Twilight tapped through the touchscreen display of Sunset’s monsters. She’ll keep regenerating her field as long as she has Gula in play. I have to get rid of it and from there, try to get an advantage on her. She’s not destroying my cards – so far, at least – but she’ll keep getting a bigger Life Point advantage every new turn.

“Come on!” Sunset’s snarled comment drew Twilight from her thoughts. “I’m waiting for you to end your turn.”

“Fine. I do.”

“Good.” Sunset snatched her card up and looked over her hand. She sneered and held out a card. “I activate the effect of Infernal Spirit Luxuria. I banish Infernal Spirit Invidia from my graveyard and deal damage to you equal to half the attack points of one of your monsters.” Sunset thrust her hand out. “I choose Honestas, so you’ll take 900 damage!” Luxuria formed an orb of green fire in its claws and shot it forward. Twilight braced herself as the fire exploded before her eyes.

“Fluttershy said a duelist’s deck symbolizes their true self. And my deck symbolizes me and my friends.” Twilight gestured a hand over the cards spread over the table.

Spike inspected the cards and nodded. “Seems so.”

“But, look at this card.” Twilight put her hand on Harmony Spirit Magia. “That’s obviously meant to be me. It’s a unicorn, not an alicorn.”

“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.”

“This again? I’m getting bored with reruns.” Sunset rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Since I banished an Infernal Spirit, the effect of Ira that’s banished triggers, letting me return it to my hand. Avarita’s effect then lets me draw a card." Sunset looked at her hand and frowned. "I set a card and discard one more to keep six cards in my hand, and end my turn.”

“My draw, then.” Twilight drew, and gasped when she saw her card. Finally!

“Don’t get too excited, Twilight.” Sunset laughed and held Ira’s card up. “It’s our old friend, hitting you for another 800 points of damage!” Ira’s enflamed form appeared over the field and fired at Twilight.

“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 flung the booklet in her hands around as she gestured with her hand. “It seems like every time I think I understand a rule, the next page explains how that rule can be broken!” She tossed the booklet aside with a sigh. “Spike, I have to master this game by tomorrow! And I can barely remember what each card type does.”

“Take it easy, Twilight.” Spike put a paw on her hand and smiled up at her. “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. 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.”

Sunset laughed. “Oh, that’s rich. You fretting that you don’t know the rules.” She stopped her laughter and scowled. “You seem to be doing fine to me.”

“I’m a fast learner.” Twilight smiled.

“Did you learn this trick? Since I banished Ira, Gula and Avarita activate their effects, letting me draw a card and revive my Infernal Spirit Invidia.” Sunset smirked. “See? You keep knocking them down but I’ll keep reviving them.”

“We’ll see. I have a few tricks of my own.” Twilight smiled and pulled her cards from her hand. “First, I’ll activate ‘Harmony Bolt’. I’ll discard ‘Harmony Spirit Malus’ from my hand and destroy your face-down card.” A shot of lighting raced across the field and zapped Sunset’s card. It flipped up, revealing itself as Infernal Cloak, and exploded. “Since I discarded Malus, the effects of Gracia, Honestas, and Magnanimity activate. Magnanimity lets me draw a card, Honestas gains 500 points, and Gracia prevents my Harmony Spirits from being destroyed this turn. Then, I switch Gracia into attack mode.”

“Next I activate the effect of Harmony Spirit Cantus in my hand. Cantus lets me discard it from my hand to Special Summon another Harmony Spirit from my deck.” The pale yellow fairy appeared on Twilight’s field and held her hands out, releasing a spray of yellow and blue sparkles. “I summon ‘Harmony Spirit Risus’!” The shower of sparkles condensed and exploded into a pink fairy in a bright pink dress, giggling as she landed on her feet. (1400/1000)

Twilight pointed across the field. “Honestas, destroy Invidia once again!” Honestas ran forward, fist raised. (1800 → 2300)

“Invidia copies its attack power!” Sunset replied. Invidia (500 → 2300) raised a claw to catch the punch.

