The group of five was unsure at first how to go about getting to know each other as per Aza's advice. With the situation having been explained to them, everyone became more wary about the people they were expected to bond with. Except for Twilight and Celestia, nobody knew each other beyond names and a few little bits of trivial information. What got under their skin the most was Aza's statement that everyone's pasts would play a central role in their stay there. Everyone could think of plenty of things from their own pasts they'd rather never see again; the thought of what everyone else's pasts could harbor only fueled the fire of paranoia plaguing their minds. Eventually the group managed to calm down enough to agree on a method of interrogating each other for information on their pasts.
With everyone sitting around in a circle, Celestia and Twilight volunteered to start things off.
"Okay," Celestia began, "as I said before I'm the ruler of Equestria or, to be more precise, I'm the co-ruler along with my sister Princess Luna. Together we raise and lower the sun and moon for the world and all its inhabitants, the ones of Equestria being our subjects."
"Question," Frank said, raising his hand. "You say the two of you can control the sun and moon?"
"Yes, that's right."
Frank stared blankly. "How does that even work? Is your reality geocentric or something?"
"Yes, Frank," Celestia said as she gestured to her horn. "You see, the magic possessed by my sister and I is on a different level from ordinary unicorns, so much so that we've been given the task of keeping the day and night cycle going for over a thousand years."
Frank whistled. "Talk about having the weight of the world on your shoulders."
Celestia smiled. "Indeed. Anyway, our subjects in Equestria are ponies, obviously, and there are three types. There's unicorns, such as Twilight Sparkle here; pegasi, who can fly and control the weather; and earth ponies, who can't cast spells or fly, but have a special connection with the earth that allows them to grow food much more expertly than the other two races. Luna and myself are known as alicorns, which are a combination of all three pony types."
Everyone oohed in response. Then Frank spoke up again.
"You know what's funny? Your kind's actually nothing more than mythology in my universe. We do have 'earth ponies' but they aren't sentient and they certainly can't grow food. Are humans mythology in your universe?"
Twilight winced. She didn't know how Frank and Yugi would react if she told them she was responsible for creating humans through fiction in her own reality. Would their sense of reality be shattered? Would they be enraged at her for how she wrote humans? How would either question be affected if what Aza said about itself was true? Before she could say anything herself, Celestia answered Frank's question.
"Actually, yes they are." Twilight looked up at Celestia confused and horrified, but the alicorn kept her gaze on Frank and continued talking. "Though we don't know the origin to the myths, we do have quite an extensive knowledge of humans as well as their history and culture. If it weren't for the uniqueness of our situation, I imagine you wouldn't need to explain much about your world to us."
"Yeah." Frank turned to Yugi. "And I think it's a safe bet we aren't from the same universe, either."
"I agree," Yugi replied.
"Now on to possible threats," Celestia spoke up. "My sister and I have wielded a set of magic artifacts known as the Elements of Harmony, which we used to defeat many foes in our long lives. Currently, Twilight and her friends are the bearers of the elements, which they have used to defeat many of the same foes me and my sister took down but did not kill. The three most harrowing are the following; King Sombra, a unicorn with a heart of pure malevolence that enslaved many ponies under his rule; Discord, a draconequus with the power of chaos under his control; and even my own sister Luna, who let her jealousy of our subjects' apparent dis-appreciation of her moon and the night it came with turn her into Nightmare Moon, who wanted to plunge the world into eternal night. I had to banish her to the moon myself before she succeeded."
"Wow," SpongeBob said. "That's cold."
Celestia frowned in response. "It pained me to no end. It wasn't until my dear sister returned a thousand years after her banishment that the pain finally subsided. Twilight and her friends used the Elements on her once again, but with the purpose of cleansing her heart of the jealousy that gave birth to the Nightmare. Words cannot express how proud I am of Twilight and her friends for their victory."
Twilight blushed slightly.
"Any more questions?"
SpongeBob and Yugi both raised their hands. Celestia gestured for Yugi to speak first.
