As the Friendship Express pulled into the train station at the Crystal Empire, Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie ran off, Spike holding onto Twilight’s back so he wouldn’t be left behind.
“Come on girls! We don’t have much time to lose-” Twilight began, before stopping when she saw the remains of Crow lodged into the wall of the Crystal Empire Train Station.
“This is awful…!” Rarity said, covering her mouth with her hoof, feeling like she was going to puke.
“Wow, looks like we better play our cards right.” Pinkie said. “Say, I think Red told me that was a popular song where he was from. Now how did it go again…?”
“Pinkie!” Twilight shouted. “We don’t have time for this! Come one! We have to get to the castle! That’s got to be where Ernesh is waiting for us!” Pinkie let out a sigh before running to catch up with Twilight and Rarity.
As Twilight and her friends ran towards the Crystal Castle, they saw a human in a yellow jacket standing in front of the door, prohibiting their entry. “Why hello ladies.” He said. “Lovely day out, isn’t it?”
“YOU!” Pinkie shouted. “Wait, who are you?”
“My name is Daichi Misawa.” He said. “Can I interest any of you fine ladies in a Duel?”
“I will!” Rarity said, stepping forward.
“What!?” Twilight exclaimed, throwing Spike off her back in the process. “Rarity, don’t you know what will happen if you lose!?”
“I do, but this ruffian must simply be dealt with darling. Besides, it’s what Applejack would have wanted.”
“Applejack, you say?” Daichi asked. “Come to think of it, I remember defeating an Applejack as of late.”
“WHAT!?” Pinkie shouted.
“Oh yes, and I also defeated a Fluttershy when I defeated Applejack.” He added. “And I must say, she was quite upset to see Applejack lose. A real shame they won’t be here to see you ladies lose to me as well.”
“NOPONY MESSES WITH FLUTTERSHY AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she waved her hoof in front of her, activating her Duel Disk.
“Yes, and I must beat you senseless for what you have done to Applejack!” Rarity said, activating her Duel Disk as well. “Twilight, go on without us! Pinkie and I shall deal with this miscreant!”
“What? But I can’t just-” Twilight began to protest, before Rarity put her hoof over Twilight’s mouth.
“Twilight, darling, please, leave us to it.”
“Yeah Twilight, Rarity’s got a point.” Spike said as he jumped back onto Twilight’s back. “They’ll catch up with us, we don’t have Red or Rainbow with us, so we need you to Duel Ernesh!”
“Oh, alright. Good luck you two!” Twilight said as she teleported herself and Spike behind Daichi and running into the Crystal Castle.
“Now then, shall we begin?” Daichi asked, activating his Duel Disk.
DUEL
Rarity 8000 LP
Hand: 5
Pinkie 8000 LP
Hand: 5
Daichi 8000 LP
Hand: 5
“I’m normally an advocate for ladies first, but seeing as this is a three on one Duel against me, I’ll take the first move!” Daichi shouted. “To begin this Duel, I Normal Summon my Alpha the Magnet Warrior in Defence Position!”
(Level 4, 1400 ATK 1700 DEF)
“With that, I end my turn.”
“My turn!” Pinkie shouted as she waved her hoof in front of her, causing her hand to materialize.
Rarity 8000 LP
Hand: 5
Pinkie 8000 LP
Hand: 5
Daichi 8000 LP
Hand: 4
“Aw, I don’t have anything, I’ll set 5 cards and end my turn…” Pinkie said, as five giant cards materialized in front of her.
“Well then, it is my turn!” Rarity shouted.
Rarity 8000 LP
Hand: 5
Pinkie 8000 LP
Hand: 0
Daichi 8000 LP
Hand: 4
“Well then, it looks like I will be the only one with a proper opening turn.” Rarity said. “To begin, when the opponent controls a monster while I control no monsters, I can Special Summon Cyber Dragon from my hand!”
(Level 5, 2100 ATK 1600 DEF)
“And to follow up, I summon the Tuner Monster, Vylon Sphere!”
(Level 1, 400 ATK/DEF)
“Tuner monster?” Daichi asked. “How is that different from a non Tuner monster?”
“Because a Tuner monster can be used for a Synchro Summon, like this!” Rarity exclaimed. “I’m Tuning my Level 3 Vylon Cube to my Level 5 Cyber Dragon! When knights from our two worlds meet...well, to be honest, I couldn’t think of a full chant yet, but Synchro Summon! Show us your beauty! Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth!”
