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Rainbow Game, Room 5
Choice
“Most doors have now been opened. To conserve time, any contestants that have not exited within the next ten minutes will be removed from the game!”
Viola stared blankly at the mascot on the screen. What? A time limit? But … But not all of them were done! “What about Wowo an’ Duffwe? Nu am hewe yet!”
“Here is a handy countdown,” Daddy’s mascot continued without even acknowledging her, holding up a cartoony hand as a set of numbers appeared beside it. 09:55? No, 09:54 … 53? “When all numbers have reached zero, the time is up.”
Unease spread among the fluffies like wildfire. Those numbers were counting down so fast…! And… did Lolo and Duffle even know about this sudden time limit …?
“V-Viowa gon go hewp!” Viola blurted out and rushed into the room she had come from, only to tumble down stairs she’d forgotten were there. Everything slammed to a halt as she landed on her face, whimpering and holding her aching snout. “Owwie…”
“Yu otay?” Snaggle asked, grabbing hold of the smaller fluffy’s scruff and pulling her back to her hooves. Nobody else seemed to have followed, but that wasn’t important now; with Snaggle in tow, Viola shook her pain off and hurried to the square hole with the grate, yelling into the obscured room beside her.
“Wowo! Duffew! Nee’ huwwy, if nu get out then …!”
“Wowo knows,” a defeated voice replied. “Daddeh towd.”
She knew? Then, why didn’t she sound stressed? Why did she sound almost like she had given up? “C-Can Wowo nu find cowow buttons?” Viola asked, fretfully trying to make sense of the situation. “Thewe am cowow button undew big couch!”
For a moment she got no reply, then the old mare sighed. “Viowa… Duffew and Wowo nu can weach. Tuu big, nu can pwess button. Pwease, go befowe time is up.”
Viola felt cold, as though all her fluff and flesh had disappeared. No, no, no. That wasn’t fair. This wasn’t even a vote, it wasn’t even a dangerous puzzle! Tears welled up in her eyes as she shoved and pushed against the plastic cover in front of her, trying to get through from willpower alone. “Wiww hewp, Viowa wiww hewp an’ pwess button, pwease! Jus’ wait!”
“Nu can fwom hewe,” Snaggle piped up, somewhat jolting in realization, “but Snaggwe woom haf dis window tuu. Nu shud be bwocked, come on.”
Before Viola could protest the red mare had grabbed her by the scruff, dragging her along out of the room and back to the others. The mood hadn’t eased at all; Ghost was holding back Indigo, who tried to squirm free to help Viola and Snaggle out, while Bunny struggled with the choice to help or flee. Only Blue didn’t seem to know what was going on, head tilted curiously at everyone else’s actions.
“Indigo wan hewp too! Nu wike, wan hewp!” whined Indigo, her voice quickly fading as Snaggle and Viola hurried into Snaggle’s room.
It looked almost just like Viola’s room, she noted as she looked around. The only big difference was the state of the couch - marks had been gnawed out of it and part of an armrest was broken off entirely, shoved under the couch. Had Bunny done that?
But more importantly this room had two square windows, one on each side, and Snaggle lead Viola to the left one. Just like the window in her own room, a plastic grate blocked her from entering, but this time she could see through it. Viola ran into it with all her strength and BANG - she stumbled backward, everything spinning around her.
“Can fwuffies heaw?” Snaggle asked. “Meanie gwate am in the way. Duffew, yu am stwong, can yu open it?”
“Wiww twy…” Duffle murmured, before his horns struck the grate with a loud THWACK. Once, twice… The third hit was accompanied with a crack and the gate crashing open, just in time for Viola to recover her senses.
And to realize that crack did not sound like plastic.
“Duffew …? Am yu-?” she began to ask, but got cut off as Daddy’s voice pitched in.
“Look at that, five minutes left.”
Was that good? Was that bad? It had to be bad, right? Viola’s heart twisted into a knot; something bad was going to happen and she didn’t know when. Aided by a push from Snaggle she hurried into the now-open hole, flinching as in the process her hooves stepped on the pieces of something hard, and then she was through!
Lolo and Duffle’s room was a bigger mess than Snaggle’s had been. The entire shelf that they were meant to climb had fallen, some of the planks having separated from the rest and the few items it contained lying broken and scattered. But more importantly, Duffle sat with his head held low, trembling. Viola’s eyes widened as she realized why; all across his left horn was a big crack, threatening to snap it off, with shards of it even missing!
“Am yu otay?!” she cried out, unable to help herself. “Yu am huwt!”
Though Duffle didn’t reply, Lolo did. “Fwuffies nee’ wowwy watew, if nu can get out fwuffies wiww get wowse dan huwties,” she pointed out, but even so her words were tinged with fear. “Viowa, yu am smaww. Can yu weach button?”
