Of Friendship & Shadow Games

"So, is he coming soon or what?" Rainbow wondered aloud, but it was a sentiment shared by all the other girls as they waited outside the infamous Blackwood house.

After their lunch period earlier that day where they had all agreed to help the new transfer student to clean his run-down house, the rest of their school day had passed as usual, with the exception of Ryou introducing himself to all the other students and teachers they came across, which went rather smoothly.

When school was done, they had all agreed with Ryou to meet him by the Blackwood house around 16:00 as the boy needed to pop over and buy some cleaning supplies for their rather ambiguous project.

Now, however, the time was nearing 16:10 and some of the girls, mainly those of them with rainbow-coloured hair, were already starting to get a little impatient.

"I'm sure there's a logical explanation to why he's not here yet." Twilight calmly said while looking through her phone.

"Still, if we now volounteered to help him spruce up that old shack, the least he can do is show up on time..." Rainbow muttered to herself.

"Don't worry, Dashie!" Pinkie chimmed in while smiling. "Usually when we talk about someone, that someone usually shows up sooner or la- Hey, there's Ryou! Hiya!"

The girls followed where Pinkie suddenly pointed and, much like she said, walking down Ebony Street was none other than Ryou Bakura. He was carrying many bags and a few boxes of what looked like lightbulbs, walking carefully as not to drop any of them. They stacked up in a way that none of the girls could get a good look at his face. At Pinkie Pie's greeting, his eyes and forehead popped up from behind the boxes.

"H-hello!" Ryou's greeting was noticeably rather strained, the weight of all the supplies clearly didn't just take their toll on his speed. "Sorry I'm late!"

"Well, no wonderin' yer late, carryin' all those things!" Applejack sprinted over to the boy. "Here, allow me."

Before Ryou could even object to the offer, the country girl swiftly took hold of at least half of the supplies Ryou was carrying with no visible effort. "There! That's a lot better, ain't it?"

"Y-yes, thank you." He stuttered just a bit, still surprised over just how easily Applejack had taken the same boxes which took a massive strain on him... he really needed to work out more. "Again, sorry for being tardy."

"Nothing to worry about, Ryou. The important thing is that you showed up at all." Twilight was quick to assure the boy.

"Goodie!" Pinkie suddenly exclaimed. "Now that the man of the hour is here, that means we can quit yapping and start cleaning!"

Despite Pinkie's cheerful exclamation, the task ahead of them was anything but. As Ryou led them all inside the rather ominous-looking old house, they were all shocked once they saw what awaited them on the inside.

"Holy cow!" Twilight exclaimed as she looked around the rundown, dust-covered innards of the Blackwood house. "I mean, I could see from the outside that this house has seen better days, but jeez..."

"Haha! Look, guys!" Pinkie called from a mirror where she proceeded to draw some lines in the thick layer of dust. "I made a smiley-face!"

Ryou and the rest chuckled at this, before the former adressed the girls. "Believe it or not, the place actually looked worse when I first came here. I spent most of last night picking up rouge shards of glass."

"Eek!" Rarity suddenly squeaked, hiding behind Applejack, "I think I saw something move in the corner!"

Said cowgirl looked at the scared fashionista with half-lidded eyes. "Rarity, that there's just a big dust bunny." She deadpanned.

Rarity blushed as the group shared a good chuckle, but Ryou, quick to see her distress, tried to assure her. "Don't worry, Rarity. I made quite the throughout maintenance check of the entire house yesterday. Miraculously, I didn't find any pests of note. Although, I do think some racoons have settled somewhere in the attic. At least I hope it's just racoons..."

Rarity quieted down at this, a blush still adorning her cheeks, muttering, "Thank you for that clarification..."

"Um, Ryou ? If we do find any critters hiding up there, I could give you a hand in handling them. I-if you want to..." Fluttershy offered in her usual quiet way, her bangs covering one of her eyes.

