A Game Comes To Equestria

by Rainstone56

When an Unplanned Meteor Shower rains in the skies of Equestria, Pinkie Pie decides to make a wish for "A Brand New Friend" on one of the strange green stars that appear within it. The wish, unwittingly, comes true-with a Pegasus colt "crash-landing" in Ponyville. No memories, No Cutie Mark, only a name. Is he a threat, or something more? Takes place during DOMA/WTD arc & S.2/3.

21. Playing Save The Prince, Final Part

The gathering stormclouds and fierce winds seemed to encircle Twilight, but the lavender Unicorn would not be distracted by the fierce conditions, the sphere in front of her growing larger and taking shape. The girls could only watch with baited breath and hooves firmly on the ground as the dark purple sphere then glowed with the same golden light as the horn of their friend, and a sudden burst of light came right from it, obscuring all sight and causing the others to shield their eyes until the light died down.

What had taken the place of the sphere before Twilight was a creature the girls had not ever seen the likes of before, maybe only in old mare's tales. It had a long, golden brown mane, a blue-green and yellow ensemble (with a mix of red and a lavender-ish pink) for clothes, and a crook-like staff, with three emerald orbs on the curved hook. The creature had looked around in absolute confusion and bewilderment, and then looked at Twilight.

Twilight, on the other hand, had looked at the creature in awe…then with a wide grin on her face. "I did it…I did it! I summoned something! The Spell actually worked! …Wait…what exactly did I summon?"

"Uh, Sugahcube, less talkin', more DODGIN'!"

Twilight snapped out of her moment of happiness to see the Black Knight's sword coming down on her…

Only for said sword to be blocked by the creature's staff. It had looked dead serious at the knight, and with a throw off and a twirl of its staff, charged a ball of electric blue energy and launched it at the knight, blowing him off of his hooves and over the edge of the path, making the knight tumble down into the mists below.

It smiled, its free hand on its hip, looking very proud of itself. Then it turned to Twilight and her companions.

The lavender-colored Unicorn gulped. "Please don't be one of those monsters who turn on their mast—ACK!" Twilight managed to say before the creature picked her up, holding her at arms' length. Twilight could only shut her eyes, thinking: 'He was right….I shouldn't have tried doing this…' as the creature pulled Twilight closer…

…and began snuggling the little tense Unicorn, a look of joy on its face as it rubbed its rosy cheeks against Twilight's.

Now it was Twilight's turn to be confused and bewildered. "Um..."

"W-what is it doing…?"

"By the looks of it, whatever Twilight summoned, it's….snuggling her like a little filly with a cute plush doll." Bon-Bon said, tilting her head.

"Is it hurting her?"

"I…don't think so." Bon-Bon turned to Lyra, who was pouting. "Ly? You okay?"

"…."

"Lyra, are you alright?"

"I am extremely jealous, is what I am." Lyra said, pointing a hoof at the cuddling scene. "Where in Tartarus did Twilight learn a spell that summons HUMANS?!"

Twilight began squirming in the embrace of the creature, looking up at it. "Um, this is very nice and all, but could you…um…put me down?"

The creature gave a look to the unicorn and nodded, putting her down.

"Okay…first, can you understand me?"

The creature nodded, kneeling down to Twilight's eye level.

"Well, that's good! Guess that is a kind of silly question to ask, but I wanted to make sure…Um…what are you exactly? I can tell from the way you look that you're a girl…something or other…"

She nodded, though she grabbed her staff and twirled it, the emeralds lighting up, to give a hint to her Equine accomplice.

"…Ooh! You're a Magic-caster! Like that Dark Magician thing Yugi knows about!"

Again, she nodded, albeit in a way to confirm that she was correct.

"…Can you talk?"

This time, the girl magician frowned and shook her head, touching her throat.

"Oh, I'm sorry….But, can I at least know your name?"

The girl magician nodded and took her staff, writing something in the dirt for all the girls to see.

"… 'Valkyria', huh? That's a pretty sounding name."

Valkyria smiled, picking up Twilight and hugging her once more. Twilight blushed. However, she quickly snapped into focus. "We need to get to the castle and get to Wishing Star and her friends! I don't know about you, but I don't think that knight will actually stay down for long, even if he went sailing down a cliff."

With that, Twilight teleported herself out of Valkyria's arms and, without another pause, began heading up the path after Wishing Star and her group with everyone else.

Valkyria only looked around the area to make sure it was clear before following the ponies, floating after them instead of running.

(((+++)))

Now, Twilight found it very odd that the traveling group had said the castle was located deep within the top of the mountain, but arriving at the top had revealed the reason why it was worded as such.

The castle, massive as it was, appeared to have been built into the mountaintop, the surrounding cave covering it in shadow, leaving only an eerie purple glow from the visible windows of the castle, and the castle's own outline. Most would expect thunder and lightning booming and flashing, but save for the stirrings of wind, none of the sort happened. There was only an eerie silence—the kind of silence that filled the void where sound once was.

Now, the path to the cave and the castle's gate was a long, carved stone bridge. It seemed normal enough—a wide bridge, well kept, and nothing that would appear to draw suspicion of traps. Twilight and the others approached the bridge and began to cross it, slowly and keeping alerts high.

Lyra, meanwhile, quietly studied Valkyria with equal parts fascination and curiosity.

"Lyra, what's with that look?" Twilight inquired after a while.

"Oh? Ah, just…" Lyra blushed, clearing her throat. "I'm just…really fascinated with Valkyria, that's all."

"Why, exactly? Because she resembles a human?"

The mint green unicorn gave a bit of a flustered look, but regained composure. "I'll have you know—my fascination with mythological creatures extends beyond the concept of humans! …I just thought, well…I've never seen something like Valkyria before, so it's just opening so many possibilities in my head, that's all."

Lyra continued to walk alongside Twilight. "Where did you find that spell, by the way? I mean, duh, you can find any old summoning spell in books covering Unicorn battle spells, but I've seen summon spells in action before—the one you pulled off isn't anything I've seen before. Not to mention what you summoned."

"Well…it's kind of a long story, but to make it short, I learned it from Somepony else."

"Really? Who?"

"I don't know his name…I just caught onto the spell a bit, and he never told me any details about it…"

VWOOSH! Twilight snapped out of the discussion as she passed through a purple barrier, which only showed itself as the ripples from her passing through before disappearing, becoming invisible to the naked eye as it had before.

"A…barrier spell?"

"Pfft, kind of a lousy one if we're able to pass through it." Rainbow Dash scoffed, demonstrating by flying back and forth through the barrier, making it ripple more. "For an evil sorceress, she sure doesn't think some of her spells through. Anypony could get through this!"

Twilight, however, remained suspicious as she paced near the barrier's edge, the last of her friends passing through.

Valkyria was just as suspicious, standing on her own two feet and carefully approaching the edge of the barrier. Rainbow Dash landed, folding her wings in.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Come on, it's safe!"

Valkyria had only arched an eyebrow and gave an un-amused look, but grabbed a small rock, and threw it.

Like the ponies, it went through the barrier, this time only making a small ripple. Only giving a slight nod and straightening herself did Valkyria approach the barrier and tried to join the ponies.

'Tried' being the key term.

The moment Valkyria came in contact with the barrier, the energy of the barrier sparked, and surrounded the Magician in an electrical manner. While the summoned Magician was a mute in her own right, it did not stop her from letting out a silent scream. In that split second, the barrier had inflicted upon her the most excruciating pain possible...

And she was not alone in feeling it.

