Spike, Shining Armor, and the CMC all decided to have dinner after cleaning up. Shining Armor made a lasagna while the rest set up the table. When it was time to eat, Shining Armor lifted the lasagna to the table and cut it evenly with his magic. After sitting down and eating, the four were amazed by how good it was.
"Wow!" Applebloom said as she took her first bite. "This is really good! Mr. Armor, how did you get so good at cooking?"
"When you're a soldier and living with a bunch of other guys, you better learn how to make something good. Otherwise you eat what's essentially cardboard rations," Shining Armor explained.
"I didn't even know Twilight had the stuff to make lasagna," Spike commented.
"Yeah. Kinda had to substitute some things. Really reminds me of the days in the days in the barracks." The four stopped eating when they heard this, Shining Armor eating without a care. Right as they were about to ask what the substitutes were, Twilight burst through the door, carrying a new washer behind her.
"Hey, Twily!" Shining Armor called out. "You're just in time for dinner! I made lasagna."
"No thanks, Shining Armor. I can't even look at it after learning how you create your substitute dishes." The four spat out their food after hearing Twilight, deciding not to take any chances on what it could be. "Besides, I need to get this new washer set up. Spike, how the hay did you manage to mess up washing a single load so badly that the machine needed to be replaced?" Spike didn't know how to answer that. He didn't want to say that he'd let somepony else do his chores, fearing that the punishment from that would be much worse.
"Sorry, Twilight. I ended up messing with it," Sweetie Belle confessed before Spike could say anything. "Wanted to try doing the wash and, well, sorry."
"Oh, Sweetie Belle. Don't worry. Spike should have been paying attention instead of focusing on his card game," she replied, staring daggers at the dragon. "Well, at least this new one is environmentally friendly, so there's that."
"Hey, Twily, why didn't you tell me that Spike played Magic before?" Shining Armor asked. "You knew that I've been a long-time player."
"Oh really," Spike and the crew said, looking at Twilight's direction.
"Yeah. I even taught her some of the game stuff, but she said she wasn't interested. I remember the first deck I ever helped her make was a conditional win deck. She always loved it when I won through conditions instead of brute force," Shining added. "She's the reason why I built my deck like it is today."
"Wow! Sounds like Twilight was a player even before she knew it," Scootaloo commented. "Actually, the way you said you usually won sounds just like how Twilight played. Remember?" The group thought back to several days ago when Spike had faced Twilight in a duel. Instead of trying to defeat Spike with big monsters, her plan was to lock him in the game while she used her Azor's Elecutors to win. Too bad Spike didn't want to go down."
"Well, it sounds like somepony learned something from her older brother," Shining said, a smile on his face. "I'm guessing she used that Silence-Elite Arcanist combo. Seems like something her style."
"Eeyup. Luckily I had cards that could deal direct damage to them the moment they entered the field. She would've been devastating to any other player," Spike let him know. "She was actually gearing up for a duel against Rarity. Apparently she's built this really powerful Artifact Deck that's beaten her over and over. I think I'm gonna try and face her next."
"Cool. If that's the case, mind me helping you in building your anti-artifact deck?" Shining Armor's request was met with squealing from the dragon. Having one of the top players in the world help him construct a deck was certainly something worth getting excited about.
"I think Spike accepts your proposal," Twilight said, Spike still incapacitated from joy. "Anyway, I think I need to get away from all this Magic talk. It's making me a bit antsy. Don't wanna fall into that trap again." Shining was about to ask what his sister was talking about before Scootaloo put a hoof over his mouth. He decided to leave it alone.
"Hey, Mr. Armor, while you're helping Spike build his deck, would you mind helping us as well?" Apple Bloom asked. "We really would like to get better in general."
"Sure! I'll try to find some time after helping Spike to get to you three," he told them, patting the filly's head. "By the way, where would I find this classmate of yours that beat you guys? Judging from today's experience, I think I've learned that I should give everypony a chance, even fillies like yourself."
