//------------------------------// // Chapter 16 - The Root of Evil (1) // Story: My Little Duel Monsters // by supersaiyanmikito //------------------------------// Starshine continued to clutch onto Twilight for dear life as the explosion dissipated; Twilight had her eyes closed while rubbing the back of Starshine’s head. “It’s ok Starshine… It’s over now…” “But… Trixie…” “I know Starshine…” Starshine just wept into Twilight’s chest uncontrollably. When the explosion finally disappeared, the filly released the alicorn and ran towards the unicorn. Trixie was on her back and eyes closed, her body completely littered with scars and scratches and a black vortex had formed below her. “Trixie!” Starshine ran over to unicorn and leaned down close. Trixie didn’t respond so the filly grabbed her and shook her body like she did Twilight before. “Trixie! Trixie! Please wake up!” A faint noise finally came from the unicorn. The magician groaned painfully and slightly opened her eyes to see the filly above her. “Star… Shine…” “Trixie!” She quickly wrapped her hooves around the blue unicorn but was replied with a painful cry. “Starshine, that hurts!” The filly quickly jumped back and released Trixie. “Sorry…” Trixie’s eyes scanned up and down the filly’s body couple times before her mouth changed to a smile. “I am… Trixie is… Happy… You are ok…” Starshine’s eyes teared up and she shook her head. “But what about you…?” Trixie just shook her head. “Sorry, but Trixie can’t say the same about herself…” “Wha- What do you mean?” “Her monster was destroyed…” Twilight interrupted. Starshine turned back to see the mare approaching them. “When Iseris… Or a card using its power is destroyed; it takes the user’s soul…” Starshine’s eyes teared up even more before suddenly turning back to Trixie. “You can’t die on me! You can’t!” “Trixie isn’t going… To die…” Starshine suddenly stopped and looked at the unicorn. “But… Twilight… She…” “Twilight did die; at least for a while; but that wasn’t because of Trixie’s monster…” Trixie leaned over and grabbed ahold of one of the cards scattered on the ground. “Trixie’s trap card… Caused her death… But Twilight destroyed it before she beat her…” “But what about losing your soul? Doesn’t that mean you’re gone anyway?” “Trixie will be fine… She can be saved…” Twilight’s ears perked up. “Wait… You mean it’s possible to save you? What about my friends?” “Yes… When somepony loses a shadow game, only their souls are lost… Under normally circumstances the body should still remain in a comatose state…” “But… That isn’t what’s happening… Their bodies disappear too…” “That is because Midnight… Is using a spell to transport the victim’s body to her and then she is transforming them into Duel Monsters cards… And using the souls of her victims to power those cards and her magic…” “That is… Awful…” “You’re friends have already been assimilated into her army… And in a few moments, I will be too…” “No… Trixie…” Starshine cried. “But… Her power comes at a cost… She absolutely cannot lose even one duel… Her form has become unstable and losing a duel will destroy her and release all the souls she is harboring inside her…” “So, if we beat Midnight… Everything will return to normal? Everypony will come back?” “Yes… Luna… Gilda and Blueblood… and all your friends…” The vortex below her suddenly expanded and released a few black sparks. “It’s time… In a few moments Trixie will be nothing but Midnight’s mindless puppet…” As the vortex expanded, a faint glow suddenly came from Twilight’s graveyard. The alicorn looked down at her duel disk and held her hoof in front of her graveyard right as a card ejected out. She took ahold a card, realizing what it was; it was the Reformed Friendship Fusion card she had created during her duel. “What in- AH!” The card suddenly flashed with a powerful completely blinding the three mares. With a flash of black lightning, a black alicorn appeared in the dark hall. She was covered in scratches and her body was smoking from the attack she took on. “Curse that Element of Magic…” She muttered, slumping over and grabbing her front right leg for support “I can’t believe she ascended this early, she shouldn’t have been ready this soon…” The alicorn closed her eyes and rested for a moment. “I can’t believe it, I had so much planned for Trixie and little Starshine and all of it just went down the drain.” Then a thought came to her. “Although I guess in the end it doesn’t matter, Trixie still lost the duel. More importantly, she let Nightmare Eternity Dragon be destroyed by Harmony Fusion… Er… Reformed Friendship Fusion I guess it is now…” Midnight then held out her right hoof and a blank Duel Monster’s card appeared in her hoof. “Now that that her soul is lost, she will be more useful to me in my deck…” She looked at the blank card for a moment, opening her eyes wide letting them flash red. A black vortex