Bait

by ChaosDragoon

Day Two

The next day Timber Hoof walked up to the school house. Many of the fillies and colts played outside while others said their goodbyes to their parents. Timber Hoof walked inside the school house and into Cheerilee's class. He found four colts sitting at desks that were moved to make one massive desk. In front of them was an array of cards. Timber Hoof walked closer to the group and saw some of the cards. Some were ponies, others where griffins, and there were some dragons mixed in.

"What's this?" Timber Hoof asked. He was half expecting to get a "get out of here or don't bother us from" them.

"It's called Mana. It's a card game where you use creatures like earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns, alicorns, dragons, griffins, and changelings," a red Pegasus colt said. He had a sliver mane with a black streak going down the middle of it.

"You use cards called magic to summon them," an earth pony colt said. His coat was purple with a black mane and tail. The colt placed nine different cards in the middle of the table and explained, "Each magic card is a reprehensive of the different creatures you can summon. This one lets you summon earth pony cards." He pointed at a card that had a picture of a hoof slamming to the ground as roots seemed to sink into the ground. He soon explained each other card on the table. A card with a horn illuminating was used to summon unicorn cards. The card with a lightning bolt with wings was used to summon Pegasi cards. The card with a illumined horn and wings was used to summon alicorn cards. A griffin's claw to summon griffins, a dragon's tooth for dragons, and a jagged horn with insect wings for changelings. Timber Hoof noticed the last two cards. One was the picture of a crescent moon while the other was the sun.

"These last two are used to summon Princess Luna and Princess Celestia cards," the third Colt said. He was a unicorn with a golden coat and a light green mane with a small birth mark on his neck that looked like a snow flake.

"So can you summon them?" Timber Hoof asked.

"Yes, but those cards are so rare that neither of us have the bits to even attempt to buy even one," the last colt said. He was a Pegasus with a bright blue coat and his mane was pure white.

"Mind if I join in the next game?" Timber Hoof asked.

"Yeah, we can actually abandoned this game since we just started," The red Pegasus said before he picked up his cards and moved his chair over to let Timber Hoof sit next to him. As Timber Hoof sat down the red Pegasi lifted up a small box filled with even smaller box. He looked at Timber Hoof and said, "You can use one of my decks."

"Yeah, Axel Rod has nearly thirty Mana decks. I'm surprised he didn't bring them all," the blue Pegasus said. Axel Rod glared at him before Timber Hoof pulled out one of the deck boxes.

"Now that's a good one," Axel Rod said. The three colts looked at Timber Hoof before looking at Axel Rod and all three of them sighed in unison.

"You're not going to let him use that deck?" the golden unicorn asked. Axel Rod nodded before putting a deck box back into the box and pulling out another deck box.

"By the way, I'm Axel Rod," Axel Rod said before he added, "That's Iron Hoof," As he pointed to the Purple earth pony.

"Sup," Iron Hoof said.

"He's Betamax," Axel Rod said as he pointed to the golden unicorn. Betamax simply nodded before he took out a second deck and began to shuffle it.

"Finally we have Sky Surfer," Axel Rod said.

"Salutations," Sky Surfer said before he shuffled his deck as well. Timber Hoof watched all three shuffle their decks before he did the same. Timber Hoof watched as they placed their decks on the right and drew seven cards. He did the same and looked at all the cards in his hoof.

"So you should have a nice balance of magic and summons in your hoof. Usually I'll keep it if there are at least three magic cards in my hoof," Axel Rod said. Timber Hoof nodded and counted all the magic in his hoof. He placed the cards face down on the table and nodded.

"I guess you're keeping?" Axel Rod asked.

"Yeah, I have four magic cards. I should be able to do-something," Timber Hoof said.

"I'm glad you can," Betamax grunted before he put the cards on the top of his deck, shuffled and drew six cards.

"Before I forget, if you need to mulligan you draw six instead of seven," Axel Rod said.

"Mulligan?" Timber Hoof asked.

