Chapter 2: The Gatekeeper
Welcome to Your Nightmare!
By Ganondorf8
October 23, 2015
Chapter 2: The Gatekeeper
" Well, did you all understand the rules?" Pinkie Pie asked before placing the booklet on the table, and to her surprise, our expressions were ones of sheer confusion as we had no idea what some of the rules even meant. I mean, I can understand a board game having a number of complex rules in order to make it a more enjoyable experience, but this was perhaps a little too much. Still, we couldn't back out from playing as we all did agree to play, and it would crush Pinkie's heart if we suddenly say no. " You know... we could just skip some of the more complicated rules." Pinkie said, her face lighting up with the suggestion.
" Are you sure about that darling?" Rarity asked.
" I had to spend an entire afternoon going over these rules in order to understand them, and despite having to sit there reading them while ignoring practically everything else all around here, I managed to figure them out, but I can't understand why you guys are having trouble." Pinkie answered, scratching her head. Twilight then spoke up by saying she understood all of the rules save for maybe one or two, and the rest of us rolled our eyes because we were expecting her to say something like that. Our reactions prompted Twilight to blush a reddish pink before stepping backwards while playing with her hair in embarrassment.
" Not surprised Twilight would understand the rules! She is an egghead after all!" Rainbow Dash laughed before quickly coming to the conclusion that no one else was laughing along with her, and stopped due to our cold expressions. I walked over to Twilight in order to give her some encouragement, and continued staring at Rainbow Dash who had no idea why I was looking at her as though she had just committed a terrible crime. " Why are you looking at me like that?"
" We don't want to frighten away Twilight considering she's new to the concept of having friends!" I answered with a snapping motion which my mind quickly registered as me losing my temper... a characteristic of mine which I'm not too proud of, so I calmed myself down with some breathing exercises before addressing Rainbow Dash again. " I didn't mean to be angry with you Rainbow, but it's just that Twilight has certain... needs which we have to accommodate for."
" Right! Say no more!" Rainbow Dash said, giving me both a smile and a salute.
" Umm, you don't need to worry about me you know." Twilight said, stepping out from behind me. " Just because I happen to be the newest member of your clique doesn't make me appear insignificant or anything. I'm just trying to get adjusted to having friends for the first time in my life, and also getting used to your magical abilities." The look in her eyes tells me that Twilight is still having doubts about magic even when she unintentionally used it to transform into a demonic monster. She still feels that science is able to answer all of her questions, yet there are things which go beyond the limits of science. Whenever I look at her, it reminds me of what I used to be like although I was more concerned with wanting power rather than trying to use science to explain the impossible.
" Twilight..." Rainbow Dash began. " What rules haven't you memorized yet?"
" The only one that still leaves me confused is this thing called the Black Hole. I mean, every time I say those two words together, it reminds of the anomaly that exists out in space which scientists even now are trying to figure out how it works." Twilight answered, earning herself a slight chuckle from me because I found it adorable that she is still using her love of science to explain her perspective on things.
" If you end up landing there, or get banished by the Gatekeeper, who apparently loves doing that, you need to either roll a six to get out, be released by the Gatekeeper, or have one of the six keys which allows you to free yourself." Pinkie said, holding up what looked like a key made of some rather thick cardboard, and showing us the text on the back of it which clearly stated that it could be used to free yourself.
" Sounds like a space you want to avoid." I said.
" It's pretty hard to dig yourself out of there unless you wind up getting freed by the Gatekeeper, or you happen to have a card or the key that lets you out." Pinkie said, earning herself the expression of my jaw dropping ever so slightly. She wasn't kidding about knowing all of the rules, for she clearly had an understanding as to how they worked. It gave me the impression that she had become some kind of encyclopedia on this subject even if it was just a board game with an interactive feel to it.
Pinkie then grabbed all of the playing pieces, and numbers which were scattered throughout the box before placing them all into a velvet bag, and handing it over to me. The force of her placing the bag into my hands did push me back a little, and when she gave a rather creepy looking grin most likely because it was Halloween, or because she was just being Pinkie Pie, it quickly dawned on me that she had the desire of having me distribute the pieces and numbers.
