It's Time to Duel!

August 20, 2015

"So this is the pendant," Rarity said as her father showed her the odd-looking red pendant. He had found it on a trip to the homeland of the Ancient Equestrians. "It looks amazing." It consisted of a golden ring holding a triangular-cut flat red stone, with 5 golden prongs hanging off of the ring.

Her father told her, "The guy selling it said he wanted to get rid of it as soon as he could for some reason, so it was a bargain. Go ahead and put it on." Rarity did just that and put the pendant on.

"I think it looks fabulous," Rarity said to her father and Sweetie Belle, who watched.

Sweetie Belle said, "Maybe I'll get one of those things eventually. It seems pretty cool."

October 19, 2015

"Woah," Rainbow Dash said to Rarity as the gang looked at the pendant. "That's cool."

"Thanks," Rarity replied. "I almost never wear it outside of home, but I decided to touch things up a bit for today."

Pinkie Pie asked, "How much did the pendant cost your father?"

"About 800 bits," Rarity replied. "It's a bargain, but apparently the last guy who owned it must have been desperate for money, because he told my father he wanted to get rid of it as soon as he could."

Twilight noted the similarities between the pendant and the Alicorn Puzzle, saying, "That looks awfully familiar to my puzzle."

"Now that you mention it, it does." Rarity then laughed. "Wouldn't it be odd if this was connected to your puzzle?"

Later at home, as Rarity was about to take the pendant off to get changed in her room, she suddenly felt a presence with her as she sat on her bed. "What the hell?"

Then, she heard a voice that seemed similar to hers, but deeper, tell her, "Don't take the Alicorn Ring off!"

Rarity jumped and yelled, "Who the hell was that?!"

"I've been in the ring for millennia, and you're my chance at getting out." The voice calmed itself down. "Before you ask, yes, this artifact is indeed related to the Alicorn Puzzle that your little friend has, Rarity."

"How do you know my name?!" Rarity, by now, was extremely frightened.

"I've watched you ever since your father gave you the Alicorn Ring." Then, the ring began to glow. "Just bear with me here, okay?"

"Wait, no!" Rarity then fell onto the floor, unconscious.

After laying on the floor for several seconds, Rarity stood up and brushed herself off, though she did seem different. "Alright," this other Rarity said to herself. "Let's see..."

October 20, 2015

The gang decided as a whole to go over to Rarity's home after school, since her parents were out for several days. Tagging along were 3 8th Graders: Sweetie Belle, Rarity's younger sister, Apple Bloom, Applejack's younger sister, and Scootaloo, a close friend of Rainbow Dash.

As they all met in the living room, Rarity said to the group, "Me and Sweetie Belle have something you guys would love to see. It's a huge RPG board game my parents made in the basement. They made custom figurines and everything." Everyone looked at her and Sweetie Belle with surprise.

"No way," Twilight said as her eyes lit up with excitement. "Can we play a game, all of us?"

"Of course," Sweetie Belle replied. "It's designed for a lot of players."

Applejack said, "I bet me and Apple Bloom would clobber everyone in that game." The 2 of them then laughed as the group funneled downstairs.

After the group as a whole positioned themselves in the basement around the massive RPG board, Rarity said, "Excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom. When I come back, I'll explain the rules and get us started." She then walked over to the stairs and went upstairs.

After finishing up in the bathroom, Rarity heard the voice again as she exited. "Hello again."

"Not this bullshit again," Rarity angrily said to the voice. "Get out."

"Nah," the voice replied. "I need to get that puzzle." Then, Rarity collapsed to the floor for several seconds before standing up again. The other Rarity brushed herself off as she said, "Time to get that puzzle."

When Rarity made it back downstairs, Scootaloo said to her, "Finally."

The other Rarity chuckled to herself before seating herself. "Now, the rules go like this. The Dark Master, me, will control all of the evil creatures, such as this one." She then held up a gargoyle figurine. "The rest of you are adventurers. You control a single blank figurine from a race of your choosing. Your job is to defeat me. My job is to defeat all of you."

"But before we do that," Sweetie Belle said. "You all have to choose what race and what class your character will be." She then handed everyone, including herself, except the other Rarity, a character sheet detailing what races and classes there were to choose from. "Choose wisely."

