((Previously, on a Game Comes To Equestria…..))
"What d'ya want with Yugi, anyhow?! Ya don' look like the kin' of feller that wants somethin' good wit' him!"
"That, lady, is none of ya business. 's only between me, da boss and Little Runt Motou here!"
"Enough! You made it our business when you got Twilight! And if you think we're going to hand him over to you, you've got another thing coming!"
…"Listen…you must have something about me that you know…"
"'dat I know. Trust me, Runty, I know lots 'bout ya. But the only way I can tell ya is if ya come with me."
"…I honestly don't believe you. …but I am going to get Twilight back. And I am going to do it without hurting anypony, By challenging you to a game."
"If you win, you can take me without a fight from my friends. But if I win, you have to let Twilight Go, and you tell me about myself. If you REALLY know who I was, then I'd like to know too!"
…"Where are we?! And where's everypony else?"
"Where you are is underneath yer Canterlot place—I believe some old, abandoned mines. Pretty wide around here…very easy t' get lost in 'dis place. Perfect for a game of hide and seek. Now, here are my rules. First off, this goes for all yer Unicorn friends. You can't use yer actual magic To find Twilight. That's cheatin'. However, I can allow th' use of these things….what ya call 'em? The Elements of Harmony?"
"you can use yer elements to help find Twilight. 'Cause of the spell, ya can't play 'Marco Polo' to figure out her location—she can't hear ya, nor see ya. But if you can figure out how to use your elements to find her, well, it should give you an advantage."
"oh! And one more thing! 'dere's a time limit on this game. Ya see this big ol' hourglass? Ya got until the last of the sand falls out…which is about, what, one to two hours tops? Plenty of time t' find her. Don't waste yer time though—this place is pretty big…and I've added my own few surprises. If you run out of time and you haven't found Twilight at all….well, Yugi, you hold up your end of the bargain, as it counts as an automatic win fer me."
…"you can hear my thoughts now too?"
"Well, DUH! This is totally awesome, Luna! How come you never did this back on Nightmare Night?"
"Ah. It's just a mere spell, to be honest. We would only use it in the company of our sister, if only to talk in private during a meeting—and our only usage of it on Nightmare Night was between us and the Little Game. But I am surprised…Little Game…you are used to this?"
"I…..guess I am. I don't know why—I think this is the first—er, second-time I've done this sort of thing."
"It isn't. we can sense just a faint touch of the same magic here. We see…that is why you are so used to it; somepony, some sort of unicorn with that kind of access to magic…must've used it before with you."
…"Luna, how many connections can you make with this kind of spell?"
"Well, we can stretch its strength…but we can have at least ten minds speak at once. But the only way we can do that is if we had our Horn and access to full power."
"What if we used something else to tap into your power? Like the Element that Pinkie wears?"
"…We're afraid that we cannot do that, Little Game. The Elements only obey their holders, and we have forfeited the right a thousand years ago."
…. 'I don't know if you can hear me…I don't even know if it's possible….but whatever element you are…please, help us out. I'm not asking for much, but I'm asking for just the right power to get through this challenge….please, grant my wish.'
We had said, Little Foreigner. We have not forgotten your sacrifice. For the helping of others, we shall help you now…..
(((+++)))
(1,000 Years Ago, Equestrian Time…)
"Tiiiiaaaa, please stop!" the dark blue filly protested as the tweenaged, pink-maned alicorn finished brushing her sister's hair, all the while playfully teasing her.
"You heard what father said, Luna. You need to brush your teeth and your mane before bed~" Tia said playfully, the rosy pink ringlets and curls that made up her mane bouncing as she moved to nuzzle her little sister.
"but I dun wanna go to bed. I wanna play with 'Tin more."
Tia slightly frowned. "I know you do, Luna, but your friend has been working non-stop today. Besides, it's past our bedtime."
