It is often said that Ponyville is the most disaster-prone places in Equestria. Given the track record of disasters, monster attacks, supervillains attempting to destroy, corrupt, or flip it upside-down. As such, the students at the School of Friendship were told on their first day what to do if or when something comes along. There were drills and safety talks, from showing where to go if there was a fire to how to use the catacombs as a means of escape.
As soon as Twilight got to the school, she uses the intercom system to have all students must be evacuated. Reminding students to exit calmly and in an orderly fashion. At the same time, she summoned her friends to her castle for an emergency meeting.
Once the school was emptied out, Twilight and her friends gathered in the throne room along with their students and Zecora. The zebra held on to the game. She has been doing so ever since she found out that the students had started to play on it.
As soon as everyone was gathered around, Smolder asked, “I take it that we’re gonna be expelled for this, huh?”
Twilight held up a hoof, “We can talk about you and Gallus breaking into my office later. Right now we have more pressing matters.”
“Darling, would you at least tell us what is going on?” Rarity asked.
“I will, but before I do, has anyone been harmed at the school?”
They shook their heads. “Not as far as Ah’ve heard,” Applejack answered before pointing to the game, “So what’s that thing?”
“That is the center of what’s going on.” Twilight got up to circle around the table, explaining to her friends. “What happened was that Zecora wanted to give Applebloom a birthday gift based on a game that she used to play back in Zebrica. A game called Jumanji which translates as ‘Many Effects.’ The idea is the players go through a jungle where each pulls a card that gives them an obstacle to overcome until they reached the very center of the game that’s apparently a… golden city, am I right, Zecora?” She nodded.
Twilight continued, “Zecora wanted to make this gift special that instead of drawing cards, there would be a gem in the middle that would read out an effect at random. From what I’ve can deduce, she was using a method that didn’t require unicorn magic to do this. Basically, a combination of artifacts and her potion know-how. However, she had accidently skipped over a step in making this. Thus turning what should be a harmless game into something that could bring into reality.”
“What does that mean?” Rainbow asked.
“Basically,” Ocellus answered, “anytime any of us rolls the dice, something would come out from the game.”
“It could have been reversible from the start,” Zecora nodded, “but having them play this early wasn’t very smart. It would have been easy to reverse if left alone, now I fear it’s too late to atone.”
“Why is this a problem?” Pinkie raised her hoof. “Would it be super-duper easy to just… not play?”
“It’s not so simple, Professor Pie.” Gallus rubbed the back of his neck. “The game says that the only way for all of this to go away is to finish the game.”
“And that’s why we need everypony’s help.” Twilight nodded. “Right now, we can’t undo anything while the students are playing it. Only when the game is finished when there are no pieces on the board is when we can do something. But until then, who knows what might come out of the game.”
“Well then it should be easy,” Rainbow said, “Just play the game quickly as possible. As soon as one turn is done, just give the other the dice until one of you gets to finish first.”
“Nonono,” Zecora shook her head, “you clearly don’t have a clue… No, none of you have any idea what you’re getting yourselves into.”
“But this isn’t like we’ve dealt with anything dangerous before,” Rarity pointed out. “And neither have they. I’m sure that whatever it is, we can still handle it no problem.”
Zecora placed the game down on the table. “I don’t think so. Jumanji isn’t something you want to give it a go. You think that ants, carnivorous plants, and monkeys are bad? That is only the beginning that will drive you mad. If this,” she tapped the wooden lid “has what I think it has, bring out the dangers and all that jazz… This has Zebrica of my worst nightmare, which causes me to be filled with despair. This game is going into a jungle most dark, where the dangers are most stark. Of creatures and monsters of all sorts behind every tree – of things, you can’t even see. This will have things that will hunt you in the night, where you will hear something scream from their bite. Though their dying cries will hurt, you’ll pray you will not be dessert. Do not, for one moment think that this will be an easy task. Do not take this lightly is all I ask.”
For a moment, no one said anything.
It was Rainbow Dash who, after blinking from what Zecora said replied with: “So… Should we get the military with this or…?”
“Professor kidding, right?” Yona asked with a raised eyebrow. “Even Yaks know that pony Royal Guard not best.”
