Of Friendship & Shadow Games

It was a particularly gloomy Wednesday in Canterlot City. The normally clear blue sky was completely covered in large pillows of tar-black clouds as freezing splatters of rain rappidly came pouring down. At CHS, most students we're already inside the warm and dry sanctuary of the school, attending all manner of classes.

One of those classes was history, and it was just a few minutes away from starting. Most of the class had already assembled inside the classroom, waiting for their instructor while hearing the rapid bullets of rain falling against the room's windows.

"What do you suspect Mr. Tomes got in store for us today?" Ryou asked the Rainbooms casually while unpacking his pen, notebook and textbook along with the others who did the same. He didn't really know how it happened, but he always tended to sit by the group of seven girls. It was a contrast from his previous schools that the boy greatly appreciated.

Sunset shrugged as a response, skimming through her notes. "I dunno. Though he has been hinting that we'll start working on some kind of project soon."

"Oooh! I hope it's gonna be a group project!" Pinkie exclaimed with an excited smile on her face.

Ryou did not share her enthusiasm, though. He had never really had much fun during group projects at all his previous schools. The boy tended to have the worst luck when it came to who he had to work with. More often than not, it had often ended up with him doing most of the work.

But as his gaze wandered over the class, he couldn't help but let his lips form a small smile. CHS was the home of some of the kindest people he'd ever met, so maybe things would be different this time.

Then again... the small smile dipped as memories of his old schools began to flood his mind. More specifically, the friends he would make at those schools. How he would invite them over for some reason or another, to play again or to do some schoolwork, then his memory would go blank. And once his consciousness returned... there they would lie.

Blank eyes.

Unmoving.

Faces frozen in terror.

These macabre thoughts made Ryou's entire brain feel sort of fuzzy. As if there was some part of his mind that didn't want him to think too hard on those bizarre happenings...

"Uh, Ryou? You in there, sugarcube?" Applejack's concerned question snapped Ryou out of his small trance-like state.

"S-sorry, what was that?" He asked softly, now turning his attention to his friends to see them all looking at him with various expressions of small concern.

"You were spacing out again..." Fluttershy quietly remarked, twidling her fingers and giving Ryou a troubled glance.

"I was?" The white haired boy asked lightly. He had sort of begrudgingly accepted at this point that sometimes his mind would go blank. But it was something that made his friends slightly anxious, espescially as they now all knew the situation with Ryou's father which he had revealed to the rest of them shortly after telling it to Twilight that one evening.

He had recieved similar reactions from them which he had recieved from Twilight. Words expressing sympathy which contained an underlying irratation at Ryou's father, which said boy tried feebly to placate. Ryou had given them all the same assurances he had given Twilight. And just like with Twilight it hadn't really enough.

Before anyone of the girls could prod some more though, the clock finally struck 13:20, signaling the begining of their history class. Just as this happened the teacher of said subject stepped through the classroom door.

"Good afternoon, class!" Greeted the history teacher Dusty Tomes enthusiastically as he entered the classroom with his usual portfolio in hand, observing the class with eager eyes behind his half-moon glasses. He was a middle-aged man with sand-coloured skin, a dark brown bowl-cut and light green eyes who was currently dressed in a dark grey suit.

"Good afternoon!" Most of the class greeted back dutifully. During his time at CHS Ryou had quickly grown rather fond of Mr. Tomes, and the history teacher had seemed to appreciate Ryou as well. The white haired boy would often spend some time after class just chatting with the teacher about different historical topics, mostly about ancient Egypt.

But sadly, egyptian history was not to be the focus today. "Now, I know you're all tired right now, last class of the day and all. But today we will begin a new history project."

There were some small grumbles heard through the gathering of teens at this which were quickly silenced by a stern look from Mr. Tomes. "Thank you. Now, the focus of this project will be on the industrial revolution and the modernization in our society. For this project you will all work in pairs."

Bits of excited chatter broke out among the students at this tidbit, each and every student already plotting to work with someone they know well. This was also true for Ryou and the Rainbooms who all brightened at this information, even the latter. As their group conscisted of eight members, the white-haired boy found comfort in knowing that he is sure to find a co-worker among his friends.

"The objective of this project is quite simple." Dusty Tomes continued, quickly silencing his students.

"You are to do a paper detailing the major events and functions of the inustrial evolution, including how it affected the lives of different classes of people at the time. This will include an analysis of how it eventually led to the society and work-standards we have today. Also I want you to do a bit of theorizing of how the constant evolution of technonlogy can affect jobs and our lives in the future. Everybody got that?"

Everyone of the teens nodded affirmatively, some more reluctant than others.

Though Ryou prefered history about ancient and long-gone civilisations and cultures, he still thought that the project could be something interesting to work with. Espescially if he could do it together with one of his new friends.

"Oh! And another thing!" Mr. Tomes looked as if he had just remembered something. "For this project, I will be the one choosing partner for each and every one of you at random."

This lone statement instantly crushed a lot of the students' different dreams of partnership, Ryou's and the girls' included as they all gave eachother despondant looks. But still, Ryou at least took comofrt in knowing that with all eight of them being friends the odds were that at least two of them would be able to work together

Dusty Tomes brought out a piece of paper from his portfolio where the pairs of students he had deviced presumably was written and began to read it aloud. "Alright then, the pairings for your assignement will be as follows; Lyra Heartstrings and Sweetie Drops. Micro Chips and Sandalwood..."

The list continued on with seemingly no pattern, all the while Ryou kept his fingers crossed that he would end up with a good partner. The list of pairs shortly got to the group of eight, as Mr. Tomes announced them to be,

"Rarity and Applejack."

"Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy."

"Sunset Shimmer and Pinkie Pie."

Ryou was now quite literally on the edge of his seat, looking hopeful that he would at the very least get to work together with Twilight. The scholarly girl seemed to think the same thing as she gave Ryou what he thought was meant to be a hopeful smile which the boy returned.

"Twilight Sparkle and Vinyl Scratch."

And just like that Ryou's hopes were crushed, his small hopeful expression quickly made way for a downcast little frown. It seemed as if it was too much to ask to have some luck with group projects for once.

