The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and inside a stadium a vast crowd of people erupted in cheers. Built to hold tens of thousands of spectators, the arena was packed to gills with the cheering throng, each egging on their favored duelist. On the arena floor, Celestia, mistress of magic and dueling, reigning world champion, and so-called “Princess of Games” faced off against the latest challenger for her position. The rainbow-haired woman wore a flowing white dress and a calm smile, while across from her a black-haired woman in simple street clothes frowned and gritted her teeth.

“My move!” Celestia’s dark-haired opponent called out, drawing a card from her deck. She grinned as she looked at it. “Perfect!”

The woman added the card to her hand before slapping a different card down onto her duel disk. The device featured ten slots, five each for Monster and Spell or Trap Cards. The arm-mounted machine lit up in response to her card even as the holoprojectors scattered around the arena brought the image on it to life.

“I summon Enraged Battle Ox in attack mode!” she cried.

A red-armored figure rapidly took shape in the arena center. Brown-skinned and rippling with muscle, it resembled nothing so much as an anthropomorphized ox wielding a bizarre combination of sword and axe. It swung its weapon experimentally, flexed its muscles, and roared a challenge across the field.

“With only 1700 attack points, that monster is far too weak to defeat the champion’s creature in battle!” the announcer’s voice boomed out. “Has our challenger snapped under the pressure of it all, or is there a method to her madness?”

“Next up,” the woman continued, pressing a button on the back of her disk. “I’ll reveal my face-down card, Ultimate Offering!”

The holographic image of the back of a card laying flat well behind her monster rose up to reveal the image of a bloody silhouette tearing itself from a grinning goblin.

“Ladies and gentlemen, that Trap Card allows her to perform additional Normal Summons beyond the standard one each turn, at the cost of 500 of her life points apiece!” the announcer explained. “But with only 2300 remaining, she had better make each one count!”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” the woman said. “They will.”

She selected two additional cards from her hand, slamming both down onto her duel disk.

“First off, I’ll pay 1000 life points to summon Battle Ox and Beaver Warrior!”

Two more monsters came to life on the field, the first another ox practically identical to the one she had just summoned, the second a short anthropomorphic beaver with a sword and shield.

“And look at that folks! She’s sacrificed almost half her points to put two more weak monsters onto her side of the field! For her sake let’s hope she has a plan!”

“As it so happens, I do.” She grabbed the last card in her hand with a grin. “I pay 500 more life points and sacrifice all three of my monsters to summon my ultimate creature, Beast King Barbaros!”

All three of the monsters the woman had just summoned vanished into small clumps of silvery light, which rose up and fused together into one amorphous silver blob. Then the light rapidly took shape and solidified, revealing a vast and powerful shape. An enormous centaur-like beast stood in the dueling arena. Its lower half resembled a powerful black cat with a stinger on the tip of its tail, while its upper half was that of a well-muscled human. Its face was bestial and it trailed a mane of blond hair. In its hands the woman’s monster clutched a lance and shield.

“With no less than 3000 attack points, our challenger’s monster is the most powerful creature on the field! When she said she had a plan, she wasn’t kidding!” the announcer sounded shocked.

“And not only is my beast fierce, he also has a special ability,” the woman informed her opponent. “You may have noticed that Barbaros is an eight star monster, which normally requires only two sacrifices to summon. But when Barbaros is summoned by sacrificing three monsters rather than two, he can obliterate every single card on your side of the field! So if you still think you’re going to win, it’s time to change your tune! Go!” she pointed. “Destroy her monster!”

Barbaros roared like a lion and leveled his lance at the great golden bird floating behind Celestia. The weapon crackled briefly with energy, and then unleashed a stream of pure power that pierced directly through the bird’s chest. It let out a brief cry, then exploded in a spectacular fireball.

“And both of her face-down cards!”

The lance fired twice more, each shot piercing one of the two card-back images at Celestia’s feet. Both shattered into nothingness.

“And now that she’s wide-open, attack her life points directly!”

Barbaros roared again and charged wildly across the field. The point of his lance shone brightly as the enormous holographic monster jammed it directly into Celestia’s chest. There was another explosion, engulfing the princess in black smoke.

“Unbelievable folks!” the announcer commented. “Within one turn the challenger has completely devastated the champion’s field and carved off a full three-quarters of her life points! One more direct attack like that and it’s all over!”

The crowd went wild for the sudden turnaround. Some cheered, some booed, but almost all of them got to their feet, screaming their lungs out. Even the announcer couldn’t get a word in for a good few seconds. Black smoke continued to rise in a great column from where Celestia had been struck.

Then, somehow, as if by magic, the sound of soft clapping filled the stadium. Every ear could hear it as if it were right next to them, in spite of all the clamor and screaming. As the smoke from the attack finally faded away, every eye fell on Celestia. The Princess of Games was clapping gently, a soft smile on her face.

“Well done,” she said, with no trace of sarcasm in her voice. “Well done indeed, Diana. A masterfully-executed move. I’m impressed.”

“I’m not here to impress you!” her opponent scoffed. “I’m here to beat you! Now hurry up and take your turn so Barbaros can crush you under his paws!”

Her monster held its lance up high and roared again.

Celestia’s smile fell somewhat. “So impatient. Why not sit back and enjoy the moment? You’ve just performed a fine turnaround in front of thousands of cheering fans. Why rush it?”