Brought back to reality, Viola gasped and quickly looked around until she found the couch, hurriedly scrambling in beneath it. The space felt tighter than the one in her own room; was there something pushing down the couch? Had she grown fatter? She didn’t know, but she had to scrabble and squirm to get far in enough to press the button, putting both forelegs against the blue-glowing surface and pushing with all her might until the button went dark with a ‘click’.
“Doow am open!” Lolo called in shock. “Duffew, huwwy an’ go now…”
“Ow- nu fowget Viowa!” Viola whined as she tried to wiggle back out, fur getting stuck on the couch above her. How had she done this so easy before?!
“Cawm,” Lolo replied and Viola felt a gentle tug on her tail. “Wowo am hewe, cawm down su Wowo can puww.”
How was she supposed to be calm with such a scary time limit hanging over them! Viola whined and tried to lie down flat, holding her hooves over her snout, and then the tug on her tail became a sharp yank and she popped out from the couch with a yelp.
“Now go, huwwy,” urged Lolo as a shadow loomed over them - only to gasp as Duffle grabbed her by the scruff, carrying the old mare. Viola hurried to keep up with the fluffalo’s big steps, all while Lolo fussed gently that she didn’t need carrying, and then they were out!
Snaggle was at the door to meet them, ensuring everyone had come along, and as they came out Indigo waved in delight from the exit.
“Fwuffies am hewe! Come thwu doowsie!” the little filly called and then the door shut.
“Two minutes,” Daddy’s mascot smiled from that screen, head resting in its hand. Only two! Even Viola could count that high and panic set in, especially when she saw the timer was even lower. Thankfully Duffle had brought the balls along and with Viola’s frantic aid quickly got them into their hole, and then the four fluffies pushed through the exit and were free.
The door closed behind them, the last sounds being Daddy’s chuckling, and the group found themselves in a new hallway. Snaggle seemed distracted, quietly saying a thank-you to herself, while Duffle was so silent she could almost forget he was there. Despite the dim and dusky lighting it was hard to ignore the limp in Lolo’s step.
Indigo served as a beacon, waving for them to catch up with the rest of the group and calling for the others to slow down. Not that they seemed to be going very fast; Bunny was poking his snout against every nook and cranny of the walls in search of something, his fretful murmurs echoing. “Nu hewe… nu am hewe…”
“What am Bunny wooking fow?” Lolo asked as the group caught up. Bunny shot her a helpless look.
“Dis nu am wight,” he said, “dewe nu am exit. Nu can find escape fwom vote…”
“Is otay.” Snaggle’s eyes were low. “Wiww figuwe somefing out… Maybe jus’ can nu vote.”
Just “not voting”… Would that be possible? Viola pondered this as the fluffies finally reached the end of the hallway, and entered a square room with a spotlight in the middle. Blue was already there, studying a splash of red -
It was the same room as before. The same voting room. Toy Boat’s body had disappeared but the blood he had spilled still coated the floor under the spotlight. It was the same layout, the same colors; even Duffle’s fence was the same, broken and sparking from the fluffalo’s earlier escape.
But how? Viola stood frozen, unable to make sense of it all. HOW? They had never turned around. Not that much. They shouldn’t have gotten back here!
Beside her Bunny was breathing shallowly, trying in vain to calm himself, and the rest of their group was looking around. Nobody seemed to understand any more than Viola herself. How? How? Why?
“It is time for another voting session,” Daddy’s buzzing voice told them. “Please go to the panel matching your color.”
The idea of obeying made Viola feel dizzy. She didn’t want this; she didn’t want another vote, another fluffy being hurt. And what if they voted her? The idea of facing what Toy Boat had… No, no, no…
“Nu haf tu,” Snaggle assured her quietly. “Nu wisten tu Daddeh.”
“Fwen!” Blue called up at the ceiling, sitting in the spotlight. “Fwuffy am back! Nu haf huwties now?”
Bunny was sniffing around the walls, still trying to find his escape route, and Ghost was hesitating on what to do. Only Indigo had gone to her colored panel, patiently awaiting the vote.
“… I see,” Daddy spoke up again after a brief wait, darker now. “You seem to have forgotten. Those who do not plan to vote will be considered rule breakers and summarily be removed from the game.”
Viola cringed. No, no, a rule breaker? Her? She didn’t… she wasn’t… Snaggle touched her shoulder lightly, whispering. “It am otay. Nu can kiww su many fwuffies dat easy…”
Bunny didn’t seem to think the same, sprinting to his panel on the floor, and after bidding the missing Toy Boat goodbye Blue did the same. Ghost simply looked lost, one hoof on the border of his panel.
