It took us a little while, but eventually, me and Richard (escorted by Kylie) managed to make it to the ski slope in relatively good time.

And in relatively ideal time too, for almost everyone else was there. 

Everyone except...    Suzy and Rebecca, I think...

...Weird. Suzy once again somewhat avoiding Peppa. Something definitely happened between those two...

...I can ask Peppa later. Just need to remember about it.

"So! Is everyone here? Uhm..." The pig in the red dress spoke over us all, grabbing our attention and focusing it on her location - Just above the foot of the ski slope.

"Everyone! Minus Rebecca and Suzy." Kylie called in response, Peppa letting out a shameful 'darn' in response. 

Then, a sudden slam arose from the doors behind us all. Our attention having been hooked away from Peppa, we all slid ourselves around, noticing that two more figures had showed up.

...Luckily, not potato-shaped.

"Scratch that. Minus nobody." One of them replied, my head registering it as Rebecca speaking. Taking into account their overall posture, the rabbit had a glum face on, her paw gripped tightly onto the other figure's fluffy ear. Said other figure, obviously Suzy, tried a few times to tug herself away, only getting pulled back with just as much force. The sheep's facial expression gave away a clear tone of annoyance.

"Scratch scratch that. Minus one person."

"Oh come on Suzy, don't be a coward..."

"I-It's not about that! Let me go!-"

"Suzy, this was a necessary meeting! Peppa herself said so-"

"A-And what's stopping me from not showing up?"

"...Well, let's see here. Uhm...     She's your best friend, she's gotten us through two playgroup trials, she's the only person here who's had the gut to try and talk with Pedro while he was accusing Freddy like mad-"

"O-Ok ok fine. Just...    Don't expect me to get touchy with her." The sheep finally settled, although her face stayed the same as she merged into our group. Rebecca followed suit, keeping herself close to Freddy and Richard.

I turned my head back around, letting it cramp softly as I focused back on Peppa.

For some reason though, she had her head slightly lowered.

...

Suzy. Peppa. Issue. Must investigate later. Period. 

"Hey there...     You're just in time!" Peppa swiftly thrusted herself back into a more confident position, slowly edging her body up the slope. "Now then, let's get to, uh, business, shall we?"

"Ok then...     What business is it...? Trying to find a way out of here?" Emily's voice piped up for the first time in practically forever. "You know that the only way to get out is to deceive everyone else, right?"

"Exactly."

"...What?"

"Listen, I..." The pig momentarily paused, "We, have a better idea of what's going on around here. And while it's not the best, it's a start to finding a way out."

"Then...       Go ahead and tell us about it." Richard responded.

"Very well then...     it's quite a lot of info though, so you need to pay attention. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Uhuh."

"Yep."

"Alright..."

And thus, Peppa began to spill to us her facts and theories of our issued scenario. Some of them we already knew about, like the idea of there being a single person controlling the whole game - A 'mastermind'. Others were a bit more question mark popping, like the theory that we're actually in an infiltrated protection centre.

Either way, she was simply dumping her thoughts to divide with all of us.

And it was way more boring than I thought it'd be.

Eventually, her info-dumping came to a close, thus allowing us to ask her questions.

"...Ok, cool." Freddy spoke, also making an unexpected presence in the conglomeration. "But what are we supposed to use with this info? Surely the main thing we should be doing is getting the hell out of here???"

"Well- You heard Emily, right? We're not in the state to deceive people, especially our friends!"

"Ok, cool, but what does that change? What does searching for clues do for us anyways?"

"It helps us put together the puzzle we're stuck in, Freddy! Who knows, maybe an exit will show up on the way."

"What's more, you're a detective, Freddy." Kylie suddenly talked. "Aren't ya hardwired to search for clues?"

"Well...      I don't have the energy in me to do that." The fox nodded to himself, lowering his snout at the floor while doing so. "I just want to...    Leave. I've had it with this whole thing."

"..."

Me too, Freddy. Me too.

"...You know what? I agree with Peppa." Another voice jumped up, this time being Pedro's.

"Really?"

