The Legend of Fauna

A bright blue arc followed the card in the pale angel's hand. When she turned to look at it, she was more confused than anything. What in the world? Why would I have this in here? I don't have any ritual monsters... Fluttershy thought to herself.

        “What's wrong?” Said her father on the other side of the field.

        “I... I don't know. I just drew but... I don't remember having this card in my deck. This happened a few days ago too...” She said, still frowning and reading the 'new' card. Sombra did a double take.

        “You don't... Wait. This happened before? When? Why?” The girl looked at him, still confused.

        “Didn't he tell you? It was while I was dueling Zeph. I was in a bad spot, and he wasn't doing too hot either. He was bleeding with a hole in his leg, and I... I just felt this overwhelming urge to try and save him. I went to draw, and what I drew was a card that I remembered having, just not the same as it was before. I was confused then because it was a tuner, meant specifically to work with Monarcha. If she hadn't pointed out that I also had an extra deck card, I don't think I would have even known. Of course, I don't remember all too well that duel either. I think this card was something else before too, but now it's some kind of ritual spell...” The father raised his hand to his chin. Outside, it looked like his gears were turning at maximum speed. A minute or so passed, and finally he clapped his hands.

        “Okay... I think I know what's going on. At the moment, I simply suggest that you find a way to draw a card or activate the new one. Who knows? Maybe you've unlocked some more of that hidden potential of yours...” Sombra looked rather happy with himself and continued to play with his beard.

        “Okay? I'll see what I can do then... I guess...” She add the new card to the rest of them and looked at what she'd amassed. Wait a minute... there's no way... Can I really just...? She looked back to the field, then to her hand again, then to the field. “I think... I think I can do this...” Sombra nodded. “Good. Now show me what you can do.” Taking the invitation, the girl began to play her cards.

        “Well... I guess I was going to do this anyways, so... I'll normal summon Pendragon first.” Placing the card on her matterwave, the skinny pale blue dragon wearing a king's crown appeared. “Then, by his effect, I can reveal Perceagle in my hand to normal summon again.” The dark blue, armored eagle returned to the field. “Next, I can use the effect of Merlowl in my hand to special summon it.” Another animal out of mist, her owl in sage's robes stood next to the dragon. “As you know, Merlowl inflicts damage equal to it's attack times the number of spirit monsters I control, In this case, 1500.” The owl started to gather mist in a ball above it's head from her other two monsters.

        “That's right. But, trust you me, this isn't the first time I've had to deal with something like this. So, I activate the effect of Butler of the Fallen Kings in my graveyard! I can negate the effect of a card that would inflict effect damage to special summon it!” The ghostly butler jumped from under the ground and through the ball of mist above the owl, destroying it in the process. He then took a stand next to the two kings, opposite from the black creature.

        “Alright... I can't say I didn't expect you to have a counter... would have been nice though. Okay... down to this... here I go! I activate the effect of Sword of the Round Hero! By tributing monsters I control, I can ritual summon a Spirit monster from my deck whose level is equal to that of the monsters I tribute!” Fluttershy placed the spell in it's slot, and then suddenly, her whole body was burning with her bright blue aura. She started to move as if possessed by some force. Much like Sombra, her ritual was nearly identical to his. A golden sword looking eerily similar to the silver sword in the tomb shot from the sky and into her hand. She flipped the sword three times in her hand, then held it straight out, unfolding her wings at the same time.

        “Animals of the kingdom, creatures of the sky, and swimmers of the sea, bow before the one true heroine! Leader of the round, take command and inscribe your legend into the holy sword! Appear, Excondor, Heroine of the round!” Fluttershy raised her golden sword above her head, and her owl and dragon were absorbed by it as mist. She then tossed the sword into the air. From the sky, a human sized bird took hold of the weapon in it's beak and landed on the field. Unlike her other monsters, this bird was roughly the same size as Fluttershy herself. It's feathers ranged from various shades of gold and white with a familiar color pattern on the primaries of it's wings. Purple, blue, green, pink, and white... It wore a more modern looking armor as well, with a large golden helm with a violet gem in it's center and strings of plates along the top of it's wings. Sombra went wide eyed when he saw the bird finally land. He fell to his knees and started to bust out laughing. Fluttershy blinked a few times and her aura faded. “W-what's so funny?” The man was able to talk in between breaths.

        “Oh, sweet divinity... She's a bird... This is great! I gotta take a picture of this thing...” He managed to pull himself off the ground and slid his fingers around on his disk. A click sound went off, and then the messaging system sound went off.

