//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Games of the Gatekeeper // Story: Welcome to Your Nightmare! // by Ganondorf8 //------------------------------// Welcome to Your Nightmare! By Ganondorf8 October 28, 2015 Chapter 4: Games of the Gatekeeper. 06:00 That was what was displayed on the clock, and so far none of us have made any progress when it comes to collecting six keys. A few of us have picked up some Time cards which we can't use until the proper time comes as indicated on the card, and Rarity picked up a Fate card which made her giggle with glee while making the rest of us wonder what she had planned. Applejack rolled a four where she moved her playing piece landing in the Black Hole... the one space on the board that Pinkie said we needed to avoid. " Shoot! I went and landed myself in ta Black Hole! So, what do I do now?" Applejack asked. " Because you don't have the key which allows you to free yourself from the Black Hole, you either have to roll a six in order to get out, or the Gatekeeper chooses to release you, but if you want my opinion, you'd want to roll that six as the Gatekeeper releases players from the Black Hole once every five or six minutes." Pinkie Pie answered, folding her arms while giving off a smug smile which served as a reminder that she knew all of the rules to this game. " Guess I'm going to be stuck there fer a while." Applejack said, looking dejected. Fluttershy then took the dice, and rolled it where it rattled along the board before hitting one of the three main card piles before stopping on a three, and moved her playing piece along until she landed on a Fate gravestone. " Do... do I take one of those cards?" Fluttershy asked. " You landed on a gravestone marked Fate, so that means yes!" Pinkie answered. Fluttershy, nervously reached for the top card on the pile that said Fate, and began to read it in silence where her expression ranged from sheer horror, to absolute bliss as though she too had gotten something good like Rarity did before. She was about to say what was written on the card, but Pinkie gave her a cold response followed by shaking her head back and forth as though she were crazy. " No need to tell us what that card says Fluttershy, as it's meant for your eyes only until you choose to activate it." Pinkie said. " Are you sure?" Fluttershy asked, unsure if she should keep something a secret. " Believe me! When it comes to wanting to keep a secret, you're really good at it, and I'm like, really bad at it as all I ever want to do is tell someone because keeping a secret really stresses me out sometimes." Pinkie answered. Truer words have never been spoken when it came to Pinkie's antics, for while she was eccentric in nature... which means a little out there to the common person, she does have trouble keeping secrets. She always has this urge to spill the beans as she calls it, and it prompts people to want to tape her mouth shut, and tie her hands together as apparently she is an expert when it comes to using morse code. I know these all sound like extremes given Pinkie is just being herself, yet she is the one who insists people take these measures so as to keep their secrets. I'm guessing that when it comes to playing games, she is dead serious about keeping secrets as though it were some kind of unwritten rule. " My turn again!" Rainbow Dash shouted, reaching across the table to grab the dice, and almost knocking over the cards and playing pieces in the process. " I've got a feeling that this is going to be a lucky roll, and I'm about to win one of those six keys!" She had a look in her eye that we've all seen before many times during our struggles against the powers of evil magic... a look of sheer awesomeness coupled with a strong desire to win because it was in her nature due to being so competitive. " STOP!" The Gatekeeper said as he appeared on the screen along with the lightning which signalled his appearance, and what can be described now as being a usual occurrence for this game, Fluttershy leapt slightly out of her chair before landing again. What was unexpected was the Gatekeeper yawning as though he were already bored of us playing... were we really that bad at this? I mean, it's only been seven minutes since we started, and granted, we did have some problems in the early going, but to just flat out yawn at us out of sheer boredom? " I... yawn... release those of you in the Black Hole..." " Look at that Applejack! He released you from the Black Hole, and you've only been in there for about a minute." Pinkie said. " Well that's a relief, but I don't take too kindly to his yawning at us! I reckon that's just mighty rude of him to go and do that." Applejack said, taking offence at what we have all just witnessed with regards to the Gatekeeper's questionable