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Rainbow Game, Room 6
Split
It was too much! Even with Viola’s hooves pressed into her ears, she could tell nobody was agreeing. Neither Lolo nor Duffle were giving in, nobody was giving a correct answer, and the responsibility of voting right weighed much too heavily on the purple fluffy.
There was no way to choose; so in desperation, she finally shut her eyes tight and slammed a hoof onto the little screen in front of her. She kept her hoof pressed against it for a few long moments before daring to open her eyes, gazing at the lit-up picture in front of her to find that although she’d aimed for Lolo and Duffle’s portraits, she had missed both and instead voted… Bunny?
The conversations around her had died down, and it seemed everyone else were making their choices too. What they were, she didn’t know. Would the victim be Lolo or Duffle …? Or someone else?
“All votes have now been cast,” Daddy’s voice rang from the ceiling. “Indigo has been voted out.”
“What?” Snaggle asked in a shallow whisper. Viola stared at the ceiling, breath caught in her throat as horror spread through the other voters. Indigo? But she’d voted for Bunny…! Just who had voted Indigo?
“Indigo won!” the foal cheered, spurred on by Blue’s happy clapping. The two were the only ones to show delight, as though Indigo had won a great prize. “Am gon go tu Skettiwand!!”
The horrible claw from before dropped out of the ceiling, clean and shiny as though it’d never taken Toy Boat’s life, and Lolo flinched. “NU!!” the old mare screamed, lunging at her podium to try and climb over it. “Duffew, du somefing!!”
Duffle did try, to his credit, but jerked back as his broken, sparking fence shocked his hooves. Indigo showed nothing but excitement at her impending death, stretching out on her belly to make the claw’s job easier and giggling as it positioned itself over her … But it didn’t pick her up as neatly as it had Toy Boat. Instead the claw dropped down sharply, and as it struck Indigo there was a squeak alongside a horrible, wet crunch.
Everything fell silent. All anyone could do was stare, wide-eyed, as the claw retracted back into the ceiling with Indigo in its… no, she wasn’t in its claws. Those still hung open.
A spike, almost thicker than Indigo herself and longer than Viola was tall, had come out of the claw; it had torn straight through the foal’s back and come out through her stomach as though she was made of paper. Indigo was still alive despite the impalement, but she wasn’t screaming. She just hung limp with a wide-eyed, vacant gaze, in too much shock to even breathe. The claw came to a stop in the spotlight but didn’t do anything to further harm the foal, instead letting her hang there with only the blood-coated spike through her body to keep her from falling.
“hh… aah…” Indigo managed after several seconds, her voice little more than gasps. “Nu can… nu feew weggies…?” She blearily looked to her limp hind legs, before looking up. “Daddeh…? Nu wike gamesie… Nu wan pway anymowe…”
Viola whimpered and shut her eyes, head held low. She didn’t know what to do or how to help with this. Why? Who’d vote for this to happen? She hated it…
“Daddeh?” Indigo rasped. “Pwease… ? Nu am … having fun anymowe… Wuv yu, pwease hew p …”
Several long seconds passed with no response. Not from Daddy, and not from anyone else. The only sound was an indescribable, wet noise that soon forced Viola to look up at its source; and as soon as she did, her eyes widened. It came from Indigo! Her body was slowly losing traction and slipping down the spike! The moment he realized what was happening Duffle sprang into action and rushed from his panel, cringing as the sparks of broken equipment lashed at his forelegs, but he never got the chance to catch her. The moment the foal fully slipped off the spike, the claw abruptly closed around her tail and left her hanging just outside his reach.
She looked so pale… Her once life-filled eyes were dull and empty, her fur as bloody as the spike above her, and her back half completely unresponsive. There was barely anything left in her voice. “… nu wan win anymowe… Pwease…”
No longer obscured, the hole in Indigo’s body was worse than Viola could have ever imagined. The spike had torn through both bone and organs effortlessly, leaving a wound as wide as her body; only skin and fur seemed to hold the poor foal in one piece as dark red soaked through her fluff. The claw wasn’t doing anything more; it just forced her to hang there, bleeding her out.
Viola retched and struggled to look elsewhere. Snaggle was just staring in horror, while Ghost and Blue sat numb and Lolo grieved. Bunny wasn’t even visible, curled up and cowering behind his podium. And Duffle was trying to get Indigo down, pushing himself to stretch just a tiny bit further, until he finally reach high enough to catch hold of the foal’s ear with his teeth. But… As he pulled down it proved too much for her injured body to handle, and with a horrible RRRATCH, the skin and fur keeping her in one piece tore.
