//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: A Royal Pain // Story: The Magic of Dueling // by CrystalQueen //------------------------------// Red felt uneasy the entire trip back to Ponyville. “Why does it feel like someone’s following me?” he thought “Well, I just need to find that pink horse thing, then I can ask about the local area and find out what the shit is happening.” Much to Red’s shock and dismay, when he got to Ponyville, he found it to be populated entirely by ponies. Red quickly darted behind a building to stay out of the ponies’ line of sight. “What the fuck!? W-why are there so many horses!? Ok, now I really have to find that pink horse and, I gotta do it fast! But how am I gonna past these things undetected, I mean, stealth’s never really been my forte…” just then, Red noticed a large, empty cardboard box that he would conveniently fit into without his D-Board sticking out. “Say Twilight, why are we going grocery shopping for Fluttershy?” asked Spike “Because she has a terrible cold, Spike, she doesn’t want to get other Ponies sick by going out, and besides, I could use a break from grading papers and writing a curriculum about friendship. So, what’s on the shopping list?” responded Twilight “Right, well, first on the list is-” began the purple dragon before being interrupted when an upside down cardboard box bumped into him. “Hey, where’d this box come from?” Inside the box, Red was curled up almost into a ball, sitting on his D-Board. “Shit! They found me!” he thought “I knew this was a bad idea! Ok, new plan: when they lift the box to investigate what’s inside it, kick it into overdrive, then just bolt out of here.” Red started going through menus on his Duel Disk, preparing to execute his plan. “So, what should we do with this box?” “I don’t think anypony would just leave a box in the middle of the road like this, let’s see what’s inside it-” Twilight was about to lift up the box Red was hiding under, but was interrupted when she heard a familiar voice. “STOP!” Twilight and Spike looked up to see that the voice came from Luna, who jumped down from the chariot she rode from Canterlot on. “Princess Twilight, there is a possibility that you might have let loose a creature that might pose a massive threat to Equestria, although I’m not certain as to what this creature intends to do in Equestria.” “Really? A dangerous creature that could pose a massive threat to all of Equestria is being contained in this upside down cardboard box? Luna, I know you watch other Ponies dreams, but I think you’re overreacting more than even Twilight does.” said Spike “Uh, Spike? I think we should trust Princess Luna on this matter.” Twilight said “Please Twilight! I’d be more afraid of Garble than whatever’s under this box! And even then, Dragon Lord Ember forbade him from attacking Equestria randomly-” as Spike began lifting the box, Red knew that this was his moment to act, and that he might not get another chance. “D-Board! Acceleration Overdrive!” as Red pressed the button to launch his D-Board at its highest velocity from a complete standstill, he could feel it rev up for a split second, but was ultimately thrown off with the box as it took off, as Spike got caught on the front of the board as it sped off. “Shit!” “TWILIGHT!” “Son of a bitch!” Red shouted as he input commands on his Duel Disk to bring his D-Board back to him, inadvertently taking Spike with it “Sorry, but I’ve got places to be! Catch ya later!” Red tried jumping onto his board from behind, but when he landed, he found that he wasn’t on his D-Board. Upon turning it around, he saw that Luna was holding it with magic while Twilight was comforting Spike. “Yes, I believe you need this? Well, if you intend on getting it back, I’m afraid I have to ask you a few questions.” “Wait, there’s more talking horses? Well, no matter what you intend to do with me, I’m not going down without a fight!” as Red said that, he activated his Duel Disk and swapped out his Riding Deck for the Ground Deck he had placed in another Deck Box strapped to his leg. “Don’t worry Spike! I’ll be sure to take care of this guy! I don’t know how he wasn’t turned into a Pony or what that device on his arm is, but I won’t let it stop me-” “No Princess Twilight, I will handle this, I was made aware of his presence in the dream realm last night, and I was made aware of a form of  ‘communication’ that he’ll be more likely to listen to there.” Luna said, stepping forward “What do you mean by ‘communica-” “Hold this.” Luna shoved Red’s D-Board in Twilight’s face as she began using magic to scan Red’s Duel Disk, which she then created an almost identical copy of on her front left leg, only the red highlights were colored the same shade of blue as her coat. “Now then, I do believe we can Duel now.” “Wait, what the-how’d you do that?” “Magic, something I imagine you have no idea of. Now, do