The group is nearing the Hollow Shades, they exit the trees of the forest and begin to trot onto the rough and rocky terrain leading to the village. From where they were, they could see another wall of Shadows blocking the front entrance of the village. A Shadow Rider seems to be standing guard in front of it as well.
"Hold up everyone, we are encountering another wall of shadows." Starswirl turned his head to warn the group.
"Another one?" Gizmo whined.
"Yes, and there is a lone Shadow Rider standing watch." Said Starswirl. They slow their pace as they approach the wall. they get closer and closer til they are about 20 feet away from the wall. The Shadow Rider remains silent, not even acknowledging that the group is even there.
"Shadow, we are here to end your games once and for all. Let us through so that we may take on your master." Starswirl called out to the shadow.
"...Heh, you'll have to go through me first." Said the Rider in a female voice.
"I recognize that voice. It's Karma." Said Spike. Karma lifts her head and stares down the group.
"You know the rule Elements. To pass through, you need to give it a soul." Said Karma.
"Then one of us will duel you, it will have your soul." Said Neighsay. Karma chuckles softly to herself.
"That is if you beat me." Said Karma. The group talks amongst themselves about who should duel.
"I got this this time." Gizmo.
"I don't know young one, she has beaten more of us than any other Shadow Rider. She is very dangerous." Said Starswirl protectively.
"I gotta help eventually." Gizmo grew a serious expression on his face.
"I say let him. If he wants to duel so bad," said Discord smugly.
"Yes, let him duel, it's not the first pony with Yellow fur that I have beaten." Teased Karma. The hair on Discord's fur stands on end and he slowly turns to face her. He stared at Karma as if he was staring through her.
"Repeat that again..." Said Discord in a deep voice.
"You don't know? I was the one who sent that pathetic element of kindness to the Shadow Realm. Fluttershy isn't it? You should have been there. You should have seen the look on her face as I defeated her. The fear she expressed as the Shadows pounced on her and took her soul." Said Karma. Discord clenches his fist and his eyes flash red as Karma continues to tease him.
"Forget having the kid duel her, she is mine." Said Discord in a sinister voice.
"Discord, don't let her get into your head. She wants you to get angry so you make sloppy mistakes." Warned Twilight.
"She has made this personal Twilight, I will see to it that she pays for what she has done." Said Discord. He approaches her and holds up his arm. With his Chaos Magic, his arm turns into his duel disk. Karma smirks as the shadows form her's.
"DUEL!"
[Discord vs. Karma]
"I will go first, I draw." Said Karma. "I summon Cyber Esper! {1200atk 1800def. Lv4} Every time you draw a card, I get to take a look to see what it is. Now I set one card and end." Discord draws without saying a word. "Show me the card Discord."
"It's the trap, Chaos Burst." Said Discord Showing her the card. "I now activate the spell Toon World. I must pay 1000 life points for this card's activation." Discord is zapped for his life points, but he doesn't even react to it. "Now I summon Toon Masked Sorcerer. {900atk. 1400def. Lv4} I Place down two cards and end."
"My turn, I draw!" Said Karma. "Now I summon Jinzo #7! {500atk. 400def. lv2} I now Enter my battle phase, My Jinzo #7 can attack you directly, Go Jinzo!" Jinzo sends a psychic shockwave towards Discord. He squeezes his eyes shut as he loses life points, but again barely reacts. "Now my Esper will destroy your toon!"
"I activate my face down, Toon Defense. Your attack is turned into a direct attack!" Said Discord as Cyber Esper dashes past his monster and attacks him instead.
"That was pointless, your life points are extremely low now. Are you trying to lose?" Mocked Karma.
"You'd wish that once I am through with you." Said Discord as he narrowed his eyes.
