“What do you want?” Isaac said with a commanding voice.
“What no hello? No introducing ourselves? I thought you were a gentleman.” snickered the girl.
“I’m only a gentleman to girls that don’t have a creepy aura around them. So I’ll ask you again, what do you want!?”
“Straight to the point, I like that in a person. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Sunset Shimmer. Pleased to meet you.” She extended her hand to Isaac which he gladly refused. “Left speechless, I tend to have that effect on people, especially boys. Listen I’m here because my lackeys have been trying to inform me about a certain someone who holds a rare card. Mind letting me see it?” A sick smile started to form on her face.
Isaac could tell this girl was trouble so when she asked to see his Dark Magician, you better believe he said hell no. Her response was less than pleasant but she didn’t care.
“No matter I know all about that card and how powerful it is. That’s why I’ve come with a proposition. It seems you’ve become friends with a certain group of individuals, if you’re wondering how I know about them let’s just say I’ve had a run-in with them in the past. To put it plainly I want you to forget them; those girls are just dead weight to you. I’ve seen what you can do and you are capable of so much more. If you continue to hang with those girls all there going to do is keep holding you back; as a duelist we always strive to be the best to push ourselves beyond our limits. The CHS tournament is an event that is a once in a lifetime that could elevate someone to stardom; take it from me the best way to improve is to not be carrying any more dead weight. Don’t you want to be the best?”
“Of course, who doesn’t want to be at the top?”
“Then heed my advice ditch the girls so you tune all of your focus on surviving in the tournament. Or don’t it’s up to you. Still know that this is my place and I run it; meaning I decide who lives and who suffers my wrath. If you play your cards right kid I might let you slide, are we clear?”
Isaac answered with a bit of bitterness. “Crystal.”
“Good, see you around Isaac. Don’t forget what we talked about; let’s go boys!” With that Sunset rubbed Isaac's hair with her hand as she had a smug look. His only response was a face of disgust as she began to leave with her two cronies following behind her. Just when Isaac thought she was gone, he heard her say one final thing.
“I’ll admit one thing you’re kind of cute for a good guy.” With that she disappeared as the school bell rang and Isaac was left to ponder his thoughts.
Not too long after Sunset left did her two goons popped the question.
“Excuse Sunset, do you really think Isaac will listen to you?”
“Yeah, I mean he’s a smart kid but I doubt he’ll obey what you told.”
“That’s what I hope for.”
“What!?” they both shouted.
“I have no control on what he does. He’s a naïve little boy who is always going to do the right thing; it’s what his pure little heart wants. He wants to continue to play the superhero then who am I to stop. The thing he needs to understand is separating reality from fantasy. I run this school, nobody can touch because I’m on another level. Anybody who thinks they can stop me are just as dumb as they are stupid. History is written by the victors and I hope Isaac chooses to stand by the side that will be remembered as the winners. This tournament is just a means for me to show everybody what I already know: this is my CHS and there’s not a damn thing anyone can do about it!”
The rest of the day was spent with Isaac in remorse. He kept thinking back to his meeting with Sunset and how she was telling him to cease his friendships with the girls. Apparently she saw it as an obstacle that was holding him back from reaching his true potential. Isaac knew what she was just trying to get under his skin but a part of him still felt what she said was true. If Isaac did forget about his relationships with the girls, would it help him to reach the next level. He always looking for a way to improve but did that mean he would have to make some sacrifices. Was his friendship with the girls one of those things he was willing to give up to become a great duelist? Isaac was having so much on his mind that he needed some clarity and being in class wasn’t helping him either.
Lunchtime had rolled around and Isaac wasn’t hungry in the slightest. He sat at a table still conflicted with his thoughts. Isaac was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice the girls till they got his attention.
“Hey Isaac, you ok?”
Isaac looked at Dash and he felt a bit of anger come across him. It didn’t last long but he still felt a bit of remorse.
“I’m fine Dash, I’m just not hungry”
“That’s not like you at all, sugarcube. Something’s on your mind, care to share with us?”
Isaac knew it was pointless to lie since Aj had a natural ability in determining when somebody was telling the truth or not. So he told them to grab a seat as he explained what was on his mind.
“Let me ask you girls, are you willing to do anything if it meant you were the best?” They all seemed confused by Isaac's question. “What I mean is if you wanted to be the best at the thing you love the most, are you willing to sacrifice everything/everyone? My passion for dueling is like no one else; I’m always looking to take on a challenge because I personally believe that it can help me on becoming the best duelist I can be. However does that mean I have to eventually forget about the people who helped me along the way.”
Rarity was the first one to speak up. “Darling, whatever made you bring up that idea.”