“And Gracia prevents Honestas from being destroyed!” Honestas struck Invidia’s claw and a shockwave sent the demon flying back to shatter against Sunset’s duel booth. “Gracia, Magnanimity, Risus, attack and destroy her other monsters!” Magnanimity held up a hand and conjured a flurry of gem shards while Risus and Gracia ran across the field. Sunset watched with a scowl as Avarita, Gula, and Luxuria exploded one by one.

“A minor setback,” she hissed. “End your turn.”

“I do,” Twilight said. She’s not bluffing, not entirely. She can definitely recover, but I did a lot of damage to her in the meantime.

Sunset drew and added her card to her hand. “I use the effect of Infernal Spirit Luxuria in my hand. I banish it and Infernal Spirit Gula from my deck to regain 800 Life Points.”

“I then activate Infernal Growth and use it to return Gula and Luxuria to my hand. I summon Gula in defense mode and set a card facedown end my turn.” The yellow two-headed demon knelt on Sunset’s side of the field in front of her facedown card.

Twilight put her hand on her deck and slowly lifted her card.

Sunset flung her hand through the air with a grin. “I activate the Trap ‘Infernal Storm’!” A crackling storm cloud appeared in front of her. “By banishing Luxuria and Invidia in my graveyard, I destroy two cards on your side of the field. I choose Gracia and Risus!” The glowing green and blue spirits of Sunset’s monsters were absorbed into the cloud, and it shots two bolts of lightning across the field.

Twilight looked at her new card and held it out. “From my hand I activate the effect of Harmony Spirit Gracia. I discard it to prevent Risus from being destroyed this turn.”

“Too bad your Gracia on the field has no such defenses.” The lightning struck Gracia and lit up the fairy in electricity.

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Rarity asked, looking up at the dark cloud.

“There’s gotta be something.” Applejack crossed her arms. “Mah friend is in there fightin’ some power-crazed lunatic, and we’re out here watchin’ not even knowin’ if she’s winnin’!”

“Well, I’m open to ideas,” Rainbow muttered.

Suddenly, Fluttershy screamed and collapsed to her knees. The others turned at the sound and gathered around her. “Fluttershy?” Spike asked.

Fluttershy hugged herself, shaking. “I felt it… her pain…”

“It’s like when Twilight dueled me under Sunset’s magic,” Rarity whispered. “Her Gracia card must have been destroyed.”

“But that hasn’t happened before!” Rainbow forced a smile. “So, that means she hasn’t had any others be destroyed yet, right?”

“Yeah, but Sunset uses burn cards,” Applejack said. “She doesn’t need to destroy monsters to win.”

Pinkie pouted. “Way to be a downer.”

Twilight set her mouth in a line as she watched Gracia’s scorched gown dissolve. “Discarding Gracia activates my monster effects. I draw a card thanks to Magnanimity, Honestas gains 500 points, and Risus negates all effect damage I would take for the rest of the turn.”

“Well, that’s annoying.” Sunset snorted. “For now I’ll use my own effects, namely Ira and Gula. Gula revives an Infernal Spirit with a different name from the one I banished. I choose Avarita. Then Ira returns itself to my hand.”

It isn’t enough. She’s struggling to stay in this. Twilight smiled. The advantage is mine for now. “I attack Avarita and Gula with Risus and Magnanimity!” Magnanimity’s gem shards tore apart Avarita’s wings in a shower of blue razors while Risus ran up to Gula and delivered a one-two-punch to its gut, the demon keeling over. “Next, Honestas attacks directly!” Honestas (1800 → 2300) ran across the field and slammed a fist into the front of Sunset’s dueling booth. A blast of orange magic sparked out of Sunset’s booth, knocking her on her back.

“Another good hit,” Twilight whispered. She’d barely finished the thought when white light filled her eyes.

“You told me I could be a Princess to stand by your side!” The angry voice of Sunset Shimmer reverberated off the walls as she looked up at Princess Celestia standing over her.

