Equestria Girls: Dark Duel Stories

Chapters

Sunset Shimmer, Duelist Extraordinaire!
A Little Friendly Competition!
A New Friend, A New Rival!
The Darker Half!
A Deck of Nightmares!
Shedding a Little Light!
More Than Just A Pile Of Scrap!
Holy Warrior Against Magic Scholar!
A Darker Flame!
There's No Place Like Home!
Always There For You!
Never Back Down!

Sunset Shimmer, Duelist Extraordinaire!

“What’s the matter, new kid? Are you scared of losing?”

I looked around angrily in search of the source of the smug voice; I had a low tolerance for bullying, especially when it came to new students. After a quick scan of Canterlot High’s courtyard, I found the source of the commotion: Trixie Lulamoon, backed up by her lackeys, Snips and Snails, was trying to force a white-haired new student into dueling her.

I gritted my teeth in a mixture of anger and annoyance as I jumped down from the statue I was sitting next to, and looked at my friends. “I’ll be right back, girls,” I said cheerfully. “Trixie needs to be taught some manners.” I started to march away, but Rainbow Dash quickly jogged up to me.

“Come on, Sunset; you’re always dueling the bullies! Let some of the rest of us take on some of the peacekeeping duels,” she pleaded.

I smirked. “You can have the next one,” I promised. “I still owe Trixie for what she did to us at the Battle of the Bands,” I added, remembering how the girl had locked us in a storage shed beneath the stage so her band could make it to the finals.

Rainbow shrugged. “Alright, if you say so,” she said nonchalantly. “Next time we have to deal with her, though, I’ve got dibs!” she called over her shoulder as she returned to the group, and I went to see what Trixie was up to this time.

“Alright, what’s going on here?” I demanded as I drew near. The white-haired boy looked over at me uncertainly, and tried to take advantage of Trixie’s distraction by backing away. However, he ended up bumping right into Snails, and quickly returned to his former spot.

“Why, hello there, Sunset Shimmer,” Trixie greeted me with false kindness, “I was just challenging this new student to a game of Duel Monsters; is there anything wrong with wanting to make a newcomer feel welcome?” she asked innocently.

I rolled my eyes. “You aren’t trying to make him feel welcome; you’re trying to make him feel inadequate. What’s your name, new guy?” I asked, lightening my tone as I turned my gaze to the new student.

He shifted awkwardly and avoided eye contact. “Lux,” he said nervously. “Lux Aeterna.”

I nodded, smiling. “Nice to meet you, Lux. When Trixie challenged you, did you accept?” I asked gently.

Lux shook his head. “I don’t usually play Duel Monsters with people I’m not familiar with…” he said quietly.

I looked back at Trixie and glared sternly. “See? He doesn’t want to duel you right now. Why don’t you leave him alone?” I demanded.

Trixie huffed angrily. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will not be denied a formal challenge!” she shouted.

I sighed and pulled a red-and-orange Duel Disk from my backpack, attaching it to my arm and unfolding the blade. “Then I’ll duel you in his place,” I replied, sliding my deck into its slot on the disk. “Unless, of course, the “Great and Powerful Trixie” is afraid she’ll lose to me,” I added smugly.

Trixie was practically fuming at this point. “The Great and Powerful Trixie never loses!” she yelled, holding out her arms expectantly. “Snips, Snails, bring me my duel disk and my deck!” she ordered, and the two boys quickly fastened a duel disk to Trixie’s arm and placed a deck into the deck slot. “Draw!” she demanded, and we both drew a starting hand of five cards.

“I shall take the first turn,” she purred, drawing a sixth card from her deck. “My, my, such wonderful monsters right away! Whoever shall I play with first?” she asked herself aloud. “I summon Kaiser Sea Horse in attack mode!” she cried, placing a card on top of the disk. There was a flash of light, and in an instant there was an armored warrior standing in front of Trixie. It was clad in what looked like purple-and-blue fish scales, and wielded a shield and a spear. It stood completely still, waiting for its master’s command. “Next, I’ll activate Double Summon, allowing me to perform and extra normal summon this turn! Come on out, Blue-Eyes, my dearest!” she said happily, and Trixie’s knight vanished, being replaced moments later with a massive, white dragon that sparkled in the morning sun. It stared ahead with bright-blue eyes, and it gritted its razor-sharp teeth in anticipation for battle.

“Your move, Sunset,” Trixie called teasingly from her side of the game field. A crowd had already begun to gather around us, practically cheering now that Trixie had summoned her signature card on the very first turn of the duel. "My Blue-Eyes White Dragon is the crown monster of this deck; there's no way you can defeat me without putting up your best!"

I smirked as I drew a card from my deck. “You got yourself into this mess, Trixie,” I called confidently, “and nothing is going to get you out now!” I placed a card into one of the spell/trap slots on my duel disk. “I activate Card Destruction, allowing me to send all the cards in my hand to the graveyard, and draw an entirely new see hand!” As I explained the effect, I placed the five cards in my hand into the graveyard slot, and then drew five new ones from my deck.

Trixie huffed in annoyance. “So? You’ve wasted five perfectly good cards; is that supposed to somehow impress me?”

I smiled at my opponent cleverly. “No, but this next move might,” I said nonchalantly. “I’ll activate my Rekindling spell card, allowing me to special summon the Flamvell Firedog and Flamvell Magician I just sent to the graveyard,” I explained, removing two of the cards I had just discarded from my graveyard and placing them into the monster zones on my duel disk. After a pair of bright flashes faded away, I was flanked by two monsters; a blazing dog with skin like a burning coal, and a purple-skinned man dressed in ceremonial robes that wielded an orange scepter. “Now that I’ve got a Tuner monster on the field, I can summon a Synchro monster from my extra deck! I summon Red Dragon Archfiend!” I cried triumphantly. The two monsters I had just summoned vanished, and they were quickly replaced by a blazing vortex, from which emerged a terrifying, black-and-red dragon. Three backward-swept horns protruded from its head, and it glared at Trixie’s dragon confidently.

“Next, I’ll activate the spell card, One For One, which allows me to summon a Level 1 monster from my deck by discarding a monster from my hand,” I said, placing a card in my graveyard and shuffling through my deck for a card that met the spell’s terms, “and I choose to summon Flamvell Baby!”

There was another flash on the field, and a small monster appeared, greatly dwarfed by my dragon. It looked like an infant, with a body made of pure flame. It gazed at the massive beasts it had joined on the battlefield and babbled happily. “And now, I’ll perform my normal summon for the turn by bringing out Flare Resonator!” I declared, placing yet another monster onto the field. A small, imp-like creature appeared, dressed in a red cloak. It carried a large tuning fork, and wore a mischievous smile.

Trixie nodded as she looked at the small army I had amassed. “Okay,” she said understandingly, “but what are these puny creatures going to do to my Blue-Eyes? The only thing you have that could match him is your Archfiend, but I have many ways to bring my Blue-Eyes back into the game after it’s been destroyed,” she pointed out cleverly.

I nodded. “That’s why I haven’t ended my turn, yet, Trixie; I still have one more monster to summon!” as I spoke, all of my monsters vanished from view, and the field became bathed in black-and-red fire. A massive dragon rose from the inferno, much larger than Trixie’s Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and stared down at the creature with contempt. It looked like the Red Dragon Archfiend I had summoned moments before, but this new dragon was sleeker-looking, its horns were much more exaggerated, and there was a blue gem nestled in its chest.

Trixie’s eyes widened as I explained what my new creature was capable of. “3500 attack points makes my Red Nova Dragon more than a match for your Blue-Eyes, but it also gains an additional 500 attack for every tuner monster in my graveyard; 1500 from that bonus gives at a grand total of 5000 attack! Red Nova Dragon, burn her Blue-eyes to cinders!” I commanded, and the dragon reared its head, shooting a wave of lava from its mouth that melted Blue-Eyes White Dragon in an instant. Trixie’s life point counter ticked down to 6000, and I gave my opponent a smug look. “That’s all for this turn; you’re up!”

Trixie gazed up at my dragon with eyes like dinner plates, and took a hesitant step back. “Perhaps I was a little hasty, Sunset Shimmer,” she said slowly. “Why don’t we call this duel a draw, and I’ll leave the new boy alone?”

I thought about her offer for a moment. “Why should I show you the mercy you weren’t willing to give him?” I asked, gesturing to Lux, who stood on the sidelines a few feet from me. “Don’t tell me you’re giving up already, Trixie; I’m just starting to have fun!”

Just then, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked over and saw Lux staring at me nervously. “Come on; she said she’d leave me alone. Isn’t that why you dueled her in the first place?” he asked, maintaining eye contact just long enough to get his question out.

I stared at the boy for a long time. “Alright,” I said finally, “it’s a draw, Trixie. But don’t let me catch you preying on the new students again, or I won’t be so willing to back down next time!” I added as she nodded respectfully and scurried away with Snips and Snails following close behind.

“Uh, thanks for the help back there,” Lux said quietly as the crowd dispersed. “She didn’t seem very nice, and I don’t like dueling mean people.”

I nodded, smiling kindly. “Hey, if she ever gives you trouble again, just call for me. The name’s Sunset Shimmer, by the way” I added, and began to head back to my friends. I glanced back after a few steps, and saw Lux was still staring at me nervously. “Is something wrong?” I asked gently.

Lux shook his head, as if he was clearing himself from a daze. “It’s nothing,” he reassured me. “Just having a conversation with myself.” Saying this, he seemed to absentmindedly touch a strange amulet he wore around his neck; it looked like half of a broken key, and shined a pearlescent white. “I’ll, uh, I’ll be going now. It was nice meeting you, Sunset Shimmer!” he called, jogging towards the school’s front door and disappearing inside.

I stared after him, smiling slightly. I felt incredibly happy, not just from having embarrassed Trixie in a duel, but also having shown a new student I wasn’t a terrible person. I may have proven that I was turning a new leaf at the Battle of the Bands little over a month ago, but I still wanted to do all I could to make sure people knew about the new me before they learned about the old me: a crazy, power-hungry psycho that had tried to enslave the student body and level the school.

