Duelists of the Autumn Crown
Shattered Bonds
“I discard ‘Harmony Spirit – Magia’ and activate its effect.” Twilight flipped her card out from her hand and discarded it. “I copy the effect of your ‘Monster Reborn’ and revive ‘Harmony Spirit – Risus’. Then, my three monsters attack!” Risus, Gracia, and Magnanimity held their hands together and sent a tri-colored beam of pink, yellow, and white light across the field. Fluttershy looked away as ‘Blade Rabbit,’ ‘Baby Raccoon Tantan,’ and ‘Sea Koala’ were consumed by the blast.
Twilight watched the display on her duel disk click Fluttershy’s Life Points to zero. Twilight’s portrait zoomed to fill the display as her win-loss record updated to 4-1.
“You’re really getting the hang of this,” Spike noted.
Twilight nodded. “It’s pretty overwhelming to read all those rules in one sitting, but in practice it isn’t so hard. Most of these cards tell you when to use them anyway.”
“Um, Twilight?” She looked up to see Fluttershy approaching her, her duel disk deactivated. “I was happy to help you practice, but I have to get going home now.”
Twilight looked at her duel disk as it exited dueling mode and saw the time display; it was almost six o’clock. “Sure, of course.” Twilight waved. “Thanks for all the help, I really learned a lot.”
“You’re welcome.” Fluttershy waved and headed into the school.
“Well, Spike.” Twilight deactivated her duel disk and hefted her backpack on her shoulders. “Guess we should get going home.” She took two steps, and froze.
“Uh, Twilight?” Spike tugged on her sock. “We don’t have a home in this world.”
“I know!” Twilight thought quickly. “Um, let’s see, they might have a library in this world but I probably don’t have permission to sleep there. Celestia may know a place, or Fluttershy…” She gasped. “Fluttershy!” She ran into the school, Spike running after her. Twilight weaved through the halls until she found Fluttershy’s locker, and the girl herself at the other end of the hall with her books in her arms. “Fluttershy!”
Fluttershy turned. “Yes?”
Twilight ran up to her, pausing to catch her breath and putting her hands on her knees. “I was… wondering…” She stood up and smiled. “In honor of our newfound friendship, would you be willing to partake in a sleepover?”
Fluttershy tilted her head. “Well, I suppose that wouldn’t be a problem. Will your parents mind?”
Not likely. “Nope, already checked in with them.” Twilight grinned brightly.
“Okay.” Fluttershy smiled and gestured her head forward. “Come with me, I drive to school.”
Drive? Twilight followed Fluttershy through the halls, wondering what she meant. They emerged from another side of the school to a field of black pavement. Rows of yellow lines sectioned it off into rectangles and in a few of them were metal objects of various shapes and colors. Fluttershy headed towards one object and Twilight followed. She saw Fluttershy pull a ring of keys her pocket and press a button on one of them. The metal object in front of them beeped and clicked.
“Here we are.” Fluttershy pulled open the door on the far side of the object. Twilight found the handle for hers and pulled it open. She sat down in the chair inside and waited for Spike to jump into her lap before closing the door. She frowned and shifted to take off her backpack, setting it by her feet. Beside her, Fluttershy tossed her backpack into the back seat and then pulled a strap of material hanging beside her over her chest. “Buckle up.” She clicked a metal flap on the object into a holder next to the seat. Twilight watched her and copied her actions, finding the slot to insert the flap into.
Fluttershy inserted another object on the ring from her pocket into the shaft leading to the wheel in front of her, and turning it. Twilight jumped as the object roared to life and hummed, lights around them blinking on. Fluttershy looked behind her and took hold of the wheel. The object slowly moved back and turned until Twilight could see the street looking forward. Fluttershy looked forward and turned the wheel and they moved towards the street.
“So this is sort of like a carriage, right?” she asked, glancing at Fluttershy.
“You’ve never ridden in a car before?”
“Um… well, I’ve heard of them. But my family didn’t use them.”
“Oh.” Fluttershy smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll drive slow.”
Twilight let out a sigh. “Thank you. I have to admit I’m not quite—”
The car exited the parking lot and gained speed as Fluttershy turned down the street. Twilight gasped and leaned back as they accelerated.
Fluttershy pulled into the driveway of her modest two-story home and turned the key. “Here we are.” She unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned back to take hold of her backpack. “Don’t forget your bag.” Fluttershy slammed her door and walked away.
In the passenger seat, Twilight gasped for breath as she sat plastered to the back of her seat, her fingers gripping the sides tightly. The last five minutes of her life were burned into her mind as a blur of sight and loud sounds. On her lap, Spike slowly turned to look up at her.
