Author's Note
I dreamed this a couple nights ago. Had to change a few things, but it's most of what happened.
Dice and Death
“What do stallions see in this game anyway?” Rarity asked as she tossed the dice with an idle flick of a hoof.
“Ogres and Oubliettes isn’t just for stallions, Rarity,” Twilight said. “It’s a fun, fantasy adventure for ponies of all ages who-”
“Yeah, yeah. We know, Twilight. We only agreed to this because Spike, Discord, and Big Macintosh still want to keep their guy’s night for the guys. I wanna be a daring rogue like Daring Do and steal ancient relics!” Rainbow Dash did a backflip in the air and then posed.
“Ah’m just here cause y’all promised me supper,” Applejack muttered.
“Um… Discord says it’s a good way to socialize,” Fluttershy said from behind her drooping mane.
“Girls, don’t worry so much. Pinkie will be here soon, and we’ll all be on our way.” Twilight pulled out a cardboard screen and covered her section of the table. “I’ve devised a short adventure for you to ease you into it, so don’t worry, it’ll all make sense and be over soon if you’re not enjoying yourselves.” There was the thud of books hitting the table, and parchment being unrolled.
“I certainly hope so. Playing pretend seems so… foalish.” Rarity lifted up one of the figurines and held it up to look at it.
The door burst open and Pinkie Pie hopped into the room, carrying treats, tea, and other sweet things on her back. “Whoooooo’s hungry?”
A murmur went around the crystalline table as Pinkie pulled a portable table from her mane, complete with tablecloth, and set up the snacks on it. Everything she had on her back was expertly tossed to the table, arranging itself in a pleasing manner. Pinkie then took one of everything and sat down at an empty seat, picking up the sheet of parchment in front of her to look at it.
Everypony else stood up to get a snack except Twilight, who cleared her throat. “Okay girls. The game today is that you are all a different class, and you’re fighting off the witty wizard wearwolf. He’s dressed his best, in a full pinstripe suit, complete with a bowler hat and a golden cane topped with a fat gemstone.”
Rarity sighed. “A well-dressed enemy. This I like.”
“Now, each of your classes. Take a look at the sheet of paper I’ve given you and learn your abilities. You’ll use them to fight the wearwolf. Pinkie, you’re a bard. You fight with music.”
Pinkie Pie pulled out a harmonica and blew a few quick notes with a smile.
“Rainbow Dash, you’ll be a rogue like you wanted. Your skills are similar to Daring Do, I think you’ll be fine.”
“Awesome!”
“Applejack, you’re a simple fighter. Sturdy and strong. All you have to do is attack things, it shouldn’t be too complicated.”
“Y’all know me too well, sugarcube.”
“Rarity, you get to be a sorcerer, because you don’t want to get your hooves dirty fighting up close.”
“Of course, dear. That’s perfect.”
“Now, let’s get start-”
“Um, Twilight?”
“What is it, Fluttershy?”
“What about me?”
“You?” Twilight rolls a dice. She looks at the result, then over at Fluttershy. Her voice becomes guttural and deep, and her eyes roll back in her head. “A͠re͝ ̸t̴he̸ f͟írs͡t͞ ͞to҉ d̢i̡e.͜
Fluttershy screamed as she was bent sideways in her seat. Her spine snapped and a black void crept over her, pulling her into itself. It tore feathers off her wings and flesh ripped off her bones, everything slipping into the void until there was nothing left except half her seat.
The rest of the ponies in the room stared at where Fluttershy had been sitting. Rainbow Dash dropped her plate and nopony made a sound until Applejack spoke up.
“Wut in tarnation-?”
“Róll ͟f̶o͘r̵ ini̧ti̛ati͟ve!”
“Wait, what? Twilight, what the hay happened to Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash demanded.
“Ro͠l̕l͠ ͠fo̴r͘ ̡in̵i͠t͡iativ̧e̡!”
“Ah don’t know what that means!”
Twilight’s head tilted back and her mouth opened. Some black substance started pouring out of her mouth, trickling down her neck. She picked up a dice and held it up in her magic, then tossed it out on the table. It rolled across the crystal surface, bumping into the miniatures, and ended up in front of Applejack. The number on top showed twenty for a moment, then the lines started warping and shifting, dancing over the surface of the dice.
