It's Your Move! Friendship is Trading Cards!

Chapter 1

“Okay, I’ve just got one more little question for you,” Adrian said as everyone took a seat on the large leather couch in front of Maria’s enormous flat screen TV. “Why the Hell are we watching this crap?”

“For the last time,” Adam replied, hitting the “play” button. “It’s Friday night, which means My Little Pony Night, like we agreed. And as we’ve all told you before, you might even like it if you’d stop bitching about it.”

“How on Earth did you convince him to join us again?” Shawn whispered to Kali after ensuring that Adrian was out of earshot.

“Easy! I just promised him I’d…” Shawn’s eyes widened and he went red as Adrian’s companion whispered into his ear.

“Really? A whole cake?”

“Yep! His favorite icing and everything.”

“I guess it’s true what they say; the ways to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”

“Guys, hush up,” Adam hissed from across the couch. “It’s starting.”

“What episode is this again?” Zoe asked as Adam’s arm snaked around her.

“Let’s see…” Shawn mused as he studied the back of the DVD case. “Looks like we’re on “Return of Harmony”. Wow, I can’t believe we’re on Season Two already.” There was a murmur of agreement as the episode began. Unfortunately, they weren’t 15 seconds into the episode before Adrian chose to voice his displeasure.

“This is so fucking lame!” The collective response was a chorus of “Shhs” from around the couch.

“Shut up or I won’t give you that rematch you want so badly!” Adam hissed, startling Zoe. “Sorry,” he added, giving her a hug.

“Fine…” Adrian muttered as he relented, crossing his arms whilst reclining against the couch.

“That’s a good boy,” Kali whispered, cuddling up beside him.

35 minutes later…

“Wow. Discord really did a number on ‘em,” Shawn commented as the villain mocked the protagonist’s efforts to prevail.

“Yeah, he does that,” Adam agreed. “Did you see how relentless he was? Kinda different for a kid’s TV show, don’t you think?”

“I think that’s one of the reasons why it’s so good,” Maria added. “It doesn’t pander and it keeps the clichés to a minimum, relatively speaking.”

“Ssh!” Adrian hissed, much to everyone’s surprise. He shrugged as everyone momentarily stared at him. “I...I just hate it when people talk during the movie.” Sure, that’s clearly the case here, Adam thought with a grin. No one spoke a word until it appeared that all hope was lost for Twilight Sparkle and her thoroughly confused entourage.

“Uh oh, looks like they’re screwed,” Shawn whispered as Discord mocked them. “Bet they could use a hand….er, hoof. Too bad I wasn’t there. Nitro Warrior would’ve cooked ‘im for sure!”

“You take children’s trading cards to a whole new level,” Maria whispered, rolling her eyes. “You know that, right?”

“I’m well aware.” Shawn assured her.

“Good. Just making sure.”

“Y’know, you might be onto something,” Adam exclaimed, pausing the episode and eliciting a “Hey” from Adrian. “I agree that there are some cards that would help in this situation but Nitro Warrior? Come on! What the Hell could he do?”

“Um, run right over him with 2800 Attack Points or 3800 if I activated a Spell Card?”

“Unless Discord is protected by his Field Spell.” Adam replied.

“Field Spell?”

“Here we go,” Maria said with an exasperated sigh as Kali face-palmed.

“Did you not see what he did to Ponyville? He’s clearly adapted the world to suit him, thereby giving him home-field advantage, besides the fact that he is obviously a creature of Chaos and chances are that that would give him a destructive effect, eliminating Nitro Warrior with one snap of his fingers...claws.”

“Okay, I’ll concede to that,” Shawn admitted. “Then…how about Turbo Warrior? He can’t be targeted and everyone knows that the Chaos cards always target with their effects.”

“That’s true but I’m pretty sure Discord would be higher than Level Six and most likely has enough Attack Points to turn Turbo Warrior into bright-red cupcakes.”

“Okay then smart guy, if you’re such an expert, what would you recommend to assist the ponies in their hour of need?” Shawn demanded. Adam’s answer was assertive, without hesitation, and entirely predictable.

“Judgment Dragon.”

“You’re kidding.”

“What? J.D would completely wipe him out.”

“It would wipe everything out, genius! You’d be wrecking everything, not to mention the Mane Six and their home! Sorry man but wholesale destruction just ain’t gonna cut it this time.”

“Oh yeah? I bet J.D would run right over him with his 3000 Attack Points!”

“Oh yeah? What if you don’t have enough Life Points or he has an effect that stops you?”

“Still more useful than freakin’ Turbo Warrior!”

“You’re both out of your minds!” Adrian exclaimed. “Evolzar Laggia would stop any of those from even hitting the field, including that evil dragon-pony-thing!”

“Yes, and after detaching both Xyz Materials to use one stupid effect, he would be powerless and with only 2300 ATK, he’s not even a half-decent beatstick!” Shawn shot back.

As the argument raged, a change pertaining to their entertainment began to transpire. Regrettably, the healthy amount of quarreling taking place ensured that such changes went completely unnoticed until the usually quiet, though observant Zoe saw what was happening.

“Um…guys?” She perked up, trying unsuccessfully to get through to her argumentative companions. “Is he…supposed to be doing that?” It was clear that no one had noticed Discord staring directly at them as he grinned malevolently and slowly scratched his chin.

“Trouble in paradise, my dear?”

Zoe’s eyes widened as the dragon-pony hybrid spoke directly to her as if he were simply looking at her through a window. His tone was a narcissistic drawl mixed with amusement and Zoe wasn’t sure if she should be amazed or terrified.

“But…you’re not supposed to…” Zoe gulped. “Um…guys?”

“What!?” the argumentative collective demanded. There was a pause as everyone stared back at Discord.

“I don’t suppose there’s a reason why Discord’s talking to us through your TV,” Shawn commented, looking at Maria.

“Y’know, I can’t but feel like I know where this is going…” Adam mused just as Discord laughed and snapped his fingers. There was a bright flash as light engulfed the room amid shouts of confusion and worry. Immediately after, the light flared once more and the room was suddenly vacant.