“I have a question,” Pinkie raised her hoof, “so you have some idea what’s in that thing, right?” Zecora nodded. “And there wouldn’t be any surprises like a pony that got sucked in the game that has been trapped there for twenty-six years or it’ll spontaneously turn itself into a video game, right?” Everyone in there was giving her strange looks. “What?”
“Every possible consequence that the game could do I put in myself,” Zecora explained. “I have some idea of how each should be dealt.”
“And how many of these consequences are there?” Twilight asked. Zecora was silent. “How many possibilities did you-”
“Sixty-eight,” Zecora answered, “but it is to reassure that the game wouldn’t be the same twice. Now it seems that this ordeal will not be nice.”
“So now that we’ve established that we’re royally screwed,” Gallus spoke up, “What do we do now?”
“How about this,” Twilight said, “we’ll let them continue with the game, but we will be around to protect them from whatever might come out of there. And I know this might be pretty stupid… but we should try to do this in one location.”
“Like the school?” Fluttershy, who hadn’t spoken since this meeting began. “Since it’s completely empty, maybe we should do it there.”
“Not a bad idea,” Applejack nodded, “they're plenty of tools that we could use to combat whatever might come out of that thing. And hopefully, it wouldn’t affect the town too terribly.”
With all in agreement, the teachers and Zecora got themselves prepared for what’s to come.
An hour later, they met up again at the school’s gym. They figured that since it is big and airy enough that whatever might come their way, they would deal with it quickly in there. The professors gathered in that room all sorts of tools in that one space, as well as putting on some armor for themselves and their students. Twilight placed everyone in royal guard armor as best fitting as she could for each of them. As for the teachers, they armed themselves with whatever they could get their hooves on. Rainbow Dash had a baseball bat; Applejack a pair of sheers; Fluttershy with a can of mace; Rarity with the sharpest scissors she could find; and Pinkie with a roll of duct tape.
The last to enter into the gym was Zecora who noticeably had on green warpaint, a spear in hoof, and an array of glass bottles containing liquids that were bright yellow in a sash. And the most important item of them all – the game.
“So is everycreature ready?” Ocellus asked, adjusting the helmet that was a little too big for her head.
“In the jungle to remain steady,” Zecora answered, “is to realize there is no ready.” Setting the game down in the very center of the room, the students gathered around it while their professors circled around facing outward.
Smolder opened the game and noticed that there was still one token that hadn’t moved yet – the crocodile. Picking up the dice, she offered it to Yona, Sandbar, and Silverstream and asked, “Okay… who wants to go?”
Looking between her friends that were hesitant, Silverstream reached out to them. “It was my fault that I let the token things fall on the board. And I wanted to play from the start anyway.”
With the dice in her claws, she gave it a little shake and let them roll on the board. It was a nine, and the crocodile piece moved along the board all by itself.
In the center of the game, yellow smoke circled around forming the next rhyme:
Raging and howling a gale throws its might
Hold on for dear life or be blown out of sight.
“Well,” Silverstream said, “at least we’re inside.”
That was when they felt a cold breeze that blows through. Smolder shivered, “Hey, did someone leave a window open?”
Rainbow looked around the gym. “What are you talking about? All the windows are closed.”
Above them, there was a low rumble like that from a hungry beast. They looked up to see dark clouds begging to form, while winds from seemingly every direction swirled around them. Doors and windows about the room began to rattle and shake, a warning for what was to come. From a sudden gust, banners from around the dome-like gym fluttered about while above, the hoops that hung on ropes were being tossed about. The longer that the winds had picked up, the clearer it became that all of them were endangered.
“We need to move!” Twilight called out, pointing towards the gym’s exit.
Silverstream folded up the game as she and her friends tried to rush for the door. But before they could reach it, a strong wind knocked them to the ground, flinging them across the floor along with their professors.
Thinking quickly, Zecora plunged her spear into the wooden floor to anchor herself. She looked above as a small tornado started to form, a dark cone growing down towards the floor while students, teachers, and whatever equipment in the gym circled round and round. Each of them desperately tried to grab onto something – anything from being blown away.
With every passing moment, things got increasingly worse. Windows that circled around the dome buckled and shattered, anything that wasn’t hammered down was being flung about from buckball equipment to trophies from a case were being tossed about. And from the tornado, things had gotten so increasingly loud that they could barely hear the screams from everyone there.
