Equestria Ends With You

by Lunat1c

Rating: teen
Tags: Crossover, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Rainbow Dash, Original Character, Fluttershy, Adventure
Length: 5420

Who said the Reaper's Game was only for humans?

Twilight Sparkle finds herself in the Reaper's Game. Why is she here? And why can't she remember anything other than waking up here? Read the tale unfold as Twilight tries to find not only answers, but tries to find herself as well.

Published 2012-09-09 22:54:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-11-18 19:19:35 UTC

Chapter 1: Unseen

"And it was destined, that even the Sun and the Moon bow down to the Noise yet to come, and only the power of Six could overcome the threat to every single plane of existence, a threat to every single universe which existed, exists or will exist."
~Prophesies of Star Swirl the Bearded, 13 BCL

====================Begin Day One====================

With naught but a book in hoof, the Lavender coloured pony slowly regained her senses. Twilight Sparkle slowly shook her head, trying to get up. She was in the middle of the Ponyville town centre, with busy ponies bustling by, carrying out their daily activities.

"What... Where... How..." Thoughts raced through Twilight's mind as her purple eyes settled slowly on the book she had been holding. The title was unreadable, worn off from what seems to be age. "Great", Twilight grumbled as her mind was bombarded with a whole series of new questions. Exactly the opposite of what she needed.

Spotting a dark purple Earth pony, with a light rose striped mane and a cutie mark which seemed to depict 3 smiling sunflowers, Twilight called out: "Hey?" but to no avail. The mare walked on. Perhaps she hadn't heard her? Twilight walked closer to the mare, calling out once again, in a louder tone. "Hello?" This time she should've heard it for sure. Twilight was more than close enough, just a few strides back from the pony, yet she still got no response. Surely she wasn't ignoring her? Twilight walked closer and closer to the mare, rapidly calling out her name, until she was side by side with her. Twilight waved her hooves in front of the pony's face, made funny gestures, even did a small dance in front of her. How odd. The pony hadn't mad the slightest reaction to her, as if she couldn't see or hear Twilight there, or at least wasn't letting it on, but that was unlike her. Twilight gave up on the pony, and turned to the mysterious book she had. She didn't remember having this book... in fact, she didn't remember anything from the point where she woke up.

Trying to remember what happened, she tried to recall everything she knew. She was Twilight Sparkle. She was Princess Celestia's student, and she was living in Ponyville, studying... what? She couldn't remember. Try as she may, there were many different gaps in her memory which seemed to be... plain missing. Turning her attention back to the book, Twilight sat down and did what she did best: Read!

As she opened the book, she dropped a small pin, perhaps which was stuck in the book, onto the ground. As soon as she touched the pin, she was engulfed by something she had never felt before. It was as if a coursing river of lava had flowed from the pin, and straight through her body. Holding her head in agony, Twilight dropped the books and her mind was taken over.

"I wonder what's she's doing right now?"

"I'm late! I'mlateI'mlateI'mlateI'mlate..."

"This cupcake is delicious! Nomonomonom"

Voices.

"What's taking him so long?"

"She better find it."

Every last part of her had been consumed by these voices... She would do anything to stop it. Flailing her hooves in panic, Twilight dropped the pin. The world seemed to in slow motion, as the pin slowly flipped to the ground, the voices stopping as quickly as they came.

She felt as though her mind had reached out, touching the very souls of the other ponies. Voices. They echoed in her mind, sounding exactly like the ponies in the area. "Had I... read their minds?" Twilight said to nobody but herself. At least she thought so. She jumped as a seemingly blank page sprung up with the words "Heh. I see you found out how to use the player pin."

"Who... who are you? " Twilight squealed as she backed away from the book, which was still laying on the ground, open on the page.

"Relax, Twilight. I'm not going to hurt you, I'm here to help." Twilight yelped again, now confident that the words on the book were no trick of the light.

"Wha-but that's not possible!"

"And hearing the other ponies thoughts was? Come on, Twilight. Don't be naive now." replied the book.