“I did, Sunset.” Though her voice was calm, Celestia’s face betrayed her smoldering anger. “And those words remain true. The path to greatness remains the same as it has always been: study, hard work, compassion.”

“Five years. I’ve been studying with you for five years!” Sunset snorted. “You made Cadance a Princess after only a year! And now you tell me that Twilight Sparkle is going to get it soon?”

“That is different, Sunset.” Celestia shook her head. “Cadance is bonded to the legendary Crystal Heart, her cutie mark is a sign of a special destiny awaiting her. Her rapid ascension through lessons is proof of this. The same goes for Twilight. When my suspicions about the Elements of Harmony are confirmed, she will be ready to begin her own path to ascension.”

“And me? When do I start down my path?”

“When you choose to walk it. This arrogance and entitlement is unbecoming of a Princess. It is not a title to be earned by insisting you deserve it.” Celestia raised her head to look over Sunset. Sunset turned and saw an attendant nodding at Celestia. “Pardon me, Sunset, I must attend to something. We will talk of this more later. Please, take this time to reflect on my words.” Celestia stepped around her and followed the attendant out of the throne room.

Alone, Sunset looked up at the massive stained glass window rising over her, a white and blue alicorn swirling around six shining gemstones. She growled and turned her head away.

“I bet you wouldn’t think she’s so special if she didn’t have that pretty little star on her flank…”

Twilight blinked away the lights in her eyes. Across from her she saw Sunset grip the side of her dueling booth and pull herself up. Twilight closed her eyes and let out a breath. “That was it, wasn’t it?”

Sunset lifted her head. “What?”

“She wanted you to be a Princess… and you couldn’t get it. You tried to be worthy but it was never enough.”

“Shut up!” Sunset growled. “I don’t need to be lectured by you!”

“I’m not lecturing you, Sunset!” Twilight called back. “I’m trying to understand you!”

“Understand me!?” Sunset grit her teeth and clenched her eyes. “You could never understand me. I came from nothing. I spent my life working my way into that school, earning Celestia’s attention, proving myself to her. And you? You got it all with one exam! And why? Because of some special ‘destiny’? You think having that cutie mark makes you special, makes you better than me?”

“No!” Twilight shook her head. “I’m not better than anypony!”

“At last we agree on something. But I’m not in a bonding mood. I’m in a dueling mood!”

“Fine. I discard one card and end my turn.”

“About time!” Sunset drew her card and looked down at it.

On the other side of the field, Twilight’s mind raced. I know there has to be a good pony somewhere inside her. I was able to use my dueling to bond with my friends in this world, and reach out to the hearts of so many duelists. But Sunset’s heart, her deck, is so full of pain and destruction. She looked down at her deck. I have to try and get through to her, like I did with Trixie and Rarity.

“I activate ‘Infernal Cocoon’.” A pulsing egg, glowing sickly green, rose on Sunset’s field. “This lets me banish Infernal Spirit Invidia from my hand in order to revive a banished Infernal Spirit. I summon Infernal Spirit Gula, in defense mode. I then activate the effect of Infernal Spirit Luxuria in my hand. I banish Luxuria and a copy of Infernal Spirit Avarita from my deck to regain 800 Life Points.” Sunset smiled as a green aura lit up over her.

“Banishing Luxuria activates the effect of Ira that’s banished, as well as Gula on the field. I’ll return Ira to my hand, and use Gula’s effect to revive Infernal Spirit Invidia.” Gula knelt on Sunset’s field, head bowed, while Invidia stood tall beside it, cape blowing. “I end my turn.”

“All right. I draw.” Twilight picked up her card.

“I activate the effect of Ira from my hand.” Sunset held up her card as purple flame lit up around it. “I banish Ira to deal 800 damage!” The purple fire shot at Twilight, light rippling across the field in its wake. She was flung to the back of her dueling booth by the impact.

“I cast the spell so I could find out what it was, but nothing seemed to happen. But now I know something did happen!” Twilight crossed the library to stare at the display case. “The spell has changed the Elements of Harmony! That must be why their cutie marks are all wrong!” She began rapidly flipping through the spellbook floating in front of her.

