Foal Games

by DuskShadowBrony


V- Round 2: Tag

Chapter V- Round 2: Tag

“Welcome to Round Two of my Foal Games!” Corona spoke loudly and happily.

“You look awful.” FlashRain said to me, as Corona started some morning announcements. “You okay?”

“Just didn’t get much sleep.” I answered, rubbing my eyes with one of my hooves. “I’m fine.”

“Nightmares again?”

“Yeah, but I told you, I’m fine.” I brushed him off.

“Hey!” Torrent shouted at us. “Miss Corona is talking!”

We turned our attention back to the white Pegasus. “Now, I hope you all had a good sleep, because you’ll need it for such an exciting day! Today, we’re playing Tag! Now I’m sure you’ve all played it before, so I doubt I have to explain the fundamentals. However, this is a little different. You can tag each other with these.” She held up a sack of toy bean bags. “If you tag a pony with it, they lose. That simple. Each pony will have plenty of bean bags, so no need to worry about running out. Even if you do run out, you’re free to pick up the bean bag again. However, this round will run differently. Only the final four ponies will make it out of this without their ages being affected. I’ve provided you each with a magical paper that will update automatically depending on the condition of the other competitors. And to make it fair, all unicorns have had their restrictors adjusted to allow for basic levitation spells. Now take a look of your papers.” As she said this, a sheet of paper floated down in front of each of us. I picked up mine and looked it over. Every pony’s name had information and a small picture next to it.

Foal Games- Competitor List

Remember, 3 strikes and you’re out!

001- Dawn- Pale Purple Unicorn, Female- Strikes: 0
002- Vine- Light Green Earth Pony, Female- Strikes: 1
003- Leaf- Deep Green Earth Pony, Female- Strikes: 0
004- SwiftCloud- Pale Gray Pegasus, Male- Strikes: 1
005- LightningFlash- Yellow Pegasus, Male- Strikes: 1
006- Oceana- Blue Unicorn, Male- Strikes: 0
007- Crayg- Orange-Brown Earth Pony, Male- Strikes: 1
008- SolidSteel- Gray Earth Pony, Male- Strikes: 1
009- Clay- Beige Pegasus, Male- Strikes: 0
010- Luster- Bright Blue Unicorn, Female- Strikes: 0
011- Rhythm- Red Pegasus, Female- Strikes: 1
012- SilverLining- Deep Gray Pegasus, Female- Strikes: 0
013- Sprout- Brown Earth Pony, Male- Strikes: 1
014- Mentira- Pink Unicorn, Female: Strikes: 1
015- DustStorm- Gray Unicorn, Male- Strikes: 0
016- FlashRain- Pale Blue Pegasus, Male- Strikes: 0

I slipped the paper away, and turned back to Corona.

“Now the arena will have its fair mix of cover. Half walls, sandbags, you name it. This is to make sure the game stays interesting, and isn’t too short. Each competitor will start in a different part of the arena. Remember, get tagged by a bean bag, and it’ll be a strike!”

The two guards passed out sets of the pouches to each of us. I looked down at them. Could I do this? By trying to win, I would put other ponies one step closer to foalhood. As I was turning the thought over in my head, Corona spoke up again.

“Each of you will be teleported randomly to a part of the arena, thanks to Torrent here.” She nodded at the unicorn. “He’ll be sure not to teleport somepony too close to another. Please hold still for him, it’ll make the teleportation for both of you easier.”

One by one, we warped into the arena. When I was transported in, I found myself behind a wall of sandbags. I did a quick peeking over the sandbags, and saw a few of the other ponies. I ducked down again, as Corona’s magically enhanced voice sounded.
“Everypony in the arena? Good. Now, before I forget, Pegasi, no flying! We don’t want an unfair advantage. As for everypony else, remember to tag with bean bags only. Any other sort of contact is not allowed. Some of you will not want to compete. You don’t want to turn others back into foals. But everypony might not be thinking the same way. After all, if you lose, that’s a strike! If you don’t want to become a foal again, all you must do is win! Good luck! Let round two of the Foal Games begin now!”

I heard a flurry of movement. “What a foalish competition.” I muttered to myself.

“Hey.” A voice came up by my side, and I nearly struck my partner with a bean bag. FlashRain had no bean bags out, and crouched down next to me. “I’ve noticed something. I asked TalonFeather for a hint about the next competition. Corona allowed him to do so. He said the next game involves toy wooden blocks. Each competition is going to get more and more foalish, it seems.”

I looked up over the top of the sandbags, and ducked as a bean bag went flying over my head. “It seems some of the ponies here are taking this competition seriously.”

“Well, obviously.” FlashRain pulled out a bean bag. “Nopony wants to be a foal again.”

I looked over at him. “Are you seriously planning to do this? You’re going to make somepony lose? That’s the same as if you regressed them yourself.”

FlashRain seemed to notice this, and hesitated. He dropped back down. “Maybe we can just let the other ponies take care of each other. There can be four winners, right? So if we stay low, we can still make it through, and not play a part.”

“Then it’s best if we split up. We’d be a bigger target if we stayed together.” I nodded. I consulted the paper again. “It appears that three ponies have already been tagged. Two of them have gotten their second strike.” I put the paper away again, as FlashRain got ready to gallop away.

