Yu-Gi-Oh! EG

It all started with a single question. “BBBFF, will you teach me how to duel?” That question became Twilight Sparkle’s first step on the path to mastering Duel Monsters. She and her brother dueled every day, and though she lost a lot, she learned quickly. And it wasn’t long before she decided to enter her first tournament at the Canterlot Kaiba Land theme park.

It had been grueling getting through the brackets, but now she was mere minutes away from entering the final match. And Twilight was one very excited ten year old. “I actually made it to the final match!”

“I’m proud of you, Twiley.” Shining Armor looked at his younger sister with pride. She truly had come far in such a short time.

“Shiny you’re crying!” Twilight pointed out with a giggle, the knuckles of her right hand held to her chin.

“It’s liquid pride!” Shining Armor insisted, trying to salvage his dignity as he ruffled his sister’s hair.

“Shiny!” Twilight protested as she batted his hand away. “I’d better hurry. The duel is starting soon.” As Twilight headed off toward where she would be raised into the dueling arena, she saw a man waiting by its lift. It took a moment, but she recognized him. Those purple eyes, that spiky three tone black, gold, and red hair. It could only be… “Yugi Moto!” The King of Games himself had deigned to appear before her. And she had no idea how to feel beyond excited. “This is so cool!”

Yugi smiled and knelt down to eye level with Twilight. “Hello there. So you’re Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah! I was kinda worried I wouldn’t make it this far.” She looked at her feet bashfully, nervous at being in the presence of such a famous duelist.

“Well I wish you all the best, Twilight,” Yugi said as he pulled a pair of cards out. “Here. Take these. I feel like it’s time to pass them on.”

Twilight took the cards from him and looked at them, gasping in shock. He had handed her Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl. “I-I couldn’t! These are yours!”

“And now they are yours, Twilight,” Yugi said as he rose and started walking away. “Believe in the Heart of the Cards, Twilight. It will take you far.”

Confused by Yugi’s words, Twilight put the cards in her deck and stepped into the lift, readying her duel disk as she rose up to the arena. Stepping out, she saw her opponent. He was a mystery boy to her, with black hair that had silver highlights and red eyes that pierced right into her soul.

“And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for!” the master of ceremonies called, cheers coming from the crowd. “Our finalists! Twilight Sparkle vs. Facet Orichalcum! Which of these young talents will walk away the winner?! Let’s find out!”

Twilight and Facet activated their duel disks, their decks shuffled by the devices before they drew their hands. “Let’s duel!”

Twilight blinked away the memory of that day. The first time she dueled Facet Orichalcum. The day their glorious rivalry was born. She once again found herself across a duel arena from him, this time an exhibition duel to show their skills.

Their duel disks had changed a lot over five years. All duel disks were now connected to the cloud, making physical decks of cards optional. She of course loved the feel of real cards in her hands. Her rival however… She scoffed at his use of the purely holographic cards that were just as fabricated as the monsters they summoned.

They themselves had changed too. Twilight had grown from the wiry ten year old of back then, and blossomed into a mature young woman by the time she hit her current age of fifteen. She of course didn’t care about the heads her voluptuous physique turned. Her focus was on her rival, and it reflected in the set of her magenta eyes, her straight indigo hair with a pink streak was tied up in a ponytail.

He was rather well built for his age. He looked like a martial artist as well as a duelist. Those red eyes could still pierce the soul. They both wore the same uniform, albeit tailored to gender. The blue and white of Duel Academy’s Obelisk Blue dormitory.

Facet lifted his hand to his duel disk as a virtual card was ejected for him. “The first move is mine! I draw!”

FO: 4000, Hand 6
TS: 4000, Hand 5

“I summon Familiar Knight in defense mode!” A knight clad in steel armor and a red cape appeared before Facet in a defensive stance, a blow color shift signifying that it was in defense mode(1200/1400). “That’s enough for now.”

Twilight drew her card with a smirk. “That’s all?”

FO: 4000, Hand 5
TS: 4000, Hand 6

“I summon Queen’s Knight in attack mode!” A woman clad in red and gold armor appeared before Twilight, brandishing her sword and shield proudly(1500/1600). “Now attack his knight!”

Queen’s Knight charged at Facet’s monster, the two clashing swords for a moment before she got inside his guard and cut him down, her foe bursting into pixels.

“When Familiar Knight is destroyed in battle, we both get to special summon a level 4 monster from our hands,” Facet said as he placed a new card. “And I summon Rare Metal Dragon!” A quadrupedal beast covered in black scales burst forth from the ground, roaring its challenge to all comers(2400/1200).