you want to Duel or do you want to come to Canterlot and answer question that the Royal Guard have for you?” Luna asked “Fine, but if I win, you give me my board back.” “Well, assuming you cooperated, I was going to do that anyway, but if that’s what you want for motivation, then so be it.” DUEL RED 8000 LP LUNA 8000 LP “I’ll go first!” Luna said, drawing her five card hand from the top of her deck. “I summon Vampire Lady!" (Level 4, 1550 ATK 1550 DEF) "I set two cards face down, and end my turn!” “My turn! Draw!” RED 8000 LP LUNA 8000 LP “First, I’ll summon my Gem-Knight Alexandrite!" (Level 4, 1800 ATK 1200 DEF) "Now, by Tributing it, I can Special Summon a Gem-Knight normal monster from my deck! I summon Gem-Knight Crystal! (Level 7 EARTH Rock, 2450 ATK 1950 DEF) "Battle Phase! Gem-Knight Crystal attacks Vampire Lady!” “I activate my Trap Card! Doble Passe! When my monster would be attacked, I can make the opponent declare a direct attack while also inflicting effect damage to the opponent equal to my monster’s attack.” RED 8000 LP -> 6450 LP “Alright then, my Gem-Knight Crystal attacks you directly!” “It shall not! I activate the effect of the Battle Fader in my hand! When the opponent declares a direct attack, I can Special Summon Battle Fader and end the Battle Phase!” As Luna placed the card on her Disk, the monster printed on the card came to life, and as its bell came to the same location as it was in the card, it rang loudly, causing Gem-Knight Crystal to return to its original position (Level 1, 0 ATK 0 DEF) “Battle Fader will be banished when it leaves the field, but your Battle Phase is over. Any other moves you’d like to make?” “I set one card face down and end my turn.” RED 6450 LP LUNA 8000 LP “My turn! Draw!” Luna shouted, using magic to add the top card from her deck to the other card in her hand “Vampire Fräulein, I can use this.” she planned, looking at her other cards “I’ll start by summoning Vampire Brood! (Level 2, 1200 ATK 0 DEF) "Now, appear! The guiding circuit that leads to dreams!” The Summoning conditions are 2 DARK monsters! I set Vampire Brood and Battle Fader in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Apprentice Witchling! (Link 2, 1400 ATK ) "While Apprentice Witchling is on the field, all DARK monsters gain 500 ATK and all LIGHT monsters lose 400 ATK! (Vampire Lady 1550 ATK -> 2050 ATK, Apprentice Witchling 1400 ATK -> 1900 ATK) Battle Phase! Due to the effect of Doble Passe, my Vampire Lady can attack you directly!” Vampire Lady leaped out at Red, trying to slash at his neck, but was ultimately blocked by his Duel Disk. RED 6450 LP -> 4400 LP “Now, Vampire Lady’s effect activates! When Vampire Lady deals you battle damage, I declare a card type, and while you send one card of that type to your Graveyard, I add one to my hand!” A drop down menu appeared on Red’s Duel Disk screen listing all the Spells in his deck, and as Luna’s Duel Disk was a magical copy of Red’s hers did too. Red and Luna selected their cards and their Disk’s automatic shuffle system shuffled their decks until the selected cards were on top “I send Gem-Knight Fusion from my deck to the Graveyard.” “And I add Pot of Greed to my hand! Which, on my Main Phase 2, I activate! Now I draw 2 more cards! I end my turn.” “Good! Now I draw!” RED 4400 LP LUNA 8000 LP “First, I’m gonna wipe this problematic board! I activate Dark Hole!” as Red placed the card in his Disk’s Spell/Trap Zone, a black hole appeared in the middle of Ponyville. “All monsters on the field are immediately destroyed!” “How...Odd…” “What do you mean Twilight?” “Well, that’s obviously a black hole, and normally, a black hole is a gravity well that absorbs everything around it, but look! The wind is swirling around it, and those creatures that they made somehow are reacting to it, but nothing else is! Whatever kind of magic that guy’s using, he clearly lacks a fundamental understanding of magic.” “Now, when Gem-Knight Fusion is in my Graveyard, I can banish a Gem-Knight from the Grave to return it to my hand!” “Wait, so that means-” “That’s right! I’ve turned your dumping into a search! I banish Gem-Knight Alexandrite from my Graveyard to return Gem-Knight Fusion to my hand! Now I activate the Gem-Knight Fusion that you gift wrapped for me! I fuse the Gem-Knight Tourmaline in my hand with the Gem-Knight Garnet in my hand! The powers of thunder and flame unite to strengthen one in the name of greater justice! Fusion Summon!” As Red explained this, an animation on his Duel Disk displayed both Gem-Knights flying into a blue and orange vortex with each other, melding together to form the card that he intended to Summon “ Appear! My unwavering soldier! Gem-Knight Topaz!"