Evening the Odds

The next chamber was identical to the first chamber, sans the strange fire pit and the alcoves. The square runes, each paired with a circle, once again sat before a large door.

“So, we just keep going?” Cookie asked.

“Yes,” Jack replied. “Each room has a different question.”

Cookie sighed, taking her place on one of the stone circles. The rest of the family took their places as well.

“The golden circle must have the same pony each time,” Jack cautioned.

“Sure, alright.” Cookie and Hondo switched places.

“How many pussies have you eaten?”

Cookie, Rarity, and Sweetie Belle all immediately moved to the even runes. Hondo stepped on the odd rune.

The Odd rune on the massive door remained light.

“All answers accounted for. Prediction Confirmed: Odd,” Jack droned. The golden door slid upward, allowing the family to continue. “Please proceed to verification.”

“None of you have ever even tried it?” Hondo asked as they moved toward the next verification.

Cookie frowned. “I don’t recall anypony saying that.”

“Well, none of you took any time to think about it before jumping right to even,” Hondo argued.

“And why do you care so much, Father?” Rarity asked, glaring at him. “What were you expecting to see?”

Hondo hadn’t actually thought that far ahead. If somepony was wrong with their prediction, it would mean…

He glanced at his wife, and then at his daughters. He couldn’t deny that the thought of seeing that was strangely erotic.

“Uh, nothing,” he said, turning his eyes toward the platform ahead.

Settling in on the circles before the door, the blue light appeared around Cookie. Nothing happened.

Then the blue light appeared around Rarity, but again, nothing happened.

“See?” Hondo argued. “You haven’t.”

The light enveloped him, and the apparition of himself eating out his wife appeared before them.

“One,” Jack replied.

The light faded.

“You really didn’t do it with any other mares?” Cookie asked, incredulously.

“You’re the only one I wanted,” Hondo said, holding up his hooves.

A warm happiness filled Cookie as the light surrounded Sweetie Belle.

The sudden appearance of her daughter aggressively licking at Apple Bloom’s vagina appeared in front of her.

“Two.”

“I knew it!” Rarity shouted happily. “Applejack owes me 20 bits!”

“What the hell, Rarity?!” Sweetie shouted.

While his daughters bickered, Hondo stared with rapt attention as the image faded away and was replaced with Sweetie Belle going down on Scootaloo. The erotic imagery of young mares in front of him was enough to bring his erection back. He carefully shifted, hoping none of the mares would see.

“Three. Answer verified. Result: Odd. Predicted: Odd. Matched. Please proceed to the next chamber.”

The door opened. Hondo quickly scrambled into the next chamber, leaving his bickering progeny behind.

“You were getting turned on by that?” Cookie growled.

“It just reminded me of how pretty you were at their age,” Hondo replied defensively.

Cookie Crumbles glared at him. “Are you saying I’m not pretty now?”

“N-N-No,” Hondo said, backing away from his wife. “I’m just saying I wish it was you!”

“So you were imagining me… with our daughter going down on me?”

Yes. “No!”

Cookie glared at Hondo suspiciously as they walked up to the next platform. The girls followed shortly afterward, their argument resolved. Each of them took their places.

Three chambers later, they had all learned far more than they wanted to know about the rest of their family, but at least all of their predictions had been accurate.

Hondo sighed as he sat down on the next circle. His growing horniness at the constant exposure to the sex lives of the mares around him was not doing favors for him - his dick ached.

“How many ponies have penetrated you?”

That was easy enough, Hondo thought to himself, stepping onto the Even rune.

He didn’t even bother paying attention to what the mares did - the truth would come soon enough.

“All answers accounted for. Prediction Confirmed: Even,” Jack droned. The golden door slid upward, allowing the family to continue. “Please proceed to verification.”

“Sorry,” Rarity apologized. “This is going to be another long one.”

Hondo tried to ignore her words - he was about to be assailed by a lot of imagery of sex again. He was beginning to think it would be best to just fuck his wife and get it out of his system, but… he didn’t want to do that in front of the girls. Things were awkward enough already.

He paused, realizing that his wife was still sitting in her golden circle.

