Sunset sighed in a sense of trepidation as she adjusted the wrist clamp of her duel disk, while idly tapping the tip of one boot against the gymnasium floor. Despite it being a single-person’s test, as per established rules of CHS, students currently not in class were permitted to observe the proceedings, as long as they remained quiet and did nothing to interfere. A small number of students had gathered on the bleachers, though many seemed intent on keeping their distance from the one quarter of the gymnasium space being used for the test itself: Among the spectators being Fluttershy who was seated in the bleachers behind her, up two rows, and to Sunset’s own surprise, Rainbow Dash, who seemed to remain intently close to the shy girl. Others she’d spotted were Flash Sentry, sitting on the bleachers across from her side, Spitfire, the second most decorated athlete of CHS and Lightning Dust, one of the delinquent students whom Sunset might have gotten to stab herself through the hand with a knife once.
What many others, herself included, noted as strange was the hardware set around the rectangular space that was to be the dueling field: Metal tripod stands, one in each corner of the allotted space; set near the top of each looked to be cameras. Beneath the cameras was some form of sensory array, but what kind completely eluded her. Near the bottom of the stand to her left, both on her side, as well as across, seemed to be something she thought was some form of directional microphone relay. Set to her right, along midway the length of the dueling space was a white, box-like device, which one of the tecchies, Micro Chips, was currently adjusting. All the devices were hooked up with a series of cables running along, around the duel space to a pair of laptops set atop a table atop the gymnasium stage.
Typing away at one of the laptops was someone Sunset did not recognize: He was a tall, somewhat lanky man of a faded dull brown skin with somewhat bedraggled looking dark brown hair, dressed in a dark blue pinstripe suit with a green tie, coupled with a contrastingly casual pair of converse sneakers, while having what looked to be a brown trench coat sloppily folded over the backrest of the chair he was oddly enough not occupying during the task. Possibly a representative of the board?
Micro Chips pushed a series of buttons on the front of the device he was tinkering with, after which he gave an okay sign to the man at the laptops, who responded in kind with a thumbs-up. Micro Chips joined him onstage, taking over on the computers as the man casually walked up to the ledge, hands in his pockets, making him appear drastically unprofessional.
“Good afternoon, students. My name is Doc-” he abruptly cut himself off with a cough, “Mister Turner and I will be presiding over this duel examination. Don’t mind the additional hardware, it’s just a new precaution put in place to make sure everything runs smoothly.”
Mister Turner? Sunset thought to herself. Haven’t I heard that name from somewhere?
Mister Turner turned to the field across from Sunset’s side, only now seeming to notice that Sunset’s designated opponent was currently not present. “Hunh… Has anyone by any chance seen Miss Lula-”
He was rudely interrupted by a loud boom, when a thick cloud of white smoke puffed out around the vacant side of the dueling field. Sunset, and undoubtedly a few others, jumped at the sudden disturbance. The sounds of footsteps, accented with hissed cussing, followed. Sunset could clearly see someone rushing from underneath the bleachers into the smoke, which was then swept aside with the billow of a violet, star-glittered cape.
“Students of Canterlot high, behold!” As the smoke cleared away, unveiling herself through her rather sloppy reveal, was a pale blue skinned girl with a head of very pale grey hair, with slightly darker bluish streaks and purple eyes.
Atop her head she wore a violet, slightly drooping conical hat, akin to that of a wizard, to complement the matching cape worn atop the blue hoodie she adorned, accompanied with a violet skirt with light blue, sparkling hems and blue knee-high boots with violet rims at the top. Attached to her left arm was a perfectly color coordinated duel disk with a glittery violet body and a blue, currently folded, tray. She was holding out her arms in a grandeur portrayal, despite the sheer amateurishness of her attempt at a magical appearance act.
“Are you ready to bear witness to the amazing, the jaw-dropping magical dueling feats, of the Great and Powerful Trrrixie?!”
Oh… no… This was the student they’d gotten to duel her? The person across from the field was the (in)famous Trixie Lulamoon; Canterlot High’s resident showgirl magician. As well as a contender for Canterlot High’s greatest egotist, to which Sunset could, sadly, assign herself.
Mister Turner seemed to share Sunset’s own lack of amusement for Trixie’s little stunt, “Very nice of you to join us, Miss Lulamoon,” he stated.
Trixie either ignored, or failed to realize the scolding tone of Mister Turner, “The Great and Powerful Trixie aims to please.”
Mister Turner shook his head. “If I may make the request that you be careful around that hardware, the both of you,” he admonished.
Trixie laughed in a dramatically haughty manner, “Not to worry, oh honorable Mister Turner, Trixie is the epitome when it comes to grace and- whoops!” On attempting to demonstrate her grace with a twirl, Trixie ended up stumbling when her foot tripped on one of the cables, to which she unceremoniously bumped onto one of the tripods. Everyone held their breaths, when Trixie managed to reach out and stabilize it.
As Micro Chips rushed over to inspect the equipment, Trixie sheepishly stepped further away, shaking off the cable loosely tangled around her foot. She proceeded to look at Sunset, immediately going back to the dramatics, “So; the good students and faculty have put it upon Trrrixie to teach this poser a lesson?”
Sunset raised a brow, “Poser?”
“Indeed; word in the hallways say you, Sunset Shimmer, are in possession of phenomenal powers.” She seemed to scoff at this, “Inconceivable; for ‘tis I, the Great and Powerful Trrrixie who is the only one in this school who can lay claim to such notions!”
“Umm, Trixie, with all due respect, you do realize I…” Sunset caught herself when she realized the wannabe magician’s claims; “Oh, that’s right; weren’t you sick the week of the mid-term duel?”