! (Level 6, 1800 ATK 1800 DEF) "Battle Phase! Gem-Knight Topaz attacks directly!” “When a monster declares an attack, I can Special Summon Vampire Fräulein from my hand in Defense Position!” (Level 5 DARK Zombie, 600 ATK 2000 DEF) “Really? Well now I activate my Rush Recklessly Quick Play! This will boost my monster’s attack value by 700! (Gem-Knight Topaz 1800 ATK ->2500 ATK) Go! Destroy Vampire Fräulein! Topaz Slash!” “I activate my face down card! Mirror Force! All attack position monsters you control are destroyed!” As Topaz was about to slash at Luna’s monster, the Mirror Force card appeared in front of it emanating a blue light, causing Gem-Knight Topaz to break into pieces “Now then, what do you say to that?” “Heh, nice one! I end my turn!” RED 4400 LP LUNA 8000 LP “My turn! Draw! First, I’ll sacrifice my Vampire Fräulein to summon Vampire Lord from my hand!" (Level 5, 2000 ATK 1500 DEF) "Battle Phase! Vampire Lord attacks you directly!” RED 4400 LP -> 2400 LP “Now, Vampire Lord’s effect activates! Send a Trap card from your deck to the Graveyard!” “Alright, I send Storming Mirror Force to the Graveyard.” “Now I set one card and end my turn.” RED 2400 LP LUNA 8000 LP “Damnit, am I seriously going to lose to this stupid horse?” Red thought “All I have in my hand is Emerald, and all I have on board is that Trap from turn 1...It’s all down to this! Draw! Yes! I activate my Pot of Greed!” as Red played his card, a giant version of the Greedy Pot appeared in front of him “As you know, this handy dandy card lets me pick up 2 more cards!” As Red drew his cards, the giant Pot in front of him detonated “Yes! Now I activate Dark Factory of Mass Production! This Spell Card lets me add 2 Normal Monsters from my Graveyard to my hand! I return Gem-Knights Garnet and Tourmaline to my hand! Now, by banishing Gem-Knight Crystal from my Graveyard, I return Gem-Knight Fusion to my hand!” “So wait, that means-!” “I activate Gem-Knight Fusion! I fuse my Gem-Knights Garnet, Tourmaline, and Emerald from my hand!” “Wait, a triple fusion!?” “That’s right! The 7 are power, Diamonds augment the power of the 7, and focus their power towards the light of justice! Fusion Summon! Appear! Gem-Knight Master Diamond!" (Level 9, 2900 ATK 2500 DEF) "Gem-Knight Master Diamond’s effect! By banishing a Gem-Knight Fusion monster from my Graveyard, Master Diamond copies its effect!” “Not so fast! I activate my face down Forbidden Chalice! This will give your Master Diamond 400 more attack points, and negate its effect!” “Not that it matters! Gem-Knight Master Diamond! Attack her Vampire Lord!” LUNA 8000 LP > 6800 LP “Ha...haha! I have won! Your only monster has already used up all its attacks! Now to elaborate, I hold the Raigeki and Monster Reborn cards in my hand, so on my next turn-” “There isn’t going to be a next turn! Now I activate my Fusion Cancel Quick Play! This nullifies a Fusion Monster on the field, then if all the monsters used to summon it are in my Graveyard, I can Special Summon them!" "Wait, what!?" I return Gem-Knight Master Diamond to my Extra Deck, and from the Graveyard, I special Summon Gem-Knights Garnet, Tourmaline, and Emerald!” (Level 4, 1900 ATK 0 DEF) (Level 4, 1600 ATK 1800 DEF) (Level 4, 1800 ATK 800 DEF) “Battle! Gem-Knight Garnet attacks directly! Flaming Iron Fist!” LUNA 6800 LP -> 4900 LP “Now Gem-Knight Tourmaline attacks directly! Thunder Cracker!” LUNA 4900 LP -> 3300 LP “Gem-Knight Emerald attacks directly! Emerald Flash!” LUNA 3300 LP -> 1500 LP "Now, time to finish this! I activate my face down card, Pyroxene Fusion!" "I-is that a Fusion Trap Card!?" "That's right! Pyroxene Fusion lets me Fusion Summon a Gem-Knight Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck by sending materials from my hand or field to the Graveyard! I refuse my Gem-Knights Garnet Tourmaline and Emerald back into Gem-Knight Master Diamond!" (Level 9, 2900 ATK 2500 DEF) "And you know what the best part is? His effect isn't negated anymore, so he 100 ATK for each Gem-Knight in my Graveyard! (Gem-Knight Master Diamond 2900 ATK -> 3200 ATK) Gem-Knight Master Diamond! Direct attack! Royal Radiance!" LUNA 1500 LP -> 0 LP “No… Sister...I’ve failed you...I’ve failed...Equestria…” “NO!” Shouted Twilight, tears rolling down her face. Luna was sent flying several meters back after taking the finishing blow, her Duel Disk and cards shattering upon impact with the ground due to their nature as magical constructs as everypony in the street was left speechless by their defeated princess. “Yo! Horsey! You played a good game! Hit me up for a rematch sometime! Now, if you don’t mind, I was told you’d give me my board back once I won.” Red said as he walked up to Twilight to collect his D-Board “Twilight, you can’t-” “Yes Spike, a deal is a deal.” Twilight said, giving Red back his D-Board “Even if I don’t like it…” “Thank you, now if you don’t mind me, I have someone to find and questions to ask about the local ar-” Red was saying before realizing just how stupid he was being “Wait, are you from around here?” “Um, yes, I’m ‘from around