formed in front of her and the card started to glow. “You will make a fine addition to my deck…” She waited for a few moments and the card continued to glow. She smirked at the card waiting for the image to burn in and continued to smirk. After a few moments, her smirk dropped and the glow around the card suddenly started to fade, still completely blank. “What the?” Her eyes opened and flashed again, causing the blank card to glow. It went on for a few moments then the light died out again, leaving the card blank. “What in Equestria is going on, why won’t my spell work!?” She tried once again putting a lot more energy into it this time, but the glow only lasted about a second before the light died out. This time the blank card template completely disintegrated itself and the black vortex disappeared. She growled to herself and closed her eyes. She concentrated for a moment, using her power she tried to sense for the location of Trixie’s soul. Her eyes suddenly opened, finally realizing the problem. “TRIXIE DIDN’T LOSE HER SOUL!?” Starshine had clung onto Twilight again after being blinded by the light. When the light finally disappeared, Twilight opened her eyes again. “Starshine? Are you ok?” The filly opened her eyes again and nodded. “What in Equestria was that light about?” “Twilight?” A voice asked. Both Twilight and Starshine were confused by the voice, until they looked down. There on the ground was Trixie, her injuries almost completely healed and the vortex gone. She pushed herself and looked over her body. “What?” She then pounded the ground below. “The vortex… It’s gone…” She then moved to her body, now looking at her hooves. “It… Didn’t take Trixie…?” Twilight and Starshine took a step back. “Impossible…” Twilight muttered. She looked down at the glowing card in her hoof just as the glow faded. “How… Did I…?” Trixie suddenly turned to the purple alicorn. “Twilight, what did you do?” “I… I have no idea…” Twilight just stared at the card unmoving. A thought suddenly came to Trixie. “How… Did you create that card?” “Well… Celestia said Harmony Fusion was made using the Element of Magic so I figured that was causing its imperfections. It needs the power of all six Elements so I tried channeling the other five Elements through my own… Wait…” Twilight finally looked away from the card and turned to Trixie. “When the Elements were used on Nightmare Moon; it didn’t seal her away; it purified her and removed the evil she had… I think…” Twilight turned back to the card. “I think when I used this card on you; it severed the dark magic and saved you…” Trixie looked back down at her hooves. “You mean… Trixie is free…?” “It would appear so…” Starshine said nothing the whole conversation, just allowing tears to fall from her eyes. She suddenly tackled the blue unicorn to the ground startling her. “Starshine?” Trixie asked. “I’M SO HAPPY YOUR SAFE!” She screamed. Trixie said nothing at first, just smiling at the filly before hugging her. “Yeah… She is too…” The two remained in the embrace for a few moments before Starshine let go and allowed Trixie to stand up fully. Twilight approached the two unicorns, pulling the lone card off her duel disk deactivating the disk entirely. “Trixie… I think this belongs to you…” Trixie turned to Twilight see her handing her the card. Trixie took ahold of the card and looked down at it; it was her Dark Magician Girl. “Thanks, by the way…” Trixie looked back up the mare. “What?” “You saved me… If it wasn’t for you, I would be dead right now… I also would have never discovered the key to unlocking Harmony Fusion’s true power… So… Thanks…” Trixie looked back down at the card intensely for several moments. Finally, she closed her eyes. “Starshine… Can you leave us for a moment please…?” Starshine was confused and looked at the two mares. “Trixie wishes to speak with Twilight alone please…” The filly nodded and walked away from the field, hiding behind a tree. Before Twilight could ask anything, she saw Trixie handing the card back to her. “You… Don’t you want it?” Trixie didn’t reply, she just continued to hand out to card to her. “But…” The alicorn finally took the card back and looked at it. “But I thought you loved this card…” “I do…” Trixie suddenly leaped forward and wrapped her hooves around Twilight’s neck in a hug. Twilight was shocked at Trixie’s sudden display of affection and froze up. After a few moments, she hugged the mare back. Trixie let her tears fall and leaned in close to Twilight’s ear. “Take care of her…” Twilight suddenly froze up again as Trixie released her. The blue unicorn gave the now alicorn a sincere smile and with a flash of magic, there was a burst of smoke and she vanished from view. Starshine heard the explosion and came out from the tree. “Trixie? Huh?” She looked around for the unicorn but didn’t see her anywhere. “Where did she go?” Twilight was completely frozen