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              Yu-Gi-Oh! Friendship Memories!               
                        -by Ryusun-                        
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                Turn one - Small beginnings                
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Turn one - Small beginnings
Everything we do, every thought we've ever have, is produced by our human will. History keeps its secret safe under the curtain of time, only the worthy knowing the prized knowledge that history wants to protect. Every story is produced by a human will that desires to achieve a longing goal in his life. Sometimes there are pebbles in the way, other times there are enormous, plane mountains that seems impossible to overcome.
But there are still people that dream and fight for doing the impossible a miraculous reality.
In the deepest pits of the Old Satellite District, the once proud Domino City, an urban turmoil roared across an old stadium with euphoria and lust for conflict. It was a time of clashing powers, a time of endless struggles.
It was time to Duel!
From the blue corner, a cloaked figure emerged from the shadows. Only a small glimpse of her smile and a few trends of her pink hair could be seen. She walked to the stairs of the Dueling Battlefield and activated her very old generation Duel Disk. Excited mumbles from the spectators sounded like whistles in the wind across the stadium.
“It’s the mysterious duelist!”
“Who is she!?”
“Pfff, is she really using that garbage?”
“Not even the kid from the market uses that ancient model!”
“I heard she defeated the top 3 from the island ten minutes ago!”
From the red corner, a very tall, muscular and biker-like man walked with confidence and an extremely aggressive aura.
“So, you are the brat who has defeated my underlings! That’s a no-no in my realm! But very well, you little brat! I accept your challenge, Cloaked Pink-Haired Stranger!?”
“Am I famous now? Gracious goodness, how nice! They say you are strong, praised Champion-san, so I’ll use this time the faithful companions of my grandfather’s deck to finish you!”
“…Wait a minute! Are you using 40 cards in your deck!? Are you crazy!? This is Speed Duel! You must have a death wish if you are using more than 20 cards!”
“No, this is a normal duel format, am I right, Referee-san?”
“REALLY!?” The arrogant Champion looked at the referee and he nodded in affirmation. “HA! It matters not! Quick power is the way to win in this age!!!”
The cloaked stranger shuffled her deck to make her cards’ position the most random they could get. “We’ll see about that.” And she put them on her card holder of her Duel Disk.
“DUEL!” Both combatants yelled when they the referee activate the hologram projection.
“My turn!” The Champion shouted. “This is the end of your meddling! Take this! I summon Beast Striker in attack position!” A boar-like warrior emerged from the shattering earth, displaying an outstanding 1850 ATK – 400 DEF – 4 Star Monster status! “And I place two cards face down! My turn is over!”
“Ware no tān!” The cloaked challenger shouted as she draw a card from her deck, her old-tech pink Duel Disk still burning with life. “I set a monster face down and activate Dark Magician Curtain! I pay half of my 8000 life points to summon a Dark Magician!” A dark arcane star materialized above her and a clouded figure materialized from it with stats of 2500 ATK- 2100 DEF – 8 Star Monster. “Dark Magician, use black magic on his monster!”
“Not so fast! I activate Draining Shield trap! Not only I negate your attack, but I absorb his attack damage and transform it into life points for me!”
“Hmph! I put a card face down and end my turn!” She smirked confidently.
“Draw! I activate my Fortress Whale’s Oath! I sacrifice my Beast Striker and another monster from my hand to summon the mighty Fortress Whale!” A 2350 ATK – 2150 DEF – 7 Star Monster appeared on the field! “That’s not all, I activate my magic card Wicked-Breaking Flamberge Baou! I sent one card from my hand to my graveyard and increase my monster’s attack by 500! Fortress Whale, attack her Dark Magician!”
“I activate my trap! Reinforcements! I Increase my Dark Magician’s attack by 500 hundred as well, AND HE DESTROYS YOUR BATTLE WHALE!”
The opponent’s 10,500 life points were reduced by 150.
“You’ll need to do better than that! I set a card face down and my turn is over!”
“Ware no tān! I sacrifice my set down monster to summon my Dark Magician Girl!” A beautiful maiden of arcane secrets flew to the side of her master, with a generous stats of 2000 ATK – 1700 DEF – 6 Star Monster! “Since I don’t trust my luck regarding your set card, I activate Dark Magic Attack spell card! Dark Magician, destroy his card!”
“NO, MY TRAP!”
“DARK MAGICIAN, DARK MAGICIAN GIRL! ATTACK HIM WITH DUAL BLACK MAGIC!”
The master and apprentice launched a black ball cannon towards her enemy, reducing his life points to 5850. The challenger ended her turn with two face down cards.
“THIS DUEL IS NOT OVER! MY TURN!” The Champion laughed maniacally when he saw his drawn card. “I use Fusion Sage! It allows me to add a Polymerization spell to my hand and it also allows me to shuffle! And that’s not all, I activate Pot of Greed! I draw two extra cards from my deck to my hand! And what’s this!? Something better came from my draw than I what was planning to do! Prepare for your annihilation as I summon my powerful Black Luster Soldier through the ritual Black Luster Ritual! I sacrifice two monsters and summon his fury of 3000 ATK and it will annihilate your Dark Magician Girl!”
The challenger whistled with surprise. “Not only you use a forbidden card like Pot of Greed, but you also want to destroy my pretty Magician! Tsk, Tsk, Tsk! I activate my trap, Magical Hats! It allows me to pull from my deck a combination of two spell or traps and put them below their protection! Now, my Magicians, hide below the hats with my selected cards!” The magical hats shuffled and the location of her mage was hidden. “Now, my illegal champion-san! Can you guess where is my loyal mage?”
“DON’T MOCK ME! Attack the second hat from the middle!” Black Luster Soldier lunged towards his objective and destroyed a spell card. “NO WAY!”
“I activate my destroyed spell card’s special effect! Once Geartown is destroyed, I can special summon an Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon!” A powerful machine with stats of 3000 ATK – 2000 DEF – 8 Star Monster appeared behind the challenger.
“IMPOSSIBLE!”
“The deck of my Grandfather and the Heart of the Cards are on my side! My turn! Hmph! This card will do! I activate Banner of courage! All my attacking monster on my turn receive an additional 200 attack points! My Ancient Dragon, destroy the courageous soldier and free him of service from his unworthy master!” The Gear Dragon launched a barrage of green flames towards his enemy and cindered him, reducing the Champion’s life point by 200 hundred points. “Now, my faithful magicians! Attack him with dual black magic!” Another bombardment from the Mage Duo reduced his life points to a mere 1150. “Such irony! And to think that I only had 4000 life points at the end of my first turn!”
“SHUT UP! MY TURN!” The face of horror of the Champion was priceless after he saw his next card.
The challenger whistled. “No monsters or traps to summon?”
“NOO! I WON’T LOSE LIKE THIS!” The Champion drew another three cards.
“That is cheating, my good champion-san!” The confident challenger casually said while saying ‘No’ with her finger.
“THESE ARE ILLEGAL DUELS AND I AM THE CHAMPION, REMEMBER!? I special summon Kaiser Vorse Raider and equip him with Axe of Despair, augmenting his attack points from 1900 to 2900! That’s not all! I equip him with Sword of Dark Destruction and increase his attack power to 3300!! VORSE RAIDER, DESTROY HER GEAR DRAGON!”
“Hmph! Did you already forget about my hidden trap?”
“What!?”
“I activate my trap of Spiritual Swords of Revealing Light! I pay 1000 life points to negate your attack!”
“N-NO!”
“The final turn! Draw! You know, I had high hopes for you too, but it’s over now. I activate De-Spell! It destroys your Axe of Despair and reduces the attack points of your Raider!”
“T-this can’t be happening!”
“Gear Dragon, destroy Vorse Raider!” The mechanical beast ravaged the small warrior. “Game over! DARK MAGICIAN GIRL, DESTROY THIS MEAN CHEATER!”
Her loyal mage flirtatiously winked at her and with a graceful movement of her staff, she sent her master’s enemy to the abyss. The people roared as the monsters disappeared from the field of battle and the referee marked the duel’s end.
“IT’S OVER, IT’S OVER! WE HAVE A NEW CHAMPION IN THE FALLEN DUELIST CIRCUIT! PINK-HAIRED STRANGER, COME AND RECEIVE YOUR CROWN! Huh!!! Where is she!?”
They would never find her, as she masterfully ran away between the shadows and quickly disappeared from the old stadium.
…. ….
