The next day was pretty exciting for Spike. After beating Pinkie Pie, Spike gained a bit of popularity among the players who'd watched his game. While he didn't actually know any of them by name, it was pretty neat to be recognized by other ponies around his age. He entered Sugar Cube Corner and sat down at the table where the Cutie Mark Crusaders were. Today they were going to celebrate his victory and talk about what to do now that he'd beaten Pinkie.
"A cupcake, please," Spike ordered.
"What kind?" Mr. Cake asked.
"Um, whatever the daily special is?" Spike never went out to places to eat, so he wasn't always sure of what to order. One time he spent a good five minutes asking for 'soda' without specifying which one. Took him a while before he understood that there were other kinds other than the one he was used to. Anyway, Mr. Cake went away, leaving the four of them to talk.
"So, now that you've beaten Pinkie Pie, you think you'll take on Rarity?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Well, the general idea was to practice other decks and see which ones worked against other opponents, so I might try out other players as well." Spike looked around the room and saw the other ponies who had Magic cards with them, most being students from the CMC's class. "However, from what it sounds like your classmates aren't that great. I feel like I might end up getting cocky if I challenge somepony who hasn't played for too long and end up beating them."
"That kinda sounds cocky on its own," Sweetie Belle commented.
"It does, but then again most of your classmates lost to somepony that normally shows other ponies her hand while playing 'Go Fish'." The three knew that Spike was right. After all, they weren't exactly skilled at the game. "Actually, now that I think of it, what if Diamond Tiara isn't actually some super-great player with a super awesome chocolaty coated super deck and you guys just haven't had too much experience yet?"
The three looked at Spike confused before parroting, "Super awesome what?"
"It's a thing," he replied, looking slightly embarrassed. "Anyway, I think you guys may have exaggerated how good she was. I mean, yeah, she beat the three of you at once, but I don't know if you guys played well either."
"Come on, Spike. Now you're just being mean." Sweetie Belle looked sad as Spike put her and her friends down. He looked at them and realized that he had just said something really, really mean.
"Wow. It really did sound bad, didn't it? I’m just saying that maybe I won't need to practice too much to defeat her." As he said this, Silver Spoon entered the bakery and looked around, spotting the four sitting at the table. Surprisingly, Diamond Tiara wasn't following her.
"Say, do any of you know the Magic player who's been beating most of the players here?" she asked them.
"Yeah. That'd be Pinkie Pie." Scootaloo pointed over to the pink pony as she played another game. She was cheering as they looked at her, suggesting that she'd just won the game.
"Very well." Without another word she walked away from them and exited the shop.
"Wow. That seemed to be random," Apple Bloom told them.
"Yeah." Mr. Cake finally arrived with Spike's cupcake, a Yellow Cake kind, and Spike took a bite out of it. "Say, does Silver Spoon play the game at all?"
"I don't think so. Haven't seen her with cards or anything. I think she just acts as Diamond Tiara's lackey," Scootaloo informed him. "Besides, why're you interested in her?"
"I dunno. Something just seems-"
"Shush!" Apple Bloom yelled at them as they saw Diamond Tiara enter. She looked around the room and focused her gaze on Pinkie Pie.
"What's she doing here?" Scootaloo asked.
"Getting something to eat? After all, this is a bakery." Sweetie Belle's input was ignored as they watched her carefully, hoping to avoid their classmate's gaze.
"Excuse me, girls. I have to use the little dragon's room." Spike got up from his seat and left, hoping that nopony would touch the rest of his cupcake while he was gone.
"Hey, do you girls think that maybe we're starting to get a little obsessive about all of this?" Sweetie Belle tried to ask her friends, believing that maybe they were putting too much thought into their plan. "After all, this is still just a card game."
"We know that it's a card game, but it's also a matter of pride," Scootaloo explained. After all, if Diamond Tiara isn't stopped here, who knows what could happen to her ego?"
"True, but I actually don't want to worry about that as much as something else I've been thinking about."
"Really?" Apple Bloom's tone changed from aggressive to caring. "What's been bothering you?"
