“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. “Oooo, 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 problem-o!” 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.

“Hm, 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. “Ooo, 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 gaped. “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.”

“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 become.”

“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 peaked 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 in 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, as 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.”