Mr. Tomes continued to list of three other pairs, oblivious to Ryou's inner thoughts. But, there was eventually only one pair left and Ryou's name had yet to be called out. Once the teacher got to the last two names, the white haired boy could've sworn that his favourite teacher gave him a sympathetic look.

"And finally, Ryou Bakura and Trixie Lulamoon."

Well, Ryou had certainly not expected that.

"Geesh, tough break, dude." Rainbow Dash remarked with a genuinley sympathetic frown in his direction.

"Why is that?" Ryou asked her curiously, as he had never really had any interaction with Trixie before. All he knew was that she was apparently some localy famous stage-magician. The girls all looked amongst themselves and it made the white-haired boy feel an ominous feeling in his gut.

"Trixie is, well, she can be really..." Twilight trailed off, seemingly trying to think of the nicest way to describe the other girl.

"Stuck up?" Rainbow Dash offered.

"Arrogant?" Sunset added.

"Smug?" Applejack grumbled.

"Narcissistic?" Rarity offered.

"Not very nice...?" Fluttershy chimed in quietly.

"A real meanie-weanie pants?" Pinkie proposed with a smile.

Twilight gave them all a look. "I was going to say that she can be a little self-centered... but yes."

Hearing all of this didn't exactly make Ryou feel any better, causing him to let out a little despondent sigh. And yet, all of these descriptions sounded very unlike anyone else he had met at Canterlot High, a school where almost all of the student body seemed unnatrually nice for high-schoolers.

Ryou looked across the classroom, seeing his soon-to-be partner sitting by herself besides one of the room's windows. The boy didn't really think that Trixie looked to be all that self-centered, but he reminded himself to never judge a book by its cover.

"Perhaps she won't be that bad?" He offered quietly, sounding feebly optimistic even to himself.

"Alright then, class!" Mr. Tomes clapped his hands together to get the youths' attention. "All of you meet up with your asigned partner and start planning your project!"

The sounds of screeching chairs and footsteps filled the classroom as all the pairs moved together. Ryou continued to watch Trixie, noting that he made no move to rise from her seat. Letting out yet another sigh, the boy realized that he would have to move from his friends.

Swiftly gathering up his things, Ryou rose from his chair just as Vinyl Scratch approached. Giving his friends what he hoped looked like an assuring smile, he told them, "I'll see you all after class. Good luck."

All seven girls gave the boy sympathetic looks. They couldn't really do much else about the situation, but Ryou found that he appreciated the gesture nonetheless.

Just as he was about to step away, Rainbow Dash softly took a hold of his wrist, clearly wanting to tell him something. The atheltic girl seemed to give Ryou a soft smile. "Hey. If Trixie gives you any trouble, then you just say the word and we'll be there. Got that?"

Ryou blinked twice, processing just what Rainbow Dash had told him before he gave his rainbow-haired friend a grateful nod of acknowledgement. The boy then started to make his way over to his work-partner.

He crossed the classroom quickly, navigating inbetween other working pairs and benches before finally arriving infront of the somewhat secluded area where Trixie Lulamoon was sitting by herself.

The girl didn't seem to acknowledge Ryou's prescense, merely sitting with her arms crossed and observing her nails with half-lidded eyes. The poor boy merely stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do. After gathering his courage he cleared his throat lightly in hopes of getting Trixie's attention.

Trixie seemed to acknowledge him only in that her eyes now settled upon him, still half-lidded with a look of utter disinterest on her face. Despite this, Ryou wanted to make the best out of this, and gave the girl the best smile he could muster.

"I don't think that we've formally met before." He started softly. "I'm-"

"Trixie knows who you are, Bakura." The girl interrupted him impatiently, already sounding annoyed with the boy. "Just sit yourelf down so we can get this over with."

"A-alright." Ryou would be lying if he had said that he wasn't bothered by the way Trixie spoke to him. But he knew better than to argue with people like that. Instead he decided to oblige and swiftly planted himself in the desk next to Trixie's.

Once he was sitting Ryou's gaze wandered over the other pairs in the classroom. All of them seemed to actually get along quite well, already plotting out their work plan for the assignement. Ryou's seven best friends espescially seemed to be getting on with their respective partners splendidly.

Ryou couldn't help but feel slightly jealous, but he quiclky rationalized that dwelling on such things wouldn't do him any good. Instead, he should try to make the best out of his current situation. No matter how tedious it might seem.

Taking a deep breath in and a deep one out in order to collect himself, Ryou then adressed his partner with a weak smile. "Well, I suppose we ought to start mapping out what each of us should be doing. If we both work on individual parts and then edit and compile it I'm sure we can get this done a lot faster."

"Yeeaaahh... that's not happening." Trixie trailed off rather nonchalantly. "You're going to have to do most, if not all of this assignment."

Ryou found himself taken aback by this, unsure if he had just heard the girl correctly. "I-I beg your pardon?"

"Trixie has performances planned for the coming days which shall require all of her focus, there's no time for her to do some basic school work." Trixie explained this as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, giving Ryou a condescending look. "So you will just have to do it."

Alright, now the girl was just being unreasonable. Ryou usually prided himself somewhat of his patience, but Trixie was really pushing it. "Trixie, I respect that you have things planned, and I'm all for doing my fair share of the work. I won't do all of it." He said in his most reasonable voice. "All I'm asking is that you do the same."

The ambitious magician now got a sly look on her face, and her eyes suddenly gained a certain glint that Ryou did not like. Leaning in closer, she quietly asked something that filled Ryou's entire being with dread, "Or what, you'll put me into a coma?"

At that moment it felt as Ryou's heart stopped. How could she-... No. No no no, this had to be a coincidence. She couldn't possibly know about any of that. The white haired boy tried to play it off, not meeting Trixie's eyes as he feebly mumbled, "... I-I don't know what you-"

"Don't play dumb, Bakura." Trixie interrupted him sharply, resting her cheek on her hand while still giving Ryou that smug look. "The other fools at this school may not know it, but Trixie knows all about your little history, and what a story it is!"

She now leaned in a little closer and practically whispered, "A boy who keeps transffering schools because all his friends fall into comas."

