Yugioh EQG: Unleash the Circuit

Chapters

Turn 1: Flash Sentry
Turn 2: Twilight Sparkle
Turn 3: Cold Steel
Turn 4: Pinkie Pie
Turn 5: Rainbow Apples
Turn 7: Siblings

Turn 1: Flash Sentry

DUEL MONSTERS.

For many years it has been the game everyone played, if you didn't own a deck you were nothing. Monsters, Spells and Trap Cards where the greatest weapon.

YUGIOH EQG!

In the city of Canterlot we find a teenage boy walking the streets. He had blue hair and wore a black leather jacket over a white shirt, which had a blue shield and lightning bolt emblazoned on it. His name was Flash Sentry.

He was walking through the park on his way to school when he heard a loud crashing sound, which caught his attention but relaxed when he saw a couple of kids in a Duel. "I'm using my Super Conductor Tyrano to attack your Fire Princess!" a young boy said, as his robotic dinosaur charged at a woman in red carrying a staff.

"I use my Trap," the girl he was Duelling against said as a card flipped up, "Negate Attack"

Flash looked away from the Duel and once again walked off, he had no interest in Dueling. He had once when he was younger, but he turned out to be terrible at the game and lost so many times that he just gave up and had even thrown his deck away.

Flash arrived at his school, Canterlot High, and walked inside. He reached his locker and opened it up to grab his books, but something was sitting on top of them...a deck. "What the" he said taking the deck and looking it over, "this isn't mine."

Later on in class Flash sat at the back of the room half-heartedly listening to the teacher speak. "Write me an essay about your future goals before the end of class, three pages for now" the scribbling of pen to paper filled the classroom as the students wrote.

Flash sighed and began writing.

An hour later the bell rang signalling the end of class. Flash began to collect his things, when he suddenly felt someone standing beside him. Looking around he saw a violet skinned girl with purple hair, wearing a blue blouse and purple skirt. "Hey." she said smiling. "The teacher asked me to collect the essays." To emphasise her point, she held up the stack of papers she was carrying.

Flash just looked back down at his desk as he picked up his essay and placed it on top of the pile, before walking to the door. "Thanks" the girl said.

"Yeah sure, whatever" Flash replied leaving.

The girl, whose name was Twilight, glanced down at his essay wondering what he had written and had to take a second look when she saw the title.

Independence

During lunch Flash sat in a shady area eating the last of his lunch when he suddenly heard something above him. "Don't do it." He looked up just in time to see something falling towards him, and threw his hands up in defense until the thing landed on him. Opening his eyes, he found he was covered in Duel Monster cards.

"These things again." he said taking a card off his head and looking at it, the card's name was Gilford the Legend. He quickly gathered them all up into a deck, and when he was finished he heard.

"You found them." Flash turned around and saw two guys, possibly his age, standing not too far off. Behind them was a younger boy looking worried. "Our cards seem to have slipped out the window." one of the older boys said with a smirk.

"And they're special to us," the other guy said, "why don't you give them back."

"No!" the younger boy said trying to step forward. "Their-" he stopped as one of the older boys turned around and let out and angry growl at him.

Flash frowned seeing this, "I see what's going on." He said as he stood up and walked forwards a few feet, doing so brought him into the light revealing his face.

The two older boys suddenly lost all their confidence, as they saw who it was. "Flash Sentry." One of them whispered in fright as the stepped back.

Flash walked towards them, his face hardened. As he got closer the two held up their arms as if preparing for a beating, but no blows came. "Here you go." They opened their eyes and Flash wasn't in sight, so they turned and saw Flash had walked passed them and handed the younger boy the deck.

The boy held out his shaky hands as Flash placed the cards in his grasp. The older guys frowned at this, but they returned to being scared when Flash looked around at them.

"You guys got a problem?" he asked viciously.

"Er, no sir." They both said shakily, obviously scared at what might happen to them.

Flash just turned and walked away, unaware that he was being watched. Up in one of the buildings Twilight, along with her close friends Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, had seen the whole thing.

"What's that boys name?" Twilight asked. She was new to Canterlot High and didn't know a lot of people’s names.

"That's Flash Sentry." the blonde haired girl named Applejack replied as she looked out the window.

"He doesn't really hang around anybody." Rainbow Dash, the rainbow haired girl, continued. "He's always been a loner."

"I heard a rumour," a girl with light pink hair said "that even some of the teachers are scared of him."

"Don't be silly Fluttershy." Rarity, the purple haired girl in designer clothes, replied. "I'm sure he just likes his space."

Pinkie Pie, a girl with dark pink hair, nodded, "I bet all he needs is a party to turn that frown upside down."

"So he doesn't hang out with anyone?" Twilight asked.

"Not that we've seen." Rainbow replied.

Twilight continued to watch the boy walk away, feeling sad that someone was content at being so lonely.

Later after school had let out Flash was once again walking through the park. He looked down at the deck he had found earlier, wondering what he should do with it. Should he take it to the lost and found or something?

Suddenly he heard something, a loud cry of pain coming from not too far off. Moving before he could think, he ran towards the area but stopped in his tracks when he saw a trio of teens, one of them wearing a backpack with the emblem of Draco High. Below them laying on the ground was a younger boy of fourteen, with purple skin and green hair, his backpack showed the Canterlot Junior High emblem.

"Looks like you lost loser." the supposed leader said. He had red skin, orange hair and wore a dark red hoodie.

"You were an idiot to challenge the Great Garble." one of the teens said.

"I didn't challenge him," the boy said, "you guys made me."

"Whatever," Garble said "you lost so hand over your deck."

"I didn't agree to that." the kid said.

"Well too bad." Garble said as he grabbed him by his purple jacket and lifted him up. "Weaklings don't get a say." He grabbed the boy's left arm, and pulled off a purple device, before throwing him to the floor.

"Knock it off!" They all turned to see Flash walk out. "Just because you’re bigger that doesn't give you right to pick on someone."

"This doesn't concern you." Garble said.

"It does when your ganging up on a defenceless kid." Flash replied. "Grow a backbone and pick on someone your own size."

"Like say...you?" Garble said.

"You wanna go?" Flash asked.

Garble would have said yes, but then he noticed Flash was holding a deck of cards and smiled. "Tell you what," he said "why don't we settle this like Duellists?"

Flash wondered what he meant until he noticed Garble had a crimson Duel Disk on his arm, which he activated forming an orange energy blade. "You win and I'll hand back the deck, but if I win I get his deck and yours. Deal?"

Flash looked down at the deck in his hand and then back up at Garble. He didn't feel right betting something that wasn't even his.

"What's the matter?" Garble asked. "Chicken?" He and his buddies suddenly laughed and began making clucking noises.

"Fine then." Flash said before realising what it was he was saying. "You’re on."

"Great." Garble said tossing him the purple Duel Disk. "Let's get this started."

Flash affixed the device to his arm and placed the deck in the slot, a green energy blade forming. "Hey," he turned back to see the kid standing near him, "you don't have to do this for me."

"It's fine." Flash replied. "Bullies like him need to be put in his place."

"Okay." the boy said. "I'm Spike by the way."

"Flash." the teen said back.

Meanwhile Twilight and her friends were walking through the park. Suddenly Rainbow Dash's phone began beeping. “What's that Rainbow?" Twilight asked.

"My Duel app." Rainbow replied. "It goes off whenever it detects an active Duel Disk."

"Cool." Applejack said looking around. "Might be a good one, let's check it out." They followed the app and looked around for any signs of a Duel until they heard.

"Twilight!" They spun around and saw Twilight's little brother Spike standing not too far off, behind some trees.

"Spike," Twilight said, "what are you doing here?" But she soon realised why, when she saw Flash and Garble facing off.

"Looks like we found our Duel." Applejack said.

"Weird." Rainbow Dash said. "I don't think I've ever seen him Duel."

Flash and Garble's Duel Disks connected and showed their life points, as they drew their cards.

"DUEL!" they both yelled.

Flash: 4000
Garble: 4000

"I'll start off," Garble said drawing a card. "I summon Autorokket Dragon in ATK mode," a red dragon in the shape of a missile came to the field (A1600/D1000/L3). "I'll also throw down two face downs."

"It's my turn," Flash said. "I draw." Flash looked at his hand. Three of his cards are blank. How can he tell what they are? "I summon Cybernetic Lancer," a robotic knight came to the field with lances in place of hands. (A1700/D0/L4). "I'll attack." The robotic knight charged forward and slashed the missile-like dragon.

Flash: 4000
Garble: 3900

"How'd you like that?" Flash said.

"Idiot," Garble said as he pressed a button on his Duel Disk and one of his face downs flipped up, "you activated my Trap Card. It's called Dragon's Revenge. This card allows me to summon a Level 4 or lower Dragon monster from my Graveyard," the missile-like dragon returned to the field (A1600/D1000/L3). "What's more, you take 100 damage equal to its Level."

Flash: 3700
Garble: 3900

"Next, I activate my face down, Dragon's Pride. Now I have to look at the top five cards of my deck, and if I find any Dragon monsters, I can Special Summon the highest Leveled of them." He looked at the top cards of his Deck. "I Special Summon Armed Dragon LV3." A yellow armored dragon appeared on the field (A1200/D900/L3).

"Oh great. Not only am I behind, but now he has two monsters. I place one card face down and end my turn," Flash said.

"I draw," Garble said. "I now activate the effect of "Armed Dragon LV3"." His yellow dragon disappeared. "During my Standby Phase, if I sacrifice my Armed Dragon LV3, I can summon its evolved form. Armed Dragon LV5." A bigger red version of Armed Dragon LV3 appeared (A2400/D1700/L5). "Next I activate my dragon's effect to send one monster from my hand to the Graveyard and destroy one monster you control. I send Exploderokket Dragon and destroy your Cybernetic Lancer." The spikes on Armed Dragon LV5 fired, impacting Flash's robotic knight as it was destroyed. "Now my monsters are ready to end this." Garble's monsters charged at Flash, but Flash has his face down.

"I activate my face down. Negate Attack. Now the battle phase ends," Flash said.

"Dang it. I end my turn." Garble said.

"It's my turn. I draw," Flash said. His cards are still blank, so there's only one thing to do. "I summon Light Dragon Mythias." a white dragon appeared with two sets of wings. (A1800/D0/L4) "Check this out. This one gains 100 ATK for every LIGHT monster in my Graveyard." (A1900/D0/L4). "Attack Autorokket Dragon." The dragon fired a yellow beam at the missile-like Dragon, destroying it.

Flash 3700
Garble: 3600

"I end my turn," Flash said.

"It's my turn. I draw." Garble said. He frowned at what he drew. It wasn't a monster. "Oh well. At least my monster's stronger. Attack." Armed Dragon LV5 spun its arms around as it charged at Mythias, destroying her.

Flash: 3200
Garble: 3600

"I end my turn. Since Armed Dragon LV5 destroyed a monster this turn, its effect now activates," Garble said as Armed Dragon LV5 disappeared. "Now I can summon its evolved form once again. Armed Dragon LV7." A bigger, deadlier version of Armed Dragon LV5 appeared. This one had more spikes along with longer arms and a longer neck. (A2800/D1000/L7).

"Oh crap." Flash said.

"Oh crap is right. That thing could tear Flash's monsters to shred." Twilight said.

"It's my turn. I draw," Flash said. "There's nothing I can do. I end my turn."

"It's my turn. I draw," Garble said. He looked at his card and smiled as well as laughed. "Here comes your demise, Flash. I sacrifice Armed Dragon LV7 to summon its evolved form," Armed Dragon LV7 disappeared. "Arise, Armed Dragon LV10." A humanoid version of Armed Dragon LV7 appeared as it roared. (A3000/D2000/L10).

Flash looked up at the scary monster in shock. "Holy crap. It's huge," Flash said. "How can I beat that?"

"Looks like this monster marks the end for you," Garble said. "Armed Dragon LV10, attack him directly." The dragon raised its arm as a ball of dark energy appeared in its hand and it threw the ball at Flash, detonating upon impact as it knocked Flash back.

