Domino City: Streets
“Hey, are you Joey Wheeler!?” A female voice called out.

Joey turned to see it was some girl with pink hair in a pony tail and blue eyes. She wore a colorful outfit and had a duel disk on her arm telling him she was part of Battle City. Something about her seemed familiar, yet Joey couldn’t place his finger on it.

“Yeah, I am.” Joey turned. “Who’s askin’?”

“Great, my name is Pinkie Pie.” The girl responded, which sounded even more familiar than how she looked to the Red-Eyes user. “My friends and I entered this tournament because we’re looking for Sunset. See…”

“You’re one of them!” Joey pointed at her as it finally clicked. “You’re one of the people who hurt my friend over that Anon-a-Miss nonsense.”

“She told you about that?” Pinkie asked, surprised.

“She told her us everything.” Joey declared, making Pinkie flinch. “Let me say, our friends, Yugs and Tea, are ten times better than your lot. Unlike any of you, they don’t judge Tristan, Sunset, or I on our past misdeeds.

They don’t go bringing it up constantly only to say, ‘no offense’. Like that makes it any better. In fact, we’re the ones who bring it up around them, yet they’ve never once held our past against us. I think, that’s proof they accept us.”

“We accepted Sunset.” Pinkie tried.

“Yeah right.” Joey retorted. “If you’d truly accepted Sunset as one of your friends, truly forgave her, then she’d have never been suspected. Friends don’t outright suspect each other of something, no matter how incriminating it might look.

At the very least, it’s you suspect all your friends or none of your friends. There’s no half measure unless you never forgave Sunset. I know some princess asked you to look after her, but if you didn’t mean it, you shouldn’t have agreed.”

“We already know we messed up.” Pinkie declared. “That’s why we’re trying to make amends.”

“I’m not buyin’ it, and I won’t help you.” Joey declared, brushing past her. “If you’re wise, you’ll leave her alone. Sunset doesn’t need this.”

“I’ll duel you for your help!” Pinkie yelled suddenly. “If I win, you must help me find Sunset.”

Joey glanced back at her. “There’s no incentive.”

“I’ll put up my two locator cards against that information.” Pinkie declared, taking them out.

“You seem to forget every duelist must bet at least one locator card; however, the deal is sweat enough.” Joey stepped back from her. “By beating you in this duel, I’ll take ya out of this tournament.”

“Alright, let’s go!” Pinkie declared.

“Let’s Duel!”

(Joey 4000/Pinkie 4000)

“Since you challenged me, I’ll go first.” Joey drew. “Looks like my deck is resonatin’ with my desire to beat ya because I’m startin’ with Red-Eyes Fusion to call upon any Fusion monster I got which list a Red-Eyes as material. This spell draws materials from the deck, hand, or field.”

“It does!?” Pinkie was shocked since only Rarity’s ever showed a fusion spell like this.

“Yep, though I can’t normal or special summon again this turn, but that hardly matters.” Joey retrieved his materials from the deck. “I combine Red-Eyes Black Dragon with Meteor Dragon Red-Eyes Impact. Get ready because this monster hits like a meteor.

Fusion summon Meteor Black Comet Dragon(LV 8/3500/2000).” A bipedal black dragon shrouded in flames appeared roaring. “If he’s Fusion summoned, any Red-Eyes I wish can go from my hand or deck to the grave. I’m sending a second Red-Eyes B. Dragon.”

“Why would you do any of this on the first turn?” Pinkie asked confused.

“I see where you’re coming from; however, the resources would’ve still been worth it even if I went through my hand.” Joey declared. “The fact I’ve only used one card from my hand is all the better given what this card does.

Speakin’ of it, you now take half the sent monster’s original attack. Go, Meteor Soul!” A spectral, flaming Red-Eyes appeared before crashing down on the opponent (Joey 4000/Pinkie 2800). “Now, I’ll set two cards.”

“I don’t have the luxury of taking this easy.” Pinkie drew. “I summon Performapal Turn Trooper(LV 4/1200/1200).” A warrior appeared. “When I summon a Performapal, I can special summon Performapal Helpprincess(LV 4/1200/1200).” A purple haired female appeared.

“With two level four monsters, you can build the overlay network.” Joey declared.

“Exactly.” Pinkie declared. “I overlay my two level 4 monsters to Xyz summon Castel, the Skyblaster Musketeer(R 4/O 2/2000/1500).” A purple, humanoid falcon appeared dressed as a ranger. “By detaching both his overlay units, one monster you control is returned to the hand.”

Castel, the Skyblaster Musketeer(R 4/O 2/2000/1500)

“In this case, it’ll be my extra deck.” Joey voiced before smiling. “I ain’t defenseless because one of my face downs is Red-Eyes Spirit allowing me to return any 1 Red-Eyes monster from my grave to the field. I choose one of my Red-Eyes Black Dragon(LV 7/2400/2000).”

The black dragon with red-eyes appeared.

“That’s fine because I’m rebuilding the overlay network with my monster!” Pinkie declared.

“She can rank up!?” Joey thought, stunned.

“Rank-Up Xyz Change!” Pinkie declared. “Appear Drill Driver Vespenato(R 5/O 1/2500/2100).” A large, yellow and silver machine hornet appeared. “That’s not all because I’m equipping him with Xyz Unit.

This grants any face up Xyz monster I control ATK equal to 200 multiplied by its rank. Since Vespenato is a rank 5, that’s 1000 more ATK.” Drill Driver Vespenato(R 5/O 1/3500/2100 effect). “He’ll destroy your dragon!”

Vespenato drilled clean through Red-Eyes (Joey 2900/Pinkie 2800).

“I activate Red-Eyes Burn.” Joey countered. “If a Red-Eyes I control is destroyed, we both take damage equal to their original ATK.”

“The dragon I just destroyed had 2400 ATK!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“That it did.” Joey declared as they were both awash in flames (Joey 500/Pinkie 400). “Now, end your turn because I’m finishing this duel on my next.”

