In Which a Human and a Pony Play
A week. Such an odd amount of time. For those that are tired, it can be a long period before rest can be achieved, or a short span of time that is over before it even begun. For the excited, it can be a while to wait for an event, or it can fly by with all the energy they had. Starlight had been in some mess of all four of these. Being a counselor was by no means easy, but it never surprised her when an hour or two passed with nothing to aid it along.
Finally, the week was over. She was able to relax in her own room and let time do it's own thing. She threw her door open and threw herself upon her comfortable mattress. Hugging a pillow tightly, she nuzzled into it, inhaling the scent of the new fabric softener she got. Lilacs! She sighed a happy sigh as she stared passed her pillow to the window, just in time to catch sight of a pair of robins gliding by. She smiled. She sat up, getting a better view through her window, looking at the sheer blue skies, which held not a single cloud. The afternoon sun shining it's beautiful golden light upon the green grass. She smiled.
A body seemingly made from white and black bone stood with red-hot flames erupting from its maw, red and powerful muscles exposed to the air. A pair of large, red wings jutted behind, each point exaggerated. Finally, its vile visage, one that would give a being from Tartarus nightmares.
The image of that beast flashed before her eyes, followed by another.
The artwork showed a pale-skinned man wearing black clothing with white lines running about it, a long and flowing cloak, and topping it off with a cone shaped hat. He wielded a black scepter with a sharp, crooked bottom, and topped with a blue crystal ball in a nook with a similar shape to the man's hat.
She looked to her mirror, thoughts of that game having played through her mind the past few days. Jason should have the day off. She thought.
Jason looked at the sheer beauty outside, sitting by his uncovered window, watching as the day got better and better. The news said there was a small chance of rain, but that small chance turned into a storm of cats and dogs as rain the size of marbles fell from the sky, splashing into the slightly flooded street. Enough rain was coming down that the street almost looked like a river from where he saw it, his front lawn already swimming in water. A magnificent flash and crack of white light lit up the sky, bathing everything within sight in a bright light before immediately vanishing, followed by the loud and heavy roar of thunder, feeling the rumble run through his humble abode.
He couldn't be happier. The calming pitter-patter of rain water falling from the tree branches above his home along with the excitement he felt from every bolt of lightning. He was as happy as a lark.
Except for one thing. Throughout the past week, something kept popping up in his thoughts, then vanish just like the lightning. It annoyed him to his core, not being able to grab hold of that thought. He got up off his couch, wandering over to his entertainment center, five deck boxes lined up just left of the TV. All of them were filled, two having two decks in both. For now, he just looked at his main box. The familiar moustached box holding two decks in it. One he recently made, a Dark Virus build, the other being his Magician Girls.
A flash went through the small home, bringing a memory to light.
Starlight looked to Davis and saw him showing his cards to Jakob and Ty, the former silently chuckling to himself while the latter looked over at Jason. "I place Secret Village in the field zone."
"Fuck you!!" Davis shouted, startling both Starlight and Trixie, while earning a few chuckles from Jakob.
Jason chuckled to himself at the memory, the sheer salt from his friend is always a fun sight. Something felt off about it, though. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. Opening the box, he pulled out a purple sleeved card. The green border of a spell card surrounded the artwork of beautiful, sunlit forest, the rays of light shining down on a few simple homes. The artwork reminded Jason of the Smurfs and their own little village hidden away from the world. Secret Village of the Spellcasters, one of Jason's favorite cards, simply due to how simple it is in practice and how much it irritates other people. Another flash ran through the house, bringing another memory with it.
"Draw." Davis looked at his own two cards, gaining a small smile. "First, I'll activate Dark World Dealings," he flipped over the face down card third most from his deck, "we each draw one card, then discard one card." The two dueling humans drew from there respective decks, taking a short second to decide on their next action.
Jason looked at the card in his hand as his eye twitched. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, gently face-palming. How in God's name did I not catch that? He put his cards back down, glaring at nothing in particular. He probably wouldn't have won if he hadn't played Dealings. With the grace of a bull in a China shop, he plopped himself back onto his couch, shoving his face in a pillow.
"God... Damn it."
Starlight stepped out of the mirror, hooves knocking on hard wood as she stood atop the built in dresser of her friend's room. The curtain at the room's entrance was drawn, allowing her to see down the hallway and into the living room, and outside the window by extension. She couldn't see anyone, but she could definitely hear the TV mixed with heavy rain hitting the metal roof. Heavy thumps coincided with laughter as she stumbled from the sudden and jarringly loud noises, having just come from a calm and quiet environment.
"Well, the TV is on, so he has to be home." She walked down the fake steps and down the hallway, where thumps of rain were the worst, drowning out the thumps of her hooves on the carpet. She made it to the kitchen, where her hooves clopped on the tile floor, announcing her presence.
"Starlight?" Jason appeared from the front porch, phone in hand, wearing a thin jacket. She saw both of his front doors were open, the one leading to the porch and the one leading to the torrential weather outside. The rest of her view blocked by the island counter that separated the kitchen from the living room.
"Hey there, Jason. What are you up to?" She passed the counter, now able to see Jason had a small chair out on the porch, just a foot or so away from the door. Jason turned back to the weather, a smile on his face.
"Oh, just watching the storm." She heard noise come his phone as he lifted it back to his ear. "What was that?" A pause. "Oh, it's just Starlight."
"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" She looked around the room, just now noticing the chilly breeze that swept through the small house.
"Hold on a sec." Jason covered the bottom half of his phone screen. "Nah, you're good. I was just chatting with Davis." He brought the phone back to his ear. "Hey, you don't think the storm will end today, right?" A pause, he scowled at the phone. "It's not a fetish." He shifted to his right, leaning his back on the door frame. "Really? Aight, man, see ya later." Starlight heard a bloop as Jason put his phone away in his pocket. He turned his attention to Starlight. "So, what brings ya over here?"
"Oh, I just wanted to hang out." She looked through the door, noticing the lawn's poor condition. "This happened to your yard!? And why is the street a river!?"
"It's beautiful! Right!?" Jason looked out at the storm with very noticeable joy. Starlight, with an uncomfortable smile, just shrugged her shoulders. Who was she to judge? Looking toward the TV again, she noticed an array of small boxes. She walked over to get a better view, seeing each one had either a different color or combination of colors. One even had a really detailed picture of a dragon! The menacing glare from the realistic piece brought back memories of the Dragon Lands.
"Hey, what are these?" Starlight grabbed Jason's attention again, her question coaxing him from the porch.
"Those are my decks." He said rather plainly. "I'd say I have a nice collection. Seven in total!"
"For... Yu-Gi-Oh, right?" Starlight scrunched her muzzle from pronouncing that. It didn't feel natural. "That's the name, right?"
"Yup." He took the black and white box, popping it open to reveal two sleeved decks. He glared at the cards within. "I shouldn't've lost that duel."
"What?"
"Nothing." He fidgeted a little, clearly not knowing what to do now. Starlight, herself, had been the victim of that little behavior for a while.
