“Ta-da!” Twilight declared, removing the sheet covering her new D-Wheel.

“It’s… great?” Spike said.

Twilight’s D-Wheel was a slightly bulky, basic frame. Two thin hoofrests served as the side protection for the seats. Painted on the front wheel covers was Twilight’s Cutie Mark, while the outer paint job was purple to match her coat. The seats were a bland grey, and the monitor had a basic color scheme to it.

“What’s with that uncertainty?” Twilight asked.

“Well,” said Spike, “it’s just so… simple.”

“It gets the job done, doesn’t it?” Twilight said. “And look, I even got directions from the shopkeeper on how to switch out parts!”

“You know,” Spike said, “if you just owned up to your mistake, I’m sure Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash would have been happy to help you build one.”

“I’m sure they’re busy helping Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie,” said Twilight. “Besides, it’s…”

“Embarrassing?” Spike suggested.

“Yes,” said Twilight. “It was hard enough apologizing to the shopkeeper at Ponyville Motors, how do you think Rainbow Dash will be when I apologize for not following the very lesson I taught her?”

“She’s your friend,” said Spike, “I’m sure she’ll forgive you.”

“I know that,” said Twilight, “but do you think she’ll ever let me live it down?”

“…Probably not, no,” said Spike.

“Exactly,” said Twilight.

“Though,” said Spike, “you know if you ever plan on actually, you know, riding the thing, you’ll have to tell them, right?”

“…I didn’t think this through,” said Twilight.

Spike’s eyes widened. “Wait, what? You didn’t think something through!? You? Twilight Sparkle?”

“I know, I’m just as surprised as you!” said Twilight.

“Is anypony in here?” a voice called from upstairs.

“Ah!” Twilight gasped, frantically tossing the sheet over the D-Wheel again. “Quick, Spike! Company!”

“Right!” said Spike, running up the stairs.

Twilight followed close behind, before tripping over the sheet, and falling into the D-Wheel, knocking it over.

“Oh, Adviser,” said Spike, as he entered the front room of the library.

“Hello,” Adviser smiled, when the crash of the falling D-Wheel echoed from downstairs. “What was that? Should I be afraid for my life?”

“It’s nothing!” said Twilight, limping up the stairs. “Just, tripped.”

“Over a D-Wheel, by the sound of it,” said Adviser. “Planning on entering the WRGP, Twilight Sparkle?”

“Yes,” said Twilight. “I mean, no. I mean, what brings you here, Adviser?”

“I was in the neighborhood, and I thought, hey, why don’t I visit my good friend, Twilight Sparkle while I’m here?”

“We’re friends?” Twilight asked.

“We don’t even know your real name,” said Spike.

“No one does,” said Adviser, before looking down at the floor. “Not even me, come to think of it.”

“What really brings you here?” Twilight asked.

“I’m sure you’ve noticed the occasional highway closings,” said Adviser.

“Yeah,” said Spike, “just last week Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had to have a Riding Duel on the dirt for us because of that.”

“Is that so?” Adviser said. “My apologies, but perhaps a Riding Duel off of the highways would is safer.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“For the past week, ever since that first closing,” said Adviser, “there have been incidents of Riding Duels gone awry. Ponies have been getting into violent crashes in duels that are forced upon them at night.”

“Forced Riding Duels?” Twilight questioned. “Why couldn’t they refuse? Why would they stick around long enough to get caught, anyway?”

“That’s the thing,” said Adviser. “The pony responsible appears only at night, and has all the lights on his D-Wheel turned off. He sneaks up on his victims, hacks in and forces Speed World 2 to activate.”

“That sounds only inconvenient and rude so far,” said Spike.

“Well,” said Adviser, “from what we could gather from the victims that managed to regain consciousness, the Riding Duels this pony forces on them deal real damage.”

“Real damage!?” Twilight gasped. “Like a duel of darkness?”

“I don’t know,” shrugged Adviser. “After the duelist loses, all duel data mysteriously vanishes and the pony vanishes into the night again like some kind of ghost or something. That’s why we at Security dubbed him ‘Ghost’.”

“Ghost, huh?” Twilight mumbled.

“I thought of the name myself,” Adviser smiled.

“That’s not much to be smiling about,” said Spike.

“It’s the biggest accomplishment I can remember, to be honest,” said Adviser. “Nopony remembers who balanced the budget thirty years ago, but they will remember a serial assaulter. Especially if I can hang this wanted poster with all the information we have on him up in your window.”

“Of course you can,” said Twilight. “Anything to help catch this guy.”

