A Demigod and a Mother Play a Children's Card Game
Empress Nightmare Moon had claimed many victories in her past. The defeat of Celestia, her sister, and conquering Equestria was just one example of her power. Over the millennia that she has ruled, she has seen kingdoms fall under her mighty hoof. She had witnessed her rivals beg for mercy as she towered above them. Their cities lay in ruin and their subjects, at least those who chose to swear their allegiance to Nightmare Moon, were under her domain.
Her rule was ever strong and her empire's power was growing even to this day. True, there were still other nations in the world that could pose a threat in the future. Together they could manage to become a real thorn in her side. Though if they were no less than perfect in the execution of their plans, the full wrath of the moon would be upon them. Nightmare Moon was not the type mare that would lose so easily. She even entertained the thought that none were worthy enough to defeat her. So, why was she losing so badly at a children's card game?!
Nightmare Moon sat at a table, a total of three cards resting in her magical grip. Of these three cards was a single creature that she could summon to her aide and two magic cards, each with their own ability. She looked down at her side of the board for what seemed like the hundredth time. She had two cards faced down. It was cannon fodder for her opponent to maul over in an attempt to figure out what it could be. The other one was to ensure that what remained of her life points would not be depleted.
She had no creatures on her side of the field. The last one she had was brutally destroyed after it had its strength sapped away by her enemy's summons. Speaking of her enemy, Nightmare Moon looked over at her opponent who was currently looking over her own cards. The grey mare sat at the other end of the table. Her sandy blond mane covered one of her golden yellow eyes. She had taken off her armor which was now laying on the floor beside them.
She was one of the many soldiers in her army. Each of them raised their sword in her name, but none dared to challenge her. That was until tonight. Derpy Hooves was the name of the mare that had challenged Nightmare Moon to this duel. The stakes were simple. If she won, she would get a three-day vacation. The longest vacation any soldier she had given would receive. If she lost, her punishment was up for Nightmare Moon to decide. At first, Nightmare Moon had decided on a light punishment as it had been centuries since anyone challenged her to anything and she admired the grey pegasus mare for that.
Nightmare Moon also thought that the duel between them would be like any other she had had in the past. She had bested many at games of strategy from chess to poker. However, this game wasn't like the other ones she had played before. Here, strategy and timing were key and while she had her strategy down pat, her timing proved to be less than ideal. Whether it was because of her own personal blunder or her opponent's tactics of delaying her attacks proved more of a threat than she had realized. Nightmare Moon had planned to give her commander a light punishment but now a much heavier punishment was in store.
To make matters worse, it wasn't the fact that Nightmare Moon's life points were on the verge of being reduced to zero. It wasn't the fact that her strongest monsters were defeated and she now had barely any way of getting them back. She could even swallow the fact that this could very well be a loss for her. What she couldn't accept the fact of was that she was losing to a bunch of sentient pastries!
Pansnake?! Blueberry Moofin?! Sunderaidactel!? Golden Delicious Apple Pie Dragon!?! There was no way the Empress of the Night should be losing to a deck based on baked goods! She was going to have to give the company who made these cards a good talking to once this was all over. "You've been taking quite a while, your highness," Derpy stated. Nightmare Moon bared her fangs.
"I am your ruler, Commander Hooves. I can take as much time as I desire." She retorted. A chill hovered in the air as she spoke.
"Of course, your majesty," replied Derpy. "Please forgive my rudeness." Her calm nature and blank expression made it hard for the Empress of the Night to completely understand her. Nightmare Moon scuffed before looking down on the field. Derpy had three monsters on her side of the field. Her Pansnake was not a major threat as one over her previous moves rendered its effect useless. Not only that, but the monster had a pitiful amount of attack points. Even Nightmare Moon's weakest creatures could destroy it in a mere second. It was only common sense that Derpy would have it in defense mode. It was her Sunderaidactel and her Apple Pie Dragon that were the issue. Both of them had a high attack thanks to her Field Spell, Sweet Sweet Bakery. And her Sunderaidactel's effect was annoying as everything else Derpy had.