“So just cast a counterspell to switch them back!” Spike said.

Twilight stopped turning the pages. “There is no counterspell!”

“Why don't you just use that memory spell you used to fix everypony when Discord was here?”

“It's not their memories, Spike. It's their true selves that have been altered!”

“Zecora's cure for the cutie pox?”

“That won't work either...” Twilight shut the book and floated it to Spike’s claws. She turned and began to walk up the stairs to her room.

Spike’s voice stopped her. “Well, maybe it won't be so bad. Maybe our friends will grow to like their new lives.”

Twilight sighed, her eyes watering. “No, Spike. They're not who they are meant to be anymore. Their destinies are now changed… and it's all my fault.”

“Cute.” Sunset sneered as the memory faded from both their minds. “So that’s what earned you those wings? Meddling in magic you don’t understand and screwing up the destinies of your closest friends? And here I thought you were talented.”

“We all make mistakes,” Twilight countered. “What matters is how we deal with them.” She looked at Sunset evenly. “I own up to and fix my mistakes. What about you?”

“I’ll be fixing a very big mistake very soon. For now, the duel. I use Gula’s effect to revive Avarita, in defense mode.”

“Fine. It won’t last long.” Twilight twirled a card in her hand before playing it. “I activate ‘Harmony Textbook’ to discard ‘Harmony Spirit Malus’ and revive Gracia. Then I discard ‘Harmony Spirit Ventus’ to activate its effect, reviving Harmony Spirit Pietas.” Pietas rose onto Twilight’s field in a flurry of blue feathers, punching a fist up into the air. (1600/800) “Discarding Ventus activates my monster effects. Honestas powers up, Magnanimity lets me draw a card, Gracia keeps my Harmony Spirits from being destroyed in battle this turn, and Risus negates the effect damage I take for the rest of the turn.”

This is it. I’ve got a field full of monsters and she can’t damage me with her effects for this turn. “Risus, Magnanimity, Gracia! Attack Sunset’s monsters!” The three fairies ran across the field.

Sunset held a card out. “From my hand, I activate the effect of ‘Infernal Spirit Acedia’!” A demon with blue skin and black armor appeared on Sunset’s field. “By banishing Acedia when you target my monster for an attack or card effect, I negate that action!” Gracia delivered a sweeping kick to Invidia, and Risus slapped a two-handed clobber into Gula. Magnanimity reached Avarita and chopped its neck, but Acedia caught the limb and threw Magnanimity back.

“You held off one attack, but I have two more! Pietas, destroy Avarita!” Pietas flew up and then down, its fist held out. It slammed into Avarita and shattered it into shards of orange light. “And now, Honestas, attack Sunset directly!” Honestas jumped across the field to Sunset’s dueling booth and punched, sending her sprawling backwards.

Sunset slowly walked down the hall, her head low. “It’ll never be enough for her… for anyone… no matter how hard I work, how hard I try… she’ll be better.” She stopped and sniffed. “They don’t even care how well I did today… but they’ll carry Twilight on their backs because she got another perfect score…”

She looked up at the doors at the end of the hall. The handles lit up in teal light and were flung open. Sunset walked inside the small room and stepped up to look into the horseshoe-shaped mirror in front of her. Her reflection stared back at her, her eyes puffy and red.

“If what I read is true…” Sunset reached out and put a hoof on the mirror. It rippled and gave at her touch. She gasped sharply and pulled back. “It is…” She turned her head to look down the empty hall behind her. “A new world, a new start… a chance to live my life without Twilight Sparkle haunting it…”

Sunset turned back to the mirror and took a step forward.

Twilight gasped as the memory ended. “That’s why you came here?”

Sunset slowly climbed to her feet. “A chance to start over, away from you? I’d cross dimensions for that, yes.”

“You gave up your life because of me?” Twilight scowled. “What did I ever do to you?”