"Hey, if it isn't too much trouble," she made an obvious gesture of looking at the cards, hopefully getting his attention, "you wouldn't mind teaching me how to play, would you?"
"Uhh..." He looked at the cards in his hand again, pulling out the two decks. He smiled. "Nah, I wouldn't mind teaching ya how to play. I'm actually surprised you want to play."
"What can I say," She shrugged again, "I like games."
"Alright, I've got a few decks, but I think I'll only go with these three for now." He reached over by the TV and pulled out a red deck box. "So, wanna take a look through and see which one you want to be taught with?"
Starlight glanced over the two deck boxes, using her magic to pull out the purple sleeved cards. "I think it would just be easier to use the deck I saw you play last." She slid one of the cards from the deck, the image of the gilded Mahad meeting her eyes. "While it's still fresh in my mind, you know?"
"Makes sense." Jason nodded, pulling out an unsleeved deck from the red box, letting Starlight see the true back of the cards. It looked like a gold and black mass or swirling energy, all leading to an empty void. "Pop quiz."
"Huh?" Starlight was taken out of her thoughts.
"Just one question, is all." Jason pointed at the deck in her magic grasp. "What's the main mechanic with that deck."
"Uh, mechanic?" She tilted her head.
"Yeah, like, what's the main thing the cards do?"
"Um." She looked at the purple sleeves, thinking she probably shouldn't look at the cards themselves to answer the question. What was the common factor between most of the monsters? Is that what he's asking? She racked her brain for a second before she came up with her answer. "When one of the Magician Girls is attacked, they can bring another one from the hand, right?"
"Right on the nose, Star." He smiled as he walked over to the corner where the couches met, digging around for something. "More specifically, Chocolate Magician Girl, the blue one, can special summon from the Graveyard, while Berry Magician Girl, the baby, can special summon from the deck. Kiwi, the green one, sends herself from the hand to the Grave to give the other Magician Girls a boost in attack." He pulled out a couple of rolled up fabrics.
"What are those?"
"Play mats, Davis got them a couple days ago." He unfurled them as he sat down on the floor, prompting Starlight to grab a throw pillow for her own seat. The mat nearest Jason had a picture of four girls with different colored outfits and, excluding the girl in yellow, each holding a weapon. The other mat, closer to Starlight, had a blue background with two rows of vertically oriented rectangles, a blonde boy holding a sword with a blue gem at the guard. "The one in front of you has the zones on it so it should be easier to play."
"Thanks," she smiled, "the rules are still a teensy bit fuzzy for me."
"I really did a bad job of teaching last time, huh?" He placed his deck down, knowing exactly where it goes after so many years of playing. He paused whatever video he wasn't watching so he could better concentrate.
"So," she began, "to start off, I put my deck in the bottom right-most zone; the Deck Zone." She placed the purple deck down and touched the zone ahead of it with a hoof. "In front of that is the Graveyard." She slid her hoof across the next five zones. "These are the Monster Zones, with the Spell and Trap Zones right behind them." She tapped the two left most zones. "And these are the Field Zone in front and Extra Deck Zone in back. Right?"
"Naturally." He nodded. He pulled out a coin, but put it down as a thought came up. "Right, you also need to shuffle your deck." They did so, Starlight doing so with her magic. It was an odd sight to see for sure, the cards being manipulated in the air like that. Seeing her freely move every single card individually like that made his brain hurt. How could she do it so easily? "How are you able to do that?"
"Magic." She set the deck in its proper place. "We went over this, didn't we?"
"No, no, I mean... There is more than forty cards in there." He pointed at the deck. "Moving each card individually like you did would require over forty hands, and I can barely keep track of my own two."
"Oh, well, not exactly forty. You see, I didn't technically maneuver each card individually." She lifted the deck in her magic once more. "In the spaces where there were more cards, I would hold them as if they were just a singular mass. If I replaced magic with hands, I'd say I only used about ten hands." She placed the deck down, a kind smile on her face. Jason just shook his head as he chuckled.
"Still more than I could keep track of." He picked up the coin, ready to flip it. "To see who goes first. Heads or tails?"
"Tails." A flip, he caught it in his hand and revealed the back of the coin. "So I go first?"
"Yeap. Now we both draw five cards from the top of our decks." They did so, Starlight using her magic to hold the cards in front of her. "Now, normally, whoever goes first is not supposed to draw a sixth on their first turn, but with this just being a teaching experience, I'll let you." She nodded as she drew her sixth card. She took a closer look at her cards, almost obscuring her face.
"Pink cards are traps and green cards are spells, right?" She asked, to which Jason nodded. "Traps can't be activated the turn they're put face down..."
"Well, to be fair," Jason said, "no card can be activated the turn it's set." She tilted her head. "Set means face down, haha, sorry."
"Oh! Yeah, you and Davis said 'set' a couple times, my bad."
"Nah, it's my bad." They looked at each other, understanding that this could go on for a while if they continued trying to take the blame.
"So cards that are set can't be activated until the next turn, which would be your turn, right?" She raised two cards out from her hand. "I'll set these two cards to the Spell and Trap Zones. Next," she raised a third, "I'll summon Berry Magician girl in..." Her eyes widened as she stared into space, her lips tightening into a thin line.
"You can only normal summon in attack position, and you can only set monsters in defense position. When you special summon, it can be in either position unless the card specifies."
"Thank you." She looked over Berry Magician Girl, rereading to make sure didn't make a mistake. "I'll summon Berry Magician Girl in attack position, she allows me to add one 'Magician Girl' monster from my deck to my hand." With her magic, she flicked through her deck, pausing on a couple of cards and rereading others before picking one out of the bunch. "I choose to add Kiwi Magician Girl to my hand."
"Same move I made last time, huh?" She couldn't help but smile at his little jab. "Now, don't forget, every time you look through your deck, you have to shuffle it."
"Got it." She did just so. She took another second to look over her cards again. "Um... With that, I'll end my turn."
"I draw." Jason looked over his own cards, as well as looking at Starlight's field. Even for a beginner, he still couldn't just go all in. He knew that deck well, and if he knew Starlight, which... he only knew a little about, now that he thought about. Looking for her expression didn't help as she was too busy analyzing her own cards. Just have fun, don't get caught up in trying to beat her. "First," he drew her attention, "let's talk about the different kinds of Spell cards. You remember Secret Village of the Spellcasters, right?"
"Hmm," she tapped at her chin as she thought, "that's the card you used against Davis that kinda..." she rolled her hoof in the air, trying to find a good descriptor, "irked him?"
"Indeed it is." He said with a smile. "Secret Village is a kind of Spell card called Field Spell, they have a little indicator to the right of their text that looks like a compass rose." He held all five fingers on right hand. "There are five types of Spell cards. Normals have no indicator, Fields have the compass rose, Quick-Plays have a little lightning bolt and can be activated the same way as trap cards, Continuous have the infinite symbol and stay on the field once activated, and Equips have a shield symbol and stay on the field as long as their target stays on the field." He stared off into space as a thought came to him. "Did I already go over this?"
