Zecora accidentally creates a cursed game and goes to Twilight to dismantle it before anyone could get hurt by it. Unfortunately, Smolder and Gallus came across the game known as Jumanji.
Warning: The following story is currently unedited and contains scenes that may be too intense for audiences. Honestly, this is more of a thought experiment than anything, especially given the idea of a what if.
Zecora had created a monster.
What was originally meant to be a birthday present for Applebloom as a game that has influences of her home country has the potential to cause chaos and devistation. In the process of creating a cardless game with a gem that would read out random events, something had gone wrong. So in an attempt to dismantle the game, she turned to Twilight in hopes to use magical means to take it apart safely.
Unfortunately, Smolder and Gallus had discovered the game. And out of boredom, decided they should play it with their friends.
She didn’t mean to, of course. Nor did she intend this to get out of hoof. But the result of what she had made had grown into something she couldn’t undo.
At least, not by herself.
Looking over towards the bag that was sung around her shoulder, she still heard the drums that cry out like a bad-tempered infant.
“Be silent, be hushed! Do you want to be crushed?” She chastised just above a whisper.
It kept beating all the same.
Even though she began her project out of love and as a gift, this had to be taken care of immediately. A birthday present meant for a filly that had been the first pony to have reached out to her since she moved to Equestria, she now saw as not just unfit – but dangerous. In any other circumstance, this might be disheartening considering the time and effort she had put into this. A board game that would be recognizable in her homeland, complete with the style of the jungle, the savanna, and the rivers of Zebraca. Yes, she may have never crafted a game before, but she did her best to find the right wood, import in the right stones, ivory, and even custom brass items to assemble.
However, for the centerpiece of the game, what was meant to be a shortcut and, dare she say it, “magical” replacement of cards that would give the game a unique flavor had… backfired. A dark green gem where she had put in the cards with rhymes and riddles from her imagination, all infused by a complicated process using potions and spells. When she placed the last piece in the center of the game, she had hoped to be her masterpiece.
That was until she began to hear the drums.
Not just any drums – the deep, dark tones that brought dread to her very soul. The impatient, maddening rhymes that she hadn’t heard since she was a little filly. The booming beats of war drums. She could feel the box vibrate as the muffled drumming was somehow coming from inside the box itself. Even just touching it, something about the game felt wrong. It was soaked in bad juju all around.
Even when she opened it to exam it so that the drums would stop, she saw the green gem in the center was misty and swirled in yellow smoke that formed the word of the game she gave. She didn’t need to play the game to realize that something had gone horrifically wrong. This thing, she could see, had the potential to cause utter mayhem if anyone, a child no less, got their hooves on it.
Which was why she hurried through the Everfree Forest towards Ponyville. In a sack, the threatening war drums were getting louder, as if the dark magic was just waking up. What she needed now more than ever was to get it to someone who knew magic and could disassemble it safely.
Down the trail, and into the streets of Ponyville, Zecora received some curious looks from the ponies she passed by. Some had wondered where that drumming was coming from while others didn’t seem to notice. Zecora didn’t notice as she was as fast as she could head towards the one pony that could help her.
She headed towards the School of Friendship.
Going over the drawbridge and through the front door, she went directly towards the Headmare’s office. Without so much as knocking, she busted through the double doors.
“Twilight Sparkle, this you need to see! For this is an emergency!”
Behind a desk of a mountain range of student papers, Twilight nearly jumped from her sudden appearance. “Zecora! Don’t scare me like that!”
“Frightening you, I apologize. But there is something here that needs your eyes.”
Twilight’s ears perked up, as she looked around the rooms. “Who’s playing drums and… where is it coming from?”
Zecora’s expression paled. “You hear them too? Here, allow me to give you a clue.” Going up to her desk, she put the sack down to pull show the game to her. As soon as they saw it, the drums had stopped.
With a raised eyebrow, Twilight eyed the object. “What is it?”
“An intended gift I had made, but now I fear is something more grave.” Zecora put a hoof over the lid. “I had attempted to make it interesting through magic, but the dark vibe it gives just makes me sick. Surely, you can feel it as well – how vicious is this spell.”
Twilight lit her horn to levitate the game close to her. “Is it okay to open it?”
Zecora nodded, “Whatever you do, do not take out the tokens. Otherwise, all you know will be broken.”
Humming Twilight opened the wooden game’s split lid where she saw the dark green centerpiece and the shadowy fog just underneath. “Zecora… what did you do?”
“I meant the gem to read only cards that had a riddle, but something has gone wrong – ah! This is a pickle. What was meant to be a harmless artifact, a misstep has accidently made a trap.”
“Yes, and I can see why you need my help. What we have here is a landmine of a spell that if triggered could cause all sorts of chaos.” Placing the game on her desk and folding it up, she added. “Luckily, I might have a few books that deal with dark magic, I could use them to dismantle the spell before anyone else could.” Twilight got up from her desk and was about to leave her office, but noticed that Zecora wasn’t following along. “Zecora?”
“You are not going to leave that, are you?” She pointed to the game. “I think it’s unwise to leave it here too.”
“I don’t know, I can’t exactly to have something this potentially dangerous be touched by anyone either. I mean, being a game, someone is bound to get too curious about it. So… how about this,” lighting her horn, she put the wooden game into a drawer in her desk. “I’ll have the office locked so none of the students or faculty would get in. Plus, with the game out of sight, no one would even know it was there even if someone did come in.”
“But can’t I convince you to take it with us Twilight.” Zecora nervously eyed the drawer. “I’m not comfortable with not having it being locked tight.”
“I’m sure it’ll be right here when we get back. Besides, I would need you to help me through what you did to make that so I could undo the spell you made.”
At first, Zecora was hesitant. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Twilight, especially when dealing with magic that have threatened for an apocalypse. However, she didn’t trust the game being by itself. As unlikely as it might be of anyone coming across it, she felt deep down that without her supervision, the game could do something catastrophic.
Sighing, Zecora replied that she will go with her, but they must do this quickly. The sooner they could find a way to undo her mistake, the better chance they have of not causing a major disaster. Before leaving the room where Twilight had locked its doors, Zecora looked over to the desk, wondering why it didn’t start to play the war drums yet.
Gallus picked up another flashcard: “True or false, kindness to others should always be offered, even when you’re being taken advantage of.”
Smolder hummed as she thought it over, her brown being nit closely. “I almost want to say true, but there’s something about it that rubs me the wrong way so… I’m gonna go with false.”
“Yep, that’s the right answer.” Gallus tossed the last card aside, leaning his back against the bark of the tree.
“Finally!” Smolder let out an exasperated breath. “I thought we would never get through with it.” Using her wings to switch her seat on the branch with Gallus, she turned to face the clock tower. “No, it couldn’t have been half an hour. I swear that felt way longer than that.”
“But you’ve got most of the answers hammered down. And we’ve still got plenty of time before we have to go anywhere.”
“To do what?”
Gallus shrugged, “I don’t know, maybe see what the guys are doing. If they’re not doing much, we could do something with them.”
“Like what? It’s too cold to go swimming, there’s nothing being played at the movie theater, and I’m pretty sure we’ve gone through every game known to Pony, Griffon, Yak, Changeling, Hippogriff, and Dragonkind. If we’re gonna do something, don’t you want to do something different?”
“Far as I’m aware,” Gallus put his talons behind his head. “There’s no bad guy to defeat, and I’m pretty sure we don’t have to go on any adventures that would get us killed. So what can we do?”
“I’m asking you.”
“And all I’m saying is I’m completely out of…” Gallus' ears perked. “What’s that?”
“What?”
“Be quiet for a second… do you hear that?”
Smolder listened. At first, she didn’t hear anything except for a very, very low sound. Like it was coming deep from the earth sort of low. Whatever it was, the sound started as muffled – distant even. But after a minute…
“Is that drums?” Smolder asked as she spread her wings. “Where is it coming from?”
Gallus opened his wings to get out of the tree to see if he could figure out where the source of the sound was. He moved around the courtyard, listening to the rhythmic beating that slowly got progressively louder. “It’s coming from the Headmare’s office.”
“What is she playing?” Smolder, who was just as curious as Gallus, went up to one of the windows with the griffon to peer in. “There’s not even a record player and nocreature’s around. So what’s going on?”
Gallus placed his talons on the glass against the panes where he felt that it was loose. So pulling it aside, they heard the sound of the impatient rhythmic drums was indeed coming from the office. The two slipped – no one was around yet the drums were booming as if the invisible drummer was nearby. And it was clear where it was coming from – Twilight’s desk.
Smolder knelt to her knees to listen where the sound was at its loudest. It was in a drawer. Standing up, she pulled the drawer opened… and the drums instantly stopped.
“What’s this thing?” She pulled out the wooden box and placed it on the desk for her and Gallus to see.
It was made out of dark wood where there seemed to be a panel that split horizontally in the middle. The lid was hoof-carved, showing a sort of jungle somewhere with tall palms, thin trees with enormous foliage, and three volcanos in the distance. It was framed around with four figures on each corner: a rhino, an elephant, a monkey, and a pony in a pelt hunting hat. In the very center that ran along where the wood divided were a crude spear and the word-
“Jumanji?” Gallus tilted his head. Confusingly looking over to Smolder. “I don’t I’ve heard of it.”
“Neither have I.” Smolder examined the box, turning it this way and that. “There doesn’t seem to be a lock, so it should just open…” Prying the folds, the box easily opened, splaying out a game board with twisting, snake-like paths, palm leaves, and a green gem in the center. Inside of the folding panels, they saw two signs with a brass panel underneath. “Jumanji. A game for those who seek to find a way to leave their world behind. You roll the dice to move your token. Doubles get another turn. The first player to reach the end wins.”
“Sound simple enough,” Gallus shrugged. “But how was this thing making all that noise?” He looked through the drawer again, half expecting to see a speaker inside. He found none. Then looking back at the game, he pointed, “Hey, what does that say?”
Flipping it around, he read aloud: “Adventurers beware: do not begin unless you intend to finish. The exciting consequences of the game will vanish only when a player has reached Jumanji and called out its name.”
After a beat, Smolder closed the game and tucked it under her arm.
“What are you doing?”
“What does it look like?” Smolder answered, “I’m gonna see if the guys want to play this.”
“Hang on,” Gallus put a claw on the game. “You’re not saying you’re gonna steal it.”
“Stealing would mean to take something and never give it back.”
“But we don’t know what this thing is. And since it’s in Twilight’s desk, maybe it’s not meant to be played on. For all we know, it could have some weird spell on it.”
Smolder turned to face him and said flatly, “Dude, it’s a board game. If I thought this thing was a spellbook or maybe a magical do-hickey, I wouldn’t even touch it. But this is a board game, I highly doubt anything remotely dangerous would come about just by playing on it.”
“Yeah, but you’re taking it from Twilight’s office.”
“Then we’ll play one game.” Smolder said, “I promise that as soon as we’re done with it, I’ll put it right back. I’d bet Headmare Twilight wouldn’t know it was missing.”
“But-”
“C’mon dude! This is something new. Something different. And even if it’s boring, we can always bring it back no problem.”
Looking between her and the mysterious wooden game, he replied while raising a talon. “One game. And remember, if the Headmare catches us, I’m blaming you.”
“Deal!”
Smolder flew out the window, game firmly under her arm. Gallus followed behind after closing the window, hoping that maybe they wouldn’t get into trouble for taking the box.
In the student’s dorm, Ocellus and Silverstream were on the couch studying. All they had left was to read a few more paragraphs of their textbooks and they should be done. However, Smolder came in before they could do so.
“Hey girls, are any of you busy?”
Ocellus raised a hoof. “Hold on, I’m almost done.”
“Me too… Just about… and… there!” Closing the book with a satisfying slap; it made Ocellus jump, losing her place. Silverstream blushed when her study buddy glared at her. “Sorry.”
At this point, Gallus came inside, closing the door behind him. “You guys busy?”
“I was,” Ocellus deadpanned. Then noticing the box under Smolder’s arm, she pointed, “What’s that?”
“Something to do.” The dragoness held up the game.
Silverstream tilted her head. “Ju… Ju-man… What does that say?”
“I think it’s pronounced Jumanji,” Gallus said, “although I don’t have a clue what it means.”
While Smolder set the game on the ground, Ocellus hopped off the couch, looking at it with fascination. “I think it’s Idube.”
“What?” Smolder tilted her head. “What’s eye dube?”
“No, Idube, it’s a language in Sothern Zebrica. It’s… and I know I’m butchering it, but it loosely means ‘Many Effects.’” Ocellus felt around the lid of the game and fold it open. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen this game, where did you find it?”
“Smolder stole it,” Gallus said bluntly.
“No, I didn’t!”
“It was from Twilight’s office. But how we found it was really weird.”
Smolder was intrigued. “Really? How?”
“We started hearing drums that were coming from her office, and they stopped when we found that thing.”
Ocellus hummed, eyeing the green centerpiece. “Could this thing be an artifact of some kind? If it has magic I… I don’t know if it has or not because I’m getting strange vibes from it. Not good or bad just… odd.”
“How do you play?” Silverstream asked as she felt around at the brass covers inside the folds. In one, she found a pair of dice. In the other were four tokens – each hoof carved out of different materials. One was a monkey made of jade. One was an elephant made of gray stone. A crocodile that looked and felt was carved from volcanic glass. And a rhino made of ivory. “Besides, this game does look cool.”
“So you wanna play too?” Smolder asked with a hopeful smile.
“Oh! Can I? I want to be the crocodile!”
What happened next, caught the four friends off guard. As if by magic, the tokens somehow leaped out of Silverstream’s claws and onto the board where they instantly, quickly moved to each corner of the game.
Gallus blinked, “You… saw that too right?”
Silverstream tried to take hold of the pieces but found they wouldn’t move. “Hey, they’re stuck.”
“Maybe they’re magnetic?” Ocellus suggested.
Silverstream lifted the tokens – along with the game several inches off the ground before putting it back down. “Those are the strongest magnets I’ve ever seen. How are we supposed to move them?”
Smolder felt around underneath the brass coverings. She frowned in confusion. “Okay…? Where are the cards?”
“They’re not in there?” Gallus asked, hovering over the game.
Silverstream then looked at the dice that were in her claws. A thought came to her, “Maybe… this game is magical? If Ocellus says is true, and this game literally means ‘Many Effects,’ maybe the only way we know what it does is if we start playing. She offered the dice to Gallus, “You wanna go first?”
Sit down next to her, he took the dice into his own claws with a look of distrust. “I don’t about this guys… something about this isn’t right.”
“To be fair,” Ocellus pointed out, “we don’t know if this game has magic or not. And who knows, maybe it can be fun since we still have plenty of time before class starts.”
Looking around the room, Gallus sighed, “Okay, fine. But we’re doing one game. After that, we’re putting this back where we found it. Got it?”
Nodding in agreement, Gallus rolled the dice.
Seven.
Before he could reach for one of the pieces, the rhino token started to move. Wide-eyed, they watch as the piece all by itself walked across seven spaces.
