It's Time to Duel!

December 19, 2015

"So," said Adagio Dazzle as she, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk met at a round table with 5 executives of the Luna Corporation. "I know that you are all angry at the Princess for her betrayals of you."

One of the executives, a winged Lunar Republic resident named Dazzleflash, said to Adagio, "We're beyond angry! When we teamed up to take over the government of the Lunar Republic under her wing, she promised us top government positions. Instead, she gave us ceremonial ones!" She slammed her fist on the table. "I'm a native-born resident of the Moon, God damn it!"

"We understand, Dazzleflash," replied Aria. "We also know that ever since Luna's defeat at the hands of Twilight, she has been very withdrawn from the company and has devoted almost all of her time to the Presidency." She then passed out 5 folders to the 5 executives. "We at Industrial Sirens Corporation would like to propose a deal with you."

Another executive, a man named Mythic Sprint, said, "So, what are you proposing?"

"It's simple," Sonata Dusk replied as she opened her folder. "We're holding the Duelist Kingdom tournament soon. My friend Adagio possesses an item known as the Alicorn Eye." She then pointed to Adagio's left eye. "When she defeats people in duels, she can trap their souls in cards. We are going to do just that to Twilight, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna. Once we do, you will have full reign over the Luna Corporation as well as the Lunar Republic, and maybe even Equestria."

"We just need you to do one thing for us," Adagio said to the executives. "Kidnap Cloud Tail and bring him to us so we can lure Princess Luna to the island when we give you the go-ahead. After all, Princess Luna did entrust him with the information needed to take over the Luna Corporation, did she not?"

All 5 executives looked at each other before saying in unison, "Yes." They all enjoyed the prospects of the deal.

Another DVD had came in the mail for Twilight on the same day. Once again, it was unmarked. As she walked over to her computer and popped the DVD in, she said to herself, "Looks like Adagio sent me another video."

As Spike watched as well, the video started up. Aria Blaze was seated at a table in the video and said to the camera, "Hello, Twilight Sparkle. I'm Aria Blaze, the CFO of Industrial Sirens. This is the second DVD we have sent you." She then pointed to three objects on the table. "These things are what you shall wear when you are at Duelist Kingdom." She then picked up one of the objects. "This is a Duel Gauntlet. You'll notice the star-shaped holes in the gauntlet. Well, that's where your star chips will go." She then held up a star chip. "At the beginning of the tournament, each invited Duelist will receive 2 Star Chips and a Dueling Gauntlet with 10 slots to hold them. Duelists will wager their Star Chips in Duels against each other, with the loser handing over the wagered Star Chips. If a Duelist runs out of Star Chips, they are disqualified; exchanging Star Chips outside of a Duel is a violation of the rules, and being caught will also result in disqualification."

Twilight decided to begin taking notes of Aria's words so she could remember when March rolled around next year.

"If you win 10 Star Chips," Aria continued. "You will be let into the castle on the island, where the finals will take place. However, be wary of Eliminators. They are special players who are tasked with eliminating other players so that only 4 duelists will enter the castle. There are 80 Star Chips issued to players in total, and the Eliminators are assigned to retrieve 40 of them to ensure that it will be impossible for more than four finalists to enter the castle. Whoever wins the tournament will be awarded 400,000 bits." (A/N: $50,000 USD)

Twilight said to Spike, "This will be harder than I thought."

"Well," Spike replied, trying to encourage Twilight. "You did beat Nightmare Moon, or, well, Princess Luna."

"True, but that was just one time." Twilight then turned back to the video.

"If you have not figured it out yet," Aria concluded. "The next person who will send you a video will be Sonata Dusk, our company president. Have a wonderful day, Twilight Sparkle." Then, the video ended.

"I'm gonna need to buy new cards," Twilight said. "I can't rely on The Sun Goddess cards alone. I mean, what if I lose them or something?"

Spike nodded and replied, "True, true. I mean, Celestia's deck is pretty good even without the Sun Goddess. The only reason Princess Luna had you cornered was because she drew the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and she has the only three copies in existence."

"I mean," Twilight said to Spike. "It's not like anything bad is at stake in this tournament, right? This isn't like Moon-T where my life was at stake. I shouldn't be so worried."