//------------------------------//
// Flash-Back 
// Story: Masters of Magic: The Gathering 
// by Mod On Death 
//------------------------------//

	Twilight was sipping her tea in the kitchen, a bath towel wrapped around her mane. The CMC were sitting with Spike as they awaited Twilight's tale of Magic and Rarity. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle helped themselves to some soda while Scootaloo got herself some milk. Spike was waiting for Twilight to talk, patiently tapping the table. She soon finished up her cup and began to recant her story.
"See, when Spike gave me his cards I decided to check them out. It seemed interesting the more I studied them, but I didn't actually know how the game was played. Seeing that Rarity had learned about the game recently I decided to check with her. We met up and she taught me what Spike had told her about the game. After that I asked if she'd like to play with me, but she said that she didn't really want to play since she didn't like her cards." Spike's face became a rock when he heard this, Twilight forgetting that he was the one that had prepared her deck. "Um, what I mean is that she didn't like all the bug creatures and stuff in it."
"Really? That was a good Green deck for her to play with." Spike thought of the time he had spent creating that meticulously crafted deck. He cringed when he remembered that he had also placed his Black Lotus in it as well.
"Well, with that I suggested that she should check out someplace that sells these cards and buy something that doesn't have bugs in them. We went over to that shopping area and found this place called The Dragon's Laboratory that sold the cards." Twilight started to remember the scene clearly and explained it to them.





"I don't know, dear. Maybe we should find someplace less...nerdy," Rarity said, looking at the collection of strange figurines on the wall. "I feel like we may be getting into something we'll regret."
"Oh come on, Rarity," Twilight said, perusing the aisles in the store. "It's just a card game. What's the worst that could possibly happen?"
"I suppose you're right. Still, I wonder how on Earth I'd be able to create a deck that doesn't have any of those icky creatures in them. After all, most of those creatures seem to look like that."
"Wow, Rarity. You kinda sound shallow when you say things like that," her friend pointed out.
"Excuse me for not enjoying the Puss Spewer or Gross Crawler." Rarity didn't know if those were the names of any actual cards. They might as well have been in her opinion. "I would prefer cards that just looked, I don't know, much less gross? I know it'll sound silly, but it'd be marvelous if I could do a gem motif or something that dealt with sleek and shiny creatures. Feels like a fitting theme."
"You really think they have cards like that?" Twilight was genuinely curious to learn if there really were any cards like that which Rarity was so confident were real. "I mean, I think we should ask somepony who knows about this sort of stuff then. We won't get anywhere if we don't."
"Good idea. Excuse me, kind sir," Rarity addressed the pony at the register. "Do you know much about this game called 'Magic: The Gathering'?" 
"Sure! We're actually going to set up a tournament event here within the next several months. We'll hopefully find a good amount of ponies who play the game to come."
"Good! Do you happen to have any cards where the creatures aren't icky?"
"Uh, what?"
"She's asking about creature artwork where the thing isn't oozing or something," explained Twilight. "We're both new to it, so excuse our lack of knowledge on the subject."
"No problem. I can help your friend build a deck if she's willing to pay per card," the manager told them.
"Very well. Would you mind if I looked at the cards before selecting? After all, I don't know know if you're familiar with my standards." The manager left and came back with a large binder of cards. Rarity opened it up and Twilight looked on in awe at how organized the binder was. The cards were organized by mana color, then type of card, then mana cost and finally alphabetical order.
"It's beautiful." Twilight gazed at the impeccably organized binder as Rarity flipped through the pages, considering the cards she could be interested in and then moving on.
"Nope. Nada. Ew." She said this as she came across the Swamp creatures. "Hope I'm getting somewhere soon. Otherwise I might think that-ooh! What's this?"
"Oh. That card's an Artifact creature. It doesn't require a specific color of mana to summon it," the manager explained. 
"It doesn't look like any of the other creatures I've seen," Rarity commented as she looked at Platinum Emperion and loved the design. "Tell me; are there many other kinds of creatures such as this?"
"Absolutely! We have a whole bunch of them. You wanna check out the rest?"
"That would be most pleasant." Rarity looked through the binder while Twilight checked out the rest of the store. The walls were lined with comic books and other collectibles, such as Science Fiction novels. She was happy to see all these wonderful books, but then looked at the prices.
"Wow. They sell things at sale price." She looked into her wallet and found about a dozen bits; chump change in comparison to what these items costs. "I wonder what I could buy with just this amount." She checked out some of the stuff in the bargain bin area. She saw older comics of series she'd never even heard of. Knowing that just because something is unpopular doesn't make it bad, she decided to check out some of them.
"I think I may need to check in the back," the manager said, passing Twilight by as she scanned through the boxes.
"This is interesting," she said as she picked up a comic titled "Bolt and Key". Opening up the cover, she found that this was part of a Horror/Suspense series involving a house that uses keys for magic. Only the foals in the house seem to know about them and must stop this evil force that wants to use the keys to invade the world. She felt really interested in this story and wanted to find more about it. "Wonder if they have a trade issue. Might be interesting to have in the library." Twilight's phrase of saying something would be good "for the library" was just another way for her to say "I want it."
"Now, if you're going to be buying cards like this then I'd suggest you buy sleeves as well," the manager said as he exited out of the back carrying a box. "I think that you would also do well with something to keep them in as well."
"Hmm. Guess he's trying to milk her for all her money," Twilight said to herself as she heard him trying a sales pitch. "Doubt she'd just buy something like that." She spent the next hour checking out the other comic books, making note of what titles to look up later on.
"Twilight, are you ready?" Rarity came up to her carrying a large bag with the shop's logo imprinted on it.
"Sure. You got what you wanted?"
"Oh, most definitely. I even got some interesting cards for some other ponies who might be interested." She pulled a box out of the bag with 'Pinkie Pie' written on it. "Don't know if she'd play it, but they seemed like cards she'd find funny."
"I bet she'd somehow be the best player if she tried." The two laughed at how much that would be true as they left the place.
"So. would you mind playing a game when we got home? I'd like to try out these new cards against your collection." Rarity looked excited to try out her new purchase.
"Sure! I'll get my decks together and we'll try it out. Don't worry; I won't be like Spike when I play against you." Twilight was sure that she'd have great fun playing with her new card buddy.





