Starlight Glimmer Regrets Her Mistakes

by MagicS

Let the Games Begin

Back in the Castle of Friendship, there was quite the panic going on. The Elements, Starlight’s friends, Starlight’s new friends, everyone had no idea what had just happened. Starlight, Discord, and that strange tie-dye pony had suddenly vanished, leaving them behind in the map room. Starswirl had his horn lit up, trying to find a trace of their magic and preparing for what might happen next, while Trixie panicked incoherently and Fluttershy worried for Discord. Glimmer, Moonlight, and Sunset were totally lost even more than the others.

Only Spike really had a clue—having been privy to an earlier conversation Starlight and Discord had.

Of course that didn’t stop others from making some accusations.

“What just happened? Are you two fakers responsible for it?” Rainbow Dash asked as she glared at Moonlight and Glimmer.

“Rainbow Dash, stop it!” Spike said to her and flew up between them and her. “I don’t know what’s going on but these are our friends, I promise!”

“Yes, please calm down, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said and rubbed her forehead. “The three of them just vanished… what was that strange pony?”

“Actually, Starlight and Discord talked about it earlier, he’s-” Spike started but before he could explain a portal opened up over their heads.

It looked like a portal into the stars, hanging right above the Cutie Map. Out of it slithered a familiar snake-like form and Fluttershy smiled and flew up to him.

“Dis-” her face fell as she noticed something was wrong. “-cord?”

“Not quite,” Harlequin Rainbow grinned at her. “He’s a bit out of date so I’ve decided to take his place.” A snap of his fingers and Starlight and the powerless Discord fell through the portal and onto the table as well. “You can have these two back for the moment by the way. But in return I’m going to be removing some other game pieces.”

Twilight spread her wings and flew up to face him directly. “I don’t know who you are and why you’re doing this but you better stop right now and leave my friends alone!”

“Twilight, we need to-” Starlight began to shout.

“I’m the new and improved Lord of Chaos. But it’s too crowded in here now,” he snapped his fingers and portals appeared above the heads of Starswirl, Trixie, and Sunburst. Just as quickly hands came out of the portals and grabbed the three ponies, pulling them up into the portals right as they closed.

“Trixie, Sunburst!” Starlight yelled.

Twilight gasped. “Where did you take them?!”

Before Harlequin Rainbow could answer, he briefly split in two and let Rainbow Dash fly right through him and into the wall.

“Ow...” Rainbow groaned.

“Hehehehehe,” Harlequin Rainbow chuckled and with another snap of his fingers, the streamers and banners in the map room came to life and flew down around to the Elements of Harmony. The six ponies were swiftly tied up by the living decorations. Even Applejack found her strength was useless against the chaotically imbued streamers. Twilight attempted to light up her horn but a single tap on its tip by Harlequin Rainbow’s finger somehow turned her magic off. “You and the Elements are the only threat to me left, but you’re soooo slow to react. Instead of trying to talk you should’ve just did what Rainbow Dash did from the start. Like this I can make sure you never use your powers against me.”

“Let them go!” Spike yelled and flew at him.

“Spike, no!” Starlight shouted.

Harlequin Rainbow scoffed and slapped Spike down to the floor. “Don’t make me laugh.”

“Spike!” Sunset Shimmer ran up and grabbed him before he could hit the crystal floor. “Tch, I wish I still had the hang of my magic right now...”

“Not like it would help you, useless,” Harlequin Rainbow laughed. “I’ve already won now that the Elements can’t do anything.”

He was blasted in the back by Starlight, the heavy beam of magic shooting him into the wall of the map room. She patted the weak Discord on his head and stood up, glaring at the new Lord of Chaos. “We’re not taking that sitting down!”

“Be careful, Starlight!” Twilight said as she continued to struggle against her bonds.

“But please still save us while you’re at it!” Rarity shouted.

“Yeah! This isn’t how party decorations are supposed to be used!” Pinkie said as she rolled around and fought with her own streamers.

“Can’t believe I’ve been hogtied by party streamers...” Applejack sighed in annoyance.

