The Fate Players

Here’s a question for you: what do you do when your randomly chosen by a strange looking god-like. . . thing. . . and you have to partner up with a strange creature that’s not even a human being, in order to partake in some psychotic game and the only means of defense are generic weapons you would find either at a Home Depot or the Black Market? The reason I’m asking this is because I have no FREAKING CLUE!

How can someone sane answer something like that! What the hell am I supposed to do in a situation like that? It’s like one of those killing games you would read from a book. Although this isn’t as bad as let’s say, Battle Royale? But this is just . . . weird.

Where do I begin? I . . .  think I should start off with a simple introduction. My name is Todd Walker, I’m 15 years old, and I’m just an average teenager trying to survive through life. I never really asked for much, all I ever wanted was to graduate from high school, go through college, and become a novelist. Although, this would become one hell of a story, I might need a psychiatrist by the end of this whole ordeal.

One day, I was about to leave home for a pair of Beats headphones in an Apple store that was nearby my home. Being the late sleeper that I am, I woke up at 11 am, not caring much for my personal appearance I wore my normal clothing that mostly consisted of black shorts and a blue short-sleeve polo shirt, although that the sleeves were gray while the body is blue itself.

I also wore a chain necklace that had a small scorpion charm on it; I thought it looked pretty cool when I bought it two years ago. I also tried to style my black hair, but for whatever reason most of it always ends up spiking to the left, no matter how I style it. Damn you hair.

I gathered up as much money as I could, and rode to the store on my trusty bicycle. It wasn’t very far, so I thought I might as well spare the trouble of asking my mom to drive me. When I arrived to the store, I saw a familiar face. It was my closest friend Michael from school.

“Hey, what’s up Todd!” he greeted which is unnecessary, I mean come on he’s like what. . . . 6 feet away from me?

He had a pretty standard appearance: blue jeans and a Black Veil Brides shirt on, along with his red cap that had many pins on it. Like me, he was just your average, everyday guy you would meet at a school.

“Hey, Michael,” I replied, despite him being a bit loud every now and then he’s still a pretty cool guy to hang out with.

“What are you doing here?” he asked in his usually happy tone.

“Just getting a new pair of Beats headphones” I parked my bicycle outside an abandoned building that no one dared enter. . . I think it had to do with some junkies living there or something.

“Again? Didn’t you just buy one last month?” Elementary my dear Watson . . . get it?

“Yeah but it-”

Michael interrupted me by stating the obvious “Broke?”

“Yeah. . .  Stupid things keep slipping off.” I shrugged as I approached the store.

“Uh-huh, I’m sure that’s what happened.” Sometimes I think that Michaels’ middle name is Sarcasm

“Shut up.” He grinned at me like the entertaining douche he is, while being a good friend he always found a way to piss me off.

“So what are you here for?” I asked. Payback time sucka

“My . . .  phone keeps glitching on me; maybe it’s some kind of interference? I don’t know. I’m just getting it checked out.” Hook, line and sinker

“Sounds serious, But I’m sure it’s fine,” I replied, not really caring. I mocked him by raising my eyebrows up-and-down.

“Hmm, liar,” he chuckled.

“Well hey; if you laugh at my problem with breaking headphones then I’ll laugh at your problem with breaking iphones.”

“I didn’t break it,” he corrected. “Something weird is going on, it keeps going all static. The Apple geniuses are still trying to figure out the bugs with it. You think it’s some kind of alien invasion?” Too much television I guess?

“Doubtful.”

We chatted for a while, cracked a few jokes, I bought my pair of white Beats and we were both about to leave. Mike had to leave his phone there so that the so-called ‘geniuses’ could figure it out.

“So, how’s your novel going?” he asked. When he mentioned that, I only thought of one word: shit

“Well, I . . .  uh-” again Michael interrupted me, have I told you that this is one of his habits?

“You haven’t started yet have you?” he asked both the obvious and the evident.

“I’s not my fault man! I need my inspiration I have no idea what to write about,” I responded.

“Of course you do. I’m sure you’ll think of something soon. Maybe if you left your mother’s house you could find some inspiration”

“Shut up, and leave my mother alone . . . besides” we both walked towards my bicycle “I know you love her cooking, after all you’re always there for lunch”

“Fair point . . . do you want to come to my house later and play some Brawl?” he asked. It seemed that he wanted to change the subject.

“Sure.” I needed to head home and test these babies I bought.

“Alright, try not to break those ones.” Break a leg Michael.

“Whatever, smell ya later”

We both waved good-bye as we both went our separate ways. I wanted to rush home so I could test out these new Beats; this is like my 3rd pair. I just hope I can adjust it right this time. As I was about to pull my bike into the garage, I felt a sudden sting in my head.

“Ah! What the hell?”

I began to rub my temples; it was really starting to hurt. I opened up my eyes, only to see that my vision was also messed up. Everything around me was all blurry, I couldn’t see a thing and I felt like I needed glasses. Then, I suddenly felt really tired, like I just wanted to take a nap right here in the garage.

“Wh-what the hell?” I collapsed.