Flash: 200
Garble: 3600

"I now end my turn," Garble said. "Get up, moron. It's your turn."

But Flash just laid there. How was he gonna win now? He looked at his hand and besides the blank cards he also had two monsters which weren't strong enough to beat Dark Rogue Dragon.

"This is why I hate Duelling," Flash said, "no matter what I always end up on my back and humiliated." He should just quit now since he had already lost.

"Don't give up."

Flash turned to see the girl he had talked to in class earlier.

"You still have one turn, one draw that could change everything." she told him.

"But what can one card do?" Flash asked as he sat up.

"If you believe in your deck then one card can do anything." she replied.

"Believe." Flash said looking down at the deck he had found. Could it be that the reason he was losing right now was because he didn't believe in it, because he thought of them as someone else's cards? But maybe that wasn't right. Maybe he hadn't found them, but had been given them. "One draw." He shakily got up and placed his hand on the deck and closed his eyes. "I believe that one draw is all I need." If his eyes were open he'd have seen his deck was glowing, "I...DRAW!" He drew his card and opened his eyes, seeing the glow he looked at the card and saw it was another blank card...but then.

The four cards glowed as his Extra Deck glowed as well. The case opened up and a card flew out of it, revealing another blank card, but then the blank cards start to reveal themselves as monsters and the blank card that flew out from his Extra Deck revealed itself to be a monster whose bottom was blue like a Ritual Monster but had texture on it.

"I now summon Magna Dragon Raider" a small white dragon with an orb in its hands appeared. (A300/D200/L1). "When it's summoned, I can Special Summon another LIGHT monster from my hand. I summon Magna Dragon Fighter." A dragon with boxing gloves on its claws appeared. (A1500/D1200/L4) "Next I activate the Spell Card Bringer of the Light. Since I have two LIGHT monsters on my field, I can summon a LIGHT monster from my Graveyard. Come back Cybernetic Lancer." (A1700/D0/L4).

"What are those wimps supposed to do against my Armed Dragon LV10." Garble said.

"It's not what they're gonna do to your monster, but this one will," Flash said. That made Garble scared. "I now create the ultimate circuit." A board with arrows appeared.

"What's going on?" They all said.

"The summoning conditions require at least two LIGHT monsters. I set Magna Dragon Raider, Magna Dragon Fighter and Cybernetic Lancer into the arrows." All three monsters are sucked up into tornadoes as they were placed into the arrows as the arrows turned on. "I LINK SUMMON."

A twenty foot high silver robotic humanoid creature, with light blue armour and orange trim on its arms, legs, chest and shoulders appeared. From its shoulders were a pair of square jet booster like wings, and it wore a red scarf which was emblazoned with the same symbol as the one on Flash's shirt. "MAGNA FLASH DRAGON." (A2500/LINK-3/Top, Bottom-Left, Bottom Right)

"Woah," everyone else but Garble said in amazement.

"Impressive, but your monster's weaker than mine," Garble said.

"You may say that, but you've forgotten about this," Flash said. "My monster has a special ability. It gains 500 ATK for every monster used for its Link Summon." (A4000/LINK-3/Top, Bottom-Left, Bottom Right)

"Oh crap," Garble said. "And I forgot to place any face downs last turn."

"That's right," Flash said. "Magna Flash Dragon, attack Armed Dragon LV10." Flash Magna Dragon's booster came to life as Flash Magna Dragon flew towards Armed Dragon LV10, sucker punching it into destruction.

Flash: 200
Garble: 2600

"My monster may be gone," Garble said. "But I still have Life Points."

"That's where you're wrong," Flash said. "When Flash Magna Dragon destroys a monster in battle, you take damage equal to the destroyed monster's ATK."

"What?" Garble said.

Flash Magna Dragon turned around as its boosters were still on, blasting Garble.

Flash: 200 (winner)
Garble: 0

"That was…" Rarity was lost for words, but luckily Spike had the right one.

"AWESOME!"

"I've never seen someone come from behind like that." Applejack said.

"Me neither." Rainbow Dash agreed.

Flash removed his deck from the Duel Disk and looked at the cards he had used, but the one he couldn't look away from was the one that shared his name. He was so focused on it that he didn't notice Garble had gotten up and was now charging at him, fists raised, ready to attack. Luckily Twilight did notice "LOOK OUT!"

Flash looked around and then moved in an instant, spinning away from the punch while grabbing his opponent's shirt and flinging him around and into the air. Garble flew several feet before crashing into the ground and rolling to a stop.

"As agreed," Garble looked up and saw Flash holding up a deck of cards, "I'll be taking these." Garble check the pocket he had put the cards in and found it empty. Somehow Flash had gotten the deck back while flipping him over.

Quickly getting up he stared at Flash with hate in his eyes, before running off. "You haven't heard the last of me." And with that he and his cronies were gone.

Flash turned back to the group and walked over, standing in front of Spike. For an instant, the girls wondered what was going on, before they saw Flash hold the Duel Disk and deck to him. "Here kid."

"Thanks." Spike said taking the them and holding them close.

"Wait," Twilight said, "what was that guy doing with your deck?"

"He forced me into a Duel," Spike explained, "and when he won he took them."

"Wait, so Flash was Duelling to get them back?" Twilight asked.

"And he put his own cards on the line." Spike said.

Everyone looked at Flash, who was now walking off, and felt very confused. He seemed like such a loner yet he helped someone he didn't even know with cards no one had ever seen before, just what was up with him?

Author's Note

Author's Note:

Welcome to my new story. Sorry it took so long to make the other one. I just wanted to make this one.

Turn 2: Twilight Sparkle

The morning after Flash's Duel against Garble we find him in his home, an apartment building, cooking his breakfast as the TV sounded in the background. He finished preparing the scrambled egg and toast before placing it on two plates. He placed one in the microwave and took the other to the table.

"And in other news," the news anchor spoke, "we're just three months away from the start of the Celestic Cup, the biggest Duelling tournament this side of the country. Anyone whose anyone will be there and we managed to get an interview with the winner of the last Celestic Cup, Shining Armour." The screen changed to a man of about twenty, with blue hair.

"What do I like best about Duelling?" Shining Armour said, "I thought that would be obvious. The competition of cause, I love how every opponent I meet is different. They each have their own way of imagining the match, and I try to crush that image. And when I come across someone whose vision is as real as my own, I'm forced to reconsider my strategy. Facing a top contender like me is the ultimate test of skill."

Hearing this Flash couldn't help but think back to the Duel he had had, and how alive it made him feel when he performed that Pendulum Summon. "Imagine it." Flash repeated.

After breakfast Flash grabbed his backpack and headed for the door, stopping at one room before he did. Quickly knocking he opened the door and stared at the lump laying on the bed in the far corner, "Hey squirt don't oversleep or you'll be late." The person under the blanket just groaned in response. "Your breakfast is in the microwave." Flash said before closing the door and leaving, seeing the deck he had found sitting on the counter he made sure to grab it before exiting.

Flash arrived at Canterlot High but unlike most days where people just ignored him as he passed, the second he stepped through the doors he had all eyes on him. "Is that him?" he heard someone say.

"He's got some kind of new card type." another said.

"You think he'll let us see it?" another asked.

"Forget that," another said "I wanna Duel it."

Flash sighed hearing all this and just stared at the floor and he headed to his class, only to be bombarded by three girls. One had rainbow coloured hair, cotton candy hair and blond hair hidden under a stetson.

"Hey man," the rainbow haired girl said as she got close to his face, "you gotta show me how you pulled of that awesome Link Summon."

"Err." was all Flash could say not sure what to say.

"Rainbow Dash," the blond next to her said as she grabbed the first girls ear and pulled her away, "you can't just go telling people to show you stuff, it's impolite."

"But I gotta know Applejack," Rainbow said as she pulled away, "that technique would totally kick my game to a whole other level."

"Yeah!" The pink haired girl said as she jumped around, "Link Summoning looks like tones of fun."

Never had Flash been so grateful then when the teacher had walked in and told them to take their seats, this class was a triple period so by the time it got out, it was lunch time. When the bell rang Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie all looked around at Flash hoping to once again get him to show his Link Card, but he had already grabbed his things and shot out the door.

Flash ran as fast as he could through the halls, hoping to get out of there before anyone had a chance to surround him. Eventually he found himself climbing the stairs to the roof, the best hiding spot he could think of.

He soon burst through the doors and ran straight into someone knocking them both over. "Ow." he said sitting up and rubbing the back of his head..

"Ow." he looked at who he had crashed into and his eyes went wide seeing it was the girl from yesterday.

"I'm sorry," he said getting up and offering his hand to help her up, "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"I can tell." She said looking up and like him her eyes went wide seeing who it was, "Flash Sentry."

"Yeah," he replied trying to remember her name only to realise, "sorry I never got your name."

"It's fine," she said, "I'm Twilight Sparkle, you met my little brother yesterday."

"Spike?"

"Yeah," Twilight said, "thank you for that." she bowed.

"It was nothing." he said as he blushed in embarrassment .

"It wasn't nothing," Twilight said "but anyway, why were you running?" She raised an eyebrow, "you know you’re not allowed to do that in the hallways."

"Yeah sorry." Flash told her walking to the chain link fence and sliding to a seat, "I was trying to get away from all the psychos wanting to know about my new deck."

"Well can you blame them?" Twilight asked as she walked up and sat next to him. "I mean I'm pretty curious about them myself. After your match yesterday I spent all night looking for any reference of Link Summoning, but found nothing."

Flash took the deck out of his pocket and stared at them. "So these might be the only ones."

"Possibly," Twilight replied before going shy, "can I...maybe take a look?"

For some reason, Flash couldn't deny her and held his deck for her to take. She cycled through the cards and marvelled when she found the Pendulum cards, "Flash Heart Dragon huh?" she said looking at the ace of the deck.

"Yeah I know," Flash said as he rolled his eyes, "I got the same name as a Duel Card hahaha."

"Hey you'd be surprised how many cards have actual names." she replied. "You wouldn't be the first Duellist to pick a card with their name."

"That's just it," Flash replied "I didn't pick it I found it." He went on to explain the events of yesterday.

"So the deck was just sitting there?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah," Flash replied, "and I have no idea who left it."

"But if that was the first time you used the deck," Twilight thought "then how did you know how to preform that Pendulum Summon?"

"No clue." Flash said with a shrug. "I just did it before I realised what I was doing."

"Like an instinct." Twilight said handing back the deck.

"I guess." Flash replied taking the deck back and then pocketing it.

"So what do you know about Pendulums?" Twilight said.

"Just the stuff I showed yesterday." Flash replied.

"Well then," Twilight said as she got up, "let's find out more."

"How?"

"How else," Twilight replied with a smirk, "we're going to Duel."

"Twilight's going to Duel the guy with that new deck type," was what Twilight's friends heard when they asked what was going on. All the students were running through the corridors on route to the courtyard, where Twilight and Flash stood.

The two were staring each other down as they prepared to Duel.

Twilight pulled a light purple Duel Disk out of her backpack before to her arm, while Flash just stood there awkwardly. "Yeah so, I don't have a Duel Disk." Flash told her.

Everyone just chuckled at this, making Flash blush in embarrassment.

"Here." He turned to see Rainbow Dash throw something at him. He caught it and saw it was a light blue Duel Disk.

"Er,,,thanks." He said fixing it to his arm.

"Just make sure you use that awesome summoning we all want to see." Rainbow Dash replied.

Flash set his deck into the slot as a red energy blade formed. He then turned to Twilight and the two stared each other down.

"Hope you’re ready Flash." Twilight said as a violet energy blade formed from her Duel Disk.

"Let's do this." Flash replied.

"DUEL."

Flash: 4000
Twilight: 4000

"I'll start," Twilight said as she drew, "and I summon Aleister the Invoker in DEF mode." A wizard holding a book appeared. (A1000/D1800/4) "Now since Aleister the Invoker was summoned, I can add 1 Invocation from my deck to my hand." Her deck shuffled before a card slotted out which she took, adding it to her hand. "I end my turn."