The Field Spell was also something that Nightmare Moon despised. It allowed Derpy to special summon one of her 'Dessert Beasts' from her hand or Graveyard for only a measly 1200 Life Points. The payment was nearly ineffective considering she had gained eight hundred of it back in the blink of an eye. If Nightmare Moon hadn't played a trap card a few turns earlier, Derpy would have no doubt gained all her spent Life Points and then some. The Field Spell's other effects were bothersome as well. It place 'Sweet Counters' on Derpy's monsters for every 'Dessert Beast' she controlled, bolstering their attack points by one hundred for each counter. At the same time, it places 'Cavity Counters' on Nightmare Moon's monsters for every 'Dessert Beast' Derpy has and drains their attack points by one hundred for each. Coupled with the ease of being able to summon her monsters, Commander Hooves was an annoying opponent, to say the least. However, Nightmare Moon had a plan.
"I normal summon Nightborn Hedgehog and use its effect," Nightmare Moon said as she placed down her monster card. A hedgehog with jet-black quills was the picture on the card. "Do you respond?"
"May I see the card?" asked Derpy. Nightmare Moon levitated the monster card so she could see it. Nightborn Hedgehog's effect allowed the user to special summon one level three or lower 'Nightborn' monster from the user's Graveyard. However, this effect could only be used once per turn and the summoned monster's effect is negated until the start of the user's next turn. "I don't respond." Nightmare Moon looked through what remained of her graveyard, searching for one monster in particular. A few seconds was all it took to find it.
"I special summon Nightborn Hummingbird," The lunar empress revealed a monster card with a jet-black hummingbird as its picture. "Do you respond?"
"I do not," replied Derpy.
"I activate the spell card: Sacrificial Summoning," Nightmare Moon continued, "It lets me banish two or more monsters I control and special summon a monster from my graveyard whose level is equal to or lesser than the combined levels of the monsters I banished. Do you respond?"
"I do not."
Nightmare Moon placed her two newly summoned monsters in the banished zone right above her graveyard. "Nightborn Hedgehog was level three and Nightborn Humminbird was level two. I special summon Nightborn Avenger, a level 5 Synch monster, and activate his second effect. For every 'Nightborn' monster in my graveyard, it gains one hundred attack points until the end of the turn. As of right now, I have ten in my graveyard and that makes Avenger's attack points 3300."
"I now activate the continuous spell card: The Moon's Saving Grace. Its effects state that no Spell or Trap card effects can be activated during the battle phase that would target a 'Nightborn' monster. Also, should a 'Nightborn' monster I control be destroyed by battle or an opponent's card effect and sent to the graveyard, I can shuffle one level three or lower 'Nightborn' monster into my deck." Nightmare silently wished she had drawn that card earlier into the duel. It could have saved her a lot of trouble. "Going into the battle phase, Avenger attacks Apple Pie Dragon, destroying it. Avenger's third effect activates. Your dragon is banished instead of being sent to the graveyard." Derpy nodded as she moved her dragon into her banished zone and three hundred life points were subtracted from her. Her remaining Life Points were 5200 while Nightmare Moon's was 1500. She had made a small dent in the pegasus' Life Points, but it was a dent none the less.
"Main Phase 2, I activate the spell card: Nightborn Split-" Nightmare Moon flipped over the card that was not a bluff, "I banish a monster I control and I special summon level 1 Nightborn Tokens equal to the banished monster's level. Each token having five hundred attack and defense points and classified as warriors. Any response?"
"None, your majesty," Derpy responded as Nightmare Moon banished her Nightborn Avenger. Five tokens were placed in a defensive position on the monarch's side of the field. It wasn't much of a defense, but, hopefully, Nightmare Moon could do something with it.
"Then it's my End Phase-" Right as the words left Nightmare Moon's mouth, Derpy responded.
"On your End Phase, I activate my trap card: Sweet Sweet Revenge. I target a monster that was destroyed this turn and inflict damage to you equal to half the monster's original attack points. With Apple Pie Dragon being the target, you take nine hundred Life Point damage." Nightmare Moon cursed under her breath. With only six hundred Life Points remaining, she was bound to be done in by living pastries!