"Yep." He nodded, "The main thing to do here is to keep moving forward, right? We can't get stuck in the past of regret and guilt like Freddy's doing here!"

"I'm trying to be realistic, Pedro." The orange animal replied, his crimson checkered shirt swaying a little. "I'm feeling down, that's normal. Plus, we all need breaks sometimes."

"Not right now we don't. Get over it you baby, we've got a killing game to escape!"

"I'm grieving. I don't want to help. Even if I did, I would need time."

"There is no time this time, Freddy. Time is of the essence, we need to start our work towards ending this game now! Even if it means I have to call you out as a traitor again!"

"Oh, don't you fucking start with that! Leave me alone, and I'll start to help you when required! Simple!"

"For fucks sake Freddy! I'm trying to help you here! Would Danny want you to just sit around and ignore the task at hand? Would Danny want you to wallow up in your depress-"

"YOU DON'T FUCKING KNOW WHAT DANNY WOULD WANT, NOW ENOUGH!"

A gasp flooded through the room.

Pedro took a good few steps away.

My heart rushed with immense adrenaline.

Freddy had quickly thrusted one of his arms forward, the knife clenched in his paw, barely not touching Pedro's outstretched hoof in self-defence. 

And yes, I mean the knife. 

The same one that I gave him this morning.

...

Freddy's ghostly statements from that early meet-up began to haunt my mind as my eyes stayed fixated on the scene ahead of me: Freddy slowly getting more and more unstable, with Pedro trying to reconcile in some way.

If anything happens to me with this knife, don't blame me. You brought it to me, blame yourself.

Blame yourself.

...That one statement is still screamingly frightening.

"Freddy, calm down, dammit!"

"Calm down? C-Calm down??? Y-You want me to calm down? NOW? Why didn't you- Wh-Why didn't you say that earlier or something?!"

"That doesn't matter, we need your help!"

"C-Can't you just let me c-catch a moment to cry? M-Must I kill everyone h-here just to do that???"

"NO! Freddy, wake up, dammit! We need your help, we want your help!"

"I...      You." The fox suddenly calmed. The tone went static.

Terror rippled through all of us as the fox glanced down at the blade in his hands, eyes widened from psychiatric loss as he gave it a single spin. He blinked his eyes for a few seconds, before speaking up again.

"...Fine. You want my help? I'll give you help. Even a screwup like myself can be of help, by not helping at all."

"...What?"

Freddy gave a soft, sadistic chuckle. "Oh, c-come on. Y-You know that I can't live up to myself a-alongside you guys. I-I'm better off incapacitated."

Pedro gave a shook look of confusion, as the fox passed the knife into his left hand, slowly moving it up to his right shoulder. The grieving, hurting grin gradually widened, as it encompassed across as wide as his jawline. All the while, the silvery blade of the cooking utensil softly dug into the fox's shoulder.

Then it poked right into it as the knife stood itself up.

By the time we realised his move, we were incapacitated.

"W-Wait- FREDDY NO-"

"No refunds. Y-You asked for it."

*SLICE*

The scene took only around a second. But it came to our minds a thousand times slower.

The sight was...    It gave me the creeps.

And the sounds...    The sounds were intoxicatingly silent. The soft dripping of major amounts of pink blood to the floor, the muted clambering of the now stained blade hitting the AstroTurf, the choked, stuttering sounds coming from the fox...

But the sight. The sight was horrible. Everything around seemed to blur away, leaving the body of the orange furred animal as the only body focusable upon. His entire right arm had been sliced down from the shoulder to the wrist, and it was bleeding at an alarming rate. Freddy's hand was clutching onto his elbow, the pink liquid splattered all over it, his other hand made unconscious by the cut.

And yet...     We couldn't make any reaction whatsoever.

"...Th-That...         Wh..." Freddy stuttered on, "Th-That hurt..."

"...Well of course it did ya DUMBASS!" Rebecca suddenly shouted up, her fur ruffling sharply as she grabbed Freddy's good shoulder and gave it a rough shake. "What was the point of you doing that?!"