“Thank you,” Adviser smiled, trotting over to the window, and putting the poster up. “Hope we catch this guy before the WRGP. It wouldn’t do to have some maniac running amok while we’re hosting foreign teams.”

“Hm,” said Twilight, biting her lower lip in thought.

“Well, I’m off!” said Adviser. “Good luck with your Riding Duels, Twilight Sparkle.” Adviser trotted out the door, singing a song to himself. “♪It don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that swing…”

“How old is he?” Spike asked after Adviser had left.

“I don’t know,” Twilight mumbled, trotting outside to read the Ghost wanted poster.

“Twilight, what are you thinking?” Spike asked.

“I’m thinking I’m going to catch Ghost, that’s what,” said Twilight, trotting off towards Carousel Boutique.

“Wait!” said Spike, running after her. “Think this over, Twilight! This guy has been hurting ponies all week!”

“Spike, my friends and I defeated the Dark Signers only a year ago,” said Twilight. “And I’m pretty sure they were more of a threat than some random madpony.”

“But you heard Adviser,” said Spike. “Ghost deals real damage like the Dark Signers did!”

“Yes,” said Twilight, “and as one of the Signers of the Crimson Dragon, I’ve been chosen to stop things like duels of darkness.”

“But-” Spike began.

“Hello, Spike!” Rarity called.

“Huh?” said Spike, only just realizing they were at Carousel Boutique. “Oh! H-Hi, Rarity.”

“Rarity, I need to talk to you about something,” said Twilight.

“As do I with you,” said Rarity. “Come, take a look!” She happily pranced ahead of them, leading them around to the back of the boutique. “Voilà!”

“Ah!” Twilight gasped, light shining in her face.

“Ooh,” Spike said, licking his lips.

Rarity was posing happily in front of a white D-Wheel made to look like a chariot. It was stylistically covered in light blue gems cut to resemble Rarity’s Cutie Mark, and coated in jewel trim. The seat was a royal purple color, and the monitor’s read out was written in fancy script, with a gold color scheme.

“Isn’t it fabulous?” Rarity asked. “Fluttershy helped me build it this past week!”

“It sure is… shiny,” said Twilight.

“It looks great,” said Spike, drooling. “Especially those gems…”

“I appreciate your enthusiasm,” Rarity smiled, grabbing Spike with her magic, and levitating him away. “But please, don’t touch it. I don’t want my brand new D-Wheel to be… drooled on or eaten.”

Spike’s face fell into a frown, as Rarity placed him onto Twilight’s back. “So what did you want to discuss?”

“Adviser came by earlier today,” said Twilight.

“Who?” said Rarity.

“You remember him,” said Twilight. “That unicorn stallion that worked for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna before becoming Vice Director of Security?”

“Oh, right, Adviser!” said Rarity. “What did he want?”

“He told me about some strange pony he called Ghost attacking ponies on the highways at night.”

“Oh my,” said Rarity, her eyes wide. “That sounds awful.”

“He deals real damage like the Dark Signers did, too,” Twilight added.

“And Twilight thinks we should all go out and stop him,” said Spike. “I say we should just let Security do their job, but-”

“Of course we should stop him!” Rarity interrupted, fire in her eyes. “After all that work Fluttershy did, I won’t stand by and let him destroy my new D-Wheel!”

“And we should help the citizens he’s attacking too,” Twilight added in a deadpan voice.

“Yes, that too,” said Rarity. “Wait, ‘we’? Twilight, did you get a D-Wheel?”

Twilight’s eyes widened, and she looked down, blushing. “Y-yeah… I bought one from Ponyville Motors and picked up just this morning, actually.”

“Oh, Twilight,” Rarity smiled, “no need to be embarrassed! It’s great news!”

“Thanks, Rarity,” Twilight smiled. “I even built a whole new deck for it. Spellcasters aren’t exactly the best when Speed Spells are my only option for Spell cards.”

“I’ll look forward to seeing it in action,” said Rarity. “Now, shall we go round up the others for a Ghost hunt tonight?”

“Sure thing,” Twilight smiled.

“I’m never going to convince you how bad an idea this is, am I?” said Spike.

The sun was starting to set, and Twilight was waiting patiently with Rarity by the highway for the others to arrive, a purple helmet on her head. Rarity was passing the time polishing her white, gem encrusted helmet while Twilight was flipping through her new cards, reading over their effects.

“Is that a D-Wheel I hear?” Rarity said after awhile.

“More like four of them,” said Twilight, as the others arrived.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were in the lead, skidding to a halt in front of Twilight, while Applejack and Pinkie Pie were in the rear, pulling up next to Rarity. Pinkie Pie’s D-Wheel was, predictably, pink. It was made up of several angles and shapes tacked together in an apparent homage to her Vylon Monsters. The seat on the inside and the monitor had a pink color scheme, and the monitors text was written in a manner reminiscent of a comic book. Her helmet was, obviously, pink as well.

