//------------------------------// // The Peace of Despair // Story: My Little Pony: Dueling is Magic! // by Wolfgang //------------------------------// Author’s Note: The end of the duel is nigh. But first, Yusei has to see exactly what is happening to everypony in the dark world. I felt bad for what I did to one pony in particular... /*********************\ “You what?!” shouted Spike and Rarity simultaneously. “I loved her,” Discord repeated. “Is that so hard to believe?” “Yes,” the two said, again simultaneously. “Perhaps I should be the one to explain,” said Celestia. She stepped forward, carefully moving between the gray ponies before her. “From the moment of Discord’s creation, he was a chaotic being. He was small at the time, and I was just entering marehood. We were children when we met.” “I saw her trying to fly and doing a poor job of it,” said Discord. “Nothing about what she was doing had any kind of order to it. So I decided to experiment a little- I would see if I could bring order from chaos. I used the wind to stabilize her in the air, and she quickly learned how to do fly on her own.” “When I landed, he came up to me and asked-” “‘Did you enjoy the wind I gave you?’” Celestia looked at him blankly. Her wings fluttered slightly. “He told me that he was responsible for the wind that balanced my flying and I thanked him for it. We would often get together and play with each other.” “Needless to say, her parents didn’t exactly approve,” said Discord. “Something about a prophecy or some hogwash like that.” “It was an ancient prophecy that heralded the coming of the Chaotic One who would plummet the world into disharmony and darkness,” said Celestia. “My parents were convinced it was Discord.” “They were right. But then, I believe prophecies are self-fulfilling, so there you go.” “My parents did eventually warm up to you, Discord.” “Only after I replaced the pudding in their bed with clouds.” “Pudding?” asked Yusei. “Yes, pudding,” said Discord. “I filled their bed with pudding, and their pillows with cotton candy. I had a good laugh, but then I filled them up with clouds. They apparently loved it.” “Discord and I were the best of friends,” Celestia continued. “But it didn’t last.” “What happened?” asked Spike. “I...” “She broke my heart,” said Discord nonchalantly. “I told her I loved her, but she said she couldn’t be with me. It was I who tried to salvage the friendship as well, but she would have none of it. She refused to be anywhere near me!” “Discord, it wasn’t like that!” Celestia pleaded. “Yes it was,” he spat. “I remembered the prophecy and I decided that I would become the Chaotic One. I would break Celestia’s heart like she broke mine!” The princess sighed. “Discord reigned for a hundred years,” said Celestia. “I was no match for him. But then I found the Elements of Harmony and used them to imprison Discord in stone. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I don’t even remember why I turned him down in the first place...” All was silent. For several minutes, nobody said anything. Then Discord said, “I believe it’s still my move. I place one card facedown and end my turn.” A single card appeared behind Dark Simorgh and The Dark Creator. “My turn,” said Spike. He looked at his new card, then at the cards in his hand. A grin crept up his face. “Oh, you’re in for it now, Discord!” said the purple dragon. “By discarding 'King of the Swamp', I can add 'Polymerization' from my deck to my hand. Next I'll play that Polymerization! With this, I can combine the Blue-Eyes White Dragon on my field with the two in my hand to Fusion Summon 'Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon'!” Two more white dragons appeared on either side of the first. They began to spin around each other in a vortex. There was a flash and the room was suddenly filled with bright white light. A shadow formed within the light: A draconic creature similar in shape to the three dragons, but larger and sharper-looking. The light faded and the shadow was given depth. The mighty white dragon was indeed sharper that it had previously appeared... and it had three heads. The extra two rested on long necks above its spiked shoulders. Its roar was deeper than that of its original form, and the creature appeared far more menacing. Each head glared at Discord and his monsters in a way that seemed to Yusei like it was looking down on them. Blue-Eyes White Dragon ATK/4500 LV 12 “Impressive, I must admit,” said Discord, “but you still can’t beat me.” “Check your Life Points, Discord,” said Spike. “You’ve only got eight hundred points left, and my Ultimate Dragon has eighteen-hundred more points than Dark Simorgh.” “And I’m supposed to be frightened?” Discord asked. “You know that if you attack, your dear Twilight will turn to stone.” “But you’ll have to give us the Elements of Harmony back,” Spike said, “and I’m betting they can change Twilight back to normal. Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack Dark Simorgh with Ultimate Burst!” The three heads came together and open their pointed maws. A ball of gray-white energy appeared before them, arcs of electricity dancing around it. A bright white beam shot out of the ball and raced toward the black bird. Yusei shielded his eyes from the light with his arm. He didn’t smile. If this attack goes through, we’ll win, he thought, but Discord still has that face-down card... “I play the Trap ‘Defense Draw’!” said Discord. “I take no damage from this battle and I get to draw one card.” “But your Dark Simorgh is still destroyed!” said Spike. The white blast engulfed the dark bird completely. Its shadow dissipated within the beam as the creature cried out, then it was no more. Discord drew a card from his deck. “Without Dark Simorgh, we’re free to play face-downs again,” said Spike. “Your move, Yusei.” “Right,” said Yusei. He drew a card. “I play a facedown and end my turn.” “That’s it?” said Discord. “Just a facedown? Booooorrrrriiiiinnnnng! My turn!” Discord drew his card and the black aura flashed around him. “I activate the effect of 'Veil of Darkness'. If I draw a DARK monster, I can send it to the Graveyard to draw another card.” Discord revealed the card he was holding- "Dark Grepher"- then slid it into his Graveyard and drew a new card. “Well, would you look at that,” he said, revealing another monster. He drew again. “This seems to be my lucky day.” Discord sent another card to the Graveyard and drew. He sent four more cards to the Graveyard before stopping. “He probably manipulated his deck, that cheat,” snorted Rarity. “Did you see that black outline that appeared around him just before he drew each card?” “Considering what I’ve seen him do so far, I wouldn’t be surprised if he did change some cards around,” said Yusei. “If you’re going to accuse me of cheating, you could at least talk directly to me,” said Discord indignantly. “May I continue, or do I need to remind you that your friends’ lives and identities are at stake in this duel?” Yusei grit his teeth and Spike growled, his pupils narrowing to slits. “First things first,” said Discord. “I activate The Dark Creator’s effect. I remove Dark Simorgh from play and Special Summon 'Darknight Parshath' in Attack Mode!” Out of the blue portal emerged an incredibly strange creature. Celestia, Rarity and Spike were all shocked by its appearance. It had the black body of a horse, but the torso of a human. A pair of wings with dark purple, almost black feathers rested on the sides of the equine body. The human part wore armor and a helmet the same color of his wings. The skin of his face was a pale green and his hair was a deep, golden yellow, like the yolk of an egg. In his left hand he gripped a shield that appeared to have wings and a crown, with a huge green jewel in the center. His right forearm was covered by a wide blade, as though his hand had been replaced with the sword. The center body of the blade was pitch black and marked with golden runes. Red eyes and an evil grin gleamed out from under his helmet and hair. Darknight Parshath ATK/1900 LV 5 “What... what IS that thing?!” said Rarity with disgust. “A centaur,” said Yusei. “A kind of creature that appears in stories in my world.” “I’ve never seen its like before,” said Celestia. “I’m not sure I would care to see it again.” “Darknight Parshath’s effect is this.” said Discord. “He gains one hundred Attack Points for every DARK monster in my Graveyard. Currently, there are eleven, putting his Attack Points at three thousand!” The centaur glowed with a purple nimbus and swung his sword while laughing. “In addition to that, if he destroys a monster by battle, I can remove a DARK monster from my Graveyard to draw a card from my deck. I switch The Dark Creator to Attack Mode. Darknight Parshath, attack Stardust Dragon!” The black centaur bounded forward, the muscles of the equine half of his body rippling beneath his taut skin as he ran. “Go, Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!” said Yusei. The centaur jumped into the air, beating his wings to gain height and strike at Stardust. He brought his sword-arm across, but it struck the metal frame of Yusei’s scarecrow and glanced off of it. The centaur was thrown back from the force and Yusei’s Trap reset itself. He knew it was there, thought Yusei. So why did he attack anyway? Why use that card? Why not try Dark Simorgh again? “I place two cards facedown and end my turn,” said Discord. He grinned, his single fang gleaming in the moonlight. “Spike, be careful,” said Yusei. “Got it,” Spike replied. “My turn!” He drew. Spike’s eyes widened when he saw the card