Of Friendship & Shadow Games

"Well, well," Bakura started, his previous shock turning into sadistic delight as he took in the sight of Sunset Shimmer. It seemed as if another little lamb had come to join the slaughter "Isn't this a surprise? It's rather rude to break into other peoples' homes, you know."

Sunset ignored his words, her mind solely focused on assuring the well-being of her friends ever since she started to run in panic towards the Blackwood house. Speaking of her friends, she instead focused on the six unconscious bodies of her best friends lying unmoving by the opposite side of the game table.

"Girls!" She called out in distress whilst running up to them. The fiery-haired girl was beyond believed once she found that the girls were all still breathing, but their otherwise seeming lack of life disturbed her greatly.

Sunset tried lightly shaking them and talking to them, desperate for some manner of response but she recieved none. Bakura found the sight to be hilarious, as evident by his dark chuckles.

"I'm afraid you won't get any response that way." The spirit told her, crossing his arms with a smirk on his face. "Their bodies are now little more than empty shells."

The interdimensional girl now finally turned her attention towards Bakura, giving him an enraged glare. "I knew something was up with you." Sunset said darkly, her hands on the unconscious Pinkie Pie's shoulders. "What have you done to my friends!?"

Bakura simply kept looking at her with that damn smirk, uncrossing his arms and now spreading them wide, seeming to gesture towards the great game board. "Your chums are still very much alive if that's what you are asking, Shimmer. But I'm afraid that their souls has found some new homes."

"Their... souls?" Sunset murmured questioningly, not fully understanding what the boy was talking about. It didn't do anything to ease her fears, though. She remembered how 'soul' had been one of the frequently appearing phrases in those documents concerning the millenium ring.

Before she could think much more about it, Sunset suddenly heard a very familiar voice.

"SUNSET! DOWN HERE!" It took just a moment for Sunset to make sense of it all, as she couldn't understand how she was hearing the voice of Rainbow Dash while the body of said athlete was lying unconscious next to her. Once she did at last look down at the game board, letting out a gasp at what she saw.

At a small part of the board depicting a forest there were six Monster World figurines, all of them greatly ressembling her friends. But that wasn't nescessarily the weirdest part.

No, the weirdest part was that all of the dolls were in the middle of waving to her and calling out her name.

"Girls...?" The fiery-haired girl murmured in disbelief.

"Sunset! Thank the heavens you're here! It's Ryou!" Applejack called out, waving her hammer around to catch her friend's attention. Of course, to them, Sunset appeared as a giant in the red sky of the game world's realistic perspective. "I dunno why, but he gone turned real crooked all of a sudden! He turned us into dolls!"

"Yeah! We're trapped in the game!" Twilight yelled.

Sunset listened how the other girls said similar things, starting to understand the situation now. As such, she leveled the most intense glare she could muster at Bakura.

The spirit couldn't care less, shrugging nonchalantly as he grinned malicously at the girl. "Now now, we were playing a game, that's all. They failed and must therefore suffer the consequences. Such is the rule of my kind of games."

"... You mean a Shadow Game, right?" Sunset asked him, remebering the words that had appeared on the equestrian scroll.

Bakura blinked, finding himself in a rare state of surprise, staying silent as he observed Sunset intently with his dark eyes. How could this damn high school girl possibly know about the Shadow Games? Did she know of the millenium items as well?

The girls trapped in the game had no idea what their friend was talking about whatsoever, though.

"A Shadow- what now?" Rainbow Dash tried repeating the word, scratching her head in confusion.

"Shadow Game." Rarity affirmed, though she too looked puzzled. "But darling, whatever is that?"

"I'm not quite sure." Sunset answered honestly, though with a hint of frustration in her tone. She still kept glaring at the one sitting opposite of her. "All I know that it's connected to the millenium ring. Princess Twilight told me."

This took everyone else by surprise. Not only that whatever was happening was apprently because of Ryou's odd pendant, but that the source apparently came from the interdimensional pony princess herself.

Bakura, on the other hand, once again found himself confused, and it was not an experience he enjoyed very much. What was Shimmer blathering about? That Sparkle insect a princess!? Was she referring to someone else?

Moreso, it seemed that whoever she was referring to had knowledge of the millenium items. He would have to remember that.

Sunset narrowed her eyes at Bakura. "That's how you've done this to them, right!? You used the ring somehow!"

The demon used his human body to sneer back at her. "Ring? What ring?" Bakura repeated mockingly, his hands moving towards the buttons of his shirt. "Oh! Do you mean this ring!?"

In one swift motion he ripped open his shirt, revealing to the Rainbooms the sickening sight underneath. Much like it had done for the last couple of days, the prongs of the artifact had imbedded themselves in Ryou Bakura's body, specifically by the center of his chest.

The sight brought about fear and disgust in the Rainbooms, Sunset and the figurines alike. It took a lot of restraint for none of them to throw up at the sight, Rarity almost fainted right then and there. What made it all the more disturbing is how Bakura didn't seem to feel any pain whatsoever, only continuing to smile in that wicked way.

"What in the world...?" Twilight muttered to herself in helpless confusion, something felt by every other girl there.

"So," Bakura started. "You figured out my little secret, Shimmer, most impressive." He now gestured towards the ring. "We have indeed played a little Shadow Game. And as the holder of a millenium item, I dictate what fate awaits the losers!"

"So, that's what your ring is." Sunset stated moreso to herself, trying to focus despite the horrific imagery.

"Yes." He now pointed a triumphant finger at Sunset, "Your friends all lost against me! And since they can no longer continue to play the game, that means that their lives are now mine to do away with as I wish! Such is the supreme law of the Shadow Games!"

"I-I-I don't like the sound of that...!" Fluttershy stuttered out, shaking as she and the others were unerved by the downright predatory look on Bakura's face.

Sunset was defiant, however. "NO! I won't let you! If none of them can keep playing then... then let me play in their stead!"

"WHAT!?" All the transformed girls exclaimed in surprise.

"Don't do it, Sunny!" Pinkie pleaded loudly. "Ryou's being a real meanie!"

"She's right!" Twilight concured. "He's a master at this game! You don't know what he can do!"

"Save yourself, darling!" Rarity tried to convince her interdimensional friend.

