Yu-Gi-Oh! Friendship is Magic: The Numeric War

Chapters

Prologue
Part 1: The Savior Chapter 1: Converging
Chapter 2: Stuck
Chapter 3: New Allies
Chapter 4: True Intentions Revealed
Chapter 5: Eli's Duty
Chapter 6: High in the Sky
Chapter 7: Underestimation
Chapter 8: Ryan's Complex

Prologue

This chapter's featured card: Number C39: Utopia Ray

Xyz Monster Rank: 4 ATK: 2500 DEF: 2000 Attribute: LIGHT Type: Warrior

3 Level 4 Monsters

This card can only be destroyed by battle with another "Numbers" monster. If your Life Points are 1000 or less, you can Xyz Summon this card by using a "Number 39: Utopia" you control as the Xyz Material (Xyz Materials attached to that monster also become Xyz Materials on this card). You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; it gains 500 ATK and 1 monster your opponent controls loses 1000 ATK, until the End Phase.

6/13/2013 Route 103, Hoenn Region, 8:14 AM (19 Months After First Visit to Equestria) - Orion had been jogging with Alex for the good whole of 2 hours. They made it to the edge of the river that separated Route 103 and Route 110. They then headed off to get some breakfast at a family run diner in Odale Town. Alex liked dining in independent restaurants like that, because if there’s anything he’s learned from all of the Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives episodes that he’s seen, that mom and pop places like that always served the best food. Alex walked in with Orion and they both grabbed a booth. Alex took a quick glance at the menu and put it down, already certain with what he wanted to order. Orion took his time however. “Hello Alex and Orion, my two favorite customers,” said a woman in her mid-50’s with a pot of coffee in traditional waitress garb. “Hiya Maybelline,” greeted Alex and Orion simultaneously. She poured them both a mug of piping hot coffee. “I’m guessing you want the usual mushroom, swiss, and bacon skillet and a glass of grepa berry juice, right Alex?” asked Maybelline. “You know best,” he said smiling, giving her the menu. Orion decided on 2 poached eggs on toast with a fruit salad on the side and that he’d be fine with coffee. She took his menu and placed their orders. “So how is Twilight?” asked Alex to Orion. “What are you talking about?” asked Orion. “You have the ability to travel to Equestria right? Don’t you visit her or something?” “No,” replied Orion, “I write letters, and I just found out how to use my magic to send them off to Twilight. It’s kind of similar to how Spike would do it.” “How does she respond?” asked Alex. “Wouldn’t she require a large amount of energy to send a letter off to our world?” “Princess Celestia just forwards her mail; she’s powerful enough to send letters to our house.” “Okay,” said Alex. “So I go back to my original question: How is Twilight?” “Oh, she’s fine.” said Orion. “Also, you'll like this, Rainbow Dash made the Wonderbolts,” “Really,” said Alex. “Good for her.” Once Orion, mentioned her name, Alex remembered how much he missed her. “And,” continued Orion “Gilda was released from Canterlot on the count of good behavior last fall. Rainbow Dash then got her a spot in the Wonderbolts,” “Fantastic,” said Alex. Maybelline came around to refill Orion’s mug. Orion and Alex kept quiet around others when talking about their adventures in Equestria, so as to avoid looking crazy. Once Maybelline was out of earshot, Orion continued. “Fluttershy says that the pidgey she took in turned into a pidgeot. “Already?” said Alex surprised. “Damn, she’s good.” “Haven’t heard much about Rarity, but Twilight says she’s fine as well. Pinkie Pie’s ‘parents’ Mr. and Mrs. Cake had babies.” “Aww, good for them,” said Alex. “Applejack says that something called zap apple harvest was underway, and that they wish they could send us some of the famous jam that they make with it. But as you, know we’re a little too busy to tour to stop by and chit chat. For as powerful as my wand has become, I can’t just zip into both worlds any time; it still drains a large amount of energy. We only get these couple of days off before we get back on the road.” Maybelline stopped at their table to drop off their food. The rest of the conversation would have to wait until after breakfast.

6/13/2013 Route 102, Hoenn Region, 8:55 AM – Alex and Orion lived in a large mansion with the rest of their Lamss members east of Petalburg in the northern part of Route 102. They had just eaten and were sore from their jog, so they did not want do anything faster than a leisurely walk. Which made them perfect prey for a stalker hiding in a nearby tree. The two friends were about a half a mile from their home when Orion saw something from the corner of his eye. He instinctively tackled Alex down. “Orion, what the hell?” asked Alex. Orion pointed at the ground about a foot from Alex’s face. There was a white, metallic feather with a green end that stuck in the ground. The feather then disappeared in a flash of white light. Orion got out his wand and began looking in all directions to see where his enemy would strike next. He then saw a long skinny leg on a tree branch. The rest of the body that it belonged to was covered in shadows. It was enough for Orion, as he casted a well aimed spell at the branch. The creature that was standing on the branch fell under it when it broke. However, the assailant landed nimbly on the ground, standing up in an offensive stance. Orion could then see that the assailant was a gardevoir, almost the same size as him. What was different about this particular gardevoir was that she had a strange device on her arm. Her forearm had a silver gauntlet on it. On the gauntlet was an ellipse shaped silver pod with an orange center with 5 large white and green feathers that stemmed outwards towards the same direction as the gardevoir's elbow as she held her left arm in front of her with her fist aimed to her right, like one would hold a duel disk. Come to think of it, it looked like a duel disk from the way it formed at a 90° angle from the top of the forearm. These suspicions were confirmed when they found that the gauntlet had its own wrist dealer. Orion looked surprised at discovering what this was. “What is that thing you’re wearing?” asked Orion genuinely interested. “That’s none of your concern,” said the gardevoir coldly in English. “You can speak English too?” asked Orion. “Enough questions!” she barked. She then pointed at Alex, who looked a bit frightened at her dominating personality. “I know you,” she said. “You’re that guitarist from that one rock band. I looks like I’ve hit the jackpot tonight. Alex Morrison, I challenge you to a duel! If you lose, I take all of your cards and all of your money.” Orion then stepped forward. “He doesn’t have his deck on him,” he said, “but I do.” He then turned his wand into his duel disk. Although new to this, the gardevoir remained stoic and firm. “Impressive,” she said. “Let’s change the wager then. If I win, you give me your neat little wand and your deck.” “And if I win, you have to assist me.” “Assist you?” asked the gardevoir amused at his seemingly light wager. “What kind of a bet is that?” “Something worth more than both of our artifacts combined.” Seeming like an easy win for her, the gardevoir said, “You’re on!” “Hold on,” said Orion. “I don’t even know your name.” “Why are you so interested in me?” asked the gardevoir annoyed. “It’s a sign of respect to know my enemies’ names.” “Helena,” she relented quietly. “My name is Helena.” “Orion,” said Orion. “Now that we got that out of the way, shall we do this?” “Yes,” replied Helena. “Let’s.” “DUEL!” they both cried.

Helena vs. Orion

Helena’s Turn: Helena activates Polymerization, sending Photon Lizard and Photon Sabre Tiger from her hand to the graveyard to fusion summon Twin Photon Lizard (ATK: 2400 DEF: 1000). Next, Helena activates Twin Photon Lizard’s effect, sending it to the graveyard to special summon the fusion material monsters from her graveyard, choosing Photon Lizard (ATK: 900 DEF: 1200) and Photon Saber Tiger (ATK: 2000 DEF: 300). Helena overlays Photon Lizard and Photon Sabre Tiger to xyz summon Number 30: Acid Golem of Destruction (ATK: 3000 DEF: 3000).

Helena places 2 cards face down and ends her turn.

Status: Hand-1 Life-4000 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-2

Orion’s Turn: Orion summons Legendary Six Samurai – Kageki (ATK: 200 DEF: 2000). When Legendary Six Samurai – Kageki is summoned, Orion can special summon a Six Samurai monster from his hand, choosing Legendary Six Samurai – Shinai (ATK: 1500 DEF: 1500). When Orion controls a Legendary Six Samurai – Shinai, he can special summon Legendary Six Samurai – Mizuho from his hand (ATK: 1600 DEF: 1000). Orion overlays Legendary Six Samurai – Kageki, Legendary Six Samurai – Shinai, and Legendary Six Samurai – Mizuho to xyz summon Number 111: Tricky Imp (ATK: 2000 DEF: 1500). Orion activates Number 111: Tricky Imp’s effect. By removing one xyz material from it, Orion can remove an xyz material from an xyz monster his opponent controls and special summon it to his side of the field, choosing Helena’s Photon Lizard in defense position.

Orion places 2 cards face down and ends his turn.

Status: Hand-1 Life-4000 Monsters-2 Face Down Cards-2

Helena’s Turn: During each of her standby phases, Helena must remove an xyz material from Number 30: Acid Golem of Destruction or take 2000 damage. Helena removes an xyz material. Next, she summons Photon Crusher (ATK: 2000 DEF: 0). Since both monsters she controls have 2000 or more ATK, Helena tributes Number 30: Acid Golem of Destruction and Photon Crusher to special summon Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon from her hand (ATK: 3000 DEF: 2500). Helena attacks Number 111: Tricky Imp, but then activates Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon’s effect. During the battle step, she can banish Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon and the monster it attacks. At the end of the battle phase, both monsters return to the field. Also, if the card removed was an xyz monster, Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon gains 500 attack for every xyz material attached to it (2) (ATK: 3000 -> 4000).

Helena ends her turn.

Status: Hand-0 Life-4000 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-2

Orion’s Turn: Orion activates Pot of Greed drawing 2 cards.

Orion ends his turn.

Status: Hand-3 Life-4000 Monsters-2 Face Down Cards-2

Helena’s Turn: Helena activates Xyz Reborn, special summoning an xyz monster in her graveyard and attaching Xyz Reborn to it as Xyz material, choosing Number 30: Acid Golem of Destruction. Next, Helena activates Burning Strike, giving Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon the effect of piercing damage. Helena attacks Number 111: Tricky Imp with Number 30: Acid Golem of Destruction.

Orion’s Life Points: 4000 -> 3000

Orion activates Card of Last Will, drawing 5 cards if a monster he controls is destroyed. Helena attacks Photon Lizard with Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon.

Orion’s Life Points: 3000 -> 200

Helena places 1 card face down and ends her turn. Orion is 2 cards over the hand limit, so he discards 2 cards.

Status: Hand-1 Life-4000 Monsters-2 Face Down Cards-1

Orion’s Turn: Orion summons Legendary Six Samurai – Enishi (ATK: 1700 DEF: 700). Next, Orion special summons Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan from his hand as he controls another Six Samurai monster (ATK: 1800 DEF: 500). When Orion controls a Six Samurai monster with a different name on the field, he can activate Legendary Six Samurai – Enishi’s effect. By removing from play 2 Six Samurai monsters in his graveyard, he can choose on monster on the field and return it to the owner’s hand, choosing Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon. Orion overlays Legendary Six Samurai – Enishi with Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan to xyz summon Number 39: Utopia (ATK: 2500 DEF: 2000). Next, Orion overlays Number 39: Utopia to chaos xyz summon Number C39: Utopia Ray (ATK: 2500 DEF: 2000). Orion activates the effect of Number C39: Utopia Ray. By removing 1 xyz material from it, Number C39: Utopia Ray’s ATK raises by 500 while a monster his opponent controls loses 1000. Orion activates this effect 3 times, raising Number C39: Utopia Ray’s ATK by 1500 and decreasing Number 30: Acid Golem of Destruction’s ATK by 3000 (ATK: 2500 -> 4000) (ATK: 3000 -> 0). Orion attacks Number 30: Acid Golem of Destruction. Helena attempts to activate Magic Cylinder, but Orion activates Trap Jammer, negating the activation of Magic Cylinder and destroying it. The attack goes through.

Helena’s Life Points: 4000 -> 0

Orion wins.

“Impossible,” groaned Helena after the attack. “Chaos xyz… how did you…” “If you want to know, I’ll teach you,” said Orion. He then extended his hand out to the gardevoir, but she slapped it away. “Get off,” she said coldly. “I can get up myself.” She did so. “Alright then,” said Orion trying to be polite as possible. “Okay fine,” said Helena slightly ashamed. “You beat me, and I’m a woman of my word. What do you need me to… assist you with?” “Our house is about a half mile ahead,” replied Orion. “We can explain more up there.” Helena’s gauntlet then glowed brightly and disappeared, revealing her bare arm. “Hm,” commented Orion.

6/13/2013 Route 102, Hoenn Region, 9:25 AM – Upon arriving at the house, even Helena was surprised at the grandeur of the mansion. “It certainly looks big enough for a rock band,” joked Helena dryly. No one laughed. They entered inside. Lucas was dusting the large staircase that greeted the 3 that entered. “Hey guys,” said Lucas. “Who’s your friend?” “This is Helena. She’ll be staying with us for a while.” “Oh, okay,” said Lucas extending his hand to Helena for a handshake. “Hi, I’m…” “Lucas de Silva, I know,” said Helena, accepting the handshake. “I know all about you and your band. Are the others here?” “Sammy and Maddie went to get some groceries, and Scott is still sleeping in his room,” answered Lucas. “Oh, okay,” said Helena. “Now, what is this all about?” “What’s what all about?” asked Lucas, who didn’t know what happened to them. Orion answered him. “Well, she tried mugging us about half a mile from here in a duel against me, and as punishment for losing she’s going to be living with us.” “Wait, so you brought a mugger in our house?” asked Lucas surprised at Orion’s apparent stupidity. “She could rob us all blind tonight! Are you insane?” “Don’t worry,” said Orion with no emotion. “If she steals as much as a butter knife and tries to run away, I’ll kill her myself.” That statement made Helena uneasy. “Plus… show him,” said Orion to Helena. “Your gauntlet.” She then held her left arm as if she was dueling with a duel disk. Her right forearm then glowed a bright white and formed into the shape of her gauntlet. However, the silver and orange pod was perched on top of the wrist dealer and the feathers wrapped around the entire pod, the ends of the feathers now pointed out in the opposite direction as it was when in its dueling mode. Lucas was in awe. Orion then cleared his throat to signal to Helena to turn it into her duel disk. The orange pod then levitated about 2 inches off of the wrist dealer. An arced silver arm on the right side of Helena’s wrist extended up and caught the pod on the bottom of it. The feathers then unfolded out and away from Helena's body, which almost slapped Lucas across the face, as he was looking a little too closely and intently. The unfolding of her feathers revealed the silver and orange pod. Now the gauntlet resembled the duel disk on Helena’s arm when she dueled Orion. “Woah,” said Lucas still in awe. “And you think she is the one?” “I know she’s the one,” said Orion. “When she dueled me, she even possessed a Number. There’s no mistaking it. She is the wielder of Celestia’s Wing.” “Who’s Celestia?” asked Helena confused. “And what’s this about me being the one?” “Let’s go into the lounge,” said Orion.

As they sat down in the comfy looking room, Orion offered Helena a drink. She asked for some water with ice, which Lucas served her with a thin slice of cucumber. She graciously accepted the water. Orion then told Helena their story of their landing in Equestria, the inhabitants that they met and befriended, and the legend surrounding Inverz, the Numbers, Celestia’s Wing, and his Luna’s Horn. He even provided photographs of their time in Equestria as to prove that he wasn’t making this up. She examined the pictures closely to look for any masking and cropping done to see any signs of doctoring. She was surprised to find the pictures were perfectly genuine. “Impossible,” said Helena looking at the pictures. “These… ponies are real?” “As you or I,” said Orion. “And they are soon to be in very big danger, and we need your help into brining peace back to their world when Inverz returns.” Helena was unsure of herself. The assistance he needed wasn’t being asked to do something like painting a house or something simple like she expected. He was asking her to be the savior of an entire world. “I never noticed that necklace before,” said Alex. Helena looked at the gold locket around her neck and quickly pulled it away. “You should have never meddled with me,” she spat. She then ran away from the house. “Wait!” called Alex. “No,” said Orion holding him back. “Let her go. She deserves to try and take this all in.”

6/13/2013 Route 102, Hoenn Region, 9:03 PM – Thunder crashed as Helena sat in a tree observing and awaiting more prey to rob from. She considered pillaging a more modest and safer living than saving a whole world that she never knew even existed. Suddenly, the chain that held her locket snapped and came undone. It fell to the ground, opening up on impact. She jumped down from the tree and picked it up. Before she closed it, she looked at the picture. In it was a kirlia being hugged by a young woman in large circle framed glasses at what looked like a carnival. They both looked very happy. Helena shed a single tear from that memory.

6/13/2013 Route 102, Hoenn Region, 9:07 AM – It started to rain hard in the Lamss manor. Orion was reading a book by John Le Carré in the lounge. After his time in Equestria, he had grown tired of endlessly reading fantasy books and novels. After knowing that a world with real life unicorns, pegasi, and other fantastic creatures existed and was in his reach, the joy and exhileration of the escape wasn't as potent anymore. Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door. He went to the door and answered it. Helena was standing on the other side drenched in rain. Orion quickly stepped aside and held his arm out to welcome her inside. She walked in dripping water on the floor. Orion ran upstairs and found a towel. He ran back down and wrapped it around her. “Thank you,” she said drying herself. “Listen, I may have been rude to you back there but, it’s just…” Orion remembered the locket. “I bet whatever is in that locket means a whole lot to you.” “Yes,” she said. “What is it?” asked Orion. “I’d rather not talk about it,” she said. “I understand,” said Orion. “You can tell me whenever you feel comfortable. But right now, you look cold from the rain. How about a bath?” Helena gave a slight but noticeable smile.

Orion drew warm water into the bathtub, and allowed Helena in. He closed the door behind her, giving her her privacy. Helena stepped into the tub and immersed herself into the water, letting the warmth envelop her. She then heard a noise, but assumed it was coming from downstairs. She paid no mind. After soaking comfortably for 15 minutes, she dried herself with another towel. Suddenly she noticed something. The locket she had wasn’t on the sink like she left it. She then ran out of the room and bumped into Orion. “Orion, have you seen my-” before she could speak, Orion tied a beautiful gold chain around Helena’s neck. She then looked at it and saw her locket hung to it, “My locket,” she whispered. “What did you-” “Maddie lent me one of hers. I noticed that the chain was broken, so I replaced it. I hope you like it.” Helena was heartbroken. The gallade that she tried to rob all but 12 hours ago was treating her with the most love and affection since… her. “Are you tired?” asked Orion. “Yes.” Said Helena yawning slightly. “Come on, he said. “I’ll show you the guest bedroom. Orion let her in. There was a beautiful bed standing in front of a large window. There was a dresser and closet on the right side of the room. “You can sleep here,” said Orion. He then turned to return to the lounge. Before he closed the door he heard her call him. “Orion,” she said. He turned to acknowledge her. “Thank you,” she said. He smiled and closed the door. Helena walked to the bed and laid down. The sheets were so soft and the covers were very warm. Her head then hit the downy pillow and she got the best sleep she had gotten in 2 years.

