EPISODE TWENTY-TWO
Inside the Titan’s high-tech RV, Spike was placed on a medical scan table, and Vic did all the scans he could.
“Is he alright?” Twilight asked tearfully, “Please say he is.”
Vic read over all the results many times, “It says he’s physically fine, but he just won’t wake up.
I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Raven approached the unconscious dog and placed her hand to his little head, trying to make a psychic connection to him, but it was no use.
“If I can’t make any connections, then he really did lose his soul.”
Twilight collapsed into a chair and began to weep.
“Oh, Twilight!” sobbed Fluttershy “I’m so sorry!”
“We all are,” added Rarity. She wasn’t being her usual overdramatic self, she loved Spike just as much as any of the girls did, and her heart was just as broken as the rest.
Applejack removed her hat and hung her head low, “Poor little guy.” she peeped over Spike’s body.
Then her sadness mixed with anger as she thought of those two creeps that defeated Sunset and took Spike’s soul, “They’re going to pay for this!”
Kori approached her and placed her hand on her shoulder, “We’ll help you all the more now!”
“Agreed.” said Robin “Messing with other people’s lives is one thing, but taking souls of innocent beings, even animals, that’s too much.
Whoever these guys are, we’ll find some way to beat them.”
Twilight still didn’t feel any better.
“Here,” Pinkie said passing her a box of tissues which they both used to dab their eyes.
Pinkie blew her nose really loud.
“Wow! She’s got a lot of air in her.” Raven said softly.
Since not everyone could fit into the RV at once, some of the others were outside.
Rainbow was furiously kicking a strong metal garbage can to cool off her outrage and heartache.
The garbage can wasn’t even dented by the time Rainbow had run out of steam, or rather Luna came to stop her, “As understandable as your outrage is, that is public property.”
Rainbow gave it one final kick, nearly tipping it over.
“Spike!” she cried softly “I can’t believe he’s been captured.”
“Neither can we,” said Luna “Now we truly see just how dangerous this dueling tournament really is.”
She then looked over her shoulder at Sunset.
She was sitting on a large rock on the grass, and her head was really hanging low.
Her head ached, her sides ached. She was all one big ache with grief and misery.
All she could think about was the duel and how she lost so badly.
She even thought of, having finally realized, a couple of other moves she could have made.
She could have used her Pendulum Switch card to spare one of her magicians from the Pendulum Storm, and strengthen her defenses, and when Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon was destroyed, she would have used its power to bring her Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon out from the Extra Deck to strengthen her even more.
…In the end it was just no use. Her Mirror Force card had failed her, and her Harmonizing Magician was a sitting duck!
“It’s all my fault that this happened!” she kept thinking to herself “I knew something like this would happen, and I told the others not to come with me!
Then I let my overconfidence blind me, and it cost me duel so badly!”
“ARGH!!” she yelled as she slammed her fists against the rock which hurt her hands, but she was too upset to feel all the pain.
Her cards slipped out of her duel disk and fell onto the grass by her feet.
Her tears splashed down just missing them.
“Spike,” she sobbed “I’m sorry; I let you down just like I let down Princess Twilight!”
She buried her face in her hands and sobbed ever so softly, you’d think she’d lost her voice.
Celestia and Terra saw her, and hated seeing her like this.
The softly approached her, and Celestia gathered up Sunset’s deck.
“It’ll be okay, Sunset.” Terra said “Don’t go beating yourself up.”
Sunset didn’t even lower her hands, “Please don’t talk to me right now, or even look at me. I’m a disgrace!”
“Now that’s enough, Sunset Shimmer!” snapped Celestia.
Sunset looked up at her.
“Do you think a disgrace can deal with all these magical powers? Do you think a disgrace can to our world an evil creature, and then see willing to mend her ways and succeed?”
She then held out her deck to her, with not a single card missing or damaged, “I certainly don’t think you could put together a deck like this to fight in a tournament this large and be a disgrace.”
