//------------------------------// // A New World // Story: Delta Harmony // by The Avenger //------------------------------// “I’ll now use my Level 1 Stardust Kuriboh, Level 2 Musical Magician and Level 5 Breaker the Magical Warrior to break open the Delta Seal!” The three monsters transformed into an energy-like form in a rainbow color. They flew around for a bit before speeding toward the ground, where a six pointed star in a circle, surrounded by runic text, gave off a magenta glow. When the lights hit it, a giant column of light exploded from the center of the symbol. “When hopes and dreams cluster together, they will open the path to a new world! Delta Summon! Come! Class 8! Magenta Star Magician!” Yuji chanted as a tall being emerged from the light. It looked like a winged unicorn, and it was wearing a dark purple robe and blue lace. Despite not having hands, it seemed to be holding a staff with a magenta colored star on the end. Its coat was a dark purple, and its mane was midnight blue with a purple streak. Magenta Star Magician DARK Spellcaster-type Delta Monster Class 8 Delta Sphere(s): 3 ATK: 2500 “Wh-What is that monster!?” Kisara asked, having never seen anything like it. Suddenly, a throbbing pain appeared in her right arm. “What the?!” “Battle! Magenta Star Magician, attack Blue-Eyes White Dragon!” “What!? But my Blue-Eyes has more ATK!” Kisara said as the winged unicorn prepared to attack. “Magenta Star’s effect is that it cannot be destroyed in battle by a non-Spellcaster-type monster, and any battle damage I take from battles from a non-Spellcaster and this card is negated!” Yuji explained as Magenta Star Magician fired at the Blue-Eyes, who retaliated with its attack, but both monsters were unharmed. However, streams of rainbow-colored energy begin to swirl around the stadium after the attack. “Magenta Star Magician’s second effect activates! After this monster battles, I can take control of the opposing monster until my next End Phase!” “It can what!?” Kisara asked as her dragon vanishes into particles of light. It then reappeared on Yuji’s field. “Magenta Star Magician gains the ATK of all monsters taken control of this way!” Yuji added. Magenta Star Magician ATK: 2500 + 3000 = 5500 “An ATK of 5500!?” Kisara asked. “I now activate the Quick-Play Spell, Double Strike! When a monster I control in unable to destroy an opponents monster by battle, this card allows it to attack again! Go, Magenta Star Magician! Attack Mirage Dragon!” Yuji said as the rainbow colored energy begins to condense together. Magenta Star Magician fired a magic blast at Mirage Dragon, destroying it and inflicting 3900 points of damage to Kisara. She screamed as her Life Points drop to zero. Kisara Yukimura (LP: 2000 - 3900 = 0) Winner: Yuji Hoshi Smoke escaped from Kisara’s Duel Runner as the word ‘DEFEAT’ appeared on her Duel Disk’s screen. The monsters and the Action Field began to dissolve away, but the rainbow energy, for some reason, stayed. It suddenly began to go skyward, forming into what looked like a tree. “What the!?” They both asked, when a throbbing pain was felt in their right arms. The wind began to pick up as the giant tree continued to grow. “What the hell is this!?” Kisara screamed, unaware that her eyes were glowing purple. Yuji’s eyes began to glow violet while he struggled to keep his Duel Runner steady. Suddenly, a burst of light blinded the two as the tree grew to be 5 stories tall. ============ “Thanks for the yummy stew, June!” A young girl asked as she and the other orphans ate. “My pleasure,” June replied. She glanced over to two empty seats. Those were the seats where Yuji and Kisara usually sat at for dinner, but they weren’t back yet. “Yuji and Kisara better be back before-” Suddenly, the lights went out. “What the?” A bright light then shot in from the window. Looking outside, everyone saw what looked like a giant tree. There were five main branches, the ends of each glowing a different color. The center trunk appeared to be glowing magenta. June then gasped, realizing where this tree was at. “That’s the stadium where Yuji and Kisara are Dueling!!” ============ “Oh, wow!” Stella said, having just opened a present from her aunt: a snow globe with the depiction of the night sky. “I thought you might