Sunset ignored their pleads, still staring down the one sitting opposite of her. "Well?" She baited. "Are you accepting my challenge?"

"Tch." Bakura clicked his tounge, though he smiled nonetheless. He was finding this mortal's attitude, though impudent, to be rather refreshing compare to how other fools would grovel at his feet in these sorts of situations.

"Oh? Is that alright?" He prodded with a challenging grin. "That's quite a bold descision, Shimmer. You would risk your own life to save those colourful plebians? Who knows what will happen should you lose..."

"Of course." Sunset stated with steely resolve, staring hard at the demon in human flesh. "My friends would never abandon me, just as I will never abandon them! I don't care what will happen if I lose! All I care about is stopping you!"

The rest of the Rainbooms band were all touched by this, looking up at their friend with smiles and looks of admiration, depsite the current situation.

Bakura only grinned malisciously at the fiery-haired girl, knowing that should she defeat her as well, then he would have all the pieces needed. "Alright then." He conceded. "I shall agree to your ridiculous request, Shimmer. You may continue on deciding the trapped souls fate through throwing the dice yourself. I trust you're familiar with the Monster Word rules?"

Sunset simply nodded, having actually read up on Monster World the moment she had first been shown the display that day by Ryou. At this point she was quite familiar with how the game's mechanics worked.

The spirit was pleased by her response. "Excellent. However," It took all of Sunset's willpower not to flinch at the sinister grin Bakura gave her, "Should a player's Hit Points become 0, that character will die. So, I suggest you use your little chums carefully."

"We... we can actually die?" Pinkie Pie muttered to herself in shock, her poofy hair seemingly deflating as she gripped her magic gun tightly. A sort of pure shock had spread through both her and the others. Being trapped eternally within figurines wasn't really an appealing fate by any means... but something about the aspect and risk of death being involved made the entire situation all the worse.

Sunset herself wasn't that much better off, feeling cold sweat running down her forehead and gulping softly. "... Let's just play the game." She forced out after a bit of stunned silence. It was strange that after all the evils they ahd already faced, something about the one sitting opposite of her made everything they had faced before seem positively miniscule in comparisson.

Though Bakura cared not, simply cackling softly to himself as he once again readied his specialized computor. "The show must go on, I suppose."

"But first," Sunset interrupted him firmly. "I want you to tell me one thing."

Bakura now looked curious. Despite hating being interrupted, he decided to humor his would-be victim and stayed silent.

Sunset took it as a sign to proceed. Taking a deep breath as if bracing herself, she asked him the one question which had been burning away at her psyche ever since she first barged into the game room.

Looking at the individual sitting opposite of her, she gave him a genuinley hurt and confused look for the first time since she arrived there. "Ryou, why?" Sunset asked him, her anger somewhat melting away to make make way for the hurt this betrayal had caused her. "Why are you doing all of this!? I thought we were friends!"

The other girls all listened in intently as well, wanting to know why exactly the sweet boy they thought that they knew had suddenly done all of these horrible things to them.

Bakura, however, returned Sunset's hurt expression with a dark grin. "Ryou?" He repeated with a dark chuckle, deciding that keeping up the human persona was no longer of any importance "I'm afraid Ryou left the chat quite a while ago."

"Wha... What?" Sunset could only ask, not fully understanding what Ryou- or at least, someone she thought was Ryou - meant with those words... Was the grinning maniac on the other side of the table not Ryou?

Back in the game world, the rest of the girls thought the same thing. Though it sounded absurd, it also strangely made sense. Whoever had trapped them in the game didn't act like the boy they all had gotten to know at all! Heck, he didn't even seem human at times.

"Bu-... But how can that be?" Twilight desperatly tried to wrap her head around the conundrum.

Rainbow Dash, however, took a more hands-on approach. "If you aren't Ryou then just who in the heck are you!?" She demanded angrily, pointing her sword up accusingly at the giant projection of the malevolent Game Master.

Bakura did not take kindly to her bold words and actions, glaring down at the six figurines. "I am many things, mortal." He answered vaguely with a hateful sneer. "Things which a mind like yours couldn't even begin to comprehend. In layman's terms, I am a thief and collector of souls. But for simplicity's sake, just call me Bakura. That was once my own name, after all."

"Well, that's not gonna get confusing at all!" Pinkie said with a smile, which was odd conscidering their current predicament.

"In that case," Twilight started, daring to stare up at Bakura with the best glare she could muster. "What have you done to the real Ryou!?"

The demon in human flesh only laughed darkly, his sinister grin growing even wider. "He's indisposed of at the moment." Seeing the girls' horrified faces at this revelation, Bakura simply laughed and raised his hands placatingly. "But fear not, your little friend is still alive. I can't risk harm to his body, after all."

"His body?" Fluttershy questioned timidly, neither she or the other immediatly understanding what he meant. It was Sunset who managed to put the pieces together quickly, letting out a small gasp as she began to realize just what she was dealing with.

"You mean... you've possessed him!?" Sunset demanded, sounding equal parts horrified and angry.

"Bingo~!" Bakura practically sang in response, his twisted expression and gravelly voice making for quite a horrid combination. "How's that for a twist!?"

"Possessed?" Applejack repeated to herself, before the implication of those words became clear to her. Clenchin her fists in anger, she growled up at Bakura, "Why you no good- Get on out of our friend right now!"

The demon in human flesh simply scoffed at her anger, giving all of the adventurers a sadistic grin. "No dice. I've been partially using dear Ryou's body for five years now and I happen to like it quite a lot."

"For five years!?" Twilight exclaimed in worry as drew the connection to what Ryou had told her. "Then... then you must've come from the millenium ring!" All she got in response was a nod and a sick grin.

"It was you." Sunset then suddenly stated, anger begining to seep into her as the pieces of the mystery all began to fall into the right place. "You're the one who's been putting all of Ryou's friends into comas! Trixie too, for that matter"

"Ah." Bakura let out, sounding awfully pleased with himself. "So you know of my work. Well, I can only say that I'm flattered."

"What a twisted creature." Rarity could only remark in revulsion and fear, and the other girls couldn't help but agree.

"You're sick!" Sunset spat, but Bakura wouldn't just take such an insult lying down.

