As the group sat down waiting for the next round to begin, Sandbar walked to Yona. Yona, feeling saddened about what had happened to him, picked him up and hugged him.
"Yona sorry," she sobbed. "Yona sorry for cheating on you!"
"Meow," Sandbar responded as he purred.
"We'll get through this," Gold Watch said. "We just need to stay together and do whatever we can to outsmart the game so we can get out of it."
"You're right about that," Silverstream responded. "But what about the cat?"
"We're going to have to do whatever we can to save him," Gold Watch answered.
"But how?" Ocellus asked. "We can't break the chain."
"Maybe not," Gold Watch answered. "But maybe there's another way."
"What way?" Gallus asked.
"I don't know," Gold Watch answered. "But maybe there's something we can find around the house. We need to keep searching."
As the group got up, a plank fell from the ceiling with a message carved on it, saying 'Round 4'.
"Maybe we might have to put a hold on it," Silverstream said as she picked up the plank. What she saw made her tear up. "Strike Gallus in the back three times?"
Out of nowhere, a set of chains linked together fell from the ceiling.
"What is that?" Silverstream asked.
"Looks like a chain whip," Gallus answered.
The grandfather clock then struck once.
"One minute..." the eerie voice sounded.
"Oh no," Silverstream sobbed. "No, I can't do that."
"Just do it," Gallus said. "I don't want anything to happen to you."
"But I've already cut your tail off!" Silverstream cried as she pointed to the whip. "Hitting you with that will really damage your back!"
Gallus walked up to Silverstream and hugged her.
"It's okay," he told her. "I'll make it."
Silverstream sighed
"Okay," she said as she took a deep breath and picked up the chain whip. "I'll just hit you lightly with it."
All of a sudden, a message carved on the wall that read, 'No tapping, strike hard'.
"Great," Gallus said disappointingly. "Just do it."
"O-okay," Silverstream said as she shed a tear.
With reluctance, Silverstream swung the chain whip hard onto Gallus's back, causing him to scream in agony. Silverstream sobbed as she saw a large bloody mark on Gallus's back and heard him shout out in pain. She then hit him again and was rewarded with a louder scream from Gallus. Finally, she made the third lash, causing Gallus to make an ear-piercing scream, and then dropped the chain whip, which disintegrated the moment it hit the floor.
"I'm sorry," Silverstream wailed.
Gallus grunted in pain and then got up and hugged his crying friend.
"It's okay," he gasped while trying to produce a weak smile.
"Here, I got some bandages," Gold Watch said as he and Silverstream wrapped them on Gallus's wounds.
"Thanks guys," Gallus said as they finished covering his wounds.
"No problem, Gallus," Gold Watch responded.
"Let's just finish this up," Gallus said.
"Right," Yona said as she picked up one of the cards from the deck and read it. "No, no, no! Yona can't do that!"
"Do what?" Silverstream asked.
"Throw Sandbar down the basement!" Yona cried as she hugged her turned lover.
The grandfather clock then struck three minutes.
"Yona won't do it!" Yona screamed.
"You have to," Gallus said. "You don't have much time!"
"One of us can catch him," Ocellus said. "I'll do it."
Yona picked up Sandbar and then she and the group walked towards the basement door and opened it. Ocellus walked down the stairs and turned towards Yona.
"Ready?" she asked.
"Yes," Yona sobbed.
She took Sandbar off of her back and proceeded to throw him downstairs. However, tension rose in Yona's head and before long, she trembled in fear. Finally, she stood up with a stern look on her face.
"No!" she shouted. "Yona don't care! Yona won't do it!"
"Please, Yona!" Ocellus called out. "We don't want to lose you, too!"
"Yona won't hurt him!" she cried. "Yona say that's final!"
"Time's up..." the voice sounded.
Yona felt excruciating pain build up on her chest. Before long, she dropped Sandbar and fell to the floor. Her ears flattened and rose to the top of her head.
"No!" Silverstream shouted. "Yona!"
As Yona writhed on the floor, her cheeks grew whiskers, her teeth became fangs, her muzzle painfully reshaped into that of a cat's, and her nose became triangular and fused to her mouth.