“Indeed; Trixie was home with the sniffles…” Trixie remarked offhandedly. “But that is beside the point! ‘Tis not enough that you already make going to school more of a chore than it already is, but then you have the gall to upstage Trixie?” she asked, insisting on referring to herself in the third person.
Sunset wasn’t quite certain what to say: Trixie despite her ego, something she had in common with the likes of Rainbow Dash and Sunset, up until recent events; she wasn’t a bad person. Overly dramatic, most certainly, but not bad. Naturally, as everyone else at CHS, she wasn’t at all fond of Sunset, before or after the dark duel, but perhaps her not knowing about the nightmare of a mid-term duel would have been for the better.
“Well? You’ve nothing to say to Trixie?”
Sunset took a deep, calming breath, “Trixie, listen… This past month has been taxing on me in so many ways. Let me just get this out here; if there’s anything, anything at all, that I did to hurt you: I’m sorry.”
Trixie stared at Sunset in a manner best described as utter bafflement. To say the same for those observing the duel; not so much. Flash Sentry seemed most receptive, for Sunset could see her ex looking at her in what she could describe as understanding. She really needed to talk to him in depth next time she had a chance, damn if anyone saw; she needed to make a point.
“Um… Uh…” Trixie came off as at a loss for words, before shaking her head and throwing out her left arm. “Enough talk! You wish to communicate further with Trixie; then we shall do so through dueling! Prepare yourself to be bedazzled, for Trixie has been waiting to show off her most spectacular performance yet!” And with those words, the two halves of her duel disk’s tray slid forth, combined into one, then slid along her arm.
Sunset’s duel disk, for the first time in this one’s usage, flared to life. “Opponent detected,” the machine notified her in the female synthetic voice. The device did the same as her opponent’s; the tray being deployed, while the screen displayed the two five-by-five grids.
“Everything’s up and running with no complications, Mister Turner,” notified Micro Chips, who’d moved back to the computers.
“Alright, brilliant!” exclaimed Turner, clapping his hands together. “You may begin, Miss Shimmer, Miss Lulamoon. May the best duelist win. And remember: Have some fun! Allons-y!”
The virtual blue and red coin emblazoned with a golden symbol in the likeness of an open eye on the former facet appeared spinning on Sunset’s screen. It spun in a faster blur with a sharp “ding”. The coin stopped abruptly on the red side, indicating Trixie as the one to begin.
Duel Start!
Trixie Life Points: 4000
Sunset Shimmer Life Points: 4000
Turn 1: Trixie (Hand: 5)
“Ladies and gentlemen; it begins!” Trixie said with a flourished bow, before drawing her hand. “Trixie summons ‘Performage Stilts Launcher’ in attack mode!”
Emerging onto Trixie’s field came a creature seemingly composed of blue and violet geometric shapes assembled into a humanoid-looking shape, almost like a puppet without strings, garbed in a two-pronged orange tricorn-like hat and an orange cape. As its name implied, it suspended itself off the ground on a spindly set of green, stylized geometric stilts. (Level 6, 2200/0)
“When there are no monsters on the field; Trrrixie can Special Summon Stilts Launcher from her hand, but cannot Normal Summon for the rest of the turn. To which she humbly passes her turn unto her foe.”
(Hand: 4)
Turn 2: Sunset Shimmer (Hand: 5)
Sunset placed a tentative hand atop her deck, looking up at her opponent, and the students occupying the bleachers on Trixie’s side of the field. Don’t hesitate. You have nothing to hide. You’re not dueling as what that parasite made you: You’re dueling as Sunset Shimmer.
Sunset looked through her hand, that familiar feeling of subtle excitement tingling in her gut from having abstained for an extended period of time from dueling, “I play the Ritual Spell ‘Hymn of Light’!”
Seemingly from the windows high up on the gymnasium wall, a golden streak of light shone upon the field, like some sign from the heavens. A single great, glistening pale blue feather wafted into the divine spotlight, shimmering in its resplendence.
“I discard the level 7 Odd-Eyes Dragon as the cost,” said Sunset, slipping said card into the Graveyard port. In doing so an image of the discarded card descended atop the feather in the light, which seemed to curl inwards, enveloping the card when they both devolved into a pulsating orb of light.
“By this sacrifice, I call upon you to lend me your power: Dragon Queen, let your divine light safeguard your children.”
“Ritual Summon! Arise, Level 6; ‘Saffira, Queen of Dragons!”
The orb erupted forth into an oval shape, before its contours broke apart into a pair of glistening, iridescent wings. These were adhered to the back of a sky-blue vaguely humanoid being. Its dragonic visage, chest, and limbs of its wings were adorned in filigreed, golden armor, a steadily tapering serpentine tail slithered behind it. It spread out its wings, breaking the light spectrum into a dazzling rainbow. (Level 6, 2500/2400)
-
As he observed the infamous Sunset Shimmer play her first few cards, Turner glanced at his two laptops; nothing top-of-the-line, but when you had the know-how; you could take something from who knows how far back and make it function. So far none of the standard sensors he and Micro Chips had painstakingly set up were picking anything unusual; just body heat, electronic currents, and no particular particulates in the air.
-
“I then play the Spell ‘Return of the Dragon Lords’ to Special Summon the monster I sent to the Graveyard: Odd-Eyes Dragon, arise!” As soon as she’d slipped the Spell into the port, another summoning portal emerged to the field.
