Duelists of the Friendship Cup

by DrakeyC

Monster Tamer – Fluttershy vs Sour Sweet (Part 1)

The portraits of the two flashed in sequence before stopping on Fluttershy. “We have the first turn decided,” Radiant Hope announced.

Fluttershy’s duel disk beeped and ejected five cards. She gulped and picked them up. “Okay…” She looked at her hand and fumbled with one of the cards, her fingers slipping once before she gripped it properly to place it on her duel disk. “I summon ‘Baby Raccoon Ponpoko’.”

A small raccoon with a tiny drum strapped to its chest jumped in front of Fluttershy, scratching its ear (800/0). “I activate Ponpoko’s effect to set a Level 2 Beast from my deck to the field.” Fluttershy pulled her card from her duel disk and set it on her card tray.

“I then set one card and end my turn.” Fluttershy’s cards materialized in waves of golden sparkles in front of her.

Sour Sweet grinned. “Aw, it’s so cute! It’s such a shame it has to die!” She drew with a flourish, looked at her card, and held it out. “I activate the Spell card ‘Amazoness Call’. I’ll use it to add to my hand ‘Amazoness Princess’, and then I immediately summon her.” A small, dark-skinned warrior woman in red and purple armor landed from a portal in the air in front of Sour Sweet. She stood up, smirked, and lifted a spear from her back, twirling it to point it toward Fluttershy (1200/900).

“Summoning Amazoness Princess activates her effect, adding an Amazoness Spell or Trap card to my hand from my deck. I’ll take and activate ‘Amazoness Village’.” A large jungle of trees sprang up from the ground around Sour Sweet. Branches and grasses on the ground around her came together and joined together to form a circle of huts and tents. “With this card in play, all my Amazoness monsters gain 200 Attack points.”

Sour Sweet pointed. “Amazoness Princess, time to hunt your dinner! Attack Baby Raccoon Ponpoko!” Amazoness Princess (1400) hefted her spear and charged across the field. “At this time I activate my Princess’ special ability. When she attacks, I can discard a card to summon an Amazoness monster from my deck in defense mode. I’ll discard ‘Amazoness Baby Tiger’ and call out ‘Amazoness Queen’!”

One of the huts behind Sour Sweet cracked apart and fell open, revealing a large wooden throne decorated with animal skulls. Sitting on it was a blue-haired warrior clad in armor of animal hides. A large curved sword with a spiked guard rested between her legs, her hands on the end of the hilt (2400/1800 → 2600/1800).

“I activate my Trap card!” Fluttershy flung her hand up, the hologram rising in front of her. “It’s called ‘Beast Soul Swap’. It lets me return a Beast-type monster on the field to my hand, and then I can Special Summon a Beast monster with the same level from my hand. Return to me, Ponpoko!” Ponpoko glowed and shot away in an orb of white light, the spear piercing the air where it had been.

Fluttershy lifted another card from her hand. “In its place I’ll summon ‘Mogmole’ in defense mode.” A small anthropomorphic mole with goggles and a giant hand drill popped out of the ground, blinking up at the Amazon standing over it (800/800). Amazoness Princess looked down in return.

Sour Sweet held up her hands. “Whatever, it’s still dead. I continue my attack.” The Princess grinned and twirled her spear to stab it down at Mogmole. Mogmole screeched and exploded. “Oh well,” Sour Sweet smirked. The ground next to the tunnel Mogmole had drilled shook, and another drill head emerged preceding a familiar pair of goggles.

“Not quite.” Fluttershy smiled. “Once per duel, when Mogmole is destroyed in battle, I can revive it.”

“Go ahead, it’ll die again next turn.” Sour Sweet tossed her hair. “I end my turn.”

Fluttershy drew and held out a card. “I once again summon Baby Raccoon Ponpoko and activate its effect to set a Beast-type monster from my deck.” The raccoon appeared in front of Fluttershy beside a face-down card. “I then flip up the monster I set last turn, ‘Baby Raccoon Tantan’!”

A raccoon with a larger vertical drum over its chest rose from the card backing, banging padded drumsticks on its instrument (0/800). “When Tantan is flipped up, I can summon a Beast from my deck. I call ‘Catnipped Kitty’ in defense mode.” A pastel purple cat hopped onto Fluttershy’s field, a jingling bell on its collar, and rolled onto its back (0/500).

Sour Sweet made a face and stuck out her tongue. “If your cards get any more sickeningly cute, I’m gonna hurl.”

