//------------------------------// // Episode 3: Dueling Is Magic! // Story: Equestria Girls: Time To Duel // by Midday Sun //------------------------------// "Okay, here you...go?" It was Tuesday of the following day after 'The Duel of the Duel Queen' yesterday. The school was abuzz with people talking about how the duel was gonna end. People were chatting about how Dash had it in the bag, with others proclaiming that Pinkie had an ace in the hole. Twilight knew that last comment was partially right, but she didn't dwell too much on the results of a duel. It was inconclusive and that was enough for her. Right now, her focus was just on seeing Pinkie almost rip open the plastic container and scarf down cupcakes as though she hadn't eaten in years. She mauled a red velvet as the fluffy texture rained down onto the lunch table like bloody cotton. "Ooh, red velvet with vanilla icing~ Nice, Twilight!" "Th-thanks..." Twilight was disgusted with the way Pinkie scarfed them down. She tried not to be, but it was like watching a hungry wolf tear at a deer's throat. But she swallowed her nausea as she said, "s-so, this will due as...payment, right?" "Huh?" "...For building me a deck, Pinkie. We talked about this yesterday." "Oh yeah!" Pinkie smiled, pushing the container of 8-now 3-cupcakes to the side as she grabbed her backpack. Twilight watched her dig around for it and pull out a notepad. "Okay, so you want a deck. I guess you want it centered around the 'Dark Magician Girl', huh?" The bespectacled girl frantically nodded her head. "Y-yes! That's exactly what I want!" "Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie smiled, "when I build the deck, I'll leave space for her, so you can just slip it in when I give the rest of the cards to you." Pinkie watched Twilight nod as she flipped the page of her notebook and scribbled more stuff down. "Goodie! Just come by my place on Saturday at around noon and I'll have the deck fully prepared, finished, and ready for you." "R-really?!" Twilight nodded, "thank you so much, Pinkie Pie! You're amazing!" "Aw, shucks," Pinkie giggled, "thanks, Twilight~ I ease to please!" Twilight stepped off of the bus as she walked her way to the rather rustic house. She took a second glance on the paper given to her by Pinkie. She couldn't believe someone so bounce and pink lived somewhere so...grey and drab and near the edge of the city, with a nearby garage. She took Pinkie for someone who lived in the heart of Canterlot, with friends just pouring out of every door and window. She tried to push those thoughts away as Twilight walked to the door. She had a lilac sweater vest over a white t-shirt, a purple dress with a magenta star emblazoned on her hip, with her school backpack hanging on her shoulders. Knee-high socks and plain black shoes that clicked on every step of the cobblestone before she began to walk up the steps to the porch. KNOCK, KNOCK-KNOCK! Twilight braced herself, expecting Pinkie to spring out and tackle her like an excited dog. But instead, a tall woman came out-at least as tall as Pinkie, but she was nothing like her. Sharp slate eyes that made Twilight freeze up, with matching her tied into a bun. Golden glasses hung on her face with a noticeable chain, the woman had fair skin and a curvy build; her breasts were an E-Cup and had child-bearing hips, with a dark grey vest over her plain white shirt, a black pencil skirt underneath. "Can I help you?" Her voice was suddenly dry. Twilight tried to speak, but no words seemed to come out. Twilight only stood with her jaw agape as the woman adjusted her glasses. "You must be Pinkie's friend, aren't you?" ("Yeah, this isn't t he first time I brought a friend home and they had this reaction to one of my parents.") "Y-yes, ma'am. That's-AHEM-that's right." "Well then, she's in the garage with one of her...projects." Twilight noticed the sneer the woman gave when she said that final word. "Simply knock and I'm sure she'll open the door." "Er, thank you, ma'am." Twilight nodded as she watched