Sunset stared at her deck, but made no attempt to reach for it. “I can’t!” she cried “I just can’t!”
Terra then held out her hand and clenched it into a fist, making the boulder Sunset stood on rumble and rise up, forcing her to get off and on her feet, and Terra then let the boulder slam down, making the ground shake softly.
“Hey!” snapped Sunset “What was that for?”
“Would prefer a slap to the cheek?” sneered Terra “Anyways, you’re on your feet and that’s a good start.”
Sunset still didn’t feel too much better.
Terra spoke calmly and softly to her. “I know how it feels to be so self-conscious, and feel like you can’t do anything right.”
She told Sunset a story she didn’t like reliving, about how she used to be alone, traveling the world, yet her powers were completely unstable.
“I couldn’t control them so well. I would cause small earthquakes, rockslides, even cause trouble for people around me, and the more I disbelieved in myself, the worse it got.
Then I met the Titans, and they saw that I had potential, especially Garfield. He was so cute and nervous around me, and he tried to act big and cool.”
She paused a minute, feeling her own sadness creeping up again, but she shook it off and continued with her story.
“Garfield knew that I was having trouble as we bonded, and I made him swear never to tell the others, fearing they wouldn’t accept me.
And when the Titans got called into action against our enemy, Slade, I really lost it!
I was so scared that I created a massive sand-twister, and I couldn’t bring myself to stop, but Garfield braved the danger and did all he could to comfort me, and he saved me from myself, and he made me feel like it would be nice to be on a team, have friends…
Maybe even something more…”
Terra began to sing a soft song about she and Beast Boy, followed by flashbacks of memories of all the great times they had, and how he was there for her to help her overcome her fears.
Sunset was already starting to relate to Terra’s story, and how she herself came to the human world feeling out of place, unwanted, and it filled her with evil and made her do terrible things.
“At least you didn’t go psychotic and do terrible things like I did.” she said, but Terra then looked strange and awkward.
Sunset and Celestia’s eyes widened.
“Terra…?” said Celestia “You didn’t…!”
Terra nodded with extreme guilt.
“I thought Gar had betrayed my secret when the other Titans found out about my instability, and I accused him of lying and I just ran off in a huff!”
She went on to explain that she had in fact aligned herself with Slade, who promised to help her gain the control she desired, but it would cost her.
To pay for his training, Slade made her his apprentice, and made her go back to the Titans and feign allegiance to them, gaining their trust to relay back to him the information to destroy them.
“Oh, Terra!” said Celestia “How could you?”
Terra felt guilty enough for tears to come to her face, “Believe me, I really didn’t want to do it, but I felt I had no choice, for fear of what Slade would do.”
So she betrayed the Titans, and broke Beast Boy’s heart, forcing her to return to Slade and really serve him.
Eventually, she and the Titans fought, and while all the other Titans were willing to blast Terra to oblivion, Beast Boy was the only one who still believed in her, and desperately tried to reach out to her and help her realize she didn’t have to be afraid, and she could fight Slade’s control!
…It worked! She regained her self-control, and turned against Slade, defeating him, but in order to stop a large underground volcano from erupting and wiping out Jump City, she was willing to sacrifice herself as a way of redeeming herself, by fully unleashing the full extent of her powers.
Just before she and Beast Boy parted ways, they embraced, and she tearfully told him, “You were the best friend I ever had!”
Then it happened, and Terra was turned to a stone statue.
…That’s where she stopped.
“You’re kidding!” cried Rainbow Dash, revealing she and Luna had eavesdropped in on the story.
“Are you certain that’s what happened?” asked Luna.
Terra, fighting her own sadness said “The Titans can vouch for it; it’s what really happened, but the point is… Garfield helped me, if it wasn’t for him I don’t know how I would’ve ended up-- most likely dead.”
She clenched her fists and shut her eyes tight, but a single tear still managed to creep its way out and roll down her cheek.
All four of the others were shocked beyond words, and this raised other questions.
