Of Friendship & Shadow Games

To say that things were looking rather bleak for the Rainbooms at the moment would easily be the understatement of the year.

The six girls were still trapped in the game world, only being able to stare up fearfully at the towering presence of Zorc whose burning yellow eyes were glaring down at them in hatred. In the real world, Sunset could only stare down at these happenings as the dispicable feeling of helplesness had begun to fester. Bakura was doing the same, though he was observing it all with sadistic glee.

"I can't believe it." Twilight said anxiously, her voice devoid of hope. "We hit him with six powerful attacks and it did nothing!"

"It's probably 'cause of our difference in levels." Applejack muttered, gripping her warhammer tightly as she sent the best glare she could muster up at the Dark Master. "We've all just started out, makes sense that we can't defeat the final boss all willy-nilly..."

"B-B-But... um," Poor Fluttershy was shaking beside her monster companions, her fear-filled eyes fixed on the hulking figure of Zorc. "H-How are we going to win...?"

Before anyone could respond, their attention was grabbed violently by Bakura's wicked laughter. "It's quite simple; You won't! Zorc would be a difficult challenge to overcome, even for high-leveled characters! No number of trashy speeches about something as meaningless as friendship will change that!"

Sunset and all the trapped girls glared at the ancient spirit, finding not only his actions to be evil and insulting, but the whole way he talked about friendship as if it was pointless.

"That's such a dirty trick! We don't even have a fighting chance!" Rainbow Dash accused angrily, violet eyes filled with disdain as she pointed her sword up at the malevolent Game Master.

Bakura cared not, however, simply sneering down at the adventurers with a raised brow. "Why, are you calling me an unjust player?" He chuckled darkly before gesturing to the game board. "You are forgetting that this whole scenario, the very world you are all trapped in was created by me!"

Sunset grit her teeth as she glared at her opponent, but inside she began to feel despair growing. She knew that Bakura was right. As Game Master and the one who drew up the campaign, he has had complete and utter control over the proceedings of the game, even if it was unfair!

It was obvious at this point that, unlike his host, Bakura had never simply wanted to play a game with them, but he had specifically created a scenario where their souls could easily be sealed away for his own nefarious gain. It meant that... that the game had been rigged so none of them could ever win to begin with.

While Sunset was simply mulling these horrible thoughts over in silence, Bakura was extatic as he grinned savagely at his despairing opponent. "Have you finally realized it, Shimmer?" He inquired with a taunting smirk. “In this game world, I am a God!”

“Prove it.” Rainbow Dash demanded.

“... What?” Bakura finally asked after a bit of stunned silence, his eyes wide in utter surprise.

“You heard me." Despite the horrific situation, the rainbow-haired girl was looking up at him with half-lidded eyes and arms crossed over her chest. "Prove that you’re a god. Do something impressive! Like, turn water into wine or make me like spinach!”

The other members were currently looking at their athletic friend as if she was crazy, their mouths all hanging agape and their eyes nervously darting between Rainbow Dash and Bakura.

"She did not." Rarity finally managed to get out in total disbelief, sounding scandalized and also just the teeniest bit amused.

"Oh yes, she did!" Pinkie Pie responded, who had no trouble to full on smile at Rainbow Dash's wit.

“I can’t do that…” Bakura then answered lamely after a bit of stale silence, having not really known just how he should've responded to such a thing. His hate and disgust with the colourful mortals was briefly forgotten in his pure bewilderment.

“Pfft." Rainbow Dash scoffed, looking utterly unimpressed as she rolled her eyes. "Some god you turned out to be.”

Most of the Rainbooms were now forcing themselves to hold back chuckles, Sunset included. It was a much welcomed brief period of humour in an otherwise hopeless situation. Bakura, however, was not as amused.

“I AM A GOD, YOU INSOLENT LITTLE WORM!” He screamed down at her, his dark eyes twitching with rage, and it was enough to make the girls seize their chuckling. It was easy enough to see that Rainbow Dash's taunt had only served to make the evil spirit all the more wrathful, as he locked eyes with the girl opposite of him. "The least you insects could do now is perform well as you die!"

Despite the overwhelming odds against them, the earlier moment of small levity had restored both her own spirit and those of her friends. Therefore, Sunset remained defiant as she glared harshly at her opponent, "As if I'd ever let you have your way, you glorified parasite!"

Bakura bristled quietly at the insult, but he remained confident all the same. Shimmer may indeed belive that she had stopped his consecutive critical dice technique... but Bakura had other methods.

Moving carefully so that his opponent's couldn't see, he opened up a secret compartment by his side of the table. It cotained a small assortment of figurines, which in actuallity contained the souls of some of his favourite victims. All of them would act as he wished in a game scenario. However, that was not limited to the figurines.

Aside from the dolls, the compartment also concealed a pair of ten-sided dice, but these were quite different from the ones usually used. Making sure that his opponent wouldn't notice that something was amiss, Bakura brought the special pair of dice into his right hand, using every ounce of self-control to keep a victorious grin of his face.

For those dice were Mind Dice, and they contained the souls of some of Bakura's unfortunate victims trapped within them. Much like the figurines, they would bend to the will of whoever threw them and would act as he wanted them to. So, no matter how he threw them he was guaranteed to always get whatever result he desired.

He hadn't thought that he would be forced to use them against a colourful group of teenages and friendship-obsessed morons, but Sunset and the others had exceeded his low expectations.

"Zorc attacks in this next turn." Bakura explained to Sunset with a vicious grin, holding the Mind Dice so he could easily throw them. His victory was assured. "Now to determine whether the attack strikes the opposing adventurers!"

He dropped the pair of dice lazily, and Sunset watched intently for the upcoming result, while Bakura had no need to do it. Had it been any other pair of dice, this manner of throwing them would've made it anyone's guess as to what the result might be.

But these were no ordinary dice.

00

"A super critical..." Sunset could only gasp softly, an absolutely crushed expression on her face as she stared at the pair of dice displaying the worst possible result.

Bakura's reaction was quite the opposite, cackling like a madman as he delighted in the girl's missery. "Prepare yourselves!" He practically growled with a savage grin. "Zorc's magic attack will destroy you all! Dark Catastrophe!"

As the sinister Game Master had ordered, Zorc swiftly unleashed a devastating attack of deadly black magic. None of the adventurers could even blink before they felt their world explode in pain as the Dark Catastrophe assault quite literally blew up in their faces.

"GUYS!" Sunset screamed in distress, rising up from her chair. She recieved no response, however, and she discovered with horror that the six figurines containing the souls of her friends were now lying motionless on the game board.

Bakura delighted in the chaos, dark eyes glinting with triumph as he looked at the same lifeless figurines. "Zorc's critical assault has enough power to bring a character with over 50 Hit Points right down to zero! THIS IS GAME OVER!"

The ancient spirit cackled maniacally before giving his opponent a smug smirk. "It appears your friendship was all bark and no bite, after all, Shimmer."

But Sunset wasn't listening, instead she only had eyes and ears for what was essentially the still bodies of her best friends. She felt a stinging feeling in her green eyes and what was most likely tears beginning to fall down her cheeks.

"No..." She eventually managed to choke out, feeling despair starting to overwhelm her as the situation began to bring its immense weight down upon her. She had failed. Her friends put their lives in her hands, entrusted her to save them and the real Ryou and she had FAILED them!

"NOOOO!!" The fiery-haired girl eventually screamed in utter frustration, sadness, rage and helplessness all at once, burying her tear-filled face in her hands.

Her missery brought immeasurable joy to Bakura, who cared not for her suffering and simply smirked as he began to type away on his computer. "There's hardly any point to it, but allow me to calculate just how many Hit Points the players lost. This game is decided by this computer's data, after all."

The demon in human flesh payed no attention to Sunset's sniffles and painful sobs, simply humming to himself as he inserted the necessary data. "Let's see, entering Zorc's attack power, calculating players defense chances..."

Of course, Bakura had simply done this as a way to torment Shimmer all the more in knowing just how badly her pathetic friends had been obliterated. Even any other simple-minded mortal could've calculated that Zorc's super critical assault could've easily taken out over a dozen level 1 characters!

Imagine the spirit's surprise once the data had all been put in and the result wasn't quite that which he had been expecting.

Elf Sorceress Twilight
HP 1

Beast Tamer Fluttershy
HP 1

Rainbow Dash the Warrior
HP 1

Pinkie the Magic Gunwoman
HP 1

Applejack the Dwarf Warrior
HP 1

Rarity the High Merchant
HP 1

For once it actually seemed as if Bakura was speechless, his mouth moving up and down in a manner very similar to that of a fish as he could only stare at the results displayed by the computer moniter in complete and utter bafflement.

"... WHAT!?" He eventually managed to get out in a very outraged and still confused-sounding scream. "They all have one Hit Point left!?"

This did catch Sunset's attention, the fiery-haired girl raising her head from her hands with an equally confused but less outraged expression. But despite her earlier despair and horror, she began to feel a small spark of hope light up within her.

"Could it be?" She asked softly to herself, directing her tear-filled green eyes towards the playing field and the motionless figurines lying upon it. They still seemed completely devoid of life at first, and Sunset almost felt her hoplessness return. That is, before she could see how the six dolls all started to twitch only slightly.

"... oh, applefudge." Applejack cursed softly to herself while lying on the ground. The farm girl was hurting all over and she struggled to even stand even with the support of her hammer, but she was alive. Being Applejack, she immediatly turned her attention to her still downed friends. "Ya'll alright, there!?"

After a moment of silence, the remaining five girls all began to let out pained words and noises as well, straining to even move after Zorc's devastating magic attack. But after a lot of effort and helping eachother out, all of them were soon up on their feet.

