Card Games on Ponies

The sun was setting behind Canterlot, covering the beautiful white spires and buildings in the city with a pleasant orange hue, as the last train quickly made its way through the mountains.

Twilight looked through the window with half-closed eyes.

“Alright, everypony, here’s the plan: we will split in three teams of two and scout each location,” said Twilight firmly. “There’s a chance nothing will happen, but I still want all of you to be prepared with your best decks.”

“Um, Twilight,” called Spike while raising a tiny claw. “What about me?”

“You’re staying here, Spike,” said Twilight. “And that’s final,” she added sharply.

Twilight exhaled and cracked her neck.

“Ah’ can’t believe we’re goin’ to face some old evil with the power of a card game,” said Applejack with amusement. “Still,” her smile faltered slightly as she rubbed her right hind leg. “I gotta reckon’ it’s kind of scary.”

Twilight gulped and lowered her gaze. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled.

Appejack sighed. “Twilight, sugarcube, you don’t have--”

“I’m sorry, okay?!” cried Twilight.

Applejack raised an unamused eyebrow and Twilight quickly averted her gaze. The orange Earth Pony stood up from her seat, trotted a few steps and sat next to the purple Alicorn.

“Ah’ listening.”

Twilight did not respond.

“Look here, Twilight, ah’ ain’t blind, okay? Ever since the mess at the castle you’ve been lookin’ like carryin’ half a dozen bales of hay by yourself and ah’ know some mess with a card game ain’t enough to put you in this mood,” she crossed her front hooves over her chest. “So, how ‘bout you tell me what’s eatin’ you?”

Twilight sighed. “Remember the battle with Tirek?”

Applejack chuckled. “That one ain’t goin’ anywhere soon.”

“I have been thinking,” said Twilight as she rubbed her left foreleg. “Back then he used you, the girls and Spike as leverage to make me give him the Alicorn magic,” she suddenly turned to Applejack. “What if he had not uphold his promise? He could have hurt you all. Because I made a mistake,” she looked down. “Just like today...”

Applejack took off her hat and put it on Twilight’s head. “Back when mah’ family and ah’ started to make apple cider, Applebloom found a leak on one of the hoses. Had she not, the cornsarned thing would have cost us nearly half of our produce,” she said somberly. “But it didn’t happen. We fixed it and got our bussiness right on track,” she lifted her hat slightly to see Twilight looking at her attentively. “We didn’t focus on “oh boy, that coulda turned out bad”, instead we learned from it and went to do better.”

Twilight frowned unsurely. “But--”

“Nopony is gonna hate you for what happened there or back at the castle, Twilight,” said Applejack as she patted her over the hat. “Not me or Dashie or Rares or Pinkie or Fluttershy or Spike or the Princesses or anypony. And if they do,” she gave a toothy smile. “Well, it ain’t nothin’ we can’t solve with a nice, warm slice of Granny’s chocolate apple pie.”

Twilight giggled. “Thank you, Applejack,” she said with a smile. “I think…I needed that.”

“Happy to serve, sugarcube.”

Befitting its status as the capital of Equestria, Canterlot had over a dozen of card game shops, more tan half of them with their own dueling arenas, plus a whole stadium dedicated to Duel Monsters tournaments.

“This place sure looks creepy at night,” commented Applejack as she glanced at the black stones that walled the stadium and the multiple flags depicting creatures from the game, barely indentifiable even with the light of the moon.

“Weird,” mumbled Twilight. “I thought Princess Celestia was going to instruct the Royal Guard to watch this place, but I don’t see anypony around…”

They trotted inside. Rows and rows of empty seats surrounded them and, in the middle of all, stood an inactive dueling arena, yet nopony in sight.

Applejack shrugged. “Ah’ think maybe we should--”

“Princess Twilight!”

Both mares jumped on their hooves, but quickly turned around.

“P-Prince Blueblood!” cried Twilight. “What are you doing here?”

The very dishveled looking Blueblood sneered. “I was waiting for you.”

“For me?”

“Yes, it’s time to reclaim what should have been rightfully mine!”

