The Legend of Fauna

Twilight was furious. “That woman, THAT WOMAN! Graaaah!” Anger was driving her to run, and just keep running. For a solid twenty minutes, Twilight ran, cursing in the air as she did so. She didn't know if anyone had heard her, and she didn't care. All that mattered to her now was to beat Celestia tomorrow. When Twilight looked up to see where she was, she realized she was at the edge of the school grounds. “Damn it!” She yelled at the large metal school gates with the marks of Celestia and Luna cut out of the middle to make the letters C A. Anger rising, Twilight punched the large metal gate with all she had. Quickly, she realized the mistake she made, as the pain started to jolt up her arm. Continuing to curse in the air, Twilight started to hop around, clutching her bloody hand. She stopped when she heard a voice calling out to her.

“Twilight? Twilight Sparkle, is that you? What's wrong?” It was the school doctor, Sang Redheart. The large woman had made her way over to Twilight, and began to examine. She wasn't as tall as Celestia, but she was definitely close. Possibly the same height as Luna. “Oh, for the love of- Twilight, you've broken your hand! Why in the world would you punch a reinforced iron gate?” Twilight's emotions dropped.

        “I broke it? I... b-broke my hand?” How are you supposed to duel now? Great job. You really fucked it up this time. Twilight fell to her knees. “I... broke... my... my...” The doctor shook her head.

“Come on. Let's go fix it. Ugh. And I was just about to leave after operating on that Exuvia boy all morning.” Twilight was still stunned on the ground looking at her broken hand, which was now covered in her own blood with the bones in her knuckles exposed. The doctor saw that the girl was unready to move on her own, sighed, and simply hoisted her over her shoulder, and made their way to the medical wing. “Close your eyes, this is not going to be pretty. You've fractured some of your metacarpals, and to treat your hand properly, I'm going to have to remove some of your skin.” Twilight turned her head and gritted her teeth. Her entire left arm was numb, but for some reason, she felt that this was going to hurt. The sound of ripping tape echoed in the room. When Twilight looked at her hand, she could see that the skin over her bones had come clean off. She stared at the hand in amazement.

“How in the hell did you do that?” The doctor smiled at the girl.

“When you've been in the medical field as long as I have, it's very difficult to find some strange new disease or problem. Trust me, you are not the first person I've ever seen break their hand in frustration. Now, while were on the subject...” A loud crack went off, and Redheart had finished snapping the bones back into place. “There we go. Now a little healing gel over the cracks, and it should be better by midnight.” The doctor spread a teal gel she'd taken out of a bottle over the edges of the breaks in her bones, then along the clean squared edges of her skin. She paused and counted to sixty, and the bones had visibly began to grow together. She then returned the hand skin back to it's place, and the skin started to almost sew it's self together.

“Alright, Ms. Sparkle. Normally, I'd let a patient go at this point, but as for you, I want you to tell me what's gotten you so angry?” The girl picked up her hand and placed it on her lap. Trying to move her arm was nearly impossible while it was so numb. She sighed, and then decided it'd be better to tell the truth. Who else did she have to talk to?

“Well... um... you know what happened to the Exuvia guy right?” Twilight felt her heart sink as she said it. She was still feeling sorry for what she did.

“Why, yes I do. I'm the one that repaired that wound. Had it not been for his sub-race, he wouldn't be alive today. You did that, didn't you?” Sub race? What was that? Twilight nodded and continued her story.

“Uh... yeah... Earlier today, I kind of got caught skipping class, and so I wasn't in the greatest mood after I was let out to lunch. And then he challenged me to a duel, and I... uh... told him to go away, but he insisted on it, and I couldn't really afford to break any more school rules so I went along with it. But I was mad... and I think I've been told I have... anger issues more than once. So, one thing led to another, and he got cut open.” Redheart nodded.

“Alright. That explains why you did that, but what's going on now? Who is 'that woman' that you've been yelling about every where?” Twilight turned red and looked down at her lap. She didn't think about anyone hearing her.

“Um... I don't... or I shouldn't really...” The nurse crossed her arms. She stood up and closed the door, and came back to her seat.

“I imagine it's Sola Fueguno, or Celestia Iscandor, right?” Twilight looked up at the doctor in surprise. How did she know that? Nobody knew that! I didn't even know until today!

“How did you-” The doctor shook her head.

“Oh please Twilight. I'm the chief of medicine. I know who does and does not have medical records. Born in 3000, humph. She wouldn't know half the things she does if she were. She's not a very good liar, even if she poses as one.” A bad liar and a politician? Is that even possible?

“Well, after I went back to class, and the school day ended, I went to my usual spot to read, where Sola caught me. Then she revealed herself as Celestia, and we talked. It didn't go so well. At first, she acted like normal, being that motherly figure she usually is to me, but then she went off. She started being a hard ass, and it pissed me off. She started yelling at me, and I started yelling back. Then I uh... kinda ran off, and here we are.” The doctor rolled the situation around in her head, visibly nodding her head one way to the other. Then she turned back to Twilight.

“So. What exactly did she say to you that got you so riled up?” What is Celestia up to now? Redheart thought. Tactician or not, that woman needs to learn when to stop toying with people.

“Well, it was something along the lines of, you aren't me, I know your child hood sucked, but it’s time to grow up kind of crap. Can you believe it? Me, acting like a kid. What does she think I've been through? I had to learn how to survive practically on my own when I was nine! I could clean house with all of the students and half the teachers here! I can fix gambling like I can breathe!” Ah. It was a trap. This was the desired result, no doubt. I bet she didn't expect her to break her hand though. Then again, she does pose as Sola, so she probably knows when I leave. Could she have planned all of this? Ooh! She is getting a call as soon as I set Twilight straight!

“Okay, I think I understand the situation now. You are going to be apart of the exhibition match tomorrow right?” Twilight nodded her head, waiting to see where Redheart was going. “Now don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think it will be possible for you to win.” Redheart didn't have any faith in her?

“Why do you think that? It's not like I'm-” She was cut off.

“I know you're not a bad duelist, really. But there's more going on that you can't see. You might not know this, but our 'Day Queen' has another nickname, and that is the puppeteer. Twilight, this person likely thinks of you as her own daughter, and since I know her personally, I know that she has a hand in everything involving her kid's lives. She is the Queen, after all. She has the power to manipulate everything, and with her insight, she can and does.” Twilight turned to the doctor with worried eyes.

