The Fate Players

We all had to pick a means of defense, this was really messed up. I hate to admit it, but that weird Phillip guy is right. The sooner we pick one, the sooner we can get this problem over with. I didn’t like the idea, but what else was I supposed to do? I started to walk towards the machete, because I thought it might be the most useful to me.

The others soon followed, with little Jamie grapping the dagger, Phillip with the axe, Mar with baseball bat, Connor with the spear, and finally Isa with the revolver. It was the only weapon left, and by the looks of it she didn’t really like the idea; she was only holding it up with two fingers. Phillip approached her with his axe in hand.

“Is something the matter?” he asked.

“I-I hate guns,” she muttered. She was shaking from the sight of it, her eyes shrank and her knees looked very wobbly. It’s like she was having a panic attack just from looking at the device. She looked paralyzed.

“T-this is a weapon . . . for killing, what’s really going on here?” she mumbled.

“No need to feel scared of it. If you want, would you like to trade tools with me?” offered Phillip. What is this guy thinking? I get the feeling that he’s hiding something from all of us.

“What?”

“It’s quite alright; I didn’t really like the tool I picked either. I just thought it would be of some use, but then I second guessed-”

“Hold on!” interrupted Mar. “How do we know you’re not going to shoot us once you two have traded weapons?”

Everyone stared intently at Philip once the possibility of him killing us, this guy was strange enough, who’s there to say that he actually won’t consider it. Will he? I don’t know what to think anymore.

“In this situation, I wouldn’t dream of it. I’m not just some hoodlum who would start a random shootout once he receives a firearm. We still haven’t heard the rules yet have we, and we still don’t know the significance of these tools or the doors in front of us. I’m not one to start a fight, unless I hear the rules first,” Phillip admitted.

“Unless you hear the rules first?” Mar muttered.

“Don’t fuck with us, man! If you even think of killing us I’ll pound you to China!” Connor threatened.

“Hmm, trying to sound all tough again? How cute,” teased Phillip.

“I’m not acting, you son of a bitch!” Connor responded and cracked his knuckles.

Oh great, I just know that there’s going to be a brutal beat down soon, and I definitely wanted no part of it.

“Stop it, both of you!” cried Jamie. The two men turned towards her.

“Look, we’re all scared right now, and we have no freaking of idea what’s going on. But what’s fighting amongst us going to solve!? Who knows?! Maybe this isn’t what we’re all thinking of killing each other! Or maybe it’s the complete opposite of what you two are thinking? Let’s just not focus on the bad stuff that could happen, and focus more on the good stuff that could happen. That sounds fun and it is a hell of a lot easier on us!” suggested Jamie while some tears started to form on her eyes, it was evident that this was taking a toll on all of us. Connor just sighed and nodded before walking away from Philip.

“You have it easy kid; you think life is all rainbows and cotton candy. I guess you wouldn’t understand,” Connor sighed. Now that tells us something about him

“Huh?”

“I for one agree with Jamie’s statement,” said Phillip and faced Isa again. “If you still want to trade that’s fine. I promise I won’t kill any of you, and I’ll give you my tool too” he offered.

This guy was very polite and oddly charming for a street artist, but something still feels off about him. I just don’t know what; I have to keep an extra close eye on this guy. Phillip and Isa soon traded weapons or Tools as he called them. Now Phillip had the revolver along with the ammo and Isa had the small axe. Now we all faced the doors and wondered what would happen next, we were still shaky now that we had these weapons in our hands.

“So why did you pick the spear anyway?” Jamie asked Connor.

“I don’t know, it reminded me of a lacrosse stick. Might as well have something that I’m comfortable with,” he answered swinging his spear around. “Why’d you choose the dagger?”

“I guess it’s the only thing that’s small enough for me. But don’t worry, I don’t plan to use it,” she chirped.

“What if there comes a time where you do need to use it?” wondered Mar.

“Well, I probably won’t use it for combat. But If I’m trapped in some rope, I can cut my way out. Or if I need to hammer something down, then I can use the handle as said hammer.”

“That’s not exactly what I had in mind” The handle of a dagger used as a hammer, she’s going to play 5 finger fillet but the blade will come in the opposite direction.

“So, you finally chose your means of defense? About time,” announced that voice again. We jumped at the sudden voice and focused our attention towards the doors again.

“I’m assuming now you’re going to explain the situation?” inquired Phillip.

“Indeed, now that you have your weapons, I shall explain the rules,” Zarerus began. “As you all know by now you are in the land of Equestria, a land inhabited by mostly small equines and ruled by two alicorn princesses.”

“Small equines?” wondered Phillip.

“That’s another word for horse or pony,” I said at Philip, he just stuck his tongue out at me like an idiot.

“Alicorn Princesses?” asked Jamie.

“So who’s the queen?” I asked. Now that’s a good question

“There is no queen here, only princesses,” the voice answered.

“Wait, that doesn’t make sense. Shouldn’t there be a king or a queen if there’s already a princess?” wondered Mar.

“There is no queen here, only princesses,” the voice repeated.