"If you're the highest authority of your country," he said, "wouldn't that make you and your sister queens as opposed to princesses? Or does it work differently in Equestria?"
Celestia smiled wryly. "Well, Yugi, technically my sister and I are queens. However, we've come to learn that the title of 'princess' conveys a closer bond with our subjects than 'queen' does, and establishing bonds with our subjects is something we strive for at every turn. It's one of the reasons why I took Twilight under my wing and made her my most faithful student."
Twilight's blush intensified.
"And you SpongeBob?" Celestia gestured for him to ask his question.
"Yeah, what are those pictures on both of your flanks?"
Celestia kept her wry smile as she pushed aside her ethereal tail so everyone could clearly see the sun emblazoned upon her flank.
"It's something all ponies in Equestria get to show they've found who they're meant to be in life," she explained. "They've been called many things throughout the centuries; Symbols, Talent Glyphs, even Souls at one point. Currently, they're known as Cutie Marks; I'm sure you can guess the reasoning behind that terminology."
SpongeBob thought for a moment. "Yeah, I think I get it."
"Well then, how about you be the next to tell us about yourself, SpongeBob?"
SpongeBob smiled. "Sure thing, Celestia. Let's see . . . well, my home is the undersea town of Bikini Bottom. I work as a fry cook in the town's greatest restaurant, the Krusty Krab, home of the wor- our world's famous Krabby Patty, the recipe for which was passed down throughout my bosses' ancestry until he made a fortune by commercializing it. Whenever I'm not flipping patties on the grill I'm usually hanging out with my best friends. There's Patrick Star who literally lives under a rock." Everyone chuckled in response before SpongeBob continued. "He's a great guy though; the best friend anyone could ask for. There's also my next door neighbor Squidward Tentacles who loves playing clarinet, but is always in a grouchy mood when I'm around for whatever reason. Lastly, there's Sandy Cheeks who's a squirrel from Texas living in an underwater tree dome just on the edge of town. She's my biggest source of information on land dwellers, and my favorite karate sparring partner; my only karate sparring partner, in fact."
Twilight raised her hoof.
"Yes, Twilight?"
"I was just wondering, since you apparently live in a sapient underwater world . . . do seaponies exist where you're from?"
SpongeBob frowned in confusion before realization hit and he half-smiled. "We have seahorses, but they're not sapient. I actually had a seahorse for a pseudo pet once; I named her Mystery."
"Oh, okay," Twilight responded glumly. Celestia just smiled and rolled her eyes.
"As for possible threats," SpongeBob continued, "I haven't dealt with anything that can hold a candle to what you two described; just giant jellyfish and clams."
When SpongeBob ceased talking Frank took that as his cue to begin his own verbal autobiography.
"As I told Yugi earlier, I'm a photojournalist," he said, holding up his camera. "I've covered everything from riots and wars to police chases and court cases." The look on Frank's face changed to exasperation. "But, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the highlight of my career was covering a zombie outbreak in the town of Willamette, Colorado." Frank's expression turned downcast. "I'd . . . rather not explain the specifics behind the incident."
"Frank," Celestia chided, "we need to hear all the information you can provide if we-"
"It's personal, alright!"
Everyone flinched in response to Frank's sudden outburst. He had seemed abnormally level-headed earlier when the situation was made apparent to him. To see him lose his temper over something so trivial in comparison was quite an unexpected turn of events. Upon noticing everyone's reaction to his outburst, Frank put a hand to his head and sighed.
"I'm sorry," he grumbled. "I suffered losses in the outbreak that I can't stop dwelling on."
Celestia gave Frank a sorrowful expression. "I'm sorry; I didn't intend to rub salt in your wounds. You don't have to tell us anything that pains you, just what we can expect to face from your world."
Frank sighed again. "I can't mention one without going into the other, Celestia." He looked up at the regal alicorn to see her face twisted into one of confusion. "Like I said, it's personal. But I promise I'll share what I know when needed."
Celestia frowned in disappointment before sighing herself. "Very well, Frank; I'll trust your word."