“Then I’ll summon King’s Knight!” Twilight responded as a new knight, this one a man clad in ornate red and gold armor with a cape appeared beside Queen’s Knight(1600/1400). “And since I summoned him while Queen’s Knight was on my field, I can special summon Jack’s Knight from my deck!” A third knight appeared, this one clad in blue and white armor beside his fellow knights(1900/1000). “I place one card facedown and end my turn!” A large card back appeared on the ground before her, between herself and her three knights.

“Sometimes the dragons are too much for the knights,” Facet said as he drew his card. “Shame those stories don’t get told.”

FO: 4000, Hand 5
TS: 4000, Hand 3

“I summon Assault Wyvern in attack mode!” A vicious looking wyvern with translucent blue and black scales took to the field, staying in the air beside its ground bound kin (1800/1000). “Next I activate the spell Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your facedown card!” A powerful gust of wind blue from Facet’s side and shattered Twilight’s facedown card into pixels.

“Now Rare Metal Dragon attack! Destroy Queen’s Knight!” The dragon roared as it charged Twilight’s monster, tackling the knight to the ground, lifting its foot even as she struggled to fend it off before that foot was brought down on the knight’s head, crushing her into pixels.

“Assault Wyvern! Take out King’s Knight!” The wyvern flew at King’s Knight and effortlessly slashed through its guard with its sharp wings, destroying it. “When Assault Wyvern destroys a monster in battle, I can sacrifice it to special summon another dragon!” The wyvern vanished in a bright flash of light to reveal a larger dragon with noxious purple scales and wings in the shape of the biohazard symbol. “Rise, Pandemic Dragon!”(2500/1000) “Once per turn, Pandemic Dragon can destroy a monster with attack points equal to or lower than his own. So say goodbye to Jack’s Knight!” Pandemic Dragon exhaled a miasma at the remaining knight that made him fall to his knees coughing hard before keeling over and bursting into pixels. “Now attack her life points directly!” Pandemic Dragon sucked in a breath and breathed a thicker miasma at Twilight, who simply put a card in her graveyard.

“I discard Kuriboh to negate the damage!” Twilight countered, the little furball appearing before her and taking the hit, rotting away into nothing.

“I place one card facedown and end my turn!” Facet said, a card back appearing before him.

“Don’t want to savor the duel?” Twilight asked as she drew her card.

FO: 4000, Hand 2
TS: 2900, Hand 3

“I activate Card of Sanctity, so we can both draw until we have six cards.” Twilight and Facet both restocked their hands, Twilight pulling a card from among hers. “I summon Berry Magician Girl!” A young toddler looking mage appeared on her field. “Next I activate the spell card Magical Dimension!” An iron maiden suspended in chains within a frame with an odd window in its chest rose behind Berry Magician Girl, opening and letting her into its confines as it closed. “By sacrificing Berry Magician Girl, I can special summon Dark Magician Girl from my deck!” The iron maiden opened and out emerged the blue and gold clad mage girl, who winked at Facet while twirling her wand.

“And with her arrival comes your dragon’s death!” The iron maiden closed and from the window in it shot a beam of energy that struck Pandemic Dragon, shattering it into pixels. However it also spread the dragon’s miasma across the field, Rare Metal Dragon roaring and shaking its head as Dark Magician Girl fell to her knees in a coughing fit, her hand coming away stained with blood.

“When Pandemic Dragon is destroyed, all other monsters on the field lose 1000 attack points,” Facet said, his arms crossed in a smug smirk. (RMD: 2400 - 1400. DMG: 2000 - 1000)

Twilight glared at her rival. “I activate Sage’s Stone! Since I have Dark Magician Girl on the field, I can special summon Dark Magician from my deck!” Appearing beside the ailing Dark Magician Girl was a male wizard in dark blue armor with snow white hair and equally pale skin, twirling his staff as he glared at Facet(2500/2100). “Dark Magician! Destroy his dragon with Dark Magic Attack!” Dark Magician twirled his staff above his head and, with a yell, sent a wave of power at Facet’s monster, destroying it. “Now Dark Magician Girl attack him directly!”

“I reveal my trap!” Facet declared as his facedown flipped up. “Draining Shield! This negates your attack and adds your monster’s attack points to my life points!” A multicolored barrier appeared around Facet and absorbed Dark Magician Girl’s spell before disappearing.

Twilight growled and slid a card into her duel disk. “I place one card facedown and end my turn.”