Smolder, Gallus, and Silverstream linked claws as they got a grip on the school’s banner, hoping that the fabric won’t rip on them. Pinkie and Sandbar held onto the rings above the gym for dear life while being flung about in the air. Rarity, thinking quickly, used whatever towels nearby to form a rope to tie onto Yona who was holding to a balcony with her teeth. Ocellus turned herself into a heavy boulder where Applejack and Fluttershy held on to. Twilight used her magic to tether herself and Rainbow Dash to the door’s exit.
With the wind blowing so strongly, the debris that circled around them bounced and hit them in nearly every direction, as if trying to force them to let go and be caught up in the tremendous hurricane that threatened to-
Suddenly, the tornado broke the roof of the dome, sending chunks of it flying to who-knows-where. This gave the gale an escape where the wind suddenly died down. Whatever was flying came crashing down on the gym floor, wacked against walls, or tumbled from the air. Creatures that were holding on to whatever was nearby fell with a thump on the floor, leading to a chorus of groans.
Applejack was the first to get up, “Is everycreature alright?”
“Besides nearly getting every bone in our bodies turns to paste, we’re perfectly fine.” Gallus sarcastically rolled his eyes as he helped Silverstream up.
Fluttershy took off her helmet to see that there was a noticeable dent in it. “Oh my… That could have been my skull.”
Rainbow looked up at the giant hole in the ceiling. “You guys realize that by the time we get through this game, there might not be a school left.”
“Yona no like this game.” Yona rubbed her sides that got smacked by something heavy. Then turning to Zecora who just got her spear out of the floor asked, “Is Jumanji always dangerous?”
“The game I know is always harmless, and it’s not supposed to leave a mess.”
“You know,” Fluttershy inquired, “I just realized something. The game was meant for Applebloom, right?” Zecora nodded, “But why? I have never taken you to make games in the first place.”
“Normally I don’t, that is true. As to my intentions, I’ll give you a clue. Applebloom was the first to come to me without fright, not being to flee out of sight. She wanted to know what I do, where I come from too; to know about the ingredients I venture into, and the culture that I treasure. Relief from being away from home, a cure for looniness she atone. So, I thought what better way to thank her, than with I game I once prefer.”
“It makes me wish you chose some other game to make,” Rarity commented, pulling out an emergency comb to straighten out her mane.
Zecora frowned but didn’t say anything.
Silverstream coughed into her claw to get everyone’s attention. “So… who’s turn is it now?”
Ocellus looked around the room, “If I remember right… I think it might be Gallus’s turn next. There are only four players and so far, there’s been four curses to come out.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Gallus agreed as Silverstream placed the game down to open it up again. While the others started to gather around, he counted the spaces along the twisting trail and frowned. “I think this game is gonna be longer than I thought. Unless I somehow roll double six’s twice, the game is far from over.”
“Wait, why doubles?” Sandbar asked.
“Because one of the rules of the game is that if the dice rolls doubles, they get another turn.” Gallus returned to the board to count the spaces. “So far I’m twenty-four spaces away… Smolder is twenty-one… Ocellus is twenty-six. And Silver here is… Twenty-two. Unless my math is wrong (and it probably is) we’re gonna unleash about a dozen curses by the time one of us wins the game.”
“Boy, we’re royally screwed.” Smolder sighed.
“You can say that again,” Gallus picked up the dice. “I’d say we should keep going. Whatever happens, we should deal with it quickly before any of us gets hurt. Is everycreature ready?”
The griffon waited until all the professors, and his friends picked up their things before giving him the go-ahead. Taking in a deep breath, Gallus tried to prepare himself for the worse. He dropped the dice which rolled a five.
Everyone eyed the rhino piece move forward a bit until it stopped. And then, the green centerpiece began to form the next riddle.
When Zecora read what she saw, her blood felt as though it had turned to ice.
Master tracker follows your trail,
It seems that he is on your tail.
“Gallus! Run!” Zecora yelled.
“Wait, why?” getting up, the Griffon looked around, “What is it?”
“No time to explain! Get out before you get mim-”
Zecora’s words were cut off as a sound that was as loud as a crack of thunder exploded in the ruined gym. Over by Gallus, the wooden floor busted in splinters as he gave a horrified shriek. Even though he didn’t fully register what was going on, he immediately headed for the double doors to pull it open and rush out in time before a second crack was heard, followed by the doors having a noticeable golf-ball-size hole in it.
