We find Twilight alone in the park sitting on one of the benches. Her eyes looked red and sore after crying for so long.
"Why would he do this?" she asked for the eighth time.
<Flashback>
Twilight shook as she finished the letter, tears in her eyes. "Flash."
"Is he nuts?" Scootaloo said, "what does he mean Duelling nonstop?"
"I'm guessing he intends to Duel night and day until he has enough points to enter the finals," Grand Hoof replied.
"That's crazy," Spike said, "he'll kill himself trying to do that."
"Can't we do something?" Scootaloo asked.
"This was Flash's decision," Grand replied, "he's an adult who can make his own choices. Besides it's not like we could find him. He left on his Duel Runner and left his phone, so it's not like we can do anything. He could be anywhere in the city by now."
"So there's nothing we can do?" Spike asked.
"I'm afraid not," Grand said, "we'll just have to trust Flash will be okay on his own."
"No" they all turned to Twilight who hadn't said anything since finishing the letter. "We have to find him."
"I know you're worried," Grand said, "but Flash chose to do this."
"Flash is wrong!" Twilight almost yelled. Before they could say anything else she shot off, down the street.
"Twilight!" Spike called out, but she didn't reply.
<Flashforwards>
She took the note out of her pocket and reread the message. Even after five reads she still expected to see it say something different, that this was just some big misunderstanding on her part and Flash was just waiting for her to meet up with him.
"Twilight," the purple skinned teen looked over and her eyes went wide seeing her sister-in law standing not to far off.
"Cadance," she said standing up, "what are you doing here?"
"Spike called me," she said, "he was trying to get in touch with your brother but I picked up. Lucky I did, since if he had heard what had happened I doubt Flash would be in a fit enough state to enter the finals."
Despite finding the joke funny, Twilight didn't feel like laughing and just sat back on the bench. Cadance sat next to her and pulled her close, as she began crying into her shoulder. "It's alright," she said.
"Why would he do this?" she asked between tears.
"I can't say," Cadance replied, "he's a boy and they tend to do stupid things. But it's not like you won't see him again."
"We agreed to go to the Celestic Cup Finals together," she said.
"And you will," Cadance said, "do you honestly think he won't make it there?"
"I don't know," Twilight replied, "every time I think about it...my heart hurts. What if he can't make it? What if he never comes back?"
"Don't be silly," Cadance said, "you'll see him again."
"But-"
"Enough," Cadance said pulling her away and looking her in the eye, "your letting your sadness control your mind and make up these ridicules fears. Calm down and use that big brain of yours and you'll realise the facts. Flash will come back."
Twilight did as she was told. Taking a few deep breaths she felt her heart begin to settle until finally it was its usual beat. She wiped away her tears and thought back on what she had said before, and just as Cadance had said they were silly and ridicules. "Thanks Cadance."
"Your welcome," she said, "you gonna be okay?"
"I think so," Twilight said, "though I think I should be alone with my thoughts."
"If your sure?" Cadance asked, getting a node in return, "okay. Call me if you need anything."
"I will," Twilight said before getting up and walking off.
A little later a convenience store's door opened as a teen girl in a blur hoodie stepped out, a lollipop in her mouth and a bag of chips in her arms. She turned a corner, only to stop in her tracks when she saw Twilight walking down the street. "Twilight Sparkle." she said to herself, "what's she doing here?" Before Twilight could see her, she stepped back around the corner.
When Twilight walked passed she leaned against the wall in a relaxed, calm pose as she said. "Long time no see," but Twilight either didn't notice or didn't care and kept on walking by, "ignore me!" she said angrily, biting down on her lollipop shattering it. She ran after her and jumped infront until she was inches from her face, getting her attention.
"Trixie!" Twilight said in shock.
"How rude," she said, "to ignore the Great and Powerful Trixie."
"What are you doing here?" Twilight asked.
"I'm competing in the Celestic Cup obviously," she said showing a light blue DPM, "I'm guessing your also competing."
"I am," she said softly.
"So how many points you got?" Trixie asked, grabbing her wrist and reading her DPM.
Twilight Sparkle: 4750Ps
"Almost forty eight hundred points," she said letting the girl go.
"Well you know now," she said, "I have to-"
"Your not going anywhere," Trixie said, "not until the Great and Powerful Trixie teaches you a lesson for what happened in our last meeting."
"You want to Duel me?" Twilight asked.
"Of course," she said.
Spike and Cadance were in the park discussing her earlier talk with Twilight.
"She's really shook up about Flash," Spike said.
"Of course," Cadance said, "after everything those two have been through they share a special connection. So him just leaving like that must have been a real shock for her."
"I guess your right," Spike said, "but I hope she'll be alright."
"She just needs some time," Cadance said. They would have kept talking but in that moment Cadance spotted something, or someone. "Twilight?"