“Don’t underestimate animals just because they’re adorable.” Fluttershy held her hand out towards her new monster. “Catnipped Kitty has a very powerful special ability. Once per turn I can select a monster on your side of the field and make its defense points become zero for the rest of the turn.” She pointed her finger. “I target Amazoness Queen!”

Catnipped Kitty rolled onto its paws and bounded across the field and up to the collapsed hut Amazoness Queen’s throne was in. It purred loudly and rubbed up against her ankles, nuzzling affectionately. The Queen looked down at it and her scowl faded into a soft smile (1800 → 0).

“Oh come on!” Sour Sweet protested.

“I’m not done yet.” Fluttershy looked towards the stands.

“Go for it!” Rainbow called. Applejack nodded.

Fluttershy smiled and reached to her card tray. “I overlay my Baby Raccoon Tantan and Mogmole. Using my two Level 2 Beast monsters, I construct the overlay network!” The two beasts turned into transparent red outlines and slid together, undulating.

The crowd of CHS burst into gasps and cheers. Sour Sweet growled and stepped back. “Since when do Canterlot duelists know this kind of summoning?”

“Since now.” Fluttershy put her hand over her duel disk. “I unite the powers of the raccoon and the mole, to summon a brave new animal guardian!” She grabbed the card that ejected. “I Xyz Summon the Rank 2 ‘Number 64: Ronin Raccoon Sandayu’!”

The red light burst apart, revealing a humanoid raccoon in red samurai armor, its eyes glowing. Two orbs of red light orbited the air around it, trails in their wake. Twin capes of yellow burst from its shoulders to flutter in the air. It reached to its back and pulled out a large polearm, spinning it twice and then pointing it at Sour Sweet (1000/1000).

Sour Sweet put a hand on her hip and snorted. “An armored rodent with a thousand points. That’s your big play?”

“No. This is: Ronin Raccoon’s special ability.”

One of the red orbs around the samurai shot across the field and circled Amazoness Queen. Red light leaked off of her into the orb. “By detaching one of Ronin Raccoon’s Xyz materials, I can Special Summon a ‘Kagemusha Raccoon Token’ with attack points equal to the strongest monster on the field.” The orb of light floated back to Ronin Raccoon and grew into a ghostly red samurai raccoon, a katana strapped to its back (2600/0).

Rarity applauded. “Marvelous!”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “I told her she could do this, she just needed the confidence.”

“You said it, Dashie!” Pinkie high-fived the other girl with a squee.

Sunset looked at the other end of the field. Then why isn’t Sour Sweet more upset? The girl looked annoyed and disgusted, but for her current state in the duel she was rather calm.

Fluttershy flung her hand out. “Ronin Raccoon Sandayu, attack and destroy Amazoness Queen!”

The samurai charged across the field, the blade of its polearm held out. Amazoness Queen raised her head from the cat at her ankles to see the enemy approaching. She narrowed her eyes and raised a hand to her face.

Sour Sweet smirked. “Please.”

Ronin Raccoon jumped in front of Amazoness Queen and stabbed its spear forward. The Queen jerked her hand and the blade clanged off her gauntlet to embed itself in the wood of the throne next to her head. The samurai blinked, confused. The Queen glared and took hold of the shaft of the spear, then jerked it back to pull it from the wood, the momentum sending Ronin Raccoon stumbling off the hut and falling to the ground, its spear falling beside it.

Fluttershy stared. “What happened?”

“My Amazoness Queen is the proud ruler of her tribe,” Sour Sweet said. “She won’t let a little rodent like that lay a hand on her, or any of her warriors for that matter. You see, as long as Amazoness Queen is on the field, all my Amazoness monsters can’t be destroyed in battle, including the Queen herself!”

“Darn.” Fluttershy frowned. “Okay, then. My Kagemusha Raccoon Token attacks Amazoness Princess. Even if I can’t destroy it, I can deal damage to you.” The spectral samurai leapt up and slashed with its katana as it fell. Amazoness Princess screamed as the katana sliced across her torso in a wave of red light, leaving no wound.

“I set one card and end my turn. The effect of Catnipped Kitty ends and Amazoness Queen regains her defenses.” Fluttershy lowered her duel disk. Catnipped Kitty shook itself and ran across the field to rejoin Fluttershy, Amazoness Queen watching it go.

The students of CHS cheered. Applejack smirked. “Look at that, got in the first hit and it was a good one.”

“Keep it up!” Rainbow called.

Sour Sweet sighed and tossed her hair. “Ya know, I was trying to go easy on you, since you looked ready to faint if I tried attacking.” Her duel disk beeped and ejected its card. “Buuut, if you can handle the rough play, let’s go for it.” She drew her card, looked at it, and grinned as she turned it over to show it to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy paled and her eyes widened. “Oh dear.”