6/14/2013 Route 102, Hoenn Region, 8:01 AM – Helena awoke to the sound of birds chirping outside. She was awake, but she didn’t want to leave the comfort of the bed she was laying on. She opened the door to her bedroom. And found Orion holding a tray with a plate holding an egg on toast with hash browns and a glass of oran berry juice. “Is this always going to happen when I open up a door?” asked Helena jokingly. “I just thought I’d serve you breakfast,” said Orion holding the trey out to her. “That’s okay,” said Helena. “I’d rather have breakfast with your friends and get to meet them if that’s alright with you.” “Umm… that’s just fine,” said Orion. “I’ll just bring the trey back downstairs.” Helena followed him.

Sitting at the dining room table were all of the band members just finishing with their breakfasts. “So this is who you were talking about,” said Scott to Orion enthusiastically. He then jumped up from his chair and offered a handshake to Helena, who accepted it. “I’m Scott Freeman,” he said, “but enough about me.” “Scott, let the woman eat,” said Sammy. Helena sat down with her breakfast on the table in front of her. “Yes, I know very well who you all are,” said Helena pointing to each member when she called their names. “Maddie Rivers, the drummer. Sammy Morrison, bassist. Scott, keyboardist, Lucas, singer/flautist/rhythm guitarist, and Alex Morrison, guitarist.” “Well done,” complimented Alex. “Yes,” continued Helena. “Melanie and I used to-” she then realized she spoke her name aloud. She then left the room in a huff. Orion followed her. “Helena, please. I know that you may have a tragic past, but you can’t run from it forever. In fact, the only way to chaos xyz summon is to confront any such past.” “I don’t think I can do it,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. “Please, tell me about it. Nobody else has to know. They say the best way to get over something is just to let it all out.” We need to go somewhere private,” said Helena.

They both went to the guest bedroom and locked the door, with Orion explicitly telling everyone not to come near the room. “Okay, tell me about her,” said Orion. Helena took off her locket and showed Orion the picture. “This is Melanie Rose. She was my partner since I was a ralts. I was the first pokémon she ever caught, and since then we were inseparable. She taught me English through the cartoons we used to watch together, and through the music and lyrics your band played and sung.” “You mean Lamss?” “Yes. She had a big crush on Scott, the keyboardist to Lamss, which is why I know as much as I do about Lamss. She would listen to their music all day and night, and being like her, I loved it too.” “How about the gauntlet, if you can forgive me running off topic?” “We were at a recreational fossil excavating quarry, and I found the gauntlet hidden in one of the rocks. When I examined it when we got home, it disappeared, and then I felt a sharp pain in my left arm as I saw the gauntlet slowly appearing on my arm, as if it was being grafted on. I’ve always had the gauntlet since then. I never knew its purpose, but I was able to make it appear and reappear through my psychic powers, which is how I assume you work your wand.” Orion confirmed with a nod. “Then, she discovered Duel Monsters. When we just started to learn how to play, my gauntlet transformed into the duel disk form you see now.” Orion was shocked at how similarly her life reflected his. “We were a magnificent team together, winning many regional titles.” “What happened to her?” Helena sighed at this point. “One night, we were coming home from dinner, and we were attacked by a rival dueling doubles pair who claimed we cheated them out of a win in a past tournament. They challenged us to a game of death, where the losers would be killed. They challenged us to 4000 life points per player. They sadistically beat her down to her last life points. When they finally hit 0, they shot her in the chest. The sorrow and longing to try and save her is what actually got me to summon the Numbers for the first time. With them, I mercilessly defeated the both of them. When I got her to the hospital however, she had bled too much to be saved. After losing her, I felt like there was no kindness in this world to rely on. So I took her deck and I went to spend the rest of my days up until this point robbing people all over Hoenn for sustenance. It wasn’t until I looked at my locket yesterday for the first time in 2 years since the incident happened that I realized how kind you were being to me and how much Melanie would disapprove my actions if she saw what I was doing. So thank you for saving me.” She then hugged Orion, who returned her embrace. “How did you discover YOUR Numbers?” she asked. Orion told her about the tournament they won in Equestria 1½ years ago and how his fear of Trixie called the Numbers to him. They spent the rest of the evening telling their own stories.

6/14/2013 Rustboro City, Hoenn Region, 7:29 PM – “Wow, I can’t believe I’m backstage at a Lamss show,” said Helena looking at everything. She then had a sorrowful sigh. “Melanie would have loved this.” “Then cheer twice as hard for the both of you,” said Orion. “Why?” asked Helena. Orion then shut off all of the house lights. The crowd went wild. The members of Lamss rushed onstage masked by the darkness. Then after a while the music started. The crowd instantly recognized it as the intro to Bridges in the Sky by Dream Theater, screaming and cheering each time a bout of throat singing was heard. Helena hadn’t listened to Lamss since her tragic day, nor has she heard this song, but her spine was tingling at the intro. As soon as Alex’s guitar came on, the crowd was relentless. Even Helena backstage was cheering and moshing. It was honestly the most fun she’s had in a long time.

6/14/2013 Rustboro City, Hoenn Region, 9:34 PM – Lamss had just a couple more songs until the end of their set. But Orion wanted something special here. Scott began playing the intro to Faithfully by Journey. Helena remembered this song especially as Melanie called it her secret love theme between her and Scott, but Helena knew Orion didn’t know that, so she couldn’t blame him. Orion then offered his hand to Helena for a dance. Helena felt like that for giving her a safe bed to sleep in and a roof over her head, it was the least she could do for him. As they danced to Lucas’ sweet voice and Scott's piano, they unwittingly danced onstage, but only noticed when the crowd began cheering them on. Orion and Helena didn’t want to spoil the moment, so they just continued as if it was part of the act. At the song's end, Helena couldn’t pent up the feeling anymore. She then kissed Orion on the lips, surprising him, but then returned the kiss, having developed some feelings for her too in the past day. Orion and Helena then ran backstage. They knew they were equally to blame for any embarrassment caused to themselves, so they didn’t say anything. Instead, they shared another kiss.

8/29/2013 Lilycove City, Hoenn Region, 1:37 PM – Lamss was very busy with their tour as they were to play in Lilycove City that night, but Helena had to make a personal stop. This was the town where Melanie was slain, and she had to make some amends. She went to the Lilycove cemetery and bought a nice bouquet of flowers to lay at her grave. She apologized for all of the hurt that was caused to her that night, and how much pain she caused others through her thieving. She then talked about how she’s touring with Lamss and how it pains her most that she doesn’t get to live her dream with her. She then kissed her fingers and then touched them on her headstone, leaving the flowers there. She then walked back to the car Orion escorted her in with a couple of tears dripping down her face.

10/1/2013 Sunyshore City, Sinnoh Region, 12:30 PM – Lamss was to be meeting a friend at a café in the town. As they approached, they saw a young woman wearing all black drinking a cup of coffee. Her hair was as black as her clothes which was very short for a girl except for the flap that went over her right eye. She noticed the group walking towards them and stood up to introduce herself. “Guys, this is Zelda Crowley, my roommate back in music school.” She wordlessly shook everyone’s hand. “She’ll be helping us with the last month of the tour.” “So you work more with industrial music, right?” asked Alex. “Yeah,” said Zelda. “That’s cool,” said Alex, “that will come in handy for our Halloween styled shows.” “Okay,” said Zelda. “Don’t worry,” said Scott she’s nervous around new people. Just give her some time to open up.”

10/31/2013 Petalburg City, Hoenn Region, 7:29 PM – It was the final show of their long tour and, just like they did every Halloween, they played the Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory album in its entirety. Zelda was backstage adding more electronic elements to certain parts of the songs. They were slight, but noticeable, and they didn’t hinder the show's power. As they finished Finally Free they then performed a second set of darker themed music, such as Toccata and the entire Karn Evil 9 by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, and finishing with In the Presence of Enemies by Dream Theater. After the show, they all rode back to the Lamss manor, anticipating their next trip to Equestria for their lengthened hiatus.

11/1/2013 Route 102, Hoenn Region, 1:35 PM – Alex and Orion were almost done packing up their belongings. Suddenly a car rode up to the manor. A woman with long straight black hair walked out of it. She was wearing a blue blouse with golden-khaki pants. Lucas was packing his car when he saw her. “Charley,” he said, walking over and hugging her. “Lucas,” she said. “How’s the water show going?” asked Lucas. Since Charley came to Ponyville and witnessed Fluttershy’s companionship towards animals, she opted to do the same, so she began working in a dewgong and walrein show at an aquarium in Goldenrod. “Lovely,” said Charley. “It wasn’t easy saying goodbye to the pokémon, but I’m happy knowing I’m going to meet Fluttershy again.” “Well, we’re leaving in about a half hour for the airport, so put your bags in my car.” Charley did as she was told and went in to say hi to everyone else.

Scott was helping Zelda pack her bags, as she decided stay with Lamss after the tour to visit this place Scott was raving about. “Now, remember Zelda,” said Scott. “When we get there, you might feel a little uncomfortable with the inhabitants there.” “Come on Scott,” complained Zelda. “You act like we’re going to a whole ‘nother planet or something. I highly doubt wherever we’re going is going to be a horrible shock.” “If you say so,” said Scott.

Orion and Helena were finished packing, ready to return to the world Orion raved about for 5 months. “Ready?” asked Orion. “Come what may, right?” replied Helena. They both walked to the car to pack their luggage.

11/1/2013 Petalburg City Airport, Hoenn Region, 2:20 PM – Orion and Lucas were finished loading and fueling the plane. They were also the last ones to get on. Orion made his way towards the cockpit. “Hello, this is your captain Orion speaking. We are currently about to begin the flight from Petalburg, Hoenn to Ponyville, Equestria. We will hopefully arrive there within 15 minutes. Today is blue skies from here on out, let’s do this.” He then started up the airplane and flew it out towards the western ocean. When he felt like they were far enough from view, he took out his wand, and made it glow brightly. The brightness enveloped the plane, and then when the brightness subsided, the plane was gone.

Part 1: The Savior Chapter 1: Converging

Just Outside of Seattle, WA. Nov.1st, 2012 A.D. 2:57 PM - A man in his mid-30s was driving down a highway in a perfectly furbished and clean black 2011 Dodge Challenger. This man had a slender face with a slightly pointed nose. He had short, dark-blonde hair that was combed over with a part in the left side of his head. He was wearing a white shirt with a black tie, black trousers, black dress shoes, and an expensive looking suit jacket. He seemed to have a blank look on his face for the entirety of the ride. He then pulled off into an abandoned storage space lot. He drove quietly and silently as he searched for locker number 23. He found it and parked his car with the front bumper to the garage door. He then exited the vehicle and took out a key for the lock to the door. He inserted the key into the lock, but instead of unlocking the door, a red light turned on from the center of the lock. Then, a holographic screen about 24 inches wide and 18 inches long appeared on the door. On it was a dueling field. On the opponent’s side, it had 2 cards face down, an Ancient Gear Golem, 0 cards in its hand, and 3300 life points. On his side of the field, he had 1 card face down, no monsters, 1 cards in his hand, and 400 life points. A text box appeared on the screen that read: WIN THE DUEL ON YOUR NEXT TURN. The man then gave a slight smirk.

Duel Test Program vs. The Man

Program’s Turn: The program attacks the man directly with Ancient Gear Golem (ATK: 3000 DEF: 3000), but the man activates his face down card.

When the man tapped the image of his face down card, another box appeared with the word CARD: with a white box meant for typing text. A countdown appeared below the text starting at 10. The man tapped the white text box and typed in the words LIMITER REMOVAL on the keyboard that came up. A green checkbox appeared on the screen.

With Limiter Removal’s effect, all Machine-type monsters on the field have their ATK doubled (ATK: 3000 -> 6000).

The man then tapped on the face down card on the right in his hand below the field on the screen. Another “CARD:” box appeared on the screen. The man typed in THE HIGH PRIESTESS’ STAFF. Another green checkbox appeared.

With The High Priestess’ Staff’s effect, the man can activate the card from his hand when he controls no monsters. The attack is negated and 500 points of damage are inflicted onto the opponent.

Program’s Life Points: 3300 -> 2800

The program ends its turn. During the end phase of the turn that Limiter Removal was activated, all Machine-type monsters are destroyed, destroying Ancient Gear Golem.

Status: Hand-1 Life-2800 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-2

The man flew threw his turn, activating the cards in his hand and filling out the subsequent text puzzles with ease. GRACEFUL CHARITY. Check. HEAVY STORM. Check. MONSTER REBORN. Check. ALLY OF JUSTICE FIELD MARHSAL. Check.

The Man’s Turn: The man activates Graceful Charity, drawing 3 cards and discarding 2. He then activates Heavy Storm, destroying all spell and trap cards on the field. Next, he activates Monster Reborn, special summoning Ally of Justice Field Marshal (ATK: 2900 DEF: 2600). The man attacks the program directly.

Program’s Life Points: 2800 -> 0

The man wins.

The red dot on the lock grew bright green. Then, the lock unlocked and the man pulled it off the hook-hole in the wall and the hook hole on the door. He then lifted the door about a couple of inches and put the lock back on the door’s hook hole. He then fully opened the door, got back in his car, and drove the car into the garage until the whole car fit in. The storage unit’s door then closed on itself, and on the outside, the lock’s iron bar pulled itself over the hook-holes on the door and the adjacent wall, the body twisted around and shut itself, locking the unit from the outside. The man waited in his car as a blue dot shone from the back wall inside the unit, serving as the only light. A beam then scan the man’s face and eyes as he held up a jack-of-spades playing card with a shiny gold backing with its face to the windshield. A computer’s voice then spoke. “Identification confirmed. Agent Ryan Gosling. Codename: Mr. Jack. Welcome back to the Vegas Bureau. The floor of the storage unit then lowered down like an elevator. The dirty, rusty walls of the garage changed to a futuristic looking interior reminiscent of the Aperture Science Laboratory from the Portal series. The tight walls of the elevator then made way for a narrow pathway from the front where an underground parking lot was visible. Ryan then pulled out of the elevator and parked into the next available parking space. He then exited his car and carried out a small briefcase from the passenger seat. He was then greeted by a middle aged man with wider cheeks but a pointy chin. He had grey hair that reached the back of his neck and he had tired looking eyes. Despite his older appearance, he was still fit and strong, especially for a man his age. He was wearing a black dress shirt with the top button opened up. He was wearing black dress pants, black dress shoes, and a long black jacket that reached just below his knees. “Mr. Jack,” said the older man to Ryan. “Mr. Ace,” responded Ryan. After shaking hands, they both walked out of the parking lot and through the sliding glass doors into the heart of the Vegas Bureau’s headquarters, with many other people dressed like Ryan was.

Manhattan, NY. Nov. 5th, 2011 A.D. 4:01 PM - A young man around 30 was shutting down the laptop on his office desktop. He had medium length jet black hair that wasn’t styled in any way. His face looked very young for someone his age, giving some people the impression that he might be in his lower 20’s. He looked very slender but muscular in the upper body. He was wearing a brown leather jacket, faded denim jeans, and a navy blue Iron Maiden t-shirt. He also had a nice pair of Converse shoes with the British flag decorated on them. He walked down the office to the elevators, he saw a co-worker of his working late. He thought of saying good-night to his co-worker, but knowing that he was a talkative person, he decided to enter the elevators without a word. “See you later, Eli,” said another co-worker to him. He ignored her and pushed the button that would take him to the parking deck.

Vegas Bureau. Nov.1st, 2012 A.D. 3:13 PM - “You haven’t gotten yourself a newer car yet?” asked Mr. Ace. “What’s wrong with mine?” asked Ryan. “I like my Challenger.” “Oh, no that’s fine said,” said Mr. Ace, trying to change the subject. They then headed into a gym where a muscular woman in her mid 30’s was fighting a large punching bag. She had wavy blonde hair and was wearing nothing but a pair of tight black short-shorts and a black sports bra. Knowing of their presence, she gave 2 more hard punches and a hard kick that knocked the bag off of the hook it was hanging from. “Hello, Ms. Queen,” said Mr. Ace. She slung a towel over her shoulders and walked towards the two. “What do you two need?” she said in a distinctive Russian accent. “We are going hunting in about an hour. Get dressed,” said Mr. Ace. Ms. Queen huffed in reply and went towards the changing room.

Ponyville, EQ. Fall. 2:33 PM - As Twilight Sparkle finished posting fliers for the EFDC with Pinkie Pie, a bright light filled the town. The light subsided and revealed a plane flying towards the Ponyville airstrip built for Lamss’ plane for when they would leave and return from and to Ponyville. Twilight and Pinkie Pie decided to greet them at their plane.

Canterlot, EQ. Spring. 4:00 PM - Twilight Sparkle entered into the lower chambers of the Canterlot palace where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were waiting for her. There was panic everywhere after an earthquake hit Equestria. Twilight asked the princess what the source of the earthquake was. Princess Celestia explained what she could to Twilight with an old story of an evil that threatened to destroy Equestria long ago, but required the assistance of a creature called a human from another world to shut the door. Now, the evil was returning and this guardian is needed to shut the gate again. "What should I do?" asked Twilight. "It's just like a manifestation spell," she said, "only much, much harder."

Vegas Bureau. Nov.1st, 2012 A.D. 3:49 PM - Ryan, Mr. Ace, and Ms. Queen walked to a large hanger like room with a strange large device in the middle of it. Ms. Queen was now wearing a black woman’s waist length blazer with a white dress shirt underneath with the shirt collar over the blazer collar. She also had a plain black knee length skirt, light pantyhose, and black heels. Her long wavy blonde hair was styled into a bun and she was also wearing red lipstick. Before being admitted to the room, the three showed the guards their badges and were allowed in.

Ponyville, EQ. Fall. 2:41 PM - The members of Lamss plus Orion made their way off the plane joining them were two others. Helena and Orion were the first out. She looked around wondrously. “Orion,” she said, “Equestria is beautiful.” The second was Zelda. She was wearing a black Aphex Twin t-shirt, an unzipped, black jacket with a hoodie hood stitched along the collar hanging from the back, tight black jeans, and black converse shoes. She looked around her indifferently. Everyone minus the Helena and Zelda were soaking in the nostalgia. Soon, they saw 2 familiar ponies rushing towards them calling their names. Twilight ran first towards Orion, who jumped into his arms and hugged her. Pinkie Pie ran for Lucas, who knocked him on his back and snuggled her face into his, her tail wiggling maniacally. Lucas got back up hugging her. Helena and Zelda looked shocked. Zelda was told what to expect by the others, but they thought they were crazy to believe in a world of multi-colored talking ponies, while Helena was just amazed at the sight of Twilight for the first time. Twilight and Orion then walked towards the gardevoir, who began looking unnerved at the two. “Helena,” addressed Orion, “this is my good friend, Twilight Sparkle.” Helena gave a quaint smile, made a small wave with her fingers and said a soft and nervous, “Hello,” to her. Orion couldn’t blame her nervousness the first time around. “Just give her some time,” said Orion. “Who’s the other girl?” asked Twilight. “That’s Zelda Crowley, one of Scott’s friends from his old school. She can be a bit awkward when meeting new people, but if you open yourself up to her, she’ll do the same to you.” Twilight observed her slightly, interested in her unusual hair and clothing choices.

