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Rainbow Game, Room 7
Sinking
Something was wrong with Snaggle.
She was the last to leave the voting room, carrying Indigo’s ball despite what she had told Blue, but that wasn’t the wrong part - everyone else was a little bit wrong too if that was all it took. The way Lolo and Ghost wouldn’t let Viola get near anyone else, the way Blue no longer carried Toy Boat’s ball, the way Bunny hyperventilated in a corner of the small room they were in. Even the room itself was a bit “wrong”, placing them on a ledge like in the first challenge room but now having glass walls to prevent falling off.
But what made Snaggle wrong was worse. She was trembling and quietly talking to herself, glancing over and over to a spot where nothing was. “Nu cwy… Pwease nu cwy.”
It didn’t sound aimed at herself. It didn’t sound aimed at anyone else, either. So who was she talking to?
Lolo nudged Viola away from looking at the red mare. “Ghost,” she said quietly, seemingly just to fill the air. “… Yu am bat fwuffy, wight?”
Ghost flinched, answering the question before he even said anything. “Wha … how yu know dat?”
“Othew wingy fwuffies nu haf shawp teeths ow dawk eyesies,” Lolo pointed out and the white stallion deflated.
“… Pwease nu be scawed.”
The old mare shook her head, and in turn Viola piped up. “What am bat fwuffy? Am dat … bad?”
“Nu am bad,” assured Lolo. “Jus’… Diffewent. Haf wingies dat nu am fwuffy, an’ can see in dawkie pwaces. But some fwuffies think dat am scawy.”
Viola tilted her head. It made no sense at all to her; a fluffy that didn’t need a night-light, that wasn’t scared of the dark? That was someone more brave than her or her sisters or even her mummah, someone that could fight off darkness monsters! What reason could anyone have to be scared of that? “… Dose fwuffies am dummy.”
“Dey am,” Lolo nodded, this agreement seeming to ease Ghost’s mind. A thought crossed Viola’s mind; the reason Ghost had no wingies, was it to hide him being a batfluff? Who had taken them? Was it other fluffies, or–?
“Hey?” Blue asked as it stopped in the middle of the platform, having wandered aimlessly to explore. “What fwuffies do nao?”
Oh, right. The door they had come through was closed, but there was no other exit. There was no big screen for daddy to appear on either, and nothing had happened to tell them where to go. It gave them a badly needed rest, a short time to breathe out and recuperate from what had happened before, but they were trapped.
Then there was a whirring sound, and almost as if in response to Blue’s question, the floor fell away. Viola squealed as she found herself in free fall, only to land with a splash that filled her open mouth with liquid.
Water! In a panic the young mare tried to scream and flailed to get back to the surface, the water stinging her eyes and blocking her senses. She couldn’t breathe! She couldn’t swim, she could feel herself touch the surface but couldn’t quite get out and every attempt to yell just made her choke on more and more liquid.
What felt like a lifetime turned out to only be seconds before Ghost hauled her out, leaving the violet youth coughing and retching in his grip. His unbroken fang was piercing her scruff, keeping her securely in place above the surface, and Viola hung limp until Lolo transfered her onto the batfluffy’s back.
Only then, after Lolo pushing on her body had made Viola vomit out all the water she’d swallowed, did the young mare manage to recover her senses and look at what became of the other fluffies. It seemed like everyone else was tall enough to stand in the water; Bunny and Snaggle had managed to land upright, while Duffle pulled the submerged Blue’s head out of the water, finally clearing Toy Boat’s blood from the blue unicorn’s fur. Everyone was okay, and the multicolored toy balls were light enough to float.
“Yu otay?” Lolo asked, soaked up to the ears - her legs must have given out when she landed - and made a motion to grab Viola from Ghost’s back. “Hewe, Wowo wiww cawwy.”
“But yu weggies am weak,” Ghost replied and shifted aside, his words seeming to almost hurt the yellow mare. “Nu stwong enuff tu cawwy fwuffies.”
Having regained her breath, and trying to avoid any more arguments, Viola chimed in. “Wowo can cawwy Viowa baww?” she suggested, looking around and seeing her ball float in the water. “Dat nu am heavy, an’ am just as impowtant.”
Lolo soon relented, though somewhere along the way, the idea changed slightly. As the trio began to move, Lolo carried her own and Ghost’s balls, while Ghost carried Viola and her ball. The little mare held the wooden ball in a gentle hug, having carefully positioned herself so as not to aggravate Ghost’s wingy scars, but with nothing else to do she instead took in her surroundings.
It was strange. If this was a challenge room, it seemed weirdly easy. Sure, the fluffies had to wade, but the water went no higher than an adult fluffy’s tail. And there were no obstacles, all they had to do was cross the water and reach the dry platform on the other side, where the door was.
