The Game Master

Chapter 3

"Um, Can I have a magazine?" Asked Twilight Sparkle.

"What? Seriously? OK, you're telling me you have no other questions?" The silhouette asked in skepticism. "I mean, you have no idea where you are, or why you are here..."

"Well, I'm dead, right?" Twilight Sparkle was seriously confused.

"Argh! That stupid supersoldier... no, you are not dead, you are in storage. As proclaimed by my minions, I am the game master, and like any game piece, you've been captured, for storage until the next game."

Twilight Sparkle was getting an idea. "Hold on, we didn't even know we were game pieces! You can't start the game until everyone knows the rules!"

Alex ground his teeth. He could only bluff so far, part of the problem using this board, was that the rules were automated. If this creature called him on rule-breaking, the game was over; he'd be forced to forfeit. Again, very... impressive for a marshmallow-like fantasy creature to go all "Rule Nazi" on him.

Twilight Sparkle took note of the uneasy pause. "You know what, how about we reset the game... I'll pretend this never happened."

Alex considered the deal. Only two moves in, that's not a bad loss. I need to use a different strategy, anyways. "Fine! You'll get a reset, and the rules!"

~~

Celestia had just gotten adjusted to her very strange surroundings. A dark room, with metallic plate walls, and a glowing rectangular object in the center of the room, labeled as a "holo projector", was the current location of the Equestrian Princess. Suddenly, something flashed in the air above the holo projector, a green, glowing message that read out 'Game reset requested. Yes or No?'

"What? Does that entail 'resetting' the world, as in..." Princess Celestia gasped.

"No, it just resets the players. After all, this planet is but the game board, all that is reset are the pieces." The owner of this voice was standing in a rectangular opening that had appeared in the wall. "Pleasure to meet you, player 2. I am Alex2315, or player 1."

The creature stood on two legs, with two upper appendages in place for manipulation and control. It had a oval-shaped head, with two central-placed eyes (big sign of a predator), a short, stubby excuse for a snout (the "nose"), and two flaps on the side of the head, which seemed to be it's ears. It was awkwardly tall, definitely in a growth spurt, placing it's age at just above that of a filly, in the teenage years. The face in general was stark white, and the two cobalt eyes exhibited a slightly maniacal glee. As the whole creature came closer, and more details came into focus, Celestia recognized the creature.

What??? It's... one of the Legendary! Impossible! Princess Celestia knew now what was the source of everypony's current predicament: Humans. "Alrighty, it's been fun, but you aren't supposed to exist anymore. The Humans here were dead long ago." Celestia knew what she was talking about. Near the beginning of her reign, a strange quirk of the universe had caused a Human space capsule to fall through a wormhole, which spat out the ship in the upper atmosphere of the Equestrian planet. The survivors, all Male (according to the humans), remained on Equestrian soil the remainder of their lives, which was only about another 72 years until the last of the survivors died, or more aptly, disappeared. You see, the humans were changed by their new planet, and all of them were never seen dead. They were just... gone one day. When the last one disappeared, he had not aged a day. Some still claimed to have sighted the beings, in times of need, repaying their debt to equestria for giving them long and happy lives.

Unfortunately, this one seemed to be younger, and a lot less interested in friendship.

"Heh, well, perhaps your versions. I come from the federation of human extra-reality gamers, and we play with worlds." In all honesty, Alex had only just created the federation out of thin air for some extra prestige. After all, the tech he had for this game was one-of-a-kind. "Well, you want to start a new game, with better knowledge. Your game pieces are well educated in some of the rules... so I am here to tell you them, as rule number 2 is to educate all players in the rules. But first, we must reset. Just say yes..."

"Fine, go ahead." Celestia sighed

~~

Twilight watched in awe as the walls of her prison dissolved, leaving her standing in front of sugarcube corner, midst a crowd of very confused ponies.

"Its... gone!"

"Where did it go? What was it?"

"MY BEAUTIFUL SHOP IS SAFE!!!"

The last comment came from a sobbing Ms. Cake, who was now crying tears of joy. Everything was in its old location, as if nothing had ever even occurred that day.

"ATTENTION! Everypony, listen up!" The voice permeating the air was that of Celestia herself. "I am unharmed, but I cannot say any more about my location, or you would all suffer. I'm sorry. But, I must tell you to be careful of your actions, and listen carefully when you are told to do something, even if you are scared of your circumstances. I'm afraid we've been trapped into a game, a game that will decide all our fates. Now is not the time to panic, my little ponies, for together we will win!"

~~

Princess Celestia stepped away from Alex's "microphone". She had refused to don a headset, so she couldn't hear the reactions of her subjects. Alex, after making sure Celestia's com-link was off, then turned on the microphone on the side of his head. Celestia had heard him call it "Blue Tooth", though it was neither blue, nor remotely tooth-shaped.

"Alrighty, n00bs, now that your little overlord has said her piece, I'm telling you the rules. Rule number 1 and two are irrelevant to the game, and many of you already have heard them from my XMSoldier unit. Here is what you need to know: The game is over instantly once a player coincides defeat, and the other player is awarded a higher ranking in the standings, plus said player will receive ultimate power over this game set, also known as your planet. The rules forbid cheating or tampering with code, but that rule will only be applied if the rule-breaker is caught. Reminder, if no one saw it, it isn't illegal!" Alex had added that to allow him room for his "special" strategies. "The final rule you must know is that the game only ends once a player admits defeat. It doesn't matter what circumstances cause this, but the player must give up. Now, lets all play fair, play relatively safe, and have a bit of fun!" With that, Alex signed off, turning once again to Celestia.

Celestia couldn't take it anymore: "Why are you doing this!?" She demanded.

"My dear Celestia, isn't it ovbious? I have all the power and wealth I could dream of. I am doing this because I'm getting BORED. We are going to be anything but bored, because, really the only two pieces are you, and me. We don't even have to use this game board. All that matters, is that one of us must push the other into admitting defeat. Now, good luck. I shall move first." With that,  he pressed a pad on his left arm, and Celestia felt her consciousness slip away. She awoke in her royal chambers, just in time to raise the sun. As she stood, she noticed a message written on her wall, in large letters: "YOUR MOVE." Celestia suddenly felt very tired, as if she had just written a bad, long-winded explanation for a hastily written book, which had decided to use the first two chapters as an action sequence. Her next move would be to take a nap.

Author Note: I am contemplating changing the story rating to "teen", to allow greater use of "descriptive interjections". (A.K.A: Swearing). Just warning you all.