"Piddle a bedtime!" Luna protested as Tia gently picked her up with her magic. "I wanna play with 'Tin som' more! Maybe I'll get my cutie mark if we—" there was a pause for a yawn, "play more."
"I know, dear, but we all need sleep. You'll both get your cutie mark, I swear, but it's time for bed." Tia said with a gentle smile as Luna gave a cute, sleepy little glare.
"When 'm ruler, Imma gonna get rid of bedtimes…" the small pony mumbled before falling asleep. Tia rolled her eyes, a faint smile on her lips, and gave Luna a kiss on the forehead.
"Sweet dreams, little sister." Tia murmured as she climbed into her own bed, and once she was tucked in comfortably, she went to sleep.
It felt like a few seconds had passed before Tia had been shaken back into an awake state. A Guard, face stricken with worry, had woken the young princess from her sleep.
"Your highness, we must leave, now!" the guard spoke, urgency in his voice.
"What—"
Tia was quickly pushed out of the bed, the guard grabbing the Alicorn's younger sister and ushering them out of the room.
Tia had looked to the windows, seeing the colors of red and orange (and strangely, a bright green) fill the hall as the only lighting. Servants and guards and others had rushed by them, though one colt had followed the princess.
He was around Luna's age, and wide, light red eyes flitted around in fear, his tail covering the left side of his flank.
"M…Miss Celestia, what's happening?" the small colt squeaked as they began their descent down the stairs and towards the kitchen.
Celestia herself didn't understand what was going on. "Guard, please tell us, what is happening? Where is our mother and father?"
The guard had paused, Luna stirring on his back. The minute her eyes laid upon the small colt with Celestia, she squeaked and flew off, tackling him in a light hug. " 'Tin!"
The small colt named Tin had hugged Luna back, before both had squeaked at how the castle rocked so violently from a loud blast. The green light soon grew brighter outside, the eerie emerald glow sending shivers down Celestia's spine.
Whatever magic was using this light, it wasn't one with any good intentions.
"Your highness….we're under attack. The King and Queen instructed me to get you to safety before the enemy reached the castle—to which we are running out of time. Not to be rude, but we MUST move, or we WILL perish." The Guard spoke, moving quickly. Celestia, after ushering the young children behind her, followed quickly.
"What is attacking the Kingdom, Guard?"
"….By the name of the stars, I have No clue. But it is powerful, and it is attacking all the citizens at once. The guards are doing their best to hold the forces back, but…"
The castle shook once more, Luna beginning to cry. Celestia had nodded in understanding, picking both foals up and putting them on her back as she and the guard ran towards a cabinet, to which was pushed out of the way to reveal a hidden passage.
As Celestia tried her best to calm her sister, their escape had led them to bear witness to the destruction of the forces invading the kingdom upon a crossing bridge.
The whole scene before them—the castle city, the village—had been engulfed in smoke and flames, and the whole town was alight by the ominous green glow, coming from pillars of green light that had appeared now and then. What had caught Celestia's attention were the creeping shadows and the monsters within them creeping towards the castle, fighting and defeating the guards that tried to stop them…
And then was the huge, monstrous yellow eye that had appeared in the sky.
Suddenly, Luna had screamed, a bolt of green magic flung at the lanky off-white alicorn. Tin had hopped off, heading to the guard in quite haste, but Luna was frozen in fear, still screaming.
With only a second to react, Celestia focused her telekinesis and flung Luna to the other side of the crossing bridge, and sent up a shield of magic to block the light.
The malicious magic collided with the soft yellow of the shield, but its force soon rippled through the alicorn princess's body, and then through the bridge, causing it to crack and collapse. The force of the spell had forced Celestia's wings closed, and she soon fell with the bridge.
"TIIIIAAAA!" Luna screeched as Celestia fell amongst the rubble, into what appeared to be total darkness.
(((+++)))
(Modern Day, Equestrian Time, 30 minutes after endgame, Location: 250 miles outside of Canterlot)
Celestia had woken up with a start, feeling the cold wind of winter hit her face. Disoriented, she looked around herself and saw she was in the air, within her royal carriage.