"You did," she nodded, "but I wasn't going to interrupt you."
"Thanks." He took a card from his hand. "The reason I brought it up is because I'm activating my own Field Spell! Behold, The Sanctuary in the Sky!" He placed it down, showing off it's artwork. A grand stone temple and plaza, held aloft by the clouds, reminding her of the old ruins of Roam. "With Sanctuary, any battle damage I take while control a Fairy-type monster becomes zero."
"Hey! That's not fair." She took the card in her magic and read over the single sentence. Not much could be misconstrued from how little text there was compared to some other cards.
"To be fair, it's battle damage to any player that controls a Fairy monster. Not just me. Plus it's only battle damage, I can still take effect damage." She placed the card back with harrumph, looking over her cards again. "That's not all though. Next, I'll normal summon Meltiel, Sage of the Sky!" Placing down a monster, it's artwork depicted a being with a body that appeared to be made of thousands of shards of clear glass. It's lower body had a similar shape to a ballroom gown, while the upper body was more human in form. Red and gold armour covered it's upper body in sparse areas; mainly it's chest, arms, and head. A bright halo flowed around it, also covered in the armour.
"Seeing the artwork on these little cards is always interesting." With her magic, she brought the card closer to her so could look it over.
"Yeah, I love the card art. Some of them actually tell stories."
"Really?" She raised a brow.
"Yeap, though the stories aren't always clear as day. Sometimes we have to wait for a Master Guide to come out and put everything into place, but that's really only for the ones that need explaining." He went digging around in the corner again. "One of my favorites is the World Legacy story. It's about these three kids and their dragon being chosen by a fairy to go on an adventure to find some relics, but the fairy turns out to be evil and stuff during the middle of a fight."
"Huh." She placed his card back down as he stopped rummaging, a confused look on his face. "Trying to find something?"
"I was trying to find the binder I had with all the cards I collected. I must've left it somewhere else." He picked up his hand and looked it over. "Where was I, now? Nevermind. I set two cards, then I end my turn."
"Ok, I draw. Now, I'll activate my set Magical Dimension." She smiled as she flipped her card, the artwork depicted a chained sarcophagus held within a set of bars, like a box without walls. "This card allows me to tribute one of my Spellcaster monsters to Special Summon another from my hand, then destroy one card on your field. I'll trib-"
"I counter with Dark Bribe." Jason flipped one of his own set cards. "There are many kinds of Trap cards, but my favorite have to be Counter Traps. They are able to activate immediately and only other counter traps are able to respond to them. Dark Bribe allows you, the opponent, to draw a card, but I get to negate the activation of any Spell or Trap." He pointed at her Magical Dimension. "I choose to negate that."
"Oh." She put her card in the graveyard as she drew another one.
"Sorry to take the wind out of your sails." Jason tapped at his Meltiel. "Meltiel also has an effect when I activate a Counter Trap. Each time one is activated, I gain a thousand life points, then if Sanctuary in the Sky is on the field, I can destroy one of your cards." He pointed at her other set card. "My life points are now at nine thousand, and I'll destroy that card."
"You're not pulling any punches, are you?" She placed her other set card in the Graveyard, revealing it to be Dark Horizon.
"Heh, I don't want to go too easy. I've, uh..." he paused as he chewed the corner of his thumb, "made people lose interest that way."
"Well, you're not getting rid of me that easily." Jason snapped out of it as she raised another card. "Either way, I'm tributing my Berry Magician Girl to summon the Dark Magician Girl in my hand."
"Ah, that's what you were gonna do before?"
"Correct. I wanted to summon another monster, but things didn't work out that way." She pointed a hoof at Meltiel. "Meltiel only has one thousand six hundred attack. Now, I'll attack Meltiel with my two thousand attack Dark Magician Girl."
"Aight." Jason placed Meltiel in the Graveyard. "Thanks to Sanctuary in the sky, I take no battle damage. My turn?"
"Umm..." Starlight looked over her cards again. "I think... Yeah, I end."
"And I draw." Jason looked over his own cards. She must've not had any other spells or traps. At least not any she could set. At the same time though, my cards aren't doing me any favors. "I'll set one card face down, then I'll set one monster face down. I end my turn."
"Well, don't go too easy on me," Starlight jabbed, "I was just teasing earlier."
"Nah, this is kinda my best move." He looked over his cards again and quickly face palmed. "Nevermind, I could've done something a lot better, but I already made my move. Any way, it's your go."
"Got it, I draw." She looked over her new card and placed it in her hand. Jason knew he was at a slight disadvantage, what with his hand only being one card. He didn't know what her hand was capable of. "I will set these two cards face down, then I'll summon Apple Magician Girl in attack position." She placed down her cards with a smile on her face, she wasn't done yet. "Next, I'll activate the effect of Kiwi Magician Girl in my hand. I can discard her and have every one of my Magician Girls gain 300 attack for every Magician Girl with a different name in my Graveyard and on my field." She grinned triumphantly as she was about to send Kiwi to the Grave.
"Upon that, I bestow my Divine Punishment." Jason flipped a set card, revealing another Counter Trap. "When a Spell or Trap card, or monster effect, is activated while Sanctuary in the Sky is on the field, I'm able to negate the activation and destroy it." His hand in the shape of a gun, he "shot" her Kiwi Magician Girl. "Pop goes the Kiwi." Starlight groaned as she placed her card in the Grave.
"Well, my monsters are still pretty strong on their own." She pointed at his face down monster. "Dark Magician Girl will attack your monster." He flipped it to reveal Nova Summoner, a monster that looked like a wreath of golden feathers with a blue ribbon-like armour and an emerald orb in the center.
"His defense is only eight hundo," he explained, "but when he's destroyed by battle and Sanctuary in the Sky is on the Field, I can special summon an Airknight Parshath from my deck in attack position." With a quick search and shuffle of his deck, he brought a new monster to the field. "Watch as this little angel ascends into knighthood!"
"That's an odd looking monster," she said, "its art style is very different from the other monsters you had." She could definitely tell it had the lower body of a horse, though not of her realm, and the upper body had the shape of a human, though she couldn't tell if it was female or not. It wore blue armour alongside shining feathers over its entire body. In it's right hand looked like the beginning of a sword, while a shield was in its left. One thousand nine hundred attack, she thought, that's more attack than Apple Magician Girl. "I... End my turn."
"I draw." Jason took a quick glance over his cards. Airknight only has nineteen hundred, that's too low for Dark Magician Girl, he thought, and attacking Apple would only bring out another monster, assuming she has one in her hand. Her hand only contained one card, but it could have been anything for all he knew. "I'll set one card, then I end my turn."
"You're not attacking?" She tilted her head.
"Not when you have a hand. Apple special summons from the hand and halves my monster's attack. Ain't no way I'm doing that."
