Pinkie Pie hummed, feeling joyful as she hopped into Sugarcube Corner. Her saddle bag jingled full to the brim with all sorts of knick-knacks she got from her trip to the Sweets Meet Convention. Upon entering her favorite bakery, she saw the delightful and always welcome sight of her friends sitting around one of the big tables. “Hey girls, I’m back!” Pinkie cheered, beaming ear to ear.
Rarity was the first to wave at the party pony as she tilted her light purple hat. “Oh, nice to see you back, Pinkie. How was your trip?” Rarity asked with her usual curiosity.
“It was great!” PInkie happily replied, “So many different treats to try! It was so good, like super decker chocolate chip, oh and so many brownies, mmm so good!” She drooled licking her lips at the memories of the sugar-filled weekend.
“Sure sounds tasty.” Applejack said, sliding a strawberry milkshake towards Pinkie.
Pinkie sat next to Fluttershy eagerly sipping away at the drink. After a brief pause to breath, she blinked and looked over towards Spike who was currently sitting with the Cutie Mark Crusaders at the table adjacent to theirs. “Oh, almost forgot, I brought back something from the convention for Spike.”
“Oh really, what is it?!” Spike asked, turning around upon hearing his name and beaming with glee
Shuffling could be heard as Pinkie reached into her bag looking for the gift. After a few party favors were set on the table, she smiled and pulled out a glittering white box full of gem-encrusted brownies. “Ah, here we are, Gem brownies yum yum.”
Spike came over and took the box in his claws. “Sweet!” He exclaimed, his mouth watering at the gemstone filled pastries.
Pinkie patted Spike’s head before her focus was suddenly brought to the far corner of the room, as bells and whistles rang out. A large metal device, with lots of flashing lights, blinked rapidly, the words ‘high score’ displaying on the black screen on the backboard.
“Oh, when did we get a pinball machine?” Pinkie asked, hopping off her seat.
“It came in a few days after you left,” Rarity replied, “I really don’t get what’s so fun about it, but Sweetie Belle has been at it for the last hour or so.”
Sweetie Belle was indeed still at it, hopping up and down at her newest achievement “Yes, haha, I did it! High score!” As she celebrated, she did the expected action of staring at her blank flank expecting a cutie mark. She seemed deterred when none appeared, but moments later she cheered up again, skipping back over to her friends.
Pinkie listened to the Cutie Mark Crusaders talk amongst themselves as her gaze fell upon the machine as it blinked and flared like a wild carnival ride, its rhythm almost intoxicating. Something about it just drew her in and she just had to play it.
She bounced over to it to examine it further. The pinball machine was mostly coloured in shades of dark blues and blacks. On the dashboard, a large image of Nightmare Moon in all her horror and glory stared at her newest victim The sides were dotted with white paint mimicking stars of the night sky. Her eyes looked above Nightmare Moon’s head seeing the bold letters that read: “Battle of the Night.”
“Cool, mind if I try?” Pinkie asked Sweetie.
Sweetie Belle nodded from her table with a shrug. “Sure, I’m done anyway.” She beamed without a care in the world, giving a high hoof to Apple Bloom.
Pinkie pulled out a few bits from her mane and smiled from ear to ear. “Oh, this is going to be so much fun!” She happily said, quickly finishing her shake before rubbing her hooves together and inserting the necessary bits into the coin slot. She braced herself as the lights flashed declaring that a new game would start. The party pony pulled the cork back before letting it go. At the same time, her hyperactive imagination began to run wild.
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The great wizard Pinkie Pie stared into the horizon at the foreboding dark castle, its shadow casting a curse upon the land below. The tyrant Nightmare Moon was vicious and most unpleasant, not wanting any parties at all. She didn’t even like cupcakes, how was that possible? Whatever her reason for hating the sugary treats, that tyrant had to be stopped for the sake of pinballia...no wait, Pinland. The wizard rolled her eyes, she would figure out a name later but for now, it was time for action. Standing Before her stood four brave individuals each who had volunteered for the dangerous quest before them. The wizard stroked her costume beard with her hoof being rather puzzled.
