//------------------------------// // Round 1 // Story: Truth or Dare? // by Super Spike //------------------------------// A few minutes had passed by the time the group was done writing each of the cards down and placed the cards into a deck. Diamond Tiara shuffled the deck and then turned her head towards the group. "Okay, who's first?" she asked. After a short pause, Rumble stood up. "I'll go first," he said as he took a card from the deck and read it. "What is your greatest fear?" He sighed. "Well, my greatest fear is about being unable to become a Wonderbolt." At that point, he felt sad. "Initially, I thought that if I got the wrong cutie mark, I wouldn't be qualified to be one. So, I started a movement called 'Blank Flanks Forever' at the Cutie Mark Day Camp. But then, my older brother, Thunderlane showed me the cutie marks won't effect my dream of becoming a Wonderbolt and I decided to just go along with the day camp. Even so, I'm still afraid because it's a long ways away and I want to be up for the challenge. I'm so sorry, Pipsqueak." "It's okay, Rumble," Pipsqueak said. "You didn't really do anything wrong. You expressed your belief about a tough topic." "Still," Rumble said. "I found what I did was wrong." He sighed. "Okay, who's next?" "I'll go," Diamond said as she took a card from the deck. "Stand on your hind legs for thirty seconds. What? How's that even possible?" She sighed. "Okay, I'll try." Rumble pulled out a stopwatch as Diamond got up on her hind legs and began standing on them alone. The moment she got into that position, Rumble started the timer on his stopwatch. "Ow, my legs," Diamond groaned after standing on them for a few seconds. "You got twenty seconds left," Rumble announced. "Twenty seconds?!" Diamond shouted. "I'm going to break my back if I don't stand on all fours soon!" "Come on, Diamond," Silver Spoon said with encouragement. "You can do it!" "Ten more seconds," Rumble announced. "My muscles are really going to hurt tomorrow!" Diamond shouted as her hind legs began to quiver. "Only five more seconds left," Rumble announced. "WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MINDS WOULD DO THIS?!" Diamond screamed as her legs were about to give out. "Time's up," Rumble announced. Diamond quickly got back on all fours and sat next to her brother. "Are you okay?" he asked in a concerned tone. "I think so," Diamond answered. "My hind legs really hurt though." "I'll go get some ice," Gold Watch said. "Thanks, Gold Watch," Diamond said happily. "You're a great brother." "You're welcome, Diamond Tiara," Gold Watch said. "You're a great sister." As Gold Watch went into the kitchen to find some ice in the freezer, Button Mash got up from the sofa. "I'll go next," he said as he picked up a card from the deck. "Did you lose a very important video game? What? No, I didn't." All of a sudden, something carved onto the floorboard right in front of him. The carving said, 'Liar'. This caused him to freak out. "Liar?!" He began to hyperventilate. "Am I tripping?" "Calm down, Button," Pipsqueak said. "It's just a video game." "It's not what you think," Button said nervously. "I spent six hours on it in the arcade. It was on Hearts and Hooves Day and I was facing the final boss and I was about to fight against it when Sweetie Belle sang something behind me. I turned around and then lost against the final boss while I was distracted. All of that time went to waste. I had to start all over, but I only played for five more minutes and then I decided to get Mom a bouquet of flowers for Hearts and Hooves Day." He then sighed. "Phew. It feels great to get that out of me." "It's no problem, Button," Pipsqueak said. "We're friends. We'll keep it a secret." "Thanks, Pip," Button said. "I did beat the game a week later, so it does make me feel a bit better." "That's great, Button," Diamond said. "Alright, who's next?" "I'll go," Dinky said as she pulled a card out of the deck. "What is the truth about your mother's cross-eyes? Who wrote this?" "Not me," Diamond said. "Not me," Rumble said. "I don't think anyone wrote that one," Pipsqueak said. Gold Watch walked back into the living room, carrying two plastic bags full of ice. "Here you go, Diamond," he said as he gave the bags of ice to her. "Thanks, Gold Watch," Diamond said as she placed one of the bags onto her hind legs and the other on her back. "I think we need to get out of here," Gold Watch said, who was now shaking nervously. "Something tells me that this house is no ordinary one." "I think your right," Button said. "How did that house know I was lying?" "The house?" Silver responded. "That's