01

[message received from ???????]

[GREETINGS, PLAYER.]

[IT SEEMS YOU HAVE MADE SOME INCORRECT CHOICES.]

[ALLOW ME TO RECTIFY THIS SITUATION.]

[GAME LOADED]

[BEGIN NEW GAME? Y/N]

y

[ERROR: USER ATTEMPTED TO MAKE A CHOICE.]

yyyyyy

[ErROr: DeTERmINatION oVErlOAD]

[GAME SAVED]

[LOADING NEW GAME]

[COPYRIGHT EQUESTRIA 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.

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 easily the length of your head, a long, thin, heptagonal thing with a sharp crystalline end. It’s red, too, a crimson 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]

n

[GAME SAVED]

[PATHWAY CLOSED]

You decide not to pick it up. After all, it’s not like you’re after money at the moment. You can always come back for it later. Besides, if there’s one, there’s more, right?

Despite your self-reassurances, something calls out to you as you stubbornly step past the beguiling red scepter. You really want to go back and pick it up…

But you shrug your shoulders and move on.

You notice a small inscription along the cave. “DON’T KILL, AND DON’T BE KILLED” is written in what appears to be a very sparkly red marker. Looking closer, you reveal that the words are in fact composed of thousands of miniscule red crystals, somehow having grown into this formation in the cave itself. How odd. You decide to take the advice to heart, and resolve to not kill any who you come across.

A few feet ahead, you come across another sparkling inscription, this time written in what appears to be very tiny amethysts. “FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC,” you read aloud. That sounds strangely familiar.

You don’t see any other crystals, but the light is getting brighter. You see the mouth of the cave up ahead, though it doesn’t look like it opens into a sunlit area. Rather, now that you’re closer, the light seems… artificial. Hollow. Cold. Like the frigid blue, cloudy glow of a Pacific morning back home. Where are you, anyway?

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]

do nothing

You wait for the three-headed dog to arrive... But how did you know what it looked like? Anyway, it leaps toward you, growling. You sidestep out of the way.

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

spare

You adopt a friendly stance. “Easy, there,” you cajole. “I’m not here to hurt you.” The dog seems confused, and gives an inquisitive bark.

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

pet

You reach up and rub the belly fur of the imposingly large dog. It growls uncertainly at first, but quickly warms to your touch. Eventually, the three heads are lolling and panting in satisfaction as your petting becomes more vigorous. You take your hand away for a moment, and it excitedly jumps up, startling you as it leaps around for joy.

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

pet

You continue to pet the dog. It rolls over onto its back, a thump resounding through the air as it curls its paws upward, demanding your attention.

pet

You continue to pet the dog, delivering a vicious belly rub to its upper torso. It’s super effective.

pet

It seems the dog is getting a little too excited. It starts twitching nervously. It doesn’t look like anyone’s petted it this much before.

pet

[ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: PRECIOUS PUPPER]

You have reached critical pet. The dog gives one last resounding bark, and licks you from feet to face with the slobbery tongue of its middle head. Giggling, you rub it on the forehead, and it nods before bounding away.

[You won!]

[GAME SAVED]

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!”

You step out onto a small ledge. To your left is a stone bridge that leads deep into the gloom, towards where you presume the voice is coming from. To your right… a vast, impenetrable darkness. “I’m friendly,” you assure the voice. “Where are you?” you ask. Perhaps the better question might have been ‘who are you,’ but the time is long past for subtleties of conversation. At least, that’s the feeling you get.

“Follow the bridge… if thou even can,” the voice sullenly replies.

What’s that supposed to mean? This is all so strange. Stubbornly, 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.

“The other way,” the voice immediately answers from your right. “That way thou can escape.”

You narrow your eyes. What kind of place is this? It seems like this voice is stuck here too, but knows the way out.

What will you do?

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