As it says in my profile, two of my main interests are MLP and Yu-Gi-Oh! So, I figured I should try to find some stories that introduced both. Nothing on seemed to satiate me, so I searched Fimfiction and found this. So it is my great pleasure to introduce, originally written by DrakeyC of (and still in progress by her), "Duelists of the Autumn Crown".

Not really much to say. It's basically the first "Equestria Girls" movie, but with a little less dancing and a lot more card games. You're gonna need to read it to understand what I mean.

To start things off, let's fast-forward to the exact second Twilight and Spike emerged from the mirror portal.

Ch. 1: Welcome to Canterlot High

Twilight groaned and opened her eyes. Slowly, the world came into focus. She saw a row of unfamiliar houses not far away on the other side of a road and a field of grass. "Where am I?"

"Twilight?" A familiar voice called out to her. Twilight saw a dog come into her field of vision and focused on it. It had light purple fur with a tuft of green fur along its head. It reminded her of…

"Spike? Are you a dog?"

The dog looked down at itself and nodded. "Yeah, seems so. But I have no idea what you are!"

"Huh?" Twilight looked down at her hooves on the ground. Instead of hooves, she saw long, lavender limbs ending with five fingers. She did the rational thing… and screamed at the top of her lungs. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Twilight jumped up and looked down at her body. A dark purple skirt with a pink star emblazoned over it covered her below the waist, from which stretched legs into dark purple and pink boots. She looked at her arms and torso. A light blue blouse concealed her upper body and two straps wrapped around her shoulders. Twisting her neck brought a backpack into view. Finally, Twilight's attention was drawn to a strange device strapped to her left arm.

The device looked like a lavender disk with pink linings. Connected to the disk was a three-section strip of metal that was folded around the disk into a rough horseshoe shape. Various indentations, buttons, and slots covered the strip, and a screen was built into the disk behind a large open slot. Twilight ran her fingers over the device and found a button on the back. She pressed it. The arms on the strip of metal snapped forward and bent into a straighter shape and the buttons and screen on the device lit up.

"What is this?" Twilight pressed the button again and the device de-powered and retracted back into its more compact horseshoe shape. She looked over her body, turning her hands around. "For that matter, what am I?"

Spike shook his head. "You're definitely not a pony. You don't have hooves, a muzzle, or a horn."

"What!?" Twilight reached to her face and felt a short, stumpy nose. She squeaked and moved her hands up to her head, feeling only skin and hair. She began to pant. "Okay… okay, let's recap. I've been turned into some sort of two-legged being with arms and hands, no fur, and…" She looked at her arm again. "Some sort of weird disk machine attached to my arm." She put a hand on her chest and caught her breath. "First priority, find Sunset Shimmer. Second priority, get my crown back. Third priority, get back to Equestria. Fourth priority, do all of that before I have a panic attack."

"Hey, look on the bright side," Spike said cheerily. "You don't have to worry about those pesky wings anymore."

Twilight lowered her arms and glared. "Not helping." She turned her attention from her new form to the world around her. A large three-story building loomed in front of her. Twilight looked behind her and saw a statue of a rearing horse. She stretched a hand out to the base and the stone rippled as her hand passed through it. "Well, here's the portal." She glanced back at the building. "If Sunset Shimmer came out here, maybe someone there saw her."

"Worth a shot," Spike replied. Twilight carefully stepped forward on her two legs. She stumbled forward and grabbed the railings of the steps into the building for support. "This is gonna take some getting used to." She pulled herself up to the top and reached the doors. There, she paused. The polished glass of the doors allowed her a look at her reflection. Twilight twisted in place, looking at herself.

"Weird," she murmured, holding up a strand of her hair to look at it. "I'm me. But, not me. But I look like me. Except not a pony." She frowned. "Too confusing. Let's just find Sunset and get back to Equestria." She put a hand on the door and pushed.

"Ow!" On the other side of the door, another being fell on their backside as the door swung into them.

"Oh!" Twilight cupped her hands to her face. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there!" The other being, a girl with pale white hair and a blue jacket, scowled up at her. "Are you blind? The glass is transparent, you dolt!"

Twilight quickly got over her embarrassment and glared back. "I said I was sorry. You don't need to be rude!"

"Rude, huh?" The girl sneered and lifted her arm. Twilight saw a disk device like hers on the girl's arm, only where Twilight's was purple and pink, this girl's device was blue and silver. "Well, next class is a free period. Perhaps you need to be put in your place!" The girl pressed the button to activate the device and its arms swung forward. Twilight recognized a stack of some thin brown items in the large slot on the disk.

"Um, hang on." Twilight held up her hands and shook her head. "You're right, I'm sorry. My fault. I'm not looking to cause trouble, I'm just kind of new here and looking around." The girl looked at Twilight's arm as it waved. "You're walking around school with your duel disk on, and you don't even have your deck loaded?" She snorted and turned off the disk. "What an amateur. You'd be a waste of time." The girl tossed her head and pushed past Twilight to go outside. "Next time you get in Trixie's way, she won't be so merciful."

Twilight gritted her teeth at the girl's back. "There's no need to – what?" She looked at the girl closer. "Spike… did she just say her name was Trixie?"

"She did look a little familiar," Spike said.

Twilight shook her head. "That's not possible. Trixie couldn't have found the portal. Could she?"

"I doubt it. It's the only one and it was locked up, right?"

Twilight looked back around the building. "Yeah…" She noticed the banners and rows of lockers down hallways. "This is a school!" She smiled. "That means there must be a principal somewhere! Come on, Spike, we've got to get searching! Whoever runs this school must be able to help us."

Just then, a loud ringing filled the air. The doors in the hallways opened and hundreds of students filtered into the halls. Twilight gasped and flattened against the wall as they moved past her. She shuffled into a doorway and looked over the crowd. She saw several faces that seemed vaguely familiar and many more that didn't. A wide variety of these beings in a variety of skin tones, hair colors, and clothing types made up the population. And it seemed almost every one of them had another of those disk devices strapped to their arms in a variety of colors.

"Dude, I am gonna rock this thing, semifinals for sure."

"I got my sister a new starter deck for her birthday."

"Check out what I pulled from the new booster!"

As conversations washed over Twilight, she self-consciously looked down at her own disk. All the students had those stacks of brown items in the large open slot on the disk, where Twilight's was empty. She wondered what it meant. Twilight leaned down and whispered to Spike, "Seeing anyone using one of these?" Twilight looked at her own disk. "They seem important if everyone is wearing one."

"No clue." Spike shook his head.

The crowd had begun to disperse and Twilight carefully weaved her way through them. She saw several of them glance at her and then the disk on her arm, with various expressions following.

"She hasn't even got her deck out, what a noob!"

Twilight scowled at the voice from the student that just walked by her and turned to glare at their back as she walked. "I don't know what that word means, but I am not—" Twilight stopped as she bumped into someone, sending both of them to the ground. She groaned and pushed herself up, holding her head. "I have to start watching where I'm going."

"Are you okay?"

She turned her head and saw a hand held out to her. She followed the arm up to the face. A handsome boy with short, slightly spiked hair was holding his hand to her. Another of those disk devices, this one blue and yellow, was on his arm. Twilight took his hand and let him pull her up.

"Um… yes." Twilight took her hand back and brushed herself off. "Thanks."

"How come you don't have your deck ready?" The boy asked.

"Hm?"

"Your Duel Disk. Where's your deck?"

Twilight saw the boy hold up his arm to display the disk there and looked at her own. "My deck?"

"Just saying, a lot of students are itching to duel with the tournament tomorrow. If you're going to walk around school unprepared to duel, they might think you're an easy target," the boy explained. "Having your deck loaded will at least avoid attracting attention."

Twilight looked at the 'duel disk' on the boy's arm and noticed another stack of the brown things there. Realization dawned. Cards. Deck. Oh. "Right, my deck!" Twilight laughed nervously. She reached into the backpack she was wearing and grabbed a random pocket. "I've got it right here!" She unzipped the pocket and reached inside. She felt an angular box and pulled it out. A semi-transparent purple box of cards was in her hand. "Oh. I really did have it here."

She pulled open the top and removed the cards. Fanning them out she saw they came in three colors, with what she presumed to be the names of the cards scrawled along their tops. She noticed the boy watching her and forced a smile and held up the cards. "See? Deck ready to go!" She held up her duel disk and examined it for a moment before folding the cards together and slotting them into the large open space in the disk part. She heard a click and saw the arm over the slot descend slightly, locking the cards into place.

"Not trying to tell you what to do. I'm just saying, going around like that can get you challenges."

Challenges? Twilight decided to ponder what he meant later and settled for nodding as if she understood. "Right, thanks for the tip."

"No problem. I'm Flash Sentry." The boy held his hand out again.

Twilight looked at the outstretched hand, then held hers out opposite his. "Twilight Sparkle."

Flash looked at her hand, then moved his back to clasp it and shook it. "Nice to meet you." He took his hand back and turned his attention to the open locker between them.

"Likewise." As Flash removed several items from the locker and put a few more inside, Twilight looked around the thinning halls and thought. He must be a student here. And whatever these 'duel disks' are about that someone might challenge me over them, he doesn't seem to want to. "Say, Flash, could you help me with something?"

"Hm?" Flash slammed his locker and clicked the lock on it shut. "What's up?"

"I'm looking for the principal's office, but I'm not really familiar with the school. Can you show me where it is?"

"Oh?" Flash looked at her. "I thought I hadn't seen you before. Are you a new student?"

"Yes!" Twilight said the word a bit too loud as the perfect alibi was handed to her. At Flash's slight recoil she calmed down. "Yes, a new student, just transferred. I have to check in at the office?"

"Sure." Flash smiled and turned. "Follow me."

Twilight let out a breath and looked at Spike. He gave her an encouraging look and padded forward. Twilight raised her eyes back to the hall and followed Flash. As the two walked, Twilight presumed classes had begun, seeing that the hallways were almost empty now and she saw a couple of teachers closing their doors. A few more stray students were about, though. And they were still looking at her. And whispering as she passed. Twilight looked back at one pair and they immediately turned away.

"Flash?" Twilight saw one girl's gaze linger on her as she passed them. "I thought you said having my... 'deck,' ready, would avoid attracting attention?"

Flash chuckled. "I don't think it's your deck attracting attention."

"What?" Twilight felt her cheek and forward. "Is there something on my face?"

"No, your face is perfect." Flash stopped short in the hall and turned his head. "Not perfect! That is to say, it looks good, perfectly average, normal face. Not that it isn't a nice face, you're pretty enough. I-I mean, it's pretty fine! Good, fine. Nice face."

Jaden: Man, how is it that this guy is even more awkward in this story than he is in the actual movie?

Sonic Prime: Search me. Oh, by the way, everyone, I'd like you to meet my co-host for this story, the main protagonist of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Jaden Yuki.

Jaden: Glad to be here, Prime. Thanks for having me.

Sonic Prime: Well, I needed someone who knows Duel Monsters and all its ins and outs.

Jaden: Well then, you've come to the right guy. Just ask me, I'll tell you anything you need to know about a certain card, backstory or effects.

Sonic Prime: Well then, now that we've got that out of the way, let's get this show on the road.

Flash's eyes darted away. "Um…" His eyes lit up and he pointed. "I have to get to class! The office is down there!" Before Twilight could respond, Flash stepped around her, his face bright red and he hurried down the hall.

Spike grinned and nudged Twilight's boot. "I think he likes you."

"Don't be ridiculous, Spike. He just met me." Twilight watched him go and blushed. "I think that's actually the first time a boy called me pretty."

"What about Star Gazer back in the school for gifted unicorns?"

"He finished by saying I looked 'pretty silly' and threw paste and sparkles on my horn."

"Oh yeah." Spike snickered. "That was funny. He called you Twilight Sparkling." Twilight glared at him. "What?"

"We'll talk about it later." Twilight headed down the passage in the direction Flash had indicated. As he said, she soon found the door to the school main office and carefully pushed it open.

A large room with a few cubicles set up on the back wall greeted her. Typing at a computer at the front of the room, an older man with a sandy brown mustache and glasses paused and looked up at her.

Twilight waved. "Hello, Mr… ah," she looked at the nameplate on the counter. "Kibitz?" The man stared at her evenly. "Um, I'm a new student, and I need to speak to the principal. Please?" Kibitz turned his eyes to a phone by his keyboard and he pressed a button on it and picked it up. "Ms. Solaris, you have a student to see you… yes." He hung up and gestured a hand towards a door on the right wall. "Make it quick, she has an appointment in ten minutes."

"Thank you." Twilight headed to the door and knocked.

"Come in."

She pushed the door open. A woman with hair in shades of pale pink, green, and blue was sitting behind a desk, looking over a folder of papers. She looked up at Twilight and smiled. "Hello. Have a seat."

Twilight slowly approached the chairs in front of the desk. Something about this woman seemed familiar. She looked at the nameplate. "… Celestia Solaris?" She whispered.

"Just Celestia, if you please. I prefer to be informal with students." Celestia closed the file folder and pulled her chair closer. "I don't believe we've met before?"

"Um, no, we haven't." Twilight came to her senses and smiled. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, I'm a new transfer. Or, will be. I start next week." As an afterthought, she added. "I don't think they've brought my paperwork yet. Sorry."

Celestia smiled. "That's fine. It's nice to meet you Twilight. What can I do for you?"

Twilight hesitated. How much could she have seen or known? Would she personally have bumped into Sunset? "Um… when I was coming in today to look around, I bumped into a girl carrying a crown. It was gold and had a pink jewel on it?"

"Certainly, I know the item. The crown for the winner of the Autumn Crown Tournament. Apparently, someone stole it last night, but I've locked it up for safe keeping."

"Right, see that—" Twilight paused. "Autumn Crown Tournament?"

"Yes." Celestia stood and gestured to a poster in her room. Twilight looked at it. Several of the cards similar to the ones in her duel disk were sprayed over the image of a crown – one suspiciously similar to the Element of Magic – and a pair of students with duel disks facing each other as if in a confrontation. "It's the school's bi-annual Duel Monsters tournament, along with the Spring Crown Tournament."

Twilight stood and came closer. "The crown goes to the winner of the tournament?"

"Yes. The winner of the crown is also given an honorary position on the student council and awarded special privileges with teachers." Celestia gestured a hand at another wall. "You can thank our current champion for that." Twilight looked where she had gestured. A photograph of a girl with red and yellow hair was wearing a similar crown and holding up her arm with a duel disk on it, smirking in triumph.

She looks familiar… Twilight peered at the pale aqua eyes, narrowed in a defiant challenge, and gasped. "Sunset Shimmer?"

"Our current champion, undefeated for two years now, since she first came to the school," Celestia said. "It was her idea to expand the influence of the champion to other areas of the school, given how hard students work to win and how popular Duel Monsters is."

Twilight turned around. "She goes here?"

"Indeed. The tournament is only open to students of this school." Celestia smiled. "Although, if you wanted to sign up, I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem. You are joining us, after all."

Twilight looked back at her crown on the poster and shook her head. "Actually, I can't. I just need the crown."

Celestia's smile vanished. "Pardon?"

"I'm sorry, it's a long story, but I need that crown. Please?" Twilight grinned in a way she hoped looked pleading.

Celestia shook her head. "I'm sorry, the crown is reserved for the winner of the tournament this Sunday. Our students take Duel Monsters very seriously. Even if we offered another crown I doubt they'd appreciate it."

Twilight rubbed her chin. There must be some way… "Wait. The crown goes to the winner of the tournament on Sunday?"

"The tournament begins tomorrow and the finals are Sunday evening."

Three days. She nodded. "Okay. Can I enter the tournament?"

"Certainly." Celestia pulled a notepad from her desk over to her and wrote down a note. "Take this to the second-floor computer lab, the tournament organizer is finalizing preparations there. Give her this and she'll let you in." Celestia tore the note off and held it out.

Twilight took the note – a quick look and she saw it was an explanation for why she wasn't in the school registry – and smiled. "Thank you, Celestia."

"Of course, Twilight. If you don't mind, though, I'm expecting an appointment soon."

"Right." Twilight waved and approached the door to the office.

"Twilight?" She turned. Celestia was looking at her feet with an expression of disapproval. "We don't allow pets on the school premises."

"Hm?" Twilight looked down. Spike! "Oh! Um… he's my… service dog!"

"Service dog?" Celestia tilted her head. "For what?"

"My…" Twilight began to panic. Think of something, I'm not disabled, what would Spike help me manage? "Anxiety!" She blurted out. She paused as she registered what she had said. At her feet, Spike stifled a snicker.

Celestia's expression softened. "My apologies, I was unaware. You're welcome to bring him on school grounds then, of course, but I must ask he be on a proper leash tomorrow."

"You got it!" Twilight grinned and waved as she pulled the door open behind her. She backed out, glancing down to make sure Spike had come with her and closed it. Twilight headed into the hall, passing a teacher as she came into the office.

In the hall, Spike stuck out his tongue. "Yuck. A leash? Seriously, Twilight, are we gonna do that?"

"We have to, Spike. I'm sorry, but we have to come back to this school." Twilight approached another poster for the tournament on the opposite wall. "We only have three days to do it, but if the crown is locked up, that means Sunset Shimmer can't get to it either. And if I want to get it from Celestia, there's only one thing to do!" Twilight spun around a confident smile on her face. She clutched her duel disk to her chest and pumped her fist.

"If I want my crown back, I'm going to have to become the champion of the Autumn Crown Tournament! So that's what I'm gonna do!"

Spike looked up at her. "And what exactly is this 'Duel Monsters' game they play?"

"I have no idea!"

Jaden: This isn't gonna end well.

Sonic Prime: That much is obvious. Welp, see you guys next chapter.

Ch. 2: The Gauntlet is Thrown

"208… 210…" Twilight counted off the room numbers on the second floor and stopped in front of the door reading '212', the same number Celestia had written down for her. She lifted a hand and knocked.

"It's open!"

Twilight pushed the door open. Rows of unfamiliar white boxes with screens on them sat on three tables. At one of them with her back to Twilight was a girl with a large mass of bright pink hair.

"Gimme a sec!" The girl waved her hand in the air without turning. "This new software is kicking my hiney. What's up?"

Twilight frowned at the voice. She sounds familiar… "I'm sorry, I'm here to sign up for the tournament?"

"Then you came to the right place!" The girl pushed back her wheeled chair and spun around in it, a wide grin on her face. Twilight's eyes widened as she took in the white and blue outfit, bright blue eyes, and a pink skirt with three balloons on it. As Twilight looked at the mark, she realized she had seen it before, almost every day for months.

"Pinkie Pie?"

The girl gasped loudly. "You know my name!" Before Twilight could blink the girl was in front of her grabbing her shirt. "Are you psychic?"

"Um, no?" Twilight thought for a moment. "I just… recognized you."

"Huh." Pinkie stepped back and tilted her head. "That's funny, I don't recognize you. And I recognize everyone who goes to this school."

"Well, I'm new," Twilight replied. "And I saw your picture," she added as an afterthought.

Pinkie's face lit up. "Oooh, you visited the school website!"

"…Sure." What's a 'website'? "So, can you sign me up for the tournament?" Twilight reached into her pocket and held out the note Celestia had given her.

Pinkie took the note and read it over. "Well, if Princy Celestia vouches for ya, no problemo!" She sat back down and kicked her chair off to wheel over to one of the white boxes in the lab. "You came just in time too; the deadline to sign up is tonight." Twilight watched as Pinkie set her hands on a long, thin piece of white material in front of the box and began moving her hands over it. She occasionally paused to manipulate to a round device next to the strip that was connected to the box by a cord. Twilight recognized the strip as some sort of keyboard, judging from the letters and numbers on it, but it also had a host of buttons she'd never seen on typewriters in Equestria. Instead of a piece of paper, the letters were appearing on the screen in front of them.

"Hmm, well since you aren't in the school database, I'll have to make a profile from scratch. Smile!" Pinkie spun in her chair and held a thin device up. Twilight jumped back and held up an arm in front of her. A bright light flashed from the device. Pinkie looked down at it. "That's a good one!" She swiftly moved her thumb over it and turned back to her screen. Twilight lowered her arm as a picture of herself with her arm raised appeared on the computer. "Name?"

"Twilight Sparkle."

"Age?"

"18?"

Pinkie paused. "Isn't it kinda late to transfer? You're already a senior."

"My parents moved."

"Bummer." Pinkie continued to type. "There's a lot of info here you don't have yet, like dueling record and old wins. I'll just throw down an N/A for ya, 'kay?"

"Thanks." Twilight took a deep breath. Okay, I'm registered, that's one obstacle out of the way. Next, what even is this game? "Say, Pinkie, do you have any sort of pamphlet or something on Duel Monsters? Specifically on how to play?"

"Huh?" Pinkie looked up at her. "But don't you know how to play?"

"Of course! But my brother wants to learn." Twilight held up her hands.

"No problem." Pinkie nodded. "This lab is reserved all day for duelists looking stuff up and checking their profiles. You can surf some online tutorials here."

"Online?"

Pinkie frowned. "You don't know what the internet is?"

"Er… I come from a sheltered family."

"Oooooh." Pinkie gave her a smile and a wink. "Rock farm, huh? Gotcha. Well, short version – this is the internet!" She pointed at the screen. "You can use it to look at information from websites all around the world! You can watch funny cat videos, tutorials on how to do stuff, read fanfiction, pirate movies, and music, and watch porn."

"Porn?"

"Yeah." Pinkie leaned in to whisper. "Though you reaaaally shouldn't do that last one on school computers. And technically the second-to-last one is illegal, but everyone does it anyway." She shrugged and held up her hands.

"Right."

"Well, if you don't have internet, don't worry! Pinkie Pie's got you covered!" Pinkie turned around in her chair to her backpack hanging from the seat. She unzipped a pocket and rifled through it. As she worked, Twilight noticed something watching her hands.

"Pinkie, don't you have a duel disk?"

"Hm?" Pinkie paused to take in the comment and shook her head. "I don't play much anymore. I help run the tournaments these days, keeps me too busy to play in them."

"Really?" Twilight pursed her lip. "It's supposed to be a fun card game, isn't it? I would have thought you'd be all over it."

"Yeah, you really don't know how CHS handles the game, huh? Here we go!" Pinkie pulled a small booklet out of her bag and held it out to Twilight. "This goes over the basics."

Twilight took the booklet and opened it to a random page. She saw diagrams of cards laid out in a grid, a chart of different icons, and three cards with different colored borders, text to the side pointing out specific parts of their design. "Thanks a lot."

"You got it." Pinkie moved the device next to the keyboard and the computer screen changed again. "And there you go!"

Twilight leaned in. The picture of her with her arm raised that Pinkie had taken featured to the left of what seemed to be a profile detailing information about her. Most of it had been left blank or had 'N/A' filled in the box. "So I'm okay to duel now?"

"Yup. CHS has a cloud-based duel server that your duel disk should automatically connect to in order to update your info each time you play. Just find an opponent and challenge them, and the system will do the rest."

"Good." Twilight ignored the fact that she had no idea what Pinkie had meant and turned around. She looked back at the booklet in her hands and turned to the first page. Each player has a deck of no fewer than forty cards, as well as the side deck and extra deck, which contain no more than fifteen cards each… As she read, Twilight headed to the door of the room.

"Hey, Pinkie!" Twilight jumped at the unfamiliar voice and stepped back as the door opened. A girl with pale blue skin poked her head in. "You got a sec?"

"Sure, come on in, Dashie!"

Dashie? Twilight silently stood behind the door as the girl came in. She saw the long mass of six-colored hair. Rainbow Dash? Behind the girl was a younger one, with bright purple hair and her hands shoved in her pockets. Then that would be Scootaloo?

"Scoots wants to sign up for the tournament." Rainbow Dash grabbed a chain and swung it over to sit astride it, her arms folded on the back. Scootaloo nodded beside her.

"No problem!" Pinkie went back to work on her computer.

Watching the scene, Twilight leaned down to Spike. "Are all our Ponyville friends here?" she whispered.

