The Legend of Fauna

The air was silent. The simple moaning of the wind flowing through the buildings carrying sand and dust in it had stopped. In the field where Andromeda had finished his attack, there was a spot in the sand. A dark spot. No one had moved for more than five minutes. The wind had picked back up and started shifting the sand again. The spot started to shift with it.

When he noticed this, Zephraim produced a small vile from his coat and took the dark sand and placed it inside. “And the winner is... Ms. Sparkle...” Said the Angel. His tone was unusually solemn, and he was looking straight up to the sky. The dragon boy was holding his arms, like it was somehow cold in the ungodly heat. The Terran girl was biting her thumb, and looking away from where the scene had taken place. She was still clutching the card she'd pulled out in her right, moving her thumb and finger along it nervously. The winner was holding the position of a rag doll being held up by string. Her arms were dangling to her sides, her legs were leaning against one another at the knees, her head was looming to the ground.

The other girl was simply balled up, still trying to protect herself from the fire that would never reach her. No one reacted to Angel when he spoke, and even he looked broken. What was inside the sorcerer that could cause him to go so berserk? What could possibly make him so... violent? And even more, the valkyrie bled. How? Wasn't she a card? What was going on? Another amount of time had passed, and the silence was broken by the wind picking up. The moaning of the desert had returned to Pony Ville. The male Angel began to move. He picked up the rainbow headed girl to a standing position, then grabbed the rest of his group.

“Lead the way... we... we need to leave this spot.” The blonde looked to the Angel, but his eyes and the ground never broke contact. Without a word, she began to move. The group marched in silence through the town to the rounded shop which could be seen once they were within fifty or so feet of it. The town itself was not large in comparison to the mountain spanning Canterlot Twilight and Zephraim grew up in, but it was at least a half mile in radius.

“Were uh... here.” Said the blonde amidst the silent group. At a closer distance, Twilight managed to bring her eyes to examine the building. It was almost out of place where it stood. The building was larger than most of the brick buildings around the 'shopping district' if this town was even big enough to have districts, and was made of smoothed concrete. It's walls were all rounded to form a perfect circle, and the roof was made of violet metal that had some kind of light blue drape all along each side. Above that was a spire that carried a similar roof. The entrance of the building faced along the south east road, where as the building itself was more to the eastern piece of town. The more Twilight thought about the way the town was laid out, the more she thought something was off. What was it about this shape? Before she could pursue this thought, a bell rang off as Zephraim opened the glass door.

“Hello, and welcome to Carousel Boutique. I am Rarity Belle, how may I-” A pale skinned, violet haired girl of about sixteen or seventeen was working on some article of clothing or other, had began to speak after interrupting the humming of some song, until she stopped when she turned to look at the group.

“Goodness, what happened to all of you? You look like you've just seen death himself!” The room was just as rounded inside as it was outside. And strangely, furnished in almost the exact same way Celestia liked... everything. The walls were done in bright white paint with some form of a violet tessellation of diamonds and sparkle like shapes along the wall near the roof and the floor. The room itself had four windows along each quadrant of the building, save for one that contained the door as well. The windows all had shelves that rose up from the floor with mannequins dressed to the nines in some of the finest clothing Twilight had ever seen.

Another thing that reminded her of Celestia's tastes. The woman would avoid dressing up herself as much as physically possible, even so far as to cast an illusion spell on every person in a ballroom just so she wouldn't have to wear something as gaudy as her social status required, but in the opposite side, she absolutely loved to dress others. Specifically Twilight. In all manner of frilly object. Which she hated. At that moment, she began to wonder if Zephraim was subject to the same treatment. It wasn't a matter of force, it was a simple wonder as to whether or not he was better at hiding as she was. Twilight has only managed to avoid Celestia's 'dress up time' once, and that was because Luna stepped in and took the bullet for her.

The girl addressing the group was wearing remarkably casual clothes for what she was working on, and both looked hand made. She was wearing a pale blue t-shirt, a dark violet vest, blue jeans, and white and violet high tops with a white jacket tied around her waist. The thing that caught Twilight's eye though, was the gold chained necklace she was wearing. It had an ornament at the end that was three diamonds in a sort of side ways chevron shape on a gold plate. The male Angel was first to speak.

“Oh, us? Let's... let's just say that it's been a long day today...” The man made eye contact with the tailor girl once. When she saw his eyes all she could pull out of them was the he looked dead. Not a single instance of shine in his... unusually colored eyes. They were strangely alluring and... regal for someone who looked the exact opposite of that. But there must have been something to this scruffy monochromatic Angel the tailor though to herself. She then turned to look over the rest of the group. To his left was a girl about a head shorter than him, more close to her own size, with indigo hair. She had a streak of pink and violet in it, and it was relatively well kept for someone around here.

Then she noticed that the girl was wearing clothes of her own design. But how could she have them? She had only posted this design but last Saturday, and Rarity didn't know of anyone in the country that could reproduce any of her patterns without some form of mistake, or even personalization that quickly, but these... these were exact down to the last stitch! The tailor rushed over to the Indigo haired girl who was surprised by her speed.

“Ack!” She exclaimed as the similar sized girl began to examine her clothes more thoroughly. Upon further inspection she found that they were lined with magic. And not just any magic, magic that her family were the sole heirs to. It was a trade secret! And difficult! The tailor stopped for a moment to stare down Twilight.  “You...What is your name?” The girl backed away from the violet haired tailor as much as she could while the tailor had her by the jacket. She looked to Zephraim, who gave a nod, then replied to the tailor.

“I... I'm Twilight Sparkle...” The tailor girl released her then stepped back. She adopted an inquisitive position, and then circled the Mage girl as her hand was glowing a light blue. Once she came full circle, she then retrieved her duel disk from some pocket on her jacket, then began to flip through internet pages. After stopping on one, the then stared down the girl. “Where did you get these? I don't know anyone who could reproduce my designs so... so quickly! Why, it's just... impossible! And the spell! Who performed it!? My family is the only one in the world that knows it!” the tailor was growing more frantic as she spoke, and Twilight was still exhausted. Even more so, she didn't want to talk about Andromeda. If he was still even the same person now.

