Another night, another slumber party at Pinkie Pie's place. Now, everyone did love Pinkie's slumber parties. It would usually be the highlight of the weekend for the girls most of the time. But there was that small little thought that they would all have occasionally: they all started feeling the same. While it was still incredibly fun, non-stop food, drinks, music and video games does get old after doing it all hundreds of times. If only there were some way to spice things up a little. Something a little new...
Pinkie Pie had gathered all of the girls into her bedroom and left to grab snacks. To pass the time, Rainbow Dash was currently searching through her cabinet that was filled with video games. She traced her finger across many of the boxes' spines and pulled one out to show to Applejack, who was patiently waiting to kick her butt at a game.
"This one?" Rainbow asked, holding up a game with a small yellow food truck and little chefs on top of it on the cover.
Applejack shook her head. "We played that last time," she responded.
"Right." Rainbow said silently before slipping the game back into place. She searched once more and smiled as she saw another game. "How about this?" She now held up a game with a cover that consisted of racecars and bikes competing on a track made out of a rainbow.
"We've played that about a million times." Another no from Applejack.
Rainbow frowned as she looked once again. Then she found one that Applejack couldn't possible say no to. She'd be insane if she did. She showed her the box. It was a fighting game that had many, many characters.
Applejack just looked. Her face never changed from the patient yet also bored expression she wore the last few minutes of Rainbow Dash searching.
"Oh, come on!" Rainbow moaned. "What do you want to play then?"
"Ah don't know. Is there not one game in there we haven't played in a while?" Applejack asked, leaning her head against her fist.
Rainbow sighed and leaned against the open drawer, closing it with her back. "No."
"How about movies?" Twilight suggested, sitting on the side of Pinkie's bed.
"Twilight, dear, it's thanks to how many times we've seen these movies that I can practically recite the script of Harry Trotter and the Candelabra of Phantoms," Rarity joined in from the other side of the bed, sliding a hair pin into Fluttershy's hair.
"And you know that... how?"
"Trust me," Rarity replied quietly. She had a look of regret as she continued to work.
The bedroom fell into silence once more. No one really had any idea of what to do.
Sunset, who was laying on the bed let out a sigh. She sat up to look at everyone. "It's not exactly what it used to be, is it?" She was greeted with a bunch of shameful shakes of five other heads. Sunset then nodded, getting the answer she expected.
Rarity sighed. "Lord. I hate to admit, but it has quite lost its magic after all these years. We must've had about..." She spun her wrist around trying to think of a number. "...hundreds of slumber parties at this point."
"Two hundred and seventeen," Rainbow said, still sitting by the drawers.
Everyone then turned their heads towards her, staring confusingly.
"How do you know that?" Twilight asked.
"It's on her calendar." Rainbow Dash pointed towards a bright pink calendar with 'May' written with balloons. There was a red circle around the 19th with writing in the box that read 'Slumber Party #217'.
Fluttershy looked down at the floor while Rarity was finishing with her hair. "Pinkie would be very sad if she found out."
"What's that about finding out?" Pinkie Pie returned with bottles of soda, cups and a box of pizza.
The room went suddenly silent as all of the girls began looking at to see who would give an answer. The smile on Pinkie's face fell as she became confused. There was something her friends weren't telling her.
Applejack cleared her throat, stood up and placed her hand on Pinkie's shoulder. "Well... ya see, sugarcube... You know that we love bein' here, but..."
"It's gotten boring," Rainbow jumped in. She quickly received a punch in the arm from Fluttershy.
"What?!" Pinkie said in disbelief.
"No, no! What Rainbow was tryin' to say is we all kinda strive for somethin' a little... new."
Pinkie cocked her head to the side. "New? Hmm." She began tapping her chin. "Well, I don't know what I have that we've never done before."
"It doesn't have t' be anythin' mind blowin'," Applejack clarified. "Just somethin' new is all."
The smile on Pinkie's face returned and she clicked her fingers. "Be right back!" And just like that, she ran back out, dropping the pizza box and bottles of soda onto the floor. The bottles began to fizz with only a thin plastic cap barely containing the pressure.
The girls retreated behind Pinkie's bed, shielding themselves from the possibly impending explosion. When they realised it was safe, they poked their heads over the bed and looked at the ready to blow drinks.
"Five bucks to who opens one," Rainbow said.
A few minutes later, Pinkie was back with a small, beaten up paper box.