“Okay…” Smolder blinked, “That answers the question of whether this thing is magic or not.”
“What’s that?” Ocellus pointed to the gem in the center of the game. The four of them eyed the shiny centerpiece as yellow mist circles and swarms to form words.
They are strong creatures for their size. When they are many, they’ll cause your demise.
“OW!” Gallus suddenly felt a small but painful bite on his hind leg where he turned around to swap at it. It felt like someone had jabbed a long, thick needle without warning. And when his claw came smacking down, he felt something gooey. “What was that?”
“You okay?” Silverstream asked.
“Yeah, it felt like something bit… me…” The girls then saw what made Gallus trail off.
At first, there was one. Then two. Then four. Eight. Sixteen. Thirty-two. Sixty-four. With every passing moment, more and more ants were appearing. They were crawling out from the carpet, from between the baseboards, cracks in the walls, the ceiling, the windows, under the couch, between the cushions; more and more and more, there were ants that were crawling. Not tiny picnic ants. Each ant was about an inch long with thick red bodies and pinchers at the head that look as though they could cut deep.
“WOAH!” Instantly, all four friends leaped in the air with Smolder taking the game. They hovered there with their wings as the dorm room was being invaded by these ants.
“Where did they come from!?” Silverstream exclaimed.
“We need to get out of here, now!” Gallus said as he turned to their only exit which the door was being infested by the gigantic ants.
“On it!” Smolder flew over near the door and taking in a deep breath, she let an outburst of fire that scorched the insects but not enough to get the door catch fire. Instantly she reached for the doorknob and singled over to them, “C’mon! We can’t let them out!” Like lightning, she and her three friends flew out before Smolder slammed the door shut.
“Okay!” Gallus shouted, “What was that!”
“Gallus, your bite, let me see.” Ocellus went over to the griffon to look at the leg he was bitten. “Okay so just stay still for a second, I see its jaws are still on you so let me remove them…” With her magic, she was able to pull out the thorn-like jaws from Gallus to examine them. “Huh… now that is strange.”
“What is?” Smolder asked.
“What swarmed our dorm room, they’re Safari Ants. Nasty little things, especially when they swarm but… none of that makes sense because they’re native to Zebrica.”
“Don’t tell me they’re poisons, right?” Gallus asked with a worry in his voice.
“No, but they sting. And if there were a lot of them on you… Then yeah, you’ll be dead in less than a minute from the pain.”
Silverstream looked between the door and the game under Smolder’s arm. “Do you think… they came from the game?”
“Huh?” Her friends asked.
“Well, think about it. The game spells out a riddle that said… what was it?”
Ocellus recited. “They are strong creatures for their small size. When they are many, they’ll cause your demise.” She blinked. “I think I get what you’re saying. Every time we roll the dice, something would come out from the game.”
“I knew it!” Gallus stomped, “You see Smolder! I told you we shouldn’t touch the game!”
“Hey! I didn’t know that this would happen!” Smolder frowned, “But what are we gonna do now? We have a cursed game board that apparently exists, so what do we do?”
A thought came to Silverstream, “Wait, what did the game say?” Going over to take the game from Smolder, she unfolded the folds to read: “Adventurers beware: do not begin unless you intend to finish. The exciting consequences of the game will vanish only when a player has reached Jumanji and called out its name.”
“So, the answer is obvious,” Ocellus states, “All we have to do is keep playing until one of us wins. But then again… if that thing could produce verrucous ants, I wonder what else can that thing do.”
“We need help.” Gallus said, “Whatever this thing is gonna throw at us, we’re gonna need all the help we can get. Where’s Sandbar and Yona?”
“Hang on, why bring them into this?” Ocellus questioned. “This game is clearly dangerous, so why get them involved. In fact, should we at least warn students or play this away from other ponies?”
“But who would believe us?” Smolder pointed out, “Up until a few minutes ago, I didn’t think cursed game boards exist. Regardless of what we do, we can’t convince anyone unless they see it for themselves.”
“Smolder’s right,” Silverstream nodded. “If we’re gonna finish this game, we need all the help we could get.”
“And we should find Twilight,” Gallus sighed. “I know we’re probably gonna get expelled for this-”
“If we’re lucky.” Smolder interrupted.
“But first thing’s first,” Gallus raised his claws. “Where are Sandbar and Yona?”
“They went to the library.” Ocellus said.
“Okay, c’mon, the sooner we find them, the sooner we can end this game.”
As they left to go find their friends, the Safari Ants had burrowed out from the door.
One of the first things that those like Gallus, Smolder, Ocellus, and Silverstream have learned since they came to the School of Friendship is that when presented a problem that is obviously bigger than they could chew: is always get help. Ever since they took down Cozy Glow, they know that by themselves they couldn’t make an impact on anything. But together, they could overcome just about anything.
And when they quickly realized that they have a cursed game that could prove deadly, then it was best to get all hooves and claws on deck. This is why they sought out Sandbar and Yona.
Going into the school’s library, they found that apart of a few students here and there, they spotted their friends at one of the round tables by the History section. Books open and scratch paper nearby as Sandbar and Yona compared notes. Going up to them, their yak friend looked up from her homework.
“Yona’s friends come to study with us?” She asked.
“Not quite,” Smolder glanced over at the wooden box in Silverstream’s arm. “I think we’re in trouble.”
This got Sandbar’s attention. “Trouble? What’s going on?”
“It’s uh… kinda hard to explain.” Ocellus began but Silverstream took over.
“So basically, Gallus and Smolder found this game in Headmare Twilight’s office,” Silverstream held up the game to them. “And we started playing and suddenly our dorm room was swarmed by hundreds of giant ants that bite and we figured out that we’ve accidently started to play a cursed board game.”
“…. Yeah, that pretty much covers it.” Gallus nodded.
“Board game? Cursed?” Yona raised an eyebrow and Silverstream placed the game on the table.
Sandbar turned the game around so he could get a closer look at the name. “Ju…man… gi? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it. Is it an artifact?”
“No idea,” Gallus folded his arms, glaring at Smolder, “but if it is, we’ve walked into something that we should have left alone.”
“I’ve already admitted that I have the brain of lava rock, can you please get off my case!” Smolder argued and was immediately shushed by the few students around the library.
Sandbar pried the twin panels opened to look at the game itself. “It looks something you would see in Zebraca. But why would you say it’s cursed?”
“Didn’t I tell you?” Silverstream asked, “Gallus rolled the dice first, his piece moved all by itself and that green jewel thing in the middle starts writing out a riddle about ants, and suddenly ants were everywhere. Huge ones.”
“Maybe we should get an exterminator?” Sandbar suggest.
“I don’t think you quite understand.” Ocellus pointed out, “We think that every time any of us rolls the dice, it would release something out from the game into the real world.”
“Seems far fetch,” Yona tilted her head, “What if we always had ants in the dorm room, and their arriving was unrelated?”
“Except, I don’t think it was a coincidence. What we saw were Safari ants – the kind that’s only native to Zebraca, so how did they get all the way out here?”
“It’s not that I don’t believe you guys,” Sandbar raised a hoof, “but I kinda want to see if anything you’re saying is true. For all we know, it could be a coincidence after all.”
Gallus, Smolder, Ocellus, and Silverstream all looked at one another with uncertainty. They knew what this meant. There was only one possible way that they could convince them and what’s more, it could endanger the students that were in the library – though few there were.
“Where are the dice?” Smolder went up to the game to pick them up. Holding them in her claws, she paused, and noticing the few students around she thought aloud, “Do you guys think we should get everyone else out of here?”
“Why?” Yona shrugged, “It’s only game board.”
Glancing over to her friends, they nodded to her before returning to Sandbar and Yona. “Okay but… don’t say we didn’t warn you.” With that, she rolled the dice and got a ten.
Nervously, they watched Smolder’s piece, a jade monkey advanced itself down the twisting path.
“Okay guys, brace yourselves.” Ocellus said as they eyed the gem in the middle that began to form words.
Vines of the jungle stop your fun; Tangles your legs, you can’t run.
In the stillness of the library, all around there were sounds of cricks and cracks, snaps and groans that seemed to be coming from every direction. Even the few students that were around noticed. And then, out from air vents to cracks in the walls they came. Leafy vines began to grow and push into the space. Twirling and twisting up along the walls and bookshelves, across the ceiling, and even slithering on the floor.
Yona and Sandbar stood up when they saw the rapidly growing plants. Watched how they instantly sprout into dozens of vines and budding flowers. Purple flowers the size of a pony’s hoof sprouted here and there with three long needle-like stems in the center.
While the students were amazed by this sudden growth of fauna in the library, the four players were back-to-back, cautious of what these things could be.
“So Ocellus,” Smolder asked, “Any idea what these things are?”
Ocellus shook her head, “Not that I know of, I don’t know any plants that can grow as fast as these things.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t touch them,” Silverstream suggested, “aren’t there poisonous plants in jungles?”
Four pairs of wide eyes glanced at one another and spotting one of the students on the second floor got curious with one of the flowers. The unicorn was almost close enough to smell one of them when suddenly, the flower spat out its needle stems at her. Fortunately, it missed the mare but it surprised the students.
Sandbar and Yona were shocked, “The flowers shoot barbs!” Sandbar gasped.
Ocellus quickly unfolded her wings and got into the air to yell out, “Everyone! Do not touch the vines or flowers! We need to leave the library right now!”
Smolder turned to her pony and yak friend, “Now do you see what we’re dealing with?” While she pointed this out, she didn’t notice that a vine was creeping up her leg. “All of this came out of the game, now are you gonna help us or wha-AH!” The vine around her leg tightened and it yanked her to the floor. Dragging her across the library towards a bookshelf in the corner.
Her friends, including Sandbar and Yona, sprang into action as they ran to grab Smolder. Whatever it was, it was strong, so much so that even with their yak friend gripping her shoulder, it was barely enough from not getting pulled into whatever was behind the bookshelf. Even with her free leg, she tried to kick at the vine but to no avail. It refused to let go.
“Guys, help!” She screamed up at them, “Get this thing off of me!”
The other students who nearby came to the dragoness’s aid, many more hooves grabbed Smolder and the vine itself and pulled at it like a twisted tug-o-war. As they pulled with their might, the bookshelf began to split, and books fell off the shelf until they pulled out something that made everyone there scream.
It was a giant pod about the size of an adult pony. The thing split open into four, large, fleshy peddles that were a bright yellow that seemed to ooze a poisonous odor. In the very center of this abdominal flower was the very vine that Smolder’s leg was being gripped by. And the plant was pulling harder towards its unnatural gaping mouth that threatens to consume whatever was in its way like a Venus flytrap.
Worse yet, the vine, now like a chameleon tongue, still reeled Smolder closer and closer. Inching towards the pod that had black thorns like teeth, threatening to swallow the dragoness whole.
“Get this off me!” Smolder shouted. “Someone do something!”
Looking around for something to cut the vine, Sandbar turned to Ocellus with an idea. “I’ve got an idea; can you turn yourself into an ax?”
Seeing what Sandbar is getting at, Ocellus burst into a ring of green flames and was replaced by an ax. Thinking quickly, Sandbar picked the ax up with his mouth swung his head up to bring it down as hard as he could. It took a few swings to hack away at the near rubber-like vine, but mercifully, it did snap, making those holding onto Smolder collapse to the floor while the plant monstrosity pulled itself away in pain.
“Okay, that does it!” Gallus turned to the students, “Everycreature out!” While the students headed for the exit, Gallus paused to see that the game on the table was left alone. A vine crept up the leg of the table and threatened to snatch it away. Thinking quickly, he snatched the game before flying out the door.
As soon everyone was out, the first thing the students did was to tie it, barricade it with whatever they could find, and Ocellus placed a closed sign on top of it all.
“What was that thing!?” Yona shouted but still in shock.
“We’ve been trying to tell you,” Smolder pointed, “it came out of that game. Now, do you see why we need help with this one?”
“Should we tell the professors about this?” one of the students asked. It was the same unicorn that was almost stabbed by the barbs. “There’s a dangerous plant growing inside the library, nearly at one of the students, and I’m pretty sure that I nearly died with darts to the face.”
“Actually, good idea.” Sandbar nodded, “Go get all the professors, including Headmare Twilight.”
“Wait, should we?” Smolder asked.
“Hey,” Gallus pointed out, “You’re the one that started all this.”
“Do you have any idea how much trouble we’ll get?”
“Depends, do you want to be in trouble or dead?”
“Guys,” Ocellus began but was quickly interrupted.
“Excuse me,” Smolder huffed smoke from her nostrils, “I had no idea the game was cursed.”
“‘Do not begin unless you intend to finish.’ That was clearly a warning!”
“Guys,” Ocellus was quickly cut off.
“Well have you thought Twilight would do to us if she-”
In frustration, Ocellus turned her hoof into a megaphone, “EVERYONE CHILL!” Now she had gotten their attention. “This arguing isn’t going to solve anything! Yes, we’re gonna get into serious trouble. Yes, we might get expelled. But right now, we have Safari ants in our dorm, a carnivorous plant growing in the library, and who knows what else when any of us roll those dice. This is no time to pin the blame on anyone. We need to figure out how to deal with this. The game said that all of this will go away until one of us wins. So, in the meantime, we got to figure out what to do here.”
Letting out a frustrated sigh, Gallus said, “She’s right. We’ve got to be smart about this. Now that everyone’s here,” the griffon placed the game down on a nearby chair. “What do we do?”
Yona went up to the game and putting a hoof on it, thought aloud, “What if friends play quickly?”
“What do you mean?” Silverstream asked.
Looking at the twisting paths on the game, Yona counted the spaces towards the centerpiece. “Yona thinks that if done quick, game would soon be over. As soon as one done, then pass dice until someone wins.”
“That would be a great idea,” Smolder pointed out, “Except for the fact that every time we roll the dice, it could make things worse. For all we know, one wrong move and this could end the world.”
“Which is why we should get the professors involved,” Sandbar suggested. “Think about it, they deal with this stuff every other Thursday. If they can deal with monsters, super villains, and even a God of Chaos a few times, I’d bet that this would be a piece of cake to them.”
“God of Chaos…” Gallus hummed in thought before snapping his talons. “Sandbar! That’s it! Why didn’t I think of this sooner!”
“What are you talking about?”
Taking the game under his arm, Gallus flew down the hall. “We need to find Professor Fluttershy!”
Though not fully understanding where the griffon was going at this, his friends followed behind him. Down a hallway, up a flight of stairs towards the garden section of the school, they went towards the tree where Fluttershy held her class. When Gallus burst through the door, it shocked the professor who was in the middle of eating lunch.
“Professor? Sorry for scaring you but this is an emergency.”
Taking a moment to collect herself, Fluttershy set her meal aside. “Gallus? What’s wrong?”
“Well before we say anything, can you get Discord over here? It’s important.”
“Oh dear, did Discord do something he wasn’t supposed to again?”
“No, at least… I don’t think he did.” Gallus held up the game, “We need his help with this thing, can you get him here?”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t know how.”