In front of the sea shore, a boat and her sailor were enjoying the waves of the ocean. Her beautiful, blonde hair was waving with the tempo of the sea breeze, her freckles were slowly assuming a golden shade as the sun rose. She managed to fish many good prizes for a good meal after school hours and she was happy for it. She soon noticed the cloaked figure approaching to her vessel.
“Andrea, or should I say Champion?” The casual fisherwoman turned off the radio.
“So it’s news already. His power was overrated, Applejack-san. I can’t believe he defeated Neo Domino City’s top duelists with such weak dueling! I’m somewhat glad now that I didn’t use my pure Dark Magician Girl deck or I would have destroyed him in the third turn.”
“Sorry, I gave you bad leads again! I thought that they would give you a challenge but it seems that those were amateurs compared to the legends of old you always speak about. But you were trained by the best of the best, I shouldn’t be surprised that you won against the best of Satellite City in less than three months!”
“And I thank you again for bringing me here every time I ask it of you. I know you are busy with your dairy family business.”
“Don’t worry, I just delivered the goods earlier than they expected so I could bring you here again.”
The cloaked stranger hopped on board and stood beside her. “I couldn’t ask for a better friend to keep my secret safe.” She said with a very sincere voice.
“Will your family get angry if they know that you are here?”
“Duel is in my blood. I don’t think even my dear Grandfather would be able to stop it, Applejack-san.”
“I still feel weird when you call me like that, Andrea! More weird is your attitude you have when you are disguised! Why don’t take off your hood and talk to me like that forever?”
“W-what!? I-I-I can’t!”
“Why not? You act strong disguised, why not with your real face?”
“I-in any case, please use my duelist name while we are here. It’s not safe for us to use real names after an illegal duel in this island. You also…” Her body suddenly shivered and almost fell to her knees if it wasn’t for Applejack’s help.
“Sugarcube!!!”
“I-I-I’m fine, Applejack-san…” She breathed heavily for several seconds. “I’m fine…”
“Have you…?”
“Don’t worry… I did. I’m okay now. Let’s go home.”
“… …Alright, let us go back to Neo Domino City before sunrise comes fully. Classes are about to start and we need a bath before that. Sit tight and relax.” She rushed to the boat’s control panel and ignited the engine. “SWEET APPLE ACRES, SAIL FORWARD!” The boat rushed through the sea.
“KYA! NOT SO FAST, ALEXANDRIA-SAN!”
“Hehehe! Now we are using names, huh, Fluttershy!?”
A strong breeze hit hard the cords that kept Fluttershy’s hoodie in place. When the cords untied, a beautiful wave of natural and long pink hair was reflected on the eyes of Applejack. Her enchanting cyan eyes glimmered with dots of white stars as she enjoyed the ride back home with her friend.
An innocent smile, on top of a shy happiness.
…. ….
The busy city of Neo Domino began its day at six in the morning. First, the businessmen and common workers began their journey to their stores, and work stations, and companies. Then the young mothers carried their children to their kindergarten to receive education and shelter until the end of the work shift, and finally, the students of Neo Domino rushed in the traffic of tardiness and avoided being denied school’s entrance.
Two young girls in particular were rushing toward their school with a slice of bread with honey on their mouths.
The most delicate one was named Andrea Mutuo, and being a student was her life under the rays of the sun. A gentle soul with a fresh and pure smile were her traits. The kindest kid of the block was her fame. Half-Australian and half-Japanese, her family was constant and humble.
“Good morning, Squirrel-san! I brought you the nuts you wanted for your family last week! Hey there, Misters and Misses Pigeons, here are the corn teeth that you love the most!”
“Andrea, we’re gonna be late for classes!”
“Just a minute, Alex-san!”
“You’ll have enough time for this on Saturday so let’s go!”
She also had a weak spot for animals, and she always found time to feed any creature of Mother Nature that she stumbled across. And… that usually gave her several repercussions to her school life during mornings. She never arrived in time to the front gate, and Applejack suffered too because of it.
“Miss Mutou, Miss Ball, you are late again!” An old man blocked their way to the school.
Fluttershy couldn’t help but release a nervous smile at the presence of the old man in front of her. “Haga-sensei, w-we meet again t-today!”
“Sorry we are late, y’all! Can you let us in, teacher?”
“THIS IS THE FIFTH TIME YOU ARRIVE LATE IN THIS MONTH, YOU LITTLE BRATS!!! JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE THE NIECE OF PRINCIPAL MAZAKI DOESN’T MEAN I WILL ALLOW YOU TO DO WHAT YOU PLEASE, MISS MUTOU!!”
“I-I-I-I-I-I understand, Haga-s-s-sensei. It’s just that I have been very busy s-studying and doing my homework! If y-y-you don’t mind, Alex-san and I don’t want to be late for classes and we wish to go inside, if that’s okay with you! Th-th-that’s okay, right?” She smiled shyly and weakly while looking to the floor.
“You don’t deceive me, Miss Mutuo!” Old Haga squished her face in scolding. “You have only critters and clouds in your head! Why don’t you act a bit more like your granny and study much harder and come to school earlier, eh!!?”
“Y-y-y-yes… I understand… Oh, my goodness, what is that!?”
Fluttershy’s face turned around towards the pond that was near the entrance and Prefect Haga did the same.
“I don’t see-“ His captured delinquents soon were climbing the gate and got inside the facilities. “NOT AGAIN!”
“We’re so sorry, teacher, but we’re gonna be late, y’all! Yeeh-haw!”
“COME BACK HERE!” But they escaped. Insector Haga cursed and jumped and kicked his bad fortune on the floor.
…. ….
Inside the classroom, on an ongoing class.
“Now it is time for to show us your research. I believe team C is first today. Miss Mutou, please come to the front and explain your homework research with Miss Jonouchi!”
“Alright, teacher! Be ready to be left amazed with MY awesome class!” The flaming and good-looking rainbow haired girl stood up motivated.
“You mean Andrea‘s class, Rainbow Dash, and besides, did you really study for your presentation about Ener-D?” Applejack almost mocked.
“Don’t use that title lightly, Alex!”
“Why not? Isn’t that the Duelist name that will be known as the next Queen of Games!?” Now she truly mocked in a sarcastic tone. “Better start using it now!”
“You betcha! I am one of the strongest duelist in the city! No, the world!”
“Right, right! Soooo powerful that you were defeated by a champion nobody from Satellite City, right, Andrea!?” Applejack winked at Fluttershy, and the latter smiled embarrassed. “I heard he was defeated in the morning.”
“Bah, I didn’t use my main deck against that guy! Next time, I’ll show him the power of Red-Eyes Blac-!”
“The class, please!”
“You betcha, teacher! Come on, Andrea! We got this in our pockets!”
“Yes, Ashleigh-san!”
“Alright, everyone!” Rainbow connected her wrist data via Wi-Fi-Max to the projector. Her presentation changed images depending on the stage of her speech. “As you know, Kaiba Corporation is the biggest cheese of technology out there, everyone! They created the awesome Ener-D system, a power supply of infinite energy that energizes Neo Domino City and many other super cool cities in the world! But progress takes its toll, and twenty years ago, a catastrophe erupted on the early prototypes of the plant generators of said energy! That made an overload that created a massive tectonic shift.”
“Such event was called the Zero Reverse effect...” Fluttershy said with a soft voice.
“Say it again. Louder.”
“Such event was called the Zero Reverse effect.”
“Louder!”
“Such event was called the Zero Reverse effect!”
“Much better! I still have a lot to teach you about confidence.”
“I believe we all should be amazed that Rainbow is actually giving us a proper class for once, y’all!”
Everyone laughed, even the teacher tried to hide her giggle with her hands, making Rainbow angry.
“Shut up, Alex Ball! I studied all weekend to get this right!”
“Well, at least Miss Jonouchi is being accurate with her information. Please continue.” The teacher said.
Rainbow proceed to explain about the wonders of Ener-D after the legendary corporate genius, Seto Kaiba, perfected the technology with his team of brilliant scientists. She even took the extra effort to research some obscure and fascinating details about what is now known as the Old Satellite District.
Unlike the reports that the news told every day, the Old District suffers an extensive urban decay. The plant used to recycle the garbage from New Domino City is a real deal to process and its residents are made to work in the plant for long periods of time. At least, Kaiba Corporation pays well to the dedicated workers, but even then, those citizens are often looked down upon by many residents of Neo Domino City, which it was something that Rainbow and most of her classmates abhorred to emulate. She also assured that without the services that the Old District offers, the city would be a trash yard bigger than the ego of the legendary Seto Kaiba himself. All in the classroom released a small chuckle.