"What'cha got there, Pinkie?" Twilight asked.
Pinkie held up the box for everyone to see. "Playing cards."
"...Seriously?" Rainbow responded.
Pinkie opened the box's flap. "Oh, come on. There's lots you can do with cards: Go Fish, Solitaire..."
"Poker?" Sunset suggested.
"T rating for profanity, Sunset."
Applejack put her hand up. "How 'bout a game of Shithead?"
Her suggestion received a gasp from Rarity. "Applejack! Language!"
"What? It's a real game." Applejack snickered at the lady's response.
"Nothing's better than a quick game of 52 Card Pickup," Rainbow Dash said before jumping up and slapping the box out of Pinkie's hand and into the air.
The cards flew all over the place, but before any of them could hit the floor, Rainbow Dash had used her superspeed to catch them all.
"And boom," she said as she held a tidied stack of cards. She almost handed them all back to Pinkie before she noticed something strange about the cards. "Pinkie, these aren't playing cards..."
Pinkie raised her eyebrow and looked at the stack.
Rainbow turned to everyone else. "She's got UNO!" she announced cheerfully, showing them the colourful card.
Everyone's faces, minus Sunset's, all lit up with excitement. They all stood up from their spots and made their way to the table that sat in front of the bed. Rainbow Dash placed the deck in the centre and everyone began drawing their cards.
However, Sunset hadn't moved from the bed. She just looked at them, all confused.
Twilight noticed that Sunset wasn't with them. She turned around to look at her. "You coming to play, Sunset?"
Sunset rubbed her neck and nervously giggled. "I would, but... I've never played this game before."
"What?!" Rainbow shouted with shock. "How have you never played UNO?"
Sunset shrugged. "Just never picked it up."
"Come down here. We'll teach you how to play." Twilight patted on the empty spot next to her. Sunset crawled off the bed and sat in-between Twilight and Applejack.
"Alright Sunset. Now, the rules are simple. Ya just draw seven cards..." Applejack gestured to the deck of cards in the centre of the table. Sunset picked out her cards. "...then you place down a card that either matches the colour, number or symbol until your hand's empty. Ya got all that?"
"Yeah, I understand." Sunset nodded.
"Then let us begin," Pinkie said before sliding one last card off of the deck and placing it beside the deck, faced upwards. A red card with a big, bold white 5 in the middle. "I'll go first." Pinkie then drew a card from her hand. A red 2.
It was now Twilight's turn. "Are we doing 7s and 0s?" she asked.
"Why not," Rarity answered. "Teach Sunset everything to the game as it goes along."
Twilight placed down a blue 2, leading it to now being the newbie's turn.
Sunset's first ever card placement. She never did see herself ever playing this game, but her friends seem to love it. She was excited for the mayhem that was about to unfold! She placed her card.
"Sunset. That's a green 3," Pinkie pointed out.
"Yes," Sunset replied.
"...You can't place that." Pinkie took the card and handed it back to Sunset.
"Why not?"
"You can only place a card if the colour or number matches," Rainbow repeated.
Sunset searched through her hand once again. She leaned towards Twilight and turned her cards to her. "Can I play that one?" she whispered.
Twilight shook her head.
"That one?"
"You don't have a card you can play, Sunset," Twilight told her.
"What do I do then?" Sunset asked.
"If you don't have a card you can play, you draw from the deck until you get one," Twilight explained, gesturing to the deck.
Sunset felt quite annoyed to hear that. Her first time playing the game and already it seemed that her ass was getting kicked. But she decided to bear with it for now as the tides may turn later. So, she started drawing. First card: a green 9. No use. She drew another card: red 6. Then another. A black card... Useless. She drew again.
"Wait! You can play that one!" Twilight interjected Sunset's drawing.
Sunset raised her eyebrow and showed her the card. "But this isn't blue."
"That's a Wild Card. You can place it down regardless of colour and choose what colour it will be for the next player," Twilight explained in great detail.
Sunset just sat there frozen. She was very confused.
Twilight sighed and took the card from her. She placed it down herself and crossed her arms. "Pick a colour."
Sunset stared the strange card. "Uhh... black."
"Can't choose black."
"Why not?!" Sunset was getting annoyed. They said this was simple.
Twilight pointed to the colourful oval graphic on the card. "You can only choose between those four colours."
"Fine. Red," she finally answered correctly.
"Mah turn now," Applejack said, placing down a red card with two white arrows pointing in opposite directions. "Back to you, Sunset."