Ryou looked at her curiously. "Are you sure, Fluttershy? I mean, I looked as hard as I could yesterday, but after 10 years, who knows what kind of things've settled down here?"

"Trust me, Ryou," Sunset quickly spoke in support of her friend. "If anyone can help you with a critter-problem, then it's Fluttershy."

The other girls said similar encouraging things, causing Fluttershy to blush. Even more so when Ryou seemed to comprehend their words and gave the quiet girl a smile. "If such a situation should arise, then I'll gladly accept your assistance, Fluttershy."

"Thank you..."

"So, Ryou, what exactly needs to be done? ... 'cept for everythin', that is." Applejack asked while rubbing her hands together, eager to get to work.

And so Ryou gave them all a great deal of tasks, which was natrual, of course, the Blackwood house was rather large, after all. To begin with, all eight of them changed all of the faulty lights in the house, which natrually meant all of them. Ryou, Twilight, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash took care of first floor while Sunset, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie took care of the second floor.

The upstairs were actually quite creepy looking, none of the girls could blame Ryou for not wanting to clean the house by himself. Though Applejack couldn't help but wonder just where in the heck Ryou's parents were. Almost certainly at work like most adults, but still, it didn't sit right with the cowgirl that whoever Ryou's folks were left their newly arrived son to clean such a large house by himself.

After Sunset's team were finished with changing all the upstairs light, they quickly went down and found that Ryou and the others were now walking around dusting, wiping and mopping all over the place. Once he saw them, Ryou commented on a job well done and gave them some more tasks, though not in a demanding way. And so they got to work.

"Maaan, this house seems way bigger than it looks..." Rainbow Dash whined, whiping sweat off of her forehead, looking around and seeing that there was still much to clean. "Hey, RB! Who else is living here, anyway?" There was no way that Ryou could be living in such a large house by himself, he was the same age all of them for crying out loud! Ryou's usual smile went out like a light and he turned around so his back was facing everyone else.

"No one but me.... Now, here's the duster. You can get the upstairs hallway and I'll take care of my room." His smile was back as he calmly pushed the duster into the stunned Rainbow's hands and headed up the stairs, leaving all the girls stunned and quite a bit concerned.

"You're living alone?" Sunset asked quietly. Of course, she herself lived on her own, but that was because of completely different circumstances. The fiery-haired girl looked around the large empty house, thinking of living there, a stranger in a new land, all alone...

Ryou stopped in his tracks half-way up the stairs, now looking almost completely melancholic. "Yes... I am." It almost sounded as if he forced the words out of his mouth. He then turned towards Fluttershy, his smile small and his eyes unreadable, "Could you join me, Fluttershy? I was thinking of taking a peek at the attic."

"Oh! U-um, of course..." Fluttershy hastily agreed, a bit surprised as being adressed so directly. She hurried up the stairs and along with Ryou disappeared from view, leaving six rather concerned girls alone.

"He's going to live here alone? By himself?" Twilight questioned, concerned evident in her voice as she kept staring at where Ryou had stood just moments earlier.

"Aww, poor Ryou..." Pinkie's usually poofy hair seemed to almost deflate as she looked utterly downcast.

"Seriously..." Rainbow Dash muttered in agreement. "I like being independent and all, but what kind of parents leave their kid all alone in a foreign country?"

"Irresponsible, if you ask me." Rarity agreed.

"Now hang on." Applejack brought up her hands in a complacent gesture. "Ah know Ryou's situation don't sound too good. Heck, I'm kinda worried, m'self. But can't just make assumptions 'bout Ryou's family life. That's up to him to share with us when he feels ready. He doesn't owe any of us an explanation."

Twilight let out a knowing sigh, "You're right, Applejack." She then cast another worried look upstairs. "I just hope it's not as bad as he makes it sound..."