The students and teachers looked about to find the source of this unpleasant surprise. Over by one of the balconies was a pony that none of them had ever seen before. With a coat as the color of sand with a mane, muttonchop facial hair, and a handlebar mustache the color of smoke, he had eyes that were dark as a pair of black holes. Full of malice and dead-set determination. On his head was a ten-gallon pith helmet, the kind that would be worn in the hot savanna. In his hooves was a smoking elephant rifle with a long barrel that ended with a horn-like opening.
The hunter snarled, “Blast!” he cursed as quickly as he appeared, he galloped out of the gym.
“Who was that!?” Twilight exclaimed.
Zecora gripped her spear and made for the double doors that Gallus went out. “We must hurry fast! I fear Gallus isn’t going to last!”
“But who was that?” Ocellus asked as she and the others got up, taking the game with her.
“A headhunter that I wish we didn’t have to dealt,” Zecora burst past the doors and galloped down the halls with the student and teachers following behind. “He’s a monster known as Van Pelt.”
Even when he had no idea where to go, Gallus had to keep going and keep running. Whatever came out of the game, this time it was hunting him like a beast after its prey. And the worst part was that just when he was getting tired, a thunderous bang would ring out, resulting in a hole appearing in the walls next to him. Even though Gallus had no concept of what the thing that the hunter was using, he had a good idea that it was clearly meant to kill him.
Taking to the air, he tried to hide from the rafters. Both to catch his breath, and to see what was hunting him. When he saw a shadow approach, Gallus try to still his breath and remain out of sight as the hunter walked underneath him. He listened to the hoofsteps that walked underneath until it came to a stop. Curious, Gallus took the gamble to glance over to see what it was.
He saw the hunter knelt at the ground, feeling his hoof as if to get an idea where Gallus might have gone off to. After sniffing it, Van Pelt hummed as he got up to listen, turning his head this way and that while holding the rifle close.
“I know you nearby, birdy.” The hunter said in an accent that resembled an upper-class Canterlot elite. “No need to hide you miserable coward.”
But Gallus covered his beak to make it so that not even his breath would give away. Never in his life had he been this terrified of being hunted. The longer as the hunter waited for him to make a mistake, the more he began to sweat. He could feel the tip of his beak collect an ever-growing droplet that he fears if he dares make a move, it might alert the hunter. As much as he prayed for him to go away before his sweat could drop – it did. To his horror, that drop of sweat landed right in front of the pony who swiftly turned around, looking upward.
“There you are!”
Gallus had to flee in the nick of time before the beam had a surprised splintered hole in it.
Van Pelt smirked as the griffon flew. “Oh, this is going to be fun.” He said to himself, pumping his gun for the next bullet.
He marched down through the hall, keeping an eye on Gallus as he zig-zagged from beam to beam, anticipating the perfect shot. Then when the griffon ran out of beams and he had to enter a room, he took aim and- his gun was knocked out of line when a stone bust smacked against it.
“What!” Van Pelt looked over to see a charging yak with her horns down coming at him. Before he could move, he was hit with such blunt force that he went flying through a window. Tumbling over into the moat below.
“Good aim, Yona,” Twilight said, dissipating her magic.
The others came in soon after, including Zecora who looked out from the shattered window below. She looked about but couldn’t see the hunter anywhere. Wherever he went, he was thankfully gone.
“Everything alright, Gallus,” Yona called out. “Hunter gone now.”
Peeking out from the doorframe, Gallus exited with caution. “Zecora, who was that guy?”
“He’s a headhunter whom I name Van Pelt,” Zecora looked over to him, shaking her head while giving a sympathetic look, “and I deeply apologize for the terror that you felt.”
“So, was he real or…?” Ocellus inquired.
“He’s a character that I made for the game, a headhunter who hunts anything without shame. Though I truly wish he would remain a fiction, he is destined to be our affliction.”
“Hold on, what are you talking about?” Gallus asked with an alarmed tone of voice. “He’s gone, isn’t he? Yona just knocked him out the window and into the moat.”
Zecora shook her head, “He is not the kind to easily give up, not even by death would he stop the hunt.”
“You mean that psychopath is going to come back?” Rarity asked, looking through a window.
“Only until the game is won will everything be undone.” Zecora nodded. “We should get back to the gym. Hopefully, we wouldn’t run into him.”