“I’d say that went pretty well!” Rainbow Dash laughed as I approached, placing my duel disk in my backpack. “I’ve never seen Trixie look so scared!”

Rarity nodded, her purple hair bouncing slightly. “A wonderful performance indeed, Sunset!” she said happily. “You must tell us where you got that magnificent dragon card! It’s a little on the beastly side, but it has a sort of grotesque beauty to it,” she said thoughtfully.

I shrugged. “I just got a lucky booster pack, is all,” I said modestly. As far as I knew, I was the only student in Canterlot High with a copy of Red Nova Dragon. Sure, a few others had its lesser form, Red Dragon Archfiend, but my signature monster made most of the other students a little edgy about dueling me.

“Who was that boy you were standing up for?” Fluttershy asked in her usual hushed tone, “I’ve never seen him around school before.”

I nodded affirmatively. “He’s new,” I explained. “His name is Lux Aeterna. He’s a duelist, but he said he doesn’t like dueling people he doesn’t know very well.”

Applejack stood up and stretched. “Well, why don’t we get to know him and make him feel welcome?” she suggested. “That way, he’d be more willing to get out and duel some of the other students, and we’d be the first to see how well he plays!”

Pinkie Pie shot her hand into the air. “OOH! OOH! I wanna duel the new boy first!” she cried excitedly. “He’s gonna LOVE my yummy Madolche deck!”

Rainbow Dash chuckled. “If anyone is going to duel the new kid, it’s me and my Elemental Heroes!” she declared.

Rarity stood between the two before they could argue any further. “Girls, please, let us settle this in an orderly fashion: by agreeing that my Crystal Beasts should be the first to face the new student,” she said proudly.

Fluttershy spoke up. “Um, Rarity, I think my Naturia monsters should go against the new boy first, if that’s alright,” she said quietly.

Applejack rolled her eyes. “We all know that my deck should go up against Lux first; I don’t have a specific archetype, so I won’t be as much of a challenge for him,” she explained.

I sighed hopelessly. “Don’t make me get involved and break up this fight; Red Nova Dragon has yet to see a monster that can beat it,” I warned my quarreling friends. “We’ll ask Lux if he would like to hang out with us at the park after school, and he can decide which of us he’d like to duel first. How does that sound?” I asked expectantly.

The group quested down for a bit, finding my conclusion agreeable. “I bet he chooses me!” Pinkie cried happily, and the arguing started once again.

I rubbed my temples and sighed. “It’s one debate after another with this group, isn’t it?” I asked with a fond laugh.

~-~-~-~-~

On the other side of the courtyard, a young boy watched the six girls as they laughed and argued with each other. The red-and-yellow haired girl intrigued him the most; where had she gotten such a powerful monster?

“I’ve heard stories of the Red Nova Dragon,” he said softly to himself, “but I never thought I would see it in battle for myself.”

He glanced to his right, where a shadowy silhouette stood. It’s body seemed to shimmer and distort, like darkened static, and it spoke through low growls and hisses that only the boy could understand.

“Is it wrong to admire a powerful opponent?” he asked the creature innocently. “After all, it’s only good sense to give an opponent the respect they deserve, is it not?” The creature growled softly in response. “I knew you’d see things my way,” the boy murmured happily. He looked over to his left, and saw a pair of students eying him curiously. “Damn,” he muttered under his breath, and smiled warmly at the newcomers. “Hello, fellow students!” he called to them happily, “Would either of you be interested in a duel?” As he asked this, he chuckled darkly, and the shadowy creature he had just been speaking to faded away like a black wind, manifesting itself inside the boy’s polished, black-and-grey duel disk.

A Little Friendly Competition!

After our classes had ended for the day, we waited outside the school in our usual hangout spot, next to the statue in the courtyard. We all scanned the crowd of students that flooded out the doors for Lux Aeterna, in hopes of getting him to hang out with us.

“Maybe he takes the bus, or maybe his parents come and pick him up?” Rainbow Dash wondered aloud.

Pinkie gasped audibly. “What if he went to hang out with someone else?!” she wailed.

I narrowed my eyes as my gaze traveled from student to student, searching for the quiet, white-haired boy. There was something that I couldn’t get off my mind; what was that key he wore? It was definitely no ordinary piece of jewelry, and the way he touched it seemed… odd; there wasn’t any other way I could describe it.

Just then, Fluttershy spoke up. “There he is!” she said eagerly, “he’s breaking from the crowd now!” I scanned the edges of the herd of students, and saw Lux walking down the path from school; I guess he lived close by.

“Lux! Hey!” I called, waving a friendly hand. Lux looked up and blushed, lowering his head as he quickened his pace. “Wait here, girls; I’ll be right back,” I said, and jogged to catch up with him.

“Hey Lux! What’s the rush?” I asked with a laugh as I walked beside him. The boy looked over at me nervously.

“Oh, hi, Sunset,” he said shyly. “I was just on my way home…”

I smiled gently. “Well, would you like to hang out with me and my friends at the park later? We could duel, if you’d like, or just talk,” I suggested.

The boy shuffled his feet nervously. “I don’t know,” he said slowly, “I’m not very sociable around new people…”

I gave him a comforting look. “Come on, you can trust us! Besides, you’re new here, so it’d be a good idea to make some friends, right?” I asked hopefully.

Lux seemed to think about this for a moment, looking uncertain at first, but a small smile eventually crossed his lips. “Yeah, that’d be nice,” he replied softly. “I have some chores to take care of at home, but I’d be happy to meet you all there later on.”

I nodded happily, slightly surprised at how quickly Lux changed his tune. “How does 5 o’clock sound?” I inquired.

Lux nodded. “Perfect,” he replied, and continued to walk down the path. “I’ll see you there!”

I nodded again and headed back over to the others, who were staring at me expectantly. “Well? What’d he say?” Rainbow Dash asked impatiently.

I took a deep breath. “He’ll be at the park at 5,” I said finally. “Now, he’s a little on the nervous side, so don’t crowd him too much when he shows up, alright?”

Pinkie Pie waved dismissively. “Come on, Sunset; this is me we’re talking about!” she said happily.

I rolled my eyes humorously. “That’s what I’m worried about, Pinkie,” I said with a slight laugh. “Seriously, don’t scare him off! Treat him like you would treat Fluttershy,” I said, gesturing to our equally-quiet friend. “In fact, I’m kinda hoping he chooses her as a dueling partner, since they’re so alike personality-wise,” I added.

Rarity nodded, standing beside me. “You should all be ashamed of yourselves, acting like such animals and arguing over who would be dueling the new boy first!” she said scoldingly.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “You’re just as guilty as the rest of us, sugarcube,” she pointed out.

Rarity looked flustered for a moment. “Well, yes, but… I maintained a certain level of decency during the quarrel,” she said finally. “You three were completely uncivilized.”

Applejack stood up quickly. “I happen to recall being the only one on neutral ground in the whole affair; it was you, Rainbow, and Pinkie who were arguing left and right over who got to duel Lux first!”

I quickly stood between my two friends. “Girls, what did we agree on?” I said sternly, “We’re all connected by some kind of magic that gets weaker when we fight; either you just call it even, or duel each other to settle this.”

Rarity eyed Applejack calmly. “Well, I haven’t found anyone to duel today,” she said nonchalantly, “So I guess a quick game wouldn’t be a terrible idea.”

Applejack grinned as she reached into her backpack and strapped on a tan-and-brown duel disk. “We’ve still got to settle our score, after all; we’re evenly matched at this point,” she said confidently.

Rarity strapped on a snow-white duel disk of her own and drew a hand of cards. “You may have the first turn, darling,” she said politely, “but use it well; I have no intention of holding back!” she warned.

Applejack nodded as she drew six cards. “Alright, then. I’ll set two cards face-down in my spell/trap zone, and summon Gene-Warped Warwolf in attack mode!” she declared as the field before her flashed, and a muscular, white werewolf appeared in front of her. “Your move, sugarcube.”

Rarity nodded as she drew a card from her deck. “I activate the field spell, Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins!” she declared, placing a spell card into the field slot on her duel disk. The immediate area around the two duelists shifted and shimmered as a holographic projection of a coliseum appeared around them. A rainbow arched overhead, and the sun shined brightly through a cloudless sky.

“For my next move, I shall summon Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus,” she continued, placing a monster card onto her duel disk. There was a flash of light, and a white pegasus stood before her, with a blue, crystalline horn extending from its forehead. “Since I normal summoned Sapphire Pegasus, I can immediately place a Crystal beast from my hand, deck, or graveyard into my spell/trap zone as a spell card,” she explained, shuffling through her deck for an appropriate monster. “I’ll choose my Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat,” she said after a short pause, and placed her selected card into the spell/trap zone. There was another flash of light, and a light-pink cat took its place behind Rarity’s pegasus. “Next, I’ll equip Sapphire Pegasus with Crystal Release, increasing its attack by 800 points!” As she spoke, the pegasus reared back on it’s hind legs as a swarm of gemstones appeared around it, becoming absorbed into the creature’s body. “Sapphire Pegasus, attack her dreadful Warwolf!” Rarity commanded, and the monster charged forward, lancing Applejack’s Gene-Warped Warwolf with its horn. Applejack’s monster vanished, and her life point counter ticked down to 7400.

“That will be all for this turn, darling,” Rarity said proudly, and waited for her opponent to make her move.

Applejack smirked as she drew a card from her deck. “Well, let’s start by cutting that pony down to size,” she said, placing a spell card on her duel disk. “I activate Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying your equip spell!” she said triumphantly. The crystals that Sapphire Pegasus had absorbed moments before re-emerged from its body, and its strength seemed to fade slightly.

Rarity huffed. “Well, you may have weakened my monster, but by destroying that spell, you’ve allowed me to place yet another Crystal Beast in my spell/trap zone!” she said cleverly. “I choose Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle!” There was a flash of light beside her Amethyst Cat, and a small, purple, feline creature appeared on the field, with a red orb at the end of its tail.