[Discord 1300/ Karma 4000]
[Discord 2 cards/ Karma 3 cards]
"I draw." Said Discord. "Your Esper is still on the field, so I reveal it, it is Toon Cannon Soldier. I now activate my second face down, Numerous Healer. This heals me for 1000 life points. Now I summon Toon Cannon Soldier {1400atk. 1300def. Lv4}. Now It's time for my own direct attack. Since you control no toon monsters, my Toon Masked Sorcerer can attack you directly!" Toon Masked Sorcerer giggles and then sends a bolt of lightning from his fingertips and strikes Karma who grunts from the damage. "Since Toon Masked Sorcerer dealt damage to you, I draw a card, it is the spell Shadow Toon. Now because I summoned Toon Cannon Soldier this turn, He cannot attack. But I will enter main phase 2 to activate his effect. I tribute my Masked Sorcerer to deal 500 extra points of damage to you!" Cannon Soldier grabs Masked Soldier and smirks evilly. Toon Masked Sorcerer gulps and has a worried expression. Cannon Soldier crams the sorcerer into his gun and then aims it at Karma. He then fires the sorcerer at her and the sorcerer, who screams while flying through the air, explodes on impact. Karma stumbles back from the explosion. "With that, I will now end."
"Now you're going to get it Discord! I draw!" Said Karma. "I tribute my Cyber Esper to summon the real Jinzo! {2400atk. 1500def. Lv6}" Jinzo is summoned to the field and crosses his arms. "Now Trap cards cannot be activated, or, at least only yours! I activate the equip Spell Amplifier!" A Metal device attaches itself to Jinzo's head and his eyes glow red. "Now only you are locked out of your trap cards, but I am not. I now activate my face down, the Continuous Trap Robbin Goblin! Every time I inflict battle damage on you, you must discard one random card!" Discord grits his teeth hearing that effect. "Now Jinzo #7 attack discord Directly!" Once again, Jinzo #7 sends out a psychic Shockwave that goes past Discord's monster and strikes Discord. "Now Jinzo, Get rid of that disgrace of a monster!" Jinzo holds up his hands powers up a huge shockwave and fires it. Toon Cannon Soldier gulps hard and tries to shield itself, but is ultimately destroyed. "That's two cards you must send to grave Discord, Thanks to Robbin Goblin!"
[Discord 800/ Karma 2700]
[Discord 0 cards/ Karma 2 cards]
Discord still looked unphased, even by how the duel had been going. He has less than 1000 life points and no cards in his hand, yet, he looks bored.
"Jeez, you're no fun. I thought dueling against the mischievous Lord of Chaos would have been a lot more fun." Karma deadpanned.
"Because I'm not playing for fun, I'm playing to destroy you." Said Discord.
"That doesn't sound like Harmony to me Discord." Karma raised an eyebrow.
"I'm not here for Harmony, I'm not here for the Shadows. I am Chaos, a combination of the two, and I am influenced by neither. So I'm going to give you, the everlasting punishment you deserve for hurting Fluttershy!" Said Discord Gritting his teeth again. Karma only chuckles.
"If you were here to punish me, then you would be doing a better job at it. Look at you, you're losing! Pretty badly too. Are you sure you are just trying to lose so that you can join her in the Shadow Realm?" Taunted Karma. Discord remained quiet, no longer giving her the pleasure of gloating. Karma then frowns and scoffs at him. "Fine, then. Just take your turn Discord, we don't need to be here all day."
"I draw" Said Discord. He smirks a little seeing the card he drew. "I activate the Equip Spell Comic Hand!" A large Jack-In-The-Box appears on the field but with a giant hand instead of a doll.
"An Equip card? You have no monsters to equip that to Discord." Karma looks skeptically at the card.
"That's because it's not meant to equip to any of my monsters, it's equipped to one of yours!" Discord smirks and his eyes flash red for a second.
"What?" Questioned Karma.