“We’ll meet each other at the end, right?” FlashRain asked.

“Of course. Keep your head down.” I replied as Flash dashed away.

***
“Just one more pony needs to get tagged.” I muttered to myself, studying the paper. “Just one more.” My eyes fell on Flash’s name. He still had zero strikes. Breathing out a sigh of relief, I looked around. Nopony appeared to be near. Knowing it would be too dangerous to stay in one place for too long, I placed the paper away, and got to my hooves. I carefully crept along the wall, peeking my head around the edge. I heard movement behind me, and whipped around, readying a bean bag. A pink unicorn, who I recognized as Mentira started fumbling a bean bag out of her sack. She was unprepared, and completely open for the strike. It was a wonder how she made it this far in the round.

I knew I had to do it, if I were to make it into the next round unaffected. But looking at her, and seeing the panic in her, I tossed my bean bag down. “Let’s act like we never met. Okay?” I asked her quietly. “We can both walk away.”

“O-okay.” She stammered. I gave her a quick, respective bow, and turned to leave. That was my mistake. I let my guard down. Despite my many years in the Royal Guard and SIU, I turned my back on a pony that I had not confirmed as an ally. I felt a bean bag strike me in the back of the head, and saw it fall to the floor. I turned back slowly. “I’m- I’m sorry. But I had to end it. To be safe. I don’t want to be turned back any more. I’m sorry.” She ran off, leaving me in confusion and shock with my situation. I heard Corona’s voice again.

“That ends this round! Everypony, please check your papers for the updated listings! We’ll be collecting the winners and losers shortly!”

I whipped out my paper and looked down at it once more.

Foal Games- Competitor List

Remember, 3 strikes and you’re out!

001- Dawn- Pale Purple Unicorn, Female- Strikes: 0
002- Vine- Light Green Earth Pony, Female- Strikes: 1
003- Leaf- Deep Green Earth Pony, Female- Strikes: 2
004- SwiftCloud- Pale Gray Pegasus, Male- Strikes: 2
005- LightningFlash- Yellow Pegasus, Male- Strikes: 2
006- Oceana- Blue Unicorn, Male- Strikes: 1
007- Crayg- Orange-Brown Earth Pony, Male- Strikes: 2
008- SolidSteel- Gray Earth Pony, Male- Strikes: 1
009- Clay- Beige Pegasus, Male- Strikes: 0
010- Luster- Bright Blue Unicorn, Female- Strikes: 1
011- Rhythm- Red Pegasus, Female- Strikes: 2
012- SilverLining- Deep Gray Pegasus, Female- Strikes: 2
013- Sprout- Brown Earth Pony, Male- Strikes: 2
014- Mentira- Pink Unicorn, Female: Strikes: 1
015- DustStorm- Gray Unicorn, Male- Strikes: 1
016- FlashRain- Pale Blue Pegasus, Male- Strikes: 0

I jumped as Torrent teleported behind me. “Sorry to startle you. Let’s go.” he spoke in his gruff voice.

***

Congratulations to our four winners, who did not gain a strike or additional strike. FlashRain, Mentira, Clay, and Dawn.” Corona’s voice was soft again. “I’m still a little sad that you’re trying so hard. What’s wrong with being young and innocent?”

The four ponies that made it through the round were standing on the other side of the room across from the ponies that lost that round. FlashRain was looking at me in disbelief. I averted my gaze from him, and turned to the white Pegasus. Corona pulled out the glittering jar of foal powder again. “Now hold still, everypony.” She scattered the magical powder over each of us. When she got to me, my nerves were highly tensed. But I realized something. It was not fear. I wasn’t worried. So why was I feeling nervous? Corona smiled. “It’ll be okay. Please don’t move.” She threw some of it over me, and a strange feeling washed over me. It was calming, comforting. It felt that I was in the warm embrace of somepony, and I felt my nerves cool down. When I opened my eyes again, I looked around at the group. The ponies who had gotten a second strike were even younger, no older than five. All of them now had a diaper on them, and they seemed to be confused. They looked around, not seeming to fully comprehend the situation. I found that my own mind was clouded. I shook my head, but was unable to clear the fog that was hanging over my mind.

“I suppose everypony should head back to their rooms, or spend some time with others. Free time starts directly after we leave the room. Have a great day, everypony.”

FlashRain ran up to me as soon as we exited. “What? How?” he asked, worry in his eyes.

“It was my mistake. I let my guard down.” I shook my head at my higher pitched voice. “There’s a haze over my thoughts. I’m sorry, can we talk later? I’m going to see if sleep clears it up.”

“It won’t.” A tiny voice sounded behind us. I saw one of the ponies with two strikes, Leaf, gazing at us. “When you get tuwned back…. It’s mind… and body.” She looked away. “I… can’t thiwnk wike a gwon-up anymowe.” Tears formed in her eyes, and before we could stop her, she ran into her room. We heard the door lock click behind her.

“That means…” FlashRain started.

I finished his thought. “The more we lose, the lower our chances of escaping. Even a second strike... would make escape for that pony... nearly impossible.”