Deciding amongst themselves not to linger on this issue too much, despite all of them feeling worry over Ryou, the girls continued to clean the first floor in the way Ryou had instructed them earlier. Though there reigned an odd silence among them, as their new friend's behaviour and words seemed to edge its way into their minds.

It was almost an hour later when Ryou and Fluttershy, both of them smiling with spiderwebs tangled up in their hair, came down from the attic. "We're done with the upper floors!" Ryou declared as a form of greeting, now noticeably more happy than earlier. Fluttershy also appeared to be in a better mood.

"That's wonderful, you two!" Rarity started. "Now we can all- GYAAAH! RACOONS!!!" At the sight of the four small fuzzy critters, Rarity jumped behind Applejack for the second time that day, causing Applejack to let out an unimpressive sigh and the others to laugh.

"Rarity! Don't do that! They haven't done anything to you!" Fluttershy admonished in her own quiet yet authorative manner.

The fashionista laughed nervously, a blush on her cheeks as she straightened up. "R-right! Sorry, darling..."

The animal-loving girl now smiled. "That's much better." She then bent down and patted the largest of the racoons on the head. "We found these poor little things nesting up in Ryou's attic, but I managed to coax them into leaving peacefully. They even helped us clean the upstairs!"

"I was admittedly sceptical at first," Ryou acknowledged before giving the critters and appreciative look. ", but these little guys were actually really helpful up there."

"I told you, didn't I?" Fluttershy reminded playfully, though keeping her quiet tone.

"You sure did." Ryou laughed, "But what's even more impressive is you, Fluttershy. I've never seen someone being so good with animals before! It was like something out of a fantasy-novel!"

"That's our Fluttershy for you." Rainbow Dash said proudly with crossed arms.

Said girl blushed at the praise before turning towards the racoons once more. "I've decided to call them Kurt, Leonard, Magdalin, and Díandre! Now off you go, you sweet little dears!" At her coaxing the four critters hurried out of one of the house's broken windows.

"Huh... well, that happened." Twilight commented after a bit of silence, slightly bewildered.

"Well, nonetheless, I can tell all of you girls've done a splendid job down here." Ryou praised as he looked around the now mostly-clean first floor. The girls accepted his praise humbly before the boy sent all of them out on their next task; replacing and/or cleaning the windows.

And so they began to do just that, using many sudds and sponges to clean all the windows that were grime covered and filthy while replacing the broken ones, which were most of them. It went mostly rather smoothly but wasn't without its own hiccups.

For some inexplicable reason Ryou had though it a good idea to pass the bucket filled with soapy water to Twilight while she stood up on a latter to get one of the higher windows. Natrually, the bucket had ended up over the white haired boy's head, completely soaking him. Ryou had merely laughed it off though, remarking that there were simpler ways to tell him that he needed to shower. It got a good laugh out of all of them.

Once they were finished, all of the windows in the Blackwood house now sparkled, either because they had been cleaned or because they were brand new. After this, every single one of them were rather tired and panting, the air in the old house feeling rather thick and warm. Their throats were dry and most of them were rather sweaty, even Rarity who despaired but managed.

Seeing this and feeling guilty not for the first time that day for having the girls helping them clean, Ryou said, "I think we all could use something to drink. My throat is killing me. Wait here and I'll be right back."

As Ryou headed into the kitchen, he left the girls in the living room to catch their breath. Shortly after, he came back with an armfull of plastic water bottles, giving the girls an apologetic look. "I'm afraid I don't have much else in ways of refreshments."

"It's no problem." Twilight assured him, helping him to hand out the eight bottles between them.

"What Twi said." Rainbow Dash chimmed in, quickly opening up her own bottle. "At this point, as long as it's cold and it's liquid then I'll drink it."

The other girls certainly felt the same way. Having worked long and hard intently to clean the Blackwood house, even Ryou's bottled water tasted heavenly as they all began to drink it greedily.

"Now, tell us, Ryou, just how are you finding America so far?" Rarity asked curiously after everyone had had their first sips of water.

