Dark Deceptions

"mmmfff" Rainbow dash groaned, lifting herself up off of the cold hard concrete.
"What, what in the name of Celestia?"

"RD? You here too?" a softly accented voice asked.

"I am too" came a more shy and timid voice from the other side of the room. "We all are." Twilight Sparkle chimed in, a hint of fear in her voice.

" Does anypony remember a thing about what the hey happened? Or for that matter where in tarnation we are?" AppleJack asked, getting to her hooves.

"No, not at all" Pinkie said, sitting upright.

"Maybe we should take a look better at our surroundings." Rarity said, dusting herself off.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, but be careful, we don't know what could be around here" Rainbow Dash said while stretching her wings. Looking around in the slight darkness, AppleJack found a small lamp hanging from the ceiling. She turned it on, lighting up the room with a soft yellow glow .She noted that the room was made entirely out of concrete, with only one door behind where the lamp hung, and a small box next to the door.
"Hey, check this out y'all, I found something." AppleJack said, waving her friends over to the door. They were too focused on the door to care about the box.

"Oh for the love of Celestia, It won't budge!" Rainbow Dash said, feeling defeated.

"Guys" Fluttershy started " you might want to take a look at this". She had opened the box and was shaking visibly.

"What is it" Rarity stopped herself at the sight of the trembling mare before her. "Darling, are you..." she gasped at what was in the box. There lay a 9mm bullet, an empty clip, and a small handgun with a small sticky note on it.

"Choose" Fluttershy read, immediately stumbling back and starting to hyperventilate. AppleJack tried to calm her as the other 4 ponies were held, speechless, in front of the box.
"we..me..gun..us..room..one..bullet.." Fluttershy gasped in between breaths.

"Calm down sugercube" AppleJack walked over and wrapped the mare in a reassuring hug.

"We...room......must........choose.......One.........." Fluttershy had passed out from her hyperactive breathing. AppleJack walked over to the box, picking up the handgun, clip and bullet and putting the pieces together.

"Well, she's right you know" Rainbow Dash had started

"No!" Twilight yelled "We are not killing anypony! We can find another way out of here I'm sure." Just like that, as if she had said the magic word, a large timer appeared on a screen on the door. 1:59:59, 1:59:58, 1:59:57. The timer slowly counted down. All 5 conscious ponies eyes widened. AppleJack's mind raced as she looked down at the object in her hooves, the object that was about to mean the fate of one of the six in the room.

"I'll" AppleJack had started, a tear slowly rolling down the side of her face. "I'll do it, I'm willin' to sacrifice myself for y'all, and I'm sure AppleBloom and Big Mac can handle the farm for me" AppleJack said, holding the now loaded gun to the side of her head. The gun was suddenly engulfed in a small aura of magic and thrown to an empty corner of the room.

"For the last time, we are NOT killing anypony! We still have 2 hours, and what's the worst that could possibly happen if we don't do it?" Once again as if the magic word was said, smoke suddenly filled the chamber, making the ponies cough and wheeze.

"Now you've done it!" AppleJack said sarcastically. When the smoke cleared they noticed that a note was placed on the door.

"One or Six" Twilight read the note,then paused for a long moment. "These, These people are..." A tear came to her eye. "...Monsters." She finished the sentence to herself.

"Um in case y'all didn't notice already." AppleJack was pointing to the timer. 0:29:28, 0:29:27.

"What!" Rainbow Dash cried out, hovering in front of the door "We had two hours and now we...we.." she trailed off, landing softly on the hard ground.

"Why is all of this happening to us?" Rarity was sitting on the floor weeping softly.

"Come on guys, we can do this, we can get out of here." She looked at the mares in front of her. Fluttershy was still passed out in the corner, Rainbow Dash and AppleJack were lying together in another corner, Pinkie was lying on her stomach in the middle of the room, and Rarity was lying with her head against the door. Maybe we won't be. She thought to herself.
"Lets try to..."

"Oh can it already!" Rarity snapped, rising to her hooves. "I am sick of your can-do attitude, especially right now! It's hopeless this time Twilight! And you're not helping!"

"Fighting ain't gonna help neither." AppleJack said, approaching the two mares.

"Ugh, you mean isn't going to help either." Rarity scoffed, focusing her anger on the orange earth pony now.

"I am fed up with you and that southern drawl, speak like the rest of us for Celestia's sake!"

