The Magic of Dueling

by CrystalQueen

Rating: teen
Tags: Main 6, Yu-Gi-Oh, Original Character, Adventure, Crossover, Profanity, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Death, Human
Length: 63862

A story where a human saves Equestria from destruction by playing an obnoxiously complex children's trading card game

Lance Higbee is just a typical card shop clerk who teaches kids how to play Duel Monsters. However, by night he also steals cards from the local corrupt police force under the guise of the Red Rocket, and then sells them at the shop with his two best friends. One night, during an otherwise normal run to the shop's "supplier", a portal unexpectedly transports him to the magical land of Equestria. Among all of this, supposedly dead Duelists begin to show up in Equestria and wreck havoc on the unprepared masses, for which Lance is the only answer they have to the threat.

Set during a non-descript time in the middle of Season 8 Pony side and 70 years after the end of 5D's Yugioh side, the in-universe card pool is roughly as big as the current TCG/OCG cardpool, and some plot relevant decks are mass produced in universe

Published 2018-04-10 16:00:06 UTC
Last updated 2019-01-01 02:41:40 UTC

Chapter 2: Contact

Author's Note

So, second chapter! That's like, twice as many as a majority of fanfics (Kinda sad really)
Had some troubles getting everyone where I wanted them, and I intended Red and Luna to Duel this chapter, but I guess that'll have to wait for next chapter

But on the bright side, I figured out how non unicorns/creatures without opposable thumbs can Duel, but it'll have to wait until later

Chapter 2: Contact

“Ow, what the hell is going on?” Red thought to himself “It was just the middle of the night a second ago, now it looks to be the middle of the day? And then a teacup falls on my head out of nowhere, what’s going on? I don’t think there’s any card that’s based on the sun, but even if there was, not even Solid Vision with mass works this fast and effectively, it’s definitely the real sun, I should probably look around and see what-” as Red began to get up and see what was happening, a pink mare was suddenly right in his face, almost as if it had appeared from thin air.

“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie!”

“AAAAAHHHH! TALKING HORSE!” Red grabbed his D-Board off the ground and immediately jumped on it and kicked off to get as far away from the pink pony as fast as possible.

“Wait!” said Pinkie Pie, who was somehow running backwards fast enough to keep up with Red’s D-Board “Now, I know we got off on the wrong hoof, so let’s try again! My name’s Pinkie Pie! What’s yours?” Red was left speechless at her ability to keep up with his D-Board, but regardless, he made a motion as if he was kicking off again, increasing his speed even further.

“Later, bitch! I’m going somewhere that makes sense!” shouted Red, trying to get away as fast as possible so he could figure out what was going on “Alright, now I need somewhere to duck out and hide while I try to get a handle on the situation here, now let’s see...aha! The woods! I’ll figure this shit out there!”

“Wait! Don’t go there! That’s the Everfree...Forest…” Pinkie tried to warn him, but she was too late, for he sped off into it without hesitation and couldn’t hear her. “Oh well! I’ll go start preparing a party for him! I mean, everypony in Ponyville should get at least some kind of ‘Welcome to Ponyville I really hope you like it here!’ party! Lalalalalalalalala~”

“Ok, now I just gotta find out where the hell I am...What? No signal? Well, I am in the middle of a forest after all, I’ll just keep wandering around.” Red thought to himself as he walked through the forest, trying to ascertain his whereabouts on his Duel Disk. “It’s getting dark, I should probably find shelter for the night…Wait a second, is-is that a castle? Surely somebody’s gonna be able to give me some damned answers as to what the hell’s going on." he said to himself as he walked up to the castle "Yo! Anybody home?” shouted Red as he loudly slammed open the doors to the Castle of the Twin Sisters.
“Damn, this place looks like a war broke out in here...But the tapestry’s been maintained well...That must mean that somebody’s here!” Red said to himself, as he searched the castle for what seemed to be hours, but didn’t find anyone.

“Great, now it’s night, well even if nobody’s here, I better crash for the night. Ah! This must be the guest room! Well, I’m sure nobody will mind if I just sleep here tonight, and even then, if I get yelled at in the morning, it’ll be for the better, as I’ll be able to ask them for information…” as Red was talking to himself, he removed his D-Board from his back, placing it against the wall, hanging his hoodie, backpack, and goggles off the edge of the board, while taking off his Duel Disk and setting it on the table next to the bed he was commandeering.
“You know, that pink horse thing seemed to be rather friendly...Yeah, tomorrow, I’ll go back into town and try to talk with it if nobody yells at me in the morning…But now it’s time for sleep, I’ve had a hectic night…”

*******************************************************************

“Ah! Princess Luna! It’s good to see you up and about!” said a royal guard as Luna walked out of her room

“Yes, it is time for me to do my duties as Princess of the Night, but tell me, has Celestia gone to bed yet?” Luna asked the guard pony “I want to have a little talk with her, is all.”

“I’m afraid that she has gone to bed already, your highness.”

“Alright, dismissed! I’m bound to get a confession out of her in her dreams...”

“What was that?”

“Nothing! You heard nothing! Return to your post guard!” Luna then proceded to run over to the balcony of Canterlot Castle to enter the dream realm. "I can't believe that she would put a whoopie cushion on my seat during that delegation! What was she thinking!? If negotiations had fallen through, Equestria surely would have gone to war!"

The dream realm was a weird place, ponies would live out their wildest fantasies, only to almost immediately afterwards suffer their worst nightmares, in which case it was Luna’s duty to step in and deal with the nightmares, giving ponies safety in their dreams. As Luna was looking through the dreams of ponies across Equestria for nightmares, she couldn’t help but notice a dream of something nopony had ever dreamed of before, and she felt that it would quickly become a nightmare, so she went in to investigate, remaining ethereal so as not to interfere with the dream's natural progression.

SHOP CLERK 1600 LP
KID 1000 LP

“Alright, now you know how Tribute summons work, right?” a shop clerk asked

“Um, not really?”

“Oh, well it’s easy! To Normal Summon a Level 5 or 6 monster, you have to Tribute 1 Monster you already control and send it to the Graveyard, like this! I Tribute my Mystical Elf to Summon Shapesnatch!"
(Level 5, 1200 ATK 1700 DEF)

“But, it has just as much attack power as my Baby Dragon, how do you expect to deal with it?”

“Now you see, I knew my Shapesnatch couldn’t compete with Baby Dragon and live, which is why I’m playing my Spell Card, Shield and Sword!” As the card shop clerk played the card, both his Shapesnatch and the little kid’s Baby Dragon began to fuzz out as if the Solid Vision on their Duel Disks were glitching up, but they then returned to normal just as suddenly. “Now the Attack and Defence of all monsters on the Field are switched!”
(Shapesnatch 1200 ATK 1700 DEF -> 1700 ATK 1200 DEF)
(Baby Dragon 1200 ATK 700 DEF -> 700 ATK 1200 DEF)

“Oh no! Now that means…”

“Battle Phase! Shapesnatch attacks your Baby Dragon!” KID: 1000 LP -> 0 LP

“I-I just can’t beat anybody! Why do I even bother with Dueling! Wa-waaaaaaaaah!”

“Hey there, calm down! You were great! You even managed to beat my Silver Fang! Not many people have been able to do that!”

“R-really?”

“No! In fact, here, I want you to have this.” The clerk reached into his Duel Disk’s Graveyard slot and retrieved a card to give to the kid.

“Y-you’re really giving me your Shield and Sword card?”

“Yep, after the way you Dueled today, I’m sure you can use it to become a great Duelist one day!”

“Well, I’m not sure what these things that walk on two legs are, but they just seem to be playing a game of some sort, I have more important dreams to attend to.” however, just as Luna was about to leave the dream, the card shop door was suddenly kicked in with armored Police Officers running in. "What the-? This must be the sense of a nightmare I felt! Let's see how it develops form here though..."

“SECTOR SECURITY! Lance Higbee! You are under arrest for multiple accounts of stealing cards from Security HQ, humiliating Security Forces, resisting arrest, vigilantism, participating in Riding Duels and Riding Duel Gambling Rings without a license, unregistered teaching of Dueling to minors, and felony tax evasion!”

“Look, I have no idea what you’re talking about, but if you're going to barge in like that, you’re not welcome in this shop, so please, leave!” while the Officer wasn’t looking, Lance slipped the deck he was using out of his Duel Disk, put it into his shirt pocket, produced another one from his back pants pocket, and slid it into his Duel Disk.

“Hey buddy, look!” called another Officer from another room. “Isn’t this that Red Rocket’s stuff?” as he held up Red’s D-Board and Duel Disk from the other room.

“Haha! That confirms it! I have you now, Red Rocket! Now you can either deactivate your Disk and come with us peacefully, or...” not allowing the Officer to finish his sentence, Lance readied his Duel Disk for another Duel. “Heh, I was hoping you’d do that!”

DUEL

LANCE 8000 LP
SECURITY 8000 LP

“Oh, and to make this more interesting, I’ll be activating the Solid Vision with Mass function on my Duel Disk to see to it that all the damage you take is real! Surely, you’ll be doing the same won’t you? Oh wait, you can’t! You’re still using the Kaiba Corp Mass Production model from Yugi’s time! That was nearly 100 years ago! It’s a miracle that piece of shit still even turns on!”

“Shut up! All I need are these 40 cards to beat you senseless and throw you out of my shop! I’ll go first!” angrily shouted Lance “First I Summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands! On Normal Summon, Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands allows me to add a Ritual Spell or Ritual Monster from my Deck to my Hand! I’ll search out my Super Soldier Synthesis! Now I activate the Field Spell Gateway to Chaos!” as Lance placed the Field Spell in his Duel Disk’s Field Spell slot, a light blue light enveloped the entire shop, except for Luna, who was still watching in an ethereal form.

“Hmm, It would appear that this dream could end happily, but still, I’d best remain to watch.”

“On activation, Gateway to Chaos lets me add a Black Luster Soldier Ritual Monster from my deck to my hand, and I choose Black Luster Soldier! Now I play the Spell Card Pot of Greed! This card lets me draw 2 more cards! Now I activate my Ritual Spell, Super Soldier Ritual! I tribute monsters from my hand or field whose total Levels exactly equal 8. I tribute Black Luster Soldier-Super Soldier from my hand! Appear! Black Luster Soldier!"
(Level 8 , 3000 ATK 2500 DEF)
"When a Monster is sent from the hand or field to the Graveyard, Gateway to Chaos gets a Spell Counter, up to a Maximum of 6! (Gateway to Chaos 0 SPC -> 1 SPC) Now I activate another Ritual Spell, Super Soldier Synthesis! I Tribute a LIGHT or DARK monster from my hand and a monster of the other Attribute from my deck to Ritual Summon a Black Luster Soldier monster from my hand or Graveyard!”

“Wait, from the hand OR Graveyard!? So that means-!”

“That’s right! My Soldier isn’t off duty yet! I tribute Beginning Knight from my hand and Evening Twilight Knight from my deck! When the stairway to Heaven and highway to Hell intersect, the Supreme Soldier of Chaos shall be born! Ritual Summon! Appear, my loyal servant! Black Luster Soldier - Super Soldier!"
(Level 8, 3000 ATK 2500 DEF) (Gateway to Chaos 1 SPC -> 2 SPC)
"Now because my Super Soldier was Ritual Summoned using Evening Twilight Knight as a tribute, I can Banish one card from your hand face down until the next End Phase! I Banish the middle card!” with its master's command, Lance’s Super Soldier appeared to fire a laser from the tip of its sword, with the Officer placing it into the slot in the back of his Duel Disk. “Now I Banish Beginning Knight and Evening Twilight Knight from my Graveyard to Special Summon my Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning!"
(Level 8, 3000 ATK 2500 DEF)
"Now, because Beginning Knight and Evening Twilight Knight were Banished, I can add a Ritual Spell and Ritual Monster from my deck to my hand! I search out Black Luster Soldier - Super Soldier and Super Soldier Synthesis! I end my turn!”

LANCE 8000 LP
SECURITY 8000 LP

“Good! For now it’s my turn! I activate the Spell Card Raigeki! All monsters you control are destroyed!” With that, a lightning bolt appeared out of thin air to destroy all of Lance’s Monsters. (Gateway to Chaos 2 SPC -> 6 SPC) “And don’t think you’re going to be able to use that Ritual Spell you got there! Now, I activate my Pot of Greed! You know, that card that lets you go +1 by drawing two cards! I’ve both replaced the Pot in my hand, and the Raigeki I spent to wipe your field! I now activate Double Summon, letting me Normal Summon twice this turn! I Normal Summon Stygian Street Patrol!"
(Level 4, 1600 ATK 1200 DEF)
"Now I Normal Summon Stygian Security!"
(Level 1, Tuner, 100 ATK 600 DEF)
"Now, I Tune my Level 1 Stygian Security with my Level 4 Stygian Street Patrol! Synchro Summon! Appear! Stygian Sergeants!"
(Level 5, 2200 ATK 1800 DEF)
"Battle Phase! Stygian Sergeants attacks you directly!” With its master’s command, the monster rushed directly towards Lance, and hit him with a lead pipe that it was hiding, causing him to fall down to the ground. LANCE 8000 LP -> 5800 LP “Now I set two cards face down and end my turn! And with the end of my turn, that card you Banished last turn comes back to me! What’s wrong big man? Can’t get up? Need the nice medical staff in jail to help-”

“Shut up! I still have Life Points remaining and cards in my hand, so I can still win this! My turn! Draw!”

LANCE 5800 LP
SECURITY 8000 LP

“Yes! Evening Twilight Knight!” This is perfect!” Lance thought to himself “I activate Super Soldier Synthesis-”

“I activate Dimensional Barrier!" the officer interjected "I declare a type of monster, either Fusion, Synchro, XYZ, or of course, Ritual, and the declared type of monster cannot be summoned, and effects of monsters of a declared type cannot be activated this turn! I declare: Ritual! Your Ritual just got canceled!” Lance looked in shock as his Ritual Spell sparked itself out of existence, a look of defeat on his face

“...I set one monster in face down defense position and end my turn…” a giant card appeared in front of Lance, oriented length wise horizontally instead of lengthwise vertically like a face down Spell/Trap

“Heh heh! You’re getting everything you’ve been deserving, punk! It’s my turn, so I draw!”

LANCE 5200 LP
SECURITY 8000 LP

“Now, I activate my face down card: Call of the Haunted! This continuous Trap lets me Special Summon a Monster from my Graveyard and equip it with this card! I Special Summon Stygian Street Patrol!"
(Level 4, 1600 ATK 1200 DEF)
"Now, do you wanna know a secret? That card you Banished on your first turn? It was this! Monster Reborn! Which I now activate! I Special Summon Black Luster Soldier - Super Soldier from your Graveyard!"
(Level 8, 3000 ATK 2500 DEF)

“What!? I-Inconceivable!”

“Oh it’s very conceivable! I now activate my Book of Taiyou Spell Card! This lets me flip a monster from face down Defence Position to face up Attack Position! Let’s see what that monster of yours that you’re hiding is!” a book appeared over Lance’s face down Monster, flipping it to reveal Evening Twilight Knight, now in Attack Position
(Level 4, 500 ATK 2000 DEF)
“Well well well! I spot a win! Battle Phase! Black Luster Soldier - Super Soldier attacks Evening Twilight Knight!”
LANCE 5200 LP -> 2700 LP
“Now tell me, doesn’t something happen when Super Soldier destroys a Monster by battle?”

“Grr, when Black Luster Soldier - Super Soldier destroys a Monster by battle, the opponent...loses life points equal to the Attack of the destroyed monster…”
LANCE 2700 LP -> 2200 LP

“Time to finish this! Stygian Sergeants attacks directly! You’re not getting out of this!” as Stygian Sergeants was speeding up to drop Lance’s Life Points to 0, the kid ran up in front of him, intending to use his body as a shield to prevent any harm that would be done to Lance from the Solid Vision with mass. “Oh? This kid’s going to try and save you? Well I’ll take his head off too! Stygian Sergeants! Hit him even harder!” as Stygian Sergeants got closer to the kid, it only got fast and faster, yet seemed to take an impossibly long time to actually reach its target.

“Wait, Kevin! NOO!!!” Lance called out as he tried to reach out to Kevin, but no matter what he did, Kevin seemed to be just out of reach.

“ENOUGH!” shouted Princess Luna, fully in the dream as a physical construct within its limits as she stomped her front hooves on the ground, causing Stygian Sergeants and Black Luster Soldier - Super Soldier to explode into mirror shards as if they were destroyed in the actual game, with the Security Officers, then the shop following suit, with Kevin simply fading from reality without Lance noticing.

“Huh? W-what happened? Where am I? What happened to my Disk? I-is that...a unicorn...with wings?”

“Hello there. My name is Luna, I am the Princess of the Night here in Equestria, and this is just a dream. Would you be so kind as to tell me what your name is?”

“Wait, this is all just a dream? It feels so real…”

“Yes, if I had a bit for every time somepony told me that I’d hold about half of the bits in circulation…”

“What?”

“Oh, nothing, just talking to myself. Say, what was that game you were playing?”

“Duel Monsters, it’s easily the most popular game ever designed back where I’m from, I help out at my card shop by teaching it to little kids, you want me to teach it to you?”

“Why yes, I found it quite interesting.” is what Luna was saying, but in her mind, all she could think was “I lack the proper context for the nightmare this...thing was having, so I’ll play along with it for now, but I’ll also cast a spell that will tell me what it’s thinking so that I can following in the waking world and interrogate it, I don’t trust this unknown being that much, so I’m not taking any chances in case it wants to do anything bad to Equestria and its inhabitants.”

“Well alright, to start off, in order to play, both players need a deck of anywhere between 40-60 cards…”

*******************************************************

“And that just about wraps it up!” said Lance “Anything you want to ask about? I noticed you were mostly pretty quiet.”

“No, I believe I have a thorough understanding of how Duel Monsters is play-” before Luna could finish her sentence, both parties could feel the entire world shaking.

“W-what the hell!?”

“Ah yes, my sister is raising the sun, I must be going now, for you are about to awaken. We shall meet again, Lance Higbee.” Luna said as she began to fly off into the horizon

“Wait, what do you mean we’re gonna meet again?” Lance tried to question her further, but as suddenly as Luna entered his dream, she left, and a flash of light ended the dream. “Wait!”

****************************************************

“Ah! Good morning Sister!” Princess Celestia cheerily greeted her sister “Care to join me for breakfast? I made pancakes with fruit faces on them!”

“I’m sorry, but I saw something pressing in the dream world last night, some strange creature with two legs is in Equestria, I’m going to interrogate it to see what it intends to do here.”

“Wait, what did you say it looks like?”

“It had two legs and two arms, imagine Spike, but taller than even me, while I was in its dream, I cast a spell to tell what it’s thinking, so I’ll use that to track its location.”

“Okay, I think I have an idea of what you’re talking about, it sounds like the inhabitants of the world beyond the mirror Sunset Shimmer ran off to. I would come with you, but you know how busy my daily schedule is.”

“The thought is appreciated, but I know I must do this myself, now if you’ll excuse me, I must set off to prepare a chariot.”

As soon as Luna’s back was turned to Celestia, she heard a voice calling for her. It sounded similar to that of Celestia, but slightly different. “Luna...Luna…” Luna turned around to see that the voice beckoning her were the pancakes Celestia made, with Celestia’s mouth moving in tandem with that of the pancakes “Luna, you can’t go save Equestria on an empty stomach, can you?”

“Aw, how cute! You’re nice, so I suppose I’ll spare you.”

“Uh, what I mean to say is that we pancakes hate you and think that your big sister Celestia is much prettier than you Luna! Nopony loves you! Go back to the moon!”

“Oh really now?” asked Luna, grabbing a knife and a fork from the table with her magic “Well how do you like this!?” Luna stabbed into the pancakes with her fork, using the knife to cut off a bite.

“AH! No, please! Anything but that!”

“HAHAHAHAHA! You should have thought things through when you decided to insult me, Luna! Destroyer of pancakes! Oh alright Sister, I’ll have breakfast with you, I’ve put myself into a rather reactionary position anyway.”

*********************************************************

“Wait!” Red called out as he woke up “Huh? Man, what a weird dream...I think I taught a horse how to Duel...Oh well, if I’m gonna find out what the shit is going on, my best bet is to go back into town and find that pink horse thing.” Red put his hoodie, backpack, goggles, and Duel Disk back on as he grabbed his D-Board and proceded to head for the castle entrance. “That horse may just be my ticket out of here and back home, wherever ‘here’ actually is, so I don’t have any other options."

Chapter 3: A Royal Pain

Red felt uneasy the entire trip back to Ponyville. “Why does it feel like someone’s following me?” he thought “Well, I just need to find that pink horse thing, then I can ask about the local area and find out what the shit is happening.” Much to Red’s shock and dismay, when he got to Ponyville, he found it to be populated entirely by ponies. Red quickly darted behind a building to stay out of the ponies’ line of sight. “What the fuck!? W-why are there so many horses!? Ok, now I really have to find that pink horse and, I gotta do it fast! But how am I gonna past these things undetected, I mean, stealth’s never really been my forte…” just then, Red noticed a large, empty cardboard box that he would conveniently fit into without his D-Board sticking out.

“Say Twilight, why are we going grocery shopping for Fluttershy?” asked Spike

“Because she has a terrible cold, Spike, she doesn’t want to get other Ponies sick by going out, and besides, I could use a break from grading papers and writing a curriculum about friendship. So, what’s on the shopping list?” responded Twilight

“Right, well, first on the list is-” began the purple dragon before being interrupted when an upside down cardboard box bumped into him. “Hey, where’d this box come from?”

Inside the box, Red was curled up almost into a ball, sitting on his D-Board. “Shit! They found me!” he thought “I knew this was a bad idea! Ok, new plan: when they lift the box to investigate what’s inside it, kick it into overdrive, then just bolt out of here.” Red started going through menus on his Duel Disk, preparing to execute his plan.

“So, what should we do with this box?”

“I don’t think anypony would just leave a box in the middle of the road like this, let’s see what’s inside it-” Twilight was about to lift up the box Red was hiding under, but was interrupted when she heard a familiar voice.

“STOP!” Twilight and Spike looked up to see that the voice came from Luna, who jumped down from the chariot she rode from Canterlot on. “Princess Twilight, there is a possibility that you might have let loose a creature that might pose a massive threat to Equestria, although I’m not certain as to what this creature intends to do in Equestria.”

“Really? A dangerous creature that could pose a massive threat to all of Equestria is being contained in this upside down cardboard box? Luna, I know you watch other Ponies dreams, but I think you’re overreacting more than even Twilight does.” said Spike

“Uh, Spike? I think we should trust Princess Luna on this matter.” Twilight said

“Please Twilight! I’d be more afraid of Garble than whatever’s under this box! And even then, Dragon Lord Ember forbade him from attacking Equestria randomly-” as Spike began lifting the box, Red knew that this was his moment to act, and that he might not get another chance.

“D-Board! Acceleration Overdrive!” as Red pressed the button to launch his D-Board at its highest velocity from a complete standstill, he could feel it rev up for a split second, but was ultimately thrown off with the box as it took off, as Spike got caught on the front of the board as it sped off. “Shit!”

“TWILIGHT!”

“Son of a bitch!” Red shouted as he input commands on his Duel Disk to bring his D-Board back to him, inadvertently taking Spike with it “Sorry, but I’ve got places to be! Catch ya later!” Red tried jumping onto his board from behind, but when he landed, he found that he wasn’t on his D-Board. Upon turning it around, he saw that Luna was holding it with magic while Twilight was comforting Spike.

“Yes, I believe you need this? Well, if you intend on getting it back, I’m afraid I have to ask you a few questions.”

“Wait, there’s more talking horses? Well, no matter what you intend to do with me, I’m not going down without a fight!” as Red said that, he activated his Duel Disk and swapped out his Riding Deck for the Ground Deck he had placed in another Deck Box strapped to his leg.

“Don’t worry Spike! I’ll be sure to take care of this guy! I don’t know how he wasn’t turned into a Pony or what that device on his arm is, but I won’t let it stop me-”

“No Princess Twilight, I will handle this, I was made aware of his presence in the dream realm last night, and I was made aware of a form of ‘communication’ that he’ll be more likely to listen to there.” Luna said, stepping forward

“What do you mean by ‘communica-”

“Hold this.” Luna shoved Red’s D-Board in Twilight’s face as she began using magic to scan Red’s Duel Disk, which she then created an almost identical copy of on her front left leg, only the red highlights were colored the same shade of blue as her coat. “Now then, I do believe we can Duel now.”

“Wait, what the-how’d you do that?”

“Magic, something I imagine you have no idea of. Now, do you want to Duel or do you want to come to Canterlot and answer question that the Royal Guard have for you?” Luna asked

“Fine, but if I win, you give me my board back.”

“Well, assuming you cooperated, I was going to do that anyway, but if that’s what you want for motivation, then so be it.”

DUEL

RED 8000 LP
LUNA 8000 LP

“I’ll go first!” Luna said, drawing her five card hand from the top of her deck. “I summon Vampire Lady!"
(Level 4, 1550 ATK 1550 DEF)
"I set two cards face down, and end my turn!”

“My turn! Draw!”

RED 8000 LP
LUNA 8000 LP

“First, I’ll summon my Gem-Knight Alexandrite!" (Level 4, 1800 ATK 1200 DEF)
"Now, by Tributing it, I can Special Summon a Gem-Knight normal monster from my deck! I summon Gem-Knight Crystal! (Level 7 EARTH Rock, 2450 ATK 1950 DEF)
"Battle Phase! Gem-Knight Crystal attacks Vampire Lady!”

“I activate my Trap Card! Doble Passe! When my monster would be attacked, I can make the opponent declare a direct attack while also inflicting effect damage to the opponent equal to my monster’s attack.” RED 8000 LP -> 6450 LP

“Alright then, my Gem-Knight Crystal attacks you directly!”

“It shall not! I activate the effect of the Battle Fader in my hand! When the opponent declares a direct attack, I can Special Summon Battle Fader and end the Battle Phase!” As Luna placed the card on her Disk, the monster printed on the card came to life, and as its bell came to the same location as it was in the card, it rang loudly, causing Gem-Knight Crystal to return to its original position
(Level 1, 0 ATK 0 DEF)
“Battle Fader will be banished when it leaves the field, but your Battle Phase is over. Any other moves you’d like to make?”

“I set one card face down and end my turn.”

RED 6450 LP
LUNA 8000 LP

“My turn! Draw!” Luna shouted, using magic to add the top card from her deck to the other card in her hand “Vampire Fräulein, I can use this.” she planned, looking at her other cards “I’ll start by summoning Vampire Brood!
(Level 2, 1200 ATK 0 DEF)
"Now, appear! The guiding circuit that leads to dreams!” The Summoning conditions are 2 DARK monsters! I set Vampire Brood and Battle Fader in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Apprentice Witchling!
(Link 2, 1400 ATK )
"While Apprentice Witchling is on the field, all DARK monsters gain 500 ATK and all LIGHT monsters lose 400 ATK! (Vampire Lady 1550 ATK -> 2050 ATK, Apprentice Witchling 1400 ATK -> 1900 ATK) Battle Phase! Due to the effect of Doble Passe, my Vampire Lady can attack you directly!” Vampire Lady leaped out at Red, trying to slash at his neck, but was ultimately blocked by his Duel Disk.
RED 6450 LP -> 4400 LP
“Now, Vampire Lady’s effect activates! When Vampire Lady deals you battle damage, I declare a card type, and while you send one card of that type to your Graveyard, I add one to my hand!”

A drop down menu appeared on Red’s Duel Disk screen listing all the Spells in his deck, and as Luna’s Duel Disk was a magical copy of Red’s hers did too. Red and Luna selected their cards and their Disk’s automatic shuffle system shuffled their decks until the selected cards were on top “I send Gem-Knight Fusion from my deck to the Graveyard.”

“And I add Pot of Greed to my hand! Which, on my Main Phase 2, I activate! Now I draw 2 more cards! I end my turn.”

“Good! Now I draw!”

RED 4400 LP
LUNA 8000 LP

“First, I’m gonna wipe this problematic board! I activate Dark Hole!” as Red placed the card in his Disk’s Spell/Trap Zone, a black hole appeared in the middle of Ponyville. “All monsters on the field are immediately destroyed!”

“How...Odd…”

“What do you mean Twilight?”

“Well, that’s obviously a black hole, and normally, a black hole is a gravity well that absorbs everything around it, but look! The wind is swirling around it, and those creatures that they made somehow are reacting to it, but nothing else is! Whatever kind of magic that guy’s using, he clearly lacks a fundamental understanding of magic.”

“Now, when Gem-Knight Fusion is in my Graveyard, I can banish a Gem-Knight from the Grave to return it to my hand!”

“Wait, so that means-”

“That’s right! I’ve turned your dumping into a search! I banish Gem-Knight Alexandrite from my Graveyard to return Gem-Knight Fusion to my hand! Now I activate the Gem-Knight Fusion that you gift wrapped for me! I fuse the Gem-Knight Tourmaline in my hand with the Gem-Knight Garnet in my hand! The powers of thunder and flame unite to strengthen one in the name of greater justice! Fusion Summon!” As Red explained this, an animation on his Duel Disk displayed both Gem-Knights flying into a blue and orange vortex with each other, melding together to form the card that he intended to Summon “ Appear! My unwavering soldier! Gem-Knight Topaz!"!
(Level 6, 1800 ATK 1800 DEF)
"Battle Phase! Gem-Knight Topaz attacks directly!”

“When a monster declares an attack, I can Special Summon Vampire Fräulein from my hand in Defense Position!” (Level 5 DARK Zombie, 600 ATK 2000 DEF)

“Really? Well now I activate my Rush Recklessly Quick Play! This will boost my monster’s attack value by 700! (Gem-Knight Topaz 1800 ATK ->2500 ATK) Go! Destroy Vampire Fräulein! Topaz Slash!”

“I activate my face down card! Mirror Force! All attack position monsters you control are destroyed!” As Topaz was about to slash at Luna’s monster, the Mirror Force card appeared in front of it emanating a blue light, causing Gem-Knight Topaz to break into pieces “Now then, what do you say to that?”

“Heh, nice one! I end my turn!”

RED 4400 LP
LUNA 8000 LP

“My turn! Draw! First, I’ll sacrifice my Vampire Fräulein to summon Vampire Lord from my hand!"
(Level 5, 2000 ATK 1500 DEF)
"Battle Phase! Vampire Lord attacks you directly!” RED 4400 LP -> 2400 LP “Now, Vampire Lord’s effect activates! Send a Trap card from your deck to the Graveyard!”

“Alright, I send Storming Mirror Force to the Graveyard.”

“Now I set one card and end my turn.”

RED 2400 LP
LUNA 8000 LP

“Damnit, am I seriously going to lose to this stupid horse?” Red thought “All I have in my hand is Emerald, and all I have on board is that Trap from turn 1...It’s all down to this! Draw! Yes! I activate my Pot of Greed!” as Red played his card, a giant version of the Greedy Pot appeared in front of him “As you know, this handy dandy card lets me pick up 2 more cards!” As Red drew his cards, the giant Pot in front of him detonated “Yes! Now I activate Dark Factory of Mass Production! This Spell Card lets me add 2 Normal Monsters from my Graveyard to my hand! I return Gem-Knights Garnet and Tourmaline to my hand! Now, by banishing Gem-Knight Crystal from my Graveyard, I return Gem-Knight Fusion to my hand!”

“So wait, that means-!”

“I activate Gem-Knight Fusion! I fuse my Gem-Knights Garnet, Tourmaline, and Emerald from my hand!”

“Wait, a triple fusion!?”

“That’s right! The 7 are power, Diamonds augment the power of the 7, and focus their power towards the light of justice! Fusion Summon! Appear! Gem-Knight Master Diamond!"
(Level 9, 2900 ATK 2500 DEF)
"Gem-Knight Master Diamond’s effect! By banishing a Gem-Knight Fusion monster from my Graveyard, Master Diamond copies its effect!”

“Not so fast! I activate my face down Forbidden Chalice! This will give your Master Diamond 400 more attack points, and negate its effect!”

“Not that it matters! Gem-Knight Master Diamond! Attack her Vampire Lord!”
LUNA 8000 LP > 6800 LP

“Ha...haha! I have won! Your only monster has already used up all its attacks! Now to elaborate, I hold the Raigeki and Monster Reborn cards in my hand, so on my next turn-”

“There isn’t going to be a next turn! Now I activate my Fusion Cancel Quick Play! This nullifies a Fusion Monster on the field, then if all the monsters used to summon it are in my Graveyard, I can Special Summon them!"

"Wait, what!?"

I return Gem-Knight Master Diamond to my Extra Deck, and from the Graveyard, I special Summon Gem-Knights Garnet, Tourmaline, and Emerald!”
(Level 4, 1900 ATK 0 DEF)
(Level 4, 1600 ATK 1800 DEF)
(Level 4, 1800 ATK 800 DEF)
“Battle! Gem-Knight Garnet attacks directly! Flaming Iron Fist!”
LUNA 6800 LP -> 4900 LP
“Now Gem-Knight Tourmaline attacks directly! Thunder Cracker!”
LUNA 4900 LP -> 3300 LP
“Gem-Knight Emerald attacks directly! Emerald Flash!”
LUNA 3300 LP -> 1500 LP
"Now, time to finish this! I activate my face down card, Pyroxene Fusion!"

"I-is that a Fusion Trap Card!?"

"That's right! Pyroxene Fusion lets me Fusion Summon a Gem-Knight Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck by sending materials from my hand or field to the Graveyard! I refuse my Gem-Knights Garnet Tourmaline and Emerald back into Gem-Knight Master Diamond!"
(Level 9, 2900 ATK 2500 DEF)
"And you know what the best part is? His effect isn't negated anymore, so he 100 ATK for each Gem-Knight in my Graveyard! (Gem-Knight Master Diamond 2900 ATK -> 3200 ATK) Gem-Knight Master Diamond! Direct attack! Royal Radiance!"
LUNA 1500 LP -> 0 LP

“No… Sister...I’ve failed you...I’ve failed...Equestria…”

“NO!” Shouted Twilight, tears rolling down her face.

Luna was sent flying several meters back after taking the finishing blow, her Duel Disk and cards shattering upon impact with the ground due to their nature as magical constructs as everypony in the street was left speechless by their defeated princess.

“Yo! Horsey! You played a good game! Hit me up for a rematch sometime! Now, if you don’t mind, I was told you’d give me my board back once I won.” Red said as he walked up to Twilight to collect his D-Board

“Twilight, you can’t-”

“Yes Spike, a deal is a deal.” Twilight said, giving Red back his D-Board “Even if I don’t like it…”

“Thank you, now if you don’t mind me, I have someone to find and questions to ask about the local ar-” Red was saying before realizing just how stupid he was being “Wait, are you from around here?”

“Um, yes, I’m ‘from around here’, why do you care?”

“Great! I was gonna go looking for this pink horse to ask some questions about the local area, but I just realized that you’ll do just fine.”

“Pink horse…? Do you mean Pinkie Pie?”

“Maybe, I didn’t catch its name, I was a little too terrified when it popped out of nowhere right into my face like-”

“Hi!” Red screamed in terror and jumped back when a bubbly pink mare suddenly jumped in his face “Aw, did I scare you again? I’m sorry…”

“You mean like that?”

“Yes! Exactly like that!”

“Oh, she’s always doing that, but Pinkie, what are you doing here?”

“Oh! Well yesterday I met somepony back behind your big castle and I said ‘Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie!’ and he was like ‘AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!’ and then he ran away as fast as Rainbow Dash and then I ran after him to try and make a better impression on him and then I saw him run into the Everfree Forest and I was like ‘Wait! Don’t go in there!’ but he didn’t listen so then I went to go prepare for the ‘Welcome to Ponyville I really hope you like it here’ party, but I ran out of ammunition for my party canon so I came to buy more!” Pinkie said, only using a single breath “Oh hi Luna!” Pinkie seemed completely oblivious to the facts that Luna was lying down on the road as if she were dead and the ‘somepony’ that she was preparing a party for was right in front of her “Well, I better get going now! Bye!”

“...That is one weird horse.”

“Well, the common term is ‘Pony’ but yes, she is quite weird. But, Luna...I can’t believe you killed her like that…”

“What? She isn’t dead. It was just a Ground Duel, they aren’t lethal. She’s just being overdramatic. Here, let me show ya.”

“Wait, what do you mean by Ground Duel?”

“Yo, horsey! Get up!”

“You will never take...Equestria...I am only one of its princess-”

“The fuck’s an Equestria? I just wanna find out where I am and why it was daytime in the middle of the night yesterday.”

“W-What? Me and...my sister Celestia...never falter at raising the-”

“Ok, cut the theatrics, you’re not really injured, it was just Solid Vision, the name’s misleading as Solid Vision with mass is a completely separate thing, which my Duel Disk doesn’t support, you’re suffering a placebo, you only think that you’re injured when you’re actually perfectly fine.”

“Whatever do you...mean...I feel...fine...Oh...You weren’t trying to destroy Equestria after all, were you?”

“Again, the fuck’s an Equestria? I was off, minding my own business, getting cards for me and my friend’s cardshop from our supplier late at night, when all of a sudden, some weird portal opened right in front of me, and then I wound up here, surrounded by ponies with a teacup falling on my head in the middle of an afternoon.”

“Wait, what was that about a teacup?”

“A teacup fell on my head when I was dragged here against my will.”

“Oh no, Starlight must have been teaching Trixie advanced teleportation spells without me again...I’m sorry one of my friends dragged you here, I’ll see if there’s some kind of spell that can send you back as soon as possible.”

“Well, as long as you figure something out quickly everything should be fine, I’m kinda needed back home.”

“Right, so, Pinkie’s having a party for you over at Sugarcube Corner, you want to go and talk so I can write about it?”

“Uh, Twilight? We’re supposed to be going grocery shopping for Fluttershy, remember?”

“Oh! Yes! Well, surely, you’ll want to go and learn more too, won’t you Princess Luna?” Twilight’s question fell on deaf ears however, as Luna was sleeping standing up “Princess Luna? Are you awake-”

“Huh? What was-Oh, my apologies, what were we talking about?” Luna said, fading in and out of sleep

“There’s a party at Sugarcube Corner.” said Spike “Are you going so you can learn about this guy?”

“Oh, my apologies, but as Princess of the Night, and I’m usually in bed asleep two hours ago, I must return to Canterlot where a warm bed surely awaits. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a chariot waiting for me.”

“Alright then, see ya Princey!” Twilight smacked Red in the back up the head with her rolled up shopping list almost immediately after “Ow! The hell was that for!?”

“She’s one of the rulers of Equestria! Show some more respect around her!”

“Ok, ok, just don’t hit me, it’s fucking irritating.”

“Alright, so how about this; Spike, escort this fellow to Sugarcube Corner while I go do Fluttershy’s grocery shopping for her, and then I’ll catch up with you, alright?”

“Sure, sounds good with me.”

“You got it Twilight!”

“Oh, and I don’t think we’ve properly introduced ourselves yet, my name is Twilight Sparkle, and this is my assistant Spike! He’s a baby dragon!”

“And I’m also Friendship Ambassador to the Dragon Kingdom!”

“Cool, you can call me Red.”

“Well alright then Red, Spike will show you to Sugarcube Corner, and I’ll be right behind you!”

“Sounds good.”

Chapter 5: A grand return

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” Red screamed as he was nearly ripped in half traveling through the portal back to Equestria, being launched out Twilight’s artificial portal, breaking his fall on a pile of books Twilight conveniently left just in case, patting over his entire body to make sure that he was still a human and none of his bones were broken. “Ow...Fucking hell, that Sunset girl is so smart, you think she’d work with both Twilights to make a smoother portal...Well, no matter, I promised I’d get these to this world’s Twilight and her friends, not like they can use them without me around yet anyway.”

Twilight and all her friends were formed around the Cutie Map, discussing what to do for the day, as well as try and figure out how to make their schedules work around Twilight’s Friendship School .“So, Twilight, just how are we supposed to teach at your school and still do our own jobs?” Rainbow asked “I mean, the Wonderbolts spend every other day training! How am I supposed to keep up with them if I have to teach at school?”

“Yeah, and ah’ve been workin’ the farm ever since ah was a little filly.” Applejack added “And ah’ve got lots o’ chores to do everyday, how the hay am I supposed to keep up with a curriculum on top of all that?”

“Yes, and I have three stores spread out across Equestria darling.” Rarity pointed out “Now, Sassy Saddles and Coco Pommel are both quite skilled managers, but I would still like to check in on them from time to time, and even then, the Ponyville boutique doesn’t have any employees, mainly because it’s also my home.”

“Mr and Mrs Cake are used to me being away for long periods of time, so I’m really flexible.” Pinkie stated “So you can count on me anytime!”

“I just wonder, what was this ‘Red’ person like?” Fluttershy asked “And how is he doing in that alternate world?”

“I don’t know, I’m just worried Sunset can’t help him find his way home, I mean, I’ve barely heard from her since I sent him to their world!” Twilight was panicking out loud to all her friends “I mean, what if it was his world but he contracted some fatal illness and couldn’t afford the medical bills?”

‘Twilight-”

“Or what if he got run over by one of the weird motorized carriages that world has?”

“Twilight-”

“Or what if he was killed by some of the rogue magic Sunset’s been writing to me about!?”

“TWILIGHT! I’m right here!” Red shouted right behind her, with Twilight’s friends rushing to see him again

“Oh, deary, what ever did you do with your ensemble?” Rarity asked, using magic to highlight the black button up shirt Red was wearing under his hoodie

“You mean this? Well, it’s a long story, but the shorthand is that I had to win a racing tournament with a cash prize, so I spent it on a shirt and supper. Also, before I forget, Sunset and the other Twilight wanted me to give you guys these.” Red took off his backpack and proceded to take out what appeared to be eight wristbands with screens or varying colors, matching the coat colors of Twilight and her friends, as well as Spike’s scales.

“Wait, you’re back!? But I thought that you were from the world beyond the mirror!” Twilight exclaimed “Also, what even are these?”

“Well, during my time in the alternate world, I learned quite a bit about alternate dimensions, first off, different dimensions have different frames of time, and can work on different rates of time, for example what would be an hour in one world could be a second in another, hence why if you were to go to that world, what you would find futuristic and whimsical, I could find archaic and outdated. Second off, every world has its own form of spatial energy, or ‘markings’ for its inhabitants, which I think is why I didn’t turn into a Pony, I’m not ‘tuned’ to this world, and as such don’t follow its physical limitations like you do, rather, I still follow the physical limitations of my world.” Red looked back at Twilight’s friends after his lengthy explanation, only to find that while Twilight was eagerly taking notes, the rest of her friends looked at him in utter confusion, except for Rainbow Dash, who had fallen asleep “Right, well, as for your other question, these bracelet things are Duel Disks, Sunset and the other Twilight made them so that you don’t need to be able to handle physical cards to use them, unlike my Duel Disk.”

“Hold on!” Pinkie interrupted, rushing right into Red’s face “You mean we don’t need to hold physical cards to use these!?”

“Well, no, you don’t-”

“Woo hoo!” Pinkie excitedly slammed her front left leg onto the pink Duel Disk before rushing back to face Red. A transparent screen appeared in front of Pinkie, with countless Duel Monsters cards listed on it, which Pinkie waved her hooves on seemingly at random in order to make a quick deck “Duel me! Duel me! Duel me!”

“Well, if you insist.” Red activated his Duel Disk, with the outlines of the field appearing between them “Hey Rainbow! Wake up!”

“Huh...? Wait, is Red Dueling...Pinkie?”

“Yes, and ya would’ve heard why if ya stayed awake!” Applejack said

“Oh shut up!”