By then, Gallus’s friends have all entered the classroom with the griffon blinking. “What?”
“It’s not like I could just call him up whenever I like. Discord often pops up whenever he wants to. Even if I did know how I can’t guarantee that he would just appear. Why? What’s wrong?”
“In a nutshell?” Ocellus pointed to Smolder and Gallus, “These two found a cursed gameboard that every time we play, something from the game would pop up. We think it’s dangerous given how unbelievably unpredictable it is.”
“Oh?” Fluttershy blinked. “When you say something would pop up, what kind of things?”
The six students looked at one another, “Well…” Yona scratched her head, “It’s hard to explain without seeing for yourself.”
“Okay, can you show me?”
The students looked alarmed, “Uh…” Silverstream nervously eyed the game, “You sure about that?”
“Well, how can I help if I don’t know what it does.”
In that moment’s pause, they looked to one another, as if asking who wants to take a turn at the game next.
Ocellus swallowed, “I’ll… I’ll go next.”
“Are you sure?” Gallus asked and she nodded.
The griffon placed the game down at Fluttershy’s desk and opened it up. Ocellus took the dice in her aura, gave it a shake before dropping it on the gameboard itself.
She rolled a five, and the ivory elephant moves all by itself down the path. Once it reached its spot, the green gem began to spell out in its yellow mist.
She read aloud:
This will not be an easy mission Monkeys slow the expedition.
From above there was a chorus of wild hoots and hollers that made their professor jump. Unexpectedly, as if they appeared from nowhere and everywhere, monkeys came swinging, crawling, and falling into the classroom. It was as if the entire section of a zoo was dumped on them with rampaging chimpanzees, baboons with faces that resembled war paint, and siren loud black howlers that made the students cover their ears.
When the primates had come, the first thing they did was to cause destruction. Birdhouses were taken off and thrown about. Cages that had the classroom pets were knocked over and animals from mice to snakes were set free. Books and supplies came flying off the shelves. And one baboon had grabbed the wooden game and flung it at Fluttershy. Fortunately, it missed her but just barely, hitting a wall with a bang but it didn’t break. A Chimpanzee grabbed the dice and threw it at Ocellus as hard as it could.
“Everyone! Please stop!” Fluttershy tried to talk with the monkeys but none of them were listening. From scratching posts to food pellets, the monkeys continued their rampage and did whatever they wanted. Their professor tried everything she could think of to get them to behave. She even went up to one of the baboons that were pelting Ocellus with books, she tried to get a little more assertive.
“That is enough!” Fluttershy said firmly, “If you don’t stop right now, I will-” She was cut off by a book to the face. It was thrown hard enough that it made her nose sting, but when she looked back up, she was forced to pull out her ultimate weapon.
In all the times that the students have been in Professor Fluttershy’s class, there had been a few times when their teacher had to use The Stare. She didn’t do it very often and never to any of the students – it was usually towards a class pet that was misbehaving, but even then, it was extremely rare. When she does do it, seeing it is an anxiety-inducing sight. With her eyes becoming intimidating, she looked directly at the baboon who paused.
“I said that is enough!” She commanded with a firm voice. “Throwing and making a mess of my classroom is not a nice thing to do. What would your mother say if she saw you doing this?”
After a beat, the baboon gave an answer. It leaped at Fluttershy, pulling on her mane and attempting to bite her wings. To the students watching, this was unspeakably shocking. The Stare worked – it always worked – even on the most terrifying of creatures that nature has to offer. And here, these monkeys took it as if it were nothing.
Among the chaos, Yona got an idea, “Ocellus, what is scariest creature Changeling can think of?”
Ocellus quickly realized what Yona was getting that. She told her friends and her teacher to, “Cover your eyes!”
Her friends and teacher shut their eyes. There was a whoosh of her changing into something. And then there was an earthshattering roar of a creature that none of them had ever heard before. It sounded like something they would hear in a nightmare – a choir of tortured screams with the low rumbling of a behemoth. Whatever Ocellus had transformed into, it scared off the monkeys out of the classroom. Shrilling, terrified yips echoed out as the monkeys made their mad dash out of the classroom and towards the forest nearby.
After Ocellus dropped her terrifying display, she told everyone they could open their eyes. They looked out to the aftermath of a nearly destroyed classroom with books, supplies, and pets scattered everywhere. And there was Fluttershy who turned to her students, shaken but unharmed. Yet she was shocked with her mouth hung ajar.
Silverstream went up to her, “Professor? Are you okay?”
“…. Something is wrong.” She told them, “This is a first because this never happened to me before.”
“What are you talking about?” Smolder got back up to her feet. “You’ve dealt with rude animals before.”
“It’s not just that… I couldn’t understand any of them.” Her student asked what she meant. “You see, when I encounter monkeys, I could pick up on what they’re saying right away like any other animal. But for them… I couldn’t understand a word. It’s like… they look like monkeys but they’re not. It’s like they’re speaking a language I’ve never heard before.”
“And your stare didn’t do anything.” Sandbar pointed out.
“For a moment I thought it did too but… I have never seen anything like this except with Discord. And I know that didn’t work because he’s from an alternative universe.”
Silverstream went over to where the game was thrown aside to inspect it. Despite being thrown quite hard against a wall, it seemed perfectly intact. There wasn’t so much a dent in the wood.
Just then, Applejack came barging in, “Fluttershy, there ya are! Do ya happened to… what happened in here?”
“Let’s just say there was a monkey problem,” Gallus said as he saw the professor that her hind legs were dotted with little red bumps. “What happened to you?”
“That’s what Ah’m here for,” She went up to Fluttershy, “Do ya happen to know where ta find an anteater?”
“You mean Rupert? He’s at the animal reserve. Why?”
“Go get ‘em right now. The school’s been infested by ants. Big ones that bite. I’ve rescued one of the students from bein’ swarmed ta death by the little buggers – uh, no offense Ocellus.”
“None taken,” Ocellus replied flatly.
Then from the open windows, Rainbow came in, “Hey you guys, do you anyone that has really strong weed killer? There’s something coming out of the hallway and the students say that there’s a pony-eating plant that’s growing in the library.”
Fluttershy turned her attention towards the folded-up game. Given that her classroom was completely trashed by some unruly primates, she quickly put together that the infestation had a common source.
“Does anypony know where Twilight is?” Fluttershy asked her friends.
“No clue,” Applejack shook her head.
“I do,” Rainbow said, “she’s gone to her castle with Zecora.”
“How Rainbow know?” Yona asked.
“Saw it through a window during P.E. They were in a hurry when they went in. Maybe something important came up.”
“Okay,” Gallus nodded, turning to his friends, “we need to go see Twilight. If the game came from her office then maybe she might have some idea what to do here.”
The others agreed, and with Silverstream having the game in her arms, they exited the classroom and made a run for Twilight’s castle. Leaving the teachers to scramble to contain three growing problems before anyone gets hurt.
Spike heard an impatient banging on the castle’s double doors. When he went over to answer it, he saw six students standing there with one holding a wooden box under her arm. Before the dragon could get a word out, Smolder asked right away, “Where’s Headmare Twilight?”
“She’s in the library with Zecora, and they said they don’t want to be distu- hey!” He was pushed aside as the students rushed in to head directly towards the library. Spike’s protests went completely unheard when they pushed open the doors and barged in on Twilight and Zecroa.
They were surrounded by piles of open books as though none of them had anything that they were looking for. Flipping still through in hopes to find the solution to their current problem. Only when the students entered, they were snapped out from their intense search.
“Huh!” Twilight looked up, “What are all of you doing here? Class doesn’t start for at least another hour.”
“Headmare Twilight,” Smolder went in front of them. “So… before we say anything, can you promise us one thing?”
“Smolder, we’re in the middle of something important.”
“I can see that, but this is kinda an emergency and before we can say what, we need you to promise us that you won’t get mad.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow, “What did you do this time?”
“We…” Gallus rubbed the back of his head, “We did something stupid. Like we should have had our heads be bashed in by a hammer kind of stupid.”
At this point, Zecora looked up, “Children, it’s appreciated you taking responsibility. But as of now, there’s something we need to see.”
“Trust us, this is important.” Smolder said, “Because we… well, Gallus and I were uh… took something from your office that should be left alone.”
This got their attention.
“You broke into my office?” Twilight raised an eyebrow.
“To be fair,” Gallus stepped in, “we did hear a weird noise that we got curious about. It sounded like muffled drums.” Zecora’s face started to pale. “We then found this.” He went over to Silverstream and held the game up to them.
Zecora immediately got up to snatch the game from his claws. Without a word she set the game on the floor and opened it up. “Oh no…” She whispered aloud. “My friend, this is really not good. We cannot reverse it if we could.” With a wild fear in her eye, she turned to Twilight. “Evacuate the students, close down the school! Your students started a game unspeakably cruel! Do not sit there, no time to delay! Now go and do as I say!”
“But Zecora-”
“Go!” she barked at her.
Seeing how serious this was, Twilight galloped out towards the school.
Zecora, now with the students' full attention, asked, “Please answer me truthfully without blame, what so far came out of the game?”
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.”
Returning to the school’s now ruined gym, the game was sat back on the floor. The six young students sat around its Ocellus unfolded the lid to pick up the dice. “So, whose turn is it now?” She asked.
“That would be mine.” Smolder opened her claw. After she was handed the dice, she clenched her fist to shake them. But before she could roll it, a thought came to her. “Hey, do we have to play the game here?”
“What do you mean?” Twilight inquired.
“I was just thinking, so far we got safari ants, fast-growing plants that shoot poisonous darts and can eat you whole, wild monkeys, a tornado, and now a psychopathic hunter guy. Every time we roll these dice, it just unleashes something that wrecks the school even more. Don’t you think that it might be possible that the next roll of the dice could affect the town nearby? We don’t know where those monkeys went to, and those ants might be crawling half the school by now.”
All the teachers, including Zecora, looked at one another. “Ah suppose that’s a fair point…” Applejack admitted, “but where else? Isn’t the whole idea of doin’ it here is ta keep whatever’s gonna happen in one place?”
“There is one idea,” Ocellus raised a hoof. “We could go to the clubhouse in the Everfree. Worse case sicario is that even if that gets destroyed, we could try to rebuild it or the Tree of Harmony might protect us.”
“Huh…” Pinkie thought aloud, “You know, in a situation where most creatures might deal with this with horror movie logic, that is surprisingly smart.” Before anyone else could say make a reply, Pinkie suddenly sat upright, her ears flip-flop against her head and finished with an itchy hoof. “Woah! Heads up everyone! Something’s coming through the floor!”
Then, all around on the gym floor, they heard the ground crick and crack from beneath. Instinctively, Smolder picked up the game in case they would need to run. Whatever it was, something massive was sneaking around beneath the floorboards as they bulged and bent with audible groans coming from every direction.
While everyone was scrambling for whatever weapon they could get their hooves and claws on, Fluttershy had a thought. “Uh… Twilight? What’s beneath the gym?”
“Beneath? I think that would be the…” Twilight’s eyes widen when she realized they were on top of, “the library!”
Parts of the floor gave way as vines sprouted between the cracks and wiggled out.
“Oh crap!” Smolder cursed, “Nocreature touch anything! Stay away from the vines!”
With every passing second, more and more vines broke through the floor and the walls, twisting and clenching onto whatever surface it could find. Within moments, buds of purple flowers started to mature and blossom with poisonous darts ready to fire if any of them came near.
“Hey Zecora,” Rainbow pointed, “What do those flowers do?”
“Their barbs I advise everyone not to touch, they throw poison that I know much. If pierced their venom they made has the worse effects of nightshade.”
“And they’re really growing rapidly.” Rarity said, using her scissors to snap the vines that were nearest to them. “I don’t think I can keep up.”
“If we leave, this plant is gonna invade the town,” Twilight said, using her magic to cut some of the vines. “We must get rid of these and quick.”
“How do we do that?” Silverstream asked until she looked at the game her dragon friend was holding. “Wait a minute, Smolder, it’s your turn. Roll the dice.”
“What? Why?” Smolder flew up before a vine could grab her leg again.
“Maybe it might bring out something that could weaken the plant.”
“I hate to say this,” Sandbar said, stomping on some small vines. “It might make things way worse, but it’s the only one we got.”
Looking around, Smolder saw that the vicious plant was grown more out of control the longer they stay. Especially when that plant was crawling up the walls towards the open hole in the dome ceiling. “Okay, cover me.”
Sitting the game on the floor, she opened it up and picked up the dice to quickly roll.
It was a six.
The monkey piece moved forward a little further down the board before stopping. She eyed the green gem in the center swirl with yellow smoke that formed the words to the next rhyme.
Disaster begins with a tiny spark. It will eat leaves, trees, and bark.
“Uh-oh.”
Yona turned to her, “Uh-oh? What uh-oh?”
Before she could respond, Smolder saw it. Over by the trophy cabinet, it started out as a tiny yellow light. But within moments, smoke was billowing out from behind the glass. The dragon realized what was about to happen.
“Guys!” She called out, “We need to get out of here right now!”
“Why?” Twilight asked, “What’s going-”
“FIRE!” Fluttershy screamed, her hoof pointing at the cabinet that has burst into flames.
“Anyone that can fly, grab someone that can’t!” Rainbow said, picking Applejack up and lifting her towards the hole in the ceiling.
So, with quick thinking, Smolder and Silverstream took hold of Yona. Twilight grabbed Sandbar who was nearby. Gallus picked up Zecora. Fluttershy picked up Pinkie while Ocellus took Rarity as they all hurried to make their escape from the vines and the growing flames that quickly spread throughout the gym’s floor. And just in time too as black smoke heaved out more and more, catching the plant in its ever-increasing inferno.
Though they were quick to react and managed to escape in time, all they could do was watch as the school was going up in flames. Much to the horror of the teachers, the school they had built, their future of Equestria, was going up in smoke before their very eyes. From the rooftops, inky black smoke poured out with white-hot flames licked and consumed anything there was to burn.
Of course, the fire didn’t go unnoticed by the townsponies. A fire bigrade was called to the scene along with an emergency of pegasi to push rainclouds towards the school to try to contain the burning destruction that was growing. In the end, it took about half an hour until they managed to put out the flames yet… it was nearly too late.
Twilight could do nothing but look on as half of the school was reduced to charcoal. Classrooms, offices, the student’s dorm rooms, even the library were reduced to cinders. The very sight of which nearly brought her to the edge of tears.
While the only consolation they had was that at least it seemed to destroy the carnivorous plant, this was cold comfort compared to the devastation it caused. Smolder, who rolled the dice to make this happen, went up to the Headmare. “Ms. Twilight… I… I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
Twilight didn’t say anything.
“This is my fault that this had happened. If I didn’t roll the dice-”
Twilight raised a wing. “Stop. I know what you’re trying to do but… no… I can’t blame you. I won’t.”