"Why you little, I aughta slap the bitch right out of ya!" AppleJack walked towards Rarity and raised a hoof, but Dash and Pinkie held her back. No one had noticed that Fluttershy was waking up now.

"Why don't we kill Flutters? She's asleep! She won't know a damned thing!"

"Rarity! We are not killing her, especially in her sleep! That's just wrong!" Rainbow Dash snapped back at Rarity.

"Well Daring Do, how do you suppose we get out of this?" Rarity questioned mockingly.

"What is wrong with you Rarity?" Twilight asked.

"I want to get out if here, no matter what it takes. Now I'm doing it and there is nothing you can do to stop me!" she started towards the corner but was stopped by Pinkie.

"No Rarity, we're all in this together." During the bickering, Fluttershy had crawled over to the corner where the gun had been, picked it up and took aim. Nopony noticed her.

"She wont know what happened and that's what's going to-" A loud gunshot stopped Rarity in her tracks. She stumbled back, hitting the wall and slumping down, as the life escaped her body. The other four ponies just stood in awe. The sudden realization that their dear friend had just been killed was heart wrenching. They slowly turned, looking at the adjacent corner. Standing there, one teary eye aiming down the sight, was Fluttershy. She dropped the gun, a tear slowly rolling down her cheek.
"Fluttershy" Dash started, as she slowly walked over to the softly weeping pony in the corner. "Fluttershy.." She started again, but she couldn't quite find the words to finish the sentence. Fluttershy had started bawling, now wrapped in the Pegasus's hug. Pinkie was about to start walking over but was interrupted by a loud metallic screech. They all looked over to where the noise was coming from. They were almost too excited that the door had slowly slip open. Rainbow Dash had hovered beside the lamp, and torn it from where it was hanging. Using it to light up the doorway, she saw a set of stairs leading downwards. A few short goodbyes later, they decided to venture down the stairs. AppleJack led, taking the lamp from Rainbow Dash.

"Well, let's see if maybe this gets us the hay outta here." Fluttershy was still kneeled beside the white mares lifeless body, sobbing softly. Twilight walked over.

"It's not your fault Fluttershy, you know that, right?". She placed a hoof on Fluttershy's back.

"I.." The yellow pegasus was still sobbing, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I just didn't know what to do, and she was threatening to kill me..." Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around Twilight and cried harder.

"It's ok Fluttershy, we were all scared and none of us knew what to do."
Twilight helped Fluttershy up onto her hooves, and the two walked back over to the others, who were bunched in a somber group at the door with the lantern faintly lighting the stairwell.

"So, who's first?" Dash asked, being the first to ask the grim question. Nopony wanted to wander down into where ever the stairs led.

"Your adventurous Dash, how 'bout you go first?" AppleJack asked half joking and half not. Rainbow Dash looked down the stairs into the darkness for a few moments and then back at the others.

"Alright, I guess I could do it." Dash stated, trying to reassure herself. She picked the lamp up in her mouth, and started to walk towards the stairs, the others close behind.

"We're right behind you Dash." Pinkie reassuringly stated, the party pony coming back out in her voice.

"Hey, I see a door!" Dash exclaimed, dropping the lamp in her excitement.

"Yeah!" They all yelled happily. They finally were able to leave, able to go back to their homes and vanquish the evil memories made here. They managed to turn the large, heavy crank on the door and all of their hearts dropped at the sight before them. An room was within their wake, one almost duplicate of the one they were just in. Only this one was more well lit.

"Ugh, you've gotta be kidding me!" Dash snapped angrily, walking around and looking at the objects in the corner. The sight before her almost made her throw up. There lay a large hammer and another dreadful note, but there were a few things different about this one.

"Hey wait, does this look more like it was hoofwritten than the last one?" Rainbow Dash asked, turning and looking at the other mares, who were looking around the room.

"What's that?" Pinkie asked, lifting her head from the ground near a crack she was trying to look through.

"You're right Rainbow, and this one is on a full page and not a sticky note." Twilight responded, and then prodded the corner of the paper with a hoof.

"And there's something on it too, it looks like, frosting?" All ponies in the room questioned the word. Well, all but one.

"Frosting?" Pinkie chirped, hopping over to the other two around the note. Pinkie latched her mouth onto the paper and ended up tearing the corner off and chewing it. Dash and Twilight exchanged looks, as the party pony stood, examining the taste of the paper.

"This, this is just like the frosting we use at sugercube corner. That's odd, we use a special blend, and nopony knows just what we put in it."