"It's when you don't like the cards in your hoof. You put them back into your deck, shuffle, and then draw," Sky Surfer explained. Betamax looked over his cards and a smile formed on his face.

"I'm ready," Betamax said.

"I'll go first, then Betamax, Iron Hoof, and then Sky Surfer. This way when it gets to you, you'll have an idea of what to do," Axel Rod said before he placed a magic card down with a griffin's claw on it. He pointed his hoof to Betamax who placed an earth pony magic card. He tapped it and placed a card down.

"I'll play a Ground Filly," Betamax said. Timber Hoof looked at the card. It was a picture of a small earth pony filly with a wooden sword in its mouth. He cocked his head to read the text and numbers under it before looking at Axel Rod.

"What do the numbers mean?" Timber Hoof asked.

"The first is the attack; the second is how much damage the card can take before it's destroyed. Each of us starts with thirty Life Points. Once it reaches zero, you lose," Axel Rod explained.

"What if I run out of cards?" Timber Hoof asked.

"Then you take the cards from the discard pile and shuffle them before taking five cards off the top and then exile them," Axel Rod explained. Timber Hoof nodded as he noticed Iron Hoof had played a Unicorn magic card before tapping it and placing a card down.

"Alter of the Flying Unicorn. I tape this card and either use it for unicorn or Pegasus magic," Iron Hoof said.

"That Alter acts like magic cards. He uses it to play summons," Axel Rod said.

Sky Surfer placed a Pegasus magic card before motioning to Timber Hoof to go. Timber Hoof looked at his hand before placing a Dragon Magic card down. He looked at all his cards in his hoof. He looked at their cost before looking at each affect. He tapped the dragon's Tooth and placed a card down.

"I'll put my Infant Dragon down," Timber Hoof said before he added, "It allows me to play any dragon card from my hand as long as it costs four or less." He looked his cards again before he placed down another card.

"I'll use his affect to play Illusion Dragon," Timber Hoof said before he looked over at Axel Rod.

"Not bad for your first move, however I'd play this," Axel Rod said pointing to a card at the end of his hoof before he added, "However, it's your call. Once you play for a while. You'll get the hang of it. Now when you end your turn, we all draw one card." Timber Hoof ended his turn and drew a card like everyone else.

The game continued as fillies and colts entered the class room. Timber Hoof had quickly been defeated and was now watching the game unfold. Iron Hoof had an army of pegasi and unicorns. Betamax had a card called Woodland Pony that allowed him to put a Timber Wolf token into play at the beginning of his turn. Sky Surfer had four pegasi cards and Parasprite Hive in play. According the Axel Rod it allowed him to play a Parasprite token which lowers all attacking creatures attack by one. Axel Rod had the most cards out. His Griffin War Cry let him play all the Griffins in his hand. Each one had an effect that allowed him to play more Griffins and it was now Sky Surfer's turn. He looked at his hand, then over at all of Axel Rod's cards before a sly smile formed on his face. He placed a magic card down with the crest of Celestia on it. He quickly tapped all his magic cards and slammed a card on the table.

"Celestia's Wrath!" Sky Surfer said before he sat back in his chair and chuckled.

"Damn it!" Iron Hoof said before he put his entire summons into the discard pile. Betamax and Axel Rod did the same thing.

"What happened? What he play?" Timber Hoof asked.

"Celestia's Wrath, it's a card that destroys all summons," Axel Rod said.

"But wouldn't it destroy his summons as well?" Timber Hoof asked.

"It would, but he has Golden Armor Stallion on his side. All his summons aren't affected by any Celestia card," Axel Rod explained.

Cheerilee Trotted into the class room and the colts quickly moved their desks back into position to face the chalk board. Timber Hoof walked over to his desk and sat down as Cheerilee began.

"Today we'll," Cheerilee began before the door swung open. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon walked in. Timber Hoof herd Scootaloo holding back a laugh at Diamond Tiara's appearance. Her face was puffy and a Band-Aid was placed over her snout. The two took their seats and Cheerilee quickly went back to her lesson. Timber Hoof was talking down notes when he felt a shiver down his back. When he looked to his left he saw Diamond Tiara glaring at him. He politely waved at her, but she only narrowed her eyes at him. A nerves smile formed on his face before he went back to his notes.