staring forward. “Take care of her…?” “Huh? What happened to Trixie?” “Take care of her…? What did she-” Her eyes suddenly widened, realizing what she meant. “No… She didn’t…” Within the Castle of the Two Sisters, Midnight stood at the top of the steps of the main foyer looking out the back window. She stood there for several moments before a loud bang echoed behind her. “So… You decided to show your face…” Midnight scowled. From the smoke of the explosion, the blue unicorn stepped out never taking her eyes of the alicorn. “You know why Trixie is here Midnight…” Midnight slowly turned around and stared at the mare. “First you betray me and now you wish to rectify your mistake by destroying me, am I warm?” “Boiling…” “Hmf…” Midnight scoffed. “Trixie… You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into…” “What Trixie didn’t know was what kind of a sick twisted mare you truly were. You told me you wished to bring peace to Equestria by destroying our tyrannical leader and her little ‘cult’ trying to force their ways on ponies, yet so far everything you told me and been nothing but lies and slander!” “Lies and slander… Like the kind you suffered… You forget your place; you would be dead if it wasn’t for me…” “You manipulated me and almost allowed me to kill the very pony I love most!” “You really think I was going to let that happen? I never intended for Starshine to die, I intended to show up earlier in your duel to warn you of the problem and help her but that… Princess… Had to suddenly get a confidence boost at the most inconvenient of times and threw a wrench into the plan. By the time I reached you it was too little too late, I had to resort to plan B and take control of your body by forcing you into an angered state.” This angered Trixie even more. “Yes, just keep telling yourself that. Keep telling yourself you’re some kind of messiah trying to change the world. Face it, you’re just corrupt and want Equestria for yourself. Either that or you truly are insane.” “I may be insane but my actions are just. Celestia has corrupted this world and turned even the kindest of ponies into her slaves and they don’t even know it, but the fact of the matter is that not everypony is salvageable. Even if Celestia is destroyed some ponies will continue to follow her biased method and condemn those who she automatically deems evil. I plan on passing judgement on those foolish enough to believe in her ways.” “That is why we have things like laws and a legal system, to ward out those who wish be unjust.” “Hmf…” Midnight scoffed again. “Is it unjust to steal because you don’t have the bits to feed yourself or your loved ones? Is it unjust to harm those who wish nothing else then to harm you first?” Midnight stepped forward and raised her head high. “IS IT UNJUST… TO PROTECT YOUR LOVED ONES EVEN IF IT MEANS CONDEMNING YOUR SOUL TO DAMNATION!?” Trixie took a sudden step back from the outburst. “You don’t know the first thing about sacrifice! It’s easy to protect somepony with your life… But… I’m willing to take it further then that…” Slowly, Midnight started walking forward and down the stairs. “Even death will not stop me from accomplishing my goal. I don’t care if I burn in the depths of Tartarus for all of eternity, if it means saving the ones, I love then I damn well welcome it!” Not taking her eyes off Trixie, her shadow duel disk materialized on her hoof. Likewise, Trixie held up her leg and her shadow duel disk appeared. “If you plan on burning in the depths of Tartarus, then I will be happy to accommodate you, even if it means taking you with me…” Simultaneously, their two duel disks shot out their slots before expanding out the black wings like it always had. “I can never be forgiven for the crimes I have committed but neither can you, let’s burn for our sins together!” Trixie Lulamoon < LP: 4000 > Midnight Rose < LP: 4000 > “LET US DUEL!!!!” “That stupid, stupid unicorn!” Twilight yelled. “After everything that just happened the first thing she does is try to take on Midnight herself!?” Starshine stepped up closer to Twilight with a confused look “Twilight, what happened to Trixie?” Twilight turned to the filly. “I’m… I’m sorry…” This only made Starshine more confused. “Trixie… She…” Twilight was suddenly cut off by a loud flapping noise above her. She looked up and was shocked to see Princess Celestia hovering above her “Princess!” “Twilight!” The princess quickly swooped down and embraced Twilight into a bone crushing hug. “I thought I had lost you…” Twilight was surprised. “You… saw the whole thing…?” Celestia pulled away and looked into mare’s eyes with tears streaming down her face. “I didn’t need to; I could feel it in my heart that something happened to you… But then I saw the elements. I didn’t want to believe it but it’s true… You actually did it, you actually did it!” “Did what princess…?” “Twilight, look at