“My only hope is he doesn’t burn because what protection I do have in my hand can’t stop it.” Pinkie took two cards from her hand. “I set two cards.”

“My turn!” Joey drew. “You made a mistake sending my dragon back to my extra deck because now I can use him all over again.”

“What!? No!” Pinkie exclaimed, stunned. “You couldn’t have drawn the materials to make it again.”

“That’s assumin’ the fusion specifies exact monsters.” Joey countered. “While it does have requirements, my deck can fulfill them in many ways. That said, I don’t need those when I can just activate Dragon’s Mirror.

With this, I can pull off any dragon-type fusion by banishin’ materials from my field or grave. I banish one Red-Eyes B. Dragon and Meteor Dragon Red-Eyes Impact. Now, welcome back my meteoric monster. Fusion summon Meteor Black Comet Dragon(LV 8/3500/2000).”

“No!” Pinkie exclaimed, in desperation. “Don’t do this!”

“To me, you don’t have a leg to stand on with such a request.” Joey declared firmly as he pressed on. “Like before, if he’s Fusion summoned, any Red-Eyes I wish can go from my hand or deck to the grave. I’m sending my last Red-Eyes B. Dragon from my deck. Go, Meteor Soul!”

A spectral, flaming Red-Eyes appeared before crashing down on the opponent (Joey 500/Pinkie 0). Pinkie collapsed to her knees in defeat as the cards which remained in her hand fell to the ground.

“Alright Pinkie, cough them up.” Joey approached her. “Your rarest and two locator cards.”

“Here.” She took out her Sky Magician and two locator cards. “Just please, have some mercy and help me find Sunset.”

“You lost, so that’s not happening.” Joey declared as he took his prizes. “You and your friends made your bed. Your best attempt to get out didn’t work, so you can lie in it. Use this as an opportunity to reflect on your mistakes and be better than the people who hurt my friend.”

Joey then sighed and closed his eyes as it’s been quite sometimes since he’s felt like this much of a jerk. Granted, even thinking about it, he didn’t believe any of Sunset’s friends deserved a second chance after everything they did.

That said, based on what he heard from Sunset, he didn’t think any of them were truly bad people. They were just good people who made a horrible mistake. Perhaps, to some extent after working out his anger through this duel, he could cut this girl a slight reprieve.

“Look.” Joey sighed as he crouched before her with a gentler expression. “I’ll admit all of you aren’t lost causes. The way Sunset talked about you makes me believe that much. Honestly, I let what you did get to me because I consider Sunset a good friend.

That doesn’t change the fact I think you shouldn’t go bugging her. Of course, I can’t speak for what she would want. I can only talk based off what I believe. If you want to continue lookin’ for her, I won’t stop you, but I’m not about to throw you a bone.

If you hurt her again, we’ll have a larger problem.” He put Sky Magician among her cards on the ground before standing. “Now, I’m leaving.”

With that, Joey walked away and soon turned a corner. Pinkie could only clench her fist in frustration over the situation. She was soon snapped out of it by her phone vibrating. She took it out, only for her eyes to widen.

“Sorry Joey, but I can’t accept your advice.” Pinkie stood, her negative emotions taking a backseat to the party planner’s determination as she sprinted in the direction of the nearest park. “I stole Sunset’s smile. I at least got to try to make up for that.”

Park
Sunset had gotten her ice cream, and it, if even a smidge, did make her feel better. After Flash sent out the message, it did not take long for members of the Humane 5 and CMC to arrive. While everyone of them wanted to talk with Sunset, they were respectful enough of her wishes.

No one went up to speak with her, and they all congregated at the fountain impatiently awaiting everyone’s arrival. Sunset, by contrast, was more than willing to wait however long it took. After all, Battle City’s first round was a two-day affair.

She was confident enough in getting the remaining four locator cards she needed, today or tomorrow. At this point, the only ones who had yet to arrive were Pinkie and Scootaloo. The former was quick to change that. Out of anyone, she seemed the most eager to speak with Sunset.

Fortunately, Rainbow and AJ noticed this before dragging the performapal user to the fountain. This left Scootaloo, who arrived not long after Pinkie. Of course, she was hesitant given she arrived with a familiar face. Though, everyone quickly realized they couldn’t be who they knew.

Sunset broke her own rules by approaching them. “Scootaloo?”

Scootaloo looked away, prompting Twilight to speak up. “As I understand it, I’m this world’s version of Twilight Sparkle.”

This prompted Sunset to stare critically at the younger girl, who shrunk under her gaze. Clearly, this had not won her any favors…provided there were any to begin with in this situation.

“How much do you know?” Sunset eventually asked, turning her attention to Twilight.

“I know what Scootaloo knows about Equestria, you, and Anon-a-Miss.” Twilight answered.

Sunset pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath. “Scootaloo…”

“Y-Yeah?” Scootaloo asked.

“Fountain.” Sunset ordered, firmly.

The vendread user scurried over to the others who were silently watching. No one dared step on Sunset’s toes over this, given everything they’ve already done. As far as everyone there was concerned, this was Sunset’s show.

“Alright, what do you want?” Sunset asked.

“Pardon?” Twilight asked, a bit timidly.

Her desire to know things was faltering under Sunset’s gaze.

“Why are you here?” Sunset asked. “If you’re looking for a way to Equestria, I don’t…”

“No, after the things I’ve heard, going there is the farthest thing from my mind.” Twilight voiced. “I’d rather not mess with forces that could…”

“…turn you into a demon.” She didn’t want to say it, but Sunset would. “It’s fine. I’ve come to terms with that, and it’s a wise decision because I would not recommend that to anyone.”

“Well, I’m here now because I found myself genuinely concerned about you.” Twilight voiced. “Granted, I’ve never met you, but to hear what you went through…” She shook her head. “I just…”

“Alright.” Sunset took a deep breath. “Fountain like the rest. What I’m about to say will be directed at them rather than you. At the end, draw your own conclusions after I’m done.”

“Yes, thank you.” Twilight voiced before scurrying over.