"I draw," Derpy said as she added a card from her deck to her hand. "I activate Sweet Sweet Bakery and special summon from my hand Dessert Beast Puggingus. Also since my Life Points are higher than yours, I can use Puddingus' special effect. It allows me to special summon one level three or lower 'Dessert Beast' from my hand for eight hundred Life Points, but its effects are negated until the end of my turn," Derpy took placed her final monster on the field. The sight of it made Nightmare Moon clench her teeth in fear. "I summon Dessert Beast: Baby Jello."
Of all the creatures to aid her in her battle, Commander Hooves decided to bring a baby to fight her empress. Hate couldn't even begin to describe the emotion that Nightmare Moon had for her commander. "I'm left with 4400 Life Points now. I use Puddingus' second effect. I pay five hundred Life Points and draw one card," Derpy said. After adding another card to her hand, she placed two cards faced down. "I activate the continuous spell card: A La Mode. Its effects let my Dessert Beasts gain five hundred attack points and, once per turn, I gain Life Points equal to the number of Dessert Beasts I control times two hundred. With five Dessert Beasts, I gain 1000 Life Points."
Here is why Nightmare Moon hated this deck. Any loss of health could easily be gained back. It mattered not if the damage came from Commander Hooves' own cards or from Nightmare Moon's. This deck was meant to be taken down quickly and brutally. It was a lesson that Nightmare Moon learned a bit too late. Derpy switched her Pansnake to its attacking position. "Going into Battle Phase, I use all of my Dessert Beasts to attack your monsters," said Derpy. All of the night empress' tokens were gone. However, all was not lost. Due to her 'Moon's Saving Grace', she was able to shuffle five of the monster cards in her graveyard back into her deck. She could still win this if she tried. "I end my turn."
It was Nightmare Moon's turn again. She drew a card and almost let out a breath of relief. This would most definitely help. "I activate my field spell: 'Lunar Eclipse Kingdom'," proclaimed Nightmare Moon. Things were finally lucking up. "With it, I can special summon a 'Nightborn' monster from my graveyard. I special summon Nightborn Savior and I activate his ability. Since my Life Points are lower than yours, I can special summon one banished 'Nightborn' monster for every 1000 Life Point difference. I special summon Nightborn Hedgehog, Hummingbird, and Avenger to the field."
Lunar Eclipse Kingdom lets me destroy one of your set cards once per turn by banishing a 'Nightborn' monster I control," Nightmare Moon banished 'Nightborn Hedgehog' as she would not have a use for his ability anymore. She targeted one of Derpy's field spell for destruction. Derpy placed it in her graveyard without hesitation. 'She must have something planned,' Nightmare Moon thought. Commander Hooves had just lost one of her main sources for summoning her monsters with the ease she had been having. 'No matter, I may not be able to finish her off this turn, but I should be able to do it come my next one.'
"I activate Nightborn Hummingbird's effect, I send it to the graveyard and one of the 'Nightborn' monsters I control gain half its attack points until the end of my turn. Saviour will gain the attack points, leaving him at 2200. I active Avenger's second effect. He is at 3300 again," Nightmare Moon could almost feel her smile returning to her face. "Going into Battle Phase, Avenger attacks Baby Jello for 2300 damage." Derpy took the hit and her Life Points went from 4900 to 2600. "Saviour attacks Pansnake for five hundred damage." Again, Derpy took the hit. Now her Life Points were at 2100. Nightmare Moon fought hard to get her smile under control.
"Main Phase Two, I use Saviour's second effect to banish himself and special summon three 'Nightborn' tokens in defense mode," Nightmare Moon could almost sigh with relief. Not only had she dealt a massive blow to Commander Hooves, but she also managed to build up her defenses somewhat. From here, Commander Hooves would have to play defensively to get her monsters back as well as use their effects to regain what Life Points she could. However, Nightmare Moon could feel that the end of the battle was approaching fast. Though this battle was frustrating as every, the empress of the night could relax knowing that she had the duel in her favor now.
"I end my turn."
"On your End Phase," Derpy said, a smile creeping on her face.
'...No...' thought Nightmare Moon. '... There is no way...'
"I activate the trap card: Sweet Sweet Revenge. Targeting Pansnake whose original attack points were 1200, you take six hundred damage. With your Life Points at zero, I win." Hate could not even begin to describe how much Nightmare Moon hated her commander right now. She had just been bested by a deck filled with nothing but baked goods! She is going to find whoever decided to make that deck and make them regret being born.