“Twilight?”
“Spike?”
“Can we walk back to the school tomorrow?”
“Yes, we can.”
Twilight carefully unbuckled her seatbelt and opened her door. She took a shaky step into the driveway, grabbed her backpack, and slowly walked forward. Fluttershy was waiting for her nearby, the key ring in her hand. The car behind her beeped and Twilight screamed, jumping away.
“Sorry.” Fluttershy held up her keys. “Was just locking the door.”
“Right,” Twilight squeaked. She edged away from the car and joined Fluttershy on the path to the house. Fluttershy turned and led the way to the door. She unlocked it and pushed it open.
“I’m home!” she called softly.
Twilight stood in the doorway as Fluttershy slipped her boots off and slid them onto a mat to the side. A hallway leading to a staircase stretched in front of them and Twilight saw doorways to other rooms on either side. She looked at the pile of shoes on a mat in front of her then at her own boots. She reached down and fingered the laces.
“Fluttershy?” A woman wearing glasses with red hair tied into a bun emerged from one doorway. “Why didn’t you call, I was beginning to worry.”
“Sorry, Mom.” Fluttershy hugged her tightly. “I was busy making a new friend.” She stepped aside and gestured to Twilight. Twilight looked up, preoccupied with undoing the laces of her boots, and waved.
Fluttershy’s mother noticed the newcomer at the door and came closer. “Well, hello there. I’m Mrs. Shy.”
Twilight recognized the hairstyle and glasses now and stood to hug the familiar woman back when she put her arms around her. “Nice to meet you. I’m Twilight Sparkle.” She awkwardly stepped out of her boot as Mrs. Shy pulled away. “And this is Spike.” She gestured down.
Mrs. Shy looked down at Spike and knelt to scratch his chin. “Well, isn’t he adorable?” Twilight giggled as Spike closed his eyes and tilted his head up at the attention. Mrs. Shy finished and gave him a pat on the head. “Fluttershy, dinner is a little late tonight. We didn’t know when you would be home. Zephyr hasn’t checked in either. We’re not sure where he is.”
Fluttershy’s expression soured. “Did you check on the sofa in the basement? That’s usually where I find him.”
Mrs. Shy scoffed and waved a hand. “Oh, be nice, he’s still finding his path.” She looked behind her, Twilight presumed at the kitchen. “Fluttershy, would you mind giving me a hand scraping dinner together?”
“Sure, just a moment.” Fluttershy turned to Twilight. “I can show you my room if you like.”
“That’d be nice.” Twilight smiled and gestured a hand.
“Be right back, Mom.” Fluttershy stepped up the stairs and Twilight followed. She led Twilight down a hallway to one of five doorways and gently pressed it open. Twilight looked around. A bedroom in various shades of green, yellow, and pink, greeted her. Fluttershy set her backpack on the bed. “If you like, you can use my computer. Or you can help me and Mom.”
Twilight saw a desk against one wall. The device on it looked vaguely similar to the ones in the computer lab, but the screen was thinner and the large box had a different array of slots on the front. “…Actually, I wouldn’t mind being able to use the computer.”
“Go ahead.” Fluttershy pressed a button on the box and Twilight heard it begin to hum. The screen lit up and various rows of texts and graphical displays slowly came into focus. “I have a sleeping bag in my closet I could sleep in, if you want the bed.”
“I don’t mind the floor.”
Fluttershy gasped. “Oh no, I can’t do that, you’re a guest.”
Twilight smiled and shook her head. Same old Fluttershy, all right. “We can talk about it later, then.”
“Okay. If you want a drink, just come on down.” Fluttershy waved at her and left the room.
Alone with Spike, Twilight looked at the computer. “Alright, Spike, time to do some research.”
“How?” Spike jumped up on the desk as Twilight sat down in front of it.
“Pinkie said the internet can be used to look up information. That sounds like a start.” Fluttershy’s computer screen was now showing a large picture of a forest with various icons along the bottom of the screen. Twilight looked them over and found one that was labelled ‘Internet Safari’. “Well, I found the internet.” She reached out and pressed the icon on the screen. It began to bounce in place and a box sprang out from it. Twilight watched as an image of Canterlot High filled the screen with various headers and text along the top.
“Seems pretty straightforward.” She read over the headers. “Faculty, upcoming events, map, contact…” She pressed a finger at the upcoming events header and a list dropped down from it. Twilight’s eyes lit up at one entry. “The Autumn Crown Tournament.” She pressed the entry. The screen changed and the now-familiar posters for the tournament appeared on either side. Text followed soon after.
