Dueling Around Canterlot

by Darthvalgaav

First published 22nd of January, 2019

Seven girls trying to protect the city of Canterlot with the power of a childrens card game. What could go wrong?

Have an argument with your friend? Duel to see who is right!
Two people want different types of dessert? Duel and the winner gets to pick!
Is there a force of evil baddies out to steal all the magic in the world and ruin everyone's day? Well you better duel them to stop them!

The city of Canterlot, like the rest of the world, has embraced the spirit of the duel. Here, any problem can be solved with a simple duel. Yet dark forces are gathering, ready to steal all of the Equestrian magic in the world and harness it for their own ends. Can seven girls wielding the heart of the cards contact their duel spirits and stop them in time? The final, epic story in my dueling series begins now!

Editing done by Alchemik

(Side note. If I get enough likes and support I will commission a new cover for this story.)

Shuffle the decks and get ready

In the city of Canterlot, as the moon slowly began to rise over the horizon, a lone figure crept from house to house. Dressed in a dark purple sweatshirt and ripped jeans, this figure managed to avoid being seen by keeping low to the ground. With every window it saw, it would crawl under them. Whenever there was a bush or large tree, the figure would use it for whatever camouflage it could provide. At the sound of an opening door, the figure would halt suddenly in its tracks so that movement would not be caught by the eyes of those around. The figure had been doing this for some time now, probably longer than was needed. In fact, had the figure only started doing this a block or so away from its destination it would have been a much shorter trip!

Eventually the figure saw its target across the street. With eyes hidden under its hood, the figure saw that a few lights were on in the dark purple house. One was in something like a spire on the floor above the doorway with the dark silhouette of a girl with a long ponytail dancing about like a moron. The other two were on the main floor with the lights glow crossing the yard. The figure focused on trying to detect the sounds of a dog barking nearby, but all of those sounds were far off in the distance.

The figure shook its head as it crossed the street in a mad dash with its eyes glued towards the garage. The information provided by its benefactor told that Twilight Sparkle kept all of her science equipment there. Her parents had banned her from doing any research or experiments inside the house. Something about an explosion that caused an odor…or something like that. The figure had zoned out doing that part. All that mattered to them was that all of her information on magic would be there. Ripe for the taking!

As she neared the door, the figure came to a complete stop. On the door was a hand scanner! How the hell did a high school girl get her hands on something like that? Why would a high school girl need something like that? Why hadn’t anybody told the figure about this? The figure had wasted so much time already!

Letting out an annoyed sigh, the figure slowly approached the door in the hopes that it was a fake. Something to scare off would be thieves. But, just as the figure was about to touch the door, the sounds of muffled voices could be heard. People were in there. Two in fact. One was the voice of Twilight Sparkle while the other was Sunset Shimmer. Clenching both fists at the thought of the girl, the figure turned and ran away.

-x-

“I can’t believe this!” stated Twilight Sparkle, her back turned to Sunset who sat on a counter. “Your cards are acting up as well! And they spoke to you? This is amazing!”

“Well it’s only happened once,” replied Sunset as she watched her friend work. Twilight was in her lab coat, several scorch marks and black soot stains dotting various spots on it. Her hair was tied into a bun so it would not accidently obstruct her vision yet there were several stray stands. Both of her hands were concealed by thick black rubber gloves as she worked on one of her latest projects. What it was, Sunset could see it and Twilight wasn’t talking. Apparently it was a secret of some kind. Yet the number of sparks that were flying about made Sunset all the more curious.

“Back at Camp Everfree after we dueled Cinch and Well-To-Do,” Sunset continued as she leaned back and stared at the ceiling. “Prominence just appeared in front of me right after you left. He said something about more battles were coming and that he wanted me to help them get stronger so that they can help. Then he was gone.” At that point, Sunset had put her hand on her forehead. “I didn’t tell you girls about it back then because, well, I thought I was just seeing things. That maybe I wanted to have my cards act like yours so much and after such an intense duel my mind just sort of showed me what I wanted to see. But lately I’ve been having these dreams…”

“Dreams?” asked Twilight before setting down her tools. Sunset sat upright again just in time to see Twilight turning around. Her friend was wearing thick, black goggles that were supposed to help protect her eyes. They did that, but they also gave her the appearance of some sort of big eyed bug that was somewhat distracting. What wasn’t distracting, however, was the clear look of concern that the rest of her face showed.

Sunset nodded. “I’ve…been dreaming about the end of the world,” she admitted. “The ground crumbling away under our feet as trees sort of float overhead. Tentacle vines gripping everything in sight. Mass destruction everywhere you look. And there are several people there, I don’t know who they are but they’re at the center of it all. With all that going on, you’d think I’d be afraid but I’m not. We’re all there. Me, you, Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and even Sonata. We’re running towards this head on while riding our monsters like mounts and battling beside them.”

For a moment there was complete silence in the room. Sunset watched as Twilight brought a hand to rest under her chin so that she took on a thinking pose. Seeing that, Sunset looked away as she began to wonder what her friend was thinking about her. Not that Sunset didn’t have plenty of good guesses herself. To be honest, Sunset feared that she might be starting to crack given everything that had been going on with them this school year. They had gone from a relatively quiet school into the center of magical chaos in a short time. Her turning into a she-demon before being zapped by magic, the Sirens, the Friendship Games, both times at Camp Everfree. The list just seemed to go on. Their lives had been turned upside down ever since she had brought magic into a world that had none. Maybe all of this was just finally getting to her.

“It couldn’t be,” muttered Twilight, snapping Sunset out of her own thoughts.

“What?” she asked.

“I’ve been having similar dreams,” said Twilight as she looked up. As Sunset’s jaw dropped at this new information, Twilight lifted her goggles off of her face and set them on the desk behind her. “I’ve had them a few times over the last couple of nights, but since it looked so similar to the damage I caused when I became Midnight Sparkle I dismissed them as lingering guilt. I remember riding on the back of Axel several times while you flew on the back of-”

“Lavalval Dragun!” finished Sunset as she hopped off the counter, both girls now wide eyed. “We’re both having the same dream!”

“The odds of that happening are very unlikely,” began Twilight as she looked over to a corner where Spike was somehow still snoozing in a little doggy bed. “But, as I once told a good friend, stranger things have happened. Now we just need to figure out why.”

“Back when I was living in Equestria, dream magic wasn’t a very well studied field,” admitted Sunset. “Part of the reason was because of the legend of Nightmare Moon. For so long, nopony wanted to look into the field because of her. Those that did study it could never provide any real results or were just inconsistent. But back when I was her student Princess Celestia mentioned that there are rare times when a dream can show images of a possible future. Sort of a prophecy given to very few ponies.”

“So,” said Twilight as she pulled out her locket and held it up. “You think because we have magic that we were able to see this?”

Now it was Sunset’s turn to place a hand under her chin. “Maybe,” she said. “This only happened after I connected with my cards. We still don’t fully understand what is going on with them. Perhaps that’s the key to figuring out what is going on. They could be the ones showing us this.” She then let out a sigh followed by a half smile. “As if we don’t have enough to worry about. Cinch is still out there trying to steal magic. Never a dull moment.”

“I know,” said Twilight ruefully while shaking her head. “She’s only able to do that because of the technology I left behind at Crystal Prep.”

“Oh, right,” said Sunset as she looked around sheepishly. While Twilight hadn’t said anything, Sunset knew that her purple skinned friend still was taking this pretty hard. It had been her device that had stolen both Applejack and Rainbow’s magic for a short time, preventing them from getting help back at Camp Everfree. While it had been resorted thanks to hers and Twilight’s efforts, Sunset guessed that Twilight was thinking that none of it would have happened had she never made the machine in the first place. Much like how she blamed herself from time to time whenever magic hurt her friends.

“Well, I’m not going to let her get away with that,” stated Twilight more firmly. As she picked up her goggles, the scientist gave her friend a smile before putting them on with a snap that made the former unicorn wince. “The only reason Cinch is able to locate and steal magic is because of the technology I created. Meaning I know how it works far better than her. Ever since we got back, I’ve been working on a way to protect our magic as well as locate magic on a larger scale.”

Sunset tilted her head at that. “Why would you need to locate magic?” she asked.

“Because we knew Cinch is looking for it,” replied Twilight simply. “Using my old device, she was able to locate and steal magic from something or someone we didn’t know about. This might mean that more Equestrian magic is flowing into our world. Or perhaps there is magic in this world that we were never aware of before. Beyond Cinch, we know how magic can sometimes corrupt those it comes into contact with. I’m hoping that with this we can remain one step ahead of Cinch while also preventing magical disasters before they get out of control.”

Sunset let out a hum as she closed her eyes. What Twilight was saying made a great deal of sense to her. The last thing they wanted was for someone like Cinch to use magic to hurt people again. Just thinking about their duel with her, how she used the magic to make her attacks real, was something that she could never forget. Her first victims, the siblings who ran Camp Everfree, were still in the hospital. As for herself, Sunset could forget the deafening sounds of the cannons that fired on her as she was flung up into the air followed by a fall which she landed on her back. The fear she had felt as she believed that she might actually die in that duel.

Then there were all the other crazy things people could do with magic if given the chance. Commanding an entire forest to do their will. Stealing away memories at a whim. Sucking people into mirrors. Transporting people into a white room while creating holographic versions of those people. Even if they couldn’t tell who had the magic, just knowing it was around so that they could be on the lookout a bit better would probably help them avoid a lot of their past mistakes. Maybe even being able to help those people who had already come into contact with it before they transformed into demons.

“Good point,” said Sunset after a moment. “So, how’s the work going?” In response, Twilight hung her head down low before jerking a thumb towards a corner. The former unicorn turned her head…and then winced. In a darkened corner of the room was a pile of burnt out machines the size of Principal Celestia, stacked on top of each other ungracefully. Some of them were still giving off tendrils of smoke that slowly lifted towards the ceiling.

“…It’s a work in progress,” said Twilight nervously.

-x-

Elsewhere, the figure moved through a small wooded area on the outside of Canterlot close to where Crystal Prep stood. The area had a mix of dried leaves on the ground as well as various trash that had been dumped there over the years. The figure passed by trees as well as piles of steel drums, the stench of rotting junk mixed with the air that should have been at its freshest. There were probably a bunch of kids out there, doing things the figure really didn’t a shit about. All she cared for was that they did not disturb them.

After a good ten minute walk, the figure saw her destination in sight. It was an old Victorian style house standing in the middle of a clearing. On its paint-chipped walls were various graffiti tags going all the way up to the third story. Shingles were clearly missing on the roof, visible even with the current lack of light. As for the windows, well, they were all boarded up so that it was impossible for anyone to see the inside. All in all, it looked like an abandoned house just left to sit in the middle of nowhere until it finally collapsed.

Pulling an old key out of her pocket, the figure approached the door and opened it. Now entering the family or sitting room (whichever someone wanted to call it) were filing cabinets and boxes. All of them left there to collect dust until the end of time itself. The floors creaked with every step the figure walked along a trail that had not a speck of dust leading all the way towards something that shouldn’t be in an old house like this: an elevator. Pressing the button to go down, Aria took off her hood before the door opened and walked inside.

Less than thirty seconds later the doors opened again to reveal something far different than what had been upstairs. The walls of this place were made of cold, uncaring metal that looked nicely polished. Several computer terminals looked like they had been built into the walls with fancy chairs in front of them bearing the logo of Crystal Prep. In the middle of the room were several workstations that looked like they belonged in a lab with all sorts of tools that Aria had no clue what they were. Nor did she care. She just walked forward towards the two figures sitting in two of the nice chair, neither one looking like they have moved from their spots since she had left.

“Ah, good,” said Cinch as she turned her chair to face Aria in a villainous manner. “I take it you were able to sneak into Miss Sparkle’s lab?”

“Ah, try no,” said Aria as she crossed her arms while Cinch frowned. “The purple brain child was in there along with Sunset. I had no of knowing when they’d be finally be done talking about their hair or whatever it was they were talking about. And the longer I stayed there the more likely I’d be caught. Plus, you never said she had a palm reader lock on her door.”

At that, Cinch frowned more deeply. “When Shining Armor first mentioned her lab to me, he left that detail out,” she said with a heavy sigh. “Well, there is nothing to be done. We’ll have to keep monitoring her lab for the time being until we have a way of getting in. They we can uncover all of the information she has already gathered about magic in this world. Perhaps even looking at a few of her other creations. I’m sure some will prove to be very helpful.”

“I don’t know why you’re bothering with her,” said Adagio as she leaned back in her chain. “If you have any questions about magic, you could just ask us.”

“It’s important to know what our enemies know,” said Cinch stiffly, causing the other two girls to roll their eyes. Cinch seemed to ignore this as she gestured to Adagio. “Thanks to the information you have provided, there are two possibilities for the disaster at Camp Everfree. One is very simple: I captured too much magic at once. All that power overloaded the systems and failsafe protocols I installed. This is a simple matter to fix. Work is already being made on a special containment unit to store all the magic that we capture. We’ll just have to be careful how much magic we steal at once. As for the other possibility, the magic hadn’t submitted to me.”

“Ah, what?” asked Aria as she raised an eyebrow to that.

Adagio groaned. “Don’t you remember anything?” she said while folding her arms across her chest. A look of superiority that Aria hated so much crossed the speaker’s face as she continued to talk. “Back before those dumb ponies created Equestria, unicorns were always trying to increase their magical power even to the point where they were willing to steal the magic from other. As I recall, the magic they stole often didn’t obey they properly. Even I don’t know how it happened, but eventually they figured out a spell to help them. After the spell was cast two unicorns would challenge each other in magical duels and the loser would have his now somewhat weakened magic drained. Sure the spell to do that was banned when they made their sickening country and the knowledge to do it has probably been lost to time, but it does make some sense. That magic is running around, wild in free like some stupid animal. All we have to do is beat it into submission so it will see us as its new owner.”

“But this is still all simply conjecture at this point,” said Cinch as she stood up, arms behind her back as she moved towards one of the work stations. “We will proceed as if both are true until we have all the information. I have already been in contact with one of my former pupils who works for Kaiba Corp. He has agreed to make the new capture disks based on the designs. Once they are finished, we can duel those bothersome girls and steal their magic. Them and anyone else who has even an inkling of power that we find.”

“That sounds risky,” said Aria with a frown as she gestured to Cinch. “You are a wanted woman. What’s to stop him from turning you over to the police?”

Cinch gave her a cold smile. “Let’s just say I have some dirt on him. Something so destructive that it would eliminate his chances on taking down the new CEO of Kaiba Corp and taking the position for his own. In exchange for his help I will turn over all the evidence for his foul play.” Cinch then shook her head slightly. “Besides, we don’t really have much of a choice now do we? I may be skilled in the sciences, but the amount of work needed to be done is a bit outside my reach and I can’t really be seen ordering too much online. This location will make for a perfect hiding place. Its technically owned by Crystal Prep and was used as an off campus storage location that not many people know about. You can be sure I never told that traitorous witch Cadence about this so the odds of Miss Sparkle finding me will be low.”

“Well then, since we have some free time, I think we’d better add to our numbers,” said Adagio as she too stood. “The more fools we have helping us, the faster we can gather magic. People with skill and hatred of those goodie goodies will make excellent minions.”

“Great, surrounded by even more people I can’t stand,” said Aria with a shrug.

“Hey, if it means we can get our gems and powers back to full while getting some payback it’ll be worth it,” said Adagio as she gave her sister Siren a cold look. “And as a bonus, we get to stay here rent free while Cinch here pays for your smartphone plan. So drop the attitude.”

Aria clenched her fists tightly. She knew the situation they were in. Without their stupid jobs they could neither eat or pay rent. The last thing she wanted for herself was to end up on the streets like they left Sonata, homeless beggars without any even the comfort of their smartphones to give them joy. However, this seemed like more trouble than it was worth to the ancient teenager. While they had the remains of their gems, there was no guarantee this would work.

The moody girl then looked at Cinch, a woman she did not trust at all. When Cinch had first approached them, Aria thought her a complete idiot. She had seen and met plenty of people in the past who had done exactly what she was doing right now: breaking all sorts of laws in order to get petty revenge. For a woman who had supposed to have run a school for a number of years, Aria would have thought she should have at least heard at least a few of the more famous cases and learned something: it never ended well. However, Cinch had bigger plans beyond that. Once she got her revenge and was able to harness magic she would begin selling it the highest bidders as a new source of power. She could make a fortune turning it into a fuel source consumed by the masses all the way to weapons for the military. Cinch was even toying with the idea of ripping open portals to Equestria, something she had seen her former student doing at some stupid event called the Friendship Games. A world where human rights did not apply to that she could strip bare of its natural resources as well as its magic. All she needed to do was find a way to keep people from turning into those colorful freaks. With that kind of power behind her, she could buy her way out of the law.

If everything worked out well, they would all profit. Both she and Adagio could do whatever they wanted. They could be back on the stage as a singing duo, living forever again and having a real meal again. Or they could become partners with Cinch, destroying the world that had kicked them out and left them to rot in this dump. Aria was all in it. But Adagio, the risks seemed too big. If they messed up they could all go to jail for a long time and she didn’t really feel like wasting whatever time she had left in this world by sitting in a cell. Or being on the run, stuck with this morons who kept thinking about how to get revenge.

On the other hand, she was just so hungry for a real meal. Just one more like at the Battle of the Bands. Just one more bite.

“Whatever,” said Aria as she turned around and began to head to her room. She would need a long rest to prepare for what was about to happen.

Author's Notes:

Hello everyone. Thanks for reading. I have the next several ideas for duels all planned out, but I will be willing to listen to suggestions.

I decided that in this box I should explain why I gave the characters the decks that I did one at a time. Some you may get and others you will try to burn me at the stake for what little sense they make. This way I can at least defend myself!

Lets start with Cinch. For those of you who have read my previous story will know that I gave her a Monarch deck with a pinch of Wicked cards. To be honest, I had thought about Fabled or Darklords to give her a 'Fall from Grace' them. Maybe even Evilswarm. In the end, I figured this would be the best. Its an old school method of playing the game and, with the right cards, it can hurt your opponent. It also symbolizes her well, willing to sacrifice others for her own ends and to achieve more power. As for the other two Sirens with her? Well you'll just have to read and find out!

Dueling for a Room

“Are you really sure this is alright Mrs. Velvet?” asked Sonata, paintbrush in hand as she stood on a tarp. Beside her was a paint tray that was nearly depleted of the light blue paint that the two of them had been using.

“It’s not a problem at all,” replied Twilight Velvet, taking a moment to wipe a bit of sweat off her brow. She then turned to look at the blue skinned girl revealing that she had accidentally smeared some paint onto her own white skin. “A nice girl like you shouldn’t be living by herself on the street. Besides, no one has really used this room since Shining Armor moved out.”

“No, I mean the redecorating,” said Sonata as she looked around the room. When she had first arrived the room had been much different. The walls had been a very uncheerful dark purple broken only by the various posters of different sports teams and golden trophies. The floor was hardwood and a tad dusty from having been unoccupied for so long. The lighting in the room was very old-fashioned, looking like human arms holding candlesticks with light bulbs instead of flames.

Now, things were very different. Dirty tarps laid over the bed and dressers to protect them from the work the two were doing. The walls were now a light bluish color except for the bottom where it had a more sandy color with red corals painted here and there. On some of the already dried areas, Twilight Velvet had painted in various sea life including manta rays, eels, humpback whales, and sea horses just to name a few. Seashells and starfish had been easily acquired, placed in a steel bucket in the room until they were finished painting. They had also gotten her some throw rugs that would placed next to the bed so that her feet wouldn’t be cold when she woke up in the morning. In short, everything was being done to make Sonata feel more comfortable within their home.

All of this was very touching, but it also made the girl feel a bit guilty. She could have been given the room as it was and it would have been more than she deserved. After all, Sonata remembered just how mean she had been back when she had first started school. How she and her sisters had brainwashed everyone there and tried to take over the world. Not to mention all the times they had caused people to fight with each other for over a thousand years. Sonata knew that she wasn’t the smartest person on the block, but even someone like her knew that being given all of this was far more than someone like her deserved.

Yet, despite this, Twilight’s family had welcomed her into their home after they had found out she was now homeless. Every day, Mrs. Velvet made sure Sonata had three square meals even going to the trouble of packing her a lunch when she went to work. Somehow, those home cooked meals she ate with them at the table tasted better than anything she could remember for the longest time. Then there was Twilight who helped her with her homework as well as helping quiz her on the procedures a manager at Taco Loco must know. Even when Sonata made a really big mistake, the purple skinned girl never yelled at her or threatened to beat her up. She sometimes looked annoyed, but she never gave up on her. As for Mr. Night Light, he spent most of the day at work so she didn’t get to see him very often. But he was nice to talk to when he got home. The man told her that if there was anything bothering her to let him know right away. Even Spike wanted to make her feel welcome by letting her be a part of his web show.

How long had it been since Sonata had felt like this? For as long as she could remember, she had been with her sisters. Never once did they have this level of…family. Sure they sat down at the table together, but that had always been more for show since they didn’t really need to eat anything. They could survive on the negative emotions they stole from those around them. They weren’t together because they were family, but because they needed each other. If one member of the group was missing their powers didn’t work. It was sad to think about it, but the only reason they were sisters was because of need rather than want. Maybe that’s way Adagio was always so mean and Aria was always so annoyed.

Looking back at Twilight Velvet, she was that the middle aged woman was smiling. “Sonata, this is going to be your home until you are able to stand on your own feet,” she said. “So I think it’s only fair that we make sure you’re as comfortable as possible while you live here.”

“But-” began Sonata only to be silence as Mrs. Velvet held up a single finger to silence her. A gesture she had seen Adagio use plenty of time before. Normally she would have flinched at the sight, but she did not. Perhaps it was because Mrs. Velvet was looking at her so kindly instead of the annoyed glare her sisters would always give her.

“Twilight told me a little bit about you,” she began as she slowly lowered her hand. “That you hung around with a bad crowd and did some bad things. But eventually you wanted to change, that you wouldn’t hurt people anymore. If that’s what you want to do then me and my family are more than willing to help. And the first step is making you know how much you are welcome here, in our home.”

Sonata sniffed as she felt some warmth around her eyes. “It still feels like so much,” she said softly with a small smile.

“Well, if that’s the way you feel about it you could think of it as helping me out,” laughed Velvet as she turned back to her work. “Do you have any idea how bored I’ve been lately? Me and my husband haven’t gone on any trips for so long. All he wants to do these days is play bingo! Searching the beaches and going to rummage sales is like a mini treasure hunt! Plus, I get to practice on my painting skills.” At that, Sonata looked over at what Mrs. Velvet had been painting. While a bit crud, Sonata could make out two people in scuba gear within a metal cage. Circling around the cage were two hammerhead sharks. “Ah, our second honeymoon.”

“Being trapped in a cage surrounded by sharks?” asked Sonata as she tilted her head. Seemed weird to the girl to be in a cage where you couldn’t pet the sharks. Then again, humans could be weird sometimes.

“Well, that’s one of the things we did while we were in the islands,” said Velvet as she placed a free hand to cup her cheek while a dreamy expression appeared on her. “We also went paragliding, zip lining through the jungle, got stranded in the middle of the jungle with only a single pocket knife, and were chased by angry natives because Nighty refused to drink their wine. Such a wonderful trip. I really wish we could do it again. But for some reason Night Light seems to refuse.”

Before she could comment on this, Sonata’s flip phone began to beep loudly. “Is it that time already?” asked the blue haired girl as she pulled it out of her pocket. She opened it up and saw that it was her alarm, set to go off an hour before she had to leave for work. Sighing, she closed it before turning to look at the other woman with a half smile. “I’m sorry but I got to get ready to go.”

“It’s fine,” replied Velvet as she got up. Raising both her arms up, she let out a low groan as she stretched so hard her back cracked. “Tomorrow is Sunday so maybe we can finish up then. I’m sure if the rest of the girls helped out this would be done in no time.” Velvet then looked thoughtful as she lowered her arms. “Speaking of the girls, do you have any idea where Twilight went to? I didn’t see her at breakfast.”

“Oh, I saw her earlier,” said Sonata with a bit of an embarrassed blush. “She said she was going to this pawn shop she gets a lot of materials and stuff from. Ah, she mentioned seeing this desktop computer there that might still be good for me so she’s checking it out. Maybe she even got the others to help her?”

“Well, that’s sweet of them,” said Velvet as she began walking out of the room. “Just let me know when you’re ready to go and I’ll give you a lift to work.”

After the door shut, Sonata spun so that she faced the closet where she kept her manager’s uniform. Not wanting to keep Mrs. Velvet waiting too long, the blue skinned teen raced over to it. In her rush, however, Sonata tripped over her own feet. She cried out as she fell while her arms flailed about trying to grab anything in order to stop herself. Luckily, she managed to grab a hold of one of the odd lighting fixtures in the wall. For a moment she hung there, sighing in relief.

Then, she sank a bit lower as a clank was heard.

-x-

Shining Armor drove down the streets of Canterlot on this fine Saturday morning with the windows down. The wind swept through his hair while the scent of spring filled his nose. Glancing towards the sidewalks he saw that plenty of other people were taking advantage of the nice weather. Whether it be riding their bikes, walking their dogs, or just going for a jog it was nice to see so many people out and about. Heck, he had even seen that new pink haired friend of his sister’s. What she was doing floating above the sidewalk with several balloons tied to her waist while wearing a blinking hat was beyond him. Perhaps it would be better if he didn’t think about it too hard.

Slowing down a bit, Shining made a left hand turn into his parent’s driveway. Parking next to his mother’s Hummer, Shining popped the trunk before getting out. Humming a tune that his sister’s band did for that music video he got out of the car. For a moment he stood there, looking up at the house he had grown up in while using a hand to block out some of the sun’s rays. It felt good to be home. As he went to the trunk to grab his bags Shining wondered if his family would be surprised to see him. It had been a while since he had spoken to them after all.

With bags in hand, Shining walked towards the front door and let himself in. After all, there had never been any need to knock before. Plus with his mother’s car in the driveway along with the door being unlocked meant that at least one person was home.

As he set down his bags to close the door Shining saw his mother enter the hallway. “Shining,” she gasped, a hand going straight to her chest. “I thought that was Twilight at the door.”

“Naw, just me Mom,” replied Shining as he walked over to the older woman to give her both a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Surprise!”

“Shining,” said Velvet as she looked over his shoulder, most likely noticing his bags. “Not that I’m not glad to see you, but has something happened?”

Shining pulled back a bit, scratching the back of his head as he did while also looking away. “Well, sort of,” he said. “There was a problem with apartment complex’s pumping and, well, not going into too much detail a lot of the pipes need to be replaced. The manager said it might take a month or two to fix everything. So I thought I’d crash here until the repairs are done.”

Velvet shook her head. “I told you not to rent there,” she said in her ‘I told you so voice’. The voice that everybody fears hearing from their parents. That, as well as having her fold her arms across her chest which she did. This caused Shining to sweat a tad while giving her a forced smile.

“Hey, it was cheap,” he said as if this explained everything. Which, in his mind, it did. His apartment wasn’t some dank or dingy place and it offered everything a guy like him could want at a third of the price as normal apartments. It was on the smallish size, meaning his living room also doubled as his bedroom. But it provided all of his basic needs while also allowing him to save money for the future. A good trade off in his opinion. Besides, he had been there for years and this was the first major issue he had with the place. Plus, the twin brothers who ran the place were just so friendly!

“So,” he said as he noticed she was still giving him that look. “I thought, since I was going to be without a place to stay for a while, why not come back home. You know, spend time with my favorite mom in the world.”

“I’m your only mom,” retorted Velvet with a frown.

“Maybe help out around the house while I stay in my old room,” continued Shining, causing his mother’s eyes to widen and her arms to drop to her sides. He took a step back. “Look, if it’ll make you feel any better, I’ll also start looking for another apartment or something. After I take my bags upstairs.” Velvet opened her mouth, but Shining spoke up before she could say anything. “If it will make you feel any better, you can give me your opinion.”

Before Velvet could say or do anything, Shining had already turned and taken hold of his bags. Quickly he strode up the stairs as his mother began to call out his name, telling him to wait for some reason. Still Shining pressed on forwards as he reached the top of the stairs, stopped in front of his room, and opened the closed door.

What he saw was not what most people expect to see in their room. Well, most people do have fantasies about see a cute girl standing by their bed. Yet those types of fantasies usually hinted at something else rather than what Shining was seeing right now. First of all, she was not sitting or lying on his bed waiting for him but instead was standing next to it. Then there was the fact that she was not dressed like a cheerleader or simply in her underwear. Instead she was just tucking in her uniform for that semi-ok taco place he sometimes went to. Perhaps most glaring of all was, in those fantasies, a person would usually have some idea who that girl was. Be it a girl whose pictures or videos you had seen online, someone you worked with, or even went to school with. This girl, however, was none of those for he was sure he had never seen her before.

“Oh, hi,” said the girl in a cheerful tone, grinning as she began fusing with her hair. “Haven’t seen you around here. Could you tell Mrs. Velvet I’m almost ready to go?”

Shining didn’t answer, only closing the door as his brain began to process what he had just seen. There was a girl he didn’t know in his room…HIS ROOM! It looked like someone had vomited the ocean on the walls! And where was all of his stuff that he had left behind? The stuff his parents had promised to hold on to! Did they find his secret-

“Shining Armor!” said Velvet as she reached the top of the stairs, a frown on her face again.

“Mom, what happened to my room?” demanded Shining Armor as he pointed at the now closed door.

Velvet frowned a bit deeper now. “This is what happens when you don’t call ahead and tell us when you’re coming home,” she said as she shook her head. “Or, when you don’t listen to someone downstairs when their trying to tell you something.”

Shining Armor blushed sheepishly. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“Well, surprise,” said Velvet with a sigh before she glanced at the door. “That girl in there is Sonata Dusk. Poor girl was living off the streets with no one to turn to. So we invited her to stay with us.”

“Ok,” said Shining Armor slowly. “But why is she in my room instead of the guest bedroom?”

Velvet did not look amused by this. “Because the guest bedroom is for guests,” she said in a matter of fact voice. “Sonata is going to be living with us so she is not a guest. And since you don’t live here anymore I thought she should have it.”

“But…But that’s MY room,” insisted Shining Armor. “With my stuff in it! What happened to all of it?”

“First of all, that is not your room,” said Velvet in a voice that said she had had enough of this. “This house belongs to me and your father. Therefore that room belongs to us and we can give it to whoever we want. As for your stuff that we were holding for you, we put it in the basement for the time being. Perhaps if you had called ahead like a normal person, I would have been able to tell you all of this before you got here.” There was a slight pause as her face softened a tad. “You can still stay here, of course, until you are ready to move back into your apartment. Or until you find another, better one that can hold more than three people. The guest room is yours for as long as you need it.”

Shining Armor couldn’t help but cringe when he heard that. The guest room?!? The room with the extra hard mattress? The room that has the low window facing east, making it impossible to sleep in because the sun is shining in your eyes? The room with the ugly carpet? He gets that room while this stranger gets his room?

Grumbling to himself about this unfair treatment, Shining Armor picked up his things. As he righted himself, a horrifying thought crossed his mind. “Ah, mom,” he said trying his best to sound normal…and failing. “You didn’t find anything in my room, did you?”

“Find anything?” repeated Velvet as she raised an eyebrow. “You mean something other than your posters and trophies? No.” As Shining Armor let out a very visible sigh of relief, his mother leaned forwards a bit. “Why? What were you hiding in there?”

Shining Armor began to panic slightly as sweat began to form on his face. While he was happy they hadn’t found his secret, there was no way he could tell her what it was! That’s why it was called a secret! Only he and his closest friends knew what he had painstakingly hidden within the walls of that room. If anybody ever found out it would be the end of him. People would never be able to look at him the same. They would be disgusted by his mere existence, never able to show his face in public again! Cadence would never go on another date with him for as long as he breathed. The news channels and web sites would have a field day. He would be exiled to the farthest corner of the galaxy!

At that moment, the door opened. “Ah, sorry to interrupt,” said Sonata. “This sounds super important, so if you need me to walk to work I can.”

“Oh no,” said Velvet as she looked at Sonata. “I completely forgot. Don’t worry; we’ll get going right away.” She then turned to look at Shining. “And when I get back, we’ll talk about this some more.”

-x-

Later that night, Shining Armor found himself staring up at the ceiling as he laid on the very hard mattress. His bag laid piled up on the floor. There was only a single dresser in the room, not nearly enough space for everything he had brought. So he thought he might as well not unpack them in here. He heard the clock on the wall tick away as the night grew later, yet was unable to sleep with everything that had gone on.

After his mom and Sonata had left, Shining had gone into his room to check and make sure the important stuff was still there. Thankfully, none of the unnecessary remodeling had hindered his process. To his delight, none of it looked like it had been touched. The relief as well as the time it took his mom to get back helped him come up with what he felt was a convincing cover story for his behavior. He had told his mom that there had been several sports magazines that had some value to them. He had even gone down to the basement to collect a few of them and told her he had found what he was looking for. His mother had given him a questioning look, but didn’t press the issue. More than likely, she would give the room a once over to see if he was hiding anything else but if she hadn’t found it by now it was doubtful that she ever would.

Despite this relief, Shining knew he couldn’t let things stay like this. That Sonata girl was in his room and the longer she stayed in there the sooner it would be before she stumbled onto his secret. If it were possible, he would have it removed and be done with it but he didn’t know how to without drawing suspicion. It was all he could think about when he met up with Twily and his father. With every bite of dinner he chewed, he thought of all the possible ways he could remove it without anyone growing all the wiser. Heck, it was a miracle he was even able to get it in there without people noticing the first time! Sadly, nothing came to him. In fact, his mind kept showing him how much worse it could get. If he got caught then he would be in trouble even if he was just seen in his room alone. People might think of him as some sort of freak, going through a teenage girls stuff. His mother might even kick him out of the house in his time of need!

Then, things took a turn for the worse. Shining had decided to ask his father a bit more about Sonata in the hopes of getting to know a bit more of the freeloader who had taken over his room. What he heard was not comforting. All his father had been willing to tell him was that Sonata had hung with a bad crowd for a long time and had done some bad things that eventually got her expelled. It was only recently that she was allowed to go back and she was trying to turn over a new leaf. That sounded an awful lot like she had been part of a gang for a while. She might even have a criminal record! Who was to say that she had even turned over a new leaf? This could all be some sort of long term plan of hers. Getting a family to take her in, earn their trust, get them to buy her a bunch of extra stuff before BAAM it’s all stolen right out from under them.

Judging by the way he spoke about her, Shining was sure that his father had been completely suckered in by her act just like his mother. He couldn’t even talk to Twily about this since she was the one who asked their parents if this freeloading thief could stay with them. If he were to talk to them he was sure that they would think he was just upset about his room. But that was only part of his concern! He was also worried about them!

As the seconds ticked by, Shining Armor knew it was up to him to safe the castle that was his parent’s home. If not for their sakes, than for Twily’s. That and ensure she couldn’t stumble onto his secret. But mostly for his family of course. And he knew the perfect way to do this.

-x-

“Hey Sonata, I’m heading out for a while. Do you want to come along?” Sonata looked up from the back of the cereal box, her finger trying to get out of the maze printed on its back, to see Twilight standing by the door. Her new, kinda sort of, nerdy sister/ housemate was standing by the door dressed in her white and blue striped top with a purple skirt. Hanging on her shoulder was a bag with her star symbol on it.

“Where’re you going?” asked Sonata as she tilted her head.

“Oh, just to the card shop to meet up with the girls,” replied Twilight in an easy-going tone. “Sunset wants our opinions on some new extra deck monsters and a few other cards to help make her deck stronger. I’ve been thinking of adding some new cards myself like Armory Arm to improve the power of my Genex Allies.”

Sonata hummed for a moment, lifting her other hand to put it next to her head so she could think. Not paying attention to the fact that she had been in the middle of eating her cereal and thus was still holding the spoon. “Thanks but I’m going to have to pass,” she said with a groan as she felt the milk drip down her face. “I’ve got this super long essay that needs to be done on Monday and I have even started it yet.”

Twilight frowned. “That’s for English, right?” Sonata nodded. “It’s not that long. Just four pages minimum double spaced.”

“Sooo long,” replied Sonata as she sank into her seat, her finger still on the back of the cereal box. “Normally I wouldn’t care, but I don’t want to make your mom upset. After breakfast I’ll get to work on it until she and your dad get back from the store.”

Twilight smiled at that. “Ok then,” she said. “Well, if you need help I’m there for you. Bye.” With that, Twilight left walked out the door.

As Sonata sat there, she turned her attention back to the matter at hand: the maze! For something labeled for children ages 3-8, this was super hard! She had spent the last thirty minutes on it, constantly bumping into dead ends. Well, that was soon going to change! Right now she was near the bottom, closer than she had ever been before. Nothing was going to spot her-

“Sonata Dusk, I challenge you to a duel!” shouted Shining Armor as he suddenly appeared at the end of the stairway, causing her to jump in her seat. In that moment, the most horrible thing Sonata could image at that moment happen: she lost her place!

“Look what you made me do you jerk!” shouted Sonata as she stood up to look at Twilight’s brother. He was standing there, duel disk on his arm while the other hand was pointing at her. He was giving her a look much like the one that her sisters used to give her when they were super duper annoyed at her. Come to think of it, ever since she returned home from work last night, Shining Armor had been giving her odd looks that made her feel a little uncomfortable.

“Here are the terms,” continued Shining Armor as he walked towards her, still pointing at her. “If I win, you leave this house tonight and never speak to my family ever again!”

“But…But I don’t want to leave,” said Sonata as she took a step back. “Why would I ever agree to that?”

“Because I know who you really are,” said Shining Armor as his glare grew stronger. “What you’ve done and what you plan on doing! You may have the rest of my family under your little spell, but not me! If you refuse this duel then I will do everything in my power to get enough evidence about you so that they will have no choice but to see you for what you really are!”

“I don’t have anyone under a spell anymore,” said Sonata as her heart race increased. “I haven’t been able to do that since I lost my gem.” A smirk appeared on Shining Armor’s face, causing the former Siren to panic even more. How could he have found out about what she really was? Twilight had given her word that no one in her family would ever find out that she was from Equestria or that she had been a mind controlling creature. She knew deep down that Twilight would never of told him, so how did he find out?

Sonata held herself to keep her body from shaking. If she didn’t accept this duel then Mrs. Velvet would know the truth about her. If that ever happened then Mrs. Velvet would be super hurt and sad. Maybe she might even get mad at Twilight for suggesting that she be allowed to stay with them. She didn’t want to get Twilight in trouble too! Not after everything she had done for her. But how could she stop him? If she refused the duel then he would tell on her. Even if he couldn’t do it right now he probably could do so later. If she accepted the duel and lost, then at least they wouldn’t know. Only, she would be all alone again and living off the streets.

“Fine, then,” said Sonata as she clenched her fist. “I’ll duel you. But if I win, then you keep your big mean mouth shut!”

Still smirking, Shining Armor moved his free hand to his chin and began to rub it as if he were mockingly considering it. “I figured you say something like that,” he said in an amused tone. “That’s fine I guess since there’s no way you can beat me.” He then turned so his back was facing her. “Meet me in the backyard in five minutes.” With that said, he walked out the front door.

Not waiting to clean off the table, Sonata ran upstairs to her room to retrieve her duel disk. This went by quickly seeing as it was set next to the computer Twilight had gotten for her. As she donned her dueling device, Sonata kept her eyes on the machine. The one her friend had set up just for her without asking anything in return. The one she had de-wormed, something that still freaked Sonata out a lot since she never knew a computer could have slimy worms in them. With a nod, Sonata vowed she would win this duel so she could stay with her friend and the rest of this nice family before heading out the door…only to walk back in because she forgot her deck.

By the time she got to the backyard, she saw that Shining Armor was standing on one foot, a stick in one hand as he tried to scrape something off his shoe. “Twily, would it kill you to pick up after Spike more often?” he muttered to himself. Hearing this, Sonata moved carefully across the backyard so she was on the opposite side so that she didn’t step on any doggy landmines. It was slow going and by the time Sonata was in place, Shining Armor had tossed the stick to the side. Both of them looked at the other while they raised their duel disks.

“Connecting,” said a female mechanical voice. “Opponents found. Displaying order now.” In the middle of the field appeared a flat holographic image of a portrait, only on one side was Sonata while the other was Shining Armor. The image began to spin round and round, faster and faster until finally it stopped on Shining Armor.

“Looks like it's my lucky day,” he said as they both drew their starting hands, their life points showing they both had 8000 to start off with. “I draw!” There was a pause as Shining drew his sixth card and added it to his hand. “Looks like I’m off to a great start! I summon Noble Knight Medraut in attack position!” Light particles began to gather together, forming a human as he walked onto the field. Medraunt was about the same size as Shining Armor with short blond hair and blue piercing eyes. He wore clothing that, to Sonata, looked very poofy in the arms and legs department which made her very glad that fashion trend died out many years ago. He wore armor on his shoulders, upper chest, feet, and hands while carrying a long broadsword. His attack was 1700.

“Medraunt has a special ability,” said Shining Armor proudly. “Until he is equipped with a equip spell card he is treated like a normal monster. But if I were to, say, equip him with the Noble Arms of Destiny card I have in my hand then he gains a very powerful effect.” Shining slide the spell card into the slot on his duel disk, causing the sword Medraunt was holding to turn into an older and thinner blade. “I will now activate his effect. First his level raises and his attribute become dark. But that’s nothing compared to his true power: if I have no other monsters on my field then I can special summon one monster from my deck in defense position and then destroy my equip card. So I special summon Noble Knight Borz.” Light gathered together again, this time creating another human in knight armor. This time the human had brown hair and wore a mostly blue suit of armor with silver trimming as well as a long flowing red cape. He knelt down on a single knee holding not a sword but instead a glowing golden cup. His defense points were 600 while his attack was 1700.

“I feel like I’ve seen these guys before,” said Sonata to herself. Something about them was eerily familiar. Had she and her sisters sung for them before? She couldn’t remember when they had sung to trading cards before.

“I now equip Borz with the equip card Noble Arms – Gallatin!” said Shining Armor as his monster gained a sword. “Now I activate his effect: I select three of my Noble Arms equip cards from my deck and you get to pick one at random. The one you choose is added to my hand while the rest go to my graveyard.” A holographic screen appeared before Shining Armor. While Sonata couldn’t see what he was looking at, she knew that those were all the equip card in his deck. The rude brother of Twilight scrolled down the list pressing random images until he had selected three. When that happened, the screen before his vanished only to be instantly replaced by three cards with their backs facing Sonata. “Choose wisely.”

Sonata hummed as she looked at the three card, eyeing each one of them. There was no way to tell what they were or what they did. But she was sure that no matter what she picked, one of them would help Shining. Perhaps something to equip again to Medraunt. “I’ll go with the middle one,” Sonata said at last, pointing at the one she had picked.

“You have chosen…poorly,” said Shining Armor as his duel disk ejected three cards. The man looked at them briefly before putting two of them into his graveyard and flipping the last one over to show Sonata what she had picked. “This card is Noble Arms – Excaliburn. The equipped monster cannot be targeted by a monsters effect. So I’m going to equip it to my Noble Knight Medraunt.” Once again, Medraunt’s sword changed. This time it took on the appearance of something more high tech. the double edged sword he now held had lines of energy running along the surface, on one side red while on the other side blue. “Since Borz also become a level 5 monster when equipped as well as a Dark attribute monster, I can create the Overlay Network!” At that moment, the ground began to swirl with dark comic like energy which sucked in both of Shining Armor’s monsters while their owner began his chant. “The swords clang loudly as the war rages on. Noble king, rise from your throne to bring righteous victory! Xyz summon. Rank 5 Sacred Noble Knight of King Artorigus!” Now appearing on the field was a man taller than the previous two with a bulkier form. He stood there with two swords, one in each hand as his red cape blew in the wind. He wore silver armor with bluish energy patterns on it that seemed to give off a mist that rose off of him before fading away. Below his brown hair was a circlet band. The monsters attack and defense points were the same at 2200.

“Wait a minute,” gasped Sonata as she stared at Shining Armor’s monster. “I know who that is!”

“I should hope so,” said Shining Armor as he puffed out his chest. “Many stories and legends have been told of this noble-”

“He’s that creepy pervert!” shouted Sonata suddenly, causing Shining Armor to do a double take. But Sonata kept staring at the monster, her eyes narrowing in dislike.

-Flashback-

“Hurry up Sonata, we don’t have all day,” shouted Adagio as she stood by the lakeside tapping her foot impatiently. Her eyes were focused on her blue skinned sister who was standing in water so deep that it went up to her hips. Soaked from head to toe, Sonata’s clothing clung to her body so that every curve was easily seen. In one had was a sword while in the other was a rag.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” asked Sonata as she ran the rag over the wet blade as she tried her best to remove the blood stains.

“Are you questioning my brilliant ideas?” huffed Adagio. “A used weapons stand is perfect with all these wars going on. All we need to do is collect them from the battle fields before someone else comes along, clean them up, and we make a nice easy profit to live off of while we suck in all this negative energy in the air. It’s a foolproof plan that even an idiot like you can see the genius in.”

“Actually, I was talking about just me doing all the cleaning,” said Sonata as she sank a bit deeper into the water. “Wouldn’t this go a bit faster is you two helped me?”

“The people with brains don’t do manual labor!” roared Adagio, her skin turning red as she shouted. “Now shut up and get back to work while me and gloomy girl secure us a spot in the towns market. And you’d better have all those swords shiny by the time we get back!” With that, Adagio stormed off nearly slipping in the mud as she did so.

Letting out a groan, Sonata looked down through the crystal clear water. Near her feet were over a dozen swords soaking in the river water just waiting for her to pick them up. All of these were the best blades the three of them could find, ones without chips or dents that could easily be seen. But the stains were just a nightmare to get off of them. Really she could use some help, but it was unlikely that no matter how many times she asked Adagio would never consent. Aria was pretty much the same.

After Adagio had been gone for several minutes, Sonata heard a noise coming from the reeds near her. At first she ignored this, thinking it just to be another animal looking for a drink. It was only when she heard a very human gasp did she turn to look in its direction finding a young human male staring at her with gaping eyes. Embarrassment flushed over her as she felt him eyeing her.

“Get out of here you pervert!” shouted Sonata as she flung the sword she had been polishing into the reeds. There was the unmistakable sound of a sword hitting mud followed slowly by the boy getting up. And, to Sonata’s horror, in his hands was the sword.

“The Lady of the Lake gave me a sword!” the boy shouted as he ran off.

“Wait, I wasn’t finished polishing that!” shouted Sonata. “Plus you haven’t paid for that. It’s only thirty silver coins, a bargain!” But the boy did not turn around. Instead he kept running until he was out of sight. In the end, Sonata shrugged before she dived into the water to get the next sword. She had a lot of work to do and now she had one less blade to clean.

-End Flashback-

“Ok, I’m just going to ignore that crazy,” said Shining Armor slowly. “The sooner I finish this turn the closer I am to removing you from this house! Since my Noble Knight was successfully summoned, I can now pull three Noble Arm cards from my graveyard and equip them to him. I choose Noble Arms – Clarent, Excaliburn, and Gallatin!” In front of King Artorigus, three sword shot out of the ground with the hilts facing the sky. Artorigus looked at them for a moment before sheathing the swords in his hands. The sword Gallatin he also sheathed while Clarent and Excaliburn were held in his hands. “Now for their effects: Clarent will allow my King to attack you directly at the cost of 500 life points, Excaliburn makes it so you can’t target the monster equipped, and Gallatin raises my monsters attack points by 1000 but he loses 200 attack points during each of my standby phases. I end my turn.”

“Okie dokie then,” said Sonata as she drew her sixth card. “First off, I’ll send Gishki Vision from my hand to the graveyard to add one Gishki ritual monster from my deck to my hand. So I’ll be adding Gishki Zielgigas. Then, I’ll play my ritual spell card Gishki Aquamirror to summon him. Normally, I would have to send cards to my graveyard equal to the level of the monster I want to summon. Lucky for me, I have Gishki Shadow in my hand who has this super ability to cover the whole cost of the summon!” Smiling, Sonata slid the ritual spell card into the spell/trap card slot of her duel disk creating a massive mirror behind her with golden trimming. As she discarded Shadow, a mist like image of the monster appeared floating in front of the mirror. The creature was a blue creature that sort of looked like an eel that had sprouted arms and legs. On the top of its head was a fin and had four eyes. Shadow wore a black robe with a high golden collar and in its right hand held a staff with a glowing orb dangling off a hook. After hovering there for a moment, Shadow was surrounded by a golden orb that shot into the mirror with its glassy surface rippling like water.

While the surface of the glass continued to ripple, the mirror no longer reflected the scene in front of it. Instead it showed a barren, watery depth with small fishes swimming by. It looked like Shadow was about to join them with a massive hand grabbed the sacrifice and crushed it. “He who was once enemy of all now reborn to help the Gishki tribe,” chanted Sonata as something large and massive it filled the entire mirror. “One with the voice so powerful it can be heard from the deepest of the Ocean’s depths. I call upon you to lend me your power in this fight! Ritual summon! Gishki Zielgigas!” At that moment the pounding on the mirror grew more intense until it finally shatter. Four blue hands came out to take hold of the remains of the golden mirror and stretch it out so the massive creature within could make its way onto dry land. Sonata watched as Shining Armor took a step back out of instinct. Zielgigas was massive creature, towering over all so that the houses in the surrounding area looked puny compared to it. This monster had four muscular arms with visible veins as well as two large spikes on its shoulders that started blue but gradually turned red. Oddly, the monster had a set of wings and two horns, one on the two of its head and one on its back, that curved towards each other like a Hercules beetle. Zielgigas wore silvery armor on its torso with the symbol of the Gishki in the center of its chest. Its attack 3200!

“Ok, so you have a big monster,” said Shining Armor. “But it’s attack is the same as my Knight right now. They’ll just destroy each other!”

“No they won’t because I activate my monster’s special ability,” said Sonata with a grin. “By paying a thousand of my life points, I get to draw one card. If the card I drew was a Gishki monster then I can shuffle one card on the field into the deck.” Sonata body began to glow while her life points dropped to 7000. This glow only vanished after she had drawn a card from her deck which she then flipped so that Shining Armor could see that it was Gishki Gustkraken, a ritual monster. “Looks like your King is about to be all washed up.”

Shining Armor gritted his teeth. “Are you forgetting my equip card?” he demanded. “Thanks to Excaliburn, you can’t target my monster.”

“Well, funny thing about that,” replied Sonata as she twirled the back of her ponytail with a finger. “See, nowhere in my cards text says ‘target’. So that means that its effect can bypass your equip cards protection!” Sonata watched as Shining Armor’s eyes widened in shock while Zielgigas roared so loudly you could see the sound waves. Sacred Noble Knight of King Artorigus suddenly looked terrified before running away, dropping all his swords which shattered as soon as they hit the ground. The scared king then turned into light shooting into Shining Armor’s extra deck.

“Now that he’s out of the way,” continued Sonata as she held up another card. “I think I’ll now summon my Gishki Beast in attack position.” Appearing on the field was a creature with green skin that almost looked human. However its teeth were more canine-like, both his hands and feet were webbed, he had two large yellow horns coming out of his darker green hair, and he had a tail. It’s attack points were 1500. “Now I use his effect to bring to the field my Gishki Shadow. Since I now have two level four monsters, I can do a Xyz summon as well!” Just like with Shining Armor, a spiraling galaxy like vortex appeared on the field which sucked up both of Sonata’s non-ritual monsters. “The oceans turn wildly, but that will not affect you. Swim through the storm like no other! Xyz summon rank 4. Evigishki Merrowgeist!” The dark vortex suddenly turned into water and from its center came a mermaid. Her upper body was that of a woman in her twenties while her lower body was a fin, red like the color of her long flowing hair. On her back were fin like wings similar to those of a flying fish, starting out green but as they moved away from the body turned blue. Adoring her body was a green cloth like robe that ended at her red tail and on her head was a green finned helmet. In one of her hands, Merrowgeist held a wooden staff with a large bluish white diamond in the middle. Her attack points were 2100.

“Now, attack him directly!” commanded Sonata. Zielgigas opened his mouth again and roared, sending waves of sonic energy at Shining Armor so intense that it caused him to drop to his knees. As Shining Armor’s hands flew to cover his hears his life points dropped to 4800. When Zielgigas finally closed its mouth, Merrowgeist raised her staff to created rings of water that flew towards her enemy. This time Shining Armor was knocked onto his back as his life points dropped to 2700. “I’ll place one card face down and end my turn.”

“Looks like you’re going to be tougher than I thought,” grumbled Shining Armor as he drew a card, making the number of cards in his hand four.

“I’m not leaving without a fight,” said Sonata firmly.

“Well don’t worry because I’m going to give you a fight,” replied Shining Armor. “I play the spell card Heritage of the Chalice. This card lets me add one Noble Knight monster or Noble Arms card from either my deck or graveyard to my hand. So I choose Noble Knight Drystan. And then I’ll summon him!” Appearing on the field was another human knight in silver armor. He had long flowing brown hair and, rather than a sword, he carried with him a harp. This monster’s attack points were 1800. “Next, I’ll play the quick play spell card Glory of the Noble Knights which will allow me to equip Drystan with one equip spell card from my deck. So I choose Caliburn.” The harp vanished from Drystan’s hand and was replaced with a blade with two thin lines of blue energy running through it. “This card will raise my monsters attack point by 500 and once per turn I can also gain 500 life points. So I’ll do that right now.” Drystan turned and pointed his new weapon at Shining Armor, creating a golden light around him. Smiling, Shining Armor’s life points rose to 3200.

“Now for the effect of Drystan,” continued Shining Armor as he pointed at Zielgigas. “When a Noble Arms spell is equipped to this card I can destroy one face up card on the field. So say goodbye to your best monster!” Drystan pointed his weapon at Zielgigas, sending a wave of blue energy at him this time. The energy hit Sonata’s monster square in the chest, piercing its armor and going right through it. As it began to fall it exploded into thousands of tiny golden lights.

“Now Noble Knight Drystan, destroy her wicked Merrowgeist!” commanded Shining Armor. Drystan readied his sword and with a loud bellow leapt into the air with the sword raised high above his head. As he fell down right in front of Merrowgiest, he swung the sword down with all his might to cut Sonata’s monster in half. As her monster exploded Sonata’s life points went down to 6800. “I guess now I’ll play a face down before ending my turn.”

“Ok then, I draw,” said Sonata as she drew a card. She added it to her hand before looking at the three cards she had at her disposal. “First off, I’ll activate the effect of my Gishki Aquamirror. By sending one ritual monster in my graveyard back into my deck I can add my ritual spell card back to my hand. So I’ll choose my Zielgigas.” Two cards shot out of her graveyard. After putting the monster on the top of her deck, Sonata added the spell card to her hand while the auto-shuffler went to work. “Next I’ll play the spell card Salvage. This lets me target two water monsters in my graveyard with 1500 attack points or less and add them to my hand. So I’ll choose my Gishki Shadow and Vision.” Two more cards slide out of her graveyard which Sonata then added to her hand, bringing the total number of cards she held to five.

“Now I’ll play my Gishki Aquamirror again,” continued Sonata as the giant mirror appeared behind her again. “This time I’ll send the Evigishki Mind Augus from my hand to the graveyard for cost to ritual summon Gishki Gustkraken.” The card in Sonata’s hand now became a light that flew into the mirror and, like before, swam through an ocean before being devoured by something else. “Great sorceress of the Gishki, hear my voice now. Though this form is not of your choosing use its might to break their will to fight. Ritual summon. Gishki Gustkraken!” From the mirror came a monster similar to a mermaid in that the upper part of it body was human while the lower was aquatic in nature. The upper part was that of a woman again with long flowing red hair, black robes, and a hat. At the hip downwards was an octopus like creature with black and gold skin. The lower body had four large green eyes and a large beaked mouth, ready to gobble up anyone who came too close to its tentacles. Its attack points were 2400.

“When this creature is ritual summoned I can look at two cards in your hand and then send one of them back into your deck,” explained Sonata as a smile crossed her face. “But since you only have one, I think we both know what I’ll pick.” Shining Armor said nothing, frowning as he sent the card into his deck to be shuffled with the rest of the cards there. “Next, I activate the effect of my Aquamirror again to send my Evigishki Mind Augus back into my deck so I can add my ritual card back to my hand. Then I’ll discard my Gishki Vision to get back my Mind Augus and then summon him.” Now Gustkraken was sucked into the mirror to become food for Sonata’s next monster which needed several bites in order to fully consume it.

“Splendid rider of the Gishki, hear my call,” chanted Sonata. “Swim through the portal to aid your ally! Bring victory with a mighty splash! Ritual Summon, Evigishki Mind Augus!”At that exact moment, Evigishki Mind Augus shot out of the mirror and flew/swam around the field. The best way to describe this monster was a giant flying fish with somebody riding on top of it. The fish part had six eyes as well as six claws on its underbelly that looked like they belonged to an insect. But despite those features, as well as its sharp teeth, there was a beauty to this creature. Perhaps it was the wings, which started out red before ending in a brilliant blue. As for the rider, he had long blue hair and wore something that looked like a wizards hat while holding a staff in one hand. This ritual monster had 2500 attack points.

“Now that Mind Augus has been ritual summoned, I can activate his effect to send up to five cards from either graveyard back into the deck,” continued Sonata as a holographic panel appeared in front of Sonata. On it were the pictures of cards in both player’s graveyards, split in half to show who had which card. Scrolling down Shining Armor’s side of the screen, she began to tap his equip cards. “Since that Xyz monster of yours can get those poky swords back easily, I think I’ll pick them.” With that, the cards Sonata picked ejected themselves out of Shining Armor’s graveyard. The blue skinned girl watched as her opponent frowned even deeper as he put them back into his main deck.

“Now, before I attack, I’m going to use the effect of my ritual spell card once again,” said Sonata as she added her Aquamirror back into her hand. “Mind Augus, attack his monster!” Evigishki Mind Augus opened its mouth allowing thousands of small flying fish made of light blue energy to fly out of it and crash into Drystan. Yet…

“I activate my trap card,” announced Shining Armor. “Defense Draw! With this card I take no damage for this battle and I get to draw one card! Also, the effect of Heritage of the Chalice activates. Since a Noble Knight monster that was equipped with an equip spell card was destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I can return this spell card to my hand.”

“Well, I’ve got nothing else to do,” admitted Sonata. “I end my turn.”

“Very well, I draw!” yelled Shining Armor as he drew. “I’ll play Last Chapter of the Noble Knights! Here’s how this card works: if you control at least one monster while I have none, I can select one Noble Arms card and an appropriate Noble Knight card in my grave. I then can special summon that Noble Knight and equip the Noble Arms to him. So let's welcome back Noble Knight Medraunt and I’ll equip the only Noble Arms spell card I have; Noble Arm – Caliburn!” From out of the ground came Medraunt with sword in hand looking like he had been buried alive and had just had to dig himself up. “Since he’s the only monster on my side of the field I can special summon another Noble Knight from my deck at the cost of destroying the equipped spell card. So I’ll bring out Noble Knight Bedwyr.” Light gathered once more as a knight in silver armor with gold trimming walked onto the field while his red cloak blew behind him. The man had a much sterner face than the other with short pure white hair. His attack points were 1600.

“When Noble Knight Bedwyr is normal or special summoned I can send one Noble Arms card to the graveyard,” explained Shining Armor. “So I’ll choose Noble Arms – Gallatin. Next I’ll play Heritage of the Chalice to add one Noble Knight to my hand. I’ll pick Noble Knight Gawayn. His special effect is that if I have a normal light monster I can special summon this monster in my hand to the field in defense position. Which I’ll do right now.” Appearing on the field was a human knight in bronze armor with a blue cape flowing in the wind along with his blond hair. The knight was on one knee and his defense points were only 500.

“Now for the final card in my hand,” said Shining Armor. “I normal summon Lady of the Lake in attack mode.” Appearing now on the field was a woman with long glowing blond hair and blue eyes. She wore a blue silken shirt, white pants, and silver boots. Hugged within her arms was the blade Excaliburn. “Now my field is all set for my final move. I tune my level one tuner Lady of the Lake with the level four Noble Knight Gawayn.” At that moment, both monster rose into the sky with Lady of the Lake turning into a golden circle while Gawayn turned into four golden star that went through the circle. “Dishonored, shrouded in darkness. Lift your swords to the heavens to protect this land still. Synchro summon level five. Ignoble Knight of High Laundsallyn!” There was a flash of light and when it faded, a knight appeared with 2100 attack points. Unlike the other knights Shining Armor had summoned, this one had black armor with glowing red energy markings on it. His long black hair covered most of his face, but Sonata could still see an evil smile on it that would make Adagio proud. In his hands were two blades, ready to slice into her. “Now that I have synchro summoned this monster, I can equip one Noble Arms card to him straight from my deck. And the card I choose is Noble Arms of Destiny.”

As the blade appeared in the Ignoble Knight’s hand, Shining Armor gestured to his other two monsters. “Next I will build the overlay network to create a rank four monster.” Once again, the vortex of darkness and stars appeared on the field, sucking up both of Shining Armor’s monsters. [“Battles rage upon this land so dear. Hark, here comes the one to untie all with divine right. Xyz summon. Rank 4. Artorigus, King of the Noble Knights!” Now on the field was a warrior knight that looked just like the Scared Noble Knight that had been summoned on Shining Armor’s first turn. Only this one held a single broad sword. It’s attack points were 2000.

“Ah, I think you made a mistake,” said Sonata. “I’m pretty sure that neither monster can take down my monster.”

Shining Armor smirked. “Congratulations, you are correct. Too bad I don’t have any gold stars to give.”

“Ahh, I always wanted a gold star,” replied Sonata causing Shining Armor to roll his eyes.

“Neither monster right now can take you down,” continued Shining Armor. “But, that’s why he also has the effect to grab up to three Noble Arms spell cards in my graveyard. So I’ll equip him with Gallatin and Caliburn!” Both swords rose from the ground and Artorigus picked them up at the same time to wield them with both hands. As he did, his attack points rose all the way to 3500. “I will say that your monsters have been annoying. I would have used the effect of Excaliburn to bring back my Sacred Noble King this turn had you not returned it to my deck. Pity, I would have dumped it into my graveyard this turn had it not been for its restrictions. Oh well this will do.” Shining Armor then pointed to Sonata’s face down card. “I’m not going to waste any of my monster’s overlay material on that card. If it had the power to negate a monster’s effect, you would have used it to save your best monster. Or, if it offered some sort of battle protection like Mirror Force, you would have used it last turn. I’m not going to be fooled by a bluff card. Artorigus, dispose of that demon from the deep!” Grunting, Shining Armor’s monster charged at Mind Augus with both arms extended as far as it could. Then, when the knight was close enough, it slashed at the water monster in an X formation. With the monster destroyed Sonata’s life points dropped to 5800.

“Now my Ignoble Knight will attack and you’ll be one step closer to being out of this house,” said Shining Armor.

“WHAT?!?” screamed a voice. Both duelists turned to see, standing off to the side, was Twilight and the rest of her friends. All but Twilight had their mouths open agape with shock. Twilight, on the other hand, was looking at her brother with rage. “Shining Armor, what is going on here?!”

“Stay out of this Twily,” said Shining as he did his best not to cringe at the death glare his sister was giving him.

“Oh, don’t you ‘Twily’ me mister,” seethed Twilight as she clenched her fists. “What’s this about kicking Sonata out of the house? And why would Sonata even agree to this?”

“I’m sorry Twilight,” mumbled Sonata as she shrank a bit. “He said if I didn’t duel him he would tell your parents the truth about me. Then there would be no way they would ever want me to stay around here.”

“What are you even doing here anyways?” said Shining. “I was hoping to finish this duel before you girls got back. It hasn’t been going on that long.”

“Oh, that’s easy,” said Pinkie, who was the first to recover for what they had all heard. “We all met up a couple of blocks from here when we saw this HUGE Gishki monster. Well, Sonata is the only person we knew who uses Gishki so we figured she was dueling someone.” Pinkie then went to stand next to Twilight. “Then Twilight here said that Sonata promised she was going to work on her essay.” She then went over to Rainbow. “Then Rainbow said that she forgot to do her homework as well.” Pinkie then bounced over to Sunset. “So Sunset then suggested that we look at the cards another day and help get both girls back on track. Besides, we can always look at the cards online. Then we came back here just in time to hear you say that you were going to kick Sonata out of the house.”

Shining Armor shook his head before looking at Twilight. “Twily, I’m doing this for the family. People like her, they don’t change. Sooner or later she’ll hurt this family. Is that what you want? To see mom and dad’s hearts broken when she stabs you all in the back?”

“You’re wrong!” shouted Sonata, getting the man’s attention back. “There is no way I can ever go back to who I was. And even if I was offered the chance, I wouldn’t take it. Not anymore! Not when I have someone like Twilight who actually talks to me instead of bossing me around. How nice and welcoming everyone here is. For the first time in so long, I feel like I’m someplace good. I don’t ever want to walk away from that. That’s why I’m going to win this duel.”

Sonata watched as Shining Armor’s eyes widened as she spoke, his body swaggering a bit as if someone had smacked him upside the head. Something that Sonata would know about given all the times Adagio had done that to her. Perhaps she had gotten through to him! Not bad for her first friendship speech!

Suddenly, Shining Armor’s eyes narrowed as his fists clenched. “I don’t believe you!” he shouted. “Ignoble Knight Laundsallyn, attack her directly!” Grinning madly, the Ignoble Knight lunged towards Sonata with his blade pointed right at her heart. But, just before it could pierce her, a wall of water erupted from the ground as Sonata pressed a button on her duel disk. “W-What’s going on?”

“You were also wrong about my face down,” said Sonata as she gestured to the card. “It’s not that it was a fake, I just couldn’t activate it. Drowning Mirror Force can only be activated when you declare a direct attack on me. It wouldn’t destroy all of your monsters, just sending them back into your deck.” As Sonata’s friends cheered, the wall of water fell down upon the field and carried away both of Shining Armor’s knight. As for Twilight’s brother, he fell to his knees as he watched his big move get washed away.

“No,” he whispered. “If they had been destroyed I could have used their effects to summon more knights. But now…I have nothing.”

“My draw,” announced Sonata, her card leaving behind it a neon blue arc as she drew it. The former Siren looked at the card and smiled. “I normal summon my Gishki Abyss in attack mode!” A monster with 800 attack points appeared on Sonata’s field, a nightmarish creature that had the body of a man but his head was that of an entire shark. It grinned, showing off its razor sharp teeth. “Now, when this monster is summoned to my side of the field, I can go through my deck and add one Gishki monster with 1000 or less defense points. So I’ll be adding back my Gishki Zielgigas! Next I’ll summon him with my Gishki Aquamirror using the Gishki Shadow in my hand as the cost.”

Once again, Sonata chanted the words to bring out her Gishki Zielgigas. It towered over the field as it stared down at her opponent with its 3200 attack point might. Sonata looked at her opponent, who kept his head down. With 3200 life points left, no cards in his hand or on the field, she knew that he knew that he had lost. There was no saving his life points from going to zero. So, Sonata gave the order and Gishki Zielgigas sent out his attack to end this duel.

-x-

“A ROOM!” yelled Twilight, her purple skin turning red as she shouted at him. “You tried to kick Sonata out of the house because of a room?!” Shining Armor winced as he sat on his bed. Or at least his former bed. Now it belonged to Sonata.

It was a short time after the duel and, needless to say, everybody wanted answers. After Shining Armor had explained himself for his actions the girls had gone into the story of who Sonata really was. With Pinkie Pie even supplying puppets…somehow. At first Shining was less than believing. After all, who would believe that the girl who had beaten him in a duel came from a world of talking ponies and she had been in this world for a thousand years or more. Plus, his sister was talking about magic! She was a teenage girl who believed in science, not that fake hocus pocus stuff in the story books. It became even nuttier when Sunset claimed to be from the same world.

As any sane and rational person would, Shining Armor didn’t believe them. His mind began to consider that Sonata was really a cult member sent to brainwash people or something like that. Well, until the girls decided to show him proof. Twilight levitated him off the ground followed by Applejack lifting the bed with one hand with him still on it. Pinkie Pie tossed some sprinkles she had in her hair into the air which exploded. Rarity created a barrier of diamonds around her. Just as he was about to say he believed they had magic, Sunset touched him and…read his mind.

“Well to be fair he was really worried about everyone,” said Sunset sheepishly. Not that it seemed to do much as Twilight continued to stare at Shining Armor. Personally, Shining Armor wished they had told him about all of this sooner. Maybe then he wouldn’t have angered the group of magically powerful teenage girls over something so petty. But then again…

“I want to know what are you hiding in this room!” demanded Twilight. “What is in here that is worth kicking Sonata to the curb?”

“Ah,” began Shining as he looked around for some help. Anyone who might be willing to calm Twilight down. However, what he saw was not promising. Pinkie Pie looked like she was off in her own little world. Rainbow, Rarity, and Applejack were giving him dirty looks that showed that he would get no pity from them. Even the kindest looking of the group, Fluttershy be believed she was called, didn’t seem to be willing to met his gaze. As for Sunset, she just shrugged. Apparently she was either unwilling to tell everyone what she knew from reading his mind or she hadn’t gotten that far and was letting things play out.

“Hmm, could it be this?” said Sonata. Shining turned his head to look at the blue skinned girl…and his heart nearly stopped. She was walking over to the light fixture that revealed everything!

“NO!” screamed Shining. But it was too late. Sonata had pulled down on the secret lever he had had installed so long ago. As he curled up into a ball on the bed, the room began to change. Parts of the wall began to spin around where his old sports and band posters used to be, revealing fantasy and sci-fi movie posters in their place along with a few O&O ones as well. Another part of the wall spun around, revealing a mini fridge that he knew was full of snacks. Just how fresh they were was a matter for another day. Finally, from the ceiling, a large circular table was lowered by a chain in the middle. On the table were plastic figures of warriors and dragons as well as plenty of dice. There were also dusty character sheets on it as well.

Thus, Shining Armor’s secret was revealed. He was not the amazing jock he let everyone think he was. He was a nerd of the highest order pretending to be something he wasn’t.

“How is this possible?” asked Twilight as she looked around.

“That’s…a very good question actually,” said Sunset as she and the other girls looked around. “I mean, how could he do all this without anyone knowing. And isn’t the opposite side of the wall connected to the outside? How could no one notice a mini fridge there? And how come no one noticed the table?” The flame haired girl then placed a hand to her head as she suddenly looked dizzy. “So many questions.”

“It wasn’t easy,” said Shining Armor as he got up. Slowly he walked towards the table and picked up a paladin figure which he began to twirl in his fingers. “My friends helped install this. This was meant to be our hang out, so we could play the games we loved without being judged. Twily, you know how much image meant to the reputation of Crystal Prep. If anyone found out we liked this sort of thing we would have been harassed.”

“Ah, you do know that you’re not in Crystal Prep anymore, right?” asked Rainbow Dash. “And that a lot more people play these games nowadays?”

Shining Armor sighed. “I guess the fear never really left me, even after I left that place.” He then turned around and looked at Sonata. “I’m sorry for what I put you through. If my family believes you deserve a second chance then I shouldn’t have doubted them.”

“Its ok,” said Sonata. “The duel wasn’t that hard. And I guess I can understand how you feel. If I went back home to the ocean and found someone else living my grotto I think I might have done the same thing. Oh, wait a moment.” Sonata then turned around towards the bed and got on her hands and knees. Before anyone could ask what she was doing, she reached under it and pulled out a vanilla folder and handed it to Shining Armor. “I also found this under your bed when I first moved in. It sure was nice of that girl to pose like that!”

Shining Armor’s eyes widened as he held the folder, feeling the eyes of all the other girls boring into him while Sonata looked at him with blissful ignorance. This one, he really should have brought with him when he left home.

Author's Notes:

Ok, got the next couple of duels set. Coming up will be a battle of magicians with Trixie vs and OC, Snips and Snails vs Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, and Sunset vs...Sunset?!?

Shining Armor's deck was a tricky one to pick. I had thought about giving him a Machina deck (going for an army theme/vibe) or a Gem Knight. Both sounded good to me since I haven't really seen that many people writing him in a duel. The only one I have read gave him an Ancient Gear deck. In the end, I decided that Noble Nights would fit him well given he played a paladin in his O&O group in the comics.

Dueling Magic (Trixie vs. Eye Candy)

The world around the young Trixie Lulamoon was one of a thousand bright colors, sights, and smells. Walking with her parents, the young girl saw clowns moving about as they juggled or crammed themselves into a car that was ten times too small to hold one let alone seven of them. A few people were swallowing balls of fire before breathing out the flames causing those near to gasp and laugh in surprise. Zebras and elephants and so many other animals were there to ride or being ridden on by the performers.