"Yona sorry!" Yona cried. "Yona deserve this!"
"No, you don't!" Gold Watch exclaimed. "No creature does!"
"But Yona cheated on Sandbar," she cried as her hooves cracked, grew pads, and reshaped into paws. "Yona not worry to be a cat!"
"Sure you are," Gallus said as Yona's legs snapped and reshaped.
"You admitted that you made a mistake and apologized," Ocellus said. "We know that you didn't mean to do that to Sandbar."
As her horns broke apart and chunks of her fur fell off to reveal much shorter fur, Yona smiled.
"You really mean it?" she responded.
"Of course," Ocellus answered. "No matter what happens, there are always ways to fix things."
As her body, mane, and tail began to rapidly shrink into the size of an adolescent cat and the bows on her head and the cloth on her back fell off of her, Yona smiled as she realized that her friends were still there to support her.
"Yona free," she said. "Yona can now move on."
She gasped and then took a deep breath.
"Meow," she said.
Silverstream picked up her turned friend, hugged her, and cried.
"No!" she sobbed.
Gold Watch, Gallus, and Ocellus walked up to her and hugged their crying friend.
"There, there," Gold Watch said calmly.
"We're going to put an end to this," Ocellus said.
"We're going to avenge our friends," Gallus said with determination.
"Thanks, guys," Silverstream said, still crying. "But I think I would like to be alone right now."
"We understand," Gold Watch said.
"Guys, I think I found something that might help us downstairs," Ocellus said.
"What is it?" Gold Watch asked.
"It's a trapdoor," Ocellus answered. "Remember when we read that a cat scratched the floor in the basement?"
"Yes," Gold Watch answered.
"I think it might have unlocked something under the basement," Ocellus continued.
"Wait, what?" Gallus responded. "Are you saying that there might be a floor below the basement?"
"I think so," Ocellus answered.
"In other words: there are two basements in this house?" Gallus asked in confusion.
"Yes," Ocellus answered.
"Then I think we might have found our trump card," Gold Watch responded. "We got to go down there. We might be able to find the core of the house and be able to shut it down."
"Uh, okay," Ocellus said worriedly. "I don't know if I can go down that low. Going that low below ground is awfully scary."
"I'm scared, too," Gold Watch responded. "But I don't think we have a choice. If we want to save our friends, I think we have to go down there and find the mystery."
"Uh, okay," Ocellus said as she quivered.
As she, Gold Watch, and Gallus walked downstairs, Silverstream put Yona down and got up.
"I'm coming, too," she said angrily. "I'm going to make Ponelax pay for all of this!"
The rest of the group looked at her in amazement.
"Are you sure?" Gold Watch asked. "We understand if you need time to yourself."
"I'm sure," Silverstream said as he joined the group downstairs. "Let's do this!"
Ocellus powered up her horn and lit the basement up with light. Soon after, the group found the trapdoor and Silverstream opened it, revealing another set of stairs. As they walked downstairs, their surroundings grew darker despite of the light that was lit on Ocellus's horn. Once they reached the bottom of the staircase, they saw that the second basement was surrounded with nothing but walls, spiderwebs, and moss.
"I have a feeling that no one's ever been down here before," Gallus said.
As the group looked around the place, Gold Watch found something on the floor.
"Guys, I think I found something," he called out.
The other creatures darted towards him.
"What is it?" Silverstream asked.
Gold Watch picked up what looked like a book and rubbed the dust off of it. What he found on the cover of the book amazed him.
"'Ponelax Exorcism'?" he read. "Wait a minute."
"What is it?" Silverstream asked.
"The authorities, keeping the house, the cat in the basement, the book here, it's making all sense," Gold Watch said. "Now I know why the authorities didn't destroy the house."
"Why's that?" Gallus asked.
"They investigated the house," Gold Watch explained. "If they went inside, odds are that they had found the basement and heard meowing noises, but couldn't find the cat anywhere."
"Why wouldn't they?" Ocellus asked.
"I have a theory," Gold Watch answered. "The house wouldn't show the cat, unless a game was in effect. Since there wasn't, they must've only heard the sounds. That must've why they left the house intact. They wanted to find the cat, so they said they it can't be destroyed due to legal reasons because they heard something living inside."