From within arose the sauropod-esque dragon with red scales covering portions of its predominately purple body. Its head thrashed in a display of primal triumph, letting loose a most distinct call. Its distinctly dichromatic eyes lit up ominously. (Level 7, 2500/2000)
“To battle! Odd-Eyes Dragon attacks Stilts Launcher! Spiral Strike!” Sunset called out, pointing out the target of her intentions.
The bipedal dragon lunged forth (ATK: 2500), revving back its head in a grand draw of breath, the air before its elongated maw starting to ripple with heat. It let loose with a stream of red flame, striking Stilts Launcher (ATK: 2200) head on, resulting in a resonating explosion.
Trixie Life Points: 4000 – 300 = 3700
“When Odd-Eyes Dragon destroys a monster and sends it to the Graveyard: It inflicts additional damage equal to half the original attack points of that monster. Therefore, you take an additional 1100 damage,” Sunset iterated, holding up a hand and snapping her fingers. “Reaction Burn!”
Trixie flinched on seeing a ring of flame materialize around her, which then erupted in a pillar around her.
Trixie Life Points: 3700 – 1100 = 2600
“I will then attack you directly with Saffira, Queen of Dragons!” Sunset called out, pointing directly at Trixie. On command Saffira (ATK: 2400) spread out her iridescent wings, a series of sparkling lights forming in the very air before them, before launching forth as a fusillade of tiny projectiles.
“Trixie activates ‘Performage Damage Juggler’s’ effect,” Trixie retorted, flashing a card from her hand which he promptly fed into the Graveyard port. A series of small red balls, each bearing a yellow question mark, materialized before her, which began to revolve in a vertical halo. Saffira’s projectiles seemed to veer towards the space within this halo, vanishing instead of striking at Trixie. “This reduces one instance of Battle Damage to zero.”
I didn’t imagine it would be easy. “During my End Phase, since Saffira was Ritual Summoned successfully, she lets me draw two cards, as long as I discard one card from my hand afterwards.” Taking a quick glance, she slipped Dragonpulse Magician into the Graveyard. “My turn ends.”
(Hand: 3)
Turn 3: Trixie (Hand: 3)
“And the show continues!” Trixie said with a flourish as she drew her next card. “Trixie activates Damage Juggler’s effect from the Graveyard. By banishing it, Trixie adds one ‘Performage’ monster from her deck to her hand.” With a rattle of the automated shuffler, a card was ejected for her taking. “Since there are two monsters on the field, Trixie Special Summons ‘Performage Hat Tricker’ in attack mode!”
On slapping the card to her tray, onto Trixie’s field emerged a what was ostensibly just a hovering small green cape, with a pair of teal gloves, a pair of yellow spectacles and a magenta hat with stars plastered on it in vaguely humanoid seeming locations. (Level 4, 1100/1100)
“As a cost; Trixie can no longer Special Summon anything other than ‘Performages’ this turn. Trixie then Normal Summons ‘Performage Trick Clown!’”
Another monster emerged onto Trixie’s field; this one being, as the name already indicated, a small clown, balancing itself atop a small ball by one hand, while in the other it held a cane or staff with a question mark shaped head on one end. (Level 4, 1600/1200)
“And now, to get this show started! Trixie overlays the level four Hat Tricker and Trick Clown!”
Hat Tricker and Trick Clown devolved into swathes of light, the two of them spiraling into the air before plunging into the nebula that opened upon the field, after which a pillar of energy burst out from the center.
“Daring artisan of the skies, soar and awe the world underneath that is your stage!”
“Xyz Summon! Watch and be amazed! Rank 4; ‘Trapeze Magician’!”
A purple pole with studded orange heads on either end spiraled over the field, when a comically thick white-gloved hand snatched it, thin golden beams of light shooting out from each end to the ceiling. Hoisting onto the pole that had turned into an on-the-spot trapeze was a predominately white, lanky humanoid: Its waist and neck adorned in a fluffy pink boa, while from its back billowed a wide, magenta cape. Its spindly legs ended in dark blue shoes curled at the toes, while affixed to its masked, ever smiling visage, sat a white conical hat. As an Xyz monster; two orbs revolved around its form. (Rank 4, 2500/2000)
-
“Hmph, I was hoping for something other than that,” Rainbow remarked, sounding thoroughly unimpressed. “That thing’s been Trixie’s calling card since freshman term.”
“Even so, it could prove dangerous for Sunset’s untested deck,” Fluttershy noted.
“Probably,” Rainbow bobbed her shoulders casually.
-
“Trixie shall then activate the Continuous Spell; ‘Bubble Barrier’. Now, Trapeze Magician, go forth and show everyone why Trixie is the one and only master of the mystical in this school!” Trixie called out, pointing a finger at Sunset’s Odd-Eyes. “Attack Odd-Eyes Dragon!”
With an eccentric cackle, Trapeze Magician (ATK: 2500) swung down off the trapeze pole, deftly grabbing hold of it with its thin arms, the motion of which cause it to swing back and forth. Kicking its legs out, the trapeze swung further, repeating this process until it had enough force to reach Sunset’s field. The trapeze’s line vanished, Trapeze Magician dropping down towards Odd-Eyes Dragon (ATK: 2500), delivering a gravity assisted axe kick.
So she’s planning on taking the both of them out? “I banish Return of the Dragon Lords from the Graveyard; this prevents Odd-Eyes from being destroyed in this attack. Since Trapeze Magician will still be destroyed, you’ll take 1250 damage from Odd-Eyes’ effect.”
Trixie frowned for a moment, but composed herself quickly, “Think again, Shimmer. With Bubble Barrier out on Trixie’s field, any Performage monster on Trixie’s field cannot be destroyed once per turn.
