[SYNOPSIS: The crew failed to host a game on April Fool's Day last year, so they're psyched to do it now! But it turns out that things in the lobby are about to get wild...ESPECIALLY with Sheriff in the lobby this time around.]

[Location: The Skeld]

____________________________________________________________

"Dum, I get that it's April Fool's Day, but do ALL of the pranks you pull on me have to be food-related?"

"Uh, yeah, maybe you've got a point...Sorry I replaced your almond milk with a salt and corn starch slurry. I thought the Lucky Charms would help to keep it from tasting TOO bad."

"Well, you better hope I hear the end of it from Dad after what happened."

It was safe to say that the Playson family had an eventful April Fool's Day breakfast. Player thought he'd seen the end of it when he witnessed his mother's gag of swapping his dad's coffee for cola completely backfire on her when he pretended to take absolutely no notice, which ended in her wondering if she'd messed it up and trying a sip from the mug herself. But the most disruptive part was when Player took a bite out of his cereal and got that unexpected salty punch from Dum's fake milk.

"Uh, well, at least you didn't spit any out onto Dad's food!"

"Yeah, like it could've been much worse...I suspected that egg on his plate was fake too, so that might've even done him a favor."

"What do you mean? Do you think it was...cake?"

"Mom's been watching a lot of Sidesurf Cake videos over the past week," Player replied as he headed into his room and sat down at his computer desk. "I wouldn't put it past her."

He sighed heavily...At LEAST the fiasco was over, and he could forget about it by logging onto Captain's lobby.

"Hey, are you gonna join us later?" Player asked. "I know you said you had to do a couple extra things around the house today, but you might be able to get on when you're done."

"Yeah, that's true. I'll see what I can do," Dum told him. "Oh, I better go wash up. Tell me if anything juicy happens!"

"Will do. I'd probably expect it."

With that, Dum left her brother's room, and the red crewmate opened up Among Us and cracked his knuckles as he looked at the loading screen with anticipation.

...But what he noticed once everything came into view caused him to do a double take.

"Huh...? Why do all the floating crewmates have...?"

The sight of what looked to be four-legged crewmates floating across the menu was BIZARRE. Was this supposed to be some sort of glitchy backdrop? Well, Player figured it didn't really matter as long as the gameplay didn't change.

"If the Skeld map really is backwards like it was the year before last, then I hope I can navigate the place alright," Player said to himself as he put in the lobby code Captain had put out for that week. One press of the enter button later, the menu faded to black and he was immersed into the game.

...A dark void surrounded him from in all directions, inky black and deathly silent.

What the...?

Player knew now that something was different. He could see nothing, hear nothing. But he felt...something. What was this strange tingly feeling he was-?

"GAAGH!"

He lurched forward, a surge of pain washing over him. He gasped and sputtered for air, wincing as his spine stretched and elongated. His feet did the same, reaching out to the length of his calves in a matter of seconds. And the same happened to his hands, and even his FACE felt like it was stretching far beyond what it should. He couldn't feel his finger or toes anymore except for the center ones, which now felt large, thick and heavy. His nostrils flared as he panicked, and his ears pricked back. Player finally opened his mouth and tried to scream.

...But what came out instead was a long, rippling whinny.

He recognized that sound anywhere. But for it to have come out of HIM? Was he actually...?

A sound came from somewhere in the void, and Player's ears instinctively pointed up. The spawn sound. Was this nightmare finally over?

He felt his back hooves plant themselves against some form of ground, and he tried to maintain his stance as he saw his surroundings form around him. It was the lobby! Finally he made it! But he was threatening to fall forward...He flailed his forelegs out in an attempt to keep himself steady, but with little success; Player fell to all fours and stayed that way.

...Just like everyone else.

Wait. EVERYONE ELSE was a horse too!?!

"What the...!? What the heck is going on!?" he hollered, the faintest indication of a neigh still emerging from the back of his throat as he spoke...None of his peers seemed especially bothered by the situation, to his confusion.

"Dude, relax," Veteran said to him. "This is all part of the April Fool's mode."

"Agh...it is?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it; we'll all go back to normal once we leave. Turns out they did the horse thing last year, but, uh...we missed it."

"Did we?" Player huffed, still trying to calm himself. "Ah..."

As he looked down at what were once his hands, he felt the anxious twitching of a tail at the base of his long, slightly arched spine, which alone was enough to spook him all over again.

"Oh man Veteran, I am FREAKING OUT here!"

"Mr. Player, I mean no offense, but might I inquire why you are the only one out of all of us who is not yet used to the sudden rapid changes we go through when we engage in altered gameplay such as this?"

Player turned to face the crewmate standing behind him, and in doing so nearly tripped the both of them with his wobbly back legs.

"ACK! Aw, jeez, sorry TheGentleman, I'm not..."