Sunset soon turned that way and strolled over to the assembled students. Admittedly, she was rather frustrated and angry over everything that happened; however, it was massively tempered by how things turned out. Of course, she’d rather Anon-a-Miss never came about.

Still, she couldn’t deny the positives. She found true friends, learned parts of herself she never knew were missing, and had a brother who, thus far, seemed good in her books. Still, the positives didn’t seem enough for forgiveness.

As Sunset finally reached the gathered students, she noted Flash stood to the farthest left while Twilight stood to the farthest right. Both were well away from the remaining eight, which was good given these were now the people she had problems with.

“I’m going to lay out the objective facts.” Sunset began. “When Anon-A-Miss started. I told five of you it wasn’t me. In the beginning, with Piggly Wiggly, that was good enough. Then, the next post came about being Rarity’s closest of shame. Suddenly, my words just weren’t good enough.

In contrast, the rest of the group never once suspected anyone else.” The Humane 5 looked guilty at this. “I was left to fend for myself as more posts started to trickle in. Slowly, the student body began to single me out as the school was divided again.

In fact, it was worse than I ever made it, yet the three who were behind Anon-a-Miss didn’t step forward. Now, I know at one point I was proud of my own ability to divide the school, but after being blasted with the laser of friendship, I saw how wrong it was.

Let’s talk about that, perhaps if I had the culprits would have known just how much I was punished. That laser brought out my sympathy. Every bad thing I ever did came crashing down onto my very soul all at once. Those were not crocodile tears I shed that night.

After the fact, I was as apologetic as possible while understanding it’d take time to make up for my past. In the end, I was willing to try, and I never shied away. It seems certain people just thought I was not punished enough.

You know, I’ll admit that’s fair. After learning the truth, I could empathize with everyone I hurt on a level I never could have before. Though, I don’t feel like forgiving the culprits, and I’m not about to say as such. After all, I know what false acceptance feels like.

I suppose what I’m saying is, I’ve experienced true friendship and learned a lot from it. I know now we weren’t friends, and none of you can change that now. If you have any delusions we were, I want you to look inside yourself and mull over everything I’ve been saying.

If I were your friend, I’d have been above suspicion like the rest, or you’d have also suspected the others. I do recognize all of you came here for me, but that doesn’t erase what has already transpired. Not to me. I can’t, at this point, forgive eight of you.

Perhaps one day, after things have settled more, I could find it in my heart to forgive and start over. That day simply won’t be today. As things stand, I got a life I’m content with. That should be enough. Now, I have locator cards to earn, so I’m leaving.”

Like that, Sunset turned to leave with the eight she couldn’t forgive feeling rather demoralized. This hadn’t gone as any of them expected it, but after hearing Sunset’s perspective, it seemed like the only way it could have gone. One of them managed to find a little more determination.

“Sunset, wait.” Rainbow stated sincerely, managing to stop the girl. “After hearing you out, I know nothing we say will prove anything, but maybe we could still show you.” She raised her duel disk. “I challenge you to a duel. I’ll let that try to say the truth.”

Aside from Sunset, who blankly stared at Rainbow, the others looked at one another uncertainly. It was only heightened among the other members of the Rainbooms…given what happened when the shoe was on the other foot.

“I said nearly the same thing at Sugar Cube Corner, yet dueling achieved nothing.” Sunset voiced.

“No, your duel meant something, but we were too stubborn to admit it.” Rainbow declared. “I’m confident I can say something. I’ll even make it an official Battle City duel since I have two locator cards.”

“At the very least, I do need locator cards.” Sunset also didn’t feel disgusted or appalled to be in any of their presence. “I have two as well.”

“Then, you and I will put it all on the line.” Rainbow declared, firmly. “Two locator and one prize card.”

“Very well. Rainbow.” Sunset turned to face her opponent, activating her duel disk. “I accept.”

As they faced off, the rest of the Rainbooms, CMC, Flash, and Twilight gathered around.

“Let’s Duel!”

(Sunset 4000/Rainbow 4000)

“I’ll take the first move.” Rainbow drew. “This should seem familiar. I summon Crystal Beast Peridot Cobra(LV 3/1100/900).” A pink cobra with a peridot gem appeared. “I’ll end my turn there.”

“While your hand may contain the same card as our prior duel, mine is different.” Sunset drew. “I activate Hand Destruction forcing us to discard two cards before drawing two.”

“At least I can start building up my Crystal Beast.” Rainbow thought, discarding two monsters.

“Next, I’ll activate Graceful Charity to draw three cards before discarding a further two from my hand.” Sunset proceeded. “Now, I’ll summon Elemental Hero Striking Sparkman(LV 4/1900/1500).” A hero in blue and chrome armor appeared.

“I don’t get it.” Apple Bloom stated, doing her best to move past the lecture they received. “Sunset did all that with her hand just to summon a level four monster.”

“Given she was runner up in Duelist Kingdom, I’m certain there’s a point.” Flash voiced.

“Now, I’ll equip my monster with Rainbow Veil before attacking your Cobra.” Sunset declared. “Before you say anything, Rainbow Veil’s effect activates. During the Battle Phase, any monster the equipped monster battles has their effects negated.”

Striking Sparkman blasted the opposing monster (Sunset 4000/Rainbow 3200). Rainbow flinched at that since such an effect utterly stonewalled her monster. He couldn’t protect himself from destruction, the damage wouldn’t be halved, and she couldn’t place it in her spell/trap zone.

“When Sparkman destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the grave, I can add any hero I wish from my deck to my hand.” Sunset declared. “I’ll then set one card to end my turn.”

“Rainbow, you can’t afford to play like this.” AJ called out. “We’ve seen how far Sunset has come, so if you want to win, you’ll need to give it your best.”

“Well, she is right.” Sunset voiced. “You can’t think to beat me with plays I’ve seen before.”

“Alright, you want me to take it up a notch?” Rainbow drew before nodding. “I can do that. I’ll summon Crystal Beast Carbon Wolf(LV 4/1350/1300).” A gray wolf with carbon in his shoulder appeared.