“Aren’t you a little young to be going on an adventure?” She asked, looking down at the three fillies and a dragon while they were happily scarfing down the cupcakes she had just made.
Apple Bloom adjusted the brown cloak she wore tugging the white rope snug, “Yes, yes we are, but we don’t care. That Nightmare must be stopped.”
Scootaloo buckled her helmet on flapping her tiny wings. “Yeah, we aren’t scared of anything. She’s goin’ down!”
Sweetie Belle’s eyes darted about looking at the dragon with them. “I'm not sure about this girls, I mean this sounds pretty risky.” She felt her pegasus friend nudge her on the shoulder, causing her to flinch.
“Oh come on, don’t be such a chicken, that Scootaloo’s thing,” Apple Bloom teased.
“Hey!” Scootaloo remarked.
“Will you knock it off and focus already?!” Spike interrupted, stepping between the two. The baby dragon wore a silver necklace, a ruby that glittered in the moonlight perched in the center. He also had a wooden staff that he used to poke things, most of the time being other creatures that would ignore him.
The wizard laughed, her curly mane bouncing. “Relax, this should be fun and you’ll save the day. I just know it. It’s my story after all,” The ponies and dragon tilted their head at her remark before shrugging. “Now, to defeat the evil Nightmare Moon, we must use my not so secret weapon,” She reached into her glittered coated bag, soon pulling out objects as loud clattering is heard. She dug further into it pulling out objects that couldn’t possibly fit normally. Items amongst the stack included an ax, a glowing light stick, an oddly familiar rubber chicken, and several pages of some kind of novel. After a solid minute, she beamed pulling out her prize. “Ah hah, there you are!”
The three fillies gathered round trying to peek at what she had retrieved out of her bag. “Is it a superweapon that will blow the castle apart?” Scootaloo asked, jumping up to try and see over the other two, once more at the mercy of her nonfunctioning wings. With some quick thinking, she used a stump to jump onto Sweetie’s back only to be pushed off.
The four adventurers were soon puzzled as Pinkie showed them a glowing blue orb. “Behold the mighty pinball!” She acted dramatic, holding it up above her head as the light from it intensified, bathing the area in a soft blue glow. Then suddenly like a burnt lightbulb, the light went out. Pinkie blinked shaking it about. “Huh...could have sworn I changed the battery,” She shook it more and groaned, scrunching up her face. “Come on!” The group watched as she banged it on the ground a few times before it sprung back to life, nearly blinding the gang! At the same time, hidden in the bushes, a bat pony hissed as the light began to burn its fur. It hurried off before being seen, making its way to the castle.
Spike rolled his eyes. “Yeah so it glows, how will that help us defeat Nightmare Moon exactly?”
“Magic!” The wizard replied, simply beaming with joy at her simplicity.
“Yeah, I figured that, but exactly how will that help us?” Spike asked.
“It’s magic, duh. It just does. You’re a silly dragon.” Pinkie replied and ruffled his spines.
Being skeptical, Scootaloo jumped up, swiftly snatching the orb out of Pinkie’s hooves before shaking it. “I don’t see what’s so special about it.” Without warning, the orb slipped out of her hooves and flew towards a nearby tree. Much to her surprise, it didn't break on impact but instead began to bounce off the trunk, ricocheting between nearby stumps before being sent right at Sweetie Belle, who was soon plowed over by its speed and rolled to a stop.
“Ow, that hurt! Be more careful will you?” The unicorn filly groaned rubbing her chest to check if anything was broken. Fortunately, there was no damage but it didn’t stop it from feeling bruised.
Scootaloo gave a sheepish grin in reply. “Sorry, I didn’t think it would do that.” She apologized.
“Well, maybe ya shouldn't have been shakin it when you didn’t know what it did.” Apple Bloom glared.
Scootaloo ignored Apple Bloom. She picked up the orb again and held it in her left hoof, the glow making long shadows on the ground. “Well Pinkie was shaking it and it didn’t go flying,” The others looked at her with annoyed looks, so she quickly changed the subject gesturing her hoof down the path. “Come on, we won’t beat the baddie by just standing here.”