He trailed off as he stared up at the MASSIVE figure that TheGentleman had become. Behind the glass of his visor, Player could just barely make out the shape of a large white star between the Shire's eyes.

"Understandable that you're starting off unbalanced," the black crewmate continued. "But as I was saying, I would think such is to be expected at this point, given past games."

"I dunno, TheGentleman, I...well, with the medieval mod it's a little more expected, 'cuz you gotta look at the roles beforehand, but this just came off as a complete surprise to me."

"Hey at least you guys got to be tall. If anything I shrank a little, heh heh."

Player blinked when he saw MrCheese step out from behind TheGentleman. He'd become so small compared to him...well, compared to ALL of them honestly, he hadn't even noticed him there.

"MrCheese, I will make you aware that what you've lost in height has been made up for in length and weight, most certainly. You may be short, but you're still built like a TANK compared to your normal form."

"Quite so, quite so," MrEgg agreed, trotting over. "And given a quadrupedal stance, that e-neigh-bles all of us to get around and finish our tasks quicker."

Veteran threw his head back in disdain.

"Oh my God, dude, that's so terrible..."

"Hmm..." Captain hummed in response. "I would say that the atmosphere in the lobby is becoming un-stable, but given that we're all horses, I'd say the dropship might as well be one."

"Uh-oh. It's spreading..." the crowned crewmate lamented. "Ugh...Well, at least you're still sane enough to not partake in the pun fest, right Player?"

"About as sane as I can be..." Player shrugged. "So uh, when are we gonna start?"

"Cap's configurin' the settings right now, buckaroos," Sheriff stated, hooves clopping against the metal floor as he approached. "Oh, and Player. We're doin' somethin' a lil' different today. You ever play Hide and Seek mode on here?"

"I've heard of it," he replied. "But, uh, can't say I have. I usually stick to the classic mystery-solving mode."

"Well we're playin' Hide and Seek here t'day, just givin' you the heads-up," the tan-suited crewmate informed him. "...So I hear, they made a few cosmetic and music changes for this April Fool's. I'm keen to see what's in store."

"That does sound pretty interesting," Player nodded in agreement. "Well, even if we are...horses, I can't say I'm against shaking things up again."

"Haww..."

The envious-sounding bray came from directly behind Player, and he turned to come face to face with a shorter equine figure in brown, a familiar roll of toilet paper situated on one of his long ears.

"Uh...PoopyFarts? Is that you?"

"Yeah, it looks like he got the short end of the stick," Veteran remarked. "Poor guy looks like he just got back from a vacation on Pleasure Island."

The brown crewmate blew another raspberry and turned away, unamused by the comment.

"Well, at least he's bigger than MrCheese," Player figured. "Hey Captain, are we full yet? We've got what, ten people here so far?"

"Twelve, actually!" the host corrected him. "We had those two show up just after you got here!"

He pointed a hoof towards the back end of the lobby, and Player craned his neck to see...

"Uh...Who are those guys?"

"Oh yes, I nearly forgot with all the fuss going on!" TheGentleman spoke up again. "We've apparently got some newcomers to the lobby today, Mr. Player."

First, he pointed over to the horse in the blue suit with one of his front hooves.

"This strapping Siberian fellow you see here is Ivan. He hails from northern Russia, and I must say that he's quite charming, even in spite of his...less than capitalistic viewpoints. Fortunately, neither of us are much to jammer on about politics."

"So, you are Player fellow this fancy man speaks of, да? Nice to see you, comrade!"

He then pointed to the smaller banana figure in the bushhat. Player could just barely make out a stripe pattern beneath the glass of the newcomer's visor.

"And this fine young lady is Safari. Don't be fooled by her bubbly demeanor, Mr. Player; she's told many a tale of adventuring through the Serengeti, so she likely knows her stuff when it comes to tense situations!"

"You got that right, Gent," she confirmed. "Only this time, I guess the roles would be reversed unless I'm lucky enough to get Impostor, ey?"

"Phew...Well, you guys seem pleasant enough," the red crewmate remarked. "A lot of the time when we have newcomers on board, things get kinda hectic. I'm not even going to bring up the ordeal with Blue and NotOrange..."

"Ha ha, yeah, good times huh?" Veteran chuckled. "Well we did get those two back in the end, didn't we?"

"Alright gang, let's get down to business!" Captain announced. "Player, since you're new to Hide and Seek, I'll run you through the basics really quick. Crewmates can vent, doing tasks makes the first countdown deplete and your goal is to survive to the end. Impostors can't vent, have no kill cooldown and get a speed boost after the first countdown. Got all that?"

"I think so."

"Excellent! Lock and load, everyone. Here comes the chaos..."

A moment later, the screen faded to black, and Player watched intently. Right after the shush screen played out, the Impostor for that round was revealed to him.

SHERIFF

"Heh. Fitting..."