“An old relative of mine... he made them...” Rarity was upon Twilight again. “Made them!? From scratch!? Where did he get the spell!? Do you know where he is!? I must speak to him!” Twilight had had enough of this girl. In a violet flush of her hands, she pushed Rarity away with magic, and set her back a few feet. The other girl stumbled, but kept her perfect posture at the same time. “Just, STOP! I've had enough today! I'm tire of all this questioning, and interrogating! It started this morning and never stopped!” From there, the girl began to shout everything that had happened today at the tailor, describing everything in great detail, whilst omitting those parts about a certain family. As that was happening, the girls were all fixated on the conversation, but Spike, who was now beside Zephraim, flickered his ears a few times, then realized he was hearing footsteps.

His wings twitched, and touched Zephraim's once. The man noticed, and turned to ask what he wanted. “Oh. Hey, what's up, kid?” The man tried to smile the best he could, but that last event... it was heart breaking to just see his friend start to fall apart. The dragon boy was almost startled by the inquiry. “Huh? oh. Uh, I just thought I heard something. I think there's somebody up stairs.” Twilight was still ranting over her long and arduous day, so Zephraim took his disk out and opened an application that spike couldn't see the name of. The screen began to line itself in black with bright green lines that formed the contour of the room. Then it covered everyone in various color lines that seemed to line up with them. Twilight was violet, Rarity was white, Rainbow was blue, Applejack was orange. It even captured Twilight's hand motions down to the finger. This was impressive tech.

Zephraim took his fingers and expanded them to make the stairs at the back of the room facing the screen. At the top of the staircase, there was a figure made out of crossing dark blue lines. Then he noticed Zephraim give a sigh of relief. Wondering what that meant, Spike went back to pondering. Then Zephraim exited the application and opened another, but now Spike couldn't see the screen anymore. It was blocked by some kind of haze. Before wondering more on how that was happening, the man did some movement that looked almost like typing, then he put the disk back in his pocket. He was wearing a slight smirk now. Shortly after, another man walked walked down the stairs.

He was wearing blue leather boots with white straps above the ankles and that crossed the boot, white slacks that almost looked like they were made of snow. On his blue leather belt was a silver colored pocket on his left leg that housed an octagonal duel disk that was a lighter blue than his boots and belt. The same colored vest above had with a patch embroidered on it that said Rarity's Boutique all in cursive letters in bright white and violet, and covering the buttons of the vest was a dark blue lined light blue tie. Under that was a white button-up with blue buttons and silver cufflinks that had bright blue gems inside their silver casing. In the upper part of the shirt on the collar were two more blue gems that were situated on the ends of the white shirt that was apparently blue on the inside. Just above that was a silver ear ring hanging from his left ear in the shape of a right triangle. For a moment, Spike thought that meant something, but then he disregarded it. It matched his outfit, why would he care?

The 'pretty boy' had his hair all done up nearly as fancy as the tailor herself, with a few spikes of hair on one side which turned into a quaff that curved back up to his sideburns. Clean shaven, all his hair was a bright blue color that ended in gradient white tips. Zephraim said something out of the side of his mouth that Spike was sure was some curse word or other. “And you know what?! I'm done! I'm absolutely done with this shit! I can't take it anymore! Raaagh!” Twilight had just finished her rant, then she stormed off to what she could only believe was a corner with the entire building being round, sat, curled her knees in, and hid her head.

“You could have just said no...” The tailor rolled her eyes. Her reaction made it seem as if she'd been used to being yelled at. She then turned to Applejack and started to talk like she was an old friend. “So I see you've finally decided come to visit my shop again, Ms. Jaquline. Is there something you all need? She... seems to have a lot on her mind right now, if you can call 'that' any indication.” The tailor said, flicking her fingers toward Twilight at the same time and making air quotes around the word that. The Terran pushed her hat out of her eyes, and her hair followed it's movement, and the girl's face was visible again.

“Well, Ah'm not too sure about it myself, but y'all know how that murder string has been round here lately?” The girl shivered and grabbed her arms. “Oh, goodness, of course. That awful thing all started the second day after I opened up shop here!  I finally accomplished my goal of owning my own store after years of fighting with my parents about it, and the minute I do, the entire town is thrown into chaos and everyone decides to leave. I've barely been making my dues to my land lord with what meager sales my online shop has managed to pull in. And then that letter from the Queen! How could she ever expect someone like me to try and prevent a catastrophe? I'm just a low born Mage from this sad back water town! Uh... no offense, by the way.” The blonde frowned at the statement, but simply shrugged and rolled her eyes.

“Eh, none taken. Ah ain't got it much better sugar cube. As it turns out, the three of us, and Twilight over there, all got just about the same letter from the Queen. Ya got a got a card out of it too right? And if ya look real close, that there monster sorta... looks like ya don't it?” The girl shuffled her disk back out of her jacket pocket, then opened the extra deck slot. She took out a white card and inspected it. “Hmm... Mon dieus!” Aristonace coming from this girl looked much more natural than when it was coming from the farmer she was speaking to. “This woman looks more like me than my own mother!” The Terran nodded.

“Mine looks just like dad... And resemblance ain't the only thing these guys have. They have their own souls, Rare.” The tailor's expression dropped. “Souls? You mean to say these are people?” The Terran nodded with her sullen look. “What? B-but... how could... this is a card! Who could possibly... How do you know that?” During the farmer and tailor's talk, Spike couldn't help but be distracted by Zephraim and the other guy. It was subtle, but they were both throwing hand signs to one another. One would make several shapes, several times, then the other would do something similar back. At about the time Rarity pulled her card out, Zephraim started signing frantically, and the other guy became more animated too. Then they both held the same sign to each other, and Zephraim returned his free arm to his pocket and stood still. He looked like he was waiting for something.