        “What did you just do? Why did you take a picture?” The father waved the questions away. “Don't worry about it. Just keep going, I'll tell you later.” He said, still giggling every now and again. “Okay... When Excondor is... oh. Oh, now I get it... Uh... when... this card, is ritual summoned, I get to draw a card.” The bird shot a golden feather at the pale Angel, who caught it much like Sombra did his swords. The feather turned into a card. “What the? Why did I...? Oh my, this is getting weird...” The girl shook her head once and looked back at the card in her hand. Without removing her confused look, she simply set the card in her spell and trap zone. “Um, now I activate the effect of… my monster. Once per turn, she can gain the attack of all monsters in my graveyard, or in this case, 2100.” The condor's attack points raised to 4400, causing the golden sword to glow with Fluttershy's blue aura. “Alright Father, if this attack goes through, this duel is finished!” The girl said, slowly gaining her blue aura again.

        “Is it really? I still have a trap card you know! If you believe you have the power, then do it! Hit me with every thing you got!” Sombra was smiling, and for the first time today, not in a creepy way. “Due to Perceagle's effect, spirit monsters I control can attack directly! Perceagle attacks!” The little blue bird flew out from under the condor's wing and shot between the two fallen kings, directly for Sombra. Talons outstretched with bronze blades attached to each one, the eagle cut Sombra's arm and flew back to it's spot by the condor.

        “What is this? That was nothing! You just summoned an avian version of your own mother out of sheer will power, and this is all you have to show for it!? You're more powerful than this! Show me what you're made of!” If the rest of the group had yet to figure out what Fluttershy and Sombra concluded about her new monster, they knew now.

        “Fine then! With the holy blade of the sun, pierce you enemies! Excondor, attack directly!” Now glowing as fiercely as she did when she first summoned the bird, The air around her was charged with her energy. The Condor flew toward the sky, breaking the clouds in it's wake. It hovered in front of the sun, creating a dark spot. Then, it dove. Like a missile, it was headed directly toward Sombra. The man suddenly looked concerned after he tapped his disk and nothing happened. His hand started to glow with his magic, and then a dark black Ax with red stains all over it popped out of nowhere. The condor came down and swung it's golden sword at Sombra with enough might to shake the ground. He blocked the sword with his Ax, and then it sent him flying back, effectively ending the duel. The matterwave stopped, the sky cleared, the ground returned to sandstone, and the tombs evaporated, but Sombra was still on his back.

        “Father!” Fluttershy rushed across the sandstone to the body that was at least thirty feet away. When she reached to touch him, he grabbed her arm. He pulled himself up and hugged her.

        “Now that's more like it. You've done me proud.” The two let go and started back to the other duel fields.

        “Well that was one hell of a hit. You alright old man?” The blonde said.

        “I can't tell if the concern outweighs the sheer rudeness of calling me an old man, however true that my be. To answer your question, yes. And if I wasn't, I would be in about twenty minutes.” He popped his neck and turned back to Fluttershy. “So what exactly is the full effect of that thing? I had a trap for it, but nothing happened.” The girl stared blankly at him for a moment.

        “Oh... uh... let me see.” She took her deck out of her disk and flipped through the cards until she ran across the only blue one.

        “Um... oh, that effect is actually the first thing listed. 'during the battle phase, this card is unaffected by your opponent's cards.' to be honest, I was just kinda hoping you were bluffing when I went for it...” She said as she smiled weakly. Sombra rubbed his knuckles in her hair.

        “You little dip. I've told you a thousand times to read everything you come across. If I'd of known, I would have just stopped the eagle. But, I'll give you this one. Even if you didn't 'play fair' with me.” The girl nodded.

        “Oh, I'm sorry... but really, I didn't even know it could do most of what it does until just now. There wasn't a whole lot of thought involved at the end there, and the last couple of minutes are really hazy for me right now. Is that normal?” Sombra patted her on the back.

        “Well, I my experience, I've only seen this happen a few times. Your mother would be the better one to talk to about this. But, based on what I know, sometimes people just rise to the challenge. Not everyone grows to come to terms with themselves, so this isn't the most common occurrence in the world. But those who do just... evolve with their soul. Take your older brother for example. When he had to give up the Harmonians to join the Angels, he was pretty messed up for a while. He complained about feeling empty for the longest time, and was in such a habit to combine his own powers with Andromeda and Ephraim, he lost sight of what he could do by himself. However, since we know that he's the kind of person to beat his head against a wall until he breaks it, that's just about what he did. He kept trying, and quite frankly, getting his ass kicked, until one day he came to terms with the fact the he might never be able to work with the Harmonians again. And on that day, he managed to overcome his older brother for the first time with a new monster.” All the heads turned.

