The Unseen Darkness

For weeks now Ponies have been disappearing, Snatched from their beds, off Streets, At the dead of night or on a crowded street in broad daylight, young and old gone. All that was left behind at each scene was a playing card (queen of hearts, five of spades ect.)


Dripping sounds slowly woke Sweet Dream from the darkness of her dreams. "W-What happened...Where am I?" She says looking around. She seemed to be in a room of some sort, the tiles cracked and covered in dirt and grim.

The only light was coming from a flickering light bulb hanging from the ceiling. Sweets spotted something on the floor. "What is that?" She says getting closer. "A Letter?" She says and picks it up.

Dear, Sweet Dreams

Welcome to my home, I have chosen you for a little game of mine. Don’t worry we'll have other to play with also. Now for the expiations.

Once you leave this room, you will need to find the other players together you will solve puzzles and riddles together. Doesn't that sound like fun?! As you advance the puzzles will become harder. Now on back of this letter is a playing card.

Each time you fail one of the puzzles or try to cheat, part of this card will burn up the harder the riddle the more will burn up. If it burns up...Well...let’s try and not let that happen alright? Good Luck and be careful who you trust.

Nurse Dark Heart


Sweets turned the letter over and see a card taped to the back "The Queen of Hearts..?" She says pulling it off the letter. Just after pulling it off she hears a clicking sound behind her.

Spinning around she sees a door that seems to have just been unlocked. "I swear that door wasn't there a second ago.." She walks towards it slowly, taking a deep breath she slowly walks out.

Doodle rapidly cantered through the halls now terrified of what is to come, who she would meet or who she would run into. Her hooves noisily clicking against the grimy tiles made her realize she would be heard. Rapidly, she unfurled her wings and launched into the air using her powerful back legs then giving her wings a couple of mighty downward yet frantic thrusts to get airborne.

In her mouth clenched tightly in her teeth was the foolish black joker card. Oh what horrible thing did I get myself into this time? She wondered And who the sam heck is Nurse Dark Heart? "W-where am I?" She cried as she continued rapidly down the hall.

Sweet dreams slowly walked down the hallls "This place seems so sad.." She says slowly walking down the halls, being careful of the IV stands and wheelchairs scattered all along the halls.

Sweets suddenly hears the flapping of wings, she slowly turns around and is suddenly knocked off her hooves by something. After the dust settles Sweets looks up into the eyes of a pegasi mare. "U-um Hello."

"Ahh!" Doodle shrieked as she tumbled to the ground and her card shot out of her mouth. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I'm just doing everything I can to try and get out of this freaky place!" She slowly got up then helped Sweet up, "My name is Doodle Bug, What's-wait... Sweet? Aren't you Recurve's mare friend? I met you at the bowling alley a few months back."

"So uh... where are we at? Like a hospitaly type place? Wouldn't this place be ... you know more sanitary?" She asked knocking some of the grime off of her hooves.

"Doodle!" She says hugging her tightly "Its so good to see a friendly face in such a sad place." She says looking around "I think its some sort of an asylum...You know a place for the mentaly "Insane"? She says running a hoof upon the dirt covered wall. "This place is old...Much older then any I've ever seen..." She turns to Doodle "Well come on Lets try to find some others around here..."

Gemini walked slowly down the hall, his hooves clip-clopping with each step, seeming to echo out around the walls as he walked. He was trying his best to remain calm, but his breathing was somewhat shaky as he looked at his surroundings. In his mouth he held the seven of diamonds, his wings twitching and remaining shut at his side as his bright green eyes darted back and forth along the hallway.

Rosella looked around frantically, clutching the letter between her hooves. The nine of hearts poked out from behind her hooves.

"Hello?" she called, checking her body for her saddlebag, where she had packed a carving knife -- but it was empty. "Is anypony there?"

She tucked the card and the letter into the bag, buckling it shut and carefully edging towards the door.

"Blindsight? Are you there?"

Last she had remembered, she was sitting on a bench in Canterlot with the blind zebra, eating fancy cupcakes and ponywatching. She missed her companion greatly, and that terrifying feeling in her scarred chest stirred. Rose was taking over again... and it was not a good sign.

"Where are you?!" she cried.

Song walked slowly down the hall hanging her head. She carried with her a single playing card. She had torn the note and left her room in fear. Her card, the 2 of dimonds was floating in the air beside her. She was in some sort of asylum... She wasn't crazy though. She saw a group of ponies gathering and slowly slipped over to them. "Um... Hi... Do any of you know where we are...?" She asked quietly.

Doodle looked around and watched ponies coming towards them. "Um hi guys! My name is Doodle Bug, what's y'all's? Um I guess there's more ponies captured than I thought." She walked over and picked up her card then put it under her wing.

"Let's get out of here quickly, I don't want to know what type of freaky 'game' this Nurse Dark Heart wants us to play! I ain't having it! I'll buck these freaking walls down if I have to!"

"Not even two seconds after those words left Doodle bugs mouth when a rather large rather sharp sword fell not even three inches from her. The strangest thing would have to of been the brightly colored Earth pony sitting on the handle top, sipping tea.

His face covered in scares and stitches. He wore a brightly colored vest. With an even more vivid top hat, on the brim of said top hat sat a slightly charred and yellowing Two of Hearts. "I wouldn't try bucking down these walls. Miss Heart would think that is cheating."

He says disappearing into a wisp of smoke and reappearing in front of her giving her a close look at his most terrifying feature, his eyes. The Blackened orbs that were his eyes stared into hers. Not an inch of white was seen in the darkness of his eyes.

The only color were his pupils were a fiery red.”Nopony likes Cheaters. " He says softly not once blinking."