As the fluffalo let go in surprise, Indigo’s back half remained in the claw’s grip and her front half fell to the floor, spilling what few organs remained within. Duffle crouched by the tiny foal as her unfocused eyes looked through him.
“Duffew …?” she asked weakly, no more audible than the dripping of blood above her. “Feww down… Dat mean, nu going t … tu Sketti wan …? nu… win game …ny mo …?”
He had no answer and no comfort. Everything lay silent for second upon second until finally, the foal’s last breath faded out and her exposed heart stopped moving.
“Indigo has been removed from the game,” said Daddy in a tone much too chipper for what had just happened. The podium in front of Viola opened and the violet ball rolled into her forelegs, where she held it close.
She didn’t know what else to do. It was hard to focus and even just looking at her purple ball brought to mind Indigo. She didn’t want to process what had just happened. It was so much easier to imagine Indigo’s eager, happy self, colorful and energetic, calling out a thank-you and hugging Viola tight. Warm. Purple. Whole. Not pale with shock and drenched in blood, naively begging for help from the one that was supposed to care for her as her body tore in half.
Right. That was the Indigo she remembered. One that leaned on her for comfort, that was too small for her own ball and needed help keeping it safe. The innocent little foal that was protected and sheltered by everyone.
“Viowa,” a voice spoke right beside Viola and she flinched back into reality, looking up to see Ghost’s worried face. “Yu otay?”
“Yus…” For a few moments she didn’t understand why he had asked, mind blanking out the center of the room. Then she moved to glance around and remembered exactly what lay in the spotlight, dodging around the gore to refocus on her ball. She wanted to say something more, but her mouth didn’t want to work. She wanted to think of Indigo as alive.
Nevertheless, Ghost seemed to understand. He nudged her lightly, indicating for them to move. “Come on, wet’s go tu othew woom.”
It felt strange to walk with Ghost. Not because of Ghost himeslf - he walked beside Viola, blocking her view of what lay in the center of the room like a shield. But even though she knew it’d be easier to carry her toy ball on her back, Viola didn’t want to let it out of her sight and so rolled it along with her hooves. And even though she’d normally take stock of all the other fluffies and how they felt and what they were doing, she couldn’t keep track of any of them now. They were hidden or too near the spotlight, rendering them impossible to see. She didn’t even know if any of them had left yet.
“Hey!!” They weren’t far from the doorway when someone shouted, and Viola glanced back to see Lolo rushing toward the two. She looked… angry? “Gif Viowa back hewe!”
Ghost swung to face the old mare and, to Viola’s shock, growled. His eyes narrowed and he bared his teeth, the broken fang doing little to lessen the threat display. “Nu. Nu am wosing mowe fwens!”
“W-What am yu doing?” Viola asked, hugging onto Ghost’s hind leg. “Dat am Wowo! Am fwen!”
“Gif Viowa back,” Lolo said as she slowed to a stop in front of the two, ears flipped back and gaze dark enough to kill. “Nu am wosing any mowe babbehs.”
“Nu!” Ghost slammed a hoof into the floor, hackles rising as he scowled. His back muscles tensed as he tried to flap wings that weren’t there. “Awweady wose Indigo. Nu am wetting yu haf Viowa!”
“Wowo wost tuu many babbehs awweady.” Lolo lowered her head, ready to leap despite her injured leg gingerly hovering above the floor. “Nu wiww wose any mowe.”
No, no, what was going on? Both of them were so angry! Viola hurried in between the two, desperately trying to mediate before a fight could break out. “Pwease nu fight! Am Viowa’s fwens! Fwuffies nu wud huwt Viowa, nu haf tu fight!”
Ghost didn’t reply, stepping forward and positioning himself over Viola defensively, but Lolo at least seemed to listen and her death glare softened somewhat. The old mare searched for the right words to explain something, untensing. “Viowa…”
“Nu wud huwt Viowa,” Ghost murmured. “Am onwy fwen Ghost has. Nu wan wose fwen.”
That wasn’t right, was it? Ghost was friends with the other fluffies too, even if they weren’t interacting much, right? But before Viola could ask, Lolo spoke up. “Wowo haf wived fow vewy wong, an’ seen much too many babbehs take fowevah sweepies… When Wowo saw Viowa an’ Indigo …”
“Ghost nu am gifing Viowa away,” Ghost said warily. “Nu can twust yu.”
Why? Why? She couldn’t understand. Crawling out from beneath Ghost, Viola looked between the two upset fluffies and tried not to tear up. “Why? Nu undewstand, fwuffies am fwens! Yu sound wike fwuffies wud huwt Viowa!”
