//------------------------------//
// Round 2: The Meeting With the Survivor 
// Story: Truth or Dare? 2: Mysteries Unlocked 
// by Super Spike 
//------------------------------//

The night was long.  All of the five remaining creatures could think about was what had happened to Smolder.  She was cursed--cursed by the game.  As a result, none of them could sleep very well, as they didn't know whether they will be able to fix their friend.  Eventually, after a long restless night, the sun rose and the five friends woke up.

"I'm so tired," Silverstream said groggily, still in her room.

As she got out of her bed, she heard some screeching sound on the wall.  She turned toward it and saw a message on it.  It said, 'Round 2'.

"Round 2?" she said to herself.

Out of nowhere, she saw Smolder looking at her.

"Smolder?" Silverstream said in confusion.

"You're not done yet," she responded.  Using her claws, she began writing a message, which appeared as blood, on the wall.  It read 'shave your mane and tail'.  "Shave your mane and tail.  You have three minutes."

All of a sudden, a razor appeared on Silverstream's nightstand.

"Wait a minute," she said to herself.  "Five rounds.  We're still in the game!"  She picked up the razor, turned it on, causing a buzzing sound, and sighed.  "I can't believe I have to do this."

Silverstream placed the razor on her mane and began to shave it off.  As chunks of her mane fell off of her head, she sobbed, knowing that other students would likely call her a freak and that her mane would take a long time to grow back.  Within about a minute, the deed was done and she moved to her tail.  Within another minute, she managed to shave off her entire tail, leaving nothing but a hairless stump.  Silverstream moved it around and then sobbed harder.  Afterwards, she looked up to see Smolder, but found out that she was gone.

"Where did she go?" she asked.  "My friends will never see me the same!  But I guess they must know about the fact that the game is still on."

Silverstream opened the front door, believing that her friends would mock her upon seeing her.  Upon opening the door, she saw her friends each holding an envelope.  Realizing that there was more going on, she looked down and she saw an envelope in front of her.  Curious to see what was in the envelope, she opened it and saw what looked like a letter.

Meet me at this address: 750 Saddle Road, Ponyville, Equestria.  It's very important!

The Survivor

"What?" Silverstream responded.  "Where's that?"

"That's about a mile away from the School of Friendship," Ocellus answered.  "I went there once to--Silverstream!  What happened to your mane and tail?!"

"I got a dare," she responded, still crying.  "I had to shave them off."

"I'm sorry to hear about that," Ocellus said sadly as she placed her hoof on her shoulder.

"If the Survivor went to the School of Friendship, then that means he or she must've watched us play the game in "The House of No Return" and followed us to deliver the envelopes," Gallus concluded.

"How do we know it's not some creepy stranger?" Yona asked.

"We won't know until we go there," Gallus said.

Yona sighed.

"You're right," she said.  "Yona will go."

"We will all go," Sandbar said.


*  *  *  *


The five creatures quickly traveled to the listed address.  Upon reaching there, Gallus rang the doorbell.  Within a few seconds, a magenta earth pony mare with a light purple and white-striped mane and tail and three flowers as a cutie mark answered the door.

"Hello," the mare answered.  "We need to talk."

"The Survivor told us to meet here," Silverstream said.  "Are you the Survivor?"

"Yes," she answered.  "One of them.  My name is Cheerilee."

"Wait, what?" Sandbar responded.  "There's more than one?"

"Follow me," Cheerilee said as she let the five creatures into her house and led them to her living room.  "My student wants to see you."

Once the five creatures made it to the living room, whom they saw shocked them.  He was an earth pony colt.  He had pink fur, a purple and white stripe mane and tail, a golden watch as a cutie mark, and some burn scars on part of his face.

"Hello," the colt said.  "I see that you received my invitation.  Please take a seat.  We need to talk about something very important."

The five creatures did so.

"So, you're the other Survivor?" Gallus asked.

"Yes," the colt answered.  "I'm Gold Watch and I survived the previous game of truth or dare last year and I was the one who placed that warning sign on the gate and the letter on the door."

"I survived the game before that one sixteen years ago," Cheerilee continued.