Everyone turned to face Yugi, who started speaking right away.
"Well, I'm a freshman student at Domino High School in Domino City, Japan. I live with my grandpa in his card game shop which doubles as our house. He was an explorer and an avid games player in his youth. Both those interests were what led him to retrieve this-" Yugi held up the object around his neck for everyone to see "-from the tomb of The Nameless Pharaoh; the Millennium Puzzle."
Everyone's eyes went wide with interest.
"The puzzle was in pieces when my grandpa found it, and he spent quite some time trying to solve it before giving up and opening his card game shop. Eventually, he let me try my hand at solving the Millennium Puzzle." Yugi let go of the puzzle. "I spent hours upon hours trying to put it together, and when I finally did it was the happiest moment of my life . . ."
At this point, both Twilight and Celestia felt a change in the air around them. The atmosphere around them (especially their horns) changed from neutral to heavy with magic energies. But while Celestia was clueless as to what was going on, Twilight knew where the magic was originating; Yugi's Millenium Puzzle.
" . . . before it changed forever."
At that moment, a glowing light enveloped the eye design on the puzzle and the magic energies increased in intensity. The light burst into a flash that made everyone shield their eyes to keep from being blinded. When the light subsided, everyone turned back to Yugi who's face was set in a much sterner expression and his hair was styled slightly different. Otherwise, he seemed no different from before. That is, until he spoke.
"Hello, everyone."
Everyone started at the sound of his voice; whereas before it was soft and childlike now it was deep and commanding in tone. For a moment nobody managed a reply, and even when Twilight managed to speak up it was remarkably unintelligent.
" . . . guh-whaaat?"
Yugi smiled wryly. "Allow me to introduce myself; I am the spirit of The Nameless Pharaoh who resides within the Millennium Puzzle. Right now I'm in control of Yugi's body, so feel free to address me as him."
He's definitely not out of HUMAN, Twilight thought to herself.
The pharaoh's expression turned grim. "I've been listening in on everything that's happened, and what Aza said about our pasts coming into play has me especially worried. Unlike all of you, I have no recollection of my time as Pharaoh and therefore cannot provide much information regarding possible threats."
Everyone's eyes went wide as panic began seeping into their minds.
"However," he continued, forcing everyone's gaze back to him, "I can still provide some information gained from foes fought in our present time, as well as the nature of the shadow magic they used."
"Shadow magic?" Twilight asked, which the pharaoh replied with a nod before continuing.
"For much of our world's history, another realm has existed alongside ours that's home to countless beings known as duel spirits. Often these spirits would make their way into our world where their presence inspired humans to find a way of controlling them. I don't know the exact details, but the Millennium Puzzle, as well as its six sister items the Millennium Rod, Necklace, Scale, Key, Eye, and Ring were the result of this endeavor. Using these seven items, Egyptian kings would use duel spirits to combat each other in shadow games where the loser often lost their life in addition to the duel."
Twilight gasped and threw a hoof over her mouth. The pharaoh paid her no attention and continued on.
"However, it wasn't long before these shadow games erupted into a war that threatened to destroy the entire world. My reign as Pharaoh ended when I, somehow, locked the magic away in addition to my memories and spirit; when Yugi solved the puzzle he released me. It was around this time that the shadow magic I had sealed away began making a comeback, and it saw fit to channel itself through the modernized version of the duel spirit battles of the past. This modernization is a card game called Duel Monsters."
He then opened the deck holder strapped to his waist and pulled the contained cards out for everyone to see.
"This is my Duel Monsters deck," he continued. "Yugi and I have fought many foes in various shadow games with it, and it's never let us down when needed." Yugi lowered his hand and sighed. "But I suppose if I had truly defeated the shadow magic then Yugi, his friends, and the whole world of the present would've never had to face such dire consequences."
Celestia blinked, then smiled.
We have so much in common it's almost suspicious.
Twilight then spoke up. "Wow, that's so fascinating. Yugi, would you teach me how to play Duel Monsters?"
