//------------------------------// // Chapter 15 - Ending the Pain (4) // Story: My Little Duel Monsters // by supersaiyanmikito //------------------------------// “What do you mean I can’t see Trixie anymore!?” The filly screamed. “We told you Starshine; she is a bad pony and can’t be trusted!” The tall blue unicorn replied. “She nearly destroyed an entire village in the south trying to show off.” “That’s enough reason to believe she can’t heal you… We are just trying to protect you…” Starshine’s mother looked down at her with sincerity. “But she is the first real friend I made! She is the only one who ever said I could do something with my future!” “But you’re a smart filly; there are many other things you can do that don’t require magic!” Her mother replied. “But I’m a unicorn, without magic I’m nothing!” “Don’t you dare say that!” “But it’s what I want to do! What’s the point in having a talent if it’s something I don’t even like!” “Stop this right now Starshine!” Her father roared. “Trixie is gone, end of story! I don’t want you sending anymore letters to her either. We can’t have ponies finding out we are communicating with a… Criminal…” “The only criminal here Twilight Sparkle! She is the reason everypony hates Trixie!” “Twilight Sparkle saved that town from being destroyed! She is a national hero in case you forgot!” “If she was really a hero, she wouldn’t have allowed somepony to create such… Degrading news articles about a nice pony like Trixie!” Starshine trotted over to her father’s chair and picked up a newspaper. “How can you believe this!? ‘Many local ponies reported one Trixie Lulamoon as being the cause. Although not directly responsible for the Ursa Minor attack, it’s believed the unicorn tricked a pair of local colts to bring the Ursa into the town. When the unicorn failed to defeat it as she had previously bragged, she could, she fled the town and let the colts take the blame as they are known trouble makers. The locals expected a swift punishment from national hero Twilight Sparkle but the punishment never came. This lack of punishment is believed to be a sign that the colts were not the real culprits so this has led people to believe Trixie Lulamoon had staged the attack, possibly as a means of getting rid of Ms. Sparkle as she was known for being the powerful unicorn in the village.’” Starshine screamed and threw the papers all over the floor. “This article is nothing but slander and that village has nothing but bias idiots! They paint Trixie as being some crazy pony trying to kill a national hero when it’s obvious, she had no part in it. Were those colts really so stupid that they couldn’t even tell her stories were fake!? They brought in the Ursa and then when they should have been punished, ‘Twilight Sparkle’ placed the blame on an outsider so her perfect little town wouldn’t look bad. It makes me SICK!” Starshine suddenly stormed out the room and upstairs. Her parents winced at the load slam of her door. The two parents simply sat down trying to process what had just happened. Her father spoke up first. “I swear… That filly is too smart for her good…” “She is going to hurt herself if she keeps thinking like that… Or even worse…” “Dawn…” The two sat there for several minutes thinking to themselves, not saying a word. “You know she is not going to give up right? She will find ways to send letters behind our backs.” The father sighed. “Yeah, I know… I may not like it but I’ll see if I can convince the local post office to ‘lose her mail.’ It might not be the most ethical way to do it but if Starshine stops getting letters maybe it will change her mind about Trixie…” “What about Trixie herself? Once she stops getting letters she is going to come here and find out what is going on.” “We… Just have to pray to Celestia that Starshine isn’t here to see what I’m going to do to Trixie…” Starshine’s mother Dawn Shine was working in the kitchen when she heard the front door open. “Starshine honey, is that you?” She heard no response, just a loud stomping and a door slam upstairs. She just sighed to herself. “It’s been a month and she still won’t talk to us…” The mare put down the bowl she was stirring. “It all started with an offer to help her faulty horn and it’s come to this… She doesn’t care about her magic anymore; she just wants Trixie…” Upstairs, Starshine didn’t even bother turning her light on. She just dropped her backs on the floor and plopped over her bed. That’s all she did now, wake up, go to school, come home and sleep. She mostly ate and did her work at school; staying at home was just a constant reminder of what she lost. Her parents had gotten rid of the letters and photos from Trixie, anything to remove her from their home but it didn’t help. Starshine was in complete shambles and they couldn’t do anything. It was bad enough after the initial fight but the very next day things turned worse. Some of the fillies and colts at school had heard from their parents how the mare who was going to help Starshine was a supposed criminal. Many of the other children tormented her about it, calling her things like an evil minion or the next Nightmare Moon. The Starshine they knew died that day, she never smiled, she never talked, and she had just plain given up. Trixie had come while she was school and she had never learned of it. Starshine just lied there on the bad, doing nothing like she had for the past month. It wasn’t long before she passed out asleep like she had before. Lately Trixie had plagued her nightmares, whether it was people attacking Trixie or Trixie attacking her. She refused to believe those nightmares, always thinking Trixie was falsely accused. This night however was the worst nightmare of all. She wandered around a dark forest for what felt like hours, eventually she found light leading her out but the first thing she was had her in tears. There was Trixie, barely standing at the edge of a cliff. Starshine