After calming down, Twilight said "Alright then. But first things first: How do you know my name, and who are you?" "Woah there Twilight, I thought you said first things first. And the first thing to do would be for you to go find somebod-pony to make a pact with. If you'd kindly turn the page so we can continue this conver-"

The text on the book had reached the end of the page. Following the book's advice, Twilight sat down on her haunches and reached a hoof to turn the page. "ation. Thank you, good to see you can still follow some basic instructions, hehe. Anyhow, go make a friend. If you'll flip to the back of the book, you'll find a couple of pins which I have laid for you to use. You'll discover what they do once you find a friend to make a pact with. Just both say you accept, and the rest will be taken care of."

"How do I even know I can trust you?" retorted Twilight. "You're just a book, after all."

The book's pages made some rustling noise, almost as if it were chuckling. "Oh dear, Twilight. You have much to learn, and you're right, you have no reason to trust me. But be honest with yourself, who else is there to trust right now? I have a little business to take care of. Go find a friend to pact with, and then we'll talk." The book replied, as the words stopped appearing. Twilight sighed and closed the book, frustrated at how she didn't know what in Equestria was happening. She trotted off, partly listening to the book's advice, and partly to find somepony who would yield more answers, and perhaps in a less riddling way.

Thanks for reading! Be sure to comment, and just so you know, not having played the game this story is based on (The World Ends With You) doesn't mean you can't enjoy the story! Treat anything you don't understand as you would a normal story: Something that is intentionally mysterious. Don't worry, I'm looking out for you!

Chapter 2: Contact

"Nothing is fixed. One's destiny is determined by their decisions and actions, and theirs only.”

Twilight trotted down the road. So far, no sign of any pony who could see her. She sighed, opening the book, about to ask it for help, when suddenly a flash of dark crimson appeared on the pavement in front of her. Crimson flames seemed to burn through thin air, leaving behind a plain scroll behind, as if the opposite of burning something. Cautiously, Twilight stuck her pin on the book's back cover, and reached out towards the partially rolled up scroll. Written in plain black writing, were the words

"You have 60 minutes to get to Sugarcube Corner. Failure will result in erasure. ~The Reapers"
Twilight winced with pain, as if a needle had been stuck into her hoof the moment she had finished reading the scroll. Looking at the hurt area, Twilight noticed some red digits, reading

59:56...59:55...59:54

60 minutes... Counting down... Twilight decided the logical explanation was that this was a timer, showing how long she had left. Erasure... The Reapers... Neither of these sounded even remotely pleasing to her. Erasure. What did they mean by erasure? Didn't sound at all pleasant to her, and the day's been weird enough.

Twilight's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a ribbit behind her. Twirling around, she saw what seemed to be... Half frog, and half artwork? Several frog-like things with their bottom half which seemed to be made up of graffiti-style art were bounding towards her. Frozen in shock at the sight of these, Twilight wasn't able to move, until the leading frog at the front of the pack bared a set of vicious drawn spikes underneath its peculiar drawn legs. Drawing upon her magic, Twilight readied a bolt of energy. After a second, she released it at the closest frog, but to no success, the shot passing through the frog like it was nothing.

Now panicking, Twilight turned around and galloped away, feeling a rustling sound on the book she was still holding. Levitating it with magic, the book opened of its own accord and displayed but 3 words:

MAKE A PACT

Staring around wildly, Twilight locked eyes with a dark purple stallion, being chased by none other than another pack of the creatures chasing her. A moment passed, their eyes conveying understanding.

"Say I accept your pact!" screamed Twilight. "I accept!" came the reply. The two unicorns bounding towards each other were engulfed in a thin blue light. Rising up into the air, Twilight felt a connection to the pony she had just 'made a pact' with. She'll have to question the book about this later, but for now, there seems to be no choice.

Readying another bolt of magic, Twilight pointed her horn straight at the nearest frog. Again, the magic sailed through harmlessly. Hurriedly turning to the book again, it flew open and a couple more pins tumbled out.

