The Equestrian Double Gamble

~James~

I’ve got a question for you. And no, it’s not the one Sans gives you in the Genocide run, it’s a whole different one. If you had just one chance to fulfill your greatest dreams, and go to another world… would you do it? Since you’re reading this, you already know I said yes. Little did I know though, there was going to be a price. A price I almost couldn’t bear to pay.

“Spam, spam, spam, spam…” I ticked off a number of email messages on my computer, not really looking at them for long other than to see what they were about. Most of it was gaming sales, though there were occasionally the odd little ad about MLP toys.  You can probably tell what kind of things I’m into from that.

“Heh… Valve just doesn’t know when to give up, do they?” I remarked when I found one announcement about a new update for TF2. It apparently changed the mechanics of the game, drastically. “Meet Your Match”... Welp. Looks like Valve just killed off most of the Friendlies. No way anyone’s gonna be friendly on the Pub servers anymore.

My friend on the other end of my Skype Call, whom I only knew as FC the Half Dragon, was not amused.  “Welp, so much for the community.  Do you think this is going to cause more players to go to Overwatch?  It might make it hard to play some MvM Heroes on the PoniPoniPoni servers.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so. They left community servers alone, but there’s no more choosing just one game mode to play anymore for pubs. They also added a competitive mode… which is basically Pay to Play Haven. Can’t get in without paying, unless you’re a premium that hasn’t been VAC banned.” I paused as I saw what they added to the Shortstop. “Wait, seriously? The Shortstop had an Alt-fire now that just pushes players? So now it’s basically a straight upgrade to the Force-a-Nature.” I deadpanned.

“Saw a video of it, seems like they made Scout a schoolyard bully.  I still can’t believe that as soon as I became a Pay to Play, the hat that I got out of my first crate was an Unusual for the Medic.  So much for the argument that people with Unusuals have a lot of experience.”  FC replied.

“Heh… hearing that, I start thinking the luck I’ve run on most of my life is nothing. I’m still looking for a job so I can become Pay to Play too. I REALLY want the Box Trot.” I replied. I moved the TF2 update email to my Games folder for later review, sorting out the rest of my mail. Eventually though, I actually came across something of interest.

“Oh hey… looks like I’ve got a Con coming to town. Bronycon, to be precise. I wonder if I can get Mom to take me.” I muttered.

“Lucky.  I know for certain no cons are going to be in Nebraska.  Wait, hold on, I got something on my email.”  FC was quiet for a moment. “Okay, I seem to got lucky.  I got an email that has a paid trip to the con.”

“Aw, paid trip? Lucky…” I pouted for a bit. I bet it looked especially cute since I was using Facerig with my OC’s model. It took quite a long time to fix it up… “Well, I guess we each have our own cons to go to then. I should probably start shopping for materials.” I said, switching to the Skype window to say goodbye.

“See you later my friend.”  FC said before going offline.

What followed was a grueling job for me, at least in terms of willpower. I had the creative touch and time, all I needed was to strike up the desire to actually work on a costume. My mom was actually pretty happy to take me, and even buy the materials for the costume, on the condition that whatever she spent, I’d pay back when I got a job.

The final product didn’t look too shabby, but I knew it was still a ways off from looking anything like some of the better costumes. Still, the orange and red coloring of my changeling costume was unique, and could earn some points. I even came up with some crazy ideas and backstory about her, like the reason she was orange was because A: she wasn’t part of Chrysalis's hive, B: she prefered Pride, instead of love, and C: she was a fusion of my two characters, one a changeling, the other a pony.

Going to the con wasn’t too much trouble, as it didn’t take several hours to get there. I let Mom know to come back in about five or six hours, since she wasn’t going to come with me, and she gave me 50$ to spend. It shocked me that she was letting me have so much, but she told me she got some really good tips at the grooming salon.

And thus began my first, and last, bronycon. It started well enough, just browsing the many wares there were, checking out costumes, all that fun stuff. Eventually, I ran into a familiar face.  He was wearing a sky blue hoodie, had the edge of his hair dyed black, had an orange fake dragon tail and wings on, and had two foam swords, one of them looking like the Terra Blade from Terraria.  He turned towards me.  “Hey man, what’s up?”  He said to me.

“Your wings…” I replied, half jokingly. Even though I could tell they were fake, they were still impressive. I laughed off my shock, holding out my hand for a shake. “Nice to finally meet you in person, FC.”

He put his hand out and shook.  “Good to see you.  I saw a vending table with someone dressed as the Merchant from Resident Evil.  Let’s stay away from that one, considering all the Displaced fanfics.” I chuckled.

“I dunno, seems like with all the powers Summer has, I might enjoy nabbing a Crescent Rose to add to the punch.” I said jokingly. Then I sobered up and gave it serious consideration. “Still, I’ve got family here, and I’m not going anywhere without them.”

“Lucky for you.  Me, I have been having troubles with my family.  The way things have been going for me, I would like to land in Equestria, but the problem would be when we land.  I wouldn’t want to land in the Crystal Empire during the reign of King Sombra and be imprisoned for kicking his flank.  I don’t want to spend a thousand years in stone.”  FC said.

