Queen of Games

Chapters

Ep.1 - Ruthless Bully, Face the Game of Darkness!
Ep.3 - Questions by the Cartload, Answers Out of Stock!
Ep.2 - Princess's Guard, Leader of High Treason!

Ep.1 - Ruthless Bully, Face the Game of Darkness!

Twilight strolled down Mane Street happily, because for the first time in quite a while, Princess Celestia had given her a short break from her usual hefty workload. Not that the eggheaded mare began to dislike her studies, but rather that even she needed a break from the non-stop reading and reporting. She had a little bounce in her trot, waved to anypony that looked at her, and even though she'd be embarrassed if anypony saw, gave a little twirl when she arrived at her library's door. Twilight opened the door with her magic, and trotted inside.

"Hey, Twilight..." Spike greeted the mare with a hint of disappointment.

Twilight stopped. "What's wrong Spike?"

Spike stepped to the side and pointed to the package on the table.

"Princess Celestia sent this for you..."

Twilight smile faded, but she picked it back up into a small grin. Then she noticed Spike hanging his head, probably blaming himself for ruining her good day. She trotted over to him and wrapped her foreleg around his shoulder.

"Aww, don't worry about it, Spike. I'm used to pop quizzes and such, it's no big bother anyway, what I'm more concerned about is how you coughed up something that big."

Spike looked at the package that was about the size of his head.

"Oh no, actually, the mail-pony dropped it off. But I don't think it's a book, Twilight. It looks too big, even for your type of books." Spike explained.

Twilight looked at the package curiously. "You're right Spike, let's see what it is."

The two moved over to the package and Twilight tore off the paper with her magic and opened the cardboard box. The first thing she saw was a scroll and another package, this time wrapped in much older paper and twine. She decided to read the scroll first, breaking its seal an unrolling it.

Dearest Twilight,

As you know I take an interest in the vast culture and history of our world, and this time I decided to let you examine this piece of Neighgyptian history. Inside this package, is a relic called the Sennen Puzzle, which is known to be the most difficult puzzle in the entire world. In the three-thousand years it's existed nopony has ever been able to solve it, but I believe that you are the pony who can do it. But I must tell you that this is no ordinary game, Twilight. This puzzle is said to have a great magical power sealed inside it. That is why I want you to complete the puzzle, and report to me anything you find out about it. But take great caution, Twilight, as the magic is also said to be unpredictable and dangerous.

Sincerely Yours,

Princess Celestia

By the time Twilight was done reading, her enormous smile had returned. She anxiously tore off the paper containing the mysterious puzzle and gazed in amazement at what she saw. Inside the paper was a golden box covered in ancient writing, with hardly any scratches or dents, and in the middle of the front side, there was the Eye of Horsus, the Neighgyptian symbol of protection. Twilight stared at the box in awe for a few seconds before lifting the top off of it and looking inside. What she found was at least a hundred golden pieces of a 3D puzzle, and they mostly all looked completely different, the only similar pieces Twilight immediately noticed must be the four corner pieces, as her mind was already busy solving the puzzle. As she began levitating pieces and putting her brain to full use, Spike needed to wave his claw in front of her face to tell her that there was a knock at the door.

Twilight was only able to put two pieces together when she had to put the puzzle down. She made her way over to the door an opened it to see Fluttershy.

"Oh, hello, Fluttershy, it's nice to see you!" Twilight greeted her friend.

"Hello, Twilight." She looked inside and noticed the open package, then let her hair fall in front of her face and looked down. "Oh, are you busy? You look like you're doing something, I don't want to bother you..."

Twilight stopped her worrying. "Oh no, it's nothing important, just doing a little puzzle. What brought you over here?"

Fluttershy stood up straight and spoke her business.

"Oh, well, um... this is my old... friend, Bolter, from flight camp who just moved here to be on the weather control team." She motioned to the stallion next to her that Twilight didn't even notice. He was a huge, bulky pegasus with a dark gray coat and black mane, and his expression insisted that he'd rather be anywhere else but here.

"Yeah, hi. I thought you said you were bringing me to Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy." He gave her an irritated look.

"Um... of course, we are, but, I just want- needed! to stop here first, it should only take a minute, I promise..."

He scoffed and walked inside, bumping Twilight on the shoulder as he did. Twilight looked at him in disbelief as he was examining the table and its contents. She turned worriedly back toward Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy, is there a problem?"

She looked a bit embarrassed but mostly she was nervous. "Um... actually Twilight, yes."

It was later in the evening when Fluttershy returned to Twilight's after dropping off her 'friend' on Rainbow Dash, though she felt terrible about leaving her real friend with such an awful stallion.

"A bully!?" Twilight was shocked.

Fluttershy was quick to avoid conflict. "No no I don't want to label him and it was so long ago and we were little kids and he was probably just shy like me and-"

Twilight cut right in.

"Fluttershy stop right now. You can't have that mentality about these kinds of ponies. I know you're not the confronting type but you have to tell him never to talk or be near you again."

Fluttershy's eyes widened. "Um... no. I can't."

Twilight was upset that she was going to avoid standing up for herself, but she was prepared to lecture. Until Fluttershy kept talking.

"But it's not because I'm scared to. It's because maybe he is different now, even if he's... unpleasant, so was Discord, and Princess Luna, and probably lots of other ponies that changed their ways, and I think my kindness might have an effect, especially since Rainbow Dash asked me to give him a tour of the town. I'm sorry that I told you there was a problem, but, I think I can handle it, Twilight. But thank you for listening."

Twilight was unsure of Fluttershy's feelings about this stallion. but one thing Twilight knew was that when Fluttershy was sure of something, it meant that she was sure of it. She finally sighed and smiled.

"Ok, Fluttershy, if you think that's best, than, I'm not going to try and change your mind. But be careful around him, I'm just a little worried about you is all."

Fluttershy gave Twilight a smile which seemed to cheer her up a little, but then Fluttershy looked toward the table with a curious expression.

"Hey Twilight, what is that?" She raised a hoof toward the gold box sitting on the table. Twilight turned to look at it.

"Oh that! That's a new assignment from the Princess. It's supposed to be the world's most difficult puzzle, said to contain mysterious powers, but it really feels like a fun game than a homework assignment. I'm really anxious to complete it."

Fluttershy looked at the puzzle in wonder. "Twilight, could I see it closer, please?"

Twilight grew a little bit giddy that her friend was taking an interest, and was more than happy to lead her over to the table.

"Inside the box is something called the Sennen Puzzle. Supposedly the hardest puzzle in the world." Twilight opened the box to show her friend the multitude of golden puzzle pieces.

Fluttershy scanned over the box in curiosity. "Do you know what this writing means?"

"Actually, yes! I just finished translating it." Twilight used her magic to pick up a paper resting close to the box.

"It's split into two parts, first is a riddle, and the second is a description of the puzzle's power."

"What does the first part say?"

Twilight looked down at the paper. "Inside this box is something you can see, but also cannot. I still don't know the answer, but then again, I haven't really been focusing on it."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll figure it out soon."

Twilight smiled appreciatively. "But the second part is kind of creepier and mysterious. You wanna know what it says?" She looked at Fluttershy pleadingly.

Fluttershy looked nervous. "Um... Ok. What does it say?"

Twilight looked back down at the paper. "The one who solves me shall receive my dark knowledge and power. Isn't that chilling? But I also did a little research through my books related to Neighgypt, and the Sennen Puzzle is related to something called the Game of Darkness. This was a game involving magic, where the stakes were commonly life and death, but you could wager anything, really. The only absolute was that anyone who cheated would submit to the punishment decided for them by their opponent. And these punishments were fitting to the greatest impurities that existed in the pony who cheated. So they paid for their mistakes in the worst way possible."

Fluttershy took a step back. "Um, Twilight? You don't think that... this puzzle is... dangerous or anything, do you?"

Twilight laughed. "I really doubt it. It's just a story. Honestly, when I looked over the pieces, it seems like it forms a piece of jewelery. It even already has a string wrapped through a round piece to hang around a neck. Maybe the reason nopony has solved it in three thousand years is because it's not that important."

Twilight began to look a little doubtful. Fluttershy decided to reassure her, afraid of the puzzle as she was.

"Oh, I don't think so, Twilight. If it wasn't important, then the Princess wouldn't have tasked you with it, right?"

Twilight perked up. "You're right Fluttershy! This is obviously important to Princess Celestia, so I'm definitely going to complete it! Thank you so much."