(Level 6, 2600 ATK 800 DEF)
“I do believe that shall suffice for now darling, your turn.”
“A Synchro Monster...Fascinating, I draw!” Daichi shouted.
Rarity 8000 LP
Hand: 3
Pinkie 8000 LP
Hand: 0
Daichi 8000 LP
Hand: 5
“So I see that Synchro Monsters are a new type of monster summoned from the Fusion Deck…” Daichi said, looking over the cards in his hand. “But your Synchro Monster doesn’t have an effect! I activate my Tribute to the Doomed! By discarding my Block Dragon, I’ll destroy your Gaia Knight!” As Daichi slid his card into the Graveyard slot of his Duel Disk, the hands of various mummies emerged from a portal beneath Rarity’s monster as they attempted to drag it into the pit with them.
“Ooh! I’ve got just the Trap Card for this!” Pinkie excitedly shouted. “I activate Magic Drain! Your Spell Card is negated! But don’t worry! If you discard a Spell Card, you’ll negate my effect that negates your effect!”
“Very well then.” Daichi said as the portal beneath Rarity’s monster vanished, disembodying the hands reaching from out of it as it closed. “But that only means the rest of my Spells are even more important! Such as the Graceful Charity Spell Card! This allows me to draw three cards from my deck, then discard two from my hand. The cards I’ll send off to the Graveyard are Beta and Gamma the Magnet Warriors, although they won’t remain there for long! I activate my Dark Factory of Mass Production! This will return two Normal Monsters from my Graveyard to my hand! Return, Beta and Gamma!”
“Are you going for a Fusion!?” Pinkie asked. “You must be going for a Fusion with all those low level non Tuner monsters!”
“Well, close, but not quite! I'll tribute Alpha, Beta, and Gamma the Magnet Warriors! Opposites will attract and bring about the ultimate magnetic force! Merge together! Valkyrion, the Magna Warrior!”
(Level 8, 3500 ATK 3850 DEF)
“Battle Phase! Valkyrion, attack Miss Pinkie Pie directly!”
“Oh! I've also got just the Trap for this situation too!” Pinkie said. “I activate Defense Draw! This reduces battle damage to 0 and lets me draw a card!” Valkyrion slashed right through Pinkie, but its sword passed right through her, inflicting no damage.
“Drat! Then I'll activate my Future Fusion Continuous Spell!” Daichi shouted as he slid the card into his Duel Disk. “This card will become relevant next turn. I end my turn.”
“During the End Phase, I activate my three Jar of Greed!” Pinkie said as her cards raised to reveal themselves. “They each let me draw one card! And with the Draw I get for my Draw Phase, it's almost like I have my opening hand again! Oh, and speaking of which, I draw!”
Rarity 8000 LP
Hand: 3
Pinkie 8000 LP
Hand: 5
Daichi 8000 LP
Hand: 0
“Yay! Now I can show you guys my new deck!” Pinkie said. “Now I'll Banish three cards from the top of my deck facedown and invite you all to Toon Kingdom!” As Pinkie tapped the hologram card in front of her, a giant book appeared behind her, opening itself to reveal a large castle inside the pages. “Don’t tell Red, but now I Summon my Black Stone of Legend!”
(Level 1, 0 ATK/DEF)
“Um, Pinkie, darling, isn't that one of Red's cards for his Red-Eyes deck?” Rarity asked.
“Oh Rarity! I'm not a total copycat like you! I have my own Red-Eyes monster to Summon with The Black Stone of Legend! Speaking of which, I tribute The Black Stone of Legend to Special Summon Red-Eyes Toon Dragon from my deck!” Pinkie's stone dissolved into particles of light as Toon Kingdom behind her closed itself and began shaking about violently, before a black cartoon dragon with bright red eyes burst out from it.
(Level 7, 2400 ATK 2000 DEF)
********************
“Fuck...Is this how I’m going to die?” Red thought to himself, shivering in a small alcove. “All alone, in another world populated entirely by talking ponies? Wait, why do I feel suddenly...insulted? It’s almost as if somebody’s stolen away the dignity of my Red-Eyes...” Red thought to himself for a second before getting up and shaking the snow off himself. “Fuck it, if I sit here and don’t move, I’m going to die, no questions asked, but if I can take this insult and use it to motivate myself, I just might find the Empire again…”
********************
“I activate the effect of my Red-Eyes Toon Dragon!” Pinkie shouted. “Once per turn, I can Special Summon a Toon Monster from my hand, ignoring the summoning conditions! So try this on for size! Toon Dark Magician!”