Spike shrugged. "Seems so. We've already got the Princess and Pinkie and Rainbow Dash." His eyes lit up. "Ooh, do you think there's a Rarity in this world?" His tail began to wag.

"Not now, Spike." Twilight stood up. "Hi there."

Rainbow turned her head. "Oh, 'sup."

Twilight waved and approached her. "I'm Twilight Sparkle."

"Rainbow Dash." Rainbow grinned and held out a fist.

That gesture I at least recognize. Twilight smiled and bumped her hand against Rainbow's.

"Twilight here is registered in the tournament too. And she's just joining us here!" Pinkie said.

"Newbie, huh?" Rainbow shook her head and pumped her fist. The motion drew Twilight's attention to the blue and white duel disk on her arm. "Well, sorry to disappoint ya, but this year it's gonna be Scoots and me in the finals. Sunset Shimmer is going down!"

"I dunno, Rainbow." Scootaloo shrugged. "I'm kinda just looking to have fun, you know? I mean, it's not like we're really gonna beat Sunset Shimmer."

Rainbow gasped. "Are you kidding me? What sort of attitude is that? I told ya, kid, you wanna be the best, you gotta beat the best, and that's Sunset. Let no one stand in our way, right?"

"Sure." Scootaloo rubbed the back of her neck and looked away. "I just mean, if I don't make it, that's cool, as long as I do well enough. Apple Bloom said she was gonna enter and I think it'd be kinda cool—"

"Stop right there." Rainbow held a hand out in front of Scootaloo's face. "I take it back. Beating Sunset Shimmer is priority number two. Priority number one is taking down the Apples." She growled and punched a hand into her palm. "Even if we don't win, I'll take it as long as I can knock that hick farmer out."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Well, some things never change."

Rainbow looked at her, confused. "Huh?"

"Oh!" Twilight realized she had spoken aloud and did a double take. "Um, my friend who goes to the school says that you don't get along with Applejack. Sort of rivals, you might say?"

"Not really." Rainbow tossed her hair. "Saying she's a rival would mean she's a challenge. As-if! I mean, what kind of wimp runs Plants?"

"Didn't she knock you out in the quarter-finals last year?" Pinkie asked.

"We don't talk about last year. This time, things are gonna be different." Rainbow held up her duel disk and tapped her deck. "This baby's been optimized for maximum damage. She won't last three turns."

"Five bucks?"

"Deal." Rainbow bumped Pinkie's fist. She then turned her attention back to Twilight. "How about you?"

"Me?" Twilight nodded. "Well, I kinda have to win. I really need that crown." She paused and looked away. "Although strictly speaking, I don't have to win, I just need to make sure Sunset doesn't. I mean, the crown is just a silly status symbol. Whoever wins will just hand it over if I explain things to them, right?"

The three other girls stared at her blankly. Scootaloo coughed. "Well, sure, the crown isn't really what's important, but—"

"Yeah, it is!" Rainbow cut in. "You wear that thing everywhere, people know you're the champion here. Students spend months training to win the crown." She leaned in. "Even if you lose, you want it? Why? It's really just a cheap dollar store crown."

"Well, I need it, because I…" Twilight trailed off as she realized what she was about to say. "Because… it's really pretty!" She looked at the clock. "Oh, look at the time, gotta go!" She waved and hurried out of the room, Spike following.

Rainbow Dash scratched her head. "The new girl is weird."

Pinkie nodded, her eyes narrowed. "Yup, she's hiding something. But I am totally on to her." She whispered loudly to Rainbow, "She's a spy!"

"Uh-huh."

Later…

"A monster that has a Quick effect can use that effect on either player's turn. This can be recognized by text stating the effect can be activated during either player's turn. A monster with an Ignition effect must have its effect manually activated by the player when circumstances are met, such as a specific turn phase…"

"Twilight?" Spike pawed at her leg. Sitting on the steps of the school, Twilight looked over at him from the booklet. "You've been reading that thing for hours. How's it going?"

Twilight scrunched her nose. "Well, on the surface it seems fairly simple. But the more I keep reading the more complex it becomes."

"Take it from the top, maybe it'll sound better?" Spike suggested.

"Right." Twilight pressed a button to activate her duel disk and gestured to its various parts as she spoke. "Well, to begin, a duel disk is a machine used to duel with holographic emitters. There are five Monster card slots along the top, five Spell and Trap slots in the back edge, a Field Spell slot that extends from the side, and a compartment in the back of the disk for the Extra deck, which are special types of cards.

"Each duelist has a deck of 40 cards, variably consisting of Monster cards, Spell cards, and Trap cards. Duelists summon monsters and use them to attack enemy monsters, and Spell and Trap cards are support cards with various effects. Each player begins the duel with 4000 Life Points, and the objective is to deplete your opponent's Life Points to 0. The common way to do that is to attack their monsters with stronger monsters, in which case they lose Life Points equal to the difference in power."

Spike nodded. "Yeah, doesn't sound too hard to understand."

"Yet." Twilight groaned and flipped to a page in the booklet. "Each card type has subtypes. Spell cards, for instance, are divided into Quickplay, Continuous, Field, Equip, Ritual, and Normal, while Trap cards are divided into Continuous, Counter, and Normal. Each of those subtypes determines when it can be activated and how it is played. For example, Field Spells stay on the field and affect all monsters in play until they get destroyed, while Equip spells attach to a monster to confer effects to only it and are destroyed if that monster leaves play."

"Okay…"

"The subtype also determines the card's spell speed, which is a mechanic that restricts certain card effects chaining to other cards. A Counter Trap is speed three, so it can chain to anything, but Quickplay Spells are only speed two, so they can't chain to Counter Traps because they're a lower spell speed. Chaining, by the way, is the mechanic of activating a card of your own when your opponent performs a move, in which case your card takes effect first, usually with intent to counter their move."

"I'm getting a little…"

"Monster cards also have effect types, like Ignition, Trigger, Continuous, Quick, and Flip. Those effects, in turn, are all activated in different ways and may have other restrictions as specified in the card text, such as only being used once per turn or when the opponent performs a particular move."

"Twilight, I have no idea what you just said."

"Neither do I!" Twilight threw up her hands. "I didn't even get to the part where some Monster cards can be treated like Spell and Trap cards, or that there are Spell and Trap cards that can be summoned as Monster cards." She waved the booklet in the air. "It seems like every time I think I understand a rule, the next page explains how that rule can be broken!" She sighed and tossed the booklet on the step beside her. "Spike, I have to master this game by tomorrow! And I can barely remember what each card type does."

"Take it easy, Twilight." Spike padded up beside her and put a paw on her hand. "You're the smartest pony I've ever known. A card game should be a snap to learn."

"You didn't read the chapter about the different Extra deck monsters and how to summon them." Twilight rubbed her head. "Lucky for us it seems the school specifically restricts which types of those can be used. I read that paragraph three times and I still don't understand what a Synchro Summon is."

"What summon?"

"Exactly." Twilight stood up and picked up the booklet. She reached over and deactivated her duel disk. "This calls for the most tried and true method of learning – hard studying." She beat a fist on the palm of her hand. "This school has to have a library, and a game this complex and popular must have information about it. I just have to buckle down and read all I can about it."

"That's the spirit." Spike smiled and followed her into the school. The bell had rung fifteen minutes ago and most students had gotten their bags and left for home. "Maybe you can find someone to practice against."

"I thought of that too, but I doubt it." Twilight shook her head. "Most of the students here take it seriously. A casual practice duel probably isn't like them."

"It wasn't yours to give!"

Twilight stopped at an angry shout that echoed down the hall. She saw two students chatting nearby stop at the voice and shuffle away past her. "Who was that?" Twilight heard a much quieter voice, indistinct, reply.

"Excuuuuse me?"

Twilight walked down the hall towards the source of the voice and peeked around the corner.

"That crown is as good as mine and everyone knows it!"

A girl in a black jacket with an orange skirt was looming over another girl sitting against the lockers. Her arm was outstretched on the locker, a black and red duel disk on her forearm. Twilight looked at the girl huddling beneath her. Flowing pink hair, a white blouse, green shirt with a butterfly… Fluttershy!

"I-I-I just meant… um…" Fluttershy stammered under the shadow of the girl over her. "You know, the tournament isn't until tomorrow, and you… haven't… won… yet."

"Who's gonna beat me, you?" The girl snapped.

"Actually, I haven't entered."

The girl laughed. "Of course not. You're too pathetic to even stand a ghost of a chance against me." Twilight turned her attention to the other girl. The girl had her back to her, but the voice was familiar. She took in the girl's long red and yellow hair and gasped. No, it can't be! She leaned down. "Spike, is that who I think it is?"

Spike growled. "Yeah…"

"A loser like you doesn't even deserve to touch my crown, much less wear it." Sunset crossed her arms. "Lucky for you this will be an easy win for me, or I might have to teach you not to take things that don't belong to you."

Twilight gritted her teeth and marched down the hall. "Leave her alone!"

Sunset stood upright and turned. She glared angrily at Twilight. "What did you say?"

"I said leave her alone!" Twilight stopped in front of Sunset. "Back off, Sunset."

"Look, you don't get – wait." Sunset peered closer. "Have we met?"

Twilight flinched but stood her ground. "I'm a new student. But I know you by reputation."

"Hmph. As well you should." Sunset smirked and tossed her hair. "I'll let you off with a warning, new girl: stay out of my way, and don't tell me what to do." Sunset walked away, purposefully bumping Twilight aside. "You'll get a lesson in why tomorrow when I remind this school who runs it." Twilight waited until Sunset had rounded the corner, then she turned around and knelt in front of Fluttershy. "You okay?" She held out a hand.

Fluttershy nodded and took Twilight's hand. "I think that's the first time I've seen anyone except Rainbow Dash stand up to Sunset Shimmer."

"Well, I don't like her pushing around my friends." Twilight pulled Fluttershy up and gave her a warm smile.

Fluttershy tilted her head. "We're friends?"

"Sure! I mean, we are now. Unless you don't want to be?"

"No, I do!" Fluttershy giggled. "I'm just not used to people wanting to be my friend."

"I do. I'm Twilight Sparkle."

"Fluttershy."

I know. Twilight looked over her shoulder. "So that was Sunset Shimmer."

"You know her?"

"Let's say we've met, she just doesn't remember it." Twilight looked back. "She's the champion of the school, right?"

Fluttershy nodded. "The bi-annual tournament champion. Also, an honorary member of the student council with special privileges from Principal Celestia because of it."

"Not for long." Twilight held up her duel disk. "I'm here to take her down."

"B-But you said you're a new student!" Fluttershy gasped and held her hands to her mouth. "You really don't want to duel Sunset, she's the best of the best. You'd be lucky to last two turns against her."

"I'm not afraid of her."

"You should be." Fluttershy turned to her locker and spun the combination dial to unlock it as she spoke. "Even our best duelists were wiped out once she learned the game after coming to the school. Now she's the best and we're just fighting each other." She sighed and pulled her bag out of her locker. "Rainbow Dash and Applejack want to beat her too. But it'll be the same as last year."

"Not this time. This time I'm here." Twilight caught sight of a duel disk on the top shelf of the locker. "Are you in the tournament?"

"Me?" Fluttershy quickly shook her head. "Oh, no, no no. I don't duel anymore."

"Why not?"

"If you knew how seriously some students here are about dueling, you'd lock up your duel disk too." Fluttershy hesitated. "Or, maybe not. You seem pretty confident."

Good, at least other people think so. Twilight looked back at Fluttershy's locker. "…Hey, Fluttershy?"

"Yes?"

"Will you duel me?"

Fluttershy squeaked and shrank away. "No, I can't. I'm no good."

"Perfect!" Twilight said brightly. She paused at Fluttershy's confused reaction and gave a sheepish smile. "I mean, good. I'm just looking to practice before tomorrow. Maybe duel someone who could explain stuff to me if I'm rusty?"

"Um… well…" Fluttershy slowly shuffled closer. "I… if you really want to… I guess."

"I do. Just for fun?"

Fluttershy bit her lip and looked at her boots. "O-okay…" She reached into her locker and withdrew her duel disk. Fluttershy brushed it off to loosen the strap and slide it onto her arm. "Follow me."

Twilight smiled down at Spike and knelt to pat his head. "We just found our practice opponent."

Ch. 3: First Duel (Twilight VS Fluttershy)

Fluttershy pushed open the doors of the school. "Here we are." Twilight followed her. A large open field with painted lines and tall steel poles at either end greeted her. It reminded her of a buck-ball stadium. She saw a couple of students sitting on the stands to the left.

"Okay, this is good." Fluttershy held out a hand for Twilight to stop while she kept walking. When she was about twenty feet away, she turned. Twilight looked at her duel disk and pressed the button to activate it. It lit up and folded out. "All right." Fluttershy's voice came from a small speaker built into Twilight's duel disk. "I'll try to go easy. If you need me to explain something, just ask. Ready?"

Twilight nodded. "Yes. And don't go easy. If Sunset Shimmer is the school champion, I'll have to be good at this game to beat her."

"If you say so." Twilight saw Fluttershy press another button on her disk.

"Opponent detected,"a digital voice from Twilight duel disk said. "Streaming data." A picture of Fluttershy with her win-loss record appeared on a hologram in the air over the disk. Twilight winced at the display; 2-9. "Duel mode set. Initiating."The hologram changed to a split screen. On one-half was Twilight's portrait with a numerical display for her Life Points, 4000, and a small grid displaying her duel field. The other half showed Fluttershy's field. "Commence duel?"A button on the device began to blink.

"Okay, Twilight. Just press the button and we'll begin."

Twilight took a breath. It's just a card game. I can do this. She reached down and pressed the button.

"Game start!"

-Twilight Life Points: 4000-

-Fluttershy Life Points: 4000-

The split screen flashed between Twilight and Fluttershy and stopped displaying Fluttershy. "Opponent takes first turn."Twilight's duel disk ejected five cards from the top for her opening hand and she picked them up.

"Here I go." Across the field, Twilight saw Fluttershy draw. "I summon 'Baby Raccoon Ponpoko'."

A large hologram emitted from Fluttershy's duel disk in a flash of rainbow light. It solidified into the image of a small raccoon banging on a drum strapped to its chest. Twilight gasped. That's the hologram technology the booklet mentioned? That's amazing!She saw a tooltip appear on her duel disk screen and tapped it. A hologram of Fluttershy's card projected above the disk, allowing Twilight to read its statistics. Level 2, Earth-attribute, Beast-type. Attack points 800, Defense points 0.Twilight frowned. Doesn't seem too dangerous.

"When Ponpoko is summoned, I can activate its effect." Fluttershy took her deck out of her disk. "I can select any Level 2 Beast-type monster in my deck and summon it in the face-down position." She found her card and set it on the disk. On the field next to Ponpoko, the large hologram of a face-down card appeared. "I end my turn." Fluttershy smiled. "Good luck."

"Thanks." Twilight drew her card and looked at her hand. First thing's first. Summon a monster to attack and defend me. But which one?She peered closer at her cards to read the text on the bottom. She smiled and lifted a hand from her hand. "I summon 'Harmony Spirit - Gracia'." She set the card on the disk. In front of her appeared an angelic fairy with butterfly wings, pale yellow skin, and long pink hair. It spun in place and spread its arms out. (900/1800).

"Here I come, Fluttershy. I enter my battle phase. Gracia attacks Ponpoko!" Gracia flew up and beat her wings harder. A gust whipped across the field and flung Ponpoko backward. Fluttershy squeaked and raised her arm to defend herself as the hologram hit the ground and exploded. Twilight looked at her display.

-Fluttershy Life Points: 4000 – 100 - 3900-

Gracia has 900 ATK, Ponpoko has 800, so she loses 100 Life Points. Not much, but it's a start.Twilight raised her head to see Fluttershy looking at where her monster's hologram had been thrown. "Sorry, Fluttershy."

"Don't be," came the response as Fluttershy turned back to her. "You want to win, right?"

"Yes, but…" But you're my friend.

"I'm fine. Continue your turn."

"Okay." Twilight looked over her hand. Nothing that seems too useful for now. "I end my turn." She turned her focus back to Fluttershy. "Your turn again."

Fluttershy drew. She bit her lip. "Twilight, you said not to hold back, right?"

"Right." Twilight nodded. "I have to learn how to play this game properly, so go all out! If I lose, I lose."

"Okay…" Fluttershy put a hand on her face-down card. "I flip summon 'Baby Raccoon Tantan'. Another baby raccoon appeared in front of Fluttershy, banging gongs on a large drum on its chest. (0/800). "Tantan's effect activates when flipped face-up, letting me summon a Level 2 Beast-type monster from my deck." Fluttershy fanned out her cards and held one up. "I summon 'Kalantosa, Mystical Beast of the Forest'." A small white rabbit with a mass of leaves sprouting from its back appeared next to Tantan. (200/1400).

"When Kalantosa is summoned by the effect of a Beast-type monster, its own effect activates. I can select and destroy one card on the field." Fluttershy thrust her hand at Twilight. "I choose your Harmony Spirit!"

Twilight gasped. "Wait!"

Fluttershy paused and lowered her hand slightly. "Um, yes?"

"Uh…" Twilight looked over her hand. "Hang on…" She held up one card and read its text. "During either player's turn, you can discard this card…"

"Chain resolving in ten, nine…"

"Wait!" Twilight screamed at the digital voice. "I'm not done reading my cards!"

"I'm sorry, I forgot! You have a time limit to respond to the opponent's play, it's a judge's rule!"

"But I don't even—"

"Chain resolving."

Kalantosa shuffled in place and a storm of leaves fell off its back and flew across the field. Twilight jumped to action and speed-read the card in her hand. She grinned and slid it onto her duel disk. A pale pink fairy with a mass of dark pink hair appeared in front of Gracia and held up its hands with a giggle. A field of energy came from them, and Kalantosa's leaves hit it and fell to the ground.

Fluttershy blinked. "What was that?"

Twilight let out a breath. "When a Harmony Spirit monster on my field is targeted by a card effect, I can discard 'Harmony Spirit - Risus' from my hand to negate that effect." Twilight slid her card into the discard slot on her duel disk, its image on the field vanishing. An icon appeared on Twilight's screen and she tapped it. Gracia lit up with a yellow aura. "But that's not all. When I discard a Harmony Spirit monster from my hand, the effect of Gracia on the field activates. For the rest of the turn, my Harmony Spirit monsters can't be destroyed by battle with enemy monsters." She smiled. Well, got through that.

"I don't think that's going to be enough." Fluttershy lifted a card from her hand. "I summon 'Valerifawn, Mystical Beast of the Forest' from my hand." A small deer with moss growing over its body skipped into place around Fluttershy, prancing into place next to Tantan and Kalantosa. (400/900). "I activate Valerifawn's effect and discard a card to revive a Beast-type monster in my Graveyard." A card slid out from the discard slot and she slapped it on her duel disk. "Return, Baby Raccoon Ponpoko!" Fluttershy's first monster rose from a vortex that appeared next to Valerifawn.

"I'm not done yet. I activate a Spell card, 'The Big March of Animals'!" The field rumbled and a bright green aura appeared over Fluttershy's monsters. "For the rest of the turn, all Beast-type monsters I control gain 200 ATK times the number of Beast-types I control. With four Beasts in play, they each gain 800 points." Fluttershy grabbed another card. "Finally, from my hand, I activate the Quickplay Spell 'Rush Recklessly' to increase Tantan's ATK by 700 for the rest of the turn!"

Twilight gaped at the four monsters filling Fluttershy's side of the field, growing larger as her card effects powered them up "Are we sure this is Fluttershy?" She hissed, glancing down at Spike.

"You did tell her not to go easy on you."

"Well, she could go a little easy! This is my first time!"

"Even if your monster can't be destroyed now, I can damage your Life Points by attacking it." Fluttershy bit her lip. "Sorry."

"So am I," Twilight groaned.

Fluttershy swung her hand out. "All of my monsters, attack Gracia!" Ponpoko (800 → 1600) ran across the field and raked its tiny claws across Gracia. Gracia screamed and turned away. Valerifawn (400 → 1200) reached it next and leaped up, landing and stomping on it hard. Tantan (0 → 1500) reached it and slammed one of its gongs into Gracia. Finally, Kalantosa (200 → 1000) send a barrage of leaves at it. Gracia collapsed to the ground and Fluttershy's monsters retreated to her side of the field.

Twilight looked at her display and thought. 900 subtracted from 1600, 1200, 1500, and 1000. By the time she had finished the mental math, her duel disk had already counted down to her new total. Whoa.

-Twilight Life Points: 4000 – 1700 - 2300-

"I set one card and end my turn." Fluttershy lowered her Duel Disk. "At this time, my Spell effects end and the attack points of my monsters return to normal."

Twilight slowly shook her head. She said she wasn't very good, but she just took off half my Life Points on her second turn.

"Nice play, girlie!"

Twilight turned her head. The few students that had been sitting in the stands were now watching the duel and one of them was cheering and pumping his first at Fluttershy.

"Sorry for that, Twilight."

"Don't be. If they want to watch, let them. It's my turn." Twilight drew her card and looked at it. "Okay… think…" Twilight read her new card's effect. She smiled. This will do."I summon 'Harmony Spirit – Magnanimity'." A pale white fairy with a spiral horn and curled purple hair rose on the field next to Gracia. (1200/800).

Time to think.Twilight tapped through the display on her duel disk and viewed the holograms of Fluttershy's cards. She got four monsters on the field like it was nothing. Anything I destroy will be revived by Valerifawn. I could destroy it, but if she has a way to bring it back, or summon another copy of it, then I'm back to square one. I can't survive another turn like the last one.She made a face and looked up at Fluttershy's field.

"What's the plan, Twilight?" Spike asked.

"Get rid of her monsters and stop her from getting more."

"Um, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked. "Who are you talking to?"

"Hm? Oh! Um, myself!" Twilight laughed awkwardly. "Just thinking aloud."

"Oh. Okay."

"I'm just trying to think of a way to block—" Twilight gasped. Of course!She looked down at her deck. Though, that's presuming I even have a card in here that can do it.She looked at her hand. "I discard 'Harmony Spirit – Honestas' and activate its effect." Another fairy appeared on Twilight's field, this one bright orange with pale yellow hair. It held out a hand and sent a pulse of light out. "By discarding this card, I can look at all face-down cards on your side of the field." The wave of light reached Fluttershy's set card and a ghostly image of it rippled into place above it. Twilight looked at her display. Sakuretsu Armor, targets and destroys an opponent's attacking monster. She smiled. I can work with that. But first…

"Since I just discarded a Harmony Spirit, the effect of Magnanimity activates, letting me draw a card." Twilight put a hand on her deck and drew. She looked at her card. Perfect!"I set one card face-down and activate the Spell card 'Harmony Fruit'." A glowing green and red fruit appeared next to Twilight and lit up. "This lets me return two Harmony Spirit monsters in the Graveyard to my hand." Risus and Honestas slid out of Twilight's Graveyard and she added them to her hand.

"Now, Gracia attacks Baby Racoon Tantan, and Magnanimity attacks Kalentosa!" The two fairies raced across the field, Magnanimity sprinting while Gracia flew.

"I activate the Trap 'Sakuretsu Armor'," Fluttershy said. The card flipped up and a suit of armor appeared over Tantan, a spirit flying towards Gracia. "Since you declared an attack, my Trap will destroy Gracia."

"No, it won't. From my hand, I chain the effect of Harmony Spirit - Risus!" Twilight discarded the card again. "The effect of your targeting card effect is negated." The spirit in the air hit a ghostly spectre of Risus and the two dissolved into nothingness. Gracia reached Tantan and kicked it backwards, while Magnanimity fired a orb of blue magic into Kalentosa. Fluttershy looked away as their holograms exploded.

-Fluttershy Life Points: 3900 - 1700 - 2200-

Twilight lowered her hand from her duel disk. "Your move, Fluttershy." On the side of the field the students were now cheering for Twilight. She blushed at their calls. I guess I'm doing well. She saw a couple new students coming closer to watch as well.