Sour Sweet swung the card into her duel disk. “I activate ‘Polymerization’!” The stands of Crystal Prep roared as a swirling purple vortex appeared in the air. “I fuse my Amazoness Queen with the ‘Amazoness Swords Woman’ in my hand!”

The Queen stood up from her throne and looked up at the portal, then leapt into it. Sour Sweet held her hands out. “Ruler of hunters and swordbearer of hunters, combine your wisdom and wit, and reign supreme over this battlefield!” She brought her hands together. “From the deepest depths of the darkest jungles, I Fusion Summon ‘Amazoness Empress’!”

A bolt of light shot out of the vortex and into the former throne of Amazoness Queen, shattering it and the hut it had been placed in in a shower of splinters and bone. The smoke cleared to reveal a massive warrior woman with white hair and red war paint on her muscles. Animal skulls adorned her shoulders, her waist, and her head, forming a horned crown. She snapped her hand out to the side, a red cape blowing out behind her, and in a flash of red light a massive curved, spiked sword appeared in her grasp (2800/2400 → 3000/2400).

“W-wow,” Fluttershy whimpered.

“Impressive, isn’t she?” Sour Sweet chuckled. “Don’t worry, soon you’ll get to see her in action, up close and personal. But first, from my Graveyard I activate the second effect of Amazoness Call.” Amazoness Empress lit up in a purple aura, the monster inhaling deeply.

“By banishing Amazoness Call from the Graveyard, I can allow my Amazoness Empress to attack all monsters you control!” Sour Sweet laughed. “What do you think happens next?”

Fluttershy swallowed heavily. “I think you’re going to hurt me a bit.”

“Nope; I’m gonna hurt you a lot!” Sour Sweet gnashed her teeth and held her hand out. “Amazoness Empress, rip her beasts apart!”

The Empress coiled her legs and sprinted forward, her sword held out to the side. “We’ll start with that disgusting rat that damaged my Life Points!” The Empress reached the Kagemusha Samurai and cleaved it in two in a shower of red sparks.

“Next, the pesky vermin that evaded me last turn!” Amazoness Empress turned its head to glare at Baby Raccoon Ponpoko and sliced through the monster. It squeaked as it exploded into light.

“That’s enough of that,” Fluttershy said, her face stern. “The effect of Catnipped Kitty prevents you from attacking it while I control another Beast-type monster. And while I control another Beast-type monster other than my Ronin Raccoon, it can’t be destroyed in battle.”

“Fine by me. You’ll still take damage!” Sour Sweet laughed. Ronin Raccoon braced itself and held up its polearm between its palms. Amazoness Empress struck the polearm and sent the raccoon sliding back across the ground.

“Let’s see what’s under Card Number Four!” Amazoness Empress held its sword up and pointed the tip at Fluttershy’s face-down card. “Now might be a good time to mention that while Amazoness Empress is presiding over my field, any Amazon that attacks a defending monster inflicts piercing damage. Sucks to be you!” The Empress stabbed her sword down.

“Not that much!” Fluttershy shot back. Her facedown card flipped over, revealing a small feathered mask and a pair of hands clutching a tiny axe (450/500). “My face-down monster is ‘Hane-Hane’, and when you flip it up with your attack, I can return a monster on the field to the hand! Or, for your Amazoness Empress, she goes back to the Extra Deck!”

“What!?” Sour Sweet’s jaw dropped.

Hane-Hane swung its axe and sent a massive gust of wind up at Amazoness Empress. The Empress was whirled up into the air and sent crashing into the trees of Amazoness Village. Her sword flew from her grasp and cleaved apart Hane-Hane.

Sour Sweet growled. “She won’t go without giving you a parting gift. When Amazoness Empress leaves the field, I can revive my Amazoness Queen!” The trees shifted as Amazoness Queen strode out of them and returned to the ruins of her throne, the wood magically reassembling itself around her as she sat on the remains. “Unfortunately my other monsters can’t attack the turn I use Amazoness Call’s effect, so I’ll switch my Amazoness Princess to defense mode and end my turn.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Right.” She drew and looked at her card.

“You’re just delaying the inevitable, you know?” Sour Sweet said. “You got in one lucky hit, but now you know what my deck is really capable of, and you’re down to 900 Life Points. At this rate you'll be lucky to survive my next turn. You barely even survived that one.”