"It's my turn," Flash said. "I draw. I now summon Light Spear Dragon in ATK mode." A blue dragon with a spear for a head appeared. (A1900/D0/L4) "Attack." Light Spear Dragon let out a roar as it unleashed a beam of light from its mouth, hitting Aleister the Invoker.

Flash: 4000
Twilight: 3900

"Why did Twilight lose life points?" Fluttershy asked.

"That Light Spear Dragon must have a piercing effect." Applejack replied.

"If that's true," Rainbow continued, "then Flash's dragon might have to change its battle position." And true to her word, Aura Spear Dragon kneeled down as it changed modes.

"I end my turn." Flash said.

"It's my turn," Twilight said. "I draw. First I activate Monster Reborn to bring back my Aleister the Invoker." (A1000/D1800/L4) "Attack," Aleister the Invoker opens his book as a beam of light shoots out from it, destroying Light Spear Dragon. "I end my turn."

"It's my turn," Flash said. "I draw. I activate Pot of Greed. So now I draw two cards. Now I summon Magna Dragon Raider." (A300/D200/L1) "Now I activate its effect to Special Summon Magna Dragon Fighter." (A1500/D1200/L4) "Next I activate Bringer of the Light to revive my Light Spear Dragon." (A1900/D0/L4) "You know what comes next."

Twilight smiled at this.

"I unleash the ultimate circuit." The board appears. "The summoning conditions are at least two LIGHT monsters. I set Magna Dragon Raider, Magna Dragon Fighter and Light Spear Dragon in the arrows." All three monsters are sucked up into tornadoes as they were placed into the arrows as the arrows turned on. "I LINK SUMMON."

Flash's ace monster appears. "Magna Flash Dragon." (A2500/LINK-3/Top, Bottom-Left, Bottom Right)

"Now Magna Flash Dragon's ability activates," (4000/LINK-3/Top, Bottom-Left, Bottom Right) "Attack", Magna Flash Dragon's boosters lit up as it sucker punched Aleister the Invoker.

Flash: 4000
Twilight: 900

"I end my turn," Flash said.

"My draw." Twilight looked at her card and smiled, "Link Summoning really is amazing to see, thanks for showing it to me."

"Er, yeah your welcome." Flash replied.

"As thanks I'll show you my favourite Summoning style." Twilight said. "I activate Invocation. This spell allows me to Fusion Summon an Invoked Fusion Monster by banishing two monsters from either Graveyard."

"It what?" Flash asked.

"I fuse Aleister the Invoker with your Light Spear Dragon" Twilight said. "I FUSION SUMMON."

A knight appeared, carrying a shield and sword. It was riding a chariot pulled by an armored four legged beast. "INVOKED MECHABA." (A2500/D2100/L9)

"I activate Invoked Carrier's special ability. By banishing it from my hand, I can add the banished Aleister the Invoker to my hand. Next I activate the effect of Aleister the Invoker from my hand. By sending it from my hand to the Graveyard, I can increase the ATK and DEF of Invoked Mechaba by 1000 until the end of my turn." (A3500/D3100/L9) "Attack," the knight rushed at Magna Flash Dragon and slashed him, destroying him.

Flash: 3000
Twilight: 900

"Magna Flash!" Flash screamed seeing his best card be destroyed.

"Next I activate Invoked Double. Now my Invoked Mechaba can attack again." Invoked Mechaba charged again, slashing at Flash.

Flash: 500
Twilight: 900

"I end my turn." Twilight said. "By the way, once per turn, Mechaba can negate the activation a card effect you activate and banish it. All I have to do is discard the card of the same type, so choose wisely."

"It's my turn," Flash said. "I draw. So Mechaba can negate an effect, so what do I do? Sacrifice a card of course. I activate Monster Reincarnation."

"And I negate it using Mechaba's ability by discarding a Spell Card," Twilight said as Mechaba slashed the Spell Card, banishing it. "Sorry Flash."

"Don't be. I've got this." Flash said. "I summon Alexandrite Dragon in ATK mode." A silver dragon appeared. (2000/100) "I now create the ultimate circuit. The requirements are 1 LIGHT monster. I set Alexandrite Dragon in the link arrow. I LINK SUMMON."

A small dragon appeared, holding an orb with Flash's symbol on his shirt on it. "MAGNA SAVIOR DRAGON" (1000/LINK-1/Bottom)

"Cute, but that monster isn't enough to destroy Mechaba," Fluttershy said.

"Not if I use its special ability. By tributing it, I can Special Summon Magna Flash Dragon from my Graveyard." (A2500/LINK-3/Top, Bottom-Left, Bottom Right)

"You may have gotten Magna Flash Dragon back, but both monsters have the same ATK points," Twilight said. "They'll body each other."

"You'll see. Magna Flash, attack Mechaba." Flash said. Magna Flash Dragon's boosters came to life as Magna Flash Dragon prepared to punch Mechaba who prepared to slash Magna Flash Dragon.

"Why would he do that? Unless..." Twilight said.

"Unless I had another special ability lying around. I activate the effect of the Magna Savior Dragon in my Graveyard. By banishing it, I can save my monster from being destroyed." Flash said.

"Then that means..." Twilight said.

"That means that Mechaba is the only monster to be destroyed." Flash said as both monsters struck each other, but Mechaba is the only one to blow up.

"Uh oh." Twilight said.

"Uh oh is right," Flash said. "As when Magna Flash Dragon destroys a monster by battle, its controller takes damage equal to its ATK." Flash said. Magna Flash Dragon turned around as its boosters hit Twilight.

Flash: 500 (winner)
Twilight: 0

"Flash won." Rainbow said in amazement.

"He sure did." Applejack said.

"I can't believe he beat Twilight." Rarity said.

Flash walked over to Twilight and held out his hand to help her up. "Thanks Twilight," Flash said, "now I know even more about Pendulum Summoning."

"My pleasure," Twilight replied, "and thanks for showing me more about Pendulum Monsters."

Before they could say anything else, Flash found himself swarmed by other students all asking to Duel next. While watching this, Twilight couldn't help but giggle seeing his uncomfortable face, which didn't go unnoticed.

"Ooh," she heard Applejack say, "looks like somebodies got a crush."

"No, no I don't." Twilight replied blushing and hoping he hadn't heard that.

"Oh she does," Rarity said, "she absolutely does."

"Don't be ridicules." Twilight said. "I barely know him, he's just an interesting Duellist that's all."

"Keep telling yourself that." Rainbow Dash told her as the bell went off signalling the end of lunch.

As everyone went back inside Twilight glanced back at Flash, who had his next class in a different part of the school, and smiled. Maybe the girls were onto something.

Turn 3: Cold Steel

We find ourselves on the top floor of an office building. Inside we find a man in his mid-twenty with pale blue skin and white hair, he wore a white overcoat that went to his knees with a red yolk, pockets and cuffs. He was looking out the large windows overlooking the city, before turning back towards a large desk where a deck of cards sat between two free cards. Picking the two cards up in each hand he crossed his arms before throwing them straight, sending the cards flying onto the desk where they began spinning on one of their corners like tops.

"Which of you has what it takes?" he asked. "Show yourself!" The cards spun towards each other and slapped one another two, three, four times before the one on the left sent the other flying off the table. "Awesome." He took the still spinning card and added it to the deck before leaving the office.

On his way out he saw a woman carrying many files walking along the corridor. "Move all my appointments, I have some special work that needs doing." He told her not stopping his pace.

"Yes Mr Cold Steel." She said not getting any response from him.

It was Sunday so Flash had gotten to sleep in most of the morning like he usually did.

When he finally did wake up he turned to his alarm clock, which read 11:50, and decided to get up. Quickly getting dressed he left his room and went to make breakfast, er, lunch when suddenly a buzz at the door's intercom caught his attention. "Hello?" He said pressing the button.

"Special delivery for Flash Sentry," the voice replied.

"I didn't order anything," Flash said.

"This is apartment 3C right?" the delivery man asked.

"Yeah but I still didn't order anything." Flash replied.

"Not my problem." he said back.

"Fine." Flash unlocked the door and the delivery man soon arrived with a package. Flash signed and he was gone, leaving the teen with the box. Flash placed the box on the kitchen table and studied it. The logo on the front he recognised as Freeze Industries, the well known producer and distributor of Duelling related stuff like the cards and Duel Disks. Deciding to open it Flash found a dark blue Duel Disk. Taking the device out of the box he activated it and checked the user detail, and just like that all his info was there. His age, birthday, where he lived everything.

"What is going on?" he asked himself. First he gets left a deck of cards and now someone bought, programmed and delivered a Duel Disk for him. He looked back down at the box and noticed an envelope had been sitting under the Duel Disk. Picking up and opening it his eyes went wide seeing new cards, some were normal ones and others were Link cards. No doubt now this package was for him since not only did it have Link cards, some were Magna Fighters like the ones in his deck. Finally in the envelope was a small map, he looked and noticed an area circled which he recognised as a nearby mall.

Before he had a chance to think he was out the door, running at full speed out of the apartment and down the street on route to the mall. He was going so fast that he wasn't watching where he was going, and when he turned a corner he ended up crashing into something or someone. "Ow," he said rubbing his head.

"Ow," looking at who he had hit his eyes went wide seeing it was Twilight. Twilight looked at him to and like him she was surprised seeing him.

Flash laughed as he got up, "we've got to stop bumping into each other like this." he said offering his hand to help her up.

"Maybe you just need to watch were you’re going." Twilight replied as she took his hand. "So what were you running from this time, more psychos."

"Actually," Flash held up his new Duel Disk.

"You got a new Duel Disk?" Twilight asked.

"It just showed up along with some new cards and a map showing the city mall," he explained, "I think whoever sent me my deck wants to meet."

"You think so?" Twilight asked.

"It's the only thing I can think of." Flash said as he pulled out his deck. "I know it sounds weird but ever since I got this deck I've been seeing things in a new light. I used to hate Duelling, but now when I use these cards I get this strange feeling like this was what I was meant to do."

"You talk about it like it's your destiny." Twilight told him.

"You think so?" Flash thought for a moment. Now that she said it this did sound like destiny, like some greater power was pulling him back into Duelling. "Maybe you've got a point?"

"Listen," Twilight said "I wish I could come with you and find out, but my mom's got me doing errands all day, so."

"Oh," Flash said "that's too bad. You wanted to learn new stuff about Link cards so I thought."

"Yeah," Twilight said, "sorry." She then looked at her phone and realised the time, "I got to get going." She began running down the street. "If you find anything out tell me."

"Sure," Flash replied watching her leave, before restarting his journey to the mall.

He eventually arrived and started looking around trying to see if there was anyone suspicious, but the place was so big and there was so many people that it was next to impossible to tell them apart. "Man, I didn't think there'd be this many people." he said sitting on a bench. "I wonder why the map said to come here?" He pulled out his deck and began flipping through the cards along with the new ones.

"Excuse me," Flash looked up and saw the man named Cold Steel standing not too far off, "don't mean to be rude, but I couldn't help but notice you’re a Duellist," he pointed to the cards.

"I guess," Flash replied, "but who are you?"

"Just someone looking to pass the time." Cold Steel replied. "I had some business in this area and was hoping to find a good Duel, what do you say?"

Flash thought for a moment, since he couldn't find anyone he might as well. "Sure let's do this."

Flash and Cold had gone to the mall's rooftop parking lot.

"Are you ready?" Cold asked attaching a white Duel Disk to his arm, a white energy blade forming.

"As I'll ever be." Flash replied attaching his own Duel Disk to his arm as an orange energy blade appeared.

"Then we begin," they drew their cards.

"DUEL."

Flash: 4000
Cold: 4000

"I'll start," Cold said drawing a card. "And I'll activate One for One. Now by sending one card from my hand to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon a Level 1 monster from my hand in Defense Position. I summon Boost Warrior." A man in blue armor with an X on his back appeared. (A300/D200/L1) "Next I summon Achacha Archer." An archer with a burning arrow appeared. (A1200/D600/L3) Since Achacha Archer was Special Summoned, you lose 500 Life Points." Achacha Archer fired its arrow from its bow at Flash.