To most children in this day and age, the circus was nothing special. But to Trixie, on that day, it was something magical. How could it not be when she had seen the Great and Powerful Morboba as he stood in the center doubling as the ring leader? She had gasped as he swallowed a sword as long as himself before burping out a hawk that then circled around the tent once before landing back on his head. She had seen manipulate flames with his hands, circling around him as they changed color. So many tricks, each one of them so impressive that she was out of her seat. She stood there watching in amazement, wanting to see what this impressive magician would do next until he was sadly finished.

Now the show was over and Trixie, along with her family, were heading out to the parking lot to head home. As her parents talked with each other, she pulled away slightly without them noticing. There, standing off to the side of the tent with a few other kids, was Morboba! He was just standing there in his white shirt, red vest, and signature long mustache while signing autographs.

Before Trixie even knew what was happening, her feet were moving towards the man as the last child walked away. Seeing this caused her movements to quicken for she did not want him to leave. It wasn’t just the autograph she wanted, but also there was a question she wanted to ask him. One that had been burning in her head since she had seen his first amazing feat of magic. She had planned to ask her parents about it, but seeing him here made her realize that he was the one to ask about this.

“Well hello there,” said Morboba as Trixie came to a stop. As Trixie paused to catch her breath, she looked at his kind smile but there was also a bit of concern in his eyes. “I take it you want an autograph too. But, where are your parents?”

“Ah,” began Trixie as she looked behind her. To her shock, she didn’t see them in the crowd! Had they continued to move on without noticing that she wasn’t there? As tears threatened to appear in her eyes, Morboba moved to her side and gently took her hand.

“How about I help you find them?” he said in a soft, gentle voice. Feeling her cheeks beginning to redden, it was all Trixie could do to simply nod. And like that, they were off heading in the direction Trixie had come from. As they walked, Trixie noticed Morboba pulling out a phone and pressing a few buttons.

“Ah, Mr. Great and Powerful,” began Trixie shyly. “I wanted to ask you something.”

Morboba laughed as he pocketed his phone. “Just Morboba will do,” he said still chuckling. “Sure, you can ask me whatever you like.”

“I was wondering how I can be as great and powerful as you,” Trixie asked, her words almost causing the man to stumble a bit. “Do I have to buy something super expensive? I have a little bit saved up in my piggy bank back home?”

For a while, Morboba said nothing as they just stood there. She could hear his phone buzzing now but the man made no motion to reach for it. Her tiny hands clutched together while the pounding of her heart filled her ears. Had she said something wrong? Was there some super, secret place that she had to buy this stuff from that he wouldn’t tell her? Or would he tell her she couldn’t because she was a girl? Some of the boys at school were always telling her that there was a ton of stuff she couldn’t do for that same reason. Then, slowly Morboba bent down so that they were eye to eye.

“Well my dear, becoming great and powerful is no easy task,” he began, his eyes locked onto Trixie’s. “It’s not something that can be bought in a store. Otherwise, nobody would be great and powerful. It takes time and, above all, creativity to creature your own tricks. People like have spent years of our lives working hard to make our tricks, so we are not willing to just sell them.”

Trixie stared back at him. “So…if I want to be like you, I have to do it myself?” she asked.

A slight smile appeared on Morboba’s face. “Oh, I am sure there are plenty of books out there that can help get you started,” he said as he patted her on the head. “I think they might still sell those basic magic trick kits. But, those will never make you great or powerful. The only things that can do that are this.” He lightly tapped her head. “This.” He once again lightly tapped her, this time on her heart. “And hard work.”

Trixie stared at him for a moment as understanding filled her. Slowly her blank expression filled with wide eyed understanding. “I’ll do it!” she declared. “I’ll become the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

“I’m sure you will,” said the older man as he started to get up. However, he paused very suddenly while his eyes went wide as he looked down at his vest. Trixie noticed something as well. In the space between his vest and shirt came a glowing light. Morboba reached in with the young girl expecting another amazing trick of some kind. But to her surprise, what he pulled out wasn’t something amazing. Instead, it was a duel monsters card that seemed to be giving off the light until it was fully out in the open. Then, very suddenly, the light faded.

“I believe this will help you on your journey,” said Morboba as he handed the card to Trixie. “He may not be the greatest of all magicians, but he has been my partner for many years now. Now it seems he wishes to help you.” Slowly, Trixie took the card and looked at it.

-x-

“Trixie!” came a loud voice. At once, the Great and Powerful Trixie opened her eyes to see that her head was resting on her arms. Which, by the way, were now covered with drool. Jerking up from her resting place from behind a large crate, Trixie saw that it was Snips who had called out her name as he carried a large box in his hands. Next to him was his eternal partner Snails who was also carrying a large box.

“About time you two showed up,” Trixie said as she stood up and quickly brushed herself off. “The Great and Powerful Trixie had been waiting so long she fell asleep! All Trixie needed was for the two of you to grab a few things from Trixie’s house.”

“But these things are heavy,” whined Snips, causing Trixie to roll her eyes in annoyance. Without saying anything, she began to lead them past the main stage of the Canterlot Theater for the main event tomorrow.

The Canterlot Theater was a well known establishment within the area for some time. For almost a hundred years, this location had stood providing the surrounding areas for a place to hold indoor concerts, professional comedians, and all sorts of productions. It was also the home to the annual amateur magician contest. One night a year, ten slots would be open to showcase up and coming talent in the field of the optical illusions, hypnotism, and other such arts to showcase wonder and amazement. There was no cash prize, but there was a chance that a talent scout could be in the audience. More importantly, it was a chance just to show off one's skills and get an idea of how the audience would react..

For the last three years, Trixie had tried to secure one of those slots but had failed each and every time. She could clearly remember the first time she tried, never even being able to show off what she could do. The manager had told her she was simply too young to try something like this. That he wasn’t running a babysitting operation and that people were paying good money to see some talent. It was only last year when she was given a chance to do a mini performance to try and gain one of the slots. Sadly, everything seemed to go wrong for her. All of her props had either malfunctioned or had been forgotten back at home. Being the gifted person that she was, Trixie had done her best to role with the punches, to pretend this was all going according to plan. But even she could tell by the frown the manager had as he watched her that she had failed. Thankfully this year was different. For the first time, she was going to be on a real stage to show the world (or at least the people in attendance) that she was the Great and Powerful Trixie!

-x-

Yet little did she know that the seats were not empty. Watching from the nosebleed section were two figures that she knew very well.

“Still nothing,” muttered Adagio as she held in her hands the magical detection device Cinch had provided.

“Gee, I wonder why?” complained Aria as she looked up from her phone to face the stage. “It’s a magic show, remember? Humans have been pretending to do magic for centuries. Real magic by these morons has been lost for who knows how long.”

“I know that!” snapped Adagio as she turned her head to glare at her sister. “But there is a chance that someone down there might have some skill or some Equestrian magic that they believe will help liven up their act. Like, I don’t know, a mirror or something that can suck people into a different dimension. Or magic that gives life to the lifeless. You know how humans think. Once they see a short-cut they’ll use it to claim easy fame. So it makes sense that they might try something as simple minded as this.”

“Sounds like that minor plot point in that lazy movie,” mumbled Aria. “You know, the one that was based on that mouse and was full of clichés? I think it was called-” Aria found the words had died in her throat as she noticed something. Leaning forward in her chair a bit, she stared at the blue skinned girl she and her sisters had manipulated prior. Or rather, what was behind her. It was only there for a moment, but Aria was sure she saw something directly behind. A ghostly, humanish figure.

“What? Have a brain crash or something?” asked Adagio with a slight sneer.

“Did the device go off?” asked Aria as she ignoring her sister’s words. Adagio blinked in surprise before looking down at the device. Nothing had happened. Nothing that the machine could detect at least.

“Nothing,” said Adagio, her voice growing more serious now. “Did you see something? There is a chance that it was so minor that the machine didn’t pick it up.”

Aria stared at the stage for a moment longer before her face relaxed a bit and she leaned back in her seat. “Maybe. Or maybe it was just my imagination. We’ve been sitting on our asses so long that it's no wonder I’m getting bored. I think this scouting mission has been a complete bust.”

Adagio let out a growl of annoyance. “Only I say when something is a bust,” she said. “We’ll continue to wait a bit longer. Until I’m sure.”

-x-

“Here we are,” announced Trixie as she undid a lock on a gate. Before them, lining up on one side of the building, was a long fenced in area with numerous gates which were properly numbered one through ten. Each gate lead into a further fenced in area with this one holding Trixie’s equipment for the big night. Several rows of long, black boxes laid on the floors as well as regular cardboard ones as well. As she walked in, she could see the more colorful red wooden crates that belong to a rather balding magician who would also be performing.

Trixie stood there, savoring this moment as she pulled out a large locket. Flipping it open, she stared at its two contents. On one side was a picture that meant the world to her while of the other was her favorite card. The one she got on the day she started on this journey to show the world she was Great and Powerful. The one that the magician who had inspired her had given her. The image stared back at her, but not without life that Trixie could feel.

Then the moment was ruined with a sudden slamming noise from behind her that caused her to jump. As she closed the locket, she turned around to see that Snips and Snails had dropped her boxes on the ground without any ceremony at all! The nerve of them! Gritting her teeth, she moved towards the boxes.

“You complete idiots!” she snarled as she opened the top of one of the boxes. Heart pounding, she began to quickly search through it while quickly inspecting each one. Sweat began to form on her face. They all looked fine, but she would need to test each and every one of them to make sure that were not damaged in any way.

“Sorry,” mumbled Snails slowly as Trixie pulled out a black ball at least twice the size of a baseball. Without answering him, she closed her eyes and began to juggle it.

“If anything broke we could spare some money to replace it…maybe,” added in Snips with a nervous shrug.

“You can’t buy these anywhere,” said Trixie without looking at them. “Trixie had to work for years, saving up the money needed to build these with Trixie’s own hands.” She then suddenly stopped her juggling with the orb in both hands. She then pressed on it from both sides, surprisingly flattening it into something the size and shape of an old vinyl record before tossing it into the air. When it came down, Trixie caught it with one hand as it suddenly transformed into a top hat which she then put onto of her head. Both boys awed at this, clapping their hands excitedly as she removed it revealing that she had a pair of bunny ears on her head.

“Still not perfect,” Trixie said with a sigh. “But Trixie supposes it will do for an opening act. If only Trixie could have found a way to put a real rabbit in here without it getting injured.”

As Trixie began the slightly complicated method of turning the hat back into a ball, a door was heard slamming open nearby. Turning her head to look at a small office just somewhat obscured by the fence, Trixie saw that it was the theater manager’s office door that had opened. But the one coming out was not the gruff man that she knew. Instead it was a plump, bald headed man with a long drooping nose who fell backwards. Dressed in a suit and tie that barely fit him, he fell on his back while the sound of clothing ripping filled the air.

“Please, just give me another chance,” he said as he held out his hand to the door. Trixie couldn’t help but cringe at his voice. It was a mixture of nasally and whiny that would give most people the creeps. She wasn’t the only one to think this for Trixie saw several of the other people hard at work getting ready for tomorrow stop what they were doing and cringed a tad when he spoke.

As he looked upwards a woman in a skimpy dress stormed out of the office. She wore a one piece outfit that had a flame motif that started right at her bosom and ended right below her ass so that if she bent the wrong way she would give the audience a flash of panties. Her hair was curled and scarlet with streaks of orange, with a lovely shade of pinkish skin. Trixie had seen her plenty of times before, usually with a fake smile on that was absent today. Instead there was a fury to her face directed at the man.

“I told you Windbag,” said the gruff voice of the manager as he stood in the doorway now. A short, but muscular man with a receding grey hairline and light grey skin that showed no signs of weakness. As always he had the sleeves of his shirt rolled up and an unlit cigar in his mouth. “You’re done here! The last ten years you’ve been doing the exact same failed routine! Last time you were the last act of the night and what happened? The place emptied out before you even got on stage. No one wants to see your sorry act anymore.”

“But I paid to have all of my stuff brought here,” whined Windbag as he got on all fours, looking up at the manager in a pathetic way. “It’s not fair. Please give me another chance.”

“WELL THAT’S YOUR FAULT!” screamed the manager as he ripped the cigar out of his mouth. “I told you last year that you were done, to not even bother showing up for a try out. I even called you just to remind you. But here you are!” The manager then threw his cigar down on the ground and stomped on it, his cheeks reddening as he did so. He then pointed a finger at Windbag, but before he had a chance to say anything the woman had grabbed the man and lifted him up roughly.

“You knew about this for a year?!” she screamed. “I wasted another year taking care of your useless hide when I could have been doing anything else! If it wasn’t for those promises I would have left your sorry hide to rot!”

“Please Miss Eye Candy,” whimper Windbag. But Eye Candy didn’t listen to him at all, instead throwing him to the ground in a fit of rage. She then averted her eyes probably doing her best not to look at him. In that moment, for the briefest of moment, her eyes locked onto Trixie’s. Trixie just had enough time to register this before Eye Candy turned around so that her back was facing Windbag.

Sadly, Windbag didn’t take the hint. “Please don’t leave me too,” he moaned as he reach out with his pudgy hands and grabbed her leg. Trixie shared a shiver with the girl as Windbag then pressed his face against the girl’s leg and began to rub against it. Eye Candy let out a shriek of rage as she kicked him lose and then stormed off, people moving out of the way as she did.

Once the girl was out of sight, Trixie turned to look back at the manager who was now shaking his head as he pulled out another cigar from his pocket. “Windbag, leave now before I call the cops,” he said as he put it in his mouth. Slowly he turned around and was about to walk back into his office when Windbag grabbed his leg. Seeing this, Trixie place a hand over her eyes at the sight of something so pathetic.

“Please, you have to give me another chance,” whined the crawling man. “My stuff is better than everyone else’s. I-”

“You’re ‘stuff’ was never the issue,” interrupted the manager who had not even turned around to look at the man. “If after ten years you still haven’t figured that out then you never will.” With that, he shook off Windbag’s hold on him before closing his door.

As soon as it clicked shut, the place was alive with movement again. The backstage workers were hard at work double and triple checking everything to make sure there wouldn’t be a problem. All of the magicians and illusionists went back to checking their props, no longer paying any attention to the man who was still on all fours. Even Trixie took him out of her mind as she returned to rummaging through her things.

Of course, she didn’t bother asking the two idiots she had brought along to help her. Not just because they had dropped them. Well, that was a big part of it. But another reason was because what little brains they had were no longer in the room. Both of them were staring at where Ms. Eye Candy had stormed out, mouths still hanging open as they openly drooled. Eventually the two began to talk to each other with Trixie tuning them out, instead focusing on the work that needed to be done. So focused in fact that she never even noticed that they had left.

-x-

The next night, Trixie stood at the back entrance of the theater with her heart pounding. She was dressed in her purple witch’s hat and cloak, silver stars decorating them both. Underneath she wore a one-piece blue dress with its long-sleeves rolled up. To cover her arms she had on long fingerless gloves that went almost to her elbows. While her skirt was a bit on the short side (still nowhere as short as that woman she had seen yesterday) her shapely legs were covered by thigh high boots of a darker blue material. Hidden within her cloak were several magical surprises, including smoke pellets that had been set to drop when she made a particular motion with her cape.

As her hand touched the door handle, Trixie paused to take a deep breath to calm her quickly beating heart. She could feel the excitement coursing through her like electricity. When she had found out that she would be getting one of the spots for tonight, Trixie had set up posters all throughout the school advertising her performance tonight. She knew for a fact that several of her fellow students, like Sunset Shimmer, would be in attendance. Knowing that there would be people like that out there ready to support her along with her parents brought on a wave of happiness. Soon she would be able to show all of them the results of all her hard work.

When she did open the door the world was that of panic. People were running around in a crazed panic, almost to the point where they were toppling over each other. Slowly and carefully, Trixie did her best to avoid the stampede of people as she made her way towards where her props where stored.

“Trixie!” shouted the voice of the manager over the crowd. As she looked around, she spotted him standing by his office with the other magicians around him. There was a grim look on his face, one that was echoed by those that surrounded him. Seeing this made her feel nervous, even more so when he motioned her to approach. Gulping, Trixie walked over to them while ringing her hands.

With each step she took, a thousand questions seemed to run through Trixie’s head. Had something happened? Had she been booted out for some reason? Trixie hadn’t done anything wrong nor had she lied about anything so she couldn’t see something like that happening. Was someone hurt? All the other magicians were there as far as she could see so that couldn’t be it.

“There’s a problem,” said the manager as he pulled the cigar out of his mouth when Trixie was close enough. “There was a break in. Right now my crew is looking over everything to make sure nothing else is missing or has been tampered with.”

“O-Ok,” began Trixie as she felt her heart beating faster. There was no way she couldn’t have picked up what he said: something had been stolen. Fear began to worm its way into her being, not helped by the way he was looking directly at her.

The manager then let out a long sigh. “There is no easy way to say this,” he said slowly. “But right now it looks like only your props were taken.” Trixie’s eyes widened when she heard that. Turning her head quickly, she looked in the direction of where her locker gate was locked. In was empty, the fence cut open and its metal pieces lying on the ground. The girl tried to take a step forward, but her legs gave out. She would have hit the ground had it not been for the other performers that night quickly gathering around her and grabbing her in the nick of time.

Trixie could hear them offering words of comfort as warm tears began to roll down her face. Looking around herself, she saw that most of them were looking just as hurt as herself. Trixie knew that they knew what she was going through. Any magician worth their salt would know. Their secrets and their props were their life blood. To have them stolen was simply a heart wrenching thing.

“In all my years here, nothing like this has ever happened before,” said the manager. Trixie turned to look at him, seeing that the manager was now shaking his head slowly while his face looked disgusted. “Naturally, I’m going to take full responsibility.”

“You should!” said one of the night’s performers who was holding Trixie. “If this happened to her, how can any of us expect our secrets to remain safe under your care? Why should any of us come back here?!?”

“I know, I know,” said the manager. “I thought our security was good enough, but clearly it wasn’t. I’ll see what I can do about putting more cameras’ in the back and better storage for you guys before next year rolls around. As for Trixie, if she wants she’ll be guaranteed a spot for next year. I know it’s not much, but it’s all I can do right now.”

“So she’s not performing?” came a voice. “Meaning there’s an opening?” Looking up, Trixie saw through blurry eyes that it was that woman from yesterday: Ms Eye Candy. Instead of her skimpy attire, she was now wearing a blouse with red and white stripes along with a white skirt. Trixie could feel the people around her stiffen as they looked at her.

“And here come the sharks,” whispered one of the female magicians.

“Ms. Eye Candy, I have no idea how you got back here,” said the manager slowly through gritted teeth. “But if that oaf Windbag thinks he can take advantage of this, he’s got another thing coming!”

“No, no,” said Eye Candy as she waved both of her hands in the air, slowly approaching the group. “I meant myself.”

“You?!” gasped the manager. “You’re just an assistant.”

“Was an assistant,” said Eye Candy in a corrective manner. “The only reason I stuck around with Windbag for so long was that he promised to help me launch my own career one day once he hit it big. But you can see how well that turned out. I have a few things with me right now. I know it might not be the best compared to everyone else but I think I can still put on a good show.”

“Forget it,” said the manager instantly as he waved her off, Eye Candy gasping as he did. “Do you really think I’m just going to hand over something like that right now? Just like that?”

“What do you have to lose?” asked Eye Candy as she took a step forward while placing a hand on her chest. “The show has to go on. You promised the people in the crowd ten acts tonight and here I am ready to perform.”

Trixie stared at the manager as a finger traced the unlit cigar. She could see his eyes moving between Eye Candy to her, thinking it over. Then, after what felt like forever, he pulled out the cigar. “Fine,” he said.

“What?!?” shouted one of the magicians close to Trixie as he stood up. “Sir, how can you even think about doing something like that?”

“Ms. Eye Candy has a point,” said the manager gruffly. “The show must go on. I told the cops what was stolen so there is a small chance that they might find it before the last act. If they do, Trixie will still go on stage even if there’s a small delay. If they don’t, Ms. Eye Candy will close us out.” He then put the cigar back in his mouth. “But regardless, my promise to Trixie still stands for next year.”

“But,” whispered Trixie, however the rest of her words seemed to die in her throat.

“Then I’ll start getting ready,” said Eye Candy. The manager said nothing, just turning around to head back into his office slamming the door behind him as he did so. After that, Eye Candy turned around and walked away.

Slowly, everyone began to drift away from Trixie. A few lingered longer than others, offering to get her a drink or anything like that. One even offered her a real handkerchief to blow her nose instead of one his trick ones. But soon she was left all alone. Not that Trixie blamed any of them for she knew that they had their own acts to get ready. It was nice that they had tried to comfort her.

Now as she sat on an old wooden crate backstage as the first show began, giving her the best seat in the house, all Trixie could think about was wanting to wake up from this nightmare. The single worst thing that could ever happen to her had happened! Sure, the manager had tried to be nice and promised her a slot for next year but that didn’t change the fact that her stuff was gone. She had saved up for years to make that stuff while studying every book of magic she could get her hands on. How was she supposed to replace it? She could probably remake it if someone else didn’t use it first. How was she suppose to go to everyone who came and-

With a gasp, Trixie suddenly stood up with her eyes wide. Why had someone broken in to steal magician props? There were only two answers she could think of. One was someone really wanted to learn how she did it and post it online. The problem with that was that she was still a mostly unknown save for the people at her school. And none of them had even seen any of the tricks she had brought with her tonight! The other reason was someone wanted to use them for their own gain. Wasn’t it odd that Ms. Eye Candy just so happen to be here right after she had been robbed? That she just happened to have brought with her equipment for her own act?

Trixie felt her heart race as she walked over to the manager’s office, ready to tell him that she knew who had robbed her. Yet she only managed to take three hurried steps before stopping. All she had was a theory, a good one she thought, but a theory nonetheless. The manager might think she was being hysterical or something like that and ask her to leave. She needed proof before anything else.

Groaning to herself, Trixie thought about what she could do. The smartest thing she could do was sit in the crowd, wait to see Ms. Eye Candy’s show, and see if she used any of her tricks. The problem with that was no one might believe her even then. There might be those who think she was trying to steal someone else’s hard work. Besides, she would also miss her chance for tonight! Well then, time to do it the Rainbow Dash way: recklessly endanger herself in a crazy manner!

Quickly Trixie moved backstage towards the doors outside. Carefully she opened it, slipped out into the night, and closed the door behind her. Once outside, it didn’t take her long to find Eye Candy as she was standing next to a large white van whose back doors were open. She wasn’t alone either for Trixie’s eyes narrowed when she saw who were helping her unload.

“Snips! Snails!” she shouted causing all three figures to turn and look at her. At once the two boys dropped what they were holding and made a mad dash for it, screaming as they did so. As they left, Trixie began to see how this happened. Eye Candy has seen her and probably noticed those two idiots with her. She must of asked them about her act and then gotten those two doofs to help her steal them.

“Trixie, what is the meaning of this?” demanded Eye Candy as she back up a bit against the open door of the van.

“Eye Candy, Trixie wants to see what you have in that van!” demanded Trixie. “Because I have a feeling it doesn’t belong to you.”

“Th-That’s insane,” stammered Eye Candy as she gripped the door behind her, Trixie’s eyes narrowing in the process. “Besides, you’re not the cops. You have no right! What’s in this van is mine.”

Trixie gritted her teeth as she stared harder at the girl. Despite how much she wanted to take the items back by force, the woman before her was older and taller. Trixie had no idea how she would fair in a fight. Nor did she want anything in that ran ruined in the process. If she went back for help or was seen calling for help then Eye Candy might decide to make a break for it. Perhaps doing it the Rainbow Dash way wasn’t the smartest idea. There was, however, another way.

“Fine then,” Trixie said as she draped her cape over her arm. When she pulled it back her duel disk was nicely secured to her arm, surprising Eye Candy. “The Great and Powerful Trixie challenges you to a duel. If Trixie wins, then you’ll let Trixie look in your van to see if anything there belongs to Trixie. If not, then Trixie will not bother you any further.”

Eye Candy looked at Trixie with narrowed eyes. “I have to get ready for my big debut,” she said as she reached behind her. Trixie didn’t tense up at all, watching the woman as she pulled out a familiar looking sphere. “But since I’m the last act, I have plenty of time to humor you.” She then threw the orb down with all her might, creating a large cloud of smoke. When it cleared, not only was she wearing her duel disk but also in that skimpy, fiery outfit from before.

“Good,” said Trixie as she reached for her locket, quickly pulling out her card and putting it in her deck.

“Let’s duel!” they said in unison.

“Connecting,” said a female mechanical voice from their duel disks. “Opponents found. Displaying order now.” In the middle of the field appeared a flat holographic image of a portrait, only on one side was Trixie while the other was Eye Candy. The image began to spin round and round, faster and faster as their duel disks shuffled their decks at an equally quick speed. Eventually the portraits stopped spinning, ending on Eye Candy.

“I draw,” said Eye Candy as she draw her six cards, Trixie taking five from her deck. “I’ll start by summoning my Skilled Dark Magician in attack position.” Appearing on Eye Candy’s side of the field was a tall man in dark robes. His face was hidden by a headdress that looked like it was made more from metal as was his shoulder pads. On both shoulders were gems as well as a single one in the middle of his chest. He carried no sword or staff, only a small metallic wand. His attack points were 1900.

“A Dark Magician deck?” questioned Trixie. “A bit cliché and overdone. But then again, Trixie is using a spellcaster deck as well.”

“Front row hecklers,” groaned Eye Candy. “Always the worst to deal with since it’s harder to drown them out. Thankfully, unlike when I’m on stage, I can blast you away.” Eye Candy then plucked two cards from her hand. “I now play the spell cards Magician’s Right Hand!” Trixie could not hide her surprise as a clawed hand appeared above Eye Candy. With several gemmed rings on its long, slender fingers the hand seemed to emit a powerful aura. “I see that got a reaction from you. As long as I control a spellcaster, this spell card will negate and destroy the first spell card you play each turn. Not only does it give me some added protection, but it will also help unlock the power of my Skilled Dark Magician. Whenever a spell card is played, he gets a counter. When he gets a total of three, that’s when the real magic happens!

“But you won’t have to wait long because now I’ll play Shards of Greed! Each time I draw a card during my draw phase, I can add a greed counter to it. When it reaches two, I can send this card to the graveyard in order to draw two more cards. Next it’s time for the spell card Dark Magic Veil! By giving up a total of 1000 of my life points, I can special summon one dark spellcaster from my deck or graveyard. So with no further ado, lets welcome the master of magicians: Dark Magician!” As Eye Candy’s life point’s dropped to 7000, a magical circle appeared on the field. It glowed brightly as a figure rose from it, but it was the classic purple version. No, this one was dressed in red with long white hair as he grinned sinisterly across the field. Its attack points were 2500.

“Now that I’ve played Dark Magic Veil my Skilled Dark Magician gains his third counter,” continued Eye Candy. “So now I can activate his effect, sending him to the graveyard to special summon another Dark Magician from my deck!” Skilled Dark Magician held up his wand as all three of the gems on his robes glowed brightly in the darkness. Around him, a pillar of light sprang up to engulf him with a force so mighty that Trixie had to hold up her arms to shield herself. When it faded, there stood the original purple Dark Magician with a frown on his face.

“With that, the opening act of this performance is over,” said Eye Candy with a small bow. “If you wish to give up, there is no shame in doing so. You are at a serious disadvantage. Two monsters with 2500 attack points each plus the negation of your first spell. It would take a miracle for you to overcome these odds.”

Trixie stood there wide eyed for a moment as she took in everything before her. Then, with a smile she ran a hand through her long hair in a gesture of defiance. “Who needs a miracle when Trixie has magic? I draw,” said Trixie as she drew her sixth card. She then looked at it and smiled. “Just the card Trixie needed.” She then looked up at Eye Candy with complete confidence. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will show you what it means to be a real magician on the stage. First, Trixie will discard one card from Trixie’s hand in order to special summon Trixie’s favorite monster: The Tricky!” As Trixie discarded her card, a monster with 2000 attack points appeared on her side of the field. It looked more like a jester in its yellow and black outfit, bright blue cape, and red question marks on its masked face and chest. Once on the field, The Tricky turned to look in the direction of Trixie before bowing before her with one of his arms stretched outward while holding on to the tip of his cape.

Eye Candy snorted into her hand. “Oh, this is rich,” she laughed as The Tricky righted itself. “You summoned a clown to help in a battle of magicians! Oh that is so rich!”

“Laugh now while you can,” replied Trixie. “Because this ‘clown’ as you call him, is Trixie’s favorite card. And he will take down both of your Dark Magicians!”

The older woman smirked at Trixie. “With what? My Magician’s Hand is on the field, limiting what you can do.”

“That is why this move will fully showcase the Great and Powerful Trixie’s talents!” declared Trixie. “Because now Trixie will summon Performage Flame Eater in attack mode.” A large, purple orb with eyes, one larger than the other, appeared on Trixie’s side of the field. Somehow it wore a cape and had on a wizard’s hat. Flame Eater opened its mouth, revealing its jagged jaw as a small bit of flames escaped. Its attack points were 1200. “When this card in summoned, we both lose 500 life points.” As she said this, small flames appeared on Trixie’s and Eye Candy’s bodies as their life points lower to 7500 and 6500 respectively.

“Now that Trixie has two spellcasters on the field, Trixie is allowed to special summon Performage Hat Tricker to the field.” As Trixie said this, a new monster appeared next to The Tricky. Hat Tricker was a small monster with only 1100 attack points. It had on something like a pink wizard’s hat with three points on it. A pair of glasses, gloves, and a cape seemed to float below it as if something invisible were wearing them.

“The stage is set,” said Trixie with a grin, holding out her hand. “With my two level four spellcasters, I build the overlay network.” A spiraling vortex now appeared on the field, her two Performage monsters turning into streams of energy as they were sucked into it. “The eater of flames and trick of the hat combine their magic,” chanted Trixie as she kept her eyes on Eye Candy. “Their acts were just to warm up the crowd. The world is now his stage! Xyz summon Rank 4! Performage Trapeze Magician!” The center of the vortex suddenly exploded as a monster with 2500 attack points jumped out. This monster wore mostly white with pink fluff around the bottom of his shirt and black, curled shoes. On the top of his head he wore another wizard’s hat with yellow stars on it and in his hand was a wand containing yellow orbs on both ends, its length long enough for him to grip with both hands. Orbiting around Trapeze Magician were two orbs of light.

“Now, Trixie will use her Trapeze Magician’s effect,” announced Trixie. “By removing one of his overlay units, he can grant one monster on the field the power to attack twice this turn. Well other than himself. That leaves Trixie with The Trick!” One of Trapeze’s orbs was suddenly sucked into its wand right before the magician pointed it at The Tricky. A beam of yellow lit hit the weaker spellcaster.

“He won’t even survive the first attack!” shouted Eye Candy.

“Lets see about that,” said Trixie with a grin so powerful that it caused Eye Candy to take a step back. “I attack your first Dark Magician with The Tricky!” At Trixie’s command, The Tricky wrapped himself in his cape before vanishing from the field only to reappear right behind the red Dark Magician. This, however, did not go unnoticed by the Dark Magician as he gripped his staff tightly and prepared to swing it around to fend off his attacker. “Now, Trixie activates the effect of a monster in Trixie’s hand! Come on out Juragedo!” Trixie slapped a card onto her duel disk, stopping the attack as a new creature appeared on her side of the field. Juragedo was not a spellcaster in the slightest, it was a monster. Purple skinned and horned, it floated without any legs only a top like bottom below its torso. The things eyes seemed to attached to tentacles on the side of its head.

“W-Why bring out something like that?” demanded Eye Candy.

“For its effects,” said Trixie. “See, when it is special summoned this way Trixie gains 1000 life points.” Trixie paused for a moment as her life points went up to 8500. “But that’s not all. Trixie can also tribute it now in order to raise the attack point of one of her monsters by 1000 until the end of this turn. So Trixie will do that right now in order to help The Tricky.” Juragedo suddenly exploded; sending a burst of sparkling energy towards The Tricky whose attack points went up to 3000. “Now let’s get back to the battle. Tricky, take down both of those magicians!” The Tricky wrapped itself in its cape once more and vanished from Trixie’s side of the field. Before either of them could react, a question mark shaped hole appeared in their chests as red energy flowed from them. Both Dark Magicians fell to their knees before exploding while Eye Candy’s life points dropped to 5500.

“Now Performage Trapeze Magician, attack her directly!” shouted Trixie. Eye Candy, shocked by this sudden turn of events, looked up and saw energy beams coming out of Trapeze’s wand as he tossed it into the air. The wand then hung there like a trapeze wire as the magician jumped up to grab a hold of it. Back and forth he swung until finally he let go, his feet making contact with the center of Eye Candy’s stomach. As she fell to her knees her life points fell as well stopping at 3000. “Now I leave the stage to you to try and top that performance.”

“Oh trust me, I will,” growled Eye Candy as she drew a card making the total in her hand two while her Shards of Greed card gained a counter. “I can’t afford to lose this match, not now!”

-Flashback-

“Man, I wish I had your looks,” said a student next to Eye Candy as she looked at herself in the mirror. Everything looked perfect, just like always. Without looking, Eye Candy knew the other girl was looking at her with envy all over her face. It wasn’t hard to predict since she had always done that. Just as much as she had wished to look this good naturally in fact.

“Totally,” said another girl nearby. “With looks like that, I’m sure you’ll have the easy life. Marry some rich hottie who will take care of you for the rest of your life. Meanwhile, the rest of us will have to get jobs.” As the two girls laughed, Eye Candy stared at the mirror as if she had noticed a large pimple growing faster than a water balloon and just as large. Was that all there was to her? Was that all her friends thought she could do with her life? Sure, she wasn’t the most talented in school with barely passable grades, but she was sure she could do better if she tried.

Putting her mirror away, Eye Candy scrambled to pick up her text book. There was still a few minutes left till the class began but perhaps it would be better if she studied during this time.

-

It was late at night, rain pounding against the apartment windows as she herself cried while her face was planted on the surface of the kitchen table. In front of her were the results of her most recent exam, a C+. She had worked so hard, gone to tutoring sessions and had rarely gone out for fun. All semester she had been doing this, trying harder and harder as she tried all sorts of study methods. This was the result, only going up from a C- to a C+. Was this all she was good for? Was this really her best?

But that wasn’t what had hurt her the most. No, that had been her father trying what she believed to be his best attempt to comfort her. He had stood there; look awkward for the longest time as she tried to make sense over her failure.

“Honey, I’m sure there is more that you could do with your life,” he said in a feeble tone. “Maybe, I don’t know, a weather girl job or something? You have the right looks for it and…” His words trailed off as she began to cry, eventually leaving her alone. Not even her own family believed she was anything beyond looking good. The test had proved it.

-

Eye Candy sat in a dinner, a cool cup of coffee laying in front of her untouched. Today had been another failed audition. Much like so many before.

After Eye Candy had come to realize that she would never be book smart, never get into a good college or anything like that, she had decided to try a different path. She didn’t want to be a simple model or anything like that. Instead, she turned her attention towards the stage in the hopes she could become an actress or perhaps a singer. However, auto-tuning could only take her so far as she could barely hold a tune even after spending so much to practice. She thought she was a decent actress, but there were so many out there who were better than she could ever hope to be. Time after time, failure after failure was starting to get to her.

Honestly, she didn’t know how much longer she could keep trying. Even after graduating she was still living with her father as he tried to provide for both of them and she could tell it was starting to get to him. Sooner or later he could tell her to get a real job or kick her out. The few job interviews she had had thus far had ended as soon as she admitted she had no prior experience. How the hell was she supposed to gain any experience if no one out there was willing to teach her?

“Excuse me,” came a slightly nasally voice above her. “Are you Ms. Eye Candy?” The woman looked up to see a slender man with a slightly plump nose standing next to her table dressed in high end fashion. Or at least what she assumed from the magazines she peaked at in shopping marts.

“…Yes,” she said slowly, wondering who this man was.

The man grinned, quickly taking a seat across the table. “Good to meet you,” he said quickly. “Your talent agent said that you sometimes come down here after, er, well he said you are a regular here and let’s leave it at that. I’ve come to offer you a job.”

At the sound of a job, as well as the mention of her agent, Eye Candy straighten up. “A-Are you sure?” she asked, a smile appearing on her face. Quickly she looked around to see if there were any cameras, briefly thinking that this might be one of those reality shows where they prank you. Just to be on the safe side.

“After seeing that smile, I’m more that sure,” said the man as he tried, and failed, to flip a card from his sleeve. “I’m looking for a magician’s assistant. Someone to…captivate the audience while I do my thing. If you take the job then I’ll give you 35% of whatever I make. I think that sounds good.”

Eye Candy’s smile faded as she sank a bit in her seat. Yes, she knew she needed the job desperately. But was she willing to give up after everything she had done over the years? Just survive solely based on her looks? Even if she wanted to do that there were better jobs out there for her. If this guy was a magician then he couldn’t be a very good one if what she had seen was any indication.

“Now I know what you’re thinking,” said the man quickly, clearly reading her face. “I know I’m not the best out there. Heck, I’m just getting started. But get this, my family is loaded. So much so that I was able to sink thousands on some of the best equipment money can buy. I’m sure that once I figure it out we’ll be headlining some of the best casinos in the country. Maybe even get a TV special or something. Look, if this helps sweeten the deal, how about I throw in room and board?”

Eye Candy’s expression didn’t change while the wheels turned in her head. Free room and board did help sweeten the deal. It would at least make her father happy to know she was moving on. Still, she wasn’t sure how far she could go this with man. Was just having the best stuff really all you needed?

Then, an idea struck her. Magicians were kind of like actors, weren’t they? Some even had followings and the like…maybe. Her limited acting might be of use to her. Perhaps she could get something more out of this, even if it did mean carrying this annoying guy for a bit. “How about this,” said Eye Candy as a smile reappeared on her face. “I’ll take 20% in exchange for you teaching me how to use your equipment and helping me set up my own act when you make it big.”

-

With that, the deal was made. At first, things weren’t so bad. The two of them worked together, her picking up how to work all the tricks Windbag, her boss, had bought faster than he did. Soon they were working minor gigs. A club one night then a few nights later a state of the company thing. Mostly birthday parties for unimpressed kids. The few theater jobs they got were always a mess with Windbag messing up the act in some way causing Eye Candy to cover up for him as quickly as she could. People looked at her rather than the bumbling fool she called her boss and that kept them getting jobs. And Eye Candy kept taking the humiliation hoping that soon they would make it at least somewhat big so she could collect on her promise.

That day never came. Eventually the audiences caught on and the jobs became fewer and far more in-between. Windbag began to gain more and more weight, trying hard to keep the secret from her that his family had cut him off. It was only when she suggested that they get some new material that he finally told her. She would have left him right then and there but the only thing that kept her there was that promise. She couldn’t let this go, not after all the work she had put into this. Not again. She needed this and she was willing to do whatever it took.

-End Flashback-

“I’ve given up too much to let it end here!” snarled Eye Candy. “Bet you’re nothing but a spoiled rich girl. Well I won’t lose to you! I place one card face down in defense mode and end my turn.”

Trixie’s eye narrowed as she drew her card, equaling two in her hand. “Spoiled rich girl,” Trixie repeated with a snarl. “Hardly. The Great and Powerful Trixie has worked hard to get where she is. Trixie refuses to allow someone else to steal her moment!” She then pointed at her face down card. “Tricky, attack her monster right now.” Her monster held up his hand as a red question mark began to glow on its palm. It grew brighter quickly before suddenly firing at Eye Candy’s card, creating a dust cloud. But when the dust had settled, the card was still there. Flipped face up, what looked like a wad of chewed gum with eyes was staring back at her.

“Thank you,” replied Eye Candy. “You attacked my Marshmallon. This card can’t be destroyed in battle and when you attack when it was face down, you lose 1000 life points.”

“Trixie was careless,” said the blue magician as her life points dropped to 7500. “Trixie will set two cards face down before ending Trixie’s turn.”

“I figured,” said Eye Candy as she drew her card. “Now, thanks to my Shards of Greed spell card, I can send it to the graveyard to draw two more cards.” As her card vanished from the field, Eye Candy drew her cards so that she now had a total of four in her hand. “Next I tribute my Marshmallow in order to summon my Dark Magician Girl.” Instantly the pile of goo vanished from Eye Candy’s side of the field to be replaced with a well know blond haired girl with 2000 attack points. “I think you know about her effect. For every Dark Magician and Magician of Dark Chaos in the grave she gains 300 attack points. That gives her a total for 2600, more than enough to take down your monsters.

“But I’m not done just yet,” continued Eye Candy as she held up another card. “Because next I’ll play my Sage’s Stone spell card. Since I have a Dark Magician Girl on my field, I can now special summon one Dark Magician from either my hand or deck! And I just so happen to have one more in my deck.” With that, a card was ejected from her deck and with a flourish Eye Candy slapped it onto her duel disk causing the monster to appear once again.

“Now that I have made my Dark Magician appear on stage once again, lets make all of your monsters disappear,” said Eye Candy as she slid another card into her spell/trap slot. “Behold, my greatest spell: Dark Burning Magic! When I have both a Dark Magician and a Dark Magician Girl on my side of the field, I can destroy all cards on your side of the field! Say goodbye to your clowns Trixie!”

“Trixie doesn’t think so!” yelled Trixie as she held out a hand while Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl raised their staff/ wand together. “Trixie activates her trap card: Interdimensional Matter Transporter. With this card I can save The Tricky by sending him to a different dimension until the end phase.”

Eye Candy gapped at that. “You’d waste a card like that to save The Tricky? It’s worthless!”

As The Tricky seemed to slump at that remark, Trixie shook her head. “It’s hardly a waste,” replied Trixie as she looked at her yellow monster. Said monster turned to look back at her. “The Tricky is a card that is important to me. It reminds me of the person who helped Trixie realize how she can become Great and Powerful. He was the one who helped Trixie find her way. With this card, Trixie knows he is always near me. Besides, we’ve been together all this time.”

-Flashback-

A young Trixie walked into her room, her face smeared with the remains of cake frosting. The party had been…less than enjoyable. The blue girl had tried to perform a brand new trick involving her smoke bombs. She had next anticipated that it would cause a massive food fight, not helped by the fact that her trick failed. In the end she had somehow become the target of the children’s aim.

Still, she had gotten paid for her troubles. As she walked over to put the money in her piggy Trixie also took out the card Morboba had given her so long ago from her pocket. Somehow bits of cake and ketchup had gotten on the protective cover that she had placed on it. While she was sure no lasting damage had been done to her prized card, she quickly wiped it off before putting the card on a special stand she had for it.

“Well that trick didn’t work out as well as Trixie hoped,” said Trixie to the card. “But don’t you worry. Trixie has a hundred, no, a thousand ways in order to fix this and make it better. Then they will all see how amazing Trixie is.”

-End Flashback-

Coming out of her thoughts, Trixie saw that The Tricky was staring at her with tears coming through his mask life twin rivers. He raised a hand to wipe away the tears as the wave of magic from her opponents side washed over the field, The Tricky vanishing before he could be hit. Her Topeze Magician however, could not be saved as it and her other face down card were destroyed leaving her wide open. However…

“My Trapeze Magician’s effect activates,” announced Trixie. “When this card is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, Trixie can special summon one Performage monster from the deck. So Trixie chooses to summon her Performage Stilts Launcher in defense mode!” Appearing on Trixie’s side of the field was a monster with 0 defense points. It wore mostly purple on its thin, lengthy body as well as a long red cape.

“Some people just don’t know when their act is over,” said Eye Candy. “Dark Magician, please help that embarrassment exit stage right.” The Dark Magician silently pointed its staff at Trixie’s monster, creating an orb of dark magical power that flew from it and destroyed Stilts Launcher. “Now with that out of the way, its time Trixie got a taste of real power! Dark Magician Girl do your thing!” Dark Magician Girl twirled around a bit before blasting Trixie with another dark orb of magic, bringing her life points down to 4900.

“I end my turn,” said Eye Candy confidently as The Tricky reappeared on the field.

“My draw then,” said Trixie as she drew her card to her empty hand, wincing as she looked at it. “I switch The Tricky to defense mode. That’s all. I’m sorry Tricky.” Trixie’s monster looked at her for a moment, nodding his head in understanding as he took a knee in front of the girl.

“Then I draw,” said Eye Candy as she drew making the total she had two. “Now I think it’s time we ended this. So of us do have a performance tonight after all. I activate the Eye of Timaeus and target my Dark Magician to special summon the Amulet Dragon.” A wild wind swept over the field as a large, blue dragon erupted from the ground. The Dark Magician leapt onto the beast, seemingly unbothered by the wind created as the dragon beat its massive wings. As soon as the spellcaster landed on the creatures back, magical symbols began to crisscross all over the creature’s body while glowing with powerful energy. “Normally, this monster’s attack power is only 2900. But thanks to its effect it can become so much more. I’ll remove my Shards of Greed, Dark Magic Veil, Sage’s Stone, Dark Burning Magic, and the Eye of Timaeus from my graveyard in order to raise its attack points by 100 for each card. That makes its total 3400. Also, since we’re talking about monsters attack points rising, Dark Magician Girl’s goes up to 2900 since there is another Dark Magician in my graveyard.”

“It’ll take more than that to stop Trixie,” said the blue girl while The Tricky nodded.

“It’s a little late in the game to try and act tough,” said Eye Candy. “You put on a good show, but it’s doubtful you’ll be making a comeback performance. With two powerful monsters on my side of the field and the ability to block your first spell card, things are looking just as bad for you as they did when this duel first began. And with only one card in your hand your words lack any real bite to them. Now Dark Magician Girl, be a dear and make that yellow eye sore disappear.” With a quick twirl, Dark Magician Girl sent the attack at The Tricky which destroyed him, bits of his cape remaining as they burned away in the air. Leaving Trixie defenseless.

“Now it’s time for my Amulet Dragon to take a large chunk of your life points!” shouted Eye Candy. Her dragon opened its mouth as energy began to accumulate within its throat. Without any hint of a warning, it suddenly unleashed a stream of sparkling blue energy that would make the Blue Eyes White Dragon jealous and covering up Trixie’s side of the field in a large dust cloud.

“You’re right about one thing Ms. Eye Candy,” said Trixie as the dust slowly began to settle. “I do put on a good show. And I intend to keep on doing so by keeping the audience on the edges of their seats.”

“What do you-” began Eye Candy, but was cut off when she noticed something. Trixie’s life points hadn’t dropped at all. “I…I don’t understand. You should have lost nearly all of your life points with that one attack!”

“True,” said Trixie as the dust now fully cleared. But she wasn’t alone. Standing next to her was creature that looked like an upside-down bowling pin with a face. One of its eyes was a star, its tongue sticking out at Eye Candy as it juggled several balls. “But thanks to the effect of my Performage Damage Juggler, all I had to do was discard it to turn the damage I would have taken to zero.” As she spoke, Damage Juggler vanished from sight leaving Trixie alone while she crossed her arms.

“Fine, so you live for another turn,” snarled Eye Candy. “It makes no difference. When your turn begins you’ll have one card in your hand. What can that do against my deck? Against my magic?”

“You mean your straight forward, brute force tactics?” asked Trixie. “Not much wonder or excitement there I’m afraid.”

“Shut up and go,” Eye Candy spat.

“Very well then. Trixie draws!” An arc for light followed Trixie’s arms. As she drew, she could feel two hands with her. One was the gloved hand of The Tricky while the other was the hand of Morboba. Together, lending their strength to help Trixie in this duel. But it was only for that moment before they faded away. Taking a breath, the blue skinned magician looked at the card she drew and knew what to do with it.

“First off, the Great and Powerful Trixie will activate the effect of her Damage Juggler in the graveyard. By banishing it, Trixie can add one Performage monster from her deck to her hand. Other than Damage Juggler of course. So Trixie chooses another copy of Performage Flame Eater which she will then summon to the field.” Like before, Trixie’s balloon like spellcaster appeared on the field spitting fire as he did. “Now, due to his effect we both take 500 points of damage. But let us spice up this performance with something extra for my adoring opponent. Since you are taking effect damage, Trixie can remove Stilts Launcher from the graveyard as well to deal an additional 2000!”

“WHAT?!?” screamed Eye Candy as Trixie removed her card from the graveyard. As her life points dropped to 2500, the ghostly image of Performage Stilts Launcher appeared in front of her before suddenly exploding like a balloon that had been filled with too much air. Eye Candy was knocked down to the ground while her life points dropped to 500. “I’m still in the game! I’ll destroy that puny fire eater next turn and ship him back to the insane clown posse where he belongs!”

“Trixie doubts that will happen,” said the blue skinned girl as she held up her last card. “Since Trixie controls a spellcaster type monster on her side of the field, she can now special summon her Nefarious Archfiend Eater of Nefariousness to the field.” Just like that, a small mouse like monster appeared on her side of the field brandishing an attack point total of 1500. Well, if mice had horns and bat wings. And were munching on the horned skulls of their victims.

“Now that Trixie has two level four monsters, she can build the overlay network one more time!” declared Trixie as she raised both hands into the air. At once another spiraling galaxy-like tunnel appeared in the middle of the field to suck up both monsters. “The eater of flames adds his might to the eater of evil. Together they become the best sideshow attraction. Every circus needs a gunman! Xyz summon Rank 4! Gagaga Cowboy in defense mode.” When Trixie had finished her chant, a cloaked cowboy did a back-flip from out of the vortex. He landed on one knee before instantly pointing both green guns at Eye Candy.

“Now Trixie will end this duel,” she said firmly. “By detaching one of Cowboy’s overlay units, you will lose 800 life points.”

“What?!? That’s not fair I-” began Eye Candy but stopped as Cowboy’s gun fired a magical bullet that struck her right in the chest, brining her life points to zero as her body was flung backwards. The impact caused Eye Candy to hit the truck behind her and, as she slid down, all of the holograms vanished.

As her duel disk began to deactivate, Trixie marched towards the van ready to see if indeed her props were there. She only barely noticed Eye Candy who just sat there looking down at the ground with a defeated look on her face. But before Trixie could make it half way there, the sound of clapping was heard startling both women. Together they turned to look in the direction the nose was coming from and found the manager standing there in the shadows along with two police officers.

“That was a fine duel,” he said as he began to walk towards the van.

“I don’t understand,” said Eye Candy weakly as the manager and the police officers reached the van. Once he was close enough, the manager opened one of the crates wordlessly.

“Please give me some credit,” said the manager as he motioned Trixie to approach. “One of my performers for tonight just happens to get robbed and you show up announcing that you can take her spot? That you just so happen to have brought your own stuff? Even if the stars aligned themselves perfectly for all that to happen it would still be suspicious. I decided to play along for the moment to keep you here while I called the police and apprise them of the situation. After that, I went out to keep an eye on you and discovered that Trixie here was thinking along the same lines as me and wanted to duel you to get evidence. Thought it might be an enjoyable way of passing the time.” He then turned to look at Trixie who was now standing next to him looking into the box. “Ms. Lulamoon, are these yours?”

“They are,” said Trixie as she pulled out one of the items which had her label on it. She then showed it to the police who nodded.

“Then that’s that,” said the manager with a sigh. He then turned to look at Eye Candy who was staring at the ground, her limbs looking limp as she did. His eyes held no pity for her as the two officers approached her and stood by her sides. “I have no idea what prompted you to do this nor do I really care. Even if you sing some sob story to a jury or judge to get out of this mess, I never want to see your face around here ever again.”

Trixie watched as the manager turned around, not bothering to look at Eye Candy as she was forced onto her feet. Her body seemed barely able to stand, her head hanging limply as if she were no longer really alive. Trixie even doubted that she could hear the officers as they read her right or felt anything as she was cuffed. She didn’t even try to fight them as she was lead away into the shadows where the police car presumably was. Eye Candy just seemed like she had given up, that all the fire and passion she had during their duel had died. Trixie would be lying to herself if she said she didn’t fell at least a little bit sorry for her.

“Well,” said the manager as a hand clapped her shoulder. “We better start getting all this inside. The show needs its ending act after all.” Trixie nodded. Before she did anything however, the blue skinned magician lifted her duel disk and removed The Tricky from the graveyard. With it in one hand her other went to fetch the locket from around her neck, opening it at once. Staring back at her from the occupied section was a small group picture showing her younger self, her relieved looking parents, and the man who gave her this card. With a smile, Trixie slide her treasured card into the appropriate slot before closing it. Now she was ready to meet her destiny.

Author's Notes:

Windbag and Eye Candy were inspired from the Pokémon episode March of the Exeggutor Squad.

Last chapter I forgot to mention another upcoming duel: Sombra vs Luna. Its going to have some more world building as well as what Nightmare Moon was like in this world. Hope you all will enjoy it.

Anyways, time to explain my reasoning for choosing Performage for Trixie. To be honest, I find that it fits her so well. She's not a real magician, just an illusionist so it felt wrong to give her a deck like Spellbook, Magical Girl, or even Dark Magician. Also, I don't see a lot of people writing this so it was more fun for me.

If anyone has any suggestions for duels be sure to mention them below and tell me what you think of the story so far

Dueling Fates (Luna/Nightmare Moon vs Sombra) part 1

The final bell of the day had rung only minutes ago, its siren song telling the students of Canterlot High that their day was done. All throughout the hallways, students were heading to the lockers to drop off what books they no longer needed and to get what was stored there before heading out. Some would head off home or else meet up with friends before that. Others would stay behind to practice with their sports teams, attend after school clubs, or any other after-school activity.

While all this was going on, one lone figure sat by himself in an isolated room. Here, the only light that shined came from the laptop he used, as all of the windows had been covered up by old posters of a single attractive sixteen year old girl wearing armor. Briefly, the figure would glance at these pictures with a small smile on his face before returning to his work. Old videos streamed across the screen before him as other programs went to work. Programs working on voice recognition, profiles, and other such similar things that the teen had bought online.

Soon he would be the one to find her.

-x-

Elsewhere in the school, Sunset Shimmer moved along with the crowd towards the exit. Her head was down, finger scrolling down her phone’s screen as her eyes roomed over the article on display. On any other given day, Sunset would most likely be reading a review on some up-and-coming game or checking for leaks on the newest Duel Monster’s cards coming soon. But today was a bit different. The article she was reading came from a website that tracked strange sightings of the unexplained all over the country. From ghost to alien sightings, updates come in on a somewhat regular basis. Normally, most of this stuff could easily be explained by Sunset as humans allowing their imagination to run away with them. Or perhaps even making stuff up just to get a little attention.

Yet the article she was currently reading was different. According to it, in a town called Sire’s Hollow, several people were reported to become possessed. These people, two teachers and several students at the local high school, were spotted shuffling aimlessly out of the school grounds after classes had ended. They moved with no real purpose, bumping into walls and almost into incoming traffic all while wearing large unnatural smiles on their faces. When called out, the victims did not respond in the slightest or showed any signs that they were aware of the world around them. Eventually, the people seemed to snap out of it seemingly all on their own without any memories of what had happened.

While normally Sunset would have written something like this off as an attention grabbing story, something about it felt…familiar. Perhaps it was the actions of people, having read about it in a text book or something. Or maybe it was because it happened at a school and all of those there had been wearing their duel disks. Or maybe it was something else. Whatever the case, there was a chance this might be a case of Equestrian magic. Cinch had been able to find magic beyond the borders of Canterlot and used it against them. If she was right, then the magic might have found someone to use it and, if that was the case, had become a target for Cinch to drain. More than that, the magic could have overtaken its host by this point. She had to do something.

Scrolling down the article again, she saw that it was a week old. Nothing else had been reported about the incident. Not another incident similar to that nor anything else from the town. Could this have been a one-time event? There was the chance that, whoever had used the magic, had become fearful of it and was resisting the urge to use it again. There was also the chance that Cinch had already gotten there and stolen the magic for herself. Or, perhaps the most frightening of all, that person had learned how to control the magic so well that no one was noticing. If that were the case, whoever had this magic was extremely dangerous.

“Sunset Shimmer!” came a familiar shout up ahead. Looking up from her phone, Sunset saw Pinkie Pie waving at her normal hyper pace while surrounded by the rest of her friends. smiling Sunset pocketed her phone before grabbing both straps of her backpack with her hands. As she picked up her pace a bit to get to her friends faster, Sunset decided that she should ask them what they thought about this. Maybe convince a few of them into going on a road trip with her to this Sire’s Hollow. That is if Twilight had managed to make the new magic tracker and the-

“Sunset,” came a familiar voice behind her, breaking Sunset’s thoughts. The flame haired girl turned around to see Wallflower Blush standing there, looking slightly uneasy as she stood there.

“What’s up?” asked Sunset, noting that Wallflower had in one hand a pair of thick gloves that she used in her gardening. Most likely she was heading to her gardening club behind the school before she had called out to her.

“There’s, ah, sort of been a formal complaint about the yearbook,” said Wallflower as she looked ever more uneasy. She then let out a sigh. “A club is claiming that they weren’t represented. At all.”

At this, Sunset was taken aback. Both she and Wallflower had worked hard to make sure that everything from the school year was in the yearbook. Every student got at least one picture and every club was properly listed as well as having pictures in the book. Even Wallflower’s club was in there along with its new members. How could they have both missed one? Plus a formal complaint? That meant whoever this was went straight to Principal Celestia with their problem!

“Which club?” asked Sunset, eager to find out who they had missed.

Wallflower shook her head. “Pip’s club,” was all she said. And nothing more needed to be said as Sunset’s expression changed from worry to annoyance. This wasn’t the first time Pip’s club had come up on her yearbook radar. It also now made so much more sense why the complaint went the Principal Celestia instead of coming to them. Seriously, how many times did they have to go through this?

“Principal Celestia flagged me down in the hallway not too long ago,” continued Wallflower as Sunset placed a hand on her head. “She didn’t know about the issue we’ve been having with him so I had to explain it. She understands why we didn’t include Pip’s club in the yearbook, but wants us to talk to him one more time. Good news is that if he complains to us again we can send him to Principal Celestia’s office and she’ll take care of it.” Wallflower then paused, peeking around Sunset’s shoulder for a moment. Sunset turned her head as well to see that her friends were all staring at the two. None of them were saying anything, not ever to each other, as they watched the two girls.

“I was going ask you if you wanted to handle this,” continued Wallflower as she tried to hide her gloves behind her back. “But it looks like you’re busy. Don’t worry, I can handle it.”

Sunset shook her head, stopping Wallflower before she could turn and walk away. “I got this,” she said to her green skinned friend. “All part of the job I signed up for. Besides, all I was going to be doing tonight was hanging out. Nothing I can’t put off for a bit. I can always catch up with my friends later.”

“A-Are you sure?” asked Wallflower.

“You just go on to your gardening club,” said Sunset in a confident tone. “I’m sure there are plenty of people waiting for you.” Wallflower smiled, nodding at Sunset before dashing off in the opposite direction. As she quickly vanished from sight, Sunset let out a sigh. “Good thing is, this’ll be the last time I have to deal with the Nightmare Moon Fan Club.”

-x-

Several minutes later, Sunset found herself standing in front of one of the study rooms of the library. There were several of these rooms running alongside one of the walls of the library, roomed off by glass walls. Each room was bare to help avoid distractions with a table inside large enough to seat about six people without the room feeling too cramped. The glass walls also served a few different purposes. Firstly, it allowed students and the librarian to more easily see if a room was available without needing to knock on the door. It also helped show if students were fooling around instead of working on a project in a group or studying together. The glass also helped dampen the noise inside so that no one there could disturb the rest of the library.

Only one of these rooms was any different from the others…and it wasn’t because it was special or the like. Whoever was inside right now had clearly covered with interior with posters, the backs of which being the only things to be seen. There was also a sign on the door, made from a single sheet of white paper and decorated with marker drawings of stars as well as the moon. The only words on it were: Nightmare Moon Fan Club. Why the librarian hadn’t kicked Pip out for doing all of this, Sunset had no idea. All Sunset really cared about was dealing with this mess one last time before heading out to catch up with her friends.

So without knocking on the door, Sunset entered the room.

“GAH!” came a cry from the table from surprise. Sitting at the middle of the table was Pip, the smallest boy in the school. At a height several inches smaller than Sweetie Belle, he wore jeans along with a white shirt and brown sweater vest. His complexion was a mix of white and brown while his brown hair was combed over. Before him was his laptop along with several other papers sprawled across the table. Sighing, Sunset leaned against the open door as she waited for him to adjust to the sudden surprise and calm down.

While she waited, Sunset’s gaze turned to look around the room at all of the old posters Pip had placed on the glass walls. They showed a girl no older than she was with, strangely, more clothing on than most posters that guys collected. Instead of wearing a skimpy swimsuit or something skintight that left nothing to the imagination, she wore full-body silver armor that conformed perfectly to her figure with a matching helmet along with a black cloak. Attached to one of her gauntlets was a duel disk that shined as brightly as the rest of her armor. While most of her face was hidden, Sunset could see the she had confident eyes that matched her stance. Each poster had her in a different pose, but all of them said the same thing: “The Stars Shall Aid Me in This Duel!”

“Pip, we need to talk,” said Sunset as she shifted her gaze back to Pip.

“I’ll say,” said Pip as he stood up, rubbing his eyes as he did. “Have you ever heard of knocking? I’m working on club activities right now and-”

“Pip, you don’t have a club,” interrupted Sunset with clear annoyance in her voice. “That’s the reason you can’t be in the yearbook.” Pip slowly lowered his hands from his eyes, causing Sunset to wince a bit. It was clear by the look in his eyes that he wasn’t willing to accept this.

“Of course I have a club,” stated Pip, shaking his head as he did. “Didn’t you see the sign outside?”

“But you don’t have any members!” snapped Sunset as she gestured to the empty room. “A club has to have at least three members to be featured in the yearbook. Or has to do something on a regular basis. Sitting in the dark by yourself doesn’t make it a club.” Sunset then took a breath to try and get herself more in control. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. But we’ve been over this plenty of times. If you want this club to be in the yearbook then you should put a bit more effort into finding more members. Not going to complain to Principal Celestia!”

“I tried that though,” said Pip while throwing up his hands. “Everybody is either on the dueling team or in the Sombra Fan Club. Nobody even wants to listen when I talk about one of the greatest duelists who ever lived!”

“Couldn’t have been that good,” said Sunset as she looked around the room. “Never even heard of her.”

“She was that good! Back when she was dueling, she was one of the most popular duelists trying to get into the pros,” said Pip as he gestured to a picture of Nightmare Moon. “She was famous for making a spectacle with her duels, lots of gestures and playing up to the crowd. Plus there was the mystery of who she really was. No one knew anything about her except for her alias Nightmare Moon. There were even a few VHS tapes of her best duels which sadly never made it to DVD or Blu-ray. I managed to track all of them down and she has this…energy to her that just compelled you to watch her. Others felt the same way because she her duels almost always sold out.”

As Pip spoke, Sunset couldn’t help but feel curious about this girl. Looking at the picture again, she could tell that the teen there did have a whole lot of energy just by the way she held herself. That she was putting her whole heart and soul into it. Sunset couldn’t help but muse that if Pip tried explaining his passion like this then maybe he could get more people interested long enough to hear him out. Still…

“So what happened to her?” asked Sunset as she turned to look back at Pip. “If she was so great then why hasn’t anybody heard about her? Why isn’t she in the pros making tons of money?”

“That’s the thing: no one knows!” said Pip excitedly as he moved back to his chair. As he spoke, Pips fingers raced across the keys as he typed away. “I learned about Nightmare Moon back when I was in the Sombra Fan Club. Apparently, she was his biggest rival back then as they competed for the very top. While they never officially dueled their personalities were completely different! Sombra, even back then, was the more serious duelist compared to how Nightmare Moon was. Well, when it was announced that the two of them would be dueling to see who got to enter the pros it caused a stir. Fans of both duelists traveled for miles to see them finally throw down with everything on the line. People were speculating, putting up bets, and so much more from everything I’ve been able to dig up. I even talked to a few people who were there at the stadium that night who said it was a crazy time. But when the time came, Sombra was there but not Nightmare Moon.” Pip paused to look up from his screen. “They waited an hour for her to show up and, when they checked the locker room, all they found was her helmet on the floor.

“Naturally, people suspected that Sombra might have had a hand in her disappearance. He had a lot to lose if he failed and the pressure was high. But after several months of police investigation, they came to the conclusion that he had nothing to do with her vanishing. The pro league declared him the winner of the match and he was allowed to advance up. Well, they may have declared him innocent but that doesn’t mean he didn’t do it. His entire early career is full of people accusing him of foul play with nothing ever proven.”

Sunset hummed as she thought of Sombra. It was impossible for any duelist to have not heard of Sombra since he was one of the highest ranking duelists in the world. Not only was he skilled, but he also had an extremely rare archetype that allowed him to dominate most of his duels. While there were those who complained that it wasn’t fair to use such cards, Sunset had always shaken her head at that. Sombra had worked to track down each and every card he had while also building the rest of the deck. Plus, as was proven from time to time, just having a rare archetype didn’t always guarantee victory. Beyond his dueling career, he had used the money gained from that to make a killing in the stock market. By all accounts, he was the man who seemed to have it all.

Still, as she thought of the few times she had seen him dueling, Sunset could see him doing something like that. He just always seemed…angry despite having everything he could ever want. He always looked at people with that glare like he was about to punch them, even while attending a fundraiser or something like that. There was just something dark about him that gave her the shivers.

“Since then, people have been trying to find her,” continued Pip. “There are websites were her still loyal fans are trying to see if she’s still out there while others continue to talk theory of what happened that night. That’s part of what the Nightmare Moon Fan Club is all about, trying to find her. And I think I might have finally done that!”

“But you’re still not a club,” said Sunset firmly. “This all sounds interesting, but if you can’t get at least two more people to join you in talking about a duelist who hasn’t been seen in years then I can’t put you in the yearbook. And just having your name added there won’t help with your lack of members. I’m sorry.”

“But,” began Pip in a desperate tone. Sunset raised a hand to get his attention, ready to tell him that if he continued to bring with up he’d have to have a very different talk with Principal Celestia. But before the words could leave her lips, a window popped up on Pips laptop followed by a computerized voice saying ‘Voice match confirmed’.

The room was silent except for the computerized voice repeating the message over and over again. Slowly, Pip turned to look at the screen with his eyes wide with disbelief. As he stared forward at the open file his expression shifted into pure joy. He let out a sudden sheer as he hopped onto his feet which startled Sunset. But Pip paid her no mind. In fact he seemed to have forgotten all about her as he raced towards one of the walls, quickly took down one of the posters, and ran out the door.

“I knew it! I knew her voice sounded familiar!” the boy shouted as he sprinted into the library, leaving Sunset alone in the room looking very confused.

-x-

At the same time, Vice-Principal Luna was sitting behind her desk in the dark filling out one of the many forms on it when a knock was heard at the door. Lifting her head, she saw that the door opened before she could give permission to enter revealing her sister.

“I was about to head out,” said Celestia as she ran a hand through her hair. “But I was wondering if you had any plans for next weekend.”

Luna fought hard not to roll her eyes. “Nothing as usual,” she said while putting her pen down. “Not unless we get some weekend detentions for me to supervise. If not, they it’s just me and the PlayStable 4 for the weekend. Same as usual.”

“Well, would you like to do something different?” asked Celestia as she moved into the room and closed the door behind her. Luna then watched as Celestia pressed her back to the door, as if making sure no one else would enter unannounced. There was barely restrained excitement in the older woman’s voice, clear enough to peak Luna’s interest as she leaned back into her chair.

“What did you have in mind?” asked Luna calmly.

“There is going to be a reunion of ‘Rainbow House’,” said Celestia causing a pit to instantly grow in Luna’s stomach. ‘Rainbow House’ had been a somewhat popular family sitcom that had lasted four seasons on primetime where Celestia had been a child actor on. For four years, Celestia had played the lead’s daughter and had loved every moment of it. After the show had been canceled, Celestia had tried to find other work but had never been able to secure anything beyond minor roles here and there. While she had moved on with her life, Celestia still kept in touch with her the other actors on the show and was (from time to time) asked to make guest appearances on other shows.

Something that Luna had never gotten the chance to do. Not for a lack of wanting. Not for a lack of trying!

“It’s just the cast and a few people from the network that still remember us,” continued Celestia with a smile on her face. “Nothing too special. There might be a camera crew there to do a ‘where are they now’ segment, but I’m not too sure. I’ve also heard that the studio is thinking of restarting the show like with a few other shows are doing right now.” Celestia then shrugged. “Personally, I’m not planning on accepting if that is true. But you could come along and I could help you make a few contacts. It might lead to something.”

Luna sat there as she looked at her sister, doing her best to keep her breathing steady. She’s just trying to be nice, thought Luna as she pushed away painful memories. She’s not trying to rub her former fame in your face. She’s not reminding you of how she was famous like she used to do. You’ve both moved past that point. All she wants to do is help you and spend time with you. That’s all.

“It’s a nice offer,” said Luna after a moment. Slowly she leaned forward in her chair and picked up her pen again. “But I’ve had enough rejections to last me a lifetime. It’s your night and you should enjoy it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to get this work done before I leave.”

Celestia, however, did not leave. Instead she slowly approached her sister’s desk. “Luna, you could still come to spend some time with me out of work,” said Celestia. “I’m sure it’ll be fun.”

“I’m not so sure,” said Luna as she focused on the paper in front of her. Without looking up, she took a deep breath before exhaling slowly. Then, when she spoke next, she did so in her most final tone she could muster. The same tone that she used when there were to be no more arguments with students and parents. “I understand that you are trying to be nice, sister. But going there might not be the best thing for me. Starswirl was right that I shouldn’t set my sights any higher than they are now. This is the only place I belong. Doing anything else will just end in failure.”

“Luna,” said Celestia in a shaky voice while taking a step back. “We’re adults now. If this is something that you want, you should try without worrying what he thinks. He can’t make your decisions for you anymore.”

“He was right! Everything I ever tried to do on my own failed!” shouted Luna as she slammed her pen on the desk. Looking up, she saw that her sister had taken a few more steps back. A look of shock and fear was on the older woman’s face, causing Luna’s own frustration at all of this to soften. While taking another deep breath, Luna took hold of the papers in front of them before tapping them on her desk. “I’m sorry about that, but my mind is made up. Just…have fun and don’t worry about me.”

“Luna,” began Celestia before a sudden, rapid series of knocks on the door was heard. Before either woman could respond the door burst open and in came a student they knew as Pipsqueak. In one of his hands was a large, rolled up piece of paper or something like it. Perhaps something from the art class?

“Vice-Principal Luna, can I talk to you for a moment?” he asked between heavy pants, as if he had raced to her room.

“Of course you can,” said Luna as she shot a look at her sister. “Me and Principal Celestia just finished and she was leaving. Right?”

For a moment, Celestia stood there with her arms crossed as she looked at Luna. It was clear from the look on her face that she wanted to counter what Luna said. To say they were not finished and continue where they left off. To get Luna to go with her no matter what happened, even if it ended with them screaming at each other and digging up old wounds. Honestly, Luna didn’t know why this mattered so much to Celestia. It was just better to let go and move on. It hurt so much less that way.

Thankfully, Celestia didn’t press the issue. Without saying a word to either of them, she walked out of the room while gently closing the door behind her. Hopefully she would also realize that Luna was not interested in pursuing old dreams that would never be.

“Now, what can I do for you today Pip?” asked Luna as she addressed the small student before her.

Pip rushed to the desk with a wild smile on his face. “I have so many questions for you,” he said as he began to unroll the paper onto her desk. “Firstly, could you sign this?” Luna’s eyes widened as she saw what was on her desk, the image it held. Without realizing what she was doing the Vice-Principal had leapt from her seat as if Pip had dropped a rattlesnake there. Quickly, she pressed herself against the wall behind her.

“Where…Where did you get that?” she demanded, her eyes never leaving the image of Nightmare Moon. Tears threatened to appear in her eyes as memories began to surface from her past. Painful ones that she had hoped would never surface again, made all the worse by the conversation she had just finished with her sister.

“I knew it was you,” said Pip excitedly. So excited, it seemed, that he was unaware of the state Luna was in. “I heard your voice in the hallways so many times and it always sounded similar to the one in your old videos. So I recorded it and then got this program that compared them. It was a match! I can’t believe Nightmare Moon is my Vice-Principal! I-I have so many questions like what happened to you and-”

“Does anyone else know?” demanded Luna interrupting Pip. At that, Pip seemed to lose some of his stride and excitement. His shoulders slumped a bit causing Luna’s heavy breathing to lessen.

“No,” he said in a dejected tone. “No one to tell really.” Then, suddenly, he brightened. “At least here. I’m on all of your fan sites. I can’t wait to tell them that you’re-” Luna never let him finish. As he spoke, the blue skinned woman quickly moved around her desk before grabbing his shoulder in a vice like grip that instantly silenced him.

“You will do no such thing,” she hissed as she began to push Pip towards the door with her shaking hand. “Now, I want you to forget about all of this. I am not Nightmare Moon nor have been her. Don’t ever bring this up with me again! Is that clear?!?”