Applejack’s D-Wheel was unsurprisingly simplistic. It seemed to be a modified version of a green, standard model D-Wheel, but it looked much more sturdy. Like Fluttershy’s D-Wheel, Applejack’s had two large storage boxes attached to the back. The wheels were also more thick and rugged than the average D-Wheel, and she seemed to have built it to be more practical than fast. The seat was brown and the monitor’s scheme and color seemed to be based on Sweet Apple Acres. She wore a red helmet that, if you only took a quick glance, resembled an apple.

“What do you think, Twilight?” Pinkie asked. “Rainbow and Fluttershy spent all week helping us out.”

“We barely got any sleep,” said Fluttershy.

“Sorry we kept you two up so long,” said Applejack.

“It’s fine,” shrugged Rainbow, before looking at Twilight. “First off, I knew you’d be into this sort of thing. So score one for me.”

“Yes,” said Twilight. “I’m sorry I doubted you.”

“No big deal,” said Rainbow. “I’ll just be constantly reminding you of this for the rest of your life whenever you doubt me again.”

“I knew you would,” Twilight grumbled.

“Second thing,” said Rainbow. “Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” Her laughter would have caused her to fall out of her D-Wheel, if the seat hadn’t been enclosed. “You bought a basic store model!?”

“To be fair,” said Applejack, “it does do that job.”

“Yeah,” said Rainbow, “but if you ran fast enough, you could probably do that same, but that’s just ridiculous. Let me tell you, Twilight, you’re going to be outstripped by everypony if you enter the WRGP!”

“I’m sure I will,” Twilight sighed, “now can you stop laughing? The sooner we catch Ghost, the sooner you and Fluttershy can get to sleep.”

“That would be nice,” Fluttershy yawned. “And I do want to stop innocent ponies from getting hurt, too.”

“Right,” said Rainbow, looking at the horizon as the sun finished dipping beneath it. “Lights on, everypony. We’ll communicate through the D-Wheel com-link system on these monitors. Here, Twilight, I’ll help you program our IDs in.”

“Alright,” said Twilight, climbing out and letting Rainbow fiddle with the monitor.

“We’ll each take a different area of the highway,” said Fluttershy. “If we don’t run into him near Ponyville, we’ll head out towards a different city.”

“Done,” said Rainbow, climbing out of Twilight’s D-Wheel, and hopping back into her own. “Ready?”

“Stay safe, everypony,” said Applejack.

“If any of you encounter Ghost, the rest of us will be on our way to assist,” said Rarity.

“Let’s stop this mean old Ghostie!” said Pinkie, speeding off onto the highway.

“Good luck, Fluttershy,” said Rainbow.

“Good luck, Dashie,” Fluttershy replied, before the two pegasi sped off.

“Did you see that?” Rarity asked, her face lighting up.

“Don’t start,” said Twilight, before speeding off as well.

Rarity frowned, before speeding off with Applejack. They six ponies quickly separated and found themselves driving alone in the dark. They brought up a six-way com-link on the monitors to talk while they drove.

“Any sign of him?” Fluttershy yawned.

“Not yet,” said Pinkie. “I’ll try calling him.”

“We don’t have his com-link ID,” said Applejack.

“I know that,” said Pinkie. “I meant like this. Ahem. GHOSTIE! WHERE ARE YOU~!”

“Yeah, that will flush him out,” said Rainbow.

“Ugh,” said Rarity, “its been hours already! I’m going to have such horrible bags under my eyes by the end of this!”

“How do you think we feel?” said Rainbow.

“Oh, right,” said Rarity. “Sorry.”

“Keep it up, girls,” said Twilight. “We’re bound to run into him eventual- huh?”

The com-link suddenly cut out, and the screen brought up a duel field. “Duel Mode, on. Speed World 2, imposed activation.”

“Ghost!” Twilight gasped, turning around as the light pulsed out of both D-Wheels.

“Hm, hm, hm,” Ghost laughed, pulling up next to Twilight as they sped on the highway towards Canterlot.

“You’re the one that’s been attacking those ponies for the past week, aren’t you?” Twilight asked.

“Duel me and find out,” Ghost replied, his voice sounding oddly mechanical.

Is he disguising his voice? Twilight asked herself.

Ghost quickly pulled ahead, and rounded the corner. “The first turn is mine. Face me!”

“Very well,” said Twilight, narrowing her eyes. “For all those innocent ponies you hurt, I’m taking you down!”