“What are you saying? Is she playing me? Did... did she say those things just to get me to react this way?” Redheart sighed.

“While I don't know whether or not that is true, I do know that she cares for you. What ever grand scheme she has in her head, she's doing everything for your benefit, whether you know it or not. When you take the stage tomorrow, I don't want you to be mad at her. Have fun. Do your best. Try and make her work for the win. And learn from what she does. You may not know this, but you and she are very similar minded. And one day, I think you might just surpass her, and I think she knows it. But she's trying to get you there. So let her work and do what she says. She has a lot more riding on you than you know.”

Twilight developed a frown. Is that what she really thinks of me? Redheart has been seen at the castle. Hell, I've seen her at the castle. She must be good friends with Celestia. But... is she really playing me? If she is, she's a damn good Twilight-ist. Oh man, what else has she manipulated in my life? I know she got dad his leg treatments and both my parents a job... but what if she's the reason dad was in that accident in the first place? What if she did that just to make it where I lived on the street for a while? Ugh. This is hurting my brain. I need to sleep…

“Thanks Mrs. Redheart. Really. This was... eye opening. I think I'll just go back to my dorm now and... oh wait! You're her friend, did you ever duel her?” Redheart's eyes widened. She put her hands to her mouth, cursed under her breath, and then sighed.

“Yes... unfortunately... that woman does not know how to take it easy when it comes to that blasted game.” Twilight's eyes widened, but in excitement.

“Really? What's her deck like? I heard that she hasn't dueled in public for over thirty years! Does she still use Synchro monsters like in the legend?” Redheart sunk her head into her hands which were propped up on her knees.

“Yes, all of that is true. But what you don't know is about the heat. She uses fire monsters, and since she doesn't actually duel through normal means like you, me, and everyone else, her ancient technique makes those monsters more real than matter waves could. Each one of them has fire coming out of it somewhere, and every last one produces ungodly heat. Or really, godly heat. What I'm saying is, try and protect yourself from effect damage, and real burns. There's a good chance that she'll ask me to be standing by when the duel starts, and that is for your safety. You know what? Here, take this. I had a few copies of this soul card made for sentimental reasons, but I feel you need it.” The doctor stood, and took a spell card out of her bag and handed it to Twilight.

“I'm going to head out now. The kids are probably waiting for me to make dinner. You take care Twilight. Try and rest. Tomorrow is going to be one hell of a day.” The doctor left the room, her curvy features accenting themselves in her tight white outfit. As big as she was, there's a good chance that it was the only uniform that fit her. Twilight on the other hand, was beginning to realize the gravity of the situation she was in. she stood up, holding the card Redheart had given her tightly. She only said one thing when she finally settled down for bed.

“Oh, shit. What have I gotten myself into?”

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The alarm clock started to play one of Twilight's favorite songs. 'Amidst the passing time, a shining sparkle resonates; I'll keep walking until I carve my name into this world!~' Originally, she thought she liked it because it sounded cool, but more recently, she began to think it fit her. She would keep walking. And one day, the world over would know her name. But that was neither here nor there. At the moment, she was freaking out. “Oh crap, oh shit, oh gods, what have I done? I pissed off the most powerful person in the country, then she challenged me to a duel, and only after I accept while cursing at her, do I find out that she makes it real. I'm gonna die in a fire. Literally. Oh crap, oh sh-”

Amidst pacing around her dorm room trying to rationalize what was happening in two hours, a knock came at the door. “Who in the world? It's five in the morning! Why would anyone else be up? And come to see me? I don't know anybody!” even so, the common curtsy beat into her at the castle for the last six years wouldn't let her ignore the door. “Can I help you?” she said as sarcastic as possible, as she opened the door. “Oh. Hey.” it was the resident vampire bat, Tsukiko.

“You're awake! And... dressed? well, no matter, quickly, lady Sparkle, come with me!” The pale girl grabbed Twilight's arm and took off.

“Ahh! What the hell!? We're in a hallway! Why are you flying?! Holy crap!” Just as she was getting to complaining, the blue haired girl pulled her bat like wings in close and dove through the open window at the end of the hall with Twilight in toe. Twilight closed her eyes in preparation for contact with the ground, seven stories below, but after a minute, with no concrete to meet her, she looked up. The night sky hadn't faded yet, and the moon was hanging in it's waxing position over the horizon. The air was crisp and clear, and the stars shone in the dark like beacons.

“So, uh, This is great and all, but why are we flying at five in the morning?” The blue haired Angel girl didn't waver. Her concentration was totally focused on flying with the Mage girl, and had no room for nothing else. “Silent huh? Fine. Are we going to the shooting range? There really isn't anything else in the area, other than some closed athletic facilities.” The angle finally spoke.

“You are indeed the quick wit, lady Sparkle. I have always wanted to see your skill with a rifle in action!” The Mage shrugged as best she could while being held by the Angle.

“Whatever. Fine with me, but the shooting range is closed, so why now?” The angle looked down at her passenger.

“Are the rumors not true? I've heard that you can pick nearly every lock in the school.” Was that a compliment? Twilight thought. Well, I'll take it as one.

“Yeah, so what if it is?” she said, with a little pride slipping in her voice.

“Then the facilities are not closed. Sometimes, Lord Will has me run the computer while he trains the other students, so, I can get you set up.” after hearing her say the name, Twilight remembered that Tsukiko was star pupil of coach Marcus 'Iron' Will, as the students called him. On top of that, she was the best sharp shooter at the academy, with an amazing ability as a lancer. This girl with a rifle and a bayonet was dangerous, and with her specialized lance, she was a force of nature.

“So... why would you want to see me shoot? Aren't you the best shot at the academy?” Tsukiko began to descend, and lightly dropped Twilight an inch above the concrete before landing herself.

“Hmm, Yes, I suppose I am. As far as records go. You know Sola Fueguno right?” not 'lady' Sola? Odd, but whatever. Queen wants to parade around as a school girl, fine by me. Not like I care anymore.

“Yeah. What about her? She better than you?” The angle put her fingers to her chin as her extended dark leathery wings folded themselves to her back.