-How did she turn back to normal?
-Why did she and Beast Boy break up?
Before any of them could ask, Terra then looked sternly at Sunset “If I could find my way out of the darkness, then so can you.
We’re all heroes, and we’ve got villains to stop, and friends to save.
…And we will, because I believe we will!”
Rainbow stepped forth, “You’re right, girl. We can’t sit here blubbering like babies.”
The two sisters agreed too, even though Luna wasn’t dueling in the tournament, she promised to give all the support she could.
“I’ll help you especially.” said Celestia “What you are all dueling for is a far more noble cause-- saving our friends, and revitalizing a fallen city.
I can always find another way to raise funders for the school.”
She then looked down at Sunset and once again held her deck out for her to take.
Now doubt, she had to take it and slipped it back into her disk.
The others all smiled proudly at her.
“Hey,” Twilight called as she came out. Her eyes looked awfully red from crying so much, and her nose sounded a little congested.
“Are you okay, Sunset? I saw you from the window.”
Sunset approached her and said very deeply, “Twilight, I’m sorry I let you and Spike down, but I promise I won’t rest until we get him back.
We all promise that.”
The others all nodded behind her.
“There’s no need to apologize.” said Twilight “It’s not really your fault, and you did your best, I’m just sorrier for you and all those guys are putting us through.
But I know we’ll get Spike back, somehow.”
Twilight paused a moment knowing the right words to say, “You all taught me to believe in myself, and show me that anything is possible, and you helped me change my life.
So I believe... especially in you, Sunset.”
Sunset felt like she was going to cry again, but in happiness, and the two friends shared a hug.
The others all smiled lovingly.
Suddenly, Rainbow realized, “What are your folks going to say about Spike?”
Twilight gasped, “And what about Shining Armor and Cadance too?”
“We know,” said a voice
Twilight stiffened, and she turned around and saw his brother and his wife standing at the end of the parking-lot, mainly because the Titans’ camper was parked near her brother’s car, and when they had come off their shift, they could overhear some of the conversations.
Both of them looked deeply concerned, heart broken and upset.
“Let us see him, Twilight.” said Cadance.
Twilight stuttered and stammered trying to come up with an excuse.
“Twily…” said her brother.
Twilight sighed and went back into the camper, coming back out with Spike’s unconscious body.
Cadance gasped softly, and her husband couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Why didn’t you tell us there was something freaky going on in this tournament?”
Sunset quickly stood up for Twilight, “It was my fault. I didn’t want anyone else to know. I was afraid people would fall into a panic or more danger would come forth.”
The couple couldn’t argue too much with that, but all the same they were devastated to learn now that both Spike and Princess Twilight were in great danger. For that matter, it seemed that everyone in the entire tournament, or even the theme park itself was in potential danger.
“I say we should warn everyone immediately.” suggested Cadance.
Rainbow shook her head, “I don’t think it would help.”
Sunset agreed, “The tournament is our only link to these guys behind all this, and it’s only possible hope we have of finding and saving the others from them, as well as figuring out what all this is about.”
“Besides,” Twilight said in a panic, “What if those two monsters strike again, they could take away somebody else’s soul-- maybe even yours.”
The couple now understood the seriousness, and Twilight began to have tears in her eyes again, “I’ve already lost Spike, I don’t want to lose any more.
Please, let the others try.”
Her brother hugged her softly, and Cadance joined in too, but the couple was still not feeling this was right to keep it a secret from everyone else.
The sisters weren’t so keen on it either, but Luna noted, “It seems they are more interested in Sunset’s dueling than any of the others.”
Sunset agreed, and again reflected on how it was noble that all her friends had only entered the tournament to help her in this quest.
“Still,” she said “Who are they, and what do they want from me?”
“Maybe they want those cool cards you have?” suggested Rainbow.
Sunset thought that was probable, and as she looked down at her Extra Deck Cards, a couple were still blank including the special blank one.