Fluttershy smiled. "It's nothing, just try not to get obsessed with it, ok?"

Twilight returned the smile. "Oh, of course I won't get obsessed."

"ARRRGGH!! Why is this so hard!?" Twilight was good and fed up with the puzzle. It had now been a full twenty-four hours, yes, she was counting, and she was only halfway finished with it, even after working on it for half the night. Spike carefully approached her and even more cautiously tried to address her.

"Um... Twilight?" She didn't look away from her work. "Maybe... you should take a break... because the puzzle might be too hard for you to do in one go." Spike gulped, that sentence came out wrong. Twilight stopped dead and cocked her head.

"Too hard... for me?" She turned towards the dragon slowly. "Do you think I can't complete it?"

Spike was too busy stuttering in fear to say more than, "I-uhh may- uuuuuuh, n- um, no?" Mistake part two. Twilight looked like she was ready to explode. When she suddenly collapsed from exhaustion.

"You're right Spike, I shouldn't try to do anything this challenging so quickly. I have to pace myself."

Spike released the massive amount of breath he was holding in. "That's good. I was going to get more quill fountains since you blew through our last twenty, do you wanna come?"

Twilight smiled. "That's sounds fun."

"But you gotta admit, for a three-thousand year old puzzle that's never been completed, you've made amazing progress, Twilight! You'll be done with it in no time." Spike encouraged her.

"yes, I know... and thank you, Spike." She gave him a thankful smile.

Spike was delighted to receive appreciation. "No problem, Twi!"

The two were on their way home from Quills and Sofas after picking up a large supply of ink to keep Twilight stocked for, at best, a week. The crowds normally found around the stores were starting to die down since it was getting late, and the sky was growing dark. A yawn from Spike notified Twilight that they were probably done being out for the day. They were almost back at the library when Twilight heard a demanding voice by the well.

"Just go down and look for some."

Twilight didn't recognize the voice at first but she definitely recognized the second.

"Um... but there might not be any bits down there, because um... it's not a wishing well."

The other voice grew agitated. "Just check anyway! What is your problem?"

"Well, um... if my wings get wet, it might be kind of hard for me to fly, and I might get stuck in there."

Twilight was close enough now to make out their faces, though she already knew who they were. Fluttershy was looking straight down to avoid eye contact, while Bolter looked like he was about to go into a fit of rage. Spike tapped Twilight on her shoulder.

"Who is that guy?"

Twilight looked at Spike worriedly. "Someone very bad."

"You know what? Forget it. This just proves how useless you are."

Bolter raised his right leg and swung it into Fluttershy's shoulder, knocking her right of her hooves and flying onto the ground. Twilight's eyes went wide and she looked in horror as Bolter jumped up and flew away. When by the time she fell out of shock, he was already long gone. Twilight dashed over to Fluttershy and Spike followed.

"Fluttershy, are you ok!?"

The knocked down pegasus was struggling to get up using only one leg, until Twilight got under her and propped her up.

"Yes, I'm-I'm fine." Fluttershy had already begun crying, and as bad as it made Twilight feel, she needed to lay down a little law for Fluttershy's well being.

"This is what I was talking about, Fluttershy. I was worried that this was going to happen, and now you got hurt."

Fluttershy was able to respond. "I know... but Rainbow Dash needed me to show him Ponyville because she was really busy..."

Twilight was completely confused. "But why didn't you tell Rainbow about your history with him?"

Fluttershy looked down in shame. "...I thought she would think I was being a wimp, just like last night when I told you there wasn't a problem. I was trying to be more assertive... but I'm just not good at it..."

Twilight felt a little guilt. "Fluttershy, there's a difference between being a wimp and reaching out for help you need. If you told Rainbow about this she would have defended you immediately."

Fluttershy looked upwards hopefully. "Do you think so?"

Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder. "Yes, I do."

Fluttershy somehow managed to smile. "Then... I should go tell her, right?"

Twilight returned the smile. "I think that would be smart."

Twilight was struggling to keep her eyes open as she focused on the Sennen Puzzle, which was nearing its completed form. She was able to make out that the finished product would look like an upside-down Neighgyptian pyramid. Also, it was in fact meant to be worn as a necklace, as the base of the pyramid held a ring to wrap a string through, which came included. There were only around ten or so pieces left to be put in, but Twilight needed a moment to shake herself awake. When she was ready to jump back into it, she heard baby dragon footsteps coming down the stairs.

Spike mumbled groggily. "Twilight? Are you still up? What are you-" He noticed the golden piece in Twilight's magic aura. "ugh, are you still working on the puzzle?"

Twilight sighed. "It's almost finished Spike, just a few more seconds! I have it all figured out!" She gave him a pleading look.

Spike gave in. "Fine, let's see you finish it."

Twilight turned right back toward the puzzle and put in another piece. She counted down in her mind. Nine, eight, seven... "Three!... Two! only one more piece, Spike! The spot in the front."

Twilight was saving the best for last, the most interestingly shaped hole in which the piece that must fit it has seven spikes around it and have two lines that lead up to the base of the pyramid. She reached to the box with her hoof, not taking her eyes off the puzzle to grab the last piece. Suddenly her body went cold, and her expression went dead. She quickly snapped her gaze toward the golden box and scanned all through and around it. The final piece was missing. Twilight started freaking out inside and Spike was afraid she was going to break down. Her mind raced with all the possibilities. The piece couldn't have been missing all along because she remembered what it looked like. It was the only piece adorned with the Eye of Horsus like the box, and it covered about half the surface of the puzzle, so it was recognizable. She didn't drop it or leave it anywhere. The only explanation is that somepony must've taken it. And there were only two ponies who knew about the puzzle. Twilight was sure that it wasn't Fluttershy. She shoved the puzzle into her saddlebag, threw it on her back, and raced out the door to Fluttershy's house, hoping that she would know where Bolter was.

Fluttershy yawned as she hovered downstairs to answer the loud knocking at her door.

"Yes, I'm coming. Goodness, who could it be this late?" When she opened the door, she was met face to face with Bolter. Fluttershy's eyes widened in alarm as she fell down onto her haunches.

"Wha- What are you doing here?"

Bolter trotted inside, and looked down on the frightened pegasus. "Rainbow Dash told me earlier that I was fired. Any idea why?"

Fluttershy bit her lip in fear. She was searching the room for a way out when she noticed a shiny gold object that was too big to be a bit under Bolter's right wing.

"What is that?" She pointed to the puzzle piece.

Bolter looked down at his wing, then grew angrier as he turned back to Fluttershy.

"What does this matter to you? And I already asked you a question!"

Fluttershy steeled her nerves. "That... That doesn't belong to you. It's Twilight's."

Bolter cocked his head and slowly moved towards Fluttershy, who started to back away in response.

"Well I know something that has your name on it."

Fluttershy grew panicked. "Wh-What?"

"A beating."

Twilight galloped hastily toward the outskirts of Ponyville. When she reached the trail that led to the cottages, she skidded on the dirt and dashed in the new direction. She skidded again, this time to a stop when she saw Bolter leaving Fluttershy's cottage. Her concern for her friend quickly outgrew her care for the puzzle, and she darted inside to find Fluttershy lying on the floor.

"Fluttershy! What happened!? Are you ok!?" She rushed over to her, dropped her saddlebag, and scanned over her body. There were red and black marks everywhere, including cuts, but what worried Twilight most was the stream of blood flowing down Fluttershy's face from the top of her head. It passed through her eye and down to her neck.

"Did he do this to you!? Oh, Fluttershy, it's my fault, isn't it?"

Fluttershy moaned and opened her eyes a crack.

"...not... your fault..."

Twilight started to tear up at the sight of her injured friend. Then she noticed Fluttershy's foreleg starting to move towards her, and in her hoof was the last piece of the Sennen Puzzle. Twilight stared at it in relief and suddenly guilt. She also saw Fluttershy gather enough strength to talk clearer.

"He stole it... I know you... wanted to finish it... let me see you... put in... the last piece..." Twilight saw that Fluttershy was looking at the near completed Sennen Puzzle that had fallen out of her saddlebag when she dropped it. Twilight was tempted to complete the puzzle, but was more worried about Fluttershy's condition. She started to lose her strength and fell back into unconsciousness.

"Fluttershy, I can't-" She suddenly stopped, and turned towards the Sennen Puzzle.

