Of Friendship & Shadow Games

"Now remember, Spike;" Twilight Sparkle began in a somewhat lecturing tone while looking down at her dog as they stood alone infront of Canterlot high. While they stood there waiting, all other students were already inside. "No talking in front of the new student, at least not now. He doesn't know about magic or any of the other crazy things that've happened here and we don't want to overwhelm him."

Spike just rolled his eyes while scratching a particularly itchy spot close to his ear. "I know, I know, Twilight. You've already told me like bleventeen times. No talking around the new kid, got it. From now on I will keep it shut. I'll put a sock in it. I'll shut my yap. My lips will be sealed. My lips could not be more sealed than they are right now. Never before have lips been sealed like-"

"I get the picture." Twilight deadpanned, despite the clear amusement on her face.

"Now," She began while looking down at her wristwatch. ", judging by the time, he should show up at any-"

Her sentence was interrupted when she felt Spike nudging her leg. Seeing his owner's questioning look, Spike gestured towards the statue where Twilight then looked. And there she saw him.

Standing just by the school statue and seemingly admiring it in silence was a boy with long white hair. He appeared to be dressed in a blue-and-white striped t-shirt underneath a light-blue collared jacket with rolled up sleeves and a pair of grey jeans. Wanting to make a good impression, Twilight put on a smile and moved towards him.

"Hi! Are you the new... student..." The greeting died on her lips as she got closer, allowing her to get a better look at CHS' new wondercolt, and it puzzled her. It seemed as if the boy didn't comprehend what she had just said, or really anything else around him, as if he was in some sort of trance. His sole focus appeared to be on the school's horse statue, staring at it with an unreadable gaze.

Though Twilight and Spike only looked on in silent confusion and slight tredipation, they both flinched when the boy suddenly turned his gaze to them, allowing them to get a good look at his face, and quite frankly, Twilight felt unnerved. The boy's eyes were sharp and almost looked like endless tunnels of darkness, while his mouth was set in a straight and thin line. He stared unblinkingly at her for quite some time, his eyes narrowing at her in what Twilight thought looked like suspiscion.

"Uh, hi?" Twilight decided to try and instigate a conversation, despite feeling a little creeped out by the dark and sharp eyes of the new student which seemed to stare into her very soul. Fortunatley for Twilight it seemed to work, as her words caused the boy to blink but when he opened his eyes he seemed completely changed. His brown eyes which previously looked dark and menacing, now looked consciderably brighter and softer. Heck, his long white hair even seemed to change shape. His mouth which Twilight first thought was a thin scowl now took the shape of a small 'O'.

"W-what?" The boy asked, looking lost and seemingly now really noticing Twilight for the first time. "Anou... d-did I do something to you just now?"

"Umm, no..." Twilight responded, still a little weirded out by his behaviour and his seeming transformation, which she in retrospect was sure had just been an optical illusion. "You just... kind of seemed to space out for a bit. Are you okay?"

His hand now went to the back of his head, scratching his hair as he looked at her with an embarrased smile. "Gomen- I mean, sorry. My mind tends to completely blank at times. It's a rather nasty habit I've been trying to break. At least nothing happened, it's gotten me into some unpleasant situations at times." His smile now dipped into a small frown. "I hope that I didn't weird you out."

"N-not at all!" The scholarly girl quickly tried to assure him, not wanting to upset the new student. As she wasn't always as socially adept that she is now, Twilight had her own fair share of akward first meetings and really didn't want to add this one to that list. Though at the moment, a bit of an akward silence reigned and Twilight didn't know how exactly to break it, as the boy also appeared to be unsure of how to keep the conversation going.

They were both saved from further akwardness by none other than Spike. Having noticed Twilight's distress and the quickly dying conversation, Spike decided to scamper up to the new student while barking happily, hoping that the new kid was a dog-person. This action surprised the two humans, though the white haired boy's surprised face quickly changed into a charmed smile as he looked down at the dog who was pawing at his pants leg.

"Well, hello there, little guy." He greeted Spike who yiffed up at him in return. Twilight now took notice of just how soft the boy's voice was, reminding her a bit of Fluttershy. Said boy now bent down and began to gently pat Spike on the head with a pale hand. The purple dog preened under his touch.

"He's a cute one. Is he yours?" It took a second for Twilight to realize that he was talking to her.