“Girls! Be quiet!” Rarity chimed in “This isn’t some sporting event, they need to concentrate!”

DUEL

RED 8000 LP
HAND: 5
PINKIE 8000 LP
HAND: 5

“I’ll go first!” Pinkie cheerily called out “Let’s see...first, I’ll play 7 Colored Fish!"
(Level 4, 1800 ATK 800 DEF)
"Now I’ll play my “A” Cell Breeding Device! Now, I’ll play 7! It is now your turn.”

“Right, I draw!”

RED 8000 LP
HAND: 6
PINKIE 8000 LP
HAND: 2

“So, first off, I’ll play my Graceful Charity Spell Card! First, I draw 3 cards, then I discard 2. I’ll discard my Gem-Knight Crystal, and Gem-Knight Obsidian. This activates the effect of my Gem-Knight Obsidian! When Gem-Knight Obsidian is sent to the Graveyard, even just to pay a discard cost, I can Special Summon a Gem-Knight Normal Monster from my Graveyard! I Summon my Gem-Knight Crystal!”
(Level 7, 2450 ATK 1950 DEF)

“He turned an even 0 card into a plus 1!” Twilight excitedly said, trying to write down everything that was happening in the Duel “Spike, you’re writing this down too in case I miss anything, right?”

“Well, yeah, but what do you mean by ‘even 0’ and ‘plus 1’?”

“Oh, well you see, at first he had 6 cards in his hand, and after drawing 3 cards from Graceful Charity, he discarded 2 of them, losing 3 cards from his hand in exchange for drawing 3 cards, but thanks to the effect of what he discarded, he wound up with 6 cards in his hand as well as a high level monster on his field!”

“So, if he discarded 2, what’s the other card he lost?”

“Graceful Charity Spike! He had to remove it from his hand to play it!”

“I don’t get it.”

“Ugh, just keep recording Spike.”

“Now I activate my Pot of Greed! This card allows me to draw two more cards! Now I activate my Brilliant Fusion! This lets me summon a Gem-Knight Fusion Monster by using monsters in my deck as material. I’ll fuse my Gem-Knight Lapis and Gem-Knight Lazuli to summon my Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli!"
(Level 5, 0 ATK 0 DEF)
"Now, granted, Brilliant Fusion reduces the summoned monster’s stats to 0, but that doesn’t matter too much. Now, Gem-Knight Lazuli’s effect activates! When she’s sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, Gem-Knight Lazuli lets me return a Normal Monster from my Graveyard to the hand! I’ll return my Gem-Knight Lapis!”

“Wow, Red is managing his cards perfectly!” Starlight exclaimed “It’s a shame Trixie isn’t here to see this, I mean everypony else is getting a first rate show basically!”

“Considering what happened last time Trixie was here, I’m glad she’s missing this…” Twilight said under her breath

“Now, I activate my Gem-Knight Fusion! I’ll fuse the Gem-Knight Lapis, Emerald, and Sapphire in my hand, to summon my Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond!"
(Level 10, 3400 ATK 2000 DEF)
"Now, I could probably win with this board, but let’s keep building a board! I Normal Summon my Gem-Knight Alexandrite!"
(Level 4, 1800 ATK 1200 DEF)
"Now I use his effect to tribute himself and Special Summon Gem-Knight Garnet from my deck!"
(Level 4, 1900 ATK 0 DEF)
"Now, I activate my Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli’s effect! Once per turn, by sending one Gem-Knight monster from my Main or Extra Deck to the Graveyard, I can inflict 500 damage to the opponent for each Special Summoned Monster on the field!”

“WHAT!?”

“I’ll send Gem-Knight Ruby from my Extra Deck to the Graveyard, and now, because all 4 Monsters I control were Special Summoned and your 7 Colored Fish was Normal Summoned, you take 2000 damage!”

“Aww…” PINKIE 8000 LP -> 6000 LP
HAND: 2

“Now I activate my Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond’s effect! By sending a face up Gem-Knight from my field to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon a Gem-Knight Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck, ignoring it’s summoning conditions! I’ll send my Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli to the Graveyard, and summon my Gem-Knight Master Diamond!"
(Level 9, 2900 ATK 2500 DEF) His effect gives him 100 Attack for every Gem-Knight in my Graveyard!"
(Gem-Knight Master Diamond 2900 ATK ->3700 ATK)
"Now, I activate his other effect! By banishing a Gem-Knight Fusion Monster from my Graveyard, Master Diamond copies its effect! I’ll banish Gem-Knight Ruby from my Grave with this effect!"
(Gem-Knight Master Diamond 3700 ATK -> 3600 ATK)
"Now I activate Gem-Knight Master Diamond’s borrowed effect! Once per turn, I can tribute a Gem-Knight Monster I control, and until the End Phase, Master Diamond gains that Monster’s ATK! I tribute Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond!” (Gem-Knight Master Diamond 3600 ATK -> 7100 ATK)

“Oh...This is going to be painful, isn’t it?” Pinkie asked, sweat dripping from her forehead in anticipation of what she assumed to be great imminent pain

“Pinkie! I’m ending this in one attack! Prepare yourself! Gem-Knight Master Diamond attacks 7 Colored Fish! Royal Radiance!” Gem-Knight Master Diamond flew directly towards Pinkie’s 7 Colored Fish, slashing at it with enough force to cause an explosion with the smoke completely enveloping Pinkie and her entire side of the field “And that, my little ponies, is how you OTK in style!”

“Only, one problem.” Twilight added

“Huh?”

“Gem-Knight Master Diamond only has 7100 ATK, while Pinkie’s 7 Colored Fish was in Attack position with 1800 ATK, so if Pinkie has 6000 LP left, that leaves her with 700.”

Red looked down at his Duel Disk, only to be disappointed when he saw the LP totals
RED 8000 LP
HAND: 2
PINKIE 700 LP
HAND: 2

“Fuck. Well, Gem-Knight Garnet attacks directly, I guess.” Red’s Garnet Knight threw a barrage of fireballs at Pinkie, causing her to go flying from the impact. PINKIE 700 -> 0 LP

“Wait, did you just beat her in one turn?” Rainbow asked “That was so awesome!”

“Oh, it was awesome alright!” Applejack “Awesomely mean! That girl wanted to play your little game for more than a week, and when she finally can, ya beat her before she even gets ta’ enjoy it!”

“Yes, I do agree with Applejack.” Rarity added in “You really ought to be more considerate towards the Ponies around you! Imagine how you would feel if you wanted to play a game badly, and when you finally got the chance, you were beaten spectacularly like that!”

“Well, Duel Monsters is a competitive sport where I’m from, and in my case, often times a matter of life and death for me and my friends! So if anything, take this as a lesson to use actual deck ideas instead of just playing cards randomly and hoping for the best!”

“Wait, how could something like Duel Monsters be a game of life and death?” Starlight asked “I mean, it’s not like some magical force steals away your soul if you lose or anything.”

“Well, you’re not entirely right...” Red said “...But you’re also not entirely wrong.”

“What?”

“Well you see, Duel Monsters is based on forms of dark rituals performed in Egypt, a country in my world, around 3000 years ago known as Shadow Games, in those dark rituals, the loser would be forced to endure a hellish form of ironic punishment known as a Penalty Game.”

“Did somepony say game!?” Asked Pinkie, dashing over to the rest of her friends, not even noticing that her mane was on fire

“No Pinkie, it’s not the kind of game you have for fun, Penalty Games would more often than not kill whoever was forced to endure it that was somehow related to their greatest vices in life.”

“But wait, Twilight beat you in a Duel last week, so why didn’t you suffer a Penalty Game?” Starlight asked

“Because Penalty Games are a product of a Shadow Game, and Shadow Games are all but extinct, humans aren’t capable of magic like Ponies are without the use of an ancient magical artifact, and all of those have been sealed away, hopefully forever.”

“But wait, if you don’t have to worry about Penalty Games, how is Dueling a life or death matter?”

“...Well, I didn’t want to tell you this, but the truth is, in my world, I’m a highly wanted criminal for countless accounts of several crimes, mainly theft of government property.”

“WHAT!?”

“You’re a criminal!? Gimme one good reason why ah shouldn’t buck yer face in!” Applejack angrily shouted, walking forward to try and build distance between Red and her friends

“Wait, Applejack-”

“Quit yer bellyachin’ Starlight! He outright admitted to bein’ a big time troublemaker! Ah don’t want any of yall gettin’ hurt!”

“I’m with Applejack! You wanna hurt my friends, you gotta go through me!” Rainbow shouted, flying over to where Applejack was, backing Red into a corner

“WAIT!” Starlight shouted, teleporting between Red and Rainbow and Applejack “Stop and think about this for a second! This is just like the incident with Stygian! Or the time I tried ruining your friendship!”

“I agree with Starlight.” Fluttershy said “I didn’t get to meet him like the rest of you, but I still think he’s worth hearing out.”

“Are you sure about this Fluttershy?” Twilight asked “He could be very dangerous and trying to hide it for all we know.”

“It’s alright Twilight, and besides, if he turns out to be a bad person, we could always feed him to Harry the bear.” Fluttershy winked at Twilight without Red noticing, and had a wink reciprocated towards her

“WHAT”

“Well, go on! Tell us your story! Unless you would like to be bear food that is, I mean, Harry has been saying that I should try to make a new kind of salad recently…”

“Ok, ok, no need to feed me to a bear, so yes, I’m a highly wanted criminal with a reputation of being extremely dangerous, but hear me out: The local police force is extremely corrupt, I’m widely regarded as a local hero!”

“Oh really now? And how is that?” Twilight asked

“Well, first off, I think I should say that we’re way out in the countryside, so the higher ups almost never come to check on them, and when the higher ups do come to check on things, they’ve become masters of bullshitting! For years now I’ve been trying to convince someone high on the chain of command to make an unexpected visit to check on things, but it came to no avail, so a few years ago, me and my two best friends Kevin and Patrick decided to form an underground resistance of sorts.”

“Right, and what makes the police corrupt exactly?”

“Well, because they have almost no moderation, they can get away with almost whatever they want, and now they’re basically a violent gang with badges, police brutality and unwarranted arrests are all too common. They put away a lot of innocent people and beat them to death basically, and the few who do get out of their jailing system are on the verge of death and don’t last long.”

“Oh dear, that sounds awful!” Rarity said “Whatever could they hope to achieve through such a brutish method?”

“Security. They think that by committing various atrocities, they’ll secure the public’s safety, and I’ve already told you how well that turned out.”

“Wow, sounds like you have it really tough.” Starlight added

“Yeah, and while the resistance is just the three of us, we do our best to be a pain in Security’s ass, my role in that is to break into the vaults where they store confiscated cards, steal them, and take them back to the card shop we use as a front to sell and put food on the table. In fact, I was on a run to our ‘supplier’ when I was forcefully brought to Equestria through a portal that somebody couldn’t control.” Red said, giving Starlight a fierce glare

“Wait, if you run a store that primarily sells stolen goods, how do you maintain stock?” Rarity asked “Or do you also make cards yourself?”

“No, while singles are a major part of card shops, we get most of our money from buying and selling booster packs like any regular store, a booster pack being a group of between 5-9 cards depending on the pack in particular selected from a certain group of cards known as a Set, although we also make custom packs of like, 60 cards for when I ‘receive’ too many cards from our generous ‘supplier’ or when they just all suck.”

“Wow, it sounds like you live a hard life, I mean, you have to put yourself into danger on a regular basis for the sake of your friends, and you have to run a store!” Starlight said, relieved that the subject was changed “How do you do it so easily?”

“Oh, I’m not the one who handles the behind the scenes shit, I just get supply and teach kids how to Duel, it’s Kevin who deals with the bills. Say, you said you don’t have card games here in Equestria, so how about I teach the lot of you some proper deck building concepts? I mean, those Disks I gave you have every card in my Disk’s database loaded onto them, so how about it?”

“Sure! Sunburst had his train delayed so he won’t be here for a few more days, and even then it’ll take time to make that spell to get you home, so why not?”

“Yeah, this looks pretty cool, and I wanna try one of those Riding Duels you told us about last week!”

“Rainbow, ya can’t ride anything, and ah doubt you could control yer speed with those Speed Counter thingies!”

“Don’t worry Applejack, I could probably make a spell to control Rainbow’s speed based on her Speed Counters, and I’d LOVE to learn more about this game!”

“Well, I would just love to see those dazzling Gem-Knights of yours at anytime, so yes! Please teach us!”

“Rarity! That’s Red’s deck! You could at least have the decency to build your own!”

“Rarity, I agree with Pinkie Pie, I think you should make your own deck, and I wouldn’t mind learning, it looks like a fun distraction.”

“I’ll go make some snacks, but don’t start without me, ok?”

“Sorry Spike, but if you want to hear the full thing, you’re gonna have to be-” Red tried teasing Spike, but was immediately silenced when Spike hurried out and back with boxes of popcorn in a fraction of a second “But-h-how did-w-whatever, so! The first important rule of deck building is to include the following cards no matter what: Pot of Greed, Graceful Charity, Upstart Goblin, Monster Reborn, and Solemn Judgement…”

**************************************************************

“Oh thank you Auntie Luna!” Prince Blueblood said, having just been saved from a nightmare by Luna “I have no clue what I would have done without you! Those...Country Ponies...were just so uncouth, it was terrifying!”

“Yes nephew, now if you will pardon me, I have other dreams to attend to-”

“But Auntie Luna, don’t you want to stay behind in my dream? Surrounded by noble Ponies who truly appreciate the status that royalty carries?”

“Blue Blood, you know that as Princess of the Night, I have the responsibility of overwatching everypony’s dreams, not just yours, now farewell.”

“But Auntie Luna-”

“Goodbye, Blueblood.”

“Wait, I’m still your favorite nephew, right?”

“...I am leaving now, Blueblood.” Luna opened a portal to the rest of the Dream Realm, when out of the blue she heard a disembodied voice calling her name

“Luna...Princess Luna...Sister…”

“Sister!? What is it!?” Luna closed the original portal she made and exited the Dream Realm, and ran for Celestia’s room as fast as she could “Sister! What is wrong!?”

“Equestria is in peril, this time, I don’t think even Twilight can contain the danger!”

“Not even Twilight can contain it?”

“No, according to my dream, a ancient deity wants to take revenge upon Equestria for something, and cards appeared to be a common theme for some reason, but I also saw Manehattan burning to the ground, and after that, it ends…”

“Wait, did you say that cards were a common theme?”

“Yes, but what could it mean?”

“Princess Twilight may not be able to contain this threat, but I believe I know somepony who can! I’m returning to Ponyville immediately!”

**************************************************************

“Yes, now my minions, you are the first of my recreations, although I’m still too weak to exit Tartarus, I can communicate with you telepathically, so do you understand your missions?”

“Yes master.” Said a large man in a white tracksuit “I am to go to Manehattan and make our presence known to the residents of this world, generating the fear for you to return.”

“And I am to go eliminate the only one who can stop us.” Said a younger man dressed all in black, standing on the outskirts of Ponyville “With the new card you gave me, it’ll be a cinch!”

“No, do not underestimate him! No matter what you do, turbo out that card as fast as possible! It is the only out you possess to his Master Diamond!”

“Yes master, I will not underestimate him.”

“Good...Now both of you, go! You have much to do!”

Chapter 6: Midnight Duels

“Everybody listen!” Shouted the MC in a Riding Duel Arena. “Our final Duel of the day is entering its final stage! The challenger, the Red Rocket, has his infamous White Dragon Ninja/Safe Zone combo up, but the reigning champion, Yusei Fudo looks like he’s about to make a spectacular comeback!”

“It’s my turn! I draw!” Yusei shouted, the crowd cheering on whichever Duelist they were hoping to win, half of them cheering for Yusei, the other half chanting Red’s name. Yusei drew his card and slowly turned it over to see what it was. “Junk Synchron, perfect. Thank you, my deck.”

YUSEI 1000 LP 12 SPC
RED 200 LP 12 SPC

“First, I Normal Summon my level 3 Tuner, Junk Synchron!” Yusei shouted.
(Level 3, Tuner, 1300 ATK 500 DEF)
“Junk Synchron’s effect lets me Special Summon a level 2 or lower monster from my Graveyard when he’s Normal Summoned by negating its effect! I revive my Speed Warrior!"
(Level 2, 900 ATK 400 DEF)
"Now, I Tune my level 3 Junk Synchron with my level 1 Sonic Chick, level 1 Tuningware being treated as level 2 by his own effect, and level 2 Speed Warrior! Clustering wishes will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take flight! Stardust Dragon!"
(Level 8, 2500 ATK 2000 DEF)
"Now! It’s time to bring out my absolute last resort!”

“Wait, does that mean you’re going to-”

“I’m Tuning my Level 2 Synchro Tuner Formula Synchron with my Level 2 Synchro Monster T.G Recipro Dragonfly and my Level 8 Synchro Monster Stardust Dragon! Oh stars who color the ancient skies!! Become the divine rain and purify this world!! Synchro Summon!! Level 12! Stardust Sifr Divine Dragon!”
(Level 12, 4000 ATK 4000 DEF)

“WOAH! Yusei has brought out his ultimate final boss monster, Stardust Sifr Divine Dragon!” The MC announced, standing on top of his desk out of excitement “Can Red’s D-Board even handle the power of Stardust Sifr Divine Dragon’s attack!? Quick, somebody get the paramedics on standby!”

“Battle Phase! My Stardust Sifr Divine Dragon will attack your White Dragon Ninja! Sorry Red, but your tournament journey was for nothing!”

“Oh, you think I’m gonna give up that easily Yusei? Here’s a card you’re all too familiar with, I call it my Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!”

“Well ain’t that unexpected! Scrap-Iron Scarecrow negates one attack before setting itself facedown again for the next turn, nice one!”

“He, thanks! I learned from the best after all!”

“Well, I end my turn!”

“Alright, it’s all riding on this next draw, I need the right cards in the right order, now come on deck, come on-!” Red thought before drawing for his turn, slowly turning it over in anticipation “Yes! I drew it!”

Yuesi 1000 LP 12 SPC
Red 200 LP 12 SPC

“First, I play my Speed Spell - Speed Greed! When I have 12 Speed Counters, I can draw 2 cards!” Red said, while thinking to himself “Come on come on come on come on come on! Angel Baton, that’s almost there, but the other one I need...” Red drew his second card, only to be ecstatic when he drew into it “Yes! It’s here! I activate my Speed Spell - Angel Baton! This card lets me draw 2 cards, then send one card from my hand to the Graveyard...Yes! I discard Makyura the Destructor, and when he’s sent from the field to the Graveyard, I can activate Trap Cards from my hand until the end of the turn!”

“WHAT!?”

“Now, from my hand, I activate Metalmorph, equipping it to my White Dragon Ninja!"
(White Dragon Ninja 2700 ATK -> 3000 ATK)
"Battle Phase! White Dragon Ninja attacks Stardust Sifr Divine Dragon!”

“But, wait, my Stardust Sifr Divine Dragon has 1000 more Attack than your White Dragon Ninja, what the hell is wrong with you?”

“When a monster equipped with Metalmorph attacks, it gains half the other monster’s ATK!”

“What the hell!?” (White Dragon Ninja 3000 ATK -> 5000 ATK)

“Go! Destroy his Stardust Sifr Divine Dragon! White Dragon Katana Slash!” Red’s Ninja jumped up to slash at Yusei’s dragon, but when it went to cut from the dragon’s head, the blade broke off and went flying into the air.

“The first time a card would be destroyed each turn, Stardust Sifr Divine Dragon stops that destruction!”

“Yes, but you still take the damage!” Just then, the broken katana shard fell from the sky and pierced Yusei through the abdomen, causing him to take battle damage.
YUSEI 1000 LP -> 0 LP
Just then, the screen on Yusei’s D-Wheel started flashing red with the word ‘LOSE’ in bolded white text as his D-Wheel came to a sudden stop, with Red speeding on by mere moments after he came to a stop

“Woah! Yusei has finally been defeated! Red is now the World Riding Duel King!” Shouted the M.C “Everyone, let’s give it up for our new King!”

“Red! Red! Red!” The crowd cheered. “Red! Red! Red!” Luna shouted, shaking Red to try and wake him up.

“Ugh...Wha…? Huh…?” Red muttered, waking up in the middle of the night, leaning up and getting a look at the mare who just woke him up. “...You’re not Yusei…”

“You...say? What? No matter, Red, you must come with me to Manehattan! I will explain the details on the chariot, but for now, you must-” Luna tried to explain the current predicament to Red, only to find he had fallen back asleep “Ugh, some creatures just can’t focus on the matter at hand…” Luna entered the Dream Realm and quickly found her way into Red’s dream

“Now Red, for winning the World Riding Duel Championship, I present to you this trophy, and this crown to represent your status as Riding Duel King.” Yusei said, handing Red a large trophy and putting a regal looking crown adorned with Duel Monster cards on his head “May you lead the world of Riding Duels to a bright future.”

“Red, I didn’t want to do this, but to wake you up, it appears to be necessary.” Luna said, having unexpectedly appearing out of nowhere with a bucket

“Oh hey Luna, you here to bask in my moment of glory? Hey what’s the bucket for-” Luna dumped the bucket of scalding hot water on Red, causing him to wake up while she returned to the waking world “AAAAA! Huh? I’m not hurt? Whatever, the fuck was that for!?”

“It is good that you have awoken, now come, we must make for Manehattan immediately! The fate of Equestria is at stake! I shall explain in the chariot! Now come, get your things and-is that a tapping on the window?”

“What? It shouldn’t be, this is Twilight’s third floor guestroom, let me see.” Red waited for another tap at the window before opening it to avoid getting what he presumed to be another pebble in his face and looked out to see what could be the cause of the noise, spotting a cloaked individual “Hey, you! Stop throwing rocks at my window! I’m trying to sleep!”

“Red! I challenge you to a Duel!”

“What? Look, Rainbow, it’s impressive that your voice can sound so masculine, but I’m not falling for your dumb pranks or attempts to Duel me at-” Red was interrupted when he saw the cloaked figure reveal a Duel Disk from the cloak on his left arm, a wing extending from the base of the Disk with the two rightmost Main Monster Zones appearing out from the blade with a bright red bulb in the wing’s center turning on to reveal dark Blue highlights along the edge of the blade and the entire Graveyard slot “An Obelisk Blue Academy Issue Duel Disk…!”

“Heh, looks like you know a thing or two about history!”

“Luna! Disk me!” Red held out his left arm as Luna levitated his Duel Disk onto his arm and activating it, with Red sticking it out the window as it switched into Duel Mode “This is no simple prank, I’m gonna kick your ass and find out who you are!”

DUEL

RED 8000 LP
HAND: 5
??? 8000 LP
HAND: 5

“I’ll go first!” The cloaked figure said “First, I activate my Graceful Charity Spell Card! This lets me draw 3 cards and discard 2! The first card I’m tossing is my Armed Dragon LV 3, and the second one is my Ojamagic!”

“Ojamas and Armed Dragons? What kind of idiot would run them together?” Red thought to himself

“When Ojamagic is sent from my hand or field to the Graveyard, I can add Ojama Yellow, Ojama Green, and Ojama Black from my deck to my hand! Now I Activate my Frontline Base Continuous Spell! Once per turn, I get to Special Summon a Union Monster from my hand! Now with Frontline Base, I Summon my W-Wing Catapult!"
(Level 4, Union, 1300 ATK 1500 DEF)
"Now I Normal Summon my V-Tiger Jet!"
(Level 4, 1600 ATK 1800 DEF)
"Now I’m going to fuse ‘em together! By Banishing V-Tiger Jet and W-Wing Catapult from my field, I can Fusion Summon my VW-Tiger Catapult without using Polymerization!"
(Level 6, 2000 ATK 2100 DEF)
"Now, I activate my Shard of Greed! Once per turn, during my Draw Phase, this card gets a Greed Counter, and when it has 2 of those, I can send it to the Graveyard to draw 2 cards! Now I set one card face down and call it a turn!”

“My turn! Draw!”

RED 8000 LP
HAND: 6
??? 8000 LP
HAND: 3

“Fuck.” Red thought to himself. “I don’t have any fusion cards or Alexandrite, so I can’t out his Tiger thing, and I can’t even defend against it, as if I set Sapphire, he’ll just discard one of his Ojamas to change its battle position, and Sapphire has 0 Attack so then he might as well be attacking me directly...I got it! I set a monster face down and end my turn.”

“Seriously? That's it? Whatever, on the End Phase I activate my Call of the Haunted Trap Card! This lets me Special Summon a Monster in my Graveyard in attack position! Come back! Armed Dragon LV 3!”
(Level 3, 1200 ATK 900 DEF)

“But wait, why do you keep referring to Armed Dragon’s level but not your other monsters?” Luna asked. “If levels are important for Synchro and XYZ plays, why are they not mentioned for all monsters?” Luna asked, poking her head through the window in order to see the Duel clearly.

“Because Armed Dragon is a LV monster, it has various evolutions as its level increases.” Red responded, gritting his teeth in anticipation of what he was expecting.

“Wait, a monster can increase its level?”

“That’s right! Now watch and I’ll show you how! My draw!”

RED 8000 LP
HAND: 5
??? 8000 LP
HAND: 4

“During the Draw Phase, my Shard of Greed gets a Greed Counter, and during the Standby Phase, I’ll send my Armed Dragon LV3 to the Graveyard and Special Summon my Armed Dragon LV5 from the deck!”
(Level 5, 2400 ATK 1700 DEF)

“Did his dragon just grow larger!?” Luna asked in shock.

“That's right, and it's also stronger! Now I activate my Pot of Greed! This card lets me draw two whole cards! I never did learn to share anyway! And now I Normal Summon my X-Head Cannon!"
(Level 4, 1800 ATK 1500 DEF)
"Lastly, with my Frontline Base Continuous Spell, I Special Summon my Y-Dragon Head!
(Level 4, Union, 1500 ATK 1600 DEF)
"Now, I'll use the Union effect of my Y-Dragon Head!”

“Union effect?” Luna asked, looking to Red for an explanation

“Union is a subtype of Monster card that has the effect to equip itself to, or ‘unite’ with another monster.” Red explained, wanting the Duel to resume as quickly as possible. “And he’s using some of the oldest ones around.”

“Are you two done with your little pep rally? My Y-Dragon Head’s Union effect lets me equip it to my X-Head Cannon, giving it an additional 400 points, and if X-Head Canon would be destroyed, I can destroy my Y-Dragon Head instead!"
(X-Head Cannon 1800 ATK -> 2200 ATK)
"Battle Phase! First, my Armed Dragon LV 5 attacks your face down monster!” Despite the massive vertical difference between Red and his opponent, the chubby dragon had no difficulty flying up to punch Red’s Gem-Knight Garnet as soon as it materialized from the card facing Twilight’s castle “Now, my VW-Tiger Jet and my X-Head Cannon attack directly!” Both of the cloaked figures metallic monsters fired a rapid volley of bullets in the general direction of Red, who had instinctively ducked behind the window, even though he knew there was no avoiding the massive loss of LP
RED 8000 LP -> 6000 LP -> 3600 LP

“Damn, that barrage almost felt like it was real, but Solid Vision with mass was only recently invented, it certainly wasn't a thing in Judai's-" Red said to himself, before noticing that several holes were now present in Twilight’s castle where there had previously been a solid wall “What the fuck …!? H-how'd you do that!? How'd you actually damage the surrounding environment with a Duel!?”

“It's Solid Vision, what other explanation could there be!?”

“Solid Vision is just a name, dipshit! There's no way your Disk could have the Solid Vision with mass program on it! Whatever, just finish your turn already!”

“Alright then, during the End Phase, because my Armed Dragon LV 5 destroyed a monster by battle, I send it to the Graveyard and Special Summon Armed Dragon LV 7 from my deck!"
(Level 7, 2800 ATK 1000 DEF)
"Now back to you!”

“Grr, I draw!”

RED 3600 LP
HAND: 6
??? 8000 LP
HAND: 3

“Fragment Fusion!?” Red thought to himself, while also scanning his hand, containing Gem-Knight Sapphire, Gem-Knight Emerald, Gem-Knight Tourmaline, Gem-Knight Garnet, and Monster Reborn, as well as the Fragment Fusion he just drew “Fuck, well, I guess I'll have to gamble on him not top decking into Z-Metal Tank, or else he's going to complete the VWXYZ series...I set one back row and one monster, and end my turn!”

“Really? Just more turtling? That's pathetic! I draw!”

RED 3600 LP
HAND: 4
??? 8000 LP
HAND: 4

“My Shard of Greed gains its second Greed Counter, and I subsequently activate it! I send Shard of Greed to the Graveyard and draw 2 cards!” The picture on the giant recreation of the cloaked figure's card appeared to come out of the card before forming into a Pot of Greed, with the figure drawing 2 cards “Now, I activate my 3 Upstart Goblin cards! You gain 3000 LP, and I draw 3 cards!”

RED 3600 LP -> 4600 LP -> 5600 LP -> 6600 LP

“But why would he willingly give you 3000 Life Points, actively hindering his progress of winning the Duel?” Luna asked.

“Luna, I've already told you, Life Points are meaningless, drawing a card greatly outmatches giving your opponent 1000 Life Points, playing it in multiples is the same deal.”

“Prepare for your destruction! I Summon my Z-Metal Tank!”
(Level 4, Union, 1500 ATK 1300 DEF)

“Shit! My gamble failed!” Red thought to himself, trying to maintain a straight face.

“Now, by unequipping my Y-Dragon Head from X-Head Tank, I can Special Summon it!"
(Level 4, 1500 ATK 1300 DEF)
"Now, get ready for the trio of Combinations that will end you! I banish my X-Head Cannon, Y-Dragon Head, and Z-Metal Tank to Fusion Summon my XYZ-Dragon Cannon!"
(Level 8, 2800 ATK 2600 DEF)
"Now, I banish my VW-Tiger Jet and XYZ-Dragon Cannon to Fusion Summon my VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon!"
(Level 8, 3000 ATK 2800 DEF)
"Now, before the 3rd Fusion, I activate the effect of my VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon, banishing your face down monster! Now, I'm combining my VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon with my Armed Dragon LV 7!”

“Machine Fusion with Armed Dragon!? I thought that was just something stupid the internet came up with!” Red exclaimed.

“It's a real card, let me show you! I'm banishing my VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon and my Armed Dragon LV 7 to Fusion Summon my Armed Dragon Catapult Cannon!”
(Level 10, 3500 ATK 3000 DEF)

Red looked at the newly summoned monster, while also trying to discern what he was looking at, unsure of if he should be afraid or confused by its mere existence.

“Looks great, doesn't it? Well it's about to look even better next to my final Fusion Monster!”

“But how? You don't have anymore monsters to fuse with your dragon catapult thing!” Luna exclaimed

“That's the beauty of Fusion! You can use materials even if they're trapped in your hand by using a card like this Polymerization! I'm fusing the Ojama Yellow, Ojama Green, and Ojama Black in my hand!”

“Wait, he's using all three Ojamas as Fusion material!?” Red thought “That means-! Wait! Luna, I need you to lift me down to the ground, slowly.” Luna followed Red’s instructions, levitating him to the ground without dropping him “I’ve figured out who you are! Throughout history, there's only been one person insane enough to put Ojamas, Armed Dragons, and Machine Fusions in the same deck! Jun Manjome!”

Red’s opponent smirked, ripping off his cloak. “Heh! So you found me out! I summon my Ojama King!"
(Level 6, 0 ATK 3000 DEF)
"When my Ojama King is summoned, I select 3 of your Main Monster Zones, and while the King is here, they can't be used!” The outline of the field reappeared in between Red and Manjome, with the outlines of Red’s middlemost Main Monster Zones turning red, indicating that they can't be used.

“Look at your Disk you idiot! You left a 0 Attack monster in Attack Position! I might as well be attacking you directly at that point!”

“I don't make simple mistakes like that! I activate my Ojama Country Field Spell!” Just then, the entirety of Ponyville disappeared, only to be replaced by a village inhabited by disturbing creatures of varying colors, although Twilight’s Castle and Friendship School remained visible, likely due to how close they were. Red also noticed that Manjome looked different from the history books, wearing the Duel Academy Obelisk Blue uniform instead of his famous black North Academy uniform, and his sclera were black as opposed to white like a normal eye.

“Hey Manjome, is there something wrong with your eyes? They're not supposed to be-"

“What are you talking about? My eyes are fine! Now here's something for yours! As long as I control an Ojama monster, the ATK and DEF of all monsters on the field are switched!”
(Ojama King 0 ATK 3000 DEF -> 3000 ATK 0 DEF) (Armed Dragon Catapult Cannon 3500 ATK 3000 DEF -> 3000 ATK 3500 ATK)

“Wait, what!?”

“That's right! Battle Phase! Ojama King and Armed Dragon Catapult Cannon attack you directly! You go bye bye!” With Manjome’s command, Armed Dragon Catapult Cannon launched a barrage of missiles and chain gun bullets in Red’s general direction, while Ojama King flew into the air and body slammed him directly, causing a large dust cloud to consume him “Looks like the master will be pleased with me for eliminating the only threat that could-"

“Not quite”

“Huh?”

“I'm not finished yet!”

“What!?”

“I survived with the 3000 Life that you gave me!”

“What? But-" Chazz looked at his Duel Disk to see the Life scores
RED 600 LP
MANJOME 8000 LP
“What!?’

“And the really stupid thing is, if you had just kept Y-Dragon Head on the field last turn, you would've dealt the 600 damage needed to finish me off! You shot yourself in the foot!”

“WHAT!?”

“And now, I'm gonna capitalize on my chance! Draw!”

Red 600 LP
HAND: 5
Manjome 8000 LP
HAND: 0

“Well doesn't get any bright ideas with that facedown card!" Manjome shouted. "Once per turn, on my opponent's turn, Armed Dragon Catapult Cannon lets me banish one card from my Main Deck or Fusion Deck to banish all cards you control and in your Graveyard! I'm banishing my YZ-Tank Dragon from the Extra Deck!”

“Right, well I didn't need my Fragment Fusion or whatever is in my Graveyard right now anyway, it's what will be in the Graveyard that matters!” Red said, putting all the cards being ejected from his Graveyard slot into his back pocket. First, I activate my Pot of Greed! This allows me to draw 2 cards! Come on, please let them be good-! Yes! Now I activate my Dark Hole!”

“Wait, what!?”

“Dark Hole destroys all monsters on the field! And guess what? You're not the only Fusion player here! But I don't use Contact Fusion or Polymerization, I use Gem-Knight Fusion!”

Manjome looked at the artwork on Gem-Knight Fusion, and clutched his head, writhing in pain “Ahh-! Why is my head hurting?”

“Well it's about to hurt even more! I fuse the Gem-Knight Garnet and Gem-Knight Tourmaline in my hand to Fusion Summon my Gem-Knight Topaz!"
(Level 6, 1800 ATK 1800 DEF)
"Now I activate Monster Reborn! This lets me Special Summon a monster from either player's Graveyard, and I'm reviving your Armed Dragon Catapult Cannon!"
(Level 10, 3500 ATK 3000 DEF)
"And lastly, I Normal Summon my Gem-Knight Emerald!"
(Level 4, 1800 ATK 800 DEF)
"Battle Phase! First, Armed Dragon Catapult Cannon attacks directly!” Manjome’s stolen monster opened fire on its former master without hesitation, launching a barrage of missiles and bullets
Manjome 8000 LP -> 4500 LP
“Now, my Gem-Knight Topaz attacks directly! Twice! Due to his effect!” Gem-Knight Topaz leaped over to Manjome and slashed at him twice, once with each of its two tonfa
Manjome 4500 LP -> 2700 LP
Manjome 2700 LP -> 900 LP

“Time to finish you off! Gem-Knight Emerald! Emerald Flash!” Red’s last monster flung a great number of emerald shards generated from its hands towards Manjome, knocking him back through the air
Manjome 900 LP -> 0 LP

As the Solid Vision began to dissipate and Ponyville returned to visibility, Manjome began to dissipate into light with it

“What the fuck!? Wait! I need to ask you a few questions! Manjome, stay with me!” Red exclaimed, running towards Manjome in a futile effort, as before Manjome could land from the last attack, he had fully disintegrated and all that remained was a single card “What the hell? He turned into a card, let's see here…”

Fusion Area
Continuous Spell
Once per turn, you can Fusion Summon one Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck by banishing materials listed on it from your field.

“Wow, that is literally just a shittier version of Fusion Gate, but I guess I'll be able to sell it when I get home or some shit.” Red looked back at the window and called out to Luna “Hey Luna! Grab my shit for me, ok? I'm gonna come with you to Manehattan or wherever you said we need to go!”

*****************************

“So it seems my first minion has failed me.” Said a voice in Tartarus “I should have known better than to waste my energy on an idiot, but thankfully, my fear monger is more competent, and will surely defeat that waste of air, although I must say it is most impressive of him to defeat my minion without the use of his Master Diamond, I look forward to meeting him myself…”

Chapter 7: A Clash of Red Dragons

“Damn good view from up here!” Red said, looking over the side of Luna’s personal chariot “But I gotta ask, why is there no guardrail over the back?”

“Ponies walk on four legs, giving us a greater sense of balance in comparison to creatures such as yourself that only walk on two legs.” Luna responded in a very matter of fact tone “Say, if you don’t mind me asking, why were you sleeping fully dressed?”

“Simple really, I didn’t have any pajamas to change into.”

“...That’s it?”

“Yep, that’s it. So, remind me, why are we going to some city in the middle of the night?”

“Right, we’re going to Manehattan because my sister, Princess Celestia, has a history of prophetic dreams that warn us of great disasters, the last one was in Manehattan, and cards played a heavy theme in it, and it hasn’t been long since you first arrived in Equestria, so I believe that destiny may be involved in this matter.”

“Seriously? Destiny? Look, I’m nothing special, not even my ace, Master Diamond is special, I found it lying on the floor while we were moving some boxes around one day.”

“Right, and if most players get new cards from packs, why did you find it on the floor?”

“I don’t know, probably because it fell out of a box?”

“It was there because destiny wanted you to find it, and it is your destiny to use it to defeat this evil threatening Equestria!” Luna said in a very dramatic manner.

“Right, well, regardless of how I got Master Diamond, just point me at whoever needs a good Dueling and I’ll-” Red was cut off when he looked towards Manehattan and saw a red and black dragon flying above the city, which Red immediately recognized and almost fell off the chariot after reeling back in shock “R-Red...Dragon Archfiend!?”

“Red! Red, are you alright?”

“Yeah, it’s just...Jack Atlas was the only person to use Red Dragon Archfiend, and when he died nearly 70 years ago, he took that card to the grave with him and no further copies were printed, so what is it doing here in another world!?”

“I do not know, but we are almost there, so you had best hold on to something.”

Red took a deck out of a side pocket on his backpack and looked at it for a good while “Well, if there’s any time to use this deck, now’s the time. Please help me, old friend.” He thought to himself before placing the deck in his Duel Disk

*****************************************************

Manehattan was normally a loud bustling city full of Ponies with places to go, even during Princess Luna’s night, but to Red and Luna’s confusion, the city streets were empty with holes and burn marks being found on the side of several buildings

“This is terrible...What creature could possibly do this?” Luna said, a feeling of despair in her voice.

“I’d say it’s the target, let’s spread out and look for him, if you find him, just magic a symbol in the sky or something so I can find you, got it?”

“No, I believe it is best if we stay together, that way, we are safer.”

“Yeah? Well if we split up, we can cover more ground and find him faster!”

“And if I were to find him alone, what would you do?”

“Rush over to wherever you set off the magical flare or spotlight or whatever from, what else would I do?”

“Do you know how reckless that would be!? I am a ruling Princess of Equestria! If something were to happen to me, I don’t even want to think about the ramifications it would have on Equestria!”

“Hey, you’re the one who said Equestria is helpless without me, right? And besides, I’m the Dueling expert here! So maybe you should let the professional do his job!”

“Wha-Well I never-” Luna was interrupted when she and Red heard a loud explosion coming from just around a corner

“That must be him! Let’s go!” Red ran towards the source of the explosion, with Luna tailing right behind him, and the pair of them were horrified by what they saw

“Mad Archfiend! Direct attack!” Red and Luna watched in horror as a Duel Monster attacked an innocent Pony, with blood splattering against the wall behind her, with Red recognizing the Duelist immediately from his D-Wheel alone, possessing only a single wheel that contained the driver's seat, with the Duel Disk being part of the dash

“What the fuck-!? Did-did you just kill someone with Solid Vision!?”

“That’s right!” The Duelist responded, turning his head towards Red to get a good look at his next ‘challenger’ “Do you want to be the next sod to meet his end at my Archfiend? Wait, a Duel Disk...You must be a Duelist!”

“That’s right! And I’m not just a Duelist, I’m a Riding Duelist!” Red grabbed his D-Board from between his hoodie and backpack, holding it beneath his arm. “And I challenge you to a Riding Duel, Jack Atlas!”

“A Riding Duel? Well, it would be a direct insult to my Duelist’s honor to reject! Very well! We’ll ride through the city itself! And here, take this!” Jack threw a card at Red, who caught it with his Duel Disk’s Graveyard slot. “A map card containing the city map, you’ll need it for your autopilot.”

“Wait, are you sure you can trust whatever it is he just gave you?” Luna asked. “We just saw him kill an innocent bystander! Who’s to say that card won’t do the same with you!?”

“Because he mentioned Duelist’s honor, that alone is enough for me to trust him with anything Duel related.” Red responded, setting his board in front of a 4-way intersection beside Jack.

“Speed World, on!” Just as Jack pressed a button on his D-Wheel’s console, the entire surrounding area became developed by a purple light, as both Red and Jack’s auto shuffle began shuffling their decks and the auto pilot activated itself.

DUEL MODE ON-AUTO PILOT STANDBY

“3…”

“2…”

“1…”

DUEL

Red made a motion along the side of his D-Board as if he were kicking off while Jack floored the acceleration on his D-Wheel as they took off, leaving Luna behind. “There’s no way I can run or fly that fast, but wait! I never released that spell on Red’s mind! I’ll just keep track of the Duel that way!"

RED 8000 LP 0 SPC
HAND: 5
JACK 8000 LP 0 SPC
HAND: 5

“I’ll go first!” Jack shouted “I summon my Dark Resonator in Defence Position!"
(Level 3, Tuner, 1300 ATK 300 DEF)
"Once per turn, my Dark Resonator cannot be destroyed by battle, so don’t even try it! Now I set 2 cards face down and end my turn!”

“I draw!”

RED 8000 1 SPC
HAND: 6
JACK 8000 1 SPC
HAND: 2

“You know what? I’m gonna match your defence! I Summon my Red-Eyes Baby Dragon in Defence Position!"
(Level 3, 1200 ATK 700 DEF)
"If Red-Eyes Baby Dragon is destroyed by battle, I can Special Summon a Level 7 or lower Red-Eyes Monster from my deck, just a heads up! Now I’ll set a card and end the turn!”

“This stall war won’t last much longer Draw!”

RED 8000 LP 2 SPC
HAND: 4
JACK 8000 LP 2 SPC
HAND: 3

“I Summon my Mad Archfiend!"
(Level 4, 1800 ATK 0 DEF)
"And I shift my Dark Resonator to Attack Position! Battle Phase! My Mad Archfiend attacks your Red-Eyes Baby Dragon!”

RED 8000 LP -> 6900 LP 2 SPC -> 1 SPC

“What the- but my monster was in Defence Position!”

“When Mad Archfiend destroys a Defence Position monster by battle, it inflicts Piercing damage!”

