Card Games on Ponies

“Wake up,” his body kept saying over and over again. He knew it was true, that it was time to “rise and shine”, but everytime he opened his eyes he saw only darkness. The howl of the wind didn’t help either, not when it sounded more like a manticore growling in the distance.

“Twilight,” called Spike tentatively. No answer. Of course. He wasn’t living on a library built inside a large oak, sleeping on a basket next to her bed anymore. No, his home was now a large crystal castle with his own bedroom separate from her’s.

Spike sighed. He hadn’t seen Twilight since yesterday’s afternoon; the purple unicorn was busy conducting, in her own words, “a little magical experiment”, meaning he had to keep all the events that transpired on the Millennium Mausoleum, and his enthusiasm, to himself.

The wind howled again, louder. He hugged his small Rarity plushie. “No,” he told himself. He was a dragon, one of the most powerful races in all of the Equestria. Moreover, he was the Princess of Friendship’s number one assistant. Last but not least, he had a mission: to prepare breakfast; and no seemingly endless darkness or unnatural sounding wind would stop him.

Spike gently set his plushie aside, jumped out his bed and ventured outside his bedroom. Two rows of magically charged crystals flickered with white light, doing their best to combat the darkness that enveloped the hallways. “Twilight,” he called again; at this point it was more of an attempt to calm himself than anything. The door to his bedroom dissappeared behind him as he kept walking, the wind having calmed down leaving only the sound of his footsteps…until he heard a hoof striking the crystal floor. “Twilight?”

It stroke again and again. Spike went from walking to running towards the source of the noise. “Twilight, what are--” the words choke on his mouth when he saw the pony emerging from the darkness in front of him. That long crimson horn, those predatory eyes, those wicked fangs and that mane swirling like a mass of tendrils. “K-King Sombra?!”

The shadow regent snarled and Spike, calling forth all the might of his ancestral race, ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction. There was no sounds of hooves striking the floor, but the growling and snarling made it clear Sombra was right behind him. The baby dragon reached his bedroom and slammed the door close. “Okay, okay, there has to be—whoa!” A wave of black smoke burst the door open and sent Spike flying and slamming against his bed; he shook his head with a moan and saw King Sombra standing right under the doorway.

“Duel,” he snarled.

Spike blinked. “W-What?”

“Duel.”

“B-But we don’t even have a Dueling Arena--”

“DUEL!” roared Sombra. His horn glowed red and a duel disk materialized around his neck. It was colored grey, with protrusions like spikes around the edges that gave the impression one could easily use it to bash an enemy in the head.

Spike looked around and spotted his backpack. He quickly launched himself towards it, retrieved his duel disk and hastily strapped it around his left arm. He had no idea why the tyrant that once slaved an entire race of ponies was challenging him to a card game, inside his home of all places, but he wasn’t going to complain, not when this gave him better chances of holding his own.

Both drew their five cards and stood ready. “I-I’ll go first,” declared Spike and placed a card on his disk. “I summon Troop Dragon!” A bipedal, green winged dragon materialized in front of Spike, much to his surprise. It wore a leather armor and held a sharp looking spear in its claws (700/800). “Alright, how about this? The spell Dragon’s Gunfire!” The dragon took a deep breath and spit a fireball that hit Sombra right on his chest, sending him backwards and lowering his life points by eight hundred (4000-3200).

“Whoa,” mumbled Spike. Not only he was seeing a life points counter right above Sombra’s head, but he also managed a sweet opening move. “I end my turn.”

Sombra’s nose flared. “Draw,” he said and picked up a card with a flash of his horn. “Phantom King Hydride!” A humanoid monster clad in a silver armor and riding a large black horse appeared carrying a curved bladed sword (1500/300). “Attack! PHANTOM BLADE!” The knight charged forward and, with a swift slash, beheaded Spike’s dragon, taking out eight hundred of his life points (4000-3200).

“I was waiting for that!” declared Spike. “When my Troop Dragon is destroyed by battle I can special summon another one from my deck!” A second dragon emerged, this one wielding a sword and a shield (700/800).

Sombra growled under his breath. “Turn end.”

“Draw,” said Spike and smiled upon seeing his newest card. “This is what I’m talking about! Monster Reborn!” The first Troop Dragon returned to the field with a joyous cry. “Now I tribute these two to summon my Red Eyes B. Dragon!” Both of Spike’s monsters glowed and fused into a ball of fire from which emerged his favorite dragon (2400/2000). “Attack! BLACK FIRE BULLET!” The black dragon reared back and breathed a projectile of dark fire that vaporized Sombra’s knight, complete with its steed, in the blink of an eye, costing him nine hundred life points (3200-2300).