"Hey yeah! Maybe Shining could take on Diamond Tiara and win for us. That'd save us time," Scootaloo said, the two other's staring at her for suggesting they leave Spike behind. "Just sayin'."
"I'd just play her for fun. And, just maybe, use one of my real Tournament Decks to show her how a strong player plays. Hopefully she'll be humbled a bit after facing a pro."
"Shining, please don't start challenging foals to card games and crushing them. Act like an adult," his sister chided.
"Come on. I bet kids would love to play me, even if they knew they'd lose. Everypony would have some fun, and they'd all get to say they at least played a pro at the game."
"Whatever," Twilight set, walking away while rolling her eyes at that idea.
"Anyway, I'll get you set up right after we clean up dinner. Twilight's probably angry enough about the washer to deal with a mess like this." Agreeing with Shining Armor, the four gathered up their plates (and partially eaten meals) and got cleaned up. The next hour was Spike and Shining Armor going through potential combinations and deck ideas while the CMC observed. When they'd finally set up what kind of cards they'd use to combat the Artifact deck Rarity used.
"You sure we should go with this strategy?" Spike asked, not sure how it would work against the power of a fully-operational Artifact deck.
"You know how strong those creatures can get, right? Not only that, but that Darksteel Forge would make things particularly difficult to deal with as well. This deck gives you a fighting chance in case that happens," Shining Armor informed him. "Hopefully this won't be a quick match. I really hate those."
"Really? I always thought that the faster the game ended, the more fun it was for the winner," Sweetie Belle said, confused by Shining Armor's statement.
"Not really. Just because you build a super-fast deck with quick ways to end the game doesn't mean it's fun. I mean, how angry and annoyed would you have been if you hadn't been able to counter Twilight's lock during your fight? The thing would have pretty much ended with there for you. That, or you're just trying to make the game fun or interesting with a new deck combo."
"Like you did with Spike?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Exactly. The thing I really hate is when I'll try to make a deck and I have other players over my shoulder trying to give me all these deck ideas. One guy will say, 'go cipher' or Dimir or whatever while other people will be like, 'Oh, you're using THAT deck? I guess that's alright, even though MY deck would easily crush that.' I mean, one of the reasons why I make decks like that is for the thrill of the game and the possibility of a close game. If you were an onlooker, would you prefer nail-biting action or a quick, 'I play this card, followed by this combination, and this deals a ton of damage and you lose' within the first couple of turns? It'd be kinda boring from the perspective of the onlooker, that's for sure. Don't criticize me for making the decks something a little more fun, you know?" Shining Armor finished his tangent, the four looking at him as if he'd grown a second head. "Sorry. Just something I needed to get off my chest. It's hard enough building decks without everypony commenting on how puny it is compared to theirs."
"We can sympathize," Scootaloo told him.
"Alright. Oh! Spike, I almost forgot to give you this card." Shining then took a card out of his pack and handed it over to him. "Make sure to make the game exciting with this one. Don't show anypony else it until you use it against Rarity, alright?"
"I promise," Spike said, looking at the card and seeing how it might just save his tail. "Wait, are you heading someplace?"
"Yeah. I think I'll look around town and see if anypony else would mind playing a pro. Just don't tell my sis, alright?"
"Alright. Just make sure to be careful not to emotionally scar them," Spike said as he walked out the door.
"So, you gonna tell us what you got?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Nope. Gonna keep it a secret. Anyway, you guys should head home. I'm gonna check on Twi and see how that washer's doing."
"Okay. See ya!" they called out. Spike went down into the basement to see Twilight laying on the newly installed washer, snoring as she slept.
"Well, guess you had a busy day." Spike grabbed a blanket and covered the pony, making sure it wasn't covering her face by accident. "Sometimes I end up feeling like the grownup." Spike himself decided to go to bed, dreaming of the future duel he'd have against his beloved.