“But-”
“Smolder, I know. For the second time in my life, nearly everything is gone. I know you’re trying to take responsibility but please…” Her voice choked as she tried to withhold her emotions with tears forming in her eyes. “Not right now…” She then flew off towards her castle.
Watching their Headmare fly off, Yona went up to Smolder to give her a hug. “Not dragon’s fault.”
“But I rolled the dice.”
“No. It’s game’s fault. The game burned school, not Smolder.” Yona eyed the board game that was underneath’s the dragon’s arm. With a fire of anger growing inside her, of facing that she has lost not just the school but her second home, her emotions did the most reasonable thing at that moment. She took the game in her teeth.
“Yona!” Smolder said with alarm, “What are you doing!”
Tossing the board game on the ground, she did the only thing she could do. She raised her forehooves as high in the air as she could, yelling: “YAK SMASH!!” And proceeded to shatter the wooden box as much as her anger could. Her friends and teachers were powerless, even Zecora did nothing but watch with shock as the game was being turned to splinters and shattered ivory. Yona smashed and crushed, wacked, and hit with her might in hopes to reduce the very source of all this misery as little as possible with her bare hooves.
Several minutes later, Jumanji was reduced to bits and pieces.
“There!” Yona declared, heaving as her anger subsided, “Try ruin lives now!”
For a long, uncomfortable moment, no one said anything. Eventually, it was Ocellus that made the reply of: “Huh… How come none of us thought of that before?”
“Ah admit,” Applejack removed her hat. “Ah wished Ah’ve thought of that first.”
“Oh Yona, I see your feelings are true,” Zecora said with silent horror, “though I can’t say that was the best thing to do.”
“What Zebra mean?” Yona asked.
Her question was answered as they heard a crackling sound beneath her hooves. Looking down, she and everyone else saw that despite the game being broken into pieces, the wooden bits were moving. Forming and reassembling itself from its complicated puzzle to become whole again. Lines that were shattered sealed back up again. Pieces of wood and ivory flipped and snapped back into their proper place. Even the tokens were forced back to their positions on the board.
But most alarming of all, was the green centerpiece when it was put back had for one alarming moment had turned bright red. As though the game itself was enraged by Yona’s actions. Without the dice being thrown, words were already forming in its yellow mist.
To break Jumanji is a foolish dare What comes next is quite a scare.
Yona looked to Zecora, “What does that mean?” She asked in alarm.
She shook her head. “I don’t know for sure, because I have never written that before.”
The gem returned to its original green color with a followed-up rhyme:
In the jungle you must wait Until the dice read five or eight.
“In the jungle?” Yona asked aloud. “What Jungle?”
Her answer was answered as there was a wind that unexpectedly blew in, circling around Yona like a dust devil. Before Yona understood what was happening, she heard Sandbar scream, “Yona! Your horns!”
She tried to reach up to feel them, but to her horror, her hooves disintegrated right before her eyes like loose sand in a strong wind. Yona let out a terrified shriek as more and more of her was being blown away in the cyclone. Of course, her friends, especially Sandbar tried to reach her but the yak was falling apart.
“Help Yona!” Her voice was heard, distant like an echo as her dust swirled and swirled towards the center of the game. “Roll di…” her plea was cut short with a flash of green light from the centerpiece.
“Yona!” Sandbar leaped towards the game, trying to claw at the gem in a vain attempt to bring her back. Yet, all that he could see was his reflection of his desperation. “No… No, no no…” He turned to Zecora, grabbing her by the shoulders, “Bring her back!”
“Please young pony, I don’t know how. If I did, this wouldn’t be happening no-”
“I say bring her back now!” Sandbar yelled and his teachers pry him off, kicking and screaming in rage.
“Easy kid!” Rainbow Dash told him, holding him back with Applejack.
“I want Yona! Bring back Yon-” Sandbar was slapped in the face by Gallus.
“Dude, I know you’re upset but listen for at least two seconds,” Gallus told him, grabbing by the shoulders, staring in his eyes. “I get right now all you wanna do is scream and shout but take it from a griff that has spent most of his life homeless – being angry isn’t going to solve anything. And I know we’ve lost a lot already with the school and now Yona, but there is a way to fix it.”
“How!” Sandbar asked, still hurt.
“The game said that she will wait in the jungle until one of us rolls a five or an eight. Which means, like it or not, we must keep playing the game until one of us wins or roll those lucky numbers. I get that everything sucks right now, but we have to keep going.”
Sandbar took several movements to let that sink in, going from wrathful to being on the verge of tears. Gallus hugged him, which moved those there into a group embrace around the sea-green pony.
“I’m not giving up until we make this right,” Gallus told him.
“And so will I.” Smolder nodded.
“I’ll keep playing until we fix this,” Ocellus added.
“We’ll get her back,” Silverstream reassured, “you’ll see.”
Eventually, the hug was broken away to give Sandbar some space. Going up to the game, he looked at his reflection in the glassy green gem. “In the jungle you must wait…” He muttered to himself. “That means she’s been sent to where all of this craziness came from. I can’t imagine what she’s going through right now.”
Fluttershy coughed into her hoof. “Maybe we should still get Twilight.”
“And move the game to the clubhouse.” Ocellus added.
So folding up Jumanji, they want towards Twilight’s castle before heading down through the Everfree forest.
Unbeknownst to them, in the shadows of the forest, they were being stalked.
The best way any of them could describe their walk through the Everfree would be somber. Having to face several catastrophes at once, on top of a major one-two-punch to their morale of first having the school be burned down and then Yona be sucked in the game, the morale among both student and teachers alike is more than rough. Silently they marched through the winding paths of the forest towards the ruins.
Ahead of them, Twilight and Spike took the lead while her friends and students followed behind. Her face had eyes that were nearly drained from all the tears she shed. Though clearly miserable, she wants to put on a strong face. She knew, her friends and her students know that they all had faced some rather low points when they come across something that had threatened to destroy Equestria before. And though each time they did manage to overcome such challenges, it still didn’t deter any of them from thinking that this time, things might not work out after all.
Eventually, Smolder flew up to her. Looking apologetic as she lowers herself to the ground to walk next to her. “Headmare Twilight, this is all my fault.”
“I said not to worry about-”
“Let me finish. Everything that has happened today is on me. And I do mean, everything. I shouldn’t have broken into your office with Gallus to find the game. It was my idea to get the guys to play that thing. I know I’ve royally messed up and I won’t be surprised that by the end of this you’ll have me expelled and sent me back to the Dragon lands. And you know what? I don’t blame you.” Smolder folded her arms. “I just know that things are gonna get way worst before anything gets better and I’m the one to blame.”
“That’s the one thing I don’t get about this whole thing.” Spike finally spoke up. “Why did you start playing it in the first place?”
Smolder shrugged, “Because we were bored, and I guess all of us wanted an escape for-”
“Not that, I mean what compelled you to break into her office to steal the game in the first place?”
“Didn’t we tell you? We heard drumming that was coming from the game. I thought that it was just a board game that she had confiscated from someone and stupid me thought that since we had some time, we could just quickly play it before putting it back. I should have listened to Gallus and left that thing alone.”
“You should have…” Twilight said almost bitterly but immediately stopped herself. “Smolder, what you’ve done was thoughtless. And you shouldn’t have broken into my office in the first place. Yes, I’m hurt over what’s become of the school that I and my friends had put so much time and dedication to. I can understand that your intentions weren’t to have this result, and you are clearly sorry for what you’ve done. When all of this is over, I will give out punishment, and no, it won’t be by expelling you. After all, you are taking responsibility for your actions, which is an important factor in both friendship and life in general.”
Smolder didn’t say anything.
Behind them at the back of the line where Zecora followed the ponies and creatures while keeping a watchful eye of any dangers, Gallus looked behind him where Sandbar was. His friend’s head hang low, he seemed so defeated from what had happened. With the game under his arm, he paused for a moment to where Sandbar was at his side.
“You doing okay?” Gallus asked.
“Not really.” Sandbar eyed the game, not with hatred, but worry. “I wasn’t ready for that.”
“I know.” Gallus unfolded a wing to cover his friend’s back, trying to comfort him. “But you can’t give up hope already. I mean, this is Yona we’re talking about. She’s practically a walking tank with a pair of horns to gored whatever is in her path.”
“But she’s in there,” He pointed to the game. “From what Zecora said, Yona isn’t just anywhere – she’s in a nightmare she can’t wake up from. Just think about it, she described it as Zebrica at its worst – more than that, a place where one wrong step could kill her. I can’t begin to imagine what’s happening to her right now. For all I know, she could be chased by a lion, or be drowning in a prana-infested river, or maybe getting eaten by one of those freaky plant things.”
“But she is someone that got the highest grade from Applejack’s survival class. If there’s anyone that could go into the deepest, darkest jungle and get out okay, it would be her.”
“I just…” Sandbar let out an uneasy sigh, “I just want her to be okay.”
“She will buddy.” Gallus patted his back before folding his wing back up, “She will.”
From behind, Zecora’s ears perked up as she heard a twig snapping, quickly she turned to the shady undergrowth where she saw something glint in the light. Instantly, she knocked Gallus to the ground just before the still, somber quiet was shattered by a gunshot. A surprised scream from the others as they turned about, trying to see what was going on.
“What’s going on!” Rarity shouted.
“It’s the hunter guy, he’s here!” Gallus looked over at the foliage to see the outline of the hunter’s hat. “Everyone, get out of sight, now!”
Immediately, they fled for the bushes and trees of the Everfree. Behind them, a few more gunshots rang out like angry thunder. Gallus scrambled for safety, feeling something just barely grazing around him like angry bees but he dared not stop to look. He, along with his friends and teachers dove into the greenery, trying to get out of sight.
“You miserable coward!” Van Pelt shouted, “Come out and face me!”
Heaving behind a thick tree trunk, Gallus spotted Ocellus nearby, on the ground covering her head. Behind him, he heard the hoofsteps of the hunter moving closer to them. He knew that they were sitting ducks unless they do something and fast. Then, looking down at the game he was still holding, he realized something.
“Ocellus, it’s your turn.”
“What?” She looked up.
Gallus set the game down in front of her and unfolded it. “I know it’s a dangerous gamble, but I don’t think we got any choice.” He picked up the dice and offered them to her. “Roll the dice.”
“What! Are you crazy! What if I summon something that will make this worse?”
“It’s either this or getting our heads mounted on a wall.” Gallus peaked over and was nearly shot at. “Quick, he’s coming!”
Though scared as she was, Ocellus took the dice and let them drop on the board game. It showed a four and her elephant piece moved forward.
“Get ready to run,” Gallus told her.
Ocellus looked at the centerpiece that swirled a new rhyme from its yellow smoke:
The tribe is on the warpath. Get out now or suffer their wrath.
Shutting the game up, Gallus tuck it under his arm where he and Ocellus went by the others, quickly saying, “Better move now!”
“Why? What now?” Applejack asked as they ran by her.
“Never mind! Just go!” Ocellus yelled out.
Just when another gunshot was heard and the others got up to make a run for it, they heard it. The sound of drums that had a higher pitch, impatient, warning sound along with the echoing hooting and hollering. It was coming somewhere in the trees, a chanting chorus that banged on shields.
For Zecora, she immediately knew what came out of the game that just compelled her to gallop faster. She could see it in the clearing to the side – the familiar shapes of masks and spears that were emerging. The large, threatening kind that showed carvings of fangs and vicious green painted eyes that crept out of the shadows like demons. They carried weapons from spears to bows and arrows, blow-darts to special clubs that could crush someone’s skull in with one fell swoop.
Behind them, several more gunshots were heard from Ven Pelt, and the war cries reached a demonic crescendo as they charged out. Though they were running through the Everfree for their lives, they could hear screams from behind them from the hunter. They didn’t know what happened, and they couldn’t afford to see if the crazed hunter was captured or being killed. For all they know is that they must keep going before that waring tribe could get to them.
And yet, as much as they ran through the forest, they realized those sounds of war were not fading away. No! It sounded as though it was getting closer. All around them they heard twigs and branches snapping, bushes rustled, and steps rushed by them at an impossible speed. At the front, Gallus and Ocellus hoped against all hope that they could get to the clubhouse before their next danger could reach them. Then suddenly out from the bushes, they saw them.
At first, they thought what they were seeing were masks. But no, the large, nightmarish faces, plus some short legs and arms made up their entire bodies. They were short but still threatening with their garish faces and pointed instruments of war. The griffon and the changeling screamed when they saw about a dozen of them suddenly emerged from the bushes. Instantly they stopped and were about to make a turn when they saw another dozen there. As the rest of the group caught up, more and more of the tribe emerged. Their weapons were aimed at them.
To their horror, they found themselves surrounded. Everywhere on the ground, in the bushes, and even in the trees they face the monstrous pigmies that seemed intended to kill them on the spot. The students and teachers were back-to-back, frightened, tired, and unsure of what to do next. No matter what direction they looked, there was no way to escape without being seriously hurt. They couldn’t run, couldn’t fly…
Ocellus suddenly got an idea. “Headmare, can you teleport all of us out?”
“I can but I gonna need a little bit of time to cast it.”
Zecora pointed her spear at them. “All of you, grab anything you can discover! Twilight, we’ll keep you cover!”
“No,” Gallus knelt to get a clawful of dirt. “There’s always something.”
“We’ll fight them off,” Rainbow Dash said, picking up a hefty branch, “start casting that spell Twi!”
The next thirty seconds was probably the longest moment of their lives. Completely surrounded by the grotesque creatures, armed with spears, arrows, and blow darts, both students and teachers used whatever was around them to fight them off for Twilight to teleport them out. Zecora swing and stabbed with her spear. Gallus threw clawfulls of dirt at their eyes in hopes to slow them down. Fluttershy picked up and tossed rocks at Applejack as she rocks at them while Smolder and Spike breathed fire. Sandbar held up the game as a shield against the poisonous darts while Pinkie slapped them with a rubber chicken. Ocellus transformed herself into a tiger that clawed away at them while Rainbow wacked as much of the weapons out from the tribe’s hands as quickly as possible. Silverstream picked up a spear and did as she could to fight back while Rarity threw the sewing needles she carried at them.
Yet, no matter what they throw at them, the tribe just kept on coming with ever greater numbers. Even when they fought with what they had, it was getting overwhelming quickly as their ground got smaller and smaller. They weren’t sure if Twilight would have enough time to cast the spell to get them out. But then, just when they couldn’t fight back anymore, there was a flash of light, and suddenly the tribe was gone.
Blinking, they saw that the forest was now replaced by a rocky cavern. At first, they weren’t sure where they were until they noticed a very familiar landmark. It was a cave that had a noticeable crystal trunk that grew straight up through the ceiling. They were near the cave where the Tree of Harmony once stood.
After taking a moment to catch their breath, Pinkie turned to Twilight, “Hey, I just realized… why did you do that before?”
Everycreature looked at her.
“Because it would have required more energy to teleport everyone here, and given how stressful that was a moment ago, I don’t use up all my magic by the time we resolve this.”