“I can do this,” thought Spike. “I end my turn!”

“Draw!” Sombra immediately placed a card on his disk. “Monster Reborn! Return my Phantom King Hydride!” The knight reappared at the command of its master. “I summon Gash the Dust Lord!” A humanoid figure appeared, it wore a ragged brown and grey robe which concealed most of its body save for both hands, tightly holding a black sword, and part of its face, a pair of glowing red eyes and a devilish smirk (1000/1200).

Spike’s eyes widened as Sombra raised his head and started to chant with a deep, guttural voice. “The star of death that shines at the zenith of the heavens! Descend to the earth and make judgment upon the living! Synchro summon! King of Divine Punishment! Dark Highlander!” Both of Sombra’s monsters disolved into particles of light and ascended upwards, making the ceiling shine like a starry sky. Then, the stars swirled, forming a portal from which a large figured dropped, shaking the whole room in the process. It was humanoid in appearance, like the previous two, tall as a minotaur and clad in a black and golden armor; it set its red eyes on Spike and lifted a gigantic scythe that looked sharp enough to cut an apple cart in two with a single strike (2800/2300). “I play these,” said Sombra. “Mist Body and Darkworld Shackles!” A chain erupted from the ground and tied itself around the Red-Eyes Black Dragon’s neck. The dragon roared and pulled, but its effort only served to reveal the large, black spiked ball with a grinning demonic face attached to the other end of the chain (100/100). Sombra licked his lips. “Attack! DEATH POLAR SLAY!” The Dark Highlander swinged its scythe towards the black dragon, which turned into a cloud of mist as soon as the edge grazed its scales. Still, it did not stop the shockwave that took out two thousand seven hundred of Spike’s life points and sent his body rolling backwards (3200-500).

“I-I don’t get it,” muttered Spike as he struggled to stand up. “Why did he use those spells…?”

Sombra laughed thunderously. “Finish him! DEATH SEVERING!” The Dark Highlander raised its scythe and brought it down, destroying both of Sombra’s equip spell cards and creating an eruption of dark energy that dealt eight hundred points of damage to Spike (500-0).

“I lost,” thought Spike as he lay on the floor. He looked at Sombra, whom did not move but kept laughing. “Duel Monsters is not that fun when you play with guys like him,” he thought bitterly. As he contemplated his fate, a high pitched voice interrupted the villanous laugh.

“Not so fast, King Spooky Smokey!”

Spike blinked twice. “P-Pinkie Pie?!

Pinkie jumped from the hallway, right over King Sombra and made three perfectly executed spins on mid-air before flawlessly landing on her hind legs, right next to Spike. “Hi, Spike!” she greeted casually. “I’ll handle this so don’t worry!”

With some effort, Spike sat and looked at Pinkie. A dark blue jacket hung around her neck like a cape and she wore a bright red duel disk around her left foreleg; all while still standing on her hinds.

Sombra gritted his teeth and growled. “Duel!”

“Lady duelists first!” said Pinkie with a grin. “I summon Fire Hand!” A strange mechanized monster in the shape of a glowing, red hot clawed hand appeared on the field (1600/1000). Pinkie extended her right hoof towards it and the monster responded by closing its fingers and giving her a thumbs up. “I also play two copies of Supply Squad and finish my turn!”

Sombra looked at Pinkie’s side of the field and sneered. “Draw! Graceful Charity!” he drew three more cards and discarded two. Afterwards, he immediately played Monster Reborn to bring back his Phantom King Hydride and summoned Gash the Dust Lord. “Synchro Summon!”

Spike eyes widened as the Dark Highlander materialized once again, menacingly towering over Pinkie Pie. Her smile merely got wider. “You’re going to need more than that to get the upper hand!”

Sombra snarled. “DEATH POLAR SLAY!” The Dark Highlander raised its giant scythe and charged forward.

“Counterattack!” yelled Pinkie as she pointed her right hoof forward. “Secret Pressure Point Technique Number One! Fatal Heatstroke Finger!” The Fire Hand launched itself and stroke the Dark Highlander right on the neck with its index finger, causing both monsters to immediately explode and vanish. A second hand, glowing blue and covered with frost, immediately took the place of the destroyed one as Pinkie drew two cards from her deck (1400/1600). Her life points went down by one thousand two hundred (4000-2800).