Twilight had let out a scream the minute the barrier reacted to Valkyria, pain filling every fiber of her being as she collapsed onto the ground, curling up into a fetal position. Everyone's sudden surprise turned into horror as Valkyria had been blown back, sprawled onto the ground a few feet away and twitching in pain, just as Twilight was on the other side of the barrier.

The only thing of Valkyria's that made it through the barrier was her staff.

(((+++)))

The sunshine that greeted Ponyville after the bout of the storm had been followed by the townsponies getting to work on inspecting the town for any damages the storm might've caused. However, when most of them arrived at or passed by the Golden Oaks Library, they had stopped to stare.

Strange, dark misty wisps circled the treetop in an ominous manner, never mind the stout, sword-carrying earth pony that had stood out in front of the door, stopping others from trying to get in and keeping them at a distance.

The dark wisps had been the first to catch Celestia's attention, and draw out her worry. Never the less, she kept her cool and calm façade as she approached the library with her sister, her niece, and her friend in tow, the knight Hermos by her side on the right.

The Townsponies, seeing their Princesses approaching the library, had immediately bowed, and cleared a path for the Princesses to walk through, Hermos approaching the earth pony.

"And who is this, Sir Hermos?"

"Flame Swordsman, The Princess of the Sun, Celestia, and her relatives. Princess Celestia, Flame Swordsman." Hermos said, introducing the two. Flame Swordsman only grunted in response, but had given a quick bow of respect toward Celestia, Luna and Cadence.

"What's going on?"

The stout swordsman only gave a grunt, eying the door. Hermos tried to open it, to no avail.

"Locked?"

"Mmh."

Guiding Wings only arched an eyebrow at the wisps that swirled around the tree. "Something's going on in there, and it isn't a game of tiddlywinks, that you can know for sure."

Celestia felt a growing dread in the pit of her stomach. "I told her not to practice those spells…"

Guiding Wings' white wings popped up in surprise as she went forward. Hermos had turned in particular, both saying in unison: "What spells?"

Celestia blushed, shuffling her hooves, but had regained her composure. "I sent Twilight a book in order to research…well…"

Hermos and Guiding Wings looked at one another, and Celestia swore she had never seen Guiding Wing's face turn so red.

"You didn't."

"Now, Guiding, I did tell her to NOT practice them—"

"Tia, it is STILL an apple of temptation!"

"Eatos, don't you start—"

"Whatever possessed you to give such dangerous magic to your student?!"

"Eatos!" Celestia said, wings spreading out as fury bubbled up into her expression. "I would not put Twilight into harm's way willingly if I knew she could not handle it! You, of all ponies, know that I would never put anyone close to me in danger if I knew they would fail!"

There had been a tension-filled silence, with both Guiding Wings' and Celestia's wings raised in a threatening manner, both staring each other down. However, the tension eased, Guiding Wings' expression of anger changing into understanding as she folded her wings and took a deep breath.

"...I know. I haven't forgotten that….At least let me ask—did you just send her the book, and only the book?"

Celestia cleared the tension in the air as she once again returned to an air of calm and collected regality, folding in her wings. "Only the book I sent, in terms of researching the threat. I would, at the very least, like her to know what she might be dealing with in the future."

Guiding Wings muttered a 'Thank God' under her breath, looking relieved. "Your student didn't cast any of the spells then. She couldn't have anyways—you'd need its proper stone in order to even attempt it."

Celestia sighed in relief, though the wisps still troubled her.

"Sister, by the looks of that energy swirling around the library, it appears to be the residue of dark magic. It is a bit shady…and I don't even recognize it, but it's definitely dark or shadow magic."

Hermos scratched his head with his hoof. "Does Equestria even have a history with dark magic?"

"Only some aspects of it, like the magic of nightmares or truly dark emotions, but nothing like this." Luna said, inspecting the dark energy.

"Well, if it isn't anything from nightmares…or dark emotions…." Cadence said, arching an eyebrow. "What exactly is it?"

Guiding Wings looked at the energy again. "Well, if it isn't those, it would be the sign of Shadow Magic from my domain…which would mean that a Shadow Game, or some variation would be taking place." She concluded nonchalantly.

Then the words sunk in.

That meant a Shadow Game was taking place.

That meant a Shadow Game was taking place.

A SHADOW GAME WAS BEING PLAYED IN EQUESTRIA, IN A LIBRARY.

Guiding Wings let loose a string of expletives that would make a sailor blush. Many mares or stallions with fillies and colts moved to cover their poor childrens' ears.

"We need to get in there, NOW."

Hermos knocked on the door as hard as he could. "Whoever is in there, open this door at once!"

The top front of the door opened, a black Pegasus stallion with a dark gray mane and red eyes revealing himself to Hermos.

"What's the password?" the stallion said with a grin.

"Password? What password?"

"Wrong answer!"

SLAM. Hermos arched an eyebrow and knocked again. This time, he only got the stallion's voice.

"Password?"

"Let us in!"

"Sorry, wrong answer!"

"I'm warning you—"

"You're not even trying!"

Luna huffed in frustration, dragging her left hoof back. "Stand aside, Sir Knight."

"But—"

"Stand. ASIDE."

Hermos, hearing the threatening tone in the Princess of the Night's voice, moved away from the door and stood aside. As if by second nature, all those watching on had given Luna an equally wide berth. She cleared her throat as she stepped back a few paces from the door.

"Now, we hath respected thou's privacy by having Sir Knight Hermos knock first…"

Luna's eyes were the first thing to begin glowing before her horn. The calling of such magical energy began to hum, a circle of white light forming around her hooves. With a sudden rearing, Luna fired a beam of dark blue energy at the door, blasting the door open and across the library.

"But we are asserting our authority as Princesses of Equestria by coming in regardless!"

The sudden blast was enough to get Spike to look up in alarm as Luna stepped in, seeing Red Eyes. Her eyes narrowed.

"YOU!"

"Ah, hey there, Sweetcheeks. Been a while?"

Luna had responded by pinning Red Eyes to the wall. "Where are they?"

"Who?"

Luna had held back a snarl as she pressed him into the wall harder. Red Eyes gasped a little—'this lady's got some grip for somepony using just a hoof…'

"Do NOT play dumb with us. What have you done to Twilight Sparkle and her friends? If you won't answer, we SHALL get rough."

"Luna, enough!"

Luna eased up at the sound of her sister's voice, removing her hoof and the pressure on Red Eyes' chest, but she had kept her magic on him.

"This charlatan is the dragon that attacked Canterlot back in the winter! There is NO doubt that he is behind all this." Luna said as Celestia entered the library with the others.

Celestia had only walked towards Red Eyes, slowly and deliberately, keeping a tranquil expression on her face, though her eyes burned. Red Eyes himself felt intimidated by how quiet and calm the older princess was.

"…What did you do with them?" Celestia asked, her tone quiet and flat, masking any emotion she had really felt. "Choose your words carefully. Today has been very eventful for me, and not in a pleasant way. I am only going to ask you calmly once. ONLY once."

Red Eyes gulped. Regardless of his own Hardy nature, Celestia had been utterly serious. He did not want to be on the receiving end of her wrath, especially with having no room to transform. He let his eyes wander to where Spike was, as well as the game's board.

"Ask him and your friend."

With that, the Princesses, Hermos and Guiding Wings came into the main room in full, approaching the board.

"Spike, what happened?" Celestia asked, eying the game board. Spike, after snapping out of his stupor from the blasted door, got up and began to talk.

"Well, you see, we were playing this game, and Red Eyes offered to make it much more interesting, so he put Twilight and everypony else aside from me into the game—like, into the actual story of the game—and made them as playable as the characters! And they can escape the game when they win, that is, if they beat the Sorceress and save the prince. But don't worry, they're all safe! …Right?"

