Ice cubes clanked against glass. Three empty cups slammed against a solid counter, one after the other. A light brown liquid poured into the first cup. The second and third cups were filled with a fruity red drink as well as new slices of a green fruit. An orange hoof picked up the second glass almost immediately. Céri chugged down almost half of the contents, save for the ice.
Taking a break, she exhaled. "So what brought you around here, Chara?"
The teen sipped his iced, chocolate milk. "Pure, unadulterated... determination."
"Right, I know. But what in the hay is that supposed to mean?"
"The short of it is a drive to see things to the end, whatever that end may be." Chara looked at his drinking buddies. "I don't even fully remember who I was before this whole Equestria displacement movement started. But I do know that I'm getting lucky to meet all kinds of pretty pony-people... if you know what I mean."
Céri crossed her hooves on the counter and rested her muzzle on top of them. Idly, she scratched her necklace. It felt stuck to her... like a nailed-down, metal plate. Her shoulders rose and fell with her next breath.
"It's incredible." Redheart looked up and down the red-hooded pony. "Aside from the messy mane and the jacket, I would be hard-pressed to find any physical difference between you and Applejack."
"Well, shoot." Céri exhaled some more. "I didn't know that Merchant was going to mess up Ezekiel's programming and her key to the point where I can't get it off."
"Not necessarily a bad thing." Chara swallowed a couple large sips from his cup. "As a pony, you're a lot less likely to attract weird stares as you sit around. Here, I feel like I'm constantly being watched... and not in the good way."
"But there's no pony else around here," noted Redheart.
"... that you know of," added the teen. "They might be waiting in the dark corner of their rooms, waiting... watching... urging me to kill something. Meh, what do I know? I'm not the one whose only company is their right hand."
"I swear the longer you talk, the less I understand." Céri shook her head before she pulled out her phone. How she did that with just a hoof, no one would ever know.
Chara moved his glass to the side on the counter. "Is that the old iPhone 7?"
"It was... but now it's dead." She stared at the black rectangle in disappointment.
"Bummer." He smiled. "But at least you still have a way to look at your pretty face."
She shot him a look. "Does every other word out of your mouth gotta be flirtatious?"
"Why, yes. My determination compels me to woo the hearts of everyone."
Céri sighed and slumped forward again. "Oh, I give up."
"Another round, please," he said to the bartender before looking back at Little Red Apple Hood. "Okay, look. I didn't just cross worlds for the sake of asking for new astrological signs, though that is a nice plus." He crossed his arms. "I thought I might as well pass on a little information to a fellow displaced."
She turned her head slightly, though still firmly against the counter. "Like what?"
"You know what the Merchant that we fought looked like? Don't bother memorizing that. His physical looks are red herrings. The actual key to figuring out who his multiverse clones are, rests in one specific power. Strings."
"What do strings have to do with anything?" Redheart asked before taking another sip from her glass.
"The bastard loves controlling the situation in any way possible. Some of his strings can't be destroyed just by swinging a magic knife around. Sometimes, the solution has to come from another source." He nodded at Redheart. "Your thing with the two angel cards was one such surprise. What'd you call it? A... Legion?"
"It's one of the moves in Vanguard that allows units to fight together simultaneously," explained Céri.
The nurse held together the cards depicting Jibril and Zaphkiel. "It's beautiful how they can join together to make a full picture."
Chara smiled, turned around, and hopped up from the chair. He fished through his pockets and pulled out both hands at once. From his right hand, he tossed a pouch of coin. The pouch landed on the counter with a multiplied "clink" noise. In his left hand, he held out a small heart-shaped locket. He shoved the locket into Céri's possession.
"You ever need me again, just remind me to 'stay determined'." He took a few steps forward, then looked at the bartender. "Keep the change." He then disappeared just as he opened the door halfway.
The bartender adjusted the spectacles on his face. He stared incredulously at his most recent customer's payment. His gaze kept switching between the slightly opened pouch and the door. Said door quickly closed itself, as if knowing that there was no reason left to be open.
Céri's belly gurgled. "Since Chara's paying for the bill anyway, maybe we can get a snack too."
"That sounds good to me." Redheart looked up. "We'll have a double order of garlic hay-fries."