'That's right. I fell asleep during the trip apparently…But that dream…it felt real.'
No…that dream was real. That had actually happened before. She remembered it—the scent of the flames, the force of the attack…
How could she have forgotten that? As far away in time as it was, it was a memory that she thought would be hot in her mind. Though…what had happened afterwards was still a blur. What were those strange lights…no, what was the magic that accompanied them?
A loud blast distracted the Sun Princess from her thoughts. A beam of red and black energy fired past her as her guards pulled the carriage out of the way of the large blast.
Flying past the carriage (followed by loud, familiar screams) was a small Pegasus colt carrying, of all ponies, Her faithful student, with The Princess of the Night following behind. She also noted the necklace he now wore around his neck and shook her head in a brief moment of disbelief.
'The Element of Hope!? The Lost element chose HIM?!'
Celestia's thoughts were once again interrupted by a roar, as a Dragon gave chase to the three airborne ponies, and it was no dragon she ever saw before.
There were a lot of things Celestia would let slide. Seeing her Student and her Sister being chased by a dragon, with the high threat that they were in imminent danger, was not one of those things. For the first time in a thousand years, the pale pink that made up Celestia's eye color turned a blazing red crimson and her normally pastel-colored, ever waving mane burned into the colors and the shape of hot, sun-like flames.
"SECURE THE CITY," Celestia commanded her guards as she lifted off of the carriage, "AND LEAVE ME TO THIS INTRUDER!"
They only had enough time to mutter a 'yes ma'm' before Celestia had taken off after the dragon, looking like a streak of fire while doing so.
(((+++)))
(30 minutes before Endgame, Abandoned Mines)
Yugi and Pinkie had no time to stop, though most of their friends had caught up with them.
Mainly, due to the creatures still chasing them, snapping at their hooves. The light of the elements together made the area around them alight with strange glows, and illuminated the strange creatures.
They were probably as big as bobcats, though their red eyes were beady. Their jaws were curved, all filled with razor-sharp teeth. There were strange stones embedded in their dark, shiny backs, glowing with an eerie green glow, But nopony did not want to find out whether they were emeralds or just crystal glass.
Applejack had been busying herself, supporting a disoriented Rainbow Dash when her ears flicked to the sound of loud shrieks and squeals. It wasn't long before the group had overtaken them, the swarm still in pursuit.
"Now jus' what in tarnation is goin' on?!"
"Monsters, running, no time, escape!" Pinkie gasped, smacking into the rubble of rocks. Applejack blinked in confusion. 'Now ah swore that pile of rocks is something you just walked through—'
However, the shrill cry that pierced the air snapped Applejack and Rainbow Dash to attention. Yugi, seeing the danger imminent, suddenly made a motion and got between the horde and the group, and despite shaking, he stood his ground.
Everything around him, at that moment, went silent. He couldn't hear the exclaimed shouts of the others, nor the snarls and roars from the creatures. Just silence. He closed his eyes and braced himself.
He barely felt the sudden pull that came from the necklace, and barely noticed how it began to glow brightly. What forced his eyes open was the big blast of light that came afterward.
(((+++)))
(Applejack's POV)
I was tryin' to holler at the small feller to get out of the way, but I swear time slowed to a crawl the moment I saw that necklace 'round his neck (no idea where he got it from, honest) light up brighter than fireworks. Just inches aways from being clawed by those…..things (I don't even know how t' describe them), that necklace suddenly blasted a huge beam of this light purple….magic? It was almost like one of Twilight's fancy magic spells, but real bright—it illuminated the whole cavern after it blasted the creatures t' smithereens.
Those that didn't get blasted apart fled, frightened of the little feller. I was th' first to speak up, lugging Rainbow Dash a bit.
"You alright there, sugarcube?"
He looked at me, a bit dazed and wobbly. "Yeah…I feel a bit tired, though."