Sunset's head snapped to Applejack. "Excuse me?"
"Reverse card," Applejack pointed out. "We now play in the opposite direction."
"I see." Sunset looked through her cards. A smile drew across her face as she actually had a card she could play. Red 8.
It was back to Twilight now. She placed down another black card, but this was was different. It read +4 at two corners. "Blue," she said.
"Ah, dammit. Got moves there, Sparkle. But I'll get you back for that," Pinkie warned, reaching for the draw pile. However, she stopped midway when a thought came to her. "Hol' up. Are we doing the 'Challenge' rule?"
"Oh, yeah! Forgot about that one," Rainbow Dash said.
Twilight pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Well, I don't think it's a popular rule outside the video game version. But sure, we can do that. So, what's it going to be, Pinkie? Think I played illegally?"
Pinkie Pie put a finger on her chin as she tried to make her fifty/fifty chance decision. "Hmm. Given the fact that you confidently allowed the rule, especially after already playing the card, that may mean that you really didn't have another card to play. But then again, maybe that's what you WANTED me to think to throw me off..."
"Well?" Twilight's sinister smile grew wider.
"Uhh... I'll play it safe for now. But next time, hoo, I'm gonna get you!" Pinkie then finally took her four cards.
Meanwhile, Sunset was dumbfounded at the scene she just witnessed. It looked like nothing more than a simple, children's card game. But it seemed that there was a certain degree of problem solving with an element of lottery. That, on top of the rules almost literally upon rules, it was all making her head spin. What chance did she have against everyone? She felt like a cavewoman discovering fire for the entertainment of six Einsteins.
"Time for the master to finally join the game!" Rainbow Dash announced. "Boom." Blue 6.
Fluttershy followed on with a blue 9. Rarity, a blue 5. Now, it was back to Applejack. Sunset saw that she was bearing a grin. What was she up to?
"Sorry, Sunset," she began. Sunset did not like where this was going at all. "But Ah gotta make ya learn the hard way." A blue +2 was then thrown onto the played deck.
"Draw two, Sunset," Twilight told her.
Sunset didn't move. Something snapped inside of her. Her head slowly moved around, giving each of the girl's a deadly glare. "You're all fucking cheating!" she said angrily.
"Hey now, calm down, Sunset," Applejack said to her. "That's just the ways of the game. It's unpredictable. Ya never know when someone's gonna show your ass to the door." She laughed.
Sunset grunted and drew two more cards. She wasn't going to let Applejack bring her down like this. It was a rocky start, but the real game begins now! She looked through her hand for a blue, only to be stopped by Twilight taking a turn.
Sunset jaw fell. She couldn't believe this. "Did you just skip me?"
Twilight just looked at her weirdly. "What...? Oh! No. You're turn gets skipped if you've been +2'd or 4'd."
"...I am pretty sure you're all just cheating because I'm new! How could you do me like this?"
"Trust us, we're not trying to mess with you, these really are the rules of the game," Rarity cleared up reassuringly.
Sunset still wasn't buying it however. "Are you sure? Because I am being brutally beaten here and for some reason it doesn't seem fair!"
"Listen, we get it." Rainbow joined in. "The game's a kick in the balls, but believe me, we haven't even come near the real chaos that this game makes." She then began snickering at a sudden thought. "Remember that time we gave Fluttershy a +10?"
"Oh yeah!" Pinkie began laughing at the memory. "She didn't sit with us for three days after that."
"Don't think I've forgiven any of you for that," Fluttershy said sinisterly. "Tonight, I'll have my revenge."
Now Sunset just felt scared. If this wasn't the worst it can go, she wasn't looking forward to later.
But then, something came to Sunset's head. "Wait a second, you all just found out that Pinkie had UNO, right?" Everyone looked at each other, then back to Sunset and they all nodded. "And now you're saying you've all played here before?"
Pinkie snorted. "Not here, silly! There's a deck in the library. We use to play it all the time before you arrived at the school. Even I completely forgot I owned it."
"Why doesn't it have it's own box?" Fluttershy asked.
"When we were kids, I played with all of my sisters. Limestone had such a losing streak that she took it out on the box. Luckily, we kept the cards away from her. We then emptied a box of playing cards and left it in the cupboard under the stairs since."
"Huh," Sunset just responded.
"Anyways, back to the game!" Pinkie slapped down a yellow 3.