" Why me?" I asked.
" You were the closest to me Sunset, for if I tried to give that bag to someone else, I would have dropped it, and we'd be spending who knows how long trying to find them all given how dark everything is." Pinkie answered. That could easily be alleviated by simply turning on the lights, so I made a motion towards the nearest light switch, and Pinkie grabbed my arm in response, and tugged on it as hard as she could all while shaking her head back and forth. " Oh, no, no, no, no... we can't turn on the lights because it would kill the setting." That just sounded so counter-productive, but she did have that look in her eye... the kind that makes you want to submit to her desires, and since she did take the time to set all of this up, I sighed which was my way of caving in.
" Well, that was melodramatic!" Rainbow Dash.
" Why don't you give out the pieces and numbers?" I asked.
" Pinkie gave that task to you, and I wouldn't want to rob you of the desire of carrying out a simple task." Rainbow Dash replied, her face giving off a snarky expression all while placing her hands on her hips in a rather suggestive fashion, but deep down she was loving the fact that I had to resort to something that can be described as mundane. Heaving a heavy sigh, I placed my hand into the velvet bag... it was surprisingly silky despite it not being fashionable, and the texture made me think that whoever made must have incredible skill, but I kept this little tidbit to myself as I don't want to offend Rarity. She... she can be rather offended whenever one of us talks about fashion, and compare her creations to said fashion, for she is still trying to improve on her craft with every dress she makes.
" Since you just had to go and say that Rainbow Dash..." I began, walking up to her with a sly smile on my face. "...you won't object to being the first person to place their hand into the bag, and taking both a piece and number?"
" Aren't you supposed to do that?" Rainbow Dash asked.
" I thought it would be more fun to do it this way." I answered, extending the bag out in front of her in a playful manner all to see what kind of reaction she would get. At first, Rainbow remained defiant thinking that I should be the one to give her a piece and a number, but my sly smile continued to spread across my face, and the sweat pouring down her face meant that she was about to crack at any moment. I know this made me appear rather cruel, but I wanted to have a little fun. " Okay!" Rainbow shouted upon finally caving into the pressure. " I'll take a piece and a number from the bag. Happy now?" I closed my eyes and smiled a happy smile in response to that, and she in turn simply frowned before putting her hand into the bag, and taking out the white piece along with the number five.
" There... that wasn't so bad." I said.
" No need to make a big deal out of it." Rainbow Dash moaned.
" Okay, who wants to go next?" I asked.
" I'll go next." Rarity answered, stepping over to where I was, and placing her hand into the bag where she pulled out a red piece, and the number two. " Red really does clash with what I'm wearing, but I suppose that I could provide some accessories to make it more appealing." I rolled my eyes in response to that, for only Rarity would consider the idea of decorating a playing piece, yet who were we to stop, for that's just her inner fashionista kicking in.
" My turn." Applejack said boldly before reaching into the bag, and taking out a black piece and the number six. That's when I decided to reach into the bag myself which I should have done after Rainbow Dash given that Pinkie did give me the bag in order to distribute everything. My hand then pulled out a blue piece and the number four which I then showed to Twilight for she and I were going to be sharing this piece together. It felt strange that both of us were sharing the same piece and number, but Pinkie insisted on all of us playing together, and she didn't want anyone to be left out of the loop as it were.
" What do you think?" I asked Twilight.
" Blue is a very fine colour Sunset, and the number four is very satisfactory." Twilight answered before quickly covering her mouth with her hands when she realized that she was speaking through the perspective of a scientist rather than simply being mellow about it. " I'm sorry... I didn't mean to say it like that." Twilight then blushed again before sitting down on the couch with a look of shame on her face, but I walked over to her, and placed my hand on her shoulder as an act of comfort.
" No need to apologize Twilight." I smiled.
" My choice of words don't bother you all?" Twilight asked.