Flash: 3500
Cold: 4000

"Now I can use the effect of Boost Warrior. Now all other Warrior monsters I control gain 300 ATK." (A1500/D600/L3) "I end my turn."

"It's my turn," Flash said. "I draw. I summon Magna Fighter Dweller," a fighter in steampunk atire appeared, carrying a small sword. (A1600/D200/L3) "Check this out. Once per turn, I can select one monster and that monster can attack all monsters you control. Attack Achacha Archer." Magna Fighter Dweller ran forwards and slashed the archer, cutting him in half.

Flash: 3500
Cold: 3900

"Next, I'll attack Boost Warrior with Dweller," Dweller charged as it slashed Boost Warrior, destroying it instantly. "I end my turn."

"It's my turn," Cold said. "I draw. Since I control no monsters, I can Special Summon this monster without Tributing. Blazing Heart Knight." A knight with a blazing sword and shield. (A2000/D1000/L5) Next I summon the Tuner monster Blazing Heart Statue Soder." A statue with an upward arrow for a face appeared. (A900/D700/L2)

"What's a Tuner monster?" Flash asked.

"A Tuner monster is a monster who can start a Synchro Summon," Cold told him, "By tuning with other monsters and summon a monster whose Level is equal to their combined Levels."

"I see," Flash said.

"Now watch as I tune Level 5 Blazing Heart Knight with Level two Blazing Heart Statue Soder," Cold said. Statue Soder turned into two circles which Blazing Heart Knight flew into before turning into five lights as it disappeared in an explosion of light revealing a new monster. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON."

The new monster looked like a large version of Blazing Heart Knight. The only differences were that instead of a sword and shield it carried a flaming spear. "Blazing Heart Lord of the Javelin." (A2500/D2200/L7)

"Now I'll attack your Dweller," Cold said. The flaming knight charged forward and slashed Dweller, destroying it instantly.

Flash: 2600
Cold: 3900

"I end my turn," Cold said. "Let's see what you can do."

"It's my turn. I draw." Flash said. "I activate Monster Reborn to bring back Dweller." (A1600/200/L3) "Next I sacrifice Dweller to summon Magna Dragon Double Blaster." A white four legged dragon about 7 meters tall with blasters on each side appeared. (A2100/D1500/L5) Next, I activate my monster's effect. By banishing one monster from my Graveyard, it gains ATK equal to the banished monster's Level times 200." a transparent Dweller appeared before being sucked into one of the dragon's blasters. (A2700/D1500/L5) "And get this, Double Blaster can attack twice per Battle Phase. Attack." Double Blaster readied its blaster as it fired, causing an explosion.

Flash: 2600
Cold: 3700

"Yes." Flash said. But when the smoke cleared, it showed Blazing Heart Lord of the Javelin. "But how?"

"I activated the effect of Blazing Heart Gardna from my hand. By sending it to the Graveyard, my monster is immune to destruction this turn."

"I end my turn by placing two cards face down." Flash said.

"It's my turn," Cold said. "I draw. I now activate Blazing Heart Fusion. Now I can Fusion Summon using monsters from my hand. I fuse Blazing Heart Golem with Blazing Heart Statue Norr." Two monsters appeared, one being a golem made out of flaming rock while the other was similar to Blazing Heart Statue Soder but with a downward arrow before being sucked into the vortex. "I FUSION SUMMON."

The monster resembled Blazing Heart Lord of the Javelin, but it's carrying two cutlasses instead. "Blazing Heart Lord of the Sword." (A2000/D1500/L6)

"I activate my face down." Flash said. "Protective Light. Since you Special Summoned a monster, I can Special Summon one monster from my Deck in DEF mode and make it immune to card effects this turn. I Special Summon Magna Dragon Raider." (A300/D200/L1).

"Since my opponent Special Summoned a monster, the special ability of my Blazing Heart Lord of the Sword activates, allowing me to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Blazing Heart monster from the same place. I Special Summon Blazing Heart Enchantress." A woman in a flame colored dress appeared with blonde hair under an fire coloured hat. She carried a staff with a flame carved on the end. (A800/D1600/L4) "Since Blazing Heart Enchantress was Special Summoned, I can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower Blazing Heart monster from my Graveyard. So come back Blazing Heart Gardna." A knight holding a shield appeared. (A800/D2000/L4)

"Two Level 4 monsters?" Flash said. "Are you gonna do another summoning method?"

"Yes. I overlay my Level 4 Enchantress and Gardna." Cold said as his two monsters turned into energy as they are sucked into a vortex. "I XYZ SUMMON."

The last monster resembled the other two, but with a chain with a hook on the other end. "Blazing Heart Lord of the Hook." (A2400/D1200/R4)

"Now I attack your Double Blaster with my Blazing Heart Lord of the Javelin," Cold said. The knight charged forward at Double Blaster.

"I activate my face down. Negate Attack," Flash said. A barrier appeared between the two monsters, blocking the attack. "Whew. That was close."

"You got lucky." Cold said. "I end my turn."

"It's my turn," Flash said. "I draw. I summon Cybernetic Lancer." (A1700/D0/L4) "Now I create my ultimate circuit."

"Here it comes." Cold said.

"The summoning conditions require two LIGHT monsters. I set Raider and Cybernetic Lancer in the Link Arrows." The monsters are sucked up into tornadoes as they enter the board. "I LINK SUMMON."

A man in steampunk armour over a giant overcoat appeared, a top hat with goggles strapped on and carried a giant steampunk sword as long as he was tall. "Magna Champion Gladio." (2100/LINK-2/Bottom-Left, Bottom Right)

"Thanks to this monster's special ability, all monsters it points to gain 800 ATK even when it leaves the field." (A2900/D1500/L5) "I attack with my Double Blaster." Double Blaster readied one of its blasters.

"I activate the effect of the Blazing Heart Yure-Onna in my hand. By discarding it, your Battle Phase ends." Cold said.

"I end my turn." Flash said.

"My draw," Cold drew his card and when he saw what it was he smiled, before returning to his icy demeanour. "Listen up," he said "here's your lesson. A guy like you...will never be able to beat me, not a chance."

"What?"

"You heard me," Cold Steel replied, "you’re finished, it's been decided. Let me show you." He took a card from his hand and placed on the Duel Disk, "I summon Blazing Heart Lancer." Another flaming knight appeared, this time holding a lance. (A1800/D1300/L4) "Now to show you that you're not the only one that can Link Summon."

"What do you mean?" Flash said. That's when he realized, "You can Link Summon too."

"That's right," Cold said as the circuit appeared. "The summoning conditions require at least three FIRE monsters. I set Lord of the Javelin, Lord of the Sword, Lord of the Hook and Lancer in the Link Arrows. I LINK SUMMON."

It was a twenty five foot humanoid dragon with flame-like scales covering its entire body. It had a thick chest but a very thin waist and thick legs. It's wings were two sets of triple blades of fire and its tail was long with a torch on the tip. It's shoulders were large crescent moon shapes, while its arms had spikes trailing down them and the hands were large with five long claws. Its head was a large kite shape with no mouth, just a pair of light blue eyes with a long blazing spike on each end. "Blazing Heart Dragon." (3000/LINK-4/Top, Left, Right, Bottom-Right)

"What?" Flash said. He looked up at the dragon in horror. "A Link-4 monster?"

"I now activate Blazing Heart Reborn." Cold said. "This card allows me to Special Summon two Blazing Heart monsters from my Graveyard, but their abilities are negated, so I revive Blazing Heart Golem and Blazing Heart Knight." (A2800/D1800/L7) (A2000/D1000/L4) "Next I activate the special ability of Blazing Heart Dragon, to Tribute my Golem and Knight and double its ATK." The dragon reached down and grabbed the two monsters as they were turned into solid ice and crumbled. (6000/LINK-4/Top, Left, Right, Bottom-Right)

"In the heat of battle, a Duellist's true character is revealed," Cold said, "and depending on your actions, your insecurities become crystal clear to your opponent."

Flash growled. "So from this one Duel you think you've got me all figured out?"

"But I do have you figured out," Cold said. "Purgatory Dragon attack Flash Heart Dragon." The giant dragon brought it's claws together, as a fireball formed and grew.

"No," Flash said trying to think of a way to stop him.

"Imagine it," Cold said. Hearing this Flash looked at him, and as their eyes met the young teen suddenly found himself blinded by light. When his vision cleared he wasn't looking at Cold Steel, but at Purgatory Dragon.

"What's going on?" He asked moving his hand up to cover his face from the heat of the fireball, only to take a second look when he realised his hand wasn't that of a human, but a robot. Looking down at his arms and at his body he realised he had somehow become Flash Heart Dragon. "What...how?" He asked. Looking behind him at where he should be standing and he was, but something was different about him. He stood perfectly still as if he was a statue, his eyes were white voids. It was as if his very soul had been removed, which Flash realised is what had happened. "What's going on?"

"Look around you boy," Cold Steel said, "at the monsters you cower behind."

Flash looked down at Lucidum and Crossbolt, both standing ready for the fight. But on closer inspection he saw their faces had a look of fear engraved on them.

"This is why a guy like you will never beat me," Cold explained, "when you summon your monsters do you think about how they feel, about whether they want to battle?"

"I...I…" Flash didn't know what to say.

"You don't, you simply summon them as if they're mindless puppets, because you’re not strong enough to fight. Well I'm going to show you what your monsters must face every time you Duel."

Purgatory Dragon released the fireball, which was now three times the size of the dragon, and it flew towards him.

"No," Flash said trying to move, but his body refused as if it he frozen in place. The fireball finally reached him and all he could do was shield himself with his hands. "NOOOOO!" Suddenly Flash threw his arms out as a wave of energy shot out of him, the wave pulsed again and again causing the holograms to flicker.

"What?" Cold said protecting his face.

The holograms suddenly dissolved into data bits as the wave grew weaker. Flash, now back in his own body, fell to his knees and panted heavily. "Incredible," Cold Steel said in actual amazement, "he overloaded the Duel System."

"What happened?" Flash asked.

"Our Duel Disks detected a fault and have shut down for safety reasons," Cold explained, "we're done here." He turned to walk away.

"Wait!" Flash said making him stop. "What's your name? You owe me that much."

Cold Steel remained silent for a moment, his back still turned away, until he said "get stronger and I might tell you," and with that he left.

Now alone Flash's eyes never left the spot Cold had been, not even blinking. Never had he been so completely helpless in a Duel, even back when he was young. Who was that man, and how had he made Flash see all that stuff?

Back at the office building Cold Steel sat looking out the window. "He has far more potential then I had originally believed," he said aloud to himself, "but this is only the beginning."

Flash was on his way home, crossing a large bridge over a river when he finally stopped. His body was shaking with pent up frustration, so much so that he couldn't take it and let out a mighty yell that caused nearby birds to spook. Many people heard it and turned to the bridge wondering who would make such a noise, and what would drive them to it?

Author's Note

Note: If this story is popular enough, it will get a sequel.

Turn 4: Pinkie Pie

An annoying buzz was the first thing Flash heard as he awoke that morning.

Getting up and getting dressed he walked out his room and saw a man in his late sixties standing at the stove. He had grey skin and grey hair, with a large scar over his eye. This was Grand Hoof, Flash's maternal grandfather. "Morning kiddo," he said seeing him coming out.

"Aren't you supposed to be at work?" Flash asked. Grand Hoof was a detective for the Ponyville Police department and had recently cracked a case, involving an illegal smuggling ring for counterfeit Duel Disks.

"They gave my entire team the week of after catching those criminals," Grand Hoof explained.

"Great." Flash replied.

"You okay?" Grand Hoof asked. "You seem down...well, downer than usual."

"Just something on my mind," Flash replied.

"Anything I can help with?" Grand Hoof replied.

"No," Flash replied, "just something I need to figure out." He quickly ate his breakfast and began packing for school, as he grabbed his Duel Disk Grand Hoof saw it and smiled.