“When he is summoned, I can special summon a Crystal Beast from my hand. I choose Crystal Beast Beryl Boar(LV 1/800/800).” A red furred boar with beryl gem stones all around its head appeared.

“A tuner monster.” Sunset noted.

“Not just any tuner monster.” Rainbow declared. “Once per turn, I can declare a level from 1 to 4, and that will be his level until the end of the turn. I’ll declare 2.” Crystal Beast Beryl Boar(LV 2/800/800 effect).

Now, Boar will give wolf a tune up to synchro for 6. Synchro summon Crystal Beast Aquamarine Imugi(LV 6/2300/2100).” A long, blue serpentine animal with an aquamarine in its back appeared.

“Once per turn, Imugi can target up to 3 Crystal Beast in my grave and return them to my deck. Then, I can draw one card for each Crystal Beast returned through this effect. I’ll return Cobra, Boar, and Wolf to draw the maximum 3. Now, Imugi will destroy Sparkman.”

“I reveal my face down Fusion Barrier.” Sunset countered as a purple barrier absorbed the attack. “If I control a monster, this trap can negate 1 attack. Then, I can conduct a Fusion summon with one monster on my field and another from my deck. I combine Striking Sparkman with King of the Swamp. Fusion summon Elemental Hero Plasma Vice(LV 8/2600/2300).”

Rainbow took a card from her hand. “I will set one card.”

“My move!” Sunset drew. “I’ll set one monster before using Plasma Vice’s effect. By discarding 1 card from my hand, he can destroy 1 ATK position monster you control. Go, Plasma Sphere!” Plasman vice summoned a sphere of plasma and fired it at Imugi, destroying him. “Now, he’ll attack directly with Plasma Slice!”

“If this gets through, Rainbow won’t have many life points left!” Scootaloo declared, worriedly.

“Nice try, but I’m not ready for this to be nearly over.” Rainbow declared. “I activate my face down Rainbow Life. I now discard a card of my own. This trap then sees me gain life points from anything you may try to damage them this turn (Sunset 4000/Rainbow 5800).”

“Well, you managed to secure your life points for now.” Sunset declared. “I’ll end my turn.”

“Alright, this is the time to give this everything I got!” Rainbow drew. “Perfect. I activate Crystal Fusion allowing me to Fusion summon with monster from my hand or field. I’ll combine Crystal Beasts Amythest Cat and Garnet Hirocloros.

Fusion summon Crystal Beast Alluring Amythest Cat(LV 6/2000/1000).” A dark purple furred cat with an amethyst gemstone in its chest appeared. “Even with the three Imugi returned, I’ve now assembled seven Crystal Beast, with different names, between the field and grave.

Crystal Beasts Alluring Amythest Cat, Amythest Cat, Hirocloros, Cobalt Eagle, Alexandrite Gorilla, Topaz Tiger, and Amber Mammoth. When I gather seven Crystal Beast, the greatest light in history resurrects! Meet the powerful Rainbow Dragon(LV 10/4000/0)!”

A colossal white dragon with multiple gems embedded within his body appeared.

“Whoa, she managed to summon her strongest main deck monster!” Scootaloo declared amazed.

“Don’t remember her ever having to summon that against Sunset before.” Pinkie noted.

“Looks like Rainbow has really gotten serious.” AJ declared.

“Before we battle, I’ll utilize Crystal Fusion’s graveyard effect.” Rainbow declared. “Since you control a monster from the extra deck, I can add this card back to my hand form the grave. Now, Rainbow Dragon, Rainbow Refraction on Plasma Vice!”

All the gems along Rainbow Dragon’s body glowed before Plasma Vice was bombarded by lasers of different colors and destroyed (Sunset 2600/Rainbow 5800). “Next, Alluring Amythest Cat can attack you directly, but the damage dealt will be halved. Let her have it!”

Alluring Amythest Cat lunged over the face down monster and attacked the opponent (Sunset 1600/Rainbow 5800). “When she deals any battle damage, I can destroy one card you control, and you only have that face down monster.” Sunset’s field was cleared. “I end my turn.”

Rainbow was confident she had this. Even if Sunset mounted a comeback, the life point difference was too large, and that wasn’t accounting for the two monsters she had on the field.

“With only two, soon to be three cards, in her hand, there’s little chance Sunset can bust out Shining Flare Wingman.” Rainbow thought. “Even if she manages to destroy the monsters on the field, Crystal Fusion and the monsters in my hand should be enough to wrap this up.”

“Rainbow just took full control of the whole duel.” Sweetie Bell marveled.

“Well, she is the top duelist of CHS, so it’s not too surprising.” Fluttershy chimed in.

“I wouldn’t be celebrating just yet.” Twilight voiced.

“Yeah, just look at Sunset.” Flash added. “She’s shown no terror at what’s on the field.”

Indeed, Sunset was calm as ever while facing down the two monsters.

“I’ll admit Rainbow, you’d have gone pretty far in Duelist Kingdom, but I was the runner up.” Sunset drew. “Let me show you how much of a difference that makes here. First, I activate the graveyard effect of Breakthrough Skill.”

“Breakthrough Skill?” Rainbow asked. “I don’t…wait, you must have sent it through one of your first two spells!”

“That’s right.” Sunset voiced. “Provided it’s not the turn it was sent to the grave, I can banish it to negate the effects of one monster you control until the end of the turn. I choose Rainbow Dragon. Now, I’m going to end this.”

“Can Sunset really manage that?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Between the cards in the grave and three cards in the hand, it’s possible.” Flash voiced.

“You’re bluffing.” Rainbow declared. “No duelist is that strong.”

“Let’s just see.” Sunset retorted. “First, I’ll activate Miracle Fusion, allowing me to banish Elemental Heroes from the field or grave to perform a Fusion summon. I’ll banish Elemental Heroes Gusting Avian and Blazing Burstinatrix.

Fusion summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman(LV 6/2100/1200).” A green hero with a red dragon arm appeared. “Next, I’ll equip him with Favorite Hero before moving into the Battle Phase where this really begins.”