Guiding Wings gave a glare to Red Eyes. "Did you tell him everything?"

Red Eyes poked his hooves together. "Well, I sorta did…but I kind of left a few…details out."

Luna's magic surrounded Red Eyes as she levitated and brought him over to the board.

"What Details?" Luna growled out, eyes narrowing.

"Well, I sort of left out details about…well; you know…that I kind of…'Enhanced' the game, a bit to make it more interesting….by 'Enhanced', I mean I enacted a…" that was where Red Eyes trailed off.

"Enacted a what?"

"…A Shadow Game."

Guiding Wings facehoofed. If she still had her hands, she'd strangle the idiot.

"We should try to teleport them out of—"

"Do NOT touch anything on that board!"

Cadence pulled her hoof away at the sudden shout from Guiding Wings.

"Let me explain something. A Shadow Game, primarily used for rites of judgment, isn't something you just quit or forfeit. Magic like that comes with a price—The only way you can get out with your hide still on your flank is if you win the game. If you cheat, you open a very dangerous door, and there is a guarantee that if you don't get out of the experience alive, screaming and crying for your mother, then you are as good as DEAD. If you try teleporting them out of the game, you'd risk losing them forever and rendering them as dolls for all of eternity. I'm not kidding—it is as serious as serious can get. If one of those girls gets hurt or dies in that game, they die for real, and the best you can hope for is that either their souls remain in the dolls on that board or they end up in the domain I live in, because you don't want to know where the real unlucky ones go when they die in games like these. It doesn't matter how long you lived, YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW."

Cadence winced, rather terrified at how close she was to risking something like that. "And Forfeits?"

"You can't forfeit." Red Eyes responded. "Shadow Games are a basic trap—once you're in, the only way to escape is to play your way out."

"So the only way to get them out safely…"

"Is to let them play the game out."

After that, there had been a quiet silence. Celestia looked at the little dolls near the castle area on the board, seeing the doll of what appeared to be her student lying on its side. She bit her lip, and took in a breath.

"Let us play."

"What?"

"If the only way to get them out safely is to play it out, then we should partake as the players."

Guiding Wings nodded to Red Eyes. "You are the one who set this up, hm? Will you let us partake as players then?"

Red Eyes crossed his hooves. "And I would do that for you….why?"

"You don't exactly have a choice—"

"Listen here, ladies. They willingly allowed me to put them into the game. Not only that, but there is a member in their group that I'm after. There's got to be something of interest to me…perhaps a wager?"

Princess Celestia looked the stallion in the eyes.

"If you win, then you can take what you must and leave. If we win, you will turn yourself in without a word. I will do anything to ensure their safety—do you understand? So do not expect us to lose."

Red Eyes rubbed his chin, giving a grin. "Fine. The girls just arrived at the castle. You all will take your turns rolling for their actions when they engage in a battle phase. So please…help yourself to a seat."

(((+++)))

Twilight's senses began to return at a slow pace as she came to. Her hearing and sight came first, hearing the low chatter of concern from her friends, the haze of disorientation still clouding her mind before she woke up in full.

"Are you okay…?" Fluttershy asked the lavender Unicorn as she got up, wobbling on her legs. Twilight gave a weak nod as she tried to get her bearings, trying to remember what had happened last.

Her eyes rested on the stave that lied just across from her. "Valkyria!"

The stunned mage looked up at Twilight, disoriented and sore, but had gotten up, wobbling just as Twilight wobbled. The unicorn, rather concerned for the being, grabbed the stave with her magic and passed through the barrier.

Valkyria had soon collapsed on her knees, still in a considerate amount of pain, but had felt a cooling sensation of relief when Twilight arrived. The unicorn wasted no time had had begun casting a spell to treat any wounds or pain the mage felt. If only she could speak her gratitude for that, but the best the mage could do was pat Twilight's head gently.

"What happened with that barrier there?" Bon Bon questioned, honestly confused.

"I think I might know. This barrier lets anypony through. Emphasis on 'Pony'. We can get through, but anything that isn't a pony at all is bound to get zapped and blown back." Twilight said, letting Valkyria use her as support to get up onto her feet.

"But that doesn't explain how it affected you, dear." Rarity spoke up in a matter-of-fact tone. Lyra, however, stepped forward, deep in thought, before finally saying:

"Valkyria's connected to you."

"Huh?"

"Ever heard of stories about how some creatures might be connected to the spirit of a pony, Twilight? Usually, they share most of what they feel, especially any pain that's inflicted on them. If Valkyria's put into any pain, so are you." Lyra addressed, shrugging her shoulders. "Call it a hunch, but I think that's why you got zapped too—you two are connected to each other. So if she suffers, you suffer."

All but Lyra winced. Rainbow Dash flew over to Valkyria, concerned. "Sorry 'bout that…guess I wasn't thinking about that, though…" The cyan Pegasus held out her hoof, expecting a hoofbump. "We cool, Val?"

Valkyria blinked at the outstretched hoof. Rainbow Dash must've wanted a handshake as a sign of acceptance of her apology. Val nodded—it wasn't like the rainbow-maned mare even knew the barrier would do that to her. Valkyria took Rainbow Dash's hoof and shook it in a firm grip and a confident manner.

Rainbow was confused, but accepted the shake. Close enough, she supposed.

"Now, just how are we s'posed t' get Valkyria through that barrier without shockin' th' both of them?" Applejack said.

"Well, I could try to teleport us both in…but, I have a feeling the barrier won't allow that."

"There has to be a way around it, though…" Fluttershy said, shuffling her hooves. "I mean…isn't there usually some other way?"

Fluttershy did have a point. There had to be a way to get Valkyria across the barrier safely, and any transformation spells were out of the question, considering that she had no idea how it would end up affecting herself if she tried transforming the Mage into a pony so she could get through the barrier.

Valkyria had leaned on her staff, giving a good look to the barrier. All the girls involved had sat, trying their best to think on how to get both through.

"What if we found a way to make a hole in the barrier?"

"Hmm?"

"I mean, not like a big permanent one…but what if we were able to shoot a hole through this thing—big enough for both of you to get through, and can stay open long enough just to make sure no one gets hurt?"

Twilight's eyes had lit up at that. "That would be perfect! If we could focus a blast of magic on the barrier, we could make a hole to get us in and through it!" Valkyria had nodded, twirling her staff.

"Certainly wouldn't be hard, since there are three unicorns in this traveling party, and one…..well, one mage!" Rarity said, though Applejack had looked a bit unsure.

"There's just on' thing ah've got t' ask. If we blast a hole through this barrier, won't that let that Rotten Apple of a Sorceress know we're here, temp'rary or not?"

"Applejack has a point…" Bon Bon had tapped her hoof against her chin. "But, if we work quickly, we can get Twilight and Valkyria through without getting caught by any guards she might send."

"Rainbow Dash, why don't you keep an eye out for anypony else coming while we work on making the hole in the barrier?"

"Sure, I guess Pinkie and I can do that, right Pinkie?"

The cyan Pegasus blinked when she had received no response, making a quick headcount of the team. "Uh guys? Where did Pinkie go?"

(((+++)))

Pinkie Pie was rather far ahead of everypony else, having not noticed that Twilight got hurt or stunned by the barrier. With the use of her Pinkie Sense, and with a bounce in her step, she had avoided the other traps laid ahead in the path. Some were totally easy to see coming, while others had been avoided due to her senses.