While earlier it had felt a if Ryou's heart had stopped, now it just wouldn't stop beating. He could feel it beating rapidly in his chest as his fear and axiety kept growing. "How do you-"

"Trixie got her ways." She answered him vaguely before giving him a careless shrug. "But hey, despite your past, you've clearly got yourself some buddies."

At the last word she pointed a thumb across the classroom. Ryou's eyes followed and found that Trixie was referring to the seven girls whom he had gotten so close to who were in the middle of actually working on the project together. "They must really like you if they still hang out with you after finding out something like that."

"..." Ryou merely stayed silent, melancholic eyes remaining fixed on his friends.

"Oh. You mean... they don't know?" Trixie asked in mock-outrage, knowing full-well that the boy had never intended to tell a soul. "Well, no wonder they haven't ditched you yet."

As the white-haired boy only remained silent, not daring to say a word, a devious idea came to Trixie's mind. Giving Ryou a down-right evil look, she quietly said, "Say, what do you think would happen if Trixie told them?"

Ryou began to feel light-headed, blood turning to ice in his veins as pure dread began to build within him. He had finally gained some semblance of a normal life, had some taste of true companionship. He couldn't lose it all now! Not for this!

"Trixie, please." He begged desperately in a whisper, his panicked eyes now meeting Trixie's smug, violet-coloured ones. "If you tell them, I will lose everything."

Trixie looked very happy at his words, as if the boy's desperation was just what she had been aiming for. "Then you better do what Trixie asks of you, or she may just slip up... Understood?"

Ryou's fist were clenched so hard that he wouldn't be surprised if they would eventually stop bleeding, but he didn't care. He forced himself to give a stiff nod.

The blue-skinned girl seemed satisfied by this. "Good boy." She praised him as if he was just her pet that had learned a new trick.

For the rest of the lesson Ryou started the project and Trixie sat and planned for her performances without ever saying another word to eachother. It wasn't needed.

Trixie now held absolute power over a boy who did not want to lose his friends, and she was going to use it in every way she could.

In that moment, for once in his life, Ryou felt that he hated someone.

And her name was Trixie Lulamoon.

After one hour and twenty minutes of this constant torture history class came to a merciful end. Trixe, as smug as ever, had swiftly gathered her few things and without another word to Ryou she had been the first one outside of the classroom.

The girls had tried to ask him about how things with Trixie had gotten but Ryou gave them no such chance. As things were, he could barely even look anyone of them in the eye.

None of those girls knew what Ryou knew. That by the words of one person and the revelation of a single dark secret could send their whole friendship crashing down. The fact terrified Ryou.

With this cloud of fear and resignation hanging over his head, Ryou had merely given them all a smile and said that it had gone alright with Trixie. Then he swiftly excused himself, saying that he had a great deal of things to do back home.

As he gloomily walked home alone in the rain, weighed down by Trixie's ultimatum, Ryou wasn't aware of how in a deep, dark corner of his soul, a certain spirit was laughing at his misfortune.

It was now the next day, and the Thursday morning proved to be a nice contrast to the dark rain of Wednesday. The sun was shining clearly on a sky without a cloud in sight. As the sun warm rays beamed down upon Canterlot City, the students of CHS were making their way inside, ready to begin yet another day of school.

Among these students were the group of seven girls also known as the Rainbooms, who were all currently hanging by the school's statue while other students went inside. Why they were doing this was because they lacked the company of a certain white-haired boy and it weighed down on all their minds.

"I sure hope Ryou makes it down on time." Twilight said with worry clear in her voice as she snuck another look at the time.

"Well, he did text us that he overslept." Fluttershy reminded them all with a shrug. "It happens."

"Right you are, darling." Rarity concured before a nostalgic smile spread across her face. "Remember that time Pinkie Pie overslept before our final exams two years ago?"

"I thought I time traveled!" The party-loving girl exclaimed happily, clearly not thinking too much of the memory. The other girls except Sunset and Twilight shared a laugh at this. Sunset because she weren't friends with them at that point and Twilight because she ahd attended Crystal Prep at the time.

Despite this brief moment of levity, Applejack couldn't help but think of their missing friend with a small frown. "Still, that doesn't sound much like Ryou, though. He's always so right an' proper with time an' all that..."

A silence settled over the group, all of them agreeing with the country girl's words. But before any of them could lay too much thought on it, Sunset seemed to spot a welcome sight.

"There he is!" She exclaimed while pointing right ahead. The other looked over and, much like Sunset had said, saw the familiar blob of white heading their way. But something seemed... different about him.

"Good morning, everyone." Ryou greeted them with his usual smile, though anyone could tell that his warm brown eyes looked unusually tired, with visible black bags underneath.

He recieved various "Good morning"s from all seven of them.

"You alright there, dude?" Rainbow Dash then asked, looking slightly concerned as she looked him over from head to toe. "You look even paler than usual, and that's saying something."

At any other time Rainbow Dash might've gotten scolded by her friends for such a remark, but this was one of those rare occations where they couldn't help but agree with her.

Ryou quite frankly looked terrible. Much like Rainbow Dash had said, his normally pale skin was now somehow even paler than Rarity's, but in a way that didn't look healthy in slightest. If he layed still for even a minute one could've probably mistaken him for a corpse.

His brown eyes also looked a lot more cloudy and tired than usual, his white hair somehow looked a little disheveled. His normal outfit looked hastily thrown on without any trace of finess. And yet the millenium ring still shone brightly in the sun's rays, hanging elegantly from his neck.

"What? Oh no, I'm quite alright." Ryou assured them with a small smile, though he had to rub his eyes out of tiredness. "I just... didn't sleep all that well last night."

"You should try having a vanilla latte with extra sugar, whipped cream, and marshmallows next time! That always helps me sleep!" Pinkie adviced cheerfully, leading to the others sharing a nice little chuckle.

"I don't think a huge load of sugar is going to be very helpful for sleep, Pinkie." Twilight disputed gently.

Pinkie Pie merely shrugged, bringing out a cupcake from God knows where and taking a big bite. "Maybe not for you."