Ryou looked contemplative for a second, as if looking for the optimal words to describe it. "Well, it's certainly different, but in a good way. It's actually quite nice to have a change of scenery, but the best part is probably that Canterlot, at least, isn't nearly as suffocating as some japanese cities I've been to. Seriously, while I was staying in Tokyo it always felt as if you stepped on someone's toes where ever you went!"

This got a good chuckle out of Ryou's guests, one he himself was happy to participate in.

"Don't get me wrong though," He added once the chuckling had died down. ", there are definetly some things back home that I miss."

"Perfectly understandable, Ryou. After all, there's no place like home." Applejack said sympathetically, as she herself felt a strong connection to her own family home back at the farm.

"So, just why did you transfer to America, anyway?" Sunset asked curiously afer the chuckling had died down, wanting to know more about Ryou.

"Did you come here because you heard Canterlot was the friendliest and bestest city in the world!?" Pinkie asked curiously in her own cheerful way, earning another chuckle from the boy.

"Not quite, Pinkie. I mostly came here in order to spend some more time with my father. You see, he's an archeologist and antiques dealer so his work tends to keep him on the road a lot. It's tricky for him to come and see me in Japan." He said while bringing his own bottle up to his lips and taking a sip.

"Oh, okay. So, your dad's here now?" Rainbow Dash's question was certainly innocent enough but it made the light in Ryou's eyes dim noticeably. The girls watched in silence, a shred of concern edging its way into them, but Ryou merely closed his eyes and let out a morose sigh.

"Not yet. He's been... delayed. He assured me that he's coming later though." Ryou replied calmly as he took another sip of water, but his words sounded somewhat hollow and it worried the seven girls. A bit of a tense silence settled over them, even Pinkie Pie was quiet.

"Well, we're almost done now!" Ryou suddenly chirped, his face once again smiling and warm. It was a very noticeable attempt to change the subject. "All that's left is the largest room in the house then we're finished."

"Alright then, let's get to it." Applejack said with a smile which was shared by the other girls. Though they all still felt a sense of worry for their new friend over the brief information about his father, they all silently and unaminously decided that it was Ryou's business and that they shouldn't pry.

They were led down the first-floor hall further into the house by Ryou who brought them into the final room. He had been right that it was a large one, and much like the other places in the house it was also covered in all sorts of filth. The group of eight wasted no time and began to clean there as well.

"What exactly are your plans for this final room, Ryou?" Rarity asked after some time of silence as she swept the floor, Twilight mopping the dust-free spaces from behind her.

"I actually plan to turn this into a game room." He responded casually while working around feverently with a feather duster.

"Game room?" Sunset repeated, sounding interested as a smile crept onto her face. "You like games, Ryou?"

"Oh yes, I love them." It was clear that this was a subject the boy really enjoyed, his voice and facial expression giving it all away.

Rainbow Dash couln't help but snort. "Gotta say, I'd never really take you for a gamer."

Ryou was clearly not offended by the comment, letting out a small chuckle himself. "Well, I am into all sorts of games, including consoles. However, call me old fashioned, but my favourite types of games are the card- and board games. My preferred games are Duel Monsters or Monster World, espescially the latter as several people can play together instead of just two people dueling."

It was clear to anyone with working eyes how Ryou's lit up when he mentioned Monster World. As for the girls, they had all heard of Duel Monsters before. It was a fairly popular game that had been around since the CHS prinicpals were young. None of them had played it before, but they had all heard the news of how the Kaiba Corporation were developing technology which would apparently increase the game's entertainment factor. Maybe some other day they would try it out.

None of them had ever heard of Monster World, though. Fluttershy kindly decided to ask just what the game was about, as it was obvious that the only boy there was clearly into the game. Ryou was more than happy to explain.