“Yeah and the story won’t end either,” Pinkie blurted out, causing everyone to tilt their heads at her. “What, it makes for an epic quest to read.”
“Err okay then,” Spike shrugged, twirling his staff in his claw and pointing down the path. “This way to adventure!” He began to run off, the others following after him.
“Hey, wait up!” Sweetie lagged behind but quickly made speed to catch up, unaware of the soulless eyes that watched them as they ran along. Pinkie bounced behind them keeping her distance just in case she had to step in.
The journey continued along the forest path, the sound of stepping on branches echoed around them along with the occasional owl hoot.
Spike held his staff tighter trying to act brave. “Don’t worry young fillies I'll keep you safe.”
“You’re just a baby dragon and the same size as us how’s that going to help?” Scootaloo asked, rolling her eyes and waving her hoof as a few insects buzzed by her ear.
“With my fire breath of course,” Spike replied with a smug look, as he puffed out his chest.
“Ya sure that not bad breath?” Apple Bloom quipped causing the fillies to all giggle.
Spike stammered. “N-no, my breath is just fine,” He took a quick breath and exhaled upon a nearby blue flower, only for its light to go out and wilt to brown moments later. The fillies all take a step back still gigging. “T-that was a fluke!” He protested, his cheeks turning a light shade of red.
“What did you expect to happen when you ate that garlic toast with a deviled egg sandwich?” Scootaloo asked, waving her hoof to fan away the smell.
“For his fire breath to do five points of extra damage?” Pinkie asked, confusing them all.
Spike huffed and rolled his eyes as he continued to lead them along through the thicket. A minute later, he suddenly stopped looking up at the branches above. The dense underbrush was blotting out the light creating a pitch-black area beyond. He let out a gulp looking back at his compadres
“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of the dark,” Scootaloo commented.
“I am.” Sweetie squeaked hiding behind Apple Bloom.
Scootaloo facepalmed. “Well, why not use Spike as a light?”
“We don’t have anythin’ to make a torch with,” Apple Bloom commented moving Sweetie away. “But there has to be some way to get through this,” Her eyes soon fell upon Scootaloo’s saddlebag and saw the faint blue glow of the orb. “Like that orb!” She suggested.
Scootaloo reached into the bag and pulled out the pinball, watching it shine in the dark. The magic inside swirled around like sediment in water sloshing around in a nonresistant current. “Okay, we’ve got a light source, now let’s get going,” She encouraged, as the pegasus looked down the dark path, letting out a quiet gulp of her own. “U-uh you first, Apple Bloom.” She tossed the pinball to the earth pony while quickly gesturing.
“No way, you go first!” Apple Bloom protested as she tossed the orb back at Scootaloo while glancing at Sweetie as she hid behind Pinkie.
Spike couldn't help but notice how Scootaloo’s wings fluttered while she hesitated. The drake approached her offering out a claw. “I’ll lead if you’re too chicken too.”
“Hey, I’m not a coward! B-but sure, you lead.” Scootaloo replied as she shoved the orb into his claw, staring into the darkness beyond before shuttling over and hiding behind Pinkie.
Spike stared into the glowing orb and held it out as the gang moved out into the dark. The air around them felt colder than usual, sending chills down their spines. The dragon’s face was one of the few things they could make out in the dark as the light was just bright enough to illuminate the path before them.
Suddenly, there was a loud snap heard in the underbrush, causing the fillies to jump! “W-what was that?” Sweetie asked, looking around as they moved along the dirt road.
Apple Bloom looked around, hearing the sound too. She tensed up, seeing some glowing yellow eyes down the path. “Uh girls,” She pointed toward the light, low growls were heard as two more sets of eyes moved out from the dark. The filly gasped! “Oh no, it can’t be!”