"Aw man..." Rainbow Dash wheezed, stumbling to get herself up from the ground with Fluttershy's help and keeping a hand to her aching side. "Everything. Everything hurts."

Pinkie Pie's eyes were spinning as she barely got herself onto her feet. "Wowza," She said lightly, her noggin pounding something awful, "Who knew gigantanormous magic explosions could be so painful?"

Similar sentiments were shared by the other girls, all of them rubbing and massaging their pained bodies, never having taken a blast quite like that in their lives.

"I just don't understand." Twilight started while rubbing a particular sore spot on her head. "Zorc's attack should've finished us off! How are we all still standing?"

Rarity agreed with her scholarly friend, responding as she desperatly tried to fix her ruffled hair. "Quite right, darling. It does seem awfully strange."

"Yeah! I thought we were gonners, for sure!" Pinkie Pie chimed in, now seeming to ignore her various pains and instead recovering swiftly, standing tall and smiling once more.

In the real world, Sunset Shimmer felt more relived than she had ever done as she observed the interaction between her friends. She hadn't failed after all, they were still in the game! Though there were still tears streaming down her cheeks, they were now tears of joy as opposed to tears of distress.

Deciding that this wasn't the time to get emotional, Sunset then swiftly wiped her tears away and leveled and intense stare at her opponent. Even though her friends had managed to get through that attack, she couldn't let her guard down. The situation was still very much stacked against them and her friends would need her to be as direct and focused as possible.

While the girls were regrouping and Sunset rejoicing, Bakura was seething quietly, though he was helpessly puzzled as well. 'How can it be!? How did they survive!?' He thought while gnashing his teeth. Zorc's super critical should've been enough to finish off some mere level 1 adventurers. How could they still have some life left!?

But as these thoughts rahed within the spirit, it took a while for him to notice that there was something strange going on. Once he did notice, it took all of his self-control to keep himself from gasping at what he was seeing.

His left hand was... It was moving all on its own!

Sure enough, it was is his left hand had suddenly gained life all on its own! Even though he tried to simply controlling it like all the other of his stolen body parts, the hand just kept typing away on the computer, ignoring Bakura's commands.

The spirit of the millenium ring hardly ever felt any true fear, but as if this moment it was almost as if he was paralyzed to the spot, the shock and mystery over what was happening tightening its grip around him. This shouldn't be possible! He had never had any problems controlling a body before! Why was this-

Bakura cursed himself as he felt a small gasp escape his lips, for he now noticed how his rogue hand had begun typing in words on the computer. It was moving fast, vigorously, as if that simple left hand was filled with a great sense of urgency and duty. Because of it's speed, the hand quickly typed in a message, and it was one that almost had the spirit of the ring choke on a breath he didn't know he was holding.

MY NAME IS RYOU BAKURA
I WON'T LET YOU KILL MY FRIENDS

'Wh-what!?' He thought, hastily moving away the left hand from the computer, watching it with tredipation. The ancient spirit began to feel himself panicking slightly, and he hated it. 'My host should be locked away in his soul room like always! How could he possibly have broken through my control!?'

As his dark eyes rapidly scanned through the message over and over again, as if making sure that what he was seeing was in fact real, Bakura's mind began to kick into overdrive. 'Could it be...?' He thought while now observing the Zorc-figurine. 'Dark Master Zorc in the game world and I are one and the same being. Zorc's left arm... it has a deep wound after a hit from that Rainbow-insect!'

He could still remember the spike of pain he had felt when that had happened. Everything Zorc could feel, he could feel as well, he had simply been very good at hiding his pain from his opponents. But that particular slicing from Rainbow Dash's sword, it had felt more painful than the others. He had dismissed it at first, but now...

'Did... Did that wound allow Ryou to take away controll of that arm from within me!?' It sounded ridiculous, but it was all the reasoning he had at the moment. And that would mean that his host had sabotaged the data, that could be the only explanation as to why those colourful idiots were still alive!

'Damn him! Damn him to Hell!' He cursed his defiant host, wishing that he could pause the game and severly punish that foolish boy at this very moment! But despite this bizarre situation, Bakura finally took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He couldn't lose his cool infront of Shimmer and the others.

'... But what harm can a mere left arm do?' He thought dismissevly, but at the same time he used his faithful right hand to move away his computer. His host could only fight him through the left hand, so as long as he kept all the important items out of its reach than he shouldn't have anything to worry about. After doing so, he simply gave the girl sitting opposite of him a dark glare, hoping that she hadn't notice his brief panick attack.

But Sunset had noticed, and that was why she was currently observing her opponent intently with narrowed green eyes and her arms crossed. From what she had seen, Bakura had simply turned extremely pale for a moment as he was examining the computer monitor. And even now, despite his evil smirk, he wasn't looking as confident as he usually did.

It was obvious that he had made some sort of miscalculation, otherwise her friends shouldn't have been able to survive Zorc's latest attack. 'Something is bothering that psycho.' She thought, 'But what?'

Bakura saw how Sunset was looking at him, and let out a small, dismissive snort as he returned to his role as Game Master. "The battle continues. Despite their survival, the adventurers are still prime targets for Zorc!"

It was indeed so, as back in the game world, the terrible and demonic presence of the Dark Master still towered over the injured adventurers, growling at them in a manner similar ot that of a savage beast out for blood. His sickly yellow eyes and skull-like face glowering down at them, and he seemed more enraged than ever that they all had managed to survive his assault.

"This is really bad, guys!" Rainbow Dash warned her friends, standing proctectively in front of the other girls, her sword at the ready. "This creep's defense is just too high!"

"And to make things worse, our own points are all down to one!" Rarity was trying to hold herself together, but she couldn't quite seize her shaking as Zorc seemed to get all the closer. "If that brute gets in one more attack then we're done for!"

Sunset watched all of this with a frustrated scowl. As much as she hated to admit it, the fashionista was absolutely right. Even if Bakura should roll a number over 50, odds were that it could probably take all of her friends out nonetheless. The first order of business now was to raise all of her friends' Hit Points. In order to do that, she needed to use Twilight's restoration magic.

Bakura must've come to the same conclusion as her, for he gave his opponent a smug smirk. "On the next turn, sorceress Twilight can act. However," Evil sadism glinted in his dark eyes, "Zorc can act at the same time. In such a situation we shall determine who goes first by using the dice."

The sinister Game Master grabbed a hold of his Mind Dice, Sunet picking up her regular pair in return. "Both of us roll our own pair of dice, and the player who rolls the closest to 00 gets to move first. Ready?"

The fiery-haired girl simply gave a resolute nod in response, gripping her two dice tightly. She had to put all of her faith in this dice roll, or it could mean death for all her friends.

Her malevolent opponent, on the other hand, could barely contain a viscious grin, his dark eyes gleaming triumphantly as he held the Mind Dice. He was garantued to get a super critical no matter how he threw them! His victory was as assured as Shimmer's loss was inevitable.

Bright green eyes met dark brown ones, neither one of the players willing to back down. They both threw their dice simultaneously, but whereas Sunset threw her's with conviction, Bakura threw his lazily, believing that the Mind Dice reased all probability of him misrolling.

The spirit laughed sinisterly, not even bothering to look at his own dice as a great roll was innevitable. "Mine were a super critical!" He declared with great confidence, only having eyes for Sunset's upcoming result.

09

Bakura took sadistic delight in the number displayed by the dice, "A pitiful display, Shimmer!" He sneered hatefully at his opponent, happy to at last be rid of these colourful nuisances. "This game is over! Zorc makes the first attack!"

However, Bakura was beyond surprised once he saw Sunset's expression. Instead of her face being crushed with utter despair as he had hoped, Sunset's face was quite the opposite. In fact, he could've sworn that the damn girl was smirking as she adressed him, "Is that so?"

The demon in human flesh did not care for this one bit, glowering at his opponent with all the loathing he could muster, "And just what, may I ask, is so funny?"

"Do you have holes for eyes?" She inquired sarcastically, a small smirk on her face as she pointed over at Bakura's side of the field. "You might wanna take a closer look at your dice, there."

"What the devil are you blathering abo-!?" Bakura cut himself off in the middle of the sentence with a sharp gasp, as he for the first time actually looked at his result.

10

"T-TEN!?" He screamed out in disbelief, his dark eyes twitching. "No, that... THAT CAN'T BE!"

Sunset's smirk was now much more prevalent, enjoying the sight of her adversary losing his composure. Of course, she didn't know the deeper reason behind the spirit's confusion and panic.

"The dice don't lie, Bakura." She told him cooly, "The sorceress goes first. Ready, Twilight?"

"Of course!" Said scholarly girl affirmed with a smile, adjusting her glasses slightly before raising her staff up on high. Through it magic was channeled, and a violet, glittering cloud-like spell was realesed around the group of adventurers, signaling that the healing spell was literally working its magic.

"Oh, that feels so good!" Fluttershy cooed audibly, enjoying the enchantingly refreshing feeling of the spell.

The other girls felt very much the same, simply standing in silence and letting the magic healing settle in and raise their Hit Points back up. All of them could feel the aching and pain beginning to fade all over their bodies. Their disappearing throbs of pain instead made way for a new amount of vitality.

"Alright!" Rainbow Dash started, now standing pain-freed and tall. "I'm all fired up now! Thanks a bunch, Twi!"

Twilight simply blushed at the praise, shrugging modestly while similar compliments were given by the others.

But while the girls were doing this, Bakura had taken a hold of the dice he had previously thrown, seething in silent rage as he looked them over. Upon closer inspection, one thing became clear. The pair of dice in his hands were NOT the mind dice.

'Then were the Hell did the Mind Dice go!?' The demon raged in his bewildered thoughts, squeezing his palm hard around the dice. 'Is Shimmer beind this!?' He briefly conscidered the possibility before dismissing it. 'No. No, she doesn't seem to be aware of them. Just what is going on!?'