"I draw." Fluttershy glanced at her card and discarded it. "I activate the effect of Valerifawn, and discard a card to—"

"Hang on!" Twilight grinned. "I think I have the hang of this chaining rule, so I'm activating my own card. It's a Trap, 'Harmony Song'." The card flipped on the field and a melodious wave of music came from it. "Since I control a Harmony Spirit monster, I can discard another Harmony Spirit, and if I do, you're forbidden from Special Summoning for the rest of the turn!"

Fluttershy gasped. "Oh no!" She looked at her hand. "Um… oh, my…"

Twilight felt a pang of guilt. She's reliant on swarming the field with low-level monsters, then powering them up. Now she's just had that strategy stopped cold."I draw a card due to the effect of Magnanimity, as well." Twilight drew her card and looked at it, then turned her attention back to Fluttershy. So, what's next?

"I activate 'Monster Recovery'!" Fluttershy took Ponpoko's card off her duel disk. "I shuffle Ponpoko and all cards in my hand into the deck, then draw the same number of cards as were in my hand." She folded her cards up and put them on top of her deck, her duel disk rapidly shuffling them. Fluttershy picked up her new hand and fanned them out. "There." She nodded and looked over at Twilight. "I'm not out yet, Twilight. I tribute my Valerifawn, and summon 'Behemoth, the King of All Animals'!"

Valerifawn vanished from the field. A large white image appeared behind Fluttershy and came into focus. Twilight stepped back at the sight, her eyes wide. A massive pink and purple monster loomed over the field, cuffs with broken chains wrapped around its paws. Curved horns rose into the air on either side of a massive mane of dark fur. Drool dripped from the beast's jaws as it roared loudly. (2700/1500).

"Behemoth normally needs two monsters for its tribute summon, but I can tribute it with only one monster by decreasing Behemoth's ATK to 2000," Fluttershy explained. Behemoth growled and shuddered as the sap took effect in an aura of red light (2000/15000). "Additionally, for each monster tributed to summon Behemoth, I can return a Beast monster in my Graveyard to my hand." Fluttershy held up Valerifawn to show it to Twilight. "Next, my battle phase. Behemoth, attack Gracia!" Behemoth roared again and bounded over Fluttershy's head to charge Twilight.

"Don't forget, since I discarded a Harmony Spirit this turn, my Harmony Spirits can't be destroyed in battle," Twilight called.

"I know. But Behemoth can still harm your Life Points."

Behemoth reached Gracia and slammed a paw into it, pitching it to the side. It hit the ground heavily and groaned.

-Twilight Life Points: 2300 – 1100 - 1200-

"I end my turn."

Twilight looked up at Behemoth as it stomped back to Fluttershy. She laughed. "Are you sure you don't play this game a lot? Because you seem really good."

Fluttershy smiled sheepishly. "Thank you. I'm surprised I remember how to use this deck even. I haven't played in a long time. Not since two years ago."

"What happened?"

"Sunset Shimmer came."

Twilight paused. "What?"

Fluttershy bit her lip. "I used to play all the time. I never really cared if I won or lost, I just had fun playing with my friends." She looked down at her deck and closed her eyes. "Everyone always made fun of me because I played using low-level monsters like these. But my friends defended me and told them I played the way I wanted to and that was what's really important." Fluttershy looked to either side of the field, Twilight doing so as well. The watching students had grown to a small crowd and Twilight heard cheers for both of them coming from them.

"This is what dueling should be about," Fluttershy said. "Those tournaments used to bring students together. Kids that never would have spoken to each other met and mingled for the tournament, they made new friends, traded cards, shared strategies, cheered for each other." She smiled and put a hand on her chest. "They say you reveal who you really are through your deck and your strategies. So I always thought dueling was a way for people to communicate their true selves to each other. I know that may seem silly, but it sort of happened." She frowned and shook her head.

"Not since Sunset Shimmer. Now it's just about proving you're the best. No one has fun anymore, no one makes friends over dueling. It's just a competition. I couldn't stand it. Everyone kept challenging me to improve their rank since they thought I was weak. So I just gave it up and hid my deck and my disk in my locker."

Twilight listened intently as Fluttershy poured her heart out to her. When she sensed Fluttershy was done, she nodded. "Sunset ruined this game for everyone. But if you truly love it, you can still play with your friends, right?"

"I used to." Fluttershy closed her eyes. "Applejack and Rainbow Dash got caught up in the competition and went off on their own. Pinkie was in charge of running the tournaments, and then when she got the new ranking system to oversee, she never had time to play anymore. And Rarity just gave it up because everyone was so bitter over it all." She sniffed. "I haven't dueled a friend in a long time…" She looked up and opened her eyes.

"Twilight, win or lose… this has been a really fun duel. Thank you."

Twilight smiled warmly. "You're welcome, Fluttershy."

"Now, take your turn." Fluttershy pumped her fist and winked. "If you can win it, do it!"

"Right!" Twilight drew her card with a flourish and flipped it over. "I summon 'Harmony Spirit – Pietas." A light blue spirit with a multi-hued head of hair and a strong pair of feathered wings floated onto the field. It spun in place and kicked the air before posing with its fists held out (1600/800). "Next, I activate the effect of the monster I just drew, 'Harmony Spirit – Magia'." Twilight discarded her card. The image of a pale lavender fairy with a long horn appeared and held out her hand. She cried out and an aura of magic appeared over her hand and horn.

Fluttershy looked down as a light shined out from her Graveyard. "W-what?"

"By discarding Magia from my hand, I can banish any Spell card in either player's Graveyard, and copy its effect." Twilight leaned forward. "I choose your Rush Recklessly!"

Fluttershy gasped "No!"

The card flew out of Fluttershy's duel disk into Magia's hand. The fairy flipped it over to show the card back to Fluttershy, and the two vanished into light. "By the effect of Rush Recklessly, the ATK of Pietas increases by 700 for the rest of the turn." Pietas twitched and cried out as an aura of blue light surrounded its fists (1600 → 2300).

Twilight thrust out her hand. "Pietas, attack Behemoth!" The fairy flapped its wings and zoomed across the field, a fist held out. Behemoth roared as the high-speed punch connected, the force sending it toppling onto its side. Fluttershy winced and looked up at Pietas floating overhead. "Gracia, Magnanimity, direct attack!" The two spirits came up beside Pietas in the air and held out their hands. Orbs of yellow and white light manifested in their palms and shot towards Fluttershy. They slammed into the ground at her feet and exploded in rays of light and a cloud of smoke.

-Fluttershy Life Points: 2200 – 2200 - 0-

"Fluttershy!" Twilight ran across the field and stopped in front of the fading smoke. Fluttershy was on her knees and looked up at Twilight.

"I'm fine. It's just holograms, remember? It does that stuff for dramatic effect."

"Oh…" Twilight blushed. "Right."

"That was great!"

"You rock, Twilight!"

Twilight turned her head. The students watching them were applauding loudly, whooping and throwing their arms up. She smiled and looked down at Fluttershy. "Thanks for the duel." She held out her hand.

Fluttershy let Twilight pull her up. "No, Twilight. I have to thank you. I haven't had so much fun with this game in years."

"I'm glad." Twilight looked back at the school, her expression darkening. "But it won't be fun tomorrow. The tournament begins then?"

Fluttershy nodded. "Mhm. The top sixteen students with the best win-loss ratios by the four in the afternoon move on to organized brackets. The semi-finals and finals happen the day after."

So the finals take place on the last day. I have to make it to the finals and win before midnight to make it home with my crown.Twilight breathed deep. "Any advice?"

"Win. Unfortunately, it's that simple."

Sonic Prime: So Jaden, now that we've seen both of these girls' decks, what can you tell us about Fluttershy's?

Jaden: Well, near as I can tell, it looks like a sort of combination of a Raccoon Deck and a Mythical Beast Deck, but she must've mixed some pretty major bruisers in there. Did you see that Behemoth card? Sheesh! I'd be terrified if I had to stare that thing down, even with Neos on the field.

Sonic Prime: Makes sense. The beast's got 200 attack points up on Neos. Still, what do you think about her strategy?

Jaden: Pretty solid. If Twilight hadn't used Magia's effect when she did, she would've gotten creamed. And in real-life? Woof! Don't even get me started. If Fluttershy had gone up against a newbie at Duel Academy with that kind of deck, she would mop the floor with them.

Sonic Prime: Well, I guess Twilight's a quick learner. Either way, that's it for this chapter. We'll be doing this sort of thing at the end of every chapter, where we analyze the decks and strategies of the characters to see how well they might do in a real-life duel. Until next time, this has been Sonic Prime…

Jaden: And Jaden Yuki…

Sonic Prime: Wishing you luck on the road of the duelist and making sure you believe in the Heart of the Cards.

Ch. 4: Broken Bonds

Four and a half duels later…

"I discard 'Harmony Spirit – Magia' and activate its effect." Twilight flipped her card out from her hand and discarded it. "I copy the effect of your 'Monster Reborn' and revive 'Harmony Spirit – Risus'. Then, my three monsters attack!" Risus, Gracia, and Magnanimity held their hands together and sent a tri-colored beam of pink, yellow, and white light across the field. Fluttershy looked away as 'Blade Rabbit,' 'Baby Raccoon Tantan,' and 'Sea Koala' were consumed by the blast.

Twilight watched the display on her duel disk click Fluttershy's Life Points to zero. Twilight's portrait zoomed to fill the display as her win-loss record updated to 4-1.

"You're really getting the hang of this," Spike noted.

Twilight nodded. "It's pretty overwhelming to read all those rules in one sitting, but in practice, it isn't so hard. Most of these cards tell you when to use them anyway."

"Um, Twilight?" She looked up to see Fluttershy approaching her, her duel disk deactivated. "I was happy to help you practice, but I have to get going home now."

Twilight looked at her duel disk as it exited dueling mode and saw the time display; it was almost six o'clock. "Sure, of course." Twilight waved. "Thanks for all the help, I really learned a lot."

"You're welcome." Fluttershy waved and headed into the school.

"Well, Spike." Twilight deactivated her duel disk and hefted her backpack on her shoulders. "Guess we should get going home." She took two steps and froze.

"Uh, Twilight?" Spike tugged on her sock. "We don't have a home in this world."

"I know!" Twilight thought quickly. "Um, let's see, they might have a library in this world but I probably don't have permission to sleep there. Celestia may know a place or Fluttershy…" She gasped. "Fluttershy!" She ran into the school, Spike running after her. Twilight weaved through the halls until she found Fluttershy's locker and the girl herself at the other end of the hall with her books in her arms. "Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy turned. "Yes?"

Twilight ran up to her, pausing to catch her breath and putting her hands on her knees. "I was… wondering…" She stood up and smiled. "In honor of our newfound friendship, would you be willing to partake in a sleepover?"

Fluttershy tilted her head. "Well, I suppose that wouldn't be a problem. Will your parents mind?"

Not likely. "Nope, already checked in with them." Twilight grinned brightly.

"Okay." Fluttershy smiled and gestured her head forward. "Come with me, I drive to school."

Drive? Twilight followed Fluttershy through the halls, wondering what she meant. They emerged from another side of the school to a field of black pavement. Rows of yellow lines sectioned it off into rectangles and in a few of them were metal objects of various shapes and colors. Fluttershy headed towards one object and Twilight followed. She saw Fluttershy pull a ring of keys her pocket and press a button on one of them. The metal object in front of them beeped and clicked.

"Here we are." Fluttershy pulled open the door on the far side of the object. Twilight found the handle for hers and pulled it open. She sat down in the chair inside and waited for Spike to jump into her lap before closing the door. She frowned and shifted to take off her backpack, setting it by her feet. Beside her, Fluttershy tossed her backpack into the back seat and then pulled a strap of material hanging beside her over her chest. "Buckle up." She clicked a metal flap on the object into a holder next to the seat. Twilight watched her and copied her actions, finding the slot to insert the flap into.

Fluttershy inserted another object on the ring from her pocket into the shaft leading to the wheel in front of her and turning it. Twilight jumped as the object roared to life and hummed, lights around them blinking on. Fluttershy looked behind her and took hold of the wheel. The object slowly moved back and turned until Twilight could see the street looking forward. Fluttershy looked forward and turned the wheel and they moved towards the street.

"So this is sort of like a carriage, right?" she asked, glancing at Fluttershy.

"You've never ridden in a car before?"

"Um… well, I've heard of them. But my family didn't use them."

"Oh." Fluttershy smiled. "Don't worry, I'll drive slow."

Twilight let out a sigh. "Thank you. I have to admit I'm not quite—"

The car exited the parking lot and gained speed as Fluttershy turned down the street. Twilight gasped and leaned back as they accelerated.

Later…

Fluttershy pulled into the driveway of her modest two-story home and turned the key. "Here we are." She unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned back to take hold of her backpack. "Don't forget your bag." Fluttershy slammed her door and walked away.

In the passenger seat, Twilight gasped for breath as she sat plastered to the back of her seat, her fingers gripping the sides tightly. The last five minutes of her life were burned into her mind as a blur of sight and loud sounds. On her lap, Spike slowly turned to look up at her.

"Twilight?"

"Spike?"

"Can we walk back to the school tomorrow?"

"Yes, we can."

Twilight carefully unbuckled her seatbelt and opened her door. She took a shaky step into the driveway, grabbed her backpack, and slowly walked forward. Fluttershy was waiting for her nearby, the key ring in her hand. The car behind her beeped and Twilight screamed, jumping away.

"Sorry." Fluttershy held up her keys. "Was just locking the door."

"Right," Twilight squeaked. She edged away from the car and joined Fluttershy on the path to the house. Fluttershy turned and led the way to the door. She unlocked it and pushed it open.

"I'm home!" she called softly.

Twilight stood in the doorway as Fluttershy slipped her boots off and slid them onto a mat to the side. A hallway leading to a staircase stretched in front of them and Twilight saw doorways to other rooms on either side. She looked at the pile of shoes on a mat in front of her then at her own boots. She reached down and fingered the laces.

"Fluttershy?" A woman wearing glasses with red hair tied into a bun emerged from one doorway. "Why didn't you call, I was beginning to worry."

"Sorry, Mom." Fluttershy hugged her tightly. "I was busy making a new friend." She stepped aside and gestured to Twilight. Twilight looked up, preoccupied with undoing the laces of her boots and waved.

Fluttershy's mother noticed the newcomer at the door and came closer. "Well, hello there. I'm Mrs. Shy."

Twilight recognized the hairstyle and glasses now and stood to hug the familiar woman back when she put her arms around her. "Nice to meet you. I'm Twilight Sparkle." She awkwardly stepped out of her boot as Mrs. Shy pulled away. "And this is Spike." She gestured down.

Mrs. Shy looked down at Spike and knelt to scratch his chin. "Well, isn't he adorable?" Twilight giggled as Spike closed his eyes and tilted his head up at the attention. Mrs. Shy finished and gave him a pat on the head. "Fluttershy, dinner is a little late tonight. We didn't know when you would be home. Zephyr hasn't checked in either. We're not sure where he is."

Fluttershy's expression soured. "Did you check on the sofa in the basement? That's usually where I find him."

Mrs. Shy scoffed and waved a hand. "Oh, be nice, he's still finding his path." She looked behind her, Twilight presumed at the kitchen. "Fluttershy, would you mind giving me a hand scraping dinner together?"

"Sure, just a moment." Fluttershy turned to Twilight. "I can show you my room if you like."

"That'd be nice." Twilight smiled and gestured a hand.

"Be right back, Mom." Fluttershy stepped up the stairs and Twilight followed. She led Twilight down a hallway to one of five doorways and gently pressed it open. Twilight looked around. A bedroom in various shades of green, yellow, and pink, greeted her. Fluttershy set her backpack on the bed. "If you like, you can use my computer. Or you can help me and Mom."

Twilight saw a desk against one wall. The device on it looked vaguely similar to the ones in the computer lab, but the screen was thinner and the large box had a different array of slots on the front. "…Actually, I wouldn't mind being able to use the computer."

"Go ahead." Fluttershy pressed a button on the box and Twilight heard it begin to hum. The screen lit up and various rows of texts and graphical displays slowly came into focus. "I have a sleeping bag in my closet I could sleep in if you want the bed."

"I don't mind the floor."

Fluttershy gasped. "Oh no, I can't do that, you're a guest."

Twilight smiled and shook her head. Same old Fluttershy, all right. "We can talk about it later, then."

"Okay. If you want a drink, just come on down." Fluttershy waved at her and left the room. Alone with Spike, Twilight looked at the computer. "Alright, Spike, time to do some research."

"How?" Spike jumped up on the desk as Twilight sat down in front of it.

"Pinkie said the internet can be used to look up information. That sounds like a start." Fluttershy's computer screen was now showing a large picture of a forest with various icons along the bottom of the screen. Twilight looked them over and found one that was labeled 'Internet Safari'. "Well, I found the internet." She reached out and pressed the icon on the screen. It began to bounce in place and a box sprang out from it. Twilight watched as an image of Canterlot High filled the screen with various headers and text along the top.

"Seems pretty straightforward." She read over the headers. "Faculty, upcoming events, map, contact…" She pressed a finger at the upcoming events header and a list dropped down from it. Twilight's eyes lit up at one entry. "The Autumn Crown Tournament." She pressed the entry. The screen changed and the now-familiar posters for the tournament appeared on either side. Text followed soon after.

"Attention duelists! The Canterlot High ninth annual Autumn Crown Tournament begins October eighth. Don't miss this chance to show your skills and prove you have what it takes to rule the duel. Speak to Pinkie Pie before October seventh to sign up." Twilight saw more text further down the screen, cut off. She pointed at it and after a moment a downward motion of her finger made the page scroll so she could keep reading. "Here we go, rules.

"All duelists must have a deck of no less than 40 cards and a side deck of no more than 15 cards. Both will be registered the day of the tournament and unregistered cards may not be used in tournament duels. The tournament is single-elimination divided into two days. Day one will take place on Saturday. Duelists will compete in free duels between eleven am and four pm. At four pm the sixteen duelists with the best win-loss ratio will advance to bracketed matches. The quarter finals will be held the next day and continue through to the evening for the finals."

Twilight sat back and thought. "Sunday night. Then we should have just enough time to beat Sunset Shimmer."

"Cutting it close, though." Spike frowned and scratched his ear. "Any idea on how we're gonna beat her if she's so good?"

"Maybe we can get some." Twilight reached the end of the text and saw more headers. One of them read 'Directory' and she tapped it. A row of pictures appeared displaying numerous students with their names below. A few of them look familiar. Trixie was in this world, maybe all sorts of ponies I know from Equestria are here. Twilight looked over the rows of pictures for any sign of Sunset Shimmer, or her friends, and found neither. Buttons at the bottom displayed the option for the next page and one that read 'Search.' Twilight tapped the latter. A smaller window appeared with a blinking cursor.

"Okay… let's see." She put her hands on the keyboard and paused. The layout of keys was a bit different, but it was very similar to typewriters in Equestria. She slowly typed, watching her fingers move to make sure they went to the right letters. "S… u… n…" She spelled out Sunset's name. As she typed, the rows of students grew smaller until only one picture was on the screen. Twilight reached up and tapped on Sunset Shimmer's icon.

"There she is…" Spike muttered. Twilight waited for the screen to fill in numerous data fields, including a large picture of Sunset on the left, her arm held up to display a red and orange duel disk.

"Win-loss record for autumn semester… 0-0?" Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Really? She doesn't duel anyone?"

"Maybe everyone's afraid to duel her?" Spike suggested. "I mean if she's the champion."

"Right… current ranking, Champion. Year, fourth. Deck…" Twilight tilted her head. "That has to be an error."

"What?" Spike leaned around the screen to see better. "Deck… not available?" He looked at Twilight. "How can they not know what type of deck she uses?"

Twilight scratched her head. "Maybe they don't list it because she's the champion… although if she's so good wouldn't everyone know anyway?" She looked over the rest of Sunset's profile but found nothing of value. Any fields relating to information about her deck were listed as 'N/A'. At the bottom was a listing of her rankings in past tournaments. For the previous two Autumn tournaments, as well as the two Spring tournaments, Sunset was the champion. Twilight mentally calculated the two-and-a-half-year time limit on the mirror portal. No ranking for the first spring tournament when she arrived. Maybe when she got here she wasn't good enough to win yet. Or she missed it.There was one other field for 'other information' that simply noted Sunset was the champion for four tournaments running.

She tapped the Search button and typed in another name. Her own portrait appeared on the screen and Twilight groaned; the picture Pinkie had taken of her recoiling and raising her arm to defend herself from the unfamiliar camera was there. She opened her profile and read. Her deck theme was listed as 'Unregistered' and her win-loss record was 4-1 as before. That's good. Sunset Shimmer's deck may not be known, but neither is mine. That'll give me an edge. She thought once more and went back to the search to type in the first name that sprang to mind. "R… a…"

When the rows of pictures had narrowed to one, Twilight opened Rainbow Dash's profile. The alternate form of her friend, at once so familiar but so different, appeared on the left. Twilight let out a low whistle. "Win-loss record this semester is 43-6. Deck… 'U.A.'."

"U.A.?" Spike shook his head. "What's that mean?"

"I don't know, but it seems tough." Twilight scrolled down the page. "According to these notes, she's placed in the top four the past three tournaments and the top eight in the fourth before them."

"Wow." Spike watched as Twilight brought up the search bar again. "Look for Rarity!" he suggested his tail wagging. Twilight rolled her eyes with a smile and typed in the name.

"Win-loss ratio, 19-8. Deck, 'Crystal Beast'. Other notes… placed top eight, autumn tournament third year, Spring tournament fourth year."

"She's beautiful…" Spike stared dreamily at the girl in the profile picture. "She might be even prettier than the other Rarity!"

"Down, boy." Twilight reached out to pat Spike on the head. He gave a slight growl and backed away from the touch. Twilight smiled at him and then turned her attention back to the computer. A couple of searches later confirmed that all five of her Ponyville friends were here. Fluttershy's deck was listed as Beast, Pinkie's deck was something called 'Toons,' and Applejack's was listed as Plant. "They all seem to be fairly good duelists. Applejack's win-loss record is almost as good as Rainbow Dash's, 39-4."

Twilight sat back in the chair and thought. We may not have to do this on our own. If I can convince my friends in this world to help me, I don't have to win the tournament to stop Sunset Shimmer. As long as I can make sure she doesn't win, anyone could beat her."Spike, do you think they might be willing to help us? I mean, I don't know if they're friends in this world, but if they're like our Ponyville friends, maybe we can talk to them." Twilight looked at the desk where Spike had been sitting and found it empty. "Spike?"

"Twilight, over here."

Twilight turned her head. Spike had jumped onto the bed and was looking at a picture hanging on the wall over the head. Twilight stood and walked over to see what about the picture had gotten his notice. She gasped softly. "That's them." She reached up and lifted the picture to look at it.

A photograph of Fluttershy with Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity was in the frame. The five were younger than they were now, but Twilight recognized the school in the background as CHS. She smiled. "They are friends."

"Were."

Twilight jumped and snapped her head up. Fluttershy stood in the doorway, looking away and stroking her arm. Twilight stood up on the bed and looked at the back of the picture to figure out how it hung. "I'm sorry, really! I wasn't trying to snoop or anything, I just saw the picture."

"It's okay." Fluttershy reached out to take the picture from Twilight and looked down at it with a soft smile. "We took this at the end of first year. I already knew Rainbow Dash as a kid, but not really any of the others. We just kind of met up over time and bonded. Outside of Rainbow Dash, I hadn't really had any friends before."

Twilight stepped down from the bed. "What happened?"

"Sunset Shimmer came." Fluttershy carefully set the picture down on her dresser. "The duel tournaments were all for fun. That's why Pinkie volunteered to host them. Then when Sunset joined the school, she made it all about the competition to win. It was her idea for the champion to get special privileges since they work so hard for it. She acted so sweet and nice that first year, we all thought it was a good idea. Then she got her crown and showed us what she's really like."