ridiculous! There has to be somepony stalking us." "We got to call the police," Diamond said. "Let's go," Gold Watch said. The eight foals got off the sofa and headed towards the front door. When Gold Watch tried to turn the knob, however, the door wouldn't open. "I can't open it," Gold Watch said nervously as he looked at the window next to the door. "We got to climb out the window." He tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. "We got to break the window," Rumble said. "He ran back into the living room, took a chair, and then slammed it at the window several times, but it didn't break. "Now what?" Diamond responded worriedly. "I think Dinky needs to take her turn," Button Mash said nervously. Dinky sighed. "My mom told me about that story last year," she stated. "She was hit in the head by a bowling ball while bowling with her friends back when she was my age. As a result, she had a concussion and had to go to the hospital. They were able to stop the concussion, but she suffered from permanent damage on her eyesight. Over time, her eyes became more crosseyed and she had to leave summer flight camp after participating in seven races." All of the other foals looked at Dinky concerned. "I'm sorry to hear about that," Gold Watch said as he placed his hoof on Dinky's shoulder. "It's okay, Gold Watch," Dinky said. "I hope you can all understand." "We all do," Diamond said. "Okay, now that that's over, how about we get out of here now?" Gold Watch responded. The group tried to find a way, but found the doors remaining locked and the windows being covered by wooden boards. "We can't get out," Silver said frantically. All of a sudden, the TV in the living room turned on. Static appeared and some strange noise was sounding all over the house. The group ran into the living room and heard an eerie voice coming from the TV. "Five rounds...forty-eight hours...or suffer the consequences," it hissed. Upon hearing that sound, Gold Watch fainted. "Gold Watch, are you okay?" Diamond asked concerned as she ran up to him. All of a sudden, the number, nine, appeared on the TV screen surrounded by a circle. A line then began spinning around and the number decreased by one for each full stop. It soon stopped at the number, two. Then the grandfather clock chimed twice. "Two?" Pipsqueak responded confusedly. "Jump off of the staircase from top to bottom," the voice said. "Two minutes." "What?!" Pipsqueak shouted. "That's insane!" "You have to do it," Button Mash said as he put his hoof over Pipsqueak's shoulder. "We need to do what the voice tells us to do if we want to get out of here." Pipsqueak sighed. "Okay," he said nervously. As Pipsqueak walked up the stairs, Diamond was tapping Gold Watch's cheeks to try to wake him up. "Come on, Gold Watch!" Diamond called out to her brother. Within a few seconds, Gold Watch woke up. He groaned a bit. "What happened?" he asked Diamond groggily. "You fainted," Diamond answered. "You gave me a great scare there." "I didn't mean to. It's just that voice coming from the TV. It scared me big time." "It's okay, Gold Watch." "What happened?" "Pip is climbing up the stairs to jump from the top." "What?!" "He has less than two minutes to do that." "What?! He'll hurt himself. He needs someone to catch him. I'm coming!" Gold Watch got up and raced to the bottom of the stairs. "I'll catch you," he called out to Pipsqueak, who was now at the top of the staircase. "Thanks, Gold Watch," Pipsqueak said. He breathed heavily for a few seconds and then calmed himself down and walked a distance away from the staircase. "Okay, one...two...three!" Pipsqueak charged to the staircase and jumped from the top. Once he reached the bottom of the staircase, Gold Watch caught him and then got knocked to the ground. "Ow!" Gold Watch shouted. "Sorry," Pipsqueak said in a concerned tone as he got off of Gold Watch. "It's okay," Gold Watch said as he got up. "No serious damage. Now, let's get out of here." As the group made another attempt to open the front door, they saw something carved on it. It said, 'Finish the round'. "Finish the round?!" Gold Watch exclaimed. "Well, it's official: we have to play five rounds." "We got to do this," Rumble said. "All of us have to have a turn before we can leave." "Oh, like you're to talk," Silver snarked. "Hey, I didn't know any of this was real!" Rumble exclaimed. "I was just curious to take a look at this place. I never even went in here until I brought you guys here." "That's enough!" Diamond called out. "Enough of the blame game! Nopony knew about this before we got here! Therefore, we're all equal in this!" "Then