Vegas Bureau. Nov.1st, 2012 A.D. 3:50 PM - The three people were then met by a man in the same exact clothes that Ryan was wearing. Unlike Ryan though, this man was about 5 years younger than him, he had a square jaw, medium length spiky white hair, and a pair of glasses with circular frames. “Mr. Ace,” said the man, “we have full power and are ready to begin the hunt.” “Excellent, Mr. King,” said Mr. Ace. “Let us go over our mission again.” “With pleasure, sir,” said Mr. King leading them to the large computer about 100 ft. from the machine. “You see here,” said Mr. King, “our computers are telling us that the remainder of the Numbers lie in these two worlds. The strange thing is, the two worlds are almost exactly identical to each other. Same topography, culture, inhabitants, everything.” “Which has more Numbers?” asked Ms. Queen. “That’s what else I was going to explain. About 1 and a half hours ago, in what we shall call for the sake of argument World X, a human aircraft came into this world, and upon entering, we found that over 200 new Numbers emerged. That means these people must also be hunting Numbers, and we called everyone here to see if we can get them before they can.” “Sounds good then,” said Ryan downing the last of his black coffee from a paper cup. “I’ll punch in the coordinates.”

Ponyville, EQ. Fall. 4:02 PM - “Wow, Orion that’s some story,” said Twilight upon hearing of how he and Helena met. It took only 30 minutes or so to walk back to Ponyville, but everyone was too busy catching up with things back at the plane to remember to walk back. Lamss was greeted by a large number of the town’s population. The members of the former Cutie Mark Crusaders found Scott and group hugged with him. Applejack found Maddie and they hugged. Spike ran up to Sammy, giving her a hug. It took a while for Fluttershy to notice Charley, but she couldn’t be blamed, as Charley grew her hair out from her flapper girl haircut to being long and straight down to her mid-back. Nonetheless, it was certainly a happy reunion. Alex felt a little sad that Rainbow Dash wasn’t there to greet him. “Don’t worry,” said Twilight, “Rainbow Dash and Gilda are running some errands. They’ll be back later this afternoon.” “Oh, okay,” said Alex. Soon, Princess Celestia swooped down and stood before her old friends. Everyone but Zelda bowed, who honestly didn’t care too much. Celestia ignored her and welcomed Lamss back to Ponyville to cheers from the audience.

Manhattan, NY. Nov. 5th, 2011 A.D. 4:05 PM - Eli exited the parking garage in his 2010 Toyota Camery, fidgeting around with the radio at the red light.

Vegas Bureau. Nov.1st, 2012 A.D. 4:05 PM - The 3 men and woman stood into the machine with their small briefcases in hand. There was enough space inside for each person to stand 5 ft. away from each other. It looked to be a hexagonal glass cage without a ceiling. The 4 people were standing on a Plexiglas surface. About 5 ft. below them was a propeller with lights on the blades. A man then addressed the 4. “Remember, once we reach full power, we’ll turn on the propeller. The energy we’ve conserved will create a gateway between our world and the one we’ve pinpointed. Once we’ve fully constructed the gateway, the glass underneath you will shatter, sending you plummeting through the gateway. As long as you stay inside the path, you are safe and will land on the planet safely. If you need anything, give us a call and we’ll send it to you. Good luck to you all.” “Thank you, 10,” said Mr. Ace. 10’s were the highest class of operatives in the Vegas Bureau behind the Jack, Queen, King, and Ace (respectfully). The 10 spoke again. “Power has reached 100%. Engaging propeller.” The propeller span very quickly with the lights coming from the blades making a bright disk. The propeller elevated up until it was about an inch away from the glass floor. “Constructing gateway.” The bright white disk then transformed into a doorway for a wide open space with many planets and stars. They spotted the planet they were looking for. It looked so much like Earth, except it seemed to only have one giant landmass, like Pangaea. Ryan then saw a white beam that would connect the two worlds together for safe travel.

Canterlot, EQ. Spring. 4:06 PM - Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia then began performing a spell that would bring this guardian from his world to theirs.

Vegas Bureau. Nov.1st, 2012 A.D. 4:06 PM - Ryan noticed that as their pathway was forming, a similar beam of light was coming from one planet to another. This beam seemed to be headed for another version of planet Earth.

Manhattan, NY. Nov. 5th, 2011 A.D. 4:06 PM - All of the sudden, Eli’s car’s horn began blaring on its own. He got out of his car and started kicking it to see if that would work. People were gathering around this scene. All of the sudden, an invisible force threw Eli out into the sky, to the shock of anybody who was around.

Vegas Bureau. Nov.1st, 2012 A.D. 4:06 PM - “Gateway 100% completed,” said the 10. “No, wait!” shouted Ryan. He then pointed down to the others to show the beam that he saw earlier retracting back to the planet where it came from. Suddenly, the beam then connected with theirs. “Shit,” said Ryan. It looked like their beam was pulling the planet from where the other beam came from into theirs, as the other planet moved closer and closer to their beam. “We’re losing power,” said the 10. “Increase the power,” said Mr. Ace. The ten did as he was told.

Canterlot, EQ. Spring. 4:07 PM - Twilight and Princess Celestia began to look exhausted as they strained with all of their might to keep the spell going. Princess Luna then arrived and began to assist them.

Ponyville, EQ. Fall. 4:07 PM - Princess Celestia’s horn began to glow very brightly. When this happened, Twilight’s began glowing brightly too. They were then pulled by an invisible force into the air. Orion tried to hold Twilight down, but it was no use. All anybody could do was watch their princess and another unicorn be pulled into the sky until they couldn’t see them anymore. Then they saw a beam of light descend from the sky over where Twilight and Princess Celestia were going. The beam landed over by Canterlot.

Vegas Bureau. Nov.1st, 2012 A.D. 4:08 PM - As they saw the other planet get closer and closer, the four operatives saw their beam start to thin, as if it was being stretched. The glass underneath them started to crack. “Get us out of here,” said Mr. King to the 10. “I’m sorry,” said the 10. “All of our override software is getting fried. We can’t save you.” The planet then moved into the beam of light causing it to glow as bright as a sun. The planet then started moving down towards the Bureau’s target planet. Their beam began to “stretch” more and more, leaving larger cracks in the glass. There were flashing red lights all over the room, no doubt from the fact that something was going to go terribly wrong.

Ponyville, EQ. Fall. 4:07 PM - Everyone then saw the gigantic ball of light the size of a planet descend towards Equestria from space. Everyone ran for cover. It was nothing but chaos.

Vegas Bureau. Nov.1st, 2012 A.D. 4:08 PM - On impulse, Ryan then decided to stomp the glass and fully break it. He figured that it would be a safer idea he and his comrades tried to travel through the wormhole themselves and save everyone else inside than if he stood there, did nothing and caused a massive meltdown killing many more people. He kicked his knee high and brought down his foot on the glass. The pressure added from the wormhole made the break much easier. The very moment he heard the glass shatter, he felt a tremendous force pulling his legs downward as he was joined by his other comrades.

Ponyville, EQ. Fall. 4:08 PM - The large planet then descended very fast towards the earth, engulfing Equestria with a ball of blinding light.

Chapter 2: Stuck

Once the light subsided, everything looked back to normal. There was no destruction, death, or anything that would normally follow a large object striking the earth. Alex looked around to see all of the ponies talking amongst each other to find out if they knew what just happened.

Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia woke up in the bottom room of the Canterlot palace and got up, feeling extremely exhausted. Something else was amiss. There was a man in a grey hoodie, stonewashed jeans, and blue t-shirt laying on the floor. “Where are we?” asked Twilight. “Don’t you remember?” asked Princess Celestia. “We summoned the great guardian with our magic.” “No, we were greeting Lamss in Ponyville and then we were whisked away by some weird force into a big beam of light, and then we woke up here.” “I do remember that,” said Princess Celestia. “But how could I be in two places…” she then groaned from her exhaustion. “Twilight, remember that story I told you about the Numbers and how I sent some of them to an alternate Equestria?” Twilight nodded. “I think that that world combined with ours just now and now my memories from both realities have melded into each other.” “Was that what that big ball was that we just flew into?” asked Twilight. “Yes, I do believe it is,” confirmed Princess Celestia. “Then how come I can’t remember what you do?” “A pony as powerful as I can have the strength and will power to not let memories be wiped from my mind like that. It seemed that when your memories of the other world were melded with yours from this world, your memories of this world overwrote the ones from the other world.” I’m so confused.” “I know it’s not easy to understand Twilight, but something did this and we need to find out why.”

Eli then began to wake up. He stumbled around and saw Princess Celestia and Twilight standing before him. “Oh, good. He’s alright,” said Twilight. He then began raging uncontrollably. “Oh God,” he screamed, “I knew it. I knew that this was real. But did I listen to my dad? No, of course not.” He was hysterical to the point of babbling. Princess Celestia then addressed the man. “Human, we mean you no harm.” “Great,” he said, “take me back.” “I’m afraid I can’t do that.” “I know why you sent me, but I’m not like my dad. I’m not fit to be your guardian.” Twilight had no idea what was happening between these two. “Can someone please explain this to me?” Eli then told her about the history of the guardian who saved the world from evil and that he is the heir to the title of guardian. “I’ve never heard of that story,” said Twilight. “Don’t you horses have history books here?” asked Eli flustered. Princess Celestia answered him. “First, we’re not horses, we’re ponies. Next, let me explain this to you, um…” “Eli. Eli Montgomery,” finished Eli. “Eli,” said Princess Celestia, “something strange has happened that has caused the Equestria that called you to merge with this one.” “What?” asked Eli frustratingly confused. “Guards!” called Princess Celestia. Two royal guards appeared in front of them. Eli almost fainted from the sight of a real-life pegasus. “Where were you 5 minutes ago?” asked Princess Celestia to one of the guards. “Guarding the chambers like you asked.” “We weren’t performing any kind of spell, were we?” “No ma’am, you and Ms. Sparkle weren’t here at all.” “Thank you, that will be all.” The guards flew back into position.

“What does that mean?” asked Eli. “Listen,” said Princess Celestia, “the long and short of it is that the Equestria you knew that your father saved no longer exists. As of right now you are no longer the guardian of Equestria.” “Cool,” said Eli unsympathetically, “now send me back.” “Don’t you understand? You were sent here by a powerful device and spell that only existed in your Equestria which is now completely erased. Without it, there is no way of returning you home. You’re stuck here.” Eli then gave out an insane giggle. “Okay, so you’re telling me that not only did I just waste 29 years of my life preparing for something that doesn’t exist anymore, but now I’m stuck here indefinitely?” “I’m afraid so,” said Princess Celestia. “I’m so sorry.” “Not as sorry as you’re GONNA be!” fumed Eli approaching the two ponies. “Your highness. You must see this,” called a guard. Princess Celestia and Twilight were relieved to be excused away from this angry and volatile man in front of them. They went up the stairs as quickly as he could.

They went to the main balcony of the main palace building and looked over the adjacent mountains with a telescope. On a plateau about 4 miles away were 4 people lying unconsciously on the ground. “Hey!” yelled Eli who was coming up the stairs, “I’m not done talking to you!” “How many more humans are going to show up today?” asked Princess Celestia to herself, completely ignoring Eli. Eli instantly went from angry to inquisitive on the sound of humans arriving here. Maybe they know something about what’s going on here, thought Eli. “Humans? Where?” he asked more civilly. Princess Celestia stepped aside to let him look through the telescope. He saw the humans and got excited upon his sighting. “Get escorts to bring them in for questioning,” said Princess Celestia. “Let me come with,” said Eli. “Why?” asked Princess Celestia. “Who knows?” responded Eli. “I think they would trust talking to another human as opposed to a hor- pony. Plus, maybe they know how to send me home.” “Alright,” said Princess Celestia, “but I will be sending Twilight Sparkle with you.” “What?” complained Eli, not comfortable with being around the talking pony. Princess Celestia responded, “They should be allowed to know the inhabitants of this world and be comfortable in their company.” She then stared directly into Eli. “Am I right?” Eli knew that he would be stuck here, and causing animosity with its inhabitants would diminish any chances of getting home. “Yes, your majesty,” sighed Eli. “Wonderful,” said Princess Celestia. A chariot being carried by two pegasi then arrived. Eli and Twilight got in, and Eli scooted himself as far to the side away from Twilight as possible, still uncomfortable being within 10 ft. of a talking purple unicorn pony. He was more anxious to speak with the humans on the plateau. They then began their awkward ride together.

Ryan got up and observed his surroundings. He looked out over the mountainside, and he then found his comrades lying on the ground by him and he remembered what happened to him moments ago. He then went to his iPhone and tried to call the Vegas Bureau. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a response from anyone. Ryan tried again and again, but to no avail. Ms. Queen woke up and also looked around where she was. “What’s going on?” she asked annoyed. “I can’t get back to the Bureau,” said Ryan. “I think that when I broke the glass, I-” “You did what?” asked Ms. Queen angrily getting up. “Why would you do something so stupid? You probably killed all of our men.” “I didn’t know!” yelled Ryan. “The machine shuts off when right after we enter the portal, so I thought if we went through at that moment, we’d prevent the machine from melting down and killing God knows how many more people. Hell, they may be alright, it’s just that they may have lost power after expending so much energy and we can’t contact them. Quit jumping to conclusions just so you can bite someone’s head off.” “Both of you quit arguing,” said Mr. Ace standing up brushing the dust off of his jacket. Mr. King was standing next to him. “We have no idea of what happened back at the Bureau, so we shouldn’t make conclusions that aren’t necessarily true… yet.” They all then saw the chariot carrying Eli and Twilight. They watched as the two royal guards landed and Eli and Twilight jumped out of the chariot. Eli decided to address them. “Hi, my name is Eli Montgomery. You are currently in the land of Equestria.” “We know,” said Mr. Ace. “What do you mean you know?” asked Twilight. “You see, we are travelers of worlds,” explained Mr. Ace, “and we generally study the world we travel to beforehand. We know of the ponies that live here, the towns that make up the nation, and yes, the nation they are consigned to.” “But what are you doing here?” asked Twilight. Suddenly, Ryan’s phone rang. He picked it up and walked away from the group. “Mr. Jack?” said a 10 on the other line. “Oh, thank God it’s you. Is everyone alright?” “We’re fine,” said the 10 on the other line, “but we don’t have much time to chit-chat. The energy used to send you to Equestria drained a shitload of power from the generators and it almost fried them, so I can’t be talking to you across worlds for very long on the little backup power that we have. Anyways, it seemed that what you saw in the portal booth was, well, you know how we said that there were two Equestrias?” “Yeah?” responded Ryan. “It seems that the incident that happened caused the two Equestrias to merge with each other. How it affected the populace, culture, etcetera, we don’t know, but we just wanted to tell you that the generators and the machine are totaled. We have no idea how long it’s going to take to fund the repairs for these machines and how long those repairs will take, and we can’t send you back without those machines working, so you and the others are stuck here indefinitely. Now for some good news: since there were Numbers on the both of the Equestrias that merged, we are seeing that all of the Numbers have traveled with each other and are all in this one. Get all of the Numbers from this world, and we will have finally attained all of them. Don’t let us down, guys.” “I won’t,” said Mr. Jack. Silence. They must have lost power.

“Sorry about that,” said Ryan. He felt much more relieved to know that his colleagues were safe. “Who was that,” asked Eli. “He works for the agency that helped send us here,” said Ryan. “He said that upon traveling to this world, something happened that caused this one to merge with an alternate version of this world. If there’s any damage that occurred because of what happened, I deeply apologize.” “There hasn’t been any damage thankfully,” said Twilight. “Good,” said Eli in a rush. “You said that you can travel through worlds. Can you send me back to mine? I was whisked away from my home world to save this world, but as it turns out, they don’t really need me, so if you could help me-” “I’m sorry,” said Ryan, “but I was also told that the machines used to send people to and from worlds and the generators that power them are completely fried. Until they can be fixed, which could take a long time, you’re about as stuck here as us four.” “Fuck me,” groaned Eli rubbing his neck. “Calm down,” said Twilight. “Equestria is a lovely place and you’ll really like it if you gave it a chance.” “I just want to go to bed,” said Eli, exhausted over everything he’s went through. “Well then, why don’t we see what we can do for you.” Twilight then shined a green beam into the sky. “The Princess will be coming shortly to help us,” said Twilight. “While we wait, let’s introduce us to each other.” Mr. Ace stepped up first. “I’m Mark Chancellor,” he said shaking Eli’s hand and Twilight’s hoof. “Diana Constantine,” said Ms. Queen shaking their hand/hoof. “Chase Simons,” said Mr. King following Ms. Queen. “Ryan Gosling,” said Ryan after Mr. King. “I knew you looked familiar,” said Eli. “Beg pardon?” asked Ryan confused. “You’re a very famous actor in our world. I loved your performance in Drive.” “You must be mistaking me for another Ryan Gosling,” said Ryan. “We live in alternate realities, and while your Ryan Gosling may be an actor, I’m a world-traveling duelist.” “Duelist?” asked Twilight. “As in…” “Duel Monsters,” said Ryan. “Oh, so you know of the game too,” said Twilight. “Yes,” said Mark. “We travel around and look for strong duelists.” “Well then you’re in luck,” said Twilight. “We have some very strong duelists here. In fact, several of them arrived here from their own home world.” “Seriously?” asked Eli in exhaustion, “there are more of these travelers? Jesus, let’s just invite Narnia over while we’re at it.”

Princess Celestia then arrived with pair of guards at each side with 2 pairs of pegasi pulling more chariots. Twilight bowed to her in respect. The 4 members of the Vegas Bureau were intuitive enough to know she was royalty, so they bowed on their knee. Eli stood there confused until Twilight kicked him in the back of the calf, causing him to buckle onto his one knee. “So these are our new guests,” commented Princess Celestia. “Yes,” said Twilight, introducing them to her, “this is Ryan, Chase, Diane, and Mark. They are duelists that have the ability to travel worlds. They seemed to be the ones that caused this incident, but it was an accident and there was absolutely no harm caused. Plus, they require special technology to travel to different worlds, and the incident drained all of their energy and destroyed their machines, so they’re stuck here as well.” “Well then,” said Princess Celestia, “we will try our best to accommodate you all. I assume that the 4 of you would like to stay together.” The 4 nodded in confirmation. “And all you have with you are those bags there?” She pointed to the briefcases on the ground. “Yes,” answered Mark. “Then there’s a hostel in the town of Ponyville I could take you.” “That sounds great. But we prefer to be alone. That means we don’t want this guy here with us,” said Mark acknowledging Eli. “Okay. One, the name is Eli. Second, where am I supposed to stay?” “You could ask one of my friends if you could crash at their place,” said Twilight. Eli knew that he needed a place to stay, and being in the same house as a talking pony would be better than sleeping outside on the street. “Okay, said Eli begrudgingly. “Alright then,” said Princess Celestia, “shall we?” They each entered the chariots. Eli rode again with Twilight, Ryan with Mark, and Diane with Chase. They all began their flight to Ponyville.

