//------------------------------// // Episode 2: Explanation Before The Celebration // Story: Swing Into Action // by Golden Flare //------------------------------// Time Before The Summer Sun Celebration: 01 Day(s), 17 Hour(s), 05 Minute(s), 23 Second(s) Yulo reluctantly woke up to greet the day as the sun's rays shined through his windows, he knew he wasn't a morning person, but he also knew that he couldn't sleep forever, especially with Celestia raising the sun every morning, he must admit that he was shocked when he was told that. But he had enough stalling and got out of bed, noticing that he was in the same room as he was the day before, any thoughts of yesterday being a complete and total dream were gone in an instant, this was real. With a sigh, he proceeded to look over his belongings to make sure nobody took anything while he was out cold, luckily his Duel Disk, Deck, and everything else were still here and in perfect condition, minus the scratches from his previous Duels, he'll admit he IS a little paranoid, but the way he sees it, you have to have a little paranoia to truly be cautious. The sound of his door being knocked upon pulled him from his thoughts, he set his things down and answered the door, seeing the ruler of the land herself. "Good morning, Yulo." Celestia greeted with a smile. Yulo yawned into his hand, "Morning, Your Highness." "Not much of a morning person, are you?" "Not really, not until I get my morning cup of coffee." Celestia giggled, "I know the feeling, I was once like you long before I ruled Equestria." Celestia shook her head, "But enough with speaking of the past, how are you since yesterday?" "Better, a lot better, in fact." "Good. My Captain of the Royal Guard will come by to drop off the cards Bronze Blade held and later afterwards Moon Dancer will be here for an official interview about your world." "Understood." "Come. Let us go get some breakfast." The two left the bedroom to make their way to the dining hall for their morning nourishment. On the way there, they encountered several maids and guards who bowed and saluted respectively to their ruler. Soon after, they arrived and entered the dining hall, Celestia was now sitting at the end of the table while Yulo chose to sit at her side, the butler came up to them to take their breakfast requests; Celestia decided on some blueberry muffins and a cup of peach tea and Yulo chose a plate of scrambled eggs and a glass of orange juice. The butler bowed his head and left to fulfill his obligation, Yulo and Celestia were alone again as the latter tried to strike up a conversation with a question. "So Yulo, could you tell me more about this Duel Monsters card game of yours?" "Well, the game and the rules are a little complex, but I'll try to explain them as best as I can." Yulo answered. Yulo tries to explain everything about the Duel Monsters game and its rules, but needless to say, Celestia was a little lost halfway through the explanation. After he was finished, Yulo caught his breath from talking so much, when he noticed Celestia's confused expression he knew the rules went over her head. "See? I told you it was complex." "Is there...an easier way to explain them?" Celestia asked. "Well, I have the rulebook for the game if you want to read it." "Of course, we'll take care of that after breakfast." Not long after their conversation ended, the butler and a few servers arrived with their breakfast and they dug into their food. But the enjoyment wasn't to last as a certain snobbish Unicorn barged in the dining hall. "Auntie! The other nobles are getting restless about this trading card issue, and you're just sitting here..." he trailed off when he saw Yulo, "And what is this animal doing in here, in MY seat of all places?!" Yulo immediately became agitated with this pompous mule as his brow furrowed, but before he could voice his own opinion, Celestia beat him to it, "Blueblood! This is the person that saved us all from Bronze Blade! Show some respect!" Blueblood suddenly paled a paler white than he already is (if that was even possible) and not so subtly made his way to the exit in a panic, making Yulo laugh at Celestia's quip. He regained control of himself and spoke, "Thanks, Your Highness. I would've said something I might've regretted if it wasn't for you." She smiled, "You're welcome." The rest of breakfast time was uneventful and afterwards, Yulo returned to his room to await his possible visitors, but not before he gave Celestia his copy of the Duel Monsters official rulebook. Time Before The Summer Sun Celebration: 01 Day(s), 16 Hour(s), 12 Minute(s), 47 Second(s) As he looked over his Dueling Deck, adding new cards and taking out old ones, a knock came from Yulo's door, he stopped what he was doing and answered it, revealing it to be a white Unicorn wearing purple armor with a serious expression on his face. "Um...may I help you?" Yulo asked. The stallion bowed and spoke, "I am Captain Shining Armor of the Royal Guard." he stood up straight and presented a small chest, "The princess herself ordered me to deliver these to you." Yulo took the chest and opened it, revealing a bunch of cards with a few familiar ones, "Are some of these Bronze Blade's cards?" "Correct. The princess wished you to have them and the ones she found for safekeeping." "Okay, thanks, just one other thing: is that...Crazy Box card in here too?" "Yes. The princess made it perfectly clear to give that specific one to you, since you were the one to defeat it, personally I agree with her, I feel it could be a reminder of your victory, and maybe you could put it to good use." "Maybe..." Yulo uttered, having certain suspicions about that specific card. "Anyway, I have other duties to attend to, I thank you for helping us in our time of need." With that, the Captain left as Yulo closed the door behind him, he walked over to a nearby desk and got to work on looking the cards in the chest over while setting Number 85: Crazy Box off to the side. After a good half an hour, Yulo finished checking and organizing the cards and began writing a list of the card types he has and how many they were. "Okay let's see here...67 Monsters, Normal and Effect altogether...18 Pendulums...43 Spells...39 Traps...8 Rituals...22 Synchros...31 Xyz, not