“I’ve been writing a lot, focusing on the timeline, so if I came along, then I’d be just about the closest thing to an expert on time you’ve got. I have a few different ideas as to how I can make things happen. I’m willing to take the risk of landing just about anywhere in the timeline.”

“That would be a good idea.  Considering how most people become the thing they are wearing a costume of when the get sent, I could easily deal with some problems if they come up.”  FC replied in a serious tone.

“Hey, did I hear you two say you’re willing to go to Equestria?” someone wearing a sort of Pony Gambit costume asked, stopping me with a hand on my shoulder. Immediately, I was suspicious though. The Merchant was sort of a Neutral Party one could rely on to just get to Equestria, but this guy? I knew nothing of him.

“I have a bad feeling about this. James, this person is dressed as the Gambler, he usually sends people to Equestria, but for a price.  I would suggest you make sure we don’t get deceived.”  FC said with a bit of apprehension.

“A gambler, huh? Well, I’ve run my whole life on Luck. I’m curious to see just how far it goes.” I said, turning to him with interest. Said character smiled darkly as he saw he was recognized.

“Heh… I guess you two are pretty well read. Well then, let’s set the terms of the deal…”  he trailed off expectantly, waiting for us to set our terms.

“I am just worried about if you are going to make us do something we regret like kidnapping or try to blackmail us.  If you send us to anything before the birth of Flurry Heart or have malevolent intentions, I will not accept.”  FC said, in a warning tone.

“Don’t worry, you get to keep your morality. I never touch that.” he promised, grin widening. He turned to me then.

“Alright, I just want the powers I wrote up for Summer. Every version of her. Also, can I get the Crescent Rose?” I said. He frowned a bit as he thought of the implications of that.

“Yikes, that might be more powerful than…” he trailed off, probably not wanting to reveal who it was he mentioned. “Alright then. Here’s my terms. Both of you will have to deal with every opponent your characters have ever faced. In every timeline or version. As well, if either one of you fails, then not only will you be sent back here without your powers, but the gates of Tartarus will remain permanently open, Cerberus will die, and every princess will be banished eternally to what they are bound to.”

“Basically sounds like the Stones of Equestria RP that I was in before Brohoof.com went down.  I accept the terms, but I can not speak on behalf of my friend.”  FC said, silently knowing how powerful his character was, but still bound by moral constraints.  He was willing to back up his friend no matter what.

“I’m in. I made a similar deal in one of the stories I’ve been writing. Oh wait, before we finish… can I add my laptop with universal internet connection so I can still write my stories?” I asked, hoping to add it.

“Sorry! You already accepted the deal, no changes!” he said before snapping his fingers. The instant he did, everything went black.

...Damnit.

Ugh… well, there goes the headache… not big surprise, I just got a shit ton of info dumped in my brain. I groaned to myself as I came back to consciousness. That guy was at least nice enough to put info on how to use my new body in my head, but there was just so much, my head was pounding trying to process it all. Of course it didn’t help that the smell of something decaying invaded my nose the second I started breathing.

As I came to, I heard clicking nearby.  It sounded similar in noise to Lingish, but it seemed more...creepy. I shuddered a bit as I got up, looking around to try and figure out what I was hearing. I almost barfed when I saw I’d been lying on the decaying corpse of a deer, but I had to put that off when I saw some… thing staring at me like I was lunch.  It looked like it was made out of bone and some sort of tough cloth armor, but the most terrifying part was the large single yellowish-green eye and it had mukky purple tentacles wrapping around its limbs and what could be called its head.  The bone spikes coming out of the back told me what it was.  It was a geist.  FC had made them for an RP we were in together on Brohoof.com.  Geists usually entered undead as hosts, or rarely used empty remains as armor.  The worst part about them was that their living secreted a chemical that reacted to air, causing something known as shadowfire, a black and purple flame that caused temporary blindness.  How long it lasted depended on how much you got hit with when the spit it at you.  They were like parasitic ninja dragons.  And I smelled like what they usually inhabit.

I muttered before springing up onto my paws. Wait, paws? I only just glanced up at the sky to see it was currently night, and smirked as I prepared myself. Ice coated my body when one of them lunged at me, creating a perfect defensive cube, like Mei from Overwatch.  That was before it spat out shadowfire, starting to slowly melt the ice.  Did I forget to mention they are somewhat intelligent? In response, I flared my magic, sending spikes of ice shooting out of the ground in a circle around me to try and strike at them and force them to focus on dodging, rather than attacking.  It looked like there were five of them… well four now, as one ice spike went through one’s head, causing it to explode with shadowfire.  I must have hit its liver.  Seeing their comrade fall so easily, they looked back at me warily, deciding if it was worth it trying to take me as a host.  And for once, unlike the timberwolves from so many stories, they decided to live another day. I sighed thankfully as I let the ice crumble away into nothing.

I muttered as I started  walking away, taking note of the fact that my words came out as growls and whines rather than actual words. That was gonna get annoying fast. Hopefully I could get out of this forest before something else more dangerous decided to say Hi.