Mischief Makers

The party went deep into Luna’s beautiful night before the first ponies began to depart for their houses. By this time the moon was high in the sky and the stars were out in full force. The frogs had come in a chorus of chirps that flew down from their hiding spots to bless the night with their music. This beautiful display just furthered the ponies good mood as they entered their respective homes. One by one they each settled down for a good night’s rest, and began to drift off into the realm of dreams.

In Sugarcube Corner, however, the six elements of harmony were sitting on the floor in front of the pegasi twins. Between them were six red cups, each numbered in bright blue. Hidden under three of these cups were silver spheres no bigger than the space in a ponies hoof. For the past hour everypony had been trying, unsuccessfully, to locate each of them. Twilight and Pinkie had come the closest of the six, finding two orbs each. Now it was Rainbow’s turn.

The blue mare watched with determined focus as Games Master placed the individual balls on the ground. With a flurry of her hooves she covered each of the the balls with the cups and began shifting and sliding them around. Rainbow tried with all her might to focus on the individual cups, but the flashes of red and blue were too much. Finally Games Master stopped her hooves and rotated each cup so that the numbers faced her opponent. A friendly grin formed on her face as she lay back against her twin and waved her hoof.

“Go ahead Rainbow, make your selections.”

Rainbow blinked out of her near trance and concentrated on the cups. Her friends all sat around her and silently sent her their regards. After a moment's thought Rainbow decided to lift up the number three cup, which revealed the first silver orb.

“Good so far, now go again.” Games said, slightly more invested than before.

“Don’t rush me.” Rainbow replied before looking back at the five remaining cups. Carefully she lifted the number two cup, revealing the second orb. The others all gave her encouraging smiles as the all too familiar feeling of victory began to well up inside her. Games and Festivities noticed this as well, and the two of them looked at each other happily as Rainbow lifted up the number six cup. Sadly there was no orb to be seen.

“Oh, too bad Rainbow. You came so close.” Fluttershy said encouragingly to her defeated friend.

Rainbow looked up from the cups and saw the faces of the twins. Both of them were grinning like it was the best day eve. When they saw the look of disappointment on her face, however, their expressions changed to that of sympathy.

“What’s wrong Rainbow?” Festivities asked with a friendly smile. “Why do you look so bummed out?”

The rainbow mare was silent for a second before replying with a simple. “I lost.”

“Aw don’t feel too bad Rainbow Dash.” Games said, extending a friendly hoof. “It was all for fun anyway. Now if we were playing for an actual prize, then things would be interesting.”

Rainbow’s ear flicked in Games Master’s direction and she looked to the mare with interest and curiosity. “What do you mean by that?” She was met with a subtle grin from the green mare.

“Well me and Fest enjoy these little time wasters, but the real fun comes from our larger, more complex games.” Games said happily. “Those are where we can go all out and make some really fun challenges for ponies to try. And if you were to win, then there are wonderful prizes involved.”

Rainbow’s eyes began to grow with excitement, and her disappointed frown became a gleeful smile. The twins saw this and softly giggled between themselves as Rainbow turned back to her friends.

“Guys, we’ve got to try this. It sounds awesome, and we could win prizes!”

“I’m with Rainbow, it sounds like super duper fun!” Pinkie said, bouncing over to her friend's side. “Can we girls, please?”

“Yeah, can you?” Festivities pitched in, purposely making her eyes grow larger.

Twilight listened to what the twins said, and while it did sound interesting she wasn’t all too sure. They had only just met these ponies and knew so little about them. Still, their offer could be worth while.

“What do you think girls?” Twilight asked to her three undecided friends.

“I think it’s a wonderful idea Twilight.” Rarity said without a moments thought. “What harm could come from a little fun after all?”

“Ah’m with Rarity on this one.” Applejack said with an almost challenging smile. Twilight then turned to Fluttershy who responded with a soft nod of approval.

“Well if everypony else is for it who am I to say no?” Twilight said. Both of the twins grinned at her response and their eyes begin sparkle with happyness.

“Great! We’d better get things prepared.” Games said, scooping up all the cups in one hoof and the balls in the other. She tossed the balls towards Festivities, who caught them easily while looking in the opposite direction. “Come tomorrow everything will be ready. Then we can begin the game.”

“Where should we meet you?” Twilight called to the two as they opened the door to leave. They stopped for a second and turned back to her. While Festivities eyes were as playful as ever, Game’s seemed to show something else, something calculating.

“Don’t worry TwiTwi, we’ll find you.” Festivities said with a giggle. And with that she and her twin left the company of the six ponies before any further questions could be asked. It wasn’t long after their departure that Twilight suggested they retire as well. Bidding each other adieu each pony left for their respective houses.

~~

Twilight opened the door to the library and crept in as quietly as she could. All the supplies she’d bought had been placed neatly in their respective areas, courtesy of her number one assistant. The lavender unicorn gave an appreciative smile as she made her way up the stairs, taking care to be as quiet as possible. Sure enough when she got to the top of the stairs she found Spike sound asleep in his bed. She whispered a caring goodnight to the little dragon and crawled under her covers. The moment her head touched the pillow she was out like a light and whisked away into her dreams.

She was standing in the hallway the long, red carpeted hallway of the royal palace in Canterlot. The walls sparked in the sunlight and violet banners were strung up everywhere. The scent of lilacs hung heavily wherever she turned. Before her stood the massive blue double doors that lead into the princesses throneroom. Twilight didn’t know why but she had a strong compulsion to enter the room. So she lifted her head high and opened the doors.

Immediately she was blasted by the cheers and congratulations of dozens of voices. Gathering herself Twilight was shocked to see nearly a hundred ponies all standing on either side of the long room, divided by the red carpet. In the crowd were many faces she’s seen in Ponyville and Canterlot alike. All of them were calling and cheering Twilights name as she walked past them. She gave them all appreciative smiles and continued walking down towards the throne.

As she made her way up the short steps that lead to the throne she was greeted a majestic white figure larger than all the other ponies. Her brightly colored mane and tail seemed to flowed in an invisible wind and her face was kind and caring. The face of any good ruler. But Twilight saw something else in her eyes, the face of a mentor proud of her student. It was an uplifting sight to say the least, so much so that Twilight was practically glowing from it. She took one last look at Princess Celestia’s face and slowly closed her eyes.

The children are planning.

The voice was cold as it slithered into Twilight’s mind. She easily recognized it as the Princesses voice, but there was something about it. Something dark. Quickly Twilight’s eyes shot open looked around the room, causing her to let out a gasp of surprise. From every corner shadows were slithering out from hiding and wrapping themselves around the closest object. Whatever they touched became as black as night in their grip. The crowd of ponies turned to Twilight in perfect unison and looked at her with coal black eyes. Their bodies then began to flicker and and phase out of existence, and darkness crept in to take their places. Soon the stairs Twilight stood on became a secluded rock in a never ending sea of cold darkness.

As the creeping black began to claw at the steps below Twilight she turned back to her beloved mentor for guidance or assistance or anything to help her figure out this nightmare. But where Celestia had been standing there was now nothing but darkness, illuminated only by huge grinning white smile. Twilight let out a gasp of fright and backed away from the grin as quickly as possible. During her panic, however, her back left hoof ended up dangling over the edge of her sancious island. Immediately the blackness latched itself to Twilight’s hoof, and like a serpent it slithered over her body.

Twilight screamed and twisted her body, trying desperately to free herself. But every move she made seemed to further the twisting dark. The more it crept the more she felt her energy leave her. As it prepared to swallow her entire body, the dark voice that sounded like Celestia returned to her mind.

Best of luck Twilight Sparkle.