“Right, well when my Red-Eyes Baby Dragon is destroyed by battle, I can Special Summon a Level 7 or lower red-Eyes monster from my deck, and I summon Gearfried, the Red-Eyes Iron Knight!
(Level 4, 1800 ATK 1600 DEF)
"Also, I can Equip my Red-Eyes Baby Dragon to the summoned monster and have it gain 300 Attack!"
(Gearfried 1800 ATK -> 2100 ATK)
"This triggers Gearfried’s effect! When a card is equipped to him, I can destroy the equipped card and one Spell or Trap on your field! I destroy my Red-Eyes Baby Dragon to destroy your face down on the left! This also triggers my Baby Dragon’s third effect!”

“How much does that fucking baby do!?”

“When my Red-Eyes Baby Dragon is sent from the field as an Equip card to the Graveyard, I can add a Level 1 Dragon Monster from my deck to my hand, and I pick The Black Stone of Legend!”

“I continue the Battle Phase! My Dark Resonator attacks Gearfried, and I activate my other face down Trap! Prideful Roar!”

“Prideful Roar!?”

“When a monster on my field has less Attack than the monster it’s currently battling, Prideful Roar lets me pay Life Points equal to the difference in our monster’s Attack, and my monster gains that much Attack during damage calculation! I’ll pay 500 Life Points, and Dark Resonator gains 800 Attack Points!”

JACK 8000 LP -> 7500 LP (Dark Resonator 1300 ATK -> 2100 ATK)
RED 6900 LP -> 6600 LP

“Now, on Main Phase 2, I Tune my Level 3 Dark Resonator with my Level 4 Mad Archfiend!” Jack’s Dark Resonator turned into a green wireframe of itself before turning into three glowing green circles, an equal amount to its Level, with his Mad Archfiend flying through said rings, also becoming a green wireframe before turning into four stars, just as its Level would suggest, with a bright flash of light enveloping the cascade of circles as the Synchro Monster began to form “The ruler's shouts echo throughout! Hammer of victory, shatter the very earth! Synchro Summon! Flap your wings, Exploder Wing Dragon!"
(Level 7, 2400 ATK 1600 DEF)
"I end my turn!”

“Fuck-! I draw!”

RED 6600 LP 2 SPC
HAND: 6
JACK 7500 LP 3 SPC
HAND: 3

“Get ready! I summon my Black Stone of Legend!”
(Level 1, 0 ATK 0 DEF)
What appeared to just be an egg appeared beside Red, floating alongside him just as any other monster would. “Now, I use the effect of The Black Stone of Legend, tributing it to Special Summon a Level 7 or Lower Red-Eyes monster from my deck! O flaming dragon with heart black as night and soul bright as flame, show yourself to win this fight and end this accursed game! Appear! My faithful servant! Red-Eyes Black Dragon!” The egg that was floating alongside Red began shaking, before finally hatching into a ferocious, black scaled dragon with bright red eyes that pierced through the darkness of nightfall, and let out a loud roar, effectively warning all the Ponies around to get inside.
(Level 7, 2400 ATK 1700 DEF)

“That’s your ace monster? What a joke! That thing is outclassed by single Tribute monsters!”

“Let me tell you something Jack! Red-Eyes brings boundless potential, and I’m about to open that potential all over you! I Equip Black Metal Dragon from my hand to my Red-Eyes Black Dragon, boosting its Attack by 600!”

“What the-!” (Red Eyes Black Dragon 2400 ATK -> 3000 ATK)

“Battle Phase! Red-Eyes Black Dragon attacks your Exploder Wing Dragon! Metallic Fire Blast!” With his command, Red’s dragon shot a powerful blast of flame towards Jack’s Exploder Wing Dragon, causing it to shatter into pieces

JACK 7500 LP -> 6900 LP

“Now, I set a card face down and end my turn!”

“Grr, I draw!”

RED 6600 LP 3 SPC
HAND: 4
JACK 6900 LP 4 SPC
HAND: 4

“Well then, looks like the Goddess of Victory is on my side today! I Normal Summon my Red Resonator!"
(Level 2, Tuner, 600 ATK 200 DEF)
"Lastly, because I Normal Summoned a Red Monster this turn, I can Special Summon Red Warg from my hand by halving its Attack!
(Level 6, 1400 -> 700 ATK 2200 DEF)
"Also, I cannot declare an attack this turn, but I won’t need to in order to get rid of your disgrace to all dragons! I Tune my Level 2 Red Resonator to my Level 6 Red Warg! Rend the obsidian darkness! Scorch Heaven and Earth! Isolated, absolute king! Synchro Summon! Hot Red Dragon Archfiend!”
(Level 8, 3000 ATK 2000 DEF)

“I knew it!”

“Knew what?”

“I knew you weren’t the real Jack Atlas! Jack died in a Riding Duel accident 60 years ago, and when he died he took his Red Dragon Archfiend card with him, and no copies were ever printed again! Hot Red Dragon Archfiend was printed to honor his memory many years later, and is worth jack shit! Also, I noticed that your arm didn’t light up like legends say about any of the Signers when summoning their Dragons!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! I am Jack Atlas, and I’m clearly alive right now! And I’m also activating the effect of my Hot Red Dragon Archfiend! Once per turn, I can destroy all other face up Attack Position Monsters on the field, but other monsters cannot declare an attack this turn!”

“Wait, what!?” Hot Red Dragon Archfiend let out a loud roar that destroyed Red’s dragon like a mirror “When Black Metal Dragon is sent from my field to the Graveyard, I can add a Red-Eyes card from my deck to my hand, and I’ll add my Red-Eyes Spirit! But that’s not the only move I’m making! When a Red-Eyes monster is destroyed by battle or card effect, I can Special Summon Red-Eyes Retro Dragon from my hand in Defence Position!"
(Level 4, 1700 ATK 1600 DEF)
"And this will turn back time to before my Red-Eyes was destroyed! Revive! Red-Eyes Black Dragon!” Red’s new dragon let out a loud roar, and the mirror shards that remained from Red’s destroyed dragon began reforming themselves into his bigger dragon, which let out a louder roar upon being revived.
(Level 7, 2400 ATK 1700 DEF)

“I Set one card and end my turn!”

“Draw!”

RED 6600 LP 4 SPC
HAND: 5
JACK 6900 LP 5 SPC
HAND: 1

Red looked at his hand, and wasn’t exactly pleased by it, containing Blazing Mirror Force, Red-Eyes Spirit, Speed Spell - Speed Fusion, Gearfried the Red-Eyes Iron Knight, and the Return of the Red-Eyes that he had just drawn “Well, guess I gotta make this work. First, I activate my Speed Spell - Speed Fusion! I can activate this card when I have 4 or more Speed Counters! Speed Spell - Speed Fusion lets me perform a Fusion Summon by sending monsters from my hand or field to the Graveyard! I’ll fuse the Red-Eyes Black Dragon on my field and Gearfried the Red-Eyes Iron Knight in my hand! Appear, from the black miasma of hell! The armored dragon of nightmares! Fusion Summon! Red-Eyes Slash Dragon!"
(Level 7, 2800 ATK 2400 DEF)
"Now, I activate my facedown Metalmorph! I equip this card to a monster I control, and it gains 300 ATK! (Red-Eyes Slash Dragon 2800 ATK -> 3100 ATK) Also, I shift my Red-Eyes Retro Dragon to Attack Position! Battle Phase! Red-Eyes Slash Dragon attacks-”

“Nothing! I activate my Threatening Roar Trap Card! You cannot declare an attack this turn!”

“Fuck, well then I set three cards face down and end my turn!”

“I draw!”

RED 6600 LP 5 SPC
HAND: 0
JACK 6900 LP 6 SPC
HAND: 2

“I activate my Speed Spell - Angel Baton! This lets me draw two cards and discard one! I discard my Makyura the Destructor! Now I can activate Trap Cards from my hand until the End Phase! Now, I activate my Speed Spell - Shift Down! By removing 6 of my Speed Counters, I draw 2 cards!”
JACK 6 SPC -> 0 SPC HAND: 0 -> 2
Jack’s D-Wheel slowed down tremendously, winding up behind Red’s D-Board “Ahh, it’s been too long! As King, there’s no greater feeling than being chased for your throne, but I’ve forgotten how satisfying being the chaser can be! I Normal Summon my Double Resonator!"
(Level 1, Tuner, 0 ATK 0 DEF)
"And now, thanks to the effect of Makyura the Destructor, I activate Call of the Haunted from my hand! This Continuous Trap lets me Special Summon a monster from my Graveyard in Attack Position! I revive my Dark Resonator!”
(Level 3, Tuner, 1300 ATK 300 DEF)

“You dumbass! All Synchro Monsters require 1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuners! You’re accomplishing nothing by swarming the field with Tuners and high level monsters!”

“Oh really then? Well look closely! Because I Double Tune my Level 1 Tuner Double Resonator with my Level 3 Tuner Dark Resonator to my Level 8 Hot Red Dragon Archfiend!” Jack’s Tuner monsters dissolved into wireframes before turning into rings like a normal Synchro Summon, however, instead of green rings, they turned into rings of fire, with Hot Red Dragon Archfiend being enveloped in a pillar of flame as the Double Tuned Synchro Monster began to form.

“Double what now?”

“Aloof, God of Destruction! Descend from your sacred realm and bring about the end! Hot Red Dragon Archfiend King Calamity!”
(Level 12, 4000 ATK 3500 DEF)

“What the fuck is that thing!?”

“This is my ultimate monster! When Hot Red Dragon Archfiend King Calamity is Synchro Summoned, you cannot activate cards or effects for the rest of this turn, not even in response to this card’s effect!”

“WHAT?”

“Battle Phase! Hot Red Dragon Archfiend King Calamity attacks your Red-Eyes Slash Dragon! Crimson Absolute Break!” Jack’s dragon launched a massive fireball towards Red’s Slash Dragon, incinerating it completely.
RED 6600 LP -> 5400 LP 5 SPC -> 4 SPC
“Furthermore! When Hot Red Dragon Archfiend King Calamity destroys a monster by battle, you take damage equal to its original attack!”
RED 5400 LP -> 2600 LP 4 SPC -> 2 SPC “I end my turn!”

“Fuck… looks like it’s all on this next draw!”

RED 2600 LP 3 SPC
HAND: 1
JACK 6900 LP 1 SPC
HAND: 1

“...I set one card face down and end my turn…”

“That’s your best? It’s all over for you! I draw!”

RED 2600 LP 4 SPC
HAND: 0
JACK 6900 LP 2 SPC
HAND: 2

“Battle phase! Hot Red Dragon Archfiend attacks your Red-Eyes Retro Dragon! Crimson Absolute Break!”

“Not so fast! I activate my Trap Card! Blazing Mirror Force! This card destroys all Attack Position monsters you control, and then burns both of us for damage equal to half the collective Attack!”

“What the-!?” Hot Red Dragon Archfiend King Calamity’s fireball was reflected back towards it by a magical barrier that suddenly enveloped Red’s Red-Eyes monster, with the collision resulting in a major explosion that caught both Duelists.

RED 2600 LP -> 600 LP 4 SPC -> 2 SPC
JACK 6900 LP -> 4900 LP 2 SPC -> 0 SPC

“When Hot Red Dragon Archfiend King Calamity is destroyed by battle or card effect, I can Special Summon Hot Red Dragon Archfiend from my Grave-”

“Sorry Jackie, but I’m afraid I can’t allow that either! I activate my facedown Solemn Judgement! By paying half my Life Points, I can negate absolutely anything! And that includes the summon of your dragon!”
RED 600 LP -> 300 LP
“Now go ahead, and say that phrase! You can do it!”

“I...end my turn-!”

“Alright! My draw!”

RED 300 LP 3 SPC
HAND: 1
JACK 4900 LP 1 SPC
HAND: 1

“I activate my facedown card! Return of the Red-Eyes! So long as I control a Red-Eyes Monster, once per turn I can Special Summon a Red-Eyes Normal Monster in my Graveyard! Revive, Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
(Level 7, 2400 ATK 1700 DEF)
"Now, I activate my next facedown card, Red-Eyes Spirit! This lets me Special Summon a Red-Eyes monster from my Graveyard! I Special Summon my Red-Eyes Slash Dragon!"
(Level 7, 2800 ATK 2400 DEF)
"Battle Phase! Red-Eyes Slash Dragon attacks directly!”
JACK 4900 LP -> 2100 LP 1 SPC -> 0 SPC
“It’s all over now! Red-Eyes Black Dragon! Direct attack! Inferno Fire Blast!” Red’s dragon launched a fireball towards Jack, with the console’s Duel Support screen turning completely red with bold white text on it saying LOSE as it suddenly stopped accelerating.
JACK 2100 LP -> 0 LP

“Master...I’ve failed you…” Jack said, as he and his D-Wheel disintegrated into a card not unlike Manjome just earlier that night

“Red! That was very impressive!” Luna said, flying to where Red had managed to stop his acceleration “

“Oh, hey Luna, how’d you see what was happening?”

“I had a spell planted on your subconscious when I first encountered you in the dream realm to monitor your thoughts to determine where you were, and it had occurred to me that I had not dispelled it yet. Speaking of which, I shall do that now.” Luna’s horn lighted up a gentle blue, as Red felt something snap in his head.

“Ow! Fuck that hurt! And why the fuck did you put a thought sensor on me!?”

“It was to monitor your position when I thought you were a threat to Equestria, and for not dispelling it earlier, I apologize.”

“Right, well, I think Jack turned into a card like Manjome did, so I’m gonna go check it out.”

Red Dragon Revival
Continuous Trap
Once per turn, you can target 1 DARK Dragon Monster in your GY; Special Summon it. If you control no monsters, you can activate this card from your hand.

“Damn, now this is a good card! You go back to Ponyville on your own, I’m gonna take the train if you don’t mind.”

“Very well, but we should discuss what these attacks could mean for Equestria as a whole, so I shall go with you.”

“Alright, do what you want, princess.”

**********************************************************

“So it seems that Jack has also failed, but he wasn’t broken like Manjome was, so I can still use him later if I so desire…” Said a voice in Tartarus “The time has almost come for me to break free of these shackles, and for Equestria, nay, the entire world to burn at my hands...But I just need a few more Ponies to be afraid of me, to be afraid of death itself for that to happen…So be it, I shall conjure another minion, this one shall just be weak enough to collect the energy I need to escape, nothing fancy like Jack was…”

Chapter 8: The Big Show Duel

Sleep was a very fickle mistress as far as Red was concerned. Normally, he was used to staying up for extended periods of time so that he could steal cards from Sector Security's vaults and escape before sunrise, usually met with heavy resistance from Security forces. However, between being rudely awoken in the middle of the night, having two life or death Duels, one of which being a Riding Duel, and a lengthy discussion about the potential danger facing Equestria, which was interrupted so that Luna could lower the moon, Red wanted nothing more than to reach Twilight’s guest room he was inhabiting for the time being and go to sleep.

“Well Luna, that was fun and all, but right now, I just want to go to-” Red began to say, before he was interrupted from a 50 story tall building emerging from the ground right behind him and Luna, as well as all of Ponyville suddenly turning into a big city not unlike Manehattan with the the skyline suddenly changing from the middle of the day to the middle of the night.

“What the-How could this be!?” Luna questioned “We had left Manehattan last night, and I lowered the moon to make way for my sister to raise the sun! How could time have been rewound like this!?”

“No, Luna, I think there's a Duel going on! But based on the fact that the Skyscraper Field Spell is active, I'm worried about who it is that's Dueling!” Red hurried to turn a corner, and both to his relief and confusion, instead of finding another human Dueling, he found two fillies Dueling, one of which having an orange coat and purple mane, while the other had a pink coat with a tiara of some sort on top of her bright purple mane

“So what? We've had a change in real estate! My Dragon is still stronger than your Hero!” the pink filly called out

“Yeah, but not for long! When an Elemental HERO battles a stronger monster, Skyscraper gives it 1000 ATK!”

“Wait, what!?”

“Elemental HERO Flame Wingman attacks your Cyber Dragon Infinity! Skydive Scorcher!” The orange filly’s monster jumped from a radio antenna on top of one of the buildings, engulfing itself in flames, and charging towards the cybernetic dragon in front of it, which it punched a hole through

Pink Filly 2300 LP -> 2100 LP

“And that's not all Diamond Tiara! When Flame Wingman destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard, you take damage equal to its original ATK!”

“What!?” Diamond Tiara looked up at her once proud dragon, only to see that its eyes were now lifeless, as it began to fall apart directly on top of her

Diamond Tiara 2100 LP -> 0 LP

“Wow! That was great Scootaloo!” A yellow filly with a bow in her hair called out, running towards the orange one

“Um, guys? Shouldn’t we make sure Diamond Tiara is alright?” A white unicorn filly asked, gesturing over to the crumbled remains of the Cyber Dragon Flame Wingman had just punctured

“I’m okay!” Called out Diamond Tiara, as the Solid Vision began to dissipate

“Hey, sorry to interrupt, but where did you get those?” Red said as he walked up to the group, pointing towards their Duel Disks

“Huh? Oh, these? Rainbow Dash gave them to us!” Scootaloo said, flapping her tiny wings as fast as possible to hover slightly above the ground

“She said that Starlight made more of them. Oh, and I’m Sweetie Belle, and this is our friend Applebloom! What’s your name?”

“The name’s Red, and Starlight made more Duel Disks how exactly?”

“Ah don’t know, somethin’ about her fancy magic.”

“Right, well, I guess I’ll get better answers if I confront her directly, nice meeting you!” Red began to walk towards Twilight’s castle, assuming that Starlight would be there, but was stopped when he heard Scootaloo yell to him

“Wait! Rainbow Dash told us you were an awesome Duelist who gave her these Duel Disk thingies, you wanna play?”

“Maybe later, but for now I gotta go, sorry!” Red responded, now running towards Twilight’s castle, Luna following behind him

“But doesn’t Starlight know the dangers of Duel Monsters?” Luna asked “Surely, she would have seen the bullet holes in your guest room, right?”

“I’m not sure, but that isn’t normal, Duel Disks aren’t supposed to have portable Solid Vision with mass projectors, and you saw that kid, Cyber Dragon Infinity fell apart right on top of her but she was no worse for wear, what happened last night isn’t natural.”

“Hey, wait up!” Red heard call out to him as he felt something keeping him from moving

“W-what the hell!? My body won’t move-! What’s going on!?”

“Yeah, sorry about this, but I had a feeling you would just run past me if I didn’t, but hi! My name’s Sunburst!” Red was lifted up and turned around to see an orange unicorn in what he guessed to be a blue cloak talking to him, the unicorn’s horn glowing light yellow, just like his entire body

“Sunburst...oh yeah, you’re the guy who’s supposed to help me get home, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s going to take some time, even with talented unicorns like me and Starlight with help from Princess Twilight, dimension magic is incredibly difficult, so it’s going to take a lot of time.”

“It’s alright, I spent some time in yet another alternate dimension, and I’ve got a guy there working on a way to get me home, so don’t worry about it, just, put me down, alright?”

“Oh! Of course!” Sunburst dispelled his magic, dropping Red, who proceded to fell on his face due to the sudden change in how he was oriented “Oh! Sorry about that!”

“No, it’s fine, I’ve had enough Riding Duel crashes for this to be nothing to me, and even then, the ground is way softer than back home.” Red stood up and saw the massive stage that he, Luna, Sunburst, and a large group of ponies were all standing in front of with raised curtains “Say, what’s this stage for?”

“It’s a show that my friends Trixie and Starlight are doing today! Apparently it’s to show off this new ‘Dual Creatures’ thing or something.”

“Duel Monsters!” a blue unicorn in a wizard hat poked her head out from behind the curtain to correct him

“Right, well I just got here so I don’t know much about this Duel Monsters game. Oh! It’s starting!”

The curtain on the stage pulled back to reveal a large white and blue dragon, along with two unicorns, one blue wearing a wizard’s hat and cloak, the other pink, who Red recognized to be Starlight

“Come one! Come all! Come to The Great and Powerful Trrrrrixie’s Duel Monster Demonstration Tour!” The blue unicorn said, and almost as if it had a cue, the dragon on the stage flew into the air, turning its blue wings red, as the crowd watched in amazement “Now, today one of you lucky ponies will get to try out this new spectacle by Dueling The Great and Powerful Trixie AND her Great and Powerful Assistant Starlight Glimmer! Who will it be?” Trixie scanned the crowd for eager ponies, only to have her eyes lock on Red, who stood out more than anyone else “How about the tall, red, and two legged creature? Surely he wants to try!”

“No.”

“What?”

“No.”

“Wha-Why not!?”

“Because I don’t want to.”

“Well fine! Is anypony else willing to Duel?”

“We sure is!” Called a voice from the side of Trixie’s stage as two humans, both of whom were wearing Duel Disks on their left arms, walked on stage “We ain’t no stinkin’ ponies, but we’re ready to Duel, ain’t dat right Tristan?”

“It sure is!” The other one responded, raising his Duel Disk “You ready to kick some serious ass Joey?”

“Well then, it appears that we have our challengers!” Trixie stated loudly, as Starlight walked up to her

“Uh, Trixie? You sure these are good show opponents? They seem a little dangerous, you sure we can take them?”

“Oh of course Starlight, I am Great and Powerful after all! Alright then, so in order to Duel, you’re going to need some of these Duel Disks-”

“Oh, we already have our own!” Tristan said, as both he and Joey activated their Duel Disks, the wings on both sides extending before uniting above the deck slot before sliding into place alongside the Graveyard slot

“Perfect! Now then, it’s time!” Trixie shouted shouted

DUEL

Trixie/Starlight 16000 LP
Hand: 5
Joey/Tristan 16000 LP
Hand: 5

“Red, shouldn’t you go up and Duel in their place?” Luna asked

“No, I’ve done my history work over the years, and from what I’ve learned, those two are Katsuya Jonouchi in the green jacket, and Hiroto Honda in the brown trench coat, although I’m not sure why they’ve changed their names to Joey and Tristan. Anyway, Jonouchi’s deck relies heavily on cards with random effects, meaning that while he consistently ranked high at tournaments, he lucked out on all his wins, and he’s an idiot on top of that, while Honda has no Dueling history, and he’s also an idiot, so I have no doubt in my mind that Starlight and Trixie can beat them, provided that they’re using even half decent decks.” Red responded

“But that’s still a massive risk! Go and stop them!”

“I can’t, they’ve already activated their Duel Disks, and once a Duel starts, the Disks won’t accept anymore challengers until the current Duel ends. Relax, it’ll be fine”

“I’ll go first!” Trixie shouted “When I control no monsters, I can Special Summon Linkslayer from my hoof, er, hand!"
(Level 5, 2000 ATK 600 DEF)
"Now, when I control a Cyberse monster, I can Special Summon Backup Secretary from my hoof, er, hand!"
(Level 3, 1200 ATK 800 DEF)
"Now I Normal Summon my Draconet!"
(Level 3, 1400 ATK 1200 DEF)
"When Draconet is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a level 2 or lower Normal Monster from my deck in Defence Position! I Special Summon my Bitron!"
(Level 2, 200 ATK 2000 DEF)
"Lastly, when a Cyberse monster is Normal Summoned to my field, I can Special Summon Boot Staggered from my hand!” (Level 5, 2300 ATK 500 DEF)

“So you all but emptied your hand just to summon a bunch of low level monsters?” Tristan asked from across the stage

“Yes, but it was so that I could do this! Appear! Uh, something, something, something, I use Digitron in the Link Marker! Appear, Link 1! Link Spider!" (Link 1, 1000 ATK)
"Yes! It worked! Now, I activate Link Spider’s effect! Once per turn, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Normal Monster to its Link arrow!” I Special Summon Bitron!” Trixie shouted, but nothing happened. Trixie continued to shout “Summon Bitron!” but to no avail until Starlight pulled up her field view.

“Uh, Trixie? You can’t actually use Link Spider’s effect, you summoned everything to the rightmost zones, you can’t actually summon Bitron.” She said, showing Trixie her field layout, Backup Secretary taking up the Main Monster Zone Link Spider pointed to.

“I knew that! So anyway, come back! Something, something, circuit, uh, I use my Link 1 Link Spider, Backup Secretary, Draconet, and Linkslayer in the Link Markers! Appear! Topologic Bomber Dragon!" (Link 4, 3000 ATK, ,,,)
"Now, I’ll set one card face down and end the turn.” A giant card appeared in front of Trixie, while most ponies in the audience were intimidated by her dragon, Luna included.

“Well then, I’m impressed that she managed to turbo out Topologic Bomber Dragon on her first turn, but she emptied the shit out of her hand to do it, I just hope she has that that face down card of hers is Scapegoat, otherwise she probably won’t be able to make use of it.” Red said.

“Wha-How are you able to say that so casually with a dragon like that right in front of you!?” Sunburst asked, practically yelling through his fear.

“My deck is full of dragons that visually speaking, make Topologic Bomber pale in comparison. If you think Trixie’s dragon is terrifying, just wait until you see me in action.” Red responded.

“And now it’s my turn!” Joey shouted as he drew.

Trixie/Starlight 16000 LP
Hand: 1
Joey/Tristan 16000 LP
Hand: 6

“In a tag Duel, I may not be able to attack on da first turn, but I can still smash yer monster with card effects!” Joey said “First, I’ll activate my Catalyst Field Field Spell card!” A flap opened on the rightmost side of Joey’s Duel Disk that he slid his card into, and as it closed the skyline in Ponyville changed to a bright purple as all the clouds disappeared. “Thank to dis change in scenery, not only can I Normal Summon Gemini monsters without tributing, I can Normal Summon dem’ twice per turn! First off, I Normal Summon my Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning!”
(Level 6, Gemini, 2500 ATK 1500 DEF)

“Wait, Red-Eyes? Red, isn’t that your deck?” Luna asked.

“Yes, but I run the Equip variant, as it lends itself better to Riding Duels where Speed World restricts my Spell Card usage, Jonouchi seems to be running the Gemini variant, but to his credit, anything would be better than those accursed gamble cards history recorded him using in his time.”

“Now, using Catalyst Field’s second effect, I Normal Summon, or I guess you could say Gemini Summon, my Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning!”
(Level 6, Gemini, 2500 ATK 1200 DEF)

“Wait, you summoned it twice? What point was there to doing that?” Starlight asked.

“Well you see, normally a Gemini is a Normal Monster, but by Normal Summoning it while it’s on da field, it becomes an effect monster wid’ a special power! And now I’m using dat power to wipe out all your monsters with lower Deffence Points than my Archfiend’s ATK, primarily dat dere dragon of yours!” Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning generated powerful electricity between its two claws before throwing it at Trixie’s Topologic Bomber Dragon, who was unfazed by the powerful surges of electricity. “Ay what gives!? That dragon shoulda been blasted to high hell!”

“It’s a Link Monster you dumbass!” Red shouted. “It doesn’t even have Defence Points in the first place!”

“Whatever, I’m still blastin’ it to hell! I use the third effect of Catalyst Field! Once per turn, I can Banish one of my Gemini monsters that has its effect to destroy one monster you control! I Banish my Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning to destroy your Bomber Dragon!” Joey’s Archfiend disappeared into thin air as Trixie’s Topologic Bomber Dragon exploded, leaving nothing but a giant card in front of her. “I set two cards and end my turn!”

“Well, my turn! I draw!” Starlight shouted as she waved her hoof in front of her, pulling up all the cards in her hand

Starlight/Trixie 16000 LP
Hand: 6
Joey/Tristan 16000 LP
Hand: 2

“For my first move, I activate my Pot of Desires! I banish the top ten cards of my deck face down, effectively removing them from the rest of the game entirely, and draw two cards!” Starlight watched as her Duel Disk emitted a screen with an animation of ten cards being removed from the top of a deck with a list of the banished cards appearing before her. “Good, nothing important.” she thought. “Now, I activate my Spellbook of Secrets! This lets me add a Spellbook card from my deck to the hand! I’ll add the Spellbook Magician of Prophecy, who I immediately Normal Summon!”
(Level 2, 500 ATK 400 DEF)
“Now I activate Spellbook Magician of Prophecy’s effect, letting me add another Spellbook to my hand, and I select my Spellbook of Knowledge, which I immediately activate! This lets me send a Spellcaster I control to the Graveyard to draw two cards! I send my Spellbook Magician of Prophecy and draw two more cards! Now, I activate my Ancient Leaf! If I have more than 9000 Life Points, I can pay 2000 of them to draw two cards!”
Starlight/Trixie 16000 LP -> 14000 LP

“Will you stop drawing and actually summon another monster already!?” Tristan yelled.

“Maybe, it all depends on my next few draws!” Starlight responded “Now I activate my Pot of Greed! This is like all my previous draw cards, but there’s no cost to pay!”

“AAAAHHHH! Stop stalling and actually Duel already!” Joey yelled.

“Show me where it says in the rule book that I can’t draw all these cards and I will!” Starlight responded. “Now I play Swords of Revealing Light!” A giant version of the card Starlight appeared in front of her, and with it, several swords made entirely of light flew directly in front of Joey and Tristan “For the next three turns, both of you will be unable to attack us! Now I activate Double Summon! This lets me Normal Summon again this turn, and I’ll use it to Normal Summon my second Spellbook Magician of Prophecy in Defence Position! And I’ll use his effect to search out my Spellbook of Secrets!”
(Level 2, 500 ATK 400 DEF)
“Now I’ll set three cards face down and end my turn!”

“During the End Phase, Catalyst Field will return my Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning!” Joey shouted as his monster returned
(Level 6, Gemini, 2500 ATK 1200 DEF)

“Well then, looks like it’s finally my turn!” Tristan shouted as he drew

Starlight/Trixie 14000 LP
Hand: 5
Tristan/Joey 16000 LP
Hand: 6

“Now then, these swords sure are an annoyance, but don’t worry, I have an out! I activate my Cosmic Cyclone! For the low cost of 1000 Life Points, I get to Banish a Spell or Trap on the Field! And my choice is these Swords of Revealing Light!” A cyclone appeared from Tristan’s card, which not only blew away the swords Starlight had blown away, but also caused them to dissipate entirely
Tristan/Joey 15000 LP
“Now that that’s taken care of, I summon my Cyber Dragon Core!”
(Level 2, 400 ATK 1500 DEF)
“When Cyber Dragon Core is Normal Summoned, I add a Cyber Spell or Trap to my hand! I add my Cyber Repair Plant! Now I activate my Machine Duplication! First I target a Machine type monster, such as my Cyber Dragon Core, then I Special Summon two more copies of it from my deck!”

“What’s even the point of that?” Trixie asked “Your ‘Dragon’ only has 500 Attack! Trixie can run over it with even her weakest monsters-” Trixie was interrupted when she saw the monsters summon through Machine Duplication
Cyber Dragon (Level 5, 2100 ATK 1600 DEF)
“That is very much a different Monster than what you just used!” Trixie screamed in terror

“Oh, did I forget to mention? Cyber Dragon Core’s name changes to just ‘Cyber Dragon’ while it’s on the field or in my Graveyard, and Machine Duplication only checks for namesake!” Tristan elaborated

“No, this isn’t right…” Red thought to himself. “Honda was never smart enough to abuse name changing like that, or any of the rulings related to it…” Red then took a closer look at Joey and Tristan’s faces, realizing that they both had black sclera “Those eyes-! Starlight! These aren’t the real Jonouchi and Honda! Try harder to kick their asses in a single move!” Red shouted.

“Got it! Finish him in a single move, finish him in a single move, finish him in a single move…” Starlight responded, trying to find a way to end the Duel that exact turn.

“Look, is your little talk finished yet? Because like it or not, I’m activating my Power Bond! This lets me summon a Machine type Fusion Monster and double its Attack, but during the End Phase, I take damage equal to the Attack boost!” Tristan shouted as he slid Power Bond into his Duel Disk’s Spell/Trap card slot.

“Ay, Tristan, you sure you know what you’re doin’?” Joey asked, with Tristan showing his hand to Joey as an answer. “Heh heh! I knew I could trust ya Tristan!”

“Now, I fuse the two Cyber Dragons on my field with the Cyber Dragon in my hand and summon my Cyber End Dragon!”
(Level 10, 4000 ATK -> 8000 ATK 2800 DEF)
“Now I activate my Limiter Removal! This will double Cyber End Dragon’s Attack, but destroy it at the end of the turn!”
(Cyber End Dragon 8000 ATK -> 16000 ATK)

“Woah, not good!” Starlight said, looking up in fear at the power of Tristan’s Cyber End Dragon.

“You know what the best part is? Cyber End Dragon inflicts piercing damage, so while your Magician is in Defence Position, you’ll still take the damage! Battle Phase! Cyber End Dragon attacks your Spellbook Magician of Prophecy! Evolution’s End!”

“Not so fast!” Starlight retorted “I activate my face down Defence Draw! This reduces all battle damage I take to 0, and then I get to draw a card!” Starlight’s Magician was incinerated by the blast from Cyber End Dragon, but her face down card flipped itself face up to create a barrier as a card was added to her hand display.

“Damnit! Well that’s not the only means of attacking I have this turn! I activate my De-Fusion! This will return my Cyber End Dragon to the Fusion Deck and Special Summon all three Cyber Dragons I used for the Fusion Summon!”

“That’s right!" Starlight shouted, having just remembered something that Red told her while explaining deck building to all of her friends while she was present. “Chains resolve backwards! So I’m activating my Ring of Destruction! I was hoping to win through Exodia’s instant victory condition, but this will do just fine!” A giant ring with grenades around all angles materialized around all three of Cyber End Dragon’s necks, entrapping them as it could only squirm hopelessly in a meaningless attempt to remove the explosive necklace.

“Um, Starlight?” Trixie asked “You do know that your card is GOING TO MAKE US LOSE AS WELL, RIGHT!?”

“Oh don’t worry Trixie, I’m prepared! I also activate my Rainbow Life Trap Card! I’ll discard Exodia, the Forbidden One as cost, and for the rest of this turn, whenever we would take effect damage, we gain that much Life instead!”

“Wait, Cyber End Dragon currently has 16000 Attack, so that means-!”

“Tristan you idiot!” The ring around all three necks of Tristan’s mechanical dragon exploded, causing a massive explosion that completely enveloped both humans.

Starlight/Trixie 14000 LP -> 30000 LP
Tristan/Joey 15000 LP -> 0 LP

“We’re not done with you just yet!” Red shouted as he ran up on stage and tried to punch Joey in the face before he had the chance to dissolve into a card, although as the smoke dissolved, he realized that he was just swinging at thin air, as they had both dissolved into cards. “Fuck! We could’ve questioned him about what was happening! Well, might as well look at the cards they left behind…”

Red-Eyes Dice
Trap Card
When a “Red-Eyes” monster you control battles another monster, select and apply 1 of these effects:
*Roll a 6 sided die; that “Red-Eyes” monster gains ATK equal to the die result X 300 until the End Phase
*Roll a 6 sided die; your opponent’s battling monster loses ATK equal to the die roll X 300 until the End Phase

Fighter’s Spirit
Quick-Play Spell Card
Target 1 Warrior type Normal Monster you control, it gains 2000 ATK until the End Phase

“God fucking damnit, I should’ve known Jonouchi would drop a stupid die related card, and Honda...I’m not sure if this is even good or not, but whatever, they’re cards, I guess I can sell them when I get back home or something.”

“Thank you! Trixie’s Duel Monster Demonstration Tour will be taking a quick break!” Trixie shouted as she used her magic to close the curtains to the stage again.

“So, Starlight,” Red began. “I was told you made more Duel Disks. How and why did you do that!?”

“Well, I used a conjuration spell I learned a few years ago to make a few casings out of some rocks my friend Maud found but didn’t need, then I used a copying spell to make more of the circuitry inside the one you gave me, and then I gave them out to some of my friends. I mean, it’s a fun game, so why not share the fun?” Starlight explained.

“Starlight...Couldn’t you have waited to talk to me about making new Duel Disks? This is kind of a big deal.”

“Sorry, you want me to go collect the Disks I handed out?”

“No, that would just make you seem like a total bitch, let’s just be thankful you survived that encounter, Luna and I need to talk to you and your friends about what’s been happening since last night back at the castle.”

“Well, that would explain why you were missing this morning, what’s up?”

“Guys?” Trixie said. “We better go back on soon, crowds don’t normally like to wait long, you willing to help out for a second showing Red?”

“Fine, I might as well.”

Trixie used her magic to open the curtains again and amplify her voice. “Welcome back! Now, for our second showcase, my Great and Powerful Assistant Starlight Glimmer shall Duel a visitor from another world! Now come on introduce yourself.”

“Uh, the name’s Red! Red Rocket! I hope you're ready for a good show!” Red said as he switched the deck in his Duel Disk for another deck in his hoodie pocket

DUEL

************************************************************

“Those two were complete idiots.” A creature in Tartarus thought to itself “But no matter, they were at least able to give me the last drops of fear I needed to regain my full power. I believe I shall leave this infernal place quietly, and perhaps focus my efforts on paying a visit to my old friend Starswirl, after all, I must repay him for giving me this ‘vacation’ as it were.” The creature grabbed a device on his arm similar to a Duel Disk and pulled a Duel Monster card from it “I activate Emergency Teleport!” And with his command, the creature faded out of Tartarus, and into Equestria.

Chapter 9: Red-Eyes vs Red-Eyes

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 10: Shadow Games

Author's Note

FINALLY
Sorry about the delay, but I've been having some internet troubles, I couldn't connect my computer to the internet, and while my phone could connect, I couldn't figure out how to make a blog post on the mobile version of Fimfiction
But seeing as I've been consistently late, I'm gonna back my deadline up to every other week, but still updating a week early if I get a chapter finished by then

Chapter 10: Shadow Games

Red 8000 LP
Hand: 6
Yugi 8000 LP
Hand: 1

Red could feel the pressure of the situation in the air "Holy shit! I-I'm Dueling Yugi Muto! The Duel King!" He thought to himself "But how am I gonna go about this? He has Illusion Magic and Magician Navigation facedown, and his Circle will Banish one of my cards whenever Dark Magician is Summoned...How to go about this..."

"Scared, aren't you?" Yugi taunted from across the room "Spare us both the trouble and give up! My Dark Magicians are unbeatable!"

"I don't think you'll be so smug when I activate this card! Heavy Storm!" Red shouted as he slid his card into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap slot, causing a harsh windstorm to kick up in the castle "Heavy Storm destroys all Spells and Traps on the field, so say goodbye to your precious circle!"

"I have other plans! I activate my Solemn Judgement Trap Card! By paying half of my Life Points, this can negate the activation of a Spell or Trap or the Summon of a monster!" As Yugi's card flipped up, the windstorm Red's card caused instantly died down, with the card it originated from shattering like a mirror
Yugi 8000 LP -> 4000 LP

"Well then, looks like I'll have to summon Gearfried, the Red-Eyes Iron Knight!"
(Level 4, 1800 ATK 1600 DEF)

"Well then, I don't know what you're planning with that, but I won't allow it! I activate my Illusion Magic!" Yugi shouted as he pressed a button on the back of his Duel Disk "This card lets me tribute a Spellcaster I control to add 2 copies of Dark Magician from my deck or Graveyard to my hand, and I tribute my Magician's Rod!"

"So what? I'm still able to activate the effect of-"

"That's not all! Because I activated a Spell or Trap Card on my opponent's turn, I can Special Summon Magician of Dark Illusion from my hand, in Defence Position!"
(Level 7, 2100 ATK 2500 DEF)
"And there's even more! When Magician of Dark Illusion is on my field, its name changes to Dark Magician, meaning that it triggers my Dark Magical Circle!" As Yugi's shadow cloaked magician materialized, the circle surrounding both Duelists began to shine brighter than previously before "When Dark Magician is summoned to my field, my Dark Magical Circle allows me to Banish one card on my opponent's field, and I target your Iron Knight!"

Red watched in anger as his knight simply vanished in front of him, not even exploding as if it were destroyed "Damnit...Well, I set two cards face down and end my turn!"

"It's my turn! I draw!"

Red 8000 LP
Hand: 3
Yugi 4000 LP
Hand: 3

"During the Draw Phase, I activate my face down card! Heavy Storm Duster! I can't go into my Battle Phase, but I can destroy up to two of your Spells or Traps! I target your Dark Magical Circle and that face down right beside it!" Red shouted

"I activate my other face down card! Wiretap! This Trap Card negates another Trap Card for free, then it shuffles that Trap back into its owner's deck!" Yugi shouted, pressing another button on his Duel Disk. Red grit his teeth as he took put his card on top of his deck and allowed the auto shuffle to bury it deep in his deck

"Now then, if you won't interfere anymore, I activate my face down Magician Navigation! This allows me to Special Summon Dark Magician from my hand, and a Level 7 or lower DARK Spellcaster from my deck!" Red watched in awe as Yugi's world famous ace monster appeared before him, but was confused to see it wearing bright red armor instead of the purple it was usually depicted in
(Level 7, 2500 ATK 2100 DEF)
"Now, from the deck, I summon another Magician of Dark Illusion!"
(Level 7, 2100 ATK 2500 DEF)
"Now, my Dark Magical Circle activates! I Banish your face down card!"

"To that, I chain my face down Ring of Destruction!" Red shouted as a ring of grenades materialized around the Dark Magician's neck "This destroys a monster on the field and inflicts damage to both of us equal to its original Attack!" The grenades then proceded to explode, destroying Yugi's monster with them
Red 8000 LP -> 5500 LP
Yugi 4000 LP -> 1500 LP

"I shift my Magician of Dark Illusion to Attack Position! Battle Phase! Both of my Magicians of Dark Illusion attack you directly!" Red was blown across the room after being blasted directly by magic from both of Yugi's magicians

"What the hell?" Red thought to himself as he pulled himself off the floor "Why did that actually have impact? Could this be the power of Equestrian Magic?"
Red 5500 LP -> 3400 LP -> 1300 LP

"Now, on Main Phase 2, I I overlay the Level 7 Magician of Dark Illusion with another Magician of Dark Illusion! With these two monsters I build the Overlay Network!" Yugi shouted as he placed both his monster cards on top of eachother

"A Rank 7 on Main Phase 2?" Red thought to himself

"XYZ Summon! Appear, Ebon High Magician, in Defence Position!" Red looked in awe as Yugi's two shadowy magicians flew into a red portal that appeared before Yugi, and as his new magician appeared from it with two orbs floating around it as if it had a gravitational pull
(Rank 7, 2300 ATK 2800 DEF, 2 OLU)
"I end my turn!"

"Kaiba Corp mass production Disks had XYZ animations patched into them? Er, I draw!"

Red 1300 LP
Hand:4
Yugi 1500 LP
Hand: 2

"Damn, never expected Yugi to be able to Duel this fast..." Red thought to himself "But, to be fair, cards did suck back in his time period, but anyway, how am I gonna get myself out of this mess? He hasn't even begun to budge like Jonouchi did...Now let's see here...I just drew Graceful Charity, please give me something I can work with!" Red slid his new card into a slot underneath one of his Duel Disk's Main Monster Zones as a giant version of the card he played appeared in front of him "I activate Graceful Charity! This lets me draw three cards!"

"But then you have to discard two of them!" Yugi said

"Let's see here, I've got Black Metal Dragon, Mage Power, Return of the Dragon Lords, Pot of Greed, Red Reboot and Red-Eyes Black Dragon...Pot of Greed is a free +1 so I can't toss that, and Red Reboot just might buy me the turn of free set up that I need to build a board to beat Yugi so that has to stay, but wait! Yugi only won Battle City because he had Jonouchi's Red-Eyes! That might just be the key!" Red thought to himself before putting his plan into motion "I discard my Mage Power Equip Spell and Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" He said, making sure to show Yugi the Red-Eyes Black Dragon card before placing it in the Graveyard slot on his Duel Disk

"Red-Eyes Equip? I used to know a Duelist who also played Red-Eyes with an Equip theme." Yugi remarked as Red's face lit up, hoping he had begun to crack away at the magic controlling Yugi "He was a pathetic Duelist who didn't deserve a single one of his victories!"

