001

[GAME SAVED]

[GAME QUIT]

[GAME LOADED]

[START NEW GAME? Y/N]

y

[LOADING NEW GAME]

[COPYRIGHT EQUESTRIA SOFTWARE INC. 2016]

[GAME LOADED]

You wake up slowly. Comfortably. Like the time you realized it was Saturday, and you didn’t have to get up for school. The bed beneath you is warm, if oddly lumpy. Sunlight streams down on your face, warm and bright. What were you doing last night? You can’t remember. You don’t remember much of anything, in fact. Just your name.

You lay there for a moment longer. Are you outside? It feels like you’re outside. The wind echoes hollowly above you, and the sun shines directly down on your face now. Like a temperature-based alarm clock, it becomes warmer, and warmer, until your face is burning. Like that one time you visited a beach. Get up, the sun seems to whisper. Begin your day.

Reluctantly, you obey the massive burning sphere, rolling to the side and immediately encountering the hard, sandy ground. Opening your eyes, you find you’re in a deep crevasse of red sandstone. Strangely, you’d been sleeping on a massive pile of pillows. Who put this here? Did you fall on top of it, or were you moved onto it? You vaguely remember a sensation of falling, like falling in a dream. Except this time, you get the feeling you didn’t quite wake up.

Looking around, it’s clear you can’t escape back to the surface from here. The walls of the pit are far too steep, and your hands were never exactly suited to climbing anyway. You briefly ponder if you should call for help. You can’t hear any voices outside, but it’s worth a shot. You call out to the sunlight: “Hello!”

But nobody came.

After a few minutes of waiting, and calling some more, you reluctantly decide on a new tactic. Exploring around, you find a thin, tall crack on the wall. Just the right size for you to slip through. It’s a way forward, at least, even if only to get out of the burning midday sun. You’re a little nervous – what if you’re nowhere near anyone else? Stranded in some cave, with no hope of ever returning to home. Wherever ‘home’ is, anyway.

The crack widens into a narrow cave. It seems almost perfectly made for a human like you to walk through. As you continue, your eyes adjusting to the darkness, you become aware of a light up ahead. To you, that light means hope. You stride onward, your every step filled with determination.

You notice a large crystal sitting untouched in the middle of the cave. It’s nearly the length of your head, a long, thin, heptagonal thing with a sharp crystalline end. It’s red, too, a crimson-orange shade that makes blood run for cover. If you had to stab someone, this would be the perfect weapon. Alternatively, whatever this is looks like it’d sell for quite a lot. You briefly debate on picking it up.

[pick up crystal? Y/N]

y

[FOUND ITEM: CRYSTAL]

[GAME SAVED]

[PATHWAY CLOSED]

You pick up the crystal. The light from the hole you just exited glints off of it, and you can temporarily see your reflection. Something about your face seems off, though. Well, at least you have a weapon if you ever need to stab somebody. You’re not really sure why you’d need to stab somebody, but at least the option is there. You shrug your shoulders and move on.

The cave is devoid of anything except gray stone, a stark contrast from the red of earlier. You don’t see any other crystals, so you examine the one in your hand. Where could it have come from? Did somebody drop it? It was in the exact middle of the cave, and really easy to spot. Maybe someone wanted you to have it? You’re not sure.

You hear a strange barking sound up ahead, and the cave temporarily shakes. Something very big is coming toward you. You tremble in fear as the thumping noises get louder and louder, and so does the barking. What will you do?

[RUN!] [FIGHT!] [DO NOTHING!] [SPARE]

[GAME SAVED]

run

You turn and try to run back to the cave you started in, but whatever is behind you is too fast. All you hear is a thump as it slams a heavy paw down on your back. You hear a snap, and feel a split second of agonizing pain.

[GAME OVER]

[LOAD LAST SAVE][RESET][QUIT]

load last save

Huh? You just had the weirdest dream. Looks like you spaced out a bit.

You hear a strange barking sound up ahead, and the cave temporarily shakes. Something very big is coming toward you. You tremble in fear as the thumping noises get louder and louder, and so does the barking. What will you do?

[RUN!] [FIGHT!] [DO NOTHING!] [SPARE]

fight

You get into a fighting stance, holding out the sharp crystal point in front of you. You’re ready for anything.

A three-headed black dog runs up, panting heavily and barking like mad. You were definitely not ready for this. Still, it doesn’t exactly look friendly. You shakily hold out the crystal in front of you threateningly. “S-stay back!” you speak. The thing is huge, easily three times as tall as you are. It’s a black bulldog, and each of its three heads has a spiked collar. Its eyes are yellowed with age, and the pupils are strangely red. It growls down at you, as you continue to hold the crystal up to it. You close your eyes, waiting for the end.

But nothing happened.

You open your eyes, to reveal a strange and rather comedic sight: All three heads are fixated on the gem. One head gives an impatient bark, looking up at you. You stare at it in consternation.

…

You have an idea.

You throw the gem across the cavern, and the giant dog-creature immediately bounds after it, panting. Snatching up the red crystal in its leftmost maw, it runs over to you and deposits the crystal at your feet. The leftmost head begins whining for some reason, licking the middle head. The middle head squirms around, but cannot escape. You stifle a chuckle at the dog-thing’s comedic antics. “You’re just a big softie, aren’tcha?” you whisper, reaching up and rubbing a section of the creature’s belly. It immediately rolls over onto its back, a thump resounding through the air as it curls its paws upward, demanding your attention.

[FIGHT!] [RUN!] [PET?]

pet

You pet the dog-creature, rubbing its belly. It kicks out a leg, narrowly missing you. It seems pacified.

[FIGHT!] [RUN!] [DO NOTHING!] [PET] [SPARE]

spare

You won!

The dog licks you once, before bounding away, each doggy head sporting a happy, dazed grin. You smile as it leaves. It seems like you don't have to kill anyone after all.

Finally, you reach the opening of the cave. You can hear a voice up ahead! Maybe they can help you escape. Or at the very least, let you know where you are. “Hello?” you call out from the cave mouth, and it echoes. Quite a lot. You get the sense that you are in a very big cave now. The voice immediately stops.

“Who’s there?” it sharply inquires. “Answer me!”

Well, now the voice doesn’t sound very friendly. You step out onto a small ledge. To your left is a white stone bridge that leads deep into the gloom, towards where you presume the voice is coming from. To your right… a vast, impenetrable darkness. Even the cave wall below slowly disappears from view, and you can’t see the bottom. You decide to remain silent, in case they’re hostile. Maybe you should sneak up on them.

You step onto the bridge. It’s solid, and made of a white, clean stone, easily visible despite the low-light conditions. You begin walking, noting that the bridge is very thin – perhaps the width of your shoulders – and has no guardrails. If you slip off this thing… You shudder to think of the consequences.

After a few minutes of walking, you see a fork in the ‘road.’ One path continues straight into the blackness, the other veers off towards the light.

“Which way should I go?” you wonder out loud.

“Come hither,” the voice immediately answers from your right. “We would speak with thee…” You narrow your eyes. What kind of place is this? It seems like this voice knows the way out.

What will you do?

[FOLLOW VOICE] [LEAVE] [DO NOTHING!]