“Timberwolves!” Spike shouted as he jumped back just in time to avoid a paw swipe. The fanged wooden beast growled at the group as they backed up. The young dragon flailed his stick at the beast. “Get back, I’ve got a stick and I’m not afraid to use it!” He jutted his stick out into the beast’s face only for it to be snapped in half by the monster’s mighty jaws! “Run!” Spike clamped down on the sphere and guided the group down a side path as the timberwolves chased them! They could barely see, as the light only revealed so much ahead of them at a time, but they had no choice but to risk it as the wolves were nipped at their heels.
Pinkie, of course, was smiling despite the danger to themselves, up until a chomp took off some of her tail as if it was cotton candy. “Eeep! Hey, I am not sugar!” She scolded the wolf as she ran. While looking at the beasts she noticed something odd about them. Upon their heads stood round mushroom-like things that looked very similar to bumpers. She gasped and ran to Spike, soon looking at him as she ran in reverse without issue. “Spike, give me the orb! I have an idea!” The little dragon had no objections as he tossed it to her. The group followed her into an open field, before turning back to look.
“Pinkie, what are you doing?! Run!” Scootaloo yelled as Pinkie stood on her hind hooves. She bit her lip and tossed the orb at one of their pursuers. As she had guessed, when the pinball hit the bumper on top it lit up knocking the wolf over. The ball continued to ricochet off the other timberwolves heads knocking them out like a light. However, on the return trip back towards Pinkie, the ball shot off to the right sending it flying towards a large hole near the edge of the field. The group all scrambled to grab it but were too late as the blue orb fell shattering into sparkles when it hit the bottom of the cave below.
Pinkie knocked her hoof against her knee. “Shoot, one ball down already that’s not good.” She muttered, causing more confused looks.
“How can you just shrug that off?! We’ve failed! Without that orb, we can’t stop Nightmare Moon!” Spike blurted out, staring gruntingly at his now broken wooden staff before tossing away the useless thing.
“Oh, I have two more, silly. Pinball is no fun if you only have one ball.” Pinkie then reached into her saddlebag, pulling out a freshly glowing blue orb and tossing it between her hooves. “Let’s try not to lose another one, shall we?”
“You’re the one who lost it,” Apple Bloom groaned, and rolled her eyes, staring curiously at the wolves who were still knocked out cold. “Let’s get out of here before those things wake up.” The group all nodded in reply, glanced around the field and spotting the tall castle spire above the treeline. The foreboding tower was made even scarier by the bat-winged ponies circling it. The three fillies all gulped at once, while Spike was leading the way towards a noticeable path for their objective.
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The leaves blew in the wind as the group wandered down the dirt road, the air still eerie.
“What if we run into more of those monsters?” Sweetie squeaked, frantically scanning her surroundings while they proceeded further.
“Then we’ll just show them the one-two punch!” Scootaloo replied, as she jumped into the air and kicked the dead branch of a low hanging tree.
“Oh yeah? And where was that punch when those wolves were hunting us down?” Spike asked, being snarky.
“W-well, your attack plan didn’t work either!” Scootaloo defended, fluttering her wings.
“Can we please stop fightin’?!” Apple Bloom blurted out while taking her turn holding the pinball. “Let just get goin’ already!”
Sweetie Belle and the others rushed to catch up, heading down the chosen path. “I still can’t believe that tactic actually worked,” she commented. The moonlight thankfully allowed them to see without magical assistance. The wind continued to rustle the branches.as their unseen shadows followed them along on their quest.
About a minute after leaving the grove, Pinkie stopped and began glancing around suspiciously. She narrowed her eyes trying to peer into the eerie blackness within the brush. Her tail swished about while her senses observed her surroundings before shrugging.
“Hey, Pinkie, are you coming?!” Spike called out as he picked up another stick with a tuning fork-like branch on the front. He proceeded to use said stick to poke Apple Bloom in the flank, said filly letting out a whine.
Pinkie turned and trotted back to the group. “Coming, little adventurers,” They all looked at her with confused looks. “Oh, I just thought I saw something in the bushes. Like maybe we’re being followed.”
“What?!” The crusaders replied picking up their pace. “Are you sure?” Apple Bloom asked, grabbing onto Spike.
“Maybe or I could just be jumpy.” Pinkie replied as she bounced happily after the gang.