"You're looking pale there, Bakura." Sunset's words got him out of his trance of enraged confusion, now focusing on his opponent who was looking at him with loathing. "The realization that we're gonna beat you finally settling in?"

"Tch. Hardly." Bakura scoffed at her words, trying to give her his usual sinister grin, but even he could feel that it looked forced. "Even with restored Hit Points, you are all still microbes when compared to Zorc! His next assault will obliterate all of you!"

As he said, in the game world Zorc was closing in on the six adventurers trapped within, looking ready to obliterate them all on the spot. Sunset's earlier bravado was forgotten, knowing full well that if Zorc landed a successful hit then it could be game over for them all.

"Be careful, girls!" She warned her friends, "Zorc is going to counter-attack!"

"You don't have to tell us twice, Sunset!" Rainbow Dash couldn't help but snap back, both her and her friends staring fearfully yet defiantly up at the Dark Master who was closing in on them.

"Time to decide Zorc's counter-attack!" Bakura declared imperiously, readying to throw the regular pair of dice in his right hand with more finesse as the Mind Dice were nowehere to be seen. If he could get this just right then he would be this Shadow Game's ultimate victor! "The chance that every player gets hit is 110 percent! Judgement ro-!"

Before he could as much as finnish his sentence, something most unprecedented happened. The left arm, whom Bakura had almost completely forgoten about, suddenly lurched forward and sloppily threw a pair of dice on its own, shocking the demon inhabiting the body.

Only adding to that shock and horror was the sudden realization that the dice thrown were in fact the missing Mind Dice. As they both fell onto the game board and began to roll, Bakura's mind was moving a thousand miles a minute. 'When did the left hand move the Mind Dice!?'

In just a mere second, the dice had seized their movement and displayed a result.

99

"F-Fumble!?" Bakura gasped in horror while Sunset pumped a fist in victory. The ancient spirit now began to shake in rage as his mouth opened and closed rapidly without a sound escaping his lips, his eyes twitching briskly. 'It can't be! That damn bastard host of mine cursed the Mind Dice!'

His anger with the mortal Ryou Bakura only increasing, the demon possessing the boy's body forcefully grabbed a hold of the left hand, his dark eyes glaring at it with immesurable hate.

Though Bakura's feelings mattered not, for the dice had already been cast and Zorc's fate had been sealed. The Dark Master attempted to charge up another Dark Catastrophe assault at the six adventurers. Only this time, the blast of black magic literally blew up in Zorc's own face in a magnificent explosion. It caused a great deal of damage as it was a failue of a very powerful move, and so Zorc's growls and keels of pain could be heard from within the blast.

"Yee-haw!" Applejack cheered, smiling as she and the others watched the blast in relief and in awe. "That crook blew 'imself right on up!"

Fluttershy let out a great sigh of relief while Poki and Pao cheered beside her. "Thank goodness..."

Seeing his intended victims survive and rejoice about it, finally broke Bakura. The spirit let out a deep, raging scream of utter frustration as he glared down with all of his hate at the left hand which he held in a vice-grip. "DAMN THIS LEFT HAND!!"

Before any of the girls could take the time to wonder what exactly he meant by those words, Bakura did what was perhaps the most shocking thing they had seen the malevolent spirit do. Having finally had enough with his rebellios host, the demon decided that it was time to incapacipate him for good.

Taking notice of one particularly pointy tower of the castle diorama, he rashly made his decision. Taking advantage of the vice-grip he had over the rogue appendage, Bakura, swiftly and without hesitation, forcefully brought the left hand down and impaled it on the tower, blood splattering all over as the sharp point pierced the hand's soft flesh.

"I think I'm gonna be sick..." Twilight muttered in revulsion while covering her mouth, her and the other members of the Rainbooms staring at what the Game Master had just done in absolute horror and disgust.

What innevitably made it worse was the way Bakura didn't appear to be bothered in the slightest by what should have been an incredibly painful injury. In fact, his face was looking more twisted and deranged than ever before as he looked down upon the impaled body part in what was definetly sadistic glee.

He laughed louder than ever, an evil and terrible sound, his dark eyes glinting in complete and utter triumph as he glared at the ruined hand. "TRY AND INTERVENE NOW, RYOU!"

While her opponent was laughing like maniac at the gory sight, Sunset had simply pushed aside her disgust and fright, instead focusing on what the sinister spirit had just said. Her mind was going wild as she began to analyse the situation while keeping her eyes fixed on the ruined hand. 'Could it maybe...?'

The interdimensional girl was interrupted by her opponent, who, in a sickening move, violently wrenched the impaled hand upwards, not caring of the blood that sprayed out of the wound in its wake. Sunset thought she would puke as she got a closer look at the now gaping hole in Ryou's hand, blood just spilling through it. It didn't seem to bother Bakura, though, as he simply brought the now limp appendage into a vice-grip by the right hand.

"Next up is the beast tamer's turn!" He hissed visciously at Sunset, his eyes wider and more dangerous-looking than ever before. "Hurry up with it, already!"

It was quickly becoming clear to Sunset that Bakura was starting to completely lose his composure, and she didn't know whether this could be a good or a bad thing just yet. But despite this, a plan was starting to form in Sunset's mind. A reckless plan that could quite possibly fail spectacularly, but it was the only plan she had.

Taking a deep and steadying breath with closed eyes, Sunset then opened them and leveled a hard stare at her wicked opponent. "The beast tamer will try her power on Dark Master Zorc."

Fluttershy gulped softly at being adressed, wide eyes looking fearfully at the terrifying visage of Zorc that Sunset would have her try to engage. "I-I will...?"

"You have got to be kidding me." Bakura scoffed mockingly, seeming to still have some wit despite his vile and psychotic actions. "Hand Power is a spell used for turning enemy monsters into comrades, yes. But if you honestly believe such a spell cast by a level 1 character will work on Zorc then you are even more stupid than I had first thought!"

"Um, Sunset dear?" Rarity started, twiddling her fingers as she anxiously observed their current opponent. "I don't want to doubt you, but do you really think that this is good idea?"

The timid girl was practically hugging herself, her two monster companions watchin on in concern. It seemed that her innate lack of confidence would always come back to bite her. "I-I can't do this!"

"Fluttershy," Said girl let out a small startled gasp before looking up at Sunset who in turn was looking down at her with understanding, but hardender eyes. "Please, trust me on this!"

"I-I-I..."

"Have faith in me and have faith in yourself!" Sunset raised a clenched fist in determination, giving Fluttershy the best encouraging smile she had. "We can beat Bakura, and get all of you and Ryou back, but I need you to trust me!"

It seemed as if poor Fluttershy would almost collapse because of the apparent pressure placed upon her. Bakura had said so himself, her spell wouldn't even do anything against Zorc! What was even the point!?

And yet, as she saw the friends whom she was surrounded by, old and new, the memories of the good times they had shared with Ryou, and the trust and compassion Sunset was currently showing her, it all made Fluttershy feel a small spark within her. A spark which quickly grew into a fire that filled the girl's being with courage and a desire to protect and save all of her friends!

"... Alright, Sunset." Fluttershy answered after a while, giving her friend a small but determined smile. "I trust you."

Immesurably grateful for the support Fluttershy had given her, Sunset smiled at her confidently as she gripped her pair of dice in a resolute fashion. "I won't let you down!"

Taking just a small moment to think through what exactly she was about to do and what she hoped to achieve, Sunset gave Bakura a hard stare before confidently throwing her dice, watching as they landed and rolled.

05

"Yes!" Sunset cheered to herself while Bakura simple sneered at her. Though peeved that Shimmer had gotten a good roll, he found security in knowing that there was no way the beast tamer's spell could turn Zorc. And there was no longer any functioning left arm for his host to fight back through.

"Tamer's hand power!" Fluttershy now called out, raising her hands and letting her magic channel through them and then immediately proceeded to strike Zorc. The warm golden light enveloped the Demon King and attempted to work its magic, but Zorc unfortunatley didn't seem to be affected in the slightest.

"Fool!" The Dark Master laughed at both Fluttershy and the others, his evil yellow eyes burning with a wicked sense of triumph and superiority. "If you want the great me to join you, you would have to have reached level one million!"

Zorc's words were certainly enough to sow seeds of fear and hopelesness amongst the Rainbooms, all of them staring helplessly at how Fluttershy's super critical spell once again didn't appear to have any sort of effect on the game's boss monster.

But that was about to change.

For just as the glow of Fluttershy's magic had begun to fade, something odd started to happen with the deep wound on Zorc's left arm, courtesy of Rainbow Dash at the start of the game. The exposed flesh began to churn, bubble and fizzle, almost as if it was a fire burning beneath Zorc's skin tissue.

It was quite a bizarre sight, and it was not one that any of the game's participants had expected, all of them simply being able to stare at the proceedings in bewilderment.

"Um, Fluttershy...?" Rainbow Dash asked in bewilderment, hoping that the timid girl had some answers.

That she did not, freatfully waving her hands around in rebuttal. "D-Don't look at me!" Fluttershy anxiously denied, not having a clue as to what was happening.

Before anyone else could put in a word, Zorc's churning flesh suddenly burst wide open like some sort of macabre pimple, causing smoke to be released. While the Rainbooms found the sight to be quite repulsive, the Dark Master himself was brought into a great deal of pain, keeling as he glared at his wound.

"Wha-What is this!?" Zorc demanded to know, but noone could have nor would have answered him. For right in that very moment, against all expectations and common sense, a white figure suddenly emerged from the smoking wound, jumping downwards towards the adventurers.