"Any chance they just had a lucky guess? Maybe the psycho who did this likes your cupcakes but didn't like paying?" AppleJack had risen from the floor next to Fluttershy, and both mares had started towards their friends.

"Maybe, but why not just..." Pinkie cut herself short, leaving the other mares with nothing more than suspicious glances.

"What's with the sudden stop Pinkie? Is something wrong?" Twilight asked, being both firm and somehow gentle at the same time.

"No, nothing. I just remembered that there is a crack in the wall over there." Pinkie raised her hoof and leaned towards the area she had been surveying before.

"I,um, I have an idea that could maybe work?" Fluttershy spoke up for the first time since the last room, her voice a bit crackly.

"What's the idea sugercube?" AppleJack questioned, turning the attention of of Pinkie in the process, who had receded to the rear of the pack and was now lost in her own thoughts.

"Well, we have a hammer." Fluttershy paused and walked over to the crack Pinkie had pointed to.
"And, we have a crack in the wall..." Fluttershy trailed off her last word, seeing if the others to finish her statement for her.

"Fluttershy, that's genius!" Dash exclaimed, rasing off the ground and flying over to the crack, grabbing the hammer as she did.

"Oh, I see, we're gonna break through the wall ain't we?" AppleJack finally had some hope in her as she walked towards the two by the crack.

"Yep" Dash started, talking through her teeth that were tightly clenched on the handle of the hammer.
"You may want to shtand back a bit, I've been told I have quite a backshwing." And with that, Rainbow Dash swung the hammer up, then brought it down hard right above the crack, leaving a large spider web effect on the wall.

"Yeehaw, that's gonna do it Dash! Keep it going!" The ponies were all ecstatic, all but pinkie, who was still thinking about something that the others had no idea of.
"Alright, but we may have to trade off, I can't alwaysh be awshum." Dash chuckled, and wound up for another swing.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The deep voiced words stopped Dash in her tracks, as she dropped the hammer with a loud thud.

"Who, who said that?" Twilight asked, looking around the room just as the rest did. Even Pinkie snapped out of her daze and looked for the source of the voice.

"It is of no use to you who I am. All you need to know is that I have ultimate control of you all. Now pick one to die and stop trying to escape, or else I'll have to use force."

"How can you use force if you ain't even here?" AppleJack piped up, smiling a little at her smartassed comment.

"Oh, that's your thinking is it?" A soft chuckle could be heard before a section of wall from the stairwell opened up, and several large and heavily armed ponies entered. The 5 mares jumped back, and grouped together at the back of the room. Who could the sick,twisted mind behind this all be? Discord? Sombra? The unknowing of who the villain was struck their hearts with fear. A figure walked out, masked by shadows. It seemed a bit shorter than most ponies, but either way, this was the one behind it all.

"Hello noobs." This was the voice of a colt, no older than ten. that would explain the height also, but a child?

"Who, who are you?" Twilight stepped forward and stood in front of her friends, trying to protect them in any way.

"Ha, don't recognize me Twi? I though all that tutoring would've put me in that brain of yours somewhere." Something clicked in Twilight's mind, and she suddenly started to shake.

"Are, is it, B-Button Mash?" Twilight stumbled back, as the other mares gasped at the slightly familiar name. Button Mash was just a colt who loved video games, how could he do something like this? It seemed impossible, like some dark force had taken him over.

"Oh, you got it, nice!" The figure stepped out from the shadows, giggling slightly. His brown mane shone in the light, and his hat seemed to shimmer, but not the yellow and white parts, it was all red.
"So, how are we all?" Button Mash questioned, raising a juice box to his mouth with a hoof.

"What the hay is going on here Mash? And you better tell the truth or I'll-" AppleJack was cut off by two large stallions stepping forwards. AJ gulped, and retreated back to the group.

"That's what I thought. Now, if you really have to know." Button Mash interrupted himself by slipping the last out if his juice box, then throwing the empty box over into an empty corner. "Where to start, hmm, oh I know. So, I was at home playing this awsome video game where ponies are put through these weird traps and tasks and stuff, and I thought hey, how would some of the ponies of ponyville do in this situation? So of course I had to make certain, arrangements, for that to happen." The mares stood motionless, dumbfounded at the twisted mentality of the little colt in front of them.

"You, you killed innocent ponies, for a game?" Twilight barely got the words out, forcing back tears.

"Hey, speak for yourself, I didn't kill anypony. I simply put them through the same sort of thing as the game, kinda like a simulation." Button Mash had stepped even closer to the ponies huddled in the corner.

