//------------------------------// // Duel 1-Puzzle of the Alicorns // Story: It's Time to Duel! // by thisissparta789789 //------------------------------// October 12, 1994 "Hey," a male archaeologist shouted to a worker nearby. "Did ya find anything yet?" The worker emerged from an opening to a tomb embedded in a cliff, carrying a box. "Yeah! Come take a look at this! All of you!" A group of 8 people crowded around the box as another flew over, his wings lightly sweeping up sand from the ground as he landed. The lead archaeologist looked at the box and said, "My God... I think this is it! Open it up!" The worker opened the box, taking off the top and revealing a smashed red amulet inside. "This must be the Alicorn Puzzle! The Nameless Princess used this 3000 years ago to-" Suddenly, he clutched his chest and quickly handed the box to the archaeologist. The archaeologist said, worried, "Woah, dude, are you alright?" The worker then collapsed to the ground, still clutching his chest. "Someone get an ambulance!" The worker then looked at the archaeologist and faintly said, "It... It was the Shadow Games..." He then went limp, dead from an unexplainable heart attack. September 7, 2015 It was another normal Monday at Ponyville High School. As the students in a classroom all filed out to play basketball during a break, a student asked a girl sitting at a desk, "Hey Twilight, wanna come outside and shoot some hoops with us?" "Oh," the girl said as she looked up from a book. "No thanks. I'm not a sports kind of girl. Have fun, though." "Okay then, see ya around." The student then left. "Time to bring out my treasure," Twilight thought to herself as she reached into her bag and brought out a box. "Let's see if I can make any progress on this thing." Suddenly, a hand swiped the box from her desk. A female voice said, "Huh... What's this?" Twilight looked up and saw a rainbow-haired winged girl holding her box. "Rainbow Dash, what gives?" "Nothing, just wanted to see this box of your's." Twilight, annoyed, said, "Fine, have a peek." Rainbow Dash looked in for a second and then closed the box, saying, "Well, boring as always, Twilight." She then smiled. "You know, if you had any balls, you would have swiped that right back from my hands and then socked me in the face." "Well maybe I don't want to use violence," Twilight retorted. "And she doesn't have to," another voice retorted. This voice had an accent to it. "If y'all think it's sooooo borin', give it back to Twilight. What did ah' tell ya bout messin' with her, ya creep?" "Yadda yadda yadda," Rainbow Dash replied. "You're so defensive of her, Applejack. You know, I'm startin' to think you might be in the closet." Twilight blushed. "Uhhhh... I dunno if that's such a good question-" "Says the girl who has God damn rainbow-coloured hair," Applejack retorted. "Going by your hair, you're the most homosexual student here." 2 girls walking by peered their heads in. One of them, a cheery, pink-haired girl, said, "Wow! That was a sick burn, Applejack!" Applejack turned around, smiled, and nodded at the girl, named Pinkamena Diane "Pinkie" Pie. Rainbow Dash stammered her response, saying, "I... Urgh... God... Ugh, forget it. I'm outta here. And by the way, I'm not gay. Are you implying it would be a bad thing if I was?" Another student, a blue-haired girl with a horn, walked in and said, "Hey Rainbow Dash, what's up?" "Nothing, Rarity," the girl replied. Applejack said, "To say ah hate people for who they love is slander and nothin' more!" Rarity said to Rainbow Dash, "Uhhhh, context, darling?" The 2 then walked out and continued their conversation. A pink-haired and cheery girl named Pinkie Pie left them and walked over to Twilight and Applejack. Applejack said, "Sorry bout that, Twilight. What's up?" "Nothing much. I thought you were outside." "Nah, screw that. Ah noticed the guys were handing the girls the ball a lot during basketball. Wasn't 'til a bit later that ah realized the guys were peekin' up the girl's skirts when they took their shots." Applejack sighed. "Skirts were never meant for no sports, let me tell ya that." Twilight blushed, saying, "Well... Uhhh... That's... Interesting..." Applejack jokingly said, "Ya know, what if you're the gay one?" Pinkie Pie laughed. "Twilight, being lesbian? That's just silly, silly. There's no shame in being one, but I simply can't see Twilight liking