Fluttershy meanwhile tried to inch her way up to the table where Discord was. “D-Discord? Are you okay?”

“I’ve been better...” Discord groaned.

Harlequin Rainbow then peeled himself off the wall, thin as a sheet of paper, before jamming a thumb into his “mouth” and inflating himself back to normal. “No worse for wear, I never would’ve been able to handle things like that as my old self. Being the Lord of Chaos sure has its perks, gahahaha!”

“How do you have Discord’s powers?” Twilight furrowed her brow in frustration.

“He’s a chaotic being just like Discord, he took Discord’s powers for his own!” Starlight yelled.

“And now I fully intend to make this world just as chaotic as the previous slouch should have been making it,” Harlequin Rainbow rung his hands together and smirked at Starlight. “Unless you and your motley little group of friends wants to try and stop me? You said you won’t take this sitting down, did you? Do the others feel the same way? Spike the puny dragon, the wishy-washy Sunset, the irrelevant Starlight Glimmer, and my personal favorite—Miss Sulky Former Empress. Are you all going to try and stand against Chaos itself?”

“That’s right!” Spike said and immediately flew up to stand beside Starlight. He looked over at Sunset, Glimmer, and Moonlight, who were a little more hesitant than him. “Er, right?”

Moonlight was currently looking back and forth between Starlight and Harlequin Rainbow in pure confusion. “I genuinely have no idea what’s going on.”

“I’m a little lost too, actually,” Sunset raised a hoof.

“Me too… but there’s no doubt that we need to help,” Glimmer said, gulping and trying to put on her bravest face.

Sunset smirked. “I suppose that part’s true.”

Moonlight rolled her eyes and grinned. “Guess so.”

Together the three of them ran in front of the table, standing just beneath Starlight and Spike and facing off against Harlequin Rainbow.

“We’ll help you stop him and save your friends,” Glimmer said.

Starlight felt warmth building up in her chest and smiled widely, confidently looking back at the Harlequin. “There you have it.”

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Harlequin Rainbow doubled over in uproarious laughter. “You can’t be serious! I was joking. So what if you stand up against me, you’re a group of nitwits and failures who have no idea what you’re doing. I’m literally the master of all chaos in the world now. I’m essentially a god—without the Elements of Harmony you ponies can’t do anything to me. I mean sure it’s amusing that you’re trying to protect your friends and all that silliness, but I didn’t think you’d actually do it.”

“It doesn’t matter if you find it funny. Or if it’s impossible. We’re going to save our friends and the whole world from you. Cause that’s just what we do,” Starlight said.

“Really now?” Harlequin Rainbow smirked and rubbed an imaginary tear from his eye. He thought for a second as he stroked his chin. “Well let’s have some fun then. Fighting is boring, far too plain and straightforward. Flat out zapping and vaporizing you all with my magic too, where’s the excitement there? Let’s do something more chaotic.” His eyes darted between each of the ponies, and dragon, facing off against him. “Five of you… alright then. First to five wins takes it all.”

“Five wins? Of what?” Starlight frowned.

Harlequin Rainbow grinned and snapped his fingers.

---

Things went dark for a moment. Then stage lights lit up the world.

Starlight, Spike, Glimmer, Moonlight, and Sunset found themselves standing on some kind of dark tiled floor with a huge blue curtain to one side and a large studio audience chamber to the other side. Most of the seats were empty but the front row was filled with Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Discord, Trixie, Sunburst, Starswirl, and now Princess Celestia and Luna as well. All of them cuffed to their seats and looking just as confused as the free mares (and dragon).

“What is the meaning of this?!” Princess Luna roared as soon as she noticed her condition.

“Twilight? What’s going on?” Princess Celestia asked in a much more subdued, but still noticeably panicked, manner.

“Something has taken Discord’s chaos magic and is doing this. I-I don’t know what’s happening now but Starlight and Spike are trying to stop him,” Twilight answered.

“Guys!” Starlight shouted and tried to run over to free them—but found herself running face first into an invisible wall. “Ow...”