Trapeze Magician’s kick was deflected by a roaring apparition of a ghostly dragon appearing to protect its live kin. Odd-Eyes proceeded to respond with another gout of red fire, when a translucent bubble appeared around Trapeze Magician, which burst, with the acrobatic magician seemingly going with it. A cackle revealed Trapeze Magician suspended off the ground on Trixie’s field, standing triumphantly on his trapeze pole.
“Since Trrrixie couldn’t end neither dragon this turn, she passes her turn over to you.” And with that she made a flourished bow towards Sunset. Frankly, it came off as more condescending if anything.
(Hand: 2)
Turn 4: Sunset Shimmer (Hand: 3)
Sunset frowned as she drew her next card; both for Trixie’s brusqueness, and someone jeering at her from the stands, whom was promptly silenced by a scold from Mister Turner. Fortunately, thanks to Saffira’s effect from last turn, she had just what she needed to burst Trixie’s bubble, pun entirely intended.
“From my hand; I activate ‘Mystical Space Typhoon’!” Sunset declared, slipping the card into her disk. “I use it to destroy your Bubble Barrier!”
The image of said card revolved itself to appear on the field, from which a funnel of air stretched forth, ramming into Trixie’s Bubble Barrier’s image on her side of the field, the card being blown away. This elicited a frown from the aspiring performer.
“I then attack Trapeze Magician with Saffira, destroying both!” Loathe as she was to sacrifice the card she was given; she couldn’t risk the duel stalling much longer in the event of Trixie getting more of her them appropriate monsters to the field.
Saffira once again spread her wings (ATK:2500), “pieces” of light gathering before her iridescent plumage before launching them in a rapid volley towards Trapeze Magician (ATK:2500). The acrobatic spellcaster tried in vain to protect itself, when the fusillade of lights began to pelt it, causing another explosion. As a result, his trapeze pole came spinning wildly from the billowing smoke, which struck the graceful dragon queen square in the face, her image shattering like glass on impact.
Your sacrifice won’t be in vain, she thought as she slid Saffira’s card into the Graveyard. “Odd-Eyes, direct atta-”
“Trapeze Magician’s effect activates!” Trixie retorted. “When destroyed, he can summon one ‘Performage’ monster from Trixie’s deck.” Another rattle of the automated shuffler followed, to which Trixie was given another card she slapped onto her tray. “‘Performage Plushfire’, in defense!” To her field emerged what looked to be a cartoony plush flame with little dots for eyes nestled in a pink sconce, all the while a fuse line poked out from what might have been a mouth. (Level 4, 1000/1000)
“In that case, I’ll attack Plushfire with Odd-Eyes Dragon,” said Sunset defiantly. “Spiral Strike!”
Drawing in breath, Odd-Eyes Dragon (ATK: 2500) lunged forth once more, blasting Plushfire (DEF: 1000) with a gout of red flames. Before the plush toy seared away, it seemed to undo the top portion of itself, with a burst of fire and what appeared to be confetti, erupted out of the gout. Plushfire was subsequently eradicated.
“Plushfire’s monster effect allows me to Special Summon one different ‘Performage’ monster from my hand or deck…” Another rattle of the auto-shuffler initiated. “Trixie summons ‘Performage Flame Eater’ in defense mode!”
To the field appear what looked to be a purple cartoon spherical bomb, its fuse trailing behind it from underneath a red collared cape somehow adhered to its round form, along with a tiny pointed blue wizard’s hat attached close to the top of its head lopsidedly. It possessed two small crazed green eyes over a jagged, smiling mouth. (Level 4, 1200/1600). Its cheeks began to puff up all of a sudden, its form turning from purple to red and starting to shake visibly. Both Sunset and Trixie were suddenly struck by an impromptu fiery explosion over their forcefields.
Trixie Life Points: 2600 – 500 = 2100
Sunset Shimmer Life Points: 4000 – 500 = 3500
“When summoned, Flame Eater inflicts 500 points of damage to both players,” said Trixie, a triumphant smirk making its way to her face. “Also when an effect would deal damage to Trixie’s foe, Stilts Launcher’s effect activates from the Graveyard; by banishing Silts Launcher, Trixie inflicts 2000 points of damage to you!”
Sunset barely had a moment to gasp when Stilt’s Launcher’s stilts came rocketing from out of nowhere, embedding themselves to the ground mere inches away from her. The duel disk system’s feedback kicked in, tossing her arm back forcibly.
Sunset Shimmer Life Points: 3500 – 2000 = 1500
“However, since Plushfire was sent to the Graveyard, you still take damage due to Odd-Eye’s monster effect,” Sunset remarked. However, Odd-Eyes’ effect seemed to not trigger as it was supposed to. “What?! Is the system on the fritz?”
“Ha! Did you really think the Great and Powerful Trrrixie wouldn’t be prepared, Shimmer?!” called Trixie in her showman grandeur. “Performage Plushfire does not go to the Graveyard when destroyed.”
“So it banishes itself?”
“Wrong again. Plushfire is safe and snug in Trixie’s Extra Deck,” she declared, tapping the lid of her duel disk’s Extra Deck compartment.
“What?!” Sunset wondered aloud. “But that’s not possible. A monster can’t be placed in the Extra Deck unless it’s an Extra Deck card.”
“This is different,” said Trixie, sounding deliberately vague. “This will be a performance that none at CHS have yet to behold.”
-
Turner raised a surprised brow on hearing Miss Lulamoon’s declaration. So, Miss Lulamoon has obtained Pendulum cards, has she?
-
“Well?” asked Trixie, looking over her nose in a haughty posture. “Are you going to do anything else, or can Trixie start her next performance?”