Rainbow Dash rubbed her chin. "I think I'm gonna save this for a rainy day." Yellow 5.
"That sounds like a lovely hand you've got there, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said kindly. She placed a yellow 0. "Give it to me."
Before she could understand what was happening this time, Sunset's hand was stolen by Twilight and she was given Applejack's. She looked to Twilight in confusion, for the mentor to pick up on Sunset's curiosity before she could even ask. "As part of the 7s and 0s rule, 0 causes the hands to rotate in the direction of play."
"What does the 7 do?" Sunset asked.
"You'll find out." Twilight gave her a wink.
Fluttershy looked at her hand with regret. "Yeesh. Take this back, Rainbow Dash."
"What's wrong with it?" Rainbow asked sarcastically with a cheeky smirk.
"I use to have cards I could actually play."
"Well, you've helped me out a bunch, darling." Rarity put her hand on Fluttershy's shoulder. "Have another turn." Yellow reverse.
"Oh no, Rarity, you're too generous. I want you to take your shot." Fluttershy carried on the sweetness with a green reverse.
"No, my dear, I insist that you go." Rarity placed a third reverse, this time being blue.
"Oh, if you say so." Fluttershy finally admitted defeat, given the fact that she had no more reverses to continue the train. In fact, looking at her hand, she had not many more choices. All except one. "Guess if I must. Rainbow Dash...!" She placed down another +4 card. "Green," she declared.
"As if!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "Show me that hand!"
Fluttershy froze for a moment. "...Rainbow. You remember this was your hand, right? Barely even a minute ago."
Everyone at the table could see the mental cogs turning in Rainbow Dash's head as she tried to remember. Horror then plastered her face as she recalled her former hand. "Dammit."
Now Fluttershy just felt bad, but that wasn't going to deter her from wanting to win. "I think you should-"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll draw my six," sighed Rainbow Dash as she reached for the result of a major loss. It was on to Pinkie again, who placed a green skip card. From what Sunset gathered, it was now her turn once more. So, a green skip. That means she had one card to play. She placed a green 6.
Applejack searched through her hand for a choice, but before she could find a good card, Fluttershy suddenly interjected with a choice of her own, declaring, "Jump in!"
Applejack gasped in shock of the timid girl's rudeness. "That was cheap, Fluttershy!"
"You snooze, you lose!" Fluttershy said, sticking her tongue out as a response.
"Oh God, now what?" Sunset asked. Once more, another rule that she didn't get. She began wondering if it would ever end.
"Well, Fluttershy over here decided that she should steal mah turn because she had the exact same card as the one you played, colour and number," Applejack explained. "Hate that rule."
It was back to Rainbow Dash, who now sported quite the large hand. She searched her wide library, all while sneaking a peak at Fluttershy's much smaller hand. An impudent grin crossed her face as she slapped down a green 0. The cards were passed around once more. The current player shot from last place all the way into the lead with two remaining cards. In return she received glares from the the girls to her immediate left and right.
"This is the grossest shit ever, Dashie!" Pinkie complained.
"Why do you think I got rid of it?" the guilty one returned with a snicker.
"Well, fuck you! Red!" Pinkie placed another Wild Card.
Sunset was blown away by the sudden hostility. They were all just about adults, sure, but she is certain she heard Pinkie Pie cuss more tonight than all the years she has known her. It was getting increasingly obvious, the influence this game had on people.
Following onwards, Twilight placed down a pair of red 6s. Having paid attention to the situation, Sunset could gather that playing two of the exact same cards was apparently allowed. She then placed a red 9. Then Rarity stealing Applejack's turn with another red 9.
"Can ya'll let me play, please?!" Applejack scolded.
"Not happening, darling." Rarity threw up her nose.
Fluttershy followed with another Wild Card. Unlike Rainbow Dash, she remembered her old hand. "Yellow."
As a result, Rainbow began drawing new cards. She drew one card before placing it down, much to the disappointment of the scheming one. Yellow 9. Pinkie had just about placed down her next card, but in a scramble, Fluttershy chimed in with another yellow 9, announcing loudly and proudly, "UNO!"
The sudden outburst scared the wits out of Sunset. "Jesus, Fluttershy! Mind warning me?" Sunset told her off. "Why'd you have to shout like that?"
Normally, anyone would have expected Fluttershy to hide herself behind her card from embarrassment, but instead, a scary facial expression was on her face as she held her remaining card close to her heart. "I'm winning this thing!"