Twilight didn't move at first. Her gaze was fixed on the puzzle. Despite how much she wanted to take Fluttershy to the hospital, she couldn't look away. She felt like she was being drawn in. At one point she swore that the puzzle had called her name. Without realizing it, Twilight picked up the last piece, the largest and most interesting piece, with her magic and began floating it through the air toward the puzzle. The world seemed to stop around her and everything lost perspective, even her friend lying next to her seemed unimportant, as she slid the last piece of the Sennen Puzzle into its slot. Before she had time to admire the finished product, the puzzle began to glow bright, and a beam of light shot out of the eye onto Twilight's forehead, engulfing her in its power.

Bolter trotted alone down the abandoned street of the marketplace. He muttered in frustration, thinking about what he would do next. He doubted that somepony as scared as Fluttershy would report him, so he didn't think he needed to bail town. His thoughts were interrupted by hoof beats coming from behind him. When he turned around, suddenly the buildings and all of the lights were gone, and when he turned back around, he realized that he was surrounded by darkness. As he grew nervous, a little ball of light grew bigger as it approached.

The light shone brighter as the Sennen Puzzle came into focus, and as the light moved outwards, Twilight's face came into view. Her mane, which normally ended with flat bangs, had become jagged and spiky, and instead of the normal violet, her irises were crimson red. Her mouth pointed upwards in a wicked smile, along with the dark auras that irradiated from her eyes and horn just like the last time she used dark magic, only this time they were pure black and dark purple, and they engulfed her in a mist of shadows.

A voice full of confidence and certainty rang out from Twilight's mouth. "So, you who would so easily and carelessly harm another, are you ready?"

Bolter was caught off guard and a bit frightened. "Ready for what?"

Twilight's smile grew deeper and she stared into his eyes with evil passion.

"It's game time."

"Game time? You want to play a game?"

"Yep." The aura surrounding Twilight faded away and she leaned carelessly to the side with her forelegs crossed. Her wicked smile regressed into a confident smirk. "If you win, you get this."

A bag flew through the air from Twilight's side and landed on a small table that appeared out of nowhere with a loud slam, along with the sound of metal clinking. It was obvious to Bolter that the bag was full of bits.

"If I win, you leave this town forever. Deal?"

Bolter eyed the bag greedily as he contemplated the intentions of this mare.

"Ok, fine. We'll play a game."

Twilight's unnerving smile reappeared. "Fantastic. Sit down."

The two ponies sat down in suddenly present stools as Twilight threw ten bits on the table, each an equal distance from each other. Then her expression evened out as she explained the rules.

"These bits are all marked with a value, zero, one, two, three, or four. and there are two of each kind. We each take turns picking a bit until they are all gone. The winner is the one with the highest sum of the values. Simple, right? Well, enough for you, anyway."

Bolter's eyes narrowed at the caustic mare. "Yeah, i get it. And I'm going first."

Twilight leaned back. "Your move then."

Bolter reached out and picked up a bit. "One."

Twilight used her magic to flip a bit over. "I also have a one."

Bolter picked another. "Three!"

Twilight flipped her second. "Zero."

Bolter snorted. "Looks like this is backfiring on you, huh?"

Twilight seemed unfazed. "The game continues."

The drawings went back an forth, some good some bad for both, until the last two coins were left on the table, and the two players were tied at eight.

Twilight gave Bolter the facts. "The only two values left is a four and a zero, and since it's your move, the game is up to you."

Bolter glared angrily, but soon began to look back and forth between the bits. The only two left were the end pieces, that were now the farthest away two bits could possibly be. Eventually, he reached out and flipped the bit on his left.

"Zero!?"

Twilight chuckled."That's too bad." She flipped the final bit without looking at it. Four. "I win."

Bolter filled with anger as he kicked the table toward Twilight, who jumped back to avoid being hit. He grabbed the bag of bits off the ground with his teeth and made a break for it into the darkness. The wicked grin reappeared once more as Twilight sent a bolt of black lightning into the darkened sky above her. Instantly, two chains with shackles on the end shot out from the cloudy blackness a grabbed Bolter by the base of his wings, yanking him back onto the ground and throwing the bag from his mouth.

He cried in pain. "What are these things!?"

Twilight casually trotted past him, picking up the bag of bits with her dark aura that once again enveloped her. He became utterly speechless when he noticed the golden eye illuminated on her forehead.

"These things, are your reckoning, Bolter." The shackles grew tight and began to pull back. Bolter cringed and shouted out in pain.

"What are you doing!?" He begged to be answered.

Twilight turned to meet him eye to eye. "You really shouldn't have cheated, because this is the consequence. The game of darkness exists to show a pony's true character, and you are a greedy, careless stallion who would quickly put the life of another in danger for his own gain. If you haven't already hurt them enough as it is. But before you put others at risk, you should be prepared to risk something of your own."

The shackles yanked back on Bolter's wings, bringing out tears and painful whines. Twilight turned away from the defeated stallion, and began to trot into the darkness.

"The door of darkness, has been opened."

As Twilight faded through the black mist, the chains pull back with extreme force, and Bolter screamed in agony as his bones cracked, and his wings were torn off.

The general noise that had populated Fluttershy's hospital room had died down enough for Fluttershy's voice to be heard.

"...Then I just kind of blacked out. I suppose that's when Twilight brought me here."

Rainbow was the first to speak. "I never would've let him on my team if I had known he was so bad, Fluttershy, I'm really sorry about all this."

Fluttershy wasn't holding a grudge on anypony. "It's ok, Rainbow Dash, I don't blame you or anypony."

Rarity seemed shocked. "Oh but darling, surely you're not so forgiving of somepony so horrid. If knew where this stallion was I'd put him in the hospital myself!"

Pinkie Pie cut in from her ramblings in the corner. "Fluttershy! What color balloons do you want for your get well party!? I have pink and yellow, obviously, but also green and blue and purple and red and- OHHHHH, wait! I think I still have those color changing balloons! That will solve EVERYTHING!"

Rainbow seemed to remember something important. "Actually, Rarity, somepony already beat you to it. It's all around the hospital, he was admitted this morning screaming about how bad his back hurt, and that he lost his wings."

Due to the obvious confusion floating around the room, Applejack felt it necessary to ask the question.

"Well did he?"

Rainbow shook her head. "Nope. Nothing missing or even wrong with them. I heard that they were gonna move him to a psychiatric ward."

Fluttershy somehow seemed concerned. "Oh how awful. I mean, sure what he did was wrong, but, I wouldn't wish something like that on anypony."

Twilight smiled at her injured friend's compassion. "You're right, Fluttershy, I wouldn't either."

Fluttershy returned the smile. "Oh, Twilight, did you ever figure out the answer to that riddle?"

Rarity piped in. "What riddle?"

Fluttershy informed her. "There was a riddle connected with the um... Sennen, Puzzle?" Twilight nodded in confirmation. "Inside is something you can see, but also cannot."

The group of friends contemplated the riddle as Twilight shook her head no.

"I think the answer was friendship. Because you can see it in each other, but you can't actually see friendship itself. If you think about it, the puzzle was what made you rush to my house, right? So without it, you wouldn't have been able to help me."

Twilight took a moment to think about what Fluttershy said. She hadn't noticed anything special about the Sennen Puzzle, even though she started wearing it everywhere, despite Rarity's insistence to the contrary, since it didn't match anything. But maybe that's why Celestia gave it to Twilight to begin with. Everything Twilight did that night, maybe it all boiled down to friendship... right?