your back…” Twilight did what she was told and looked at her back. Her eyes widened at the feathered appendages now seamlessly attached to her back. “I… have wings…? But how…?” “You met the requirements and you didn’t even need my help, you did it on your own.” “Requirements…?” “One ascends by creating an entirely new form of magic, one unheard of before now.” “A new form of magic…” A light went off in Twilight’s head. “Harmony Fusion…” Celestia said nothing and just looked at her student with a smile. “When I died… I saw you… and Midnight… I think it was the duel from 800 years ago when you first beat her. I saw the way you created that card and, in that moment, I realized the primary design flaw in the card. So, I took the card and added in the thing that it was missing and perfected it and it’s thanks to that I managed to win my duel…” “I see, not only did you make a new kind of magic but it was one I myself failed at. By doing so you proved yourself worthy and the elements granted you your new power. You’re no longer a unicorn Twilight, you’re an alicorn and with that you are no longer my student either…” “Wait, what?” Celestia leaned in close and whispered to her. “You’re now my equal… And don’t even think of yourself any lower… Princess Twilight Sparkle…” Twilight took a couple steps back to process everything. “A princess… An alicorn princess…” While this was going on, the little filly known as Starshine was looking up at the two mares. ‘Twilight Sparkle… A princess…’ She thought to herself. She simply smiled at the thought. ‘I’m sorry I ever doubted you…’ Celestia finally turned and noticed the filly. “Hello, who do we have here?” Twilight instantly broke out of her stupor and turned her attention to Starshine. “Oh Princess-” “Please, I told you we are equals. There is no need to be so formal with me.” “Right… Celestia, this is Starshine Hope, she is the one I wrote to you about.” “Oh yes, Lulamoon’s student. It’s nice to see the genius with my own eyes.” The child was a bit dumbfounded. “Me…? A genius…?” “Yes, Twilight told me great things about you…” Celestia’s eyes squinted a bit and she leaned in close to the filly. She looked her straight in the eyes for several moments before backing off. “Ah, so that’s it huh?” “Yes Celestia, she has the gift. Not only does it explain her inability to use magic but it also explains Trixie’s abnormal power.” “Speaking of which, where is the unicorn?” The princess spoke looking around. “I don’t see the markings that are normally left behind when someone loses…” “Oh no, I completely forgot!” Celestia and Starshine quickly turned back to Twilight. “I think she left to go fight Midnight on her own!” At that moment, Starshine suddenly tensed up and her left eye flickered to a yellow color. “She’s fighting her right now; I can feel it…” Twilight growled. “There has to be something we can do…” She thought for a moment before remembering something. “Princess, I have a question to ask you…” “What is it, Twilight?” “Where is Midnight buried?” Celestia recoiled a bit at this seemingly random question. “I know from the vision that you buried her someplace isolated. I want to see if a theory of mine is true…” “Well… I see no reason to hide it from you… We’ll go to Canterlot where she is held.” Twilight turned her attention back to Starshine. “What about Starshine?” “We take her with us, we’ll explain everything to her parents later but for now she is the only link we have to Trixie and if she can somehow telekinetically communicate with Trixie then we need her with us to report on the situation.” “Right…” Celestia stepped up close to Twilight and leaned down. “Twilight, touch your horn to mine, Starshine you do the same. We’ll pull our energy together and teleport all at once.” The two mares nodded and did what she said. “To Canterlot...” With a flash and a bang, the three ponies were gone. “I’ll be the one to start!” Midnight yelled, swiftly drawing her card. She eyed the card for a moment before turning back to the unicorn. “I’ll start off with the spell card Celestia’s Morning Sun! With this, I am able to add any Equestrian monster from my deck straight to my hand.” A single card slid out from her deck; she proceeded to pulled it out and reveal it to Trixie. “With it I’m adding Equestrian Rainbow Dash to my hand, but she won’t be there long.” The alicorn swiftly threw the card onto her duel disk. “Take flight Equestrian Rainbow Dash!” A rainbow tempest spun up on the field for a few seconds before the cyan pegasus materialized on the field with the same blank expression as the ponies used against Celestia. Equestrian Rainbow Dash < Level 4 / ATK: 1700 > Trixie grunted. “Trixie should have known you would use this deck against her…” “You were one of my best followers so now you’re going to feel the true weight of what you helped create.” “You little…” Midnight simply smirked. “Next, I