“Well, Ah talked to him! Twilight's can perform crazy magic, and then there was this thing where they started to ring out tones, and that happened not only durin' my duel, but when Rainbow and Twilight's cards hit each other then, and all three cards were ringin' out and this crap is just getting weirder.” The blonde looked up and noticed the man that was not but a few feet away from her. “So whose signy over here?” Rarity turned her head to look behind her then sighed. Signy? Where did that come from? “Oh right. This is my assistant and financial manager, Cobalt Talis. Introduce yourself if you will.” Twilight and Rainbow finally perked up at the mention of someone else in the room. The man flashed a mile at all the girls, and took a bow.

“Cobalt Talis, at your service.” He had an accent that sounded like it was from Morrow to the east. Spike couldn't tell if it was fake or not because he smelled like a Mage, and that entire continent was filled with Terrans, even if the whole 'Taugman war' thing ended nearly eighty years ago. The continent was named Teropa after all. “I am the financial manager to this establishment. I specialize in mechanical and transformation magic, so if any of you positively, lovely ladies require anything of me, please, let me know.” He took a step back and gave a wink. To who was unspecified, as it was in a general direction. For a moment, Spike thought Zephraim made another signal, but he did it so fast, that the boy couldn't tell. Applejack raised an eye brow.

“And y'all mean to tell me that ya hired this fag?” Zephraim burst out laughing, and almost took rainbow down with him. After realizing she was still clinging to his hand, she quickly reeled back and stepped as far away from the man possible. Her face was a little bit redder than it was earlier now. He was quickly joined by Twilight in mocking the pretty boy, and eventually, Rarity had enough. “That is quite enough!” Her hand began to glow a light blue color and two chairs appeared out of nowhere behind the two mockers and slid under their legs. The sudden movement made Twilight buckle, and Zephraim jumped and hovered above the chair.

“I-, pf-ft, I'm sorry, that was just... so, so very perfect, you have no idea.” The other man simply shook his head and acted like nothing happened. “Fine, whatever. I try to make a good impression, and look where this gets me. If you didn't push me to take up that stupid friggen accent in the first place, this never would have happened. Tell me Ms. Belle, what is so problematic about my natural speaking tone?” The pretty boy's voice was now much deeper and more normal than it was a few seconds ago, and sounded a whole lot more natural. Zephraim had sank to the ground with everyone else, and Twilight got out of the chair.

“All I wanted with that was proper speaking! You hardly ever used anything but slang when I first met you, and that image would never go well with what I had in mind for my high couture store!” The two men exchanged another signal with each other, then Cobalt began to argue with the tailor. “Oh, and I suppose that now I should just go hide on the second floor again? By the way, your outfit looks tacky today. You look like a teenager, not a business owner.” The pretty boy crossed his arms and huffed in the opposite direction of the tailor. Rarity was outraged.

“T-t-tacky!?! How... How Dare You! You are... you are...! Argh! Curse my own prowess! I can't possibly condemn my own designs! You've just picked a fight you are not going to win monsieur!” The pretty boy obtained a smile that Spike thought he'd seen before. Specifically on the other man in the room. “Oh? Tacky wants to duel does she?” The tailor immediately flipped her duel disk on her... right arm? This girl was left handed, which was... a... oh dear gods. She slapped the screen with her palm, and a light blue matter wave that copied the angle of the diamond shaped duel disk sprang to life just to the right of it.

“You will take your words back! I demand it!” For a single second, Spike saw Zephraim and Cobalt meet each others eyes. Both took a smirk now. “You can try to make me. But don't think this is going to go in your favor. You know damn well that I'm a stronger Mage than you are.” The pretty boy's eyes seemed to sparkle, and his right had started to glow with the same bright green his eyes did. He crossed his arms, and the disk began to glow the same color. It spun around his body in a flashy motion, and he stuck his arms out and the disk latched on to his left. He moved his arm to the dueling position that Academy students typically used, and a bright green matterwave spawned in front of his disk.

“And then with the curses! Unacceptable! I'll make you speak proper Faunin even if I have to beat you into doing so!” The two locked eyes and said “Duel!” In unison. The MR beams shot from either disk to the other, and the room was bathed in light. Hopefully, the field would hold this time around. The events of the last duel went above and beyond what the system could normally handle and left... blood behind. “Just because you will stoop to insults, that does not mean I will. You may take the first turn, assistant.” The pretty boy shrugged.

“The quicker you lose the easier it is for me to finally get that romantic outing out of you. I assume you remember the terms I had you agreed to upon being hired?” The tailor shivered a moment. “Oh for the love of! Again with this? I've told you once, I've told you a thousand time! I'm not ready for that kind of commitment! I'm sixteen for divinity's sake!” The pretty boy's smile only widened. “Oh ho ho, but you issued a challenge with a bet at stake, and by law, I get to set one if I win. You've dug your own grave with this one Ms. Belle! Or wait... if I win, your name will be Tails later! Hahaha!” The three girls leaned into each other and whispered “Is this guy for real?” Cobalt then began his turn.

“Ah, quite the excellent hand this time around. First off, I'll be summoning Periodic Resonator Hydrogen.” On his field spawned a child sized ornate bell that was sterling silver with bright, shining clear crystal embedded in, all along the edges of the bell. And for some reason, a single floating orb was orbiting it. Odd. “When this little bell is summoned, it calls upon the dragons I control. With that I can special summon Periodic Dragon Carbon!” Next, A gleaming Black dragon that looked like it was made of black crystal with no wings showed up next to the Bell. It was also about the size of a child, or in this case Spike who was half dragon himself. It had six floating orbs around it. The dragon boy began to suspect that this held some meaning, but couldn't discern what.

“But when is Carbon ever alone? No element so malleable as he should suffer an unhealthy bond as such with Hydrogen. When Carbon is summoned, he brings his friend Florine with him!” The man summoned another low level monster to his field. This wingless dragon was made completely of fire and carried nine floating orbs. The whole thing was simply putting off flames. Suddenly, Spike thought he was beginning to sweat. “Hmm... one more ought to do it! When I control two or more Periodic Dragons, I can Special summon Periodic Resonator Helium from my hand!” The next thing to appear was another bell, almost identical to the first. This bell was a much darker Silver color though, and the crystals inside it were almost black with a violet hue. It carried two orbs with it. What did the orbs mean though? Was that some kind of identifier?