(Level 7, 2500 ATK 2100 DEF)
“I’m not done yet! I activate the effect of Toon Dark Magician!” Pinkie shouted. “Once per turn, I can discard a Toon card to Special Summon a Toon from my deck, ignoring the Summoning conditions! Come on out! Toon Dark Magician Girl!” Pinkie’s magician took its helmet off and tapped it with its rod, prompting her new monster to emerge from it, defying all known laws of physical matter.
(Level 6, 2000 ATK 1700 DEF)
“Swarm the field with all the cartoons you want!” Daichi shouted from across the field. “They won’t stand a chance with my Magnet Warrior in the way of my Life Points!”
“Oh I know that, silly!” Pinkie said. “But get this! If I control a Toon monster, but you don’t, my Toons can attack you directly! And unlike the rest of my Toons, Toon Dark Magician Girl can attack the turn she’s Summoned!”
“What was that!?”
“Toon Dark Magician Girl! Direct Attack!” Pinkie’s Toon Magician fired a blast of magic from its scepter that as it was about to collide with Valkyrion, curved around Daichi’s monster, striking him in the face as if it were being controlled by Discord.
Daichi 8000 -> 6000 LP
“Alright! You go girl!” Pinkie shouted as her monster flew close enough to give her a high five. “I end my turn!”
“It’s my turn!” Rarity shouted. “I draw~!”
Rarity 8000 LP
Hand: 4
Pinkie 8000 LP
Hand: 1
Daichi 6000 LP
Hand: 0
“Oh this is just lovely.” Rarity said, looking at her hand. “First, I activate the Equip Spell Megamorph! It may not be an accessory, but I give it to Gaia Knight regardless!”
(Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth 2600 -> 1300 ATK)
“Um, Rarity?” Pinkie asked. “You do know that you just made your monster weaker, right?”
“And that’s not all! Now I Normal Summon Reborn Tengu! In Attack Position!”
(Level 4, 1700 ATK 600 DEF)
“Attack Position!?” Pinkie and Daichi shouted out in unison.
“Battle Phase! Reborn Tengu attacks Valkyrion the Magna Warrior!” Rarity’s monster flew straight towards Daichi’s Magnet Warrior, only to be sliced in half by its great blade.
Rarity 8000 -> 6200 LP
“When Reborn Tengu leaves the field for any reason, I can Special Summon another one from my deck!”
(Level 4, 1700 ATK 600 DEF)
“Reborn Tengu! Attack Valkyrion the Magna Warrior!” Rarity’s second monster attacked Daichi’s, only to be destroyed as easily as the first one.
Rarity 6200 -> 4400 LP
“Again, no matter the cause, when Reborn Tengu leaves the field, I can Special Summon another one from my deck!”
(Level 4, 1700 ATK 600 DEF)
“Now! Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth - attack his Valkyrion the Magna Warrior! Equestrian Spiral Strike!” As Rarity’s knight dashed towards Daichi’s Magnet Warrior, a mach cone began to form around its spear.
“Now, Rarity, I know that we’re trying to avenge Applejack and Fluttershy, as well as save the world for like the kajilianth time, but do you maybe think that the stress has gotten to you?” Pinkie asked.
“No Pinkie, for you see, Megamorph is an Equip Spell that, when you possess more Life Points than the opponent, will reduce the Equipped monster’s Attack by half its original value, but when you possess fewer Life Points, it doubles it instead!” Rarity explained.
“What!?”
“WHAT!?”
(Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth 1300 -> 5200 ATK)
Rarity’s knight thrust its spear into Valkyrion, causing it to explode into several shards like a mirror.
Daichi 6000 -> 4300 LP
“I’m not finished yet! Reborn Tengu attacks directly!”
Daichi 4300 -> 2600 LP
(Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth 5200 -> 1300 ATK)
“Lastly, I set one card and end my turn, darling.”
“I-I draw!”
