4 - Now You're Playing With Power

On the other side of the blinding light, there was exactly what I expected – a room crowded with smiling faces, not of the human race I had left behind, but of only ponies. My eyes panned around the room, noting the presence of a joyous Twilight Sparkle, the ever-confident blue blur Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie looking ecstatic as usual, silent but beautiful Rarity, hovering Fluttershy and grinning Applejack.

Many other ponies were in the crowd – fan favourites Lyra, Bon-Bon, Vinyl Scratch and Derpy. The Wonderbolts stood proud in all their glory, far outshone by the royal couple – Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor – and following that the great ruler of them all, Princess Celestia. The hat of the now Great and Apologetic Trixie sat, scrunched up, on the floor, but the mare herself wasn't in sight...I kept that in mind. Perhaps it was symbolic. Meh, never mind. I was ecstatic; this was a dream every child had, to see their animated idols alive, somehow, somewhere. My mind ran wild – how did they get here? Maybe the magic mirror in the much-debated Equestria Girls exists? Perhaps Hasbro and the writers are just a well-done coverup?

Perhaps you're right, Game. Anyway, I guess you should stop thinking. Time for another royal audience.

Wish me luck... I'm not good at speaking at all!

It'll come naturally.

Princess Celestia stepped forward, her once-shining horseshoes coated lightly in the dust of our Earth. "I've never liked it," I spoke shyly, feeling her read my thoughts.

"I understand," she returned softly. "I sense discord among your people, in more ways than one."

"Discord as in chaos, or discord as in the draconequus?"

"Both, Game Changer. Thank you for your presence. As you may well know by now, it is your duty to use the magic of friendship, alongside the fillies and gentlecolts among us, to defeat Discord. You may meet some familiar faces along the way, and even some unfamiliar ones. Unfortunately, most of the familiar faces will be people, ponies or in a few cases other species that have caused harm to us in any way. You might have noticed that a certain blue mare's personality tore her from us, and back to Discord." Celestia spoke seriously, never wearing a smile since I had walked in. "Perhaps we can revive our alliance with her."

"Just to confirm, that's Trixie, right?"

"Yes. However, a more important question would be why exactly Discord has turned against us this time. I should've known better than to try and convert him..." Celestia sighed.

"What happened?"

"It's a very long story. He has slowly slipped past us, creating the occasional chaos in Ponyville in slowly increasing amounts. We have been too soft on him." Fluttershy shied away, hiding behind her curled magenta mane, hoping that the scorned princess wouldn't name her. "We have come to decide that it's time to take action, and that is where we'll need your help, Game Changer. Live up to your name, Game Colt, and help us revive both your world and ours!"

"I will, Princess. You can count on me!" I took my place in the crowd to a great cheer.  I threw a hoof forward, shouting "Let's go, team," but I was briefly interrupted by Luna.

"We are not sure as to the location of your enemies, Game Changer. Stay on your guard at all times and be prepared for an ambush at any moment. Other than that," I looked into her eyes, determined. "You are dismissed."

"As I was saying," I threw my hoof forward once more, "let's move out, everyone!"

We charged out of the dank garage in our dozens, with varying levels of confidence. I did my best to look confident. I guess you could compare me to Luigi. I can imagine someone kind, heroic and confident easily, but I'm a shell of that vision...unless I have the support I need. My act soon fell into place, and I led the charge of storming hooves on a journey to...anywhere. The Elements of Harmony at my side, I ran down the dirt path, through the deserted camp. Twilight Sparkle gave me a nudge, smiling. "Hello, Game Changer. I'm Twilight Sparkle."

"Hey, Twilight. I'd shake your hoof if we weren't running. Sorry I haven't got time for an intro, but could you tell me anything about what happened with Trixie?"

"She was on our side, but I reckon someone might've scorned her. Oh, I remember now...She didn't like the role she was given, since only myself and the girls can defeat many of the enemies we might come across. Trixie was an aggressor herself, and that's something we can't ignore. She dismissed herself. I think she went the way we're heading now. I'll do my best to sense her presence."

"Thanks, Twilight." I looked to my left and right, noticing the other five 'mane' ponies smiling across at me. "Dash, Fluttershy, perhaps you can survey the skies? We don't want to have too many pegasi on that job; it'll draw attention to us."

"It's on," grinned Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy looked reserved as usual, but with a little coaxing I managed to get her to follow.

"Applejack, Pinkie," I called. They both replied with a confident "yes". "Could you two head on a little further and raise a signal if you catch anything suspicious?"

Pinkie whipped out a disguise mask, nose, moustache and all (I had no idea where from – she didn't have saddle bags). "Oopsies," she grinned sheepishly, "wrong one!" She put it away, pulling out her Sherlock Pones hat and monocle. Applejack raised a hoof to her chest, nodded, and dashed ahead. Pinkie closely followed, jumping along at twice her height.

"So, Rarity..." I thought a little about how she could help, but I had nothing. "Looks like we're out of lead jobs. You've got it easy," I winked, laughing. "I guess that now the delegation's done, I can introduce myself." Rarity played with her mane using her magic. "Or do you want to go first?"

"Ooh, yes please!" She smiled sweetly. "But I guess you know me fairly well already...I sincerely apologise for the whining I put you through before..." She scratched her neck.

"Uhm, remind me when that wa – oh, right. The Diamond Dogs –"

"Speak of the devils..." Rarity shuddered, feeling foul breath touch her neck softly. I looked up, and saw brutish Fido towering over her.