“Our elements finally have the pairs they were meant to fall in love with! A clear tone for each dragon to resonate with! The instruments have gathered, so the symphony must play! My elements react, I tune Hydrogen and Carbon, then Florine and Helium!” Simultaneously, both bells floated above their assigned Dragon, and rang out in two tones that sounded remarkable together. They each resonated with each other, then the two dragon roared out in matching tones to complete the chord. The white silver bell and the Black dragon were hidden away by a column of black crystal, and out of it broke a much larger, winged Black dragon, six orbs embedded in it's body in the same white silver color of the bell with several white crystals. The Dragon itself looked very similar to the first in that it's scales looked all to be made of that gleaming black rock. The other dragon and it's bell were enveloped in a column of fire and out of that burst through a similar sized dragon to the black one on the field. This fire dragon also gained wings, and was now wearing armor made of the same dark silver of the bell it resonated with, and had nine orbs of the black-violet crystal embedded in it's forehead and most of it's joints.

“Ionic Periodic Dragons, Carbon2 and Florine2, ladies and gentlemen. Now, a little fact about my dragons. They're all very supportive of each other. If Periodic Florine is sent to the grave for a synchro summon, I get to add a Periodic card to my hand. I'll have to add Periodic Compound Ritual for this. Not that I'll need him to beat you though. But the card it's self does some fairly unique things for a ritual. Now then, I'm sure you've noticed the relatively low attack points of my dragons here, with Carbon2 at a measly 600, and Florine2 with a less terrible 1800. But fear not, my dragons love to support one another. While Florine2 is on the field, all monsters I control gain 700 attack for each different type monster I control.

With this in mind, Florine2 the pyro type is at 3200 and Carbon2 the rock type at 2000. and Carbon2 keeps his friends from being destroyed a number of times for each different type Periodic monster I control. So, to kill either of these fine dragons, you must kill them three times. The younger versions of these dragons have similar, but much less powerful effects, and aren't nearly... potent enough for the high couture miss Belle expects from everyone but herself apparently. With that, I pass to you Ms. Belle.” The assistant took a bow, and flashed that smile again. Suddenly, Applejack covered her mouth with her hands, and Zephraim chuckled at it. Likely chances are he was thinking the same thing she was. The Tailor on the other hand was infuriated.

“Mr. Talis, you will get exactly what's coming to you for that remark! I swear, any one who calls me Tacky has no idea what kind of work I have to do! I make all of these clothes by my self from scratch every single day! It's not like I get to take breaks or anything, and I'm trying to live and survive on my own here! And mark my words, not a single outfit I put on is ever anything even close to tacky! I Draw!” Good to know she's at least a little tame when she's angry. She could be Twilight. And that would be terrible. The male Angel thought to himself. Then again. She could be the opposite... like her... It's been months since she's last spoken with us. The male Angel looked sullen, and Twilight took notice. “Hey, is something up?” The male Angel was startled by the inquiry.

“Oh, it's nothing, just... anticipating.” The man went back to watching, and crossed his arms. He wasn't about to talk about her to anyone outside the family. The Mage girl didn't bother with trying to get anything out of him. She doubted the he would even give up info while being tortured. This was Celestia's 'intense' son after all. Attention was brought back to the duel when the tailor had finished planning her move.

“I'll show you tacky! First I normal summon Cheswit Pawn!” The first monster a person plays really says something about themselves. This monster was a little odd. It was a smaller fairy looking girl, lightly armored in classical armor that had glowing yellow ornate markings holding a small lance with little wings of light on it's back that sparkled as it floated in the air. It's eyes were completely one color, a bright yellow on it's light gray and white color scheme. Somehow, this monster made her think of Applejack's deck. She began to wonder how the two of them knew each other.

“When Cheswit Pawn is summoned, I get to special summon one level 4 Cheswit monster from my deck! I choose Cheswit Rook!” And now the Chariot. This 'manly' fairy, how those two words fit in the same sentence boggles the mind, was in a futuristic style chariot being drawn by some kind of insect that resembled a praying mantis. The chariot itself was silver lined with a blue glowing substance that formed ornate markings all along it similar to the Pawn to his left. The man fairy was wearing... something on his waist, sandals that wrapped up his legs, and carried a short sword that looked to be sectioned off at several places.

“If Rook is summoned by the effect of a Cheswit monster, I am allowed to check the top three cards of my deck. When I do, I may rearrange them in any order, then discard one card, to draw one card. I discard Cheswit Knight from my hand, then draw! Next I set one card, and activate the effect of Cheswit King in my hand! When I control two Cheswit monsters with different names, I can special summon him from my hand!” New monster, the fairy King. Funny enough, this one looked like an old man in comparison to his Chariot. He was lightly armored with some sort of ridiculously ornate gold lined chest plate in a hunched over stance leaning on his little gold staff for support. He wore a big golden jeweled crown with a violet velvet material covering his head, and he had a beard that was longer than he was tall. He was draped by a violet cape that was lined with some sort of fluffy fur that was black and white all along it's edges. Like the other two, he had violet wings of colored light that rained sparkles as he stood.

“You may have won the first time we played, but things have changed Mr. Talis! I have a new power that's sure to stop you in your tracks! I tune the level 3 Pawn and the level 4 Rook! She who rises above the army, She who captures the throne with the aid of no one else, the lonely White Queen! Bring forth the crusading light of the Fairies, Cheswit Queen Generosity Amethyst!” The room went dark, and the two monsters were the only thing illuminated. The pawn turned itself into gold rings, and the rook turned into four stars that aligned within the rings. Lightning struck the four stars and bathed the room in light. When the light had passed, the only thing illuminated in the room was a woman. She had long perfectly curled violet hair, and unusually, no wings. But she did have a pristine white, flowing cape. She floated to the ground from the ceiling, drawn gold hilted silver rapier in one hand and the other was glowing blue with magic, just steaming off of it. The lights returned to the room, and the woman turned to face the people behind her. She took two steps forward toward Rarity, who was completely caught off guard by it, and kneeled.