“Okay…” Spike raised a claw, “So why are were here and not at the clubhouse?”
“You ever try to make something delicate during a stressful situation?” Twilight looked up where she saw the rope bridge that connected the forest to the ruins. Lighting up her horn, she shot at it to cut the rope. “There, that should slow down whatever is out there from getting to the clubhouse.”
“Yeah, but we still gotta get up there.” Applejack pointed out. Then, after a beat, she added, “What a minute, if we’re going up there and we have this here game with us, wouldn’t that mean we don’t have many places to run if things get bad?”
“The idea is to do our best to contain whatever effects from the game as much as possible. We’ve already unleashed enough chaos as it is, so it’s better to have it all in one place where they wouldn’t go wreak havoc around Equestria.”
“But Twilight,” Fluttershy objected, “that also means that we can’t get away if something did come out of the game that could kill us. I mean… we almost came close about a minute ago.”
“Still, it is a good idea.” Ocellus said, “At least it would keep that murderous tribe out and whatever might come out of the game in. Besides, the clubhouse is part of the Tree of Harmony. If there’s anywhere in Equestria that we should be the safest, it’s there.”
“But will it keep us safe?” Sandbar asked, “I mean… all that stuff in the game isn’t anything like in Equestria – or anywhere besides Zecora’s worst nightmares.”
“At least look on the bright side,” Silverstream took the game and opened it up. “Look here, all the pieces are closer to the center than before. This means that we probably wouldn’t have to face as many dangers as before. We already might be over halfway through this already, and besides, one of us might get Yona out too.” she said, picking up the dice, “Besides, we’ve dealt with much worst stuff, right? We’ve saved Equestria and the world a few times. So maybe there’s not much to worry about. Compared to stuff like Cozy Glow, this should be a piece of cake.” Without thinking, she dropped it.
“Silverstream wait!” Sandbar tried to grab the dice, but it was too late, it landed on the board.
Everyone froze. “Uh…” Smolder looked around, “Whose turn is it again?”
Sandbar grabbed Silverstream by the shoulders, “Why did you do that!?”
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”
They all looked at the board and saw the crocodile moved six spaces.
With dread, they eyed the green centerpiece that formed a new rhyme.
Every month at the quarter moon, There’s a monsoon in your lagoon.
Silverstream blinked, “What’s a monsoon?”
Overhead, dark grey clouds gathered. A crack of thunder was heard as they looked up.
“I think we’re about to find out,” Smolder said as it started to rain. For a moment, it wasn’t so bad that the dragoness remarked, “That’s it? Rain? Well… it’s not so bad. A little rain never hurt anyone.”
“A little bit, that is true,” Zecora looked about, trying to find the nearest exit, “but a lot can kill you.” Then she spotted a rocky path that led upwards towards the ruins. “Everyone, hear this all around! We’ve all need to get to higher ground!”
Before anyone could ask why the rain came down hard and fast like hundreds of buckets of icy water were being splashed on them. Rain was coming down so hard, that flying up wasn’t an option. It didn’t help too as the air became chilly which made the rain ever colder to the touch. All around, puddles were quickly forming, getting bigger with every passing second. It didn’t take long to realize that unless they move, they will be swept up in a flood.
Though exhausted as they were from running, it was now a race towards the top. So much rain was coming down that it nearly blinded them as they climbed the narrow, steep path up the slippery, rocky cavern. They formed in a single file with Twilight taking the lead. Behind her, she felt someone grabbing her tail and assumed that everyone else was grabbing on so they wouldn’t fall off. She kept pushing upwards, even when there was so much water, that it ran down the path as though they were climbing up a waterfall.
Below them, the cavern was quickly being filled with more water. Puddles turned into pools; pools into a creek; a creek into a stream; a stream into a river. More and more rain came down that continued to flood that lapped up against the hooves of Applejack who was at the very back. With every step, the waterline rose higher with her that threatened to carry her away down the river.
While they struggled to climb, about halfway up, they heard a low roaring sound coming from behind them. Some looked back to see a wave was coming right at them. “Brace yourselves!” Spike cried as he and everyone else tried to stay close to the canyon wall as possible, hoping they wouldn’t be knocked out of the way. The wave came with the force of a rushing army for those who were unfortunate enough to be at the back of the line.
Applejack found herself quickly underwater, and before she knew it, she lost her grip and was suddenly swept up in the rushing current. She swims to the surface and pops out to get her lungs full of air. Yet, she found that she was moving further and further away from the group with nothing beneath to support her. Thankfully, she wasn’t alone as she spotted Silverstream not too far off. Maybe she got caught up in the sudden wave or she jumped in. Either way, she caught a glimpse of her touching the pearl around her neck and turning herself into a seapony.
She felt a pair of fins catching her, holding her up at the surface. “I got you, Professor!” Silverstream said as she swims against the current back towards the path. Yet, even for the hippogriff that had spent a lifetime underwater, the current was quite strong that she could barely move forward. All the while, trying to avoid whatever debris was caught in the sudden flash flood. So, the best way she could do was to swim to the side and try to get a hold of the canyon wall so they could have a better grip.
However, there was one bit of luck. The severed rope bridge that Twilight had cut was floating just right in front of them. If they could just grab on and climb up, they could get out of the flood. Yet, as they got nearer the broken bridge, Silverstream spotted something. “Hey, Professor? I think I see something in the water. What is it?”
Applejack looked over her shoulder to see there was something floating in the water. Flat, scaly, and enormous that she instantly knew what it was. “Crocodile! We’ve gotta get outta here!”
Both student and teacher swam and grabbed on the walls with all their might. Trying to push against the current until the remains of the rope bridge were in sight. When Applejack grabbed onto a plank, she pulled Silverstream up out of the water where she quickly transformed back to her hippogriff form. They climbed up with not a moment too soon as the crocodile tried to lunge at them with its wide jaws but missed. All there was left to do was to climb up the bridge turned ladder towards the top where they collapsed on the grassy, muddily ground. Wet and exhausted, but still alive.
Overhead, the rain finally let up, to where it no longer poured down on them.
“Applejack! Silverstream!” Rainbow Dash’s voice called out as she and the others came to her. “You guys okay?”
“Give me… a minute…” Applejack heaved as though she had run several marathons.
Gallus went up to Silverstream and hugged her. “Are you okay? I saw you jump in.”
She nodded, “Yeah… yeah… is everycreature else here?”
“We’re all here. And Sandbar still has the game.” Then after a beat, Gallus said, “Hey wait… I think it’s still your turn.”
“Huh? But I’ve already gone.”
“No. I saw those dice rolled two threes’,” He explained, “you rolled doubles. And the game said that doubles get another turn.”
Rolling over to get back on her claws, she eyed the crystal clubhouse that was up ahead where the others were at. “Okay… Let’s get everyone inside first before I roll again.”
Everyone needed a rest. After running through the forest, trying to fight off a tribe of murderous pigmies, and had to climb up the side of a slippery cliff when gallons and gallons of rain were falling on them, all the while trying not to get swept up in a crocodile-infested flash flood – everyone there needed to catch their breaths. By the time they entered the crystalline treehouse, everyone was near exhausted, dripping wet, and paranoid of whatever they might come across.
After finding some towels in the upper level of the treehouse to dry themselves, the group rested for at least half an hour, trying to plan out their next move. They were about halfway through the game, and with each turn, they just barely managed to get out of one horrific situation after another. It was agreed, once everyone was rested up that they needed to get themselves better prepared.
The first thing they did was to gather anything useful they could use. Both within the treehouse and in the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters. Anything from weapons to tools from axes to rope, shields to a box of matches, even whatever armor could be found were gathered. They even moved anything unnecessary outside the treehouse’s lower floor so that there wouldn’t be any unwelcome surprises that might pop out. Within an hour or two, both students and teachers felt confident that whatever comes out of the game, they were surely prepared.
Setting the game in the middle of the room, Silverstream looked at her friends and teachers. Picking up the dice, she held them in her claws, pondering for a moment.
“You okay?” Pinkie asked, having a pillow tied to her head while wearing heavy hoofball padding.
“It’s just… I’ve been thinking. Every time we roll the dice, things have been getting increasingly worst. I mean, Professor Applejack nearly drowned in that flood back there. On top of the other freaky things, we’ve had to deal with today. I’m just thinking that… what if one of us gets killed? I mean… we’ve nearly died several times already and we’ve been lucky so far. What would we do if any of you get… I don’t want to think about it, but it might be likely any of us could die before anyone wins the game.”
“Silver,” Gallus reached out his claw to put it over hers’, “I know you’re scared; we all are. I don’t know what more crap we must put up with today, but as you said, we’re almost there.”
Ocellus put her hoof on top of Gallus’s claw. “There’s a saying that the night is the darkest before the dawn. I get it that things are grim, but it won’t be like this forever. One way or another, we’ll get through this. No matter what, I won’t stop playing until it’s done.”
“So will I.” Smolder put her claw onto of theirs, “We’re not gonna give up so easily.”
“Neither will we,” Twilight said, as she and the others put their hooves on their shoulders.
After a moment of silence and everyone backed away, Zecora added, “It warms the heart of such solidarity showing. But regardless of what happens, we’ll keep going.”
Nodding, Silverstream shook her claw. “Is everycreature ready?”
They were, some turned their backs in a tight ring around the game, eyeing round the room of its empty bookshelves, the windows, and the top of the stairs that leads up to the second floor.
“Okay… here we go.” Silverstream gave a final warning as she rolled the dice again.
Landing on an eight, she watched the crocodile piece move further down the path, getting closer to the end of the game than any of them. Which gave her hope of how close they are to finishing this nightmare. When the token reached its spot, the gem in the center formed a new curse, which she read aloud:
Need a hand? Why just you wait; We’ll help you out. We each have eight.
Fluttershy blinked, “If I didn’t know any better, that sounds an awful lot like-”
“SPIDERS!” Rarity shrieked. Everyone else turned to see what she was looking at. Above them, they saw several on the ceiling. They were completely taken aback by how giant these arachnids were. As large as children, they were hairy with long, bone-like legs, and huge vangs that were slobbering in venom.
“Language, Spike!” Twilight chided, her horn blasting one nearby.
Back-to-back, the tight ring of students and teachers did what they could to fight this latest threat off. Rainbow Dash took the air to knock whatever spiders descending from above with a baseball bat. Twilight did the same while using her horn. Meanwhile, on the ground, Ocellus transformed herself into a dragon to see if breathing fire might deter the oncoming creepy-crawlies. When it seemed to be working, Smolder and Spike each took in deep breaths to fan their flames out. However, between breaths, those huge spiders kept advancing.
Using whatever weapons they could find, Fluttershy, Applejack, Zecora, Rarity, Pinkie, Gallus, and Silverstream did everything to keep them away. Zecora swung and jabbed her spear, Gallus and Silverstream chopped with swords, Applejack with a rope to whip at them, Rarity slashed with an open pair of scissors, Pinkie slapped them with a rubber chicken, and Fluttershy swung a pillow at them.
As much as they kept those eight-legged horrors at bay, they somehow kept on coming. It was as though for every one spider they managed to wack away, three more would pop up from somewhere. For a while, none of them were sure if they could keep up. They were too busy to have someone else take a turn to roll the dice. What they needed was a miracle.
And the game gave them one.
“YAK SMASH!” Suddenly a hysterical war cry was heard, and before they knew it, Yona came charging through the front door. With her horns bowed low, she came in charging at the spiders like a bulldozer at full speed. She plowed at these giant arachnids with a primal force, going round and round the room the gore, stomp, kick, bite, and wack whatever was in her way.
This sudden unexpected attack forced the army of spiders to retreat as the wild Yak went on a rampage around the room. And yet, even when the last of them had left, Yona continued with a fearful, near sobbing cry as she went around and around and around.
“Yona!” Sandbar galloped out to her, “Yona, stop!”
Even when Sandbar tried to grab ahold of her, she kept thrashing about wildly to the point it took all her friends to slow her down. And doing so, they got a good look at her. The poor Yak was tired, sobbing from a mental breakdown. Her thick fur and her green saddle were nearly shredded as though she was attacked repeatedly by some monster. There were cuts and clumps of fur missing with her hooves muddy, and her horn scratched.
“Oh dear, oh no.” Zecora dropped her spear and went into action. “All of you, let go. Please give her some air, this I must take care.”
Yona’s friends stepped back as Zecora instructed everyone what to fetch for her. While they grabbed a first aid kit and a few herbs that were about the castle, the zebra did all she could to patch her up – apologizing repeatedly all the while. It took a while to get her to calm down as Yona couldn’t talk without bursting out into tears. In the end, it took the efforts of everyone there to both clean and assure her that she was safe.
As soon as she was patched up, Sandbar hugged her tightly. “I was so scared I lost you.” He told her.
Eventually, Yona was finally able to speak, if shakingly, “Y-Y-Yona… not… o-okay.”
“What happened to you?” Ocellus asked her. “Where did you go?”
Yona with fearful eyes shook her head. “Don’t… Don’t make Yona go back…”
Sandbar hugged her tighter, “It’s okay Yona. You’re home now. Nothing can hurt you now.”
“I don’t understand,” Fluttershy said to Zecora, “How did she get back? We saw her be sucked up inside the game.”
“That is indeed true,” Zecora nodded, but looking over at the open gameboard she pointed, “but I think I have a clue.” What no one had noticed was that Silverstream had rolled an eight. She recited, “‘In the jungle you must wait until the dice read five or eight.’ By rolling the die by Silverstream, it was enough to set Yona free.”
Hearing this, Gallus marched over to Zecora with a wrathful look in his eye. “This hast to stop! We can’t keep going like this!”
“Young griff, I understand your anger, if you just-”
“No, you can’t.” Gallus interrupted. “You made this nightmare of a game, so there must be some way to stop all this.”
“Have you not paid attention; the only way is to win. Otherwise, I cannot reverse it at this state, but to have it be docile is best in this case.”
“Well, all I’m hearing is nothing but excuses! I mean c’mon! Enough is enough! Look at her!” He pointed at Yona. “Out of everyone here, she nearly died! Isn’t there anything besides continuing playing this deathtrap!?”
“And don’t you think if there was an alternative, I would have done it already? Instead of having you keep playing when you’re not ready?” Zecora snapped back. “Believe me, if I had it my way none of you would play Jumanji in the first place! Or at least, have this dreadful curse be done away in haste.”
“But-”
Zecora raised a hoof up close to his beak while she took in a deep breath. “I get it at this point all you want to do is blame and shout. But right now, that sort of thing isn’t going to sort this out. Because, yes, your friend does need help, this is true. But yelling at me isn’t the best thing to do. Besides, I already feel guilty for making this game is enough to make my pride melt but attacking me isn’t going to help.”
Fluttershy went up to Yona who draped her wing over like a comfort blanket. “Is there anything we can do for you?” She asked.
Yona shook her head. Sniffing she said, “It… It was horrible… Yona can’t fully d-describe the jungle. So dark… So sharp… cruel… Like being in nightmare but… Y-Yona couldn’t wake up. Yona had to keep running… Something with eyes and teeth always behind… Yona didn’t think… Yona would see friends again.”
