The young challenger stretched his muscles, his duel disk weighing down heavily on his arm. As he looked to the bright sky, he considered who his next opponent might be. He was known as Shadow, as he had often crushed his opponents with such speed, they rarely got to so much as see a fourth of his deck. So, he allowed the moniker "Shadow" to be tossed around, since they only ever saw a shadow of his full potential. Suddenly, he heard a voice to his left. The owner of it had a heavy Brooklyn accent.
"Hey, you look like a duelist!" Shadow turned to see an all too familiar image; Joey Wheeler. The image wasn't familiar because he personally knew Joey; the image was familiar because of how much he'd been on television in recent years. The 2nd place duelist at the Duelist Kingdom, the 3rd place duelist at Battle City tournament... Yes, Shadow recognized the hair and awkward grin. Although a skilled duelist, Wheeler relied on luck more often than he should, at least in Shadow's opinion.
"What's you're name, pal?" asked Joey. Shadow grinned, his ice blue eyes sparkling.
"The duelists around here call me Shadow. You're Joey Wheeler; aren't you some sort of champion duelist, or something?" Joey grinned, blushing slightly.
"Heheh, yeah, that's me, yours truly. You interested in duelin' a champ like me?"
Shadow snickered to himself. He thought that Joey might present something of a challenge, if he played his cards right, but all too often, he had seen him make rookie-worthy mistakes.
"Alright, Joey. I'd be happy to."
Both flicked on their duel disks, which automatically set to 4000 life points. Rather than flipping a coin, Shadow allowed Joey the first move.
"A'right, let's see what I got here..." Joey eyed his cards carefully. He then played a familiar looking card; Scapegoat. Four tokens appeared on the field, defending Joey's life points.
"My Scapegoat should keep you back for a bit. I'll just set this card and end my turn." A facedown card appeared on the field.
Shadow drew, and smiled at the cards in his hand; ponies, just what he always wanted.
"Alright, Joey. I summon Pinkie Pie to the field." An excited looking pink pony appeared on the field. She hopped up and down, looking thrilled, and smiling at everything. Joey stared for a moment, before laughing. Pinkie Pie's points weren't anything special; 1300 ATK and 1000 DEF.
But her special ability will rip him to shreds.
"Laugh it up while you can, Joey. Pinkie Pie, attack his Scapegoat token." Pinkie bounced over to the small, goatlike creature, and jumped on its head. It shattered apart.
"Next, I'll set this, and end my turn." The card appeared from nothing.
Joey was still grinning like a fool as he took his turn, and took the opportunity to fling an insult.
"Man, that's the most pathetic little monster I ever saw!" He drew, and looked at his new card. He grinned. "A'right! I summon my Armored Lizard!" The disgusting creature appeared on the field. Shadow watched, concerned, his hand clenching into a fist. However, as Joey seemed ready to attack, he hesitated.
Man, that face down card could be a trap... Yugi always says to watch the cards real carefully. I'll wait this turn.
"A'right, I'll put this facedown and end my turn." The back design of a card appeared on the field. Shadow smiled slightly as he drew. He looked at his hand; it wasn't brilliant to the untrained eye, but to him, it was everything he could want.
"I summon Rainbow Dash to the field," he said loudly. A cyan pony with a rainbow-streaked mane appeared, smiling fiercely at Joey's lizard. Rainbow Dash's stats were more impressive than Pinkie's, but not enough to take down the Armored Lizard; 1500 and 1200. Joey laughed loudly.
"What kinda cards are these, anyway? You're gonna need better monsters to get past my lizard!" Shadow smiled in return.
"Normally, Joey, you'd be right. However, these two have a special ability." Joey suddenly stopped laughing; the two ponies seemed to be talking to each other and laughing about some unknown joke.
"Hey, what's so funny?"
"I think they're planning a prank on your Armored Lizard." Rainbow Dash took off into the air, while Pinkie jumped around the lizard. Suddenly, Rainbow collided at high speed with the creature. It disappeared from the field.
"Their prank removes one monster of four stars or less from play, as long as I give up 100 Life Points for each star." As the two ponies clacked their hooves together, Shadow's Life Points decreased to 3600. Joey stared at the field in amazement. The field was now clear of useful monsters for him. Shadow spoke.
"Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, take out two more of those tokens." They did as they were instructed, removing the two goatlike creatures from the field. "With that, I end my turn. Show me your counter move, Joey." Joey glared, and drew with more force than before. He looked down at the new card, and grinned.
"A'right, I got just the card. I summon Gearfried, the Iron Knight!" The black and silver knight appeared on the field, hefting a blade and shield. Shadow looked at the card, knowing it's full capabilities when unleashed. Joey didn't hesitated this turn.
"Gearfried, attack that rainbow horse!" The knight jumped at the pony. Shadow hit a button on his duel disk, signaling the activation of a trap card.
"Negate Attack, ending your battle phase." Gearfried jumped back, and landed in his original position. Joey looked irritated, but accepted the defeat.
"A'right, I end my turn."
"Good. I draw," Shadow said. He eyed the new card, and added it to his hand. He then placed his next monster on the field. "I summon Applejack, in attack mode." The new pony was the color of light cider, with a blonde mane and tail to match. She also had a cowboy hat. Her ATK and DEF were 1300 and 1100, respectively. Joey didn't laugh this time, however; he eyed the monster with apprehension. Shadow grinned, glad that he had put his opponent on the edge.
"Don't worry, Joey. Applejack is gonna give you a hand as well." Joey looked up in surprise.
"Wha?"
"Of course. Each of these ponies represents an Element of Harmony. Pinkie Pie is Laughter. Rainbow Dash is Loyalty. And Applejack here is Honesty." Joey simply looked confused.
"So, what in the heck is that supposed to mean?"
"Her effect is that we get to see each other's hands." Shadow showed his hand on the field, and Joey showed his, albeit grudgingly. There were only two cards Shadow took an interest in; the Time Wizard, and a card he didn't know Joey had owned, Megamorph. He had a way to counter the latter, but the former he didn't want to; it would be useful to him later. Joey, meanwhile, seemed to have taken an interest in the Twilight Sparkle in Shadow's hand.
"A'right, y'seen enough?" asked Joey.
"I have. And yourself?" Shadow replied.
"Yeah, now let's get back to the duel."
The cards disappeared. Shadow used Applejack to dispatch the last scapegoat, and ended his turn. Joey grinned as he drew his next card.
"A'right, I summon my Swordsman of Landstar!" A tiny warrior appeared on the field. "And, to give my little guy a boost, I'll activate my Sword and Shield magic card, to invert his attack and defense points!" The previously weak creature suddenly gained a point boost. Shadow eyed it wearily; he was about to use his last trap to stop a Swordsman of Landstar's attack.
"A'right! Attack his Applejack, little buddy!" The swordsman jumped toward the sky. Shadow activated his trap card.
"I activate Harmonious Reconcile. I give you 200 Life Points, but your battle phase ends." The Swordsman stopped, but Joey's life points went up to 4200.
"Alright, you're turn." Joey seemed irritated about his blocked attack, but reasonably pleased with the duel. Shadow grinned at him, hiding his excitement behind the pleasant mask.
I'll finally get to use my ultimate technique on someone!
Shadow drew silently, looking at his cards. He smiled.
"I activate my magic card, Loyal Summon! If Rainbow Dash is on the field, I can summon two more pony monsters for the price of one. And I choose Rarity and Fluttershy!" A white pony with a purple mane appeared, and next to her, a yellow pegasus with a pink mane. Joey looked intimidated by the field before him. Rarity's points were 1300 and 1000, while Fluttershy's were a mere 1000 and 800. But that wasn't important; all five of them were on the field.
"Joey, I want to say thank you for this duel. I've never gotten to do this technique before, and it's supposed to be my end to all duels." Joey stared in surprise, but regained his focus quickly. "A'right, what's this so-called all-powerful move you got, huh?"
"I'll show you. I activate my spell card, The Elements of Harmony! First, you get to summon any monster from your hand, deck, or grave, free of any restrictions." Joey laughed, and summoned the Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Shadow shrunk a little as the massive creature towered over him. However, his voice remained firm. "Alright, now for my part. The five elements you see before you are the well-known ones. Laughter, Loyalty, Honesty, Generosity, and Kindness. However, there is one more element; a secret element that only a few know of." Shadow pulled the last monster from his hand. "The Elements of Harmony spell lets me play this final monster, even though the whole field is taken. I summon Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic!" The purple mare came forth, her Unicorn horn glowing. "Now, Joey, get ready to come down on a world of hurt; these ponies have one final attack when they're brought to the field together. This attack destroys all of your monsters, and their added attack points are removed from your Life Points." Joey stared in awe as the six ponies began to glow. There was a rainbow colored blast of energy, and it destroyed all of his monsters. His life points were brought down to 1900. Joey blinked in amazement.