Nightmare Moon took a deep breath before she responded. "It would appear so, Commander Derpy. Well, I'm a mare of my word. You have bested me and you will receive your vacation. I expect you to be back and more than ready to fulfill your duty once you return." she said as she went about shuffling her cards back into her deck.
"Thank you, your majesty," Derpy said as she bowed, "I'll tell Dinky you said hi. Also, do you think we could have another game? No bets this time. I find it hard to find someone to play this with."
"Can't you have your daughter play it with you?" inquired Nightmare Moon.
"She doesn't like the game as much as I do. I don't want to make her play a game she doesn't like," Derpy answered, the hint of sadness on her voice did not go unnoticed by Nightmare Moon. The ebony alicorn looked at a clock that was on the wall. She had half an hour before anything important happened that she would need to be there for.
"Alright, I'll humor you for one more game, Commander Hooves," Nightmare Moon smiled as she finished shuffling her deck. "However, I must warn you. The only reason you won the last time was because I was unfamiliar with the inner workings of your deck. Now though? I have figure out how your deck works. You won't be able get another win this night." The two of them got their decks ready and drew their starting hands. This battle was going to be a fierce one.
Author's Note
This was made just for fun. I was a casual Yugioh player at best and I haven't played since Link monsters first came out. So, if any hardcore Yugioh players read this, please do note that my understanding of the game's rules/mechanics may be a bit rusty and take it easy on me.
Also, I worked on this off and on so I may have messed up the life points. If anyone sees an error I made there, let me know so I can fix it.
Twenty Five Minutes to Beat Five Dungeons
"Two Minutes Remaining"
The disembodied voice overhead announced how much time had passed by. Spike could feel the sweat dripping down his face as he glanced at a deck of cards. There had to be, at least, twenty more cards to go through. How could they have been so behind already?! Shaking his head, he returned his attention back to the encounter at hand.
"I have a sword and a shield! Anyone got a scroll?!" Rainbow Dash placed down a red and a yellow card. An image of a sword and a shield were displayed in their respective cards.
"I got it!" Twilight yelled, placing down a blue scroll card. Great, one less encounter. The next card from the encounter deck was revealed. It was a beast card that required two swords and a shield to defeat it. Spike quickly looked at his hand. He had two purple dash cards and a green arrow card. This was the same hand he had possessed for a while now and he considered that now would be a good time to get a fresh hand.
"I use my ability," Spike declared. Thankfully, his class' ability let him defeat a beast encounter by discarding three cards. With this encounter defeated, Spike drew three more cards and a new encounter was revealed. This time it was an obstacle with a blue scroll, a purple dash, and a green arrow to defeat it. While Twilight had the blue scroll needed, no-one had the rest of the symbols required. Spike cursed himself under his breath for getting rid of his previous hand.
"Action card!" Pinkie Pie declared. A short sigh of relief was heard as Pinkie's action card let the group defeat the obstacle and move on. The group continued to play through more of the encounters, their speed steadily increased. However, the last card before the boss of the dungeon was an event that caused everyone to discard their hand. While this meant that everyone would get a new hand, Spike had no more cards to draw into which meant that he was out of the game.
"Hold on, dearie. Action card!" said Rarity. Luck must have been on their side as Rarity had just pulled her class' action card. It allowed Spike to add his entire discard pile into his draw pile, bringing him back into the game. Drawing three more cards, Spike was ready to take on the final boss of the dungeon: The Grime Reaper.
This boss needed a lot of blue scrolls to defeat as well as three shields. However, Twilight and Rarity were able to provide with most of them. Soon, a yellow shield was offered. Now all they needed as two more blue scrolls and two yellow shields and they beat the dungeon.
"Fifteen Seconds Remaining"
The disembodied voice once again chimed in. Everyone's blood ran cold as they realized how little time they had left. "Ability!" Twilight shouted. Everything was tinged a light blue as time seemed to crawl to a stop. Everyone could let go of the breath they had been holding as they now had time to think. As long as they didn't play a card, time was frozen. Twilight drew her three cards and everyone began to debate on their next move. Pinkie mostly had purple dashes in her hand and if she were to draw, with her deck, she would most likely draw into more purple cards. Twilight had one of her class' action cards: Magic Bomb. Using it counted as one card of any color. So, Twilight had one of the four symbols they needed.