“Now wait just a moment!" He pointed an accusing finger at her, grinning all the while. "Last I checked, you were the one who sent my host running away from school in tears, so you are are hardly qualified to criticize me on morality, Shimmer!”

Before any of the transformed girls could speak up in their friends defense and describe just all that was wrong with that reasoning, Sunset spoke up, though her expression was subdued and her green eyes filled with guilt.

“... You’re right, I failed Ryou." She acknowledged this in a very vulnerable and regretful voice, thinking of how she had screamed at the white-haired boy that day in the school corridor. She could vividly remember just how heartbroken he had looked, and how his eyes became tearfilled. She, who had sworn to never make someone cry ever again, had reduced a sweet and caring friend to tears for something which wasn't even his fault!

She was silent for a bit, her regretful eyes then becoming angry ones as she stared hard at the one sitting opposite of her. No, it hadn't been Ryou's fault all those people became comatose. It was his! This sick and malicious being using Ryou's body for its own twisted amusement. This was unlike anything she or the others had encountered before. Whatever being was sitting there and grinning wickedly at her with Ryou's face was pure evil.

This only made Sunset's resolve even greater as she glared at the spirit. "I let my past experiences and want to protect those I care about cloud my judgement…" A razor sharp edge now filled her voice, her determination growing only stronger. "But Ryou is someone I care about! And I’ll start to make things right between us by freeing both him and the girls from you, Bakura!”

The deranged spirit only laughed, looking almost excited. "By all means, go ahead. I have some time to kill... Well, not just time."

Sunset only gave him a withering look before turning her attention down towards the game board, her face appearing in the red sky as she spoke to her friends. "Your lives are in good hands." She assured them all. "Remember, we have the advantage of unity! Together we can beat Bakura and get Ryou back and return all of you back to normal!"

"Sunset..." Rarity started in small wonder, but it was quickly replaced by a determined smile. "Alright, darling! You have never led us astray yet! We trust you."

Pinkie nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! We'll team up to defeat that big meanie and get the good old Ryou back!"

The other girls let out similar sentiments to Sunset, though Bakura found it all to be incredibly repulsive, and therefore decided to get the Shadow Game back on track. He wanted their magic, and when he wanted something he took it!

"Now then, our game continues." He declared, readying up the computor and taking on his role as Game Master once more. "Zorc has revealed himself to the adventurers and is ready to tear them all to pieces. However, your characters have the first move as all of their speed stats excels Zorc's."

The interdimensional girl simply nodded, gulping softly as she mentally made herself ready for what was to come. One faulty roll could mean death for herself and her friends, and completely losing the game could mean that Ryou would have to be that spirit's slave forever. He would never get to know just how remorseful Sunset really was for how she acted back then. He would go on thinking that she hated him...

Letting that motivate her, she decided to head on straight into the game. She would make things right with Ryou, but first she needed to win this. It was time to put her gaming skills to good use.

"I'll roll for the warrior!" Sunset declared, gripping the dice in a secure hold as she stared down the demon in human flesh sitting opposite of her.

"You got this, Sun-shim!" Rainbow Dash encouraged her friend, sword at the ready as she fiercly stared down the hulking presence of Zorc. Despite her earlier fears, she was confident that her interdimensional friend would pull through.

Feeling empowered by the athletic girl's words, Sunset threw the dice with confidence, both her and Bakura watching the dice intently as they rolled on the game board.

03

"Yes!" Sunset cheered, ignoring how Bakura glared at her. "That's a direct hit!"

As if suddenly being filled with a terrible strength and resolve, Rainbow Dash raised her sword on high and rushed towards the Dark Master. In one swift move she sliced of a rather sizeable chunk of Zorc's left arm, making the towering demon let out a keel of anger and pain.

"Woo-Ee! That's showin' 'im, Dash!" Applejack raised her hammer with surprising ease in a cheer.

"Splendid, darling!" Rarity complimented, though noticably somewhat shaken. "Sort of gruesome and horrifying, but mostly splendid!"

"What can I say?" Rainbow Dash shrugged nonchalantly, her earlier fear practically forgotten because of her triumph. "When I'm surrounded by friends who trust me, there's no way I can be scared!"

Though Sunset and the others smiled at these words, Bakura found them repulsive and idiotic. Did they honestly believe that they had even the slightest hope of defeating him? Well, he would show them just what happened to those who dared oppose him.

"The battle continues." Bakura gained their attention, typing away on his computer. Though irked by how one of the insects managed to damage the Dark Master, he still gave Sunset that infernal smirk. "Because of my blunder, Zorc was injured. However, there is little damage."

Sunset clicked her tounge in irritation at this, full well knowing that even one super critical hit wouldn't do much to the game's final boss. If they were to ever have any chance of defeating Zorc then they would need a good string of criticals.

Unaware of the fiery-haired girl's thoughts, Bakura giddily announced, "And now the adventurers' situation becomes even worse!"

"Um, n-no thank you. We're good..." Fluttershy feebly tried to object, though it was futile. For suddenly, Rarity noticed something and let out an interjection of revulsion.

"Good heavens! Look at Zorc's flesh!" The fashionista pointed in horror at the piece of Zorc's arm that Rainbow Dash had previously sliced off. Though the sight was quite gruesome in and of itself, what was happening to it was far more bizarre.

"It's..." Twilight started, halting to simply comprehend just what was transpiring before their eyes. "It's transforming!"

Indeed, the gross piece of Zorc's arm had begun to churn and twitch, almost as if it were alive on its own. In a rather disgusting and bizarre process the flesh split and mutated into two new strange monsters!

One was fairly recognizable enough. It was a fairly large black dragon with narrow, red eyes narrowed in hate and hunger, who growled menacingly at the adventurers. The other creature was a bit more bizarre. It simply resembled a large pruple eyeball with two small bat-like wings surrounded by spikes. Despite being quite literally being brought into existence rather recently, both of the monsters immediatly stared down the group of six.

"Two more monsters!?" Rarity gasped in worry.

"This is turning into a bigger party than I thought... but not the good kind." Pinkie Pie remarked while gripping her magic gun tightly.