Chapter 3: New Allies

The members of Lamss was checking the entire town square and seeing if everything was alright following the massive ball of light colliding with the earth. Strangely, the town was unharmed; not a hair out of place. Alex was relieved that everyone was alright, but he was still worried about Twilight and Princess Celestia. Suddenly, he saw Rainbow Dash and Gilda flying in the sky towards Ponyville. They landed in the town. “Is everypony okay? Is anyone hurt?” asked Rainbow Dash. “No, thank goodness,” said Alex, stepping forward so Rainbow Dash could see him. “Alex!” she cried, flying towards him. Alex gave her a hug. “It’s good to see you two, Rainbow Dash,” said Alex. Rainbow Dash looked at the crowd of ponies, but someone was missing. “Hey, where’s Twilight?” she asked. Alex wasn’t sure how to answer to what he saw just a moment ago. “Look,” cried a pony. “Up in the sky!”

The chariots arrived in Ponyville’s town square as Eli looked down at the colorful array of its inhabitants. Eli was beginning to be unnerved looking at the hundreds of ponies, but suddenly lit up at seeing humans amongst them. These must be those other travelers, he thought. Eli and Twilight got out of their chariot walking towards Twilight’s friends. Orion then spotted her and gave her another hug. Eli had never seen or heard of a gallade before.. He was frozen stiff at the sight of Orion. “Thank God you’re alright,” he said. Alex looked over and saw Orion and Twilight with Eli, whom he didn’t recognize, but figured he was part of that ball of light that came and went. He walked over to introduce himself. “Finally, a human,” said Eli exultantly. “Hello, you must be new here,” said Alex to Eli. “You got that right,” said Eli more openly, shaking Alex’s hand. “I’m Alex Morrison, and I’d like to welcome you to Ponyville.” “Eli Montgomery and- wait you’ve been here before?” “Yes,” said Alex, “it’s a long story.” Eli then pulled Alex aside. “Hey,” he whispered. “I don’t really belong here and I’d like to get back home.” “You mean like you were whisked away here by accident?” “Something along those lines.” “I guess so.” Alex then signaled Orion over to him. Eli was still shocked at the sight of this alien creature. “What’s the matter, Eli,” asked Alex, “you’ve never seen a gallade before?” “What the hell is a gallade?” asked Eli. Alex then looked confused. “Where do you live?” he asked. “Brooklyn, New York.” “Where is Brooklyn?” “Are you serious?” “Super serious. We must be from completely different worlds.” “No shit, Sherlock,” said Eli. “Can’t you just send me back?” “Sorry," said Orion, spooking Eli, “your civilization must be vastly different from ours, and I can only travel between this world and ours. You’re more than welcome to go there, but you’ll be as much of a stranger to our world as you are to this one.” “Besides,” said Alex, wrapping his arms around Eli, “Ponyville is awesome. You’ll love it here.” “If you really say so,” groaned Eli.

The 4 Vegas Bureau agents got out of their chariots and were greeted with warm smiles by the inhabitants. Suddenly, Ryan darted a strange look to Alex. “You!” he yelled pointing at him. Everyone in that general direction turned around. “You in the glasses,” he said being more specific. Alex stepped forward. “Who me?” he asked. “Yes,” answered Ryan. “You must also be new here,” said Alex approaching him. “I’m Alex.” The Vegas Bureau then introduced themselves to him. “I heard you’re a strong duelist?” asked Ryan. “You mean like Duel Monsters duelist, right?” “Exactly.” “As a matter of fact, I am,” said Alex. “Would you care to duel me?” he asked. “Here? Now?” asked Alex. “I don’t know, we just got here, and we’d like to spend some time with our friends if that’s okay. “Not a problem at all,” said Ryan. “In fact, one of the ponies is throwing a ‘Welcome Back’ party for us tonight. Would you like to come?” “I suppose,” said Ryan. “It would be nice to acquaint ourselves with the townsfolk.” “Wonderful,” said Alex. “How about tomorrow then?” asked Ryan. “Tomorrow what?” “We duel. Right here around 9:00 in the morning.” “Okay then,” said Alex. “I will see you then.”

Alex walked back with the rest of his band mates. “I see you’ve met Ryan and the others,” said Twilight approaching Alex. “I dunno,” said Alex. “There’s just something about them that kind of rubs me the wrong way.” “Really? How so?” “Maybe it’s his wanting to duel me within only 15 seconds of knowing me, or maybe it’s the suits they’re wearing, I don’t know, but I’ve seen enough cartoons in my day to know that being an overly nice stranger is always a bad sign.” “I know, right?” quipped in Eli. “I felt the same thing when I met them on the plateau by their palace.” “Guys,” said Twilight. “You shouldn’t judge a person like that. You of all people, Alex. Do you not remember Nightmare Night?” “All too well, Twilight,” said Alex, “but I could actually feel a longing for acceptance from Princess Luna when she was outcast. Here I just feel a bad vibe from those guys. You can do what you want, but I’m keeping a close eye on them.” Twilight sighed in frustration.

When they entered the old theater where, like last time, Lamss would be making their temporary residence, the place was strewn with party decorations: streamers, balloons, cake, snacks, games. It was a normal Pinkie Pie celebration. However the banner that read, “Welcome Back, Lamss,” on it also had “and welcome Eli, Mark, Chase, Diana, and Ryan,” crudely written on it with black marker. Pinkie Pie hopped up to Eli who was next to Alex. “Hi, you must be Eli. I’m Pinkie Pie. Do you like the party? Do ya?” Eli wasn’t exactly hoping for this kind of reception. “Do you by chance have anything to drink?” Pinkie Pie ran over to the snacks table and got some punch for him. Eli was hoping for something along the lines of beer or even a wine cooler, but he didn’t want to be rude, so he smiled and took a sip. And another, until he gulped it down. “That wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but that was really good,” he said. “Well here,” said Pinkie Pie pouring a full ladle into his empty cup, “have some more.” She then ran away to converse with the 4 agents. “Now if I could get some vodka, I’d be in business,” he said. “I can help with that,” said Alex. He then made his way to behind the stage where some pegasus ponies were bringing in all of the luggage from the plane. “Could you do us a favor?” Alex asked them.

Alex and Eli rode with the pegasi back to the plane to get more luggage. Since he was present, he figured this would be a good time to bring in the instruments, as he didn’t like others touching them. “Holy shit,” said Eli, looking at the inside of their plane. “This is yours?” “Sure is,” said Alex. They went inside the plane where Alex went behind the bar. “Wait,” said Eli, “do you have any beer or something?” “What kind do you like?” “Got any Miller Light?” “Once again, we come from different worlds, so we won’t have the same brands of liquor as you do.” “Okay, surprise me.” Alex tossed him a brown bottle. “Oreburgh Ale?” said Eli, looking at the bottle like it was a container of pond sludge. “I like it,” said Alex. “I mean, when it comes right down to it, beer is beer, right?” Alex twisted off his own bottle and took a swig. “Mmm,” said Alex trying his best to make him feel comfortable. Eli twisted the top and took a swig. He was surprised at how good it tasted and how smooth it was. “God damn, that’s some good shit right there.” “Good," said Alex. “Seriously,” said Eli. “If I knew there was beer that tasted this good in your world, I would have tried living there years ago. You are officially my personal Jesus.” “Cool,” said Alex, “but could you help me with some stuff?”

Alex and Eli just finished loading all of the instruments into the back of the loading compartment the pegasi were carrying to and from Ponyville. “So you guys are also a rock band?” “Yep,” said Alex. “Are you any good?” “You can find out for yourself, tonight.” “Tonight?” asked Eli.

Alex came back and found his the other members of Lamss talking with Applejack and Twilight. “Howdy, Alex,” said Applejack. “Long time, no see.” “Same,” said Alex. “I was just trying to hang out with Eli to get him more comfortable here. He seems to be interested in our band, and we just unloaded the instruments in, and…” “Well, then let’s play,” said Maddie. “Okay,” replied Alex. It took a while for Maddie to get her drumset set up but with the help of Pinkie Pie, who set it up the last time, it was no hassle at all. The band got dress into their usual show attire, and made their way back onstage. They all got out the rest of their instruments from their cases, the same ones from two years ago. Orion used the electric and amplification spells to give them power and sound. Lucas tapped the microphone for a test. “Hello, Ponyville,” he called. “For those who don’t know us, we are Lamss, and we are tonight’s entertainment.” The crowd of ponies cheered as the four agents of the Vegas Bureau clapped respectfully. Zelda decided to be a wallflower for the evening, and particularly enjoyed it. Lamss then started playing music, and all of the ponies started dancing. The only ones who weren’t dancing were the 4 agents, who stood and observed the music, and Zelda, who stood and watched the commotion in the house. Pinkie Pie jumped at her, laughing, “Come on, slowpoke,” she said. “The party has just started!” Zelda didn’t like being talked to like a child. “Yeah, I’m just going to be here for a while,” said Zelda lethargically. “Aww, don’t be like that!” said Pinkie Pie, pulling Zelda into the crowd with her hooves. “Come on, there’s plenty of party to go round.” Zelda then successfully pulled her hand away. “Listen, I’m not much of a dancer,” said Zelda feeling a little embarrassed. “Who is?” asked Pinkie Pie. “I mean look at Twilight over there.” She then motioned to Twilight dancing like a total spaz, but still enjoying herself. “You just gotta get into it.” Pinkie Pie then started dancing awkwardly too. Still a little uncomfortable with being forced into the dancefloor, Zelda began dancing the best way she knew how: by recreating Uma Thurman’s dance sequence from Pulp Fiction. She expected a lot of laughing, which was happening, but no one was laughing at her. In fact, Pinkie Pie saw her and was trying to imitate her moves. For most of Zelda’s life, she had been judged for a lot of the things she’s done. It seemed that in this world, no one judged you for something as trivial as your dancing skills. This made her feel a little more open. Plus, there was just something about Pinkie Pie’s exuberant energy that was rubbing off on her. She was having… fun. It felt good. Eli was watching Sammy rock out on the bass. Even for a woman, thought Eli, she’s damned good on that bass. He watched as her hair wound up and down as she swung her head to the beat of the song.

When the party was over, Pinkie Pie and Zelda were talking over by the punch bowl. Whatever it was it was funny, because they were both laughing. The Lamss gang then said goodbye to the last of the ponies in the house when they were approached by Ryan and the other three Vegas agents. “You play very well,” said Ryan. “We’ll see tomorrow how your dueling compares.” “Okay then,” said Alex. Ryan walked away before he gave a friendly wave to him. They were set to stay in one of the hotels that was built by Apple Bloom during the first EFDC. “Holy shit, you guys rock!” said Eli approaching them. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard such a great cover of Spirit of the Radio like that before.” “Oh, so you have Rush in your world?” asked Alex. “Yeah,” said Eli. "Well, that's good," responded Alex enthusiastically. “By the way, if you wouldn’t mind giving me a place to sleep…” “Of course, there’s room for you, silly,” interrupted Pinkie Pie. “During the last EFDC, we added more beds to the inside of this place, so don’t worry. There’s plenty of room for all of you! Well, I’ll see you all tomorrow. Buy Zelda!” She then hopped away. “Bye…” Zelda then remembered that she didn’t even get her name. She quite possibly just made a friend and she didn’t even get a name. Nice one, Zelda, she thought.

Chapter 4: True Intentions Revealed

This chapter's featured card: Number 132: Platinum Scales Wyvern

Xyz Monster Rank: 6 ATK: 2400 DEF: 2000 Attribute: LIGHT Type: Dragon

2 Level 6 Monsters

This card can only be destroyed by battle with another "Number" monster. When a Spell or Trap card is activated during the Battle Phase, you detach 1 Xyz Material from this card to negate the activation of that card and destroy it.

It was 9:00 in the morning, and Alex was waiting at the town square fountain like he and Ryan had planned. He had his duel disk on his wrist. His fingers were interwoven with each other as he held his hands to his mouth, patiently waiting. His other Lamss members, Helena, Orion, Zelda, and Eli all stood by at the theater. Twilight Sparkle and her friends also accompanied. “What are we waiting for?” Eli asked Sammy. “Just watch and see.” He then spotted Ryan in his suit with a briefcase in his hand. He was followed by his other 3 comrades, wearing their same attire from yesterday. “Mr. Morrison,” addressed Ryan. “Ryan,” Alex acknowledged while hopping off the fountain. “You remembered.” “Of course I did. When someone challenges me to a duel, I find it difficult to refuse.” “How about a wager?” “Wager? Wasn’t this supposed to be a friendly duel?” Ryan then unhooked his briefcase. In it was a black D-Pad tablet and the accompanying wrist dealer. Ryan slipped the wrist dealer on his left arm, the deck inside the deck slot, shuffling itself. “I can’t really say that the person who has what belongs to us can be considered a friend,” said Mark. “What are you talking about?” growled Alex confused. “No, seriously,” asked Eli. “What is he on about?” “The Numbers,” Ryan said. Alex gasped. “Yes, I know that you are in possession of Numbers, and we require their limitless power. But first I’ll ask politely: please give me all Numbers that are in your possession.” “No chance in Hell,” said Alex. “Then the bet is decided.”

Ryan then shot a beam from his wrist dealer at Alex’s duel disk, which vanished instantly upon contact. “What is this?” asked Alex. “This will ensure that our hunting goes as planned,” said Mark. “That beam is connected to your extra deck which is on your duel disk. When you lose, all Numbers you possess will become ours.” “Why are you doing this?” asked Alex. “For the same reasons you are,” said Mark. “We hunt and gather Numbers, traveling all throughout different worlds to find them for our own needs, whatever they may be.” Twilight was beginning to regret trusting them. “Hunt and gather?” asked Alex. “No, we came across our Numbers on our own world and are here to prevent an ancient prophecy from destroying this land.” “Enough,” said Mark. “That may be your motive, but it won’t stop us from achieving ours. Ryan, do what you do best.” “Yes sir,” said Ryan emotionlessly. He then tossed his tablet from his briefcase into the air. It landed on his wrist dealer, but strangely, no zones unsheathed from the duel disk. Only a small, scanner like light ran through the small slit where the zones would emerge. There was only the small slit for spell and trap cards, which now looked like it would also be used for summoning monsters. Alex unsheathed his duel disk and drew 5 cards from his deck. Ryan also drew 5 cards. “DUEL!” they both yelled.

Ryan vs. Alex

Ryan’s Turn: Ryan summons Alien Mars (ATK: 1000 DEF: 1000). When Ryan summons an Alien monster, Ryan can special summon Alien Dog from his hand (ATK: 1500 DEF: 1000). Next, Ryan activates Double Summon, summoning Worm Barses (ATK: 1400 DEF: 1500). Ryan overlays Alien Mars, Alien Dog, and Worm Barses to xyz summom Number 199: Lunar Wolf Spirit (ATK: 2200 DEF: 1300).

Ryan places 1 card face down and ends his turn.

Status: Hand-1 Life-4000 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-1

“Holy Christ!” said Eli, surprised at the sight of Ryan’s monster. “Are those real monsters?” “No, they’re holograms,” said Sammy. “Are you shitting me?” said Eli. “You seriously solve problems in this world by playing a childish card game? Come on, someone punch somebody already!” he shouted at the two duelists. “Okay, how about I start with you?” shouted Alex at Eli, getting annoyed at his behavior. Noticing that there was most likely no real bloodshed involved with this game as opposed to fist-fighting, but he’d still get to see some cool violence, he decided to have change of mind for now. “On second thought,” he said sheepishly, “continue with your game.” “Thank you,” sighed Alex frustrated.

Alex’s Turn: Alex activates Ancient Rules, special summoning a level 5 or higher normal monster from his hand, choosing Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord (ATK: 0 DEF: 0). Next, Alex summons Dragunity Aklys (ATK: 1000 DEF: 800). Alex tunes Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord with Dragunity Aklys to synchro summon Nero, the Dragon Warlord (ATK: 3200 DEF: 2800). Alex attacks Number 199: Lunar Wolf Spirit. Because Numbers can only be destroyed in battle with other Numbers, Number 199: Lunar Wolf Spirit is not destroyed. Battle damage is applied normally.

Ryan’s Life Points: 4000 -> 3000

For every 1000 life points Nero, the Dragon Warlord inflicts through battle, Alex draws 1 card.

Alex places 2 cards face down and ends his turn.

Status: Hand-2 Life-4000 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-1

“See?” said Alex to his friends. “He’s not so tough.” “Not so tough?” said Ryan. “Perhaps I should show you my true strength.”

Ryan’s Turn: Ryan activates Pot of Greed, drawing 2 cards. Next, he activates the effect of Number 199: Lunar Wolf Spirit. By removing one xyz material from it, Ryan can normal summon without tributing this turn. Ryan summons Alien Mother (ATK: 2300 DEF: 1500). Next, Ryan activates the trap Planet Pollutant Virus, tributing one Alien monster and destroying all monsters on Alex’s side of the field that don’t have A-Counters attached to them. Then, until after the opponent’s third turn after activation, all monsters Alex summons gain 1 A-Counter. Alex activates Card of Last Will, drawing 5 cards when a monster he controls is destroyed. Ryan attacks Alex directly with Number 199: Lunar Wolf Spirit, but Alex activates Negate Attack.

Ryan places 1 card face down and ends his turn. Alex is one card over the hand size limit and must discard one card.

Status: Hand-1 Life-3200 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-1

Okay, I might have underestimated this guy, thought Alex, but I certainly can’t let him win. I have Adligo on the line here, and I’ll be damned to give the most powerful monster to those bastards. If I expect to win, I have to get my game face on. No mercy.

Alex’s Turn: Alex activates Graceful Charity, drawing 3 cards and discarding 2. Then, Alex activates Monster Reborn, special summoning Dragunity Arma Mystletainn from his graveyard (ATK: 2100 DEF: 1500) (A-C.: 1). Alex then activates Xyz Plant, becoming a monster with the same level as a monster on his side of the field, choosing Dragunity Arma Mystletainn. Alex overlays Dragunity Arma Mystletainn with Xyz Plant to xyz summon Number 132 – Platinum Scales Wyvern (ATK: 2400 DEF: 2000) (A-C.: 1). Alex attacks Number 199: Lunar Wolf Spirit with Number 132 – Platinum Scales Wyvern.

Ryan’s Life Points: 3000 -> 2800

Ryan activates his Card of Last Will, drawing 5 cards if a monster of his was destroyed.

Alex places 1 card face down and ends his turn.

Status: Hand-4 Life-4000 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-1

Ryan’s Turn: Ryan summons Alien Hunter (ATK: 1600 DEF: 800). Next, he activates “A” Cell Scatter Burst, destroying Alien Hunter and distributing A-Counters onto Alex’s face up monsters equal to the destroyed monster’s level (4) (A-C.: 1 -> 5). Ryan then special summons Alien Overlord by removing 2 A-Counters from anywhere on the field (ATK: 2200 DEF: 1600). Next, he activates his Monster Reborn, special summoning Alien Mother from his graveyard. Ryan overlays Alien Overlord and Alien Mother to xyz summon Number 149: Alien Tentacles (ATK: 2600 DEF: 2900). Ryan activates Number 149: Alien Tentacles’ effect. By removing one xyz material from it, Ryan can destroy one monster on his opponent’s side of the field and inflict damage equal to the destroyed monster’s ATK plus an extra 300 for every A-Counter on it, Choosing Number 132: Platinum Scales Wyvern.

Alex’s Life Points: 4000 -> 1100

When Number 149: Alien Tentacles uses this effect, Ryan can’t conduct his battle phase this turn.