“I pledge my sword to zee, my new liege. Thou shan't be harmed in my company, zis, I swear.” If Rarity and Applejack could speak Aristonace perfectly, then this woman sounded like she was born into it. With a better view of the 'Queen' Twilight immediately thought to her duel with Celestia. The armor, the cape, the magic, the sword. Everything about this woman nearly mirrored Celestia who was the current 'white' queen. Were this woman Ascended like her, there's a good chance her wings would be as white as snow. The armor she wore was bright white, lined in glowing ornate violet lines on most of her body, where her shins reversed this the have them in metallic violet with glowing white lines. On her chest plate was a large Crest like thing. It was almost like metal feathers in various shades of violet that turned to a bright blue by the time the center feather was placed. Above that was a gold chain lining that covered the rest of her chest to her collar piece that carried an odd ornament on it. It was three diamonds... in a sideways chevron shape... on a gold plate... Exactly the same one that the tailor was wearing. When the Tailor looked into the face of the woman, she was shocked.

“When did I... turn twenty-five and into a monster card...?” The woman stood and rested her glowing hand on the tailor. She wasn't much taller than Rarity herself. Twilight guessed she might stand at 5'6” or 6” due to Zephraim and Applejack being taller than her. “I see. You have my emblem, my lady. I am so glad... zat it survived all zis time.” The woman embraced the tailor, who was still in a status of shock. Her armor was cold, but her body was warm on the tailor. She thought through a million questions at once to ask the woman, but was beaten to it before she could say anything.

“Come, my liege. Let us defeat zis insolent traitor to ze crown!” The woman hopped to a stance where she was summoned, and awaited commands. The confused tailor didn't know what at all was going on, and the pretty boy on the other end objected to her statement. “Hey, that's not cool lady. You could get me put in jail for talk like that! The only one here that's... uh... That emblem doesn't mean anything anymore!” Spike noticed Zephraim become tense as he stared daggers at the man across the boutique. Rarity took the initiative to chime in at this point.

“What emblem? What is going on? Is she not a card? Why was she... talking?” The wide eyed Tailor turned to Applejack. “Is this...? is this what you meant?” The blonde nodded. “Ah'm afraid so sugar cube. Ah've got one. She's got one. Rainbow's got one. And supposedly, there are two more out there with one of their own. But Ah think what our monochrome friend here is settin' these duels up for is ta see what kind of power you and she have.” Applejack shot a look at Zephraim, who sighed. “Set up? What are you talking about? He started this!” The tailor said as she pointed to the other man in the room.

“To be quite honest with ya sugar cube, that's a load of bull. These two know each other. This one” she said as she pointed to the male Angel. “Has been talkin with that one the whole time we were talkin'. It's real hard not to notice them flickin' their fingers every which way, but y'all actually pay attention to the people ya talk to, so Ah guess ya missed it. Whatever the case, he's got some sorta high level martial status er somethin', so chances are that one is under him.” The tailor looked to the male Angel, then to her assistant. “Is... is this true? You called me that... just to get into an argument?” The male Mage glared back at the Angel, then sighed himself.

“Yes, unfortunately, it is. Cobalt Talis is my real name, but it's usually preceded by Agent. I work for the special intelligence gathering administration under the queens, or Siga.” The tailor didn't know what to say. “As it stands, you've been ordered by the day queen to join up with the other five girls who hold the Harmonian cards to stop the ancient evil from consuming this town. Only the chosen have the ability to complete this task. Before the Queen sends you to confront this evil, she had sent her Angel of Death, Zephraim Black to supervise you all and gauge you aptitude. Everything hinges on this game and you six, therefore, we must know what you are capable of.” The tailor clenched her fists.

“You... You machine! You manipulated me! You weren't just some divine godsend that suddenly showed up in my life at just the right time to help me make my dream a reality, you're a puppeteer who showed up to use me until you were done with me!” The other man quickly tried to stop this train of thought she was rapidly riding. “Now wait a minute, that's just not true!” The tailor cut him off. “Lies! All of it, everything you say! You only use your words to get what you want, you fiend!” The tailor started to develop watery eyes. Twilight began to think there was more to this than she knew.

“For a whole month, I thought you legitimately cared for me. And now I find you've just been doing this on orders from some government official! You told me you were just an ordinary investor looking to help people realize their dreams! That all you wanted to do was give somebody else a chance! You are nothing but another hand for Celestia to use! When I finish you here, I want you gone! I never want to see your face in my shop ever again! I activate the effect of Cheswit Knight in my hand! By banishing a light attribute monster in my graveyard, I can special summon him!” The rook in the grave became a silhouette on the field that was swept away in some wind, to be replaced by a Fairy woman riding a white unicorn. She had long green hair, with white light leather armor on most of her body, save for shoulder silver plates and a chest plate that had ornate green glowing lines all along them. Her wings were similar to the king's violet ones, but in green like the rest of her. She carried an ax that looked almost as big as her.

“Then, If knight is special summoned this way, she can target one monster you control and destroy it! I target Flourine2!” The man on the other side countered her play. “Did you forget what Carbon2's effect was in all of that childish rage of yours!? Carbon2 negates Flourine2s destruction!” The tailor yelled back. “No! I didn't forget anything! I activate the effect of Amethyst in response! Once per turn during either player's turn, I can negate one monster's effect until the end phase! I negate the effect of Carbon2! Now burn with your dragon you liar!” The fairy knight began to rush toward the fire dragon. It swiped at her once, but missed when she jumped from her steed. She spun vertically twice in the air with her ax, and slammed it down on the dragon's neck, cutting it off. Behind Zephraim, Spike hid himself from view of the duel. The man put a wing around the dragon boy to comfort him. It was almost like watching one of his own die in front of his eyes. The fire dragon shattered into particles, and the fairy woman flew back to her unicorn. The raging teary eyed tailor continued her attack.

