The moon stood over Ponyville with imperial grace, casting its reflection of the Sun’s light down onto all of Equestria. Only Game Changer and Twilight Sparkle knew the threat it would pose - within minutes, Luna would break free of her prison inside the moon and be possessed by her darker side. Equestria would pay the price for its blindness – rather, ignorance.
Game Changer’s futility shrunk away, replaced by interest. “I guess even if I can’t do anything to help, I may as well go and watch, I suppose.” With a flick of his mane, he locked the door and left. The door slam shook the roof slightly, provoking a thin strand of hay to float down off the edge. It landed in Game’s hair, but the stallion decided to ignore it.
The feeling of the ground under his hooves was a fairly new sensation for Game. He’d never had reason to go to Ponyville before, besides his ex-girlfriend. This thought took him back to her.
Sassaflash was a pegasus mare who Game remembered treasuring closely. She was quiet, and elegantly so. Despite her often lazy nature, Game reveled in her beauty and benevolence. Game also enjoyed the skill she exerted in games, which seemed to match his in certain fields. As she grew, she found herself more knowledgeable of her own ways, and found that she didn’t seem to know how to love after all.
Game was rueful upon her departure, but they remained friends until she moved to Cloudsdale about a month later. Having previously chased a few other fillies in his naivety when he was younger, Game had learned not to spend ages pitying himself alone. Instead, he vowed to become stronger as a person, and if by some slim chance it’d take him somewhere else, he’d never make a mistake like he had before again.
You’re losing sight of what’s important, Game! Get to the Celebration, and fast! Game hammered his hooves into the sandy ground, bursting forward and trying his best to keep breathing deeply. The Town Hall was clad in flags and long banners, as Game could make out from afar. I’ve gotta move now…I just hope that it’s not gonna be too late…
A couple of minutes later, Game burst through the door, reclaiming his breath and trying not to let his head hang. Taking a position behind Carrot Top, Game stared stonily through the shouts and whoops of the crowd, noting only two things; the worried gaze of Twilight Sparkle, who seemed to him to be the only one aware of the crisis, and, following this gaze, the presence of Sassaflash.
The crusted side of the moon formed the shape of a unicorn’s head – albeit with a rather long horn, leading Game to assume that this was of an alicorn…the legendary Mare in the Moon herself. As he shifted his field of view back into the town hall, the crowds cheered riotously as a spotlight swung its way up to a balcony. This was accompanied by the tune of Fluttershy’s bird quintet – a rather unfitting tune for the mystery and danger about to unravel.
Now, his eyes followed the spotlight, noting the pretty unicorn standing just beside its ray. I’m sure I saw this pony somewhere before…maybe in Manehattan? She looked fairly new there…maybe a tourist or something…I should keep an eye out for her – A thick wall of jeopardy landed before Game’s train of thought, causing it to crash. All that remained was pure traumatization and trepidation, as the tallest pony he’d ever seen before took center stage.
The entire crowd – except Spike, that is – stared, bug eyed, at the vengeful shade of a past royalty that stood before them. Game’s eyes, however, were a flinty façade for his inner compound of emotions. Excitement, fear, vengeance, even pity…culminating in exactly what he was doing now – staring. The same futility he felt before all this happened sunk in once more, and he could do but one thing – help others escape.
Now was no time to note his own strength, as he grabbed a couple of mares, shouting “Sorry, no time to explain! Let’s get somewhere else!” After hoisting them onto his back with a quick glance to check, he sprinted away from the chaos ensuing in the town hall. He had no idea of Nightmare Moon’s capabilities, but he didn’t feel he had anything strong enough to tackle her alone. With haste, Game dismissed this futile thought and continued to tear across the grass.
“Want to stay round mine for the night, just to be safe?...don’t worry, I’m not implying anything,” Game laughed diffidently. …wait a second, the night’s gonna last forever! Never knew it could be this easy…wait, I’m not meant to be implying anything… The two mares accepted, and Game picked up the pace.
Soon, the trio reached Game’s house. Nightmare Moon’s storm raged on outside, cracking at the most unsuspecting moments and leaving all three ponies fearful. Game pulled out a couple of old, ragged blankets his mother had insisted he should bring with him, and laid them down as carefully as he could. “So which one of you guys wants to sleep in m – uh, I mean, where I’d normally sleep?” The stallion couldn’t get over his own mistakes, and on that night they definitely seemed plentiful. The two mares eventually decided who would take Game’s bed, and the three of them did their best to get to sleep, the nightmare of the Mare in the Moon still lingering like a wisp of blue mist in their heads.
"And once Pinkie and Rarity were saved, whoosh... Me and Fluttershy loop-de-loop around and WHAM! Caught you right in the nick of time." Rainbow Dash smirked, admiring her handiwork in the possible disaster that the six plucky ponies had evaded through trust and – more importantly – honesty. This newly-formed team of six friends would control the fate of Equestria by proving themselves in a series of trials, earning them the right to defy the vengeful queen of the night using the Elements of Harmony.