Hearing this, Twilight said aloud, “I wonder if there’s any way to get you to safety. Although I don’t know how at this point since the rope bridge is cut and I don’t think I have enough magic to teleport you somewhere else.”
Wiping the tears away, Yona got back up on her hooves. “No… Don’t send Yona away.”
This surprised everyone.
“But Yona,” Sandbar protested. “You’ve been inside a nightmare and nearly got killed.”
“But so have friends.” Yona told him, “That scared Yona more. Not from monsters in darkness, but fear that Yona may have lost friends forever. Yes, it’s still scary to Yona, but friends still need Yona too.” She went over to the game board. “And look, Yona’s friends are closer to ending this for good. Only few more nightmares left now before it’s over.”
Everyone looked at the board game, Ocellus said what everyone was thinking. “She’s right. Silverstream could probably end the game if she rolls at least an eight on her turn.”
“Yeah, but if we get lucky,” Gallus pointed out. “The rest of us still have a long way to go. Besides… whose turn is it again?”
After thinking this, Smolder said, “I think it’s your turn now. I rolled for the fire, Ocellus rolled and got those weird pigmy things, Silverstream rolled doubles and got another turn so… that leaves you.”
Looking around, Gallus didn’t want to continue with this twisted game. But as much as he wanted to end this… they were closer to finishing this than ever before. With a sigh, he picked up the dice again. “Yona… We could at least try to get you out of here before I take my turn.”
Taking in a deep breath, she said, “Yona knows. But Yona’s friends need her more. Yona has been to Jungle. Yona will not let friends go through nightmares alone.”
“Is everyone ready?” Gallus asked looking around the clubhouse. With the dice in his claws, he made sure that they were ready for the next horror that might come out of the game. He looked at Yona whose paranoid eyes searched before he could roll. “Listen, Yona. If this really is all too much for you. We can get you out of here before-”
Yona put her hoof over his talons that held the dice. “Yona knows what in game. Yona barely got out alive by herself. This game… This game pure evil. With evil like this, it is unwise to not accept help.”
“But aren’t afraid?”
“Of course, Yona is afraid! Yona terrified. But Yaks have saying. Bravery not same as having no fear – that what makes a fool. Brave is being scared, but still willing to keep going. Yona doesn’t want to play anymore, but friends are in danger. Yona cannot abandon them when they need Yona.”
Gallus nodded, “I understand. If you’re certain…” His friend nodded. “Okay… here we go.” Blowing on the dice to invoke good luck, he rolled the dice onto the board and got a seven.
Nervously, student and teacher watched the Rhino piece move along the curvy path ahead until it reached its place. Gallus eyed the green gem from a new rhyme and read aloud:
Dark as night; it has eyes like the moon. Stick around, and you won’t be alive soon.
Gallus looked around the room. “What does that mean?”
His question was answered when they heard a low growl that sounded like the laughter of a demon. There in the darkness, a pair of hungry yellow eyes stared back at them before it showed itself. It was a wild cat that was as big as an adult pony, yet it crouched low as getting ready to pounce. In the light, it had dark fur with even darker spots, sharp skull-crushing teeth, and claws like knives.
“No one make any sudden movements,” Fluttershy warned quietly.
“What is that thing?” Silverstream whispered.
“A black jaguar. They don’t often hurt creatures unless provoked.”
The jaguar made another step, its eyes looking directly at Gallus. He gulped, “And… what happens if you do?”
“They can be highly dangerous. They’re strong and have a bite so deadly, that it could price the skull in one chomp. However, if we don’t provoke it by running off, we should be-”
A gunshot cut off whatever Fluttershy was going to say. A window shattered and Gallus felt something graze from his back. Turning his head, he saw a line of feathers that was suddenly cut and immediately knew that the hunter had come back. In his panic, he knew he couldn’t stay put.
He ran, and the jaguar chased after him.
“Gallus!” Silverstream screamed but it was too late, the griffon and the jaguar were out the door and into the ruins.
Rushing out of the clubhouse, they couldn’t see Gallus anywhere but they heard the chilling laughter of the jaguar that echoed in the decaying castle.
“Where do we go now?” Applejack asked.
“Absolutely nowhere.” They all turned to see Ven Pelt cocking his riffle to release an empty bullet case. He was dripping wet, and his clothes were tattered with cuts. In his eyes was a wrathful fire with an expression that he was done with all this nonsense. Holding up his gun at them he warned, “I wouldn’t do anything stupid if I were any of you. Your weapons, drop them.” Pumping his gun, he added, “Don’t make me ask twice.”
Seeing that they didn’t have much of a choice, they reluctantly put down their weapons. All except for Zecora who grasped her spear.
“Are you deaf, girl?” the hunter approached her, pointing his gun at Zecora. “Do you know what this is?”
“I am not a fool, nor I am not afraid of you.”
Ven Pelt raised an eyebrow, “And yet, your hoof is shaking. It is as if… you know me.”
“No, I know of you who hunt the helpless. Who come into villages to leave them worse than a mess. Hunted us as though we were sport. Only one so heartless would enjoy a sort.”
“Hunted…” Spike whispered. “Zecora… you’re not implying what I think you’re implying.”
Ven Pelt used the tip of his gun to turn Zecora’s head. “Your hide would fetch a high price. A fine carpet perhaps…”
“Then let them go free, and do what you will to me.”
The hunter laughed, “You’re brave but foolish. If for a moment I wanted you dead, girly girl, I would have shot you already.”
This gave everyone pause. Ocellus asked what was on all their minds, “Then… why haven’t you?”
“None of you rolled the dice – Gallus did.”
“I don’t-”
Stepping back, Ven Pelt aimed his gun at her, “If I had my way, I would have shot you all right here. I can immediately see the parts you all have like the yak’s horns or the dragons’ claws… or even your chitin would be worth a fortune. But none of you are what I’m after. When the dice rolled from the griffon, he is the prime game to hunt for. So far, it’s been frustrating to catch him, but it only adds to the anticipation to see his head be mounted on my wall.”
“What are you gonna do now?” Rainbow asked.
“As it’s clear that going to the griffon hasn’t worked out, perhaps I could get the griffon to come to me. He’s the kind of creature that would come unless there’s bait to lure him in.”
Smolder glanced over at the open door where she spotted the game. She knew that it was her turn to roll the dice. Perhaps, she thought, if she could get close enough, maybe the game could cause the kind of chaos they would need to getaway.
“If you’re gonna hold us hostage,” Smolder suggested, “maybe it might be better if you did that inside?”
“And why would I do that?”
“Well think about it. You have a weapon that I guess doesn’t fire out rapidly and there’s only…” Smolder took a moment to look around. “Thirteen of us. Even if you did fire that thing at one of us, the rest of us would have a chance to scatter out while we’re out here. Right? So, if you had us in there… It would make it difficult for us to escape, wouldn’t you agree?”
Ven Pelt smirked, “I wasn’t born yesterday. I’ve hunted enough game in my life to know when they’re trying to come up with a cleaver plan. A good try, girl, but I think all of you should stay put.”
“But Gallus is being chased after by a jaguar,” Pinkie pointed out, “how do you know he wouldn’t get eaten before you could do anything to him?”
“The griffon isn’t stupid, I trust.” Pulling out a pocket watch to take notice of the time, he added, “I will be generous and give him twenty minutes. And if he’s not back by then… well… what use have I for any of you?”
The jaguar was fast – stupidly fast. Even when Gallus took flight as he navigated through the twist and turns of the ruins, the ferocious cat was nearly on his tail. No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t shake it off. The thing was close where he swore that it was nipping at his tail. Even when he tried to go higher, the jaguar simply jumps up, its claws nearly missing him by inches.
He needed to get rid of this thing and fast. Surely somewhere in this maze, there must be something that would get it to stop chasing him. But what? Where? And more importantly, how? He was already going as fast as he could in the ruins with its sharp turns, trying to avoid getting clawed or bitten at. Surely there must be something – anything he could use.
Perhaps there was a secret door he could slip in. His professors mentioned how the old castle was full of hidden passageways and booby traps. But where were they?
Diving down a flight of stairs he flew into a hall that had dark suits of armor. He noticed right away that there were rows of cold black armor that stood on pedestals. All of which stood on pedestals in thick layers of dust. He would have flown by without a thought if he hadn’t noticed the two empty spots. They were noticeable because they didn’t have dust on them. Could it be, perhaps, his ticket out from this chase?
Zooming in to one of those empty spots, he hoped that it might do something. Before his talons touched the pedestal, he glanced back at the jaguar who leaped at him. Its jaw opens to display its razor-sharp teeth, eyes with a murderous glare, and claws spread out to tear the griffon to shreds. For a moment, Gallus was sure that he was going to die right there, being mulled, and ripped apart by this beast. However, with his full weight on the pedestal, he was unexpectedly sprung right through the wall, screaming down a twisting slide in the dark. And before he knew it, he was thrust out into the light, nearly falling over the edge of a wall several stories up. He had to flap his wings to prevent the momentum from thrusting him out.
“Wha…” Gallus looked around, “How the buck did I get all the way up here?”
As confusing as his exit was, he saw that the jaguar was nowhere in sight. So, landing himself on the edge of the building next to a stone gargoyle, he was able to finally catch his breath. Giving himself a moment to recover from the chase.
Yet, as he did so, he couldn’t help but think about the crazy hunter. That near-missed shot meant that not only was he still alive but was most likely somewhere in the ruins too. The more he thought about it, the more dread he felt at realizing that his friends might be captured by that psycho.
Taking flight once more, he cautiously stayed close to the castle to get a look at the clubhouse. Landing on the roof, he climbed to carefully peek over to see that his worst fears had been realized. The hunter was holding his friends and teachers hostage out in the open while he circled around them. Gallus ducked back before Ven Pelt could see him.
‘Oh crap. This is not good.’ He thought, ‘This is obviously a trap, and if I show myself, he could shoot me or… he could kill them. C’mon Gallus, think! There’s got to be some way to get rid of that guy. Think! Think!’
The only thing he could come up with is to create a distraction. Yet, how could he do it from way up here?
His eyes turned to a nearby tower that had one noticeable feature – arrow slots. That gave the griffon pause. The castle was originally a fortress, so why, he thought, would that tower have arrow slots that were far away from the wall? Unless… Taking great care to stay out of sight, he maneuvered down and around towards the entrance of the tower. Up the spiral stone staircase to the top, he found something that confirmed his suspicion.
A crossbow. Though it was covered in spider webs and dust, it provided Gallus with the only means to combat the hunter. Across the room, there was a quiver of arrows. Going over, he pulled out four ancient arrows. He knew that these antiques could easily break, but he hoped that maybe these would be enough.
Being careful with pulling the string, he was relieved that it didn’t break as it got close to the latching mechanism. Yet, he struggled to pull it to where he had to use his entire body to stretch it. But once it was locked into place and having the arrow in place, he turned to the slotted windows. It was then that Gallus realized that this was the first time he held such a weapon, and being so old, he didn’t know how accurately it was. For all he knew, he could accidently shoot his friends or teacher.
‘Okay, four arrows from way up here… My friends and teachers are being held hostage by a psychopath that’s probably waiting for me. I don’t think I see any of them with the game which means it is either still inside the clubhouse or the hunter got it. Either way, maybe I need to distract him.’
Gallus eventually got an idea, taking careful aim toward a stone wall by the clubhouse, he squeezes the triggering mechanism, and the arrow was flung out. Fast as lightning, he hoped that it would make a noise when it shattered against the wall to get Ven Pelt’s attention.
It did.
He saw the hunter turn around; the gun raised high but didn’t fire. For a moment he listened, trying to find the source of the sound. Luckily, he started to move away from his hostages to investigate but not leave them entirely. Gallus knew there was only so much time until he returned to them, so he quickly set up the crossbow again and reload it. Just when the hunter had shrugged it off as being nothing, he fired again.
Gallus prayed that the hunter going off to investigate would allow everyone to get away. Thankfully, as soon as Ven Pelt was going around the clubhouse, his friends and professors got up to sneak their way into the ruins. All except for Smolder who instead retreated into the clubhouse.
‘Smolder, what are you doing?’ Gallus thought as he reloaded his crossbow. ‘Don’t go in there.’
He kept an eye on the hunter who searched around, only to find nothing. Gallus saw him starting to turn back so he needed to fire someplace further off to give his friend more time. When he fired to hit another wall, Ven Pelt suddenly turned around and fired his gun which rang out throughout the castle. This time it gave the griffon the desired outcome of having him running away from the clubhouse. Hoping that it might give Smolder enough time to get out.
Indeed, Smolder did emerge with the game folded up under her arm. She peeked around to see the hunter was gone out of sight. Then she made a run towards the entrance of the castle where Gallus saw his worst fears being realized. Ven Pelt was already coming back, and he feared that he realized he was being tricked. In a panic, Gallus rushed as fast as he could to set the crossbow again and reload it with his final arrow.
Gallus nearly screamed as he saw Ven Pelt raise his gun to aim it toward Smolder. So aiming, he hoped against all hope that he could do something to prevent his friend from getting shot.
No one was sure what was going on. After Ven Pelt looked away, they saw their opportunity to escape into the ruins. However, before they could do so, Smolder headed towards the clubhouse, whispering that she needs to get the game first. Twilight told her to meet them in the throne room before they rushed off.
Then there were the two-gun shots. Within the castle, they echoed like claps of furious thunder. No one was sure what had happened, nor could they afford to stop to see what was going on. Upon reaching the dilapidated throne room there was a sense of dread that perhaps something may have happened to Smolder.
“Please tell me she’s alright.” Sandbar looked around the room. “Is she?”
“Of course, she is, darling.” Rarity patted his back, “Smolder is a dragon. If she can swim in molten lava, surely that weapon couldn’t hurt her… would it?”
Everyone turned to Spike for answers. “I mean yeah, dragons, in general, are tough but… with that thing that psychopath has… I don’t know. It’s hard to say since I’ve never seen that thing before.”
Just then they heard quick footsteps that were heading their way. And out from the dark halls, Smolder emerged with the game under her arm.
“Smolder, are you okay?” Ocellus rushes up to her, “What happened? Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine, just…” She looked over her shoulder. “The hunter guy is injured.” Everyone asked what she meant by that. “I was making a run for it. I looked over my shoulder and the guy was about to shoot me. But before he could, an arrow came right out of nowhere and impaled his hind leg. The guy screamed but he didn’t shoot at me. Instead, he turned his gun somewhere else before collapsing.”
“Like accidental?” Silverstream asked.
Smolder shook her head. “No, like he took a split second to aim at something else before he shot again. Like he had a different… target…” Her eyes grew wide. “Wait, where’s Gallus!?”
From above, a shadow flew across the floor and over towards the broken part of the ancient stained-glass ceiling. Gallus came in with tears in his eyes, pain on his face, and clenching a red spot on his shoulder. “Guys, help… this really hurts…”
Landing near the twin thrones, his teachers and Zecora were the first to come to his aid.