"I activate Pot of Greed!" Red shouted as a giant version of the titular Greedy Pot appeared in front of him "Its mystical magic allows me to draw two more cards from my deck!" After Red drew his cards, the pot promptly exploded, yet caused no damage to the surrounding area
*********************************************************
Twilight heard a loud rumble that woke her up from her dream of books taking over the world, with Twilight inexplicably ruling as its new queen "Huh? What was that? I better go make sure Red and Spike aren't breaking something downstairs..." She muttered to herself as she reluctantly got out of her bed and began to walk to the source of the loud rumble
*********************************************************
"Sweet! I drew into this card! Pot of Desires!" Red shouted "This card is a lot like Pot of Greed, but it requires me to Banish the top ten cards from my deck face down, which basically renders them as untouchable for the rest of the game!"

"You're willing taking options away from yourself? You Red-Eyes players are something else." Yugi said in a dismissive tone of voice

"Oh shut up!" Red retorted as he drew his cards and began planning his next move "Now let's see, in total I drew into Red-Eyes Insight, Red Dragon Revival, and XYZ Veil...I got it! I'll keep his from targeting that monster, and create a stalemate!" Red thought to himself "Because I control no monsters, I can activate my Red Dragon Revival Trap Card from my hand!"

"A Trap Card from the hand!?" Yugi responded

"That's right! And once per turn, Red Dragon revival lets me Special Summon a DARK Dragon type monster from my Graveyard! And I'm pretty sure it's obvious which one I'm going for! Revive! My heart and soul! Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
(Level 7, 2400 ATK 1700 DEF)
Red looked on in joy as Yugi appeared to struggle with a headache in a manner not unlike Manjome and Jonouchi before him "Now, I activate my Red-Eyes Insight! This lets me dump a Red-Eyes from my hand or deck to the Graveyard, then it lets me add a Red-Eyes Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand! I'm dumping my Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon, and searching my Red-Eyes Fury Equip Spell!"

"I activate the XYZ effect of my Ebon High Magician!" Yugi shouted "By using one Overlay Unit, I can activate a Quick Play Spell Card or any Trap Card from my hand during my opponent's turn!" One of the orbs floating around Yugi's XYZ monster flew directly into its staff as it proceded to chant an unintelligible magical incantation, before Yugi's Trap Card appeared next to his Continuous Spell "Eternal Soul! This lets me Special Summon Dark Magician from my hand or Graveyard! And I-"

"Chain Red Reboot!" Red interrupted

"What!? Another Trap Card from the hand!?"

"Take a good look in the mirror! Anyway, I can play Red Reboot from my hand by paying half my Life Points!"
Red 1300 LP -> 650 LP
"Red Reboot is a Trap Card that negates your Trap Card, sets it face down, and lets you set another Trap from the deck, but you can't activate Traps for the rest of the turn!"

"Damnit! Well, I set my Magician Navigation from the deck! Just make sure you don't regret giving it to me!" Yugi taunted as his cards returned face down

"So! Now that I'm free to set up my road to victory, I activate my Return of the Dragon Lords! This lets me Special Summon a Level 7 or 8 Dragon type from my Graveyard, and my choice is my Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon!"
(Level 7, Gemini, 2400 ATK 1700 DEF)
"Now, the winning play! I overlay the Level 7 Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon! With these two monsters I build the Overlay Network! Rise, the hellish flame dragon of legend! My flaming anger incarnate! Rank 7! Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon!" Red's two dragons turned into floating orbs and flew into a red portal that appeared before Red in a manner not unlike Yugi's magician, before a larger dragon coated in metal appeared with both orbs orbiting around it and roared
(Rank 7, 2800 ATK 2400 DEF, 2 OLU)
"Now, I set one card and end my turn!"

"It's my draw!"

Red 650 LP
Hand: 2
Yugi 1500 LP
Hand: 2

"I activate my Eternal Soul! I use its effect to Special Summon Dark Magician from my Graveyard!" Yugi shouted as he pressed a button on the back of his Duel Disk, with his crimson clad magician appearing soon after
(Level 7, 2500 ATK 2100 DEF)

"The effect of Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon activates!"

"What?"

"While Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon has XYZ material, not only can it not be destroyed by card effects, but everytime you activate a card or effect, you take 500 damage, and seeing as you activated both your Eternal Soul and its effect this turn, that adds up to 1000 damage!" Red shouted as his dragon proceded to throw a stream of fire towards Yugi
Yugi 1500 LP -> 1000 LP -> 500 LP

"What? But how could your monster have an effect like that?"

"Dude, didn't you read the card on your Disk? Or if you can't, it's fully within your rights to ask me to read it off for you, it's face up on the field, and therefore its Rank, number of remaining Overlay Units, Attack, Defence, Attribute, type and effects are all public knowledge. You do know that, right?" Yugi stood there, speechless at how his simple misplay cost him the game, as his Dark Magician was summoned in Attack Position, and activating the effect of Dark Magical Circle would cost him the game, and both Duelists stood there, speechless, until Red broke the silence

"...Hey, Yugi! You still there? If you don't make a play in 10 seconds, the Duel Disk anti stall is going to declare it to be my turn. You're just gonna stand there? Ok then, my turn I guess, I'll make this quick."

Red 650 LP
Hand: 3
Yugi 500 LP
Hand: 2

"I Equip my Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon with my Black Metal Dragon! I can equip this monster from my hand or field to a Red-Eyes Monster I control as an Equip Spell, and it gains 600 Attack Points!"
(Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon 2800 ATK -> 3400 ATK)
"Battle Phase! Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon! Attack his Dark Magician! Hell Flame Burst!" Red's flaming dragon launched a massive stream of fire from its mouth towards Yugi's magician, incinerating it completely, and reaching far enough to burn Yugi himself
Yugi 500 LP -> 0 LP

Yugi said nothing as he faded into light, leaving no traces of his existence, except for two cards that Red picked up, one of which being the only proof to Starlight Glimmer's existence as well
"I better take these to my room and find a safe place for Starlight and Trixie, and Twilight needs to be told in the morning." Red thought to himself as he walked back to his room

"Spike, are you and Red breaking anything?" Twilight asked, not having reached the castle foyer until Red was completely out of ear shot "Just what in Equestria was that? Ugh, I'm going back to bed..."

*********************************************************
The next morning, Twilight was running frantically through the castle "Starlight? Starlight?" She called, until she ran past her guest rooms when she heard a loud shout from the other side of a door

"That's it!" It said, with Twilight cautiously walking in to investigate

"Oh, it's just you Red, what's what?"

"My new deck of course!" Red said, reminding Twilight of how others described her after several sleepless nights

"I see, what's so special about it, exactly?"

"Well you see, Legendary Duelists from my world who have died have been appearing throughout Equestria for some reason, right? Well, just last night, I had to Duel Jonouchi and get this, Yugi Muto himself! He's like, the greatest Duelist of his time!" Red said, with Twilight noticing that his eyes were completely bloodshot, a fact that he didn't even bother trying to hide with his goggles

"Right, so what does that have to do with your deck? Also, just wondering, but how long have you been up?" Twilight asked, a sense of caution in her voice

"Well, Luna grabbed me in the middle of the night just two days ago, so I'd say somewhere between 30 and 36 hours! But back on topic, one of the Duelists I had to Duel was Jack Atlas! I don't remember if I told you this, but he's what's known as a Signer, there's 6 of them, and they all have these special dragon Synchro monsters that are linked to their Souls, and while they've never been reprinted out of both respect for the Signers and the simple fact that none of the experimental prototypes worked right, they have printed retrains of them in celebration of how the Signers have saved the world like, two or three times! I have a full set that I keep with me at all times for good luck!" Red excitedly said

"Okay, slow down, I'm barely understanding what you're saying, not even Pinkie Pie gets as derailed as you are right now."

"Well, I've had to Duel four Duelists from my world so far, and when I used cards that they would have been familiar with in life, I broke them basically! Because they're all off somehow, but after I break them, they go back to being normal! So if I have to Duel anymore Signers, my new deck is designed to just shit out all the Signer Dragon retrains at once! They're all Level 7 or 8, so that just makes it easier for me!"

"Right, well have you seen Starlight? I just got a letter from Princess Celestia and I need to talk to her about it!" Twilight said, a sense of urgency apparent in her voice, with the mention of Starlight seeming to calm Red down

"Oh, well, you remember how I told you about Penalty Games, right?Well, I'm not sure how to put it, but, um..." Red pressed a series of buttons on his Duel Disk's touch screen, and ejected his Side Deck, where he proceded to show Twilight what remained of Starlight and Trixie

"Oh no-! Starlight! Trixie!" Twilight was speechless at the cards Red held out to her, a sense of guilt washing over both of them

"I'm sorry, there was nothing I could do, some Duelists broke in last night, they beat Trixie before coming to Duel me, and by the time I found Starlight, the Duel was already over basically, and even then, Duel Disks automatically reject all other forms of communication, except for spectating, while a Duel is in progress, Dueling is just that important where I'm from. I'm sorry." Red said

"I see, well, maybe Celestia will know a way we can save them, she wants us to come meet her in Canterlot, Luna's already gone ahead of us, you and Spike go wait at the train station, I'll go get the girls!" Twilight said with a sense of urgency

"Alright, got it! To the train station with Spike!" Red replied, ducking back into the guest room to grab his goggles and D-Board, lodging the Board in between his black and red shirts while leaving the red hoodie behind "Well, guess I'm finally going to meet this 'Princess Celestia' everyone's been raving about." He thought as he made off to find Spike

Chapter 11: The Enemy Revealed

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 12: Magnetic Attraction

“Fluttershy! Come on!” Applejack yelled as she and Fluttershy frantically ran through the streets of Canterlot. “We gotta cover a lotta’ ground if we’re hopin’ to find somepony ta’ help!”

“I know! It’s just that...I don’t have..the same stamina...as you!” Fluttershy responded, gasping for air as her run turned into a slow walk. “You go on ahead...I’ll catch up...Later…”

“Oh fine, ah’ll look around this area, you just sit down and catch yer’ breath, alright?” Applejack said as Fluttershy sat down on the ground, simply nodding as she caught her breath.

“Actually, I do believe you won’t have to worry about catching your breath.” The two mares heard a voice say as a human walked around a corner, a Duel Disk on his arm. “But before I defeat you, would either of you be so kind as to tell me where I can find a man by the name of ‘Red Rocket’? Or 6 mares by the names of Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy or Applejack?”

“Looks like that won’t be a problem either, cause ah’m Applejack, an’ this here one’s Fluttershy.” Applejack said as Fluttershy tried hiding behind her.

“Well then, Miss Applejack, Miss Fluttershy, sorry to say, but I can’t allow you to leave here in your current form, master’s orders.” The human responded. “But to reciprocate the introduction, my name is Daichi Misawa, I was the second best Duelist at Duel Academia to Judai Yuki, but I don’t expect you to know me. Now, shall we get this over with?”

“If it’s a Duel yer’ lookin for, me an’ Fluttershy ain’t standin’ down!” Applejack said, a competitive look in her eyes.

“Um, Applejack, I think it’d be better if we-” Fluttershy began before being cut off.

“Very well then, we’ll play by the rules of a Triangle Duel, each of us will have 8000 Life Points, our own field, no player may draw nor attack on their first turn, and none of us will share Extra Monster Zones, really, the odds are heavily in your favour.” Daichi said.

“Fine by me!” Applejack said.

“Wait, Applejack-!”

DUEL

Applejack 8000 LP
Fluttershy 8000 LP
Daichi 8000 LP

“Normally, I’m an advocate of ladies first, but since this is two on one, I’ll take the first turn!” Daichi shouted. “I’ll begin this Duel by playing my Future Fusion Continuous Spell! On my next Standby Phase, I am permitted to reveal a Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck and send the listed Fusion Materials from my deck to the Graveyard, then on my following Standby Phase, Summon the revealed Fusion Monster! Now, I’ll Normal Summon Gamma The Electromagnetic Warrior in Defence Position!”
(Level 3, 800 ATK 2000 DEF)
“When Gamma The Electromagnetic Warrior is Normal or Special Summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Magnet Warrior from my hand! Come forth! Beta the Electromagnetic Warrior!”
(Level 3, 1500 ATK 1500 DEF)
“When Beta The Electromagnetic Warrior is Normal or Special Summoned, I can add a Level 4 or Lower Magnet Warrior to my hand. I’ll use this effect to add Alpha, the Electromagnetic Warrior to my hand. Lastly, I’ll set two cards and end my turn.” As Daichi placed the cards in his Duel Disk’s Spell/Trap slots, giant holograms of the face down in front of him.

“Mah turn!” Shouted Applejack as she swiped her hoof in front of her face, causing holographic images of her cards to appear in front of her.

Applejack 8000 LP
Hand: 5
Fluttershy 8000 LP
Hand: 5
Daichi 8000 LP
Hand: 1

“First off, ah’ Summon Sunseed Genius Loci!” Applejack tapped an image of the card in front of her as it dissipated and her monster appeared in front of her.
(Level 1, 0 ATK 0 DEF)

“Are you sure you want to leave a 0 Attack monster on the field in Attack Position?” Daichi asked. “It doesn’t even have an effect, what could you possibly be planning with it?”

“Ah’m plannin’ this! Appear! The, uh, shoot, what was it that Red always says? The er, guiding circuit that leads to, uh, victory!” Applejack said as the Link Monster border appeared above her in the air. “Yes!” She thought to herself. “I don’t know the song, but I use Sunseed Genius Loci to Summon Sunavalon Dryas!” As Applejack’s seed monster flew into the Link Marker of the monster she was summoning, a giant tree began to sprout from the ground behind her without damaging any of the surrounding area.
(Link 1, 0 ATK, )
“Now, I activate the Gaia Power Field Spell! This boosts up the power of all EARTH Monsters by 500 points, but lowers there Defences by 400! Now, since this here tree don’t have no Defence Points to worry about, it’s a straight bonus!”

“But don’t forget!” Daichi interrupted. “All of my Magnet Warriors are EARTH Attribute as well, so in the long run, you’re simply accomplishing nothing.”
(Sunavalon Dryas 0 ATK -> 500 ATK)
(Gamma The Electromagnetic Warrior 800 ATK -> 1300 ATK 2000 DEF -> 1600 DEF)
(Beta The Electromagnetic Warrior 1500 ATK -> 2000 ATK 1500 DEF -> 1100 DEF)

“Lastly, ah set a card and end the turn.” As Applejack tapper her card, it disappeared from her list of cards and and larger hologram of it appeared in front of her, albeit face down like Daichi’s.

“It’s m-my turn…” Fluttershy said.

Applejack 8000 LP
Hand: 3
Fluttershy 8000 LP
Hand: 5
Daichi 8000 LP
Hand: 1

“I’ll Summon Fluffal Rabbit in Defence Position…”
(Level 1, 300 -> 800 ATK 1200 -> 800 DEF)
“I end my turn…”

“What!? Ya can’t just play one card and end your turn!” Applejack shouted.

“Well then, looks like it’s my turn!” Daichi interjected. “Draw!”

Applejack 8000 LP
Hand: 3
Fluttershy 8000 LP
Hand: 4
Daichi 8000 LP
Hand: 2

“One turn has passed, so Future Fusion will go into effect!” Daichi shouted.

“Hold on!” Applejack responded. “Fluttershy still has cards to play! Let her continue her turn!”

“Sorry, but when a Duelist announces the end of their turn, the next player must begin their turn, and refusing to do so results in an automatic disqualification. Now, as I was saying, with Future Fusion, I'll reveal Imperion Magnum the Superconductive Battlebot from my Extra Deck and send Valkyrion the Magna Warrior and Berserkion the Electromagna Warrior, its listed Fusion Materials, from my Main Deck to the Graveyard, and Special Summon it during my next Standby Phase!” Daichi shouted as a faint outline of his Fusion Monster appeared behind him.

“So next turn, you’re gonna summon that thing!?” Applejack said.

“That’s right! But now, I’m going to Normal Summon my Alpha The Electromagnetic Warrior!”
(Level 3, 1700 -> 2200 ATK 1100 -> 700 DEF)
“When Alpha The Electromagnetic Warrior is Normal or Special Summoned, I can adda Level 8 Magna Warrior to my hand! And I’m choosing Berserkion The Electromagna Warrior! Lastly, by Banish my Alpha, Beta, and Gamma The Electromagnetic Warriors, I can Special Summon Berserkion the Electromagna Warrior from my hand!”
(Level 8, 3000 -> 3500 ATK 2800 -> 2400 DEF)
“Applejack!” Daichi shouted. “I know you want me to attack your directly and activate the effect of your Sunavalon Dryas, so my attack target shall be Fluttershy! Battle Phase! Berserkion the Electromagna Warrior! Attack Fluttershy’s Fluffal Rabbit! Electromagnetic Division!”

“Ah won’t let ya!” Applejack shouted. “I activate Quaking Mirror Force! When an opponent declares an attack, this changes all their monsters to face down Defence Position, and ya can’t change it back!”

“An admirable attempt, but not good enough! I activate Seven Tools of the Bandit! At the cost of 1000 Life Points, this negates your Trap and destroys it!” As soon as Daichi’s card flipped itself face up, Applejack’s card began to spark in malfunction, before being destroyed in the same fashion as a monster as Daichi’s monster slashed through Fluttershy’s Rabbit in a clean swipe.
Daichi 8000 LP -> 7000 LP

“With that, I end my turn.”

“Here I go! Draw!” Applejack shouted.

Applejack 8000 LP
Hand: 4
Fluttershy 8000 LP
Hand: 4
Daichi 7000 LP
Hand: 1

“Well, first ah summon another Sunseed Genius Loci!”
(Level 1, 0 -> 500 ATK 0 DEF)
“Now, I use Sunseed Genius Loci and Sunavalon Dryas to summon mah Sunavalon Dryades!” As Applejack’s seed flew into the Link border, the tree behind her grew larger, and developed what could be mistaken for a face by the trunk.
(Link 2, 0 -> 500 ATK ,,)

“So you grew your tree.” Daichi said. “I still know better than to attack it unless I can wipe out your Life Points in a single attack.”

“Oh, you will be-!” Applejack said under her breath. “Now ah set two cards and that’s that! Your turn Fluttershy!”

“I dr-draw!”

Applejack 8000 LP
Hand: 1
Fluttershy 8000 LP
Hand: 5
Daichi 7000 LP
Hand: 1

“I Summon my Fluffal Dog in Defence Position…”
(Level 4, 1700 -> 2200 ATK 1000 -> 600 DEF)
“On Summon, Fluffal Dog lets me add a Fluffal Monster from my deck to my hand, and I’ll add Fluffal Cat to my hand. Lastly, I’ll set two cards and end my turn.”

“Very good, now I’ll draw for my turn!” Daichi shouted.

Applejack 8000 LP
Hand: 1
Fluttershy 8000 LP
Hand: 3
Daichi 7000 LP
Hand: 2

“The Future is now! With the power of Future Fusion, I summon my Imperion Magnum the Superconductive Battlebot!”
(Level 10, 4000 -> 4500 ATK 4000 -> 3500 DEF)

“I activate mah Bottomless Trap Hole!” Applejack shouted as her face down card revealed itself. “This destroys your Monster, then Banishes it!”

“I chain the effect of Imperion Magnum the Superconductive Battlebot! Once per turn, during either player’s turn, I can negate the activation of a Spell or Trap Card, or Monster effect!” Daichi shouted in response.

“Shoot-!”

“Now I activate my Pot of Greed card! This lets me draw 2 new cards! Now, Applejack, I finally have the cards needed to deal with your tree, since you intend on being so aggressive.”

“What?”

“First, I activate my Mystical Space Typhoon! This will destroy your face down card!” As Daichi put the card in his Duel Disk and the card materialized itself in front of him, a powerful gust of wind blew towards Applejack’s face down card, destroying it. “Now, I activate Forbidden Chalice! This will increase the Attack power of your Sunavalon Dryades by 400 points!”
(Sunavalon Dryades 500 ATK -> 900 ATK)

“Huh? What was the point of that?” Applejack asked.

“Because Forbidden Chalice also negates the affected Monster’s effect!”

“What!?”

“Now I activate my United We Stand Equip Spell! I’ll Equip it to my Imperion Magnum, increasing its Attack by 800 for each monster I control!”
(Imperion Magnum 4500 ATK -> 6100 ATK”
“Battle Phase! Berserkion the Electromagna Warrior attacks Sunavalon Dryades! Electromagnetic Division!” Following its master’s command, Daichi’s monster lept into the air and cleaved through Applejack’s tree in a single slash, with the tree exploding into countless shards.
Applejack 8000 LP -> 5400 LP
“Now, Imperion Magnum! Attack Applejack directly! Magnum Cleave!” Without hesitation, Daichi’s Monster rushed straight for Applejack, knocking her into the air with its upwards slash.
Applejack 5400 LP -> 0 LP

“Applejack!” Fluttershy yelled in shock at the sight of her friend being launched into the air.

“Don’t bother.” Daichi said. “She’s already been turned into a card, can you see it?”

Fluttershy looked up at what remained of Applejack and was horrified to see a card with her friend’s name on it land where the mare once stood. “Applejack…!”

“Yes, get a good look at that card, for very soon, you too will be but a card-”

“How DARE you!?” Fluttershy yelled, cutting Daichi off. “Applejack was a nice pony and one of my best friends! The Duel continues NOW!”

“Very well then, as per the rules of a Triangle Duel, when a player loses, all cards on their field are destroyed by game mechanics, including her Field Spell.” Daichi said.
(Imperion Magnum 6100 ATK -> 5600 ATK 3600 DEF -> 4000 DEF)
(Berserkion 3500 ATK -> 3000 ATK 2400 DEF -> 2800 DEF)
(Fluffal Dog 2200 ATK -> 1700 ATK 600 DEF -> 1000 DEF)

“It’s my turn! I draw!” Fluttershy shouted.

Applejack 0 LP
Hand: NA
Fluttershy 8000 LP
Hand: 4
Daichi 7000 LP
Hand: 0

“First, I’ll play my Twin Twisters! By discarding Fluffal Cat from my hand, I’ll destroy both your United We Stand Equip Spell and your face down card!” Fluttershy shouted.

“I activate the effect of Imperium Magnum, negating your Twister!” Daichi shouted.

“Good! That’s just what I was counting on!”

“What?”

“Because Now I activate my Dark Hole! This destroys all monsters on the field!” As Fluttershy punched her card’s hologram, a massive black hole appeared between both her and Daichi, sucking in all their Monsters, and destroying them.

“Big mistake!” Daichi shouted. “When Imperion Magnum is destroyed by battle or card effect, I can Special Summon Valkyrion the Magna Warrior and Berserkion from my deck ignoring the Summoning conditions, and when Berserkion is destroyed by battle or card effect, I can Special Summon the Electromagnetic Warriors used to summon it!”

“I activate my face down card! Soul Drain!” Fluttershy shouted as her card revealed itself at her command. “By paying 1000 Life Points, this negates all effects in the Graveyard!”
Fluttershy 8000 LP -> 7000 LP

“What!?”

“And that’s not all! I activate my own Future Fusion! You’ll see what I’m going to make next turn, and the turn after, I Summon it!” Fluttershy shouted. “I end my turn!”

“I-I draw!” Daichi said.

Applejack 0 LP
Hand: NA
Fluttershy 7000 LP
Hand: 0
Daichi 7000 LP
Hand: 1

“By jove, what could have caused such a sudden change in demeanor!?” Daichi thought to himself when he looked at his hand. “I-I’m shaking? Could I actually be afraid of her? A little pony?”

“Well? Play your card already!” Fluttershy shouted.

“I-I Summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior!”
(Level 4, 1400 ATK 1700 DEF)
“Battle Phase! Alpha, attack her directly!” Daichi’s Warrior slashed directly at Fluttershy, who didn’t even flinch from the attack, despite it cutting off a small piece of her mane and leaving a scratch on the side of her face.
Fluttershy 7000 LP -> 5600 LP
“I-I end my turn!”

“I draw!”

Applejack 0 LP
Hand: NA
Fluttershy 5600 LP
Hand: 1
Daichi 7000 LP
Hand: 0

“My Future Fusion activates! I’ll reveal Frightfur Wolf from my Extra Deck, and now from my deck, I’ll send Edge Imp Sabres, along with my 3 copies of Fluffal Bear, 2 remaining copies of Fluffal Cat, 2 remaining copies of Fluffal Dog, 3 copies of Fluffal Mouse, 2 remaining copies of Fluffal Rabbit, and 3 copies of Fluffal Wings!” As Fluttershy listed off her Fusion Materials, silhouettes of each of them appeared before Daichi before fading from existence.

“Wait, how many monsters are you sending to the Graveyard!?” Daichi asked.

“Sixteen!” Fluttershy responded. “Frightfur Wolf only requires 1 Fluffal Monster, but it gains an additional attack for each Fluffal used as Fusion Material, so at it stands now, that will give it 15 attacks each Battle Phase!”

“It can attack how many times!?”

“I’m only getting started!” Fluttershy shouted. “Now I activate my Pot of Greed! This one card gives me two more cards! And they’re both good ones! I activate Frightfur Patchwork! This adds an Edge Imp Monster and Polymerization to my hand! The Edge Imp I’m after is Edge Imp Saw! Now, I activate my Polymerization! This will fuse my Edge Imp Saw with the Fluffal Dog on my field! Lord of Steel and Lord of Smiles unite! Become one to win this fight! Fusion Summon! Arise! Frightfur Leo!”
(Level 7, 2400 ATK 2000 DEF)
“Now, from my hand I activate Frightfur Fusion! This lets me perform a Fusion Summon by Banishing materials from my field or Graveyard! I’ll Banish my Edge Imp Sabres and Fluffal Bear! By jamming a pair of scissors through a teddy bear, the demonic power is awoken! Appear! Frightfur Bear!”
(Level 6, 2200 ATK 1800 DEF)

“Wait, so you sent your entire deck to the Graveyard as a Fusion resource!?” Daichi thought out loud.

“That’s right!” Fluttershy responded. “Battle Phase! Frightfur Bear attacks Alpha the Magnet Warrior! Frightfur Slash!” Following Fluttershy’s command, the possessed bear swiped at Daichi’s Magnet Warrior, destroying it instantly.
Daichi 7000 LP -> 6200 LP
“The effect of Frightfur Bear activates!”

“What?”

“When Frightfur Bear destroys a Monster by battle, it becomes an Equip Card on my Bear, and boosts its Attack by 1000!”
(Frightfur Bear 2200 ATK -> 3200 ATK)
“I’m not done yet! Frightfur Leo attacks you directly!” At her command, Fluttershy’s monster swang its saws right towards Daichi, who just barely blocked the attack with his Duel Disk to avoid an unexpected death.
Daichi 6200 LP -> 3800 LP
“I end my turn.”

“I-I draw!”

Applejack 0 LP
Hand: NA
Fluttershy 5600 LP
Hand: 0
Daichi 3800 LP
Hand: 1

“My only choice now is to activate Card of Demise!” Daichi said as he slid the card into his Duel Disk. “Card of Demise lets me draw until I have 3 cards in my hand, but I cannot Special Summon this turn, also I must send my entire hand to the Graveyard. I’ll set two cards face down, and Summon Delta, the Magnet Warrior in Defence Position!”
(Level 4, 1600 ATK 1400 DEF)
“I end my turn!”

“I draw!”

Applejack 0 LP
Hand: NA
Fluttershy 5600 LP
Hand: 1
Daichi 3800 LP
Hand: 0

“Because it’s my second Standby Phase, I can Summon my Frightfur Wolf now!” Fluttershy shouted.
(Level 6, 2000 ATK 1500 DEF)
“Remember, it can attack 15 times this turn!” She said.

“I know that.” Daichi responded. “But it doesn’t matter, because I have the perfect counter.” He thought to himself.

“Battle Phase! Frightfur Bear attacks your Magnet Warrior!” Fluttershy shouted, and following her command, the bear destroyed Daichi’s Magnet Warrior, only to absorb what remained of it.
(Frightfur Bear 3200 ATK -> 4200 ATK)

“Now, My Frightfur Wolf Attacks you directly!”

“Not so fast! I activate my Blazing Mirror Force Trap Card! When an opponent’s monster declares an attack, this destroys all Attack Position Monsters the opponent controls and inflicts damage to both players equal to half combined Attack or the destroyed monsters! But there’s more in store!” Daichi shouted as he pressed a button on the side of his Duel Disk.

“What?”

“In response to my own Trap Card, I chain the Ring of Destruction Trap! This trap destroys one Monster and inflicts damage to both players equal to its Attack! The Monster I’m destroying is your Frightfur Bear! Lastly, to ensure I don’t lose, I activate Ring of Defence! This prevents me from taking any effect damage from Trap cards until the end of this chain!”

“Wait, so that means-!”

“Goodbye Miss Fluttershy, you were certainly a most unexpected opponent!”

Just then, a ring with four shields on it began to spin rapidly in front of Daichi, protecting him from both the explosion caused by a ring of grenades exploding around Frightfur Bear’s neck, as well as Fluttershy’s other monsters being consumed by flames.
Fluttershy 5600 LP -> 1400 LP -> 0 LP

When the smoke and flames had both settled, all that remained of both Fluttershy and Applejack were two cards, each of which had one of the two mares imprinted on them.

“Tough game, was it?” Another voice said as Daichi picked up the cards of his fallen victims.

“What-? Oh, it’s you. Yes, they did provide a challenge, but I defeated both of them.” Daichi said.

“Let me see here, Applejack and Fluttershy!? Sweet! Now we won’t have to worry about the Elements of Harmony being used against us! Now we just gotta take down Red, and everything will be set for the plan!” The other human said. “In fact, you know what? You did a good job, head back to the Empire, he’s bound to have finished conquering it for us by now! I’ll go deal with Red!”

“Are you sure that’s a wise decision?” Daichi asked. “He absolutely broke some of his previous opponent’s, and the master can’t summon the same person twice anymore, it takes too much power, he says. Lose, and it’s back to whatever afterlife you had previously.”

“Whatever, I got this! Besides, Blackwings are miles better than your wimpy Magnet Warriors! I’ll be sure to beat him up for the greater good!” The other human said.

“Right, just don’t wine when you lose.” Daichi responded.

“Oh shut it! Me and my D-Wheel can take him, whether it’s a Ground Duel or a Riding Duel!” The human responded before getting on a D-Wheel he had parked behind a corner and speeding off for Canterlot Castle.

“Well, it appears I had best inform the master that we lost another member when we reunite at the empire.” Daichi said before walking away with the cards he turned Applejack and Fluttershy into.

Author's Note

Holy shit, I'm actually early for once.
And yes, this is a story where anyone can die, not just characters like Starlight and Trixie.

Chapter 14: Behind Enemy Lines

The Crystal Empire was normally a bustling city of activity, but when Ernesh and his human minions were teleported in, they found that nopony was there.

“What the? I could have sworn I was just leaving Canterlot…” Daichi said, before turning around to notice that Ernesh had teleported him. “Ah! Master! It is an honor to see you again!”

“It is nothing worth noting Daichi.” Ernesh said. “We are all simply like minded individuals working together towards a common goal. Speaking of which, did you manage to unite any of the ponies I told you to?”

“Well, I didn’t manage to find them all, but I did bring these two.” Daichi said as he held out the cards that he turned Applejack and Fluttershy into.

“This is perfect. These two were some of the six ponies that could stop us from bringing the ponies of this world together until the end of time itself.” Ernesh said as he placed the cards in his binder. “Now what about you Crow? Crow?” Ernesh turned around and saw the bloody remains of Crow stuck in the wall of the Crystal Empire train station. “Well then. He is dead. And I can’t wipe away corpses with my death magic, I’ll have to revive a janitor and have him clean it up, we shouldn’t be here for long, but it’s just bad taste to leave a corpse out like that. Come Daichi! To the castle.”

“Are you sure that the stench from the corpse won’t give away our position?” Daichi asked.

“Oh please, if anything, I want our position to be given away. That way, more ponies will come to investigate, which is when we Duel them, allowing them to be together forever.” Ernesh said. “Now come, to the castle!”
**************************************************
Ernesh opened the doors to the Crystal Empire throne room loudly, confidant that nopy would be around to attack him, his eyes locking with the human sitting on the Empire’s crystal throne. “You've done well, Kaiba! You must have Dueled the entire Empire into submission!” Ernesh said. “Now tell me, how many of their cards did you collect?”

“You mean these?” Kaiba asked as he threw a deck of cards on the ground towards Ernesh, each one with the picture of a Pony printed on it. “They hold no worth in comparison to my Blue-Eyes. Now, if that was all you wanted, stop wasting my time and get out.”

“What was that?” Ernesh asked. “Did you forget that I was the one who breathed new life into you?”

“I didn’t forget. However, I conquered this kingdom myself, and I’m not going to hand it over to some black cloaked deadbeat.” Kaiba responded. “Especially one cowardly enough to have someone else do his dirty work for him.”

“Very well then, you and I will Duel over this trivial matter.” Ernesh said as he placed his Duel Disk on his arm and activated it, the Main Monster Zones motionlessly illuminating as they powered on.

“Fine.” Kaiba said, activating his Duel Disk as he walked towards Ernesh. “Just make sure you don’t regret this decision!”

DUEL

Kaiba 8000 LP
Hand: 5
Ernesh 8000 LP
Hand: 5

“I’ll take the first turn.” Kaiba said. “I’ll begin this Duel by activating my Cards of Consonance Spell Card! First, I discard a Dragon type Tuner monster with no more than 1000 Attack Points, my White Stone of Ancients, then I draw 2 cards! Now, I activate my Melody of Awakening Dragons card! This lets me discard a card, my White Stone of Legend, and add up to 2 Dragon type monsters with 3000 or more Attack and 2500 or less Defence from my deck to my hand! I’ll add my Blue-Eyes White Dragon and my Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon!”

“So you’re bolstering your hand with high level monsters?” Ernesh asked. “A meaningless effort, you’ll require several more cards to actually summon them.”

“I’m not finished yet!” Kaiba shouted. “When The White Stone of Legend is sent to the Graveyard, even as cost, I can add another Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my deck to my hand! Now, by revealing a Blue-Eyes White Dragon in my hand, I can Special Summon Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon from my hand!”
(Level 8, 3000 ATK 2500 DEF)
“And that’s not all! I also activate the Spell Card Polymerization! I’ll fuse both Blue-Eyes White Dragons in my hand! Arise, the twin headed dragon of destruction! My Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon!”
(Level 10, 3000 ATK 2500 DEF)
“And that’s not all! I activate the Spell card Soul Charge! This lets me Special Summon any number of monsters from my Graveyard, but I cannot declare an attack this turn, and I take 1000 damage for each monster Summoned with this card. Be reborn! My Blue-Eyes White Dragons!”
(Level 8, 3000 ATK 2500 DEF) X2
Kaiba 8000 -> 6000 LP
“Lastly, during the End Phase of the turn that The White Stone of Ancients is sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my deck. With that I end my turn.”
(Level 8, 3000 ATK 2500 DEF

“I see, 5 Blue-Eyes monsters with 3000 Attack, all impatient to eat away at me, very good!” Ernesh said. “However, you will see why I’m the master and you’re but a servant to me. I draw!”

Kaiba 6000 LP
Hand: 1
Ernesh 8000 LP
Hand: 6

“First, I’ll discard my Dark Creator to Special Summon Dark Grepher from my hand!”
(Level 4, 1700 ATK 1600 DEF)
“Now, with Dark Grepher’s effect, I’ll discard my Dark General Freed as cost to send Dark Resonator from my deck to the Graveyard!” Ernesh said, placing the cards in his Duel Disk’s Graveyard slot.

“So you’ve summoned a low level monster, left it in Attack Position, and are now filling the Graveyard with all these low power monsters that could never hold a candle to my Dragons.” Kaiba said. “What did you say about who was the master and who was the servant?”

“That was the preparation. The preparations for this! When my Graveyard contains exactly 3 DARK monsters, I can Special Summon Dark Armed Dragon from my hand!”
(Level 7, 2800 ATK 1000 DEF)

Looking at Ernesh’s dark dragon, Kaiba began to laugh out of sheer amazement. “That’s all you can amount to!? That dragon comes close, but it doesn’t match the might of my dragons! On my next turn, I’m going to destroy all your monsters and defeat you!”

“I activate my Graceful Charity!” Ernesh said, ignoring Kaiba’s declaration. “This lets me draw 3 cards, but I have to discard 2. The cards I’m discarding are my Armageddon Knight and another Dark Creator. Now, I activate the effect of my Dark Armed Dragon! By Banishing a DARK monster from my Graveyard, I can destroy a card on the field, so by banishing all 5 DARK monsters in my Graveyard, I’ll destroy all 5 of your monsters!” As Ernesh removed his cards from his Duel Disk’s Graveyard slot, Dark Armed Dragon began to thrash about the field, destroying all of Kaiba’s dragons in a single swipe with its tail.

“By jove!” Daichi exclaimed. “The master used a single card to wipe Kaiba’s entire field! I must remember not to cross him.”

“Battle Phase! Dark Armed Dragon attacks directly! Jaws of darkness!” Following its masters command, Ernesh’s dragon swiped at Kaiba with its claws, ripping out a small piece of the floor in the process.
Kaiba 6000 -> 3200 LP
“Now Dark Grepher attacks directly!” Ernesh’s warrior of darkness eagerly ran towards and slashed at Kaiba with its sword, a large smile plastered on its face all the while.
Kaiba 3200 -> 1500 LP
“Lastly, I’ll set 2 cards face down and end my turn.”

“It’s my turn! I draw!”

Kaiba 1500 LP
Hand: 2
Ernesh 8000 LP
Hand: 0

“I activate my Dragon’s Mirror!” Kaiba shouted, sliding the card into his Duel Disk’s Spell/Trap slot. “This lets me perform the Fusion Summon of a Dragon type monster by Banishing materials from my field or Graveyard, and the monsters I’m Banishing are my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons! Feast your eyes on the most powerful of all dragons, in its fully evolved glory! Fusion Summon! Show yourself, Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!”
(Level 12, 4500 ATK 3800 DEF)
“Now I activate Raigeki! All monsters you control are destroyed!” As Kaiba slid the card into his Duel Disk, a strike of lightning destroyed both of Ernesh’s monsters. “Battle Phase! Neo Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Direct attack! Hyper Ultimate Burst!”

“I activate my Negate Attack Trap Card!” Ernesh shouted as his face down card revealed itself. “This card negates your attack and ends the Battle Phase.”

“I end my turn.”

“It’s my turn. I draw.”

Kaiba 1500 LP
Hand: 0
Ernesh 8000 LP
Hand: 1

“First, I activate my face down Reckless Greed. This lets me draw 2 cards, but I must skip my next 2 Draw Phases. Now, I activate my Pot of Greed, this lets me draw 2 cards as well, but unlike my Reckless Greed, there are no strings attached. Now, I activate my Monster Reborn. This lets me Special Summon a Monster from either player’s Graveyard, and my target is my Dark Grepher.”
(Level 4, 1700 ATK 1600 DEF)
“Now, I Normal Summon my Witch of the Black Rose.”
(Level 4, Tuner, 1700 ATK 1200 DEF)

“A Tuner Monster!?”

“That’s right! I’m Tuning my Level 4 Witch of the Black Rose to my Level 4 Dark Grepher! Devil from the pits of Hell, arise and decimate my foes with your unholy might! Synchro Summon! Arise, Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons!”
(Level 8, 3000 ATK 3000 DEF)
“With that, I end my turn.”

“You keep summoning those weak monsters and acting like they’re worth anything in comparison to my Dragons!” Kaiba shouted. “It’s my turn, and I’m about to destroy your sense of worth! Draw!”

Kaiba1500 LP
Hand: 1
Ernesh 8000 LP
Hand: 2

“Battle Phase! Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack his Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons! Hyper Ultimate Burst!” Following Kaiba’s command, his dragon’s three heads all fired a burst of energy from their mouths at Ernesh’s dragon in unison, knocking it over.
Ernesh 8000 -> 6500 LP
“My attack isn’t over yet!” Kaiba shouted. “If Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon is the only card I control, I can send a Blue-Eyes monster from my Extra Deck to the Graveyard to attack again! I’m sending another Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon to the Graveyard to attack again! Hyper Ultimate Burst!”

Kaiba, you really need to pay more attention to your surroundings.” Ernesh said.

“What?”

“If you had paid attention, you would have noticed that not only can Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons not be destroyed by battle, but that its Attack points are equal to those of your dragon!”

(Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon 4500 ATK)
(Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons 4500 ATK)
Just as Kaiba’s dragon fired a blast of energy towards Ernesh’s dragon with its three heads, Ernesh’s dragon fired a blast of energy with both of its head towards Kaiba’s dragon, both dragons falling over from the impact, but Kaiba’s dragon exploded.

“What the-!? But how did it gain 1500 Attack Points!?”

“Whenever I take battle or effect damage while Beelze is on the field, Beelze gains Attack Points equal to the damage I took.” Ernesh explained. “It’s my turn, but due to the effect of Reckless Greed, I must skip my Draw Phase.”

Kaiba 1500 LP
Hand: 2
Ernesh 6500 LP
Hand: 2

“Battle Phase. Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons, attack him directly! Hellfire Blast!” Following its master’s command, Beelze fired a burst of energy from both of its heads directly towards Kaiba, resulting in an explosion where he stood.
Kaiba 1500 -> 0 LP
“So, now that we have that dispute taken care of, Kaiba, there’s...Kaiba?" Ernesh looked around the room, only to see Kaiba turning into a card. "Shit! I forgot to dispel the magic that would turn the loser into a card. Daichi!"

“Yes master!” Daichi said. “Do you have any further instructions for me?”

“Yes, Red Rocket and the ponies will be arriving soon, and they will be the only deciding factor for our quest to unite all beings until the end of time. I'm going to revive someone Red will never be able to defeat, now go! Patrol the lower floors of the castle, make sure the ponies don't make it here. We're down two men and I can only revive one more Duelist to aid in our cause before the ponies arrive." Ernesh said.

“Yes master!” Daichi said, as he ran out of the throne room.

Author's Note

So, this was a shorter chapter than usual, but after missing the deadline by 2 days last week, I felt like I had to put something up this Friday
I'm still holding myself to that 2 week schedule though, and I'm finishing this fucking thing, no matter how long it takes

Chapter 15: Frosty Idols

The train ride to the Crystal Empire was mostly a quiet one, nopony wanting to say anything about the overwhelming possibility of Fluttershy and Applejack’s defeat, and with it, their transformation into cards. Nopony except for Pinkie, that is.

“Anypony wanna play a game?” Pinkie asked. “Hey Red, how about a Duel? I’ve gotten waaaay better since our last game! Me and Dashie have been playing a lot and we even found deck themes to match our personalities! Dashie has these super cool HERO monsters while I got a hold of these wacky Toons and-"

"Shut up!" Red shouted, drawing everypony's attention away from the windows. "We're on our way to go pick a fight with a fucking God and this is how you're acting!?"

"Well, it's just that everypony being so glum, and I just wanted to try and lift your spirits..." Pinkie said.

"I'm sorry." Red began. "It's just that I'm a little on edge, it kind of feels like it's my fault that we don't know where Applejack and Fluttershy are, these Duels are just as dangerous as the ones I do back home, nobody should have life or death Duels forced upon them."

"No Red, it wasn't your fault." Twilight said as she walked towards him. "I shouldn't have sent them to just wander Canterlot alone."

"Now darlings, you shouldn't be so hard on yourselves." Rarity said. "Neither one of you were responsible for what happened to them."

"Yeah!" Rainbow said. "We just have to go beat up Ernesh and all of this will go back to normal!"

"Why do you think it'll be that easy?" Twilight asked.