“With a rifle? No. However, with a hand gun, yes. That and swords. I've simply never been good with the things that only use one of my hands. Even dueling, she still manages to out do me more often than I do her. Our record is 48 to 52 mind you. If it weren't for that horrendous accell synchro monster...” She's dueled Celestia? Or... does Celestia use a different deck while she poses as Sola? But wait... has Sola ever dueled here? Now that I think about it, she's never dueled anyone in class... how would Tsukiko have dueled Sola? Before she could question her, Tsukiko had started toward the door.

“Come along! We do not have all morning you know!” Twilight rolled her eyes and followed the girl to the main entrance. The large building was made of a white stone like every other building in Upper Canterlot, and was practically imbedded within the mountain side. The landscaping on the school was impressive for it's location near the top of the mountain, but eventually, the rock was just too difficult to drill into and make an even shape without magically enhanced tools. The doors were that of the same wrought black iron that every part of the school used, and they are just as heavy as they sound. The more dense the metal, the harder it is to use magic on it, which in turn meant it could have a lock that was difficult to pick for everyone, rather than all but normal mages.

“Well, Lady Sparkle? Can you open it?” Twilight put her hands together and popped her fingers all at once.

“Does the sun rise every day?” she took a small key ring out of her pocket, but rather than keys, it had several thin, various shaped black pieces of metal hanging on it. A small violet glow began to emanate from her finger tips, and then covering two of the metal pieces. She placed both pieces inside the key hole, and turned, opening the lock as if she had the real key. “I'll never understand why the Queens insist on using these terrible ancient locking systems. I mean, I could get any door in Canterlot open if I wanted to, but even a child could open these.” Tsukiko laughed nervously.

“Oh, uh, my, Lady Sparkle, you are right. Those Queens really should get these silly old locks updated. Ha ha.” Twilight narrowed her eyes at the girl.

“Nervous? Now? It's already considered suspicious activity to be out of the dorms this early. Come on. Do you want to see me shoot or not” Twilight felt the need to blow off some magic anyways. Then she remembered something the old bird told her a few years ago. When you feel anxious, it is because your mood, mind, and magic are all trying to go in different places. If you release magic, your mind concentrates on that, which will then force your mood into one in tune with your magic, and vice versa. Ugh. I can't even get away from her in my own head. Twilight pushed hard on the heavy door to open it, and walked inside the large vacant building with Tsukiko close behind.

“You go set up stall three. It's my usual spot.” Tsukiko turned to Twilight and bowed.

“As you wish, Lady Sparkle.” Then nearly faded into darkness.

“Weirdo.” Twilight took her place in the stall and picked up the beam rifle that was sitting in it's holster. While she wasn't the most talented hacker on the campus, she was the most practiced one. This stall, she had specially modified to use no magic enhanced targeting what so ever. As much as she used magic, there was no place for anything but her eyes when she shot. And it held true. She wasn't Tsukiko, but she was the best shot out of the first years.

“I assume you wish to keep the magic sights off?” How did she even know that?

“Uh yeah. The crap that they have in the system messes with my eyes.” Tsukiko engaged the stall.

“Very well. I respect that. I do not use magic sights either. When I was but a child, I learned to shoot without any sort of magic at all. My father had come into contact with an ancient weapon known as a flint lock rifle, if you had even ever heard of it. It kicked a piece of flint against a metal cup that would ignite saltpeter in the chamber, which would then propel the bullet, which was really just a round piece of iron, forward.” Flint lock? Like, the ancient tech that the pirates of horseshoe bay created back in the 900's? Who is her dad? The man must be loaded to get a hold of something that old in working order.

“Wow. I didn't know your parents were rich. Geez. Set it to expert.” The screen gave an okay, then a count down began. 10...9...8... Twilight made her stance and prepared for the target to let loose. 3...2...1... Fwoop! The targets shot across the range. They were white, so even in the dark, she could crack them open with ease. The air was littered with a flurry of violet beam projectiles shooting out from Twilight's rifle. The screen began another countdown, and the number of targets increased. Faster and faster she shot, to make sure she didn't lose a single target. The buzzer rang out and the round was over. 298/300 targets hit. Speed round targets hit, 50/50. Twilight heard clapping coming from the console room above the bleachers behind the range.

“I am impressed, Lady sparkle. You certainly are the best shot of the first years. Maybe even the whole school. But... have you heard the rumor of, the frenzy mode?” She said the last part of her sentence with grim enthusiasm. Twilight was intrigued. The rumor about the special mode in the shooting range for fourth year students was only, from what she could tell, just that. The students talked about how in the morning they could hear the sounds of crazy rapid fire coming from the range, but when they would look inside to investigate, all they would find was a stall still on with the word 'FRENZY' in bright red and all caps flashing across the screen. Then it would suddenly stop, and the screen would be normal, as if it never had been coded to display the word to begin with.

“Frenzy mode? Does it actually exist?” The Angel had come down from the console room to speak with Twilight face to face. She looked into her blue eyes, and then caught a glimpse of something familiar. Little flecks of silver scattered along her iris. Where have I seen that before?

“Why yes, it does. I'm currently the only student below the S rank fourth years that can access it. I also have the only perfect score within it as well. Perhaps, you would like to give it a try?” The Angle was wearing a wicked smile. Was this a challenge? Oh man, it better be. Twilight returned the smile.

“How could I say no?” The blue haired girl put her hands together.

“Perfect! Oh how nice it would be to have a worthy rival whose actually willing to shoot with me! Here, hand me the gun.” Twilight did as she was asked, and forked it over. The Angel then opened a small hatch on the side that wasn't normally there, and pressed a sequence of numbers on the ten digit key pad. Twilight heard the words “Frenzy mode engaged” in a computerized voice come from the stall. Tsukiko then typed another long sequence of numbers into the gun, and stall two lit up and said the same phrase.

“You're going to shoot with me?” Tsukiko nodded.

“How would it be a competition if we simply took turns shooting? No, to be my rival, you must stand at my side, blazing your fire into your enemy without fear!” Twilight crossed her arms, but couldn't help a smile starting to creep up her lips and strange feeling in her stomach. It was... happy. The last time she'd felt like this was when she and her older brother started dueling together... like, a bond.