"Well," she shrugged as she drew her card, "you snooze, you lose." He did have two set cards, but she knew a pattern when she saw one. There's nothing to fear here. "Battle Phase, Dark Magician Girl for two thousand will attack your Airknight Parshath!" Jason placed his monster in the Grave, she knew there wouldn't be any damage there. She smiled as she pointed at him. "And now, Apple will deal the first damage of the game for one thousand two hundred!"
"Getting into it, I see." He teased.
"That field spell really gets in the way, but I'm finally putting in some damage." She clicked her tongue as she thought. "Now you're down to seven thousand eight hundred." She slumped. "Wow, seven turns in and you're only two hundred life points less than the standard amount."
"Hey, so long as you keep up your card advantage, I don't doubt you'll beat me soon."
"Card advantage?"
"That's when you have more cards than your opponent." Jason looked over his cards for a moment, as did Starlight. "Anything else you can do?"
"Umm," she shook her head, "nope. I end"
"Then I draw." Jason smiled at his new card, but quickly wiped it away. "I... Have to end."
"Really?" Starlight leaned closer in disbelief. "No monsters? No sets?"
"Nope," he lied, "nada, zilch." He didn't technically lie, it's just that he couldn't use the card right now. However, he only needed to wait just a little more.
"Ok, I'll draw. Aha!" She turned the card to him. "I'll activate the Secret Village of the Spellcasters. As long as I control Spellcasters, you can't activate any spell cards."
"Why don't you draw another card instead?" He flipped another Dark Bribe. "I'm not letting you have that spell so easily." Wouldn't it be just my luck if she drew another Secret Village? He mused.
"Well that's no fun." She drew her card.
"Now," Jason said, "I activate the effect of a monster in my hand! If I activate a Counter Trap, or negate the activation of a Spell or Trap card or monster effect, I can banish two other fairy monsters from my hand, field, or grave to special summon this guy from my hand or grave." He took Nova Summoner and Airknight Parshath from his graveyard and put them off to the side. "There is no zone for banished cards, as banishing is technically removing them from the game in a sense." He plucked his recently drawn card from his hand. "O, mightiest warrior from the heavens, beseech this battle with your grace and light! I banish Nova Summoner and Airknight Parshath to special summon Sacred Arch-Airknight Parshath!" He summoned his monster, an imposing 2800 attack compared to Starlight's own monsters. It looked similar to Meltiel in design, but rather than a ballroom gown, it's lower half had the appearance of another face. Instead of red armour, it had blue; similar to his regular Airknight Parshath and Nova Summoner. Four pairs of wings, it also had a halo behind itself, rather than around it.
"I, uh..." She took a sharp inhale through her teeth as she looked over her cards. "I... Guess I end."
"Hmm." Jason drew his card to start his turn. Am I going too hard on her? She didn't switch the position of her monsters. "First, I'll activate the Continuous Spell, Sanctum of Parshath." The artwork depicted the illuminated silhouette of Arch-Airknight Parshath in the center grounds of the Sanctuary in the Sky. "This card's name becomes Sanctuary in the Sky while on the field, and every Fairy monsters on the field gains three hundred attack." He raised a finger, regaining Starlight's attention. "Also, set spells and traps cannot be targeted or destroyed by card effects." He gently tapped his monster. "Now I'll enter the Battle Phase and have Arch-Airknight for thirty-one hundred attack your Dark Magician Gir-"
"Dang it!" She yelled, before covering her snoot with her hoof. "Uh, sorry, I didn't mean to..." She quickly placed Dark Magician Girl in the Graveyard with her magic. She kept her eyes on the field, her ears down, while the silence from her use of language continued. She chewed on the inside of her cheek as she looked at Jason's face. "Why are you smiling?"
"Why are you looking guilty?" He asked back.
"Well, it's just, I wasn't-" She sighed with a huff. "I'm usually better at keeping swears under control."
"Swears?" Jason raised a brow at this.
"You know, like," she rolled her hoof in the air, "similar to those 'forbidden words' you and your friends say." She shook her head. "You probably don't even have 'dang', let's just-"
"We have 'dang'." He said. "That's not really a swear here, though. It's like something we say when we don't want to say 'damn'."
"Really?"
"Yeah, it's like a kid's swear. What other kinds of swears you got?"
"Well," Starlight felt a little hesitant to continue, but this wasn't something they had gone over quite yet. She had learned a few words that shouldn't rightly be said, and if they were indeed "kid's swears", it's best he knew what not to say as well if he ever came over. "Let's see, there's peeved, horse-feathers, oddly enough the word 'hoof' when used in a certain context, another certain context word is 'hay', and then there's heck, frick, darn." She rubbed at her chin as she continued. "The list goes on really." Jason smiled.
"We also got heck, frick, frig, gosh, darn."
"My friend, Jason, everypony," she gestured at him for her invisible audience, "swearing up a storm."
"Twas my pleasure." He bowed, still sitting. They both looked at each other's eyes before chuckling. "So, who's turn was it again?"
"I think it was yours." She let out a few more chuckles as they looked over field. "Yeah, it's yours. You just attacked my Dark Magician Girl."
"Right, right, so you take eleven hundred."
"I am now at six thousand nine hundred."
"And now I'll activate my Arch-Airknight's effect. When he inflicts battle damage, I can add a counter Trap from my deck to my hand." He took a quick look through his deck before deciding. "I'll add Divine Punishment from my deck to my hand."
"Oh joy, another one."
"I end my turn."
"... I'm sorry, what?" She appeared taken aback by what he said. "You're not gonna set that and activate it on my turn?"
"Nope." He smiled.
"I thought you said you weren't gonna go easy on me."
"I'm not." He smiled again. She narrowed her eyes at him; if he wasn't going easy, then he was planning something. She didn't like that one bit.
"I draw." Once she saw her card, she took a closer look at it, almost studying it. She took a couple glances at the cards on her field before shuffling the card into her hand. "Okay, now, I'll set one card face down, then I'll activate Magician's Defense. Continuous Trap that halves all the damage I take, but I cannot half damage the same way."
"And in return," Jason butted, "I'll activate my Counter Trap, Rebirth of Parshath." He flipped his own card. "With this, I reveal one Counter Trap in my hand," he revealed his Divine Punishment, "whole reason I didn't set this bad boy; next I discard a card," he discarded a copy of Sanctuary in the Sky to the Graveyard, "next I pay one thousand life points, which puts me sixty-eight hundred, and finally negate your activation and shuffle your Magician's Defense back into the deck."
Starlight looked at him as if... Well, as if he had just dug a hole searching for water not even five feet away from a lake. At the same time, there wasn't anything she could do about it. One quick glance at the card showed to her he wasn't done yet. Reading upside down was never a challenge for her. "...'Special Summon 1 "Parshath" monster from your Deck or Extra Deck', okay, so that's what you were planning." She grumbled away as she shuffled her card back into her deck.
"Indeed it was," he responded with a heavy ounce of grandiose, "and so, never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I shall do as she said and look in my deck instead!" One quick search and he summoned another Arch-Airknight. "Boom Bam Baby! Where one hath stood, another shall rise!"