the woman return inside. Twilight stepped off the porch and headed to the garage door and began to give it another knock. No response. When Twilight got ready to knock again, the door started to move upward and open up. Inside, the garage had looked like mchanic's workshop. Twilight looked around, seeing Pinkie's poofy hair from behind what looked like a motorcycle, working away with a wrench. "Huh?" Pinkie looked up and gawked, "oh, hey Twilight! Sorry, I lost track of time!" She stood at her full height, sporting a pink pair of overalls with a work belt around her hips. "It's okay...er, your mother mentioned you were working on a project." Twilight walked over the motorcycle that was propped up. "Is...this bike it?" "Yeah!" Pinkie giggled, "since I need to either ride the bus or hoof it in order to make it to school on time, I wanted to get a car! But I can't afford one, so I decided to get a motorcycle! But I couldn't afford that either, so I'm building one!" Pinke smiled, "it's gonna be amazing!" "...You're not gonna try to play card games on that, are you?" Twilight raised an eyebrow at Pinkie. "...That would be silly." ("Keep this scene in mind, it's going to bite my in the butt later...") "To be fair, Pinkie, I would't put it past you to try." Twilight looked behind her and standing near the exit, where the mechanism to open the garage door was, was another girl with pink hair, but hers was long and straight. Creamy and clear skin, with eyes that were a soft green. She had matching leggings and a bright yellow sweater that did a poor job concealing her own D-cup and yellow boots. "Oh, hey, uh, Fluttershy, right?" Twilight greeted, giving Fluttershy a wave as she smiled back. Thankfully, through Pinkie, the two of them had become pretty fast friends. "Nice to see you!" "You too." Futtershy nodded, "but I hope Pinkie didn't rope you into helping her with her bike, too." "Uh...no..." Twilight slowly sad before she clarified, "I'm here cause Pinkie promised to build me a deck for-" "Muffins?" "Cupcakes." "Ah." Fluttershy gave a nod, grabbing a wrench and handing it to Pinkie. "Last time she made a deck, she charged someone muffins. She rates always seem to change with her sweet tooth." "Hey, girl's gotta eat." Pinkie popped from her bike with a cheeky grin, making her way to a nearby desk. She took off her grease or oil-covered gloves and opened the dresser. She grabbed a deck box and handed it to Twilight. "Here you go, Twilight: one deck, perfect for your special card~" "R-really?" Twilight took the box and opened it up. She quickly scanned through the deck and noticed it was a little...similar. Not quite the same, but she's seen a pretty similar deck. "Pinkie-" "Yup!" Pinkie giggled, "since the 'Dark Magician Girl' is your special card, I thought I'd build you a full Magician Girl! And I took plenty of inspiration from Cadenza!" "I guess that's a little fitting." Twilight said with a small smile, "her and Shining taught me how to duel. after all." "R-really?!" Fluttershy gasped. "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that; her brother's Shining Armor." Pinkie gushed, "isn't that cool?!" "W-wow, really?" Twilight couldn't help but blush as she felt Fluttershy's amazed stare. "That's pretty cool! It must be pretty amazing to have a brother like Shining Armor in the Pro Leagues!" "Heh heh, thanks." Twilight rubbed the back of her head, "but I don't think I can compare to either Cadence or my brother." "Oh, I don't know." Fluttershy gave Twilight a gentle smile, "do you mind showing me then? I'm sure you're better then you say you are." "W-well, o-okay." Twilight took out a duel disk from her backpack, "I guess I gotta test ut the deck anyway." "Yippie!" Pinkie cheered as Fluttershy moved to Pinkie's desk, grabbing a duel disk and popping it on her arm. Once the two got into position, the two shared a friendly nod. "DUEL!" Twilight Sparkle: 8000 Hand: 5 Fluttershy: 8000 Hand: 5 "Uh, I guess I'll go first?" Twilight asked. "Oh, okay then. After you." Twilight