EPISODE THIRTY-THREE
Jackie and Jillian couldn’t believe it! The boys actually lost in-spite of all the limits and edges they had set, they were now on the ground and shaking as Masquerade approached them, and then stopped halfway as his shadow loomed over them in the light of the setting sun.
“I suggest you two leave while you still have some dignity left, and don’t show yourselves again until you learn to duel properly.”
The quivering boys, saying nothing, just bounded up the road like when they had left the duel ring at the park.
“Losers!” shouted Jackie.
Jillian then grabbed a rock in the street to throw it.
“…No!” Jackie shouted, trying to stop her, but the rock was already thrown, but it was stopped halfway in midair and just floated where it was.
Terra was using her powers to hold it steady, which Masquerade observed.
Terra then looked towards him with a strange face. Then she threw the rock back towards the girls, just crashing it by their feet.
The girls shuddered in fear, and trembled at the gang glaring at them.
“Forget this, we’re out of here!” cried Jackie.
“We’ll never come back to this crummy town again!” added Jillian.
The two girls ran up the street, and hopefully they were gone for good, and never to be seen or heard from again.
Pinkie Pie blew raspberries at them as they ran off.
“Well, I’m sure glad we’ve seen the last of them.” she said.
The others agreed, but then Terra excused herself from the crowd to approach Masquerade, who was walking away from them.
“Wait, Masquerade!” Terra called to him.
He didn’t turn around or even stop, and just kept walking away.
Finally, Terra used her powers to rise up the street like a huge wall, right in front of him.
“Terra…!” Robin called to her as he and the rest of the gang approached her.
“Come on, girl, put it down.” said Vic.
Terra shut her eyes tightly, getting a hold of her firm thoughts, and lowered the wall, normalizing the road, much to the surprise of by-passers, and some of the gang.
“Wow! She can do that? Who needs a work-crew?” said Applejack.
Masquerade began to walk off again.
“Wait, Masquerade…” called Robin “We want to talk to you.”
Masquerade still didn’t stop or even acknowledge him.
Rainbow wasn’t willing to let him get away like this. She dashed quickly in front of him, and Kori and Raven flew up and over, joining her.
“We’re talking to you!” snapped Rainbow.
Kori motioned for her not to speak so brashly.
Masquerade merely scoffed softly and turned to walk down another way.
“Hey!” Kori called to him.
“…You just can’t take a hint, can you?” hissed Masuqerade “I’ve got a tournament to prepare for and I’ve wasted enough time hanging around with you people!”
Features hardened within the gang.
“Somebody’s being a sore winner.” muttered Raven.
Sunset stepped out of the group, “Masquerade, we want to make a deal with you.”
He turned to face her, “You want to make a deal with me? What makes you think you have anything I want? For that, what makes you think I want or need your help from the likes of you?”
“How dreadfully rude!” grumbled Rarity “We only wish to speak to you, and you could at least give us a moment, as it could be a life or death situation.”
“She’s right,” added Sunset “We don’t know if you’re going to believe any of this but our friends are--”
Masquerade cut in, “…Are in great danger, and you want me to help you duel to save them from some evil force lurking about in the tournament.”
Everyone’s eyes went wide.
“How does he know?” asked Fluttershy.
“Please,” scoffed Masquerade “You think I can’t hear you? You talk so loud anyone within a 10-mile radius can hear you.”
Now everyone felt insulted, and a little embarrassed.
“…And my answer is “No!” …-N -O, “No!”
Sunset narrowed her eyes at him.
“Go ahead; give me all the looks you want. Why should I help people who I don’t know or are even my concern?”
With talk like that, the others already realized it was pointless to try and convince him.
“You know, you’re really a jerk, you know that!” sneered Vic.
“Horrid even!” added Celestia.
Masquerade only snickered, “Am I supposed to feel intimidated?”
“Do the math, dude.” said Shining Armor “You’re way outnumbered, and we can take you all on if we wanted to.”
“Is that supposed to be a threat? Because all you’re doing right now is annoying me?”