"I see," Gallus responded.

"How far have you gone in the game?" Gold Watch asked.

"One round," Sandbar answered.

Gold Watch sighed.

"What?" Silverstream asked.

"You all still have a long way to go," Gold Watch stated.  "You all have to play four more rounds."

"What?!" Yona responded.

"You have two days to complete the game or the game will curse all of you," Gold Watch explained.

"Well, that's great," Gallus responded sarcastically.

"However, you can outsmart the game," Cheerilee continued.

"How?" Ocellus asked.

"You need to share the dares," Gold Watch stated.

"What do you mean by that?" Gallus asked.

"You must each do a part of the dares if you can," Gold Watch continued.  "For example, one of my friends had to drink hard cider.  Because he probably would die of alcohol poisoning if he drank the whole bottle, me and my friends each drank one-sixth of the bottle."

"What about the burns on your face?" Sandbar asked in concern.

"I had to pour a bucket of bleach over my head," Gold Watch answered sadly.

"Why didn't you share that dare?" Ocellus asked.

"I was the only one left," Gold Watch said.  "Everyone else was turned."

"Turned?" Silverstream responded in confusion.  "You mean like what had happened to Smolder?"

"Yes," Gold Watch answered.  "Me and my friends played and as the game went on, the dares got harder and over time, we were unable to complete all of them.  If you didn't tell the truth or do the dare, the game would...would..."

At that point, he began bawling as the question haunted him because of what had happened to his friends.  Seeing her student sobbing, Cheerilee hugged him.

"All of his friends have turned into kittens," Cheerilee explained.  "The same thing happened to my friends when I played the game."

"I see," Gallus said.  "But when we played the game, I had to place my talons on a stove.  I didn't do it, so a chair ran into me and slammed one of my talons on the burner.  The game didn't turn me into a cat, the dare did me."

"Oh, that's odd," Cheerilee responded in confusion.  "When I played the game, that never happened to me or my friends."

"Or mine," Gold Watch said.

"What do we do?" Ocellus asked.

"All of you have to go back to the house," Gold Watch stated as he sat up.  "Since you started the game there, you have to end it there."

"Why don't we just smash down the house?" Yona asked.

"We tried to get the authorities to have it destroyed," Cheerilee explained.  "But they didn't have the legal rights to do so."

"Oh, I guess we do have to go back," Gallus said.

"Unfortunately, you don't have a choice," Gold Watch said sadly.  "You have to finish the game within two days."

"We understand," Sandbar responded worriedly.


*  *  *  *


The five creatures were frustrated about what they were just told what to do.  As they walked back to the School of Friendship, all they could think about was what they had to do to get out of the game.

"Go back there?!" Yona shouted.  "That's nuts!"

"Do we have a choice?" Gallus asked.  "No!  We don't!  You heard what those ponies said!"

"We only get two days," Ocellus said worriedly.  "Now we only have a day and a half to finish the game."

"I can't believe this!" Sandbar responded.

"This totally sucks!" Yona exclaimed.  "Why do we have to keep playing this crazy game?!"

"Simple reason: we opened the door," Gallus stated.  "Now we have to close it."

"How do we do that?" Sandbar asked.

"We finish the game," Gallus answered.

Ocellus sighed.

"Fine, but we need to go back to school first," she said.  "We need to get equipment."

"What equipment?" Gallus asked in confusion.

"Equipment to protect us while we play the game," Ocellus answered.  "I brought a first aid kit with me, in case anycreature gets hurt."

"I hope it works," Sandbar said worriedly.

"Don't worry," Ocellus said.  "Twilight taught me all about helping others when they're hurt, whether it be physically or mentally."

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Gallus responded.  "Let's do this!"

*  *  *  *

The Young Five make it back to their dorm rooms and begin packing.  Ocellus searched through her saddlebags and found some medical equipment, which included washcloths, some bandages, and alcohol disinfect bottles.  Meanwhile, the other four friends got some equipment from their rooms, which included some defense gear.  Within about ten minutes, every creature was ready to head back to "The House of No Return" and face the game.  Each of them walked out carrying their equipment in their bags.