"Where?" Spike asked.
"Over there," she said pointing through some trees.
There Twilight was stand with some girl only one of them recognised.
"Trixie!" Spike said harshly.
"This is that Trixie Twilight mentioned?" Cadance asked, "the one who tried to cheat against Twilight to win her card?"
"That's her," Spike said, "but what is she doing with her?"
"I think," Cadance said, "their Duelling.
Twilight and Trixie stood off against one another.
"Let's put up three hundred points each," Trixie said, "if by some miracle you manage to beat my you'll have five thousand points. How's that sound?"
"Sure," Twilight said though she sounded uninterested.
"Then let us do this!" Trixie said activating her Duel Disk.
"DUEL/duel."
Twilight: 4000
Trixie: 4000
"I'll let you take the first move this time," Trixie said.
If Twilight had had her head in the game she would have been suspicious of that, but alas. "I draw," she said, "and since we have the same number of monsters out, I can Special Summon this card from my hand." A man appeared in a suit and bow tie with a top hat on his head, "Illusionary Magician." (A1400/D1300/L4) "And now I sacrifice Illusionary Magician to summon Gauntlet Magician in ATK mode," her magician disappeared and was replaced by a figure in wizards clothing. His hands were concealed inside a pair of metal gauntlets, with a magical in the back of each one. (A2500/D1200/L6) "I end my turn with a face down."
"Then the Great and Powerful Trixie will take her turn," she said drawing, "she will start by playing the Spell card Power Leach. This cards lets Trixie pay five hundred life points and in return, she can summon any number of monsters from her deck as long as their combined levels equal that of a monster on your field."
"So that's why she let Twilight go first," Cadance said from the bushes.
Twilight: 4000
Trixie: 3500
"Thanks for summoning such a strong monster," Trixie said, "because now I can summon two monsters to my field." In a flash of light two monsters appeared on the field, ones see recognised from their last Duel. "Say hello to Performage Flame Baton, and Performage Mirror Juggler." (A1200/D1400/L3), (A1000/D1000/L3)
"She managed to get two monsters out without even trying," Spike said.
"And what's worse," Cadance said, "she still hasn't used her normal summon."
"Now the Great and Powerful Trixie will sacrifice these two monsters," she said as they disappeared, "to summon Performage Smoke and Mirrors Magician." A new Performage appeared, wearing a red and black suit and bow tie combo with a matching top hat and blue mask over his eyes. (A2600/D1900/L7)
"Not good," Spike said.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie activates Smoke and Mirrors Magician's ability," she continued. "By banishing a Performage from my graveyard, the ATK of a monster on your field is reduced by that monsters level times by two hundred. So if Trixie removes Flame Baton, then your Gauntlet Magician's ATK power will decrease by six hundred."
Smoke and Mirrors Magician took of its top hat and pulled something out of it, before throwing it at Twilight's monster. It turned out to be a pellet of some kind which exploded creating a smoke cloud, covering Gauntlet Magician. (A1900/D1200/L6)
"Now Trixie will have her Magician attack yours," Trixie said as once again her monster removed his top hat. This time however lightning shot out of it, shocking Gauntlet Magician and destroying while some residual energy shocked Twilight.
Twilight: 3300
Trixie: 3500
"The Great and Powerful Trixie will end her turn there."
"Then it's my turn," Twilight said, "I draw." She looked down at her hand and seemed hesitant for some reason. This did not go unnoticed.
"This match is well underway," Trixie said to herself, "but her hearts not in it. This can't be the same Twilight Sparkle that defeated me last time."
"I summon the Tuner Monster Shadow Charmer," Twilight said as her magician appeared, "and with its ability I send a Spellcaster form my hand to the graveyard. In return I can summon a Spellcaster in my graveyard whose level is equal to or lower then the discarded card." Illusionary Magician reappeared on the field. "And now I tune level three Shadow Charmer with level three Illusionary Magician," Twilight said as her Tuner transformed into three light and carved the circles for Illusionary Magician to jump into before vanishing in a burst of light. "I Synchro Summon."
The light faded revealing Twilight's monster. "Tempest Conjurer." (A2200/D1400/L6)
Something about that seemed off to Trixie. Twilight's usual fire was gone, and it was like she was just going through the motions. Suddenly she figured out something. "Maybe she's a little bit depressed?" she guessed.
"With Tempest Conjurer's ability," Twilight said, "I can look at the top three cards of my deck and discard any Spells I reveal." She drew three cards, two of which were Spell cards which she sent to the graveyard. "Now Tempest Conjurer's ATK points will increase by three hundred points for each card." (A2800/D1400/L6) "I guess I'll attack," she said as he monster fired a lightning bolt which struck Smoke and Mirrors Magician destroying it."