After what felt like an eternity of learning about how and why Pegasi control the weather thanks to the feeling of Diamond Tiara glaring at Timber Hoof. Timber Hoof and the rest of the class were let out to recess. Timber Hoof found the same four colts sitting at a picnic table playing Mana. He trotted over and joined their game.

"Hey Timber Hoof," Scootaloo said as she, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle trotted over to him. She looked at the other colts and then at the cards on the table and asked, "What are you playing?"

"Mana, it's really fun," Timber Hoof said before he turned to the other and asked, "Would it be ok for them to learn to play?"

"Not a problem. We were getting board of just playing each other anyway. Not many fillies and colts know how to play or are even interested in playing," Axel Rod said.

After the game was finished, the four taught the three fillies how to play and after a test run where Scootaloo won to everyone's surprise. The eight continued through recess playing the card game.

"You know, with this many players we could play hydra," Sky Surfer said.

"What's that?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Two Teams of four pitted against each other. The pony across from you is your opponent. Once you defeat them, you help out your team mate with their opponent. The two ways to win is to take out all the heads or to take out the main head in the middle," Iron Hoof explained.

"Yeah, but maybe you should get some cards of your own. We all know strategies to defeat each of our decks. This way you can get the hang of building decks around other cards," Sky Surfer said.

"I bet my uncle can help you. He owns the card shop next to Sugar Cube Corner," Betamax said.

"I have some bits if it will help, I can buy myself a starter deck and also buy Apple Blooms, Sweetie Belle's and Scootaloo's decks as well," Timber Hoof said.

"You don't have to do that for us," Apple Bloom said.

"I know, but I want to. You three are my friends," Timber Hoof said.

"Oh look Silver Spoon, looks like the blank flanks have some new members to their stupid group," Diamond Tiara said as she trotted over with Silver Spoon right behind her.

"It's not a stupid Group!" Scootaloo snapped.

"A group of stupid foals that don't have their cutie marks. Seems stupid to me," Diamond Tiara said.

"You know Diamond Tiara. I'm beginning to understand why you're such a preppy brat," Timber Hoof said as he examined some of the cards in the deck Axel Rod let him use. Every foal around him gasped as they looked from Timber Hoof to Diamond Tiara whose mouth was a gape before she snarled and glared at him.

"What did you say," Diamond Tiara growled.

Timber Hoof looked up from his cards and smiled before he said, "You heard me. I have a few assumptions why you pick on fillies and colts that don't have their cutie mark. One might be that you're just jealous."

"Jealous!" Diamond Tiara jested before adding, "Why would I be jealous of blank flanks?"

"Because you're now stuck with a talent while we still have our entire childhood to find ours. We get to have the joys of childhood figuring out our special talents. You're fairy tale ending has already been ruined, while ours are still shrouded by mystery. Our story has only begun while yours has already ended. Yet, there's the other possibility. The possibility that you're just another blank flank like us." Diamond Tiara's anger grew with each word he spoke and she bit her lip from hulling off and punching Timber Hoof.

"A blank flank like you," Silver Spoon chuckled before she pointed to her flank and stated, "What do you call these then?"

"Well, the only reason why I say that is because whenever you two are around. I get the distinctive scent of body paint," Timber Hoof explained. The two fillies started at Timber Hoof who had a smug smile on his face before he got up from the bench and walked over to the two and added, "Should I test my second theory?"

Diamond Tiara was flabbergasted at Timber Hoof and for a few seconds was speechless. She quickly gained her composure and stepped back before rising her snout to the sky and saying, "You're all talk and no bark you back woods earth pony. Come on Silver Spoon we have more important things to do." She walked off as Silver Spoon stood there in shock before following her friend.

"Yes, run back to daddy," Timber Hoof said before he shook his head and turned back to his friends who were in shock. "What?"