"Monster World is a tabletop RPG, that is to say, a role playing game where you customize your character and set out to defeat the Dark Master, or to try and complete whatever other quest the Game Master has in store. The Dark Master and Game Master are more often then not one and the same. I use a specialized computer to help calculate the characters' stats, but you roll dice in order to attack, defend, cast spells, move, explore, etc. You roll dice for, well, practically anything really."

"Wow, that actually sounds kind of cool." Sunset remarked, genuinely interested after getting a general view of Ryou's favourite game, the other girls let out similar words of interest. Monster World definetly sounded like an interesting game, and the apparent inclusion of both imagination and risk in its gameplay had all the girls intrigued.

"So, is it similar to games like Ogres & Oubliettes or Dungeons, Dungeons & More Dungeons?" Twilight asked, remembering how both her brother and her dog were huge fans of those two games. Even going so far as to lock themselves in the former's room for hours on Wednesday nights just to play it.

"Well, all of those three games certainly belong to the same genre, but Monster World is very unique in that it combines the conepts of the everyday RPG with that of board games. It's also a bit simpler, but in a way that makes it more enjoyable for the players." Ryou told her, his passion for the subject clear as day. "The thing I love about games like those is how each campaign is guaranteed to be different since every single player makes all the choices for themselves."

Applejack let out an impressed whistle. "Well, Ryou, this Monster World-thingamajig sure sounds mighty interestin'."

"I'll say!" Pinkie Pie chimmed in, cheerful as ever. She then let out a brief gasp of realization before looking at Ryou excitedly. "We should totally play it sometime!"

Her exclamation made a strange sort of expression appear on Ryou's face. It looked partially ecstatic at the chance of playing his favourite game with some new friends. However, it also partially looked strangely subdued, as if his joy was dimmed by some distant memory. None of his guests could place too much thought into it before it turned into his usual warm smile.

"If all of you would like, I'd be more then happy to play once I get all of my game supplies. But enough about me, how about you, girls? Do you have any favourite games?"

This question managed to keep the entire conversation alive during the time they spent cleaning up the last and largest room of the house. If it hadn't been clear to the girls that Ryou was a game expert earlier, it sure as heck became clear as they continued cleaning and chatting.

Sunset went into great detail when describing her love of console games, espescially those in the action-adventure genre. For as much as she still felt a hidden unease about Ryou, she really couldn't contain her own enthusiasm for gaming. And Ryou quickly proved that his gaming knowledge wasn't limited to that of trading cards and board games, being able to keep up with her quite steadily and showing a good amount of knowledge when it came to the latest releases.

Twilight, however, was a apparently a bigger fan of any kind of game that required the player to possess time, patience and intellect. Titles such as chess, Risk, Ticket to Ride and Chronology were brought up. Some of them were familiar to Ryou while others didn't ring a bell at all, though this only made him more interested as it meant there were more games for him out there to try.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack, much like Sunset, also had a clear preference for console games, only that their favourites leaned more towards fighting and racing games. Basically any game that allowed them to play against eachother, revealing to Ryou that the cowgirl and athlete seemed to have a bit of a competitive streak.

Rarity seemed to have no real preference when it came to games, preferring to do other things with her spare time. She revealed this while feeling somewhat embarrassed to admit such a thing to an apparent game-enthusiast. However, Ryou took no offense, he merely smiled and remarked that different people like different things. Also politely recommending one or two games he thought that the fashionista could enjoy.

Fluttershy was a bit hesitant to share her favourite game, not only due to her timid nature but because of how it compared to the games the others brought up. The fact that Ryou was some kind of game expert didn't help. But, through some encouragement from Rainbow Dash, she finally explained that the "Super Squirrel Nut Quest"-video game was her personal favourite. Despite her worries, Ryou was espescially supportive and kindly told her that she would have to show him how to play it some day.