"You know, that's how it normally works." Rainbow said. "Somecreature starts making an attack on Equestria, and after we beat them up, everything goes back to normal, you know, like when Princess Luna came back as Nightmare Moon, when King Sombra came back, or just recently with the Storm King's invasion."

"Yeah, I'm with Dashie here." Pinkie said. "Normally it takes 22 minutes for us to solve a problem, although this feels like one of those times it takes 44 minutes. Oh! Or that time where we had to use the power of that chest that made your castle! That took us like, 24 intervals of 22 minutes! Although if you want to add it all up, I guess it would be 528 minutes. Or 31680 seconds!" Everyone looked at Pinkie in sheer confusion as she went on her time tangent, except for Red, who was looking out the window again.

"Right, well, I think we should use this down time to go over all our decks and give them any boost they might need, we're all probably going to have to Duel at some point." Twilight said. "Red, you have any last minute advice?"

"Huh? Oh, well all I can really say is make sure you're down to 40 cards with a 15 card Extra Deck. Unless you're playing Monarchs that is." Red began. "Say, what decks are you guys running? I have my trusted Red-Eyes deck ready for both Ground and Riding Duels, but if it isn't useful for any reason, I can still switch back to my Gem-Knight and Gladiator Beast decks at any moment, but what are you running?"

"Wait, you're still playing Gem-Knights?" Rarity asked.

"...Yeah. Why?"

"Well, it's just that I-"

"Rarity, what deck are you running?" Red asked.

"I'm...playing Gem-Knights." She said, preparing for the verbal destruction Red was about to unleash on her.

"Seriously Rarity?" Red asked. "Well, let me tell you something. Friends don't steal friend's decks. Not even the idea. Now, if two random strangers play the same deck, that's one thing, but when one person plays a deck only for their friend to go out and play that exact same deck, that's a problem. Look, just play something else, alright? There's literally hundreds of decks to pick from, surely there's something that isn't already taken that you'll be interested in." Red said. "Now, what about the rest of you?"

"I've got Psychics, they focus on rapid Synchro Summoning." Twilight said.

"My deck is focused on summoning Horus the Black Flare Dragon LV8 as fast as possible." Spike said.

"Elemental HEROES! Truly a deck as awesome as I am!" Rainbow said.

"And I've got Toons!" Pinkie said. "They attack directly regardless of the opponent's monsters and are really funny to watch!"

"Alright, now I say we go over the specific cards in our decks to see if there's anything we can improve on." Red said. "I'll go first. My Red-Eyes deck is-"

"Look outside the window." Said a voice on Red's Duel Disk.

"What the hay was that?" Rainbow asked, her wings outstretched in shock.

"It was a two way microphone on my Duel Disk." Red explained. "It's how me and the opponent explain our card effects in a Riding Duel, but it's only supposed to activate in response to a D-Wheel, so that means-!" Red looked out the window as the voice instructed, only to be shocked at the sight of a human in a blue jacket on a bright red D-Wheel that he recognized all too well. Without a single word, Red pulled his goggles over his eyes, grabbed his board from his back and ran for the edge of the train car as his Duel Disk activated.

"Red, wait! There has to be a better way than-" Twilight began to say before Rainbow cut her off.

"Wait, are they gonna have a Riding Duel!? I gotta get in on this!" Rainbow said as she quickly flew out the train by Red's side.

"Red Rocket!" The man shouted. "If we Duel here, the innocents on the train would get hurt. Let's take this somewhere less populated."

"Fine by me." Red responded as the Duelists and Rainbow turned away from the Friendship Express.

"Hey Red, you sure we can trust this guy?" Rainbow asked. "I mean, he is only one of those dead guys Ernesh brought back to life."

"Rainbow, I'm not sure how I can put this into words, but I trust his Duelist's spirit, and I've wanted to Duel him my entire life." Red said."I'll trust him as far as Duelling is concerned."

"He's taking us away from our friends! Don't you find that even slightly problematic!?" Rainbow exclaimed.

"For good reason." The man interrupted. "In this world, the abundance of magic gives mass to the Solid Vision. By Dueling next to the train, we'd only be putting innocent lives in danger. Now then, I take it you both know the stakes of this Riding Duel?"

"Yeah, we do!" Red said. "And I also know that you're Yusei Fudo!"

"Good!" Yusei said. "Activate Field Magic, Speed World!" Yusei pressed a button on His D-Wheel as his console screen, the screen on Red's Duel Disk and a holographic screen that appeared in front of Rainbow read out DUEL MODE ON-MANUAL

RIDING DUEL
ACCELERATION

Red 8000 LP 2 SPC
Hand: 5
Rainbow 8000 LP 2 SPC
Hand: 5
Yusei 8000 LP 2 SPC
Hand: 5

“I’ll take the first turn!” Yusei shouted. “First, I summon Quillbolt Hedgehog in Defence Position!”
(Level 2, 800 ATK/DEF)
“Now I place one card in reverse, turn end!”

“It’s all me!” Rainbow shouted.

Red 8000 LP 2 SPC
Hand: 5
Rainbow 8000 LP 2 SPC
Hand: 5
Yusei 8000 LP 2 SPC
Hand: 3

Rainbow waved her hoof in front of her, materializing five digital cards in front of her face.“I summon my Elemental HERO Ocean!” She shouted as she tapped one of the cards with her hoof, causing it to dematerialize.
(Level 4, ATK 1500 DEF 1200)
“That’s all for now! Your turn Red!”

“Here I go!”

Red 8000 LP 2 SPC
Hand: 5
Rainbow 8000 LP 2 SPC
Hand: 4
Yusei 8000 LP 2 SPC
Hand: 3

“I summon my Red-Eyes Baby Dragon in Defence Position!”
(Level 3, 1200 ATK 700 DEF)
“Now I set two cards face down and end my turn!”

“It’s my turn! Because all players have taken their first turn, I draw!” Yusei shouted.

Red 8000 LP 3 SPC
Hand: 2
Rainbow 8000 LP 3 SPC
Hand: 4
Yusei 8000 LP 3 SPC
Hand: 4

“I summon Speed Warrior in Attack Position!”
(Level 2, 900 ATK 400 DEF)

“Is that it?” Rainbow asked. “900 Attack Points isn’t enough to match my monster, and Red’s dragon is in Defence Mode, so-”

“During the Battle Phase of the turn Speed Warrior is Normal Summoned, its Attack Points are instantly doubled.” Yusei interrupted.

“Wait, so that means its Attack goes up to-!? Um, how much, exactly?” Rainbow asked, looking to Red for the answer.

“1800.” Yusei said.
(Speed Warrior 900 -> 1800 ATK)
“Speed Warrior! Attack Elemental HERO Ocean! Sonic Edge!” Yusei’s monster dashed up to Rainbow’s monster before spinning on its hands to kick it in the face, destroying the monster.
Rainbow 8000 -> 7700 LP)
“Now I place one more card in reverse.” Yusei said as a giant hologram of his card appeared face down beside his D-Wheel. “During the End Phase, Speed Warrior’s Attack will be returned to normal.”
(Speed Warrior 1800 -> 900 ATK)

“Then it’s my turn again! I draw!” Rainbow shouted as she waved her hoof in front of her face again, materializing her new 5 card hand.

Red 8000 LP 4 SPC
Hand: 2
Rainbow 7700 LP 4 SPC
Hand: 5
Yusei 8000 LP 4 SPC
Hand: 2

“Aw yeah!” Rainbow shouted. “Looks like this will be quick! I activate my Speed Spell - Speed Fusion! I’ll fuse the Elemental HERO Heat and Elemental HERO Voltic in my hand to Fusion Summon Elemental HERO Nova Master!”
(Level 8, 2600 ATK 2100 DEF)
“Battle Phase! Elemental HERO Nova Master! Attack that Speed Warrior!” Following Rainbow’s command, her monster materialized and threw a fireball towards Yusei’s Speed Warrior.

“Reverse Card, open!” Yusei shouted as he pressed a button on his D-Wheel’s console. “Scrap-Iron Scarecrow! This trap card will negate one attack.” As Yusei’s trap materialized, the fireball Rainbow’s Nova Master threw struck it instead of the monster it was intended for. “After using Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, I can set it face down again instead of sending it to my Cemetary.” Yusei said as his scarecrow returned to its card and went back to the face down orientation.

“Ugh, I end my turn!” Rainbow said.

“My draw!” Red shouted.

Red 8000 LP 5 SPC
Hand: 3
Rainbow 7700 LP 5 SPC
Hand: 2
Yusei 8000 LP 5 SPC
Hand: 2

“Damnit.” Red thought to himself. “Yusei has at least one Scrap-Iron Scarecrow on the field, and who knows what that other face down is. I could summon Red-Eyes Slash Dragon, but I still have no out to his Scarecrow, and it would leave my hand empty…” Begrudgingly, Red said: “I end my turn without playing a card.”

“Then it’s my turn. Draw.” Yusei said.

Red 8000 LP 6 SPC
Hand: 3
Rainbow 7700 LP 6 SPC
Hand: 2
Yusei 8000 LP 6 SPC
Hand: 3

“To begin my turn, I summon Road Synchron!” Yusei shouted.
(Level 4, Tuner, 1600 ATK 800 DEF)
“Now, I’m Tuning my Level 4 Road Warrior to my Level 2 Quillbolt Hedgehog and Speed Warrior! Gathering hopes will evoke a new horizon! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Dash onward, Road Warrior!”
(Level 8, 3000 ATK 1500 DEF)
“Once per turn, Road Warrior lets me Special Summon a Level 2 or lower monster from my deck! Come forth! Road Runner!”
(Level 2, 300 ATK 300 DEF)
“Battle Phase! Road Warrior, attack Elemental HERO Nova Master! Lightning Claw!” Following Yusei’s command, Road Warrior flew towards Rainbow’s monster and shredded it to pieces. Rainbow flew up to avoid the ensuing explosion.
Rainbow 7700 -> 7300 LP
“Lastly, I’ll place one more card in reverse. Turn end.” Yusei said.

“My draw!” Rainbow shouted.

Red 8000 LP 7 SPC
Hand: 3
Rainbow 7300 LP 7 SPC
Hand: 3
Yusei 8000 LP 7 SPC
Hand: 1

“Awesome! I drew exactly what I needed!” Rainbow said. “Check this out! First I’ll play my Speed Spell - Angel Baton! I need 2 Speed Counters to play this card, but it lets me draw 2 and discard 1! I’ll discard my Elemental HERO Bladedge, who I now revive with my Monster Reborn!”
(Level 7, 2600 ATK 1800 DEF)

“Rainbow!” Red shouted. “What the hell is wrong with you!?”

“What do you mean?” She responded. “I got out a high level monster on the field easily!”

“You used a non-Speed Spell to do it!” Red shouted. “Didn’t you listen when I explained the rules of Riding Duels to you!?”

“Uh, kinda?” Rainbow responded. “What’s so wrong with it?”

“When a player activates a non Speed Spell Magic Card, Speed World will inflict 2000 points of damage to them.” Yusei interrupted.

“What!?” Just then, Rainbow felt immense pain all around her, almost as if the wind itself was trying to rip into her.
Rainbow 7300 -> 5300 LP 7 -> 5 SPC
“Well that would’ve been good to know beforehoof-!”

“I did tell you beforehand!” Red shouted. “It even says so on the actual Speed World card! You have no one to be mad at except yourself for not reading the card!”

“Whatever! I end my stinking turn!”

“Goddamnit Rainbow, I draw!”

Red 8000 LP 8 SPC
Hand: 4
Rainbow 5300 LP 6 SPC
Hand: 2
Yusei 8000 LP 8 SPC
Hand: 1

“Metalmorph! Perfect!” Red thought to himself. “Alright, now I just need to get Rainbow’s Bladedge off the field to protect her, and I can wipe out that Road Warrior before it generates any more unwanted card advantage!” Red pressed a button on the back of his Duel Disk as one of his face down cards rose to reveal itself. “I activate my facedown Speed Spell - Speed Fusion!” He shouted. “I’ll fuse the Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Gearfried the Red-Eyes Iron Knight in my hand! Appear, from the black miasma of hell! The armored dragon of nightmares! Fusion Summon! Red-Eyes Slash Dragon!”
(Level 7, 2800 ATK 2400 DEF)
“And that’s not all! Now I overlay the Level 7 Red-Eyes Slash Dragon and Elemental HERO Bladedge! With these two monsters, I build an Overlay network!”

“What the!? Bladedge is my monster!” Rainbow shouted.

“Rise, the hellish inferno dragon of legend! My flaming anger incarnate! Rank 7! Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon!”
(Rank 7, 2800 ATK 2400 DEF, 2 OLU)
“Battle Phase! Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon attacks Sonic Chick! Hell Flame Burst!” Following Red’s command, his dragon launched a large blast of fire from its mouth towards Yusei’s hedgehog.

“I activate my Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!” Yusei shouted. “This negates one attack, and then it sets itself face down again to be used next turn!”

“Good play Yusei, but you overlooked one thing about my dragon.”

“What?”

“When the opponent activates a card or effect, immediately after it resolves, Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon inflicts 500 damage to them! Red-Eyes! Roast him!” Red shouted as his dragon began to spew a continuous stream of fire towards Yusei.
Yusei 8000 -> 7500 LP
“Now I set one card and end my turn!”

“It’s my turn!” Yusei said. “Draw!”

Red 8000 LP 9 SPC
Hand: 1
Rainbow 5300 LP 7 SPC
Hand: 2
Yusei 7500 LP 9 SPC
Hand: 2

“With Road Warrior’s effect, I’ll Special Summon Shield Wing from my deck in Defence Position!”
(Level 2, 0 ATK 900 DEF)
“Battle Phase! Road Warrior Attacks your Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon!”

“I activate Metalmorph!” Red shouted as he pressed a button on the back of his Duel Disk. “This Trap Card equips itself to a monster I control and boosts its Attack by 300 points! Obviously, my Equip target is Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon! Lightning Claw!”
(Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon 2800 -> 3100 ATK)
“The battle continues! Red-Eyes, counter!”

“I activate my Give and Take Trap Card!” Yusei shouted as he pressed a button on his D-Wheel’s console. “This lets me Special Summon a Monster from my Cemetary to your side of the field in Defence Position. Now take my Speed Warrior!”
(Level 2, 900 ATK 400 DEF)

“What the-? Why would you summon a monster to my-!” Red asked, before realizing the answer himself. “When an opponent’s card effect resolves, Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon inflicts 500 damage to the opponent’s Life Points!” He shouted as Red-Eyes breathed a stream of fire towards Yusei.
Yusei 7500 -> 7000 LP

“I can increase the level of one monster I control by the level of the monster I gave you, but more importantly, a replay occurs!” Yusei said.
(Road Warrior Level 8 -> 10)

“Wait, what’s a replay?” Rainbow asked.

“When a monster is summoned to the opponent’s field when you attack, you can decide to either stop the attack then and there, or redeclare it to any monster the opponent controls.” Yusei explained. “Road Warrior! Attack Speed Warrior!” Without hesitation, Yusei’s monster dashed towards Speed Warrior and cleaved it in half, destroying it completely. “Lastly, I’ll place one more card in reverse, turn end.”

“Ah yeah! It’s my turn now!” Rainbow shouted.

Red 8000 LP 10 SPC
Hand: 1
Rainbow 5300 LP 8 SPC
Hand: 3
Yusei 7000 LP 10 SPC
Hand: 1

“Awesome!” Rainbow said as she looked at her hand of cards. “First, I Summon my Elemental HERO Stratos!”
(Level 4, 1800 ATK 300 DEF)
“When Elemental HERO Stratos is summoned, I can add a HERO to my hand, and I’m picking Elemental HERO Solid Soldier! Now I activate my Speed Spell - Speed Fusion! I’ll fuse my Elemental HERO Stratos with my Elemental HERO Solid Soldier to Fusion SUmmon my ELemental HERO Gaia!”
(Level 6, 2200 ATK 2600 DEF)
“When Elemental HERO Gaia is Fusion SUmmoned, I can target one monster the opponent controls, and take half its Attack Points into itself!” Rainbow shouted. “And I’m targeting your Road Warrior!”
(Road Warrior 3000 -> 1500 ATK)
(Elemental HERO Gaia 2200 -> 3700 ATK)
“And that’s not all! Now I activate my Miracle Fusion! I’ll take a beating, but no pain, no gain!” Rainbow said, despite the agonizing pain she felt from the activation of her non Speed Spell.
Rainbow 5300 -> 3300 LP 8 -> 6 SPC
“I’ll banish my Elemental HERO Nova Master and Elemental HERO Stratos from my Graveyard, and Fusion Summon my Elemental HERO Great Tornado!”
(Level 8, 2800 ATK 2200 DEF)
“When Elemental HERO Great Tornado is Fusion Summoned, all monsters the opponent controls lose half their Attack and Defence!”

“Shit!” Yusei said under his breath.
(Road Warrior 1500 -> 750 ATK/DEF)
(Road Runner 300 -> 150 ATK/DEF)
(Shield Wing 0 -> 0 ATK 900 -> 450 DEF)

“Holy shit!” Red thought to himself. “Could Rainbow have just been faking being bad at Dueling this whole time? That’s fucking amazing! We’re bound to win now!”

“Battle Phase!” Rainbow shouted. “Elemental HERO Gaia! Attack Road Warrior!”

“I activate Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!” Yusei shouted. “This will negate one attack, then set itself face down again to be used next turn!”
Yusei 7000 -> 6500 LP

“Now I attack it again with Elemental HERO Great Tornado!” Following Rainbow’s command, her monster flew towards Yusei’s monster and punched it, causing it to shatter like a mirror.
Yusei 6500 -> 4450 11 -> 10 SPC
“And with that, I end my turn!”

“My draw!” Red shouted.

Red 8000 LP 11 SPC
Hand: 2
Rainbow 3300 LP 9 SPC
Hand: 0
Yusei 4450 LP 11 SPC
Hand: 1

Red looked at the card he drew with a smile. “Yusei! Here comes the winning play! I activate my Speed Spell - End of the Storm! I can activate this Speed Spell only when I have 10 or more Speed Counters, and it destroys all monsters on the field, then inflicts 300 points of damage to each player for all their destroyed monsters!”

“Wait, you’ll just destroy our monsters too!” Rainbow said.

“Not quite! While Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon has XYZ material, it cannot be destroyed by card effects!” Just then, a violent storm emerged from Red’s Spell Card, the wind destroying his baby dragon, Rainbows HEROES, and Yusei’s defending monsters.
Red 8000 -> 7700 LP
Rainbow 3300 -> 2700 LP
Yusei 4450 -> 3850 LP
“Now I activate the secondary effect of my Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon! By detaching an Overlay Unit, I can target a Red-Eyes Normal Monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon it! I’ll detach Elemental HERO Bladedge, now be reborn! Red-Eyes Black Dragon!”
(Level 7, 2400 ATK 1700 DEF)
“Battle Phase! Red-Eyes Black Dragon! Attack Yusei directly! Inferno Fire Blast!”

“I activate my Scrap-Iron Scarecrow! This-”

“I activate my Red Reboot!” Red shouted. “By paying half my Life Points, I can activate this Trap Card from my hand to negate the activation of your Trap Card, then set it again! Although you do get another Trap from your deck.”
Red 7700 -> 3850 LP

“Then in that case, I’ll set Angel Lift from my deck.” Yusei said as he grabbed the card ejected for him and put it in his Spell/Trap zone.

“The attack continues! Red-Eyes! Burn him!” With Red’s command, his dragon launched a massive fireball from its mouth directly towards Yusei.
Yusei 4450 -> 2050 LP 11 -> 9 SPC

“Alright Red!” Rainbow said. “Now hurry up and finish him off!”

“I...I...I can’t!” Red said.

“What!? Why not!?”

“Because, throughout my entire life, I’ve idolized this man on a similar tear to your idolization of the Wonderbolts! I...I just can’t bring myself to kill him, even in such a warped from, I...I end my turn!”

“Red, look at yourself!” Rainbow shouted. “We’ve got all of Equestria at risk here, and you’re refusing to win because of who we’re playing!? That’s-”

“The declaration of Turn End is one that under no circumstances is to be revoked, no matter the situation.” Yusei said, interrupting Rainbow. “It’s my turn! I draw!”

Red 7700 LP 12 SPC
Hand: 0
Rainbow 2700 LP 10 SPC
Hand: 0
Yusei 2050 LP 10 SPC
Hand: 2

“First, I’ll Normal Summon my Junk Synchron! And when Normal Summoned, Junk Synchron allows me to Special Summon a Level 2 or lower monster from my Cemetary, and my target is Road Runner. Lastly, I chain my Angel Lift Trap Card! This will revive a Level 2 or lower monster from my Cemetary, and my target is Shield Wing!)
(Level 3, Tuner, 1300 ATK 800 DEF)
(Level 2, 900 ATK 500 DEF)
(Level 2, 0 ATK 900 DEF)
Yusei 2050 -> 1550 -> 1050 LP
“Now, I’m Tuning my Level 3 Junk Synchron to my Level 2 Road Runner and Shield Wing!” Yusei shouted as his Junk Synchron pulled an engine cord on its torso as it turned into three green rings that Yusei’s Synchro materials flew into. “Gathering roars turn into an echoing arrow which tears through the sky! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Show yourself, Junk Archer!"
(Level 7, 2300 ATK 2000 DEF)
“Junk Archer’s effect! Once per turn, Junk Archer allows me to target one monster the opponent controls and Banish it until the End Phase! I Banish Red-Eyes Metal Flare Dragon! Dimension Shoot!” Yusei’s monster fired an arrow from its bow towards Red’s metallic dragon, causing it to fall down a portal that materialized beneath it.

“Shit!” Red shouted as he placed the card in his back pocket and slid the remaining XYZ material and Metalmorph card into his Graveyard.

“Now that that’s taken care of, I activate my Speed Spell - Angel Baton! This allows me to draw two cards, but then send one to my Cemetary!” Yusei shouted as he drew two cards, smirking as he slid one into the Graveyard slot on his D-Wheel. “The sent card was Executioner - Makyura! For the rest of this turn, I can activate Trap Cards from my hand! I’ll start by activating Reckless Greed, and draw two cards from my deck!”

“Wait, he gets to draw two cards for free!?” Rainbow asked. “What makes it so reckless!?”

“Reckless Greed forces the player who activates it to skip their next two Draw Phases, but I’ve got a feeling he’s going to try and keep it from mattering.” Red explained.

“Now, I activate two more Reckless Greed! I’ll draw four more cards! Now, I activate my Speed Spell - High Speed Crash! I’ll destroy my face down Scrap-Iron Scarecrow to destroy your Red-Eyes Black Dragon!”

“What the-” Before Red could finish his sentence, Yusei’s Scarecrow materialized itself and flew towards Red’s Dragon, causing an explosion that destroyed both of them.

“Now, I activate my Speed Spell - Fallen Synchron! This lets me Banish Synchro Material monsters from my Cemetary to Synchro Summon a monster, but the summoned monster is Banished during the End Phase! I Banish my Level 4 being treated as Level 2 Road Synchron along with my Level 2 Speed Warrior, Road Runner, and Quillbolt Hedgehog!” Yusei shouted as transparent images of his monsters appeared above his D-Wheel. “Clustering wishes will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take flight, Stardust Dragon!”
(Level 8, 2500 ATK 2000 DEF)

As Yusei’s dragon materialized, Red was left speechless in awe at the sight of his idol’s ace monster. “Stardust...Dragon…!”

“So Red, you wouldn’t happen to have your Solemn Judgement card, would you?” Rainbow asked, a bead of sweat dripping down her face.

“What the? This isn’t Stardust!” Yusei shouted as he looked down at his D-Wheel’s playing field, noticing that his card had completely different artwork and effect text. “Stardust Spark Dragon? When did this get in my-” Just then, Red and Rainbow noticed a dark aura surrounding him. “Ah! Get out of my head!”

“Red Rocket!” Yusei shouted, his voice sounding much deeper as if he were possessed by a demon. “You should have finish this Duel on the last turn! And for your misplay, you shall be reunited with Starlight and Trixie!”

“What? How do you know about Starlight and Trixie!?” Red demanded. “Their fates are unknown to even most of Equestria! How do you know about them!?”

“Because the one who orchestrated the events was I, Ernesh!” Yusei shouted. “The Duel continues! I activate my Speed Spell - Power Baton! By sending a monster from my Main Deck to the Graveyard, I can increase the Attack Points of one monster I control by an amount equal to the Attack of the monster I sent! I’ll send Max Warrior to the Graveyard to give Junk Archer an additional 1800 Attack Points!”
(Junk Archer 2300 -> 4100 ATK)
“Now I activate my Speed Spell - Final Attack Orders! This will double the Attack Points of one monster I control, but it will be destroyed during the End Phase, and my target is Stardust Spark Dragon!”
(Stardust Spark Dragon 2500 -> 5000 ATK)
“Battle Phase! Stardust Spark Dragon, attack the Red Rocket directly! Shooting Blast of Darkness!” Following Ernesh’s command, the dragon fired sonic waves towards Red, directly hitting him.
Red 7700 -> 2700 LP 12 -> 7 SPC
“Red Rocket! It’s over! Junk Archer, attack him directly! Scrap Arrow!” As Junk Archer took aim at Red, he gathered his composure and pressed a button on the back of his Duel Disk.

“I activate my face down Red Dragon Revival!” He shouted as the card revealed itself. “Once per turn, this allows me to Special Summon a DARK Dragon type monster from my Grave-”

“I activate Dust Tornado!” Ernesh interrupted. “This lets me destroy one Spell or Trap on the Field, and because Makyura the Destructor is still in effect, I can activate it from my hand, and because your Red Dragon Revival is a Continuous Trap, destroying it will cause it to resolve with no effect!” Just as Ernesh slid the card into Yusei’s D-Wheel, the card appeared beside it and a blast of wind flew through Red’s card, destroying it instantly. “The Attack continues! May you find peace with your friends, Red Rocket!”

“Red”! Rainbow shouted. “You’ve got a better shot at this than I do! Looks like it’s all on you!” Before Red could notice what she said, Rainbow flew towards Red and kick him off his D-Board, effectively redirecting the direct attack towards herself.
Rainbow 2700 -> 0 LP 10 -> 0 SPC

As Rainbow began fading away and dissolving into a card, Red picked himself up, and ran towards the pony that saved his life. “Rainbow! Rainbow!”

“Looks like I really crashed…” Rainbow said. “Go on Red, you’ve got a better chance than I do. Take this guy down, and save Equestria for us…” Before she could say anymore, Rainbow completely dissolved into a card in the snow.

“Well then.” Ernesh said, pulling Yusei’s D-Wheel up to where Red and Rainbow had been. “I wasn’t aware you could physically intercept an attack to redirect it in a Riding Tag Duel. However, with two monsters at over 4000 Attack Points, you might as well-”

“Ernesh!” Red shouted, his anger causing the possessed Duelist to recoil in his seat. “First you taint the souls of Legendary Duelists, then you steal the souls of innocent ponies, now you treat them like nothing but cards!? I’m ending this now! During the End Phase, the effect of Power Baton ends, returning Junk Archer to its original Attack value, and Stardust Spark Dragon will be both destroyed and Banished by the effects of Final Attack Orders and Fallen Synchron!”

“I activate the effect of Stardust Spark Dragon and my face down Imperial Iron Wall! Once per turn, Stardust Spark Dragon will negate the destruction of any monster I control, and Imperial Iron Wall prevents either player from Banishing cards! I end my turn!”

“Lastly, Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon returns to my field! I draw!”
(Rank 7, 2800 ATK 2400 DEF)

Red 2700 LP 8 SPC
Hand: 1
Ernesh 1050 LP 11 SPC
Hand: 0

“I activate my Speed Spell - Synchro Defuse! This lets me take control of a Synchro Monster you control, and my choice is Stardust Spark Dragon!” Red shouted, as the white dragon above both Duelists slowly floated over to Red’s field.

“What!? Impossible! How could you draw that card in such a critical moment!?”

“Battle Phase! Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon, attack Junk Archer! Inferno Hell Flame Burst!” Following his command, Red’s dragon launched a larger than normal fireball from its mouth towards Junk Archer.
Ernesh 1050 -> 550 LP
“It’s over! Stardust Spark Dragon, attack this bastard directly! Shooting Sonic!” Following Red’s command, the Stardust Spark Dragon he stole fired a series of sonic blasts from its mouth towards Ernesh, shredding Yusei’s body into pieces.
Ernesh 550 -> 0 LP

As the body of his opponent dissolved into another card, Red looked at what remained of Rainbow Dash, and began to shout to the sky. “MARK MY WORDS ERNESH! I WILL DEFEAT YOU, AND AVENGE ALL THE LIVES YOU’VE RUINED!” However, Red then began to look around him, before coming to an unsettling realization. “Wait, the train tracks are nowhere in sight, and neither is the Empire! Wh-where am I supposed to go!?”

Author's Note

Well then, this is certainly a beast of an update
But I honestly don't think it was worth being over a week late
But, the bright side is I'm almost done this trainwreck, so I won't have to worry about lateness for much longer
I'm just hoping to have this finished by New Year's, but seeing as I'm hopefully going to get a full time job soon, that might be harder than expected

Chapter 16: Magnetic Assault

As the Friendship Express pulled into the train station at the Crystal Empire, Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie ran off, Spike holding onto Twilight’s back so he wouldn’t be left behind.

“Come on girls! We don’t have much time to lose-” Twilight began, before stopping when she saw the remains of Crow lodged into the wall of the Crystal Empire Train Station.

“This is awful…!” Rarity said, covering her mouth with her hoof, feeling like she was going to puke.

“Wow, looks like we better play our cards right.” Pinkie said. “Say, I think Red told me that was a popular song where he was from. Now how did it go again…?”

“Pinkie!” Twilight shouted. “We don’t have time for this! Come one! We have to get to the castle! That’s got to be where Ernesh is waiting for us!” Pinkie let out a sigh before running to catch up with Twilight and Rarity.

As Twilight and her friends ran towards the Crystal Castle, they saw a human in a yellow jacket standing in front of the door, prohibiting their entry. “Why hello ladies.” He said. “Lovely day out, isn’t it?”

“YOU!” Pinkie shouted. “Wait, who are you?”

“My name is Daichi Misawa.” He said. “Can I interest any of you fine ladies in a Duel?”

“I will!” Rarity said, stepping forward.

“What!?” Twilight exclaimed, throwing Spike off her back in the process. “Rarity, don’t you know what will happen if you lose!?”

“I do, but this ruffian must simply be dealt with darling. Besides, it’s what Applejack would have wanted.”

“Applejack, you say?” Daichi asked. “Come to think of it, I remember defeating an Applejack as of late.”

“WHAT!?” Pinkie shouted.

“Oh yes, and I also defeated a Fluttershy when I defeated Applejack.” He added. “And I must say, she was quite upset to see Applejack lose. A real shame they won’t be here to see you ladies lose to me as well.”

“NOPONY MESSES WITH FLUTTERSHY AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she waved her hoof in front of her, activating her Duel Disk.

“Yes, and I must beat you senseless for what you have done to Applejack!” Rarity said, activating her Duel Disk as well. “Twilight, go on without us! Pinkie and I shall deal with this miscreant!”

“What? But I can’t just-” Twilight began to protest, before Rarity put her hoof over Twilight’s mouth.

“Twilight, darling, please, leave us to it.”

“Yeah Twilight, Rarity’s got a point.” Spike said as he jumped back onto Twilight’s back. “They’ll catch up with us, we don’t have Red or Rainbow with us, so we need you to Duel Ernesh!”

“Oh, alright. Good luck you two!” Twilight said as she teleported herself and Spike behind Daichi and running into the Crystal Castle.

“Now then, shall we begin?” Daichi asked, activating his Duel Disk.

DUEL

Rarity 8000 LP
Hand: 5
Pinkie 8000 LP
Hand: 5
Daichi 8000 LP
Hand: 5

“I’m normally an advocate for ladies first, but seeing as this is a three on one Duel against me, I’ll take the first move!” Daichi shouted. “To begin this Duel, I Normal Summon my Alpha the Magnet Warrior in Defence Position!”
(Level 4, 1400 ATK 1700 DEF)
“With that, I end my turn.”

“My turn!” Pinkie shouted as she waved her hoof in front of her, causing her hand to materialize.

Rarity 8000 LP
Hand: 5
Pinkie 8000 LP
Hand: 5
Daichi 8000 LP
Hand: 4

“Aw, I don’t have anything, I’ll set 5 cards and end my turn…” Pinkie said, as five giant cards materialized in front of her.

“Well then, it is my turn!” Rarity shouted.

Rarity 8000 LP
Hand: 5
Pinkie 8000 LP
Hand: 0
Daichi 8000 LP
Hand: 4

“Well then, it looks like I will be the only one with a proper opening turn.” Rarity said. “To begin, when the opponent controls a monster while I control no monsters, I can Special Summon Cyber Dragon from my hand!”
(Level 5, 2100 ATK 1600 DEF)
“And to follow up, I summon the Tuner Monster, Vylon Sphere!”
(Level 1, 400 ATK/DEF)

“Tuner monster?” Daichi asked. “How is that different from a non Tuner monster?”

“Because a Tuner monster can be used for a Synchro Summon, like this!” Rarity exclaimed. “I’m Tuning my Level 3 Vylon Cube to my Level 5 Cyber Dragon! When knights from our two worlds meet...well, to be honest, I couldn’t think of a full chant yet, but Synchro Summon! Show us your beauty! Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth!”
(Level 6, 2600 ATK 800 DEF)
“I do believe that shall suffice for now darling, your turn.”

“A Synchro Monster...Fascinating, I draw!” Daichi shouted.

Rarity 8000 LP
Hand: 3
Pinkie 8000 LP
Hand: 0
Daichi 8000 LP
Hand: 5

“So I see that Synchro Monsters are a new type of monster summoned from the Fusion Deck…” Daichi said, looking over the cards in his hand. “But your Synchro Monster doesn’t have an effect! I activate my Tribute to the Doomed! By discarding my Block Dragon, I’ll destroy your Gaia Knight!” As Daichi slid his card into the Graveyard slot of his Duel Disk, the hands of various mummies emerged from a portal beneath Rarity’s monster as they attempted to drag it into the pit with them.

“Ooh! I’ve got just the Trap Card for this!” Pinkie excitedly shouted. “I activate Magic Drain! Your Spell Card is negated! But don’t worry! If you discard a Spell Card, you’ll negate my effect that negates your effect!”

“Very well then.” Daichi said as the portal beneath Rarity’s monster vanished, disembodying the hands reaching from out of it as it closed. “But that only means the rest of my Spells are even more important! Such as the Graceful Charity Spell Card! This allows me to draw three cards from my deck, then discard two from my hand. The cards I’ll send off to the Graveyard are Beta and Gamma the Magnet Warriors, although they won’t remain there for long! I activate my Dark Factory of Mass Production! This will return two Normal Monsters from my Graveyard to my hand! Return, Beta and Gamma!”

“Are you going for a Fusion!?” Pinkie asked. “You must be going for a Fusion with all those low level non Tuner monsters!”

“Well, close, but not quite! I'll tribute Alpha, Beta, and Gamma the Magnet Warriors! Opposites will attract and bring about the ultimate magnetic force! Merge together! Valkyrion, the Magna Warrior!”
(Level 8, 3500 ATK 3850 DEF)
“Battle Phase! Valkyrion, attack Miss Pinkie Pie directly!”

“Oh! I've also got just the Trap for this situation too!” Pinkie said. “I activate Defense Draw! This reduces battle damage to 0 and lets me draw a card!” Valkyrion slashed right through Pinkie, but its sword passed right through her, inflicting no damage.

“Drat! Then I'll activate my Future Fusion Continuous Spell!” Daichi shouted as he slid the card into his Duel Disk. “This card will become relevant next turn. I end my turn.”

“During the End Phase, I activate my three Jar of Greed!” Pinkie said as her cards raised to reveal themselves. “They each let me draw one card! And with the Draw I get for my Draw Phase, it's almost like I have my opening hand again! Oh, and speaking of which, I draw!”

Rarity 8000 LP
Hand: 3
Pinkie 8000 LP
Hand: 5
Daichi 8000 LP
Hand: 0

“Yay! Now I can show you guys my new deck!” Pinkie said. “Now I'll Banish three cards from the top of my deck facedown and invite you all to Toon Kingdom!” As Pinkie tapped the hologram card in front of her, a giant book appeared behind her, opening itself to reveal a large castle inside the pages. “Don’t tell Red, but now I Summon my Black Stone of Legend!”
(Level 1, 0 ATK/DEF)

“Um, Pinkie, darling, isn't that one of Red's cards for his Red-Eyes deck?” Rarity asked.

“Oh Rarity! I'm not a total copycat like you! I have my own Red-Eyes monster to Summon with The Black Stone of Legend! Speaking of which, I tribute The Black Stone of Legend to Special Summon Red-Eyes Toon Dragon from my deck!” Pinkie's stone dissolved into particles of light as Toon Kingdom behind her closed itself and began shaking about violently, before a black cartoon dragon with bright red eyes burst out from it.
(Level 7, 2400 ATK 2000 DEF)
********************

“Fuck...Is this how I’m going to die?” Red thought to himself, shivering in a small alcove. “All alone, in another world populated entirely by talking ponies? Wait, why do I feel suddenly...insulted? It’s almost as if somebody’s stolen away the dignity of my Red-Eyes...” Red thought to himself for a second before getting up and shaking the snow off himself. “Fuck it, if I sit here and don’t move, I’m going to die, no questions asked, but if I can take this insult and use it to motivate myself, I just might find the Empire again…”
********************

“I activate the effect of my Red-Eyes Toon Dragon!” Pinkie shouted. “Once per turn, I can Special Summon a Toon Monster from my hand, ignoring the summoning conditions! So try this on for size! Toon Dark Magician!”
(Level 7, 2500 ATK 2100 DEF)
“I’m not done yet! I activate the effect of Toon Dark Magician!” Pinkie shouted. “Once per turn, I can discard a Toon card to Special Summon a Toon from my deck, ignoring the Summoning conditions! Come on out! Toon Dark Magician Girl!” Pinkie’s magician took its helmet off and tapped it with its rod, prompting her new monster to emerge from it, defying all known laws of physical matter.
(Level 6, 2000 ATK 1700 DEF)

“Swarm the field with all the cartoons you want!” Daichi shouted from across the field. “They won’t stand a chance with my Magnet Warrior in the way of my Life Points!”

“Oh I know that, silly!” Pinkie said. “But get this! If I control a Toon monster, but you don’t, my Toons can attack you directly! And unlike the rest of my Toons, Toon Dark Magician Girl can attack the turn she’s Summoned!”

“What was that!?”

“Toon Dark Magician Girl! Direct Attack!” Pinkie’s Toon Magician fired a blast of magic from its scepter that as it was about to collide with Valkyrion, curved around Daichi’s monster, striking him in the face as if it were being controlled by Discord.
Daichi 8000 -> 6000 LP
“Alright! You go girl!” Pinkie shouted as her monster flew close enough to give her a high five. “I end my turn!”

“It’s my turn!” Rarity shouted. “I draw~!”

Rarity 8000 LP
Hand: 4
Pinkie 8000 LP
Hand: 1
Daichi 6000 LP
Hand: 0

“Oh this is just lovely.” Rarity said, looking at her hand. “First, I activate the Equip Spell Megamorph! It may not be an accessory, but I give it to Gaia Knight regardless!”
(Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth 2600 -> 1300 ATK)

“Um, Rarity?” Pinkie asked. “You do know that you just made your monster weaker, right?”

“And that’s not all! Now I Normal Summon Reborn Tengu! In Attack Position!”
(Level 4, 1700 ATK 600 DEF)

“Attack Position!?” Pinkie and Daichi shouted out in unison.

“Battle Phase! Reborn Tengu attacks Valkyrion the Magna Warrior!” Rarity’s monster flew straight towards Daichi’s Magnet Warrior, only to be sliced in half by its great blade.
Rarity 8000 -> 6200 LP
“When Reborn Tengu leaves the field for any reason, I can Special Summon another one from my deck!”
(Level 4, 1700 ATK 600 DEF)
“Reborn Tengu! Attack Valkyrion the Magna Warrior!” Rarity’s second monster attacked Daichi’s, only to be destroyed as easily as the first one.
Rarity 6200 -> 4400 LP
“Again, no matter the cause, when Reborn Tengu leaves the field, I can Special Summon another one from my deck!”
(Level 4, 1700 ATK 600 DEF)
“Now! Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth - attack his Valkyrion the Magna Warrior! Equestrian Spiral Strike!” As Rarity’s knight dashed towards Daichi’s Magnet Warrior, a mach cone began to form around its spear.

“Now, Rarity, I know that we’re trying to avenge Applejack and Fluttershy, as well as save the world for like the kajilianth time, but do you maybe think that the stress has gotten to you?” Pinkie asked.

“No Pinkie, for you see, Megamorph is an Equip Spell that, when you possess more Life Points than the opponent, will reduce the Equipped monster’s Attack by half its original value, but when you possess fewer Life Points, it doubles it instead!” Rarity explained.

“What!?”
“WHAT!?”

(Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth 1300 -> 5200 ATK)
Rarity’s knight thrust its spear into Valkyrion, causing it to explode into several shards like a mirror.
Daichi 6000 -> 4300 LP
“I’m not finished yet! Reborn Tengu attacks directly!”
Daichi 4300 -> 2600 LP
(Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth 5200 -> 1300 ATK)
“Lastly, I set one card and end my turn, darling.”

“I-I draw!”

Rarity 4400 LP
Hand: 1
Pinkie 8000 LP
Hand: 1
Daichi 2600 LP
Hand: 1

“I’ll start this turn with my Future Fusion Continuous Spell! One turn has passed since its initial activation, so now I’ll reveal Imperion Magnum, the Superconductive Battlebot from my Extra Deck, and send Berserkion the Electromagna Warrior and another Valkyrion the Magna Warrior from my deck to the Graveyard, and on my next Standby Phase the monster will be Fusion Summoned! Now I play my Pot of Greed card!” Daichi said as he slid the card into his Duel Disk. “This lets me draw two cards! Now, I activate Mystical Space Typhoon! I’ll destroy Pinkie Pie’s Toon Kingdom!”

“Oh no!” Pinkie called out. “When Toon World is destroyed, Toon Dark Magician Girl is also-” Pinkie was cut off as her Field Spell and one of her monsters suddenly exploded in front of her. “...Destroyed…”

“That’s not all I’m destroying this turn! By Banishing three EARTH monsters from my hand or Graveyard, Alpha, Beta and Gamma in this case, I can Special Summon Block Dragon from my Graveyard!”
(Level 8, 2500 ATK 3000 DEF)
“Now I play Monster Reborn! Come back, Valkyrion the Magna Warrior!”
(Level 8, 3500 ATK 3850 DEF)
“Battle! Block Dragon, wipe that disgrace of a dragon from my sight!”
Pinkie 8000 -> 7900 LP)
“Now, with Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, I attack Toon Dark Magician!”
Pinkie 7900 -> 6900 LP
“With that, I end my turn!” Daichi said.

“My turn! I draw!” Pinkie shouted.

Rarity 4400 LP
Hand: 1
Pinkie 6900 LP
Hand: 2
Daichi 2600 LP
Hand: 0

“I activate my Trade-In Spell Card! By discarding my Level 8 Toon Ancient Gear Golem, I can draw two new cards!” Pinkie said. “Now I’ll activate my Graceful Charity! First I’ll draw three cards, and now I’ll discard my Toon Buster Blader and Toon Barrel Dragon! Are you excited? Because I’m excited! I activate Soul Charge! This lets me Special Summon any number of monsters from my Graveyard, although I do have to take 1000 damage for each and I can’t attack the turn I activate this card, so maybe it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Anyway, I’m bringing back Toon Dark Magician, Red-Eyes Toon Dragon, Toon Ancient Gear Golem, Toon Barrel Dragon and Toon Buster Blader!”
(Level 7, 2500 ATK 2100 DEF)
(Level 7, 2400 ATK 2000 DEF)
(Level 8, 3000 ATK/DEF)
(Level 7, 2600 ATK 2200 DEF)
(Level 7, 2600 ATK 2300 DEF)
Pinkie 6900 -> 1900 LP

“So you swarmed the field with more of those infernal Toons!” Daichi shouted. “So what!? Without Toon World or Toon Kingdom, they can’t attack directly, and even if you do manage to establish the protection of Toon Kingdom, I’ll inflict so much battle damage you’ll still die anyway! It’s over Pinkie!”