in his hand. “All right, Discord,” said the dragon. “It’s time I end this once and for all! I Release Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!” The three-headed dragon roared as it dissipated into light. Yusei, Rarity and Celestia gasped. “Spike, what are you doing?!” shouted Rarity. “Growing up,” said Spike. “Fueled by love and fallen comrades, protected by the brightest of crystals! I Summon Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon!” As the three-headed monster disappeared, a new dragon took form in its place. At first it was simply a vague mass of light, but slowly it took shape. It was rigid and segmented, much like the earlier dragons, but also curved and angular. The light faded and Yusei was amazed at what he saw. The hide of the dragon seemed to be made out of a pale blue metal similar to the bodies of The Dark Creator and Dark Horus. It had no arms; only two wings that were flat and machine-like. Large, perfectly round sapphires rested on the creatures legs and wings, with one directly in the center of its abdomen, and a smaller one atop its pointed head. Yusei had heard tales of this creature; it was said that it had been designed by Pegasus to counter the three Egyptian God cards, but that Yugi Muto still defeated it in a duel with Seto Kaiba. However, the card was lost in an explosion and no videos or logs of the duel survived. Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon ATK/3000 LV 10 “You sacrificed your most powerful creature for THAT?” laughed Discord. “It’s even weaker than the last one!” “That’s what you think,” said Spike. Ghostly images of all the other dragons he had played, save for Diamond-Head Dragon, appeared around the Shining Dragon before vanishing into the jewels on its body. It roared and a blue aura pulsed along its body. “Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon gains three hundred Attack Points for each Dragon-Type monster in my Graveyard. Since there are ten, that means its Attack Points are doubled!” “Six thousand Attack Points,” said Yusei under his breath, amazed. “I’m not scared of your face-downs either, Discord!” Spike continued. “If Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon is targeted by a card effect, I can negate that card’s effect. Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon, attack The Dark Creator with Shining Burst!” The Shining Dragon opened its metal mouth and fired a beam of light made of blue and white sparks at metal man. Discord began to laugh. “I don’t need to target it to destroy it!” shouted the draconequus. “I activate the ‘Inverse Universe’ Trap Card! The Attack and Defense Points of ALL Effect Monsters on the field are switched!” Yusei watched as Point Counters appeared next to each monster and spun around, displaying the monster’s Defense Points as its Attack Points. Darknight Parshath ATK/1400 Stardust Dragon ATK/2000 Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon ATK/2500 The Dark Creator ATK/3000 “Spike!” shouted Yusei. “I activate 'Interdimensional Matter Transporter'!” Spike’s only face-down card flipped up and a strange device appeared. It created a sphere of light around his dragon and then the two vanished. Spike wiped his brow with the back of his hand. “My Trap removes my monster from the game, then returns it to the field at the end of the turn. When it comes back, it won’t be affected by Inverse Universe. Your move, Yusei.” Spike’s dragon reappeared, letting loose its metallic cry. Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon ATK/6000 Yusei shook off his amazement and returned his focus to the duel. He drew. Discord has one more face-down card ready, probably to protect Darknight Parshath, he thought. But he’s also out of cards and only has eight hundred Life Points left. If I attack now, I can make him use his face-down and force him on the defensive. So long as he doesn’t draw another defensive Trap next turn, Spike can take down The Dark Creator and he can I can break down his remaining defenses. In that case...! “Stardust Dragon, attack Darknight Parshath with Shooting Sonic!” Yusei ordered. His white dragon fired its crystal-clear beam at the dark centaur. “I won’t lose that easily, Yusei!” said Discord. “I activate 'Dark Spirit Art - Greed'!” “Say what?!” “You thought the first two were the only ones? I Release Darknight Parshath to draw two cards!” Yusei grit his teeth. The card he drew wasn’t a Spell, so he couldn’t stop the effect. The centaur vanished and Discord drew two cards. “I Set a card face-down and end my turn,” said Yusei. “A Trap Card, no doubt,” said Discord. “But I’m not worried. My turn! First, I’ll use The Dark Creator’s ability to revive Dark Nephthys by banishing Dark Horus.” The black phoenix reappeared on the field at the Creator’s command, screeching