A Very Dangerous Game

Fudge, Sunnie, Cocoa, Celestia, and Cara made a run for the houses near the soccer fields with the horde of zombies looming behind them. Fudge, Sunnie, and Celestia turned and shot when they could while running, only managing to take out a few of the zombies in the front, sending them to the ground.

But as they were reaching the sidewalk, there was another earthquake and most of the street caved in to reveal a flowing river of lava, making them halt in frustration.

"Oh come on!" Cocoa shouted as the zombies kept getting closer. Quickly thinking of how they would get across, Cocoa got an idea. "Okay guys, I got an idea. Fudge, Cara… we'll lift Sunnie and Celestia across and then we'll jump over, okay? Let's go!"

Agreeing without hesitation, Fudge and Cara helped Cocoa lift and toss their companions across the caved-in road. With the zombies now just being mere feet away, Sunnie and Celestia were across as Cara, Fudge, and Cocoa quickly jumped over before the zombies reached them. It was a relatively easy jump, but were hit with the unrivaled and intense heat of the lava as they jumped over and landed in the grass on the other side.

"Ow, fuck! Damn that burned!" Fudge exclaimed.

It did indeed burn even with them being several feet above the lava. Volcanic lava can have a heat level of up to two thousand degrees fahrenheit. So even with them having jumped several feet above the lava, the heat would still brush over them, luckily without causing any burns.

"Yeah, no shit," Sunnie responded, getting to her feet. "Let's check this house quick before they figure out a way across."

Sunnie spoke too soon, as one of the zombies leaped over the lava, with which Cocoa saw this force pushed it into the lava river, disposing of it in a gruesome and painful manner by burning it back to death. Bursting through the doorway of the house they chose first, they swiftly closed it and moved a large buffet in front of the door hoping that it would hold back the oncoming horde for as long as possible.

"Okay. Who wants to guard the door and who wants to search the rest of the house?" Cocoa inquired.

"I'll keep watch," Fudge responded.

"As will I," Cara replied.

"I'll search the rooms," Celestia spoke.

"I'll search them too," Sunnie answered.

"Alright then, looks like it's settled," Cocoa noted. "You two give us a signal if one of them gets in."

And with that, Cocoa, Sunnie, and Celestia moved deeper into the house to search the other rooms as Fudge and Cara watched over the front door as well as the window facing the yard in case they were to pull a fast one. Fudge walked into the living room to peek out the curtain, observing that a small handful of the zombies had made the jump across and were charging towards the front door and hurried to move the various furniture around so that it somewhat barricaded the window.

"More of those undead freaks made it across," Fudge commented, after moving a long coffee table onto the top of the sofa and moving a clock tower against said table as a sort of makeshift anchor. "Hopefully the others won't be too long."

"I hope so as well," Cara replied. The buffet blocking the front door did its job for the most part and kept the zombies at bay, though for how long it'll last is uncertain. "So. Did you tell your family about… y'know…."

"Oh, that? No, not yet," Fudge spoke, walking up to his girlfriend and placed his hands on her waist. "I wanted to keep it as a surprise until you wanted people to know."

"Well they now know that we're a couple. I think we shouldn't keep this a secret much longer." Cara looked down, gesturing to her stomach, with which everyone in the outside world was genuinely confused and surprised at what was being said.

"Sounds perfect. But, when we all get out of here and get back home…. Do you wanna?" Fudge asked.

"I would love to. I can't get any more pregnant, right?" Cara responded with a smirk on her face, wrapping her arms over Fudge's shoulders and around the back of his neck.

"That remains to be seen, my love," Fudge boasted, locking lips with his beautiful girlfriend who was now going to be the mother of his child. When Cara first came to him about the subject of a child and wanting to remove her birth control implant a month prior, Fudge was initially hesitant, also because he was still in high school. But seeing how she was about the idea of having a child with him commenting about how kind and gentle he's always been, Fudge agreed without any further hesitation. And even though he's still in high school, Fudge is a legal adult as far as the law is concerned.

