The Game

Brutus lowered his “award winning”-or so he names it- six-shot revolver onto the table, being very careful as not to scratch it’s polished sheen on the surface. He scrutinized his most-prized possession with a keen eye for any faults or rough spots on both the cylinder and handle. He paid special attention to the trigger of the weapon, for it was his most favorite part about what he did for a living.

The revolver was a gift from his grandfather, who was a well-known gunsmith in his country, among the many others. But unlike the others, who would make guns for anybody, his grandfather hand-made his weapons for a very exclusive few, the kinds of people who requested bejeweled stocks, or elaborate designs that were chiseled onto the gun face. This gun was special to him, for it held a single secret to it's design that was impossible to detect...

Suddenly, the door to the room creaked open, and in walked his next opponent, a bright pink colored pony, with a name tag hooked onto a length of string that wrapped around it's neck that displayed who she was and where she came from.

‘When am I ever gonna get a real man to play against instead of just another girl?’ Brutus angrily thought to himself.

After the pony shook hands and hooves with Brutus and took her seat opposite from his, a second opponent walked through the door. It was another pony, but this one was much taller than the pink one, and she had a long, flowing mane that seemed to phase through anything it touched. She also boasted a long, dark horn on her forehead and two wings at her sides. This pony took a seat to the left of Brutus, placing both hooves on the table and leaning back in the chair with a strong, determined look on her face.

Last but not least, came the third and final opponent, which was, lo and behold, another pony. This one possessed nearly all of the exact same characteristics as the one to Brutus's left, but the coat, mane, and horn color, along with the mark on the pony’s flank, were completely opposite, save the female gender. This pony took a seat to the right of Brutus.

Brutus took out his old drawstring money bag and tossed a very large sum of golden coins onto the table, the jittering sounds they made acting as both a loss and a gain for him.

Next, the pink one peeked underneath the table and brought out a ceramic piggy bank. She went underneath the table again and brought out a small hammer. She then carefully lifted the hammer and brought it down upon the pink keepsake, reducing the children's bank to nothing more than a pile of ceramic shards. She then sifted through the remains with her nose until she uncovered a small brown bag. Using her teeth, she carefully lifted the bag and tossed it onto the pile.

The next to bet, was the dark colored pony. She brought out a much larger sack of money and tossed it onto the pile, earning her a few looks of suspicion and raised eyebrows from both Brutus and the pink pony.

The white pony however furrowed her brow, taking the unusually large bet as a challenge. She raised the stakes by tossing onto the pile not a money bag, but a large brown chest, which shook the table upon impact when it was lifted from the ground and dropped on top of the now dwarfed money pile. The chest lid opened, revealing a much greater sum of coin to the player's wanting eyes. The chest lid closed and the pony leaned back into her chair, front legs crossed and a smug grin beset on her snow white face.

Finally, once all the bets were cast, the game that Brutus much adored could start.

“Ninety-nine.” said Brutus. The other players immediately shot him a disgusted glance.

“Fourty-nine.” proclaimed the white pony.

“Eighty.” said the dark pony.

The pink pony peeked to the left and to the right, rolling her eyes, obviously unfazed by the high numbers that her opponents called out.

“Zero.” the pink pony said devilishly.

The other player’s eyes went wide at the mention of such a low number. Obviously proud at her achievement, the pink pony leaned back and crossed both of her front legs over her chest, grinning like a maniac.

Not wanting to delay things any longer, Brutus reached out towards the revolver and firmly gripped it with steady hands. He raised it into the air, and with one quick motion, he spun the revolver cylinder around once, each click of the weapon randomly mixing the probability of his fate. When the cylinder slowed to a stop, he slowly brought the gleaming weapon up to the side of his head. His brow furrowed and his eyes closed shut.

He moved his finger down to the trigger. The lustrous scent of anticipation wavered in the air like a fine colon. He slowly pulled the trigger back, all of his hopes and fears placed upon the luck of the draw.

*click*

Nothing.

His eyes shot open and his mouth widened into a grin wider than the grin of a cheshire cat. He placed the weapon back on the table and leaned back in his chair, arms crossed and head held high.

The two near-identical ponies to his left and right looked worried, for they both started to sweat and their body’s started to quiver. Brutus moved one of his arms and motioned towards the white one.

“Your turn, god pony...” he uttered.

The white pony took in a deep breath and exhaled through her nostrils. The horn on her head lit up with a silvery florescence, enveloping the weapon in front of it with it’s colorful glow. With a flick of her head off to the side, the revolver cylinder spun around for a few seconds, albeit at a much faster speed, then stopped. A hard lump visibly appeared in her throat, which she then swallowed. The revolver was lifted up to the side of her head, the trigger was pulled back, and then...

*click*

*BANG*

The gun fired, sending a hard-shell bullet through the white pony’s skull, then out through the opposite side. She collapsed to the floor in a bloody heap, dead.

'One down, two to go.'

Brutus chuckled under his breath, the resounding bang of another victory for him still echoing through his ears like the sweetest sounding carol of bells.

The dark pony started to tremble even more now as she stared down at the bleeding and broken corpse of her opposite. When the shot was fired, the knock back of the revolver managed to land the weapon back on the table, covered in blood, but undamaged.

The pink pony however appeared unfazed by the sight of a dead player. She just continued to stare at Brutus with cold, dead eyes. Then, she made a move that no sane player of the game would ever dare commit.

“You know what...” she started, “I’ll take the next turn.” The dark pony’s mouth hung wide open in shock.

“Go right ahead, pink pony...” Brutus proffered.

As quick as a flash, the pink pony grabbed the revolver with her hooves and spun the cylinder with a free hoof, keeping a close eye on Brutus in the meantime. The cylinder stopped.