Once she had arrived at the main gates of the castle, she had taken in the sight before her. Two large statues, carved from black stone, armed with spears and standing alert at both ends of the doors. Both statues had cracks around their neck.

"Pfft! You'd need to wake up early in the morning to fool Pinkie Pie with the old 'Magical Statue guard' trick!" Pinkie said chipperly, picking up a loose pebble with her mouth and placing it in her hoof. With that, she began to concentrate.

If she hit just the right spot, she'd be able to pop the heads right off of those statues. She could easily use the old Pie Family Pebble Tossing Technique from this angle, aligning her shot. Pulling her hoof back, tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth, she flicked the pebble.

It hit the first statue's neck, before bouncing its way off the door, hitting the archway of the door, just missing her head and hitting the ground, and rebounding back, hitting the second statue's neck.

At first, nothing happened. Then with the sound of a crackle, both statues' heads slid off, the cracks extending all around, and broke against the ground.

The pink earth mare grinned. "Ha! That was easier than eating a slice of cake!"

Satisfied, she began pronking her way to the doors….

Only to miss the sensation of the ground underneath her hooves suddenly vanishing.

"…..Okay, that's clever trickery!"

With that, Pinkie had fallen down the hole that the trap door had revealed, tumbling through the darkness before hitting something…surprisingly mushy and soft. It had felt like squishy doughnut dough, to which Pinkie had begun drooling at the thought of doughnuts, especially the cream-filled ones, with chocolate frosting—

But she had snapped back into focus when she had found herself sinking in the sticky, dough-y mass. She had struggled, only to feel like she was sinking faster into the goop.

She almost didn't notice something clinging to her waist, beginning to tug her up out of the sticky mass. Pinkie had struggled for a second, flailing as her hooves were freed with a sticky 'POP'. When her hooves had touched the floor, she had immediately assumed a fighting pose.

"Alright then, Mister, you'd better show your face! If you're gonna take me to Dark Comet, you've got 'nother thing comin', 'cause when you mess with the Pink, you get the Pi—"

"Pinkie, it's me."

Suddenly, the area around Pinkie had been illuminated by torchlight, being held in place with a Magical aura. Pinkie had smiled, tackling the Pegasus before her into an embracing hug.

"Yugi! Phew, for a second, I thought I had to open a can of flank-whooping! You should've lit the torch before picking me up so I knew it was you, silly!" Pinkie had said, giving a grin to the small Pegasus before her.

"When did you get here, Pinkie?"

"Oh! A bit of a while ago! I just dropped down the trap door! Everypony else is still on the bridge, but I'm sure they'll be here in a bit!"

Yugi sighed, but gave a smile to Pinkie. "Well, I'm glad you're okay…But we'd better get moving, before we're found…"

"Okie Dokie, Loki! Hmmm…you know, somethin' seems different about you….."

Yugi had arched an eyebrow at Pinkie's remark as he moved down the corridor with her.

"Can't put my finger on it…did ya get a new Manecut?"

"I'm not sure what you're talking about…"

Pinkie shrugged. "It'll come to me later, but something about you IS different…."

(((+++)))

Twilight had positioned herself on one side of the barrier with Valkyria while Rarity and Lyra stood a fair bit apart on the other side. "Are you ready?"

"Ready as we'll ever be, darling!"

With that, Twilight pulled in her focus and her horn began to glow, the faint magenta aura growing brighter while both Rarity and Lyra began to do the same. The round orbs within the crook of Valkyria's staff lit up, and with a quick notion, a white beam of magic shot out of it, the mares beside her firing their own beams of magic at the sides of the barrier they were on. All of the magic fired had begun to merge, the barrier flickering as the light the energy produced grew brighter. The Barrier soon began to give way, a hole slowly melting open and growing wider.

"It's working, it's working!"

"Don't get distracted, we need to keep going until its big enough!"

Applejack adjusted her hat as she kept watch, suddenly looking surprised. "Y'all better hurry, we've got company!"

And indeed they did—the sound of screeching had filled the air as a swarm of ravens seemed to arise out of the castle and fly towards the group on the bridge, cawing and outstretching their talons.

Rainbow Dash snorted, but before she could take off, Fluttershy had held her hoof out, flying up and in front of the ravens, the swarm stopping in a strange bit of confusion at the butter yellow colored Pegasus' actions.

"Now excuse me, Ravens….I know you must take your job working for Miss Dark Comet very seriously, but our friends just need to get through the barrier. If you just let us work on this situation really quick, I promise we won't bother you any further….so, if you could please, not attack our friends…if that's okay with you?" Fluttershy had asked the swarm, in the calmest, polite tone possible.

There was a strange pause of silence, save for the humming noise of the magic beams. Then, without as much as a second thought, the ravens attacked Fluttershy, her screams of surprise being drowned out by the cawing. Rainbow Dash had worked quickly to pull out Fluttershy, who had been drenched in a black, tar-like substance, and had now looked like an utter mess, and put her on the ground before taking off to deal with the attacking birds.

Applejack had began bucking and rearing at the attacking birds, each one she struck had suddenly splattered against her hind hooves, turning into the same black, tar-like substance that Fluttershy was coated in.

"What in Tarnation are these blasted birds Doin'?! If they keep splattin' against m' hooves and legs, I won' be able t' move!"

Rainbow Dash began to have the same problem, the birds primarily attacking her wings, making it harder to fly. Before she even realized it, Rainbow Dash had been sent hurdling to the ground below, and the birds had begun to target the unicorn mares left on the bridge…

But with a sounding crack of a whip and a sudden flash of lightning, the remaining swarm had been destroyed, Thunder Road slicing through another wave without a second thought.

"I see that you might need some help!" Rose Thorn said, cracking her whip at another wayward raven while High Note began to help the girls make the hole wider, picking up the pace.

Thunder Road had begun helping Rainbow Dash up. "You seem quite sticky for a Rainbow."

"Ah, hush up…come on, we gotta take out these goofy goobirds!"

"Hold it. These birds are meant to trap you in the mess—so that Dark Comet could round you up. If you go chargin' into there, you'll be stuck for good." Thunder Road said, snorting.

"Then how do we get rid of them?"

"Simple! Use magic!" Rose Thorn said, cracking her whip at another bird.

The hole was then big enough for Valkyria to pass through, and taking the opportunity, Twilight leaped through the hole, Valkyria following suit before the hole began to close up again, the staff's orbs charging up again as she aimed her staff at the next inbound wave. Twilight had focused and began to fire shots of magic at the birds as well, and with each shot, the birds soon dissipated, Rarity and Lyra following suit and picking the ravens off, until they were all gone.

High Note had focused on getting the gunk off of Applejack, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, while Twilight turned to Thunder Road and Rose Thorn.

"Thank you for saving us…but where's everyone else?"

"Ach, they went into the Castle…when we were coming up to it, that Knight appeared again and took Wishing Star, and disappeared into the castle! We had stayed behind to catch up with you, but everyone else went in to try and stop him." Rose Thorn then eyed Valkyria. "Did you…?"

"Oh! This is Valkyria, I summoned her."

Valkyria waved, a sheepish look on her face. Rose Thorn nodded before returning to the conversation. "We need to get into the castle before Dark Comet does anything to Wishing Star."

"Hold on, though…why does Dark Comet want Wishing Star? I mean, not that it isn't horrible or anything—it is—but she seems awfully focused on her than on the rest of you." Lyra said, swishing her tail. Both Rose Thorn and Thunder Road shrugged. "We have no clue…but it seems like the only one who knows anything is Wishing Star."

Twilight had looked thoughtful, until it finally clicked in her head. "…Um, guys? Do you mind if we do a group huddle here?"