and... Doing... Other girls." Twilight said, annoyed, "No, I'm not gay. I like boys. It's just that I know I don't have a chance in hell with one, at least not here. Even the outcast group's guys don't seem to like me. Well, at least I got you 2, and Spike." "Yup," Applejack replied. "So, what was in your box that Dashie grabbed?" Twilight opened the box and pulled out 2 pieces, saying, "It's a puzzle. It was found deep in an ancient tomb from the Pre-Discordian Era. The writing on the sides basically says whosoever solves the puzzle will be granted immense power, and all their wishes will be granted. However, when it was found, a worker at the site died of an unexplained heart attack, and the lead archaeologist died exactly one year after excavating it in a car accident. People say it was a curse." Pinkie Pie said, "Ehhhh... It seems dangerous to have around... I wouldn't want that at my house. It would probably scare away customers at Sugarcube Corner, too." "Well," Applejack replied. "Nothin's happened to Twilight yet, right?" "Nope," Twilight replied. "And nothing will, because I am going to solve the hell out of this puzzle! I've been at this since I was 11 when Princess Celestia gifted this to me back in Canterlot. I'm not gonna stop now." Pinkie Pie happily replied, "That's the spirit!" Back in the halls, Rainbow Dash said, "Fluttershy, you didn't see anything, right?" "Not really," the pink-haired winged girl replied. "I don't get involved with that kind of stuff. I'm not the type to fight or anything." "Say," Rarity asked. "Isn't it hypocritical?" "What is?" Rainbow Dash seemed confused. "Isn't it hypocritical that you basically tease Twilight even though she seems to be similar to Fluttershy in terms of shyness?" "Fluttershy's different," Rainbow Dash quickly replied. "Okay?" Suddenly, the 3 of them bumped into someone else. Rainbow Dash cursed loudly before the three of them stepped back and looked at a foreboding senior named Wild Strikes. "What is this about teasing and hypocrisy, you 3?" Fluttershy peeped in fear as Rarity and Rainbow Dash looked on at him. "Listen, buddy, this is none of ya God da-" Suddenly, Rarity and Fluttershy covered up Rainbow Dash's mouth. Rarity said, "Nothing, Wild Strikes. We were just saying how teasing's wrong and hypocritical!" "Yeah," Fluttershy replied. "Nothing more!" She was shaking in fear, thinking, "Please don't kill us, please don't kill us, please don't kill us." "Good," the tall senior replied. "Bullying and hazing are wrong. I like to see more students hold that opinion." He then walked away. Rarity and Fluttershy uncovered Rainbow Dash's mouth. She quickly said, "You assholes almost suffocated me!" Rarity told her, "You idiot! Do you realise who that was?! That was Wild Strikes, the hall monitor! He's so terrifying, even some teachers are intimidated by him!" Fluttershy said, "Did you want us to be killed?" "No, I didn't, alright? Let's just forget about it, okay?" She then shifted through her pocket. "Anyways, wanna see what I got from Twilight's box?" "No," Rarity replied as she laughed. "You didn't." Fluttershy, confused, asked, "Wait, what?" Rainbow Dash then held out a piece of the Alicorn Puzzle, saying, "I stole it! Now she can't complete that puzzle of her's!" She then opened a window and looked down on a fountain on the ground below. "I'll just drop this "by accident" right into this fountain and voila!" She dropped the piece into the water. Fluttershy said, "Are you sure that was a good idea?" She objected to some of Rainbow Dash's behaviour, but didn't feel like making a big deal out of it because she didn't want to cause a fuss. "Meh," Rarity replied. "It's just a puzzle." Later that day, as Twilight left the school, Wild Strikes stopped her. He said, "Hey, Twilight Sparkle." Twilight turned around and asked, "Yes, who is it?" "I'm Wild Strikes, the hall monitor. Listen, I heard you were going through some issues with some students." Twilight replied, "Oh, Rainbow Dash? Meh, it's no big deal." "Whatever you say," the senior replied. "How about you let me talk to her and see if we can solve any issues before they come up, huh?" "Oooookay then," Twilight awkwardly replied. "Well, I gotta run. Bye." She then thought to herself as she walked away, "What's up with him?" "Heh, heh, heh," Wild Strikes thought to himself. "Looks like I found a new schmuck to extort."