Though this was certainly a nice little moment between the group of friends, it was quickly interrupted by a certain someone calling out, "Hey, Bakura!"

None of the girls took real notice of the way Ryou seemed to tense up at those words, as they instead looked over to see just who had called out to their male friend. They were surprised once they saw that it was one Trixie Lulamoon, standing some distance a way with a couple of boxes, probably for one of her magic tricks or other, next to her.

"Trixie?" Sunset questioned, unsure as to what the magician could possibly want with Ryou. Trixie did not acknowledge Sunset or any of the other girls for that matter, instead focusing her gaze solely on the white-haired boy standing among them.

"The great and powerful Trixie needs your help with moving these!" She gestured to the boxes beside her.

"... Is she for real?" Rainbow Dash asked the others, finding the request rather odd. Before any of them could answer, Ryou suddenly began to make his way over to Trixie, as if to help her out.

"Ryou? What are you doing?" Twilight's question got the boy to stop in his tracks, his back turned towards the girls. He merely kept standing there for a good few seconds before he answered her, still not turning around.

"I'm just going to help her out. I'll meet up with you all at physics later." Not sparing his friends another word, Ryou then swiftly made his way over to Trixie and began to help her. Though he visibly did not talk to her or look at her as he did so.

"... Did that seem weird to anyone else?" Sunset thought aloud, her green eyes still locked onto Ryou and Trixie. She recieved various words of affirmative from the other six girls.

"Yeah, and is it just me, or is Trixie looking somehow even more smug than usual?" Rainbow Dash wondered with her hand on her chin. All seven of them of them had noticed that particular detail as well.

"I just hope he's not hiding something." Twilight remarked worriedly. It was a concern shared by the others as well, though they had to lay such thoughts aside as it suddenly hit them that their morning classes would begin in a little less than a minute, causing them all to hurry inside.

As the school day then continued on, the seven girls could all notice how both Ryou's mood and appearance seemed to deteriorate more and more. His focus in classes was basically not there at all and his usual smiles and small chuckles were far and inbetween. It was as if there was a constant rain cloud hanging over their friend. Even Pinkie's usual antics didn't gain much of a reaction.

By the time they had all chowed down on their fair share of macaroni and cheese for lunch, Ryou was practically looking like a dead man walking. Furthermore, it seemed as if he suffered from some sort of irreguluar chest pains, occasionaly clutching at the center of his chest with a hiss.

After much wearing down and insisting from the girls' part, they did at last manage to convince Ryou to get himself permission to head home. Though he tried to protest feebly even as they were leading him through the busy school hallway to the main entrance.

"R-really, girls, I don't think I should..." He muttered as he was quite literally dragged, albeit gently, by Applejack.

"No dice, sugarcube." The cowgirl told him sternly, finally stopping by the entrance doors. "Yer clearly not feelin' all that healthy. What ya'll need is some good ol' fashioned bedrest."

"She's right, you know." Sunset chimed in. "You nearly fell face-first into your macaroni at lunch earlier."

The reminder was enough for just the tiniest bit of red to make itself seen on Ryou's cheeks, which the girls all couldn't help but giggle at.

"It won't do anyone any good if you stay here and work yourself to death, Ryou. Go home and get yourself some rest." Twilight then told him kindly, adjusting her glasses.

"I'll swing by with some cupcakes later to make you feel better!" Pinkie told him in a tone of a strange mix of determination and her usual cheerfuless. It was enough for a small smile to spread across the boy's face which the girls all returned.

But much like it had happened earlier that day, the group of eight's brief moment of levity and companionship was interrupted by an unwelcome intruder.

"Bakura!" Called out the voice of one Trixie Lulamoon who was imperiously making her way towards them, a look of impatience on her face.

"What do you want, Trixie?" Rainbow Dash demanded, already feeling quite done with the wannabe-magician.

"Mind your own busniess, Rainbow Crash!" Trixie told her off harshly, making the atheltic girl seethe. "Trixie happens to be in need of Bakura's services. So chop chop!"

The way Trixie casually talked of taking advantage of Ryou as if he was some servant was enough to make all the girl's mood turn sour as they all, even Pinkie and Fluttershy, sent Trixie dirty looks. Just as Rarity was about to tell her off, Ryou spoke up instead.

"I'm sorry, Trixie." He apologized tiredly, sounding genuinley remorseful, but the girls also took notice of how he didn't seem to want to meet Trixie's gaze. "But I'm feeling unwell today... Please understand, I really need to head home."

Despite his honest and polite words and the obvious truth behind them, Trixie merely scoffed at his plead, clearly unimpressed. "Please! Excuses, excuses, that's all Trixie hears!"

"Oh, just lay off him, Trixie!" Sunset told her off, her thin patience with the stage magician having reached it's end. "Look at him! He's clearly under the weather! Just leave him alone!"

"Um, S-Sunset, you don't have to-" Ryou quietly attempted to protest Sunset sticking up for him, almost sounding afraid. However, it went unheard as the other girls began to follow Sunset's example.

"What Sunset said!" Rainbow Dash's frustrations with Trixie was plain for all to see. "Ryou's a nice guy, you can't just treat him like he's your pet!"

"Girls..." Ryou muttered, sounding both amazed and genuinley touched as the other girls called out similar things in his defense.

Trixie herself was certainly not taking all of this talking back to her very well. She had always been a very prideful girl, and when it came to this matter she was no different. As her anger at the Rainbooms kept growing, along with the sight of Bakura looking at them all with genuine affection anf appreciation, filled her with a sort of unnatrually cruel surge of vindictiveness.

A dark smirk spread across Trixie's face, as she gestured lazily to Ryou while keeping her eyes on the Rainbooms. “It's honestly a mystery as to why you're even standing up for him. After all, it’s dangerous to be that guy’s friend.”

The girls all heard how Ryou seemed to gasp sharply, his posture becoming rigid and unrelaxed while his eyes became wide as saucers. Trixie's words confused the seven girls, but one of them were both confused and intruiged by them.

“What do you mean?” Sunset asked her in an oddly calm voice, a glint entering her eyes. All the while Ryou was now looking paler than ever before, his eyes alight with an extreme panic. He turned his gaze to Trixie, desperation and pleading rolling off of his appearance in waves.