As for Pinkie Pie, once the party-loving girl was asked she inhaled a huge breath before starting very enthusiastic, very fast, and very long list of all the games she liked to play. The very length of the list and how Pinkie somehow seemed to say it all in one breath astonished everyone present, as well as some of the games included in that list. It was only after quite a long time, during which the rest of the cleaning went smoothly, that her list finally came to an end.

"-and also Monopoly, Yatzy, Cards Against Humanity, Go Fish, Exploding Kittens, Blackjack, Betrayal At House On The Hill, Chutes And Latters, Checkers, and Poker! ... Oh! And Candy Land!" After finishing her rather lengthy list, Pinkie just gave everyone a closed eyed smile as if nothing had just happened.

A bit of a stunned and bewildered silence reigned, as was usual when Pinkie Pie did Pinkie Pie-things. It was broken relatively quickly by Ryou who giggled quietly into his hand. "That's quite the list, Pinkie. In fact, it was so long that we actually managed to finish up the room while you ranted."

Pinkie blinked at this before looking around and finding that indeed, the room was now in tip-top shape. "Wooow, you guys know what this means?... I'M A TIME LORD! At last I shall have dominion over all living things! ... And pudding!"

Her out-of-nowhere exclamation got quite a good chuckle out of the group before they too looked around and observed their handiwork with pride. Except for perhaps Applejack, none of the girls had really felt good about cleaning before, but the fact that they all did it together and Ryou proved to be excellent company, the tasks had been somewhat enjoyable.

As they all stood in the now clean living room, all eight of them could be seen with satisfied grins on their faces, feeling the pride of accomplishment. The Blackwood house, which had a few hours earlier looked like an unhygienic hovel, now looked like any other reguluar house in Canterlot, except for the lack of any real furniture.

Ryou turned to the girls and dipped his head in an appreciative bow.

"Thank you all for helping me out today. It would have taken forever if I'd done it by myself." He told them in a truly grateful tone. And it wasn't just the cleaning he was thankful for, but the company in general. The girls all gave him kind smiles in return.

"No problem, partner. That's what friends are for." Applejack replied with a tip of her hat in his direction, her sentiments visible on the other girls' expressions.

"And please, darling, there's no need to bow." At Rarity's polite and kind chiding, Ryou blushed as he straightened up, scratching the back of his head in what the Rainbooms guessed was a nervous habit. Despite only knowing him for barely half a day, it was apparent to the girls that Ryou tended to scratch the back of his head when he felt embarrassed.

This time though, none of the girls could hold back their chuckles, even the drawn back Fluttershy. At Ryou's questioning look, Twilight gestured to Ryou's hand and so the boy pulled it down to find it covered in suds, remnants of the bucket's insides which were tipped over Ryou's poor head earlier. His usually pristine white hair was sporting a large collection of bubbles.

Finally comprehending the situation, Ryou also cracked up and joined in on the laughter, running his hands through his hair and shaking it free of the foam. After that shared moment of levity, Ryou threw a look at his wrist watch and his eyes widened when he saw that it was already evening. He gave them all a genuinely apologetic look.

"Oh my, I think I've kept you girls here for a little too long." The girls looked a little confused at his statement before everyone checked the time on their phones.

"Woo-ee, you're right about that, Ryou." Applejack remarked as she pocketed her phone. "Guess time really does fly when you're havin' fun." Everyone once again shared a small chuckle at the country girl's observation. "Ah need to get mah behind back to the farm, and Ah think all of us need a long shower."

The other six girls said similar things, as they all had plans for the Friday night and wanted to get rid of the dirt and grime that'd gathered on their persons. Ryou understood perfectly, merely smiling as he lead all of them to the front door. As he opened up for them and the girls all walked out, all eight of them appreciated the feeling of the cool spring air after spending hours inside of an ex-dirty house.

"I just want to thank you all again." Ryou expressed his grattitude with a soft smile from the doorway.

"Ryou, you don't have to thank us all the time. We did this because we wanted to." Twilight once again assured the polite boy with a friendly smile.