Bakura was almost audibly frothing at the edges of his mouth at this point, his rage and dread growing only greater as he got a good look at the one who had just emerged out of Zorc. "Wait, th-that's...!" His composure was now completely lost, rising up from his chair as his dark and crazed eyes watched the current proceedings. "THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!!"

The Rainbooms were all shocked as well, gasps escaping their lips as they got a closer look at the new arrival to the game. The character was dressed in long, pristine, ornate white robes with a golden ankh embroided upon it. Upon it's head was a white wizard's hat, from which underneath there welled out a great deal of just as white, but familiar fluffy hair.

Supporting himself by an ornate staff, the new arrival rose to for the first time meet the eyes of the adventurers, causing them all, including Sunset, to once again catch their breath in shock.

For standing opposite of them with a soft smile, warm brown eyes shining in gratitude was none other than the face of Ryou Bakura.

"Thank you, all of you." He expressed his gratitude as a means to break the silence, and all the Rainbooms delighted in hearing that it was not the malicious, raspy voice of the spirit, but the kind voice of the boy they had gotten to know through the last two weeks now. "I never thought that I'd get out of there."

None of the girls were really sure of how to respond, still having a hard time comprehending the bizarre thing which had just transpired. After a moment of stunned silence, it was Twilight who dared approach the new character tentatively.

"... Ryou?" She finally asked him, both her face and voice both weary and hopeful. After all the deciet and tricks by the spirit, could they really trust this? "Is... Is it really you?"

"In a way." 'Ryou' explained with an apologetic smile, "Much like how Dark Master Zorc is the embodiment of the spirit in this game world, I am the embodiment of your friend, Ryou Bakura."

Though still keeping his smile, the character's brown eyes seemed to harden in determination, "Moreso, I'm the embodiment of his will to fight alongside and protect all of you! I am Ryou the White Mage, and I come to you now at the turn of the tide."

After these bold words, the white wizard suddenly seemed to shrink in on himself, a glint of uncertainty entering his eyes. It was a gesture which all the girls associated with the real Ryou, "That is... if you'll have me."

A silence reigned for just a moment, the Rainbooms all taking in the current happenings. But as this new situation settled within their minds, so did a sense of joy and relief.

"Of course we will!" Pinkie Pie answered cheerfully, quickly appearing by Ryou's side with a bright smile. Though he was spooked a bit at first, he then gave the party-loving girl an appreciative smile. The other girls then let out similar sentiments.

"We're glad to have yah onboard, sugarcube." Applejack concured, tipping her hat to the white wizard.

"Quite right, Applejack!" Rarity concurred with her hands neatly clapsed together, giving Ryou a warm and friendly look. "Things just haven't been the same without you, Ryou."

"I'm so glad you're back!" Fluttershy happily, but quietly told him, before lowering into a more anxious whisper. "The other you is really scary..."

"No kidding." Twilight lightly deadpanned, but looked happy nonetheless over the return of their good friend.

"Woo-yeah!" Rainbow Dash cheered, looking eager as she gazed over their now larger group. "Now that we're all together, we'll win this thing no problem!"

The group now conscisting of adventurers all looked determined to now continue the quest, encouraged and empowered by the new presence. But before they could proceed, a certain someone decided to speak up.

"Wait!" Sunset's exclamation got all of the adventurers' attention, therefore making them look up at said girl. Now that she had their attention, Sunset looked directly at the white mage-figurine.

"Ryou, I..." She trailed off as she met those kind brown eyes, realizing that she didn't really know how to best word her thoughts, despite that she had so many things she wanted to say to the white-haired boy. How could she put all the regret she had felt, all of the guilt, her whole desire to make things right, how could she possibly put it all into words?

She was saved from further silence by none other than the white wizard himself, who adressed her calmly in a sympathetic tone. "I'm sure you have a lot of things you wish to say, Sunset." As she looked down at the figurine, Sunet could plainly see not only understanding, but resolve in those eyes... Ryou's eyes.

"And you will get to say them to the real Ryou Bakura once you win this!" The wizard gave the fiery-haired girl an assuring look. "He wants to make things right between you both as well, but we need to defeat Zorc first! I know it's difficult, but please! Hold on so we can defeat this menace together!"

"Ryou..." Sunset could only mutter in surprise, but also sounding genuinley touched by the character's words. She even felt hope starting to form within her, a smile slowly but surely gracing her lips. Ryou didn't hate her, and he wanted to make up just as much as her! She would get her chance to atone, but she needed to focus on saving all of her friends now!

"You got it!" She assured the white wizard before adressing the whole group with a determined smile and a clenched fist. "Let's do this, guys!" "

The adventurers all cheered, and Sunset could practically feel the warmth of assurance within as she readied to throw her ten-sided dice. With all of her friends having faith in her and trusting her, there was no way she could lose.

She gave Bakura, who was still seething quietly, a harsh glare as she gave the command and threw the pair of dice. "The gunwoman makes her move!"

12

"HASTA LA VISTA, BABY!" Pinkie Pie screamed with an almost manic grin as she fired at Zorc, Sunset's roll making for a powerful bullet of magic fire. The attack struck true, and actually managed to blow away a noticable deal of Zorc's lower side. The Demon King howled in pain, not seeming to recover as swiftly as he usually did.

"Amazing!" Rarity praised, clapping her hands together lightly, "Bravo, Pinkie!"

Pinkie Pie simply shrugged, easily twirling her magic gun before nonchalantly blowing the residue smoke off of it. "All in a day's work!"

"But how?" The ever inquisitive Twilight wondered, though still impressed over her friend's accomplishment. "Pinkie's attack seemed way more effective than before!"

The answer came in the form of a small chuckle from Ryou. As the girls all turned towads them they saw how his wizard's staff was glowing. "Zorc doesn't possess the same defensive capabilities as when you faced him earlier." He explained while giving the pained Dark Master a resentful look. "He used to drain my own power, but now that I'm out that power is lost. And, through my own white magic I've been able to lower his stats even further!"

The Rainbooms all let out a collective gasp of surprise at this information, though they all began to smile as it was certainly a welcome one. Maybe defeating Zorc wasn't a completely unreachable goal after all.

While the girls all began to gain some new sense of hope, Bakura had also recovered from his earlier shock, though his rage was still very much burning within him. He would never have dreamed that his weak-willed host would defy him, let alone at this level!

The demon used the eyes of his stolen body to glare down at the figurine embodying the body's true owner. Hollow, dark eyes clashed with warm brown eyes, the white wizard glaring defiantly up at Bakura.

The ancient spirit was seething internally, 'That little worm dares defy ME!?' He felt the awful, stinging sensation of humiliation and wounded pride, and it only served to make him all the angrier. 'I've been giving that blasted boy far too much leeway! I'll crush him, kill his friends and then I'll lock him away for ETERNITY!!'

These sadistic thoughts of tormenting his host was almost enough to make Bakura smile, but if those wonderful torture-fantasies were to ever become reality, he needed to focus on the present. Glaring at the girl sitting opposite of him, his mind was more made up than ever before, 'I'll show these low-level fools what happens when you defy the Master!'

Sunset was returning the evil entity's glare at full-force, just as determined to achieve her own goal. Her green eyes were analysing the game board and in her head she was carefully planning her next course of action.

'The game is reaching its climax, it seems' Though Ryou's arrival had certainly been a great boon for them, Sunset's previous game-experience has taught her that final bosses tended to always have something up their sleeve. 'That psycho must have a hidden plan of some kind. If I let my guard down then it could mean the end for all of us...'

Her worries only grew greater as a sinister smile suddenly formed on Bakura's lips as he looked down at the game board. Sunset followed his gaze and gasped in fear as she saw what was happening.

Zorc, though he kept growling in intense pain and hate, was transforming! Before the horrified eyes of the adventurers, the Demon King's body began to change. His skeleton grew large and pierced his dark skin, almost as if forming some sort of organic armor. The small bits of skin which remained exposed looked sickeningly enough like raw muscle tissue. A pair of skeletal wings along with a great deal of bone-like pikes burst out his back, and though he seemed to grow larger and meaner-looking, his posture became more hunched. In the middle of his chest area, there was now a strange circle which seemed to be sealed off by teeth-like guards.

The adventurers and Sunset could only watch this lengthy and very visually unappealing transformation in disgust, but also in growing fear.

"Zorc is transformin'!" Applejack stated the obvious, gripping all the tighter around her warhammer. The other girls readied their weapons as well, despite all of them feeling quite anxious over what possibly was to come.

"This is bad!" Ryou had moved infront of them all, staring at their opponent with wide and fearful eyes. "Zorc is using his last resort!"

Rainbow Dash gulped softly, raising her sword and standing protectively infront of a shaking Fluttershy. "I've got a bad feeling about this..."

Bakura delighted in their terror, laughing like a demon as he eagerly explained the current state of his character. "Behold! This is Zorc's final form! His attack power has risen to new heights!"

The spirit gave Sunset an insane grin filled to the brim with malice, and she felt her fear grow as he then said, "And the transformation also allows Zorc to attack first on this turn! Let's see your little chums endure that, Shimmer!"

The fiery-haired girl wasn't the only feeling afraid, as all of the adventurers could only stare at Zorc's new form and power in helpless fear. They could all feel it, how the Dark Master was gathering dark energy to unleash an attack meant to finnish off each and every one of them.

"Wh-What's that!?" Fluttershy gasped, pointing a shaking finger at the strange, closed-off centre of Zorc's chest. The others gasped as well, seeing as how the teeth-like guards were starting to slowly retract, about to expose whatever lied underneath to them.

'Damn it!' Ryou cursed internally as he observed it all. 'I don't have any time to raise the others' defense! At this rate...!'

As if only to torment the white wizard further, the mad cackle of Bakura was then heard, who himself was readying his two dice. Thanks to Ryou, the Mind Dice were no longer an option, after all.