“And now you have nothing left to protect you! You thought your little reptiles couldn't be touched because I couldn't do anything about them last time, but now look where you are! Practically defenseless, about to lose to your puppet! Knight attacks Carbon2! With Flourine2 gone and it's effect negated, all it is now is a lump of rock just waiting to be destroyed!” As she attacked, the Mage put his right hand behind his back, and suddenly, Zephraim could hear his voice.

So what now Mr. Tactician? You've pissed her off, and I think I've just been fired. Do I win? Or do we let her have it? The male Angel put his green glowing hand in his pocket. You have to warn me when you do this. I don't know if our very aware Terran saw it or not. As for now, just let her have it. I think this will just blow over after she finishes venting. At least it's not Twilight doing this, or... her. Make it count though. I want a full read on her output. The Mage returned his hand, then put his arms up and crossed them in preparation for the knight to slay the dragon. The knight circled the dragon once as it's dark crystalline appendages swiped at the fairy woman atop the unicorn. After a snap from it's mouth, the knight jumped and went to end the dragon. This time Zephraim shielded Spike from the sight before it occurred. The dragon formed glowing fractures all along it's body, until it exploded into several pieces, one of which found it's self into Cobalt's shoulder. He ripped the bloody stone out, and threw it to the ground.

“Come on! Is that all you've got, little puppet!?” The raging teenager yelled in reply. “I'll show you everything I have! I'll make sure to wipe you from the face of this planet, you filth! King attacks directly!” The old fairy lost his smiling face, and then took a stance with his staff. Not shivering, not shaking anymore, just cold, deadly, still. An orb of light began to form at the end of the marker on his staff. He stepped forward, and fired it with the precision of a fencer. The large beam collided with Cobalt's quickly thrown up yellow green barrier and with it his life point counter sank to 100. “Beg for mercy or be destroyed!” The tailor was breathing hard. She wasn't very sturdy to begin with, and this much emotion and magic being poured into this game was bordering the line that her disk's inhibitor could handle. She was no Twilight, but she was about to break her disk all the same. The male Mage began to laugh

“Hahaha, be destroyed she says. You haven't even broken my barrier! I don't think you have the ability to destroy me!” The tailor raged on. “Then her is your notice of termination! You're fired!” Amethyst's glowing hand swept over her blade. The blade started to shine in the same color. Her knees bent, and with a wave of wind behind her, she charged the Mage. She struck as fast as light itself,  calling out numbers with each one.

“Un! Deux! Trois! Quatre! Cinq! Six! Sept! Hiut! Neuf! Dix! Onze!” The final strike to the center of the barrier broke it and sent the man flying. He quickly put up another shield to keep from killing himself on the staircase behind him, and lowered it to the ground. He forgot that his shoulder was still bleeding. He coughed twice and swiped at his mouth. Blood? How much force was in that last attack? The white queen returned to her liege and kneeled again. “'E 'as been dealt with my lady. But I believe 'e needs treatment.” Her anger seemed to evaporate.

“Treatment!? Oh dear gods! What have I done!” The tailor quickly put her cards away and rushed over to the pretty boy. “Cobalt! Cobalt, speak to me! Are you alright? Cobalt? Cobalt!” the male Mage put his hand on the girl's. “Hey, hey, cool it. This isn't... the worst I've been through...” the boy coughed again, and more blood came with it. If he were to guess, at least one of his organs were bruised. The rest of the group rushed from the other side of the room to the two Mages at the stair case. “Holy shit, you really almost killed him. Twilight! Get over here!” the girl was startled by the order but made no objections, and kneeled with the other two over the broken Mage.

“W-what do you need?” she struggled to produce the words. This wasn't the first time she'd been standing over a bloody body after a duel, but it was the first time it wasn't her fault. The monochrome Angel ripped the other man's shirt and vest off, and started to press down on his abdomen around a black and blue spot that was quickly growing in size. “Remember that thing you did for Ruby? I need you to do it again, right now. I don't care what kind of magic you have left, I don't care how you feel. If you don't do this now, He's gonna die.” The girl wasn't about to argue with that. “Okay, I'll try.” The Angel barked at her.

“No, you can't try, you have to succeed! Just do it!” Frightened by the seriousness of his tone and the quickly slowing breathing of the Mage on the ground, the girl quickly went to work. She called to mind the event of earlier today. In that moment, her hands started to emit a soft violet glow, and a warm violet vapor. The air started to smell sweet like something baking in an oven, and the taste shortly followed. Twilight's pulse became louder, and everyone began to feel the beat.

“I can't just sit here and do nothing! This is my all fault!” The tailor copied Twilight's example. She placed her own hands above Twilight's, and started bring together all the feelings that she was receiving from the girl. And just as quickly did her hands glow and begin to emit a light blue vapor. The homey sweet smell began to mix with another. The smell of fine fragrance, the taste of sweet grapes. The pulse was beginning to increase in speed as the two Mages started to work together, and no longer was the sound of their pulse just that, but they began to hear instruments play.

The sounds of strings and flutes began to erupt from the two Mages who were intently focused on healing Cobalt. The symphony was a duet of a waltz that played aloud in the room, and the bruised spot started to clear up. After a few more seconds, the symphony came to a climax, and the bruise finished healing. On top of that, the wound on his shoulder regenerated. The two girls released their hands, and stumbled back into sitting positions. The male Mage coughed twice, and started to breathe regularly again. The male Angel let out a relieved breath and put his hand over his eyes.

“Oh thank gods, he's still alive.” Twilight managed to find enough strength in her arms to sit upright. What the hell was that? There was never any music either time I did this, nor when Celestia did. And wasn't that... the Waltz of flowers? Or wait! Isn't this just like when the two monsters collide? They produced a note each to form a... oh my gods. It was in the name the whole time. “Did... did you guys hear that?” She looked around to the rest of her group. All of them confused or panting but the Rainbow headed girl.