"Still, if there's anything I can do for any of you, just say the word."

"Look pal," Rainbow Dash started, giving Ryou a small smirk. ", we're just happy you're happy, don't push it. But if you're really torn up about it, you can always buy me a chocolate shake and we'll call it even."

The pale boy laughed lightly and gave the athletic girl a mirthful look. "Conscider it done. Rainbow."

"Cool. I'll see ya around, RB!"

"Have a good evening, darling!"

"Bye, Ryou ! And remember, the farm's always there if ya'd like to visit!"

"Goodbye..."

"Until next time!"

"Don't be a stranger, Ryou! And welcome to Canterlot again!"

With these words the girls all went on their own ways and Ryou stood by his door, waving them all goodbye until they completely disappeared from his view. For a moment he just continued to stand there, his thoughts lingering on his seven new friends. He was interrupted from his thoughts once he noticed that one of those seven friends were still by his porch, smiling brightly up at him.

"Oh, Pinkie! I didn't see you." He said, the surprise clear in his voice. "... I don't want to be rude but, why are you still here?"

The poofy-haired girl just kept smiling at him, her expression unchanging as she rather quickly skipped up to Ryou with something now in her hands.

"Well, because I almost forgot to give you this, silly-billy!"

Blinking twice before really comprehending what was happening, Ryou looked down and saw that Pinkie Pie held out what seemed to be a pink take-out container with 'Sugercube Corner' written on it in silver writing. Realizing that this was some sort of gift, Ryou reached out with pale hands and gently took the small box from Pinkie's grip.

"Pinkie..." He began, sounding lightly uneasy. "You didn't have to get me this. If anything, I should be the one getting something for you and the others."

"Of course I had to!" Pinkie replied, still sounding cheerful but with an underlying tone of vehemence. "You're a new friend! And all my new friends gets a little something from Sugarcube Corner! Now come on, open it up!"

Hesitating for just a brief moment, Ryou then opened the box rather delicately and let out a soft gasp once he saw what was inside. It was a cupcake, but it was one of the finest cupcakes that Ryou had ever seen. It was of quite a hefty size, covered in a thick layer of quality pink frosting and the words 'Welcome to Canterlot!' written in red icing. His mouth began to water just looking at it.

"I was kinda hoping to do something bigger for you, like I do for any other new Canterlotians. Buuut, the girls said you looked like the kind of guy that would enjoy something a little more low-key! So I made you this!" In contrast to Pinkie's usual somewhat loud manner of speaking, her voice was now noticeably a bit quieter. Not in a disencouraged way, merely in a more consciderate fashion.

A bit of silence passed between them, as Ryou continued to stare at the gift he had just recieved with wide eyes. After a few seconds, Pinkie asked, "So... do you like it?" It was asked in a somewhat anxious voice, as if she was affraid of any negative response from the boy, his silence not having the best affect on her.

The party girl's fears were unfounded, however, as when Ryou finally did speak he looked at her with shining eyes and a small, but grateful smile.

"It looks delicious... Thank you, Pinkie... Not just for this, but, well, for everything you and the others did today." He told her, sounding genuinley touched at the gesture.

Hearing this, Pinkie Pie brightened up consciderably, her brief anxiousness forgotten and paved way for joy. "YIPEE! I KNEW YOU'D LIKE IT!" She squealed loudly and happily. Ryou laughed, not in any sort of mocking fashion, but merely because he found the poofy-haired girl's jovial and eccentric personality to be quite endearing. She was like one of those Looney Tunes.

"Okie-dokie-lokie! Bye-bye, Ryou!" Before he even really knew what happened, Pinkie Pie began to skip herself away from his porch, waving to him all the way. Ryou found himself waving back until the pink girl, much like the others, had disappeared from view.

He continued to just stand there in the doorway for a bit, enjoying the cool air on his face, before once again heading inside and closing the door. Only this time, his house was actually clean and it felt amazing.