"So you getting back into Duelling?" He asked.

"I guess."

"What brought this on?" He asked

"Just kinda happened," Flash replied before heading to the door, stopping at another door and knocking. "Time to get up," he was then out the door.

With him gone Grand Hoof sighed and turned to a picture on the mantle. The picture showed a man and a woman, the man looked like an older version of Flash with green eyes while the woman had silver skin and purple hair, they stood close showing a romantic bond. "Sometimes I wonder where he gets that sullen demeanour from, obviously not you two."

Back with Flash we find him walking to school but his head was elsewhere.

"In the heat of battle, a Duellist's true character is revealed," Cold said, "and depending on your actions, your insecurities become crystal clear to your opponent."

That Duellist hadn't even broken a sweat during the Duel, and had read every move Flash had made. Flash wondered whether he had had any advantage over him, or had everything he'd done been playing into his hand.

Flash was so focused on his thoughts that he didn't see someone walking around the corner and straight into him. "Oh, sorry." Flash instantly recognised the voice to be Twilight, who realised it was him and blushed. "We really gotta to stop bumping into each other like this," she said smiling at him only for him to give a frown and continue walking on. Noticing the downed look he was sporting Twilight ran up to him and walked besides him, before she asked, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Flash lied, "just having a bad day."

"Oh," Twilight said, "well okay. So, what happened yesterday? Did the guy show up?"

"No," Flash replied, "he didn't."

"Oh to bad," she said, "did you maybe find out anything new about Pendulum cards?"

"Yeah," Flash replied though he didn't sound exited, "they become Spell cards in the Pendulum zone."

"Really?" Twilight said her eyes going wide. "Well that explains why the bottom of the card is that colour."

"Yeah" Flash replied as they finally arrived at school.

"So what you doing after class?" she asked as they went in. "Gonna find someone to Duel?"

"Don't know." Flash replied causing Twilight to roll her eyes. Talking to him today was like pulling teeth.

The bell rang and Flash and Twilight had to go their separate ways to different classes. As she watched him walk down the hall she couldn't help but feel something was up with him, since he was back to being the same sullen guy he was when she first met him. Suddenly an idea popped into her head, that made her grin...there was only one person she knew who could make anyone laugh, and that was what Flash needed right now.

Flash sat in class staring out the window remembering what that guy had said about him.

"Do you expect me to treat you like a real Duellist?" Cold Steel asked. "Without showing me anything worth watching."

But what else was there? Flash had his Pendulum Summon but what else could his deck do to win a Duel?

"Mr. Sentry." Flash spun his head around to see the teacher looking at him not to happily.

"Yes miss?" he asked.

"I apologies for my lesson being so boring that you would rather look out the window," she said, "but do try and pay attention."

"Yes miss." He replied as his face went red as everyone looked at him.

"That's better." She said turning back and walking to the board.

After school let out Flash was on his way home when he suddenly heard someone running up to him and yell. "Flash!" He turned to see Twilight running up to him. "Can you give me a hand with something?"

"What do you need?" he asked.

"It's hard to explain." Twilight replied. "I'll need to show you, but we need to go through the park."

"Okay." Flash said. He might as well since he went through there to get home.

"Great," Twilight replied with a smile, "let's go." And with that Flash and Twilight headed to the park, as Twilight lead them to the area he had Duelled against Garble at.

"What are we doing here?" Flash asked.

"We're here for a Duel." Twilight said.

"But haven't we already Duelled?" Flash asked. "Why would we Duel again?"

"First of all," Twilight said, "your allowed to Duel someone more than once. Secondly, I'm not the one your Duelling."

"Then who-" Flash was cut off suddenly when a high pitched voice called out.

"Right here Mr. Grumpy Pants." He spun around to see Twilight's friends enter the area. The pink haired girl he remembered as Pinkie Pie stood at the front carrying a pink Duel Disk.

"You?" Flash said before looking at Twilight in disbelief.

"First off don't underestimate Pinkie's skill," Twilight told him, "and secondly I think she can help you."

"Help me with what?" Flash asked.

"You'll have to Duel her to find out."

That was how Flash found himself facing off against Pinkie. He strapped on his Duel Disk as Pinkie activated hers forming a pink energy blade.

"Let's get this over with" Flash said as his orange blade appeared.

"DUEL."

Flash: 4000
Pinkie: 4000

"I'll take the first move," Flash said. "I summon Cybernetic Lancer in ATK mode." (A1700/D0/L4) "That's all."

"It's my turn," Pinkie said as she drew with a twirl. "I draw. I summon Balloon Animal Lion." The monster was a bunch of yellow party balloons that had been shaped into that of a lion, with orange balloons used for its mane and its face was drawn on in felt tip. (A1500/D1200/L4)

"But it has less ATK than mine," Flash said. "If it attacks, it will be destroyed."

"Next, I activate its effect. By discarding one card, I can Special Summon one Balloon Animal monster from my deck. I summon Balloon Animal Eagle." A bird made from brown balloons with white balloons for a head appeared. (A1200/D800/L3) "Since "Balloon Animal Eagle was summoned this way, it gains one Level." (A1200/D800/L4)

"Two Level 4 monsters?" Flash said remembering what happens when there are at least two monsters of the same Level.

"I overlay my level 4 Lion and Eagle," Pinkie said. Her two monsters changed into lights as they flew in the air. A vortex appeared on the ground as the lights entered it. "Now with the mighty strength of a lion and the winged flight of an eagle, you shall take flight." The vortex exploded. "I XYZ SUMMON."

From out of the portal came a new monster. It looked like a four legged eagle made from balloons with a yellow behind, brown front and white head. Two lights surround it. "Balloon Animal Griffon." (A2200/D1800/R4)

"An Xyz Summoner?" Flash asked.

"That's right," Pinkie said. "I now activate my monster's effect. By detaching one Overlay Unit, I can guess one card type and draw one card. If it's the same card type as the guessed card type, Balloon Animal Griffon will gain 1000 ATK." The griffon bites down on an Overlay Unit as Pinkie reaches for her deck. "I declare Spell Card." Pinkie draws a card. "It's Giant Trunade." (A3200/D1800/R4)

"Uh oh." Flash said.

"Now I attack," Pinkie said. The griffon inflated its wings to take off, flying towards Cybernetic Lancer before stomping on him destroying him.

Flash: 2500
Pinkie: 4000

"I place one card face down end my turn," Pinkie said.

"It's my turn," Flash said. "I draw. I activate Reload. With this I can return my entire hand into my deck and redraw." Flash took his hand and placed it in his deck before it shuffled and he redrew. "Next, I summon Magna Dragon Raider." (A300/D200/L1) "Next I activate its special ability to Special Summon Magna Dragon Fighter." (A1500/D1200/L4) "Next I Set my monsters in the Link Arrows. I LINK SUMMON."

"Magna Champion Gladio." (2100/LINK-2/Bottom-Left, Bottom-Right)

"Awesome," Rainbow Dash said, "a new Link monster."

"But it's weaker than Balloon Animal Griffon," Twilight said. "If it attacks, it will be destroyed."

"True," Flash said. "But now I can activate this. The spell Bringer of the Light. Now I can bring back one LIGHT monster from my Graveyard. Come back Cybernetic Lancer." (A1700/D0/L4) "Now with the effect of Magna Champion Gladio, all monsters I control that it points to gain 800 ATK." (A2500/D0/L4) "I now attack with Cybernetic Lancer," Flash said as the robotic knight charged.

"I activate my face down," Pinkie said. "Defense Switch. This card allows me to switch one monster I control to Defense Position. I choose my Balloon Animal Griffon." The griffon took a defensive stance as the robotic knight slashed at the griffon, destroying it.

"Oh yeah. Well, if my monster attacks a Defense Position monster, you take piercing damage." Flash said.

Flash: 2500
Pinkie: 3300

"Now I attack with Gladio," Flash said. "By the way, if I attack with Gladio while it points to a monster, you can't activate any card effects in response to its attack." Gladio slashed at Pinkie.

Flash 2500
Pinkie: 1200

"I end my turn," Flash said. "Let's see what else you can do."

"It's my turn," Pinkie said. "I draw and lookie. I've got a good one. I summon Balloon Animal Dog." A monster made out of red balloons twisted into the shape of a dog appeared. (A1000/D1000/L3) "Next I activate Balloon Duplication. With this I can Special Summon up to two more copies of the monster on my field. I summon two more copies of Balloon Animal Dog." (A1000/D1000/L3) "Next I activate the effect of the first Balloon Animal Dog. Now all monsters' Levels increase by 1." (A1000/D1000/L4) "And there's no fun in it if I stop there." (A1000/D1000/L5) I now overlay my three Level 5 Balloon Animal Dogs." All three dogs turn into lights as they entered a vortex in the ground. "A balloon dog with one head isn't fun enough. How about a dog with three heads? Now that's all of the fun." The vortex exploded. "I XYZ SUMMON."

The portal exploded revealing the new monster. "The creature was a bulkier version of Balloon Animal Dog, that was about the size of an elephant but had three heads. Three lights surround it. "Balloon Animal Cerberus." (A3000/D3000/R5)

"Next I activate its special ability," Pinkie said as one of the lights entered its center mouth. "By detaching one Overlay Unit, all monsters you control lose 300 ATK." The cerberus howled as the two monsters powered down. (1800/LINK-2/Bottom-Left, Bottom-Right) (A2200/D0/L4) "Now I attack your lancer," Pinkie said as the cerberus rushed forward and chomped down on the robotic knight, destroying it.

Flash: 1700
Pinkie: 1200

"I end my turn," Pinkie said.

"Why didn't you attack Gladio," Flash said. "It's weaker."

"It's because I want you to bring out your ace and see it battle mine," Pinkie said. "That's fun."

"Yeah it is," Flash said. "I draw. I now summon Light Spear Dragon." (A1900/D0/L4) I now create the ultimate circuit." The board appeared again. "The summoning conditions require at least two LIGHT monsters. I set Gladio and Light Spear Dragon in the Link Arrows." Gladio split into two versions of itself before being sucked into the tornadoes and Light Spear Dragon got sucked into the tornado before they entered the arrows. "I LINK SUMMON."

A dragon appeared. This one resembled Magna Flash Dragon, but it was light blue instead and it was carrying a shield with a mirror. "Flashforward Dragon." (2500/LINK-3/Top, Bottom, Bottom-Right)

"A new Link Monster?" Pinkie said. "Amazing." she exclaimed.

"If you think it's amazing," Flash said. "Check out its abilities. Once a turn, I can add 1 Spell Card from my Graveyard to my hand." A card came out from his Duel Disk as he took it and placed it in his hand. Now I activate it. Bringer of the Light. I choose to bring back Cybernetic Lancer." (A1700/D0/L4)

"Cool, but it's not enough to destroy my monster," Pinkie said.

"I know," Flash said. "Which is why I can use its second special ability. All monsters you control lose ATK equal to the Level of all monsters it points to." Flashforward Dragon turned around as a reflection of Cybernetic Lancer appeared on the mirror as it turned around and fired a blast of light from it at Balloon Animal Cerberus. (A1800/D3000/R5)

"Uh oh," Pinkie said.

"Next I activate its final ability," Flash said. "By banishing Magna Flash Dragon, it gains its special abilities." An image of Magna Flash Dragon appeared on the mirror. (A3500/LINK-3/Top, Bottom, Bottom-Right) "Now I attack." Flashforward Dragon leaped as it charged at the cerberus. A blade appeared from under the shield as it slashed the cerberus, destroying it and blowing Pinkie off her feet.

Flash: 1700 (winner)
Pinkie: 0

As the field and monsters disappeared Flash deactivated his Duel Disk and looked over at Pinkie to see she wasn't getting up.

"Pinkie!" Flash ran towards her hoping she wasn't hurt. But as he drew closer his worries were softened when he heard her laughing. "You’re okay."

"Are you kidding?" Pinkie said between fits of giggles. "I'm great, that was so much fun."

"It sure was," Flash turned to see Twilight and her friends coming up close. "So Flash, did you figure out why I wanted you to Duel Pinkie?"