Rose Thorn, High Note and Thunder Road exchanged looks. "Do you mean—"

"Not you guys….this is just between me and my friends."

The remaining members of the group huddled around Twilight in a tight circle. "What is it, Twi?"

"I think I know why Dark Comet went after and grabbed Wishing Star."

"Wait, really? How come?"

"Girls…even though we were sucked into this place, this is still our game. And even though Red Eyes took over, I am the Game Master. And the Game Master knows exactly how the story will go. Before we got started, Yugi and I were talking about his character and the villain…You see, Wishing Star and her brother…"

The huddled whispers had been quiet enough where the three excluded ponies couldn't hear them, though Rainbow Dash leapt up into the air in surprise. "WAIT, SERIOUSLY?!"

"Yes, seriously. Now come down here and listen." Twilight said, Rainbow returning to the group. "Red Eyes may have taken over the game, but we have the advantage of knowing exactly what will happen and what Dark Comet may do. If we work together on this, we can get Yugi back and get out of this game! So, you in?"

"Definitely, Darling."

"Yeah, let's get Sheep Boy and Wishing Star back!"

"Shucks, are ya kiddin'? Of course ah'm in, Sugarcube!"

Twilight broke the huddle, turning to the remaining members of the traveling group. "Listen! I have a plan to defeat Dark Comet and save the Prince! But you have to listen to all that I have to say, or it won't work."

Rose Thorn nodded. "Understood, darling. Just tell us what you need us to do."

Twilight smiled.

(((+++)))

Pinkie had pronked her way down the hall by Yugi's side, looking around. "You know…I'm getting a sinking feeling that we're going around in circles. 'Cause I swear we've passed that slightly crooked torch ten times now."

Yugi had said nothing as he walked through the corridors. Pinkie pouted. "No need to play silent type, Yugi….Hey! Wait a second…"

Yugi turned to face Pinkie. "What….?"

But Pinkie didn't answer him. She was staring at the torch that hovered beside him.

The aura holding it was amoebic in its outline, but it was Hot Pink in color, rather than the violet that she knew Yugi had.

She tackled the Pegasus, getting close Snout-to-Snout. "Okay MISTER, who are you and what did you do with Yugi?!"

"Pinkie, it's me, what are you even—"

Pinkie snorted. "You're not Yugi! I KNEW something was off about you. Your magic stuff is a really hot pink, not Violet! The real Yugi has Violet magic stuff! Not to mention…you're not wearing a necklace! Yugi can't use magic without his necklace! So who are you and what did you do with him? I want Answers!"

That was when Yugi's pupils drew into slits, the purple color changing to a dark pink color. "So. You want to know who I am, do you?"

Pinkie was suddenly lifted up by the same sparkling, hot pink magic as 'Yugi' began to change shape and form, becoming a long and slender mare, with black fur and a long, magenta mane and tail. Some mist swirled around her, and she gave a toothy little grin.

Though Pinkie had taken a look, and begun to laugh.

"And what, exactly, do you find so funny?"

"You look like a taller Twilight with black fur and a pink mane!"

The mare had blinked at that, almost forgetting that this mare was travelling with the outsider unicorn. Pinkie had misinterpreted the look as her not hearing the name before.

"Oh, Twilight's my friend! I guess you're Dark Comet then?"

The mare regained her composure. "That I am."

"And I guess you got me, so what are you gonna do with me?"

"Well, I was planning to hold you hostage…but I suppose I could get rid of you right now, considering you saw through my disguise."

Pinkie then gulped. "Hey….I guess you won't tell me what you did to my friend, are you?"

"No, I don't plan to."

"Okay then, makes things easier for me then."

With that, Pinkie had whipped out an air horn out of her mane and blared it loud into Dark Comet's face; startling the mare and making her drop Pinkie. Pinkie hadn't hesitated to start running, though Dark Comet went after her in hot pursuit.

When Pinkie had seemingly run into a dead end, a pair of hooves had wrapped themselves around her and pulled her into the shadows, covering her mouth as Dark Comet passed, huffing and turning into mist, and disappearing from sight.

A silvery-blue light filled the darkness as Pinkie's mouth was uncovered, the earth pony smiling when she saw who had grabbed her. "Wishing Star! Wow, thank goodness it was you!"

Wishing Star had given Pinkie Pie a tired smile, her mane tussled and out of place. Pinkie squinted. "Hey, what's wrong? Why aren't you speaking?"

"That's when she noticed the dried blood crusted around Wishing Star's snout. She had looked down, almost sullen. Pinkie had looked concerned. "Did Dark Comet do something to your mouth or somethin'?"

Wishing Star had rubbed her throat. "Oh. Well, once we get out of here, I can bring you to Twilight, and she can help you feel better, okay?"

Wishing Star shook her head. Pinkie's ears flattened against her head, her colors and mane darkening and smoothing a bit. "Oh…it's a kind of 'for good' thing, huh?"

This time, the silent unicorn nodded. Pinkie had rubbed her hooves together, trying to find something to say, but after a bit, she gave her a smile. "Hey, don't feel bad! We'll get out of here regardless if you can't speak anymore. You just leave the talkin' and walkin' to your old pal Pinkie, okay?"

Once again, Wishing Star cracked a smile at the pink mare as they both got up. "Okay….first thing's first; we gotta get outta this part of the castle…"

Wishing Star pointed to what appeared to a stairwell next to Pinkie Pie. The Pink earth mare blushed. "Ooh, right. Heh…Let's get out of here, then."

(((+++)))

The Knight had stood vigil in front of a door within one of the upper halls, still as a statue. Rainbow Dash had clung to the ceiling, keeping just as quiet as she stayed out of the Knight's line of sight while Applejack had hidden around a corner.

Step one of Twilight's plan was simple enough. Rainbow Dash would drop down and distract the Knight, leading him away from the door, while Applejack and Rarity would sneak into the room he was guarding, and free Wishing Star, who was presumably inside. Then, they were to meet in the throne room of the castle as quickly as possible, if it went off without a hitch. Taking a breath, Rainbow Dash flicked her tail—throwing a pebble in it at the knight, and caught his attention.

The Knight looked around, stepping carefully, before seeing a cyan and rainbow-colored blur kick into his side.

"Hey, Metalhead!" Rainbow Dash called out as the Knight looked to her direction.

"Do you have a scrawny body on stilts underneath that armor, or are you just a big fat hippo?!"

The knight pursued Rainbow Dash as she flew away, Applejack taking her cue and darting out into the hallway with Rarity, approaching the door.

"Darn it. Door's locked."

"Well, this is where I come in handy." Rarity said, pulling two bobby pins out of her mane, carefully bending them in order to put them into the lock. Applejack arched an eyebrow at that. "Since when d' ya know how t' pick locks?"

"When faced with the dilemma of locking yourself out of your own boutique, a Fashionista must make do with what she knows and what she has handy. While I may be no thief, I find it very handy to learn how to pick a lock like one in crisis situations—plus, it gives a double use for my assortment of pins in my personal ensembles." Rarity said, smiling when she heard the lock click and had pushed it open.

The room was large, but it wasn't what caught their attention first off—it was the large, thorny vines that seem to coat and entangle the room, with something within a rose pink crystal in the thick center of the vines.

"Oh my…I don't think Twilight told us about this…How exactly do you get rid of the—"

Applejack had gotten straight to work, chomping down on vines (carefully as to not accidentally pierce her mouth) and yanking them out of the way. "Heh, these ones ain't thick—jus' like pullin' weeds out of th' fields. Just grab one and pull it out!"