like that!” Cadence said with a wink. “Thank you, Aunt Cadence!” Stella said as she placed the snow globe with her other presents. “One left,” Stella said as she used her two-toned magic to grab the last present, a small square box. The tag read ‘To Stella, From Marz’. Opening it, she gasped. Her present was a necklace with 8 blue pearls and a purple colored star-shaped gem in the middle. “It’s beautiful!” Stella said as she put the necklace on. “Thanks!” said Marz as Stella trotted up to him. “Topaz made it, but I just-” Before he could finish, Stella hugs him, causing his face to turn bright red as a result. “I love it! I don’t care who made it!” Stella said. After letting go, she trotted over to everyone else so they can see it. “You could’ve hugged her back, ya know,” Peachy, Marz’s younger sister, said to him as his natural color returned. “I guess I could have…” “Ya know what would make her B-day even better?” Peachy asked. “You asking her out.” “Peach!” Marz nearly screamed that, but luckily no one else noticed. “C’mon! I would love to have Stella for a sister. Besides, me and Enigma would like to go on a double date sometime. And I know who to bring along.” Suddenly, a bright light appeared from outside. “What the!?” Rainbow asked as the light began to disappear. It looked like it came from the Everfree Forest. ============ Everything was a bit fuzzy. Yuji wasn’t sure what just happened. All that he did knew was that he and Kisara were Dueling, and he somehow won. Then a blinding light appeared, and then he was here. Wherever ‘here’ was. He felt something cold touching his hand. It must’ve been his Duel Runner, but why was it cold? It should be red hot from the Duel they had. Groaning, he noticed that the ground felt soft, not hard. Opening his eyes, he saw that he was in some meadow in a forest. Was the Solid Vision with mass generator malfunctioning? “What … the hell was that?” An all too familiar voice said. “Kisara?” Yuji asked. “Yuji? Ugh! June is gonna kill us for being so late. It must be a few minutes to morning.” “Probably…” Yuji said as he tried to get up, only to fall down. Some dirt got into his mouth, meaning one thing. This isn’t Solid Vision. And why does the grass taste so … good? He tried to stand on his two legs, but he fell flat on his face again. Finally deciding to go on all fours, he got up … and found that this position seems so natural. Looking down, he saw not hands but hooves. “What the…!?” He screamed. Looking into a nearby puddle, he saw that, while his jacket, pendent, hair and eyes stayed the same, his entire body has been turned into a blue unicorn. Looking over himself, he spotted a mark on his flank: the backs of 5 Duel Monster cards. “Y-Yuji!?” Turning around, Yuji saw what looked like a kirin. It was female, had a baby blue mane and bright blue eyes. Its scales were a pale white. It also had wings, like those of a dragon. “K-Kisara!?” Yuji gasped. The two stared at each other for what felt like hours, maybe even days, when a bright light suddenly hit them. Looking at where the light was coming from, they saw many horses wearing golden armor. “This is the Royal Guard!” one said. “Equestria does not approve of Duelists playing the forbidden game here. We are placing you two under arrest!” he added as the Guards surrounded them. “What is going on!?” ============ “Did you locate the source of the disturbance?” Twilight asked her husband. “We’re not sure. We found Queen Chrysalis and several changelings in the area, but we also found a couple of Duelists where we believe that light came from,” Flash Sentry answered. “Currently they’re all being transported to Fillydelphia’s Rehabilitation Prison.” “I assume the changelings will be there until Celestia can speak with them?” Twilight asked. “Yep, and as for the Duelists, their Decks and Duel Disks will be confiscated and stored up in Canterlot,” Flash finished as they looked outside. ============ Yuji and Kisara were walking into a prisoner transport carrier. They took their seats on the left side of the vehicle. Around them were some strange, insect-like creatures that also looked like horses. Except for one, they were all short and had holes in their legs. One was taller than the others and has serpentine eyes, and appeared to be female. They