Applejack nodded. “That kitty isn’t going to help you much,” she said nonchalantly as she placed a monster card on her duel disk. “I summon Gemini Elf!” she cried out, and a pair of feminine elves appeared before her. “I’ll equip them with Axe of Despair, giving them an attack boost of 1000 points!” she added, placing a spell card behind the Gemini Elf card. The two elves were each suddenly holding a crude-looking axe in one hand, and the smirked wickedly. “Take out her pony, elves!” Applejack commanded, and the elves charged, swinging their axes at Rarity’s Sapphire Pegasus. The monster flailed its forehooves frantically as it vanished, and Rarity’s duel disk ticked down to 6900.

Rarity looked horrified at this display. “My pegasus!” she cried, but she shrugged off her negative reaction. “No matter; my monster will simply return as a spell card, just like all of my other Crystal Beasts,” she said, moving Sapphire Pegasus’s card to her spell/trap zone.

Applejack looked uncertain for a moment. “Alright, I’ll end my turn,” she said finally.

I looked over at Rainbow Dash as the duel beside us raged on. “Man, these two go at each other like wild dogs,” I said with a slight laugh.

Rainbow shrugged. “It’s how they work things out, I guess,” she said thoughtfully. “Hey, why are you so intent on getting that new kid to hang out with us? You got a crush on him or something?” she inquired teasingly.

I blushed hotly; not because I actually did have a crush on him, but because it was embarrassing to be asked a question like that. “No, it’s because…” I struggled to think of the words I wanted to say. “I don’t want to say it’s because I feel sorry for him, but I know what it’s like to not have any friends when arriving at a new school,” I said sadly, remembering back to my freshman year at Canterlot High, when I first left Equestria and arrived here in the human world.

Rainbow Dash nodded slowly. “Well, he seems harmless enough; it won’t hurt to give him a chance and see what he’s like under all that shyness.”

Pinkie suddenly popped up between us. “Maybe he’s as fun and bouncy as me!” she said hopefully.

Dash and I stared at each other with fearful expressions for a moment, before bursting with laughter. “Pinkie, just one of you is a little much for us to handle,” I said humorously. “Besides, if Lux was as… energetic as you are, I’m sure we wouldn’t have had to ask him to hang out with us; he would have asked us up front, or found some other friends to spend time with.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Like Sunset said before, he’s probably a lot like Fluttershy; super quiet and shy at first, but pretty chummy once he gets to know you!” she said, giving our pink-haired friend a friendly pat on the shoulder.

“He could be like any one of us once he gets comfortable with us,” Fluttershy pointed out. “He could be regal like Rarity, tough like Applejack, quiet like me, confident like Rainbow Dash, or wild like Pinkie Pie; he could even be smart and caring like you, Sunset Shimmer,” she added.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “She’s got a point,” she agreed. “It probably isn’t a good idea to judge the new kid based on how he acts now when we barely know him. Let’s just hope he isn’t quite as wild as Pinkie Pie, though, if that ends up being the case,” she said with a slight chuckle.

I nodded and looked back over at Applejack and Rarity’s duel, where things had heated up rather quickly; Rarity had summoned her signature monster, Rainbow Dragon, while Applejack had summoned her Grenosaurus Xyz monster. “How can that thing be standing up against Rarity’s dragon?” I asked, confused, as the white, serpentine dragon wrapped around Applejack’s dinosaur in an effort to crush it, but the beast simply grabbed the dragon in its jaws and tossed it aside. "Rainbow Dragon has 4000 attack points, while Grenosaurus only has 2000!"

“Applejack equipped it with Megamorph, doubling its attack power!” Pinkie explained eagerly. “This duel is getting good!”

Rarity spoke up from the battlefield. “You might as well give up now, Applejack; even if you defeat my Rainbow Dragon, I can summon it next turn, and your monster’s damaging effect will tip the scales just enough to make your Megamorph spell a burden!” she called out.

Applejack smirked. “You think I don’t have a backup plan?” she yelled back, “I’m activating my trap card, Ring of Destruction!” She flipped one of her facedown cards face-up, and Rainbow Dragon became surrounded by a stone ring that spewed fire all around it.

Rarity widened her eyes. “Are you crazy? she asked frantically, “You’ll just reduce both our life points to zero!”

Applejack responded by flipping another trap card face up. “Not if I use this!” she replied, “Barrel Behind The Door! Any damage I take from a card effect bounces right back to you!”

Just then, the ring attached to Rarity’s dragon exploded, taking the monster it was latched onto with it. The explosion barely touched Applejack, but Rarity was obscured by the expanding inferno. When the blaze cleared, Rarity was left standing alone, a look of surprise on her face.

“Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting that,” she murmured, and her life point meter bleeped as it hit zero. She walked over and reluctantly shook hands with Applejack. “You were lucky this time, darling; if you didn’t have those cards, or if I had some way to stop your trap card, I would have been the victor.”

Applejack smiled warmly. “Just keep telling yourself that, sugarcube,” she said teasingly. “I’ve got to say, though, you put up a decent fight.”

I glanced down at my watch. “Well, we’ve still got about an hour and a half until we’re supposed to meet Lux at the park; that’s plenty of time for a few more games. Why not make it a three-duel match?” I suggested. Applejack’s and Rarity’s faces lit up, and they quickly and eagerly reset their duel disks for a new game.

~-~-~-~-~

“Well, what did you expect me to do?” the black-haired boy asked his shadowy companion expectantly as he folded up his duel disk. The two students he had just defeated where nowhere in sight. “They saw me talking to you. Students like them may not have realized, but word travels fast in a high school; clever ears may have found out, and our entire plan would be ruined!”

The shadow growled sharply, and the boy sighed. “I suppose you have a point; I have a tendency to overreact at times,” he admitted. “What does it matter, though? You have two more souls to strengthen you, and I have prevented the spread of rumors that could lead to us being found out. You never know who in this school knows the truth about what you are,” he added, reaching into his jacket and lightly touching a black amulet, shaped like half of a broken key. “You feel it, don’t you? Your other half,” he asked gently, and the shadow purred. “It’s here, at this school; it all seems a little convenient, doesn’t it? We learn of a tournament offering incredibly powerful cards to the victor, that girl summons a monster as strong as Red Nova Dragon, and you feel the presence of the other half of the key, all in the same location?” he sighed shakily. “This is much more than mere coincidence. This is destiny,” he exclaimed happily.

As he walked down the path away from the school, he saw the red-haired girl watching two of her friends duel. She had broken her attention away from the duel for just a moment to scan the surrounding area, and her eyes met his. He quickly averted his gaze and quickened his pace down the concrete path. “No need to approach her just yet,” he murmured softly to his invisible companion. “We must wait for the opportune moment; then, her Red Nova Dragon will be mine, and her soul will be yours.”

A New Friend, A New Rival!

After Applejack and Rarity were all dueled out and when we say that the clock was getting closer to 5, we decided to head over to the park. It was about a block away from school, so we figured it wouldn’t be long before Lux arrived, since he had walked home from school. Sure enough, our patience was rewarded when, not five minutes after we had arrived, we saw Lux riding down the street on a ten-speed bicycle. I looked at my watch and nodded, impressed that he had arrived right on time.

“Hi, Sunset Shimmer,” he said shyly as he approached. He stood awkwardly before us as we all sat on the edge of the fountain in the center of the park. “Hi, Sunset’s friends,” he added with a small wave to the others.

I stood up and introduced Lux to each of my friends, one-by-one. It went pretty well, except when Applejack and Fluttershy had to restrain Pinkie to keep her from leaping up and giving Lux a big hug. Once we were all familiar with each other, Lux asked the big question.

“So, are you all duelists?” he asked hopefully.

We all nodded in unison. “Duel Monsters is pretty popular at Canterlot High,” I explained. “A while back, a student brought some of his cards for everyone to see, and everyone went crazy for the game, vowing to go out and learn the rules and get their decks. It was amazing how quickly the game’s popularity spread,” I added thoughtfully.

Lux smiled pleasantly. “That’s good,” he said, sounding relieved. “A lot of the kids at my old school made fun of me for collecting Duel Monsters cards; a few of them even tried to beat me up and steal them, which is one of the reasons my mom had me transferred to a different school.”

Applejack gave him a curious look. “Why did you transfer to Canterlot High, Lux?” she inquired.

The boy rubbed his shoulder uncomfortably. “I, uh, I’d rather not talk about it,” he said quietly.

I nodded respectfully. “Well, would you like to duel one of us?” I suggested. “After all, since you’re new to Canterlot High, it would be a good idea to make a few friends so you aren’t lonely.”

Lux looked thoughtful for a few moments, before nodding slowly. “Yeah, a duel would be nice,” he said clearly. “Which one of you would like to go first?”

I cleared my throat and stepped aside as my friends all stood up. “Actually, we were going to let you choose who you wanted to duel,” I explained. “Applejack uses a pretty well-rounded deck, Fluttershy uses Naturia monsters, Pinkie Pie uses a Madolche deck, Rarity runs Crystal Beasts, and Rainbow Dash has Elemental Hero cards,” I added. “Choose whoever you want; we’re all excited to see how good you are!”

Lux looked to each of my friends, nervously studying them to decide who he should pick as his dueling partner. After a long silence, he finally turned to me. “I’d like to duel you,” he said quietly.

The girls all gasped, and I took a slight step back. “Are you sure about that?” I asked cautiously, “After all, you saw me duel Trixie earlier; you want to duel me knowing that I can summon a monster like Red Nova Dragon with little trouble?”

Lux shrugged. “It’ll be a good challenge,” he pointed out, pulling a duel disk from his backpack and strapping it to his arm. It was an unmodified model, with the default grey paint with red-and-blue highlights. There was a piece of duct tape holding part of the blade together, and it was badly scratched in some parts. “Some… some kids tried stealing it from me and breaking it,” he explained sadly. “I got it back before they could do any serious damage.”

I nodded slowly, realizing that not only was he serious about wanting to duel me, but also that it probably wasn’t going to do any good trying to talk him out of this. I strapped my own disk to my arm and drew my first five cards. “You can have the first turn, if you’d like,” I offered kindly.

Lux shook his head slightly. “You go ahead,” he replied softly.