behaviour. " No need to be bored just because we ain't playing up to his expectations! We're all new to this kind of board game, well... aside from Pinkie as she did read ta rules, but there's no reason for crudeness like that!" Applejack is known for being honest, and I could tell that she didn't appreciate what just happened. I'll admit that it wasn't what I could call appropriate, but then the Gatekeeper rules this game as he himself said at the beginning, so really, he can do whatever he wants without any kind of consequence attached to it. " Let us all play the first game together..." The Gatekeeper said, using a rather soothing voice which was a stark different from his usual demeanour. " He wants us to play a game? Right now?" Twilight asked, a look of worry and concern appearing on her face, and to me this was a sign that she was really getting into the game now, and she wanted to do her homework during this sleepover. " I've noticed that in these first seven minutes of play, we've only played about four of those minutes with the remaining time allotted to the Gatekeeper appearing on screen, and forcing us to stop playing according to the rules. If this game is supposed to last an hour, and based on this relevant piece of information, we probably only get to play about 40 minutes out of the 60." Twilight's words sounded very logical, that she was using her agile mind to come up with this conclusion which did sound very feasible. " For an egghead, that was pretty good." Rainbow Dash said, giving a thumbs up. " That's why we have to play as fast as possible, to make up for the time that the Gatekeeper takes away from us with his presence." Twilight said. " Guess it adds to the challenge." I said. " A logical assumption Sunset, and one that will test our resolve as the hour progresses." Twilight said. " I want each of you to take a turn to roll the dice... what are you waiting for eh... DO IT! DON'T WASTE MY TIME, FOR YOU HAVE PRECIOUS LITTLE OF IT!" The booming shout coming from the Gatekeeper scared all of us this time around in addition to Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash immediately rolled the dice without even taking a moment to figure out why she needed to do so. " No way am I going to be punished again." Rainbow Dash said, reminding us of what happened when she didn't listen to the Gatekeeper. She ended up rolling a six which must have been pretty lucky for her, Applejack rolled a two, Fluttershy rolled a five, Rarity rolled a two Pinkie rolled a four, and finally I rolled a one which left me feeling slightly heartbroken as I wanted to roll a higher number. " Time's up... and if you haven't yet, had a turn, you can blame it on the others, not me!" The Gatekeeper said, and we all breathed a sigh of relief as we each managed to roll the dice before he said that. " NOW! Who rolled the highest number? ANSWER ME!" " Yes, my Gatekeeper." Rainbow Dash answered, discovering that she had rolled the highest number, and wasn't about to make the same mistake a second time. " Time's up... if you answered in time... you may take a key... but if you failed, you have lost a precious prize!" The Gatekeeper said, causing Rainbow Dash to start clapping her hands with glee over the fact that she had just won herself a key simply by having the highest number in this "game". Pinkie asked which key would she like as the rules state that you can collect the six keys in any order you want, and Rainbow didn't even take any time to think, for she immediately chose the key that allows a player to free themselves from the Black Hole. " As for the one who... rolled the lowest number... answer me!" The Gatekeeper said, indicating that he wasn't finished with us just yet. " Yes, my Gatekeeper." I answered due to having rolled the lowest number. " You will miss a turn." The Gatekeeper said, disappearing once more, and the timer returning where an entire 90 seconds had passed. I felt bad that I rolled the lowest number as it meant Twilight and I would be missing a turn, yet we congratulated Rainbow Dash on winning her first key. That's when I noticed the timer was getting close to the nine minute mark, and the Time card I picked up earlier allows me to have two free turns, so I guess missing a turn will come after that. Rainbow Dash handed the dice over to Rarity as she had to forego her turn due to the Gatekeeper showing up, and as soon as Rarity rolled the dice, I revealed the Time card where everyone acknowledged that Twilight and I were to receive two free turns right away. " Why don't you roll both times Twilight?" I asked. " If you want me to." Twilight answered, taking a precautious approach when grabbing the dice from my hand. Her first roll resulted in us landing on a blank gravestone, and her second roll landed us on a Chance gravestone