Each pin had a simple design on it, depicting specific items. Levitating one with flames on it, Twilight realised what they were meant for. Focusing all her power on that one pin, Twilight channelled her magic through the pin. She felt a mental connection suddenly appear from the pin, to her. Remembering the flames, she did what she thought best. Directing the power flowing from the pin in front of her, the land in front of her started to burn with a malevolent flame. Hungry, devouring flames covered the pavement around the frogs. The frogs let out a piercing screech as they were consumed by the flames, and burst into waves of static.

Looking to her right, she saw the stallion levitating another of the pins which had fell out of the book, this one showing a blue-green bolt of energy. The Stallion stood his ground, as the frogs bounded towards him. Twilight felt a tinge of nervousness. Perhaps he wasn’t as fast as she was, and didn’t know how to use it? Twilight again focused her power on the red pin with flames and attempted to bring up more flames to defend him, but nothing happened. Staring at the pin, it seemed like all the colour had drained out of it, though it was slowly filling back up.

Too slowly.

The Stallion had also seemed to be panicking, since he didn’t know how to use the pin like she had thought. Acting quickly, Twilight levitated a different pin, this one with a simple white glove as a design, though it still retained all the colour in it, and Twilight could feel a certain sensation pulsing out from it. Concentrating her mind on this one, she felt a sudden connection to it, as had happened with the flames. She opened her eyes, but nothing seemed to happen. Also panicking, Twilight was suddenly distracted by a crashing noise, a stand knocked over by a frog which had bounded into it. Her attention shifting to the stand, it started to levitate. She smiled, suddenly knowing what the pin was for.

The Stallion stood there, fear and panic rooting him to the spot. He saw the frogs… the devilish frogs getting closer, and closer, and making a final leap…

Twilight psychically threw the stand at the noise, knocking them out of the way, into the wall, though not enough to defeat them, though it was enough to break the stallion out of his fright. With the terror thrown away, the stallion was able to concentrate properly. After a few moments of deep thought, he lifted his hoof and threw bolts of energy, just like on the pin at the frogs. They hit the frogs, making small explosions as they hit, each leaving an image of static as they were defeated.
Stunned by the sudden disappearance of the rush from the fight,

Twilight stood on the spot, trying to catch her breath back. Feeling a comforting hoof on her shoulder, Twilight and turned around, to see the stallion she had paired up with.

He was a deep midnight purple, with strange swirling and runic patterns decorating his hooves and horn. He stated at Twilight, with eyes of dark blue, suiting his coat perfectly. His mane hung over his head, half covering one of his eyes, and flowing down over his neck and his back, into his tail. It was made up of many shades of dark purple and blue, and 2 strange strands of shady green running down in a DNA-spiral fashion.

Looking at her hoof, they still had 40 minutes to make their way to Sugarcube Corner, so they might as well take some time to get to know each other, since they were probably going to be together for a while.

"So, what's your name?" Twilight asked.

"...my name is Aura. Dawn Aura."

A/N Thanks for reading, and thanks for all the comments. I certainly wasn't expecting quite so many. Rest assured, I now know that there is another TWEWY FimFiction, and I read the first and last bits of it. (The Reaper's Game, I believe. If it isn't this one, let me know) I haven't read the entirety, as I want this story to come entirely from myself, but seeing the first and last bit leads me to believe that the two stories will be very different. Very different indeed. Again, thanks for reading. Laters.

Please Comment!

Chapter 3: Answers

Chapter 3: Answers

"Death is closer than you think.”

Twilight Sparkle walked down the pavement with Dawn. "Well, nice to meet you, Dawn. My name is Twilight Sparkle, but you can call me Twilight."

"So, Twilight. Getting straight to business, what the hay is happening here?" Dawn questioned, with a raised eyebrow."

" To be honest, I have clue. I actually have no idea what has happened up to waking up on the streets here..." Replied Twilight.

"Well, what do you remember from before that?"

"I..." Twilight trailed off "I don't know. I can't remember anything before waking up here. Has the same thing happened to you?"

"Well, I also woke up here on the streets, with this on me" Dawn motioned towards a small saddlebag "Unfortunately, it was empty. Do you have any idea what's going on?"

