Card Games Aren't Dangerous

"...and the list of chores for you to do is on the fridge. Got all that?" Spike glanced up from his comic book. Twilight raised an eyebrow at his obvious detachment from the conversation.

"Yeah, yeah," he replied, not even half aware of what the alicorn had been saying. "Don't worry, Twilight. I've got the whole castle under control." The purple mare scrunched her eyebrows.

"Really? I don't want to put you in a situation where you've bitten off more than you can chew." Spike had a brief flashback to the pet-sitting incident, but shrugged it off.

"C'mon, Twi! I'm a mature dragon. Don't forget you're looking at the dragon who single-hoofedly saved all of Equestria from King Sombra, as well as made peace with the dragons thanks to Princess Ember. I think one day by myself won't be too hard." Twilight gave him an understanding smile.

"Well, if you're sure you can handle it, I won't doubt you. Remember, if you need anything, Starlight's just down the road at Sugarcube Corner. I'll be back tonight. Have fun!" Spike absentmindedly waved to Twilight as she closed the castle doors behind her.

"Now, where were we...?" he muttered, reopening his comic. The Power Ponies vs. The Sirefly . An incredibly entertaining read. Long minutes of comfortable silence passed as Spike's emerald eyes danced across the colored pages. The comic was reaching it's climax (an unexpected appearance of the mysterious Batmare completely threw him off guard) when a hollow knock sounded throughout the castle walls. Yelping, Spike dropped his book.

The guest knocked again, this time louder and more persistent.

"Coming, coming," Spike shouted, scurrying across the floor in an irritated fashion. He reached the castle's grand doors and threw them open.

"Now, what do you wa..." The dragon's voice trailed off as he stared at the cloaked pony before him.

It was a stallion, no doubt; the sloping snout and hairy legs gave him away. An oddly shaped curved horn protruded from his forehead. Not as jagged as a changeling's, but definitely too crooked to be a normal pony's. Dark blue eyes peered at him from underneath a shadowed brow.

"Package for Princess Twilight Sparkle," the stranger ground out in a gravely voice. Spike's scales began to crawl.

"Uh, excuse me sir but, you don't appear to be Muffins, our normal mailmare. If you have a delivery, I'd give it to her," Spike responded apprehensively. The stallion glared. Navy hued magic reached inside his cloak and yanked out a small box. The object was instantly shoved into Spike's claws.

"By the order of the princess, this must reach your master. There will be severe consequences if you do not." As quickly as he had appeared, the stallion vanished in a flash of blue smoke. Spike glowered at where his visitor used to stand.

"Master?" he muttered. "What a hoof-face." Now in an irritated mood, Spike stomped back to where his comic book still lay. The cackling face of Hairly Quinn stared back at him. Spike grimaced and shut the comic's cover. He turned his attention to the box he'd been forcefully given.

It was wrapped in typical brown paper, but the outside had a strange stamp on it. Spike recognized it as a 'hand', he believed it was called, the things humans used to pick stuff up. Except it had six fingers, instead of five. To Spike's surprise, each digit had one of his friend's cutie marks as a nail. On the hand's palm was a curled black dragon with one tail fin colored red. Clutched in the dragon's claws was the head of an obvious mechanical bear. Several other symbols danced around the edges, none of which Spike had seen before. Now intrigued, he did the only logical thing-tear the package open. Spike was stunned at what he saw. A box. A small, black box with the words 'DIMENSIONAL ROYALE' printed across the top in gold ink. The six-fingered hand and mechanical bear made a reappearance, along with several new pictures. Spike had to do a double-take upon seeing Pinkie Pie apparently having tea with a strange triangular figure underneath a snarling horned dragon head. Spike began to get a strange feeling in his stomach.

This could not be good.

^^^^

"Then I opened it, and this is what I saw!" Spike explained. Starlight Glimmer raised an eyebrow.

"And, you think there's something wrong with it?" she inquired. Spike's jaw dropped.

"Of course there's something wrong with it! Our friends seem to be involved, and they probably don't know it! And something tells me that messenger wasn't actually receiving orders from the princess." Starlight took the box in her hooves. She turned it over and read the back.

"'Join famous figures from across the universe as they grapple for the ultimate prize-the Dimensional Gauntlet, which gives the wearer complete control over the entire galaxy! Will the winner be the infamous Bill Cipher from the Faller Dimension, or the raging Bewilderbeast from Berk? Only you can decide!'"  Starlight gave Spike an uncertain look. "It just seems to be a harmless card game, Spike. But, you're right in the fact that it seems a bit suspicious. We should wait until Twilight gets back to worry about it." Spike scrunched his brow.

"Are you kidding? This is a dire situation! We should play the game, just to see how dangerous it really is." Starlight looked astounded.

"What?! But you were just panicking about it five minutes ago!" The dragon shrugged.

"Yeah, but you said it yourself: it's just a game. Besides, if it is dangerous, it'd be best if we found out about it now, before it poses any more of a threat." Starlight eyed the game warily.

"...alright. But just one round! We don't want to unleash anything that'd harm anypony." Spike sat down eagerly and tore the box open. Three sets of cards, colored black, gray, and white, along with a folded game board, spilled out from the container. Starlight untangled the board. It only seemed to be a flat expanse of blue cardstock, until it began to glow. Suddenly, words rose up from the board's surface. Starlight and Spike gazed upon the pulsating green text.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN

Starlight bit the corner of her cheek.

"Let the games begin, indeed."