Sunset looked at her foe with uncertainty. She turned to look up at Mr. Turner, who seemed undoubtedly intrigued, currently looking at Trixie before turning to observe his laptops. Sunset looked down at her Duel disk, tapping the screen to verify nothing was wrong. To her surprise, it did indeed show Plushfire as being set atop Trixie’s Extra Deck, face-up. Other than the effect it had used previously, the card did not disclose any other information at this point.
Sunset took one card from her hand and slid it into the Spell and Trap port, “I set one card and end my turn.”
(Hand: 2)
-
“There is no way that can be valid,” said Fluttershy. “Do you think Trixie might be cheating?”
“I dunno,” said Rainbow with a shrug. “I’ve heard rumors about some new cards being put into circulation recently…”
-
Turn 5: Trixie (Hand: 2)
Trixie snorted, “All a minor setback!” she declared on drawing a card. “As any great magician, Trixie understands the need to save the greatest trick for last. Thus, the Great and Powerful Trrrixie shall reveal unto you her next, most phenomenal performance yet to be seen!” She presented two cards from her hand; at first, they appeared to be monster cards, with the orange coloration at the top, but half-way down the color changed in a gradient to a soft green. “Trixie shall take the scale one ‘Performage Cup Tricker’ and scale six ‘Performage Overlay Juggler’ to set the Pendulum Scale!”
A series of murmuring broke out among the observing students. Sunset herself was at a loss for what to say. Pendulum scale?
-
“Pendulum scale?” asked Fluttershy in the hopes of an answer from Rainbow.
“Pendulum monsters…” said Rainbow, looking more focused now than previously. “That new summoning method that’s been making its way onto the scene. And Trixie is the first one I see using it?!”
-
Trixie placed the two cards at the far ends of the cleft in her tray. A chiming tone rang out, the word ‘Pendulum’ forming through the circuitry within in a rainbow of colors. Two blue pillars appeared to the sides of Trixie’s field, within them present each monster; one a small beetle-like creature with short hands and legs ending in white gloves and soft, plush shoes, each hand holding a small cup underneath, peeking out from underneath three green upturned cups stacked together. The other looked to be a jester-like head suspended on a curved frame ending in a little wheel with short arms with equally small hand, surrounding by two oversized interlinked metal rings. The numerals two and six appeared underneath them.
“Now Trixie can special summon any monsters from levels two to five: Pendulum Summon! Come on down, my wonderful assistants!”
A wide portal opened between the pillar, from which two balls of light shout out, coalescing onto the field as monsters:
“First up; level 4; ‘Performage Mirror Conductor’!”
Eliciting a humored laugh was a round mirror with a smiling clown face on its glass surface. It stood on a three-footed stand, while a pair of human-like arms extended from its frame. A white cape with a red interior layer folded around its entirety. (600/1400)
“And level 4; ‘Performage Plushfire’!”
Plushfire arose from a summoning portal, its top sown back up, with its fuse once again poking out of where its alleged mouth would be. (1000/1000)
Sunset looked on in disbelief. She summoned both from her hand Extra Deck? And now she has three level four monsters on her field again… Is the going to-?
“Let us welcome our next star performance, as Trixie overlays her three level four assistants; Flame Eater, Mirror Conductor and Plushfire!” On her call, the two monsters devolved into the same swathes of light and spiraled into the opening nebula as before, bringing about another burst of energy.
“Fearless showman who fears not the sting of tooth and claw; let your courage dissuade the fear of the crowd with your fiery lash!”
“Xyz Summon! Take to the ring! Rank 4; ‘Performage Magical Tamer!’”
With the crack of a whip, onto Trixie’s field emerged an all new female monster: This one stood on long, shapely legs adorned in black, thigh-high boots, her curvaceous body clothed in a bright red leotard underneath a royal blue ringmaster’s coat with golden shoulder tassels. A purple cape billowed from her back whilst on her head, covering violet hair she wore a blue top-hat, under which on her very pink face she wore a black domino mask. In her white gloved hands, she brandished a long, gold-hilted, whip. Three orbs revolved around her form. (Rank 4, 2300/1800)
“But she only has 2300 attack points,” Sunset interjected. “Just what are you trying to pull?”
Trixie simply smiled, her face oozing in confidence. “I remove one Overlay Unit to activate Magical Tamer’s effect: Once each turn, she can seize one monster on your field!”
Handling her whip more like a rhythmic streamer, Magical Tamer performed a series of graceful acrobatics in a forward motion until abruptly lashing out like a coiled snake with her weapon: Odd-Eyes Dragon roared in protest as the whip coiled around its neck. With a yank the dragon was forced to step over to Trixie’s field, after which Magical Tamer leapt and proceeded to ride on its back, holding her weapon taught around the now enslaved dragon. (Performage Magical Tamer ATK: 2300 -> 4800)
“The monster seized become and Equip Spell for Magical Tamer, boosting her attack and defense by that of the seized monster’s original attack points!”
-
“Whoa,” the spectacle elicited from Spitfire, seated higher up in the bleachers, “Trixie’s really laying into her.”
“It’s kind of funny, in a way,” said someone Fluttershy didn’t recognize outside her vision. “A month ago, that bitch was gonna kill us, now she’s getting an ass-kicking from Lulamoon of all people. What do you think happened?”
“Who knows,” replied Spitfire. “Think Shimmer really did grow a conscience?”
“Sunset Shimmer never had a conscience.”
Fluttershy was frowning in disgust. People may not have taken her word for it (not that anyone ever listened to her anyway), it baffled her that her fellow students could accept the existence of magic, as attested by the principals themselves, yet the notion of possession alluded them.