Sweet Dreams had stumbled back at the arrive of this strange new pony "Who a-are you?" She asks stepping back and pulling Doodle with her. At this the strange pony smiles and somehow appears standing on his hind legs on the handle of his giant sword.

Taking of his top hat and bowing low somehow still standing on the handle. "My dear ponies, My name is Gamble." He says smiling.


(My My this was much longer then I thought.)

Gemini blinks as he watches the strange pony from where he stood, a few steps back from everypony else." Well, if nopony likes cheaters, why do you get a sword and the rest of us don't? If that isn't cheating, it's definitely an unfair advantage." He says in as calm a voice as he can before making a low sigh, finally calming down.

((I guess it's my turn?))

Rose quietly walked through the door, warily looking out of the corners of her eyes to see what she passed. A hospital gurney, wheelchairs, even an IV that had a dark substance in it that looked eerily of blood. She shuddered and continued her journey, speeding up when she heard voices coming from further down the hall.

She stopped abruptly when she saw the crowd of ponies. They all looked frightened, staring at the horrifyingly mutilated pony standing on the sword, but Rose ignored it completely as she stared at the dark blue unicorn before her. Her insides clenched painfully, and she felt at the heart-shaped scar on her chest as she stared, horrified, at the mare she considered to be the one to throw her into her state of misery.

"You," she muttered, staring daggers at Sweet Dreams. "Why, of all ponies, am I stuck here with you?"

((Mwahahaha I'm joining this crazy thing! With my crazy pony!))

Dawn skipped down the hall wondering what was going on around this new and strange place. She had gotten a cool card that had a joker on it. She didn't read the note because what was the point? Sure she loved to study but in a new and creepy place. She hopped in after a mare trotted in. She giggled and used her magic to poof up a rock. She named him after her owl named Whooter.

"Hi everypony! My name's Dawn and have you seen a male owl named Whooter? He seems to be missing. I miss him sooo much! Ooh, cool sword you got there!"

Song jumped back. "What are you?!?" She screamed. She pulled hersrlf together as another mare came in asking about an owl. "Umm... No? No owl around here I don't think?" She said confused by the mare's cheerfulness. She imediatly directed atention bacck to the stallion on the sword. "What do you want with us?" She questioned.

Doodle jumped back and stared at 'Gamble' or so he was called. "Wait! I have questions! How'd we get here, who's Nurse Dark heart? What is this game we're playing?" She reached to grab Gamble's vest but he vanished into a puff of smoke as soon as she put her hoof out.

"Well... that was... interesting?" Then he reappeared and she remained quiet.

Gamble looked over them all taking in all the questions "Well Mr Gemini I get this lovely sword because you see I am not a player of this game I am what you ponies call a..."Referee"..I make sure nopony cheats and you stay on the path that has been picked for this game..." He then turns to Doodle "As for how you were here. I was the one who brought you here...At the request of miss Heart of course. As for who she is I am not allowed to say...You will meet her sometime soon. This game? Why this is a game, A game from Miss Hearts entertainment, A game where you bet the one thing you don't want to lose. Your Lives!" And with that he vanishes sword and all his crazed laughter filling the halls.

Sweets turns to Rosella "I'm sorry?...Have we met?" She asks before her face turns to shock upon hearing why they all are here.

Gemini sighs as Gamble vanishes." Right...So if he's a referee...What are the rules to this 'game'? Any of you guys know?" He asks while beginning to fly above the ground, hovering in the air with a small yawn."Also, do you guys think we'd be able to find our way outside? It might help if we know where we are..."

"I wouldn't try," Rose answered darkly. "You heard what he said about cheating. We'd all end up with our heads mounted on stakes if we tried. We just have to fight our way through this with logic and common sense."

Recurve, Recurve, Recurve...


Fight your way out to Blindsight. You'll be okay if you see him again.


But if you die here... You never have to deal with the pain again.


Shut up, Rose. You already tried that, and that proved more painful than the emotion. I owe it to Blind to get out.


Rosella had fallen silent, her two personalities warring with each other inside of her mind. She frowned and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to get Rose to stop fighting her, but it was to no avail. Her eyes trained themselves on the ground, not daring to look up at Sweet Dreams again. It would just bring her to violence.

Song watched eerypony speak. The stallion and the sword had vanished. She puzzled and tried to make sence of the matter. "If we follow their instructions... We may wind up dead. But if we don't... We die no matter what." She muttered to herself. "Well I for one am going to try and beat this 'game'..." She stated quietly holding the card she had found in front of her and examining it. It looked just like a normal playing card no matter how she looked at it.

The words hit Doodle like a ton of bricks baked in acid. "D-die... D-d-death? OHNOOHNO! WHAT AM I GETTING MYSELF INTO! I GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" Doodle darted away from the crowd in a desperate attempt to escape only to run into a dead end. She then mentally slapped herself. Oh great, now I look like a total coward in front of everypony... that's just great... nice going DB.

She then casually trotted back to the group as if nothing happened.

Sweets looked at all the ponies "I think we should stick together...That way we have a better chance of getting out of here.. She said before slowly taking a few steps down the hall down the hall."This way looks safe enough..."

Gemini shrugs a bit, looking at the other hallways before taking a step to follow." Yes, well so do the rest of the hallways, but it's clear that appearances might mean nothing here....Still wish I had a sword or something though..."

Rosella followed reluctantly, keeping her eyes on the ground as her hooves made louder clicks on the floor than anypony else's. she figured it couldn't be that bad, if something happened... Unless their attacker happened to be using a white-hot sword or a large hammer, not much could get through her crystalline skin.

"I'll go in front," she volunteered. "I don't really care if I live through this, and I have better defenses then you guys. It's okay. We'll probably be fine, anyways."