“If they wanted the cards they would have demanded them directly and probably taken them from me by now.
Maybe they’re just waiting for me to unlock them and then take them from me?”
They all walked back to the camper and asked the Titans if they could do some research on Sunset’s cards.
“Why didn’t we think of this in first place?” chirped Pinkie.
“Who knows?” Raven muttered in annoyance under her breath.
While they all did their research,
Some of the others were in the back of the camper, or out on the stoop looking at Spike’s body.
“Poor little guy,” said Applejack “I keep thinking he’s going to wake up any second.”
Kori hated seeing the little dog like this, “We’ll keep him here with us in our camper, so we can keep him on special life-support.”
“That’s a good idea,” agreed Fluttershy “I don’t think any veterinarian would be able to help anyway, or even believe in this.”
Twilight, Shining Armor and Cadance felt relieved that Spike would get help, and with Twilight’s parents out of town on a business trip for a week, it meant they wouldn’t be home, so she’d be fine there, at least for a while.
Meanwhile the others were at the computers, and Robin was researching into Sunset’s revealed cards.
“According to the Duel Monsters world game database, these cards aren’t even scheduled to be released yet for a six more months.”
The gang found that strange.
“Well aren’t you lucky,” Rainbow said to Sunset “You have these cards before they come out. Usually I get first dibs on new cards.”
Sunset still didn’t understand them. “How did whoever gave me them know how to get them, and why are they blank and only uncover at certain times.”
Vic was trying to run diagnostics on a blank card a scanner, to see if he could reveal what it was or what it was concealed to be, but the data showed nothing.
“Whatever this baby is, my scans can’t tell us anything.”
“Maybe it’s sealed off with some sort of magic.” suggested Raven “That would explain why they only reveal themselves at certain times.”
Sunset and the others agreed, but this also disproved the theory that those two creeps wanted the cards.
“If they wanted those cards so badly, they could’ve easily stolen them instead of hunting for Sunset.” said Pinkie.
“You’re right, Pinkie.” agreed Sunset “It’s all starting to make sense.”
She remembered the note that came with the cards the night she got them, “Whoever sent me them knows I can use them to defeat those goons, whoever they are; like a kind of test to unlock and wield them properly.”
A moment of silence followed as everyone pondered at the thought.
This still didn’t explain the other mysteries, including who those goons really were, and Sunset was still frustrated of not being able to figure out what that dark realm was.
She then turned to Raven, “Can you read my mind, and try to find what I can’t remember like that.”
Raven shook her head, “Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. I can’t view memories that are faded. You’ll have to figure it out yourself.”
Sunset sighed, “What is that world?”
Regardless, it was getting late and everyone else needed to head home and rest up for more of the tournament tomorrow.
Twilight still felt a bit bad having to leave Spike behind in the camper.
“You can stay with us if you want to.” Robin offered.
“Thanks, but I have things to work on at home.”
Terra assured her, “We’ll take good care of him, don’t worry.”
Twilight smiled thankfully.
Then she left with her brother and sister-in-law in her brother’s car.
The friends bid each other goodnight and parted ways, even though Vic gladly offered to drive them all home again, the girls all felt like getting some fresh air, and Sunset needed some time alone to think.
That night in her apartment, she looked over all her new cards, studying them and realizing how they really worked and all that.
Then she compared them to the rest of her deck trying to come up with new combinations to get them out faster and protect her monsters.
It was very hard to concentrate because she kept thinking back to the duel and all those Double-D and Triple-D monsters her opponent used, for the second time, and crushing her.
She tried to do some research on the cards using her cell-phone Wi-Fi, and much to her surprise; those cards were not yet released either.
“This is crazy.” Sunset said to herself, but it only further confirmed that those two evil figures were not after her special cards.
“Who are those guys, and what do they want with me?”
Her stress was about to get a major bombing when her magical message book began to quiver and glow as a message was being sent.
“Oh, no!” she groaned, but she couldn’t resist and had to answer.