Twilight smiled "Well, I woke up with something that seems more useful than your saddlebag."

"And what might that be?"

Twilight pulled out the book. Opening it, she could see a sentence already on the page.

"So, I see you found your little friend, and quite a bit more than that, hehe."

Dawn looked confused, tilting his head towards Twilight.

"Don't worry about that, it tends to speak like that." Twilight assured him.

"Speak?" Dawn replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh.. I'm not sure how to explain this.." Twilight looked at the book for help.

Ink began to form on the book, as if there were an invisible pen writing.

..."BOO"

Seemingly unfazed by this formation of ink, Dawn poked the book in response.

"Hey, not surprised?" Appeared on the book.

"I've seen and done enough weird things today, give me a break." Sighed a slightly annoyed Dusk.

"Aww, you're no fun!"

Interrupting their conversation, Twilight butted in. "Well, book. We'd like some answers, please."

"Hey! You can call me something other than Book!"

"What, then?"

"Your Superiority would suffice."

"Book then." Laughed a smiling Dawn, looking over at Twilight stifling a giggle.

A small patch of ink appeared on the other side of the page, as if somebody had knocked over an ink pot, but quickly dried up.

"How about Ben." Simply stated the book.

Twilight nodded. "Sounds fair enough. So, answers?"

"There are no answers if there are no questions~"

"Ergh, fine. Why did we wake up on the street?" Asked Twilight, becoming a little impatient.

"Simple. You two are dead."

Twilight and Dawn stopped dead in their tracks.

"D... Dead?" Stuttered a distraught Dawn.

"Th... That... What?" Stuttered Twilight, following after Dawn's speech.

"You know, dead? Deceased? Lifeless? Departed? Fallen? Game Over? Well, more like Game Begin but you know what I mean"

"That's not possible!" exclaimed Dawn.

"I know, we're right here. It's illogical." Twilight said.

"But Twilight... The entire situation we're in is completely illogical!"

"Argh! What is going on?"

The confused pair looked into space for a while, sat on their haunches, trying to figure out this seemingly unexplainable predicament.

Ben made a loud rustling sound. "Well, if you two are quite done uselessly staring into space, I've prepared some 'answers' for you. Feel free to turn over when you feel like it."

He sat on the rooftops, watching the pair converse. Interesting pair, this one. He’d have to keep an eye out for them. He had seen them fight with that noise, and they certainly had potential. And that book they seemed to be communicating with. That doesn’t seem right at all, and he was sure he’d seen pins come out of it. and the energy pulsing from them… the mare in particular. He’d never seen anyone with quite the same potential power as she seems to be exhibiting. But no matter.
He would strike when the time is right… He would surely get some recognition for this.
Surely.

Twilight flipped over the page, coming face to face with a wall of text. He certainly had ‘prepared’ some answers for them.

The Reaper’s Game – A Brief Overview
~By your Supreme Overlord
The Reapers' Game is a one-week competition in which the dead may participate. To enter in the game every player has to pay an 'entry fee', that is taken by the conductor, one who supervises the games. Each player is given a player pin, as a sign of their participation and entry into the Reaper’s Game. The player pin allows the holder to read the mind of anypony not carrying a player pin (with some exceptions), an ability called "Scanning". The Reaper’s Game happens on a different plane of existence to the living, though both can be observed by one playing the Reaper’s Game, which exists on one called the Underground, whereas the living exist on a parallel plane called the Realground.

“Dead… One week… Scanning…” Twilight processed out loud.

“Yes…” Dawn pondered “I guess that would explain some things about our situation. We definitely need to know more, but I think that can wait until later.”

Approaching Sugarcube Corner, the pair put Ben in Dawn’s saddlebag, and trotted on.
“We made it!” Dawn exclaimed.

Looking down at their hooves, the timer vanished. Sharing a hi-hoof, Dawn and Twilight stood there, waiting for something to happen.

“Awkward…” Dawn said out loud.

Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but was cut short by Dawn’s body falling onto her.