“But-“

“If you would let me finish,” hissed the voice.

“Fine, fine,” Mar replied, backing away in fear of this unseen deity’s wrath.

“Anyway, the land of Equestria is a peaceful land living in peace and harmony. There friendly faces all around and there’s always something to brighten up your day. However, that peace is broken.”

“Broken?” asked Isa.

“A new race has appeared in the land, a very unusual type of monster. They are referred to as ‘Pests’”.

Suddenly, an image showed up above us. I was guessing that it was one of the Pests the voice mentioned. They just looked like over-sized cockroaches, only their shell was a dark blue color and it looked like they all had strange glowing golden tattoos all over them. Also, instead of six legs, it only had four. The legs looked a lot thicker and deadlier than normal bug legs, almost like claws that can easily cut you through. Not to mention their jaws were enormous.

“Do not be fooled, these pests are a lot more deadly than you might think,” the deity explained. “They can charge at you, mimic you, make an ambush on you, and sometimes communicate with you, among other things. And this isn’t the only form they have, there are different types of Pests, and they’re all a lot more lethal than their original class. Each one you encounter will be different than the last.”

We all started getting terrified looks on our faces, I couldn’t move myself. I normally don’t mind bugs, but these things were just too much to handle.

“Your objective should be simple: partner up with an element and defeat the Pests before they infest all over Equestria. If you can’t, then its game over for you, and you lose.”

“H-how is any of that a game?” I muttered.

“So, we must partner up with a so-called ‘element’ and exterminate these bugs? Seems pretty straight forward,” Phillip stated.

“True, however there is one other catch to this game,” the voice mentioned.

“What catch?” asked Mar.

“You have two options, you can either fight against the Pests, or you can fight with them.”

“Huh?” Now that is something to think of in the near future

“You heard me correctly. If you and your partner manage to figure out a way to cooperate with or manipulate the Pests in some way, then you all could work together and conquer this land as a team.”

“W-why would we want to do that?” inquired Jamie.

“Seeing how you’re the greedy humans you are, I’d imagine some of you could see this as an opportunity to take control of a new world and make it your own, with the Pests being by your side. A whole world you can change and operate at your will.”

“Are you serious?!” I barked.

“In all honesty, I want NOTHING to do with this world,” shrieked Mar.

“I realize that” replied the deity in its monotone and emotionless voice.

This was really confusing, she gave us the option to either defeat or co-operate with the pests, and yet she already knows we won’t take the bad path. What was happening here? I was so baffled, confused and shocked.

“Hold on, what do you mean you realize that?” asked Isa.

“I realize that you all won’t do anything rash and try to conquer this world,” the voice answered. “I’ve actually had some players in the past make that decision, and they’re probably still alive today. It is sad really. But I know that you six won’t take that path because I’ve seen how you all act in the real world. And I just know you won’t make that choice.”

“So, you’ve been spying on us?” asked Jamie.

“You could say that, I am a deity after all,” she replied.

“This is really weird,” I said to myself.

“Anyway, now that you know the rules of the game and have selected a weapon you must now choose a door. Each door will lead you to your new partner. Once you’ve selected a choice, you must work together to defeat the Pests or any evil players remaining. There will be constant waves thrown at you with different types of enemies. And don’t worry about losing or breaking your weapons, they’ll upgrade throughout the game depending on how you use them and if you’re willing to make an effort to fight. Also, you must make an effort to protect each other; no one can win this game alone. Now choose.”

We focused on the doors once more. I had no idea which one to pick, how am I supposed to know who’s on the other side of it? I needed to think quickly or I won’t have many choices left. Some of them headed to the doors right away, like Phillip for example, he immediately walked towards the door with the trio of diamonds on it.

“My, something about these diamonds is really getting my attention. I don’t know why, but I feel like this is my door,” said Phillip rubbing his head. It seemed that the situation and all of its confusion has finally gotten to him.

Jamie went next, and ran right up to the door with the three colorful balloons on it.

“Oooooooo, balloons!” she gasped. “I like balloons; they’re so much fun to look at and to play with. I want this door!”

I was still surprised that some of these people already knew what door they wanted, and I still couldn’t make a decision. Marko was next and he walked right up to the door with the three apples on it. Why is it that the doors with three symbols on them are attracting the most people?

“I’ll choose this one,” stated Mar. “It seems pretty simple and straight forward. Plus, those apples sure do look delicious. Dammit, now I’m hungry!”

We all laughed at his little outburst. There were only three doors left and three more people; me, Isa, and Connor. The doors that remained was the one that had the tiny butterflies on them, the one with the cloud and rainbow lightning bolt, and the one with the big fancy star. We all looked at each other in confusion, not knowing which one to choose.

“Well? Are you just going to stand there or pick a door?” asked Connor.

“Only three left? How am I going to choose?” wondered Isa.

We just stood there thinking while the others waited on us and I still had no bloody idea which door I really wanted. This is really going to be difficult. The game was about to start and I still couldn’t make a clear decision. I felt like I was about to walk into a door into my own death, if I didn’t choose carefully. Now what?