Cadance stepped forward, “You haven’t changed a bit, have you!” she then motioned to Twilight “Like time you and--” she stopped when Twilight nudged her softly, desperately trying to tell her to keep quiet, but this time it did not go unnoticed by the others.
“Twilight, what is this all about?” asked Applejack.
Twilight wasn’t willing to say a thing, and just looked down nervously at her shoes.
Masquerade looked at her from where he stood, “Who are you?” he asked “Why do I think I know you from somewhere?”
Twilight only glared angrily at him, but still refused to say anything.
“Twilight, you know him?” asked Luna.
She then looked over at Cadance and Shining Armor, and they nodded softly.
“Whatever,” said Masquerade, “I’m not interested in your little sob stories; I’ve got a tournament to prepare for, but I may as well warn you all: drop out now while you can, because I’m going to win it all, and when I do, you’ll all just look like every other opponent I’ve beaten…
…Flattened and pathetic!”
Something inside of Rainbow snapped, “Oh! That is it!” and she rushed forth to tackle him to the ground.
“Rainbow!” shouted Kori, but it was Raven using her power to hold Rainbow in a dark chair of dark aura.
“Let me go!” shouted Rainbow “Let me at him!”
“Rainbow, stop…!” Sunset called to her “It’s not worth the effort; you’ll only make things worse.”
Much as the others would have loved to disagree and try to attack Masquerade, they also did not believe that fists were the answer.
As heroes, they never threw punches or kicks without good reason, not even over a few insults.
Rainbow finally realized this, and calmed down. The last thing she would need was to be arrested and charged with assault. Then she’d never get to duel in the finals and help save her friends.
Masquerade took a moment to scorn her for her behaviour, “A duelist settles their issues with a duel, not with fists!”
Rainbow held up her disk, “Fine! If that’s what you want!”
“Rainbow…!” Sunset called, but Rainbow insisted, “No! I’ve been waiting for this-- waiting to get back at you since the first night we met.
I’m willing to take you on again!”
“But Rainbow!” called Pinkie.
“I said back off!”
Everyone winced at the tone of her voice.
“What’s happening to her?” asked Terra.
“It’s her determination and pride,” answered Applejack “When those two things get insulted or questioned, R.D isn’t willing to let anything stop her from proving herself, but she sometimes gets a little carried away.”
Masquerade seemed to get a kick out of seeing Rainbow get all heated up as he loaded a new deck into his duel disk.
“They always want to learn the hard way. Who am I to stop them?”
“That’s right, get it all out of your system.” said Rainbow “By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be running form the finals, and that means no prize money for you.”
Masquerade only scoffed at her, “You think it’s all because of the money that I’m this tournament? You’re even more brainless than I thought.”
Rainbow growled.
“I’m a world pro-gamer; I’ve won so many tournaments and worked for many gaming corporations testing their stuff. I’ve got enough cash to live on easy street for quite a while, as long as I ration it carefully, that’s why I do as little with it as I possibly can.”
“So then why partake in this tournament if you’re already loaded?”
“I just told you! The money doesn’t last forever, and that’s not even the point.
See, even if I were to quit playing, what would I do then?
These games have given me a reputation, and a purpose. They give me a reason to keep going, especially if it means I get to put suckers like you in your place!”
“Say what?!” growled Rainbow.
The others didn’t take kind to what he had just said either.
“You heard me,” said Masquerade “To me: there’s no greater thrill than weeding out loudmouths, bigshots, and wannabes like you who think you’re so special and that you’ve got it made, only for me to yank you out of Fantasy Land and give you a good dose of what it’s like to live in the real world!
And frankly, I’ve never seen a more sorry sight than you Equestria Girls!”
He looked over at the others, and they looked astounded at him.
“Yeah, I know who you are-- Newscasts, papers, word-on-the-street...
Frankly, I think it’s time you gave up this little charade.”
“Whatever is his goading about?” asked Rarity.
“I don’t know, but I really don’t like it!” Pinkie grumbled with her teeth gnashing.
Masquerade was getting a kick out of this.
“You all claim to be superheroes, what with your “Friendship” your “Harmony” and your magic, and yet you don’t even know what it means to be a “Real Hero.”