"Yeah," he replied,"I think I do. You wanted to show me that Duelling isn't always about winning."

"That's right." Twilight said. "Duels can be intense and serious, and sometimes too much rides on them to enjoy. But if you only ever see a Duel like that, then your love for the game will disappear."

"I think that's what happened to me." Flash said taking out his deck. "When I was young I used to live in a neighbourhood where Duelling was about getting respect, not just fun. I used to lose so much that I lost my love of the game, but now since I got this deck I've been feeling a little better each time I Duel."

"Remember that feeling," Applejack said, "the next time a Duel becomes something other than having fun, remember what a real Duel is."

"I will," Flash said before turning to them, "thanks...I needed this."

"What are friends for?" Twilight said.

"Friends." Flash never had any friends before, but something about these girls made him smile at the thought. Duelling had given him the chance to make friends he'd never been able to have before, and that was something he was now thankful for.

Author's Note

And that's it. What do you think? I got the idea of monsters being similar to the original monster from Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS, which coincidentally debuted Link Monsters.

Turn 5: Rainbow Apples

Flash and Twilight were walking into school when a poster caught their eye.

"What's this?" Flash asked beginning to read it, "Class Rep Elections. Anyone interested in signing up for the chance to be your Class Rep, please inform your homeroom teacher."

Twilight continued, "Should you be elected it will be your responsibility to be the voice of your class. You will attend meetings and pass along any student suggestions."

"Well that sounds boring." Flash said.

"I don't know," Twilight replied, "I wouldn't mind trying out."

"I'd vote for you." Flash said.

"Aw thanks," Twilight said, "and I hope the rest of our friends will as well."

But unfortunately, when they got to class they found Twilight's prediction to be premature, as they found Rainbow Dash and Applejack literally butting heads.

"You’re going down AJ." Rainbow said.

"No," Applejack replied, "you are."

"In your dreams. You know I'm the best choice."

"Don't make me laugh."

"Girls," Twilight called grabbing their attention, "what is going on?"

"Nothing," Rainbow said, "just letting miss second place here know who’s going to be Class Rep."

"You been talking to yourself again miss second place?" Applejack replied.

"So you’re both going for Class Rep?" Twilight asked worriedly.

"Yeah" Rainbow said "when I'm Class Rep, I'll finally be able to get the school board to put some real focus on the sports department. Soccer, Basketball, Hokey and even Hop Scotch, our school will be the most athletic one there is."

"But not everyone likes playing sports." Fluttershy told her friend.

"Too right," Applejack said, "that's why when I'm Class Rep I'll have the back field converted into a vegetable patch. Then the students will be able to grow their own produce, which we can use to make healthier school lunches or sell at fund raisers."

"That sounds awfully muddy." Rarity said with a cringe.

"There's no way I'm letting you convert the sports field into a jungle." Rainbow almost yelled.

"Well there's no way I'm letting you turn the school into a bunch of sports obsessed meatheads." Applejack replied, her own voice beginning to rise.

"What'd you say?"

"Okay that's enough," their homeroom teacher said, "you'll have to let the voters decide what they want."

"Yeah," Flash said, "besides you guys might not even be picked since Twilight-" before he could finish, Twilight slapped her hands over his mouth.

"Since Twilight is what?" Applejack asked.

"NOTHING!" Twilight yelled. "I mean nothing...Flash just misspoke."

"If you say so." Applejack said.

When she and the rest of them turned away, Flash removed her hand and looked at her suspiciously. "What was that for? You gotta tell them you wanna sign up."

"No I don't," Twilight replied, "because I'm not signing up."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to compete against my friends. I'd rather just stay out of it."

"Even though you were really excited about it before?" Flash said.

"Just drop it." Twilight ordered him before turning to take her seat.

Over the next two days Applejack and Rainbow Dash's bids to be elected began.

Posters of the two lined the hallways, and they had been giving speeches during break and lunch.

"Vote for Applejack," the blond said, "vote for a healthier tomorrow that we will grow with our own two hands."

"If you want an awesome Class Rep then vote for Rainbow Dash," the rainbow haired girl said, "follow my lead and we'll show everyone how awesome we are."

"Is it just me," Flash said as he and the others watched, "or are their arguments surprisingly similar?"

"They both want what they think is best for the school," Twilight said, "but they’re not listening to what the people want."

"You seem to know a lot about politics deary." Rarity said.

"I've done a little studying about it." She replied.

"Maybe you should try-" Flash didn't get to finish as once again Twilight slapped her hand over his mouth, while giving him a look that could curdle milk.

The two continued their race for the reminder of the week, with each attempt to gain an upper hand more extravagant then the next. Applejack and her sister were putting up posters that read.

A vote of Rainbow
is a vote of Anarchy

While Rainbow Dash and her little helper Scootaloo, a thirteen year old girl with orange skin and purple hair, were putting up their own posters.

A vote of Rainbow
is a vote of Anarchy

Rainbow's posters had anarchy written all cool and edgy symbolising how great she fought it was.

"Anyone else think this is getting a little out of hand?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh we passed out of hand somewhere between the promise for a bowling alley and milkshake makers in the classrooms." Flash replied.

With everything that was happening it was inevitable that something would cause the two to snap soon, and that thing happened the day before the final votes. The friends walked into the cafeteria expecting to see the twos final big gambit, but they didn't expect to see them butting heads in the middle of everybody.

"I asked for that stage first." Applejack said.

"So?" Rainbow replied. "That doesn't mean you own it."

"Now what's going on?" Twilight asked Pinkie, who had been in the cafeteria before they had arrived.

"Rainbow Dash wanted to perform a wicked guitar song about voting for her, and Applejack was going to handing out apples and stuff to show everyone what taste stuff they could grow. The problem is they seemed to have booked the stage for the same time." Pinkie said, as she stuffed her face with popcorn.

"This has gone way to far." Twilight said.

"I'm really starting to get sick of your stupid stunts." Applejack said.

"My stupid stunts?" Rainbow replied. "What about yours? You honestly think someone would pick a load of disgusting fruit over high action sports?"

"Them's fighting words." Applejack said.

"You wanna go?" Rainbow asked.

"You know it." Applejack replied.

Everyone crowded around the two girls in the courtyard as they prepared to face off.

"What do they expect to achieve with a Duel?" Rarity asked.

"I get the feeling this is about more than just the election." Flash replied.

"They have always been really competitive with each other." Fluttershy said.

"Hopefully they can blow off some steam with this Duel." Twilight said.

"So," Flash wondered, "how good are those two?"

"They’re possibly the most skilled out of us all." Rarity said.

"Really?" Flash asked before looking back at them. If they were as good as Twilight and Pinkie, even better, then this looked to be a really good match.

Applejack affixed an orange Duel Disk to her arm as an orange energy blade formed. "You ready to go down?"

"In history maybe." Rainbow replied, attaching her light blue Duel Disk on her arm as a red energy blade formed.

"DUEL."

Rainbow: 4000
Applejack: 4000

"I'll take the first move," Rainbow said as she drew, "and summon Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind." A birdlike warrior appeared in a whirlwind. (A1300/D400/L4) "Next, since I control a Blackwing monster, I can Special Summon Blackwing - Bora the Spear." A man-bird hybrid appeared on the field carrying a spear. (A1700/D800/L4)

"Here it comes." Rarity said.

"Here what comes?" Flash asked.

"Now I tune my Level 4 Bora the Spear with Level 3 Gale the Whirlwind," Rainbow said as the two monsters took off into the sky. Gale the Whirlwind turned into three circles as Bora the Spear. "Spread your jet-black wings, and storm forth in tandem with the roaring thunder! A slash of lightning!" The monsters exploded in a beam of light. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

A man in blue bird armor appeared. It's got spikes on its right arm, while it carries a sword in the other. It has a metallic wing and a black wing coming out from its back. "Assault Blackwing - Raikiri the Rain Shower." (A2600/D2000/L7)

"Synchro Summon?" Flash said remembering his duel against Cold.

"Right," Twilight said. "Synchro Summoning is when you take a Tuner monster, like Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind, and tune it with non-Tuner monsters and summon a monster whose level is equal to the combined levels of the monsters."

"Wow," Flash said in amazement. Fusion, Synchro, Xyz and if you counted Link that was four different summoning styles to build your strategy around. Maybe that was where he was going wrong, though he wasn't concerned with winning or losing anymore he still couldn't get what that guy had said out of his head.

"Do you expect me to treat you like a real Duellist?" Cold Steel asked. "Without showing me anything worth watching."

Maybe that was his answer. He hadn't really changed his deck since he got it, other than the few cards he had gotten with his Duel Disk, perhaps these summoning styles were the answer. His mind returned to the Duel.

"Then I'll throw down three face downs and call it a turn." Rainbow Dash said.

"It's ma turn," Applejack said. "I draw. I summon Twilight Rose Knight." A knight in black rose themed armor appeared. (A1000/D1000/L3) "Next I activate its effect. It allows me to summon one Level 4 or lower Plant monster from my hand. I summon Baobaboon." A tree with a baboon face appeared on the field. (A1200/D1000/L3) "And since Baobaboon was Synchro Summoned, I get to draw one card and place one card from my hand on the top or bottom of mah deck." Applejack did so.

"Is she gonna-" Flash was about to ask.

"Synchro Summon?" Rarity asked. "Yes."

"I now tune my Level 3 Twilight Rose Knight with my Level 3 Baobaboon," Applejack said as Twilight Rose Knight turned into three balls of light which each carved a circle which Baobaboon jumped into. "Hunter of splendid thorns hidden in the sacred forest, with your whip of punishment in hand, come forth now!" They exploded in a burst of light. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

A woman in rose themed clothing appeared, surrounded by vines. "Splendid Rose." (A2200/D2000/L6)

"Next I equip her with Thorn of Delight," Applejack said as more vines appeared around Splendid Rose, this time connecting to her head. "Now she gains 400 ATK." (A2600/D2000/L6) "Next, I activate its effect. By banishing one Plant-Type monster from my graveyard, I can cut your monster's ATK in half." (A1300/D2000/L7) "Now I attack." Splendid Rose readied its whip as it was about to whip it at Raikiri.

"You activated my Trap Card." Rainbow said. "Tuner Power. Now by banishing one Tuner monster from my Graveyard, I can increase the ATK of Raikiri by the banished monster's ATK. I banish Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind." (A2600/D2000/L7) Raikiri ran and slashed at Splendid Rose before being hit by the whip, destroying both of them.

"Wow," Flash said, "Rainbow gave up her best monster to destroy Applejack's."

"Don't think you've seen the last of either of those two." Rarity said.

"I activate my second face down," Rainbow said. "Miracle's Wake. This card revives the Synchro Monster in my Graveyard that was destroyed in battle this turn. I bring back Raikiri." (A2600/D2000/L7)

"Well, I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card Trap Booster," Applejack said. "By discarding one card from my hand, I can activate a Trap Card from my hand. I choose Miracle's Wake." The woman came back to the field. (A2200/D2000/L6)

"Man I've never seen such an even Duel." Flash said.

"Those two have always been on the same level," Rarity said, "when one pulls ahead in skill the other quickly catches up and keeps it even."

"So who won the last time they Duelled?" Flash asked.

"During their last Duel it was Rainbow who won." Twilight said.

"But Applejack won the time before that." Fluttershy said.

"And Rainbow won before that." Rarity said.

"And Applejack before that." Pinkie said.

"And-"

"Okay I get it." Flash said.

"Like I said," Rarity told him, "those two might be friends but their also each others greatest rivals."

"I've lost count of the number of times they've Duelled each other," Fluttershy said.

Rainbow and Applejack both stared at each other for several seconds, only for their scrawls to turn to smiles before they burst out laughing.

"This is great." Rainbow said.

"Ya," Applejack replied, "we haven't had a Duel this close in forever."

"I almost forgot why we're doing this." Rainbow said. "Duelling you just got my head totally in the zone."

"Same here," Applejack said, "but I still intend to win."