Twilight and Applejack looked at each other. “What are you talking about?” asked Twilight.

Blueblood gritted his teeth. “You know very well what I’m talking about,” he hissed. “I should have been the one granted the power and title of Princess!”

Twilight raised both eyebrows.

Applejack nodded slowly. “Right,” she said flatly. “Didn’t they teach you the difference between fillies and colts back at school, pardner?”

“Silence, you peasant!” growled Blueblood, his eyes glowing with a sickly green color, before he adjusted his duel disk around his neck.

Applejack quickly brought out her own disk. “Ah’ll take care of him, Twilight. Gotta teach this prince ‘bout not disrespecting mah’ apples,” she said as she remembered the way Blueblood called her apple friters “common carnival fare” back on her first time at the Grand Galloping Galla.

“I don’t think he’s being himself, Applejack,” said Twilight warily.

Applejack shook her head. “Whatever salt he’s been licking ain’t gonna help him.”

Blueblood smirked and shouted. “Royal Guards!”

Immediately four armored white pegasi descended from the sky, each one sporting a white duel disk, and surrounded both mares; their eyes glowing with the same threatening light as Blueblood.

Twilight quickly adjusted her own disk and stood back to back with Applejack.

“Better now?” asked Blueblood with a tilt of his head.

Applejack gritted her teeth. “Okay, ah’ admit you may have a point here, Twilight.”

“FEAR NOT!”

The wind howled and the moon shined brighter as Princess Luna descended into the stadium and one of the Royal Guards quickly turned around to face her.

“You again?!” barked Blueblood. “Do you enjoy doing these kinds of entrances or what?!”

Luna narrowed her eyes. “So my Sister was right…”

“Princess Luna?” called Twilight.

“Twilight Sparkle, Applejack,” said Luna as she adjusted her duel disk. “It seems my decision to perform my own scout was the right one.”

“Ah’ don’t wanna sound ungrateful, Princess,” said Applejack drily. “But could you tell us what in the hay is goin’ on”?

“Both the Prince and these guards are under the influence of somepony’s dark magic,” informed Luna.

Twilight gasped. “Dark magic? So it wasn’t just a malfunction of my artificial inte—I mean Dueling Dummy?”

Luna nodded. “We will have to duel and win in order to release them.”

Applejack frowned and adjusted her hat. “Better get your game on, everypony.”

“Draw!” said Twilight. “I summon Heliosphere Dragon!” a strange looking purple and black dragon with a long serpentine-like neck and wings that composed its entire body materialized with a loud shriek (0/1900). “Incredible,” thought Twilight. “We’re not even inside the arena and the monsters still appear,” she set a card and finished her turn.

“My turn,” declared the first of the Royal Guards facing Twilight. “I summon Command Knight,” a beautiful, blonde woman appeared on the field. She was clad in a rich crimson armor, with a brown helmet adorned with four golden feathered wings protecting her head. Her long purple cape fluttered as she drew a sword from the scabbard on her waist (1200/1900). “Command Knight grants all warrior type monsters under our control an extra four hundred attack points,” duly informed the guard (1600/1900). “I also activate the A. Forces, this gives our warriors two hundred attack points for each other warrior or spellcaster on the field,” he placed the spell card on his duel disk and the attack of his Command Knight immediately increased (1800/1900). “I end my turn.”

Twilight watched in awe as the other two guards played exactly the same cards. “Three monsters with over four thousand attack points!?” she thought. “What coordination,” she glanced upwards and saw their life points projected. “Twelve thousand, I see… they’re truly dueling as one.”

Behind her, Applejack overlay her Star Seraph Scout, Sage and Sword to summon Number 102: Star Seraph Sentry. The mechanized angel spread its wings, illuminating nearly every corner of the stadium. “It ain’t enough,” said Applejack as she looked at the last card in her hand. “Rank-Up Magic Barian’s Force!” the Star Seraph Sentry’s shine faded, its golden frame turning dark blue. It let out an eerie growl as purple energy coursed from its torso to its limbs and the bow in its hands transformed into a wicked looking black spear (2900/2400). “Unholy Lightnin’! Noble Demon! Number C102: Archfiend Seraph!”