“But I don’t understand,” stammered Pip as the door opened. Luna looked into his eyes, seeing the confusion and hurt in them. For a moment, Luna felt for the small child before her. He had looked so excited not too long ago and now she was dashing whatever expectations he might have had upon meeting her. She thought that, instead, she could sit him down and explain herself. Maybe get him to understand. But that would mean reliving those old memories, the old hurts that she had suffered through. Something she wasn’t strong enough to do.

“I am not Nightmare Moon,” Luna repeated as she forced him out of her office. Then without saying another word Luna closed the door, almost slamming it, before falling to her knees with her head pressed against the door.

-x-

Pip strode back to the area he had marked as his clubroom as if in a daze, finding it to be empty. No one had taken the posters off the walls nor had anyone tampered with his stuff. It was all there, still running like normal. He should have been glad for that. So many times he had left it here only to find someone had messed with his laptop or taken down all of his posters. One time he had even come back to see everything had been taken down and left outside the room so that another group of students using the area he had claimed. It should have been nice to know all his stuff was ok.

Then again, it should have felt great to finally meet THE Nightmare Moon. To finally get to meet her, talk to the girl he admired, perhaps even get some tips on his own dueling. To get an autograph from her. Only none of that happened. Could he have been wrong? The software he used had been the cheapest he could find so that was possible.

Shaking his head, Pip went to his laptop. He needed a second or third opinion on this matter. And he knew just where to go for help.

-x-

“What else is on the agenda for this week?” growled Sombra as he walked down the halls of the office building he owned. He was a grey skinned man with a long flowing black hair that shined while being neatly tied in the back. While not being past thirty years old, he was hunched over slightly with both his hands behind his back. The man wore a black, pinstripe suit with a bright red tie that looked like it was on a bit too tight while the three men behind him wore standard black suits with matching black ties.

“Well sir,” began Boot Licker, his personal aid, as he walked while scrolling down a hand held device. “Mayfield Hospital was wondering if you could make an appearance to their children’s ward in attrition the donation you made.”

Sombra grunted at this, his gaze lingering for a moment to the nearby window they passed seeing the starry sky beyond it. “You told them no, right?” He was eager to call this a day and go home. While there was no one who wasn’t anyone there waiting for him, the grey skinned man wanted to be there more than anything. Just sit there at his table, eat a hot meal, and be alone for a while. And the sooner he got to the elevator the sooner he could leave these useless fools behind.

“Actually, I said you’d think about it,” replied Boot Licker in a nervous tone. “It’s good PR to been seen like that. Plus, plenty of those kids are fans and would love to-”

“They can have either my money or my time,” grunted Sombra as he moved a little bit faster down the halls. “Not both. Never both. I have explained that to you plenty of times. If I have to say it again, it will be the last time we ever speak. Is that clear?”

Boot Licker gulped. “Ah, yes sir,” he said quickly. “I understand sir.”

“Anything else?!” barked Sombra as they stopped in front of an elevator. “Is my limo here?”

“It’s been waiting for you for the last three minutes according to my watch,” said Boot Licker quickly. “Ah, there is a request from the charity-”

“No,” growled Sombra as he tapped his foot. “I’ve given away plenty of money already this year. If they want another free handout then they can go somewhere else! Anything else?”

“Ah, well,” began Boot Licker as the doors opened in front of them. Instantly Sombra stepped in and turned to look at them, annoyance clear in his expression. “We did get a request for an interview. An author named Quick Quills is doing a book on dueling controversy and would like to dedicate a chapter to you. I could put him down for the end of the week if you’d like.”

As the door began to close, Sombra closed his eyes while at the same time pressing the button to keep them open. Always the same thing, no matter how many years passed. “Have him call me in the morning,” said Sombra as he opened his eyes to glare at Boot Licker. “I want to ask him some questions about the book before we do anything.”

“Yes sir,” said Boot Licker as he tapped on his device. Feeling like they were done, Sombra released the button holding the door open. Closing his eyes, he listened to the sweet sound of doors shutting on annoying fools he had to put up with. At least now he was finally getting a break so he could-

“One more thing,” said Boot Locker quickly. “It’s about your pet project!” Eyes opening quickly, Sombra shot a hand out to stop the door from closing. Without waiting for the door to fully open he slid back into the hall where he looked at Boot Licker with blazing eyes.

“You found her?” he asked.

“Possibly,” replied Boot Licker as he handed Sombra his device. “One of the websites we created got a new post. A young boy claims he might have proof that Nightmare Moon is living there.” As he spoke, Sombra stared at the device which had been opened to a web site. There, at the top, were two pictures side by side. One was of Nightmare Moon and next to it was an attractive blue skinned woman. The person who posted this was asking others to look at the evidence he had collected and wanted their opinions.

“Have you checked her out?” asked Sombra as he stared at the woman’s picture as if to commit it to memory.

“In the process right now,” replied Boot Licker. “But the boy’s evidence is promising and the woman is in the right age group along with the right skin color.”

Sombra licked his lips as he continued to stare at the device. “Cancel all my plans tomorrow,” he said with a slight smile.

-x-

“SUNSET!” shouted a voice behind the flame-haired girl. She stopped in her tracks, turning her head while at the same time raising a hand (the one not holding her coffee) to block the morning light from shining into her eyes. Squinting, she could just make out Twilight and Sonata as the pair rushed to Sunset.

“Morning girls,” said Sunset as they moved to her sides. Sonata took the spot on her left, eating a breakfast burrito as she walked with a content expression on her face. On her left was Twilight, a to-go cup held in her own hand. “So, Twilight, did you go over that article I sent you?”

“I did,” said Twilight after taking a sip of her drink as she looked thoughtful. “Not completely sold on the idea that Equestrian magic is involved. For all we know, it could be someone out there trying to get their ten seconds of attention. Maybe if there had been some pictures or something.” She then looked at Sunset and gave her a nudge. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t check it out.”

Sonata quickly gobbled up the rest of her food, swallowing it loudly. “Yeah, please, Twilight can try out the new magic finding thingy she’s been working on!” she said excitedly.

“It’s only a test model,” said Twilight as she ran a free hand through her hair. “I decided against putting a containment unit on it like I did the first one so it’ll only help us find whoever has the magic. If there is any. But the problem with this new model is that its range isn’t that great and it seems to only be able to detect magic when it's being used.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “You tested it?” she asked curiously.

“On myself,” said Twilight as she pointed to her pendent. “When I first activated it, it just sat there doing nothing. However, when I started to levitate things using my Equestrian magic the device went off. So I decided to do a few more tests. Like seeing if the signal would be stronger if I used more magic and things like that.”

“I got to fly a few blocks away thanks to Twilight,” said Sonata in a chipper tone while pumping a fist into the air. “I even got to punch that seagull that stole my food a few days ago. At least, I think it was the right seagull. They all look the same to me.”

“While we were doing that, Spike was back in my lab watching the device,” continued Twilight. “I gave him a walkie talkie and told him to…”

“Twilight are you ok?” asked Sunset as she stared at her friend. She was standing perfectly still now, her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide. Something that worried Sunset. She knew Twilight, or at least this Twilight, well enough to know that whenever she got on one of her scientific talks very little could get her to stop until she finished.

Turning her head to look in front of her, Sunset saw that they were several yards away from the school entrance. To her shock, camera crews were stationed there while students milled around them. Several people with cameras were all about the place, one of them even standing on top of where the horse statue used to be. There were also students who seemed transfixed by all of this, watching everything that was happening as they stood there.

Without needing to say another to each other, the three girls hurried forward to see what was going on. In her mind, Sunset worried about what this could mean. Had some scientist figured out about the portal leading to Equestria? Had some creature from Equestria appeared in this world, unchanged for some reason? Whatever was going on was certainly big enough to catch this much attention.

As the three rounded the corner, they saw someone they never expected to be there: Sombra! He stood there hunched over with his hands behind his back while staring at the entrance to the school. Students were being kept back by men in black suits, making sure he had an unobstructed view of the front entrance. Looking around, Sunset saw that there were several vans with large cameras on them and filming everything that happened.

It was at that moment, Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna came walking through the main entrance. Judging by their frowns as well as the way they stormed in, neither had authorized this and had just been told what was going on. However, Sunset couldn’t help but notice something odd with the Vice-Principal. Luna’s anger expression morphed rapidly to confusion followed by wide eyed shock or fear as soon as she saw who was outside. She also seemed to move behind her older sister a little as if to put Celestia front and center of this confrontation.

“What is going on here?” demanded Principal Celestia as she crossed her arms, scowling at Sombra as she remained at the top of the steps.

Sombra, Sunset noticed, wasn’t paying attention to her in the slightest. Instead, his focus was on Luna. “I finally found you,” he said with a slight smile. “After all these years, this is where you’ve been hiding. I must say, it is nice to finally see the woman behind the armor with my own eyes. You’re even more attractive than I thought you would be Luna. Or, would you prefer it if I called you…Nightmare Moon?”

“I am not Nightmare Moon!” shouted Luna, her face burning red and clearly flustered as she stepped forward an inch or so pushing into Celestia. “This is school property and you must leave this instant!” At that, all of the students gather began to whisper to each other. Who was Nightmare Moon? What was going on?

Sombra chuckled. “I will not be doing that,” he said. “You see, I have waited a very long time for our match. The one you ran away from. And I refuse to leave until we have our duel.”

Sunset looked back at Luna…and almost took a step back which would have knocked Twilight to the ground. Luna suddenly looked livid. More so than anything she had ever seen before during her time at this school. She stepped forward, shoving her sister aside without a second thought. Speaking of Celestia, she looked both alarmed and confused at the same time. Clearly, Celestia had never seen her sister this angry before either.

“Ran away?!?” she roared. “Oh, you have some nerve to say that. After what you did, don’t pretend like it was anything like that. I was forced out because of you! To think you would stoop that low just to ensure you would win!”

“I…have no idea what you are talking about,” said Sombra. And, in all honesty, Sunset believed him when he said that. There was clear confusion in his voice and his expression matched his tone perfectly. Either he had hidden acting skills or he was telling the truth.

“Of course you would say that,” growled Luna as she crossed her arms and looked away. “Not like you would admit anything with all these people and cameras around.”

“In any event,” continued Sombra as he snapped his fingers. At one, a man carrying a briefcase approached him. Once he was close enough, the man opened the case which Sombra reached in to pull out a black duel disk and deck. “I have come all this way to have our fated duel. The school board and the mayor of this charming town have already been contacted. If you agree to duel me and win, I will donate to this school a top of the line dueling stadium for the dueling team as well as all new equipment for your sports teams. Naturally, they have accepted these terms. All we are needing is your participation.”

This had an instantaneous effect on all the students gathered there. No longer whispering in confusion, many of the began to talk loudly and excitedly. Some even began to cheer loudly. From what Sunset could make out, no one really expected Luna to win so they could get any of the promised stuff from Sombra. After all, he was a pro duelist so you’d have a better chance getting a natural tan in the middle of winter than defeating someone like him. Yet the chance to watch him duel here, without paying a cent, was just too exciting for those who were gathered.

Luna gritted her teeth. “You really want to rub the salt in my wounds that badly, don’t you?” she asked as she clenched her fists. Sunset watched, noticing as blood began to drip from both hands. “Since the school board already agreed, I guess I have no choice. Just promise me you’ll stay out of my life when this is finished.”

Author's Notes:

Decided to split this chapter into 2 parts due to the length of the set up involved and, at twenty pages long, figured more people might prefer it this way. If you do I might keep doing it like this.

As always please let me know what you think in the comments below and the duel will be coming soon

Dueling Fates (Luna/Nightmare Moon vs Sombra) part 2

It was about an hour and half later before Luna’s car entered the faculty parking lot, coming to a screeching halt as it did so. Normally, the blue skinned woman was more of a stickler for the rules of the road having never been pulled over once in her life. Today, however, she didn’t care if she broke every rule there was out there. Opening her door with a fury, she quickly got out and slammed it behind with enough force to almost break the window. Muttering random curses under her breath, Luna moved to the back of the car where she quickly popped the truck. Looking down, she saw her old unused duel disk laying there along with her old deck. It, of course, wasn’t the duel disk she had used when she was younger for that wouldn’t fit her anymore. Instead this was her first ever duel disk which had an adjustable arm holder so that she could use it even to this day.

When she saw it, she reached out to take a hold of it before suddenly pulling her hand back. With quickening breath her head began to move back and forth as if expecting someone to jump out from behind one of the dozens of parked cars there. But that didn’t happen. No one was there expect for her.

“Get a hold of yourself Luna,” the woman said to herself as she picked up the duel disk. “Starswirl isn’t here. He’s in Florida enjoying his retirement. He’s not here.” For several long seconds, Luna stood there holding her duel disk as she did her best to get her heart rate under control. Not that it was easy for she could hear his voice in her heard. That she wasn’t good enough to succeed on her own. That she would never be as talented as Celestia and to accept it. That her dreams were childish and she shouldn’t even bother. Why waste your time doing something when you know you’re going to fail? Only he knew what was right for someone like her. As these voices echoed in her head, Luna did her best to take long drawn out breathes. Slowly her heart rate began to return to something closer to normal while the voices began to fade.

She shut her trunk one-handed before making her way to the front entrance. More students had gathered to watch, forgetting their classes for the day just to watch. Many were standing in the courtyard while others had taken to bringing chairs and desks from inside the school. Those who had not left the building, she couldn’t help but note, were crowding the windows or were up on the roof somehow. Then there were the teachers who were going along with their students rather than keeping them under control. It was utter madness. When this duel was over she would have a talk with her sister about a suitable punishment for all of these rule breakers.

Students parted as she made her way to where the duel was to happen, cameras following her as she did so. Sombra had not moved from his spot, hunched in front of where the school’s statue once was. As she took the spot several feet from the stairs, Luna noticed that Sunset Shimmer and her friends were all there as well. They stood in front of the crowd almost directly in between where Luna and Sombra were. Luna also noticed another familiar face in the crowd: Pip. He was standing close to her with excitement in his eyes, ready to watch her duel in person. The blue skinned woman’s eyes hardened a bit when she saw him, promising herself that when this was over he would have detention for the rest of his life if she could manage it. Or see if she could get him expelled for the invasion of her privacy.

It was, however, odd that she didn’t see her sister anywhere in the crowd. She should have been easy to spot, standing taller than most students. Perhaps she was trying to call the school board to get them to call this off or something.

“Are you ready,” asked Sombra, getting Luna’s attention. Rather than respond to him and risk saying something she might regret Luna simply equipped the duel disk to her arm in front of him. “I see. Very well then. I’ll make this as fair as possible and allow you to decide who goes first.”

Luna looked down at her duel disk as she bit her lower lip. Back in the day she would have wanted to go first no matter what. Now, she was no longer that girl. She’d play this smart. She knew what his deck could do to her if she went first and she had to avoid that. Meaning…

“You’ll go first,” said Luna, hearing a gasp from Pip nearby. She did not look at the boy, instead keeping her eyes fixed on Sombra. The man’s eyes had narrowed considerably before tightening up his red tie. How that man could breathe like that she had no idea.

“Very well,” said Sombra as he inserted his deck. Luna mirrored his actions causing their life points to appear as 8000. Five cards were ejected from their deck slots with both duelists taking them. Looking down at her hand she saw that she had a good balance of monsters, spell cards, and a trap. Enough for her to make plenty of moves.

“Draw!” said the hunched man as he drew his sixth card. He glanced at it before putting it back into his hand before taking another card and placing it into one of his duel disk’s spell slots. “If your plan was to slow me down it didn’t work. I play the spell card El Shaddoll Fusion to fuse together the Shaddoll Hedgehog and Shaddoll Beast from my hand to create El Shaddoll Winda!” With a frown on his face, Sombra showed Luna the two cards in his hand before sending them to the graveyard. As he did this, a swirling mass of dark clouds appeared above his side of the field. “The dark strings of fate empowered by the shadows. Corrupted champions come to my aid! Fusion Summon: El Shaddoll Winda!” From the clouds came a woman riding on the back of a purple dragon with 2200 attack point. Or perhaps, giving the purple threads attached to the two, they were simply marionettes being lowered to the ground. When they got closer to the ground, Luna thought it might be the latter given the joints and the wooden look of the two. The woman was wearing a mostly purple attire with a staff in her hand. The dragon reminded the blue skinned woman of an Asian dragon, except with a large beak like mouth and overly large yellow eyes.

“El Shaddoll Winda prevents either of us from special summoning more than one monster per turn once she is on the field,” said Sombra as he gestured to his monstrosity. “So that means I can still special summon one more monster this turn which I shall do. Since my Shaddoll Hedgehog was sent to the grave due to an effect I get to add one Shaddoll monster to my hand. For that I will choose my Shaddoll Falco. As for the Beast I sent to the grave, his effect allows me to draw one card.” Sombra’s duel disk shot out a card from the middle which he revealed to be Falco as the cards were shuffled. Once it was done, Sombra drew another card. “Now, I will normal summon my Thunder King Rai-Oh in attack mode.” Appearing now on Sombra’s side of the field was a blue humanoid looking machine with his arms held in a Y position. Thunder King was made of mostly blue metal while his silver ‘arms’ were like electrical coils that sent electricity flying through the air to a disk on both sides of it before the energy went to its feet. Its attack points were 1900.

That’s strange, thought Luna as she looked at the field in front of her. Sombra had everything he needed to create his best fusion monster El Shaddoll Construct. But he didn’t do it. Why?

“With that I end my turn,” said Sombra as he brought his hands behind his back.

“Very well,” said Luna. “I draw.” The Vice-Principal looked at the card she just drew before adding it with the other five. “First I’ll play the spell card Constellar Star Chart. This continuous spell card will allow me to draw a card once per turn each time I Xyz summon a Constellar monster. Next I’ll summon my Constellar Pollux in attack mode.” As Luna placed the card on her duel disk, a star began to twinkle above her before a light crashed down on the ground in front of her. When the smoke cleared there stood a man in silver and gold armor along with a white cape. He wore a helmet which kept his face hidden and on the right leg were large spikes. Held with both hands was a sword with two separate blades that shined in the light of the day. His attack points were 1700.

“My monster has a powerful effect which allows me to normal summon another monster this turn,” said Luna. “So now I summon Constellar Kaus to the field as well.” Another twinkle of light above their heads followed by an explosion brought Kaus to the field. This time Luna’s monster was a centaur wearing silver armor along with a matching cape. He too wore a helmet which hid his face and not even his eyes could be seen through the eye visor like eye hole. In his grasp he held a bow made of gold whose bow string seemed to be made out of energy. This monster’s attack points were 1800.

“Since I have two level four monsters on the field I can Xyz summon a monster,” announced Luna as spiral vortex appeared on the ground in front of her. Barely noticing Sombra’s frown, both of Luna’s monsters were turned into lights that were sucked in. “Steel and circuits built by the stars themselves, bring down a mighty fist like no other. Xyz Summon Rank 4. Constellar Praesepe.” Exploding upwards from the vortex appeared a monster of white metal and golden trimming. Looking like a space aged knight, Praesepe was equipped with twin golden cannons on his back as well as a cape that was gold on the back but red on the inside. One of his hands was a golden pincer that hummed with red energy inside of it while the other was a hand with a claw built into its backhand. Larger than either of Luna’s previous two monsters, he stood there sporting a decent 2400 attack points along with two golden orbs orbiting around him.

“Since I successfully Xyz summoned him I can now-”

“I’m afraid not,” interrupted Sombra as he brought his arms in front of him again. “I activate the effect of my Thunder King. By sending it to the graveyard I can negate the special summoning of your monster and destroy it.” Luna’s eyes widened in shock as Sombra removed his monster from his disk. At once a powerful current flew from his monster and hit hers, destroying it in a large explosion which she needed to raised both arms to defend herself. As the dust settled, Sombra brought his arms back behind him once again. “Since your monster was not successfully summoned, you will not be able to draw a card. Is there anything else you’d like to do?”

“I,” began Luna but stopped herself as she looked down at her hand. Her eyes fell upon her trap card before looking downcast. What was the point? He’d probably destroy that as well before she could activate it. “I end my turn.”

“Hmp,” grunted Sombra as he drew his fifth card. After adding it to his hand, the man paused to tighten up his tie. “I summon my Mathematician in attack mode.” Appearing before him was a wizard with a long white beard and a graduation hat on her head with 1500 attack points. “When this card is summoned to the field, I can send one card in my deck to the graveyard. So I will be sending my Eclipse Wyvern to the grave when his effect will activate. Now I can banish one dark dragon monster that is level seven or higher from the game. Then if my Eclipse Wyvern is removed from the graveyard I can add that monster to my hand. Now, the monster I will be banishing will be my Dark Armed Dragon.

“Now for my attack,” said Sombra after he had sent his monster to the grave and removed another. “Both monsters attack you directly!” El Shaddoll Winda went first, opening the dragon’s mouth to unleash a stream of purple smoke towards Luna. The blue skinned woman inhaled some of it before quickly bringing a hand to her mouth as she began to cough wildly. As her life points dropped to 5800, the Mathematician raised his wand. From it came a beam of pink energy with purple numbers and mathematical signs in them that stuck Luna. Knocked onto the ground her life points fell even more only to stop when they reached 4300.

“Nightmare Moon!” shouted Pip as Luna hit the ground. As for the rest of the student, she could hear their muttering. Words that she had heard before. That she was no good. That she should just give up. Slowly, Luna got back to her feet albeit on shaky legs.

“I end my turn,” said Sombra, his voice a growl of irritation as he put his hands behind his back.

“I draw then,” said Luna as she added another card to her hand, giving her a total of four cards. “I summon Constellar Algiedi in attack mode.” Appearing on Luna’s side of the field in another explosion was woman in whitish silver armor and a blue cape. In one hand was a mace which she held on one side. Her attack points were 1600. “Now I will destroy your Mathematician!” On her command, Algiedi leapt into the air with her mace raised above her. Sombra’s spellcaster looked up just in time to see Algiedi’s mace slam down on his head before being destroyed.

“When Mathematician is destroyed I can draw a card,” said Sombra as his life points dropped to 7900.

“Now that that’s done,” began Luna as she looked at her hand again. “I, uh, end my turn.”

“I…see,” said Sombra, irritation and boredom in his voice. After adding his fifth card to his hand he tightened up his tie yet again. “So very disappointing. I will remove my Eclipse Wyvern from my graveyard in order to special summon my Black Dragon Collapserpent to the field in attack mode.” As Sombra removed the card from his graveyard, a large winged reptile like creature appeared next to him. Its scales were grayish black except her its under bellow which had an orange tint to it. The dragon lacked any arms or legs, only large webbed wings with white spikes on both. After being there for a moment, its chest seemed to open up revealing a black sphere like a black hole. Its attack points were 1800.

“Since I removed my Wyvern, I can now take the banished Black Armed Dragon and add it back to my hand,” continued Sombra as he did just that. People around were clapping and cheering for him, but Sombra seemed to ignore it. He just continued to look dully at Luna. “Now, I will attack with El Shaddoll Winda and destroy that pitiful excuse of a monster.” Winda’s dragon opened its mouth again to unleash the purple smoke. Algiedi tried to wave it off with her mace only to have it melt before her eyes. Once her weapon was gone, the smoke began to eat away and melt Algiedi whole until there was nothing left while Luna’s life points dropped to 3700. “Now I attack you directly with my Collapserpent.” Luna suddenly felt like a thousand pounds had been added to her body, causing her to call to her hands and knees. She cried while her life points fell even more only to stop when they hit 1900.

“You’re not Nightmare Moon,” said Sombra coldly as Luna panted, trying to get up. “You might be the right age. You might use similar cards as her. But you lack both her spirit and her skill.” As he placed his hands behind his back, Sombra spat on the field in-between both of them. “I finally thought I had found her after all these years, only to have this happen. What a disappointment.”

Luna’s eyes widened at that before narrowing dangerously. As her hands clenched into fists, her bare fingers rubbing against the pavement, she looked at Sombra with all the hate she could muster. “You’re not the only one who’s been disappointed,” said Luna as several nearby students backed away. “You were always so uptight, but I never thought in a million years you’d ever stoop to that level.”

-Flashback-

Sixteen year old Luna stood in front of a mirror in the changing room she had been, making sure her costume was in order. Normally, duelists would be given sitting rooms where they could relax in comfy chairs with dividers separating them from the others. There were, however, a few exceptions to this. People like Luna who wanted to change into something special when they dueled could request a locker. Of course it wasn’t all that big. By her side there were only ten small lockers lining the walls of the small room she was in along with a bench dividing the room in half. She had heard that some pros get their own private rooms, but that was only for the truly elite.

As Luna stood there admiring herself she couldn’t help but think back to how her look had evolved. Back when she had first took to the stage as Nightmare Moon, she had worn a cheap plastic knight costume that she had gotten on discount from a Halloween store. Now black spandex hugged her body from her neckline to her feet with the faux metal on top of it. It shined brightly in the light coming from the ceiling and her cape looked perfect. Under one arm was her helmet while the other held on it her specially commission duel disk with her deck already in it. Once she put on her helmet and walked out that door, she would be Nightmare Moon ready for the match of her life.

Despite her heart pounding like mad from excitement, she found herself smiling brightly. She had gone farther than anyone might of expected. Now, with just one duel left before officially making it into the pros, she was going to put it all on the line. If she lost, she would know that she had done her best.

The rustling of the door behind caught her attention as normally the staff here would knock before entering. Before Luna could turn around the door swung open with Luna seeing her intruder in the reflection. Her heart seemed to stop for a moment, the helmet in her grasp falling to the floor and rolling around as she saw Starswirl looking at her with disgust. Her legal guardian after the death of hers and Celestia parents deaths; he was an elderly man with a long white beard and bluish grey skin. As usual he wore his signature blue suit which was dotted by small white and yellow stars. Yet his cold, indifferent eyes were not there this night. Instead they seemed to blaze with a furry Luna had seen only a few times in her life.

“So it’s true,” whispered Starswirl angrily as Luna turned around. As she pressed her back to the mirror Starswirl closed the gap between them, grabbing her arm once he was close enough. “When I received that letter I didn’t think it was possible. I never thought you’d do something this foolish. But here you are.” Roughly, Starswirl pulled on Luna’s arm forcing her towards the open door. “We are leaving this place right now.”

“No!” shouted Luna as she tried to hold her ground. However, her strength was no match for his as Luna’s feet dragged across the floor. “Please, I’m so close. This is my big match, my big night. You can’t take this away from me.”

“I am sparing you from your own inevitable failure,” said Starswirl as he continued to pull her move and move out of the room. “I will not let you waste your time any more on something so foolish that will result in nothing!”

“But I’m good at this!” insisted Luna as she pulled back with all her might. As she did, she felt her hand slip out of his grasp. However, her freedom lasted only a moment as he quickly took her by the arm again with a much tighter grip.

“You’ve been lucky,” he said as he pulled her out the door. “But sooner or later you will fail just like you always do. Haven’t I told you time and time again that I know what you are capable of? What your limits are? I’m sparing you from yourself.” With that, Luna was pulled down the empty hallways while fighting the entire way. She struggled to get out of his grip, using her free hand to try and pry herself free. Sadly, nothing seemed to work. Soon they were in his car which was parked in the back. Then they were gone leaving behind her helmet…and her big match.

-End Flashback-

Back in the present, Luna slammed her fist on the cement. “I don’t know how you found out, but you had to be the one to send that letter!” accused the Vice-Principal as she remained on the ground. “You were the only one to benefit from that! You ruined my life!”

“Benefit?” echoed Sombra in a growl as he stood there, casting a dirty look at Luna. “That night was what almost ruined me! My integrity was called into question, people assuming the worst of me. Even after they found no evidence that I was involved with Nightmare Moon’s disappearance, do you really think anyone trusted me? Every time I defeated someone I was accused of tampering with their deck. Whenever a match had to be postponed, duelists wondered if I had hired some goon to try and eliminate my opponent. Even to this day I have to bare that. I have been forever branded a criminal.

“But that’s not what hurts the most,” said Sombra as he pointed a finger at Luna. “No, what’s worse is not knowing if I could have beaten you back then. Back then, you were the only one I ever considered my equal. The one duelist I respected more than any other. Finding out you were to be my opponent to see if I would be able to enter the pros was a dream come true. A true test of my skills. Defeating you was the only way I could be worthy of becoming a pro. For days I would lie awake in my bed as I wondered how the match would go. And what happened? I won by default?!? That wasn’t how it was suppose to happen! I may be a high ranking duelist, but was that supposed to happen? Am I only in the position I am in now because of luck? There is not a day that goes by where I do no wonder such things.

“That is why I have tried to find Nightmare Moon. I want that duel I was denied if only I could gain some piece of mind. But it seems fate is denying me once again. I’m going home.”

As Sombra began to turn his back to her, Luna felt her heart beginning to beat faster. Around her, she could see students beginning to disperse as the duel was pretty much finished. She had lost, failed like so many other times. Perhaps Starswirl had been right all along. That she was-

“No, Nightmare Moon can still win this!” screamed Pip, causing Luna to look up and Sombra to pause. The older man turned again to look at the smaller boy who was not standing out from the crowd with both hand clenched tightly. Those who had been around were beginning to distance themselves from him, leaving the boy to stand on his own. “She’s been put in tighter situations before. I’ve watched them myself. She never gives up!”

Sombra looked at Pip for a moment, studying him for a moment. “That she did,” he admitted before shaking his head. Calmly he tightened up his tie even more. “But that woman is no longer here. The person we both admired is dead. Perhaps it is time to simply move on.”

I’m pathetic, thought Luna as Sombra began to turn around again, almost in slow motion. I don’t want to be though. But what can I do? That person I was, she was so much stronger than me. I couldn’t even stop Starswirl from destroying everything I worked for! Why can’t I be strong like she was?

Have you forgotten? Luna’s eyes widened as she heard another voice echoing all around her. While she could not recall who the voice belonged to, it was familiar as if she had heard him somewhere before. Like a friend from long ago. Nightmare Moon and you are the same person, the same soul. You lost confidence in yourself through your stumbles in life. That man’s words filled you with fear and doubt. But now the chance to reclaim it all that you lost is right before you. Remember, even during the cloudiest of nights the stars shall still be shining waiting to be seen. We are waiting for you to seize it again! Now stand and fight with us AGAIN!

As the words echoed in Luna’s head and heart, the woman stood up. “Where are you going Serious Sombra?” she asked as she held her duel disk at the ready. Sombra almost stumbled at the sound of her voice. When he turned his head around again it was more cautious than anything else as if he were afraid to get his hopes up. A hand rose up to his tie but barely touched it this time, tracing it as he stared back at Luna’s smiling face. “You came here for a duel. It would be a shame for you to leave before either of our life points hit zero.”

Sombra didn’t say anything at first, but the students who remained certainly were. All of them whispering how their Vice-Principal had lost her mind. She had only 1900 life points left with no monsters. El Shaddoll Winda was on the field meaning she could only special summon one monster per turn while also having nearly full life points. Not to mention he had Dark Armed Dragon waiting in the wings ready to crush her at any time. She had to have lost it to believe she could win under these conditions.

“It…seems rather pointless,” said Sombra who sounded puzzled by Luna’s sudden change.

In response, Luna brought her heels together clicking them loudly before pointing at Sombra. “Come now Serious Sombra? Let's let this next turn play out. After all, you think your victory is assured. Or are afraid I might turn it around?”

At that moment, something odd happened with Sombra. His free hand suddenly shot under his suit jacket to where his heart was located. Those around could tell he was clenching at the fabric of his shirt as he continued to stare at Luna’s smiling face. Then there were his eyes. No longer looking dull, they held within them the look of someone who had seen a ghost. Yet just as quickly as this happened Sombra seemed to compose himself. His hand returned from under his suit jacket to tighten his tie once more before returning to where he had been standing.

“Very well, I’ll humor you,” said Sombra as he brought his hands behind his back. “It’s your turn I believe.”

“It is! I draw!” declared Luna as she drew her card is a wide arch. As she did, she briefly noticed Twilight and Sunset staring at in shock while at the same time she felt a hand resting on her shoulder. Energy she had not felt from her youth coursed through her. This match would be an uphill battle. The best kind!

She then looked at her forth card and smiled. “The stars will aid me in my victory!” she shouted causing Pip to jump into the air, pumping his fist. “This is where the real duel begins Serious Sombra! I’ll summon Constellar Sombre in attack mode!” Appearing in another light that shot down in front of Luna appeared a monster with 1550 attack points. It worn the same silver armor with gold trimming as well as a helmet which concealed her face. On her helmet were two golden horns that curved backwards and she had wings like that of a butterfly floating a few inches from her back. Around her, floating separate from her body was a mint green ribbon with symbols for Gemini, Cancer, Virgo, and several others that moved around like on a electronic dashboard.

“This monster is very special,” continued Luna. “By removing one of my Constellar monsters in my graveyard, I can add one other Constellar monster from my grave to my hand. So I’ll remove my Praesepe to add Kaus to my hand. Now the other effect of Sombre activates allowing me to normal summon again! So please, lets welcome back Constellar Kaus!” Another explosion on Luna’s side of the field and Kaus was there. “Now I activate the effect of Kaus. Up to twice per turn I can either raise the level of a Constellar monster by one or lower it by one.”

“So, you’re going to raise their levels by one to bring out a rank five monster,” said Sombra.

“No,” replied Luna causing Sombra to take a step back. “I’m going to lower both of their levels by one so I can bring out a rank three!” Everyone there looked confused as both of Luna’s level four monsters had their levels dropped to three. “Now everything is set for me to build the Overlay Network! Heed me beast-warrior of the stars! Cut through the darkness with mighty blade forged by the heavens themselves! Xyz Summon Rank Three: Constellar Hyades!” From out of the vortex created when Luna began her chant came a humanoid warrior wearing black armor with the white armor with golden trimming on top of it. Hyades had golden horns on his head which pointed directly in front of him, looking sharp enough to be used as weapons themselves. Lines of red energy seemed to glow on the cracks in his breastplate and along its arms leading all the way to its twin swords which the monster held upside down. As the twin material orbs orbited around the monster everyone could see that it had 1900 attack points.

“That monster…do you plan on destroying my dragon?” asked a confused Sombra.

“No,” answered Luna with a smirk. “I’m planning on destroying your Winda. But that will have to wait a moment. First, since I successfully summoned a Constellar xyz monster my spell card allows me to draw a card.” With that she took a step forward while drawing her card, looked at it, and smiled as it was added to her hand. “Now I will use the effect of my Hyades. By detaching one of its materials, I can force all your monsters into defense mode.” One of the material orbs orbiting Hyades suddenly flew into its blade causing it to glow brightly. The monster then slammed it into the ground, sending a shock wave to Sombra’s side of the field. It was then that El Shaddoll Winda crossed her arms while the dragon she rode upon curled around itself. As for Collapserpent, it brought its wings in close while the black hole in its chest was concealed again.

“Now to be rid of Winda,” said Luna as she trusted out her hand at the El Shaddoll Winda. “Constellar Hyades, attack it with Piercing Shooting Star!” Hyades turned to look at Luna, nod, and then charge at Winda with the force of a charging bull. Once he was directly in front of Winda, Hyades leapt into the air high above it before bringing down both blades. Sombra’s fusion monster exploded as Hyades leapt back to Luna.

“When El Shaddoll Winda is destroyed I can return one Shaddoll spell or trap card from my graveyard back to my hand,” informed Sombra as he took back his El Shaddoll Fusion. He then looked at Luna curiously. “Now that Winda is in the graveyard I now have all I need to summon Dark Armed Dragon. Not only that, we can both special summon more monsters pre turn. On my next turn I will be able to completely destroy you. But you knew that. So…why? Are you giving up and just wanted to go down swinging?”

“No,” replied Luna as she placed a hand on her hip, face full of confidence. “I want you to bring out your dragon and everything else you’ve got. Show me your best Sombra so I can take them all down.” Luna then held up two cards. “I’ll let you get to that after placing these two cards face down and ending my turn.”

Sombra watched as the two cards materialized on Luna’s field. “So that’s it,” he said softly. “A trap nicely set up with your monster as the cheese. Or…is it a bluff to buy yourself more time.” Sombra then raised a hand to his tie only for it to pause there seeming to tremble as he looked at Luna’s expression. His eyes scanned the field before looking at his hand, as if he were considering his options. Trying his best to determine if it was worth the risk. Then he lowered his hand to his deal disk to draw his card.

“I will do as you asked and end this duel,” said Sombra as he held seventh cards. “Since I now have a total of three, and only three, dark monsters in my graveyard I can special summon Dark Armed Dragon from my hand in attack mode.” As Sombra placed his card on the duel disk a loud roar was heard echoing across the campus as his monster rose from the ground. Unlike the regular Armed Dragon, this monster had green scaly skin instead of red under its black armor. Long spikes and blades decorated said armor as well has having a drill at the end of its tail. Its attack points were an impressive 2800. “Now I will use his effect. But removing one dark monster from my graveyard I can target one monster you control and destroy it. I will remove my Hedgehog to destroy Hyades. So say goodbye to your only monster.”

As the drill on Dark Armed Dragon’s tail began to spin, Luna threw out her hand. “Not so fast,” she yelled as the dragon’s drill shot towards Hyades. “I activate my trap card: Xyz Veil!” Dark Armed Dragon’s effect was suddenly halted as a barrier appeared around Hyades, causing the dragon to retract its tail. “This effect card prevents my Xyz monsters from being targeted by effects as long as I have material attached to them. Meaning you just wasted your monster’s effect!”

“A minor inconvenience, I assure you,” replied Sombra as he held up another card. “If you thought that was the only dragon in my hand then allow me to correct that misconception. I remove my Shaddoll Beast, El Shaddoll Winda, and Thunder King Rai-Oh to special summon Chaos Dragon Levianeer in attack mode.” A portal appeared over the field, allowing a massive white dragon that cast a shadow over the entire school to appear above their heads. It floated there, with mint green energy growing in the middle of its wings, in stomach, and its unicorn like horn. Everything about seemed so jagged, from its wings to the ‘hair’ on its head as well as its beak like mouth. Above it, between the dragon’s wings, was a small black orb no bigger than a baseball. Its attack points were 3000. “Sadly, this monster can’t attack the turn it was summoned. But it is interesting in that it has three effects. One if I remove all dark monsters to summon it. One if I use all light monsters. But the one you used be worried about is if I use any combination of both which allows me to destroy any two cards on the field. So I’ll be getting rid of your Veil and face down.”

As Luna’s cards were destroyed via a laser beam from Levianeer’s head, Sombra held up another card. “Now, since you have a monster from your extra deck on the field, I can play Shaddoll Fusion to its full effect: allowing me to fuse monsters in my deck. So I’ll send another Shaddoll Beast and Mathematician to the grave in order to fusion summon another one of my El Shaddoll monsters.” As Sombra played his card, clouds began to swirl above the two duelists. “Four pillars binding you with your own power. Yet the shadows will never truly vanish. Fusion summon El Shaddoll Shekhinaga!” From the clouds came four curved pillars, two white with black criss-cross markings while the other two were the opposite. Like the two giant dragons, they towered over the field in frightening scale. Then, a figure of a marionette woman appeared in the middle of the four with half of her body white while the other half was purplish. On her back on the white side was an angelic looking wing while on the other side was bat like one. Shortly after she appeared, purple threads began to shoot out from the pillars to bind the woman leaving her captured within. Her attack points were 2600.

“With this, my victory is assured,” announced Sombra as his three giant monsters loamed over Luna. “My El Shaddoll Shekhinaga has the power to negate the activation of any of your special summoned monsters and destroy them simply by discarding a Shaddoll card from my hand. Not only that, because I sent my Beast to the graveyard I am allowed to draw another card to my hand.” Sombra then drew a card, giving him a total of five. “Finally, I will change my Collapserpent to attack mode.”

“Then go ahead,” said Luna as she gestured to Sombra to come to her. “End this duel…if you can.” Sombra at once began to raise his hand to point at her, mouth open ready to give the verbal command…but he stopped himself. His eyes scanned the field once again as if looking for something. Anything to explain why Luna wasn’t scared. Then he shook her head, several stray hairs standing up in the process.

“Dark Armed Dragon, finish what you started earlier and end that monster!” shouted Sombra. Dark Armed Dragon responded by raising both clawed hands as black energy began to collect into spheres in both. Without any mercy it flung them at Hyades, creating a massive explosion that shook the field. “Now with that you-” Sombra stopped as light suddenly cut through the explosion, illuminating Hyades for all to see. He was there, whole and undamaged, with angelic wings of gold on his back. What’s more his attack points had risen to 4700! “What trick is this?”

“No trick,” responded Luna with a grin while holding up a card. “You were so focused on my field, you never realized that the real trap was in my hand: Honest! By discarding this card, I can target one of my light monsters and it will gain attack points equal to the monster attacking it until the end of the turn. And you know what that means.” Sombra gulped right before Hyades took off into the air thanks to its new set of wings. He then landed on the chest of Dark Armed Dragon who started to swat off the Constellar monster but stopped when Hyades jammed both blades into the dragon. Armed Dragon screamed in pain before exploding into light, knocking back Sombra a bit as his life points dropped to 6000.

“Care to continue attack me?” asked Luna as she crossed her arms.

Sombra only responded by staggering forward a bit only to catch himself on his knees. There he stayed for a moment, panting hard for some reason while more of his hair could be seen standing up. Dust had now settled on his suit coat, giving him a dirtier appearance than anyone had ever seen. As he remained there, students were whispering to each other. From what Luna could hear, they were all surprised by this sudden turn. No one had expected her to survive such an overkill like move. Well, all but one.

“She did it!” cheered Pip as he bounced up and down. “I knew she was Nightmare Moon and this proves it! She’s got to be the real deal!”

“She is,” said Sombra as he began to laugh. “She really is Nightmare Moon!” With that, Sombra began to laugh even harder as he straightened himself up. His eyes were now ablaze with life and energy, almost looking maniac as he smiled broadly. His free hand went to his red tie only to loosen it while taking a step forward. “I fell right into that trap. Yes! This is the feeling I was expecting! This is the excitement I was denied all those years ago!” Still smiling madly, Sombra separated two cards from his hand before holding them up. “I’ll you everything I’ve got Nightmare. Starting with these two face downs as I end my turn!”

“And I’ll show you everything I’ve got!” declared Luna as she too was smiling. “I draw!”

-x-

“Sunset, what’s going on?” asked Twilight causing Sunset to blink. For a moment, she wondered what her purple friend was talking about until she noticed who Twilight was looking at. Herself. Or, rather, she was looking at the pendent around her neck which now seemed to be glowing. Taking her own eyes off the duel, Sunset looked down and touched her pendent to find it warm as well as radiating magical energy like nothing she had ever seen before. Light from the pendent began to glow brighter and brighter until it blinded the three.

When they opened their eyes the three saw that everything around them had changed. They were no longer in the school yard but instead a professional dueling arena, sitting in the stands. Sunset looked around to see if the other people around her were her fellow students, perhaps sharing in that…whatever it was. However, few lights seemed situated in the stand making everything appear darker and harder to see. The lights seemed focused in front of her where the duel was happening. Standing there were Luna and Sombra, but not the way they were looking a moment ago. Sombra looked younger, about their age now with his shirt slightly unbuttoned and his tie hanging loosely around his neck. Luna was her younger self as well; dressed up in her Nightmare Moon armor with her eyes clearly visible.

“What’s going on?” asked Sonata.

Sunset didn’t answer right away, instead looking at her pendent which continued to glow in her hand. She knew what her power was: mind reading. The ability to hear people’s thoughts and sometimes see their memories. One time she was even able to see how trippy the world appeared for Pinkie Pie. Perhaps this was something like that. Both Vice-Principal Luna and Sombra were getting really into this duel, a duel for which she knew they were supposed to have back when they were younger. Was this how they were seeing this moment, their feelings so intense that her pendent reacted to it? It was possible. The girls still didn’t know everything about how their magic worked.

“I’ll now play the spell card I just drew,” declared Luna as she held up one of her two cards. Or, rather, Nightmare Moon at this moment as she held up a card. “It’s another Constellar Star Chart. Meaning that whenever I Xyz summon a monster I can draw another card. So why don’t I do that now with an advanced Xyz summon?” In front of her, the overlay vortex appeared to suck up Hyades. “The coldness of steel and space combine themselves to forge a new weapon. Roar, mighty dragon, with a might to shake worlds apart. Xyz Summon Rank 6. Constellar Ptolemy M7!” Coming up from the vortex was a dragon like monster made of metal as large as Sombra’s own monsters. It stood there on its hind legs, white and gold plated armor protecting it. The monster’s wings were not on its back, but on its head as if there were ears showing not skin or anything like that but instead the cosmos. At the end of its tail was an edge of golden light that hummed with power. Around it were two material orbs orbiting around the dragon’s body. Its attack points were 2700.

“This monster can be Xyz summoned by using any Constellar Xyz monster I control and the monster used as well as all the material on it becomes Ptolemys,” explained Nightmare Moon. “Now, since I Xyz summoned a monster I can now draw two cards thanks to my spell cards. Then I will summon one of the monster’s I drew: Constellar Leonis!” Another star or beam of light hit the ground causing the crowd to go wild. Leaping out of the dust cloud was a figure who looked a bit different from the others used before. Its armor was white with hits of grey here and there. There were also blue spikes of energy on its shoulder and on the sides of its ankles while that same energy was slicked back on its helmet to create the appearance of a lion’s mane. As this 1000 attack point monster stood there, it swiped at the air around it producing blue energy blades from its fingers. “I hope you are enjoying this star shower Serious Sombra because it isn’t ending anytime soon! Now that Leonis is on the field I can normal summon once more. So please, lets welcome to the field Constellar Algiedi once again!”

“You may have gotten two more monsters on the field, but they won’t do you any good,” said Sombra as Algiedi appeared on the field. “Leonis is level three and Algiedi is level four. There is no way you can use them for another of your Xyz summons!”

“Oh, poor Serious Sombra,” said Nightmare Moon in mock concern while holding up a card. “Always so quick to judge. You are right, as they are now I can’t Xyz summon anything. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have a way to change that. I play the spell card Constellar Twinkle which allows me target one of my Constellar monsters and raise its level by one or two. I choose to raise Leonis up by one level so that it matches Algiedi. Then I build the overlay network to create another Constellar Praesepe.” Sombra pulled down on his tie more as Luna’s monster appeared on the field. “Now, Ptolemy M7, destroy El Shaddoll Shekhinaga!” Ptolemy let out a roar before opening its mouth wide to fire out thousand if not millions of tiny golden star-like objects into Sombra’s monster.

“When my monster is destroyed I get one of my Shaddoll spell or trap cards back,” said Sombra as his life points dropped to 5900. “So I’ll add Shaddoll Fusion to my hand.”

“Too bad the rest of your monsters can’t do that for you,” announced Nightmare Moon as she pointed to Collapserpent. “Praesepe, take down the tiny dragon!” From the cannons on Praesepe’s back shot two red orbs of light that clashed into Collapserpent, causing it to cry out before being destroyed.

“I may not get a card from my graveyard, but my Collapserpent doesn’t leave without giving me a parting gift,” said Sombra as his life points dropped to 5300. “When he leaves the field I can add one White Dragon Wyverbuster from my deck to my hand. You’ll have to do better than that if you wish to defeat me.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Nightmare Moon in a smug tone. “But for now I’ll end my turn.”

“Then I draw!” shouted Sombra as he drew his card. He then added it to his hand before looking at his five cards carefully. “I will remove my Dark Armed Dragon from my graveyard in order to summon my White Dragon Wyverbuster in defense mode.” With that a new dragon appeared on Sombra’s side of the field, one with blue skin with white scales on parts of his body like the back of its neck and chest which functioned like armor. With 1800 defense points it sat there with its wings covering its chest in order to better protect itself. “Then I will normal summon one monster in face down defense mode before I attack Ptolemy M7 with my Chaos Dragon Levianeer!” The horn of Levianeer’s head began to glow brighter and brighter, forcing Sunset to cover her eyes with her hands. Then it fired a beam much like how a unicorn would with the force of Tirek behind it.

“That won’t work,” shouted Nightmare Moon as she shot a hand into the air, her cape billowing behind her. “I activate Praesepe’s effect: when a Constellar monster I control is attacking or being attacked I can detach one of the material on him to raise that monsters attack points by 1000. More than enough to take down your dragon!” One of the material orbs flew into Praesepe’s pincer, red lightning sparkling around it as the monster turned to look at its ally. It then fired the orb at Ptolemy causing its attack points to raise to 3700. More than enough to survive and counter attack with its own power, dropping Sombra’s life points to 4600.

“Then it looks like I have no other choice but to end my turn,” said Sombra with a smirk.

“Then I draw,” said Nightmare Moon. She then looked at the only card she had for a moment before looking up at Sombra. “I’ll save this for later. For now, Praesepe will attack your Wyverbuster and Ptolemy M7 will attack your face down!” As Nightmare Moon pointed at her opponent, both monsters charged their attacks. Praesepe’s cannons fired first to destroy the white dragon. As for Ptolemy, his attack caused Sombra’s face down to be revealed as a small purple puppet of a bird that was easily destroyed.

“Thank you for that,” said Sombra. “You activated both of my monster’s effects. First, my Wyverbuster allows me to add another Collapserpent to my hand. As for the monster you destroyed, it was my Shaddoll Falco. Its flip effect allows me to set one of my Shaddoll monsters in my graveyard onto the field in face down defense mode. So I’ll set El Shaddoll Shekhinaga.”

“I thought that’s what you were planning,” said Nightmare Moon as she reached for her duel disk. “That’s why I saved something just in case I was right! I activate the effect of my Ptolemy M7: once per turn I can detach one of its material in order to send one monster on the field or graveyard back to the owner's hand. Or, if it was an extra deck monster, back to the extra deck. So I’ll detach the material to send your face down card back to the extra deck where it came from!” Instantly one of the material orbs hit Ptolemy in the chest, causing the wing-ears to grow larger. Once they stopped growing, the arena became something like a wind tunnel as papers, popcorn bags, and other such things went flying around. Sombra was bracing himself as he watched his face down card get sucked into the void within the wings of the metal dragon. Once gone, the wind vanished while the ears-wings returned to normal. “That ends my turn.”

“And begins mine!” shouted Sombra as he drew his card. He then looked at the five cards in his hand and grinned broadly. “I now have everything I need to turn this duel around. First I will remove my Chaos Dragon Levianeer and my White Dragon Wyverbuster from my graveyard in order to special summon Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning in attack mode!” In a flash there appeared a warrior with 3000 attack points wearing blue armor with gold trimming. He held in one hand a large curved sword while the other held a shield.

“I activate my monster’s special ability,” announced Nightmare Moon as she held up a hand. “By removing the last material on my Constellar Ptolemy M7, I can send your Black Luster Soldier back to your hand!” Once more one of Sombra’s monster’s was sucked into the void and brought back to his hand.

“A worthy, but futile attempt. Next I’ll play my Shaddoll Fusion,” continued Sombra proudly as he held up the card. “I will send my Shaddoll Dragon and my other Thunder King Rai-Oh to the grave in order to summon the headliner of my deck.” Two cards were slipped out of Sombra’s deck as the fusion vortex above their heads. “Threads of fear and fate, bind yourselves to this champions body, mind, and soul. Create the ultimate weapon like nothing ever seen before. Fusion Summon: EL SHADDOLL CONSTRUCT!” From the vortex, another marionette descended to the ground that was so huge that Sunset pushed herself back in her seat to try and get farther away from it. This monster was mostly purple with a mournful white face. It’s attire looked like a dress with the bottom part floating a few dozen feet away from the main body while the ends of its sleeves looked more like the ends of blades. Thousands upon thousands of purple threads were extending out from its body and moving out into the crowd. It’s attack points were 2800. “Now the effect of my Shaddoll Dragon activates, destroying one of your Star Charts!” With that, the shadowy image of a purple dragon puppet appeared on the field right before flying towards Nightmare’s side. It then collided with one of her spell cards, destroying it on the spot.

“Now, I remove my Shaddoll Dragon and my Thunder King in order to bring back the Black Luster Soldier you sent back to my hand,” announced Sombra as his monster returned. “Now I will use his effect to banish your Ptolemy M7 from the game.” Black Luster Soldier tightened his grip on its weapon as a chaotic rainbow of colors began to merge around it. Screaming out something completely unrecognizable, the warrior swung its weapon at Ptolemy sending the energy straight to it. When the energy touched the Constellar monster, it did not explode but rather seemed to vanish as the wave passed through it.

“Seems odd he did that,” said Twilight as she looked onto the field.

“Yeah,” agreed Sonata, bouncing her hair around as she nodded. “Even I know that that monster can’t attack when he uses that ability. But he also has another ability which lets him attack again when he destroys a monster. With Vice-Principal Luna’s life points as low as they care, he could have won if he did an all out attack!”

Sunset hummed to herself as she placed a hand on her chin. Sonata…was right! Leaning forward a bit in her chair, she could easily see how it would all play just like her blue skinned friend said. Vice-Principal Luna had no traps on her side of the field and her only spell card left was for drawing power. So why-

“Her hand,” said Sunset suddenly causing her friend to look at her. “Earlier in the duel, she used Honest to start her big comeback. If he attacked with Black Luster Soldier and she had another copy of that card in her hand, she would have destroyed it while also dealing massive damage to his life points. It's just not worth the risk. So he’s playing it safe.”

“My Construct also has another ability when she is summoned,” continued Sombra, gaining back the girls attention. “I can now send one of my Shaddoll cards to the grave. So I choose another Hedgehog whose effect allows me to add one Shaddoll monster to my hand. And the one I want is Shaddoll Squamata which I will now summon!” Appearing on the field was a puppet of a lizard-like creature, purple threads of energy attached to its limbs and head. Its main body was purple with golden segments separating each body part. As purple mist began to escape it and hiss as it melted the ground its attack points were revealed to be 1800.

“Now for the battle phase,” announced Sombra as the crowd cheered. “I attack your Praesepe with Construct!” Sombra’s marionette took a step forward, the ground shaking as it moved while the creaking of its joints deafening. It then held out both arms as threads moved out to wrap themselves around Nightmare Moon’s monster. Then, Construct lowered its arms to pull on the strings causing Praesepe to be sliced into pieces that exploded when they hit the ground. “Since it was destroyed by effect you naturally don’t take any damage. But the same can’t be said with this next attack.” Squamata didn’t need to be told twice, hissing right before it sent a stream of purple fluid onto Nightmare Moon. The now teenage girl took hold of her cape, holding it in front of her as a barrier to keep her safe. While it looked like her cape got drenched, her life points were reduced to 100.

“That is all for now,” said Sombra, barely holding back his giddiness. “You have put up an excellent fight up till now. But next turn, it will be my victory.”

“Think again Serious Sombra,” said Nightmare Moon as she drew her card. She didn’t look at it, instead holding out her hand in a way that looked like she was pointing the card at him. “Me and my stars will continue to shine on until victory is ours.” She then brought back her arm and held the two cards in her hand. “Now, I will play the spell card: Constellar Star Cradle! This card lets me bring back two of my Constellar monsters in my graveyard back to my hand. The only cost is that I can’t attack this turn. I’ll bring back my noble Constellar Sombre and Kaus to my hand. Then I will summon Sombre and use her effect: removing my Praesepe in my graveyard in order to add another card from my graveyard to my hand. I will choose Constellar Pollux. Now, Sombre allows me to special summon again so I’ll summon my Kaus before bringing both their levels up by one.” Nightmare Moon paused for a moment as she spread her arms out and looked up towards the ceiling. “The stage is now set to build the overlay network and summon my most loyal of stars! Brilliantly shining, giving light in the darkness of space. Shoot through the heavens to here, my heart and soul! Xyz Summon Rank 5: Constellar Pleiades!” Everyone became deathly silent as the overlay network was created again. When Nightmare Moon’s monster emerged it was a knight that seemed to give off its own glow. Like monsters before it Pleiades had its white armor with gold trimmings, but with golden spiked shoulder pads. In one had in held a sword with a large golden knuckle guard upside-down. Its cape, from what Sunset could see, seemed to show the cosmos slowly moving through it. His attack points were 2500.

As Nightmare Moon drew a card thanks to her remaining Star Chart, Pleiades did something unexpected. He turned so that he was now facing his summoner, looking down at her. For several long moments they remained like this before he suddenly, without warming, slammed his blade into the ground before taking a knee. Nightmare Moon placed a hand over her heart as the monster dipped his head down in a sign of respect.

“It…has been so long my queen,” said Pleiades.

Nightmare Moon remained silent for a moment before moving closer. While Pleiades was bowed before her, she still struggled a bit to place her hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry for making you wait so long,” she said. “I shall never let this happen again. Let us finish this.”

Pleiades stood up straight, quickly spinning around with his cape flowing around him. “Yes, my queen!” he declared as he took hold of his sword.

Nightmare Moon nodded, wiping away a tear under her helmet before focusing back on Sombra. “I activate the effect of Pleiades. This might seem familiar to you: by detaching one material from my monster I can send a card you control back to your hand. So say goodbye to your Soldier again.” Pleiades stood his ground as his cape began to grow, sucking in everything like before. Black Luster Soldier tried to hold his ground but it was no use. All too quickly he was pulled into the space within Pleiades cape and returned to Sombra’s hand. “And with no more light monsters in your graveyard you won’t be able to summon him. Now I’ll play one card face down and end my turn.”

“I still have Construct,” said Sombra as he drew.

“Not for long,” replied Nightmare Moon as she detached the other material from her monster. “I now use my monsters effect to send that doll right back to your hand. Or, rather, back to the extra deck where you will have to resummon it. And since it wasn’t destroyed, you don’t get your spell card back!”

“But I have other spell cards, or don’t you remember?” asked Sombra after Construct was suck away. “I activate my face downs El Shaddoll Fusion and Shaddoll Core. Shaddoll Core becomes a monster when activated which I can use for any of my fusions. As for El Shaddoll Fusion, well, it’s a quick play fusion card. So I’ll fuse my Core and Squamata to resummon El Shaddoll Construct!” Just like that, Sombra’s monster was back on the field as if it had never left. “I use her ability to send my last Beast to the graveyard, allowing me to draw a card. Also when Shaddoll Core is sent to the graveyard due to an effect, I can add one Shaddoll spell/trap card to my hand from the graveyard. It won’t really matter so I’ll take my Shaddoll Fusion back. Then I will play the spell card: Dark Magic Veil! By giving up a thousand life points I can special summon any dark spellcaster I want from my hand or graveyard. So I’ll use its power to summon Shaddoll Beast to the field.” Instantly dark flames appeared on the field, moving about on their own until they created a magical circle. As Sombra’s life points dropped to 3600, a puppet looking like a purple saber tooth tiger with 2200 attack points appeared on the field.

“This is the most fitting way I could end you at this moment,” said Sombra. “I could have brought out my Falco since your life points are so low, but you deserve better than to be pecked into defeat. El Shaddoll Construct, destroy her monster!” Once more, El Shaddoll Construct took a step forward shaking the ground as she did. Raising her arms dark threads of energy shot out and wrapped themselves around Pleiades who raised his blade to keep the attack from wrapping around his neck. Pleiades struggled for as long as he could but eventually the cords cut through his weapon before cutting through his body.

At the sight of this, Sombra reached for his tie and pulled it completely off. More hair began to rise up as he stared at the now defenseless Nightmare Moon with glee. “Now for the moment I have longed for! Shaddoll Beast, END THIS DUEL NOW!”

“I don’t think so,” said Nightmare as Shaddoll Beast leapt into the air. “I activate my trap card: Xyz Reborn! This trap card allows me to select one Xyz monster in my graveyard and summon it to the field. And, as an added bonus, this trap card becomes a material for my monster. So let's let this star shine once again: Constellar Pleiades!” With that, Nightmare Moon’s monster rose from the ground in a golden light while she also was able to draw another card thanks to her spell card.

“STOP THE ATTACK!” shouted Sombra. Luckily he was just in time, Beast landing on the ground in front of Pleiades before turning back to its master. Sombra looked at Nightmare Moon with a grin. “That move…I had forgotten you had that card. But I’m not done. Not by a long shot. I’ll end my turn and defeat you on the next one.”

“I draw,” said Nightmare Moon as she took her forth card. She looked at it for a moment before putting with the rest of her hand. “Pleiades, please send Construct back to his hand once more.” Just like that, Pleiades used his power so that Shaddoll Beast was the last card on Sombra’s side of the field. “Now for a star shower! I summon my Constellar Pollux to the field who will allow me an additional normal summon. So now I summon Constellar Algiedi whose effect allows me to special summon a level four monster from my hand when she is summoned. So let's give a warm welcome to Constellar Sombre!” Multiple lights crashed down unto the field, filling up most of Nightmare Moon’s field. All of her monsters held their weapons at the ready.

“Pleiades, destroy Beast!” commanded Nightmare Moon as she point at Sombra’s monster. Pleiades held his sword up, the knuckle guard glowing brightly as he did so before a ball of that same golden energy flew up into the sky. Above their heads the orb arced and fell down upon Beast, destroying it as well as lowering Sombra’s life points to 4300. “Now all together, attack his life points directly!” At once the three monsters attacked Sombra. As Sombre’s chest piece began to glow, Pollux ran in front of the teenage boy to slash him and bring his life points down to 2600. As Sombra held the side where the blade had hit him Algiedi fell down from the sky to strike his head with her mace to further lower his life points to 1000. Staggering, Sombra managed to stand up just in time to see a beam of whitish blue light coming out of Sombre to hit him square on. Knocked on his ass, his life points hit zero.

The crowd around them went wild as electronic boards showed a picture of Nightmare Moon with the word winner next to it before the world began to fade. Soon, Sunset found herself back at Canterlot High along with her friends. Students around them were cheering not only for Vice Principal Luna but also for the great match they had just seen. But none seemed to cheer more loudly than Pip who seemed to be in his own world of never ending joy.

Back with the adults, Luna was panting as the holograms faded away. Sombra had his back to the base of the statue as he looked up at the sky with a smile on his face. Then, for some reason, he began to laugh. Sunset was surprised by this and even more so when Luna joined him. Both were laughing hard holding their sides as tears fell down their faces.

-x-

“Sorry we don’t have anything better,” said Luna as she approached Sombra with a paper plate in each hand. Sombra, who was laying on the grass under the shade of a tree, looked up at her and smiled in thanks as she handed him a hot dog with chips on the side.

It was sometime after the duel between the two had ended. Perhaps a hour and a half or so. The students were back in the building, hopefully trying to catch up what they had missed thanks to Sombra’s stunt. It might have gone faster if she had found Celestia who was still nowhere to be seen. Of all the times for her sister to be elsewhere, this was one of the worst.

“I remember eating this crap when I was in school,” laughed Sombra as he took a bite. “Hmm, I’ve missed this.”

“Yeah, lucky me getting to eat it everyday for lunch,” laughed Luna as she picked up a chip.

Sombra chuckled at that, seeming to have lost much of her seriousness and anger. His face looked brighter, happier even. It reminded Luna of how he used to be back before he was in the pros. Back before that day…

“So,” began Sombra as some ketchup fell on his jacket. With a shrug, he took it off and laid it next to him. “Do you have any idea who could have sent the letter?”

“For years I thought you did,” replied Luna with a sigh. “We lost so much because of that.”

“You could have returned,” pointed Sombra. “At anytime.”

Luna shook her head. “I didn’t have the strength to,” she admitted. She then sat down her plate and looked up at the branches of the tree above then that blocked out the sun. “Before I was a duelist, I wanted to be an actress like my sister. But nobody wanted me. I wasn’t pretty enough or I couldn’t sing or I could do this or that. It was always the same. Eventually, Starswirl stopped taking me to auditions saying it was a waste of time for me to try anymore. Then when we were home he would always compare my grades with Celestia’s. No matter how hard I tried my best was never good enough for him. That her grades were better than mine both at the time and back when she was my age. That I would never have the potential she had. Then, when I found I had a talent for dueling, he dismissed it as meaningless dibble. That it served no real function and so many people fail at it that it wasn’t worth me getting into it. Still, I snuck out of the house to duel whenever I could. When I decided to try for the pros I was worried that he might find out so I made a disguise. Well, you know how well that worked out.

“After that, well, life became more hellish for me. Starswirl cracked down on me more than ever. I tried to do other things but nothing ever seemed to work out for me. It always ended in failure. The only thing I ever got out to the public after my dueling days as a video I’m not too proud of.”

“A video,” hummed Sombra as he scratched his chin. Before he knew it, Luna had playfully punched his shoulder.

“Sorry, but not that type of video,” she said. She then let out a sigh before continuing. “I guess, after a while I just gave in. Let Starswirl tell me what I could and couldn’t do. Didn’t even make a fuss when he choose my major in college. Whenever I went to do something I wanted I would always hear him in the back of my mind.” Luna then shook her head. “Anyways, enough about that. How’s Hope these days?”

“I…don’t know,” said Sombra as some of his good humor vanished on the spot. “We, well, broke up shortly after you vanished. She didn’t believe at first that I was capable of doing anything illegal to win. At least, at first. But after a couple of years of non-stop controversy we just split. Same with a lot of my friends from back then. They only came back when I was making the real money but I didn’t want anything to do with them.”

Luna shook her head sadly. “Looks like that day messed with both of our lives,” she said.

“Things would have been different,” agreed Sombra as he stood up straight, tossing his jacket over his shoulder. “But this is the hand we have been dealt and we have to live with it. Make the most of it. I’m just glad I finally got that second chance.”

“Same here,” agreed Luna.

“You know, I could help get you into the pros,” said Sombra seriously as he looked at her. “With the right backing and a few good words, you would be there in about a year. Maybe less if you duel the way you did today.” Luna smiled at him as she stood up. Without saying a work she walked over to the grey man to kiss his cheek.

“Thank you for the offer,” she said softly as she pulled away. “But, right now, I can’t give you an answer. I need to think about things.”

Sombra nodded. “I understand,” he said. “If you find out if it is what you want please don’t hesitate to call. Or, well, just call if you ever want to catch up or something.” With that said, Sombra waved as he began to walk back to his car with neither person realizing that they were being watched by a woman on the roof.

-x-

“Sir, you don’t have to worry about a thing,” said Boot Licker as Sombra entered his limo, closing the door behind him. “We were planning on downloading it to the web later during prime time. Obviously with your loss we won’t do that. It might hurt your image to be defeated by a nobody and-”

“Download it,” said Sombra in a calm tone. “It happened. I would be doing her a huge disservice by pretending it didn’t. Also make sure that the school gets everything I promised and the very finest at that.”

“B-But your image,” stammered Boot Licker as he looked at Sombra as if he had lost his mind. Sombra, however, just seemed to shrug it off with a laugh.

“Yes, my image,” he said. “Then it looks like I’ll be doing more hospital visits for a while. Make sure all those kids have their decks so I can give them some pointers.” The limo became dead silent for several long moments. Sombra noticed that Boot wasn’t even blinking as he stared at him with mouth left hanging open. His skin also seemed to pale a bit.

“Sir,” said Boot after they turned a corner. “Are…you dying?”

At that, Sombra through back his head and laughed causing his assistant to look even more worried than before. “No Boot,” he said after a moment. “In fact, I feel better than I have in a long, long time.”

-x-

“You wanted to see me Vice-Principal Luna,” said Pip after he opened the door to the woman’s office. It was dark in there, barely any light to stream through the windows giving it a darker impression than any other room. Even with the students behind him on the move to head home of the day it felt eerily quiet.

“Yes,” said Vice-Principal Luna without looking up from writing something on her deck. She then pointed to the spot directly in front of her on the opposite side of the desk. “Shut the door and stand there. This will only take a moment.”

Feeling his palms begin to sweat a bit, Pip did as instructed. After shutting the surprisingly silent door Pip moved across the room while wondering what was going on. He hadn’t done anything wrong. Well, maybe posting his conclusions online. But hadn’t he made up for that by cheering loudly for her? For believing in her to be THE Nightmare Moon?

“Pipsqueak,” said Luna as soon as he was where she wanted him, setting down her pen before folding his fingers together. “I find it hard to believe that it is just a coniciende that Sombra just happened to show up the day after we spoke. So, I want you to tell me honestly, did you tell anyone I was Nightmare Moon?”

Pip felt his throat go dry at this moment. She was mad at him. But could she prove it for sure? She was asking him right now so there was a chance this was just a hunch. He could lie and maybe get out of trouble. That was certainly something he could do. But, he knew it was the wrong choice. If he lied and she found out, he would only get into more trouble later. Then she would probably be mad at him forever. Something he didn’t want.

“I did,” he said.

Vice-Principal Luna nodded. “Thank you for being honest,” she said before picking up a piece of paper and an envelope. “You will report to detention this weekend at 8 a.m. until noon. This will continue for the next two months. That note is to inform your parents of what you did.”

“Yes ma’am,” said Pip as he lowered his head. Under any other situation, the idea of being alone with Nightmare Moon for several hours would have been a dream come true. However, this wasn’t one of them. There would be no talking meaning he wouldn’t be allowed to ask her all the questions he wanted. It would be just him sitting there with his angry hero. Plus, he was sure that when his parents saw this note, he would be grounded as well.

As he turned around to leave, Pip realized that the envelope felt odd. Whatever was in it, it felt hard and rectangular. Deciding to open it up, Pip’s eyes widened at what Luna had given him. It was a card: Starleige Paladynamo! It was encased in a hard plastic sleeve in order to better protect it. What’s more Luna had written on the sleeve in non smearing marker. ‘To my biggest fan, Thank You. Nightmare Moon.’ Pip looked up at the Vice-Principal to see her smiling at him.

“One more thing before you go,” she said. “If you want, you can bring your duel disk along so after detention we can see how good you are.”

Author's Notes:

I decided to use the Legends of Equestria versions of young Luna, Celestia, and Starswirl. Basically he was hard on a filly Luna who was trying her best to keep up with a teenage Celestia, not mincing words when he said that Celestia was frustrated that Luna was holding her back. Will we see the old grouch? Maybeeeeeee.

Will we see Pip and Luna dueling in the future? Will we find out who messed with Luna's dueling career? Will I ever write a shorter chapter? Stayed turned. Like and review

The Other Sunset

Sunset Shimmer walked down an old abandoned mine shaft, a futuristic handgun in each hand. It was dark with blinking red lights in various spaces with an energy chamber right below the barrel that went down past the end of the handle. Her attire was a black leather trench coat with three metal spikes on each shoulder. Her hands were covered with black fingerless gloves while her legs were covered in ripped jeans and her shirt was had a campfire coloration. Covering one of her eyes was a device similar to that one anime with overpowered characters that was used to measure power levels. Only this one helped her detect motion in the near complete darkness.

As she moved, Sunset nearly tripped on a large rock that was in her path. Shocked, she made a sound that echoed along the walls. Sunset quickly caught herself before she could fall and used the motion of her fall to move to the nearby wall where she pressed her back against it. For several minutes she remained like this, looking back and forth to see if she could see anything coming her way. Her ears also listened intently for the rustling sound her enemies would be making. Thankfully there was nothing. Good. She still had the element of surprise on her side.

Surprise was something she was going to need right now. Sunset had entered this mine shaft with the rest of her team, a total of seven armed and skilled gunmen. The owner of the mine had contacted them on a mission to eliminate an infestation of very large bugs that had taken several of his workers and forced him to close down the mine. The mission seemed simple enough at the time, a standard low level mission as far as she had been concerned. That is until they got deeper into the mines searching for the damned things. One by one they became separated from the others, falling through hidden holes in the ground or simply vanishing without a trace until only the fire haired girl remained.

The smart thing to do would be to head back, restock her supplies, get heavier weaponry, and return to save her allies. And she would have done it if it weren’t for the fact that she was undeniably lost. Every attempt to backtrack was met with the same results of wandering aimlessly. It was as if the mine itself had become her enemy.

After Sunset started moving again, she noticed something in the air. Something that wasn’t there before. Sunset paused to sniff the familiar odor…and smiled. The girl broke into a light and careful trot down the passageway with the scent growing stronger until she saw a dimly glowing object. It was the orange glow of a barely lit cigarette whose owner pointed a sniper rifle at her as she approached.

“Doc, it’s me,” said Sunset as she quickly held up her hands. Doc said nothing as he lowered his weapon. The skinny man’s white coat looked a mess, with spots of dirt and blood all over it. There were more bandages on his head while his glasses were cracked pretty bad. Looking down, Sunset saw that one of his legs was bandaged using whatever he could find which were now blood soaked.

“Sorry, a bit jumpy right now,” muttered Doc before crouching. As he did, Sunset got on a knee as she searched her pockets for her emergency medical supplies in the hope that it would help her ally. “Damn things got the jump on me. Managed to get away, but not before they got a couple nips in. Seems they like what they tasted because they keep on coming.”

“I thought you said you were going to quit,” said Sunset as she came up empty on anything that might help heal him. Only a few painkillers. All she could do was keep him awake and alert for the time being while hoping to find the others. One of them might have some extra supplies on them that could help.