“Trixie, I’m begging you, please don’t-” Ryou's begging went on ignored as Trixie continued speaking, now observing her nails with a smug smile on her face.

“I’m not surprised you haven’t heard, his father must’ve wanted to cover it up." She said this in a way which made it seem as if she delighted in Ryou's current situation. But her words only made the curiosity of the seven girls grow.

"Covered up what?" Fluttershy asked quietly, sounding afraid of the answer.

Trixie gave them all that damned grin again, and Ryou looked on helplessly, a crestfallen expression on his face."You see, at all of Bakura's previous schools his friends would all fall into comas one. By. One.”

“What!?” The girls, and a great deal of other students in the busy hall all gasped, having overheard the confrontation.

Ryou looked absolutely heartbroken.

“That’s just a coincidence!” Rainbow Dash was quick to defend her friend, not believing that Ryou could possibly be connected to something like that.

Trixie just scoffed at her words, crossing her arms. “Hmph, maybe it’s a coincidence, maybe not. But the fact is that it has happened." She then turned her gaze towards the panicking Ryou, looking at him in delight. "That’s why you don’t have any friends, isn’t it, Bakura?”

Ryou looked down, standing as if completely frozen and not meeting anyone's eyes, an unreadable expression on his face. It was enough to make most of his friends angry.

"Trixie, that there's too far!" Applejack practically growled at her, her hands clenched.

“Ryou darling, don’t you be bothered by what this charlatan is saying!” Rarity then told the boy with a comforting smile, but everyone there were shocked when Ryou actually shook his head, still keeping his gaze on the ground.

“No, she’s right. That’s the reason why I keep transferring schools." It sounded as if revealing this was physically causing him pain, his expression filled with sorrow. "Somehow all my friends eventually end up comatose…”

Safe to say that this was quite the bombshell. Not only for the girls but for many other students. Most of the ones in the hall had heard the entire confrontation and was shocked at what they had found out.

“It can't be…” Twilight muttered in disbelief which was mirrored on the other girls' faces. How could this be? Ryou, dear sweet Ryou, one of the kindest people they knew... there was no way.

Though for one Sunset Shimmer, the feeling of disbelief quickly made way for a surprising amount of anger. “And when exactly where you planning on telling us this!?” She demanded angrily, getting up in Ryou's face.

“S-Sunset, I…" Poor Ryou looked as if he was going to collapse at any moment, as his large, sad eyes met Sunset's angry ones, desperately yearning for understanding. "I-I wanted to tell you so many times-”

“But you didn’t!" Sunset didn't want to listen, right now she just wanted to be angry, angry at the boy she had thought that she knew... but it turns out her suspiscions were correct. "We trusted you, called you our friend! And you don’t tell us that your mere presence could put our lives in danger!”

“Sunset! That’s enough!” Twilight and everyone else were surprised by the raw intensity of the interdimensional girl's words. But they knew that things could get really ugly if they let Sunset keep ranting. Said girl now turned to Twilight, as if to argue against her request, but she was interrupted from doing so by none other than Ryou himself.

“No…" He spoke up quietly, but his words sounding both sad and remorseful while also strangely accepting at the same time. "No, Sunset’s right. I’ve endangered all of you by getting close to you, I’m sorry...”

“Ryou, that’s not-”

The white-haired boy interrupted Pinkie Pie with a mere shake of his head. He then lifted his gaze from the ground, fully facing all of the seven girls with his gaze. His large, brown eyes were watery, and tears were clearly forming at the edges of them. Ryou's usually kind smile was now wavering, as if he was struggling to keep it up. When he then spoke his voice quaked and broke all throughout.

“Thank you all for everything but… it’s probably for the best if you just stay away from me."

"Wait! Ryou, come back!" Twilight's call went ignored as Ryou then turned around and swiftly disappeared out of the school doors.

A tense and deeply emotionally charged silence reigned over the school after all of that, as everyone there tried to process what had just happened. The Rainbooms all just kept starring at the spot where Ryou had stood earlier, still trying to proces just what had happened and what they had learned about the boy.

After a few tense moments of this, Rainbow Dash, ever loyal, angrily rounded up on Sunset, gesturing where Ryou had stood earlier. "What the heck did you do that for!?"

Sunset merely stood there in silence, thinking hard over what they had just uncovered.

It had now been several hours since he had left the school in tears, and yet Ryou had not moved an inch from his work desk since he'd stepped inside of the Blackwood house.

He had fruitlessly tried to think of something else, something to distract himself from the emotional turmoil he was currently experiencing. Ryou had tried to write up a new Monster World-campaign, he had tried to modify his Duel Monsters deck, he had tried to read through 'The Children of Húrin', he had even tried playing a round of online poker. Nothing had worked.

The sun was starting to set once Ryou finally gave up at trying to distract himself. Putting his face in his hands, the boy began to let out quite heavy sobs, the pent up desperation and helplessness which he had felt during the last two days finally being released in one large wave of sadness and melancholy.

He had lied to his friends, desperate for the sense of warmth and comradery, and now it had cost him. They would most likely not want to assosciate with him anymore, nor would any other students at CHS, and Ryou couldn't blame them.

Ryou still vividly remembered the girs' frightened faces once Trixie had revealed the truth. How all of them had stared at him with haunting faces filled with shock and tredipation. It was a look the white-haired boy was all too used to.

Worst of all were Sunset's words, as they still rung clearly in his head, and the infuriated, betrayed look she had given him while chewing him out. He had wanted to warn the girls many times that hanging around him could be dangerous. But in the end, his own selfishness had won, and he had continued to partake in the Rainbooms' company fully well knowing what tended to happen to people who got close to him.

But none of that mattered now. As horrible as it made him feel inside, Ryou knew that Sunset's rage and the girls' fright was justifiable. He had endangered everyone of them, foolishly believing that his curse would be left behind in Japan. If anything ever happened to the girls who had been so kind and welcoming to him, the girls who had truly made him feel special, well, Ryou would never forgive himself.