That's when he just folded in and fell.
Just what in tarnation was going on?
(((+++)))
(20 minutes before endgame, Canterlot mines)
Yugi had managed to come to (albeit with a headache) a bit later, waking up to the glow, warmth and smell of a fire. Looking around him, he saw everypony looking back at him, with worried and curious looks.
Rubbing his face with a forehoof, he blinked. "What's going on?"
Rarity helped Yugi up carefully. "Well, darling…we're just trying to process the event that had just happened between you and those horrifying, ghastly creatures."
Yugi blinked. "Oh? What happened?"
"You blasted them apart, that's what!" Rainbow Dash spoke up.
"With…what?"
"Little Game….you used Magic to do that."
Now the small Pegasus looked befuddled. "M…magic? But I thought Pegasi….errr…Shouldn't it have been—"
Yugi looked down at the necklace, still around his neck and still a glittering purple, almost opal-like in appearance. Slowly, it dawned on him from the moments before—that light must've been the beam. And it came from the necklace.
Tapping it with a hoof, he looked to the others. "I'm…not sure what happened…but I think the magic came from the necklace…"
That's when the idea struck him. Using the elements to find Twilight…for a brief moment, he could hear her thoughts with the necklace…
What if everypony else did the same?
"I have an idea. If we concentrate, we can use the elements of harmony to locate Twilight. The elements always respond to one another, right? Like a signal?"
Luna had put a hoof to her chin. "Well, we suppose that would work, but you'd need to be in close connection."
"If we use that mind link spell and amplify it, it could help us locate her quicker."
"Considering that we don't have much time, I think we should try the idea out."
Looking to a reflection, Shining Armor was right. There was little sand left in the hour glass—probably only twenty minutes or less left. Yugi closed his eyes, and focused, the necklace's gem beginning to glow.
The sounds and sights of the cavern soon left Yugi's senses, blackness surrounding him. It felt strange, at first, but once settling again into it…it felt like he was used to this. Surrounding him, he sensed, were other lights—five in all, matching the glows of the elements that hung around the girls' necks.
The vast darkness had reminded him of his dreams, though this time, the path he walked on wasn't lined with the lights of stars, but rather with the lights of the elements. The path was a glowing, light purple, stretching along until it faded into the darkness. He swore he saw a slight pink shimmer sparkling in the darkness, almost hidden.
"Twilight?" he called out, walking down it.
It wasn't long before the purple Unicorn had stepped out from the darkness, looking around her in confusion before seeing the small Pegasus. She had been wearing a tiara with a pink gem, shaped like her cutie mark, resting at the top, its soft glow dying down.
"Where are we…?" Twilight said, looking around her in confusion and (if Yugi could guess right) curiosity.
"I'm…not sure. I guess I could say we're kind of in a mindscape."
"A mindscape? But how? I don't think it's possible for you to be here unless you're asleep. I mean, such spells to enter a mindscape would mean you could use magic, which is not scientifically possible in Pegasi—"
"Twilight, I don't really have much time for this." He said, putting a hoof on her snout. "I really don't know how I'm doing this either….and why it feels so familiar…but I'm trying to use it to find where you are physically. Do you remember what happened before everything went dark?"
Twilight furrowed her brow in thought, removing Yugi's hoof. "I remember seeing that strange pegasus. He was in the library, and he knocked this strange book out of my reach. I was just checking on something I read back on the library while waiting for you, when the book fell on me and he saw me."
"I don't remember much after that. I remember hearing your voice and seeing the throne room, for just a moment—"
Yugi suddenly perked. "Wait. The throne room?"
"Yes, the throne room."
Yugi then eyed the crown, an idea forming in his head. "Try shining your crown around."
"Huh?"
"Just trust me. Try shining it around you."
Twilight nodded, a little unsure, before focusing her magic on the crown on her head. The element of magic had shimmered, soon lighting up, and the darkness had given way.
