//------------------------------// // [02] Stand Up!! // Story: My Little Pony: CardFighting is Magic // by PuckDaFolice //------------------------------// Stand Up!! "I suppose they are." mused Twilight Sparkle, while she gingerly levitated the contents of the box and placing them on the wooden floor. "They look...fancy." muttered Twilight as she eyed the package. There, on the floor, were multiple decks of cards. The front cards of all the decks appeared to contain magnificent art of various themes. Twilight spotted what appeared to be a bipedal knight, a dragon, some sort of machine, another bipedal creature clothed in an elegant dress, and many others. Spike waddled over to the one with the dragon. As he bent to pick it up, his eyes scanned the title "Dragonic Overlord...h'uh, sounds cool." As Spike began to flip through the cards, he spotted more dragonoid beings as well as other lizard creatures. "Uh...Twilight? Can I keep these?" Twilight Sparkle smiled at her number one assistant "Of course Spike, you deserve it." Spike cheered, throwing his claws, as well as the cards at the air. Unfortunately, this caused the deck to scatter throughout the library. Spike flinched as the cards hit the floor. "Uh-Oh, I guess I got a little excited." Spike rubbed the back of his head nervously. Twilight simply giggled at Spike's antics. Spike reached out for the scattered cards "Ugh, I got it!" he said. While Spike was off cleaning up his mess, Twilight decided to take a close look at one of the deck of cards. Grabbing at one randomly with her magic, Twilight scrutinized the front card of the deck. It was the one with the clothed bipedal being. "CEO Amaterasu..." Twilight mumbled. Suddenly, a light switched on in her brain. "Amaterasu?" Twilight thought aloud "Now where did I hear that before? Hmmm..." As Twilight was off to one of her usual brainstorming, Spike grabbed the final card of his deck. "There! I got you Lizard Soldier, Conroe!" Spike said triumphantly. As he placed it back into his deck, Spike noticed something else littered on the floor. Spike walked over to it, clutching his deck tightly in his left claw. As Spike picked up the piece of paper, his eyes widened. "Twilight!" Spike called out, effectively cutting Twilight Sparkle from her day-dreaming, "I found the manual!" "So, after we've chosen our starting Vanguards, which are all Grade 0, we shuffle our decks. Afterwards, we draw 5 cards and then decide randomly who goes first! Oh, and it said in the manual that if you're not happy with your initial draw, you are allowed to mulligan any number of cards back into the deck and re-draw the same amount you returned! But, you're only allowed to do this once, got it?" Spike gawked at Twilight; she only read the whole manual in a few minutes and now she's ready to go play? 'Well, it was Twilight after all.' Spike thought. Staring at his deck, he briefly pondered on what to use as his starting Vanguard, when it hit him. Smiling to himself, Spike plucked out the card in front of his deck. 'Let's do this Lizard Soldier, Conroe!' "Spike! Are you ready?" Twilight asked excitedly. Nodding, Spike placed his chosen starter onto the table they chose as the play-field; it was the same table they used to eat their breakfast. "You're pretty excited about this." Spike mused. Twilight nodded her head furiously "It seems like a very interesting game! And I chose the deck I know is the best pick for me! Oracle Think Tank! They don't rely on chance or luck as much as the other clans and-" Spike quickly shoved his free claw in Twilight's mouth. Glaring at Twilight, Spike removed his claw after he saw Twilight's pleading eyes. "*sigh* I know you're excited and all, but I think I'm gonna have a headache if you keep going on! Let's just--play! OK?" Twilight's sheepish smile transitioned into a smirk "Heh, I'm gad you feel the same way. I'm ready when you are." Nodding, Spike returned Twilight's cocky smile with a smirk of his own. "You're about to feel the pain of--uh, hold on..." Spike quickly flipped a random card and squinted at it. "Of, uh, Kagero, yeah!" With both of their respective Vanguards and decks in place, Twilight and Spike flipped their starters face-up. "Stand up, Vanguard!" Twilight cried. "Um...yeah, stand up!" Spike replied. As both of their starting Vanguards were exposed, a strange light engulfed the room. "Wh-whoa!" Spike exclaimed as a strange sensation filled his entire being. "This wasn't in the instructions!" Twilight retorted; as she too, felt a similar feeling. After the fleeting moment of weirdness passed, Twilight found herself standing on what looked like a barren area. "What happened?" Twilight asked to no one in particular. Suddenly, Twilight spotted movement directly in front of her. Squinting her eyes, she noticed it was Spike. Only he seemed different somehow. Spike was standing in front of her, waving away what looked like smoke around him, he was clad in scale armor and was brandishing a blade and a shield. "Twilight?" Spike croaked. "What happened? And why are you in a silly dress?" Twilight Sparkle tilted her head at her assistant, eyeing a red cape billowing behind him. Twilight was about to question how a piece of garment could move without any wind present when she noticed a bigger slap-to-the-face to physics. Hovering on top of Spike, is what appeared to be a two-dimensional sign sporting the text: "POW: 5000" Twilight pointed at her sighting "Spike! Do you see that?" she asked; alas, her question fell on deaf ears as Spike was gawking and pointing at Twilight as well. Curious, Twilight directed her head to the spot Spike was pointing at then let out a gasp. Floating above her as well was the same sign as Spike's, only difference was hers had the text: "POW: 3000" Twilight's jaw dropped at the sight. Twilight Sparkle turned her head back at Spike, noticing for the first time the appearance of her hoof. Twilight's hoof was covered in a piece of armor colored in a mix of white and beige with a tint of pink. As she stared at her hoof, she noticed something out of place as well, a floating staff engulfed in her magical aura floating right next to her. It was adorned by a perfectly cut ruby in the center. It was similarly colored as her armor , which she noticed covered the majority of her body. "What...what is this?" Twilight whispered to herself, obviously taken aback by the sudden changes over the course of a few moments. Shaking her head in an attempt to recollect herself, Twilight noticed something yet again slapped physics in the face. Hovering in front of Twilight, were the handhoof cards she previously drew. Twilight's jaw dropped yet again. After a few uneasy moments of silence, Spike decided to break it. "So...um...should we play?" This statement brought back Twilight from her otherworldly thoughts. Twilight's brain was wracked with several questions she knew would never be answered by her companion. Twilight Sparkle decided to formulate a theory to at least calm herself down. Thinking for a few seconds, Twilight grinned, she had managed to create a feasible hypothesis. "Spike!" Twilight called out "I think we're in a pocket universe temporarily created by the cards to sustain it's awesome magic. The only way to break through is to finish the game!" Spike replied with the most logical statement he could think of: "What?!" Shaking her head, Twilight looked at her battle-ready assistant. "We just have to play the game."