ran towards Trixie calling her name but it seemed like Trixie couldn’t hear her. Before she reached the cliff, Trixie nudged herself forward and plummeted of the edge. Starshine slid across the ground and then reached her front hoof off the edge. “TRIXIEEEEEEEEEEEE!” She watched the unicorn fall to her demise, a trail of tears behind Trixie as she fell. The filly felt like her heart at been snapped in two. Most dreams until now always had a weird haunting feeling to them, like she knew it was just a nightmare but this was different. To her, this dream felt unusually real. She took multiple steps away from the cliff, trying to process what she had seen. “Poor, poor Starshine…” The filly suddenly turned around looking for the voice. “You had such potential only to have it ripped from you because of… What was her name…?” Starshine grit her teeth. “Twilight… Sparkle…” She spoke through her teeth. “Yes… Twilight Sparkle… Quite the evil one indeed. People already look up to her like a Princess, in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if she actually became one.” This filled Starshine with pure rage. “She had no right be Princess, not after what she did!” “If that is what you truly believe, then you must start believing in Trixie…” “Believe… In Trixie?” “Your only wish is to meet Trixie again… As long as you never stop thinking of her, your hearts will always be connected... Your light will give her hope, your darkness will give her strength, and your love will give her reason…” At that moment, she heard footsteps behind her. She turned back to the cliff to see the black shadow of a pony hovering above the cliff. “Will you allow Trixie to use your power…?” Starshine took no time to think, she didn’t need to. “Yes! I will do anything to help Trixie!” The shadow smiled at her. “Good…” Soon after, the shadow disappeared and a massive beam of black light shot up from the bottom of the cliff. She was blown back by the force of the beam and landed on her flank. She slowly stood back up watching the beam of light fly into the air. “You have great power Starshine, don’t let it go to waste…” The shadow reappeared within the beam, this time taking on the form of Trixie. The shadow held out its right hoof reaching for Starshine. The filly hesitated for a moment but she eventually reached out her own hoof for the shadow. As she grabbed the shadow Trixie’s hoof, a black bolt of lightning shot from her horn, trailed down her hoof and up to Trixie’s horn. “TRIXIE!” Starshine bolted awake, sweat beating down her face. She looked over at her door expecting her parents to charge in but nothing. She had been awakened by a nightmare nearly every night for the past month and her parents had given up checking on her. Normally she was a complete mess after a nightmare but tonight… She felt kind of good. The aching in her heart had vanished and she felt good, really good. “I… I understand now…” Trixie muttered. “That’s why your magic doesn’t work…” She lightly pet Starshine’s head. It couldn’t take away the pain but deep down she hoped it could make Starshine feel better. “You have the power of Soul Link… A rare type of magic only useable by those born with a special power… I read about it a long time ago…” Starshine started to calm down a bit, trying to listen to what Trixie was saying. “Soul Link allows a unicorn to create a mental link with another unicorn allowing them to share their power with each other… However, those born with the Soul Link power can’t use magic themselves as there is too great of risk that unicorn will experience magic burnout.” Twilight struggled against her fatigue, pulling herself up. She was extremely wounded and was holding her front right leg for support. “Trixie…?” Trixie looked back over at Twilight, tears flowing from her eyes. Twilight also noticed that despite the red color of her eyes, the natural shine had returned. “Twilight…” “I heard everything…” Trixie turned back to Starshine. “She… Gave me everything she had… Such an impressionable young one; believed I was important enough to risk giving me every last drop of energy…” “She must have subconsciously formed a Soul Link with you before she even knew her own power… She really did love you Trixie…” “And now…” Trixie teared up more. “My magic is starting to affect her as well… My magic… My… Dark Magic… is now poisoning her body. Her young body can’t handle the kind of stress the Dark Magic is putting on her.” “There is no telling how long that Dark Magic has been affecting her either…” “I think I know…” Twilight was confused. “Remember what she said, ‘Somewhere in my heart I could feel her calling to me, telling me to keep living and that we would be together again one day…’ She has been infected since the very day I attempted to kill myself… It’s part of how Dark Magic works; it makes you feel good, it numbs the pain and sorrow and makes you feel like a Princess but in reality, it’s slowly eating away at your life…” “If she has been infected this whole time, then that means you’ve been feeding of her energy this whole time as well…” “Master Rose always did say I was special, that I had a hidden power that would be unlocked when the time was right. When you destroyed my Dark Magician Girl, it made me think of how I lost Starshine. It filled me with rage and Starshine must have felt it as well. I can’t believe I was so stupid to let things end up like this… And now… Starshine…” Trixie slammed her head against the ground and just let it out. “I’m a monster!” “No Trixie you aren’t a monster…” Twilight pulled her injured leg over Trixie and wrapped it around her neck. “You’re a wonderful unicorn Trixie… You entertain ponies and give them a good time, despite all the neigh sayers. You were just a victim of circumstance and idiocy and as a result you were pulled into a war that was not yours to fight. Never think of yourself as any less of a pony because of that.” “Twilight… Thank