"What about the second basement?" Silverstream asked. "What about the book?"
"I don't think that they could find it," Gold Watch said. "Maybe it was also only permitted to be visible while a game was in effect."
"Could it be possible that Perfect Vision was trying to help those that were playing the game?" Gallus asked.
"I think you're right," Gold Watch answered. "She must've been able to take slight control of the house before she was possessed. That's why she wrote the book! She wanted to get anyone that finds to put an end to Ponelax."
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Silverstream responded. "Let's do this!"
The group ran upstairs and back to the first basement. Once they all got upstairs, the trapdoor slammed shut, causing the group to jump in startle. Gallus turned around and saw something carved on it.
"Free Cozy Glow?" he read in confusion. "Oh no."
Out of nowhere an amulet appeared on the floor right next to his talon. Afterwards, a spiderweb began reshaping into the number nine. The entire group looked at the number in horror, then Gallus picked up the amulet.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Ocellus asked worriedly.
"I have to teleport us to Canterlot and do this," Gallus answered.
"You can't do that!" Silverstream exclaimed.
"I don't have a choice," Gallus muttered. "It's a dare. We'll turn her back to stone as soon as I'm done."
"We're all going to be in so much trouble," Gold Watch said in disbelief.
Gallus studied the amulet and saw that it could teleport him to the location of the statue.
"Come on guys," he said. "We got to go."
Gold Watch held the book tight as he, Ocellus, and Silverstream held onto Gallus, who then pressed one of the two buttons on the amulet and then teleported the group. As soon as they arrived, they saw the statues of Lord Tirek, Queen Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow.
"We are so going to be turned to stone after we do this," Gold Watch said.
"I know, I know," Gallus said. "But we need to fight the curse first. I'm sure that the princesses will understand."
"Besides, I do think that it was a bit too harsh of a punishment for her," Gold Watch said as the group looked at him. "What? She's a kid just like me. I don't think that I child deserves that punishment."
"I understand how you feel," Ocellus said as she put her hoof on Gold Watch's shoulder.
"Let's just get this over with," Gallus said.
"Remember: only Cozy Glow," Gold Watch said. "Do not let the other two out."
"Got it," Gallus said as he powered up the amulet and pointed it at Cozy Glow from about one foot away. Once the amulet was warmed up, he pressed the second button and zapped Cozy Glow's body. Within a few seconds, the stone cracked and gradually freed Cozy Glow. "It worked."
As Cozy Glow regained her senses, Gallus prepared to turn her back into stone only to find that the amulet was disintegrating.
"Oh great," he responded as he dropped the device that was now nothing but dust.
"What the?" Cozy Glow reacted upon seeing that she could move. "I'm...I'm...I'm free!" She looked at Gallus, then at the rest of the group. "Ha! Big mistake for all of you! Now you'll all bow down to me when I--"
Ocellus interrupted Cozy Glow's rant by zapping her with her horn and keeping her in place.
"You're not going anywhere," Gallus said angrily. "We freed you only because we had to."
"Why would you have to do that?" Cozy Glow asked angrily.
"Because we're stuck in a dangerous game," Gold Watch answered. "A game that we must beat in order to survive. It's called truth or dare."
"Truth or dare?" Cozy Glow responded. "Hey, I know that game! I used to play it with my parents."
"Well, I'm pretty sure that your parents are not happy about what you had tried to do to Equestria!" Silverstream exclaimed.
"My parents..." Cozy Glow responded as she began to shutter.
"Well, what do you think they would say?" Gallus asked.
"My parents..." Cozy Glow responded with a bit of grief. "...are dead."
"Wait, what?" Gold Watch responded worriedly.
"Ocellus, use a truth spell," Gallus said. "We want to make sure that she's being sincere."
"Uh, okay," Ocellus said worriedly.
"Be careful," Gold Watch warned.
Ocellus powered up her horn and shot right at Cozy Glow.
"What had happened to your parents?" Gold Watch asked her.
"My parents died," Cozy Glow answered.
"How?" Gold Watch asked.