“Alright, ms. War veteran. Let’s do this.” The Angel took her place after handing stall three's gun back to Twilight, and began typing in that same code into stall two's gun. 0615992, 1215995. Huh. Twilight thought. That code was like a number she'd seen before, but couldn't remember where. The holographic screen reappeared and the bright red word FRENZY was flashing across it. The count down began. 10…9…8…7… The air was filled with suspense. Even the machinery was running... quieter than normal. 3…2…1… GO! The computer rang out, and targets were flying from all sides in all directions. She managed to keep up with the other girl for the first minute, but then the Blue haired girl spoke.

“Here comes the second wave! Prepare yourself!” Then, the targets stopped, and suddenly, the whole building seemed to shift. The target projectors moved above their original place, and cannons jutted out from the walls where the projectors were. A new countdown started, but it was half the time it normally was, and faster. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, FIRE! The sounds from the cannons were loud and booming. Large black balls shot across the room, arcing high in the building, almost reaching the ceiling and then crashing hard into the floor. Tsukiko was unphased by the sound and blasted every single ball to pieces, but Twilight was losing concentration. She missed one, then another, and another. Tsukiko then let out a jab.

“A little loud noise, and then you can't shoot? My, my, lady Sparkle. You wouldn't even be able to hold a real rifle is that's the case!” Twilight was mad. Time to tip the scales! She stopped missing targets, but then, she started to try and play dirty by using her magic to swipe at Tsukiko's barrel. The buzzer rang, and the Last wave had ended. Twilight Sparkle: wave one, 200/200. Wave two, 394/450. rank B. Tsukiko Mizuni: wave one, 200/200. Wave two, 460/450. Rank S. Twilight gasped. She hit ten more targets than she was given!?

“While I do appreciate the use of guerrilla warfare, you simply must get better at it. Had you not tried to make me miss, I would not have hit ten of your targets. However, I would like to commend you on it. The simple fact that you can shoot with 87% accuracy while using magic on another target is a very rare skill that few in history have been able to pull off. I would know, seeing as how I trained them.” The blue haired girl enveloped herself in a white light, and transformed into Queen Luna. Twilight put her hand to her face. Of course the only two people you know on campus would turn out to be the Queens. 0615992 and 1215995? those are the Queen's birthdays!

“Ugh. I knew you would turn out to be someone I knew. I just... just wish it wasn't Tsukiko...” The now much taller Luna kneeled down to meet her back at eye level. That's why it looked familiar. She has little flecks of silver in her eyes.

“I'm sorry we deceived you all this time. But I wanted you to know that you can still have friends, despite where you have been. A long time ago, There was an incident, where I had come in contact with a black magic artifact. To keep our people safe from myself, I asked sister to imprison me. However, she could not bring herself to do so. The black magic artifact slowly began to corrupt my soul, and I was beginning to lose myself. I started to set fire to buildings in the capital, and it was Celestia that had to come and put an end to me. After a fierce duel, the six other ancient artifacts were used to try and sever the connection between myself and the black artifact. However, the black artifact would not release me willingly, and escaped with my body as Celestia and the artifacts as they were cutting my ties to it. The connection between us and the ancient spirits that resided in the artifacts was severed, and I was trapped in an alternate dimension with the black magic card that had tainted me in my body, and my soul trapped in her card. In the other dimension, the spirit controlled corrupted body and terrorized that place. When I ascended, My wings were normal, but now...” She pulled at the top bone in her black and blue wings with her index finger and thumb, rubbing it gently.

“I spent thirty years inside that card while I watched that spirit kill countless numbers of men, women, and children. It wasn't until A man stepped forward who was blessed with the power of the gods was I freed. His name is Light Corona. He managed to bring the Nightmare which had taken control of my body to a stand still, upon which he challenged her to a duel. Within that Duel, I was summoned, and I pleaded for his aid to set me free. Light agreed to help me, and took control of my card. He used me to defeat the nightmare, and by doing so, I was able to take control of my body again. We used my magic and his technology to seal the nightmare back into her card to never be seen again. From there, I was lost. I didn't know how to return home, and the people of that land feared and rejected me, not that I could blame them. All but one of them that is. Light took me in, and helped me get back here. However, I kept him with me. We have three children together, and he has lived here ever since.” Twilight didn't know what to say. While this would fill in the hundred year gap, and the reason that half of Upper Canterlot burned one fateful night one hundred and fifty years ago, this man she was speaking of has never been mentioned in any text. Much less the kids or other dimension.

“Twilight, If I can find love in a dimension where my body was used to kill and terrorize its citizens, then even you can make friends. This mission Celestia is going to send you on, it is very important that you remember that fact. The people you meet will be ones who would never leave your side. Now we must go. The time for your match is approaching, and Kibitz has a new Disk for you.”

Twilight had nothing to say. It hurt, more than anything. In one instance, she really felt that she had a friend. But even if Luna was willing to play that role, with all that was happening today, the last six months would become something of a false reality after the next hour passes. It really was the end of the world. Twilight was slow to move. She said nothing, simply following the Night Queen who had just given her a heart felt speech. How could she respond? The trust she felt from Luna was the most genuine thing she'd ever felt from another person outside of the man who helped her survive that year on the streets. It felt just like when he was hauled off in the police vehicle, never to be seen again, and Twilight was shipped back to her parents. All alone, again. The two traveled out from the Shooting gallery on foot this time, with Tsukiko leading the way. Since she had told Twilight her story, she had yet to let go of her hand. If she had, she feared Twilight might just drift away again.

“Twilight... will you please say something?” The two had stopped walking just as the sun started to break the horizon. The indigo haired girl keeping her head down, failing to make a movement or response to her worried friend. “Twilight...” Tsukiko tried to walk forward, but was stopped by the force of the girl's hand pulling her back.

“Luna... or, I guess is should call you Tsukiko. Do you really think... I can... make friends? Like you and Black, or Shining? Do people like you really just exist out there? I mean, just, most of these students here are shallow, or outright afraid of me. You and Sola are really the only ones who ever approached me with no real goal in mind.” Tsukiko looked at the sullen girl. This seemed to weigh heavily on her mind. More so than the two sisters originally imagined. What's more, the girl probably believes that Black is either dead or rotting in jail. If only she knew the truth…

“Oh, Twilight, what a mess you are.” The slightly shorter Blue haired Angel hugged the Mage and wrapped her bony wings around her. “If anyone has the power to do anything they wanted, it would be you. You could not know the potential which you posses, and if you did, then maybe things would be different than they are now. But that is neither here nor there. You wish to know? Then you must find out for yourself. I believe, that good people exist everywhere. Today will be a good day, no matter what it brings us.” Twilight returned the hug.