Fluttershy shook her head. "Now Pinkie is too busy keeping the school's dueling database updated to play, Applejack and Rainbow Dash almost hate each other, and Rarity just drifted away with everyone else driven apart. And me… I'm just stuck with my little low-level deck with no one to play with."

She looked back at Twilight. "I kept wishing someone nice would win over Sunset Shimmer some year, so maybe they could do something to change it. But no one remembers how it used to be. Everyone is just obsessed with winning, or they're so bitter over it they don't care."

Twilight looked at the picture, five smiling faces looking back at her. They were happy back then. And then Sunset Shimmer ruined it. But why? Why does this school mean so much to her? What does Duel Monsters have to do with Equestria and my Element of Harmony?She put aside that thought for later and raised her head. "Well, not anymore. You're right. Dueling is for fun. I may have never played before but I still had a lot of fun playing you today."

Fluttershy's face brightened. "Really?"

Twilight nodded. "Maybe together we can remind those four what this game should be about."

"I don't know about that." Fluttershy bit her lip. "Applejack and Rainbow are some of the best duelists in the school. I think Pinkie is in the tournament just to see how things go, and maybe Rarity. But I didn't register."

"Are you still friends with Pinkie?"

"Well, we occasionally chat…"

"Call her. See if she'll bend the rules to let you in late." Twilight reached out to hold Fluttershy's hand. "I know you only duel for fun. But standing up for something you believe in is one of the most important things anyone can do for a friend. And if we're going to beat Sunset Shimmer, I want your help."

Fluttershy looked down at their hands and then back at Twilight, giving a tentative smile. "Okay. I'll do my best. Let me give her a call." She carefully took her hand back and picked up the cordless phone on her dresser, walking out to the hall as she dialed.

Twilight smiled at Spike. "Well, that's one ally."

"Now what?" Spike asked.

"Now…" Twilight made her way back to the computer and sat down. "We need to find out those 'online tutorials' Pinkie mentioned. If Sunset Shimmer is the best player in the school at this game, we're going to need to learn how to play it fast." She looked over the row of icons and text at the very top of the internet browser and pressed her finger to the screen at the one that said 'EweTube Video Hosting'."

Ch. 5: Familiar Faces

On the coffee table in Fluttershy's living room lay Twilight's deck, its cards spread out in front of her. Twilight sat hunched over on the sofa, looking between them. She'd spent much of last night reading every card's effect. An unmistakable pattern had emerged. Her eyes fell on the six monster cards in the center.

There's no doubt about it.She reached out and picked up 'Harmony Spirit – Magia'. Its artwork showed an angelic fairy with a horn and pale lavender skin. These cards are based on me and my friends. But how?Twilight had searched a database on cards on the internet for hers and found no record of them. The only conclusion was that the mirror portal's magic had manifested these cards for her when she crossed over. I guess it makes sense. Fluttershy said that dueling is a way to reveal your true self. The bond my friends and I share is the most important thing I have. So, using cards based on them and their powers…Her brow furrowed as she looked at the card in her hand.

"Magia…" Twilight recognized the names of the cards as Ancient Equestrian, a near-dead language only used in books so old they tended to need special permission to examine. Why her cards would manifest using those words, she wasn't sure, but she had to admit that Ancient Equestrian had a certain elegance. And the card shows me as a unicorn, not an alicorn. That makes sense. I may be an alicorn, but I'm still a unicorn at heart. I don't know what my purpose as a Princess is, but I'm still me, Twilight Sparkle.Twilight set the card back on the table.

"Twilight?" Spike jumped up on the sofa beside her. "What's up?"

"Just thinking." Twilight spread her hand over the cards laid out. "Fluttershy said a duelist's deck symbolizes their true self. And my deck symbolizes me and my friends."

Spike leaned over to look at the cards. "Seems so."

"But, look at this card." Twilight tapped her finger on Magia. "That's obviously meant to be me. It's a unicorn, not an alicorn."

Spike nodded. "Makes sense. I mean, you were born a unicorn, right?"

"True." Twilight furrowed her brow. "But if a deck symbolizes a duelist's true self, do you think that means that deep down I'm still a unicorn, even with my wings?"

"I'd say so." Spike looked up at her. "You said you never much felt like being a Princess and you were worrying about Celestia giving you all sorts of new duties and responsibilities."

"Right." Twilight bit her lip. Maybe Spike is right and this is for the best. I really don't feel like a Princess much. I just feel like me with some awkward wings attached.

Spike was on the table now, carefully stepping around the cards as he looked them over. "Yup, there's Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash… everypony is here." He turned to Twilight. "Hey, if your deck that the portal made for you is based on you and your friends, what kind of deck would the portal have given Sunset Shimmer?"

Twilight jerked from her thoughts at the question and sat back on the sofa as she considered it. "I'm not sure." She thought of what she knew about the other girl. She was Celestia's student and her pride was self-evident through what Twilight had seen of her. But she had nothing else to go on. I really have no idea what she has in store for me. I wish I had asked Celestia more about her.

She shook her head. Can't focus on that now. Have to keep the goal in mind. "We'll deal with her deck when and if we have to duel her. For now, we have to at least make sure we get into the top sixteen. Sunset Shimmer definitely will and we have to make sure we do, too. From there, I guess it depends on how they match us up." Fluttershy had made it into the tournament and Twilight intended to try and form an alliance with her friends, or potentially any other student that made the bracketed matches. Every friend we can make is another duelist we can rely on to hand over the crown if I can't win. No matter what Fluttershy said about their attitudes towards the tournament, if they know what's at stake they should listen to reason.

"I have to believe in them." Twilight stood up. "They may not actually be my friends, but from what I've seen they're similar enough in personality. I have to hope that means I can convince them to help me."

"Twilight?" She looked up to see Fluttershy poking her head through the doorway. "Breakfast is ready if you'd like."

"Sure." Twilight began to gather up her cards and set them back into her deck box.

"Mom said she has errands to run anyway, so she's going to drive us to the school."

Twilight paled.

"Drive?"

Fluttershy nodded. "We're leaving early since Mom drives a little slow."

Later…

"Where'd you learn to drive, moron!?"

Twilight narrowed her eyes ever so slightly as the comment, so familiar to the dozens of others she had heard over the past twenty minutes, came through her open window.

Mrs. Shy huffed. "Well, that was rather rude."

"Mom, you were slowing down in the middle of the road."

"The light was turning red, I had to slow down to brake in time."

"We were thirty feet away and it was still green."

"It was going to turn yellow any moment, I didn't want to risk it."

Twilight leaned forward. "Fluttershy, will you be driving us back home tonight?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

Later still…

The grounds of Canterlot High were filled with students as Twilight, Spike, and Fluttershy stepped out of the car and onto the sidewalk. A couple close to them turned to look at the newcomers and then turned back to their previous tasks. Twilight looked around and saw no sign of any of her friends, or Sunset Shimmer. She has to compete in the tournament like normal, right? So she'll have to be here.

Twilight wondered if Sunset would challenge her, but brushed the idea aside. She didn't recognize me yesterday, I doubt she will now. And me challenging her won't do much. She can still make the top sixteen if I beat her. Though, so would I if she won.Was challenging Sunset at this early stage worth it to get a peek of her rival's deck? Twilight thought it over for a moment and shook her head. She'd see mine, too, and with my inexperience, I need every advantage I can take.

"The registration desk is in the front lobby." Fluttershy's voice prompted Twilight to look towards her as the other girl led the way. Twilight followed, weaving through the crowd. She kept looking for her friends among the sea of faces but saw no sign of them. They'll be here. Well, maybe not Pinkie, but Applejack and Rainbow Dash for sure.Twilight looked to the right and thought she saw a familiar head of rainbow-colored hair, but before she could get a better look she walked into something and stumbled back. She heard someone else grunt and fall in front of her.

"Sorry!" Twilight rubbed her back and got to her feet. "Sorry, didn't see—" She looked up at who she had walked into.

"We gotta stop meeting like this." Flash Sentry stood up in front of her. "Hey, Twilight."

"Hi." Twilight lifted her hand and waved. "Here to register?"

"Yup." Flash held up his arm with his duel disk. His expression softened. "No offense, but I'm a bit surprised to see you registering. You seemed a bit unprepared to duel yesterday."

Twilight held up her hands and chuckled nervously. "Well, the first day, you know how it is, I'm a bit forgetful. But I'm here now." She forced a grin.

"Well, good luck. If you can do well in this tournament it'll go a long way to making a good first impression on everyone else." Flash smiled and held up a fist, the thumb extended. Twilight pondered what the unfamiliar gesture meant but didn't have much time to dwell on it.

"Next, please." The line moved forward and Twilight saw Flash reach the table in front of them. Twilight leaned around Flash and saw the woman typing on a computer, with long dark blue hair and pale blue skin.

Princess Luna?Twilight's eyebrows lifted. Makes sense, Celestia is in this world, after all.

Luna looked up at Flash. "Name?"

"Flash Sentry. Here's my deck, with the extra deck and side deck included." Flash held out his deck. Luna set the deck in some sort of machine that rapidly flipped through the cards. When it was done Luna's computer beeped and she went back to typing.

"Deck registration complete. From this moment forward any usage of cards not in the database will be grounds for immediate disqualification. Understood?" Flash nodded. Luna picked up the deck and held it out. "Here you are. Good luck." Flash stepped out of the way and looked down to sort through his cards.

Twilight took a breath and stepped up to the table. "Twilight Sparkle."

"Deck, please." Twilight handed over her deck and Luna ran it through the scanning machine. "Hm, precisely forty cards. Are you certain you do not wish to use an extra deck or side deck? This is your last chance to add them."

Twilight shook her head. "I'll be fine."

"As you wish. Your deck is registered." Luna folded up the cards and gave them back to Twilight. Twilight saw Fluttershy in line directly behind her and moved next to Flash. She looked down at his duel disk.

"So, what kind of deck do you run?" Flash asked.

"Harmony Spirits," Twilight replied. "You?"

"Gem Knights." Flash pursed a lip. "Harmony Spirits, huh? That's not one I'm familiar with. Did it just come out?"

Oh, right.Twilight had forgotten her deck's spontaneous creation from the portal's magic. "It's a very rare series, they never really released them outside of where I lived before moving here." She held up her hands and silently hoped that excuse would work.

"Cool." Flash smiled. "It'll help. A lot of the students here are kinda net-deckers, just recycling the same strategies as everyone else. Makes them predictable and easy to counter. Having a unique deck and playstyle will make it harder for them to do the same to you."

Good.Twilight looked out over the crowd. Does that mean Sunset Shimmer is predictable for the rest of them, too? She's champion, surely everyone has seen her duel.She wondered if anyone would be feeling courageous enough to challenge Sunset. Would give me the chance to see her deck in action.

"I'm ready." Fluttershy approached the two. "Though I'm not sure how good I'll do." She bit her lip and shuffled her feet. "I really don't know about this, Twilight."

"You are ready, Fluttershy." Twilight put a hand on her shoulder. "Think of it this way. Even if you don't win, you're here to help a friend and stand up for what you believe in, right?"

Fluttershy slowly smiled. "…Right. Thank you, Twilight,"

"Attention, students!" The assembled teenagers stopped talking at the sound of the loudspeaker. Twilight recognized Celestia's voice. "Registration will end in five minutes. Any unregistered changes to your decks will be grounds for disqualification. If you have made any changes to your deck since registering, see Vice-Principal Luna to re-register. Students in line for registration after noon will still be allowed to complete their registration."

A new flurry of murmurs came from the crowd and Twilight saw several students approach the table. Flash carefully reached out and put a hand on Twilight's arm. "We should get out of the way."

"Right." Twilight and Fluttershy followed him through the doors to the outside of the school. Along the way, Twilight saw several students looking at her and whispering. She frowned. I have my deck loaded. I'm not drawing attention again, am I?She leaned closer. "Flash, why is everyone staring at us?"

Fluttershy softly gasped, drawing Twilight's attention. Flash looked away from them and chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, folks sort of pay attention to me here…"

"Why?" Twilight looked up at him.

Flash looked at her and Twilight thought he seemed embarrassed. "You've probably heard by now how Sunset joined the school and she's been the champion ever since?"

Twilight nodded.

"Well, who do you think was the champion five tournaments running before she got here?"

Twilight's eyes widened. "Oh..."

"It's no big deal." Flash held up his hands. "I really only played for fun. It's just that in a game like this, playing for fun and winning can go hand-in-hand." He looked around the crowd. "A lot of them are saying this is my chance to stop her, before her win overtakes mine."

He's a five-time champion. Twilight rapidly considered her options. Flash is another ally I can count on. He's strong, he seems to be interested in being my friend.The other side of her mind argued back that he had failed to beat Sunset in the past several tournaments before. Still, he's a former champion. That has to mean something to his skill, right?

"Flash?" Twilight began the conversation cautiously.

"Yeah?"

"There's something I want to ask—"

A tone came over the school grounds, signaling the loudspeakers were on again. The students looked towards the school at the sound. Celestia's voice rang through the air.

"Students, it is my honor to welcome you all to the ninth annual Autumn Crown Tournament!" Cheers and yells came up from the crowd. Twilight stayed silent. "This year has seen the registration of more students than ever before. However, in spite of these numbers, the rules of the tournament will remain the same.

"Over the next four hours, all students will be allowed to engage in free duels across the campus. At the end of those four hours, all duels held within that time will be tallied. The sixteen students with the best win-loss ratios will advance to the bracketed rounds. The first eight duels will be held this evening, with the top eight dueling to crown a winner tomorrow.

"Free duels can be help anywhere on school grounds and a duel must be agreed upon by both parties. All win-loss records from the normal semester are irrelevant. Further inquiries can be directed to the registration desk. For now, students, prepare your decks and duel disks. It's time to duel!"

A fanfare sounded in the air, and the students cheered again.

Twilight took a breath. Here we go…

Later…

"Harmony Spirit Honestas, attack Spirit of the Harp!" The pale orange being let out a cry and ran across the field, slamming its fist into a spirit wearing a yellow robe sitting in front of a large harp. The spirit was flung back and shattered into particles as it hit the ground. Twilight looked at her duel disk display. The portrait for her opponent, a green-skinned girl with darker green hair, had its Life Point counter drop to zero and then flashed red. Twilight's portrait grew to fill her display and her Life Point display changed to show her win-loss record as it updated – 3-0.

"Three wins." Twilight gathered her cards from her duel disk and set them on her deck to trigger the auto-shuffler. Three wins is good, but I don't know if it's enough to win this. Twilight had attempted to find out how other duelists in the tournament were ranking but had been told she couldn't. She just had to keep dueling and winning, and hope she made it into the next round. Can't waste time mulling it over. I have to find another opponent.

She looked around and saw a small crowd of students watching a duel. There has to be someone there who'll duel me. She jogged over when a voice came from the duel going on.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Twilight's ears perked up. That voice sounds familiar!She pushed her way to the front of the crowd, muttering excuses as a couple people protested. She reached the edge and paused.

On Twilight's right, the one student dueling was a girl with pale gray skin, blonde hair, and slightly crossed eyes. Her field was empty. To the left was a girl with dark purple hair and pale alabaster skin. Three large gemstones stood in a row in front of her, colored orange, yellow, and violet shadowed forms inside of them. Twilight took a closer look at the girl and gasped as she realized the source of the voice.

"Rarity!"

The girl turned to her and gave her a surprised look. Before Twilight could continue, the other girl put a hand on her deck.

"I draw!" The girl held up her hand and lifted a card. "I normal summon 'Junk Synchron'!" A squat humanoid monster in clunky orange armor jumped onto the field, holding a hand out. "When Junk Synchron is normal summoned, I can activate his effect, and summon a Level 2 or lower monster in the Graveyard. I summon 'Tuningware'!" Another monster, a tiny yellow machine with a curved disk on its head, materialized on the field. "Next I activate the effect of 'Quillbolt Hedgehog' in the Graveyard. Since I control a Tuner monster like Junk Synchron, I can revive Quillbolt. Then I activate the effect of 'Doppelwarrior' in my hand to special summon it since I just revived a monster." Two more monsters appeared, a large hedgehog with industrial bolts for quills and a cloaked warrior holding a rifle.

Twilight gasped. "She just summoned four monsters in one turn! That's amazing!"

"No, it ain't."

Twilight jumped at the voice and turned her head. A girl with blonde hair and a Stetson hat stood next to her, arms crossed. Twilight looked her over and saw three apples sewn on her skirt. There was no mistaking that symbol. "Applejack?"

"Rares' has got this in the bag," Applejack continued.

"And now for my final move!" Rarity's opponent held her hand into the air. "I tune the Level 3 Junk Synchron with the Level 1 Tuningware, Level 2 Quillbolt Hedgehog, and Level 2 Doppelwarrior, to Synchro Summon the Level 8 'Junk Destroyer'!"

A red light and a siren blared from the girl's duel disk. She paused and looked down. "Huh? 'Illegal move'?"

"No Synchro monsters in the tournament, ya ditz!" Someone in the crowd called. The crowd groaned and Twilight saw several slap their heads or giggle.

The girl laughed nervously. "My bad. Um…" She looked back at her hand. "I…" She scratched her head and frowned.

"What happened?" Twilight asked.

"Ya can't use any of the extra deck monsters except for Fusions. Synchro Summonin' isn't allowed." Applejack sighed. "Shame too, that move would have clinched the win."

"I… end my turn?" The girl held up her hands and grinned sheepishly.

Rarity snorted. "Very well. My draw!" She drew her card and smiled. "From my hand, I summon 'Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus'!" A portal opened behind Rarity and a winged white horse flew out of it, whinnying. Its horn glowed bright blue and gemstones embedded on its wings did the same. "When Sapphire Pegasus is summoned, I can select any Crystal Beast monster from my hand, deck, or graveyard, and play it as a Spell card. I choose from my deck 'Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle'." A pale lavender being that reminded Twilight of a cat appeared on Rarity's field and was immediately frozen in place as a red crystal materialized around it.

"Next, I reveal my face-down, the Spell card 'Crystal Promise'. This lets me summon my Ruby Carbuncle as a monster proper." The ruby cracked and shattered, Ruby Carbuncle leaping forward to stand beside the Pegasus. "Now that Ruby Carbuncle has been special summoned, its ability activates! Go, Ruby Light!" Rarity held her hand up over her head and Ruby Carbuncle held up its tail, a red gem on the end glowing brightly. In front of Rarity, the orange, yellow, and violet gemstones lit up and began to crack apart. "When special summoned, Ruby Carbuncle lets me release all of my crystallized Crystal Beasts from their gemstone prisons and summon them to the field!"

Rarity's opponent gasped. "Oh no!"

Rarity snapped her hand down to hold it over her duel disk. "I summon 'Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger', 'Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth', and 'Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat'!" The yellow gemstone shattered and a tiger with topazes embedded on its neck leaped out of the rubble, roaring. The orange gemstone broke next, a large mammoth with a round piece of amber in its forehead stomping forward. Finally, the violet gem broke, releasing a pale pink cat with a large winged collar set with an amethyst gem.

Twilight's jaw dropped. "Whoa…"

Applejack smirked. "See, that's how ya do it."

Rarity pointed at her opponent's monsters one by one. "All of my Crystal Beasts attack!" Rarity's monsters variously roared or growled and dashed across the field. Her opponent looked away, Twilight following suit. The now-familiar sound of holograms variously shattering and exploding filled her ears.

Twilight looked back to see Rarity's opponent collapse to her knees. "I just don't know what went wrong," she moaned.

Rarity carefully picked her cards off her disk. "What did you wrong, darling, was underestimate my talents. Don't feel too bad, it's a mistake four others so far have made." She set her cards back on her deck and turned to the crowd. "So, who's next?"

The crowd dispersed, a couple of them mumbling excuses. Twilight ignored them and ran forward. "Rarity!"

Rarity focused her eyes on her. "Hm? Have we met?"

Twilight flinched. "Um, that is, no. But I know you by reputation! I'm Twilight Sparkle."

"Wonderful!" Rarity smiled and tossed her hair. "It's good to know someone appreciates an entrepreneur."

Twilight tilted her head. "Huh?"

Rarity spun in the air and put her hand on her deck, drawing a stack of cards and fanning them out. "I happen to be the founder of Rarity's Dueling School of Elegance! Our motto is that the only thing better than a victory is a victory while looking fabulous!"

"I agree…" Twilight heard Spike whisper at her feet and looked down to shush him.

Applejack stepped up beside Twilight. "What she means is that she likes showin' off all fancy in her duels and thinks we all should too, and she's trying to raise money to open some sort of fancy dueling studio."

Rarity crossed her arms and tilted her nose up. "Well, not everyone appreciates the value that good aesthetics brings to a duel. Fortunately, my skills are heard where my words fall on deaf ears."

"What's your record?" Twilight asked.

"Five and one, dear." Rarity sniffed. "I confess I underestimated a certain ruffian who insists on dueling like a brute, but that shall be rectified when I face Rainbow Dash in the finals!"

"Uh, hey now." Applejack stepped closer and jabbed a finger at Rarity's chest. "RD is mine. If y'all want a shot at her, Ah'm gonna have somethin' to say about that."

Rarity scowled and pushed Applejack's hand away. "You can say all you like, if you're up to talking with action." She stepped back and held up her duel disk.

Applejack smiled and raised her own duel disk. "You are in for a heck of a bruisin', hun."

"Stop it!" Twilight ran between them and pushed their arms down. She swung her head between them and glared. "Aren't you all supposed to be friends?"

"Friends? With that uncultured yokel?" Rarity scoffed. "Don't demean me!"

"Same here, Ah'd never be friends with someone who thinks havin' their hair look nice is more important to dueling than being good."

"You know perfectly well that is not what I meant!"

"Enough!" Twilight shouted over them before Applejack could respond. She sighed. "I've met Fluttershy, I know about you guys, okay? That's why I'm here." She looked between them as the two began to pay attention. "I need your help to win this tournament."

"Get in line, dear, there's a few hundred of us aspiring to that."

"I don't have to win for myself. I just need the crown." Twilight scrunched her nose. "It's a long story you probably wouldn't believe anyway. But I need the crown. Don't care about winning, much, this is just a silly game, after all. But I need the physical item." She looked between them. "I'm hoping you girls might listen to reason and agree to give it to me if you win the tournament."

Applejack gave her a suspicious look. "Ah thought it was some dollar-store toy they bought for the tournament. What's so fancy about some cheap crown that you want it that bad?"

Twilight laughed nervously. "Like I said, long story."

"I find such an offer not disagreeable." Rarity shrugged. "I already have a couple tiaras more expensive and better-looking at home, so that silly trinket means nothing to me."

Twilight pumped her fist. "Great."

"However!" Rarity continued, "I also see no reason as to agree to it, since such a desire is rather curious."

Twilight deflated. "What'll it take to convince you?"

Rarity smiled. "I think you know that very well, darling." She raised her duel disk.

"Really?" Twilight looked at her own disk. It can't really hurt. We can still both make it if we keep winning.

"Indeed. Prove yourself worthy of such an alliance and I'll consider it,"

Twilight nodded and held up her duel disk. "You're on, Rarity!"

Sonic Prime: So Jaden, preliminary word on Rarity's deck?

Jaden: Well, judging from that last combo she pulled, I'd say she knows what she's doing with those Gem Beasts. Twilight better watch her back in this duel.

Ch. 6: Shining Friendship (Twilight VS Rarity)

Twilight took a breath as she and Rarity walked a distance away from the other. I can do this. It wasn't all that different from her duel with Fluttershy: a sparring match with a friend. Except that Rarity is a lot stronger than Fluttershy. And this win or loss could disqualify either of us from the finals. Twilight gulped. "No pressure," she whispered. She stopped and turned to see Rarity looking over at her.

"Let's begin this." Rarity reached down and tapped a button on her duel disk.

"Opponent detected! Streaming data."Twilight's duel disk announced its actions as it set up a holographic display of hers and Rarity's profiles. Her win-loss record was 3-0, displayed to the left of Rarity's 5-1. "Duel mode set. Initiating."The pictures zoomed out to make way for a holographic display of their respective sides of the field. "Commence duel?"