"Me too." Rainbow said.

"LET'S GO!" They both yelled as their monsters launched themselves at each other, and just as they were about to strike.

RIIIINNNNGGGGG

The two monsters disappeared.

"Well that's the end of lunch." Twilight said getting up.

"Looks like they'll have to finish this later." Rarity said.

"Damn," Flash said, "I was hoping to see some more Xyz monsters."

Everyone left until only Rainbow and Applejack were left, both wide eyed and still in the action pose they had done when they ordered their monsters to attack. Eventually the two moved, by collapsing onto the ground and staring up at the skies. "So who won?" Rainbow asked.

"Well I had less life points." Applejack said.

"Only because you gave them up," Rainbow said, "I didn't damage you at all."

"Then I guess it's a draw partner." Applejack said.

"Looks like it," Rainbow replied.

"You know what," Applejack said, "maybe my idea to turn the field into a garden was a little extreme."

"No more than my plan to make the school run ten laps before each class."

The two laughed again as they sat up.

"You know Rainbow," Applejack said, "if I get elected I'm going to need a Co-Rep."

"Same here," Rainbow said, "no matter who gets elected we'll work together to make the school the most awesome on in the history of awesome schools."

"Deal." Applejack said as they shuck hands. "Now we both are pretty much guaranteed to win."

"WE LOST?!" They both yelled seeing only one piece of paper in each of the ballet boxes, compared to the mountain in the last one. Since they had each voted for each other, that meant not one other member of the student body had voted for them.

"Sorry girls," the teacher said "but that's just how politics works."

"I demand a recount!" Rainbow yelled.

"Who is this third candidate?" Applejack asked.

"I'm getting to that," the teacher said as she turned to the room, "everyone, I'd like to introduce your new Class Rep...Twilight Sparkle."

Everyone turned to look at the new Class Rep, who was currently looking shocked at the announcement. "But miss, I didn't even sign up."

"Well someone wrote your name down, with a PS that you'd like your ballet to not to have your name on it." she showed Twilight the sign-up sheet and instantly the teen recognised the hand writing.

She turned to a blue haired boy who was currently whistling nonchalantly. "Flash," she said, "what did you do?"

"Nothing," he replied, "I just wrote your name on the sign-up sheet, asked to have your ballet be anonymous and went around telling everyone that you were the unnamed candidate."

"Why would you do this?" Twilight asked.

"You really wanted to be Class Rep, and I saw how disappointed you were when you found out those two were competing. So I decided to do it for you."

"But I didn't want to compete against them." Twilight told him.

"Twilight," she turned to see Applejack and Rainbow Dash, "why didn't you tell us you wanted to be Class Rep?"

"If we had known we would have helped you." Rainbow said.

"But you two-"

"Even we can tell you'd be a million times better than us." Rainbow said.

"Yeah and don't forget," Flash said, "I only told people you were running. They're the ones who voted for you."

"I guess." Twilight said.

"Come on Sugarcub," Applejack said, "go make a speech." She pushed Twilight to the front of the class.

She stood there for a few seconds until finally she spoke. "So yeah thanks for the votes and, er, I promise to do everything in my power to improve school life for us, including a stronger focus on the sports department."

"YES!" Rainbow cheered.

"And I'm sure I can convince the school board to reform the empty space behind the school into a vegetable patch."

"YEEHA!" Applejack cheered.

Soon the all class was cheering.

"See," Flash said as she returned to his seat, "now aren't you glad I did it?"

"A little." Twilight said. "I am looking forwards to it, and I know you will to."

"What are you talking about?" he asked nervously.

"You’re my new Co-Rep," she replied, "you'll have to sit through all the meetings with me and write down any ideas I might have."

"What?" Flash almost yelled.

"Remember this the next time you think to go behind my back." She said with a smirk, and then laughed when she watched him slam his head on his desk.

Turn 7: Siblings

The news that Flash and Scootaloo were siblings spread like wild fire. Both of them were quite well known, so the fact that the previous loner of Eleventh Grade was the older brother to one of the coolest kids in Eighth Grade was something people talked about.

It had started when Applejack and Rarity had asked their little sisters Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell, who were best friends to Scootaloo, whether they knew anything about her having a brother. This lead to the two thirteen year olds asking about it to others, which lead to them asking around and before you knew it everyone knew about Flash and Scootaloo, who were the number one topic by Monday.

"Do you think we might have goofed?" Apple Bloom asked. Hearing everyone gossip about the siblings wasn't what they had intended.

"I'm sure it'll blow over." Sweetie Bell replied. They, their sisters, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were walking around the school courtyard listening to the rumours about the siblings.

"I don't know," Rarity told her sister, "this is pretty big news."

"Hey," they all turned to see Twilight and Scootaloo walking up to them.

"Hey," they all replied before Rarity asked, "so where's Flash?" She was looking at Scootaloo.

"He was already gone by the time I woke up."

"Wait," Rainbow Dash said, "don't you two walk to school together?"

"No" Scootaloo said, "all my classes start an hour after his, so he just wakes me up before leaving for school" she explained though she looked a little down. This did not go unnoticed by the others.

When the bell rang, everyone headed to their classes. The girls found Flash at his locker getting his book.

"Hey Flash," Rainbow Dash said marching up to him, "what's the deal with you and Scoot?"

"She's my sister," he replied, "what else is there to it?"

"It's more than that," Rarity said, "how come you never told us about her?"

"You never asked." he replied.

"Than how come we've never seen the two of you together before?" Applejack asked.

"Because we're never together outside our house." Flash replied.

"So you just ignore her?" Rainbow said.

"Pretty much." Flash said before he closed his locker and headed off to his next class.

"I can't believe that guy." Rainbow said.

"There has to be more to this," Twilight said, "we know Flash."

"To be fair we ain't known him that long." Applejack said.

"We know he's not the kind of guy to purposely hurt someone, especially his sister." Twilight replied.

"We need to find a way for the two other them to be together in one place," Rarity said, "than we can see what the problem is and try and fix it."

"Should we really be butting into Flash and Scootaloo's personal lives?" Fluttershy asked.

"Flash is our friend," Rainbow assured her, "and so is Scootaloo. Helping them sort out their problems is what friends do."

"And you don't mind possibly losing your biggest fan to her brother?" Applejack asked.

"Let's not get to ahead of ourselves." Rainbow said.

"But the question is," Rarity said, "how do we get the two together? We need something fun and easy to do together."

"I know," Pinkie said waving her arms around, "how about a carnival."

"Oh yeah," Rainbow said, "isn't there supposed to be one this weekend?"

"That's perfect," Rarity said, "no one can remain grumpy at a carnival. We go, put the two on a few rides, get them to play a though games and wallah."

"Good idea," Twilight said, "I'll get Flash to go."

"And I'll get Apple Bloom to invite Scootaloo." Applejack said.

"Then it's decided." Rarity cheered followed by the rest of the girls.

For the rest of that week the girls worked on their plan to get Flash and Scootaloo to do a little sibling bonding. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell were all for helping, especially if it involved going to a carnival, and promised to invite Scootaloo to the event.

Flash had been harder to persuade. "What is it again?" He asked when Twilight told him about it.

"A carnival," Twilight said, "haven't you ever been to one?"

"No." Flash just said.

"Well that changes this weekend." Twilight said.

"I don't know." Flash replied.

"Please." Twilight asked using her best puppy dog expression, something she had never tried before, until he finally gave in.

"Fine," Flash lamented, "just promise to never use that again."

"We'll see." Twilight said before skipping away.

That Saturday Flash found himself on the train with Twilight and Spike heading to the area the carnival was being held, totally unaware that his sister and her friends were in the next car. Applejack and Rarity were with them as they looked over everything taking place in the carnival.

"So if we get them on the ghost train we might be able to get a scared kid response from Scootaloo." Rarity explained.

"I don't see her as the kind of kid that gets scared." Applejack replied.

"Oh she'll be scared," Rarity said, "I'll make sure of it."

"You’re taking a lot of interest in getting these two closer," Applejack said, "any particulars why?"

"It's just," Rarity seemed to struggle with the words, "I think about how close me and my sister are now. But it wasn't always this way."

"I remember," Applejack said, "you never got along."

"Until you showed me what being a sister really meant," Rarity said, "I just want to show the same support you showed me."

"And I know Flash and Scootaloo will appreciate it." Applejack said.

"This is awesome!" Spike almost yelled looking around the carnival. It was like an amusement park, with more rides then they could count, loads of games and vending booths selling an assortment of snacks.

"It is impressive." Flash said.

"So what do we go on first?" Spike asked.

"Just hold on," Twilight said, "we need to wait for the others to arrive."

"Others?" Flash asked, "This is the first I'm hearing of this."

"Did I forget to mention that?" Twilight replied feigning ignorance.

"Howdy partners." they all turned to see Applejack, Rarity, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell and...Flash's eyes widened seeing his sister coming up, Scootaloo doing the same.

"What is she/he doing here?" the siblings said pointing at each other.

Flash turned to Twilight not looking happy. "What?" she said, "Not my fault Applejack and Rarity brought their little sisters. And it's not my fault they asked Scootaloo here."

"You guys set me up." Flash said.

"Don't be so dramatic." they turned to see Rainbow, Pinkie and Fluttershy had also arrived.

"HEY!" Pinkie screamed. "Ready for fun?"

"We sure are." Applejack replied.

"Then let's go." Rarity said. leading them into the park.

Over the next few hours they had tones of fun. They went on several rides, played several fun games and enjoyed scarfing down anything the vendors sold. "These are great." Spike said as he munched on another hotdog.

"Try the cotton candy." Sweetie Bell said offering it to him. He ripped off a chunk and tossed it in his mouth.

"Nice." Spike said.

"This is going pretty well don't you think." Twilight said before snacking on her burger.

"Not exactly." Rarity said looking over at the whole reason they had even come in the first place. Flash was sitting on a bench eating a hotdog while Scootaloo ate hers three benches away. "They haven't spoken two words to each other."

"This is going to be harder than we thought." Twilight said.

"I might have an idea," Fluttershy said quietly, "maybe if Flash did something nice for her. Scootaloo will want to spend more time with him."

"It's a shot." Rarity said.

They headed to the games area and found a ring toss game where Twilight saw Scootaloo eye up a stuffed lion. "Hey Flash," she caught his attention, "why don't you try winning that lion for her." She pointed at the game.

Flash would have objected, but he saw Twilight was about to use the puppy eyes again, and stepped over to the booth and bought three rings. Taking them in his hands he quickly threw them with barely a glance, only for one to land not only on the lion's podium but one also landed on the podiums for a stuffed cat and dog.

"We have a winner!" The game manager yelled taking the toys down and handing them to Flash.

As he turned around Flash saw Twilight and the others all standing slack jawed. "How?" was all Twilight could say.

Flash moved over to Scootaloo, the only one not shocked, and her friends and handed them the stuffed toys. "Here." He gave Sweetie Bell the cat and Apple Bloom the dog.

"Er, thanks." The girls said.

"Don't mention it," Flash said as he turned to his sister and held out the lion she had been eyeing, "here."

Scootaloo didn't look up at him as she took the toy, "Whatever." She said.

"How about a ‘thanks’." Flash said.

"Maybe if you hadn't had to be blackmailed into doing it." she replied her voice raising.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I know you don't want to be around me." Scootaloo said.

Rarity chose this moment to intervene, "Why don't we calm down and go find another ride to go on?"

"I'm not going anywhere with him." Scootaloo said.

"That's fine with me." Flash replied.

"Fine."

"FINE!" They both yelled before turning around and stomping off in opposite directions.

"Wait!" Rarity called out trying to stop them. "This isn't what was supposed to happen."

"Things are worse than we thought between those two." Twilight said.

"We need to find out what it is." Applejack said.

They found Scootaloo sitting on a bench near a pond tossing stones into the water.

"You okay kiddo?" Rainbow asked sitting next to her.

"I'm fine," Scootaloo said though they could hear she was upset, "it's the jerk who has the problem."