“Don’t give up, Sunset,” she muttered.
-
“Magical Tamer, attack Sunset Shimmer directly for the encore!” Trixie called forth, eliciting cheers and encouragement from the spectators as Magical Tamer’s whip coursed red jolts of electricity into Odd-Eyes, the dragon being forced to obey. (ATK: 4800).
Sunset grit her teeth underneath pursed lip as her own Odd-Eyes was forced to charge up its attack. “Trap card: ‘Defense Draw’ activate!” As Odd-Eyes unleashed its attack via the empowered Magical Tamer, a blast preceded ahead of the attack, which proved to dissipate Trixie’s killing blow. “Defense Draw reduces all battle damage from one attack to zero, and I draw one card.”
Trixie snorted, looking more than a little peeved at her final attack being negated. “Hmph! No matter, Trixie will end it next turn. During my End Phase, your Odd-Eyes returns to your field.”
With that, Magical Tamer released her whip’s hold onto the red dragon’s neck and leapt back to the floor (ATK: 4800 -> 2300). Odd-Eyes’ form rippled and vanished, reappearing on Sunset’s field where it belonged. Her monster only has 2300 attack points, and she has no cards in her hand and not set cards. If Odd-Eyes destroys her next turn, she’ll take a combined 1450 damage from both the battle and the effect…
(Hand: 0)
Turn 6: Sunset Shimmer (Hand: 3)
Sunset drew her next card, but before she could even begin to formulate a plan, Trixie spoke out, “I remove another Overlay Unit to activate Magical Tamer’s effect once more!”
Damn! So it’s a quick-effect! Thought Sunset as Magical Tamer lashed out with her whip once more, ensnaring Odd-Eyes around the neck once again, forcing the dragon to wobble onto Trixie’s field and resumed riding the poor creature. (Performage Magical Tamer ATK: 2300 -> 4800) Sunset looked over her hand, the card she’d drawn was Dark Factory of Mass Production. Others were Mirage Dragon, Persona Dragon and Monster Reincarnation. Mirage Dragon was utterly useless in this situation, while Persona Dragon, while beefier, required a sacrifice. Dark Factory could bring two normal monsters from her Graveyard to her hand, and Reincarnation could bring one monster at the expense of one card from her hand…
None of these options were viable. She could summon Mirage Dragon or the Dragonpulse Magician in her graveyard, but at best she could block one more attack from Magical Tamer before she’d be left open…
“Get on with it!” called someone from the bleachers.
“You’re not foolin’ anyone, Shimmer!”
“Kick that crazy bitch’s ass, Trixie!”
“Let her have it!”
-
“Hunh…” muttered Rainbow, crossing her arms amusedly. “So Trixie had it in her. Guess that deck wasn’t quite up to snuff.”
Fluttershy looked to Rainbow discontentedly.
-
Sunset listened how her fellow students jeered at her all the while the applauded and praised Trixie for her new abilities, who at this moment was pre-emptively bowing before her audience. She could see that Flash was not partaking in the jeers; in fact, he seemed to be looking straight at Sunset apologetically. Glancing over her shoulder, she could see Rainbow Dash sitting, looking somewhat disinterested, while Fluttershy darted her attention between her and Rainbow. Rainbow clearly didn’t seem moved by the deck they put together being trounced by Trixie, nor by the insults being thrown Sunset’s way.
Sunset lowered her head, a saddened retch escaping under her breath. They’ll never accept that I’m not who I used to be, will they? She thought to herself. Lowering her arms, she was ready and willing to just accept defeat at this point. All she needed to do was hit the forfeit function and have it be over and done with. She wondered; what would the rest do once she was beaten down a second time now, by one of the lesser-ranked students? Would their ire turn more forward? Could they become more brazen and gang up on her as the figurative fallen tyrant and tear her limb from limb? She’d never caught any of the perpetrators pinning threats to her locker, so how about when they became more open in their hate? Could even the school board do anything about it?
I should have just fled when I got the chance…
“Don’t go… I promised Twilight I’d help. If you’re really sorry for all those things, then I forgive you.”
Dammit, Fluttershy… Sunset chuckled dryly. Such a wonderful friend, even in the midst of all of this. Sorry that you have to see this, but I guess even our group effort wasn’t enough against all the hate… She proceeded to bring her hand towards the forfeit icon on the screen when…
“Don’t give up!”
Sunset flinched, but no sound escaped her lips when the world faded around her. At first, she thought it was something to do with the holograms, but that was evidently not the case when she found the gymnasium, the students, Mr. Turner all vanished, and left her standing in blackness. A tingling sense of dread worked its way up her form, a faint memory worming its way into the forefront of her thoughts.
“They’ll never accept you,” something whispered…? No, roared… Calling out in a series of many different voices, tones, volumes, all mashed together into a chaotic cacophony.
Unveiling from the blackness, like in the wake of a parting curtain, Sunset felt her blood freeze when she witnessed herself standing before her… Or rather, what she had been, both inside and out: Bony talons clacked against the unseen ground. Great, leathery, raggedy wings spread out, barely perceivable in the blackness. A pair of gangly, skeletal arms held out to she sides, the only way they could be held out as being casual. Dark red sinew and muscle glistened. Her own face, marred by the dark irises, throbbing veins, and a boney white bastardization of her cutie mark, back from her time as a pony, gazed at her with a deranged, fanged grin.
“Poor, poor Sunset Shimmer… How she wants so bad to be loved, and yet no matter what she tries, no-one will ever want to,” her twisted image chuckled, crossing its arms over its chest in a disturbing imitation of a posed cadaver. “All you ever had, the only one to really love you, was me.”