as it rose. “When Dark Nephthys is Special Summoned, it destroys one Spell or Trap on the field. I WILL rid myself of that blasted Scarecrow! Go, my servant!” “Stardust Dragon, do your stuff!” said Yusei. With a roar and a flash, Stardust Dragon stopped Nephthys’ assault. Yusei smiled, but it faded when he saw that Discord himself was still smiling. “I activate 'Psychic Cyclone'!” he said. “What?!” said Yusei. “Oh, you’ve seen this one before, have you?” said Discord. “Psychic Cyclone lets me pick a face-down card and call Spell or Trap, then destroy it. If I call it right, I draw a card. If not, you draw a card.” “He’s going after Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, isn’t he?” asked Spike. “No doubt,” said Yusei. “I would too.” A whirlwind erupted from Discord’s pointed claw and raced toward Yusei’s card, sliding underneath it and spinning it into the air. He grinned when he saw the picture of the metal scarecrow, and he drew a new card to replace Psychic Cyclone. “Now to take care of that bird,” said Discord. “Poor little chicky, fallen into a 'Fissure'!” A Spell Card appeared before Discord and a black line appeared in the floor beneath the pink chick. It fell into the crack with a squawk and the fissure closed up. “You’re wide open now, Yusei,” said Discord. “Dark Creator, destroy him!” The steel giant held his hands out in front of him and formed a crackling ball of black energy. With one hand, it threw the ball at Yusei. “I activate 'Scrubbed Raid'!” said Yusei. One of his remaining face-downs flipped up. It was a Continuous Trap. “While this card is on the field, I can send one of my other cards to the Graveyard to end the Battle Phase.” Yusei grabbed his other face-down card from his Duel Disk and slid it into his Graveyard. The black ball of energy vanished from sight. “And what’s more, the card I sent is 'Limiter Overload',” Yusei continued. “When it’s sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon 'Speed Warrior' from my hand, deck or Graveyard. Come on out, Speed Warrior!” Yusei’s beige-suited monster dashed out of a blue portal and knelt with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Speed Warrior DEF/400 LV 2 “Humph,” said Discord. “I play 'Card of Burial Magic'. I remove three Spells from my Graveyard and draw two cards. 'Reinforcement of the Army', 'Psychic Cyclone' and 'Fissure' are gone. I end my turn with three face-downs.” Spike drew and asked, “Yusei, you got my back?” “I do,” Yusei answered. “Then Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon, attack Discord’s Dark Creator! Shining Burst!” “You’ve triggered not one, but two Traps, little dragon!” laughed Discord. “Coffin Seller and Call of the Earthbound! Coffin Seller deals three hundred damage to my opponent whenever a monster is sent to their Graveyard. Call of the Earthbound lets me choose your attack target for you. Dragon versus dragon, as it should be. Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon, attack Stardust Dragon!” “I activate Scrubbed Raid’s effect!” shouted Yusei. “I send Speed Warrior to the Graveyard to end the Battle Phase!” “Coffin Seller still deals you three hundred points of damage, however,” said Discord. Life Point Count Yusei: 1100 Stone crept further up Rainbow Dash’s body, nearly reaching the base of her neck. If Dash noticed, she didn’t seem to care. She hung from black shackles, completely despondent save for the occasional tear that slid down her cheek. “I don’t know why you continue to defend her,” said Discord. “She’s given up. When she joins the others, she’ll be at peace.” “She was at peace before, Discord!” Yusei yelled. “They all were!” “Is that right? Well, let me show you something then.” Discord snapped his fingers. He, Yusei, Celestia, Spike and Rarity- who was still bound in the air- suddenly found themselves back in the dark world where Discord’s victims had been taken. Discord walked up to one pony, a pegasus stallion wearing a blue uniform. “This is Soarin of the Wonderbolts flight team,” said Discord. “Do you know why he’s here?” No one answered. “Because of his utter despair. Look.” A flash of light emanated from Soarin’s forehead. Yusei and the others watched a colorless scene unfold before them. They were in a stadium made of clouds. The crowd was cheering loudly. “What a spectacular show that was!” shouted an announcer. “I’d say that was the best one we’ve yet seen from the Wonderbolts, especially their team leader Spitfire!” The roar of the crowd dulled and faded. In the blackness, only Soarin and another pegasus- Spitfire, Yusei presumed- remained, sourceless lights shining upon them. She waved at the hidden crowd with an exhausted but joyous smile. Soarin simply looked at her. “I nearly messed up the routine again,” he said. “And you expect me to become a