“Starlight!” Trixie shouted, trying to get free of her cuffs. It seemed like none of the unicorns could use their magic.

“Are you okay?” Sunburst asked.

“Y-Yeah...” Starlight groaned, stepping back and shaking her head. “I just don’t think the obvious solution is going to work.”

Spike came up to her and held her steady. “Where’d he go? What do you think he’s doing?”

Before Starlight could answer a drumroll from nowhere began. The five of them looked around in confusion and suddenly the blue curtain opened up down the middle while a band of trumpets and trombones loudly roared and Harlequin Rainbow came spinning and dancing out onto the floor. Canned laughter from the empty seats in the audience joined the musical instruments and the stage lights started to move around in a dizzying pattern as they followed the tie-dye Draconequus. The invisible band reached its fever pitch right as Harlequin Rainbow made a final spin and slid across the tile, standing in front of his adversaries with his arms held wide open and a huge smile on his face.

The fake crowd clapped even louder.

“Thank you, thank you,” Harlequin Rainbow took a bow and snapped his fingers, the applause immediately stopping. “Ah, I truly love the appreciation.”

“Looks like you’ve got the annoying part of being the Lord of Chaos down pretty well,” Starlight frowned at him.

“You’re welcome,” he grinned.

“So what are we doing here. Where is here?” Spike asked.

“Just a stage I cooked up, a far better place to play than that boring castle,” Harlequin Rainbow shrugged.

“Play?” Starlight raised an eyebrow.

“Yes. Allow me to explain,” Harlequin Rainbow grinned at her and her friends. “We’re having a game show here to decide who wins and who loses. With the stakes being Equestria and all the world falling into endless chaos or not. It’s so much more fun to settle things like this than with a simple fight, right?”

“No,” Rainbow Dash commented from the audience.

Harlequin Rainbow snapped his fingers and a metal plate found itself welded to her mouth.

“Anyways. We’re going to play some fun games. The five of you will take turns playing me one on one. And the first side to five wins wins the whole thing. Easy enough, right?” He smirked.

“What games?” Starlight asked.

“I’ll be choosing that,” he chuckled.

“Oh, that sounds fair,” Moonlight rolled her eyes.

“It would be boring if I made it too easy for myself. So I won’t cheat or make things too unfair. Trust me,” he said.

“Oh, do a Pinkie Promise so we know you’re telling the-” a second metal plate welded itself over Pinkie Pie’s mouth.

Starlight’s group looked uncertainly at each other. They didn’t exactly like the sound of this but what else could they do.

Sunset shrugged. “We have to, right?”

“I think so...” Glimmer nodded.

“We’ll just do our best with whatever he throws at us,” Moonlight said.

“Yeah, right Starlight?” Spike looked to her for confirmation.

“That’s right. Rigged or not, we’ll win,” Starlight took a deep breath and glared at Harlequin Rainbow. “Alright—start things up, we’re doing this.”

“Excellent! So who’s going to compete against me first, hmm?” Harlequin Rainbow rubbed his hands together expectantly.

“I’ll start things off myself,” Starlight said. “I won’t ask anyone else to face you before me.”

“Good, that’s fine by me. Let’s see which one of us takes home the first win,” Harlequin Rainbow chuckled and snapped his fingers.

A table grew up from the floor, the floor itself looking like part of it turned to moldable clay as it grew and formed itself into a table with two chairs on opposite sides. The stage lights above shifted to only shine down on the table, leaving the rest of the game show arena studio in darkness. Harlequin Rainbow slithered over and took a seat, gesturing to the one left.

“Take a seat, Starlight.”

Starlight frowned and started to walk towards him when Spike grabbed her leg.

“Are you sure about this?” He asked her, clearly worried.

“I’ve—we’ve got this, Spike,” Starlight said and confidently smiled to the others. “Sunset, Glimmer, Moonlight, I’ll start us off with a win.”

“You better,” Sunset smirked.

“Good luck,” Glimmer said.