Sombra growled like an angry dog and placed two face down cards. “Turn end!”

“Alright!” cheered Pinkie. “Now I draw one card and--”

“Wait!” cried Spike.

“Uh? What is it, Spike?”

“What was all that you did now?!”

Pinkie blinked. “You mean my plays?”

“Yes!”

“You mean you don’t know?”

“No!”

Pinkie giggled. “That’s okay, Spike. You don’t have to feel bad for not having firsthand knowledge of every single card; not when I’m here to give you a guiding hand!”

Spike rolled his eyes.

“When my Fire Hand is destroyed and sent to the graveyard I can destroy one of my opponent’s monsters and special summon an Ice Hand from my deck,” cheerfully explained Pinkie as she pointed her hoof towards her monster, which raised its thumb in response. “And when one of my monsters is destroyed my Supply Squad continuous spells allow me to draw a card from my deck. Pretty handy, huh?”

“That’s…pretty cool, actually,” admitted Spike. “But couldn’t you have—you know, explained it like that from the go?”

Pinkie rolled her eyes and blew a raspberry. “Where’s the fun in that?”

Just as Spike was about to reply, a voice erupted behind them.

“CALL OF THE HAUNTED!”

They both looked to see the Dark Highlander standing once again next to King Sombra.

“We’ll talk later, Spike,” said Pinkie. “I have to get my hands dirty,” she added. “Attack, Ice Hand! Secret Pressure Point Technique Number Two! Fatal Frostbite Finger!” Her monster launched itself forward and stroke the Dark Highlander in the solar plexus with its middle and index finger, causing both monsters to vanish and Pinkie to lose one thousand four hundred points (2800/1400). “When my Ice Hand is destroyed I can pick and destroy a spell or trap card my opponent controls,” Pinkie explained unprompted. “Plus I get to summon a Fire Hand from my deck and draw two cards thanks to my Supply Squad!” A second Fire Hand appeared next to her.

Spike stood dumbfounded. “She’s got the upper hand…”

“I heard that!” said Pinkie with a giggle.

Spike slapped himself on the forehead.

“Now,” said Pinkie with a smirk as she looked at the defenseless King Sombra. “Go, Fire Hand! Spicy Slap!” she ordered and her monster responded by slapping Sombra across the face two times in succession, lowering his life points by one thousand six hundred (4000-2400). “I’m not done yet! I play Magical Mallet!” she shuffled the six cards in her hand and drew the same amount. “Now that I control a Fire Hand I can special summon a Prominence Hand from my hand!” The monster was a golden mechanical hand, almost skeletal in appearance; it turned to its master and closed its fingers before lifting both, the index and middle ones, to form a letter V. “All hands on deck as I build an overlay network! XYZ summon!” Pinkie lifted her right hoof upwards and both of her monsters turned into balls of light, fusing themselves in a blinding flash. “Nothing will escape your grasp! Number 106: Giant Hand!”

Spike gaped as he saw the huge hand completely made of black rocks appearing above Pinkie Pie. Each one of it’s fingers was encased in metal, ending on a sphere which opened to reveal a glowing rune that made it look like an eye (2000/2000). “I set two cards and end my turn.”

Sombra howled, drew a card and immediately activated his face down trap. “Powerful Rebirth!” The Phantom King Hydride returned to the field with an extra one hundred attack points and its level increased by one (1600/400). Sombra normal summoned a second Gash the Dust Lord and started chanting again. “Rend the obsidian darkness! Scorch Heaven and Earth! Isolated absolute king!” The two fiends were engulfed by a tornado of flames. “Synchro summon! Hot Red Dragon Archfiend!”

The first thing Spike saw coming out were a pair of arms with large claws, followed by two huge leathery wings and, finally, a red and black dragon shattering the flames with a mighty roar. It was the first time after meeting with Tirek that Spike had seeing such a demonic looking creature, with the three curved horns adorning the top and sides of its head, and those piercing yellow eyes (3000/2000).

“Destroy it!” commanded Sombra. “CRIMSON HELL FLAME!” The demonic dragon reared back and breathed a stream of fire towards the Giant Hand.

“Pinkie!” shouted a terrified Spike.