        “Zeph beat Apollo? But I thought Apollo had that crazy synchro monster?” Said the Mage.

        “Yeah, believe me, it was a shock to everyone, but no one more than him. To sum up how he did it, rank up magics can get out of hand. But I'm sure you'll eventually see that on your own.” I'll do what? Why would I see it? Twilight thought. “In any case, he didn't even remember that he had the card until he drew into it one day when he was playing against his older sister. So, as far as I'm concerned, yea that's normal.” Fluttershy sighed.

        “Oh goodness, I forgot he had that too. I'm just glad he didn't use it during our duel the other day. Just thinking about what might have come from him ranking up the hunter makes me shiver.” Sombra shook his head.

        “That's probably a good thing. I'll send you home and then move on with these last three duels. Have your brother start making something to eat for dinner. We'll talk more after the rest of us get back.”

        The girl said, “Yes sir.” And was warped away by dark red magic. Sombra turned to face Applejack.

        “Your turn. Let's see it.” Sombra Moved to absorb the shade that was holding his field, and took a performer's bow. Applejack returned in like.

        “Alright, let's do this! Ah draw!” Much like Fluttershy before her, Applejack started to glow with her own bright orange flame. When she looked at her card, she smiled like a child with the toy they've waited for so long to have.

        “Ha ha ha! Ah hope ya've got one hell of a trap card on ya, because Ah'm about to pull out my best trick!” Sombra tilted his head.

        “Is that so? Alright then, let's see it.” Something about the phrase he used was unsettling to Twilight, as if that was the signal for something.

        “The first step in my grand plan is to call back all those knights ya destroyed earlier. Swing Pendulum swing! Just like my family before me, bring the army back ta life! Continental Knights, Warrior Princess and Cleric!” Bright green and red lights flew from the sky and on to the field, leaving the princess and her cleric in their spots. “Now Ah activate the effect of Pegasus Rider in the pendulum zone! Ah target Paladin, giving him the attacks of the other monsters Ah control! With that said, y'all have one monster on the field, and one card ta protect it! Paladin attacks Rebellion Dragon!” Sombra flashed a quick grin and activated his trap.

        “Well, I figured you'd go straight for me! But alas, it's too bad you didn't protect anything! I activate my trap card, Storming Mirror force! When my opponent declares an attack, I can return all face up attack monsters you control to your hand!” A giant wind started to circle Sombra obscuring his figure.

        “Nope, that's just not good enough of a trap there, sir. Ah activate the effect of The Army Breaks Through from my hand! The effects of spells and traps are negated until the end phase! And because your monster doesn't have a level, Myrmidon's effect doesn't apply! Slay the dragon, Paladin!” The Paladin's horse started running in place somehow, kicking up dirt as it did. Then, as if it had wheels, it picked up speed like a drag car and shot toward the dragon. Paladin raised his lance and his horse jumped. The blade pierced the dragon's chest, destroying it in the process.

        “Round 2, Paladin attacks again!” As if the Paladin knew it was going in for Sombra, he reared his horse around until he was charging directly at Sombra, who had pulled out his ax again.

        “Come on, don't you know that axes beat lances!” He said, as he knocked the lance away and pushed the Paladin off course. “Didn't Ah tell you hit rate doesn't apply here? One more time! Finish him Paladin!” The horse kept charging behind Sombra, then looped around for it's third attack. Sombra's ax disappeared in dark red smoke, and a black shield with some kind of red crest replaced it. The man took the lance in full force with his shield, but simply couldn't withstand it. He was knocked to the side, and then the field started to fade away. Applejack nodded her head, then made her way to help Sombra up.

        She outstretched her hand and said, “Well. Looks like Ah was up to it then, wasn't Ah?” Sombra took the hand and nodded. “It sure does.” He grunted and used her to pull himself up. He swept some of the sand off of his coat, then checked it over to see if anything had been ripped.

        “That was some kind of spell. I don't think there are many people who can deal with that short of overpowering you. And with a 3200 attack monster, that just isn't easy. You know, you resonated with your soul right there at the end.” Applejack tilted her head.

        “You sure? That didn't really feel the same as when we were doing that thing earlier.” Pinkie chimed in.

