Alicorn Battle:
Chapter three:
Let the Games Begin
“Shining? What are you doing here?” Twilight shouted in disbelief.
“Big Mac…? Ah thought ya had the day off?” Applejack asked, feeling just as confused as the unicorn.
“Wait…what’s Lightening Dust doing here?” Rainbow asked angrily.
“Oh my…Ms. Cherilee, how did you get mix up in all of this?” Rarity asked curiously.
“Princess Cadence’s here too?” Fluttershy said in her quiet voice.
“And…I don’t know you, but I want to give you a big hug!” Pinkie said happily.
Twilight and friends couldn’t help but gawk at the ponies that the younger princess had chosen. The studious unicorn was the first to recover and began to study their opponents for this game. They were dressed in similar outfits that Twilight and her friends had, only with minor differences. The biggest difference was the colors; it was a mix of navy blue and blackish blue.
Twilight frown slightly as she saw her brother and notice his outfit was different then her. He still had the one-piece suit, and robes, but he has had light armor under the robe, and he had a sword instead of a ring, like Twilight.
[I see my sister had chosen Shining Armor to be her stagiest] Princess Celestia said through thought speak.
[What’s the difference between a tactician and a stagiest?] Twilight asked curiously.
The studious unicorn looked at her mentor curiously, and in turn the older princess smiled softly.
[Normally...not much. But in this game, the stagiest use strength instead of magical might] Celestia explained kindly.
Twilight nodded and turned her attention back to Princess Luna’s players, studying them. Big Mac was obviously the warrior; he had the same armor as his sister, only without a helmet, and a double bladed ax in place of a sword. He still had the piece of hay in his mouth and seems too unaffected by all that was going on around him.
Next to him was the pony known as Lightening Dust, who wore the outfit of the runner. Twilight frown slightly as she thought about this Pegasus pony. She didn’t know that much about the young flyer, except for what Rainbow Dash told her, and what she had seen during her quick visit to the Wonderbot academy. Her rainbow mane friend had once said that this Pegasus was reckless, and had nearly caused several injuries with her thoughtless moves.
Twilight made a mental note to keep an eye on that one, as she looked at the teacher from Ponyville. Ms Cherilee was dressed in the outfit of the trapper, and the only difference between her and Rarity, was the grabbing tools on her front hooves. Twilight noticed that the teacher looked a little nervous, but also looking at Lightening Dust for some reason. Next to the teacher was Cadence, another alicorn and the niece of the princesses. She was dressed in the outfit of the healer, and had a horn ring in place of a staff and grabbing tools.
Twilight frown as gaze turned to the final member of Princess Luna’s makeshift team. He was one of the lunar princess’s unicorn guards, but she wasn’t familiar with him. It was the outfit the guard was wearing that was so eye catching, however. It was full body armor, bucker then the armor worn by a warrior, and didn’t look like the pony wearing it could move very well. The pony also wielded a long spear and a shield that could easily cover two ponies.
[That’s the Guard role] Celestia said, answering her student’s unasked question. [It has the highest defense in the entire game at 40, but the lowest stepping ability at 2]
Twilight gave her mentor a sideway gaze and nodded. While she may not understand the game fully, she trusted her teacher completely. She looked back at Princess Luna and her players, waiting patiently for the game to begin.
“Now before we begin my little ponies!” Celestia said, clearly talking to the entire group and not just Twilight and her friends. “Please look at the spaces in front of you!”
The 11 ponies and one princess did as they were told, and looked at the ground. The two group frown as they looked at the A and I printed on the spaces around them. The groups looked at their respective commanders, waiting for one of them to speak.
“The board is divided in two ways; attack and item!” Princess Luna said talking to all the players like her sister had done before. “Using your Stepping ability, you are able to move across the board however you want, but be warned, once you reached your limit, you can’t move any farther until your next turn.”
“When two players are facing each other or lands on an attack space, they would fight for a short period. Be warn when you land on an attack space on the opponent‘s side of the board, that pony‘s player would get the first strike,” Princess Celestia said, taking over for her sister. “When you land on an Item space, you gain a special item for a random number of turns. Now, are you ready, dear sister?”
“Yes sister!” Luna replied. The lunar princess took a deep breathe and with her sister, shouted, “COIN TOSS!!”
The two groups looked up when they saw a soft glow coming from above them. They all gasp and gawk when they saw a giant coin hovering above them. The coin was blank, unlike a bit, which sometimes had a sun on one side, and the moon on the other. Suddenly the groups heard a voice that ringed out from everywhere, scaring some of the ponies in the room.