Author's Note

Next Time!
When Princess Celestia comes for a visit, Twilight discovers one of the guards plans to steal her throne. When confronted with the new danger, she must act quickly to prevent the overthrow. How will Twilight fare against her second challenge? Find out in...
= = =
Princess's Guard, Leader of High Treason!
= = =
The game is heating up!
~~~
We've only just begun.

Ep.3 - Questions by the Cartload, Answers Out of Stock!

At the most isolated table in the outdoor seating section of one of Ponyville's restaurants, a blindingly all white, yet with a mane that was slightly darker, unicorn mare with a cutie mark resembling a black-colored pyramid was leaning back in a chair, using her magic to throw a fork in the air, and then catching it when it came back down. she stopped when she noticed an all black mare, with a slightly lighter mane, and the same cutie mark in white came around the corner of the restaurant and sat at her table, dropping a bag beside her.

The lighter palette spoke first. "No hello? Typical sour stuff. You need to enjoy days like this. be happy for once." she laughed lightly at the dark mare's rolling eyes. "It's nice to see you again."

Her new company scoffed. "Here. You're not gonna believe who's holding the puzzle." She pulled a picture out of her bag and threw it on the table. The picture featured a lavender mare walking next to a small green and purple dragon, and a golden pyramid hanging from her neck.

"You think it's her?" The white mare asked, looking for certainty.

"No, I know for a fact that it's her. I saw her win a Dark Game with my own eyes, so I'm also sure that she's the one who solved it."

"She actually played a Dark Game? Wow. Wait, did you see her solve it?"

The mare with the black coat groaned. "No, I lost track of it when Celestia sent it away. I reached Ponyville the day of her visit. Should've known who she would send it to."

The white mare laughed. "Yeah, really. Nice work." She pretended to act serious. "But now that we know, shall we intercept?"

The black mare leaned back in her chair. "Naturally." using her magic, she opened her saddlebag which was placed next to her, and lifted out a large golden ankh, the tip of which seemed to have teeth like a key.

Questions by the Cartload, Answers Out of Stock!

The banner that had been hanging on the wall lost one of its corners, causing it to drift down to the floor. Congratulations on Getting Well! still appeared as it had landed face up.

"Good night, Pinkie, it was a lot of fun!" Twilight waved goodbye to the host as she trotted through the front door.

"See ya, Twilight! Thanks for coming!" After she returned the wave, Pinkie turned around to speak to the guest of honor, who had been patiently waiting to give her gratitude.

"Thank you so much, Pinkie, I really appreciate your parties. This one was even better than the others."

Pinkie sprang up in amazement. "WOW!! Better than your 'Get Well' party and 'Good Work on Getting Better' party!?" Fluttershy nodded.

Pinkie Pie found ground again. "AWWWWW YEAH!! Still got it! Thanks Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy giggled at her ecstatic friend. "You're welcome. See you tomorrow, Pinkie."

Pinkie nodded. "Yep, another fun day awaits!"

As Fluttershy exited Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie had already begun to clean up, once again insisting to her friends that she would do it herself. Even the party pony enjoyed silence and solitude. For that reason she was just a tad disappointed when two potential customers walked in. Yet she was still happy to provide service.

"Hello ma'am and ma'am and welcome to Sugarcube Corner. Please excuse the mess, we recently finished a party, but we are still open."

The white mare stepped forward. "Well thank you so much for allowing us in. I'm Posi, and this is my sister Nega. We happened to notice Twilight Sparkle leaving just a few moments ago, is she a friend of yours? We're not from around here."

Pinkie Pie nodded. "Yep! That's my good friend Twilight, why do you ask?"

Posi laughed. "Oh no reason... say, would you like to see something cool?"

Pinkie's eyes widened. "Oh yes I would!"

Posi smirked as she moved aside to let her sister step forward. Nega pulled the golden key out of her bag and held it in front of Pinkie. "You know what this is?"

Pinkie narrowed her eyes. "hmmm... if I had to guess... it's a thing." Pinkie blinked "Wow, I actually don't know! Cool! What is it!?"

Nega growled with annoyance. As Pinkie was distracted, she had been using her magic to move the key towards Pinkie's forehead. When it finally touched, she turned it on its tip, as if opening a lock. A bright flash of light shot from the ankh-styled key, and suddenly the sisters were gone, and Pinkie was left standing dead still.

The two mares appeared in a dark hallway, the only light coming from the crack of a nearby door. Posi stretched out her legs, sighing in boredom when she was done. "Okay, let's see her mind room." Nega waved her hoof to indicate that she was giving her sister the honors. Posi shifted over to the door that was letting light out. On the door was a seal, depicting three inflated balloons. She bumped the door with her fore hoof, with caused it to swing open.

"I'm so shocked..." Nega said sarcastically. The mares looked inside the room. Upon first glance they could tell the room looked exactly like a party. "Wow, We've seen one track minds before but... wow." Posi could only laugh at the environment.

"Aw... It's such a happy place. I wish we didn't have to mess it up. Oh well, crying shame... Wait, what is that?" Posi pointed to the large glass cabinet at the back of the room. The darker mare trotted over to it, peeking through the glass.

"Pictures... Like, a thousand of them. Of other ponies. Lots of other ponies."

Posi ran though her memory. "Uh, I forget what that means."

"Framed pictures indicate love or admiration, and the display case indicates value." she suddenly looked down, scanning the handles for the display doors. "It's locked, too. These ponies are precious to her... oh no." Nega grew nervous.

"What is it?"

"Look, right there." She pointed to the biggest picture, sitting in the exact center. When Posi reached the cabinet, she realized that her sister had the right to be upset. It was a group photo of Pinkie and her five best friends, including Twilight.

Nega hit the case with her hoof, which hadn't even shook the glass. She recoiled in pain as a result of the unsuccessful energy transfer. "Ugh! What are we supposed to do now? There's no way we can tamper with their relationship!... YO! Are you listening to me?" The bright mare had been staring out the door for the entire rant.

Posi shook out of her trance. "Oh... um... no, but... what is that?"

"Okay, seriously, that's like the third time you've asked that, do you just never remember anything?"

Her normally happy sister wasn't. "Shut up and look!"

Nega realized that she was actually being serious. She turned her attention to the doorway, and soon noticed the peculiar shape on the hallway wall. "I think..." She rushed over to the door frame, screeching to a stop when she found her guess to be true. "...It's a second door."

"What!? No, everypony has only one! How can there be two?"

Nega spun around. "If I knew, would I be surprised!?" She turned back around and moved to open the door. Posi reached out to stop her sister but fell short. The braver mare noticed a seal on the second door. This one depicted a pile of rocks. She turned the handle of the door, pushing it open slowly. As the light of the first room began to illuminate the darkness of the second, suddenly the silhouette of a pony appeared, standing still in the middle of the room. The instance of her appearance caused Nega to take a cautionary step back, as Posi grabbed her sister for safety. The light became clearer on the face of the pony, reveling to the mares that the pony was Pinkie Pie. Though the Pinkie standing in front of them was a less vibrant pink, and her mane was down and perfectly straight.

The new Pinkie smirked. "So... Somepony's come to visit me in my mind room."

The intruding mares remained quiet for a few seconds. Posi tapped her sister on the shoulder, and she turned to meet her eyes. "Is this multiple personality disorder?" Nega remained silent a little longer out of fear for her own answer.

"No... Multiple personalities divide the same room like drawing a chalk line. This... is an entirely different pony."

Pinkie smirk grew wider at the well-informed answer. "Why are you two disturbing my solitude? Can't you see I'm having a party?" She presented the space behind her, which had brightened up enough for Posi and Nega to see.

"You're having a party with rocks and flour? And... is that a turnip? Where are there even turnips anymore?" Nega regained some of her cool. "So, who are you really, then?"

"Oh you can still refer to me as Pinkie, though I like to differentiate myself from the 'normal Pinkie' by using her childhood name, Pinkamena. Not that it matters. I'll never be free from this cage again." Pinkamena turned around towards her party of one, sitting at the head of the table, and swinging her hind legs on top of it. An idea was forming in Nega's head, one that she hoped would help get her and Posi past the locked cabinet. As she was deep in thought, her once again bouncy sister shuffled over towards Pinkamena.

"You know... Even though you and Pinkie seem to be polar opposites like Nega and I, you both still have a big thing for parties. Isn't that kind of crazy?"

Pinkamena broke out into laughter. "This is Pinkie's head, we're all crazy here."

Nega grabbed her sister and shifted her away. "Pinkamena, I think I have a great idea."

The somber Pinkie seemed careless, rocking back and forth in her seat. "Oh, yeah? What?"

"How about Posi and I free you? Forever."

Pinkamena stopped. She turned seriously towards the uninvited unicorns. "Keep talking."

Nega took a confident step forward. "Posi and I have the ability to alter mind rooms, and we can release you, for now. In exchange, we need to you toy with the emotions of one of Pinkie Pie's friends, Twilight Sparkle. Just follow our instructions and you'll be free, so long as it works. You'll never hear from us or Pinkie ever again."

Pinkamena considered the deal. But a weird detail caught her attention. "So long as what works?" Nega realized that she had released a lot of information, and was thinking of a cover-up, but was interrupted by laughter. "Oh I get it. You're trying to activate the puzzle. Ha! Why not just steal it?"

"We're not thieves, our intentions are more complex than you can understand right now."

"Really? Not thieves? Well you do the breaking and entering bit real well."

Posi jumped in front of Nega, taking the attention of the room. "One sec! How do you know stuff about the puzzle? Who are you, really?"

Pinkamena smirked. "It's too complex for you to understand right now. But I accept. I'll activate the puzzle if you can promise me freedom."

Nega nodded. "I swear you will be freed."

Pinkamena smiled. "Then let's get me some fresh air!"

"You stop right there!" The three conspiring mares spun around to see Pinkie Pie standing triumphantly in the doorway.

Nega was annoyed. "Okay, no. You can't be here. No way. This whole mind is impossible."

Pinkie sighed. "You're so negative." Suddenly she gasped. "Oh, I get it now!" She broke into laughter, but when she saw her other self again, she stopped. "I told you to behave."

Posi fell down laughing. "You know that you have an imposter living in your head!? You're so weird!" She continued laughing, even Nega smiled.

"How did you get in here?" She asked impatiently.

Pinkie thought for a second. "Well see, I imagine this door to my head, and then I open it, and that takes me here. I do it all the time, cause why bother having a mind room if you don't use it?"

Posi caught her breath, only to comment, "makes sense."

Nega sighed. "Doesn't make sense how she's physically able to enter her own mind."

Pinkie raised an eyebrow. "Then how did you get in here?"

Posi's horn flared, and the golden ankh appeared in the air. "We have a way of getting into ponies' heads."

Pinkamena looked at the key in shock, yet evened her expression before anypony noticed that she recognized it. She was fed up with waiting to be released.

"Hurry this up, I'm tired of being in here."

"No! Please don't let her out. I don't know much about her but I know she's not nice, she'll do serious damage, and she'll betray you when she gets the chance."

The other pink pony let out a single chuckle. "So? They need me."

Nega raised a hoof. "Technically, no. We don't need you, we could use another one of Twilight's friends, but your attitude and willingness are beautifully helpful. But we can still control you outside of this mind, don't forget that... considering that you plan on betraying us."