I drew a sixth card and studied my hand. Hmm… no way to properly set up for Red Nova Dragon right away, but I can still bring out some decent players for the first turn, I thought carefully. Then again, maybe I should go easy on him and not summon Nova at all? “I summon Flamvell Firedog!” I declared, placing my chosen monster’s card onto my duel disk as it appeared in front of me in a flash of fiery light. “Since I control a Flamvell Monster, I can also summon my Neo Flamvell Origin,” I added, placing a second card next to my Firedog. A small fireball with a blue core appeared, and a nervous-looking face stared out from inside the flame. “Now, I’ll tribute both of my monsters to Synchro Summon Flamvell Uruquizas!”

As I spoke, the two monsters I had just summoned were enveloped in a pillar of flame, and the flame died down to reveal a black-and-orange-armored man with burning fists standing in their place. “After that, I’ll set two cards face-down, and end my turn,” I concluded. “You’re up, Lux!”

Lux nodded as he drew a card from his deck and studied his hand. “I’ll summon Jain, Lightsworn Paladin!” he stated, placing a card onto his duel disk. There was a burst of gold light, and a heroic man with white-blond hair and white armor stepped out onto the field, his red cape billowing dramatically behind him. “I’ll attack Uruquizas with Jain, and his special effect kicks in; Jain gains an extra 300 attack points, destroying both himself and your monster,” he explained.

I nodded. “Not unless I have a trap card to use,” I pointed out, revealing one of my set cards. “Sakuretsu Armor! Your attacking monster is destroyed, and Uruquizas is safe,” I said confidently.

Lux’s face fell as his monster exploded the moment its sword connected with Uruquizas. “Okay,” he said slowly, looking over the cards in his hand, “I’ll activate Lightsworn Sanctuary, and follow it with Charge Of The Light Brigade,” he said as he placed a pair of cards down in his spell/trap zone. “Now, I have to send the top 3 cards from my deck to the graveyard, but I can add a Lightsworn monster directly to my hand,” he explained, and quickly looked through his deck for a monster he could choose. “I’ll take Minerva, Lightsworn Maiden,” he said finally. “Now, I place a Shine Counter on Lightsworn Sanctuary, and I can special summon my Wulf, Lightsworn Beast that was sent to the graveyard by Charge of the Light Brigade!”

There was another golden flash, and a white wolf-man was standing on Lux’s side of the field, wielding a large, golden staff. “Next, I’ll use Lightsworn Sanctuary to send Felis, Lightsworn Archer from my hand to the graveyard, and bring Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter from my graveyard to my hand,” he added, placing one card from his hand into his graveyard slot, then removing another card and adding it to his hand. “Finally, I’ll set three cards and end my turn,” he said, looking up at me nervously. “Your turn,” he said with a small smile.

I nodded, drawing a card from my deck. “Okay, I’ll summon my Neo Flamvell Sabre,” I said as I placed a monster on my duel disk, summoning a lightly-armored creature holding a large, blazing sword. “Normally it would have 1500 attack points, but it gains an extra 600 since you have less than 4 cards in your graveyard,” I explained.

Lux quickly flipped one of his face-down cards face up. “I activate my trap card, Vanquishing Light!” he declared. “By tributing Wulf, I can negate Neo Flamvell Sabre’s summon and destroy him!”

I smirked cleverly. “I’ll activate a face-down card of my own; Flamvell Counter!” I replied. “By banishing the Neo Flamvell Origin in my graveyard, I can negate your trap card, and summon Neo Flamvell Sabre successfully! Now that you don’t have any monsters on the field, I’ll attack your life points directly with Flamvell Uruquizas!”

Lux’s eyes seemed to shine as he flipped a second card face-up. “I’ll activate Glorious Illusion, allowing me to bring Wulf back into the battle!” he said triumphantly, and the monster that he had tributed moments before reappeared on the field, powerful as ever. “Now, since you’ve no choice but to attack Wulf, I’ll activate Lightsworn Barrier,” he added, flipping his final face-down card face-up. “I can negate your attack simply by sending the top two cards from my deck to the Graveyard,” he explained, taking two cards from his deck and placing them in the graveyard slot on his duel disk. “Now that I have a total of 5 cards in my graveyard, you’re Neo Flamvell Sabre goes back to his original 1500 attack points, and thus unable to follow-up Uruquiza’s attack.”

I examined my hand and the cards laid out on the field. “I’ll set one card face-down and end my turn,” I said finally, impressed by Lux’s quick recovery.

Lux nodded and drew a new card. “I’ll activate Solar Recharge by discarding Minerva, Lightsworn Maiden, so I can draw to cards and send the top three cards from my deck to the graveyard; two for Solar Recharge, and one from Minerva’s effect,” he explained. “Next, I’ll summon Raiden, Hand of the Lightsworn, and activate his effect!” he declared, summoning a tan-skinned, shirtless man that wore a billowy, blue scarf and carried a golden dagger. “By sending two cards from my deck to the graveyard, he’ll gain 200 attack points for each Lightsworn monster he sends.” As he explained the effect, he looked at the top two cards of his deck. “Two monsters, giving him a 400 point boost; a grand total of 2100 attack! Also, since one of the monsters was another Wulf, Lightsworn Beast, I can summon him immediately,” he added, placing another staff-carrying wolf-man on the field.

“Next, I’ll use Lightsworn Sanctuary’s effect to trade a Lightsworn in my hand for one in the graveyard,” he said, shuffling through the cards in his graveyard. “I’ll take Gragonith, Lightsworn Dragon by discarding Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner,” he said finally. “Then, I’ll summon Gragonith by sacrificing the Wulf I summoned with Glorious Illusion last turn!” he declared, and one of his Wulf, Lightsworn Hunters vanished, being quickly replaced by a gold flash and a white dragon with a golden, lion-like mane and a glowing horn. “Gragonith gains an extra 300 attack points for every different Lightsworn monster in my graveyard, giving him a total of 3200 attack points! Gragonith, destroy Sunset Shimmer’s Flamvell Uruquizas!” he declared, and the dragon responded by raising its head into the air as its horn fired a ray of white light, disintegrating my monster.

I gritted my teeth as my life point meter ticked down to 6900, and looked up to see Lux’s other two monsters were eager to attack as well. “Wulf, destroy her monster, and Raiden, go for a direct attack!” he declared, and his two monsters charged at me with their weapons raised. Wulf’s golden staff obliterated my Neo Flamvell Sabre, and Raiden’s dagger passed through me harmlessly; my life points weren’t so lucky, though, as I heard my duel disk beep frantically as the meter dropped to 4200 points. “After all that, I’ll end my turn,” he said finally.

I drew a card and narrowed my eyes in frustration as I once again failed to draw a card that would help me summon Red Nova Dragon. Oh well; Red Dragon Archfiend as decent attack, and his effect isn’t terrible, either, I thought as I placed a spell card on the field. “I activate Rekindling, allowing me to summon all the fire-attribute monsters in my graveyard with 200 attack!” I declared, and the field became bathed with fire as my Flamvell Firedog, Neo Flamvell Sabre, and Neo Flamvell Origin appeared before me. “Next, I’ll normal summon my Flamvell Dragnov, and send Dragnov, Sabre, and Origin to the graveyard to Synchro Summon Red Dragon Archfiend!”

My three chosen monsters vanished, and Red Dragon Archfiend burst onto the field in a flash of red light, letting loose a threatening roar at the opposing monsters.

Lux looked confused by my action. “But Red Dragon Archfiend doesn’t have enough attack to destroy Gragonith,” he said slowly. “And even if he did attack, I can just negate it with Lightsworn Barrier.”

I nodded. “That’s why I’m going to activate Forbidden Lance,” I replied. “Red Dragon Archfiend loses 800 attack, but now he becomes immune to all spells and traps for the rest of the turn. On top of that, I’m going to activate Level Limit, Area B, which changes the battle position of all monsters to defense if they’re higher than level four, except for my Red Dragon Archfiend.

“Now, my Red Dragon Archfiend will attack your Gragonith, Lightsworn Dragon, which will activate his second ability, automatically destroying all defense position monsters you control!” I said triumphantly, and my Red Dragon Archfiend sprayed the field with a wave of black fire, causing all of Lux’s monsters to writhe in pain before vanishing from the field. “Now, I can attack you directly with Red Dragon Archfiend!” I added, and my dragon fired a bolt of black flame at Lux, knocking his life points to 5800. “Since my Neo Flamvell Sabre couldn’t attack, he’s automatically destroyed by Red Dragon Archfiend’s effect at the end of my turn,” I said regretfully, and my monster vanished in a flash of red light. “Your move, Lux!” I said, my confidence restored now that I had one of my most powerful monsters on the field.

Lux drew a card and smirked. “Looks like it’s my turn to summon my own signature monster,” he said happily. “Come on out, Judgment Dragon!”

There was a brilliant explosion of golden light, and a beautiful dragon with feathers of the purest white emerged from the glowing vortex. It stared at Red Dragon Archfiend with admirable respect, as if it saw my monster as a worthy opponent. “I’ll activate my dragon’s effect: at the cost of a thousand life points, I can destroy every card on the field except for Judgment Dragon!” he explained, and his life points went down to 4800. Just then, Judgment Dragon bowed its head, and a storm of golden meteors cascaded from the sky above us, bombarding the field with holy fire. Red Dragon archfiend reared back its head and roared in defiance, but there was nothing that could be done to save it from the graveyard. “Next, I’ll activate Twin Swords of Flashing Light - Tryce by sending Felis, Lightsworn Archer from my hand to the graveyard. Now, my Judgment Dragon can attack twice during the battle phase!” he cried, and Judgment Dragon fired a pair of golden fireballs from its mouth, each attack doing 3000 damage.

I stared in shock as the field cleared and my life points ticked to zero. “Wow… you’re a great duelist, Lux,” I said with an impressed smile. My friends all stood up behind me and cheered loudly.

“That was the most awesome duel I’ve ever seen!” Rainbow Dash cried happily. “Next time we hang out like this, I wanna have a try at Lux’s deck!”

