Equestria: Magic Monstersby Haoryu ChangerChaptersPrologueYou can do it, Scootaloo!A Mentor And His StudentsPrologueCelestia & Luna LP: 123 Discord LP: 2000 Two alicorns stood on a massive checkerboard. Above them were flying houses debris, and there were also fish swimming in the air. They wore special saddle bags that Discord made for them. In front of them was Discord, who stood on his throne with a piece of magic machinery on his left arm looking down at them with a smirk. "This game is quite fun sister I have to admit," Luna said. "Yes, and it is powerful and dangerous as well." "Perhaps we could use this power to defend Equestria in the future." "Perhaps... but we'll need a lot of magic..." Celestia had an idea for a double win. "Oh, Discoord!" ***** Celestia LP: 2500 Luna LP: 2350 Celestia and Luna stood on the crystal castle floors with their special saddle bags on. They had just recently evacuated the crystal ponies from the castle for safety. Sombra LP: 0 Sombra was weak on the ground and his special saddle bag turned into dark mist. Celestia and Luna used their magic to seal Sombra away below the ice. The king screamed in pain as he got sent down into the ice. ***** Two alicorns stood in the throne room in the Castle Of The Two Sisters. One was standing, one was not. Celestia LP: 250 Nightmare Moon LP: 0 Celestia breathed heavily. She was bruised and injured but won. She used the last of her magic to pull out the Element's of Harmony from her special saddle bag. "Forgive me, sister." ***** 1000 Years Later Nightmare Moon growled. "This can't be!" In front of the dark tall pony was a smaller unicorn. She had on her special saddle bag and a creature floated above her. "'Magic Warrior', direct attack!" Nightmare Moon's vision was a bit blurry, she couldn't see the monster that was attacking, and the dark room they were in didn't help. She could do nothing but scream. Nightmare Moon LP: 0 Twilight Sparkle LP: 3000 "With the power of the elements, we won." Twilight's friends cheered from behind. ***** The Canterlot Castle's throne room. Many watched as the changeling queen and captain of the royal guard dueled. "My love will give you strength." Cadence hugged Shining Armor and her horn glowed. Shining's top card on his deck glowed pink, and he drew. Shining slammed activated the spell card and grew a determined face. "Go! Attack the queen directly!" Chrysalis couldn't look at the card that rose on Shining Armor's field fast enough. "Nooo!" Cadence LP: 0 Shining Armor LP: 100 Chrysalis LP: 0 The attack was so huge that it forced all of the changelings out of Canterlot. ***** Cadence stood on the blue crystal floor with Spike by her side. Her vision was about to be taken away from her, so she acted fast and declared an attack on Sombra who was standing on black crystal. "Raaaagh!" Cadence LP: 1500 Sombra LP: 0 With the Crystal Heart combined with her monster on the field, she obliterated Sombra from existence. ***** "I have the most powerful cards in all of Equestria! There's no possible way you could beat me." Tirek and Discord stood in the middle of Ponyville. A cage that held five of the element bearers sat next to them. Fluttershy was tearing up because Discord betrayed them and was about to be defeated. Discord gasped. "Now perish!" *Boom* Discord dropped to the floor. *Discord LP: 0* *Tirek LP: 4000* "But you said this was a sign of your gratitude and loyalty. A gift from someone close to you." "My brother who betrayed me. It is as worthless as he is." Some Time Later "How is this possible? I have the most powerful cards!" "It doesn't matter how much magic and cards you steal. Because the power of friendship is endless!" Twilight said. The Mane Six were in their Rainbow Power forms. Not so long ago their power combined and Twilight's deck lit up. That was when she drew the card to claim her victory. "Now go, 'Magic Warrior'!" Tirek screamed in agony. Tirek LP: 0 Twilight LP: 4000 Tirek shrunk in size until he was weak and powerless. ***** "Make new friends! And if something that you can't control happens that changes things, work through it together! That's what friendship is! And it's not just my friendships that are important to Equestria! Everypony's are! When yours ended, it led us here. But just imagine all the others that are out there waiting for you if you just give them a chance!" Starlight Glimmer LP: 0 Twilight Sparkle LP: 0 Twilight and Starlight, with her magic, hovered in the air surrounded by clouds with their special saddle bags. Spike sat on Twilight's back. "How do I know they won't all end the same way?" "I guess it's up to you to make sure they don't." Duel monsters. Once an idea for chaos, now a game, a tool, a weapon. Currently, in Equestria things are going well. Just a week ago the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle, had a duel to decide the fate of time itself. It ended in a draw, and only one dragon was there to witness its greatness. Now we can see the same princess and her friends, enjoying themselves at a picnic. Well... most of them are. "It's the last of the apple cider give it to me!" Rainbow yelled. "Ah made it, so it's mine!" "It's called generosity! Rarity, tell her!" Rarity sighed. "More orange juice?" Pinkie offered to Rarity. "Thanks, darling," She replied as she took the beverage. Twilight was busy reading a book with Fluttershy. The two tried as hard as they could to ignore the other two bickering ponies. Spike sat beside Pinkie and Rarity, who stopped trying to end this silly argument a while ago, and watched in amusement. "How about half and half?" Applejack asked. "Then I'll be unsatisfied!" "You greedy little- woah." Purple magic encased the bottle of cider and it carried it to Twilight. "Why don't you two duel to decide." She was obviously annoyed. Rainbow looked at Applejack with a face of determination. Applejack smirked back. "Ya're on!" A couple minutes later, the two could be seen facing each other with a good distance between them. "Did ya bring your Duel Saddle?" "Never leave it home." Rainbow put on a saddle bag. A blade extended from one of the pockets and curled out in front of her body. On the blade were five slots and five holders, another compartment at the side, a deck holder which held her cards, and one more slot at the base of it. Applejack activated hers as well. "Um... Twilight?" "Yeah, Fluttershy?" They were still on the picnic blanket, about to watch the duel from there. "The last time I've seen a duel was when Tirek came. Could you uh... explain the rules again...? If you don't mind that is." She asked kindly. "I don't mind at all. I'll be happy to!" "Thanks." Applejack and Rainbow drew exactly five cards each from their decks and placed them on a card holder designed so they could see her cards without letting the other see them. "Duel!" Applejack and Rainbow yelled. A rainbow sphere appeared next to Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Applejack LP: 4000 C: 5 Rainbow Dash LP: 4000 C: 5 "At the starting of a duel," Twilight started. "According to the regular rules, each player starts with four-thousand life points and forty to sixty cards in their deck of cards. They draw five cards from their deck, and usually, they flip a bit to see whose turn goes first." "I'll let you have the first turn," Applejack said. "Alright. My turn, draw!" Rainbow took a card out of her deck in the deck holder of her Duel Saddle when she said the word "draw" and added it to her hoof, making her total cards in hoof six. "At the start of a player's turn. That player draws one card from his or her deck in normal circumstances. This is called the Draw Phase. Immediately after this phase comes the standby phase. Nothing happens usually, but a card effect can activate in the phase." Rainbow took a look at her cards. She smiled. "I summon 'Dashing Eagle'!" "After the standby phase is the first Main Phase. It's where you do most of the dueling. This is where you summon monsters on each of the five spaces on the Monster Zone or set and activate cards in either of the five Trap and Magic Zone." A blue circle appeared above Rainbow Dash and a brown eagle with long wings and menacing eyes came flying out. Another rainbow sphere appeared next to the eagle, showing its Attack points. Dashing Eagle ATK: 1300 LV 4 "Once per turn, you are allowed to normal summon a monster under level five from your hoof in either Main Phase 1, or Main Phase 2. Furthermore, a monster on the field has both attack points and defense points as well as it can have an effect. They can only be in an attack position or defense position, but choosing which position they are in is key in dueling. Once in that position, it can't be changed until next turn, and it can only be changed one time per monster per turn. Attack position monsters can battle, and inflict damage to the opponent's Life points. Defence position monsters can't attack, but when they are destroyed in battle the controller of that monster doesn't take damage like an attack position would do." "I set one card and end my turn," Rainbow stated. A card facedown on the field appeared in front of Rainbow Dash. C: 4 "Normally, after Main Phase 1 there is a battle phase, which monsters battle, and then the second Main Phase. After that is the End Phase where the player's turn ends and the next player's turn starts. But according to the 'One On One' rules, the player with the first turn cannot attack, so it skipped the Battle Phase, and merged the two Main Phases." "Because the other player wouldn't have had a chance to defend, right?" "Correct Fluttershy. Also, the card Rainbow set could be a trap card or spell card. They have special effects to them that can change the duel dramatically and once used are sent to the graveyard." "I think I'm understanding a bit more now." Spike rolled his eyes, Twilight really got into it when explaining things. "My turn!" Applejack drew a card from her deck. She smirked. "I summon 'Apple Knight'!" Her monster came out of a blue circle like Rainbow's did. It was a yellow being that stood on two legs. It had red armor on with a golden sword in one hand and an apple carved into a shield. Its eyes glowed red. Apple Knight ATK: 1700 LVL 3 Twilight smiled. "Our decks were made from within our souls. No doubt Applejack has cards relating with apples." "I activate the Equip Magic card, 'Treat For One'. This card, targets one monster on the field with 'Apple' in its name, and raises its attack points by 500." "A Magic card can be activated from the hoof or the field, but only on *your turn with the exception of Quick-Play Magic cards."* Apple Knight ATK: 1800 ⇨ 2300 "'Apple Knight'! Attack Rainbow's 'Dashing Eagle'!" Apple Knight charged at the flying eagle sliced at it with its sword. The eagle was sliced into two. A second later the monster was destroyed which caused an explosion. "When two monsters conduct battle and they're both in attack position, the one with the most attack points win the battle and destroy the opposing monster. When a monster is destroyed, it is sent to the graveyard. Also, the difference between the attack points is deducted from the player's life points whose monster lost the battle. Other known as taking damage!" "2300 minus 1300 is 1000. So Rainbow should be taking 1000 points of damage." Rainbow grunted and held her legs in front of her face to block the wind pushing her back. The sphere reappeared next to Rainbow and the number counter went down. Rainbow Dash LP: 3000 ⇦ 4000 "I set a card and end my turn." C: 3 "My turn, draw!" Rainbow drew her card. "I summon the Tuner Monster, 'Rainbow Gear'!" A rainbow gear with googly eyes appeared from the blue circle that yet again formed. Rainbow Gear ATK: 400 LVL 2 "Tuner Monsters are special. They are required to Synchro Summon." "I activate 'Dashing Eagle's' effect. If there is only a Tuner Monster on my field, and you have a monster on your field, I can special summon it back to my field from the graveyard. Come back to me, 'Dashing Eagle'!" Dashing Eagle ATK: 1300 LVL 4 "I tune my level 4 'Dashing Eagle' to my level 2 'Rainbow Gear'!" Rainbow Gear turned into two green rings, which Dashing Eagle flew into. Dashing Eagle then disappeared and in its place were four stars. "The green rings represent the Tuner Monster's level, and the stars represent the level of the non-tuners. And the sum of the levels determines what Synchro Monster you can summon." Numbers appeared below the rings and stars. 2 + 4 = 6 "I Synchro Summon, 'Fast Striker'!" The four stars aligned and a beam of light shot through them. The light expanded and a new monster replaced the rings and the stars. Fast Striker ATK: 2400 LVL 6 "Wooow..." Pinkie was amazed. The growling white cat monster stood on four legs. It had a ninja outfit with a red bandana and scarf. It was bearing fangs that could scare away any pray. And the black stripes on its back made it look more awesome. "A Synchro monster. It is placed in a separate deck than your Main deck called the Extra deck. Synchros are summoned using a tuner monster and one or more non-tuners." "'Rainbow Gear's effect activates. When it is used as Synchro Material, the Synchro Monster that was summoned gains 200 attack points!" Fast Striker ATK: 2400 ⇨ 2600 "'Fast Striker'! Attack 'Apple Knight'!" Fast Striker leaped towards Apple Knight. "Hold on a moment," Applejack said. "I activate my Trap card, 'Trap Cellar'." A card raised and showed its red front to Rainbow Dash. On the front was the name of the card 'Trap Cellar', and below it was a picture of a dark cellar underground. Some text was shown at the bottom of the card. "This card negates your monster's attack and reduces its attack points by half if you're attacking an 'Apple' monster." Fast Striker crashed inside the cellar that appeared in front of Apple Knight and missed its target. Fast Striker ATK: 1300 ⇦ 2600 "I activate Fast Striker's special effect! By discarding one card in my hoof, it can destroy a trap or magic card on the field." "What?!" Applejack watched as Fast Striker flew out of the cellar and struck at her trap, destroying it like glass. Fast Striker ATK: 1300 ⇨ 2600 "Keep going! 