Pinkamena sneered at the black mare.

Nega turned towards Pinkie. "Just as we can control you in here."

Both mares sighed, causing them to look at each other, both eyes full of dislike for the other. Pinkie sighed sadly. "I shouldn't have let you out that day."

Pinkamena laughed before turning angry. "You've never let me out! That one time was you acting like me! You just didn't realize it because you're out of your mind!"

Pinkie scoffed, her attitude suddenly changing. "Uh, I'm in my mind right now, aren't I? Hel-lo!?"

Pinkamena chuckled. "I guess you're right, but you won't be so jokey when I'm done with Twilight."

Her expression deadened. "You're not hurting Twilight!" Pinkie slammed a hoof into the ground, with unexpected firmness.

"You're not in control anymore!" Pinkamena returned the hoof stomp.

"Actually..." Posi interjected, holding the key in her aura, "We are." The key emitted a flash of light, and engulfed the whole room. When the illumination died down, Pinkie found that she was alone with Nega.

"One more thing." The meddling mare intended to clarify. "What happens next is based on your behavior. Let us work and Twilight may move on relatively unharmed. But try to stop us, and things for Twilight may become a little... painful."

Pinkie started to tear up. "No, don't hurt her! I'll stay in my mind room... I promise..."

Nega disappeared in a flash of light. Pinkie lowered her head and started to cry softly, out of worry for her friend.

A bright surge of light filled Sugarcube Corner, and the scheming sisters phased into the room. Pinkie's body began to twitch as her hair expanded, to the point where it popped and went straight. Her blank face moved around, loosening out. Finally, she sighed. "So... let's get this party started."

"Not so fast, friend." Posi raised her hoof to Pinkie Fake's chest.

Pinkamena narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"We're going for an unnoticed deal here, so you kind of have to look like Pinkie Pie for a little bit."

Pinkamena almost snarled. "What does it matter if I'm not going to act like her, anyway? And I don't plan on sticking around when this is over, so there's no reason."

Nega shook her head. "You're not off to a good start." She turned to her sister, who was holding the golden key. "I can tell that this probably isn't going to work." Turning to Pinkamena, "The puzzle activates by emotion. Betrayal and heartache are among the strongest feelings there are."

Pinkamena cut in. "So is anger."

Nega nodded. "Too strong, the emotions I said will make her feel weak, so when the spirit... okay, you know what? It doesn't matter. Just do it our way and this will be easier."

Pinkamena groaned, moving towards the bathroom to inflate her mane. When she closed the door, Posi slid into her sister. "What was that about? Why didn't you explain it would make her stronger?"

Nega rested her head on Posi's shoulder, obviously drained of energy after dealing with the drama from the events of a few minutes ago. "I'm trying to limit her knowledge of the puzzle, she clearly doesn't know as much as she wants us to think."

Posi thought to herself for a few seconds. "...How can you tell?"

Nega picked her head up. "I could tell as soon as she said 'activate' the puzzle... she thinks that it's a device or something."

Posi nodded. "I get it. All the more important that we make her listen to us, then."

The three mares trotted down the street casually, approaching Twilight's library.

"So how should we start?"

"Uh... something simple, like... insult her manestyle or... something."

Posi raised an eyebrow. "I... can't believe that's the best you could come up with."

She shrugged. "Yeah, I don't know, I'm kind of- hey! What are you doing!?"

"You really should've seen this coming." Pinkamena trotted up to the library's front door and turned away. She reared up her hind legs and bucked in the door, breaking it off the hinges and shocking the pony inside.

"Pinkie! What are you doing!?" Pinkamena trotted over to Pinkie's friend, and when she reached the paralyzed mare she struck her on the side of the head with her hoof. Twilight was knocked to the floor. Posi and Nega were looking in through the broken doorway.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Surprised to see me? Come out and face your old friend!"

The Sennen Puzzle glowed.

Pinkamena watched casually as Twilight's physical features changed in front of her. A swirling black mist engulfed Twilight for a few seconds. The ball unraveled into strips of smoke and dissipated. Twilight was standing upright, casting an annoyed stare at the pony who just knocked her down.

"I thought I'd never be surprised by your actions again. It's nice to see that old dogs can learn new tricks. I hope you've enjoyed your time outside the Ring, because believe me you'll soon be seeing a lot more of it."

Looking through the door frame, Nega whispered, "How could they know each other?"

Pinkamena smirked. "The ring is gone, your highness. What's your backup plan?"

Twilight let her gaze wander, contemplating her next action. "I'm going to imprison you again." She smiled with an evil passion.

"It's game time."

The intruder exhaled, as if anticipating the moment. "You're damn right it is."

"So..." Twilight started as the room filled with black aura. "I think I have a good one." Just when the darkness had the two almost fully surrounded, Posi and Nega's horns flared a light blue mist, and the two were suddenly alone with the dueling mares in the darkness, yet invisible to them. They watched a multitude of objects appear around them. Cages, both on the ground and hanging from chains attached to nothing, ropes, snares, and even large gaps in the floor started to form, almost right under Posi, who jumped to the side in time. When the room settled, Twilight spoke. "The game is to trap the other before they get you."

Pinkamena laughed heartily. "You're something else. Let's go already."

"Game start."

Almost instantly, Pinkamena jumped exceptionally high up, grabbing one of the floating chains that held a cage just about over Twilight, who hadn't even moved yet. She swung her weight on the chain and bucked the cage loose when it aired over Twilight. The cage landed right on its mark, earning a confident "ha!" from Pinkamena. She let go of the chain and fell down onto her hooves to look at her catch. The moment she realized the cage was empty, she felt an agonizing crack on the left side of her head, sending her both flying then sliding to the edge of a pit.

She stumbled around on the floor trying to regain her senses. She couldn't see out of her left eye, and there was a ringing in her ear, but despite that, she saw Twilight standing where she just was, looking calmly at the cage. She could hear Twilight speak with a muffle. "I figured I owed you that." Pinkamena shook her mind into focus, then took off into the dark. Twilight followed. So did the sisters.

"Oh I'm getting tired of this." Posi whined. "Every time something happens, something else happens that's more interesting or pertinent."

Nega rolled her eyes. "So what? Keep up, we made a mess here."

The chased continued through the endless nowhere, until Twilight lost sight of her pray. She looked around and listened, but found no trace of her enemy. Her attention was suddenly taken by her necklace. It was glowing a a strange flickering manner that Twilight decided to ignore until later. She waited in place, feeling oddly safe, and had a thought in her mind as she stood motionless. You are not in control, Councilmare. I will not abdicate or submit to your ways, I do not follow you. You heed to me. Twilight suddenly realized she was remembering a very old conversation.

Her mouth curved into a unique smile. She took a few steps back and sat down, right under a cage, paying no attention to her surrounding. Pinkamena groaned, watching the mare from a cage top some distance away. "What are you doing? Ugh... I hate you so much." She made her way silently across the cages, approaching Twilight cautiously. Her face throbbed, and she was mad. After all this time and tension, The mare sat there, seemingly uninterested in the whole of it all, the centuries of incarceration and the challenge of life and death. She hated the arrogance, and wanted to knock it right out of Twilight's face, repeatedly.

Pinkamena let out a thirsty scream, pouncing towards Twilight. Twilight chuckled. She slammed into the floor right where there should've been Twilight, and she cried out in pain as the force tortured her body. As she whimpered, she heard a voice by her ear. "You're not smart enough to have power, only dangerous enough to have a cell." Twilight's horn flared, and the cage that had been directly over Twilight now fell over Pinkamena, trapping her.

Pinkamena started laughing as she struggled to stand. Twilight looked at her seriously. "Anything you want to say before you go back in there?" She pointed to Pinkie's head.

She smiled. "There's always next time."

Twilight stood face to face with her adversary when her horn lit, sending a beam into Pinkie's forehead, when it went out, she moaned for a few seconds, before her mane popped into disarray and she vanished from the darkness. Twilight turned around and looked directly towards Posi and Nega. "I hope you two learned something from this." She vanished instantly as the darkness began to quickly unravel. The sisters found themselves back in the library next to two unconscious mares. They stood silent for a while.

Nega sighed in preparation. "Ok, I'm gonna wipe Pinkie's memory, and then we have to get out of here, go back home and think what to do next." Posi just nodded.

Twilight and Pinkie moaned into consciousness on the library floor.

"Uh..." Twilight moaned. "Did it happen again? Oh, what happened to the door!?... ow." She rubbed her head.

Pinkie sat up, massaging her own head. "I don't know... but it feels like somepony smacked me then made me fall two stories flat on my stomach." Twilight's eyes shifted downwards, catching the glow of the puzzle fade at the last second. Her eyes went wide.

"The puzzle! It did something again! Pinkie, what happened!?"

Pinkie Pie shook the pain right off. "Um, ok, uh... first... uh..." She stood silent, not being able to find a place to start. Then she just looked at Twilight calmly. "I don't know how I got here."

Twilight groaned. "We have amnesia again? No! How am I supposed to learn about the puzzle if I never remember what happens?"

Pinkie pondered the situation. "Maybe we can make some sort of log to gather information when weird things happen and check for relevancy."

Twilight stood astounded. "Pinkie, that was... unexpected."

Pinkie usually enjoyed shocking Twilight, but this time she seem a little troubled. "Twilight... I'm not stupid, you know. Just because I like being fun and crazy doesn't mean I don't know how to be serious."

Twilight felt a bit blindsided by the confession. All the times of saying 'she just being Pinkie Pie' now came up in her mind, and she wondered if it maybe wasn't the first time Pinkie felt unappreciated. She nodded her head. "I know you're not stupid, Pinkie. I'm sorry for making you feel that way. That really is a great idea though. We should start right now... if you'll help me."

Any signs that Pinkie was upset vanished. "Of course I'll help!" She stuttered. "Uh, actually I can't really help that much. Like you said, anamanamesia."

Twilight had a soft smile at the return of her friend's usual behavior. But she couldn't help feeling upset at the fact that once more questions would be left unanswered. She noticed Pinkie was smiling at her.

"Don't let missing answers discourage you, Twilight. If you know you don't have them, at least you know they exist!"

The sun was low in the sky, waiting to be lowered by the princess to start the shift into night. On the outskirts of Ponyville, the two sisters contemplated their actions.

"We can't be that stupid again." Nega was resting her head in her hooves. "She played us like fools."

Posi sighed. "I wish I could say it wasn't that bad, but... yeah we screwed up."

Nega groaned in frustration. "We released an obviously untrustworthy mare out of a special prison we knew nothing about to target another mare who she clearly had a violent interest in. We didn't just 'screw up', we put the world in danger."

Posi sighed once more. "So what do we do now?"

The black mare thought to herself for a moment. "We should ask Mom."

Author's Note

Trailer coming at some point in the theoretical future maybe. (soon-ish) (not really though) (apple cider)
~~~
Sorry for disappearing, hope this one was worth the wait. If you ever feel I'm taking too long, feel free to send me a message.