"I cannot lie," Starlight shifted the four cards in her hand around, "that is actually very intimidating." The glow of her magic enveloped her Apple Magician Girl as she smiled a dastardly smile. She put on her own air of grandeur "I must, however, retaliate with an unforseen ambush. I'll tribute my Apple Magician Girl," said card went to the Graveyard, "to summon another Dark Magician Girl."
Jason didn't know what to think of this situation. "She can't really do much against two powerhouse archangels."
"Don't be so sure." Starlight leveled a look at him as if she had caught a foal with their hoof in the cookie jar. "You always play your counters the first chance you get. I'm going to show you how that was a bad decision this time around."
What is she on about?
"Dark Magician Girl!" She played a spell card from her hand, and Jason's expression fell faster than Mega Man on Guts Man's stage. "Dark Burning Attack!"
"You... Son of a..." Rather than continue down that phrase, he silently placed both of his monsters into the Graveyard. He couldn't help the smile that quickly spread across his face. "Now that is what I call leading your opponent." He threw his arms wide open. "Aight, time for my punishment."
"You bet I'm gonna punish you."
Maybe I should've chosen a different word. He thought.
"Dark Magician Girl," she threw her hoof his direction, "attack directly for two thousand!"
"Which puts me down to forty-eight hundred." He applauded her. "Nice turn around, Star, I gotta hand it to ya, I was not expecting to get booty slapped into oblivion like that."
She failed her survival check as she choked on air after hearing that, quickly switching from shock to laughter and back and back again. "I-I-I'm sorry-hehe, ha-what!?"
"You never heard that before?"
"I can safely say I haven't!" She rubbed at her chest, calming herself down. "That is just, I, what, booty sla-" A wheeze escaped her before she could finish, continuing to giggle a storm as she struggled for air. Jason didn't know whether to feel proud at seeing the biggest smile on his friend's face due to something he said, or be worried that her fur could somehow turn blue. "I'm fine (wheeze), I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine."
"Absolutely certain?"
"Positively." A slow inhale, a slow exhale. "I'm good. Okay. I, I end my turn."
"Dope, I draw." Jason hummed in thought, deciding what to do, what he even could do. "Aight, let's do this. I'll set one monster. I end."
"Really?"
"This deck isn't entirely gold."
"I guess." Starlight drew her card. "I will set two cards face down. Battle Phase, Dark Magician Girl will attack your face down." Jason flipped his monster over, revealing a copy of Nova Summoner. "Uh oh."
"Indeed. Thanks to his effect, when destroyed by battle, I can Special Summon Airknight Parshath from my deck in attack position," he did just so, "and if you'll remember, my Continuous Spell gives all my fairy monsters three hundred extra attack. Which puts him up to twenty-two hundred."
"This isn't good."
"Well, not for you." Jason waved his hand. Not his actual hand, his hand of cards hand. That hand. "So, you end?"
"I..." Starlight took a quick second to look over her cards, "Yeah, I end my turn."
"And I draw." It was just an instant, but Starlight had seen the slightest smirk cross his face, like a rat running across a kitchen floor. "I'll set one card face down, then enter the Battle Phase. My Airknight will attack your Dark Magician Girl for twenty-two."
"I take two hundred," she placed her monster in the grave, "which puts me at six thousand seven hundred."
"Then my monster's effect activates, when he deals damage, I can draw one card." He did so. "Now, I'll activate the effect of another monster." He revealed the card in his hand, it's artwork similar to the two Arch-Airknights in his grave, yet with a bit less detail and a lack of a second face and halo. "I'll tribute my Airknight Parshath to special summon Neo Parshath, the Sky Paladin from my hand."
Her ears folded back. "Oh no."
"Oh yes." Jason pointed at her. "Now, I had to leave the battle Phase in order to do that, so for now I'm left with a twenty-six hundo monster."
Starlight didn't like this one bit. Not only did Jason have a strong monster out, he even resized his hand. This had trouble written all over it. She needed to get something in this next turn or her plan wouldn't work. Nothing to worry about, Starlight. Just so long as you get another monster, you'll be fine. I hope.
"Now, I set one card, and end my turn."
"I wonder what that could be." She drew her card. This could work. If that's a trap, he wouldn't let this go through. "I'll activate Dark Hole to destroy your monster."
"And I'll activate Divine Punishment to negate and destroy." Jason paused as something clicked in his head. "Arch-Airknight!" He dug through his Graveyard to read said card's effect.
"What?"
"His effect says I can Special Summon from either the hand or Graveyard." He placed the monster back to the field in attack position, taking out another Nova Summoner and Airknight Parshath. "So I will."
"I see." Her lips thinned at this. One monster with over 3000 attack was not ideal. She could work with this, but she wasn't sure how long she could hold out if she kept getting nothing. "First, I'll summon Chocolate Magician Girl in attack position, then I'll activate my Magician's Defense. I end my turn."
Jason smiled, her lack of cards in her hand meant she was finally on the ropes. "I'll draw. You saw the Sage of the Sky, now it's time I summon Minerva, Scholar of the Sky." The artwork again showed something similar to Meltiel, only this time the secondary color was green instead of red. It wore a large hat whose brim went all the way around, like a sorcerer's hat, and wielded a scepter in its right hand and a book in its left. "With an attack of seventeen hundred, she goes up to two thousand. Now, my Arch-Airknight will attack your Chocolate Magician Girl for thirty-one hundred."
He's actually attacking!? "I'll activate her effect. When she's attacked, I can special summon a monster from my Graveyard and have that monster become the attack target and your monster's attack is halved." She took Dark Magician Girl from her Graveyard and placed her on the field in attack position. "Your Arch-Airknight's attack is halved to one thousand five hundred fifty."
"I knew that would be the result." Jason put his monster in the Grave. He put on an air of flamboyancy. "Good thing I have my Field Spell or I might've actually made a mistake. Well, even if I had, the old phrase still rings true," he raised a finger, continuing his charade, "you have to spend life points to take life points. Now, make way for Minerva! She'll attack your Chocolate Magician Girl."
"I can't stop that." She put her monster in her Grave. "So I would have taken four hundred, but the damage was halved so it's two hundred instead, now I'm at three thousand nine hundred."
"Now, Neo Parshath, attack her Dark Magician Girl!"
"She's gone now, and I took half of six hundred, which is three hundred," she clicked her tongue in thought, "putting me at six thousand two hundred."
", where as Starlight still had none. Her ears folded back at this rather poor turnabout. Not even five turns ago, she was in the lead with more cards and life points. Now, here she sat on the opposite end of scale. It was only a matter of time, however, before she could grasp her chance. Jason didn't seem all that enthused with his hand, thankfully, as he looked it over with a grimace. "I will unfortunately end my turn." His gaze leveled with hers. "But just know this, your magicians won't be escaping my heavens alive."
He didn't set any more cards, this has to be a good sign! "We'll see about that." She drew her card, a smile gracing her face when she read the text. "I activate One Day of Piece. We both draw one card, and neither of us takes damage until the end of your turn."