you…” Behind them, they suddenly started hearing a weird groaning sound. The two unicorns turned back and saw Trixie’s dragon starting to descend. Its red eyes were flickering and losing color. Nightmare Eternity Dragon < ATK: 3000 → 2999 → 2998 → 2997 > “What… In Equestria…?” Twilight asked. Nightmare Eternity Dragon < ATK: 2995 → 2993 → 2989 → 2985 > “It’s… Getting weaker…?” Trixie continued. Nightmare Eternity Dragon < ATK: 2954 → 2937 → 2909 → 2876 > “Trixie… I think it’s reacting to your state of mind…” Nightmare Eternity Dragon < ATK: 2753 → 2691 → 2604 → 2470 > “I don’t understand…” Nightmare Eternity Dragon < ATK: 2281 → 1966 → 1611 → 1283 > “Midnight’s power comes from your inner hatred. If it’s weakening in power, that means there is no more hatred in you. You have finally come to terms with yourself.” Nightmare Eternity Dragon < ATK: 0 > The moment the points hit zero, the card on her duel disk lost all color and her eyes faded back to their normal purple color. The black veins on her horn had also disappeared and her hair fell back down to normal. They suddenly heard a few coughs come from behind them. They turned back to find Starshine pushing herself up, coughing up small blotches of black tinted blood. “Starshine!” Trixie ran down to her and padded her back causing her to cough up more blood. “It’s going to be ok Starshine, just let it all out…” “Her body must be trying to expel all that bad energy now that the supply has been cut off.” “Starshine, I’m so, so, so, so sorry I let this happen…” Starshine held up her hoof motioning her to be quiet. “It’s ok Trixie… I understand…” She pulled herself up completely so she was standing but she wobbled a bit showing she was still fatigued. “All that matters… Is that your happy…” “I’m happy if you’re happy… And there is no reason to put me ahead of yourself. Your young, you still have a long life ahead of you…” Starshine didn’t respond, she simply leaped forward and embraced Trixie in a hug. “I love you Trixie…” Trixie patted her back. “I love you too Starshine… And nothing will ever change that…” Twilight just smiled at the display she was seeing; it was just like when she had defeated Nightmare Moon. She had eradicated the darkness in her heart and reunited a lost family member. Something was still bugging her though and she couldn’t figure out what. At that moment, there was a flurry of black sparks on the other side of the dueling field. What she saw nearly put her in shock, a black and neon pink alicorn. Although she had never seen this alicorn before, the strange markings on her head gave her an idea. “Midnight Rose, I presume…” “Twilight… You’re still alive…?” “She is not alone…” Trixie and Starshine stepped up as well. “Master…” She said with emphasis. “You’re both still here? What is going on? I saw you release your power; you should have defeated her by now.” “Look a little more and I think you’ll find out why…” Midnight Rose wasn’t sure what to ask. She looked over at Trixie’s dragon lying on the ground half dead and faded. She also noticed the change in Trixie. “You… You’ve lost your power, haven’t you?” “Your ‘gift’ did nothing but hurt the ones I love and I won’t have any more of it!” Midnight growled. “You fool, don’t you understand what I’m trying to do for you!? Twilight ruined your life, she is evil! I’m doing this to help you!” Starshine suddenly stepped back. “That voice… That was you…” Twilight and Trixie looked down at her with confusion. “You’re the one from that dream, the one that told me to give Trixie my power…” Twilight gasped. “I knew I was missing something! She may have the ability to perform the Soul Link subconsciously but she has to choose to give her power. There is no way she should have been able to do that without knowing she had the power in the first place.” “If that’s the case then that means…” Trixie quickly changed from shock to anger, gritting her teeth as she looked back at Midnight. “You KNEW! YOU KNEW THIS WHOLE TIME!” Midnight’s eyes widened and she stepped back. “Do you have ANY idea what you caused!? Your magic nearly got the one who means the world to me KILLED!” As that moment, Midnight noticed a flicker in Trixie’s eyes, a red flicker. Nightmare Eternity Dragon < ATK: 0 → 1 → 2 → 3 > Midnight smirked. “Of course, I knew, do you honestly think I would have recruited some washed up magician!?” Nightmare Eternity Dragon < ATK: 5 → 8 → 12 → 19 > “Starshine was the sole reason I recruited you in the first place. Soul Linkers are extremely rare and the unicorns they pair up with are unmatched in terms of strength.” Nightmare Eternity Dragon < ATK: 34 → 57 → 85 → 129 > “So, I manipulated her… When I gave you my power, I used the Soul Link to track her down and trick her into giving you her power…” Nightmare Eternity Dragon < ATK: 190 → 471 → 968 → 1573 > “I had also anticipated the Dark Magic poisoning. Once her life force is completely drained and the magic kills her, you would have had full unrestricted access to her power and without any morals holding you back; you would have been an unstoppable warrior…” *CRASH* Trixie suddenly exploded with dark magic, screaming into the air as loud as she could. “I’LL KILLLLLLLLLL YOUUUUUUUUU!” Nightmare Eternity Dragon < ATK: 3000 > In her rage, Trixie didn’t notice Midnight transforming her body into pink energy. Midnight charged towards Trixie in her energy form, colliding with Trixie and creating a large black explosion. “Trixie no!” Twilight called. From inside the explosion, Trixie’s body began to reform in a similar manor to Midnight’s. She didn’t grow a pair of wings but her coat darkened heavily and she acquired the pink glowing mark of Iseris on her forehead. Trixie simply laughed, now with Midnight’s voice speaking over her voice. “What did you do to Trixie!?” Starshine screamed. Midnight took notice of Starshine and turned to her. “I’m in control now foal! She was an insolent traitor and