Yugi looked up to the ceiling with a smile.
He knew exactly where she was.
(((+++)))
(Five minutes before endgame, throne room)
The black stallion had eyed the hourglass as the red sand within had thinned at the top. The game was almost over, and still the one he assumed to be Yugi and the band of ponies had yet to appear.
Maybe he wasn't the one he was looking for? It was possible that he had addressed a complete stranger…
But, somehow, he didn't feel like a stranger. He had also lost his memory, but even then—could it have been possible that he ended up in this world?
Then there was that book. With the same marking, no doubt. It seemed like it was possible, if this world had experienced such magic, but…
Red Eyes then felt a vibration underneath the throne seat, and before he could move, he was momentarily launched into the air as the throne flew up and across the room, Yugi and a near cascade of ponies tumbling out on the floor in a flash of purple light, with a Dazed and freed Twilight lying on the floor across from them.
"…I think I should teach you something about magic spells with necklaces…." Twilight said loopily, shaking her head from the disorientation she felt.
Red Eyes fell along with the throne with a thud, staring in disbelief at the group as they reassembled and checked up on Twilight and each other, Yugi pawing at the necklace he now wore.
Yugi had won the game. It had to be him…
It was a long shot, but Red eyes was sure it was him.
"Alright…I held up on my end—Now you have to hold up on your end. What do you know about me? Who was I before I came here?" the small Pegasus demanded of Red Eyes as he glowered.
"Trust me, you'll learn in due time, Kid….once you come back with me!"
Red Eyes leapt at Yugi, his mouth wide open, teeth (which appeared very pointed and sharp, even for a Pony) bared, and as the Mane Six tried to move to protect him, the gem from the necklace shimmered…
And Yugi instantly teleported out the way, albeit only by a foot.
Red Eyes landed on his hooves, eyes slit and growling, facing the dazed Pegasus. Twilight blinked in utter confusion. "Yugi…did you just teleport yourself?"
"Uhh….I'm not sure WHAT happened." He squeaked, still stunned. Twilight had quickly teleported herself to Yugi's side, blasting a spell at Red Eyes, who was sent careening into the wall.
"Yugi, come on, we need to get you out of here!" Twilight motioned, tugging at Yugi's hoof to get the stunned Pegasus colt to move.
However, Yugi had been staring at what emerged from where Red Eyes had crashed. It wasn't long before the other girls and the Princess with the captain had noticed, Fluttershy looking with absolute horror.
Long, sharp black talons touched down on the floor as the shiny, black and curved body that it was attached to followed, red eyes focused on Yugi and Twilight.
A Black Dragon had emerged from the rubble, and he was furious. Fluttershy had screamed in horror, and ran, the girls forced to scatter as the Dragon whipped his tail at them, snarling and growling and howling in rage.
But Luna, the spell of the removal of her horn wearing off at last and the night's power flowing back in full to her, stood her ground.
"Now you see here, you charlatan! You leave our Friends alone, or you shall face the wrath that is the Princess of The Night!"
The Dragon turned and opened its jaws, a red-black glow forming in the back of its throat, readying to fire at Luna, until a Rainbow-cyan blue blur kicked its snout.
"Over here, ya stupid dragon! Come and get a piece of me!"
Luna, seeing Rainbow Dash's motives, blasted a blue blaze of magic at the dragon, Shining Armor following suit with a charge, distracting the black dragon.
"Twilight, grab everypony and run! We'll distract ugly here!" Rainbow Dash shouted, delivering another kick to the dragon's side.
Though worried, Twilight and Yugi did not hesitate, and rounding up the others, they all ran. Yugi twinged and winced as his injured wing kept fidgeting under the bandages as he ran, the necklace's gem still glowing.
"Yugi, are you alright?"
"It's just my wing, I—"
"INCOMING!"
"eeeeeEEEEEKK!"