“Oh, you mean the waltz of flowers, right?” the entire group turned to her with a confused look. “So what, I like classical music...” The redness of her face had returned. “Yes! That's exactly what it was! How did that happen? This didn't happen last time I did this, and it didn't happen when Celestia did this yesterday! I'm beginning to think there's more to this name of 'Harmonian' thing after all. I mean, you could tell it was the Waltz of Flowers, but it was only the flute and violin parts! The brass base line, and the counter melody were missing entirely, and it only played that at all after Rarity joined me in healing this guy! This could be an entirely new development in the field of magic! And even more, where did it come from? When our cards clashed in each of our duels, only two tones were produced at all! But after combining soul arts, we made a piece of a symphony!” the exhausted tailor next to the now rejuvenated scientist spoke up in a pained voice.

“That was likely me. I was singing it before you all came in. I guess it hadn't quite left my mind.” Invigorated by the thought of advancements in her field, Twilight hopped to her feet and began to mutter incoherently to herself, semi speaking through her thoughts at the pace of a mile a minute. The blonde interrupted to point something out. “While this whole discovery is great fer you and all, Ah think we have some more important things to think about right now. If the trend keeps up, there's gonna be another dead body in the mornin' and we have no clue as to how to stop it from happenin' or what to do once we're all together, on top of not havin' everybody. And before Ah forget, Rarity almost killed a guy. She ain't never had that much power in her life!” The male Angel gathered the male Mage and picked him up. He then looked to the violet headed girl with deadened eyes.

“Do you... have anywhere he can rest? You put... one hell of a strain on him.” The tailor got up as quickly as she could, being almost completely drained of her magic after all that had happened in the last half hour. Using the monochrome Angel as a balance, she raised her self to a standing position, and lead him up stairs. “We've actually been living together here on the top floor for the past month. I hadn't quite earned enough to make room for more than a two room apartment sized second floor, so that's what it is. I had intended to use it as a guest room, but Cobalt had nowhere to stay when I hired him, So I let him have it. Dear gods... I was prepared to evict him not but a few minutes ago... How could I let myself get so out of hand?” The rest of the group followed, and they arrived on the second floor. It was just about as she said it was.

A white carpet covered the flooring. There was a stark black shining grand piano in the relatively small living room that took up at least a third of it, a black leather couch facing a white wall that looked like it had a screen built into it, and to the right was a half kitchen that looked more like a mess than anything. Someone had been using it recently, but no one had cleaned it either. There were pictures of people hanging around the walls, each in a metallic violet frame. One Twilight could tell was a picture of Rarity and her family from a few years ago. On either side of the room were a single door. Rarity lead the group to the door on the right, and opened it to what looked like an entirely different world.

In complete contrast to the other room that was almost strictly black white and violet this room was covered in maps with red strings everywhere, one string bouncing from one point to another. A window was completely blacked out by dark blue curtains, all covered in red strings. There was a desk with a spot lamp still on, shining at his laptop that was in the middle of running a program. In the back of the room was a bed that just about as neat as the room itself in a state of pure chaos from one sheet to the next, pillows everywhere and a small colorful pink stuffed animal sitting properly in the corner.

“Ah. There you are. It's good to know he still takes care of you after all this time.” The male angel seemed to be talking to the plush animal in the corner as he set the other man down. Twilight was intrigued by the computer, and started towards it to read what was on the screen, but Zephraim quickly intercepted her and shut the computer. “Now's not the time for that... lets let him sleep.” As gently as he spoke and moved her away from the computer, Twilight was confused about how she felt about him again. Suddenly he's... warm? Was this another side of the Day Queen's son? Or... before she could follow her train of thought, everyone was rushed out of the crowded room.

“He... hasn't been sleeping much lately... He hardly eats anymore... He's been so preoccupied with whatever that mess of strings is in his room. I... don't know what's been going on with him lately. He hasn't wanted to talk, and he just avoids the subject whenever I ask. I... I just don't know who I've been living with all this time... I don't know why all of my frustration with him over these last few weeks all came out just by the taunting of that one word... I just...” The male Angel put his hand on the tailor's shoulder and shook his head. The tailor too the hint, then silently lead the group down the steps. The group the assembled around the male Angel and he began with the next movement.

“A few of us have been through quite a lot today. And it think it would be best for us to just keep moving forward. Originally, we came here to get a location on a girl, albeit, I will admit to having ulterior motives, but right now, we're running out of time. If what Apples said is right, we have a murder to stop tonight, and we're still missing two people. Miss Belle, do you know either of these two faces?” Zephraim handed the tailor two pictures from his coat pocket. The tailor studied the pictures and then snapped her fingers. “Ah yes. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy Heron.” Zephraim's wings twitched at the last name.

“Unfortunately, I have no idea where Pinkie lives. Or... what she does actually. She ordered something from me not too long ago, however, I couldn't tell you why she would order something so unusual. She asked me for a tan cloak, some sort of bikini like thing, that I guess she intended to run in? This was a very special request for something that I'm not sure I could ever reproduce. The only non bizarre thing about that outfit was that she wanted her Terran's mark sewn into the side of the... shorts? I made it and I still have a hard time describing it.” Twilight snapped her fingers. “So she did steal my bag! You... made that... thing she was wearing? With all the flags and the yellow and the red everywhere?” The tailor nodded.

“By some miracle, I assure you. When I gave it to her she said, these exact words mind you, 'Wow, these are perfect! I can't believe you actually got the flame proof material too! You're the best Rarity!' And I haven't seen her since.” The group nodded. Then Applejack asked about the other girl. “Ya mentioned that you knew the other girl. Ya know where she is now?” The tailor turned to her and nodded. “Ah yes, miss Heron. I see her on a regular basis. I first met her at the spa down in the southern side of town. She lives up in the north east, just outside of town in between here and the forest. I can take you to her if you like.” The group nodded.