"I equip my Comic Hand to your Jinzo!" Said Discord. The large hand reaches out and grabs Jinzo who begins to struggle. The hand then pulls back, bringing Jinzo with it, and pulls it inside of the box. After a bit of thrashing around, the box begins to play its little tune. Discord even taps his foot and sings along with it. "All around the mulberry bush, the monkey chased the weasel! The monkey stopped to pull up his sock...POP goes the weasel!" As soon as Discord said 'Pop' the box quickly opened and Jinzo popped out, but he was very very different. He looked like a toon! Jinzo looks at Karma and teases her by going Nya Nya Nya-Nya NYAAAAA! It sticks out its tongue and blows raspberries at her
"WHAT!?!?!?!? DISCORD!!!! What did you do to my Jinzo!!!" Karma Yelled in horror.
"Oh, Don't you think he is more cute like this?" Chuckled Discord now starting to enjoy himself.
"NO! Of course not! What did your card do!?" Karma demanded, still looking at her Jinzo in shock.
"If you must know, Comic Hand allows me to equip it onto one of your cards, when that happens, I take control of it, and it is turned into a toon monster!" Discord said with a sinister smirk.
"No...No way!" Said Karma.
"Yes way, and now since Jinzo Is on my field with his Amplifier, your Robbin Goblin trap card is destroyed!" The Trap shatters like glass and falls apart. "Now, Jinzo is a toon, you must know he now does what toons do best, if you have no toons yourself, He attacks directly!" Said Discord. Toon Jinzo powers up his shockwave, but instead of sending it out normally, he pretends to blow a kiss and sends it directly at Karma. The attack was so strong it knocked Karma to the ground.
[Discord 800/ Karma 300]
[Discord 0 cards]
Karma slowly lifted her head, she was panting heavily as the blast knocked the wind out of her. She then notices the blast was so strong, it knocked her close to the wall of Shadows. Slowly, shadow tendrils reach out for her but she quickly scoots away. Slowly and painfully she stands up and turns back towards Discord who is laughing at her.
"You should have seen the look on your face! 'Oh No! My poor Jinzo!' HAHAHAHA!" Discord Mocked. "Why don't you use your Shadow Magic to corrupt him like so many of your other Shadow Riders have done? HAHAHA! Are you having fun now!? Is this the kind of duel you wanted from me!?" Discord Taunted. Fully expecting Karma to retort back with a nasty comment, but to his and everyone else's surprise, it appears she begins to panic.
"No...No no no! I...I can't lose! I... I don't want to lose!" Yelled Karma. Everyone, including Discord, looked at her confused. "I don't want to be sent to the Shadow Realm! I...I don't want to lose my soul!"
"What the...?" Discord Questions.
"...H-headmare Twilight! Help me!" Cried Karma as she lifted her head, her hood fell off, revealing a long dark green mane. Twilight's eyes widen, realizing who Karma really is.
"Destiny? Is that you?" Asked Twilight. Karma slowly reaches up and removes her mask to reveal her face. Gallus's eyes widen, now recognizing her.
"DUDE! It's her! Remember Sandbar!?" Asked Gallus as he shook Sandbar.
"Huh? No, I don't....Kind of." Said Sandbar.
"The day I dueled Brisk, the duel before that, the one we placed bets on, It's her! She's the Obelisk with the Jinzo deck who lost to the Ra with the Ojama Deck!" Said Gallus. Soon, all the Students then Recognized her.
"Dude! It really is her!" Sandbar went slackjawed.
"One of our own students became a Shadow Rider? How can that be!?" Asked Ocellus.
"I think I know." Said Twilight. The Students look at Twilight who is still looking at Destiny. Destiny had tears flowing down her cheeks as she looked on at Twilight, who gave her a remorseful expression. "She hasn't been doing well in School after that defeat, so I had no choice but to de-rank her down to Ra. When that happened, all of her Obelisk friends abandoned her. That caused her to perform even worse and she was de-ranked again, this time into Slifer. She must have been in a dark state of mind to allow the Shadows into her heart."
"...Please Headmare. I...I don't want to be a Shadow Rider anymore!" Begged Destiny. Twilight looks at her and then Discord, he apparently wasn't buying it.
"Discord," Twilight took a step forward. "have some mercy."
"Mercy? Should I really show this shadow mercy after what she did your friends, to MY Fluttershy!? We all make choices, and she chose to hurt Fluttershy!" Discord Snapped.