"Here we go, Rarity!" Twilight reached down and pressed the button on her duel disk to accept the challenge.

"Game start!"

-Twilight Life Points: 4000-

-Rarity Life Points: 4000-

The two profiles flashed back and forth before Twilight's lit up. "Player takes first turn."

"Good." Twilight drew the six cards her duel disk ejected and fanned them out. "I summon 'Harmony Spirit Honestas'." A muscular orange fairy flipped onto the field and kicked the air before standing in front of Twilight. (1800/300) "Next I activate the effect of 'Harmony Spirit Magnanimity' in my hand." Twilight discarded her card and the image of a white fairy with a long horn appeared above her. She held her hands down over Twilight and sent a pulse of magic over her. "By discarding Magnanimity, I can reveal the top card of my deck, and if it's a Spell card, I can add it to my hand." Twilight drew her card and held it out. "It's a Spell, 'Harmony Bolt'. With that I set one card and end my turn."

"Very well, then." Rarity drew with a flourish. She turned her card over and moved it to her duel disk. "I summon 'Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus'." A glowing blue portal opened in front of Rarity. A white winged horse rose from it and beat the ground as it finished, spreading its wings with sapphires embedded in them. (1800/1200) "When Sapphire Pegasus is summoned, I can select any Crystal Beast monster in my deck and play it as a Continuous Spell card." Rarity tapped on her duel disk screen and a card slid out from her deck. "I choose this, 'Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger'." Twilight recognized the tiger, with topazes set into its neck, as it materialized on the field. It curled up as yellow crystals rose around it.

Rarity looked over her hand. "Next, I activate the Equip Spell 'Crystal Release'! By equipping this card to Sapphire Pegasus, it gains eight hundred attack points!" Sapphire Pegasus reared into the air and the jewels on its wings lit up. (1800 → 2600)

"At this time, I reveal my face-down card!" Twilight pressed the button on her duel disk and the hologram on the field flipped up. "It's the Spell card I got from Magnanimity's effect, Harmony Bolt. This card lets me discard a Harmony Spirit from my hand, then I can destroy any card on the field! I discard 'Harmony Spirit Risus' and choose Sapphire Pegasus." Risus' image appeared in front of Twilight's Spell card and was drawn into the latter as particles of light. The card sparked and sent a bolt of lightning across the field, striking Sapphire Pegasus in a blast of smoke.

Her field is clear, so on my next turn, I can attack directly. Twilight paused as the smoke cleared. "What?" Sapphire Pegasus was still standing on Rarity's field. As Twilight watched it bowed its head and curled its wings forward. It floated backward and a prison of blue crystal encased it. "What happened?"

Rarity folded her arms. "That's the power of the Crystal Beasts, darling. Whenever one of them is destroyed as a monster, I can place it in my Spell and Trap zones, treated as a Spell card."

Twilight grimaced. I knew those rulings were in the book for a reason.

"And then she's got all sorts of support cards to use 'em." Twilight's attention drew to Applejack on the sidelines. The other girl shook her head. "As you keep blastin' her monsters into Spell cards, she gets to activate better support cards as she gets more in play. The trick is to—"

"Thank you, Applejack." Rarity scowled at her. "I am quite certain my opponent appreciates the tutorial lecture on how to defeat me."

"No problem."

So, they don't get along either. But wasn't Applejack watching her duel?Twilight frowned. "Why are you helping me? Weren't you complimenting her before?"

Applejack shrugged. "Rares is on the winning advantage, so ya need the help. Besides, it ain't like it'll make much difference to me in the long run. Whichever or both of ya make it to the finals, I'll beat ya the same."

"Gee, thanks," Twilight deadpanned.

"If Applejack is done with her interruptions," Rarity said, giving the other girl a glare as she spoke, "then I'm not done with my turn yet. When Crystal Release is sent to the graveyard, I can take any Crystal Beast from my deck and play it as a Spell card." Rarity pulled her card from her deck and held it out. "I choose this, 'Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat'." The familiar cat appeared on the back side of Rarity's field and was encased in violet crystal. "Next I activate the Spell card 'Crystal Beacon'. Since I have two Crystal Beasts in play as Spell cards, I can summon a third Crystal Beast from my deck. Come forth, 'Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle', in defense mode!"

The new monster flew onto Rarity's field, a pale brown and white bird of prey with light blue gems in its wings. It crossed its wings and took on a blue hue (1400/800). "The effect of Cobalt Eagle lets me select any other Crystal Beast card on the field and place it on top of the deck." Rarity tapped her duel disk screen, and the crystallized Sapphire Pegasus dissolved into particles of light. "I return Sapphire Pegasus to the deck. Then I set one card and end my turn."

Twilight looked down at her duel disk and pressed the icon on the screen to zoom in on Rarity's field. Applejack said the more Crystal Beast cards she gets in the Spell and Trap zone, the better support cards she can use. She has two now, Amethyst Cat and Topaz Tiger, and she'll add Cobalt Eagle if I attack and destroy it. She looked at her hand. I'll have to risk it. I have no choice but to attack and get rid of that monster if I want to win this.

"Hun, this ain't a spectator sport," Applejack called.

"I'm thinking over my move," Twilight replied. She put a hand on her deck and drew. "It's my turn." She turned to her hand again and paused before picking out a card. "I summon 'Harmony Spirit Gracia'!" A swarm of butterflies manifested in front of Twilight, dispersing to reveal the pale yellow winged fairy. (900/1800). "Then I activate the Spell card 'Harmony Fruit', to return two Harmony Spirits in the graveyard to my hand." Twilight held Magnanimity and Risus out to show them to Rarity. "And now, battle phase! Gracia attacks Cobalt Eagle!" Gracia flew forward towards Cobalt Eagle and spun in the air to deliver a kick to the bird. It flew backwards into line with Rarity's other cards, a crystal prison surrounding it and freezing it in the air.

"I activate my Trap card!" Rarity flung her hand out. "When a Crystal Beast monster is destroyed in battle, I can activate 'Crystal Pair'. Now I can place a Crystal Beast from my deck in my Spell and Trap zone and all damage I take from attacks this turn is negated." Rarity held up her card. "I set 'Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth' as a Spell card."

Twilight grimaced. She's got four Crystal Beast cards now!She looked at her hand. "I end my turn."

"Wonderful. My move!" Rarity drew and flipped her card over. "I activate 'Rare Value'. This lets you send any Crystal Beast Spell card to the graveyard, then I can draw two cards."

I choose, huh? Twilight looked over her duel disk display. I don't know nearly enough of her strategy to really make a good choice. Maybe she's reliant on keeping them in play as Spell cards? Or does she have something to revive whatever I send? Twilight furrowed her brow and looked up. "I choose Cobalt Eagle."

"Very well." Cobalt Eagle's gem exploded and the shards were drawn into Rarity's duel disk. She drew her cards and smiled. "And here we have the game-sealing move, my dear. I activate the Spell card 'Terraforming'. This lets me select any Field Spell in my deck and add it to my hand." She picked out the card that emerged from her deck, then tapped on her duel disk screen and a slot on the side of the disk slid open. "But it won't be there long. I activate the Field Spell 'Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins'!" Rarity spun and inserted her card into the open slot.

The ground shook, Twilight stepping back and looking around them. Columns of rock burst from the ground, causing Twilight to cry out and fall on her backside. The dirt split further as the field continued to expand. As Twilight watched an ancient amphitheater rose around them, at once massive and imposing but somehow scaled down to fit their conflict. She saw a pillar nearby and put her hand through it. All just holograms. Incredible. Imagine if actual magic could replicate something like this! The sound of cheering drew Twilight's attention to behind her. A crowd had begun to gather and were now calling Rarity's name.

Rarity beamed as she waved her hands at them and nodded. "Now, now, everyone, settle down. The real spectacle is yet to come." She turned her attention back to Twilight. "Marvelous, isn't it? My field card gains more effects the more Crystal Beasts I have in my Spell and Trap zones. With at least one, my field can't be destroyed by card effects." Rarity picked up another card from her hand. "But you'll have to worry about its other effects later. For now I summon once again my Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus!" In front of the row of four gemstones, the pegasus rose and spread its wings, the jewels on them gleaming. "With my pegasus summoned, another Crystal Beast from my deck is played to my Spell and Trap zone. I choose 'Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle'."

Twilight tensed at the sight of the small, purple beast manifesting inside a red crystal. That's the card she used to beat her last opponent! Twilight tapped on her duel disk screen to call up the image of Ruby Carbuncle's card. When Ruby Carbuncle is Special Summoned, every other Crystal Beast she has as a Spell card returns as a Monster card.She looked back up at Rarity's field. That's her strategy, fill up her back row with her destroyed Crystal Beasts and then summon them back en masse.

"With four Crystal Beasts on my field as Spells, the fourth effect of Rainbow Ruins allows me to draw a card once per turn. Then, it's time for the offensive." Rarity held her hand out. "I attack Harmony Spirit Gracia with Sapphire Pegasus!" The pegasus reared up and charged forward, its head held down at it came at the pale yellow fairy.

"From my hand, I activate the effect of Harmony Spirit Magnanimity." Twilight discarded her card and put a hand on her deck. She flipped the top card over. "It's a Monster card, 'Harmony Spirit Magia', so it gets returned to the deck." She frowned. I could have used that card…

"I don't see how that's going to stop my attack," Rarity sniffed.

"Here's how." Twilight tapped her duel disk and Gracia lit up in a yellow aura. "During the turn a Harmony Spirit monster is discarded, the effect of Gracia prevents my Harmony Spirits from being destroyed in battle." Gracia held up its hands and caught Sapphire Pegasus' head as it slammed into her. Gracia was pushed back by the charge but remained standing.

-Twilight Life Points: 4000 – 900 - 3100-

Rarity frowned. "Very well. I set one card and end my turn."

"And I'll start mine." Twilight drew and put her new card in her hand. She looked over her cards. If Rarity summons that Ruby Carbuncle, every one of those crystallized monsters will be released. Even if Gracia's effect will let it survive, my Life Points won't. I have to play this more cautiously for now. "I switch my Harmony Spirit Gracia to defense mode." Twilight turned the card onto its side on her duel disk. Gracia knelt on the field and it took on a pale blue tone. Gracia has 1800 defense, that'll set up a good block. Next I have to find some way to keep her from summoning Ruby Carbuncle. She has several Spell cards to use for that, so… Twilight gasped. "That's it!" She smiled at Applejack. "I know how I can beat her."

Applejack smirked. "Do ya, now? Go for it."

"I will. First, I activate the Spell card 'Harmony Gem'. By discarding Harmony Spirit Risus, I can now draw two cards." Twilight looked at her new cards and frowned. Nothing yet. But I can continue for now anyway. "Since I discarded a Harmony Spirit monster, the effect of Honestas activates. For the rest of the turn it gains 500 attack points! Honestas, attack Sapphire Pegasus!" Honestas (1800 → 2300) lit up in a bright orange aura and it sprinted towards Rarity, its fists held out. It reached Sapphire Pegasus and delivered an uppercut, sending it spiraling into the air.

-Rarity Life Points: 4000 - 250 - 3750-

Twilight frowned at her duel disk's display. "Shouldn't that have done more damage to you?"

"Sorry, dear, but you forgot my Field spell." As Rarity spoke, the gems in front of her lit up and Sapphire Pegasus fell in line with them as it crystallized. "As I said, the more Crystal Beasts there are in my Spell zones the more powerful it becomes. And with two in play, once per turn I can halve any damage I take."

"Darn." Twilight bit her lip. A setback, but I'm still ready for her."I set one card and end my turn." She looked back at her display. She has five Crystal Beasts in her Spell zones now. As long as I can use my Trap next turn just in case…

"My turn again." Rarity folded her arms. "Still thinking you're going to win at this point?"

Twilight nodded. "I figured out your weakness! Your Crystal Beasts count as Spell cards when they crystallize. But a player can only have five Spells or Traps in play at once, and can't play anymore if they do. So now you can only play Monster cards!" Around them the crowd erupted into groans and boos. Twilight looked back at them, confused. "What?"

Rarity fanned herself with her cards. "Not a bad idea, darling. But you overlooked one little loophole – I already have a sixth Spell in play." She held her hand up into the air. "I activate the final effect of Rainbow Ruins! With five Crystal Beasts crystallized, I can select one of them and Special Summon it!"

Twilight's eyes widened. "No!"

"I call forth my Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle!" The ruby on Rarity's field broke apart and the purple beast inside leaped forward, mewling. (300/300). "And when Ruby is summoned, her effect activates. Now every other Crystal Beast I have is released from its prison!" The other four gems on Rarity's field lit up and shattered. "I summon Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus, Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger (1600/100), Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat (1200/400), and Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth (1700/1600)." The four monsters stepped out of the shards of their crystals.

Twilight paled. "She did it… she summoned all of them."

The crowd erupted into a flurry of loud cheers and roars and eventually settled into a triumphant chant of Rarity's name. She tossed her hair and fluttered her eyes. "Settle down, everyone. I haven't won yet!" She leaned forward and smiled. "That comes next turn. For now, the summoned effect of Sapphire Pegasus triggers. I place 'Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise' on the field as a Spell card." A monster Twilight didn't recognize appeared behind Rarity's other monsters, a blue and green turtle with gems poking from its shell, and it surrounded itself in a green crystal.

"And now, Topaz Tiger, attack Honestas!" The tiger roared and began to run across the field. "When Topaz Tiger attacks, it gains an additional 400 points." The tiger reached Honestas and pounced, raking its claws down the monster's chest. Honestas was shredded into ribbons of light. "Next, the effect of Amethyst Cat lets it attack directly at half the normal damage it would inflict." Amethyst Cat emerged from beside Topaz Tiger and jumped at Twilight. A feedback burst from the holograms erupted from her duel disk and she fell to her knees.

-Twilight Life Points: 3100 – 800 - 2300-

"I end my turn." Rarity smiled. "On my next turn my Topaz Tiger can wipe out Gracia, and even if you destroyed my Crystal Beasts my Field Spell will just become stronger again. It's over."

Applejack shook her head. "Ya tried, hun."

"I'm not out yet!" Twilight shot back. "This duel isn't over!"

"Isn't it?" Rarity spread her arms out. "All seven of my Crystal Beasts are in play, with my Field Spell here to support them, and all you have are your two Harmony Spirits." She shook her head. "You're not bad, truly. But honestly, I just don't think you have what it takes to win a tournament like this."

"I don't care. I'm not giving up." Twilight shook as she glared at Rarity. "I'm going to make it as far as I can, all the way to the finals! I have to!"

The crowd began to talk among themselves. Rarity frowned. "Before you said this was some silly tournament you didn't care about winning and now you act as though it's the most important thing to you. Which is it?"

"Both!" Twilight lowered her head. "Don't you see? The Rarity I – the Rarity that Fluttershy knew, that was friends with her and Applejack, never would have talked down to an opponent like that or yelled at her friends. This is a game—we should have fun playing it, not use it to try and claim power and reputation in the school."

Twilight looked up at Rarity. "Fluttershy showed me the good this game can be used for, to help people become friends and show their true selves to the world. That's what it used to be about and what it can be again. If we beat Sunset Shimmer!" The crowd gasped at the declaration. Twilight stood up and turned to them.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle. And I'm here to win the Autumn Crown Tournament and defeat Sunset Shimmer!" She looked back at Rarity and put her hand on her deck. Rarity gasped as a pulse of purple light flashed from Twilight's eyes. "And I'll show you how I'll do it now!" She drew, sparks of light trailing in the air after her card. Without looking at it, Twilight held it in the air. "I send Ancient City Rainbow Ruins to the graveyard!"

Rarity looked around her as the stone ruins began to crumble and sink away. "You can't! I have a Crystal Beast in play as a Spell card, so Rainbow Ruins can't be destroyed!"

"I'm not destroying it. I'm getting rid of it. Because the rules say only one Field Spell can be in play at once." The side slot of Twilight's duel disk popped open. "I activate my own Field Spell, 'Harmony Castle'!" She slipped the card into the slot and trails of light coursed over her duel disk. The ground behind Twilight split apart and a large fortress rose from the fissure. Spires and turrets of violet, blue, and pink crystal stabbed into the sky, banners hanging from window ledges displaying an eight-pointed pink star. The central doors of the castle bore the same symbol as it finished its ascent.

Rarity stared, her mouth open. "Harmony Castle…"

Across the field, Spike put a paw on Twilight's ankle. "Twilight?" She ignored him.

"I activate Harmony Castle's effect. I return Harmony Spirits Risus and Magnanimity in the graveyard to my deck and then I can summon any Harmony Spirit monster from the deck as long as its name is different from the two of them." Twilight set her cards on top of her deck and pressed her finger to her disk's display. Her deck shuffled and then ejected the chosen card. "I summon 'Harmony Spirit Pietas'." The rainbow-haired winged fairy descended from above Twilight, its arms crossed. (1600/800)

Twilight held out a card. "Next I activate the Equip Spell 'Harmony Crown'. This card gives Pietas an additional 800 attack points." Pietas roared and pumped a fist into the air as a golden spiral crown appeared on its head, a violet aura of power around it. Twilight pointed across the field. "I switch Harmony Spirit Gracia to attack mode, and then enter my battle phase. Pietas, attack Amethyst Cat!" Pietas (1600 → 2400) flapped its wings to fly into the air, and dove down, its fist held out as it came towards Amethyst Cat.

"The effect of Amber Mammoth activates! When a Crystal Beast is attacked, Amber Mammoth intercepts the blow." The mammoth stepped in front of the cat and Pietas' attack connected. The mammoth was punched back, trumpeting loudly.

-Rarity Life Points: 3750 - 700 - 3050-

"The effect of Harmony Crown now activates. When the equipped monster destroys a monster in battle, a Harmony Spirit is added from the deck to my hand." Twilight held out her card. "I choose this, Harmony Spirit Magia. But she won't be here long." Twilight tapped a button on her duel disk. "I reveal my face-down card, the Quickplay Spell 'Harmony Textbook'. This lets me discard a Harmony Spirit from my hand to revive another one from the graveyard. By discarding Magia I revive my Harmony Spirit Honestas." A glowing purple book appeared in front of Twilight and cracked open its pages, revealing a swirling vortex. Honestas leapt out of it and stood next to Pietas.

"Now I activate the second effect of Harmony Castle. Once per turn when I discard a Harmony Spirit, I can summon it back from the graveyard. Magia takes the field too!" The fourth spirit, lavender-skinned with a spiral horn and long purple hair, rose up on the other side of Pietas. (1500/1300) "Finally, since I discarded a Harmony Spirit, the effect of Pietas triggers, letting it attack twice this turn!"

Applejack's jaw dropped. "Ah don't believe it…" The crowd's stunned silence at Twilight's moves began to give way to more cheers.

"Pietas, attack Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus!" Pietas once again flew up and descended into a dive bomb. Its fist slammed into Sapphire Pegasus and knocked it back. "Honestas, attack Topaz Tiger, Magia, attack Amethyst Cat, and Gracia, attack Ruby Carbuncle!" Honestas and Gracia charged the field while Magia held up its hands and fired a beam of violet magic. The magic blast struck Amethyst Cat before Honestas delivered a two-handed clobber to Topaz Tiger and Gracia slammed a kick into Ruby Carbuncle's side. Rarity turned away and raised an arm to shield herself as the three monsters took the brunt of Twilight's assault.

-Rarity Life Points: 3050 – 1700 - 1350-

Twilight looked at the five gemstones on Rarity's field, emerald, topaz, amethyst, amber, and sapphire. "With your Spell and Trap zones filled with your previous monsters, the destroyed Ruby Carbuncle cannot crystallize and is sent to the graveyard. I end my turn."

Around the two the crowd began to whisper.

"She destroyed all five monsters in one turn!"

"Rarity's Spells are locked down, she can't play them!"

"With that Field Spell in play, she'll be able to summon more monsters anytime she wants."

Rarity gulped. "I draw…" She picked up her card and looked between it and her hand. "I…"

Applejack leaned forward. "Rarity?" The crowd grew silent as Rarity's eyes kept going from her hand to her new card to her duel disk display.

"I…" Rarity slowly set her card back on top of her deck and let her hand rest there. "I forfeit."

Twilight shut her eyes. Her eyelids flashed purple and she opened them again. "Huh?"

Rarity shook her head. "There's nothing I can play that will stop your win next turn. I admit defeat."

The crowd cheered loudly as the holograms deactivated. Twilight looked at Applejack and the farm girl smiled at her and tipped her hat. She looked at her duel disk and picked up the Harmony Castle card from the open Field Sell slot. I think I missed something…

"Twi-light, Twi-light, Twi-light!" The crowd chanted her name among the cheers and calls.

"You pulled out a marvelous win." Twilight jumped at Rarity's voice so close. The other girl stopped walking near her and held out her hand. "Such conviction, such skill, such power." Rarity nodded. "A worthy champion if ever I saw one. You can count on my support, Twilight."

Twilight looked at the hand being offered, at the crowd chanting her name, and then at her duel disk. "I… I have to go." Twilight rushed past Rarity and into the crowd that parted for her as she neared. Spike bounded after her.

Later…

In the bathroom, Twilight splashed water in her face and coughed, watching it drip into the sink. "What happened there?"

"I don't know." Spike jumped onto the sink and sat down on the edge. "You got really serious all of a sudden and pulled out some really cool moves."

"Yeah, but…" Twilight blinked tightly. It seems like a blur. I remember summoning monsters and attacking, but the details… It was like trying to remember a dream, hours after it had faded. "Spike, what do you think?" She looked at him for his answer.

Spike shook his head. "I don't know, Twilight. I could tell something had happened to you, but maybe you just got caught up in the moment?"

"Maybe…" Twilight cupped her hands to splash more water on her face and then turned off the taps. "On the bright side, I won. Rarity is our ally. That's two. Three if Applejack is convinced after that."

"Now we just need Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie."

"And Flash. He's the former champion and he seemed to believe what Fluttershy does about the game being fun. I think he'll help if we can get to him." Twilight reached to the paper towel dispenser and cranked out a sheet. She wiped her face off and threw the towel in the trash can. "For now, we have to get back out there and win more duels. We still have to worry about qualifying for the bracketed rounds first."

Twilight approached the door to the bathroom when the door swung open. She stopped in place as Sunset Shimmer stepped into the bathroom. Twilight hesitated for a moment when Sunset looked at her, then stepped to leave.

Sunset's voice stopped her again.

"Hello… Twilight."

Sonic Prime: Well, this is not gonna end well. But anyways, Jaden… verdict on that last duel?

Jaden: Well, I gotta say that was a pretty close duel for a minute there, but the second Twilight pulled that field spell, she had it in the bag.

Sonic Prime: Yeah, but something's bugging me about that spell.

Jaden: What's that?

Sonic Prime: I'm certain she didn't have it in her deck earlier today.

Jaden: Hey yeah, you're right. Where did she get that?

Sonic Prime: I don't know, but I've got a feeling we're gonna find out soon.

Ch. 7: The Spirit of Competition

Twilight slowly turned around. Sunset leaned against the sinks, her arms crossed. She looked Twilight over and snorted. "I should have recognized you yesterday. I'm more surprised than I should be. I expected Celestia to send someone after me and the crown. I just didn't think it would be her precious prize pupil."

"Of course I'm here. You stole my crown from me," Twilight replied, stepping closer.

"Ah ah." Sunset wagged a finger. "In this world, it's my crown, four tournaments running." She tossed her hair. "And soon it'll be five, the biggest and most important win yet."

"Not if I beat you it won't." Twilight held up her duel disk and pressed the button to activate it. "Let's end it, right here, Sunset!"

"Oh please." Sunset laughed and raised her arm to show her own duel disk, colored red and orange. "I saw your duel with Rarity. I admit you have some minor skill. But you couldn't even begin to imagine what lurks in my deck."

Her deck. Twilight glanced down at it and then back at Sunset's face. "Tell me."