“Oh, yeah?” snarled Rainbow “We save lives, and the world, we’ve helped others, and we’ve made differences. That’s pretty heroic to me, and we turned out just swell, all of us.
We have each other, our friendship is stronger than ever, and we’ll be ready to save the world when the next threat comes, especially considering what’s lurking around in the tournament.”
“Exactly!” snarled Masquerade “And that’s exactly the point I’m making, you have it way too easy.”
Rainbow blinked in confusion.
“A real hero makes sacrifices, suffers through grueling and life-scarring pain, and most of all, they have to face reality when it hits them where it hurts most and face unnerving changes!
But you and your little band of friendship freaks never actually do any of that, and that’s why you’re no heroes in my view.
You’re just pretenders. Nothing more than spoiled rotten kids who always get it easy and have everything ever wanted just handed to them for doing so little while the rest of the world around you isn’t like that!
At least the Titans know what it’s like and they’ve suffered plenty, and now they’re city is a dump heap of misery because of their blindness, and no one wants to help them rebuild.
You’re all just a sorry lot of pathetic nitwits in need of a serious beat down, and I’m going to give it you all good enough!”
“ENOUGH!!!” shouted Sunset. Her voice echoed all through the city.
“How dare you say those things about us!” she snarled at him, “What makes you such an expert on being a hero anyway? What nice things have you ever done for people?”
“She’s right!” added Robin “You’re so busy only caring for yourself that all you do is cause suffering and misery wherever you go.
It wouldn’t surprise me if no one wanted to ever be your friend!”
The others all agreed with him all the way, but Masquerade could only remark “Friendship is just stupid. It’s nothing but a dead-end network of lies and un-fulfilment.”
Rainbow had finally heard enough of his spatting, and demanded they start dueling, “I’ll show you just how wrong you are!”
They were ready, and both faced each other, as if they were enveloped in fiery flames.
“…DUEL!!”
Rainbow LP: 8000
Masquerade LP: 8000
“Go Rainbow!” hollered Pinkie.
“Show this ruffian how it’s done!” added Rarity.
“Um, go Rainbow, go?” whispered Fluttershy.
Twilight clenched her fists glaring at the duelists while muttering, “Take him down, Rainbow! Make him pay!”
Even Cadance, Shining Armor, the sisters were all looking for Masquerade to get crushed, but Applejack and Sunset didn’t like where things were going and how everyone was acting so crazy.
“Much as I don’t like that guy myself,” said Applejack “Everyone’s really getting loopy here.”
Sunset agreed, it was if everyone was starting to lose their insight of friendship and peace over a card game.
Robin and Vic were still determined not to let Masquerade get away without trying to figure out who he was.
Robin then had an idea, and whispered something to Terra.
Terra felt very nervous about the idea, but she, too, was dying to learn Masquerade’s identity.
“I’ll do it.” she whispered to him.
“…But wait until the duel ends.” Robin cautioned her.
“I’ll go first this time!” said Rainbow and she drew her cards.
“…Fine by Me.” hissed Masquerade “…Not that it matters.”
Rainbow narrowed her eyes, “First I play POT OF GREED, so I draw two cards.”
Now she had a full hand of six cards, and really liked what she had.
“I summon RAIDRAPTOR – VANISHING LANIUS!”
(Atk: 1300)
“And when it’s summoned, I get to summon LAST STRIX!”
(Atk: 100)
“And I’m not through yet, Since I control at least one “Raidraptor” monster I’m allowed to summon this too, RAIDRAPTOR – FUZZY LANIUS!”
(Atk: 500)
Everyone was astonished that she had summoned three monsters in one turn.
All the birds glared and cawed at Masquerade, and he didn’t seem to be the least but concerned, which really annoyed Rainbow.
“I’m not going to lose to him!” she thought to herself “Not this time! Not after all the horrible things he’s said about me and my friends!”
“I now overlay level 4 Fuzzy Lanius and Vanishing Lanius, to build the Overlay Network!”
The two monsters leapt up high into the portal and were gone, causing the new monster to pop out in a flash of light.
“I Xyz Summon RAIDRAPTOR – FORCE STRIX!”