"Don't get too ecstatic, Glimmer." With an air of villainy, he raised his shoulders and chuckled. "You may be getting an extra card and escaping damage, but I'm also obtaining a card. This could go very badly for you." I need to go through that deck again if I keep forgetting what I put in there.
All I need is some more time. She put on her own show of theatrics. "If all goes to plan, this duel will only swing in my favor." They both drew their cards, Jason humming while Starlight harrumphed.
"So, what was that about the duel swinging in your favour?"
"Sock it, angel boy. I set a card face down and end."
"Whoa-kay," Jason felt as if he was making her just a little too upset. Maybe he had poked the bear a little much. "Simmer down, Star, I'm just me-"
"Messing with me, I know, I just," she looked over her field of, well, not a lot. She really only had the one plan, and her other card couldn't really help with that. She needed to draw another monster before things went South. "I'm getting really into the game, I see that, and I..." she rubbed her leg with a hoof, drawing a little inward on herself, "tend to excite easily is all." One breath later, she was back to being confident. "Let's just continue before I wreck you."
"Aight then." A small pang hit Jason in the chest, unable to tell whether she was saving face or being honest. He didn't want to ruin the game for her, but he didn't exactly know what was going on in her head. Mostly, all he could see was his friend getting frustrated, and it was partially his fault. Had it been Davis or any of the other guys, he'd be gigging, but he wasn't all too sure on the boundaries for Starlight. He didn't want to go too far, but he was afraid not going far enough would just annoy her. I guess... There's only one way to find out. He straightened his back and let out a deep chuckle, once again taking the role of a villain. "So, Glimmer, you hide your feelings like a kid lost at the market? Ha! I'll show your magicians more despair then you'd ever thought possible! I draw!" On reflex, he hid his mouth with his hand as to not reveal his toothy grin. Finally! Something I can summon! "Now! Prepare to see double, I summon Minerva, Scholar of the Sky in attack position!" He folded his arms together with a faux villainous smirk. "Unfortunately, I have agreed with your peace treaty, so I cannot attack, but make no mistake, once it is my turn again I shall make you rue the day you challenged the heavens." This little act, thankfully, made Starlight snicker into her hoof. Jason took this as a point of pride and swelled with an unnoticed joy. She cleared her throat before putting on her own performance.
"Oh, I'll make short work of your life." She drew her card to start her turn. "Once I'm done with you, the heavens will tremble with fear when they hear the name, Starlight Glimmer. I summon Chocolate Magician Girl in attack position!"
"Oh ho?" With a raised brow, Jason opened his arms and took a pose similar to a favourite villain of his. "You dare approach me? You, approach me, Glimmer? Like some young child running to get that last piece of candy before someone else?"
"I would if I could," she flipped her hair, covering one eye with it as she looked directly at jason with the other, "but we wouldn't want to end the game too early, now would we?"
"Hehe, do as you please then! For my heavens shan't fall to the likes of you."
"Hmph, I end, it's your move now."
"I draw." He only took a couple of seconds to come up with something when he saw his new card. "Well now, it would appear this game ends here." He raised the sole card up in front of him, keeping it hidden from Starlight. "I've had fun with our little back and forth, you take the lead, I take the lead, you take again, then back to me. Like a pendulum swinging to and fro, but I shall grasp that pendulum to ensure my victory!" He turned his card around, revealing a Pendulum Monster.
"What in the world is that?"
"Guiding Light, Ariadne. A Pendulum Monster. Half spell, half monster." With both hands, he tapped the left most and right most spell/trap zones. "These zones on the ends of the spell and trap zones are special. Only in these zones are you able to place Pendulum Monsters as spell cards, and they stay there like Continuous Spells. You can just summon them as you normally would, but in these end zones, you gain access to their Pendulum Effect; the top text box, as well as their Pendulum Scale; the red and blue arrows." He held up two fingers. "When both zones contain a Pendulum Monster, you can perform a Pendulum Summon. It allows you to special summon as many monsters from your hand as you want whose levels are between the numbers on the Pendulum Scales."
"Does positioning matter? Like, does having a higher number on the right or left do anything?"
"Fortunately no. Now, I'll place Ariadne in the left Pendulum zone. She's got an awesome effect, too. While she's there, I don't have to pay life points, nor discard cards to activate Counter Traps."
"Oh boy." She warily looked at the new card on the field. Thankfully he didn't place two, so he couldn't just summon a bunch of monsters from his hand, but that effect was more than enough to get her jimmies ruffled, being that Counter Traps was this deck's bread and butter. She had to beat him this turn.
"Next, I'll summon Nova Summoner in attack position."
"I activate my set Dark Renewal," a uniquely designed coffin floated within an ethereal plain, a blue orb resting on it, "when you normal or special summon a monster, I can send both that monster and a Spellcaster I control to grave, in order to summon one DARK Spellcaster monster from my deck."
"Unfortunately," Jason flipped over his own set card, "I shall bestow upon you my Ultimate Providence. When a Spell/Trap, or Monster effect, is activated; I can discard the same type of card to negate and destroy that card." He tapped his Ariadne. "Thanks to her, though, I don't have to discard to activate Counter Traps."
"Darn it."
"That's not all, though!" He tapped his two Minervas. "You see, when any Counter Trap is activated, not just my own, Minerva gains 500 attack, putting them both at 2500." He then tapped his Sanctuary. "Also, when Sanctuary in the Sky is on the field, I can add one Counter Trap with a different name than the activated one from my grave to my hand. So I'll add one Divine Punishment, and one Rebirth of Parshath."
Don't worry, Starlight. It's almost over. Just need this to go as planned. She bit her lip in anticipation, and in order to keep herself from speaking out loud.
"Now, I believe it's time for my advancement." Jason folded his arms, a smirk proudly displayed on his face. "You, who have dared to invade the heavens, to desecrate the most holy of sanctuaries, shall now fall to its overbearing might." He pointed a single solitary finger at his enemy's only monster. "My Minerva shall take the bait and attack your Chocolate Magician Girl."
"And Chocolate Magician Girl will perform a grand act, and summon Dark Magician Girl from the grave!" Starlight couldn't help but join in the charade, nor could she hide her own smirk. "And as you said, Minerva has taken the bait and is forced to attack Dark Magician Girl with her strength halved."
"And such, my first Minerva is destroyed, but I take no damage." He placed his monster in the grave. "My second Minerva learned from the first, and she will destroy your Dark Magician Girl."
"Second verse, same as the first." She placed her monster in the grave as she went over the numbers. "I take half, so that's two hundred fifty, now I'm at two thousand nine hundred."
"And my monster gains the difference." He tapped his Neo Parshath. "Neo Parshath is now at a staggering four thousand five hundred. The exact strength of a Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and," he leveled a look at Starlight, not even hiding the evil grin on his face, "the exact amount necessary to blast you away."
"Wait a minute, that can't be..." Starlight paused in thought, realising what had happened. She couldn't believe this, that this could have been an outcome. Her breathing picked up pace as her mind ran. There's no way he could've planned all of this! That just doesn't make sense! How could he!? This was looking bad. If he made even one move different to her plan, there's no way she could succeed.