"Well, recently I've been having these odd feelings of-"
"Hold!" Apple Bloom yelled out as Diamond Tiara passed the three of them, leaving the bakery. "Huh. Guess she didn't have any reason to come here after all." Apple Bloom looked at the direction from where Diamond Tiara left and saw the group of Magic players suddenly acting silent. Pinkie Pie, previously ecstatic while playing, now had her hair down, her facial expression looking gloomy. The group, seeing this strange site, decided to see what had happened.
"Pinkie Pie?" Apple Bloom asked, getting her attention.
"Oh. Hey girls," she greeted them, no joy in her voice. "What's up?"
"What just happened? You look like somepony just told you that you can't eat sugar anymore." Sweetie Belle told her.
"WHAT?!" she yelled out, jumping straight up into the ceiling. "Oh. That's just a simile. Anyway, I just lost a match," she told them.
"So? You lost a match to Spike yesterday and were fine," Sweetie Belle reminded her.
"He didn't beat me in three turns," she explained, plopping her head down onto the table.
"What? How could she win in just three turns?" Scootaloo genuinely did not know how somepony could win in such a short time.
"She played with a bunch of Infect creatures. They only need to get you to ten counters and then you lose," Truffle Shuffle explained. "I never saw somepony play them so quickly though." As the group talked among themselves, Spike exited the bathroom and saw the crowd.
"Huh. What happened?"
"Diamond tiara challenged Pinkie Pie and beat her in three turns using Infect creatures," Sweetie Belle explained.
"She beat Pinkie Pie in the time I went to the bathroom?" Spike, who had just believed himself adequate enough to take on Diamond Tiara then and there, suddenly started to rethink his plan. "Alright. I think I'd like to practice with some other ponies a bit more before facing her. Sweetie Belle, you know where Rarity is?"
"Yeah. She's out of town right now. Checking out a potential buyer." This news did not sit well with Spike. He needed to find ponies who knew the game and weren't confined to the basic starter decks.
"Alright. I need to find somepony else to try out. Any ideas?"
"Well," Apple Bloom seemed like she was about to say something, but then said, "I don't think I should say it."
"Come on, Apple Bloom. You can tell us." Apple Bloom looked at Scoots and looked like she would tell them.
"I know that Fluttershy plays it." The group looked at her, surprised at such news.
"Really? Why does that make sense?" Spike asked.
"I have no idea, but we should check her out as soon as possible. Spike, you prepare a deck to use while the three of use let Fluttershy know that you'll be playing with her soon. After all, she'd hate for it to be a surprise."
"Right!" The four followed Scootaloo's orders and went out to set up their next Magic game.
"Hello, Mr. Squirrel! Have you had any nuts today?" Fluttershy asked her furry little friend. He shook his head and she gave him his nut, smiling as he scampered away. "That's a good boy."
"Fluttershy!" Apple Bloom yelled out as she and her friends galloped toward her.
"Oh hi, girls! How may I help you?" she asked in her gentlest voice.
"You remember how you told me that you used to play Magic all the time before you stopped because you didn't find anypony else to play with? Well, I finally found somepony else who'd really like to play with you."
"Oh, Apple Bloom! That sounds wonderful! Who is it?"
"It's Spike, actually. He's played the game for a while and would like to practice against you."
"That's sounds fun! Oh, but first I'll need to get my deck ready. Hopefully I'll be completely prepared by tomorrow. You tell him I'll be right here and we'll have so much fun!" The three trotted away from Fluttershy's house, hoping to deliver the message to Spike soon. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were looking at Apple Bloom intensely however.
"What?" she asked in reply of her friend's scowls.
"The two of us just realized that you knew Fluttershy played the game, but when we first asked about who could help us you didn't speak up about her," Sweetie Belle told her. "We were just wondering why that is."
"Well, Fluttershy told me to never tell anypony about her Magic past unless it was because somepony wanted to really play a game. She made me do a Pinkie Pie Swear and all that. Also, I kinda went and forgot about it until now," Apple Bloom explained.
"Oh. Alright." Satisfied, the three went off to Spike's place to let him know of the coming battle. What neither of them knew were the effects of playing Fluttershy in a card game.