Celestia looked at her student in surprise, but Twilight kept her gaze on the pharaoh.
The pharaoh's stern face briefly changed to surprise before he answered. "You'd need a deck, and a du-"
His sentence was cut short when something began to materialize out of the blackness in the middle of the group, or to be more precise, hundreds of somethings. As the objects became more clear, the pharaoh immediately recognized them as Duel Monsters cards. The cards fell to the black ground in a single pile in front of Twilight, to which she looked down in shock. Before any questions could be asked, however, an answer was given.
"There you go, Twilight."
" . . . Th-thanks Aza," Twilight said as she used her magic to pick up a few cards for examination.
Celestia quirked an eyebrow as she stared up into the blackness. "I thought you said we would only get one item of our choosing?"
"That I said, Celestia, but that doesn't mean I won't grace you all with items of my choosing from time to time. Besides, I'm interested in seeing how Twilight uses the cards I've given her, as well as the pharaoh's reaction to them."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing really." A snicker sounded.
The pharaoh blinked in confusion before panic set in and he rushed over to the pile of cards that Twilight was now using her magic to organize into neat little stacks. He grabbed one of the stacks and began sifting through the cards, feverishly searching for a select few cards he knew from experience were dangerous. All the while he searched, Twilight stared up at him curiously but didn't bother asking any questions. She trusted he'd let them know if trouble was brewing, though she couldn't sense any magic energies emanating from the cards. The pharaoh, meanwhile, started noticing something strange about the stack he was sifting through. He kept seeing the words "Tuner" and "Synchro" printed on various monster cards as he skimmed over them. At first his panic overrode any other thoughts, but after he had seen about twenty cards with one of the two words printed on them he finally began calming down and took a closer look at said cards.
I remember this.
-----
"I'm tuning my level three Junk Synchron to my level one Road Runner and my level two Bolt Hedgehog!"
"When wishes cluster about the envoy of the gales, those wishes will become an impregnable shield! Become the path its light shines upon!"
"Synchro Summon! Appear now, Junk Gardna!"
-----
"Is something wrong, Yugi?"
The pharaoh was brought out of his memory by Twilight's voice. He looked around and noticed that he and Twilight were now alone. Celestia, Frank, and SpongeBob had strayed from the group and were now hanging out a couple dozen meters away. The pharaoh looked at Twilight and sighed.
"I'm afraid some of these cards are from my world's future, and I only know from secondhand experience how they work."
"Your world's . . . future?" Twilight puzzled. "So . . . time travel exists in your world?"
He nodded. "It's a harrowing tale, believe me. Now, let's see what we've got here . . . "
While the pharaoh and Twilight busied themselves with Duel Monsters, Frank, SpongeBob, and Celestia decided to take some time for a little R&R and think about everything that'd been said between the five of them. Frank, in particular, was mulling over all that had taken place within the last (what felt like) fifteen minutes. All things considered, Frank commended himself for taking it all in stride and not losing his head. At least, not over the reality-shattering revelations.
Frank looked over to Celestia, who laid on the black surface watching the pharaoh and Twilight as they sifted through all the Duel Monsters cards Aza provided them. He hadn't meant to lash out at the regal alicorn over what was undeniably justified curiosity, but he'd yet to let go of all his guilt over what he'd done, and failed to do, in Willamette. But the more Frank thought about it, the less concerned he became over what Celestia might think of him. After all, with the situation at hand, there was simply no room for admonishing each other over past sins. Heck, even Celestia apparently had some of her own despite her benevolent demeanor.
To that end, Frank stood up and began walking over toward the white alicorn princess.
She deserves to know, but she'd better not get on my case.
"Yo, princess!" he called to her.
Princess Celestia turned to look at him as Frank reached her. She kept a neutral expression on her face as he sat down next to her.
"Do you need something, Frank?" she asked.