leader someday... I can’t do it. No matter how hard I practice, I’m just not good enough. I just... I want out. I want out from under the pressure to perform, to win races, to be the best, because I’m NOT the best!” His speech had turned to shouting. Spitfire vanished as well and Soarin collapsed. “I’ll never be the best... and I can’t live up to your expectations... or my own. Just make the pressure go away.” A wave of slate-gray water roared to life and enveloped him. Yusei and the others were thrust back into the dark world. Discord pointed to another pony, a filly. Yusei immediately recognized her- it was- “Applebloom!” he shouted. “Discord, you would do this to a child?!” “She felt despair, and I offered, on behalf of my new friend, to free her from it,” said Discord. “Look.” Yusei found himself inside what looked like a classroom. Fillies and foals sat at small desks while a teacher talked to them from the front of the room. Every child in the room was paying attention to the teacher. Every child, that is, except for Applebloom. She stared sadly at her desk. The teacher walked up to her. “Applebloom?” she asked. “Are you paying attention?” “What?” said the filly. “Applebloom, is something bothering you?” “N-no, Miss Cheerilee.” “Applebloom, why don’t you come talk to me after school?” “Okay,” said the filly sadly. The scene melted away. Yusei and the others were still in the classroom, but now only Cheerilee and Applebloom occupied it. “Applebloom, your grades are slipping,” said the mare, “and you look sad all the time. Tell me: Is it because you still don’t have your Cutie mark?” Applebloom sighed. “Yes,” she said. “Everypony finds their special talent eventually, Applebloom,” said Cheerilee. “You just have to be patient.” “But Scootaloo an’ Sweetie Belle both have their Cutie marks, and it’s been a whole year since they got ‘em!” Applebloom protested. “Hm. Perhaps waiting isn’t going to work for you. Why don’t you tell me what you enjoy doing?” “I’ve already tried that with my family, Miss Cheerilee,” said Applebloom. “I’ve tried it with my friends too. I tried apple-buckin’, I tried juice makin’, I even tried buildin’ an’ repairin’ things around the farm, and I thought fer sure that’d be it since I fixed up the tree house so nice, but I still got nothin’!” She pointed to her flank. There was nothing there. “I’m gonna be a blank flank forever, aren’t I?” she said with a sniff. “That won’t happen, Applebloom,” said Cheerilee. “I promise.” The scene faded again. Yusei saw the center of Ponyville now. Ponies walked to and fro through the dirt streets. One cream-yellow mare walked slowly along, a sad look in her eyes and a red bow bouncing behind her head. It was Applebloom, Yusei realized, fully grown... but her flank was still bare. Everypony stopped what they were doing and watched her. Some shook their heads, others pawed the ground awkwardly. One silver mare snorted and smiled haughtily while shouting after Applebloom, “There goes the only grown Blank Flank in history!” Applebloom stopped and looked up. Everypony was staring at her. Tears welled up in her eyes and she collapsed to the ground. Everything around her went black and only she remained. “I’m nopony,” she said. “I got nothin’ that defines me. No talents, no quirks... no identity. I’m nopony. I don’t belong here...” Discord walked up to Yusei’s side from behind him. “She belongs in a world where there is no individual identity,” he said. The gray waves appeared and washed over Applebloom. Discord then showed Yusei a silver-haired unicorn that Rarity and Spike identified as Trixie. Yusei saw her travel from town to town, always attempting to put on a show, but always being laughed at or chased away. Someone called her a fraud and threw a rotten apple at her that splattered against her head and knocked her to the ground. She didn’t get up. She simply lay on the ground and darkness covered everything around her. Tears escaped her eyes and she said in a low, hushed voice, “They’re right. I’m a liar and a fake. I’ll never be good enough...” And then the waves took her. More and more ponies were shown to Yusei. Each one was forced to watch as their hopes were taken from them. They were crushed under their despair and taken by the waves of the colorless flood. Even Rarity’s parents were shown to them. Rarity cried out to them, begged them to hear her, to see that she was fine, but they did not acknowledge her. Darkness flashed across Yusei’s vision and Discord said, “Celestia, I think you’ll find this one most interesting. I know I did.” “What are you talking about?” asked the princess. “I’m talking about your younger sister,” said Discord. “Dear Luna has the most interesting despair I’ve seen in a long time. And you know what? It has nothing to do with the Nightmare Moon incident.”