“This girl I met this morning, she said her name was Sunset Shimmer. She was talking about how I should forget everything I ever learned and focus on being the best. I didn’t trust seeing as how she was giving me some evil vibes.”
Unfortunately, Isaac didn’t see the expression that the girls had. It wasn’t until that he mentioned Sunset that their faces went changed from a caring look to one that had regret/remorse. It was as time had stood still. The air around us started to get colder and the sounds surrounding us started to fade into obscurity. Isaac didn’t know what to do, all he could do was look at them. Eventually the silence was broken when Applejack spoke.
“Pardon me, Isaac. But did you say you met Sunset Shimmer?”
“Yeah.”
“She didn’t try to fool you or blackmail, did she?” screamed Rainbow.
“Okay, what’s going on? First I find out you guys only wanted to meet with me because you need my help taking someone down. Then as soon as I mentioned that I met with a girl named Sunset you guys started to give me the death look. Something is going on and you better give me an explanation." To say Isaac was angry was an understate, he was generally becoming pissed off.
“I knew we shouldn’t have kept this a secret. I told you all this was a bad idea but nobody ever listens to me!” After letting out a sigh, Aj turned her attention to him. “Isaac, the reason why Rainbow wanted to meet with you was because of Sunset.”
“Why!?”
It was Rainbow’s turn to talk. “If you must know Sunset is the biggest bullying in the school.”
“She’s a real party pooper. She’s the biggest and meanest of anybody. A real sour drop.”
“In fact the whole school hates her. Not only that she’s a powerful duelist; she’s recently won several tournaments at CHS in the past. In fact she feels like she runs this place because nobody can defeat. I hate to admit but almost everybody thinks that Sunset Shimmer is undefeatable.”
Isaac processed what Dash just told him. “That can’t be true guys, no one is unbeatable.”
“You don’t understand, her skills are on another level. Every duel she plays is near perfection. She doesn’t make any mistakes nor does she allow any openings for her opponent to take advantage of. It’s like she has some kind of magic. As everyone knows dueling is a way to cement where you stand in the hierarchy and Sunset is at the top of that pecking order.”
“If she's such a bully, why haven’t Celestia or Luna done anything to stop her?”
Fluttershy then answered Isaac's question. “Almost everyone is scared of her demeanor that they don’t say anything. Instead they try to avoid her at all cost to ensure that they don’t get picked on. Everyday at school, the students do their best to survive because they know that once Sunset Shimmer has her sights set on you, you better pray you live.”
“Anyone who’s new or tries to stand up to her eventually falls and is forced to obey her rules. It’s not a pretty sight, best advice sugar keep your head down.”
“This doesn’t make sense, I only enrolled in CHS a few weeks ago. If she was such a bully why didn’t anybody give me a warning, hell why didn’t she confront me until now?”
“Sunset would have found out if someone snitched about her to a new student. As for why she didn’t approach you, I guess you seemed kind of harmless to her.” said Rarity.
“That’s why this time it’s going to be different. Since Sunset doesn’t see Isaac as a threat, she won’t be able to predict what he’s going to duel. It’s perfect, that’s why it’s important that you enter the tournament.”
“So I can do your dirty work, huh Dash? The only reason why you became friends with me is so Sunset Shimmer can fall? That’s the only reason why you need me, isn’t it!?” Isaac expressed how angry he was with them. “Here I was thinking that it’s impossible to become fast friends with people you just met. I actually believed that there are some people who even if you haven’t met, you can share a special connection with them. But I can throw that out the window because I found out you're just using me for your selfish needs. Out of everyone here the only person I can trust is Fluttershy because of what she’s done for me, while the rest of you were in on Rainbow’s plan. I trusted all of you, I even told you my background and you lied to my face. Let me ask you all, did any of you ever feel like we were friends?”
“Of course we did darling. I’ll admit while our initial reasons for wanting to meet you were malicious, you must believe that we really did want to become friends with you. After we heard about your story and saw how much of a nice person you were to Fluttershy, we wanted to become closer.”
“But why me? What could I possibly have that would require you guys to seek me out?”
“There’s one thing that you have that Sunset doesn’t have: it’s heart. Compared to Sunset you don’t rely on power to help you win your duels; you put your trust in your cards/deck.” Rainbow put her hand on Isaac's shoulder. “Listen Isaac, I’m so sorry for betraying your trust. I know it wasn’t the best way to meet but believe me when I say: we need you. We all want to see Sunset toppled off her pedestal that’s why me and the girls are entering the tournament. We want to show everybody that they don’t need to be afraid of her; they need to know that they can’t let fear dictate their lives. They need to know that Sunset Shimmer can be beaten. With you helping us it raises our odds significantly. So please can you lend us a hand?” Rainbow was offering me a handshake.