(Def: 2000) -----> (Def: 2500)
“As you can see, it gains a 500 attack and defense point boost for every other Winged-Beast monster I control, but I’ve got even more to dish out on you.
I use Force Strix’s ability; by using an overlay unit, I can add “Raidraptor – Singing Lanius” to my hand, but since I have at least one “Raidraptor” Xyz Monster out, I can special summon it right to the field.”
(Def: 100)
“…And that lets my Force Strix gain another 500 defense points.”
(Def: 2500) -----> (Def: 3000)
I use Last Strtix’s special ability, which lets me tribute it to the graveyard, and special summon one “Raidraptor” Xyz Monster from my Extra Deck, as long as its effect are negated.”
Her duel disk began to glow, and a portal formed on the field to her felt as the monster just appeared instantly.
“There it is-- RAIDRAPTOR – SATELLITE CANNON FALCON!”
(Atk: 3000)
Twilight gawked at the monster rather strangely.
“You okay?” asked Shining Armor.
His sister nodded.
Masquerade looked up at the newly summoned monster. “I’ve already seen this monster of yours in action, and if you think I’m scared, you’ve got another thing coming.”
Rainbow snickered, “Actually, it’s you who has another thing coming, because now I activate RANK-UP MAGIC SKIP FORCE!”
Masquerade growled softly.
“Now I can use it on my Cannon Falcon, and I can summon one Raidraptor Xyz monster that’s two ranks higher than it is!
…Go, Rank-Up Xyz Evolution!!”
Her monster leapt into the portal, creating a huge burst of light, swirling with winds and darkness as a new monster formed.
The winds billowed straight at the gang from the sidelines.
“What is she summoning now?” asked Kori.
“I think we’re about to find out.” replied Raven.
The monster appeared as the light faded, and it spread out his huge wings cawing up into the sky.
Rainbow smirked up at her creature and declared, “On the wind, and straight to the sky… I’ve Xyz Summoned RAIDRAPTOR – ULTIMATE FALCON!”
(Atk: 3500)
Rarity couldn’t believe her eyes at how massively huge this new monster was.
“I… I can’t believe--” and she felt like fainting.
Robin had never seen such a monster, “Maybe I should consider changing my deck.”
Masquerade looked up at the monster, “Impressive, maybe to some, but it’ll take more than take to beat me.”
Rainbow cracked her knuckles, “You keep telling yourself that, it’ll make it all the easier when I beat you, because my Ultimate Falcon is immune to card effects.”
The monster hissed soflty.
I’ll place card facedown, and that ends my turn, which activates Ultimate Falcon’s special ability that can deal you 1000 points of damage just like that.”
Masquerade just stood still and tall as the monster screeched and sent a wave of lightning at him, dropping his score.
Masquerade LP: 8000 -----> 7000
“YA-HOO…!! Way to show him!” Pinkie cheered.
“Yay.” peeped Fluttershy.
Rainbow could hardly believe that she actually dealt Masquerade damage, and the fact she still had two good monsters in play, “I just may actually win this.” she said in her mind “Especially when my trap card to play this turn, there’s no way he’ll crush me!”
Masquerade stood ready, “Prepare for instant defeat like I did to you before.”
Rainbow narrowed her eyes, “You wish, you won’t beat me like you did last time, especially when I play this trap-- RAIDRAPTOR – READINESS!
This trap will protect my Raidraptors, so they can’t be destroyed in battle, but that’s not all…
Since I have a “Raidraptor” in my graveyard, I can banish the trap, and I’ll take no damage at all this turn.”
Masquerade growled softly under his mask.
“A flawless move,” said Celestia “If Rainbow can’t take any damage this turn, I don’t see how she can possibly lose.”
Luna agreed, “Still, why does her opponent not seem very phased by it?”
“She’s right.” agreed Sunset “I don’t like it when Masquerade stands still and tall like that. He must be up to something.”
Masquerade glared at Rainbow through his mask, “Looks like I’ve really underestimated you.”
Rainbow smirked, “So, you finally admit that--”
Masquerade cut in, “…That you’re predictable and pathetic!”