“Uhhh…” Applejack poked it first, but when nothing happened, she picked it up and tossed it. It rolled across the table toward Twilight, but veered off to end up in front of Rarity, who flinched away from it. “There! Done! Bring Fluttershy back!”
“Th͟e rest͏ of̢ ͞y҉o͏u͏, ̡a̴s̶ ͞we̵l̀l.̧”
Rarity picked it up and tossed it across the room with her magic. It flew through the air, bounced of a wall and back to the table, rolling in front of Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie shook her head, her mane flat against her head.
“This game isn’t fun anymore!”
"Y̧o͘ư want҉ ̷ţo̴ ͏qui͞t?̢"
Pinkie Pie nodded quickly, her distress evident. Twilight coughed and vomited up more inky-black goop. Her mouth opened even wider, her jaw cracking until it was open to a ninety-degree angle. Pinkie suddenly sat straight up in her seat, then her torso curved wildly backward, billowing out behind her in a semicircle, then disappearing into thin air at a point behind her. She started to spool backward into the point, vanishing within a few seconds.
“Buck, no!” Rainbow Dash zipped toward the door and out into the halls.
Twilight’s head tilted further backward. Her eyes were emitting smoke. Pale purple trails of acrid gas swirling up from her head to collect at the ceiling. Rarity had her head in her hooves and was covering her eyes on the table as she cried, her makeup trickling down her cheeks with her tears.
“Okay! We rolled! What now?” Applejack demanded, slamming a hoof against the table.
“T͠h̡e ̢w͜ic̴k͟e͜d w̷ear͘wo̡lf ̧wo̡rk̡s h̕i͞s wíl̷ès̡, ͟w̧o͜r̛r̵y͝in̨g҉ ͝a̡wa͜y̴.̶
͞He͜ ̢ta̢k̡e̶s ͟to t̛érŕor͜,̛ ̛tea̶ring ͟t̵ot̸s͘ ̧a̸n͢d͏ t̢ak͏in͝g t͘h́em tǫday.͡
̡Hiş ͝d̴e͢a̷dl̢y dan͜c͠e̴,͏ ̢he͟ ̵d͞anc̨e͜s well,̛ a͟ ̕deft̡ a̸n̶d da̴i͞ly ̷deed.̸
̕F̵ór up ҉a̡h́e͢ad,͠ a fr͜įg͡htf̢u͡l ͟face̕, ̨a̛ f̢or͡c̷e̷ful͠ ̕f̷e̶ar to fęed̢.”
Rarity sobbed harder, pulling her mane down to bury her face. There was a sound out in the hallway, and through the open door, something with a rainbow color bounced past, leaving a trail of ash that floated upward and disappeared.
"̀T́ak͡e͝ ̕yoúr ͠túr͜n."͝
“Turn? What th’ hay do you mean, turn?”
"̛Fight ̸b͜ack. ̢S̸top ͞the͝ ̀wo͘l̀f͝."
“Uh…” Applejack stared at Twilight as the alicorn’s head slowly continued folding backward in on itself. She walked closer, raised a hoof, and punched Twilight in the side of the head.
Twilight rolled away from the table, crumpling without much effort on Applejack’s part. Her head continued folding back ward, her mane starting to disappear into her neck. Some of the black gunk had gotten on Applejack’s hoof, and she shook it to get it off. It didn’t go, and started to grow in size, tingling as it crawled up her leg.
“Aw, horsefeathers! Rarity! Rarity I need your help!” Applejack tried to walk over to Rarity, but her limb was no longer responding. She hobbled over to the weeping mare, who jumped back in horror.
“No! Stay away from me! Don’t come near me! I don’t want whatever that is you have!” she screeched.
“Please, just-“
Applejack was cut off as the black goop crawled swiftly up her neck and down her throat. Her front half went limp and she melted into a puddle of slime which burbled quietly on the floor.
Rarity stared around at the room. Empty save for herself and Twilight, who didn’t appear to be doing well.
"Ŕol͏l ̷t̸he d̴i̛ce҉. ̵T̸ake ͝y͞our̴ t̛urn. St҉oṕ t̶he͘ Wolf͏. D͏o̸n't ̨be̢ seen.̴"̀
Rarity sobbed. “I don’t know what you mean. Why is this happening?”
“I thought you wanted to play a game?” The voice came from hallway, and Rarity could see a huge canine muzzle outside. It grinned as it passed by, eventually reaching a massive eye that filled the open doorway. “Roll the dice.”
The End.