“Not if I have anything to say about it! Which I don’t right now, so I’ll just set one card face down and end my turn. You’re up Rarity!”

“Very well then. I draw!”

Rarity 4400 LP
Hand: 2
Pinkie 1900 LP
Hand: 0
Daichi 2600 LP
Hand: 0

“To begin this turn, I’ll activate my Raregold Armor, and Equip it to Gaia! So long as he is equipped in this golden armor, you must select him as the target for any of your attacks!” Rarity said as her knight became bathed in a golden light from his new armor. “Lastly, I set one card and end my turn!”

“Well then, clearly the pressure has gotten to your head, a beginner’s mistake if I’ve ever seen one.” Daichi said in a regretful tone. “However, it’s my turn, so I draw!”

Rarity 4400 LP
Hand: 0
Pinkie 1900 LP
Hand: 0
Daichi 2600 LP
Hand: 1

“Two turns have passed since I originally activated Future Fusion, so now I’m allowed to Fusion Summon my ultimate monster!”

“Before you do, I activate my Battle Mania Trap card!” Rarity shouted as her card revealed its front side. “This card can only be activated during the opponent’s Standby Phase, and it forces them to attack with all of their monsters! Now please, continue with your turn.”

“Very well then, now as I was explaining Future Fusion allows me to Fusion Summon my ultimate monster! Water, Fire, Air and Earth! Behold these magnets’ greatest work! Fusion Summon! Appear, Imperion Magnum, the Superconductive Battlebot!”
(Level 10, 4000 ATK/DEF)

“Oh, I’m so sorry to disappoint you darling, but I activate my Counter Trap! Solemn Judgement!” Rarity interjected. “By paying half my Life Points, I can negate the Summon of a monster or the activation of a Spell or Trap Card and destroy that card! Your Magnets just don’t seem to work!”
Rarity 4400 -> 2200 LP
“And now that my Life Points are lower than yours again, Gaia’s Attack Points become double their original value again!”
(Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth 1300 -> 5200 ATK)

“Battle Phase! Valkyrion, attack Gaia!” Following Daichi’s command, his Magnet warrior rushed towards Rarity’s knight without a second thought about its imminent demise, which Gaia delivered with a high powered stab through the head.
Daichi 2600 -> 900 LP
(Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth 5200 -> 1300 ATK)
“I’m not done yet! Block Dragon, attack Gaia Knight! Block Swipe!” With Daichi’s command, his Block Dragon slashed clean through Rarity’s knight, despite the lack of a bladed edge on its tail.
Rarity 2200 -> 1000 LP
“And with that, I end my turn!”

“Pinkie! End this ruffian this turn!” Rarity shouted.

“Oh, I will!” Pinkie responded. “It’s my draw!”

Rarity 1000 LP
Hand: 0
Pinkie 1900 LP
Hand: 1
Daichi 900LP
Hand: 1

“Straight to Battle Phase!” Pinkie shouted. “Toon Ancient Gear Golem, attack his Block Dragon! Mechanized Melee!” Gears in Pinkie’s monster turned loudly as her Golem readied a punch, before it extended its arm to reach Daichi’s monster onec the gears released themselves, Daichi’s monster exploding into countless shards.
Daichi 900 -> 400 LP
“This is for Fluttershy! Toon Barrel Dragon! Attack directly!” Pinkie’s monster readied all the guns on its body and pointed them directly towards Daichi before firing a countless volley of bullets at him.

“Not so fast!” Daichi shouted. “When I receive a direct attack, I can discard Swift Scarecrow to-”

“NO!” Pinkie shouted. “I activate Called by the Grave! This Quick-Play Spell banishes a monster from the opponent’s Graveyard and negates both its effects and the effects of any other monster the opponent has with the same name!”

“Wait, so that means-!” Daichi took all the bullets Pinkie’s dragon shot at him, flying back from the impact.
Daichi 400 -> 0 LP

Pinkie and Rarity walked to to Daichi as they watch him dissolve into particles of light, leaving behind nothing but a single card. “You know, maybe we should ask Red just who this Daichi guy was the next time we see him.” Pinkie said.

“Yes, we should, but after what he did to both Applejack and Fluttershy, I can never forgive a creature such as him.” Rarity responded. “Now come on Pinkie! Twilight’s waiting on us!” She said before the two mares began running into the Crystal Castle.
************************************************

“So Twilight, should we really be charging straight for Ernesh without your friends?” Spike asked, clinging to Twilight’s back for dear life as she ran to the throne room of the Crystal Castle.

“Yes Spike! We have to! Otherwise who knows how many ponies could get hurt?” Twilight responded. “Besides, how is it any different from when we had to find the Crystal Heart and stop King Sombra from returning?”

“Because back then we had Cadence and Shining to fall back on, as well as the rest of your friends!”

“Well, if the two of us fail, I have faith that Red can finish it in our place.” Twilight slowed down as she approached the door to the castle’s throne room. “Spike, don’t you worry. I’ll defeat Ernesh, and set this all good, just you see.” Twilight used her magic to open the door to the throne room, Spike hiding behind her as she walked closer to Ernesh, who was sitting on the throne. “Ernesh. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and as Princess of Friendship, I formally request that you stop turning Ponies into cards.”

“A formal request? You should know by know how useless simply asking can be, Princess.” Ernesh responded as he got off the throne and raised his left arm and a device akin to a Duel Disk activated, the Main Monster Zones lighting up with no visible mechanisms.

“Alright, if that’s the only way I can stop this, then so be it.” Twilight said as the Duel Disk on her foreleg turned on.

DUEL

Twilight 8000 LP
Hand: 5
Ernesh 8000 LP
Hand: 5

Author's Note

Holy shit, I have no excuse for taking this long just to finish a chapter, and I'm sorry for that. Writing fanfiction is a lot harder once you get a full time job, but I should not have taken more than a full month just to write this.
I cut Kaiba in an earlier chapter for the simple reason that I was feeling rushed, and if I try to do too much, this is going to end up never finishing.
I'll make sure this gets finished by the end of 2018, no excuses.

Chapter 17: The Game of Darkness Part 1

“Come on! Almost there!” Red grunted as he climbed to the top of a cliff, hanging on by the edge. “Yes! I made it! I can even see the Empire from here! Don’t worry girls, I’m coming!” Just then, Red felt the rock he was clinging onto start to give way. “Of course, that’s assuming I don’t fall!”
********************************************************

Twilight 8000 LP
Hand: 5
Ernesh 8000 LP
Hand: 5

“I’ll go first!” Twilight said as she waved her hoof in front of her face, causing her cards to materialize in front of her. “”I’ll start with my Emergency Teleport Spell Card! This lets me Special Summon a Level 3 or lower Psychic Type monster from my hand or deck, but I Banish it during the End Phase! I Summon Ghost Fairy Elfobia!”
(Level 3, 900 ATK 500 DEF)
“Now I tribute her to Tribute Summon my Overdrive Teleporter!”
(Level 6, 2100 ATK 1200 DEF)
“I activate the effect of my Overdrive Teleporter! Once while it’s on the field, I can pay 2000 Life Points to Special Summon two Level 3 Psychic Type monsters from my Deck!” Twilight shouted. “I’ll Special Summon Hushed Psychic Cleric in Defence Position and Mental Seeker!”
Twilight 8000 -> 6000 LP
(Level 3, 0 ATK 2100 DEF)
(Level 3, 800 ATK 600 DEF)
“Now, I’m Tuning my Level 3 Mental Seeker with my Level 6 Overdrive Teleporter! Appear from beyond the event horizon, and eviscerate everything with your beams of light! Come to life! Synchro Summon! Come forth! Hyper Psychic Blaster!”
(Level 9, 3000 ATK 2500 DEF)
“It’s not over yet!” Twilight shouted. “I activate One for One, discarding my Necro Gardna to Special Summon Mind Master from my deck!”
(Level 1, 100 ATK 200 DEF)
“Now I activate the effect of my Mind Master! By paying 800 Life Points and tributing my Hushed Psychic Cleric, I’ll Special Summon my Level 4 Psi-Blocker!”
(Level 4, 1200 ATK 300 DEF)
Twilight 6000 -> 5200 LP)
“Once per turn, while Psi-Blocker is on the field, I can declare one card name and prevent both that card and its effects from being used until your next turn!” Twilight shouted. “I declare Raigeki!”

“Nicely played, princess.” Ernesh responded.

“And now I’m Tuning my Level 1 Mind Master to my Level 4 Psi-Blocker! Arise from the deepest lab, and show the world your might! Come to life! Synchro Summon! Magical Android!”
(Level 5, 2400 ATK 1700 DEF)
“Lastly, I’ll set one card and end my turn.” Twilight said as a giant hologram of her card appeared in front of her. “During the End Phase, Magical Android increases my Life Points by 600 for each Psychic Type monster I control, for a total of 1200 Life Points.
Twilight 5200 -> 6400 LP

“An excellent starting turn, princess.” Ernesh said. “But now it is my turn. I draw.”

Twilight 6400 LP
Hand: 0
Ernesh 8000 LP
Hand: 6

“To begin my turn, I’ll activate the Card Destruction Spell Card, which forces both players to discard their entire hand and draw an equal number of cards. Your hand is currently empty, while I now hold five cards, so by this effect I’ll discard five, then draw five more!”

“What could he be up to…?” Twilight thought to herself. “I don’t have anything in my hand, so why did he discard his entire opening hand, losing one card in the process?”

“Now, I’ll my Lair of Darkness Field Spell!” Ernesh said as he placed a card into a slit on the edge of his Duel Disk, causing the Crystal Throne Room to become engulfed in pitch black darkness. “So long as Lair of Darkness remains in play, all monsters on the field become DARK attribute, and once per turn, I can tribute one DARK monster you control in place of one of mine as cost to activate a card effect.

“Wait, if all of Twilight’s monsters become DARK attribute, then that means-!” Spike said to himself, cowering behind one of the doors.
(Hyper Psychic Android EARTH -> DARK)
(Magical Android LIGHT -> DARK)

“Now, because I have exactly three DARK monsters in my Graveyard, I’ll Special Summon my Dark Armed Dragon!”
(Level 7, 2800 ATK 1000 DEF)
“Now I’ll activate the effect of my Dark Armed Dragon! By Banishing a DARK Monster from my Graveyard, I can target and destroy one card you control! I’ll Banish Dark Grephor, and destroy your Hyper Psychic Blaster!” Ernesh shouted, as a silhouette of his Dark Grephor appeared in front of Dark Armed Dragon, as it swallowed the silhouette before swinging towards Twilight’s monster with its massive tail.

“I chain my Trap Card! Assault Mode Activate!” Twilight shouted as her card revealed itself.

“What the-! You have that in your deck!?” Ernesh shouted, taken back in shock.

“This lets me tribute a Synchro monster I control, and Special Summon its corresponding Assault Mode variant from my deck! I tribute my Hyper Psychic Blaster, and summon Hyper Psychic Blaster/Assault Mode!”
(Level 11, 3500 ATK 3000 DEF)
“Because Hyper Psychic Blaster left the field after it was targeted by your Dark Armed Dragon’s effect, it resolves without any visible effect!” Twilight shouted, as Dark Armed Dragon missed its strike, leaving a massive crack in the floor.

“Shit! I didn’t account for you to be playing the Assault Mode variant, or to have Assault Mode Activate on the field on the first turn.” Ernesh said. “But I must commend you, Princess, most Duelists wouldn’t go for the throat as quickly as you did. I set two cards face down, and activate Veil of Darkness. During my Draw Phase, if I draw a DARK monster, I can send it to the Graveyard, and then draw a new card to replace it. Battle Phase! Dark Armed Dragon attacks Magical Android! Jaws of darkness!” Ernesh’s dragon slashed at Twilight’s Android with its claws, but was intercepted by a ghostly apparition of a monster.

“During the opponent’s turn, by Banishing Necro Gardna from my Graveyard, I can negate one attack.” Twilight explained.

“An excellent move! I end my turn!”

“Draw!”

Twilight 6400 LP
Hand: 1
Ernesh 8000 LP
Hand: 0

“I’ll start this turn by activating my Pot of Avarice!” Twilight said. “This lets me return five monsters from my Graveyard to my deck and draw two cards. I’ll return my Mind Master, Psi-Blocker, Overdrive Teleporter, Ghost fairy Elfobia and Mental Seeker to my deck and draw two cards. Now, I activate my Spellbook of Secrets! This lets me add Spellbook Magician of Prophecy to my hand, who I subsequently Normal Summon!”
(Level 2, 500 ATK 400 DEF)
“When he’s Normal or Flip Summoned, I can add a Spellbook Spell Card to my hand, and I’m adding Spellbook of Knowledge, which I now activate!” Twilight shouted. “By sending a Spellcaster I control, such as Spellbook Magician of Prophecy to the Graveyard, I can draw two cards!”

“Very impressive! You’ve turned a single card into three!” Ernesh commented. “But it came at the cost of this turn’s Normal Summon! Were they worth it, Princess?”

“Battle Phase! Hyper Psychic Blaster/Assault Mode, attack his Dark Armed Dragon! Assault Blast!”

“I activate the effect of my Necro gardna in the Graveyard!” Ernesh shouted, as a ghostly apparition of Necro Gardna blocked the attack from Twilight’s monster. “As you know, by Banishing Necro Gardna from the Graveyard, I can negate one attack. It’s still your turn, princess.”

“I’ll shift Magical Android to Defence Position and set one card face down. During the End Phase, Magical Android will increase my Life Points by 600 for each Psychic type monster I control, for a net gain of 1200.” Twilight said, as her android rested on one knee crossing its arms and a hologram of her face down card appeared in front of her.
Twilight 6400 -> 7600 LP
“With that, I end my turn.”

“It’s my turn, I draw!”

Twilight 7600 LP
Hand: 2
Ernesh 8000 LP
Hand: 1

“I drew my Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair, so I’ll discard it to draw another card!” Ernesh shouted as he placed his card into the Graveyard slot on his Duel Disk and drew another card. “Now, I’ll discard my Relinkuriboh, and draw once more! Now I discard my Absolute King Back Jack, triggering its effect, although Veil of Darkness must finish resolving before I can apply the effect of Back Jack. I draw, and now I apply the effect of Back Jack! This lets me rearrange the top three cards of my deck! Lastly, I set one card face down, and Dark Armed Dragon attacks your Magical Android! Jaws of Darkness!” Following Ernesh’s command, his dragon lunged straight towards Twilight’s android, the slash causing it to explode into countless shards. “With that, I end my turn!”

“My go!”

Twilight 7600 LP
Hand: 3
Ernesh 8000 LP
Hand: 0

“During the Standby Phase, I activate my Dark Spirit Art - Greed!” Ernesh shouted. This lets me tribute a DARK monster and draw two cards! Due to the effect of my Lair of Darkness Field Spell, I can tribute your LIGHT attribute treated as DARK Hyper Psychic Blaster/Assault Mode!”

“What!?”

“And because Hyper Psychic Blaster/Assault Mode was tributed, it cannot activate its effect to Special Summon the Original Hyper Psychic Blaster from your Graveyard!”

“Shoot! That was my ace in the hole! But I can still turn this around!” Twilight shouted. “First, I activate my Trap card, Psychic Tuning! This will Special Summon a Psychic type monster in my Graveyard, and treat it as a Tuner! I Special Summon my Hushed Psychic Cleric!”
(Level 3, 0 ATK 2100 DEF)
“And now I summon my Psychic Jumper!”
(Level 2, 100 ATK 1500 DEF)

“So you’ve summoned two low level Tuners, do you expect me to be afraid of that when I have my Dark Armed Dragon on the field?” Ernesh asked, gloatingly. “It has far more Attack Points than those pipsqueaks, and you can’t even Synchro Summon!”

“Who said I was using my monsters to attack?”

“What?”

“I activate Psychic Jumper’s effect!” Twilight shouted. “Once per turn, by paying 1000 Life Points, I can target one monster you control and one Psychic type monster I control, except Psychic Jumper, and switch control of those targets!”

“What the-!?”

“As Princess of Friendship, I’ll send Hushed Psychic Cleric to your field as an ambassador of friends, and as Headmare of Equestria’s first school of friendship, take Dark Armed Dragon in as an exchange student!” Twilight shouted as her monster teleported both her cleric and Ernesh’s dragon to opposite sides of the field.
Twilight 7600 -> 6600 LP

“Alright! Way to go Twilight!” Spike shouted out from behind the door.

“Battle Phase! Dark Armed Dragon, attack Hushed Psychic Cleric! Jaws of Darkness!” Following Twilight’s command, Ernesh’s dragon slashed its claws fiercely at its former master’s new monster, shattering it.
Ernesh 8000 -> 5200 LP

“When Psychic Tuning is sent to the Graveyard, you take damage equal to the Special Summoned monsters Level multiplied by 400!” Ernesh shouted as he braced himself from the explosion of his monster.
Twilight 6600 -> 5400 LP

“It’s not over yet! Psychic Jumper, attack directly!”
Ernesh 5200 -> 5100 LP
“Main Phase 2! Appear! The shining circuit that leads us to the future!” Twilight shouted, as the Link Portal appeared in the air above her. “The summoning conditions are at least one Tuner Monster! I set Dark Armed Dragon and Psychic Jumper in the Link Markers! Link Summon!”

“Link what now!?”

“Appear, Link 2, Crystron Needlefiber!”
(Link 2, 1500 ATK , )

“What the hell is that thing!?” Ernesh shouted, “And why doesn’t it have any Defence Points!?”

“It’s a Link Monster! Link Monsters only require a number of monsters equal to their Link Rating to be Summoned!” Twilight explained. “And when Crystron Needlefiber is Link Summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 3 or lower Tuner from my deck in Defence Position, although it can’t activate its effects this turn. I Special Summon Psychic Commander!”
(Level 3, 1400 ATK 800 DEF)
“Return, the shining circuit that leads to the future! The Summoning Conditions are two or more effect monsters! I set Psychic Commander and Link 2 Crystron Needlefiber in the Link Markers! Appear, Link 3, Decode Talker!”
(Link 3, 2300 ATK , , )
“Lastly, I set two cards face down, and end my turn.”

“...During the End Phase, Lair of Darkness will Special Summon a Torment Token to the player’s field for each one of their monsters that was tributed that turn.” Ernesh reluctantly explained as a ball of darkness appeared on Twilight’s field.
(Level 3, 1000 ATK/DEF)
“But now it’s my turn, I draw!”

Twilight 5400 LP
Hand: 0
Ernesh 5100 LP
Hand: 3

“Shit-! I only have one option with this hand…” Ernesh mumbled to himself. “I summon Kuribandit!”
(Level 3, 1000 ATK 700 DEF)
“Now I end my turn. During the End Phase of the turn Kuribandit is Normal Summoned, I can tribute it so excavate the top five cards of my deck, add one Spell or Trap to my hand, and send the rest to the Graveyard. I’ll add Pot of Greed to my hand, while sending Necro Gardna, Armageddon Knight, Solemn Judgement and Battle Fader to the Graveyard. However, because a monster I control was tributed, I can Special Summon Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair from my Graveyard!”
(Level 8, 3000 ATK 2000 DEF)
“Now, Lair of Darkness will create a Torment Token on my field!”
(Level 3, 1000 ATK/DEF)
“Your turn, Princess!”

“During the End Phase, I activate my face down Scapegoat!” Twilight shouted. “This will Special Summon four Sheep Tokens to my field in Defence Position!”
(Level 1, 0 ATK/DEF) X4
“Also, for each monster Decode Talker points to, it gains 500 Attack Points!”
(Decode Talker 2300 -> 3300 ATK)
“Now I draw!”

Twilight 5400 LP
Hand: 1
Ernesh 5100 LP
Hand: 3

“I activate my Natural Tune Spell card!” Twilight shouted. “This will treat a Normal Monster on my field as a Tuner until the end of this turn. I select a Sheep Token! Now, I’m Tuning my Level 1 Sheep Token to another one of my Sheep Tokens! From one to another, the highest speed comes through! Synchro Summon! Synchro Tuner, Formula Synchron!”
(Level 2, 200 ATK 1500 DEF)

“A Synchro Tuner?” Ernesh asked. “That means-!”

“When Formula Synchron is Synchro Summoned, I can draw a card! Now, I’m Tuning my Level 2 Formula Synchron to my Level 1 Sheep Token and the Level 3 Torment Token you gave me! From the depths of the ocean, come to us and prove your might! Synchro Summon! Synchro Tuner, Coral Dragon!”
(Level 6, 2400 ATK 500 DEF)
“Decode Talker, attack his Darkest Diabolos! Decode End!” Twilight’s monster leapt towards Ernesh’s Dragon, preparing to cleave it in half with its mighty blade, before a ghostly apparition of Necro Gardna blocked it.

“By Banishing Necro Gardna from my Graveyard, I can negate one enemy attack!” Ernesh said. “Princess, you should have known that would happen!”

“I did know that would happen. Removing your Necro Gardna from the Graveyard was my plan all along!” Twilight retorted. “Now, Coral Dragon attacks your Torment Token! Coral Thunder!” Twilight’s Dragon launched a bolt of thunder from its mouth towards Ernesh’s Token, leaving nothing but a burn mark where the monster once stood. “Now, on my Main Phase 2, I’m Tuning my Level 6 Coral Dragon to my last Sheep Token! The powers of magic and psychic abilities unite to unleash a greater power! Synchro Summon! Come forth, PSY-Framelord Zeta!”
(Level 7, 2500 ATK 1800 DEF)
(Decode Talker 3300 -> 2800 ATK)
“When Coral Dragon is sent to the Graveyard, I can draw another card! Now I’m getting rid of this problematic board! I activate Heavy Storm! This will destroy all Spells and Traps on the field!”

“I chain my face down Dark Bribe!” “Ernesh shouted as his face down revealed itself. “This will negate one Spell or Trap at the cost of letting the opponent draw one card!” Twilight simply groaned in frustration as she waved her hoof in front of her face to draw another card and examine the rest of her hand.

“Fine, then I’ll set one card and end my turn!” Twilight said, as a giant hologram of her card appeared face down in front of her.

“My draw!”

Twilight 5400 LP
Hand: 1
Ernesh 5100 LP
Hand: 4

“To begin this turn, I’ll activate my Pot of Greed Spell Card!” Ernesh said. “This card allows me to draw two cards from my the top of my deck! And would you look at that! They’ll both allow me to finish this! But before that, I activate the effect of my Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair! But to pay the cost I have to tribute a DARK monster, so with my Lair of Darkness Field Spell, I’ll tribute your now DARK attribute PSY-Framelord Zeta!”
(Decode Talker 2800 -> 2300 ATK)

“I don’t think so!” Twilight shouted. “I activate my Mask of Restrict Trap Card! While this card is face up on the field, neither player can tribute monsters!”

“A useless effort.”

“What?”

“Costs must be paid before an effect has the potential to be negated, so by waiting until I activated my effect to activate your Mask of Restrict, your PSY-Framelord Zeta died for nothing!” Ernesh shouted.

“No! That was my trump card…” Twilight said, her ears drooping at the thought that she was going to lose, knowing the consequences.

“That’s right Princess, just allow me to defeat you, and you’ll be reunited with your precious friends in but the blink of an eye, and you’ll be together forever!” Ernesh shouted from the other side of the room.

“Rarity! Hurry up! We have to be there to support Twilight!” Said a voice from down the hall.

“I’m trying! You must remember that I’m not as fast as you!” Said another voice.

“Pinkie? Rarity?” Twilight thought, before seeing the shadows of her two friends alongside the wall. “Ernesh, you’re wrong! My friends are right here! I don’t know what you’ve done to APplejack or Fluttershy, but you will pay for what you’ve done to Starlight, Trixie, and all the countless other ponies you’ve hurt to get your way!”

“Twilight!” Said Pinkie and Rarity as they ran into the room.

“Twilight, you’re not hurt, are you darling?” Rarity asked, looking over Twilight for injuries.

“No Rarity, I’m perfectly fine.” Twilight responded.

“Hey what’s all this dark stuff?” Pinkie asked, looking at the throne room and how it was covered in darkness. “Is it a card effect?”

“Yes, it’s-”

“As much as I hate to interrupt such a tender moment between friends, the Duel must continue until a victor is declared!” Ernesh shouted, commanding everypony’s attention. “Darkest Diabolos’ effect will now resolve! Twilight, place the only card in your hand on the top or bottom of your deck!”

“Shoot! I’ll place this card on the bottom of my deck.” Twilight said as her card dematerialized, and an animation of the card going on the bottom of her deck appeared on a holographic screen her Duel Disk emitted.

“Battle Phase! Darkest Diabolos, attack Decode Talker! Hell Shackle!” Ernesh shouted as his dragon proceded to punch Twilight’s monster with enough force to destroy it.
Twilight 5400 -> 4700 LP
“With that, I end my turn! Draw your last card Princess, let your friends witness how futile it is to resist! I’ll end you next turn!” Ernesh taunted. "During the End Phase, Lair of Darkness will Special Summon a Torment Token to your side of the field!"
(Level 3, 1000 ATK/DEF)

“She’ll draw way more cards than just this one!” Pinkie shouted.

“Yes, Twilight, defeat this ruffian, and bring back Applejack and Fluttershy!” Rarity said.

“Ernesh, with my friends by my side, anything is possible! It’s my turn, so I draw!” Twilight shouted, waving her hoof across her face to draw her next card.

Twilight 4700 LP
Hand: 1
Ernesh 5100 LP
Hand: 5
**************************************************

Red sped toward the Crystal Empire full throttle, only thinking about how badly he wanted to Duel Ernesh, and end the chaos in Equestria, before leaping off his D-Board as he came closer to the Crystal Empire proper.

“Alright! I made it! Now to hurry and meet up with the girls!” He said to himself, placing his D-Board back between his shirts as he came across the entrance to the Crystal Castle. “What the hell? It looks like a Duel broke out here or something. That must mean-!” Red said, before running inside the castle. “Ernesh! No more games! I’m coming for you!”

Author's Note

So, this long ride's almost over, Twilight's actually Dueling the main antagonist, I was starting to think I would never get this far
My plan is to have the next chapter up later in the month, and then have the whole story wrapped up by Christmas, if this somehow goes into 2019 I'm going to seriously hate myself

Chapter 18: The Game of Darkness: Part 2

Twilight 4700 LP
Hand: 1
Ernesh 5100 LP
Hand: 5

Ernesh’s Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair (Level 8, 3000 ATK 2000 DEF) stood haughty, facing down Twilight alongside a face down card compared to her field, which was completely empty, save for the Mask of Restrict Trap Card and Torment Token (Level 3, 1000 ATK/DEF) Ernesh Summoned to her field.

“This is bad.” Twilight thought to herself, carefully examining the current situation. “Not only is Ernesh ahead in terms of Life Points, but he also has 5 more cards than me, but at least I won’t have to worry about that Field Spell tributing my monsters anymore, but at the same time, I can’t Tribute monsters anymore either…”

“You can do it Twilight!” Pinkie called out. “Kick his butt! Don’t leave a single point in his life!”

“Yes darling, don’t let him escape! Finish this now!” Rarity shouted.

“I activate my second Pot of Avarice!” Twilight shouted. “I’ll return Hyper Psychic Blaster, Magical Android, Decode Talker, Crystron Needlefiber, and Coral Dragon to the Extra Deck, and draw two cards! And I’m not done drawing yet! Now I activate my Pot of Greed! This will let me draw two more cards, and unlike my Pot of Avarice, this won’t require me to pay any costs! With that, I’ll Summon my Risebell the Star Psycher, in Defence Position!”
(Level 4, 1500 ATK 1500 DEF)
“And now I set one card face down, and end my turn!”

“Very well Princess!” Ernesh shouted. It’s my turn! I draw!”

Twilight 4700 LP
Hand: 1
Ernesh 5100 LP
Hand: 6

“Well, I’m sorry to say Princess, but I’m running out of time.” Ernesh said. “Ergo, the pleasantries must end here! I’m killing you this turn! To begin, I activate Big Bang Shot! This Equip Spell will boost Darkest Diabolos’ Attack Points by 400, and when it attacks your Defence Position monster, Piercing damage will be inflicted!”
(Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair 3000 -> 3400 ATK)
“Now I activate my Wicked Trample Continuous Trap! This will double all Battle Damage you take, except for direct attacks. Battle Phase! Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair, attack her Torment Token! Hell Shackle!” Ernesh shouted, as his dragon wound up to punch Twilight’s Token monster.

“Oh no!” Pinkie shouted. “If this attack goes through, Twilight’s going to lose!”

“Wait, doesn’t she still have some card in her Graveyard to stop Battle Damage like before?” Spike asked, a panicked look on his face.

“No, she used up the last one she had several turns ago.” Rarity said. “That means she only has the cards on her field to fall back on.”

Ernesh’s dragon let out a loud roar as it punched Twilight’s token, the force of the impact creating an explosion that completely enveloped her.

“TWILIGHT!” Spike shouted, tears rolling down his face.

“There, it is now done.” Ernesh said. “Look upon the remains of your princess! I’ll give you the chance to surrender peacefully, and become cards painlessly, but know that you all will inevitably share the same fate!”

“Are you sure about that?” Twilight asked, as the smoke around her cleared.

“What!? Your Life Points are 0! How are you still standing!?” Ernesh shouted.

“If you were paying attention, you would have noticed that I activated my Defence Draw Trap card! This reduces damage from one battle to 0, then it allows me to draw one card!” Twilight explained, as her Trap revealed itself, before dissipating as she drew another card.

“Persistent bitch-! I set one card and end my turn!” Ernesh said, as his card appeared in front of him.

“Again, what does bitch even mean!?” Twilight asked in frustration.

“It’s an insult.” Said a voice from outside the room. “It’s typically used to describe women who annoy you.” Red said, walking into the throne room.

“RED!” Shouted everyone in the room.

“Impossible! The Crystal Empire is surrounded by eternal winter! You should have died from hypothermia!” Ernesh shouted.

“Please, don’t insult me like that. It takes more than a little cold weather to kill me.” Red responded. “That’s nothing compared to the winters back home. Now, weren’t the two of you in the middle of the of a Duel? I’d say you have bigger things to worry about.”

“That’s right!” Twilight shouted. “It’s my turn, I draw!”

Twilight 4700 LP
Hand: 3
Ernesh 5100 LP
Hand: 4

“I Normal Summon Genomix Fighter!” Twilight shouted.
(Level 6, 2200 ATK 1100 DEF)

“Wait, how did Twilight Normal Summon a Level 6 without tribute?” Spike asked, looking to Red for the answer.

“Genomix Fighter is a Tuner monster that allows you to Normal Summon it without tribute by cutting its Level, as well as its Attack Points in half.” Red explained. “Monsters with that design philosophy are actually quite common, but this one is a Tuner monster, so I’m excited to see what kind of Synchro Monster Twilight plans on bringing out!”
(Genomix Fighter Level 6-> 3 2200 -> 1100 ATK)

“I’m Tuning my Level 3 Genomix Fighter to my Level 4 Risebell the Star Psycher!” Twilight shouted. “The darkest petals shall be turned to the light of hope! Come to life! Synchro Summon! Black Rose Dragon!”
(Level 7, 2400 ATK 2000 DEF)

“What? No, it can’t be-!” Red said. “That has to be Black Rose Moonlight Dragon-! But why would Twilight waste her resources to Synchro Summon such a contextually useless monster?”

“When Black Rose Dragon is Synchro Summoned, it can destroy all cards on the field! Go, Black Rose Dragon! Black Rose Annihilation!” Twilight shouted, as her Rose Dragon shrieked, causing a storm of rose petals to envelop the room, as all cards on the field were shattered into pieces. “And when Big Bang Shot leaves the field, the equipped monster is Banished!” Twilight added, as Ernesh’s Darkest Diabolos dissipated into particles of light.

“What-? There’s no way-! Nobody can just control the Black Rose Dragon so easily-!” Red said, stepping back in shock.

“Now, darling, whatever are you talking about?” Rarity asked. “By the accounts you’ve told us, the real version is just cardboard with ink on it and a computer chip in it, not a living creature with free will.”

“Yeah, you’re starting to weird even me out.” Pinkie added. “You take your card games just a bit too seriously.”

“So you’ve destroyed my entire field.” Ernesh said. Do you really think that that’s enough to win the Duel?”

“No, but this will be! I activate Soul Charge!” Twilight shouted. “This card lets me Special Summon any number of Monsters from my Graveyard, but I lose 1000 Life Points for each monster Summoned this way! I revive PSY-Framelord Zeta and Black Rose Dragon!”
(Level 7, 2500 ATK 1800 DEF)
(Level 7, 2400 ATK 1800 DEF)
Twilight 4700 -> 2700 LP
“And I’m not done yet! I overlay the Level 7 PSY-Framelord Zeta and Black Rose Dragon! Metal Dragon from another world, please heed my call, and end this Duel! XYZ Summon! Appear, Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon!”
(Rank 7, 2800 ATK 2400 DEF, 2 OLU)

“R-Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon!?” Red shouted in shock. “I-Imposible! She Summoned that high Rank XYZ monster like it was nothing!”

“During the turn I activate Soul Charge, I can’t declare an attack, so I set one card and end my turn.”

“You’ll pay for Banishing my Darkest Diabolos like that!” Ernesh shouted. “This is the last turn of the Duel! I draw!”

Twilight 2700 LP
Hand: 0
Ernesh 5100 LP
Hand: 5

“First, I activate my Graceful Charity! This lets me draw 3 cards, but then I must discard 2 cards! The cards I’m discarding are Dark Resonator and Makyura the Destructor!” Ernesh shouted. “And during the turn Makyura the Destructor is sent to the Graveyard, I can activate Trap cards from my hand! Following this, I Normal Summon my Junk Synchron!”
(Level 3, 1300 ATK 500 DEF)

“Junk Synchron?” Red thought to himself. That must mean-!”

“When Junk Synchron is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 2 or lower monster from my Graveyard by negating its effect! Come back, Absolute King Back Jack!”
(Level 1, 0 ATK/DEF)
“Now, by discarding my Level 5 Dark General Grephor, I Special Summon my second Dark Grephor!”
(Level 4, 1700 ATK, 1600 DEF)
“Now, I’m Tuning my Level 3 Junk Synchron to my Level 1 Absolute King Back Jack and Level 4 Dark Grephor!” Ernesh shouted, as his Junk Synchron pulled a rev cord on its abdomen before dissolving into three green rings. “Devil from the pits of Hell, arise and decimate my foes with your unholy might! Synchro Summon! Arise, Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons!”
(Level 8, 3000 ATK/DEF)
“Battle! Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons! Wipe that dragon from my sight! Hellfire Blast!” Following its masters command, Ernesh’s dragon fired a burst of energy from both of its mouths, aiming squarely towards Twilight’s dragon.

“I activate my Spell card!” Twilight interjected. “Battle Tuned! This card will Banish one Tuner from my Graveyard, then increase the Attack Points of one monster I control by the Banished monster’s original Attack! I Banish Genomix Fighter, and give his 1100 Attack Points to Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon!”
(Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon 2800 -> 3900 ATK)
Twilight’s dragon retaliated to Ernesh’s dragon with a fireball of its own, overpowering Ernesh’s energy blasts and directing all three of them towards the original sender.
Ernesh 5100 -> 4200 LP

“No matter.” Ernesh said. “Beelze cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects, and whenever I take battle or effect damage, Beelze gains an equal amount of Attack Points! It’s over! No matter what card you play, Beelze will only get stronger!”
(Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons 3000 -> 3900 ATK)

“What? No-!” Twilight said, falling to her haunches in despair. “Everything we’ve fought for...Everything we stand for...Is this...the end?”

“You are already dead.” Red said.

“What?” Ernesh responded.

“Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon’s effect activates!” Red shouted. “When the opponent activates a card or effect, 500 damage will be inflicted to the opponent’s Life Points immediately after it resolves! Melting Flare!” Appearing to recognize Red’s command, Twilight’s dragon breathed a stream of flame towards Ernesh.
Ernesh 4200 -> 3700 LP

“So what? You inflicted 500 points of damage to me. That only means that-”

“Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons’ effect!” Red interrupted. “When the player receives battle or effect damage, Beelze will gain Attack Points equal to the damage received!”
(Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons 3900 -> 4400 ATK)
“This triggers Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon’s effect! You take another 500 damage, triggering Beelze’s effect, which in turn will trigger Red-Eyes’ effect, which will in turn trigger Beelze’s effect, creating a loop that only ends when your Life Points hit 0!” Red explained. “And because both monsters are immune to destruction by card effects, there’s not a single card that can save you!”

“Shit! He’s right!” Ernesh thought to himself, before looking at the Ring of Destruction and Forbidden Lance in his hand. “I activate Ring of Destruction! This will destroy one monster on the field, and then inflict damage to both players equal to the Attack Points it had upon destruction! I’m targeting my Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons!” As Ernesh placed the Trap in his Duel Disk’s Spell/Trap slot, a ring lined with grenades materialized around the two necks of his dragon, binding them together at the throat.

“It’s useless! Beelze cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects!” Red shouted. “Your Ring of Destruction will resolve with no effect!” As Red finished his sentence, the ring around Beelze’s necks detonated, creating an explosion that engulfed the entire room in a thick smoke.

“Is-is everypony okay?” Twilight asked, coughing on the smoke, as she looked around the room. “Red, does this normally happen at the end of a Duel?”

“No, it doesn’t.” Red said, putting his goggles over his eyes to protect them from the smoke. “Why the hell is this smoke so thick? It should just be Solid Vision…”

“Hey, guys?” Said Spike. “What happened to Ernesh?” Red and the ponies focused their attention to the throne that the mad God of Death once stood in front of.

“Crazy bastard.” Red said. “He’s the God of Death in this world, so I guess he just couldn’t accept going out on anyone’s terms but his own, even if it was only in his head. So Twilight! You can use both Synchro and XYZ Monsters! Looks like I’ve got a new rival to look out for!”

“Say, darling, didn’t Rainbow Dash jump off the train with you?” Rarity said, motioning towards the absence of her loudest friend.

“Oh, that...I was hoping to skirt around the issue until later, but…” Red said, before pulling Rainbow’s card out of one of the deck boxes strapped to his leg and presenting it to her remaining friends.

“Dashie...”

“Simply repulsive-!”

“Rainbow-! No-!”

“I’m not the new Rainbow Dash again, am I?”

“I think one of you guys should hang onto it.” Red said. “After all, she was one of your friends, I don’t see why I should be the one who keeps it.”

“Alright…” Twilight said, levitating the card into her saddlebag. “Now, come on, we should report back to Princess Celestia, she’s expecting to hear back from us in regards to Ernesh’s defeat.”

“Yes, that sounds like the best solution.” Red added. “I can only imagine how shit you feel, but at the same time, I think I know exactly how you feel…But Twilight’s right, Celestia’s probably expecting us to come back with word of his defeat. And besides, maybe she found a way to restore Starlight and Trixie while we were gone.”

“Yeah! And you what Dashie would have wanted?” Pinkie asked. “A PARTY!” Pinkie shot her party cannon, Red falling over in shock, while the rest of Pinkie’s friends barely flinched at the sudden production of a cannon.”

“What the-!? Where the fuck did she pull that cannon from!?” Red asked.

“It’s Pinkie Pie, don’t question it.” Twilight responded.
**********************************************

“So, do you two have any daily duties to attend to, or do you just stand here, doing nothing all day?” Cadence asked, looking around the Canterlot Throne Room for something to pass the time with. “I mean, I appreciate Flurry Heart being able to sleep this much, but there has to be something we can do while waiting for Twilight!”

“Relax Cadence, Twilight will pull through, just as she always does.” Celestia said.

“Yes, and with a talented Duelist such as Lance alongside her, Twilight and her friends will surely prevail.” Luna said. “Also, to answer your last question, in times of emergency such as this, my sister and I are both taken from our duties to act as mentorship figures, and as Princess of the fallen Crystal Empire, it is in the best interests of your safety that you be safeguarded with us.”

“Fine, it’s just that I need something to keep my mind busy! It feels like we’ve just been standing here for 6 months!” Cadence said, trying not to wake Flurry Heart.

“The fuck are you talking about?” Red said, forcing the throne room door open. “Assuming Equestria runs off the same rate of time as my world, it’s been about 4 to 5 hours since we left.”

“Red! You can’t just talk to Princesses that casually!” Twilight said, a look of panic on her face. “They’re...you know, the rulers of Equestria! They can end your life in an instant!”

“Oh really now? If the death penalty is given out for not following formalities, then I wanna see how you guys take care of actual criminals!” Red responded. “But anyways, we’re back! And that Ernesh fucker is good and gone!”

“My little ponies, I knew you could do it!” Celestia said. “And Lance, I must thank you personally, as an ambassador from Equestria, for assisting us in our great hour of need. ”

“Really?” Red thought to himself. “But, I guess it won’t kill her to not know that my contribution to the operation was explaining a loop and nearly freezing to death.”

“Say, where is Rainbow Dash?” Luna asked. “She was in your party when you left, did something happen to her?”

“Yes…”Twilight said, raising Rainbow’s card out of her saddlebag with her magic.

“She lost a Duel, and the stake was that the loser got turned into a card.” Red explained. “I was participating, so I should’ve stopped it...I’m sorry…Say, on the topic of ponies turned into cards, did you find a spell to restore Trixie and Starlight?”

“Well, our efforts proved fruitless as well, and for that we must apologize.” Luna said. “We believe it is best if you keep them in your possession Lance.” She said, as she levitated a gem encrusted box towards Red with three cards in it.

“Wait, what’s the deal with this third card?” Red asked. “It’s a Fusion Monster, but asides from the border signifying that, it’s completely blank, what even is it?”

“It’s a card imbued with magic from all of us.” Cadence began. “Its true form will come when you need it most.”

“I see...Then I’ll keep it in my Extra Deck for whenever the situation occurs.” Red said, placing the Fusion Monster in his Duel Disk’s Extra Deck slot on the back of it, as well as Trixie and Starlight’s cards in his Main Deck slot, the auto shuffler burying both of them deep into his deck.

“Now, all that remains is the issue of getting you home…” Celestia said. “It was Starlight Glimmer who brought you to Equestria, and with a mare of such extraordinary magical prowess gone, it could prove to be difficult to open a portal stable enough to return you to your world without doing who knows what to you…”

“It’s fine.” Red said. “When Twilight kicked me out to some other world, I made some connections, and now I’ve got a guy working on it, that way I can come back and visit whenever I want, so now I just need to hold tight and wait for those guys to get it done.” Red explained. “And even then, I won’t leave until I find a way to bring back those who have fallen so that we could defeat Ernesh! So, until then, I guess you guys are just stuck with me!”

Author's Note

So, turns out I got the ruling for Lair of Darkness completely wrong, I thought whoever had their shit tributed would get Tokens equal to the number of tributed monsters instead of only you. Fuck.
Also, on the bright side I'm almost done here, we've only got one more Duel and a few more loose ends to tie up, and then this long ride's finally over.