Rainbow looked ready to explode, “Whatever! Like I said, you can’t damage this turn.”
“You’re right, I can’t, but you should know there’s more than one way to skin a cat, or in this case… Lose a Duel!”
“Huh?”
“I activate the spell DOUBLE SUMMON so I can summon two monsters this turn instead of one.
I summon MAKYURA THE DESTRUCTOR.”
(Atk: 1600)
“And now I’ll tribute him to summon AITSU!”
(Atk: 100)
“What the?!” yelled Rainbow.
The others were all just as shocked as she was.
“He played a monster that has only 100 attack points?” asked Cadance.
“Yes, but don’t forget,” Twilight pointed out “He sent Makyura to the graveyard, which allows him to play traps from his hand for the rest of the turn!”
Masquerade snickered and entered his battle phase.
“Asitu, attack Ultimate Falcon!”
Rainbow could not believe this as the puny little runt jumped straight up at her huge, hulking beast and destroyed itself.
“What were you thinking?!” she called to Masquerade.
“This…!” he answered “From my hand I activate the trap POWER WALL!
Whenever I’m about to take damage from your monster, I can send as many cards from my deck to the graveyard and reduce that damage by 100 points for each card.
…So I’ll just go ahead and ditch 34 cards!”
Rainbow gawked as he sent nearly his entire deck to the graveyard, leaving him with very little cards left.
“Thirty-four cards, means 3400 points of damage avoided, so I escape without a scratch, but now everything is set for me to finish you.”
Rainbow blinked twice with her mouth hanging open.
“Now I play the trap EXCHANGE OF THE SPIRIT!”
“Exchange of the--” What?”
Masquerade snickered and pointed at her, “Now that I have at least fifteen monsters in my graveyard, all I have to do is pay 1000 life points…”
Masquerade LP: 7000 -----> 6000
“…And now, we must exchange the cards in our decks with those in our graveyards!”
“AAAAAAHHH!!!” screamed Rainbow!
“But… but… Rainbow Dash has only two cards in her graveyard!” cried Rarity.
Fluttershy trembled as she spoke, “That means she loses her entire deck to the graveyard, and has only two cards left, while Masquerade gets all his cards back!”
Rainbow, wide-eyed and quivering, exchanged her cards.
“I can’t believe it!” she cried in thought “Just like that-- my entire deck, Gone!”
Masquerade had already replaced his cards and then scorned at Rainbow, “You were a fool to challenge me, and that goes double for the rest of your squad over there!
You are predictable…
You are badly underequipped…
And above all things, you are pathetically misguided and deluded by your “Friendship, love” and “Harmony!”
Rainbow wanted to protest, but she was far too shaken by the stress to reply.
“Well, I on the other hand keep myself focussed and I live in the real world, where Friendship and all that stuff won’t get you as far as you think.”
He held up his last card “And now I’m going to show you why!”
“No!!” cried Rainbow.
“…I play CARD OF SANCTITY, so now we have to draw until we each hold six cards, but you can’t do that can you!”
Rainbow looked down at her now empty deck, and fell to her knees as the duel images vanished.
“…So there!” sneered Masquerade.
“Rainbow!” called Sunset as she and the others rushed over to her.
“Are you okay?” Applejack asked, but Rainbow didn’t say a thing. She never felt so incredibly devastated, humiliated, and crushed in her life.
She quivered and shook with grief, and her cards slipped out of her disk and onto the ground, followed by a couple of her own tears of shame.
None of the others had to be psychic like Raven to see Rainbow had a lost a good deal of inner-strength.
“Oh, you poor thing.” sobbed Fluttershy.
“I’m so sorry.” added Pinkie “I’m sorrier than sorry! I’m sorriest of sorriest!”
All the others looked up crossly at Masquerade.
“I wish you all the best of luck in your quest, but leave me to my own and stay out of my way!”
He turned and began to walk up the street, but Robin motioned for Terra to move in.
Terra leapt out in front and used her powers to life Masquerade high up on a floating rock, and she herself floated up on another rock, suspending them both way high up!
“You’re not going anywhere!” she thundered at him.
Outraged as he was, Masquerade hissed, “My, aren’t we sore losers.”