“If... we can't find Pinkie, then I guess we have no choice but to see Fluttershy next then...” The male Angel started toward the door, but before anything happened, he was caught by the dragon boy. “Look, I know you probably don't want to talk about this, but I know you have something going on with this. You sighed when you said her name. You twitched when Rarity said it. And now you sound depressed when you say her name yourself. What's the deal?” He stopped where he stood and sighed again. “If I could say, I would. But I can't. Not even to you two. But since my expectations up to this point have been met or exceeded, I wont be surprised if something comes out when we do come into contact with her.” The Angel made his way to the glass doors, and pulled one open. The bell above it rang out through the round boutique. Then the Angel stopped.

“It's time to go confront my... old friend.” He sent a sad look Twilight's way, and exited the boutique. The rest of the group began toward the door after the male Angel's lead, save for the indigo headed Mage and the dragon boy. “I'm glad you said something before I did. I think you said my own thoughts, just... put better than I could have.” The dragon boy scratched his head. Compliments from his sister were far and few in between, and he knew he was visibly blushing. “I just started watching things, like you do. He kept... uh... I don't know the words, but he just kept doing things that kinda hinted at how he felt. You kinda do the same things, now that I think about it. I just kinda picked up on it.” Twilight rubbed the dragon boy's head.

“I guess you have a point. We call that body language though. It's relatively easy to pick up on if you watch for it. And with the way my eyes are now, It'd be hard to miss it all. Come on. We're gonna lose them if we don't catch up now.” The two left the rounded shop and headed out to the rest of the group. When they caught up, the group was taking the main road back to the center of town, with Rarity at the lead. “Lets see now... if we take the main road back north east, we should run almost straight into her cottage. By some manner of miracle, there's an underground water source right in front of that little cottage she lives in. The gods know this place is practically a desert anyways, but she has living trees around her house, and they aren't red either. I don't know how she does it, but she also has several animals around. For whatever reason, I almost feel like she can talk to them. She barely talks to me when I go to see her anyway, so she must get it out some how. I also think she's in the military. I find her consistently in that desert operations pale yellow coat regardless of the hour or where she is.” The tailor had returned herself to a good mood walking through the desert town. It was almost like magic.

“That's because... it's the first thing she ever earned for herself.” The rest of the group stopped to stare at the sullen Angel, who ignored them and kept walking. Chances were that he already knew where she lived anyways. “Oh... I, um, see then. You must know quite a lot already.” The group marched on silently now that Zephraim had taken the lead. After an amount of time passed, the had come upon the cottage. It was a relatively large building, no doubt a good sum of money was paid for it, but there was only one in the group who knew much of anything about this girl and he wasn't talking because he 'couldn't' talk about her.

As Rarity had said, there was a small river that ran from the forest through the front of the property. There was a little wooden bridge that ran over it, and the entire house was surrounded by unusually lush green grass. How such a small water source did all this in the desert was beyond any of them, but Applejack's farm was the same way, so for whatever reason they didn't question the terrain and moved on with life. There were woodland creatures every where, from birds to bunnies to foxes and everything in between on the relatively large, unusually green and wooded property. It was almost like a forest away from the forest. The cottage itself was old. It looked like it might have been standing since the town was founded, yet it also looked like it was in good condition.

The outer red wood looked polished and shined, the white washed walls were clean, and the roof was... green. It was almost overgrown in a sense. Twilight imagined it had some kind of living plant in it, or the roof was made of some kind of rock with dirt and grass atop it that had just never been cut. Strange. The group walked across the little bridge and up the walk way to the redwood door.

“I... want you all to step back, away from the door. And behind a wall at the very least. I promise, you don't want to be near what's about to happen.” After he finished speaking, he reached for the disk in his pocket, and loaded it on his left wrist. After that he drew his sword from it's sheath on his back. He took a deep breath, then opened the door with his empty right hand. From inside, a whooshing sound came, and then Zephraim immediately took a step back and was now holding what looked like a dagger. In his free hand. Did... he just catch that? He then took a step and flapped his wings away from the door. He landed a good teen feet away from the door, tossed the dagger aside, and in a blur of yellow, he was suddenly clashing swords with a pink haired, yellow clad, yellow winged, girl.

She was carrying a curved sword in her right, and she had a rapier in her left, with a light pink rounded duel disk on the same arm. Zephraim over powered her and threw her back. They ran and clashed again and again, in a flurry of wings and sparks. She was faster than him, but he was more powerful than her. After the second trade of blades, Zephraim drew another sword from the collection he was wearing. This one was much thinner than his other one, but was curved. Now that she saw it, it looked exactly like the one the girl Angel was holding.

“So that's how you wanna do this?” The Angel girl spoke, her voice was soft, but determined. “We can do it with them or without them either way, you will tell me why you left after this is all over.” The girl nodded and sheathed her swords, and Zephraim did the same. The male Angel took a boxer's stance and started to hop, while the female took a different stance entirely. She had her body parallel to him, left arm open and extended, palm facing upward. Her right was bent at the elbow inward with her right hand's palm facing the male Angel. The male angel took aggression this time, and rushed the girl. A jab, a straight, two jabs, a straight. The female blocked each one, with her open hands, simply pushing them out of her way. The male angle then threw a jab, which the female predictably blocked, but in a second after she did her eyes widened.

He had done it on purpose to grab her arm with it. He pulled her body forward and swung his knee into her left wing. Then sent her into the ground. The girl quickly reacted to this with a follow up from her own feet. Using the momentum Zephraim had provided, she flipped her body around and took his leg with her hands, and flew upward. The girl winced every time she flapped, so she quickly dropped him, and dove her elbow into his stomach until they crashed. The grass was green, but not free of sand, and when they landed, it was sent into the air due to the sheer amount of force involved. When the sand cloud cleared, the girl was being held at the neck by the man.

“Tell me why! Why did you run away from home!?” The girl kicked him in the stomach, released herself from his grip and flew a few feet back. She said nothing, and simply ejected a matter wave from her disk. The rounded light blue matterwave was then focused on Zephraim, and she took a dueling stance. “So that's how you wanna do this?” The girl replied. “Is there really any other way this will be resolved? If we keep fighting like this, they'll just pop out of thin air to stop it again.” The man nodded, and the green disk on his left produced it's own matterwave with a white colored chevron shaped wave. Then they both shouted “DUEL!”