Except for Fluttershy.
‘Seto Kaiba-san.’, her thoughts echoed in her cloudy mind. ‘My Grandfather’s greatest rival.’
As Rainbow continued to say other funny facts and gain points on behalf of the team, Fluttershy’s mind sailed across the window and reached the gardens were she loved to spend most of her time. She has always been shy in public, barely having an ounce of the courage and determination that her childhood friends, Applejack and Rainbow, possessed.
For her, the only true interaction with living beings, besides Applejack, Rainbow and family, was taking care of critters. She loved it so much that she wished to become a veterinary, a longtime dream for her. That was until her grandfather showed her the world of dueling. Ever since she played Duel Monsters at the age of ten, she slowly became more and more fascinated about that world. Once, after having a casual duel with him, she decided to search the web in the hopes of finding any guide to improve her techniques.
She ended up discovering the greatness of the Legendary King of Games.
His tactics were spot on most of the time. Barely a turn was gone wasted. There were many close calls as well, but in the end, Yugi Mutou, the King of Games, managed to deliver a spectacular victory, with a spectacular strategy, with a spectacular speech.
Fluttershy… wanted to be like his grandfather.
Her grandmother, Anzu Mazaki, sometimes supported her in her dueling fantasies as well, but ever since she became the principal of Neo Domino High ten years ago, she always says to her that studies are important as well. She supports more her dream of becoming a veterinary than being a duelist for various reasons. But Yugi gave the final feather to Fluttershy’s wings when he gifted her his beloved cards. The Dark Magician deck and many other cards to use from the Legendary Duelist himself were now hers!
She entered small entry tournaments, a far cry from professional dueling, but she had the hopes and dream to enter that level one day. She always lost on the first duel and never rose through ranks. Always trembling in public, eyes witnessing her wrong movements, affecting her strategies. It was the feeling of embarrassment that halted her tactics. And fear.
Fear of humiliating her deck’s legacy.
All seemed lost for her, until the day she had a dream of a distant land. She found herself in an ancient dessert, a little oasis glimmered in the middle of nowhere. There she stumbled with a gentle, shadowy figure. She could never figure out how he looked like, but his words were clear and unforgettable.
“I see you are destined to be a great duelist as well. Have faith in the Hearts of the Cards and your own resolve! There was once an old man that I humbly respected who disguised himself to duel an old friend of mine, and taught him how to use strategy! Perhaps, if you disguise yourself and fight, your cards will give you courage as you duel! Have faith, child!”
When she woke up, she felt enlightened. She quickly devised a disguise that made her face hidden; a long, black cloak with several pale golden adornments. There several of those hidden in the basement of her Grandfather, mostly Egyptian accessories. Since she couldn’t face the people from official tournaments like that, she, at first, dueled local players and lost again. As she was getting used to her hidden face, however, a glimpse of courage emerged, and she began to win duels frequently.
The average Joe soon was no longer a source of learning for her.
Then she heard about the illegal duels that the Old District had, but she couldn’t go there. Not without help. Last year, Applejack at first was opposed to the idea of her slipping to the dangerous island of Satellite City, but she eventually gave up on her innocent but decided eyes. Every weekend they could, she made a fast trip for her.
While she delivered her family business’ fresh dairy produce with the occasional help of her older brother, Peter ‘Big Mac’ Ball, Fluttershy began dueling in the forbidden city. She had several loses at the start of her career, her opponents’ tendency to cheat during duels overwhelming, and she even lost several of his grandfather’s cards in the process. But she didn’t gave up, and after twenty gruesome defeats, she began to win against all odds.
She began to take back what was rightfully hers and in only three months after recovering her lost cards, she conquered the island swiftly. She was called the Mysterious Cloaked Stranger or the likes by the public, and forced her voice tone to one much deeper to avoid similarities. The cloaked stranger she was, a far different name than the used on her Online Duel Simulator account.
She was known as Fluttershy there.
As she touched her hidden deck’s case on her school jacket while Rainbow continued with the exposition, Fluttershy wished to find someone who could gave her a True Duel like the ones the Legendary Duelists had in the past. She wanted someone to know her truest self and duel with her own face. Someone who could strip away her shyness in public and made her rise like a phoenix and change for the better. She wanted a duel. She needed a duel. She desired someone who could give her the Joy of War in the Duel of Monsters from the golden days. Only Applejack knew about her longing wish, and someone else as well.
Someone online who called herself Sunset.
…. ….
After school ended, in front of the main gate.
“Going home already?”
“Yes, Ashleigh-san.”
“Boring! Let’s have a duel! I wanna see how much you have grown since last time!”
“I-I-I don’t think that’s a good idea!”
“What? You still use that weak Kuriboh? Or perhaps you forgot to add magic cards on your deck as I told you?”
“Leave her alone, Dash. Andrea needs to do her homework and sleep well tonight! We can’t arrive late again or Prefect Haga will scold us!”
“Bah, whatever! I’ll go to Pinkie’s café if you need anything! Tabitha has come back from her fashion show and she is giving me some rare cards she won in Paris. I also wanna see the sports’ fashion goodies she got me to expand my style! See ya!” Rainbow ran to the bus stop.
“You can’t hide this forever, Sugarcube.” Applejack caressed Fluttershy’s chin. “One day she will find out that you defeated the guy who destroyed her!”
“But Ashleigh-san never uses her true strength during duels. She always uses her experimental deck to test new cards for her main deck. I can’t defeat her.”
“What makes you say that?”
“I just know… I just know…”
“Aren’t… you afraid of crushing her with your current strength?” Fluttershy gripped her skirt when she heard Applejack’s remarks. “Why don’t you talk with that Sunset friend you have online? Perhaps she can give you tips on how to duel better if you really feel that Rainbow can defeat you. You say that she is strong, right?”
“Yes. Nobody but her has defeated me in Online Duel Simulator. The program only gives you random and sometimes very weak cards to compete. It’s not popular because some duels can end up being frustrating and long… But the beat of your heart when hoping that the next card is either your salvation or doom is incredible. It makes it feel healthy… Also, since nobody sees my face, I can think clearly! She is the closest thing I will ever have for the Duel I want. Sunset and I have a fairly decent record of 200 wins and 200 loses.”
“So you are tied. Say, you have known her for almost 3 years now and she said that she lives here. Why don’t you invite her to the movies, or to Diane and Tabitha’s fancy Cupcake Café and have a duel with your real cards? She must have a real deck as well, right?”
“I have thought about it so many times and dreamt about a wonderful time together in person… but she said once that she has a busy life… I don’t want to be a bother. I mean, we don’t even know each other’s real names!”
“Bah, she will love you for who you are! Just try it, okay? Even I can manage to make some time for you and drive you around the most dangerous part if the city, right? I’m sure she can do so as well, even for a few moments.” Fluttershy smiled to that comment. “It will work, you’ll see, Sugarcube! Don’t have any regrets!”
Fluttershy nodded with a brilliant face and said, “Yes, I’ll ask her! Thanks!”
Author's Note
I wanted to make another kind of story to spice my writing a bit and this was my end result. After watching Dark Side of Dimensions and resurrecting my ‘Yu-Gi-Oh!’ spirit, I started writing this up. I had to download some games and even play my very old 2003 starter deck from Pegasus to remember the rules. (I remember wanting Kaiba but it was out of stock :applecry: https://static.fimfiction.net/images/emoticons/applecry.png)
And the game changed so much, so much, that I decided to omit Synchro, Xyz, Pendulum, and the upcoming Summoning Link, so don’t expect those anytime soon. (Why is there so much crap now!? :rainbowhuh: https://static.fimfiction.net/images/emoticons/rainbowhuh.png)
Now, some curious facts about why I choose the names for each character:
-For Fluttershy, I choose Andrea because that is the name of her voice actor in the series. And I chose her to be the descendant of Yugi because she shares personality traits with him.  
-For Applejack, I choose the surname Ball because that’s belongs to her voice actress. Alexandria was a name that means, ‘protector of men’, in this case, for Fluttershy’s sake.   
-For Rainbow Dash, I choose the name Ashleigh because once again, that’s the name of her voice actress. For those who don’t know, Ashleigh Ball gives life to Applejack and Rainbow’s voice. Her surname, Jounouchi, is the one that belongs to Joey Wheeler in the English dub.
Thanks for reading.