The only fluffies that could possibly have struggled with this challenge were Viola herself, and … Indigo… Viola tried to shake the reminder off before it could take hold, instead focusing on the other fluffies. Thankfully, the water seemed to make it easier on Lolo’s hurt leg, so she could keep up easily… But the effects of that vote were still clear. Duffle was offering to carry Bunny but the bunfluff vehemently shook his head and then fled onward alone. Snaggle was trailing behind, more focused on talking to herself than with keeping up.
And then of course, Blue was moving ahead recklessly. It was the only one unaffected by Indigo’s loss, and as Viola watched, the blue fluffy cheerfully fell into the water and disappeared.
What?
Before she could figure out what had happened, Ghost suddenly lurched sideways and Viola was thrown off his back. She splashed into the water, clinging to her wooden ball as it landed below her, but on the first bob it slipped out of her hooves and the young mare found herself below the surface once more. She fumbled and flailed for any kind of grip as she fell, her front legs hooking onto some kind of ledge rather than her ball. What was happening? She couldn’t see and her voice was choked by the flood of liquid filling her lungs.
The garbled sound of Lolo screaming reached her ears, and then Viola was dragged out of the depths once more. She coughed and gasped in the old mare’s grip, held just above the surface as Lolo squeezed her body tight to force the water out.
Ghost was only just pulling himself out of the water as Viola regained her senses, shaking fat droplets from his head and coughing. Had he… slipped? Some distance away, Duffle had managed to pull Blue up by the scruff and carried it in his mouth like a much too large foal. How did two fluffies slip and fall at the same time? Viola retched and shuddered, trying to make sense of it all.
“What am yu doing?” Lolo hissed to Ghost even though he was still catching his breath. “Be mo’ cawefuw! How yu nu see big howe?”
Big… hole? Viola looked down at the water below her, noting a big, dark block shape on the floor between Lolo and Ghost. He was right by the edge of it, and Viola just above the other end… Was that… a hole? What she had caught onto – the reason her hind legs couldn’t find purchase – was it because that was a hole?!
“Nu see,” Ghost murmured guiltily as his breathing stabilized. “Tuu bwight… Nu see howes.”
It felt unfair to blame him for it, but it seemed Lolo didn’t share Viola’s sentiment on the matter as she pushed the filly onto her own back. “Wowo wiww cawwy Viowa… Ghost cawwy bawws an’ fowwow Wowo.”
“Ghost can cawwy…”
“Nu.”
Viola felt bad, but what could she do? Would it really be okay for Lolo to carry Viola? She could feel the tremble of the old mare’s leg as it tried to keep steady with the extra weight, even just standing still. “Bu’ Wowo’s weggie haf huwties…”
“Wowo wi–”
“STAHP IT!!” rang through the room, and the trio froze in place before looking back. That was Snaggle. She was behind everyone else, but even so had swiveled around to glare behind her; still looking at nothing.
“Snaggwe…?” Lolo asked breathlessly. It wasn’t just Viola’s group; Bunny had stopped in place to look back, and Duffle was staring with even Blue paying attention from the fluffalo’s grip.
“Indigo am onwy babbeh!” Snaggle argued with herself. “Jus’ stahp!”
What? Viola’s heart dropped, and everything fell dead silent. Not even the water made any sound until Snaggle turned around, finding all eyes on her and freezing. For a few seconds she just stood there, opening and closing her mouth in an attempt to say something, her eyes darting between the other fluffies before stopping on an empty spot between them. “A-Ah…”
The spell was broken by the loud splash of Bunny starting to rush forward, and Viola found herself snatched by Ghost.
“If Wowo weggie bweak, Viowa wiww faww back in wawa…” he spoke softly, addressing the still shell-shocked Lolo. “Ghost wiww be cawefuw. If Wowo wead the way, nu wiww faww again.”
The old mare nodded mutely. Snaggle’s outburst seemed to have killed any drive to argue about who carried what, and the trio fell silent once more as they carefully waded between dark pits. Behind them, Viola could still hear Snaggle speak to herself. Blue was saying something too, trying to address Duffle, but got no response.
It all felt so strange and numb. Nobody was going to Snaggle to ask what was wrong, nobody was addressing the things she had said. The rift caused by Indigo’s loss was making everyone distant and it made Viola’s chest hurt, quietly asking who they would lose next.
When they finally reached the other side of the water and climbed onto the dry platform, being able to touch ground was a mixed feeling. Viola was set down near the door but still wasn’t allowed to move freely, Ghost staying by her side as Lolo placed their balls into the hole near the wall. But even when all their balls had been placed and Ghost tried to go through the door, nothing happened. It didn’t open.
In the moments of silence that followed, Viola took note of Bunny lying pressed against the wall. He must have put in his ball, too, and wasn’t dealing well with its lack of effect.
“Doow nu am wowking…” Ghost whispered as Lolo returned to the duo. Duffle was just arriving with Blue, dropping the unicorn as he went to place in the black and blue balls, and for a moment Ghost seemed as though he would stop the fluffalo. Lolo held up a hoof to prevent him.