"You don't mean that," Twilight said "I'm sure whatever's going on between you two, we can fix."

"I don't want things fixed." Scootaloo almost yelled throwing a massive stone in the water, before she let out a sigh. "I want them back as they were before."

Everyone wondered what she meant but then she continued. "A long time ago me and my brother were as close as you guys and your siblings."

Me and Flash grew up in another city far away. In that city Duelling was just as popular as it was here, and if you were the best at Duelling than you had an easy life. But for the likes of me and Flash, life was hard.

"Attack." A ten year old Flash slammed into the ground as his life points hit zero. "Man what a loser," his opponent said laughing along with the rest of his friends, "let's get out of here." And they left.

"Flash," a six year old Scootaloo called rushing over to her brother, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine Scoots," Flash replied getting up, "I lost again but next time I'll show them."

"Even when he lost Flash never gave up," Scootaloo explained, "and when Gramps told us we were moving here I was so excited. I thought we'd get to make new friends and enjoy Duelling...until."

"Flash." Scootaloo called seeing her brother about to leave the apartment, the day after they had moved in. "Where you going?"

"Nowhere." Flash said not stopping or turning around.

"Can I come?"

"NO!" Flash yelled making her flinch. "Let's get one thing straight. Outside this apartment you don't know me, you don't talk to me, you don't even acknowledge I exist, okay. As far as you know, you don't have a brother." And with that he walked out the apartment, leaving a crying Scootaloo behind.

"That's so sad," Fluttershy said almost crying, "why would Flash say such mean things?"

"I don't know," Rarity said, "but I intend to find out.”

Flash was laying on the bank of a riverside, watching the boats float by. Suddenly he found himself in shade, forcing him to look up and see a not very happy Rarity. "What now?" He asked.

"You and I are going to Duel." Rarity said seriously.

The others found Flash and Rarity about to face off in an empty spot of the park.

As Flash attached his Duel Disk he wondered what she expected to learn from Duelling him, only for a memory to suddenly strike him.

"In the heat of battle, a Duellist's true character is revealed," Cold said "and depending on your actions, your insecurities become crystal clear to your opponent."

So that was it. She was trying to learn something about him while Duelling, well it wouldn't work. He'd just beat her before she could figure something out.

"Hope your ready Flash." Rarity said attaching a white Duel Disk to her arm as a purple blade formed.

"Bring it on." Flash replied activating his Duel Disk.

"DUEL!"

Flash: 4000
Rarity: 4000

"I'll start things off," Flash said. "I draw. I now summon Cybernetic Lancer." (A1700/D0/L4) "I end my turn with two face downs."

"It's my turn," Rarity said. "I draw. Now I activate Gem-Overlay. With this, if I have two monsters in my hand with the same level, I can use them for an Xyz Summon."

"You can what?" Flash asked in surprise.

"That's right," Rarity said. "I overlay Gem-Knight Garnet with Gem-Knight Tourmaline." Two knights appeared, one in red armor and one in yellow armor, as they turned into lights and are sucked into a vortex. "Knight of pearls so valuable, appear now for their value." The vortex exploded. "I XYZ SUMMON."

A knight appeared, this time in pink armor and is twice the size of the other two. "Gem-Knight Pearl." (A2600/D1900/R4)

"I activate my face-down," Flash said. "Power Draw. Since you Special Summoned a monster, I get to draw one card for every Level or Rank your monster has." Flash drew three cards.

"Now I attack with Gem-Knight Pearl," Rarity said. The warrior charged as it prepared a punch.

"I activate my face down," Flash said. "Negate Attack. Now your attack is negated and your Battle Phase ends. Also since I activated a Trap Card, I can summon this card from my hand. Magna Dragon Trapper." A dragon appeared, this time appearing to be in a hole. (A1700/D1000/L4)

"I end my turn with two face downs," Rarity said.

"It's my turn," Flash said. "Now I draw. I summon Magna Dragon Raider." (A300/D200/L1) "Now since I summoned Magna Dragon Raider, I can summon another LIGHT monster from my hand. I summon Magna Dragon Fighter." (A1500/D1200/L4) "I now create my ultimate circuit. The summoning requirements are two LIGHT monsters. I set Magna Dragon Trapper and Magna Dragon Raider. I LINK SUMMON."

"Magna Champion Gladio." (2100/LINK-2/Bottom-Left, Bottom-Right)

"Now thanks to Gladio's effect, All monsters it points to gain 800 ATK." (A2500/D0/L4) (A2300/D1200/L4) "And that's not all. Since Magna Dragon Trapper was used for a Link Summon, I can target two monsters and have their attack points swapped. I choose Pearl and Gladio." (2600/LINK-2/Bottom-Left, Bottom-Right) (A2100/D1900/R4) "Now I attack," Gladio pulled out his sword as it charged at Pearl, ready to slash it in half.

"I activate my face-down," Rarity said. "Gem-Guard. Now my monster cannot be destroyed by battle this turn."

Flash: 4000
Rarity: 3500

"Well then, I attack with my other monsters," Flash said. His two other monsters charged at Pearl, smashing into it.

Flash: 4000
Rarity: 2900

"I end my turn," Flash said. (2100/LINK-2/Bottom-Left, Bottom-Right) (A2600/D1900/R4)

"My turn," Rarity said. "Now my Pearl attacks Gladio." Pearl charged forward and punched Gladio, destroying it instantly.

Flash: 3500
Rarity: 2900

"Next I activate my face down," Rarity said. "Gem-Soul. Since my Gem-Knight attacked, I can increase its ATK by half the ATK of the monster it destroyed and let it attack again." (A3650/D1900/R4) Pearl charged again, this time punching Magna Dragon Fighter, destroying it instantly and sending Flash flying onto his back.

Flash: 2150
Rarity: 2900

"That had to hurt," Apple Bloom said, seeing the boy getting thrown back.

Scootaloo was also worried, "Flash is going to lose."

"Don't say that." Twilight said.

"It's true." the young girl replied. This did not go unnoticed by the Duellists.

"You hear that Flash," Rarity said, "your own sister doesn't believe you can win, and who could blame her?" she said as she watched Flash get to his feet. "After being abandoned like what you did to her, it would be a miracle if she did believe you had a chance."

"Shut up." Flash said in a near whisper.

"I'm just saying what we're all thinking," Rarity replied, "just because you don't care about your sister it doesn't give you the right to cut her out of your life."

"OF COURSE I CARE ABOUT HER!" Flash yelled, "THAT'S WHY I HAD TO STAY AWAY FROM HER!" He slapped his hands over his mouth after realising what he had said.

Everyone was silent after hearing Flash's declaration.

"I don't get it," Rainbow said, "if you care about her why would you not want to be around her."

Flash sighed knowing he would have to come clean. "I don't know how much about our past Scootaloo told you, but I'm positive it isn't the full story."

<Flashback

Scootaloo and I lived in a city where Duelling wasn't about having fun, it was about survival. If you won you got by pretty easily, but if you lost you were at the bottom of the barrel...like me.

"You lost again," Flash's opponent said after beating him, "now give it up."

"Okay," Flash said taking a card from his deck and handing it over

"Man what a loser," his opponent said laughing along with the rest of his friends, "let's get out of here." And they left.

If you lost you'd be forced to give up your best cards or else. I knew if I didn't they'd go after Scootaloo, so I gave in.

"Flash," he turned to see a six year old Scootaloo rushing over to him, "are you okay?"

I didn't want Scootaloo to see me like that, so I'd always put on a happy face.

"I'm fine Scoots," he replied getting up, "I lost again but next time I'll show them."

But I never did. Things stayed like that until one day when Gramps told us we were moving. I was so happy, a new life in a new place away from the bullies, where I could enjoy Duelling...but then a thought occurred to me. What if this new place was like the old one? What if I'd be just as much as a loser here as there? And what if people start picking on Scootaloo because of me? I realised there was only one way to keep her safe

Flash went to leave the apartment they had just moved into, when he heard. "Flash," Scootaloo called "where you going?"

"Nowhere." Flash said not wanting her to follow.

"Can I come?"

"NO!" Flash yelled before he could think, he didn't want his sister to be known as the loser’s little sister...so. "Let's get one thing straight. Outside this apartment you don't know me, you don't talk to me, you don't even acknowledge I exist, okay. As far as you know, you don't have a brother." And with that he walked out the apartment, when closing the door he broke out in tears. "I'm sorry Scoots, but it's for the best."

"Making sure no one knew we were related was the only way to make sure Scootaloo was safe from being bullied," Flash said, "I wasn't proud of it but it worked."

"So all this time you've been looking out for her." Rarity realised.

"At first I kept us at a distance, but made sure she was okay. If anything happened I would have stepped in, but nothing did, so I decided to keep it that way."

Scootaloo couldn't believe what she was hearing. He had been protecting her all this time and she didn't even know it.

"So that's it," Rarity said, "I must say I wasn't expecting that. But Flash, just look around, things aren’t the same as they were. You need to let go of the past, and look towards the future...a future where you and your sister are together like before."

"But what if it's too late?" Flash asked.

"It's never too late with family," Rarity said, "and you can start right here. Your sister is watching, so show her something she's never seen, and win this Duel."

Flash looked over at his sister, who had new light in her eyes. "Hey Flash," she called, "win this."

Flash couldn't help breaking out in a smile as he nodded. "Okay," he said, "let's do this. I activate the Trap Neo Starburst Draw. Since a LIGHT monster with 2000 or less ATK was destroyed by battle, I get to draw cards for each of its Levels." Flash drew four cards.

"I'll end my turn there," Rarity said.

"It's my turn," Flash said. "I draw. Now I activate Bringer of the Light. This spell allows me to bring back Gladio." (2100/LINK-2/Bottom-Left, Bottom Right) "I now use Gladio and Cybernetic Lancer for a Link Summon. I NOW LINK SUMMON."

"Flashforward Dragon." (2500/LINK-3/Top, Bottom, Bottom-Right)

"Now I use my monster's effect to add Bringer of the Light from my Graveyard," Flash said as he added the card to his hand. "Next I activate Bringer of the Light. With this, I bring back Cybernetic Lancer." His knight came back. (A1700/D0/L4) Rarity smiled, knowing what comes next, as Gem-Knight Pearl's ATK was reduced. (A1400/D1900/R4) "Next I activate Flashforward Dragon's other ability. By banishing Magna Flash Dragon from my Extra Deck, it gains its special abilities." (3500/LINK-3/Top, Bottom, Bottom-Right) "Now I attack with Flashforward Dragon." The dragon charged forward as it slashed Pearl, destroying it instantly.

Flash: 2150
Rarity: 800

"Don't forget about its granted ability," Flash said. Flashforward Dragon slashed at Rarity, ending the duel.

Flash 2150 (winner)
Rarity: 0

"Flash won!" Scootaloo cheered jumping around. "That was awesome?"

"It sure was." Twilight said as she smiled.

Later on, Flash and Scootaloo were at the river bank.

The two sat in silence both trying to figure out what to say to the other. "So," Flash finally said, "this as awkward for you as it is me?"

"Yeap," Scootaloo replied.

"Listen Scootaloo," Flash said, "I'm sorry about how things have been with us over the last few years, but I only did it to-"

"I know," Scootaloo interrupted, "and I forgive you. Just promise it stops now." She placed her head on his shoulder.

Flash smiled and placed his head on hers, "Promise."

The others were looking around for the siblings as they hadn't seen them in a while.

"Anything?" Rainbow asked.

"No," Rarity said.

"Nothing," Applejack said.

Pinkie shuck her head and turned to Fluttershy, "How about you?"

She shuck her head.

"Found them!" Twilight said running up to them.

"Where are they?" Rarity asked. "Were they okay?"

"They were more than okay," Twilight said smiling. She held up her phone showing them a picture, "And no more puppy dog eyes for me."

They all looked at the picture and almost burst out laughing. It showed Flash and Scootaloo asleep on the river bank, Scootaloo curled up in Flash's arms with her new lion in her grasp. The two together looked adorable and no doubt if anyone sees it they wouldn't be coming out ridicule free.