“Dawn, wh-“ Twilight started as she fell, but started to black out, the darkness drawing into her vision.

Smiling, the reaper sat in the same position.

“Let day two begin.”

Thanks again for reading! Be sure to comment and say what you like (Or more likely) dislike about the story. Don't be shy!

Oh, and just to clear something up. It doesn't really matter if you've played The World Ends With You (Other than if you haven't, you're missing out on a great game), and if you haven't, you'll probably be confused by some events throughout the chapter. But don't worry, treat it like any mystery that you might read in a story: One that will be explained later.

Peace.

Chapter 4: Multiple

"Your true friends will always be there for you"

Her rainbow streaked hair flailed about, as the bright cyan Pegasus shook the darkness from her vision.

"Urgh... My head..." Rainbow Dash moaned, groggily.

Looking around, she was alone, in front of the statue of Hachipon in Ponyville. Stretching out her wings, she decided to look around the area, to see if anypony was here.

Turning the corner into the Ponyville crossing in front of the old library, Rainbow felt a sudden tinge of Déjà-vu. The library... She never had any reason to go there, books weren't her thing. Except for secretly borrowing Daring Do, but that was an exception, because Daring Do is awesome.

Even so, she never really went to the library: she always lost the book and had to pay a stupid late fee to the librarian, what's-her-face... No matter.

The crossing seemed normal enough, ponies coming and going this and that way, carrying out whatever business they might have. About to ask a pony if anything strange had happened, she heard a quiet, shy voice from the crossing.

"Hello? Excuse me... oh, you're busy?... That's okay... Maybe some other time?... Hi?... Anypony?"

Looking at the source of the sound, Rainbow saw a timid-looking yellow pony trying to talk to somepony from the croud, but failing miserably.

Rainbow's inspection of the pony was suddenly cut short by a scroll appearing in front of her, burning its way through the air into existence.

Opening the scroll, she read:
"You have 60 minutes to get to Sugarcube Corner. Failure will result in erasure. ~The Reapers PS. Make a pact."

Yelping, Rainbow received an unwelcome surprise by a sharp pain in her hoof. Looking down at it, she saw what was like a clock, counting down from 60:00 in red.

"You... You felt it too?"

Looking up, Rainbow noticed the yellow mare walking over to her, looking down, her long pink mane covered half of her face, and one of her eyes.

"Yeah, what's up with that? And why was everypony ignoring you?"

"I don't know... And I'm sure they're just busy..." shied away the butter-coloured pony.

"Well, I'm not so sure of that." Rainbow puffed up, walking over to a group of ponies that were ignoring the other pony earlier.

"Hey you!" She shouted out. "Don't you know it's rude to ignore somepony?"

Ignoring her, the group of ponies chatted on.

Preparing herself for an outburst, Rainbow Dash was suddenly cut off by a small scream from behind.

Whirling around, Rainbow saw the yellow pony being assaulted by strange frog-like beings. With legs in the style of DRAG, a legendary Ponyville graffiti artist, she quickly rushed to the aid of the seemingly helpless pony.

Flapping her wings, Rainbow dashed with a hoof outstretched, looking to hit the closest frog.

Instead of having the desired effect, her hoof passed straight through the frog, who immediately lashed back at her forelegs, cutting a small gash across it.

Pulling back slightly, Rainbow desperately tried to think of a solution. How were you meant to fight something you couldn't touch?

Her mind floated back to the letter she had received earlier... pact.. What was that again? Oh! It must be like in Daring Do and the Crimson Pact! She had to make a partnership with somepony, somepony who wasn't ignoring her...

Shouting out, Rainbow exclaimed "You have to make a pact with me!"

"Oh... Okay..." The yellow pony desperately said, running away from the malevolent frog-like beings.

Being engulfed in a comforting blue light, Rainbow Dash punched the frog taking another leap at her, this time her hoof making a successful connection.

“YES!” she screamed in victory, making the entire square alight with rainbow colours as she dashed around the frogs, knocking them to and fro.

Stopping in front of the yellow pony in a heroic pose, she regarded the rewards of her fight with a smile. In place of the frogs, there was but static left there, quickly fading away into thin air.