“I did,” said Doc as he pulled out his cigarette before looking at it. “But I kept one so it would be the last thing I did before I died.”

“Well then you should have waited because you’re not going to die here,” stated Sunset as she got up. “We just need to find the others and then we can get you-”

“Kid, it’s over,” said Doc as he placed the cancer stick back into his mouth. “You’re the first member of our group that I’ve seen in hours. The rest have probably been taken to-” Doc stopped talking instantly, taking hold of his weapon and then quickly taking aim at something behind Sunset. The flame haired girl turned around as well with her own weapons raised with fingers on the triggers. She could feel her heart pounding a mile a second as she waited, her scanned telling her that the enemy was approaching.

And approach they did. Sunset gulped as they came into view, filling the tunnel behind them with an army of monstrosities. Several of them looked like dragonflies that now stood on two legs with the rest of their legs acting like clawed hands. On the ceiling were beetles whose pinchers were now equipped with blades like that on a chainsaw. Others looked like mosquitoes holding spears, ready to pierce Sunset and Doc. In the middle of them, was something that looked like a tall woman at first. But the closer she got revealed how utterly inhuman she really was. Her skin was like green armor and had butterfly like wings extending out of her back. She had pinkish, purple eyes that never blinked and a row of razor sharp teeth that grinned at her without mercy.

Knowing that both she and Doc could not take out all of them with their standard equipment, as well as not knowing what was behind them, Sunset made a split second decision to activate a trap. However, when she did so everything stopped. From the energy bullet that Doc had fired to the enemy horde before them, everything seemed frozen in time. Even her own body seemed to suffer the same fate as the world around them began to pixelate widely and glitch about. Sighing to herself, Sunset used the emergency disconnect function to leave the game world behind.

With a bright flash, Sunset Shimmer was no longer in the empty mine shaft but instead in the middle bustling lab full of people in white lab coats. Quickly removing the VR helmet from her head, which looked very much like a biker’s helmet with wires sticking out of the back and into the ‘immersion chair’. The immersion chair was shaped like a recliner chair and just as comfortable with the main computer being found just underneath the cushions. Since this was just the test model, there were no colors or patterns to give it any flare that she would normally prefer, leaving it a sterile white. Still dressed in the attire she was in the game, the President and CEO of Kaiba Corp stood upright while a slot opened up in one of the chair's arms to reveal her deck.

“How did it go Ms. Shimmer?” asked one of the scientists as they swarmed around her. Sunset ignored them at first, rolling her eyes as she picked up her deck and put it in a deck case on her belt.

Sunset then turned to look at them with a hardened glare that caused them all to take a step back. “How did it go? There was another glitch in the software! The whole thing froze when I tried to use my effect to use a trap when being attack! Something which you all claimed to have fixed!” Her eyes then turned to look at the immersion chair, the latest in gaming technology which had been in development hell for years now. The original idea for the game had come from Seto Kaiba, a virtual reality game with Dual Monsters. However, unlike the former president of Kaiba Corp, was not doing it like a straight up fantasy game but instead planned on making it the greatest MMORPG game ever. A game where you could actually play with monsters from your deck instead of just summoning them, going on mission together, and teaming up or facing off against other playing in actual battles. A place with varied interactive landscapes ranging from forests to hellish infernos to the frozen tundra. There was even going to be places in the game for those people who wanted to raise monsters like a petting zoo and crap like that!

Sadly, a variety of complications soon arose for this technology. The first being an incident back when Seto Kaiba was still head of the company. A few years after his second time being stuck in VR, some moron trapped thousands of people in his own VR game for no reason. Then, after the survivors of that game had been freed, another moron tried to use VR technology to try and rule the world! What the hell?! After that, governments cracked down on the technology ending it for years. It was only recently that the bans had been lifted as long as strict government protocols were observed. So now the issue was making the game everything Sunset wanted it to be. Needless to say that wasn’t going so well.

“W-We could have sworn we f-fixed the issue,” stammered one of the scientists as he took a step back from the angry teen. “We thought the reason for the glitch was because we programmed the game starts the only way to set traps was to place them on the ground and that the programming was getting confused by your effect. We even called in some other programmers from other departments to help with the issue. It should be working now.”

In response, Sunset walked up to the one who had said this and jammed her finger into his chest. “But it isn’t!” shouted Sunset savagely, jabbing him again with each word. “This system needs to be able to handle any deck before it can launch. Something that has been pushed back six times already!” Before any of the scientists around her could say anything in their defense or make excuses, Sunset had spun around and began to head towards the door. “I’ll be back next week to check on your progress. If you haven’t fixed it by then you’re all fired!”

As Sunset stormed out the doors to the lab, a woman in a white business suit was waiting for her. The woman, Ember, had light blue skin and darker blue hair that was cut short with white streaks on the sides near her ears. Holding a personal assistant in her hands Ember walked next to Sunset while tapping on the pad.

“Have you decided to scrub the project yet?” asked Ember as she moved behind Sunset, keeping her distance but not being too far away. “We’ve already gone triple the allotted amount agreed upon for this new gaming system. Plus we are already getting negative feedback online. There are comments starting to appear on our company’s MyStable page talking about demanding a refund on their pre-orders since the gaming system looks like it will never be finished.”

Without stopping, Sunset’s hands reached up to rub her temples. “I would if I could,” she stated as she fought off the oncoming headache. “But Arcane Illusions put out yesterday that they are working on the same thing as the immersion chair with a similar game. If we don’t get this up and running soon this company might be dead in the water before I turn 20.”

“We still hold the market on duel disks,” stated Ember. “Arcane’s model is still twice as heavy and eats up more power than ours. Not to mention our customization lab is getting plenty of orders daily.”

Sunset stopped where she was. Without a care she spun around and placed her back against the wall. “Ember, do you really think that we can keep selling the same product forever? Sooner or later someone else is going to come up with a better idea than the duel disk. I’ve already got four teams working on new models and ideas, but what if the bad press with the immersion chair keeps people from buying them? What if Arcane manages to get the chair working faster than us and then claims to be making a better duel disk than us? People will lose faith in us! They’ll try their product in a heartbeat! Then everyone here loses their jobs!”

Sunset looked at Ember just in time to see the blue skinned woman roll her eyes before she joined the fire-haired girl on the wall as well. “I think you need to have a bit more faith in this company,” said Ember. “You have some of the best minds in the world working on this project. If they can’t figure it out then the clowns working at Arcane won’t be able to either. Trust me; this company is tougher than you give it credit.” As cheesy as that sounded, and let’s be honest it really is cheesy, Sunset couldn’t help but be glad for having Ember as both her bodyguard and personal assistant. She was the only one who would tell her something like this, question her choices, and so forth. Everyone else here was like a snake hiding in the grass ready to strike at the first moment of weakness. Thus Ember was the only one she could let her guard drop even slightly while knowing it was safe. The only one she trusted to make her feel better.

Shaking her head, Sunset pushed herself off the wall and took a breath. “Let’s make sure everything else is in order. Do I have any more meetings?”

Ember said nothing at first, simply holding up her personal assistant and scrolling down the screen. “None of the other labs has a demonstration scheduled. Nor are there any meetings. However, there are a number of complaints from labs 2, 8, and 15 having some of their staff pulled to work for Garble. It’s putting them behind.”

Sunset placed two fingers on her forehead as she closed her eyes. Great, she had to deal with him again.

-x-

It took twenty minutes for Sunset to reach the Duel Disk Customization Department. All around her machines were at work putting together the Duel Disks while skilled workers were busy making the personal modifications that their customers wanted. Some barely required any work at all, a simple paint job that they charged $25 to $50 dollars for based on how detailed the colorations were. Others were willing to spend top dollar to modify the monster card zone slots to have a specific theme. For example, one pro player wanted those slots to look like the bed sheet ghosts one made in elementary school. To do this would require figuring out how best to modify the device so that it the tray folded neatly and lightly for easy use. Also meaning they were super expensive! The most expensive one this department had ever made was one that used gold as the metal with real gems embedded into it.

That one had gotten stolen a week after they delivered it.

Sunset didn’t have to look long for the person in charge of this department. She could easily spot the red skinned man who had just come out of his teens. He was tall with a buzz cut hairstyle that reminded Sunset of someone who had been in the military. However, Garble was the last person she would ever want defending this nation even as a meat shield. He stood there hovering over a table were several people were working, his high end suit looking spotless as those around him looked like they had been pulling several all nighters.

“Garble!” shouted Sunset. Her target jerked back a bit at the sound of his name before turning around to look at her. At first, he looked both annoyed and angry but his expression quickly shifted to shock when he saw his boss was storming towards him.

“Miss President,” he said with false pleasantry. “How good to see you. I wasn’t aware that we would be graced with your presence.”

“You should have expected it to happen sooner or later,” said Sunset as she stopped in front of him, arms crossed as she did. “You’ve been pulling several of my techs working on other projects. That’s putting them behind.” She then glanced at the table where several duel disks were being made. All of them were black thus far with a twelve bladed leaf shutter in the middle. She also noticed several other components that she didn’t recognize with blueprints that did not have the Kaiba Corp stamp on them.

“Please, those are dead end projects,” said Garble as he waved it off like it was no big deal. “I mean: hard light technology? That’s just idiotic. And combining motorcycles with duel disks? Who would want that? No, we need to focus on what has made this company the big buck. Normal duel disks. We’re wasting time and money with all that extra crap.”

“I miss working on the candy dispensing duel disks,” said one of the people working at the table. “We were so close to keeping the candy at the right temperature so it didn’t melt while dueling.” Garble turned his head to look at the one who had spoken out, giving him a quick glare. The worker cringed enough for Sunset to notice causing her own eyes to narrow even more at what it might imply.

“Actually there is a potential market for those,” stated Ember as she moved beside Sunset, briefly glancing at what was on the table as well for a moment before turning to look at Garble. “People are asking for more ways to make the duels more exciting, more action packed. Ms. Shimmer believes that hard light technology will allow duelist to interact with the field more while D-Runners will add a level of danger as well as skill.”

At once, Garble’s fake pleasant demeanor shifted as he glared at Ember. “Was I talking to you? No because you’re nothing more than a secretary! Why don’t you put that public school education to use and get me a coffee!” At once, everybody in the room within ear shot stopped working to stare at Garble. Then, very slowly, they turned their heads to look at Sunset whose face remained impassive as she looked back at Garble.

Then, much to the shock of Garble, Sunset smiled. “Ember, would you do me a favor and find out what Garble is working on?” As Garble gurked in surprise, Ember nodded.

“Now wait a minute,” said Garble as he took a step forward while Ember scrolled down the screen on her hand held device. Sunset, however, stepped in between them while keeping her eyes on Garble.

“I have a right to know what is so important that you are working on right now,” stated Sunset.

“Hmm,” said the blue skinned woman as she looked back at the table. “I can’t seem to find anything on the top priority list or the anything matching the description of what he is working on. I might have missed it. Perhaps telling me order number will help track it down.”

“I…I can’t be expected to remember something like that,” said Garble as he stomped his foot on the ground. “I’m a busy person who-”

“Who is taking people away from projects I gave the green on,” said Sunset loudly, interrupting Garble. She had never like this man boy ever since the day he arrived. The only reason she had given him this position was that he came highly recommended by his predecessor. It soon became clear that, while he could do the job, he thought too highly of himself. He looked down at those who didn’t have the higher level education he had been afforded and often made remarks behind her back that he should be in charge of this company. That they should just keep making duel disks without expanding their business. In the past, Sunset was willing to overlook much of his asshole behavior since not many people were willing to file a complaint and he did his job. But now, he had crossed two lines.

“Garble, you may not think those projects you are indirectly sabotaging are important. That we are wasting time. It is unfortunate then that our opinion is not the one that matter. Rather, it is mine.” Sunset then turned to look at all the techs who were watching them. “You may all take the rest of the day off to get some rest. When you come back in tomorrow please return to your normal lab unless I say otherwise.” The workers didn’t need to be told twice, quickly moving towards the door to escape this room. As Sunset turned to look at Garble she was pleased to see that his skin had turned a deeper shade of red. Personally she hoped Garble would let his anger make his decision for him and strike her. It would be worth the momentary pain to see Ember take him down and toss his ass out of this building.

Sadly, that didn’t happen. “You can’t…” began Garble as he pointed a shaking finger in Sunset’s face. However, further words seemed to fail him as he could not for the life of him figure out anything to support why she couldn’t do this.

“I can,” said Sunset in a smug tone. “Now, I want to know who ordered those duel disks to be made by the end of the business day tomorrow or else you will be put on suspension while we find out ourselves. And if I find out this is some sort of under the table job then it will cost you your job.” With that Sunset turned to leave, her jacket billowing behind her with Ember in tow.

-x-

“I believe it is time for us to get down to business,” said Cinch from her chair, fingers pressed against each other in a Mr. Burns-like manner as the large display screen behind her glowed a brilliant blue. Adagio was off to the side, leaning against the wall while she supposedly checked her nails. However the older woman knew that she was giving her full attention during this meeting as her eyes would briefly flicker to either her or the blank scene. Her ‘indifference’ was no more than an act. Aria, on the other hand, was sitting down on an old couch she had brought down with her attention focused on the smartphone in her hands.

“What business?” asked Aria without bothering to look up. “We’ve been running around the city trying to find some loser who has any magic. If we had found someone, we would have told you. Since we haven’t, you can tell how well it’s been going.”

“As for finding new minions to add to our ranks, I think I might have found a few,” said Adagio as she looked up. Aria shook her head and could be seen rolling her eyes, both neither of the other two in the room paid her any mind. “I had thought about approaching this one moron named Trixie. We had used the dummy before back when we still had our powers. However, word through the grapevine is that she’s on better terms with Sunset Shimmer and her gang. Unless we make her a more tempting offer I don’t think she would join us.”

Cinch let out a sigh as she leaned back into her chair. “A pity then. How about your former sister, Sonata? Is it possible we could use her as an undercover agent?”

Aria let out a dry laugh as she finally looked up from her phone. There was a cold smile on her face. “That idiot wouldn’t even know how to spell undercover much less act like a spy for us. If we did somehow manage to get her to come back she’d blow her cover within the first hour.”

“And there’s no way we’re welcoming her back,” stated Adagio firmly as she crossed her arms. Cinch couldn’t help but notice that the teen’s face seemed to tint red. “I refuse to grovel before the brain dead fool in order to get her to work with us. She’d rather be a goodie-goodie so we should just forget about her.” Adagio then took a breath, her face returning to normal. “Besides, we don’t need her. I’ve heard about at least two girls who might be willing to join us if it means getting some payback to the Rainbooms. There might be a couple of other options here and there, but I’d rather not work with them.”

“Sadly we can’t afford to be too picky right now,” said Cinch as she folded her hands together. “Anyone we can use right now would be a boon for us regardless of how useful them might seem at first. With the right direction and motivation any living being can be molded to serve our purposes. It is also a shame about your sister. We could have used her.” Cinch then turned around to type a few things on the control panel before her. As she did, images appeared on the scene showing them a picture of Twilight Sparkle’s house, garage, the gems belonging to the Rainbooms, and Spike.

“Until we can finish making a more powerful and accurate magical detector, there are only a few beings with magic we are aware of,” continued Cinch without turning to look at the two girls. “The first being the seven gems which grant the Rainbooms their magic who are no doubt on high alert since our encounter at Camp Everfree. Trying to take their magic by force is not something we can do right now. The other is that miserable creature that Miss Sparkle keeps in her company: Spike. We might have better chances at obtaining him but for personal reasons I would rather not. At least not until we run out of other options.”

“Not like we have other options,” groaned Aria.

“That isn’t entirely accurate,” said Cinch. Pressing a few more buttons, the image of Twilight’s garage/lab expanded until it filled the scene entirely. “Right here is where we will find a gold mine of information. Knowing how my former student thinks, she has no doubt categorized all encounters with magic like any good researcher would do. Locations where she has found something magical or people who have been gifted with Equestrian magic. She might even have some theories as to where we might find some that she had not yet confirmed. This is why I thought reaching out to Sonata would be a good idea. With her working for us she could slip in unnoticed and deliver the information without anyone noticing.” Cinch then turned around and look at Adagio. “But since neither of you believe it would work or refuse to work with her again, we will have to try another method.”

“Let me guess, breaking in the old fashioned way and stealing everything by force,” said Adagio.

“Sort of,” said Cinch as she pulled out a small USB drive from her pocket. Holding it between her bony fingers she held it up for both to see. “Once we break in, the alarm will sound alerting both Twilight Sparkle as well as the local police. Meaning we won’t have a lot of time to go looking around her files to find everything we are looking for. Nor can we just steal her desktop. None of us have a car and I am sure that the police will be able to catch up with any of us running down the streets carrying something like that. Thankfully the modern age has provided us with an easy solution. Inside of this drive is a virus of my own creation. All we have to do is turn on one of her computers, insert it into a port, and the virus will be instantly uploaded into the computer where it will copy all of the data before emailing it to me. Once it has done that, it will remove all traces of its actions before going dormant until the computer is turned on again where it will send me another email of all new information. If we do this right, Twilight Sparkle and her friends will think it was just a minor break in with nothing stolen leaving us to continue operating in the shadows.”

Aria rolled her eyes. “That sounds good, but what if she keeps all that information on a USB drive as well? Or if she keeps it on her computer in her own room?”

Cinch paused for a minute to consider this. “I believe that the computer in her lab is our best bet,” she said as she turned around to place the USB drive on the counter behind her. “Since that is where she does all of her experiments, it would easier for her to keep the information there for easy access. Knowing Twilight Sparkle, I am sure she has the information on several separate USB drives just to make sure she never loses the information. But the main body of data will be on her hard drive.” Despite saying this, Cinch had some newfound doubts. After doing something like this, Twilight was sure to up her security measures. That or her parents might do that just to keep them safe. If they did this and came up with nothing it would make their next break in even more difficult if not impossible.

However, this was a chance they needed to take. Cinch knew her own skills with science were far less than those possessed by Ms. Sparkle. Even with two girls who once belonged to a world of magic they did not know everything. Any information they got would be helpful in obtaining their goals. What’s more, if they knew what the Rainbooms were doing in advance there was a chance that they could sabotage them or beat them to their goal. There was simply too much riding on this not to do this when there was a good chance at success.

“I think it's worth it,” said Adagio, speaking up again. Cinch could hear Aria groan while probably rolling her eyes. “It shouldn’t be too hard. We can just break in while those idiots are at school and their parents are at work.”

“Actually, after school might be better,” said Cinch as she looked up at the screen to look at Twilight’s house. “The local police might mistake you for a couple of girls skipping school and try to get in touch with your parents. The last thing we need right now is them thinking your runaways. Also, if any of the neighbors see you there before four o’clock they might grow suspicious and call the police before you can even break in giving us less time. If you go after school lets out then it will not seem as unusual for girls heading to her home.”

“Guess that makes sense,” said Adagio. “Only problem is that we don’t know when they have band practice or any of those other stupid things they do. Plus if Twilight is close to the rainbow haired loser she might super speed to us and there goes that plan.”

Cinch hummed as she thought about this. The girl made a good point. If they were going to do this, they needed to be sure what those girls were going to be doing that day. Perhaps even distracting them enough so that they wouldn’t be able to focus on anything else. That or ensure that they were far enough away that the super speed wouldn’t factor in. Before Cinch could turn around to face her accomplices again, her phone began to ring almost causing the older woman to jump in her seat. It was rare for anyone to call this number since very few knew it belonged to her, two of which were in the room with her. After pulling out her phone Cinch looked at the caller ID and her eyes widened. Without anymore hesitation she answered it.

“Have you finished yet?” she asked without bothering with any formalities.

“No,” snapped Garble’s voice, clearly upset about something.

“Then I suggest you don’t call me again until they are finished,” replied Cinch sharply as she glared in the direction of the phone.

“Well they're not going to get done unless I get some help,” said Cinch’s former student in a cold tone. There was then a crash on the other line causing the older woman to think that Garble had thrown something against a nearby wall. “That bitch of a boss of mine has found out about what I’m working on for you because I needed to get extra help! I need to create a fake order into the system and soon or else I get the can. Then it becomes a problem because you don’t get what you want! So you’d better come up with a plan of distracting her while I fix this mess you put me in!”

Cinch frowned deeply, bringing her free hand to rub the top of her head. This was a problem indeed. She needed that red skinned idiot to make the proper magical capture duel disks. Without him then she would be stuck cobbling together the parts like she did last time at Camp Everfree. Given how well that worked it was not something she was eager to try again. Plus knowing Garble he would no doubt sell them out if things ever got traced back to her. Meaning she needed to help him out.

“I’ll see what I can do,” she said in a strained voice. “What’s your boss’s name?”

“Sunset Shimmer,” said Garble. Upon hearing that name, Cinch suddenly stood upright causing her chair to roll behind her. As Garble continued to go on calling his boss plenty of foul names, Cinch’s mind began to work into overtime. Sunset Shimmer was the name of the girl who competed against her school in the Friendship Games. The girl who was Twilight Sparkle’s tag team partner! According to the information obtained by both herself and the Sirens, the Sunset Shimmer at Canterlot High was in fact from another world. Meaning that Garble’s boss had to be the Sunset Shimmer of this world!

As Garble continued to ramble on, Cinch’s mind was putting the pieces into place. Sunset Shimmer of the Rainbooms was Twilight Sparkle’s friend. She came from another world. If anything were to happen to her the Rainbooms would no doubt drop everything to help her. A grin then appeared on her face. She could see the solution to their problems. And all she had to do was create a simple blog post.

-x-

“WHAT THE HELL!” yelled Sunset as she stared at the computer screen within her office. She stared at it, the main source of light in the room besides the glow of the full moon coming through the large windows behind her. On it was a blog post written by an Anon-a-miss II called ‘The Dual Life of Sunset Shimmer’. Mouth hanging open, she gazed at a girl who looked just like her attending school at someplace called Canterlot High. She had not gleamed the full post, only bits and pieces so far about how she was going off to have fun as a ‘normal’ schoolgirl before coming back to deal with the life as a CEO. That it was because of this divided attention that her company was falling behind on things like the immersion chair. So caught up in what she was seeing that Sunset failed to notice that the doors had been busted open and Ember was standing next to her.

“I heard you scream,” said Ember quickly. “Is everything…all…what is this?” It took Sunset a moment to realize what Ember was saying. That she was looking at the screen with equal amazement and confusion.

Sunset said nothing at first, just looking back at the screen. The girl on the screen couldn’t be her. She wanted to believe that this was all photo-shopped done by one of her competitors, but there was a video of her singing in a band with several other girls! Could someone have done all that?

“Ember,” said Sunset as she narrowed her eyes. “Find out if there is a girl at this Canterlot High who has the same name and looks like me. If there isn’t we will ask the staff there to confirm if the general public or our investors ever catch wind of this. The last thing we need right now is for them to think I’m some sort of Disney TV sitcom star.”

“I’ll have it done by morning,” said Ember as she was about to leave. However, she paused and looked back at her boss. “And, if there is such a girl?”

“Then we find out what her game is and deal with it. Permanently.”

Stealing Sunset (Rainbow vs. Ember)

Sunset raised her hand above her eyes to shield them from the light of day as she walked out the doors of Canterlot High along with hundreds of other students. The sun was shining without the obstruction of clouds giving the students clear blue skies as far as the eyes could see. There was a gentle wind blowing but that only served to keep them cool on this slightly warmer than usual day. It seemed like this was a perfect day to take one’s time to walk home.

Or to go on a road trip.

“SUNSET SHIMMER!” screamed Pinkie Pie who was jumping up and down to get her attention. Not that it was hard as several people around the hyper pink girl had crouched down a bit while also covering their ears. But Pinkie paid them no mind as she continued to grin madly while waving her arms wildly for Sunset to notice. Calmly, (and apologizing to everyone within earshot) Sunset moved through the crowd to reach said friend to see that she wasn’t alone. Standing alongside Pinkie was Rainbow Dash, Sonata Dusk, Twilight Sparkle, and Applejack. All of them standing there with their backpacks looking heavier than normal.

“Hey girls,” said Sunset as she stopped in front of them. “Are we waiting for anyone else?”

“Nah,” said Rainbow with a wave of her hand as they all began to walk out towards the street. “Fluttershy couldn’t make it because of some type of emergency at the animal shelter. Something about a chinchilla invasion and they needed all hands on deck.”

“Rares was going to come back had to cancel at the last minute,” said Applejack as she walked besides Sunset as they all headed in the direction of the Apple Family Farm. “Seems that her folks roped her into takin’ Sweetie to the dentist at the last minute.”

“Ah man,” sighed Pinkie Pie looking dejected. “They’re going to miss all the fun games I had planned for on the road. Plus I found so many fun places in Sire’s Hollow we can visit if there’s no freaky magic.”

“NO!” shouted Rainbow as she threw up her arms before bringing them down to grab Pinkie by the shoulder. “Don’t you dare say that! There has to be some action there. Some wild, dark Equestrian magic running amuck or something. ANYTHING!” As Rainbow said this, Pinkie just sort of stood there was an odd forced smile on her face as she looked around for help.

“Well,” said Sunset as she placed a hand on Rainbow’s shoulder, causing her to avert her attention from Pinkie to Sunset. “It is just a hunch right now. But we do know there has been Equestrian magic flying around the place so there is a good chance. All we need to do is be patient while we look for it. Besides, without everyone here we might not be able to stop the magic if there is any. For right now it might be better to think of this as a recon mission.”

“And I brought something to help with that,” said Twilight gaining the groups attention. With an excited grin, Twilight pulled off her backpack and set it on the ground. The group watched as their friend unzipped it, reached in, and pulled out a device no larger than a pocket watch. Except, it looked shockingly familiar. The device was round with a black surface that had purple lines going through the middle. Everyone’s eyes widened at the sight of it while taking a step back except for Sonata.

“Ah, Twi,” began Applejack with a gulp. “Is that doohickey that ya was using back at the Friendship games? The same one that stole all our magic and turned ya inta a demon gal?”

“Oh,” cried Sonata as she looked at the device. “I thought it was a new digital watch. You know, the meaning of life and all that. Also, it’ll turn you into a demon? What kind? Is it the one where you lose your legs and instead get a snake's tail? Because I meet those jerks back in Grease and none of you would like them! They leave their old skin lying around the place where someone can trip!” Sonata stopped as she noticed that everyone was staring at her. “What?”

“Ah, as fascinating as that is I think we better get back to it later.” Twilight then pulled out a pad of paper and made a quick note. “Note to self, research the possibilities of other half human creatures there are in the world as well as how old Sonata is.”

“Hey, it's rude to ask a girl her age!” snapped Sonata as Twilight sheepishly put away her notepad.

Thankfully, Pinkie Pie was on the scene as she quickly swung her arm around Sonata’s neck. “Ahhh, don’t take it too personally. We just want to make sure we have enough candles to put on your birthday cake!”

Sonata’s eyes lit up at that. “I get a birthday cake?”

“Let’s put a pin in that for now,” said Rainbow Dash quickly, causing the pink and blue girls to moan. Rainbow however ignored them as she instead focused on the device Twilight still had out. “Listen Twi, I don’t feel very comfortable with you having that thing. The last time you had it you couldn’t control it when it was sucking the magic out of us at random! I do NOT want to go through that again.”

Twilight, it seemed, didn’t seem to take Rainbow’s objection too seriously as she waved it off with a hand gesture. “There’s no need to worry. When I made this model I made sure not to include any containment units. What I did do was scan the magical frequencies of our geodes and program this device to exclude them while doing its scans of the area which I can control with the simple press of a button. Not only that, its hooked up to the world clock and has a gps locator in it!” As Twilight spoke, the excitement in her voice continued to rise and as did it reflected in her eyes. Yet when she was done talking she seemed to notice all the blank stares she was getting. Sighing, she came down from her excitement high to continue. “Basically, this one can’t steal any magic, it only detects magic that isn’t ours, and it will always give us the correct time.”

“Oohh,” went everyone except for Sunset as she suppressed a chuckle. As Twilight looked dejected as she put her device away, Sunset felt more confident than ever about today. Once they got to AJ’s place where the band's bus was parked, they would head off to Sire's Hollow in search of the incident that Sunset had read about only a few days before. At first she thought that they would have to go around asking people there about what had happened, meaning it might take a long time, Twilight’s device would allow them to cover far more ground as they drove. Then, once they found whoever had the magic, they would just need to determine if the magic had fully possessed someone and then deal with it once everyone was free. Easy.

Just then, several black cars with black tinted windows came to a screeching halt on the side of the road next to the girls causing them to stop in surprise. As they blinked in surprise, several of the doors opened revealing men and women in black suits along with a blue skinned woman a few years older than them in white. As these people exited their vehicles, Sunset noticed that they were surrounding them so that they couldn’t make a run for it. As the woman in white began to approach them, Sunset quickly grabbed both Applejack and Rainbow’s arms to hold them back. Both girls looked at her with questioning looks but a simple jerk of Sunset’s head led them to see what she had seen: that several of these people in black were pulling out guns and tasers.

“Is your name Sunset Shimmer?” asked the blue skinned woman as she stopped in front of the flame haired girl. Not knowing what was going on, Sunset merely nodded. Seeing this the woman in white gestured to a couple of the people surrounding them. “Then we have confirmation. Take her away.”

“What?!” shouted Sunset right before she was grabbed by two men. As she resisted, she saw that her friends were getting ready to fight. But at that moment, the unmistakable sound of guns begins cocked was heard. All around them, the weapons were being pointed at the girls while Sunset was forced into one of the cars with the blue skinned girl getting in behind her. Then, a moment later after all of the others had gotten back into the cars, they all speed off.

-x-

“What was that about?” shouted Rainbow as she watched the cars speed away. Fists clenched, she looked in the direction they had been heading while berating herself. She should have taken the chance to super speed and steal their guns. If one of them had fired, she was at least 90% confident that she could have pulled her friends out of harm’s way.

“I-I don’t know,” stammered Twilight.

“Could be some secret government organization,” suggested Sonata as Twilight pulled out her weird gizmo again and opened it up. “Like a super secret group that goes around collecting magical artifacts that maintains its cover by claiming they are really IRS agents or something. They might think that Sunset has one of these artifacts that allow all of you to become magical girls.”

Rainbow shook her head, trying to blot out the ramblings of the Siren turned friend as she kept her eyes on the road. She had to do something NOW! She could feel the energy moving into her legs, screaming to go off chasing after them. But could she do it by herself? Could she save Sunset from a group of armed men? Well of course she could! She was Rainbow Dash, awesomeness made flesh! Not only was she fast enough to chase after them and knock all their guns out of their hands but she had also read every single Daring Do book out there. This was a classic abduction scenario so she should be fine.

Still…

“I’m going after them,” Rainbow said quickly. “The rest of you try to follow!”

“Wait,” said Twilight as she looked up from her gadget. However that was all Rainbow heard before zooming off in the direction of the cars.

-x-

Ember sat by the door, her eyes flickering between the window and the girl they had just abducted. As of now, they had no flashing lights of the police just grass and trees scattered about along the roadside. Not surprising seeing that the Kaiba Corp holographic technology had been implemented on their license plates to disguise who they were. Even if those girls had managed to make out a partial and called the police it would have been a wild goose chase. To help matters, the other cars were going off in different directions all over town with only them staying on route. So far everything was going according to play.

Still, it was strange. Looking at the girl next to her that resembled her boss/friend, it was odd to see her looking so nervous. Even the men who were in the car with her looked more than a little confused as the girl looked around confused. Still they kept their guns on her, filled with training round bullets. They wouldn’t kill her just cause her some minor bruises for the time being.

“Look,” said the Sunset Shimmer look-a-like. “Ah, I think there has been some sort of misunderstanding. If you just let me go we can forget all about this.”

“That’s not for me to decide,” said Ember as she turned to look out the window again, barely registering a ringing now up by the driver. “Orders came from above. But, even if it were up to me, I still wouldn’t let you go just like that. We need to know who you’re working for and what you plan on achieving with this charade.”

“Charade?” echoed their captive.

“Madam, we might have trouble,” called the driver causing all of the Kaiba Corp personal to tense up. “One of the cars was stopped.”

“What?” cried Ember as she sat up a bit straighter. “How did that happen?”

“They, uh,” stumbled the driver, his ear pressed against his phone. “They said that it was that multi-color haired girl. She…ran up to them? They’re not making a lot of sense.” Ember frowned at that. It was unlikely that someone could run fast enough to keep up with a moving car going 45 to 50 miles per hour. Even less likely that someone could catch up to a car on foot when the car had a head start. Well, unless she knew a short cut and headed off in that direction. But that would imply that she knew where that car was going. Not likely since she had just put this team together to grab the fake Sunset Shimmer.

As Ember puzzled over this, the driver caught her attention again as he dropped his phone. Looking at his reflection in the rear view mirror, Ember could see his expression. His eyes were more alert now with a look of disbelief. Still not hearing any sirens, Ember turned her head to look around…and was taken aback by what she saw. The rainbow haired girl was running at them on foot. What’s more she was quickly gaining on them with a smirk on her face! This shouldn’t be possible. No normal human could do something like that!

“Ma’am, what should we do?” asked one of the men as the girl caught up with them, now running alongside the car. They all tensed up as their pursuer began to tug on the door handle, trying to open it as she kept running.

“We do our job,” said Ember as she reached down to grab her modified duel disk from underneath the seat. It was shaped like the head of a bronze dragon with fins on both sides and a life point counter running along the top from its snout to the back of the head. “I’ll take care of her. The rest of you make sure that the package gets to where it needs to go.” Without saying another word, Ember turned to the door to see the rainbow haired girl was still there trying to open the door. Calmly, she undid the lock allowing the door to open. The teenage speedster zoomed around it with a cocky grin that faded when Ember launched herself forward, slamming into her.

-x-

The world seemed to roll around Rainbow Dash as her mind tried to catch up with what was happening. She knew that she had managed to stop two of the black cars as they moved across the city. One had freaked when they saw her and had run off the road. The other had stopped, the driver apparently freaking out that there was a real life superhero or something like that. Neither one had Sunset. The third one might have had her. However, Rainbow never got the chance to see for something had opened the door to the moving vehicle and slammed into her. Now she was barely aware of anything as she rolled down the side of this hill.

Eventually she stopped, landing on her stomach. As she looked up Rainbow saw the woman in white had rolled down the hill as well, but much more controlled than her so that she stopped in a crouching position. As the other woman stood, the teenager knew that this was just a minor setback. She knew what a broken leg or arm felt like (having had it happen to her more than once in her sporting career) so she knew nothing was broken or even sprained. All she had to do was super speed out of her and get back to the car.

“Later,” said Rainbow with a smirk, getting up as fast as she could. But it wasn’t as fast as she did when she super speeded. She tried to run but the other woman managed to block her path and push her down. As she fell on her back, Rainbow’s mind was trying everything it could to figure out what was going on? What happened to her speed? Where was her magic? Had it been stolen? Rolling over, Rainbow reached to take hold of her pendent in the hopes that it was all she needed to do to recharge it or whatever. Only…it wasn’t there. Now beginning to panic, the sports star of Canterlot High began to check the ground around her with her eyes as well as her palms only to find nothing. It didn’t take her long to realize that her pendent was probably on that hill somewhere. And the only way to get to it and save Sunset would be to get past that woman.

“Not so fast now,” said the woman with a smirk as Rainbow stood up.

“Get out of the way,” growled Rainbow as she pointed a finger at the woman.

“Not going to happen missy,” came the reply. “The only way you’re going to get past me is when I receive a phone call from my boss. That or you defeat me in a duel.” As she said this, the woman held up her wicked looking duel disk. Suddenly it opened its mouth to reveal a deck inside while at the same time the outer fin began to extend outward to create a sort of card tray.

At first, Rainbow didn’t reply as she was confused. Why take a chance at a duel when she was here, seemingly at this woman’s mercy. Was she that confident in her own skills that she could defeat Rainbow? Or maybe it was a way to distract her. Rainbow remembered reading in one of her Daring Do books where a one shot minor villain posed a challenge to Daring in order by his henchmen more time to search the ruins and make a break with the loot. Perhaps that was what was going on right now. This woman was trying to buy time for the car to get to where it was going and then Rainbow would never be able to find it! She could refuse and try to get her pendent, but could she get past this woman and find the pendent? No doubt whoever this was wouldn’t be standing idly by while she looked.

“Guess I have no choice,” said Rainbow as she took off her backpack. Setting it on the ground, Rainbow opened it and quickly pulled out her duel disk before tossing it out of the way. She then pulled out her own deck and inserted it into her duel disk to activate it. “I’ll be sure to make this quick!”

“Connecting,” said a female mechanical voice from their duel disks. “Opponents found. Displaying order now.” In the middle of the field appeared a flat holographic image of a portrait, only on one side was Rainbow Dash while the other was the woman in white whose name appeared below her portrait: Ember. The image began to spin round and round, faster and faster as their duel disks shuffled their decks at an equally quick speed. Eventually the portraits stopped spinning, ending on Rainbow Dash.

“That was what I was hoping for,” said Ember as she took the top five cards from her deck and added them to her hand. As she did this both of their life points became visible at 8000.

“Don’t be too sure about that,” said Rainbow as she too had five cards. “I draw!” With that, Rainbow had six cards in her hand. Quickly she scanned what she had, thinking about her first move before placing a card face down on her duel disk. “For right now I’ll set this monster in defense mode and end my turn.”

“That’s all?” asked Ember as she drew her sixth card quickly. “Well then this’ll be easier than I thought. I’ll start by special summoning Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit in attack mode.” As Ember slapped her monster card onto her duel disk, a large golden egg descended from the heavens on her side of the field. As it lowered, parts of the egg began to break apart to form some sort of armor made for a slender frame that was then quickly filled up by a dragon like being made of white light. It floated there with an impressive 2100 attack points with its hind legs barely touching the ground with its feather like wings flapped gently.

“Wait a minute,” said Rainbow as she checked her disk. “You can’t bring out that monster. It’s level is too high!”

“Tsk, tsk,” went Ember before gesturing towards her dragon. “Don’t tell me you don’t know about special effects. While it is true that this monster is level six, I am allowed to special summon it from my hand if you control monsters and I don’t. It just can’t attack this turn. But that won’t matter soon because now I’ll be tributing him to special summon my Hieratic Dragon of Su in attack mode.” In a flash of light, Ember’s monster vanished as another egg descended downwards. Once more it broke apart, becoming armor for another dragon of light. This time its attack points were 2200. It also blue with a more defined form. Rainbow could make out it’s glowing red eyes, sharp white teeth, and the three energy horns on its head. But she also noticed something else: another egg was descending from above. One with zero attack and defense points. “When Tefnuit is used as a tribute, I am allowed to special summon one normal monster from my hand, deck, or graveyard to the field but its attack and defense are reduced to zero. So, from my deck I’ll summon Hieratic Seal of the Dragon King in attack mode!” Another golden egg descended from the sky, lowering itself next to Su. Only it did not open up. It just seemed to float there content in its form.

“Seal of the Dragon King is a Gemini monster, so while it does have an effect its still treated like a normal monster until it is normal summoned for a second time,” explained Ember. “Now that I have two level six monsters on the field I can build the overlay network!” A dark vortex appeared in the middle of the field with golden star like lights twinkling as they were sucked inside. “Mighty king with the fierce roar, blast through the heavens to tear them asunder! Xyz summon Rank 6: Hieratic Dragon King of Atum!” Rising from the vortex was another egg, but larger that the first. It opened up to form more elaborate armor that might fit an angel. But that was not what filled it. Instead, dark blue energy began to fill it to form a humanoid dragon with mighty wings. It stood upright on the ground, its clawed arms kept in a pose ready to attack with its 2400 attack point body while twin orbs orbited it. “Now I’ll use his effect: by detaching one of its xyz materials I can special summon one dragon type monster from my hand, deck, or graveyard but its attack is changed to zero. So from my deck I’ll be summoning my Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!” As Ember said this, Atum grabbed one of the material orbs in one of his clawed hands before chucking it to the ground. There it formed a portal to allow a well known monster to rise up. Like her other dragons, its body seemed to be made of energy which in this case was a light blue color. It also had something like armor that was containing its form which was a much darker blue with a red trident at the back of its tail. While Galaxy-Eyes had been declawed (figuratively since it still had very sharp claws ready to tear into Rainbow) the monster still towered over the teenage girl as it roared.

“Since all I’ve been doing is special summoning I am still allowed one normal summons,” continued Ember as she held up a card. “So normal summon Hieratic Dragon of Gebeb in attack mode.” Another egg descended from above, only it was less golden colored and more orangish red with silver colored lines. The egg opened up to form more basic armor as another humanoid looking dragon made of gold energy appeared on the field. Gebeb slammed onto the ground in a traditional superhero landing causing rocks and dirt to fly up while its fists were raised to attack. Its attack points were 1800.

“Now let's begin the attack!” shouted Ember as she pointed to Rainbow’s face down. “Gebeb, let's see what she’s hiding!” Gebeb crouched down a bit before launching himself across the field with enough force that more dirt and rocks were kicked into the air. The dragon pulled back a fist before punching the face down card once it was close enough; revealing that the monster Rainbow had hid was large blue plane…with whisker marks on the front it seemed. Gebeb’s fist was implanted into its side, quickly pulling out as a projector at the end of each of its wings activated to create two more blue planes.

“You just activated the effect of my Mecha Phantom Beast Hamstrat,” declared Rainbow with a fist pump. “When it gets flipped, it special summons two level three Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens to my side of the field which I’ll play in defense mode.”

“I suppose you think that will protect you from me,” said Ember with a smirk. “Well it just so happens that you’re not the only one to get more monsters on the field. When Gebeb destroys one of your monsters and sends it to the graveyard I get to summon another normal dragon monster from my hand, deck, or graveyard. Then it’s attack and defense points are dropped to zero. So I’ll be bringing out my Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon in defense mode!” Appearing on behind Ember was an egg that was the size of a small mountain, towering over Rainbow so much she took a step back. “Now that that’s done, I’ll attack one of your tokens with Galaxy-Eyes.”

As Galaxy-Eyes threw back his head, Rainbow’s hands balled into fists as she raised them to chest level. “But what’s the point? They both have zero attack points and my token is in defense mode. Nothing’ll happen!”

“That’s why I’m activating his effect,” said Ember with a snap of her fingers. “I can banish both him and the monster he was battling from the field until the end of the battle phase.” With that, both one of Rainbow’s tokens and Galaxy-Eyes vanished from sight. “Now for my last attack! Atum, destroy her last token.” Atum growled as a ball of energy appeared in its clawed hand. The dragon then thrust it in the direction of the token sending a beam of energy at it, destroying Rainbow’s token. “With that, I end the battle and my turn.” At that moment, both Rainbow’s token and Galaxy-Eyes returned to the field. Only Galaxy-Eyes was no longer at zero attack but instead 3000!

That’s why she attacked with it, thought Rainbow as she drew her sixth card. Once it was banished, the effect of Atum was canceled out. But something here doesn’t add up. Gebeb allowed her to get another level eight monster onto the field. She could have Xyz summoned up a badass rank eight monster at the end of her turn. Instead, she left me an easy target. Is that a distraction or is she planning on making something bigger next turn? Not going to happen!

“Alright then,” said Rainbow as she held up a card. “First I’ll normal summon my Mecha Phantom Beast Raiten to the field in attack mode.” From above them, the sound of a propeller was heard. Both looked up to see a brown plane that looked like it had come from either WWI or WWII. As it looped it the air both duelists could see its 1500 attack and defense points. However, what was strange was its level. When it first appeared on the field it was a simple level four monster. But then it went up to level seven.

Rainbow chuckled a bit at her opponent’s confusion to this. “Think of my tokens as my air support, helping out my monsters in different ways. Take Raiten, by discarding a card from my hand, I can summon another token like so.” Smirking calmly, Rainbow discarded a card from her hand while a mechanical arm appeared at the tail end of her aircraft. From there, another projector appeared creating another token out of thin air. With two tokens on the field Rainbow’s plane went up to level ten. “The card I sent to my graveyard was Mecha Phantom Beast O-Lion. By banishing this card from my graveyard I’m allowed another normal summon. So I’ll bring out my Mecha Phantom Beast Megaraptor in attack mode!” Shooting from the clouds at an incredible speed came a greenish jet fighter that resembled a pterodactyl. The nose of the fighter had a visible jaw with equally visible teeth as well as cold yellow eyes. It had four extra jet boosters along its upper body and talons instead of wheel that looked ready to grab prey. At first its level was four but quickly rose to ten as it shot across the field so fast that it nearly knocked Ember down.

“Now to activate Megaraptor’s effect,” declared Rainbow. “By tributing one of my tokens, I can add one Mecha Phantom Beast monster from my deck to my hand. So I’ll be adding Harrliard to my hand.” As a card shot out from Rainbow’s deck, one of the tokens on her side of the field flew away into the sky. At the same time, the level of both her level four monsters dropped down to level seven.

“Now time for my attack!” shouted Rainbow. “Megaraptor, attack Gebeb with Sidewinder Assault!” Megaraptor seemed to let out a cry as it shot into the air high above the field before several missiles were fired at the dragon. Gebeb cried out as the world around it exploded, with flames everywhere, while Ember’s life points dropped to 7900. “Now Raiten, crack that golden egg!” As Megaraptor returned to Rainbow’s side of the field Raiten took off, firing a barrage of bullets at the giant egg. As it got closer, Raiten lifted upwards so it could both skim the surface of its target while also continuing to fire. Once it reached the top, Rainbow’s old plane looped itself while the egg exploded.

“You think that matters?” asked Ember. “All you did was take out my weaker monsters. Next turn, you’ll be sorry you did that!”

“Maybe,” said Rainbow with a shrug. “But it’ll be difficult with what I’m about to do. With my battle phase ended, I’m going to build the overlay network!” With that, the overlay vortex portal reappeared on the field and sucked up both of Rainbow’s monsters. “The engines turn allowing metal wings to take to the sky! Mankind’s dream becomes a reality moving faster and faster! Xyz summon Rank Seven! Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack!” Flying up out of the portal came a white plane with 2600 attack points and two spheres orbiting around it. With three engines on each wing, this mammoth plane took the sky with ease as it suddenly began to transform slightly. Its tail began to grow longer, thinner as it swished back and forth. Its front opened up to allow a mechanical head to emerge that resembled a snakes or perhaps a dragons while two tiny arms grew out from its under belly. There was also a small green rocket ship on its back.

“Pretty neat, don’t ya think?” said Rainbow as the shadow of her own monster was cast over her.

“I suppose,” said Ember while giving it a passing glance. “But it’s nowhere near as impressive as my Galaxy-Eyes.” At that, Rainbow’s Mecha Phantom Beast gave a loud roar.

“Ah, you’re hurting my big guy’s feelings,” chuckled Rainbow. “Now watch this: by detaching one of my monster’s materials, I can summon two more Mecha Phantom Beast tokens to the field. Which I’ll do right now and summon them in defense position.” Another projector appeared at the end of Dracossack’s tail to create the tokens giving Rainbow a total of three. “Now as long as I have at least one token, this bad boy can’t be destroyed by battle or card effects.”

“I think I get what you’re doing,” said Ember as she lowered her head slightly to give herself a more dangerous appearance. “Trying to make it so that I’ll have to waste three attacks before I can destroy that plane of yours. Nice idea in theory but like the Spruce Goose it won’t be flying for very long. All I gave to do is attack with my Galaxy-Eyes and it will be banished, not destroyed, until the end of this turn. And when Galaxy-Eyes comes back he’ll be stronger than ever! It’ll be easy to deal damage to you while taking out those dumb tokens!”

“Then it’s a good thing that my monster has another effect,” declared Rainbow causing Ember’s eyes to widen. “By tributing one of my tokens, I can destroy one of your cards. The only downside is that I can’t attack with Dracossack this turn. But I can live with that if it means taking down Galaxy-Eyes!” Ember let out a gasp as one of the tokens flew towards the small green rocket ship on Dracossack’s back and merged with it. In the blink of an eye the craft shot forward at incredible speeds, creating a cone around its nose before slamming into Galaxy-Eyes and destroying it. “Then I’ll throw down two face downs and tell air traffic control that you are a go!”

“Then I draw,” said Ember as she drew her forth card. Quickly she picked one card from her hand to hold up so Rainbow could see it. “I activate the spell card Trade In! This card lets me discard one level eight monster in my hand to the grave in order to draw two cards. So I’ll send my Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon to the grave to draw twice.” Quickly Ember drew her cards, looked at them, and then held up one. “Next I play my Hieratic Seal of Convocation which lets me add one Hieratic monster from my deck to my hand. So I’ll be adding another Su.” Ember paused as a card was ejected from her deck. After taking her card, the auto-shuffle function of her duel disk activated. “Now, I will normal summon Hieratic Dragon of Eset in attack mode!” As Ember set her card on the tray, another egg descended from the sky. Like before, it opened up to create armor for a dragon made on pure energy. This time that dragon was purple with claw-like hands on both of its wings like a bat would have. A stream of energy also seemed to be pouring out of its head, the helmet on said head having silver fins attached to the side.

“Normally, I would need a tribute to summon this level five monster,” said Ember calmly. “But I am allowed to special summon him by decreasing his attack points to 1000.” At that moment, Eset’s attack points dropped from 1900 to 1000. “Next I’ll use Atum’s effect to special summon one dragon from my hand, deck, or graveyard. So from the grave I’ll bring back my Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon!” Atum grabbed one of the sphere’s circling around him and proceeded to fling it towards the ground, summoning up the egg once again. “Now for Eset’s other effect; he can target one other Hieratic monster on my side of the field and, until the end of my turn, all monsters on my side of the field become the targeted monster’s level. So I’ll target my Seal of the Sun Dragon! That gives me the two level eight monsters I need to create the overlay network!”

As the portal appeared on the ground once again, Ember gave her opponent a cold smile as she began to chant. “Great dragon granted with the burning force of the sun. Let your light leave my foes in ashes. Xyz summon Rank eight: Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis!” From the portal came flames not unlike a solar flare, so bright and powerful that Rainbow was forced to shield her eyes. When the light finally began to dim, Rainbow beheld a dragon so massive that she had to crane her head upwards just to see its chest. What she could see was that it wore golden armor and that it’s ‘body’ flickered about like flames of red and orange hues. It’s large hands ended in claws that could easily destroy dams if is so desired. To cap it all off this monster had 3000 attack points.

“Now I’ll show you the price for flying too close to the sun,” commented Ember. “To start with, I’ll activate my monster’s special ability: by detaching one of its materials, I can tribute any number of monsters in my hand in order to destroy an equal number of cards on your side of the field. So I’ll tribute my Su and Nuit to destroy those two tokens you believe will protect you.”

As the Overlord Dragon absorbed one of its materials and Ember sent the two monsters from her hand to the grave, Rainbow braced herself. “I don’t think so! I activate my face down: Scramble!! Scramble!! I can activate this quick play spell card when you outnumber my non-token monsters. Now I can tribute any number of my Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens to special summon an equal number of Mecha Phantom Beast monsters from my deck. However, there is a catch. Since they had to speed to my field they have to return and refuel at the end of this turn. So I’m calling in Mecha Phantom Beasts Coltwing and Turtleracer in defense mode!” At once, both remaining tokens on the field flew off into the air and out of sight while two new crafts appeared in the distance. One of them looking like a giant white plane with two large propellers, one on each wing, with its front looking like a horse’s head. As this monster began to fly to Dracossack, showing off its 1500 defense points, its propellers shifted vertically to look like twin helicopter blades so it could hover. Turtleracer looked like a plane with a turtle-like shell on its back as well as having a very turtle-like front piece. This monsters defense points were 2000 and took position on Dracossack’s left.

“So you stopped my effect,” said Ember unimpressed. “Well you’re not the only one who gets to special summon a monster. Since Su was tributed for Overlord’s effect, I get to special summon another normal monster again. So I’ll take another Hieratic Seal of the Dragon King.”

“Not bad,” replied Rainbow as Ember’s monster appeared on her side of the field in defense mode. “But I can still do you one better. When Coltwing is special summoned while I control another Mecha Phantom Beast then he can give me two more Mecha Phantom Beast tokens!” In the air appeared the twin tokens formed from a projection device on Coltwing.

“Grr, fine then,” growled Ember looking very much annoyed at this point. “I’ll attack with Atum first and destroy one of those tokens.” Atum wasted no time in firing a beam blast at one of the tokens on the far left side, seemingly just as eager as its owner to get rid of them tokens. However, before the beam hit Turtleracer flew forward and turned in a way so that its ‘shell’ intersected the attack. When it was all said and done, both Rainbow’s monster as well as the token were still on the field.

“Sorry, but Turtleracer has an effect of its own,” said Rainbow, grinning broadly. “See, he looks after his little buddies so that the first one that would be destroyed each turn isn’t.”

“So you’ll still have at least one token when this is over,” grumbled Ember. “Then I might as well take the time to do whatever damage I can. Overlord Dragon, attack Dracossack!” Ember’s dragon let out a roar before flames were fired down the sky, washing down upon Rainbow’s largest plane. When the flames died off, the only effect it seemed to have was stream rolling off the metal beast as well as Rainbow’s life points dropping to 7600. “I’ll place one card face down and end my turn.”

As Rainbow’s Turtleracer and Coltwing took off into the sky, Rainbow drew another card making the total number she had in her hand three. “Yeah know, if you hadn’t kidnapped my friend I would be able to enjoy myself more.”

Ember smiled ruefully at that. “I must agree. While your cards are annoying I am enjoying the challenge. However, I must do this for the sake of my friend.”

“What?” asked Rainbow as she stomped a foot on the ground. “How could kidnapping Sunset help your friend unless he was some sort of weirdo who needs help?”

“Because the person you know as Sunset Shimmer isn’t the real Sunset Shimmer,” stated Ember in a dead serious tone. Rainbow looked at the girl in shock, taking a step back as she continued to speak “This may come as a surprise to you but we did a thorough background check on her and confirmed that she infiltrated your school some time ago using this false identity. You may think of her as your friend and bandmate, but that is a lie. My boss and best friend, the real Sunset Shimmer, wants to know why she stole her identity and possibly who she is working for.”

“Ok,” said Rainbow as she waved both hands in the air. “Ok, I think I get it but this is all a really big misunderstanding.”

“Oh?” asked Ember.

“Yeah. You see she is Sunset Shimmer but not the Sunset Shimmer of this world. She comes from this magical world of talking ponies where she used to be the student of this powerful pony who could move the sun and I just realized now how crazy this must all sound right now.”

“…Did the school put something in the water or are you big on happy brownies?” asked Ember as she gave Rainbow a deadpanned look. “Because those are the only polite explanations I can think of right now for why someone would believe such an insane story.”

“…Let's just get back to the duel,” said Rainbow as her shoulder hung slightly. She then muttered to herself, “Couldn’t have been a very good background check. How the heck did they miss all the crazy magic happening? Or me flying about with tiny blue wings?”

“Are you going?” shouted Ember.

“I am,” said Rainbow as she held up a card from her hand. “And I’ll start with this card called Pot of Duality. With this I get to pick up the top three cards in my deck, pick one to add to my hand, and the rest get shuffled back into my deck.” Rainbow paused to draw said cards, looking at them briefly before keeping the middle one and putting the rest back into her deck. “Next I’ll summon the monster I got during my last turn: Mecha Phantom Beast Harrliard!”A brown jet fighter came soaring through the sky with a front end that looked like that of a lion and what looked like missiles that ended in claws. Its attack points were 1800. “Now I activate his effect. I can tribute of my tokens to special summon one monster from my hand. So I’m flagging down my Mecha Phantom Beast Tetherwolf!” As one of Rainbow’s tokens flew off into the sky, the sound of a helicopter could be heard getting closer. As it appeared in the sky above the multi-color haired girl, both duelists could see elements of a wolf in this black vehicle. It’s attack points were 1700.

“I’m a little worried about that face down card you got so I’ll play my face down card: Aerial Recharge!” exclaimed Rainbow as her face down was flipped up. “This card gives me a token once per turn. But during both of our end phases I have to give up a token.”

“Crap!” swore Ember as she activated her card. “I’ll use the power of my Hieratic Seal of Reflection to tribute my Hieratic Seal of the Dragon King to negate and destroy your trap.”

A smirk appeared on Rainbow’s face as her card was destroyed. She had a feeling that Ember had wanted to save that card to use against her Dracossack in order to save her Overlord Dragon. If Rainbow had used its effect, then she would have been out of tokens and leaving monsters vulnerable to attack and without their effects. Ember knew by now that as long as Rainbow could get more tokens then her plan wouldn’t have worked anyways.

“I activate the effect of my Dracossack!” announced Rainbow as she thrusted her hand forward. “I’ll give up one of my tokens to destroy your Overlord Dragon!” The last of Rainbow’s tokens flew up to merge with the green rocket ship on top of her planes back. Like before it shot forward at nearly the speed of sound, crashing into the chest of Ember’s monster and destroying it. “With that done I now remove its last overlay unit to get two more tokens! Now it's time for my attack!”

“With what?” demanded Ember as she looked at Rainbow’s airborne monsters. “Dracossack is the only one on your side of the field that has enough attack to destroy my Atum and he can’t attack this turn!”

“Oh, you’ll see,” said Rainbow with a grin. “Tetherwolf, attack her Atum with Howling Blitzer!” At her command, Tetherwolf began to prep several missiles. With the sound of a pack of howls howling in unison they fired at the dragon who looked like her was about to swat them away with one of his claws. “Now, during the damage step, I can activate my monster’s effect. By tributing a token I can raise my monsters attack by 800 until the end of the damage step.” Still grinning, Rainbow watched as one of her tokens jetted forwards so fast that it caught up with the missiles. Before their eyes the token seemed to merge with the attack, creating an energy glow around them to give them more attack power as well as increasing their speed. Atum couldn’t react in time as the attack flew past his claws to strike him dead in the chest. As he exploded Ember’s life points dropped to 7800.

“Don’t forget I have another attack,” said Rainbow as she gestured to her Harrliard which flew towards Ember without haste. Instead of firing the entire missile, only the claw like nails attached to them were fired causing Ember’s life points to drop down all the way to 6000. “And with that I’ll turn it over to you.”

“Then I draw!” yelled Ember. She looked at the only card in her hand…and scowled. “I place one card face down and end my turn.”

“Bad luck, huh,” commented Rainbow as she drew making the total number of cards in her hand two. “Then I guess I’ll finish this right here and now. Dracossack, you’re up first. Take a bite out of her life points!” Dracossack let out a primal roar as all of its weapons fired. Missiles and bullets flew the air towards their target.

“Not so fast,” declared Ember. “I activate my face down, the quick play spell Silver’s Cry. This allows me to special summon one normal dragon type monster in my graveyard. So I’ll bring back my Hieratic Seal of the Dragon King in defense mode!”

Rainbow shrugged as the egg reappeared on her side of the field. “Ok then, I’ll continue the attack and smash that egg.” Without mercy, Dracossack’s attack laid waste to Ember’s monster and destroyed it without any difficulty. “Well that was a waste of good ammo. Thankfully I have two more monsters to attack you with!” With that, Harrliard and Tetherwolf launched their own attacks, causing the ground around Ember to explode wildly. The blue skinned woman held up her arms to defend herself but still went flying backwards as her life points dropped to 2500. “Guess I’ll call it a turn here.”

“Then I draw!” shouted Ember as she drew her card. She looked at it for only a moment before playing it. “I activate the spell card Pot of Desires! With this, I banish the top ten cards in my deck face down and then can draw two cards.” Rainbow said nothing as Ember proceeded to do this risky move, one that she would never have done. While drawing cards was good, the chance was great that you would banish your best cards. Plus they would be face down meaning you would be unable to target them with any effects. However, as Ember looked at her two cards, it seemed like she had gotten very lucky. “First I play Monster Reborn and I’ll use its effect to summon back my Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. Then I’ll special summon another Hieratic Dragon of Eset to the field.” At once two very familiar looking dragons reappeared onto the field. “Now I will use the effect of Eset, targeting my Galaxy-Eyes so that all Hieratic dragons on my side of the field become level eight. Now I can use my two level 8 monsters to create the Overlay Network once again!”

Rainbow braced herself as the vortex return, sucking up both dragons as Ember began her chant. “The shattered stars sing as the night ends. The cry of the dragon echoes through the entirety of space. Combine now to form a new might. Xyz summon Rank Eight: Number 62: Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon!” Coming out of the vortex was a dragon with 4000 attack points. Like Galaxy-Eyes and so many of Ember’s monsters it looked like a creature of energy whose form was trying to be contained by its arms. Most of its chest was visible as were the underside of its arms and parts of its legs. The armor on its wings reminded her of large open pincers as energy shot out of the opening. “I’m not done yet. I’ll advance overlay this monster to bring out something better!”

“What?!?” shouted Rainbow as she vortex returned. It didn’t seem possible. That Galaxy-Eyes monster looked pretty tough making seem unlikely that Ember could bring out anything tougher.

Ember’s chant seemed to prove her wrong. “Ready to rage war across the cosmos, with rage and stars in your eyes. Arm yourself now my instrument of ultimate destruction! Xyz Summon Rank 9: Galaxy-Eyes Full Armor Photon Dragon!”Emerging from the vortex was a much more normal looked Galaxy-Eyes Dragon compared to the one he had been summoned from. His armor covered much more of his body including the tips of his claws while also being the deepest shade of black Rainbow had ever seen. His attack points were the same as Prime Photon Dragon but had three materials orbiting around him instead of two.

“This still isn’t the best card in my extra deck,” commented Ember in a would be casual tone. “But it is a close second. I activate my monster’s effect: by removing one of his materials I can destroy one face up card on your side of the field. So I’ll target your last token.” As one of the sphere’s around Galaxy-Eyes vanished, the dragon made a palm thrust motion towards the token. While no energy came from the palm, Rainbow quickly felt the air pressure created by that motion which nearly knocked her back. Her token was not so lucky as it exploded in the air. “Now with that taken care of, I can now begin to dismantle your air support. Galaxy-Eyes, destroy her Dracossack.” Ember’s monster wasted no time reaching Rainbow’s plane, seemingly disappearing and reappearing right in front of it. Both claws grabbed Dracossack’s wings before snapping them off like they were twigs while at the same time sending a kick to its underbelly. The craft exploded in the air causing wreckage to fall across the battlefield and Rainbow’s life points to drop to 6200. “With that there is nothing more I can do. Your move.”

“Gladly,” said Rainbow as she drew her card. Briefly she looked at the three cards in her hand before looking back at the field. Ok this went from good to bad in like ten seconds flat. That monster of hers can destroy any card I got and then attack with a really big body. I need to hope my next draw will give me something good or else I’ll lose for sure and then they’ll do who knows what to Sunset.

“I’ll place this monster in face down defense mode and then switch the rest of my monsters to defense as well,” said Rainbow as a face down card appeared on her side of the field in front of her. At the same time her other two monsters landed on the ground to show they were in defense as well. “That’ll be it.”

“Looks like the tables have turned,” commented Ember as she drew her card. “I’ll play the card I just drew which should look familiar to you: Hieratic Dragon of Gebeb!” Rainbow gritted her teeth as the muscular dragon reappeared on Ember’s side of the field. While far smaller than Galaxy-Eye’s it would still pack a huge wallop if it attacked her. Not only that, it would help reinforce Ember’s side of the field when it destroyed a monster. And there was nothing Rainbow could do to stop it.

“I’ll activate my Galaxy-Eyes effect once again,” declared Ember with a grin. “This time I’ll destroy your Harrliard!” As another material vanished, Galaxy-Eyes Full Armor Photon Dragon made another palm thrust to generate enough air pressure to destroy Rainbow’s plane. “Now I will attack your Tetherwolf with Galaxy-Eyes and avenge Atum!” Galaxy-Eyes moved at speeds faster than the eyes could see across the field and stomped on Rainbow’s helicopter. As it exploded, Rainbow brought up both arms in order to better protect herself from the flames and light.

“Now Gebeb, take out her last line of defense!” Gebeb launched himself off the ground with his fist pulled back so as it destroy his target with all of its might. However, as he neared Rainbow’s card flipped over to reveal a plane that looked like a mix between a stealth fighter and a manta ray. Its wings were folded up-ward and around over itself with a long thin tail running behind it. There were also to red lights on it that could have been mistaken for eyes. What’s more, its defense points were 2100. Since its defense points were greater than Gebeb’s 1800 attack points, Ember lost 300 life points which brought her down to 2200.

“Sorry there,” said Rainbow as she lowered her arms to reveal a grin. “You just attacked my Mecha Phantom Beast Stealthray. And since he dealt damage to you, I get a token!” As Rainbow said this, the thin tail of Stealthray moved to point next to it and began to project light from its end. Moments later another token appeared on her side of the field.

“It won’t last,” said Ember as Gebeb returned to her side of the field. “Next turn, both it and your token will be destroyed. Not like it matters anymore. By this time, the fake Sunset Shimmer will be at her destination so we can find out what sort of game she’s playing at.”

“I’m telling you, she is Sunset Shimmer!” yelled Rainbow as she stomped her foot on the ground in frustration. She then brought her hand to her deck, ready to draw. “And if what you say is true then I have no more time to lose! I draw!” As Rainbow drew her card, an arc of rainbow colored light followed her card. She looked at it for only a moment before grinning.

“You might not have shown me your best, but that doesn’t mean I can’t show you mine!” declared Rainbow. “I summon Mecha Phantom Beast Aerosguin!” Appearing in the sky above them came a zeppelin…that looked like a penguin. It was an odd sight to be sure as both duelist could make out the line in the penguin shaped balloon. Its attack points were 1600. “This little fella has the ability to remove one Mecha Phantom Beast from my graveyard in order to give me one of my tokens. So I’ll remove Dracossack to do just that.” As Rainbow removed the card from her graveyard, a ramp opened up on Aerosguin before a token came flying out onto the field.

“Now everything is all set,” said Rainbow. “See Aerosguin and Stealthray are like most of my monsters, their levels increase by the levels of all the tokens on the field. Since I have two tokens, my two level three monsters are now level nine. That allows me to create the overlay network!” Ember’s eyes widened as the vortex appeared on the field, both of Rainbow’s monsters flying into it. “High above our heads, above the clouds is where you fly. Free to move as you please, free to assist in battle. Come forth now mighty fortress of the Mecha Phantom Beasts! Xyz Summon Rank Nine: Phantom Fortress Enterblathnir!” A light shot out of the vortex and into the air. Moments later, the enter sky as far as either woman could see was filled with mechanical parts. Only Rainbow knew that above this massive flying ship was an entire aerial runway as well as enough ammo to justify its 2900 attack points.

“S-So what if it's big?” shouted Ember as she gazed at the fortress above her. “It might be able to take out my Gebeb, but Galaxy-Eyes-”

“Won’t be around to see it,” interrupted Rainbow. “See, what makes this carrier 20% cooler than the rest of my monsters is that it has four different effects that I can choose from. So I’m going to use one of them right now: by detaching one of my materials I can banish one card you control. And I choose Galaxy-Eyes Full Armor Photon Dragon!” A beam of green, yellow, and red light washed over Ember’s mighty dragon from above to pull it up and away from the field. The monster tried to fight it, kicking and screaming as it was then pulled it a portal that appeared in the air.

“Next I’ll play the spell card I drew last turn and end this so I can help my friend!” shouted Rainbow as she played the card. When she did, the size of her Phantom Fortress began to grow more in size (if that were possible) while the noise from its engines increase. While all this was going on the Phantom Fortress Enterblathnir’s attack points rose to 5800! “Limiter Removal will double the attack of all my machine type monsters until the end of this turn and then they’ll be destroyed! More than enough to end this duel! Now attack with All Out Assault!” As Rainbow pointed to Gebeb, planes began to fly off the aerial runway as did many other types of aircrafts. As they flew down, firing their weapons along the way, the fortress itself began to fire laser beams as well as bullets and missiles. It seemed like this truly was an all out attack that dropped Ember’s life points to zero.

As the holograms began to fade, Rainbow sprinted off across the field to reach the hill. Ember stood where she was as Rainbow passed her, keeping her promise. Yet there was no way for her to know that while she began to look for her pendant Sunset Shimmer was being led down a hallway at gunpoint where her double sat waiting.

Author's Notes:

Ok time to explain my deck choices. For Ember, I think its obvious that I gave her a dragon deck. The reason I choose this specific deck is because I think lends to her character a bit more than say a Blue-Eyes or Red-Eyes.

As for Rainbow, I wanted to give her something, ANYTHING, other than UA! Seriously, its always UA and I get why. In the EG verse she's an athlete. I choose Mecha Phantom Beasts because of the plans I had for her. I had planned on waiting a bit longer to have her duel and bring up her desire to go into the Air Force College, but I wanted to get to some duels we haven't seen before. Also I think they fit her just as well as UA

Dueling Sunsets (Sunset vs Sunset)

“Oh come on,” growled Rainbow Dash as she looked through the grass on the hillside, pushing it aside in a desperate attempt to find her pendant. Without the source of her magic, the rainbow-haired girl knew there was no way to catch up with the creeps that took her buddy from another world. It also didn’t help that every second that went by without her finding it Sunset was getting farther and farther away.

The only good news she had at this moment was that Ember, the girl who had jumped out of a moving car to stop her and then dueled her, had kept to the promise they had. After the duel had ended, Ember had allowed her to pass in order to search for her pendent before going off to find Sunset. Shortly after the duel, Rainbow heard Ember walking off away from the scene of their duel. Where she was going Rainbow didn’t have a clue. True, she could follow her and hope that she led her to Sunset, but the chances were that she might not head to where they were taking Sunset. Chances of her managing to save Sunset without her magic were equally unlikely. Rainbow wasn’t so arrogant to think that she could save her friend from people with guns without super speed.

So, Rainbow continued to search for what seemed like forever growing more and more desperate with each passing minute. Every so often she would grab a chunk of grass, pulling it out of the ground and tossing it behind her in a fit of rage. Her magic had to be somewhere around here. It had to be!

The sound of a van stopping above her almost missed her attention. Looking up for a moment, Rainbow saw the band van driven by Granny Smith just above her with AJ and Twilight jumping out. Twilight had out her new science watch thing, holding it in her hand as her gaze shifted from it to Rainbow.

“Land sakes,” cried Applejack as she approached Rainbow while Twilight walked in a different direction. “Ya just couldn’t wait for the rest of us, could ya? Had ta just run off on ya own like that!”

“There was no time,” Rainbow shot back. “How did you guys find me anyways?”

Applejack opened her mouth, but Twilight beat her to the punch. “I modified the tracker,” Twilight said as she walked around the hill side with her head down, taking very slow steps. “When I made it, I had to tune into the magical frequencies of our geodes before creating a program that would exclude so they wouldn’t interfere with our detection. But I figured there might come a time when one of us gets lost or gets abducted by magical forces. So there is another program in here that allows me to track those specific frequencies since they are stored in the device’s memory. All I needed was a few minutes to make the adjustments and the detector becomes,” Twilight paused for a moment as she suddenly reached down to pick up Rainbow’s missing pendent, “a tracker.”

“It also took us a little while ta get the bus going,” added Applejack as Twilight approached and gave Rainbow back her pendent. “Thing needed gas.”

“So this thing will let us find Sunset?” asked Rainbow as she eyed the device. Twilight nodded, holding up the device to show Rainbow’s multi-colored lightning bolt in the center while Sunset’s was north. Instantly Rainbow reached out to grab the device from the purple nerd’s hand. After all, she was the fastest of them all. She could just super speed there and grab Sunset before anyone knew what happened. However, it seemed Applejack had grabbed the back on Rainbow’s shirt before she could do so. “Hey, what gives?”

“This time, how about we stick together?” she suggested in a stern tone.

-x-

Sunset let out a grunt as she was pushed into a large office room, nearly falling on her face as she did. Looking back at the door, she saw two of the men who had kidnapped her with their guns still pointed at her. Neither had said a word since they had taken her off the street only pushing her to move her in the direction they wanted. Shades covered their eyes in an attempt to keep her from knowing who they might be as well as to make them look more intimidating. That or they just came back from a sale at the Sunglass Hut.

As much as Sunset racked her brain, she had no idea who these people were or what they wanted. She knew she was in a large building but they had entered through an underground parking lot. From there they had used a key card to enter an elevator that straight up passed numerous levels before stopping. It was like they were doing everything in the power minus putting a blindfold over her to keep her from knowing where she was. But whoever these goons worked for had to have some serious cash behind them. Yet who could it be? Well-To-Do? No, last she had heard he was still court for his actions at Camp Everfree while his company was now having lawsuit after lawsuit filed against them for his previous misdeeds. It was doubtful that anyone working for him would have the money or power to try and get revenge like this. Same went for Cinch since she was a wanted woman with most of her assets frozen. So who could it be?

Whoever they were, she just needed to stay calm as she waited for help from her friends. She knew Rainbow Dash had tried to save her and it was more than likely that the rest of them weren’t too far behind. She was sure that somehow they would find a way to find her and then rescue her. Too bad none of them had the power to see the future or magically locate people.