Twilight: 3300
Trixie: 3300
"I end by placing one card face down. Tempest Conjurer's ATK points return to normal." (A2200/D1400/L6)
"The Great and Powerful Trixie will draw and once again activate Power Leach," she said using the same card from before. "She pays five hundred life points and can summon monsters whose combined levels equal six."
Twilight: 3300
Trixie: 2800
"The Great and Powerful Trixie will summon a pair of Performage Hoop Hoppers," she said as a pair of clowns appeared on the field carrying hola hoops which they spun around like jump ropes. (A900/D1100/L3)X2 "Next Performage Raising Risley will join the party," a small monster appeared doing a hand stand while balancing a chair on its foot. (A300/D300/L2) "And now," Trixie said, "the Great and Powerful Trixie activates the Spell card Ritual of the Grand Amulet." A weird looking necklace appeared on the field with a gem in its centre. Trixie's Performages went stiff, as they began to glow before their souls were pulled out of their bodies, and sucked into the gem. Seconds later the gem began to give off a strange mist, which slowly began to take shape. "Now watch as Trixie's most powerful monster will be unleashed." The mist finished taking form and began to fade, revealing Trixie's new monster. "The Great and Powerful Trixie Ritual Summons!"
It was a woman in black tight fitting cloths under a black cloak. She had white hair done up in a large bun with a black jewel encrusted headband. The amulet was now hanging from her neck. "Enchantress of the Grand Amulet." (A2900/D1000/L8)
Twilight was actually a little worried about that monster.
"Be afraid," Trixie said, "as Enchantress of the Grand Amulet's ATK points increase by one hundred for every Spellcaster on both our fields and in our graveyards."
"Wait," Spike said, "how many Spellcasters are there right now?
"Twilight has Illusionary Magician in the graveyard," Cadance said, "plus Gauntlet Magician, Shadow Charmer, whatever Spellcaster she sent there with Shadow Charmer's ability and Tempest Conjurer on the field. That makes five and Trixie has another six Spellcasters in her graveyard along with her Enchantress making a total of...twelve."
"Enchantress of the Grand Amulet now gains twelve hundred ATK points," Trixie said as her Ritual monster began to glow a dark light while its power rose. (A4100/D1000/L8) "Now Enchantress of the Grand Amulet attack Tempest Conjurer. The amulet glowed, as the witch placed her hands on it and then pulled them away as they now glowed to. Placing her hands together she fired a beam of energy at Tempest Conjurer, destroying it.
Twilight: 1400
Trixie: 2800
Twilight fell to her knees after the attack.
"Twilight!" Spike yelled attempting to rush out to her sister, only to be stopped by Cadance.
"She needs this," Cadance told him before turning back to Twilight. "Come on."
As she watched Twilight try to stand up Trixie just sighed. "That's enough."
"What?" Twilight asked.
"If your not going to put any real effort into this Duel, then why should the Great and Powerful Trixie waste her time?" Trixie explained. "You've barely put up a fight against me."
"I-I-I-"
"I challenged you thinking I could get pay back on the girl who beat me, but she isn't here. Instead I got some moody girl who doesn't care about giving it her all."
Twilight remained quiet.
"What happened to you," she asked, "did your boyfriend break up with you or something?"
Twilight flinched hearing that, which didn't go unnoticed.
"Bingo," Trixie said, "so he did break up with you."
"He's not my boyfriend," Twilight shot back.
"But he did something to turn you into this zombie," Trixie replied. "It's no wonder he did if you were this much of a downer with him."
"What did you say?" Twilight growled.
"If he was here right now, how do you think he'd feel seeing you Duel so lazily?"
"He'd," Twilight thought for a moment. If Flash was here right now he'd probably be yelling at her, telling her to get her butt in gear and beat Trixie. "What am I doing?" Twilight asked herself, "I'm in the middle of a Duel, why aren't I trying to win?"
"Good question," Trixie said, "when you Duel your suppose to forget about all your problems. You never bring them into the area."
"I know that," Twilight said.
"Then why is your head not in the game?"
Twilight shuck her head, knowing she was right. Flash was gone but that didn't mean Twilight was allowed to Duel so sloppily. "Okay," she said, "your right my head wasn't in the game but it is now. Let's keep going, I promise I'll try now."
Trixie frowned hearing this, but shrugged anyway. "Fine, you get one turn but if I'm not impressed I'm out of here."