"Yep! His name is Spike." She replied proudly, happy to have broken the ice.

"Spike, ey?" He repeated, as if testing the name on his tounge while scratching behind the dog's ears. "You sure are lucky." The scratching stopped causing Spike to whine in disappointment. The boy gave him an apologetic glance before rising up and giving Twilight his full attention.

"I'm sorry, I should've introduced myself earlier." He apologized to Twilight, sounding embarrassed. In a move that surprised her, he went into a light bow before meeting her gaze with kind, yet nervous eyes. "I'm Ryou. Ryou Bakura."

Twilight just stood there for a moment,blushing slightly and unsure of how to respond. She finally settled for an outstretched hand and a hopeful smile. "I'm Twilight Sparkle. Nice to meet you, Ryou, and let me be the first person to welcome you to Canterlot High!"

Giving her a soft smile in return, Ryou took her hand and gave it a gentle shake. "Good to meet you too, Twilight, and thank you."

After exchanging greetings, Ryou asked, "So Twilight, are you the one your principal set up to show me around?"

"Yes, principal Celestia asked me to step in." She answered. "I'm still kind of new here myself, just recently transfered from Crystal Prep."

"Crystal Prep High?" Ryou repeated as if recognizing the name. "That's the other local high school here, right?" At Twilight's nod he continued, saying, "I was actually asked to enroll there first but," he now leaned in a little closer and lowered his voice as if telling some huge secret. ", it seemed just a tad too snobby for my tastes."

Twilight couldn't help but giggle at that. "That actually describes that place perfectly, it's one of the main reasons I left. Trust me, CHS is that school's opposite in all the best ways. I think that you're really gonna like it here."

He gave her a smile, though Twilight thought that it looked a little sad for a brief moment. "I hope so too... Should we head inside then?"

"Yes, let's." Before doing that, she bent down and opened up her backpack. "Get in there, Spike." The dog obeyed, but not before giving Ryou another happy bark, and jumped into the backpack. Looking up and seeing Ryou's questioning and somewhat concerned look, she couldn't help but blush slightly.

"Hehe, we're, erm, not actually allowed to keep pets on school premises so I just tend to keep him in there." Twilight admitted, looking up at Ryou hopefully. "... Could you maybe keep this between us? Please?"

Ryou blinked at her twice in succession, looking puzzled, before finally giving her a smile and gesturing with his hand as if zipping his mouth shut. "My lips are sealed."

Letting out a sigh or relief, Twilight smiled and turned towards the school entrance. "Okay then, on with the tour!"

The charm of Canterlot City apparently also applied to its school, or so Ryou thought as he was guided down the many halls of Canterlot High. Despite most of the school looking empty since most students were in class, it was still clear to the white-haired boy that the school had a very warm and inviting air.

It also helped that Twilight Sparkle was an excellent guide.

Despite the brief akwardness of their first meeting, Ryou found the girl to be nice enough company as she led him down the halls, pointing to different classrooms and other areas, also informing him of a number of relevant things as well as assuring him every possible moment what a great school it was, while not coming across as forcing it which Ryou appreciated. He paid good attention and listened carefully to her, politely interrupting only a handful of times to ask some small questions.

"And in there's the computer lab." She pointed to said room which currently was occupied by a class. "There, that's pretty much the whole school. So, how do we meassure up to the ones in Japan?"

Ryou chuckled lightly at the question before answering, "It looks like a great place, Twilight. Honestly, it seems to pack much more, what's the word... oh yes, personality, than most of the other schools I've been to."

Twilight took the praise with a proud grin, before it turned slightly puzzled. "You make it sound as if you've been to a bunch of different schools."

Ryou's face became almost unreadable at that sentence, and the light in his eyes seemed to dimm somewhat. "Yes, I've transfered to different schools a couple of times in the past." He spoke in a voice that sounded almost melancholic, and for a moment Twilight was afraid that she had offended him or something. Her fears were relieved once Ryou quickly gave her a smile. "This is not my first rodeo... That's something you americans say, right?"

Twilight laughed and Ryou smiled, yet she could not help but think of how the boy had gone from happy to subdued to happy so quickly. She was prevented from further thought on the matter by the arrival if CHS' principal.