P.S. In case you're really paying attention to the plot of this story to the real show, in this chapter I decided to just canonize the princess title and all of that, but it really serves no relevance to this, so whatever.

Ep.2 - Princess's Guard, Leader of High Treason!

The cellar of Canterlot Castle was mostly dark and silent. It was hardly ever used by the Princesses, though there were some who had put it to use for there own purposes. In the lowest room there was a stallion dressed in royal guard armor whispering into a basin of water.

"Yes, sir, I just received it. Are you sure I'm capable of using it?"

The water shook, and a heavy, deep voice responded. "Yes, you fool! I would not have trusted you with it if you could not. My plan has covered all of the bases, there is no way anyone could mess this up, except for any incompetence from you. But so far you have proven to be reliable, so you have my trust."

"I understand. Yes sir. No incompetence."

"Good. Now, are you certain that you look the part?"

The stallion checked over himself. "Yes, sir, white coat, blue mane, I blend in perfectly."

"Do you have an concerns before this begins?"

The stallion paused, thinking of any discrepancies he might have. "Actually yes sir, I was wondering, why do I have to do it in Ponyville, and not right here?"

The water flicked around. "Because there are too many eyes watching. The town is smaller and there will be less security. Besides, there will be no one there who has any kind of power to stop you. Anything else?"

He shook his head.

The smooth, deep voice chuckled. "Good. Now go, Firestone. Complete this mission and Equestria will be yours."

Firestone turned away from the basin, which had gone silent. He trotted over to an old table, on which rested a wooden case. he pulled off the lid with his magic and stared at the item inside. It was a pure gold rod, at the tip there was a sphere that had two sharp wings jutting out of it, and the sphere itself was adorned with the Neighgyptian eye.
= = =
Princess's Guard, Leader of High Treason!
= = =

The now completed Sennen Puzzle bounced off of Twilight's chest as she ran back and forth through the library. Spike had tried multiple times to get her attention, but as usual, to no avail. He had learned throughout the years that when Twilight gets worked up about something, the safest thing to do is to just stand back and wait. A week ago, they received a letter from Princess Celestia telling them that she would be coming to Ponyville for one of her casual visits. Though he should've known better, Spike tried to talk to Twilight anyway.

"There's nothing to worry about, Twilight! It's another casual visit to say hello, and besides, if she asks about the puzzle, you finished it, right? So no worries."

Twilight let out one of her exasperated groans. "Yes, but I was supposed to report to her my findings on it, but I can't do that because it doesn't do anything! She expects me to tell her all about its mysterious powers, but there are none! It turned out to just be a really hard puzzle, that's it!"

Spike took a few steps back. "Well, ok, but, why are you still wearing it then? You're not really one for fashion statements..."

Twilight slowed down her frantic moving and sighed. "I don't know, Spike. For some reason I can't put it down. It feels like I'm missing something big. Truth is, I do think that there's something special about the puzzle, but no matter what I try, I can't get a reaction out of it."

Spike thought for a moment. "So, it is magic? Or just really cool looking?"

Twilight laughed. Spike was smiling because he felt she needed to. "Well, it definitely is cool looking, but my problem is that if it does have some magic power, I haven't figured it out yet, and if the Princess wants to know about it, I can't tell her anything. I have nothing to report!"

Spike thought about her predicament. "Well. she didn't really give you a deadline, right? Just tell her the truth, that it's taking you longer than you thought to study it and you need more time. And you can at least report to her that we concluded on the fact that it looks really cool."

Twilight shared her laugh with Spike that time before wrapping a leg around his shoulder. "Thanks for keeping me in line, Spike. You're my sanity nowadays."

"Aw, no problem, Twilight." There was a polite knock at the door. "I'll get it'"

Twilight turned back around to look for her saddlebag as Spike jogged over to open the door, and when he did, his face irradiated a look of infatuation. As soon Twilight noticed that Spike was indisposed, she smirked.

"Come in, Rarity."