“What are you talking about?” Rainbow questioned. “Your monster, at best, can defeat my cat, but even with effect damage, I’ll still have more than enough life points to weather this turn.”

“That would be true, were it not for Favorite Hero.” Sunset voiced. “At the start of the Battle Phase, I can play a field spell from my deck, and I choose Skyscraper.”

A darker city rose up around them.

“The 1000 ATK this field spell grants your hero in battles with stronger monsters isn’t enough to overcome Rainbow Dragon.” Rainbow pointed out.

“It isn’t but Favorite Hero more than makes up for the difference.” Sunset retorted. “Since a Field Spell is on the field, the monster it’s equipped to gains ATK equal to their original defense.” Elemental Hero Flame Wingman(LV 6/3300/1200 effect). “Flame Wingman will now destroy Rainbow Dragon with Sky Dive Scorcher.”

Elemental Hero Flame Wingman(LV 6/4300/1200 effect) lept back and atop the nearby building before cloaking himself in fire. In one leap, he came down upon the opposing dragon, destroying him (Sunset 1600/Rainbow 5500).

“Now comes Flame Wingman’s effect, dolling out damage equal to the ATK your monster has in the grave.” Sunset continued.

Elemental Hero Flame Wingmanmoved before Rainbow and spewed out flames from his dragon arm (Sunset 1600/Rainbow 1500).

“I still don’t see how this is the end.” Rainbow declared.

“Simple.” Sunset responded. “Favorite Hero has one last effect, aside from you being unable to target it with card effects if a Field Spell is up. Whenever the monster equipped with this card battles and destroys an opponent’s monster, I can send this card to the grave to attack again.”

Elemental Hero Flame Wingman(LV 6/2100/1200)

Everyone from CHS was stunned while Rainbow stared on in shock. “No way…”

“Flame Wingman, destroy Alluring Amythest Cat with Skydive Scorcher!” Sunset declared.

Once again, he lept atop the nearby building before cloaking himself in fire and smashing down atop Alluring Amythest Cat (Sunset 1600/Rainbow 1400). He followed it up by stopping before Rainbow and blasting her with fire again (Sunset 1600/Rainbow 0).

“The tides of a duel can shift from one turn to the next.” Sunset informed, as she approached the Crystal Beast user. “Even in the direst of situations, one turn can be the difference between victors. A friend of mine is great at pulling off seemingly impossible victories.

Now, our duel is concluded, so I’ll take the locator cards and prize card. Though, I know your rarest card must be Crystal Dragon, I’d much rather the card you owe me be that which my deck can use.”

“Here, this should do.” Rainbow responded, handing over the locator card with a trap she got from her grave. “Rainbow Life.”

Sunset took her prizes before looking at the card. “Yeah, this will do.”

“So, what is the verdict?” Rainbow asked.

“You’re dueling spoke volumes, but it doesn’t change what I said before.” Sunset voiced.

“Sunset…” Rainbow tried.

“It does tell me I need to say a little more.” She walked away from Rainbow before turning to face everyone. “Back when I divided the school, the people who were friends prior, the initial incident was all me. The fact it continued lies with all of you.

All I gave anyone was a push while you kept along the path I wanted. I wouldn’t have been nearly as successful had the school not lacked communication. If you’d talked with one another, I’d have fallen far sooner.

Honestly, how can you expect to receive my forgiveness when you never truly addressed the problem? Far as I know, you were all content to forgive and forget. From what I got in that duel, it’s all many of you want now. You want things to return to a normal that no longer exists.

On some level, you thought I’d return to Canterlot, but Domino City is my home now. Things can’t go back to the way they were, but they can get better. Right now, you’re all lucky to be in High School because none of what’s happened will fly in the real world.

Maybe one day, I can genuinely forgive the eight of you I haven’t, but it won’t be today. If you don’t want to repeat this a third time, in whatever way it happens, you can’t take for granted those around you.” She then turned and walked away. “Now, I’m leaving.”

This time no one had attempted to stop her. The eight she hadn’t forgiven were thoroughly chastised and left in deep contemplation over her words. Even Flash and Twilight were left to contemplate things on some level.

Sunset’s Apartment
Sunset had walked into her apartment and collapsed onto her coach with a heavy sigh. Despite standing by everything she said, that didn’t mitigate how emotionally draining it had been. At the same time, Sunset felt lighter.

Learning the truth and getting to unload everything took away weight she never realized was there. After all that, Sunset was more appreciative of the group that thought she could use a friend. Just as she was thinking this, there was knocking at her door.

Sunset moved to answer it only to find Tea on the other side. “Tea, good to see you.” Despite feeling drained, she wouldn’t turn away a friend right now. “Come on in.”

Tea took the offer, and the hero user closed the door. “I was worried when Yugi and Joey stopped in at the hospital to tell me about their run-ins with your former friends.”

“They both ran into them as well?” Sunset asked.

“As well?” Tea was concerned at that. “Are you saying they already found you?”

“I just got back from dealing with them.” Sunset replied. “It was heavy, but I feel better.”

“Well, that’s good.” Tea then grabbed her arm. “Now come on.”

“Whoa, what?” Sunset questioned. “What’s going on?”

“I told Yugi and Joey to wait at the card shop while I saw if you were home.” Tea declared as she threw open the door. “With any luck, as Tristan should be with Mr. Muto, he’ll return there as well. Tonight, we’re having pizza together.”

“Okay, at least let me lock my apartment first.” Sunset declared.

Domino City: Evening…
Flash was sitting on a couch within the lobby of a hotel, the one he and the other eight students decided to stay at while in Domino City. For a while now, he’s been mulling over one question.

“How did I get here?” Flash contemplated.

Flash hadn’t suddenly developed amnesia, mind you. It was more of a spiritual ‘how’ than a physical ‘how’ he was asking himself. Sunset finding him had not gone how he expected, but looking back at it now allowed him to see the dots.