nodded as she examined her hand, then grabbing a spell card. "Okay...I'll start by activating Hand Destruction. This card forces both of us to send two cards from our hands to the graveyard, then draw two more." Twilight ditched two cards and drew two more, as did Fluttershy. "Next, I summon Chocolate Magician Girl!" A tanned-skinned girl with aqua hair appeared on Twilight's field, twirling around a wand as she floated in the air, putting a hand on her hip. She had a blue, pillared wizard hat, crop top, and mini skirt. ATK/1600 DEF/1000 "A Magician Girl deck?" Fluttershy asked, "that's pretty interesting." "Thanks~" Pinkie sang from her spot, munching on a bag of popcorn neither of them saw her grab. Twilight tried to ignore the sound of Pinkie eating as she said, "a-and now, I play Secret Village of the Spellcasters." Tall tree sprouted into the garage, phasing through the ground and ceiling as a fake sun's light shined through. "As long as I have a Spellcaster on the field, you can't activate spell cards anymore." "Oh dear..." "I'll set two cards into my backrow. Turn end." Twilight's Hand: 1 "Draw." Fluttershy drew her 6th card and looked over her own hand. "I'll activate the effect of the Tuner Monster Egotistical Ape: by sending my Level 1 Bunilla to the graveyard, he can be special summoned." Fluttershy discarded the card as a small chimp was summoned to the field, a fiendish aura surrounding him as a large, shadowy ape came over him. "When my Ape is summoned this way, I can increase or decrease his level by the level of the discarded monster. I choose to decrease his level from 5 to 4." ATK/1200 DEF/1200 "Next, since I still have my normal summon, I summon Outstanding Dog Marron." A small dog popped next to Egotistical Ape, yipping excitedly. It had a small dog tag with 'Marron' written on it. Twilight and Pinkie couldn't help but give an 'awe' in pure bliss at seeing the dog. Even Chocolate Magician was cooing at the monster. ATK/100 DEF/100 Twilight snapped out of her awing as she realized what was happening. "Uh-oh." "And now, I'll tune my Level 4 Egotistical Ape with my Level 1 Marron!" The ape then dispersed into four rings, appearing before Marron, who ran forward and jumped through, turning into one star. "Gallant galloping with hooves echoing the thunder clap! Synchro Summon! Run free, Thunder Unicorn!" From the other side of the rings appeared a majestic, blue unicorn with lightning-yellow mane and electricity crackling around his horn. Yellow streaks marked its body. ATK/2200 DEF/1800 "So amazing..." Twilight gawked. "Thank you." Fluttershy smiled, "oh, and since Marron went to the graveyard, he instead gets shuffled into my deck." ("Personally, I always felt this deck didn't suit Fluttershy. Maybe if they were Pegasus...Pegasi? Pegasuses? Pegasuses.") "Now, Thunder Unicorn, attack Chocolate Magician Girl! Thunder Shot!" The blue unicorn's horn charged with electricity and got ready to fire, but a magical circle appeared in front of the Magician Girl. "Not so fast, Chocolate's effect activates when she's attacked; it lets me special summon a Spellcaster that's steeping in my graveyard." Fluttershy gave a gasp as Twilight took her card. "And I choose the master of magic himself, the Dark Magician!" A man with white hair and light blue skin appeared before Chocolate, in a black cloak and armor with a white trim, and blue staff in hand. Chocolate was blushing, cupping her face in her hands. ATK/2500 DEF/2100 "S-so that's what Hand Destruction was for..." "That's right. And not only is he Thunder Unicorn's new target, but thanks to Chocolate's effect, his attack is cut in half." as Twilight explained, a blue aura came around her unicorn, sapping his strength. Thunder Unicorn's ATK: 1100 As electricity fired from the unicorn's horn, the Dark Magician held out a hand, catching the electric blast before holding out his rod and firing dark purple energy at the unicorn, blowing him to pixels. Fluttershy's Lifepoints: 6600 "Good move, Twilight!" Pinkie