who will go?" Button asked. "I'll go next," Twist said as she walked back to the living room and picked a card up from the deck. "Did you eat a candy cane on the ground?" She sighed as she looked at the group. "I did. But I was hungry. I was on a camping trip with the Cutie Mark Crusaders one day and I accidentally dropped my candy cane on the ground. I didn't want to starve, so I picked it up and ate it while it was covered in dirt." "It's not too big of a deal," Rumble said. "I eat food on the ground all the time." "Gross!" Gold Watch exclaimed. He then sighed. "I'll go next." He picked up a card from the deck and read it. "Is your favorite color pink and do you like to wear dresses while in your bedroom?" "What?!" the entire group shouted. Gold Watch blushed for a few seconds. "I...I..." he began. Then he took a few deep breaths and then regained his posture. "I like pink. So what? It's a color. Besides, I am pink. I was born pink!" "What about wearing dresses?" Diamond asked. Gold Watch began hyperventilating and then started sobbing. "I want to be a ballerina!" he cried. "I've been snatching some of your dresses so that I can practice dancing while listening to classical music! I'm sorry, Diamond! I should've told you. I just didn't want you to be embarrassed to find out that your brother likes girly things, okay? I don't like sports, video games, getting dirty, or rough housing! I like dancing while listening to classical music! I like tea parties! I like stylizing my mane and tail! I like spa treatments! What's wrong with all of that?! I just want to be me! I'm sorry!" Diamond looked at her brother in shock. "I...didn't know," she said in concern. "You could've told me. I'm sure I could help you take dance lessons." "I didn't want our parents to find out," Gold Watch continued. "I was worried that they would disown me or send me to a straight camp." "No they wouldn't. Father would never do that and he would make sure that Mother would never do that to you either." "Are you certain?" "I'm one hundred percent certain." "Thanks, Diamond." "You're welcome, Gold Watch." "Okay, let's get back to the game," Rumble said. "It's Silver Spoon's turn." "Right," Silver said as she picked up a card from the deck and read it. "Kiss Diamond Tiara. What?!" "One minute..." the voice hissed as the grandfather clock chimed once. "Okay, that's just gross!" Silver exclaimed. "I won't do that!" "You have to," Diamond said. "If you don't do it, you'll suffer the consequences." "What consequences?" Silver responded. "There's obviously somepony that's watching us. I don't think anything will happen if I don't do the dare." "Pleath," Twist said. "I'm not attracted to fillies!" Silver exclaimed. "I like colts!" "But this is serious," Button said. "If you don't do the dare, something bad is going to happen. Didn't you see the doors lock, the windows being boarded up, the TV turning on without anyone using a remote, and a strange voice coming from nowhere?" All of a sudden, the lights began to flicker. "For the last time, I'm not kissing Diamond Tiara," Silver shouted. "I'm not playing this game anymore! I'm going home!" "Time's up..." the voice said. "Whatever," Silver said. "Told you nothing would happen." "Now suffer the consequences," the voice said. "Seriously?" Silver responded. "Whoever is up there doing this, I'm calling the police and you're going to go to jai--" All of a sudden, the lights stopped flickering and Silver stopped mid-sentence and grabbed her chest. "Silver Spoon?" Diamond called out to her friend. "Silver Spoon?! Are you okay?!" Silver fell to the ground and felt strange. Her ears began to reshape and become triangular. "What's happening to me?" she responded. She then felt something growing on your cheeks. "Silver, you're growing whiskers!" Diamond called out. "What?!" Silver shouted. She then groaned in her pain as her teeth began to sharpen. Then she screamed in pain as her muzzle began to reshape and her nose became triangular. Then her nose and mouth fused together. Rumble ran into the bathroom and pulled a mirror out. He ran back to Silver and show her face with the mirror, causing her to scream. "I'M TURNING INTO A CAT!" she screamed out of the top of her lungs. Her four hooves soon began to crack and form into paws. Then her paws grew pads and five claws grew on each paw. "We need to help her!" Gold Watch shouted. "Dinky, can you cast a counter-spell to reverse the transformation?" "I'll try," Dinky responded. Dinky powered her horn and zapped Silver Spoon to try to stop the transformation, but nothing happened. After a few seconds, she stopped