Chapter 19: The Final Battle

“Red, we finished the dimensional movement card.
I’ll meet you in Twilight’s portal room tomorrow at 3.
Sunset Shimmer”

Red read, as he looked up to the clock in Twilight’s portal room, comparing it to the time on his Duel Disk. “Man, it sure would be great if I knew what time it was.” He said. “I mean, I can’t read any of the numbers on that clock, and I think Equestrian time is about twice as fast as my time back home, so that probably means it’s about 3PM…” Just then, an orange pony flew out of Twilight’s portal to the human world.

“I will never get used to that.” The pony said, as she began to compose herself.

“So, this is your true form!” Red said, closing the book he was using to communicate with the pony in front of him. “How’s it been Sunset?”

“Well, Rainbow Dash broke all her arms and legs trying to have a Riding Duel without the autopilot, so now Applejack and Fluttershy are trying to put her back together.”

“I am not surprised by this in the slightest.” Red said, letting out a sigh of disappointment. “Say, on the topic of Rainbow, has anything else happened to her? Or Fluttershy, Applejack or Trixie for that matter?”

“No, is something wrong with them in Equestria?” Starlight asked, a sense of concern in her voice.

“No, it’s just that I thought something bad happened to them, I guess I was right, seeing as Rainbow was an idiot again, so all is right in the worlds.”

“Isn't that the truth.” Sunset responded. “Well, I better get going, we've got a hard math test today that nobody except for Twilight is ready for. Well, our Twilight at least.”

“Is it that trigonometry bullshit?”

“Yeah, Cranky's tests sure are brutal, but I'm sure Twilight will pass at least.” Sunset said. “And besides, it feels weird walking around on four legs after you get used to walking on two.”

“Yeah, and I've got my share of shit to do today, mostly getting my shit together so I don't leave anything behind.” Red explained, as he stopped leaning on a pile of books Twilight had left in the room.

“Well, just so you know, as long as you have a charge in your Duel Disk, which based on what you said about Momentum, is always, me, Twilight and the gang, as well as Equestria are always just a few clicks away!” Sunset said. “But really now, I have to get going now, bye!”

“Later!” Red responded as Sunset kept through the portal back to Canterlot High School. Red looked at the card Sunset gave him, as he slid it into his Duel Disk’s Graveyard slot.

“UPDATE CARD DETECTED - BEGINNING DATA TRANSFER.” The automated voice assistant said. “DATA TRANSFER FINISHED - NEW APP ADDED.” Red scrolled through the menus on his Duel Disk and activated the new app he had just added.

“Dimension Movement, huh…” Red thought to himself, as he looked over the menu options. “So all I have to do is select “Home” and then hit “Go” and then it’s all over... No, this feels too easy.” Red said, as he closed out of the app and went back to his Duel Disk’s main menu. “I’m not sure why, but something feels wrong. I better go tell Twilight, she should be able to put my mind at ease, or at least give me a chance to say goodbye.”
************************************************************

“Hey, Twilight, can I talk to you about something?” Red asked as he opened the door to Twilight’s office in the School of Friendship, only to see that she wasn’t there. “That’s weird, Twilight said she’s always filling out paperwork in here… She must be in the auditorium giving a lecture or something.” Red walked to the auditorium, opening the door, shocked to find it completely empty. “What the-!? Maybe in the school library-!” Red ran to the library, concerned to find that not a single creature was present, studying or otherwise. “What the hell!? Where is everybody!?” Red ran outside, and quickly boarded his D-Board as he rode through all of Ponyville, desperately searching for any signs of life.

“Rarity! Pinkie! Anybody!” Red shouted, jumping off his D-Board and placing it behind his back again once he reached Sugarcube Corner. “Surely, there has to be someone in here-!”

“I activate my Spell Card!” A voice said from around the corner.

“What? A Duel? That means people are still alive!” Red said, as he ran around the corner the voice came from, to see a cloaked figure with a Duel Disk staring down a little orange dragon.

“Dragon’s Mirror!” The dragon shouted, tapping one of the holographic cards in front of her to activate it. “This will let me perform the Fusion Summon of a Dragon Type monster by Banishing materials from my field or Graveyard! I’ll Banish Baby Dragon, Spear Dragon, Chaos Emperor Dragon, Light and Darkness Dragon, and Dark Armed Dragon from my Graveyard as Fusion Materials! No monster can stand up to this card’s might! Unleash the pride of us dragon with your five heavenly elements! Fusion SUmmon! Gather! Level 12, Five Headed Dragon!”
(Level 12, 5000 ATK/DEF)

“Yes, yes! Very impressive Smolder! It’s a shame your friends didn’t have the same potential you did!” The cloaked figure responded.

“Why you-! Battle phase! Five Headed Dragon, attack this guy directly! Five Element Burst!” Following Smolder’s command, her gigantic dragon fired a burst of fire, water, darkness, rocks, and pure light, one from each of its five heads towards the cloaked figure. “It’s over!”

“You’re right! It is over! For you! I activate my Trap Card! Magic Cylinder!” The figure responded as it pressed a button on the back of its Duel Disk, causing its card to reveal itself. “Magic Cylinder is a Trap Card that negates an opponent’s attack, then inflicts damage to them equal to the Attack Points of the attacking monster!”

“Wait, Five Headed Dragon has 5000 Attack Points, and I only have 4300 Life Points, so that means-!” As soon as Smolder came to the realization of what was happening, her dragon’s blasts all went into one of the Cylinders, and came out the other, vaporizing her in an instant.
Smolder 4300 -> 0 LP

“Smolder, you were a good opponent.” The cloaked figure said as it walked over to Smolder’s card, and put it into a binder that it produced from inside its cloak. “May you forever find peace, with the rest of your friends.”

“Hey fucker!” Red said, walking from around the corner. “How the hell are you still alive!? You were looped by Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon! I saw the outcome of that Duel with my own eyes!”

“Oh Red, you simple minded fuck, you don’t really think that I, Ernesh, The Equestrian God of Death, would lose to a simple Alicorn, do you?” Ernesh responded. “I could have won that Duel, but then you, Rarity, and Pinkie all would have challenged me to a three on one Duel, and no matter what bonuses I was given, that would’ve been a major disadvantage, so I opted to force the Duel to a DRAW using the Forbidden Chalice card, sealing off Beelze’s immunity to destruction, then destroying it with Ring of Destruction, then I would eliminate you one by one, and look where we are now! You and I are the last remaining sentient being in Ponyville!”

“And the rest of them?”

“Here, sleeping in this binder, where no harm will come to them until the end of time.” Ernesh responded, pulling a binder out of his cloak. “However, my plans can wait, I assume you want to Duel, am I wrong?”

“After all the pain and suffering you’ve caused, I want nothing more than to beat you senseless.” Red responded. “Now ready your Disk! It’s time to Duel!” Red activated his Duel Disk, as he noticed Ernesh’s Duel Disk was different, being exactly the same as his own, except for all the red highlights being black.

DUEL

Red 8000 LP
Hand: 5
Ernesh 8000 LP
Hand: 5

“Victory to the swiftest!” Red shouted. “I Normal Summon The Black Stone of Legend!”
(Level 1, 0 ATK/DEF)
“Now I activate the effect of my Black Stone of Legend! By Tributing this card, I can Special Summon a Level 7 or lower Red-Eyes Monster from my deck! O flaming dragon with heart black as night and soul bright as flame, show yourself to win this fight and end this accursed game! Appear! My faithful servant! Red-Eyes Black Dragon!” As Red’s Dragon materialized from the stone, it let out a loud, prideful roar.
(Level 7, 2400 ATK 1700 DEF)
“Now, I equip Black Metal Dragon from my hand to Red-Eyes Black Dragon! This will boost its Attack Points by 600!”
(Red-Eyes Black Dragon) 2400 -> 3000 ATK)
“With that, I’ll set two cards, and end my turn!”

“Well aren’t you impatient here? Bringing out your ace monster on the first turn!” Ernesh said. “It’s my turn, I draw!”

Red 8000 LP
Hand: 1
Ernesh 8000 LP
Hand: 6

“To begin my turn, I Normal Summon Equestrian Spike!” As Ernesh slapped his card on the Duel Disk, Spike appeared in front of him, his eyes appearing blank, as if he wasn’t really there.
(Level 1, 0 ATK/DEF)

“What the-? Spike?” Red asked, confused about the appearance of Ernesh’s monster.

“Equestrian Spike’s effect will now activate! By tributing this monster, I can Special Summon another Equestrian from my deck! Begone, Equestrian Spike, and come forth! Equestrian Twilight!” Spike dissipated into a multi colored portal, as Twilight emerged from it, her eyes also blank.
(Level 4, 1600 ATK 1200 DEF)

“What the hell? Why are there cards that look exactly like ponies from another world?” Red asked.

“Equestrian Twilight’s effect! On Normal or Special Summon, she allows me to add an Equestrian Monster from my deck to my hand! And my choice is Equestrian Rainbow, a Tuner monster I can Special Summon when it’s added to my hand outside the Draw Phase!”
(Level 4, 1700 ATK 300 DEF)

“Tuner monster? You’re not saying-!”

“Yes, I am saying!” Ernesh responded. “When Equestrian Rainbow is Summoned, I can return 1 Equestrian in my Graveyard to my hand! I’m returning my Equestrian Spike! Now, I’m Tuning my Level 4 Equestrian Rainbow to my Level 4 Equestrian Twilight!” Rainbow and Twilight spread their wings and flew into the sky, with Rainbow turning into four green rings, that began to line up, as Twilight flew through them, turning into four stars herself, before a beam of light enveloped the rings, blinding Red as he tried to look on. “The sun’s bright rays shall eviscerate all that stands in their way! Behold the power of the supreme ruler! Synchro Summon! Take form, Equestrian Celestia!” As the light in the sky faded, Red could see a white Alicorn descend, her eyes hazed up, as if she were blind.
(Level 8, 3000 ATK 2500 DEF)
“Equestrian Celestia’s effect! When this card is Synchro Summoned, I can draw 1 card! When I draw this card, I can Summon it! Come forth! Equestrian Pinkie!”
(Level 4, 1900 ATK 100 DEF)
“When Equestrian Pinkie is Summoned, I draw 1 card! Now, I activate my Monster Reborn! Be reborn, Equestrian Twilight!”
(Level 4, 1600 ATK 1200 DEF)
“Now, when Equestrian Twilight is Summoned, I get to add another Equestrian to my hand! I add Equestrian Applejack!” Ernesh shouted, as the auto shuffle on his Duel Disk shuffled his deck. “Equestrian Pinkie’s effect! Once per turn, I can shuffle each player’s deck, then we both draw 2 cards!” The auto shuffle on Red’s Duel Disk, along with the auto shuffle on Ernesh’s Duel Disk began to shuffle their decks, before each Duelist drew two cards. “I overlay the Level 4 Equestrian Twilight and Equestrian Pinkie! With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network!” As Ernesh placed his cards on top of eachother, a black spiral appeared in front of him, which Twilight and Pinkie flew into, as a wave of darkness enveloped the Dueling field. “The moon’s pale glow evaporates all who stand against it! Behold the monarch’s grace! XYZ Summon! Take form, Equestrian Luna!” A wave of darkness enveloped the Duel, with a black and blue Alicorn emerging from the portal in front of Ernesh, spreading its wings to dispel the darkness, revealing its hazed eyes, two orbs of energy orbiting around her.
(Rank 4, 2 OLU, 2800 ATK 2300 DEF)
“When Equestrian Luna is XYZ summoned, I draw 1 more card!”

“Holy shit! He has an entire quarter of his deck in his hand!” Red thought to himself. “How the fuck am I going to deal with this!?”

“The Spell Card, Polymerization! I’ll fuse the Equestrian Applejack with the Equestrian Spike in my hand!” As Ernesh slid the card into his Duel Disk’s Spell/Trap slot, a blue and orange vortex appeared behind him, Applejack and Spike flying into it despite the fact that neither of them had wings. “Behold the crystal ruler’s supreme heart! Fusion Summon! Take form, Equestrian Cadence!” A pink Alicorn emerged from the vortex behind Enesh, standing alongside the other two Alicorns.
(Level 8, 2500 ATK 2000 DEF)
“When Equestrian Cadence is Fusion Summoned, I can place a Love Counter on one monster you control, and monsters with Love Counters cannot attack, change their battle positions, or activate their effects!” Ernesh explained. “Cadence! Immobilize his dragon!” Following Ernesh’s command, Cadence cast a spell on Red’s dragon, a heart emerging from her horn, and flying over to Red’s monster, as it fell down, immobilized by love.
(Red-Eyes Black Dragon 0 -> 1 Love Counter)
“That will give me time to safely dispose of your dragon. However, as it stands now, my hand exceeds the hand size limit, so I set one card face down, and end my turn!” Ernesh explained, as a giant hologram of his face down card appeared in front of him.

“Shit!” Red thought to himself. “The entire time, he was collecting cards of ponies to make an impenetrable field! The bastard! Come on deck, give me something I can work with-!” Red thought to himself, before loudly shouting, “It’s my turn! I draw!”

Red 8000 LP
Hand: 4
Ernesh 8000 LP
Hand: 6

Red looked at the card he drew in shock, unable to believe his eyes. “What the-!? This is Trixie’s card!” He thought to himself, before looking over the effect text. “Well, if he’s using cards from the ponies I’ve come to befriend, then so will I! I activate my De-Fusion Spell Card! This will return a Fusion Monster to the Extra Deck, but in addition to that, when a Spell card is activated, I can Special Summon Trixie from my hand! In Defence Position!”
(Level 4, 1500 ATK 1200 DEF)

“So that’s what happened to Trixie and Starlight’s cards!” Ernesh shouted.

“That’s right! I’m not sure how or when they got into my deck, but I’ll use them to kick your ass anyway! De-Fusion will now resolve! I return Cadence to the Extra Deck, and when a Spell Card resolves, I can place a Trick Counter on Trixie!”
(Equestrian Trixie 0 -> 1 Trick Counter)
“With the source of your Love Counter sealing effect gone, Red-Eyes is free to attack again! Battle Phase! Red-Eyes Black Dragon! Attack Luna! Hell Fire Shot!” Following Red’s command, his dragon shot a massive burst of fire towards Princess Luna, shattering her into countless pieces.
Ernesh 8000 -> 7800 LP

“That’s just a minor scratch!” Ernesh shouted.

“Shit… This bastard’s deck is so powerful that even when trying my hardest, I can only just barely scratch him, but, he seems to be relying entirely on my new friends as his Monster line up, meaning that he should have 7 Monsters total, so if I can just survive his initial onslaught, I just might be able to win this!” Red thought to himself. “I set two cards face down, and end my turn!”

“Bold of you, setting the last two cards in your hand.” Ernesh said. “My draw!”

Red 8000 LP
Hand: 0
Ernesh 7800 LP
Hand: 7

“To begin this turn, I’ll activate my Graceful Charity Spell card! This lets me draw 3 cards, but then I must discard 2. Te cards I’m discarding are Equestrian Rarity and Dark Mirror Force!”

“When a Spell Card is resolved, Trixie will gain another Trick Counter!” Red shouted.
(Equestrian Trixie 1 -> 2 Trick Counters)

“A meaningless effort.” Ernesh responded. “Once per turn, when Equestrian Rarity is sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon her!”
(Level 4, 1200 ATK 1700 DEF)
“When Equestrian Rarity is Summoned, I can send an Equestrian monster from my hand, field, or deck to the Graveyard, and I choose to send Equestrian Fluttershy to an early Grave!” Ernesh said. “Now, I activate my Fusion Recovery Spell Card! This will return Polymerization and Equestrian Applejack from my Graveyard to my hand!”

“Trixie gains another Trick Counter!”
(Equestrian Trixie 2 -> 3 Trick Counters)

“No matter! I activate Polymerization! I fuse Equestrian Applejack with Equestrian Rarity to Fusion Summon Equestrian Cadence once more!”
(Level 8, 2500 ATK 2000 DEF)

“Trixie gains yet another Trick Counter!”
(Equestrian Trixie 3 -> 4 Trick Counters)

“Equestrian Cadence’s effect! I’m going to immobilize Trixie with a Love Counter! And as the source of my sealing effect has returned, so has your dragon’s love paralazis!” Ernesh Shouted.

“I don’t think so!” Red shouted, pressing a button on his Duel DIsk. “I activate my Infinite Impermanence Trap Card! This will negate the effect of one monster the opponent controls until the end of this turn, and I target Equestrian Cadence!”

“What!?”

“Furthermore, all Spells and Traps in this card’s column are negated until the End Phase! This means your face down is useless this turn!” Red shouted.

“Shit-! Battle Phase! Equestrian Celestia, attack his Equestrian Trixie! Sun Scorching Blaze!” Ernesh shouted, as Celestia flew high into the sky, and channeled all her magical energy into her horn, firing an orange burst of energy towards Trixie.

“I activate my Trap Card!” Red shouted. “Blazing Mirror Force! When the opponent declares an attack, all Attack Position monsters the opponent controls will be destroyed, and we both take damage equal to half the destroyed monsters’ Attack Points!” A red barrier appeared in front of Trixie, and bagan to block Celestia’s attack, redirecting a burst fire towards Ernesh and his monsters.
Red 8000 -> 6750 LP
Ernesh 7800 -> 6550 LP
“What? Why didn’t we take more damage?” Red asked.

“It’s quite simple, really.” Ernesh said. “Equestrian Celestia cannot be destroyed by card effects! The battle continues! Sun Scorching Blaze!” Following Ernesh’s command, Celestia fired another burst of energy towards Trixie, enveloping her entirely.

“Trixie! I won’t let him hurt you!” Red shouted. “When Trixie would be destroyed by battle or card effect, I can remove 1 Trick Counter to protect her from destruction!”
(Equestrian Trixie 4 -> 3 Trick Counters)

“Bratty little punk! I set one card and end my turn!” Ernesh shouted.

“Here goes! My turn!” Red shouted, drawing his card.

Red 6750 LP
Hand: 1
Ernesh 6550 LP
Hand: 4

“I play Pot of Greed!” Red shouted. “Now I draw 2 new cards! This also has the effect of giving Trixie another Trick Counter!”
(Equestrian Trixie 3 -> 4 Trick Counters)
“Now, I activate my Cards of the Red Stone Spell Card! This lets me discard a Level 7 Red-Eyes Monster, Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon in this case, and draw 2 cards!”
(Equestrian Trixie 4 -> 5 Trick Counters)
“Now, I activate the Red-Eyes Fusion I just drew into!” Red shouted. “This will perform the Fusion Summon of a monster that lists a Red-Eyes monster as Fusion Material, using materials from my hand, field, or deck, but I cannot Summon any other monsters this turn! I’ll fuse the Red-Eyes Black Dragon on my field with Gearfried, the Red-Eyes Iron Knight from my deck! Appear, from the black miasma of hell! The armored dragon of nightmares! Fusion Summon! Red-Eyes Slash Dragon!”
(Level 7, 2800 ATK 2400 DEF)
(Equestrian Trixie 5 -> 6 Trick Counters)
“When Black Metal Dragon is sent from the field to the Graveyard, I can add one Red-Eyes card from my deck to my hand!” Red shouted. “This card I got from one of your puppets! My Red-Eyes Fury Equip Spell! Which I subsequently equip to my Red-Eyes Slash Dragon! The equipped monster gains 500 Attack Points for each Dragon and Warrior type monster in my Graveyard, of which there are currently 4!”
(Red-Eyes Slash Dragon 2800 -> 4800 ATK)
(Equestrian Trixie 6 -> 7 Trick Counters)
“Battle Phase! Red-Eyes Slash Dragon attacks Celestia, and when a Red-Eyes monster declares an attack, I can equip a Warrior type monster from my Graveyard to Red-Eyes Slash Dragon, and have it gain 200 Attack Points! Black Armored Slash!” Following Red’s command, his metallic dragon cleaved through Celestia’ body in a single stroke using the blades attached to one of its arms, causing her to explode into countless pieces.
(Red-Eyes Slash Dragon 4300 -> 4500 ATK)
Ernesh 6550 -> 5050 LP

“How daring of you, attacking the Princess of a foreign land with no remorse, not even fearing the consequences!” Ernesh said.

“Anything it takes to defeat you, and end this madness.” Red responded. “You’ve ruined too many lives, Ernesh. Even if it means roughing up my friends, I’m not going to hold anything back to end your existence.”

“That determination, that burning passion, that anger! You know Red, we’re not so different, you and I!” Ernesh said.

“The fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“You remind me of myself from 1000 years ago, almost as if you were a son of mine.” Ernesh said.

“Are you trying to intimidate me, or confuse me?” Red asked.

“Red, you bare a grudge towards your home world, don’t you?” Ernesh asked. “You have issues with managing your anger, and vent it all out in your Dueling, hasn’t that ever cost you anything that remaining calm would have gained you?”

“S-shut up!” Red shouted, gripping the card in his hand with enough force to bend it. “It’s my turn, so continue with the Duel!”

“Oh, fine, we’ll continue the Duel. For now.” Ernesh stated. “When Equestrian Celestia is sent from the field to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon Equestrian Luna from my Graveyard, and attach two Equestrian monsters form my Graveyard to it as Overlay Units! I attach Equestrians Twilight and Celestia!”
(Rank 4, 2 OLU, 2800 ATK 2300 DEF)

“Bastard-! I set one card, and end my turn!” As Red slid his card into the Spell/Trap slot of his Duel Disk, a giant hologram of the card appeared in front of him.

“This is not holding back?” Ernesh asked. “You’re going to need to be much more ruthless if you’re going to defeat me! It’s my turn! I draw!

Red 6750 LP
Hand: 0
Ernesh 5050 LP
Hand: 5

“Tell me, Red, why do you think I’m doing this?” Ernesh asked. “Why do you think I’m going through all the effort of reving Legendary Duelists from your world, and turning Ponies into cards?”

“The motive doesn’t fucking matter!” Red shouted. “All I know is that you’re an enemy, and you’re in my way! I’ve never let an enemy stand between me and my goal, and I’m not going to start today!”

“Oh? What am I in the way of? What do you gain from striking me down?” Ernesh asked.

“Are you stupid? By beating you, your hold on all the Ponies you’ve killed will be released, repopulating the world.” Red explained. “At least, that’s how Twilight explained capture magic to work.”

“You think I’ve been killing all these Ponies?” Ernesh asked, clearly disgusted by Red’s words. “I’ve been saving these Ponies from Death’s cold embrace!”

“What?”

“Red Rocket, as the Equestrian God of Death, I have seen that which would drive any mortal insane.” Ernesh began. “And I’ll show you with my magic!” Ernesh snapped his fingers, causing a large collection of skeletal hands to emerge from the ground, and grab Red by the ankles.

“AHH! What the hell are these things!?” Red shouted, trying to shake the hands off him, as they started dragging him down into the ground.
***************************************************************

Red was lying on the ground when he regained consciousness, and as he got up, he looked around him, noticing the starry location he was in. “Wha...Where the hell am I…? Last thing I remember, I was Dueling, and then-! Ernesh! Where’d you run off to you coward!? Our Duel isn’t finished yet!” Red shouted as loud as he could.

“I’m right here. “Ernesh said, appearing from a cloud of purple fog. “Welcome to the Death Dimension, this is my domain, my power source.” Ernesh said.

“Death Dimension…? Wait, you mean to say that we’re actually in Pony Hell!?” Red asked, a sense of both fear and anger in his voice.

“Do not fear. I have not done anything to your physical body; you are only seeing this world. And yes, you could say that this is Pony Hell, for this is where I once guided the spirits of Ponies whose bodies had failed them to their final resting place 1000 years ago.” Ernesh explained. “But…” Ernesh snapped his fingers, causing several screens to appear around Red, each one of them containing ponies crying throughout various time periods, each of them next to a dead body.

“What the fuck are these supposed to be?” Red asked.

“These are the families of all the ponies I have brought to the other side.” Ernesh explained. “Every last one of them was heartbroken to realize that their loved one would never return to them, so, I tossed aside my original form, and broke the law of the Equestrian Gods, and began traveling to different dimensions, in search of a better alternative.”

“What?”

“I went from dimension to dimension, and saw many different worlds on my travels, learning much about the greater universe.” Ernesh said. “Until I encountered a rather peculiar world, one that was ruled by a game. A game known as ‘Duel Monsters’. This was your world.” Ernesh explained.

“Okay, but what does Duel Monsters have to do with your guilt problems?”

“Using my magic, I assumed the form of a human from your world, and learned everything I could about Duel Monsters, from the strategies, to the cards, to the mechanics, all of it intrigued me.” Ernesh continued. “But...The one thing that intrigued me the most were the origins, in Ancient Egypt, 3000 years before the game as you know it was created.”

“Will you just get to the point so we can continue our Duel already?”

“Fine, the point is, I saw the Penalty Games of old, and found the answer to my guilt! If I turn Ponies into cards, they’ll never be torn apart by the shackles of death ever again, remaining together, forever, until the end of time!” Ernesh shouted. “And Red, this is where you come in! There is no reason why Equestria should be the only world to be saved! Join me, and together we can save the entire universe from death, and create a new world! One where every creature can live together in harmony!”

“You know what?” Red said. “That’s actually a great plan…”

“Yes! Now Red, walk over here, and join me at my side, and together we can-”

“If you ignore the fact that it’s absolutely fucking retarded!” Red interjected. “Death is just a natural part of the life cycle, and if you, the God of Death can't deal with that, then grow the fuck up! It’s your turn! Now continue the Duel, damnit!”

“Very well then! I activate my Trap Card! Call of the Haunted!” Ernesh shouted, as his face down card revealed itself. “This will Special Summon a monster from my Graveyard in Attack Position and equip itself to that card! The monster I’m reviving is Equestrian Cadence!”
(Level 8, 2500 ATK 2000 DEF)
“By discarding one card, Equestrian Cadence will allow me to target and place a Love Counter on one monster the opponent controls!” Ernesh shouted. “I discard my Cosmic Cyclone, and target Equestrian Trixie!”

“I chain the effect of my Red-Eyes Slash Dragon!” Red shouted. “By sending one Equip Card I control to the Graveyard, I can negate and destroy the activation of a card that targets one of my cards! I send Gearfried, the Red-Eyes Iron Knight to my Graveyard!” Right as Cadence was about to blow a heart from the tip of her horn towards Trixie, Red’s dragon swiped its bladed arm forward, firing a supersonic shockwave towards Cadence, shattering her into pieces.
(Red-Eyes Slash Dragon 4500 -> 4800 ATK)

“I set one card face down!” Ernesh shouted. “And now I activate the effect of my Equestrian Luna! By detaching one Overlay Unit and targeting a face down Sell or Trap I control, I can force its activation, and place it in its spot in the Chain!” One of the orbs surrounding Luna flew into her horn, as Ernesh’s face down card sparked, before revealing itself as any other card would. “Ring of Destruction! My target is your Red-Eyes Slash Dragon!”

“Is this guy crazy?” Red thought to himself. “Ring of Destruction inflicts damage equal to the Attack Points the monster destroyed by its effect had at the time of destruction, he’d nearly kill himself at this rate!”

“I activate my Rainbow Life Trap Card!” Ernesh shouted. “At the low cost of discarding one card, for the rest of this turn, whenever I would take effect damage, I gain that much Life instead! And seeing as your Red-Eyes Slash Dragon currently has 4800 Attack Points, I’d say it’s time for a sudden reversal!”

“Shit!” Red shouted. “Rainbow Life is the most recent card in the Chain, so that means-!” Before Red could finish his sentence, the ring of grenades around the neck of Red’s dragon all exploded simultaneously, knocking Red several meters backwards.
Red 6750 -> 1950 LP
Ernesh 5050 -> 9850 LP

“I activate my Fairy Meteor Crush Equip Spell, and Equip it to Equestrian Luna!” Ernesh shouted. “When the equipped monster attacks a Defence Position monster, piercing damage will be inflicted to the opponent!”
(Equestrian Trixie 7 -> 8 Trick Counter)
“Battle Phase! Equestrian Luna, attack his Equestrian Trixie! Dark of the Moon!” Following Ernesh’s orders, Luna flew high into the sky, as she gathered all her magical energy, concentrating it into a burst from the tip of her horn, aimed squarely at Trixie.

“Trixie’s...Effect...Activates!” Red shouted, trying to compose himself from the explosion. “A Trick Counter...Will be substituted...For her destruction!”

“Yes, but you still take the damage!” Ernesh pointed out.
(Trixie 8 -> 7 Trick Counters)
Red 1950 -> 350 LP
“Admit defeat!” Ernesh shouted. “Your Life is in critical condition, your ace monster has been destroyed, and all you have is a Level 4 monster and a face down card you haven’t even activated! It’s over for you!”

“This is...The end…?”

“That’s right! Surrender now, and you will not have to endure anymore pain!” Ernesh shouted. “As I said, I want you to join me in my quest to unite all the worlds, and you won’t be able to do that if you’re turned into a card!”

“Ernesh…” Red began, trying to stand up. “I’ve never been able to say that I’m the best guy around...And I’ve never been able to say that what I do is morally right or wrong, but...One thing I can say, is that when I face an enemy, I will defeat them! You can knock me down, but like a Red-Eyed phoenix, my deck and I will just keep getting back up, never truly dying! And I’ll prove that determination to live in this Duel! My Life may be at a paltry 350, but it’s 349 more points than I need to kick your ass! And I’ll prove not just my determination, but the determination and will to live of all the ponies in Equestria, as well as all life in the greater universe!”

“Very well.” Ernesh said. “If you wish to oppose me, even when your life is a candle in the wind, then when I defeat you, I’ll rip your card into pieces, and discard them into the trash, truly killing you.”

“Ernesh! So long as I have cards in my deck, and points in my Life, I’ll always oppose you!” Red shouted, standing normally again. “Here’s the proof of my indomitable spirit! My Red-Eyes Spirit Trap Card! This will Special Summon a Red-Eyes Monster from my Graveyard, now be reborn! My eternal companion! Red-Eyes Black Dragon!”
(Level 7, 2400 ATK 1700 DEF)

“On Main Phase 2, I activate my Card of Demise Spell Card!” Ernesh shouted. “This lets me draw until I have 5 cards in my hand, but in 5 turns I must discard all of them! Not that this Duel will last 5 more turns! With that, I end my turn!”

“It’s my turn!” Red shouted, his voice echoing in the vast reaches of Ernesh’s domain. “I draw!”

Author's Note

Yeah
We're almost finished here
Just one more chapter, and this shonen wannabe edgefest of a trainwreck will be finished

Chapter 20: One Card to Save the World! Bring the End! Red-Eyes Connection Dragon!

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 1: Enter Red Rocket

Author's Note

Alright, first crack at writing, roast me

And yes, I know Ring of Destruction got errata'd to the point of useslessness, but the only other way I could think to end the Duel Turn 2 was to have Red use a Trap card that can be activated from the hand if you inflict at least 5000 damage in one turn to Link Summon Topologic Bomber during the Battle Phase

Chapter 1: Enter Red Rocket

It was a normal day in Ponyville, one like any other. The birds were singing, the flowers were blooming, and a human was commanding a small battalion of gem-encrusted knights to beat the shit out of Princess Luna in the middle of downtown Ponyville.

“Gem-Knight Master Diamond! Attack her Vampire Lord!”
LUNA: 8000 LP > 6800 LP

“Ha...haha! I have won! Your only monster has already used up all its attacks! Now to elaborate, I hold the Raigeki and Monster Reborn cards in my hand, so on my next turn-”

“There isn’t going to be a next turn! Now I activate my Fusion Cancel Quick Play! This nullifies a Fusion Monster on the field, then if all the monsters used to summon it are in my Graveyard, I can Special Summon them!"

"Wait, what!?"

"I return Gem-Knight Master Diamond to my Extra Deck, and from the Graveyard, I special Summon Gem-Knights Garnet, Tourmaline, and Emerald!”
(Level 4, 1900 ATK 0 DEF)
(Level 4, 1600 ATK 1800 DEF)
(Level 4, 1800 ATK 800 DEF)
“Battle! Gem-Knight Garnet attacks directly! Flaming Iron Fist!”
LUNA 6800 LP -> 4900 LP
“Now Gem-Knight Tourmaline attacks directly! Thunder Cracker!”
LUNA 4900 LP -> 3300 LP
“Gem-Knight Emerald attacks directly! Emerald Flash!”
LUNA 3300 LP -> 1500 LP
"Now, time to finish this! I activate my face down card, Pyroxene Fusion!"

"I-is that a Fusion Trap Card!?"

"That's right! Pyroxene Fusion lets me Fusion Summon a Gem-Knight Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck by sending materials from my hand or field to the Graveyard! I refuse my Gem-Knights Garnet, Tourmaline and Emerald back into Gem-Knight Master Diamond!"
(Level 9, 2900 ATK 2500 DEF)
"And you know what the best part is? His effect isn't negated anymore, so he 100 ATK for each Gem-Knight in my Graveyard! (Gem-Knight Master Diamond 2900 ATK -> 3200 ATK) Gem-Knight Master Diamond! Direct attack! Royal Radiance!"
LUNA 1500 LP -> 0 LP

“No… Sister...I’ve failed you...I’ve failed...Equestria…”

“NO------O!” Shouted Twilight, tears rolling down her face.

However, despite everything happening around her, a pink bubbly mare was looking off to the side, supposedly talking to herself.

“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! Now you’re probably wondering ‘Wait, why is Princess Luna dueling some random human in the middle of Ponyville when she should be off in Canterlot doing princess-y things and Equestria doesn’t have humans OR dueling?' Well, that’s actually a funny story! It all started a few days ago when Starlight Glimmer was trying to teach her friend Trixie teleportation spells in Twilight’s reeeeeeeeealy big castle!”
***********************************************************************

“Alright, Trixie” said Starlight, using her levitation magic to place two cups of differing colors on her nightstand. “Today we’re going to be teleporting objects outside our vision. Now, the last time we tried teleporting things, you wound up teleporting the Cutie Map to the Ponyville Spa, so this time we’re going to just be teleporting cups on my nightstand to just outside the room, okay?”

“Oh please, the Great and Powerful TRRRRIXIE can learn any spell that will help her performances!”

“Right, so, first you want to focus on the object you’re trying to teleport, then you want to focus on where you want to teleport it to.” Explained the Pink unicorn, her horn glowing a soft blue as she focused her magical capabilities, afterwards, the red cup vanished from sight. “Alright Trixie, now you try it.”

“Oh please Starlight, this will be easy! Watch!” Flaunted the blue unicorn as her horn lit up a soft pink as she focused her magic. “Aaaaaand… TELEPORT!” shouted Trixie, as the cup shattered into pieces. “What!? But how did-!?”

“Trixie, how many times do I have to tell you? Magic doesn’t work like that. You can’t just shout whatever you’re thinking and have it happen. You have to focus, control your breathing, and relax, then you can teleport in, and out, in, and out, in-” explained Starlight, effortlessly teleporting the cup back to its original spot on her nightstand.

“Hey Starlight!” shouted Spike, slamming Starlight’s door open and making a loud racket. Starlight screamed at the sudden noise, with the cup flying out the window, with another magical blast following it, and a loud thud, while occurring, went unnoticed. “Oh, I’m sorry, were you guys doing something?”

“Uh, yeah, I was trying to teach Trixie how to teleport things, what is it?”

“Oh, well, I know it’s your day off, but Twilight needs your help at the Friendship school, she’s seriously backed up on paperwork and Fluttershy is out sick, can you help out today?”

“Oh, alright, but only for today. Sorry Trixie, I know we’ve been planning this for quite some time, but, duty calls, heh heh!”

“Oh, it’s alright Starlight, I’m already Great and Powerful, Trixie can add teleportation spells to her arsonal whenever she wants.” As Starlight and Spike ran off to Twilight’s Friendship School, Trixie heard a voice from just outside the window.

“Ow! I-is this a teacup?”

“Huh? Well, I guess that cup fell on somepony's head, it’ll be fine, but now, Trixie thinks it’s time to treat herself to Princess Twilight’s refrigerator before that nosy dragon gets back.”

****************************************************************

“Yes!” said a man as he broke the ceiling tile and dropped to the floor of a dark room filled with vaults. “Alright! It’s my lucky night! Let’s see what Security’s been confiscating this month!” said the man as he broke the lock on one of the vaults. “Let’s see here...E-HEROes, Arcana Force, Vehicroids, ooh! Cyberse! I think I’ll keep that for myself…” He said, putting all the decks of Duel Monsters cards he was stealing into his backpack, except for the last deck he stole, which he put in a deck box strapped to his leg. “Nekroz...Batteryman...woah, Cyberse! Man, this haul is amazing!”

***************************************************************
“Well, I must be going, good luck on the night shift, rookie.” said an older officer to a young officer in a brightly lit hallway.

“Yes sir! Thank you for showing me the ropes around here, Captain Engelhart sir!”

“Now, let me tell you something, rookie. These past few months, we’ve had a number of break-ins and card thefts, all done by the same guy.” said the captain

“That’s the Red Rocket, right? People have been saying several things about him, such as how he re-sells the cards that we’ve worked so hard to confiscate from criminals.”

“Well I am not going to stand for it anymore! Here’s my plan to finally catch this punk and send a message to anyone else who would dare to interfere in the agenda of Sector-C’s Security Force!”

“Is he always ranting about this Red Rocket guy…?” The rookie Security Officer thought to himself.

*************************************************************************************
“Well, I’d say looting 8 vaults worth of cards is enough, these are just cards, but I still have to be able to get back to the shop without getting caught.” he thought to himself before putting his backpack back on and grabbing the board wedged in between his red hoodie and red shirt which resembled a skateboard without wheels. “Now let’s see…” the man slipped on his red tinted goggles, and saw that the entire hallway in front of him was covered with infrared lasers that would surely alert Security. “No other way out, thankfully I have a new Riding Duel Deck.” he thought to himself before setting down his board and stepping on top of it, causing it to begin levitating. He then kicked as if he were on a skateboard, and his hoverboard began to accelerate at a high velocity. As he flew through the infrared lasers, a loud siren went off. “Heh, Security’s bound to be sending out some Riding Duelists to catch me, this should be fun!” the man thought as he sped up and took a right turn when he came to an intersection.

“And that’s when we spring the trap, finally catching him once and for-” Engelhart was saying, before a Red blur rushed by his face.

“Sir, was that-”

“The Red Rocket! Don’t let him escape you slow piece of shit!”
As Red sped up, he could hear the sirens of Security D-Wheels and car alarms.
“Don’t let him escape! He’s broken into the card vault and is making off with countless cards!” Shouted Engelhart over the PA System on his Duel Disk. As Red was making his escape, he looked back to see that a motorcycle and a car were being used used to chase him. “Heh, a D-Wheel and a cop car? That’s it? Man, they must be really short staffed tonight. Oh well, all the easier!”

“Shit! The captain’s going to be pissed if we let him get away! He’s been chasing this guy for months!” thought the officer pursuing on the bike. “In that case-! Requesting permission to initiate Riding Duel!” he shouted into the microphone in his helmet.

“Permission granted! Take him down, and the captain will be sure to take notice!” responded the officer in the passenger seat of the car.

“This bastard-! He thinks he can just waltz in and steal our cards-! We, the Sector-C Branch Security will put you to justice and make you atone for your crimes!” thought the Officer on his D-Wheel “Speed World! Imposed Activation!” and with the press of a button, a straight bar of hard light appeared over the console of his D-Wheel, and with the activation of Speed World, everything in the surrounding area became bathed in a purple coloring.

“Well, you want to pick a fight with me? The Red Rocket!? Well, by forcing a Riding Duel, you’ll reduce my speed, guess it’s the only way for you to keep up!” exclaimed Red, as the Duel Disk on his arm activated, its blade swinging from being perpendicular to the deck slot on the other side to in front of him, then extending to possess all 5 Zones. DUEL MODE ON-AUTO PILOT STANDBY. Read the Duel Disk and Security’s D-Wheel, as the playing field appeared between the two of them.

“Red Rocket! I, Officer Mandler, will defeat you and get a promotion after I take you in! Be prepared to kiss your freedom goodbye!”

“Heh, you must be new! Get ready for your next hazing, you bastard! Try to keep up! Oh, and to keep it short, just call me Red!”
DUEL

RED: 8000 LP 0 SPC
MANDLER 8000 LP 0 SPC

“I’ll take the first turn!” Aggravatedly shouted Mandler “I’ll start by Normal Summoning Gate Blocker in Defence Position!"
(Level 4, 100 ATK 2000 DEF)
"And now I set three cards and end my turn!” following this, three giant sized cards appeared before his D-Wheel.

“It’s my turn! I draw!” declared Red.

RED 8000 LP 0 SPC
MANDLER 8000 LP 1 SPC

“Great, Gate Blocker, just what I wanted to deal with…”

“Heh! When Gate Blocker is face up on the field, the opponent can’t gain any counters! Including Speed Counters for Speed World!” gloated Mandler. “And that’s not all!” he thought to himself. “My face down cards are Mirror Force, which will destroy all your Attack Position Monsters if you try to declare an attack, Heavy Storm Duster to take out any Trap Cards you try to set, and Skill Drain, so not even your monster effects will save you! And with Gate Blocker stopping you from using Speed Spells, you’re completely locked down! And even then, if I can just get 3 more Speed Counters than you, I’ll be able to knock you off that puny little D-Board of yours! I’m not sure who customized a hybrid model for you that’s capable of keeping up with a D-Wheel, but it’s still incredibly frail in comparison! That promotion is mine for sure!”

“First, when I control no monsters, I can Special Summon Linkslayer from my hand!" Red shouted as he placed a card from his hand on his Duel Disk's blade, as it glowed a rainbow color and a recreation of the monster on the card appeared from a blue portal beside him
(Level 5, 2000 ATK 600 DEF)
"Now, when I control a Cyberse Monster, I can Special Summon Backup Secretary from my hand!"
(Level 3, 1200 ATK 800 DEF)
"Now I Normal Summon Cyberse Wizard!"
(Level, 1800 ATK 800 DEF)
"When I Normal Summon a Cyberse monster, I can Special Summon Boot Staggered from my hand!"
(Level 5, 2300 ATK 500 DEF)
“Battle Phase! Boot Staggered attacks Gate Blocker!” shouted Red.

“I activate my face down! Mirror Force! When an opponent’s monster declare an attack, Mirror Force will destroy all attack position monsters the opponent controls!” Mandler responded

“Yeah, well have I got a treat for you! I activate Red Reboot from my hand!”

“What!? A Trap card from the hand!?” responded Mandler.

“Red Reboot can be activated from the hand by paying half of your Life Points!”
RED 8000 LP -> 4000 LP
“It negates the activation of your Trap card and prevents you from activating other Traps this turn!”

“What!? But wait! You forgot the other effect of Red Reboot! I get to set a Trap from my deck!” responded Mandler. “I set Call of the Haunted from my deck!”

“The battle continues! Boot Staggered, attack Gate Blocker! Stagger Launcher!” With his command, Boot Staggered launched a blob of what appeared to be networking information at Gate Blocker, with the wall shattering like a giant mirror.
“Now you’re wide open! Linkslayer attacks directly!” Linkslayer generated giant claws from its hands and slashed viciously at Mandler, causing him to slow down dramatically.
MANDLER 8000 LP -> 6000 LP SPC 1 -> SPC 0
“Alright! Now that it’s even again, Backup Secretary attacks directly!”
MANDLER 6000 LP -> 4800 LP
“Now Cyberse Wizard attacks! Cyberse Algorithm!”
MANDLER 4800 LP -> 3000 LP
“Now, on to Main Phase 2! Appear! The guiding circuit that leads me to victory! Arrowheads confirmed! The Summoning conditions are 2 or more Effect Monsters! I set Boot Staggered, Linkslayer, Backup Secretary, and Cyberse Wizard in the Link Markers! Circuit Combine! LINK SUMMON!”
As Red was explaining this, the screens on his Duel Disk and Mandler’s D-Wheel showed that to summon his Link Monster, 4 monsters were needed with an animation of his monsters flying into the border around the monster he was about to summon.
“Appear! Link 4! Topologic Bomber Dragon!"
(Link 4, 3000 ATK, ,,,)” With the appearance of Red’s giant dragon, Mandler felt a great deal of iminent pain incoming.
“Now I set one card face down and end my turn!” this caused a giant card to appear face down in front of him, which then disappeared.