"Ah, Twilight, I see your already showing our new student around, excellent!" Celestia exclaimed to Twilight before turning her attention towards Ryou. "It's so nice to finally meet you, Mr. Bakura. I'm principal Celestia Starr and I hope that you will enjoy your stay here."

Just like with Twilight, Ryou gave the principal a light bow and responded politely. "It's good to meet you as well, Ms. Starr. Thank you for having me."

Celestia let out an amused chuckle, though it was not mocking in the slightest. "Please, just 'Celestia' will do fine. I don't know how exactly how they do it in Japan, but personally I've always preferred to quit the formalities when talking to students. On that note, I hope that you'll have no trouble adapting to our school system."

"None at all, Ms. Sta- anou, principal Celestia. I already knew what to expect." Ryou was quick to assure her. He then gestured to his collared jacket. "Quite frankly, it's nice not having to walk around in a school uniform anymore."

"That's all I wanted to hear. I never cared much for uniforms, either." Celestia said with clear amusement on her face before reaching out with a paper in her hand. "Here, this is your schedule. If you have any questions then you're more than welcome to ask either me or my sister, the vice-principal." Ryou accepted the schedule with a smile and a, 'Thank you'.

Looking up at one of the hallway's clocks and seeing what time it was, Celestia turned to them and said, "Well, that's really all I wanted to say. Once again, it's a delight to have you here, Ryou. And thank you, Twilight, for helping him. Now, your lunchbreak starts soon so I suggest you two hurry off before the line gets too long. After lunch you'll both continue according to schedule. Have a good day, you two!"

"You too, principal Celestia!" They both said as the principal departed. Ryou had to admit that she was definetly more warm and inviting than most teachers he'd had in Japan. And though the informality was definetly odd for Ryou as it spoke against most of what he'd learned about good manners, it also strangely fit. In some weird way, the woman's warm presence made it strange to call her anything other than 'Celestia'.

He was brought out of his thought when a school clock suddenly rang and before Ryou knew what happened, many of the classroom doors flew open and the previously empty hallway became brimming with activity as students made their way through. Ryou had never really been a fan of big crowds and this made him feel somewhat uneasy.

Taking note of the boy's discomfort, Twilight placed her hand on his shoulder and kindly said, "Let's go to the cafeteria. I heard that they're serving hamburgers today! ... You're not vegetarian or anything, are you?"

This was enough for Ryou to put aside his momentary discomfort, laughing lightly. "Not a vegetarian, no. You're right, let's go get some food."

And so they did. Once again, Twilight proved to be an excellent guide as she managed to help Ryou through the steady stream of students who were also making their way towards to the cafeteria. They both got there without any major issue and stood in line for a little bit before finally getting something to eat. Twilight had been right, hamburgers were on the menu and Ryou's mouth watered at the sight of it.

Once he'd filled up his tray and turned to find a seat, Ryou was quickly faced with a problem. Said problem being that he had no idea where to sit. Twilight had seemed to disappear from view after she'd gotten her food before him and Ryou felt quite lost as he looked through the cafeteria, seeing the multiple tables quickly filling up with all matter of students. He didn't want to intrude on anyone, but at the same time he didn't want to spend another lunch period alone after doing it so many times in the past.

Just as he'd almost given up, a very cheerful and high-pitched voice yelled out, "HEY! NEW GUY! OVER HERE!" It surprised Ryou so much that he almost dropped his tray. Looking towards where he'd heard the voice from, he saw what looked like a girl with very pink and very poofy hair waving him towards her table with a huge smile on her face.

Ryou blinked once in slight confusion, looking around briefly for any other possible new students which the girl was referring to instead. Finding none, he looked back and saw that there already sat a couple of people by the pink girl's table which he couldn't really make out. Merely standing there for a second, Ryou decided that it was probably for the best if he just moved over there, as it appeared as if the girl genuienly wanted to talk to him, whoever she was.

Taking a deep breath as if bracing himself, Ryou began to walk towards the table. As he got closer, he felt a great sense of relief as he saw that Twilight was also sitting by the table. That was atleast one familiar face in all of this. Twilight seemed to notice him too as Ryou now stood right by the table.

"Oh, there you are, Ryou!" The bespectacled girl greeted him before looking embarrassed. "Sorry that I wandered off like that, I just wanted to save you a seat..."