"Oh, you'll find out. Assuming you make it to the finals." Sunset lowered her arm. "Really, it's even more perfect than I could have imagined. I get to win my crown directly from you by proving which of us is truly superior once and for all."

Once and for all?"What are you talking about? I barely know you."

"You think it's all about what you know and want, Twilight?" Sunset narrowed her eyes. "Believe me, just because you don't know me doesn't mean I don't know about you and your Element of Harmony."

"You don't know a thing about my Element." Twilight glared back. "Even if you have it, it won't do you any good. The Elements of Harmony choose their users, and the Element of Magic chose me. Stealing it doesn't mean you can wield it."

Sunset stared for a moment and then her eyes widened. "You don't know, do you?"

Twilight was taken aback. "Know what?"

"You really don't!" Sunset laughed out loud. "Magic in this world isn't like in Equestria. Here, all that matters is power and proving your power. Magic obeys whoever is strongest and the same goes for magical items like that crown. It doesn't care if you have some special destiny or mystical connection to it. It just cares about which of us is stronger."

Twilight's eyes widened. That can't be.

Sunset leaned in when she saw Twilight's expression. "See? The rules of the game have changed now. All I have to do is win this tournament one more time and that'll be all the proof I need of my power."

"You're lying." Twilight shook her head. "And even if you aren't, it still doesn't matter. Once we go—" Twilight stopped as she came to a realization.

Sunset rolled her eyes. "Keep telling yourself that. It'll make your defeat easier to swallow." She stood up and approached the exit, stopping next to Twilight. She held Twilight's gaze and glared. "You have one warning, Princess. Get out of my world and go back to Equestria where you belong. Stay here, get in my way? I'll make you wish you'd never heard of Duel Monsters." Sunset pushed the door open and stepped into the hall, letting it swing shut behind her.

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, that was something."

"She can't really think we would listen, can she?" Spike asked. "I mean, there's no way we're gonna go back to Equestria."

"Not a chance." Twilight lifted her arm and deactivated her duel disk, the arms compacting back into its horseshoe shape. "She was just trying to scare us off, shake our confidence. But it's not going to work."

"Good." Spike looked at the door. "Too bad we couldn't get her to tell us about her deck, though."

Twilight began to reply but paused. She slowly smiled. "We don't need her to, Spike!" She looked down at him to meet his eyes. "If she wants to win this tournament, she has to be out there dueling, right? We just have to find someone who's seen her dueling and ask what she was doing! She had to register her deck for the tournament, so she can't change it to try and catch anyone by surprise."

"Makes sense." Spike hopped down to the floor. "Speaking of, maybe we should get back out there? Can't risk not making the finals after all."

"Good point." Twilight took a breath. "We're doing well, but we have to keep going." She pushed the door open and stepped into the hall. "Rarity and Applejack are supporting us so we can count on them to probably make it. Fluttershy is with us, too. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash are the last two to recruit."

"Don't forget Flash," Spike said as they headed down the hall. She gave Twilight a grin. "I think we can count on him supporting you."

Twilight blushed slightly and cleared her throat. "Likely, yes. So, that's six allies we can count on. For the ones that will make it to the finals, we can count on at least three, likely four, possibly five." She frowned. "I hate to say it but seeing some of the other duelists here I'm not sure Fluttershy will make it. Can't say either way about Pinkie. Applejack, Rainbow, and Flash are sure things, given their reputations. Rarity is strong." Twilight smiled again. "Five out of sixteen, and presuming none of us are matched against each other, we can be reasonably sure we'll make it to the next round, making it five out of eight. I like those odds, Spike."

"Better than one of sixteen, anyway."

"I attack Bloom Diva with Steamroid!"

Twilight paused in the hallway. "What was that?"

"Steamroid gets 500 extra attack points when it attacks, and thanks to Forbidden Chalice, Diva is going bye-bye!"

"Aw come on!"

Twilight approached one of the classroom doors ahead, noticing it was slightly ajar. She pressed her face to the edge of the door.

Sitting at a desk with several duel monster cards laid out in front of her was Scootaloo. Opposite her on a desk turned to face her was a girl with pale purple and pink hair and pale white skin. A third girl with yellow skin and red hair sat on a third desk to the side, a pad of paper in front of her that she was writing on.

Twilight saw the pink bow in the girl's hair. Apple Bloom? Then that other girl must be Sweetie Belle.

Scootaloo sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. "I end my turn."

"Gotcha." Sweetie Belle picked up a card from her deck. "Perfect draw. I activate the Spell card 'Celestial Transformation'. This lets me Special Summon any Fairy monster from my hand, but it has half the stats and will be destroyed at the end of turn." Sweetie Belle slid her card into place on her desk. "I summon 'Mozarta the Melodious Maestra'. Then I activate Mozarta's effect, letting me Special Summon another Fairy from my hand."

Twilight knelt to whisper to Spike. "I guess they're dueling."

"Yeah." Spike tilted his head. "Kinda weird seeing it without the fancy holograms. Not to mention all the shouting and dramatic hand waving." He looked up at Twilight. "Even you're getting into that habit."

Twilight's face reddened. "I'm just getting into the spirit, I guess."

"I summon 'Tamtam the Melodious Diva'. Since it was summoned by the effect of a Melodious monster, Tamtam's effect lets me return 'Polymerization' from my graveyard to my hand." Sweetie Belle picked up a stack of face-up cards and began to riffle through them.

Scootaloo pouted. "I just got rid of that stupid Bloom Diva fusion last turn!"

"And now you'll deal with a new fusion," Sweetie Belle said sweetly. "I activate Polymerization, and fuse Mozarta and Tamtam into 'Bloom Prima the Melodious Choir'." She swept the two monsters aside and picked up a small stack of cards from the right side of her field. She shuffled through them and set a Fusion monster from them on the field. "Prima gets another 300 points for each monster I fused to summon her, bringing her to 2500. Further, she gets to attack twice each turn." Sweetie Belle put a hand on her card and jerked it across the field twice. "I attack Steamroid and Submarineroid."

"Darn it." Scootaloo picked up her cards. "Steamroid loses 500 points when attacked, so it's down to 1300. At least the sub was in defense." She added her cards to her discard pile and turned to Apple Bloom. "What's the score?"

Apple Bloom wrote on her pad of paper. "1700 for Sweetie Belle, 1400 for you."

"Sounds like it's time for a comeback." Scootaloo drew. "And that's just what'll do it. I summon 'Expressroid' and activate its effect. This lets me return Stealthroid and Truckroid in the graveyard to my hand. Then I activate a Spell of my own, 'Vehicroid Connection Zone'!"

"No way!" Sweetie Belle's jaw dropped.

"Topdeck for the win!" Scootaloo pumped her fist and flipped the cards in her hand onto the table one by one. "I'll fuse Expressroid, Stealthroid, Truckroid, and Drilloid, to Fusion Summon 'Super Vehicroid – Stealth Union!" Scootaloo grabbed her card from her Extra Deck and held it in the air with a grin before slamming it down on the desk.

"That's more like it," Spike whispered.

Twilight smiled softly as Scootaloo continued her turn, Sweetie Belle picking up her monster and holding it out. "I think we should leave them alone." She stood up and turned to walk around. As she did the heel of her boot nudged the door and the hinges let out a small squeak.

"Hello?

Twilight stopped at the sound of Apple Bloom's voice. She slowly pulled back and gently pushed the door open. The three girls were staring. "Um, hi." She smiled awkwardly and held up a hand.

"Hey, I know you." Twilight turned her attention to Scootaloo. "You were registering the same day as me, right?"

"Yeah." Twilight pushed the door open more and came in, Spike by her feet. "I'm Twilight Sparkle."

"I remember. That's Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom." The other two girls waved.

"Were you spyin' on us?" Apple Bloom asked.

Twilight shook her head. "No. Well, sort of. I just overheard you guys playing and was watching."

"Well, you're just in time, because this is the finishing move!" Scootaloo grinned and looked at Sweetie Belle. "Stealth Union's attack power is halved when it attacks, but that still leaves it at 1800, just enough to end it!" She thrust her hand over the desk. "Stealth Union attacks directly!"

"Yeah, yeah." Sweetie Belle groaned and reached across the desk to take back her monster card on Scootaloo's field. "Good game."

"You too. That's two out of three for me, right?"

"Ah called winner, remember." Apple Bloom took her deck out of her duel disk and began to shuffle it. "An' now Ah've seen all your tricks, Scoots."

"You just tell yourself that."

Twilight watched Sweetie Belle put her cards back in her duel disk. "How come you girls aren't using your duel disks?"

"Because we don't have enough room to use them here," Sweetie Belle replied.

"You could duel outside."

Scootaloo shook her head. "With the tournament going on? We'd never find privacy."

Twilight looked at Scootaloo's duel disk. "But, aren't you registered?"

The girl shrugged. "Eh. Rainbow Dash made me sign up. I surrendered a few duels before coming in here. Hopefully, she'll just think I sucked today and not ask why I backed out."

Twilight watched Scootaloo and Apple Bloom set their decks up on their desks and draw their opening hands. Sweetie Belle, the pad of paper on her desk now with the old sheet torn off, made a fist and put a coin on her thumb. "Scootaloo, call it in the air." She flipped the coin.

"Heads!"

"Tails. Apple Bloom picks."

"Ah'll go first, thanks." Apple Bloom drew her first card. "Ooooh, a nice hand here."

"Just play!"

"They're playing for fun. They don't even care about the tournament." Twilight watched Apple Bloom set a Spell card on the desk and then play a monster. A thought occurred to her. "Hey, Apple Bloom?"

"Yeah?"

"Does Applejack know you're here?"

"Nah."

"Me neither." Sweetie Belle held up her hands. "Rarity takes this tournament thing way too seriously."

"You think she takes it seriously?" Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Rainbow Dash made me duel a picture of Applejack last week!" She scrunched her nose. "She didn't have all the cards Applejack does so the deck was kinda lousy, but it was still weird."

"Applejack has a victory speech prepared for her win. Not for the tournament, just for Rainbow Dash." Apple Bloom shook her head. "As far as Ah'm concerned they can all duel each other to heck and back as much as they like. Ah don't need some fancy crown tellin' me Ah'm better than everybody else to be happy."

"You said it." Scootaloo reached across the table and the two bumped fists. "Now come on, I got a sweet move to bust out!"

"Sure. Ah use the effect of mah 'Aroma Garden' Field Spell to gain 500 Life Points. That triggers the effect of 'Aromage Jasmine', lettin' me draw another card."

As Twilight watched Apple Bloom play, she saw Sweetie Belle reach out to gently tug on her sleeve. "Hey, you wanna duel?"

"I call winner!" Scootaloo said immediately.

Twilight looked down at Sweetie Belle's deck on the table. She then looked up at the clock on the wall. She frowned and shook her head. "I'd like to, really. But I have to go. I'm in the tournament too, and it's important I win." She smiled softly. "Not to prove anything. I just have to. It's hard to explain."

"Hey." Apple Bloom looked up and held up a hand. "Ya gotta go do what ya gotta do, right?" The other two nodded. "Just, don't tell our sisters we're here, 'kay?"

"Of course." Twilight stood up and waved. "Have fun." She turned and approached the door, pausing when she reached it to look back at them.

"Those tournaments used to bring students together. Kids that never would have spoken to each other met and mingled for the tournament, they made new friends, traded cards, shared strategies, cheered for each other."

Twilight smiled and pulled the door open, letting Spike run out before she followed and closed it behind her.

Later…

Three hours left. I have to find another opponent. Twilight scanned the field. Numerous students were dueling, crowds watching them. She paused. I don't even know where to begin. Does it matter?

"Twilight!" She turned her head. Fluttershy ran up to her and stopped when she was close. "How have you been doing?"

Twilight tapped her duel disk screen a few times. "Five and zero. You?"

Fluttershy bit her lip and shook her head. "One and two. I'm sorry. I told you I'm not very good."

"Don't say that." Twilight put a hand on Fluttershy's shoulder. "It still means a lot to me that you're here to support me."

"Thank you." Fluttershy smiled at her. "You're doing good, though. I saw Rainbow Dash, she's up to seven wins. She's one of the best duelists in the school. As long as you can keep up with her you should make the finals just fine."

"Right. Still a few behind though." Twilight sighed. "I'm not sure who to duel next."

"I know a few people looking for opponents. Follow me." Fluttershy turned and led Twilight through the crowds.

Later…

Aqua eyes narrowed as they watched the two from around the corner of the school. Sunset looked down at her duel disk and tapped a button on it. An error code appeared and a quick wave of her hand dispelled it. The tournament standings popped up and she scrolled down them.

"Twilight Sparkle is on track to make the top sixteen." She frowned and kept looking over the list. "A loss to me won't derail that, not with these losers filling the ranks."

"So what?" Sunset looked up at the two boys standing in front of her. "She's just one opponent, right?" The orange-skinned one asked.

"Yeah." The blue-skinned one nodded. "What's so special about her?"

"Given the choice, she's a risk better avoided," Sunset called up the tournament rules and looked through them. "Snips, Snails. You two are my trump cards."

Snips tilted his head. "Whaddaya mean?"

"Tag duels are allowed and count as a double win or loss." Sunset looked over the crowd and smirked. "That little wimp is easy pickings, letting you two focus on Twilight. Two losses will drag her out of the rankings."

"I dunno, Sunset." Snips frowned and rubbed his shoulder. "I really didn't come here to duel much, Ya know?"

"Yeah." Snails nodded. "We was just, you know, puttin' on a show."

Sunset rolled her eyes and walked up to them. "You two underestimate yourselves." She faked a sweet smile and turned them around, putting an arm around either of their shoulders. She walked forward to make them look at Twilight and Fluttershy. "It'll be a snap. Just go out there and beat them."

"Really?" Snails furrowed his brow. "I mean, Fluttershy beat me before."

"And Twilight beat Rarity," Snips chimed in. "I don't think we have it in us."

"Oh, you do." Sunset's smile grew wide and she held her hands up over their shoulders. "You two are better duelists than you know." Behind them, her hands lit up in a dark red aura.

"You just need a little pick me up!"

Sunset sneered and slammed her magic-charged hands into their backs. The two boys cried out and their eyes lit up bright red.

Jaden: Not good.

Sonic Prime: Definitely not good.

Later…

Twilight scanned the crowds, biting her lip. I have to be careful who I challenge. I have to keep up a win streak to make it to the finals, but I don't know the school enough to know who I'd stand a good chance of beating. Maybe I could go back to the computer lab and look up some profiles of weaker students… She stopped and frowned at her own train of thought. I think I'm starting to understand how a card game can become so viciously competitive and elitist.

"Twilight!"

She turned at the sound of her name and smiled at the familiar face coming through the crowd. "Flash!" She waved at him as he stopped in front of her. "Fluttershy, this is Flash Sentry."

"I know who he is," Fluttershy whispered. "Everyone knows who he is."

Flash held up a hand. "That's kind of an exaggeration. I haven't been champion for a while now."

"You're still favorite to win."

"Was last year too, didn't work out did it?"

"How are you doing so far?" Twilight asked.

Flash smiled. "Eight and zero. You?"

"Five and zero."

"Nice." Flash nodded. "Tough part for me is finding duelists willing to take me on." As he spoke, Twilight saw the other duelists around them slowly edging away and whispering among themselves.

"Yeah. I bet no one is lining up to duel a former champion, huh?" Twilight replied.

"Nope. The ones that might be good enough to actually be me are playing it safe until the top sixteen." Flash held up his hands. "Not much to do for it, though."

"I'm having sort of the same problem. I don't know anyone here well enough to challenge them." Twilight shook her head. "I have to make the finals but I can't be reckless, or my record suffers."

"Hey, no worries." Flash gave Twilight a thumbs-up. "I know a couple easy pickings. Well, not easy, but they'll give anyone a shot."

Twilight's face brightened. "Sure! Fluttershy, you in?"

"Um… well…"

"Twilight Sparkle!"

The three stopped and turned towards the source of the voice. Two boys stood a distance away, duel disks held up in front of them. Twilight peered closer at them.They seem familiar…

"Yeah, these two guys, they're not that kind." Flash crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "Snips. Snails, go back to Sunset and tell her that if she wants to see me lose, she can come try it herself." Twilight's eyes widened at the names.

Snips raised a finger and pointed. "We challenge Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy! A tag duel!"

The crowd gasped at the remark. Twilight looked up at Flash. "Can they do that?"

"Yeah, there's tournament rules for it. Most just don't care for teamwork."

"I can't!" Fluttershy shook her head and shrank back. "I'd just hold you back, Twilight."

"Two-on-one!" Snails called. "Face us, Twilight!"

Twilight tensed. They're acting a lot more serious than the Snips and Snails I know. Their faces were stern, their voices confident. She took a breath. If they are just Snips and Snails, this should be easy. "I accept!"

"And so do I!"

Twilight turned her head. The crowd began to cheer as Flash stepped up beside Twilight and raised his arm, activating his duel disk. "Flash, are you sure?"

Flash gave her a sideways look and smirked. "Think we can't handle these two chumps?"

Twilight gave a quick chuckle at the look. "Actually, we might be too much for them."

"Sunset Shimmer wishes to see Twilight Sparkle fall!" Snails said.

"Team up with anyone, we'll beat you just the same!" Snips continued.

"Sounds like we have a duel." Flash pressed the button on his duel disk.

"Opponents detected! Streaming data."Twilight's holographic display came to life on her duel disk and displayed the four portraits of Flash, Snips, Snails, and herself. A glowing icon appeared in the corner of Flash's profile. "Tag duel invitation detected."

"Just press the accept button your screen," Flash called over. Twilight nodded and did so.

"Invitation accepted. Opponent team designated." Snips and Snails' portraits gained a red background while Twilight's and Flash's turned blue. "Duel mode set. Initiating."The display of the fields appeared with the four portraits."Commence duel?"

Twilight looked at Flash. He looked back and nodded. She swung her arm through the air and drew her opening hand.

"Let's duel!"

Ch. 8: Duel Identities (Twilight & Flash VS Snips & Snails)

-Twilight and Flash Life Points: 8000-

-Snips and Snails Life Points: 8000-

Twilight's duel disk projected the display of the dueling field, her profile as well as those of Flash, Snips, and Snails, each next to a small diagram of their fields. The four profiles turned red in sequence stopping with Snips' portrait lit up. "Opponent A designated will take first turn."Twilight's picture lit up next. "Teammate A designated will take second turn."

Twilight tapped her duel disk interface to find the tag duel rules. Each duelist controls their own field but they share a combined 8000 Life Point total. Both duelists lose if their shared Life Points are depleted. If a duelist has no monsters but their teammate does, they are vulnerable to direct attacks, but their teammate may choose to have their monster intercept the attack. She let out a small groan. Just when I was getting the hang of this game!

"I draw." Snips drew his card and held it out. "I activate the Continuous Spell 'Toy Vendor'." A giant gumball machine rose behind Snips, balls colored blue, green, and red inside. "I activate its effect to discard one card and draw one card." Snips slid his card into the discard slot and picked up his next card. "I reveal it now, 'Fluffal Dog'. Since I drew a monster by the effect of Toy Vendor, I summon Fluffal Dog immediately." Snips' monster, a giant stuffed dog with a small pair of white wings, kneeled in front of him (1700/1000). "Finally, I activate the effect of Fluffal Dog, adding any 'Fluffal' monster I want from my deck to my hand." Snips' card slid out of his deck and he grabbed it. "I end my turn."

Twilight narrowed her eyes. Something's wrong. They're acting way too serious and straightforward. What happened to the naïve kids from Ponyville?Twilight's duel disk beeped to signal her turn and she turned her attention to it. "I draw." Twilight picked up her card and held it out. "I summon 'Harmony Spirit Magnanimity'." The pale white fairy manifested in front of Twilight and struck a pose, magic sparking from its horn. (1200/800) "Then I activate the Spell card 'Harmony Gem'. This lets me discard 'Harmony Spirit Honestas' from my hand to draw two more cards. Additionally, discarding Honestas triggers the effect of Magnanimity, letting me draw a third card."

I have to defend from both of them, at least until I have a better idea what their decks can do."I set one card and end my turn." Twilight's face-down appeared behind Magnanimity and she took a breath. Why am I so worried? It's just Snips and Snails. Still…There was something else about them beyond their behavior that was unnerving her. But she couldn't put her finger on it.

"You can do it, Twilight!" Twilight perked up at her name and turned to the side. A group of four girls were clustered together and waved at her. She smiled and waved back at them.

"We're your fan club!" one of the girls called.

Twilight's eyes widened. "Fan club?"

The girl, a pale-skinned teenager with red and purple hair, nodded. "We're the Twilight Sparklers! We're cheering you to the end!"

Twilight groaned. Who came up with that name?

Jaden: The actual author, probably.

"It's my turn." Snails' voice caught Twilight's attention and she looked at him. He drew his card and picked up another from his hand. "I activate the Continuous Spell card 'Worm Call'." A large mound of dirt rose in front of him, wisps of smoke coming from a hole in the middle. "As long as my opponent controls a monster and I don't, I can use this card once per turn to Special Summon a Worm monster from my hand face-down." Snails held up two more cards. "I set one monster by the effect of Worm Call and then set another monster for my normal summon. I end my turn."

Twilight looked down at her display. Snips' lit-up portrait dulled and Flash's turned red. She turned her head to him and saw the crowd around them grow still, watching with her.

"It's my turn." Flash drew his first card and looked down at it. He smiled and slid it into a slot on his duel disk. "I activate the Spell card 'Gem-Knight Fusion'!"

The crowd began to cheer and Twilight's eyes widened. Fusion?

Flash took two cards from his hand and held them out over the field as a swirling vortex appeared in from of him. "From my hand, I fuse 'Gem-Knight Garnet' and 'Gem-Knight Obsidian'!" The shadowed forms of two armored warriors appeared in the air above Flash, then lit up in orange and black auras and were drawn into the vortex. It flashed and sent a pillar of red light into the air. "I Fusion Summon 'Gem-Knight Ruby'!" The light faded, revealing a massive soldier in deep red armor with a blue cape. It swung a massive spear through the air and brought it to rest on its shoulder. (2500/1300)

The crowd's cheers grew louder. Flash smiled and put his hand over his duel disk. "I'm not done. The effect of Gem-Knight Obsidian activates now. Since I sent him from my hand to the graveyard, I can use his effect to revive Gem-Knight Garnet. Then I banish Gem-Knight Obsidian from the graveyard to activate the effect of Gem-Knight Fusion, returning it to my hand." Flash's two cards slipped out of the graveyard and he lifted them up, placing Garnet on his duel disk. A smaller warrior than Ruby, clad in orange armor, rose next to it (1900/0).

He summoned that monster using three cards and instantly got two of them back.Twilight looked back at Flash's hand. Is this the power of Fusion decks?

"Next I activate Gem-Knight Ruby's ability. By sacrificing Gem-Knight Garnet to it, Garnet's attack power is added onto Ruby's for the duration of my turn." Garnet turned into energy and flowed into Ruby's spear. The spear lit up in an orange aura and grew larger. (2500 → 4400) Flash pointed across the field. "Gem-Knight Ruby, attack Fluffal Dog! Ruby Spear Strike!" Ruby twirled its spear in the air and hefted it back, the aura glowing brighter.

Flash leaned forward. "At this point, I think I should let you know about Ruby's other special ability. When he attacks a defending monster, he pierces its defenses and still deals battle damage to you!"

Snips and Snails stepped back. "What?" the two exclaimed in unison.

Ruby bellowed and hurled its spear. The weapon impaled Fluffal Dog and emerged in a shower of stuffing to strike Snips, a blast of red light exploding from his feet. The boy fell to his knees as Fluffal Dog collapsed into a mess of stuffing and vanished.

-Snips and Snails Life Points: 8000 – 3400 - 4600-

Sonic Prime: Dang. Nearly half their life points with one attack? Are Gem Knight cards really that powerful?

Ruby's spear vanished and reappeared strapped to its wielders back. Flash picked up one more card from his hand. "I set one card face-down and end my turn. At this point, Ruby's power returns to its original 2500."