play an equip spell; Edged Wing Blade.” A pair of sharp blades suddenly appeared over Rainbow Dash’s wings, before expanding out into massive metal wings at large as her body. “This card and equip onto a Winged-Beast Equestrian monster for an extra 800 ATK points.” Equestrian Rainbow Dash < ATK: 1700 → 2500 > “And with that I end my turn… Do your worst oh Great and Powerful Trixie…” Trixie grit her teeth. “She will…” Trixie swiftly drew her card and looked at it. “I summon Skilled Dark Magician!” Trixie’s monster appeared on the field looking like a dark wizard with brown clothing and dark blue armor. He held a short metal staff with a black ball on the end. Skilled Dark Magician < Level 4 / ATK: 1900 > “Skilled Dark Magician, attack Equestrian Rainbow Dash!” Midnight was shocked. “What in Equestria are you doing? Rainbow Dash is far stronger than that magician!” With lightning speed, she shoved a card into her duel disk. “Go quick-play spell! Forbidden Lance! This lance reduces the ATK power of any monster wielding it by 800. Not only that but the lance blocks any spell or traps from affecting that monster.” A long golden lance with black trimming suddenly appeared in Rainbow’s hoof. “Since Rainbow Dash is now holding the lance that means your Edged Wing Blade can no longer give her the ATK boost and on top of that she loses another 800 points!” Equestrian Rainbow Dash < ATK: 2500 → 900 > Skilled Dark Magician followed up with his attack, blasting Rainbow Dash with a small black electric sphere. Midnight stood her ground against the blast. Midnight Rose < LP: 4000 → 3000 > “And with that, I’ll end my turn…” The smoke slowly started to clear up, showing Midnight. However what Trixie wasn’t expecting was to see the cyan pegasus still standing. Midnight quietly laughed to herself. Equestrian Rainbow Dash < ATK: 900 → 2500 > “Wait, I destroyed Rainbow Dash! How is she still standing?” “Don’t tell me you haven’t figured it out? Rainbow Dash is the most loyal of ponies; did you really think a simple attack would take her down that easy? As long as Rainbow Dash remains in attack position, she can survive one attack per turn without being destroyed.” Trixie just growled in response. “My turn…” Midnight drew her card and her eyes widened when she saw her draw. “AHAHAHAAAA! I play Fated Souls!” The card lit up with a bright energy. “All I have to do is sacrifice a monster on my field and then I can summon 2 Equestrian monsters directly from my deck!” Rainbow Dash quickly disappeared from the field and two more cards shot out from Midnight’s deck. “Hope you’re ready to see some familiar faces Trixie!” Midnight roughly threw down the two cards onto her duel disk and two blank soulless figures appeared along with it. Trixie’s eyes shrunk with terror when the figures appeared. Equestrian Prince Blueblood < Level 3 / ATK: 1000 > Equestrian Griffon Gilda < Level 5 / ATK: 2300 > Trixie stared speechless at her two former comrades now in Midnight’s control. She admits they were both really rude but they still fought for the same cause. “You… I can’t…” “Can’t believe I would be using them, why not? They both lost their souls to Iseris and so I’m putting these two failures to good use…” The graveyard portal suddenly opened up in front of Midnight. “But before I do anything else… When my Edged Wing Blade is sent to the graveyard, it destroys one monster on your field.” Several sharp blades came out flying out the hole and slashing and stabbing Trixie’s magician. “Not my monster!” The monster exploded soon after leaving her nothing on the field. “Sadly, any monster summoned by Fated Souls cannot attack during the turn they are summoned. I also can’t normal summon during the turn it’s used… Which means…” Midnight’s smile suddenly started growing wide. “What are you planning to do…?” “You see, even though my monsters can’t attack, both my monsters take on the same level as the monster I sacrificed. Since Rainbow Dash was a Level 4 monster, Blueblood and Gilda both become Level 4…” Equestrian Prince Blueblood < Level 3 → 4 > Equestrian Griffon Gilda < Level 5 → 4 > Midnight held her right hoof into the air. “Now… With Level 4 Equestrian Griffon Gilda and Equestrian Prince Blueblood, I build the overlay network!” Gilda and Blueblood changed into colored silhouettes of energy; Gilda green and Blueblood yellow. The two energies bounced into the air crisscrossing each other before launching into the air. The field was engulfed in floating stars and the large galaxy opened up in the floor between them. The two spheres spiraled into the galaxy and exploded into blinding light. “Ruler of the night, awaken from your slumber and eradicate these treasonous foals! I XYZ SUMMON!” With a bolt of lightning, a silhouette of the night princess came into view shrouded by the nighttime darkness. With a burst of wind, the darkness blew away revealing the full