---
After the impromptu lunch, Céri trotted over in a particular direction. She wasn't sure how she knew where she was going, but her hooves felt like they had trodden this particular path several times. Redheart was trotting just behind her, occasionally asking where they were going. However, the transformed Céri simply gave a vague answer.
Eventually, the scenery changed from rows of houses to a long white fence. Just on the other side of the fence were several deciduous trees bearing fruit. The hooded pony's eyes looked ahead without blinking.
Redheart ran to catch up. "Wait a second. This is... What are we doing here?"
"Something I gotta do to clear my conscience." Céri kept trotting.
When she got to the door, she knocked on it four times in rapid succession. There was a light grunt on the other side. Hoof steps on wood echoed through to the outer wall. The door opened inward, and a green hoof with wrinkles showed up on the edge. A pair of amber eyes blinked wide, then immediately squinted.
"Is Applejack home?"
The elderly pony looked carefully up and down at the unexpected guest. "Are you some kind of prankster? Nightmare Night was a while back, Missy."
"No, ma'am. I just need to talk with her for a bit. Actually, every pony that's available should listen too."
"Oh, really?" A similar voice to Céri's current one made itself known. The pony attached to said voice, however, had hair ties and a hat adorning her head. "And just who are you supposed to be?" She blinked and saw the other accompanying pony. "Nurse Redheart?"
Redheart nodded and waved nervously. "Hello, Applejack."
Céri took a deep breath. "My name is Céri Dylanson. Because of my current condition, I can't change back to myself. I wanted to avoid any confusion being delivered through a third-party and I wanted to relay my story directly."
The genuine Applejack moved to stand right in front of her lookalike. She quietly stared at Céri's eyes for several seconds. Céri stared right back. The granny mare hummed over the silence. Redheart shuffled her hooves against the ground.
Finally, Applejack gave a short nod of her head. "Fine, I'll give you a chance to explain yourself."
"Eh, you sure about this, AJ?" wondered the old mare.
"It's unusual for a shape-shifter to be so blunt about not being the real thing." Applejack looked at her granny. "I'd like to know what makes this one an exception." She turned around and motioned with a hoof. "How about you come inside and you can tell us all about it."
Céri and Redheart trotted inside the farmhouse.
Granny sighed. "Okay, but if she starts biting to suck out our love, I'm getting my rake."
---
All of Céri's cards were spread out on the table. The one with the image of Blaster Dark in his "Revenger Abyss" form was at the top. She recounted the tale as far as the original encounter with Merchant back on her world, the moment she acquired the Shadow Paladins, a brief overview of the discovery of other Equestrias, and the fight against Merchant's "Error" proxy. She idly scratched at her necklace while waiting for any questions.
Applejack lowered her hat and rubbed a hoof against her forehead. Granny Smith quietly hummed with her eyes closed. Big Macintosh flipped the piece of barley around in his mouth.
"What's a Vanguard?" piped in Apple Bloom.
"One who leads the way." Céri tapped a hoof against the table. "It's the unit that sticks around for the entire fight and doesn't leave until the end."
The original orange pony slowly put her hat back on. "As crazy as some parts of your story are, you don't sound like you think you're making any of this up." She picked up the Blaster Dark card. "That being said, how can you call out a critter from a card just like that?"
"As far as I can tell, it was the mixed blessing that the shady merchant gave me to meet his own amusement." Céri flipped back the flap of her hoodie and sighed. "He screwed over a bunch of other ponies in similar ways."
Apple Bloom picked up another card. "So, can any pony wave these around and summon them?"
"Only in a standard game of Cardfight Vanguard, and that's small enough to walk on a table." Céri slid off the couch, stood up, and picked up a familiar Angel Feather card. "I'm the only one that can call them forth in life-size."
"Show me!" urged Apple Bloom.
"Alright, but you might want to step back." Céri held up her card. "Adamantine Celestial, Aniel! Call!"
The blue-feathered angel appeared, holding her quill and clipboard. Aniel looked around and smiled at the current company. Apple Bloom's eyes went as wide as saucers. Big Macintosh snorted while blushing. Granny and Applejack gaped, looked at each other, then back at Aniel.
"Well, I'll be hog-tied..." Applejack finally found her words. "That sure is something."
"Zowie," agreed Apple Bloom. "Even Twilight can't bring anything to life quite like that. ... not for lack of trying."