Looking around the office, she got an odd feeling about it. There were decorations about that were things she found appealing. The sort of things she would probably have in an office if she ever had one. Then, when she looked at the other end, Sunset quickly figured out why. Standing there with her mouth slightly hanging open was another her! It had to be the Sunset Shimmer of this world.

It was weird to say the least. Almost as weird as when she first came to this world and found she was no longer a unicorn. It was true that she had, from time to time, wondered what her other self was like. More so when she had met the Twilight of this world and befriended her. She wondered: what was she like? Had the Sunset of this world gone through similar things as she had? Just looking around this office told Sunset a bit of her double’s life. In Equestria, she had been a student of Princess Celestia herself. She had a chance to achieve great things had not her greed and impatience gotten the best of her. She could have been a princess, perhaps even becoming the Element of Magic had she listened to what her mentor had said back then. Perhaps this Sunset hadn’t made that same mistake.

“I,” whispered the other Sunset before pausing to cough into a fist. When she spoke next, her toe was more forceful and controlled. A tone much like the one Sunset used back when she was nothing more than a bully with delusions of grandeur. “I knew that you looked like me, but seeing it in person is something completely different. The likeness is remarkable.”

“Ah yeah,” said Sunset as she scratched the back of her head. “Weird coincidence.” She then gave a slightly forced laugh as her mind raced to think of some excuse. However, before she could think of anything that might be believable the other Sunset turned a computer screen on her deck around towards her. On it was Sunset’s MyStable page, complete with her name and pictures of her with her friends.

“I don’t know what is going on here,” said the other Sunset as she moved around her desk. Her eyes were fixed on Sunset with a cold glare full of hatred. “But I can assure you that I will find out. If you are some sort of ploy from another company to ruin my image or even from someone from my own company trying to seize power but-”

“Whoa, hold on there,” said Sunset as she raised her hands in a non-threatening manner. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I mean, we could just have the same name and look alike. Ah, you know: Occam’s razor? The simplest answer is usually more likely?”

The other Sunset’s eyes narrowed as she frowned. “You would have me think that this is just some sort of weird coincidence that we have the same name, look exactly alike, and even sound alike? Do you also think I would have had you brought here if I hadn’t already made sure that that wasn’t the case?”

“Well, when you put it like that…maybe?” Sunset tried to smile, knowing just how weak and feeble her lie was. But what could she do?

Sunset number two’s eye twitched at that before she folded her arms and leaned back against the deck. “According to my own investigation, you appeared seemingly out of nowhere a few years ago. You managed to talk your way into getting an apartment without parental consent after heading to the Secretary of State’s office to get a social security number. Namely mine! Following that you enrolled in Canterlot High where you proceeded to bully those around you until something happened to make you turn over a new leaf. Now, you could be some runaway who looks and sounds just like me and decided to assume my identity. If that is the case then we are going to have some problems. More likely, you are an agent sent out to that school to ruin my name and make it look like I’m goofing around instead of focusing on my work. Perhaps in an effort to hurt my stock or just make me look publicly bad or SOMETHING!” At that point, the other Sunset unfolded her arms to slam a fist on the desk behind her. “If that is the case, then we are going to have a much bigger problem.”

“Trust me, it's not either of those,” said Sunset quickly as she raised her hands in the air. Fear was already starting to pound away in her heart. She was face to face with the Sunset of this world, one who didn’t know about other worlds and had ever right to be angry at her. All she had to do was call the police and she’d more than likely be put in jail for identity theft or being an illegal alien or something like that!

“I have no reason to trust you,” replied the other Sunset. “But I’m sure I’ll find out the truth in due time. If you are just a runaway then-”

“Look, I am Sunset Shimmer,” said Sunset as she placed her hands on her chest while gaining an irritated look from her double. “And so are you. I came from a parallel world. I’m you from another world that’s similar to this one.”

The other Sunset gave her an exasperated as a hand went to touch her forehead. “Ok, out of all the lies I expected, I never thought you’d use the plot from Sliders. Well, I guess I have to give you an A for creativity. Not sure how many people remember that old show.”

“Yeah, it was great until the fourth season,” said Sunset. Then her eyes widened as she realized that what she had just said was almost like admitting that she had gotten the idea from that show! She knew she had to fix this and fast! “Look, I can prove it to you if you give me a chance!”

“Not happening,” replied the other Sunset as she walked back around her desk and sat down in her chair. “I went to all the trouble having you brought to me and there is no way I’m letting you go. You are staying right here until I get some answers.”

“But I can show you the answers right now!” cried Sunset. “Look, how about this. We duel and if you win then I stay wherever you want me to until you figure this out. I’ll go along with any tests you want. But if I win, all I want is the chance to prove to you what I’m saying is true.” The other Sunset brought a hand to her chin, looking like she was mulling over what Sunset was saying. Seeing this, the girl from another world continued to talk. “You can stay by my side the entire time and even bring along those thugs with guns. As many as you want! And if you aren’t completely convinced then I’ll admit to whatever you think I am. No matter what you get what you want!”

The other Sunset tapped her desk several times with her free hand. “This could be a ploy so you could try to make an insanity defense,” she muttered. “Or maybe a trap so you could try to replace me. Besides I already have you here now so why should I even agree to this?”

Sunset wanted to grab her own hair and pull on it as hard as she could. She couldn’t believe this version of her was so suspicious! What had happened to her to make her so distrustful? Was this part of the differences on growing up in a different world like with the Twilight’s? Then again, the old Sunset wasn’t really that much better. She had, in her time, made plenty of schemes, stolen from royalty, kidnapped a dog/dragon, and had just been an awful person in general. Even if this Sunset just knew the stuff she did before she reformed then it would make sense not to trust her.

Then, much to Sunset’s surprise, her other self pulled out what looked like that arm cannon from that one transformer from old cartoon. The one who turned into a gun or tank or was it a T-Rex? She couldn’t remember but right now that didn’t matter because her other was putting it on. Gulping in fear, Sunset took a step back as the other Sunset stood up and pointed at her while grinning evilly. Sunset would have thought that this was it when the weapon beeped and split in two to form an odd-looking duel disk. One-half of the split weapon looked like the spell/trap card zone on those old mats while the other half looked like the monster card zone. The other Sunset then reached for her belt before pulling out her deck.

“Then again, that’ll only happen if I lose,” she said, putting her deck into the cannon. “And I could really use a little stress relief right now. So I’ll take you up on your offer.”

-x-

At the same time, Aria stood across the street looking at the home of the purple nerd and Sonata. Around them there were only a few people out walking their dogs, jogging, or any number of stupid human things that kept them on the move. Thankfully none of them paid any attention to either her or Adagio. Maybe it was because Adagio was on the phone right now talking to Cinch about this stupid plan. Perhaps they thought that they were calling to get a lift or something. Whatever the case was, Aria was just glad she didn’t have to bother lying to those idiots several times until she wanted to pull her hair out.

Aria let out a sigh as she fought the urge to tap her foot. In all honestly she hated waiting around like this and would rather be doing anything else. If only she could do anything else or could be anywhere else. But she knew she couldn’t. The two sirens were now scraping at the bottom of the barrel for options in the hopes that things would get better. Until then they couldn’t do anything else really since they had little money to their name nor any real future to speak of. Glancing up at one of the windows in the house across the street, Aria felt something she never thought she would: jealousy for Sonata. Honestly, the very idea that she would ever want something that braindead twit had was enough to make her sick to her stomach. But…she had something. She was going places even if it was just a management position at a shitty Mexican restaurant. Sonata had a roof over her head that she didn’t need to sneak into. She had money to pay for her smartphone plan. Aria cringed at the thought that she’d might (keep in mind the MIGHT part) be willing to trade places with Sonata. Oh God, how bad was her life to even consider something like that.

“Ok,” said Adagio as turned off her phone. “The morons out of the way. We can move in.” As Adagio began to move towards the building, a thought came across Aria’s mind. One that might get them out of this dumb plan. Quickly she grabbed Adagio’s arms causing the other siren to turn and look at her in annoyance. “What the hell is with you Aria? We have to get going!”

“Are we sure the place is empty?” asked Aria. “That girl’s parents could be inside right now! If we break down the door to the garage and they hear the alarm there will be no way we can get anything!” Adagio didn’t say anything at first, just looking at Aria with contempt before pulling her arm away.

“I’m not an idiot,” hissed the other siren. “They’re already out of the house. Cinch cloned some idiot named Cadence’s phone to send her parents a text. Something about their daughter having an accident. She just confirmed that they are all heading towards a hospital on the other side of town. We’re in the clear.” With that, Adagio turned and began running towards the house with Aria reluctantly following her.

-x-

Sunset stood on the roof of the building, the version of herself from the human world standing across from her with a confident sneer on her face. As for herself, Sunset could feel her heart racing wildly. The stakes were high this time. If she lost it would more than likely mean jail time for herself. Also it didn’t help that she was on top of a very large building with the wind blowing powerfully around her. But all she could do was play this through as she lifted her arm with her duel disk on it while her other did the same.

“Connecting,” said a female mechanical voice from their duel disks. “Opponents found. Displaying order now.” In the middle of the field appeared a flat holographic image of a portrait, only this time it was a little harder to tell the difference between them. Instead of going by their faces, Sunset had to make out parts of their clothing in order to tell the difference. Thankfully the other her in the portrait had those large spikes on her shoulders. Eventually, the image paused on her own.

“I take the first move,” said Sunset as they both drew five cards while their life points appeared at 8000. “I draw!” As Sunset looked at the six cards in her hand, she knew she had to take every advantage she could. Thankfully, she had just the cards to help with that. “I’ll start this off with a bang by summoning Laval Magma Cannoneer in attack mode!” As Sunset placed her card on her duel disk, the ground before her began to crack and break before lava began to appear. It rose, taking the form of a man before hardening. Quickly, her monster’s rocky body turned mostly purple with a red visor covering its eyes. On the shoulders of its bulky form were two cannons that had tubes running into the monster's back. It’s attack points were 1700.

“Cannoneer has a powerful effect,” continued Sunset as her other self looked unimpressed. “Up to twice per turn I can discard one fire monster from my hand to deal 500 damage. So I’ll discard Laval Lancelord from my hand to do just that!” As Sunset slid her card into her graveyard slot, the tube connecting to Cannoneer’s right cannon began to bulge as a lump moved upwards. When it reached the cannon it fired at the other Sunset, causing the ground next to her to explode while her life points dropped to 7500. “But I’m not done just yet! Because now I’ll discard my Laval Handmaiden to do it all over again!” Another blast was fired at the other Sunset who continued to stand there while the ground next to her exploded and her life points dropped to 7000. “Now I activate the effect of Handmaiden: since I have a Laval monster of a different name in my grave I can send one Laval monster from my deck to the grave. So why not send another Laval Handmaiden so I can send my last Handmaiden to the grave as well! Then, using my last Handmaiden’s affect, I’ll send Laval Forest Sprite to the grave. When he is sent there all Laval monster’s on my side of the field gain a nice little boost of 200 attack points.” At this point, Cannoneer’s attack rose to 1900. “Finally, I’ll place one card face down and end my turn.”

“Well that was…something,” said the other Sunset as she drew. She looked at the six cards in her hand for a moment before holding one up. “I think I’ll start by summoning something a bit more useful: Magical Musketeer Starfire in attack mode!” Appearing in front of the other Sunset was a woman with long black hair and veil covering most of her face. She wore something that resembled something of a belly dancer’s outfit with its bare midriff, exposed shoulders and arms, as well as a long greenish skirt with bangles around the hips. Yet the skirt was short enough for Sunset to see the leather pants and boots underneath along with several holsters on them holding a single-shot gun on each. There was also a red, bat-like wing coming out of Starfire’s arm. Her attack points were 1300.

“Next, I’ll play the spell card Double Summon,” continued the other Sunset as she placed her card in the row behind Starfire. “This card allows me to perform one more additional normal summon this turn. In addition, since I activated this card in the same column as Starfire her effect allows me to special summon one level four or lower Magical Musketeer to my side of the field in defense mode. So please give a warm welcome to Magical Musketeer Caspar!” A dark portal opened up next to Starfire at the same time a powerful wind blew across the field. Out of that portal stepped a man with long, wild blond hair and mostly red attire. He wore something like a cloak while also having a red bat wing on one of his arms while holding his demonic looking gun in his bluish hand. After appearing on the field he took a knee displaying his 2000 defense points. “Now I will use the additional normal summon to sacrifice Starfire to summon Magical Musketeer Mastermind Zakiel!” Starfire vanished in a flash of light as a new monster took its place. Zakiel looked like a demon dressed for steampunk. In both of its bluish grey hands he held weapons of bronze she could see being carried in a convention hall. He was dressed in something like a Victorian tailcoat or maybe a western trench coat that was purplish in color with matching clothing underneath. Red horns curled back along his head and large red wings that glowed brightly were on his back. Sunset had to brace herself when she saw that its attack points were 2500!

“Let’s see, what else,” said the other Sunset in an almost mocking tone. She then grinned as she held up a card for Sunset to see. “I guess I’ll play a new card called Pot of Extravagance. All I have to do is banish three or six cards in my extra deck face down and then I can draw a card for every three cards I banished. So I’ll banish six to draw two cards.” With a grin, the other Sunset removed her cards without even looking at them. Like they were there to be nothing more than fodder for this card. “Now, Pot of Extravagance also states that I can’t draw anymore cards for the rest of this turn. But adding them to my hand is a completely different story. Since I activated this card in the same column as Caspar I can now add one Magical Musketeer card from my deck to my hand. So I’ll be taking my Magical Musketeer – Desperado!” The card slid out of the other Sunset’s deck which the girl took before the auto shuffler activated.

With five cards in her hand, the other Sunset gestured at Cannoneer. “Now it's time to attack!” she announced. “Zakiel, turn that monster into a pile of rubble!” Grinning Zakiel lifted both of his weapons while his eyes began to glow. Dark energy began to surround his weapons before they began to fire rapidly.

“I activate my trap card: Molten Whirlwind Wall!” yelled Sunset as her face down flipped face up. “This continuous trap card boosts the attack points of all Laval monsters on the field by 100 for each Laval monster in the graveyard. Right now I have five making Laval Cannoneer’s attack 2400. Might not beat your monster outright but it will lessen the blow.”

“Yeah, not happening,” said other Sunset as she picked out a card from her hand. “From my hand I activate the trap card Magical Musketeer – Last Stand! If while I control a Magical Musketeer when you activate a spell or trap card then it is negated and destroyed!”

“But you can’t!” shouted Sunset as missiles and gunfire exploded from the other hers card, flying about the place. “That’s a trap card meaning you have to set it first and wait-” Sunset was interrupted as the effects of the trap card hit her own, destroying it with enough force that she was forced back a few steps. As she did her life points dropped to 7400.

“In most cases that would be correct,” said the other Sunset as she put her hands on her hips. “However, one of the effects of my Magical Musketeers is that when their on the field I can activate their spell and trap card from my hand during either player's turn. So go ahead, it's your turn now.”

“Then I draw,” announced Sunset, taking her card before looking at the three in her hand. Ok, time to think. That other me is holding all the cards right now. She can use any Magical Musketeer card trap she wants whenever she wants without having to set them on the field. That means Lakeside Lady is useless unless she decides to set a monster. The only good news is that she can only do this with specific trap and spell cards while hoping she has the one she needs in her hand. I’m sure she has plenty in her deck, but there is a chance that she’ll draw multiple copies of one she doesn’t need. However, things aren’t looking too good for me right now. Nothing I have in my hand can help give me an edge in this duel. At least, not now. I’ll just have to have some faith in my deck and hope it comes through for me. At that moment, Sunset felt a hand resting on her shoulder. It lasted for only a moment, but there was weight to it as well as an unnatural amount of heat that most hands didn’t have.

“I play one card face down,” announced Sunset as a monster card appeared on her side of the field. “As well as setting that last two cards in my hand. That’ll do.”

“Sad, I’d hope you’d try just a little harder since you are so desperate to prove that story of yours,” said the other Sunset as she drew her card. With six cards in her hand, the other version of Sunset was in a strong position. “I summon Magical Musketeer Calamity in attack mode!” Appearing on her side of the field was a woman with 1500 attack points. Her red hair was cut short and she wore leather attire that allowed her midriff to be bare with a red cape with veins on it. Resting on her shoulder was a cannon of sorts, one that hummed with great power as its lights glowed whitish blue.

“I activate my spell card: Searing Fire Wall!” shouted Sunset as her card flipped right up. At the same time the ground in front of her began to crack and tear open allowing molten hot rock to appear. From the lava came wisps of flames that danced about as they slowly took on the forms of small, somewhat human-like creatures made solely of flames. “This card allows me to remove Laval monsters from my graveyard in order to special summon Laval Tokens, each level one with zero attack and defense, for each monster I banish. So I’ll remove all my Handmaidens and my Forest Sprite in order to gain four tokens in defense mode!”

“Bet you think that’ll help you,” replied the other Sunset as she looked over to Calamity. “But all you did was help me out since you activated a card in the same column as Calamity. Meaning I can use her effect!”

“Wait!” shouted Sunset in shock. “You mean it happens on either side of the field?”

“That’s right,” replied her other self. “Now Calamity has the effect to bring back one monster in my graveyard in defense mode! Welcome back Starfire!” A portal appeared at the far side of the other Sunset’s field as Starfire appeared in a kneeling position.

“Well I’m not done,” said Sunset as her other face down was revealed. “I activate my Pot of Acquisitiveness. With this card I target my three banished Handmaidens, shuffle them back into my deck, and then draw a card.” Sunset waited as she stared Zakiel, the monster directly across from where she had set her spell card to see what he would do. However, he just stood there and her alternate self didn’t do anything.

“Not bad I guess,” said the other Sunset after a moment. “Got back some of those banished cards and got a new card in your hand. Not that it will help you, but still not too bad. Me, I’m going to play my spell card Toon Table of Contents which allows me to add any toon card I want from my deck to my hand. So I’ll choose another Toon Table of Contents.”

“I think I get it,” said Sunset as she watched the spell card appear behind Starfire. “You can use that card to activate the effect of one of your monsters while searching for another copy of itself so you can do it all over again.”

“Of course,” replied the other Sunset as she got her card from her deck. “So now I can use Starfire’s effect to bring out Magical Musketeer Doc to the field in defense mode.” Appearing on the field was a man wearing a white lab coat with the same red cape that Calamity was wearing. In his hands were a long sniper rifle which he held with the greatest of care while taking a knee. His defense points were 1200.

Seeing this new monster caused Sunset to blink. “Hey, aren’t these monsters similar to the characters in Western Base?” Sunset had a feeling that she had seen these characters before, but it wasn’t until she saw Doc that things began to click. While their appearances were greatly different, and the one in the game looking far less demonic, there did seem to be a similar theme. Like Calamity reminded her of the Demolisher while Starfire could be the Fem Fatale. Doc seemed to be a mix of the Sniper and the Medic. Heck, Caspar could be the soldier or maybe a scout or something.

“Noticed it too?” asked the other Sunset, her voice softening a bit as she looked at her monsters. “I used to love playing that game, pretending the people who were giving me stress were the people I was shooting at.”

“I hear that,” said Sunset with a bit of a smile. “I prefer playing the heavy myself when I’ve had a rough day. Just screaming out while I mow down everything in sight.”

“That is the best,” agreed the other Sunset with an eager nod. There was something in her eyes that Sunset could see. It was like she was letting something out that she had been unable to take about, getting excited for the first time in a long time. “But sometimes I like to play the Fem Fatale so I can stab those bastards in the back. I just wish I could play again. Haven’t been able to since…” Her voice trailed off as she looked at Sunset, eye hardening back. “Nice try. I switch my Caspar to attack mode before I attack. Zakiel, destroy her face down monster!” With a wicked smile and an evil glint in his eyes, Zakiel raised both of his weapons before firing a volley of bullets. As they flew across the field, Sunset’s card was revealed to be a creature made of stone that shattered when it was hit.

“You destroyed my Laval Miller,” announced Sunset as she reached for her deck. “When it’s sent to the graveyard due to battle, I can send two Laval monsters from my deck to the graveyard. First I’ll send my Lakeside Lady followed by a Handmaiden. Then, well, you should know how it goes. I’ll use Handmaiden to send a second and then a third before sending another Forest Sprite.”

The other Sunset rolled her eyes. “It won’t matter. Caspar! Calamity! Destroy her tokens!” Caspar fired first, holding his gun out like something out of an old western before firing it. A red bullet with lightning dancing around it flew across the field to destroy one of the tokens. As for Calamity, she was a bit more showy in her attack. Leaping up high into the air as her weapon began to hum loudly, Calamity fired a massive beam that destroyed another token. “With that I end my turn.”

“Then I draw!” announced Sunset as she drew her next card. With two cards in her hand she began to think about what she could do when the other her held up a card.

“I activate Magical Musketeer – Dancing Needles,” she said with a grin. “With this card, I can target three cards in either player’s graveyard and banish them. So I choose the three Handmaidens you put in there. I’m sure you have some way of returning them like before, but I doubt you have something like that on you right now.”

“Great,” muttered Sunset as she removed the three cards from her graveyard. She then reached for one of her cards and set it on the field. “I summon Flamevell Firedog in attack mode!” Leaping out of the ground was a dog like creature with 1900 attack points. Baring its fangs, this monster looked all the more menacing with its rock-like body with lava moving between its cracks. “When this monster destroys a monster in battle, I can special summon one fire monster from my deck with 200 or less defense points.”

“Too bad I won’t let you,” replied the other Sunset as she held up another trap card. “Remember Magical Musketeer – Desperado? This card targets one face up card on your side of the field and destroys it!” An energy blast from up above suddenly struck Firedog, destroying it as the monster cried out in pain.

“I…end my turn,” said Sunset as she looked at the only card in her hand. It might have helped her a little bit, but to make the most use out of it she knew she had to wait for the right moment. Right now, she wasn’t ready to do something like that.

“Then the effect of Zakiel activates,” said the other Sunset as her boss monster began to glow. “For every Magical Musketeer spell or trap card I used during this turn, I can draw an equal number of cards. So that means I get two cards. Then I enter my own draw phase.” With that, the other Sunset had six cards in her hand. “Now I switch all of my monsters to attack mode and then begin my battle phase. Caspar and Starfire: destroy her remaining tokens!” Caspar fired his weapon to destroy a token while Starfire twirled around, pulling guns out from under her skirt before firing a flurry of bullets at the remaining toke. Now Sunset stood there defenseless with nothing to protect her.

“Doc, attack her directly!” The other Sunset’s monster raised his sniper rifle as lightning began to dance around the barrel. When it fired, Sunset could see the air distort around it as if it were moving at supersonic speeds to break the sound barrier. The attack hit her straight in the chest causing the girl from another world to stumble backwards. Then…

Sunset found herself behind a desk. Before her were several adults in suits, yelling at her and shaking their fists in the air. She fought to keep her face neutral and calm, but inside she was frightened beyond believe. She wanted to lash out at them, to scream at them just as they were doing to her.

“Ms. Shimmer,” she heard one of them shouting. “How can you sit there and tell us to be patient?!? Two of the projects this company promised are behind schedule! Your best scientists are-”

“Are working on the project as we speak,” interrupted Sunset, her voice firm as it did its best not to let the fear and doubt inside her show. “They have assured me that progress is being made.”

“And we’re losing money!” cried another as they all began to yell.

It happened in what seemed like a flash, quickly fading as Sunset stumbled backwards while her life points dropped to 6000. In her confusion, a hand went to her chest where the bullet had struck, feeling some warmth there that was slowly fading away. What was that? It was like a memory or something, but Sunset had never been in anything like that. Could it be-

“Calamity, you’re up!” The sound of her voice from the other Sunset’s mouth caused Sunset to look up just in time. Calamity was in the air, her cannon charging up and ready to fire. Sunset only had time to raise an arm to shield herself when the blast hit her, surrounding her with light as her life points continued to drop to 4500. Then…

“What do you mean it’s still not done!” yelled Sunset as she stood in a dark office behind her desk. Outside the moon was shining brightly. The girl could feel her eyes beginning to droop while sleep fought to take hold. Without thinking she reached for the cup of coffee on her desk, drinking the now cold liquid as quickly as she could. “You told me yesterday that you were almost finished!”

“We don’t understand,” said the shaky voice on the other line. “There are bugs in the program that weren’t there yesterday! Bugs we fixed with the programming just keep returning no matter what we do! We’re doing the best we can to figure out what is happening.” Sunset growled as she threw her mug across her office, watching as it crashed against the wall. As it shattered, Sunset felt her fingers massaging her forehead. Her shoulders ached and her legs were beginning to give out. Slowly she sank into her hair as her scientists continued to talk.

She had no idea why this was happening. Things were going so well when it began. So well that she was considering hiring 20% more people to begin production! She had some of the best minds from all over the world working on this. So why was it that they were constantly being stalled on every front?

Sunset gasped as the light around her faded, the bright glow from her gem fading as well. Almost dropping her card, she reached down to take hold of it and bring it up to her eye level. It was clear that her magic was at work, but the question was why. Normally she had to touch someone or at least be close enough for her magic to work. So why was she seeing those memories, feeling the same way this other Sunset felt when she took direct damage?

“Zakiel, time to go to work and attack her directly!” shouted the other Sunset. The girl from another world watched as Zakiel raised his weapons and fired at her. As her life points dropped to 2000 her pendent began to glow once again.

Sunset stood within a dark void this time. Before her was the other her, on her hands and knees with tears running down her face as four large featureless faces floated around her. This clearly wasn’t a memory for Sunset knew none of this could be real. Perhaps this was like that one time she touched Pinkie and got a glimpse into her crazy mind. So sort of abstract construct of what was going on inside her head. A compilation of her thoughts and feelings rolled into one.

“They’re all counting on me,” said the other Sunset. “This company was entrusted to me. If I fail then everyone here suffers. I’m doing the best I can.”

“I lost my job because of you,” shouted one of the heads in what sounded like thousands of voices speaking at once. “I had a wife and children.”

“How could you bring this company to ruin?” asked another in the same multi-voice. “It was entrusted to you alone.”

“This isn’t your best and you know it,” said the third in the same tone as the other two. “You should be giving this all you can.”

“Or perhaps you want it to fail,” said the last one. “So someone else can take away this burden from you. That you know you’re not worthy enough to take control of this company.”

“I end my turn,” said the other Sunset as she folded her arms while Sunset herself gasped from shock. She looked across the field at the face that was so much like her own, feeling like she understood more where this version of her was coming from. How this happened was a question for another time, when her freedom wasn’t on the line. Because no matter how much she understood her opponent, Sunset knew she had to win this duel. She had to help her friends in this crisis with cards games and continue to go to school with them. Plus she didn’t want to go to jail for no reason.

“Then it’s my turn! Draw!” shouted Sunset as she drew, the wind whipping around her hard. She looked at the card she drew and her eyes widened. “I play the spell card Monster Reborn to bring back a monster in my graveyard.”

As she placed the card in the same column as Zakiel, the other Sunset chuckled. “A nice try. I play the trap card Magical Musketeer – Last Stand! You remember this one. It negates and destroys the spell or trap you were about to activate. Meaning you’ve lost your only hope at a comeback.”

“Oh I wouldn’t say that,” said Sunset as she place another spell card in the same column where Monster Reborn had been. “Because now I play Rekindling! This card is like Monster Reborn but better. I can now special summon as many fire monsters as I want from my graveyard as long as they have 200 defense points. Only catch is that they are removed from play during my end phase. So let's welcome Flamevell Firedog, Laval Magma Cannoneer, Laval Lancelord, Laval Lakeside Lady, and lastly my Laval Forest Sprite.” Flames rose in front of Sunset, becoming a wall that blocked her vision from the rest of the field for a moment before her monsters emerged from the flames. The first two she saw were Cannoneer and Firedog, quickly taking to the field in attack mode. Then there was Laval Lakeside Lady, a woman in a bluish dress covering her rock-like skin as her hair made of literal flames ran down her back. Forest Sprite was a young boy with the same skin and hair as Lakeside Lady, but with a brown hood wrapped around his head while his arms and legs looked super heated as if they were about to melt. As for Lancelord, he was a large giant of a man with the same rocky skin as the rest of them. He wore a mask that crossed over his face to cover both his mouth as well as his left eye and in his left hand was his namesake: a lance made of lava.

“You’ve been looking down at my cards since this duel began,” continued Sunset as flames licked the forms of her monsters. “But now I’ll show you their real power. I tune my level three Lakeside Lady with my level four Magma Cannoneer!” Both of Sunset’s monsters rose up into the air with Magma Cannon turning into four rings while Lakeside Lady become three stars that passed through them. As Sunset began her chat, the color of both the rings and stars changed from green to a mix of red and orange. “Erupting from the world like blood from a wound. The cannons roar with the sound of battle. Take your stand in this war with a weapon that will never leave your side! Synchro summon Level 7: Laval Stennon!” At the end of her chant, a pillar appeared on the field instead of the greenish beam of light that normally occurred during this summoning. From the middle of the pillar a figure was seen leaping out of it, black flipping onto the field before his massive feet slammed onto the ground. Laval Stennon was a massive, hulking blue skinned man with thick veins covering his rock-like skin with a small head. Parts of his body were covered in a silvery metal that shined brightly and coming out of his chest was a massive three pronged pyramid. Golden rings looped around his shoulder blades as well as around his waist like a belt. His weapon was a his arm which had been replaced with a massive cannon giving him his 2700 attack points.

As he stood there, both Sunset’s watched as Stennon lifted his hand and looked down at it. Slowly he began to flex his fingers as if he were testing them out. Once he had done that, Stennon lowered his arm before rolling his shoulder around causing them to pop and crack loudly. The figure chuckled to himself in a gritty fashion before turning to look directly at its summoner.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” he asked as steam came out of his mouth. “We’ve been itching for a good fight for a while now.” Sunset’s eyes widened at this, her pupils becoming tiny dots before expanding rapidly in glee. Her cards! They were acting in the same manner as Twilight’s!

“Right!” shouted Sunset. “Next I’ll-”

“Watch your monster as he gets destroyed!” interrupted the other Sunset, causing Stennon to turn and look at her. “I activate another copy of Magical Musketeer – Desperado! And I’ll use it to destroy that monster!” As a beam of energy fired down from the sky, Stennon folded his arms as he looked up at it with a grin while the golden rings around him began to glow. Meanwhile, Sunset removed Lakeside Lady from her graveyard. The beam then seemed to stop a few feet from Stennon as if an invisible barrier protected him. “What? But how? My trap card should have destroyed your monster!”

“Stennon has the equipment needed to protect himself,” replied the former unicorn while Stennon cracked his neck loudly. “By removing one Laval monster from my graveyard, I can negate the activation of any effect that targets him and then destroy it.” The other Sunset’s eyes widened at the realization of her words. She then looked at the cards in her cards, her eyes darting back and forth frantically. No doubt trying to see if there was anything she could do in this situation.

“Now, as I was saying,” continued Sunset. “I’m not done bringing monsters out. I tune my level two Laval Forest Sprite with my level four Flamevell Firedog!” Once more, Sunset’s monsters transformed into stars and rings. Only this time they started out as reddish orange instead of green before a pillar of flames was formed while Sunset began her chant. “Sear flesh and bone with your mighty flames. Walk through the battle without fear. Rise now proud warrior of the Laval tribe. Synchro Summon Level 6: Laval the Greater!” As Sunset finished her chant, a rock like had emerged from the flames and, with a sweeping motion, dispelled them. Standing there was a tall, slender rock like man with 2400 attack points. While his form started off as grey, his arms and legs began to glow a ghostly blue as similarly colored flames flickered around limbs. He eyed the field with his red eyes, bringing bother arms behind his back as he did so.

“So, this was what I was called to deal with?” he asked in a gritty yet bored tone as he tilted his head. Like with Stennon, steam emerged from his mouth as he spoke.

“Because Laval Forest Sprite was sent to the graveyard, all of my Laval monsters gain 200 extra attack points while they’re on the field,” continued Sunset, ignoring the Greater. As she said this Laval the Greater’s attack points rose to 2600 while Stennon’s went to 2900. As for Laval Lancelord his attack rose to 2300. “Now it’s time for my attack! Laval Stennon, let's show Zakiel who has the bigger guns!”

“Gladly,” replied Stennon with a grin. He raised his cannon arm up, its insides beginning to glow while Zakiel raised his own weapons. Zakiel fired first, his bullets flying towards Stennon with the intent to kill. But that changed when Stennon fired his own weapon, sending a blob of lava across the field. Zakiel’s bullet vanished in the flames without slowing down at all before he himself was consumed by the superheated liquid rock and destroyed. The other Sunset’s eyes widened in shock and horror at this while her life points dropped to 6600.

“Now to stop you from searching!” exclaimed Sunset as she pointed to Caspar. “Laval the greater, destroy that gunman.” Laval the Greater didn’t say anything, only shrugging as he brought one of his arms forward until it was level with Caspar. Magical Musketeer Caspar readied his own weapon but it was too late as flames shot out of Laval the Greater’s hand with such force that both Sunset’s had to cover their ears due to the sound it created. When the flames died down, all that was left of Caspar was a pair of smoking boots that soon exploded as the other Sunset’s life points dropped to 5200.

“Lancelord, stop her from reviving anymore of her monsters! Destroy Calamity!” At Sunset’s command, Lancelord threw his weapon like a javelin across the field. Calamity raised her weapon in an attempt to blow it out of the sky only to get skewered while waiting for her weapon to charge. As Calamity burst into flames and vanished the other Sunset’s life points dropped to 4400. “With that I end my turn and Laval Lancelord is banished due to the effects of Rekindling.”

“Then it’s my turn,” said the other Sunset, drawing her fifth card after Lancelord vanished from the field. “Don’t think that that lucky move means I’m beaten. I still have more cards to play! Sooner or later I’ll get around those monsters and finish this duel so you are out of the way! I have too many people counting on me to keep this company running.”

“Sunset,” said the former pony girl as she thought about her own past. About how she felt when she had been given the duty of being in charge of the year book. About the time when she needed to figure out how magic was appearing during the Friendship Games. About her time with Princess Celestia. “I know what you’re going through. All this stress you’re under, all the expectations you feel you need to meet. Believe me, I’ve been there myself and it's caused me to lash out more than once. If I had known I’d cause you more stress then-”

“YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING!” screamed the other Sunset, shocking the former unicorn as well as her two monsters. “From the day I was adopted, I was raised to one day take over this company. To keep it as the number one gaming company in the world. If I fail, then it’s not just me who suffers but everyone who works here! They might all lose their jobs including my only friend! I won’t let that happen so I’ll do whatever it take, even if people start thinking I’m a jerk. Besides, a boss isn’t supposed to be everybody’s friend. They need to be the boss!

“Enough of this! I summon Magical Musketeer Wild in attack mode!” Appearing on the field was a monster that fit the description of a heavy. Wild was a large man with no shirt, tattoos covering his bare chest with some of them being obscured by his long hair. On both of his arms were insanely large, trident shaped guns that no sane man would ever use outside of some generic 90’s comic with two sets of missile launchers on both shoulders. Despite all of this weaponry his attack was only 1700. “Now I’ll play the copy of Toon Table of Contents in the same column as his. With this, I get another copy of Toon Table while Wild’s effect activates. I select three Magical Musketeer cards in my graveyard, shuffle them into my deck, and then draw one card. So I’ll be selecting Calamity, Zakiel, and Caspar.” The other Sunset paused for a moment to take said cards out of her graveyard slot and place them on the top of her deck. The auto-shuffler engaged, mixing up her deck before spitting out a card for her. The other Sunset looked at it…and grinned.

“Perfect!” she announced as she slide the card right behind Doc. “I activate Magical Musketeer – Steady Hands! This spell card allows me to select one Magical Musketeer on my field and double its attack and defense points. So I choose Magical Musketeer Wild!” Wild threw back his head to roar as his size doubled while his attack points rose to 3400! “Also, since I activated my card in the same column as Doc, I can add one Magical Musketeer card in my graveyard to my hand. I think Magical Musketeer – Desperado would be a good choice. Now, time to show Stennon what real fire power is all about! Magical Musketeer Wild, destroy him!” Laval Stennon threw out his arms in a ‘bring it on fashion’ while beginning to laugh wildly as Wild fired all of his weapons. Missiles, bullets, and even grenades flew across the field exploding on the laughing hulk. Sunset watched as Stennon just kept laughing without fear as his body was reduced to dust and was blown away leaving Sunset with 1500 life points.

“Next I’ll activate my trap card: Magical Musketeer – Desperado!” yelled the other Sunset as she held up the card. “Now I can destroy your last line of defense before the rest of my monsters finish you off!” Above their heads appeared another beam of energy shooting down towards Laval the Greater. Said Laval monster simply looked up at it, with his hands folded behind his back.

Before the beam could hit, the door to the roof was flung open. Both Sunsets turned in time to watch as two men in black suits were tossed through the open doorway followed by rolling on the ground as they landed. Shortly after that, a rainbow colored blur shoot through with the rest of Sunset’s friends who had witnessed her kidnapping this afternoon. “Sunset!” they shouted I unison.

“I’m ok,” she shouted back before returning to the duel. “I activate Laval the Greater’s effect. If this monster would be destroyed by a card effect, I can banish one Laval monster instead. So I’ll banish Laval Stennon in order to save Laval the Greater.” As Sunset removed the monster, the blue flames around Laval the Greater grew quickly as they surrounded him. The beam hit the flames and was stopped by the scorching heat. With her monster safe, Sunset turned to looked at her friends again. “How did you girls manage to find me?”

“And how did you manage to get past all my security?” demanded the other Sunset.

“That’s easy,” replied Rainbow with a wave of her hand. “Twilight here used her super science gizmo to find you. As for the guys in the black suits, well…”

-x-

Below, dozens of men in black suits littered the floors of the building. All of them large, muscular men with either shaved heads or having pointed hairstyles. Some of them still had on their sunglasses, but the majority of them had been removed or laid shattered on their faces. Their suits were ripped in various places and looked disheveled. Only a few were still awake, but too sore to move.

“Hey Joey,” one man moaned.

“Yeah Tristan,” said a man with his back to the wall.

“Did we just get our asses kicked by several girls using magical powers?” asked Tristan.

“I believe they were teenagers,” replied Joey.

“Does that make it any better?”

“…If anyone asks, we fought an army of very angry gorillas.”

-x-

“Don’t ya go an worry about them,” said Applejack as she cracked her knuckles. “We’ll get ya out of here all lickity split.”

“And then we’ll celebrate with banana splits,” added Pinkie Pie.

“Thanks,” said Sunset as she looked at her double. “But I need to finish this. I need to prove to her who I am and help her understand. If I don’t, if I just leave here, she’ll just come back again and again because she’s like me. She won’t give up. Not until she’s confronted with the truth. Go on, finish your move.” The other Sunset’s head jerked at this, surprised by Sunset’s declaration of her intent. She then eyed the other girls for a moment before looking back at Sunset.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

Sunset nodded. “I’m willing to honor our agreement. If I lose, I’ll still remain here while you do whatever you feel is necessary to find out who I am. Because I owe you that much.”

The other Sunset didn’t respond at first. Instead, her head bowed down to stare at her duel disk as both hair and shadows covered the other Sunset’s features. Sunset could only guess what was going through her double’s mind. That this might be a trick or something like that. Maybe fear of trusting her or that Sunset was telling the truth. Then, slowly, the other Sunset raised her head again and took a breath.

“I switch my remaining monsters into defense mode and end my turn,” she said firmly.

“Then it’s my draw,” said Sunset as she drew a card. She looked at it, the only card in her hand, and smiled. “Looks like my deck is coming through for me. I summon Laval Cannon in attack mode!” At once the ground cracked in front of Sunset, lava pouring out from the opening to form a humanoid monster with skin that looked like it was made out of blue stone. This 1600 attack point monster looked a lot like Stennon, only with a far less bulky frame and almost no armor save for the stones that wrapped around his body and the eye patch he wore. “When he is summoned to the field, I can also target and special summon one of my banished Laval monsters to the field! So I’m bringing back my Stennon!” The ground cracked open, lava pooling out as Stennon’s had reached out to grab at the solid rock.

“Oh no, don’t help me,” said Stennon sarcastically after his head popped out, glaring at Laval the Greater as he attempted to get onto the field. “I’ve got this. Just keep standing there pretending that you’re imposing.”

Laval the Greater looked over at Stennon with half lidded eyes. An impressive feat considering he had no visible eyelids. “You seem to be managing just fine. But perhaps if you put more effort into moving your body instead of your mouth, you might actually get out.”

“Hey guys,” interrupted Sunset, getting the two monsters attention. “Why don’t you save your fighting for your opponent instead of each other?” At that Stennon chuckled darkly as he got onto the field while lines of steam rose from his body. Laval the Greater simply nodded before looking forward again. “Good, because now it’s time to battle! Laval Cannon, destroy Doc. Laval the Greater, take out Starfire! Laval Stennon, attack her Wild!” Sunset’s monsters went to work instantly with Cannon firing a blob of lava similar to Stennon but much smaller. Doc tried to block the attack with his weapon, holding it up like a shield only for the weapon to melt in his hands as the lava then hit him in the chest. Needless to say he was destroyed on the spot. Starfire tried to fight back as well but the flames of Laval the Greater were too fast and too powerful leaving not even ask behind. With those two down, Wild tried to fire at Stennon but Sunset’s hulking monster had already closed the distance between them. Stennon’s massive hand grabbed Wild by the back while his cannon arms was pressed right into Wild’s stomach. A moment later there was a hole in the Magical Musketeer’s chest, causing him to fall to his knees while the other Sunset’s life points dropped to 3400.

“With that, I end my turn,” said Sunset.

“Th-Then I draw,” stammered the other Sunset, not that the former pony blamed her. Her position was not good. From what Sunset had seen, her Magical Musketeer’s were not strong but instead relied on traps from the hand to gain their advantage. The strongest monster she had used was Zakiel and he couldn’t overpower either of her Synchro monsters. She would need to get a card strong enough onto the field and then use something like that Steady Hand card again. That was possibility Sunset could see at this moment.

The other Sunset drew her card, looked at it, and then almost sank to her knees. Clearly, this wasn’t a card she was hoping for.

“I place one monster face down and end my turn,” said the other Sunset.

“Then I draw,” said Sunset as she drew from her deck. “I activate the effect of the Lakeside Lady sleeping in my grave. By banishing both her and another Laval monster, I can destroy one of your face down cards. So I remove her and Forest Sprite to destroy your face down monster.” The other Sunset took a step backwards as the ground broke near her, lava pooling out again before Lakeside Lady appeared in the same fashion as a swimmer breaking through the water. The laval monster then turned and placed a hand on the card which burned with her touch before sinking back into the lava. Now the field was clear, with no monsters and no potential traps to protect her from the three monsters on Sunset’s side of the field. “I believe this is game.”

With a nod of her head, the other Sunset lowered her duel disk.

-x-

Later that day, Applejack and Pinkie Pie were standing in front of the statue at Canterlot High. The sun had set some time ago leaving the grounds empty and deserted as they just sat there, waiting. What they were waiting would be unknown to anybody who was just passing by. Unless, of course, they had the expert timing to see twin Sunset Shimmers coming out of the base of the statue. While one looked remarkably calm the other looked like she was about to have a panic attack.

“All my things were horse things!” she shouted while on her hands and knees.

“Actually, they were pony things,” said Sunset Shimmer as she reached out with her hand to help her twin up. The other girl looked at it for a moment before accepting it, quickly being brought to her feet. “Unicorn things to be exact.”

“This…how can it be real?” asked the other Sunset as she turned to look at the statue.

“Believe me sugarcube, we’ve known about it for a while an sometimes ah still can’t believe it,” commented Applejack.

The other Sunset turned to the version of herself that was a student at the school. “You came from a world with no pollution, magic, and ponies?!? My eight year old self would have killed to live there!”

“And don’t forget that she used to be tutored by an actual pony princess!” added Pinkie Pie in a chipper tone. Sunset moved to cover her friend’s mouth to keep her from blabbing anything else out, but the damage was done. The other Sunset Shimmer’s jaw had dropped as she stared at her with wide eyes.

“Look, if things were that good, I would have stayed or just gone back,” said Sunset as she let go of Pinkie’s mouth. “I guess this is my fault in a way. When I realized that there were copies of ponies I knew in this world, I should have realized that I might have one as well. That something like this would have happened sooner or later. You know, the whole meeting my double and her being freaked out. But back when I first came here I was more focused on my own plan and after that I figured you probably were in a different town or something since I hadn’t seen you.”

The other Sunset let out a sigh. “I guess I can’t blame you,” she said while shaking her head. “If you had come to my office or home, I would have thought this was a scam or that you were a crazy person. And if I had never gotten that email then I never would have known. Just wish I had acted better for our first meeting.”

“Yeah,” said Sunset as she scratched the back of her head, sparing a glance at her friends real quick. “I can relate.” She paused for a moment. “So, what happens next?”

“Well,” began the other Sunset as she coughed into a fist. “First of all, I need to take action before the press finds out about you. I still have to keep my investors and the board from thinking I’m acting like a character in Disney show. By morning a cover story will be made saying you’re my long lost twin sister or something like that. I’ll make sure you get a social security number and falsify a few other documents to create a paper trail so that no one will suspect anything. That way you’ll be able to live out the rest of your life in peace without having to worry about people finding out you’re technically an illegal alien.”

“You can do that?” asked Sunset Shimmer in disbelief. “Just like that?”

“Wouldn’t be…Yes, yes I can,” replied the other Sunset as she nervously looked around for a moment. “I mean, I have the money and the resources so it shouldn’t be a problem. All I ask is that in a couple of days we make a point of ‘finding’ each other. Bits will be leaked to the press and, if it’s a slow news day, they might run it for a minute or two. As long as it's out there and I’m not trying to hide it they most likely won’t care. So that’ll be one less thing I have to worry about.”

“Thank you,” said Sunset with a small smile. “I don’t know how I can say thank you.”

The other Sunset shrugged. “Well, I am doing this for myself and to say sorry for the whole ‘bringing you in at gunpoint’ thing. So I guess there’s no need to for thanks.” She then looked a little nervous. “But, if you don’t mind, perhaps sometime you would help me unwind with a shooter game?”

“Deal,” replied Sunset instantly, smiling as she extended her hand. The other Sunset seemed surprised by the suddenness of the action but only for a moment.

“You have no idea what this means to me,” she said as she embraced her pony counterparts hand, shaking it while looking around. “Ah, what happened to your others friends? They were here when we left for ponyland.”

“Oh,” said Applejack as she stood up. “Twi had ta run home and Rainbow went with her. So varmint broke in and ransacked the place. Thankfully no one was home.”

-x-

A loud clang from behind her caused Cinch to turn her seat around. Standing there was her two young helpers, Adagio looked pleased with herself and Aria looking as grumpy as ever. Between the two was a pillow case that looked half full of something. Cinch eyed the bag, quickly putting together what had happened.

“Decided to do a little shopping at the Sparkle’s residence?” she asked while leaning back in her chair.

“Figured it would look more like a robbery,” said Adagio as she bent down and opened the bag. The girl reached in and then pulled out a handful of jewelry. Necklaces, rings, and a watch threatened to fall from her grasp as she held them up so Cinch could properly see them. “While Aria was putting in the virus, I decided to help myself to some of the family’s expensive crap. I figure there might come a time when we need a little extra cash so we’ll hold onto it for now.” Aria let out a huff before rolling her eyes at this.

“Well, I suppose that is good forward thinking,” said Cinch as she brought her hands together. “I have already received the email containing all of my former student’s plans. With this we will be one step closer to achieving our goals.”

“What about the moron at Kaiba Corp?” asked Aria in a bored tone.

“He sent me a text message saying everything went well on his end,” said Cinch with a nod. “As long as no one looks too deep at his forgery, we should be getting our capture disks soon.”

Author's Notes:

Well this one was hard to write (given that the N key on my keyboard stopped working half the time)

So the Sunset deck. With the Sunset we all know and love, I decided to give her a Laval deck for two reasons. One was that it was a fire deck that I don't see many people writing or giving to her. Second, while Sunset has become a much better person, there are times when she does explode when the pressure builds. Might sound lame, but I think it fixes her well. I would have gone with the new Nephthys deck since its about dead and rebirth like a Pheonix, but it came out after I started writing this series so what can you do.

As for the other Sunset, I didn't want her to have a Blue Eyes deck. Magical Musketeer's always made sense to me since when I first saw them they reminded me more of Team Fortress 2 than cowboys. But that's just me

Diamond Skin and Silver Steel (Diamond/Silver vs. Snips/Snails) part 1

Diamond Tiara stood there, her hands full of cards as she looked across the field. Before her was a village of strangelooking rocky huts with odd, disgusting creatures walking around wearing Speedos in the background. Staring at her from across the field were two monsters, one looking like a giant egg man with eyestalks coming out of his head while the other was a knight with similar eyestalks…with a red Speedo on the outside of his armor! Who would do something like that? As for herself, Diamond had nothing. No monsters to protect herself from the attack. No trap cards to surprise her foe. Just an empty field and a hand full of cards that she could have used if she had only gotten the chance.

“Now for the, ah, attack,” said Snails slowly in his normal goofy tone. “Ojama Knight, attack her directly!”

“At once my lord,” said the monster in an annoyingly high pitched voice that grated on every single nerve Diamond had. Diamond Tiara braced herself as Ojama Knight then raced across the field, sword in hand, before slashing her across the chest. As she fell to one knee her life points dropped as well, stopping at 1000.

As the dust began to clear away, Diamond looked up at her opponent who still had that dim witted expression on his face. Slightly sloughed over with his tongue sticking out, you could put his picture in the dictionary next to the word stupid and no one would complain. Not even him! Next to Snails was his best friend and slightly smarter stooge Snips who looked like he was about to wet himself with delight. Chubby and short, the boy seemed to be having the time of his life watching as Diamond even though he wasn’t the one dueling her. A wave of revolution swept over her as she realized what was about to happen. She was going to lose this duel. TO SNAILS! How could she? She had a Blue-Eyes deck as well as access to some of the best support cards money could buy. She was smarter than her opponent in almost every way she could think of. But somehow, in a single turn, Snails had prevented her from doing anything.

“Ojama King, you do, ah, the same,” said Snails. The egg man spread his arms before leaping into the air only to do a belly flop on top of Diamond, bringing her life points to zero.

As the holograms began to fade around her, Diamond saw that there were more people around her. Faceless people in the crowds, light shooting out of their eyes and mouths as they grinned sadistically at her. The rich girl tried to stand up but her arms and legs had been chained up as if by magic of some kind. She then noticed that on her designer shirt there was the word ‘SLAVE’ written in large bold letters. Frantically, Diamond raised her arms to her clothing and tried desperately to rub them out while the sound of the crowd laughing at her as well as the rattling of her chain filled the air around her. But it was no use. The words refused to come out! Looking up, Diamond saw both Snips and Snails towering over her with the same bizarre smiles on their face. Together they reached down…

Diamond shot up from her bed, panting as she sat up while sweat rolled down her skin. The room was pitch black save for the light coming from her electric alarm clock. She didn’t bother to look at it, just lying back down as she fought to keep her breathing under control. Despite the warmth of the house the girl shivered while pulling the blankets closer to herself.

Things were not good for her, not good at all. She could remember how this whole ordeal started. She and Silver Spoon had been walking home several weeks ago, talking to each other, when Snails suddenly approached them and challenged her to a duel. Not only that but he had also made an odd challenge: if he won then she would have to feed him during their shared lunch period! Frankly the idea was sickening as well as degrading for a person of her stature. It was enough to make her want to reject it the moment she heard it. But she didn’t for two reasons. The first had to do with her mother. Spoiled Rich had always told her that she should never show weakness nor should she ever lose to those of lower standings. That it would affect her in the eyes of high society. While Diamond was sure she could have played it off like it was beneath her or that the demand was so outrageous that she wouldn’t even consider it, rumors would more than likely spread that she was scared of dueling him. That she was scared. That she was weak. If her mother ever found about it then Diamond would never hear the end of it. She might even order her to duel Snails, demanding to know how the duel went as soon as she got home.

The other reason was, well, that she was confident that she could, in fact, win. Diamond Tiara was not some rich little girl with a deck of cards, bragging about their worth and having no idea how to play. No, she knew the game well. She always tested her decks with online simulators and with her best friend. She dueled with other members at the country club full of the rich and influential families in the area so it wouldn’t matter much in the eyes of her mother if she lost. And most of the people she dueled there really, really good! So despite Silver Spoons warning about the duel, she agreed on the condition that Snails not bother her again when she won.

Sadly, things had not played out well for Diamond. Not in the slightest. She had lost in a truly humiliating fashion the likes of which she had never experienced before in her life. Snails had gone first and, in one turn, prevented Diamond from summoning anything and none of the cards in her hand could help her. She was helpless, watching as his disgusting monsters attacked her over and over again until her life points were gone. She had to keep her word, even though she groaned about it every day on her way to school.

Turing onto her side, Diamond thought that it should be behind her. But it wasn’t. Snails had challenged her again and again with the stakes growing more and more revolting. If he won she would have to feed him during lunch and rub his shoulders. If he won she would have to feed him, rub his shoulders, and rub his feet. Clean his locker and so on. Each time Diamond had lost. When she went first she managed to get a powerful field set up only to be completely destroyed by those gremlins he called monsters while Snips watched gleefully from the sidelines. When he went first she was prevented from doing anything. It made no sense. How could somebody as stupid as Snails be able to do all of this?

She knew it wasn’t just her. Diamond had seen Snails dueling Micro Chip once in passing, witnessing the loss as well as Snips reminding the nerd of their deal. That if Snails had won then Micro would have to do their homework for a week. Then there was the rumor that they had dueled Granny Smith in order to get more food for their lunch. Diamond had heard a grand total of five rumors with five different people being the victims, all of them sharing similar details to her own duels against the Snails.

Diamond closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Today was to be the last day of her recent deal. No doubt he was going to challenge her again, upping the stakes. Hopefully this time she would win.

-x-

Breakfast was a silent affair as normal within the Rich household. Diamond sat there, nervously eating her breakfast while glancing around to see if her parents would be joining her. Her father, Filthy Rich, normally ate breakfast with her so they could spend what little time they had together before going off. Sometimes he would help her pop some last minute questions before a test, like how he would ask her to spell various words that would be on a spelling test as she ate. Lately, however, he had been very busy as he was in a hostile takeover of the business of somebody named Well-To-Do. Something about him being caught in a major crime, his stocks being low, and he could do…something. Most of his business talk went over her head. And it was clearly leaving him very stressed. She had seen it in the few times when she had seen in these last few weeks, looking tired and worn before putting up a good front for her. Spoiled Rich was a different story. Most morning’s she was nowhere to be seen, having breakfast in a fancy yet public place to better show off her status. With the new money that her father hoped would be coming in she was busy making plans on what to do with it. Sadly, this wasn’t most mornings.

“I tell you the way these schools are being run,” Spoiled muttered as she entered the large dining room, her heels clicking with each step she took. In one hand she held a tablet from which she read while in the other was a smoothie. The elder woman was wearing her normal condescending frown as she sat down. “Just what is Celestia thinking? Subpar standards for hiring teachers. Just letting any riffraff attend. Honestly, that place shouldn’t even allow those low class peons to attend. It’s no wonder that test scores are so low these days.”

Diamond bit her lower lip as she put her spoon down. She wanted to remind her mother that it was a public school system. While she was the head of the school board, that did not give her the right or the power to make such changes. She knew enough that all they did was establish policies and the like, but she doubted they had enough power to reject students based on their family’s income. She didn’t, however, since she would rather not get into anything with her mother first thing in the morning.

“Then there is that sister of hers,” Spoiled continued, not seeming to notice that Diamond was still there. “Always thought it was wrong to hire family. Conflict of interests while graining another voice within the school to agree with her. Perhaps I need to show them who’s in charge over there. Get Celestia to stop fighting me on some of these issues.”

Having heard enough, Diamond stood up and picked up her bowl. She was about to bring it to the kitchen when her mother suddenly looked up. “Diamond Tiara, just what do you think you are doing?” she snapped, setting down her tablet. Her eyes narrowed dangerously at the girl as she gulped.

“I just thought I’d,” began Diamond.

“Putting dishes away is servants work!” snapped Spoiled again in a harsh tone. “It is not fitting for someone of our class to clean up after themselves. That’s what their paid for.”

“I was just trying to be nice,” said Diamond. However, despite this she set the bowl down on the table. As soon as she did, one of the maids rushed into the room as if sensing work that needed to be done. Quickly it was removed and the area polished before the maid vanished from sight, never saying a word.

“We are rich, Diamond,” said Spoiled as she stood up. She then walked over to her daughter, looking as imposing as she could. “We don’t have to be nice. We pay people to do the job for us and we expect it to be done accordingly with their heads lowered. That is there place. Your place is above them. You are not equals in any way.” Spoiled sighed as she shook her head. “This is exactly the thing I have been telling that Principal of yours. All this talk of friendship and equality is simply utter nonsense. People do not just help each other out just because they like each other. If anyone out there is willing to help, they expect something in return. Like, say, access to our money. Do you understand?”

Diamond merely nodded, not wanting to say anything that might get her mother really going. Hopefully she would end it here and Diamond would be able to leave for school. No such luck.

“While I have your attention there is something I have been meaning to talk to you about,” continued Spoiled as she moved back to her seat. As she sat down Spoiled began to move her finger around the rim of her glass slowly as she gave Diamond a piercing look. “Certain rumors have been coming to my attention that you have been seen with two boys. That you are acting like some love stricken girl, desperate to gain their attention. I am sure these are just rumors. However, given the fact that my source is normally very reliable I thought I’d double check.”

“T-There’s no one at school that I like,” said Diamond quickly, her blood turning to ice as she said this. “At least not like that.” Her heart began to race, fearing what might be coming.

“That’s good,” replied her mother coldly. “I would hate to think that a daughter of mine isn’t living to her full potential. But, if I find out you are lying to me, then I will send you to St. Misery’s All Girls School for the Elite like I wanted to. And believe me when I say I will find out sooner or later.” Spoiled then tapped her finger on the table several times, watching as Diamond’s eyes widened in fear. “Your father probably thought it would be more cost effective to send you to public school despite my own objections. But if I find out that you haven’t been holding yourself to the expectations I have set out then I will simply have to put my designer heels down. St. Misery will set you straight making you a proper lady of high society.”

-x-

“What kind of a name is St. Misery?” asked Silver Spoon as the two walked to school. This was one of the little pleasures of ‘commoner life’ that Diamond had managed to get past her mother. She had explained it as a chance to cheaply burn calories without needing a gym membership so she could look her best while also getting some window shopping done. It made sense to her mother since on the way from their mansion to the school was littered with plenty of trendy shops…or at least the bare minimum of what her mother considered acceptable for her to look at. It also helped free up the limo without having her daughter resort to using public transportation. In reality, it gave her more time to talk to her best friend. For both of them to vent their frustrations going on in their daily lives without worrying that someone might overhear them. Someone like a limo driver who might overhear them talking about something his employer asked him to listen for and reporting back.

“I don’t know,” said Diamond as she lowered her head to sigh. As she did, that new blue haired student ran past them with a breakfast burrito in her mouth. “All I know is that it made my mom ‘the proper lady of high society that she is today’. In other words it will make me into a proper bitch.”

“Yeah, like totally,” agreed Silver with a half laugh. Diamond could only smile weakly as she looked at her friend. “So, what are you going to do?”

Diamond sighed. “I guess I have to win this time when Snails challenges me,” she replied.

Silver made a face, slowing down a bit as she did while placing a hand on Diamond’s arm. “Or, and I’m just throwing this out there, you could just say no,” replied her friend. “Diamond, no one is forcing you to do this. All you have to do is say no and no one will think any less of you.”

“My mom will,” muttered Diamond as she lowered her head. “You remember that time I lost that election for class president back in the third grade? She like completely flipped out! The only reason she stopped berating me was because Daddy came home early. And that was back when I had an ‘excuse’ as she put it! Now I don’t know what will make her explode more. The fact that I lost several duels to Snails or if I refused to duel him to prove I’m better. She might send me away to St. Misery just for that!”

“Well, like, maybe you could talk to your dad?” suggested Silver. As she did, the trio of girls who called themselves the CMC (she wasn’t sure what it stood for) shot past them. One of them was riding a scooter while the other two were on bikes. “You could totally ask him to get that witch off your back. Or at least for some advice. You know he would totally help you out if you asked.”

Diamond sighed, shaking her head as she did so. “Look, can we like just drop it for now?” she asked. “I just want to-” As the two turned a corner to see two familiar faces waiting to greet them, the sight of which stopped Diamond in mid-sentence. Snips was wearing his normal black shirt with a large silver scissors on it, his back pressed against the wall with his arms crossed. If she had to guess he was trying his best to look threatening or at least tough. Snails, on the other hand, just sort of stood there in his green sweater vest looking at them with a dopey smile on his face. As Snails raised his hand to greet them, Snips moved over to him so as to quickly punch the idiot on the shoulder before returning to his spot on the wall.

“Hey, why did you,” began Snails as he began to rub his shoulder before his eyes suddenly widened. Like he had remembered something very important. Then he too crossed his arms, wincing slightly as he did so, and giving both girls a similar look as his buddy. “Hey there Diamond Tiara. You ready to duel again today?”

“Yeah,” said Snips with a grin. “You never know. Today might be your lucky day.”

Diamond stood there, feeling utterly trapped as she did so. She knew the right thing to do was to refuse. To tell him to take a flying leap and make her way to school as fast as she could. But she was afraid to. Her mother had just told her that she had some source at school that told her about what she was doing for this guy. If she refused and rumors started to spread would she hear that as well? But if she did agree to duel and lose again she would almost certainly find out! The only way out of this was looking like she would have to duel him and win. But could she after all of this time?

“Hey, haven’t you two dummies pushed this far enough?” snapped Silver Spoon, moving forward so quickly that two boys flinched. With hands on her hips Silver focused all of her attention at the pair. “You beat her in a duel. Several in fact. There. Now how about you find someone else to bully for a while?”

“Well actually,” began Snails as he raised a hand. Only he was stopped as Snips raced over to him and placed a hand squarely over the taller boy’s mouth, standing on his tiptoes to do so.

“What’s the matter?” asked Snips, a touch of nervousness in his voice as he spoke. Slowly he released his friend who began to rub his mouth slowly. “It’s not like Snails here is forcing her to do anything she didn’t agree to. Or dueling her for her lunch money or like that. No, just making my friend a bit more comfortable during lunch. How is that so wrong?”

“Well right now I’d rather just pay you to stop,” grumbled Diamond.

Snails brightened at that. “Oh alright,” he said. “How about-” Once again he was silenced by Snips who almost tackled the boy to the ground.

“What my friend meant to say is how about one more duel,” he said while giving Snails a meaningful look. “But this time for all the marbles.” Snails mumbled something that could have been ‘but I don’t have any marbles’. “If you win, not only will we leave you alone for good but we’ll both owe you one favor. No matter what you want we’ll do. But if Snails here wins again then you will become our slave for the rest of the year!”

Diamond felt her blood running cold when he said that. There was no telling what those two would have her do! Plus, knowing them, they might just call her during any time of the day demanding that they do the most annoying things for them. Like maybe brushing their teeth or doing their chores. What’s worse was that it would no doubt make it harder to hide something like this from her mother! How would she explain herself vanishing at any time of the day? Even if it contained to at school, whoever was spying on her would surely see it.

“Fine then,” shouted Silver Spoon, shocking the other three with her sudden outburst. Her normally grey cheeks had turned bright red as she looked at both the boys in angry. Her fists were clenched tightly. “If this is for all the marbles then let’s do it right! Tag team duel. Boys vs. girls. If we lose then we will both be your slaves for the rest of the year. But if we win then you both will leave us alone unless one of us needs a favor!”

“Silver,” whispered Diamond, grabbing the other girl’s sleeve as she did so. While Snails had his normal oblivious reaction to all of this, Snips grin made her feel even more uneasy. It was the kind of smile where Diamond would expect his to start rubbing his hands together before laughing evilly or something like that. Well, if he wasn’t still holding Snail’s mouth shut that is.

“Deal,” said Snips as he let go of his friend. “We’ll do this during lunch period. Just don’t try to back out when you lose.” With that, Snips began to walk away while Snails stood there looking confused. A half a second later Snips returned to grab Snails and dragged him away. Now the two girls stood alone as first period drew ever closer. But neither of them were thinking about that. At least, not Diamond Tiara for she had spun around on her friend and grabbed her by the shoulders.

“Why did you do that?” she demanded as she tightened her grip with trembling hands. “This is my problem.”

Silver rolled her eyes. “Because you, like, need help,” she said as she took a step back and crossed her arms. “I get why you’re not asking your mom for help, but just going along with all this is totally insane! And if you won’t ask your dad for help then its up to me. At least this way we can watch each other’s backs and help each other.” Diamond opened her mouth to say something. That she didn’t want Silver to be in the same position as her. That it wasn’t worth it. But Silver stopped her from saying a word simply by raising a finger. “I am not going to lose you because you refuse to ask for help. Now let's get going to school.”

-x-

Elsewhere, Snips and Snails were sitting in an old deserted alleyway close to the school. As alleyways went, this had to be one of the cleaner ones in the city, having only a few puddles in various places of who knew what as well as a couple of blue dumpsters which they were sitting next to on the ground. Thanks to these large blue bins of steel, a person could look down and not spot either of them. The ringing of the first period bell was another thing they could be thankful for as it meant there would be fewer people on the streets right now. Fewer people to take such a short cut to school. At least, that’s what those two believed.

There, Snips went to work on his friend’s duel disk. In one hand he had a small black device with a number pad on it, with wires sticking out of it that ran into Snail’s duel disk. With his tongue sticking out of his mouth as he worked, Snails began to tap in the code that he had been given. On the ground next to him was a piece of paper with the written codes that he needed.

“Ah, Snips,” said Snails suddenly. “Don’t you think we might be going a bit far with this?”

“Relax,” replied Snips as he looked up at his best buddy. “We got this one in the bag. No one has been able to figure out what we’ve been doing. As long as we have this,” he paused for a moment to point to the paper, “there’s no way we can lose.”

That piece of paper had changed their lives in more ways than one. Snips had been on the net, totally not looking at sites he shouldn’t, when he stumbled upon something amazing! It was common knowledge that duel disks had certain features that made cheating nearly impossible. For example, if anyone had tried to tamper with the auto-shuffler the duel would not engage or announce tampering for all to see. The program to decide who went first was randomized. According to this one site, however, there was a way around all that with these codes. It only worked on certain older models and required a special device, but it would work.

So the boys decided to try it out. After inputting the codes into Snails’ duel disk and stacking his deck in a certain way, they started a duel to see what would happen. Their duel disks connected and, like they had programmed, Snails went first. Not only that, the auto-shuffler appeared to move his cards around but when Snails drew they were in the same order he had put them in!

At first it had been just some harmless fun. Just them stacking cards so they could get their best combos out faster when playing against each other. Well, maybe they did play against some of their other friends just for fun. No big deal, right? That was until they had been challenged to a duel with another kid from their school demanding that they use the ante rule. With the codes still in their duel disk and their decks stacked in just the right way, they had won easily while collected some very nice cards. Cards that sold for $50 each online! It was then that an idea had sparked inside Snips’ head. They could use this to become more than just other people’s lackeys. With this, they could earn some much needed respect and get other people to do stuff for them for a change!

What had helped expedite this was Trixie’s dismissal of them. Prior to that point, they had only gone after Diamond since she had been one of the major people who looked down at them. But when they had been caught helping that pretty Eye Candy lady, Trixie said she never wanted to have anything to do with them again. Alone without anyone to command them any longer, Snips and Snails decided it was time for them to become their own bosses! No longer would they be at the whim of others. Now others would be at their wins through these wagers. What could go wrong?

“Just thinking we might be going overboard with this slave thing,” said Snails in his dopey voice. “She was willing to pay us just to stop.”

“Right, right,” said Snips with a grin. “But that was just to get us to stop. Just think how much she’ll pay us to set her and her friend free after we win? We could ask for anything and she’ll do anything to pay it.”

“Ohh,” went Snails as he stared blankly ahead. “But won’t we get in trouble somehow?”

“Please,” replied Snips as he waved off the concern, going back to entering the codes. “So far the school’s done nothing to stop us. And as long as no one figures out that we’re cheating then everything is good. Don’t worry about it.” With that, Snips returned to his task. He still had a few more codes to put in before Snails could start stacking his deck to best suit the duel. Then he would have to do the same for himself. It would take a long amount of time, probably causing them to miss their first period classes. Maybe even second. But right now this was far more important for them.

Diamond Skin and Silver Steel (Diamond/Silver vs. Snips/Snails) part 2

In what seemed like no time at all for Diamond Tiara, the lunch bell finally rang. It was an odd feeling for her since, normally, the day seemed to drag its feet getting to this point only for it to be over in a heartbeat. Then the day would go back to dragging as they attended class after class until they were finally free. It seemed like those around her felt like she usually did as her classmates jumped to their feet and raced out the door towards either their lockers or straight to the lunch room. People were talking, wanting to get in as much conversation time as they could until the period ended.

But for Diamond, the day had been a blur leading up to this point. The rich girl seemed to drag her feet as she headed towards the courtyard where her tag team duel was to take place. All day long she had tried to get a word in with Silver Spoon to tell her to just stay out of this. To just leave her be and she’d somehow fix this mess even if she had to give those two every penny she owned. However she never got the chance. Every time she tried to whisper to her during class a teacher seemed to turn his or her head in that direction, almost catching her in the act. Or they would be patrolling the rows, looking for whispers or note passers when they were being given time to do their school work. It was as if there was some great force at work keeping her from protecting her friend.

Now, Diamond knew she wasn’t what most people would call…nice. Sure she was rude to many of the students here from time to time and liked to brag about her wealth. But what she had been forced to do for Snails was so humiliating that she wouldn’t wish it on anybody else. Not even the losers in the CMC! Yeah, it was that bad. So of course she wouldn’t want that to happen to her best friend!

In what seemed like mere moments, Diamond was walking out the doors and into the courtyard. There several other students were eating their lunches, enjoying the nice weather as they ate. Diamond also noted that there were some people doing more than just eating their lunches as they talked to their friends. Underneath a tree she spotted a pair playing a game of chess while a few others were kicking a ball around to blow off some steam. Plenty of people had their phones out, most likely checking MyStable and the like. Some were even having duels of their own, eating protein bars or something similar to not waste time. She also noticed a few members of the staff like Miss Cheerilee and Vice-Principal Luna were out enjoying the day as well.

It didn’t take Diamond long to find where she would be dueling. Snips and Snails had made a big deal out of the event, encouraging more people to witness this than ever before. The pair stood in the middle of a cluster of students looking proud of themselves while Silver watched them with a look of utter loathing. All three of them had their duel disks on, waiting for her to arrive so they could begin. Slowly, Diamond walked over to them while pulling her duel out. Now she knew there was no way she could talk her way out of this, not with this large of a group that had shown up. Not to mention Silver standing there waiting.

“Silver,” said Diamond as she approached. “You-”

“I’m helping you and that’s final,” said Silver in a serious tone while Diamond put on her duel disk. “So don’t try talking me out of this.”

“But you don’t have to do this,” hissed Diamond. “Look, I can like totally-”

“Let’s get this show on the road,” shouted Snips, earning a great deal of cheering from the crowd. Looking around, Diamond could recognize a few of the faces watching. Rumble, Truffle, Twist, those three CMC members, and Pip. Along with them were people like Trixie who was glaring at Snips and Snails with loathing that Diamond agreed with wholeheartedly. Nodding, Diamond raised her duel disk and accepted.

“Connecting,” said a female mechanical voice. “Tag Team settings accepted. Opponents found. Displaying order now.” In the middle of the field appeared portraits of all those participating in the duel with a number in each one's upper right hand corner to indicate the order. Much to Diamond’s disappointment Snails was going first followed by herself. Then Snips would take his turn with Silver finishing up. The good news was that their side would get the chance to attack first, however if those two managed to set up a good field…

“Ah, I draw,” said Snails slowly as he drew his card. With six cards in his hand he looked at them amazingly quick for someone like him before holding out a card. “I play the Enchanting Fitting Room. I, ah, pay 800 life points and then I get to look at the top four cards on my deck. If any of those cards are level three or lower normal monster then I can special summon them. The rest get shuffled back into my deck.” As Snips and Snails life points dropped to 7200, he slowly picked his four cards. Once in his hand Snails barely looking at them before setting all four onto the field. “I special summon Ojama Yellow, two Ojama Greens, and Ojama Black!” Once again, Diamond’s disgusting nightmare returned in the form of those four monsters in Speedos. Ojama Yellow was a yellow (duh) humanoid creature with eye stalks and large red lips. Ojama Green was more muscular looking with a single eye. As for Ojama Black, he had a bit of a potbelly and a larger than normal nose. All four monsters had zero attack points and 1000 defense points.

