Power of Love!

by Inactive Pone

Chapter 2: The Puyo Basics

“By the way, was what you said true? About the fact you wear the same things all year?”

“Pretty much. Although, I didn’t bring spare clothes here since this was so sudden so I might abuse my magic just a tiny bit.”

Arle was talking with Twilight as they walk into the Everfree Forest. It’s the next day and the Princess was eager to learn something. Their place of choice was due to the fact Changelings would have a significantly lower chance of planning sneak attacks there due to its packed and easily obstructed environment so it would be safe for Arle to show her the ropes of Puyo Battles. And this gave the two quite a bit of time to just get to know one another. First conversations between people can get packed with info you don’t understand.

“I’m going to need some more time getting used to this.”

“What?”

“Your kind doesn’t wear clothes. Well, given you are ponies, so...”

Twilight shrugged. “We do, just not often. Anyway... About your friend, Ally. Who is she?”

“Oh, she’s the best friend you can ask for,” Arle blissfully said, cupping her hands and raising to her chin to make a cute face. “She’s so kind, so caring, and so optimistic. *sigh* It’s been months since we last saw each other, yet I remember her very well. Whenever you speak anything about love to her, she gets quite enthusiastic. She loves everything and everyone. Well, so much for the Everyone part.”

Twilight stopped dead in her tracks.

“Come again?” She asked, turning to Arle behind her.

“Ally is very into all things about love,” She said again, “Her catchphrase is so cute- ‘Let’s Fall in Love!’, She would say. She thinks love conquers all, and I absolutely believe it.”

“*sigh* Well, I’m not sure about that one.”

“O-Oh?”

Arle caught up to Twilight. They reached their designated open clearing, as Twilight continued explaining.

“I suppose it’s a good time to tell you who the Changelings are,” The princess said, “The Changelings are a hostile race in our kingdom, Equestria. They are shape-shifters that terrorize our people to satisfy their unlimited greed of love, led by their tyrannical ruler, and in a way, their mother, Queen Chrysalis. Her reasoning for invasions was always the fact that the hunger of love of the Changelings can never be satisfied, and thus she’s always back for more, drawing away the love of our subjects from our very being for their own survival.

“*gasp* To use love against the innocent... How cruel!” Arle gasped.

“This is why when I heard your description of Ally, I was worried. They must’ve somehow found a way to her world, knocked her out, and kidnapped her. If Ally is filled with so much love, sympathy, and excitement, she would be the Changelings’ perfect weapon against us. No wonder they’ve gotten stronger...”

“But Ally would never do that! Not for the sake of evil!”

“When you’re threatened, you will do anything.”

Arle couldn't argue with that one. She has encountered these situations several times during her adventures.

"Now," Twilight said, beginning to brighten up, "Shall we begin?"

Arle nodded. She summoned a Puyo board for herself and Twilight virtually, like a holographic image.

"Since you don't come from my world, I'll have to have you and your group to initiate the Puyo Battle setup instead of you all initiating it yourselves," Arle explained. "Moving on, I have explained what Puyos are yesterday, right?"

Twilight nodded. "Jelly-like blobs with different colors, correct?"

"Yep! So, the idea is that puyos can come in combinations of two, either with same or distinct colors. You'll have to place a set of puyos down to the bottom of your board to start setting up attacks. I think you can just use your own magic to do so, we humans need to move our hands to move them."

Twilight did exactly as she was told as she saw a set of Blue and yellow puyos. She controlled it with her magic.

"Whenever four of the same kind of Puyo is connected up, they will disappear with a 'pop'! And that would fuel a bit of magic."

Twilight followed again, dropping some more sets of puyos, and the outcome was exactly as she heard.

"A local filly likes playing this kind of stuff," Twilight joked, giggling. "I wonder if he has played this?"

"I dunno," Arle shrugged. "Anyway, when you pop puyos, you'll get magic. However, the real challenge to this game is to build strategic chains. When puyos pop, whatever puyos above will fall to the bottom unless a Puyo is in its way. If you place the puyos in a certain way, with one set of puyos, it's possible to initiate a chain reaction."

"Hence the name chain?"

"Exactly! The longer the chain you want, the higher the difficulty, but the magic will be stronger. Here, let me show you."

Arle's board showed a bunch of puyos, in all sorts of colors.

"Sometimes they may look placed at random, but with good thinking ahead, you can really keep the pressure on."

She navigated a blue Puyo to a spot and set off a combo of 7 groups.

“This will need some time getting used to,” Arle said. “Maybe I can teach you and your friends how to effectively build these attacks on a later day.”

“Sounds good!” Twilight smiled.

“Now, I will go easy on you and have a practice match with you so you’ll get caught up to speed, okay?”

“Practice makes perfect.”

They were about to start when they were interrupted by a scream.

”Kyaaaaaaaaah!”

“What was that?” Twilight asked.

Arle recognized the voice. “*gasp* Could that be...!” She tried to distinguish where the sound came from. “Hey, girl! Where are you!?”

“Arle?” She yelled back. “Over here!”

Arle made a mad dash towards the sound. Twilight quickly took pursuit as well, as they reach a separate, bigger clearing. They saw another girl trapped by a few Changelings, one whom Arle seemed to recognize.

“Heeeeeeeeelp!” She cried.

Arle quickly popped more Puyos for a spell.