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                 Turn two - Big ambitions                  
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Turn two - Big ambitions
It was 10:00 p.m. and the mysterious Sunset logged in her account. It’s been 47 hours, 15 minutes and 11 seconds and counting since she last spoke with her online friend, Fluttershy. She had an itch for a duel with her again, even if it was with random cards and with the Speed Duel format she considered mind-numbing and limiting. Fluttershy, the only person who has ever defeated her shouldn’t take long to appear.
The notification of the only person in her friend’s list turned green.
“Finally…” She whispered in triumph while drinking her last drops of her mug’s artisanal coffee.
Who should begin the battle was the thought that Sunset had. Who should begin the honor to start the duel she longed for a while? Not disappointing her, Fluttershy went first and sent her the invitation for a duel.
Sunset couldn’t have pressed a button faster.
No greetings at the start of the meeting. No empty words. Just straight to the business. Twenty random cards for each, two familiar people facing each other again. Fluttershy was the first to play with a Dragon Zombie, a 1600 ATK monster with an abhorrent defense of 0, then she put a card face down. Sunset drew a card and summoned Neo The Magic Swordsman with a power attack of 1700 and defense of 1000, destroying the dragon for good and reducing 100 points of her life.
Fluttershy then summoned Skull Red Bird with an attack power of 1550 and defense of 1200. Then she activated the spell card Yellow Luster Shield, increasing the defense of her monsters for 300 points. Then she activated the trap Snake Fang, reducing her opponent’s monster defense by 500. Finally, she used the spell Sword and Shield, exchanging the attack and defense of all monsters on the field.
She launched her attack and reduced Sunset’s life points by 1000 of 4000 by destroying her monster.
“Nice. Really nice.” Sunset slowly clapped with a satisfied smile.
It was her turn again and she put a set down monster and a card face down. Fluttershy attacked again with her monster back to his original attack points, revealing Blast Sphere, and Sunset activated its effect. When that monster is attacked in defense position and set down, she can use it as an equip spell card to Fluttershy’s attacking monster.
When her friend’s turn began, her Red Bird was destroyed by the effect of Sunset’s monster and his 1550 attack points were transferred as battle damage to Fluttershy, reducing her life points to 2450.
On the side chat window, Fluttershy was writing a message.
Fluttershy: Good move.
She then drew a card and put a monster and a card faced down.
“Oooh!?” Sunset expressed with fascination.
Did she ran out of powerful monsters or perhaps the card she set down was a tricky trap? But Sunset wasn’t scared of daring against the unknown and summoned a Gemini Elf with 1900 attack power, put a card face down and activated her previous set down card, Stop Defense, and used her on Fluttershy’s monster. The monster was revealed to be Big Shield Gardna, a monster with 100 ATK – 2600 DEF – 4 LVL monster in defense position and it had two effects.
If Shield Gardna is targeted by a spell card while faced down, he negates the effect, which he did with her Stop Defense. Then Sunset activated her other trap Call of the Haunted, resurrecting her Magic Swordsman and attacked Shield Gardna. Since Neo’s attack was 1200 points lower than Gardna’s natural defense plus the effect of Yellow Luster Shield bonus, Sunset received that amount as life points damage. But, it forced Gardna’s second effect into action and made him change to attack position. Then Sunset commanded her Gemini Elf to destroy her friend’s monster and inflict on her 1800 battle damage, reducing her life points to 650. Fluttershy drew a card and summoned nothing.
“You are mine…” Sunset expressed while smirking and attacked her directly, ending the duel.
Sunset: Bad cards?
Fluttershy: Terrible this time. High level monsters and an equip spell faced down.
Sunset: Then it was worth risking it all there.
Fluttershy: You are so mean! (⊙﹏⊙✿)
Sunset: I just happen to be a good drawer.
Fluttershy: I wish a rematch!
Sunset complied, and they had five more quick duels. She won again on the second, Fluttershy won the third, fourth, and fifth, and Sunset won the last. 203-203 was their current score now.
Sunset: This war of ours has no end.
Fluttershy: Perhaps my superior strategies scare yours? (￣。￣)
Sunset: I, intimidated? You are talking with the Great Sunset. Your words are but measly bubbles of ionized gas in the endless sea of fire from the Sun that it is I.
Fluttershy: The sun has bubbles?
Sunset: Yes. In the convection zone, a turbulent mass of material through which the radiation cannot pass as the temperature is too low. The energy pouring from the radiative zone gets trapped and cannot escape, so giant convection currents are set up with hot matter rising and the cooler matter sinking, creating bubbles of gas.
Fluttershy: You always say such fascinating stuff, you really must be one of the top of your class.
Sunset was in reality within the Top 100 best students of the whole country, and third place in the world. But she never got cocky with Fluttershy. At least, not on mockery level or beyond like with her classmates and employees.
Sunset: I just study the minimum to pass my subjects. Which that reminds me, how was your Organic Chemistry’s test?
Fluttershy: Thanks to your online teachings, I managed to score a B+!
Sunset: Well done.
Fluttershy: (~￣▽￣)~
Sunset: I believe it is time for me to leave. I will see you again.
Fluttershy: Message me at the same inbox.
Before Sunset logged out, she noticed that Fluttershy started writing again. She was busy with an important experiment… but she couldn’t resist the need to read her final words, whether it was long or short.
Fluttershy: I want to meet you for real.
She had never read something more than one time.
Sunset: You already know me, Fluttershy.
She tried to sound detached and cool but in real life her heart was pounding faster, and faster. Her friend took a very long time to write the next message, and she couldn’t wait to read it. Sunset knew by know that she was shy when she defeated her for the first time on their fourth duel. Never before has Sunset received a defeat like the first three. She wasn’t focused and it was on the days were she was going to give up Duel Monsters for good, the game’s player population too weakened after the recession of the Duel Links’ world.
During her grandfather’s era, Duel Links was a virtual world where you could summon any monster and make it immensely powerful if the user’s brain waves, later called the Soul of the Duelist, were strong enough to make it so. If you summoned a random monster with a mere 100 attack points, but it turns out that you were strong enough with your Soul of the Duelist, that monster could increase to 10000 of power if you wished to.
At first, it bore a world of fierce competitors. But it wasn’t perfect, for only a few could accept a defeat and live on with it to try again. Eventually, the so-called strong fell in the poison of Spiritual Defeat, and with that, their Soul of the Duelist wavered, and duels became weak. So they came back to the traditional format of Dueling, but the new generation of duelist became too used on using only high attack monsters and reduced their strategies with spells and cards.
They became boring to Sunset’s eyes.
Kaiba Corporation then revived the Speed Duel format and made dueling interesting again, for a time. At least for her. The restriction of only using between 20 to 30 cards deprived the duelists with long term strategy, forcing them to rely more on quick assaults. Sunset tried the format after the inauguration of the free Online Duel Simulator… she never lost once in any mode, even against registered World Class Pro-Duelist. Sunset was bored.
Sunset… desired long, detailed strategy.
But then Fluttershy came to her life, and when she defeated her for the third time in a row, Sunset declared her an enemy and added her to her list of friends to duel her again. She was the only person on that list since then. As time flew by, and after many short but mind-numbing fun battles, Fluttershy broke the silence, and asked what she liked to do besides dueling. Sunset only answered that after her free time ended, she was busy on various personal projects on her job.
The only information she shared was that she was 17 years old at that time, a little more than one year older than her. Now she was 20 and in college, and she was 18 and still in high school. They slowly began to talk about random things like animal caring, and science research, cooking techniques, and science research, Pretty Warrior Pirate Moon’s anime show, and science research.
Sunset then realized that she only knew about science research and administration in a very humiliating manner to her pride, and began to read with more attention to her messages. Her genius could research all of her topics and understand it in a week or far less, but, one way or another, she wanted Fluttershy to write. She wanted Fluttershy to express herself. She being brave felt nice for her, even if it was through a screen, just for her.
Just for her and no one else.
Fluttershy: It’s just that I want to duel you with my real deck, even if it’s just for once. You and Alex-san are the only ones than know about my wish to have a duel like the Golden Era. I know you are busy, but I want to have a date with you in a local café too and know each other better.
Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. Date.
“She wants a date… with me?” Sunset was serious, and perplexed.
Fluttershy: Somehow, from the bottom of my heart, I know that you can give me a real Duel of Monsters.
Sunset: I’ll give you the answer soon.
Fluttershy: You don’t have to agree if you are busy. Whatever you say, we still have each other here. ( ^▽^)
Sunset: I understand. See you next time.