Turning around, she saw the poor yellow pony trembling in place, on the ground.

"Are you alright?" Rainbow Dash asked, taking on a more caring tone, reaching her hoof down towards the yellow pony.

After hesitating a little, the quivering pony reached out her hoof and let Rainbow gently pull her up back to her hooves.

"I'm Rainbow Dash" Rainbow stood triumphantly, "What's your name?"

"Flu..." The yellow pony stuttered "Fluttershy..."

"Well, Fluttershy. Good to see you"

Far away, two voices talked.

Who are they?
Time will tell.

What are they doing?
Their speech will tell.

"Something is wrong. These two ponies... they did not emit the same energy as the rest of the players. Their souls... felt rather akin to those of the energy of those in the Real Ground, the energy only the living possess."

"Interesting. Tell me, how did they react to the their first use of scanning?"

"They did not. I did not even see the possession of a player's pin on these two ponies."

...
"Do you think they're illegally in the game?"

"Perhaps. But larger things seem to be afoot."

"Larger things? What may those be?"

"Twilight Sparkle has joined the game. The one pony who possesses the most potent magic in the history of her land, Equestria has joined. Something tells me that one such as her should not have died by any normal means."

"Twilight Sparkle, the wielder of the harmonic element of Magic?"

"Aye."

"Things have been going wrong on Earth, correct?"

"Indeed they have, a player has... asserted some dominance, erasing a Conductor, and many high ranking reapers."

"...I think the prophecies are coming true."

"You think so?"

"...we must have her before they can. Understand that?"

"Of course."

"Oh, and those other ponies?"

"Yes?"

"Erase them."

"Oh!" Fluttershy exclaimed, with some enthusiasm. Looking down at their hooves, the timers disappeared.

"Wait a second, we haven't got to suga..." Rainbow stopped mid-sentence, falling over.

"Rainbow Dash? What hap-" Fluttershy started, before meeting the same fate as Rainbow Dash.

====================End Day One====================

Chapter 5: Conditions

"A new day dawns; what will happen may be destined, but what you choose to do with it is up to you"

====================Begin Day Two====================

"Nngh..." moaned Twilight as the complete darkness from her vision was cleared.

She could make out... a tunnel? Artwork?

Looking over to her right, Twilight could see a pony standing, staring into space.

"Dawn?" She called out.

Surprised, the other pony flinched, before calming and shifting to face her.
"T..Twilight, don't startle me like that!"

(What's up with him?) Twilight thought to herself.

"Is there something wrong, Twilight?"

"Uh, where exactly are we?"

"Oh, I think this is the underpass by Ponyville Train Station"

(Strange... How did we get here?)

Twilight's thoughts were quickly interrupted by the arrival of a scroll, again burning its way into existence right in front of her. Finishing its dramatic appearance, the scroll fell on the ground, as did the gazes of Twilight and Dawn as they again experienced a slight shock in their hooves.

"Timer's back" Dawn said, picking up the scroll and reading it:

"Set the cursed statue free. You have 60 minutes. Fail, and face erasure.
~The Reapers"

"Erasure... they can't be serious?" Twilight said, rubbing her hoof a little.

"You saw what we did to those frogs, if we don't finish the mission, we'll be erased just like them!"

(Sounds illogical... but... maybe not completely.)

"So... statue..." started Dawn, focusing on their immediate problem at hand.

(We did erase those frogs...)

"They must be talking about the statue of Hachipo in the town square!"

(How did we even get here anyway?)

"But then what's the curse? ...Twilight?"

(I remember us passing out, maybe somepony dragged us here?)

"Twilight!" Dawn exclaimed. "Try and pay attention, please."

"..." Twilight looked at Dawn, not sure what to make of the situation.

"TWILIGHT!" Dawn shouted, breaking her trance.

"..sorry, Dawn. Kind of drifted off a little there. Anyway, how do we get started?"

"Time to go find Hachipo!"

Starting off at a brisk trot, Twilight and Dawn started their way to the Ponyville Town Square.