"Dice Roll!" The spirit of the ring exclaimed, letting his dice drop towards the table, both him and Sunset intently observing the coming result.

00

"Super critical!?" Sunset gasped in concern.

Bakura just laughed, eagerly watching the game board for what was about to come. "It's over! The Dark Master unleashes his most powerful attack! BURN AWAY IN THE ZORC INFERNO!!"

Just as he had finished these words, the circle in Zorc's chest had now completely opened, revealing a great, horrible, slitted red eye. Before anyone of them could comment on it, the eye lit up in a glaring, blood-red light and began radiating a terrible heat. Without warning, it then fired a ray of pure, concentrated deadly energy which was quickly heading for the adventurers.

"NOOO!" Sunset screamed in distress, powerless to do anything but watch.

But then, quite miraculously , Ryou, who was standing infront of all the others, raised his magic staff anf faced the approaching ray of death unflinchingly.

"White Magic; Shining Shield!" He boldly spoke the incantation aloud, and as expected, a bright, transparent white shield of magic energy was conjured infront of them all. It was right on time, too. For just after the shield had been set up, the Zorc Inferno-assault struck it.

The result was a violent explosion upon the shield's surface, powerful enough to make Ryou and the others slide back several feet. Despite the shield being quite powerful and properly cast, the hellish heat and glare of the hellfire assaulting them was felt through it, making all the other adventurers cover their eyes and faces.

Ryou was perhaps worst off of them all, taking and experiencing the brunt of the attack as he was the shield's caster. His entire being was clenched and shaking in concentration, desperate to not slip up and keep up the defense against the seemingly constant onslaught of Zorc Inferno.

'I've used up my magical energies!' The white wizard despaired internally, sweating bullets as he felt all the power in his body begining to leave him. 'The only way for me to keep up the shield is to convert my own Hit Points into magic energy!'

He did just that, willingly channeling his very life force through his staff. Ryou was a high-leveled character, and therefore had a great deal of Hit Points. But even they were quickly depleted as he transformed nearly all of it into the shield, constantly regenerating it while it was worn down by Zorc.

Sunset could only watch it all in frustration, hating that there wasn't anything she could do to help Ryou deflect the onslaught. Bakura was also watching it in frustration, but moreso due to the fact that the Zorc Inferno wasn't incenerating those colourful pests.

Mercifully, the attack at last came to an end after what had felt like hours. As Zorc's fiery attack faded, so did the white shield encasing the adventurers. But the very moment it had faded completely, Ryou suddenly seemed to go completely limp, falling unceremoniously to the unforgiving ground.

"Ryou!" Twilight and the others rushed over to their downed friend, praying that he would be alright. Crouching down beside him, Twilight gently turned him over, allowing them to get a good look at Ryou's face. He looked completely and utterly exhausted, as if nearly all the life had been sucked out of him. His expression looked constantly strained and in pain, and he was completely drenched in sweat.

"You took the hit for us." Pinkie Pie observed quietly, her usual cheerfulness gone as she solemnly looked over Ryou's fallen form.

In the real world, Sunset was watching all of this with worried eyes, but still determined and not ready to give in. "Just wait, Ryou!" She hoped that she sounded as assuring as possible as she adressed him. "On the next turn we can use Twilight's restoration magic to heal you!"

"Y-Yeah!" Twilight agreed, stumbling only slightly in her speech due to her eagerness to get Ryou better. "As long as Sunset rolls another good roll then I'll fix you right up!"

Instead of the eager acceptance one would expect from a person in Ryou's position, Twilight got a curt and very strained-sounding, "I'm fine."

"What!?" The Rainbooms all gasped, not believing what they were hearing.

"Darling," Rarity started feverently, "You are most certainly NOT fine!"

"Please!" Fluttershy pleaded, kneeling down beside Ryou, "It's our only chance to help you!"

But their words went ignored by Ryou, who instead focused his gaze on Twilight. Despite his weakened state, his soft voice was hardened with resolve. "Twilight, should you have any magic for healing me... use it all to attack instead!"

The white wizard then looked down despondently, "I don't have the power to protect you all anymore..." Ryou stated in a hollow and saddened voice, before pleading to all of the girls to see reason, "Unless we finish this on the next turn then we'll surely be wiped out!"

"No way!" Rainbow Dash fiercly denied, hating the feeling of not being able to helo her clearly injured friend. "Look, we're gonna get you up, y-you're gonna be alright!" It was hard to tell wether the athletic girl was trying to assure Ryou or herself. "As long as we-"

"LISTEN!" All of the Rainbooms went silent as the grave, staring at the downed wizard in absolute shock. None of them had ever imagined Ryou, dear quiet and polite Ryou, to be able to shout in such a loud and commanding way. Knowing that he know had their attention, Ryou continued,

"I may not be the real Ryou Bakura. Heck, compared to him I am but an elaborate shadow." The white wizard sounded somewhat melancholic as he said this, but none could dwell too much thought on it as he then continued on, "However, I DO possess every single one of his memories, thoughts, and emotions! I know what he wants!"

The confidence and power of the character seemed to completely leave him know, and to the Rainbooms he now acted more like the Ryou they knew than ever before. They all looked on worriedly as they saw his kind brown eyes become watery, tears starting to roll down his pale cheeks.

"I'm sorry I got all of you dragged into this." Hearing him say these words felt like a stab in the heart to all of the Rainbooms. They had never heard a voice quite so regretful, sounding so guilty and so pained all at once as Ryou's did at that moment. "I wish none of this had happened."

Through the tears, Ryou still managed to gather himself and, while not hiding his sorrows, still pleaded determinedly to his friends. "But please understand! If anything were to happen to you girls then I would never be able to live with myself! If you don't want my pain to be for nothing, use every roll you have to defeat Zorc!"

"Ryou..." Twilight could only murmur, her and the other girls all looking down at the white wizard with great concern. It didn't suit well with any of them, having to leave a friend to suffer when there was something that could be done to stop it. But they also all realized that he was making a good point. No matter how much it pained them, defeating Zorc was the main objective.

"... Alright." Rainbow Dash conceded after a moment of silence, her violet eyes looking determined as she placed a comforting hand on Ryou's nearly unconscious form. "We won't let you down, pal."

Pinkie Pie nodded, again, looking oddly solemn, "You got that right, Dashie." She then leveled a glare up at the Dark Master, pumping her magic gun, "He's going down!"

The other girls, despite how it made them feel inside, swallowed their own desires to instead face and take on Zorc. However, that would prove to be quite difficult.

"But there's somethin' Ah don't understand." Applejack then said, looking inquisitive as she rubbed her chin in thought, "If this Final Form raises Zorc's attack 'n defense, then why didn't he just transform first?"

The other adventurers were silent, none of them really having the slightest clue about why. Thankfully, Sunset knew and was quite eager to explain.

"That's beause it's Zorc's last resort." She answered with what appeared to be calm, but on the inside she too was troubled. She was well aware that Ryou was right in needing to use all their energy to defeat Zorc should they ever hope to escape the Shadow Game. But that didn't make it taste any less foul on her tounge.

Ignoring these feelings, she instead elaborated to her team, using whatever knowledge of games she had on her to guess, "Zorc's definetly got more power, but a move like that has to come at a pretty high cost."

"A cost?" Rarity repeated dubiously, she herself still crouched down by Ryou.

Sunset nodded, "Exactly. It's kinda like the Death Star in 'A New Hope'."

Rarity blinked, "... I haven't got a clue as to what you just said, darling."

The fiery-haired girl found herself rolling her eyes and sighed, "The big... planet-destroying... ball-thingie from that one space movie we made you watch last month."

The fashionista's eyes lit up in recognition at this way of phrasing it. "Well, why didn't you say so, Sunset?" She know looked thoughtful as her eyes landed on Zorc, "So, what you are saying is that Zorc has got to have some manner of weak spot that his evolved form is exposing?"

"Yeah," Sunset confirmed, "Look closely at him! Is there any one place that seems out of the ordinary?"

The group of adventurers did just that, their eyes feverently scanning the Dark Master's form for anything particularly standout-ish. It didn't take long before Twilight noticed one particular detail.

"The eye!" She exclaimed, pointing over at the slited, red eye. "It was the emission spot for his magic attack! That eye has got to be it!"

The idea sounded rather sound to the others, all of them staring right back at the unblinking, demonic eye. However, that bizarre instance of eye-contact was then broken, as the teeth-like guards began to close in over the eye once more, albeit rather slowly.

"It's closing up!" Twilight gasped, her and the others watching these new happenings fearfully.

"We're too late!" Applejack despaired, feeling the dreaded feeling of frustrating helplessness with her, "That thing'll close before we get the chance to counter attack!"

Sunset grit her teeth as she watched this, and she only did so harder once she heard the sick laughter of the spirit. Bakura had remained strangely silent ever since Ryou had cast the white shield, but now he was back in full force.

"It's over!" He sneered victoriously at his opponent, "Once the emission spot is sealed off, your attacks will be powerless no matter what number you roll! This is MY win!"

Then something rather unexpected occured.

"Poki!" Exclaimed the yellow puffball, despite the simple phrase, his high-pitched voice sounded strangely determined as he glared at the Dark Master. Without as much as a word of warning, the little creature flew forward, aiming for Zorc's chest. He struck true, landed right infront of the eye. The guards were stopped from covering the eye, but dug into poor Poki instead.

"Poki!" The Rainbooms and Ryou all shouted, being able to nothing but helplessly watch as their little companion quite literally flew into death's maw.

"What are you doing, Poki!?" Fluttershy felt tears starting to build in her eyes, hating to see her little guy in such obvious anguish. "You have to get out of there!"