where she took the top card from that pile, and showed it to with confusion on her face. There was nothing on the card apart from a drawing of the bottom half of a key, so I shrugged my shoulders before indicating to her using my head that we should keep it to the side just in case we get the other half. With our free turns spent, Twilight handed the dice over to Pinkie who was just about to roll with one of her crazy motions when suddenly... " STOP!" The Gatekeeper shouted as he appeared once again on the screen. " Whose turn is next? Answer me!" " Yes, my Gatekeeper!" Pinkie shouted in a cheerful tone. " Give me your real name." The Gatekeeper said. " Does that mean he wants Pinkie, or Pinkamena?" Pinkie asked. " I'd go with your full name." I answered. " Pinkamena!" Pinkie shouted. " Huh? I must have missed your middle name." The Gatekeeper said. " Um, no you didn't as you didn't ask for my middle name, but my first name in full. Why do you want to know my middle name all of a sudden?" Pinkie asked, prompting all of us to slap ourselves in the forehead apart from Twilight, as Pinkie was arguing with a character on a video who can't really answer her back. Twilight then whispered to me about why Pinkie referred to herself as Pinkamena, and it dawned on me that we've never explained that to her at any time. I then told her that Pinkie's full name is Pinkamena Diane Pie, yet she doesn't like being called that as it sounds too formal, so everyone simply refers to her as Pinkie... aside from her parents who get to call her that. " Diane... my middle name is Diane!" Pinkie shouted. " That is a stupid name isn't it, you maggot." The Gatekeeper said laughing at Pinkie's expense. " Don't listen to him Pinkie..." I began, "... your middle name is wonderful." " Thanks Sunset." Pinkie smiled. " Well... answer me." The Gatekeeper said softly. " Yes, my Gatekeeper." Pinkie said. " I think it is... so do all the others." The Gatekeeper said, prompting Pinkie to look at each one of us in turn hoping that we didn't agree with his statement. All of us shook our heads no which made her smile, yet I don't why I had to seeing as I already stated my opinion on the matter. " NOW! PICK UP THE DICE, and roll it... eh... what number did you roll?" The Gatekeeper asked. " A two." Pinkie answered. " There are 26 letters in the alphabet, and you have rolled one of the first six. What letter would that be?" The Gatekeeper asked, and Pinkie answered with B, as that was the second letter after A. " Eh? If that letter is in your middle name... you will miss the number of turns you have rolled. If it is not... take a Fate card." The Gatekeeper then disappeared where the time revealed the following: 10:52 That entire sequence took about two minutes to go through, and all Pinkie got out of it other than having her middle name ridiculed by a character on the television screen, was a mere Fate card which she picked up from the top of the pile. I was expecting her to have received one of those keys given what the Gatekeeper put her through, but I suppose he did this in order to have fun at her expense, and to waste our time with something trivial. " Are y'all okay Pinkie?" Applejack asked. " Yeah, but I was surprised at how he insulted my middle name which is what my parents gave me, but then I realized something else. If any of you had been asked to provide your full name and your middle name, you'd only be able to perform the former, as I don't think any of you have the latter." Pinkie answered as she began to laugh until she fell backwards, and off of her chair before rolling around on the floor laughing up a storm which caused us to laugh alongside her. I knew she wouldn't let the Gatekeeper's words get to her on an emotional level, but then we all quickly remembered that we were playing a game with a time limit, so we had to get back to it. Since Twilight and I now had to miss a turn due to rolling the lowest number during the first "game" the Gatekeeper had us play, the dice was handed over to Rainbow Dash where she rolled a five, taking her straight to the Black Hole which didn't shrug her in the least. " Good thing I got the key that allows me to free myself." Rainbow Dash said smugly. " Just make sure you don't lose it." Pinkie said. " What do you mean?" Rainbow Dash asked. " You can lose keys by order of the Gatekeeper, or if someone else playing manages to make you lose one. Just because you have that key right now Dashie doesn't mean it's yours for the rest of the game, so I'd be a little more cautious as you never know what can happen." Pinkie answered which in turn made Rainbow Dash stare at her with an expression that can be best described as slightly annoyed, but also understanding as she knew that she had to take this game seriously. She then handed