"Was it by fate, or was it by action?" He asked in a faux accent. "Was it by will, or was it by chance? The world may never that answer, but it will know your demise." He once again smirked at her. "Now, don't think I'll be fooled by your set cards. You had a good portion of the game to activate them, and you haven't." This has to be a bluff. She couldn't possibly stop me now. "This won't kill you, the damage will only be halved. However, the next attack will do you in. Now, Neo Parshath will attack your Chocolate Magician Girl for four thousand five hundred points!"
Starlight took a slow inhale, letting it sit to calm herself, then slowly let it out. She couldn't help but grin. "In response to your attack, I'll activate my set Dimension Guardian and choose Chocolate Magician Girl."
"Oh fuck."
"This makes it so my targeted attack position monster can't be destroyed by battle. Next, I'll activate Dimension Sphinx and also choose Chocolate."
"Oh shit."
"With this, you take damage equal to the attack difference of the targeted monster and the attacking monster, and since it's not battle damage, your field spell won't protect you." There was a joyful look in Starlight's eyes as she flipped over her other card. "And finally, I'll activate Dimension Mirage, and for this one I'll choose your Neo Parshath!"
"Oh no."
"This makes it so that if the targeted monster attacked one of my monsters, but the monster wasn't destroyed by the battle, it has to attack again in a row!" She grinned as she looked to Jason. "Thanks to my Magician's Defense, I'll only be taking half the damage while you'll be taking the full thing." She pursed her lips and tapped her chin, eyes upward in thought. "So since I take half, that would be one thousand four hundred fifty, you on the other hoof take the full two thousand nine hundred."
"Basically your life is halved to fourteen fifty, and my life goes down to... Nineteen hundred."
"And your monster loses attack due to the difference in our points being fewer, so he's now at three thousand fifty, but that's not all~." She sang the last bit as she took her Graveyard within her magic. "Now I get to banish a monster and have your Neo Parshath attack again. So I'll banish my Apple Magician Girl from the Graveyard, so now your monster attacks again, and there's only one monster for him to attack."
"So, he has to attack Chocolate again, so you'll only take seven twenty-five and be at seven twenty-five, but I'm losing fourteen fifty so I'm at... Four fifty." Jason rubbed his face with his hands to suppress a groan. Through muffled hands, he said "I didn't think you would get how these cards worked."
"It wasn't simple, I won't lie." She shook her mane out of her eyes as she picked up the trio of traps. "I only noticed a pattern when I drew Guardian. Speaking of pattern," she took another monster from her grave, "Your Neo Parshath is now back down to two thousand six hundred, I banish Kiwi Magician Girl from my Graveyard to make him attack one final time."
"Ohh nooooooooo!" Jason performed a melodramatic faint back onto the couch behind him, still halfway in the floor. He gargled out "I am... Dead..." It was only a second or two before they both started chuckling to themselves, both slowly evolving to quite the laughing fit. It only lasted a couple seconds, but for that time, it felt so nice. Jason was the first to slow down, getting back up off the floor he had fallen on during the fit, watching Starlight still crack up at his performance. She must be feeling pretty good after her first win. He reasoned. He stretched out his arms and slowly stood back up to stretch out his legs, which caught Starlight's attention and brought her back to reality. She stood too, popping a few joints and limbering up.
"Wow, this game really makes your body tense up." She said, her legs feeling a little sore.
"Yeah, but it really only happens with longer games, kinda like this one." They both worked on picking up the cards and other accessories, putting them back into the corner and the decks in front of the TV. "You should see how fast other games go. A lot of games don't really go past three or five turns."
"Huh?" Starlight was taken aback with this knowledge. "Three or five? How?"
"That's pretty simple, you see..." Jason stopped, pausing to think on how to explain this, until he realized he didn't know either. "I... Don't really know what happened... That's just kinda how the game evolved."
"Well that doesn't seem fun."
"Oh ho, trust me, it gets real fun." Jason pulled a deck box down, the pure white one. "This deck can either get me a victory in five turns, or a loss in five turns. Hell, I've even one on the first turn several times." After seeing Starlight's confused expression, he explained further. "A lot of the good decks out right have a lot of interaction during either player's turn. It's kinda necessary ever since cards could activate from the hand on your opponent's turn. Without that interaction, you just might lose."
"I can kind of see that, but I still think the longer games sound a bit more fun."
"Eh," Jason shrugged, "they can be, just like the one we had." Jason put his deck box back when a thought popped into his head. "Hey, if I continue to teach you to play, and if you want, I could also help you build a deck of your own."
"Huh?" Starlight shook her head. "Oh, I couldn't ask that much of you."
Jason just crossed his arms and smiled. "I'd love to see you walk outside and buy your own cards, then."
"Ah... Yeah. You know, maybe I will take you up on your offer."
"Than it's agreed."
"Yes."
"Indeed."
"Correct."
They looked at each other for a couple more seconds in silence before they chuckled again. Jason knelt down and held out a fist for a bump. "I swear, you remind me a lot of Davis, and I mean that in a good way."
"Really?" She was yet again confused, though of no fault of Jason. They were friends, Jason and Davis, so she could take it as a compliment. However, all she had seen of Davis was that cold exterior. That, not exactly ungrateful, but definitely not happy, look every time he saw her. Like he had some bone to pick with her and her friends. Nothing ever came of it, thankfully, but she was worried about him.
"Yeah, he and I got along pretty quickly, like... Wow." He stood back up. "Damn, I've known him for about fifteen years now, haha, that's crazy."
"Haha, wish I could've kept a friendship that long." She joked.
"Whatcha mean by that?" Jason understood that it was a joke, but he knew something like that wasn't said without some truth.
"Nothing really." She shrugged as she mulled over if she should say more. "I haven't really had all the best luck when it came to making friends, but I'm glad with the friends I do have. I've actually known Sunburst for quite sometime, too."
"Really?"
"Yep," she waved a hoof, "he and I go way back. I think we met just a bit before Primary School."
"Damn, I've only Davis since elementary."
"Uh huh," they both took a seat on the long couch to get comfortable, "we did everything together. We read books, played games, went everywhere together. We were inseparable until-" She stopped herself. As far as she had healed, she still didn't want to bring those memories back.
"'Until'?" Jason asked. "Did something happen?"
"Um... Yeah... See..." Her lips tightened to a thin line, unsure how to explain this. "So, I told you about our Cutie Marks, right?"
"Yeah, you get them when you find your talent or somethin'."
"Yes, so, we had only known each other for a couple years," her voice had dropped a couple notches in volume, "and like I said, we were inseparable, but one day... I had a little mishap which would've ended up with me being crushed by a bunch of books." She stared ahead at the entertainment center, pointing at it for reference. "It was just a little bigger than that, and it was about to topple down on me, but Sunburst got this sudden burst of magic and caught all the books that fell. He put them back, and then the nest thing we knew, he got his Cutie Mark." She continued staring off, almost like she was looking through the wall. "It wasn't long after that his parents had sent him to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns and," she ceased her staring, opting to instead rub her front leg with another hoof, "I hadn't heard from him after that." An uncomfortable silence filled the room as they sat there. Something stuck out to Jason, though.