"Are you guys ready?" Ocellus asked.

"I'm ready when you are," Gallus responded.

"Ugh, this equipment is so heavy!" Yona panted.  "Yona tired!"

Out of nowhere, she heard a screeching sound coming from her bag.  Wondering what was going on with her bag, she took it off and looked at it.  A message was written on it that said, "Smash Headmare Starlight Glimmer's front desk".

"Oh no," Yona yelped.  "Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no!"

"What?" Ocellus asked.

"This isn't good," Yona answered sadly.  "Yona have to smash Headmare Starlight's desk!"

"What?!" Sandbar responded in shock.

A number then appeared on the floor right in front of Yona, which said "5".

"No, Yona can't do that," Yona cried.

"You don't have a choice," Gallus responded.

"But this is our headmare!" Yona exclaimed.

"We'll explain what's going on," Ocellus said.

"Just do it," Silverstream said worriedly.  "I don't want to lose you, too!"

Yona and her friends snuck into Starlight's office.  As they approached towards the desk, Gallus gave a light push to Yona.

"Go on, do it," he whispered.

"You don't have much time," Silverstream whispered.

"Okay," Yona whimpered.

After a few more moments of heavy breathing, she approached the desk and climbed onto it.  Right after she got on it however, she stood paralyzed in fear.

"Yona can't do it," she whimpered.

"Just do it," Gallus said.  "You don't have much time."

Yona sniffled.

"Okay," she whimpered.

With all of her strength, Yona jumped onto the desk several times and smashed it to pieces after several hard jumps and stomps.  Afterwards, Yona got away from the debris and cried.  Her friends walked up to her and hugged her.

"There, there," Ocellus said calmly.  "It's going to be alright."

All of a sudden, the front door opened and Headmare Starlight Glimmered entered.

"I heard some--" she began, but then saw the wreckage of her desk.  "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY DESK?!"

Upon hearing Starlight Glimmer's loud question, Yona ran towards her.

"It was me, Yona did it!" she sobbed.  "Yona had to do it!"

"Wait, what?" Starlight responded in confusion.  "Back up.  What's going on?"

"Well you see, we were playing a game of truth or dare," Gallus said.

"And this is what Yona was dared to do?" Starlight asked in annoyance.

"Well, she--" Gallus began, but then heard a voice that rang out towards him.

"Did you go to "The House of No Return" last night?" it said.

Oh no, Gallus thought.  It's my turn!

He sighed.

"We went to "The House of No Return" last night," he admitted.

"I thought that we discussed that that place is off limits," Starlight said angrily.

"We wanted to figure out whether it was real and if we could help the player that last played the game."

"I understand.  But we wanted to help solve that mystery to prevent any further incidents from happening."  He paused for a moment to catch his breath.  "Now we're stuck in the game and we have to finish it within two days.  If we don't, we're toast!  We have to go back to the house to finish the game."

"Who told you that?" Starlight said in confused.

"Gold Watch," Gallus answered.  "He is the previous winner of the game of truth or dare."

"Wait, him?"

"Yes.  He and his teacher, Miss Cheerilee, explained about their previous experiences of the game."

"So, you're saying that this child and his teacher both went through the same problem?"

"Yes, but during different times."

"Please, Headmare Starlight!" Silverstream pleaded.  "We have to finish the game!  Smolder's become victim to the game!"

"She is?" Starlight asked in concerned.

"Yes, she's been turned into a cat," Sandbar said.  "She's in her room if you want to check."

"Enough," Starlight demanded.  "Just finish it and promise never to go back there ever again!  Got it?"

"We promise," Ocellus said nervously.


*  *  *  *


Within the next hour, the Young five found themselves back in "The House of No Return".  As they walked inside, Gallus sighed in annoyance.

"When we're done here," he said angrily.  "I am going to set this house on fire!  I don't want anything more to happen towards others!"

"Easy, Gallus," Sandbar said worriedly.  "Let's just get this over with and be done with this game."

All of a sudden, the group heard the eerie voice.

"Ocellus..." it called out.

"Oh no," Ocellus said worriedly.  "It's mine turn."