" You're just being yourself Twilight, and believe me when I say don't ever change that aspect of your personality." I answered, prompting Twilight to get up off the couch, and give me quite a powerful hug which certainly wasn't something I was expecting from her. Everyone else then went "awwww" in response to the kind gesture... apart from Rainbow Dash who pretended to gag by sticking out her tongue in response to this mushy moment which made everyone look at her with cold expressions before we began laughing again because her reaction was expected.
" Is it my turn to choose?" Fluttershy asked meekly.
" You haven't said all that much since we got here." Rainbow Dash answered.
" I didn't want anyone to feel concerned about me given how I'm not what you would call a fan of Halloween, or anything scary." Fluttershy said. It was true that she had her issues with this particular holiday, and Pinkie did make sure to address this particular sensitive issue with her so as to make sure that she was okay with being out of her usual comfort zone. I walked over to Fluttershy where I presented her the bag, and she reached into it with her hand, and pulled out the purple piece, and the number one.
" That means I get the grey piece and the number three!" Pinkie shouted with excitement. Since she already knew what was left in the bag, I handed it over to her where she took out both pieces from the bag before tossing it into the box where it landed with a soft flumping sound. " Now that we've gotten our playing pieces and numbers, it's time to finally get this game started... even if you don't know all of the rules--"
" We'll figure them out later!" Rainbow Dash shouted cutting off Pinkie.
" Okie dokie lokie, but don't complain when the rules catch you off guard." Pinkie said as she hopped over to the table, and sat down on the chair that was the closest to the television set which made sense as this was her place after all. We all then sat around the table, and took a closer look at the game board where we saw that it was very complicated in design, and also rather disturbing what with all of the gravestones. Whoever designed this board must have either been going for a cemetery motif, or just wanted to scare people out of their wits before the game even begins. Pinkie told us to place our pieces on the respective gravestones whose names were on our pieces, so we did which felt strange as usually everyone starts in the same location.
" Shouldn't ya put in the tape?" Applejack asked.
" Oh yeah! Can't blame the game if we don't put in the tape." Pinkie answered, picking up the box the tape was located in, and pulling it out where she proceeded to insert it into the VHS slot on the player deck. Hopefully, this was going to work seeing as the video is over two decades old, and may not even work anymore, but surprisingly enough, the video began to play the moment Pinkie pressed play on the remote control she was suddenly holding. " I made sure to rewind this back to the beginning beforehand otherwise we'd be waiting for at least another two minutes or so." Pinkie said.
" So what do we do now?" Rainbow Dash asked.
" Wait to see what happens I guess." Twilight answered. Her answer would come a few moments later when an image of the game box appeared on the screen along with the following words: "The Video Board Game...Experience Atmosfear"
" Is this supposed to be a form of advertising?" Rarity asked.
" No idea." Pinkie answered, which reaffirms that she hasn't watched the video even though she did rewind it. A few seconds later, and the box image faded away only to be replaced with another series of words: "Turn the Volume up and the Lights Down" Well, at least we now know where Pinkie got the idea from when it comes to the atmosphere of her living room, for even the video suggests to do this.
" Gasp! What's that noise?" Fluttershy asked, almost jumping out of her seat.
" What noise sugarcube?" Applejack asked.
" Someone is laughing, and I don't like how scary it sounds." Fluttershy answered. We all kept quiet, and sure enough we heard the same laughter which sounded like a small child was trying to sound scary, and was doing a good job of it given how it affected Fluttershy.
" It's coming from the video." Twilight said.
" If you ask me, it was pretty lame." Rainbow Dash said. After waiting for about 30 seconds, the words disappeared, and were replaced with a single word inside of a plaque surrounded by two bats, one on the top left, and the other on the bottom right, and the word was simply "Nightmare". Just as Rainbow Dash was about to complain about why this was taking so long, a loud lightning sound suddenly came out of nowhere.
" Eep!" Fluttershy screamed resulting in her jumping out of her seat before landing about two seconds later.
" Who's that?" Twilight asked. The plaque disappeared and was replaced by a man who appeared to be wearing a cloak on top of his head although his face, and portions of his hair were visible. His expression was one of complete seriousness, and I had a feeling this was the Gatekeeper who Pinkie had been talking about.