Fluttershy: Bye-Bye!
And she logged out, and Sunset fully laid her back on her executive chair. Her sight looking out through the window, the shiny lights of the city barely diluting the glimmer of the stars.
Then, a firm grip on her shoulder was felt. “Rebecca-sama!” Sunset looked at her side and saw a young, familiar, serious face. “Rebecca-sama, it’s strange for you to ignore me like that for this long.” The woman activated an holographic document and gave it to her.
“I over-enjoyed my free time and lost track of reality.” Sunset said while reading her top scientist’s report. “Oh! So we are making good progress as I expected.” She made a soft grin.
“Indeed. If all goes well, this could mark a revolution to Duel Monsters as we know it!”
“Project Turbo will become a reality when the New Summoning System for monster summoning is revised and perfected. Soon the world will be blessed with a new Dueling, a new revolution surpassing the obsolete relic of Duel Links from Seto Kaiba himself!”
“Once again, your genius is unmatched, Rebecca-sama!”
“So, how is it going?”
“The new tournament that you are organizing? Perfect. Last week I sent the private battle invitation of the Online Duel Simulator System Selector to the chosen ones and various expert duelist and I battled the best Pro-Duelist in the world with the most powerful decks you devised for us, and only 8 managed to meet the minimum requirements you demanded to enter!”
“So they were indeed future sacrifices as I expected! Very well, send them the formal invitation to the tournament, and make public the System Selector to choose the other half of the participants! 8 normal duelist of the planet will be selected as well! 8 Pro-Duelists, 8 Duelists, one tournament! They are only test subjects and sacrifices for my vision!”
“It will be done!”
An hologram with the dueling data of the Scientist and her team versus the Pro-Duelists appeared before Sunset. Tactics, play-style, manners, everything was there. Then, something caught her eye. “Say…” She glared at her piercingly and with a shade of annoyance. “What kind of name is Twilight Sparkle?”
“You said I could choose any pseudonym I wanted and I took a liking to that one!” Twilight said with pride and arms crossed.
“Who in the world would choose a name like that to represent my company in an official Pro-Duel selection!?” Sunset’s glare darkened the room even more.
“Oh, please! There were ridiculous Dueling Names in the past like the famous Ryuzaki’s pseudonym, Rex Raptor! Not everyone can have a normal name like the famous, amazing, and legendary dancer Anzu Mazaki, better known as Fiery Dancer Magician Téa Gardner!”
“I forgot you like that lousy dancing.”
“At least I like something normal unlike your classical and obsolete acoustic music.” Twilight said with a deadpan expression.
“Remind me to lower your salary for next week for insulting your boss’ musical tastes.”
“In any case, Twilight Sparkle fits me!”
“Indeed, your blue hair is like the beautiful deep night without stars. If only you didn’t have those two ridiculous magenta and pink stripes on it.”
“Rebecca, you fool! Don’t dare insult my beautiful hair!! I was born with those, eh!!!”
“Remind me to lower your salary next month for rudely talking back to your boss.” Sunset said with closed eyes and a calm demeanor.
“YOU ARE SO MEAN!! I slave for you ever since we were children!!” Twilight lost her cool.
Sunset smirked with mockery and said, “Kaiba Corporations appreciates your noble efforts, Professor Tara Hopkins! In any case, when do I have a free day? I want to schedule a day of leisure outside my job and college hours!”
“You? A break? In the streets of Neo Domino City?” Twilight almost laughed.
“Do you want me to fire you!?” Sunset raised her voice menacingly.
“HA! Rebecca, I have known you since forever! You won’t survive in a normal social world! You barely know the layout of our school!”
“Says the woman who broke with three boyfriends in less than an hour each last month! That guy that looked like an Oompa Loompa was the worst!”
Twilight’s forehead veins pronounced with her anger. “At least I know about love and friendship!” She said between her teeth.
“The only living beings who can stand you is your dog, and me.” She said with a blatant glare. “You’re about as entertaining as a brick on a wall.”
“I HAVE MORE FRIENDS THAN YOU! And at least men are interested in me as well! You, on the other hand, scares them all away when you open your poisonous mouth!!”
“The ones I have met so far were weak and lacked wits. Besides, the ones that have chased you were only interested in your physical assets and not your spectacular mind.” She said stoically. “Your buttocks are picturesque, but if they only knew that your front pillows are tiny-!”
“THIS IS WHY YOU NEVER MADE FRIENDS DURING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND BEYOND, REBECCA!” Twilight grabbed Sunset’s shirt and began to shake her rudely with a mad face. “YOU ARE TOO BLUNT AND A PAIN IN THE BUTT, YOU STUPID CYNICAL WOMAN!”
“Remind me to lower your salary for the next two months for physically assaulting your boss. And I have a friend besides you.”
“The mythical Fluttershy again!? You have never seen her in flesh!” After finishing her sentence, Twilight’s gaze suddenly became impish. “Come to think of it, you even forbid me to look for her using Kaiba Corporation’s Security International System! Perhaps you already know who she is and you are too ashamed to make me discover that she is embarrassing to be with!!!” Twilight’s tongue drooled with poison.
“I would never below myself to use such tactics unless it is for national security. She is clearly shy and for her to wish to meet me in person is a big step for her!”
“SO THAT’S WHY YOU WANT THE DAY OFF! … …Hmph! Very well!” Twilight arranged her glasses in a very professional and serious manner. “I’ll see what I can do to give you a free itinerary really soon! I don’t want to keep waiting your first outsider friend to meet you!” She then became dreamy all of the sudden. “If only your mother could see her dream becoming a reality, you skeptic brute! I know that your mother - may God have her forever in the Land of Eden - will help you make a new friend from the beyond!” She said with sweetness, respect, and purity to Sunset’s late mother while praying to the sky.
“I have a friend in my contact list that aren’t bothersome classmates and business contacts… unlike you” Sunset expressed coldly.
“Curse you.” Twilight spitted in mumble to the side with an annoyed face. “You aren’t like Lady Nicole.”
“At least you remember her name, you fourth-rate secretary and second-rate scientist.”
“WHAT DID YOU SAY, YOU RED-HEADED DEVIL!!?”
“Be gone. Do your job and make sure that I have a free day soon on my schedule before tomorrow evening. You are dismissed for today and you can go home, Tara.” Sunset walked away.
“…Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“You are in your home already.” Sunset suddenly stopped a bit at loss and looked at Twilight in the eye. “We live here together, in this suite of Kaiba Corporation, in the same bed, in this exact same bedroom, inside this space station, remember?” Twilight frowned and said with a small glimpse of irritation while turning on the lights with a strong clap of her hands, revealing a beautiful, well-equipped and tidy bedroom. The city projection banished from the windows, revealing the endless Sea of Stars, Earth’s blue oceans and atmosphere an spectacle in her irises. Behind Sunset, there was her office desk inside their private office-bedroom-whatever place.
A lively bark was heard approaching them, and soon a purple dog ran in circles around both young, world-tier genius, college women. Sunset looked down and saw Spike passing under her sight every 1.7 seconds.
“…?”
“…!”
“This is why I always tell you that you are too obsessed with your job!! You barely know about the world beside Neo Domino Canterlot College, Kaibaland, and Pizzas Gwendolyn down there! I really hope this Fluttershy makes you go out more frequently for good!”
“Shut your mouth.” Sunset walked to the bathroom to take a shower and Twilight followed besides her.
“For all your genius in science and being the President of the most powerful technological research center and gaming industry in the world, you are clumsy in these things. I worry you could get lost in a public bathroom.”
“Shut up.”
“I’ll have to design a plan for you to not ruin this opportunity to make contact with the normal world.”
“Quiet and go to sleep, Hopkins!”
“Not until we take a shower, Kaiba-sama.”
After their shower, they slept from midnight to sunrise rather peacefully.
Author's Note
I couldn't resist making the space station their home. I mean, it was super ridiculous for Kaiba in the movie to make freaking station of that magnitude just for reconstructing the Millennium Puzzle.
Speed Duel format is in fact beginners format used to introduce new players to Yu-Gi-Oh! But recently, it has been retrofitted to more aggressive and quick play styles, specially in the iOS and Android game Duel Links. With the right cards, the games are indeed faster than the normal one. (Unless you take special summoning engines in the meta into account, which is a nightmare for casuals like me.) For story purposes, Speed Duel is challenging, but not for the main characters.
The Duel Links worlds mentioned here is the one from the manga version, prequel to the latest movie.