But the cute creature wouldn't budge, it's little face clenched in as much pain as resolve, the sharp teeth-like guards only closing in harder, "Use this chance to destroy us both! Poki!"

In the real world, Sunset's eyes widened in horror, starting to realize just what Poki wanted them to do. "No..."

"Everyone, thank you for letting me join you guys." The puffball's thanks sounded incredibly pained, but it was clearly not just from the sharp objects slowly digging further into him, but also knowing that he might never get to see his master, Pao, or his other friends ever again.

But as tears began to fall from Poki's eyes, he knew that protecting his new friends was all that mattered, "It was for a short time, but I've never been happier! Poki! Now hurry! Hurry!"

Ryou and the Rainbooms were all silent, none of them wanting to accept this horrid solution, but at the same time seeing little other alternative. Poor Fluttershy was completely crying now, putting her face into her hands. As someone who cared for all little creatures, the death of any animal struck her hard. And, even though it truly hadn't been all that long, this adventure she had shared with Poki had really brought them closer together. And t have to kill a friend like that... it was just unthinkable!

"Thanks, Poki." Rainbow Dash said after a tense and morose silence, though she still sounded melancholic. But as she griped the handle of her sword tighter, the atheltic girl looked up with a fire burning in her violet eyes. "But there's no way we're gonna sacrifice a friend that we've been through so much with!"

"Wh-what? Poki." The ball-shaped creaute sniffled, eyes wide in shock as it stared at Rainbow Dash despite the pain.

"Ah reckon Dash's right!" Applejack walked up beside said girl, a small, but tough smile on her face as she looked at little Poki. "There ain't no way we're ever gonna defeat evil by sellin' out our friends! We ain't doin' it with Ryou and we ain't doin' it with you, Poki!"

"Just wait, Poki..." Fluttershy murmured, the words of her friends bringing her out of her funk. Whiping the tear off of her face, her usually soft eyes hardened in resolve, "I promise that I'll save you! Sunset!"

Said fiery-haired girl, whom she herself had been quite gripped by the whole thing, snapped into action at Fluttershy's words, "Y-yeah?"

Glaring over at the demon who had her little buddy trapped with surprising intensity, Fluttershy told Sunset, "Roll for me! I think I know how we can save him!"

The shere fact that Fluttershy, sweet Fluttershy who almost never raised her voice, was now speaking in such a militaristic and ordering fashion, still made Sunset unable to stop herself from having her mouth gape slightly. And yet, Sunset knew that this was only proof over how determined her usually timid friend was to save Poki.

Thinking this, Sunset nodded with a smile, "You got it, Fluttershy! I won't let you or Poki down!" She then swiftly grabbed her two dice and readied to throw them, Bakura simply watching silently. The same as he had been doing ever since Poki first flew into Zorc

"Dice roll!" Sunset exclaimed, putting all of her faith into it as she watched the dice fall and roll about on the board.

06

"You're all set, Fluttershy!" Sunset called out to her friend, her green eyes watching anxiously, "I hope you know what you're doing..."

But Fluttershy did not answer, instead keeping all her focus on her objective; Saving Poki. Feeling the powerful surge of magic welling up within her, Fluttershy clenched her right fist hard, deciding to channel her magic in a more... offensive manner.

Focusing her whole being into this move, a familiar giant gloved hand, which one had come to associate with Fluttershy's magic, suddenly appeared hovering over her. Though unlike when she used her spell to hypnotize enemies, this time there was only one hand, and it was clenched into one great fist. And it just so happened to be aimed at Zorc.

"Guilding Hand; Jet Stream Punch!" As soon as the spell had left Fluttershy's lips, it was as if there was rocket of some kind within the glove, as the hole in it suddenly lit up in flame and the fist surged forward at unprecedented speed!

Keeping this lightning pace, the gloved fist swiftly struck AND pierced the centre of Zorc's chest, hitting his week spot and obliterating it all at once. The fist wasn't stopped in any way, continuing to fly off even after it had struck throught the Demon King, who himself howled in great pain.

"Fluttershy!" The others all screamed in horrified shock, not believing what they had just seen.

"But... But what about Poki!?" Rainbow Dash quickly demanded angrily, getting closer to her timid friend. "I thought you said you could save him! You just SQUASHED him!"

Fluttershy simply gave the athletic girl a serene smile, "Don't worry, Rainbow Dash. Poki is safe as can be!"

Everyone simply looked at her as if she was insane, anf Fluttershy actually let out a small giggle as she helpfully pointed towards the still moving gloved fist. As the other Rainbooms and Ryou all turned their gazes towards it, an just as they did, the clenched fist opened up, revealing a certain someone in.

Lo and behold, little Poki was alive and well within the fist's safe grip, grabbed straight out of Zorc's trap, smiling brightly at them all.

"Poki!" They all exclaimed once more, only this time in relief at seeing the little guy alive and unharmed. The gloved fist soon faded away, allowing Poki to float over towards the adventurers where he was swiftly embraced by a tearful Fluttershy. Though her protective iron grip was almost a little too strong, Poki just laughed cutely.

"Thank you! Poki!" He happily told his master.

Fluttershy just rubbed her cheeks againt him, looking as if she would never let the little puffball out of her arms, happy tears running down her face. "Don't you EVER scare me like that again!"

The little creature laughed, snuggling up to her. "I promise! Poki!"

Ryou and the other Rainbooms all observed this heartfelt interaction with warm smiles, some of them even shedding a few tears of their own.

"... Are yah cryin' too, Dash?" A tearful asked her friend with a small, teasing smile, though it obviously lacked any malice or mockery.

"N-No!" Rainbow Dash denied feverently, quickly sniffling and rubbing feverantly at her eyes. "I just got something in my eyes, that's all!"

As the group all shared a light-hearted little chuckle, they had almost briefly forgotten about Zorc, who after Fluttershy's hard-hitting assault, was now keeling and lying over, looking as if all the strength had left his demonic body.

In the real world, Sunset was observing this touching scene with a smile of her own, happy that Poki had now been saved.

Bakura, on the other hand, was quietly raging, slamming his right fist into the table HARD. His eyes were twitching and his teeth almost looked as if they were about the shatter with how hard he was gritting them. The spirit's anger and frustration with these colourful fools was starting to reach its peak. He had been robbed of his ultimate triumph by his host and a damn puffball!

Sunset didn't care about her opponent's rage, instead grabbing the dice once more, hoping to finnish this whole thing off as quickly as possible. Now that Zorc's weak point had been struck, he should loose almost all of his power, offensive and deffensive. One solid strike at this point could win them the game!

Taking a deep breath, she then steadily met the gaze of her malicious opponent, and cast the dice, "Furthermore, the warrior attacks!"

02

Sunset allowed herself a smirk, looking over at the practically powerless Dark Master. "You ready to have a final go, Rainbow Dash?"

Said girl only scoffed good-naturedly, getting ready into a battle-position as she glared over at Zorc. "Do you even have to ask?"

Before she could rush off, though, the downed Ryou called out to her, "Rainbow!"

Rainbow Dash swiftly turned around, freatfully looking over the white wizard to see if anything was amiss or he was in pain, "What? Is something wrong!? Do you need help!?"

Instead, Ryou simple have her a very bold smirk, despite his lack of strength, and confidently said to her, "Give him Hell for me, will you?"

The athletic girl simply blinked at him for a good moment, her mouth moving up and down slightly, before a friendly smirk spread across her face before she once again turned to face the enemy. "You got it, Ryou!"

Without further ado, Rainbow Dash let out a fearsome battlecry and rushed forward, the fire of a warrior burning within her as she raised her sword, ready to deliver a deadly strike. Zorc was powerless to even attempt to move, still paralysed over the pain Fluttershy's attack had caused him.

As such, Rainbow Dash had almost no problem simply running up and swiped her sword in a broad and fierce motion, resulting in the feared Demon King actually being cut in half! His two body-halves then fell limp to the ground. In the real world, Bakura couldn't hold back a hiss this time, as he himself felt as if Rainbow Dash had cut his own body in half. For the umteenth time that day he found himself cursing the mortals.

"Yay Dashie! Boo Zorc!" Pinkie Pie cheered, practically jumping up and down and applauding her friend. The other girls and Ryou all cheered the best they could, as well. Though some were more cautious than the rest.

"D-Did we really win?" Twilight cautiously asked, observing Zorc's divided body with sceptic eyes. After all the deciet in this game, it almost felt too good to be true that the Dark Master could have at last been defeated, even after all of their hard work.

Twilight was not alone in her sceptisism, Sunset also observing the the whole scenario with narrowed eyes. "No." She answered in a steely voice, "Not yet."

As these words left her lips, everyone's attention was suddenly taken away by none other than Zorc. The Demon King who had plagued their entire gameplay, who by all accounts should rightfully be dead at this point, was instead starting to twitch. His sliced off upper body began to twitch speradically, before it seemed as if there was actually some real life in the ruined body, Zorc using his huge arm to crawl closer to the adventurers, growling all the way.

"... Aw, come on!" Rainbow Dash whined in righteous frustration to break the stunned silence of their team-mates, all of them watching Zorc's advancement while frozen in shock. "Why can't we just WIN for once!?"

"No such luck, I'm afraid!" Bakura almost giggled down at the group, "I still have options!"

The spirit's and Sunset's eyes once again clashed, their wills coliding and battling as neither one of them was willing to show weakness to the other. Bakura's grin was manic and sinister as he adressed his opponent, "Your descision to save that accursed puffball and not finishing off Zorc during your last turn will now cost you!"

Not giving Sunset a chance to respond, Bakura instead spread open his arms in a grand desture, looking down upon the gameboard like a wicked god about to smite some poor, unknowing souls, "On the next turn, Zorc and one adventurer of your choice will get the chance to attack simoultaneously!"