'Fast Striker'!" And it did, it swiped at Apple Knight with its claw and destroyed it. Applejack winced. Applejack LP: 3700 ⇦ 4000 Rainbow smiled. "I set a card face-down and end my turn." A giant face-down card appeared in front of Rainbow. C: 2 "It's my turn!" Applejack drew her card. "Ya have a mighty fine card there Rainbow, but that doesn't mean you're winnin' this." "Then show me what you got!" "Alrighty, I activate the field spell 'Apple Orchard'!" Applejack took the card from her card holder and placed it in a separate slot at the edge of her Duel Saddle. The area around them turned into an... apple orchard. "When 'Apple Orchard' is in play, all monsters with 'Apple' in their name gets 500 more attack points." Rainbow shrugged. "So what?" "So this!" Applejack replied by showing Rainbow a card in her hoof. Rainbow squinted her eyes. "I can't see it properly." "Then I'll show you! I Special summon 'Apple Seed' to the field." The monster was a brown apple seed with yellow eyes. Apple Seed ATK: 500 LVL: 4 "Ohhhh..." Apple Seed ATK: 500 ⇨ 1000 "Special summoning is different from Normal summoning. You can Special summon more than once in a turn but a monster can only be Special summoned through an effect." "When I have no monsters on the field and you do, I can Special summon this guy from my hoof. Next, I summon 'Farming Jack'!" The red farmer that wore blue and white checkered overalls stood on two legs. It had a hoe that he placed on his shoulder. Farming Jack ATK: 1700 LVL: 3 "So you summoned two new monsters big deal." Rainbow laughed off. "Did I mention that 'Apple Seed' is a Tuner monster?" Applejack smirked. "Uh-oh..." "I tune 'Farming Jack' to 'Apple Seed'." The Tuner turned into the green rings and Farming Jack became stars. The beam of light struck through and a new monster appeared. "I synchro summon, 'Apple Cooker'!" The monster was an old chef that looked like a goblin. It had a frying pan in one hand and wore a dirty white apron and chef hat. Apple Cooker ATK: 2400 Rainbow wiped some sweat of her head with a hoof. "Whew, I thought it would have more attack points." Applejack facepalmed. "Did you really already forget about my Field Spell?" Rainbow blinked. "All monsters on the field with 'Apple' in their name gets 500 more attack points!" Rainbow gasped. Apple Cooker ATK: 2400 ⇨ 2900 "Go, 'Apple Cooker'! Fry me some 'Fast Striker'." Apple Cooker flew in the air and lit the frying pan it was holding with oil. It threw the burning frying pan it was holding at its opposing monster. The pan went through 'Fast Striker' cleanly, causing an explosion and Rainbow to flinch. Rainbow Dash LP: 2700 ⇦ 3000 "Ha! How's that for an... attack?" Applejack stared at Rainbow who was smiling. "Did you forget about my trap card?" Applejack eyes widened. "I reveal my trap, 'Absorbing Tornado'!" Her trap card flipped up, showing its title and a tornado as the image. "When a monster on my field is destroyed and I take damage, I can use this trap to heal my life points by my destroyed monster's attack points after the battle damage!" "What?" Rainbow aura surrounded Rainbow as her life points went up. Rainbow Dash LP: 2700 ⇨ 5100 Applejack grunted. "'Apple Cooker's' Effect activates after I destroy a monster on the field. By removing an 'Apple' monster from my deck from play, and paying life points from that monster's attack points, I can draw two cards." She held one card in the air which got pulled in by a black hole that appeared. "When removing a card from play, it is essentially are more locked up graveyard. The monster would only be accessible through an effect that would specifically target it." She took a look at the cards for a mere second. "Gosh darn it! I have no traps that can help me right now. Oh well, Rainbow needs some good cards if she wants to beat my 'Apple Cooker'." "I end my turn." Applejack LP: 2900 ⇦ 3700 C: 3 Rainbow smiled. "It's my turn!" C: 3 "You have no cards on your field Rainbow. What are ya gonna do?" Applejack said with a smirk. Rainbow took a long glance at her three cards in her Hoof Slot. Rainbow never thought hard like this before, might be a new record. It had to be the cider she wanted so badly. Or was it? She took a look at the field. Applejack had her Field Spell that made her monsters gain 500 attack points if they had 'Apple' and their name, which Rainbow thought her whole deck was made up of. She had her 'Apple Cooker' with 2900 attack points but no face-down cards on her field. "I need to destroy her field spell somehow. But none of the cards in my hoof can let me do that." She took another look at her cards. "Wait... that's it!" "I activate the spell card, "Carrying Clouds'. This allows me to draw a card from my deck for every card I choose discard from my hoof." Rainbow didn't waste any time and put all the cards in her Hoof Holder in the graveyard. "So now she gets to draw 2 cards." Applejack thought. Rainbow drew her two cards and smiled. "Boom baby! I summon 'Soaring Bird'!" A blue hawk flew out onto the field and squawked. Soaring Brid ATK: 1900 LVL: 4 "'Soaring Bird' can let me special summon one random Air Attribute monster under level 4 from my deck." The cards on Rainbow's deck holder automatically shuffled and once it was finished one card stuck out. Rainbow pulled the card out and slammed it on her Duel Saddle. "I special summon the Tuner monster 'Winged Archer'." As its name stated, it was a blue skined humanoid figure that had wings on his back and was holding a bow. It wore blue clothes and it had glowing red eyes. Winged Archer ATK: 1500 LVL: 4 "I tune my level 4 'Soaring Bird' to Winged Archer." The Synchro summoning ritual started with the green rings and bright stars. 4 + 4 = 8 "The streak of rainbow is endless, let's ride it to a new future!" Rainbow chanted. "That's her chant for her Ace monster!" A beam struck through the stars, and out came a new monster. Pinkie jumped up and down in excitement. "Come forth! 'Rainbow Blast'!" Rainbow Blast was a blue skinned two-legged strong monster. It had a face mask and two glowing red eyes. It wore rainbow colored armor and had spiky white hair. On its back were two rainbow rocket launchers. Rainbow Blast ATK: 3000 LVL: 8 Applejack got frightened, ears flat and pupils shrunk. "I activate 'Rainbow Blast's' effect! I can choose one monster on the field and steal half of its attack points!" "What?!" "I thought you remembered? 'Rainbow Blast'! Steal 'Apple Cooker's' attack points!" Rainbow Blast's eyes glowed a brighter red and Apple Cooker's body became enveloped in a rainbow aura. Apple Cooker ATK: 1450 ⇦ 2900 Rainbow Blast ATK: 3000 ⇨ 4450 "Go 'Rainbow Blast'! Attack Apple Cooker!" Rainbow Blast raised its arms and grabbed the launchers on its back. He aimed them at Apple Cooker and fired. Out came the rainbows. The rainbows hit Apple Cooker, making holes in it and destroying it, causing it to explode. "Ahhh!" Applejack got pushed back from the blast. Applejack LP: 0 ⇦ 2900 All the cards and monsters on the field vanished in a light, and both of the player's Duel Saddles turned off. Applejack rubbed her head as Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie came running up to her to help her up. Once she regained her hearing, all she could hear was. "I won! I won! I won! I won! I won!..." Applejack groaned. "Hey don't sweat it Applejack. So you lost one duel... and a mug of cider. Big deal." Applejack just glared at Rainbow who laughed. "Come on Rainbow cut it out. You're going to make Mare-Do-Well appear again." Spike said which made the others laugh. Rainbow smirked. "If you want me to cut it out then why don't you stop me? ...With a duel." Spike didn't know what to say. He was shocked. Twilight giggled. "Oh stop it Rainbow. You're teasing him." Rainbow smiled. "When I think about it... I've only seen you duel once Spike." Twilight pointed out. "I- uh... well..." Spike scratched the back of his head. "Now you're the one being mean." Rainbow pointed at Twilight while smiling. Spike was blushing. "Come on Spikey-Wikey, don't listen to Rainbow Dash. I bet you would pose as a good challenge to her." "A challenge? That's it?" Spike was clearly upset. "Well..." "A challenge from his 'Baby Dragon' card? HA!" Rainbow started to laugh tears and rolled on the floor. "T-that's a rare card you know!" Spike shot back. "For ponies, yeah. But it's still a weak card." Spike grumbled and started to walk away. "Isn't it so cute when he walks angrily away from us like that?" Pinkie asked. Spike just growled some more. The six mares just giggled to each other. Spike grumbled angrily as he walked through the Ponyville streets. Ponies paid no attention to him but Spike wasn't complaining. He thought about what happened. Yes, he only dueled once... alone with Twilight. And there are reasons he chose not to duel in the open public. Reasons that he kept to himself. Spike didn't pay attention and he walked past some well-known fillies. "I thought I got the combo right!" Scootaloo whined. She had on her own Duel Saddle. Sweetie Belle giggled. "You're not the only one. We'll never be the best in the class at this rate." Apple Bloom said sadly. Scootaloo looked up and saw Spike walking slowly with his head down. "Hey, Spike. What's up?" She shouted. Spike either ignored, or didn't hear, but none the less Scootaloo called again. He didn't answer the second time either. Scootaloo ran in front of him. "Hello? Equestria to Spike?" "Huh? What?" Spike looked at Scootaloo. "Oh, hi Scootaloo." He turned to the other two. "Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom." "Is there something on your tail?" She asked. "Huh? Oh, nah! I was just... thinking." "You must really be thinking hard then." Scootaloo giggled. Spike rubbed the back of his head and chuckled nervously. "So... what are you girls doing." Scootaloo and Apple Bloom sighed. "We were trying to duel. But we just can't get the hang of it." "Oh, well... sorry about that." "It's just that Apple Bloom and Scootaloo want to enter the Ponyville school tournament. They want to get better at dueling really fast." "You aren't joining with them Sweetie Belle?" Spike asked. "Sweets doesn't like to duel in front of crowds that much." Apple Bloom mentioned. Spike nodded in understanding. "Wait? Spike can teach us!" "Huh?" Apple Bloom, Spike, and Sweetie Belle were all synchronized. "Think about it. Spike saw so many duels with better ponies like Twilight and Rainbow Dash. He must know something that we don't." "Oh yeah! Spike, can you teach us pleeease?" Apple Bloom gave Spike the puppy eyes. Spike backed away a little. "Look girls. First of all, you can't learn about dueling by either watching or getting taught." He explained. "Awww..." Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were upset now. "I didn't finish. I can't teach you how, but I didn't say I can't make you into better duelists." "What do you mean?" Scootaloo asked. "Hmm... Think about it as any other sport. You can't teach anypony how to play hoofball, but you can train them." "So can you train us? Can you? Can you? Can you? Can you?" "Okay yes! Calm down." Spike smiled. After the two calmed down Spike sighed. "We'll start after school tomorrow. When's your school tournament?" "Next week." "Okay. We have plenty of time to practice then." Sweetie tapped Spike on the shoulder. "Um, Spike?" "Yeah, Sweetie Belle." "Can you tea- er... train me too?" Spike smiled. "Of course!" Sweetie beamed. Spike saw how eager the three fillies looked. "Okay, how about the first quick lesson right now?" "Yaay!" "Okay, sit down next to me." They did as told and Spike asked for Apple Bloom's deck, which she happily allowed him to check. "Hm, almost the exact same cards as Applejack." He thought. "Okay, first question." The fillies listened quietly. "Did any of you trade cards with anypony?" He asked. They all said no and Spike blew a sigh of relief. "Good. Because lesson number one: Your deck. Now, it's okay to buy new cards once and awhile, but remember, your decks were constructed by your souls through Discord's magic. These cards in your deck work together, like a team in hoofball." The fillies nodded. "If anypony asks to trade cards, tell them no. Even if they have a really great card they're offering." Spike thought for a moment. He needed to explain this in a better way for fillies. "For example, if Scootaloo were to trade some of her cards with Apple Bloom's, her deck would be messed up. Her deck doesn't rely on 'Apple' cards, they rely on..." Spike gestured to Scootaloo. "'Scooter' monsters!" "Right. So if you had 'Apple' monsters in your deck it wouldn't make sense." "Oh, I get it now." "Your homework for tonight is to study your decks. See what combos you can possibly use, and tomorrow you'll test them in a duel." "That doesn't even sound like homework. That sounds like fun!" Scootaloo shouted. Spike got up. "Well then. I'll see you tomorrow girls. I have to tend the castle library. Have fun!" He waved back. "Bye Spike!" "Man. What have I gotten into?" He thought for a second. "M-maybe this will be fun? Who knows?" And with that, Spike walked off. You can do it, Scootaloo!"I set one card facedown and end my turn!" *Theme* "My turn!" Scootaloo drew her card and looked on the field. Scooter Mechanic : ATK 1300 LVL 3 Scooter Gunner : ATK 1600 LVL 4 Scooter Designer: ATK 1200 LVL 2 Beautiful Angel: ATK 700 LVL 3 Beautiful Angel: ATK 700 LVL 3 Permanent Trap: Security Controls "I have two traps, and she has one set card. And because of that stupid trap card I can't attack. My traps can't do anything but... Wait, maybe my monsters have a special ability or something?" She looked at her monster's abilities on the card text. "What? Scooter Designer can special summon one of my monsters from my deck? Why didn't I use this before? Gah! I'm such an idiot!" "Finally, you noticed?" Diamond said with a smirk. "Huh?" "That you're an idiot." Scootaloo sighed in frustration. "I activate 'Scooter Designer's' effect, it summons a random level 2 or below 'scooter' monster from the deck in face-up attack position." Her deck shuffled itself using the Duel Saddle. When it was done shuffling, a lone card stuck out. She grabbed the card and placed it on her Duel Saddle. "I special summon 'Speeding Rider'!" The red monster stood on slim legs. Its arms were also red but gripped the handlebars on the blazing scooter it was riding. Its body was covered in armor made of flames and it had a floating fiery skull as a head. Speeding Rider: ATK 600 LVL 2 "She's close... Maybe this will be it." Spike thought. "Next, I summon 'Lightning Wrench'!" As the name stated it, the monster was a floating silver wrench with electricity sparking through it. Lightning Wrench ATK 0 LVL 1 "I tribute 'Speeding Rider' to tribute summon 'Flaming Wheeler'!" Speeding Rider turned into a rainbow orb, and soon, from inside, came out a new monster. This monster had a long black cape. It had an insane grin with shades covering his eyes. It's long skinny legs covered by black pants laid firm on the flaming scooter below. His right hand held the left scooter handle while its left hand just hung free, complementing its insanity. Flaming Wheeler: ATK 2200 LVL 5 "I can't attack so I'll end my turn!" C: 2 "Then it's my turn!" Diamond drew. "Come on Scootaloo. Get the card you need then summon it." "I summon my last 'Beautiful Angel'!" The elegant monster arose from the blue portal. Diamond pointed at Scootaloo. "Go my other 'Beautiful Angels'! Attack Scootaloo directly and win the duel!" The two angels flew up high in the air and pulled arrows back on their golden bows. "Not so fast! I activate 'Lightning Wrench's' special effect!" The wrench started to spark wildly. "I can remove the tool from play to end the battle phase." "What?!" The angels shot their arrows but the spark from the monster made an electric wall that blocked off the attack. The wrench was then pulled in a black void, removing it from the duel. Diamond growled. "So you survived? Whatever I set two cards