Twilight refilled her cup with hot water and placed a new tea bag into it and then returned to her seat. Sweetie Belle was looking at the clock since she was certain that they'd been there for several hours now, at least with the way Twilight went into detail with her story.
"Did you really need to tell us about each and every comic book you checked out while waiting?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Sorry. I just wanted to establish the atmosphere of the place. Guess I'm a better reader then a story teller. Anyway, when we got back we played a game of Magic. That was the first time she beat me with her deck. We played two more games before I gave up. Since then I've tried over a dozen deck combinations to defeat her and her cards, but none have worked."
"So she uses an Artifact deck then. Huh. That'd explain how she'd be able to win. Artifacts are pretty powerful cards, so from what it sounds like she was able to purchase each card she desired." Spike thought about the times he had wanted to make a deck like that, but then saw how expensive the cards were and resigned to making decks the old fashioned way.
"Anyway, the deck I faced you with was actually designed to take her on. After all, she was able to make her creatures Indestructible with that deck."
"Ah. I know exactly what you're talking about." Spike had heard about it, but never seen the maligned Darksteel Forge card. Using it would make all artifacts that the player controlled Indestructible, possibly winning the game the moment it was played. 
"Wait, did you say that Rarity also bought cards for Pinkie Pie? Does that mean she plays now?" Scootaloo asked. The ponies didn't know where she was heading with this.
"Actually, yeah. I haven't played her yet, but from what I hear she's somehow done really well for herself. I think she's beaten most of the ponies that've challenged her."
"Okay then. Spike, I think you're going to need to play Pinkie Pie next," Apple Bloom told him.
"Wait, why?" Spike didn't know why he'd suddenly need to play Pinkie Pie when the three of them had originally come to him to defeat Diamond Tiara.
"Practice. We want to make sure you're ready to defeat Diamond Tiara in the first game you play. Otherwise we'll be the laughing stock of the entire school."
"Well, it would be good experience for me to play other ponies. After all, it's been a while for me. I'll try out one of my other decks against Pinkie Pie. See what kind of player she is." The three cheered as Spike agreed to play. Hopefully he wasn't getting himself into anything too insane.