He could trace the events from the day he met Sunset to this moment, and they made a logical throughline. That was a strange thought when magic, card games, and Mystable were part of that. It was almost as weird as where Flash found himself now.

As he saw it, the CMC and Rainbooms just hadn’t/weren’t talking about what happened. Given past instances, that seemed par for the course, but those same instances showed that didn’t work. At times like these, they tended to need someone.

That someone seemed to rally them, weather they saw it or not. At first, it was Twilight before that task was unofficially passed to Sunset. Both did a good job until the former had to return home and the later was made out to be Anon-a-Miss.

Those were invaluable instances to learn from because Flash realized, by default, the role kind of fell to him. Granted, he could choose to ignore this, but that isn’t who he was. It wasn’t the kind of guy he wanted to be. This all only brought it back to his question.

“How did I get here?” Flash contemplated.

How did a guy like him end up in this situation? If he wanted to take it back to the inciting incident, it was dating Sunset. Even with how that ended, he didn’t regret the time they had together, so Flash supposed he couldn’t go throwing blame that way.

Regardless of all these thoughts, he couldn’t really put it off. At this point, he was practically going around in circles just to avoid what had to be done. Despite how things were slowly improving back home, they wouldn’t truly get better until the people at the center did.

“Best to get a move on, but I’m going to the CMC first.” Flash thought.

Despite being the main ones behind Anon-a-Miss, Flash had noted Sunset focused more on the Rainbooms over them. Given everything, he could guess it was because she understood the three younger girls on some level. It all essentially boiled down to pettiness.

When Sunset did it, she wanted power and to prove her mentor wrong. When the CMC did it, they wanted to punish Sunset and get more time with their sisters. No matter the result of their actions, it all came back to pettiness.

As Flash entered the elevator and took it up, he could just feel the CMC would be easier to deal with than the problems of the Rainbooms. He also figured attending to the easier problem might give him more confidence to deal with the messier problem.

Before spending time contemplating the lot in life he wanted, Flash had the forethought to text and ask where people were. The CMC were in Apple Blom’s room while the Rainbooms were in Rainbow’s. He had also checked in on them, hence knowing their current states.

Perhaps it said something they at least wanted to be in the same room, but without any conversation, nothing would be resolved. Part of Flash was now wishing for things to go back to normal, but he knew they had to redefine a new normal.

Apple Bloom’s Room
Upon entering Apple Bloom’s room, he saw Scootaloo looking out the window while Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom played a silent game of highest monster. They were taking turns drawing cards, looked like Apple Bloom’s deck, and the highest ATK won.

Within the room there was a desk, chair, and bed. Flash lept right into the deep end by grabbing the chair, turning it around, and plopping down in it. The CMC did spare him looks, but they were quick to get back to whatever they were doing.

“Rough day, huh?” Flash broached.

It seemed his words had an impact given the girls now gave him their full attention.

“Rough day…” Scootaloo scoffed. “Nothing was fixed with Sunset, I think our sisters might hate us now, and I ended up blowing the lid on everything to someone who is effectively a stranger. No, telling me she’s technically not does not fix anything.”

“What she said.” Sweetie Bell voiced.

“Well, minus the telling a stranger bit.” Apple Bloom added.

“Sunset was fixed.” Flash stated.

“What?” The girls asked.

“Look, I’m not going to sugar coat this.” Flash sighed. “Right now, you three are being selfish, and it validates what Sunset was saying. All you want is for everything to go back to a normal that can never be. Even if it could, it’d be falsified for your benefit.

The simple fact is, Sunset is content, and that’s something I haven’t seen since the early days of our relationship. Given what little we understand about her life prior, her being genuinely happy was rare. Yeah, things didn’t turn out how you wanted; however, they ended well enough.

“I suppose that does make sense.” Sweetie Bell voiced.

“Perhaps we are being selfish, and that’s not really going to pan out in the long run.” Apple Bloom sighed. “Heck, being selfish is what brought us to this point anyways.”

“As for your sisters hating you, I’ll have a chat with them about that.” Flash voiced. “Let me just say, you’ve seen how they treat someone they hate. I think the fact they could stand to be around you on this trip tells me they still like you.”

The girls shared a look at that as it seemed to make sense, but it was clear to Flash he wasn’t going to have much luck truly convincing them. To be fair, it wasn’t really his place to convince them. That was AJ, Rainbow, and Rarity’s job.

“As for you bearing everything to this world’s Twilight, Scootaloo, that was a mistake.” Flash shook his head. “There’s no easy way to say it, and it doesn’t matter what justification you give.”

“I bet it on a duel.” Scootaloo voiced weakly.

“Duelist pride is important, but there are some things you just don’t wager.” Flash voiced. “The fact you did is just another breach of trust you’ll need to work to earn back. Ultimately, that’s the biggest thing between you and your sisters.

Despite what I said, I genuinely think your sisters do love you. That’s not the issue here. It’s all a matter of breaking their trust. Look, we’ve clearly reached the end of attempting to fix things with Sunset; however, you can start working to repair things with your sisters.

The first step towards that will be accepting what was normal no longer applies. Whatever fantasy any of us has of Sunset coming back needs to end for nothing else than her sake. I think we at least owe her that much.”

The girls hung their heads as they were in deep contemplation over everything Flash laid out. “At the end of the day, my word isn’t law.” He stood and walked to the door. “Right now, communicate. Lean on each other and decide for yourselves how to proceed.”

With that, Flash left the girls to hopefully talk things out.

Rainbow’s Room
As Flash entered the room where the Rainbooms were, it was seemingly worse off than the CMC. At least two of them were wordlessly playing a game together. Here, not a single member was interacting in any way.

Rainbow was staring out a window, AJ sat on the desk chair with her hat tipped over her eyes, Pinkie was laying on the ground while Fluttershy was on the bed, both were staring at the ceiling, and Rarity sat against the wall with her mascara running from crying.

“Alright.” Flash clapped his hands as he walked into the room. “What I want is for all of you to speak the truth.”

“The truth?” Applejack asked confused.