cheered. "Y-yeah, that was great." Fluttershy smiled. "R-really? Thanks." Twilight blushed a bit, rubbing the back of her head. Fluttershy looked over her hand, "I guess I can't do anything else but set one card and end my turn." Fluttershy's Hand: 2 "Don't underestimate 'Shy, Twilight!" Pinkie screamed with her mouth full of popcorn. "She's slippery!" "I-I'll keep that in mind." Twilight nodded as she drew. "Okay, I'll summon Berry Magician Girl." A small, baby monster with wings appeared, fluttering around Twilight in a green jumper and pink shorts, as well as a pink hood with the spiraling wizards hat. She held her own wand in her hand and a pacifier in her mouth. She eagerly flew around the other two monsters. ATK/400 DEF/400 "Now that she's summoned, I can add a 'Magician Girl' to my hand. And I choose the 'Apple Magician Girl'." Once Twilight took her card, she commanded, "now, Dark Magician! Attack directly! Dark Magic Attack!" As the master of magic raised his arm, a tombstone appeared on Fluttershy's field. "W-what?!" "I'm activating Call of the Haunted." Fluttershy smirked, "you didn't think you were the only one who could summon from the graveyard, did you?" A large fist punched through the ground, holding a spear. "I use Call of the Haunted to resurrect Beast King Barbaros!" Fully appearing was a giant monster, tan fur that ended in the lower half of a panther with a scorpion tale. He had a golden, lion's mane, one hand holding a spear the other a shield. ATK/3000 DEF/1200 Twilight bit her lip, as the Dark Magician lowered his rod. "Well, I activate one of my facedowns; Magical Dimension!" A tall, iron maiden appeared behind Twilight's monsters. "By sacrificing one Spellcaster, I can special summon another from my hand. I choose my Apple Magician Girl!" Berry turned into pink energy, being absorbed by the iron maiden. In a red flash, a girl in a red, tight dress, with matching winged boots and gloves, and spiral hat. She turned, saw the Dark Magican, and clung onto his arm, blushing eagerly as Chocolate Magician Girl growled at her. The Dark Magician just rolled his eyes. ATK/1200 DEF/800 "And now, with Magical Dimmension's other effect, I can destroy Barbaros." The iron maiden closed itself before firing at Barbaros, exploding him into dust. "Don't think I'm out yet; since Barbaros was a Beast-Type monster that was destroyed, I can special summon another Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest!" Appearing from the dust was a large, green ape creature, clad in brown armor and holding a wooden club. He pounded his chest and roared. "I gotta pay 1000 lifepoints, however." ATK/2600 DEF/1800 Fluttershy's Lifepoints: 5600 "Wow, Flutershy!" Pinkie clapped her hands, "you summoned two super strong monsters back-to-back!" "Th-thanks, Pinkie." Fluttershy smiled bashfully. "Yeah, that was a good move!" Twilight smiled, "but I guess I can't do anything else, so I end my turn." Chocolate Magician girl had her arms crossed and glared at Apple, who gave a nervous shrug. Twilght's Hand: 1 "Thanks, I draw." Fluttershy drew her next card. "I'll set two cards and have my Green Baboon attack the Dark Magician. Wild Bash!" Green Baboon pounced on top of the Dark Magician, swinging his club down on top of the wizard, much tot he dismay of the Magician Girls. Twilight's Lifepoints: 7900 "And...I guess that's it." Fluttershy's Hand: 0 "Draw!" Twilight drew. "And I'll play Card of Sanctity! This lets both of us draw until we both have 6 cards in our hands." Both girls drew a new hand. "Alright, now, I sacrifice Apple and Chocolate to summon Ice Queen in Attack Mode!" Both Magician Girls turned to yellow and blue energy, both twirling around each other into a pool as a woman in white, with white hair arose from it. ATK/2900 DEF/2100 "And now, Ice Queen will attack! Zeta Blizzard!" A harsh whirlwind of ice and snow was sent flying at the baboon. "Not so fast! I equip my Baboon with Horn of the Phantom Beast!" A pair of moose antlers were placed on top of Green Baboon's head. "This