“Draw!” shouted Blueblood. “I play The Melody of Awakening Dragon by discarding The White Stone of Legend!” he retrieved his three copies of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon from his deck with a wide grin. “Polymerization! Descend, my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!” the mighty three-headed dragon appeared above Blueblood with a deafening roar (4500/3800). “Next! Fusion Recovery!” he took out Polymerization and one copy of his Blue-Eyes White Dragon from his graveyard and added them to his hand. “Let me introduce you to the monster with the same capabilities as my legendary dragons!” shouted Blueblood dramatically. “Black Luster Ritual!” a pyre erupted from the ground, flickering and dancing wildly. Blueblood picked a card from his hand and threw it into the fire. “Come, Black Luster Soldier!” a lean knight clad in a pitch-black armor with ornate golden frames emerged from between the flames wielding a shield and a curved sword (3000/2500). “Finally, I fuse my two monsters to create the invincible Dragon Master Knight!” the Black Luster Soldier jumped on the back of the Ultimate Dragon, it’s three heads roared in acceptance of the knight’s presence (5000/5000).

“Whoa, Nelly,” mumbled Applejack.

Blueblood took a deep breath and adjusted his mane. “I know, I know…”

“Lieutenant Cottage Cheese,” called Luna.

The guard in front of her did not reply.

Luna nodded. “Very well,” she slid a card on her duel disk. “Photon Sanctuary,” two small orbs of light appeared floating at her sides (2000/0). Luna spread her wings and flared her horn, the very stars in the sky seemed to shine brighter as in response. “Behold the true power of the Princess of the Night! The galaxy that lurks in the darkness! Become the light of hope and my servant!” the orbs of light shoot upwards and exploded into a million dots of light which soon fused into a new form. “Appear! Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!” the bipedal winged dragon had a body that looked like it was made of solidified light and shone like a star, drawing the attention of all the ponies present. It’s tail, torso and back of the neck were covered by violet plates of armor (3000/2500).

“Princess Luna uses Galaxy-Eyes too,” thought Twilight.

Applejack whistled.

“Show-off,” muttered Blueblood.

“I end my turn,” declared Luna. Under different circumstances she would have praised Cottage Cheese’s stoicism in the presence of her dragon.

“Draw,” said Cottage Cheese flatly. “Graceful Charity,” he drew three cards and discarded two. “Double Summon, The Trojan Horse,” a large, mechanical wooden horse appeared on the field (1600/1200). “I sacrifice it to summon Gilford the Legend,” the horse exploded in a cloud of smithereens, revealing a tall human warrior with rippling muscles. His body was protected by a black armor with large, spiked shoulder pads. A tattered brown cape fluttered behind him as he glared at Luna; most of his face concealed behind a horned mask. He lifted a broadsword, large enough to cut half a dozen of Timberwolves with a single strike, with both hands and pointed it forward (2600/2000). “When Gilford is summoned I can take any number of equip spell cards from my graveyard and equip them to him,” informed Cottage Cheese. He took Assault Armor and Fusion Sword Murasame Blade and equipped them to his monster. “Next, I equip him with Lightning Blade and Magnum Shield from my hand,” for every spell played Gilford’s sword grew larger and larger, until it became three times the size its wielder (6500/2000). “Finally, I send Assault Armor to the graveyard to allow Gilford to attack twice this turn!” declared Cottage Cheese, his voice finally raising over the monotone (6200/2000). “DRAGON BEHEADING DOWNWARD SLASH!”

Luna closed her eyes. She did not need to see her dragon vanishing in a flash of light alongside her opponent’s monster.

“What is--”

“When my Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon battles, I can banish it and my opponent’s monster until the end of the battle phase,” calmly informed Luna.

Cottage Cheese watched as both monsters returned to the field; his Gilford having been deprived of his equip spell cards (2600/2000). “I set a card and end my turn.”