The photojournalist nodded. "Yeah, I just gotta say I'm sorry again for lashing out at you earlier. As guilty as I am about my past actions, you had every right to demand explanations from me given our situation. And after thinking about it, I've decided I'll give them if you promise not to admonish me over . . . certain details."
Celestia smiled. "You have my word on that."
Frank nodded. "Well, the zombie outbreak in Willamette, Colorado was a consequence of a secret study conducted by my home's government with the purpose of researching a way to mass produce cattle cheaply. According to the head researcher Dr. Barnaby, they inadvertently created a wasp that zombified those it infected. The wasp escaped the research facility and struck the nearby village of Santa Cabeza. The government sent in armed forces to annihilate all the infected people before the outbreak got out of control."
Frank looked up to see Celestia staring back with nothing more than a neutral expression. Even so, there was something in her eyes that said "I pity your world". He continued.
"One of the survivors of the massacre was a man named Carlito Keyes. He and his sister, who was one of the researchers at the facility, started the Willamette outbreak as an act of revenge against the government. When I arrived in Willamette, I assumed it was just a riot gone extreme. I quickly learned the truth, however, and it changed my life for the worse."
Frank felt Celestia's wing wrap around his shoulder. He turned to look up at the sorrowful alicorn.
"I'm sorry for what you've been through," she said. "And I feel especially sorry that your home's leaders resorted to murder to cover up their sins."
Frank sighed. "What really gets to me are my own."
"Hmm?"
"The outbreak affected people in more ways then one. While most were infected by the wasp, a few less mentally stable individuals went mad as a result. They started endangering survivor's lives in various ways, and more often than not showed no remorse for what they did. I ended up slaying these psychopaths, and the guilt hurts worse than anything else."
Celestia paused, then smiled understandingly at him. "I don't blame you for believing they were a lost cause, even if they weren't. I believed my sister to be such a case, but I didn't end her life because I still had a spark of hope saying "One day we'll rule together again, with jealousy and hatred being replaced by love and support". And that's exactly what happened 1000 years later, and it's remained that way since."
Celestia glanced back to her student, who was listening to the pharaoh with rapt interest.
"I suppose the lesson to learn here, Frank, is always keep hope alive."
Frank smiled. "Yeah, I guess so."
The two then heard footsteps to their left and turned to see SpongeBob approaching.
"What'cha talking about?" he asked.
"Nothing, really," Frank replied. Then a thought struck. "Hey SpongeBob, you said you know karate, right?
"Not just," SpongeBob smirked. "Back in Bikini Bottom, I'm known as the King of Karate, hiYAAAAAAH!!!"
Frank smirked himself. "And your squirrel friend is the queen I take it?"
SpongeBob paused for a moment before the implications of Frank's question hit and he shoved his hands behind his back, a plainly visible blush adorning his cheeks. "It isn't like that."
Frank laughed. "Sure it isn't. Anyway-" Frank squatted down to SpongeBob's eye level "-I happen to know a thing or two about martial arts myself. Wanna spar?"
No one could've seen or prepared for what happened next. All Frank saw was a split-second of SpongeBob bringing a hand from behind his back before his vision filled with red and he was knocked back several feet. He landed on the black surface in a tangled heap with the imprint of a giant hand marked across his face. Celestia just sat where she was, too stunned to move or speak.
Frank groaned as he got to his knees while rubbing his face. Once he'd focused his eyes, he saw SpongeBob with his karate glove held out and a smirk adorning his face.
"When I said I was King of Karate," he said, bringing out his other glove-laden hand, "I meant it."
Frank smiled, then lunged at his new sparring partner.
It took Celestia a few moments to snap out of her daze brought on by SpongeBob's surprise attack on Frank. When she did, the two had already begun exchanging blows to one another; Frank making sure to avoid striking SpongeBob's water helmet.
Celestia observed their sparring for a bit before returning her gaze onto Twilight, who was currently under the pharaoh's tutelage as per the lavender unicorn's request. Celestia couldn't help but find some amusement in what she was seeing since the honor of being the highest authority was always her's along with Luna. As co-ruler she'd always been looked up to by not just Twilight, but everypony in Equestria as a source of infinite wisdom and compassion. Here, however, her authority meant little to nothing, and she could only know as much about everyone else as they were willing to say.