”Mind Strike!”

Suddenly, the Changelings stopped threatening her, and after a bit of mind control by Arle from the spell, they were compelled to leave the area without a fight.

“Amitie!” Arle cried, “Are you okay?”

“Ughhhh... I’m fine,” Amitie said, trying to get herself out of the goo she was stuck in. Arle landed a hand on that. “Phew, Thanks.”

“You’re welcome! So, you got- Oof!”

Amitie pulled her into a hug.

“Oh, I’m so glad I’m not the only one here! I was so frightened just now...”

“Hey, don’t worry, girl,” Arle chuckled, breaking free. “You got sent here too?”

“It’s a long story...”

Twilight found it a good time right now to join the conversation.

“A friend of yours, Arle?”

“Yeah, Indeed.”

Amitie looked about the same age as Arle did. The first thing Twilight noticed was the hat she was wearing- It looked like a red Puyo, with two giant adorable looking eyes like the Puyo itself. She had blonde hair and green eyes. A pretty prominent feature in her choice of clothing was the use of pink and hearts. She looked like the cheery kind of person- One that’s very energetic, seeing how big her reactions can be.

“*gasp* You look like one of them!” Amitie said, pointing to Twilight.

“Eh? Me?” She asked. “Those creatures are nothing like us normal ponies!”

“I thought so too until they changed forms right in front of me!” She yelled, “I can’t trust you yet! What if you’re one of those things!?”

Amitie summoned her Puyo board. Arle put a hand on her shoulder.

“Amitie, she’s with me, don’t worry!”

“Wait, Arle. This can be good practice on my Puyo play, let’s see how I do,” Twilight said.

“Oh? Well, go ahead, then. I’ll be your attacker.”

Arle helped Twilight summon her Puyo board, ready for a Puyo Battle.

“Go easy on her. I just taught her how to play.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t!” Amitie giggled.

**Game Start!**

Random Puyo sets started dropping from both boards. Both players made their moves, but it was obvious to see Amitie outplaying Twilight. Whenever Twilight made an attack, Amitie countered it immediately. Yet luck seemed to be on her side- If only she had a concrete strategy.

Time was not in her favor, though.

”Cyclone!”

Amitie initiates a strong gust of wind to knock Arle back. Suddenly, a bunch of grey Puyos fell on Twilight’s board.

“What in the- Huh?”

“I forgot to mention!” Arle said to Twilight, “The grey Puyos are what we call garbage Puyos. They can only be cleared by clearing an adjacent Puyo!”

Twilight didn’t give up. She navigated a few color Puyos and quickly churned through the few lines of garbage on her board, sending small bursts of attacks to keep her foe at bay. When she was back in action, she unintentionally gets a chain of three.

“Good!” Arle gave a thumbs up. ”Fireball!”

Arle shoots fireballs back at Amitie.

”Tempest!”

Swiftly, Amitie counters with a spell of her own from a chain of five. With that damage, Twilight panicked for a while before filling up the board, causing her to lose the match. The board dissipated, and Amitie disabled hers since she had won.

“Amitie!” Arle said, a tiny bit annoyed.

“Your friend needs some more practice, haha!”

“Yeah, I guess I do,” Twilight said, scratching her head. “So, you’re Amitie, one of Arle’s friends?”

“Yep!” She winked. “Now that we’ve done a Puyo Battle, I think I can trust you. You are?”

“Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“Oooooh! How noble, your highness.”

“Please, I’m more used to ponies- People calling me my first name.”

“Oh, by the way, Amitie...” Arle said, a little tense, “Have you seen Carby anywhere?”

“Ah! Actually, I did! I found him earlier but when I was attacked, he ran away...”

Arle was about to sigh when she heard the familiar sounds.

“Gugugu...”

“Huh? Carby?” Arle asked, calling for him.

A minute later the little guy finally found the source of the voice, and the two were reunited. Carby hops over and jumps into an embrace with Arle. Arle snuggles him a little bit before letting go.

“That’s Carbuncle,” Amitie said to Twilight.

“I was just about to ask,” Twilight replied. “But What is he speaking? I can’t understand him...”

“I don’t know either, only Arle knows for some reason. They’ve just been friends for a long time.”

Arle came over to join them.

“Hey, Amitie, you said you saw those creatures attack you, right?”

“Uh-Huh! They were scary! Eep!”

“It’s a long story. How’d you even get here in the first place?”

“Oh, I was practicing my Puyo and I may or may not have initiated a powerful enough chain to send me between words again...”

Arle was surprised. “That’s surprisingly convenient!”

“So you can even travel between worlds with Puyo?” Twilight asked. “And What are the odds... You came straight to our world, too.”

“How long have you been here? I’m worried!”

“Oh, for all I know it’s only been a few hours, but I think I passed out when I came over.”

“You could’ve been kidnapped, Amitie! And in the open, too!”

“I know, so I’m glad you both came to help me! Hehehe!”

Twilight let out a small chuckle. “Amitie, Arle, it would be a little inconvenient for us to continue talking like this here. Mind if we retreat back to my castle? Then I can teach my friends some Puyo while you two exchange information.”

Amitie’s eyes sparkled. “A castle!? Pretty!”

“Yeah, she’s a princess after all,” Arle laughed.

“Alright then, let’s go!”

Puyo Magician Amitie has joined the Party