“Who win will…the solar units or the Lunar Units, let found out!”
The group looked up again when they head a faint noise, and to their surprise, saw the coin began to spin, quickly gaining speed. Soon, the large object had gained enough speed that it gave the illusion like the coin wasn’t moving at all. The group then saw something really weird, a sun picture suddenly appeared on the coin, and then a moon picture replaced the sun when it span around. The groups realized what was happening and waited to see which group will go first.
Soon, the coin began to slow, loosing speed at a steady pace. Slower and slower it went, showing the sun, then moon, and back to the sun again. Finally, after what seems like a life time, the coin came to a full stop, and the picture facing the groups was…
“…Solar units has the first turn!!” the disembodied voice said. “Alicorn Battles…BEGAN!”
The entire board lit up in the units’ respective colors and a collected gasp sounded throughout the area. The light die down a second later, and Twilight felt different. It become clear that she can now move, as it was her ‘commander’s’ turn, and looked at the board in thought. She decided to do a little experiment, and took five steps forward, landing onto an item square. The square lit up and Twilight felt it magic surge into her.
“…Ice ring,” she spoke in a near trance-like state. “For next two turn, my spells has an ice effect added to them.”
Twilight blinked twice and then felt the item on her horn. It didn’t feel anything different from the item she had on before. Still, she didn’t know what kind of magic she was dealing with, and decided to let go for the time being. She tried to move, only to find herself root into place again. She frown a little as she looked around, like a game, her turned was over, and looked at her friends.
Applejack wasn’t far behind Twilight, about two squares behind. Pinkie, surprisingly, was next to her on an item square. She has something around her back, but what Twilight didn’t know. Rarity was close to Fluttershy, who was still behind the group, near the group’s starting point. She looked around and saw Rainbow Dash was the farthest, having gone over to the Lunar Units’ side. Twilight frown slightly when she saw that her friend had a large sword that had replaced her daggers and it seems to be dragging her down.
Suddenly, the studious unicorn felt something click in the back of her mind and realized that the princess was talking to her again.
[When you enter into items squares, you will get items for a period of time, best suited for your role. However, landing on I square on my opponent’s side will give you random item that might not be suited for your role. And please tell your friends that as well, my faithful student] Celestia explained calmly.
Twilight nodded and used her new skills to relay the message, and scared her friends slightly. She chuckled sheepishly and apologized and continued with her explanation. During her little explanation, she noticed that her brother and his group had moved, meaning it was the Lunar Units turn. Twilight watched as each member of the opposing team position themselves in a certain way. She quickly realized that they were working themselves into some sort of formation and studied the formation closely.
Shining Armor was in the lead, with Big Mac two squares behind him, and Lightening Dust behind him. Behind the reckless flyer was Ms. Cherilee and Cadence, and finally bearing up the rear was the guard pony. Twilight narrowed her eyes; something about this formation was eerily familiar to her. She gasped as she suddenly remembered where she sees this before.
She had once sneaked a peek at her brother’s cadet books, and this formation has been in one. If she remembered right, this formation was kind of decoy ploy. The lead member would act as bait and then use one of the ponies behind him when a foolish opposing force would charge, and they would get a nasty surprise afterwards.
[That must be what Shining is planning…] Twilight thought offhandedly.
[Remember, Twilight Sparkle, this is a game. What might work in real life, might not work here] Celestia said through their shared thought link, causing the unicorn to jump slightly. [Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you, my student]
Twilight looked at her teacher and nodded to tell her that she was fine. She then turned her attention to the board as she felt a surge go through her, and she figure that it was her group’s turn. She wasn’t willing to leave her friend hanging, so she moved closer to Rainbow, stopping on the Attack square next to her friend. She then looked behind her, and saw what her friends were doing. Applejack was a few spaces behind her, and Pinkie…well the pink party pony was sitting on her head, looking like she was getting quite the blood rush. Rarity and Fluttershy was the farthest behind still, about three squares behind Applejack.
Twilight felt another surge and looked as she watched her brother move closer to her. She noticed that he was wearing a cocky grin he wears when he plays game. Twilight couldn’t stop a sour frown from crossing her lips. He always wears that grin when they use to play games during their childhood days, like he was sure that he was always going to win. And that always drove Twilight up a wall.