counting Number 85: Crazy Box...and 56 Fusions. Done!" A knock on the door roused Yulo from his list-making and he got up to answer it, Moon Dancer standing eagerly behind the door. "Morning, Yulo! Are you ready?" she asked. "Ready? For what?" he asked back. "An interview, of course! I was hoping we'd get to know more about each other's worlds and their customs! Besides, Princess Celestia said you may have to go out into the land to face more ponies like Bronze Blade." "Speaking of him, what happened after he was arrested?" "Actually, I was hoping that YOU could shed some light on that." "Huh?" "You see, after he came to in the dungeons, he claims he doesn't know what happened, but all of a sudden, his face had an expression of guilt and horror and begged for forgiveness. He even said the last thing he remembers was picking a card up and hearing the words, 'Yes Bronze, let the Number take hold'." Yulo tried to hold back a loud gulp as he realized what she was talking about and cursed himself for being right about his theory. "Anyway, let's head to the Canterlot Library, we'll talk there." The two left the bedroom and castle itself to head for the local library for Yulo's first interdimensional interview about his world and more about Duel Monsters while meeting with some of the ponies who wished to get their picture taken with him or asked for an autograph. I suppose it can't be helped... he thought. Time Before The Summer Sun Celebration: 01 Day(s), 11 Hour(s), 09 Minute(s), 59 Second(s) A good four and a half hours had passed when Yulo sluggishly walked back to his room to take a power nap after all the explanations he had to give to Moon Dancer for the interview, he even faintly recalled that she was going to have a little get-together in the west castle courtyard with all of her closest friends coming tomorrow and even offered him to come as well, he accepted without hesitation, Yulo always loved making new friends. He made it back to his temporary room in the castle and passed out the moment he plopped on the bed. ... ...... ......... Another hour had gone by when Yulo fell asleep and woke up when he had one of the strangest nightmares, he knew he had to ask Celestia what it means. After getting up and changing into a better set of clothes, he walked through the halls of the castle, looking for Celestia, but had come up with nothing. Eventually, he came across a maid pony and asked her where the throne room was because he was lost, she guided him in the right direction and she went back to her duties as Yulo entered, earning Celestia's attention. "Oh, Yulo!" Celestia greeted cheerfully, "How did the interview with Moon Dancer go?" "It went well, but..." "'But'?" "When I got back, I took a short power nap for at least an hour, and I had a strange nightmare." Celestia's expression turned from cheerful to worry, "W-What kind of nightmare?" Yulo raised an eyebrow at the princess's behavior, but continued nonetheless, "It was about cards like the one Bronze Blade had, that Number 85 card, except there were more, a LOT more in fact, and that's not even the strange part. The strange part was...there was a pony that looked similar to you, except her coat was jet black and her mane dark blue." Worry gave way to dread as Celestia stood up and ushered Yulo out of the throne room, "...We must talk, in private." As they hurried through the hallways, Yulo only had one thought on the brain. Why do I have a bad feeling about this? Time Before The Summer Sun Celebration: 01 Day(s), 09 Hour(s), 59 Minute(s), 34 Second(s) "What-mare Moon?!" Yulo was in shock at what Celestia told him; supposedly her sister, Princess Luna, had given in to her darker thoughts when she became jealous of Celestia's subjects praising her and her sun more than Luna and her moon, and had transformed into a mare of darkness now called Nightmare Moon, who wishes to bring about eternal nighttime to the world. "Nightmare Moon. Now may I finish?" "Right, sorry. I'm still reeling from this." "Anyway, before her night could last forever, I used the six Elements of Harmony to banish her to the moon, I felt like it was the only way to stop her since she refused to listen to reason." Celestia sighed in sadness, "...I just wish I saw the signs before it was too late for my little sister." Yulo surprised her with a hug, "It's okay, Celestia. It can't be helped, there was nothing more you could've done. Do you still love your sister?" "Of course!" "Then don't feel bad, you didn't do what you did out of malice or selfishness, you did it to protect everyone. Who knows? Maybe there's a way to pull her out of darkness she found herself in." "You...You think so?" "I know so. Light and dark are two sides of one coin, if dark exists, then so should light. The true Princess Luna has to be buried in there somewhere." Celestia hugged back, "Thank you, Yulo...this...means a lot to me." He chuckled, "Anything for a friend." The two separated and Celestia addressed him, "So, you know the situation now?" "Yeah, and odds are the Number cards have aligned with Nightmare Moon to carry out, not just her goals, but their own." "The Number cards'...goal?" "From what I heard, Bronze Blade wasn't in control of himself when he was picking up those cards, and that Number 85: Crazy Box was the marionette pulling the strings of the puppet." "If so, what are they up to?" "I wish I knew, but we have to be ready for when whatever they're planning happens." "Alright then. For now, let's go get dinner in the dining hall and have a good night's sleep to be ready for tomorrow." Yulo nodded in agreement and they did just that, he even met Twilight Sparkle, Celestia's personal student, who seemed to be enjoying Yulo's company since she wants to learn more about him and his cards. The time came for everyone to go to bed and Yulo got under the covers before passing out this time, slightly worried about what tomorrow had in store for him. On the dark side of the moon a black brooding Alicorn wearing blue armor sat on the rocky ground watching as the stars slowly grew closer to her and granting her freedom. "It won't be long now. Soon, all of Equestria shall bow before me. Isn't that right..." She looked down at the ominously glowing rectangular object in her hoof. "...Number 102?"