"Discord! You know that-" Said Twilight before she was cut off by Discord.
"Even if I did feel merciful Twilight, We need to get past to get to the Pony of Shadows. It's her soul or mine, And I am not sacrificing myself!" Said Discord sternly. Twilight was about to respond, but she backed down. Discord was right, it has to be one of them. "Now take your turn Shadow, or you will forfeit this match." Said Discord as he crossed his arms. Destiny looks up at him, fearing him greatly. She slowly stands up and draws her card.
"I...I-I...I have nothing...I needed Jinzo on my field..." Whimpered Destiny.
"Then this match is over, prepare yourself to be taken by the Shadows." Said Discord. Destiny looks up at him and then hangs her head. She lays down before Discord and prepares for the final blow. "Prepare yourself Toon Jinzo. This is gonna be the last turn of the game." Discord Taunted. Toon Jinzo chuckles and already begins powering up his attack.
".....I'm sorry." Said Destiny quietly.
"What was that?" Asked Discord.
"...I said I'm sorry... I'm sorry for what I did. Professor Fluttershy should be here. She was about to win... But she spared me. I stabbed her in the back and I deserve everything I get... I'm sorry." Destiny then covers her eyes with her hooves. Discord glared at her for a moment before speaking up again.
"...Jinzo, Halt for a second." Said Discord. "How exactly did she spare you?
"I...I only had 300 life points left after her battle phase. But she had the spell Hinotama. It would have been the end of me... But she never played it. She was offering me a chance of redemption. Ever since she did that I wanted to, but I didn't, and I regret it. Even after I took advantage of her kindness... the last words she said to me was that she still believed in me... to do the right thing." Said Destiny. Discord continues to stare down at her, his expression goes from cold and angry, to depressed. He lets out a long sigh and droops his shoulder.
"It sounds like, after everything you did, she forgave you... As in her nature being the element of Kindness..." Discord looks down at his own duel disk. Recounting the duels between himself and Fluttershy. All the lessons of Friendship, and kindness she would teach him when no pony else would give him the time. He closes his eyes and releases a long breath. "I forgive you too." Destiny slowly looks up at him.
"You...You do?" Destiny slowly looks up at Discord.
"It's what Fluttershy would have wanted me to do. She would be upset if I just destroyed you. For your sake, and hers... I forgive you." Discord looks her in the eyes. His previous anger subsided into a dull pain in his chest. Destiny could feel almost all the shadows drain from her, even at her lowest point, she was still shown kindness. Twilight was touched by the display in front of her, moving her to tears. "Now we need to find a way to get through the shadows without a sacrifice. My Chaos magic is near futile against the sha-" Discord was cut off.
"Thank you Discord, but... I wasn't lying before." Said Destiny now standing up. Her fur and mane were Turned into a lighter color. "There is no way through this wall unless they get a soul. I now know what Fluttershy meant when she said I would eventually do the right thing. I need to be the sacrifice."
"Destiny no!" Twilight took another step forward.
"It's the only way. Thank you Discord, I promise to repay you somehow." Destiny promised.
"You already have." Said Discord. He watches Destiny place her hoof on top of her deck and surrender the duel.
[Discord vs Karma: Winner Discord]
The group could only watch as the wall of Shadows reached out with pitch-black appendages and wrapped around Destiny. She didn't fight back, nor did she struggle. She allows herself to be pulled back into the Shadows. She looks up at Discord and smiles at him, before being completely absorbed by the wall of Shadows. Soon all the shadows then dissipate. and the group approaches Discord.
"You did the right thing Discord. I am proud of you." Said Twilight, now standing next to Discord.
"It wasn't easy, part of me didn't want to do it at all." Said Discord. "But... I know it would have made Fluttershy happy." Twilight Smiles at him.
"Alright, everyone! This is it! The Hollow Shades are open. Let's finish this once and for all!" Said Starswirl. He and the rest of the group trot inside.
End of Chapter 26