here’, why do you care?” “Great! I was gonna go looking for this pink horse to ask some questions about the local area, but I just realized that you’ll do just fine.” “Pink horse…? Do you mean Pinkie Pie?” “Maybe, I didn’t catch its name, I was a little too terrified when it popped out of nowhere right into my face like-” “Hi!” Red screamed in terror and jumped back when a bubbly pink mare suddenly jumped in his face “Aw, did I scare you again? I’m sorry…” “You mean like that?” “Yes! Exactly like that!” “Oh, she’s always doing that, but Pinkie, what are you doing here?” “Oh! Well yesterday I met somepony back behind your big castle and I said ‘Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie!’ and he was like ‘AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!’ and then he ran away as fast as Rainbow Dash and then I ran after him to try and make a better impression on him and then I saw him run into the Everfree Forest and I was like ‘Wait! Don’t go in there!’ but he didn’t listen so then I went to go prepare for the ‘Welcome to Ponyville I really hope you like it here’ party, but I ran out of ammunition for my party canon so I came to buy more!” Pinkie said, only using a single breath “Oh hi Luna!” Pinkie seemed completely oblivious to the facts that Luna was lying down on the road as if she were dead and the ‘somepony’ that she was preparing a party for was right in front of her “Well, I better get going now! Bye!” “...That is one weird horse.” “Well, the common term is ‘Pony’ but yes, she is quite weird. But, Luna...I can’t believe you killed her like that…” “What? She isn’t dead. It was just a Ground Duel, they aren’t lethal. She’s just being overdramatic. Here, let me show ya.” “Wait, what do you mean by Ground Duel?” “Yo, horsey! Get up!” “You will never take...Equestria...I am only one of its princess-” “The fuck’s an Equestria? I just wanna find out where I am and why it was daytime in the middle of the night yesterday.” “W-What? Me and...my sister Celestia...never falter at raising the-” “Ok, cut the theatrics, you’re not really injured, it was just Solid Vision, the name’s misleading as Solid Vision with mass is a completely separate thing, which my Duel Disk doesn’t support, you’re suffering a placebo, you only think that you’re injured when you’re actually perfectly fine.” “Whatever do you...mean...I feel...fine...Oh...You weren’t trying to destroy Equestria after all, were you?” “Again, the fuck’s an Equestria? I was off, minding my own business, getting cards for me and my friend’s cardshop from our supplier late at night, when all of a sudden, some weird portal opened right in front of me, and then I wound up here, surrounded by ponies with a teacup falling on my head in the middle of an afternoon.” “Wait, what was that about a teacup?” “A teacup fell on my head when I was dragged here against my will.” “Oh no, Starlight must have been teaching Trixie advanced teleportation spells without me again...I’m sorry one of my friends dragged you here, I’ll see if there’s some kind of spell that can send you back as soon as possible.” “Well, as long as you figure something out quickly everything should be fine, I’m kinda needed back home.” “Right, so, Pinkie’s having a party for you over at Sugarcube Corner, you want to go and talk so I can write about it?” “Uh, Twilight? We’re supposed to be going grocery shopping for Fluttershy, remember?” “Oh! Yes! Well, surely, you’ll want to go and learn more too, won’t you Princess Luna?” Twilight’s question fell on deaf ears however, as Luna was sleeping standing up “Princess Luna? Are you awake-” “Huh? What was-Oh, my apologies, what were we talking about?” Luna said, fading in and out of sleep “There’s a party at Sugarcube Corner.” said Spike “Are you going so you can learn about this guy?” “Oh, my apologies, but as Princess of the Night, and I’m usually in bed asleep two hours ago, I must return to Canterlot where a warm bed surely awaits. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a chariot waiting for me.” “Alright then, see ya Princey!” Twilight smacked Red in the back up the head with her rolled up shopping list almost immediately after “Ow! The hell was that for!?” “She’s one of the rulers of Equestria! Show some more respect around her!” “Ok, ok, just don’t hit me, it’s fucking irritating.” “Alright, so how about this; Spike, escort this fellow to Sugarcube Corner while I go do Fluttershy’s grocery shopping for her, and then I’ll catch up with you, alright?” “Sure, sounds good with me.” “You got it Twilight!” “Oh, and I don’t think we’ve properly introduced ourselves yet, my name is Twilight Sparkle, and this is my assistant Spike! He’s a baby dragon!” “And I’m also Friendship Ambassador to the Dragon Kingdom!” “Cool, you can call me Red.” “Well alright then Red, Spike will show you to Sugarcube Corner, and I’ll be right behind you!” “Sounds good.”