“Draw,” said Luna. “I play Magical Stone Excavation!” she discarded two cards and took back her Photon Sanctuary, which she immediately played to special summon two Photon Tokens to her side of the field. “I sacrifice my tokens to summon the emperor of light! Photon Caesar!” a humanoid warrior appeared on the field with his body fully covered by a sharp-looking blue and golden armor, a long cape over his back. On his left hand he held a large shield, on the right one he wielded a curved sword (2800/2000). “And when my Photon Caesar is summoned I can special summon another one from my deck!” a second Caesar appeared next to the first one (2800/2000). “Go my dragon!” commanded Luna. “Attack his monster!” her dragon charged forward with a mighty roar.

“Trap card! Sakuretsu Armor!” shouted Cottage Cheese. “This card destroys one of--” his words faltered when he saw the Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon dissapearing together with his Gilford the Legend.

“My dragon’s effect can also protect him from your traps,” said Luna. “It’s over, TWIN KAISER SLASH!” both knights surrounded her opponent and delivered a simultaneous strike that lowered his life points to zero (4000-0).

“Fires of Doomsday!” called Twilight. Two vaguely humanoid shapes made of black fire appeared on the field, each one sporting a single demonic eye (0/0). “Draw!” she looked at the cards on her hand. “I have to finish this with on this very turn,” she thought. “I summon Parsec, the Interestellar Dragon! And with both of these level eight monsters I build an overlay network! XYZ summon!” both of her monsters vanished in a torrent of energy. “Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon!” the mechanized black dragon apppeared with a roar (3000/2500). “Now I--” but her sentence was cut short when she saw both, her Tachyon Dragon and Luna’s Photon Dragon, fiercely growling at each other. “What the hay?” she mumbled. It wasn’t until Luna’s dragon dissapeared that her’s calmed down. “I’ll make a mental note to investigate this,” she thought. “Rank-Up Magic Barian’s Force!” without warning, the Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon burst on fire. The flames twisted wildly as the shape inside them changed. “Pierce through the raging torrent of galaxies, and revive from the time before they ever existed! The draconic star from beyond eternity!” chanted Twilight. “Number C107: Neo Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon!” the dragon’s once black frame now shone golden, with four long tails on its behind and two gigantic wings on its sides. Three pairs of pure gold energy wings sprout from its back, and where the previous form had one head, this one had three snake-like ones (4500/3000).

“It’s bigger than my Ultimate Dragon!” protested Blueblood.

“Once per turn, I can detach an xyz material from my dragon to negate the effect of every other face-up card on the field,” explained Twilight. She closed her eyes and commanded. “Time Tyrant,” her dragon roared and the trio of Command Knights in front of her fell to their knees, their attack points back to their original values (1200/1900). “And by tributing two other monsters, I can give my dragon the power to make up to three attacks on monsters this turn,” as the dragon’s three heads reared back to attack, an angelic silhouette appeared behind them. “Honest gives my dragon attack equal to that of your monsters,” she shook her head. “I’m sorry, guys.”

Applejack didn’t bother to glance over her shoulder; the shockwave that nearly blew her hat away and Blueblood’s expression told her everything she needed to know. “Ah’ guess it’s just you and me now.”

Blueblood gritted his teeth. “Yes,” he raised his right hoof. “Go! DRAGON MASTER SWORD!” the dark knight raised his sword and pointed it towards Applejack. In response, the three dragon heads opened their jaws and fired a combined stream of lightning towards the Archfiend Seraph.

Applejack clenched her teeth and dug her hooves on the ground. Even when it was her monster who took the blunt of the attack, the shockwave was strong enough to force her to close her eyes and sent her hat flying away (4000-1900). A few seconds later, the impact subsided and Applejack straightened herself. “Well, ah’ll be,” she said before shaking her head. “That dragon of yours hits like a herd of buffalos.”

Blueblood stood in silence, his left eye twitching.