“Gallus, what happened to you?” Fluttershy asked.
The griffon’s face was contorted in pain. Trying his hardest not to scream. “I got away… from the jaguar. Long story short I found a crossbow to try to distract the hunter… B-But he was about to shoot Smolder.” Sitting down to lean up against the golden throne he added, “I shot the guy in the leg but… but he got me back.”
Zecora sat on her rump to dig through her bag. “I knew this game would hurt someone if it dared, which is why I came prepared.” She pulled out a few jars, a roll of gauze, a rag, and a pair of long tweezers. “Twilight, do you know any painkilling or healing spells?”
“I remember reading medical spells last year.” She nodded, “How can I help?”
“First, cleaning the wound is a must need, but after that, follow my lead.”
Giving Zecora and Twilight some space to help Gallus, Fluttershy, Spike and Ocellus turned to Smolder. “You’re not going to start up again, are you?” Spike asked her.
She shook her head. “Not while Gallus is hurt.” Sitting on a fallen column, she placed the game down next to her. “I so deserve getting expelled for this.”
“No, don’t say that.” Fluttershy sat down next to her.
“But it’s true! Everything that’s happened today, I’ve started it. The school being burned down, Yona getting sucked into a nightmare for hours, and now Gallus being seriously hurt. I just… I just wanted to have fun, not this.”
“You didn’t know it would result in this. None of you did.” Rubbing her foreleg, Fluttershy added, “I don’t think you will be getting expelled, because Zecora has been taking the blame. Since she was the one that created the game, it gets increasingly stressful every time something bad happens. Yet, even when things are looking grim, Zecora isn’t giving up so easily.”
“But professor,” Ocellus said, “Just because Zecora created the game, doesn’t mean we’re any less guilty for the outcomes. I don’t it matters if we knew what would happen or not, the fact that we participated in this is still something to consider.”
“That doesn’t mean that any one of you isn’t worth being forgiven.”
“But-”
Fluttershy raised her hoof to silence her lips. “Ocellus, have I ever told you about my favorite quote? The one that had has shaped me to the mare I am today, of why out of everyone I could forgive anyone, even Discord – twice.”
“I… don’t think you have.”
“It’s from Shakespur. I don’t remember what the play was, but it’s the one that has a huge impact on me.”
“What’s the quote?” Smolder asked.
Clearing her throat, she recited. “The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed: it blesseth him that gives and him that takes. ‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes the throned monarch better than his crown. His scepter shows the force of temporal power, the attribute to awe and majesty wherein doth sits the dread and fear of kings; but mercy… is above this sceptered sway. It is enthroned in the hearts of kings; it is an attribute to Faust Herself; and earthly power doth then show likest her's when mercy seasons justice. Therefore, you, though justice be thy plea, consider this: that in the course of justice none of us should see salvation. We do pray for mercy, and that same prayer doth teach us all to render the deeds of mercy.”
“…. For once, I don’t think I need to ask what that means. Though I doubt Headmare Twilight would be that merciful.”
“You’d be surprised,” Spike commented. “Still, I get that you’re feeling guilty. And Twilight had mentioned this before, you’re not going to get expelled. Neither you nor Gallus is. And I know everyone has heard this about a thousand times already, but the fact remains – we are already over halfway done with this. If all of us were able to save Equestria at least a dozen times when it seems hopeless, then surely this game won’t defeat us so easily.”
“I believe what everyone is trying to say,” Ocellus said, placing a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “If you’re feeling hopeless, keep going. If you’re tired, keep going. If all of Tartarus is rising up to stop you, keep going. If we get hurt or killed, keep going. If that psychotic hunter is telling you to stop, keep going. If you’re scared, keep going. Don’t stop. Don’t ever stop. If you want this nightmare to be over and to set things right, keep going. And I don’t know about you, but I’m not stopping until this is finished.”
“I know… I just don’t want anyone else to get hurt is all.”
After a while, Zecora and Twilight had finished helping Gallus. Once they cleaned up his wound and bandaged him up that they were ready to continue with the game.
“So… whose turn is it anyway?” Pinkie asked.
“I know Silverstream went before me,” Gallus said. “That means it has to be Smolder’s turn.”
Gulping, Smolder set the game on the ground and unfolded the panels. Picking up the dice, she held them in her claws, shaking them. “We’re almost there…” she told herself. “Everyone ready?”
With everyone nodding, Smolder rolled the dice that rolled a five.
They all watched as her Monkey token advanced down the path of the game. Reaching its destination, the green gem in the center formed a new rhyme in its sinister yellow smoke. This time it read:
Nothing there is what it seems Just make believe and scary dreams.
“Huh?” Smolder blinked, “What the hay does that even…?” Her question died down when she looked up to see that not only her friends and teachers were gone, but so was the castle. Without any warning, her surroundings had changed dramatically. She was in a dark jungle with towering trees that had a canopy so thick that barely any light came down. The air was damp and cold like being in a freezing bath. All around were sounds of creepy-crawlies and calls of beasts unknown to here. Yet, most horrifying of all was that her friends were nowhere in sight.
“Guys! Guys where are you!” But no matter which way she turned; she was completely alone. “Where the hay am I? How did I get here?”
Although she had no idea where she was, she was already forming a guess and dreaded the thought of it. She was now inside the game – inside Jumanji’s thick dark jungle.
Suddenly she felt someone touch her arm. Turning around, she didn’t see anyone there, but she did hear something. A wheezing roar from a dying creature, yet something about it sounded… wrong. She felt someone touching her wing, and she turned around with her claws splayed out to attack. Yet there was still nothing there.
“Who's there!” Smolder called out but got no reply. “Don’t you dare try to eat me or I will burn you a crisp!”
As a dragon, Smolder had grown up that she should be able to stand up to anything, even to other dragons. That she must be brave whenever something dares tries to eat her. Yet, she was not prepared for what she saw. In the darkness, she saw a pair of glowing yellow eyes… then another… then another. At first, she thought she was dealing with a group, but the eyes moved and slithered together like a snake. Even going up in the air, weaving between the trees with the swiftness of the wind. In the dim light, she saw a monster that made her take a step back. A creature that had many eyes while being covered in hundreds of thousands of spider-like legs that moved like wallowing seaweed. And the mouth at the front was an impossibly wide grin that showed rows upon rows upon rows of teeth that were thin and sharp like needles.
“Oh no no no nonononono NO!” In that icy-terrified moment, Smolder was so overcome with fear that she immediately took flight to get away from this thing. Smolder may be a dragon, but even she knew her limits when fighting abominations like this. And this certainly was her limit. She needed to get away from it as quickly as possible.
Yet, as much as she tried to fly, that thing was somehow one step ahead of her. Just when she was about to make a break for it through an opening, that nightmarish creature blocked her. She could swear that it was growing longer as it moved and slithered above and around her. And every time she was blocked, those insect legs were slashing at her to either slash or stab at her.
With every chance to escape being closed out left, right, and center with the monster circling, constricting around her, Smolder did what any dragon would do – she took a deep breath and unleashed a fury of fire. Letting out a carnal scream while flames licked away at the creature. Even though it could keep it back, she knew she can’t keep up forever. There must be some way to get out of this.
That was when she felt it gabbing her wings. The bug-like legs took hold of her, dragging her back to the ground. Desperately, she tried to slash blindly at the legs. She felt her claws claw against something, and the creature let out an unholy shriek of pain. Yet, when she tried it again, the leg had moved out of the way. She was trapped!
“No! Let go of me! Get off!” Smolder screamed as her eyes saw the mouth of a thousand teeth coming closer over her head. “No! Don’t! Get away! STOP!” She was terrified, more so than at any time of her life. She was going to die, being eaten alive by a monster, far away from her friends with no one to help. “Please! I don’t wanna die!”
Then the creature’s tooth touched her forehead.
And Twilight Sparkle took its place. “Smolder! Smolder! It’s okay, you’re okay!”
Smolder blinked. The nightmarish jungle was gone, along with the monster. She was surrounded by her friends and teachers. “Wha…” Smolder took in unsteady breaths, trying to calm down from the horror she was in. “W-What happened? Where did you guys go?”
“We didn’t go nowhere,” Applejack told her. “We were here the whole time.”
“But… you guys disappeared. I was in a jungle and-”
“You didn’t go anywhere either.” Sandbar said. “But as soon as you read out that rhyme, you went crazy suddenly; you got really scared. So scared you lashed out at us.”
With her friends letting her go, she looked around and she was shocked to see Silverstream covering the side of her cheek, eyes clenched, and seeing blood leaking out from her claw.
“Oh gods! Silverstream, did I hit you!?”
“It’s not your fault,” Silverstream said before hissing in pain. “Really, it’s not.”
“But-”
“She’s right.” Twilight told her, “After you read that rhyme, your eyes changed. And I recognized it as being like how Sombra controlled ponies. What it did was it gave you the illusion of you being in your worst fears. In other words, you were blinded into a nightmare that, if we hadn’t tried to hold you down and remove it, you’d likely have woken up.”
“Be assured that you are safe and sound,” Zecora went through her bag again to pull out some bandages and ointment she used on Gallus, “in the meantime, I take care of your friend’s wound.”
Taking Silverstream aside to clean up her scared face, Smolder eyed the gameboard with implacable hatred. If she didn’t know better, she would easily have incinerated that game to ashes on the spot. Then its ashes were to be scattered to the winds so that it would never hurt anyone again. However, the only thing that prevented her from doing so, was the knowledge of what the game could do.
‘If we get out of this alive,’ Smolder thought, ‘I’ll be the first to cremate it.’
Silverstream was treated at this point, Zecora had cleaned up the wound and patched it up as best as she could. Yet, before they could continue with the game, Smolder was showered with reassurances that what happened was an accident. However, with the evening drawing near, it was decided that they should at least try to finish this cursed game while there was still enough daylight to do so.
Picking up the dice, Ocellus paused with a thought. “I realize at this point that after me, Silverstream could win the game.”
“That is if she rolls at least an eight.” Twilight pointed out. “The odds of her rolling an eight for her are roughly two in three, which means there would be a likely chance that she might not roll the winning number. If she doesn’t, the game would have to continue for at least another round or so.”
“But there’s still a chance,” Sandbar said. “Even when the odds are against us, there’s still a chance this could be over soon.”
“Speaking of which,” Ocellus clenched her hoof to rattle the dice, “is everycreature ready?”
“As ready as we’ll ever be,” Smolder murmured.
“Okay, here we go.” Letting the dice go, they rolled on the gameboard a pair of twos. Instantly meaning that she will have to go again. They watched Ocellus’s elephant piece move forward four spaces until it stops.
In the center, they all watched in dreaded anticipation of what the next danger was going to be. This time the words formed said:
You’re almost there, with much at stake But now the ground begins to quake.
“Ah’m no good with riddles.” Applejack commented, “But that sounds an awful lot like…”
That’s when they felt it. Underneath them, something was vibrating. It started small at first, but all around, they started to hear a low, dull hum. As it grew, the dust from the walls and ceiling fell as the vibrating became more intense.
Zecora lowered herself to the side to place her ear on the ground to listen, when she sat up, she confirmed what they all suspected. “We need to get out for pity’s sake, here comes an earthquake!”
Slamming the folds of the game, Ocellus picked up the game to be hold under her foreleg just when the room was shaking so bad that noticeable cracks were forming in the floor and the walls. They found that standing was difficult as they felt the floor being lifted and dropped. Those who couldn’t take flight found that they couldn’t walk without falling over.
Then it happened. The stone floor beneath formed a long, deep crack that split the ancient throne room in two. With every passing second, a jagged chasm opened with heavy stone from below and above falling. Twilight cast a shielding spell overhead as parts of the now shattered glass ceiling and stone fell. Meanwhile, those who can fly were doing all they can to keep their friends from tumbling into the ever-gaping abyss. Rainbow, Spike, and Smolder were pushing Yona away from the collapsing floor. Zecora held on to Fluttershy’s hoof for dear life. Pinkie held onto the game with Ocellus. Rarity used a spell to get around a column. Gallus picked up Sandbar. And Silverstream pulled Applejack away from a falling piece of the floor.
Even though the earthquake was short, it left the once-mighty castle of the Two Sisters to rubble. The once-grand throne room with its towering walls was reduced to shattered stone, tumbled columns, and thrones that have fallen into the chasm. After a good coughing fit before the dust was settled, the group found that they were separated by a space that couldn’t be jumped across. Twilight, Zecora, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow, Yona, Smolder, and Spike, were on one side; Pinkie, Applejack, Ocellus, Gallus, Sandbar, and Silverstream were on the other.
“Is everyone alright?” Rarity asked.
Getting back on her feet, Smolder turned to Zecora, “Of all the things you put into this game, why did you include an earthquake!?”
“I understand you being so livid, but earthquakes are quite common in Zebrica,” Zecora replied, dusting herself off. “Still, that was quite a shaking of dirt, now is anyone here hurt?”
Fortunately, no one was. After dusting themselves off, Gallus flew over to look at the deep rift. “Woah… good thing nocreature fell. I can’t see the bottom of this thing.”
“Do you think we should move?” Silverstream asked. “Suddenly I don’t feel safe around here anymore.”
Ocellus set the game down to open it up. “Maybe we should keep going. It’s my turn again since I rolled doubles.”
“We almost got crushed and fell into a bottomless pit,” Rainbow Dash pointed out. “Don’t you think we should go somewhere else?”
“Professor,” Ocellus said, looking up at her. “Don’t you get it? No matter where we go, we’ll always be in danger. All day long we’ve been running and dodging, and we’ve come close to dying so many times that I’m able to count. We’re nearly there. Just a few more rolls of the dice and we can finally finish this nightmare.” Ocellus picked up the dice. “I am already two hundred percent done with this today, and if I have to end my turn by releasing whatever deathtrap that would come after us anyway, so be it.”
With that, Ocellus rolled the dice, landing on ten.
She watched as her Elephant piece move ever closer to the centerpiece. Reading aloud the latest message from the gem, her frustration gave way to horror as she said aloud:
With a cough, spots, and a seizure Shows signs you have Jungle Fever.
As soon as she finished that rhyme, she looked up at her friends and teachers, terrified of what she just unleashed. She suddenly felt cold and yet, suffocatingly hot at the same time. “Guys… Guys, I don’t feel so-” Ocellus let out a coughing fit. She could barely breathe as her lungs were forcing out more air than taking in.
“Ocellus!” Silverstream rushed over to her friend, along with Pinkie, Applejack, Gallus, and Sandbar. The Hippogriff felt her forehead as Ocellus’s chitin was getting pale and forming orange dots all along her body. “She’s burning up! Somecreature do something!”
Twilight lit her horn to quickly carry everyone on her side of the chasm to the other side. As soon as they got across, Zecora quickly attended Ocellus by fetching a few leaves from her saddlebag. “Chew on these quick, before you become too sick.”