Twilight gaped at the hologram of Ruby towering in front of Flash. He took off almost half of their Life Points in one attack. And it's just his first turn! If this was a one-on-one duel he could have potentially ended it. Movement caught her eye and she turned forward again. Snips slowly rose to his feet. He growled, his head low.

"Good move. And your last!" Snips held a card out. "I activate the effect of the monster in my graveyard, 'Fluffal Wings'." The image of a pair of blue wings appeared in front of Snips' Toy Vendor and the machine lowered into the ground and vanished. "By banishing Fluffal Wings, Fluffal Bear, and sending Toy Vendor to the graveyard, I draw two cards." Snips drew his cards and tapped his duel disk screen. "Then since Toy Vendor was sent to the graveyard its effect activates, letting me add any Fluffal monster I want from my deck to my hand." The ejected card was snatched again and Snips fingered another.

"Now I activate 'Polymerization'!" Snips flipped two cards out from his hand. "From my hand, I fuse 'Edge Imp Saw' and 'Fluffal Sheep'!"

Twilight tensed. He uses Fusion too!?

A familiar vortex appeared in front of Snips. A disjointed mass of saw blades with a pair of glowing red eyes appeared on his right and a stuffed sheep appeared on his left. They lit up purple and yellow and were drawn in, a blue column of light erupting. Snips held his hand up. "I Fusion Summon 'Frightfur Leo'!"

The light shrank back and dispersed. The remains of what might have once been a stuffed lion toy stood in front of Snips. Its legs had been torn from the main body, held together by metal poles attached to a giant saw blade emerging from the body. Its claws were sharp red metal and its mane was a mass of saw blades. Its eyes flashed red and let it out a roar. (2400/2000)

That monster…Twilight shuddered and stepped back. It's hideous! Around her, the crowd was echoing similar sentiments, a couple of stray screams and wails coming from the murmurs.

Snips turned his head to sneer at Flash. "I activate Frightfur Leo's special ability. Once per turn I can destroy one monster on the field and deal damage equal to its attack power!" He swung his hand out. "I choose your Gem-Knight Ruby!" Flash growled and gritted his teeth. "Go, Leo, slice it up!" The saw blades embedded in Leo's mane began to spin and it snapped its head forward. Three blades shot out and zoomed towards Ruby. Flash raised his arms as they approached. The blades sliced into Ruby and tore it apart, the armor fraying. Ruby groaned and fell back, exploding.

-Twilight and Flash Life Points: 8000 – 2500 - 5500-

"So much for your knight," Snails snickered. Snips turned his eyes towards Twilight.

"Frightfur Leo cannot attack directly the turn I use his effect. But fortunately, I have another monster I can attack. Leo, attack Harmony Spirit Magnanimity! Claw of Pride!" Leo roared again and ran across the field, its claw held up.

"I activate my face-down card!" Twilight pressed the button on her duel disk and lifted a card from her hand. "It's a Quickplay Spell, 'Harmony Bolt'. Now, by discarding 'Harmony Spirit Pietas' from my hand, I can destroy your Frightfur Leo!" The card crackled and shot a bolt of lightning towards Leo. It howled in pain and exploded.

Snips frowned. "I'm not done yet. I summon 'Fluffal Owl' in defense mode." Another stuffed animal, a light brown and yellow owl, appeared before Snips. (1000/1000). "When Fluffal Owl is summoned, I can add a Polymerization card from my deck to my hand. With that I end my turn."

Twilight let out a breath. I was able to hold him off. But I wasn't expecting that kind of power."My turn!" She drew and looked over her hand. What I have might be able to fend Snips' monsters off for a turn or two, but I can't rely on Flash to do all the offensive work. She frowned. But if Snips can summon monsters like Frightfur Leo, I may not have a choice in it. None of my Harmony Spirits have enough power to take on cards like that.She raised her head. And the next turn is Snails. He set his monsters face-down so I can't even see what they are.

"Twilight." She jerked from her thoughts at her name and looked at the source: Flash. He smiled at her and nodded. "Don't sweat it. We're doing fine. Just make the moves you feel are best."

Twilight smiled back. "Right." She looked at her hand and then back at the field. "I activate 'Harmony Fruit'. This lets me return Harmony Spirits Honestas and Pietas in the graveyard to my hand. Then I summon Pietas to the field." Twilight's new Harmony Spirit, pale blue with a dark blue dress, floated up in front of her and pumped a fist. (1600/800).

"I enter my battle phase!" Twilight pointed across the field. "Pietas, attack Snails' left monster!" Pietas ran across the field and jumped to deliver a diving kick.

Snails held his hand up. "Reveal my monster, 'Worm Cartaros'!" A dark purple and green winged insect appeared from the hologram of his card. (1200/500) "When Worm Cartaros is flipped up, I can add a Worm monster from my deck to my hand." Snips pulled the ejected card from his deck. Pietas' attack collided and Cartaros was sent flying back to shatter.

Despite the setback, Twilight continued. "Next attack, Magnanimity strikes your other monster!" Magnanimity held up her hands and sent a beam of blue magic across the field.

"Reveal 'Worm Jetelikpse'!" A black mass of goo with talons and a beak emerging from it lifted its head as the magic neared it. (1200/0) The blast slammed into it and exploded, sending the goo flying across the field. "When Worm Jetelikpse is destroyed after being flipped up, it reforms on my field!" The goo shimmered and drew back together, transforming back into Snails' monster.

Twilight looked over her hand. "I end my turn."

"Then it's my turn!" Snails drew his card and looked down at it. He grinned and raised his eyes to Twilight. "I sacrifice my Worm Jetelikpse and summon 'Worm Warlord'!" The black goo collapsed into a puddle in front of Snails. It flashed red and a new monster rose from it. The figure had a humanoid body but it seemed to be made of dripping orange and red fluid. Spikes emerged from its knuckles and knees. In the center of its torso a single yellow eye opened and a row of teeth split into a grin. It raised its arms and roared, shaking the field. (2350/1800)

Twilight recoiled. "What in Equestria…" Around her the crowd shared the sentiment, crying out in disgust.

Snails held out his hand. "Worm Warlord, attack Pietas!" Worm Warlord bellowed and swung out a fist. The limb elongated and slammed into Pietas, pitching it back. Twilight braced herself as the hologram exploded behind her.

-Twilight and Flash Life Points: 5500 – 750 - 4750-

"I'm not done. When Worm Warlord destroys a monster in battle, he can attack again!" Worm Warlord swung its elongated fist around and knocked Magnanimity to the side.

-Twilight and Flash Life Points: 4750 – 1150 - 3600-

Worm Warlord's arm returned to normal size. "I set one card and end my turn." Snails crossed his arms.

Twilight gritted her teeth. None of my Harmony Spirits have the attack power to stand up to monsters like this. I hate to say it, but I may be dependent on Flash to win this.She looked at her teammate as he drew his card for his turn. How am I supposed to win this tournament if I can't even beat Snips and Snails?

"I summon 'Gem-Knight Alexandrite'." Another knight, this one clad in silver armor with red gems studded on the joints and breastplate, jumped from a portal in front of Flash and crossed its arms. (1800/1200). "I activate Alexandrite's ability and tribute it to summon any Gem-Knight normal monster in my deck. Come forth, 'Gem-Knight Tourmaline'!" Alexandrite vanished into a shining portal and a new knight stepped out. It was clad in gleaming angular gold armor, bolts of electricity coursing along its surface. It held up its hands and sent a jolt of lightning into the air. (1600/1800)

"Next, this card should seem familiar. I activate 'Gem-Knight Fusion'." Flash lifted a card from his hand. "I fuse Tourmaline on the field with 'Gem Knight Lazuli' in my hand!" A vortex in front of Flash absorbed Tourmaline and the specter of a smaller monster in pale purple armor. The vortex flashed and shot a pillar of light into the air. "I Fusion Summon 'Gem-Knight Prismaura'!" The light pillar receded to reveal Flash's new monster. Gold and silver armor covered its body, a long white and red cape streaming from the collar. Spires of white crystal emerged from its shoulders and it held a shield and sword. It raised the latter into the air and let out a cry of triumph. (2450/1400).

"First things first, when Gem-Knight Lazuli is sent to the graveyard, I can retrieve a normal monster sleeping there to my hand." Flash tapped his duel disk screen and the card ejected from the graveyard slot. "I'll take back my original Gem-Knight Garnet. But he won't be here for long. I activate Prismaura's ability and send Garnet to the graveyard to destroy one card on the field." Flash pointed. "I destroy your face-down card!" Prismaura raised its shield, aglow in white light. A beam of light shot out from it and enveloped Snip's face-down card. The card flipped up, revealing the Trap 'Snake Whistle'. The card exploded. Flash pumped his fist. "And now for target number two. Gem-Knight Prismaura, attack and destroy Worm Warlord!" Prismaura raised its sword now and charged across the field. Its sword slashed apart Worm Warlord, leaving the red ooze that made up the monster to collapse and dissolve.

-Snips and Snails Life Points: 4600 – 100 - 4500-

Flash lowered his arms. "I end my turn."

He took out both of their high-level monsters with just one of his own.Twilight looked at her hand. I have to keep up the momentum on my turn. But first…She looked up at Snips.

"I draw." Snips looked at his hand and then back at Twilight. She inhaled sharply as his eyes flashed, glowing with red light.

His eyes…

"I activate the Spell card 'Suture Rebirth'. This revives my Frightfur Leo from the graveyard with his effects negated." The ground in front of Snips burst apart and Frightfur Leo clawed its way onto the field, its eyes glowing the same red as Snips. "Then I activate the effect of Fluffal Owl." Snips held up a card in his hand. "I pay 500 Life Points in order to conduct a Fusion Summon!"

-Snips and Snails Life Points: 4500 – 500 - 4000-

"I fuse Fluffal Owl and Frightfur Leo on the field with the 'Fluffal Rabbit' in my hand!" A larger vortex than normal appeared in front of Snips and absorbed the three monsters. A pillar of red light shot out of it and the shadowed form of a monster appeared in it. "I Fusion Summon 'Frightfur Sabre-Tooth'!"

The light faded as Snips' new monster jumped out. It resembled a stuffed blue cat, but it had been torn apart in the middle and sewn back together. Curved blades emerged from its body, its tail, and its head, forming a pair of horns. A pair of red eyes flashed inside its mouth as it let out a yowl. (2400/2000)

The crowd screamed at the sight of the monster. Snips snickered. "The screaming is only beginning. I activate Saber-tooth's effect. When I Fusion Summon it, I can revive a Frightfur monster in the graveyard. Frightfur Leo, return to me once again!" Frightfur Leo's wicked red claws tore up the ground as it crawled back up from the crater it had left from its previous revival. "Then I activate the effect of Fluffal Rabbit. Since it was sent to the graveyard as a component for a Fusion Summon, I can retrieve another Fluffal monster from my graveyard. I choose Fluffal Dog, which I'll then summon." The stuffed dog appeared between Snips' two Fusion monsters, the cuddly toy looking at the two monstrosities on either side of it and cowering.

"The effect of Fluffal Dog lets me add 'Edge Imp Sabres' from my deck to my hand." Snips snatched his card from his deck and immediately discarded it. "He won't be there long. I activate the Spell card Polymerization and fuse Fluffal Dog and Edge Imp Sabres, to Fusion Summon 'Frightfur Tiger'!" The Fusion vortex that appeared in front of Snips disgorged a deranged stuffed tiger. Opened pairs of scissors attached ripped paws to its body, which was segmented with a giant pair of scissors holding it together. Red eyes glowed inside its mouth. (1900/1200).

"The effect of Frightfur Tiger activates. For every monster used to summon it, I can destroy one card on the field." Snips sneered as he tapped his duel disk display. "I choose Twilight's face-down card and Flash's Gem-Knight!" Twilight's card exploded and she turned her head to see Gem-Knight Prismaura do the same.

We're wide open now.She looked back at Snips. He summoned three monsters at once and wiped out our field in the same move.

"As long as Frightfur Tiger is on the field, all Frightfur monsters gain an extra 300 attack points for each Frightfur monster I control. And that's in addition to a 400-point boost that Sabre-tooth gives. So, all my monsters gain a total of 1300 attack points!" Snips' three monsters glowed red and their assorted blades grew longer, gleaming with new sharpness. (2400 → 3700) (2400 → 3700) (1900 → 3200)

He could take us down in one attack even at full Life Points.Twilight looked at her partner. "Flash! What do we do!?"

Flash looked at her calmly. "Stop them. I don't have a way, Twilight. You have to do it."

"But…" Twilight looked at her hand. All I have are monster cards!The images of Harmony Spirits Magia, Honestas, Risus, and Gracia looked up at her. None of them can stop Snips or his monsters!"Flash!"

"It's over." Snails' eyes lit up the same red as Snips'. "End it!"

"I enter my battle phase!" Snips' eyes blazed with bright red light and he let out a dark cackle. "Frightfur Leo, attack Twilight directly!" The lion roared eagerly and ran across the field, its claws gleaming.

Twilight looked between her hand and the oncoming monster. "Flash, there's nothing I can do!"

"There's always something you can do, Twilight!" She looked up to see Flash looking at her intently. "That's the nature of being a good duelist. Look beyond the cards you have to the moves they can make. See every possibility, every move, every combo, and find the one that will win the duel for you!"

"I'm trying!" Twilight gritted her teeth and closed her eyes. I don't know. I can't see a way out of this with my cards…The sound of Frightfur Leor's paws pounding on the ground came closer. I have to win this, to get back my Element of Harmony! If I don't find a way to block that attack with my cards…

Twilight's eyes snapped open and flashed purple. My cards… no… not my cards!She raised her hand. "From my hand, I activate the effect of 'Harmony Spirit Magia'!" Frightfur Leo stopped as the purple fairy appeared in front of it, a hand held out. "By discarding Magia, I can activate a Spell card from my opponent's graveyard."

Snips, his eyes still glowing red, laughed. "There's nothing there that will stop my attack!"

"No. But you have a card that will do something even better." Magia vanished and the back of a card appeared in her place. It flipped open to reveal Twilight's target.

Snips and Snails gasped in unison. "What!?"

The crowd began to go cheer wildly as Flash grinned. "Go for it, Twilight!" Twilight raised her hand into the air and snapped as the card's hologram lit up.

"From Snips' graveyard, I activate the Spell card Polymerization!"

A swirling vortex appeared on the field in front of Twilight. "From my hand, I fuse Harmony Spirit Honestas with Harmony Spirit Risus!" The two fairies turned into orbs of orange and yellow light and flowed into the vortex. Rays of yellow light shone from it as it condensed into an orb of energy and floated into the air. Snips and Snails shielded their eyes as golden light shone from the orb. The orb broke apart with a flash, the images of shining red apples flying away into particles of light.

A tall, muscular fairy hovered in the air, with dark orange skin and long, flowing blonde hair that waved in the wind behind it. A bright red dress covered its body, matching boots and elbow-length gloves on its legs and arms. Masses of leaf-covered bark wove up its limbs in swirls, meeting at the center of its back and forming a mass of branches stretching into the air. Their ends bore pointed shards of glowing orange magical energy, forming a wing-like crest.

Twilight's eyes glowed purple as she held a hand forward. The particles of light from the dispersing apples collected in her hand and formed the glowing image of a duel monster card. She swung her arm back and slapped the card on her duel disk. "I Fusion Summon 'Harmony Spirit Honestas Silva' (2500/800)!"

The crowd cheered loudly at the sight of Twilight's new Fusion Monster. Honestas Silva lowered to the ground and crossed its arms, glaring down at Snips. Twilight turned over the last card in her hand. "From my hand, I activate the effect of 'Harmony Spirit Gracia'. By discarding Gracia, one Harmony Spirit monster I control cannot be destroyed this turn. Furthermore, discarding a Harmony Spirit monster activates the effect of Honestas Silva. Her attack power increases to four thousand for the rest of the turn!" The magic shards on the monster's back glowed a deeper orange as she grew larger to tower over Snips' monsters. (2500 → 4000)

Twilight narrowed her eyes. "By the protection of Gracia, the destruction effect of Frightfur Leo is sealed, and by the power of Honestas Silva your attacks are pointless."

Snips stepped back and growled, the red glow around his eyes intensifying. "I end my turn."

"With the turn over, the power of Honestas Silva returns to normal. And it's my turn." Her purple eyes reflecting Snips', Twilight drew her card and held it out. "I drew Harmony Spirit Magnanimity and activate its effect, discarding it to reveal the top card of my deck." Twilight flipped the card over. "It's a Trap card, 'Harmony Song', so it goes to the bottom of my deck. And now that I've discarded a Harmony Spirit, Honestas Silva returns to four thousand points." Twilight leaned forward. "Honestas Silva, attack Frightfur Leo!"

Honestas Silva held up a hand. The shards of magic on its back crackled and sent bolts of energy into its palm, forming an orb of orange light.

"I think I'll take this time to activate my face-down." Snips and Snails turned as Flash put his hand to his duel disk. "Forgot about that card I set on my first turn? I've just been waiting for the right moment. I activate 'Battle Fusion'!" Flash's Spell card flipped up on his field and glowed blue. Tendrils of light flew from the card to surround Honestas Silva. "By this card's effect, since two Fusion monsters are doing battle, Honestas Silva gains a power boost equal to Leo's attack points. That's another 2500 points!"

Honestas Silva (4000 → 6500) flashed orange and the orb of light in its hand swelled, the tendrils of blue energy from Flash's card encircling it and combining. The monster thrust its hand out and fired a beam of magic through the air. The beam sliced into Frightfur Leo and split apart, circling back to bombard it from all directions. The ground shook as the attack exploded around it, sending a shockwave across the field.

Watching from the corner of the school some distance away, Sunset's eyes flashed red and she doubled over, clutching her chest.

This power…

The red glow in Snips' and Snails' eyes faded as the shockwave struck them. The two cried out as the impact knocked them back across the grass, skidding on their backs.

-Snips and Snails Life Points: 4000 – 4000- 0-

Twilight's duel disk deactivated and Honestas Silva's hologram dissolved in front of her, the card slipping from her duel disk. The glow faded from Twilight's eyes and she fell to her knees.

"Twilight?" She turned her head at the sound of Spike's hushed voice. "You did it again."

"I… I know…" Twilight looked down at the grass and reached out to pick up the Honestas Silva card. That power… that was magic. My magic. This is my power in this world.She reached to her duel disk and pressed an unfamiliar button to eject the tray used to store Fusion monsters. She blinked. The ghostly outlines of other cards wavered in the card tray for a moment before vanishing. Fusion Summons. Combining the strengths of separate monsters into one…

"Hey." A hand reached down into Twilight's field of vision and she took it. Flash pulled her to her feet, smiling at her. Around them the crowd was cheering and applauding and chanting Twilight's name. "Great win."

"Thanks."

Flash chuckled sheepishly and held out the cards in his hand, Spell cards Twilight didn't recognize. "I had this whole awesome combo planned out where I was gonna summon my best monster and power it up enough to win the duel in one turn. Guess you beat me to it."

Twilight returned the laugh. "Yeah." She held up Honestas Silva's card. "But I never would have done it if you hadn't encouraged me."

"To be honest, I was kind of bluffing." Flash held up his hands. "I just wanted to be sure that if you had a way out, you'd stay calm so you could figure it out. But I didn't know your deck could Fusion summon."

Neither did I.Twilight looked at their two fallen opponents and ran over. "You two!" She stopped and knelt, Flash and Spike stopping behind her.

Snips raised his head and focused his eyes on Twilight. "Huh? Who are you?"

"Snips, my head hurts," Snails groaned beside him. "What did we eat today?"

"What happened to you two?" Twilight asked, glaring down at Snips.

Snips looked at his duel disk, his cards still on the tray. "Did we duel someone?"

"You did; me and Flash."

Snips' eyes widened. "No way. Why in the heck would we try to beat Flash Sentry?"

"Yeah, man." Snails waved a hand in the air. "He's like, ten times the duelist we are. Combined. I dunno the math on that since I don't do well in that class."

"Well, you tried." Twilight stood and crossed her arms. "And I want to know what type of magic you were using. I haven't seen any other duelists with glowing red eyes so far so I doubt that's normal."

"Glowing red eyes?" Behind Twilight, Flash frowned and scratched his head. "Twilight, what are you talking about?"

"You know, during his last turn when he did all those summons. And then mine glowed when I…" Twilight trailed off when she saw Flash's confusion deepen as she spoke. He didn't notice? That's impossible. Glowing eyes like that would get attention.She looked back at Snips. Although, these two don't seem to remember, either. What's going on?Twilight unfolded her arms. "What's the last thing you recall before being here?"

Snips put a finger on his chin. "Well, Sunset was telling us she wanted us to duel someone…"

Snails nodded next to him. "Yeah, and we were all tired and didn't wanna try it, but she said she really needed us to… that's all I got."

"Me too."

Sunset.Twilight felt a tingling on the edge of her senses and turned. Through the crowd around the field she saw a familiar color scheme of black and orange and turned to walk towards it. The crowd parted for her as she neared and eventually thinned enough for her to see Sunset clearly. The other girl was holding onto the wall of the school with a hand on her chest. At Twilight's approach, she stood up and lowered her hands.

Twilight stopped a few feet in front of her and held up her duel disk. "Sunset Shimmer. I'm going to see you in the finals." She narrowed her eyes. "And I'm going to beat you there."

The crowd gasped sharply and began to whisper. Sunset slowly smiled and raised her arm, her duel disk gleaming.

"Looking forward to it, Princess."

Jaden: Whoa! That was awesome! Since when did Twilight have that Fusion Monster?

Sonic Prime: This is gonna sound insane, but I think she just willed it into existence.

Jaden: That is insane. Still, close call. Okay, so deck analyses. It's pretty obvious Snips is specializing in a Fluffal Deck with some juiced-up fusions, and Snails runs with a Worm Deck. Kinda makes sense too. I mean, look at their names.

Sonic Prime: Fair enough. Well, anyways, see you guys next time.

Ch. 9: The Fires of Friendship

Sitting on the stairs just inside one of the doors to Canterlot High, Twilight's deck was laid out on the landing, her cards organized into types and copies. In her hand, she looked down at six new cards she had pulled from her duel disk where the Extra Deck would go.

I know I didn't have these cards before. I would have tried to use them if I did. Twilight had looked over her deck carefully before and now there were new cards in it. She reached down to her main deck and picked up one of them. Harmony Fusion. A Spell card to let me summon Fusion Monsters. Twilight looked back at the six Fusion cards in her hand. Where did these come from?"Spike, you were watching. What happened?"

Sitting at her feet, Spike shook his head. "I don't know, Twilight. You went into a kind of trance, your eyes glowed purple, and you just sort of created that card from nothing."

"Right." Twilight picked up the card in question, Honestas Silva. "I did the same thing when I dueled Rarity and played Harmony Castle. I don't remember having that card before, either."

"What do you think it means?" Spike hopped up the stairs and walked around Twilight's cards.

"I don't know. But I'm certain it has to do with the rules of magic in this world. Sunset Shimmer said that magical objects in this world obey the strongest duelists. So, maybe whatever magic I have inside of me awakens when I'm in danger to save me by creating powerful new cards." She frowned. "Which, if that's true, is unfortunate because I don't know how to control it. Not to mention it's more than a little unfair to opponents, though I suppose that's beside the point."

"So what do we do?"

Twilight folded her Fusion cards up and slid them into her duel disk. "I have to try and master this magic of mine. Snips and Snails were definitely influenced by some sort of dark magic and I just know Sunset is to blame for it. If we duel her and she has access to magic that can manipulate her deck, we need to know how to match it." Twilight sighed and looked down at Spike. "What was I like in that state?"

Spike thought. "Your eyes were glowing purple and you got really serious. But like, not mean. Just really confident and direct." His face brightened. "You know that feeling when you just know you're gonna win the game and you're making the plays to make it happen? You kinda talked like that."