mare. “Appear before us, Rank 4, Equestrian Princess Luna!” Equestrian Princess Luna < Rank 4 / ATK: 2200 > Trixie didn’t allow the appearance of the night alicorn deter her. In fact, she was smiling. “Right on schedule…” She muttered. Deep within the walls of Canterlot, Twilight, Celestia and Starshine were going down a dimply lit spiral staircase. The bleak brick walls were lined with torches and blocked off all light and sound from the outside. “Woh, I never knew this place existed…” Twilight exclaimed. “Then I did my job. I couldn’t risk anypony finding this secret.” Celestia replied. Twilight thought for a moment. “That is the part I don’t fully understand, why go through so much trouble hiding her and the truth? I mean it’s not like the existence of Nightmare Moon and Discord were common knowledge but you didn’t go through the trouble of covering it up. Heck, you had Discord out in the open in the garden.” “There are a few reasons actually… One is that unlike other threats to Equestria, other ponies were willingly rallying alongside her. Her words weren’t just those of one who wanted total domination, she spoke of things many ponies actually believed in but didn’t have the courage to do anything about it. Secondly, she was just a normal earth pony…” Starshine was confused. “How does that make her more dangerous?” “It doesn’t; however, the fact that a common earth pony was able to get that much power without anypony knowing is the problem. If it was known anypony could acquire this kind of power, ponies would go to war trying to get it. There is also the problem surrounding Midnight’s ‘death’… Every other major threat to Equestria were sealed or locked away, but Midnight had her soul completely ripped from her body leaving her an empty shell. Her body was still alive but in a permanent comatose state so I couldn’t risk someone finding a way to use her defenseless body to their advantage.” Finally, they hit the bottom and found a lone wooden door with a hinge. “We’re here…” With her magic, the hinge lifted and pulled the door open. Twilight and Starshine’s eyes suddenly widened at what was in front of them. “Woh…” “How…?” Rather than the dark and bleak chamber they were expecting, they were now staring at a lush green meadow surrounded by trees. “I put a powerful illusion spell over the room. Felt like the right thing to do…” The two followed the alicorn to the center of the meadow where few small pedestals scattered around with a single pedestal in the center surrounded by flowers. Right on the pedestal was the motionless body of Midnight Rose, completely unaffected by age and free of all dark impurities like they had seen recently. Her body maintained her original pink coat and dark red mane. “I don’t understand… How has she not decomposed yet?” “I had assumed it was because she wasn’t actually dead, just in comatose. I honestly can’t give you a proper answer as I don’t know myself.” Twilight just closed her eyes and thought for a moment. “Trixie and Midnight both said things that got me thinking and see this just confirmed it.” She opened her eyes again and looked directly at the Princess. “When Midnight was in Trixie’s body, she said something along the lines of ‘I wish this mortal body was better or I would keep it’ and ‘It would be nice having a real body.’ Later Trixie told me that Midnight’s body is unstable and that she will release everypony she’s captured if we defeat her. If Midnight’s body is here then we can only assume the Midnight we have been fighting is some kind of specter without a body.” “But why hasn’t she returned to her body? You think she doesn’t know her body is still here?” “Who knows, that mare is so far off the deep end it’s hard to tell what she thinks…” While Twilight and Celestia were discussing Midnight, Starshine had wondered over to a smaller pedestal with a framed picture. It wasn’t a photo image like most ponies would frame, rather it looked like a child’s drawing. The drawing contained 4 earth ponies, a tall brown stallion with yellow hair, a dark purple mare with red and pink striped hair, a pale tan colt with light brown hair and a light pink filly with bright red hair. Across the top they were labeled ‘Dad, Mom, Me and Sis’. “His name was Orion…” A voice spoke. Starshine turned back to see the Princess standing over her. “While Midnight loved her village and those close to her, Orion preferred the unknown and wanted to explore the undiscovered…” Celestia simply shook her head. “First thing Orion wanted to do was explore Equestria and find where his sister was…” Starshine had no idea how to respond. “Treasure those close to you, use your love keep the darkness out, and not let it in.” Starshine frowned remembering the battle that happened only a short while ago. She didn’t know whether to blame Midnight or herself. Midnight may have manipulated her and Trixie with a lust for revenge