Fluttershy steeled herself and shook her head. “I’m not out of Life Points yet. I still have cards to play, and I’ve seen friends that have won with less against better than you. I won’t give up!” She placed a card on her duel disk. “I summon ‘Nimble Beaver’.”

A small beaver with a twig in its mouth jumped up from a pool of water that spontaneously appeared at Fluttershy’s feet (400/100). “When I summon Nimble Beaver, I can Special Summon another ‘Nimble’ monster from my deck. I’ll bring out another Nimble Beaver. And then, I overlay them. Using my two Level 2 monsters, I construct the overlay network!”

The two Nimble Beavers turned blue and slid together, then lowered into the water. Fluttershy clasped her hands. “I unite the powers of my two beavers and call on the spirit of the feline that dwells in the depths.” She reached to the card that emerged from her duel disk. “Xyz Summon! Come on out, Rank 2, ‘Cat Shark’, in defense mode!”

A black and white aquatic monster jumped out from the pool and landed in front of Fluttershy in a spray of water, two orbs of blue light circling it. It stood on a pair of hind paws and waved a pair of front flippers in the air. A fish tail slapped the ground behind it and a cat’s face with whiskers and fur topped its body (500/500).

“I activate Ronin Raccoon’s special ability, and detach its final Xyz Material to summon another Kagemusha Samurai Token, copying the attack power of Amazoness Queen.” The remaining orb of red light orbiting Ronin Raccoon flew around Amazoness Queen and then back to Fluttershy to form a spiritual samurai visage (2600/0). “I then activate the effect of Catnipped Kitty, to sap the defensive power of Amazoness Princess to zero.” The cat ran up to the amazon and began to rub against her legs. She looked down at it and awkwardly moved the shaft of her spear to rub the cat’s neck (900 → 0).

“Finally, Cat Shark’s effect. By detaching an Xyz Material from it, I can select an Xyz monster I control and double its stats for one turn. I choose Ronin Raccoon.” One of the blue lights surrounding Cat Shark floated into Ronin Raccoon. It puffed its chest and stood up straighter (1000 → 2000).

Sour Sweet huffed. “So what? It doesn’t matter how strong your monsters are, you can’t destroy my Amazons in battle while Amazoness Queen is in play. You’re just doing the same moves you pulled last turn.”

“Not quite. I learn from my mistakes, which is why I set this card on my last turn.” Fluttershy held her hand up as the hologram of her card flipped over and rose. “I reveal my Continuous Trap card ‘Roaring Earth’! While this card is in play, when a Beast-type attacks a defending monster, it can pierce its defenses and still deal damage to you.”

“You little…” Sour Sweet snarled. “That’s the same effect my Amazoness Empress had! You’re just copying me!”

“Well, actually, I had set my card on my last turn, before you summoned your Empress.” Fluttershy gave a small smile. “So, really, it's more like you copied me.”

Sour Sweet’s response was to growl louder.

“Ronin Raccoon Sandayu, attack Amazoness Princess!” The samurai charged and stabbed its polearm through the Princess’ shoulder. It pulled it back and the Princess stumbled to a knee.

“Since the effect of Roaring Earth let me inflict damage to you, its second effect activates. I can select a monster on your side of the field and decrease its stats by five hundred points. I choose Amazoness Queen.” Fluttershy’s card sent out a rippling wave of energy at Amazoness Queen (2600/1800 → 2100/1300). “And then, my Kagemusha Samurai attacks!” The ghostly samurai stabbed the Princess’ other arm, driving her to her hands and knees.

Roaring Earth shot a wave of energy at Amazoness Queen again (2100/1300 → 1600/800).

“Not much of a queen now, is she?” Rainbow Dash taunted.

“I set a card and end my turn. At this time the stats of Ronin Raccoon return to normal.” Fluttershy put a hand to her chest and took a breath.

“Is it another trap card that’s gonna piss me off?” Sour Sweet asked. “Ya know what, don’t answer that, I don’t care either way. You should have lost this duel last turn!”

“Maybe. But I didn’t.” Fluttershy smiled proudly. “I’m not winning, sure, but I haven’t lost yet, either.”

“You idiot!” Sour Sweet snapped. “You really think those cutesy little animals can handle my Amazon deck another turn?”

“They’ve done a good job so far.” Fluttershy shook her head. “I believe in them, the same way my friends and my school believe in me. With them behind me, I won’t give up, even if I have no cards left to play.” The Canterlot High students applauded at her words.

“Gimme a break,” Sour Sweet muttered. “You know why my school cheers for me? Because I’m the best. They know it, I know it. And by the time I’m done with my next turn, you’ll know it too!”