack says. “We'd heard and seen everything that had happened” Rarity added. “You were soo brave to risk your life for us like that” says Pinkie Pie, hugging her friend. Twilight notices something off in the distance. “Look, a doorway” She says pointing to it. There was something strange about it. It was brightly lit, moreso than any room they'd previously been in. “That wasn't there before...” Rainbow Dash says, confused. “It must be the way out, come on” Twilight says. “Uh, a little help?” “I got'cha. Pinkie, you take Fluttershy.” Applejack says helping up Rainbow Dash. They leave the room, heading up the stairs. It leads into another room, but this one's different than all the others. It appears somepony was living in it. Applejack notices something sitting in a corner. “That doll! That pony was here recently!” “Applejack, calm down,” Twilight says placing a hoof to her shoulder, “Look around, they're long gone.” She took another look around the room. The place is in a state of disarray. Like somepony was in a rush to gather their important items and took off. She stomped at the floor with her hoof and let out a frustrated sigh. “Here's the door out of here” Twilight says as she opens it. The bright light of the day shines in, and the ponies shield their eyes as they become adjusted to the sunlight. As they walk out, they see a pony laying in the grass. Applejack gasps at the sight. “Apple Bloom?” The pony's ears perk up, and they turn around. “Applejack!” Applejack left Rainbow Dash's side and runs toward Apple Bloom. The two embrace, and Applejack begins crying. “I'm sorry I did something so horrible to you...” “It's okay, Applejack, you did it to save me, you had no choice.” Apple Bloom says, resting her head on one of Applejack's fore legs. “Oh, Apple Bloom...” Applejack says, and strokes her mane. “But one thing I can't figure out, though, is how you got out here.” “I don't know,” she replies, “after that door closed, everything stopped, so I ran to the door. But I don't remember making it there. Next thing I know, I'm out here, and I have this note.” She then holds out a letter. “Let me see that” Twilight says, removing the letter from Apple Bloom's hoof. She takes a moment to read it. “Hey, there's directions to the nearest town.” she says, pointing off to a town on the horizon. “Well, if for nothing else, that pony's good on their word.” Applejack says begrudgingly, staring off in the distance. “We should get going” Rainbow Dash interjects. Apple Bloom notices the bandaging on Fluttershy's and Rainbow Dash's legs. “What happened to you two?” The two look at each other, then back at Apple Bloom, and say in unison “Its a long story...” A few days later, the group meets at Twilight's house, to reflect on the recent events. “I'm so glad that ordeal is behind us.” Rarity says, sitting on her chaise lounge. “Hey, you got off easy, missy, all you had to do was wallow around in a pool of muck” Applejack retorts. “Do you even know how many baths it took to get that horrendous stench out of my coat?” Rainbow Dash interrupted the argument by saying “Well, at least its not my wing that's injured this time.” “They did say you would have to watch your flying for a few days, lest you reopen your wounds.” Twilight reminded her, taking a moment to adjust her neck brace. “I know. At least I'm not stuck in some boring old room for hours on end.” “So Pinkie, how's the liquid diet?” Rarity asks. “Fine” she responds, taking a sip of the milkshake in front of her. She had been put on a liquid diet for a few days to allow her mouth to heal. “Oh, and Fluttershy, how's the help been with your animals?” Some of the residents had volunteered to assist Fluttershy with her care-taking when they'd heard what happened to her. “It's been going okay.” she says. She thinks about something for a moment, then says, “What do you think happened to that pony who took us hostage?” They all turned to look at her. A good question, one they had no answer to. Twilight considers this for a second and says, “Do you really think somepony could steal away a princess and get away with it? I'm sure the Royal Guard in Canterlot are forming a search for them as we speak.” “I suppose so” Fluttershy responds, turning to the window to take a look at the moon. Author's Note asdasdgafgasd so much text. this is the longest chapter I've ever written.