will give him a boost of 800 points!" Green Baboon ATK: 3400 Green Baboon charged through the blizzard before he tackled the Ice Queen, sending her flying before she shattered to shaved ice. "And while equipped with the 'Horn of the Phantom Beast', I get to draw a card when my Baboon destroys a monster in battle and sends it to the graveyard." Twilight's Lifepoints: 7400 "3400...that's gonna be tough..." Twilight mumbled as she looked through her hand. "And now that I don't have any Spellcasters on my field, I can't use my spells." She shuffled through her hand before she set a new card face down. "I'll set another card and end my turn. Twilight's Hand: 4 "Draw!" Fluttershy drew her 8th card. "Okay, first, I summon Rescue Rabbitin attack mode." A white and grey rabbit appeared on Fluttershy's field, with ski goggles and a safety helmet. "And now, by sacrificing him, I can special summon two Normal Monsters with the same name. And I choose two copies of Chu-Ske the Mouse Fighter." Rescue Rabbit: ATK/300 DEF/100 Chu-Ske the Mouse Fighter: ATK/1200 DEF/0 "O-okay...?" Twilight was pretty confused by this odd turn of events. "Next, I play Double Summon, letting me make another Normal Summon. And I choose to summon Key Mouse!" A white mouse appeared on her field, with a key for a tail. ATK/100 DEF/100 "Oh no, Key Mouse is a Tuner..." "That's right." Fluttershy nodded, "and now, I tune my Level 1 Key Mouse with both of my Level 3 Chu-Skes!" Key Mouse became one ring that hovered into the air, with both of the mice jumping into it, both exploding into three stars each. "Shock and amaze all that gaze upon you, as volts run through the ground you run across! Synchro Summon! Run Free, Voltic Bicorn!" A black horse appeared from the beam of light, hopping out of the ring Key Mouse created. It had a much wilder mane then the unicorn before it, and it had two horns, coursing with yellow lightning. ATK/2500 DEF/2000 "And I'm not done yet! I play Wild Nature's release! Which will increase my Bicorn's attack by his defense!" Voltic Bicorn ATK: 4500 "U-uh, Fl-Fluttershy!" Pinkie called, looking pretty nervous for Twilight's, who was just as terrified. "Th-this is just a te-" "And now, Voltic Bicorn, attack with Voltic Charge!" The black stallion had its horns course with electricity before racing towards Twilight. "I-I activate Necro Gardna in my graveyard!" A shadowy creature in red armor appeared as a ghost before Twilight, blocking the incoming attack from the bicorn. Twilight let go of the breath she was holding before she then said, "this stops one attack." "O-oh." Fluttershy snapped back to her normal self, "er, sorry if I went a little overboard. I-I guess I was just..really in the moment there." "I-it's okay..." Twilight assured. ("Fluttershy is always super scary when she does that...") "W-well, I'll play one of my set cards: Beast Soul Swap. It returns one Beast on my field to the hand and I can special summon a new one of the same level." Fluttershy added, "since Voltic Bicorn is a Synchro Monster, and will be destroyed by 'Wild Nature's Release', I'll return him to my Extra Deck," the stallion gave aloud neigh before he galloped back to his master's deck. "And special summon another Level 7 from my hand: Big Koala!" A large, blue Koala then joined Green Baboon on the field. ATK/2700 DEF/2000 "And now, my Koala will attack!" Big Koala jumped right for Twilight, tackling her and knocking her onto the ground with a heavy 'THUD!' Twilight groaned as she rolled onto her stomach. Twilight's Lifepoints: 4700 "And now, my Green Baboon will do the same!" Green Baboon jumped atop of the downed duelist and raised his club and- WHACK! "OW!" Twilight cried as she shot off of the garage ground after the big, wooden club struck her on the butt, getting her to hold it and dance on her toes. Twilight's Lifepoints: 1300 "Wow, Fluttershy~ I didn't know you had it in you." Pinkie giggled. "W-WAIT, WHAT?! N-NO, THAT WASN'T INTENTIONAL!" Fluttershy shouted, her face pinker then her hair. "Sure it