Just a Game

The dark hallways of this place give it an odd atmosphere, and Twilight does not like it one bit. As she makes her way down to find the next chamber, she keeps hearing the screams of other ponies that are being tested. It sends chills down her spine. By the time she reaches the next door, Twilight starts wondering if she should go on any further. She is a wreck, two dislocated wings, blood, sweat and tears all over her body. Her eye is bound to get infected, and it is already hard enough to see through it.

Twilight had noticed once in a while she would get these tremors throughout her body, and she would not stop shaking. She couldn't even bear to think what her friends were going through. She had to act quickly, or else they could die a terrible death.

“Come on Twilight. Get yourself together. You have to find your friends. They could be in all sorts of danger by now.” Twilight ordered herself to move on.

She opened the door, only to be greeted by a small room with a mirror and a door. As she walked into the room, the door behind her locked shut, and a Television turned on.

“Welcome. By now you probably know I have captured your friends. You must realize I don’t take kindly to stalling, so let us begin my next game.”

With that, the wall of glass had become a two way mirror, allowing Twilight to see the next room. But she immediately wished she couldn't.

In the other room, Pinkie Pie was strapped into a chair, With some sort of contraption around her head.

“What are you doing to her!?” Twilight demanded.

“Do not fret. She is not in pain. I want you to watch what happens next. I want you to know what it feels like to be in a situation with no hope, no chance of survival, with sompony to help you, so close, yet they choose not to. I want you to stand there, and watch helplessly as your friend, on the verge of death, struggles for her life. Just as you did to others.”

With that, the TV shut off, and all Twilight could do was watch her friend die.

__________________________________________________________________

Pinkie Pie woke from her slumber, and immediately tried to fight her constraints. She had no idea where she was, or what was happening to her, but she had to get out. Pinkie saw a strange light in the corner of the room, and a face appeared. It looked like a ventriloquist dummy she had seen in a few shops back in PonyVille.

“Hello Pinkie Pie. You don’t know me, but I know you. I would like to play a game. Here is what happens if you lose.”

Jigsaw shows her a mannequin with the same contraption rigged to its head.

As the doll is talking, all Pinkie can do is whimper with fear. Her eyes are wide, and start darting everywhere in the room, looking for some sort of escape.

“The device you’re wearing is hooked into your upper and lower jaws. When the timer in the back goes off, your mouth will be permanently ripped open. Think of it like a, reverse bear trap. Here, I’ll show you.”

The doll turns to the mannequin, and Pinkie could hear the light ticking of the timer. When she heard a click, the entire head of the mannequin exploded from the force of the device. She gasped from the terrifying sight, and immediately started to struggle against the leather straps holding her to the chair.

“There is only one key to open the device. It is in the stomach of your dead cellmate. Look around Pinkie. Know that I’m not lying. You better hurry up. Live or die. Make your choice.”

The screen turned to static, and Pinkie Pie was left to struggle against the straps. No matter how hard she tried, she could not escape. With one strong pull, one of the straps had come undone, and she now tried to release her other arm. When she got herself out of her restraints and got up from the chair, a pin had been pulled from a string connected to the trap.

The clock had started ticking.

With this realization, Pinkie tried her hardest to remove the trap from her face. With each attempt, all that was released was her sense of hope. She fell to the floor, and started sobbing. It was then, that she noticed the body of a long deceased pony near the corner of the room. She walked over to it, each second she swore she could hear the timer tick faster.

Her heart rate was dangerously high, and she took quick, sharp breaths. As she lay down next to the body, she began to weep even more from the sight of a question mark painted on its belly. There was a knife lying beside Pinkie, and she was fearful of what she had to do. She picked up the knife, her hooves shaking from the intensity of her fear. She couldn't help but choke on her own breath as she lifted the knife.

Right as she was about to cut open the stallion’s stomach, Pinkie found that he was still alive, and he looked towards her with fearful eyes. This only made the job worse. She began to repeatedly stab his stomach; each jab released a cry of fear from Pinkie, and a steady stream of blood from the wound and the stallion’s mouth. Pinkie only stopped the stabbing when she was sure the he was dead.

She reached into his belly, and quickly searched for the key. She pulled out intestines and many organs, staining her hooves with blood. She finally pulled out the stomach, and cut it open. Inside Pinkie found the key and searched frantically for the lock to the device. When she found it, she struggled to insert the key. When she unlocked the device, she quickly pulled it off her head, and threw at the corner. When it landed, it released a sudden clang, and the device snapped open.

It was over. She had survived the test.

Pinkie lay next to the body, weeping for the pony she had just cut open, and for the terror she had felt. A door adjacent to her suddenly opened, and Twilight ran over to her. They embraced in a strong hug, Pinkie still bawling her eyes out.

“Agh!” Twilight gasped in pain.

“S-sorry Twilight!” Pinkie noticed her wings were in an awkward position, one bent back at an impossible angle.

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked.

“I..I think so.” Pinkie Pie answered with a shudder.

The Television had turned on.

“Congratulations. You are still alive. Most ponies are so ungrateful to be alive. But not you, not anymore.”

“How did you make this? Why couldn't I use my magic?” Twilight demanded.

“You might be surprised as to the many things I can do. I have the ability to adapt. Something that you will soon learn yourself. Everything you see here, the traps, the Televisions, the doors, I invented them. I rebuilt the doors to my fitting with my time here. I had a lot of time to think. Do you remember who I am now? Do you remember this Asylum?

Twilight had a long time to think, but she still could not figure out who this psychopath was.

“It seems not. You will soon learn who I am. What you did to me. And you will learn to fear me with the little strength you can muster from your feeble, defenseless bodies.”

Twilight was getting angry at the stupid doll.

“Why would you capture US? What pain could a harmless, party pony do to you?”

Jigsaw started to chuckle.

“It is nothing that she had done. It is something that I need her for. We will not dwell on that. As for your magic, I have used mine to implant certain…Way points, Around the Asylum. Think of them as barriers. I put one in Each room according to my subject’s position. I want to keep the game fair, so I leave specific rooms for you.” The doll explained.

“Why have you not killed me yet? Why keep me going when I mean almost nothing to you?” Twilight asked.

Even though Jigsaw had no visible facial expressions, you could still tell he was smiling.

“I want you to look back. Why do you think I made you cut out your eye? You could have easily died, correct?”

Twilight was thinking, and she realized why he had kept her alive.

“But I had faith in you. I knew that you would pull through. That is why I trust you to complete my next set of challenges. You are special, Princess. You are a vital piece of my puzzle. If you choose to oblige to my commands, I will hunt down everyone you know and love and I will bring them here. Is that what you want?”

Twilight knew she had to move on. She knew she had to find the rest of her friends.

“Think of it this way, Pinkie. Death is like a surprise party. Unless of course, you are already dead inside.”

Pinkie tried to ignore the puppet, but his words were chillingly true.

“Until a pony is faced with death, it's impossible to tell whether they have what it takes to survive. We will see if your other friends are as determined to live as you, Twilight. Until then, you must traverse through the Asylum. But I must warn you, others will be looking for you Twilight. They want something important, and you have it. Be wary.”

The screen faded to black, and the two hesitantly moved on to find their friends.