“You didn’t have to do anything to me. You just had to be.” Sunset growled. “Because as long as you existed, I could never be good enough. You were the prized pupil, the star student, the one with the special destiny and the unmatched power. Me? I was just another face in the crowd.”

“Stop talking like that.” Twilight let out a breath. “I told you before, Sunset. I don’t think I’m better than you.”

“And that’s stupid!” Sunset interrupted. “You know why? Because you are! You are better than me! You’ve always been better than me! You were more popular, you got better grades, you got into advanced classes I didn’t qualify for! You’ve always shown me up without even trying!”

“I never tried to show anyone up, especially not you. I didn’t even know you were attending the school.” Twilight pointed to the Element of Magic behind the glass case at the side of the field. “Sunset, I didn’t ask to be the Element of Magic, or have that crown. It just happened. Neither of us could control it.”

“And I didn’t ask to grow up in your shadow,” Sunset replied. “But we don’t always get to choose how we live our lives. I had to get away from you, to take control of mine at last. And now here you are, trying to take it back.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “You think being second-best to me justifies trying to steal my Element of Harmony and use it to take over Equestria? What kind of insane logic is that?”

“Because as long as you live, I’ll always know.” Sunset slammed her fists on the booth. “Not a day has passed in this world that I don’t remember Equestria… well, not anymore, not for long.” She slowly laughed. “Soon you’ll be gone. And that crown will belong to me. Everyone will know that at long last, I beat you!”

“You haven’t beaten me yet.” Twilight slid one card onto her field. “I set one card and end my turn.”

“It’s my turn again!” Sunset drew her card out to the side and turned it over. At the sight of it, she inhaled sharply. “It’s here!”

Twilight’s eyes widened. Oh no.

Sunset turned to her, a wide grin on her face. “Well, I was just trying to be dramatic saying you’ll be gone soon. But it turns out I was right.” She held her card up into the air, an aura of red light shining over it. “I call on the power of the Infernal Spirits sleeping in the beyond!” Orbs of colored light in orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and violet, came from the cards in front of Sunset. Twilight’s hair blew out behind her. Her senses were alive with magic and her eyes were wide.

Sunset’s eyes flashed red. “When six Infernal Spirits with different names exist in my graveyard or banished zone, I can Special Summon this monster from my hand! At long last, come forth!” She brought her hand down and slammed her card onto the field.

A jet of red fire shot up into the sky. It widened into a pillar, swirling around itself. A shadowed form appeared behind the flames. The flamed condensed into an orb around the form and then exploded outward.

Twilight’s eyes widened in horror.

A demon with deep red skin floated in front of Sunset. She wore a red and yellow dress, the edges torn and frayed, and a pair of black boots with red trim. A pair of leathery black wings spread in the air behind her, the red insides full of holes. A fluttering red and yellow mass of hair rose from her head, the colors matched by a long tail. The figure opened its eyes, green and black, and looked down at Twilight.

Sunset laughed, her eyes glowing bright red. “I summon ‘Infernal Spirit Superbia’! (2000/2000)”

Twilight blinked. It can’t be… it looks like… “That monster…”

“Is what I’m going to use to finally get you out of my life.” Sunset held a hand over her field. “As long as Superbia remains in play, all other Infernal Spirit monsters in my hand, my graveyard, or on my field, are banished!” Several of Sunset’s cards lit up red and dissolved, reappearing in her banished pile. “But it’s not all bad news. For each Infernal Spirit I have banished with a different name, Superbia gains 500 attack points!” A red aura appeared around Superbia. The demon smiled as the aura flashed and vanished. (2000 → 5000)

“F-five thousand points?” Twilight squeaked.

“Yes!” Sunset cackled. “Now watch them all in action! Infernal Spirit Superbia, end this duel! Attack Harmony Spirit Gracia!” Superbia held out its claws. Magic appeared in its palms, teal mixed with black. The magic grew and condensed into two orbs. “Goodbye, Twilight!”

Superbia flung its arms forward and sent two streams of magic shooting towards Twilight’s field.