Rainbow Dash woke with a start,
“Huh? Where the hay am am I?” Rainbow Dash looked around.
“This sure ain’t my cloud bed,” she paused and looked around again, “ Twilight! AJ! Fluttershy? Anypony?”
She noticed the two dice in front of her. One had a base of blue and the dots were all different colors of her rainbow mane. The other was the same but switched.
“Pinkie? Seriously, this isn’t funny anymore!” She finally noticed the blue square she was standing on and the satchel around her neck.She dumped the contents in front of her.
There was one help card, two clue cards, a card with her name and picture on it, a roll of parchment, a pencil and a chart type card, another die with a black side and a side with a star, twelve circles that had pictures and names on them, and a set of rules. She sighed and put everything back in her bag.
She looked back over at the map and saw, her friends names and her name! Twilight’s name came to her attention, if this map was correct, then she was just around twenty paces from her. She turned to the right, but ended up facing a wall.
“That’s weird, this place is starting to kinda look like a game,” She thought for a moment or two and gasped. She started searching her satchel. She found what she was looking for, the rules of this board game.
“Clue….I’ve played this game with Twilight! This is a giant board game!” Rainbow’s eyes widened.
“You’re a little slow for the fastest pegasus in Equestria,” a voice said.
She looked up from her set of rules.
Twilight was standing in front of her, but she looked like she was a ghost.
“Twi? Is that you? Do you know where we are?”Rainbow tried to step forward, but, couldn’t.
“And why can’t I move? Where are the rest of our friends? Why-” Twilight cut Rainbow off.
“Read the rules Rainbow, that might answer most of our questions, this looks like our only way of communicating over long distances. If you want to see somepony, then find their name on the map, it’ll open a kind of hologram line between the pony. I have no idea where we are, only that we’re all in some sorta giant version of Clue, I think we have to play our way out of this. Open communications with all of us, then we’ll find someway to work this out," Twilight said.
Rainbow opened her map and touched all of her friends names, they each did the same.
"Guy, I don't know how to break break this, but, we're in a giant game of clue, the rules say...
"Welcome to the game of clue, when you entered you lost all outside magic. You may earn some of your magic back if you earn a help card with wings or a spell help card. One of you isn't real, but doesn't know it, all of you have the same memories with the real one of you. You will have one clue card, you may not share this with your fellow players, or you will start from the beginning with whole new card and the crime will be completely different too, or it could be very possibly the same.
"You must find out which one of you isn't real and find the real one, find who took them, find what they used and where the crime was committed. Who ever solves the crime first wins the game" Rainbow looked at her friends, they each shared the same horror filled face. One of them, wasn't her friends, or she wasn't really her
"Continue, dear," Rarity said looking down.
"Memory cards, they will show you two possibilities that may or may not have happened today. They will only be visible to you and you only. You will have to choose the memory that seems the most familiar. Whatever you choose will be available for you to view again. If you want to play a memory card, then you have to go to a star marked square, put the card down and say, I want to play a memory card. You will choose and you will receive a help card in your satchel and that will mark the end of your turn.
"Movement, you roll all three dice, you will find the third in your bag. And you can move up to that many times in turn but you can also choose to use only a portion of that move. If you land on a star square, then you will receive a help card. The third die is for the wheels. Every turn, one of the wheels move one space to the left. If the wheel ends on a pair of horns, then you must take a dark card.
"Dark card, they are very nasty if you don't have the right help card, it will list the correct help cards at the bottom. You show Tirek the help card that will protect you, but beware, if you don't have the right help card, then he will steal some of your HP.
“Help cards, they can be extremely useful. In fact they are the only thing keeping you safe from Terik, the evil monster who is out to deplete your HP level. If your HP level depletes, then you will be ejected from the game. No questions asked and no do-overs. Your mystery cards will be put in Canterlot Castle.
"Canterlot Castle, if you want, you can take a look at the card in there. If the cards are in there, there's no way possible that they're guilty. Gather as much evidence as you can, and if you think you've solved it, then hurry to Canterlot Castle and report your suspicions to me. I will tell you if you're right or wrong. If you're right, then you win and all will be returned home.
“The oldest must roll first and will continue on to the youngest. Have fun- DH”
Rainbow ran things through her head, and widened her eyes at a realization.
“Girls, I think the only way out, is to play.”