As soon as the unicorn knew she was welcome to enter, she dashed inside and grabbed Twilight's shoulders. She spoke hastily as if she still needed to run around all of Ponyville.

"Twilight! I was just thinking that we should all be dressed for the Princess and I needed to make sure- oh darling are you still wearing that thing?" Twilight noticed that Rarity was staring at the puzzle. The fabulous mare whined. "It doesn't even match you mane! how can you do this to me, Twilight?"

Twilight sighed and shrugged Rarity off of her. "Spike and I just finished this discussion, Rarity. I'm still wearing it because I'm still researching it. Besides, the score is two to one, in favor of it looking good."

Rarity fidgeted a little before giving in. "Oh, fine. You win. But do hurry up and finish your research as soon as possible, if you would." She smiled to make sure Twilight knew she was kidding.

Twilight returned the smile before returning to her saddlebag. "I'm just heading out to pick up a few things before the Princess arrives. And Rarity, just like every other casual visit, Celestia doesn't expect us to dress fancy."

Rarity muttered, "It doesn't mean we can't."

As Twilight threw the bag on her back and moved to the front door, stopping to look back at Rarity. "If you need anything, Spike will be more than happy to help."

Spike suddenly fell out of his stupor and ran over to Rarity. "Yep, anything you need, my beauty..."

Twilight laughed lightly as she left the library.

Sugarcube Corner was upbeat with conversation as the many Ponyville ponies were excited about the visiting princess. As Twilight entered the room she noticed that Rarity had ignored her statement about the attire, and that Celestia hadn't arrived yet, though there were already four guards strategically placed around the room. She saw her friends scattered amongst the groups of talking ponies, save for Fluttershy who was over in the corner, waiting for the party to be over. Twilight decided first to keep her company. She navigated her way through the crowd over to her friend.

"Hi, Fluttershy, how are you holding up?" Twilight inquired about the mare's recovering head.

Fluttershy was relieved to be close to one of her friends. "Oh, hello, Twilight. I'm doing fine. Although I'm anxious to see Princess Celestia again. She still isn't here yet."

Twilight looked back towards the entrance. "Yeah, I noticed. She probably got held up back in Canterlot. I'm sure the Princess won't take too long, she likes these visits a lot since most of the time she's really busy."

Fluttershy seemed to have nothing to talk about, so Twilight just stood by her side and they both waited for a little while, until finally Princess Celestia arrived. when she entered, she was accompanied by two guards, who were standing next to her on both sides. Twilight was focused on the Princess, but suddenly she was distracted by a shiny object being held beneath one of the guard's armor. She assumed it was just a personal valuable and ignored it. After Celestia made her greetings and the room calmed down, Twilight was able to eventually talk to the Princess.

"Hello, Princess! It's great to see you again!" Twilight greeted her mentor happily.

Celestia smiled at her young student. "Hello to you, too, Twilight. I'm very happy that I was able to come visit you and your friends. It really doesn't happen often enough."

"Well I'm glad you're here. Things have certainly been exciting lately."

Celestia nodded. "Yes, your letter was very descriptive. I'd like a chance to talk to Fluttershy later, I'm a bit concerned about her, naturally. But I'm also very surprised that you've already solved the Sennen Puzzle. It must've been quite easy after all. At least for you, Twilight."

Twilight blushed. "Oh, I wouldn't say that it way quite so easy, it did stump me at times, but that's not really important." Twilight looked at the ground, thinking about how to explain to her mentor that she hadn't learned anything about the puzzle.

"Twilight? Is there something wrong?" Celestia was quick to pick up on her student's thoughts.

Twilight blinked back into focus. "Oh. Um. Well, we can talk later, after the party."

Celestia nodded. "Of course, Twilight."

The party was still in full motion when Twilight and Princess Celestia took their leave for the library, later in the night. They were followed by one of the guards for the Princess's safety. The same guard, Twilight noticed, that was carrying a weird golden object between his armor and body. When they finally arrived and entered, Twilight began to confess her lack of progress in her research.

"...But no matter what I do, nothing ever happens... I'm sorry..."

Celestia laughed. "Twilight, I'm amazed that you've already finished solving the puzzle by this point. You've already exceeded my expectations, it doesn't matter how long it takes to discover anything, so long as you're trying, it's good enough for me."

Twilight was reassured by her teacher's kind words. "Thank you, Princess. Oh, but, I do know some things about it! I left my notes on the table."

Twilight led Celestia over to the mass of papers and books containing information and theories regarding the puzzle. She explained to the Princess everything she knew about the Sennen Puzzle, including the writing on the box, and the supposed Game of Darkness. Princess Celestia was intrigued by the information as Twilight finished her presentation with what Fluttershy had told her.

"...because even though you can't see friendship itself, you can see it in your friends. Fluttershy was the one who figured that out."

Celestia smiled at the thought that Twilight was still focused on friendship. "Well so long as the puzzle is bringing you closer to your friends than I definitely recommend you continue your research on it."

Twilight nodded to show her understanding. The puzzle was still important enough to continue studying. Princess Celestia interrupted the silence.

"By the way, Twilight, could I see the box that the puzzle came in? I never really had a chance to look over it, myself."

Twilight nodded again. "Of course, I left it in the other room, but I'll go get it." Twilight hastily made her way into the other section of the library to retrieve the golden box. Princess Celestia thought she would be alone for a minute, but suddenly the front door opened, and the guard that followed them stepped inside.

"Hello, Princess."

Celestia was surprised with how informal the guard was acting in front of her. "What is the meaning of this interruption? Do you have a message for me?"

The guard laughed at the perfect setup. "Actually yes, the message is that your kingdom is mine!" He revealed his mysterious golden object and held it in front of him using his magic. Before she could react, a flash of light came from the rod, beaming itself into Princess Celestia's head. As she winced in pain, a cloud of yellow smoke phased out of her chest, and flew into the golden rod. Princess Celestia fell.

The stallion laughed wildly while standing over the fallen Princess. "So long as I hold her soul, the princess is forced to do whatever I command her!" As he fell back into laughter, he was unaware that his actions were being witnessed by a mare peeking through the crack of a door.

The Sennen Puzzle glowed.

Twilight took small steps back from the door. Her eyes were closed as wisps of black and purple aura circled her, growing larger and larger until she became a spherical cloud of dark energy. A golden light illuminated from the shadowy ball, in the form of an eye.

"So, it's game time."

The guard quickly looked up to find the source of the intruding voice, only to find himself staring at the darkened sky. When he looked back down, he was overtaken by fear upon noticing that he was suspended by a rope off the top of the town hall.

"What the!?- What is this!? What's happening!?" He looked around frantically as his legs curled around the rope. His attention was taken by the glow residing at the top of the dome, hanging around the neck of the mare leaning against the spire. Twilight looked down at the stallion with her malefic grin.

"Hey, how's it hanging?" She laughed casually. The guard was terrified by her lack of concern. Twilight turned to the golden object tied to the spire next to her. "So, pretty nice Sennen Rod you've got here. Tell you what, I'll play you for it." She was still wearing her unique smile. "we're gonna play-"

"A Dark Game." The stallion cut in.

Suddenly Twilight's unbeatable smile disappeared, and it was replace by a look of annoyance and slight worry. "And how do you know about that? Possessing a magical artifact that gives you total control over others is one thing, but knowledge has to be passed down..."

The stallion maintained his expression. "I accept your game, mare. Winner gets both Sennen Items."

Twilight glanced down at the puzzle swaying in the wind. She turned her attention back to the stallion hanging beneath her. "Who are you? Give me your name."

The stallion was reluctant to speak at first, but eventually he admitted his identity. "Firestone. Who are you?" He retorted.

Twilight stared into his eyes. "Twilight Sparkle."

"Liar."

The two stared at each other, bent on defeating the pony in front of them more than anything else in the world. Eventually Twilight started laughing lightly.

"So, are we gonna play or not?"

"What are the rules?"

Her wicked smile returned, prompting her leap towards the edge, revealing the end of the rope that was tied to her, and slid down the surface of the dome. As she was descending, her hoof was sliding along the tiles, spreading playing cards face down. When the rope finally caught her, it yanked on Firestone, pulling him up, and her down, until they were right across from each other.

"The rules are simple. We'll take turns choosing cards, then we'll take steps up the roof, the number depending on the value of the card we drew. And we only pick cards that we can reach with our hooves."

"Okay. Anything else?"