and end my turn." C: 4 "Then it's my turn!" Scootaloo drew her card and looked at it closely. She gasped then smiled when she noticed what card it was. "I activate the Spell Card, 'System Repair'!" Diamond frowned a little. "This card targets one machine type on the field and destroys all cards targeted to it!" Diamond grew wide-eyed. "What?!" Diamond could only watch in horror as her trump card started to crack. It wasn't long until it was destroyed and Scottaloo's monster, 'Scooter Gunner', broke free of the chains binding him. "Go! Attack Diamond Tiara directly 'Scoota Gunner'!" Diamond growled. "How could I have been caught off guard like that? I activate my trap, 'Beauty Mirror'!" The trap revealed itself, containing a picture of a glowing white mirror and the text for its effect, one Diamond was going to tell Scootaloo. "This trap reflects the damage back to you! You lost Scootaloo!" Scootaloo's monster aimed its guns at Diamond Tiara and fired a blast of light, only for her mirror to float up and reflect the blast back towards Scootaloo. Scootaloo smirked and used her trap, which had a picture of an exploding robotic figure. "I activate 'Self Destruct Sequence'! This destroys the monster attacking and reflects double the damage it would have dealt to me!" Diamond gasped and reacted quickly. "I activate my Quick-Play Spell card, 'You're Fired'!" The picture had a stallion in a suit pointing angrily. "It destroys all monsters on the field and we both take damage to their attack points combined!" All of Scootalo's Scooter monsters and Diamond's Angels glowed brightly before exploding. They didn't move or flinch, just glared at each other as their manes blew back from the force coming from the explosion and as their life points went down. Scootaloo LP: 0 ⇦ 500 Diamond LP: 0 ⇦ 4000 It was silent as the two stared at each other, it was only broken when Diamond shrugged and spoke. "I really didn't expect that Scootaloo. I underestimated you." "Uhh..." Scootaloo didn't expect that. "Thanks?" Not far away, a colt by the name of Tender Taps stared down at the scene and glared at Apple Bloom. He walked away soon after, not letting anyone see him. Diamond smirked. "Just let this be known, I am definitely going to win at the school tournament, so just you wait." Scootaloo narrowed her eyes and smiled. "I look forward to it." Diamond turned with her smirk and walked away. Silver Spoon, who gave a brief happy smile to the crusaders, followed her with a trot. By now the crowd dissipated, leaving only the crusaders and Spike sitting at the park. "That was some great duelin' Scoots!" Apple Bloom said to her with a smile when she approached. Scootaloo blushed and rubbed the back of her mane. "I wasn't that good." "Ya sure were! I was sure you were going to lose. But then you made it a tie! It was awesome!" Scootaloo beamed. "Thanks, Apple Bloom!" Scootaloo turned to the sound of footsteps and saw Spike coming up to her. "How'd I do Spike?" She asked. "Hmm..." Spike looked up in thought. "I can't say you didn't improve, but you're still not... average. To be blunt." "Oh..." Scootaloo drooped her ears, and before Spike could say anything to cheer her up she looked back up with a bright smile. "But that just means I have to practice more!" Spike nodded. "And I'll help any way I can." Sweetie Belle, standing beside Spike, nodded in agreement. "I just can't wait for the tournament to come! I can't wait to win!" "Keep your tail, ya still have to train and besides, I'm going to win!" Apple Bloom said. "Fat chance! We all know I'm waaay better than you." While they argued, Spike thought, "That Diamond Tiara, she's pretty good at dueling for her age. Then again, I'm only a little older than them and I'm..." Spike shook his head. "She could be a good practice partner for the crusaders. I might need other fillies or colts too, I need to teach them about adapting to your opponents." "Something wrong Spike?" "Hm?" Spike turned to Sweetie Belle. "No, I'm just thinking." "I already dueled Apple Bloom..." Scootaloo turned to her unicorn friend. "You don't want to duel." And then Spike. "So that leaves you! Let's duel Spike!" Spike recoiled a bit. "U-uh, I can't!" "Why not?" Scootaloo asked. "Because, uhh... I left my deck at home! Yeah!" "Well then, let's go get it and then duel." Scootaloo started to walk but was stopped by Spike who zipped in front of her. "I can't duel you Scootaloo." "Why?" Scootaloo, joined by Apple Bloom, gave him confused looks. Spike sigh. "I just... can't, okay?" Behind Spike, Sweetie gave the dragon a concerned look. Scootaloo also looked concerned for Spike. "Maybe... Maybe I will duel you another time. But now is not it." "Okay..." "Why don't you want to duel?" Apple Bloom asked, tilting her head. Spike turned away, hiding his face. "Reasons only I should know." Apple Bloom and Scootaloo stared at Spike while Sweetie Belle was in her own thoughts. "I... gotta go." Spike started to run off but stopped when Sweetie Belle called out to him. "Yeah, Sweetie?" "When's our next lesson?" "Um... how about after school tomorrow at your house? I should be helping Rarity, and..." Spike got worried when he thought, "She'll ask about me teaching them... I don't want to explain and risk my secret." Spike laughed nervously and scratched his head. "After I'm done helping Rarity, alright? I'll catch you all later!" With that, Spike ran off. The CMC didn't know what to do now that Spike was busy, and they headed for their clubhouse to decide on what to do. As Apple Bloom and Sweetie talked about the upcoming tournament, Scootaloo stared and inspected her trump card. "Even though I technically didn't lose the duel, I still didn't summon this monster..." She thought hard to herself. "Spike said he believed I could do it, but I still failed." This realization made her droop down. "Maybe I'm not cut out for this." Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom noticed Scootaloo's depressed expression and grew concerned. They gave each other a concerned look before trotting over to their friend. "What's wrong Scootaloo?" Sweetie asked kindly. Scootaloo didn't respond. Apple Bloom peeked over her pegasus friend's shoulder and caught a glimpse of what she was holding. "Is that-" Scootaloo shoved the card into her deck, if it didn't have Discord's magic protecting it, it would have definitely torn. "Scootaloo, are you upset that you didn't get to summon that?" Apple Bloom asked. Scootaloo got up quietly and looked back at them, nodding when doing so. "It's alright, I'm not that good either." Apple Bloom told her. "But that's not stopping me from having fun! We can get better together, alright?" Scootaloo nodded, this time with more enthusiasm. "Of course!" "You guys want to go for a walk? It feels cramped in here." Sweetie said. Apple Bloom beamed. "Alright, let's go for a quick walk down to town square and then come back to eat something at my place." She said. The day after, everypony was in their homes or shops doing their own things. Twilight and Spike were busy in the library, the rest of the Mane Six were at work, and the CMC had nothing to do. They all just sat at the park, no other pony was at the park currently, possibly because it was lunch and most ponies were eating. Apple Bloom was about to say something when pale white fog started to appear everywhere, all around them. The next thing they knew, was that they were surrounded by fog. They made confused and scared sounds and looked around. They couldn't see much past the border of the park because of the fog, and the sky was a bit dark. Sweetie was frightened and started whimpering. "What's happening you guys?" She asked the other two. "I don't know... Rainbow didn't tell me about this." Scootaloo responded. Apple Bloom squinted her eyes and stared into the distance. Twilight and Spike looked outside the castle windows with frightened expressions. "Did the pegasi do this?" Spike asked. Twilight looked down at him. "If they did, I wasn't told of it. And why is the sky dark as well?" "I don't like the look of this." He told. Apple Bloom looked closely. "Is that..." When a form came into view. "Another foal?" "Yeah... they're coming towards us." Scootaloo said, starting to stare at the other shadowy kid. When the foal came close enough for the three to see who they were, the CMC gasped. "Tender Taps!" Apple Bloom shouted with joy. "How're you doing?" She started to run up to him. Tender glared and swung his hoof to point at Apple Bloom, a whip that matched his purple eyes and mane color escaped his hoof and wrapped itself around Apple Bloom's, making her stop. "What's this!" She said in shock. Before Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle could do anything, Tender's eyes glowed and a large purple cage encased the two. "Scootaloo! Sweetie Belle!" The two banged on the bars and tried to escape. Apple Bloom tried to run to them but Tender pulled back on the whip wrapped around Apple Bloom's hoof. "They will be released after our duel." The whip vanished in a flash but Apple Bloom could still feel the tension coming from it. The farm filly gasped. "Duel? What are ya talking about Tender? What is all this? Why do you have magic?" Tender ignored her and activated his duel saddle. "You better duel him Apple Bloom, because I don't want to stay stuck in here!" Scootaloo yelled. Apple Bloom hesitated, but soon enough she activated her own Duel Saddle and stared at Tender. "Please tell me this is a bad dream." She said to herself. "What happened to you Tender Taps?" Tender glared at her and drew five cards. "This duel will decide your fate." Apple Bloom drew her own five cards. "My... fate?" She stared at her colt friend with wide eyes. *** Spike walked to his room while Twilight and her friends talked downstairs about the fog and such. He went over to his bed and flipped one end of the top of the bedpost up, revealing a red button. Spike pushed the button and the bed flipped over. Spike removed the bottom of the bed like a box top and inside revealed a safe. He opened the safe by blowing his magical dragon fire in the lock, and inside were gems, his journal, and his deck of cards. Spike sighed after looking at his deck. He took one of the gems in fingers and popped it into his mouth, closing the safe right after. "I hope this fog isn't anything serious, but..." He looked out the window. "I should go and see if the others are alright." *** Apple Bloom stared uneasily at Tender Taps, while the colt glared back at her. "Duel!" A Mentor And His Students"Twilight! I'm going out!" Spike called out, about to head out the door. "Where are you going?" Twilight called from the kitchen. "I have some work to do!" "Okay, be back before dark!" "Will do!" Spike left after that. He was now on his way to the CMC clubhouse. He saw some ponies dueling, some eating, and others doing work. He kept an eye on the dueling. He never did want to duel... again. But he wanted to at the same time. He didn't care, but he wanted to duel again at least once. He knew he could compete. He was a great duelist, one far above others. He let Twilight go to fight Nightmare Moon, he watched Shining Armor's duel with Chrysalis, he stood beside Cadence as she dueled Sombra, and he simply didn't let Tirek take his cards when he came. He would have jumped in if they failed. He would have done something, even if he wasn't sure he would win. But they always succeeded somehow without his assistance. Spike was now entering the Apple's orchard. A couple minutes later and he was staring at the CMC's clubhouse. Inside "I can't wait 'till Spike gets here. I'm going to show him my new moves." Scootaloo was clearly excited. "Did ya both study your decks?" Apple Bloom asked. "Heck yeah, I did! I found some pretty sick stuff in my deck that I didn't even know of." "Sweetie Belle? Did you?" Sweetie Belle nodded happily. Just then, the door slammed open, revealing the dragon that was now their teacher. "Spike!" "Hey, girls. Did you do what I asked last night?" He asked as he walked towards them. The three nodded. "Good." Spike thought for a moment. "Okay, first I need you to duel so I can see where you're at in skill." "Alright! Let's go Apple Bloom." Scootaloo said as she started to strap on her Duel Saddle. "Alrigh-" "No, stay here inside. We don't need to get a big field or anything. Just use the floor without your Duel Saddles." "Oh... alright." Spike walked up to Sweetie Belle who was watching from across the room. "Do you want to duel Sweetie?" He asked. Sweetie shook her head for a "no" and Spike just plumped down beside her to watch the duel. As Apple Bloom and Scootaloo dueled, Spike asked, "So Sweetie? Why don't you want to duel?" "I don't really like to duel in front of others." "Same here, but could I ask you why?" "Because the last time I did, I messed up, and Diamond Tiara laughed at me..." "Oh... D-don't worry, very soon you'll be a top notch duelist. Just you wait." Sweetie slightly smiled. "So why don't you duel in public?" She eventually asked. Spike scratched his head. "I actually never dueled in a long time. I only dueled once actually." Sweetie looked shocked at that. "It's alright, though. I don't mind watching others duel." Spike and Sweetie sat through and watched the duel. Spike gave pointers for both sides equally, and he thought the two were doing great so far. Also, Sweetie gave Spike her deck so he could look at it. Spike thought it was a great deck, and told her she had some potential if she practiced. Once the duel was done when Apple Bloom couldn't draw a card from her deck, Spike got up and walked up to congratulate them. "That was great you two!" "Did we do good Spike?" Apple Bloom asked. "I know I did good. I won the duel." Scootaloo said proudly. "Now Scootaloo, you only won because Apple Bloom couldn't draw a card from her deck. And while that's a strategy in dueling that wasn't how you intended to win." "Yeah, but I still won," Scootaloo whined when crossing her forelegs. "You both still had 4000 life points." Sweetie deadpanned. "That was basically Apple Bloom playing alone drawing cards until she couldn't draw anymore." "Well..." Scootaloo gave up and sighed. "Okay," Spike started off. "Scootaloo, I noticed how you didn't hold your cards properly in your hooves. And while you have the card holder on your Duel Saddle, it's still a bad habit when you draw. Apple Bloom could have literally read the words on your cards." Apple Bloom started to laugh wildly, which made Scootaloo glare at her. "Apple Bloom, don't think I didn't see you set your cards face-up instead of face-down accidentally at times," Spike said sternly. Apple Bloom stopped laughing immediately. Sweetie Belle giggled at the performance. "You two are friends and don't want to cheat," Spike started again. "But if you're playing with other ponies out there and participate in tournaments, I don't think that they'll be all nice and stuff." Apple Bloom sighed. "We know but-" "It's okay, I'm not mad. You just need to practice some more." He said. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo nodded. "Hey, say what? How about we go to Sugarcube Corner to have lunch. My treat." The two fillies perked up at that. "Really?" Apple Bloom asked. "Let's go!" Scootaloo yelled before dashing off. "Right behind you!" Apple Bloom yelled after taking off. Spike was about to leave but saw Sweetie back where the other two were dueling. "Coming, Sweetie Belle?" "Yeah! Scootaloo just forgot her card... again." She picked up the card and gave it to Spike. After Sweetie headed off, Spike inspected the card before going after her. His eyes widened. "T-this card. But... how come Scootaloo never used this. Wait... she never had the correct conditions to summon this yet." He slapped himself in the head. "Of course, she wouldn't want to tell anypony. She's afraid that they'll make fun of her because she can't summon this monster." He smirked. "Well, time to fix that." Spike chased after the others. After a couple of minutes of walking together, Spike and the CMC encountered Applejack pulling a cart full of hay. "Hey you three. Howdy Spike!" Applejack greeted. "How y'all doing?" "We're good!" All of them said in sync. "Where are y'all goin'?" "We're going to Sugarcube Corner and Spike's payin'!" Apple Bloom said happily. Applejack gave Spike a knowing look. "Slick moves there Spike." Spike blushed. But then that thought struck him. This was Applejack. Applejack! Not only was she the last one he expected to say something like that, but that the "sister protection" wasn't active in Applejack's system right now. He was positive that if Applejack even suspected that he was going for her little sister she would go in for the kill. Well... maybe not considering she's not doing it right now. "I-I'm just... giving them a treat," Spike said while scuffing his left foot on the ground. Applejack just chuckled. "I'm just kiddin'. Have fun you four, and don't be makin' trouble!" She carried on with the cart in tow. "Come on, I'm hungry!" Scootaloo said before hurrying off. "I'm coming!" Apple Bloom yelled out. "Come on Spike." Sweetie pulled on Spike's arm. "I'm hungry too." After reaching Sugarcube Corner and eating, the four could be seen exiting the sugary building. "That was great as always. Thanks, Spike!" Scootaloo said. Spike chuckled. "I saw that you two did your 'homework', and you did well on your duel, so I had to." He shrugged. Just then, a pegasus with a rainbow mane flew in. "Hiya Scoots!" She ruffled with her mane. "Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, ...Spike?" She raised a brow. "What? Is it weird me being with ponies other than you six?" She chuckled. "Yeah. So, what are you doing with these three anyways?" She asked. "Spike was trai-" "Treating them to a snack at Sugarcube Corner. I have to be a gentledrake like Rarity always says." He said nervously. "Oh." She didn't notice the nervousness well shown on Spike. "Well, I stopped by to get something to eat too. I'm going to take a long nap after this." And she left the four after that sentence. "Why didn't you just let me tell her that you're training us Spike?" Scootaloo asked. The other two were going to ask the same thing. Spike sighed. "It's a long story." He didn't want to talk down Scootaloo's idle. "How about we go to the... park! Yeah! Let's go to the park." Spike scurried off to what was known as the school park. The three exchanged confused looks but shrugged it off and followed their teacher. They were soon at the park. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo lead the charged as always, and Spike stood with Sweetie behind them. "Wow, there's a lot of kids here." Apple Bloom was correct. The massive park that was renovated with the help of Diamond Tiara was filled with many colts and fillies. Some pegasi were flying above the park, others on the massive slides, and others play fighting on the bridges. "Hey, girls!" The four looked over to see a smirking Diamond Tiara looking at them. "Hey, Diamond Tiara!" Apple Bloom and Scootaloo greeted in unison. Their relationship as classmates has grown better in the last month. They helped Diamond discover her true self after she lost to Pipsqueak in a duel making him school president. They didn't even have to duel her to get her on better terms. Although, it didn't make their rivalry go away, not just yet. "So? You three are going to play in the tournament?" Diamond asked. "Sweetie Belle isn't. But we are." "That's too bad. I was hoping to see Sweetie duel. But anyhow. You've gotten better?" "We're... working on it. But we'll be some tough competition, don't you worry." Scootaloo said. "I've gotten better too. A lot better if you know what I mean." "Are you saying you can beat me? I can beat you any day of the week. Even Mondays, blech!" "Then you want to settle this, right here, right now?" Spike and Sweetie noticed that a crowd of foals surrounded the two. This was getting intense. "Why not?" *Yawn* "I'll even beat you when I'm tired." Scootaloo clearly faked that yawn. "I can beat you without looking at my hoof." "I can beat you without looking at all." "I can win with my eyes closed." "That's the same thing, and I can beat you in my sleep." "Well, I can-" "Okay, duel already! This is getting boring." A colt in the crowd said. Scootaloo and Diamond Tiara stared at each other intensely. Soon after the two could be seen a good distance apart beside the huge park, Duel Saddles ready. A crowd sat at the park, the only ones not being was Silver Spoon who stood behind her friend and Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Spike who stood opposite from the park. Spike remembered something. "Scootaloo, wait!" "Huh?" Scootaloo looked at Spike. "Yeah." "You forgot something." Spike grabbed her card with his two fingers and threw it at Scootaloo. The card cut through the air easily and Scootaloo caught it with her hooves. Once she took a look at the card she silently gasped and looked at Spike. "T-this is-" Spike just merely nodded. "B-but... this is in my Side Deck," She explained. "Use it Scootaloo. And win!" Spike shouted. "But..." Scootaloo stared at her card. "I believe in you," Spike said softly but loud enough for her to hear. He smiled at her. Scootaloo slightly smiled back and put the card in her deck which shuffled right after. "Thanks, it... it means a lot." She grew a face of determination and stared directly into her opponents eyes. A gray pegasus colt known as Rumble walked between them though they were still far apart. He held out a bit so every pony and dragon could see clearly. "Since neither of you actually challenged the other, wings mean it's Scootaloo's turn first and horn means it's Diamonds." And with that, he tossed the bit he was holding up in the air. Everything that goes up must come down, and that bit was no different. It landed with a 'clink' sound and the dirt ground made it so that it wouldn't bounce again in the air. It did make some dirt fly which made Rumble cough and shield his eyes. Once he composed himself he looked at the bit. "It's..." Everypony listened closely. "Wings! So it's Scootaloo's turn first." "Aw, come on! Flip it again!" Diamond shouted. Rumble just shrugged and flew away. "Why you!" She gave up and sighed. "Oh well, I can win anyways." The two drew their five cards and a rainbow sphere generated next to them. "Duel!" *Scootaloo LP: 4000* Diamond Tiara LP: 4000 "It's my turn!" Scootaloo drew and placed the card on her card holder. She then looked at her cards. "I can do this, I can do this... even when my teacher is watching." She exhaled deeply. "Alright, I summon 'Scooter Mechanic'." An old gray being appeared with dirty robes and a wrench in his left hand. He had buck teeth and his eyes stayed closed. Scooter Mechanic ATK: 1300 LVL: 3 "I set one card facedown and end my turn." C:4 Diamond Tiara smirked. "It's my turn!" She drew her card. "I activate my Spell card, 'Maid's Assistance'!" A big green spell card rose on the field, showing its front to Scootaloo. The card's picture had a little girl at the front with an apron on surrounded by furniture. "This card destroys one set card on the field if I discard 1 fairy-type monster from my hoof to the cemetery." She took one card from her card holder and slipped into a compartment in her Duel Saddle. The girl in the photo of her spell card came out of the spell card and flew over to Scootaloo's set card. She grabbed the card and carried it to Diamond Tiara who read the text. "Hmph! Stops one attack and destroys one monster on both our fields? Throw it in the trash." She shooed off the maid who threw the card in a trash can that appeared. Diamond Tiara smirked that made Scootaloo frown."Next, I summon 'Beautiful Angel'!" A white-skinned humanoid monster appeared out of the blue circle above Diamond Tiara. The angel had two white wings and strips of white clothing. She had a golden bow in her right arm. Beautiful Angel ATK: 700 LVL: 3 "She's pretty smart for just a filly." Spike thought. He crossed his arms. "Apple Bloom." "Huh?" Apple Bloom looked back at Spike. "Your friend there, Diamond Tiara. Did you see what she did?" He asked. "Yeah, she stopped Scootaloo from using her trap card." "Right. But that's not all." He took a look at Diamond Tiara. "She destroyed it because she knew that it would become an obstacle in the future for her. It's good to make your opponent defenseless for the future. Scootaloo could have had that card for future turns but Tiara stopped her from doing so." Apple Bloom nodded. "Watch this duel and learn from it," Spike instructed. "I set a card face-down and end my turn." Diamond declared. C: 2 "My turn!" Scootaloo drew. "Sure she destroyed my trap card, but she just summoned a monster in attack mode with fewer attack points than my monster. Wow, she's worse than I am." Scootaloo thought. "If I summon another monster I'll be able to do more damage!" She grew excited at the thought, thinking of a screaming Diamond Tiara being thrown back by battle damage. "I summon 'Scooter Gunner'!" A figure on four legs rode a scooter. It had a gray skin with a black cloak on and two red eyes appearing from underneath its hood. It also wore a face mask which blocked its mouth and nose. Scooter Gunner ATK: 1600 LVL: 4 "Scooter Gunner effect activates! When it battles a monster, it gains 400 attack points!" Scooter Gunner ATK: 1600 ⇨ 2000 "Go! 'Scooter Gunner', attack 'Beautiful Angel'!" Her monster rushed at Diamond's with its scooter. Apple Bloom beamed. "She's gonna do it!" Spike frowned. "No. Diamond knew this would happen." "I activate my Permanent Trap, 'Security Controls'!" The trap's picture was glowing buttons of various colors on a panel. "If a monster attacks my monster, this trap stops your monster's attack and as long as the targeted monster stays on the field none of your monsters can attack." "What?!" Scootaloo shouted. Chains appeared out of the trap card and grabbed Scooter Gunner, making it unable to move. "Now Scootaloo can't attack as long as her 'Scooter Gunner' stays on the field," Spike stated. Apple Bloom gasped. "Oh no!" Diamond chuckled. "What are you going to do now, Scootaloo?" Scootaloo ears dropped. "I end my turn!" C: 4 "It's my turn!" She drew. "I summon another 'Beautiful Angel'!" Another angel with two white wings and strips of white clothing holding a golden bow appeared. Beautiful Angel ATK: 700 LVL: 3 "On the turn it is summoned it can't attack, but I still have my other 'Beautiful Angel' I summoned last turn to attack you with." "But my monsters have more attack points!" Scootaloo shouted. Diamond shook her head. "'Beautiful Angel' can attack directly." Scootaloo gasped. "So that's her strategy." Spike started to think. "By attacking directly, she can avoid attacking and destroying 'Scooter Gunner' which is also keeping Scootaloo unable to attack herself. That's an effective strategy, but..." He looked at Scootaloo. "There's also one flaw only Scootaloo can use. Scootaloo, will you find out that flaw?" "'Beautiful Angel', attack Scootaloo directly!" The angel pulled a gold arrow back on her golden bow and fired right after the string on the bow couldn't be pulled back anymore. The bow hit Scootaloo in the chest then disappeared, making her sting a bit. Scootaloo LP: 3300 ⇦ 4000 Diamond smiled to herself. "I end my turn." Scootaloo called her turn and drew. "Okay, Scootaloo, think! I can't attack with my monster on the field, so I need to destroy that trap card." She looked at her hoof. "I don't... have any cards to do that. And even if I use defense mode that Sweetie Belle taught me she'll just attack me head on." She gulped. "I-I need to do something, but... I just can't. None of the cards in my hoof can help me. Am I always going to be bad at dueling? Will I ever... catch up to Rainbow Dash." "I... end my turn," Scootaloo said softly. Diamond smirked. "Then it's my turn!" She drew. "Scootaloo didn't do anything that turn!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. Spike and Sweetie Belle stayed silent. "I activate the spell card, 'Butler's Offerings'!" The spell card had a picture of a man in a black suit with a dish tray in his right hand. "This card lets me draw between 1 to 3 cards." She drew three because of her greediness of course. "And I have to be a good host so you draw two cards." Scootaloo drew two cards, one a trap, and one a monster. "Nothing." Diamond laughed. "I attack with both of my 'Beautiful Angels' directly!" Both of her angels flew in the air and fired their arrows at Scootaloo. This time, Scootaloo was slightly skidding backward on the impact of the arrows. Scootaloo LP: 1900 ⇦ 2600 ⇦ 3300 "Hmph! I end my turn." She held her nose up high. Scootaloo rubbed her chest. "I took 1400 points of damage. If she summons another one of those angels next turn, I'm finished!" She looked at her hoof. "I have to draw a good card. If I don't, I'll lose." She put her hoof on her deck. "My turn!" She drew. The crowd of ponies and dragon stood quiet, as Scootaloo didn't look at her card yet. They waited for her to make a move. Scootaloo slowly revealed the card to herself, and when she saw what she drew, she gasped. "Hm?" Spike stared at Scootaloo. "The glint in her eyes... She must've drawn that card." Scootaloo looked at the card, then at Spike, who just nodded his head. "If she can summon that card, then she'll win the duel." Scootaloo looked at the card with widened eyes. "I can't summon this car-" Then she remembered something. "Use it Scootaloo. And win! I believe in you." Spike shouted. She grew a determined face and called out, "I set two cards face-down, and I summon 'Scooter Designer'!" An old hunchback scientist with a white jacket, gray beard, and goggles rose to the field. It cackled loudly. Scooter Designer ATK: 1200 LVL: 2 "You can't attack so why bother summoning any monsters?" Diamond Tiara said. "I end my turn!" Scootaloo shouted, ignoring Diamond Tiara. "Fine then, it's my turn." She drew and called out, "Go, 'Beautiful Angels'! Attack Scootaloo directly!" The arrows hit and this time, Scootaloo was thrown back screaming while Diamond smirked. Scootaloo LP: 500 ⇦ 1200 ⇦ 1900 Diamond Tiara laughed. "This duel... is over."