Rarity had rolled her eyes, but had complied, using her magic to pull at the vines rather than bite into them. They had cleared a path straight to the crystal, and they quickly moved towards it, expecting to find Wishing Star inside, but instead, they found—

"Yugi!"

The small Pegasus was caught inside, curled up and seemingly asleep. Applejack had turned around, rearing her hind legs in order to buck the crystal, until Rarity held up a hoof.

"Now, Now, Applejack, you can't do that! If you just buck it in a random spot, you'll just joss the crystal around. Now, you have to find its weakest spot and hit that—and it should break like fine china." Rarity said, inspecting the crystal. She then tapped a forehoof at one spot of the crystal. "Try bucking here."

Once Applejack adjusted her position, she reared again and bucked the spot hard, the crystal cracking and soon shattering, releasing the small Pegasus inside.

Applejack had nudged Yugi, trying to get him to wake up. "c'mon, rise an' shine, sleepin' beauty! Bad time t' be sleepin' anyhow!"

The small Pegasus stirred, giving a confused, dazed, sleepy mumble as his eyes opened. "….Applejack?"

"Yep, Sugarcube, 's us!"

"Are you alright, Darling? Why were you in that crystal?"

Yugi had only blinked, still looking dazed, and the only word that came out of his mouth to answer was: "Muffin?"

"Oh dear. I think he's still quite a bit out of it…."

Applejack hoisted the small stallion onto her back. "C'mon, that Knight feller might be back soon. It ain't Wishin' Star, but it's somepony!"

With that, the girls darted out of the room with Yugi in tow, heading for the hall where they would meet up with Thunder Road and Rainbow Dash, if she managed to get away from the Knight.

(((+++)))

Fluttershy, Bon Bon and Lyra's job wasn't as easy, but with Rose Thorn's guidance, it was manageable. From what Twilight had told the girls, Dark Comet's way of seeing what was around in or outside of the castle was through a Crystal Orb she had utilized. Following instructions and directions on a map she managed to make, it wasn't hard to find where it was located. Not only would it make the transition to step two easier, they could easily utilize the orb to find the others within the castle, once Twilight got it to work.

Once they had reached the room, Lyra carefully approached the orb, where it sat on an obsidian pillar, resting on a velvet pillow, almost obscured by the shadows the room was shrouded in. If the orb was touched by magic, it could alert Dark Comet right away…so Lyra would have to do the swap out with Fluttershy's help—by grabbing the orb with her hooves and having Fluttershy swap it with a fake that Rose Thorn had on her ("You'd be surprised at what you find in chests and treasure rooms." She had said) and handed to the girls.

The mint green unicorn carefully grabbed the orb and put it into a small sack on her body, while Fluttershy (as gently as a butterfly's landing on a very delicate flower) set the fake orb down. Everything had gone smoothly, until Fluttershy had banged into a table, knocking over some bottles and breaking them in the process. With that, Lyra had helped her up and ran out, before anypony else showed up, catching up with Bon Bon and Rose Thorn with the orb in tow.

(((+++)))

The most difficult part Twilight, High Note and Thunder Road had to deal with had to do with a chandelier. Valkyria had helped loads, but it was still difficult to manage. After locating the Throne Room, Twilight had found the Chandelier and quickly got to work, replacing some of the strategically placed candles with clear quartz stones (Thunder Road and Rose Thorn had plenty within their saddle bags) and with Valkyria's help, moved to raise the chandelier back in place.

"Are you sure this will work?" Thunder Road said, watching the light fixture rise.

"As long as we can drop it on the right cue, it should. Now, all we need is Wishing Star and—"

"We're present!"

"Oh, Pinkie, where did you—wait, Pinkie Pie?!"

The Pink Earth Mare had appeared, poking her head out from a small trap door underneath, with Wishing Star looking around. "Wow, what are the odds that the left turn led here?"

The lavender unicorn shook her head in surprise. "Wait, how did Wishing Star escape?"

"I dunno, but she found me in the bottom part of the castle! She can't speak though….I think Dark Comet did something to her mouth or her voice or something…." Pinkie said, pulling the gray unicorn out as they got up.

Twilight's expression had turned into one of concern when she saw the dried blood. "May I see?"

Wishing Star had hesitated, but she opened her mouth. Twilight had looked, and saw that her tongue was still in her mouth (thankfully). "Well, she didn't do anything barbaric and cut out her tongue."

"I think she must've used the deadly silence spell." High Note said quietly.

"Deadly Silence spell?"

"A torture spell and a permanent mute spell. The Spell attacks the vocal cords of the victim, tearing them to shreds on the inside. They begin coughing up or vomiting blood due to it, and it's very painful, but the spell slowly heals as it damages so the victim doesn't die. I'm afraid there's no way to even reverse it."

The room was then uncomfortably quiet for a few moments. Wishing Star's eyes, however, went up to look at the chandelier, before looking at Twilight with a curious look.

"It's all apart of the plan. I was hoping we could get your help with it?"

Wishing Star pointed at herself with a 'me?' expression.

Twilight nodded. "Listen, you need a push to fight Dark Comet—trust me on this, I know you can't face her by yourself. You'll need our help to do it, but you'll need someone else too."

As if on cue, Rainbow Dash burst into the throne room, the sound of approaching hoof steps, coated in metal, catching their attention. The Pegasus mare landed next to her companions, her body tense.

As if on cue, the Black Knight had appeared, and all at once everypony in the room felt an icy cold stare.

"…You've made quite a foolish choice in coming here." The voice of the knight echoed and rumbled in his helmet. "Even more foolish in leaving the Beast Tamer in plain sight."

Twilight kept her steady gaze on the knight. "True…but you don't recognize her well, do you?"

"…I beg your pardon?"

"Well, if you didn't wear that helmet all the time, perhaps you'd be able to see her better."

"I do not remove my helmet for no one but my mistress and queen."

"But I'm sure you could do it for your sister, wouldn't you?"

Wishing Star had snapped her head at Twilight's direction, shocked and dumbfounded at her words.

"…What are you implying?"

"Don't play dumb, buckethead! Your Mistress and Queen abducted your sister so she could have you both under her control!" Rainbow Dash said, crossing her forelegs.

A tense, uneasy silence filled the air. Wishing Star stepped forward, unsure what to make of the Black Knight as she looked him up and down.

Then in a motion that made everyone but her and the knight jump, a light blue aura surrounded the helmet and yanked it off of the Knight's head, a bit of a struggle made in doing so and breaking the red horn at its visor.

The helmet had made a strange, popping noise, sparks of magic flew out of the broken horn like a spell had given way, fizzling before dying out.

The knight's mane was an icy blue, his fur coat a dark gray to compliment that of the unicorn mare's own coat. His eyes had retained a faint pink purple color, which had flickered and died in an instant, returning to a navy color in hue.

"….Where am I? …Wish, is that you?"

Wishing Star nodded, and with tears in her eyes, hugged the stallion. Twilight had breathed a sigh of relief. "For a second, I thought it wouldn't work."

"Oh, it worked, alright." A dark voice purred as a dark pink mist formed behind the group. Dark Comet had emerged from it, giving a scowl of disappointment at the lavender mare. "I don't know how you knew about the spell, but you'll never be able to stop me—it's downright impossible!"

"Oh yeah?! Well, now that we have Wishing Star and her brother, we'll pummel you right into the ground and prove you wrong!"

Dark Comet gave Rainbow Dash a cruel little smile. "Oh really? Then I would suppose that you know the incantation that would activate the spell to defeat me?"

"Of course we do! Twilight, tell 'er!"