A strange sound caught Viola’s attention and she raised her head. It was like a ‘psssht’ sound? It came from high up on the walls, where a … strange mist … was beginning to spread. At first she didn’t understand, but soon it got low enough for Duffle to breathe, the fluffalo instantly beginning to cough and retch.
Lolo and Snaggle both panicked at once. “Poison!” they cried almost in tandem, and suddenly Viola found herself being shoved. “Gu, get on panew!” Lolo urged. “Huwwy!”
Something was wrong! Viola ran to her panel and almost overshot it, skidding to a sharp halt. What was poison? Why did it scare them so much?! Before she knew it, the others had gone to their panels as well and the psssht-y sound disappeared, the poison allowed to settle and vanish. Viola only caught a small whiff of it, but even that felt like burning in her throat! She hoped Duffle would be okay…
Trapped once more by the fence and faced with that little screen, brightly showing images of her friends, Viola felt like she’d cry. There was no way to pick someone, knowing what would happen.
“Wisten,” Lolo suddenly spoke up, her voice solemn. “Evewyone… Vote Wowo.”
Viola balked. “Wha!? Nu! Fwuffies nee’ Wowo!” she protested.
“Why …?” Snaggle asked shallowly.
“Nu pwotest.” Lolo shook her head. “If any fwuffy has tu die, Wowo am best choice. Haf owd bones, owd fwuff… An’ now, even haf huwt weggie. Wowo wiww onwy swow othew fwuffies down.”
“Bu’… but…!” That wasn’t right! “But Wowo am smawt an’ gud!” Viola tried desperately to disprove the old mare’s arguments. “Viowa nu wud haf escaped if nu had Wowo!”
“If fwuffies vote Duffew,” Duffle said slowly, his voice hoarse, “nu fwuffy need huwties. Duffew fencie am bwoken… Can escape huwties.”
Though it seemed like a good idea to Viola, somehow, neither Lolo nor Bunny seemed reassured in the least. The yellow mare held her head low and gave it a slow shake. “Wowo nu know… Haf bad feewing.”
“Why?” Indigo asked, all eyes turning to the little filly. She looked completely unaffected by their grim circumstances, head tilted innocently. “Fwuffies am aww tawking wike winning votey game am bad.”
What? A stunned silence spread over the rest of the room, a spell that was only broken when Snaggle found her voice. “What am yu saying!? Of couwse votes am bad, Indigo nu wemembew what happen tu Toy Boat?”
Indigo giggled. “Yus! An’ Indigo wants dat tuu. Su pwease vote Indigo!”
How? Why? Everything was falling apart. Viola wanted to protest but - how could you even answer such a thing?! Snaggle’s voice was trembling as she struggled to find words. “What am yu saying? Nu can want dat, Indigo, yu saw what happened…!”
“Toy Boat made wots of scweamies,” Indigo agreed, “bu’ then stopped! An’ had wots of sketties aww ovew, even dwopped sketti sauce on Bwue an’ fwoows! Big Skettiwand gwabby thingy got cwumsy an’ dwop Toy Boat, su Toy Boat had scawies an’ huwties, but den had Skettiwand sketties and bestest happies.”
Sketties? Skettiland? It was like the filly had completely misunderstood what happened - but no, Viola realized, that wasn’t it. She was like Blue. What they had seen was just so horrible and awful that they blocked it out, made up their own versions. Blue believing that its friend was still alive, and Viola believing there had been no real damage done at all.
It was… horrible… She couldn’t find anything to say. Her breath felt vague and choked up, rendering it impossible to speak.
“Indigo …” Lolo started, then stopped, then tried again. “Dat nu am… dis nu am wight…” Trembling, she closed her eyes. “Pwease, evewyone, just vote Wowo. Indigo am stiww onwy babbeh, Wowo nu haf much wongew.”
“Indigo knows what Wowo am doing!” Indigo called with a giggle, raising her hoof as though answering an unspoken question. “Wowo wan Skettiwand aww to hewsewf an’ be happiest fwuffy!”
“Fwen am in skettiwand?” asked Blue, as if still parsing what any of the words meant. “Su if fwuffy get votes, can go hug fwen bettew …?”
“Nu fwuffies haf tu get sweepies!” shouted Duffle, his voice cracking and louder than ever before as he stomped his hooves. “If yu vote Duffew, evewyfing wiww be otay. Nu fwuffy wiww get huwt.”
This was wrong… Everything was wrong, and Viola didn’t know what to do! She pressed her hooves over her ears, seeing the worried faces of Ghost and Snaggle, how Bunny bit into his own ear from stress and recoiled at the pain, how Blue seemed on the verge of asking to be voted itself. How Indigo and Duffle and Lolo all expected and hoped for her to vote them!
Viola wanted to cry. Just who was she supposed to listen to?!
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