One of the doors then slammed open, causing the group to jump to face it.  They walked cautiously past it and saw a card and a pair of pliers.   Ocellus picked up the card and read it.

"Pull two teeth out," she read.

The grandfather clock then struck twice.

"Gross!" Sandbar responded.

"How are going to do this?" Silverstream asked.  "Who's going to pull the teeth out?"

"I'll do it," Gallus said.

"What?" Sandbar said in annoyance.  "That's not fair.  You already knocked a tooth out of me."

"Doesn't matter!" Ocellus cried.  "We only have two minutes to pull this off!"  She looked at Gallus.  "Just do it!"

Gallus picked up the pliers and grasped it on one of Ocellus's back teeth.

"I'll pull one of your back teeth and then you pull one of mine," Gallus stated.  "Got it?"

Ocellus nodded.

"Do it!" she shouted with a muffled voice.

Gallus pulled as hard as he could.  As he was doing this, Ocellus screamed in agony but within seconds, Gallus painfully pulled the tooth out.

"I'm sorry," Gallus said sadly as green goo poured out of her mouth.

"It's okay," Ocellus sobbed.

"Your turn," Gallus said as he handed over the pliers to his friend.

"Okay," Ocellus said as she hyperventilated and grasped on one of Gallus's back teeth.  "Hold still!"

Ocellus pulled with all of her strength.  Gallus screamed as all of this was happening.  Nevertheless, within the next few seconds, the deed was done and the tooth was pulled out.

"My mouth!" Gallus shouted as blood poured out of it.

"I'm sorry!" Ocellus sobbed.

"Never mind that," Gallus said as he and the group walk back to the living room.  "The dare is done."

"I guess that's a relief," Ocellus said.

"Well, it's my turn," Sandbar said as he picked up a card from the deck.  The moment he saw what was written, his eyes went wide.

"No, I can't," he sobbed.

"What, what does it say?" Silverstream asked.

"Set Yona's mane on fire," Sandbar stated.

"What?!" Yona shouted.

A lighter then showed up on the nightstand and the grandfather clock struck once.

"I can't do it," Sandbar sobbed.

"You have to!" Yona shouted.  "Yona deserves it!  Yona cheated on you!"

"No!  Don't say that!  I would never do such a thing to you!"

"You must!  Please do it!  Yona don't want to see your mane get set on fire!"

"I got a bucket of water!" Silverstream called out as she carried the bucket over.

"There's no need for that," Sandbar said.  "Not until the dare does me."

"What, no!" Gallus shouted.  "Don't do that!  That's very dangerous!"

"I'm sorry," Sandbar said sternly.  "But I won't set anyone's mane on fire!"

"Time's up," the voice sounded.

All of a sudden, Sandbar grabbed his chest and collapsed to the floor.

"What's happening to me?" he gasped as his ear began to reshape into cat ears.  "This doesn't look like the dare is doing me!"

"What the?!" Silverstream exclaimed.

"Sandbar!" Yona screamed as she rushed over to Sandbar's side.

Before long, Sandbar grew whiskers all over his cheeks.  Then his muzzle shrank, his nose became an upside down triangle, and it fused with his mouth.

"I'm turning into a cat!" he shouted as his teeth sharpened.

Within seconds, his hooves cracked, grew pads, and changed into paws.  Then his legs snapped, causing him to writhe on the ground in agony.

"NO!" Sandbar screamed.  "I drowwww want trrrowww be a carrowww!"

Sandbar then felt himself shrink until he was about three-fourths of the size of an adult cat.

"Yona is sorry," Yona sobbed.

"It's okay, Yona," Sandbar gasped.  "I forgive you.  MRRRROOOOWWWWW!"

"No!" Yona shouted.

"Yona, I'm so sorry," Ocellus sobbed.

"We will avenge him," Gallus stated.

All of a sudden, a knock on the door sounded.

"Oh no," Ocellus said worriedly.

"Don't answer it," Silverstream said.  "It could be a trap."

"We won't know until we check," Gallus said as he walked to the front door.

"Wait!" Yona called out.

Gallus ignored her and opened the door.  As he opened it, whom he saw shocked him.