A reddish-black ball of energy blasted by them, blasting the doors to the courtyard open. The dragon was gaining speed, charging at them with claws outstretched. The claw tried grasping at Yugi, only catching and tearing off the bandages, to which the colt's revealed wing began fluttering at reflex.
"We have to get the dragon away from the city! If we don't, he'll hurt others while he's chasing us!"
"and How are we supposed to do that? The only way to get him away is to go up into the air—"
"That's what I'm planning on, Twilight! Everyone, get to safety!"
Yugi had swept Twilight up onto his back, though she had slightly panicked. Pinkie had looked just as worried, but had ran with the others to get to safety as Yugi (painfully for him) stretched his wings and took off into the air.
The Dragon, seeing Yugi, outstretched its wings and flew after the two airborne Ponies, unaware of Luna following behind, shouting at him to "Cease and Desist" immediately.
Charging up another blast, the dragon aimed at Yugi and prepared to fire at him, full blast. A beam of energy was soon fired, Yugi dodging and the beam colliding with the barrier, piercing through and breaking it, and soon flying across the sky.
The small Pegasus colt was flying as high as he could muster, his wing soon freezing in pain before he and Twilight began to fall to the ground, towards the great black dragon. Before the Dragon could catch them in his jaws, a yellow aura had surrounded them, catching them….
And a blazing fireball smacked the dragon back, a Red Alicorn with a mane and tail like the blazing flames of the sun between the two and the Dragon himself.
"HOW DARE YOU ATTACK MY STUDENT AND MY SISTER, YOU HORRID DRAGON?! I will NOT stand for such behavior happening to my Little Ponies!"
The Dragon snarled, ready to attack the enraged Princess, before being blasted back with another fireball. The Small Colt watched as the Princess and the Dragon fought at one another, Luna flying over to them both in concern.
"Is that—"
"Yes, and it is very rare where our sister gets this upset…" Luna spoke quickly, grabbing Twilight with her own magic and putting Yugi on her back.
Celestia was faring well, until the Dragon knocked the princess into a cloud, putting out her flames and dazing her with the force that he struck her with.
Yugi had let out a shout. "Princess!"
He had lost awareness of the necklace as its gem shined with a bright light, before it, out of sheer subconsiousness, blasted a huge beam of light purple light towards the dragon, colliding with it before it could attack Celestia and absorbing it into its light.
With a final roar, the Dragon was taken into the light, coiling and shrinking in size until it was no bigger than a little toy figurine.
Which, appropriately, it was rightly turned into one. The small figurine, surrounded by a light purple aura, flew towards Yugi and landed in his hooves. The base of the now small, inanimate and no longer intimidating Dragon had read: Red Eyes Black Dragon, and had shown the dragon standing on the base, mouth open wide in a roar.
Yugi closed his eyes, soon falling asleep from the lack of energy, the world around him being drowned out, unaware that the light purple glow had still held onto the small figurine….
(((+++)))
A/N: Finally! You won't believe how stuck I had gotten on this chapter…the next chapter is a bit shorter than this one, but it does open up for the rest of the Arc (Known as the 'Starter Arc' at the moment) in this one.
Also! When I begin posting it, you can check out 'The Game's Collection', which is a collection of one-shots, theories, dribbles and bios that detail events and characters in this story. Might help to expand more on certain details, and might show what Yugi or others were up to during certain episodes (as only certain episodes here become the main focus for the Arcs in this story) as well as explain other things as well.
Finally, if anybody has a good memory of the monsters used in Yugi's world, I wouldn't mind a list for reference (My memory can be pretty terrible with some things) so I know who I might use next. Also, it doesn't hurt if you guys want to suggest a game type for Yugi to try, just PM me if you've got an idea to Suggest. Just remember! Duel Monsters doesn't exist in Equestria, so I can't have him dueling.
I might be a bit slow with Updates after Thursday, as I'll be going on a road trip to New York for summer vacation.
Thanks for taking your time reading!
-Rainstone