“You really were my friend this whole time... I'm glad that I can finally see that, even if I wont see you for a while after today...” Tsukiko released herself from Twilight.

“Hold on to my hands, tightly! You only have a few minutes before your match, and you need to be on the top floor of the stadium right now!” Twilight nodded while trying to recover from her emotional spill, and did as she was told. The Angel girl took off, at a speed which Twilight didn't know was possible. Unlike their flight from two hours ago, this one cleared the school grounds in seconds. Her thin, leathery, dark blue and black wings with silver tips bending the light around them, leaving a trail behind. As the stadium grew closer, the two lowered in speed, and finally landed just outside the stadium doors.

“Ha, Ha, hah~. My, I haven’t flown that fast in a long time, ooh.” She set Twilight down and stepped back. A little light headed, Twilight tried to steady the Angel, but failed, resulting them crashing on top of each other.

“Ah, Ms. Sparkle, and...?” An elderly man dressed in a piano black vest and pants with white collared button-up shirt had come out from the doors to the stadium. He levitated the two girls with his index fingers, and set them on their feet. He then warped a feather duster to his hand and began to dust the two off.

“Oh, uh, thanks, old man.” Said Twilight, still unused to the butlers and maids that Celestia and Luna employed.

“Oh, um, yes, thank you, sir Kibitz.” The elderly man turned to Tsukiko with narrowed eyes.

“I don't believe we've met. How do you know my name?” The angel nearly jumped out of her skin.

“Um, well, that is... uh... Bye Twilight! Do not let her kill you!” The angel ran to the edge of the concrete and took off just as fast as she'd arrived. Bet she didn't intend to let that out, Twilight thought.

“Well, I suppose that was a friend of yours. How do you do Ms. Sparkle?” The elderly man bowed to the Mage, who, awkwardly bowed in return.

“Oh, uh, fine I guess. Um... Why exactly are you here? You're one of the Queen's servants right?” The old Mage nodded.

“Why yes, I am. I was sent by Celestia to greet you and give you this.” Kibitz handed Twilight an unusual looking duel disk that was possibly several generations older than the one she had been using, but she could tell that this one was handmade. The screen was larger than the standard issue ones, and it had a more rounded design. It was the same color lavender as the streak in her hair with dark violet runes etched all along the sides of the base surrounding the screen. Upon further inspection, the runes were of an ancient language that was only still spoken by the sisters and a few people close to them. The language was an archaic form of the ancient Mage language from three thousand years prior to the settling of Fauna. Supposedly, the Mage tribe arrived in Fauna from the sands of the distant west of the earth, just as the Angles arrived from the north, and the Terrans from the east. When the three tribes finally did settle in Fauna, it was discovered that a group of humans had already been living there for years before then, yet no groups of humans were ever found. Just empty settlements, covered in ash. Within these settlements, the same ancient runes of this language were found carved into stone, but the language was of a higher form than what the Mages could read. It wasn't until the Queens ascended over one thousand years later could the runes be deciphered, since wings and magic weren't the only thing they gained. But even so, The Queens refuse to divulge what the runes say to this day. All they will speak about them, is that they are not meant for mortal men.

“The Day Queen commissioned myself to make that particular disk, and as my son is the current owner of the Kibitz Corporation, It is the best duel disk money can buy. Using the frame work for the next generation duel disk which is to be released later this winter, this disk has more storage space than any other using new pocket dimension technology that my son Kiebzen has co-invented with Apollo Sombra. The runes are there for you specifically. The Day Queen carved them in her self. She told me that they would absorb the extra magic that you produce when you enter heated duels, and also absorb dangerous magic you might receive when dueling.” Yeah. I bet it will. Oh gods, I'm gonna get burned to death in the next ten minutes, Twilight thought. Kibitz continued. “If you ever find yourself drained of magic, this disk has a unique function tied to those runes which will allow you to use what it stores.”

Kibitz took the disk and pressed a small button on the right side of the disk right next to the volume and power buttons. Then a small device that looked similar to a flash drive popped out. “This is where it will store your magic. When it reaches a certain capacity, somewhere between 85 and 90% full, a warning message will be displayed that the disk needs to be emptied. Celestia would not tell me what would happen if the disk ever reached or surpassed full capacity, but the grave tone in which she said the words 'let's pray that that doesn't happen' leads me to believe that the resulting discharge would prove stronger than a nuclear explosion. However, be assured that the occasion will be unlikely to happen. Do you know the scale in which magic energy is recorded in?” Of course she did. The first thing Mages are taught in elementary school is the magic scale. Magic acts most like electricity so the Arc Watt scale is used to register it.

“Yes I do.” She said while trying to hide the sarcasm. Kibitz handed Twilight the device.

“That little capsule, covered in her majesty's runes, is capable of holding twenty thousand Giga Arc Watts.” Twilight nearly dropped the little device. Twenty thousand Giga Arc Watts!? This little thing could hold all of the magic used to power Canterlot on it's own! That's a whole exponent above a Terra Arc Watt! What in the hell are these runes?

“Are you for real old man!? How in the hell did she do that!? Wait. Does she really think that I'm even capable of producing that much magic?” The Butler was beginning to take offense to the old man comment.

“Well, on average, a Mage is at most, capable of producing ten Giga Arc Watts a week. You however, are capable of producing that in a day. In a dueling situation, you either almost injure or have injured your opponents. The limiter on a standard issue Duel disk is about one hundred Mega Arc Watts, and most people as a whole cannot produce that magic in such a short time, be they Mage, Terran, Angel, or otherwise. You are the outlier in this, as you can produce that much magic with ease. I believe, given a year, you could fill the device on your own. But Celestia believes that it will be 90 percent filled by the end of the week, at minimum. I don't know what she has in store for you, but you had best prepare.” Twilight could feel impending doom creeping up on her. Just what did Celestia intend to have me do? But none the less, the disk was impressive.