Sunset turned to who seemed to be her only friend left. "Twilight?"
"When you have one card left, you must declare 'UNO'. Get caught not doing so, draw two," the bespectacled girl explained.
Despite the sudden sense of superiority the long-haired one had, it was short lived as another loud, "UNO!" was called by Rainbow Dash.
"Ooh! Now things are getting interesting!" Pinkie said, jumping up and pulling a microphone from her hair. "It's a one on one between the early childhood friends! Who will win? The prismatic haired girl, with an ego bigger than her determination to win..."
"You wanna say that again?"
"...or the silent beast, who will destroy the world if given the chance?"
"I'll hit you with a butter-sock."
"Or maybe their dreams will ultimately be crushed, because what is to come next? Who the hell knows! As for your hostess...!" Pinkie Pie then plonked back down at her side of the table and began drawing. She drew a few cards until finding and playing yet another Wild Card. "Blue."
Twilight then sighed in annoyance. "Pinkie, you're horrible." She then also drew, drawing two for keeps and a +4 for playing. "Brave enough to take the challenge Sunset?"
Sunset contemplated her choice. Thus far, two of these horrible cards have been played and neither of which has played well for the victim. She mentally flipped a coin and, despite not knowing how it worked, decided fuck it. "I'll challenge you."
Twilight's confident face suddenly fell as she hesitantly turned her hand towards Sunset. She scanned her rival's deck, making note of each one there.
"Well, Sunset?" Rarity asked. "Was it played legally?"
"Umm..."
Pinkie then snuck up behind Sunset to assess Twilight's hand and her face fell into a scowl. "You lying bitch! There's a blue 0 right there! Draw four!" Twilight pathetically drew four more cards and it was back to Sunset.
Before she took her next turn, however, she needed a minute to process everything. It ended with her puffing up her cheeks while shaking her head. "What the fuck just happened?"
"Justice! That's what!" Pinkie exclaimed, glaring at Twilight like the lying scum she now was.
At this point, Sunset was tired of having to constantly question everything, so she went on, drawing four reds in a row, followed by a blue 4 which she played. She heard two annoyed grunts coming from both leaders who tapped their remaining card impatiently. Applejack then played a blue reverse, which was met with even louder grunts. Blue 5 from Sunset. Blue skip from Twilight. "Shit!" from Pinkie. And finally a sad and painful squeak from Rainbow Dash as she was forced to draw. Luckily, a blue 9 awaited her and her UNO was saved. Sadly, Fluttershy's UNO would then be ruined as she drew more than a few cards before finally finding a blue 6.
"Oh, there it is! How lovely that the endless train of the worst fucking colour was continued right up until it inconvenienced me! Thanks, everyone!" Fluttershy fumed. Suddenly 'Fluttershy' did not sound so right anymore. At this point, 'Fluttermad' was sounding more appropriate.
The others around her began laughing, much to the confusion of Sunset. The way it looked to her, there was going to be a body at the end of this game, and they are all laughing. In response, Sunset shuffled maybe two inches further away from the table.
Red 6 from Rarity. Red 2 from Applejack. Red 4 from Sunset. And suddenly, red 0 from Twilight. The hands were passed around once more, to the great dismay of Rainbow Dash. She cried as she held onto her last card tightly while Fluttermad tried to snatch it away. She soon enough succumbed and took the largest hand of all.
The now biggest loser was confident that Pinkie was somehow gonna screw her over even further, but she was surprised to see she played nothing more than a red 1. It was her turn again. The choice she would make now may determine the outcome of the game. She knew exactly which card Fluttershy had left, but she did not want to risk her greatest rival drawing a card that would keep her at UNO. She scurried through her hand to look for the perfect weapon. And there it was.
There was a moment of silence between everyone before a slow, evil laughter could be heard from the current player. It grew louder and more maniacal. "If I can't win..." Rainbow Dash held up her card. "...THEN NO ONE CAN!!" She then slammed her card down like a climactic anime finishing move! "Green."
Everyone looked upon the played card. It was another Wild Card, but this one was different. Aside from the four colours in the centre, there was text reading, 'Shuffle Hands.' They all looked with fear.
Fluttershy's breathing rate increased with her rising anger. "No. No, NO, NO!" she shouted with complete rage.
Pinkie Pie, as the game owner, collected everyone's hands and shuffled them into a new pile.