Cutting their embrace short, Fudge and Cara turned back to face the front door and the window in the living room, making sure the barricades held, to which they remained in place even with the zombies outside aggressively pounding at the door.

"It's good that the buffet weighs so much. They'd surely have gotten in by now," Cara commented. "But it's just a matter of time before that door breaks apart though."

"I suppose you're right," Fudge responded, holding his lightsaber tight in his hand. "The girls better hurry up before-..."

Before Fudge could finish his sentence, another presence could be felt in there with them, indicated by the sound of what could be described as sparkling magic. Turning towards the living room in hopes of figuring out what that sound was, they did just that. There, in the middle of the living room, was Fudge and Cocoa's mother. Lavender Blossom.

"Mom!" Fudge exclaimed, running into his mother's arms, to which she wrapped hers around her son in a warm embrace.

Fudge and Cocoa were spitting images of their mother, as she too had light blue hair and golden brown skin. But Lavender had even lighter blue highlights in her hair, partially due to her being forty-four years old, and she also had rich blue eyes. Not only that, but she was dressed in the common attire of a Jedi, something she hadn't worn in eighteen years.

"Hi, sweetie," Lavender spoke, breaking off the hug. "I see you and Cocoa have found where Sunnie has been all this time."

"Yeah. I came here with them, and now we're all gonna make sure she finally gets home. Sunnie is family, and it's time for our family to become whole again," Fudge asserted. "I must say you look good in your Jedi attire, mom. Kind of surprised to see you wearing it after so long, if I can be honest."

"I'm surprised that it still fits like a glove after so many years. But... we've hid who we are for too long. It's time we embrace what the Jedi Order should have been from the very beginning, to help people, accept love and never show fear. I had you and your sister because love isn't something that should be suppressed, and starting a family is a huge honor." Lavender, for the first time in almost two decades, felt proud of who she was. And that she raised her twin children into the charming, confident young adults they were to this day. Without a shred of hesitation, they entered a game where death was a definitive possibility all so that they could finally bring a dear friend home after she'd been missing for so long.

"And who might this fine young woman be?" Lavender asked, turning her attention to Cara standing in the hallway.

"Oh, this is Cara. My girlfriend," Fudge replied, walking over to her. "We've been together for five months, almost six. I wanted to tell you about us, but Cara wanted it to be kept secret for a little while, and I wanted to be respectful about it."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Cara. Never would I have thought my little Fudge would get a girlfriend, but I'm none the less glad you did. I'm proud of you sweetie."

Fudge and Cara both smiled at Lavender's words, then looked at each other before agreeing to spill the beans.

"Um, mom, there's something we want to tell you," Fudge uttered, inhaling and then exhaling. "Cara expressed interest in it a month ago, and I was initially hesitant at first, but seeing how happy she was about it, I didn't dare to try and destroy that happiness. So, what I'm trying to say is that…. You're going to be a grandmother."

Lavender's eyes went wide as Fudge stepped behind Cara, wrapping his arms around her as he rubbed his right hand in a clockwise circle on Cara's stomach.

"Y-You're… S-She's… Oh my goodness…. I'm gonna be a Grandmother!!" Lavender exclaimed, jumping in place with joy like a kid in a candy store. She wasn't mad that her son who was still in high school was becoming a father, as he was old enough to make decisions for himself. Sure she wasn't expecting to be a grandmother so soon, but Lavender was more than excited over the news, to which Fudge and Cara shared a chuckle. Never had Fudge seen his mother so happy, but alas, the feeling was mutual, as their family would be getting bigger, in several months that is.

"Hey guys, we found the next clue to-..." Cocoa spoke as she walked down the hallway and towards the living room with Sunnie and Celestia in tow when she cut her own sentence off when she saw who was standing in the middle of the room. "Mom?"

"Hi sweetie," Lavender exclaimed, acknowledging her daughter.

"Well. It's been a long time since I've seen you wear that, Lavender," Celestia chimed in.

"No fucking way…." Sunnie spoke in awe.

"But anyway, back to what you were saying Cocoa," Fudge said. "You guys found the next clue to get us home?"