had to be dealt with. Of course, that wouldn’t have been possible if she hadn’t let her rage get out of control.” “You monster…” Twilight grunted. Midnight examined her new body. “I must say you did a fine job of giving her your energy young one. I wish this mortal body was more resilient though or else I would keep it for myself. It would be nice having a real body for once…” “Hmm?” Twilight questioned. “Anyway, that’s nothing you need to be hearing about…” Midnight leaped into the air landing on top of Trixie’s dragon which was back to full power. “After all, what’s the point in explaining something to a dead pony!” Twilight took her stance but winced in pain at her previous injuries. With the single card still in her hand, Midnight held up it up revealing it to Twilight. “I activate the ability of Trixie’s dragon… You know what happens next…” “Midnight…” “I send Final Vengeance from my deck to the graveyard…” She slid the card into the graveyard causing the dragon to glow a faint red. “Since her dragon destroyed a monster, this turn, Final Vengeance allows her dragon to attack a second time in a row with half its attack points.” Nightmare Eternity Dragon < ATK: 3000 → 1500 > Tears fell from Starshine’s eyes but that didn’t stop her from running in front of Twilight again blocking her. The poisoning and vomiting had weakened her as well and she could barely stand up straight. “Starshine… Don’t…” Twilight groaned. “This is punishment for serving a tyrant!” The Nightmare Dragon charged up its energy once again releasing another black tornado towards Twilight. “Eternity Vortex!” “Starshine! Get out of the way!” Starshine tried turning back but she was quickly interrupted by Twilight shoving her out of the way just in time to avoid the blast. “TWILIGHT!” The tornado hit Twilight from above with explosive force, forcefully lifting her into the air. “NOOOOO!” Twilight could barely even describe the shear pain she was feeling at that moment. It was like her body was being ripped to shreds and a thousand needles stabbing her heart. She screamed into the air, just hoping the vortex of suffering would just go away. “Wallow in despair!” The vortex intensified causing Twilight to scream louder. Starshine covered her ears hoping to block out the screaming. Twilight’s life started flashing before her eyes; images of all her friends came into view. ‘Applejack… So strong and always looking out for her friends… Pinkie Pie… Always bringing us cheer to every situation… Rarity… Generous as can be and always hoping to help… Fluttershy… Kind and gentle, like she should be… And Rainbow Dash… Loyal to the very end… I’m sorry everypony… I’m so sorry…’ At that point, another pony came into the view of her mind, a blue unicorn. ‘Trixie… Forgive me for not being strong enough…’ The vortex suddenly dissipated leaving Twilight alone floating in the air, a completely blank expression in her eyes. She slowly descended back to the ground and the moment her back hooves touched the ground; she fell forward and landed face first into the dirt. Twilight Sparkle < LP: 75 → 0 > “TWILIGHT!!!” Celestia suddenly stumbled over in her room, knocking a vase over before leaning against a wall. She stared blankly at the wall gasping loudly for air. “What…?” She felt an intense pain coming from her chest she couldn’t explain. She clenched her chest as hard as she could. “This feeling… No… It’s can’t be…” She looked over at her table with several framed photos and saw one she and Twilight took when she became her student. The glass frame gleamed for a moment before suddenly cracking, leaving a large crack between the two. “Twilight…” Working through the pain, she began to flap her wings and flew out the window. “TWILIGHT! TWILIGHT!” Starshine shook Twilight’s unmoving body, tears rapidly flowing from her eyes. “PLEASE TWILIGHT! WAKE UP! YOU CAN’T DIE!” The red glowing tether connected to Twilight’s chest started pulsating again but not for long before the tether started to fade turning completely gray. “No… Twilight… You can’t be…” Midnight broke the silence when she suddenly started laughing. “You knew this would happen when you sided with Celestia and yet you still opposed me. Although I am upset, I wasn’t able to make use of your power like your friends. You would have made a fine soldier. I suppose since I have no use for you, I might as well give you a proper burial.” Starshine snapped out of her crying and blocked Twilight’s again. She was panting heavier than before and clearing becoming fatigued. “Stay back.” “What do you plan on doing little filly? You really think you stand a chance against me?” “I don’t care; you’ve taking away the two most important ponies to me!” “You barely know Twilight and you’re calling her important? Please…” “All she wanted to do was help Trixie; she didn’t deserve to die over it!” “Well too bad, she is. Now step out my way before I kill you too!” Starshine didn’t move, she just repositioned her back legs and stood her ground. “If that’s the way to do this, then you can die along with your pathetic friend!” The dragon shot forward with its arm out ready to grab the filly. Starshine closed her eyes and braced for impact… But it never came… After a few seconds Starshine opened her eyes and saw the dragons claw only a foot away from her. “What’s this?” Midnight asked. Starshine looked back up at Midnight and noticed she was struggling with something. “What is going on, why won’t my body move!?” Try as she might, Midnight couldn’t seem to move. She suddenly noticed tears were now dripping out of her eyes against her will. “That traitor, she’s fighting back!” The monster’s hand reseeded and the dragon floated back up to its normal position. Trixie’s body started to move on its own, reaching for her deck. “What does that crazy mare think she is doing!?” She spread the deck apart in front of her face and pulled out one of the spell cards. “No! She is trying to