"They were robbed and stabbed," Cozy Glow answered. "I was heading home and found a police tape placed all over the gates of my house that said, "Do Not Cross". I wanted to go inside because I wanted to find my parents, but the police wouldn't let me. They were placed in bags and at that point, I was begging for them, but the police told me everything: a couple of crooks broke in, stole some stuff, and killed my parents when they tried to stop them." She then shed a tear. "They meant a lot to me. They loved me! They supported me! I didn't see them much because they had busy jobs. But when they were around, they would always spend lots of time with me. There were times when I was bullied back when I went to Fillydelphia Elementary School before we moved to Ponyville. But they were there to support me and do whatever they could to make sure that I was happy."
"Bullied?" Gallus responded.
"Yes," Cozy Glow responded sadly. "I got great grades and a rook as a cutie mark because of my love for chess. Colts and fillies got jealous and called me a freak all the time. I eventually told my teacher, but that only got one of my classmates to punch my nose and have a couple of other classmates hold me down and pull feathers off of my wings." At that point, Cozy Glow was about ready to sob and Gold Watch looked at her in shock. "When that happened, I rushed back home to see my parents, only to find out that they were murdered. I wanted to know who did it, but they wouldn't tell me. So, I lived in an orphanage for the next several months and continued to get ridiculed by others all because of my hobbies."
"How did you meet Lord Tirek?" Gold Watch asked.
"I saw him when he was draining magic out of ponies two years ago," Cozy Glow answered. "When he saw me, he initially wanted to drain me. But when he saw who I was, he said that he knew me and that he could help avenge my parents and get back at those that were responsible for killing my parents. He told me that some guards that worked with the princesses were the ones that were responsible. I believed him." Unable to hold her tears back any longer, she wailed. "I BELIEVED HIM! I didn't know what to do! All I could think about was my family at that time, so I did what I thought was good. I wanted to drain the magic out of Equestria to get revenge on the princesses."
At that point, Gold Watch was driven to tears. Upon seeing the state that he and Cozy Glow were in, Ocellus powered her horn down. She looked at him concerned as she saw him walk up and hug one of the biggest enemies of Equestria.
"Gold Watch, wait," Gallus said. "She's one of the biggest enemies of Equestria."
"I know that," Gold Watch responded softly. "But no child is truly evil and she needs help."
"I hope that you know what you're doing," Gallus said in annoyance.
"Let's go back," Gold Watch said. "Back to 'The Wild Eye House'."
"What's 'The Wild Eye House'?" Cozy Glow asked, still sobbing softly.
"It's where we're playing the game of truth or dare," Gold Watch answered. "We started the game there and now we have to finish it." He turned to Ocellus. "Can you teleport all of us back to the house?"
"I guess so," Ocellus answered.
The group huddled together and Ocellus, using the magic from her horn, teleported the group back to the house. Upon arriving, Gold Watch opened the book that he got from the second basement. The group took a look at what was written on the first page.
To those who find this book, by the time you read this, I will be long gone. I have been possessed by the demon, Ponelax, and it has turned my home into a threat to Equestria. However, I did find a way to defeat the being and free those that have been trapped in the house, but I wasn't able to perform the action in time. The only way to take down Ponelax is to remove a part of each player's body, place it on each chain that is holding on the victims, and burn the pieces. Doing this will cause the chain's effect to weaken and shatter. You must gather each player in the current game and have them do this in order to free the imprisoned victims. As soon as all of the victims are free, you must then go down to the lowest floor of the house, remove another part on each player's body, place the parts on top of this book's first page, say the phrase, "Ponelax free, Ponelax done, Ponelax be gone" seven times, and then burn this book face-up and closed.
"Wow," Gallus said in surprise. "That's a lot of details."
"Golly," Cozy Glow responded.
"Wait, why is she here?" Gallus asked angrily.
"Because she needs help, too," Gold Watch said as he walked towards her to defend her. "No child should ever be left behind regardless of any circumstances. She can be rehabilitated. I know what she's going through. She had suffered lots of grief over the loss of her family and now she's feeling more of it now that she knows that the princesses had nothing to do with her parents' deaths."
Gallus sighed.
"Fine," he muttered. "But I'm watching you."
