Shall we Play a Game?

by BlurredTheLines

Chapter Five: A Test of Laughter

“My head...” Pinkie Pie groans as she awakes with a wince.

”Ah, the guest of honor awakes.” The mysterious voice returns.

“Wha, huh?” She says drowsily, and looks around the room. Its a party, complete with decorations, food, drinks, tables and place settings.

“Oh, but I'd mind the refreshments if I were you. The punch was poisoned, and the cook in charge of making the food put some terrible ingredients in them.”

“What kind of party is this?” Pinkie says with an uneasy look on her face

“A 'farewell to Pinkie Pie party' if you cannot complete this challenge” the voice responds. She gulps at hearing this. “The rules are simple, in one of the items of food, there is the key to the door. The catch: you must use your mouth to find it, using your hooves to search for the key is off-limits. Oh, and another thing: no laughing.”

“Why would I laugh?” she asks, confused.

“You'll see soon enough... The moment you laugh, a magical trap set in the room will activate, and the festivities will be, cut short. You've got fifteen minutes to find the key.”

Pinkie took a look at the food table. It is loaded with pie, cupcakes, and many other kinds of desserts. “Oh, where do I start...?” she complains, staring at the large amount of food before her. She grabs a cupcake near her and takes a bite of it. As she bites down, something sharp cuts the inside of her mouth. Pinkie immediately spit out the mouthful of food out. Shards of glass stuck out from what she'd spit out.

She rubs her cheek in pain, now wondering what other “ingredients” are in the other items of food. Pinkie picks up another pastry, and takes a bite of it. She withdraws it as she feels a sharp pain in her mouth. Nails. Pinkie tries a pie next, taking a bite. She feels something small stab into the roof of her mouth, and suppresses a scream, fearing it would have made it worse. She spit out the food, but the object remained imbedded in her mouth. Pinkie grabs the object, and removes it. A sewing needle this time.

“Oh, what a cruel joke...” she says, feeling the pain in her mouth. She places a hoof over her mouth to suppress a giggle. Her voice sounded funny. That's what they meant, Pinkie thought. She took another look at the food table. She hadn't even made a dent in it. Pinkie let out an uneasy sigh, dreading what was to come.

She continues checking the food, fighting through the pain, and the new injuries she sustains taking bites of the food. She makes it one third of the way through the table's contents before giving up. “No more, no more” Pinkie cries, the inside of her mouth a mass of pain. Her voice still sounded funny, but she is in too much pain to feel like laughing. Oh, if I were a key, where would I be, she thought to herself. She looks around the room. The cake, that's it! The answer was simple in hindsight.

She walks over to the cake. Surely something as important as this would be the hiding place of the key, Pinkie thought. She braces for the worst, and gingerly takes a bite. Nothing. Although the injuries didn't make it any less painful to eat. She took another bite. Still nothing. Her assumption was correct, it seems. All that remained was to find it. Pinkie shoves her face into the cake, thrashing it about, and taking the occasional bite, in the hopes of finding the key. After a bit of this, she bites down onto something hard, and raises her head. Pinkie wipes the cake off her face and removes the item from her mouth.

Her heart leapt when she sees it. “The key!” she says in a squeaky voice. Pinkie drops the key on the table and places both hooves to her mouth. Her voice sounded even more hilarious than ever. She was having a hard time stifling her giggling. But try as she might, a sound escapes her lips. Pinkie gasps and begins nervously looking around the room in search for signs of the trap. A few minutes pass, and nothing happens. She heaves a sigh of relief, and grabs the key from the table. At this time Pinkie notices something. She feels lightheaded.

Pinkie makes her way over to the exit. No features whatsoever, save for a keyhole for the lock. She makes a motion to put the key in the lock. A miss. Pinkie shakes her head and tries again. Another miss. She tries once more, taking care to make sure the key goes in the lock. Success! She turns the key and the lock clicks. The key disappears into the keyhole and the wall raises up, allowing Pinkie to leave.

As she crosses the doorway, the door shuts behind her. Pinkie falls against the wall and heaves a deep sigh of relief. Of all the things that had happened to her today, there was one thing she was certain of: that was one party she wishes she wasn't invited to.