“Attention duelists! The Canterlot High ninth annual Autumn Crown Tournament begins October eighth. Don’t miss this chance to show your skills and prove you have what it takes to rule the duel. Speak to Pinkie Pie before October seventh to sign up.” Twilight saw more text further down the screen, cut-off. She pointed at it and after a moment a downward motion of her finger made the page scroll so she could keep reading. “Here we go, rules.
“All duelists must have a deck of no less than 40 cards and a side deck of no more than 15 cards. Both will be registered the day of the tournament and unregistered cards may not be used in tournament duels. The tournament is single-elimination divided into two days. Day one will take place on Saturday. Duelists will compete in free duels between noon and four pm. At four pm the sixteen duelists with the best win-loss ratio will advance to bracketed matches. The quarter finals will be held the next day and continue through to the evening for the finals.”
Twilight sat back and thought. “Sunday night. Then we should have just enough time to beat Sunset Shimmer.”
“Cutting it close, though.” Spike frowned and scratched his ear. “Any idea on how we’re gonna beat her if she’s so good?”
“Maybe we can get some.” Twilight reached the end of the text and saw more headers. One of them read ‘Directory’ and she tapped it. A row of pictures appeared displaying numerous students with their names below. A few of them look familiar. Trixie was in this world, maybe all sorts of ponies I know from Equestria are here. Twilight looked over the rows of pictures for any sign of Sunset Shimmer, or her friends, and found neither. Buttons at the bottom displayed the option for the next page and one that read ‘Search.’ Twilight tapped the latter. A smaller window appeared with a blinking cursor.
“Okay… let’s see.” She put her hands on the keyboard and paused. The layout of keys was a bit different, but it was very similar to typewriters in Equestria. She slowly typed, watching her fingers move to make sure they went to the right letters. “S… u… n…” She spelled out Sunset’s name. As she typed, the rows of students grew smaller until only one picture was on the screen. Twilight reached up and tapped on Sunset Shimmer’s icon.
“There she is…” Spike muttered. Twilight waited for the screen to fill in numerous data fields, including a large picture of Sunset on the left, her arm held up to display a red and orange duel disk.
“Win-loss record for autumn semester… 0-0?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Really? She doesn’t duel anyone?”
“Maybe everyone’s afraid to duel her?” Spike suggested. “I mean, if she’s the champion.”
“Right… current ranking, Champion. Year, fourth. Deck…” Twilight tilted her head. “That has to be an error.”
“What?” Spike leaned around the screen to see better. “Deck… not available?” He looked at Twilight. “How can they not know what type of deck she uses?”
Twilight scratched her head. “Maybe they don’t list it because she’s the champion… although if she’s so good wouldn’t everyone know anyway?” She looked over the rest of Sunset’s profile, but found nothing of value. Any fields relating to information about her deck were listed as ‘N/A’. At the bottom was a listing of her rankings in past tournaments. For the previous two Autumn tournaments, as well as the two Spring tournaments, Sunset was the champion. Twilight mentally calculated the two-and-a-half year time limit on the mirror portal. No ranking for the first spring tournament when she arrived. Maybe when she got here she wasn’t good enough to win yet. Or she missed it. There was one other field for ‘other information’ that simply noted Sunset was the champion for four tournaments running.
She tapped the Search button and typed in another name. Her own portrait appeared on the screen and Twilight groaned; the picture Pinkie had taken of her recoiling and raising her arm to defend herself from the unfamiliar camera was there. She opened her profile and read. Her deck theme was listed as ‘Unregistered’ and her win-loss record was 4-1 as before. That’s good. Sunset Shimmer’s deck may not be known, but neither is mine. That’ll give me an edge. She thought once more and went back to the search to type in the first name that sprang to mind. “R… a…”
When the rows of pictures had narrowed to one, Twilight opened Rainbow Dash’s profile. The alternate form of her friend, at once so familiar but so different, appeared on the left. Twilight let out a low whistle. “Win-loss record this semester is 43-6. Deck… ‘U.A.’.”
“U.A.?” Spike shook his head. “What’s that mean?”
“I don’t know, but it seems tough.” Twilight scrolled down the page. “According to these notes, she’s placed in the top four the past three tournaments and the top eight in the fourth before them.”
“Wow.” Spike watched as Twilight brought up the search bar again. “Look for Rarity!” he suggested, his tail wagging. Twilight rolled her eyes with a smile, and typed in the name.
“Win-loss ratio, 19-8. Deck, ‘Crystal Beast’. Other notes… placed top eight, autumn tournament third year, Spring tournament fourth year.”
“She’s beautiful…” Spike stared dreamily at the girl in the profile picture. “She might be even prettier than the other Rarity!”