Twilight had clearly realized all this, but Celestia held nothing against her for seeking outside guidance. Far from it, in fact; Celestia would've asked for the pharaoh to teach Twilight this Duel Monsters game herself as a necessary preparation against anything from his past that sought to harm her. Besides, games were just as effective in helping to form the bonds of friendship as sparring, and that was Celestia's #1 priority at the moment. If their group couldn't unite together as friends, then they would be ill-prepared for any and all challenges Aza threw at them.
All the thoughts about friendship and student-teacher relationships made Celestia glance down at the Alicorn Amulet around her neck. What she'd told Twilight regarding why she asked for it was wholly untrue. Truth be told, it was almost pointless for her to wear the amulet since any extra power a regular pony got from wearing it would skate through unnoticed by a true alicorn's magic. No, the real reason why Celestia requested the dark trinket currently around her neck was entirely personal. Before it somehow fell into Trixie Lulamoon's possession, the last time Celestia had seen the amulet was around the neck of the pony who'd sacrificed his future to endow Equestria with the magic of friendship following Nightmare Moon's banishment.
His residency ever since; Tartarus.
-----
"Mother . . . thank you for taking me under your wing."
"You are most welcome, my son."
"Goodbye Mother . . . forever."
" . . . And my monster would attack you directly, winning me the duel."
Twilight oohed as the pharaoh finished explaining the basics of Duel Monsters to her. She had listened with rapt attention the whole time and now knew the rules like the bottom of her hooves. She had been particularly interested in the Spellcaster-type of monster, being the magical prodigy that she was. And it was this interest that led her to craft a Spellcaster structured deck. She went easy on how many tuners and synchro monsters she included, however, as per the pharaoh's advice.
"Well," he continued, "that should cover everything important."
"Thanks for teaching me," Twilight said, picking up her cards and neatly stacking them. "I must say, this game seems like a ton of fun; could we duel right now?"
The pharaoh paused before replying. "Well, it'd be helpful if you had a duel di-"
He cut himself off when a second duel disk began materializing in front of them. It landed on the black surface with a resounding clang, making both pony and human flinch slightly in response.
"Here you go."
"Th-Thanks again, Aza," Twilight stammered. She then picked up the duel disk and inserted her deck into the appropriate slot. Carrying the machine with her magic, she began making distance between herself and the pharaoh who did the same in the opposite direction. Once the two were about twenty meters apart they turned to face each other.
"I won't go easy on you," the pharaoh said, a slight smirk gracing his mouth.
"I'd be insulted if you did," Twilight replied, smiling proudly.
"DUEL!!!" they both shouted as they activated their duel disks.
Twilight: 4000 LP
Yugi: 4000 LP
Immediately, Twilight doubled over in pain as she felt a dark presence start to inhabit her. She clutched her sides with both hooves, but kept the duel disk aloft with her magic.
"Twilight!" the pharaoh shouted. "What's wrong!?"
Twilight's agony was too great for her to respond, and the lavender unicorn could only manage a faint gasp before the darkness exerted its full control over her. She fell to the ground, completely unmoving save for a slight twitching in her limbs.
"TWILIGHT!!!"
The pharaoh looked over to see Celestia, Frank, and SpongeBob rushing towards them. The regal white alicorn had a look of pure terror on her face as she watched Twilight remain face down on the ground, not showing any signs of consciousness.
"What happened?" she turned to ask the pharaoh with urgency clear in her tone.
"I don't kn-"
Once again, he cut himself off as a green force field began materializing between them. Eyes wide, the pharaoh followed its length to find that it completely encircled both him and Twilight. Looking down between them, he saw what he dreaded seeing; a unicursal hexagram.
"Yugi," Celestia chided. "What is this?"
Without turning around to look her in the eye, the pharaoh forced himself to answer.