"Actually, Rainbow…" Twilight spoke up, a worried tone in her voice. "I actually don't know the incantation. Only Wishing Star knows, and…err…"

Rainbow's smug look had turned into a horrid realization. "She can't speak anymore, can she?"

Dark Comet laughed. "That is correct. I knew that Wishing Star had the power and knew the spell that would defeat me—the only problem was that the spell had to be spoken by the caster in order to be cast. It was something I readily dealt with."

Twilight winced as the darkness in the throne room had intensified. "You will never defeat me! Your precious 'Wishing Star' is useless!"

Rainbow Dash, looking utterly annoyed, flew up into the air. "And I'm getting tired of hearing your laugh! Take this in your hooves and stuff it!" Rainbow Dash said, charging at Dark Comet with a hindleg extended.

Dark Comet smiled. "Oh, I'll do better than that."

A hot pink aura surrounded Rainbow as she charged, and before the Pegasus could collide with the unicorn, the magic had warped and wobbled her, changing the rainbow-maned mare into a mere plush doll, hitting Dark Comet's face with a squeak before falling onto the ground, looking extremely helpless.

Both Twilight and Pinkie gasped, Pinkie sweeping up the doll into her hooves.

"There. Now your little braggart friend can hold her tongue indefinitely."

Valkyria hovered closer to the group as the shadows began closing in around the group. Suddenly, something shot out at the group, to which High Note had deflected by throwing up a shield spell around the group.

"What the…Scaley?!"

Scaley, Posie, Honey Sweet, Sweetheart and Ivy Vine stepped out of the shadows, scowling, their eyes had the color of a dark magenta that shined outwards in the darkness.

"Your little friends are under my control now. The helmet, I confess, had the weakness of the horn, but when my minions are under my direct control, it is nigh impossible to break them from my reins. Any last words before I dispose of you lot…?"

"Yeah, you can keep yer dirty hooves off our friends!"

A lasso had suddenly gripped itself around Dark Comet's neck and pulled her down, making her gag as Applejack had roped the sorceress down, buying a bit of time as she and Rarity (and Yugi, who was still a bit dazed and on Applejack's back) ran over to Twilight. "Sorry, are we late fer the party, sugarcube?"

"Well, definitely not a fun party going on, so you're not missing much!" Pinkie went, holding the plush that was Rainbow Dash in her hooves. That was when Rose Thorn, Bon Bon, Lyra and Fluttershy had rushed in as well, each one panting from the sprint.

"What happened t' Rainbow?"

"She got turned into a flippin' doll by Dark Comet!"

"Oh my! For a second, I thought Pinkie Pie had gotten a doll out of a chest…Rainbow looks so tacky as a doll, if I am to be honest, though."

"Rarity, can we worry about how Rainbow Dash looks later? We've still got a problem!"

Dark Comet had heaved herself off of the ground, slipping out of the rope like water. She snarled, and with a booming voice, gave a command: "KILL THEM. KILL THEM ALL!"

The fight that had broken out was a bizarre sight for Yugi to snap back into. Twilight had been paired up with something that had looked familiar to him, using spells in tune with its own magic to fend off lashing shadows and enemies with shining, magenta glowing eyes. Others were fighting their own way, though Pinkie had resolved to using a plushie that looked a lot like Rainbow Dash as a weapon by smacking a paladin-looking mare with it.

He had a nagging feeling in his gut that said that this was both distressing AND hauntingly familiar, but he was helped up by Wishing Star and brought right back into the reality of the matter.

"Wait, Wishing Star?"

She had nodded.

"..We're in the game, are we?"

Wishing Star only gave Yugi a confused look before firing a blast of magic at a tendril of shadow that was about to grab her from behind.

That made him shoot up into the air. "This isn't good. This is NOT good…Wait…"

Yugi had remembered the plans he had made with Twilight when it had come to facing off against Dark Comet in a final showdown. This was all familiar to him—the tendrils were an extension of Dark Comet's magic, and some of Wishing Star's allies were under her control.

Not to mention, a Stallion in black armor fought off the tendrils—that was Wishing Star's brother, who was under the control of Dark Comet the whole time and was only set free by breaking the red horn on his helmet.

It was a little tacky, but it was only a game.

'Yeah, a game that came to life and got way out of hoof!'

"Hiya, Yugi!" Pinkie Pie chirped as the Pegasus colt helped her up from where she stopped on the floor. "What's shakin'?"

"I don't know...I guess this is the final battle, huh?"

"Yep! I still haven't figured out that riddle Red Eyes told us, though—What would be in this castle that we could see, but hasn't been seen before? Oh well, at least you're here, so I guess it doesn't matter anymore—"

Yugi had, while Pinkie had chattered away, pushed her out of the way of a tendril that proceeded to stab right through him…

And do no damage.

Now Yugi was utterly confused. The tendril had melted away, retreating to the shadow as Pinkie had rubbed her eyes in disbelief. "Woah! How it'd do that? Are you an illusion or something?"

"…I don't think so…"

The colt had soon felt Pinkie poke him a couple of times. "Nope! You're real! That's really weird."

That's when it slowly dawned on him. "No…that riddle, what was it again?"

" 'There's something in the castle that we can see, but hasn't been seen before', but I don't know what it has to do with you!"

That's when Yugi walked up to Dark Comet, who had looked utterly focused on crushing the force fighting against her to even notice the colt.

He hesitantly stuck a hoof out to touch her left foreleg, and soon found that it went right through it.

She couldn't see him.

His friends could see him, as could his character….

But to Dark Comet—and the others—it was like he never existed.

Like they've never seen him before.

All at once, a wicked, cunning grin grew wide on his face as an epiphany struck him.

"Twilight! Did you set up the chandelier?!"

"What?"

"Did you set it up?"

"Uh, yeah, we did! Why?"

"I'm going to go and loosen it. Let me know when to drop it!"

"Alright!"

Yugi had darted around the tendrils, feeling the wall for the rope of the Chandelier. As he did so, the fight went on, sometimes the moves stronger against one, sometimes weaker. Twilight and Valkyria had stuck together, moving closer to Dark Comet as the sorceress focused her gaze at the two.

"Do you honestly think you and your little friends can beat me, outsider?"

"Well, I don't think we can beat you….I know we can! Yugi, now!"

Yugi, grabbing a hold of the rope keeping the chandelier in place, soon cut it loose at the signal, Twilight's horn glowing as it fell. At the right moment, she shot a beam of magic at it…

(((+++)))

Just as Celestia moved to roll the die, a sudden jolt of the table had thrown all off course. The die had fallen and rolled out of sight, rolling under a nearby desk.

Luna had jumped up at that. "Did you just jolt the table, you serpent?!"

Red Eyes had a look of mocked shock at the accusation. "Who, me? I would never—"

Luna had scowled. "Do not lie to us, serpent! If you are purposefully jeopardizing the lives of our comrades so you can claim an ill gotten victory—"

Luna had paused midway, noticing a white glow coming off of the game board. In a split second, the whole library was flooded with a blinding white light that had merited yelps from all inside.

The 00 had made itself apparent.

(((+++)))

Twilight had known that shooting the crystals in the chandelier with an illumination spell would fire out so much light that it would weaken and dazzle Dark Comet, but she hadn't counted on it being so strong that it'd affect everyone else.

Nevermind blinding herself! The light that shined off the crystals had filled the throne room with blinding white light, and it had hurt to look for a few moments. Once the light died down, Twilight opened her eyes, and had been treated to the sight of an illuminated throne room, the shadows gone, and her friends and allies stumbling about in a dazzled manner, groaning at the pain they had felt from the blinding light.