Kori and Raven both flew up to Terra, and they both looked as furious as she did.
“You’re a selfish creep!” Kori spat at him.
“You would know!” he protested, “You and the other Titans all would after all the selfish and horrid things you did!”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Raven “On second thought, never mind! It’s time to find out who’s behind that mask!”
Masquerade was far too high to jump to the ground safely, but then he noticed a large flagpole sticking out of the side of the tall building.
He put his hands up, making it look like he was surrendering, but as the girls hovered in to try and take him, he leapt off the rock, grabbing onto the flagpole like a gymnast, and swung gracefully landing up onto the narrow ledge of the siding, and made a run for it.
At the same time, a kind of running song began to play, with disembodied voices calling out…
“MASQUERADE…!!”
“Don’t let him get away!” shouted Robin.
“Let’s get him!” Shining Armor shouted.
A lot of the others ran off to join the chase, while Fluttershy, Cadance and Sunset stayed behind to comfort Rainbow Dash.
“MASQUERADE…!!”
Masquerade ran along the ledge of the edging.
Vic tried to shoot tracker bugs on him, but missed each shot, and even still he remembered it would be pointless because the mask somehow blocked any sources of tracing.
In a graceful long-jump, Masquerade leapt to the nearby flat rooftop and kept on going, with Terra, Kori and Raven catching up to him rapidly.
He wasn’t as high up this time, and the building he was on now had thick ledge on each floor, allowing him to hop gracefully down from ledge to ledge to the street below.
“Good think I’ve played a ton of Escape Rooms and Obstacle Courses.” he gloated to himself.
“GET HIM!!” shouted Robin as the others came running in to chase him, forcing him to duck into an alley.
“MASQUERADE…!!”
“Let’s split up!” suggested Twilight “Cover all ends! We’ll have him trapped!”
“Right!” agreed Robin, and everyone split up, covering the front and other side of the alley, while the three Titan ladies overhead guarded the roof in case he tried to make his way up again.
Strangely, however, when the two gangs dashed into the alley at halfway, meeting in the middle, Masquerade was nowhere to be seen.
“He’s gone!” said Applejack.
“I believe we can see that.” groaned Rarity.
“How could he have gotten out?” wondered Vic.
Everyone search and searched as the song faded out, but it was no use, it was as if Masquerade had vanished like a ghost.
“It’s no good, he’s gone.” said Celestia.
Robin furiously kicked a garbage dumpster, and Vic pounded his fist on the brick wall, “Man, this bites!”
Luna put her hand on his shoulder “Let it go. You will see him again, in the finals, remember?”
Much as all the others hated to give in, she was right, and it was getting late.
“I really think we should get back to Rainbow Dash, anyway.” suggested Pinkie “She’s really downhearted.”
The gang headed out of the ally, and walked back up the street where they found Rainbow had finally moved, or rather the other three comforting her managed to get her up and walked her over to a bus-stop bench.
She was still looking gloomy; all she could hear was Masquerade taunting her after defeating her so easily, for a second and consecutive time.
“Rainbow Dash…?” Fluttershy said to her “I have your deck here.”
Rainbow didn’t even blink. Just kept her head hung low.
Sunset had a bad feeling about this. “It’s like she’s lost her will to duel, or even go on.”
She knew the feeling too well, like when Spike lost his soul to those two goons she lost too in that strange world.
Shining Armor hated what he was about to do, but seeing Rainbow like this, he knew she needed to hear something.
“Rainbow… Twilight knows how you feel.”
Twilight felt her insides freezing up.
The others all looked her way, and Applejack remembered what she had asked earlier.
“I think you better start explaining, Twilight.” said Applejack.
Twilight began to struggle with her inner-self, “I can’t… it’s just too…”
“Twilight,” said Cadance “They’ll understand, especially Rainbow.”
Rainbow still didn’t look up, and didn’t give any sign that she heard Twilight.
Twilight still didn’t seem up to sharing, until her brother threatened, “They need to know, and if you don’t tell them, I will.”
Twilight sighed, and then approached Vic.
“Do you still have that card?”