Without hesitation, the pink pony placed the end barrel of the revolver in her mouth, for she was without arms and lacked the ability to position the gun to the side of her head in the usual way that the game was played, and lowered her hoof to the trigger, which she immediately pushed back.

*click*

Nothing.

A touch of anger took hold over the pony’s face. She bared her teeth and furrowed her brow towards Brutus, who’s smug grin grew even wider as he softly chuckled which only succeeded in raising her temper, even making her growl. The pony angrily tossed the gun over to the dark pony, but when the gun landed hard on the table, something went terribly wrong.

*click*

*BANG*

The gun fired prematurely and a bullet went flying through the air towards the dark pony, impacting her face in between the eyes. The bullet exited through the back of the head, sending blood and patches of fur flying through the air, impacting the wall behind her. The pony collapsed onto the table top, leaving behind a small puddle of blood, then onto the floor, dead.

'This just keeps getting better and better.' Brutus happily thought.

Brutus could hardly contain the joy that his lucky streak had brought him so far. He chuckled once more, causing the pink pony’s temper to rise to new heights. Her teeth started to grind together and her eyes were bloodshot.

“Your turn...” the pink pony growled.

“With pleasure...” Brutus growled back, smiling.

He reached for the revolver across the table, picked it up, spun the cylinder, and placed it against the side of his head. His madman's grin and wide eyes never left his face as he proceeded to slowly pull back the trigger. The pink pony leaned in further against the table, anticipating the moment when the trigger is pulled back all the way.

“Hey, what’s that?” said Brutus when he quickly pulled the gun away from his head and pointed in a random direction in front of him.

“Huh? Where?”

*click*

*BANG*

Brutus fired the weapon at the clueless pony’s head. The bullet disappeared through her left eye and out through the back of her skull. Just like the others, she fell like a ragdoll to the floor in a heap of crimson blood and fur, dead.

Brutus chuckled once more. He rose from his seat and walked over to the opposite end of the table. He reached down and grabbed his revolver next to the bloody hoof of the pony he had just killed, where he then wiped it clean of blood with a handkerchief he kept in his back pocket and holstered it to his side. He turned and placed a single hand onto the money pile.

“Thank you for the loot, little ponies.” said Brutus coldly as he pocket the two bags of money and carried the brown chest on his shoulders out through the open doorway, leaving behind the torn and broken corpses of his dead opponents.

GAME OVER

Continue? 10...9...8...

*insert four bits*

“Wait, WHAT?!” Pinkie Pie shouted. “How did...I just...no, NO! There is no way that could have happened! I had an undefeated streak. An undefeated streak, with an added survival bonus of ninety-nine percent! With that kind of power, there was no way that he could have beaten me!” She angrily shouted with a shaking hoof raised high into the air. When the countdown ended, the machine let out a short demonic laugh in the voice of the game's antagonist, Brutus, then the title screen reappeared.

Having spent most of her bits playing this one game, Pinkie Pie decided to call it quits. She placed the plastic apparatus back into it's holding place, still angry at herself for losing a game that she had been doing well at for around a full hour now, right up to the point where the game “cheated," and when it came to party games, Pinkie hated cheating.

"Hey Pinkie! Me and other girls are going for a ride on the ferris wheel. Wanna come with us?" Twilight Sparkle asked from afar.

Pinkie's still frustrated focus broke away when she reared her head in the direction of her friend's voice. "No thanks Twilight. I'm just gonna stay here and check out the rest of these games. I’ll meet up with all of you later.”

"Ok Pinkie, have fun!" Twilight waved and shouted back.

Pinkie decided to search around through one of the carnival's many assorted fun house tents, searching for a new way to pass the time. Most of the tents boasted the new "electronic gaming vendors", or “arcade machines” as the tent managers would call them, kind of like the strange, if not disturbing one that she had just played and lost at a few minutes ago. It was said that these new carnival games were imported into Equestria from a far away land inhabited by hairless monkeys. The prices to play the games were horrendous, but it was an addicting new spin on the face of carnivals and celebrations that just lured every new player in with bright colors and beautifully made flashing images, most of them leaving after they had begrudgingly spent all of their money. However though, the old carnival games, such as the ring toss, dunk tank, and even the old ping-pong ball in the fishbowl game still made their usual appearances at yearly carnivals all over Equestria, keeping the old traditions alive and well.

After searching around the entire tent for twenty minutes and finding nothing that peaked her interests -despite how big it was and how many varieties of games there were available- , she turned around and made her way to the tent’s exit, her head laying low in a sulk, but before she walked out, a gleam of silvery light caught the corner of her eye. Curious, she turned and let loose a wide smile when she took notice of another mysterious gaming vendor that she had never seen before. She happily bounced over to the unknown machine and looked up to read the brightly colored name label.

"Five finger...five finger...fill-e?" Pinkie tried to pronounce the name as best as she could, but most of the letters in the last word of the name were roughly scratched out, leaving behind only a few bits and pieces of the original word.

"Five finger...filly! Five Finger Filly! That’s it! Sounds a bit weird, and filly’s don’t even have five fingers, let alone hands, but it sounds like fun!" Pinkie happily proclaimed.

She did a quick once over of the machine. It had a few scratches here and there, which was a normal thing to find on most of the imported game vendors, but the game was up and running, fully functional and ready to play.

Pinkie Pie reached up with both hooves and brought down the game's controlling device, a long, shiny object made of metal. A brown, wooden handle was attached to the metallic object. A twin arrow metal plaque was stamped onto the end of the handle. It looked complicated to use, but Pinkie reassured herself once she remembered how well she did on the previous game she had played, up until the game "cheated" anyway. This controller felt more realistic than the last one she used, but Pinkie paid no mind as she continued to fondle the controller’s grip as if it was a piece of string in the eyes of a excited feline.

"I wonder what this does..."