Lux rubbed his shoulder and smiled shyly. “It wasn’t that big of a deal,” he said softly. “After all, Sunset wasn’t able to summon Red Nova Dragon; if she had, there’s no way I could have won.”

I shrugged. “That’s still up in the air at this point,” I said modestly. “Hey, Lux, what’s your first class tomorrow?” I asked, changing the subject.

Lux thought about his for a moment. “Uh… Chemistry,” he said quietly.

I smiled kindly. “You’ll be in the same class as me and Pinkie Pie tomorrow; would you like to sit next to us?” I offered. “We ended up getting the short straw for our current project; the class was divided into groups of three, and we got stuck as one of the groups of two,” I added.

I swear I could hear the boy’s heart thumping in his chest. “Oh… are you sure?” he asked nervously, “after all, I might not have been at the same level at my old school as you guys are now.”

Pinkie skipped over to Lux and beamed at him. “Look at it this way; you can go with me and Sunset, or end up stuck in a group of kids you don’t even know!” she said sunnily as she “booped” him on the nose with her finger, then skipped back to her former spot.

Lux pondered this for a moment. “Well… I guess since I know you two already, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to partner up with you,” he said finally. Just then, we all heard a quiet beeping sound, and Lux pulled a cell phone from his pocket. It was a very simple phone, probably one of those pre-paid devices that get a limited number of minutes each month. “I’ve gotta go; something’s come up at home,” he said worriedly. “I’ll… uh, I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” he said with an awkward wave as he hopped onto his bike and peddled away.

The others got up and stood next to me as Lux sped away on his bike. “Well, that was an interesting match,” Rarity said after a long silence.

Fluttershy nodded. “He seemed more confident in himself when he dueled, didn’t he?” she asked thoughtfully.

I nodded in agreement. “He’s probably been dueling for a long time,” I replied. “Maybe he feels like he’s in his natural element when he’s got a duel disk on his arm and a deck of cards in his hand.”

Rainbow Dash patted me on the back. “Well, one thing’s for certain; nobody needs to find out about how that went down,” she said teasingly. “I’m sure Lux isn’t the kind of guy who will go around bragging that he beat you, and the rest of us are your best friends; we wouldn’t say anything that would hurt your reputation!”

I smiled and rolled my eyes. “Well, if anyone asks, don’t lie just to uphold my title of ‘Canterlot High’s Number-One Duelist’,” I said sternly. “Of course, that doesn’t mean I want you to go telling everyone you see about it,” I added quickly, and we all burst into laughter as we began to walk home from the park.

~-~-~-~-~

“You’re certain that she is the one?”

The black-haired boy was kneeling in a darkened alleyway before a tall, slender man cloaked in black robes that concealed his every feature. “Yes,” he said respectfully. “She mustbe the one in possession of the other half of the key; why else would my piece have led me to this school?”

The robed man nodded slightly. “Very well; if your intuition has you convinced that she has what we are looking for, then you may duel her, and when that filthy cur devours her soul, bring me the two halves of the key; you may keep her deck if you wish, but it will not matter once our master has been released from his slumber,” he said wickedly.

Just then, the shadowy silhouette manifested itself beside the boy, and rushed at the robed man with a threatening growl. The man responded by holding out an open hand, which grabbed the creature by its throat. “Learn your place,” he hissed menacingly as the shadowy figure choked under the man’s grip. “You are nothing but a by-product of our master’s imprisonment, and that is all you ever shall be!” He spit in the creature’s face and threw it to the floor. It’s body laid on the floor for several moments before fading away like a cloud of smoke, and the robed man turned to the boy addressing him. “You really must keep your pet under control,” he said in an irritated tone. “I may have been gifted the power to see spirits thanks to my servitude to our master, but it does not mean I like dealing with that thing whenever it decides to throw a tantrum.

“Go now, and defeat this ‘Sunset Shimmer’. Defeat her, bring me the other half of the Key of Nightmares, and the world will finally know what darkness truly is.”

The boy nodded and briskly walked away, tucking the broken key amulet underneath his jacket as his mysterious contact cackled wickedly.

“I’ll get the key,” he muttered under his breath, “but don’t think you’re going to be the one getting all the credit when our master is finally released.”

The Darker Half!

“Attention students: Please come to the gymnasium for a surprise assembly,” Principal Celestia’s voice rang out from the loudspeaker. The whole class got up from their Chemistry projects and filed into the hall, relieved to have escaped from class for a while.

“Well, darn, we won’t get to see what happens in our experiment!” Pinkie Pie said sadly moments before she was about to pour liquid from a beaker marked “Chemical A” into graduated cylinder marked “Chemical B”.

Lux let out a quiet, relieved sigh. “Something tells me we wouldn’t want to find out,” he said with a nervous smile.

I nodded quickly. “Come on; I’m sure the others will be waiting for us in the hall,” I said as I motioned for Pinkie and Lux to follow. Sure enough, we barely made it ten feet beyond the classroom door before Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy caught up to us.

“What do you think this is about?” Fluttershy asked, glancing around at the herd of students that swarmed around us in the direction of the gym.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Beats me, but why are we standing around wondering what’s going on? Let’s find out for ourselves!” she said, and joined the crowd on their pilgrimage to the assembly. Pinkie and the others followed suit, but I noticed Lux was a bit hesitant about what was going on.

“Hey, are you alright?” I asked with a friendly laugh.

Lux glanced around uneasily at the other students. “Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna called me into the office this morning,” he explained quietly. “They said since there were so many new students arriving these past few days, they were going to hold an assembly so the newcomers could introduce themselves. They also seemed to have something else they wanted to announce, but it was a surprise that would only be revealed at the assembly.”

I nodded understandingly. “Hey, it’s going to be alright,” I said comfortingly. “All they’re going to do is ask you to say your name and a few things about yourself. It’ll be over before you know it.”

Lux stared ahead intensely for a moment, as if he was listening to something I couldn’t quite hear. “If you say so,” he said uncertainly, adjusting the thin, metal chain he wore around his neck; the pendant I had seen him wearing must have been tucked underneath his shirt. “Um, could I stay with you girls? You know, until they call on me?” he asked hopefully.

I patted him gently on the shoulder. “Of course you can,” I said happily. “Come on; we don’t want to keep the others waiting!”

~-~-~-~-~

After the students had finally settled down in the gymnasium bleachers, Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna stood in the center of the floor, each with a microphone in their hands and an eager smile on their faces.

“Students of Canterlot High,” Principal Celestia began, “As many of you may know, there has been a rather large amount of students transferring to our school over the past few days. Vice-Principal Luna and I have no doubt you will make them feel at home, but we both thought it would be nice to give them a chance to introduce themselves, so they might feel more comfortable.”

Vice-Principal Luna cleared her throat. “Would the new students we spoke to in the office this morning please line up at the half-court line,” she said politely. Lux let out a shaky sigh and stood up, as did several other students, and descended the bleachers to where the two school officials stood.

It was quite the diverse group of people; first up was a slender, black-haired girl with thin lips, alluring eyes, and the figure of a supermodel. I swear I could see every pair of eyes in the school that belonged to a boy widen an extra few millimeters as she stepped up to the microphone.

“Hello,” she said in a confident tone, “My name is Lucia Burns. I like cooking and making friends, and I hope I get a chance to talk to all of you!” saying this, she gave a slight bow, and then strode over by the two principals and waited for the rest of the new students.

Pinkie leaned over and whispered in my ear, “I don’t trust her!” before slowly returning to her spot. I pondered, for a moment, the fact that Pinkie had been sitting on the opposite side of our group as I was, before I realized she was right; something about that girl wasn’t right. Her tone was false, and she seemed well-aware that the entire male population of the school was going ga-ga over her.

Before I could continue my analysis, another questionable character stepped up to the microphone. He had slicked-back, brown hair, wore name-brand clothes, and had a smug look on his face. “I’m Lance Dragnos,” he said clearly, “and I’m an alpha male. I love competition, and I always play for keeps.” After that, he walked over by Lucia and waited for the others to introduce themselves.

There was several other newcomers, some seeming as trustworthy as that Lucia Burns, and others who seemed like they might become good friends. Eventually it was Lux’s turn, and he looked more uncomfortable than I had ever seen him before behind that microphone. He kept his head low and spoke quietly. “M… my name is Lux Aeterna,” he said quickly, “and I love Duel Monsters and meeting new people.” Having made his point, he took a deep breath and scurried over by all the other students, and a quiet laugh swept over the audience.

Finally, there was one last student who had yet to introduce themselves. I had seen him before; a dark-haired, dark-eyed boy who had been watching me the previous day while Applejack and Rarity were dueling. He stepped up to the microphone and scanned the audience slowly, as if he was trying to pick out any familiar faces. Finally, his gaze fell upon me, and he began to speak. “My name is Umbra Timore. I enjoy playing Duel Monsters, and I’ve heard that many students at this school enjoy the game as well. I look forward to dueling and getting to know you all.” He said this without breaking eye contact with me for a single moment, and then quietly walked over by the others.

Celestia nodded, satisfied, and spoke into her microphone. “As for our second announcement, I would like to officially announce the school’s first-annual Duel Monsters tournament!” she cried excitedly, and the audience began murmuring excitedly. “This tournament is sponsored by none other than the C.E.O. of Industrial Illusions himself, Johan Heishin!”

The crowd burst into wild cheering, and as Principal Celestia stepped aside, a slender, suited man strode into the gym proudly. Celestia handed him a microphone, and he nodded politely to her before speaking. “Hello, students of Canterlot High School!” he said in a grand tone, “Before I begin, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to your Principal and Vice-Principal for agreeing to let me host this tournament,” he said, gesturing to the two women who steed off to the side. “When I got a letter saying that their students were fans of the game and they wanted permission to hold a tournament for their students, I wasted no time in organizing the event myself!

“The tournament will last two weeks,” he explained as he pulled a small, black box from his pocket. “This is an expansion pack for your duel disks; it will record your wins and losses, as well as the wins and losses of other participants as well. Once the two-week deadline has been reached, I shall return to Canterlot High to congratulate the winner in person! On top of this, I have instructed Principal Celestia to gift the first, second, and third place winners one of these three cards,” he added, and handed Principal Celestia a large, yellow envelope. “These are three incredibly powerful monster cards - no doubt some of the most powerful in existence - that will be a valuable asset to any duelist who manage to acquire them.

