Dangerous Game

My bare feet were uncomfortably cold on the uneven cobblestone. I was vaguely aware that I was in pajamas, but I was too curious and confused to even think about that. I walked slowly forward, the distance hazy and unclear. I squinted into the distance, though nothing much became sharper.

        I resigned myself to walking, taking careful steps forward on the narrow, bumpy road. Not too much time had passed before I spotted an odd little shape laying in the center of the street. I ran to it, hoping that it would lead me to something that could help. I adjusted my glasses, peeking down at the square shape before me. It was a small, simple little box wrapped in brown paper and tied up with twine.

        I knelt before the package, hastily pulling the knot on the box apart and tearing away the paper. Inside were two items: the first was a chunky, antique compass. It had amazing weight and what seemed to be perfect accuracy. The back was inscribed with an intricate compass rose that looked almost the same as the one on the front.

        The second item was a small piece of parchment rolled up and tied with the same twine as the box was. I pulled that out, setting the goggles back in the cardboard box. I delicately unrolled the letter, smoothing it on my thigh before beginning to read:

        మీ మార్గం మార్గనిర్దేశం చేసేందుకు దిక్సూచి ఉపయోగించండి.

మీ కొత్త రెక్కలు మరియు నాలుగు కాళ్లు ఆనందించండి, నేను మీరు వాటిని నచ్చే ఖచ్చితంగా అనుకుంటున్నాను.

నేను మీరు ఏమి చెయ్యాలో ముఖ్యమైన ఏదో మీరు ఈ రహదారి కనుగొనేందుకు మిగతావారికి పాటు, ఉంది. నేను మీ స్వాధీనంలో 500,000 బిట్స్ నిలబెట్టాయి. ఒక వైవిధ్యం: మీరు ఈ ఒక విషయం కోసం బిట్స్ మరియు మాత్రమే ఒక విషయం ఉపయోగించడానికి. మంచి కోసం ఈ ప్రపంచాన్ని మార్చండి. మీరు మీ సొంత వ్యక్తిగత లాభం కోసం ఈ డబ్బు ఉపయోగించి గుర్తించారు ఉంటే, అది తీసివేయబడుతుంది మరియు మీరు ఇంటి పంపబడుతుంది, మీ మెమరీ కనుమరుగవుతుంది. మీరు ఒక తేడా మేకింగ్ విజయవంతం, మీరు అందంగా రివార్డ్ చేయబడుతుంది.

శుభాకాంక్షలు,

ప్రిన్సెస్ Celestia

I stared at the odd marks on the page, not making heads or tails of them. None of the symbols looked the least bit familiar, and they almost seemed to swirl around in front of. I blinked hard, looking away and sticking the paper back in the box. It had given me a small headache, and I rubbed my temple with two fingers to defuse the pain.

My focus drifted back to the compass. I wrapped my hand around it, the cool metal pressing into my palm. I looked right into the glass, trying to figure out at least which direction I was facing.

With no warning, the compass needle began to spin wildly. I jumped back, tossing the compass in the air and it landed with a light clang a few feet away.

I approached it carefully, watching as the needle searched for something to point at. Eventually, it settled on a point just a touch to the left of the road. I gingerly lifted the compass, feeling a tiny heat on the back instead of the cold of the metal.

After a bit of thought, I resolved to follow the compass and set off to a point in the distance.

The dewy grass seeped between my toes, and I found myself wishing that I was wearing some real clothes. I could just make out the blurry skyline of a small town. The sight filled me with hope and I started to run toward it at full speed.

I skidded to a halt when I realized that the town was completely empty. The houses were no more than empty husks that had once held people. Some of them were boarded up, some weren’t, but all were in a state of horrible disrepair.

My heart sank at the sight. I vaguely remembered a story I had read many years ago about the last girl in the world.

I was starting to get scared when I heard a rustle behind me. I whirled about, turning to face a very strange creature.

It seemed, on the surface, a bit like a horse. At a second glance, however, its proportions were completely out of whack and it seemed to have quite a lot of fluffy fur and an unnaturally shaped mane and tail. Its coat was a deep blue, having brown hair sprouting from her head in a fountain-like design. She smiled for a moment, then vanished completely into thin air.

I was confused and worried that she would jump out somewhere else, but before I could worry long an overwhelming fatigue filled me. I sat down hard on the ground and put my head between my knees, thinking I was going to pass out. I was pretty much right, as a few minutes later I had fallen into a deep sleep.

~~~~~

        The first thing I knew was an intense, pounding pain in my head. I barely had the energy to move my hand to my temple and rub it, but I managed. My eyes were still closed, but I felt an oddly hard surface scrape against my head.

        I attempted to open my eyes, but harsh sunlight wanted me to keep them closed. I rolled onto my side, burying my face in the grass before pushing myself up off the ground with my arms. I breathed out hard, feeling powerful aches in almost all of my joints. I opened my eyes a tiny crack, allowing only a small sliver of light to reach my eyes. I groaned a bit, trying to get a good footing in the slippery grass and stand up.

        I managed to get some sort of balance very briefly, but tumbled over backwards before I could take a single step.

        An odd little face was staring down at me. “Are you okay?” it asked, but the face was so fuzzy I couldn’t make anything out except an unnatural green color.

        “Huh?” I murmured, seeing a small flash of dark blue at the bottom of my field of vision.

        “I don’t think I’ve seen you around before. Are you new?” the voice asked again.

        “Uh…”

        “Here, let me help you up.” I felt two more of the strange, hard surfaces grasp my sides and pull me to my feet. “Wow. You’ve been here awhile, it looks like. I bet somepony’s looking for you by now.”

        “Some...pony?” A few things clicked in my head. Suddenly, the idea of being a pony came to me, but it didn’t seem all that strange. Maybe it was because I was dazed and confused, maybe it was all the picture books about unicorns I’d read when I was five, but I was oddly accepting of my new form.

        “Can you walk?” the pony asked, very concerned.

        “Erm… what is it, front left, back right, front right, back left?” I guessed, wondering how I was going to walk anywhere on four legs.

        “I suppose… I mean, you’re at least fifteen, don’t you know how to walk?”

        “Yeah… fifteen… that’s probably right,” I muttered.

        “What’s the matter with you?” the pony gasped. “Do you have amnesia?”

        I held up a hoof to try to make the ‘little bit’ symbol, but some things are hard to do without fingers. Instead, I rasped, “Maybe.”

        “Oh, gosh. I-I don’t know what to do. We should get you a doctor! I’ll take you to Ponyville hospital.”

        I chuckled a bit. The face of the pony was now in perfect clarity, and all I could understand at the moment was that a little green horse with pink hair was talking to me.

        A hoof was hooked around my shoulders, and the kind pony started to lead me away.

        Quite honestly, all I could do was laugh.