Applejack grinned. “Ah’ sorry ‘bout that,” she said looking at her Archfiend Seraph. “Ah’ should’ve mentioned how ah’ can detach two xyz materials from mah’ monster to prevent its destruction,” she drew a card from her deck. “Now, ah’ll detach another xyz material to bring the attack of your dragon to zero,” the demonic seraph spread its wings, producing a low humming sound and causing the Ultimate Dragon to fall on the ground, its three heads gasping for breath as the Black Luster Soldier tried in vain to get it to stand up. “Finish ‘em off,” commanded Applejack. The Archfiend Seraph twirled its black lance and threw it, impaling both, dragon and rider, simultaneously, their bodies turning into a pile of dust, quickly scattered away by the breeze.

Blueblood’s chest heaved (4000-1100). “I AM NOT DONE HERE, YOU RANCID SWINE!”

Applejack shook her head. “Yes, yes you are. When I detach the last overlay unit from mah’ Seraph, it deals one thousand five hundred damage to you.”

“YOU JUST CAN’T DETACH AN OVERLAY UNIT LIKE THAT, YOU UNCULTURED BARBARIAN!”

“Ah’ know, that’s what Space Cyclone is for,” she slid the spell card into her duel disk. The Archfiend Seraph pointed a finger towards Blueblood.

“Oh, ponyfeathers.”

Applejack watched Blueblood being hurled away and sighed.

“Are you okay?” asked Twilight as she levitated Applejack’s hat and put it back over her friend’s head.

“Yep. Thanks, sugarcube.”

“Twilight!”

Both mares turned around to see Princess Celestia entering the stadium accompained by a dozen Royal Guards.

“Cotton Breeze,” called Celestia. “Please take care of the guards and my nephew immediately.”

A white pegasus mare saluted and instructed her fellow guards to follow her.

“Princess Celestia!” called Twilight.

“Twilight, Applejack; I’m glad to see you’re okay,” said Celestia with a smile.

“Is it true, Princess?” asked Twilight. “What Princess Luna told us about the dark magic?”

Celestia looked at the approaching Luna, then back at Twilight and Applejack. She nodded grimly and told them everything that had transpired at the castle.

“Ah’ll be,” muttered Applejack.

“I can’t believe it,” said Twilight. “Dark magic to control minds and manifest the card game to life…”

Applejack watched as two Royal Guards carried an unconscious Blueblood on a stretcher, his tongue unceremoniously dangling from the side of his mouth. “Will they be okay, Princess?”

“I believe so,” replied Celestia. “Fleur and Fancy pants sustained no injuries and we found no traces of dark magic on them,” she paused for a moment. “They still remain asleep, though.”

“We should keep checking the rest of the arenas then,” said Twilight.

“Yes,” said Celestia. “But this time I will assign a unit of Royal Guards to escort you two.”

“Thank you, Princess.”

Applejack adjusted her hat. “Alright, we better get goin’ now.”

“Sister.”

It wasn’t until Celestia saw both, Twilight and Applejack, leave the stadium surrounded by half a dozen Royal Guards that she turned towards Luna. “I’m sorry, Luna. I simply couldn’t bring myself to sleep.”

Luna chuckled. “I should have expected much from you, Sister.”

Celestia gave a slight smile. “Yes,” she looked away into the sky. “Now that we have reasons to believe this was somepony’s work and not an accident, I doubt I will be able to rest until we put an end to it,” she bit her lower lip. “I’m concerned about the state of Ponyville too. That’s where everything started, after all.”

“Do not fret, Sister,” said Luna confidently. “I have already sent my apprentice there.”

“Good job, Luna. I expected nothing less of—wait a minute, did you say apprentice?”

“Well, yes,” said Luna with a huff. “I don’t see what’s so farfetched about it.”

Celestia blinked twice. “You have an apprentice.”

“An apprentice in Duel Monsters, but yes,” said Luna, her voice faltering slightly.

Celestia nodded slowly. “A dueling apprentice.”

Luna blushed. “I was hoping we could challenge Twilight and you to a tag-team duel,” she confessed timidly.

Celestia raised both eyebrows. “My little sister has a dueling apprentice,” she said slowly.

“Tia!” cried Luna, her face red as an apple.

Celestia turned around and slowly walked away. “A dueling apprentice,” she mumbled over and over again.

“Stop it!”