Rarity 4400 LP
Hand: 1
Pinkie 8000 LP
Hand: 1
Daichi 2600 LP
Hand: 1
“I’ll start this turn with my Future Fusion Continuous Spell! One turn has passed since its initial activation, so now I’ll reveal Imperion Magnum, the Superconductive Battlebot from my Extra Deck, and send Berserkion the Electromagna Warrior and another Valkyrion the Magna Warrior from my deck to the Graveyard, and on my next Standby Phase the monster will be Fusion Summoned! Now I play my Pot of Greed card!” Daichi said as he slid the card into his Duel Disk. “This lets me draw two cards! Now, I activate Mystical Space Typhoon! I’ll destroy Pinkie Pie’s Toon Kingdom!”
“Oh no!” Pinkie called out. “When Toon World is destroyed, Toon Dark Magician Girl is also-” Pinkie was cut off as her Field Spell and one of her monsters suddenly exploded in front of her. “...Destroyed…”
“That’s not all I’m destroying this turn! By Banishing three EARTH monsters from my hand or Graveyard, Alpha, Beta and Gamma in this case, I can Special Summon Block Dragon from my Graveyard!”
(Level 8, 2500 ATK 3000 DEF)
“Now I play Monster Reborn! Come back, Valkyrion the Magna Warrior!”
(Level 8, 3500 ATK 3850 DEF)
“Battle! Block Dragon, wipe that disgrace of a dragon from my sight!”
Pinkie 8000 -> 7900 LP)
“Now, with Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, I attack Toon Dark Magician!”
Pinkie 7900 -> 6900 LP
“With that, I end my turn!” Daichi said.
“My turn! I draw!” Pinkie shouted.
Rarity 4400 LP
Hand: 1
Pinkie 6900 LP
Hand: 2
Daichi 2600 LP
Hand: 0
“I activate my Trade-In Spell Card! By discarding my Level 8 Toon Ancient Gear Golem, I can draw two new cards!” Pinkie said. “Now I’ll activate my Graceful Charity! First I’ll draw three cards, and now I’ll discard my Toon Buster Blader and Toon Barrel Dragon! Are you excited? Because I’m excited! I activate Soul Charge! This lets me Special Summon any number of monsters from my Graveyard, although I do have to take 1000 damage for each and I can’t attack the turn I activate this card, so maybe it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Anyway, I’m bringing back Toon Dark Magician, Red-Eyes Toon Dragon, Toon Ancient Gear Golem, Toon Barrel Dragon and Toon Buster Blader!”
(Level 7, 2500 ATK 2100 DEF)
(Level 7, 2400 ATK 2000 DEF)
(Level 8, 3000 ATK/DEF)
(Level 7, 2600 ATK 2200 DEF)
(Level 7, 2600 ATK 2300 DEF)
Pinkie 6900 -> 1900 LP
“So you swarmed the field with more of those infernal Toons!” Daichi shouted. “So what!? Without Toon World or Toon Kingdom, they can’t attack directly, and even if you do manage to establish the protection of Toon Kingdom, I’ll inflict so much battle damage you’ll still die anyway! It’s over Pinkie!”
“Not if I have anything to say about it! Which I don’t right now, so I’ll just set one card face down and end my turn. You’re up Rarity!”
“Very well then. I draw!”
Rarity 4400 LP
Hand: 2
Pinkie 1900 LP
Hand: 0
Daichi 2600 LP
Hand: 0
“To begin this turn, I’ll activate my Raregold Armor, and Equip it to Gaia! So long as he is equipped in this golden armor, you must select him as the target for any of your attacks!” Rarity said as her knight became bathed in a golden light from his new armor. “Lastly, I set one card and end my turn!”
“Well then, clearly the pressure has gotten to your head, a beginner’s mistake if I’ve ever seen one.” Daichi said in a regretful tone. “However, it’s my turn, so I draw!”
Rarity 4400 LP
Hand: 0
Pinkie 1900 LP
Hand: 0
Daichi 2600 LP
Hand: 1
“Two turns have passed since I originally activated Future Fusion, so now I’m allowed to Fusion Summon my ultimate monster!”
“Before you do, I activate my Battle Mania Trap card!” Rarity shouted as her card revealed its front side. “This card can only be activated during the opponent’s Standby Phase, and it forces them to attack with all of their monsters! Now please, continue with your turn.”
“Very well then, now as I was explaining Future Fusion allows me to Fusion Summon my ultimate monster! Water, Fire, Air and Earth! Behold these magnets’ greatest work! Fusion Summon! Appear, Imperion Magnum, the Superconductive Battlebot!”