"Oh, right, yeah. It was this little code thing and that we have to go back and search the school for a safe," Cocoa replied. "But we need to take care of the welcoming party trying to get through that door first."

"I have an idea," Fudge declared, gesturing to Cocoa, their mother, and Cara. "We swing the door open, send the zombies flying back with a combined force push, and then we mop up the stragglers."

Celestia gripped her rifle all the more harder at the notion. "You got balls, Fudge. I'll give you that. I hope you know what you're doing though."

Taking a breath to relax, Fudge began to move the buffet away from the door as it began to shake more rapidly from the zombies pounding on it from the other side. Pushing against the door with his left hand on the door knob, Fudge turned to the others before speaking up. "Cocoa, Mom… you two will send the first force push to stun them and push them back, and then we'll jump out and take care of the rest. On three. One… two… three!"

Fudge whipped the door open in a flash as Cocoa and their mother sent a powerful force push at the horde of zombies, sending them all flying back, some even going so far as to fall into the river of lava. With the undead now far enough away and stunned, albeit briefly, Fudge, Cocoa, Lavender, and Cara all jumped out into the yard whilst igniting their lightsabers, emitting glows of indigo, pink, raspberry, and lime green.

Almost instantly the zombies swarmed on them, only to be cut into multiple pieces by the quartet of lightsaber wielders. More and more of the zombies were cut down as Fudge, Cara, Cocoa, and Lavender held their ground, all while Sunnie and Celestia watched from the doorway as spectators.

"Never would I have thought I'd see Cocoa and them like this," Sunnie commented.

"You and me both, sweetie," Celestia responded as they had picked off the last of the zombies.

After deactivating their sabers, the quartet signalled that it was clear as Sunnie and Celestia moved to join the rest of their group. Walking over, they were treated to an up-close and personal sight of quite a bit of lifeless bodies and countless severed body parts all clustered together.

"This may be strange, but this carnage is making me hungry," Cara commented, rubbing her stomach. "I could go for some really spicy wings and french fries once we get home."

"Heh. I see your girlfriend likes it hot, Fudge," Cocoa spoke up.

"For the past week, yeah. She has," Fudge replied.

"What do you mean for the past week? What. Is she pregnant or something?" Cocoa said with a shred of confusion.

"I am, yes. I'm pregnant," Cara replied, to which Lavender jumped up and down with joy once more.

"Fudge, I hope you've thought this through," Cocoa inquired, crossing her arms.

"I have," Fudge replied, standing beside his girlfriend. "I love Cara, and I'd do anything for her. If what she wants is to have a baby, then I'm gonna stand with her as the baby's father."

"Well then, I guess I'll just have to be the cool aunt that tells 'em what a weirdo their father is," Cocoa chuckled, elbowing her brother.

"No no. If anyone's gonna tell our child how weird I am, that's gonna be me," Fudge chuckled in response.

But before another word could be spoken between them, something or someone else caught their attention.

"Oh well isn't this sweet? A cute little family working together! Bahahaha!"

"Who said that?" Lavender inquired, reigniting her lightsaber as her children and Cara followed suit.

"The demon freak that's kept me here for almost three years," Sunnie responded, knowing the voice all too well.

"Granted, I'm truly impressed that lowly humans such as yourselves, including the humanoid, have gotten this far so quickly, but enough. It's time to-... wait what?"

Before the demon could finish its sentence, another mysterious entity made its presence known.

"Well well well, what do we have here?"

"I don't need a narrator. Step aside, whomever you are," the demon uttered.

"Oh... I think not. You've made this little game of yours a tad bit easy. If you fancy these humans so much, then you can join them."

"What do you-...? No, unhand me! This world is mine!" The demon barked at whatever this new entity was before a rift opened up and through it came what appeared to be another version of Sunnie, but this Sunset looked a little different. For starters, her hair colors were a mix of red, yellow, and a dark blue, albeit a bit de-saturated as well as her skin.