((That guy...)) Twilight stopped for a moment, looking at a shady pony in a red hoodie. ((Where have I seen him before?))

"Twilight, c'mon!"

((...))

"Twilight, if you do-ARGH!" Dawn's sentence was cut off short, as he recoiled from hitting a seemingly invisible object.

Twilight stared in amazement, as the area of impact created a blue hexagon image, quickly fading and radiating out to reveal a wall, made up of similar blue neon hexagons, which then faded from sight.

"A wall?" Twilight pondered, turning the notion around in her mind.

"So we're trapped in here?" Dawn panicked, looking around quickly, as if searching for a solution. "We'll never finish the mission now!"

"Why not?" Twilight questioned.

"Because Hachipone is that way."

((...we need to get through.)) Twilight thought to herself, letting her mind wander, until she again fixated on the pony in the red hoodie.

"Twilight, what are you looking at?" Dawn followed her gaze, also staring at the pony in red. "That pony, you know him?"

((...who is he? He's just standing there. Perhaps I should try reading his mind.))

"I'm going to try to read him." Twilight said.

Clutching onto her player pin and reaching out with her mind, Twilight explored the darkness and emptiness of the underpass. The pony in red, she felt a spark there, a presence. But she couldn't read him. Feel him, certainly. But read him? No. She could also feel something else there as well, something... unpleasant. Unnerved by this feeling, she backed out.

"...hmph." Twilight said. "I can't read him.. maybe the rules have changed?"

"MaybeeeEEE!" Dawn replied, with a distressed look taking over his face.

"What's wrong?" Twilight exclaimed, alarmed.

"He.. he's coming right towards us!" Dawn said, backing away slightly.

"You." The pony in red simply stated. "Scan and erase all noise in this area."

"What are you talking about?" Dawn asked, seeing he didn't mean harm to them. "I don't see any noise here!"

Turning away, the pony in red simply said "The world is more than what you see.", trotting back into his original place, and resuming his silent stance.

((He's strange... and definitely part of the game.)) Twilight thought.

"He's gone.." Dawn said.

((Perhaps his kind can't be scanned? A master of the game, perhaps?))

"More than what you see, huh?"

((These may be the conditions to pass that wall. That 'other' presence that I felt while scanning, could that be the noise?))

"Hey." Twilight said. "Let's erase the noise."

"But they're not here!" Dawn again exclaimed.

"Yes they are, we have to scan for them." Twilight explained.

"You think?... Let's try it."

Both clutching their player pins in their hands, they opened their minds. Feeling around, Twilight felt that strange presence again. She could see a red symbol, with her mind's eye. Focusing on it, she smiled.

"Ready?" She simply asked, not waiting for a response before dragging it in.

Opening her eyes, she reached for a pin. Seeing the frogs once again, her hoof landed on a pin. Bringing it into view, it was grey, with a crescent arc depicted on it.

Feeling a certain braveness, she focused on the pin, seeing a certain shine appear under her hoof. Knowing what this must mean, she smiled, charging at the frogs.

3 of them, there were. The first jumping at her, she quickly sidestepped it, lashing out with a slash of her hoof, making a wide silver arc with her hoof. Needless to say, the frog never made it back to the ground.

Turning around, Twilight narrowly escaped being hit by another frog, stumbling backwards. Having an small advantage in numbers, the other frog jumped at her, its spiked feet kicking off her leg. Yelling out, Twiliight slashed at it, making it disappear into a field of static. Turning around to face the other, she was about to strike, but it suddenly disappeared, from some unknown source. Blinking, she felt herself slipping back into a normal state, with Dawn by her side.

The neon blue hexagons, suddenly blinking and flashing out, provided the pair with the route they needed.

Smiling at each other, they walked onwards, victorious.

Grinning, the reaper smiled to himself, waiting patiently.
Not bad.. not bad at all. These two would make for some lovely fame. The more they blossom, the harder they will fall, and the more recognition he would get for erasing them.
He would be an officer in no time.

Then he would put his plan into action.

Proofread by Deathstrider