“I must apologize for being brief, but I’m afraid there is business I must attend to. I wish all of you luck, and may the best duelist win!” He said proudly, and waved to the applauding crowd as he departed from the gym. Principal Celestia smiled as she spoke into her microphone once Johan had left and the students had quieted down. “Now, remember, students, that although your teachers will not be giving any tests or homework during this time, you will still be expected to arrive to your classes on time. It will be the teacher’s discretion whether the time will be used for lessons or Duel Monsters; however, since many of the teachers and faculty will be playing in the tournament, myself and Vice-Principal Luna included,” she added with a slight smirk at her sister, “I don’t think there will be many problems. Now, return to your classes, and your teacher will give you your duel disk expansion chip for the tournament,” she concluded, and the students slowly dispersed into the hallway.

“Well, that was a rather surprising announcement,” Rarity said as we all gathered at the bottom of the bleachers. I saw Lux was trying to make his way through the sea of students, but his progress was rather slow. “A school-wide Duel Monsters tournament, hosted by Industrial Illusions? How could such a thing be possible?”

I was about to answer, when a hand tapped my shoulder gently. I turned around to see that black-haired boy, Umbra, eying me cooly. “I’m sorry if I startled you,” he said slowly, “but I had to be certain; you’re Sunset Shimmer, correct?” he asked politely.

I nodded slowly. “Yeah, that’s me,” I said with a nervous chuckle. “How can I help you?”

Umbra smiled slightly. “You have quite the reputation in this school, Sunset Shimmer,” he explained slowly. “I saw you duel that girl, Trixie, the other day, and many students say you are one of the best duelists in this school. Am I not correct?”

I nodded again. “That’s what they say, I guess,” I replied, taking a slow step back so I could be closer to my friends and farther away from this creepy guy. “Listen, we should be getting back to class; we can talk more later, okay?”

The boy smirked and reached into his jacket, pulling out a strange pendant. It looked exactly like Lux’s; half of a broken key. This one, however, was jet-black, and just looking at it sent a chill down my spine. “Oh, don’t worry,” he said smugly, “I know a place where we’ll have all the time in the world to prove if you’re really worthy of your reputation.”

Just then, the world around us stopped. The students around us froze to a halt and slowly faded from view. The gym darkened and became a corrupted version of itself as the walls decayed and the lights burst. Posters on the walls of authority figures and children turned to images of violent torture and horrible monsters. I looked and saw my friends had all huddled together, somehow unaffected by this strange occurrence and uncertain of what exactly was going on.

I turned back to Umbra. “What did you just do?” I demanded, taking a defiant step forward. The boy only smiled and held his arm out as a swirl of black smoke surrounded it, eventually collecting around his wrist and taking the shape of an ethereal duel disk. “Welcome to the Shadow Realm, Sunset Shimmer,” he said in a grandiose tone. “You should start getting used to it here now, while it’s safe; if you lose this duel, you’ll be trapped here forever!”

I gritted my teeth angrily. “What about my friends? What are they doing here?” I demanded.

Umbra shrugged. “A few reasons, actually,” he said nonchalantly. “One, I need some witnesses to my power; people who will know that I am not to be trifled with. Two, They happened to be much closer to you than any other student when I used my pendant’s power, so they were drawn into the Shadow Realm with us. And three,” he said, suddenly sounding curious, “You are all… connected, somehow. It seems as if your fates are bound together by some force so powerful that not even a Shadow Game can keep you apart.” He thought about this a moment longer, before shaking his head and smiling again. “No matter; you won’t be seeing much of each other soon enough,” he said smugly.

I narrowed my eyes. “You lay a finger on my friends, and so help me I’ll-”

The boy held up a hand. “Calm down, Sunset Shimmer; they are not players in this Shadow Game, so when it is over, they shall be returned to the physical world at the exact moment we left it, as if nothing had happened. You have my word that no harm will befall them… this time,” he added sinisterly.

I stared at Umbra for a long time before nodding submissively. “Alright, I’ll play a ‘Shadow Game’ with you. I just need to get my duel disk,” I explained, but something incredible happened the moment I said “duel disk”: a red-and-orange flame burst from my arm, swirling around my wrist angrily yet leaving me unharmed as it took the shape of a transparent, fiery duel disk.

“The shadows will provide us with everything we need in this game,” Umbra explained. “This will go like a typical game of Duel Monsters, but only one of us is walking out of here; the other will be left to fend for themselves against the creatures that wait in the depths of the Shadow Realm to feast on a new soul,” he explained, drawing 5 cards from his deck. “You may have the first turn, Sunset Shimmer; it’s only polite, as I am the one who issued the challenge,” he explained as he studied his cards.

I looked over my shoulder at my friends, who were now staring at me fearfully. I gave them a comforting smile. “It’s okay, girls,” I said confidently as I drew my first card and turned back to my opponent. “Everything is going to be fine.”

A Deck of Nightmares!

“DUEL START!”

I drew the top card from my deck and narrowed my eyes. Can’t even bring out a Synchro Monster on the first turn, I thought anxiously. Better put up some walls until I can. “I set one monster in defense position, and set another card face down!” I declared, setting one monster card and one trap card onto the blade of my duel disk. “Your turn.”

Umbra smirked as he gazed at the latest edition to his hand. “Ah, perfect,” he said in a pleased tone. “I summon my Nightmare Assassin!” he cried, slamming a card onto his duel disk. There was a dark ripple in the air in front of my opponent, and a humanoid creature emerged from nothingness. It was a grotesque thing, with pale skin and wide, pain-filled eyes. there were hooks in its mouth, stretching its lips into an unending smile, and its back was filled with knives that were buried blade-first into the wretched creature’s flesh. It wore tattered pants and stood slightly hunched, its knees bent as its labored breathing made it rock back and forth ever so slightly.

“What kind of monster is that?” Rarity wailed from behind me. “It’s hideous!”

I stared at the creature in shock. “What kind of deck are you using?” I asked my opponent slowly.

Umbra shrugged. “Instead of asking, why don’t we continue the game, and you’ll find out for yourself? I attack your face-down monster with Nightmare Assassin!” he cried, and my card flipped face-up, revealing my Flamvell Guard. The black-and-blue dragon stood in front of me, curled in a defensive position as its thick scales covered any possible weak points.

I smirked cleverly. “Your Assassin only has 1500 attack points, while my Guard has 2000 defense points!” I cried triumphantly.

Umbra chuckled darkly. “Attack and defense points don’t matter to a Nightmare monster when the target is in face-down mode.” As he explained, his monster dashed forward with surprising agility and tore a pair of knives from its back, stabbing them into my Flamvell Guard’s armored hide like butter. My monster let out a pained screech before vanishing in a burst of flame, and I stared at the scene with a look of confused terror. “It’s your turn, Sunset Shimmer,” Umbra said teasingly. “Remember, every move you make in this duel could mean the difference between life and death, so do try to be a little more careful.”

“Alright,” I said uncertainly, “I just won’t set monsters anymore!” I flipped my face-down card face-up. “Call of the Haunted! I summon my Flamvell Guard back from the graveyard!” The ground beneath my side of the field trembled, and my monster that had just been destroyed emerged from beneath us. “Next, I activate ‘Molten Destruction’!” I cried, placing a field spell on my duel disk. The hellish display around us faded, being quickly replaced by a volcanic landscape. Cracks opened up in the ground beneath us the leaked fresh magma, and the air was filled with smoke and ash. “Then, I summon my Flamvell Firedog!” I declared, placing a second monster on my disk. “Our new battlefield gives all of my monsters an extra 500 attack, so my Firedog has a grand total of 2400 attack points! Flamvell Firedog, destroy his Nightmare Assassin!” I commanded, and my burning beast charged forward, knocking Umbra’s creature to the ground and violently biting its throat. The creature vanished in a swirl of black smoke, and my monster returned to its place on my side of the field. “Thanks to my Flamvell Firedog’s special ability, I can automatically summon one monster from my deck with 200 defence points, so I’ll summon my Flamvell Magician!” Saying this, I took my selected monster from my deck and placed it on my duel disk, causing my blue-skinned magician to appear in a burst of orange flame. “With a level 4 tuner and a level 4 non-tuner monster, I can synchro summon a level 8 monster from my extra deck!” I cried, sending my Magician and Firedog to the graveyard. “Say hello to my Red Dragon Archfiend!”

The ground exploded in a fiery vortex, and my black-and-red dragon stepped out, roaring defiantly at my opponent. Umbra, however, simply smiled. “How cute,” he said condescendingly. “Now that it’s my turn, allow me show you what a real dragon looks like. I activate my spell card, Monster Reborn, which allows me to summon a monster from my graveyard; my Nightmare Assassin!” as he said this, the mutilated creature I had just destroyed re-emerged onto the field. “Next, I’ll activate Reinforcement of Nightmare, a spell card that lets me summon a Nightmare monster from my deck that has the same name as the one I have on the field already,” he explained, searching his deck for a monster and summoning another Nightmare Assassin. “Now, I sacrifice both of my Nightmare Assassins to summon my Nightmare Dragon!”

The two monsters vanished, and a dark chill crept through the air, despite the hot landscape we were dueling in. A column of black smoke appeared before Umbra, growing wider and wider until it was big enough to hold my Red Dragon Archfiend. Suddenly, a pair of decayed, leathery wings erupted from the smoke and flapped violently, dispelling the pillar and revealing the terrible creature it contained: a massive dragon made of pale flesh and bone with sickly, orange eyes and two rows of teeth; and that was just on its face. The rest of its body was also covered in gnashing maws of fangs and sets of eyes that blinked rapidly and darted around, taking in whatever they could.