        “Nah, you were all glow-y and stuff. Right at the beginning of your turn too.” Applejack scratched at her head.

        “Really? But Ah didn't feel any different than normal. And whatever that pressure was when Ah was using that soul art thing earlier wasn't around.” Sombra tapped his duel disk.

        “That would be because of this. Even the first ones had the ability to reduce the stress on a person during a duel. Most people have never tried to duel without one, so the idea that the disk is anything but a playing board was in people's minds for a good long time. However, those who break their limiters, or the part of the device that controls this function, will very much feel the effects of a duel afterward. Isn't that right Twilight?” Twilight sighed and nodded.

        “Yeah, it's true. I've broken more of those than I can count on my fingers. Eventually I got used to it, but the first few times were hell on earth. Your whole body feels like it's bruised, and simply touching something causes pain. On top of that, it feels like your muscles are all worthless and spent. It isn't fun.” Sombra nodded.

        “On Friday, I'll have all of you attempt to break the limiters on your new disks, barring Twilight. With any luck, none of you will be successful and we won't need emergency disk replacements in anticipation for Monday night. Then, I'll have you attempt to summon your Harmonians without disks to show you how it feels to try and play without one.” The two Terrans frowned.

        “But wait. How does that work? Don't we need like, regular magic to do that?” Pinkie asked.

        “No, not if you know how to use your soul art. What you don't know is that standard magic is nearly incapable of doing anything of that nature at all. Twilight would be the only one who knows this, but among published scholarly magic, there is no such thing as a 'summoning' spell. If one could use standard magic to simply create an object, then they would likely die in the process due to it removing all the electrical potential from your body. You'd stop your own heart.” Twilight then remembered what had happened the time she summoned Andromeda.

        “That... explains a lot actually.” He turned to her.

        “Why? Did try to summon something?” Sombra asked.

        “Well, the first time I summoned Andromeda, Spike said I stopped breathing. Of course, I wouldn't know because I did black out for a good few minutes.” Sombra put his hand to his chin.

        “Stopped breathing eh? How long did Andy last afterward?” Twilight shrugged.

        “Twelve hours maybe? He used his own magic a few times too, so that might have taken some of his time off.” Sombra nodded.

        “I see... You must have done something akin to dual casting. For our Terrans here, dual casting is when a Mage uses more than one type of magic at one time. Back when it was still in practice, One would use Eldritch magic alongside standard magic to keep the chaotic nature of Eldritch magic in check. In your case, that must have been trying to turn on your own soul art forcibly with your standard magic. And that, would very much have killed you were you a lesser Mage.” Twilight frowned.

        “Oh. I see.” Applejack yawned.

        “Well, this has been real interestin' y'all, but Ah've got other things Ah need ta do if we're done today.” Sombra nodded again.

        “Very well. Meet us at the library again tomorrow for the next day of training. And uh... get some flowers for your parents.” He put something shiny in Applejack's hand, then warped her away before she could protest. Sombra made his way through his next shade, swapped his disks and then faced Pinkie. “Done whining?” He asked. Pinkie rolled her head around.

        “Maybe. Depends on how the next turn goes. Who knows?” She said with as much sarcasm as possible.

        “You know, you really remind me of my own daughter. Moody and dripping in apathy one minute, and off the walls the next. Of course, she's grown a lot since then, so maybe you will too. Take your turn.” Pinkie shrugged.

        “You kidding me? I'm not touching that thing. My older sister does dragons like that. And we don't have the healthiest relationship in the world either. I'll set one and pass.” Sombra raised an eyebrow.

        “Oh really? Just setting a trap huh? Not even gonna change position of your monster? Pinkie, if I had half a mind to believe you're smarter than you act, I'd say you've got a plan.” Return sarcasm from the black corner. Pinkie smiled and closed one eye.

        “Geez old man, maybe I do? Either that or I'm feeding you bullshit. But who knows? I'll never tell. Performers never reveal their secrets, now do they?” Sombra let out a small grin.

        “I'm excited to see if you live up to your own hype. Very well then. Twilight, you're up.” Sombra swapped places with the last remaining shade and donned his violet striped disk. Twilight was distraught, to say the least. Her deck runs on it's grave, and at the moment, she had a grand total of one card on the field, and one card banished. Save for Shield, there was nothing in her grave. It would legitimately take a miracle at this point to save her from the looming Giant Angel. Well, Twilight thought, this is going to be my last stand. If I go out, then damn it, I'll go out like a burning ball of fire hurtling through the atmosphere!