“Getting a little flustered, Twilight?” Facet asked as he drew his card. “How unbecoming. You’ll get wrinkles if you keep that up.”

FO: 3900, Hand 7
TS: 2900, Hand 2

“Like you’re any better with all the glares you shoot people!” Twilight snapped back.

Facet chuckled as he looked at his hand. “I reveal the Blue-Eyes White Dragon in my hand to special summon Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon!” A white dragon appeared and landed with a roar, its scales raised like armor along its hide(3000/2500). “Next I activate the spell Ancient Rules, which lets me special summon a level five or higher normal monster from my hand.” He raised his right hand in the air. “Arise, Blue-Eyes White Dragon!” A sleeker white dragon roared as it landed beside the first(3000/2500). “And now I overlay my two dragons!” The two dragon turned into beams of yellow light and streaked into the air, a bright vortex opening in the ground that they flew into, causing an explosion of light from the portal. “I xyz summon Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis!” An imposing red dragon with regal looking armor pieces appeared, two balls of yellow light in an orbit around it(3000/2400).

“Impressive dragon, Facet,” Twilight said with an appreciative smirk.

“Wait until you see his effect,” Facet replied. “By removing an overlay unit, I can tribute any number of monsters from my hand and field to destroy that many cards on the field.” He smirked as Twilight gasped. “I tribute from my hand, Alexandrite Dragon, Paladin of White Dragon, and Cyberdark Horn to destroy your facedown and your magicians!”

Twilight’s eyes widened as one of the balls of light was consumed by the Sun Dragon Overlord, three beams of light firing from its wings and obliterating all three of her cards, leaving her wide open.

“Sun Dragon Overlord attack her directly!” Facet declared triumphantly, his dragon roaring as it sent a fireball Twilight’s way.

FO: WINNER
TS: 0

Facet settled down in a relaxed pose as the scenery vanished in a wave of binary, including Twilight herself, revealing he had been in a moving limousine the whole time. Deactivating his duel disk, he took a seat beside his mentor.

“Nicely done, Facet,” his mentor complimented with a small smile. “You even ended it with one of your Hieratic cards instead of a Blue-Eyes. Good to see you’re working to step out of my shadow.”

“Thank you, Mr. Kaiba,” Facet said, returning the smile of his mentor, the one and only Seto Kaiba.”

“You did great, Facet,” spoke Seto’s wife Shizuka, seated beside her husband. Seto still looked much the same as he had around the time of Battle City, if more muscled, and he still favored that multibelted outfit and white longcoat. Shizuka had grown into a very beautiful young woman, her eyes full of mirth and warmth.

“Thank you, Mrs. Kaiba,” Facet replied. “I went to a lot of trouble to recreate Twilight’s deck, strategies, even the exact shade of magenta in her eyes. In fact, that was the hardest part to get right. But the fact remains that it wasn’t the real Twilight, so I can’t count it toward my win-loss record with her.”

“You’ll have plenty of chances to break the tie at Duel Academy,” Seto said as the limo pulled up to the Kaibacorp Duel Dome, where the entrance exams of said school were being held. “Given your skills, you’ll have no problem with the entrance exam.”

“Still don’t know why you have me do this formality,” Facet said as the door was opened for him.

“Simple,” Seto said. “I don’t play favorites. You may be my protege, but you have to pass the entrance exam like everybody else.” He set a hand on Facet’s shoulder. “You’ve come far since I took you under my wing, and I’m very proud of the duelist you’ve become.”

Facet couldn’t help but grin at his mentor’s praise.

“That said, I do have one long term assignment for you,” Seto said as he released Facet and allowed him to step out of the limo. “Try to make some friends. I learned the value of them much later than I should have.”

Twilight Sparkle was grinning as she was lifted into the dueling arena, duel disk active and ready to tear this proctor apart. “I’ll let you go first.”

“Alright then,” the proctor said as the AR system engaged.

“Let’s duel!”

TS: 4000, hand 5
PR: 4000, hand 5

“I draw!” the proctor exclaimed as he drew. “And summon Berserk Gorilla in attack mode!” A very large and angry looking gorilla appeared before him, roaring as it beat its chest(2000/1000). “I place one card facedown and end my turn.”

Twilight smirked at his opening move. “I draw!”