“Impressed, Sunset Shimmer?” he asked proudly, “It’s one of my signature monsters. If you think he looks scary, just wait until he uses his special ability! First, however, I’m going to activate another spell, one you may be more familiar with: Book of Moon!” he cried, and I watched as my dragon vanished, being hidden beneath a holographic card. “Now that your dragon is face down, I can activate Nightmare Dragon’s special ability, allowing it to automatically destroy one face-down monster that my opponent controls!” he cried happily, and his dragon’s excess mouths all opened at once, spraying green flame onto my hidden Red Dragon Archfiend. The card exploded, and I had no choice but to place it in my graveyard. “Now that that’s taken care of, I think I’ll take out that Flamvell Guard of yours… oh, that’s right, your Red Dragon Archfiend destroys any monsters that didn’t attack when your turn ends,” he said with mock sadness. “Very well, then; Nightmare Dragon, attack her life points directly!” he commanded, and his dragon opened its primary mouth and blasted me with a gout of noxious, green fire. I watched my life points tick down to 5500 as Umbra folded his arms expectantly. “Let’s see you rekindle your flame after that, Sunset Shimmer,” he said smugly.

I drew a card from my deck and nodded sharply. “Alright. I summon my Flamvell Archer!” I cried as I placed a card onto the blade of my duel disk, and a man with blazing hair that carried a bow of fire appeared on the field before me. “Next, I’ll send Flamvell Baby from my hand to the graveyard, which gives my Archer an extra 400 attack points. Finally, I activate my spell card, Rekindling!” I shouted triumphantly, and three more monsters appeared on my side of the field: Flamvell Firedog, Flamvell Magician, and Flamvell Baby. “How’s that for ‘rekindling my flame’?” I asked defiantly.

Umbra shrugged. “So what? You’ve only postponed your loss; four monsters on the field just means I have to perform four more attacks before my Dragon can hurt you again,” he shot back wickedly.

I nodded. “That would be true, unless I had one more card to play,” I said, placing one more spell card on my duel disk. “I activate Double Spell! By sending my Hand Destruction spell card to the graveyard,” I explained, placing said spell card into my graveyard slot, “I can use the Monster Reborn spell card you used as my own! I summon my Red Dragon Archfiend!”

There was a flash of white light, and my dragon was restored to the field in all it’s glory. “Red Dragon Archfiend, Flamvell Baby, and Flamvell Archer all on the field at the same time; I think we both know what I can do now,” I said confidently. “Come forth, Red Nova Dragon!”

My three selected monsters vanished from view, and a pillar of molten rock erupted from the ground beneath us as a dark shape ascended from underneath our playing field. Eventually, the geyser of lava dispersed, and we were both left to stare in awe at my newly-summoned Synchro Monster. “Now, allow me to show you what a real dragon looks like; Red Nova Dragon, destroy his Nightmare Dragon!”

As soon as I gave the command, my dragon wasted no time in spewing a wave of searing magma at Umbra’s creature, incinerating it in mere moments as he simply watched and smiled, his life points now at 5500, just like mine.

“A valiant effort, but it was in vain,” he said dismissively, “as you have only furthered my progress towards victory: I banish my three Nightmare Monsters to summon Lord of the Endless Nightmare!”

Umbra’s side of the field erupted in a blanket of black smoke that quickly flew to the center, twisting and shaping as it condensed into the last thing I expected: a young, sleeping boy, lying on the ground and hugging a teddy bear tightly.

“That’s your key to victory?” I asked uncertainly. “A little kid?”

Umbra nodded, before glancing at what he had summoned. “Oh, I’m sorry; the Lord of the Endless Nightmare can only be seen in his true form by those who are asleep; or, to be more specific, monsters under the spell of a Nightmare monster. Now, how about I show you just what he can do?” he suggested happily. "Firstly, I'll summon my Nightmare Storyteller,” he said, placing a monster card onto his duel disk as a new creature appeared on his side of the field. It was another pale-skinned man, like the Nightmare Assassin, but this one’s mouth and eyes were sewn shut, and there was a thick book with its front and back covers sewn to each of his hands. “My Storyteller’s ability let’s me change one monster on the field into face-down defense position; essentially, I’m going to tell your dragon a bedtime story,” he said with a slight chuckle.

I watched as Red Nova Dragon suddenly collapsed onto the ground, fading away and being replaced by the image of a Duel Monsters card. “Now that Red Nova Dragon is asleep, I can destroy him with Lord of the Endless Nightmare,” he declared, and the little boy started rolling around and moaning in his sleep. A dark shadow stretched across the field, and I could feel unimaginable terror as it drew closer to my sleeping monster.

“Red Nova Dragon, wake up!” I cried, feeling like a child who had just awakened from a nightmare. Despite my pleas, however, I couldn’t do anything but watch as the shadow touched my card, and it vanished in a dark swirl.

“I should mention my Lord’s second effect,” Umbra added as my duel disk’s life point meter began to tick. “Whenever he destroys a sleeping monster, it’s written attack points are inflicted upon my opponent’s life points.” I saw he was right, as my meter went all the way down to 2000 points. “Your turn; I doubt you can do anything to recover from this, though,” he said smugly.

I drew a card from my deck and scanned my cards frantically for anything that could save the duel for me. “I…” I said in a hushed voice, “I…”

Umbra held a hand to his ear. “I’m sorry, what was that? You’ll have to speak up, Sunset Shimmer,” he said condescendingly.

I didn’t know what to do. There wasn’t a single card in my hand that could save me, and summoning a monster would just help Umbra win even faster. I may not have been able to see the monster he had summoned, but I could feel the presence of something hateful and malicious, and it filled me with unimaginable terror.

I looked up at him, tears beginning to form on the edges of my eyes. “You said when this duel was over, that my friends would be unharmed?” I asked quietly.

Umbra nodded matter-of-factly. “Spectators are not part of a Shadow Game, and as a result are not rewarded or punished by a Shadow Game’s results,” he reported.

I nodded as a tear streamed down my face and dripped onto the ground. “Then I… I surrender,” I said quietly.

~-~-~-~-~

“What happened?” Lux asked frantically as he rushed to meet us, “where’s Sunset?”

We were back in the real world, at the exact moment Umbra had challenged Sunset, just like he promised would happen. I looked to my friends sadly; Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack all held each other close as they mourned our lost friend. “Rainbow Dash, please; where is Sunset Shimmer?” he demanded, his fear making him more insistent than usual.

I looked into his eyes sadly. “She… she lost,” I said simply.

Lux looked around, confused. “What do you mean, ‘she lost’?” he asked slowly, sounding as if he knew exactly what I meant.

I sighed and sat down on the floor. “That guy, Umbra Timore… He challenged her to something called a ‘Shadow Game’, and she lost, and… forfeited her soul as a penalty,” I explained.

The moment I said “Shadow Game” Lux’s eyes nearly bulged from his head. “Umbra… challenged Sunset Shimmer… to a Shadow Game?” he asked slowly.

I rolled my eyes and stood up, getting right in the white-haired boy’s face. “Look, pal, that’s what I said, and that’s what happened. Now, you seem to know a lot more about what’s going on than we do, so you’re going to do some explaining: what are Shadow Games? What’s with that broken key you’ve got around your neck? Why does Umbra Timore have one that looks almost exactly like it, but black?” I demanded, pushing Lux a few steps back with each question until he stumbled into the bleachers and fell on his rear.

Lux looked down at his feet, his eyes still wide and fearful. “I never thought this would happen,” he said slowly, “I never thought I’d find someone with the other half.”

I rolled my eyes and hooked my hands under Lux’s arms, lifting him back to his feet. “You’d better start talking sense, buddy, or I’ll-”

Just then, Lux pulled his necklace off and placed the thin chain around my neck. “Don’t ask me to explain; ask her,” he said quickly, and I suddenly felt light-headed as everything around me started to fade into fuzzy whiteness.

“What did you…” I started to say, but my knees suddenly buckled beneath me, and I lost consciousness before I hit the ground.

Shedding a Little Light!

Where… where am I?

I found myself lying in a field of soft, powdery snow, as more of the white dust fell from the sky. I wasn’t cold, though; even though I should have been freezing half to death right then and there, I felt as comfortable as I would on a spring afternoon. I looked around, confused; one moment, Lux puts his weird amulet around my neck, and the next I’m-

“Hello.”

I turned around sharply to see who the strange voice belonged to, and saw a slender girl standing a few feet away from me. She looked rather young - no older than sixteen - and had long, silky, silver hair. Her eyes were pale grey, and her face was meek and kind.

“Are you one of Lux’s friends?”

I nodded slowly. “Who… are you?” I asked the strange girl.

She giggled softly. “My apologies; it’s been a long time since I’ve met anyone new. My name is Avrenim,” she said, doing a slight curtsy with her white skirt. “You must be Rainbow Dash; is that correct?”

I nodded again. “Avrenim… where are we?” I asked, once again studying our surroundings - or, more accurately, lack of surroundings.

The girl sighed heavily. “I have come to call this place ‘home’,” she said quietly. “Others call it ‘The Key of Nightmares’, ‘The Key of Twin Souls’, and some even go as far as to call this place ‘The Shadow Realm’.”

I quickly turned back to my lone companion. “The Shadow Realm?” I asked eagerly, “A friend of mine was just trapped there! Could we find her?”

Avrenim shook her head. “This place’s nickname of ‘The Shadow Realm’ comes from false information; it is the other half of the Key of Twin Souls that leads to the Shadow Realm,” she explained. “This is simply a place of emptiness, where I am in control of the landscape; my own little patch of existence.”

I nodded slowly. “So, what exactly am I doing here?” I asked awkwardly.

Avrenim suddenly turned hostile. “You were hurting Lux just before you came here!” she snapped. “The only reason you’re here is because he knew the key would send you to me. But… there is another reason you’ve been sent here,” she added, her voice returning to it’s quieter tone. “You seek knowledge; knowledge of the Shadow Games.”

I nodded slightly. “Yeah, Lux seemed to know what they are; our friend lost her soul when she lost a Shadow Game to someone named ‘Umbra Timore’,” I explained. “What are the Shadow Games? Why and how can Umbra make people play them?”

Avrenim sat down slowly and sighed. “Well, this story has two parts; one of them takes place just a few years ago, and the other takes place long before our ancestors were born. It’s a rather lengthy story,” she warned.