Céri waved her card back a bit. Aniel vanished in a white circle of lines and flowed back into the illustrated piece of paper. Apple Bloom stared at the card that she had picked up and shook in place with a silly grin on her face.
Applejack gently put Blaster Dark's card back on the table and pulled her hoof back. "Okay, if I wasn't convinced before, I am now."
"Can you summon this dragon?" Apple Bloom held up the purplish-black image up to Céri's face.
"No/No!" exclaimed the orange ponies in unison.
"It'd be too big and probably bring the ceiling down on our heads!" Céri took back her cards and piled them back into two decks before putting them in her pockets.
Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. "I didn't mean in here. I meant go outside first and then call it."
Applejack sighed. "That really ain't necessary. Besides, she said it tires her out to call too many of them in a day."
Redheart scratched her ear. "Wait, doesn't that only apply when you're in the other Eque-"
Céri interjected by poking her elbow against Redheart's chest. The card fighter shook her head at the nurse. Redheart shrugged with one shoulder and dropped the subject.
Applejack cleared her throat. "Seeing as how you came all this way to tell us your story, I'm guessing you aren't planning anything under-hoofed in my name. Is that fair to say?"
"I promise that I will not intentionally drag your image down." Céri nodded.
"Okay." Applejack smiled gently. "Then we have an understanding."
The original spat into her hoof and held it out. Céri grimaced before copying the motion. Their hooves met with a splat of combined saliva. The human mind screamed in silent disgust.
"I guess it's time for us to get going," mentioned Redheart.
"Y'all take care now," said Applejack with a small wave.
"See y'all later." After taking several hoof steps outside, Céri quietly wiped her hoof against her hoodie's sleeve.
"Sorry, I didn't think about her way of sealing a deal until after she started." Redheart looked at Céri in concern.
"Tain't your fault, Redheart." She shook her head. "I'll get over it."
---
Their walk back home was interrupted by a familiar hippogryph. At first, the two ponies rolled their eyes and waited for the megaphone treatment. When Platinum Feather held up his deck of cards, a blackish-red aura burned silently around it. Céri's eyes widened upon seeing the aura, and the bristles on her hide stood on end. If that was what she thought it was, then any fight that was going to happen soon would be really bad.
A lady stood behind Platinum. She had blond curls dangling on either side of her head and her eyes were bright blue. Her outfit consisted of nothing more than a set of undergarments that barely hid any modesty. Her hand glowed with a reddish-black orb floating just inside her grasping reach.
"You two are Reversed?" Céri instinctively crouched into a charging posture.
"Are you... a strong fighter?" droned Platinum.
Two shrouds of red smoke washed over the space right in front of him. But they didn't stick around for long. When the smoke cleared, two red rectangles appeared and floated in the air. They looked like eerie place mats for a Cardfight Vanguard match.
"And what's stopping me from just charging over and kicking your flank the old-fashioned way?"
"Augh!"
"Huh?" Céri looked over. "Redheart!"
Somehow, the Reversed Catherine had used her own underwear as a rope weapon. She had Redheart in a strangle-hold. The humanoid simply smiled and giggled at her captured prey.
"Consarn it!" Céri spat to her left. "Let her go right now!"
"You're in no position to make demands." Catherine licked her lips. "Now be a good little pony and play with my wing-man toy here. Otherwise, your mare friend gets a free asphyxiation."
"Ngh..." She pulled out a deck from her pocket. "Fine." The decks were set on the floating boards and cards were drawn.
"Stand up, Vanguard," droned the Reversed Platinum.
"Stand up, Vanguard!"
---
"Final Turn!"
Céri Dylanson's eyes snapped open at her opponent's declaration. Her hoof shook as she chanced a glance at the cards she held. She didn't have any Sentinels available. If her opponent drew a trigger during this next attack, she wouldn't have enough to guard against it anyway. What was worse was how this enemy was somehow influencing the cards to get exactly the triggers they needed when they needed them.
"Darkness takes you!" The enemy cackled.
Darn it, thought the 'hero'. Why did I accept those cards back at the convention?
---
"Aren't you giving up a little too soon?"
"Wait..." Céri looked into the darkness in her mind's eye. "Who's that?"
Something glowed inside of her pocket. She shuffled a hoof around before grabbing hold of a card. Its glow revealed the G-Unit granted by the white fox spirit: Dream-Spinning Renunculus, Ahsha. Céri hummed in doubt.
