Equestria Girls: Dark Duel Stories

“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.”