Ryan ends his turn.

Status: Hand-3 Life-3000 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-0

“Ow, fuck,” groaned Alex after the attack. “That damage felt real. “Of course,” said Mark. “Our technology has advanced to the point where we can make a duel feel more real than ever, especially with monster attacks.” “You assholes,” yelled Eli. “Don’t mind him,” said Alex extending an arm out to Eli as if to tell him to stand down. “I promise that I won’t lose this. For me, and for all of Equestria.”

Alex’s Turn: Alex activates his face down Immortal Dragon, special summoning Nero, Dragon Warlord from his graveyard (A-C.: 1). Then he activates Dragon Mastery, equipping Dragunity Pilum onto Nero, Dragon Warlord and raising its ATK by 500 (ATK: 3200 -> 3700). When Dragunity Pilum is equipped to a monster, the equipped monster can attack the opponent directly, although the battle damage is halved.

Ryan’s Life Points: 2800 -> 950

Alex draws 1 card due to Nero the Dragon Warlord's effect.

Alex places 2 cards face down and ends his turn.

Status: Hand-2 Life-1100 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-2

Ryan’s Turn: Ryan summons Alien Ammonite (ATK: 500 DEF: 200). When Alien Ammonite is summoned, Ryan can special summon an Alien monster from his graveyard, choosing Alien Hunter. Ryan tunes Alien Hunter with Alien Ammonite to synchro summon Cosmic Fortress Gol’gar (ATK: 2600 DEF: 1800). Once per turn, Ryan can send any face up spell or trap cards on the field to the owner’s hand and distribute an A-Counter on monsters on the field, choosing Dragon Mastery (A-C.: 1 -> 2). Ryan activates the other effect of Cosmic Fortress Gol’gar, removing 2 A-Counters from anywhere on the field to destroy one card his opponent controls, choosing Nero, the Dragon Warlord. Ryan attacks Alex directly with Cosmic Fortress Gol’gar, but Alex activates Xyz Reborn, special summoning an xyz monster from his graveyard and attaching Xyz Reborn onto it as xyz material, choosing Number 132: Platinum Scales Wyvern. Because Numbers can only be destroyed in battle with other Numbers, Number 132: Platinum Scales Wyvern isn’t destroyed. Battle damage is still applied.

Alex’s Life Points: 1100 -> 900

Ryan attacks Number 132: Platinum Scales Wyvern with Number 149: Alien Tentacles, but Alex activates Bye Bye Damage, preventing Number 132: Platinum Scales Wyvern’s destruction, and inflicting double the damage that is inflicted to Alex through the battle.

Alex’s Life Points: 900 -> 700

Ryan’s Life Points: 950 -> 550

Ryan activates Hinotama, inflicting 500 points of damage to Alex.

Alex’s Life Points: 700 -> 200

Ryan places 1 card face down and ends his turn.

Status: Hand-1 Life-550 Monsters-2 Face Down Cards-1

Now I’m really in a fix, thought Alex. He’s got two strong monsters on me, and an attack from either of them will spell doom for Equestria. I just need one good card to turn this all around. Celestia, give me strength!

Alex’s Turn: Alex summons Dragunity Corsesca (ATK: 800 DEF: 700). Next, Alex activates Gift of the Martyr, sending Dragunity Corsesca to the graveyard to have another monster he controls gain ATK equal to the ATK of the sent monster, choosing Number 132: Platinum Scales Wyvern (ATK: 2400 -> 3200). Alex attacks Number 149: Alien Tentacles. Ryan attempts to activate Mirror Force, but Alex activates Number 132: Platinum Scales Wyvern’s effect. By removing one xyz material from it when a spell or trap card is activated during the battle phase, the effect of that spell or trap is negated and destroyed. The attack goes through.

Ryan’s Life Points: 550 -> 0

Alex wins.

Ryan lied on his stomach as he watched about 30 or so cards fly out of the graveyard slot on his wrist dealer and into Alex’s hand. However, the last one didn’t fly to Alex, but to Zelda. She looked at the card and saw that it was Number 199: Lunar Wolf Spirit. Why are one of these cards coming to me? She thought. “Zelda,” called a deep female voice. Zelda frantically looked around to see if it wasn’t someone pulling a prank on her. “Do not be afraid,” the voice said again. Zelda looked at the card in her hand and saw it glowing. Nobody else seemed to notice. “Do not fear me, Zelda,” it said again. This time Zelda felt a slight vibration from the card as she heard the voice, noticing it was the card talking to her. “I will protect you, Zelda. Just have faith in me, and your friends.” The card then stopped glowing. Zelda wasn’t sure what to make of the situation, but knew she couldn’t talk to anyone without sounding or looking insane. She then slipped the card in her extra deck without a second thought, hoping anyone wouldn’t see the look of fright and confusion on her face.

Ryan got up and looked at the frowning Alex. Ryan wordlessly walked away in a frustrated huff, passing by his other 3 comrades. Alex couldn’t help but feel that Ryan's behavior was a bit enigmatic. “Don’t think for one second that you’ve seen the last of us,” said Mark. “We will get those Numbers from you.” Over our dead bodies,” said Helena walking in front of Alex. “So be it then,” said Mark. He then walked away from them with his other two agents by his sides. Alex looked at the cards in his hand. They were all Numbers cards. Alex gave them to Orion. “They must be going back to think up a new strategy," said Eli. He then put a hand on Alex's shoulder and said, "Frankly, I don't know what you just did, but that was great.” “There’s no time to congratulate now,” said Alex. He then addressed all of his friends who were nearby. “Everyone to the theater. Now.”

Chapter 5: Eli's Duty

This chapter's featured card: Koa'ki Meiru Maximus

Effect Monster Level: 8 ATK: 3000 DEF: 2500 Attribute: WIND Type: Dragon

This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card can only be Special Summoned by removing from play 1 "Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru" from your hand. During each of your End Phases, destroy this card unless you send 1 "Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru" or 1 "Koa'ki Meiru" monster from your hand to the Graveyard. Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can select and destroy 1 card your opponent controls.

Everyone gathered inside the theater. It was still a mess from the party the night before. Every human, pony, pokémon, and dragon (in Spike’s case) sat down in a chair. “It looks like this saving Equestria thing is going to be harder than we thought,” began Alex. “Saving Equestria? From what?” asked Eli nervously. Alex explained to him about Inverz and his desire to rule over Equestria by controlling the Numbers. “Now we have these four trying to steal them away from us before we can get that chance.” “Don’t worry,” said Twilight. “We have a guardian here who was supposed to protect Equestria in case danger would befall it.” She pointed her hoof towards Eli, eliciting looks of awe from everyone there. “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he said getting up and backing up. “I already told you that I’m not your guardian.” “But you told me you were yourself,” rebutted Twilight. “Well, I told you wrong. I’m not a savior. I pissed away 29 years of grueling physical training just to be told it was all for naught. Now, I’m just a worthless drafter from New York.” “You’re not worthless,” said Applejack putting a hoof on Eli’s shoulder. “One day, I thought I was just an ordinary farmer mare, and then when Twilight arrived, I found out I was one of the six spirits of the elements of harmony destined to save Equestria when danger would befall it.” “Then why don’t you take your elements of harmony and save it yourself?” said Eli trying to walk away. “The elements of harmony aren’t strong enough to defeat Inverz on their own, especially if he controls even one Number.” explained Twilight. “Now, we need all the help we can get, especially yours.” “I don’t know what I can possibly do now,” said Eli sadly. “Those Number hunters fight with their Numbers,” said Sammy approaching Eli, “but they can only wield them through Duel Monsters.” “You mean,” said Eli looking at Alex, “that I’m going to have to learn that game that you two were playing just now?” “Listen,” said Twilight. “You may not like it, but Inverz will return soon, and when he does, every one of us will be in danger of losing everything we hold dear. You weren’t sent to this world for no reason. Whether you like it or not, you are the guardian in the legend that you yourself spoke of, and we are begging you to help us save Equestria.” Eli looked at the host of ponies looking onto him expectantly. Even in his moment of doubt, he was still looked highly upon by the residents there. Suddenly, Eli felt a spark of responsibility and hope that he never felt before until just now. He then grew a determined smirk on his face. “Alright,” he said. “I’m in. If that Inverz wants to drag Equestria to Hell, he's going to have to keep me from dragging him there first.” The ponies plus Spike all rushed him and hugged him down to the ground. They then all hopped aside as Orion pushed a large chest in front of Eli. “What’s this?” he asked. “If you’re going to learn to play Duel Monsters,” said Orion, “you’re going to need a deck.”

After looking through them all, Eli picked a Koa’ki Meiru deck as his best fit. “Are you sure?” asked Scott approaching him. “That deck is pretty tricky to master.” “Since when is protecting an entire world anything but?” asked Eli. Scott was quite relieved at the positive energy that Eli was exerting now. Zelda then tossed Eli a dark navy blue D-Pad with the tablet already attached to the wrist dealer. “You’re just giving this to me?” asked Eli. “It’s my spare,” said Zelda, “but I never liked the color. It’s yours now, guardian.” She tickled his chin at the last sentence, which slightly annoyed him. “Now, you need to learn the game,” said Sammy, “and I’m going to be your teacher.” “What about Alex?” asked Eli. “Why can’t he teach me?” “He may be an excellent duelist,” said Sammy, “but he can’t teach worth shit. I’ll be teaching you.” “Okay,” said Eli surprised at her feistiness.

The two spent the entire day going over the basics as everyone else cleaned up from the party and spent the entire afternoon learning the harder stuff. “So, when I xyz summon,” said Eli trying to understand. “I stack the cards on top of each other?” “Yes,” said Sammy, “like this.” She took one of Eli’s monsters and placed it on another one of Eli’s monsters. When she did this, Eli went to grab the other card, but Sammy already stacked it on, and he ended up putting his hand on hers. Sammy noticed this immediately and pulled away. “Okay then,” she said brushing off the failed flirt. “Let’s see you do it.” Eli did so without problem. By nightfall, Eli was fully taught and was going to test duel Sammy the following morning. While, everyone else slept, he looked over his deck and memorized each of his new cards effects.

It was bright and early when everyone was up. Twilight and her friends came to the theater to watch Eli duel. “Before we start,” said Alex, “I have laid out all of the Numbers that have been collected between Orion, Helena, and I right here on the back table in the house. We thought it would be a great idea to distribute Numbers between all of us so that if we are challenged by those agents again, any one of use will have as much of a chance to defeat them. I counted, and we have 103 Numbers. There are 17 of us in here now, so that means that we each can have 6 Numbers. Me, Orion, Helena, and Zelda have already picked ours, and now, you can go and get yours.” Each pony and human without a Number went to get them. Eli knew that most of his deck was comprised of level 4 monsters, so he resolved to find as many rank 4 Numbers as possible (plus a level 3, because his deck had a couple of those). He then reached to one that caught his eye, and as he was about to pick it up, a hand was placed on his in an attempt to get it first. He looked up and saw that the hand was Sammy’s. He then made a smug look at her. “Whatever,” said Sammy taking her hand off, “you can have it.” She then looked for others.

By the time everyone was done picking, there were still 6 Numbers on the table. “Hey,” said Pinkie Pie. “There’s still 6 Numbers.” She then leapt toward them with great energy. “Finders keepers!” she yelled. “Hold it,” said Alex. Pinkie Pie stopped in midair and landed right back where she jumped at the confusion of everybody. “Zelda,” said Alex. “Why didn’t you pick any Numbers?” “I already have one,” said Zelda patting her extra deck case. “But-” “I’ll be fine,” said Zelda firmly. “Really.” “Personally, I think Eli should get the last 5 Numbers,” said Twilight, “as he is the guardian and should be allowed to more access to them.” Everyone else concurred in agreement. Eli went to the table and put the other 6 numbers in his extra deck case. “Now that we’re all on even terms,” said Sammy. “It’s time to duel,” she said to Eli. They both made their way onto the stage. Sammy unsheathed her duel disk as Eli unsheathed his. “Cool,” giggled Eli at the first sight of it. They then each drew 5 cards from their decks. “DUEL!” they both yelled.

Eli vs. Sammy

Eli’s Turn: Eli summons Koa’ki Meiru Hydro Barrier in defense position (ATK: 1000 DEF: 1900).

Eli places 2 cards face down and ends his turn.

Status: Hand-3 Life-4000 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-2

“I guess I forgot to tell you that I’m the queen of the OTK where I come from,” said Sammy. “What the hell is a OTK?” asked Eli confused. “You’re about to find out,” said Sammy smiling.

Sammy’s Turn: Sammy activates Painful Choice, choosing 5 cards from her deck and having Eli choose one of them. He chooses Laval Burner. Laval Burner is added to Sammy’s hand, but the other 4 are sent to the graveyard. Sammy then special summons Laval Burner from her hand, as she has 3 other Laval monsters in her graveyard (ATK: 2100 DEF: 1000). Eli activates Automatic Laser, revealing an Iron Core of Koa’ki Meiru in his hand to destroy Laval Burner. Sammy then normal summons Flamvell Guard (ATK: 100 DEF: 2000). Sammy then activates Rekindling, special summoning as many FIRE monsters with 200 DEF from her graveyard, choosing Laval Magma Cannoneer (ATK: 1700 DEF: 200), Tender of the Laval Volcano (ATK: 100 DEF: 200), and Flamvell Firedog (ATK: 1900 DEF: 200). Sammy tunes Laval Magma Cannoneer with Flamvell Guard to synchro summon Lavalval Dragon (ATK: 2000 DEF: 1100). Sammy tunes Flamvell Firedog with Tender of the Laval Volcano to synchro summon Laval Dual Slasher. When Tender of the Laval Volcano is sent from the field to the graveyard when another Laval monster exists in her graveyard, Sammy can send one Laval monster from her deck to her graveyard. Eli activates the effect of Koa’ki Meiru Hydro Barrier, sending one Iron Core of Koa’ki Meiru from his hand to the top of his deck to negate the effects of all face up effect monsters on the field. Sammy attacks Koa’ki Meiru Hydro Barrier with Lavalval Dragon. Next, Sammy attacks Eli directly with Laval Dual Slasher.

Eli’s Life Points: 4000 -> 1600

Sammy ends her turn.

Status: Hand-3 Life-4000 Monsters-2 Face Down Cards-0

“Lucky bastard,” laughed Sammy. “I have my days,” said Eli proudly. Now, he thought, let’s really get this duel rolling.

Eli’s Turn: Eli activates Core Compression, revealing an Iron Core of Koa’ki Meiru in his hand and discarding a Koa’ki Meiru monster to draw 2 cards. Eli summons Koa’ki Meiru Speeder (ATK: 1200 DEF: 2200). Next, Eli activates Core Reinforcement, special summoning a Koa’ki Meiru monster from his graveyard, choosing Koa’ki Meiru Hydro Barrier. Eli overlays Koa’ki Meiru Hydro Barrier and Koa’ki Meiru Speeder to xyz summon Number 17: Leviathan Dragon (ATK: 2000 DEF: 0). Eli activates Number 17: Leviathan Dragon’s effect. By removing one xyz material from it, its ATK raises by 500 (ATK: 2000 -> 2500). Eli attacks Lavalval Dragon with Number 17: Leviathan Dragon.

Sammy’s Life Points: 4000 -> 3500

Eli places 1 card face down and ends his turn.

Status: Hand-1 Life-1600 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-1

Sammy’s Turn: Sammy activates Battle Waltz, summoning a token with the same ATK, DEF, level, attribute, and type as a synchro monster on Sammy’s side of the field, choosing Laval Dual Slayer. Sammy overlays Laval Dual Slayer and the Waltz Token to xyz summon Number 61: Volcasaurus (ATK: 2500 DEF: 1000). Sammy activates Number 61: Volcasaurus’ effect. By removing one xyz material from it, Sammy can destroy one monster on the field and inflict damage equal to the monster’s original ATK, choosing Number 17: Leviathan Dragon. Eli activates Damage Diet, halving the damage.

Eli’s Life Points: 1600 -> 600

Sammy places 1 card face down and ends her turn.

Status: Hand-2 Life-3500 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-1

“You know,” said Sammy, “for a newbie, you really know how to struggle well.” “Like I said,” said Eli proudly, “I have my days. But today is not yours.”

Eli’s Turn: Eli activates Pot of Greed, drawing 2 cards. Next, Eli summons Koa’ki Meiru Urnight (ATK: 2000 DEF: 1500). Once per turn, by revealing a Iron Core of Koa’ki Meiru in his hand to special summon a level 4 or lower Koa’ki Meiru monster from his deck, choosing Koa’ki Meiru War Arms (ATK: 1400 DEF: 1200). Eli overlays Koa’ki Meiru War Arms with Koa’ki Meiru Urnight to xyz summon Number 164: Crystalline Chimera (ATK: 2700 DEF: 1200). Next, Eli activates the effect of Koa’ki Meiru Maximus from his hand, banishing an Iron Core of Koa’ki Meiru from his hand to special summon it (ATK: 3000 DEF: 2500). Eli activates Number 164: Crystalline Chimera’s effect. By removing 1 xyz material from it, he can destroy all spell and trap cards on the field. Next, Eli activates the effect of Koa’ki Meiru Maximus, destroying one card on the field during the main phase, choosing Number 61: Volcasaurus. Eli attacks Sammy directly with Number 164: Crystalline Chimera.

Sammy’s Life Points: 3500 -> 800

Lastly Eli attacks Sammy directly with Koa’ki Meiru Maximus.

Sammy’s Life Points: 800 -> 0

Eli wins.

“Ho…” said Alex in awe. “ly… said Scott in awe. “shit,” they both said together. “Alight!” shouted Eli jumping into the air in celebration. “I can’t believe I won my first duel!” Everyone else in the house cheered. He then looked a bit embarrassed seeing himself acting this way over a card game, but he got over it rather quickly. Whatever, thought Eli, if this is a national pastime where these guys are from and it’s going to help me save the world, fuck ‘em if I’m not allowed to celebrate. Sammy walked over to Eli. “You dueled real good,” she said. “You’re ready.” She then extended her hand in a handshake. He pleasantly accepted the handshake.

“I thought I heard it coming from the theater,” said a young voice. Three young fillies ran into the theater. Everyone except Eli, Zelda, and Helena recognized them as Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo, formerly known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They beamed at seeing all of their human friends, especially Scott, for the first time in two years. “Scott!” the cried running towards him, “You made it!” Scott opened his arms wide and hugged the 3 young ponies. “Oh, I missed you too,” said Scott. “The registration for the EDFC is tomorrow,” said Scootaloo. “I heard,” said Scott. “Who are they?” asked Eli a little louder than he would have liked. “Eli, these are my friends: Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo,” said Scott pointing to each pony as he named them. "Hi, Eli," said the three fillies with smiles on their faces. "Hey," said Eli. He was becoming much more comfortable being around the ponies now that he felt fully accepted by all of them. “Are y’all planning on joining?” asked Apple Bloom. “Of course,” said Alex. He didn’t want them to know about the Numbers, as if they did, their overwhelming sense of heroism would have them finding some way to get Numbers and put themselves at risk when confronted by the Vegas Bureau agents. “That’s cool,” said Sweetie Belle. “Here’s a brochure.” Sweetie Belle then took out a small booklet from her saddlebags and handed it to Alex. “Well, we don’t need a booklet,” said Alex. “We still know the rules from two years ago.” Twilight stepped in. “Well, actually…”

Chapter 6: High in the Sky

This chapter's featured card: Number 164: Crystalline Chimera

Xyz Monster Rank: 4 ATK: 2700 DEF: 1200 Attribute: EARTH Type: Winged-Beast

2 Level 4 Monsters

This card can only be destroyed by battle with another "Number" monster. Once per turn, you can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card to destroy all Spell and Trap Cards on the field.