“So, here we are again-Whoa!” Shining suddenly screamed as he stepped into the square and it lit up, filling both unicorn with a strange feeling. Suddenly, Shining’s magic flared up, and grabbed his sword, swinging at his sister, who looked on with shocked. “…I so sorry, Twily! I can’t stop myself!”
Twilight closed her eyes and waited for the weapon to strike her. She did indeed felt something, but it felt like something was going through her instead of cutting through her. Curious, she opened her eyes in time to see her brother’s weapons sail harmlessly through her. The two unicorns watched in stun silence as Twilight’s hit points appeared in front of her, and she lost 12 points. The lavender unicorn looked towards her teacher, hoping for some insight.
[I told you before, Twilight Sparkle, you are in no real harm here. You would just loose some of your life from your brother’s attack] the princess explained with a bit of humor in her voice.
Twilight nodded and filed this new piece of information away as she looked at Rainbow Dash. Lightening Dust had moved in for the attack, and the two started fighting. She flinched slightly when she saw the other flyer attack her friend in a near ruthless manner, chipping away at Rainbow’s life points. Twilight noticed that each blow only did about 2 to 3 points of damage and realized that the runner sacrifice power for speed, and in the end, Lightening Dust could only do 9 points of damage.
Suddenly the studious unicorn could feel the princess talking to her in the back of her mind.
[I also forgot to mention that you could also defend, which would reduce the damage you take at the cost of your defense points for a few turns] Celestia explained as Twilight listen carefully, taking in everything. [Now listen carefully, my faithful student…]
Twilight listened to her teacher’s plan, and once she was sure she knew it completely, she looked towards her friend. [...Applejack!! Rarity! Fluttershy! Listen up, the princess has a plan…]
After the unicorn told the plan to her friends, she took a few steps back, landing on an attack square on the Solar Units side. She looked behind her to see Applejack walked up to the others, and Rarity to something to her and Fluttershy. Once that was done, the shy pony walked timidly to Twilight. She then used her grabbers to grab her staff and wave it in front of Twilight. The studious unicorn felt a small tingling as her points were restored to her.
With that out of the way, she looked back at the only member of their group who was still behind enemy lines. Thankfully, Rainbow Dash had enough common sense to move back into the Solar Units’ side, and blew Lightening Dust a raspberry. Twilight just rolled her eyes and felt a shaft in the air as her group’s turned ended. The unicorn’s body tensed, and waited to see if the princess’s plan would work.
As the Lunar Unit’s turn began, Twilight noticed her brother giving Princess Luna a sideway gaze. Shinning nodded after a moment, and then began to move across board, quickly reaching and passing his sister. Twilight watched as the former captain stopped in front of Fluttershy and took out his sword. Like before, Shinning had little control over his actions as he brought his sword down on the timid pony.
Suddenly Fluttershy glow, and disappear, being replaced by no other then Applejack. The farming pony shouted ‘defend’ and Twilight watched as her friend began a quick sword fight with her brother. Twilight watch as her friend’s defense point and her brother’s attack points appeared above their heads. She watched as Applejack’s points were cut in half, and she suffers four points of damage. She also noticed that Shining took two points of damage himself and realized something.
So, by defending, you can also cause some damage to your opponent, Twilight thought, making sure to keep her thoughts to herself this time.
Twilight’s ear twitched as she heard a noise and she looked behind her. She frowned when she saw Lightening Dust once again attacking Rainbow. The golden mane mare was obvious still a little sore from the Wonderbots academy. This time, however Rainbow was ready, and defended. She only took 4 point of damage this time, and even managed to damage her rival, even if it was a single point. Twilight once again felt the air shift and felt control returned to her group’s side. She looked at her brother and noted how nervous he looked.
Probably just realized how much trouble he’s in, Twilight thought, starting to get a little cocky.
Twilight and Applejack then both stepped into the Attack square, and attacked. AJ took out her sword as Twilight began to charge up a spell, the ice ring on her horn causing the glow to turn an icy white. Together, the two mares attacked, and Shinning, in his panic, forget to defend, taking the attack full on. The group watched as Shining’s life points appeared and quickly want down to zero. The white unicorn gasped softly as light lit him up from below and he faded away a few seconds later.
The air suddenly settled into an uneasy silence. Everypony, even Lightening Dust gawk at the space where the former captain of the guard used to be, all were to stun to do anything. Twilight was the first to recovered, of course, and began looking around, starting to get a little hysterically. Her hysteria only grew when she couldn’t find her brother near by.
“SHHHINNING!!” she suddenly screamed.