“I want all of you to honestly tell all of us how you really felt about Sunset.” Flash declared. “The reason you are refusing to speak is because her words cut deep. Now, start speaking up and don’t sugar coat it. Getting everything out is the only way you’ll move past this.”

At first, no one seemed up to saying a word.

Then, AJ already spoke up. “The truth is, I did hate Sunset.”

The other girls gasped at Applejack’s confession.

“Let her finish, and I’ll expect to hear you all out to.” Flash declared.

“She ruined my bake sale and tricked us into cutting off contact.” Tears welled up in AJ’s eyes. “She manipulated us like puppets and stabbed us in the back. I wished every day for someone to finally put her in her place, and I was happy when it happened at the Fall Formal.

After that, I started to get to know her. She volunteered to help me with my chores and homework. Little by little, I started to see how honest and hardworking she was. I thought we were becoming friends, but I couldn’t forget the things she did.

In the back of my head, I feared she was pretending to be my friend to get me to lower my guard. Then, she’d hurt me and my friends worse. When Anon-A-Miss happened, it seemed to validate my fear, so I was all too happy to cut her out before she could hurt us again.”

Applejack was sobbing, unable to continue.

“The night of the Spring Fling was supposed to be my debut.” Rarity took this opportunity to go. “They would marvel at my beauty and sense of style. Everyone would remember my name, but instead of being the best night of my life, she made it my absolute worst.

My dress came apart as I walked on stage, and I was humiliated with everyone laughing at me. Then, she went onto win the Spring Fling. I cried myself to sleep the first few nights after that. Things only grew worse when she separated us, and I didn’t have the support of my friends.”

She started crying again. “When Twilight came to our school, and I noticed she was doing to her what was done to me, I vowed to do everything in my power to help her. I admit, seeing Sunset look defeated and humiliated made me feel vindicated.

Not long after, she volunteered to be a model for my latest fashion line. I always see the beauty in everything, and the more time we spent together, the more her beauty began to shine. She generously offered to help me complete orders.

She would also watch Sweetie Bell whenever I had a last-minute invite to a fashion gala when none of the girls were available.” She smiled slightly, but it quickly vanished. “Then, the trouble with Anon-A-Miss began. Once again, I was humiliated.

This time, my friends would be humiliated as well. I thought she was showing her ‘true’ colors again, so I struck first before she had the chance. I left her humiliated in the hallway, but it turns out I was the ugly one all along.”

Rarity began sobbing.

“I was fully committed to welcoming her as our newest friend.” Pinkie sat up. “When I threw her a welcome party, I was happy to see her smiling.” She wiped away a stray tear. “Sunset then began working hard to prove how much she changed.

At one point, I wanted to make sure she always had that smile.” The tears were flowing on her end now as well. “Then, I ended up taking her smile away. I was mad she seemingly lied to the point I didn’t care about her happiness anymore. I just wanted her to feel miserable.”

Pinkie began to break down, so Fluttershy came to her side before hugging her. “I hated Sunset too. She would always pick on me because I was too shy to fight back, so I was glad when I learned what we did brought out her sympathy in full force.”

A waterfall of tears began spilling from her eyes. “When I thought she was being mean again, I didn’t want to stand by and watch as she made my friends suffer. In the end, I was wrong. I began to feel terrible for making her suffer, but I realized too late.

Even if she betrayed us, I never should have yelled at her. I began to have doubts as to whether she was guilty, but I was too much of a coward to act against the others. To avoid them being angry with me, I kept up my prior feelings and let her suffer alone.”

Fluttershy continued to sob, which left only Rainbow.

“I honestly think I hated Sunset the most.” Rainbow spat with venom as memories of the old Sunset flooded her mind. “She messed with my friends and turned us against each other. She did the same to everyone. We were nothing but playthings to her.”

Tears began to spill from her eyes. “When Twilight told us to teach her about friendship, I had my doubts, but she started to show how committed she was to making things right. I slowly started to warm up to her after seeing her endure CHS.

She wouldn’t give up on making things right with everyone, and I soon began to see her as a friend. In fact, she was steadily becoming someone I could have called my best friend. Then, Anon-a-Miss…

I was enraged she seemed to be faking our friendship the whole time. It seemed like she was messing with my friends again. That she only got close to us, so it’d really hurt. Then, the CMC came forward, and I realized I’d been an idiot.”

Flash looked on as the Rainbooms broke down in tears, but now wasn’t the time to simply back off. “If Twilight hadn’t asked you, would you have ever reached out to her?”

“I would have.” Pinkie answered softly. “Not even who she was deserved no one.”

The other girls hesitated before answering in unison. “No.”

Even with one of them saying they would have, Flash did believe Pinkie since that’s just who she was, the destiny hero user realized Equestrian Twilight had made a mistake. That’s not to pin the blame on her. Everyone is responsible for their own actions.

In the end, she’d asked teenagers to look after their tormentor, and they did it out of some form of obligation. Honestly, it was kind of working, but the first major road bump could/did derail everything to the point they were here now.

“Okay, this doesn’t change anything Sunset said because everyone’s view is valid.” Flash stated. “I’d also like to point out no matter her prior mistakes, Sunset was working on or had fixed them. By all accounts, you five forgiving her should have been it.

In the end, whatever you thought the relationship was, it’s evident none of you were truly her friend. No one at CHS was. I probably don’t have much of a leg to stand on myself, but I’m the best you got, so I’m going to keep talking.

No matter what you thought your intentions were, the truth is all of you wanted things to go back to normal, but you lost that opportunity a long time ago. To think, for even a second, it’s possible to go back is just plain selfish.

Right now, Sunset is happy and content with the life she has. If any of you think I’m wrong about you being selfish, if even a little, then latch onto that feeling and let Sunset thrive. Perhaps one day she’ll be ready to define a new normal with all of you or maybe she won’t.

Regardless, that will be her decision, and I suggest you shift focus to what you still have before losing that to. AJ, Rarity, and Rainbow, your sisters are darn near convinced you hate them at this point.”

