Equestria: Magic Monsters

Celestia & 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.