The message read:
“Sunset Shimmer, this is Starlight Glimmer writing to you with a message from Princess Celestia…”
Sunset immediately gulped nervously.
“… We are growing concerned of Princess Twilight Sparkle and why she has not returned yet or told us what stalls her.
She is needed back here in Equestria, especially at her School of Friendship.
If she is there, kindly tell her to respond.”
Sunset was shaking up a storm. The book trembled in her hands!
Of course, she couldn’t come up with any other excuses, and she had to come clean. So she wrote back, and didn’t spare a single detail!
Starlight took a few moments to write back after she had read the entire story from start to finish.
Her first response: “…You’re not kidding are you?!”
Sunset wrote back: “No, I’m not, and you can’t believe how sorry I am for not telling you in the first place.”
Much as Starlight could understand her reasons for not telling, this did not excuse Sunset’s actions, and she wrote back saying, “I must inform Princess Celestia at once, but she’s going to flip her mane when she hears of this.”
Sunset was about to write about how nervous she was at the thought of Celestia finding out of her deception, but suddenly, the book began to glow brightly, forcing Sunset to drop it on the floor.
A bright beam of light shot straight up from the book cover, and all the lights in the apartment faded out as there, in the light, was a holographic image of Princess Celestia herself, and she did not seem too pleased.
Sunset gawked at her with extreme fear, “P-Pr-Pri… Princess…” she whimpered, and she got down on the floor to grovel “Please, forgive me! I tried my hardest! I couldn’t save Princess Twilight!”
“Calm yourself.” Celestia said in a deep but soft voice.
Sunset looked up at her, “How are you doing this? How are you communicating with me?”
“This is another function of the book, and any-pony that has a copy of it, which I do.”
Sunset blinked once, “There’s another copy of the messaging book?”
Celestia nodded, “I was about to write to you myself out of concern for Twilight, but I was able to zero in on your conversation with Starlight Glimmer as well, and now I have fused my magic into my own book so that I can communicate with you directly.”
Sunset groveled again, “Please forgive me! I know I should have told you sooner, but I just couldn’t.”
Celestia looked very disappointed, “As much as I understand your reasons, if there was evil lurking, and Twilight was placed in danger, you really should have informed me at once. Then we could have been able to help you sooner.
That’s what friends do.”
Sunset felt really disappointed in herself now.
Of course, having heard the story already, even Celestia knew there wasn’t much that she, or Starlight, or any of the ponies in Equestria could do.
They couldn’t just come to the Human World, not while Equestria needed them more for their duties, not to mention their very presence would alert the enemy, and they would take possible revenge on Twilight and Spike’s souls.
Not to mention that none of them knew how to play Duel Monsters, which was the only key-link they had to tracking these guys down.
“I only wish I knew what that dark real was.” said Sunset.
“Well that’s something I believe I can help you with.” said Celestia “But I’ll need as many details as you can provide. Then I’ll comb through the Equestrian archives, and I’m certain I’ll find the answer you seek.”
Sunset was a little surprised, but non-too much.
So, she explained everything that she could in full details about the strange realm…
-The darkness and eeriness.
-The buildings and landscapes with spatial images
-The shadowy figures and they’re ability to capture and entrap souls.
“I will consider this as I research.” said Celestia “The moment I discover the answer I shall let you know, but it may take a while.
Equestria has seen many great evils, and fought many wars.”
Sunset agreed.
“And one final thing,” said Celestia “If anything else happens, I urge you to inform me immediately. Holding back will only make things far worse.”
“Believe me, I know that, and I will.” agreed Sunset.
Celestia nodded proudly at her.
“I must go now, I have much to do.”
Then the image vanished. The book stopped glowing, and all the lights came back on again.
Sunset picked up the book and clutched it close to her, remembering how Princess Twilight gave it to her.
“No more letting my friends down,” she thought to herself “I’m going to duel smarter, stronger, and better than ever, and I won’t rest until everything is right again.
…No matter what!”