//------------------------------//
// Ponies Play Among Us 
// Story: Half-Baked Biscuits 
// by Admiral Biscuit 
//------------------------------//

Ponies Play Among Us
Admiral Biscuit

Chapter Title: They’re bad at it



Ten ponies waited in the dropship.  Despite it being a computer game, most of them were actually close together—one of the large rooms in Twilight’s castle was a logical place to gather and experiment with video games.

They’d gone through dozens and dozens of titles, many of which weren’t all that interesting.  They were versus games, or they were solo games, and neither seemed to offer valuable friendship insights.

Among Us, at first glance, did.  The crewmates would have to work together to get their tasks done.  Working together was an important aspect of friendship, of tribal unity and while the game required that they play on ten different computers, most of them were close.

Not all of them, though; that was one other thing the game offered, a chance to be with friends who were far away.

“Um, my screen says that I’m an imposter,” Fluttershy said.  “What does that mean?”

“It means that you’re supposed to prevent us from doing our tasks,” Rainbow offered.  “Sabotage the ship, or kill crew members so they can’t complete their tasks.”

“I couldn’t do that.”

“You don’t have to,” Twilight explained.  “There are some helpful things you can do, like fixing oxygen or opening doors if you want.  The game’s about working together.”

“The saboteurs won’t win if they don’t kill crew.”

“Why should they?”

“That’s literally how the game’s supposed to work.”  Rainbow turned to face the other girls.  “The imposters win if they kill enough of the crew members or break the ship.”

“I couldn’t hurt my friends.”

“It’s just a game.”

“A game that encourages you to have unponylike thoughts,” Applejack muttered.  “Just like every other game humans invent.  We couldn’t run an orchard if somepony was trying to sabotage it, best that everypony does her chores.”

“Last game the crew won,” Twilight said.  “Maybe we should try it with the crew not winning, which I guess means that Fluttershy is going to have to kill us.”

“And there’s a second imposter, too, remember.”

“It’s me,” Pinkie Pie cheerfully announced.  “Me and Flutters are teammates.  Promise not to vote us out, and we won’t hurt anypony.”

“That’s not how the game works,” Rainbow muttered.

“So who’s got what tasks?  How fast can we get them done?”

“I’ve got wires,” Rarity said.  “And samples, and a scan.”

“I’ve got scan, too.”

“Wanna be scan buddies?”

“Sure.”  Applejack reached out a hoof and Rarity bumped it.

“Can I stand on the scanner, even if I’m an imposter?”

“Don’t see why not.”


•••


Victory, the screen proclaimed, showing the avatars of the ten ponies.  The tasks had gotten done, and nopony had gotten ejected.