"I can't believe you stood up to her," Betamax said while Axel Rod pulled a hair from his tail to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

"That was awesome!" Scootaloo said before adding, "Cruel, but awesome."

"Well someone had to do it. I mean I've only been here for two days, but I've seen enough to know someone had to put her in her place," Timber Hoof said before continuing, "Dad always said a bully only has power if you give them power. Once you take it away, they have nothing."

"I think we should head to the card shop, it's only open for another few hours," Betamax said. The group picked up the cards and headed into the middle of Ponyville towards Sugar Cube Corner. The group walked into the building next to Sugar Cube Corner. Inside where shelves of booster boxes filled with pacts of cards, already made decks, and singles of cards in sleeves to keep them from getting destroyed or ripped. Behind the glass case table was a built earth pony that was opening a new box filled with new booster boxes. He was a green stallion with a red mane and tail.

"Hey Mint, is that the new Shadows over the Crystal Empire set?" Betamax asked. The stallion turned to him and his friends and smiled.

"Yep, they go on sale today. This set introduces Crystal Ponies into the set. I've read up on them, they have a new ability called bounce back," The stallion said before continuing, "According to the official website: Bounce Back makes them not only immune to spells and abilities, but also bounces that spell or ability back. Amazing isn't it?"

"Kind of seems a little over powered, don't you think?" Betamax questioned Mint shrugged.

"By the way, who are your friends," Mint asked.

"Oh, right," Betamax said before he introduced the four, "This is Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Timber Hoof. I wanted to bring them over here so they can buy their very own Mana decks."

"Well it's very nice to meet you four. I'm Mint Condition, but most people call me Mint for short. It's nice to see more young foals get into the game of Mana. Do you know how to play," Mint asked.

"We do, but we need to learn how to build our own decks," Scootaloo said.

"Well building decks are the hard part of Mana, but I'll show you how to build the perfect deck," Mint said before he took out a deck from under the counter and dismantled it. He then began to explain, "First and foremost you need a good ratio of summons, spells, enchantments, and counters with a good ratio of Magic cards. You all know the different types of cards you can summon, but to make a perfect deck. You can't just throw cards in willy-nilly. You need cards that work together. If they don't trigger one another then your deck is nothing but a mismatch of cards. Each card must not only trigger one another, but also have a strategy for success. Understand so far?" the four nodded before Mint showed them how to build a deck and used a few of his own as examples.

"So; now that you know how to build a deck, what booster pacts do you want to build them from? We have many sets to choose from," Mint said before he said a few, "We have Magical Index, Spiritual Plane, Burning Embers, Shadow Forest, Sky high, Treasure of Griffonstone, Parasitic infection." Timber Hoof listened to all the names before he stepped forwards.

"We'll take one of each booster set, plus the new one," Timber Hoof said.

"Whoa there little dude, these booster sets cost a lot of bits, are you sure you have enough," Mint said. Timber Hoof nodded and reached into his saddle bags and produced a sack of bits.

"I'd like to by four of each, this way Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo can have enough to build their decks as well," Timber Hoof said. Mint and the others were perplexed by the amount of Bits Timber Hoof had. in the end, not only was he able to buy all the booster boxes he wanted, he had bits left over to buy a Celestia card and Luna card, along with their alters needed to summon them.

"How do you have so many bits?" Mint asked as he filled each saddle bag with booster boxes.

"My dad owns a tree farm where he cuts down and creates furniture from the wood. I help and in return I get paid. I haven't really found anything I really wanted so I've been saving up," Timber Hoof said. After Mint filled each saddle bag with booster boxes; he put a pound of dice and easy building guide to each saddle bag before waving goodbye to the group.

"Holy cow, I never though cards weighed so much," Sweetie Belle said with a grunt.

"Did you want to come to our club house and build decks together Timber Hoof? Scootaloo asked.

"Sorry, I promised dad I'd help him with a big project, but it might be fun to keep our decks a secret," Timber hoof said. After the group said their goodbyes, the split up. Timber Hoof headed towards the forest with a smile on his face. Not much longer now.

Comments

[Paxwing]

Please update this. 0-0