Twilight walked through the halls of her castle, taking in the appearance of the newly redecorated building and its corridors. Suddenly, a leather-bound book appeared at her feet, causing Twilight to almost trip. She let out a sound of surprise and caught herself. "What book is this? And why is it here of all places?" Twilight asked herself, proceeding to hold the book in her magic and lifting it up. "Hearthstone: A New Players Guide" The alicorn read aloud "I've never heard of this game. Hearthstone..." she muttered in addition. She proceeded to bring the book with her to her bed chamber and sat down to read through it.
After an hour or two of studying every single mechanic of the new game, a card game it seemed, she mused for a moment. She hadn't invited her friends over in a while. I wonder how they'll find this game to be? Well, it seems a game night is in order! she thought. With a smile upon her face, she headed into her library and gathered some books on the creatures and lore of Equestria. After placing some stacks of parchment next to the books, she used her magic to transfer the creatures and ponies in the books onto cards, along with some images to represent the class the player decided to choose, using the villains her and her friends had faced, the princesses and her friends, thinking for a 'hero power', as the game had called it, for each one.
That night, Twilight's friends had arrived at the door to the castle, and Twilight opened the door. She invited her friends inside, and explained the game they would try out tonight. When the time came to set up, each pony had formed three, thirty card decks out of the many cards Twilight had made. They had decided among themselves that Twilight, who would be using King Sombra as her character for the match, and Rainbow Dash, who was using a deck based around Pegasi and quick damage, who,of course, chose herself to represent her, were going to be the participants of the first duel. Twilight pulled out the first board she had made, a representation of the cold north of Equestria, as the chosen battlefield, then proceeded to cast a spell she had thought up to make the ponies enter a mental battlefield of sorts, with the other ponies on the side-lines as spectators.
~ Game Start ~
Participants:
King Sombra, Hero Power: Summon a 2/2 Shadow. It takes 1 more turn than normal before it can attack.
Rainbow Dash, Hero Power: Deal 1 damage to a friendly minion. Give it +1 attack.
In the snowy plains of the Equestrian north, two ponies crested the rise of a small basin. One was King Sombra, former tyrant of the Crystal Empire. On the other side, Rainbow Dash, one of the best fliers in Equestria. King Sombra gave out a hiss, then Rainbow Dash called out "I'll show you my skills!". The sound of a coin flipping echoed through the air, as in front of both ponies, three cards appeared, held by some magical aura. Rainbow drew another card and replaced two of her cards, Sombra keeping all of his.
Sombra's horn lit up dimly as he felt a small amount of energy, mana, passing through him. He simply placed a card, a 'Crystal Pony', a 1/2 minion for 1 mana. The card vanished, and a crystal pony emerged in the basin, saying "If I have to...". Sombra then ended his turn, unable to do anything else. "Is that all you can do?" Rainbow called out, feeling the mana rush into her. She then placed down a card, and a small blue card outline materialized in front of Rainbow. "Your move, Sombra!"
Sombra grinned as the feel of mana filled him again. He placed down a card titled 'Crystal Field'. In front of Sombra's Crystal Pony minion, two crystals, deep black in colour, burst out of the ground. Sombra then looked at the crystal pony in the basin. "Attack!" he yelled, causing the pony to flinch and rush forward. Rainbow smiled as a pony in golden armour appeared and halted the attack. The crystal pony vanished and the new pony seemed extremely injured."I played a secret, which summons a 2/2 pony guard on the field when you attack, causing the attacker to attack the guard! But, I have one less mana next turn." she said. Sombra snarled and ended his turn. Rainbow felt the same amount of power enter her as the turn before, casting the coin card she had from going second. After placing down a card, a baby phoenix appeared, melting some of the snow around it. The baby phoenix was a 2/3 and, upon death, the owner could discard a card to return to it to the hand. The pony guard then leaped forward, smashing one of the crystals, and vanishing. "Your move".