PrologueCelestia & Luna LP: 123 Discord LP: 2000 Two alicorns stood on a massive checkerboard. Above them were flying houses debris, and there were also fish swimming in the air. They wore special saddle bags that Discord made for them. In front of them was Discord, who stood on his throne with a piece of magic machinery on his left arm looking down at them with a smirk. "This game is quite fun sister I have to admit," Luna said. "Yes, and it is powerful and dangerous as well." "Perhaps we could use this power to defend Equestria in the future." "Perhaps... but we'll need a lot of magic..." Celestia had an idea for a double win. "Oh, Discoord!" ***** Celestia LP: 2500 Luna LP: 2350 Celestia and Luna stood on the crystal castle floors with their special saddle bags on. They had just recently evacuated the crystal ponies from the castle for safety. Sombra LP: 0 Sombra was weak on the ground and his special saddle bag turned into dark mist. Celestia and Luna used their magic to seal Sombra away below the ice. The king screamed in pain as he got sent down into the ice. ***** Two alicorns stood in the throne room in the Castle Of The Two Sisters. One was standing, one was not. Celestia LP: 250 Nightmare Moon LP: 0 Celestia breathed heavily. She was bruised and injured but won. She used the last of her magic to pull out the Element's of Harmony from her special saddle bag. "Forgive me, sister." ***** 1000 Years Later Nightmare Moon growled. "This can't be!" In front of the dark tall pony was a smaller unicorn. She had on her special saddle bag and a creature floated above her. "'Magic Warrior', direct attack!" Nightmare Moon's vision was a bit blurry, she couldn't see the monster that was attacking, and the dark room they were in didn't help. She could do nothing but scream. Nightmare Moon LP: 0 Twilight Sparkle LP: 3000 "With the power of the elements, we won." Twilight's friends cheered from behind. ***** The Canterlot Castle's throne room. Many watched as the changeling queen and captain of the royal guard dueled. "My love will give you strength." Cadence hugged Shining Armor and her horn glowed. Shining's top card on his deck glowed pink, and he drew. Shining slammed activated the spell card and grew a determined face. "Go! Attack the queen directly!" Chrysalis couldn't look at the card that rose on Shining Armor's field fast enough. "Nooo!" Cadence LP: 0 Shining Armor LP: 100 Chrysalis LP: 0 The attack was so huge that it forced all of the changelings out of Canterlot. ***** Cadence stood on the blue crystal floor with Spike by her side. Her vision was about to be taken away from her, so she acted fast and declared an attack on Sombra who was standing on black crystal. "Raaaagh!" Cadence LP: 1500 Sombra LP: 0 With the Crystal Heart combined with her monster on the field, she obliterated Sombra from existence. ***** "I have the most powerful cards in all of Equestria! There's no possible way you could beat me." Tirek and Discord stood in the middle of Ponyville. A cage that held five of the element bearers sat next to them. Fluttershy was tearing up because Discord betrayed them and was about to be defeated. Discord gasped. "Now perish!" *Boom* Discord dropped to the floor. *Discord LP: 0* *Tirek LP: 4000* "But you said this was a sign of your gratitude and loyalty. A gift from someone close to you." "My brother who betrayed me. It is as worthless as he is." Some Time Later "How is this possible? I have the most powerful cards!" "It doesn't matter how much magic and cards you steal. Because the power of friendship is endless!" Twilight said. The Mane Six were in their Rainbow Power forms. Not so long ago their power combined and Twilight's deck lit up. That was when she drew the card to claim her victory. "Now go, 'Magic Warrior'!" Tirek screamed in agony. Tirek LP: 0 Twilight LP: 4000 Tirek shrunk in size until he was weak and powerless. ***** "Make new friends! And if something that you can't control happens that changes things, work through it together! That's what friendship is! And it's not just my friendships that are important to Equestria! Everypony's are! When yours ended, it led us here. But just imagine all the others that are out there waiting for you if you just give them a chance!" Starlight Glimmer LP: 0 Twilight Sparkle LP: 0 Twilight and Starlight, with her magic, hovered in the air surrounded by clouds with their special saddle bags. Spike sat on Twilight's back. "How do I know they won't all end the same way?" "I guess it's up to you to make sure they don't." Duel monsters. Once an idea for chaos, now a game, a tool, a weapon. Currently, in Equestria things are going well. Just a week ago the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle, had a duel to decide the fate of time itself. It ended in a draw, and only one dragon was there to witness its greatness. Now we can see the same princess and her friends, enjoying themselves at a picnic. Well... most of them are. "It's the last of the apple cider give it to me!" Rainbow yelled. "Ah made it, so it's mine!" "It's called generosity! Rarity, tell her!" Rarity sighed. "More orange juice?" Pinkie offered to Rarity. "Thanks, darling," She replied as she took the beverage. Twilight was busy reading a book with Fluttershy. The two tried as hard as they could to ignore the other two bickering ponies. Spike sat beside Pinkie and Rarity, who stopped trying to end this silly argument a while ago, and watched in amusement. "How about half and half?" Applejack asked. "Then I'll be unsatisfied!" "You greedy little- woah." Purple magic encased the bottle of cider and it carried it to Twilight. "Why don't you two duel to decide." She was obviously annoyed. Rainbow looked at Applejack with a face of determination. Applejack smirked back. "Ya're on!" A couple minutes later, the two could be seen facing each other with a good distance between them. "Did ya bring your Duel Saddle?" "Never leave it home." Rainbow put on a saddle bag. A blade extended from one of the pockets and curled out in front of her body. On the blade were five slots and five holders, another compartment at the side, a deck holder which held her cards, and one more slot at the base of it. Applejack activated hers as well. "Um... Twilight?" "Yeah, Fluttershy?" They were still on the picnic blanket, about to watch the duel from there. "The last time I've seen a duel was when Tirek came. Could you uh... explain the rules again...? If you don't mind that is." She asked kindly. "I don't mind at all. I'll be happy to!" "Thanks." Applejack and Rainbow drew exactly five cards each from their decks and placed them on a card holder designed so they could see her cards without letting the other see them. "Duel!" Applejack and Rainbow yelled. A rainbow sphere appeared next to Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Applejack LP: 4000 C: 5 Rainbow Dash LP: 4000 C: 5 "At the starting of a duel," Twilight started. "According to the regular rules, each player starts with four-thousand life points and forty to sixty cards in their deck of cards. They draw five cards from their deck, and usually, they flip a bit to see whose turn goes first." "I'll let you have the first turn," Applejack said. "Alright. My turn, draw!" Rainbow took a card out of her deck in the deck holder of her Duel Saddle when she said the word "draw" and added it to her hoof, making her total cards in hoof six. "At the start of a player's turn. That player draws one card from his or her deck in normal circumstances. This is called the Draw Phase. Immediately after this phase comes the standby phase. Nothing happens usually, but a card effect can activate in the phase." Rainbow took a look at her cards. She smiled. "I summon 'Dashing Eagle'!" "After the standby phase is the first Main Phase. It's where you do most of the dueling. This is where you summon monsters on each of the five spaces on the Monster Zone or set and activate cards in either of the five Trap and Magic Zone." A blue circle appeared above Rainbow Dash and a brown eagle with long wings and menacing eyes came flying out. Another rainbow sphere appeared next to the eagle, showing its Attack points. Dashing Eagle ATK: 1300 LV 4 "Once per turn, you are allowed to normal summon a monster under level five from your hoof in either Main Phase 1, or Main Phase 2. Furthermore, a monster on the field has both attack points and defense points as well as it can have an effect. They can only be in an attack position or defense position, but choosing which position they are in is key in dueling. Once in that position, it can't be changed until next turn, and it can only be changed one time per monster per turn. Attack position monsters can battle, and inflict damage to the opponent's Life points. Defence position monsters can't attack, but when they are destroyed in battle the controller of that monster doesn't take damage like an attack position would do." "I set one card and end my turn," Rainbow stated. A card facedown on the field appeared in front of Rainbow Dash. C: 4 "Normally, after Main Phase 1 there is a battle phase, which monsters battle, and then the second Main Phase. After that is the End Phase where the player's turn ends and the next player's turn starts. But according to the 'One On One' rules, the player with the first turn cannot attack, so it skipped the Battle Phase, and merged the two Main Phases." "Because the other player wouldn't have had a chance to defend, right?" "Correct Fluttershy. Also, the card Rainbow set could be a trap card or spell card. They have special effects to them that can change the duel dramatically and once used are sent to the graveyard." "I think I'm understanding a bit more now." Spike rolled his eyes, Twilight really got into it when explaining things. "My turn!" Applejack drew a card from her deck. She smirked. "I summon 'Apple Knight'!" Her monster came out of a blue circle like Rainbow's did. It was a yellow being that stood on two legs. It had red armor on with a golden sword in one hand and an apple carved into a shield. Its eyes glowed red. Apple Knight ATK: 1700 LVL 3 Twilight smiled. "Our decks were made from within our souls. No doubt Applejack has cards relating with apples." "I activate the Equip Magic card, 'Treat For One'. This card, targets one monster on the field with 'Apple' in its name, and raises its attack points by 500." "A Magic card can be activated from the hoof or the field, but only on *your turn with the exception of Quick-Play Magic cards."* Apple Knight ATK: 1800 ⇨ 2300 "'Apple Knight'! Attack Rainbow's 'Dashing Eagle'!" Apple Knight charged at the flying eagle sliced at it with its sword. The eagle was sliced into two. A second later the monster was destroyed which caused an explosion. "When two monsters conduct battle and they're both in attack position, the one with the most attack points win the battle and destroy the opposing monster. When a monster is destroyed, it is sent to the graveyard. Also, the difference between the attack points is deducted from the player's life points whose monster lost the battle. Other known as taking damage!" "2300 minus 1300 is 1000. So Rainbow should be taking 1000 points of damage." Rainbow grunted and held her legs in front of her face to block the wind pushing her back. The sphere reappeared next to Rainbow and the number counter went down. Rainbow Dash LP: 3000 ⇦ 4000 "I set a card and end my turn." C: 3 "My turn, draw!" Rainbow drew her card. "I summon the Tuner Monster, 'Rainbow Gear'!" A rainbow gear with googly eyes appeared from the blue circle that yet again formed. Rainbow Gear ATK: 400 LVL 2 "Tuner Monsters are special. They are required to Synchro Summon." "I activate 'Dashing Eagle's' effect. If there is only a Tuner Monster on my field, and you have a monster on your field, I can special summon it back to my field from the graveyard. Come back to me, 'Dashing Eagle'!" Dashing Eagle ATK: 1300 LVL 4 "I tune my level 4 'Dashing Eagle' to my level 2 'Rainbow Gear'!" Rainbow Gear turned into two green rings, which Dashing Eagle flew into. Dashing Eagle then disappeared and in its place were four stars. "The green rings represent the Tuner Monster's level, and the stars represent the level of the non-tuners. And the sum of the levels determines what Synchro Monster you can summon." Numbers appeared below the rings and stars. 2 + 4 = 6 "I Synchro Summon, 'Fast Striker'!" The four stars aligned and a beam of light shot through them. The light expanded and a new monster replaced the rings and the stars. Fast Striker ATK: 2400 LVL 6 "Wooow..." Pinkie was amazed. The growling white cat monster stood on four legs. It had a ninja outfit with a red bandana and scarf. It was bearing fangs that could scare away any pray. And the black stripes on its back made it look more awesome. "A Synchro monster. It is placed in a separate deck than your Main deck called the Extra deck. Synchros are summoned using a tuner monster and one or more non-tuners." "'Rainbow Gear's effect activates. When it is used as Synchro Material, the Synchro Monster that was summoned gains 200 attack points!" Fast Striker ATK: 2400 ⇨ 2600 "'Fast Striker'! Attack 'Apple Knight'!" Fast Striker leaped towards Apple Knight. "Hold on a moment," Applejack said. "I activate my Trap card, 'Trap Cellar'." A card raised and showed its red front to Rainbow Dash. On the front was the name of the card 'Trap Cellar', and below it was a picture of a dark cellar underground. Some text was shown at the bottom of the card. "This card negates your monster's attack and reduces its attack points by half if you're attacking an 'Apple' monster." Fast Striker crashed inside the cellar that appeared in front of Apple Knight and missed its target. Fast Striker ATK: 1300 ⇦ 2600 "I activate Fast Striker's special effect! By discarding one card in my hoof, it can destroy a trap or magic card on the field." "What?!" Applejack watched as Fast Striker flew out of the cellar and struck at her trap, destroying it like glass. Fast Striker ATK: 1300 ⇨ 2600 "Keep going! 