He spawned into the Cafeteria a moment later, and the clamorous sound of hooves clopping against the metal tile floor of the Skeld rang out across the map as everyone made their way down to Admin...except for Sheriff.

Player kept watching him sway back and forth even as he was about to turn into Admin, curious as to what exactly was going on, but Veteran shoved him into the room with a swift fling of his powerful neck a moment later.

"Dude, get in there and swipe your card! Our 10 second head start is almost up!"

"Huh? Oh, right right! Yeah...Okay, I get it now."

He was pretty familiar with regular, in real life Hide and Seek, so it made sense that there would be a beginning countdown to allow everyone to disperse. So he made sure to get into the stack and swipe his card before Sheriff could-

"YeeeeeeeeHAAAWW!!"

"Aw shoot, here he comes!" MrCheese called out. "Let's make like a banana and peel out!"

By the time Player was able to respond to MrCheese's warning, he found himself in the middle of a stampede that was headed out of the room and into Storage. There, the herd dispersed; half of the crewmates went towards the front of the ship and Player's half headed into the lower hall, where it split up further into the Lower Engine and Electrical...By the time things had slowed down, the red crewmate found himself in the latter room alongside Captain and Ninja.

"Do you think we're safe for now?" Player asked.

"For now. But we need to be quick," Captain replied. "It's only a matter of time before Sheriff comes looking for all of us in here; this is usually one of the first rooms Impostors check in this game mode!"

"Oh, boy...Let's see, do I have any tasks in here...?"

Player took a peek at his list: Divert Power to Security. Okay, that wouldn't take too long! He just flipped the switch and turned around so he could...

...Wait. What was that sound?

"Uh, guys?"

Apparently, he wasn't the only one who heard it. Ninja was on the alert as he made his own power diversion.

"...なぜ、ボス音楽が聞こえるのか?"

"HE'S COMING!" Captain called out after peering around the corner. "Quick, vent, VENT!"

Captain was first, then Ninja, and then finally Player hopped in just before the lid could close.

...And JUST as Sheriff approached where they'd all been standing a second earlier. He got a good look at the Impostor through the holes in the vent lid.

"Wait...Sheriff looks normal again," he remarked. "Aside from the 'stache."

"Yeah, I know. He's technically called a Wrangler in this mode," the white crewmate explained to him. "Here, let's head to Medbay; he won't get to us for a while if he decides to head there! I've got to scan anyways..."

Ninja and Player nodded in agreement and followed Captain through the vent system.

"...Y'know, it's weird that we can still fit in these vents," the red crewmate noticed. "Aren't we a lot bigger now?"

"I was wondering that myself," Captain told him. "Hmm...Maybe the map got a little bigger too, so it could accommodate the whole 'everyone's a horse' thing?"

"Huh...guess that makes sense. Secondly, what's this thing below my task list?"

"That's your safety meter! It probably went up when Sheriff was getting closer before. It tells you how close the Impostor is; if they're close, the meter lights go up, change color depending on how close the Impostor is and the music intensifies!"

"How will I know when it's going off?"

"Oh, you'll know," the white crewmate assured him as he popped up in Medbay and planted his hooves against the floor again. "Trust me."

Captain wasted no time getting onto the scanner and starting it up. Player and Ninja made their way to the exit to keep watch.

"Are your meters going off at all?" Captain asked.

"いいえ、まだ何もありません," Ninja replied, shaking his head. "彼はおそらく、スケルドのフロントエンドに行ったのだろう."

Stoner has been captured.

The harsh splat and gong sounds rang out across the ship, and Player reared his head back in shock.

"What does that mean!?"

"It means Sheriff just snared his first horse," Captain informed him as he stepped off the scanner. "Let's move out, gang! If we head to the Cafeteria, we might be able to tell where Sheriff's headed from there!"

The red and purple horses nodded, Ninja taking the lead as the three made their way into the largest room on the ship with a brisk trot...Player spied Veteran at the download screen waiting for his task to finish up.

"Long tasks where you have to stand around are especially dangerous in Hide and Seek," Captain remarked. "Veteran, your download almost finished?"

"It's gonna be about five more seconds," he replied. "Oh, hey Player. How are things coming along with you?"

"I haven't got much done yet," Player told him, daring to peer into Weapons and around the corner.

"Well, I don't think anyone has; it's still pretty early. Good news is that since the timer keeps ticking down, you really don't have to finish everything in order to-"

The music suddenly began to intensify, and Player retracted right back into the Cafeteria with wide eyes.

"I think he's coming this way!"

"Everyone, to the back of the ship!" Captain called out, Player and Ninja following after him again in a rush...leaving Veteran behind.

"Wait, GUYS WAIT, MY DOWNLOAD ISN'T FINISHED YET-!"

"GOTCHA!"

A whinny sounded out from behind the trio, followed by a loud THUD accompanied by the signature gong and splat sound from before.

Veteran has been captured.