Twilight pondered what she had said for a moment. Then came to a little realization. "Oh yeah, aces count as one."

"Fine, who starts?"

"Go ahead." She motioned for Firestone to take the first draw. He reached out to his right and flipped over one of the cards.

"10 of clubs. I'm going up." Firestone got a hold on the side of the roof, and began trotting upwards, sending Twilight sliding towards the edge. When he had taken ten steps, he turned to look down at Twilight. "Now you."

Twilight reached out to reveal a card. "10 of diamonds, looks like we're even."

Firestone reversed, descending once more and soon meeting Twilight at the same height.

"Not for long." He insisted, flipping another card. "6 of clubs, still ahead." He put a little distance between himself and Twilight.

"Are you sure?" Twilight picked her next card. "King of hearts."

Twilight brought herself up the roof and passed Firestone, who was now beneath her.

"I'll catch up, 4 of clubs."

"I have my doubts." Twilight responded. "9 of spades."

As Firestone sank lower he became a bit frantic, though he kept calm and drew another card. "5 of hearts."

"8 of diamonds."

"7 of spades."

"10 of hearts."

"4 of clubs."

"Queen of spades."

In no time, Firestone had reached the very edge of the roof, and his hind legs were dangling over the open air.

"Well, Firestone, I'm only one step from the top. Are you going to draw?"

Firestone was full of frustration. There were still plenty of cards left to draw from, and he held onto the hope that the next card would turn the game around. He went for the card as high as he could reach. When he turned it over, that hope died.

"Ace of spades..." He was contemplating the unlikeliness that he would still win.

Twilight laughed. "That's too bad." She picked up the closest card to her. "2 of diamonds. I win."

Suddenly Firestone raged. "You set this up! That's why you said aces count as one!"

Twilight's faced turned serious when she was accused of cheating. "I did not."

Firestone started moving up the roof. "I can't lose the Sennen Rod, even if you didn't cheat!"

Twilight chuckled, as she was surprised. "And I thought you knew how this game worked. Yet here you are, breaking the rules."

Firestone moved closer and closer to the top, yet despite his proximity to Twilight, he didn't notice the golden eye on her forehead.

"Trying to claim a large amount of power for yourself is a very dangerous thing."

Firestone lost his temper and shot a bolt of energy at Twilight, who turned to let it fly right past her.

"If you think you can rise that high, then you're in for a long fall."

The shot of energy that blew past Twilight into the mist returned from the darkness and headed straight towards Firestone. It hit him hard, dissolving the rope and sending him flying backwards off the roof and straight towards the ground.

"The door of darkness, has been opened."

Twilight's horn flared, releasing a flash of light, and suddenly she was standing over the unconscious body of her opponent, was was squirming and mumbling 'help me, I'm falling!' She turned towards the Sennen Rod resting on a nearby rock.

"Neighgypt will not be responsible for the fall of the Equestrian princess." She wrapped her magic around the rod, which caused a little cloud of yellow light to form from out of the eye, and fly into the library towards Princess Celestia.

Twilight followed Celestia back into the library. The stallion who had tried to hurt the Princess had fallen unconscious on the ground, and the guards had just finished assuring that the two mares were safe, along with removing the stallion, taking him somewhere for questioning. Celestia was examining the golden rod that had been used against her. She soon turned to Twilight and asked if she had any knowledge about it.

"Actually, I might. When I first started researching the puzzle, I looked through a lot of Neighgyptian related books, and I think I saw that thing somewhere. I moved on though because I didn't notice how similar it looked to the puzzle."

Celestia was a little suspicious. "You really didn't notice the similarities?"

Twilight blushed. "Um, no... I'm sorry."

Celestia made the motion for Twilight to continue. She rushed over to a pile of books that she still hadn't cleaned up from her puzzle research. When she found the one she was looking for, she brought it over to the table and flipped it to the page where she saw the relic. Celestia looked over Twilight's shoulder.

"The Sennen Rod. Huh, go figure." She quickly read through the rest of the page, and soon learned a lot more about the situation. "Oh, I can't believe I completely skipped over this page. Princess, I'm so sorry. I should have payed more attention." Twilight felt a bit ashamed at her lack of focus, but Celestia placed a hoof on her shoulder, reassuring her that one mistake was no big deal.

"What have you learned, Twilight?"

Twilight took a deep breath and turned back to the book. The Sennen Rod and Puzzle are both part of a group of relics called the Sennen Items. There are seven of them total, including the puzzle and rod, there's the eye, the ring, the necklace, the scale, and the key. Each of them have some sort of special power, but there's no detailing of them in this book. I don't think there's information on them anywhere, this is the first time I've seen them mentioned."

Celestia digested the information Twilight had given to her. After a few moments, she turned and trotted to the window and looked up at the sky, deep in thought. Twilight waited patiently for a few minutes until Celestia found something to say.

"Are you sure you haven't ever seen the Sennen Puzzle do anything?"

Twilight thought hard. "No."

Celestia turned to Twilight. "Can you tell me what happened to that stallion? Do you know why he was unconscious?"

Twilight looked at the Princess with a confused expression. "What do you mean? I was under the effect of the Sennen Rod."

Now Celestia steeled her expression. "As was I."

She stood motionless, staring at Twilight, waiting for her to figure it out. Twilight was fidgeting, mumbling to herself trying to piece it together. "But... All I saw was a golden glow, that's the last thing I remember."

Celestia remained still, shifting her eyes slightly downwards, looking directly at the Sennen Puzzle. When Twilight realized what Celestia was thinking, she touched the puzzle with her hoof.

"You think... I hurt him?"

Celestia remained quiet for a bit longer before speaking. "No, Twilight. I know you would never hurt anypony." Twilight sighed with relief. "But, what you told me earlier, these... Dark Games... I'm a little concerned about the puzzle. A lot of magic happens on its own, and I feel as if the Sennen Puzzle is more complicated then I anticipated."

Twilight pondered the Princess's words. "So what are you saying? Are you taking the puzzle back?"

Celestia responded quicker than before. "No, whatever the puzzle did, it was done in the intention of helping us. Twilight, I want you to continue your study on this puzzle. The other thing you told me, Fluttershy's answer to the riddle, I think that is very important as well. Don't ever forget that."

Twilight nodded. "I understand. I promise I'll find out everything there is need to know about these Sennen Items."

Princess Celestia finally smiled. "Very good. I expect you to come through for me, my faithful student."

Twilight was anticipating for the mood to lighten, but noticed that the Princess had fallen back into thought.

"Princess Celestia? Is everything all right?" Celestia stayed silent again for a moment.

"Twilight, have you noticed the last mystery of this night? Can you tell what I'm thinking?"

Twilight knew. "You're thinking that it's not a coincidence that these items are suddenly appearing everywhere. There's a reason the Sennen Items have started popping up, and you don't like it."

The Princess nodded and smiled at her student's diligence. "Very good, Twilight. Then you know to be very cautious from here on out. There is something bigger happening. There may just be a lot more danger ahead. Promise me."

"I promise, Princess. I'll be careful."

"Alright, Twilight. Then I'll leave both Items here with you. It's time for me to return to Canterlot. Farewell, my student."

"Goodbye, Princess."

The room was vast, yet mostly empty and full of darkness. The only light was the illuminated pool of water in the center. The faint silhouette of a large stallion stood looming over it. Suddenly, the door across the room creaked open, and soft hoof beats came inside.

"Speak." The stallion ordered in a deep, impatient voice.

The mare that entered was tense. "Um, my apologies for disturbing you, Master, but um, Firestone has... failed his mission..."

"Yes, I am already aware of that." He retorted calmly. "If that's all, please see your way out."

The mare was quick to back out of the room and shut the door. When she was gone, he leaned closer to the image of Twilight in the pond.

"You've raised so many more questions than one might think, 'Twilight'. How does a stupid little mare in a pointless little town have a Sennen Item? And how could you beat one of my Game Warriors in a Dark Game? Well, no worry, all good things come to those who wait, little mare. Soon we'll test exactly how powerful you are, and once I know that, crushing you will be no difficult task."

The Stallion let out a freeing laugh that filled the room with malevolence.

"You don't even realize that the real game has only just begun."

Author's Note

Next Time!

A friend suddenly turns into a foe for Twilight, much to the mare's surprise. But what could have caused the turnaround? Twilight will soon find out in...

A Cartload of Questions, Answers Out of Stock!

Has somepony been meddling with Twilight's friends?