TS: 4000, hand 6
PR: 4000, hand 4

“I summon V-Tiger Jet in attack mode!” A fighter jet shaped like a yellow tiger flew in and came to rest before Twilight in a hover(1600/1800). “Next I activate the spell card, Frontline Base, which lets me special summon a level 4 or lower union monster from my hand each turn. And I’ll do just that! I summon W-Wing Catapult!” A blue jet looking monster with a pair of missile pods joined her other monster on the field(1300/1500). “And now for a contact fusion! I fuse my two monsters together!” Twilight’s monsters flew into the air and reconfigured themselves, forming into a single monster. “I summon VW-Tiger Catapult!”(2000/2100)

“And next I activate his effect. By discarding a card, I can change your monster’s battle position.” As soon as she discarded her card, Berserk Gorilla burst into pixels. “Which destroys Berserk Gorilla by its own effect. I’ll place one card facedown and end my turn.”

“Nicely done,” the proctor complimented as he drew his card.

TS: 4000, hand 1
PR: 4000, hand 5

“I activate Ancient Rules, which lets me special summon a level five or higher normal monster from my hand, and I summon Big Koala!” A massive blue koala the size of a house appeared before him(2700/2000). “Attack!” Big Koala began charging toward Twilight’s Tiger Catapult, intent on body slamming it.

“Not so fast!” Twilight called as her face down flipped up. “I activate Magical Dimension! This lets me sacrifice a monster to special summon a spellcaster type monster from my deck!” An iron maiden in a frame appeared behind her monster, which turned into a beam of light as the iron maiden opened and accepted the monster, soon opening to reveal a new monster. “Come forth, Dark Magician Girl!” The famous blue and gold girl appeared with a giggle and twirl of her wand(2000/1700). “And then I get to destroy a monster of yours.” The iron maiden closed, shooting a beam of light out of its viewing window that struck Big Koala, destroying it.

“I end my turn,” the proctor said. “Excellent counter.”

“Don’t think flattery will make me go easier on you,” Twilight said as she drew.

TS: 4000, hand 2
PR: 4000, hand 3

“I activate Card of Sanctity, so we can draw until we both have six cards!” She looked at her hand after refilling it, grinning. “Just what I needed. I activate Sage’s Stone! Since I have Dark Magician Girl in play, I can special summon Dark Magician from my hand or deck!” The dark armor clad mage appeared beside Dark Magician Girl with a twirl of his staff(2500/2100). “Next I activate the spell Dark Magic Attack. Since I have Dark Magician out, all your spells and traps are destroyed.”

The proctor gasped as his lone facedown was destroyed.

“Now attack him directly!” Twilight ordered of her two magicians, who raised their wands and sent a double attack at the proctor, knocking him off his feet.

TS: WINNER
PR: 0

“Congratulations,” the proctor said. “Welcome to Duel Academy.”

Twilight hummed to herself as she walked toward the walkway behind the row of seats where her mentor, the King of Games himself Yugi Moto waited.

“A swift victory,” Yugi complimented with a smile. “I hope you plan on making friends at Duel Academy.”

“You know I don’t have time for that sort of thing,” Twilight said with a roll of her eyes.

“Ah yes,” Yugi said. “Your rival down there?” He pointed to the applicant currently in the arena.

Twilight narrowed her eyes at the sight of Facet, seeing him doing something big by how grandiose his movements were. Her suspicions were confirmed when a trio of Blue-Eyes White Dragons appeared behind him and flew into the air, merging in a flash of light.

(in the arena)

“I fusion summon Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!” The powerful, triple headed dragon landed with a mighty roar as its master held his arms out wide(4500/3800).

“Sorry to burst your bubble,” said the proctor. “But I activate my trap, Torrential Tribute, destroying all monsters on the field. A good opening move, but you committed too many resources to it.”

Facet didn’t stop smirking as his dragon and the proctor’s Alexandrite Dragon were destroyed. The proctor had an empty field now. “I activate Monster Reborn!” He savored the shocked look on the proctor’s face. “Rise up in glory, Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!” His dragon returned with a potent roar, balls of blue energy glowing its mouths. “Attack! Hyper Neutron Blast!”

(back in the stands)

Twilight ground her teeth together as she watched her rival one up her victory with an OTK. And he’d been so grandiose about it too. “YOU SHOW OFF!!!” she shouted in his direction, angrily waving her fist. Even at this distance, she knew he heard her. She knew this because he turned her way and flashed her that infuriating smug smirk.

Yugi chuckled as he watched the rivalry. “You really should try to make some friends at Duel Academy, Twilight.”

“Screw making friends! I’ve got a rival to crush!”

Yugi could only chuckle at his protege’s answer. Oh if only she could see what was right in front of her.