He knew that there was only one thing he could do now. Not for his own sake, but for the sake of his friends. For even if they may no longer think of him as a friend after his betrayal, Ryou still cared for them immensely, and he would do anything to keep them from harm.

"I've got to transfer again." He said to himself miserably, tears still streaming down his cheeks. "I can't stay at Canterlot High..."

"It would be quite troublesome for me if you did."

Startled at hearing the strangely familiar voice seemingly out of nowhere, Ryou forgot his sadness and quickly rose up from his chair, anxious and wary eyes darting around his surroundings. If Ryou didn't know better he would've said that the mysterious voice sounded much like the voice he had heard many times before in his nightmares, but that idea was absurd.

And yet, the boy couldn't help but feel a great sense of premonition.

"I'm so close to my goal now after all. I can't have you spoiling it for me."

"Wh-who are you!?" He looked around the large room rapidly, desperatly searching for the speaker. "Show yourself!"

"Show myself?" The voice repeated indignantly, as if finding the mere idea ridicolous. "How hurtful you can be, Landlord. All these years together and you still don't know me?"

Ryou only stayed silent, feeling helpless. And why was the voice calling him a landlord?

"I am the spirit dwelling inside you. I came with the millenium ring."

"My ring? That can't be..." The whole situation sounded ridiculous, like something from Ryou's collection of horror novels. And yet, he quickly felt that sharp pain in his chest again, along with a new burning sensation. In a move driven by pure adrenaline and desperation, Ryou let out a sharp cry of pain before ripping his buttoned shirt opened, exposing his bare chest.

Ryou was horrified at what he saw.

The millenium ring, his most priced possession, was hanging down from his neck, but it was quite literally attached to his body. The five sharp prongs of the artifact had somehow dug themselves deep underneath Ryou's skin, visibly making his skin bulge out. Though there was miraculously no blood leaking from where the prongs were penatrating his body, it was a terrifying discovery nonetheless.

"Wh-what is this!?" Ryou gasped, suddenly finding it very hard to breathe. Whereas earlier he had only felt irregular jabs of pain, he was now completely aware of the ring's cold points digging into his body.

"I had to take precautions in case you decided to do something rash, Landlord. There's no removing the ring from your body now. I'm afraid you're stuck with me." The spirit explained gleefuly, seeming to delight over the boy's missery.

"I rather like your body, it reminds me of the one I once inhabited 3000 years ago. So I decided to give you the honor of being my host the day your deadbeat father first found my ring five years ago."

"3000 years ago!?" Ryou briefly forgot his horror at this tidbit of information, his passion and interest of the occult briefly taking over his common sense. "What are you... N-no! No, that doesn't matter!" His sense quickly returned, an anger over the entire situation begining to well up in the usually calm boy.

He clawed and shook at his head desperatly, as if hoping that he could physically shake the entity out of him. "I want you out! GET OUT OF ME!"

The demon only laughed at the display, and Ryou had never in his life felt so powerless. "How cold. To think that I've been granting your wishes up till now, too."

"I-I've never had a wish granted!" The boy shouted, the indignation now returning. "Not by you! Not ever!"

"Oh, please! I'm quite familiar with your sob story." Ryou could practically hear the sneer in the spirit's voice. "A poor little boy with a dead mother, a dead sister, and a father who doesn't give two shits about him!"

Ryou flinched, his eyes closed hard as the spirit's words painfully edged their way into his thoughts. He wanted to deny them, he wanted to scream out and yell at the spirit about just how wrong he was. And yet Ryou couldn't, for deep inside he knew that the spirit's words were true.

Said spirit did not care for Ryou's guilt, merely continuing on. "The other children all picked on you, you had no friends. All you wished for was to someday have a great big bunch of friends whom you could treasure forever. Isn't that right?"

The white-haired put his head into his hands, trying desperatly to force out all the memories which were currently coming at him like a train. He saw flashes of his younger self, sitting alone by himself in the sand box while the other children either played amongst themselves or ridiculed him. Some of the things he'd heard back then still plagued his memories even to this day.

"Don't you see? I've been granting your wish for these five years. I made sure every friend you ever made will always be close by..."

"What do you mean?" Ryou hadn't realized that he, in his fright and confusion, had taken quite a few steps back, until he bumped his back rather painfully into one of his display cases. Getting spooked by this, the boy quickly turned around and felt rather unnerved at what he saw.

Inside the case were all of his different Monster World figurines, which was usually a sight which would fill him with enthusiasm, but now produced a whole other sort of emotions. It felt as if all of the figurines were staring at him with wide, judging, never-closing eyes and it filled Ryou with all sorts of unease.

Backing away from the case, he began to ponder over what the spirit had said, and it slowly but surely dawned upon him as a horrifying theory began to brew in Ryou's mind. "Wait, n-no it can't be..."

Memories of his friends from the past flew by. How he had invited them over to play a round of Monster World, how is memory would go blank and before he knew what happened his friends would be lying on the floor unconscious, or worse... "The reason all my friends fell into comas... you couldn't possibly-"

"Well, I suppose that you'll find out soon enough." The voice casually interrupted Ryou's train of thought, as if speaking of the weather. But the more sinister tone returned shortly. "After all, you've got some new little friends now, and what an interesting bunch they are."

"M-my friends?" Ryou questioned, not really comprehending what the spirit was saying. But after a few seconds it began do slowly dawn on him, as images of seven girls flashed by in his mind.

"No." The boy uttered with mounting horror, which quickly disolved into a deep rage. "NO, DON'T YOU DARE LAY A FINGER ON THEM!"

The voice let out a mad-sounding cackle, as if somehow finding Ryou's rage to be highly amusing. "Touchy. But you are in no position to make demands, Landlord. I don't see why you're so opposed to the idea, though. Those seven wenches will all join you for eternity, you should be happy!"

"NO! I DON'T WANT THAT!" He denied fiercly, rage still burning within him. But along with that rage came a great desperation and sadness, as Ryou began to realize just what sort of malicious entity he was dealing with. "JUST LEAVE THEM BE! PLEASE!"

"How sentimental." It was as if the voice delighted in the boy's torment, making a mockery of Ryou's pleading. "But don't worry, I don't plan to deal with your chums tonight. Instead, I must pay a little visit to the one who has caused you such distress, Landlord."