"W-What's happening now?" Sunset asked, afraid to know the answer.
"The infamous 'Shuffle Hands' card. To put it simply..." Twilight left an extended pause in her words. "...it resets the game!"
Sunset watched in horror as Pinkie was handing out new cards for everyone with a sad expression on her face. Meanwhile, Fluttershy was shouting in protest along with a lot of naughty words, and Rainbow Dash continued to howl proudly at her self-proclaimed master decision. The new hands were finally assembled, with many faces turning into disgust upon first glance. Sunset wasn't looking forward for what could be coming next, but from what she gathered, she at least knew one thing...
The game was only just beginning!
"Ah, fuck!" Pinkie exclaimed in anger.
"Read it and weep!" Rainbow Dash laughed, coming out of a successful challenging. Her opponent proceeded to draw six.
The game continued on for what felt like hours. That 'Shuffle Hands' play was the turning point. At least, the first one was. Afterwards, it was nothing but a downward spiral. Twilight turned more calculative like a mad genius and, for some reason, was now speaking with an evil-English accent. Pinkie Pie had just about stopped thinking about every card she played. Applejack had to be stopped before she tore the entire stack into pieces. Rarity's face was stained with mascara from her tears. Fluttershy could kill a person from her glare alone. And Rainbow Dash... she was eating every moment of this up. Sunset could barely even see her friends anymore.
She contemplated stopping the game here, but even if she left, she knew the rest of them would go on for the rest of the night. If this was all going to end, it had to be without any of them winning. Sunset had to win! However, she was not doing so well at the moment. Currently, she was sitting in last place sporting eleven cards, while Rainbow Dash was winning with only two.
There had been complete silence for the last few minutes, after what seemed to be a momentarily smooth and peaceful moment. The tension, however, was very high, with it feeling like a crushing weight on the entrant. She followed up with a red 6. Then a red 4 from Applejack. A red 5 from Rarity. Then a red 9 from Fluttershy.
"UNO," Rainbow announced with a low, threatening voice. She placed a red +2.
Anxiety seemed to take over Pinkie Pie the second she saw the attack. This whole time, she was playing as if she were blind, but in a moment where it was desperately needed, Pinkie was trying to reactivate her already fried brain. She was ready to give in and take her cards, but then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted her saving grace. With an ever-growing smile and on the verge of crying, Pinkie placed a green +2.
From what Sunset had managed to figure out (because Twilight surely wasn't helping her anymore after a series of skipping), the +2 cards can be stacked. Right now, Pinkie was sending a +4 attack towards Twilight. All eyes were turned to the intellectual. Despite being about to receive a horrible blow, she was grinning. "Hmm-hmm-hmm. You thought you had me beaten? Think again, peasant, for it is I who will seize this match!" She placed a yellow +2. The attack was now +6.
Back to Sunset. It already was not likely she was going to win, but if she had to draw all those cards, it would almost cement her defeat. She looked through her large hand, spotted another red +2 and stacked it upon the others. Everyone gasped at her move. Things were starting to get really intense. +8.
The cards in Applejack's hand began to fold and crinkle in her tight grip. Everyone looked at her in anticipation as she searched through her almost destroyed deck. By almost tearing it in half, Applejack pulled out another card. Another green +2! +10! Rainbow Dash was beginning to worry.
Now, it was Rarity. She was ready to break into bawling once more. She needed to squint at her cards to read them, and she almost shouted in relief as she found, yet again, a blue +2. There was a chorus of everyone shouting, "OH!" +-mother-fucking-12!
The stacking had just about made it all the way around the entire circle! Everyone stared directly at Fluttershy, who had the same dark expression for the last while. She sat almost completely still; one might assume the girl finally broke. But then, she looked up, finally allowing everyone to see her cold as ice gaze once again. "A lot has happened tonight," she suddenly spoke. Her volume was very low. It was obvious her voice was giving out after so much shouting. "Bad choices have been made, and as a result, everyone has had to suffer in one way or another. But nothing can compare for what is happening right at this moment. This... is the end."
In that moment, a part of everyone's humanity seemed to return. They all began to feel bad for her. Harsh history, repeating itself once again. Time proving to be no more than a flat circle.
"Before I move on, there is something I must tell you all." Everyone tried to prepare for what Fluttershy was about to say, but they all knew that they could not possibly be ready. Things may never be the same again after this. Fluttershy parted her lips...
"UNO." A blue +2.