activate Nightmare Eternity Dragon’s special ability again!” Midnight pulled as hard as she could, trying to take control again. She struggled hard but it was all in vain, Trixie’s body managed to hold the card over the graveyard and slide it in. “YOU FOOL!” The card suddenly materialized on field and started to glow. Starshine stared at card, completely clueless as to what was happening. The only thing she noticed was the card’s name. “Wish for a Second Chance…?” Then, a warm light started emitting behind her. Twilight’s eyes fluttered open, last thing she remembered was being attacked by Midnight. She looked all around to find herself within a dark castle and that she was floating. “What is going on? Where am I? Am I dead?” She finally looked down and saw two mares standing across from each other. “Princess Celestia? Midnight Rose? Wait, I’m in the castle of the two sisters! What is going on here?” Celestia was clearly struggling to get up; she appeared to be badly hurt and was covered in scratches. Midnight wasn’t much better; she was also covered in scratches but was at least in better shape than Celestia. However, Twilight quickly noticed Midnight was different from when she had seen her. Aside from the mark and red eyes, she looked exactly like a normal mare, her coat was a bright pink and her red mane was combed around like a flower. Celestia was different as well; her mane had an orange shade to it and was more jagged like fire. On Midnight’s field was Iseris while Celestia had her Arch-Lightsworn. “Celestia, give up already. You can’t win!” Midnight spoke up. “I… ugh… I will never give up… So long as I have a chance…” “You never had a chance. No matter what cards you play Iseris is completely invincible. You can’t win this duel!” “No, it’s not invincible…” Celestia placed her hoof on her deck. “All I need is to draw the correct card and you will be finished!” She drew her card with all her might causing the card to gleam. When she saw the card, a spark flashed in her eye. “I play Monster Reborn! This allows me to revive Black Rose Dragon from your graveyard.” A purple hole opened on Celestia’s field and Midnight’s dragon flew out on to her field. Black Rose Dragon < Level 7 / ATK: 2400 > “If you think using my own dragon is going to help you your sadly mistaken. Ahahaha!” Without saying a word, Celestia revealed the other card she had her in hoof to Midnight. Midnight stopped laughing for a moment but went back to laughing even harder. “Polymerization!? You’ve cracked haven’t you, Michael and Black Rose can’t fuse you idiot!” “Not yet they can’t…” With a flick of her wrist, Celestia held the card up above her head. “Element of Magic, hear my call. Grant me the power to stop this menace!” Slowly but surely, the card eventually started gathering energy towards it. “Let’s do it, Forbidden Art: Duel Monster’s Soul INFUSION!” A purple flame suddenly shot over the card changing its appearance to five white stars flowing into a six-pointed pink star. “The Element of Magic heard my call and has given me the power I need to defeat you… I activate Harmony Fusion!” The Black Rose Dragon and Arch-Lightsworn on Celestia’s field started glowing “This card allows me to fuse one my monsters with one of yours!” Midnight thought for a moment for smiling. “Do your worst, you can’t destroy Iseris…” With that, Celestia’s eye gleamed. “You’ve just dug your own grave… I combine Michael and Black Rose Dragon!” The two monsters morphed to white stars and launched into the sky. With the ceiling overhead, the monster flew into a fake cloud that had formed within the room. The clouds exploded into a six-pointed and the monsters began to transform inside the light. “Paladin of light, dragon of dark, reveal your combined might and cast your judgment on those who hurt the innocent! Harmony Fusion Evolution!” Michael’s skin started glowing will all that was visible was his golden armor. The armor all broke off from his body and one by one, clasped themselves onto Black Rose Dragon giving it gold plated armor. Without any armor himself, several vines started wrapping around Michael and hardened into full body armor. “Behold the savior of Equestria’s future; Arch-Sworn Eclipse Dragon!” Now covered with black plant-like armor, the new Michael landed on top of the golden-plated Black Rose Dragon holding his black thorned sword into the air with a great light. Arch-Sworn Eclipse Dragon < Level 8 / ATK: 3000 > Twilight looked down at the new monster now on Celestia’s field. “So, this is the power of Harmony Fusion… But… Midnight didn’t have any idea what the card could do so she let the Princess use it. That would never work now…” Midnight continued to smirk. “You really think fusing our monsters is going to help you?” “You have no idea what this card can do. You could have stopped my fusion the moment I activated it but you allowed your overconfidence in Iseris blind your common sense. Now it’s going to cost you, when Arch-Sworn Eclipse Dragon attacks, all other cards on the field are destroyed. Not only that, but you can’t activate any of those cards either!” Arch-Lightsworn held up his vine sword and an image of a sun and a moon formed above him. They slowly moved into place covering each other into a full solar eclipse. The eclipse launched a beam of black light right at Iseris before suddenly erupted into a massive explosion of black fire. Midnight screamed at the force of the blast and was thrown backward as all her face down cards and Iseris were quickly destroyed. “NO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?” She screamed as Iseris’ mark disappeared from her head. “I’ve destroyed Iseris Midnight. Any monster summoned by the effect of Harmony Fusion negates effects that prevent a monster from being destroyed in battle or by card effects. You brought this upon yourself Midnight. You allowed me to escape with the Element of Magic and now I’ve used its power to