"Zorc himself is the source of all that is dark in this world!" Poki explained while floating next to Fluttershy, pointing one of his small blunt appendages at the Dark Master. "Unless he is slain completely then monsters will just continue to spawn!"

Seeing their opponents, the eyeball-creature somehow laughed arrogantly, despite its lack of a mouth. "Master Zorc, we'll finish these fools of for you."

This apparently pleased Zorc, who simply nodded to the new members of his army. "I shall leave it in your hands." Then, in a surprising move, the demon king simply turned around and began to walk away from the forest.

"HEY!" Rainbow Dash cried out in outrage, running up as close as she could and glaring up at the Dark Master. "Are you tryin' to run, Zorc!? Get back here and fight me!"

The large figure simply scoffed, his evil yellow eyes settling on Rainbow Dash dispationatly. "I am going to prepare a fitting final stage for obliterating you insects. Can you not even defeat some of my simple minions then you are not worthy of facing me."

"'Insect'!?" Applejack repeated, brizzling as she cracked her knuckles. "Why, that no good son of a-"

"Darling!" Rarity quickly interjected despite the ongoing situation, placing a hand over the farm girl's mouth. "Watch your language!"

Their interaction did not face Zorc, who simply turned away from them once again. "If you fools long for death that badly, then I shall wait for you by my castle!"

Before anyone else could get as much as a single word in, Zorc suddenly made a giant leap and disappeared into the red sky of the game world, laughing maniacally as he did so. Everyone glared at where he had disappeared to, feeling more determined to bring down the Dark Master than ever.

"Now then, the battle restarts!" Bakura informed Sunset as he typed in the data "It's currently Applejack's chance to attack."

The spirit once again gave the fiery-haired girl an awfully provoking look as he gestured to her lazily. "Roll the dice, Shimmer. But remember; should you roll a Fumble it means instant death for that piece!"

While Sunset felt the pressure from these words, back in the game world, Applejack assured her, "I trust yah, Sunset!" Readying her warhammer, the farm girl gave the eyeball monster a dangerous look. "Just give it yer best shot!"

"Will do!" The interdimensional girl declared, taking a brief moment to breathe in and out. Afterwards, her confident demeanour returned as she threw the dice with determination. Bakura observed the proceedings with dark, calculating eyes.

00

"A super critical!" Sunset announced brightly while Bakura clicked his tounge in irritation. "The half-dwarf dishes out a powerful strike with her hammer!"

Much like Sunset had said, Applejack suddenly found herself letting out a mighty warcry as she rushed straight at the eyeball monster, delivering a mighty blow that smashed the bizarre creature to mush.

"Way to go, AJ!" Pinkie Pie cheered while clapping her hands together.

The others called out similar words of encouragement while Sunset looked down upon them with a happy smile, glad that things seemed to be coming along rather smoothly so far.

Bakura, on the other hand, had barely even acknowledged the proceedings, his hateful eyes still fixed upon the numbers displayed on the dice Sunset had just thrown.

'How did she...?' The demon in human flesh thought to himself, gnashing his teeth together while doing so. Was Shimmer getting these two critcals just a coincidence, or something else? 'Could she have... There's no way she knows about the-!'

"What's the hold-up!?" Bakura was abruptly brought out of his train of thought as Sunset now demanded his attention, giving him an impatient look with her arms crossed over her chest. "Give us the next game instructions already!"

"Tch, impudent flea." The ancient spirit seethed at being adressed in such a manner by a mere mortal, but forced himself to calm down. Even if he couldn't wait to simply send all of those girls to Hell, the Shadow Game demanded that he acted on his duties as Game Master. As such, he began to type in the data so the game could proceed.

"It seems that the half-dwarf's assault caused mental damage to the other monster." Bakura reluctantly revealed, now turning his sinister gaze down towards Fluttershy. "Beast Tamer, it's your chance to attack."

The timid girl flinched at being adressed by the evil mastermind behind her and her friends' current predicament, but knew that she had to keep on fighting so that all of them could escape the game world and release Ryou from the spirit's control. Therefore, she gulped softly, but her eyes were filled with an odd sort of determination nonetheless as she stared down the dragon monster. "A-alright."

"You can do it, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash was quick to encourage her more reserved friend, standing close by and staring down the enemy dragon along with her.

Twilight joined in on this. "Just remember that your friends believe in you!"

Hearing this and more from her friends, Fluttershy drew a small breath before a sense of determination fill her. Locking eyes with the sinister dragon, she raised her hands in order to begin her hypnotism spell.

"Tamer's hand power!" She called out in the loudest voice she could muster and before she knew it, golden yellow streams of magical energy began to seep out of her hands only to strike the enemy monster, who cried out in frustration and pain at the contact with the light magic force.

Bakura was not faced by this, however, smirking confidently down at them. "The Zorc Arm Dragon is a monster who until just recently was a part of Zorc. Your chance of functioning hypnotism is low. Ten percent!"

"Ten percent!?" Sunset gasped.

"That means..." Twilight started worridly, adjusting her glasses. "Unless Sunset rolls a number that is less than 10, her spell won't work!"

Rarity gulped softly. "And the odds of that are...?"

"Not very high."

"Sunset will pull through!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed confidently, raising a closed fist in determination. "We gotta believe in her, that's all!"

"Throw the dice, Shimmer." Bakura prodded, a sinister smile as he eagerly awaited the moment Sunset's luck would fail her. "Judgement roll!"

The fiery-haired girls simply gave him a glare while throwing her dice, both of them landing in a way that caused them to spin, making them look like a pair of teetotums. Despite his confidence, Bakura couldn't help but observe the dice carefully.

One of them, the red dice, finally stopped spinning, falling over to reveal an 8. Bakura smirked maliciously at this, now thinking that Sunset had already failed. The red dice represented the ten's position, and therefore Sunset's result was now determined to be something over 80.

Or, at least, that's what he thought...

Sunset, despite the appauling result, didn't waver in her confident expression. In fact, Bakura could've sworn that the girl was smirking at him. Before he could lay to much thought into this, the impossible happened.

Right before his very eyes, the still spinning white dice crashed into the unmoving red dice, sending it back into motion!

Bakura actually felt a rare sense of shock within him, gasping aloud as he watched the now two spinning dice. "Th-this technique...!"