Anyway, Sunset is a mix of the failed antagonist of the first movie with the immense potential of all the sequels. Smart, sharp, strong willed and athletic, only that I made her clumsy in other trivial things. Twilight is a stronger willed version of her Friendship Games source, only more volatile with Sunset’s antics.
Once again, curious facts for choosing her normal names:
-Tara is the name of the voice actress of Twilight Sparkle, and Professor Hopkins is a renown archaeologist in the series canon. Her descendant ending up as part of Kaiba Corporation is a little ironic considering that Hopkins was the best friend of Solomon Mutuou, Yugi’s grandfather.  
-Rebecca is the name of the voice actress of Sunset Shimmer, and I made her the descendant of Seto Kaiba to respect the tradition of the old rivalry only with new circumstances. And give her many resources in which she can make ridiculous things spectacularly.  
-Nicole is the name of the voice actress that gives life to Princess Celestia. So yeah, Nicole Kaiba has the physical appearance of human Celestia, and since Yu-Gi-Oh! has ridiculous hairstyles, I will leave her alone because she has a normal design in comparison.
As always, thanks for reading.

//-------------------------------------------------------//
               Turn three - Date programming               
//-------------------------------------------------------//
Turn three - Date programming
It was a fresh and school-free Saturday morning in Neo Domino City. After having her usual biannual medical check, Fluttershy was in the local Evergreen Forest Park near her home. She was feeding the squirrels and other little creatures that lived in the park and she watched them eat the nuts peacefully under the shadow of the trees.
Other critters gathered around her and rested their soft furs near the Maiden of the Forest, transmitting their desire to nap to the fair maiden. She slept for a good amount of two hours, and gently, she was being awakened by a friendly intimate.
“…Alex-san.”
“Sorry for being late. Slept well, Andrea?”
“Yes.”
“Want to go to the mall like you wanted to or do you want to stay like this a bit more?”
“Let me sleep on your lap…”
The critters made some space for Applejack to sit, and Fluttershy put herself comfortable on the grass and rested her face on her legs. As the Dairy Farmer brushed her friend’s silky pink hair tenderly, the Maiden of the Forest went back to sleep.
“I want to feel your warm and safety until the end…”
“Sleep for a while longer, Sugarcube.”
…. ….
Inside a lively mall, with hundreds of colorful stores in the surroundings.
“Look, Alex-san! There is a new booster pack for sale!”
“Legends of Dragons The Ultimate Unleashed 2? What a fancy name we have here, y’all.”
“Half of the cards in the whole collection are reprints of the older booster packs released fifty years ago. The nostalgia factor makes the Dark Magician Girl The Dragon Knight an invaluable collectors’ card. Legend says that this card was born in the sea during a titanic dueling in Atlantis!”
“Atlantis? The mythical city of legend and progress?”
“Yes. This card was born when Dark Magician Girl united her power with a powerful dragon, Timaeus. But as I said, it’s an old legend that Grandfather told me. This card began being printed fifty years ago. There are so many few copies in the world from the first edition. Like 100 if what my Grandfather says is true.”
“And now with this one?”
“500 hundred copies from this second edition.”
“So it’s still super rare.”
“That’s right.”
“Is it any good in a real duel?”
“If you have an Eye of Timaeus, enough card support and avoid a One Turn Kill or banishing cards, yes, it’s pretty good. Otherwise, Ritual Sanctuary and other cards in the pack are far better for a ritual deck archetype. Unless they come up with a mechanic that lets you spam power monsters with search engines and leaves ritual summoning a complete waste of time and resources, its good.”
“I have no idea what the hay you are talking about.” Applejack then smirked. “This is where Rainbow would come and say, ‘It’s easy, peasy, yo! You just don’t play enough!’”
Fluttershy giggled while covering her mouth. “You are so mean, Alex-san!”
“Hey, you know that is true, Sugarcube!”
“In any case, is easy to do once you understand the mechanic.”
“Personally, you know that I prefer Spherium. It’s like chess, only with monsters and needles and some extra rules that are easy to understand, even for me!”
“You are no fool, Alex-san, it’s just that Duel Monsters isn’t your thing… But I too like Spherium, remember? If it wasn’t because Duel Monsters is more known to the world, and faster, my Grandfather’s and Seto Kaiba-san’s creation would be a massive hit instead. This store sell pieces of Spherium and if we buy three packs of Legends of Dragons, you could win a random piece.”
“Why don’t we buy some? I give you my packs but you give me the piece!”
Fluttershy gave her a wide smile, and both got inside the store. As she opened the three packs, she was a little disappointed with her luck. The most useful and ultra-rare cards she got was a Soul Charge, which she already had like five, a Goddess Bow fusion monster, which it has no place in her deck archetypes.
Finally, she got the fabled Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight, which she already had once. Applejack on the other hand got the latter monster but in piece form. Her effects on Spherium were useful for her wall strategies and she was happy for it. Fluttershy gave her the Dragon Knight card, a super-secret rare, as a lucky charm, from friend to friend.
Applejack would treasure it for the rest of her life.
…. ….
In a cutesy table, inside of a lively café.
“ANDREA!!! ALEX!!!” A darker pink and puffy haired girl with enchanting light blue eyes hugged the duo. “WELCOME BACK TO MY CANDY DOMAIN! You should have told me that you were coming!”
Fluttershy’s cheeks became bluer each passing second. “D-D-D-D-Diane-san, w-w-we didn’t… ugh… know you w-w-worked today as well!”
“S-s-stop… crushing u-us, P-Pinkie!”
Pinkie stopped her gruesome love hug. “Oops.”
“In any case, Diane-san, where is Tabitha-san?”
“Yooohooo!” A gorgeous, well-dressed girl was coming her way to the trio. Her soft, curly purple hair and blue sapphire eyes were like a work of art on its own. In her left hand, she was carrying a heavy looking bag with a glimpse of cotton fabrics and such while waving her free hand happily.
“Great, she is in the zone again.” Applejack facepalmed.
“I’ll ignore what you said just because I love you so much, Darling.” Tabitha said with a calm and smiley face.
“What the hay are you wearing now, y’all?”
“The latest trend from Paris! Ah! The fashion show was a marvel to behold, Darling! So many prestigious designers and hosts from the world praising my work!” Her eyes became like enormous diamonds.
“So did you manage to win the Best Designer Award for young talents?”
“Better than that! I was giving a name for my unrivaled designs! I have been christened as Rarity!” She made an over-the-top fashion pose. “Behold the future power of fashion trends made flesh!”
“That is amazing, Tabitha-san!” Fluttershy clapped several times with a big smile.
“Thank you, Andrea! You are always so kind, and kindness must be rewarded!” She took from her bag a pretty and tidy box. On the inside, there were seven colorful pendants with gold finishes on their edges. “A beautiful butterfly for you!”
“This looks really expensive!”
“It is, and I don’t care! It’s yours! Here, let me put it in your neck!” Rarity put on her the pendant, softly maneuvering Fluttershy’s silky and graceful hair to do the task. The pendant shined very vibrantly, putting a small grin on her face. “It suits you.” Rarity expressed radiantly.
“Thank you…” Fluttershy’s expression was tender as she held the pendant in her hand.
“Now, there is one for Diane as well! Three hand-crafted balloons!”
“AHHH! It looks so amazing!”
“And an apple pendant for fair Alex!”
“Hmm, it looks nice, I’ll admit.”
“Finally, something I give you is of your liking!”
“I bet that thunder is for Dash!”
“And the purple diamond is for me!” She put it on her neck. “Marvelous!”
“But for whom is the star and the dual-colored sun?”
“Oh, these? One is for a girl I met last year which I talk to from time to time! She and I don’t share the same tastes in topics but she is really nice to talk with anyway! So the star is for her next time I see her… But the sun, I don’t know what to do with it. The man who gave it to me said that these seven will connect my friends and me to the great Ties of Friendships!”
“Ties of Friendship?” Fluttershy asked curiously.
“Indeed! He said that true friendships are unbreakable and can perform miracles during fated situations! I don’t believe that much in mystical things but I do believe in you, girls!”
“Aww, that’s so sweet, y’all! If only you were like this when you offer me to change my attires!”
“If only you were more open to more lady garments!”
“Your dresses are too fancy for me. I’m a farmer, not a model.”
“Agh! You are impossible! …Where is Ashleigh? She usually helps Pinkie when she is free.”
“Perhaps she is slacking off in her home.” Applejack arranged her hat.