“N-no…” Sunset took a step back, reeling as the monstrosity with her face reached out, taking slow steps towards her.
“It’s okay, little Sunset; I forgive you. We can forget all about how you were misguided by that arrogant alicorn. Come, embrace the truth.”
Sunset kept fervently backing away, the sight of those hideous, gangly arms beckoning her in horrifying infatuation made her want to scream, but she couldn’t, like something was clasped around her throat, unable to talk, and barely able to breathe.
“Don’t run. I’m the only one you’ll ever need. You’ll never be alone with me. Please, Sunset, I need you.”
Sunset’s shivering hands balled themselves into fists, “Shut up!” she managed to throat out, grasping at her chest at the feeling of suffocation.
“Don’t deny it, my dear little Sunset. You and I; we were meant to be together. Give in,” her dark image reached out with one, grasping arm, the madness in those black and red slit eyes burning into Sunset’s very core. “Embrace me, as you did before!”
“No!” Sunset bellowed, stopping her useless retreat, and instead lunged forward, barely evading the hand reaching out for her, and with a furious grunt, she socked the twisted image of herself square in the cheek, the impact reverberating all around the blackness in a satisfying echo. Her evil half stumbled backwards, the length of her skeletal arms making it awkward to feel the area where Sunset’s punch impacted.
Her corruption looked at her, the madness, while still present, ebbing from what Sunset could best describe as shock. When the dark reflection of her lowered her hand, the cheek... was cracking? Lines began to break out over and around the blackened cheek, forming a web of shatter points. The entity no longer pursued her, only stared back at her in almost pathetic disbelief.
“I… Needed… You…” she seemed to almost sob, when the cracks on her face violently popped and spread all around her body, and her form shattered like glass.
Sunset breathed hastily, feeling at her chest as if she had just run a marathon, “Yea? Well you needed me more than I ever needed you. So deal with it!”
That was when brilliant rays of light erupted behind Sunset, able to see the very lines of particles in the air of whatever void she had been trapped in. Turning around, the light seeming incapable of blinding nor so much as straining her eyes, she beheld something… Something so beautiful, any shreds of fear she’d harbored for seeing her darkness faded away.
Before her stood a great, shining monument of beauty: It looked much like a tree, but instead of bark and leaves, it seemed to be made up entirely of facets of mirror-smooth crystal, angling up into a curving trunk, at the base of which darker, purple roots spread out all around. At the top of the trunk it splayed out into a series of glimmering, upward curving branches, with wiry vines laden with crystal spheres hanging off. At the end of each of the thicker branches was a bulb, where colorful gems lay. Going clockwise starting from the bottom; a pink butterfly, a blue balloon, a red lightning bolt, a purple diamond, and a vermillion apple. At the very center lay a familiar, magenta nine-pronged star.
“Isn’t that…? The Element of Magic?” Sunset asked as she beheld the great crystal tree. “So then those are…?”
Her attention was diverted when she saw she wasn’t alone before the tree: Standing at the base stood someone else: A woman, her bare body a soothing light purple, which glimmered and sparkled before Sunset’s very eyes. Long, dark sapphire blue hair swayed behind her back, styled in a flat bang at the front with a streak of purple and raspberry. Violet, gentle eyes stared out at Sunset, all the while a pair of grand, feathery wings unfurled from her back.
Taking a step forth, Sunset’s eyes were glued to the divine, feminine form, “Princess… Twilight…?”
Twilight Sparkle smiled down at Sunset, holding out her hand in a welcoming gesture. Sunset’s legs began to carry her toward Twilight, and the tree. Completely entranced and unable, or unwilling to resist, Sunset reached out with her own hand, laying it over Twilight’s open palm. The moment they touched, she could feel a warming, welcoming calm overtake her senses, her cyan eyes focused entirely on the beauty of Twilight’s face. Any fear induced by this place was gone, as were her doubts, the sadness, and the pain. Sunset’s breath caught in her throat, as Twilight leaned towards her, those calming purple eyes locked onto her own, and she whispered.
“Let them be your power. Awaken; Sunset Shimmer.”
The moment she said it, a distinct, familiar roar reverberated through the blackness. Odd-Eyes, calling for aid…
-
“Mr. Turner,” said Micro Chips from his place by the laptops, “I think there’s something wrong with the sensors. I just saw a spike in the spectrometers.”
“What?” muttered Turner. Hearing the students cheering for Miss Lulamoon, while outright antagonizing the visibly distraught Miss Shimmer had him calling to them to cease their disruptive behavior, when he too noticed a small spike of activity in the spectrometry sensors. It was only for a moment, but it was evidently visible in the graph.
He looked back towards the field, only now Miss Shimmer, instead of downtrodden, seemed… He had trouble finding the right description. It was like an invisible fire was burning in the young woman’s eyes, all the while reaching for her duel disk once more, her fingers reaching for her deck, and not the forfeit icon.
What are you up to, Miss Shimmer?
-
Sunset swiftly slid one card into her Spell and Trap port, “I activate ‘Dark Factory of Mass Production’; this lets me add two Normal Monsters from my Graveyard to my hand. I return the Dragonpulse and Dragonpit Magicians I discarded earlier.”
Sunset presented two cards, which, upon seeing them, seemed to drain much of the color from Trixie’s face, “What?! That’s… I-i-impossible!”