"I'll show you you little son of a bitch!" Rainbow Dash screamed, grabbing the handle of the hammer so hard that it splintered. Before she could get a good swing, Button Mash had leapt out of the way, and Dash's side was met with a sickening tase. Dash shrieked sharply before falling to the ground, out cold.

"Jeez, trying to kill me." Mash said, looking at the unconscious body. He then looked back up at the others, grinning evily.

"I wonder why?" The colt then started to laugh maniacally, falling on his back and clutching his stomach.

"Why, why are you doing this?" Fluttershy piped up, also barely able to speak through tears.

"Why?" The colt interrupted his own laughter and stood upright once again. "Well, it's an experiment!"

"What kind of experiment is that?" Pinkie asked, stepping to the front of the group. "Killing innocent ponies for fun?"

"Fun? Ugh, you'll never understand. Anyways, I gotta get back to the control room, I put three couples in the other rooms, and I'm not sure how it's going to go over." The crazy pony started towards the door in the stairwell.
"Game on ladies." And with that Button Mash laughed maniacally and all his hench-ponies all entered it, leaving the mares in the room, faced with a harsh decision. Silence wasn't broken for quite some time, but eventually somepony had to say something.

"So what are we gonna do? That crazy lil' colt's gonna keep doing this, and you saw the size of those hench-ponies." Apple had been the first to sit down minutes ago, and was now this first to stand back up. She stood in the middle of the room and surveyed the visible emotional damage done to her friends.

"Well, maybe we should wait till, um, she wakes up?" Fluttershy had moved Rainbow Dash over to a corner, and had her laid beside her and was softly trying to wake her.

"That's reasonable, but when she does, what exactly are we gonna do?" AppleJack stood beside Fluttershy for a moment then slowly lowered herself down.

"I wish we could just get out of here, we could all use a Pinkie Party." Pinkie had rolled over onto her back, and was staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Wait a minute, party..." Twilight trailed off slightly and tried to remember why that word seemed to have some significance at the moment.

"What? I just said party, there's nothing wrong or anything." Pinkie chuckled nervously, trying to ease the tension with comedy.

"Pinkie, are you hiding something? You seem, different." Twilight stood up now, and stared daggers at the pink party pony on the floor. Pinkie stood up and looked Twilight in the face.

"I didn't do anything! Well, not on purpose..."

"Pinkie Pie."

"What?"

"You know I still have that mind reading spell!"

"No! I didn't do anything Twilight I swear to Celestia!" Pinkie was shaking now. She knew what she'd done.

"That's it!" Twilight leaned in and tapped her horn on Pinkies forehead.

"C'mon you guys, the party's gonna be over when we get there if we go this slow!" Pinkie was hopping quickly through the slightly wooded area, every now and then her hooves would snap Some twigs or crush some leaves.

"Slow down sugercube, we'll get there before the party starts." AppleJack was pulling a small cart containing some apple themed treats: Caramel dipped, pies, tarts, etcetera.

"Yeah, and besides, we are the party Pinkie." Rainbow Dash was also carrying some treats in a saddlebag. She had bought them, as she wasn't really a baker.

"I don't know, this all seems a bit weird, I didn't even think ponies lived out here." Twilight was really the only one who was feeling this, all the others were quite excited.

"Oh hush darling, I'm sure it will just be some new ponies to town doing a meet and greet." Rarity was levitating a small pouch of assorted candies and treats in front of her.

"Yeah, and I'm sure that this party won't be as good as one of your parties Pinkie Pie." Fluttershy also had a saddlebag with some baked goods, only she had made these herself.

"Yeah Twi, it'll be great!" Pinkie stopped her hopping when they approached a medium sized cottage with a large knocker on the door. Rarity took it in her magic and knocked a few times. The door opened and a blurry pony stood in the doorway. The world started falling apart as the memory faded.

The spell had only taken a few seconds to complete, and now all but Dash stood in one corner, Twilights expression changed to a mixture of anger and disgust.

"You, you did this! You took us to that party and then, then..." Twilight had got right up in Pinkies face, pushing the pink pony up against the wall.

"I'm sorry Twilight, I didn't know that it was going to be a bad party" tears were flowing from pinkies eyes and rolling down her face.

"What the hay happened? What did you see Twi?" AppleJack had separated the two mares, as to stop them from killing each other.