"Ouch..." Player hissed as they passed Medbay and entered the Upper Engine. "Do you think Sheriff knows we came this way?"

"Possibly," Captain said to him. "Here, I have to align the engine output. If you and Ninja have anything to do back here, now's the time."

"I just have to accept the power in Security."

Ninja just nodded and headed into the Reactor...It only took a handful of seconds for them to get their tasks for that area finished.

"How much time is left until the first countdown ends?" Player asked.

"Just look at the timer above your task list, Player. It should tell you!"

The red crewmate did as instructed to see how much longer they had left...55 seconds. Not quite as much as Player expected, but given that there was no kill cooldown for this game mode, he knew they'd be toast if they were found too soon.

"If Sheriff is going to follow us down this way, let's head to the front again!" Player suggested. "That should buy us some time."

"Excellent thinking, compadre!"

"悪くないアイデアだ. 試してみようか."

The small group kicked off into a gallop as they weaved their way through the lower hall and through Storage, then into Shields.

"Let me prime the shields really quick!" Captain called out, skidding to a halt to take care of said task.

"Hey, the countdown jumped to 40! It skipped a few seconds!" Player realized as Captain finished.

"That's what happens whenever you get one done," the white-clad figure explained as they headed up the front hall. "Though to be honest, I would skip the long tasks; they leave you vulnerable for a little too long, if you ask me."

"キャプテンさん、このゲームモードはやったことあるんですか?" Ninja piped up. "物事の仕組みがわかっているようですね."

"Player, did you get any of that?"

"Uh...I think he's asking something about the game?"

"He's asking if Captain's done this game mode before without us, dum-dum."

The voice came from a perturbed-looking MrCheese coming down from Weapons, TheGentleman not far behind.

"Oh, thanks MrCheese. How are the tasks coming along."

"Not bad. Except for the fact that feel stewpid now after trying to clean the O2 filter with my mouth since we don't have any hands."

"Well, I've just been using my nose to slide and tap things for the time being," Player told him.

"That's not the problem! The problem is that I ATE the leaves when I grabbed them!"

"Uh, ahem, yes he did," TheGentleman confirmed. "They actually didn't smell so bad, though, if I do say so myself."

"Seems like this horse thing is starting to get to people's heads..." Player realized. "Heh, l-let's finish up before we all forget how to speak and start looking for hay bales on this ship, alright guys?"

"Veerrry funny, Player. While you're at it, maybe Sheriff will saddle you when he-"

"Y'all talkin' 'bout me!?"

The voice came from Weapons, and the five horses turned just in time to see the tan-clad Wrangles sprinting their way at full speed.

"RUN FOR IT!!"

Player called out to his fellow crewmates and lead them down the way they came, through Storage, past Admin and into the Cafeteria again in an attempt to try and get Sheriff off their tails. MrCheese, who was at the back of the pack, looked behind him to see their pursuer winding up a lasso in his hand and preparing to launch it forward. In a last ditch effort to get away, the orange crewmate made a jump for it.

...Only to slip on the slick tile floor upon landing and falling FAR behind.

"Whooo! Looks like cheese is on the menu for me!" Sheriff cheered.

"MrCheese!"

TheGentleman skidded to a screeching halt himself and turned around, then CHARGED at Sheriff in an effort to ward him off, rearing up and readying to trample the Wrangler with his MASSIVE hooves.

"Gyack!"

MrCheese has been captured.

Sheriff was undeterred by the Shire's threatening posture, though, and ducked and tumbled out of the way as the black crewmate came down.

"Y'think I haven't dealt with rowdy broncos before!? Well, THINK AGAIN!"

The moment TheGentleman slammed his front hooves onto the floor again, the Wrangler threw his lasso and bound them together. The massive horse let out a panicked whinny as he fell to the floor aside his associate.

TheGentleman has been captured.

"Uh-oh. How many is that down so far?" Player asked.

"Four...Sheriff's good at his job, that's for certain."

"Uh, well at least we don't die in this horse mode thing, heh heh," MrCheese figured, still bound up on the floor and watching the survivors flee.

A low nicker sounded off from towards the back of the ship, catching the attention of the trio of red, white and purple...Ivan was down there in the Upper Engine, motioning for them to come over, so the three obliged and met him inside.

"Ivan. Good to see you still free," Captain smiled. "What's up?"

"There are places you can hide, it seems," he told them. "Spots the Impostor could miss if he doesn't look there; I've been here behind this engine nearly entire time thus far!"

"Wow. Surprised you can fit back there; you're almost as big as TheGentleman," Player pointed out. "Uh...height-wise, if you know what I mean."

"Oh, all this? Is muscle. On the both of us," Ivan nodded proudly. "I recommend spots in far corners or places without many tasks. Safari says she went to hide towards front, so you may see her there."

"いい考えだ、コミュ障," Ninja nodded. "私は隠すのが得意なので、簡単なはずです."