Sunset gasped softly at this revelation, realizing that the game had now quite literally entered the last turn. The fate of all her friends were all hanging on the outcome on this next dice roll.

"Shimmer!" Slightly startled at the harsh adress, she looked over and saw Bakura pointing imperiously at her, grinning like the cat who caught the canary. "This is the last dice roll! We both roll, and whoever rolls the lowest gets the first attack and will be our Shadow Game's ultimate winner!"

Feeling determination like never before, Sunset glared at the spirit, clenching her hand around the dice so tightly that hw wouldn't be surprised if her nails would soon pierce the skin. But that did not matter to her. The only thing she cared about now was saving her friends and stopping the monster sitting opposite of her. "You're on, Bakura!"

The demon disguised in human flesh simply scoffed at her confidence, his dark eyes lighting up in a twisted and sadistic confidence, looking eager to send Sunset and her friends six feet under. "You may be confident, but this is the end of the line for you!"

He turned his evil gaze down towards the adventurers, an almost impossibly wide grin of malice spreading, as if it was on the edge of splitting his cheeks open. "Your next adventure will be in Hell!"

As Bakura laughed maniacally, the adventurers all stared down the approaching, injured form of Zorc, sweat treading down their faces as they knew that this would be the end of their adventure. Whether it was a good ending or a bad one remained to be seen.

Sunset was collecting herself, still gripping the dice tightly as she reminded herself just why she needed to win this. Not only to save the lives of her best friends, but to make everything right with her newest one. She couldn't lose now! She WOULDN'T lose!

While the fiery-haired girl was doing just that, Bakura still had one last hidden trump card to play, and it was one that would assure his victory. Looking at the pair of regular dice in his right hand, the spirit used his own last resort.

'With the power of the millenium ring, I'll seal away but a splinter of my own soul within these dice!' He gripped the two dice hard, using the ancient magic to split away a small portion of his own dark soul and channeled it into the two gaming items.

Bakura's smile was that of a savage monster, knowing that with this technique he was garantueed a super critical. Then he would be free to take the wenches magic and do away with his rebellious host!

"It's time." He then declared aloud, both him and Sunset holding up their dice, ready to determine the Shadow Game's long-awaited conclusion. Their eyes never closing as they glared at eachother, the two players simultaneously threw their respective dice up in the air, watching them spin and fall towards the board.

Sunset's dice fell to the board first, afterwards both spinning to determine the result. 'Please!' Sunset pleaded internally, images flashing by in her mind of everything she had to protect through this roll. 'I have to save my friends! I have faith that we'll win this! Please, answer that faith!'

The pair of dice at last siezed their movement, falling to reveal Sunset's number.

00

'Alright!' Sunset cheered internally, before swiftly turning her attention towards her opponent's still moving dice, 'Unless the other Game Master gets a super critical too, then this game is won!'

Bakura, on the other hand, was grinning like a madman as his dice spun, knowing that his offshoot dice had a zero percent chance of failing. And it didn't matter that Shimmer had rolled one as well, for the Dark Master always won in a tie. The damn mortals were all finished now!

His dice then came to a stop, and through the will of Bakura's evil soul they fell exactly as he wanted them too.

00

All the hope Sunset had turned to ash as she saw her opponent's result, knowing full well what this meant for her own roll. Every bit of energy seemed to leave her, the light in her green eyes died out, "No... No, please!"

Bakura only laughed, thinking that he had finally broken his annoyingly defiant opponent, but now his time was at hand!

"How sad!" He sneered mockingly, sounding anything but sympathetic, "From the heights of victory to the dregs of defeat! You put your faith in friendship and failed misserably!"

The sense of victory, along with the spirit's already unrivaled egotism and intense loathing for Sunset Shimmer and all that she stood for, at last made him completely snap. Letting out his longest and most evil sounding laugh yet, Bakura rose from his seat an leered at his crushed opponent.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT, SHIMMER!?" He screamed at her, shaking in sadistic excitement while the veins on his face become so visible that they almost looked ready to pop. Bakura didn't care, wanting to savour every bit of the sweet taste of triumph, "THIS IS MY PERFECT VICTORY! THAT'S RIGHT! I WIN!!"

Sunset said nothing, looking down with a face filled with utter heartbreak. She didn't know when tears had started streaming down her cheeks, but they were now falling freely and she made no move to stop them. What was the point? What was the point of anything? She had lost, Bakura had won. It was all over.

Not minding the silence of an opponent without hope, Bakura decided that it was time to end this farce of a Shadow Game once and for all, "I got a super critical as well! And now Zorc will blow himself up with all o-!"

The demon gasped, both him and the despondent Sunset , despite the pure heat of the moment, noticed that there was definetly something off about Bakura's dice. For, without any warning, the white dice representing the one's position began to glow in a pure, white light. Even stranger, it began to move ever so slightly, barely noticeably.

"What the...?" Sunset murmured to herself, confused despite her melancholy. Misinterpreting the situation, she glared at her opponent with hateful, teary eyes, "What's the point!? You've already won!"

But before Bakura could get a spiteful word in, the already glowing dice seemed to explode in light, bathing the entire game room in a birght, strangely comforting white light. While Sunset felt herself somehow becoming warm inside, Bakura hissed like a vampire at the light, as if it's purity was causing him pain.

It died down eventually, allowing both of the players to regain their vision.

What they shocked them both to their inner core.

For by the white dice, a transparent figure now stood, almost as if it were standing behind a misty old window. Though the figure's back was facing Sunset, there was no mistaking who it was. The blue-and-white striped t-shirt, the grey jeans, the pale skin, and the large amount of pristine white hair was a dead giveaway for both players.

Bakura couldn't believe his eyes, finding himself shaking as he was stared down by a pair of brown eyes, "This can't be! You-You're...!"

"Ryou!" Sunset finished the sentence, staring at the apparition of her friend in absolute wonder, "But... I-I don't understand."

Her words went ignored by both Ryou and the spirit, the latter having gathered his wits and glared with all his hate at the image of his host, "You damn bastard!" He seethes, "You made your way into the white dice!?"

For a good amount of time, Ryou said nothing. Instead merely glaring at the spirit who for so long had been allowed to take away so much from him, and was planning to do it again... Well, no more.

"I won't lose any more of my friends." The apparition stated, unflinchingly staring at the demon inhabiting his own body. "I won't let you do as you please anymore!"

As Ryou's angry words grew louder, the white dice movements became more violent and more noticeable. Sunset and Bakura both quickly realized the boy's intention. Ryou was sabbotaging the spirit's dice roll, which would make Sunset and the others winners.

"Like Hell, I'd let you!" The demon growled, his usual cool nonexistent at this point. Noone had the right to defy him! Least of all his pathetic host. Rising from his chair, the item imbedded in his chest began to glow in a sickly golden light, readying a magic charge.

"I'll use the millenium ring to FORCE YOU OUT!!" A beam of burning hate and darkness exploded out of the ring, striking at the apparition of Ryou. Strangely enough, it did not pass right through him, instead continously assaualting Ryou who cried out in anguish, the dark magic burning away at his very spirit.

"Oh no! RYOU!" Sunset screamed, feeling that hated sense of powerlessness as she stared at how her friend was assaulted by Bakura's magic. Though it did not strike her, she could still feel that whatever the spirit inhabiting her friend's body was using, it was not equestrian. No, it was something far darker, going beyond even that she had heard about the Pony of Shadows during her studies.

And Ryou was taking the full force of it.

It seemed as if all was lost, until, once again, something rather odd happened before their very eyes.

Slowly, one by one, appearing beside the pained Ryou, translucent figures of the Rainbooms' six other members made themselves visible, standing supportively behind their friend and glaring heatedly over at Bakura, who once again found himself completely speechless. Even moreso as their presence actually seemed to diminish the assault of his ring.

"Wha-WHAT!?" The spirit screamed in complete and utter rage and confusion, glaring at them with twitching eyes filled with malice and hate, "HOW CAN YOU DO THIS!? WHAT IS THIS MAGIC!?"

"What magic, you ask?" The apparition of Rainbow Dash asked with a snort, a hand on Ryou's shoulder as she met the crazed eyes of Bakura, "You still don't get it, Mr. Hyde?"

Pinkie Pie, still smiling, though with a noticeable edge to it, then said, "As long as we have faith in our friends than nothing is impossible!"

"'specially when it comes to dealin' with crooks like you!" Applejack scowled.

"Precisely!" Rarity glared daggers at the spirit. "We won't allow you to hurt our friend anymore, you ruffian!"

Twilight faced the spirit's manic expression without fear, "There's nothing that can stop us as long as we're united, Bakura!"

Fluttershy said nothing, simply gowing for giving Bakura the best glare she could muster.

Sunset, now realizing what was happening, stared hard at her bewildered psycho of an opponent, "This is the most powerful magic of all, Bakura! The magic of friendship!"

At this declaration, the beam of the millenium ring actually seemed to give in, as if some invisible force was making it strike right back onto it's caster, who had now completely lost it.

“WHAT KIND OF ‘CARE BEARS’-BULLSHIT IS THIS?!” Bakura screamed in utter and helpless frustration as his assault was deflected right back at him.

Now that he was unchallenged, Ryou and all the other apparitions shared proud and grateful smiles, which they then also gave to Sunset, who was whiping away the last residue tears from her earlier despair. Having seen the powers and will of her friends, hope was on her side once more.

The transparent figures all faded away, but there presence and actions were still very much felt. For at that moment, the white dice managed to roll over all on it's own, making it display a brand new number for Bakura's result.

01

"M-MY DICE!" The demon in human flesh wailed, feeling his victory being violently wrenched out of his very hands.