“Cookie?” he called back. “Honey, is everything alright?”

She glanced up at him and then away again. “I’m sorry,” she said softly.

“Huh?”

Cookie said nothing, walking slowly up to the verification circles. Once she was seated, the light surrounded her again. An image formed - again, the image of Peanut Brittle, hilted deep inside Cookie, then pulling out and slamming into her again.

“One.”

Hondo’s jaw dropped. “You fucked your brother?!” he shouted.

“I told you he isn’t gay,” she whispered softly.

“Mother, that is unconscionable!” Rarity objected.

The imagery had already faded away, replaced with Hondo and Cookie. If Hondo had thought about the fact his daughters were going to see him fuck his wife anyway, he might have just done it. Fortunately - or perhaps unfortunately - nopony was paying any attention thanks to the massive bomb that had just dropped.

“Two.”

“It was my first heat!” Cookie explained. “I asked him to help me out because I was desperate. I started dating your father soon afterward.”

“But you said you were raped,” Hondo responded. “You came to me, crying.”

“I was crying because I knew what I had done was wrong,” Cookie replied. “And I was terrified I would be pregnant, so I…” she trailed for a moment. “...I lied to you, hoping…”

As the blue glow surrounded Rarity, her eyes went wide, a terrible realization dawning on her. “Am I…” She turned to her father, desperation in her eyes. “Are you my father? Please! Tell me that you are my father!”

Hondo hung his head sadly. “Truth is, Rare... we don’t know. We had sex almost immediately after. And Cookie refused to get a paternity test. I knew the possibility was there, but I never suspected that the other stallion was...”

“Does it really matter?” Sweetie Belle asked aloud.

“Of course it matters!” Rarity shouted.

“Eight,” Jack continued counting.

“Shut up!” Rarity hissed at the automaton. “You stay out of it!”

“I’m sorry,” Cookie whispered.

Rarity hung her head, her swirling emotions stealing her ability to think.

“Sixteen,” the automaton finally said, as the glow surrounding Rarity faded.

The light passed to Sweetie Belle briefly before fading away again.

“Answer verified. Result: Even. Predicted: Even. Matched. Please proceed to the next chamber.”

“Wait, so you haven’t masturbated before, and you’re a virgin?” Cookie asked, trying desperately to change the subject.

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. This temple was far too embarrassing. “No, mom. I just haven’t had a dick in me.”

“It’s the same thing,” Cookie accused.

“We’ve literally already been over this,” Sweetie said, heaving a sigh. “Scootaloo is a champion at linguistics, and I’ve spent a fair amount of time practicing myself.”

“What does linguistics have to do with anything?” her mother asked.

Sweetie Belle face-hoofed.

Sweetie Belle stopped and stared in confusion at the ancient device on the floor. Unlike every ‘question’ room before, this one did not have a series of square runes, nor the four circles that accompanied them. Instead, the door to the next chamber had two square runes on the floor - one on either side of the door - and a single golden circle in front of it. The one on the left was the Even rune - on the right, the Odd rune.

“This is different,” Hondo observed dryly. “What’s the deal with this one?”

Jack spoke up. “You are getting very close to the end of the pyramid. Only one more question before the Chamber of Truth.”

“The Chamber of Truth?” Rarity wondered aloud. “Isn’t this whole place one big exercise in truth-telling?”

“Okay, but what about this door?” Cookie asked, ignoring Rarity. “How does it work?”

“This rune responds only to the Golden One,” Jack responded.

“And where is the Golden One?” Hondo asked.

“The Golden One is the pony who seated themselves on the golden plates.”

Cookie smiled. “Then I am the Golden One?”

Jack nodded. “You are the Golden One.”

“Alright. What is the question?”

“How many ponies are alive here in the temple?”

Hondo tilted his head. “That seems pretty straightforward. But just to be sure, are we the only living ponies here?”

“There are no living ponies in the temple that are not in this chamber.”

“Then, four.” Cookie said, matter-of-factly, pressing her hoof to the Even rune.