all had a strange ring on their jagged horns. Yuji had one of those rings on his horn, too. Having a horn was still new to him. Suddenly, a cheery old stallion, wearing a dark green vest, got onboard. Unlike the other horses they’d seen, this stallion appeared to be made out of crystals. On his flank was a strange looking mask. He happily took a seat next to Yuji. “How could this have happen?” Kisara asked in a whisper. The doors of the compartment closed, all of the prisoners having been loaded. Soon they were off. “Hey!” The old stallion said to them. “Got caught trespassing, huh? So did I. They call me Old Ace. Nice to meetcha.” “Nice to meet you too,” Yuji said, though he wasn’t looking at Old Ace. They were both looking outside. “You two got yourselves caught in the Everfree Forest, right?” Old Ace asked. “Is that what that forest is called?” Kisara asked. “Yep! And, y’know, I was in the neighborhood ‘round then. Sure was somethin’! An astral projection of the Tree of Harmony suddenly appearing in the forest. You two were in the forest ‘round then, right? After all, you’re the only ponies the Guards brought in from the forest. And not even the craziest of the crazies would go in there.” “We were, for your info!” Kisara hissed. “Hey, hey! Calm down. I may be old enough to die, but I still don’t want to!” Old Ace said. “What’s the ‘Tree of Harmony’?” Yuji asked. “Ha! You really don’t know?” The female insect-horse said. “Ah, don’t mind Queen Chrysalis there, sonny,” Old Ace said. “I don’t know much about the Tree of Harmony, but I’ll explain anyway.” ============ It was just one of those days. Celestia was signing some documents on the new inmates at Fillydelphia’s Rehabilitation Center. There weren’t many, but two were Duelists, ponies who played the forbidden game, 1 was an old crystal pony caught trespassing, and the last 5 were some changelings. Royal Guards had managed to capture most of them over the years, but their queen was ever elusive… That, is, until now. The last document she was signing was for Chrysalis. She had been caught just last night. I would like to have a few words with her. Celestia thought as she finished signing the document. Handing it over to her consultant, she took the papers and trotted out of the room. Celestia sighed in relief. She hated paperwork. But then, a certain thought hit her. The warden of the Rehabilitation Center, Steel Wing, had said that the inmates were behaving and that the rehabilitating process was running smoothly. If that was so, then why hadn’t a single pony been discharged yet? Were they that hopeless? Or was something else going on there? “Hmmm. Perhaps I should pay Steel Wing a little visit.” ============ Yuji had fallen asleep during the long ride on the transport. The occasional bump or sudden stop woke him up, but he would go back to sleep afterwards. “Yuji, wake up,” Kisara said. “Yeah?” He asked, rubbing his eyes. “We’re here, Yuji,” Old Ace said. Looking outside, they saw that they were approaching an 8 story concrete building in the middle of a forest. They stopped for a moment as they approached the gates. Once they opened, the carriage drove off again. Soon they stopped in front of the main building. The doors opened and several guards were waiting outside. “This way,” one said as they aimed lances at either the insect-horses or at Kisara. Complying, they all followed the apparent leader, a unicorn captain, into the center. “Everypony who stirs up trouble in Equestria gets sent here and undergoes a rehabilitation program,” the captain said as they enter. The interior of the building has several catwalks and support columns, all around are cells. “And there are a lot of other uncouth ponies besides you bugs and trespassers placed here, so I suggest you be careful,” the captain added as they headed up a stairwell. As they headed to the south end of the second floor, Yuji noticed what looked like a blue minotaur in one of the cells they passed by. They exchanged eye contact for a brief moment before he continued walking. Suddenly the guard stopped. Using his magic, he opened two vacant cells. “These shall be your rooms. Chrysalis, you and your changelings will be separate. Get into the cell with the ponies.” Chrysalis growled, but did as she was told. “Ah! I