"Pinkie here is the one who caused all this! She's the reason Rarity and Celestia knows how many more ponies were killed for no reason!" Twilight pushed AppleJack aside harshly and prodded Pinkies chest with a hoof.
"And now we have a reason! At least I do!" Twilight pushed Pinkie to the floor and walked over to the hammer. The handle was engulfed in a faint purple glow, and when she turned around she was met with AppleJack holding her back with a hoof.

"Hold it Missy, we ain't killin' her, I don't care if she is responsible, she didn't do it on purpose." AppleJack looked back for a second to see Fluttershy cradling Pinkie as both cried.

"Look at her, she didn't mean nopony no harm. And you should know that she would never be in on this." The two mares stood, face to face, staring daggers into each other's eyes.

"Well guess what AJ, we need to sacrifice somepony and we have a motive for killing her so I'm doing it!" Twilight picked up the hammer with her magic again.

"My flank you are!" AppleJack yelled, as she turned and bucked Twilight in the side, sending her across the room and the hammer to the ground in front of her.

"Huh, that's it then? You all side with her and im left to die? Seems rather like you're all picking favourites!" Twilight tried to get to her hooves, but pain stopped her short, and she fell to the floor with a short, sharp of pain.
"You, think just because shes crying that she's innocent?" Twilight braced the pain and slowly stood up. She looked at Pinkie, then back at AppleJack.
"She's gonna die AJ, then we can get out of here, and if not, it's you!" Twilight grabbed the hammer with her magic and flung it at AppleJack. AppleJack had anticipated such and was able to jump out of the way just in time, and the hammer struck the wall right near Dash, startling her from her unconscious state.

"What is, what's going on?" She rubbed her head and tried to move, but was still slightly paralyzed.

"AppleJack here is trying to save Pinkie Pie, the one who caused this!" Twilight had just dodged a buck from AppleJack and now was standing adjacent to her, AppleJack standing in front of Pinkie and Fluttershy.

"Dash, you know that Pinkie Pie would never cause us harm on purpose right?" AppleJack was panting heavily from the ongoing battle, as was Twilight.

"Of course not, what's the matter with you Twilight? You know Pinkie and she wouldn't hurt a fly, well, maybe by hugging it." Rainbow Dash had got to her hooves, but wasn't able to move well.

"You just don't get it do you? Whether she did it on purpose or not, she's involved, that means she's more guilty than the rest of us, and therefore she is the one to die!" Twilight started towards the other side of the room to the hammer, but was met with a backhoof to the eye.

"Stop it Twi!" AppleJack yelled.

"You can't stop me!" Twilight used her wings to push her off the ground, and she flew past AppleJack, swiping her with a wing and knocking her to the ground as she did.

"Ow, dammit." AppleJack held a hoof to her forehead, then looked at it. It was covered in blood.
"Ok Missy, now your starting to piss me off!" AppleJack got to her feet quickly and let at Twilight, pinning her to the ground. She struck her in the face once but Twilight kicked her off and grabbed the hammer one more time.

"You know what, I don't even care anymore, it's your turn to die AJ." She raised the hammer and AppleJack closed her eyes. When she heard a grunt and a thud instead of dying, she opened an eye. Rainbow Dash had flew directly into Twilight, winding both of them. AppleJacks mind raced as she grabbed the hammer with her teeth.
"I'm shorry Twi." A tear fell to the floor as she brought the hammer up, them another fell as she cruelly brought it down on Twilight's skull. The blood hit her face and also was sent at Dash, who blocked it from her face with a wing. AppleJack felt queasy, and she immediately ran out to the stairwell as to not have the others have to see her vomiting. A minute or two later, AppleJack walked into the doorway and looked at the mares before her.

"AJ..." Rainbow Dash had walked up to her and AppleJack could tell Dash had been crying, although it was faint.

"It needed to be done. I ain't proud of it." AppleJacks tone was grimmer then the scene that befell her inside the room. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were still huddled in the corner, and she could tell that Dash was having an inner breakdown.

"Yeah, I figured." The two started towards the door that had opened up soon after Twilight exhaled her final breath. They all gathered there bearings and said there goodbyes, then Dash grabbed the lamp and poked her head through the dark doorway.

"Another stairwell." Dash groaned, and she started to walk slowly down the stairs. Once again just a plain room met them at the bottom.

"You've gotta be fuckin kidding me." AppleJack stated, collapsing on the floor with a large exhale.
"I mean really."