In the inside of a jewel encrusted cave where the Vegas Bureau was now making its residence, Ryan was sitting in his bed in a t-shirt and jeans looking at the brochure for the tournament that was going to happen in Equestria in a few days. In their timeline, they have mastered subspace technology through their D-Pads. Sometimes, Number hunting would involve going to a world where there weren’t many places to rest comfortably, so they would download beds and other things onto their D-Pad and materialize them into existence once again. This process also saved much space in clothes, personal effects, and transportation if needed. Ryan examined the rules:

Equestrian Friendship Dueling Competition

Beginning one week from today, registration for the Equestrian Friendship Dueling Competition will commence. Rulebooks concerning the game being played will be handed out by various vendors in the towns of Equestria. Registry for a deck, duel disk, a scooter for riding duels, and free housing for your stay in the tournament will cost 10 gold coins. A ball will also be held the evening before the competition starts, so dress sharp.

Rules for the Equestrian Friendship Dueling Competition

1. Competitors must duel in teams of two; no exceptions.

2. The competition is eligible to all ages, genders, breeds, and species.

3. Each team member has 5 Monster and 5 Spell/Trap card zones.

4. There are two sides of the playing field, with a team of two occupying 1 side.

5. Each player uses their own decks and controls their own cards.

6. Each team shares 1 graveyard (1 graveyard per team).

7. Each team is given 8000 life points at the start of a duel. If a team’s life points reach 0, then they lose the duel.

8. Teammates can’t control another teammate’s monster. With permission from their teammate, however, they can use another teammate’s monster(s) to assist in a tribute summon, special summon, ritual summon, fusion summon, synchro summon, or xyz summon. Any other non-standard controlling of a teammate’s monster is prohibited.

9. No teammate can declare a direct attack unless there are no monsters on the opposing team’s side of the field.

10. There can only be 1 field spell active on the field at a time.

11. Each teammate can have 3 or less copies of any given card in their deck or extra deck (6 copies of any given card per team).

12. Teammates can talk amongst each other, compare hands, and share information with each other as long as it doesn’t break sub-rule iii of rule 13.

13. Any of the following instances and practices before, during, or after any duel will result in an immediate expulsion from the competition:

i. Stacking the deck

ii. Having four or more copies of the same card in your deck

iii. Looking at the hand/deck of an opponent that wasn’t allowed by a card effect (if a player forces/tricks you into seeing their hand/deck if it wasn’t allowed by a card effect, it will result in their immediate expulsion)

iv. Turning off the auto-shuffle function on the duel disk

v. Drawing extra cards than instructed from a card’s effect/draw phase.

vi. Marking your cards

vii. Shuffling cards in your graveyard

viii. Breaking Rule 8 (not to be confused with viii in this list)

ix. Bullying, harassing, etc.

x. (For Riding Duels Only) Intentionally incapacitating an opponent (by means of tripping, rough physical contact, etc.).

xi. (For Riding Duels Only) Intentionally keeping a far distance from and/or evading your opponent (there is a 200 foot maximum distance of which you are to be separated; 400 foot maximum distance for duels involving 2 flyers).

xii. (For Riding Duels Only) Not following the intended circuit (this doesn’t apply to duels involving 2 flyers).

14. Duels will take place over the course of a 24 hour period, starting at midnight and ending at midnight the next morning. You should duel as much as possible. The finals will consist of 8 teams competing in a bracket. Placement in the finals will be determined the following morning at 10 AM day by the amount of wins over losses that each team makes in that time period. You cannot duel any given team more than once. If 8 or more teams by chance tie for best winning/loss record, placement in the finals will be chosen through lottery.

15. Before a match starts, the teams can choose and agree to play in one of four ways:

A. Standard Doubles: Two on two play that follows the above rules.

B. Relay: Follows the same basic principles of normal one on one dueling. Starts as a one on one battle, with the two starting players starting with 4000 life points. When one teammate’s life points hits 0, the other teammate continues the duel with 4000 life points using whatever cards were on their teammate’s field when they lost in the exact positions they were in when their life points reached 0. On the turn in which any players' life points reach 0, it will immediately go to to the End Phase of that turn. Teammates can also switch at any time, using whatever cards were on their teammate’s field when they switched in the exact positions they were in when they switched. Switching can only happen once per duel. Switching at any given time will bring your turn into the End Phase. Teammates cannot share decks, hands, or graveyards during the match/switch. The teammates can still share information with each other as long as it doesn’t break sub-rule iii of rule 13. If the second duelist’s life points reach 0, they lose the match.

C. Standard Doubles (Riding): Follows the basic principles of standard doubles mode, but will be played with the field spell Speed World 2. This cannot be removed, destroyed, replaced, nor can the effects of it be negated. Each teammate must be in continuous motion throughout the duel (by running, flying, or use of a vehicle) and must maintain a speed of at least a canter down a continuous and easy to follow circuit. A pause or reduction in speed for over a minute from any teammate will result in that team forfeiting the match. If any teammate is unable to adhere to the rules of Rule 15 Mode C, either because of physical/natural/health complications, they don’t have the cards necessary, or any other reason, they cannot play in modes C or D.

D. Relay (Riding): Follows the basic principles of relay mode, but using riding duel elements shown in Rule 15 Mode C.

Rules for the Equestrian Friendship Dueling Competition Finals

1. Follow the rules of 1 – 13 in Rules for the Equestrian Friendship Dueling Competition.

2. If a team loses a match, they are ineligible to continue playing in the tournament.

3. Before a match starts, one of the four modes in Rule 14 will be chosen at random. The teams who will conduct in a riding duel must be required to fly (special modifications will be made to ensure that those who can’t fly can).

4. The winning team of the tournament will be eligible to compete against the rulers of Equestria, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in a standard doubles match. If the team defeats Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in that duel, they will be granted one wish. Losing against them will not affect their status of their place in the tournament.

Ryan looked around at the cave walls, which were littered with gems of various colors. “How much do you think these gems are worth?” he asked. “Why do you ask?” asked Chase. “It says we need a fee to enter this tournament, and we don’t have any money for this world, but I suppose that we could get something from the gems in here.” “Don’t you think they’d have the same value in our world?” asked Chase. “I mean, they are gemstones.” “Well, they can’t be too valuable,” said Ryan. “I saw some purple dragon yesterday chomping them down like potato chips. If these gems serve as food to the creatures here, then what kind of value is there in that?”

Unbeknownst to them, they were being spied on. “Look at all those gems,” whispered a high pitched, raspy, nasally voice. “There must be hundreds of them!” said another. Diana was finishing bathing in a pool of water that was in the cave. “It’s amazing how pristine the water is here,” she said, “especially in these caves.” She got dressed in a white turtleneck and black pants with a pair of sturdy slip-ons. “As happy as I am about your amazing bath-time experiences,” said Chase annoyed, “we need a way to apply to that tournament.” Diana scoffed him off. She didn’t notice the eyeball spying on them through the cave wall as she walked on top of it to her bed. Suddenly, a grayish brown dog like creature wearing a red vest popped out of the ground screaming with his hand over his eye. Diana was quick on her feet and kicked the dog in the groin causing it to fall over in pain. A shorter dog like creature with a more bulldog-like appearance popped through the hole. “Rover,” it said. “What happened?” Ryan grabbed the dog by the scruff and slammed it down on the ground. He then turned it over onto its back, held him by its collar and held his free fist 6 inches above the dogs face, ready to strike if he did anything funny. Another dog then came out of the hole. It was much larger than the other two and had grayish blue fur. It lunged at Diana, who easy stopped his charge by using its momentum to flip the dog over onto its back, which seemed to cause it a great deal of pain. She then ran over to it, sat on its throat on her knees and put a gun thrown to her by Chase against the creature’s temple.

“Please don’t kill me,” whimpered the blue dog. “Why not? You invade our temporary home, and then you attack us.” She then dug the gun deeper into his head, causing the dog to whimper in fright. “Wait,” said Ryan, letting go of the bulldog creature and kneeling next to the red vested one. Chase turned his aim on the bulldog. The only thing keeping the red vested dog from jumping Ryan was his deathly stare. “See these gems?” “Yeah,” said the blue dog carefully as to not say something that would cause the woman with the gun from killing it. “Do you know how much their value is?” “I do,” said the dog with the red vest. Chase aimed his gun at it, causing it to sigh and raise its arms in surrender. “Yeah? How much?” “We covet them, yes?” “That’s not a number,” said Ryan getting agitated. “What do you want? We can try to supply it to you,” said the red vested dog. “Coins.” “Huh?” “Gold coins. We need at least 40 to enter that tournament in Ponyville.” “That’s it?” said the red vested dog feeling relieved at the simplicity of this bargain. “You say you covet these gems, so how about this,” said Ryan. “You can have all of the gems here in this cave for all of the gold coins in your possession, but if the amount of coins you have doesn’t add up to 40, we paint these walls with your blood.” All three dogs got scared of the prospect of dying. “Second, if you make any attempts at resisting us, we paint these walls with your blood.” “Alrighty. It’s a deal,” said the red vested dog nervously. “We shall get those coins for you in a jiffy.” Diana dismounted the large blue one. Chase also lowered his weapon at the bulldog. The three disappeared down the hole.

“We have to duel nonstop for 24 hours?” asked Sammy with her human and pony friends down a dirt road to the top of the mountain where she faced Trixie and Gilda for the first time. “Good luck if you can get me to last 8 hours.” “It’s apparently something to help build your endurance,” said Rainbow Dash. “So can someone tell me why we’re going to the top of this mountain?” asked Eli. “I’m going to teach you about the awesomeness that is riding duels,” said Rainbow Dash. “Riding duels?” “Yeah,” said Pinkie Pie bouncing up next to them. “They’re super fun!” “What isn’t fun with you?” tiredly asked Eli. Pinkie Pie just giggled at his question.

Once they arrived at the top, Eli stood close enough to the edge as comfortably possible. “Would you look at that view.” He saw the open plains that made up a large part of Equestria and the whole of Ponyville in the center of it all. It was certainly an amazing sight to behold. Of a sudden, a large bird around 5 ft swooped up from the cliff’s edge and landed next to the group. Spike hadn’t actually seen the fully evolved form of pidgey before and cowered behind Sammy. “What is that thing?” he asked frightened. “I agree,” asked Eli matching Spike’s fear, “what the hell is that?” Fluttershy flew up to it and rubbed its plumage with her hoof. “This is a pidgeot,” she said quaintly. “It’s a creature from Lamss’ homeworld.” The bird then walked up to the frightened Eli and rubbed its head against Eli’s stomach. “I think it likes you,” giggled Fluttershy. Eli then tried to comfort it by stroking down its neck with both hands. It seemed to do the trick, as the pidgeot decided to stand by Eli for the rest of the day. "Well, I'll be damned," sighed Eli at the mejestic sight of the bird. “Now that that’s out of the way,” said Rainbow Dash, “let’s talk about riding duels.”

There really wasn’t much to explain here, just a quick run-through of Speed World 2 and giving Eli some speed spells to duel with and that was it. “Cool,” said Eli. “Who am I facing?” Rainbow Dash then flew out 20 ft away from the mountain. “Me!” she said. “Just try to keep up.” She then flew away. “Wait!” he called. “How am I supposed to catch up if I can’t fly?” Suddenly he felt a grip at his waist, and saw the pidgeot’s talons wrapped around them. “Woah, what the fu-” “You’ll probably need this,” said Sammy tossing Eli his duel disk. He put it on his wrist. “Good luck!” On those words the pidgeot flew up into the air while Eli screamed for dear life. The pidgeot then dove down picking up speed. Eli tried to scream more but he was out of breath. The bird then leveled itself and Eli so that Eli’s stomach was facing the ground far below him. He then extended his arms out to his sides. “Holy shit, I’m flying!” whispered Eli. "I'm flying, Jack!" he screamed in delight. “Glad to see that you caught up,” said Rainbow Dash. “Ready to go now?” “You know it,” said Eli smiling. He unsheathed his duel disk and drew 5 cards, hanging on to them for dear life. Rainbow Dash did the same. “DUEL!” they both yelled.

Rainbow Dash vs. Eli

Rainbow Dash’s Turn: RD:1 E:0 Rainbow Dash summons Gusto Gulldo in defense position.

Rainbow Dash places 1 card face down and ends her turn.

Status: Hand-4 Life-4000 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-1

Eli’s Turn: RD:1 E:1 Eli summons Koa’ki Meiru Bergzak (ATK: 2000 DEF: 200). Eli attacks Gusto Gulldo. When Gusto Gulldo is sent from the field to the graveyard, Rainbow Dash can special summon a level 2 or lower Gusto monster from her deck, choosing Gusto Egul in defense position (ATK: 200 DEF: 400). With Koa’ki Meiru Bergzak’s effect, when it destroys a monster by battle, it can attack again. Eli attacks Gusto Egul. When Gusto Egul is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, Rainbow Dash can special summon a level 4 or lower non tuner Gusto monster from her deck, choosing Gusto Thunbolt in defense position (ATK: 1500 DEF: 1200). Eli attacks again with Koa’ki Meiru Bergzak. When Gusto Thunbolt is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, she can special summon a Gusto monster with 1500 or less DEF from her deck, choosing Windaar, Sage of Gusto (ATK: 2000 DEF: 1000).

Eli places 1 card face down. During the end phase, Eli must discard an Iron Core of Koa’ki Meiru or reveal a Warrior-type monster in his hand or he must destroy Koa’ki Meiru Bergzak. He reveals a Koa’ki Meiru Rooklord.

Eli ends his turn.

Status: Hand-4 Life-4000 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-1

Rainbow Dash’s Turn: RD:2 E:2 Rainbow Dash summons another Gusto Egul. Rainbow Dash tunes Windaar, Sage of Gusto with Daigusto Egul to synchro summon Daigusto Eguls (ATK: 2600 DEF: 1800). Next, Rainbow Dash activates the trap Blessings for Gusto, sending 2 Gusto monsters from her graveyard to her deck to special summon another Gusto monster from her graveyard, choosing Windaar, Sage of Gusto. Daigusto Eguls attacks Koa’ki Meiru Bergzak.

Eli’s Life Points: 4000 -> 3400

Rainbow Dash attacks Eli directly with Windaar, Sage of Gusto.

Eli’s Life Points: 3400 -> 1400

Rainbow Dash places 1 card face down. During her end phase, Rainbow Dash can remove from play 1 WIND monster from her graveyard to destroy one face down card, destroying Eli’s face down card.

Rainbow Dash ends her turn.

Status: Hand-3 Life-4000 Monsters-2 Face Down Cards-1

Eli’s Turn: RD:3 E:3 Eli summons Koa’ki Meiru Urnight (ATK: 2000 DEF: 1500). Once per turn, he can reveal an Iron Core of Koa’ki Meiru in his hand to special summon a Koa’ki Meiru monster from his deck, choosing Koa’ki Meiru Tornado (ATK: 1500 DEF: 1200). Eli then activates Koa’ki Meiru Tornado’s effect, returning an Iron Core of Koa’ki Meiru to the top of his deck to destroy all special summoned monsters his opponent controls. Eli overlays Koa’ki Meiru Tornado with Koa’ki Meiru Urnight to xyz summon Number 164: Crystalline Chimera (ATK: 2700 DEF: 1200). Eli then activates its effect. By removing one xyz material from it, all spells and trap cards on the field are destroyed. Eli attacks Rainbow Dash, directly.

Rainbow Dash’s Life Points: 4000 -> 1300

Next, Eli activates the speed spell Angel Baton, drawing 2 cards and discarding 1.

Eli places 1 card face down and ends his turn.

Status: Hand-2 Life-2700 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-1

Rainbow Dash’s Turn: RD:4 E:4 Rainbow Dash activates her Angel Baton, drawing 2 cards and discarding 1. When Gusto Grif is discarded from her hand, she can special summon a Gusto monster from her deck, choosing Reeze, Whirlwind of Gusto (ATK: 1900 DEF: 1400). Next, Rainbow Dash summons another Gusto Egul. Rainbow Dash tunes Reeze, Whirlwind of Gusto with Gusto Egul to synchro summon Daigusto Grif (ATK: 2100 DEF: 1300). Then, Rainbow Dash activates the speed spell Overboost, gaining 4 speed counters (SpC.: 4 -> 8). Rainbow Dash activates Daigusto Grif’s effect. By removing 8 speed counters ( 8 -> 0), she can remove from play materials listed on a WIND synchro monster in her extra deck and special summon it (this is counted as a synchro summon), removing from play Reeze, Whirlwind of Gusto and Gusto Egul to special summon Daigusto Sphreeze (ATK: 2000 DEF: 1300). When Daigusto Sphreeze is synchro summoned, Rainbow Dash can add a Gusto monster from her graveyard to her hand, choosing Gusto Grif. Rainbow Dash tunes Daigusto Sphreeze with Daigusto Grif to accel synchro Sonic Rainboom Phoenix (ATK: 3300 DEF: 2500). Rainbow Dash attacks Number 164: Crystalline Chimera, but Eli activates Mirror Force, destroying Sonic Rainboom Phoenix. During the end phase of the turn Sonic Rainboom Phoenix was destroyed by an opponent’s card, Rainbow Dash can remove one WIND synchro monster in her graveyard from play to special summon Sonic Rainboom Phoenix from her graveyard and inflict damage equal to half of the ATK of the banished monster, choosing Daigusto Eguls.

Eli’s Life Points: 1400 -> 100

Rainbow Dash ends her turn. Because of Overboost’s effect, Rainbow Dash’s speed counters become 1 at the end phase (SpC.: 0 -> 1).

Status: Hand-2 Life-1300 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-0

Eli’s Turn: RD:2 E:5 Eli activates Synchro Defuse, taking control of Sonic Rainboom Phoenix. Eli attacks Rainbow Dash directly with Number 164: Crystalline Chimera.

Rainbow Dash’s Life Points: 1300 -> 0

Eli wins.

Rainbow Dash and the pidgeot carrying Eli flew up to the edge of the cliff where their friends were watching. “You’re getting really good at this,” said Rainbow Dash to Eli. “I can see why you’d be chosen as the guardian of Equestria.” Eli smirked and said, “For someone who could inflict 3900 points of damage to me without the use of a single Number is pretty damn impressive too.” Rainbow Dash blushed at Eli’s compliment. “Well, I’d reckon that this here guardian is ready for the competition,” said Applejack lightly punching his back with her hoof. The pidgeot was rubbing the side of its head against the shoulder blade that Applejack hit in admiration. “I think it really likes you,” said Fluttershy in amazement. Sammy then handed Eli a pokéball. “I think it wants you to be its trainer,” said Sammy. Eli took the pokéball. “So… what am I supposed to-” before he could finish his answer, the pidgeot poked the white button in the middle of the pokéball, opening it, and causing the pidgeot to turn into a translucent red aura that went inside the pokéball, greatly surprising Eli. When all of the aura finally fit, the pokéball shut closed. The button was glowing red for a second as it wiggled in Eli’s hand, but the button stopped glowing and the ball rest still in Eli’s hand. “Congrats,” said Sammy patting his back. “You just caught your first pokémon.”