"Lucky you, you only had a few monsters on the field. That ends my turn." Joey drew silently this turn; a drop of sweat fell from his temple.
"A'right, my turn. I summon Baby Dragon! Plus, I'll give the little guy a boost with my Dragon Claw!" Baby Dragon's points when from 1200 to 1600.
"Now, Baby Dragon, destroy Rarity!" Baby Dragon blasted Rarity away, causing Shadow to lose 300 points, reducing him to 3300. "That'll end my turn.
"Good move," said Shadow, more than a little irritated, "But you'll have to do better than that, because it's my move." Shadow drew, and grinned at the result. "I sacrifice all of my monsters to summon two more; Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."
"Hey!" interrupted Joey, "You can't summon two monsters in one turn!"
"Normally, that's true. But if I sacrifice every monster I have on the field, the two princesses can be summoned together."
Celestia was an Alicorn of white, with a flowing mane that had four sparkling colors in it. Luna was also an Alicorn, but dark blue, with a starry mane.
"Meet the instruments of your defeat, Joey," said Shadow. Celestia had 2000 ATK and 2200 DEF, while Luna had the exact opposite; 2200 ATK and 2000 DEF.
Joey was not perturbed. He was ready for his next move.
"A'right, time for me to use one of my best combos! I summon Time Wizard to the field in attack mode!" The clocklike creature appeared on the field. Shadow laughed mentally as Joey explained his technique.
Go ahead, Joey. No matter what happens here, I win.
"So, let's see what happens. Go, time roulette!" The wizard lifted his staff into the air. When the spin stopped, it turned out that Joey had won. He grinned widely as time blasted forwards. His dragon grew, and became...
"Thousand Dragon!" exclaimed Joey. Shadow just smiled, waiting for him to notice what else had changed on the field. Joey looked across at Shadow's side, only to see what had happened.
"Hey, where's that dark-lookin' pony?"
"You mean Princess Luna? Why, she's on the moon, about to return." Joey stared up at the sky; sure enough, there was a small moon hanging there. There was also the image of an Alicorn etched into the side. Shadow smiled, and spoke. "Now, Joey, before we continue, I think I ought to tell you the story behind Princess Luna, and Princess Celestia, as well. Celestia and Luna are in charge of raising both the sun and the moon. Celestia raises the Sun each and every day, and allows it to pass so that Luna can bring forth the night. However, 1000 years ago, Luna grew jealous of her sister, and refused to allow the night to end so that her sister could raise the sun. You see, all of the ponies in the land played and frolicked in the day, but slept through Luna's beautiful night. Luna's jealousy and rage transformed her into a wicker mare of darkness and shadows; Night Mare Moon. Faced with this threat, Celestia banished her to the moon. After 1000 years, the spell is broken, and Night Mare Moon will return. Her jealousy and rage make her all the more powerful, as well. So, I send Celestia from play to summon Night Mare Moon!" There was a blast of wind, and a shadow emerged from the sky, blanketing the duel in shadows. A dark Alicorn wearing violet armor and with fur as black as night appeared. Her mane appeared much unchanged, though it flowed more violently, as though an ethereal tempest were blowing it about. Joey stared at the mare. Her attack points were 3500, her defense 3200. He winced. Unable to attack, he ended his turn.
"This duel ends here, Joey. I play Horn of the Unicorn, powering up Night Mare Moon by 700 points. Then, I'll add Black Pendant, giving her another 500 points. That'll bring her to 4700 points, more than enough to finish you off. Night Mare Moon, end this duel!" The shadowy mare's horn began to glow and spark, and she blasted nightly energy at Thousand Dragon, destroying it completely. Joey's Life Points dropped to zero, and the duel ended. Shadow smiled, and walked over to Joey, offering a hand.
"That was a good duel. Nobody's seen that much of my deck before; I thought you might win once or twice." Joey smiled back, and shook his hand.
"Yeah, that was a good duel. I hope we get to do it again sometime."
"And I, as well." The two then went their separate ways, enjoying their fateful encounter.