'Fast Striker'!" And it did, it swiped at Apple Knight with its claw and destroyed it. Applejack winced. Applejack LP: 3700 ⇦ 4000 Rainbow smiled. "I set a card face-down and end my turn." A giant face-down card appeared in front of Rainbow. C: 2 "It's my turn!" Applejack drew her card. "Ya have a mighty fine card there Rainbow, but that doesn't mean you're winnin' this." "Then show me what you got!" "Alrighty, I activate the field spell 'Apple Orchard'!" Applejack took the card from her card holder and placed it in a separate slot at the edge of her Duel Saddle. The area around them turned into an... apple orchard. "When 'Apple Orchard' is in play, all monsters with 'Apple' in their name gets 500 more attack points." Rainbow shrugged. "So what?" "So this!" Applejack replied by showing Rainbow a card in her hoof. Rainbow squinted her eyes. "I can't see it properly." "Then I'll show you! I Special summon 'Apple Seed' to the field." The monster was a brown apple seed with yellow eyes. Apple Seed ATK: 500 LVL: 4 "Ohhhh..." Apple Seed ATK: 500 ⇨ 1000 "Special summoning is different from Normal summoning. You can Special summon more than once in a turn but a monster can only be Special summoned through an effect." "When I have no monsters on the field and you do, I can Special summon this guy from my hoof. Next, I summon 'Farming Jack'!" The red farmer that wore blue and white checkered overalls stood on two legs. It had a hoe that he placed on his shoulder. Farming Jack ATK: 1700 LVL: 3 "So you summoned two new monsters big deal." Rainbow laughed off. "Did I mention that 'Apple Seed' is a Tuner monster?" Applejack smirked. "Uh-oh..." "I tune 'Farming Jack' to 'Apple Seed'." The Tuner turned into the green rings and Farming Jack became stars. The beam of light struck through and a new monster appeared. "I synchro summon, 'Apple Cooker'!" The monster was an old chef that looked like a goblin. It had a frying pan in one hand and wore a dirty white apron and chef hat. Apple Cooker ATK: 2400 Rainbow wiped some sweat of her head with a hoof. "Whew, I thought it would have more attack points." Applejack facepalmed. "Did you really already forget about my Field Spell?" Rainbow blinked. "All monsters on the field with 'Apple' in their name gets 500 more attack points!" Rainbow gasped. Apple Cooker ATK: 2400 ⇨ 2900 "Go, 'Apple Cooker'! Fry me some 'Fast Striker'." Apple Cooker flew in the air and lit the frying pan it was holding with oil. It threw the burning frying pan it was holding at its opposing monster. The pan went through 'Fast Striker' cleanly, causing an explosion and Rainbow to flinch. Rainbow Dash LP: 2700 ⇦ 3000 "Ha! How's that for an... attack?" Applejack stared at Rainbow who was smiling. "Did you forget about my trap card?" Applejack eyes widened. "I reveal my trap, 'Absorbing Tornado'!" Her trap card flipped up, showing its title and a tornado as the image. "When a monster on my field is destroyed and I take damage, I can use this trap to heal my life points by my destroyed monster's attack points after the battle damage!" "What?" Rainbow aura surrounded Rainbow as her life points went up. Rainbow Dash LP: 2700 ⇨ 5100 Applejack grunted. "'Apple Cooker's' Effect activates after I destroy a monster on the field. By removing an 'Apple' monster from my deck from play, and paying life points from that monster's attack points, I can draw two cards." She held one card in the air which got pulled in by a black hole that appeared. "When removing a card from play, it is essentially are more locked up graveyard. The monster would only be accessible through an effect that would specifically target it." She took a look at the cards for a mere second. "Gosh darn it! I have no traps that can help me right now. Oh well, Rainbow needs some good cards if she wants to beat my 'Apple Cooker'." "I end my turn." Applejack LP: 2900 ⇦ 3700 C: 3 Rainbow smiled. "It's my turn!" C: 3 "You have no cards on your field Rainbow. What are ya gonna do?" Applejack said with a smirk. Rainbow took a long glance at her three cards in her Hoof Slot. Rainbow never thought hard like this before, might be a new record. It had to be the cider she wanted so badly. Or was it? She took a look at the field. Applejack had her Field Spell that made her monsters gain 500 attack points if they had 'Apple' and their name, which Rainbow thought her whole deck was made up of. She had her 'Apple Cooker' with 2900 attack points but no face-down cards on her field. "I need to destroy her field spell somehow. But none of the cards in my hoof can let me do that." She took another look at her cards. "Wait... that's it!" "I activate the spell card, "Carrying Clouds'. This allows me to draw a card from my deck for every card I choose discard from my hoof." Rainbow didn't waste any time and put all the cards in her Hoof Holder in the graveyard. "So now she gets to draw 2 cards." Applejack thought. Rainbow drew her two cards and smiled. "Boom baby! I summon 'Soaring Bird'!" A blue hawk flew out onto the field and squawked. Soaring Brid ATK: 1900 LVL: 4 "'Soaring Bird' can let me special summon one random Air Attribute monster under level 4 from my deck." The cards on Rainbow's deck holder automatically shuffled and once it was finished one card stuck out. Rainbow pulled the card out and slammed it on her Duel Saddle. "I special summon the Tuner monster 'Winged Archer'." As its name stated, it was a blue skined humanoid figure that had wings on his back and was holding a bow. It wore blue clothes and it had glowing red eyes. Winged Archer ATK: 1500 LVL: 4 "I tune my level 4 'Soaring Bird' to Winged Archer." The Synchro summoning ritual started with the green rings and bright stars. 4 + 4 = 8 "The streak of rainbow is endless, let's ride it to a new future!" Rainbow chanted. "That's her chant for her Ace monster!" A beam struck through the stars, and out came a new monster. Pinkie jumped up and down in excitement. "Come forth! 'Rainbow Blast'!" Rainbow Blast was a blue skinned two-legged strong monster. It had a face mask and two glowing red eyes. It wore rainbow colored armor and had spiky white hair. On its back were two rainbow rocket launchers. Rainbow Blast ATK: 3000 LVL: 8 Applejack got frightened, ears flat and pupils shrunk. "I activate 'Rainbow Blast's' effect! I can choose one monster on the field and steal half of its attack points!" "What?!" "I thought you remembered? 'Rainbow Blast'! Steal 'Apple Cooker's' attack points!" Rainbow Blast's eyes glowed a brighter red and Apple Cooker's body became enveloped in a rainbow aura. Apple Cooker ATK: 1450 ⇦ 2900 Rainbow Blast ATK: 3000 ⇨ 4450 "Go 'Rainbow Blast'! Attack Apple Cooker!" Rainbow Blast raised its arms and grabbed the launchers on its back. He aimed them at Apple Cooker and fired. Out came the rainbows. The rainbows hit Apple Cooker, making holes in it and destroying it, causing it to explode. "Ahhh!" Applejack got pushed back from the blast. Applejack LP: 0 ⇦ 2900 All the cards and monsters on the field vanished in a light, and both of the player's Duel Saddles turned off. Applejack rubbed her head as Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie came running up to her to help her up. Once she regained her hearing, all she could hear was. "I won! I won! I won! I won! I won!..." Applejack groaned. "Hey don't sweat it Applejack. So you lost one duel... and a mug of cider. Big deal." Applejack just glared at Rainbow who laughed. "Come on Rainbow cut it out. You're going to make Mare-Do-Well appear again." Spike said which made the others laugh. Rainbow smirked. "If you want me to cut it out then why don't you stop me? ...With a duel." Spike didn't know what to say. He was shocked. Twilight giggled. "Oh stop it Rainbow. You're teasing him." Rainbow smiled. "When I think about it... I've only seen you duel once Spike." Twilight pointed out. "I- uh... well..." Spike scratched the back of his head. "Now you're the one being mean." Rainbow pointed at Twilight while smiling. Spike was blushing. "Come on Spikey-Wikey, don't listen to Rainbow Dash. I bet you would pose as a good challenge to her." "A challenge? That's it?" Spike was clearly upset. "Well..." "A challenge from his 'Baby Dragon' card? HA!" Rainbow started to laugh tears and rolled on the floor. "T-that's a rare card you know!" Spike shot back. "For ponies, yeah. But it's still a weak card." Spike grumbled and started to walk away. "Isn't it so cute when he walks angrily away from us like that?" Pinkie asked. Spike just growled some more. The six mares just giggled to each other. Spike grumbled angrily as he walked through the Ponyville streets. Ponies paid no attention to him but Spike wasn't complaining. He thought about what happened. Yes, he only dueled once... alone with Twilight. And there are reasons he chose not to duel in the open public. Reasons that he kept to himself. Spike didn't pay attention and he walked past some well-known fillies. "I thought I got the combo right!" Scootaloo whined. She had on her own Duel Saddle. Sweetie Belle giggled. "You're not the only one. We'll never be the best in the class at this rate." Apple Bloom said sadly. Scootaloo looked up and saw Spike walking slowly with his head down. "Hey, Spike. What's up?" She shouted. Spike either ignored, or didn't hear, but none the less Scootaloo called again. He didn't answer the second time either. Scootaloo ran in front of him. "Hello? Equestria to Spike?" "Huh? What?" Spike looked at Scootaloo. "Oh, hi Scootaloo." He turned to the other two. "Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom." "Is there something on your tail?" She asked. "Huh? Oh, nah! I was just... thinking." "You must really be thinking hard then." Scootaloo giggled. Spike rubbed the back of his head and chuckled nervously. "So... what are you girls doing." Scootaloo and Apple Bloom sighed. "We were trying to duel. But we just can't get the hang of it." "Oh, well... sorry about that." "It's just that Apple Bloom and Scootaloo want to enter the Ponyville school tournament. They want to get better at dueling really fast." "You aren't joining with them Sweetie Belle?" Spike asked. "Sweets doesn't like to duel in front of crowds that much." Apple Bloom mentioned. Spike nodded in understanding. "Wait? Spike can teach us!" "Huh?" Apple Bloom, Spike, and Sweetie Belle were all synchronized. "Think about it. Spike saw so many duels with better ponies like Twilight and Rainbow Dash. He must know something that we don't." "Oh yeah! Spike, can you teach us pleeease?" Apple Bloom gave Spike the puppy eyes. Spike backed away a little. "Look girls. First of all, you can't learn about dueling by either watching or getting taught." He explained. "Awww..." Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were upset now. "I didn't finish. I can't teach you how, but I didn't say I can't make you into better duelists." "What do you mean?" Scootaloo asked. "Hmm... Think about it as any other sport. You can't teach anypony how to play hoofball, but you can train them." "So can you train us? Can you? Can you? Can you? Can you?" "Okay yes! Calm down." Spike smiled. After the two calmed down Spike sighed. "We'll start after school tomorrow. When's your school tournament?" "Next week." "Okay. We have plenty of time to practice then." Sweetie tapped Spike on the shoulder. "Um, Spike?" "Yeah, Sweetie Belle." "Can you tea- er... train me too?" Spike smiled. "Of course!" Sweetie beamed. Spike saw how eager the three fillies looked. "Okay, how about the first quick lesson right now?" "Yaay!" "Okay, sit down next to me." They did as told and Spike asked for Apple Bloom's deck, which she happily allowed him to check. "Hm, almost the exact same cards as Applejack." He thought. "Okay, first question." The fillies listened quietly. "Did any of you trade cards with anypony?" He asked. They all said no and Spike blew a sigh of relief. "Good. Because lesson number one: Your deck. Now, it's okay to buy new cards once and awhile, but remember, your decks were constructed by your souls through Discord's magic. These cards in your deck work together, like a team in hoofball." The fillies nodded. "If anypony asks to trade cards, tell them no. Even if they have a really great card they're offering." Spike thought for a moment. He needed to explain this in a better way for fillies. "For example, if Scootaloo were to trade some of her cards with Apple Bloom's, her deck would be messed up. Her deck doesn't rely on 'Apple' cards, they rely on..." Spike gestured to Scootaloo. "'Scooter' monsters!" "Right. So if you had 'Apple' monsters in your deck it wouldn't make sense." "Oh, I get it now." "Your homework for tonight is to study your decks. See what combos you can possibly use, and tomorrow you'll test them in a duel." "That doesn't even sound like homework. That sounds like fun!" Scootaloo shouted. Spike got up. "Well then. I'll see you tomorrow girls. I have to tend the castle library. Have fun!" He waved back. "Bye Spike!" "Man. What have I gotten into?" He thought for a second. "M-maybe this will be fun? Who knows?" And with that, Spike walked off.
You can do it, Scootaloo!"I set one card facedown and end my turn!" *Theme* "My turn!" Scootaloo drew her card and looked on the field. Scooter Mechanic : ATK 1300 LVL 3 Scooter Gunner : ATK 1600 LVL 4 Scooter Designer: ATK 1200 LVL 2 Beautiful Angel: ATK 700 LVL 3 Beautiful Angel: ATK 700 LVL 3 Permanent Trap: Security Controls "I have two traps, and she has one set card. And because of that stupid trap card I can't attack. My traps can't do anything but... Wait, maybe my monsters have a special ability or something?" She looked at her monster's abilities on the card text. "What? Scooter Designer can special summon one of my monsters from my deck? Why didn't I use this before? Gah! I'm such an idiot!" "Finally, you noticed?" Diamond said with a smirk. "Huh?" "That you're an idiot." Scootaloo sighed in frustration. "I activate 'Scooter Designer's' effect, it summons a random level 2 or below 'scooter' monster from the deck in face-up attack position." Her deck shuffled itself using the Duel Saddle. When it was done shuffling, a lone card stuck out. She grabbed the card and placed it on her Duel Saddle. "I special summon 'Speeding Rider'!" The red monster stood on slim legs. Its arms were also red but gripped the handlebars on the blazing scooter it was riding. Its body was covered in armor made of flames and it had a floating fiery skull as a head. Speeding Rider: ATK 600 LVL 2 "She's close... Maybe this will be it." Spike thought. "Next, I summon 'Lightning Wrench'!" As the name stated it, the monster was a floating silver wrench with electricity sparking through it. Lightning Wrench ATK 0 LVL 1 "I tribute 'Speeding Rider' to tribute summon 'Flaming Wheeler'!" Speeding Rider turned into a rainbow orb, and soon, from inside, came out a new monster. This monster had a long black cape. It had an insane grin with shades covering his eyes. It's long skinny legs covered by black pants laid firm on the flaming scooter below. His right hand held the left scooter handle while its left hand just hung free, complementing its insanity. Flaming Wheeler: ATK 2200 LVL 5 "I can't attack so I'll end my turn!" C: 2 "Then it's my turn!" Diamond drew. "Come on Scootaloo. Get the card you need then summon it." "I summon my last 'Beautiful Angel'!" The elegant monster arose from the blue portal. Diamond pointed at Scootaloo. "Go my other 'Beautiful Angels'! Attack Scootaloo directly and win the duel!" The two angels flew up high in the air and pulled arrows back on their golden bows. "Not so fast! I activate 'Lightning Wrench's' special effect!" The wrench started to spark wildly. "I can remove the tool from play to end the battle phase." "What?!" The angels shot their arrows but the spark from the monster made an electric wall that blocked off the attack. The wrench was then pulled in a black void, removing it from the duel. Diamond growled. "So you survived? Whatever I set two cards and end my turn." C: 4 "Then it's my turn!" Scootaloo