“Down boy.” Twilight reached out to pat Spike on the head. He gave a slight growl and backed away from the touch. Twilight smiled at him and then turned her attention back to the computer. A couple of searches later confirmed that all five of her Ponyville friends were here. Fluttershy’s deck was listed as Beast, Pinkie’s deck was something called ‘Toons,’ and Applejack’s was listed as Plant. “They all seem to be fairly good duelists. Applejack’s win-loss record is almost as good as Rainbow Dash’s, 39-4.”
Twilight sat back in the chair and thought. We may not have to do this on our own. If I can convince my friends in this world to help me, I don’t have to win the tournament to stop Sunset Shimmer. As long as I can make sure she doesn’t win, anyone could beat her. “Spike, do you think they might be willing to help us? I mean, I don’t know if they’re friends in this world, but if they’re like our Ponyville friends, maybe we can talk to them.” Twilight looked at the desk where Spike had been sitting and found it empty. “Spike?”
“Twilight, over here.”
Twilight turned her head. Spike had jumped onto the bed and was looking at a picture hanging on the wall over the head. Twilight stood and walked over to see what about the picture had gotten his notice. She gasped softly. “That’s them.” She reached up and lifted the picture to look at it.
A photograph of Fluttershy with Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rarity was in the frame. The five were younger than they were now, but Twilight recognized the school in the background as CHS. She smiled. “They are friends.”
“Were.”
Twilight jumped and snapped her head up. Fluttershy stood in the doorway, looking away and stroking her arm. Twilight stood up on the bed and looked at the back of the picture to figure out how it hung. “I’m sorry, really! I wasn’t trying to snoop or anything, I just saw the picture.”
“It’s okay.” Fluttershy reached out to take the picture from Twilight and looked down at it with a soft smile. “We took this at the end of first year. I already knew Rainbow Dash as a kid, but not really any of the others. We just kind of met up over time and bonded. Outside of Rainbow Dash, I hadn’t really had any friends before.”
Twilight stepped down from the bed. “What happened?”
“Sunset Shimmer came.” Fluttershy carefully set the picture down on her dresser. “The duel tournaments were all for fun. That’s why Pinkie volunteered to host them. Then when Sunset joined the school, she made it all about the competition to win. It was her idea for the champion to get special privileges, since they work so hard for it. She acted so sweet and nice that first year, we all thought it was a good idea. Then she got her crown and showed us what she’s really like.”
Fluttershy shook her head. “Now Pinkie is too busy keeping the school’s dueling database updated to play, Applejack and Rainbow Dash almost hate each other, and Rarity just drifted away with everyone else driven apart. And me… I’m just stuck with my little low-level deck with no one to play with.”
She looked back at Twilight. “I kept wishing someone nice would win over Sunset Shimmer some year, so maybe they could do something to change it. But no one remembers how it used to be. Everyone is just obsessed with winning, or they’re so bitter over it they don’t care.”
Twilight looked at the picture, five smiling faces looking back at her. They were happy back then. And then Sunset Shimmer ruined it. But why? Why does this school mean so much to her? What does Duel Monsters have to do with Equestria and my Element of Harmony? She put aside that thought for later and raised her head. “Well, not anymore. You’re right. Dueling is for fun. I may have never played before but I still had a lot of fun playing you today.”
Fluttershy’s face brightened. “Really?”
Twilight nodded. “Maybe together we can remind those four what this game should be about.”
“I don’t know about that.” Fluttershy bit her lip. “Applejack and Rainbow are some of the best duelists in the school. I think Pinkie is in the tournament just to see how things go, and maybe Rarity. But I didn’t register.”
“Are you still friends with Pinkie?”
“Well, we occasionally chat…”
“Call her. See if she’ll bend the rules to let you in late.” Twilight reached out to hold Fluttershy’s hand. “I know you only duel for fun. But standing up for something you believe in is one of the most important things anyone can do for a friend. And if we’re going to beat Sunset Shimmer, I want your help.”
Fluttershy looked down at their hands and then back at Twilight, giving a tentative smile. “Okay. I’ll do my best. Let me give her a call.” She carefully took her hand back and picked up the cordless phone on her dresser, walking out to the hall as she dialed.
Twilight smiled at Spike. “Well, that’s one ally.”
“Now what?” Spike asked.
“Now…” Twilight made her way back to the computer and sat down. “We need to find out those ‘online tutorials’ Pinkie mentioned. If Sunset Shimmer is the best player in the school at this game, we’re going to need to learn how to play it fast.” She looked over the row of icons and text at the very top of the internet browser and pressed her finger to the screen at the one that said ‘EweTube Video Hosting’.”