wasn't." Pinkie's giggling made Fluttershy blush more, as well as Twilight as she shot daggers at the girl. "I-I...er...e-end my turn here." Fluttershy mumbled. Fluttershy's Hand: 3 "...Draw." Twilight drew her next card, trying to calm herself down with a deep breath. "I summon Legion the Fiend Jester." An odd, doll-like creature in a jester costume appeared on Twilight's field. ATK/1300 DEF/1500 "He looks...kind of scary." Fluttershy mumbled. "Yeah, he kind of does." Twilight admitted, "but thanks to his ability, I can perform a tribute Summon for a Spellcaster. So I tribute him and summon my Dark Magician Girl!" The Jester slowly sank into the ground and out came the Dark Magician Girl, who flew threw the air before winking at Fluttershy, getting a nervous blush from her. "And thanks tot he Dark Magician in my graveyard, she gains 300 attack." ATK/2000 -> 2300 DEF/1700 "I-I guess she's the Ace in your deck, huh?" "That's right." Twilight nodded, "and now, I'll activate the spell card, Sage's Stone." A white stone appeared in the Spellcaster's hand and she raised it up. "So now, I can special summon another Dark Magician from my deck." A white portal appeared above the stone as the Dark Magician came through, this time with tanned skin and red armor and cloak. He landed next to the Dark Magician Girl, who gave a wink to the pale-looking monster. The Dark Magician nodded back to her. "Duel Monster's Power Couple!" Pinkie cheered. "I think this is bad for me..." Fluttershy mumbled. "Sorry, Fluttershy, but now I play Dark Burning Magic!" Once Twilight played the card, the two Spellcasters crossed their rods and a mix of black and pink energy swirled between the two. "When I activate this card while I have the Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl on the field, I can destroy your entire field." Both Spellcasters cried out, sending a ball of magic flying to Fluttershy's field and obliterating her Green Baboon and Big Koala. "O-oh..." Fluttershy whimpered as her field was wiped clean. "W-well, I'll at least be able to survive the next attack..." "Guess again." Twilight grinned, "I flip my facedown Magic Formula and equip it to Dark Magician, giving him 700 attack points. And next, I equip Wonder Wand to my Dark Magician Girl, giving her another 500." A text book appeared in the Dark Magician's hand as the Magician Girl's wand began more slender with a green jewel on the end of it. Dark Magician's ATK: 3200 Dark Magician Girl's ATK: 2800 "Crapbaskets..." "And now, my two Magicians! Attack Fluttershy directly! Dark Burning Magic" Both Spellcasters performed the maneuver again, this time nailing Fluttershy directly for 6000. Fluttershy's Lifepoints: 0 When the dust cleared and the field spell disappeared, Twilight saw Fluttershy on her back, spirals in her eyes. Twilight quickly hurried over to her, "oh my Faust, Fluttershy! Are you okay?!" "Y-yeah, I'm okay..." Fluttershy said, dazed and confused. Pinkie Pie walked over and together, her and Twilight helped Fluttershy onto her feet. "It's been a while since I actually used my duel disk. I forgot how much kick they have." "Sorry." "O-oh, don't apologize! You're okay." Fluttershy smiled, "and your pretty good, Twilight. You adapted to your new pretty quickly." "Yeah, Twilight!" Pinkie added, "that was awesome!" "Heh, thanks." Twilight rubbed the back of her head, "and thanks a lot for the deck, Pi-" Then, Twilight noticed that her hand had the duel disk on and her cards fell right off of it. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, MY DECK!" She frantically knelt down to collect her cards. "Calm down, Twilight." Pinkie giggled as she and Fluttershy quickly got down to help her collect them. "They're not going anywhere." Just as she said that, the wind picked up, carrying the Dark Magician Girl card away. "Oh, except that one." "NOT THAT ONE!!!" Twilight jumped off of the ground and chased after the flying card, with Pinkie quick to follow, leaving Fluttershy to gather the rest of the cards. "Oh dear..."