“Viowa…” Lolo’s rage had shifted to pain and she sat down, misery in her eyes. “Some fwuffies… voted Indigo.”
Was that what this was about…? Viola frowned. She hadn’t voted Indigo, but … Everyone else had been so horrified too! Except … “But dat was Bwue, wight? Bwue voted Indigo, dat’s why?”
Lolo shook her head slowly. “Indigo win because Indigo got most votes. Dat means at weast two fwuffies voted.” She paused for a moment to let those words sink in, Viola staring at the old mare. At least two? So more than Blue? But …? “Dat means a fwuffy voted fow Indigo, even knowing what wud happen. An’ fwuffies nu know who.”
No… But… Everyone was so upset! “D-Dat nu can be wight, fwuffies wud… Nu wud…” Had someone killed Indigo deliberately? Who? Why?
“Fwuffies wud,” Ghost rebuked her, brow furrowed. “An’ Ghost nu know who… So nu can twust any othew fwuffies. Nee’ keep Viowa safe.”
“Neithew can Wowo. Su, come wif Wowo instead,” Lolo offered. “Nu twust Viowa wif Ghost.”
Ghost growled and bit hold of Viola’s scruff to keep her from moving, his gaze challenging Lolo to do anything about it. Viola’s heart caught in her throat - at this rate, they’d start fighting anyway! “W-Wait!” she cried out, waving her forelegs in a desperate attempt to cut short any more threats. “W-Wisten! Pwease nu fight! Fwuffies can twust each othew!!”
Lolo frowned. “Nu, how can Wowo twust Ghost? Wook what Ghost am doing…”
“Yu stawt it,” Ghost muttered through his teeth. “Nu twust yu tu keep Viowa safe.”
“Wisten!” Viola cried in desperation. “Nu fight! Ghost an’ Wowo both wuved Indigo wots, so nu cud haf voted Indigo!!”
There was a long moment of hesitation, which was only broken by Lolo. “Then what did Ghost vote?”
Ghost glanced aside, gaze dark and low as he released Viola’s scruff. “… Ghost voted Wowo. Wowo made most sense.”
“And Wowo voted Duffew,” Lolo sighed. “Thought dat even if Wowo nu get votes, maybe Duffew wud… But… Nu wan weave Viowa awone wif anothew fwuffy. Nu cud save Indigo… So wan pwotect Viowa.”
“Ghost feew da same,” Ghost agreed in a murmur. “But dat’s why Ghost nu can weave Viowa tu Wowo. Nu haf anyone ewse, so Ghost nu am wetting othew fwuffies take onwy fwen away.”
It was at least calmer and less scary this time, but the two still couldn’t decide on who to watch over her… Viola whined. “Why onwy one fwuffy? If nu can decide, jus’ both stay wif Viowa! Wike mummah an’ daddeh!”
“… Wowo guesses dat wouwd wowk,” the old mare conceded after a long pause. Ghost nodded in agreement, he too deciding to compromise. Before they could work out what to do next, however, Bunny sprinted past them and into the other room. Viola looked after him - the stressful gnawing had mangled his ear, huge chunks taken out of it until it was nearly bitten in half, and his eyes were full of tears; but that was all she could see before he was gone.
Could he really have voted Indigo? Viola felt her heart drop at the thought that yes, maybe. Had that mangled ear really been from stress, or was there guilt involved too?
As Lolo and Ghost began to nudge her along, Viola couldn’t stop herself from looking back at the others. Duffle was only now leaving Indigo’s body, head hanging low as he returned to his podium. He’d been so confident he could save her, had he been comfortable voting Indigo because of that? Snaggle numbly picked at something near a podium not her own, but when Blue approached her and gave a question Viola couldn’t hear, she responded by sharply shoving it away so hard it fell.
“Dummy!” she yelled so loud that they could hear even from this far away, voice cracking. "Toy Boat am gone! Toy Boat am dead! Indigo am dead! Nu - nu am coming back anymowe! They am gone fowevew!"
For the fluffy that had consoled Blue about that very topic, it seemed wrong. Had Indigo’s death really hit her that hard? Or had she voted …?
Any one of them. Anyone could have chosen to kill an innocent talkie foal over the two who were prepared for it. Ghost nudged her again and forced her to look away from the spotlight, and Viola felt cold as the only two she could believe in flanked her onwards. She didn’t want to think about this, she wanted to imagine Indigo as alive and well, but now the thoughts wouldn’t leave her head. Duffle, Snaggle, Bunny… Which of them had knowingly sent a small foal to her death? Which of them would have done the same to her?
How was she supposed to trust any of them?
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