That seemed to really grab their attention as a level of fear entered all their eyes. Clearly, while they have paid mind to their respective siblings, they hadn’t gone beyond that. Hearing this, they realized they were close to losing their sisters too.

“Beyond that, all of you still have family back home, and I’m certain they’d love to have their daughters, granddaughters, and/or siblings back.” Flash held up his hands. “For me, I’m taking what closure I got and moving forward. What I want is to see how far I can go in Battle City.

I’ll admit, maybe my words are hollow since Sunset did forgive me, but I implore you all to at least heed some of it because Sunset’s right. We won’t be in high school forever, so I’m going to do my growing. The first step for me is getting some rest since today was exhausting.”

With that, Flash took his leave hoping anything he said stuck with someone. That hope would quickly come to pass as Apple Jack, Rarity, and Rainbow rushed from the room. Flash breathed a sigh of relief as he continued walking, content to leave it in their hands.

Café
Shining sat across from Spike, who just finished detailing his first duel.

The Noble Knights user flinched. “That’s rough buddy.”

“Yeah, but I don’t regret it.” Spike stated. “Better to lose against the strong than coast along against those less so.”

“I hear that.” Shining voiced. “Kind of wish I’d run into Arctic since we both placed in the Top 12 at Duelist Kingdom.” He then noticed their sister approaching and smiled. “Hey Twilight, how…” She wasn’t smiling. “Did you lose all your locator cards to?”

“No, I actually ran into someone who really opened my opened my eyes to a lot.” Twilight voiced as she sat down.

“Uh, you want to talk about it?” Spike questioned.

“It’s not really my place to share, but there is something I’d like to talk about.” Twilight looked at her older brother. “Shining, I can’t keep attending Crystal Prep.”

“Huh?” Shining questioned, stunned yet concerned. “What brought this on?”

“Self-reflection based on what I saw.” Twilight sighed. “Shining, I don’t know entirely what it was like while you were there, but I realized Crystal Prep is stifling, even with the perks. Dean Sombra is manipulative, and the students aren’t exactly great…”

From what Twilight gleamed today, Sunset had left her old school and found something better. Hearing what Canterlot High was like had her revaluating Crystal Prep to the point she was no longer concerned with maintaining a place there. The perks were no longer worth it.

Despite how much Shining loved his time there, Twilight knew her brother would hear her out. As she spoke, Shining and Spike were both appalled to learn how Sombra had been running things. She knew it was safe to say Shining would have her back on this.

Muto Residence
Yugi, Sunset, Joey, Tea, and Tristan sat in the living room where the prior three recounted everything that happened today. This was done to explain their duels and their various encounters with the CHS group, plus 1.

“Things have gone downhill more than I thought.” Sunset shook her head. “For Trixie of all people to willingly take orders and wish for that on everyone else.”

“Sunset, you’re not blaming…” Tea began.

“Nah, at this point I know whatever choices they make are on them.” Sunset voiced. “They can try to use me as justification all they want, but it doesn’t change who made the decision in the end. Though, the next time any of us runs into the others, we should tell them about this.”

“Agreed.” Yugi nodded. “No matter how we may view them, no one deserves Marik dictating their actions.”

“Beyond that, to think you’d end up in that mess not long after Mr. Muto and I parted from you.” Tristan voiced. “Despite how it turned out, I wish I’d been there.”

“Hey, all of you were.” Sunset declared. “The bonds we forge mean we’re there in spirit when we can’t be there physically. Without you guys, I wouldn’t have been able to say half the things I did.”

“Still, Tristan nor I got to say our piece to any of them like Joey and Yugi did.” Tea voiced. “I mean, you are right Sunset, but I’d have liked to give one of them a piece of my mind.”

“Well, don’t stress about it.” Sunset sat back with a content smile. “At this point, it’s over, so all you’d really be doing is letting them live rent free in your minds. I know I’m going to stop after I say…” She nodded at Yugi and Joey. “…thanks for sticking up for me.”

“Eh, not sure how well we did since you were willin’ to talk, but it’s no problem.” Joey voiced.

“Yeah, you went through enough.” Yugi began. “Now, Sunset is right…

“Yugi, pizzas are here!” Solomon called from the shop downstairs.

“Coming grandpa!” Yugi called out as he stood before looking at everyone. “Sunset put it to rest, so we should do the same.”

“There we go.” Sunset cheered. “Let’s move onto celebrating the fact Yugi, Joey, and I are closer to the next round!”

“Good point.” Joey stood. “Here, let me help you with the pizzas Yugs.”

“You mean you’ll eat one of them before you two even get up the stairs.” Tristan got the guy in a headlock. “Quick Sunset, go help Yugi while I hold him off.”

“Eh, let go Tristan!” Joey voiced, struggling against his grasp.

Sunset played along as she ran over to join Yugi. “You’re one brave soul Tristan.”

Tea giggled happy to see Sunset in such high spirits.

Author's Note

Where have I been?
Best I can figure, it was a problem on my end as this computer couldn't access Fimfiction for the longest time. I think that's a given since clearly others still were quite able to access and post chapters to their stories.

Then, roughly around last week, I could get back on this account. I spent the last days rereading this story. Through that I did recheck it and realized something. Yugi, Seto, and Joey are the last people who need OC cards.

As such, I've removed those, just from them, from this story. The exception for these three is Yugi's Blue-Eyes fusions. I'm not about to give Yugi that fourth Blue-Eyes and not give him fusions for it.

As such, The Face Off and Purple vs Red are different in how those chapter's duels reach their respective conclusions. I also realized the last three chapters that were here didn't need to be, leading to me condensing most of their content into this chapter.

I also told three of you in pm that I would change a duel in the Battle City chapters that were here; however, I decided to stick to my decision on that and leave it as it was. This now officially marks the story refamiliarized.

This chapter and story
This chapter marks the end of Day 1 for Battle City.

Duels before the Top 16: 14
Yugi: 3 Locator Cards
Joey: 4 Locator Cards
Sunset: 4 Locator Cards