can finally sleep on an actual bed!” Old Ace happily said as he jumps into the bottom bed of the left side bunk. Other than the beds, there was a sink, a couple of cabinets and a window to the outside. “Where’s the bathroom?” Kisara asked. “If you need to use the restroom, uses the intercom on the left side of the door.” The captain replied, pointing to the intercom in question. “A guard will then escort you there and back here. The rehabilitation program starts tomorrow afternoon. Until then, get plenty of sleep and think about what you’ve done.” The captain then closed the door and locked it. As he walked back down to the main area, an arm suddenly stopped him. “Hey there,” the arm’s owner, a blue minotaur, called out. “What do you want?” “I’d like to throw the usual welcome party for the newcomers,” He replied. “I want to teach them about the rules here as their senior.” “Again? Just make sure you don’t let them remove their inhibitor rings. Especially Chrysalis,” the captain said as he opened the cell door, making the minotaur smile. “Wow! The place sure is big! Plus, we have such an amazing view!” Old Ace said, hanging onto the window ledge. “You should get down before you break a hip,” Kisara said. “Right,” Old Ace said as he jumped down. “Oh! Hey, Yuji? Ki? Did you two bring Decks?” “Our Decks got confiscated,” Kisara replied as she jumped onto the top bunk on the right side of the cell, above Chrysalis. “And what makes you think we brought one in?” Yuji asked. “Tada!” Old Ace suddenly said as he began to pull out cards from his vest. “Tada da da taaada! Y’know, going from one detention center to another made me realize that there are Decks wherever you go.” “You can Duel here?” Both Yuji and Kisara asked, while Chrysalis just casually glanced over to them. “Out there, in here — it’s all the same. Even in rehabilitation and detention centers, there are folks who call the shots and who get the shots called on them, even after Dueling was outlawed in many countries. All of it depends on Dueling!” “Sounds familiar,” Kisara said. “I’ve never seen cards like these before.” Yuji said as he looks at the cards Old Ace pulled out. “What are they?” “These are my Cursed Treasures!” Old Ace happily replied as he put the cards back into his vest. A whistle suddenly sounded, and all the doors opened. At the entrance was a blue minotaur, who was smirking as several thugs stood behind him. ============ “So, how do you like the necklace my brother gave you?” Peach Pie asked Stella. She, Stella, Applebee, Flare Sparks, Honeycrisp and Aquamarine were enjoying lunch at The Hayburger, one of Stella’s favorite places to go to (despite her best efforts to stay fit). “I really love it!” Stella said, taking a moment away from her milkshake to admire her necklace again. Since getting it, she had only taken it off when she went to bed last night. “I really need to thank him again.” “You probably will when he finally asks you out…” Peachy said under her breath, a hint of annoyance in her voice. “What was that?” Stella asked. “Oh, nothing important!” Peachy casually said. “Is anyone else still wondering what that light was? The one from last night?” Aquamarine asked. “We all are,” Honeycrisp said. “Any idea, Stella?” “Well, Mom told me that some changelings were caught in the forest earlier today,” Stella said. “They might have something to do with it. She also told me that a couple of Duelists were caught this morning, and their Decks and Duel Disks were taken to the Canterlot Archives as evidence.” “‘Duelists’?” Applebee asked, which was surprising as she normally didn’t say much, even to her friends. “You know, the ponies who play that forbidden game,” Stella said. “Duel Monsters?” Flare asked. “I think we had Duel Monsters back across the mirror. It was a really great pastime.” “Really?” The other girls all asked. “Yeah. Me and mom never really got into it though,” Flare said. ============ Yuji, Kisara, Old Ace, Chrysalis and her changelings are all shoved into a tennis room. The blue minotaur’s 12 toadies were all chuckling as the minotaur put on a Duel Disk. It has an older touch screen and was red in color. “Welcome to Iron Will's Duel Field!” The minotaur said. He laughed as his Duel Disk activated, a yellow colored blade appearing.