"О, Боже. Можем ли мы теперь оставить шутки о Второй мировой войне в прошлом? Мы же не воевали в них, верно?"

"待てよ、日本語がわかるのか?"

"И вы понимаете по-русски?"

"Welp, I'm officially lost now," Captain decided. "Player, you wanna see if we can find a couple spots to hang out? There's a chance we could wait out the timer for long enough to win this!"

"Let's see."

He looked up at the timer; 25 seconds left, and just when he took a peek he saw his safety meter begin to turn blue at its left end...Faint footsteps could be heard coming up from the Lower Engine, and they sounded more like two feet than four.

"Ivan, I suggest all four of us flee the scene. Sheriff might decide to peek in that corner where you were at and catch you!"

"Maybe...Is probably good idea to 'shake things up' as people say, is that not right Player?"

"Sounds right. Come one now, let's go before he hears us!"

With that said, the lot of them fled to the Cafeteria, Player keeping his eye on the safety meter the entire time...It dropped back down to zero by the time they made it out of the back area of the Skeld, so he figured they had a little time to figure things out.

"Does anyone have any short tasks left?" he asked.

"I have one: stabilize steering in Navigation," Ivan told them. "If that will help timer go down, then will do."

"Ha! Stable-ize steering...I just came back from doing the same myself."

MrEgg trotted in from Weapons with a satisfied smile.

"And that was my last one, too."

"Might wanna head back that way," Player told him. "If I'm correct, Sheriff's probably going to be coming from the Medbay hall looking for us. Ivan will accompany you back there, okay?"

"Well we are getting into the final seconds of the first phase," MrEgg nodded in agreement. "One more push should do the trick. Let's hurry, Ivan!"

The blue and pink-clad crewmates separated from the others to take care of business, so Player turned to Captain and Ninja once again.

"Alright guys. I think it's time we split up. Sheriff's faster than he looks, so let's use the vents as much as we can to stay hidden if we know he's coming."

"But we only have a limited number of vents per person; three this round, to be exact," Captain said to him, leading the trio out of Caf and down the front hall to keep the Wrangler off their tails. "Once you use them all up, they're sealed shut for good until the round ends."

"HAAWWWW!!"

The disconcerted bray came from the familiar brown image of PoopyFarts coming up from Shields, hooves anxiously prancing on the tile as he stood in place.

"'That's information you could have used earlier,' you say?" Captain asked him. "Why, did you run out of vents?"

"*hee* HAW *hee* HAAWW! Thbbrrrrbb...BRAAWW!!"

"He's coming this way from Storage!? But we just saw him heading up from the Lower Engine not long ago!"

"保安官は私たちが向かう先を予測し、不意を突くように振り向いたのだろう," Ninja surmised. "戻ってカフェテリアで二手に分かれることにしましょう."

He motioned for the others to follow him, and Player and Captain did so without any hesitation. PoopyFarts tailed behind them for a few steps, but broke off into Navigation once he came upon the turn; he hoped that Sheriff would continue to pursue the group of three and leave his hiding spot in the corner of the cockpit alone.

"Ooooooh, y'all are crafty, ain't 'cha?" he remarked. "Must've gone up back the way you came. Well, I'm gonna find one of you eventually..."

PoopyFarts listened closely, ears tuned and heart racing as he listened to Sheriff's footsteps grow softer, then suddenly fade entirely...

"...Do you suppose he's gone?"

The donkey looked up to see Ivan and MrEgg in the room, hidden in the opposite corner from him.

"Hopefully," Ivan replied to his pink companion. "Agh, why did I ever agree to this game mode? It's nerve-wracking, it is..."

"Out of everything I expected to happen today, I never would have anticipated myself being squeezed into the corner by a massive draught such as yourself."

"Hey!"

"Oh, hay is for horses, Ivan. Now pipe down, or else Sheriff might hear us and-"

"SURPRISE, MOTHERBUCKERS!"

A series of panicked brays, shrieks and whinnies flooded the cockpit as the Wrangler ambushed the hidden crewmates, and one by one they fell before him within no more than a matter of seconds.

PoopyFarts has been captured.

Ivan has been captured.

MrEgg tried to make a break for it as Sheriff finished tying Ivan's legs together, leaping out of Navigation with his eyes set on Shields. But when he tried to land, his legs failed to catch him.

...They'd already been bound.

MrEgg has been captured.

"Got ya!"

"Hey!"

"It's like you said, egghead: hay's for horses!"

Sheriff left them there on the floor as he took off into the Cafeteria...Far ahead of him, making their way down the back hall and towards Storage, were Player, Captain and Ninja, still in tight formation.

"It's time we split up!" the red crewmate announced. "Ninja, you go hide in the corner of Comms! Captain, you go to the top of the Cafeteria, but make sure he's not nearby when you go up there!"