Isaac had a whole bunch of emotions flowing through him. While he was glad the girls confessed that it was wrong of them to mislead him, a part of him still felt hurt and skeptical about trusting them. Still the major issue that they could agree on was that Sunset needed to be beaten. He was not one to stand by and let others express their power willing and use it to push around others. If someone is in need of assistance, he can’t just turn a blind eye and do nothing. If the girls believed that he could help them free the school from Sunset’s reign then Isaac had to do his part. So he looked at them with a determined look on his face.
“Alright, I’ll help you.” With that Isaac extended his hand to Rainbow and they shook on it.
“Thanks. You don’t know how much this means to us.” Rainbow had glee on her face.
“But from now on you have to promise that there will be no more secrets between us. I’m here for you guys because I’m willing to be your support pillar when you experience troubles. But I need to know that there won’t be any shady business. Are we clear?”
“Totally, from now no more secrets. The only secret is going to be you when Sunset sees what you’ve got she’ll be trembling in her boots.”
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s possibly. According to my run-in with her this morning, she seems to have heard about my recent victories so she knows what I can do. I don’t think she knows what skills I possess but she does know about my Dark Magician. So it’s safe to assume that she’ll be keeping a close eye on me.”
“Well the good thing is that she just assumes you’re someone who holds a powerful card and is just surviving on pure luck. Which means we still have a small chance to surprise her. However, it’s important that you don’t show her all of your talents.” Rainbow was really putting her mind to work coming up with a plan. “I hate to say this but Isaac you might want to keep your dueling to a minimum so Sunset doesn’t expect anything. I know it must be tough especially since you're so passionate about dueling but this is for the best.”
“I’ll try but it won’t stop other people from approaching me on their own free will. If someone challenges me, then I have to accept it Dash, plus it helps me to build momentum for the tournament." While Isaac could hold back on how many duels he engaged, he couldn’t control what other people would do. The girls understood that and assured him that if someone wanted to battle him, Isaac would give it his all and try not to go overboard with showing off his dueling skills. With that they began formulating their plan to bring down Sunset and restore freedom back to everyone. The rest of the day went by and everyone was getting ready to head home when they heard the P.A. system go live.
Celestia was coming through the microphone as she began to deliver her announcement. “Greetings students, I hope everyone is doing well with their classes so far. I’m really impressed with how hard you all are working to ensure you get good grades. However that’s not what I want to talk about today. I’m sure all of you know about the school’s annual Fall Formal and how it’s held to help you to relax and celebrate all of your hard work so far. It’s Canterlot High’s biggest event not just for the dance but for the tournament that is held. Each year a dueling tournament is held in the spirit of competition to find out who is the top duelist at CHS. This event is special because it can alter the life of whoever wins; it can help to propel you to take your dueling game to the next level. As such I’m pleased to announce that registration has officially begun; starting right now if you would like to compete please head to the library and register on the school’s website. The only thing you’ll need is your duel disk and your deck so that our school’s system can have them in our database in case any problems arise. Note that once you register your deck you can be able to change your deck before and in between duels during the actual event. We want to ensure that everyone can bring out their full potential, so we ask that you give it your all in order to receive your shot at immortality. Thank you all and have a good rest of your day. "
Once Celestia had delivered her message Isaac and the girls all met up and made their way to the library. They each took turns registering for the event. Other than their duel disk/deck, the registration only asked for basic information like their name, win/loss record, etc.… Once they all entered, they then walked outside.
“Well it’s officially on. We still have plenty of time before the tournament begins which means there’s enough chance for us to get in some special training.” said Rainbow Dash with a determined look on her face.
“Remember we’re all in this together. Our goal is to take down Sunset, if one person manages that then our mission will be a success. Everyone bring it in.” Applejack had her arm extended with her hand out. Soon the girls started to do the same and put their hands on top of each; the only one left was me. They each had smiles on their face, they knew what they were getting themselves into and they weren’t afraid. Isaac then followed suit and put his hand in to show that he understood the plan.
“All for one and one for all.” said Aj.
“Let’s go Team Friendship.” Pinkie was giggling so hard that jumping up and down so fast it was a blur.
Eventually they broke their huddle and then said goodbye to each other as they headed home. The fight to free the school from Sunset’s control had begun and now it was just a matter of time before Isaac and the girls showed everybody the meaning of grit and to not let anybody walk over you. With that he continued on his way home where Isaac prepared for the battle that would arrive very soon.