"That's exactly right." Sunset suddenly said, a self-assured expression on her face as she stared down the spirit. "This is a dice-rolling technique called Double Hit. In fact," Her face now turned angry, green eyes glaring at the Game Master as she pointed an accusing finger at him. "Unless I'm wrong, it's the very same technique you've been using to get your string of criticals!"

Bakura could only seethe quietly, as before he could get an outraged word in, the two dice finally stopped spinning and showed a new result:

02

The demon in human flesh almost choked on his own spit, tensing in shock and anger at this new discovery. He glared hard at Sunset, wishing he could just leap over the table and end her life right then and there. The girl simply smirked back at him, only serving to make him angrier.

"The hypnotism was succesful." She stated before turning her attention down towards the game board. "You're all good to go, Fluttershy!"

"R-Right!" The usually reserved girl exclaimed with only a small stutter, the magic flow from her hands suddenly disappearing and being replaced by two giant white gloved hands. Before the enemy dragon could as much as react, the hands incased it and began rubbing and twisting it.

The girls all watched the proceedings with slight tredipation, but also some confusion at the pure wackiness of it all... except Pinkie Pie, who just kept smiling like always.

After a few moments, the giant pair of hands suddenly literally poofed out of existense, revealing the newly reformed monster. It was still a dragon, though smaller in size than before. Its eyes, earlier narrow and red, were now larger and sky blue. Its scales, previously black and sickly looking, now were a glistening orange colour. While it had only snarled at them earlier, now it had a somewhat goofy grin on its face.

Fluttershy was completely taken by the dragon's new appearance, rushing over to it and immediatly starting to pet and coo at it. Her earlier fears were almost forgotten, now overjoyed that she could actually interact and pet these cute little fantasy creatures. "Well, aren't you just the cutest little guy!?"

The now good dragon leaned into her touch, practically purring while Fluttershy sweet-talked him. Her friends all watched this with amusement.

"Well now, there's a sight I never thought I'd see." Applejack remarked with a light chuckle as she leaned on her warhammer. Sunset also observed it with a smile, briefly wondering what Fluttershy would think of all the dragons back in Equestria.

Poki also flew over to the new member of the crew, eager to converse. "Welcome aboard, Pao! Your heart is now free from evil."

"Got it!" The now named Pao responded eagerly as Fluttershy stopped petting him. "I'll fight for my new master!"

While this was happening, Bakura was still staring at his opponent's thrown dice in shock. His dark eyes were wide in anger as he seethed to himself. 'I had no idea Shimmer knew the Double Hit trick! It appears that I've been underestamating her...'

Back in the game world, it was Rarity who remembered. "Now wait just a minute!" She exclaimed, gaining the attention of the others. "Didn't Sunset mention something about a technique Bakura has been using to get all of his criticals?"

The other girls all gasped, now also remembering. "That's right, she did!"

"You mean... he's been cheating this whole time!?" Rainbow Dash got out in anger, looking up at the red sky were Bakura presumably was.

"That's exactly right." Sunset confirmed before turning her attention back to the one sitting opposite of her, a small smirk on her face as she pointed at him. "Sorry, spirit, but your cheating won't work on me."

Bakura said nothing, though it was clear that he was churning on the inside because of anger, if his expression was to go by. But then, he seemed to regain his composure, simply glaring at Sunset as he conceded.

"... Alright then. From now on the Double Hit technique is banned for both players." To demonstrate his point, he picked up a pair of dice before merely letting them fall to the board. "Instead we shall roll the dice by simply dropping them. Agreed?"

Sunset now narrowed her green eyes at him. So, as soon as he figured that his own cheating could be used against him, he suddenly decided that it shouln't be legal? Sunset nearly scoffed, starting to realize that the spirit of the ring was apparently quite petty. Instead of saying any of this, she simply shrugged as a response. "Fine by me."

"Then let's continue the game." He announced as he began typing away on the computor. Though annoyed that Sunset had discovered that particulat little leverage, Bakura was still confident that he had nothing to fear. After all, he had many other tricks up his sleeve, and the Rainbooms would learn of them soon enough. "As Zorc's underlings are now defeated, the adventurers proceed through the forest."

And proceed through the forest they did. Of course, there wasn't much Sunset could do currently, so she simply had to sit in tense silence while her friends made their way towards Zorc's castle.

Said friends were currently making their way throughout the forest. Despite the dark forest part of the map being relatively small, it was a whole other thing to actually travel through the real forest than simply moving their own wooden pieces.

The journey went on and on, and it was difficult for them all to keep track as to just how long they were walking. The length of the trip was certainly doing a fine job of tiring some of them out, the fact that most of them were wearing heavy armor and weapons didn't help, of course.

It eventually came to the point where Rarity let out a tired noise of frustration, planting herself down on a nearby log to massage her aching feet. "Oh, had I known I would be forced to wander through some dank, terrible forest I would've worn something more appropriate. My poor feet are killing me!"

"It can't be helped." Twilight stated determindedly, though she would be lying if she said that she wasn't starting to feel tired herself. But it didn't matter to her, for she was a girl on a mission. "I'm sorry, Rarity. But if we want to escape the game and get Ryou back we'll have to reach Zorc's castle as quickly as possible."

“Yah heard her, Rares." Applejack walked up to the log and offered Rarity her armored hand with an encouraging smile. "C'mon, girl, get up."

The fashionista simply pouted up at the farm girl, but it was clear that Applejack wasn't having it. Letting out a small sigh, Rarity collected herself and let Applejack help her up on her feet.

"There we go, sugarcube." Applejack told her with an understanding smile, though she herself was also determined to save not only herself and all of the other girls, but Ryou as well.

"Now can we move on?" She asked the entire group, looking around suspisciously as if expecting some new monster to jump out at them at any time. "These here woods make me feel as if we’re gonna git jumped by the Knights who say ‘Ni’.”

“Actually, AJ," Pinkie Pie interjected cheerfully, almost suddenly appearing next to a bewildered Applejack. "They are now the Knights who say ‘Ekki-Ekki-Ekki-Pitang-Zoom-Boing’!”