"There's no trouble at all." Ryou assured her softly before he planted himself down on the table's eighth seat, next to Twilight and opposite of the pink girl who'd called out to him.

Looking around at the seven girls, all of them varrying in hairstyle and colour and all of them looking at him in various forms of intrigue, Ryou felt slightly uncomfortable under their gazes, espescially the one of the girl with the fire-like hair and green eyes.

Scratching the back of his head, he asked Twilight, "Anou, are these the friends you mentioned, Twilight?"

"Yes!" Twilight responded proudly before gesturing to the poofy-haired girl. "This is Pi-" She didn't get to finish as the pink girl, who was still grinning gleefully, leaned over the table and got really up-and-close to Ryou.

"Hi!" She greeyed cheerfully despite the akward closeness. "I'm Pinkamina Diane Pie, but you can just call me Pinkie! And I've got a few questions for ya, buster! What's your name? What's your favourite colour? When's your birthday? Do you like cupcakes? Chocolate or Strawberry? Do you want to be my friend!?"

All six questions were fired in rapid succession, Pinkie getting closer and closer for every one. Her face was almost touching Ryou's by the end of it. The whole thing frankly puzzled Ryou, and for some reason he thought he could feel the millenium ring beneath his shirt vibrate like crazy. It was probably just his imagination.

Before he could respond, Pinkie was quickly pulled pack by the girl next to her, who appeared to be pulling of a country-look. She was even wearing a cowboy hat! "Easy there, sugarcube." She admonished gently in a southern accent. "We don't wanna overwhelm the poor feller."

"O-oh no, it's quite alright." Ryou was quick to assure, for some reason not finding the pink girl's antics bothersome at all. He even turned to said girl and lightly bowed his head with a soft smile. "It's nice to meet you, Pinkie Pie. As for your questions; Ryou Bakura. Blue. September 2nd. Yes. Strawberry. And... I'd love to."

For personal reasons he was a bit hesitant to answer the final question. Luckily enough, none of them seemed to notce as Pinkie almost visibly glowed in happiness at his answers. "Yay! A new friend! That rounds my total up to..." She began to seemingly count on her fingers befoe turning to the other girls questioningly. "Wait... what's our stance on the Dazzlings again?"

Ryou was once again puzzled by his very new friend's antics, but at the same time he couldn't help but smile. The other girls, who had undoubtedly known Pinkie Pie longer, seemed to take it with similar amusement.

"Anyhoo..." The country-looking girl form earlier began, reaching out a friendly hand towards Ryou, "Howdy-do there, partner! Welcome to the city! Name's Applejack. Mah family owns the orchard here in Canterlot. Y'should stop by some time. We love visitors, and we make the best apple products this side of anywhere."

"Good to meet you, Applejack." Ryou greeted as he shook her hand, noting that she had a very firm but friendly grip. "I just might take you up on that."

"Sup, dude." The rainbow-haired girl next to Applejack then greeted him rather casually, a half-eaten burger in her hands. "I'm Rainbow Dash."

"Rainbow Dash is involved in a lot of the school's sports teams." Twilight elaborated.

"It just goes to show how spectacularly awesome I am." Rainbow Dash said casually as if talking about the weather, causing some of the other girls to roll their eyes in amusement. Ryou almost did too, but he didn't want to seem rude.

"Um... I-I'm Fluttershy." The girl who sat next to Twilight with light pink hair spoke up next. Though her voice was so soft that Ryou had difficulty to understand her.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Um..." She began once again, somehow even quieter than before. "I said my name's Fluttershy..."

"Anou, I didn't quite catch that..."

"... I'm Fluttershy."

Rolling her eyes, as if having seen this a thousand times before, Rainbow Dash decided to end her friend's torment. "Her name's Fluttershy. It may shock you; but she's kinda shy. Crazy, I know."

Hearing this, it finally clicked for Ryou as he gave the shy girl a very kind and understanding look. "It's very nice to meet you, Fluttershy."

The girl now managed to meet Ryou's kind eyes as a small but genuine smile appeared on her face. "... Nice to meet you too, Ryou."

After that introduction was out of the way, the girl with very neatly kept violet hair next to Fluttershy made herself known, looking eager to finally talk to Ryou.

"Hello, darling! I am Rarity, and I must say that I adore what you've done with your hair!"