"What about you, compadre?"

"I still have to figure that out. But you two go! Now!"

They wasted no time breaking their formation once the trio passed Comms; Ninja made a sharp turn and skidded to a quick stop in small room, standing parallel to the doorway in case he had to bolt back out again.

"あぁ..." he huffed, shaking his head and snorting discontentedly. "...なんだか堂々巡りをしているような気がします."

"First time in this game mode, huh buddy?"

Ninja's ears perked, and he turned his head back to see another figure in a banana suit standing in the far corner against the shelves.

"It ain't easy when you start out, I can tell ya that. But given that we've made it this far already says that we're gettin' the hang of it, right?"

"そんな風に思えるのです," Ninja shrugged.

"Guess it's a good thing I got paired up with you instead of someone louder; we don't need Sheriff comin' across us just because he picked up on one too many noises from our end...Best we lay low."

"まあ... 他の人たちにも期待しよう."

Time seemed to slow down for the remaining crewmates...The timer had only ten seconds left until the final countdown started. There was no more time to waste trying to cram in another task without risking head and hoof. All they could do now was listen to the timer tick and hope for the best.

5...

"Let's hope I can pull this off in this stupid horse body..."

4...

"Alright, Captain, this is the last stretch. Be ready to run..."

3...

"Shame I can't use these stripes for camouflage."

2...

"準備はできている..."

1...

...

A scream echoed across the ship, and the lights blared red.

"YEEEEE-HOOOO!!"

The tan figure moved like a scarlet-swathed blitz to everyone who could see him, let alone dare to look at him. He suddenly sprinted just as fast as the horses could with his two comparatively tiny legs, lasso twirling and a crazed glint in his visor as he traversed the halls of the Skeld.

Ninja eyed his safety meter, heartbeat picking up slightly as he saw it turn from blue to yellow within barely more than a second's time. It turned red and began to shake violently for a fleeting moment, but the moment the indication spiked Ninja's heartbeat, the meter began to decrease again.

"...Think he knows we're here, Ninja?"

"いや、すぐ横を走っていったよ. がいる限り、私たちは安全であるべきだ-"

BLINK

The red light around the two of them intensified, seeming as though to emit from their very suits.

"...今のは何だったんだ??"

"That was weird...Wonder what-"

The music loudened, and as the two crewmates' safety meters began to flash to yellow and then to red again, they could hear Sheriff's two feet approaching ever faster.

"RUN FOR IT, BUCKO!!"

Ninja zipped past the tan-clad Wrangler...just as he threw out his lasso and snared himself a pair of banana-clad legs.

Safari has been captured.

By then Ninja was passing shields and going up the hallway, but no matter how much effort he put into his gallop, he could still hear Sheriff gaining on him from behind. Perhaps he could try to lead him off once he got to the Cafeteria? Get him off his path, yes! With some quick hoof work, he could still make it as long as he-

"ガァー!!"

Ninja has been captured.

...Could make it past Weapons.

"おいおい、いい加減にしろよ! どうしてそんなに速いんだ!?"

"I ain't got the foggiest idea what you just said Ninja, but you just know that this speed boost is doin' me wonders! YEEEEE-HAW!"

Ninja tried to free his legs from the rope with a swift jerk, but to no avail...He was stuck here until either the final countdown depleted or until Sheriff snagged his last horse. If only he'd known what that blink was that alerted the Wrangler to him and Safari's location.

...Unbeknownst to him, the other two remaining crewmates had noticed it too.

"Uh-oh, that's right..." Captain lamented to himself as he stood alone at the top of the Cafeteria. "I kept the final countdown tracker on."

By then, Player had coursed almost a full figure 8 through the center and back of the Skeld, and he now found himself back in the Cafeteria with Captain.

"Has he found you yet?" the red-clad horse asked.

"No, but I better move before that changed. I forgot to turn off the final countdown tracker, so Sheriff gets updates on our positions every handful of seconds."

"What!? He can DO that!?!"

"Uh, yeah. My bad, friendo."

"Well what can we do to stop 'em!?"

BLINK

Captain knew he had to think quickly...especially now that his safety meter had begun to go blue.

"Let's switch. You head to the front and I'll go to the back. Move, NOW!"

Player made no protest and followed his plan. He looked at his timer; just 35 seconds remaining.

"Think you'll be okay?" Player called out as the two reached opposite ends of the room.

"It's worth a shot! As long as Sheriff doesn't come up from the Med hall by surprise, I should be-"

"MINE, ALL MINE!!"

A harsh, panicked whinny shattered through the droning ambience of the Skeld, and Player turned to see Captain reared up on his hind legs, the Wrangler right in front of him.

...And a moment later, the white figure came crashing down onto the floor.

"Captain, NO!"

Captain has been captured.

It was too late for him to intervene. Captain was down. And now, the red-clad crewmate found himself looking Sheriff directly in the eye from across the room. Alone.