Spike posed proudly along the way gesturing his stick about. “Don’t you worry girls, I’ll save you.” The fillies just rolled their eyes at him letting the dragon have his fun despite him being just as scared moments before.
The trek along the forest path remained quiet for some time the only sounds being their own footsteps and the light of the orb leading the way. The young dragon held his stick in his hands peering back at the gang and soon pointed to the gap in the tree line. “Hey look, there’s a clearing!”
Pinkie nodded. “Oh, that must be the village,” She bounced on ahead of the group. “Just be careful, there might be guards or traps.” The fillies all meeped, before Scootaloo took the orb, smirking wide.
“Oh yeah?! We’ll show them!” Scootaloo boasted! “Toss this baby at them and watch them fall like pins!” The young pegasus tried to act brave while looking at the eerie and empty streets.
“Silly filly, this is pinball not bowling.” Pinkie blurted, glancing at the cobblestone path. The dark castle rose high above the town skyline. Just to add to the dark atmosphere, large storm clouds hung over the tops of the towers of Nightmare’s domain. A few flashes of light lit up the dark for a brief moment, the dark shadows moving by themselves. The fillies eeped and hid behind Pinkie, shaking quite a bit!
“I-I don’t know about this wizard, w-we’re just fillies, not heroes.” Sweetie squeaked clinging to Pinke leg for protection. It had sounded so much fun at the start but now it was getting scary.
Pinkie stared back at the gang. “Don’t worry, you are the heroes.” She told them, moments before the ground shook. She meeped as the alleyways closed up, with tall brick walls and a large gate blocking the path to the castle. The fillies and dragon screamed as the path behind them were sealed off by two giant white flippers. From the front of the street rose a flurry of storm clouds with the image of Nightmare Moon upon it. The queen laughed, staring down at the would-be heroes.
“You dare try and stand against my power?! You shall hand over the orb or face my wrath!” Nightmare Moon laughed maniacally!
“How did she know we were coming?!” Spike eeped, watching as bat ponies wearing blue steel armour landed, while also wearing those odd round bumpers on their heads. They spread their wings menacingly as the hologram roared from above.
“Oh shoot that odd figure I saw was shadowing us!” Pinkie gasped. “The oldest trick in the book!”
Nightmare Moon smirked as lightning flashed within the cloud bank. “Hand over the orb and I might let you live out the rest of your lives as coal miners.”
With a sudden surge of bravery, Spike lunged his stick at one of the guards. “We will never surrender to you!”
Nightmare Moon smirked, narrowing her cat-like eyes. “So be it. Attack!” With that declaration, the guards began moving towards the group, their wings spread wide! They flared their fangs as they march toward the fillies. Then, from out of nowhere, the glowing orb flew threw the air, colliding with one of the guards’ domed heads with a cling! The dome lit up as the guard was thrown off balance, toppling into one of the others.
“Oh yeah, take that!” Scootaloo shouted, and jumped up, catching the orb as it returned to her. The filly turned on a dime, tossing it against the flippers. The large white paddle sprang into action and launched the ball as it flew threw the air.
Sweetie eeped, ducking at it sored over her head, and bounced off the far wall. The guards were about to respond, but soon one on the right was hit from behind, its dome lighting up.
“Ooh, bonus points!” Pinkie caught the orb in her hooves and flung it against the flipper. The mechanism sprang into action, sending the ball flying, it bouncing off the far left building, and into a hole in the wall. For a moment it seemed like it was gone, but soon the windows on the wall started to flash and bells jingled. Three other holes opened up as the windows all flashed at once. “Multiball!” The party pony watched them shoot out ricocheting off various objects in the square, the guards in disarray as the glass orbs flew around like a crazy game of dodgeball. Each impact again the domed heads made them light up knocking the guards off their feet. Two of the guards stumbled around, colliding against each other, and collapsing into a heap.