“Next I play my field spell Ojama Country,” said Snails as he continued his turn. At once the field around them changed so that behind the two boys appeared a rocky hillside with stone mushroom like buildings all over the place. “As long as I control an Ojama monster, the attack and defense of all monsters on the field get ditched.”

“Switched,” corrected Snips.

Snails blinked. “Isn’t that what I said?” he asked. The boy then slowly shrugged before holding up a familiar looking card. “I play Polymerization to fuse together Ojama Yellow, Green, and Black into Ojama King!” One of each colored Ojama was then pulled up into the sky, grinning and laughing as they did so. “Oh great and wise King of all the Ojamas. With great form and mind, bless this field with your greatness. Fusion summon Ojama King!” And there he was, another Speedo wearing freak as far as Diamond was concerned. His body was shaped like an egg with large lips, eyes stalks, and a large nose. His arms and legs looked tiny on his massive frame making anyone who looked at it wonder how it could even move around. While his original attack was zero it instantly switched with his 3000 defense points. “Now my King has a decree: three of your card zones can not be used as long as he’s o the field.” Appearing on three of her monster card zones were large X’s, just like Diamond knew there would be.

“Ok, ah…lets see,” continued Snails as he looked at his hand. “Oh right! Now I play Fusion Recovery to get back my Polymerization card and one monster used in a fusion. I choose Ojama Yellow. Then I will use Polymerization to fuse Ojama Yellow with the Ojama Green on the field.” Once again the two monsters rose up into the sky, spinning and laughing as they did so. Out of the corner of her eye, Diamond noticed a new face in the crowd: Vice-Principal Luna. She was watching this all with something like interest as Snails did his second chant. “Two Ojamas weak on their own combine your might. Together you may take up a blade to serve your lord. Fusion summon Ojama Knight!” Appearing next to King was what looked like Ojama Yellow in a full suit of armor. His original attack of zero was changed with his 2500 defense points. “Now his effect goes off, blocking two more card zones.” Knight pointed his sword at Diamond’s field, a beam of light shooting out of it and breaking off so it hit her remaining monster card zones. Now it was impossible for her to summon a monster.

“Finally, I’ll play two more spell cards,” said Snails while Snips grinned broadly. “Two copies of Ground Collapse. These spell cards do the same thing as Ojama Knight: sealing two card zones a piece. So I’ll take your four of your spell card zones.” More X’s appeared on Diamond’s field, leaving her with only one spell/trap card zone in the middle. Looking up, she noticed that Snips looked like he was having a panic attack. He was making gestures to Snails which the skinny teen failed to notice. “I, ah, end.”

“Great,” said Diamond as she drew a card, making the total in her hand six. While looking over her hand, she briefly considered how those two losers were going to play. Obviously they were afraid of her dragons which was why they had sealed off her monster card zone. However, why didn’t Snails used those Ground Collapses on Silver? Part of the tag team rulings stated that if one team member had no monsters then the opposing team could attack them directly. Of course, Silver could use her monsters to help protect them if such a thing were to happen. And that’s sort of what wasn’t make much sense to Diamond right now. Snails had been able to seal away most of her plays, but he could have hurt them much more by uses those spell cards to block all but one of Silver’s monster card zones. It would have prevented so many plays and hampered them so much. Was it because Snails was just so used blocking just Diamond or had it been because he didn’t understand the rules of a tag team?

Looking down at her hand, she had the right cards to make some excellent moves…if she could put any of her monsters on the field! Still at least she had a step up card.

“I play the spell card Dragon Shrine,” announced Diamond as she played her card. “This lets me send one dragon card in my deck to my graveyard and the card I choose is my Blue-Eyes White Dragon. And since that was a normal monster I can then send another dragon type monster to my grave from my deck. This time I choose Dragon Spirit of White. Then I end my turn.”

“Ahh, too bad,” mocked Snips as he drew. With six cards in his hand, he grinned as he looked them over before pulling one of them out. “I’ll start by activating the effect of my Cyberdark Cannon. By discarding this monster, I can add one Cyberdark machine to my hand. So why not Cyberdark Edge?” A card slide out of her deck, allowing Snips to take it with a slight flourish. “Now I’ll summon Cyberdark Edge in attack mode!” Appearing on his side of the field was a machine with 800 attack and defense points, making Ojama Country pointless for him. The machine looked like a mechanical bird whose feathers had been replaced with scythe like blades and insect like pinchers near its mouth as well as its tail.

“Now for his effect,” continued Snips proudly. “I can now equip one dragon type monster in my graveyard as long as it’s a level three. Then it gains the attack of the equipped monster making Edge really, really strong! So I equip Cyberdark Edge with Cyberdark Cannon!” What happened next made Diamond glad she hadn’t eaten yet. Coming out of the ground was a disgusting, worm/maggot like creature that didn’t look a thing like a dragon! Sure it had wing-like horns on its head, but it also had several tendrils coming out near its mouth. This purple and yellow thing was then lifted up so that the pinchers on Edge could clamp onto it, increasing its attack to 2400.

“Don’t think I’m done just yet,” said Snips gleefully as he pulled out another card from his hand. “I activate the effect of Cyberdark Claw. By discarding this card I can add one Cyberdark spell/trap card from my deck to my hand. So I’ll be taking my Cyberdark Impact! Next I’ll play Double Summon which allows me to normal summon again this turn! So I play Cyberdark Horn in attack mode!” Cyberdark Horn was another monster with 800 attack and defense, living up to its name with four large horns like spikes coming out of its skull. This machine had a thin body, with edgy blade like wings and several claw like spikes coming out of its underbelly. There were also a number of wires coming out of its sides and from its large open jaw came a single green light.

“Just like with Edge, Horn lets me equip it with a level three dragon type monster from my graveyard. And I just so happen to have another one there,” said Snips as another monster came out of the ground. Cyberdark Claw was like a perfect match for Horn. Its body was yellow with dozens of green glowing oval on it, and six legs that ended not in feet but instead large curved talons. It almost reminded her of the claw in one of those claw games at the arcade. Cyberdark Horn’s underbelly spikes clamped into the back of Claw, its attack rising all the way to 2400.

As Snips looked proud of himself, Diamond noticed something out of the corner of her eye. It was Vice-Principal Luna. A hand was resting on her chin with a suspicious look in her eyes. Like maybe she didn’t believe what she was seeing or something. But those two couldn’t be cheating. Duel disks these days had a number of safety features that prevented people from cheating.

“With that I place a face down and end my turn,” said Snips loudly as he crossed his arms, head raised high.

“Then I draw,” announced Silver as she drew this time. With her had full, she looked at her hand to see what she could do. “First off, I’ll like summon my Valkyrie Sechste in attack position!” Appearing from the sky came a young girl with short brown hair riding a tiny pony. She was dressed in a steel battle skirt with black leggings and a matching top that exposed her shoulders all the way down to her hands. In one hand she had a small shield while in the other was a tiny sword. Her attack was 0 and defense 2000 until they were flipped around due to the field spell in play.

“Wow,” whispered Snails as he looked at her monster. “She’s really cute. Maybe cuter than Trixie.”

“Hey!” shouted the blue skinned girl in the crowd, her cheeks turning red. “The Great and Lovely Trixie will not stand to let a comment like that go unpunished!”

“If you think she's cute now, well, wait till you see what she can really do,” said Silver with a grin. “During my main phase, her effect allows me to send the top two cards from the top of one of your decks to the grave. Snails, you know what to do.” Snails blinked for a moment as he stared at the monster who just winked at him. Dumbly, he nodded and deposited the two cards into the grave. “Next I’ll play the spell Book of Moon. This card lets me target one monster on your side of the field and flip it face down. And the monster I choose is Ojama King!”

“Ah, I always knew books were bad,” moaned Snails as he flipped his fusion monster face down. As he did, Diamond’s side of the field began to free up giving her three monster spaces. She looked over at Silver who gave her the thumbs up.

“Now for the big finish: I play the continuous spell card: Goddess Urd’s Verdict,” continued Silver Spoon as she played her card. Appearing beside her was a woman in a pink dress and short blond hair holding a staff with a large blue stone in it. “Now one of Urd’s effects is that you can’t target or destroy any of my Valkyrie monsters with card effects. But you don’t, like, have to worry about that right now. Instead worry about its other effect. Once per turn I can declare a card name and then target a face down monster. If my guess is right then it get banished. If I guess wrong then one of my cards gets banished. So I believe that Snails’ face down card is Ojama King.”

“Wow!” cried Snails in surprise as he removed his card. “How did you know?” Everyone there except for Snails facepalmed. Hard.

“Sadly that's all I can do this turn,” said Silver as she lowered her arms. “Make your move Snails.”

“Oh, ok,” replied Snails before drawing. He looked at the one card in his hand for a second or three before acting. “I activate the effect of Ojama Country. So I, ah, discard an Ojama card from my hand to special summon one Ojama monster in my grave. Now I bring back King.” Everyone around began looking at each other as Snails looked down at his graveyard slot, waiting for the card to come out. It seemed that he had forgotten something very important, making Diamond feel all the more pathetic that she kept losing to him.

“You can’t bring back King,” said Snips finally, looking like he was losing his cool a bit. “He wasn’t sent to the grave, remember? He was banished!”

Snails’ eyes lit up. “Oh, right,” he said. “Then I’ll just bring back Ojama Green in attack mode.” In a flash of golden light, Ojama Green returned. “And since I discard Ojamagic, I can now add one of each normal Ojama monster to my hand. Then I attack Diamond directly!” Ojama Knight readied his sword and made a forward lunging slash at Diamond.

“I don’t think so!” shouted Silver Spoon. “Valkyrie Sechste, protect Diamond!”

“Uhhh,” went Snails as his monster’s blade was intercepted by Valkyrie Sechste’s tiny shield. However it wasn’t enough as Ojama Knight’s sword cut cleanly through hers. Valkyrie Sechste cried out as she got diced in to before vanishing before their eyes. While their life points dropped to 7500, it could have been a lot worse. “I guess I end my turn.”

“Then I draw,” said Diamond as she looked over at Silver. She gave her friend a nod of thanks for everything she had done thus far. If it hadn’t been for her, then she would still be stuck with no moves and would have lost a great deal of life points. And now, with six cards in her hand and four free card zones, she was ready to help out. “Ok, first I play the spell card Trade In. So, like, I can discard one level eight monster to my graveyard in order to draw two cards. So I drop another Blue-Eyes White Dragon into the graveyard.” Taking a breath, she dropped her dragon into the grave in order to make her draw hoping for something good. When she saw what she had, her eyes widened. “Now I think it’s time me and Snails played a different type of game.”

Snails blinked slowly at this. “Like musical chairs?” he asked. “I used to love playing that game.”

“More like bingo,” clarified Diamond as she played a spell card. On her field, a bingo ball machine appeared with dozens of moving balls within it. What made this machine special was that the balls were captured by one of the three heads of Blue-Eyes Ultimate White Dragon. The other two heads were outside the glass ball, clearly where the balls were dumped. As Diamond saw the confused look by her opponent, a display screen appeared before her and she selected three cards. With each card she selected, a ball flew into the mouth of the middle Blue-Eyes head and came out of one of the other two with a picture of the card Diamond had chosen. “This is Bingo Machine, Go!! I reveal three cards that are either Blue-Eyes monsters or spell/trap cards that list a Blue-Eyes in the text. Then you get to choose one of them and it gets added to my hand. The other two get shuffled back into my deck.”

Snails hummed as he looked at the cards. Diamond knew any of the three would help her out greatly. The first was a normal Blue-Eyes while the second was Alternative Blue-Eyes. Both monsters she could use in her hand right about now. The last one was Burst Stream of Destruction. With this card, if she controlled a Blue-Eyes, she could destroy all the cards on either opponents field.

“I choose the original Blue-Eyes,” said Snails at last. When he said this, the ball containing the picture of the original Blue-Eyes began to glow before flying into Diamond’s hand. The other two lit up and went into her deck before being shuffled.

“Alright then,” replied Diamond as she held up another spell card. “I now play Return of the Dragon Lords! Think of it like a Monster Reborn for dragons levels seven and eight like Dragon Spirit of White!” Appearing on Diamond’s field now was a large pale white dragon that looked a lot like a Blue-Eyes. Its attack was 2500. “When this monster is special summoned, I can target and banish one spell card you control! So say goodbye to Ojama Country!” Spirit of White began to glow, the field seeming to dissolve as it did returning them back to the school courtyard. With the field spell gone, both of the Ojama monsters looked diminished in size and strength as their attacks went back to 0. The only one who wasn’t affected was Snips who didn’t look too worried.

“Next I play another spell card: Silver’s Cry!” shouted Diamond as she grinned. “This card lets me revive a normal dragon in my graveyard. Like Blue-Eyes White Dragon!” Everyone heard an ear piercing cry before the ground in front of Diamond erupted revealing the classic boss monster of the game in all of its 3000 attack point glory.

“Now it’s time for some payback!” shouted Diamond as she pointed at Ojama Blue. “Dragon Spirit of White, take down that blue turd with Spiritual White Lightning!” Diamond’s monster began to inhale, streaks of white energy moving towards its mouth and collecting into an orb. The dragon then closed its mouth and, when it opened, unleashed dozens of thin laser beams at Ojama Blue. The beams sliced through the Ojama with the ease of a knife cutting through warm butter, leaving behind an ugly mess before it was destroyed.

“When Ojama Blue is destroyed I can add two Ojama cards to my hand,” replied Snails as their team’s life points dropped to 4700. “I choose Ojama Red and Ojama Delta Hurricane!!”

“I’m not done yet!” shouted Diamond as she glared at Ojama Knight. “Since you both still control monsters, I can activate Dragon Spirit of White’s quick effect to tribute it in order to special summon the Blue-Eyes White Dragon that YOU put in my hand!” Spirit of the White let out a cry before vanishing in brilliant light which, when it faded, revealed a second Blue-Eyes on the field. “Blue-Eyes, show that knight what happens when you challenge a real dragon! White Lightning!” Diamond’s dragon roared loudly as its jaw began to filled with dancing bolts of electricity. It then fired a large stream of it at Ojama Knight with enough force that Snails was knocked onto his ass. As Snails began to get up, both his and Snips’ life points dropped to 1700.

“I’ve got one more attack,” said Diamond as she glared over at the last Ojama on the field. “Now my second Blue-Eyes will destroy Ojama Green!” Another compressed lightning beam fired from Blue-Eyes mouth, hurtling towards Snails’ last monster to finish this duel. Everyone around watched with baited breath before letting out a shocked cry as a light see through green barrier appeared on the field.

“I activate my trap card: Draining Shield,” said Snips as his team’s life points rose to 4700. “Not only does it negate that attack but we also gain life points equal to the attacking monster.”

“I end my turn,” said Diamond as she tried to hide the worry from her voice. She had known that destroying Ojama Blue would help Snails get the card he needed for his big comeback combo. He had them all right there, in his hand waiting for his next turn. That was why Diamond pressed the attack the way she had, wanting to finish it before he could do so. Her father would have called it a huge risk/reward and she had failed. Not only were they prepared to clear out one of their fields but regained a large amount of their life points back.

“Then my draw,” cried Snips as he drew, four cards now in his hand. “First I’ll play the spell card Foolish Burial which allows me to send one of my monsters to the grave. So I’ll be dropping my Rainbow Dark Dragon.” Grinning, Snips took the extended card from his deck before placing it in the graveyard. “Next I activate my own Polymerization to fuse the two Cyberdark monsters on my field and Cyberdark Keel in my hand to create Cyberdark Dragon!” All three of Snips’ monsters rose high into the air, Keel looking more like a mechanical eel, as Snips started his chant. “Puny dragons should flee in fear as three great machines combine. Together they use the might of the beast against them! Fusion summon Cyberdark Dragon!” As the chant went on, the three monsters seemed to combine. Horn became the head connected to Edge’s body while Keel became the tail. It’s size also tripled creating this huge machine chimera monster. However, despite all of that its attack was only 1000.

“First off, the two monsters that were equipped to my Cyberdark monsters get their effects,” said Snips smugly. “When an equipped Cannon is sent to the graveyard I get to draw a card. As for my equipped Claw, I get to add one Cyberdark monster in my grave and add it to my hand. So I choose Edge.” Snips then paused for a moment, adding the two cards to his hand. “Now as for my Cyberdark Dragon, its effect activates allowing me to equip a dragon of any level to it so it can gain its attack points. So I choose Rainbow Dark Dragon!” Cords from Cyberdark Dragon shot into the ground as Snips began to dance about, pulling up a large grey scaled serpent like dragon with black feathered wings. The clawed underbelly of the Cyberdark monster began to latch onto the dragon, raising its attack points to 5000! “Oh and get this: Cyberdark Dragon gets even more attack points! That’s right; 100 for each card in my graveyard. And since me and Snails are sharing the same grave well…” His words trailed off as a dark green aura surrounded his monstrosity, growing more in size as its attack was raised to 6800!

“O-Ok, so you got a big monster with big numbers,” said Diamond as she fought to keep from taking a step back.

“Well that’s not all I’m going to do,” commented Snips in a sly tone. “Now I will summon my Cyberdark Edge again and equip him with Cyberdark Claw!” Once more Snips summoned his scythe bird creature and combined it with Claw to create a 2400 attack point blades monstrosity. At the same time, Cyberdark Dragon’s attack dipped to 6700.

“Now it's time to attack!” announced Snips, pointing a finger in the air in a dramatic fashion. “Cyberdark Dragon, destroy one of their Blue-Eyes!” Cyberdark Dragon obeyed the command instantly, letting out a roar so powerful that the people around could see the shockwaves it created. Diamond brought her own hands up to protect her face as she was forced back by the attack. But still…

“I activate my Return of the Dragon Lords sleeping in my graveyard!” she screamed over the noise. “By removing this card from the grave, I can negate the destruction of one of my dragons. However, I will still take the damage.” As removed the card from the grave, a light blue glow surrounded her monster to protect it while her side’s life points dropped to 3800. “Guess that’s all you can do. Your other monster isn’t strong enough to take down either of my dragons or Silver’s monster!” Silver Spoon nodded at this as she watched Snips.

“Oh, there is still more I can do,” snickered Snips, surprising both girls. “See, Cyberdark Edge can attack directly by cutting his attack points in half.” Diamond felt her eyes widen as Cyberdark Edge’s attack dropped to 1200 before its wings began to glow. They then began to move making a horrible screeching noise as they did before the glow flew from the them and into both Diamond and Silver. Both of them bent down slightly, the crowd wincing as their life points dropped to 2600. “Now, since Cyberdark Edge was equipped with Claw the equipped monster’s effect goes off. See when a monster Claw is equipped to does damage I can send one monster in the extra deck to the graveyard. So Shooting Quasar Dragon goes to the grave, giving my Cyberdark Dragon another 100 attack points.” True to his word, Snips’ monster grew in strength to 6800. “Now that my attack in done, I can show you all what else I can do! I play the spell Cyberdark Impact! By send Edge, Keel and Horn back into my deck from my hand, field, or graveyard I can then summon another Cyberdark Dragon!” Snips removed the two machines from his grave, adding them back to his deck along with the one on his field before sending two more cards into the grave. Now a second large monster identical to the first appeared on his side of the field. “Just like before I can equip one of the dragons in my graveyard to this monster. Cyberdark Dragon, gain strength from Shooting Quasar Dragon!” Both rich girls watched as the cords shot into the ground, pulling out a large thin white dragon before latching onto it like a parasite. When it was over Snips had two monsters before him with 6700 attack points, making her own dragons look like light weights.

Diamond felt her legs begin to shake, almost threatening to give out on her. She honestly didn’t know how they were going to win! Once Snails started his turn, he would destroy everything one of them had! And who knew what else Snips’ had?

“Snails,” began a smirking Snips. “Be sure you use your combo to clear as much of the field as you can. I’ll finish this off on my next turn.”

“Right,” replied the other boy with a nod while Snips did that annoying laugh he did at times. The one that sounded more like a cough he was trying to keep under his breath.

“Then I guess I’ll draw,” declared Silver as she drew, four cards now in her had. However, rather than looking at her hand, she turned to look at Diamond. “I’ll take care of Snails’ hand. You worry about Snips’ monster.”

“But how-” began Diamond in confusion.

“Trust me,” interrupted Silver. Diamond didn’t know what else to do other than trust in her friend. So she nodded before Silver looked back at her hand and picked up the card she just drew. “First I’ll set this card face down. Then I’ll play the spell card: Card Destruction. With this we all have to empty our hands and then draw an equal number of cards.” She then smirked at Snails. “So, you know, that combo you both were counting on goes, like, up in smoke!”

Snails looked worried by this fact as everyone ditched their hands. However, Snips did his best to remain positive. “So you managed to stop Snails,” he bolstered. “Big deal. All you did was make my dragons stronger.” Indeed, both Cyberdark Dragons did grow more powerful, their attack rising up to 7300.

“Silver,” began Diamond after she had drawn a new hand. “Thanks for that.”

“Don’t get all sappy about it,” replied Silver as she took her own cards. “Its, like, what friends do. Right? You need help and I’m there for you. Same as if things were reversed.” She then turned to look at the pair in front of her. “Now, back to the duel! I activate my face down card Monster Reborn to bring back a card from any graveyard. So welcome back Valkyrie Sechste in defense mode!” Once again, Silver Spoon's young monster appeared on the field, hiding behind her pony. “Now her effect activates which allows me to special summon one Valkyrie monster from my deck. Storm onto the field Valkyrie Brunhilde!”

Above everyone’s heads came the sound of a horse neighing followed by the clopping of hooves as they galloped closer. Those around turned their heads to the skies above to see a woman on horseback flying towards the field. As she got closer, they could all see that she was wearing sexy movie style armor that showed off her midriff, shoulder, and arms. Her skirt was made of metal and her top offered little to no protection. Her hair was green and long, almost touching the back of the horse with a winged helmet on her head. In one hand she held a large sword and in the other a powerful looking shield. Brunhilde’s attack was 1800.

“Brunhilde gains 500 attack points for each card my opponent controls,” explained Silver Spoon. “So with three monsters on both your fields her attack rises by 1500!” Brunhilde’s steed whinnied as it reared on its hind legs, the monster’s attack becoming 3300. “Next I’ll summon my Valkyrie Dritte in attack mode!” Galloping from the sky came another young female warrior on horseback, her attack being 1000. She was dressed in a similar fashion as Brunhilde, except that her helmet was red. “When Dritte is normal or special summoned I can add any Valkyrie card from my deck to my hand. So like I choose Valkyrie’s Embrace!”

“So what? None of them are powerful enough to take down my dragons!” Snips pointed out.

“Totally true,” said Silver. “But Brunhilde won’t have any problems with Ojama Green…” Snips blinked as Silver’s words trailed off, looking at her in confusion. Slowly he looked over to Snails’ side of the field and, to his horror, saw the little green abomination standing here in attack mode while picking his nose. What’s more was that Snails’ didn’t have any face down card to dissuade Silver from attacking! Diamond smiled as she watched Brunhilde charge forward, slicing off the head of Ojama Green as she did and dropping their life points to 1400.

“I’ll be sure to blast her with my dragons when my turn comes up!” shouted Snips.

“Ah, like, no you won’t,” said Silver as she flipped over her Valkyrie’s Embrace card for them to see. “Because this card will totally stop you from doing that. See, first it lets me target one of my Valkyrie monsters and one of yours. My monster, let's say Dritte, changes to defense mode while your monster, like the Cyberdragon with Rainbow Dark Dragon equipped to it, gets banished!”

“NO!” screamed Snips as Dritte’s steed turned to its side, his own monster vanishing from the field in a glow much like the northern lights. The pudgy teen then looked back. “Fine, destroy one! But I still have another and because Rainbow Dark Dragon is back in the grave my remaining Cyberdark Dragon get another 100 attack points.”

“That’s fine,” she said. “I end my turn.”

“I draw,” announced Snails as he drew, his hand total being six. He looked at the card he had drawn and blinked. “Hey, wasn’t I supposed to draw my-”

“Snails!” screamed Snips in a panic, moving a hand across his throat quickly as sweat began to form on his forehead.

“Ooohhh, right,” said Snails slowly, confusing everyone there. “Hmmm. I’ll summon Ojama Blue in defense mode and then place two cards face down.” Again Ojama Blue appeared on Snails’ field, taking a knee and crossing its arms across its chest as it did so. At the same time two face down cards appeared behind it. “I end my turn.”

“Ok,” said Diamond as she drew her card. But as soon as she did, Snails thrust out a hand causing both of his face down cards to flip face up.

“I activate Ojama Trio and Ojama Dou!” he announced. “Together, these card place a total of…what’s 3+2?”

“How is he…” began Vice-Principal Luna from the sidelines, her eye twitching as she looked at one of her students.

“It’s five mate,” yelled Pip who was standing close to the VP.

“Oh, right,” said Snails dumbly. “Anyways, I get to put tokens all over your monster card zones. Three for Diamond and two of Silver.” Diamond took a step back as Ojama Yellow, Green, and Black appeared on her side of the field, either snoozing or picking their noses as they took up space. On Silver’s side of the field, Ojama Blue and Red appeared with Red looking like a round headed imp with blood shot eyes. “Whenever they are destroyed you lose 300 life points.”

As Snips began to laugh, Diamond began to look over the cards in her hand with a great deal of worry. Sure, both of those idiots believed that Diamond couldn’t summon anymore dragons…which was only half true. She was limited to two spots right now but she had a spell card that could help her bring out her best monster. The only issue with that was that it still wasn’t stronger than Snips! All of their hard work for nothing because all Snips had to do was attack then…they lost. Then everything would be over. Her mother would either find out she lost a duel or find out that she was waiting on Snips and Snails every whim! She would be forced to leave all of her friends behind. Maybe…Maybe she could just pay them to forget about this and hope her mother never found out.

“You can do it Diamond,” yelled Silver. But Diamond shook her head. Maybe if she had Shrink or something like that in her hand… which she didn’t! None of her cards could help her out. Maybe Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon, but thanks to Snails she didn’t have the space to summon it unless she wanted to tribute both of her Blue-Eyes. But she didn’t have that card.

Slowly, Diamond looked down at the card she had drawn…and her eyes widened in surprise! She read the text on the card three times just to make sure she was reading it right before smiling. She then looked up at Snips who was still grinning, thinking he had this match won. Oh how wrong he was right now.

“I tribute both of my monsters in order to normal summon my Blue-Eyes Solid Dragon!” announced Diamond as both her monsters vanished into golden lights, replaced by another dragon that looked a lot like the normal Blue-Eyes. The difference was in the wings that looks like multi-colored stained glass windows that shone brightly as the dragon roared loudly. Unlike the normal Blue-Eyes, this monster had only 2500 attack points causing Snips to snicker.

“What can you do with that weakling?” he asked, laughing into his hand as he did.

“Well, for starters, when Solid Dragon is summoned I can target one face up monster on the field and negate its effects,” said Diamond. The laughter died instantly as Solid let out another roar as it rose into the air, light from the sun shining down upon Cyberdark causing its attack to drop to 1000. “And I’m not done! I play Dragon’s Mirror. This spell card lets me remove monsters on either my field or graveyard that are listed on a dragon fusion type monster and then I can fusion summon that monster. So I remove all three of my Blue-Eyes White Dragons to summon NEO BLUE-EYES ULTIMATE WHITE DRAGON!” Exploding from the ground came all three of Diamond’s Blue-Eyes as they shot towards the sky. They twisted and turned around each other, almost as if they were dancing in the sky with one another before merging into one creature.

“The mightiest of all dragons roars with its three heads,” chanted Diamond as her monster took form. “Reborn from old, with triple the fury it proves its might! Fusion Summon Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate White Dragon!” On her only open space remaining was a classic monster with 4500 attack points, three heads looking down at Snips as he fell onto his ass. The sight was satisfying to the rich girl. Sure she could have ended this all with just her Solid Dragon, but after all the times she lost to Snails she needed to let out all of her frustration with the only attack that best symbolized it. Her only regret was that she couldn’t attack Snails instead to win the game. “Now, FINISH THIS ONCE AND FOR ALL!” Snips’ monster never stood a chance as all three heads of Neo Ultimate fired at the same time. The force of the attack caused Snips to roll backwards as his monster shattered into thousands of tiny pieces and his life points dropping to zero.

“No,” muttered Snips as he slowly got on his hands and knees while the holograms around them began to disappear.

“Guess maybe we should have stacked our decks better,” said Snails as he lifted up his duel disk to look at it. Diamond looked at him with her jaw open wide while Snips looked like he was about to have a heart attack. As the chubby boy ran over to his friend and then quickly placing a hand over his mouth Diamond took notice of the crowd around her. Snails words and Snips reactions said it all for the lot of them. Many were looking either shocked or appalled that they would do something like this while others had their fists clenched and shaking with anger. The angriest among them being the people that they had made wagers recently. She too found that both her hands had become fists, nearly destroying the cards she held.

“That…That’s,” began Snips as he stood up, a hand held out. But before he could say anything else, the crowd charged.

“GET THEM!” screamed someone in the crowd, drowning out VP Luna who seemed like she was trying to maintain order of some kind. But no one there was paying her any mind as they all wanted to get their hands on the pair of cheaters, to either confirm what the idiot had said or just to make them pay for everything they had been doing recently. The pair of boys ran, knocking several others out of the way in an effort to break free. Then, in what seemed like the blink of an eye they escaped and were running down the street without looking back.

-x-

“Daddy?” Diamond Tiara had walked into the dining room later than she normally did to find her father sitting there. His suit coat was off, hanging from the back of the chair he was sitting on with his shirt partly off. He sat there, slightly slouched, with a glass of whiskey in front of him, the ice slowly melting in it as he looked at it.

At the sound of her voice, the older man turned to look at her. “Hey there pumpkin,” he said, trying his best to hide how tired he looked. Not like that was possible. There were dark rings around his eyes which looked like he was having trouble keeping them open right now. Still, he turned to pull out a chair next to him before gesturing her to sit down. “How was school?”

“It was,” began Diamond as she sat down, pausing as she tried to decide what to tell him. Perhaps nothing. After the duel, things at school were not looking so good for the two idiots. Both Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna had gotten involved, finding out about the wagers the pair had been making. Because of that (along with a combination of their recent tardies, poor grades, them running out of school, and the cheating) Principal Celestia had decided to expel the two. As for the victims they had all gotten off with a warning never to do that on school property again or else they would be facing either detention or suspension. The whole school had also been told that if things like this continued then they would ban dueling at the school except for the after school activities.

For Diamond, it meant that her nightmare was over for good. At least with dueling and the twin dummies. As long as no more rumors floated around the school about her having to do things for Snails she was likely to stay here. And if her mom had been spying on her that day then she should be proud of the victory Diamond had scored. At least she should be.

“It was good,” Diamond eventually finished. Perhaps she had taken too long to say this because her father was giving her an odd look at the moment. One that made her feel like he was trying to see something inside of her. After a moment or two he sighed before turning in his seat to look at her, his arms crossing in front of his chest as he did so.

“What appeared?” he asked in a voice that told her not to lie.

“I,” began Diamond, wondering if she even could lie before sighing. No, it was time to tell her father what had been going on. Or, at least some of it. “I was having some trouble with this boy. I kept losing to him and didn’t want to play against him but I had to show him I was his better and-”

“Ok, ok I get it,” interrupted Filthy Rich with a wave of his hand. He then ran a hand through his hair, sighing as he did. “I swear, Spoiled we are going to have a serious talk about this later.” There was a pause before looking down at Diamond. “Sweetie, I don’t know everything that happened but you don’t have to always prove that you’re better at everything. Sometimes it's best to know when to bow out gracefully.”

“But Mom keeps saying that I need to-”

“Never lose to anyone? Especially those who are lower class? Well I disagree with that,” interrupted Filthy firmly. “Princess, there are plenty of times when I have to admit that I failed. Why, back when your granddad was around I made a serious bad investment. One that, if I hadn’t backed away when I did, I would have lost everything including your granddad’s faith in me to run the family business. See…in the end, everybody loses from time to time. What sets us apart from most other people is that we have more to lose when we fail completely. So it’s better to know when to cut our losses than to continue on out of pride. Or to know when to ask for advice or help.”

Diamond nodded, thinking about what she could have lost today if Silver Spoon hadn’t helped out. She would need to say thank you in a big way.

“So, any reason you didn’t ask me for help?” asked Filthy as he picked up his glass, taking a sip.

“I knew you were busy Daddy,” replied Diamond instantly.

“Well, that was very considerate of you,” said her father as he set down his glass. “But just so you know, I am never too busy to help you out when your in trouble. Especially if some boy is giving you trouble. Just say the word and I will bury him so deep he will never be found.”

-x-

At the same time, both Snips and Snails shivered for some reason as they walked down a dark street. All around them all they could see were boarded up buildings with graffiti on them in all shapes and colors. One even had a picture of some sort of mixture of animals with weird eyes that Snips could have sworn had moved a few times.

“Why aren't we heading home?” asked Snails lazily. “My feet are starting to hurt.”

“Because our homes will be the first place those people look!” shouted Snips as he threw up his arms. “You saw them back there! They’ll tear us to teeny tiny pieces the first chance they get. Or…Or they might string us up when we get to school!” He then let out a sigh. “Guess we weren’t ready to fly solo.”

“Maybe we could, ah, say we’re sorry?” suggested Snails.

“Doubt that will work,” grumbled Snips. “But I guess there’s nothing else we can do. No one will ever take us seriously or respect us now. We’re finished.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” said a voice as fine as silk coming from behind them. The two boys turned around to see two hot girls standing there. One had twin-tails with a frown on her face. The other girl had a massive hairdo and forehead, standing there smiling at them. “I believe we could help you find everything you’re looking for.”

Author's Notes:

Well this one felt like it took forever to get right. I had to rewrite the duel four times! I'm sure a few of you are wondering why Snips and Snails have turned out this way. Well, because it felt like a very natural next step. They have been minions of Sunset and Trixie before so why not have them try to be their own bosses?

Anyways...deck choices.

Diamond Tiara: Blue-Eyes. I guess I have her this deck because she shares that same rich persona as Kiaba. It also just felt right when I was writing Sonata's Big Duel.

Snails: Ojama. Yeah, this one is obvious. I'm actually surprised more people don't give him this deck since its designed to slow down your opponent and limit their options.

Snips: Cyberdark. Originally I was going to give him Dark Scorpion since they are a group of pathetic thieves which felt very akin to this character. Not that he is a thief but rather how much he messes up. However, no matter how much I busted his deck I could make it work in this setting. So I went with Cyberdark. With their blade like design as well as they new support they felt like a good choice.

Silver Spoon: Valkyrie. Well, I guess I was channeling a certain pink haired foe of Seto's while writing this. I also just feel like this would be something she would use.

Big Bro Battle (Big Mac vs OC)

It was on a warm, pleasant Thursday afternoon as an old rickety pickup truck made its way onto Sweet Apple Acres. Leaves fell gently from the trees, riding on the winds until they landed in the back of the truck to coat the various tools it contained. Items like large hammers, a small anvil, and many more items that looked very heavy yet rested on a tool belt. Eventually the truck made its way to a spot close to the barn where it then parked, allowing its driver to exit.

The driver was a teenage boy, dressed in a heavy (and very filthy) long sleeved shirt and overalls. His light grey body was a bit thicker with muscle than the average person his age, demonstrated by him effortlessly lifting his tool belt and putting it on after retrieving it from the back of his truck. A single leaf fell onto his hair which had a similar flame-like appearance to that of Sunset Shimmer, but was cut shorter and slicked back in order to keep it out of his eyes. As he grabbed his hammer, the boy heard the familiar sound of boots against the gravel behind him. He took a deep breath in order to keep his heart rate steady, then turned to see if it was who he thought it was.

“Howdy Forge,” said Applejack. Forge, or Coal Forge on his driver’s license, did his best not to make a fool out of himself as he saw her. But it was hard as, when he saw her, the world seemed to slow down a bit more each time. Heart shaped leaves that defied reality suddenly began to fall and cheesy love songs began to play in the background. Thankfully for him this only lasted a moment or two and he was able to recover quick enough so as to not make this awkward.

“Hey AJ,” said Forge as he straightened his belt. “You said the axle broke again.”

“Yep,” said the farmer girl as she gestured to him to follow. Together, they walked into the barn where her brother Big Mac was already hard at work baling hay next to an old fashioned horse drawn wagon. As soon as he came in, Forge could clearly see that the metal axle under the wagon had snapped cleanly in two. He watched as Applejack walked towards it, crossing her arms as she did with a frown on her face. “Broke last night when Apple Bloom an her friends were off having a bit of a joy ride on it. Think ya can fix it?”

Forge didn’t answer right away, instead moving closer to it in order to get a better look. Once he was on hands and knees, Forge looked at the area that had snapped before gently tracing a finger over the area. He performed a few other tests which didn’t require any fancy gadgets or anything like it, needing only his hands as he had been trained to do. As he did this, Forge became aware that someone was watching him. Without looking he knew it was Mac for his bailing had become slower. That and the simple fact that Mac did this every time he came over to help.

“I wouldn’t recommend fixing this,” said Forge after he stood up, not bothering to dust himself off. “I can tell that the area that snapped wasn’t properly hardened the right way. Too many quenches making the metal too brittle. There might even be more fractures along the spine. My personal opinion is that you should get it replaced.”

Applejack briefly bit her lower lip. “Oh,” she said. “Ya…Ya sure?”

Forge nodded. “I could weld it back together, but it’ll be like putting a Band-Aid on a broken arm. It’ll hold for awhile, but sooner or later it’ll just break again.” Applejack slowly nodded and Forge had been helping the Apple Family for as long as he could remember as their go-to blacksmith. At first it had been more for practice, welding together things that had busted before moving on to making horse shoes and other such things around the farm. Nowadays he was skilled enough not to need the practice, but still came when AJ or Granny Smith called asking for help. Because of this he knew what was going on in her head. She was thinking about how much it would cost to get a replacement. Judging by her expression money was tighter right about now. Asking him to weld it together would give them time to save up for a brand new one. But that would run the chance that, if it broke again before they had time to save up they would be in trouble. Or someone might get hurt. It was a bind.

Thankfully, Forge had already thought about that on his way here. “Listen, Applejack,” he said gently while Mac’s work became slower still. “I just got done with a bunch of my work for the medieval festival and there was some left over material. More than enough to make a new axle for the wagon. I’ll make you a new one for the same price as fixing this one.”

Applejack’s eyes widened. “Woah, now hold on there partner,” she said as she pointed a finger right into his chest. “Ah can’t accept something like that!”

“Its no problem,” said Forge as he took her finger and lowered it with his hand. “It was already bought and paid for, so it’s not like its costing me anything. Besides it was just going to sit there until I wanted to work a project sooner or later so this works out well for me. So I figure I can kill two birds with one stone: work on a project and help a friend.”

For a moment, the two stood there very close. So close that he could easily count every cute freckle on her face as well as smell what she had for breakfast. He was still holding her hand in his which had relaxed a bit. Now he wondered what she was thinking or if this was the best time to pop a question he had been meaning to ask. A part of his brain told him to go for it! But another part warned him that this might come off as a string attached and that she would only go along with it because she owed him one. Something Forge didn’t want at all.

It was then that Mac cleared his throat, causing both teens to separate quickly. Turning his head to glance over at AJ’s older brother, he saw that his work had completely halted. He was standing there, gripping his pitch fork so tightly that the metal wielder was surprised it hadn’t shattered. Then there was the look that he was giving Forge. It wasn’t threatening…just yet. More like a very, very, very stern warning that Forge got loud and clear.

“Well, if ya insist,” said Applejack as she smiled in an awkward manner. Forge, for his part, mirrored it as she moved backward. “Ah guess Ah’ll get back ta work. Thanks again partner.” With that, AJ turned to walk out of the barn.

As she did, Forge took a moment to admire her figure. If anyone ever asked him, he would say that he thought that Applejack was definitely hotter than Rarity or Fluttershy. The fact that her hands weren’t soft but a bit slightly rougher than a normal girl's, her more muscular body from working on a farm, those lovely green eyes and long blonde hair that smelled of straw. Yeah, he found all of that really attractive. But her looks weren’t the only reason he liked her. Both of them were old fashioned, preferring to do things with their own hands. Heck, Forge refused to save up and buy a power hammer for his work even though it would save him a great deal of time while AJ would do any construction job on her farm herself and still do her own chores.

Slowly his hand reached for his back pocket were a pair of tickets rested. He wanted to take this moment to ask her out, just to see if they were right for each other. After all, just because you have a lot in common with each other doesn’t always mean you are meant for each other. The best way to do that was to spend time with each other. However, the sound of Mac clearing his throat again caused Forge to pause long enough for Applejack to be out the door.

-x-

“Let me guess, you choked again,” came a laughing voice from Forge’s phone. It was about an hour later and Forge was back on the road. He had spent his time in the mostly silent barn taking measurements of the axle so he could recreate it perfectly, jotting everything down onto a notepad before saying his goodbyes and driving off.

“Yes Jester, I choked,” grumbled Forge to his friend as he made a turn. If he hadn’t been driving, Forge would have pounded his head against the wheel.

“I just don’t get it,” said Jester with his voice still full of humor. “You’re not afraid of flames shooting out of a barrel of oil and into your face, power tools really close to your hands, swinging that hammer over and over again that could crush your hands if you’re not careful, but a cough from Big Mac causes you to lose your nerve. Dude, it's not hard. Just ask her out and if that guy tries to pull the overly protective big brother card just say its Applejack’s choice! There, problem solved. Or just ask her out when you know he’s not around. Like when she’s at work or something. Oh look, I solved the problem…AGAIN!”

As Jester laughed some more, Forge let out a sound of annoyance. “You do know how important family is to Applejack, right?” he asked.

“Well, yeah. Dude, everybody knows that. I just don’t see how…oh.” At that moment, Jester’s voice became more serious as understanding filled him. “I get ya now. You don’t want to cause a rift between them.”

“That’s the last thing I want to do,” said Forge as he came to a stop light. “Think about it, I ask her out in front of him and he objects then they’ll have a fight right in front of me. Even if she still agrees I’ll never know if she accepted it because she likes me or to spite her brother. Then she’ll spend the whole day being miserable or something like that. Might be better if I ask her out when he’s not around, but I’m afraid of what he’ll say to her when she comes back home.”

“Or what he’ll do to you,” added Jester as the light changed from red to green. “I heard a rumor that, back in Jr. High this one guy asked her out without asking Mac first if it was ok. Don’t know what Mac did to the kid but he didn’t show up to school for three weeks! People thought he was dead!”

“Great,” groaned Forge as he turned onto his street. Within moments he pulled into his family’s driveway and parked the truck. “So, any idea what I should do?”

“Well~” began Jester in a sing song voice. “If the rumors are true and Mac is operating under the outdated belief that you need to ask his permission to date his sister then that’s what you do. Just walk up to him when he’s alone and say ‘I want to take your sister out’. If he says yes, they you get the gold. If he says no, then you need to show him that you’re willing to fight for her.”

Forge’s eyes widened at that. “Ok, hold on right there. I can’t fight Big Mac! There’s no way she would ever go out with me if I did that.”

“Don’t be so literal,” sighed Jester. “Just challenge him to a duel or something. And if he says no, show you won’t give up and ask her out anyways. But…don’t do anything too reckless, ok? We really need you this weekend in one piece.”

-x-

The next day found Forge driving up into his usual parking spot at Sweet Apple Acres. While he had started on the axle, it was far from ready. Right now it was in a shed that was his forging area along with all of his tools. Today all he had with him was a duffel bag which he kept close to him as he exited the vehicle. After closing the door, he looked over at the barn where he hoped Mac would be with a look of focused determination. Today was going to be the day, now or never.

Calmly he made his way to the barn and, sure enough, there was Big Mac. Today he was stacking large bales of hay on top of each other. Despite it being much warmer than the previous day, Mac didn’t look like he was sweating or struggling any. He just kept working until he turned around and noticed Forge moving towards.

“Done already?” Mac asked, not stopping in his work.

“Not yet,” replied Forge. “I just wanted to ask you something about Applejack.” As he said this, Forge noticed Mac slow down. The older man looked over at the teen blacksmith with a frown on his face. “I was planning on asking her out this weekend. Just wanted to see if you were cool with it.”

Mac gave him a nod, something that took some of the weight off Forge’s chest. “Thank ya for asking me. It means a lot.” Mac then paused before his eyes hardened a bit. “No. Ah don’t want ya askin’ her out. Just leave her be.” Then, as if nothing had happened, Mac went back to his work. “Now, ah believe ya promised mah sister ya would fix that axle. Better get to it. We need the wagon up and going soon.”

“Wait!” Forge shouted. “That’s it? No? Not even a reason why?”

“If ya really knew mah sister, then ya would know why,” Mac said without turning to look at him.

“But I-”

“No,” interrupted Mac, putting down a bale of hay harder than he normally would have. “Nothing ya can say that would change my mind.”

“Well I’m not giving up,” said Forge as he thought of Applejack and the tickets he had in his back pocket. Mac turned to look at him with a frown while Forge dropped his duffle bag. Before Mac could say or do anything, the younger man had bent down to open the bag before pulling out his duel disk. As he stood up, Forge looked at Mac who had a look of surprise. “I challenge you to a duel. If you win then I’ll walk away from this…for now and get back to work on that axle. But if I win, then you let me ask her out on a date. It’ll be her choice and I’ll respect whatever she says. Deal?”

At first Mac said nothing, just looking at the Forge before changing his focus to the device on the blacksmith’s arm. As the seconds passed, Forge began to wonder what he was going to do if Mac said no. That his word was final and not going to change no matter who won. Or that he didn’t have a deck so that they would have to do something else. Did Mac even know how to duel? In all the time he had spent here he had never seen the guy with so much as a single card. He just worked all day. Then, much to Forge’s surprise, Mac nodded.

“We’ll duel,” said Mac as he turned and began to walk to a side of the barn. Forge followed the path Mac would take, easily spotting an old work bench on it. When Mac got there, he bent down and reached down underneath it and pulled out an old dented up tool box which he gently set on the workbench. “Only one small change. If ya really want ta date mah sister, then ya got ta be willing ta put it all of the line. All or nothing, ya hear? So if ya lose, then ya give up the right to ever ask mah sister out on a date.” As he said this, Mac opened up the tool box and pulled out a duel disk with the deck already inside. Quickly he strapped it on and activated it, pumping his fist in Forge’s direction. “Deal?”

Forge didn’t need a moment to think, activating his own duel disk. Yes, it was crazy to risk everything like this. Not when he could walk away and try something else later. But Forge knew in his heart that Applejack was worth the risk. He also had faith in his skills and his deck. So, as their duel disks connected, he moved to the opposite side of the barn across from Big Mac.

“Connecting,” said a female mechanical voice from their duel disks. “Opponents found. Displaying order now.” In the middle of the field appeared a flat holographic image of a portrait, only on one side was Forge while the other was Big Mac. The image began to spin round and round, faster and faster as their duel disks shuffled their decks at an equally quick speed. Eventually the portraits stopped spinning, ending on Forge.

“I’ll start,” announced Forge as his life point count appeared on his duel disk: 8000. “I draw.” With that, Forge drew before looking at the six cards in his hand. He then selected one of the cards and placed it on his duel disk. “I’ll start by placing one monster in face down defense position. Then I’ll set two cards face down and end my turn.” As Forge said this, the cards materialized in front of him.

“Ah draw,” said Mac as he drew his sixth card. He looked at it…and grinned. “Mighty good hand. Ah’ll start by summoning my Silent Paladin in attack mode!” As Big Mac slapped the card onto his duel disk, a woman appeared before him with 500 attack points. She was a beauty to be sure, with long golden hair that was tied up in a pony tail held up by a winged hair piece. Her bangs covered one of her piercing blue eyes as looked sternly over the field. In one hand she held a spectral blue sword while in the other was a shield of blue and silver. Her purplish armor looked light and she had a flowing white cape. “When this noble lady is summoned Ah can search mah deck an add one Silent Swordsman LVL 3 or one Silent Magician LVL 4 ta mah hand. So Ah’ll be chosen Silent Magician LVL 4.” With that, a card spat out of Mac’s deck which he took. Once the card had been pulled out the deck began to shuffle itself about.

“Next Ah’ll play the spell card Photon Lead which lets me special summon one level four or lower light monster in my hand to the field in attack position. So Ah summon Silent Magician LVL 4 to the field!” Appearing there on the field was a small child wearing a large pointed white hat, white robes, and carrying a wand. “But mah magician won’t be staying here for long. I tribute it to special summon Silent Magician to the field!” A bright blue pentagram circle appeared on the ground with Silent Magician LVL 4 standing in the middle. The child began to glow bright blue, then white, before being replaced with someone else. It was a woman in her late teen or mid-twenties wearing blue form fitting robes with a white line in the middle. Forge noticed that there were slits running down the sides of her robes in order to show off her slender legs. Her hat was like a mix of a ten gallon cowboy hat and that of a wizard’s. She had long flowing white hair and instead of a wand she had a short staff with a glowing blue stone at the end. Her attack was 1000.

“Silent Magician here is a special lady,” said Big Mac as he held up his hand. “For starters, she gains 500 attack for each card in mah hand. Right now ah’m holdin’ four which means she gains a total of 2000 attack points.” Forge winced as he watched Silent Magician begin to glow while her attack point changed from 1000 to 3000. “She also has another handy trick up her sleeve: the first spell card ya activate each turn gets negated. Now, ah attack with mah Silent Magician. Silent Burning Nova!” Silent Magician held out her short staff before making a sweeping motion with it, the path she created leaving a line of white light. It then began to grow larger and larger until it touched the ground, then flying across the field towards Forge’s face down monster which flipped over. Said monster looked like an anthropomorphic rhino wearing thick silver armor and a circle of six pointed shield above his head. While the monster had a very impressive defense of 2100, it didn’t stand a chance against this attack.

Well, not without some help.

“I activate my face down,” Forge called out as one of his face down cards revealed itself. “Defense Tactics! I can only activate this card if I control a Gladiator Beast monster. This turn, my monsters aren’t destroyed and I receive no battle damage. Then, this card goes to the bottom of my deck!”

“Fine,” grunted Big Mac as he looked at his hand. “Ah guess Ah can’t attack with Paladin so mah battle phase ends. So-”

“Wait right there Mac,” interrupted Forge. “During the end of the battle phase, the effect of my Gladiator Beast Hoplomus activates. If it attacked or was attacked and survived, then I can send it back into the deck and special summon another Gladiator Beast. So I’m tagging in Gladiator Beast Murmillo!” Hoplomus vanished from sight only to be quickly replaced with a weird looking fish man that had 800 attack points. There was pink webbing between his fingers as well as in-between his arms and torso. On his back rested two large sea shells. “Now, when Murmillo is special summoned I can destroy one face up monster on the field. I’ll also activate my other face down card: Double Tag Team. This trap card lets me special summon a Gladiator Beast monster from either my hand or deck when one is special summoned onto my field. So I’ll be bringing to the field Gladiator Beast Bestiari!” As jets of water fired from the seashells onto Silent Magician, destroying her, another half human half animal creature appeared on Forge’s side of the field. It was a large, thin green bird with darker green armor on. The feathers on the back of its head were read and had dart guns on each arm. Its attack was 1500.

“Not bad,” admitted Mac. “But when mah Silent Magician is destroyed by battle or your card effects, she lets me special summon any Silent Magician monster in mah deck while ignoring the summoning conditions. So ah bring out Silent Magician LVL 8!” In a brilliant flash of light appeared Silent Magician once again, only her attack points were 3500 and her robes had a lot more white and showed off less of her form. “Ah place one card face down an end mah turn.”

“Then I draw!” shouted Forge as he drew. He looked down at the four cards in his hand and nodded. “Ok, now it's time for some contract fusion! I fuse my Bestiari and my Murmillo together to create Gladiator Beast Gyzarus!” As Forge removed his monsters from his monster tray, both flew into the air in preparation of his chant. “The wing beat of the bird is missed in the sound of battle. Striking with power to make the bravest tremble in fear! Leave nothing in your path! Fusion summon Gladiator Beast Gyzarus!” When the chant ended, a large creature landed onto the field in a superhero landing pose. Even before it stood up, everyone there could see it looked very much like Bestiari, but with heavier armor that had several large red gems in it. Its attack was 2400. “When Gyzarus is special summoned I can destroy two cards on the field so I’m clearing the field of both your monsters!” Mac said nothing in response as Gyzarus opened his wings and flew up into the air. Once he reached the rafters, long golden spears appeared in both of his hands which the bird man flung at the two women below. Both Silent monsters were impaled in the middle of their chests before they were destroyed.

“When Silent Paladin is destroyed, ah can return one Light LVL monster in mah grave an add it to mah hand,” said Big Mac calmly. “So Ah’ll take back mah Silent Magician LVL 4.”

“Alright then, I attack you directly!” shouted Forge as his monster flew across the field, creating another light spear in his hands as he prepared to thrust it into Mac’s chest. However, the attack didn’t connect as a sword of light appeared in-between them and blocked the attack. “Wait, what?”

“My trap card: Spiritual Swords of Revealing Light,” explained Mac as his trap card flipped face up. “With this here continuous trap card, I can pay 1000 life points each attack to negate it.” As Mac said this, his life points dropped to 7000.

“I end my turn,” said Forge as his monster returned to his side, arms now crossed and looking menacing. However, Forge knew it was a front. With the attack negated he couldn’t send his monster back into the extra deck and summon two more Gladiator Beasts and he could only use Gyzarus’ effect when it was special summoned.

“My draw,” announced Big Mac who now had five cards in his hand. “First Ah play Reinforcements of the Army ta add mah Silent Swordsman LVL 3 ta mah hand. Then Ah summon him ta the field in attack mode!” Appearing in front of Mac was a small boy in a blue trench coat with a sword on his shoulder that looked more like something a cartoon character would carry…and not one from Japan. His blond hair seemed to keep falling onto his light green face. His attack was 1000. “Next Ah activate the spell card: Level Up! This lets me send one LVL monster on mah side of the field to the grave and then special summon from either mah hand or deck that is listed in the sent card’s text while ignoring the summoning conditions. Meaning Silent Swordsman LVL 3 becomes Silent Swordsman LVL 5!” Mist began to surround Silent Swordsmen LVL 3, causing him to grow rapidly into an adult. When he stopped, he looked far more impressive than his previous form. For starters, his sword was as long as his body and weighed probably three times that much yet he carried it with ease. Silent Swordsman LVL 5’s body was slender and muscular at the same time, showing off his 2300 attack points.

“Now for the kicker,” said Mac as he played a card. “Ah activate the spell card: Silent Sword Slash which gives my monster 1500 more attack and defense points and makes him unaffected by your card effects until the end of this turn. Now, attack!” Silent Swordsman LVL 5 bent his knees a bit while his attack points rose to 3800 before launching himself across the field in such a way that one might have thought he had stepped on a landmine. With a single slash of his sword he cut Gyzarus in half, knocking Forge down to the ground and lowering his life points to 6600.

“That will end mah turn,” said Big Mac as his monster hefted his blade back onto his shoulder.

“I draw,” said Forge. With six cards in his hand he looked at what he had and thought for a moment. He needed something strong enough to get over that body and then take back control of this duel. The only problem was right now he didn’t have the means to do that. But there was a chance he could get what he needed. “I activate the spell card: Gladiator Beast’s Respite. With this card I can return two of my Gladiator Beasts to my deck, shuffle it, and then draw three cards.” Forge then place two cards on the top of his deck and watched as it began to auto-shuffle. When it stopped, he drew three times and looked at them. “I…end my turn.”

“Hmm, bad luck,” said Mac as he drew his card. With three cards in his hand he looked at them and smiled. “Well things aren’t looking any better for ya because Ah summon Silent Magician LVL 4 in attack mode.” Once again, his young magician appeared on the field holding her wand. “Next Ah play the spell card Level Modulation. Ya get ta draw two cards and then Ah can special summon one LVL monster in mah grave while ignoring the summoning conditions. Only problem is it can’t attack or use its effect this turn. But it’s a small price ta pay for bringing back Silent Magician LVL 8!” As Forge drew his cards, the familiar sight of Silent Magician LVL 8 appeared next to her younger counterpart. But, not only did Mac get back his most powerful monster but LVL 4 also gained 500 attack points bringing it to 1500. “See ya noticed. Each time ya draw a card or cards, mah Silent Magician LVL 4 gets a counter and with each one she gains attack points. When she gets five, well, Ah can trade her in for another LVL 8!”

Mac paused to chuckle. “But Ah don’t think ya’ll be around long enough ta see that. Silent Swordsman LVL 5, attack him directly!” Once again, Silent Swordsman bent his knees before exploding forwards ready to slash at Forge. As he brought down his blade, however, a pair of claws blocked it. The swordsman blinked in surprise as a leopard or cheetah man appeared in front of Forge wearing metal clawed gauntlets with blue flames coming out of it. “Where did he come from!?”

“My hand,” replied Forge as he wiped away some sweat from his brow. “Gladiator Beast Noxious can be special summoned from my hand to the field if you declare a direct attack. Then not only does he redirect the attack to himself but he can’t be destroyed in battle. And since I special summoned him in defense mode, my life points are safe.”

“Fine,” said Big Mac with a scoff. “Ah end my turn.”

“Then I draw,” exclaimed Forge who now had a total of eight cards in his hand. At the same time, however, the attack of Silent Magician LVL 4 went up to 2000 since he had drawn a card. “I summon Gladiator Beast Laquari in attack mode.” Appearing on the field was a tiger man with bits of red armor across his body. Around his waist hovered several small rockets that connected themselves to each other to form a ring of fire. His attack was 1800. “Now, since I control a Gladiator Beast monster I can special summon my Test Tiger from my hand!” In an instant, a small tiger kitten appeared on the field wearing bits of armor. “By releasing my Test Tiger I can send Laquari back into my deck and special summon a different Gladiator Beast and this is treated as the effect of a Gladiator Beast. Now I’ll special summon from my deck Gladiator Beast Augustus in attack mode!” Appearing behind Forge was a creature that looked more like a beaked dragon in armor. Its armor was light, protecting mainly its vital areas over its purple scaly skin. Augustus had leathery wings like a bat, with clawed hands in the middle that were separate from his normal arms, one of which held a short sword. Its attack was 2600.

“When Augustus is special summoned by the effect of a Gladiator Beast, I can special summon one Gladiator Beast from my hand in defense mode,” continued Forge. “Come on out Gladiator Beast Darius!” Stomping onto the field was a horse man wearing light orange armor with 300 defense points. In one hand Darius held a whip that crackled with electrical power. “When Darius is special summoned by the effect of a Gladiator Beast, his effect lets me bring back one Gladiator Beast sleeping in my graveyard with its effect negated. Rise again Gyzarus!” Darius cracked his whip to the ground next to him, creating a tear in time and space in which Forge’s fallen monster returned to the field.

Mac now looked worried, taking a step back as he surveyed the field before him. “Ok, ya got some good monster’s on the field,” he admitted. “But none of them can take down mah Silent Magician LVL 8 or Silent Swordsman LVL 5.”

“Right now, you’re right,” admitted Forge. “But whoever said I was done? I return Gyzarus and Noxious back to the deck in order to do a contact fusion!” Forge watched as his monsters vanished, returning to the decks were he could use them again at their fullest. “From the wilderness of the savanna to the endless skies above. Only one has it in him to teach and mold all of the Gladiator Beasts. Make way for him now! Fusion Summon Gladiator Beast Tamer Editor!”Appearing on the field in attack mode was a 2400 attack point moose human hybrid wearing red mage armor. His antlers were gold and more seemed to be growing out of his back. In his hand he carried a staff with a glowing green orb that floated above it. “When he is special summoned, his effect lets me special summon any of my Gladiator Beast fusion monsters in my extra deck ignoring the summoning conditions. So come on back Gyzarus!” Editor trusted his staff forwards and proceeded to make a circular motion with it. A portal quickly appeared in which Gyzarus soon stepped out of before taking to the air above them again. “And you remember what he does when he is special summoned, right Mac?”

Mac gritted his teeth, but did not answer. Instead he watched helplessly as Gyzarus created two more spears of light and launched them at Silent Magician LVL 8 and Silent Swordsman LVL 5. Neither monster could do anything to save themselves as they were both pierced there the chests before being destroyed, leaving only Silent Magician LVL 4 on the field.

“Now I send Augustus, Darius, and Gyzarus back to the deck to perform another fusion summoning,” continued Forge, much to the evident shock of Big Mac. “Ancient battles that never cease. Weakened and tired, he will call out for help when needed. Fusion Summon Gladiator Beast Andabata!” Appearing now on the field was a creature that looked like a human pterodactyl minus the wings. In their place was something that could have been high tech cannons. His armor looked more high tech than the previous Gladiator Beasts but still used a shield and sword to do battle. His attack was 1000. “Like Editor, this guy can bring out a fusion Gladiator Beast while ignoring the summoning condtions. However he is limited to level 7 and below. Good thing I have just the guy for the job. My green bird of destruction: Gyzarus!”

“Not again!” yelled Mac as Gyzarus appeared on the field again. Forge watched as Mac trembled a bit while Gyzarus took to the air before destroying Silent Magician LVL 4 and his trap card. When he was finished, Gyzarus landed on the ground with a thud.

“Now I attack,” said Forge as he stared at Mac. Mac stood there, looking at his hand to see if there was anything he could use at this moment to protect him. But clearly there was nothing he could do. Andabata attacked first, slashing his sword across Mac’s chest to drop him to 6000. Then flew in Gyzarus, golden spear of light in hand which was quickly trusted into Mac’s chest. The older man yelled out as he was pushed back against the workbench, the old tool box falling to the ground as his life points dropped to 3600. Last came Editor, whose staff smacked Mac across the cheek and dropped his life points to 1200. By the time it was over, Mac had fallen to his knees and was panting heavily.

“Now that my battle phase is done, I have the option of sending my fusion monsters back to my deck in order to special summon Gladiator Beasts from my deck,” continued Forge. “I return Andabata to special summon two Gladiator Beasts. I choose Laquari and Retiari!” Once again the tiger man appeared on the field in attack mode along with a lizard man holding a trident whose attack points were 1200. “When Retiari is special summoned due to the effect of a Gladiator Beast I can banish one monster in your graveyard. So say goodbye to Silent Magician LVL 8.” Big Mac gritted his teeth as his card was ejected from the graveyard slot before being placed in his back pocket.

“Ya done yet?” asked Mac, soreness in his voice.

“No, I have one more move,” replied Forge as he removed Laquari, Retiari, and Gyzarus from his monster tray. “One more fusion summon. He who has mastered all weapons in the Coliseum. He who can withstand any challenger. Step into the arena and face your challenger! Fusion Summon Gladiator Beast Heraklinos!” Falling to the ground and landing on one knee was a lion man with more armor than any other monster Forge had summoned so far. With 3000 attack points he seemed to have thicker armor than most Gladiator Beasts. On his back was a pair of glowing green wings and he held a heavy axe in one hand while in the other was a shield that looked like a turtle’s shell with blasters attached to it. “I end my turn.”

“Ah draw,” announced Mac. He looked at the card he had just drawn, smiled, and quickly placed it in his spell and trap card zone. “Ah activate the card Dark Hole to destroy everything on the field! Ah’m taking back this here duel right now!”

“No, you’re not,” said Forge simply as he discarded a card from his hand. “The effect of Heraklinos lets me discard a card from my hand to negate the activation of a spell or trap card and then destroy it.”

“No,” whispered Mac. He then looked at his hand for a moment and then, with a heavy heart, placed a hand over his deck signaling his surrender.

“Well now, wasn’t that a sight,” came a voice off to the side causing both men to jump slightly. Then turned to see Applejack standing at the doorway with a smile on her face. “Good ta see ya both getting’ along finally. Beginning ta think something was wrong with the two of ya given the way ya look at each other. Nothing like a good old duel to help patch the gap.”

“Y-Yeah,” said Forge as he looked over at Mac. The older man said nothing, only sighing before giving him a nod. Seeing this, Forge approached Applejack while he pulled out the tickets. “Ah, Applejack, I wanted to give you these yesterday but…well…if you want them.”

“What the?” began Applejack as she took them in her hand. “Group tickets to the medieval fair this weekend?”

“Y-Yeah,” stammered Forge as he watched her examine them. “I’m working there this weekend selling some of the sword I made and doing a couple of demonstrations. Each one is good for four people so you could bring your friends. And maybe, while you’re there, we could spend some time together. Maybe just the…two of us?” As he said this, Forge knew his cheeks were burning red. As where AJ’s as her eyes widened in realization at what he was asking. Slowly a smile crept onto her face as the redness of her cheeks darkened.

“Ah’d love ta sugarcube,” she said, her smile slightly awekard but no less genuine. “Never knew ya had…well…”

“I did,” said Forge quickly. “I mean, I have and still do. I mean…”

Mac let out a loud sigh. “Applejack, ya sure this is a good idea?” Forge’s eyes widened as he turned to look at Mac. What was he doing? He had won the duel. He had been allowed to ask Applejack out fair and square. So what was he doing now? But just as soon as those thoughts entered his head, he realized the truth. He had only been allowed to ask her out. He had never added the condition that Mac couldn’t talk her out of it. Drat.

“Why’s that?” asked Applejack, a frown appearing on her face as she stepped past Forge. “Ya saying Ah’m not allowed ta date or anything like that? Well?”

“Not that,” said Mac as AJ placed her hands on her hips, giving her brother the stink eye as she did so. “It’s just…Ah’m just worried about ya, that’s all. Ya do so much already. Ya go ta school, work at the mall, work here, ya play in a band, and still do things ta help out those friends of yours. Ah…Ah’m just afraid that ya might trying pushin’ yourself to throw dating into the mix and might be more than ya can handle. Just sayin’ ya should rest up a bit.”

“Oh,” replied AJ as both she and Forge were taken aback by this. “Well maybe these dates will let me have a break. If it goes anywhere, ya know.”

“And maybe I can help out,” said Forge. “Like help you out from time to time or just meeting up at a concert or something.”

“An if its too much for me,” continued AJ as she looked at Forge. “We could take a small break. No hard feelings?”

“None at all,” he replied, stealing a brief glance at Big Mac who gave a short and silent nod.

Author's Notes:

Sorry if this one was short. The thing is that the plot was light and we may not see Forge again so I didn't want to dwell on it too much. However if people like him he will show up a few more times.

For Big Macs deck, this seemed obvious to me. We have seen in at least two episodes that there is a part of Mac that longs for magic: Do Princesses Dream of Magical Sheep and Dungeons and Discord. Heck his O&O character is a unicorn who weilds a massive blade. That along with him being a mostly silent character on the show led me to believe that this was the deck for him

Bad Smile (Pinkie vs. Limestone)

“Pie Family Countertops,” said Limestone Pie as she sat behind the desk of her family’s business with the phone pressed against her ear. Briefly she shifted a tad so that she could rest the phone against her ear, secretly wishing her parents would authorize funds to get a freaking Bluetooth so she could more easily use the PC. You know multitasking? Sadly her parents, who technically still owned the business, were on the slow track to modernizing. It took a whole year of Limestone doing everything in her power to convince them to get a website! “This is Limestone Pie speaking. How may I help you?”

“Hello, I’m, ah, you see my mother’s birthday is coming up,” began the voice on the other end, causing Limestone to roll her eyes. This was one of the things she hated about running the business from this end. She could deal with the gruff looking men who delivered the sheets of stone to their lot which she and her sisters would cut up before installing for the customers. She could manage her irritation as people came in to ‘just browse’ as they went up and down the showroom where she now sat, looking at all the samples of the materials they used before going home. Ok, it got on her nerves a little bit when people complained about the prices and tried to get a better deal. But this? She didn’t care about the why someone was buying from them or their life story! If you wanted to buy something from them all Limestone cared about was if they could pay!

“Well, my daddy and me thought she might like some custom made countertops,” continued the voice on the other line as Limestone checked out the family’s website. She could see that several people had sent left messages for her, but they were all ‘do you do installations’. Seriously, was there anyone who read the site? It wasn’t like they didn’t say it at the top of the page! “We were thinking marble if you had any.”

Ok, that got Limestone’s attention. “Yes, we do,” she said while dollar bill signs appeared in her eyes for a hot second. “As the city’s number one supplier, we offer a wide variety of colors and patterns to match just about any kitchen or bathroom. And with our new payment plan it will be easier on your wallet. All I need to do is check your credit history and-”

“Actually, I was thinking we’d just pay in cash,” interrupted the person on the other line causing Limestone to pause. Oh, cold hard cash. So much better than credit.

“That’s fine,” said Limestone. “If that’s the case, why don’t you and your father come down to the shop. Here you can see all the samples we have to offer as well as see how they feel to the touch. Then we can go over costs. The only thing you’ll need is the measurements for the counter space.”

“Oh,” said the voice on the other line. “Would we really need to do that?”

Limestone frowned again, taking a hand off the keyboard to rub her forehead. “Yes, you would,” she said trying her best not to sound as annoyed as she felt right now. “Once you picked out the marble, we’re going to need to know the size and dimensions of the final product so it will fit nicely into your home. If you really don’t want to come down, then you would have to use the website in which case we would accept credit or digital check.”

“Well, daddy was hoping you would come to us,” explained the voice, sounding a little worried. “He wants to see the samples in the kitchen so we can get a better idea what will look good and what won’t. Plus we don’t have anything to measure with.” Getting more annoyed with this call, Limestone was about to tell her that they didn’t do home calls. To just take her smart phone into the kitchen or whatever, pull up the website, and get an idea like that. There was no need for her to waste her time heading out like that! But all those thoughts were silenced by what the caller said next. “Of course we’ll pay extra for the inconvenience as well as any travel costs. Would an extra thousand cover it?”

“Of course!” said an excited Limestone as she quickly pulled out a pen and spare piece of paper. “Just give me the address and I’ll be right down.”

About a minute later, Limestone was locking up the store and putting up a ‘Stepped out for a bit’ sign. She had also changed outfit at a remarkable speed. Before she had worn torn jeans and a blouse, stuff that she didn’t think anyone would mind seeing either on the floor or at the local club scene. Now was a different matter as she wore her best steel grey suit with matching jacket, minus a tie. On her shoulder was a strap attached to a binder full of color samples, with the word Marble written on the outside. She had thought about bringing a few other sample cases, but carrying just one of these was enough to put some strain on her back. Plus these samples were expensive, the stuff in the book accumulating into at least three thousand dollars. It was one of the reasons why the binder was kept on the premises at all times. Limestone, however, felt that this was more than a good enough reason to break said rule.

While dimming the light and locking up, she wished that there was someone else who could watch things around here for her. However, since this was a family owned and operated business, her choices were very few. Both her parents were out speaking with suppliers, leaving her to run things until they returned. As for Maud, she didn’t really work at the family business anymore. Ever since she got her fancy degree she had become busy with her work at the museum, talking to little kids about fossils and the like. Or something like that.

That left her with two choices and both were out of the question. Marble Pie was not the most social person in the world. She would only work in the back, cutting up the material rather than dealing with other people. In a way, she was the lucky one since she didn’t have to deal with other people…at all. She worked by herself and only ever talked to members of the family. While it seemed nice, Limestone knew that she had to deal with things she didn’t want to if she was going to truly take over the family business when her parents retired. As for Marble, she had been in charge of the floor and phone once. To say it didn’t go so well was an understatement.

Then there was Pinkie…

Speaking of the Discord, Limestone saw Pinkie as she exited the side door and locking it behind her. The bright pink pie sister was sitting on the porch (their house being directly next to the shop) dressed in her diner shop blue dress and apron, strapping on her roller blades with that ‘without a care’ smile of hers. If Marble was too antisocial for the job than Pinkie Pie was too excitable and friendly for the job. True she helped out the family plenty of times planning tent parties to attract potential new clients and the like. But trying to have her fill out forms or sitting still long enough for someone to fill out the paperwork was like asking for a miracle.

“Hey sis,” said Pinkie when she noticed Limestone. Waving excitedly, Pinkie leapt to her feet before rolling over to Limestone with her hands behind her back. “What’cha doing? Heading out for some coffee or something? If you want I can get you some. I’ve got some time before I head off to work.”

“No,” said Limestone quickly. She had had too many experiences of Pinkie getting them coffee. Most of the time it was 50% coffee and 50% percent sugar. “I’m in a bit of a hurry. Meeting with a client whose going to be paying cash.”

“Cash?” echoed Pinkie, tilting her head and looking utterly confused.

“Yep,” said Limestone as she pulled out the keys to her car with rested in the parking lot. With the push of a button, she started up her lime green car allowing for the AC to begin blasting. Sure it wasn’t the warmest day ever, but she preferred to ride cooled. “I’m heading over there right now. They’re paying me an extra thousand dollars just to meet them at their home! I cash! In fact, they’re paying it all in cash.” As Limestone reached for the car door, Pinkie swiftly snatched the address from her hand. “Hey, give that back!”