“Riding Duel, Acceleration!” A light in the shape of an infinity symbol briefly flashed around the two duelists.

Ghost: LP 4000. Twilight Sparkle: LP 4000.

“My turn, draw!” said Ghost. “I summon Wise Core!” An egg shaped machine made of white metal appeared. It had red marking running on its outer shell. It cracked and slid open at the middle to reveal a glowing blue sphere. [ATK0. LV1]

“Zero ATK?” Twilight asked. “What are you up to?”

“I set two cards,” said Ghost. “Turn end!”

“He’s baiting me,” Twilight muttered. “But I can’t back down! My turn, draw!” [Ghost: SPC 1. Twilight Sparkle: SPC 1]

“What happened to Twilight?” Pinkie asked. “She just cut out!”

“You don’t think Ghost got to her, do you?” Fluttershy asked.

“If something bad happened, I’m sure we’d know,” said Rarity.

“Doesn’t mean she’s not dueling him, though,” said Rainbow. “What direction did she head off in?”

“Canterlot, Ah think,” said Applejack.

“Well, we better get over there…” Rainbow yawned.

“No, you and Fluttershy need some sleep,” said Rarity.

“We’ll handle Ghostie for you!” said Pinkie.

“But,” said Rainbow.

“No buts,” said Applejack.

Rainbow sighed. “Fine. Stay safe, girls.”

“Thanks for doing this for us,” said Fluttershy.

The two pegasi ended communication, leaving Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie to chat with each other.

“Okay, girls, let’s get to Twilight!” said Pinkie.

“Right!” said Rarity and Applejack.

“Time to see how well I built this deck,” said Twilight, taking a deep breath. “I summon Krebons!” A strange, bipedal jester with disconnected joints appeared. He was dressed in orange and purple and his eyes were displayed on a green visor across his face. [ATK1200. LV2]

“Hm, hm, hm,” Ghost laughed. “A Psychic-Type deck, huh?”

“Battle!” said Twilight. “Krebons, attack Wise Core!” Krebons conjured up orange blocks of psychic energy, and fired them at Wise Core.

“Trap activate!” said Ghost. “Twin Vortex! When a Monster I control is targeted for attack, I destroy both it and the attacking Monster!” Bolts of lighting struck down and hit both Krebons and Wise Core causing them both to explode.

“You leave yourself wide open just to stop an attack?” Twilight questioned.

“Hm, hm, hm,” Ghost laughed again. “Looks like you haven’t predicted this.”

“Predicted what?” Twilight asked.

“When Wise Core is destroyed by a card effect, I destroy all Monsters on my field and Special Summon one of each from my hoof, deck, or Graveyard: Meklord Emperor Wisel Infinity!” A metallic, disembodied, white chest appeared. An infinity symbol was inscribed on the front. [ATK0. LV1] “Wisel Top!” What resembled a metallic, white cobra without a face appeared. [ATK500. LV1] “Wisel Attack!” A small, white, metal ellipsoid with small, black metal prongs on the front and a blade coming out of the top appeared. [ATK1200. LV1] “Wisel Guard!” What looked like a white, metal clam, its mouth parted to reveal a white pearl appeared, black prongs sticking out of its shell. [DEF1200. LV1] “And Wisel Carrier!” What looked like two white, metal leeches appeared, a small white metal frame holding them together. [ATK800. LV1]

“Five Monsters at once!?” Twilight gasped.

“That’s not the end of it,” Ghost smiled. “Combine, Meklord Emperor Wisel!” The chest flew up high into the air, panels inside the infinity sign opening up to reveal a dark void inside, lit up by a blue atom-like core. The metal ellipsoid stretched out, and clicked into place on the left side of the chest forming an arm and hand, with a sword extending from the wrist. The clam opened and extended as well, attaching to the chest to form the right arm, the back of the hand covered in what seemed to be a shield. The two metal leeches twisted around, and spread out, connecting to the bottom to act as a pair of legs, energy boosters on where the back thighs would be propelling it along. Finally, the cobra slid into the top as its head, panels sliding away to reveal a black screen, with glowing red markings like the ones on Wise Core, completing its face. With all the parts in place, Wisel clenched its right fist, before slashing its sword, an infinity symbol flashing behind it as it completed its pose. [ATK2500. LV1]

“W-What the hay is this?” Twilight stuttered, staring up at the machine that towered over.

“Hm, hm, hm,” Ghost laughed. “This is the beginning of the end for you. Get comfortable, because the real fun has only just begun!”

Author's Notes:

Trying out duels that span multiple chapters so I'll be less tempted to rush through duels like I was in the first arc. Let me know what you think.