"Thanks," Twilight said placing her hand on her Deck. "It's my turn, I draw and play Pot of Greed to draw two card." She drew her cards and looked at her hand, before smiling as she saw her stratagy come together. "I'll start by summoning the Tuner Monster Star Charmer," a new monster appeared besides her. It was a child in yellow wizards clothing with a giant hat on its head. (A100/D100/L1)
"Don't forget that with a new Spellcaster on the field," Trixie said, "Trixie's Enchantress gains another one hundred points." (A4200/D1000/L8)
"Well with him on the field," Twilight countered, "I can activate this. The Spellbook of Rebirth, which will let me revive a Spellcaster from my graveyard." In a flash of light another monster appeared. It was a wizard in bronze clothing and carrying a bronze staff. "Meet my Great Enchanter." (A2300/D1300/L5)
"When did that card get in your graveyard?" Trixie asked.
"Shadow Charmer sent it there with his effect," Twilight said. "Now I activate Star Charmer's ability, which lets me either increase or decease the level of a Spellcaster on my field by one point." The child clapped her hands making stardust appear, which flew towards Great Enchanter. (A2300/D1300/L6)
"With those two," Spike said.
"I tune level one Star Charmer and level six Great Enchanter," Twilight said as he Tuner changed into a single light which carved a ring around Great Enchanter. "When two mighty magicians unite their magical power an amazing event will occur." The monsters disappeared in a burst of light. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"
The light faded revealing Twilight's ace. "Twilight Sorcerer." (A2100/D2800/L7)
"Nice move an all," Trixie said, "but you just summoned another Spellcaster which means Enchantress of the Grand Amulet's power will now rise." (A4300/D1000/L8)
"Well let's see what Twilight Sorcerer's ability has to say about that," Twilight said as her deck began to shuffle and then slotted out a card. Twilight took the card and smiled seeing it.
"What did she get?" Spike asked.
"I activate my face down," she said as one of her cards flipped up revealing a Spell, "Spellbook of Illusion. This Spell lets me summon four Spellbook Tokens to my field." Four flashes of light shined as four hard back books appeared next to Twilight Sorcerer. (A0/D0/L1)X4 "And now," she held up the card her monster had gotten her, "I activate the Spellbook of Miracles. By revealing another Spellbook in my hand," she showed Spellbook of Power, "I can activate the effect of a Spellbook in my graveyard. I chose to activate Spellbook of United Magic. This card lets me sacrifice any number of Spellbooks from my field and then power up a Spellcaster by five hundred points for each one."
"To bad you don't have any Spellbooks out," Trixie said.
"You sure?" Twilight asked as her four Spellbook Tokens disappeared.
"Those things count as Spellbooks?" Trixie asked.
"Yeap," Twilight replied, "and with four gone I can increase Twilight Sorcerer's ATK by two thousand." (A4100/D2800/L7) "Next I activate Spellbook of Power," she said, "which will increase my Sorcerer's ATK by another thousand and his own effect will raise his power by one hundred for each Spellbook in the grave." (A5700/D2800/L7)
"THAT'S ALMOST SIX THOUSAND POINTS!" Trixie said.
"Twilight Sorcerer," Twilight ordered, "attack." Her monster let rip its magic blast which struck Enchantress of the Grand Amulet, destroying her.
Twilight: 1400
Trixie: 1600
"Nice move," Trixie said, "but it looks like your out of attack."
"Am I?" Twilight asked as her face down flipped up revealing Synchro Out. "Twilight Sorcerer, de-tune back into Great Enchanter and Star Charmer." As she said that her Sorcerer disappeared revealing the monsters she had used in his summoning. "Now Great Enchanter attack." The wizard in bronze raised his staff and fired a blast at Trixie, zapping her.
Twilight: 1400 (Winner)
Trixie: 0
"It appears," Trixie said sliding to her knees, "that the Great and Powerful Trixie has been bested once again."
"It was close," Twilight said, "and thank you."
"For what?"
"For helping me get my head on straight," Twilight replied.
Trixie sighed and held up her DPM. "As much as I hate to do this, here's your points." She transferred the points and Twilight looked down at her own watch.
Twilight Sparkle: 5050Ps
"Now that you have bested the Great and Powerful Trixie twice," the silver haired girl said, "you'd best not lose until I've had the chance to defeat you."
"Okay" Twilight said, "deal."
"Then I must depart," Trixie said, going into her hoodie and pulling something out which she threw on the ground creating a smoke screen.
Once the smoke vanished Twilight looked around to see Trixie running out of the park.
Twilight smiled in amusement. "Glad to see that again," she turned around and saw Spike and Cadance walking up to her.
"Guys," she said, "you saw that."
"Yeah," Spike said, "that was an awesome come back."
"Thanks," Twilight said.
"So how you feeling?" Cadance asked.
"Better," Twilight said, "I get I can't let how I feel effect my Duelling. I need to get to the finals after all."
"That's good to hear," Cadance said. "Come on, you must be starved after such a hard Duel."
And with that the three headed off to find some lunch. Twilight might not have Flash with her, but she knew she would see him again...at the Celestic Cup Finals .