Pinkie said nothing, she just stared at the paper with a worried look that irritated Limestone to no end! Gritting her teeth, she reached out to try and grab the paper but Pinkie, using physics known only to her, managed to roll out of the way with seeming to move any part of her body. Limestone reached for it again with the same result, Pinkie moving just out of her reach without looking up from the paper.

“Limestone, are you sure you got the right address?” asked Pinkie. “I’m pretty sure I did a ‘Sorry You’re Leaving the Neighborhood Party’ for the family that used to live there last week. I think it was the Pickle Family. They had this dog named after a piece of meat. I think his name was-”

“Your point?” growled Limestone as she reached for the paper again, this time managing to get it out of her sister’s hold.

“Well, I haven’t thrown a ‘Welcome to the Neighborhood Party’ for that house yet,” explained Pinkie. “As far as I know, no one has bought it yet.”

“Again, your point?” growled Limestone.

“I just think it’s weird,” said Pinkie, a worried look coming over her face. “I mean, countertops are expensive. And they’re paying it all in cash? Plus getting you to come to them alone? This just smells bad. Worse than that time I left a couple of large tuna out in the sun to soak with garlic and compost.” Limestone remembered that time all too well. so well in fact that a hand flew up to cover her mouth, even though the scent had long since passed. No one knew what had compelled Pinkie to do that, even to this day.

As Limestone gulped, doing her best to push back the horrid memory from her mind, a small voice inside her agreed with the insane pink one. Yes, this did feel odd. In fact, it felt very odd. As long as Limestone had been helping run the family business, she had never once met a person who was willing to pay in cash. She had heard her parents talk about it before, but had never seen it. Nor had she met someone so willing to get her to come over to their house. Willing to pay a thousand dollars just so they didn’t have to leave the house? Well that did throw up some red flags.

However, Limestone dug in her heels. “It’ll be fine,” she said as she made her way to the car. Pinkie tried to grab a hold of her, yet because of her skates Limestone was able to just push her away. With Pinkie rolling backwards, the more aggressive sister was able to get in the car and out of the driveway, tires screeching as she did so. For several long moments, Limestone was able to see Pinkie keeping up in the rearview mirror. That is until she put more pressure on the pedal. Then Pinkie was nothing more than a pink dot in the background and nothing at all.

For several long minutes, Limestone drove well above the speed limit all to make sure that her sister wasn’t following her. ‘There’s nothing to worry about,’ thought Limestone as she drew closer to her destination. The houses she began to pass changed from your average, well to do homes to the ‘we’re stinking rich and we want everyone to know it’ type of homes. Many of them with three stories, large lawns that would take a day to mow without a riding mower, and just looked like you would have to sell both your soul and your first born child’s just to rent a single room for an hour. To add to it, many of these homes had those very expensive cars parked in their driveways as if to show them off to any passerby. Yeah, it was that kind of neighborhood.

‘Nothing to worry about,’ thought Limestone as she began to relax a bit, slowing down her speed to avoid getting a ticket. ‘Probably meeting with some rich jerk whose just used to people coming to him. Or maybe some guy who won the lottery, cashed it all, and is trying to upgrade. Who knows?’ Shrugging to herself, Limestone let out a sigh. ‘Yeah, Pinkie is just jumping at shadows. With all that ‘magic’ or whatever going on with her life and dealing with who knows what has made her paranoid. There can’t be a threat hidden behind every door or whatever.’

For a while, Limestone was able to enjoy the car ride in almost complete silence. But when she arrived at her destination, some of that dread began to return with renewed force. The house was in good shape, a three story building with a large arch-like entryway and painted bright white. But the lawn looked like it hadn’t been touched in some time, with bits of trash scattered about it. As Limestone pulled into the driveway, she could see through the large windows that there was nothing inside. No couches, no chandler, no anything. Just white walls and ceiling from what she could tell. What’s more the ‘For Sale’ sign was still firmly planted in the group.

After parking her car, Limestone pulled out the directions to make sure she had gotten them right. She had, leading her to two possibilities and both were very likely. One was that someone had really, really recently bought the house. Perhaps they were super excited to get started making it their own or they were going to fix it up more before putting it back on the market. Yet offering to pay with cash? The other option was that this was all some sort of prank. A joke that she fell for hook, line, and sinker.

“Well, gone this far,” muttered Limestone with a frown, unbuckling her safety belt as she did so. “Might as well knock on the door. I swear, if this is a prank…” She let the threat hang as she opened the door; not wanting any passerby hearing what she would crush if given the chance.

Calmly she got out of the car, doing her best to keep her expression soft despite the anger and embarrassment she felt inside her, and approached the door. A door that seemed to open by itself as she drew nearer.

-x-

Pinkie Pie let out a sigh as she rested her head on the counter of the restaurant, her normally poofy hair laying flat. Through half lidded eyes she watched as her co-workers skated about the place, taking orders with friendly expressions or delivering their orders. The place was full enough to the point where they weren’t dead but not full enough to make her feel bad about not helping. Nor was she hearing anyone complaining about it. There seemed to be a silent agreement between them that Pinkie was allowed to wait on the sidelines until her smile came back.

But for the last hour and a half, nothing had changed. All she could do was think about Limestone.

The bell over the door rang again, signaling that someone had either entered or left. There was a brief flash of purple and the colors of bacon causing her head to rise just as two of her friends sat down in front of her. Sunset was looking extra, super duper happy right now. So much so that her pupils had turned into large stars and her cheeks had puffed up. Weird, she thought she was the only one who could do that.

“Hey Pinkie,” said Twilight as she sat down. As she did, Twilight reached out a hand to grab Sunset by the arm and guided her to the chair next to her.

“Ah, what happened to Sunset?” asked Pinkie as she lifted her head off the counter.

“The ban list just updated,” said Twilight while at the same time Sunset let out a squeal of joy.

“It finally happened,” exclaimed Sunset as she brought both her arms in front of her chest and began to wiggle. “Finally, after so long Rekindling is back to three! I have been waiting for this day for like forever. At last my deck can use its powers to its full advantage!”

Twilight rolled her eyes as she placed her elbow on the counter and then propping her head on top of an open palm. “Yeah, and meanwhile Genex still don’t have any new support. I swear they’re not reading my emails at all.” She then let out a sigh. “Well, anyways, I thought we could come here to celebrate and check in on you. We just heard about Applejack’s date and…” Pinkie watched as Twilight did a double take, her eyes widening as she did so. Her gaze was fixed on Pinkie who, upon nothing this, did her best to force herself to smile. However, that smile was the fakest of all fakes. She knew it and more than likely Twilight knew it.

“Pinkie, is everything ok?” asked Twilight. The worried tone she used seemed to reach Sunset because at that moment, she seemed to come back to earth from whatever realm of happiness she had been in.

“Oh of course I’m fine,” said Pinkie as she waved it off. For a moment, they all remained where they were staring at each other before the pink one sighed. “Not buying it huh.”

“Not really,” said Twilight.

“Not a chance,” agreed Sunset.

Pinkie let out another sigh. “It’s Limestone,” she explained. “She got this call from someone who lives in a house that hasn’t been sold yet, telling her to they want to buy counters with cash and that they wanted her to come to them for extra thousand dollars. It just feels…off.”

“WHAT!?!” shouted both of Pinkie’s friends, causing said pink girl to jump in surprise.

“That has to be the most obvious trap I’ve ever heard in my life!” shouted Sunset. “I can remember back when I was living in Equestria Princess Celestia had me read this book about the ways Diamond Dogs kidnapped ponies. Or at least tried to. They would leave a trail of diamonds and gems towards a spooky, dark where they would ambush them. Only they rarely got anyone because nopony was that stupid to fall for such an obvious trap!”

“Anyone with common sense would think that this was suspicious,” agreed Twilight. “Please tell me you did something Pinkie.”

“Yeah, I did,” said Pinkie as she slumped back onto the counter. “I called my parents and they told me not to worry. That they were going to call her and if she didn’t answer they would call the police. I also called Maud to see what she thinks. She agrees with our parents.”

“Well, I’m going to call Shining Armor just to be on the safe side,” said Twilight as she pulled out her phone. “If something is going on then every second co-” Twilight was cut off as something began to beep in her pocket. For a moment she sat there, as if frozen by the noise while her pupils contracted. She looked…scared. And her fear seemed to infect the other two without knowing why.

Slowly, Twilight reached into her pocket with a shaky hand to pull out what was making the noise. When Pinkie saw it she became confused. It was Twilight’s magic detecting thingy. But why would that cause her to be scared? All it did was detect when other people were using magic and…oh. Now she understood.

Slowly Twilight opened it and her eyes widened. “Pinkie,” Twilight said in little more than a whisper. “I think we better get to your place. Right now.”

-x-

The door to the Pie family business was wide open when Pinkie, Sunset, and Twilight arrived. That alone was odd since Pinkie’s parents had drilled it into the heads of all four sisters to keep the doors closed at all times. But to make matters worse, there was no alarm going off nor had her phone alerted her to a break in.

“Limestone,” called out Pinkie. With a doughnut in hand, ready to infuse it with magic in case she needed to blast some creepy person, she walked in through. All around her were displays of various counters that they made, as well as designer sinks and the like, with their prices on display. In the back of the room was a desk were Limestone normally sat, doing sales. Near it was a door that lead into their parents office which had been left ajar. Even though the lights were off and it was dark inside, all three girls could make out movement.

“Limestone,” called out Pinkie again, a tremble in her voice now. She quickly glanced behind her to see her friend. Sunset was holding Twilight’s device which was beeping at them rapidly. Whatever the magic was, it was close. As for Twilight, she was focusing on her own geode in case her own brand of magic was needed.

A rustle was then heard in front. Looking forward, Pinkie saw Limestone standing in the doorway in a way that made Pinkie drop her doughnut. Her sister stood there with her suit looking disheveled, as if she had been in some sort of fight or something. In one hand was a small sack, like the one her parents kept in the safe in the office. She knew that they always kept a large sum of money in there for emergencies or in case someone did pay in cash. It was always kept there until the end of the week before all the extra proceeds went to the bank. No doubt Limestone had taken it from the safe.

But that wasn’t the reason that caused Pinkie such alarm. No, it was the fact that Limestone was smiling. With eyes wider than anything that Pinkie had ever seen her sister have before, she smiled a big fake toothed smile at them. Like she was being forced to do that or something. As a person who loved to see people happy and smiling, she could tell that Limestone’s heart wasn’t in it. Probably because of the thing on Limestone’s neck. It was a large mass of pinkish purple and a few other spots of color on it, with tentacles wiggling around. Pinkie could see that in the area around Limestone’s neck where it was attached there were heavy veins visible under the skin.

“Are you girls seeing this?” gasped Twilight.

Sunset placed a hand over her mouth. “I wish I wasn’t.”

“Hello sister,” said Limestone as she walked forward. Her smile never wavered even as she dropped the bag next to her. “You’re home early.”

“W-What happened to you?!” demanded Pinkie. “What’s that thing on your neck?”

“Oh, you can see it?” asked Limestone, a bit of surprise in her voice. “Funny, nobody else could see it. Isn’t it nice?” Calmly, she petted the thing as if it were some sort of cat or dog. In response the…thing made a gurgling noise that caused all the other girls to cringe. “My new friend gave me this and now everything is wonderful. I don’t have to worry about anything anymore. There’s no anger, uncertainty, or anything else that might trouble me. I now know my place in the world. Just doing what I’m told to do. Soon everyone will be like this. No more fighting or hating each other. We’ll all be the same, united in friendship. Isn’t that nice?”

“Ah noooooo,” said Pinkie as she stepped forward. “That isn’t friendship at all. That’s, like, slavery. Who in their right mind would think that’s a good idea? It’s like saying killing half of all life everywhere would save the universe or something.”

“You think that way now,” said Limestone as the thing on her neck began to pulse rapidly. “But don’t worry. As your sister, I’ll help you and your friends to understand. Just let me transfer all of our families funds to an offshore account. My friend needs it to help her start the new world order.”

“Again: NO!” yelled Pinkie. “You’ve wanted your whole life to take over the family business for mom and dad. I can’t let you throw away all of your hard work because some big meanie is controlling you.”

Limestone was silent for a moment…but the thing on her neck wasn’t. It began to pulsate vulgarly and oozing some sort of slime from the ends of its tentacles. Pinkie could hear Sunset falling to her knees while making a gagging sound. As for Twilight, she had pulled out another device from her pocket which she shoved into Pinkie’s hand. Looking down, it looked like a smart phone…but with a deck and graveyard slot? There was also another space sort of like an indent as if she were supposed to put something in there.

“Put your geode right here,” said Twilight quickly. Pinkie looked at her for a moment before shrugging and doing what she was told. As soon as the gem was in the slot, a dome of cotton candy pink energy surrounded the magical stone while the rest of the device came to life. It soared from her hands and attached itself to her wrist. Once attached, five balloons made of energy appeared on one side of it starting with yellow then blue and then back to yellow.

As Pinkie stared at it, the thing on Limestone’s neck divided. While the mass still on Limestone’s neck began to replenish itself, the part that had split off launched itself away from her and towards Pinkie. On instinct, Pinkie raised her arms to shield herself. But the thing never touched her. All of the girls watched as a pink bubble of energy suddenly appeared in the air while Pinkie’s geode glowed brighter. As the mass vanished, so too did the bubble.

“Twilight, what is this?” asked Pinkie as she moved her arm around, surprised that it made a noise like a lightsaber.

“This is the new magical duel disk I’ve been working on since we last ran into Cinch,” said Twilight with a hint of pride in her voice. “Model 275 is powered by our geodes and will protect our magic whenever someone like Cinch tries to steal it. My theory was that the magic of our gems would be filtered into the holograms giving us both protection from other sources of Equestrian magic as well as the ability to fight them. So far, the theory seems to be holding up. On another positive side, using the gems to power the hard light technology has made the device far lighter.”

Pinkie Pie blinked at her friend. “And you just happened to have this on you right now?” she asked.

Twilight blushed. “Actually I was hoping to get some real world field tests in soon,” she said. “So I’ve been carrying it around with me since I finished it. Right now I’m just glad it hasn’t exploded.”

“Works for me,” said Pinkie in a chipper tone as she slid her deck into the slot. At once the auto-shuffler activated, shuffling the cards in her deck while the screen showed off her life points. “So all I have to do is duel my sister, beat her, and she’ll be free of that mean old nasty thing controlling her. Right?”

“Well, I hope so,” Twilight admitted. “Like I said, it hasn’t gone through any testing since I haven’t been able to find a suitable subject afflicted my Equestrian magic. But it should work in theory.”

“Alright then,” said Pinkie as she took a stance, determination in her eyes. “Limestone, get your game on!” Everyone, including Limestone and the creature on her neck, made a groaning sound.

“Very well then,” said Limestone as she pulled out her own duel disk. “I’ll defeat you so I can continue helping out my friend. Then, maybe we can all become friends. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

“Connecting,” said a female mechanical voice from their duel disks. “Opponents found. Displaying order now.” In the middle of the room appeared a flat holographic image of a portrait, one side showing a happy and smiling Pinkie Pie while the other showing a snarling Limestone. The image began to spin round and round, faster and faster as their duel disks shuffled their decks at an equally quick speed. Eventually the portrait stopped spinning, ending on Pinkie.

“Don’t worry Limestone,” said Pinkie as she drew a full hand of six cards. “I’ll save you and put a real smile on your face. And it looks like I’ve got the perfect card to start: Toon Table of Contents. This spell card lets me add any Toon card from my deck to my hand.” As Pinkie inserted the spell card into her new duel disk, a large cartoonish book appeared in front of her. At once the tome opened out, creating a cloud of dust that flew up into the air. Yet Pinkie didn’t seem to mind it at all. Instead she ran a finger down the wording. “Personally, I think this card should be renamed Toon TV Guide or something like that. Oh well.” She then suddenly pulled a card which glowed a golden hue out of the book. Once it was in the air the book slammed shut while the text of the card could now be seen.

“The card I picked will take us to the happiest place in the world: Toon Kingdom!” exclaimed Pinkie happily as she played the card. When she did, the floor beneath them transformed into a book which suddenly opened up and propelled them into the air for a brief moment. As all four girls fell down onto paper, a large pop up castle appeared behind Pinkie with balloons and confetti flying about the place. “But to activate it, I sadly have to say goodbye to the top three cards in my deck, banishing them face down. It’s sad. Three smiles we’ll never get to see. The upside is that this card counts as Toon World while on the field.

“Next I special summon Toon Mermaid in attack mode,” continued Pinkie as she placed one of her cards on top of one of the balloons. On the field appeared a giant white clam with cartoonish eyeballs on top of it. The shell opened up to reveal a giggling mermaid with green hair along with a bow and arrow. It had an attack of 1400. “But she won’t be alone because I’ll also be normal summoning Toon Masked Sorcerer.” Bouncing onto the field was a figure in a red robe with extra long fingers. Unlike the fleshy fingers, the monster looked like its face was made out of metal or was wearing an iron mask. A mask that did not prevent him from showing off his own toothy smile as well as the extra large eyes. His attack points were 900.

“Since I can’t attack, I’ll set one teensy weensy card face down and end my turn,” finished Pinkie Pie. Her final card appeared on the field, leaving her with just two cards in her hand.

“I draw then,” said Limestone who grinned the entire time. She briefly looked at the six cards in her hand before setting two in her spell and trap card zone. “First I’ll set these two cards and then summon Alpha the Electromagnetic Warrior in attack mode!” Appearing on the field was a slender figure whose body looked like it was made out of grey minerals. Horseshoe-shaped magnets decorated the monster’s body including on top of its head. In one hand it hand a shield while in the other it carried a staff or spear with coils wrapped around it. As sparks flew across its body, all three girls could see it had 1700 attack points. More than enough to deal with either of Pinkie’s monsters.

“When this monster is normal or special summoned, I can add one level eight Magna Warrior from my deck to my hand,” explained Limestone as she began to search her deck. “So I choose Valkyrion the Magna Warrior.” Limestone then paused for a moment as the thing on her neck began to make louder squishing noises. Then she looked up at Pinkie, her smile growing wider. “Now I will attack! Alpha, destroy her Masked Sorcerer!” The current of electrical power in Alpha’s weapon increased right before it leapt into the air. Once it was overhead, it appeared to the three Rainbooms that lightning was striking the weapons.

“Oh no you don’t,” said Pinkie as she removed the top card from her deck. “Toon Kingdom has the power to prevent one of my adorable toons from being destroyed by battle or card effect. All I have to do is remove the top card from my deck from play.”

“I know,” said Limestone. “But you’ll still take the damage.” With that, Alpha’s weapon landed on Pinkie’s toon. The Masked Sorcerer jerked about, its body being surrounded by yellow light with only its skeleton being visible. When the attack ended, its body looked a little charred but still there. As the toon took out a brush to dust itself off, Pinkie’s life points dropped to 7200. “I end my turn.”

“And I begin mine,” said Pinkie as she drew. As she looked at the three cards in her hand Limestone pressed a button on her duel disk.

“I activate the trap card Rock Bombardment,” she said her card flipped face up. “This card lets me send one rock monster in my deck to the grave to inflict 500 points of damage. So I’ll send the original Alpha the Magnet Warrior to the grave. Sorry sis, but those who stand in the way of true friendship will get hurt.” Coming out of the trap card was a single large boulder that shot across the field. Both of Pinkie’s monsters moved in an effort to try and block it only to be flattened as a result. In impacted Pinkie, knocking the air out of her lungs as she fell on her back while her life points dropped to 6700.

“Pinkie,” cried Sunset and Twilight together as they rushed to their friends side. As they knelt beside her both girls could see tiny cuts in her clothing as well as a bit of blood coming out of her mouth.

“It’s just like with Cinch,” exclaimed Sunset in a worried tone. “Whatever Equestrian magic is controlling Limestone is also making the damage real.”

“Pinkie, please,” said Twilight as she checked her friends pulse. Thankfully, Pinkie opened her eyes while coughing loudly.

“Does it hurt?” asked Limestone. Both Sunset and Twilight turned to look at her while Pinkie slowly sat up. While Limestone’s smile remained fixed, there were small traces of tears coming out of her eyes. “It hurt me as well. But I deserved it because I fought back like how you are now. I was too stubborn to see the truth, how all of the world could unite in eternal friendship. But soon you will learn and then you’ll be like me.”

“Pinkie this is dangerous,” said Sunset. Pinkie did not say anything, only getting back onto her feet which looked at little shaky at the moment. “We can go back and get the others. We can pony up and-”

“No,” said Pinkie as she looked intently at her sister. “I’m not that hurt right now. It just caught me off guard. I’ll be fine.”

“But-” began Sunset yet fell silent when Pinkie shook her head.

“I don’t like seeing my sister like this,” she continued. “With that fake smile and that thing controlling her body like that. I bet deep down she’s suffering, being forced to be like that. If I run away right now she’ll have to spend more time like that! So I Pinkie Promise right here and now that no matter how much pain I go through I’ll save her.”

“Are you going to continue or forfeit?” asked Limestone.

Sunset opened her mouth to say something only to have Twilight grab her wrist. “It’s too late to do anything now,” said the purple girl as she pointed to the thing on Limestone’s neck. “If this is anything like the duel we had at Camp Everfree, then I don’t think Pinkie’s life is in danger. But that thing. It already tried launching itself at her once. It might try it again if Pinkie loses or gives up. We have to let her try and stop this.”

“Ok, I tribute my Toon Mermaid in order to special summon Toon Dark Magician Girl in attack mode!” announced Pinkie as her Mermaid vanished in a puff of pink smoke. In its place was the iconic blonde spellcaster, only smaller and more cartoony. It sat upon a floating book with an attack of 2000 attack points. “Sadly, I can’t attack with her on the turn it was special summoned. But what I can do is attack you with Toon Masked Sorcerer. And since you don’t control any Toon monsters he can attack you directly!”

“Before you do that, I activate the quick effect of Alpha the Electromagnetic Warrior,” said Limestone as Pinkie’s Masked Sorcerer pulled out a rather large wand from its robes. “By tributing it, I can special summon any Magnet Warrior in my deck to the field. So I’ll special summon Gamma the Electromagnetic Warrior in defense mode!” Electrical energy began to surround Alpha until it became so bright it was nearly blinding. Several moments later when the light began to dim all the girls saw that a new monster with 2000 defense points was standing on the field. It was a bulky, heavy looking monster with a horseshoe magnet around its neck, magnet bars on its rounded arms, and coils around its circular shoulders. It had no mouth but gazed forward with its yellow eyes.

Pinkie didn’t respond to this, simply allowing her Masked Sorcerer to unleash its attack. The masked toon twirled its wand in his oversized hands sending out stars that looked more like pillows past the Gamma and hitting Limestone. The direct attack looked like it did very little when compared to what Limestone had done to Pinkie, pushing her back a bit while Limestone’s life points fell to 7100.

“Thanks to my Masked Sorcerer’s effect, when he inflicts damage then I get to draw a card,” said Pinkie as she drew. Pinkie then looked at the new card and jumped into the air happily. “All right! I just drew my Toon Dark Magician. And since I haven’t normal summoned yet I’ll tribute both of my toons on the field in order to bring him out so he can play!” Both of Pinkie’s toons puffed out of existence in clouds of smoke and pink bubbles. When the smoke cleared, a small version of the Dark Magician was there, sitting on a floating tome. It’s attack was the same as its original: 2500.

“Pretty neat right,” said Pinkie Pie happily. “Not only is this card super duper cute, but he also has a trick that the original doesn’t have. By discarding a toon card or a Manga Ryu-Ran from my hand I can either special summon any toon from my deck or add any toon spell/trap card from my deck to my hand. So I’ll discard my Toon Defense in order to call up Toon Dark Magician’s BFF: Red Eyes Toon Dragon!” As Pinkie Pie said this last part, she jumped into the air once more and upon landing discarded her card for cost. In response, Toon Dark Magician got to his feet so he was now standing on the book and began to run, the pages flipping instead of tearing as he did so. When he finally stopped, he reached into the book, searched around for a moment as various odd noises were heard (like car crashes and screeching cats) before pulling out a smaller toon version of Red Eyes.

“Oh Pinkie, don’t you know this is all pointless?” asked Limestone as her head jerked to the side. “I’ve dueled you plenty of times before. I know what your desks weakness is. All I have to do is get rid of Toon Kingdom and you’re finished.”

“That’s true~,” replied Pinkie in a sing-song tone. “But I also know what you’re trying to do as well. So right now we’re playing a game to see who stops who first. So I’ll pass it to you for right now.”

“Yes,” said Limestone as she drew a card, making a total of five cards in her hand. “And it looks like you’re too late to stop me because the card I just drew is Beta The Electromagnetic Warrior!” Quickly Limestone slapped the card onto the duel disk causing a light-ish red monster to appear on the field with 1500 attack points. Its limbs were thing, with coils wrapped around them connecting them to the more bulky parts of the body. Horseshoe shaped magnets made up its four digit clawed hands as well as acting like horns on the top of its head. “Now that he’s on the field, I can use his effect to add one Magnet Warrior to my hand. Well, as long as it’s level four or below. So I’ll add my Delta the Magnet Warrior.” Calmly Limestone added the card, her grin never wavering. But her head looked like it was trying to shake ‘no’.

“Now the field is all set,” continued Limestone. “Since I have Alpha, Beta, and Gamma on both my field and graveyard I can remove them from play in order to special summon Berserkion The Electromagnetic Warrior!” Instantly, both of the Electromagnetic Warriors on the field began to break apart while pieces of Alpha shot out of the pages of Pinkie’s book. The parts began to circle and connect around Alpha. Beta began to reinforce its legs while Gamma reinforced its upper body. Alpha’s weapon transformed as well, becoming more sword like with still retaining its magnetic appearance. When it landed, it was a 3000 attack point giant.

“Looks like I win this match,” said Limestone. “Berserkion has the power to banish one level four or lower Magnet Warrior in my graveyard in order to destroy one card you control. And I just so happen to have one. Pity, I was saving Alpha for later but I can’t allow to attack me directly with either of those dumb looking things you call monsters.” At Limestone’s works, both toons began to cry large crocodile tears. Toon Dark Magician even blew his nose on his robes. “Now Berserkion, destroy Toon Kingdom!” Berserkion instantly took a hold of its sword with both hands and plunged it into the pages it was stepping on. While it did, electricity around its body began to grow to the point were the pages caught fire.

“Now destroy Toon Dark Magician,” said Limestone.

“I don’t think so,” said Pinkie as Berserkion raised his sword and looked like it was getting ready to do a running charge. With a press of a button, Pinkie activated her face down trap. Then, something odd happened. Everything and everyone began to float as if gravity had been turned off. Berserkion flew past both Toon Dark Magician and Red Eyes Toon Dragon, both of whom were playing patty cake. As for the girls, Limestone found herself upside down while Pinkie, Twilight, and Sunset were doing their best to keep their skirt up. “Meet my Zero Gravity trap card. The closest thing to being in a bouncy house I could find! Isn’t it the funniest thing ever!”

“Well it is interesting,” said Twilight as she jerked herself to the side. “Seems like the magic isn’t just making the damage feel real, but also some of the effects of the cards. This needs to be studied!”

“I feel sick again,” moaned Sunset right before her cheeks began to bulge.

“Don’t worry, it doesn’t last forever,” said Pinkie. “When it does end, all monsters switch their positions!” As soon as Pinkie said that, gravity returned to normal. Thankfully for the humans they weren’t up that high so no one was hurt…badly. Most of the girls landed on their heads, with Pinkie’s hair acting like a spring to propel her to her feet. Only Twilight landed on her feet naturally. But on the field, all of the monsters there were now in defense mode.

“Fine then,” said Limestone as she managed to get to her feet. “I end my turn there. You go. But know that next turn will be your last!”

“Then I draw,” said Pinkie. As she looked at the card in her hand, her eyes widened. She then looked at the only other card she had…and grinned happily. “Sorry but I have some sweet moves for you. First, I’ll discard my Manga Ryu-Ran in my hand to have Toon Dark Magician search out another copy of Toon Kingdom and add it to my hand! Then I activate it again!” Once more, Pinkie removed the needed cards from on top of her deck from play to bring back goofy pop-up book setting. “Now with this card up, I have everything I need. Except for a card that makes cupcakes. Wouldn’t that be amazing?”

“I see, you plan on attacking me directly now that you have your field spell back,” stated Limestone. “But I’ll still be in the game. Neither of your monsters have enough attack points to finish this. And even if you do special summon another monster, I know for a fact that none of them can attack the turn you summon them.”

“Well that’s true,” admitted Pinkie. “But there is another way to get another monster on the field. Like, oh I don’t know, using a spell card.” Pinkie then placed her card in the proper slot while a giant hand reached out from the castle to grab hold of Berserkion. Limestone’s smile vanished as her monster was dragged back into the castle, kicking and trashing the entire way. Once it was hidden behind the paper walls, construction sounds could be heard along with a cloud of smoke.

“W-What is that?” asked Limestone. “What did you do to my monster?”

“Oh, just a little equip card called Comic Hand,” explained Pinkie. “I can equip it to one of your monsters, take control of it, and it then becomes, wait for it…” At that moment, the drawbridge to the castle came down revealing Berserkion. Only now it was smaller, with large white eyes with pupils and carrying a balloon sword. “A Toon!”

“No,” whispered Limestone as the thing on her neck began to shake wildly. “I still have a trap card. You wouldn’t dare try to attack me. It could wipe out your board!”

“Ah not really,” said Pinkie. “See, I’ve dueled Limestone plenty of times to know that she likes to dump her normal Magnet Warriors into the grave with stuff like Rock Bombardment, Foolish Burial, Delta, and so on. Then she uses her trap: Backup Soldier. Thing is, it can’t be used unless you have at least five monsters in the graveyard. I’m guessing that’s what that card is there. And since you haven’t been able to use it, it just proves that Limestone is fighting you.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Limestone. “I am Limestone. A better Limestone thanks to friendship.”

“Nope,” replied Pinkie simply. “That might be my sister’s body, but I know you’re not her. The real Limestone has been fighting you this entire time. If you were my real sister then you would have been able to use that trap card by now or would have brought out the fusion monster in your extra deck. Plus there’s the fact that I can see it all over her face. She might be trapped behind that fake smile but she’s fighting you with everything she has! Now I’ll set her free with an all out attack!” As Pinkie said this, she pointed at Limestone. Red Eyes Toon Dragon was the first to do so, pulling out a bubble blower and creating tiny red energy bubbles that floated across the field to explode on target; dropping her life points to 4700. Then came Toon Dark Magician, holding his staff out before him and spinning around before falling onto his butt as an energy blast was fired. The attack hit Limestone right in the chest, knocking her down this time while lowering her life points to 2200. Before Limestone could get up, Berserkion had already pounced. The transformed toon thrusted his balloon sword downward, impaling the thing on her neck as her life points dropped to 0.

-x-

“Well the good news is that you don’t die when you lose a duel,” said Twilight. It had been about an hour since Pinkie had finished the duel and now Limestone sat in her chair as Twilight examined her with one of the many devices she was now carrying with her at all times. It was her magical signature device, the one she had used the first time she appeared at Canterlot High to examine the statue. Sure it looked like something straight out of Ghostbusters…because she was a fan of the movie and thought why not. Besides, it wasn’t like its shape interfered with its function. “Or lose your soul or anything like that.”

“Wait,” groaned Limestone as she tried to sit up, Twilight device beeping loudly as she did so. “There was a chance of that happening?!”

“Well I was 99% sure that nobody here would die if they lost the duel,” explained Twilight as she pocketed her device. “I mean, we had run into something like this before and we came out fine. But there was the chance it might have been different. As for the soul thing, the odds of that happening were very, very remote.”

“But you still brought it up,” groaned Limestone.

Twilight coughed into her hand as she looked away for a brief moment. “Let’s not dwell on what might have been or my little slip of the tongue,” she said as she looked back at Limestone. “Do you remember anything at all that happened before you got taken over?”

Limestone leaned back into her seat. “Bit and pieces,” she admitted. “I remember walking into the house, but everything after that is…broken. I can remember words, commands, and watching Pinkie getting hurt. Those were the moments that were the strongest.” She then closed her eyes. “Oh God, I could have really hurt her. Damn it! Why was I so stupid for walking into a trap like that? I should have known better.”

“We all make mistakes,” said Sunset, speaking up for the first time. “Trust me on this.” Twilight turned to look at her, seeing that she hadn’t moved from the spot where Limestone had stood during the duel. She was on her knees, examining the spot with a magnifying glass with the magical journey laid out next to her. New words had been written in, detailing to Princess Twilight what they had experienced and asking if there was any magical items from Equestria that could have done this. Hopefully the Princess would be able to help.

“And we’ll help you get back on your feet,” said Pinkie as she came into the room, carrying a cup of coffee. “I already put the money back into the safe so, hopefully, mom and dad won’t know anything went wrong.” With a smile, Pinkie set the mug down on the counter. “And don’t worry, well find out who did this to you and make sure they don’t do it ever again.”

Limestone gave a small smile at that. “Well, as long as you don’t do it alone…and punch whoever did this in the gut once for me. Promise? Because nobody, and I mean nobody, makes me smile like that and gets away with it. My cheeks are still sore!”

“Pinkie Promise,” said Pinkie.

-x-

Elsewhere, a girl walked down a cold and lonely street all by herself. The sun was beginning to set while the street lamps began to glow. The wind blew, creating a soft chill that the girl ignored.

Things did not go according to plan. The target had been a bust. She had thought it would be easy. That if she went after a larger company, there would be more safeguards in place to keep company money from just flowing out into her account. Not to mention the retribution that would follow her even if the person she befriended was caught. A smaller company wouldn’t have the same resources and shouldn’t be able to do anything to her with all their funds gone. But it hadn’t worked. Something, somehow had stopped the power she had learned to master. Perhaps there was someone in this town with powers similar to her own.

That thought caused her to freeze on the spot. Other people like her? That might change things, but what should she do? She could run away from them before she was found out. There she could work on the new world order of friendship without having to deal with obstacles like that. Or there might be many more out there who could oppose her. No, that won’t do. She needed to nip this in the bud so that perfect unity and friendship could spread across the world. A world where everything was equal.

Whether people wanted it or not.

Author's Notes:

This chapter was more about story progression than duel. Even so, I feel like I should have done better.

Anyways: decks!

Limestone: Magnet Warrior. To be honest, there isn't a lot of rock decks out there. The only other one I really know about is the rock flip deck. That however did not fit Limestone in my opinion. I might have Limestone duel again in the future, but not for some time

Pinkie Pie: Toons. When I first started this, I hadn't read many MLP/Yugioh stories. There have been other Yugioh stories where she has a Toon deck, enough to make me consider a Ghostrick deck just to do something different. But in the end I went against it.

Next time will be either Applejack or Fluttershy. Haven't decided

Nightmare at the Animal Shelter (Fluttershy vs. ?)

In the upper west side of Canterlot, a figure paced across the room of one of the most high end apartment buildings one could get. With a doorman who stood outside in all sorts of weather to greet residents, modern art in the hallways that changed every year as the art world changed, employees to help the residents to bring their bags to their penthouse apartments, and so forth it was seen as the envy of anyone who didn’t own a mansion. That same modern charm carried into this figure’s room, filled with modern day furniture that looked expensive (and not at all comfortable) to sit on. On the walls were pictures of the figure, standing alone while blowing kisses at the camera. The ‘hip’ lamps were all turned off despite the hour of the night, allowing only the weak moonlight to guide the figures steps as well as the light of her phone. Said phone sat on the glass coffee table by a stack of letters that read ‘Final Notice’ in big red letters with the icons of various banks and credit cards on them.

Yet the figure was not focused on these important looking letters. Instead it was the phone that commanded all of the attention much like how a hawk eyes a mouse. Or rather, what was on the phone’s screen. It was MyStable. That figure’s account displayed. And it didn’t look good. Pictures and comments were getting very few likes now, only slightly above the number of views they were receiving. The number of followers having shrunken drastically over the course of a few months all because of one group.

The figure stopped for a moment, staring into the darkness as visions of their demise flashed about. All of them reduced to nothing, out on the streets and having to wear garbage. Seeing all of them behind bars for some reason. Death? Well, wouldn’t have been the first time the figure thought about the end to another existence without caring too much about it. The figure had even stated it didn’t matter to one of the Rainbooms.

A ding caught the figures attention, causing the daydreams to end in a flash. There was a message! A direct message after so long! Moving quickly, the figure moved to pick up the phone to see that it was from GloomySiren. Whoever he or she was, the figure didn’t care, opening up the private message with a single well trained finger. The message was…interesting to say the least. Scanning the words quickly, it promised the figure a second chance. A chance to return to the top of the social media scene while getting some payback. The where and how were all neatly detailed, going after the weakest of the Rainbooms.

-x-

A few days later found Fluttershy hard at work within the Canterlot Animal Shelter. While the day was bright and sunny, a perfect day to spend with her friends, the things needed to be done at the shelter were far more pressing to her. Since arriving at the wee hours of the morning she had already cleaned all of their cages, fed all the animals, refilled their water, checked to see if any of them were sick and taking care of the ones who were feeling a little under the weather, cleaning up their droppings in the backyard, mopping the floors, cleaning the counters, and doing all of this by herself. Well, that wasn’t entirely truthful. Ever since she got her magic, she had been able to ask some of the animals around the shelter for their help. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that she did this without any human help. The only other person she usually saw was not the old man who ran the place but rather it was the local vet who stopped by once a day to check up on old Teddy, a boxer hound who needed more attention than Fluttershy was legally able to give. Beyond that, she was here all alone.

Which was fine with her. While Fluttershy did love spending time with her friends, there were times when they became too hectic for her tastes. Like when Pinkie Pie would go all out with her parties and noise making or Rainbow Dash trying to turn everything into a contest. Not to mention when they went out to crowded places that caused her to feel a little nervous. And all that was before the magical incidents became an almost weekly thing! Now even Duel Monsters was becoming magical, with its own set of dangers. She still got shivers just thinking about the duel at Camp Everfree where Twilight and Sunset got hurt, receiving actual injuries from it! As for what happened to Pinkie Pie just last week, that caused her to cry most of the night. So it was no wonder Fluttershy wanted to spend time at her happy place. With just her, her animal friends, and songs that escaped from her lips with no one else around. Here she could sing as much as she wanted, by herself, without anyone watching her. Or judging her. Or watching her and silently judging her.

At once, the peaceful world of the shelter vanished around her. Now Fluttershy stood upon a stage with a mic in her hands. She looked at it in confusion before turning to see that she was alone. Her friends were not there to back her up or to distract everyone from her presence. Turning her head forward now, the young teen saw that there was a crowd unlike any she had seen before. It wasn’t the reasonable size of the school but instead millions upon millions of people staring at her. Trembling, Fluttershy began to back up as they all seemed ready to boo while their eyes began to glow.

A soft bark brought her back to reality, pulling her away from the nightmare and back towards the creatures that needed her help. “Ok Fluttershy,” she breathed as she headed toward the back room were all the dogs were kept.

This room was one of the larger ones on the facility, with large gated off areas for the big dogs as well as a series of smaller cages for the medium to small dogs. All of them sat obediently, wagging their tails at the sight of their favorite caregiver, knowing what was in store for them. As Fluttershy walked towards them, she took extra special care to slow down by the drain in the middle of the room. The other day she had been a little too excited to let her friends out for their daily exercise time and had slipped on a puddle near the drain. The result was her falling on her behind which became soaked in something that required a new blouse being delivered to her from her friends. Needless to say, she was taking extra special care not to allow it to happen again.

Within the span of five minutes, Fluttershy had moved all over the room letting the dogs out one by one until she had a mass of furry love bouncing around her. A few jumped into the air, trying to lick their caregiver as she walked to the door in the very back. When the door opened, they sprang out into the well kept yard to run around and play with the chew toys Fluttershy herself had purchased for them out of her own paycheck. For a moment, she stood there at the door, leaning against the frame as she took in the sight. Everything seemed like paradise to her. The only thing that could make this moment even more perfect was if her boyfriend were here, arm draped around her shoulder. Perhaps that might happen one day in the future but for right now she needed to-

Fluttershy froze with her hand on the handle, noticing something for the first time that day. It was a series of small, but clear scratches on the doorknob. After bending her knees to get a better look she noted how deep and thin they were, ruling out one of the dogs. What’s more was the fact that many of these scratches seemed connected to the keyhole. Did…Did someone try to break in?

“Oh dear,” whispered Fluttershy as she got to her feet while looking around nervously. She, of course, would have noticed if any of the animals had gone missing or had been hurt. But maybe she should do a double check just to make sure. If some mean person did break in and steal one of the innocent creatures under care and she failed to notice then she knew she would never forgive herself.

For the next half an hour, Fluttershy went down the checklist of all the creatures at the shelter. She started with the cats and kittens, checking each and everyone before letting them into the cat play room. Following that Fluttershy headed towards the area that held the smaller animals. Mice, guinea pigs, hamsters, and so on were examined with the greatest of care while Fluttershy asked them if any had gone missing. One baby mouse was missing from its family, but the little one was quickly found in a corner nibbling on some food. The reptiles were next followed by the birds, all of whom were there and accounted for. Once that was finished, Fluttershy let in the dogs while making sure she had every single one of them.

With that done, Fluttershy moved to check their limited medical supplies. While they didn’t have anything that could be considered too powerful or dangerous, what they did have was always kept under lock and key. Before opening the medicine cabinet the caregiver did check to see if the lock had been tampered with. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, she proceeded to check with a calmer heart. Every bottle was checked, Fluttershy examining the pills just in case they had been switched. Once she was satisfied all of the liquid medicine was put to the side so she could ask the vet to check on them when he next came over.

“That’s strange,” Fluttershy said to herself as she closed the cabinet. “Nothing seems to be out of place or taken. Maybe whoever tried to break in failed and gave up.” That did make sense to her, however she could not stop feeling like something was wrong.

As Fluttershy moved to return to her work, she heard the ring of her phone. “Fluttershy,” came Rainbow’s voice as soon as she answered, her impatient friend not waiting for a ‘hello’. “This is an emergency!”

“Oh dear, what happened?” asked Fluttershy, wishing there was a cord attached to the phone she could nervously twirl her finger around. “Is Tank not feeling well? You weren’t feeding him pies again, were you?”

“NO!” shouted Rainbow. “It’s much, much worse! I’m sending you a link right now. I’m just glad I found out about this before you found it on your own.”

A moment later, the link appeared in her text box. Feeling nervous about all this, Fluttershy touched the screen which took her to the YouTube section right away. As the screen began to load, she noticed the title which read: Messy Falls. Why would Rainbow Dash want her to watch something like this? Sure, Rainbow liked to watch people making a fool of themselves on camera or watching videos people took of ‘funny’ accidents however Fluttershy had told her numerous times that she didn’t find them funny at all. Most of the time when Rainbow was showing everyone a new clip she had found Fluttershy would be turning her head to the side or politely excusing herself. So why send her this?

When the video finished loading Fluttershy’s answer was handed to her. At once, Fluttershy’s eyes widened upon seeing herself within this very shelter slip and fall on the urine. Whoever had made this video had added some splash sound effects as well as a laugh track. The camera, to her horror, then zoomed in on her bottom as she stood up causing Fluttershy’s face to turn a bright glowing red. Then Fluttershy’s eyes noticed the number of views and her heart stopped. Over two million people had watched this.

“I just found out about this from a friend,” Rainbow was saying. “There are a few other clips of you from this user, but this is the one with the most views. I’m so sorry Fluttershy, but I thought you should hear this from a friend before finding out from some stranger. Fluttershy? Y-You there?”

Fluttershy didn’t answer. Instead she began to check the other videos this user had posted while sinking to her knees, tears running down her face. Rainbow was right, there were other videos about her. One had her accidently sticking her elbow in some dog poop while she was cleaning a cage. Another had her on all fours, playing with the animals with her voice being replaced with pig sounds. Then there was one that was just a compilation of her sniffing things. The only way this could have gotten any worse was if whoever posted these also posted videos of her getting changed!

This was beyond mortifying. She felt completely violated. To know someone had recorded her doing all these things and editing them like this before putting them on the web without permission. Oh, how was she going to tell her parents? They would be mortified! And how would she be able to attend school ever again with everyone most likely seeing it, laughing behind her back! She felt sure that once the manger of the shelter found out she would never be allowed back in!

As Fluttershy stared at her phone without really looking at it, she began to think of the Anon-A-Miss incident. She all too well remembered how that MyStable user had posted secrets of her and her friends. It had started small with an embarrassing nickname of Applejack’s, something she had told Sunset the night before it got posted. Then pictures that Sunset had taken of them dressed in outlandish clothing (something that had been just goofy fun between friends) got posted by the same user. Sadly they had all blamed Sunset for it, even when the post kept appearing with more and more dirt after they were ignoring their friend. In the end it turned out to be Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. Even though they had apologized and taken down the account, everything that had been posted was not completely gone. Some people had saved some of their favorite posts, keeping it up to ensure these secrets would never be buried. Thankfully the number of people who cared had dwindled and not many people brought it up.

This, however, was much worse. She didn’t believe that those three would do something like this again. So that meant some stranger did this to her. People across the web saw it and were watching her right now, laughing their heads off! Or doing something worse which she really, really didn’t want to think about.

As a teary Fluttershy went to turn off her phone, she noticed something. All of the shots had been taken within the shelter! Though she didn’t want to, she watched all the videos again just to confirm. Yes, everyone of these videos had been a high angle shot from within the shelter. Was it the manager? Could he have done something so cruel to her for no reason? Fluttershy shook her head. No, he used black and white security cameras which were all old and out of date while all the videos she had seen were in color. She doubted that he would have installed new cameras just to make a fool out of her.

Wiping away her tears, Fluttershy stood up and began to look around. She started in the back with the dogs since that was the scene of the first video she had seen. The dogs barked happily for a moment when they saw her but stopped within moments of seeing the state she was in. Many of them began to whine and cry, scratching at the boundaries of their confinements in an effort to get closer to her. To comfort her. As much as Fluttershy would appreciate a hug from all of them, she knew she needed to focus.

Fluttershy knew there was only one camera in this room. It was hard to miss the brick shaped device sticking out of the ceiling. So she started from that point, making it her marker where she would finish. She guessed that whoever had put up the camera did so in a high enough place where nothing would get in the way. Slowly she looked about for anything that looked out of the ordinary, quickly finding something. It was a small black dot up in a corner of the room. Staring at it, she also noted that the color of the wall looked a little off.

Frowning, Fluttershy left the room only to come back a moment later with a large parrot on her shoulder. “Ok, Mr. Crackers,” she said as her gem began to glow. “Would you please do me a favor and retrieve that for me?” As she said this, she pointed at the dot. The parrot agreed, squawking loudly before opening its wings and flying up into the air. Fluttershy wanted as it flapped its wings vigorously in order to stay in the air as it grabbed the spot with its beak.

When it returned to her, Mr. Crackers dropped a wad of a clay like substance in the palm of her hand. After giving the bird a quick treat as well as her thanks, Fluttershy began to peel apart the clay to reveal a small device. It was black, shaped like a gumdrop but smaller with the lens on top. Clearly it was some sort of hidden camera used for spying. She recalled that once or twice Twilight mentioning things like these during their shared lunch breaks at the mall. Twilight worked at an electronic store that sold and repaired all sorts of high end gadgets. According to her, cams like these were normally used by parents to spy on their children, babysitters they hired, and nannies. At the time Fluttershy had voiced how wrong it was to do something like that and this experience had not changed her mind one bit.

“But who put it there?” asked Fluttershy held up the device, her thumb on the lens to make sure it couldn’t record her while Mr. Crackers flew onto her shoulder. As she looked at it, she knew there had to be more. After all, the videos showed her in various parts of the shelter. Should she take them down herself? If she did that then whoever broke in and placed them there might just do it again. She couldn’t work here anymore if she was constantly checking to make sure no one was recording her in secret. Should she call the police about this? She shivered at the thought of having all those people there, watching her and questioning her. It might be too much for her to handle. On the other hand they might be able to track down whoever did this. At the very least they’ll be able to find all the devices.

“Maybe I should call Twilight,” said Fluttershy as she pulled out her phone again. “Her brother is a policeman so she might know what to do.” Mr. Crackers squawked in agreement.

-x-

“I can’t believe this is happening,” cried the manager of the shelter, his hand trembling as it rested on Fluttershy’s shoulder. It had been three hours since Fluttershy had made the call to Twilight, one of many she had done today. After explaining what had been going on to her friend, Twilight had told her to sit tight as she called up her brother. Once she had gotten back, she said that Shining Armor was on his way.

“I tried to ask him if he could come alone to make you feel more comfortable,” Twilight had explained over the phone. “However, since this is an official complaint his partner has to tag along with him. The good news is that it’ll be just them and not an entire police squad. They may want to talk to your boss so you might also want to call him up as well.”

Fluttershy had agreed with her friend and, after hanging up, quickly called up her manager who arrived at the building before she ended their call. The manager was a small, balding man who rushed over to Fluttershy and quickly brought her into his office, believing that it was the most secure room in the building. There he had sat her down and by the time he handed her a cup of tea, the police had arrived. While Fluttershy had met Shining Armor before, it felt somehow different with him in uniform with his heavy black shades on. He just looked more ‘official’ and intimidating. This was not helped by his frowning partner who introduced herself as Officer Silver Shield. She was a slender woman with light orange skin and pink hair tied up in a tight bun.

“I’ll have a look around,” Shining had said before approaching Fluttershy. When he got close enough, he took off the shades before giving her a comforting smile and placing a hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll find out what’s going on. Just answer all of Silver Shield’s questions.” As Fluttershy nodded Silver Shield folded her arms.

Once Shining had left the questions began. If Fluttershy was being honest, she got the impression that Silver Shield thought this was a waste of time. She began simply by asking if the manager had set that camera up. After receiving a no, she asked Fluttershy to walk her through her day, how she found out about the camera, how she found the first one, and so on. All of it done in a dull and uninterested tone. Then things became uncomfortable. Silver asked if Fluttershy had bought the cameras. Why she thought this, Fluttershy had no idea and she quickly said no. Before Silver could ask anything else, Shining Armor had returned with an armful of equipment.

Which brought them all to the present.

“I checked the door and there are signs of tampering,” said Shining as he laid his spoils on the desk. Each of the cameras were in individual plastic baggies along with small, cylinder like objects that were just as small. “Someone must really have it in for you Fluttershy. I counted at least fifteen of these cameras that must connect to the WiFi. I suggest you change the password immediately.”

“We,” began the manager who paused to gulp loudly. “We don’t have a password on the WiFi. It’s free.”

Shining let out a sigh before taking off his hat to scratch his head. “Well then that might have to change,” he said. He then picked up one of the cylinders and held it up. “These things here are a different matter. I found them under counters, besides cages, and all sorts of places. If you look at the tips they resemble microphones. I’m guessing that it’s some sort of separate recording device. And a cheaper one at that.” As he said this, Silver picked up one of the baggies containing the recorder to examine it.

“You might be right,” she said as the bag turned in her grasp. “Guess whoever bought these pieces of crap blew all their money on the mini cameras. You can see the spot where you stick them into the usb port.”

“So what does that mean?” asked the manager, his hands trembling.

“It means that someone wasn’t just recording everything that happened but also everything that was said,” stated Shining Armor as he began to gather everything on the table. “The good news is that since whoever placed them around here needs to come back to find out what was recorded. I would highly suggest that the locks get changed.”

“Of course, of course,” said the manager. “They’ll be replaced before the end of the day. But what about those recorders? What about the videos online?”

“We can’t do anything about the videos,” stated Silver in a firm tone, her head jerking to look at Fluttershy. “You can issue a complaint to the site and hope they get taken down, but more than likely they’ll be back up by some other user. That is, of course, if Miss Fluttershy wasn’t the one who-”

“As for these these things here,” interrupted Shining Armor, stepping in front of his partner as he did so. “We can track down who sold them and go from there. Might take a couple of days tops. I’ll let you know if we find anything.” With that, Shining Armor turned around, frowning at his partner as he did so and headed out the door.

-x-

“I don’t think she liked me very much,” said Fluttershy several hours later into the phone. She was still at the animal shelter, watching as two men installed a brand new lock into the door. While the manager had suggested that she take the rest of the day off, Fluttershy had insisted on staying to both take care of the animals as well as to see for herself that the new security to her sanctuary was in place. Then she could come back the next day feeling safe.

“Well technically it’s not that she hates you,” said Twilight slowly on the other line. “It’s more that she just doesn’t trust people all that much. I know, Shiny has complained about her plenty of times before.”

“Why? What happened to her?” asked Fluttershy. There was a pause, one that Fluttershy knew all too well. It was the pause someone did when they were debating to themselves how much they wanted to tell. Or if they should say anything at all. Fluttershy knew that feeling for it was one she had far too often.

“She’s…had a few too many false cases,” said Twilight after a moment. “People claiming something was stolen just so they could collect the insurance money. Cases where someone pretended they were in trouble for the attention and-”

“Wait,” said Fluttershy suddenly. “Are you trying to say that she thinks I did this to myself? But why?”

Twilight let out a sigh. “Fluttershy, I don’t think you did that and nor does Shiny. He’s right now putting in overtime trying to find out who did this to you. But Silver, she stuck out her neck for people she thought were victims too many times and ended up getting burned. Right now she’s trying to tell Shiny that you probably did all this yourself to fame or something like that. But that when you got second thoughts after see the comments you made up the whole thing.”

“Well I didn’t!” stated Fluttershy, her tone becoming far more firm than before. Her eyes hardened a tad as she looked at the door. How could anyone think that anybody would enjoy that sort of embarrassment?

“I know Fluttershy, I know,” repeated Twilight. “Just don’t worry about her.”

However, Fluttershy couldn’t as a new fear began to race through her body. If stuff like that had happened to her, how long would it be before they believed that Fluttershy was lying to them? How long would it be before Shining Armor’s boss told him to drop it? Or worse, began looking at her? She knew she didn’t do anything wrong, but the thought of having the police looking at her like that was not a very comforting thought.

With her grip on the phone tightening slightly, Fluttershy knew what she had to do: catch whoever did this as soon as possible.

-x-

Late at night, when the moon was high in the night sky, a figure crept towards the animal shelter under the cover of darkness. This figure knew that the placed spy cams had been found. That the police had been called. It was hard to miss when a blue haired man had been removing them, cutting out the signal. So, normally, it would be a considerable idiotic idea to head back to the scene of the crime. However, the figure didn’t know if the voice recording devices had been found. The figure needed those for without them, none of this would have been worth it!

Sitting by the door and noticing the new lock, the figure’s head shook before taking a knee. Quickly pulling a phone out, the figure opened up the YouTube video ‘Lock Picking for Newbies’ and played it. As it played, the figure went to work on the door pausing every once in a while in case something was missed. Eventually the door made a clicking noise signaling that it was now unlocked.

Smirking the figure stood up before opening the door. At once dogs began to bark wildly, causing the figure to frown. What’s more the light turned on to reveal Fluttershy standing at the other side of the room with a look of surprise on her face.

“Vignette Valencia?” she gasped.

“Oh great,” said Vignette as she glared at Fluttershy, eyes darting around to see if anyone else was around. To see if anyone else would be jumping out of the shadows to grab her. Seeing no movement, she relaxed a bit. For a moment, she considered trying to tell a lie…but it felt sort of mute at this point. Who in the world would believe she broke into a building by accident? Maybe the hyper pink idiot but that’s about it.

“I can’t believe you would do something like this to me,” said Fluttershy as she took a step forward.

“Well, believe it darling,” snapped Vignette as she went over her options. There was only Fluttershy there. Last time they had been alone like this, Vignette had been able to send her away with just a press of a button to some other place. She should be easy to take out…if she still had her magic that is. Without it, they might be on even ground. Plus she didn’t want to step inside and get caught on camera. But she needed to get past her to get her prize! Damn it, why had she gone all out on the cameras and not enough on the recorders? Or why hadn’t she waited until after she had everything to put that stuff online? Then she wouldn’t be in this mess!

Fluttershy sighed, getting Vignette’s attention. As she looked upon her, Fluttershy looked away while holding up one of the voice recorders. “I believe you’re looking for this,” she said. “I found it after the police left.”

Clenching her fists, Vignette snarled at Fluttershy. “Give it to me!” Of course, there was a part of her that chided herself. Of course Fluttershy wouldn’t give it to her. Not after everything she had done to her! Now that she thought about it, it would have been smarter just to arrive at the shelter and pretend to be looking for some stupid animal as she grabbed the recorder.

“I will,” replied Fluttershy, much to Vignette’s surprise. “But only if you beat me in a duel.” As Fluttershy said this, she pulled out a duel disk from behind her back with deck already in place. “If you win, then I’ll give you this recorder device and allow you to look around for any more. I won’t even tell the police I spotted you breaking in again.”

“Well, aren’t you generous,” said Vignette as she place her palms on her hips. “And what may I ask will happen if you win?”

“Simple, you tell the police everything that you did,” said Fluttershy.

Vignette fought to keep herself from grinning. The poor little pushover was trying to be tough. Didn’t Fluttershy know that Vignette was a skilled duelist, more than capable of taking down some trembling animal girl? And even if she did lose, Fluttershy might just take her for her word giving Vignette time to get out of town. That or she could just tell Fluttershy that she still didn’t have any friends or something like that, get her to feel sorry for her, and then just let her go again. Honestly it was too easy to manipulate these girls! But she would save that for after she lost so she would appear at her weakest.

“Very well,” said Vignette as she pulled out her own duel disk. “Let’s do this.”

Nightmare at the Animal Shelter part 2 (Fluttershy vs. Vignette)

Soon enough, both Fluttershy and Vignette were outside in the open area where the dogs were allowed to run about freely. This suited Vignette perfectly since here there would be none of the brick sized security cameras to watch them. Fluttershy had turned on the outside light, illuminating the backyard space as they stood across from each other so they could better see the cards in their hands.

“Connecting,” said a female mechanical voice from their duel disks. “Opponents found. Displaying order now.” In the middle of the field appeared a flat holographic image of a portrait, only on one side was Fluttershy looking timid and nervous while the other was Vignette as her portrait was seen blowing a kiss. The image began to spin round and round, faster and faster as their duel disks shuffled their decks at an equally quick speed. Eventually the portraits stopped spinning, ending on Fluttershy.

“It looks like it’s my turn,” said Fluttershy softly as she drew a card. As she looked at the six cards in her hand, she glanced up at Vignette for a moment before nodding to herself. “First I’ll play the continuous spell card Soul Absorption. Now, whenever a monster is removed from the game I gain 500 life points. Then I’ll summon my Ritual Beast Tamer Elder in attack mode!” Appearing in front of Fluttershy was an elderly looking man with long white hair that was tied in a ponytail along with a mustache and beard. He wore a simplistic brown shirt, green pants, and a green scarf that was wrapped around his neck before flowing behind him like a cloak. In one hand this 200 attack point monster carrier a staff while in the other he held an old tome.

“That’s your move?” laughed Vignette as she brought the back of her hand to her mouth. “A withered, pathetic old man? This’ll be easier than I thought it would be.”

“No,” replied Fluttershy as Elder opened up his book, a bright golden light shining out of it. “Tamer Elder has an effect that allows me to normal summon one Ritual Beast monster from my hand during my main phase. So I’ll bring out Spiritual Beast Cannahawk!” Above both girls’ heads, lightning shot through the sky while thunder deafened their ears. In a flash, a large black bird with 1400 attack point appeared on the field. Its talons were covered with bright yellow currents of electricity, buzzing loudly as streaks of the same yellow power zigzagged along its wings and its white belly.

“Wait, you said that that old guy let you normal summon a Ritual Beast, not a Spiritual Beast,” shouted Vignette as she pointed to the large bird.

“But the word Ritual is in Spiritual,” replied Fluttershy calmly as her bird let out an ear piercing cry of agreement. “So it counts. And now that this sweet birdie is on the field, I can activate its effect to banish one Ritual Beast from my deck. Then, during my second standby phase, I can add that card to my hand. So I’ll choose my Spiritual Beast Rampengu.” As Fluttershy removed the card from her deck, a ghostly penguin rose out from her deck. It seemed to ‘swim’ around her, laughing as it did so, before gently floating into Fluttershy’s chest. The animal lover brought both her hands to the spot where the penguin had entered, feeling a warm glow around herself while her life points rose to 8500.

“Gag me,” spat Vignette sourly as she tapped her high end fashion shoe into the grass. “Could you hurry up and finish your turn already?”

“Ok then,” said Fluttershy. “Since I have both a Tamer and a Spiritual Beast on my side of the field, I can fuse them together without using a Polymerization spell card. All I have to do is banish them from play instead.” With that, Fluttershy raised a hand to the sky as both her monsters became ghostly images of themselves. They both floated gently around their master for a moment before entering her body and raising her life points to 9000. Once they were gone, Fluttershy opened up her eyes. “The thunder ripples through the air and lightning dances about. But don’t be afraid little ones for the rider will not harm you this night. Go, ride upon the winds! Fusion Summon Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk!” Cannahawk reappeared on the field, much larger than before with a rider on its back. It was Tamer Elder holding the reins of this giant bird with 1400 attack points.

“Now my friend here can use his effect to send two of my banished Ritual Beast cards to the graveyard so I can move one Ritual Beast card from my deck to my hand,” explained Fluttershy. “So I’ll send Cannahawk and Ritual Beast Tamer Elder to the graveyard so I can add Ritual Beast Steeds to my hand. At the same time, I’ll activate my monster quick effect allowing me to defuse it and bring back to the field one banished Spiritual Beast and one Beast Tamer in defense mode. And the two I choose for that are Beast Tamer Elder and Spiritual Beast Rampengu.” There was another flash of lightning, this time striking Ulti-Cannahawk before forking off to hit the ground. In a flash the Ulti monster was gone leaving two monsters in its place. One was tamer and the other was Rampengu, a green penguin with red feather running down the middle of its head like a Mohawk. This monster had 400 defense.

“Now that Rampengu is on the field, I can activate his effect,” announced Fluttershy. “By sending one of my extra deck monsters to the graveyard, I can banish Ritual Beast monster with the same attribute from my deck. I’ll say goodbye for now to my Ritual Beast Ulti-Apelio and then banish my Spiritual Beast Apelio.” As Fluttershy opened her extra deck section of her duel disk, the red ghostly figure of a small red tiger emerged from her duel disk. It circled around Fluttershy once before pouncing into her chest, Fluttershy smiling while her life points rose to 9500.

“With that done, I can perform one last fusion summon this turn,” said Fluttershy as she removed her two monsters from play. As both the ghostly forms of her monster’s floated into Fluttershy’s body her life points rose to 10500. “Great swimmers through the ocean’s glory, peaceful defender of all. Protect us all in these troubled times. Fusion Summon! Ritual Beast Ulti-Pettlephin in defense mode!” A portal opened up next to Fluttershy and out of it came a small girl with blond hair riding a pink dolphin. The girl looked to be a few years younger than Fluttershy, dressed for a day at the beach while her mount had on greenish armor on its head and dorsal fin. Its defense points were 2800. “Now I’ll play two cards face down and end my turn!”

“Finally,” sighed Vignette as she drew her card giving her a total of six. “Now time to get rid of that fashion zero with this card: Assault Beast! By discarding this card from my hand to the graveyard, I get to add one Assault Mode Activate from my deck to my hand.” Smiling, Vignette slid her card into the graveyard while her deck began to shuffle about. When it finished, a single card slid out from the top which Vignette took. “Next I summon Psi-Reflector in attack mode.” Appearing on the field was a monster that looked almost as if he were wearing a hoodie, except that its entire body was made of white armor. There were patches of green on its body, especially on top of the hood where those spots seemed to dome outwards, as well as lines of glowing blue energy around its arms and thighs. Circles of green energy were being emitted from its hands, its face hidden under the hood. Its attack was 400. “I know, he doesn’t look like much. But he can help me out fabulously by adding another copy of Assault Mode Activate to my hand.” Once again, her deck shuffled before a single card stuck out for her to take. “Now I can use his other effect: by revealing one Assault Mode Activate in my hand I can revive a monster in my graveyard as long as it lists ‘Assault Mode Activate’ in its text. Not only that, but I can increase Psi-Reflector level to up to four. Or, in other words, this tuner can be anywhere from level one to level five. So let’s welcome back Assault Beast!” Psi-Reflector shot a beam of green light from his hand to the ground as a figure began to appear in block form bit by bit. When it finished, color returned to the creature revealing it to be a white coated wolf man clad in bronze armor. With shield and sword in hand, it proved to be a powerful monster with 1900 attack points.

“Now let me show you my real monsters,” said Vignette. “I now tune my level four tuner Psi-Reflector with my level four Assault Warrior to Synchro Summon level eight Colossal Fighter!” Both of her monsters leapt into the air, Psi-Reflector turning into four green rings as Assault Warrior transformed into four stars. The stars moved into the rings as they began to grow brighter and brighter. “Together with great power your might combines! Technology and muscle to make you better than ever before. Stand up to fight in my name! Synchro Summon Level Eight: Colossal Fighter!” There was a sudden flash of light that shot towards the ground followed by the silhouette of a mammoth sized man landing on the ground in a superhero like pose. When the light faded, Fluttershy found herself staring at a man whose body was decked out in white armor, a blue visor covering his eyes and sporting a powerful 2800 attack point body.

“Since attacking that pathetic monster would just be a waste of my time, I’m just going to set three cards before passing it onto you,” finished Vignette with a grin as three cards appeared behind her lone monster.

“Ok then, I draw,” declared Fluttershy, now holding three cards in her hand. “First off, I’ll return Ritual Beast Ulti-Pettlephin to the extra deck in order to bring back the two friends who helped create her in defense mode. Return Ritual Beast Tamer Elder and Spiritual Beast Apelio!” As Fluttershy returned her fusion monster to her extra deck slot, the old man along with a large red lion with a mane that seemed to be on fire. It’s attack points were 1800. “Now I’ll summon Ritual Beast Tamer Lara from my hand in attack mode.” Appearing on the field was a young girl with long blonde hair which was braided while resting gently on her shoulder. Lara wore a green skirt and blouse while in her hand was a wooden staff that curled in upon itself at the very top. Her attack was 100. “This Tamer cares about animal life like I do. So much so that she can’t bare to let them sleep in the graveyard. Because of those feelings she can, when normal summoned, return one Ritual Beast from the graveyard to the field. Now return to the sky Cannahawk!” In a flash of light, Fluttershy’s electric bird returned to the field. “Next I’ll use Cannahawk’s ability once again to banish one Ritual Beast card from my deck. I choose Spiritual Beast Tamer Winda who will go to my hand two standby phases from now.”

“I doubt you’ll last that long at this rate,” sneered Vignette. But Fluttershy shook her head and continued on.

“I activate my face down card: Ritual Beast Steeds!” announced Fluttershy as her card was flipped straight up. “I can only activate this card when I control at least one Ritual Beast monster. Now I can destroy cards on your side of the field equal to the number of Ritual Beast monsters that I control. So with four monsters on my side of the field, that means that four of your cards get destroyed!” As Fluttershy said this, her monsters began to glow brightly. Apelio a bright red. Lara an earthy brown. Cannahawk a shocking yellow. Elder had a low grassy green. Once they were all shining brightly, the light separated from their bodies to create ghostly energy like forms that shot towards Vignette’s cards.

“I don’t think so! Reveal: Starlight Road!” shouted Vignette as her own face down was flipper straight up. A pair of pure white wings appeared on the field, blocking the path of Fluttershy’s monsters before their energy dispersed. “I can activate this trap when you try to destroy two or more of my cards. Not only will this trap negate and destroy that card, but it’ll also allow me to special summon Stardust Dragon to my side of the field!” As Fluttershy’s trap shattered, a large white dragon appeared on Vignette’s side of the field. It looked down at the four cowering monsters that were to be its opponents with its yellow eyes and harpooned nose before letting out a roar to show off its 2500 attack point body.

“Now I activate my other two trap cards: Assault Mode Activate!” Vignette said as she shouted the name of the cards as they revealed themselves. “You know my motto: Be Yourself But Better. And that’s what this card does, it makes my monsters better versions of themselves by summoning their Assault Mode versions from my deck!” From Vignette’s traps cards came a slew of armor that flew around the two monsters. Around Colossal Fighter appeared thick blue arm guards that attached to him along with similar leg guards. A blue chest plate was then attached to its body before a large jet engine was fused to its back. The last bit was a blue helmet with a green visor attaching itself to the new Colossal Fighter/Assault Mode who had 3300 attack points. Fluttershy found herself frozen as Stardust Dragon was armored as well, gained white and blue armor on its upper arms and legs while also gaining a mostly blue chest guard. The new Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode let out another roar as its attack points were now 3000.

“Now that my monsters are on the field, I can activate the effect of my Colossal Fighter,” continued Vignette as she pulled out her deck. Calmly she looked through it before taking out two copies of Marauding Captain and holding them up. “When my newer, better Colossal Fighter is on the field I can send two warrior type monsters from my deck to the grave. And as long as he’s on the field all of your monsters lose 100 attack points for each warrior in the grave. At my count, that’s 300.” A dark aura surrounded all of Fluttershy’s monsters as they looked like gravity was increasing around them. Apelio let out a cry as his attack was dropped to 1500 while Cannahawk’s dropped to 1100. Both Elder and Lara were now at 0.

“We’ll see about that,” said Fluttershy as she fought hard not to hide her own face with her hair. “I remove both Lara and Cannahawk in order to bring back my Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk!” As Fluttershy removed the cards from the field their ghost forms flew into her body once again, raising her life points to 11500. After repeating the chant her winged rider reappeared on the field. “Now I can activate his effect once again. I’ll send Cannahawk and Lara to my graveyard in order to add another copy of Ritual Beast Steeds to my hand.”

“I don’t think so!” yelled Vignette as her Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode began to shimmer. “Whenever you activate a spell, trap, or monster effect I can tribute my dragon to negate and destroy it!” Fluttershy’s eyes widened in horror as the dragon flew over to grab her Ulti-Cannahawk by the wings. Ulti-Cannahawk squaked and screeched out for help as Fluttershy’s other monster watched on as Stardust Dragon began to vanish from the field. “But unlike your monster, mine will return during the end phase.”

“You may have negated that effect, but Ulti-Cannahawk has a quick effect I can activate,” said Fluttershy quickly. “I return him to my extra deck to bring out Spiritual Beast Tamer Winda and Spiritual Beast Rampengu.” As Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode vanished, Fluttershy’s monster transformed into lightning which easily slipped from the dragon’s hold. That bolt of lightning forked before it hit the ground, revealing two more monsters for Fluttershy’s side. Along with Rampengu, there was a green hair woman in her early twenties kneeling beside the penguin. This figure wore a light brown cloak and carried with her a silver staff with a green gem in the middle. Most of her attire was a form fitting black skin-tight outfit that ended at her thighs, revealing her slender legs and she had on brown skin-tight elbow length gloves. On her belt she had a stuffed bunny. Her defense points were 1800.

“So you managed to save that worthless monster to use later,” said Vignette as she waved it off. “Not that it matters in the least. My next turn will bring back my Stardust Dragon/Assault mode so I can do all of this again. All you have are useless animals that I can easily crush with the snap of my fingers.”

Fluttershy didn’t answer, instead she nervously looked over at her cards. ‘O-Ok, she stopped that move for now. I could summon my best monster…but with Colossal Fighter on the field weakening my monsters he’ll just be destroyed. I couldn’t bear it if that happened to such a sweet thing. At least I still have my face down.’ Fluttershy paused in her thought to glance briefly at her face down card, hoping that her opponent didn’t notice. ‘There is something I can use to get rid of them, but I’ll have to wait till my next turn to use it!’

“I activate the effect of my Rampengu,” announced Fluttershy as she pulled out her extra deck. “This time I’ll send my Ritual Beast Ulti-Pettlephin to the grave to banish Spiritual Beast Pettlephin from my deck.” Once more another ghostly image of a monster flew out from Fluttershy’s deck, this time a dolphin. Like before it flew into Fluttershy before her life points rose to 12000. “With that I end my turn.” With those words, Stardust Dragon Assault Mode returned to Vignette’s side of the field.

“About time,” said Vignette as she drew making the total number of cards in her hand four. “I think you have too many life points there. So let’s take care of that! To start off, I’ll summon Assault Sentinel in attack mode!” As Vignette placed the card on her duel disk, an anthropomorphic cat man appeared on the field. With white armor and a tattered blue cape covering his body, this 1600 attack point monster carried with him a futuristic rifle as he stared at Fluttershy with glowing red eyes. “Now I tribute this monster to activate his effect allowing me to special summon one monster who has text that includes Assault Mode Activate in its text. So, like naturally, I have to go with Psi-Reflector again.” Fluttershy watched helplessly as Sentinel vanished to be replaced with the powerful tuner monster. “Now I can add Assault Mode Zero to my hand since it lists Assault Mode Activate in its text. Lucky me, right? Now I’ll reveal it special summon Assault Sentinel back and change my level one Psi-Reflector to level five.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened at this. “T-That means you can Synchro summon a l-level nine monster!”