but at the same time it was something she wanted. Even before her earliest memory of Midnight appearing in her dreams, she was just wishing for something bad to happen to Twilight. At that moment, her eye flashed golden again. “Trixie!” Twilight suddenly turned back to the filly. “What’s wrong?” “I feel like Trixie is getting ready to do something, she is preparing for something big.” Celestia nodded and turned back to Twilight. “Twilight, anything else you need to see?” She simply shook her head. “No, I got everything I came to look for.” “Then let’s get out of here and find your friend. This area nullifies most magic so we’ll need to get to the surface again before we teleport back.” The others all nodded before proceeding to leave the chamber. Midnight just smirked. “Princess Luna, attack Trixie’s life points directly with MOONLIGHT BLAST!” Luna flew up into the air directly into the moonlight. She charged up a dark blue energy blast and fired it directly at Trixie exploding on impact. Trixie Lulamoon < LP: 4000 → 1800 > “That was just a taste of my power… I set one card face-down and end my turn…” Trixie swiftly drew her card without a word. “I play the spell card Cost Down; this allows me to reduce the level of all monsters in my hand by 2. All I have to do is discard Magician’s Valkyria from my hand as cost.” She slid one of her cards into her graveyard and then immediately placed another card on the duel disk. “With that, I can now summon the Level 6 Chaos Command Magician without a sacrifice!” Trixie’s new magician was near identical to the Dark Magician but his armor was green with a gold trim and the armor was more jagged and spiked. Chaos Command Magician < Level 6 / ATK: 2400 > “And now that there are two monsters in my graveyard; one DARK and one LIGHT; I can banish them to summon my Chaos Sorcerer!” Skilled Dark Magician and Magician’s Valkyria floated out into the field from a graveyard portal and vanished. In their place was wizard about the size of Chaos Command Magician covered in black clothing and belts with grey skin and yellow eyes. Chaos Sorcerer < Level 6 / ATK: 2300 > “Chaos Sorcerer has the power to banish any monster on the field and remove it from play…” Midnight stepped back and grit her teeth. “However, I have a much better plan then that; one to ensure you won’t survive this turn!” Midnight’s eyes suddenly widened as Trixie’s spellcasters both transformed into glowing silhouettes, one yellow and one purple. “With Level 6 Chaos Command Magician and Chaos Sorcerer… TRIXIE BUILDS THE OVERLAY NETWORK!” “Impossible!” Midnight screamed. The two silhouettes crossed each other in an X-formation and spiraled into the air creating a double helix. The room was filled and stars and the overlay network formed between them. The two spellcasters flew into the vortex and exploded with a great light. “Great sorceress of darkness; entrance your enemies with your divine beauty!” From the light emerged a woman similar to Dark Magician Girl but with a much skimpier black outfit and looking a little older. I Xyz Summon, Magi Magi Magician Gal!” The new magician stood up straight giving Midnight a wink. Magi Magi Magician Gal < Rank 6 / ATK: 2400 > Midnight stood there nearly speechless. “Where did you learn to do that…?” “Since Princess Luna was Trixie’s target, she took it upon herself to… Borrow… A few things from her… My Magician Gal is but one of my new monsters I will use to destroy you.” At this moment, one of the purple orbs circling Magician Gal flew into her staff. “By using an Overlay Unit and banishing one card from my hand, Magi Magi Magician Gal has the ability switch control of a monster on your field to me!” Magician Gal held out her staff towards Luna and sent out a series of purple pulses. Due to the energy, Luna disappeared form Midnight’s field and reappeared on Trixie’s field. “Your Xyz Monster belongs to Trixie now! However, I’m not done yet…” A small compartment on the back of Trixie’s duel disk suddenly opened and a card shot out, which she promptly took. “Trixie overlays Magi Magi Magician Gal and builds the overlay network once again!” Magician Gal turned into a purple silhouette like monster before her and flew into the overlay network. “BEHOLD; the evolved ultimate wizard; Rank 7; Ebon Illusion Magician!” This time a new form of the normal Dark Magician emerged with darker colored skin and massively long white hair. Ebon Illusion Magician < Rank 7 / ATK: 2500 > “Yet another trick Trixie learned from Princess Luna. Some Xyz monsters can be overlayed a second time and create an even stronger monster.” Midnight didn’t say anything, she just scowled. “Now, Ebon Illusion Magician will use its special ability.” One of Illusion Magician’s purple spheres flew up to his staff just like with Magician Gal. He held up his staff and a portal opened above him. “By using one Overlay Unit, Ebon