As he walked into the living room and planted himself down on the old couch, he already began to imagine just in what places he would put his furniture once it arrived in the morning. The very thought made Ryou giddy, as it meant that he would get the chance to really make this house his own.

As he looked around, the white-haired boy's thoughts lingered on just all that had happened on this day, and the new friends that he had made. Though he had always recieved the regular welcome which was expected for new students the other times he had transfered, and he was definetly not a stranger to girls at said schools fuzzing over him, this felt completely different.

Those girls had really went out of their way to help him and had begun to get to know him. They had spent hours of a friday-afternoon just helping him to clean up his new house. Not because they were guilted into it or wanted to do it because they thought he was attractive, but because they genuinely saw a friend in need and wanted to help.

Looking down at the cupcake that Pinkie had given him, a smile spread across his face. Yes, America would be a new start for him. Whatever curse had been on him in Japan had better stay there, for Ryou had a good feeling about Canterlot City. He would have to remember to write to Amane and his mother about it later.

He should probably take a shower to get rid of the filth on him, but gosh darn it, that cupcake looked delicious. Unfortunatley for Ryou, just as he brought the pastry up to his mouth and was about to take a large bite, he suddenly felt a strong jab of pain in his chest.

Gasping at the sudden pain, Ryou's hand flew to his the middle of the chest, where he could still feel the millenium ring underneath his shirt. Strangely enough, that's where the pain seemed to be coming from.

"Wha... What the-?" The boy could ponder no longer before letting out a hiss of pain, for through his shirt shone a sickly golden light and once it died down, Ryou Bakura was no longer conscious. His body certainly was, however, only that now there was someone else in control of it.

The spirit of the millenium ring, now in control of Ryou's body once more, looked down at the pastry in his hands with extreme distaste.

"Disgusting..." He muttered contemptuously before carelessly throwing it on the newly cleaned floor where it splattered unceremoniously, ruining Pinkie Pie's work. Gods, he would never understand how human beings could possibly put something so sickeningly sweet in their bodies. If he were to ever eat anything through his host it would be raw and bloody meat.

Though, while on the subject of sickeningly sweet things he couldn't stand, those new friends of his host fit that category quite well. Oh, how many times through the day he had wished to simply take control of Ryou's body and banish all seven of them to the darkest pits of Hell. Espescially that damned Pinkie Pie-creature. Was it even legal for mortals to be so obnoxiously cheerful? ... Well, it shouldn't be.

The only reason he hadn't done it was because the fleshbags had piqued his interest.

For reasons unknown, all of the seven girls and that damned horse-statue at his host's new school practically radiated magic from their persons. Which to the spirit was very strange, as the ring had not detected the trace of any millenium item in the close vicinity.

Of course, humans preforming magic without any of the seven items was not unheard of, only uncommon. Many of his followers 3,000 years ago and a multitude of cults dedicated to the Dark One had been able to practice magic. But their attempts were primitive and perverse, even to the spirit, and had an extremely low success-rate. Even when it did quote-unquote 'work', the spells and curses were laughably weak. No, the magic these girls possessed were far different in nature, and far more powerful.

That is why he had to tread carefully. Though the part of his spirit where the Thief was dominant wanted to lay his hands on the magic right away, the demon posing as Ryou Bakura thought better of it. The mortals' magic was definetly powerful, who knows what they could do to him if he's caught in the act? No, playing it safe for now was the far better move...

A dark chuckle left his throat as a plan began to form in his mind. As much as he already despised the colourful mortals, the fact that his host had begun to get friendly with them was definelty a plus. Through Ryou he could make them far more comfortable in his presence, making sure that they lower their guard. And then, when the time was right, he would strike, sending them all to the darkness.

They had already expressed that they wanted to play a game with his host, and he was all too eager to oblige. After all, the spirit was nothing if not patient.

So, he would graciously allow his host to keep his colourful new chums alive, for now...