...As the last horse still standing.

From his spot on the ground, Captain craned his neck to look at their last hope for victory.

"Player...Run. Run as fast as you can. NOW."

And he did. He pivoted 180* as fast as his body would allow and SPRANG into a gallop with a single kick of his powerful hind legs. He couldn't let himself be snagged. Not now.

Not when everyone was counting on him.

He heard Sheriff's footsteps not far behind him as he weaved through the front hall of the ship. How? HOW was he able to run so fast!? He was the only one of them with two legs, it was impossible!

Players ears pricked back to listen behind him better. Were Sheriff's clanging feet against the metal floor getting softer? Further behind? He heard the wrangler call out.

"You can run, but ya can't hide!"

He sounded quite a distance away; perhaps by navigation, looking to see if he'd turned a corner into the cockpit. Player slowed to a walk and looked to his left; Communications? No, Sheriff would probably stop to see if he was there too once he made it here. And since the tracker was on, staying put was a death sentence.

He looked ahead of himself into Storage, and beyond that into the Electrical hall. Yes, that would work! Increase the distance between them! And he still had two vents left to use, so maybe he could lose him and cut into another-

"I can SMELL horse funk from a mile away y'know, Player!"

He was close. Player wasted no time taking off again, and he reached the entrance to Electrical in a matter of seconds, swerving around the light panel and skidding to a halt just in front of the vent in the back...Now he was faced with another problem. His safety meter would go berserk even if Sheriff entered Medbay or Security given how close they were, even from the other side of the walls. What if he wasted his vent when the wrangler wasn't in the same room as him?

His ears pricked back up when he heard footsteps somewhere beyond Electrical. It sounded close...

Wait...That's it!

His ears, thank the Innersloth Gods, had been enhanced to the point at which he could pinpoint almost EXACTLY where a sound was coming from. So he listened closer, ear swiveling towards the noise...It sounded like Sheriff's footsteps were going up along the other side of the wall, perhaps up into Admin. They were slower now, too, so he was in stalker mode.

BLINK

The tracker went off. He heard Sheriff hum, then turn tail back down into Storage, then skid to a stop and restart again. And this time, each step grew louder, faster and more clear as they approached the open Electrical doors.

He's gonna come in!

It was now or never. Player flipped the vent open with a flick of his hoof and dove in tail-first JUST as he saw Sheriff's lasso fly out from around the corner and snag shut right where he'd been standing a moment before.

Player wasted no time coming back up in Medbay and hightailing it out of there, making his way through the Cafeteria and back to the front of the ship. As he ran, several of his tied-up companions cheered him on.

"Show 'em what you're made of, dude!"

"Yeah, keep workin' your legs! They were longer than mine, so they must work better, heh heh."

"I say, Mr. Player's moving like a tremendous machine!"

"Serve this wrangler sunnyside up, old chap!"

"タイマーは残り20秒です！あと少しだ!"

"Беги как ветер, товарищ!"

"*hee* HAAWW!"

He skidded to a halt in Weapons, his safety meter empty and the music quiet. He looked at his timer yet again: 20 seconds. He was almost there! Maybe he could spend the rest of the round hiding out in the vents if he was-

"Ahhhh, dude. Are you, like, the last one left...?"

Player looked down to see a figure clad in green...The crewmate's helmet had somehow come off, revealing the liver chestnut head and pale blonde mane beneath.

"Uh, yeah...And aren't you the first one who got snagged?" the red crewmate asked him, ears still pricked and swivelling as they searched for the approaching Wrangler.

"Yeah, heh...guess it wasn't a good idea to give into the urge when I did, bro, y'know?"

"Wow. Real impressive, Stoner," Player huffed. "You better hope I can still pull this off-"

Sheriff's footsteps suddenly made themselves known from somewhere in the distance, and if Player's ears were right, he was coming from the Cafeteria.

"Don't tell him where I went...!" Player said to the fallen horse, leaving him behind as he entered the hallway. He eyed the vent around the corner, and then was struck with an idea.

"This system leads to three separate rooms...This is my chance to lose him again!"

BLINK

"...I better hurry."

"I GOT YA NOW, PLAYER!!"

He dove into the vent just as Sheriff came around the corner and skidded to a screeching halt, lasso still spinning in the air. Player looked at the timer again.

10 seconds left...

"Thought you could vent away, huh?"

9 seconds...

BLINK

"Still in there, are ya!? Well you're gonna have to come out at some point!"

8...

Player noticed his vent time depleting, and he made the quick decision to pop back up in the Cafeteria before Sheriff could get another update on his location.

7...

He made a mad dash for the back of the ship.

6...

He stopped in the Lower Engine, anticipating Sheriff to come at him at any moment.

BLINK

5...

His safety meter turned blue, and he heard the Wrangler's footsteps coming from the Cafeteria.

4...