defeat Iseris. You should have stopped me when you had the chance…” Midnight slowly started stepping away. “No… Everything I’ve worked for… Gone just like that…” “It’s wasn’t all for naught though…” Midnight looked up at her with question. “You were right Midnight; I became a tyrant… I allowed my guilt to turn me into a monster. You helped show me what I had become so for that I thank you…” Midnight just looked at her for a few moments before spitting at the ground. “Save your redemption speech for somepony who cares. None of that will bring back the lives of those you so heartlessly destroyed…” At that moment, a black vortex appeared below her. Midnight simply closed her eyes and said nothing. “What? What’s happening?” “You destroyed Iseris… Him and I are one so by destroying me you’re destroying me… Such is how his power works…” “Your… Dying?” “No… Iseris can’t be truly destroyed… I am nothing but a host for the real demon lurking from within shadows. He will return… And once I regain my power… The rule of the tyrant Princess Celestia will come to an end…” With that, a black shell formed around Midnight like a silhouette. The shell broke apart and the black particles fell into the vortex before closing up. Midnight simply stood there, unmoving and lifeless. “Midnight…?” Midnight’s body slowly began to fall over before hitting the ground. The Princess walked up the lifeless body and picked it up with one hoof. “I’ll give you a proper burial but it will be in a place nopony can find… What happened here must never be remembered for future generations…” Twilight’s specter was still floating above watching the whole scene. “Even after everything she did, Celestia still showed her honor and remorse… That’s the sign of a true friend… Friend… Elements…” It was there, a spark flashed in her eyes. At that moment, a light started shining from Canterlot. From within the hidden vault, the Elements of Harmony began to shine, a variety of colored light sparking between the various elements. Suddenly, a burst of light shot up into the sky through the ceiling. The light trailed through the sky heading towards Ponyville with five other light-colored light trails elegantly flowing around it. Celestia wasn’t far off when she heard the loud explosion. She barely turned around in time to see the massive of trail of light pass right by her. The light reflected off her eyes, just staring at the beam of energy soaring through the sky. She couldn’t help but let out her tears. “This light… She’s done it…” Midnight gasped and looked up in the sky and saw the trails of light shooting overhead. The trail spiraled above for a moment before arching downward striking Twilight where she was laying. Twilight’s lifeless body slowly began floating into the air, flipping her up so she was floating upright. Her body began to glow brightly with a pink glow. “Twilight?” Starshine asked. She never got a chance to say anything else. Twilight blasted into the air leaving a long pink light trail behind her. ‘From all of us together, together we’re friends. With the marks of our destinies made one, there is magic without end!’ Twilight’s form zigzagged upward before disappearing into a small light, leaving nothing but a massive explosion in the shape of her cutie mark. Midnight and Starshine stared upwards at the explosion that had happened in the sky, Starshine was amazed but Midnight was growing nervous. “No, no, no, not now!” The light dropped back down striking the ground with another small explosion. The light from the explosion reformed back together. At her first her body reformed but then several other things started to clasp to her. A new duel disk formed on her leg attached to a long black glove going along her leg. In the center of her leg were now two over lapping six-pointed stars similar to that of her cutie mark with two of the edges on the pink star elongated traveling up and down her leg. Her deck was sticking out of the elongated side near her hoof and gone were the five stars acting the card tray. Now attached to the side was a holographic pink tray rather than a physical tray. Resting atop her head was the Element of Magic which had somehow come to her and on her back, a newly formed pair of wings. Twilight took no notice to any of the changes that had occurred; it didn’t matter to her. She simply floated there two feet above the ground with blank glowing eyes staring at Midnight and a bright glow around her body. “This ends now…” “TWILIGHT!” Starshine ran at Twilight and stopped right in front of her. “What happened? I thought you died!” “I would have if it wasn’t for Trixie. With the last of her strength, she managed to play the card Wish for a Second Chance. Since my life points hit zero, that card saved me by ending her turn and making both our life points become 1000…” Twilight Sparkle < LP: 0 → 1000 > “Curse… You…” Midnight muttered. Midnight Rose < LP: 0 → 1000 > “Starshine, this is my duel and mine alone. I want you to stay back…” “But Twilight-” “Stay… Back…” Twilight replied sternly. “Don’t worry, I WILL save Trixie.” Midnight continued to struggle against the fighting unicorn but she couldn’t help but laugh at Twilight’s display. “You may have survived that attack thanks to that little stunt Trixie pulled but it changes nothing! You have no more cards left in your deck so the moment you draw you lose!” Twilight simply smirked. “Is that so…?” The alicorn pulled her right leg back and swung forward like a punch signaling the card. “I activate the Foretold Prophecy trap card!” The card flipped up and started glowing. “What!? What does that card do!?” “Foretold Prophecy allows me to shuffle any card from my graveyard back into my deck and then I draw 1 card. If the card I draw happens to be the card I shuffled into the deck, I can play it immediately. If not, I lose 2000 life points.” Twilight ejected a card from her graveyard and shoved it back into her deck