        “It's gonna take a Miracle to save me now, and even if that doesn't happen, then I'll go out just like an explosion!” Like the other two, Twilight's body started to glow. The violet mist was shooting off sparks of golden light everywhere, giving her the appearance of a plasma cutter. Sombra didn't say anything, but he raised an eyebrow. He was beginning to feel even more excited. But then he noticed something off. It felt like there was a new presence here, but not a malevolent one. Thinking on his better judgment, he decided to record the rest of this duel.

        “I Draw!” And then something in Twilight's demeanor changed. The air around her was beginning to exude pressure, and her aura only shined brighter. Her irises changed from violet to bright gold, and she was simply radiating energy. “A call has been given, and an answer has been received! I summon Polaris, the Divine Star Descendant!” A new monster from Twilight entered the field, but not one like anything else she had. The monster was a humanoid, but like her shooting star monsters, it was made of gold light and had a single black orb in the center of it's chest. The creature was androgynous enough to appear genderless with two pixie like black eyes with golden rings for irises inside them. Looking at the card through his disk, Sombra could see that this monster was in fact Divine as she claimed, which was more than unusual. Not only that, but it's text was written in runes, which Sombra knew Twilight could not read.

        “When Polaris is summoned, I may draw for every spell and trap on the field.” Twilight's monster raised a fingertip, producing a black orb that somehow made the area around it brighter. The orb floated toward Twilight, ever still brightening the area around it, then turning into a card. “While I control a divine monster, this card may be special summoned! Rigel, the Divine Star Descendant!” Another androgynous body of light, this time in violet, with a dark orb at it's left foot. It's eyes, just like the first, but with violet rings instead. “When Rigel is summoned, I may Draw a card!” Another draw? Just like that? What's next? Exodia pieces? Sombra thought. “Fear not, while this will be the last turn, there will be no win determined by such crude means.” Now she can readmy thoughts?

        “Huh. Well isn't that interesting. So tell me, who exactly are you?” Twilight nodded.

        “I believe that... you already know me. Now, I tune! The level 3 Polaris, and the level 9 Star Gravity! The light of my world will be shared through the hearts of men! The true father beings judgment to the wicked and salvation to all! Come forth, Upsilon, the Divine Galaxy Magician!” In a similar golden light to what he'd seen with those related to Celestia before, Sombra was stupefied to see Twilight, or at least, her body, preform a synchro summon. After being blinded for the entirety of the summon, Sombra finally was able to see the new monster. It was Andromeda, but wearing every piece of the original regalia Celestia used to have. His robes were covered in bright white armor with golden runes engraved along the edges of every piece, radiating light. His face had been revealed, showing a scar that ran down from his left eye to the bottom of his chin. Just like Twilight, his usually dark violet irises had turned to gold. However, even if this card held the appearance of Andromeda, it was still missing his soul. Even the Gradius staff that he carried was missing it's crystal topper.

        “Yes, this is not he who holds my son's power. But, it will be. One day, she will rise to this level, but today is not that day. You are merely being shown a preview of what is to come. As the one you love is one of mine, so is she. Now then. When Upsilon is summoned, the cards on my opponent's field are destroyed.” Twilight and Andromeda raised their empty hands together, and a large wave of golden light reduced everything on Sombra's to dust. “It would matter not, had you a response, as the effects of Upsilon are absolute. When a monster is destroyed, Upsilon gains the attack of said monster, or monsters, until the end of the turn.” Andromeda raised his staff to the sky, and started to form a glittering ball of light above it. His attack points rose from 4000 to 12000.

        “Finally, Upsilon attacks directly.” Andromeda fired his small ball of light at Sombra, who wholly expected to be vaporized by it. However, his expectations were not met. Instead, the ball slowly collided with him, and then enveloped him. It was... such a warm, wonderful feeling. For that single moment in time all the pain Sombra had been feeling had melted away. A long standing one, that could never be healed evaporated into thin air, as if it never happened. Sombra recalled all the happiest moments of his life. His proposal, the birth of his first son, watching his children graduate. When he opened his eyes, the influenced glowing and sparking Twilight had come to stand next to him.

        “This game was never meant to be a tool of war as it has been mired to become. I task you with this, Sombra Black. Teach this girl that fact. And one day, she may cure the world.” As soon as she finished her sentence, the sparks and mist died down, and Twilight's eyes returned to normal. She blinked four times before she realized that she had moved almost Twenty feet from where she was standing. Sombra was too stunned for words. “So... uh... did I black out or something?”