"...T-To make sure I-I wouldn't get in your way?"

"I- What???"

"Y-You should thanks m-me for this...    Now I'm n-not gonna bother you all with your quest. Haha!" The fox chuckled out with a skin crippling tone. "W-We both get what we want! You get to focus on g-gathering information, wh-while I get t-to grieve in peace! Hah...     Ahah, Khegh..." He coughed out mediocrely at the end.

"Freddy I...      You didn't have to do this." Rebecca sighed quickly, before grabbing a hold of Freddy's legs. "Listen, we need to deal with your arm ASAP. SUZY! You don't mind if you help me carry Freds downstairs, do you?"

"Oh, uh not at all. I'll also check up on his arm, get it bandaged..." Suzy nodded in response, getting behind the fox and lifting him up by his shoulders, soon carrying him to the exit with Rebecca. "Thank god..."

"H-Hey! Wh-Why are you carrying me out?" Freddy spoke up again, wriggling his body a bit. "You sh-shouldn't be so surprised by me self-harming! I'm meant to be torn a-apart to help others! Y-You should be saying th-thank you, you h-hear me! You're s-supposed to be thankful! THANKFUL!!!"

The ski slope's doors shut with a swift, breezy close.

All our eyes stayed locked on it for a few moments, still processing the whole scene that had taken place. The fake grass's bloodstains stayed soaked as we turned back around to each other.

"...Ok, who in the hell had the idea to give Freddy a knife?!" Emily shouted, making most of us jump. "You've all seen how he was after Danny left us, why bother adding petrol to the fire?!"

"She does make a point..." Zoë commented.

"..." I brainstormed fearfully.

Two options, George. Two options. Keep quiet, or admit your sins. You can't lie, that won't get you anywhere.

And, if I think about it...      If I stay quiet, I'll be lying in a way.

...That makes it only one option. A difficult one, yes, but the only honest one.

I'm taking Freddy's warning, and blaming myself.

"...I did." I spoke.

I kept my gaze level as everyone took their turn to glare at me. It was...     Humiliating. Especially since it was all my friends, plus my sister, I had admitted to about giving a depressed man a weapon. My foot shifted in fear as I watched their faces twitch and shift to scared confusion, along with Peppa's terrified one joining the crowd.

"...George, I..." Richard said, finally breaking the silence between us all. "...Why? You knew very well he was torn by the last trial...     Basing off common sense, he'd do anything to see him again, even if it's suicide. Why did you give him the means to do so...?"

"I...      I-I don't know?" I stuttered, the long term stupidity of my actions catching up to me, "I just- R-Rebecca said some stuff about him, I wanted him to protect himself, I gave him the knife this morning and- I thought I'd- Be helping him in the long run..."

My speech slowed down as my eyes snapped a connection with Pedro, his glare getting even sharper once my pupils made contact.

"...Pedro?" I shakily asked.

The pony simply gave me a cold shoulder.

"...Traitor."

My body stiffened. 

Pedro didn't bother to interact more with me after that: He simply turned to the doors and left through them at a normal pace. Like a normal person would.

...Meanwhile, I couldn't seem to find energy to move at all.

...

...Traitor?

My mistake was so costly...     Pedro now thinks I'm betraying all of us?

He thinks I gave him the knife in order to make our scenario even more difficult...? 

...

...I guess...      I can't change that for a while, can I? And either way, I've betrayed myself incredibly. I'm supposed to be helping us get out, not hinder our progress.

"...Uhm...    Ok then, uh. Meeting dismissed! Please take the information into consideration..." Peppa turned to face everyone remaining present, her face showing determination along with sheepishness. Everyone soon took their turn to leave the ski slope, and eventually, Peppa did as well.

I stayed stuck in place though.

I had betrayed them. That thought I had to digress at the moment. If I didn't, I'd be left with guilt. And I can't have that, or else Pedro's gonna jump on me.

And thus, I simply stayed still, head angled downwards, thoughts about what I had caused as my eyes blankly stared at the bloody remains of Freddy's outburst.

____________________