slot. “But you have no cards in your deck!” “Exactly, since Trixie already destroyed my entire deck, there are no other cards in my deck to draw so there is no chance of failure!” Twilight grabbed the card and drew it with all her strength. “I made a promise to Trixie and I have no intention of breaking it!” As she held the card up, it exploded into a fiery pink energy. Everypony was in shock at the pure energy radiating from the card, it was nothing like Midnight expected. The flames from the card eventually swirled together in the air converging together to make a giant flaming heart. “I PLAY THE SPELL CARD FIRES OF FRIENDSHIP!” One by one, three stone pillars rose up from the ground around Twilight. Each of the pillars had a different miniature statue at the top of the pillar, one an earth pony, one a pegasus and one a unicorn. “This card can only be played while there are no other cards on my field or in my hand.” “What!?” Midnight roared. “What is going on?” “Like the fires that once united the three tribes, this card allows me to unite the three types of cards, Monsters, Spells and Trap Cards into one card! I am now allowed to play three cards in my graveyard, one monster, one spell and one trap card.” “NO!” “In order to use this effect, I must first banish three cards from my graveyard with the same type as the card I activate.” Twilight looked down at her duel disk and three cards ejected from the graveyard, her Exemplar, Night’s End and World. “With durability and an unbreakable spirit, the power of the earth pony allows me to summon any monster from my graveyard! So, with the power of the earth pony I can summon back my Tempest Magician from beyond the grave!” The earth pony statue began to glow orange and fired a beam of light into the ground in front of Twilight. Her scythe-wielding synchro monster reappeared from the light as strong as it before. Tempest Magician < Level 6 / ATK: 2200 > Three more cards ejected from Twilight graveyard, Draining Shield, Foretold Prophecy and Mirror Force. “With great cunning and unbeatable speed, the power of the Pegasi allows me to bring back a trap card. With the power of the Pegasi I activate the trap Unexpected Reformation from my graveyard!” The pegasus head glowed pink and shot another beam at the same spot causing the card a float up from the light. “This trap activates when a monster is summoned to my field and it allows me to summon a monster from your graveyard with the same type and level as the monster I summoned. Tempest Magician is a Level 6 spellcaster monster so this allows me to so summon a Level 6 spellcaster from your graveyard!” Trixie’s graveyard glowed this time and a beam shot out being absorbed into Twilight’s trap card. The trap card turned around to reveal the card taken from Trixie’s graveyard, the card she cherished, the card that made her think of Starshine. Dark Magician Girl < Level 6 / ATK: 2300 > Dark Magician Girl could only frown at the monstrosity that flew before her; she could practically feel the pain and sorrow coming from her original master. “This is it…” Twilight spoke. This time she ejected her Citadel, Spellbook Tower and Spellbook of Judgement. “With unparalleled power and the wisdom to do great things, the power of unicorn allows me to play a spell card from my graveyard…” Time completely stopped for everyone watching, they knew what was coming. This time, the unicorn head glowed with a bright green and shot another beam into the ground. From the hole another beam of light shot out and landed in Twilight’s right hoof. “When two lost souls are reunited, their light will bring out the power of friendship!” Twilight held the card high as particles of light started flowing towards it. Midnight’s eyes widened at Twilight’s actions. “This light… I’ve seen this before…” With all her strength, she held out the damaged spell card to her side with its back facing upward. “Forbidden Art: Multiple Soul INFUSION!” As she roared the final word, she flipped the card over revealing the damaged Harmony Fusion. It wasn’t visible for long before the card was engulfed in a rainbow flame that quickly burned over the card, changing its entire appearance. The five white stars were replaced with five stars of different color and the once flat purple star was become three dimensional almost like a gem. The once silver text at the top had also taken on a new color, slowly shifting between colors like a rainbow. “I ACTIVATE REFORMED FRIENDSHIP FUSION!” Tempest Magician and Dark Magician Girl started to morph into the familiar white stars but everything changed from there. The stars sparked with energy and launched into the air like lightning bolts, spiraling around each other leaving a rainbow trail. The two trails got closer and closer before impacting the moment they struck the clouds above, exploding into a deafening purple six-pointed star. “Reaper of judgement… Lost sorceress of darkness… An unbreakable vow to save the one who means most! Pave the way to the future and fulfill your DESTINY!” Twilight clapped her front hooves together. “HARMONY FUSION EVOLUTION!” The clouds above bubbled up with a pink glow before releasing a massive beam of light with a loud screech. From within the beam of light, a silhouette of a six-foot-tall woman started to descend. This new creature had long blond hair with streaks of silver leading down to her waistline. She wore a beautiful white dress that dropped down to her knees on her left leg and all the way down to her ankles on her right. She had a pair of translucent scarfs wrapped around her body, a light blue one around her neck and a purple one around her waist with end hanging down her right left. Although her dress was sleeveless, she wore while sleeves that hung from above her elbows and nearly covered up her hands. “This is my wish... Trixie’s wish… OUR WISH!” The woman held her arms out and a large pair of golden angel wings formed over