Rarity was confident that she could be able to draw into a shield from her deck as it was the one with the most shields in it. Since Rainbow Dash didn't have any cards to use on the boss, she used her class' ability to make Rarity, Spike, and Twilight draw four cards. Using this ability three times made her hand and draw pile empty. Rainbow Dash was out of the game until someone played an action could that would replenish her draw pile or until the group defeated the dungeon.
Twilight was able to draw into another scroll and Rarity was able to get a shield. The party was only one symbol away from defeating the dungeon. One card stood in their way from moving on to the next one. Spike drew one card and revealed a red sword. He drew another card and found it to be another red sword. The tension in the air was thick.
Another drawn card was revealed to be a green arrow. Spike drew his last card. The last hope for them completing this dungeon. He revealed it to find... a purple dash. With a sigh of frustration from the young dragon, the group knew what had happened. Having no cards that can be played to defeat the final boss, they had lost.
The world returned to its normal color as all the cards were magically shuffled back into their respective decks. A soft clapping could be heard emanating from a corner of the room. Each player turned their heads towards the clapping and found Discord sitting on a rather comfy looking chair. "My, my, that was certainly entertaining." He said, "Did everyone have fun?"
"That was so fast! It was like all blam, blam, and then blam! Before I knew it, it was all over!" Pinkie said excitedly.
"The concept of the game is quite interesting. Not only do you have to defeat multiple encounters by coordinating with your team to match the symbols, but all within five minutes," Rarity commented, "It does get the adrenaline pumping nicely without all the other dangerous implications."
"While I did enjoy myself, how is anyone suppose to beat all five dungeons? Especially with the number of encounters increasing with each cleared dungeon," Twilight asked.
"Oh, it's possible. You just got unlucky with your draws," answered Discord, "This game is all about luck and working against the clock. I've actually play-tested this with another group and after a while, you get used to your character and begin to blaze through the challenges. We actually defeated the last dungeon with only a second to spare!"
"You guys want to go again?" asked Spike, "We have a couple of more hours to kill. I'm sure we can get through it this time!" All of the ponies at the table looked at each other for a brief moment. They then nodded in agreement. They were going to beat this game for sure this time!
"I'll continue being the wizard," said Twilight. A blue wizard's hat appeared in a white flash on her head as three cards from her deck were drawn. A few magic scrolls and tomes appeared in a pile next to her.
"Hey, Pinkie. You want to swap characters?" asked Dash.
"You bet!" replied an enthusiastic Pinkie Pie. As the two ponies swapped their characters, their appearances changed in a flash. Pinkie Pie had white tribal markings running up and down her body and a quiver of arrows appeared on her back. A black scarf wrapped it's way around Rainbow's muzzle, giving her the likeness of a ninja. Her rainbow colored hair was cut short and a small sheath sword rested by her side.
"Do you want to swap character's Rarity? Spike asked. Rarity shook her head.
"Thank you for the offer, Spike. But I already have what I want to do in mind," Rarity replied as she flipped her character over to reveal a new one: Valkyrie. Rarity's hair was magically tied into a ponytail as a pair of wings appeared on her back in a flash of light. A golden spear appeared as it now laid rested on the fashionista's shoulder while she looked over her cards.
Spike decided to follow Twilight's decision and remain as the character he first chose: Barbarian. Spike felt himself grow taller. Long gone was the baby fat as it was replaced with pure muscle. Multiple scars dotted Spike's new body. Some scars were light and barely noticeable while others were big and clearly caused by a battle with a large beast. Multiple swords of differing varieties appeared in a white light, strapped to Spike's body. The room they were playing in was no replaced by a dungeon room with torches as the only light source. Discord disappeared from view as the voice from earlier returned.
"Welcome back to The Dungeon! I didn't think I'd be seeing you guys again. Get ready to start in...
5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Go!"
Author's Note
Game played: 5-Minute Dungeon