Dark Comet had looked the most stunned, her eyes clouded over and wide, swaying where she had stood until falling over, still in her daze. It hadn't defeated her, but it had weakened her and stunned her where everyone could get a breather and gather their thoughts.

Yugi had blinked a few times as his eyes readjusted. "Well, I didn't think THAT would happen. Was that a super critical move?"

"I think so. Ahehehe…I forgot to count that in my calculations, honestly…" Twilight said, blushing a bit.

"Okay…so all we need to do is have Wishing Star preform the spell to defeat her."

"Yeah, about that…" Twilight quickly told Yugi about Wishing Star's unfortunate situation. Yugi facehoofed. "Perhaps we made Dark Comet a bit too smart…"

"Well, most of it is my bad, I suppose…" Twilight said. "But how can we cast it? None of us know what the spell's recitation is!"

"Actually, I know." Yugi said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Wait…how?"

She had a gotten a flat look. The lavender unicorn blushed. "Oh, right. She's your character…but how will you preform it? You don't have your necklace, and only the caster can recite it."

"Well, I have a plan for that..." Yugi said, looking at Wishing Star, whose attention was captured by the conversation. "You see…No one else apart of this game can see me. But—" Yugi had stuck his hoof through Dark Comet's head, as if he were a ghost in its own way. "Neither can Dark Comet. And since Wishing Star is my character…who says that I can't be her 'voice' and make her cast the spell by lending it?"

"That's…that's pretty brilliant…but how are you going to do it?"

Yugi tapped his hoof against his cheek. "That, I need to figure out, probably before Dark Comet—"

As if on cue, a sudden blast of pitch black magic hit the group and threatened to engulf all in a never-ending abyss. If it hadn't been for Valkyria's quick thinking and her throwing up a shield, the blast would've swallowed them whole and destroyed them.

But it was apparent that she couldn't keep it up forever.

"I will NOT be defeated by miserable little worms like you! I will see you perish under the might of my magic before I will allow that to happen!"

"Fer gosh's sakes! This Dark Comet's mighty persistent!" Applejack said, still feeling the force of the flowing magic, even if the shield kept it at bay.

Twilight had looked more and more strained, feeling the will of Valkyria weaken against this powerful force. "She can't hold it for long! Yugi, we need you to do it now!"

Wishing Star had cowered, the magic sending fear through her whole body. Yugi had crouched near her, noticing her expression. "Are you scared?"

Wishing Star nodded. Yugi had then done something that had confused the beast taming Unicorn.

He laughed.

"It'll be alright! I'm scared too, but do you know what I do? I take my friend's advice, and laugh! It makes it less scary! Just laugh at how ridiculous it really is, and it's not as terrifying anymore!"

"Yeah, Wishing Star! Giggle at the ghosties, even if you can't giggle!" Pinkie Pie said, the roar of the magic growing louder. "You can do it, Wishy! We're all behind ya!"

Wishing Star had looked at the group within the shield spells' range, which had begun flickering, and then at Dark Comet, or at least the most she could see of her.

After a few moments, Wishing Star's lips wobbled into a smile, and then moved in a soundless giggling.

Just then, the shield gave way, Valkyria losing her grip on the spell, and soon they were all enveloped in the magic.

Dark Comet smiled at the satisfying silence, though her smile was instantly wiped away the minute a blue blast of light cleared it all away, Wishing Star's horn surrounded by a flaming, blue-white magical aura.

Yugi stood next to her, his body in sync with Wishing Star's as her mouth began to move.

"DARK COMET! YOUR REIGN OF TERROR HAS COME TO AN END!"

"What?! No! This isn't possible—I took away your ability to speak! This isn't possible!"

Wishing Star smirked, knowing full well that the voice that echoed out of her mouth was not her own, but the colt standing by her.

"I'm afraid it is, and now, this game is OVER."

Yugi had taken a deep breath as Wishing Star's mouth moved to the words he had spoken next:

"Silius Italicus, Incensio: praesta, oculi mei; abluere malum cum sit!"

(((+++)))

In an instant, Celestia, Spike, Luna, Hermos and Guiding Wings had bared witness to Dark Comet's figure being engulfed in a white flame, and being burned away until there was nothing left of her. Red Eyes was dumbfounded.

They won.

They defeated Dark Comet.

Celestia only smiled. "See? I told you that we would not lose."

(((+++)))

The last of Dark Comet had burned away in front of their eyes as Yugi breathed a sigh of relief. Pinkie had bounced up and down, absolutely overjoyed. "We did it, we did it!"

"But how come we're not back in our world?"

"Well…we win if we find and wake the prince up, remember? We've defeated Dark Comet, but we haven't found the prince…so I don't think any spells she's cast can be undone until we find him." Twilight said, looking at the plush that was Rainbow Dash, snuggled in the crook of Pinkie's forelegs.

"Correction. Until they find him." Yugi indicated the party, who had begun snapping to it and moved away from the group. Wishing Star had begun leading the group up a flight of steps, soon disappearing upwards.

Twilight, however, looked around for Valkyria, having no idea what had happened to her when the blast gave way. She had gotten her answer by seeing a small figurine, much similar to that of what Red Eyes was turned into, of her on the floor. Twilight picked her up, inspecting the figurine carefully.

"She…turned into a figurine. Um…"

"I guess she just lost the energy for a functioning, physical form," Lyra said, looking at the figurine. "So she just reverted into that dormant form until she's needed again."

"Oh, okay! I guess that means the connection between us is off for now?"

"Should be."

"Ah, alright! This is going to be an interesting write for Celestia when we get home..."

Suddenly the plush wobbled and twitched, and in an instant, it had grown in size and snapped back into Rainbow Dash's form, the cyan Pegasus mare looking confused and dazed. "Woah….okay, what did I just miss?"

And in an instant, the imagery of the Throne Room disappeared for them.

(((+++)))

"Are you sure this is the prince?"

Wishing Star nodded.

Honey Sweet had cooed. "He's adorable!"

The young infant prince had stirred at the sound of their voices, the baby unicorn colt cooing at all the faces that greeted him. Wishing Star had picked the colt up with her magic and wrapped him up in a part of her robes.

"Right…we should probably return the prince to his father, should we not?"

"Alright. Leave all the teleporting to me, guys."

With that, High Note's horn glowed, and without another word, they had disappeared in a flash of magic.

(((+++)))

Penalties were paid—as a result of his loss, Red Eyes had reverted back into the figurine form he was in, this time made dormant.

Once the game was won, the party had been flung right out of the board and back into the world, the magic that held them within the board's universe was now gone.

After many a clearing up and a discussion of safety, Twilight and her friends relinquished the figure of Red Eyes to Celestia and Luna, much to their relief. With that, the former storm party had parted ways, deciding to go home and rest after such events (with Yugi carrying Kuriboh on his back). Yugi was the last to leave the Golden Oaks Library, helping Spike and Twilight clean up the mess made (how the door was blasted off of its hinges and a large scorch mark on the floor happened was news to her) during their trip in the board. After that, the day had faded into a gentle, peaceful night.

On the outskirts of Ponyville, a small, pale green wisp floated in place, and once the sun had completely set, the wisp had floated away, disappearing into the darkness of the Everfree Forest.

(+)

((A/N: FINALLY! Done with this thing….you have no idea how stuck I was on this. Anyways, the note that this chapter replaced will be found in The Game's Collection as it has information that still needs to be shared. And since I'm in a good mood, you guys will be getting THREE chapters—albeit the two after this one are shorter, but I'm sure it's more than welcomed since this was a doozy. Again, thank you for your support and for being so incredibly patient.))