“So good to see that you’re paying attention,” Vignette said with a sneer. “But before that can happen, I need to use the other effect of my Sentinel. His effect allows me to target one monster on my side of the field and then reveal one monster from my extra deck. That monster become the same type and attribute as the monster I revealed. So I’ll target my Sentinel and reveal this monster.” Vignette paused for a moment as she opened up her extra deck to reveal another of her Synchro monsters. “Hyper Psychic Blaster. That turns my Sentinel into a psychic monster, just what I need to summon out the very monster I just showed you.” With that said, Vignette’s monster rose to the sky as she began her chant. “The future unfolds with a world of weapons. Mighty guns shot their rays, defending the wielding and granting longer life. Now use those weapons in my service! Synchro Summon Level 9: Hyper Psychic Blaster!”

When the light faded from the summoning, a figure descended from the sky slowly as if he were slowly being lowered there by some invisible force. Blaster was a tall figure with a slender trim wearing white armor with plenty of gold trim. His metallic collar was raised with plenty of wires and cables coming out of the metal device straight into his neck. On the monster back were a set of slender, mechanical white wings that had a light blue glowing light in their middle. Then there was his weapons. In one hand he carried a black gun with a blue glowing light coming out of the muzzle shaped like an X. The other was a white gun with a blue glowing O for its muzzle. It stood there with 3000 attack points.

“Now I play the spell card: Assault Mode Zero!” announced Vignette as she showed off her spell card. “With this card, I can tribute my Hyper Psychic Blaster to summon its better version in my hand.” When Vignette finished speaking, armor began to fly out of the spell card she was holding. The wings on Hyper Blaster opened up allowing glowing blue feather-like blades to be revealed. At the same time a metal circle was attached to the monsters back as most of its white armor changed to black while in addition a green dome covered its head. Cables shot out of the armor and into its weapons, which increased in size, while its attack points rose all the way up to 3500.

Fluttershy cringed slightly at the sight before her. Three monsters stood before her, each with 3000 attack points or more. All of them ready to attack her weakened monsters. Her only comfort right now was that her little friends were in defense mode.

“Now, lets get those eyesores off the field,” said Vignette as she played a card in her spell/trap card zone. “Raigeki! A spell card that destroys all monsters you control! Meaning this is going to hurt a lot!” Fluttershy only had a moment to look up before a large bolt of lightning struck her side of the field. The blast threw her back, crying out at all of her monsters were covered in yellow electricity before they vanished in a huge explosion. “There we go, no more defenses…left?” Vignette blinked in confusion as the dust began to settle, revealing that there was still a monster on Fluttershy’s side of the field. It was Winda, still kneeling but with her staff held out in front of her in a defensive position. “NO! How the hell is that card still on your side of the field?!? It should have been destroyed like all the others!”

“Winda was destroyed,” said Fluttershy as she slowly got to her feet, wobbling a little as she did. She then brought her duel disk back up to her chest as she stared at Vignette. “Spiritual Beast Tamer Winda is a very special companion of mine. When she is destroyed, I can special summon one Ritual Beast monster from my deck or extra deck. So I just summoned another copy of her.”

Vignette looked at Fluttershy for a moment, the clenched fists she had had during her rage just moments ago relaxing. “I see, a stall tactic,” she murmured. “Pathetic, especially when facing me. Hyper Psychic Blaster/Assault Mode, destroy her now!” Blaster raised both guns, firing blue beams of X’s and O’s at Winda who screamed before she was destroyed. Those beams continued to fire, hitting Fluttershy in the chest and causing her to stumble back several feet while her life points dropped to 10200. “I forgot to mention this, but when Hyper Psychic Blaster/Assault Mode battles one of your monsters you take damage equal to its defense points. Not only that, but I gain life points equal to the destroyed monsters attack points.” As she said this, a blue glow covered Vignette’s body while her life points rose to 9600.

“I can use Spiritual Beast Tamer Winda’s effect once again,” said Fluttershy. “I summon another Elder to the field in defense mode!”

“He won’t be there for long,” said Vignette as the old man reappeared on Fluttershy’s side of the field. “Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode, get rid of him!” Stardust Dragon let out a roar before using its breath attack, obliterating Fluttershy’s monster easily. “Now Colossal Fighter/Assault Mode, attack her life point directly!” Fluttershy gasped, her knees shaking as Colossal Fight ran towards her with such force that it felt like the earth was shaking. When it was almost right in front of her the monster’s jet pack activated, launching it high into the air while raising its fists high into the air. When it came down those same fists smashed at the ground to knock Fluttershy off her feet, her body rolling backwards several feet as her life points dropped to 6900.

“And with that, the game is mine,” said Vignette as she ran her fingers through her hair. “You honestly don’t stand a chance against me. I won’t let you do those annoying fusions. My Stardust will die for me to make sure that anything you summon will be for nothing. Then it will be a simple matter of destroying you.”

“But,” stammered Fluttershy as she got to her feet, slowly raising her duel disk in the process. “But why are you doing this? What do you get from doing all this mean things to me?”

“Why?” repeated Vignette, her eyes hardening as she looked at Fluttershy. “Because you and your friends ruined my life! I had it all, fame and influence that allowed me so much. But after I tried to take over your band and people heard me sing, well they quickly dropped me. Maybe if I could have made all the people in that crowd vanish with my magic, then none of that would have happened! Maybe then, people wouldn’t have posted what happened after our little magical battle!” Vignette then clenched her free hand into a fist, looking down at the ground as she spoke. “After that, my followers began to dwindle. I got fewer and fewer job offers because of that until they eventually stopped coming all together. No one cares about my opinion anymore. I might…have to get a real job now.

“Then, help came in a surprising message,” said Vignette as she looked up at Fluttershy again, her lips curling into a smile as she did. “A way to regain everything I had lost and get payback. To gain new followers under a different handle, showing them humiliating videos of other people. It is human nature to laugh at other people’s misfortune after all.”

“B-But why-”

“Because you’re the weakest,” interrupted Vignette as she stomped her foot on the ground. “While I would have loved to go after Rarity for her betrayal, her place just has too high of security. That and her ability to create those diamond barriers. Plus I doubt there would have been many instances of her making an utter fool of herself. Maybe whining, but I doubt those videos would have been as much as a hit. In comparison, this place is so easy to break in. It was so easy to set up those cameras that it was a joke. Not to mention that out of all of your little tryhard group, your magic is easily the most laughable of all.” She then paused for a moment to smile. “Well, there was another reason that you were targeted. My informant told me that you like to sing when you’re here all alone. Songs that you might not have yet written down for your group. It just seemed too perfect. Once I record everything you sang, I can just edit it to sound more like my own voice. Then I can post my own videos, claiming I got voice lessons or something. Then I’ll be the old me again, but better! At least, my followers will think so.”

“That’s,” began Fluttershy but stopping to shake her head. It seemed so pointless to tell her what she was doing was wrong. Vignette clearly knew this and didn’t seem to care. All she cared about was getting her followers back by any means necessary. Instead, Fluttershy drew a card making the total number in her hand three.

“I summon another Ritual Beast Tamer Lara to my side of the field,” announced Fluttershy as a familiar looking girl appeared on her side of the field. “And I’ll use her special ability to bring back Rampengu.”

“Hmm, no you won’t,” said Vignette as her Stardust Dragon flew across the field, grabbing Lara tightly in its claw as it did so. “I tribute my Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode to negate the effect of your lame monster and send it to the graveyard. But don’t worry, during the end phase my monster will be coming back!” While Stardust vanished from the field, Vignette looked at Fluttershy before being taken suddenly by surprise at the look the shy girl was giving her.

“I was waiting for you to do that,” said Fluttershy as she placed a card in her spell/trap card zone. Appearing above her was a woman with long hair, her body being made of the northern lights along with the twinkling of stars. “Soul Release. It’s a card that lets me banish five cards from either players’ graveyard. So I’ll banish Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode, Colossal Fighter, Hyper Psychic Blaster, Ritual Beast Apelio, and Spiritual Beast Tamer Winda!”

“NO!” screamed Vignette as, from her graveyard, three ghostly figures zoomed out. Fluttershy held out her arms in a welcoming manner as the spirits of the monsters she had released entered her body, strengthening her life points to the tune of 9400. “With Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode removed from play he can’t come back. It can’t even float into its original! None of my monsters can!” Vignette let out a cry of annoyance as she stomped her foot into the ground. Over and over she stomped her foot, her breathing becoming ragged until she seemed to tire herself out. “It doesn’t matter. She managed to get rid of one of my better monsters, but I still have two left. None of her pathetic monsters can stop me.”

“We’ll see,” said Fluttershy, getting Vignette’s attention. “I activate the trap card: Ritual Beast Ambush. This card can bring back one of my Beast Tamer monsters and one Spiritual Beast monsters from either the banished zone or from the graveyard. And from the graveyard, I call out my friend Winda and the adorable Cannahawk!” Fluttershy watched as Vignette gritted her teeth as both of Fluttershy’s monsters returned to the field in defense mode. “Now I use Cannahawk’s ability once again to remove a Ritual Beast Tamer Elder from my deck before I fuse them together to create Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk!” Once again, Fluttershy brought her fusion monster back onto the field while her life points rose to 10400. “With him in play, I activate his ability to add my Ritual Beast Steeds to my hand at the cost of sending Elder and Cannahawk to the grave. But I will also use his quick effect, returning him to the extra deck and summoning a Spiritual Beast and Beast Tamer from my banished zone. For that I choose Elder and Pettlephin.”

Appearing on Fluttershy’s side of the field along with Elder was a dolphin with 2000 defense points. Unlike normal dolphin’s this one was bright pink with light blue armor on its head, flippers, and dorsal fin.

“I activate the effect of Ritual Beast Pettlephin,” announced Fluttershy as she held out an arm. “By banishing one Ritual Beast card from my hand, I can target one card you control and send it back to your hand. So I’ll banish the copy of Cannahawk I have in my hand to send Hyper Psychic Blaster/Assault Mode back to your hand!”

“No, no, no, no,” cried Vignette as Fluttershy’s life points rose to 10900. Pettlephin ‘swam’ across the field as quickly and gracefully as if it were in the middle of the ocean. Blaster tried to swat at it as it drew closer, but Fluttershy’s monster was far too nimble for that. At full speed Pettlephin charged, hitting Blaster right in the middle of the stomach and sending it flying through the air before it vanished from sight.

“Lastly, I’ll set one card face down before fusing my monsters together to summon Ritual Beast Ulti-Pettlephin in defense mode,” said Fluttershy as her fusion monster returned to the field and her life points going up to 11900.

“This isn’t over,” shouted Vignette as she drew, three cards now in her hand. “Colossal Fighter, show her why your better than anything she has in her deck! Squash that dolphin.”

“I won’t let you!” shouted Fluttershy as Colossal Fighter started to charge at her. “I activate my trap card: Ritual Beast Steeds! This time its effect will work and destroy your monster!” At that, Ulti-Pettlephin began to glow as the girl jumped onto the back of her pink dolphin and charged at the armored warrior. A moment later there was a large, gaping hole in the middle of Colossal Fighter’s chest. As the monster sank to its knees, Ulti-Pettlephin ‘swam’ back to its side of the field as Colossal Fighter exploded.

“I,” began Vignette as she looked over her hand. Her head shook back and forth, eyes fixed on the print as she realized that there was nothing she could do right now. “I end my turn. Go ahead and make your play.”

“I will,” said Fluttershy as she drew. As she did, a trail of pink light arced with it. When she looked at what she had drawn, her eyes widened before a smile appeared on her face. “I summon Ritual Beast Tamer Wen in attack mode!” Wen, a small blonde haired girl with 1500 attack points, wore a purple blouse and skirt along with light brown shoulder pads. In one hand she carried with her a silver staff with a large blue stone at its top end. She smiled at Vignette with her eyes seeming to never open. “When Wen is normal summoned, I can special summon one of my banished Ritual Beast monsters to the field. So let’s welcome back Cannahawk!” Wen raised her staff as it began to give off a faint blue light, creating a portal which brought Cannahawk back to the field.

“Now I return Ulti-Pettlephin back to my extra deck to special summon Elder and Apelio to the field in defense mode!” Now four monsters stood on Fluttershy’s side of the field, two tamers and two beasts. With more fusions still to come. “I banish my friends Wen and Cannahawk in order to bring out a new monster! The unity of Tamer and Beast combine to make their way through the forests, blazing paws to defend their home. Let out a mighty roar as you protect your friends! Fusion Summon: Ritual Beast Ulti-Apelio!” As Fluttershy’s life points rose even higher to 12900, a large lion landed on her side of the field. Its paws and mane were a living crimson inferno that licked the plant themed armor around its face and front legs. It’s hind legs were more conventional armor looking like it was made of steel as its rider, Lara, held the reins of the lion in one hand with her staff in the other. Its attack points were 2600.

“Before I fuse my other two monsters, I’m going to use Apelio’s effect,” said Fluttershy. “By banishing one Ritual Beast card from my graveyard to raise the attack and defense of all my Ritual Beast monsters by 500. So I’ll be banishing my Beast Tamer Lara. Then, I’ll fuse Elder and Apelio to fusion summon another Ulti-Apelio!” After another chant Fluttershy had two fiery lions on her side of the field, the first now having 3100 attack points while the newer one had 2600. What’s more her life points had gone up even more stopping at 14400.

With both monsters on the field, Fluttershy said a single word: “Attack”. At her command, both tamers pressed their heels into the sides of their mounts as the flames on said mounts raged. The two loins broke into a run right out of the gate as if they had suddenly seen a very tasty prize. As Vignette raised an arm to protect herself, the two Lara’s staves burst into flames as they swung them at her from opposite sides. The force of such a blow knocked Vignette on her back where she laid for longer than normal, as if she had been dazed by that attack, her life points falling to 3900.

“Before I end my turn I will return one of my Ulti-Apelios to the extra deck to bring back Wen and Rampengu,” said Fluttershy as one of her two riders spit. “Sadly, my friends can’t stay like this for long because I banish them to bring back Ulti-Cannahawk.” Vignette didn’t say anything as Fluttershy’s fusion monster returned to the field. Nor did she say anything as Fluttershy’s life points went up to 13900. “I activate his effect to add a Ritual Beast card from my deck to my hand. I choose a copy of my Pettlephin and in return I send the Pettlephin and Wen I banished to the graveyard. But I also chain it with his quick effect, returning Ulti-Cannahawk to the extra deck to summon my banished Lara and Pettlephin.”

As Fluttershy’s two monsters returned to the field, Fluttershy opened up her extra deck once again. “Now everything is set,” she said as she scooped up the three cards on her duel disk. “I banish Ulti-Apelio, Spiritual Beast Pettlephin, and Beast Tamer Lara to summon Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio in attack mode!” All three monster flowed into Fluttershy, her life points rising up to 15400, while the ground behind her exploded. “The world’s protector takes on form, tamed only by the chosen. There is nothing that the kind hearted have to fear. Fusion Summon Ulti-Gaiapelio!” As Fluttershy finished her chant, the ground exploded behind her sending up chunks of rock and soil into the air as a giant lion appeared behind her. It’s body was covered in plants with a huge tree growing out of its back. It mane was fire, burning brightly in the night while Lara rode it. Then monster’s attack points were 3200.

“I end my turn,” finished Fluttershy as her opponent began to stir. The normally timid girl watched Vignette roll over onto her belly, biting her lower lip a wave of pity washed over her. “We can stop now, if you want. I mean, if you apologize for everything you did I’m sure that-”

“No!” roared Vignette as she slowly got to her feet with her back facing Fluttershy. “You don’t get it, do you? I had everything I ever wanted and I lost it all. I even lost the magic that would have helped me keep it, taking people and creating better versions of them!”

“But they were never real,” insisted Fluttershy. “They were all fake.”

“Who cares?” snapped Vignette as she turned around to face Fluttershy, the anger clearly visible. “If I give up now, that life will never come back. That would mean going backwards! I would be myself but less, not better! I draw!” With gritted teeth, Vignette drew her card with such force that she might as well have ripped it out. “I play the spell card Assault Teleport! This card lets me send the Hyper Psychic Blaster/Assault Mode you sent back to my hand into the deck to draw twice.” After her deck was shuffled, Vignette drew two more cards and, after looking at them, calmed down. “I play the spell card: Monster Reborn! With this cards power I’ll bring back the original Stardust Dragon in my graveyard.”

“No, you won’t,” said Fluttershy as she banished a card in her hand. “My Ulti-Gaiapelio cares too much for the world to let something like that happen under his watch. By banishing a Ritual Beast card from my hand, he can negate and destroy any spell, trap, or monster effect.” Again, Fluttershy’s life points rose, stopping at 14400. Her monster let out a roar so powerful that it seemed to move the clouds in the sky, knocking Vignette down again while her card was destroyed.

“I don’t understand!” yelled Vignette from where she sat, looking up at Fluttershy’s monster. “You’re supposed to be weak, a kind-hearted coward!”

“Just because I’m kind doesn’t make me weak,” said Fluttershy, Gaiapelio seeming to nod in agreement as she did so. “I do know how to stand up for myself.”

“It doesn’t matter,” said Vignette as she grabbed a fistful of grass. “Screw this duel! I’ll just-” Her voice cut out as Fluttershy reached in front of her duel disk to pull something off of it. The shy girl then held it up so that Vignette could see exactly what it was in the light. “A hidden camera?”

Fluttershy gave her a sad nod. “I contacted my boyfriend after I talked to the police. He suggested that you might come here and that I could use this duel to get you to confess. So I bought one like the ones you placed around the building, only I spend a bit more for a model that can also pick up sound. That’s why I didn’t use my Ritual Beast Steeds after you set all those cards. I wanted you to feel confident that you were winning so that you’d feel more comfortable confessing like you did. Everything we’ve said and done has been sent via the WiFi to him. And if something were to happen to me he’d call the police without any hesitation.”

The look on Vignette’s face said it all as she climbed up to her feet. Dumbfounded and totally at a loss as to what she should do next. Lazily her arms rose but quickly fell back to her side as a wind blew behind Fluttershy. Then, finally, she turned tail and ran away leaving their duel officially unfinished.

-x-

“What you did was unnecessary,” said Shining Armor as he fought back a yawn. It was an hour later as he stood within the animal shelter, with the first hints of circles around his eyes as well as the scent of coffee on his breath. All around them, animals were snuggled up in their cages fast asleep. “She could have seriously hurt you.”

“I know,” replied Fluttershy, looking down as she spoke. “I was just afraid that if this dragged on, you might be told to drop it. Or you might be convinced that I did this to myself.”

Shining Armor didn’t say anything at first. He just gave Fluttershy an odd look before scratching his head. Whatever he was thinking Fluttershy had no idea because he suddenly approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Well, in any case, you saved me some work. Just don’t make a habit of pulling dangerous stunts like this again.”

Fluttershy nodded, her own drowsiness starting to set in. “So, what will happen to Vignette?”

“That’s not really my department,” said Shining. “Depending on the judge and her lawyer, she might get a couple of years tops. At best, she’ll get a couple of months along with some community service. I don’t know about your parents but they might want to sue her for what she did to you. I have a feeling the shelter might be on board with that idea as well.”

“Oh,” said Fluttershy as she suddenly felt uncomfortable again. Going in front of a judge to relive everything that had happened just seemed so…scary. Not to mention all of the people who would be watching her, judging her as well. She was about to voice this concern when her phone began to ring.

“Well, I’m going to be heading out,” said Shining Armor as he headed towards the door, Fluttershy pulling out her phone as he did. Upon seeing who was calling her, a dreamy expression filled her face. “Do you need a lift?”

“I’ll be ok,” said Fluttershy. Shining Armor shrugged before heading out the door. Once the door was closed, Fluttershy sat down on one of the chairs as she answered the phone. “Hello Discord.”

-x-

Vignette ran through the streets of Canterlot blindly, not knowing where she was heading in the slightest. The direction was truly meaningless since she had nowhere to go. She knew she couldn’t head home for fear that the police would be waiting there. A fear fueled by the sounds of sirens in the distance that caused her to pause more than once. She had no friends or associates she could stay with. Not even her own family. Knowing her father, once he heard that she was in trouble he’d be more likely to drag her to the police department himself! Her money was nearly completely gone, barely enough for a kids menu at a fast food place. Not nearly enough for a room at a dingy motel.

Is this really where I am now, thought Vignette as the realization of her situation dawned on her. I’ve lost everything that made me better and barely a penny to my name. There’s no escaping it. I’m going to jail and losing everything I worked for. Vignette tripped on something, landing face first onto the concrete. She could feel the sting of gashes on her face. Her knee stunk for a moment before it began to feel moist, indicating that she was bleeding. Slowly she placed her hands on the ground to lift herself up, but stopped. Her eyes became half lidded as she looked at the ground so close to her face. Was there any point anymore?

Rolling onto her back, she saw the twinkling stars shining brightly above her even through all the light pollution city life provided. Stars like how she used to be. Now she was here, on the earth. The better version of herself was gone. There would be no more twinkling brightly, just doing her best to get through life. At this realization, a pain unlike anything she ever felt stabbed her in the heart as tears began to well up in her eyes.

“It’s not fair,” she whispered to no one. “If I still had my magic, I could have made all my problems disappear. Everything would be going my way.”

“Join the club sister,” came an annoyed voice. Moving her head slightly, Vignette caught a glimpse of a bored looking girl with twin tails standing off to her side. Standing next to him was a dimwitted looking boy, appearing to be off in his own world at the moment.

“Who? What?” began Vignette, only to stop when the other girl sighed and rolled her eyes.

“I take it you failed to humiliate that Fluttershy girl,” said the girl, her bored expression never wavering.

“Who are-” began Vignette before the truth hit her like a hammer. Scrambling to get to her feet, she grabbed the girl by the shoulders and slammed her into the wall. “It was you! You were the one who sent me that message! You ruined me!” The boy seemed to snap out of his daydream or whatever, backing away a bit as he looked around nervously. But the girl, Vignette was somewhat startled by her reaction. Namely, she didn’t have one. She just kept staring at Vignette as if this was more of an inconvenience to her.

“Did I put a gun to your head to make you do anything?” asked the girl, pushing Vignette back. Seeing that his partner was back in control, the boy quickly moved to her side looking as dopey as ever. “I only sent you that message because we have similar enemies. As well as similar losses.”

Vignette narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean by that?”

Once again the girl rolled her eyes. “Magic,” she said as she crossed her arms. “The Rainbooms took away mine and my sisters’ magic as well. Its gone along with everything we used to have as well.” She paused to shake her head. “Well, our lives were pretty crummy anyways but they have gotten notably worse. Anyways, we thought we’d reach out to you. And since you failed the others thought you might like a third chance at getting everything back.”

Vignette backed away, placing a hand under her chin as she eyed the girl. Ok, right now she didn’t have a lot of options. It was either listen to her or go home and wait for the police. It couldn’t get any worse…right?

“What exactly would I get if I went with you?”

“Well, for one thing, a place to hide out,” said the boy. “It’s where I’ve been staying.”

“Yeah, there’s that,” said the girl as she moved closer to Vignette. “But, our overall goal, is to reclaim what we lost. To get our magic back. That and get some payback towards the Rainbooms for everything they’ve done to us.” Suddenly the girl turned and began walking towards an alleyway. “That’s all you get for free. If your interested in hearing more, you need to sign up with us. So what’s it going to be? Follow me for one last chance? Or stay here and feel sorry for yourself before the police grab you?”

As the boy followed the girl, Vignette stood there for a moment with her hand hanging limply at her sides. Then her hands balled up into fists as a more determined look appeared on her face. Then she marched after the pair, eager to find out more.

Author's Notes:

The reason I decided to write Vignette like this is simple: her redemption in the special was pathetic. Vignette was shown as a spoiled, ego driven woman where nothing was ever good enough for her. Everything had to be better than it was. And that was before she got magic. But instead of getting to see how wrong she was and how her actions hurt others or something like that we got 'all you need are friend'. Now this message might have worked had we seen this from the beginning. Like if she was the daughter, granddaughter, or whatever of the owner and wanted to make sure the opening of the park went perfectly. That she had no one to trust for a second opinion or even someone to help take the stress off.

Now for the decks:

Vignette: Assault Mode. When I was first planning this deck, I thought that Metaphys would have been a good choice for her seeing she wanted to call her band the "Throwbacks". For those of you who don't know Metaphys are based on old monsters from the duel monsters and gx era, giving them updated effects. But then the new support for Assault Mode came out. As Vignette herself said, they are themselves but better.

Fluttershy: Ritual Beasts. Fluttershy is one of those characters that has a couple of different decks but mostly relying on Beast Type. For the longest time, I was going between this and Ghostrick. Honestly I thought it would be cute when Fluttershy tells they to 'hide little ones'. But I guess you can all see why I went for Ritual Beasts

The Good, The Bad, and The Duelists part 1

It was a quiet afternoon in the town of Rancho Bronco, but not because it was a small town where nothing ever happened. While it seemed to be nothing more than a dusty relic of the past, with plenty of log cabins and wooden structures, that appearance was very deceiving. For one thing, the town had some of the best grazing land for miles around. Many of the farmers there raised cattle as well as bison in mass and sold all across the state. A few of the farmers here were even able to sell their meat across the country due to their tenderness. Rodeos and country concerts were common occurrences here with many of the biggest in the business getting their start here. Folks from all over the country would swarm here for their annual events. And then there were the chili fields owned by Chili Pepper, the oldest resident of the town. His Windigo Pepper fields seemed to go on for miles in every direction with his three story mansion in the middle along with housing for all of his farm hands.

Yet this afternoon held none of the pride and joy that normally blanketed the town. Instead the streets looked deserted with not even a tumble weed to roll past when the wind blew. Lights had faded from inside all the stores, the glass looking dirty as if no one had washed them in forever. Cars that had been driving down the streets just a week ago were left to rust in the middle of the streets, their windows shattered completely and their insides picked apart. Street signs were spray painted over with black lightning bolts and other signs. Then there were-

“Somebody please help me!” screamed a voice of some unlucky soul. Those close enough to hear peeked through their closed curtains or past their boarded up windows, ignoring the trashed states of their yards to see a horrible sight. The old mailman, Mr. Stamp, was being thrown backwards. The letter bag he was carrying spilled white envelopes everywhere as he was flung while Duel Monster cards from his hand fluttered about the place. What made the scene so horrible was that, as he was flung, he began to change. His skin began to wrinkle while liver spots appeared. Muscle mass decreased to give him a frailer appearance, clinging to his body as if he had suddenly been mummified. His hair lost what remaining color he had while it became longer, several teeth falling out of his mouth. By the time he hit the ground, he was no longer a man in his upper sixties but instead a man pushing a hundred or more!

“Ha, ha, ha,” came a deep pitched laugh from his opponent as he stepped towards the fallen man. He was a blue skinned teen with black hair that turned upwards like bull horns. His face was almost flat and blocky, with a large golden ring pierced into his nose while a green glowing gem hung around his neck. As he walked towards his opponent, this teen lowered his duel disk while his muscles began to ripple underneath his clothes before suddenly growing larger. His white shirt and ripped jeans became strained before ripping in several spots. Even his shoes seemed to burst from this sudden increase in mass as he walked off of the outsole. Only his leather biker’s vest, which had the image of a lightning bolt on the back, remained undamaged.

“Please,” begged Mr. Stamp as he raised a shaky hand to the sky, his eyes turning milk white. However, his plea went unheeded as his opponent kicked the arm away. A loud snap was heard followed by the arm bending in a way it shouldn’t, Mr. Stamp screaming as loud as his now feeble voice could.

“That’s what you get when trash like you forgets to pay me and the boss the proper respect,” sneered the teen. He then looked around, and when he spoke again, he made sure his voice could be heard by all. “And don’t any of you forget who’s in charge here or what we can do to you all! We have the power in this town!” With that said, the fiend threw back his head as he laughed loudly while the people inside their homes shuddered in fear.

-x-

“Are we there yet? Are we there yet?” asked Pinkie Pie as she bounced about on her seat, looking out the train window excitedly. Not that there was much to see right now. The train had long since departed the cityscape and had taken them out into the country land. Now all that could been seen were acres of fields with the occasional cluster of cows grazing.

“No Pinkie,” replied Applejack as she fought to keep the irritation out of her voice. She did, however, place a hand on her head as her eyes rolled. She had been dealing with the same question since they first got on the train. Literally since the moment they sat down, the sugar powered teen had been asking if they were there yet. It had been fine at first, but several hours of this had caused Applejack to wonder how in the world the Pie family was able to keep their sanity. Just imagining Pinkie getting into a car with them, bouncing in the seats for however long, probably did a number on them.

Much like how it was doing a number on all the other folks on the train. There weren’t that many mind you, but those who were, well, were not doing too well. Most of them were showing signs of stress and irritation, giving the pink girl dirty looks while not caring if they were seen. A few others managed to get different seats in a different compartment.

Thankfully, Applejack wasn’t alone with dealing with Pinkie. Sitting across from her were Twilight and Sonata. Thankfully Sonata wasn’t following Pinkie’s example, but instead was working on her homework with the help of Twilight.

“Stupid triangles,” muttered Sonata as she erased something for the umpteenth time, looking flustered as she did so. “Don’t know why anybody need to know trigonometry. Evil subject!”

“Now that ain’t fair,” said Applejack with a small smile. “Why, whenever me and mah family need ta work on any project, figerin’ out them angles is mighty important. An Forge, well, he needs to know how to figure them out when lookin’ at blueprints an stuff.”

“Speaking of Forge,” began Twilight as she gave Applejack a look that screamed both curious as well as sly. And the tone in her voice, it was as if Twilight were channeling her inner Rarity. A scary thought indeed. “How did that date with Forge go?”

“Well, it was…ah,” began Applejack as she felt her face beginning to burn. Honestly, her first ever real date had been a lot of fun. Looking at all sorts of handmade knick-knacks, old fashioned equipment, watching a falconer, and seeing one of them fancy sword fighting shows. It was the sort of thing that she had never tried before, but seemed right up her alley. Heck, there were even some outdoor dances that Applejack would have like to do…if she knew any of them fancy dance moves that all the other Renaissance goers seemed to know. That and the fact that she had on her gem meaning she might have crushed Forge without meaning to.

Shaking her head slightly, Applejack decided to change the subject. “Thanks again for coming with me to check on mah great granduncle Chili Pepper.”

Twilight frowned a little at this before returning back to her normal self, giving her a ‘don’t worry about it’ type smile. None of the others seemed to care about the subject change, since Pinkie had been looking out the window the entire time and Sonata was looking stressed about her homework. “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “I just hope he’s ok.”

“Ah hope so as well,” replied Applejack as she leaned forward to take out a letter that was in her back pocket. She didn’t unfold it, but stared at the crumpled piece of paper with a worried frown. It had only been a day and a half since the farmer girl had received it and, in that time, had reread the letter so many times that she was now able to recite it from memory. Not that it was very long or anything. The message had come from the office of the Rancho Bronco’s Sheriff’s office, explaining that her Great Uncle Chili Pepper had been missing for over a week at the time the letter had been sent out. As such, they were reaching out to his next of kin to both inform her as well as asking that she come down to help settle some legal matters.

It was surprising that she would be the one to be asked. Applejack could count the number of times she had met her Great Uncle on one hand and have some digits to spare. He had always seemed more like a fool with no real common sense, off in his own little world while eating chili peppers like they were candy. And why they would reach out to her of all people instead of Granny Smith or Big Mac was also a mystery. But she supposed that she would find out when they got there.

A sudden arm was wrapped around AJ’s neck followed by a cheek being pressed against her own. “Don’t worry silly,” said Pinkie Pie, her breath smelling of frosting. “I’m sure everything will be fine and dandy. And if something is wrong we’ll be there to take care of it! After all, we might be related which means he’s a member of my family as well! And there’s no way I’d ever let anything bad happen to a family member!”

“Much appreciate it,” said Applejack as she felt herself relax a bit, grateful to have friends who would have her back in all this. She knew Pinkie Pie would go to the ends of the earth just to make someone smile, so of course she would have come along even if she knew they weren’t related. She only wished the rest of her family could make it, minus Apple Bloom. The last thing she needed was her going off on her own and getting into trouble.

As for her friends, well, she had only asked the ones she knew were free this weekend. It would have sucked if Chili Pepper had just gone out of town for a week without telling anyone and they had come all this way for nothing! Rainbow Dash had a big soccer game upstate, a few hours in the opposite direction that they were heading towards. Scouts were going to be present, meaning that there might be a chance that Rainbow could be considered for a scholarship. The last thing Applejack wanted was for her to have to choose between her future and a problem a friend was going through. Rarity had some big plans for a shindig where a few of her dresses were going to be worn. Then there was Fluttershy who had been taking some time off from school following the break in at the animal shelter. She was fine, but said she needed some time to herself to recharge. The only two Applejack knew she was talking to was Tree Hugger, who was helping Fluttershy to ‘get her energies centered’ or something like that, and her boyfriend. As for Sunset, she was keeping a promise.

-x-

“HEADSHOT!” yelled President Shimmer, pumping a fist into the air as she watched the futuristic soldier on the scene fall down to the floor. Both she and the identical girl next to her grinned as their fingers moved over the controllers, taking down legions of enemies in the games two player mode.

“Watch out,” said Sunset, grinning with the rush of excitement on her face. “Mass of enemies on your six!” Her hands hurt from playing this same game for the last ten hours straight…but she didn’t want to stop. She couldn’t stop. Neither of them could stop after making it all the way to the fifteenth level in one day on epic mode!

“Oh no you don’t!” growled President Shimmer as she stood up, nearly slamming a foot on top of the table in front of them while a flame blazed in her eyes. With the press of a button, President Shimmer’s character switched weapons from a large chaingun to a flame thrower. “You accounting bastards! Trying to tell me we’re over budget when you’re slipping funds into your personal accounts! Setting me back months! DIE! DIE! DIE!”

-x-

So that left Twilight and Sonata, besides Pinkie, of course. For some time now, Twilight had been spending a good chunk of her free time working on some big fancy project in case Cinch ever showed her face around these parts again. Recently Twilight had made massive progress with the help of Pinkie, so now she was taking a much needed break to clear her head. As for Sonata, the fast food chain she worked for had given her the weekend off. And if Twilight was going, the former Siren had to come along as well since Twilight was also her tutor. That and she wanted to try the chilies.

“I will destroy this math problem,” growled Sonata as she erased what she written again. As she did, Applejack saw Twilight lean over to her housemate’s paper to get a better look at it. She then pointed to one spot and whispered in Sonata’s ear causing the blue skinned girl’s eyes to widen. “Oh, I think I get it now.”

“It’s no AAAHHHH!” screamed Twilight as the train came to a sudden and unexpected stop. She wasn’t the only one to do so. All around them, folks flew out of one seat and into the one across. Sonata flew head first into Pinkie, her homework getting shredded in the process causing the ritual summoner to scream all the louder. Thankfully, Applejack was able to catch Twilight thanks to her own strength, knocking away several large bags that flew in their direction as well.

“Sorry about that everyone,” came the voice on the loudspeaker. “There seems to be some trouble on the tracks. Please be patient as we sort this out as quickly as possible.”

“What do you think it is?” asked Twilight as she got up.

“Who cares?” cried Sonata as she held up the remains of her homework. “Now I have to start all over again. All. Over. Again. It’s not fair!” As Sonata cried loudly, Applejack moved to the window to take a peek to see if she could spot anything. At first, the only thing she noticed was all of the conductors getting out of the train and heading towards the front. For some reason, a wave of dread began to wash over her, chilling the teen to the bone. Each second, the pounding of her heart seemed to grow larger and larger until it was the only thing she could hear.

Then after several minutes, something was pushed into her view. It was a car so old that it had to be a classic or something. An old white convertible if she had to guess, it was hard to tell due to all the dust. But, if she wasn’t mistaken, that was Chili Pepper’s car. His pride and joy when he was her age! Worse was that it was decorated with the skulls of dead animals spelling the warning: keep out.

-x-

An hour and a half later found the girls at their destination. The rest of the trip had been taken in almost complete silence except for the sound of pencil against paper as Sonata continued to do her homework. Not even Pinkie tried to take their mind off what they had seen after Applejack had shared what it was. She too was shaken by what it was and what it could very well mean. Now, with them being the only four to get off the train, looking around made that sense of dread feel all the worse. There was just nobody around. No one was waiting for the train to arrive, not travels or even station attendants. The wind blew trash and dust all over the place with graffiti all over the walls. If AJ hadn’t known any better, she would have thought that this place was no longer in service.

“Are you sure we have the right place?” asked Sonata as she tugged a little on her backpack’s strap, glancing behind her at the train which had not departed yet.

Rather than answer her verbally, Applejack raised a hand and pointed to a hanging sign. The words ‘Rancho Bronco’ could just barely be seen beneath the paint and pigeon droppings that coated it. No one said anything to this, all of the girls shrugging in defeat as they walked away from the train and their main means of escape from this place.

Outside the train station, things weren’t any better. Nothing more than what appeared to be a deserted town. Yet, as the girls passed by building after building on their way to the sheriff’s office, they couldn’t help but feel they were being watched. That didn’t bother Applejack none as she followed her phone’s GPS to their destination, but even she noticed people watching them from inside the buildings out of the corners of her eyes.

Questions began to go through Applejack’s mind. The biggest one was: how could this have happened without word getting out? One would think something like this would have sparked the media’s attention. Them news vultures should have been here in mass, covering everything and everyone they could while politicians tried to blame the other party for what happened. If there was some sort of trouble, shouldn’t the state police be investigating this? Or if this was the start of the zombie plague wouldn’t the CDC have roped the area off? Heck, maybe even a few MyStable posts should have been posted.

For several minutes the girls walked through the desolate town, wishing to see a car pass them by just to see somebody out on the streets other than themselves. As they drew near the local hospital, a large seven or eight story building, a loud beeping sound broke the silence and nearly caused Applejack to jump from surprise. Turning around, she saw that Pinkie and Sonata were also looking at Twilight who had worried look on her face as she pulled out her magical detection device from her pocket.

However, before she could open it, a man was flung through the glass doors of the hospital emergency entrance. The man landed in front of them, his silver skin looking heavily bruised with white hair a mess and glasses cracked. Judging from the fact that he was wearing a lab coat and had been flung from the hospital the Applejack assumed he was a doctor. Slowly he made gasping noises as he stared up at the sky before his body seemed to age rapidly right before their eyes. Out of the corner of her eye, Applejack saw her friends looks of shock and Pinkie even covered her mouth in horror at what they were seeing.

Then came the laughter. As the doctor took on the appearance of a living mummified man, the girls turned to look at the person walking calmly out of the hospital. It was a hulking teenage boy who looked close to their age with grey skin and brown hair which had been styled in a way to make it look like he had horns. The teen didn’t wear a shirt, just an open leather vest to show off his chiseled body along with ripped jeans. Then there was the gem around his neck, a green emerald like rock that seemed to have steel unicorn’s head melted into its center. It glowed an eerie green color as the teens muscles began to ripple and grow, making him look more powerful. Definitely signs of Equestrian magic in Applejack’s book. At least he hadn’t turned into some sort of monster…yet.

“Well, well,” said the teenager as the doctor moaned for help. “Look at what we have here. A couple of girls who decided to go out for some fresh air.”

“What in Sam Hill is going on here?!” demanded Applejack as she moved in front of the fallen doctor.

“What rock have you been sleeping under?” asked the teen with a laugh. “You should know by now that this is our town and, by our rules, the only people allowed outside when the sun is up are members of the Stampede Gang.” He then gave them a nasty grin. “That guy behind you, he stupidly went to help another fool who went outside so he got what was coming to him. And, unless you all want to end up like that, then you’d better making it worth my while or else duel me!”

“Fine then,” said Twilight as she stepped forward. After taking hold of her gem, the doctor was gently levitated away and place on the street not too far away from them. The teenage boy looked surprised by this, jaw dropping as he stood there looking confused. The man looked slightly panicked at the noise, but didn’t say anything else. All eyes were on Twilight as she pulled out another device and put her gem into it after attaching it to her wrist. In a heartbeat, a row of purple stars, five in total, appeared in front of it. “I’ll duel you.”

“You…You have magic too!” shouted the teen, eyes bugging out a bit. “And its different from what we all have. Amazing.” The teen quickly raised his hands out in a calm down gesture as a grin appeared on his face. “Well this changes everything. Listen, there’s no need for us to do this. The name’s Bull Ring and the Stampede Gang would love to have you join our ranks. Heck, all of you if you have the power to pull your own weight. Plus it would be a bonus to us having girls who are actual hotties instead of the one we do have.”

“Not a chance,” replied Twilight while inserting her deck. “There’s no way I’d join a gang.”

“Ah, but aren’t you sort of in a gang already?” asked Pinkie Pie, raising her hand up into the air as if she were in case. “I mean, there are eight of us who hang out and we do nearly everything together and we sometimes call ourselves-”

“That’s not what I meant Pinkie,” shouted Twilight. “I mean a criminal gang, not a gang of friends!”

Bull, meanwhile, shook his head as he lowered his hands. “Well that ain’t the smartest move I’ve ever seen,” he said as he raised his dueling arm up. “You’ve seen what our magic can do. It drains the life out of whoever loses a duel to us and then transfers that life to us. We become stronger and healthier with each person we defeat. Perhaps when it happens to you, your friends will make a smarter decision.”

“Connecting,” said a female mechanical voice from their duel disks. “Opponents found. Displaying order now.” In the middle of the field appeared a flat holographic image of a portrait, only on one side was Twilight while the other was a mugshot of Bull Ring. The image began to spin round and round, faster and faster as their duel disks shuffled their decks at an equally quick speed. Eventually the portraits stopped spinning, ending on Bull Ring.

“Ha! Well ain’t that lucky!” cried Bull Ring as both he and Twilight drew cards from their decks. Once he had six cards in his hand, Bull looked them over with savage superiority. “I’ll start by playing the field spell: Geartown!” Instantly the area around the two began to change as buildings made of metal and gears began to spring out from the ground. Both Pinkie and Sonata let out cries of surprise, grabbing hold of Applejack from either side as she herself looked on the rising smokestacks that let out their vile pollution into the sky. “Like it? With this card in play I can normal summon my Ancient Gear monsters with one less tribute. But then again, while it’s a nice place to visit I wouldn’t want to live here. So I’ll play the spell card Ancient Gear Catapult! When I have no monsters on my side of the field I can use this card to destroy one card on my side of the field and then special summon one Ancient Gear monster from my deck ignoring the summoning conditions. So say goodbye to Geartown and hello to Ancient Gear Golem!”

“Hello,” Pinkie and Sonata said together as they let go of Applejack. At the same time, the city of gears that surrounded them began to rust, crumble, and fall apart. As it did, a large figure rose from the rubble. A towering humanoid machine that looked like it had seen better days. Despite having 3000 attack points, the machine looked like it needed new armor plating to protect its exposed gears and had a single glowing red eye.

“But that’s not all that I’m summoning!” continued Bull Ring as the destroyed city began to shake. “When Geartown is destroyed I can special summon another Ancient Gear monster from my hand, deck, or graveyard. However, this card doesn’t allow me to ignore the monster’s summoning requirements. Now rise up Ancient Gear Wyvern!” Rising up from the rubble before it vanished was a light teal machine shaped like a dragon with a large gear coming out of its body in between its wings. With 1700 attack points it rose into the sky as it flapped its metal wings.

“Now that my Wyvern is on the field, its effect activates,” said Bull as his duel disk beeped. “I can add to my hand any Ancient Gear card from my deck. Like say Ancient Gear Hunting Hound which I will then summon to the field in attack mode!” Appearing on the field was a dark green machine that somewhat resembled a dog with large fangs on its underjaw and a large yellow gear on its underbelly. Its attack point were 1000. “When normal summoned, this monster burns you for 600 points of damage! Literally!” Ancient Gear Hunting Hound opened its jaw revealing a flamethrower inside. Before Applejack could tell Twilight to look out, a large stream of flame shot out towards the purple skinned duelist. Twilight’s body was covered by the flames, her screams echoing across the empty streets as her life points dropped to 7400.

“Feels real, don’t it?” commented Bull as the flames continued. “That’s because our magic makes all the damage you take real! So tremble as I-” Bull looked shocked for, at that moment, the flames died down and there stood Twilight looking singed but otherwise fine. “Wait, why aren’t you scared? Everybody I’ve done that to becomes a nervous wreck!”

“This isn’t the first time this has happened to me,” replied Twilight.

Bull swore loudly, causing Pinkie to cover her ears with cotton candy. “Well that changes things then. Thankfully my Hunting Hound has another trick he can use. Once per turn, this card lets me fusion summon one of my Ancient Gear monsters using monsters from my hand or field. So I’ll fuse my Hunting Hound with my Wyvern!” Applejack watched as Twilight’s free hand tightened into a fist as a vortex appeared above their heads, pulling the two mechanical monsters towards the sky. Like she was bracing herself for what was to come. “Gears of the dog and dragon turn as the clock ticks by. Rusted, but not forgotten, combine to bring war to this modern era. Fusion Summon Ancient Gear Howitzer!” Landing on two legs next to Ancient Gear Golem, and just as large, a mechanized dragon slammed into the earth. Most of its plating was missing, showing off multiple spots where its gears were sticking out as they turned rapidly. It had no claws or hands, but three massive cannons sticking out of its arms. Its attack points were 1000.

“Now I active this machine’s effect!” shouted Bull as he stomped his foot on the ground. “If 600 points of burn damage didn’t bother you then maybe 1000 points will!” The cannons on Howitzer moved ever so slowly until they pointed at Twilight. With an ear splitting boom they fired at her one by one, hitting the ground so hard that the pavement erupted around her and sent Twilight flying backwards. Applejack and the other winced as their friend landed on her back and continued to skid for a few yards before finally stopping.

As her life points dropped to 6400, Twilight struggled to stand up. The damage wasn’t pretty. The right lens of her glasses had cracked and there were several cuts on her face, probably due to the last explosion. Her blouse was ripped in the back, revealing parts of her bare skin as well as blood. Not a lot thankfully but enough to be noticed.

“You’re not looking too hot,” commented Bull as Twilight stumbled to return to her former position. “Tell you what, since I’m such a nice guy, we can end this duel right here and call it a draw. All you have to do is promise to work with us. Sounds like a good deal, right?”

Applejack watched as Twilight took several deep breaths before answering. “Is it my turn yet?”

That got a small chuckle out of Bull. “Yeah, I guess it is,” he said.

“Good,” said Twilight as she drew, now holding six cards in her hand. “I’ll start by summoning Genex Ally Duradark in attack mode!” After placing the card on her duel disk, a beam of pixels shot down from the sky and ‘flipped’ before striking the ground to reveal Duradark. An android made of mostly black material with blue circuitry glowing all over its metallic body and a red visor with computer code running across it. It appeared on the field with its arms crossed as if to give itself a look of utter confidence. Its attack points were 1800.

“Next I’ll play the spell card: One for one,” continued Twilight with a smile as she inserted the card. At the same time, Duradark turned its head to look at Twilight and gave her a solid nod of approval. “By discarding a card in my hand, I can search my deck for a level one monster and special summon it to the field. Genex Ally Changer will be discarded so that I can special summon Genex Recycled to the field.” Another pixelated beam appeared on Twilight’s side of the field, ‘flipping’ to reveal a monster that was less impressive than Duradark. It was a small monster, barely going past Twilight’s knee with a large square head. Recycled had exposed wires wrapped around its arms and coming out of its legs as it sat there, staring up towards the sky with a dead look in its unblinking eyes.

“Ha!” laughed Bull as he pointed to Recycled. “What can that puny thing do?”

“Something really special,” replied Twilight, taking Bull by surprise. “Recycled is a monster who remembers those Genex monsters who rest in the graveyard. To honor them and continue the fight, he’ll take on their names. Like right now he’ll take on the name Genex Ally Changer!” If something amazing was to happen, Applejack didn’t see it. All she saw were Recycled’s eyes blinking for a bit. “It might not seem amazing on its own, but when I use this effect with Machine Duplication I can summon to the field two more Genex Ally Changers!” A large holographic version of Twilight’s spell card appeared on the field right before several large mechanical arms began to come out of it. Many of these arms ended with things like welding torches and cutting saws with others carried in their claw like hands metal and wires. Together they worked assembling two more monsters to Twilight’s side.

“No way,” growled Bull as he checked his duel disk. “There’s no way you can do that. Machine Duplication only works on monsters with 500 or less attack points! Genex Ally Changer has 1200 attack points!”

“Actually there are ways around that restriction,” said Twilight as her two new monsters were finished being assembled. Both were mostly white androids with green bits on their arms and legs. In addition, it also had a yellow visor in place of a face. “See, the monster that is targeted needs to have 500 or less attack points. Meaning if you can adjust its attack points or change the name of a monster with the desired attack points, you can then pull out higher attack point monsters from your deck.”

Bull Ring frowned at that but said nothing, eyeing Twilight’s four monsters in an unimpressed fashion. And, if she were being honest, Applejack couldn’t blame him. None of those monsters had the power to take down either Bull’s giant machines. Not to mention Twilight had just three more cards in her hand. Perhaps one of them might be able to help.

“With both of my Changers on the field, I’ll activate their effect allowing me to change the attribute of one monster on the field,” explained Twilight before pointing towards one of them. “Changer number one will turn itself into a fire attribute and Changer number two will turn Duradark into an earth.” Applejack watched as Twilight’s monsters went to work. The first one pressed a few buttons on its arm before a bubble or field formed around it that was shaded red. The second one did the same only it pointed a hand at Duradark before a beam shot out of it, surrounding their fellow machine with a more earthy toned field.

“With that set, I am ready to Synchro Summon!” announced Twilight as she pointed to the sky. “I tune my level one tuner Genex Recycled with my two level three Genex Ally Changers to Synchro Summon Genex Ally Triforce!” At that moment, Recycled managed to jump into the air and became a single green ring which both Changers jumped into. Once inside of the rings the Changers turned into six stars before a bright light engulfed them. “Circuits connect opening new pathways to victory. The addition of fire will bring about blazing glory. Synchro Summon Level 7: Genex Ally Triforce!” As the light faded, a metallic white figure landed on the ground in the classic superhero knee fashion. It was large, standing much taller than Twilight with a red visor covering its face. Most of its body looked smooth and well rounded except for its chest which stuck out a bit. One of its hands was not a hand, but instead a blaster with three muzzles with different colors (red, brown, and black) in a triangular design. The gun arm spun around, stopping with a loud click as the red muzzle was seated at the top. After standing, it turned to look at Twilight before giving a thumbs up as its 2500 attack points were proudly displayed.

“With that set, I play the spell card Iron Draw!” continued Twilight. “This spell card allows me to draw two more cards as long as I have exactly two machine effect monsters and nothing else. Also for the rest of this turn I can only special summon one more time.” With that, the number of cards in Twilight’s hand rose to four. However, Applejack noted that Twilight didn’t look too pleased by what she saw. Like she had been hoping to get something else but didn’t get it.

“Time to take out your monsters starting with Ancient Gear Golem,” said Twilight as she focused on the problem before her. “I activate Duradark’s special ability which allows him to destroy one monster on your side of the field with the same attribute as his own. And since he’s an earth type right now…” Twilight let her words hang as Duradark raised a hand towards Ancient Gear Golem. Applejack watched as a hole opened up in its hand and began to suck up everything within the area. Trash and rubble were sucked inside while Ancient Gear Golem’s feet were dragged across the street damaging the pavement as it went. But the closer it got, the faster it seemed to be pulled in until it too was sucked up.

“No! My Golem!” shouted Bull.

“It’s your turn now Triforce!” shouted Twilight as she pointed at Ancient Gear Howitzer. “Time for battle. Take out his Howitzer!” Holding his weapon in front of him, Genex Ally Triforce’s weapon began to spin as a large black orb appeared in front of it before launching at Bull’s remaining monster. Bull cried out as his machine broke apart right before his eyes in the blast while his life points dropped to 6500. Applejack watched him open his mouth to say something, probably to voice how glad he was that it was in defense mode and that he wouldn’t be taking any damage, when Triforce appeared with its weapon pointed directly in his face. “Now Triforce’s effect activates. Since I used a fire attribute monster to Synchro Summon him, he deals damage equal to the destroyed monsters attack points.” Flames shot out of Triforce’s weapon, burning Bull until his life points dropped to 5500. When it was over, Triforce bent its knees before leaping into the air and landing in front of Twilight.

“That…hurt,” grunted Bull as he placed a hand over his heart. Parts of his body looked singed, smoke rising up as he breathed deeply. “I’ll show you! I activate the effect of my Howitzer! When its destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard I get to special summon one Ancient Gear monster from my deck while ignoring the summoning conditions. So guess who’s coming back?!” From the fallen debris rose another Ancient Gear Golem.

Twilight frown. “I’ll end my turn,” she said. “And at this time, the effect of Changer ends allowing Duradark to return to his original attribute.”

“Goodie, my turn,” laughed Bull. With five cards in hand, he looked down at them for a second before pulling three of them out. “Time I took this a bit more seriously. I use the spell card Polymerization to fuse the Ancient Gear Golem on my field with the Ancient Gear Gadget and Ancient Gear Box in my hand to create one of the most powerful cards in the game!” Bull threw back his head and laughed as his monster rose up into the sky followed by the shadowy images of his other two monsters. “Cower before the metal giant, with might unmatched by any other! The combined might of three machines, built on the foundation of the Golem, makes it possible! Fusion Summon: Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem!” What crashed down from the sky landed with enough force to shatter every window down the street, glass raining down as far as Applejack could see. Standing above Bull was Ancient Gear Golem with a serious upgrade. For one thing his body now resembled that of a centaur. His size had either doubled or tripled while one of his hands had been replaced with a weapon like Triforce’s. Only it was more medieval in Applejack’s opinion compared to the high tech blaster Triforce used. It was a bulky, three clawed hand with two gears coming out of it. And judging by its 4400 attack points, it would hurt a lot.

“He looks familiar,” muttered Sonata as she looked up at Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem with a deadpan expression. “Sort of reminds me of this jerk Aria dated for a while when we were all living in Equestria. Can’t really remember the name, but he had a cute brother.”

“Beg for mercy little girl!” shouted Bull. “Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem, destroy that puny monster!” Everyone watched as Bull’s monster pulled back its weaponized hand before thrusting it at Duradark who stood ready to take it. When the attack hit, Applejack expected Twilight’s monster to be destroyed instantly. Only, it didn’t. It grabbed hold of two of the three claws and held on for dear life while darkly colored sparks ran up and down its legs. As the seconds ticked by, Duradark seemed to take on more damage. The dark sparks began to cover its entire body while its visor cracked. At the same time the gears on Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem’s weapon began to spin faster until smoke began to come out of it. Eventually Duradark’s body gave out, losing its grip moments before it got smashed. As Duradark exploded with its limbs and body parts flying in every direction right before they exploded as well, Applejack saw Triforce holding Twilight as he put his back towards the explosive to protect her from the flying rubble. Shielding her.

“Now you see how powerless you are against me,” said Bull with a grin as Twilight’s life points dropped to 3800. “Not only does this monster have high attack points, but it has some powerful effects as well! Putting your monsters in defense mode will not protect you because this thing does piercing damage so there is no point in stalling! But, even if you do somehow manage to destroy it, I can just summon an Ancient Gear Golem from my grave to replace it. So no matter how you slice it, nothing in your deck can save you!”

“You’re wrong,” said Twilight as Triforce released her, taking a step back and standing beside her. “I believe in the deck I built and the monsters within it. There is a way to take down your monster.” Triforce folded his arms as Twilight said this before nodding in agreement.

“Whatever, just take your turn,” said a dismissive Bull. “But just to let you know, I have never lost after summoning this bad boy.”

Twilight said nothing as she drew her card and began to look at the five cards in her hand. With each passing moment, Applejack’s heart began to beat a little faster and harder in her chest.

“Ok, Twilight is still in this,” whispered Pinkie. “But it’s a pity she took out her old Scrap Iron Scarecrow. If Twilight still had that card in her deck then, and had drawn it last turn, she wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“That wouldn’t have worked,” said Applejack as she shook her head. “Granny Smith also plays that deck an I can tell ya’ll a thing or two about it. That there monster, when it attacks Twi ain’t allowed to activate traps. Meaning it’s free ta swing away without worry.” Applejack then clenched her fists. “Dang it Twi, why did ya have ta duel him like this when the stakes are so high. If ya lose then you’ll be-” Applejack was interrupted by a hand being placed on her shoulder. Looking over she saw that it was Sonata who was keeping her eyes on Twilight.

“Don’t worry, she knows what she’s doing,” said the former Siren. “Twilight has been working on that deck and practicing with it nearly every day since I started living with her. Plus she’s super duper smart. Even if she had only one life point left, I still think she would be able to turn this around somehow.”

Applejack frowned. “It’s not like ah don’t have any faith in her,” she muttered. “But with things the way they are-”

“Got it,” said Twilight loudly, causing Applejack to turn her attention back to the duel. Twilight was now looking at Bull with utter confidence. “I’ve never had the chance to pull off this combo before, but it will take you down this turn.”

“Ha,” laughed Bull as he crossed his arms. “Go ahead and try!”

“I play the spell card Iron Call,” announced Twilight. “When I control a machine type monster on the field, I’m allowed to special summon a level four or lower machine type monster in my graveyard. However, its effects are negated and its destroyed at the end of the turn. Come on back Genex Recycled!” Sprouting up from the ground as if he had dug himself out of a shallow grave was Recycled. The machine looked around a bit before its unblinking eyes turned towards Twilight, stumbling over to her before hugging the teenage girl’s leg.

“There, there,” said Twilight gently as she patted her Genex monster’s head. “It’ll be ok.” She then looked up at Triforce who was looking back at her. For a moment the two just stared at each other before Triforce nodded, as if he understood what she was planning. “Now I’ll tune my level one tuner Genex Recycled with my level seven Genex Ally Triforce!” A smile appeared on the girl’s face as her two monsters rose up the sky to become a familiar pillar of light. “Circuits charged with more power than ever before. The final upgrade to the Genex line races down the road to place victory in my hands! Synchro Summon Level Eight: Genex Ally Axel!” Landing on the field was another one of Twilight androids, only this one had wheels where its feet should have been which it used to zoom around the field as if it were skating at ninety miles per hour. When it returned to its summoner, Axel shot one of its legs forwards while the other bent low so it could twirl around in place before standing with a fist pump toward the sky. Everyone there looked at the now still robot with its white steel coat, purple visor, odd looking hoop attached to its back, and what looked like a card launcher attached to one of its arms. Its attack points were 2600.

“HA!” laughed Bull as Axel moved besides Twilight, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Is that the best you got? A monster with only one hundred attack points more than what you had?”

“No,” said Twilight as she sent a card from her hand to the graveyard. “I’ve got something a bit better in mind. I activate Axel’s effect which allows me to special summon one Genex monster from the graveyard as long as its level four or below. Return to the field Genex Recycled!” A card shot out of Axel’s card launcher which he caught and held up in front of him. The hoop attached to his back began to fill with a golden light before there was a sudden flash and, when it cleared, Recycled returned to the field. “Now I’ll tune him with my level eight Axel!”

“And what good will that do you?” laughed Bull. “A monster with 2700 attack points?”

Twilight didn’t respond as the pillar of light appeared on her side of the field, instead beginning her chant. “Massive power is built up from within, traveling through time and space. Connect and upgrade once again so that all may see the light! Synchro Summon Level Nine: Locomotion R-Genex!” As Twilight finished her chant the pillar of light faded while heavy clouds filled the sky above them. Music could be heard coming out from the sky along with the sound of a train whistle. As the music soared in triumphant harmony, Locomotion came out of the clouds causing the sky to instantly clear up. Locomotion R-Genex was a machine with 2500 attack points, looking very much like an old fashioned black train but in a humanoid form. It had no hands or feet, just arms and legs that ended in cannons. In its chest was a circular white light that shined brightly as the whistle blew once more from behind its tiny head.

“HA! All that work for a weaker monster!” laughed Bull. As he laughed, he failed to notice the light coming from Locomotion’s chest hitting his fusion monster. Streams of data code began to move across the field through that light and, when it was finished, Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem began to move across the field. With each step it took the earth trembled under its mighty weight, gaining the attention of Bull. “Wh-What’s going on here?”

“Locomotion R-Genex has a powerful effect,” said Twilight as the fusion monster stood behind her. “When its synchro summoned, he takes control of the monster on your side of the field with the highest level. With this you’re field is wide open! Both monsters attack him directly!”

“I was careless!” screamed Bull as Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem’s clawed hand came barreling towards him. The teen screamed louder as he was crushed against the ground, eyes bulging while his life points dropped to 1100. Slowly he began to get into a sitting position right as Locomotion fired double beam cannons at him, the force of which slid his body against the payment and broken glass until his life points hit zero.

As the duel finished, Bull’s gem exploded into thousands of green shards. Everyone there watched as the teenager began to scream, his body convulsing wildly before it began to deflate. The muscle mass he had began to lessen until he was barely better than a stick figure while his skin took on an unhealthy gloss. In fact, everything about him looked sickly! At the same time the doctor that they had rescued began to look more like he did before, his body returning to the state it had been in before. By the time it was done it was like nothing had happened.

However the same could not be said for Twilight. As the holograms vanished, the wounds she had taken during the duel took their toll on her as she collapsed onto the ground.

-x-

“Thanks for taking a look at Twi Doc,” said Applejack.

“Not a problem,” replied the Doctor without looking up from his work. “It’s the least I can do for her.” Twilight was lying on her back, wincing in pain as the doctor cleaned her cuts and removed whatever stray glass was still lodged in her skin. Bandages were wrapped around her arms which had already been treated.

It had been twenty minutes since the duel had ended and she had been brought into the hospital. Entering the emergency entrance was something of a surprise for the girls who had expected it to look just as run down as the rest of the town. That was not the case as it seemed to be well kept and sterile looking. They could all smell the bleach used to wash the floors and the plain white walls looked completely clean of anything. But what was odd was that the waiting room had been completely cleared out and the chairs that would normally be there for waiting patients were replaced with cots. Many of those cots were filled by people who had resembled what the doctor had been, people who looked like they had turned a hundred and just moaned while they stared at the ceiling. Yet there were a few people who had jumped for joy when they came in, dancing around in their hospital gowns as if a miracle had just happened. Applejack supposed that maybe they too had been cured, like the Doc had.

As Pinkie Pie began handing out slices of cake to all those who had been healed (where she got those slices Applejack didn’t want to know), Applejack glanced over three cots from where they stood. Bull laid in that cot, his arms and legs strapped to it while four nurse carrying brooms and mops watched him. All of them looked on edge, flinching every time the teen twitched. While she could blame them after seeing what she had seen, he didn’t look in any shape to be causing any trouble.

“Is he going to be ok?” asked Sonata. Apparently she had followed the apple farmer’s gaze.

“No clue,” muttered the doctor, his tone harsh. “If it weren’t for the oath I took, I would have gladly left him to rot out there like him and his friends have done to so many.”

“What the Sam Hill happened here?” demanded Applejack, earning a brief glance from the doctor. “Ah mean, Ah get this letter from the sheriff telling me ta come down an that mah great uncle is missing but he failed ta mention the town had been taken over like this! Shouldn’t he have called the state police or something?”

“Must of sent the letter before things got really bad,” whispered the doctor as he pulled out another piece of glass from Twilight’s back. “To be honest, we’re still in the dark of exactly what’s going on here as well. Most of what I believe happened is nothing more than guesswork, patched together from rumors and what I saw with my own eyes. Some of it I still have a hard time believing. Don’t know how they’re doing all of this.”

Before he continued, the doctor shot another look at Bull while his eyes narrowed. “That punk and his friends, they came to town about a year or so ago as part of a work release program. That fool Chili Pepper was the one who brought them in thinking he could turn their lives around. Heh, fat lot of good it did since he was the only one they seemed to listen to. Probably because they knew if they ever got him angry enough he’d ship them back to their cells so they could finish out their sentences like they should have been! But to everyone else, all they ever did was give lip and cause trouble.”

“Doctor,” came a firm tone behind the girls causing they to jump. They turned around to see a nurse carrying a shirt that looked like it came from the gift shop as well as a lab coat and replacement glasses for Twilight. There was a frown on her face as she glared at the doctor before setting the small bundle down next to Twilight’s cot. “You know Chili Pepper was only doing what he thought was right. There’s no need to be bad mouthing him, not at a time like this.”

“If he hadn’t brought those punks here then we wouldn’t be in this mess,” replied the doctor stubbornly as he finished patching up Twilight. He then turned around to allow Twilight to get changed properly, without having her feel nervous with him watching.

“Ok,” said Applejack as she got in between the two. “So mah Great Granduncle brought them here. How in the heck did they get magical powers?”

The doctor shook his head. “That we don’t know. A week ago those work release brats started dueling people in the middle of the streets. We all saw our friends and neighbors have this happen to them as those thugs seem to get stronger! Don’t know how they got they got this power, but if I had to guess it might come from the green gems they wore around their necks.”

“Haven’t ya’ll tried fighting back?” asked Applejack as Pinkie bounced back towards the group.

The doctor responded by towards one of the mummified people in the far back. “That there was Sheriff Tumble Weed. Tried getting some outside help, but they treated it like a joke and I don’t blame them for thinking so. If someone had called me up and told me what was going on here I’d think they had one too many to drink. When that didn’t work he tried to get as many of our best duelists together to try and stop them. You can see how well that went. So the town’s mostly just given up. Anybody they see walking about the town during the day, they duel them. Before the sun rises, we have to lay out tributes in front of our homes or else they break down the doors and force us to duel them. Heck, if they don’t have a deck they give whoever it is they’re challenging a starter deck just so they can duel!”

“Well, the good news is that we know how to turn people back,” said Twilight, getting the attention of everyone. She now wore a pink blouse with a teddy bear hugging a red heart on it which she quickly covered up with her lab coat. The glasses were also a size or three too large for her, but it seemed she could see just fine with them. “And we have dealt with this kind of thing before. It has to be ancient Equestrian magic that was brought here via the portal. Let me just call up Sunset so she can ask the Princess about what it might be. The more information we have the better.” As the doctor and nurse looked at each other in confusion, Applejack watched as Twilight pulled out her phone before pressing a button on it with Sunset’s picture.

“I wonder what it is this time,” said Pinkie as she leaned against the opposite wall. “I bet whatever magical thingy these guys are using was used by some super big bad guy back in Equestria. Maybe something that allowed him to steal the strength of other ponies so he could become the biggest and baddest one around.”

“Well it’s not like it’s a unique power,” said Sonata. “Remember that guy I mentioned before, the one that dated my sister? He had this power that let him gobble up magic like it was Taco Tuesday so he could get all buff. That and it turned him into a bigger jerk since he stomped all over my seashell collection. Never apologized, just laughed like a crazy horse-thing. There were also stories I heard about a bell that this goat or ram or maybe-”

“Wait, WHAT?!?” shouted Twilight so loudly that it made Applejack jump three feet in the air. She, along with the others, turned to look at their purple friend to find her holding the phone with both hands while her mouth hung open. After a minute or two of silence she pulled the phone away and pressed a button. “Ok, I’ve got you on speaker. Could you repeat what you just told me?”

“Gems with steel unicorns melted on top that suck out a person’s strength? Twilight, I hate to say this but this time it isn’t ancient Equestrian magic,” said Sunset’s voice from the other side of the phone. “Well, it is Equestrian magic. That much is obvious. But those gems were created back when I was a little filly.” All of the girls looked at each other in equal confusion.

“What?” asked Pinkie, the first to break the silence.

Sunset let out a sigh. “Ok, this goes back to when I first became Princess Celestia’s student. At the time, there had been a small breakout causing some of the upper crust of the capital to get a little worried. Everypony knew it was possible for the magical dampening rings to be removed or that the chains holding down pegasi and earth ponies could break if the magic infused in them wasn’t regularly recharged. I guess this one breakout really shook them up since it was the first one that happened in the last couple hundred years. Kind of blew it out of proportion if you ask me.

“Anyways, this group of unicorns began to experiment with a better way of keeping prisoners in check. The idea was to suck out all the magic and physical strength of the convicts so that they would be unable to ever break free with it all returned after their sentence was finished. They called it the Gem of Dominance. Really should have gotten a better marketing pony on it because it sounds like something a villain would create.”

“Wow, Princess Celestia really went to the dark side if she oked this,” commented Sonata.

“She didn’t,” said Sunset quickly. “I was there when it was pitched to her and, well, she hated the idea. The whole idea of having an object with a unicorn on it with that sort of name didn’t sit well with her at all. Neither did the fact that the gem didn’t contain what was stolen, but instead transferred it to the wielder. If it were ever used, even if it was just for its intended purpose, it would tell the ponies of Equestria that unicorns were the dominant tribe rather than one of three equals. Then she had to consider it being used as, well, a tool of domination against other ponies. Rather than just telling them no, Princess Celestia ordered all of their research confiscated and forbade them to ever work on the gems again. As for the gems that were made she said she would dispose of them in a place where nopony would ever find them. Guess she must of used the portal.”

As Sunset said this, Applejack could feel her eye beginning to twitch. She could somewhat picture how it all happened. In her mind, Principal Celestia (she had no idea what the pony version of her looked like and it was just easier to imagine her like this) was carrying a bunch of gems to a magical portal thingy before tossing them in and walking away, brushing off her hands as she went. Looking around, it seemed like Twilight, Sonata, and Pinkie Pie were having the same reaction.

“Well, she was tutored by Star Swirl,” muttered Sonata with a deadpan look. “Guess she took up his habit of ‘making it somepony else’s problem’.”

“Haha,” laughed Sunset nervously when nobody voiced any disagreement to that. “Well to be fair, all Princess Celestia knew was that there wasn’t any magic on this side of the portal. I think she hoped that they would just be inert or something.”

Applejack let out a sigh. “Well, at least we know we can fight them and return everything that was stolen by beating them in a duel. Say Twi, how many of them new duel disks did’ja bring?”

“Only the one,” replied Twilight as a light blush of embarrassment appeared on her cheeks. “And this is the prototype that I let Pinkie Pie use that one time. The final models are right now being finished back in my lab.”

“Well then ya best be letting us handle the rest of the dueling,” said Applejack. “Now let's go get them varmints!”

-x-

At the same time, a lone figure stood in the middle of the main road leading into town. His name was Raging Bull, a short teenage boy with brown skin and black hair that was cut so short it might as well have been a buzz cut. Sweat ran down his white shirt and legs, staining his jeans slightly as he squinted outwards in what seemed to be miles of nothing. Well, mostly nothing. The boss and his girl had sent him out because one of the cameras that had been set up by the former sheriff had picked up somebody coming this way. And it was his job to make sure they were never heard from again.

Spitting on the ground, Raging wondered why they were staying in this dumpster of a town. With the power they had at their fingertips, they could be out there doing so much more! They could go to one of the bigger cities and take over the criminal underworld. They could live like those criminals he read about in the comics and saw in the movies. The good, easy life. And maybe they would have if Long Horn hadn’t taken a liking to that girl who arrived with them.

The sound of an engine roaring off in the distance caught Raging’s attention as something came into view. It was a motorcycle with one of those passenger compartments attached to it. As it got closer, the teenager could make out a teenage girl looking like she had stepped out of the 80’s driving it without a helmet. Next to her was a chubby, bucktoothed boy who was holding on for dear life. As they came barreling down at high speeds, Raging began to wonder if standing in the middle of the road was a good idea. It didn’t look like she was going to slow down anytime soon and, if she didn’t want to run him down, she could very easily go around him. Heck, how was he supposed to stop her anyways? Sure the strength he had stolen gave him incredible strength, but none of them had tested their defense.

As Raging considered leaping to the side and telling Long Horn he had tried, the bike skidded to a halt. Eventually it stopped several yards in front of him while the girl leapt off her seat, her back leaning against the bike. On her wrist was a black duel disk that looked like it was custom built. The life point read out display was smaller and shoved all the way into the top to make way for a twelve pointed leaf shutter thingy.

“Howdy there partner,” she said as her eyes became hungry. Hungry for what, he had no idea but it gave him the shivers “Just heard that there’s some magic to be had in these here parts. Mind showing a girl just how much you boys have?” Raging blinked, keeping his eyes on the girl as her partner tried to get out of the passenger compartment only to fall flat on his face. How did this girl find out about the magic? And why was she making him feel so…uncomfortable?

“Sorry,” replied Raging as he activated his duel disk. “But the magic here is taken. And I can’t let you leave knowing what you know.” To his surprise, the girl’s smile grew.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” she said as she activated her own duel disk.

Author's Notes:

The final move Twilight used was the same one I used on YugiohPro.