Player made his way down through the back of the ship, hooves crashing against the floor with a harsh metallic clatter.

3...

He made it to Storage, but Sheriff's footsteps could be heard plain as day not far behind him, and the music grew ever louder.

2...

The sound of the lasso twirling through the air rang in Player's ears, and he heard it shoot forward.

1...

I CAN'T LET HIM GET ME!!

He crouched, then leapt as far as he could.

...Just as the rope snagged the air in the spot he was in just a moment ago.

0...

For a moment, Player expected to crash into the floor, front hooves unaligned and sprawled out.

...But then, the screen faded, and the Skeld was replaced with an empty void.

And then...a flash of bright blue came into view.

He stood there, the only free-legged horse out of all the others around him as the words above flashed their results.

____________________________________________________________

VICTORY

____________________________________________________________

I...I did it. I made it, we won!

A moment later, he was spawning back into the Dropship along with the rest of his companions, leg now unbound.

"Holy crap! I did it! HA ha, I didn't think I was gonna make it for a second there!"

"Dude! That was some top-tier evasion!" Veteran said to him. "Man, if this is how you're gonna do in every Hide 'n' Seek game, you're an MVP."

"Good show, everyone!" TheGentleman announced. "And Mr. Player, Veteran is right indeed!"

"Yeah, man, you got the goods! Heh heh," MrCheese nodded. "Like TheGentleman said, that was a good show."

"If only you'd brought Cheddar or Toto along today, MrCheese," MrEgg said to him. "Then we would have had a dog and pony show!"

"Oh, yeah...Hey, this mode is gonna last through tomorrow, so I might do that if we decide to do another game!"

"まあ、このゲームモードに関しては、私の尊敬を集めていると言わざるを得ません," Ninja said to him, bowing his head. "あなたの最後の瞬間の機転が、私たちの勝利を決定づけたのかもしれませんね. 素晴らしい仕事ぶりだ."

"Uh...did you get any of that, MrCheese?" Player asked.

"He says you jumpin' at the last minute prob'ly kept our end screen from goin' red, and good job."

"Oh. Thanks, Ninja, I'll keep that in mind for future games!"

"Splendid work, comrade!"

"Darned if it ain't!"

Ivan and Safari were the next to approach, equally impressed by Player's show of skill...The others had joined in on the praise at that point as well, including Sheriff.

"Man, and I almost had you, I did," the tan figure remarked, having returned to his equine form once again. "What are you, some kinda race horse? I had everyone outpaced 'xept you!"

"I...don't know, actually."

"Well, let's find out, shall we fellas?" Stoner suggested, swaying over to Player's side and lifting his front hoof. One press of a button and a flick of the toenail later, and his helmet came right off, clattering on the floor of the dropship.

"...How the heck did you do that without fingers, Stoner??"

"Same way MrCheese got bit on the arm by a zombie back during that whole apocalypse thing. The, uh...arm he didn't have, y'know?"

"Oh yeah, that right!" the orange crewmate remembered. "Man, that was a long time ago now, wasn't it?"

Sheriff stepped forward to get a better look at Player's now-exposed face.

"...Well, it ain't no wonder. You're a Thoroughbred."

"A what?"

"You ARE a racehorse. Why, there's gonna be a mess o' contenders just like you runnin' in the Kentucky Derby next month!"

"Wow. Well, I guess that explains how Player kept you at a good distance for so long!" Captain realized. "Ahh, man, well anyways that was a great game, everyone! Think I should turn off the final countdown tracker, though?"

"Yeah, I say you might as well, Cap," Safari nodded. "Ninja and I got a lil' too well acquainted with it last game."

"Noted!" the host replied as he changed the settings. "Say Player, what's the status on Dum? Is she going to be able to make it today?"

"Well, she's a little caught up with extra chores this morning, so I'm not sure if-"

"Hey guys, I made it! Mom said I could take a short break, so I decided to pop on and..."

...Everyone stared at the pink figure now standing there, its long spiraling horn growing from its forehead drawing in all the confused attention like a magnet.

"Uh...Dum?" Player asked. "Is that you?"

"Well who else would it be, Player? And, uh, why's everyone looking at me weird?"

"Dudette, how in the heck did you get to be a UNICORN?" Veteran blurted out. "Honestly I'd have expected Player to be one considering his Fall Guys history."

"Dude, we don't talk about that..."

"Well, I mean...the medieval mod can turn us into dragons," Captain reminded them all. "So this probably isn't too farfetched. Besides, it's not like I don't have a pair of wings myself underneath this exosuit."

"Wait, wh...? Agh, forget it," Player snorted. "In this game, everyday might as well be April Fool's Day..."

____________________________________________________________

you have no idea how much i procrastinated on this thanks to my goofy ahh wii games getting all my attention over the past month. :')

Well hey, at least I got it done and published now! I'll see you guys in the next entry!