This got the whole group to share a little chuckle while Applejack rubbed her neck abashedly. “Hehe, whoops. Mah mistake.”

“Urgh," The impatient Rainbow Dash let out a frustrated noise. "Are we just gonna stand here all day making obscure references, or are we actually gonna go and kick that Zorc-guy's butt?”

"I don't think you have to wait much longer, Rainbow Dash." Twilight remarked, standing near the edge of the forest and pointing forward. "Come and look at this, girls!"

The other five adventurers and their two monster companions rushed over towards Twilight, letting out gasps as they got closer and saw just what she was pointing at.

For infront of them was the great and imposing structure which had been their goal ever since the game's first turn: The castle of Dark Master Zorc. Though it was certainly an impressive castle in the game world, the very structure itself seemed to give off a great sense of evil from within. All the girls, even Sunset in the real world, could feel the malicious aura. It could only mean one thing;

Zorc was nearby.

"So this is Zorc's hideout, huh?" Rainbow Dash remarked to herself in a seemingly unimpressed fashion, though if one were to look closesly, one could see that small droplets of cold sweat had begun forming on her forehead.

To calm herself, the athletic girl took a deep breath before turning her head towards her companions. "Alright girls, this is what we've been working for! Let's go in and beat that creep!"

"We'll be right behind yah, Dash." Applejack assured her friend as she took a firmer grip around her warhammer, an intense look in her eyes. The others expressed similar sentiments, making sure that they were ready should the worst come to be.

"Be careful." Poki warned his master. "Zorc probably has traps waiting for you. Poki."

"Don't you worry." Fluttershy assured the cute creature while giving it a smile and a comforting rub. "We'll be carefull, Poki."

"Yeah, don't you worry, buddy!" Pinkie Pie also assured the little puffball with a friendly, but confident grin. "We've got Sunny with us! She's a friend you can trust if there ever was one!"

Sunset smiled at these kind words, but she didn't notice how Bakura's smug smirk seemed to somehow grow even more sinister as he rested his chin on his hand. 'But will you really avoid the traps? He thought in dark amusement. 'I'm afraid this is where Shimmer's game skills will fail her.'

In the game world, the group of adventurers were brought out of their sweet little moment by the jarring noise of the drawbridge being lowered. As it slowly but surely made its way down, the girls all couldn't help but feel tredipation within them, wondering and fearing just what would be awaiting them within the castle.

"Now, come on in, adventurers!" The voice of Bakura was heard echoing within the game world, inviting them all to enter the castle. "The gates are now open!"

"Let's do this, guys!" Twilight stated as she stared up at the castle, recieving a simoultaneous; "Yeah!" from the others. And so, the group hurried up the drawbridge, making their way towards the castle's inside.

In the real world, Bakura was typing away on the computor. "The players now enter the Zorc's Castle-area."

Sunset couldn't help but scoff, "Really creative name, there."

Bakura decided to simply ignore his opponent, instead pushing a certain button on the side of the game board as he announced, "Castle field open!"

The whole castle began to morph and change, moving and folding until it had created a new layout for the players. The new field included many pathways, tunnels and towers they could explore, as well as a menacing-looking, empty throne in the far back, presumably meant for Zorc.

"Woah!" Twilight let out, adjusting her glasses as they took in their new surroundings. "Looks like it wasn't just the village that could be opened up. Zorc's castle can unfold, too."

"But if this is Zorc's castle," Rainbow Dash started, leaning her sword on her shoulders as she suspisciously looked around. "Where is Zorc?"

Indeed, the towering game piece were nowhere to be seen within the castle field, and somehow, it made them all feel even more anxious than if he had simply been sitting on his throne.

"At last, the quest is now on its last stage!" The facless terrible voice of Bakura made itself heard once again. "Should you find just where Zorc is hiding in his castle and defeat him, the adventurers will win this Shadow Game."

"O, Zooorc!" Pinkie yelled out, her cheeful voice echoing within the castle field. "If you come out I'll give you a cupcake~!"

Letting out a small sigh, Rarity gave an uncharacteristic facepalm. "I don't think that a demon king is going to fall for that, Pinkie Pie."

"You don't know that!" Pinkie suddenly got defensive. "Maybe he just got low blood sugar and needs something sweet?"

Before this could escalate any further, Rainbow Dash took the initiative. "Hey, Zorc! You great big coward! Come out here right now and fight me!!"

There was no response, only a deathly and eerie silence reigned within the castle field. It made for quite an unsettling situation, as none of the girls knew what to do. Like Poki had said, they had no idea what kind of traps could be waiting for them in this place. It was meant to be the final stage, after all...

"Hey, now wait a minute..." Applejack started, her eyes narrowed on the entrance to one particular high tower, it's entrance displaying what looked like some sort of golden idol. "I dunno 'bout y'all, but somethin' seems suspiscious with that there tower."

The others looked at said tower and they too found it, and particularly that idol to be somewhat intruiging.

"Alright!" Rainbow Dash was now eager to finish this game as soon as possible, and therefore jumped at the possibility of finding Zorc. "C'mon! Let's head in and check it out!"

Not waiting for anyone else, the rainbow-haired athlete began to make her way towards the tower, forcing everyone else to rush after her into the tower, examaning it and the strange idol.

Back with the game master, Bakura was being strangely quiet, observing it all with an unreadable expression. This was more than enough to make Sunset suspiscious. From what she had seen, the spirit possessing her friend was never quiet, always either vocally angry or sadistically amused.

Something wasn't right here...

"Wait!" She called out desperatly to her friends, not trusting the current situation one bit. "Don't enter that tower!"

"What was that!?" Pinkie called out, the entire group now being lumped together within the structure. "We can't hear you over the sound of us entering the tower!"

Bakura's face changed at last, displaying a great amount of dark satisfaction as he grinned savagely down at the playing field. "Those little fools." He laughed to himself, wicked brown eyes meeting Sunset's green ones. "The adventurers are now cornered, easy prey for the Dark Master!"

Sunset gasped in worry, quickly realizing that her friends had now practically become a prime target for any attacker.

"Well now, let's see if Zorc will appear." Bakura said flippantly as he typed in the data. "The appearance procentage is..."

The data's result was shown, and the spirit let out a pleased noise. "Ah, thirty percent!"