"W-what do you mean!?" Ryou demanded, not at all liking the implication of the spirit's words.

"You should sleep for a while." The demon's voice now sounded almost soothing, but Ryou was far from comforted. As a sickly golden light began to radiate from the millenium ring, Ryou began to experience the hauntingly familiar sensation of rappidly losing not only his senses, but the control of his very body.

"STOP IT!" He cried desperatly, but it was far too late. Once the light had died down Ryou Bakura was no longer the one commanding his body. No, the spirit of the ring was now using Ryou as his puppet once more. A delighted and sinister smile showing off two rows of sharp white teeth spread across his face, much like a shark about to sink its jaws into an unsuspecting prey.

"Now then, let's go and have some fun..."

"That was all for tonight! The great and powerful Trixie would like to thank all of you for being such a wonderful audience!"

The sound of applause and yells of admiration that filled the room was a sound that would never get old to Trixie Lulamoon. Even after said noise had died down and her faithful audience had filed out of the room, it was enough to lift her spirits consciderably as she began to pack up all of her props and materials.

If it hadn't been for what had transpired earlier that day Trixie would've even been able to say that the day ahd been close to perfect! But still, that once incident was enough to dampen her good mood consciderably.

Just thinking about it was enough for her to visibly scrunch her face up in distaste as she was packaging her set of chinese linking rings.

She had hoped to be able to hold onto her leverage over Ryou Bakura for a far longer time, as she could've used his assistance for some other menial tasks and that darn school work. But noooo, those insuferable Rainbooms just had to stick up the guy, and Trixie's own pride made her reveal it too early. Espescially as the white-haired loser had been so cooperative otherwise.

Since she had lost her servant, Trixie had been forced to put her part of the school work on hold. Sure, she had recieved several warnings in other classes for not putting enough focus on her studies, but her performance today had been just too good of a chance to miss out on.

They would all see, all those people who laughed at Trixie behind her back and made a mockery of her artform. One day, she would become the greatest and most powerful-est professional magician in the world! And then Trixie would be the one laughing at them!

Almost letting herself get lost in yet another revenge fantasy, Trixie was in for a rather rude awakening when something quite unexpected happened.

All lights in the room suddenly went out all at once, severly darkening the stageroom. The sudden darkness alone was enough to make Trixie feel uneasy, letting out a small yelp of surprise. However, she began to feel legitimatley scared once she started to hear a low, dark chuckle accompanied with a slow clapping. It sounded as if it was coming from everywhere around her, as if the darkness itself was mockingly applauding her.

"Wh-who goes there!? The great and powerful Trixie demands that you show yourself!" Trixie called out to the seemingly empty room, sounding a lot braver than she really felt.

The sound of footsteps began to echo around the room, with no sight of whom they could belong to. The room had just become too darn dark. Eventually Trixie began to notice the shape of a what appeared to be a man approaching the stage. This put the aspiring young magician on edge, but she became quite surprised once she saw a familiar blob of white hair slowly stepping out of the sudden darkness

"My, my... such a well done performance." Commented none other than Ryou Bakura with irony clear in his voice, a sharp smile present on his face and dark eyes watching Trixie intently. Said girl found this reveal to be incredibly anti-climactic, letting out an exasperated breath and rolling her eyes.

"Urgh, it's just you, Bakura!" She didn't need to her the boy's whining now, she needed to get herself home. "The great and powerful Trixie has no time to waste on the likes of you! Go cry to somebody else!"

It was almost as if he didn't hear her, as he only kept standing there, scrutinizing her closely with eyes that never seemed to close. And it may just have been the current lighting of the room, but Trixie could've sworn that Bakura's eyes looked darker and sharper than usual. For some reason his gaze made the girl feel uneasy.

Once he finally did speak, Trixie understood why she hadn't realized that it was Bakura immediatly, as his voice now sounded much more gravely and rough. Did the guy sandpaper his throat or something?

But Trixie was far more transfixed by his words and the unreadable look he gave her. “I admit, watching you make my host squirm was amusing for a time. However..." His voice now somehow grew even darker, and his face turned to display an emotion that could only be described as furious. "You see, I really don’t like it when some insect thinks that they can just toy with what is mine!”

Trixie did not fully understand what the foreign kid was talking about, but she did understand that he was probably a little sour from what happened earlier that day. But Trixie honestly couldn't care less.

Turning her nose up at him, the magician made a shooing motion with her hand. "If you wanted to get the great and powerful Trixie alone to confront her then I must sat that I'm not impressed. Your anger is of no concern to her! Now shoo! Trixie need get her things in order!"

Bakura only let out a deep, raspy chuckle and Trixie would have lied if she said that she couldn't felt herself breaking a cold sweat. “I assure you, mortal, we are most certainly not alone. I've brought some, shall we say, acquaintances with me. They are quite eager to meet you..."

Alright, Bakura was really starting to creep her out now. But Trixie still had her dignity, and she was not about to loose her composure because of some spooky-sounding words. "Th-that's ridiculous! There's noone else here!" She scoffed, looking away as if to avoid the boy's soul-staring eyes.

"If you don’t believe me then why don’t you take a good look around you? See what lies in the shadows…”

Trixie couldn't help but let out a snort at his words. Sure, she herself was all for the dramatics, but the Bakura-guy was clearly just going out of his way to attempt to scare her.

And yet... there was something about the usually polite and timid boy's sharp smile and dark eyes that deeply disturbed Trixie. It was as if he was grinning at some sick joke only he understood, and it was an atitude Trixie personally found insufferable.

She was just about to tell Bakura off, but then she began to notice just how dark the stage room had become, and also the unnatrual cold that seemed to had settled in there. Much of the previously well-lit room was now pitch-black, and it felt as if the darkness only kept growing and devouring more of the light.

But as Trixie looked deeper into the ever-growing abyss, trying to figure out what could've possibly caused such a phenomenon, she began to notice something. Something that filled the up-and-coming magician with a great fear.

There were... there were things moving in the darkness.