Secondly, apart from her desaturated skin and hair, there were various patches of her skin that appeared to be open wounds or just corroded off, displaying a zombie appearance at first glance, but given that she was showing regular human-like cognitive functions, she was anything but an ordinary zombie. Lastly, her outfit appeared to be reminiscent of the other Sunset's old outfit, as she also sported a magenta shirt and a simple orange skirt with a pale yellow stripe accompanied by a magenta stripe on the left side. But what else was different about this newcomer, was that instead of almost knee high boots, she wore simple sneakers with pale grayish orange socks.

"Great. Just great. I'm back to my normal self, ish, but I'm not even human anymore," the girl spoke, examining her body. Gazing at the group opposite of her, they were able to see her eyes, and got further proof that she was definitely not human, at least, not anymore. Her pupils and irises appeared to be a grayish blue color with darker shaded outline, her eyeballs were mostly bloodshot red with only being a milky white close to her pupils and irises. "If you people want to kill me, just do it. Don't drag it out. You'll be better off."

"And why would we do that?" Fudge inquired, puzzled by this girl's plea for a quick death. "We've only just met. And even though you look like a zombie, you clearly aren't acting like one, your eyes aren't glowing, and you can talk quite clearly. Your aura may not feel human, but you're very much alive."

"Uh huh, great. Well I just figured that you'd wanna kill the demon that lured you all here. And y'know…. It'd probably feel good."

Everyone's eyes widened at the confession. This Sunnie look-alike admitted that she was the demon responsible for keeping Sunnie trapped in the game world for almost three years, to which Sunnie herself began to fume with immense anger.

"You? It was YOU?! YOU BITCH!" Sunnie barked, pointing her ray gun mark two at the demon girl. But before she could pull the trigger, Fudge moved his pink blade in a defensive position and moved between the demon girl and Sunnie.

"Sunnie, don't. I know how you feel about this, but acting out so rashly isn't going to solve anything. Let me talk through to her. I'll take responsibility for watching her. And in the event that she does try something, should that even happen at all, I'll take care of her myself. Granted of course I'd rather not, but I will if I absolutely have no other choice," Fudge clarified. Sunnie was intent on killing her, but reluctantly agreed to spare her.

"Fine. But she better not get in my way," Sunnie growled, walking towards the caved-in street, with her mother Celestia following suit.

"Why would you elect to spare me instead of just killing me when I'm responsible for you all being here right now?" The girl questioned.

"Because it is not the Jedi way to take a life out of anger, but under the current circumstances, sometimes you have to do what you have to in order to survive, even if it may not seem right. I can sense the guilt within you. You regret what's transpired in this world, but you don't have to live like this. And as the saying goes… everyone deserves a second chance," Fudge spoke.

"I…. I don't know. I was like that for so long, and I've basically driven this world and dimension past the point of no return. I don't know if I'd want to start over in a new world full of humans. I'd much rather go to an alternate dimension wherein there aren't any humans at all. But I appreciate the offer. Truly I do. Oh, um.. I'm Sunrise by the way. Sunrise Ametha."

"Hi, Sunrise. I'm Fudge. But if by the time this game is over and you feel any different, you're more than welcome to come with us. I happen to know a group of girls that can make you feel like family, just like the family here with me now, and I also know a talented, incredibly smart girl that could help get you re-educated into society," Fudge spoke with a genuine tone of kindness.

Something snapped them out of their daze as what could be described as the end of round music began to play throughout, reminding them that it was still in fact a game.

"Alright, let's go," Cocoa commented.

Fudge looked to Sunrise before reaching behind his back for the MP40 that he had bought off the wall that somehow remained invisible until now as he held it in Sunrise's direction, giving it to her.

"Here. You'll need this," Fudge said as Sunrise took the weapon from his hand whilst he re-ignited his lightsaber.

"Thanks," Sunrise replied. She was questioning why he was entrusting her with a weapon, but given the circumstances and that she was now among them, Sunrise wasn't about to question it.

As they all grouped together by the street and prepared to jump across though, another distressing event was now underway.

"Oh boy. We got fog rolling in," Cocoa commented, holding her lightsaber at the ready. "That's not good. Definitely not good."