"What!?" Sunset was clearly upset, realizing that if Bakura rolled any number bellow 30, it could then be a disaster for her poor friends.

"Judgement roll." Bakura let the dice fall to the board, eagerly awaiting the outcome.

28

"Oh my, the worst possible outcome..." He said first in mock sympathy, before his twisted expression returned and he gave Sunset a grin similar to that of a bloodthirsty shark. "For you fools, that is! Appear now, Dark Master Zorc!"

As decided by the dice, the imposing and terrible presence of Zorc made himself known to the players, starting with his deep, maniacal laughter.

"Oh no...!" Twilight gasped to herself, her and the other watching in horror as a great amount of black smoke began to gather infront of the tower. This black smoke then rose and began to take a rather familiar shape, and before they knew it, a pair of wicked, yellow eyes burning with hatred and ill will made themselves clear through the smoke.

In one extravagant gesture, Zorc dispersed the thick smoke with a single bellow of his dark blue cape, showing his terrible exterior to the adventurers once more. Though the wound from Rainbow Dash's assault was still there, he didn't even seem faced by it. His skeleton-like face seemed to sneer at them as he adressed them in his terrible voice. "It would seem you whelps feel into my trap after all!"

The girls could only sputter in fear and shock, most of them trembling as they helplessly looked up at the Dark Master from the narrow space of the tower.

"Unluckily, the poor adventurers have fallen into a trap." Bakura narrated with glee to Sunset, the girl only glaring at him with intense anger. It didn't face the ancient spirit in the slightest, as he merely readied to throw his dice. "Now to determine Zorc's attack!"

12

"Excellent!" The demon in human flesh cackled, his face lighting up in sadistic anticipation. "Zorc shall strike down the tower and crush everyone in it!"

Before anyone else could get as much as an 'Eep' in, Zorc raised his huge arm and laughed as he prepared to finish off the pesky adventurers once and for all. "THIS IS THE END!" The demon king screamed as he brought down a terrible strike upon the tower, immediatly shattering the once mighty structure and making it cave in and collapse.

"It's over!" Zorc laughed arrogantly, a sentiment shared by the Game Master controlling him. The demon king observed the great cloud of smoke and debris that the fallen tower had caused, thinking that his enemies must now be burried underneath it all. "You fools were no match for me!"

Imagine their shock when Sunset, who by all means should be devastated, suddenly called out confidently, "That's what you think!"

Bakura almost choked on his own breath in shock, not all understanding what the mortal was saying, but also not liking that self-assured look on her face. "What are you blathering about, Shimmer!? Your friends are no more!"

The fiery-haired girl only kept smiling, pointing a triumphant finger at her opponent. "I'm blathering about the thing you, in your eagerness to finish me friends off, completely forgot! While Zorc's strength is impressive, the adventurers are much faster than Zorc!"

Bakura once again found himself in a state of shock, and it made Sunset feel all the better as she kept explaining, "Even if they are in a tight space, they can easily make their get-away!"

"Wh-what!?" The malevolent Game Master could only bite out, observing the field with crazed eyes for any sign of evidence for Sunset's words. Zorc, too, was beyond surprised by this revelation, but even more so when he heard a damn familiar voice coming from behind him.

"In other words," Said the voice of Twilight Sparkle, now filled with confidence. "We're all alive and well behind you, Zorc!"

The startled Dark Master turned around, only to gasp in surprise at what he saw. The adventurers and the two reformed monsters had indeed all managed to sneak up behind him, avoiding his deadly strike. And now they were all glaring up at him with faces filled with resentment and determination.

"I-Impossible!" Zorc gasped in disbelief, and the spirit which controlled him wasn't far off from doing the same.

Sunset crossed her arms once again, a confident smile on her face as she stared down her opponent. "Since we're behind Zorc and have taken him by surprise, we should have the chance to attack. Right, Game Master?"

"..." Bakura said nothing, only glaring at Sunset as if he wanted to murder her right there on the spot. Though Sunset was not to be intimidated, knowing that this only meant that her assumption was correct.

"In other words, we should be able to perform 6 attacks in a row!" She grabbed a hold of the two dice, feeling her faith in not only her friends' abilities, but her own as well, increase as she threw them and hoped for the best. "Dice roll!"

15

"Yes!" Sunset cheered while Bakura was practically shaking in anger. "Rainbow Dash, you're up!"

"Got it, Sun-shim!" The athletic girl responded, a confident grin on her face as she raised her sword and rushed towards Zorc. Before the Dark Master could move, she delivered a swift stroke right in the demon king's side, careful not to slice of a whole chunk of him so another monster would spawn. Zorc let out a deep howl of pain.

"N-No!" The Dark Master growled, not comprehending how the tables could've turned so quickly.

"Bakura..." Rainbow Dash started, speaking directly to the malevolent spirit as she joined her friends once again. "We all came here to be there for our friend when he needed us!" All of the girls saw flashes of Ryou in their minds, his warm eyes and soft smile being enough to fill all of them with a great resolve.

As she continued, Rainbow Dash pointed her sword up at the red sky, knowing full well that Bakura could see her, unflinching determination in her violet eyes. "But you didn't just take advantage of us, but of Ryou too! Now it's payback time!"

Her words was enough to inspire her already determined friends, all of them gripping their weapons tightly as they glared up at the spirit.

"By working together we'll overcome you and turn everyone back to normal!" Twilight declared while raising her magic staff.

The sight of this was enough to motivate Sunset, as well, the girl more determined than ever to make things right with her white-haired friend. As her desire to accomplish this filled her entire being, she gave her opponent a scathing and willfull look. "Bakura, we'll show you and Zorc the power of our unity!"

The demon in human flesh only glared at her, though Sunset could see increasing worry in his dark eyes as she threw the two dice.

09

"Another critical!?" Bakura gasped, increasingly losing his compusre. "That can't be!"

"HAMMER TIME!" Applejack yelled out as a warcry, sprinting forward and delivering a devistating blow to Zorc's kneecap. The demon cried out in pain as he fell onto one knee.

"As foretold by MC Hammer!" Pinkie called cheerfully, basically bouncing where she stood. "Me next! Me next!"