Vic held out the Polymerization card. “It’s yours?”
Twilight guilty nodded.
“You’re a duelist?” Sunset asked in astonishment.
To all the others, this explained so much of how Twilight was so knowledgeable about the game in the first place.
“How come you never told us?” asked Rarity.
Twilight closed her eyes tightly, and her tears began to form. She just couldn’t speak of it, so her brother had to fill in.
“Twily used to be the most playful kid I knew. She loved playing games not just for the fun of it, but because of the educational values they provided-- math, physics, calculations, all that stuff.
All this that helped her be the brainy student she is today.
Duel Monsters was her most favorite of games, because it had so much math in it, and so many possibilities, combinations and skills required.
In her first year of High School, she was phenomenal, and her skills offered her a position in the International Math-a-thon, which was held in Tokyo Japan, and only the best qualifying students or players had the honor of participating.
Naturally, Twily did so well, it was no surprise she made it to the last round, but her final opponent was Masquerade.”
The gang all gasped in shock, and Rainbow finally looked up in concern at Twilight.
“Masquerade at a Math-a-thon?” she asked.
“Well, it was a competition.” said Cadance “I guess Masquerade isn’t limited to try anything that isn’t even remotely a game.”
Shining Armor went on with the story…
“Twilight had never seen anyone like Masquerade. She expected him to be great, but he was phenomenal, he managed to get so many points as if he knew the answers better than Twilight.
He won the match and the prize money that came with it, and Twilight felt insulted and humiliated, as if someone had questioned her skill as a smart kid.
She followed him into the alley, and I was the only one who noticed and followed her.”
“You made me look like a fool out there.” she sneered.
“You give me too much credit. It shouldn’t take that much skill for anyone to make a fool of you.”
“Twilight was pushed over the edge. I tried to calm her down, but she demanded a rematch with him.
Masquerade scoffed at the idea at first, but then he agreed… to a duel, rather than a math-off.
He even lent her a duel disk, as most disks were still being manufactured.
…As you can bet, he crushed her so easily, and to add insult to Injury…”
“You’re the weakest opponent I’ve ever had. How a kid like you made it this far in the Math-a-thon, I’ll never know.”
“Then he was gone, and Twilight was crushed to tears. She felt so hurt, that she swore off dueling.
That was all three years ago.”
The others all felt sorry for Twilight, but were still astounded, but by this Time, Twilight was weeping in embarrassment and shame.
“I’ll never forget those feelings!” she sobbed “I felt so small, so lost. It’s largely responsible for why I became so anti-social and awkward.
All I ever did from that point on was study and try to put it behind me, but it always comes back to haunt me.”
“Oh, Twilight…” said Sunset.
Raven shook her head, “You let one little defeat control your whole life? Don’t you think that’s a little over-the-top?”
Twilight gawked at her with shock, but then she hung her head down, “Yeah, I suppose it was.”
“Hey, don’t beat her down any more than she already is.” said Pinkie.
“I wasn’t trying to.” replied Raven “Sometimes you feel like you’ve lost it all, and that there’s no reason to keep on going or ever try again. I know the feeling.
I’ve always felt I was different among most others.”
She looked over at the other Titans.
“But you learn from it, and it helps you to better yourself.”
She paused and remembered Jump City and the state it was in now, “That’s something we’re all trying to do-- to make things right again.”
The others all agreed and nodded softly, and while Sunset was ready to approach Twilight and comfort her more, it was Rainbow who beat her too it, having now found her strength and seeing how worse Twilight had it than she did.
She put her hand on Twilight’s back and smiled softly at her. She didn’t say anything, but she was acting thankful for finding new reason to duel again, for her friends, and others.
“But if you ever want to get back in the game, I wouldn’t mind dueling with you.”
Twilight smiled softly, but her one hand behind her back in a kind of shame and guilt about something else.
Instead Twilight hugged her softly, which melted everyone’s hearts, and that’s when the bus was coming down the street.
“I think we should all get home and rest up.” said Sunset “Some of us have a big day tomorrow.”
All the finalists agreed with nods of pride and determination, and Sunset looked up into the night sky. “Tomorrow, the finals begin!”