“Quit stalling and make your move, you washed-up has-been! I’m here to take your title, and I want to get on with it! Unless of course…” Diana smirked a little. “You’re ready to spare yourself more pain and just forfeit now?”

Celestia sighed. “If you insist.”

She drew a card from her deck and added it to her hand.

“Now then, my monster has a special ability as well. You see, whenever it’s destroyed by the effect of a Spell, Trap, or Monster card, it returns from the Graveyard in my next Standby Phase. And as it just so happens, it was! So rise again, my Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys!”

Bright orange flames burst from the Graveyard of Celestia’s duel disk, spreading rapidly to engulf the entire field. Diana shielded her face with both arms as the flames washed over her as well. A portion of the fire rose up behind Celestia in the form of a vast golden bird trailing orange flames from its tail and the back of its head. It shone almost like a second sun, its piercing cry setting the audience even more on edge.

“So what?” Diana managed with an arm shielding her face. “Your overcooked chicken still only has 2400 attack points! That’s nowhere near a match for Barbaros!”

“You could try allowing me to finish,” Celestia replied in a gentle tone. “For the other part of my phoenix’s ability is about to kick in. Whenever it’s Special Summoned from the Graveyard by its own effect like that, it destroys all Spell or Trap Cards on the field! Only, thanks to you, I don’t have any!”

Diana gritted her teeth as the flames converged on her still-active Ultimate Offering, shattering the card into a thousand pieces.

“It doesn’t matter!” she snapped. “Ultimate Offering was of no more use to me anyway! Barbaros is all I need to turn your bird into hot wings!”

“You shouldn’t underestimate your opponent,” Celestia chided a little. “I would have thought a duelist who could make it this far would understand that.”

“Just go!”

“Very well then.” Celestia placed a card onto her disk. “I summon my Hand of Nephthys in attack mode!”

A woman in a revealing gold-orange costume took shape on the field. She wore a face-concealing headdress resembling the phoenix that towered above her, and a small fire danced at her feet.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Diana laughed aloud. “That thing has a measly 600 attack points! What can it possibly do?!”

“Good things sometimes come in small packages, as you’re about to see.” Celestia slipped a card into her disk’s back one. “For I activate the Spell Card United We Stand!”

A card bearing an image of two armored hands clasped in friendship took shape in front of Celestia.

“You see,” she explained. “This card gives whichever monster I equip it to 800 additional attack points for every face-up monster I control! And I choose my Sacred Phoenix!”

Orange waves of power flew from up from the woman and into the towering phoenix. The great bird threw its head back and shrieked like a great eagle as its whole body seemed to shine like a second sun.

“Unbelievable, folks!” the announcer’s voice boomed out. “If I’ve done my math right, that gives the champion’s monster 1600 additional attack points, for a grand total of 4000! If it attacks now, the difference between its attack points and Barbaros’ will come directly out of the challenger’s life points!”

Diana stared slack-jawed as the phoenix rose high into the air, its golden surface shining brighter and bright. Celestia’s other monster raised its hands high, as if in ritual supplication.

“So you see,” Celestia told her opponent. “The bond between my monsters gives my phoenix more than enough strength to wipe out your monster and your life points!”

“No!” Diana cried out. “This isn’t supposed to happen! This isn’t possible!”

“But I’m afraid it is,” Celestia leveled her finger. “Now my Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys, attack Beast King Barbaros and end this duel!”

High above the field the great phoenix shrieked like a hawk. It pulled its wings back and in a single mighty flap, sent a wave of scorching golden fire down upon its enemy. The fire engulfed Barbaros and it roared in pain for a fraction of a second, then exploded. The flames raced one across the field, washing over Diana and hurling her backwards off her feet.

“And there it is, folks!” the announcer yelled out as cheers rocked the stadium. “Our victor and still undefeated world champion, the Princess of Games, Celestia!”

The crowd went wild. Tens of thousands of people rose to their feet, applauding wildly and screaming the champion’s name. Even as the holograms on the field faded away into nothing, the noise grew louder and louder. Soon it was all but deafening.

For her part, the victorious princess seemed to barely notice it all. She walked across the field, waving once or twice to the crowd but for the most part ignoring them. Instead she walked over to Diana, who had just managed to sit up. Celestia looked down at her with a gentle smile on her face.

“A good duel,” she said, offering Diana a hand.

“Bah!” she slapped it away. “I don’t need your condescending pity!”

Celestia barely recoiled. “I’m not trying to be condescending, I just wish to congratulate you on-”

“Oh shut up already!” Diana forced herself back to her feet, turning her back on Celestia. “You beat me, and that’s that! I’m out of here!”

“Please wait, there’s nothing for you to be ashamed of! You fought well!”

“Leave me alone!” Diana stormed off, pushing her way past the tide of reporters already beginning to surge into the arena floor.

Celestia frowned a little, making as if to follow. But she never got the chance, for a small mob of journalists eager to get the first crack at the world champion was already upon her. A half dozen microphones and twice as many questions were shoved into her face before she had time to take a single step.

In the stands, among the still-cheering crowd, stood one small purple-haired girl. Dressed in an immaculately clean school blazer and knee-length lavender skirt, she was looked down at the besieged world champion with awe in her eyes.

“Mommy? Daddy?” Twilight Sparkle looked up at her parents.

“Yes dear?” her mother asked. “What is it?”

“When I grow up,” Twilight declared. “I wanna be just like her.”