"You're up, Pinkie!" Sunset told her with a confident smile as she threw the dice a third time. "Show him what you got!"

06

"TASTE THE THUNDER, FOTHERMUCKER!" Pinkie yelled in excitement as her magic gun fired a powerful thunder grenade attack. The bullet swiftly hit its target and struck true on the already wounded Zorc's chest, exploding in a thunderous ignition upon impact.

Bakura could only watch in stunned silence, his face and muscles twitching with anger. This mattered not to Sunset, all she cared about know was saving her friends, all of her friends!

"It's the elf-merchant's turn!" She declared as she cast the dice once more.

11

Not letting out a warcry of her own, Rarity simply gathered her courage and rushed towards Zorc with her elven speed, using her silver-like daggers to make two rather deep cuts in the Dark Master's right leg. As her weapons were elven forged, they naturally caused quite a bit of pain for a creature of darkness such as Zorc.

Applejack let out an impressed whistle. "Nice slicin' there, Rares!"

The fashionista gave the farm girl a grateful look, not being able to stop herself from doing a small hair-flip. "All in a day's work, darling."

Feeling that they were quite literally on a roll, Sunset smiled as she threw her pair of dice a fifth time. "Now it's the elf-sorceress Twilight's follow-up attack!"

13

Twilight felt how magic began to well up within her very being. It was something which she had only experienced once before during the Friendship Games. Only this time, the magic did not overwhelm or control her. Instead, she was controlling the magic. Besides, her analytical mind was far too focused on defeating Zorc as swiftly as possible to put much more thought into it.

As such, she raised her magic staff and concentrated. Before she knew it, a great, light blue blast of magic was fired and hit Zorc right in the middle of his chest, making the demon king once again howl in pain.

"Wooo!" Rainbow Dash cheered her on. "Go Twilight! Show that freak who's boss!"

With the game masters, Sunset was watching all of this with a smile on her face, while her opponent was audibly seething.

'D-Damn her!' Bakura cursed the fiery-haired girl mentally, his dark eyes wild with rage. He was gnashing his teeth so hard that one might've thought that they would break. 'How does Shimmer keep getting criticals!? She can't be cheating!'

Almost as if she could read the spirit's mind, she called out to him, "Bakura! If you're wondering how I get so good results, it's not that hard to figure out!" Sunset then raised a clenched fist, as if to demonstrate her point. "It's because of my friends! The knowledge that we all stand united to stop you and bring Ryou back is more than enough! Just like fear ensures a bad roll, faith will ensure a good one!"

The demon in human flesh simply scoffed at this, finding her reasoning to be one of the most ridiculous things he had ever heard and he had been alive for EONS! And yet, it did nothing to calm his increasing rage.

Figuring that she shouldn't expect to get any response from Bakura, Sunset grabbed a hold and threw the dice for one final time. "Now for the finisher! The beast tamer attacks!"

08

Fluttershy, despite never being one for violence, was fueled by the resolve fo her and her friends. As such, she pointed at the pained figure of Zorc. Poki and Pau both understood what she meant, and before anyone could say anything, the two cute creatures conjured a volley of big fireballs which all struck true. Zorc cried out in pain for a sixth time before going silent as the smoke from the fire enveloped him.

"Woah!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, she and the others looking amazed. "Who knew those cute little guys had that kinda firepower!?"

"Wonderful job, you two!" Fluttershy praised her two magical companions as she pet them. "We did it!"

"Fluttershy's right!" A smile spread across Twilight's face as she realized this. "If not totally defeated, then Zorc should at least be almost out of Hit Points by now! We're so close!"

"You all did great, girls!" Sunset praised, but her levity was quickly forgotten once she saw that Bakura was no longer seething in helpless anger. No no, he was grinning.

"Now what's so funny!?" The fiery-haired girl demanded, feeling unwelcome tredipation and fear entering her mind once more. Bakura didn't answer her, instead he just started to chuckle lightly. But that very same chuckle quickly turned into a dark titter, then a laugh, then a full on maniacal cackle.

"The greatest fools are the ones who never notice that they are digging their own graves!" He told her with a twisted grin, and it was enough to make Sunset feel all sorts of unease. As if sensing her worries, Bakura then gestured eagerly towards the game board. "Take a good look and find out!"

Sunset did just that, her green eyes intently watching the smoke which was slowly clearing away. But once it did, they made a terrifying discovery. For once the smoke began to fade, a tall, sinister, and above all familiar silhouette was making itself known to the adventurers.

"Wha... What!?" Sunset could only mutter in horror and disbelief as the smoke cleared completely, revealing the proud and still standing Dark Master Zorc, looking as if the past few attacks hadn't affected him in the slightest. His sickly yellow eyes were fixed on the adventurers, and they looked angrier and more evil than ever.

"I don't understand!" Rainbow Dash cried out in frustration and a bit of fear, her and the others starting to back away from the demon king. "We threw everything we had at him! How is he still standing!?"

All of their attention was then siezed by Bakura who was not only laughing deeper and harder than ever before, but also looking maniacally extatic as he adressed them all with a sinister grin. "He is still standing because, despite your foolish friendship-speeches and wish to save my host, you are all mere level 1 adventurers! You have nowhere near the amount of experience needed to defeat a high-level character like Zorc!"

"No...!" The fiery-haired girl could only say in utter despair, watching with pained eyes as her friends cowered before the hulking presence of the Dark Master.

"The question is;" Bakura started, looking sadistically giddy at Sunset with his arms crossed. "Who will lose their soul to the shadows first? Any guesses?"

Sunset didn't respond to his provocation, an overwhelming and unwelcome feeling of helplessness starting to form in her gut. She stared hard at her friends' current predicament on the game board, trying desperatly to think of any possible way that they could defeat Zorc and save not only them, but the real Ryou as well.

Bakura saw her frustrated expression, and he delighted in the mortals' growing fear and despair. He had wished to be rid of them all since his host first met them, and now he would at long last be able to do it!

"Come on, it's a game!" He taunted Sunset with a wicked smile, feeling that victory was soon within his grasp. "You should try to have some fun!"

The spirit of the ring cackled maniacally, his sinister laugh echoing torturously within the minds of the Rainbooms.