"Enough," Gold Watch said. "There are a lot more important things to worry about than just fighting with each other. We need to finish this game and take down Ponelax once and for all."
"Uh, guys," Ocellus said worriedly. "I think that we might need to put a hold on that."
She pointed the group to a message written in blood saying, 'Turn Gold Watch into a cat'. The grandfather clock then chimed once. Gold Watch then sighed in worry.
"Just do it," he told Ocellus.
"What, no!" Ocellus exclaimed as she saw an amulet appear right in front of your front hooves. "I can't do that to you!"
"You have to," Gold Watch responded.
"But what about your life?" Ocellus asked in worry. "What about your family? What would they think about you spending the rest of your life as a cat?"
"I know, but what about your life and family?" Gold Watch asked.
Ocellus sighed.
"Okay, you're right," she said as she picked it up and powered it up by using the magic coming on her horn. As soon as it was running on full power, she placed it onto her horn. However, right as she was about to zap Gold Watch, she stopped. "No! I won't do it!"
"Please!" Gold Watch shouted. "If you don't do that dare, the dare will do you."
"No means no," Ocellus responded sternly. "I won't throw your life away!"
"Time's up!" the house's voice sounded.
Ocellus then grabbed her chest and fell to the floor. The rest of the group ran up to her.
"No!" Silverstream shouted.
"Ocellus!" Cozy Glow cried as she hugged her.
As her ears rose to the top of her head and reshaped into what a cat's ears looked like, Ocellus looked surprise to see that one of Equestria's biggest enemies was sobbing and comforting her.
"Cozy Glow?" she responded as her bug-tail grew bone and red fur.
"Yes?" Cozy Glow answered.
"Why?" Ocellus asked as her bug-like mane grew furry. "Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?"
"Because you supported me when I was freed," Cozy Glow said as she looked at Gold Watch. "Just like he did."
Ocellus smiled as light fur grew all over body and whiskers grew out of her cheeks.
"Please don't go!" Gold Watch shouted as he picked up the amulet and pointed it right at himself.
"Gold Watch, no!" Ocellus shouted as her teeth grew into fangs.
Gold Watch refused to listened to Ocellus, shut his eyes, and pressed the button on the amulet. A second later, he opened his eyes only to find that nothing had happened to him. Immediately afterwards, he pressed it several more times, but it didn't work. As Ocellus's muzzle reshaped into that of a cat's and her nose became triangular and fused to her mouth, the amulet disintegrated.
"I'm sorry, Gold Watch," Ocellus said. "But I didn't want your life to be thrown away."
She then screamed in pain as she writhed on the floor. Her horn and wings disintegrated and her legs snapped and reshaped. Afterwards, her hooves cracked, grew pads, and reshaped into paws. Her eyes then grew white color and black irises, but the teal-colored part of her eyes remained, but shrank somewhat. Her body then shrank until she was about three-fourths the size of an adult cat.
"Gold Watch, listen to me," Ocellus continued. "Please don't give up on your life. You must live. All of you must live. For me and for yourselves, too."
Ocellus then gasped and took a deep breath.
"Meow," she said.
Gold Watch then cried and Cozy Glow walked up to him.
"There, there," she told him. "I'll make sure that we avenge her."
"Wait, what?" Gallus responded in annoyance. "Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?"
"Because he was nice to me," Cozy Glow answered angrily. "Gold Watch defended me and it's my goal to repay the favor."
"Ugh!" Gallus responded angrily.
"Gallus, that's enough!" Silverstream exclaimed.
"She will stay!" Gold Watch cried. "We're all going to finish this!" He put Ocellus down, picked up the book, and got up. "We have only one more round to go, a victim to save, and a demon to defeat! Let's go downstairs!"
Gold Watch then walked towards the basement door and Silverstream and Cozy Glow immediately followed him, while Gallus rolled his eyes and then joined the rest of the group.
"Fine," he muttered as he glared at Cozy Glow. "But I'm keeping a watchful eye on you. If you try anything against us, it's back to stone you go."
"Don't worry," Cozy Glow said as she glared back at Gallus. "That won't happen."
"Enough," Gold Watch responded as he opened the basement door.