Despite whatever it was not having any definable shape or form, Trixie could still plainly see that there were something, or some things moving in the shadows. Something constantly moving around, surrounding her on all sides like a sinister predator. And as she really got time to really listen, she started to hear little sounds which had previously went unheard. Whispers, keels, screeching, what sounded an awful lot like humans pleading for mercy, all of it and more coming from the dark.

As Trixie stared into the abyss which had blanketed the room she got the sinking feeling that something was staring right back. And it terrified her.

"Wh-what is this!?" She demanded, her head rapidly turning around as her fear and anxiety kept growing. The darkness Bakura had brought with him and whatever monstrosities hidden within it was closing in on her, filling the girl to the brim with terror. "Wh-whatever you're doing, STOP IT! T-TRIXIE COMMANDS YOU!"

Bakura just stood completely still with his arms crossed, looking at the girl with a sadistic grin that promised untold horrors. Before Trixie could scream at him some more, an undefinable mass suddenly lurched out of the darkness, allowing Trixie to finally get a good look at what the shadows were housing.

As soon as she saw it she wished that she hadn't.

For out of the dark came what can only be described as a great black blob, constantly in motion... It was made of people or, at the least, pieces of people.

Trixie couldn't possibly have counted how many of them there were as the mass was constantly moving around, in frequent, wild motions. But she could still clearly see that it was a great mass of what looked like humans clustered together and covered in a layer of inky blackness.

Men, women, children, infants looking as if they had come straight out of the womb. All of them clustered together in a great, black, squirming mass. The inky human shapes looked as if they were melting together, looking more liquid than solid. There were a great deal of arms, legs, heads, but no fully defined torsos. The faces she could make out looked to be in constant suffering, letting out sounds that didn't sound human in the slightest, but were more achin to otherwordly keels of deep excruciating pain.

Such a sight would have given even the hardest of people nightmares, and for Trixie it was far too much. Her legs quickly grew weak, causing her to fall uncerimoniously onto her behind. With wide eyes she observed the hellish creature which had emerged from the darkness, her mouth opening and closing rapidly as she struggled to form words.

Bakura had no such qualms, instead looking disturbingly amused at Trixie's reaction. "Why, whatever is the matter, dear Trixie?" He prodded with a sinister smile and a raised brow. "Don't you like my collection?"

"C-c-collection...?" Was the only word that managed to escape Trixie's lips, the girl's attention still focused on the monstruous shadow-being in front of her, all the while it felt as if more horrors still dwelled in the dark.

"Yes." Bakura practially purred, now turning his dark eyes to the creature. The abomination from the shadows always seemed to move ireguluarly as all of its components squirmed in agony on their own. But when Bakura focused on it, the monstrosity visibly flinched back, as if it were afraid of him.

"This here is one of my all-time favourite collections; My victims." As he said these horrible words Bakura observed the abomination much like how a craftsman would admire their favourite handiwork. The blob kept on screeching and pleading but it went ignored by the demon in human flesh who kept on talking.

"They are now lost souls, trapped forever in the darkness! And all because they pissed me off in one way or another... either that or because I was bored and needed something to entertain myself." His eyes suddenly settled on Trixie, the once arrogant charlatan who was now a complete whimpering mess on the floor as Bakura towered over her.

“Do you honestly believe that any of these card tricks, smoke bombs and slight of hands, amounts to actual power? That it gives you the right to call yourself ‘great and powerful’?" He asked her with a tilted head, giving her a sneer that could curdle milk. Bakura was looking at Trixie much like a person would look like a particularly disgusting insect they were about to step on.

"Ha! Don’t make me laugh!" He then uncrossed his arms and stretched them out wide, gesturing to the horrifying monstrosity as well as the other darkness and whatever hellish creatures probably dwelled within it. "This is power. More than you or any other mortal in this shithole of a city ever had.”

Trixie only kept on whimpering, feeling wetness gathering in the corners of her eyes and a warm, wet feeling running down her legs. Bakura looked bored at her inability to form words, and instead merely gave the keeling blob of damned souls a dark glare.

It seemed to be a signal of sorts, for as soon as he had done it, a tendril of pure blackness shot out from the dark and wrapped itself around Trixie's leg. This seemed to snap the girl out of her horror-induced trance, as trixie immediatly began to scream in terror, frantically but futilely kicking and scratching at the black tendril, wanting nothing more than for it to let her go.

She had no such luck, and it seemed that it slowly but surely began to physically drag her towards the surrounding darkness. The melted black mass of damned souls all reached out towards her, as if eager to welcome a new member into their cluster of suffering and despair.

Trixie was panicking like she'd never done before, desperatly scratching at the floor with her nails in the futile hope of escaping the shadows' clutches. She screamed for help. Screamed for her mother, her father, for her principal, she even screamed for the Rainbooms. But no help would come. Nothing could save her now.

“Well... it is certainly tempting to just let the shadows drag you into the eternal abyss of suffering." Bakura said, looking as if he pondered over something, a hand on his chin in thought. The tendril even briefly stopped pulling Trixie while still keeping it's tight and painful grip on her legs.

"But fear not, mortal. I’ve thought of a better use for you." Bakura quickly reached into his jacket, and pulled out something small that just fit in his hand. Despite her panic and fear dulling most of her comprehension, Trixie still managed to see that it looked like some sort of doll. Whatever it was, it still gave Trixie all sorts of uneasy emotions.

Raising a hand to her face as if to cover herself from Bakura's gaze and the gaze of whaever lied in the darkness, the once proud Trixie tried desperatly to plead. "Ba-Ba-Bakura, I-I, please...-"

But the demon's mind was already made up since long ago. Giving the girl a malicious grin that showed off many sharp white teeth, Bakura raised his right arm and index finger and pointed straight at Trixie's shuddering, whimpering form. The millenium ring began to glow and a third, golden eye appeared on Bakura's forehead.

To Trixie he looked like a wicked reaper, sentencing her to an eternity of darkness and suffering in the afterlife.

"PENALTY GAME!”

Trixie Lulamoon's lifeless body fell to the floor, unmoving. All the while the spirit of the ring cackled in delight, the Monster World-figurine in his hand taking on a new appearance.