“Wow. This is really something, old man. I'm not the greatest programmer in the world, but I've read a bunch into the subject. Can I put a Navi in this thing?” A Navi is an artificial Intelligence that is the medium between the user interface and the other programs the duel disk can run. Originally, the duel disk was only developed with the ability to create an artificial state where the use of soul cards would have much less of a physical strain on the player so people with weaker souls were on even footing when dueling, and only raw emotional power could cause breaks in the limiter. Eventually, due to the prominence of the game affecting most aspects of life, every living person was in possession of a Duel disk. But there came problems with that. Before matter waves, actual metal apparatuses were used to read cards through the system, and they were large and clunky, making them hard to carry around all the time. In the mid 2900's after Duel disks had finally reached the size of an average laptop with half the ability to perform as one, the matterwave was invented. It came suddenly and out of nowhere, but this technology was quickly implemented in everything from children's toys to construction equipment. Matterwaves kicked nearly every old piece of tech out of the water, and opened up several new possibilities.

About seven years ago, the genius inventor Apollo Sombra found a way to use matter waves to create a hole into another reality which he called a pocket dimension. The pocket dimension was almost as revolutionary as the matter waves themselves, improving nearly every kind of storage in existence. This new tech, combined with the use of matter waves gave Duel disks the ability to become the one device used as all, acting as high power computers, phones, global positioning systems, video game devices, and most importantly, duel disks. Being easy to manufacture with the new pocket dimension tech, the price of duel disks plummeted, and became available to everyone in the country instead of just the rich. Navi's were invented later along the line, by the same man, Apollo Sombra, with the help of an unknown programmer. Using a form of magic known as 'the soul arts', or as it's known in other parts of the world, black magic, one has the ability to create a soul out of the living energy exposed in the world. The artificial soul can then be transplanted into a machine or, back before black magic was completely banned except for the sole purpose of creating Navis, into a corpse, which could then be controlled by it's creator to perform various tasks, like a homunculus, or artificial human. Navis serve almost as companions to the duel disk's owner due to the rare case of free will emerging, but only Mages can produce them, and as such, the price of a Duel disk with one once again skyrocketed back to where it was before the matter wave boom of 2967.

Kibitz took the capsule from Twilight and inserted it back into it's position in the Duel disk and placed it on Twilight’s out stretched arm. Rather than telescope out, the device seemed to spread a coat of something around Twilight’s wrist and then solidify in place. Above her shirt, it felt almost like a gel, but when touched, gave the texture of a metal. The old Mage looked at his watch down through his small round glasses, and then back a Twilight.

“While I detest the practice of Artificial soul creation, yes it is capable. However, I must protest you doing so. An artificial soul is not something meant for this earth. Artificial souls were the root of all black magic to exist. The atrocities committed over that dark practice nearly drove your Mentor mad back in the 2000's. When I was but a teenager working for the Queens, I would overhear Celestia tell Luna of the nightmares she still has over those dark times.” Twilight knew very well that that was true.

One night a few years back, Twilight had a dream. The dream was the most vivid and unusual of any she'd ever seen. It was like she was looking through some sort of window, watching Celestia and Luna battle in a forest. The two fought fiercely, but the black humanoid creatures assaulted them endlessly. Eventually they overwhelmed Luna, and smothered her in some black liquid. After that, Celestia would cry out to Luna, but at the same time, she would be stabbed in the chest by one of the figures. She then turned to slay it, but it had Luna's face, and she paused. Kicking away from the creature, she took to the sky and began to conjure a burning ball of energy in her hands, intending to try and eliminate everything at once. But just before she would strike, a group of people would be brought out tied to logs and gagged, crying in front of the Queen. Once again she was unable to do anything, and all, and then the ten people would be beheaded one by one. She rushed to try and save them, but each of the black creatures would take the face of one of the ten, and she would be unable to attack.

Completely in anguish, a fire would surround her, burning hot and bright. It expanded until all of the black creatures were consumed within, and burned to ash. All that would be left was Celestia, alone in the desolate land, crying to herself. When Twilight woke from this dream the first time, Luna was waiting in the room with her. Luna said to Twilight that she'd seen things she shouldn't have, and that night would be the last time it ever happened. To this day, Twilight had not forgotten that dream. Twilight decided that she'd forgo the Navi this time around. But those ten people... who were they? She knew one was Luna, but the others were all unknown.

“Um, Mister Kibitz, two or so years ago, I had this dream, but really I think I was watching that nightmare Celestia was having. There were ten people executed in front of Celestia in it, and I know one was Luna, but, the other nine were unknown to me. A few of them looked like young, and most of them were male. Do you know who they might be?” Kibitz quickly realized what she was talking about.

“I'm sure you know that the Queens each have a family right now? Those people were likely hers and Luna's spouses and children. As long as your counting is correct, then your number is accurate. If I know that woman, the thing she fears the most is to be unable to protect those she loves. And if you had this dream two years ago, then there is no doubt about it. Now, head to the field. You have three minutes before you're late for your match.” Twilight started scratching her head in irritation.

“Damn it! If I'm late for this, she'll set me on fire on purpose! Thanks old man! If I manage to live through this, you'll have to tell me more!” Twilight pushed the doors open and headed in the large stadium. The elevator to the arena platform was open and waiting for her. As soon as she stepped in, the computer came on with the words 'Twilight Sparkle registered. Now moving to Arena.' flashing across the back wall. The elevator dinged and suddenly the Duel disk she was wearing turned itself on. Her deck started to be imported from her old disk back in her dorm, and the words Duel mode engaged flashed across its screen. When the doors opened, across the field in all her gold and white regalia, stood the Day Queen of Fauna.

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The morning sun glistened upon the pink, purple, green, and aqua colors that made Celestia’s hair. The gold and white armor against the white body suit she was wearing shined unlike anything Twilight had ever seen. Even when she was living at the castle, Twilight had only ever seen pictures of Celestia in her regalia. Even the armor itself was kept in a pocket dimension, hidden away. If the legends are true, That armor was forged by Starswirl himself. Starswirl was the most talented Mage ever born in Fauna, and his Mage's mark was that of the night sky, signifying the endless magic he possessed. The man lived for nearly three hundred years, tripling the average life span of people now, and he acquired more knowledge in his life than any has since the Queens. He was the only known person in history to master the same ancient runes that only the Queens can read to this day. The armor they wear was forged with those very same runes by him. It's said that anyone in that armor could take down a country when paired with Celestia's Tyrfing, but Celestia with her sword and armor... She could take the world.