"You guys are still friends though, aren't you?" Jason rubbed at the back of his head, as if he would find an answer back there. "I mean, you've shown up more than a couple times over here together, plus you guys seem to have a lot of fun together."
"Yeah," she smiled at that, "yeah, we're still friends." She started chuckling at the memories she had been able make after reuniting with Sunburst. She could feel a weight be lifted off her shoulders as she thought of him. Becoming his friend again had meant so much to her. "I had made so many mistakes in the time he wasn't around, but I'm glad that I can be with him again.
Oh, does she... Jason couldn't help but notice the dopey little smile on her face as she talked about him. He hadn't seen this with her before when she talked about the yellow stallion, but at those times Sunburst was still there. Now that he wasn't, she seemed more than happy to think about him. I think she might. He smiled his own smile, thinking how nice it would be to be able to think of someone like she thought of Sunburst. He patted her back, breaking her of her thoughts. "That guy's pretty lucky to have a friend like you."
"Hey!" She snapped, looking at Jason with a small glare. "You're my friend, too." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"You're damn right I am!" He said with a wide smile. "Ain't nothin' gonna change that." She giggled at his declaration.
"You're a pretty good friend, too."
"Well, I certainly try to be." They spent a good moment or two like that, just sitting there and enjoying embrace, before jason stood up. "How's your schedule looking? Anything you need to do right now?"
"Hmm," she tapped away at her chin, "nope, I don't have anything planned today."
"Sweet," he turned on his Xbox, "wanna help me beat Mega Man?"
"I don't see why I wouldn't."
They had spent more than a couple hours at it, laying waste to countless enemies before eventually succumbing to their own falls. Despite all the time Jason had put into the game, he was no master. Doubly so for Starlight, who had only played once before several months ago. They knew they probably wouldn't beat it, but there was no reason to stop if they were having fun. Why ruin such a nice moment? Eventually, enough time had ticked away for Starlight to notice the sky outside had darkened, and of no fault of the clouds. It was late in the evening now, and she felt a hunger beginning to burn.
"I think I should get going."
"Huh?" Jason took a look through his windows. "Well look at that, barely felt like any time went by." Starlight hopped off the couch and arched her back to stretch.
"It's my turn to cook," she began her trek to the back room, "and I've been wanting to try out a new recipe I found."
"Dope," Jason followed her, "what all's in it?"
"Some peppers, some pineapple, some daffodils and buttercups."
"See, I was gonna say 'that sounds pretty good', then you decided to sin with the flowers."
"Hey, don't knock em til you try em."
"Fairly certain those are poisonous, if I'm not mistaken." She stopped when she heard that, middle of the hallway. She backed her behind into a doorway to get a better look at Jason.
"I hadn't considered that."
"I mean, usually you'd look up the toxicity of a plant before-"
"No no no, not what I mean." She shook her head. "I hadn't considered the dietary differences between us."
"Yeaaah," Jason scratched the back of his head, "Davis already got on my case about feeding you a grilled cheese. Said something about how I was lucky that it didn't get you sick or something like that."
"Huh." She didn't think he of all people would be worried. "I guess that's something else we'll have to talk about later, but right now, I gotta go. Spike gets cranky when he has to take over." She continued down the hall, Jason following right behind her.
"Spike? I don't believe I've heard of him. He live with you?"
"Technically I live with him. He and I both live in Twilight's castle, but he's lived with her ever since he hatched."
"... I'm sorry, hatched? He a bird or something?"
"Nope," she stepped into the first step, "he's actually a dragon."
"That's cool... Hey wait minute hold up!" He put a hand on her back, catching her attention. "Did I hear you just say... Dragon?"
"I did," she nodded, "Why do you ask?"
"S-so-so you mean... to tell m-me... That you've been living... With a dragon this whole time... While you've been studying my place?"
"I guess..." She looked into his eyes, unable to tell the emotion behind them.
"You... Have to invite me over some day." He grinned a wide grin as he stood back, holding his head. "A dragon, an actual dragon, haha, yes yes oh yes a dragon!"
Starlight giggled at his excitement. "He's just a dragon, nothing too exciting."
"I shall determine what is exciting to me with my.own two eyes." He sat on the bed, bonking his head off the top bunk. "Didn't even feel it I'm so excited."
"Well, in any case, I'd better get going." She got to the top of the drawer and waved. "See you later, Jason."
"Deuces, Star." Ha waved back before she hopped through. Jason laid himself out on the bed, thinking to himself with nondescript thoughts.
"You bet I'm gonna punish you!"
His lips tightened to a thin line. "Mhm."
"I would if I could," she flipped her hair, covering one eye with it as she looked directly at jason with the other, "but we wouldn't want to end the game too early, now would we?"
"Tsk." He thought about all the times she had laughed today, all the little moments that had taken his attention. "I'm gonna be thinking about this for a while, aren't I?" He rubbed at his eyes and just kept his hands there as he sighed. "This sucks."
Over on Starlight's side, she had exited the mirror without a hitch. A quick hop down and she was about on her way out of her room when some thoughts struck her.
"Same move I made last time, huh?" She couldn't help but smile at his little jab.
"Hm."
"You're damn right I am!" He said with a wide smile. "Ain't nothin' gonna change that." She giggled at his declaration.
She thought about all the little moments she had just had with Jason. Each memory that came lifted her spirits even further. With a wide grin and heart full of joy, she had practically skipped her way to the kitchen.
Author's Note
To think... It has been two years. Two years for a sequel, something I had been planning a year and a half ago. That's about when I started writing this, but then... I just stopped. I stopped writing in general after that last chapter and the Lyra story. Even my own stuff I stopped writing. I don't know what happened, and I wish I had kept writing, but there's nothing I can do to change that.
I understand some people might be upset she didn't get her own deck and that I've decided to continue this rather than make another chapter for Shattered Glass (been so long since I've typed that that my auto correct didn't even try to capitalize it), but I'm done making promises. I can never deliver. I'll be writing when I can, but I'll most likely be spending time playing games or watching YouTube, nothing new.
I truly hope that you enjoyed reading this as I did have fun busting my ass these past couple months I reworked this. Correcting my misplays and mistakes, I really only typed up the first fifth a year and a half ago, while the rest of it was written during my break times at work the past couple months.
I feel I keep making excuses, so I'll just stop here. Thank you for reading, and let's hope we have a happy new year.
EDIT: So... Thanks to a wonderful reader, whom is the top comment, they have brought to attention a glaring flaw in my story. Neo-Parshath can special summon itself during the battle Phase. This will require a rewrite of the portion of the story after it, so expect an update after a couple days as I now have to think up some new tension and change the dialogue. Part of the story may seem cut out and that's because I'm an idiot without an undo button. Much appreciation for Speculore for catching the mistake.