Down below the mountain, Ryan looked up at the cliff by which Rainbow Dash and Eli dueled. He then walked back into the entrance of the cave where he and his comrades would be temporarily living. The dog creatures were just finishing ridding the cave of all gems and jewels. In a large pile was a mountain of gold coins, surely enough to enter the competition. “I hope this satisfies you,” said the red vested one. “Yes, this is perfect,” said Diana coldly. “You have just saved your lives. Now take the jewels and get the hell out of my sight.” They did so wordlessly.

“There was a duel outside,” said Ryan to Diana. “That cyan pegasus and the Eli guy we met two days ago were having a riding duel in the air. That Eli guy seems to have a pretty strong hold of his Numbers.” “Then we’ll be sure to keep an eye on him,” said Diana. Mark entered the cave, having gone on a long walk. He then saw the gold coins. “What’s going on here?” he asked threateningly. Diana picked up a handful of the gold coins. “We just made a little trade,” she said putting the coins in his pocket.

Chapter 7: Underestimation

This chapter's featured card: Number 199: Lunar Wolf Spirit

Xyz Monster Rank: 3 ATK: 2200 DEF: 1300 Attribute: DARK Type: Winged-Beast

3 Level 3 Monsters

This card can only be destroyed by battle with another "Number" monster. Once per turn, you can detach one Xyz Material from this card to be able to Normal Summon monsters without Tributing untill the End Phase.

Eli was lying on his back in his bed, staring out at the ceiling contemplating all that had happened to him in the past couple of days. He was declared a guardian of Equestria to prevent an ancient evil from destroying this land, learned a new game that would supposedly defeat the enemy, and befriended a large bird. Upon further reflection, he remembered how flustered he felt after hearing that the Equestria he was supposed to save was gone and that he thought that the rigorous training he went through was all for naught, but now that he regained his intended purpose (though not in the way that he thought), he felt much more relieved and accepting of his role. He looked at his ace Number, Number 164: Crystalline Chimera. I can’t believe that I’m literally holding a fragment of a great and powerful leader in my hand, thought Eli. He knew that tomorrow, the registration for the EFDC would be underway, and if these Vegas people wanted Numbers, they would enter the tournament with the expressed intention to do so. He already defeated 2 strong opponents today, but he knew that there was something about those 4 that would require him to muster more strength than he could ever imagine.

It was early morning when Sammy nudged Eli awake. “What time is it?” asked Eli. “6,” whispered Sammy. “In the morning? Holy Jesus, what for?” “We should register early before the rush.” “Is it really that big of a tournament?” “Very.” “K’ then .”

Then, all of the humans plus Orion and Helena made their way to the Town Hall pavilion in town square where Rarity and Applejack met them. “Morning, y’all,” called Applejack. “‘Sup,” groggily called Eli. “Poor dear,” said Rarity, “did you not get enough sleep.” “On the contrary, I haven’t gotten this much sleep in years. I just didn’t want to get up.” “I hear that,” said Applejack. “Being the guardian must be tiring work.” “You can say that.” “You don’t need to worry about the registration fee, darlings,” said Rarity. “I made a killing on a new line of dresses that will be premiering at the ball tomorrow night, and seeing as how you paid for us the first time, I want to return the favor, so you are all paid in full.” “That’s so thoughtful Rarity,” said Maddie, “thank you.” “Oh, perish the thought,” said Rarity. All of the Lamss members sat down at the tables to begin registry, while Orion and Helena made their way to the back to complete needed deck or duel disk orders. Duel Monsters has risen in popularity since Lamss’ first arrival, so most people wouldn’t need too much time to register. What took two days in the first EFDC would now take 1. “Hey Eli, Zelda,” called Applejack. “I want you to meet somepony.” The two humans plus Rarity and Applejack made their way to the train station.

It was around 6:20 when a steam engine rolled into the station. Once it stopped the door opened to reveal Braeburn with his luggage. “Hi, cuz’” he greeted. “Who are these folk? New human friends?” “Sure are,” said Applejack. “The male one is Eli, and the female is Zelda.” “Well, it’s so good to meet y’all,” he said shaking hands/hooves with everyone. He then held his hoof out to Rarity. Rarity has always had a fear of dirt, and knowing that Braeburn came from a western town where living with dirt was an everyday occurrence, she knew that he had plenty on him. She recoiled in slight disgust. “Well, nice talking to ya’,” he said tipping his hat. He then left to register. “You know, Rarity,” said Applejack scornfully, “you can be so rude sometimes.” Applejack, Eli, and Zelda left Rarity alone in the train station. Rarity hung her head low in shame.

Lamss had just finished registering all of their friends when the ponies from the first morning trains began circling the table to register. Ponies found great camaraderie with certain ponies from the past, and they registered together both for eligibility and partnerships, making the registration process much easier. Things were a little different in the partnership process. Eli originally wanted to team with Sammy, but found out that she was already teaming with Spike, so he decided to team up with Alex, who was left partnerless after Orion decided to team up with Helena. Scott and Zelda, being former classmates, decided to join forces. Pinkie Pie was more than happy to team up with Scott’s old partner and her best human friend Lucas. Maddie and Charley decided to team up together again, as their WATER attribute support with each other would make for a deadly combo. Rainbow Dash teamed up with Gilda decided to represent the Wonderbolts along with Soarin and Spitfire. Twilight and Zecora teamed up again as they did the last 2 years. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo decided to reform the championship winning team from last year’s EFDC, leaving Sweetie Belle to become partners with Fluttershy (after a little begging). Rarity was left partnerless after finding that Applejack teamed up with Big Macintosh for this year, leaving his former dueling partner, Braeburn, alone.

Rarity was nervous to be around Braeburn after she alienated him. She figured that an apology now was better than avoiding him further. “Hey, uh, Braeburn.” “Oh, hello Ms. Rarity,” chirped Braeburn. Rarity was nervous. “I just wanted to…” Her lips wanted to say “say,” but her lips, mouth, and voice made out “ask” prompting a near-immediate response from Braeburn. “You mean you want to partner up with me? That sounds just swell!” “No. Wait… I…” But it was too late, as Braeburn already pushed her to the nearest table and registered their partnership with each other. Oh sweet Celestia, what have I gotten myself into? she thought. “I gotta tell ya’,” said Braeburn walking away with Rarity, “I thought that I was going to be left out like the runt of the litter, but then you showed up and offered your hoof to me, and for that I’m very grateful, and-” “Braeburn.” “Yes, Rarity?” “Listen, I just wanted to apologize for my behavior at the train station.” “Aw, don’t sweat it. That’s all water under the bridge now.” “Well, that was it, I don’t want to…” she then saw the real predicament she was in now. She had already apologized to him, but refusing a partnership with him would really hurt his feelings even more and would more than likely get an even worse rep with Applejack than before. “What was that, Ms. Rarity? You don’t want to what now?” “Um, I don’t want to… go any further without getting some breakfast first.” “My thoughts exactly. Let’s go to the Apple Leaf Café. My treat.” He then pushed Rarity towards the restaurant.

Up to Alex’s table walked a grayish blue pony with a blonde mane and tail with 7 bubbles as her cutie mark. Although, the most notable feature about her eyes, mainly the way one never looked in the same direction as the other. She was accompanied by an orange colored buffalo with amber curly hair and a white and purple headband with two white feathers with black tips sticking out of the back. “Oh yeah,” said Rainbow Dash. “Alex, this is an old friend of mine, Little Strongheart.” “Hello,” said Alex shaking her hoof. “Is this your first time in Ponyville.” Yes it is,” replied the buffalo. “Do you by chance have a deck?” “That’s why I’m here.” “Alright, then. You can browse through this catalogue.” Alex handed her his electronic tablet and allowed her to browse through the deck choices until there was a Spirit monster deck that she liked. Alex gave her the deck in the wrist dealer of a purple D-Pad. Alex registered her in. He then looked at the pony and the buffalo simultaneously. “Are you two partnering with each other?” asked Alex. “We sure are,” said the cross-eyed pony in a slow and slurred fashion. “Okay then,” said Alex. After that, Alex said they were ready to compete and that he hoped they enjoyed their stay in Ponyville. The two walked into an abandoned alley. “Okay,” said the crossed eyed pony in a much more normal but harsher tone, “those Number hunters are trying to take the numbers and could make the dark prophecy all but certain. I don’t think we should trust any human with Numbers anymore. We need to take all of the Numbers for the sake of Equestria’s future.” “I don’t sense anything wrong with that Alex one,” said Little Strongheart to her comrade. “Listen, we have no time or patience to watch Equestria crumble because of trusting any human or anyone else who sides with them who happens to wield a Number. If they’re going to try and bring down Equestria, we have to bring them down first. You got that Agent Strongheart?” Little Strongheart sighed. “Affirmative, Agent Derpy.”

Zelda was sitting on the stoop of a building when Pinkie Pie bounced up to her. “Hey Zelda.” “Hi Pinkie.” “You know what we should totally do? We should test the strength of our Numbers, because I want to make sure I’m ready to fight those Number hunters, and frankly I’ve never see your deck before, and I’ve always wanted to see your deck, and thinking about it is getting me really hyper, like, more hyper than usual, so I-” “Okay, fine. Let’s have a go.” Pinkie Pie beamed. They then parted from each other to give them space, while any pony in between them stepped aside to watch the duel that was about to happen. Zelda and Pinkie Pie unsheathed their duel disks and drew 5 cards. “DUEL!” they cried.

Zelda vs. Pinkie Pie

Zelda’s Turn: Zelda places 1 card face down and ends her turn.

Status: Hand-5 Life-4000 Monsters-0 Face Down Cards-1

Pinkie Pie’s Turn: Pinkie Pie summons Worm Gulse (ATK: 1500 DEF: 300). Pinkie Pie attacks Zelda directly, but Zelda activates the effect of Blackwing - Ghibli the Searing Wind from her hand, special summoning it if she becomes the target of a direct attack (ATK: 0 DEF: 1600). Once per turn, Zelda can switch the ATK and DEF of this card until the end phase (ATK: 0 -> 1600 DEF: 1600 -> 0). Pinkie Pie halts her attack.

Pinkie Pie places 1 card face down and ends her turn.

Status: Hand-4 Life-4000 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-1

Zelda’s Turn: Zelda summons Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow (ATK: 1400 DEF: 1000). Next, she activates the effect of Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind from her hand, special summoning it if she controls a Blackwing monster (ATK: 1300 DEF: 400). Once per turn, Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind can halve the ATK of one monster her opponent controls choosing Worm Gulse (ATK: 1500 -> 750). Zelda overlays Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind, Blackwing - Ghibli the Searing Wind, and Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow to xyz summon Number 199: Lunar Wolf Spirit (ATK: 2200 DEF: 1300). Zelda attacks Worm Gulse, but Pinkie Pie activates Invincible Hero, negating Worm Gulse’s destruction. Battle damage is applied normally.

Pinkie Pie’s Life Points: 4000 -> 2550

Zelda ends her turn.

Status: Hand-3 Life-4000 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-1

Pinkie Pie’s Turn: Pinkie Pie summons Worm Xex (ATK: 1800 DEF: 1000). When Worm Xex is normal summoned, Pinkie Pie can send a Reptile-type Worm monster from her deck to the graveyard. She then activates Monster Reborn, special summoning Worm Solid (ATK: 1000 DEF: 1600). Pinkie Pie overlays Worm Gulse, Worm Xex, and Worm Solid to xyz summon Number 155: Gator Striker (ATK: 2600 DEF: 2500). Pinkie Pie activates the effect of Number 155: Gator Striker. By removing one xyz material from it, when Number 155: Gator Striker destroys a monster in battle, she can inflict damage equal to the destroyed monster's ATK. Pinkie Pie attacks Number 199: Lunar Wolf Spirit, but Zelda activates Negate Attack.

Pinkie Pie places 1 card face down and ends her turn.

Status: Hand-2 Life-2550 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-1

Zelda’s Turn: Zelda activates the effect of Number 199: Lunar Wolf Spirit. By detaching 1 xyz material from it, she can normal summon this turn without tributing. Then, Zelda activates Graceful Charity, drawing 3 cards and discarding 2. Zelda summons Blackwing - Abrolhos the Megaquake (ATK: 2600 DEF: 1800). Next, Zelda activates Double Summon, summoning Blackwing - Brisote the Tailwind (ATK: 1200 DEF: 1800). Then, Zelda activates the effect of Blackwing - Abrolhos the Megaquake. During the Main Phase 1, Blackwing - Abrolhos the Megaquake’s ATK can be reduced by 1000 to send all spell and trap cards that Pinkie Pie controls to her hand. Next, Zelda activates the effect of Blackwing - Boreas the Sharp in her graveyard. By banishing it, she can choose one Blackwing monster and have it not be destroyed by battle, have any battle damage occur to the controller of that card, and whatever monster it attacks is destroyed during damage calculation. Zelda attacks Number 155: Gator Striker with Blackwing - Abrolhos the Megaquake. Number 155: Gator Striker is destroyed. Zelda attacks Pinkie Pie directly with Blackwing - Brisote the Tailwind.

Pinkie Pie’s Life Points: 2550 -> 1350

Zelda attacks Pinkie Pie directly with Number 199: Lunar Wolf Spirit.

Pinkie Pie’s Life Points: 1350 -> 0

Zelda wins.

In her usual Pinkie Pie self, she giggled like a mad pony upon losing, registering some confusion in Zelda. “Wow, Zelda,” she said through her laughs. “I can’t believe you beat me without taking any damage. You’re really, really, good at this game.” She continued to laugh. “Jeez, cheer up, Pinkie,” said Zelda. This only prompted a stronger laugh than before. She then took the Number card off of her duel disk and looked at it. Lunar Wolf Spirit, she thought to herself.

The four Vegas Bureau agents walked up to the registry table, they were wearing much more casual clothes. “Oh, hello Ryan,” said Alex with a noticeable scowl. “Listen,” said Ryan calmly. “We just want to register for the tournament, and then we’ll be gone. We don’t want any trouble.” “Well, you certainly GOT trouble,” said Eli approaching Ryan. “Well excuse me,” said Chase in an exaggeratedly snooty voice, “but it seems you’re the one causing trouble here.” “You shouldn’t talk to me like that,” said Eli getting out his D-Pad. “You see, I’ve been getting much better at this game, and I think I can take you on.” He unsheathed his duel disk. “Eli, wait,” said Alex. “Stay back, Alex. If these assholes want to come in here and think that they can take what they please, then they should have thought twice about stepping back into this town.” “Listen,” said Ryan. “I don’t have any Numbers on me anymore.” “That will make it easier for me,” chuckled Eli. “Fine, if that’s the way you do things.” Ryan fastened his D-Pad on his wrist and activated it. They both drew 5 cards from their deck. “Kick his ass!” called Rainbow Dash. Eli couldn’t help but laugh at that. In the few days he’s been in Equestria, Rainbow Dash had been picking up on his lingo and this was the first time he heard her use any of it. Eli quickly got serious again as he faced Ryan. “DUEL!” they both yelled.

Eli vs. Ryan

Eli’s Turn: Eli summons one monster face down.

Eli places 1 card face down and ends his turn.

Status: Hand-4 Life-4000 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-1

Ryan’s Turn: Ryan activates Graceful Charity, drawing 3 cards and discarding 2. Next, he summons Alien Ammonite (ATK: 500 DEF: 200). With its effect, Ryan can special summon a level 4 or lower Alien monster from his deck, choosing Alien Shocktrooper (ATK: 1900 DEF: 800). Ryan tunes Alien Shocktrooper with Alien Ammonite to synchro summon Cosmic Fortress Gol’gar (ATK: 2600 DEF: 1800). Ryan attacks the face down monster, which was a Koa’ki Meiru Boulder (ATK: 1200 DEF: 1000). When Koa’ki Meiru Boulder is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, Eli can add a Koa’ki Meiru monster from his deck to his hand.

Ryan places 1 cards face down and ends his turn.

Status: Hand-4 Life-4000 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-1

Eli’s Turn: Eli summons Koa’ki Meiru Urnight (ATK: 2000 DEF: 1500). Once per turn, he can reveal one Iron Core of Koa’ki Meiru in his hand to special summon a level 4 or lower Koa’ki Meiru monster from his deck, choosing Koa’ki Meiru Sandman (ATK: 1900 DEF: 1200). Eli overlays Koa’ki Meiru Urnight and Koa’ki Meiru Sandman to xyz summon Number 164: Crystalline Chimera (ATK: 2700 DEF: 1200). Eli attempts to activate Number 164: Crystalline Chimera’s effect, but Ryan activates Divine Wrath, discarding one card to negate the activation of an effect monster’s effect and destroy it.

Eli places 2 cards face down and ends his turn.

Status: Hand-3 Life-4000 Monsters-0 Face Down Cards-3

Ryan’s Turn: Ryan activates Heavy Storm, destroying all spell and trap cards on the field. Ryan then summons Alien Dog (ATK: 1500 DEF: 1000). Ryan attacks Eli directly with Alien Dog.

Eli’s Life Points: 4000 -> 1500

Ryan then attacks Eli directly with Cosmic Fortress Gol’gar.

Eli’s Life Points: 2500 -> 0

Ryan wins.

Eli looked over at Ryan with anger and humiliation in his eyes. Rainbow Dash helped Eli up off of the ground as Ryan and his comrades registered themselves for the tournament. “I guess we’ll settle this in the competition then,” said Alex. “Yeah, I guess we will,” responded Ryan. Before they left, Alex spoke to Ryan again. “You’re a good duelist, Ryan. Why do you need Numbers if you can duel capably without them?” Ryan stopped in his tracks. “I don’t need them to duel.” “Then why are you hunting them? Why are you hunting us?” “Because I have to.” He then walked away. For some strange reason, Rainbow Dash had a strange feeling about Ryan. Unlike the other 3 agents, it felt like Ryan wanted the Numbers for something other than power. She wanted to call him out on it, but she knew it would be easier to confront him alone. I’ll do it at the ball tomorrow then, she thought. Something is really up with that guy, and I need to find out what.