“Well, too bad you won’t be able to use it! I draw, and during the Draw Phase, I activate my face down Heavy Storm Duster!” Mandler pressed a button on his D-Wheel’s dash board, right below the hard light playing field, which caused the Heavy Storm Duster Trap Card to appear beside his D-Wheel. “Heavy Storm Duster lets me target and destroy up to 2 Spells or Traps you control, and while this comes at the cost of my Battle Phase, it’s well worth it!”

“Sorry, but I’m ending the duel now! I chain my face down card: Ring of Destruction!” as Red pressed a button on the back of his Duel Disk, his face down reappeared and flipped to reveal itself as the Ring of Destruction Trap Card. “Ring of Destruction lets me target one monster on the field, and then both players take damage equal to its Attack value!”

“Wait, the only monster the field is your 3000 Attack Topologic Bomber Dragon, so that means-!”

“Well of course! Why else would I wait until Main Phase 2 to summon Topologic Bomber?” as he was explaining his strategy, a giant ring lined with grenades appeared and locked itself around Topologic Bomber Dragon’s neck, which struggled to remove the ring. However, this struggle proved useless, as immediately afterwards, the grenades all detonated simultaneously, causing an explosion that both players got caught in, while also destroying the Dragon.
RED 4000 LP-> 1000 LP
MANDLER 3000 LP -> 0 LP

“N-no! My promotion-!”

“Ha! Nobody can catch me, the Red Rocket-oh shit!” Red started to shout at Mandler and the other Security Officers before turning at the last second to avoid crashing into a building at the end of the street.

“Yes! He’s going down Ogre Street! That place is a dead end! There’s no escape now you little rat!” the Officers in the car shouted

“Alright, now I just gotta take the turn off and...Oh fuck! I went right! I’m on Ogre Street! Unless I can manage to turn around and jump over them, I’m cornered! Well that’s just what I’m gonna have to do!” Red thought to himself as he increased the speed on his D-Board, no longer confined by the rules of a Riding Duel. “100 KM/H...120 KM/H...140 KM/H…” Red thought to himself as he was looking at his Duel Disk’s screen to see how fast he was going, when suddenly, what appeared to be a portal opened up at the dead end brick wall.

“What the hell is that!?” Shouted Red, turning his D-Board to the side to try and stop, but it was too late, his momentum carried him through the portal before Security could see it.

“What the fuck!? Where did he go!? This is a dead end road! Search for him! He has to be hiding somewhere! Leave no stone unturned!” shouted one officer at the other.

“Captain Engelhart is going to be so pissed at me...But still, how was I supposed to know he’d have just THE perfect hand to OTK me!? I mean, Red Reboot? Ring of Destruction? He must have stacked his deck! Yes, that’s the only way he’d have a perfect hand!”

“Officer Mandler! What the fuck was that a show of!?” shouted Engelhart, having just arrived in a squad car.

“C-Captain Engelhart! I-I can explain-! He was cheating! He must have stacked his deck so that he could-” Mandler tried to explain before getting a punch to the face.

“The reason you lost is because you are a disgrace to the art of Turbo Dueling, numbnuts! Give me your badge!”

“W-Wait, Captain Engelhart-”

“I have been chasing that fugitive for 9 months, shit for brains! I planted all those cards to try and make him steal so many we’d catch him before he even left the building! Now give me your badge this instant or I swear to God almighty I will drag you to the jail house and I will be your judge, jury and executioner!”

**************************************************************************

As Red traveled through the portal, he could feel himself slowing down, as if it was waiting for him to lose all accumulated speed from the previous getaway. Red landed on the ground below him with a loud thud, he felt sore from it but felt that none of his bones were broken, with a teacup appearing out of nowhere and landing on his head.

“Ow! I-is this a teacup?”

“Huh? Well, I guess that cup fell on somepony's head, it’ll be fine, but now, Trixie thinks it’s time to treat herself to Princess Twilight’s refrigerator before that dragon gets back.”

Chapter 4: Early goodbyes?

Sugarcube Corner was just as busy as it always was when Pinkie was throwing a party, with ponies going in just for the celebratory atmosphere at times. However, Red, the one it was intended for, seemed content just sitting at a table in the corner talking with Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Spike.

“And that, is how you play Duel Monsters.”

“So it’s a game of quick strategy with high amounts of risk?” Twilight asked “I think I love it!”

“Sounds like a good game ta’ play over a cup of cider after a hard day of work!” Applejack added in “But too bad about mah’ lack’a magic to hold the cards with.”

“I LOVE IT!”

“From the way you described it, it sounds like it could be big, but I sure would like to see those Gem-Knights of your in their full glory…”

“Eh, looks pretty boring.”

“So, sounds like most of you like it, but trust me, once you factor in Duel Disks, it gets way better!” Red excitedly added “Say, Twilight, Luna must’ve used some spell to replicate my Disk, you think you could do the same?”

“I think so, but I think I’d only be able to maintain one, and even then it’d be a limited amount of time if we include the cards, but regardless, I can do it!” Twilight’s horn lit up as a pinkish aura enveloped Red’s Duel Disk, with a copy of it, except with the red highlights replaced with purple ones appearing on Twilight’s front left leg “Alright! I did it! Does anypony want to try?”

“Ah’ would, but ah’ can’t hold the cards, remember Twi?”

“Yeah, I can’t hold them either, but I don’t really care, so go ahead.”

“I just want to admire Red’s Gem-Knights in their full glory~”

“I DO!”

“Pinkie, ah’ hate t’ be a killjoy, but we can’t hold the cards, remember?”

“Oh yeah, right…”

“Well, I guess I’ll be Dueling you!”

“Alright Twilight, but let’s go outside where there’s more space first, and don’t expect me to go easy on you just because it’s your first time!”

“Alright, and trust me, I’m a fast learner!”

DUEL

RED 8000 LP
HAND: 5
TWILIGHT 8000 LP
HAND: 5

“I’ll go first!” Twilight called out, using magic to hold her cards “First, I’ll summon my Berry Magician Girl!"
(Level 1, 400 ATK 400 DEF)
"When Berry Magician Girl is Normal Summoned, I can add a Magician Girl to my hand! I’ll add Kiwi Magician Girl. Now I’ll set two cards and end my turn.

“My turn! Draw!”

RED 8000 LP
HAND: 6
TWILIGHT 8000 LP
HAND: 3

“First, I activate my Gem-Knight Fusion! O’ll fuse my Gem-Knight Garnet and Gem-Knight Tourmaline in order to summon-”

“I activate Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell!”

“Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell?”

“That’s right! By discarding a Spell Card, my Terraforming in this case, Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell negates a Spell Card, and you can’t activate any other copies of it for the rest of the Duel!”

“What!?” Red’s Duel Disk screen was showing his Gem-Knights melding together in a vortex, but as Twilight’s Trap Card was activated, the animation rewound itself to the beginning “Alright then, so I summon my Gem-Knight Garnet!"
(Level 4, 1900 ATK 0 DEF)
"Now, Gem-Knight Garnet attacks Berry Magician Girl!”

“Berry Magician Girl’s effect activates! Once per turn, when Berry Magician Girl is targeted for an effect or attack, I can change its battle position and summon a Magician Girl from my deck! I change my berry Magician Girl to defence position, and from my deck I Special Summon my Dark Magician Girl!”
(Level 6, 2000 ATK 1700 DEF)

“The battle continues! Gem-Knight Garnet attacks Berry Magician Girl! Flaming Iron Fist!” Despite the appearance of a stronger monster, Gem-Knight Garnet obeyed Red without hesitation, punching cleanly through Berry Magician Girl, causing it to explode into shards like a mirror “I now set two cards and end my turn.”

“My turn! I draw!”

RED 8000 LP
HAND: 2
TWILIGHT 8000 LP
HAND: 3

“Now, I play my Foolish Burial Spell Card! This lets me send a monster from my deck to the Graveyard! I’ll mill out my Magician of Black Chaos!”

“Now, Twi, ya mind tell us why you’d want to get rid of a card before ya get the chance ta’ play it?” Applejack questioned

“Well you see, for every Dark Magician or Magician of Black Chaos in either player’s Graveyard, Dark Magician Girl gains 300 ATK!"
(Dark Magician Girl 2000 ATK -> 2300 ATK)
"And that’s not all! Now I summon my Chocolate Magician Girl!"
(Level 4, 1600 ATK 1000 DEF)
"Now, Chocolate Magician Girl’s effect is that I can discard a Spellcaster to draw a card. I’ll discard this: my Dark Magician! (Dark Magician Girl 2300 ATK -> 2600 ATK) Battle Phase! Dark Magician Girl attacks Gem-Knight Garnet!”

“I activate my Trap Card! Pyroxene Fusion!”

“Not so fast! I activate my Dark Bribe Trap Card! This negates your Trap Card! Although you do get a free draw out of it.”

“Fuck!” Red thought to himself “Dark Bribe is a Counter Trap, putting it at Spell Speed 3, meaning that I can’t even save Garnet with my Prideful Roar Trap!”

Dark Magician Girl fired a shadowy fireball at Gem-Knight Garnet, who was shattered into pieces like Berry Magician Girl was just a minute ago
RED 8000 LP -> 7300 LP
HAND: 3
“Now, Chocolate Magician Girl attacks directly!” Chocolate Magician Girl attacked by launching a stream of bubbles at Red, connecting directly in the abdomen.
RED 7300 LP ->5700 LP
HAND: 3
“Now, I end my turn.”

“Fucking hell...I draw!”

RED 5700 LP
HAND: 4
TWILIGHT 8000 LP
HAND:1

“Alright, now what’s the plan…” Red was using his Duel Disk’s screen to look at all the cards on the field and see all everything that was considered public knowledge “She has Dark Magician Girl at 2600 ATK, and Chocolate Magician Girl is all but indestructible by way of battle...I’ve got Raigeki in my hand, but based on how she’s playing, I better wait until I have a way to OTK her...I can’t use Gem-Knight Fusion anymore, so if I want to summon Master Diamond, I’m gonna need Absorb Fusion, but then I can’t use my Fusion Cancel combo to seal the deal...I got it! I’ll use Brilliant Fusion to bring out Master Diamond, then discard Gem-Knight Fusion to restore his ATK and go for the kill!” Red thought to himself before starting to act for that turn “I activate my Painful Choice Spell Card! I reveal 5 cards from my deck, and you add one to my hand, with the rest going to my Graveyard!”

“A card that lets your opponent decide the outcome? How interesting! Spike, are you writing down the play by play?” Twilight asked

“Yep!”

“Now, your options are Gem-Knight Garnet, Gem-Knight Emerald, Gem-Knight Sapphire, Gem-Knight Fusion, or Gem-Knight Obsidian. One goes to my hand, and the rest go to my Graveyard! Now pick one!”

“Hmm, you can’t use Gem-Knight Fusion, so you’re clearly trying to goad me into picking it, I’ll add Gem-Knight Obsidian to your hand!”

“Alright. I mill out Gem-Knights Garnet, Emerald, Sapphire, and Fusion.” Red began thinking about the current situation to himself “Fuck! I needed that in the Grave to strengthen Master Diamond! But wait a minute! I’m overthinking this again! I just need to use Prideful Roar to kill that Magician Girl!” He began to initiate his plan “I summon Gem-Knight Tourmaline!" (Level 4, 1600 ATK 1800 DEF)
"Battle Phase! Gem-Knight Tourmaline attacks Dark Magician Girl!”

“What? But my Magician Girl has more attack than your Gem-Knight-”

“Not for long she doesn’t! I activate my Prideful Roar Trap Card! When my monster battles an opponent’s monster with a higher ATK value, I pay Life Points equal to the difference, and my monster gains Attack equal to the difference +300!” (Gem-Knight Tourmaline 1600 ATK -> 2900 ATK)
RED 5700 LP -> 4700 LP

“What!?”

“Gem-Knight Tourmaline! Thunder Cracker!” Gem-Knight Tourmaline rushed at Dark Magician Girl, and threw two balls of electricity connected by what appeared to be a string of lightning.

“I’m sorry Red, but I activate the ability of the Kiwi Magician Girl in my hand! All Magician Girl Monsters on my field gain 300 Attack for each Magician Girl on my field and in my Graveyard with different names! That currently encompasses my Berry, Chocolate, Kiwi, and Dark Magician Girls, so my Dark Magician Girl gains 1200 Attack!”
(Dark Magician Girl 2600 ATK -> 3800 ATK) Dark Magician Girl returned fire at Gem-Knight Tourmaline, overpowering its Thunder Cracker and destroying it in a similar manner to Garnet

“WHAT!?”
RED 4700 LP -> 3800 LP
“Fuck...! I’ll set two cards face down and end my turn!” Red thought to himself “Fuck! Hopefully she’ll panic and think one of these is a Mirror Force or some other battle trap, and I manage to Pot of Greed into the cards I need next turn.”

“It’s my turn! Draw!”

RED 3800 LP
HAND: 1
TWILIGHT 8000 LP
HAND: 1

“This is good! I activate Heavy Storm! All Spells and Traps on the field are destroyed!”

“WHAT!?” A powerful wind came and raised Red’s face down cards, shattering them like a mirror.

“Now! Chocolate Magician Girl attacks you directly!” Red took another barrage of bubbles to the abdomen, having no effects to save him.
RED 3800 LP -> 2200 LP
“Let’s finish this! Dark Magician Girl! Attack him directly! Dark Burning Attack!” Dark Magician Girl fired a shadowy fireball towards Red, landing a direct hit, and sending him flying backwards.
RED 2200 LP -> 0 LP
“Oh no! Red, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m good, it’s just that Solid Vision technology is able to enhance itself when attacking for game, is all, nothing’s broken. But I gotta say, for a first timer, that was simply amazing!”

“Oh, it’s just what anypony would’ve done with those draws.”

“Twilight, that was awesome!” Rainbow Dash said as she got flew up to Twilight “Although, I’d still like to see one of those Riding Duels Red brought up.”

“THAT WAS THE GREATEST GAME I’VE EVER SEEN!”

“Yeah, Pinkie Pie gets excited easily like that.”

“Twilight dear, I don’t exactly appreciate how you could destroy such radiant jewels like that without letting us see all of them in their full glory, but that was still extravagant!”

“Oh, thanks everypony! But really it was nothing! Say, what was your plan for the night Red?”

“I don’t really know, I was kinda thinking about the early morning today, the closest form of a night plan I had was to head back to the Castle of the Two Sisters, seeing as nobody’s using it for anything.”

“Right, well, if you want, you can stay in my guest room until we figure out how to send you home.” Twilight offered “It’s a big castle, so I have plenty of space to fit you in if we need to!”

“You know what? I think I’ll take you up on that offer. Not like I have many other options available.”

“Alright! So, how about I show you where it is?”

“Sure.”

“Alright, see you girls!”

**************************************************************

“Ok, let’s see, Speed Spell Count up, discard Backup Secretary and Cyberse Wizard, increase my Speed Counters by 6, now Speed Spell End of the Storm...Ok, now end turn.

RED 1900 LP
HAND: 0
??? 1000 LP
HAND: 0

“Goddamnit! Fucking Vorse Raider topdeck…”

RED 1900 LP -> 0 LP

“Hey there, you’re Red, right?”

“Huh? Who’s there?”

“Hi, I’m Starlight Glimmer,” a pink unicorn walked into the room Red was occupying for the time being ”So, uh, how’s it going for you?”

“Starlight Glimmer...You’re the one who got me in this situation to begin with, right?”

“Yeah, sorry about that, I was just trying to teach my friend Trixie teleportation spells, and when trying to show her how to teleport a teacup in from another room, I kind of lost my concentration and...accidentally rended the fabric of space and time again…”

“Again?”

“Well, I kind of used an unstable spell to go back in time and stop Twilight from ever meeting her friends, indirectly resulting in several alternate timeline, including one where everything in Equestria was dead and turned to dust in the wind to get back at Twilight and her friends for saving an entire village of Ponies that I was ruling with an iron hoof, forcing everypony to give up their special talents and be perfectly equal to each other.”

“...You’re seriously fucked up.”

“Yeah, but I’m learning! Say, what are you doing right now?”

“I’m simulating Riding Duels on my Duel Disk. I just pilfered a new Riding Duel deck from Sector Security before you ‘interrupted’ me, and I’m trying to learn everything about it.” Red gave Starlight a death glare while putting emphasis on ‘interrupted’ “And I gotta say, it’s fucking trash, it runs out of steam so fast, I’m just gonna go back to Gladiator Beasts, my old Riding Deck.”

“Wait, what do you mean by ‘pilfered it from Sector Security’?”

“Well, where I’m from, the local police force is extremely corrupt, with police brutality and wrongful arrests being commonplace, and because we’re so far out in the country, the higher ups just don’t give a shit, so they’re able to do as they please most of the time. I got fed up with it, so me and my best friends started to basically throw a wrench in whatever it is that they do, and we use a card shop as a front, so because Security confiscates someone’s cards if they get arrested, they store them in a vault. So, about once a month, I go in and steal a bunch of cards, bring them back to the shop, keep whatever ones I want to myself, and we sell the rest, either as singles, or in custom packs.”

“Wow, ok, I’m really sorry for snatching you away from that.”

“Yeah. The worst part is that my friends are terrible Duelists, so if some guy gets too pissed off at the shop or Security finds us out, they’re almost defenseless without me.”

“Oh, but don’t worry! My friend Sunburst is coming over to help us find a spell to get you home! He knows a lot about magic, and I have a lot of raw power, so we should be able to get you home, no issues!”

“Right, well, I’m gonna go to bed. See you in the morning Starlight.”

“Right, goodnight!”

**************************************************************

Somewhere, deep in the pits of Tartarus, a dark creature was chained to a wall guarded by Cerberus, when suddenly its eyes began gloring red, as it gained a sense of consciousness. “Yes...I can feel it...Somebody has introduced Duel Monsters to this realm...I can feel my power returning...But I need time...Time to restore my power...And then...Equestria...No...The entire world shall burn…”

****************************************************************

“Good morning!” Twilight woke Red up the next morning, basically yelling right in Red’s face, terrifying him in the process “Oh! Sorry! But last night, I was talking with my friend Sunset Shimmer through this magic journal, and we think that she might know where you came from, and as a result, how to get you home!”

“Huh? You think that she might know?”

“Yes, and it’s worth a shot, right? Grab your stuff and follow me!”

“Right…”

“So, a few years ago, not long after I became an Alicorn, I had to go through a magical portal to a world full of humans in pursuit of a Pony named Sunset Shimmer, but after all was said and done, we became great friends! Then, sometime later, I had to go back to their world, but it only opens every 30 moons, so to get around that little issue, I made a replica that works all the time!”

“So, you’re saying that you have a working, two way portal between two worlds, that you could’ve used to send me home earlier, and you didn’t use it until now?”

“Well, I wanted to ask Sunset if she thought it’d even be the same version of the human world, because you look and act almost nothing like everyone I’ve seen in the human world, and they certainly don’t have Duel Monsters, or at least I think they don't, so it might be a different world than what you’re familiar with altogether.”

“Right, well, it’s been nice knowing you, you’ll know if it’s the right world or not soon enough.”

“Alright, I guess this is goodbye…I just want to let you know I’m glad to have met you”

“Maybe, maybe not, we’ll see.” Red started walking for the portal before turning back to say “Later.”

Chapter 13: Two Birds, One Stone

“Hinotama!” Shouted a robed humanoid figure as it slid a Duel Monster card into what appeared to be a Duel Disk on its arm, and as it did, a fireball appeared out of a portal and flew forwards, hitting his target directly. “Starswirl, why do you resist me so? Do you seriously intend to separate ponies until the end of time?” It said.

“Ernesh, you maniac-!” The injured Starswirl said. “Do you really believe this to be better than allowing the natural circle of life to run its course? You’ve even gone so far as to completely wipe the inhabitants of Manehatten from our realm of existence!”

“Starswirl, how long do you plan on remaining ignorant?” He asked. “I am not tearing Ponies apart, I’m uniting them forever. After all, when I’m finished with you…” Ernesh opened his robe to pull out a binder full of card sleeves and opened it to reveal a page full of Ponies Starswirl immediately recognized. “You’ll be reunited with your friends, what were they called, the Pillars of Old Equestria?”

“You monster!”

“Please Starswirl, do you truly wish to return to your friends in a mood such as that? Be thankful, for now you can be with them forever. Meteor of Destruction!” Ernesh said as he slid another card into his Duel Disk, and just as the meteor was about to hit Starswirl, he completely flattened onto the ground and moved behind Ernesh. “What the!? It must be-!”

“Me!” Discord gleefully shouted as he emerged from the flattened Starswirl, holding the injured pony with a single hand. “Why Ernesh! It’s been far too long!”

“Ah yes, Discord, surely another God of Equestria will be willing to assist me.” Ernesh said. “After all, only one with a strong will such as yourself would be able to help me see this through to the end.”

“Actually, I had other things in mind.” Discord said. “It would be dreadfully boring if I were to just confine you in a cage or something, but…” Discord dropped the unconscious Starswirl, and with the snap of his fingers, his Duel Disk rematerialized on his right arm. “Surely, this would be much more interesting!”

“So, you too will oppose me?” Ernesh asked as he put his binder back in his robe and replaced the deck he was using in his Duel Disk with another one conjured with his magic. “Very well then, I will see to it you rest until the end of time!”

DUEL

*****************************************************************

“Holy fuck! Just how big is this godforsaken castle!?” Red thought to himself as he ran through Celestia’s castle before coming up to the front entrance. “Well, nothing’s happening here, guess I better-”

“Hey! Dog Boner!” A voice shouted as Red began to turn around, a look of frustration plastered on his face.

“What the-a human!?” Red said, as he saw the human climb off a familiar D-Wheel. “Wait, that D-Wheel-! It belongs to-”

“Me! Crow Hogan!” The human said as he took off his helmet and attached his Duel Disk to his wrist dealer. “I’m under orders to take you out, so come on! We’ll have a Ground Duel!”

“Well how convenient! Not only am I under orders to take you out, but I’m a goddamn monster on the ground! You’re on!” Red said, noticing Crow’s black sclera as both Duelists activated their Duel Disks.

DUEL

Red 8000 LP
Hand: 5
Crow 8000 LP
Hand: 5

“For once, I’ll go first!” Red shouted. “Crow! I’ve built this deck specifically for your kind! I’ll release you from the black magic!”

“What? You’re not making any sense!” Crow responded.

“Fuck, he’s lost himself to the magic.” Red thought to himself. “To begin this Duel, I Normal Summon my Red Resonator!”
(Level 2, Tuner, 600 ATK 200 DEF)

“Good to see that you picked out a monster that matches your name perfectly!” Crow said. “Actually, it looks nothing like a dog boner, so never mind.”

“Please let my name only be a synonym for that here in Equestria…” Red thought to himself. “Back on topic! When Red Resonator is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand, and I Special Summon my Reborn Tengu!”
(Level 4, 1700 ATK 600 DEF)

“A Synchro Summon on the first turn!?”

“Not quite! Appear! The guiding circuit that leads me to victory!” Red shouted as the Link Portal opened above them. “The summoning conditions are at least 1 Tuner! I set my Red Resonator and Reborn Tengu in the Link Markers! Appear! Link 2! Crystron Needlefiber!”
(Link 2, 1500 ATK )

“What even is that thing?” Crow asked.

“It’s a Link Monster! The latest and greatest evolution in Dueling! And I’m activating its effect to Special Summon a Level 3 or lower Tuner from my deck as well as the effect of my Reborn Tengu to Summon another one from my deck when it leaves the field! I summon Krebons and my second Reborn Tengu!”
(Level 2, Tuner, 1200 ATK 400 DEF)
(Level 4, 1700 ATK 600 DEF)

“Now, I’m Tuning my Level 2 Krebons to my Level 4 Reborn Tengu!” Red shouted. “From the black of night to the light of day, aid me now O eternal hunter! Synchro Summon! Level 6, Celestial Wolf Lord, Blue Sirius! And another Reborn Tengu!”
(Level 6, 2400 ATK 1500 DEF)
(Level 4, 1700 ATK 600 DEF)
“And with that, I end my turn!” Red shouted.

“That’s it? Well it’s my turn! I draw!” Crow shouted.

Red 8000 LP
Hand: 3
Crow 6000 LP
Hand: 6

“First, I’ll activate my Black Whirlwind Permanent Magic!” Crow began.

“Crystron Needlefiber’s effect!” Red interjected. “During the opponent’s Main Phase or Battle Phase, I can Banish Crystron Needlefiber to Special Summon a Synchro Tuner monster from my Extra Deck, treating it as a Synchro Summon! And my Tuner of choice is Formula Synchron!”
(Level 2, Tuner, 200 ATK 1500 DEF)
“When Formula Synchron is Synchro Summoned, I get to draw a card, and I’m also activating its effect!”

“You’re activating a monster effect in the same Chain it’s being summoned in!?”

“That’s right! I Tune my Level 2 Formula Synchron to my Level 6 Celestial Wolf Lord, Blue Sirius! O mighty dragon of feathers black! Please, lend me your strength to free your true master! Synchro Summon! Level 8, Blackfeather Darkrage Dragon!”
(Level 8, 2800 ATK 1600 DEF)

“So you made a knock off of my own dragon, good for you! I’ve got the real Black-Feather Dragon in my Extra Deck!” Crow shouted. “Now seeing as it’s still my Main Phase, when the opponent controls a Monster but I don’t, I can Normal Summon Black Feather - Sirocco the Dawn without Releasing!”
(Level 5, 2000 ATK 900 DEF)

“Releasing?” Red thought.

“This activates my Black Whirlwind! When a Black Feather monster is Normal Summoned to my field, I can add another Black Feather with lower Attack power from my deck to my hand! And I select Black Feather - Gale the Swift Wind!” As Crow declared the card he was adding to his hand, much like with Red’s Duel Disk, the auto shuffle function on Crow’s Duel Disk shuffled the searched card to the top of his deck, which Crow added to the cards he was already holding. “Now, when I control a Black Feather with a different name, I can Special Summon Black Feather - Gale the Swift Wind!”
(Level 3, Tuner, 1300 ATK 400 DEF)
“Black Feather - Gale the Swift Wind’s monster effect! Once per turn, I can target one monster you control, and halve its Attack and Defence Points until the End Phase! And my target is your Blackfeather Darkrage Dragon!”

“What!?”
(Blackfeather Darkrage Dragon 2800 -> 1400 ATK 1600 -> 800 DEF)

“Now, when I control another Black Feather monster, I can Special Summon Black Feather - Blast the Black Spear!”
(Level 4, 1700 ATK 800 DEF)
“Black Feather - Sirocco the Dawn’s monster effect!” Crow shouted. “I can add the Attack of all my Black Feather monsters to a single Black Feather, but my other Black Feather monsters cannot attack during the turn I activate this effect. I add the Attack of Black Feathers Gale the Swift Wind and Blast the Black Spear to Black Feather - Dawn the Sirocco!”
(Blackwing Sirocco the Dawn 2000 -> 5000 ATK)
“Battle Phase! Black Feather - Dawn the Sirocco! Attack his Blackfeather Darkrage Dragon!” With Crow’s command, his humanoid bird punched Red’s dragon in the face, causing it to explode into mirror shards.
Red 8000 LP -> 4400 LP
“Now on Main Phase 2, I Tune Level 3 Black Feather - Gale the Swift Wind to Level 4 Black Feather - Blast the Black Spear!” Crow shouted. “Darkened gales, become the wings which will soar to the heavens! Synchro Summon! Blackfeather - Armored Wing!"
(Level 7, 2500 ATK 1500 DEF)
“Lastly, I place one card in reverse! Turn end!”

“My draw!” Red shouted.

Red 4400 LP
Hand: 5
Crow 8000 LP
Hand: 2

“Fuck-!” Red thought to himself. “Crow... something’s different about him from the rest, he’s speaking perfect English, but it’s all the Japanese terminology, and he didn’t even react to Blackfeather Darkrage Dragon...Could this Ernesh guy be getting better at recreating people? But that’s beside the point, how am I going to get out of this situation? I can’t destroy his Blackwing Armor Master by battle, and this deck was designed to do nothing but shit out the Signer Dragon retrains…But wait! There’s a card in this deck that can solve almost any problem! I just need to draw it-!”

“Look, if you won’t play a card, then-”

“First, I activate my Swords of Revealing Light!” Red shouted, as a large quantity of swords made of pure light cascaded Crow’s field. “This prevents you from attacking for three turns! Now I discard my Speed Warrior to Special Summon my Quickdraw Synchron in Defence Position!”
(Level 5, Tuner, 700 ATK 1400 DEF)
“Also, I shift my Reborn Tengu to Defence Position and end my turn!”

“My turn! I draw!”

Red 4400 LP
Hand: 2
Crow 8000 LP
Hand: 3

“Well then, if you’re just going to stall, then I’m going to build up my field!” Crow said. “I Normal Summon Black Feather - Shura the Blue Flame!”
(Level 4, 1800 ATK 1200 DEF)
“The Permanent Magic Black Whirlwind’s effect! This adds a Black Feather from my deck to my hand with less Attack than the Black Feather I Normal Summon! I select Black Feather - Zephyros the Elite! Turn end!”

“I draw!”

Red 4400 LP
Hand: 3
Crow 8000 LP
Hand: 3

“Damnit! It’s not here yet!” Red thought as he looked at the card he drew. “Swords of Revealing Light will protect me for two more turns, but after that, if I don’t have it…” Red shuddered as he thought of the fate Starlight and Trixie had. “I Normal Summon Junk Synchron in Defence Position, and when Junk Synchron is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 2 or lower monster from my Graveyard in Defence Position, but its effect is negated. I Special Summon Speed Warrior and end my turn.”
(Level 3, Tuner, 1300 ATK 500 DEF)
(Level 2, 900 ATK 400 DEF)

“It’s my turn! I draw!”

Red 4400 LP
Hand: 3
Crow 8000 LP
Hand: 4

“Not going to attack, are you? Well if that’s the case, I activate my Treasure Cards of Black Feathers! I banish Black Feather - Zephyros the Elite from my hand, and draw 2 cards! Now I’ll place one more card in reverse. Turn end!”

“I draw!”

Red 4400 LP
Hand: 4
Crow 8000 LP
Hand: 3

“Dark Hole! Yes! Now when I draw into Scapegoat, I can make room for my four...sheep...tokens…” Red thought to himself as he took a good look at his field. “Wait a minute! I’m being a fucking moron!” He shouted. “Appear! The guiding circuit that leads me to victory! The Summoning Condition is 3 or more effect monsters! I set my Junk Synchron, Quickdraw Synchron, Speed Warrior and Reborn Tengu in the Link Markers! Appear, Link 4! Borreload Dragon!”
(Link 4, 3000 ATK )
“Borreload Dragon’s effect! Once per turn, during either player’s turn, Borreload Dragon lets me Target one monster on the field and reduce its Attack and Defence by 500! Cards and effects cannot be activated in response to this effect’s activation!” Red shouted as his dragon used its gun-like body to take aim at Crow’s monsters. “My target is Blackwing Shura the Blue Flame! Fire!” With its master’s command, Borreload Dragon fired a series of bullets at Crow’s monster, filling its wings with holes.
(Blackwing Shura the Blue Flame 1800 -> 1300 ATK 1200 -> 700 DEF)
“Now I activate my Heavy Storm!” As Red slid the card into his Duel Disk’s Spell/Trap slot, a heavy gust of wind began to surround both Duelists. “This Spell card destroys all Spell and Trap cards on the field, regardless of who controls them!” Just then, the gust of wind intensified, shattering all of Crow’s face down cards, as well as Red’s remaining swords.

“Nice job numbnuts! One of those cards you destroyed was Black Feather - Mine! When I control a face up Black Feather monster, I get to draw one card while you take 1000 points of damage!” Crow shouted.
Red 4400 ->3400 LP

“That won’t stop me! Battle Phase! Borreload Dragon attacks Blackwing Armor Master!” Red shouted as his dragon began to prepare another attack, aiming for Crow’s Synchro monster instead.

“You idiot! Black Feather - Armored Wing cannot be destroyed by battle, and I take no damage from battles involving it!”

“Fire!” With his command, Red’s dragon fired a series of bullets towards Crow’s monster, with the resulting dust cloud completely enveloping both Duelists.

“What was even the point of-”

“Blackwing Armor Master! Attack his Blackwing Shura the Blue Flame!” Following Red’s command, Crow’s Blackwing Armor Master clawed at Shura the Blue Flame, cleaving it in half, much to Crow’s shock.
Crow 8000 -> 6800 LP

“What the-!? But how did you-!?”

“When Borreload Dragon attacks an opponent’s monster, I can take control of the monster and place it in a Main Monster Zone Borreload Dragon points to, but it’s sent to the Graveyard during the End Phase of the next turn. Speaking of which, I end my turn.”

“I draw!”

Red 3400 LP
Hand: 3
Crow 6800 LP
Hand: 5

“My Disk isn’t displaying your dragon’s Defence Points, so it must have 0!” Crow shouted as he looked at the card he drew. “I Normal Summon Black Feather - Foehn the Steel Chain!”
(Level 2, 500 ATK 800 DEF)
“Battle Phase! Black Feather - Foehn the Steel Chain attacks directly with its effect!”
Red 3400 - 2900 LP
“This activate the second effect of Black Feather - Foehn the Steel Chain!” Crow shouted. “When Black Feather - Foehn the Steel Chain inflicts damage to you by way of a direct attack, I can Target one monster you control and change it to Defence Position! And the targeted monster-”

“Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but…” Red interjected. “Not only is Borreload Dragon immune to all targeting effects, including my own, but as a Link Monster, it has no Defence Points, and as such it can only exist in face up Attack Position, so even if it could be targeted by your effect, it would simply resolve without doing anything.”

“So my only options are to destroy it in battle or with a non target card effect.”

“That’s right, although you would need at least 3500 Attack Points, otherwise I’d just use its effect to reduce your Attack Points, which of course, cannot be chained to.”

“Dammit...I shift Black Feather - Sirocco the Dawn to Defense Position, turn end.”

“During the End Phase, the monster stolen by Borreload Dragon is sent to the Graveyard, now I draw!”

Red 2900 LP
Hand: 4
Crow 6800
Hand: 4

“I activate Pot of Greed! Red shouted. “This lets me draw two cards! Now I set those two cards, and activate Borreload Dragon’s effect, reducing Blackwing - Fane the Steel Chain’s Attack by 500!”
(Blackwing - Fane the Steel Chain 500 - 0 ATK)
“Battle Phase! Borreload Dragon attacks Fane the Steel Chain!” Following Red’s command, his Borreload Dragon fired a massive volley of bullets at Crow’s bird, resulting in a massive explosion.
Crow 6800 - 3800 LP
“And back to you!”

“It’s my turn! I draw!”

Red 2900 LP
Hand: 3
Crow 3800 LP
Hand: 5

“I summon Black Feather - Kalut the Ghibli the Searing Wind in Defence Position!”
(Level 3, 0 ATK 1800 DEF)
“Now I place a card in reverse, turn end!”

Red pressed two buttons on the back of his Duel Disk, causing the face down cards in front of him to rise, revealing what they were. “During the End Phase, I activate both my Scapegoat and Ring of Destruction! First, Ring of Destruction will destroy one monster of my choosing and inflict damage equal to its Attack to both of us, and I choose Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn!” Just then a ring of grenades locked itself around the neck of Crow’s monster, exploding just as it began to struggle.
Red 2800 -> 800LP
Crow 3800 -> 1800 LP
“Now Scapegoat will create four Sheep Tokens on my field in Defence Position!”
(Level 1, 0 ATK 0 DEF) X4
“Now, it’s my turn!”

Red800 LP
Hand: 4
Crow 1800 LP
Hand: 3

“Now, I Normal Summon my Glow-Up Bulb!”
(Level 1, Tuner, 100 ATK 100 DEF)

“Wait, how can you control six monsters!?”

“Under Master Rule 5, Link Monsters summoned from the Extra Deck are placed in the Extra Monster Zone, or in a Main Monster Zone that another Link Monster points to. If Master Rule 4 was in effect, then Fusion, Synchro, and XYZ monsters would be placed under the same limitation. On the topic of Link Monsters, appear! Two Guiding circuits that lead me to victory! The summoning conditions are a Normal Monster and a Level 1 monster! I set my Sheep Tokens in the Link Markers! Appear! Link 1 and Link 1! Link Spider and Linkuriboh!”
(Link 1, 1000 ATK )
(Link 1, 100 ATK )
“And here comes the last Link Summon! Return! The guiding circuit that leads me to victory! The summoning condition is at least 3 effect monsters! I place my Link Spider, Linkuriboh, Glow-Up Bulb and a Sheep Token in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Appear, Link 4, Borrelsword Dragon!”
(Link 4, 3000 ATK )

“I activate my own Ring of Destruction!” Crow shouted as a ring of grenades appeared around the throat of Red’s new dragon. “This will destroy a monster on the field and inflict damage to both players equal to the destroyed monster’s Attack!”

“I don’t have Red Reboot in my hand, so that means-!” Just as Red realized he couldn’t stop the destruction of his monster, the ring around its neck detonated, the resulting smoke completely enveloping both Duelists.
Red 800 - 0 LP
Crow 1800 - 0 LP

As the smoke began to clear, Red started looking down at himself, expecting particles of light to turn him into a card. “What the? But I could have sworn-” Just then, he noticed that his opponent was gone and as he looked into the distance, he could see a D-Wheel driving away.

“We’ll settle the score some other time!” Crow shouted before turning a corner and disappearing from sight.

“That motherfucker!” Said Red. “He just draws me and runs off!? I’m chasing him down for a Riding Duel!” Just then, Red grabbed his D-Board and began running towards the direction Crow drove off into, only to trip over a pony walking around the corner. “Ow! Fuck! What the hell is-!? Rarity? Weren't you supposed to go check on part of the city?”

“I was, but there was nothing out of the ordinary.” Rarity said. “But, darling, why were you running away from the castle if you were tasked with defending it?”

“Because Crow, a Duelist from my world, challenged me to a Duel, but he caused a Draw and ran off on me! You just don’t fucking do that!” Red said. “But, because you got in the way, he’s probably built enough distance for me to not be able to catch him, even if I went at top speed and took every turn perfectly.”

“Well, I was on my way to report to Twilight that there was nothing over in the commercial district, why don’t you come along too?” Rarity said. “I’m sure the rest of the girls will be along shortly.”

“Fine, might as well.” Red said, clearly still bitter over the result of his Duel.

**********************************************************
“Armageddon Knight! Attack him directly!” Ernesh shouted as his knight slashed Discord directly.
Discord 800 -> 0 LP

“No...Fluttershy-!” Discord said, being turned into a card alongside Starswirl before he could finish his sentence.

“Perfect.” Ernesh said, walking up to and grabbing the remains of Discord and Starswirl. “Starswirl, Discord...you two could have helped me reign in a new era of peace, one where nopony would have to be seperated...Regardless, Starswirl, you can now be with your companions until the end of time, and Discord, you never did have any friends, did you? Oh well, you have eternity to make some.” He said, placing the cards into his binder. “I believe that he should have the Crystal Empire under control now, time to gather my followers and return there. I activate Emergency Teleport and Monster Recovery!” Ernesh shouted as he held up two cards, teleporting himself to some other location in Equestria.

******************************************************************

“So, Princess Luna, you understand that by putting a whoopee cushion on your seat, Celestia was only trying to lighten the mood and try to get you to not be on edge as much, right?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, Princess Twilight, I understand.” Luna responded, a look of complete disinterest on her face.

“And Princess Celestia, you understand that by constantly bringing it up, Luna was only expressing her concern for the well being of Equestria, right?” Twilight asked.

“Yes Twilight, I understand Luna’s concern for the kingdom and its future.” Celestia said, faking interest. Just then, the door to the throne room began to open. “Ah yes, that should be Lance and the rest of your friends.”

“Great! So, did you guys see anything unusual?” Twilight asked.

“Nope, the Cloud Stadium was perfectly normal.” Rainbow said.

“Resterant Row was perfectly normal!” Pinkie said. “Although I did stop by a cafe while I was there and their coffee was awful!”

“The commercial district was exactly as it was the last time we were here, although there were far less ponies than I’m used to seeing.” Rarity said.

“And I had to Duel someone from my world.” Red said.

“You were Dueling!?” Twilight asked. “Do you know how badly that could have gone!?”

“Please, I have Riding Duels with the Duel Chasers, a section of Sector Security back home who handle D-Wheel related crimes at least once a month, if anything, not having my life on the line makes me play worse.” Red said. “The cocksucker got away though, he forced a draw and it seems that the magic that turns the loser into a card doesn’t work if there is no loser.”

“Cock...sucker?” Luna asked. “What do you mean by that?”

“I’ll...tell you when you’re older.” Red said.

“My sister and I are both over a thousand years old.” Luna said.

“Then, I’ll uh, tell you later when these girls aren’t around.”

“We’re all adults who have jobs and pay taxes.” Rainbow said. “Now go on, tell us!”

“Oh, well, uh, fuck…” Red said. “Say, what happened to Fluttershy and Applejack? Shouldn’t they have gotten here by now?”

“Yes, Applejack and Fluttershy aren’t the kinds of ponies to be late like this.” Rarity said.

“You don’t think that maybe they lost a Duel do you?” Spike asked.

“Well, that is possible.” Red said. “But unless you have some form of convinient long distence communication, we really can’t know.” Just then, a royal guard came running into the room.

“Princesses! I beg your pardon, but I bring urgent news!”

“It’s fine.” Celestia said. “Now, what is this message you have for us?”

“The Crystal Empire was under attack!”

“It was what!?” Cadence asked.

“Please, calm down.” Celestia said. “Now, take a deep breath, and tell us your story from the beginning.”

“Right, well, I was stationed at the Crystal Empire, when a two legged creature of some sort appeared and commanded a dragon to start attacking innocent civilians, and commander Shining Armor told me to abandon my post to come here and request reinforcements.” The guard said.

“Hold on, you said a creature of some sort with two legs? It didn’t happen to look like me, did it? And did it have a device on its arm like this one I have?” Red asked, holding up his Duel Disk.

“Yes, yes it did.”

“Alright, now this dragon, describe it. Specifically, what color was its scales and eyes?”

“I didn’t get much of a good look at it, but I belelive its scales were white, I think.”

“And its eyes? What color was its eyes?”

“I-I think they were blue.”

“You think? Or you know?”

“Yes, they were definately blue!”

“Blue-Eyes...Alright, you got your reinforcements right here!” Red said. “Come on girls, we’re going to this Crystal Empire of yours.”

“Are you crazy!?” Twilight asked. “We barely know what we’re going against, and you want to head right towards it!?”

“Hey, can’t punch someone in the face unless you get close enough.” Red responded. “Now who’s with me?”

“Alright! We have to get back Applejack and Fluttershy!” Rainbow said.

“If going means we can Duel, then I’m going!” Pinkie said.

“Yes, I do beleive we should deal with this problem while we know the solution. It’s what Applejack would want!” Rarity said.

“Oh fine, we’ll all go. Spike, are you coming?” Twilight said.

“Of course Twilight! Where you go, I go!” Spike said.

“Alright then, let’s go!” Red said.

Author's Note

So, three days late
Fucking kill me
But, at least I went back and made the early chapters easier to read, as well as patching in a small plot hole I didn't notice at first