The room suddenly erupted into loud cheering from all the other girls, drowning out the angry and pained crying from the final victim of the monumental +14, Rainbow Dash!
"I told you I would have my revenge!" Fluttershy shouted victoriously, despite the hoarseness of her voice.
The game seemed to stop for a few minutes in favour of the oh-so delicious defeat. The only one who did not seem to be celebrating, however, was Sunset Shimmer. Instead, she sat almost terrified at what she had to witness. While she was glad Rainbow Dash's victory was delayed for possibly another while, it was all still far more intense than she was comfortable with. She could not tell if the worst was over. In fact, she was certain it wasn't. Which only meant she had to end this soon.
Sunset looked through her hand while everyone but Rainbow Dash was celebrating, and upon sight of one particular card, her mind was brought back to a certain set of rules mentioned before. If luck was on her side, she might just be able to do this.
Having laid her head on the table these last few minutes, Rainbow Dash brought her head back up with fire in her eyes. "The match isn't fuckin' over yet! I can still whoop your ass!" she threatened.
"Bring it, bitch!" Fluttershy returned, taking her place back on the floor.
Rainbow proceeded to draw her fourteen cards, shooting her right into last place once again. Pinkie Pie followed with another Wild Card. Without even looking at her hand to be sure, she immediately chose, "Yellow."
"No matter what, I will be the one to win!" Twilight proclaimed, placing a yellow 8.
It seemed that Sunset's wishes paid off. She placed a yellow 7. Everyone became uncomfortably quiet as a result. Sunset only briefly noticed this card in action, with this being her first instance using it. She looked at every hand around her, trying to decide just which hand she should choose. However, as she did so, she noticed that everyone was suddenly trying to hide how big their hands were while giving her the same wide-eyed, harsh gawk. But she did not forget. She chose Fluttershy's one card hand.
Suddenly, Fluttershy seemed to forget how to breath as she looked between Sunset and her remaining card. Her hands shook profusely as she brought it closer to her chest to hide it. While everyone else was rudely demanding her, Applejack stood up and tried splitting apart the unfortunate one's hands, much to her protesting.
"NO! Don't do this to me! Let me go, you stupid animal!"
Applejack proceeded to use both hands to separate Fluttershy's arms, causing the card to fall bottom-side-up. Then, while still complying to the rules of the game, the card was traded with Sunset's hand without anyone catching a sneak-peak. Her final card was a blue skip. If she was to win this, she would need more than luck, she needed all gods on her side now.
With an angry growl from Applejack, she began taking from the pile, drawing a few cards before placing down a +4. "Green," she said with a monstrous tone.
Amidst her heavy breathing from her crying, Rarity wiped her eyes, staining her arms with black. She looked as confident as she could by raising her head. "I challenge that hand!"
A toothy grin began forming on the cowgirl's face, stretching from ear to ear as she spun her hand around, revealing no other choice but to play the black card.
The tears began to well up in Rarity's eyes yet again as she reached to take another six cards to call her own. After seeing her new cards, that was it. The dams were broken. "These cards are so shitty-hee-hee!" she cried.
It was now Fluttershy's turn again. She looked much more nefarious now than ever before. After stealing a chance to then having that chance be stolen from her; Sunset made a mental note to sleep with one eye open tonight. Without a word, she placed a green 2. So far, things were not looking so good for the current leader.
Then Rainbow Dash. She looked not much happier than the previous opponent. For causing a wild domino effect only for it to be her downfall, her determination to get rid of every card as quickly as possible was stronger than ever, evident by her playing two green 6s. "I'm gonna win!" she said in-between heavy breaths. "I'm gonna win." Sunset was starting to get scared.
Pinkie Pie appeared to have completely blanked out. Despite it being her turn, Pinkie stared solely above the play-pile. Everyone looked between one another, mentally asking if she was okay. She eventually received a poke from Twilight which broke her out of her sudden trance. "W-What?" Pinkie asked weakly. Her eyes fell to her hand. It looked like she completely forgot they were playing a game. "Oh... Right." She drew one more card, placing it down immediately upon discovery. It was a green 5. Afterwards, she went back into her sleep-like state.
Sunset's eyes quickly went over to Twilight, the only player remaining before it was her turn again. Her heart was going at a million miles an hour. It was not looking good anymore. The current colour, number or symbol, none of which matched her own. Everything was betting on the decision Twilight was about to make, which was clearly the same thing she was thinking.