"Bring me their souls!"

"Yeah, that's definitely not good at all. We got hellponies," Sunnie responded. "We need to get back across, now!"

Sunnie, Celestia, and Sunrise were lifted across the lava as the others soon jumped across, with the distinct sound of lightning crackling being heard above them in the clouds. Once they were all across, a bolt of lightning came down and struck the ground and caused a loud boom, and in the ashes appeared what seemed to be an quadrupedal equine, but with a good portion of its muzzle corroded off, revealing it's jagged, blood-stained teeth. Apart from its fur-covered coat which in turn didn't actually have any fur left and instead was just the skin underneath, its eyes were also glowing a light purple instead of a moderate cyan like before. Turning its head, it saw the group and let out a horrifying shriek before charging at them but was quickly gunned down by Celestia.

"Stupid undead creature. Let's get to the school before more spawn in and surround us!" Celestia shouted as more bolts of lightning began to hit the ground, causing more undead ponies to appear.

Running back to the school, more and more hellponies charged at them only to be gunned down or sliced into pieces. Reaching the stairs, Sunnie turned around and sniped a small group of the undead equines by the wondercolt statue with her ray gun, unaware that one had spawned on the sunroof above her and was about to pounce, but Cocoa sensed this and threw her lightsaber, cutting the equine in half before it reached Sunnie.

"What the-... Thanks, Cocoa," Sunnie commented, turning her head to look at Cocoa who pulled her lightsaber back to her with the force. Hearing something magic from behind her, Sunnie turned her head back towards the hellpony that Cocoa had sliced in half to see an ammo box with a glowing green aura as she reached out to grab it.

"Max Ammo!"

"Heh. That'll help," Sunnie announced, pulling up her little hud to see that the ammo in her ray gun mark two had been fully replenished thanks to that max ammo powerup. With the end round music playing once more, Cocoa kept her lightsaber ignited as she held it tight within her grip with Sunnie turning to walk up the stairs. "Hey, um, Cocoa… There's… something I've wanted to ask you since before I disappeared, and, well…"

Cocoa knew what words were about to be spoked and wrapped her left arm around Sunnie, pulling her into an embrace and pushing their lips into an intense and passionate kiss, to which Sunnie's eyes widened as her cheeks grew a rosy red. Melting into the kiss she had been dreaming of for so long, Sunnie closed her own eyes and wrapped her arms over Cocoa's shoulders and around the back of her neck. Cutting the embrace short, Cocoa wore a genuinely happy expression on her face, as did Sunnie.

"I'd love to be your girlfriend, Sunnie," Cocoa said, stroking Sunnie's cheek with her left hand. "Nothing would make me happier."

"R-really? Heheh…." Sunnie sputtered, no doubt flustered from their kiss. "I've been waiting for this for almost three years. But I suppose the wait makes it all the more sweeter."

"That it does," Fudge interrupted, standing in the doorway closest to them as they were on the left side of the staircase. "I do apologize for eavesdropping, as I was originally coming to tell you guys that they went ahead and located the safe. But with what I just heard, I got even better news. Cara is the love of my life, there's no changing that, but you two… you two were truly made for each other. Sunnie, you always did bring out the cheerful side in Cocoa, even when she had her bad days. And yeah, when you vanished out of the blue, even I was heartbroken, because I had lost one of my sisters."

"And I lost my brother," Sunnie added on.

"But what still matters the most is that we're together again," Cocoa continued. "We should probably go find mom and them and see what-..."

Cocoa was about to finish her sentence but cut it off when she felt a presence, but not like any she had felt before. This one… felt cold and dark.

"Cocoa... I've never felt something like that before. I feel… cold…" Fudge uttered, having felt this new presence also. "We need to go."

As they were about to walk back into the school though, the sound of a lightsaber igniting behind them caught their attention, causing them to freeze in place.

Turning to locate the source, they see right by the wondercolt statue… the glowing red blade of a Sith's lightsaber, and could just barely make out the wielder; the trio steadily began to tremble as to who it was.

"Well hello there…"