"Oh, um..." Ryou was unsure how to respond to this comment, even after recieving similar ones from other girls in his previous schools. He could only scratch the back of his head while blushing slightly. "I-it's nothing, really. I just-"

"Oh don't be so modest, darling!" Rarity was quick to inteject, stars dancing in her eyes as she observed Ryou's hair, whose blush only grew brighter. "The volume and texture looks perfect! And I can't see any traces of hair gel. Oh, I know some designs which would look amazing with your hair! And there should probably be something that brings out your eyes..."

"You see, Rarity's a fashionista. All of us have at least one thing designed by her." Twilight interjected.

"And I would simply love to design something for you as well, Ryou darling."

"Oh, there's no need to do something like that for me!" Ryou exclaimed, not being one who liked to trouble others.

"I'm afraid that I must insist, dear." Rarity responded adamantly, clearly not taking 'No' for an answer.

"Pst, word of advice, pal." Rainbow Dash stage-whispered. "When she breaks out the measuring tape you run."

"Honestly, Rainbow!" Rarity chastised while sounding scandalized, though the little exchange got the whole table to share a good laugh, even Ryou who giggled quietly into is hand.

"You get used to these kinds of antics after a while, trust me." The fire-haired girl now next to Rainbow Dash spoke, clearly amused, and gave Ryou a small smile. "I'm Sunset Shimmer, by the way. It's nice to meet you."

"You too, Sunset."

"So, Ryou, you're from Japan." Sunset said. It was not a question. "Your english is perfect."

Ryou did not know how exactly to interpret that statement. It was definetly not hostile, though he couldn't help but feel as if it sounded somewhat accusatory. Desciding not to think too much of it, he responded politely.

"Well, Sunset, I was born in England and spent a lot of my younger years there, so it is my first language while japanese is my primary one. I also speak basic german and just the teeniest bit of egyptian." He explained before taking a large bite out of his burger, which through the introductions had remained untouched. Sunset seemed to accept this explanation with a nod.

"Um, Ryou? Not to be intrusive or anything but, since you've moved here from another country, where do you live now?" Fluttershy pipped up inquisitevly, before hastily adding, "I-if you don't mind me asking, of course..."

"Now that you mention it, Flutters, I haven't seen any moving trucks wheeling around. Heck, I don't think there's even any place here that was up for sale lately..." Rainbow Dash pondered. "What gives, Ryou?"

Swiftly chewing up and swallowing the last of his burger, Ryou responded, "The moving trucks won't show up until tomorrow due to an ongoing strike. As for my living arrangement, I didn't have to buy myself a house here since I already have one." His answer took the girls off guard.

"Really?" Sunset asked, now sounding somewhat sceptical. "Which one?"

"Number 9 on Ebony Street."

"WHAT!?" The collective exclamation of shock from all seven of the girls almost made Ryou fall straight out of his seat, only just managing to avoid it.

"You're tellin' us you've settled in the ol' Blackwood house?" Applejack asked, looking both bewildered and concered.

"Anou... yes." Ryou responded, sounding a bit unsure as the stares of the girls seemed to work their way on his psyche. Their reactions made him feel a tad concerned. "Why? Is-is that bad?"

"'Bad'!?" Rarity repeated incredulously. "More like catastrophic! That house is run down hovel which hasn't seen a good and much needed cleaning for nearly 10 years! Oh, just think of all the dust, the mold, the spiders, and-and mites. Oh, it's the worst. Possible. Thing!"

"... Are you alright?" Ryou asked, concerned as it looked as if the aspiring fashionista was about to faint. He got a terse nod in return as Rarity continued to imagine the unhygenic horrors of Ryou's new home.

"And you're going to live there from now on?" Twilight asked him, looking troubled on his behalf.

"Well yes, I already spent last night there. But don't worry, only half of the windows are broken and I only woke up with three spiders in my hair this morning." That last part was meant to be a joke but the girls now looked more worried than ever. Rarity stared at his hair as if she would see a spider crawling out of it at any moment.

"Oh my..." Fluttershy quietly muttered.

"Really, it's nothing." He tried to reassure them, not wanting to make them worry about him. He was practically a stranger to them, after all. It wasn't right of him to unload his troubles on them. "I'm going to fix it up after school today. I'm sure that it'll look good as new then."