The door grinded open, revealing a scene straight out of a horror film. Dried blood coated the walls and floors. Instead of the pornographic etchings throughout the temple, the etchings in this room were violent displays of power - a stallion cutting down mares with blades. The room smelled of death, and the mummified corpse of a long dead pony lay near the exit, dressed in immaculate golden finery.

“This is unusual,” Jack observed. “A temple servant should have disposed of the body and cleaned up the blood.”

“W-w-w-what do you mean?” Sweetie Belle said, shaking in fear.

“The Master always ensured he was the Golden One. If the Master had not been entertained throughout the temple, he would answer the question wrong on purpose, requiring the death of a pony in order to proceed. Sometimes he would kill a pony himself. Other times, he would have them fight amongst each other until one of them had been slain.”

Rarity gasped in shock. “How is that Carnal Self-Knowledge? Is not the purpose of this place to find out about our carnal deeds?”

Jack’s eyeless gaze turned to Rarity. “The Master was not a stable pony. His worst deeds are best left unspoken.”

Sweetie Belle and Cookie Crumbles shared a glance, both shuddering with recognition.

“Let’s just move on, shall we?” Rarity said, trotting across the chamber.

“Yes,” Hondo replied, marching behind her. He approached the four circles at the other door, trying not to pay any attention to the long-dead pony near them. The rest of his family hesitantly followed.

Once they were in place, the circles began to glow. As before, Cookie Crumbles was scanned first. The specter of Cookie appeared in the center and then faded.

“One,” Jack intoned.

Sweetie Belle.

“Two,” Jack continued.

Hondo.

“Three.”

Rarity.

“Four.”

The blue apparition faded, but the glow around Rarity did not. A second apparition appeared - Rarity again, only this time, her belly seemed to glow.

“Five. Answer verified. Result: Odd. Predicted: Even. Mismatched. Please resolve to proceed.”

Hondo and Cookie stared at the circle where the apparition had stood. Sweetie Belle stared at Rarity’s belly. Rarity stared at Jack.

“I’m pregnant!?” she shouted at the little automaton, shaking with excitement..

“The temple cannot make mistakes,” Jack replied.

“That’s wonderful, Rarity!” Cookie gushed. “I know you two have been trying for so long!”

“Yeah, wonderful,” Sweetie Belle deadpanned. “Because now we’re stuck here in this dumb temple.”

Rarity and Cookie both immediately deflated, averting their eyes.

Hondo shifted uncomfortably. “Then… One of us has to die to get out of here?” he mumbled.

“Absolutely not,” Cookie objected.

Hondo glared at his wife. “What else are we to do?! Shall we just wait here until one of us starves, so that the others may eat?”

Cookie stared at the floor, shuffling her hooves nervously. “I would rather die,” she confessed.

“And you think I could live without you? Any more than I could sacrifice one of my own daughters?”

“I…” Cookie began, only to be interrupted.

“Stop,” Rarity cried. “Stop this. Nopony is killing anypony. Nopony needs to starve to death.” She stood on her hind legs, bracing herself against the wall. “Father, come here,” she commanded, her lip trembling.

Hondo walked over to Rarity, confused. “Rare?” he probed. “What are you doing?”

Rarity closed her eyes. Her demeanor crumbled, and she sobbed openly, tears running down her cheeks as she stood against the wall. The rest of her family just stared at her in confusion.

Cookie pulled Rarity away from the wall and into her embrace. “What’s wrong, honey?” she asked.

“If my…” Rarity started, before letting out another choked sob. “If my child is going to…” she trailed off, unable to verbalize her thoughts and breaking into tears. After a moment, she resumed. “…then father should just kick me. And then the baby will… and nopony will know the difference...”

“WHAT THE HELL, RARITY!?” Sweetie Belle shouted.

Cookie shushed Sweetie Belle and stroked Rarity’s mane, silently horrified that her daughter would even consider such a thing. “Shhh, shhh, it’s okay, honey. You don’t have to do that. You’ve been trying for far too long to do that.” Hondo also stepped in and hugged his wife and daughter.

“Look, it’s late,” Hondo said, though they truthfully had no way to know what time it actually was. “We should get some rest. Maybe we can think of a solution once we’ve gotten some sleep.”