My eyes were twitching and my body was stiff. I felt like I was just coming out of a coma. I tried to force my eyes open, but to no avail. Why couldn’t I move? It’s like one of those mornings where you’re sleeping in and you want to wake up, but for some reason you don’t. I felt something poking my back, like a small finger or something, and it was really starting to under my skin. Then I heard a voice, a couple actually.

“Poke, poke, poke.” A faint voice started to become bothersome . . . just like the poking

“Jamie, stop poking him.” Jamie? Who the hell is Jamie? And where the hell am I?

“But we’re all waiting on him, and he’s just sleeping there like a rock.” I can hear you, you know?

“We were all like that! At least do something else that doesn’t involve bothering others.”

“I do agree; give the guy some time would’ya.” FINALLY! Someone with common sense

My eyes finally shot open and I got enough strength to lift myself off the ground, but I was still very sleepy from the sudden collapse.

“Boy, he’s scrawny.” The hell I am! I am quite fit thank you very much.

“Sh! Don’t say that!” You tell him weird voice I can’t tell who’s speaking

I finally got up to rub my eyes and shake my head. My eyes opened up at last, only to see that I was in some kind of void. Not only that, but there were five other people in there with me. They were all staring at me with confusion.

“Um . . .  what?” I finally asked.

“Hey, about time you wake up,” a masculine voice said, I just hope he doesn’t look weird

This guy had a very strange appearance, he was wearing an orange bomber style winter hat with some of his hair peeking out in the front, had very little hairs on his chin, his maroon T-shirt was very wrinkled along with his cargo shorts, and he had a gray sweater tied around his waist. He looked like he was about eighteen and was also kind of lanky.

“This place is weird huh? I don’t suppose anyone knows what’s going on?” here’s the million dollar question! WHAT THE HELL IS GOIN’ ON HERE!?!?

“Huh? Hold on, who are you people?” I inquired, did we all got kidnapped without anyone noticing our disappearances?

“Oh yes, how rude of us,” said a guy standing behind him, are there others hiding in this place?

This guy looked even weirder. He wore simple jeans and a zipped up dark green hoodie, he was holding a few spray cans on both hands. However, the thing that really made him stand out was his hair; it was a light blonde color and was just all over the place. Seriously, it’s like he just got out of bed, unlike mine. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such messy hair; it’s like something from an anime character.

“Before we can discuss about what’s going on, I think its best if we do our simple introductions first,” he suggested a much needed introduction.

“Alright. . . ” I am unsure as to what to think about this situation I’m in.

“First off I am Phillip Soto, I am twenty-three years old, and one of the things I like to do is spray paint” he introduced holding up a can of paint . . . spray . . . can . . . thing.

“Yeah, I didn’t really ask for a bio introduction. Just a simple one will do.”

“Suit yourself. If you want to take the fun out of it. I thought it could give you an idea of what we’re like. But oh well, Proceed.”

I turned my head towards the guy who first spoke, the winter hat guy who was ready to speak.

“I’m Marko Anderson. Mar for short, and I-“

“MY TURN!” interrupted this small girl.

Like the others, she had a weird appearance. She had short blue hair and a small brown fedora over it, wore a light pink shirt along with green short shorts. She also had this expensive looking camera on a long strap around her neck, along with a camera bag.

“Hi, I’m Jamie Kita! I’m the world’s youngest photographer. Say cheese!”

FLASH

“AH! Why so close?” I yelped, how did she got so close to me without me noticing that?

“Guess what, I know I’m the world’s youngest photographer because I’m only 10 years old, can you believe that! My mom bought me this camera and it’s really expensive, so I have to be really careful. I can take the world’s greatest photos with this and I know one day, I’ll make it to the top! By the way, do you have any donuts? I’m starving here!”

“Uh . . . wha?” was al I said. Sheesh, this small girl talks a lot.

“Yeah, she was the one poking you earlier,” said the guy standing behind her.

This guy, no doubt, looked the strongest amongst us. He looked like he was in his late twenties and had one hell of a muscular build. His jeans were torn at the knees and wore a dark gray long sleeve shirt with the number 19 on it. By the way, I take back what I said before; this guy had the weirdest hair style. His black hair was like a mix between a Mohawk and a pompadour, if that was even possible.

“The names Connor Mullen,” he said.

“Connor here is a professional lacrosse player,” mentioned Phillip. “He’s been going about his career while you were asleep. But man, did he have a lot to say.”

“Did I ask you to say what happened?!” Connor retorted. “I don’t need people like you making look bad.”

“Just trying to be of assistance tough guy,” he laughed.

All Connor did in response was some incoherent growling. I could tell already that this guy isn’t to be messed with.

“Did I mention I’m a programmer!” shouted Marko in the background, but nobody responded.

There was only one person left, this one pale girl who looked about to be my age. Her light brown hair was really wavy; she wore a small violet jacket over a white top along with some black yoga pants. She also had a small little piercing on her right nostril. It was kind of hot. She then turned towards me.

“Hey, I guess it’s my turn to introduce. I’m Isa Duncan,” she said.

“Well, nice to meet you.”

She let out a small laugh.

“It’s nice to meet you too; I hope we’ll become great friends.” She smiled.