“Or perhaps she is practicing soccer or duel monsters on the streets.”
“She is in fact working on a part time job right now! She told me that she will take random jobs on Saturdays as well to save enough money for the shirt Tabitha-san got for her.”
Rarity sighed a little annoyed while rubbing her temples. “I told that girl it was a gift like ten times.”
“How much it cost, Tabitha?”
“500 dollars, Alex.”
“HOLY MOLY! Just for a shirt!?”
“It’s a limited edition shirt of the Wonderbolts. During the event, I managed to get the signs of all their team members.”
“But those kind of shirts are expensive like that!” Pinkie said a bit baffled. “I would feel bad for receiving something that big for free!”
“Really, now? Since I don’t care a lot about soccer, well, you know. I only told her the price of the t-shirt, I could care less about the collector’s value if it is a gift for a friend. Business on the other hand…” She giggled with a darkened expression. “I learned a lot in Paris.”
“Great! What we needed from you now! More tyrannical fashion charisma speeches to your future customers!”
“Hush with you, Alex!”
“In any case, let me get us some snacks to eat! It’s my break and I want to spend time with you, girls!”
A few moments later, Pinkie brought some delicious and refreshing lemonades with a bow of salad for them to enjoy. Each of them talked about their most entertaining events they experienced that week. Applejack said that her little sister, Michelle, finally got the hang of how to take care of the cows during the milking process. It was hard for her but well worth it. She felt like it was an Apple finally Blooming at her pace.
Pinkie, one of the few students in the school with a special permit to work underage, had a busy week after school hours. The family that ran the show, which she called The Cakes for some reason, had their babies sick and she had to work extra to cover for them. They paid well, but it was harsh. Rarity commented about her trip with further detail and was still amazed that she won. She plans to open a full-fledged boutique once she finishes college.
Fluttershy, omitting her dangerous life as the Pink-Haired Stranger and another few things, told them that it was great for her too. The critters she helped the other day now can fly high and mighty again through the skies and she has gotten better on school tests. She also mentioned about asking her friend Sunset out. Rarity had something to say.
“Andrea, Darling, you can’t go out with online strangers like that! From where do you know her?”
“Oh, don’t worry! Sunset is a really nice girl! I know her from this dueling online program where I can duel people online. Sometimes I play with random players… but they always lose. Sunset is the only one who has beat me there.”
“Her name is Sunset?”
“Well, no. I don’t know her real name and she doesn’t know mine either. I use a pseudonym online… Fluttershy…” She mumbled with reddened cheeks.
“Excuse me?”
“Fluttershy…!” She whined.
Rarity sighed with a tender look. “You are so shy sometimes, Andrea. I hope one day I can see you being strong willed in public.”
“Being shy runs in the family.” She said still embarrassed. “Mom was really shy in her younger days, and Grandmother once told me that Grandfather was shy in his younger days as well.”
“You need a change of look that empowers you!”
“You need a big cake and a big party to put a smile on you!”
“She just needs to open her wings at her own pace, y’all! So how do you plan to meet her, Sugarcube?”
“If she says yes, she will tell me where to meet. I’m sure of it.” Suddenly, her watch lightened with a green light. “Oh!” She pressed a button and a small hologram notification appeared before her. She had a message on her dueling mail and when she read it, “SHE SAID YES!” She exploded with energy. “SHE WANTS TO MEET ME TOMORROW IN A PLACE OF MY CHOOSING!!! YAAAY!” Fluttershy jumped from her chair and jumped repeatedly with the tip of her feet, arms joyfully pressed on her chest.
Applejack smirked happily. “Woah! Calm down, Sugarcube! Bad for your system!”
“Since she is willing to let you choose any place you want, I suggest you do it here! That way, we can be sure to help you in the event that anything goes south!”
“Tabitha-san, I don’t think anything wrong will happen with her!”
“It’s just a precaution. But if all goes right, you need a good dress! Comfy and elegant for you!”
“I will make you some special cupcakes tomorrow just for the two of you if you come here!”
“And I’ll finish my work on the farm to help these two supervise your date tomorrow! You could say we are your private bodyguards and police, Sugarcube!” She winked at her.
“I-I don’t think all of that is necessary… But thank you for worrying about me!”
“Let’s go, then, Darling! To my house!”
Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack paid their snacks and went their separate way. The farmer went back home to double her efforts and free some time tomorrow during her friend’s date. Rarity went with Fluttershy to her house, not without making a short deviation to the spa and relax on a hot bath. The Maiden of the Forest was giggling to herself from the excitement and cheer happiness while Rarity washed her hair.
Fluttershy… couldn’t wait for tomorrow’s date.
Author's Note
Tabitha is the name of the voice actress of Rarity and Diane is Pinkie’s second name. It wasn’t mentioned but Pinkie’s full human name is Diane Libman, the surname of the woman who gives life to the voices of Fluttershy and Pinkie.
As always, thanks for reading.

//-------------------------------------------------------//
                 Turn four - Date training                 
//-------------------------------------------------------//
Turn four - Date training
Sunset felt a bit relieved that Fluttershy answered her so fast to confirm their first meeting near a store called Sugarcube Corner. Waiting for a response for longer than 12 hours would have drove her insane.
She smirked rather confident. “But I was successful once again.” She said reassuring to herself with a straight face, arms and legs crossed.
As she reached her coffee and ate some basic nourishments that Twilight first-handily selected for an excellent nutritional diet, Sunset resumed her investigation after finishing her insignificant chaos theory research for college. That kind of trivialities were a waste of her time, but, she needed the title to fully cement her authority in her company.
There were some fools that dared to try to steal the shares she had for their benefit. Unlucky for them was that Sunset’s natural ambitions came in bundle with a brilliant and sharp mind and an unbreakable will as a bonus. Inheritance of the Kaiba Legacy, of course. She just had to do some legal movements here and there, hire the occasional professional ‘cleaner’ to get rid of the hired gangs that targeted her life, proving that she was more fitting as the chairman of the company than lesser individuals and BAM, President Rebecca Kaiba was at your service.
If she was interested to be of your service, of course.
As she was looking around the office-bedroom-whatever place, she had one thought. “Where is Tara?” She mumbled.
“Right behind you.” Twilight gave her an holographic document with pin-point accuracy data.
“I didn’t feel your presence.”
“You were lingering in your deepest thoughts again, Rebecca-sama.”
“Sit. You tend to exasperate me when standing beside me.”
“You are my boss and I must be on your shadow.”
“You are my equal in this, but you are just too stupid to make any good comebacks at me.”
“One day of these I will throw you at space.”
“You can’t even carry yourself after that party hangover you had last week, you underage girl.”
“Shut up.”
“… … …Sit down already!” She almost yelled menacingly.
“Right, right.”
Twilight, on the other hand, didn’t have ambition in usurping the company from her, finding happiness in making science discoveries with the virtual limitless supplies of the company. If everything goes right, she would have some heavy metals from Mars next month to work with.
She had the rights, the paperwork, and even Lady Nicole, Sunset’s mother, made sure that both girls were in equal terms for the ownership of Kaiba Corporations. She hoped that their childhood friendship and brilliant minds would make the company flourish, not to mention that it would give them a good income for the rest of their lives.
In a way, she was successful. It’s just that she couldn’t have possibly foresaw that they would take the boat when they were only 16 and 13 respectively.
Sunset and Twilight had each other at their throats with bickering all the time, but they couldn’t imagine living without the other. Not that they are going to admit it like that, too prideful the both of them were for that. Kaiba Corporation improved massively the world technology since they took command, and it became a well remunerated global business again.
The problem with Sunset was that she believed that her gaming department, specially Duel Monsters, became weak when the Dueling Academy closed thanks to the Ener-D disaster years ago. She wanted to create a new mechanic that would force the players to focus in deeper movements and not so short-term tactics during a standard duel, in hopes to revive said school for future promising duelists.
She didn’t hate Speed Format, it’s just that everyone sucked because they only put strong monsters in them. If only they could wait a few turns to harvest the potential of spells or traps like the Mask of the Accursed equip spell card.
But, what was what she needed to implement in the game to make her vision real? The answer eluded her.
She had the prototype for a new kind of monster, and Twilight said that it was well-structured as it was, but Sunset still thought that something was missing. New spell cards? Traps, perhaps? A new set of archetypes to make the new monsters a viability in dueling. She still hasn’t come up with an official name yet.
“You are making faces again.” Twilight said while correcting the writing structure of a new, cheaper, and far more efficient water system for the masses. “Are you still unsatisfied with the new dueling mechanic?”