the dice over to Applejack who rolled it, and the resulting three had her land on a Time space where she picked up a card. " At 12:00... shoot! That's in a few seconds from now, so I gotta read this quick! At 12:00, roll the dice up to the number of players at the table. If you manage to roll your number, you will receive a key. Return this card to the bottom of the pile after use, or if time has expired." Applejack said to herself, looking straight at the time on the screen where it displayed 12:00 exactly, and she began to roll the dice six times which made us all wonder what she was doing. " Sorry y'all, but I gotta roll this here dice six times because there's six of us playing according to this card I just picked up." " Wouldn't that be seven darling?" Rarity asked, pointing at both Twilight and myself who were sharing the same playing piece. " Yeah! I reckon that should count, so that gives me a seventh roll of ta dice." Applejack answered, rolling the dice over and over in order to roll her number, and ended up succeeding upon rolling for the fourth time where six came up. " Yeehaw! I got my number! That means I get one of those keys in my colour right?" Pinkie nodded to Applejack indicating that she was correct, and she pulled out a lasso which she happened to have on her person before spinning it around her head for a few moments before stopping due to all of us looking at her, making her feel embarrassed. We all thought she was going to ask for the same key that Rainbow Dash had, but surprised us all when she said that she wanted the key that had to do with time. " I feel pretty good about having this key seeing as I rolled my number to get it!" " It... it should be my turn again." Fluttershy said. " Go right ahead sugercube." Applejack said. " I release you... from the Black Hole." The Gatekeeper said as he appeared briefly on the screen in a transparent form before disappearing, yet we were more concerned with his appearance which has changed from what he looked like before. " Oh my! He looks as though he's completely lost all of his colour, and his hair is even more of a mess than it already was." Rarity said. " I wonder why he changed?" Fluttershy asked. " Well, I for one will be finding it harder to play this game what with his new look being rather vulgar." Rarity answered. " STOP!" The Gatekeeper said, appearing as usual, and once again he was transparent with the timer ticking away in front of him. We didn't know if this meant we could keep on playing despite his transparency, but we decided against it just in case it was a violation of the rules. " Those of you on gravestones marked with an X... do not play again... until I return..." He then disappeared, yet none of us were on one of those gravestones thus making his threat non-existent, so Fluttershy proceeded to roll the dice where she rolled a five, and landed on a X marked gravestone... right after the Gatekeeper talked about it which was quite ironic, but the moment the dice was handed over to Rarity... " STOP!" The Gatekeeper shouted, appearing when it had only been mere seconds since his last appearance, and now he was there completely as opposed to being transparent like he was the previous two times. " I release you from the Black Hole in time for a game of my choosing! All of you... will now take a turn to roll the dice... and the one who rolls the highest... is the chosen one... REMEMBER! For when I call the chosen one... it will answer... or it will pay dearly." The Gatekeeper said before disappearing, leaving all of us to wonder what he meant by one of us becoming the chosen one. Did this mean he was willing to give one of us some kind of benefit? Or, was this his way of pretending to make amends before taking us down simply because we were leads into a false sense of security? " What should we do?" Rarity asked. " Roll the dice, and see who gets to be the chosen one." Rainbow Dash answered. Applejack looked a little glum, but that was because she had a card which stated that she was to frighten the chosen one later on, and she was hoping that it wasn't going to be Fluttershy who gets picked. We each then took our respective turns to roll the dice, and to our surprise, Rarity was the one who ended up getting the highest number... which ended up being four as both Pinkie and I rolled the same number, the same with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. " Oh my! I'm the chosen one! This is just simply divine!" Rarity said, her voice full of self-praising. " It doesn't necessary mean it's gonna be a good thing." Applejack said. " Don't be ridiculous darling! I'm sure it will be a most satisfying experience, so you might say I'm looking forward to seeing what the Gatekeeper is going to do... even if his threat is uncouth in nature." Rarity said.