The Stadium was just to the front of the school grounds, being separated by a major road that cut through all of Canterlot. It was built out of Dragon spine stone like nearly all of the buildings in upper Canterlot and every feature within was either made out of or lined with wrought black iron mined from deep within Dragon spine Major, the tallest mountain in the Dragon spine range, where Canterlot was built upon. All screens focused in on Celestia, and she levitated a microphone from the edge of the stadium to herself. “Good morning, citizens of Canterlot! Today is the first day of the summer sun celebration!” Twilight had completely forgotten why the Exhibition match was being held outside of punishing her. Next Saturday was June 15 of 3016. Celestia's birthday and the summer solstice had fallen on the same day this year, and it was said to be one one of the luckiest days of the century, and literally one of the two biggest holidays in Fauna.

“To mark this special occasion on this special year, I am going to showcase my very own Soul cards!” The crowd erupted. Twilight almost made a squeal in excitement herself, but then she realized why she was the other exhibitionist and not Luna. This was a punishment. And a showcase of Celestia's overwhelming power. “And joining me as my opponent will be my own personal student, Twilight Sparkle!” Twilight began to think that the duel may not even be the punishment. Just being the center of all this attention was making her dizzy. Regardless of her reputation among the other students, they were too hyped by the Queen to not cheer at her every word. Celestia caught Twilight’s eye and gave her a smile and a wink. Twilight then started to hear Celestia's voice in her head.

Are you ready? I sure hope that all that talk yesterday wasn't just you lashing out at me. “Two thousand years ago, My Sister and I brought unity with the magic game, Duel Monsters, to the three human races, through the power of the tablets, which we now call Soul Cards! Without further ado,”

While I will agree that I was just mad at you at the time, I've learned a lot over the past fourteen hours, and after this, I just want to know two things. Exactly how much of my life have you been manipulating from behind the curtain? And who were all those people I saw in your nightmare? Luna told me she married a man named Light Corona, so I imagine- Celestia warped a second mic to Twilight and cut the telepathy.

All you need to know right now is the chant. We'll talk later. The two began the holiday chant that was established ever since dueling was brought to the world. “From the Heavens to the Earth and through all the Magic in between!”

        “The power of souls clash in sound and light!”

“War no more, competition reigns supreme!”

“The burning soul's display of might!”

(Crowd) “Celebration~”

“DUEL!” Celestia bowed to Twilight. I'll give you a chance to defend yourself. If you can outlast my turn, I'll tell you anything you want to know. That was the signal that she was to take the first turn. Great. She is giving me this and only this turn to try and defend myself. Oh gods. She's going to end it immediately. Might as well draw my hand... wait a minute. This is the card Redheart gave me! I might just survive!

“First Off, I'll activate the effect of Star Magician Galileo! When I control no cards, I can special summon him from my hand, but I can't normal summon this turn. Then I activate his other effect, I can add one star spell card to my hand from my deck. The card I add is Star Rebellion Stance!” This should be able to keep me alive for a little while, all I need now is swan and Newton to make Andromeda with. If I can make it to my next turn, Stance should get me the game. Knowing her though, I wouldn't be able to get away with Copernicus' effect to destroy whatever she had in store for me, so I guess ram will have to do.

“Next up, I activate the quick play, Gathering Stars! With this card, I can tribute one star monster I control to add any number of monsters equal to its total level! I tribute the level 6 Galileo to add Level four Star Magician Newton, level one Shooting Star Swan, and level one Shooting Star Ram! Then I activate the effect of Newton! By discarding one LIGHT monster, I can special summon him from my hand! When he's summoned this way, I can add one Star spell card to my hand, I add Star Fusion! I fuse the Newton on the field with the swan in my hand! He who holds the power of heaven in his hands, come forth and show the majesty of the galaxy! Appear, Magic Star Andromeda, The Galaxy Magician!” The crowd roared at the monster summoned, all screens panning in on Andromeda, and then something strange happened. Andromeda looked directly at the camera to the left and bowed to the audience, removing his hat and crossing his legs and then returning to his normal position. Cards should not be able to do that. But then again, there was something about him…

“I set two cards and end my turn.” Celestia looked to Andromeda and then back to Twilight.

“Impressive. You've managed to Summon your ace without losing any card advantage at all, very impressive indeed. Now, let's see if you can survive the fire of the sun.” She said with the most evil smile Twilight had ever seen on the regal woman’s face. Oh shit. “First, I draw! Then, I activate the effect of Vassal of Helios! By making his attack zero, I can special summon him from my hand. Then, when Vassal is summoned, I can add one Cosmic spell card from my deck to my hand!” Wow, déjà vu. Didn’t I just do that?

“See something that looks familiar?” Said the Sun Queen. Good job Twilight. Not only did she catch you looking at her monster stupefied, she can read you like a book. Yeah, I’m fucked. And man. What is this heat? It's like there's a big open fire less than ten feet... oh wait, this is what Redheart was talking about yesterday. Come to think of it, she's not even wearing a duel disk! Her left gauntlet is producing a matter wave! Or is it? It looks similar but... It's not the same... “The card I add is Cosmic Ash! I activate Cosmic Ash, by sending a monster from my hand to my grave yard, I can special summon Helios monsters from my deck with the same total level! I send the level 4 Helios assassin to my grave yard and special summon the level 3 Helios Astronomer and level 1 Caller of Helios!” Celestia retrieved the Mic again and addressed the crowd.

“Now, some of you may have noticed this already, but Caller of Helios is a tuner monster, and we all know what that means, right?!” The crowd started to chant. “Sum-mon it! Sum-mon it! Sum-mon it!” Oh gods, what in the world is coming next? Twilight looked at Celestia and noticed something odd. She doubted anyone else noticed it, or could even see it, but a very thin, gold smoke was coming off of Celestia's body. The sound and feeling of her own blood pulsing was all around her. Her own heart felt like it was... matching something. The smell of the stadium had gone from dry stone to a bakery with something filled with bananas in the oven. The air itself tasted sweet. What ever she was going to summon, it was going to be far different than the three crazy hot monsters she had now.