RACES:
Human-Average wisdom, strength, and speed.
Elf-High wisdom and charisma; make good magicians. Low strength.
Half-Elf-A human-elf crossbreed.
Hobbit-Small but very fast, and well-muscled for their size. Make good thieves.
Pixie-Fairy-High wisdom. Able to fly. One of the "magical races".
Dwarf-Low wisdom, but high strength and constitution.
Birdtail-A race of bird people. Able to fly. High charisma.

CLASSES:
Warrior
Beast Tamer
Magician
Bard
Priest
Enchanter
Martial Artist
Diabolist
Magic Gunman
Illusionist
Merchant
Thief

As the gang filled out their forms, Flash Sentry said to Rainbow Dash, "Hey Dash, you should totally be a Birdtail. Hey, it fits."

"Haha, real funny," Rainbow Dash replied sarcastically. "I was going to pick that, but now I'm gonna choose Human and Warrior instead."

"Choose carefully," the other Rarity said. "You may be playing with that character for longer than you think."

Sweetie Belle thought to herself, "I don't know why, but something seems off about Rarity..."

After everyone finished, the other Rarity took their forms. "Nice job, everyone. Now, time to read them out loud..."

TWILIGHT SPARKLE'S CHARACTER: Twily
Race: Half-Elf
Class: Beast Tamer
Weapons: None
Equipment: Elf cloak
Speed: 17
Wisdom: 18
Strength: 9
Courage: 18
Level: 1
Hit Points: 22

RAINBOW DASH'S CHARACTER: Dasher
Race: Human
Class: Warrior
Weapon: Short sword
Armor: Leather armor/leather shield
Speed: 16
Wisdom: 8
Strength: 20
Courage: 21
Level: 1
Hit Points: 25

FLUTTERSHY'S CHARACTER: Shia
Race: Elf
Class: Magician
Weapon: None
Equipment: Elf's staff/elf's cloak/elf's hat
Speed: 20
Wisdom: 17
Strength: 9
Courage: 13
Level: 1
Hit Points: 18

APPLEJACK'S CHARACTER: A.J.
Race: Human
Class: Magic Gunman
Weapon: Magic Gun
Equipment: Cloak/magic bullets
Speed: 18
Wisdom: 10
Strength: 14
Courage: 19
Level: 1
Hit Points: 23

PINKIE PIE'S CHARACTER: Diane
Race: Hobbit
Class: Bard
Weapon: Club
Equipment: Book of records
Speed: 24
Wisdom: 14
Strength: 9
Courage: 16
Level: 1
Hit Points: 17

APPLE BLOOM'S CHARACTER: Bloom
Race: Dwarf
Class: Thief
Weapon: Knife
Equipment: Sack
Speed: 14
Wisdom: 9
Strength: 15
Courage: 14
Level: 1
Hit Points: 24

SWEETIE BELLE'S CHARACTER: Belle
Race: Human
Class: Warrior
Weapon: Long sword
Armor: Leather armor
Speed: 17
Wisdom: 10
Strength: 18
Courage: 22
Level: 1
Hit Points: 24

SCOOTALOO'S CHARACTER: Scoots
Race: Human
Class: Thief
Weapon: Knife
Equipment: Sack
Speed: 17
Wisdom: 12
Strength: 14
Courage: 19
Level: 1
Hit Points: 20

SPIKE'S CHARACTER: Spike
Race: Pixie-Fairy
Class: Magician
Weapon: None
Equipment: Spellbook
Speed: 24
Wisdom: 19
Strength: 13
Courage: 19
Level: 1
Hit Points: 18

FLASH SENTRY'S CHARACTER: Flash (Author's note: AAAH! SAVIOR OF THE UNIVERSE!)
Race: Birdtail
Class: Illusionist
Weapon: None
Equipment: Cursed book
Speed: 23
Wisdom: 19
Strength: 15
Courage: 18
Level: 1
Hit Points: 20

"All are good choices," the other Rarity said after reading them all out loud.

Fluttershy said to Pinkie Pie and Spike, "Hopefully I won't get eliminated at the very start."

"Don't worry," Spike replied. "We got this."

"Yeah," Pinkie Pie replied. "What Spike said, silly! We're totally gonna win."