"Well, not really, I don't know that feeling. But I'll take your word for it." Twilight smiled and ruffled his hair. She stood up and stretched. "We'll have to try and figure it out tonight. We have the whole evening before the finals tomorrow. For now, we have an hour to go to clinch any last few wins." She looked at the doors back outside and took a breath.

"It's time to duel!"

Sonic Prime: Did she seriously just steal Yugi's catchphrase?

Jaden: Eh, I feel more comfortable with "Borrow". I do it sometimes too.

Sonic Prime: Oh, okay.

Later…

Twilight flipped her card in her hand to show it. "I activate 'Harmony Fusion'! I use this card's effect to fuse 'Harmony Spirit Risus' and 'Harmony Spirit Pietus' from my hand." Twilight held her arm up as a swirling vortex appeared in the air above her. A pale blue fairy with blue gloves and boots descended from it. Lightning bolt patterns ran up her clothing and a circular storm cloud hovered in the air behind her, lightning crackling through the center. "I Fusion Summon 'Harmony Spirit Pietas Fulmen' (2300/1500)! Then I activate the effect of 'Harmony Spirit Magia' and discard it to copy the 'Shrink' card in your Graveyard, targeting 'Victory Viper XX03'! Its attack power is halved for the rest of the turn."

Twilight's opponent, a dark-skinned boy with red hair and a helicopter hat, tensed as a giant silver spaceship in front of him glowed and grew smaller. "Oh no!"

"During the turn, I discard a Harmony Spirit from my hand, Pietas Fulmen is able to attack all monsters you control once each." Twilight smiled. "So not only can I attack your Victory Viper, I can also attack all your other ships as well!" Twilight held her hand out to point to the monsters in turn. "Pietas Fulmen, attack Victory Viper, Jade Knight, Gradius, and Delta Tri!" Pietas Fulmen held up her hands and jolts of lightning came from the cloud behind her to form crackling orbs of energy.

"Moooom!" Twilight's opponent cried out as the lightning orbs shot across the field.

Later still…

"I activate the effect of 'Harmony Spirit Gracia' to discard it and prevent my 'Harmony Spirit Magnanimity Crustallum' from being destroyed this turn." On Twilight's field, a fairy in a pale blue dress, gloves, and boots lit up in green light. (2100/1500) "Discarding Gracia activates the effect of 'Harmony Castle', letting me revive Gracia. Then the effect of Magnanimity Crustallum lets me look at the top two cards of my deck and add one of them to my hand." Twilight picked her cards up and held one of them out. "I add 'Harmony Spirit Pietas' to my hand and then discard it, activating its effect. Magnanimity Crustallum can bypass your Elemental Heroes and attack directly this turn!"

Magnanimity Crustallum held its hands forward. Twin rings of gemstones encircling its torso across either shoulder began to spin around. Across the field, a purple-skinned girl with green hair grimaced. "Not good!" A flurry of gem shards shot from the rings and the girl's superheroes pulled out of the way as they bombarded her.

So much later that the old narrator got tired of waiting, and they had to hire a new one.

"Fifteen minutes," Twilight whispered. The clock in front of CHS edged ever closer to the tournament's end. She looked at her duel disk display. 10 wins and no losses. This is the best I can do; I don't think I have time for another duel. Twilight heard whispering and raised her head to see two passing students quickly turn their heads away. She scrunched her face. I guess I'm sort of getting a reputation here. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

"Think we're okay to get into the finals?" Spike asked.

Twilight nodded. "I think so. We've been doing pretty well all day." She looked at her duel disk and gave a small smile. "You know, I have to admit, I'm starting to have fun with this. I mean, yeah, of course, we need to stop Sunset Shimmer. But once you get the hang of it, the game is pretty cool."

"Cool?" Spike snorted. "I didn't think you knew that word."

Pouting and crossing her arms, Twilight said, "Why wouldn't I? And it is. It's strategic, it keeps you on your toes, there's all kinds of different cards you can use." She held up her duel disk and smiled. "I'm just getting the idea now of why this game is so popular in this world. It's fun."

"Well, well, well!"

Twilight paused at the familiar voice. She noticed students moving and turned to see why. A clearing had formed in the crowds and two very familiar faces were standing at either end.

Applejack crossed her arms and smirked. "So, little Dashie's here again. Plannin' to make it to the finals so Ah can whup you again?"

Rainbow Dash snorted. "No. I'm gonna whip you in the semi-finals and beat Sunset in the finals. You're just small fry compared to her."

"You keep tellin' yourself that, hun. Keep the dream alive an' all."

"Oh yeah?" Rainbow held up her arm and activated her duel disk. "Let's settle it right here, you smug hick! I don't need to wait until the finals to beat you."

"That right?" Applejack activated her own duel disk, colored red and green. "Well, there's fifteen minutes left. Ah reckon that's enough time to win and still go get a drink before they announce the standings."

Twilight gritted her teeth and pushed the students in front of her out of the way to run into the clearing. "Hey!" Applejack and Rainbow turned her way. "What do you think you two are doing?"

"Putting this chump jock in her place," Applejack replied.

"That's my line, you yokel!"

"Enough!" Twilight looked between the two of them, her eyes narrowed. "You two used to be friends with each other! And now you're insulting each other like you hate each other?"

"There's no room for mercy in this tournament." Rainbow Dash snapped. "If you wanna be a bleeding heart, go find Rarity or something. I'm here to win."

"Same here." Applejack hovered her hand over her duel disk. "Now, are we gonna talk or are we gonna duel?"

"Bring it!" Rainbow turned away from Twilight and slapped her hand on her duel disk.

"Wait!" Twilight stopped as Rainbow's duel disk announced the duel beginning. The crowd began to murmur and cheer. Twilight looked at her own disk. I can't risk dueling one of them just to break up a fight. If I lose and don't make the finals…"Stop it." Twilight lowered her arm and ran up to Rainbow. "This is stupid, you're fighting over…" She trailed off as she made eye contact behind Rainbow. At the front of the crowd, Scootaloo closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Commence duel?"

Applejack wagged her finger. "This is the biggest mistake you've ever made in this game, Rainbow."

Rainbow moved her hand to her duel disk. "The only thing big about this is the win I'm gonna pull!" The two reached down and pressed the glowing buttons on their duel disks.

"Game start!"

-Applejack Life Points: 4000-

-Rainbow Life Points: 4000-

Twilight watched the hologram display on Rainbow's duel disk flash and stop on her portrait. "I'll take the first move!" Rainbow drew her opening hand with a flourish and looked down at it. "I summon 'U.A. Midfielder'!" Rainbow's monster, a humanoid figure in streamlined cybernetic soccer armor, rose onto her field, light pulsing along its equipment. (1200/1000). "Then I return Midfielder to my hand to Special Summon 'U.A. Goalkeeper' in defense mode!" Rainbow's monster jumped up into a vortex that appeared above it and another monster jumped out. Clad in bulky white and green soccer armor, it knelt down and held its hands out defensively. (1000/2800).

"How did she do that?" Twilight whispered."

"That's how Rainbow's Ultra Athletes work."

Twilight turned her head to see Sweetie Belle beside her. She knelt down. "Ultra Athletes?"

Sweetie Belle nodded and held up her duel disk. "Here, activate observer mode." She pressed a button on her duel disk touch screen and then another. The image of Rainbow's and Applejack's dueling fields appeared. Twilight looked at her own disk and copied the actions to get her own feed. Sweetie Belle pointed at the hologram of Rainbow's monster. "Ultra Athlete, U.A. They tag in each other to best suit the flow of the duel. They can return a teammate on the field to the hand to summon themselves and they each have effects that let Rainbow attack or defend in various different ways."

Twilight looked back at the duel. "So Rainbow's going to be able to change her monsters on the field every turn and adapt to anything Applejack throws at her."

"That's the plan."

Rainbow held up a card in her hand. "I set one card face-down and end my turn." She grinned and leaned forward. "First turn and my field is set to victory. You don't stand a chance against me this time."

"Y'all talk a good game." Applejack drew her card and added it to her hand. "Too bad for you this is a game o' skill, not words. Ah activate 'Foolish Burial'!" Applejack pressed her fingers to her duel disk display. "This lets me send any monster from mah deck to the Graveyard. Ah choose 'Dandylion'. And that happens to trigger its effect. When Dandylion is sent to the Graveyard, Ah summon two 'Fluff Tokens'." Two holograms of pale white orbs of fluff sprang from Applejack's duel disk and floated to rest in front of her. (0/0)

Sweetie Belle nudged Twilight. "Here we go." Twilight watched as Applejack lifted her next card.

"Ah activate the Continuous Spell 'Super Solar Nutrient'. This lets me tribute one of mah Fluff Tokens, then any Plant monster Level 4 or less can be called from mah deck. Ah summon 'Lonefire Blossom' in defense mode!" The Fluff Token exploded and lit up yellow. The particles combined and grew, reforming into a series of vines twisting around each other and blooming into a rounded yellow and red bulb. (500/1400). "Ah activate Lonefire Blossom's ability and sacrifice mah other Fluff Token to it in order to summon a Plant monster from mah deck." Wind picked up and pulled the Fluff Token into the narrow opening at the tip of the bulb. Lonefire Blossom lit up in red light and its flower opened, an array of red petals. It turned and fired a beam of light at the ground. "Ah Special Summon 'Talaya, Princess of Cherry Blossoms'!"

A flurry of pink petals exploded from the spot where Lonefire Blossom had cast its light. Rising amid the flurry was a single massive cherry blossom. In its center was a woman's torso clad in ornate blue robes with pink trim. As she finished rising, she spread her arms out and dispersed the petals swirling around her. (2800/1200) Applejack held up another Spell card. "And now for one last little treat. Ah activate the Continuous Spell 'Miracle Fertilizer'. This lets me revive a Plant monster in mah Graveyard once every turn. Ah'll use its effect now to revive Dandylion." A small plant in the shape of a quadrupedal animal appeared on Applejack's field, its face looking out from a mane of dandelion fluff. (300/300)

"Amazing." As Twilight spoke, she noticed another duelist step to the front of the crowd behind Applejack: Apple Bloom. Twilight looked across the field and saw Scootaloo watching Rainbow Dash.

Applejack smiled. "Talaya gets another 100 attack points for every Plant Ah control. Ah know you're not that bright, Rainbow, so here's some basic math. 2800 plus 300 is 3100, which is higher than Goalkeeper's defense." She pointed across the field. "So take a guess what comes next! Talaya, attack Goalkeeper!" The plant princess held up her hand and sent a storm of cherry blossom petals across the field.

Rainbow laughed and held her hand out. "I don't think so! Activate Trap, 'U.A, Penalty Box'!" Four wooden walls in white and red paint rose around Talaya up to her waist and a field of electrical blue energy snapped up from them and rose to create a dome covering her. The chamber then lowered into the ground taking Talaya with it. "Since you just attacked a U.A. monster, I get to banish your monster until the end of your next turn." Rainbow tapped the side of her head. "Strategy beyond 'attack and beat my monsters' is a bit tricky for you, huh? Gonna have to get over that."

Twilight flinched at the insult. She looked at Sweetie Belle. "Are they always like this?" Sweetie Belle just nodded.

"Yeah, yeah, ya held out one more round. Ah set two cards and end mah turn." Applejack crossed her arms. "Ya get one shot at me to make yer mark, Rainbow. Make it count."

"I will!" Rainbow drew her card and looked at it. "I return U.A. Goalkeeper to my hand in order to Special Summon 'U.A. Playmaker'!" Goalkeeper was drawn into a portal above Rainbow and her new monster leapt out, a figure in silver and black football armor with glowing orange details. It beat its hands on its helmet and kneeled, ready to charge. (2600/2000)

"Ah don't think so. Activate Trap, 'Pollinosis'! By tributin' mah Dandylion, that summon is negated and Playmaker is destroyed!" Dandylion burst into more dandylion fluff and swirled towards Playmaker. It groaned and collapsed, dispersing into light. "Since a monster it summoned left the field, mah Miracle Fertilizer card is destroyed. But then, since Dandylion was sent to the graveyard again, Ah summon two more Fluff Tokens." Applejack's tokens reformed from the remains of Dandylion as her Spell card shattered behind them.

"And as always, you fall for the easy trap." Rainbow snorted. "I summon U.A. Midfielder again and return him to my hand to summon 'U.A. Dreadnought Dunker'!" A new athlete jumped onto the field, wearing sunglasses with an armored blue and silver basketball uniform and helmet. Red lines lit up on its armor and it stood up and flexed its muscles. "Dreadnought Dunker, put that upstart farmer out to pasture! Attack one of the Fluff Tokens!" A glowing ball of blue light manifested in Dunker's hands and it rapidly bounced it on the ground, the orb accelerating. "Time for some bad news, AJ. When Dreadnought Dunker attacks a defending monster, he pierces it to deal battle damage. And that Fluff Token has no defense, so you're taking the full force!"

Dreadnought Dunker swung around and flung its ball across the field at lightning speed. Applejack raised her arms to shield herself as it hit a Fluff Token and exploded in a flash of light.

-Applejack Life Points: 4000 – 2500 - 1500-

"Applejack!" Apple Bloom ran onto the field and put her hand on Applejack's arm. Applejack shrugged her away and stood, glaring at Rainbow.

"Is that all you got?" She yelled.

"Not yet. I return Dreadnought Dunker to my hand and summon back my U.A. Goalkeeper to defend." As her replacement monster kneeled in front of her, Rainbow tossed her hair and crossed her arms. "I think I've done enough damage for now. I end my turn." The crowd behind Rainbow began to cheer, a chant of her name eventually rising.

"About time." Applejack snatched her card from her deck and reached to the buttons on her duel disk. "Ah tribute Lonefire Blossom itself to activate its effect." A card ejected from her deck. "Ah summon 'Gigaplant' from mah deck!" The ground in front of Applejack split open. A massively thick vine rose from it, tentacles hanging off it and digging into the ground. A large red mouth on the top split open, revealing several rows of teeth as it roared. (2400/1200). "Ah now normal summon Gigaplant again, triggering its Gemini ability."

"Gemini ability?" Twilight thought aloud.

Sweetie Belle nodded. "Gigaplant can't use its ability normally, but Applejack can summon it a second time on the field to do it. And it's a doozy."

"Once per turn now, Gigaplant lets me summon any Plant monster in mah hand or graveyard." Applejack tapped her duel disk screen and a card slotted out of her graveyard. "Ah revive Lonefire Blossom. And now that it's back, Ah can use its effect a second time. Ah tribute mah Fluff Token to summon from mah deck 'Tytannial, Princess of Camellias'!" A massive red blossom with green leaves sprouted on Applejack's field. A woman in a pink dress with red and green details like flower petals emerged from the blossom and crossed her arms. (2800/2600).

"Ah ain't done yet. Ah activate the Spell 'Advance Draw' and tribute mah Level 8 Tytannial to draw two more cards." The flower blossom closed as swiftly as it had bloomed and withdrew into the ground as Applejack drew. She looked at her cards and grinned. "And they're just what Ah need! Ah banish Tytannial in the graveyard and 'Chirubimé, Princess of Autumn Leaves' from mah hand and Special Summon 'Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel'!" A column of light expanded out from behind Applejack. Four wings, two red and two black, extended from it, flower petals falling from them. The light receded to reveal a tall humanoid figure in shining white armor, golden bands over its wrists and ankles. (2900/2400).

Applejack held out her hand. "Ah activate Rosaria's special ability! Once per turn, Ah can negate the effects of all other cards on the field!" Rosaria held its hands out and fired rays of light across the field.

"What!?" Rainbow stepped back. The rays of light struck Goalkeeper and the hologram of the U.A. Penalty Box card. They sparked and their colors dulled.

"Now that your little Trap is outta the way…" Applejack punched her fist into the air at Rainbow. "Rosaria, attack Goalkeeper!" Rosaria flapped all four of its wings at once, sending a massive wind storm across the field. Goalkeeper groaned and shattered as it braced against the gale. Rainbow growled as Applejack grinned. "Now y'all are wide open! Gigaplant, direct attack!" Gigaplant roared and snapped several vines out from its body and across the field. The vines struck the ground around Rainbow sending sparks flying. She fell to her knees, gritting her teeth.

-Rainbow Life Points: 4000 – 2400 - 1600-

Twilight saw Scootaloo run out of the crowd and knelt next to Rainbow. "Don't give up, Rainbow!" Scootaloo put a hand on Rainbow's shoulder, but the other girl stood up to step forward, ignoring her.

"Come on!" she snarled. "I'm just getting warmed up!"

"Same here, hun. Ah set two cards and end mah turn. Now the effect of U.A. Penalty box ends and Talaya returns to mah field." Applejack idly tapped through her duel disk tooltips. "Well lookie here, Ah got four monsters out includin' three of mah best and you've got nothin'. Some things never change, huh?" Hoots and shouts of encouragement came from the crowd behind her.

"Shut up!" Rainbow put her hand on her deck. "I'm not out of this yet!" Her supporters grew louder in response.

Twilight turned her head back and forth. Glares full of spite and anger were exchanged between the players as the crowd cheered for their respective sides. Standing next to Applejack, Apple Bloom clutched at her leg, while Scootaloo tugged on Rainbow Dash's shirt to no response. Twilight glanced down at Sweetie Belle; she was staring at the ground, her hands balled into fists.

Fluttershy is right.Twilight looked back at the field, her face pained. This isn't what dueling is supposed to be…

"I draw!" Rainbow drew her card and looked down at it. She laughed and flipped it over, revealing a Spell card. "I think this duel just ended." Applejack tensed. Rainbow smirked and reached to her hand. "I summon U.A. Midfielder and return it to my hand to summon 'U.A. Mighty Slugger'!" A slim warrior in streamlined silver and red baseball armor and a horned helmet jumped on the field. It held out a silver rod in its hand and a red laser emerged from it, forming the shape of a baseball bat. (2300/700) "Then I equip Mighty Slugger with the Equip Spell 'U.A. Powered Jersey'!" With a flash of light, a suit of white, black, and red armor appeared in the air and gravitated to latch onto Mighty Slugger. A crest of spikes emerged from its back and shoulders, sparks of red energy flying from them.

Rainbow held up her duel disk. "Now not only does Mighty Slugger get 1000 extra attack and defense points, but any damage it deals to your Life Points is doubled." Her eyes narrowed. "Oh, and I hope you aren't relying on those two set cards to protect you, because when Mighty Slugger attacks, you can't activate cards or effects!" Rainbow frowned and scratched her head. "Hm, let's see…" She pretended to count on her fingers. "Gigaplant has 2400 points… I've got 3300… and I deal double damage." She faked a gasp of surprise. "Well, look at that! It looks like I win."

Applejack glared. "Get on with it already, ya egomaniac!"

"I will!" Rainbow laughed and pumped her fist. "I've been waiting for this for months! I wanted it to be in the finals, but I'll settle for doing it here and now!"

"Stop it!"

The two turned as Twilight ran out to them. "How can you talk to each other like that? You're supposed to be friends!"

"As if! Ah'd never be friends with some cocky little punk like her that doesn't care about nothin' but herself!"

"I've got plenty of other friends, ones that aren't hick redneck farmers and don't think they're better than me," Rainbow growled and drew her hand back over her shoulder. "Time to put you in your place for the last time! U.A. Mighty Slugger, end this duel! Attack Gig—"

"Shut up, Rainbow!"

The crowd fell silent and Rainbow stilled. Twilight gasped and looked at the sound of the voice. Rainbow slowly turned her head.

"Scootaloo?"

Glaring up at her, Scootaloo clenched her fists at her side and held Rainbow's gaze.

"Do you even hear what the hell you're saying!? What you sound like?" She screamed. "I hate seeing you play! You're always like this!" She looked around at the crowd before going back to Rainbow. "You're all like this! This is exactly why I told you I didn't want to sign up! Players like you are the reason this game sucks now!" Before Rainbow could respond Scootaloo shoved her to the ground, then turned and ran, pushing her way through the crowd.

Rainbow came to her senses as she vanished from sight. "Scootaloo!" She stood and began to run after her.

"Hold up!" Applejack's voice stopped her and Rainbow looked over her shoulder. Applejack held up her duel disk. "We're in the middle of a duel here! If y'all back out now, it's a forfeit!"

"Applejack…" Apple Bloom's voice cut the air like a blade and her sister looked down. "Just… stop. Please. No more." Apple Bloom shook her head and walked away.

"H-hey! Apple Bloom!" Applejack reached her hand out but Apple Bloom kept walking.

Twilight felt a hand on her waist and looked to see Sweetie Belle staring up at her.

"Now you know why we play alone."

Twilight simply nodded and saw Spike do the same on the other side of her.

The sound of a bell filled the air. Twilight heard a beeping shortly after and looked at her duel disk. Five. An electrical chime from the school's PA system sounded.

"Attention, students." Celestia's voice came over the loudspeakers around the school. "It is now five o'clock. We will tally the results and announce finalist standings shortly. Duelists in the middle of a game may finish, but any duels in progress as of this moment no longer count towards official standings. The top sixteen round will begin in one hour." The voice fell silent. The crowd began to talk among themselves and wandered off, leaving Applejack and Rainbow facing each other, the holograms of their monsters standing silently.

Applejack looked behind her but Apple Bloom was nowhere in sight. She hung her head. "Well, go on. You earned this win."

Rainbow looked at her evenly for a moment and then reached down to her duel disk. The lights on the disk deactivated and the holograms of her cards flittered out and vanished. Without a word, she turned and jogged away. Applejack spared Twilight and Sweetie Belle a glance before doing the same.

Sweetie Belle withdrew her hands. "I'm gonna find Rarity." She waved at Twilight and walked in a separate direction.

Alone in the field, Twilight let out a breath. "I hate to think what's going to happen if those two are matched again in the finals."

"Yeah." Spike shook his head. "That was something else."

Another chime from the PA came. "Students, finalist standings have been tallied. You all performed admirably, but I am afraid that only the top sixteen ranking students will advance. These sixteen duelists, in no particular order of importance, are as follows: Rarity Belle. Pinkamena Pie. Ember Draconia…"

Here we go…Twilight tensely waited for her name as Celestia keep reading.

"Rainbow Dash. Sunset Shimmer."

Of course, she made it.

"Twilight Sparkle."

"Yes!" Twilight cheered loudly and scooped Spike up in her arms to hug him. "We made it, Spike!"

Spike barked happily. "I knew you could do it!"

"These are your sixteen finalists. Duels will begin in one hour at six o'clock. Your designated opponent has been chosen randomly. Access your duel disk's server link to view who they are. Please be sure you locate your opponent and are ready to duel at your designated duel field by six or you may be disqualified."

"Sounds easy enough." Twilight activated her duel disk and pressed the touchscreen prompt to access its settings. "Okay, server link… here we go, CHS Autumn Crown Tournament. View finalist match-up." Twilight pressed the prompt and waited for the data to load. A holographic display of her and her opponent's portraits popped up into the air. Twilight looked at it and paled. "Spike…?"

"Yeah?"

Twilight knelt down so Spike could see the display. Spike read it and his jaw dropped at the name next to Twilight's.

"… Trixie Lulamoon?"

Sonic Prime: Surprising abso-freaking-lutely no-one.

Jaden: Duh. They've been rivals in the show since episode 6. It was only a matter of time before they were gonna have to duel.

Sonic Prime: Yeah, but I gotta say. That duel with Rainbow and AJ? Woof.

Jaden: Yeah… That is gonna lead to some awkward moments in the future. But still, thank you Scootaloo for saying what plainly needed to be said.

Sonic Prime: Well, it's not like they were gonna listen to Twilight. But still…

Jaden: Okay, anyways, Deck analysis time. Rainbow's U.A. deck is pretty standard when you look at it from the surface, but once you look deeper into it, things get a lot more serious. As for Applejack's Plant Deck, it's pretty obvious she knew what she was doing, and if they hadn't both forfeited, she might've won.

Sonic Prime: Well, since they're both in the Finals, I'm pretty sure we'll get to see if that's true. See you guys next time.