I sat down beside her. “I’m listening,” I insisted. “If I’m going to save Sunset Shimmer, I need to know all that I can about these Shadow Games.”

Avrenim nodded. “Long ago, when the pyramids were still young, Egyptian kings played games of great and terrible power,” she began. “They did battle with magic and monsters for riches and glory, but these Shadow Games erupted into a war that threatened to destroy the world. Until a brave and powerful pharaoh locked the dark magic away, imprisoning it for all eternity within the mystical Millennium Items.” The girl suddenly laughed emptily. “At least, that’s what we were told.”

I stared as she went on: “I was friends with a boy who held a Millennium Item; along with him and his friends, we actually met several other people who also held Items of their own. Eventually, when we had all seven, we were able to travel back to ancient Egypt, and find out what really happened when the Shadow Games were sealed away.

“You see, Rainbow Dash, the Shadow Games are not just some kind of force; they are a being. A being that I helped imprison long ago, and if you don’t help Lux keep my half of this key safe, then he will be released from his prison, and he will use his powers shroud the world in endless darkness.”

I stared at her for a long time. “This is unbelievable,” I said slowly. “I mean, I’m not saying I don’t believe you, because I do, but how in the world can we stop this from happening?”

Avrenim looked me directly in my eyes. “Tell your friends what I have told you. You mustn’t let this ‘Umbra Timore’ get his hand on my half of the Key of Twin Souls. If he does, he will unite it with the other half, and use the completed key to release the Shadow Games. Then… everyone will lose,” she said sadly.

I nodded. “Okay, how do I get out of here?” I asked, rubbing my hands together eagerly and glancing around.

Avrenim giggled slightly. “I’ll wake you up,” she said cheerfully. “But when you do, please give me back to Lux; without me to guide him, I don’t think he’ll be able to help you very much. In fact, without me, you wouldn’t even know him in the first place,” she added thoughtfully.

I gave her a strange look. “What?” I asked, bewildered.

Avrenim smiled cleverly. “Lux is a rather… antisocial person, and was never good at making friends because other children singled him out for his shyness. When Sunset Shimmer offered him a chance to spend time with you girls, I was the one who urged him to accept. It’s good to see him making new friends and coming out of his shell a little bit,” she explained. “Anyways, farewell, Rainbow Dash. I do hope to speak to you again, only under less dire circumstances,” she said kindly.

I nodded. “It was nice meeting you too, Av-”

~-~-~-~-~

“-Renim.” I said suddenly as my eyes snapped open. I was lying on the gym floor, and I could hear a high-pitched squealing noise, accompanied by confused moaning. I looked up to see Pinkie Pie - who was the source of the squealing - holding Lux, - the source of the moaning - by the collar of his shirt, shaking him back and forth violently.

“YOU BETTER WAKE RAINBOW DASH UP RIGHT NOW!” she demanded in a screechy, angry voice.

“I...told...you...I...can’t!” Lux said between shakes. “She’ll...wake...up....soon!”

I rose to my feet, and Pinkie suddenly stopped shaking the poor boy and tackled me in a big hug. “OHMYGOSH, I THOUGHT WE LOST YOU, TOO!” she wailed happily, and I laughed as I patted my friends poofy, pink hair.

“It’s fine, Pinkie,” I said suddenly looking up at Lux, who squirmed under my glance. “Why didn’t you tell us about Avrenim?” I asked him softly, taking the necklace off and handing it to him

He rubbed his neck, still red from Pinkie’s interrogation, and put the necklace back on, hiding the broken key underneath his shirt. “I was afraid you’d think I was crazy, and wouldn’t spend any more time with me” he said quietly. “Until you girls came along, she was my only friend.”

Applejack spoke up. “Uh, am I missing something here? Who’s ‘Avrenim’?” she asked, looking back and forth between me and Lux like we were insane.

I laughed. “I’ll tell you when we get to class, A.J.” I said slowly, “this is quite the tale.”

“You know I love a good story, Rainbow Dash, darling, but what about Sunset Shimmer?” she pointed out. “We have to rescue her from that terrible place!”

I sighed heavily. “I know,” I said sadly, “but there isn’t anything we can do right now except make sure Umbra doesn’t get his hands on Lux’s key,” I explained. “Let’s just carry on with our day, and we’ll meet up after school; maybe Lux and Avrenim can tell us more about the Shadow Games and the Shadow Realm. I promise, we’ll figure out a way to get Sunset back.”

~-~-~-~-~

“What do you mean, ‘she didn’t have the key’?” Umbra’s hooded contact spat angrily. “I put my faith into your little hunch, which you were so certain was true, and you immediately prove to me that my faith was wrongly-placed!”

Umbra held up his hands calmingly. “Now, I know I’ve made a mistake, but there’s no need to be upset…”

The man laughed. “‘Upset’?” he asked harshly, “I’m far beyond ‘upset’. After a failure like this, I should…” he trailed off. “Wait… your duel with the girl… you said her friends were brought to the Shadow Realm with you?” he asked slowly.

Umbra nodded. “Yes. I don’t know why; my theory is they’re connected on some level so powerful that even a Shadow Game cannot separate them from each other,” he explained.

The man chuckled darkly. “Umbra, I believe I have a new plan,” he said slowly. “The new students at Canterlot High… befriend them. Learn their strengths and weaknesses, and form a group of hunters. If this girl’s friends want to team up and hide the key from you, then you’ll just have to make a team of your own to take it from them!”

Umbra gave him an uncertain look. “But… sir, how will I gain their trust? How will I provide incentive for them to join me?” he asked nervously.

The man darted his glaring eyes to the boy’s face. “Have you forgotten who I am?” he asked angrily, “Simply tell them who they’ll be working for; that should be incentive enough,” he replied. “Go, now; you have work to do.”

Umbra nodded and stalked out of the alleyway and marched down the dimly-lit city street. As he did, his shadowy companion appeared by his side. “Simetra, please,” he said dismissively, “now is not the time for that sort of talk. All we need to do is do that old bastard’s work for him, and when our job is finished, we will be rewarded with enough power to make a king feel inadequate.”

~-~-~-~-~

“So, you’re telling me that there’s a young girl’s spirit trapped in that broken key?” Rarity asked slowly.

I nodded. “Yeah, that’s Avrenim,” I affirmed. We were in the center of the park, gathered near the fountain that Sunset and Lux had dueled near the previous day.

“And she and her friends battled an evil spirit over five thousand years ago?” Applejack inquired, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

I nodded again. “Yes, the evil spirit that controls the Shadow Games,” I explained.

“And after sealing away the evil, she was trapped in half of the ‘Key of Twin Souls’?” Pinkie asked, her eyes wide with disbelief.

I rubbed my forehead impatiently. “Yes, that’s exactly what I just told you all!” I snapped. “Avrenim is the only one who knows anything about the Shadow Games. She’s the only one who can tell us how to get Sunset Shimmer back.”

I turned to Lux, who was sitting with his back against the fountain. “Is there any way we can speak to Avrenim?” I asked gently. “I mean, without putting the necklace on and knocking us out,” I added humorously.

Lux rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Well, there is one thing we’ve been trying to work on,” he said slowly. “We’ve been experimenting with possession. I figured it would be nice to let her use my body every once in a while so she could experience things as if she were still alive. The only problem is… we haven’t really gotten it to work just yet,” he explained nervously.

I nodded quickly. “Well, could you give it a try?” I asked hopefully. “Please, Lux; for Sunset?”

Lux sighed and took off the key necklace and gripped it tightly in his hand. “Here goes nothing,” he said uncertainly, and closed his eyes. There was a few moments of silence as we all stood around, waiting for anything to happen, when Lux’s breathing suddenly became labored.

“Lux… what are you doing…” he said worriedly, “You know I don’t have the strength for this just yet.”

Lux’s neck suddenly twitched. “I’m sorry, Avrenim, but my friends need to talk to you. They need your help to save their friend, who was lost in the Shadow Realm. How can we get her back?”

Lux’s neck twitched again, and I could see beads of sweat were beginning to form on his forehead and around his brow. “You have to challenge him to a Shadow Game for Sunset’s soul,” he said simply. “I wouldn’t advise it, for as long as Umbra does not know you have the key, he will most likely stay away from you. But, if you really wish to save your friend, that is the only way.”

Suddenly, Lux pitched forward and fell on his stomach, gasping heavily. “Sorry,” he said breathlessly. “We’ve been trying new ways to do that, but so far she can only speak through me.” He wiped his face on his sleeve as Pinkie and Fluttershy helped him to his feet. “I’d like to be able to give her full control, but I just don’t see it happening anytime soon.”

Fluttershy patted him gently on the shoulder. “You did your best,” she said gently.

I nodded. “And, we figured out how to get Sunset out of the Shadow Realm!” I cried excitedly.

Lux looked up at me uncertainly. “Yes, but that means putting myself and Avrenim in danger,” he pointed out in a low voice. “If I duel Umbra, he learns who has the key, and if he wins… it’s all over.”

We all stood silently for a moment. “Alright, I’ve got it!” I said suddenly. “We avoid Umbra for the duration of the tournament, and lay low until the finals. Then, when it’s down to you and him, that’s when you challenge him!”

Rarity nodded. “We’re going to need all the help we can get, though,” she said thoughtfully. “I’m not sure how many people would be willing to make an alliance with us when those powerful cards are up for grabs.”

I glanced over at Applejack. “Sunset Shimmer gave you her locker combination, right?” I asked hopefully.

Applejack nodded. “Yeah, just in case she was sick and needed me to bring her homework to her after school,” she said slowly.

I cracked my knuckles craftily. “Alright, girls,” I said with a dangerous grin. “We’re breaking into the school.”

Lux looked up suddenly. “What? Why?” he asked, panicking. “We could get into serious trouble!”

“If we get caught,” I pointed out. “Besides, we’re in a magic-related situation, and we need a helping hand bad. There’s only one person I can think of that can help us in a time like this,” I explained, motioning for the others to follow me.

More Than Just A Pile Of Scrap!