“Yeah, that’ll be nice.” Why is she smiling . . . at me? “So what is it that you do?”

“What do you mean?” she inquired.

“Well, the others basically told us what they do for a living. Spray painting, lacrosse, photography, and programming. So what is it that you do?”

“I prefer to show people what I can do, rather than just say it. When the time comes, you’ll figure it out,” she replied.

“Ooookaay.” Cryptic much?

“So then,” began Phillip. “Now that we’re done with introductions, why don’t we discuss business?”

“Business with what?” queried Isa.

“As to what we’re doing here?” he answered.

“You think we’ve been abducted?” Jamie not only asked the question with the most evident answer but also the one of biggest interest to us all.

“I’d like to know soon, I’ve got things to do and places to be,” complained Connor.

“I’m sure there will be some kind of explanation,” said Marko who was scratching his head. “But something is rather strange.”

“You mean besides to the fact that we’re all standing here in an empty void?” I replied.

“No need to get snarky, Todd,” retorted Phillip.

“This is a perfect time to get snarky!” I snapped back at him. “This is not how I want to spend my day; all I wanted to do was go to Michaels later and play some Brawl.”

“Super Smash Bros Brawl I love that game!” yelled Marko. “I’m also a bit of a gamer as well.”

“How about instead of saying things you are, why not actually doing something to prove it,” mocked Connor. Apparently he forgot that we were inside an alternate dimension.

“Well I don’t have a computer with me to prove my programming skills,” he grumbled. “But I do have this!” he pulled out his red colored 3DS.

“Do you always carry that?” asked Jamie. Once I saw how twitchy his fingers were it proved to me that he was an addict to videogames.

“Of course, if I’m on Wifi maybe I can connect with my cousin Lucy”

“We don’t have to know your cousins name” I responded. Why are these people so calm in this situation?

“WELCOME.”A booming voice echoed. It sounded different than the others, it sounded like a woman’s voice. Not to mention that it was kind of emotionless, those type of voices are never a good sign.

“Your all wondering why you’re here, am I right?” said the voice.

“Damn right we are! Where the hell are we anyway!” demanded Connor.

“All questions will be answered soon, but for now let’s get on with the game.”

“Say what?” I asked.

“Hey! Who the hell do you think you are?!” shouted Marko.

“I am the deity, Zarerus,” she introduced. “You can’t see me, but I am here with you. Now come.”

The darkness of the void we were in started to disperse and form many different colors that were seemingly trying to form figures and places alike. After what seemed to be seconds the entire scenario we could see was completely different to our previous plane scenario. Suddenly, we were all standing in the middle of some random old looking village. The buildings were quite small with bright colors on them. Not to mention that everything around us looked, unnaturally peachy and colorful. The most outlandish thing we saw were a bunch of tiny horses walking about.

Each one had a different tattoo on their flanks. I can just imagine the guy doing these things Welcome to Colorful Asses, Where we put color on your ass.

For example, two horses that trotted past us were very unusual. One of them was beige and had blue and pink swirly hair, along with three pieces of candy on its flank. The other was stranger; it had a horn on its head! Not only that, but it was all a light green color, with its mane being short and somewhat spikey. It also had a green and white color in it, along with a small harp on its flank. This was really confusing.

“Where are we?” asked Isa.

“You are in Equestria,” answered the unseen deity. Where the hell is Equestria? I might not be a genius but I can tell that there isn’t going to be an easy way back home.

“What’s with all these horses?” asked Marko. He was walking towards the two that past us, but then was suddenly stopped by this invisible wall.  Now that I’ve paid more attention I’ve figured that these things aren’t big enough to be horses, I think they’re called ponies.

“You are all still inside my personal dome,” said the deity. “You can see them, but they can’t see you. And you must stay in here for me to explain the rules of the game.”

“Game? What game are you talking about!?” I demanded. “You’re not explaining anything.”

“Have patience child.”

Then six random doors appeared in front of us, each one with a different symbol on it. One with a star with six spikes, one with a rainbow colored lightning bolt, another with three white diamonds, another one with three balloons, 2 yellow and 1 blue, one had three red apples, and the last one had three pink butterflies. We were all confused at what we were all looking at. Then six more objects appeared in front us. They looked like weapons.

A dagger, a machete, a baseball bat, a wooden spear, a metallic small axe and a .5 caliber revolver.

“Before I can explain the rules, you must first be partnered up with an element and choose a means of defense. These are the most common means of defense in your world, so pick one that you think suits you.”

"The one that suits us?" asked Marko. "What does that supposed to mean?!"

"What's the meaning of this?" worried Isa. "I want to know now!"

"This is really messed up, here," hissed Connor.

"Weapons and doors? What the heck?" gasped Jamie.

"I really see no point in asking random questions. Let's just pick one, the sooner we do the sooner we can get this complication over with. Wouldn't you all agree?" suggested Phillip.

"R-Random questions?!" I retorted.

We were all worried now; we had to pick a weapon? Just what the hell is this kind of game? What does this thing mean by partnering up with an element, what the hell is Equestria, and why are there ponies everywhere?