Ocellus tried while coughing her head off. Taking the leaves into her mouth to try to chew without spitting the bitter taste out. Whatever she gave her made her able to breathe a little, but she was still feeling unbearably freezing.
“What I gave her would only slow the illness down,” Zecora told everyone, “But I’m afraid that we have no choice but to go into town.”
“What? Why?” Sandbar asked. “Wasn’t that a cure you just gave her?”
“No, it only gave us some time a little. But Jungle Fever requires going to a hospital. Ocellus is already showing two of the signs, I will not lie… but if she falls into a seizure… she will die.”
Looking at the game, Silverstream picked up the dice. “But… it’s my turn, right? There’s still a chance that if I roll these now, everything will be fixed, right?”
“Silver, now isn’t the time for taking on a risk,” Twilight told her. “Ocellus needs immediate medical attention, and we can’t afford to let the dice deiced if she is going to live or not.”
“Perhaps I can make that decision for you.” Everyone froze when they heard Van Pelt’s voice. He walked over to them with a limp in his step with the arrow still in his hind leg, letting him have a burning hatred in his eye while he held his gun. “I must say that this is by far the most frustrating hunt in my entire career. But it’s all over now.”
Smolder stood in front of Gallus, her wings and arms spread. “I’m not going to let you hurt Gallus.”
Zecora picked up Ocellus’s sickly body. “This girl requires medical attention, please stand down and defuse this tension.”
“That girl you are holding has Jungle Fever. She is already good as dead. Though I will tell you what, I’ll let you pass by me if you all will give a clear shot at the griffon there.”
Silverstream quickly glanced at the clenched fist that held the dice. “And if we say no?”
Van Pelt cocked his gun. “More game for me to carry.”
Instead of moving aside, both student and teacher stood between the hunter and Gallus. Doing all they can to block his clear shot at him.
Shaking his head, the hunter said, “A noble gesture, but a foolish one.” He held up his rifle up where, taking a huge gamble, Silverstream dropped the dice, not taking her eyes off him. “Now, any last words?”
Silverstream looked down at the game board. “I do,” she said as she watched her Crocodile piece move across. Taking a moment to read what the gem said, “in fact, I have only one word.”
“Spit it out, girl. What is it?”
“Jumanji.”
Everyone turned to look at her.
“Pardon?” Van Pelt questioned.
Silverstream eyed down at the game, and everyone saw what she was smiling about.
“Jumanji.”
Before Van Pelt could pull the trigger, there was a strong wind that came, and before their eyes saw the hunter’s gun started to disintegrate into sand. It was such a shock to Van Pelt that he dropped his weapon before he too was being blown by the wind. They backed away from the game as cyclones now formed over the center of the game. One so strong, that they saw the things that have tormented them being sucked in. From the screaming monkeys to the jaguar that tried and failed to take hold of anything solid, from the murderous tribe being flung about to the giant spiders that were being sucked up – everything that came out of the game was now being forced back into it. And the sound… a terrible wailing of cries and screams that whirl around that made everyone there lower to the ground. Trying to hold on to each other, praying to make this horror go away once and for all.
The shrieking became louder and more horrifying until all was silenced by a clap of thunder.
For a while, no one wanted to look up when everything became silent.
“Is it over?” Gallus asked.
Silverstream opened an eye to see that all the game pieces were now knocked over. Blinking, she looked up to find that they were back in the student lounge with Gallus, Smolder, and Ocellus. She looked about to see there were no nightmarish creatures in sight, and the room was left intact.
“I think the game is over.” She told them with a heavily relieved sigh. “It’s over…”
Looking up to see that everything has been set back to normal, the four friends cried out such a cheer of joy as they hugged in celebration.
The nightmare was over.
Yet, turning back to the game, Smolder immediately placed the tokens and the dice back before slamming the folds shut. There was one thing now that was on all of their minds, "So what are we gonna do with this thing?"
Even though things had gone back to normal, and no one except for Smolder, Gallus, Ocellus, and Silverstream remembered what had happened, that question still needed to be answered. The more they reflected on the intense adventure they had, they all realized that they all got very lucky in getting out alive. All throughout that nightmare, there were plenty of opportunities where any of them, or their teachers could have been killed by this wicked board game. So that only left with the thought of what would happen to anyone who might not be so lucky.
So, what to do with the game itself?
At first, they tried burning it. Sneaking into the pottery class one night, Smolder placed the game into the furnace and, using her breath, sparked it to get it as hot as possible so that the only thing left would be ashes. It seemed to have done the trick when the game had turned to charcoal, so the game was swept up in the garbage.
However, the next morning Smolder woke up to the sound of war drums which she followed into the pottery room. There in the trash can, she found the board game, back in one piece.
Next, they tried to get it smashed into pieces. Taking the game over to Sweet Apple Acres, Gallus, Smolder, Ocellus, and Silverstream used whatever farming tool they could find the smash the game into splinters. Yet, the game would reassemble itself as soon as they were tired out turning it into splinters and shards of scrap metal and ivory.
It didn’t take them long to realize that this game cannot be destroyed.
“But we’ve gotta do something.” By the time Silverstream had said this, the four of them were gathered inside the clubhouse – thankfully still in one piece and clear of Spiders, Panthers, and one psychopathic hunter. “We can’t let anyone play this ever again.”
“Then what should we do then?” Gallus questioned, “We can’t destroy this thing, and I don’t think we should just toss it out somewhere either.”
“Wait, why not?” Ocellus asked, an eyebrow raised.
“Think about it. Even if we tried burying it, or tossing it out to sea or whatever, somecreature is still going to find it. Only we know how dangerous this game is, and we can’t just let anyone come across it. For all we know, someone could die playing this game, or release something far worse than what we’ve seen.”
“Okay, so we can’t destroy it, we can’t hide it away,” Smolder pointed out, “then what can we do? Hand it over to Twilight and Zecora? No one outside of us knew what happened when time got restarted.”
Thinking over this problem, Ocellus rubbed the side of her head in thought, eyeing the cursed game they’ve set down on a table. “You know… I hate to say this…”
“What?” Her friends asked at once.
“…. But with what all of you said, I agree – this game is too dangerous for anyone to play. We can’t destroy it, and we can’t hide it away for the risk of someone coming across it… But what if we can still get rid of it, out from our reality entirely?”
Smolder raised an eyebrow, “Where are you going with this?”
“You know how in Twilight’s library in her castle there’s a portal machine? The one that’s said to teleport ponies and objects to another dimension?”
“Woah, hang on there,” Gallus objected, “You’re not saying we should toss it away in there to let somecreature find it, do you?”
Ocellus shook her head, “Not exactly. And I don’t think I want to use that portal thing either for that very reason either. If anything, I don’t have a clue how it works, and I bet our professors would get suspicious if we tried to operate it. No, it’s got me thinking about other ways to send it to another dimension without letting anyone be any the wiser.”
“Sorry Ocellus, but you’ve lost me.” Silverstream asked, “What are you talking about?”
“Suppose… we go ask someone to send this game in the most random place possible. So random, that there would be little to no chance of this ever returning to Equestria ever again.”
Everyone went silent as they realized what Ocellus was talking about.
“Uh-uh! No way!” Smolder got up, crossing her arms. “I’m not asking that colossal jerk for help!”
“Yeah, I’m gonna have to side with Smolder,” Gallus pointed out, “I know what you’re thinking, Ocellus, but there’s no way I’m trusting that guy with something like this?”
“But what choice do we have?” Silverstream inquired. “We can’t give it to Twilight and Zecora since they’ve forgotten what happened all day yesterday. What if they accidently started playing the game?”
“All the more reason to have him send it off somewhere else.” Ocellus said. “I don’t like the idea either, but he might be the only creature that has that kind of magic to send this where no one will find it.”
“Well, I can summon Discord,” Fluttershy said, tilting her head, “But why? Did he do something he wasn’t supposed to again?”
“Not exactly…” Gallus told her. At this point, Fluttershy had dismissed her class for lunch when he, Smolder, Ocellus, and Silverstream came into her classroom. “But we uh… we wanna… talk to him about something.” He nearly vomited when he uttered that. As disgusting as it was to say that, the game that he held under his arm reminded him of what needed to be done.
Spotting the game, Fluttershy pointed out, “Does it have something to do with that? If it’s about Spike and Big Mac’s secret guys night then-”
“We’re not here for that,” Ocellus interrupted. “We just need to talk to him for a minute. Preferably just between him and us.”
“It’s important that we get ahold of him as soon as possible,” Silverstream added.
“Oh, okay. I’ll get him.” Clearing her throat, Fluttershy put a hoof over her heart and said aloud, “Discord, would you come here please?”
Over their heads, a saw blade cut through the air diagonally, tracing out a trapezoid before it was pushed open for Discord to slip in. He was in a yellow, full-body beekeeper’s suit where bees buzzed inside. “You called? I was in the middle of reversing extracting honey.”
“I’m sorry if I was irrupting.” Fluttershy apologized, “But my students wanted to have a word with you.”
“Why? I wasn’t planning on turning the school into lasagna until next week.”
“What? No, they want to talk to you about something important. So do you have a minute?”
Rolling his eyes, Discord snapped his tail, and the beekeeping suit went away. “I suppose I can put my chipotle candles on hold for now.”
“Thank you, Discord.” Fluttershy was about to exit her classroom but stopped for a moment to ask him, “Oh, and do you remember that I’ve moved our tea party to Thursday this week?”
“I know, and I’ve got a new set of tea I’m brewing up.”
After bidding Discord farewell, Fluttershy exited the classroom, leaving Discord and her students alone.
“So, what do you want me for?” Discord questioned, “Last time I checked, I’m not exactly popular around these parts.”
“You’re not.” Gallus went up to him and held up the game, “Let’s get straight to the point – we want you to get rid of this.”
Discord raised an eyebrow. So, taking the game in his paw/claw, he took a whiff at the wood and backed away. “WOO! That is some strong magic there! Where did you find that?”
“You don’t wanna know,” Smolder said. “Can you open up to other dimensions?”
“I can but-”
“So can you toss this somewhere into another universe?” Ocellus asked.
Discord stared at them for a good, long moment. “Since when did you four turn into Starswirl?”
“Listen to us,” Silverstream flew up to him. “We made the mistake of playing that game and it has caused nothing but chaos – and not the fun kind either. More like the if you make the wrong move, you’ll seriously get hurt kind. We can’t destroy it. We can’t hide it unless someone might come across it. That thing is far too dangerous for anyone to play with. So can you please, please, please put it somewhere that thing won’t ever come back. Even if you send it to a world that has nothing but mushrooms, just as long no one would play it.”
Scratching his chin, Discord levitated the game in thought. “I could, but the problem is that even if I send it someplace where it won’t come back, there’s still always a chance someone, somewhere might come across it. I can pick out a universe at random and toss it there, but I can’t promise you that world will be uninhabitable.”
“Why not?” Smolder asked.
“My magic is chaos, and chaos means that I can’t entirely control where it’ll end up.”
The four students looked at one another. It was a risk. But they knew that can’t let that game exist in this world any longer.
Ocellus went over to Fluttershy’s desk, and got out a piece of paper and a pen to write out a note. Then after slipping it in through the folds of the game, she told him to go on ahead and toss it out anyway.
“Alrighty,” Discord used his claw to scratch out a portal. The students saw on the other side a forest that looked… off. It looked like something they would see in the Everfree but there was something about its colors and such that seemed so alien to them. Discord floated the game through the portal and dump it among the leaves before sealing it up. “All done.”
“Wait,” Smolder raised a talon. “Where did you send that thing?”
“Someplace random,” Discord shrugged, “and where it won’t ever find its way back again.”
New Hampshire, 1869.
What a miserable day.
Benjamin couldn’t stop crying since he got out of school. First, he was late this morning, then he embarrassed himself when he had to spell a word, he never heard of, then his lunch got stolen, then he hit a classmate during class when he wouldn’t stop pestering him, and to top it all off, the teacher caned him for it. All the while, Kaleb, his older brother, didn’t help him in the slightest. Never once did he stand up to help him, and he went home without him when he had to stay in the corner for half an hour after school.
None of this was fair. He knew that his mother would scold him as soon as he gets back to the farm. Yet, it will be a while as it’s still a five-mile walk from the schoolhouse to his home. All the while going through the forest where something unpleasant could be behind a tree.
He wished that he could run away from this horrible place forever and never come back. Maybe in the night he could gather up his things and head somewhere on foot. Perhaps go south to Concord or Manchester where he can get as far away from…
That was when he heard it. Nearly quiet at first, he almost didn’t hear it above the rustling leaves above. A low, very deep beating like a distant drum. What was it?
Curious, he went off the train and into the forest where the drumming was getting louder. In his imagination, he thought it might be a forgotten Indian tribe out in the woods, or perhaps a coven of witches. Yet, he saw no one as he got closer to the sound. With every step, it got louder and louder. And the beating got faster and more intense to where he could swear the ground was shaking.
And then… it stopped. Benjamin was confused, why did it stop? And where did it come from? He turned around and around to see nothing about him but trees, leaves, and bushes. He probably would have simply gone right home after that and spun a tall tale of hearing an invisible drum.
However, turning around, he took a few steps forward when he suddenly tripped on something. Tumbling to the ground with a yell, he felt hurt enough to start crying again. He was ready to kick at whatever had made him fall, but he paused to see something underneath the leaves. Something rectangular and hard that he became curious to uncover.
What he found was a box that he had never seen before. On the top was an elaborate carving that had smoking volcanos, strange trees he had never seen before, and palm leaves. At each corner were other carvings of a monkey, an elephant, a rhinoceros, and a hunter in a pelt hat. And in the center where the folds was divided by a spear was a word Benjamin had never seen before.
Jumanji.
Curious, he opened the folds of the box and realized what this thing was – a board game. One that had four winding paths and a green gem in the center. He also found a note within the game. So unfolding it, it read:
To whoever finds this,
If you ever come across this game, please put it back where you found it and walk away. This game is not the kind you want to play with. This is not a game you should play. It is dangerous, and it might hurt you. I beg of you to put this game down. Do not take out the tokens. Do not roll the dice. Whatever you do, do not play this game.
Signed, - A friend.
That was all it said. Benjamin had played board games before and he couldn’t see why this game was any different. A game is just that, a game. But then… why this strange warning?
Setting the note down, he saw something else written inside one of the panels, so flipping it around, he read aloud what it said.
“Jumanji. A game for those who seek to find a way to leave their world behind. You roll the dice to move your token. Doubles gets another turn. The first player to reach the end wins.”
For the young boy, he had never heard of this game before. What was Jumanji? Where did it come from? And why the odd warning? His mind was piling up with questions, and yet… perhaps this might make up for the terrible day he was having. If he was lucky, he can show this game to Kaleb, and they could play with it.
Folding up the folds of the game and tucking it underneath his arm, Benjamin returned to the path, heading home with a spring in his step. Yes, today was bad, but maybe finding this game might do the trick of making things better for a while. Who knows? Maybe this will be fun.