“Maybe doow onwy open when aww fwuffies am done,” she suggested. “Nee’ wait and see.”
Snaggle was the last to arrive, her steps slow and shaky. Viola thought she looked pale, wanting to go ask and check on her, but with Ghost and Lolo so close she coudn’t. Instead she only watched as Snaggle gently placed her ball into the hole, the red mare careful not to put in the gray or purple balls she also carried.
And nothing happened.
The seconds of silence soon grew into a sense of dread. Was something wrong? Had they all put the balls into the wrong hole? Bunny pushed lightly on the door while Viola tried to find any hints. No monitor, no pretty images to tell them what to do, no Daddy’s voice. What was going on?
“Nu …” Lolo gasped quietly. “Nu can be … cowow button, wight?”
A color button? Like in the saferoom from before? Viola looked out at the water with wide eyes; this room was colorless… No, it couldn’t be, where would a button even be?
Snaggle snapped to attention, her gaze following something unseen as she looked out across the water. “Toy Boat?”
The name caught Blue’s attention and as Snaggle waded back into the water, following something that wasn’t there, the unicorn followed. The others all just watched, equal amounts baffled and concerned, except for Bunny whose stare carried a grief-filled understanding.
“… Hewe?” Snaggle asked nobody as she stopped, looking down at the water. There was a dark square - it was one of the pits. “Thewe am wed wightie…”
“Wawa fwen?” asked Blue, staring at the light. “Am fwen down thewe?”
Snaggle glanced to the unicorn, for a few seconds silent, but for some strange reason she nodded. “Nee’ - nee’ find sumfing tu hit button. Am tuu faw down.”
“Fwuffy hewp,” smiled Blue. Everyone realized what was about to happen at the same time; but before anyone could get a word in, the unicorn stepped onto the dark square and vanished from sight.
“NU!” Snaggle screamed in panic and somehow caught hold of its tail, trying to yank Blue back out, but she just wasn’t strong enough and despite her efforts the tangled blue tail soon slipped out of her mouth. “NU! NU!! NU NU NU NU!!”
Duffle rushed into the water as soon as Blue disappeared but he couldn’t get there in time, the unicorn long gone by the time he was even halfway. The door opened with a little beep and Bunny sprang through it without a single look back, wound up into an utter panic by Snaggle’s screams, while Viola’s group was paralyzed with shock. Snaggle herself just stood there shaking, wide-eyed and staring down at the hole in the ground as her cries became breathless, horrified gasps, not even reacting to the door having opened. She held her hooves over her ears and just stared. Then, suddenly, her legs gave out and she disappeared into the water.
Duffle managed to reach her in time, grabbing hold of her scruff and hauling her up, but the red mare just hung limply as he slowly dragged her back to dry land. She wasn’t moving. She wasn’t looking at anyone. Even as they reached the rest of the group Snaggle’s eyes were unfocused, hooves over her ears, breathing in shallow gasps.
Stunned silent, Lolo shakily nudged Viola to leave. Viola didn’t want to, she wanted to stay and help Snaggle, but nevertheless she was left to let Duffle handle it as Lolo and Ghost pushed her through the door.
Bunny laid in the hallway beyond, and as the trio passed by him Viola got far too good a look at the bunfluff. He had bitten through and ripped off half his ear but even that wasn’t enough to calm him; instead he was feverishly biting at one of his legs, teeth sinking into the furred limb until blood welled out. And seeing this, seeing how Lolo and Ghost were trying to just pass him by without looking, caused something in Viola to snap. Blue was gone, Snaggle was broken, Bunny was breaking, and nobody was doing anything about it. No. No!
Viola tore free from her guardians and sprang into Bunny’s side, latching onto him in the tightest hug she could give. “Nu huwties!”
The green bunfluffy flinched as though he had been shot. Viola didn’t care, she just hugged onto him as tight as she could until his forelegs wrapped around her and he curled into a ball, sobbing loudly. And though she hesitated, soon Lolo gave in and laid herself across Bunny as well, helping Viola form a makeshift fluffpile that Ghost didn’t quite dare join.
“Am sowwy,” Bunny blubbered helplessly. “Nu mean vote, nu wook, vote puwpwe - Bunny vote puwpwe …”
He had voted wrong. He had voted Indigo, hadn’t he? He was part of the reason she was gone now. But Viola didn’t care; they’d lost Indigo and it had lost them Blue and Snaggle too. She didn’t want to lose Bunny to it too! For that one vote to ruin so many things!
“It otay,” she whispered and nestled as deep into Bunny as she could. “V-Viowa voted Bunny tuu. It otay. Pwease nu mowe bities…”
It wasn’t warm or soft. Bunny was cold and wet, just like Viola herself, just like Lolo and everyone that had gone through that awful water. Behind them Duffle had caught up, hesitating and then placing the still-unresponsive Snaggle onto the floor before carefully laying himself around the small fluffpile. The closest to being dry, yet still so cold and silent.
But it was the best they could do for now.
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