"It's not my turn to attack, and this isn't from the same clan that I'm using. How will this help?"
"Survive this turn and I will aid you however I can. You're not alone."
The card seemed to turn by itself without the hoof holding it. Céri looked behind it and another card glowed so brightly that its face couldn't be seen. She gasped at the sight of the clan and name.
---
Céri woke up from her trance with a start. She nodded firmly and grabbed a few cards that she did have and slammed them all down on the guardian circle. Platinum flinched, apparently not expecting the guard to take place. He checked for two drive triggers and got nothing for it. He growled through his beak and teeth.
"Stand and draw... Yoko!" Céri tossed the G-Unit that was in her pocket.
Kurama appeared and conjured two rope-like weapons made of green thorns. "Twin Rose Whiplash!" The resulting attack slashed through the tightly bound restraints and freed Redheart from captivity.
Grateful and relieved, Céri took another look at the current field. She spotted a card face-down and vertical sitting just above her damage zone. She nodded and slammed a Grade 3 Unit into the drop zone.
"Generation Zone, open!"
"What?" Reversed Platinum squawked.
"Impossible! Error Merchant took away your only striding unit!" yelled Catherine.
An image burned brightly in Céri's mind. It was so strong that everyone else present could see the star stream rushing past her. She held up a hoof and folded it toward her at her wrist.
"Fly forth on transcendent wings to the future." She pointed at her new, glowing card. "Stride Generation!"
The unit flew over and slammed on top of the Vanguard circle. Its grade was 4 and had a burning red highlight on the bottom. Its power became that of itself plus the grade 3 unit in its "Heart". Meanwhile in the life-sized visual of the battlefield, the Vanguard had become an angel with six blue-feathered wings. It was wearing a dress that looked both that of a royal and of a nurse all in one.
"Holy Celestial, Mikhael!" Céri flipped one damage card for the cost. "Stride Skill. I move a card from my deck to the damage zone, then take one of my other damage units and superior call it to the rear-guard." The nurse-outfitted angel with Keyblade-esque scissors appeared in the front row. "Since Ramiel is in the Heart and another copy is in the damage zone, the superior-called unit gets +5000 power!"
"This is Deus Ex Machina bull crap!" Reverse Platinum complained.
"Holy Celestial, Mikhael... attack his Vanguard Blaster Joker!" Céri moved her hoof toward her deck. "Triple drive check!"" The first card showed a Million-Ray Pegasus. The second card revealed a perfect guard unit. As for the third... "Critical trigger! Power to Ramiel and critical to Mikhael!"
The blinding light burned against Platinum's skin as the reddish aura let out an inhumane scream. "AAAAAAAAAH!"
---
...
*Poke* *Poke*
"Ugh..." The hippogryph reached up a talon and started scratching his face. "Itchy... why am I so itchy?"
"Céri, did you just touch him with the Thorn Gauntlet I gave you?"
"Oh. Uh... shoot."
Platinum Feather immediately sprang up on his hind legs. Both talons were scratching his face now. A bit of the fur and feather patch was coming off due to the vigorous scratching. He felt like a thousand fire ants were crawling in his skin. This wound... would it ever heal?
Yoko Kurama sighed. "If it's any consolation, you should be able to endure the pain once forty-eight hours have passed."
"What kind of life is scratching furiously for two days?" Platinum moaned. "I'll be a bald eagle at this rate."
"Aren't you already half bald eagle?" Céri flinched at the harsh glare that came her way. "Sorry."
"I could probably find some ointments to help you ease the inflammation," offered Redheart.
"Yes, please." Platinum followed Redheart's path.
Céri looked at her ally. "What happened to Catherine?"
"I put a tracer seed in her when I freed your friend." Yoko shook his head. "However, it seems I can no longer tell where she is. Given that she's in line with some of the other Merchants, she probably jumped to another Equestria."
"So she's going to make herself some pony else's problem." Céri lifted her hood up and scratched behind her ear.
"We rescued two of her victims." He held out an open-clawed hand. "Would you not consider that a victory?"
She chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Your optimism is amazing. Thanks, Yoko."
"My pleasure," replied the fox before he vanished in a breeze back to his original displacement.
Céri held the Mikhael card up on her hoof. She smiled and looked out at the horizon and the setting sun.
---