Apple Bloom ducked as two of the glowing orbs flew within hairs of her head, moving too fast to catch as they flew into the swirling blue wormhole shattering to dust! “Gah, catch the last one!” She shouted as it rebounded off the back gate, speeding right for the center! Spike ran using all the might his tiny feet could muster, reaching out with desperation! Time seemed to slow for the little dragon, the lights blinding as the dragon came just within reach of the ball, but at the last second, the ball flew under him within a hair of his scaly chest, flying into the black hole!
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Nightmare Moon’s large hologram stood tall, lighting flashing once again as the night guard's eyes glowed. The cackling laughter grew as the terror glanced down at them with a smirk. “Fools! You can’t stop me, none of you can!” Just to mock the would-be heroes the guards flew off, the gates at the end of the block opening for them like an open bear trap.
The crusaders had all huddled behind Pinkie Pie in fright, Scootaloo trying to act like she wasn’t terrified but was failing miserably.
“D-did we just lose?” Scootaloo asked, looking at Spike who was facepalming at his mistake.
Pinkie's smile returned with vigor. “No way, we aren’t finished yet!” She declared, gesturing to the castle, the moonlight shining down upon them. “Besides we’ve got one more pinball, how could we fail?” Her upbeat attitude was contagious as Sweetie Belle cheered for a moment.
Apple Bloom joined in the cheer. “Yeah, we can do it!” She moved over to Spike, putting a hoof on his shoulder. “Hey, don’t feel bad, Spike, we can still pull this off.”
Spike kicked a rock as he groaned. “I almost had it, I was so close!”
“We all make mistakes.” Apple Bloom replied, patting the dragon’s back to cheer him up.
Pinkie nodded. “Yeah I lost the previous ball but I shrugged it off,” The gang then started to move down the street, crossing into the shadowy courtyard of the nightmare’s domain. “Come on Spike, let me hear you roar!” Pinkie encouraged, as she nudged Spike in the ribs while beaming.
Spike nodded as he stood tall. “All right, here I go!” He prepared himself, taking in a few deep breaths. He glared at the castle with determination and bellowed out a low roar. It wasn’t anything fierce or menacing, but the little dragon did feel better and more confident after doing it. The flame died down a second later and he sighed.
“Feeling better now?” Pinkie asked, and patted the dragon’s head as the others gathered around him. The squad of adventurers looked toward the swirling clouds that loomed over their heads, confident that they could do this. The pink party wizard, upon seeing Spike nod, cheered while pulling out the last glowing orb. “Great, let’s do this!” The party wizard resumed her quest, leading the group down the street and up the castle itself. The large marble floor greeted them as they trotted inside without issue. Needless to say, the group could feel the tension growing, the echoes of Nightmare Moon taunting them to come forth and face her in her throne room. Not a single guard had appeared to stop their approach, showing just how arrogant Nightmare Moon was in the face of what she assumed was a victory.
“I don’t like this, it’s too easy,” Scootaloo commented looking up at the obsidian pillars that shined moonlight down upon them.
“Do we even have a plan?” Apple Bloom asked following on the rear of the group.
“Our plan is to win of course,” Pinkie replied as she hopped along, the orb pointing the way up to a set of stairs. Once more the evil Queen of the Night’s laugh echoed down the hall at them.
“Come at me with all your might, mortals!” Nightmare Moon taunted, causing the fillies and dragon to cower behind Pinkie. For a split moment, Pinkie faltered but then quickly resumed her smile.
The group resumed their trek up the stairs, hearing the steady deep rhythm of drums like a heartbeat every second feeling longer than the last. The air felt cold as they reached the throne room door, the gang trying to put on a brave face. Bracing themselves for a battle, Pinkie put her hoof to the door only for it to blasted open by Nightmare Moon’s magic!
The dark empress stood at the end of the room, standing atop a raised platform. Blue flames appeared behind her casting shadows upon the pillars on either side. Moonlight shined also down from the skylight above, the presence of the moon was more vibrant here than anywhere else. What was out of place, however, were the giant white flippers on either side of the doorway, their existence very similar to the courtyard they had just been in. The gang had just a second to react and jump out of the way, as flames consumed the way they had just came in!
Nightmare’s armor shined bright as she smirked at the group of would-be heroes. “I’ll let you make the first move, foals!” She laughed. She watched the glowing orb with disdain and hidden fear but stood bold.