"So much rides on every decision we make. Every mistake a human makes allows for them to grow greater and stronger! I've made approximately sixteen mistakes across this match, so my next play is guaranteed to be perfect. However, a simple play can change the course of the entire game, causing the game to last only seconds to hours to days to weeks! Do I play now? Or do I draw? Decisions, decisions." A thick strand of hair suddenly pinged out. "Draw. Play. Draw. Play. Draw. Pla-"
"Just do something!" Applejack demanded.
Without another thought, Twilight quickly decided to play a card. Sunset slowly raised her head to see which card she played. Upon seeing it, her heart almost stopped.
A blue 5.
With Twilight having now taken her shot, that meant only one thing, it was Sunset's turn again. She looked at the pile ahead of her and back to her one remaining card. This skip. This blue skip. Finally, after so long, it was over. The hold this horrible game had on all of her friends would finally be loosened, and they would all be free! Sunset began lowering her final card.
"Wait," Rainbow Dash suddenly said. "Did Sunset say UNO?"
Oh no.
Twilight also came to the realisation. "I don't think she did! HAH! Draw two, Sunset!"
How could she have been done so dirty? At such a horrible time, no less. She was meant to be the chosen one, and yet the dragon still overcame the knight in shining armour.
When will this torture end?!
And then, with a final yellow 4, Rarity declared victory! "Well, that sure was thrilling, wasn't it?" the victor said, giving off a breath of relief.
"Hell yeah, it was!" Rainbow Dash cheered.
"I forgot just how fun this game could get," Fluttershy giggled with giddiness.
"Hoo-wee! Definitely what the sleepover doctor ordered," Applejack declared.
"Didn't even feel that long either, yet we somehow went for almost four hours!" Pinkie revealed.
"So, how was that for your first game, Suns-?" Twilight turned to her newbie friend to get her opinion, but upon turning around, she found Sunset wasn't where she should be. "Sunset?" Looking downwards, Twilight found the remaining girl lying on her back with her eyes white and lifeless.
"Huh. Guess the poor girl couldn't handle it," Applejack figured. "Oh well. How 'bout we settle down for the night too, huh?"
"Aww! Right now? I could totally go another game!" Pinkie challenged before accidentally letting loose a yawn.
"As much fun as it is, I really shouldn't fall behind on my beauty sleep." Rarity pulled out an eye mask from the bag she packed.
Each of the girls began moving out for their chosen spots for sleeping.
"You played so good tonight, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash complimented, bumping her closest friend on the arm.
"Thanks. You were a great opponent too, Dashie," Fluttershy returned it, with her voice about as raspy as RD's.
"Good night, everybody!" Pinkie called out.
"Good night!" everyone simultaneously replied.
Pinkie Pie then turned off the light, putting the bedroom into complete darkness. While everyone was resting comfortably in their sleeping bags, with Pinkie getting an entire bed to herself, there was still one more matter to take note of. Poor ol' Sunset Shimmer.
It is universally agreed upon that UNO changes the people that dare to play. Friendships are put to the ultimate test! What will appear to be a minor inconvenience with the +2 card will become the equivalent of stabbing your family in the back. There is no say in the matter, either you will suffer the wrath of every player at once, or you succumb to its power and let loose a side that you didn't even know existed.
At first-hand, Sunset bare witnessed to absolutely everything the game had to offer, and as a result, it destroyed her. She felt nothing anymore. She was sure she was nothing; not being more than a conscious floating around a hollow shell now. Sunset figured she was done with UNO.
Will she ever play this game again? Not on her life.
Author's Note
I have been sitting on this story forever now. I've talked about it in almost every update blog I'd made a few years ago, as far back as July 2018, saying that this was coming, and it never did. It's lucky I never decided to can it what with how little progress it's made and especially the changes it went through.
But I think this is a good start to the new year. Perhaps this will finally be the one where I make a grand return to consistent posting! Or maybe not, but damn it! A guy can dream!
For now, though, I'm just really happy I finally got to finishing this, and I hope you all enjoyed it!
See you all on the flipside!
EDIT (23/2/23): Thought I should clear up that Sunset's win was ruined because I didn't know that the UNO call-out rule only lasted until the next player took their shot. It was the way I played with friends, so I guess I put more of my own UNO experiences into this story than initially thought...
Oh well. Soz 'bout that. Not changing it though. I win. Bye bye!