(Level 10, 4000 ATK/DEF)
“Oh, I’m so sorry to disappoint you darling, but I activate my Counter Trap! Solemn Judgement!” Rarity interjected. “By paying half my Life Points, I can negate the Summon of a monster or the activation of a Spell or Trap Card and destroy that card! Your Magnets just don’t seem to work!”
Rarity 4400 -> 2200 LP
“And now that my Life Points are lower than yours again, Gaia’s Attack Points become double their original value again!”
(Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth 1300 -> 5200 ATK)
“Battle Phase! Valkyrion, attack Gaia!” Following Daichi’s command, his Magnet warrior rushed towards Rarity’s knight without a second thought about its imminent demise, which Gaia delivered with a high powered stab through the head.
Daichi 2600 -> 900 LP
(Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth 5200 -> 1300 ATK)
“I’m not done yet! Block Dragon, attack Gaia Knight! Block Swipe!” With Daichi’s command, his Block Dragon slashed clean through Rarity’s knight, despite the lack of a bladed edge on its tail.
Rarity 2200 -> 1000 LP
“And with that, I end my turn!”
“Pinkie! End this ruffian this turn!” Rarity shouted.
“Oh, I will!” Pinkie responded. “It’s my draw!”
Rarity 1000 LP
Hand: 0
Pinkie 1900 LP
Hand: 1
Daichi 900 LP
Hand: 1
“Straight to Battle Phase!” Pinkie shouted. “Toon Ancient Gear Golem, attack his Block Dragon! Mechanized Melee!” Gears in Pinkie’s monster turned loudly as her Golem readied a punch, before it extended its arm to reach Daichi’s monster onec the gears released themselves, Daichi’s monster exploding into countless shards.
Daichi 900 -> 400 LP
“This is for Fluttershy! Toon Barrel Dragon! Attack directly!” Pinkie’s monster readied all the guns on its body and pointed them directly towards Daichi before firing a countless volley of bullets at him.
“Not so fast!” Daichi shouted. “When I receive a direct attack, I can discard Swift Scarecrow to-”
“NO!” Pinkie shouted. “I activate Called by the Grave! This Quick-Play Spell banishes a monster from the opponent’s Graveyard and negates both its effects and the effects of any other monster the opponent has with the same name!”
“Wait, so that means-!” Daichi took all the bullets Pinkie’s dragon shot at him, flying back from the impact.
Daichi 400 -> 0 LP
Pinkie and Rarity walked to to Daichi as they watch him dissolve into particles of light, leaving behind nothing but a single card. “You know, maybe we should ask Red just who this Daichi guy was the next time we see him.” Pinkie said.
“Yes, we should, but after what he did to both Applejack and Fluttershy, I can never forgive a creature such as him.” Rarity responded. “Now come on Pinkie! Twilight’s waiting on us!” She said before the two mares began running into the Crystal Castle.
************************************************
“So Twilight, should we really be charging straight for Ernesh without your friends?” Spike asked, clinging to Twilight’s back for dear life as she ran to the throne room of the Crystal Castle.
“Yes Spike! We have to! Otherwise who knows how many ponies could get hurt?” Twilight responded. “Besides, how is it any different from when we had to find the Crystal Heart and stop King Sombra from returning?”
“Because back then we had Cadence and Shining to fall back on, as well as the rest of your friends!”
“Well, if the two of us fail, I have faith that Red can finish it in our place.” Twilight slowed down as she approached the door to the castle’s throne room. “Spike, don’t you worry. I’ll defeat Ernesh, and set this all good, just you see.” Twilight used her magic to open the door to the throne room, Spike hiding behind her as she walked closer to Ernesh, who was sitting on the throne. “Ernesh. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and as Princess of Friendship, I formally request that you stop turning Ponies into cards.”
“A formal request? You should know by know how useless simply asking can be, Princess.” Ernesh responded as he got off the throne and raised his left arm and a device akin to a Duel Disk activated, the Main Monster Zones lighting up with no visible mechanisms.
“Alright, if that’s the only way I can stop this, then so be it.” Twilight said as the Duel Disk on her foreleg turned on.
DUEL
Twilight 8000 LP
Hand: 5
Ernesh 8000 LP
Hand: 5