Pinkie looked back at the fillies and dragon, leaning into to plan. “Okay all we need to do is hit her crescent moon chest plate three times,” She beamed proudly. ‘I saw Sweetie Belle do it so it should be easy.”
“You saw me do what?” Sweetie asked, quite confused.
“Don’t break character,” Pinkie scolded as she looked at the flippers. “Okay Apple Bloom you take the left, Spike you take the right, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and I will handle hitting Nightmare Moon.”
“How? It’s not like she will stand still.” Scootaloo commented as Nightmare Moon stomped her hooves, getting annoyed at being ignored.
Pinkie tapped her chin, remembering back a bit before her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. “Ah-ha, I got it! Remember back in the forest when you sent the orb bouncing all over the place?”
“I do I can still feel the ache in my chest.” Sweetie Belle groaned getting an eye roll out of Scootaloo soon after.
“Oh, I see. So, we send it off those big pillars and direct it at her. I get it,” Scootaloo jumped into the air, fluttering her wings! “She’s so going down now.”
Nightmare Moon threw a lightning bolt at the group, causing them to jump back! “Gah, enough of your talk! I grow impatient of your whispers! Fight me!”
“If you insist.” Pinkie suddenly spun around, bucking the orb towards a left pillar. With great speed it bounced off the wall, flying towards Nightmare Moon! The mare jumped out of the way, avoiding it as it ricocheted back towards the group! Spike was quick to push a button on his flipper, springing it into action and sending the ball hurtling back towards the beast. With an audible twang, the magical orb contacted with the chest plate, causing a Nightmare to grunt and roar.
“You haven't won yet!” Nightmare shot more lighting at the heroes as they dodged them.
Pinkie shook with determination, as she grabbed the orb again. She pulled out her party cannon from her mane, stuffing the pinball into the barrel, before pulling the trigger and sending the ball back towards the throne. The queen dodged again sticking her tongue out as it flew towards Apple Bloom’s flipper. The spring sent it flying back once again, impacting the plate as fast as lighting! The flames behind Nightmare grew bigger as she flared her fangs.
Pinkie bounced up and down with glee. “Hehe! I can do this, I can do this!” She jumped to grab the orb snagging it into her hooves and shaking it. “Say goodnight N-” She said, but was cut as she felt the orb grow heavy and dropped it, the orb hitting the floor with a thud. Pinkie scrambled to pick it up with a worried expression as the world began to shake.
“What trickery is this?!” Nightmare Moon shouted and she looked up, as the sky above began to crack open like an egg, exposing a vast void. The window shattered moments later as a strong suction was felt, and things began to be sucked up. The winged alicorn tried to hold onto her throne, flapping about as she was pulled upwards. The other group members tried to do the same but it was no use, as more of the castle broke apart getting chewed up by the nothing above. “No!” Was all that Nightmare Moon could say, as her grip slipped and she was carried into the sky soon followed by the heroes as they all screamed.
TILT!
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Pinkie gasped, watching helplessly as her ball fell down the hole, the screen flapping a game over as she lost her last ball to her random shaking and spasms! “Shoot!” She snorted, having been so close to winning. But wait, there was still one possibility of victory! She quickly turned her attention to the raising score on the dashboard, eyes going wide as she watched it go higher and higher. The numbers began to slow as they finished calculating. The hyperactive mare eyes were glued to the screen as the high scoreboard showed up. Her lip sputtered as she looked at her score jaw-dropping. “No!” She threw her hooves into the air as the final point tally was shown. She was short just one whole point from beating Sweetie Belle’s score.
Pinkie moments later smiled and bounced off still happy to have tried. She approached the crusaders and hugged them. “Wasn’t that fun?”
Pinkie and the crusaders looked at each other and shrugged. That was Pinkie Pie for you, she always had something going on in her head. The three young fillies just looked at her having seen her mumbling and bouncing around the machine for the last few minutes. “Sure I guess.”
With that, Pinkie hopped away, humming cheerfully and hoping for a rematch sometime soon.