But Pinkie Pie merely grinned as her monster spread its fingers and easily blocked the flames with its palm, sending a shockwave that made the dragon flinch.  “I can detach two XYZ materials to negate the effect of a monster on my opponent side of the field! It’s my Fatally Paralyzing Pressure Point Technique!” she declared loudly.

Sombra screamed in frustration. “Attack! CRIMSON HELL CLAW!” The demonic dragon spread its wings and charged forward, only for Sombra to watch in horror how it started to get smaller until it became half its original size (1500/2000). “It can’t be!”

With a flick of its middle finger the Giant Hand made the Hot Red Dragon Archfiend vanish like a dust bunny and lowered Sombra’s life points by five hundred (2400-1900).

“How do you like my Shrink spell, King Spooky Smokey?” asked Pinkie cheerfully. “I gotta hand it to you, you’re not half bad. On the other hand, you’re so focused on attacking you ended up overplaying your hand!”

“Pinkie Pie!” protested Spike while raising both arms over his head.

“Sorry,” she said sheepishly, then turned to King Sombra. “Are you done there?”

Sombra growled.

“I take that as a yes,” chirped Pinkie. “Draw,” she pointed her right hoof forward. “Go Giant Hand! Secret Pressure Point Technique Number Three! Five-Point-Iron-Palm-Descending-From-Heaven-Strike!”

The giant hand raised itself…and promptly squashed King Sombra (1900-0). The darkness that enveloped the room disappeared immediately, revealing the pleasant crystal architecture and leaving no trace of the confrontations that had just taken place.

“Well, I hope that wasn’t too heavy handed!” said Pinkie with glee. She removed the duel disk from her left foreleg, carefully placing it on her back and went back to standing on her four legs. “Are you okay, Spike?”

The baby dragon ran and tightly hugged Pinkie with his tiny arms.

“Aww, there, there--”

“Wait!” cried Spike as he suddenly broke the hug. “Twilight! We-we have to find her and tell her King Sombra is back and trying to take over Equestria with a card games and--” his words were cut short when Pinkie jammed her special “calm down” cupcake on his mouth, with extra chocolate for additional endorphins release.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of, you silly!”

Spike swallowed and licked his lips. “But--”

“She’s right, Spike.”

Both of them turned around to see a slightly dishveled Twilight, followed closely by Applejack.

“Twilight,” said Spike with a smile. “But what do you--” he stopped and frowned. “Is this about that “little experiment” you were talking about yesterday?”

Twilight smiled proudly. “An holographic projection of an artificial intelligence taking the form of known figures, pre-programmed with behavioral patterns extracted from our previous encounters with them and strategies suited for their personalities and approaches to conflicts.”

Spike stood dumbfounded.

“She means a dummy that plays card games, sugarcube.”

Twilight frowned at Applejack, whom merely shrugged and smiled in response.

Twilight rolled her eyes and cleared her throat. “Yes, it was part of my magical experiment for the purpose of improving the world of dueling. Can you imagine it?” she beamed. “No longer you will be limited to seeking arenas or other ponies to play with! You could do it all from the comfort of your home and play with whoever you wanted!”

“Like a black magic wielding, power hungry tyrant?” asked Spike drily.

Twilight blushed. “It’s a work in progress,” she confessed and smiled. “Which is the reason I called the number five best duelist in Equestria to test it.”

Spike looked at Pinkie Pie. “Magic Hand Diane!”

Pinkie adjusted the jacket around her neck and turned her nose up. Suddenly, her eyes opened wide. “Oh no!” she gasped. “I just realized I went all the duel without once telling him to talk to the hand!”

Twilight rubbed the back of her neck. “Yes--going on, the artificial intelligence activated before she arrived and went around the castle looking for an opponent until it found you,” she pointed her hoof at Spike. “But, rest assured, I’ve already taken care of that little issue.”

“Right,” said Spike with no amusement on his face. “And what about you, Applejack?”

“Me?” asked Applejack. “Ah’ just here to visit Twilight and look at her dummy thingy.”

Twilight cleared her throat and looked at Applejack with a frown.

Applejack quirked an eyebrow.

Twilight raised both eyebrows.

Applejack lowered her chin.

Twilight lowered her’s.

Applejack sighed. “I’m here to assist Professor Twilight in her personal dueling project.”

Twilight gave a a toothy smile which prompted Applejack to cover her face with her hat.

Spike sighed. “I swear there are not enough gems in the world,” he mumbled and began his journey to the kitchen.