zapping her. "I can't," Dinky said worriedly. "It's not working." Silver's back snapped and her legs reshaped a bit, causing her to scream in agony. "Silver Spoon!" Diamond shouted. Before long, Silver saw her surroundings growing. "Diamond Tiara, you're growing," she said in shock. "No, Silver Spoon, you're shrinking," Diamond responded in horror. "What?!" Silver exclaimed and then sighed in discomfort as her costume, glasses, and necklace fell off of her and she stopped shrinking once she was the size of a small kitten. "I was wrong." Silver then gasped lightly. "Silver Spoon!" Diamond called out to her. "Meow?" Silver answered. "No!" Diamond shouted. "This can't be happening!" "The article..." Rumble said in horror as he pulled it out of his candy bag. "It's real!" "Never mind that," Gold Watch said. "We got to get out of here." Gold Watch turned the knob and opened the front door. Diamond picked up the now kitten-transformed-Silver and the entire group ran out of the house and kept running until they couldn't see the house at all. "Where to?" Button asked. "To Princess Twilight's castle," Gold Watch said. "I'm sure she can help." "Meow?" Silver responded. "It's okay, Silver Spoon," Diamond told her. "You'll be back to normal in no time. I promise." The seven foals ran as quick as they could to get to Twilight's castle for help. Within a few minutes, they arrived. Gold Watch knocked on the door and within a few seconds, Twilight answered it. "Wow, I didn't think anypony would arrive this late for trick-or-treating," she said. "We're not," Gold Watch responded. "We need help." "What happened?" Twilight asked in concern. "It's my friend, Silver Spoon," Diamond answered. "What about her?" Twilight asked. "You might want to have a look at her," Diamond answered as she picked her up and showed her to Twilight. "That's just a kitten," Twilight responded. "Not just a kitten," Diamond said. "Look at her mane, tail, and cutie mark!" "What?!" Twilight exclaimed as she looked at them. "How did this happen?" "We were playing a game of truth or dare in a haunted house," Gold Watch explained. "At first, it seemed like any normal game, but then we ended up being force to tell stuff that nopony knew about and then Pipsqueak had to jump down the staircase. Then Silver Spoon had to kiss Diamond Tiara, but refused to and as a result, she turned into a kitten. We don't know what to do." "Here, let me try to cast a spell on her," Twilight said as she powered up her horn. She then zapped her for a seconds, but stopped when she saw that nothing was happening. "I can't." All of a sudden, Discord appeared out of nowhere. "Maybe I can," he said. He snapped his fingers, but nothing happened. He snapped his fingers six more times, but none of the snapping worked. "What? Why is my magic not working? I pretended to be hurt to have the Mane Six stop King Sombra, but this time this is for real." All of a sudden, a tall white alicorn mare walked outside of the castle. "Maybe I can help," Princess Celestia said. "Princess Celestia," Diamond said in amazement. "What are you doing here?" "The three of us were in a meeting involving the future of Equestria," Princess Celestia answered. "Here, let me cast a spell." The sun princess powered up her horn and shot a spell at Silver. When the smoke cleared, however, Silver was still a kitten. "Wait, what about the alicorn amulet?" Pipsqueak asked. "Meow?" Silver responded. "It had recently been destroyed," Princess Luna said as she walked to the front door of the castle. "Somepony tried to steal it, so we decided that would be best to destroy it to prevent anymore disasters from happening. Zecora had the amulet locked away in her hut previously, but agreed with us that it should be destroyed." Gold Watch sighed. "Well, thanks for helping anyway," he said. "Sorry to interrupt your meeting." "It's okay, Gold Watch," Twilight said. "It was an emergency. Why don't you kids go home and get some rest. Hopefully, we'll be able to find a solution by tomorrow morning." "Okay, thanks, Princess Twilight," Diamond said. "You're welcome all of you," Twilight responded as she closed the door. "So, what do we do now?" Rumble asked the group. "We do what Twilight told us to do: we got to go home and get some rest," Button said. "I'm sure she can fix this," Diamond said. "Don't worried, Silver Spoon. You'll be okay." "Meow," Silver responded as she rubbed her head on Diamond's foreleg. "Aw, you're so cute," Diamond said as she picked up Silver. "Let's take you home." Having no other options, the group headed home, hoping that everything would be back to normal tomorrow.