Sombra felt the now familiar rush of mana. "Shadows!" He called as he slammed down his hoof and a shadowy figure appeared in front of him, leaping and landing behind the crystals. He then lit up his horn, throwing small shards of crystal at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow felt a small amount of pain as her health fell down to a total of twenty-nine. He then passed the turn to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow told the phoenix to attack. The phoenix flew forward and smashed through the second crystal. Rainbow then summoned a 'weather pony', who flew down from the sky as a 3/3 minion with a battlecry to destroy all secrets on the field, which did nothing. He cried "The skies are clear!".
Sombra felt the mana return to him, and he sent a black bolt of magic at the weather pony, making it's eyes flash green and it moved to Sombra's side. He had just cast one of the only spells which were in the original game, Shadow Madness, letting him take control of a weak minion. He then forced the weather pony to attack the baby Phoenix under Dash's control, causing the phoenix to vanish, and causing Dash to loose a random card and moved the phoenix back to her hand. "Illusion" Sombra said. He then shot a purple beam at the Weather Pony and destroyed it, then it appeared back to the field, uninjured. It was a zero mana spell which returned a minion to the hand and then let the user summon it for no mana, for a cost of health equal to double the mana cost. This made Sombra loose 6 health, leaving him on 24. When Dash's turn came, she expected the weather pony to return, but it did not, as Sombra had re-summoned it. Dash then looked at the newest card in her hand, summoning one of the strongest cards in her deck. "Commander Hurricane!" she called as the pegasus landed with a large thud sound, the legendary minion standing tall, radiating a commanding aura. "Hurricane is a 3/6 for 4 mana with the ability of giving all friendly minions one attack at the end of each of my turns" Dash said triumphantly, but remembered Sombra's field had exactly 5 attack. If he had a charge creature or a weapon...
Sombra smiled, using the mana he received to craft a sword out of shadows, with a black crystal blade, 'Crystal Vanquisher'. He charged forward, his body moving right through the legendary, making him take only 1 damage when attacking. He then sent his shadow in to bring down Hurricane, destroying both. He then sent the weather pony to attack. Dash was hit and was left with 26 health. Sombra was left with 23. Sombra passed the turn. Rainbow Dash looked over the field. She summoned two bat ponies, 1/1 with stealth for 1, and cast a 'Flight School' spell, giving all of her flying minions +2/+2, meaning she had two 3/3s on the board with stealth.
Sombra looked over the situation. He grinned as he looked at the card he just drew. He shot a bolt of blue energy at Rainbow and a card materialized in his hand. He looked at the new card and placed it down, summoning a Baby Phoenix and summoning a shadow using his hero power. Rainbow watched him. What could make HIM grin? she thought. She threw down a Baby Phoenix. She then summoned Caramel, a 5/4. She then made the Bat Ponies attack for 6 damage, leaving Sombra on 19.
Sombra grunted after the attack and glanced at his hand. He commanded his minions to attack, dealing 5 damage, leaving her on 21. He then placed down his card, bringing forth a pony knight, with shadows seeping out of the armour. "Shadow Knight!" Sombra said, grinning. It was a 7/5 minion which always takes 1 less damage from all attacks. "What?!" Rainbow called out in surprise. Rainbow proceeded to just stare at the minion. "That is absurd!" she called out before playing a new secret and summoning a wonderbolt, a 4/5 minion with charge. The wonderbolt charged forward towards Sombra. Sombra grimaced as his health was reduced to 15. Then the two bat ponies for another 6, leaving Sombra on 9.
Sombra grinned at the field. "Attack" he said. Dealing 11 damage to Rainbow, leaving her on 10. This was a close race indeed. Sombra then activated another crystal field, bringing in two new taunts. Sombra then used his ability to summon another shadow. He then summoned two shield ponies, 0/4 taunts, 1 mana each. Rainbow sighed. There was now way she could win, she had 4 minions, he had 4 taunts. "I concede" she said, the field around them soon turning back into the library, in which the group gasped. "That was AMAZING!" Pinkie said.
Author's Note
This is sort of a prequel to Noble Night's story. CHeck it out here: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/201606/by-the-hearth