“I take the scale one ‘Dragonpulse Magician’, and the scale eight ‘Dragonpit Magician’ to set the Pendulum Scale!” declared Sunset, slapping both cards in one sweeping motion to the edges of her duel disk’s central cleft. The circuitry and conductors normally imperceptible on average lit up with a rainbow of colors, the word “PENDULUM” emblazoning on the tray.
Two pale blue pillars arose to Sunset’s sides, within each arising a humanoid form: One a young male with spiky brown hair tied into an incredibly long braid that might have been as long as he was tall, garbed in a dark purplish-blue suit of armor underneath a billowing white robe with gold-lined rims, grasping a dual-bladed curved sword in one hand. The other a spiky blonde-haired man adorned in an extravagant, heavy set of white, blue and royal purple robes with intricate silver rims and inlays, holding in a perfect vertical line before him a staff; the tip, which held a golden gen in a socket surrounded by a silvery, saw-like ring. The numeral one and eight appeared underneath them.
“I activate Dragonpulse Magician’s Pendulum Effect,” by discarding a Pendulum Monster from my hand,” she slid Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon to the Graveyard port, “I can destroy one monster on the field. I’ll be taking my monster back, Magical Tamer!”
Dragonpulse Magician’s glaive lit up while suspended inside the pillar. With a forceful swing, the dual-bladed weapon was flung in a perfect circular motion, cleaving through Magial Tamer, in a delayed reaction, the beast tamer shattering just as her two halves began to split apart. Odd-Eyes screeched out in relief, even if he was sent to the grave.
“And one more card; ‘Monster Reincarnation’;” Sunset slipped the second last card into her disk. “By discarding one card,” Odd-Eyes Mirage Dragon was discarded, “I bring back one monster back to my hand.”
“The swing of the pendulum connecting two worlds draws out the arc of harmony.”
“Pendulum Summon! Come forth, my partner!” Sunset called out.
Six lights revolving in a vertical halo, orange, teal, red, blue, violet and magenta, aligned now horizontally between the pillars, a single red streak of light erupting downwards.
-
Fluttershy jumped when Rainbow Dash abruptly slammed a hand to her chest. For a moment she almost thought her athletically inclined friend was having a heart attack. “What the hell was that?!”
“What’s wrong, Rainbow?” asked Fluttershy, who too had a hand to her sternum.
Rainbow looked down over her chest, the taught grasp on her shirt having loosened entirely, now only the tips of her fingers lingering over her chest, “I just felt like something stung me, right in the heart…!”
“I felt something too,” said Fluttershy, feeling rightfully trepidatious herself.
“Hold on, what?”
“I don’t know why, but I felt something in my heart too…” she mused, though abruptly crossed her arms over her breasts out of embarrassment. “But it didn’t hurt. It felt… kind of nice, actually.”
-
Pinkie suddenly ceased all she was doing, in this case while pouring flour into a mixing bowl, the entire bag’s worth getting dumped in, billowing forth a cloud of powdered wheat that covered both her and her assigned partner for home ec, Roseluck, in a white layer.
Roseluck proceeded sneeze loudly, billowing more flour into the general vicinity, “You alright, Pinkie?”
Pinkie’s face scrunched, having remained mostly motionless since the accident, “Hunh. I dunno why, but I’m just feeling… so incredibly warm and fuzzy at the moment~!”
-
Rarity felt her body shuddering blissfully as Applejack pinned her against the wall in the gap between lockers. Her arms wrapped amorously around the farmgirl’s powerful feeling torso as the two passionately locked lips for the moment they were earned some privacy in the halls. Oh, how she loved it when Applejack got rough with her when making out, her strong hands sliding down the contours of her sides, making their way towards her backside…
A strange, but quite pleasant warmth overcame her, eyes fluttering in what could only be described as absolute bliss. And it all came to her so quickly. Whatever Applejack was doing to her, she just had to commend her girlfriend for whatever trick she’d picked up. Her Applejack had always been a great kisser, but whatever had changed, it was absolutely divine.
They abruptly parted their lips, though remained holding onto one another, staring into each other’s eyes in… The feeling, it still remained, but it was not coming from their primal passions. It was something in her chests; a feeling she could best describe as a blend of elation, peace… and something else she couldn’t quite put a finger on. She did not protest when Applejack brought a hand between her breasts, right over her heart.
“Did you… Did you feel that, sugarplum?” asked Applejack.
Rarity nodded, her breathing still stabilizing from the sudden rush that overcame her, and seemingly her beloved too. The two of them looked about in confusion, unable to piece together what had happened.
-
“Arise, valiant dragon with dichromatic eyes! Level 7, ‘Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!’”
From the light appeared a new dragon: Similar in its raptor-like appearance to its previous incarnation, only this one was larger, bulkier, with all of the leathery purply skin obscured by sharp, curved armored scales. The pronged horns were longer, roughly triple their original span, added with an outward-curving crescent protruding from its back, one side bearing a red orb, the other a green orb. Its orange and teal eyes shone forth from underneath the protection of a great crest forming over its elongated snout. In a colorful glint from its eyes, it let loose a triumphant call, in thanks to its liberation. (Level 7, 2500/2000)
Trixie could only gaze in trepidatious awe at the evolved form of the monster she was so brazenly abusing. Sunset… did not blame her. She was merely ignorant for the time being that there was more to the cards she wielded other than just slips of high-density lightweight polymers.
“Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, attack Trixie directly! Spiral Strike Burst!”
Odd-Eyes revved back its head, gathering the rippling energy from all around, and with one last lunge blasted Trixie head-on with a pillar of red energy, parted by the forcefield appearing before her, with nothing to defend her from the direct assault. Defeated.
Trixie Life Points: 2100 – 2500 = -400
Sunset Shimmer victory!