Chapter 8: Ryan's Complex

Tonight was the night of the EFDC Ball, and everyone was getting prepared, especially Rarity. Rarity was busy brushing off her new dress in her home inside the Carousel Boutique where she also worked. The doorbell rang signaling that a customer had walked in. “Coming,” she called. Upon seeing the person who walked in, she discovered that it was Braeburn. “Oh, hello Braeburn,” she said, tired from the touching up of her dress. “Good day, Ms. Rarity,” he said. “Are you ready for the big ball tonight?” “As a matter of fact, I was just touching up my dress.” “Dress? I don’t think you need to get dressed up.” “Well, if you read the brochure, it specifically states, ‘A ball will also be held the evening before the competition starts, so dress sharp.’” Braeburn started blushing in embarrassment. “Must’ve skimmed over that part.” “No matter,” said Rarity. “I can fix you up something nice and quick that will be sure to turn heads.” “Aw, you don’t need to do that Ms. I can just rent a tux from one of the shops downtown.” “Nonsense,” spat Rarity. “I have no qualms of doing this. I still owe you for breakfast yesterday.” “Shucks, don’t mention it.” Rarity then disappeared upstairs to work on Braeburn’s new outfit.

Not long after Rarity went upstairs to work on Braeburn’s clothes, Sammy, Maddie, Charley, Lisbeth, and Helena walked in. “Oh, hey y’all,” said Braeburn to them on their sudden arrival. “Braeburn darling, who is it?” “It’s us!” called Maddie. “Oh, I almost forgot!” said Rarity rushing down. “Welcome darlings. Please, have a seat.” They all did as they were told. “Now, when I heard of your arrival in Ponyville, I had to make something for all of you for the ball tonight. Scott found some magazines to help give me clear idea on how you women dress in your world. So without further to do, your dresses.” Rarity unveiled the curtain to show the women their dresses. Maddie’s dress was a slender icy blue strapless gown sparkling with baby blue sapphires and a pair of silver colored heels. Sammy had a fiery red silk gown adorned in rubies and amber with wide straps and a wide yellow and orange belt with a fiery design. She also had a pair of dark brown sandals. Charley’s dress was a lapis lazuli bejeweled gown with a V-neck design and a pair of light blue slippers. Zelda had a slick jet black one shoulder satin gown with a black belt decked with obsidian and a pair of black heels. Helena had a diamond and jade adorned sleeveless silk gown with slits in the chest to make way for the red horns protruding from her chest. There were also 6 flaps with short strings that would be tied onto the 6 white gown-like flaps of skin hanging from her waist so the dress could move along with the rest of her.

“Oh, Rarity,” said Maddie wide eyed. “These are absolutely beautiful.” “I can’t believe this only took you last night,” said Sammy. “Oh, come on,” said Rarity bashfully, “it’s just something that I threw together.” “However long it took you,” said Charley, “you’ve really outdone yourself.” Rarity then folded each dress up and boxed them individually using her magic. All of the girls hugged Rarity in appreciation for their new dresses. They then left with waves and goodbyes. “Now that that’s taken care of,” said Rarity. “I just have to finish your duds.” Braeburn was shocked. If she can make 5 beautiful dresses in one night, then he couldn’t wait to find out what he was going to be wearing.

Evening was here and it was about an hour before the ball would begin. Alex dressed up in a black dress shirt with his grey blazer and a pair of nice khaki pants, basically a more formal verson of his rock outfit. Lucas wore black dress pants, a black blazer, and a blue dress shirt with a black tie. Scott wore his usual all white suit with white shoes with his hair combed to the left. Orion wore a black suit with a white shirt. With his red horns in the center of his chest, a tie hanging off of them would look rather silly. Eli borrowed some clothes from Alex, as he wore virtually the same sized clothes as Alex did, wearing a basic black blazer, white shirt, black pants and red tie. Eli had larger feet, but Lucas had an older pair of black shoes that fit Eli perfectly. Sammy wore her new dress with an amber necklace on gold chain with ruby studded earrings. Her hair was styled into a wavy flow that went down to her mid back. Maddie braided her hair into a ponytail and was wearing silver cuffs on each wrist and a silver necklace. Charley put her hair into a bun and wore a gold broach with a reflective mirror in the center styled into the Gishki Aquamirror. Zelda had her hair lengthened magically by Rarity about an hour prior and was also styled into a bun but left two locks waving down in front of her ears. She also sported a pair of black dreamcatcher style earrings with black feathers. Helena had silver dragon-wing shaped barrettes and a silver and diamond collar necklace.

About 5 minutes after they were completely ready to go, a knock was heard at the door. When Lucas opened it, he found Twilight Sparkle and her other equine friends (and Spike) waiting for them with carriages ready to escort them. Everyone was stunned to see how beautiful they looked. Twilight wore a pink skirt and a mare’s blue jacket styled similarly to the Dark Magician Girl’s and matching boots. Applejack refused to wear anything too frilly, so she stuck with her old Gala dress. Pinkie Pie wore a Latin style pink dress with puffy little balls hanging off then end of the skirt and a pair of pink slippers. Rainbow Dash had a white gown with green circular thread-lines flowing throughout the dress. She was wearing her old gold sandals from the Gala with them. Her normally messy mane was brushed and straight. Fluttershy wore a dress that looked to be made of hunter green leaves. She also wore a beautiful ruby broach shaped like cherries and various flowers braided in her hair and brown slippers. Rarity wore a light blue gown with a necklace made from various gems that formed a rainbow like spectrum. Spike wore a tuxedo with a red tie and no pants. Braeburn stood next to Rarity in a brown western sport jacket and white dress shirt with a bolo tie with black strings and an apple for the clasp. His normally beaten-up hat was replaced with a brand new brown western style hat with a black band. “Well,” said Rarity, “our chariot awaits.”

It was about a 50 minute drive to Canterlot in the carriages. When Alex looked upon Canterlot, he remembered it being just as beautiful 2 years ago. They all got out of their carriage and walked into the majestic castle together. They each greeted Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Eli then cupped a hand to Luna’s ear. “You wouldn’t happen to know if 4 other humans came here did you?” whispered Eli. “Yes, actually. The 3 gentlemen and the woman.” “You should keep an eye on them. They’re into some shady business regarding the Numbers.” “So I’ve heard, but don’t worry. I have my personal task force watching them in case they try anything. If they cause a panic or hurt anypony in any way, they will be cast out of the tournament.” “Excellent. Thank you.” Eli walked alongside Alex. “What was that about,” asked Alex. Eli responded. “The Vegas Bureau is here. Luna says they’re being watched in case something goes wrong.” “We should monitor them too.” “Way ahead of you.” They made their way to the dancefloor where a waltz was in session. Alex partnered with Maddie, Lucas with Charley, Scott with Zelda, Orion with Helena, and Sammy (begrudgingly) with Eli. As they danced they scanned the room looking for any other humans. They switched partners, spreading throughout the room. When another switch was made, Sammy accidentally bumped into someone else who took her as his partner: Ryan.

Sammy didn’t want to cause a scene, but saw this as an opportune time to get to know Ryan and his motives. “So you’re the sister of Alex, I presume?” “And you’re the asshole trying to wreck the livelihood of this land with your negligent hunting, I presume?” “You misjudge me. And frankly, you’re being rather hypocritical.” “What?” “You are hunting Numbers too, are you not? In the long run, you and I are not so different.” “You have no idea do you?” “No idea of what?” “The history of the Numbers. Their origins and their significance to this land.” “No one knows that. They are powerful cards with unknown origin that were scattered throughout several worlds including this one.” “You are so far from the truth that I can’t bring myself to laugh.” What do you mean?” Sammy then explained to him about Princess Terra and Inverz. Ryan was a bit shocked at this revelation, but was still unconvinced. “You’re lying,” said Ryan a bit annoyed. “Really? So you’re saying that I planned this story out just so that when I just happen to bump into someone like you, I can tell you a cock-and-bull story explaining the origin of the Numbers just like that?” “You are a good bassist. Isn’t it your job to be able to improvise?” “Yeah, 12 notes on about 5 octaves, not epic mythology like that. I’m a rock and roll bassist, not Homer.” Despite his forcing the thought that Sammy was a tough case to crack, he knew deep inside that she was telling the truth. He tried to escape out the back, but Sammy tugged his arm, causing him to bring himself back into dance position. “One more thing:” said Sammy, “tell your buddies that we’ll be waiting.” She then let him go to leave just as the music stopped. She then broke through the crowd to find her friends and tell them what happened.

Alex spotted her wading through the crowd of ponies talking to each other while more music was going on. “Sammy, where’d you go?” 2 minutes went by as Sammy told her story out by the table of hors d'oeuvres. “So that’s his justification for hunting Numbers?” asked Eli. “No,” said Sammy. “I firmly believe that he really didn’t know. Or maybe someone misled him. I really don’t know which.” “Where is he now?” “Last I saw, he went outside for some fresh air.” Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but overhear the conversation, and knew that this was her chance to get to talk to him.

Ryan leaned up against the balcony banister looking down at the large drop from the cliff that the castle was perched on. He then took out his wallet from his pants pocket, and looked at the picture section with him taking his picture next to a young boy about 10 years old. The young boy had short, curly black hair, and he was wearing a blue tank top with white pants and a black vest. He sighed upon looking at the photo. Suddenly, a strong wind unexpectedly picked up and blew the wallet out of Ryan’s hand. “NO!” he yelled as he tried to grab it back but to no avail. Suddenly, a rainbow colored blur swooped down over the balcony. After a few seconds, Rainbow Dash ascended again with the wallet in her hooves. “Thank you so much,” he said reaching for the wallet. “Oh, no you don’t,” said Rainbow Dash scornfully. “I want to know what you’re doing in Equestria trying to steal the Numbers.” “Listen,” said Ryan. “I had no idea that the Numbers were from your world. I know it doesn’t answer your question, but I need the Numbers.” “Oh yeah? What for.” “Please come down so I can tell you,” said Ryan quietly. Rainbow saw this as a sign of having a civil conversation, so she did as she was asked. He then reached his hand for his wallet, prompting Rainbow Dash to hand it to him. He flipped back to the page with the picture of him and the boy on it and showed it to Rainbow Dash. “Do you know what it’s like to lose a loved one?” asked Ryan. “I dunno,” said Rainbow Dash. “My parents divorced at a young age, does that count?” “No, I mean losing somebody that you can never ever get back.” “No then.” He then pointed to the boy in the picture. “This is a picture of my son, Joel. He was an aspiring duelist who wanted to be a Duel Champion. One day, he was hit by a car and put into a coma from which he still has yet to recover. I didn’t have the means to continue funding his life-support in the job I was working, so I sold my soul to the Vegas Bureau to help them find Numbers so I could pay the hospitals to keep my son alive and eventually harness the Numbers’ true powers to bring my son back. In fact, the Alien deck I use isn’t really mine. It’s Joel’s. I just use it to help remind me what I’m fighting for.” Rainbow Dash was heartbroken at his revelation. “And then… I got a call about 15 days ago from the hospital,” said Ryan sadly. “They said that they couldn’t keep Joel in the hospital much longer, as he wasn’t making any significant signs of recovery. They said in a month’s time, they’d pull the plug on him. It was only nothing short of a miracle that other than the Numbers that we have gathered through our travels, the remaining ones exist in this world. I’m so close to saving my son now. If I win that tournament, I’m going to wish that he’d be saved, so that the hell that I’ve been living through for 2 years can come to an end.” Rainbow Dash was shedding a few tears listening to his story. “Why don’t you just join us?” she asked. “If you win that tournament, you can just wish for your son to get better. You don’t need the Numbers for that.” “It’s much more complicated than that.” “What’s so complicated about leaving?” “Please, understand that I don’t want to harm anybody in my hunting, I just want my son back.” “I don’t think I understand,” said Rainbow Dash sympathetically, “but I certainly forgive you.” Ryan let out a small smirk. “Thank you for hearing me out,” he said. He then patted her on the head softly and stroked her mane. He then put the wallet back into his pocket and went inside.

Ryan found Mark, Chase, and Diana sipping sparkling wine and watching the night’s festivities. Like him, they were dressed in suits. “Hey,” said Mark calling him. “Where’ve you been?” Ryan then explained to him what Sammy told him. “What? You’re going to believe their bullshit?” “It’s not bullshit, Mark. She was telling the truth.” “Did it occur to you that she was lying?” “Mark, as a Vegas agent, I’m required to know when someone is lying through their involuntary body language, and all signs pointed that she wasn’t lying.” “Then you’re slipping up, kid. We have come too far for you to come and fuck this up because of some sob story that some stupid bimbo told you.” Mark then got very close to Ryan; uncomfortably close. “Do you not care about your son? Do you want to go back to the hospital 15 days from now and watch as your son’s heart monitor flatlines?” “No sir.” “Then get your game face on and do your job.” He then walked away. Ryan then grabbed Chase’s glass of sparkling wine and downed it. “Hey, asshole!” said Chase. “Just pour yourself another glass,” said Ryan emotionlessly.

Gilda was talking with Charley. Gilda was wearing a tuxedo, being that almost anything remotely girly on her would look downright embarrassing. Rainbow Dash approached them and told them what Ryan said. “He could be using that as an excuse,” said Charley. “I don’t know,” said Rainbow Dash uncertainly. “He was looking at the picture before he even noticed me, so he obviously couldn’t make something like that up on the fly like that.” “Well, if that is true, I still don’t see why he can’t just quit.” “Isn’t it obvious?” said Gilda. “Just like I felt forced to ally with Trixie 2 years ago for fear of incarceration, there must be something chaining him to those 3 bozos that he hangs with.” “But what is it?” asked Charley. “I don’t know,” said Rainbow Dash. “All I know is what he told me, but I have no reason anymore to distrust him. He’s not a bad guy, he’s just a tortured soul forced to do horrible things to save someone he loves.”

It was around midnight when the ball ended, and everyone was going home to get a nice long sleep to gain stamina for the competition which would start 24 hours. The Lamss members, along with Eli, Zelda, Orion, and Helena got into the same large carriage together as they made their way back to Ponyville. Rarity and Braeburn were the first to walk out of the castle with Twilight and her other friends right behind her. “I say, Rarity,” said Braeburn, “I still can’t thank you enough for the new duds you fashioned for me.” Rarity was too concerned about tomorrow to properly acknowledge her date’s thanks. Braeburn still continued. “I mean, you were right, people were turning heads. And who knew a simple apple farmer from Appleloosa would be able to talk to the Canterlot elite like that? And-” Rarity couldn’t take anymore of his incessant talking, causing her to shove her hoof to his mouth. “Listen, Braeburn, I had fun too, but I’m worried about the tournament tomorrow, and it’s causing me a lot of stress.” “Stress? What for? Aren’t we doing this just for fun?” Rarity just picked up that Braeburn had no idea what was happening with the Numbers hunters, and seeing that he was her partner and that she was in control of Numbers while he wasn’t, he wouldn’t stand a chance against a hunter if they caught and challenged them. “No Braeburn. This just got a lot more serious than a fun little tournament. There are other humans in this world, but they aren’t nice. They’re trying to take the Numbers away from us for their own selfish reasons.” “Numbers? Wait, you mean like those cards Alex and Orion had when they beat Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?” “Exactly.” “Those fiends. But don’t you worry Rarity. I won’t let any of those guys do anything to harm you. As long as we’re together, we’ll beat those thievin’ good-fer-nothin’s-” “Braeburn, you’re touching my hoof.” Braeburn looked to see both of his hooves holding Rarity’s. “Oh. Sorry about that.” “If you’re going to fight these guys,” said Rarity, “we’re going to need to make a stop at my place.”

Rarity had the carriage carrying herself and Braeburn drop them off at Carousel Boutique momentarily. Rarity ran upstairs and grabbed her deck. “Listen, I don’t know what kind of deck you have, but it would be fair for you to better prepare yourself.” She gave him 3 cards from her deck and handed them to Braeburn. “Aw, Rarity, I couldn’t possibly-” “This isn’t a gift,” said Rarity. “It’s your insurance.” “Insurance?” He looked down and saw that he was carrying 3 Numbers cards of his very own. Needless to say, he was shocked. “Rarity! Are you sure-” “Positive. If you don’t have any of these cards on you by tomorrow, we’re as good as done. Those hunters will use their Numbers against us harder than you can imagine. Like I said, it would be fair if you have just as much of an opportunity to defend yourself from them as anyone else.” “Okay,” said Braeburn calmly. “I hear ya.” Braeburn then re-entered the carriage to carry him off to Sweet Apple Acres where he’d be staying. “I’ll see you tomorrow then,” said Braeburn through the window. “Yeah,” sighed Rarity exhausted. “See you tomorrow.” She watched the carriage move away until it was out of sight. Now that Rarity had to partner with Braeburn, partly by her own fault, but now she felt responsible for his well being now that he was officially an owner of 3 of her Numbers cards. “Rarity?” called her sister Sweetie Belle from the top of the stairs. “Is everything okay?” “I hope so,” said Rarity under her breath, walking upstairs to bed.

It was still late when the last of the ball guests left the Canterlot Palace grounds. Derpy Hooves and Little Strongheart made their way into the royal hall where Princess Luna met them. “So, Wranglers,” she spoke, “have you found any information about those 4 agents?” “Yes,” said Derpy in her serious and proper voice. “They referred to each other by alias’ the entire night. From what I could gather, Ryan is known as Mr. Jack, Diana is Ms. Queen, Chase: Mr. King, and Mark: Mr. Ace.” “The only thing of interest that I could see was the grey haired agent having an argument with the one with the dark-blonde hair, but they weren’t disrupting anything.” “Excellent,” said Princess Luna. “You know you two are some of my best Wranglers. I couldn’t keep track of the festivities while I was greeting guests at the door. I don’t have eyes in the back of my head, but as you know, that’s what you’re for.” “By the way,” interrupted Derpy, “with all that’s going on with these Number hunters, I say we try and gather back as many Numbers as possible. I can’t trust any human, not even the Lamss people, with being in possession of any Numbers cards if it means that Inverz will return.” “Agent Derpy,” said Princess Luna in a louder tone. “The members of Lamss are exceptional duelists. I can certainly trust them with gathering the Numbers as much as anypony.” “As far as we know, the only agent that we’ve seen fight among them is the one they call Ryan, alias Mr. Jack. If I’m not mistaken, the Queen, King, and Ace trumps the jack in value in any standard playing card deck. That must mean that he’s the inferior of the 4 duelists, behind Diana, Chase, and Mark respectively, and yet he still whittled Alex’s life points to 200 when he dueled him. If that’s the case, he won’t stand a chance against his superiors. Please respect the fact that I don’t want to take the Numbers from our allies because I think they want to bring the downfall of Equestria which you and I both know isn’t the case. I want to take the Numbers before those agents have a chance to.” Despite the façade of Derpy being mentally handicapped, she was shown to be a well spoken and intelligent pony (even if her crossed eyes were still stuck with her no matter what), a perfect candidate for being one of Luna’s personal secret agents that spans all throughout Equestria, including Appleloosa, where Little Strongheart is the head of the branch there. Luna took a while to consider this plan of Derpy’s. “Derpy,” Princess Luna relented, “you have my full permission to carry on your plans. But first, you 2 must control some Numbers of your own so you can stand a fighting chance against anyone wielding them.” She then tossed 2 Numbers each to both Derpy and Little Strongheart. “Thank you, Princess,” said Derpy respectfully as she bowed to her. She then gave her two Numbers to Little Strongheart. “Wait, you’ll need those!” bellowed Princess Luna to Derpy. “Don’t worry,” assured Derpy. “It’s all part of the plan.” Luna had a slight smile on her face that said that she was fully capable of trusting Derpy with her mission.