drew her card and looked at it closely. She gasped then smiled when she noticed what card it was. "I activate the Spell Card, 'System Repair'!" Diamond frowned a little. "This card targets one machine type on the field and destroys all cards targeted to it!" Diamond grew wide-eyed. "What?!" Diamond could only watch in horror as her trump card started to crack. It wasn't long until it was destroyed and Scottaloo's monster, 'Scooter Gunner', broke free of the chains binding him. "Go! Attack Diamond Tiara directly 'Scoota Gunner'!" Diamond growled. "How could I have been caught off guard like that? I activate my trap, 'Beauty Mirror'!" The trap revealed itself, containing a picture of a glowing white mirror and the text for its effect, one Diamond was going to tell Scootaloo. "This trap reflects the damage back to you! You lost Scootaloo!" Scootaloo's monster aimed its guns at Diamond Tiara and fired a blast of light, only for her mirror to float up and reflect the blast back towards Scootaloo. Scootaloo smirked and used her trap, which had a picture of an exploding robotic figure. "I activate 'Self Destruct Sequence'! This destroys the monster attacking and reflects double the damage it would have dealt to me!" Diamond gasped and reacted quickly. "I activate my Quick-Play Spell card, 'You're Fired'!" The picture had a stallion in a suit pointing angrily. "It destroys all monsters on the field and we both take damage to their attack points combined!" All of Scootalo's Scooter monsters and Diamond's Angels glowed brightly before exploding. They didn't move or flinch, just glared at each other as their manes blew back from the force coming from the explosion and as their life points went down. Scootaloo LP: 0 ⇦ 500 Diamond LP: 0 ⇦ 4000 It was silent as the two stared at each other, it was only broken when Diamond shrugged and spoke. "I really didn't expect that Scootaloo. I underestimated you." "Uhh..." Scootaloo didn't expect that. "Thanks?" Not far away, a colt by the name of Tender Taps stared down at the scene and glared at Apple Bloom. He walked away soon after, not letting anyone see him. Diamond smirked. "Just let this be known, I am definitely going to win at the school tournament, so just you wait." Scootaloo narrowed her eyes and smiled. "I look forward to it." Diamond turned with her smirk and walked away. Silver Spoon, who gave a brief happy smile to the crusaders, followed her with a trot. By now the crowd dissipated, leaving only the crusaders and Spike sitting at the park. "That was some great duelin' Scoots!" Apple Bloom said to her with a smile when she approached. Scootaloo blushed and rubbed the back of her mane. "I wasn't that good." "Ya sure were! I was sure you were going to lose. But then you made it a tie! It was awesome!" Scootaloo beamed. "Thanks, Apple Bloom!" Scootaloo turned to the sound of footsteps and saw Spike coming up to her. "How'd I do Spike?" She asked. "Hmm..." Spike looked up in thought. "I can't say you didn't improve, but you're still not... average. To be blunt." "Oh..." Scootaloo drooped her ears, and before Spike could say anything to cheer her up she looked back up with a bright smile. "But that just means I have to practice more!" Spike nodded. "And I'll help any way I can." Sweetie Belle, standing beside Spike, nodded in agreement. "I just can't wait for the tournament to come! I can't wait to win!" "Keep your tail, ya still have to train and besides, I'm going to win!" Apple Bloom said. "Fat chance! We all know I'm waaay better than you." While they argued, Spike thought, "That Diamond Tiara, she's pretty good at dueling for her age. Then again, I'm only a little older than them and I'm..." Spike shook his head. "She could be a good practice partner for the crusaders. I might need other fillies or colts too, I need to teach them about adapting to your opponents." "Something wrong Spike?" "Hm?" Spike turned to Sweetie Belle. "No, I'm just thinking." "I already dueled Apple Bloom..." Scootaloo turned to her unicorn friend. "You don't want to duel." And then Spike. "So that leaves you! Let's duel Spike!" Spike recoiled a bit. "U-uh, I can't!" "Why not?" Scootaloo asked. "Because, uhh... I left my deck at home! Yeah!" "Well then, let's go get it and then duel." Scootaloo started to walk but was stopped by Spike who zipped in front of her. "I can't duel you Scootaloo." "Why?" Scootaloo, joined by Apple Bloom, gave him confused looks. Spike sigh. "I just... can't, okay?" Behind Spike, Sweetie gave the dragon a concerned look. Scootaloo also looked concerned for Spike. "Maybe... Maybe I will duel you another time. But now is not it." "Okay..." "Why don't you want to duel?" Apple Bloom asked, tilting her head. Spike turned away, hiding his face. "Reasons only I should know." Apple Bloom and Scootaloo stared at Spike while Sweetie Belle was in her own thoughts. "I... gotta go." Spike started to run off but stopped when Sweetie Belle called out to him. "Yeah, Sweetie?" "When's our next lesson?" "Um... how about after school tomorrow at your house? I should be helping Rarity, and..." Spike got worried when he thought, "She'll ask about me teaching them... I don't want to explain and risk my secret." Spike laughed nervously and scratched his head. "After I'm done helping Rarity, alright? I'll catch you all later!" With that, Spike ran off. The CMC didn't know what to do now that Spike was busy, and they headed for their clubhouse to decide on what to do. As Apple Bloom and Sweetie talked about the upcoming tournament, Scootaloo stared and inspected her trump card. "Even though I technically didn't lose the duel, I still didn't summon this monster..." She thought hard to herself. "Spike said he believed I could do it, but I still failed." This realization made her droop down. "Maybe I'm not cut out for this." Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom noticed Scootaloo's depressed expression and grew concerned. They gave each other a concerned look before trotting over to their friend. "What's wrong Scootaloo?" Sweetie asked kindly. Scootaloo didn't respond. Apple Bloom peeked over her pegasus friend's shoulder and caught a glimpse of what she was holding. "Is that-" Scootaloo shoved the card into her deck, if it didn't have Discord's magic protecting it, it would have definitely torn. "Scootaloo, are you upset that you didn't get to summon that?" Apple Bloom asked. Scootaloo got up quietly and looked back at them, nodding when doing so. "It's alright, I'm not that good either." Apple Bloom told her. "But that's not stopping me from having fun! We can get better together, alright?" Scootaloo nodded, this time with more enthusiasm. "Of course!" "You guys want to go for a walk? It feels cramped in here." Sweetie said. Apple Bloom beamed. "Alright, let's go for a quick walk down to town square and then come back to eat something at my place." She said. The day after, everypony was in their homes or shops doing their own things. Twilight and Spike were busy in the library, the rest of the Mane Six were at work, and the CMC had nothing to do. They all just sat at the park, no other pony was at the park currently, possibly because it was lunch and most ponies were eating. Apple Bloom was about to say something when pale white fog started to appear everywhere, all around them. The next thing they knew, was that they were surrounded by fog. They made confused and scared sounds and looked around. They couldn't see much past the border of the park because of the fog, and the sky was a bit dark. Sweetie was frightened and started whimpering. "What's happening you guys?" She asked the other two. "I don't know... Rainbow didn't tell me about this." Scootaloo responded. Apple Bloom squinted her eyes and stared into the distance. Twilight and Spike looked outside the castle windows with frightened expressions. "Did the pegasi do this?" Spike asked. Twilight looked down at him. "If they did, I wasn't told of it. And why is the sky dark as well?" "I don't like the look of this." He told. Apple Bloom looked closely. "Is that..." When a form came into view. "Another foal?" "Yeah... they're coming towards us." Scootaloo said, starting to stare at the other shadowy kid. When the foal came close enough for the three to see who they were, the CMC gasped. "Tender Taps!" Apple Bloom shouted with joy. "How're you doing?" She started to run up to him. Tender glared and swung his hoof to point at Apple Bloom, a whip that matched his purple eyes and mane color escaped his hoof and wrapped itself around Apple Bloom's, making her stop. "What's this!" She said in shock. Before Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle could do anything, Tender's eyes glowed and a large purple cage encased the two. "Scootaloo! Sweetie Belle!" The two banged on the bars and tried to escape. Apple Bloom tried to run to them but Tender pulled back on the whip wrapped around Apple Bloom's hoof. "They will be released after our duel." The whip vanished in a flash but Apple Bloom could still feel the tension coming from it. The farm filly gasped. "Duel? What are ya talking about Tender? What is all this? Why do you have magic?" Tender ignored her and activated his duel saddle. "You better duel him Apple Bloom, because I don't want to stay stuck in here!" Scootaloo yelled. Apple Bloom hesitated, but soon enough she activated her own Duel Saddle and stared at Tender. "Please tell me this is a bad dream." She said to herself. "What happened to you Tender Taps?" Tender glared at her and drew five cards. "This duel will decide your fate." Apple Bloom drew her own five cards. "My... fate?" She stared at her colt friend with wide eyes. *** Spike walked to his room while Twilight and her friends talked downstairs about the fog and such. He went over to his bed and flipped one end of the top of the bedpost up, revealing a red button. Spike pushed the button and the bed flipped over. Spike removed the bottom of the bed like a box top and inside revealed a safe. He opened the safe by blowing his magical dragon fire in the lock, and inside were gems, his journal, and his deck of cards. Spike sighed after looking at his deck. He took one of the gems in fingers and popped it into his mouth, closing the safe right after. "I hope this fog isn't anything serious, but..." He looked out the window. "I should go and see if the others are alright." *** Apple Bloom stared uneasily at Tender Taps, while the colt glared back at her. "Duel!"
A Mentor And His Students"Twilight! I'm going out!" Spike called out, about to head out the door. "Where are you going?" Twilight called from the kitchen. "I have some work to do!" "Okay, be back before dark!" "Will do!" Spike left after that. He was now on his way to the CMC clubhouse. He saw some ponies dueling, some eating, and others doing work. He kept an eye on the dueling. He never did want to duel... again. But he wanted to at the same time. He didn't care, but he wanted to duel again at least once. He knew he could compete. He was a great duelist, one far above others. He let Twilight go to fight Nightmare Moon, he watched Shining Armor's duel with Chrysalis, he stood beside Cadence as she dueled Sombra, and he simply didn't let Tirek take his cards when he came. He would have jumped in if they failed. He would have done something, even if he wasn't sure he would win. But they always succeeded somehow without his assistance. Spike was now entering the Apple's orchard. A couple minutes later and he was staring at the CMC's clubhouse. Inside "I can't wait 'till Spike gets here. I'm going to show him my new moves." Scootaloo was clearly excited. "Did ya both study your decks?" Apple Bloom asked. "Heck yeah, I did! I found some pretty sick stuff in my deck that I didn't even know of." "Sweetie Belle? Did you?" Sweetie Belle nodded happily. Just then, the door slammed open, revealing the dragon that was now their teacher. "Spike!" "Hey, girls. Did you do what I asked last night?" He asked as he walked towards them. The three nodded. "Good." Spike thought for a moment. "Okay, first I need you to duel so I can see where you're at in skill." "Alright! Let's go Apple Bloom." Scootaloo said as she started to strap on her Duel Saddle. "Alrigh-" "No, stay here inside. We don't need to get a big field or anything. Just use the floor without your Duel Saddles." "Oh... alright." Spike walked up to Sweetie Belle who was watching from across the room. "Do you want to duel Sweetie?" He asked. Sweetie shook her head for a "no" and Spike just plumped down beside her to watch the duel. As Apple Bloom and Scootaloo dueled, Spike asked, "So Sweetie? Why don't you want to duel?" "I don't really like to duel in front of others." "Same here, but could I ask you why?" "Because the last time I did, I messed up, and Diamond Tiara laughed at me..." "Oh... D-don't worry, very soon you'll be a top notch duelist. Just you wait." Sweetie slightly smiled. "So why don't you duel in public?" She eventually asked. Spike scratched his head. "I actually never dueled in a long time. I only dueled once actually." Sweetie looked shocked at that. "It's alright, though. I don't mind watching others duel." Spike and Sweetie sat through and watched the duel. Spike gave pointers for both sides equally, and he thought the two were doing great so far. Also, Sweetie gave Spike her deck so he could look at it. Spike thought it was a great deck, and told her she had some potential if she practiced. Once the duel was done when Apple Bloom couldn't draw a card from her deck, Spike got up and walked up to congratulate them. "That was great you two!" "Did we do good Spike?" Apple Bloom asked. "I know I did good. I won the duel." Scootaloo said proudly. "Now Scootaloo, you only won because Apple Bloom couldn't draw a card from her deck. And while that's a strategy in dueling that wasn't how you intended to win." "Yeah, but I still won," Scootaloo whined when crossing her forelegs. "You both still had 4000 life points." Sweetie deadpanned. "That was basically Apple Bloom playing alone drawing cards until she couldn't draw anymore." "Well..." Scootaloo gave up and sighed. "Okay," Spike started off. "Scootaloo, I noticed how you didn't hold your cards properly in your hooves. And while you have the card holder on your Duel Saddle, it's still a bad habit when you draw. Apple Bloom could have literally read the words on your cards." Apple Bloom started to laugh wildly, which made Scootaloo glare at her. "Apple Bloom, don't think I didn't see you set your cards face-up instead of face-down accidentally at times," Spike said sternly. Apple Bloom stopped laughing immediately. Sweetie Belle giggled at the performance. "You two are friends and don't want to cheat," Spike started again. "But if you're playing with other ponies out there and participate in tournaments, I don't think that they'll be all nice and stuff." Apple Bloom sighed. "We know but-" "It's okay, I'm not mad. You just need to practice some more." He said. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo nodded. "Hey, say what? How about we go to Sugarcube Corner to have lunch. My treat." The two fillies perked up at that. "Really?" Apple Bloom asked. "Let's go!" Scootaloo yelled before dashing off. "Right behind you!" Apple Bloom yelled after taking off. Spike was about to leave but saw Sweetie back where the other two were dueling. "Coming, Sweetie Belle?" "Yeah! Scootaloo just forgot her card... again." She picked up the card and gave it to Spike. After Sweetie headed off, Spike inspected the card before going after her. His eyes widened. "T-this card. But... how come Scootaloo never used this. Wait... she never had the correct conditions to summon this yet." He slapped himself in the head. "Of course, she wouldn't want to tell anypony. She's afraid that they'll make fun of her because she can't summon this monster." He smirked. "Well, time to fix that." Spike chased after the others. After a couple of minutes of walking together, Spike and the CMC encountered Applejack pulling a cart full of hay. "Hey you three. Howdy Spike!" Applejack greeted. "How y'all doing?" "We're good!" All of them said in sync. "Where are y'all goin'?" "We're going to Sugarcube Corner and Spike's payin'!" Apple Bloom said happily. Applejack gave Spike a knowing look. "Slick moves there Spike." Spike blushed. But then that thought struck him. This was Applejack. Applejack! Not only was she the last one he expected to say something like that, but that the "sister protection" wasn't active in Applejack's system right now. He was positive that if Applejack even suspected that he was going for her little sister she would go in for the kill. Well... maybe not considering she's not doing it right now. "I-I'm just... giving them a treat," Spike said while scuffing his left foot on the ground. Applejack just chuckled. "I'm just kiddin'. Have fun you four, and don't be makin' trouble!" She carried on with the cart in tow. "Come on, I'm hungry!" Scootaloo said before hurrying off. "I'm coming!" Apple Bloom yelled out. "Come on Spike." Sweetie pulled on Spike's arm. "I'm hungry too." After reaching Sugarcube Corner and eating, the four could be seen exiting the sugary building. "That was great as always. Thanks, Spike!" Scootaloo said. Spike chuckled. "I saw that you two did your 'homework', and you did well on your duel, so I had to." He shrugged. Just then, a pegasus with a rainbow mane flew in. "Hiya Scoots!" She ruffled with her mane. "Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, ...Spike?" She raised a brow. "What? Is it weird me being with ponies other than you six?" She chuckled. "Yeah. So, what are you doing with these three anyways?" She asked. "Spike was trai-" "Treating them to a snack at Sugarcube Corner. I have to be a gentledrake like Rarity always says." He said nervously. "Oh." She didn't notice the nervousness well shown on Spike. "Well, I stopped by to get something to eat too. I'm going to take a long nap after this." And she left the four after that sentence. "Why didn't you just let me tell her that you're training us Spike?" Scootaloo asked. The other two were going to ask the same thing. Spike sighed. "It's a long story." He didn't want to talk down Scootaloo's idle. "How about we go to the... park! Yeah! Let's go to the park." Spike scurried off to what was known as the school park. The three exchanged confused looks but shrugged it off and followed their teacher. They were soon at the park. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo lead the charged as always, and Spike stood with Sweetie behind them. "Wow, there's a lot of kids here." Apple Bloom was correct. The massive park that was renovated with the help of Diamond Tiara was filled with many colts and fillies. Some pegasi were flying above the park, others on the massive slides, and others play fighting on the bridges. "Hey, girls!" The four looked over to see a smirking Diamond Tiara looking at them. "Hey, Diamond Tiara!" Apple Bloom and Scootaloo greeted in unison. Their relationship as classmates has grown better in the last month. They helped Diamond discover her true self after she lost to Pipsqueak in a duel making him school president. They didn't even have to duel her to get her on better terms. Although, it didn't make their rivalry go away, not just yet. "So? You three are going to play in the tournament?" Diamond asked. "Sweetie Belle isn't. But we are." "That's too bad. I was hoping to see Sweetie duel. But anyhow. You've gotten better?" "We're... working on it. But we'll be some tough competition, don't you worry." Scootaloo said. "I've gotten better too. A lot better if you know what I mean." "Are you saying you can beat me? I can beat you any day of the week. Even Mondays, blech!" "Then you want to settle this, right here, right now?" Spike and Sweetie noticed that a crowd of foals surrounded the two. This was getting intense. "Why not?" *Yawn* "I'll even beat you when I'm tired." Scootaloo clearly faked that yawn. "I can beat you without looking at my hoof." "I can beat you without looking at all." "I can win with my eyes closed." "That's the same thing, and I can beat you in my sleep." "Well, I can-" "Okay, duel already! This is getting boring." A colt in the crowd said. Scootaloo and Diamond Tiara stared at each other intensely. Soon after the two could be seen a good distance apart beside the huge park, Duel Saddles ready. A crowd sat at the park, the only ones not being was Silver Spoon who stood behind her friend and Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Spike who stood opposite from the park. Spike remembered something. "Scootaloo, wait!" "Huh?" Scootaloo looked at Spike. "Yeah." "You forgot something." Spike grabbed her card with his two fingers and threw it at Scootaloo. The card cut through the air easily and Scootaloo caught it with her hooves. Once she took a look at the card she silently gasped and looked at Spike. "T-this is-" Spike just merely nodded. "B-but... this is in my Side Deck," She explained. "Use it Scootaloo. And win!" Spike shouted. "But..." Scootaloo stared at her card. "I believe in you," Spike said softly but loud enough for her to hear. He smiled at her. Scootaloo slightly smiled back and put the card in her deck which shuffled right after. "Thanks, it... it means a lot." She grew a face of determination and stared directly into her opponents eyes. A gray pegasus colt known as Rumble walked between them though they were still far apart. He held out a bit so every pony and dragon could see clearly. "Since neither of you actually challenged the other, wings mean it's Scootaloo's turn first and horn means it's Diamonds." And with that, he tossed the bit he was holding up in the air. Everything that goes up must come down, and that bit was no different. It landed with a 'clink' sound and the dirt ground made it so that it wouldn't bounce again in the air. It did make some dirt fly which made Rumble cough and shield his eyes. Once he composed himself he looked at the bit. "It's..." Everypony listened closely. "Wings! So it's Scootaloo's turn first." "Aw, come on! Flip it again!" Diamond shouted. Rumble just shrugged and flew away. "Why you!" She gave up and sighed. "Oh well, I can win anyways." The two drew their five cards and a rainbow sphere generated next to them. "Duel!" *Scootaloo LP: 4000* Diamond Tiara LP: 4000 "It's my turn!" Scootaloo drew and placed the card on her card holder. She then looked at her cards. "I can do this, I can do this... even when my teacher is watching." She exhaled deeply. "Alright, I summon 'Scooter Mechanic'." An old gray being appeared with dirty robes and a wrench in his left hand. He had buck teeth and his eyes stayed closed. Scooter Mechanic ATK: 1300 LVL: 3 "I set one card facedown and end my turn." C:4 Diamond Tiara smirked. "It's my turn!" She drew her card. "I activate my Spell card, 'Maid's Assistance'!" A big green spell card rose on the field, showing its front to Scootaloo. The card's picture had a little girl at the front with an apron on surrounded by furniture. "This card destroys one set card on the field if I discard 1 fairy-type monster from my hoof to the cemetery." She took one card from her card holder and slipped into a compartment in her Duel Saddle. The girl in the photo of her spell card came out of the spell card and flew over to Scootaloo's set card. She grabbed the card and carried it to Diamond Tiara who read the text. "Hmph! Stops one attack and destroys one monster on both our fields? Throw it in the trash." She shooed off the maid who threw the card in a trash can that appeared. Diamond Tiara smirked that made Scootaloo frown."Next, I summon 'Beautiful Angel'!" A white-skinned humanoid monster appeared out of the blue circle above Diamond Tiara. The angel had two white wings and strips of white clothing. She had a golden bow in her right arm. Beautiful Angel ATK: 700 LVL: 3 "She's pretty smart for just a filly." Spike thought. He crossed his arms. "Apple Bloom." "Huh?" Apple Bloom looked back at Spike. "Your friend there, Diamond Tiara. Did you see what she did?" He asked. "Yeah, she stopped Scootaloo from using her trap card." "Right. But that's not all." He took a look at Diamond Tiara. "She destroyed it because she knew that it would become an obstacle in the future for her. It's good to make your opponent defenseless for the future. Scootaloo could have had that card for future turns but Tiara stopped her from doing so." Apple Bloom nodded. "Watch this duel and learn from it," Spike instructed. "I set a card face-down and end my turn." Diamond declared. C: 2 "My turn!" Scootaloo drew. "Sure she destroyed my trap card, but she just summoned a monster in attack mode with fewer attack points than my monster. Wow, she's worse than I am." Scootaloo thought. "If I summon another monster I'll be able to do more damage!" She grew excited at the thought, thinking of a screaming Diamond Tiara being thrown back by battle damage. "I summon 'Scooter Gunner'!" A figure on four legs rode a scooter. It had a gray skin with a black cloak on and two red eyes appearing from underneath its hood. It also wore a face mask which blocked its mouth and nose. Scooter Gunner ATK: 1600 LVL: 4 "Scooter Gunner effect activates! When it battles a monster, it gains 400 attack points!" Scooter Gunner ATK: 1600 ⇨ 2000 "Go! 'Scooter Gunner', attack 'Beautiful Angel'!" Her monster rushed at Diamond's with its scooter. Apple Bloom beamed. "She's gonna do it!" Spike frowned. "No. Diamond knew this would happen." "I activate my Permanent Trap, 'Security Controls'!" The trap's picture was glowing buttons of various colors on a panel. "If a monster attacks my monster, this trap stops your monster's attack and as long as the targeted monster stays on the field none of your monsters can attack." "What?!" Scootaloo shouted. Chains appeared out of the trap card and grabbed Scooter Gunner, making it unable to move. "Now Scootaloo can't attack as long as her 'Scooter Gunner' stays on the field," Spike stated. Apple Bloom gasped. "Oh no!" Diamond chuckled. "What are you going to do now, Scootaloo?" Scootaloo ears dropped. "I end my turn!" C: 4 "It's my turn!" She drew. "I summon another 'Beautiful Angel'!" Another angel with two white wings and strips of white clothing holding a golden bow appeared. Beautiful Angel ATK: 700 LVL: 3 "On the turn it is summoned it can't attack, but I still have my other 'Beautiful Angel' I summoned last turn to attack you with." "But my monsters have more attack points!" Scootaloo shouted. Diamond shook her head. "'Beautiful Angel' can attack directly." Scootaloo gasped. "So that's her strategy." Spike started to think. "By attacking directly, she can avoid attacking and destroying 'Scooter Gunner' which is also keeping Scootaloo unable to attack herself. That's an effective strategy, but..." He looked at Scootaloo. "There's also one flaw only Scootaloo can use. Scootaloo, will you find out that flaw?" "'Beautiful Angel', attack Scootaloo directly!" The angel pulled a gold arrow back on her golden bow and fired right after the string on the bow couldn't be pulled back anymore. The bow hit Scootaloo in the chest then disappeared, making her sting a bit. Scootaloo LP: 3300 ⇦ 4000 Diamond smiled to herself. "I end my turn." Scootaloo called her turn and drew. "Okay, Scootaloo, think! I can't attack with my monster on the field, so I need to destroy that trap card." She looked at her hoof. "I don't... have any cards to do that. And even if I use defense mode that Sweetie Belle taught me she'll just attack me head on." She gulped. "I-I need to do something, but... I just can't. None of the cards in my hoof can help me. Am I always going to be bad at dueling? Will I ever... catch up to Rainbow Dash." "I... end my turn," Scootaloo said softly. Diamond smirked. "Then it's my turn!" She drew. "Scootaloo didn't do anything that turn!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. Spike and Sweetie Belle stayed silent. "I activate the spell card, 'Butler's Offerings'!" The spell card had a picture of a man in a black suit with a dish tray in his right hand. "This card lets me draw between 1 to 3 cards." She drew three because of her greediness of course. "And I have to be a good host so you draw two cards." Scootaloo drew two cards, one a trap, and one a monster. "Nothing." Diamond laughed. "I attack with both of my 'Beautiful Angels' directly!" Both of her angels flew in the air and fired their arrows at Scootaloo. This time, Scootaloo was slightly skidding backward on the impact of the arrows. Scootaloo LP: 1900 ⇦ 2600 ⇦ 3300 "Hmph! I end my turn." She held her nose up high. Scootaloo rubbed her chest. "I took 1400 points of damage. If she summons another one of those angels next turn, I'm finished!" She looked at her hoof. "I have to draw a good card. If I don't, I'll lose." She put her hoof on her deck. "My turn!" She drew. The crowd of ponies and dragon stood quiet, as Scootaloo didn't look at her card yet. They waited for her to make a move. Scootaloo slowly revealed the card to herself, and when she saw what she drew, she gasped. "Hm?" Spike stared at Scootaloo. "The glint in her eyes... She must've drawn that card." Scootaloo looked at the card, then at Spike, who just nodded his head. "If she can summon that card, then she'll win the duel." Scootaloo looked at the card with widened eyes. "I can't summon this car-" Then she remembered something. "Use it Scootaloo. And win! I believe in you." Spike shouted. She grew a determined face and called out, "I set two cards face-down, and I summon 'Scooter Designer'!" An old hunchback scientist with a white jacket, gray beard, and goggles rose to the field. It cackled loudly. Scooter Designer ATK: 1200 LVL: 2 "You can't attack so why bother summoning any monsters?" Diamond Tiara said. "I end my turn!" Scootaloo shouted, ignoring Diamond Tiara. "Fine then, it's my turn." She drew and called out, "Go, 'Beautiful Angels'! Attack Scootaloo directly!" The arrows hit and this time, Scootaloo was thrown back screaming while Diamond smirked. Scootaloo LP: 500 ⇦ 1200 ⇦ 1900 Diamond Tiara laughed. "This duel... is over."