"Sugarcube, ya can't possibly be tellin' us that you're gonna straighten out that entire house 'til tomorrow by y'rself." Applejack stated seriously.

Ignoring how odd it felt to be called 'Sugarcube', Ryou instead gave all the girls a soft smile. "Well, I kind of have to. My things will all come in the morning and I can't store my stuff in a dirty home, now can I?"

"You're right. Ya can't." Applejack seemed to agree with him, before shocking the boy when she then smiled and said, "That's precisely why, when school's out, Ah'm gonna help ya."

"Good, because that's what I- wait, what?" It suddenly dawned on Ryou exactly what the country girl had said as he looked at her in shock.

"Ya heard me." Applejack now looked slightly amused at him. "Sounds like ya could use a hand or two, partner. And, well, Ah got two hands."

"B-but I-"

"I'll help you out too, Ryou!" Pinkie Pie interrupted before he could explain just why they shouldn't be helping him. "We're friends now, remember? And no friend of Pinkie Pie is gonna have to live in a dirty-wirty old house!"

"Pinkie Pie's got the right idea!" Rainbow Dash chimmed in next before Ryou could even open his mouth to protest. "Sure, maybe cleaning is not my ideal friday-afternoon, but now Applejack's gone off being all cool, and I can't have her steal my thunder. Besides, for something as challenging as the Blackwood house, you're gonna need some extra awesomeness!"

The other girls and even Ryou all shared a little chuckle at Rainbow Dash's attitude, before Twilight spoke up next. "I told principal Celestia that I would help you feel welcome, Ryou. I can't think of a better way than to make your home actually liveable for humans."

"I want to help you, too, Ryou. Espescially with all that dust." Fluttershy said quietly, but still loud enough to hear. She then leaned over and whispered conspiratorially to him, "Don't tell anyone alse about this, but Racoons are surprisingly good at house keeping."

"..." Ryou wasn't even really sure how to respond to that one.

"Even though I prefer to stay away from any given dust particles at all times... I can't stand the thought of losing your precious hair to termites, Ryou! It will not stand!" Rarity sounded very dedicated as she said this, it almost reminded Ryou of some sort of military general.

"Well, now that everyone else's volounteered, I guess I have to go too." Sunset sighed, though jokingly as she kept one twinkling eye opened.

"But-but, I..." Ryou trailed off, trying to think of the best way to voice his displeasure without offending any of them. "I can't ask that of you! Surely you all have things you'd rather be doing than helping me clean my house!"

"Of course we do!" Pinkie replied plainly, cheerful as ever. "But right now, you need our help, mister." The other girls nodded, agreeing with the energetic party girl. Ryou still found their sudden dedication to be somewhat baffling.

"B-but you hardly know me! Why would you sacrifice an entire afternoon just to help some new student you've just met!?" This somewhat hysteric question was only met with questioning stares from the seven girls.

"What do you mean 'why'?" Rainbow Dash asked, sounding honestly confused. "We're friends now, right? Friends help eachother out." She stated this as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Ryou was just about to retort when her words truly registered in his mind. "You... you think of me as your friend?"

"Well, yeah. Don't you?"

It would have been impossible for Ryou to describe exactly what feelings he felt at that very moment. Somehow it felt like a bittersweet mixture of sorrow, but also an unmeasurable joy. He was sure he even felt his eyes sting just a little. "Friends... Yes, yes, we're friends." He repeated it quietly, the word feeling strangely foreign on his tounge.

"Um, you alright there, Ryou?" The concerned voice of Sunset barely registered in his mind. After a brief moment, his attention became focused on the seven girls as he gave them the biggest smile he had been able to muster in months.

"Yes. I feel fine, Sunset." He responded, truly meaning it. "Thank you, all of you. For offering yourselves like this, I mean."

His words were met with smiles all from around the table. "Not a problem, Ryou. That's what friends are for." Twilight said as the other girls nodded in agreement. Once again Ryou felt that strange but at the same time elevating feeling in his heart, and so he smiled.

As the eight of them sat there in the cafeteria, chatting up about their upcoming cleaning mission until the lunch bell rang, summoning them to class, none of them could possibly have known what would await them in the future. The adventures they would have, the horrors they would face, the triumphs they would share, or the bonds all of them would form together.

After all, the game had only just begun.