“Cheat if you can,” Moonlight said.

Starlight chuckled. “Thanks for the support… time to win this, whatever it is I’m doing.” She said and walked up to the table, taking her seat across from the Harlequin. “Alright, you’re choosing the game so just lay it on me.”

“Gladly,” Harlequin Rainbow grinned and reached behind his back. “We’re playing-” he swiftly pulled out a box from behind his back and held it in front of Starlight’s face. “Scrabble!”

“What?” Starlight blinked.

“Scrabble! Don’t you know it?”

“Well, yes, I just thought we’d be playing something a little more exciting, or dangerous, or competitive.”

Harlequin Rainbow snorted. “Pff, it’s exactly because of that that we’re playing this instead. How can I do something you expect me to do? What would be chaotic about that? That’s why we need to play a boring little game like this!” He set the box down and opened it up, quickly placing the board down and throwing the tiles on it upside-down along with two racks. “Go on, go on, grab your tiles! We’ll each make, oh, five or ten words and whoever has the most points at the end will win.”

“Okay...” Starlight bit her lip and grabbed several tiles at random to make her rack while Harlequin Rainbow did the same.

“I’ll go first because I always go first, that’s a rule,” Harlequin Rainbow snickered and put several tiles out on the board, taking the middle space.

HAT

Starlight looked at her pieces and made the best move she could.

TIME

Coming from the "T" at the end of HAT.

Harlequin Rainbow smiled and after picking up a few more tiles made his next move.

EEL

Starlight drew and made her second turn.

CHAT

“Oh please, you can do better than that can’t you?” Harlequin Rainbow put a few more tiles out.

ISLAND

Their board was now starting to get a bit more complex.

“You’ll see...” Starlight frowned.

DOOR

“Oh, another four letter word, I’m sooo impressed,” Harlequin Rainbow picked up more tiles and made his next move while Starlight glared at him.

ROUND

Starlight silently examined the board and the mish-mash of words before she picked up more tiles and placed a couple more on the board.

ONE

“Maybe I should make this the last turn? It doesn’t look like you’ll win once I do this,” Harlequin Rainbow grinned. He was quite snidely insulting of Starlight only managing to make a three letter word that time.

OUTDOORS

Starlight placed her hooves on her temples and stared at the board and all the opportunities it offered before placing a single tile down. “One more turn.”

FEEL

Not much of a turn at all.

“Giving up then? Because at this rate your score isn’t nearly as good as mine. I think this will settle things,” Harlequin Rainbow put four tiles down.

CHAOS

“There, make your final turn,” Harlequin Rainbow smugly crossed his arms.

Starlight was not impressed.

“Actually, I was just messing with you. If this is the final turn, that’s good, I didn’t want you to keep extending things until you won,” Starlight grinned and placed six new tiles down. “This game is mine.”

XYLOPHONE

The six new tiles came down to connect with the "ONE" she had placed earlier.

“Well?” Starlight leaned back in her chair and put her hooves behind her head.

Harlequin Rainbow squinted at the board, a frown on his face. “Hm… I suppose the clean-sweep is off the table.” Despite the loss a chuckle still emerged from his throat. “Well, well, though I’m quite upset you won, you are the most capable of your group. If I was going to lose to any of you it was going to be you, Starlight. Let’s see if the others can remotely match up.”

He snapped his fingers and the table and all the Scrabble pieces and box vanished, the stage going back to normal.

Also causing Starlight to fall with an oof to the floor when her chair disappeared.

“So fine, I’ll get us back to even in just a moment,” Harlequin Rainbow said and smiled at Spike, Sunset, Glimmer, and Moonlight. “Which of you wants to go next?”

Comments

[RoboRed]

Yeah I was also expecting something sinister to happen with the Scrabble board. Like sinister words bringing stuff into existence or something.

[redmar]

Scrabble is a surprising choice but that the Harlequim chose chaos was not surprising.

[DiscordantDisciple]

Oh boy! Big fan of harlequin rainbow's makeover, hope he gets what's coming to him