//------------------------------// // IX- Round 3? Final? Alternate Ending 1! // Story: Foal Games // by DuskShadowBrony //------------------------------// Chapter IX- Round 3? Final? Alternate Ending! “Hey.” A voice came through the cloudy layers of my sleep. “Time to get up.” I drowsily opened my eyes, and saw Talon standing over me. “You’ve slept through Free Time. Round three is starting soon.” He gently lifted me out of bed- no, it was a crib. My room was colorful and very foalish, a changing table replacing where a bookcase was, and now more toy chests were scattered around. I judged my age to be around two or three, and noted a bulky diaper around my waist. Thankfully, it was still dry and clean. “Normally at this point, we remove the magical restrictors from the Unicorns and the wing bands from the Pegasi, but I know that you have copious amounts of magic in you. Just call it a precaution.” It took me a while longer to process his words. Accessing my adult memories was getting very difficult. Talon guided me to the same room as yesterday, where all the other ponies already were. There was already three block towers set up. “We have twelve ponies left. Four ponies to a tower, go on, please.” After the events of yesterday, everypony seemed to be more compliant, and did as she asked. I trotted clumsily over to a tower where three other ponies were. Dawn, FlashRain, and Mentira. “I don’t want to heaw about it.” I said as Flash opened his mouth. Mentira giggled. “Sorry.” She said as we all looked at her. “You just sound cute, that’s all.” “Wet’s just get stawted.” I carefully removed a block, the tower swaying slightly as I did so. I read the writing on the block. “Make the next pony take two bwocks.” Gingerly, I placed the block on top of the tower. “I’ve played this game all the time with my siblings.” Dawn stated. “Let me go next.” She extracted one block, then another. She cleared her throat and began to speak. “Block one says that the next pony must take a block from the bottom half of the tower. The second one says that my next turn is automatically safe. It’ll skip my next turn.” Mentira sighed. “Just my luck. I’m one of the clumsiest ponies you’ll ever meet.” She carefully poked a block with her nose, and walked to the other side, gripping it in her mouth. The block slid out safely, and she let out a sigh of relief. She looked down at the block. “Oh no. It says that next time, I have to use my hooves.” “Then it’s my move.” Flash tapped a block with his muzzle, and it moved freely. “So this block is safe.” He removed the block easily. “Uh. It says that the next player should take a block from the top and replace it inside the tower. But they can’t place this block back where it was.” I obeyed, taking another block from the top and successfully sliding it back into the tower, which swayed dangerously. Dawn nodded. “My turn is skipped. Your move, Mentira.” The pink Pegasus bit her lip. “Oh, this doesn’t look good.” She awkwardly poked at a block with a hoof until enough was poking out the other end. She grabbed on with both her hooves, clamping it between them. To our amazement, she extracted the block safely. “No effect, free block.” She said, and set it on top of the tower. “There’s something I want to tell you.” FlashRain muttered in my ear, on the pretense of examining the tower. “I think Corona has a pony on the inside. There’s a mole in the captives.” “Awe you suwe?” I whisper back. We were temporarily distracted by the sound of a tower toppling. We saw a bright blue Unicorn, Luster, with her mouth hanging open. FlashRain shook his head at her, then turned back to me. “Yes, I’m sure. That pony is there probably to either bend the results of a game and to spy on our talk.” He stretched out a wing and tapped a block. The block wiggled a little, but the tower still shook. Taking a deep breath, he attempted to remove the block. The entire tower collapsed as soon as the block left it. There was silence in the group for a moment, then without warning, we heard a loud noise from upstairs. “Stay with Miss Corona, Talon!” Torrent shouted. With a burst of magic, he teleported out of the room. We could hear voices from upstairs. “Royal Guard! Stop where you are! Hey! I said freeze!” Corona looked up at the ceiling, then at us. Some of us looked worried, others hopeful. “I’ve instructed him not to hurt them.” She said. “He’ll just be using sleep spells.” “There’s no way the Royal Guard would lose to somepony like him!” FlashRain snapped. He was right. Two Royal Guards burst into the room, pointing their spears at Talon and Corona. “We’re here to rescue the SIU agents and missing ponies. We know what’s going on here.” One growled. Corona was still very calm, as Talon went for his bag. She stretched out a wing and gently touched his claw, stopping him. “How did you know?” She asked. “DustStorm here developed a prototype magical artifact. It would send everything he saw to a memory crystal. He usually replaces the memory crystal every few days with a new one, but when he didn’t, we knew something was wrong. He always does it, even if he’s on an investigation. Breaking his normal patterns made us know something was up. So we looked into the crystal and saw it all.” Mentira stood up. “Please help us!” she ran to the guards. They quickly moved in front of her. “We’ve got you, miss.” She smirked, and her horn glowed brightly. “Look out!” FlashRain shouted. The guards turned around, and had spectacular reflexes. One leapt out of the way, the other whipped out a magical restrictor and slipped it onto her horn. “She was the spy! I knew there had to be one! Corona would want to control the game at an internal level too!” Flash snarled angrily. “You’re turning these ponies back, and letting them go.” The Royal Guard enunciated clearly. Corona spoke quietly. “If you so wish it. I don’t want anypony getting hurt.” *** “Fifteen ponies, is that right?” The guards had gathered the ponies together. “Sixteen, if we include her spy.” Everypony was back to normal, the enchantments of the magical aging foal powder removed. FlashRain seemed to be thinking. “They should get a taste of their own medicine.” He said, narrowing his eyes. The other ponies seemed to agree, and turned to the Royal Guards. “Well, we suppose we could look the other way…” one muttered. “Wait!” I placed myself between the group and Corona. “You aren’t honestly considering this? Yes, what they did was wrong, but they harbored no ill will! You can’t blame them!” “Why are you protecting her?” FlashRain stepped up. “This isn’t like you at all!” “No, Flash. This isn’t like you. This isn’t how we operate. We protect those who need to be shielded, right? Tell me. What has she done wrong? Has anypony ever gotten hurt by her?” “Well…” FlashRain reluctantly stated his next word. “No.” “Then let her go. She’s not a bad pony.” I turned to Corona. “Promise you won’t foalnap any more ponies.” She nodded. “I will not take ponies against their will anymore.” She said, smiling. “Can we trust her words?” one of the guards asked. “Yes. We can. Let her go. There’s no reason to bring such trouble to a pony who never hurt anypony. I order this, as a superior rank in both Royal Guard and Unit.” The two guards glanced at each other then sighed. “Very well, sir.” We left in silence, but I took a look back at Corona. Even with her two guards and Mentira, she seemed so sad and alone. I remembered her words. She wanted nothing more than a happy family. A foal to care for. I walked back to her. “Dust? What is it?” FlashRain gave me an odd look. “I have something to discuss with her. Go on. I’ll be back in Canterlot as soon as I can.” He nodded, and the group trotted away. “Corona…” I spoke slowly. “I don’t want you to be alone. Is there any way I can help? You can check the orphanage. I’m sure there will be foals there.” “I can’t.” She said. “I’m not a citizen of Equestria. And there’s too much red tape involved. It wouldn’t work out for me, a mother who lost her two children and husband. They would never allow me to adopt.” “There’s got to be something.” I gave her a sad look. “Seeing other sad ponies… makes me sad.” She eyed me with a very gentle and soft gaze. “There is one way.” She embraced me again, drawing me close to her. I knew what she meant, and I hugged her back. “I’d be okay with that… Mother.” ALTERNATE ENDING 1