"Well, the door in this room is bigger, maybe it could lead to an exit?" Fluttershy had stopped crying, Pinkie had not. She was standing solemnly near one wall, and was still softly sobbing.
"Hold onto that thought Fluttershy, are you ok Pinkie?" Dash walked over to Pinkie, who was looking at herself in a clear, shiny surface that could almost be considered mirror.

"This is my fault" Pinkie was barely speaking, and Rainbow Dash had to get closer to hear her.

"What was that Pinks?" Dash asked, using one of Pinkies nicknames to try to lighten the mood.

"This is my fault, it's all my fault isn't it?" Pinkie looked down and cried deeply now. Dash walked up to her and wrapped her in a hug.

"It's not your fault Pinkie, it's noponys fault. At least nopony in this room." Rainbow Dash refused a tear as she cradled the pink pony in her hooves.

"No, it is my fault. I'm the one who took you all to that party, and I'm the one who didn't say anything when that mares cupcakes tasted funny." Pinkie had dropped from Dash's embrace and walked over to a different corner.

"See if the door will open, if it does, leave me, I don't ever want to see a cupcake or throw a party ever again." Pinkie had gone from sorrow and despair to regret and self-hatred.

"But Pinkie..."

"Just, Just go Dashie."

Rainbow Dash looked towards Fluttershy and AppleJack in the kind of help me out here way.

"Sugercube, we ain't leaving you here. If that door opens then we're all getting out." AppleJack had walked up to Pinkie as Fluttershy walked to the door.

"AppleJack, I'm staying here." Pinkies voice was stern, a tone AppleJack wasn't used to coming from her.

"I don't agree with that decision, but I don't think i can convince ya so, I guess if the door opens then this is goodbye."

"Yes it is."

"Are you ever gonna come back?"

"No." This wasn't Pinkie Pie anymore. This wasn't the bubbly, hyperactive party pony they all knew and loved. The mare before her was the shell of somepony that was a pleasure seeing everyday. Her hair wasn't poofy, but instead was strait down, and her tone was solemn and grim rather then her usually overall peppiness.

"We got it, it's open!" Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were so excited about the possibility of freedom that they had left the other two mares alone in the room.

"Pinkie Pie, just promise me this."

"What is it?" Pinkie Pie turned and looked AppleJack in the face, and she could see the sadness in her eyes.

"Just make it painless, you've suffered enough as it is." AppleJack hugged Pinkie Pie then she started towards the door. As she reached the doorway she looked and saw Pinkie going towards the stairwell. She sighed heavily as she turned back to the hallway before her. She tried to forget sadness and succeeded, as she started running full tilt to catch up with the two mares that got the head start. Her heart sank a bit when she saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy stopped at a door.

"Hey, I'm here, what the hey is this?" AppleJack asked in between breaths, pointing a hoof at the door.

"Well, it seems that,um, there's a door that needs to be opened. And if we all work together I'm sure we can kick it open or something." Fluttershy was examining the door top to bottom,as was Dash.

"Yeah, I'm sure you could buck it open by yourself, so we can totally do this."

"Alright, let's do it." The door was only a wooden everyday use kind of door, but it had a slight bit of reinforcement to it.
"On the count of three, one, two, three!" The three mares were able to kick the door down with ease, though it took quite a bit out of them exerting all that force at once. The sight before them was something that they would describe as almost magical.

"Where are we?" AppleJack was looking around the unfamiliar territory. It looked just like a regular forest, trees swaying in the breeze, leaves and twigs crackling under their hooves.

"I don't care! I'm just glad I'm out!" Dash had flown up and was doing some aerial acrobatics, more than ecstatic to be free again. After the momentary celebrations ended, the three mares stood together under a tree, one on a hill that overlooked part of Ponyville.

"We're free?" AppleJack asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes." Dash started. "Yes we are." A tear slowly rolled down her face as she looked at the buildings below, the orangeish glow of the setting sun made it even more beautiful.

"Although, I feel that we should alert the princesses of,um, well you know" Fluttershy turned her head. In the distance, she could see three other ponies walking and limping towards them.

"But that can wait. So can the mourning, let's just savour the moment while we can." And with that, the three mares wrapped their hooves around each other in a group hug.

"So, twelve enter and six leave." Button Mash spun around on his chair and hooped to the floor.
"Hm, don't worry Mash, you got away with all this in a way. In a way, you won, but you also lost. But, not all games have a destined fate, some games have choice, decisions to be made. But in the end, it's all the same. I guess that somep-" Buttons speech was interrupted by a loud gunshot, and that was the last noise that came from within that building.