her back. “DESTINY FAITH MAGICIAN!” The new magician shot up into the air, spinning around leaving a trail of golden wings. Once she had pushed through the clouds, she extended her wings one more spreading out the clouds giving a perfect view of the night sky being illuminated by her sacred glow. Ponyville, Canterlot, Manehattan, everywhere in Equestria ponies were waking up and stepping outside to admire the beautiful light. Nopony understood what the being the middle of light was but it didn’t matter to them, the beauty had drawn them in. Twilight’s magician held out her right arm and with a flash of light, Tempest magician’s scythe appear with her hand. It didn’t last long though as the scythe flashed against changing into a long and thin silver staff with a light blue star on the end. Destiny Faith Magician < Level 7 / ATK: 2500 > Midnight was sweating profusely. “That isn’t possible! That mare managed to perform the same spell Celestia did when she created that infernal card… No, she did it even BETTER!” Starshine sat back, stars in her eyes and basking in the radiant aura of the monster. “Trixie…” Destiny Faith Magician lowered herself down to the field so that she was at face level with Trixie’s dragon. “Now the effect of Reformed Friendship Fusion is activated.” Midnight gasped. “What!?” “When I use an opponent’s monster as a material for a fusion summon, Reformed Friendship Fusion allows me to banish one monster on your field, removing it from the game PERMIMENTLY!” A rainbow bolt of lightning rained down the sky striking the dragon and Midnight along with it causing her to scream in agony. The pain caused her to topple over and fall off the dragon although she managed to regain her balance and land on her hooves. The dragon quickly vanished from the field exploding into glowing black particles. “Now, Vengeance Nightmare Magician is summoned in its place.” The particles all gathered together and reformed Trixie’s corrupted Dark Magician, just the way he was when he was first summoned. The magician stared up at his ascended protégé with a look of total fear in his eyes. Vengeance Nightmare Magician < Level 7 / ATK: 2500 > “You summoned back her corrupted magician? But why?” “In order to save Trixie, I much purge every last drop of darkness you infected her with. And with that I activate Destiny Faith Magician’s special ability! When she is successfully summoned, every spell card in my graveyard returns to my deck!” Faith raised her staff forming a large purple portal above her. Several green beams of light shot out and struck Twilight’s deck causing her deck to suddenly grow to about half its full size. “No…” Twilight grasped the top card of her deck and swift drew it leaving a rainbow trail behind the path of the card. “DRAW!” “No.” “I activate Faith’s other special ability!” Twilight took her new card and slid it into the graveyard. “By sending a spell card from my hand to the graveyard, she can destroy all of your spell and trap cards!” “No!” Faith extended her wings and released a blizzard of golden feathers. The feathers blasted Trixie’s cards, causing Blood Contract to lift into the air and explode destroying the tether along with it. Midnight could feel a tear unwillingly leaking through her host’s eye. Twilight pulled her left hoof back, preparing to order the attack. ‘Trixie… Starshine… This is for you…’ She finished her motion and pointed at the Nightmare Magician. “Destiny Faith Magician, attack Vengeance Nightmare Magician!” Faith held her staff up into the air. “They have the same attack points!” “Due to the effect of Reformed Friendship Fusion, when my fusion monster attacks your monster, my monster absorbs all of the attack points of the banished monster! That means my magician now has a grand total of 5500 attack points!” “NOOOOO!” A second lightning bolt came down this time striking Faith’s staff. Destiny Faith Magician < ATK: 2500 → 5500 > “Finish this duel and cleanse Trixie of her darkness once and for all! SACRED BURNING ATTACK!” Twilight’s monster held her sparking staff high lighting up the nighttime sky before shooting a massive flaming beam at the corrupted magician. Immediately before the blast hit, Twilight floated down to the ground and Starshine grabbed onto her for leverage and the two of them shut their eyes. The beam completely engulfed the Vengeance Nightmare Magician causing him to scream in pain. The dark crystals covering his body began to crack and shatter apart. Soon, the crystals all over his body had been completely destroyed leaving behind nothing but the Dark Magician himself. He looked up at his apprentice and gave her a slight smile before the flames took him completely destroying him. The field had erupted into a blazing dome of fire with a strong enough gale force behind it to launch Midnight back and forcefully split her apart from Trixie. When Twilight opened her eyes, she saw Midnight’s form completely disappear into the fire and Trixie was being blown back as the blast effortlessly blew off her armor and cape. Despite the massive amount of pain, she was feeling, Trixie didn’t scream or struggle, she just let herself be blown back with her eyes closed and sobbed tears of joy. “Twilight… You’ve done so much for me… You put your own life at risk to save somepony you barely even knew… I literally cannot thank you enough for… Everything… I hope one day we can actually be friends… For real… I’d like that…” When she opened her eyes, she let all her tears fall unhindered. “Starshine, I never intended to hurt you but I did anyway… I love you more than anything in the world and I hope we can see each other again… Goodbye…” The flames receded and the flying unicorn skid along the ground bouncing several times before falling on her side and rolling. Trixie Lulamoon < LP: 1000 → 0 > With that, Twilight closed her eyes and allowed herself to shed a tear. “We already are friends Trixie… We already are…”