Sunset felt herself let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding, feeling a great sense of relief and joy brewing within. Her friends, all of her friends had pulled through together. Bakura was wrong, friendship was the furthest thing away from pointless, and now she would prove it once and for all.

Giving the deranged spirit one final glare, Sunset declared, "Your dice have the higher number, Bakura! The first move is ours!"

The deranged Game Master said nothing, only seething and shaking, and Sunset took some kind of dark satisfaction in seeing the absolute terror on the once high-and-mighty demon's face. The face which she would return to its rightful owner soon enough.

"This is the end for you!" Sunset looked down on the game board, her eyes locking on a certain one of them, "Finish this guy off for good, Twilight!"

"You got it, Sunset!" She replied steadily, raising her magic staff and feeling a great surge of magical energy welling up inside her. Looking at the pathetic excuse of life called Zorc infront of her, Twilight channeled the magic through her staff and aimed it at the Dark Master, longing to end the game and get everything back to the way it should be.

Imbuing not only her own, but the fury and will of al her friends, Twilight unleashed her ultimate attack, "Final Big Bang!" Much as the name says, a single ball of blue-coloured magic flew through her staff and struck the cowering Zorc. The result was a magnificent explosion that would put even Micheal Bay to shame, blasting Zorc apart until there was nothing left.

Bakura, who felt everything Zorc did, let out a long, raspy, blood-curling scream of pain as it felt as if his own body was being torn apart by burning light. But not only the pain, with such a blow and Zorc being defeated, Bakura knew full well that he was, in fact, the loser of this Shadow Game.

'NO! NO, IT CAN'T BE!' He raged within his mind, the pain of loss burning his already wounded ego and pride. Worse of all, he could steadily feel himself losing the senses of his body, and that could only mean one thing; He was losing power, and therefore control over his host!

'NO! I-I CAn't lose! I REFUSE!...!' His inner voice grew weaker, and Bakura despaired in knowing that this loss had severly weakened his spirit and power. 'But... I can still... use her...'

And then the spirit of the ring completely lost control of the body. Said body therefore faceplanted unceremoniously to the table, and the millenium ring slid off his neck and fell to the floor with a heavy CLANG.

Of course, to Sunset, it seemed as if her opponent had simply collapsed, but she had bigger problems. After Twilight's attack, the game board had gone oddly quiet and still, as if all the life had been sucked out of it. The figurine containing her friends' sould were still as can be, and for a brief, horrifying moment, Sunset wondered if they had done something wrong.

Fortunatley, Sunset was spared from further worry, as she felt a light stirring next to her. Getting a little spooked by the sudden movement, she jumped just a tad in her seat and looked downwards to her left side, where the body of Pinkie Pie, was actually starting to move.

The girl's pink face scrunched up, before her pair of bright blue eyes opened slowly, and Sunset couldn't stop the happy gasp that escaped her even if she tried.

"... Sunny?" Pinkie asked after a bit of silence, in which she had manage to get herself up from her slouching position, rubbing a spot of her head.

"It's me, Pinkie." Sunset confirmed with a joyful smile, happy to actually be able to truly interact with her friend once more. "We defeated Bakura, you're all free now!"

"... Does that mean I won't get to keep my magic gun?" Pinkie simply asked her with a small pout, before quickly shrugging it off and instead giving Sunset a big smile. "Eh, who cares? Who needs magic guns when I got a whole group of friends waiting for me right here!?"

Sunset couldn't help but chuckle, and Pinkie quickly joined in with a full-on laugh. As they did so, the other five girls all began to stir and awake as well, their souls now back in their rightful place.

Twilight blinked a couple of times, adjusting her glasses and looking around somewhat sceptically. "This... this isn't another trick, is it?"

"Ah don't think so, sugarcube." The now awakened Applejack answered with a big, yet relieved smile, Rarity doing the same beside her. "We're all out o' the game for real now!"

"Because we're awesome!" The always energetic Rainbow Dash exclaimed, raising a fist in celebration, "We beat a game that was legit impossible to beat! That has to increase out cool-factor by at least 20 percent!"

"But we didn't do it alone." Fluttershy said quietly, though smiling nonetheless, "We all worked together to beat Zorc." She then let out a little despondent sigh, "I'm going to miss Pokie and Pao, though. Feels like I just started to get to know them."

Before any words of comfort could be said by anyone else, the seven girls' attention was gripped by a painful moan coming from the other side of the table. They all gasped in horror, remembering that they weren't the only ones trapped by the game!

"Ryou!" Sunset called out in concern, her and the others practically jumpin out of their chairs and running over to the body of their slumped over friend. Once they got there it was quite a messy sight, indeed.

Ryou looked paler and weaker than ever before, his body shaking like a leaf. Blood was still leaking out of the wound in his left hand, and it almost looked as if he was barely breathing at all.

Sunset took the initiative and quickly, but gently lifted the near lifeless body into something off a sitting position. However, this only revealed a more gruesome sight. Though the ring had indeed fallen off and the spirit was gone, the fact remained that the artifact's five prongs had dug DEEP into Ryou's poor body. And as those prongs were no longer there, Ryou's pale skin by his chest and stomach was now a red, sticky mess of blood steadily leaking out of where the prongs had pierced the skin.

It was a gruesome sight, and some of the girls had to stop themselves from vomiting or fainting on the spot. They merely stood there in horrified shock for a small moment, their earlier triumph over the sadistic spirit forgotten. Instead, they were saddened by what fate had befallen their innocent friend.

But it was Twilight who first snapped out of this horror-induced trance, her eyes wide and panicky as she got to Ryou's side, "W-We have to call an ambulance!"

"On it!" Rainbow Dash was quick as always, bringing up her phone as swiftly dialing 911.

"We have to stop the bleedin'!" Applejack the declared, moving to Ryou's side and swiftly ripping off a piece of his white shirt to at least have something to hinder the bleeding. "This is bad, girls! He could bleed out if he don't any help soon!"

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear..." Poor Fluttershy, though eager to help her friend, was almost on the verge of hyperventalating, seeing the great deal of blood and pain Ryou was in.

Sunset, feeling more protective of her friends than ever before, knelt beside Ryou and shook him very gently, hoping to all that is holy that she would get some kind of response! "Ryou? Ryou, please answer me! Y-You can't die! I- We all worked so hard to save you!"

Though it seemed as if all life had completely left the body, the girls at last spotted a movement. Ryou's head turned just slightly in Sunset's direction, his eye-lids slowly opening just a tad. Even those mere moves looked as if they drained all of Ryou's energy.

"S-Sunset...?" He asked weakly, his voice barely more than a whisper. His brown eyes were cloudy and tired beyond imagening, but they were still filled with pleading, "I s-swear... I-It's me..."

"I know, Ryou, I know." Sunset assured him kindly, gently taking hold of his right hand. She and the others knew full well what Ryou was trying to assure them about so she simply told him, "He's gone now. The spirit is gone, we're all safe."

The boy let out a small sigh of what the Rainbooms thought to be relief, but it was quickly forgotten, as the poor boy then began to shake lightly, his pained brown eyes welling up with tears and his tired face filled with guilt, "Girls... I-I, please... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

"Ssshh." Twilight soothed gently, her and Rarity rubbing his back comfortably, "It's alright, Ryou. It's okay. We're here now."

Ryou didn't seem to hear her, instead his right hand shakily almost touched his bloody mess of a chest, though not touching it. "M-my chest... it-it hurts...!" He sounded so vulnerable as he said this, even worse when he barely moved his head, but the girls could clearly tell that he was gesturing to his mutilated left hand, "My... he did... m-my hand..."

"Just hang in there, sugarcube." Applejack tried to sound as calm and soothing as she could, pressing the cloth just enough to not cause pain, but hopefully to stop any more bleeding. But despite that, she herself was on the verge of breakin down at seeing a friend in such a sorry state. "We're gonna get yah help."

"You're going to be okay." Pinkie also tried her best, though even her own smile was shaky, and her usually poofy hair almost seemed to deflate.

Rainbow Dash then walked over, pocketing her phone and looking relived. "The ambulance is on their way now. Should be here any minute." Before anyone else could get a word in, the atheltic girl spotted a familiar piece of gold lying almost forgotten by Ryou's feet.

Ah, there's the little devil." She bent down to pick it up, seeing nothing wrong with that plan, "We should probably-"

"Don't touch it!" Sunset harshly scolded Rainbow Dash, who in turn flinched and pulled back her hand and herself from the millenium ring.

"I don't believe picking up jewelry containing an evil spirit is the best idea, Rainbow." Rarity scolded her friend, still doing her best to comfort the wounded Ryou.

Despite the situation, Rainbow Dash let out a self-depricating chuckle. "You got a point, there." Her brief levity was sompletely forgotten as she looked at Ryou's shaking and injured form, feeling a great sense of protectiveness welling up within her.

As such, she went to his side and very gently placed a hand on his shoulder, meeting his weak brown ones with her own, passionate violet ones. "You're gonna be alright, pal." Rainbow Dash told him, soundin both commanding and assuring. "The ambulance will be here any moment and we'll get you to the hospital!"

"I-I-I..." The poor boy could barely speak in this state, though his tears were ever flowing. After a moment of stammering, he, with visible effort, looked all around at the friends surrounding him, pleading with them with every ounce of energy he had, "Don't leave me! I-I don't... I don't want to be alone! P-Please...!"

The girls all looked at the poor, shivering mess infront of them. This wasn't right, they all thought. Ryou Bakura shouldn't look like this. He shouldn't cry, not ever like this! He should be smiling, his kind brown eyes that lights up everytime he sees them too, he should be laughing at one of Pinkie Pie's antics or another.

But this... this was just all kinds of wrong.

"We won't leave you, Ryou." Sunset woved, her and the others all looking more determined than ever to help out and be there for their friend, "And that's a promise."