" Whoever he is, that cloak he's wearing is just ghastly to no end!" Rarity said.
" So... you want to play the game... my game... by my rules..." The man said, speaking with a rather slow voice. " I am... THE GATEKEEPER! I rule this game... and you... you will obey my rules..."
" As if!" Rainbow Dash shouted.
" When I speak, you will stop... and you will LISTEN!" The Gatekeeper said, his last word catching us by surprise, and causing us to jolt slightly as we weren't expecting him to shout like that. " Hmmm? I see... you have all been stained with a colour, and marked by a number... if I call your number, or your colour, you must answer, YES MY GATEKEEPER!" The Gatekeeper's last words caused Fluttershy to jump out of her seat again, and to be honest, I almost did the exact same thing.
" Quite the boisterous one isn't he?" Rarity asked.
" It's all part of the game." Pinkie answered.
" I'm not so sure about that," I said.
" If you fail to answer yes my gatekeeper, when I call your number or colour, YOU WILL BE PUNISHED!" The Gatekeeper shouted, prompting us to all exchange glances of concern towards one another with the sole exception of Pinkie Pie who was merely giggling away. The Gatekeeper's expression then suddenly changed where he developed a smile, and his eyes opened wider as though he were excited about what he was going to say next. " I'd like to punish one of you now... you... the one who holds the lowest number--" The Gatekeeper's expression suddenly changed again which made me think he would be doing this on a regular basis, and then I realized that Fluttershy had the lowest number, for she picked the number one.
" Fluttershy, he's referring to you," I said.
" What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked.
" You have the lowest number," I answered.
" I have the lowest number?" Fluttershy asked.
" YES YOU!!!! ANSWER ME YOU MAGGOT!!!!" shouted the Gatekeeper which caused Fluttershy to scream and jump out of her seat.
" Answer him, quickly!" Twilight shouted.
" Y-y-yes my Gatekeeper." Fluttershy said in a nervous voice as she landed back in her chair, her entire body quivering like jelly, and it prompted Rarity to ask her if she wanted to continue playing given how so far the game was already having an adverse effect on her, and we haven't really even started. " I-I'm okay--" Fluttershy answered cutting herself off before breathing heavily for a couple of seconds. " I'll continue playing even if it means being scared out of my wits."
" Time's up!" The Gatekeeper said using a more quieter voice this time. " If you failed... to answer yes my gatekeeper in time... you are punished... move your mark to the closest Black Hole... you will not play... until I choose... to release you..." The Gatekeeper's words were very soft now which made us all feel relieved, but at the same time nervous because who knows when he was going to shout again, and quite possibly frighten Fluttershy in the process. " But... if you answered in time... you have learned my first lesson..."
" Some lesson." Rainbow Dash said sarcastically.
" Well, ya wanted us ta experience somethin' new Pinkie Pie, and this is definitely new." Applejack said.
" DO NOT FORGET, FOR YOU ALL BE CALLED, AND YOU ALL BE TESTED!" The Gatekeeper shouted, causing all of us to pay attention to his words. So all of us will have to endure him yelling at us for no particular reason? We all share concerned glances towards one another, and in our minds we were having second thoughts about playing, but we did agree to play for Pinkie's sake, and we don't want to ruin this sleepover. For her part, Pinkie was still giggling away, oblivious to what was really going on.
" The music sounds creepy." Rainbow Dash said.
" And I thought I was the only one thinking that," I said.
" Let us begin my game with you... the one who holds the highest number... ANSWER ME!" The Gatekeeper shouted, and all of our eyes opened wide in shock before turning our attention over to Applejack, for she had the highest number which was six.
" Yes my gatekeeper!" Applejack shouted, her voice filled with worry, for she wasn't used to being on the spot.
" You will be the first... to roll the dice... and begin my game... and your nightmare..." The Gatekeeper said before his image disappeared from the screen, and was replaced with a time which began at 00:00 which started to tick upwards indicating that the game had just begun.
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