“Now I tune! The level 7 Vassal, level 3 Astronomer, and level 1 Caller; The commander of the betrayers, The foolish king who ruled unjustly, bring forth the heat of the stars to this field, Appear! Helios Caesar, the Betrayed King!” The tuner floated to the center of the field and became a burning ring of fire, in which the other monsters flew toward and became stars. The stars formed a circle inside the ring and the ring of flame began to spin in a circles like a gyroscope. The ball of fire and stars flashed brightly, dazzling the crowd and Twilight, and when the flash disappeared, before them was a massive man, nearly double the height of Andromeda. His body was sculpted like a gods and he wore bright red armor on white tunics covering his orange skin. His wore laced sandals and Golden leaf crown on his bright red hair that flowed down along his back, nearly reaching his elbows. Above him was a large ball of fire, which Twilight guessed was the sun. It was hot. She almost wanted to step away from her spot just to get away from the fire and cool off. It didn't help that she opted for pants under her girl's school uniform. The crowd had gone berserk, shouting and hollering with delight. This was Celestia’s ace monster. And she seemed completely unphased by the heat.

“How do you even wear all that? This heat is ridiculous!” Celestia simply smiled.

“Oh, but now the real fun can begin! First, when Helios is summoned, I can inflict damage to you 500 times the synchro material monsters used to summon him!” Oh shit! Twilight flashed out a barrier to keep from getting burned by the flames, but the barrier could only take so much. After the attack subsided, Twilight realized that this barrier wasn’t going to survive anything more than a tap next attack. It was shattered so much that it made broken glass look more put together. Her life point counter now read 2500. When Twilight looked at her counter, she noticed were the runes glowing along the edge of the disk. The air around it felt cooler than the air around her other hand as well. What ever Celestia was putting out, the disk was catching.

“Furthermore, I activate another effect of Caesar! By discarding one Helios monster, I can inflict damage to you Equal to Its attack! I discard Helios Draconis! Now, Take his 4000 attack!” If she didn’t use Redheart's card now, she would lose.

“Not so fast! I activate the effect of Heartburn Remedy! Once per turn, during either Players turn, I can negate one instance of effect damage and gain the same amount of life points instead!” The spell card opened and a projection of a flask sucked in all of the fire. It then swirled around the flask until it turned blue and poured a gas over Twilight, raising her life point counter to 6500. But Celestia only smiled again.

“It's about time you activated that, I was hoping you would have used it immediately, but you are my student after all.” Oh double shit!

“You knew what it was!?” Twilight called out in astonishment.

“Yes my dear, our doctor friend has always wanted to see me lose at least once. I set two cards, then activate Assassin's effect! By banishing him and one other Helios monster, I can target one Helios monster I control and have it gain attack equal to the second monster banished! I then activate the effect of Astronomer in my grave, and banish him! Now, Twilight Sparkle! This is the end for you! Battle! Caesar, attack Andromeda!” She still had options, it wouldn't end here!

“I activate the effect of Shooting Star Ram In my grave yard! I can banish him to negate one attack!” This one had to have worked, but looking at Celestia’s unbroken smile, clearly, there was more.

“That takes care of one, but how about two!? When Draconis is banished to activate a Pyro type monster's effect, I can target one monster to have it gain an additional attack! Round two, FIGHT!” No! It can’t end like this! She has to tell me the truth! If I use Scorpion now, Andromeda will over power her Caesar by 1000!

“Not yet! I will survive this turn! I activate the effect of Shooting Star Scorpion in my hand! I can banish this card and two others from my hand to have one monster lose 2500 attack points!” She saw Celestia tap her gauntlet twice, but then the fire ball connected with Andromeda, and she was forced to put up a barrier to keep from burning alive. The resulting explosion practically nuked the field, easily snapping Twilight’s barrier into pieces and sending her all the way across the stadium, hitting a wall and bouncing to the floor with a hard thump. She felt broken again. Just like her hand yesterday. She could feel the numbness creeping on her left shoulder. Then she felt the burns. The edges of her uniform were completely singed.

“*Puff *Pant. I... I did it...” she said, but upon seeing Celestia kneeling over her, she knew the opposite was true.

“I'm sorry Twilight, but this really is the end.” She said in the sweetest tone she could possibly make. “I activated my trap cards when you tried to lower Caesar's attack. Cosmic Solar Radiation and Cosmic Light Spectrum. When Radiation is activated, my opponent cannot activate the effects of cards in the hand or the grave yard and my opponent’s monster effects are negated until the end of my next stand-by phase, and when Spectrum is activated, you cannot activate the effects of spell cards until my next stand-by phase as well. Finally, when a monster my opponent controls leaves the field while Apollo is on the field, they take damage equal to those monster's attack. It's over, Twilight.” The regal woman picked up her slightly charred student bridal style and waved to the still cheering crowd and started toward the elevator to let her sister close the Ceremony. Redheart was waiting.

“You burned her clothes!? Oh great, now she's losing consciousness.” She could feel herself losing feeling everywhere, and soon enough her sight started to fade.

“Look, I'm sorry. I know I probably put too much into this, but could you just fix her? Her little brother is supposed to be here in the next hour, and since I more or less expected this to happen, I was going to spend the day with him.” from what she could still see, Redheart shook her head at the Queen, then took Twilight from her.

“Ugh. Look, Later today, we need to talk Sola. I want to know exactly what you're planning to do with this girl. Hasn't she been through enough already?” Celestia rolled her eyes.

“Okay mom. I'm sure your forty years of experience and raising children far outweighs my two thousand of ruling a country. Just make sure she's in good shape before tomorrow morning. I have another child to take care of for the day, and Luna is also working in the same vein. Trust me, and let me work, okay?” Redheart was visibly frustrated, but then she seemed to let it go.

“Whatever. I know for a fact you could take care of this in a few seconds, but I'll do it. I expect a visit today. Got it?” Celestia made a narrow smile at the doctor.

“Demanding the time of the Queen? My my, how humbled are we. You'll get your visit. Take care of the girl. Shes... very precious to me.” After that, a loud ringing started in Twilight's ears. Then her vision was nearly gone.

“She... really cares?” And then, Twilight passed out.