“Yes.” Sunset put aside her Duel Monster documents and revised the water system’s schematics. “Oh? So we are using that new organic plastic you designed?”
“You know it’s stronger and far more resilient than concrete.”
“And it can be taken care of easily in case of an almost mythical situation where it must be replaced. You always come with shrewd ways to make a profit in our favor.”
“Not all is brute force, science is the way of the future. We need to appreciate and harvest that power.”
“Thickness of the tubes?”
“3 inches for small towns and cities. 5.1 for cities like Neo Domino.”
“Pump strength?”
“Already did the math.”
“Will it reach this space station?”
“Don’t ask for miracles. That’s why you designed that new water and air purifier system, remember?”
“If it wasn’t for the Ener-D disaster, Kaiba corporations would have been certificated as a green company by now.”
“Soon.”
“Indeed.”
“I have devised your dating simulator as well.”
“I told you that I don’t need that!” Sunset almost yelled menacingly at her.
“You must take the simulation. I don’t want you to fail during the first glance.”
“Fluttershy will grant me the respect I deserve, so will I to her.”
“That’s what scares me the most.” Twilight said skepticism.
“Very well, I’ll take your silly simulation and prove to you that I am clearly prepared to talk to normal people.”
“Let’s go, then.”
Sunset and Twilight walked through the halls of the space station. Respected scientist and bodyguards saluting and greeting them with absolute loyalty. Twilight nodded to them in kind, Sunset had her stoic face as always. Spike was closely following them with enthusiasm. They reached a chamber surrounded by holo-projectors and Sunset got inside. As for Twilight and Spike, they went to the side room where the command center was in and turned on the speakers.
“Listen, Rebecca. I have recorded data around the world that-“
“If I see a single character that resembles the cast of Magical College Girls…!”
“DON’T INTERRUPT ME, YOU STUPID WOMAN!”
“I will fire you if you talk to me like that again!”
“As I was saying, this chamber will simulate a random person with a certain stereotype. Imagine that each of them is a possible real life Fluttershy.”
“This test has no purpose.”
“Let’s see how you will greet random person number one then. I have taken in consideration that she could be in reality a he, so don’t panic, it’s normal when dealing with online people for the first time in real life.”
“You must have read that in a self-helping book.”
“Shut up.”
“I’m ready.”
“HOLO-DATING SIMULATOR, START UP!”
The chamber around Sunset became void in color, and suddenly, a realistic mall filled with random, almost real people, were walking beside her front and backward. Sunset started to feel anxious, frustrated, and angry. Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder. When she turned around, an average looking guy with brown hair and eyes was in front of her. He had a tranquil aura and a gentle smile.
“Hi, you must be Sunset!” He said. “My name is Nitpick Bittersweet and-!”
A potent echo was heard and felt through the chamber and beyond. Nitpick was sent flying away with a power blow and Sunset’s surroundings quickly dematerialized.
“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!!?”
“I DIDN’T LIKE HIS STUPID FAKE NAME!”
“YOU DON’T HAVE TO LIKE IT, YOU STUPID AND INSUFFERABLE WOMAN! Fluttershy could be anyone and this is a good test!”
“No! I know deep in my heart that she could never be like that!”
“And what if she is like that? You can’t go punching people in the face!”
“Shut up. Bring the second simulation.”
The process repeated again and this time a middle sized and good looking young woman appeared before her. She had a beautiful hourglass figure and gorgeous but strange artic blue eyes. “Good day, you must be Sunset! My name is Bon Bon and-!”
Once again, an abrupt echo resonated on the chamber, a brutal round house kick connected on Bon Bon’s skull, and all came back to normal.
“AGAIN!?”
“SHE LOOKED LIKE SOMEONE WHO WILL STAB ME FOR SURE!!”
“You are impossible!” Twilight slammed her head on the panel.
“This is a failure because you are doing it all wrong! Be sure that she resembles the Fluttershy I know in personality!”
“Someone kind and polite… Hmph! I have put the parameters now. Let’s see how you fair against this one!”
A young, charming, and gracious woman appeared before her this time. She had a long, silky, and gorgeous brown hair, a pair of two beautiful eyes that looked like sapphires as deep and mysterious as the ocean, and a skin as white as delicate porcelain.
“Greetings, my dear online friend.” She made a curtsey with her skirt while smiling freshly.
“Greetings.” Sunset forcefully said with a death glare. Twilight thought that she was making progress.
“My name is Reem Oakwood and it is an honor to finally meet you!”
“Indeed.”
“Have you had a marvelous day?”
“No.”
“That is so sad to hear.”
“…”
“Are you feeling well, my beloved friend?”
“Beloved friend!?” Sunset barked between her teeth.
“Indeed we are! What is your name?” Sunset mumbled strangely. “I didn’t understand you.”
“Rebecca St. Nicole.”
At that moment, Twilight thought that this one would do.
“Beautiful name, specially Rebecca! May I guide you to a good tea shop I know nearby? I will share with thee the tastiest tea you will ever-!”
Sunset performed a ruthless karate chop on her head and the hologram fell down cold and almost dead. The simulation was over once again. The test window became transparent, showing the straight face of an extremely angered and annoyed Scientist, strands of hair separating from her graceful complexion. Sunset glared her back with a piercing gaze.
“Now what?”
“She was too formal and archaic, I don’t like tea, and she said that my mother’s name wasn’t as pretty as mine.” She calmly said with closed eyes.
“I WILL THROW YOU AT SPACE FOR REAL! You can’t go punching and killing people just because you don’t like them!”
“I am Rebecca St. Nicole Kaiba, President of Kaiba Corporations, and if I don’t agree with something that stands before me, it must be destroyed!”
Twilight got out of the room and stood in front of her. “What if Fluttershy is a kind and pacifist soul that would deny your methods!?”
Sunset flinched for a second, then, she closed her eyes a bit calmer. “I see your point.”
“And that ego of yours would scare her away if she is indeed kind and shy. You being you scares normal people away… … AH! THAT’S IT!”
“What?”
“You must disguise yourself as someone else first!”
“That is the most ridiculous idea you have come up with since you wanted to date that Flash guy!”
“His name is Vincent… that three-timer idiot!” Twilight said between her teeth and became annoyed for remembering him. “No, listen first! Listen!” She slowly walked around her, Sunset standing still. “Rebecca Kaiba is one of the most powerful and important individuals in our current age. And for the average folk, you are a celebrity. Disguise yourself to avoid unwelcoming eyes to ruin your first meeting. Assume a fake name but use your real personality and tastes to interact with her. Once you are in a private location, reveal yourself to her as Rebecca St. Nicole Kaiba.”
“Unacceptable!” Sunset raised her voice angered. “I know she will show me her real face and name tomorrow! I won’t disgrace myself and her only to hide my face from the petty public eye!”
“Seto Kaiba was pestered with people when trying to eat dinner with your Uncle Mokuba-sama in respected restaurants years ago. Do you want people to pester you tomorrow?”
“Then I shall close the streets and monopolize the location while I am with her!”
“And what if that place depends of the clientele? What if that locale belongs to her?”
“Then I will pay compensation for her sake.”
“That’s something that Seto Kai-“
“Do not dare to compare me to that man, Tara Hopkins!!”
“Then don’t do what he would do. Do as I say, and reveal yourself in a private place for the two of you. But only do it if she proves trustworthy to you.”
“… ...Very well.”
“Thank you.”
“Make the preparations for tomorrow, then. Make sure to choose the most casual clothes you can find for us.”
When Twilight heard that, she knew what was she trying to say, and her face became soft and lovely. “Now that sounds like a good plan to me, Rebecca-sama.”
Both young women had dinner at peace after finishing their routines. Then, they comfortably laid back on their bed and summoned their holographic ultra HD TV system. Sunset was falling asleep with Spike while Twilight was burning with excitement as the new Magical College Girls’ episode was reaching its climax. soNor4G25z
Author's Note
Nitpick Bittersweet and Reem Oakwood are the names of some of my OC’s in my longest story of my account. You don’t have to read the thing at all, suffice to say that one way or another, both are punching bags and this is just a cameo for them. Bon Bon isn’t a punching bag in that story but hates Shimmer deeply, so this is a kind of parallel divine retribution.
For those who saw the movie, you know that Kaiba’s space station was a super ridiculous idea to begin with. So, I haven’t decided yet if make this space station the same or something else. The possibilities are endless.
As always, thanks for reading.