Illusion Magician can summon a normal Spellcaster directly from my deck!” From the portal dropped another Dark Magician, this time however it looked completely normal. It was no longer black and malicious looking and now had its purple armor. Dark Magician < Level 7 / ATK: 2500 > “Now I have more than enough firepower to take you down. Ebon Magician, attack her Life Points directly!” The Xyz Magician held his staff up and charged up grey energy into its staff before firing. “I’m not finished yet!” Midnight’s face-down card suddenly flipped up revealing an artifact similar to monster reborn but with a touch of Twilight’s cutie mark mixed in. “Friendship Reborn allows me to summon a monster from my graveyard as long as I can reveal an Equestrian monster from my hand!” Midnight took a card from her hand and revealed it to Trixie. “I reveal Equestrian Applejack! This means I can bring back Equestrian Rainbow Dash from my graveyard.” The graveyard portal formed in front of Midnight and Rainbow Dash flew and took stance. Equestrian Rainbow Dash < Level 4 / ATK: 1700 > “Also, any monster summoned by the effect of Friendship Reborn gains 100 ATK times the level of the monster I revealed. That means Rainbow Dash gets an extra 400 ATK points.” A faint rainbow glow formed around the pegasus. Equestrian Rainbow Dash < ATK: 1700 → 2100 > Ebon Illusion Magician’s attack finally hit and struck Rainbow Dash head on. The blast pushed Midnight back but Rainbow Dash held and didn’t blow up. Midnight Rose < LP: 3000 → 2600 > “Rainbow Dash can survive one attack per turn while she is in attack position so she isn’t destroyed.” “Next, it’s Dark Magician’s turn to attack!” Dark Magician held up his staff and started charging up. “At this moment, Ebon Illusion Magician activates his special ability!” While still charging, Ebon Magician held him arms together forming a small black hole attack and fired it at Rainbow Dash. “When a normal Spellcaster monster attacks, Ebon Illusion Magician can banish one card on your field and then Dark Magician will have a straight shot at your life points!” “Not today!” Just before the black hole hit, a rainbow barrier formed around Rainbow Dash. “Any monster summoned by the effect of Friendship Reborn cannot be targeted or destroyed by card effects the turn they are summoned!” The black hole hit the rainbow barrier making a grinding sound for a few moments before disappearing. “Good try though…” Trixie made a growling noise. “Dark Magician, attack Rainbow Dash and destroy her for real this time! DARK MAGIC ATTACK!” Dark Magician charged up an attack and blasted Rainbow Dash. This time she was actually destroyed. Midnight Rose < LP: 2600 → 2200 > “AND NOW!” Trixie took her stance and dug her hooves into the ground. “With only 2200 Life Points, Princess Luna has exactly what I need to end this. Your own monster will be your undoing! Princess Luna, finish off her off with MOONLIGHT BLAST!” Luna charged up another blast into her horn while floating in the moonlight. She fired the blast directly at Midnight who took stance. Once the blast hit, the field erupted into a massive dark blue explosion. “YES!” At this moment, there was a flash of light behind Trixie and 3 newcomers popped into view. “Trixie!” The blue unicorn suddenly spun around. “Starshine, Twilight, Princess!?” “Did you do it; did you take that bad pony down!?” Starshine asked. Trixie panted a couple times. “Yeah, Trixie thinks so…” “Don’t be so sure…” A voice spoke. The 4 ponies suddenly turned towards to smoke cloud that was dissipating. When the smoke cleared, Midnight could still be seen standing, smiling at them. Midnight Rose < LP: 1100 > Trixie was completely stunned. “What!? That attack should have finished you!” Midnight just dusted her legs off. “It would have if it wasn’t for my trap. You see, when a monster summoned by the effect of Friendship Reborn is destroyed, all damage I take for the remainder of the turn is halved…” “Aw man…” Starshine exclaimed. Trixie growled. “You slippery little…” Midnight suddenly began to clap using her wings to stay upright. “Very, very nice attempt though, I’m actually kind of enjoying this.” “Well, you won’t be enjoying it for much longer!” Twilight interrupted activating her duel disk. “Now that we are here, we will take you down together.” However, as she stepped forward, Trixie held out of front leg to block her. “What?” “No Twilight, this is Trixie’s battle.” Trixie turned to the now-alicorn with a stern look. “My reason for taking down Midnight is personal and I intend to follow through myself…” “Trixie, don’t be stupid! Don’t try taking her on yourself over some kind of personal revenge!” “It’s more than that, I have spent years going around telling made up stories of all my great accomplishments and so far, the only actual accomplishments I’ve done is drag Equestria closer to its destruction. It doesn’t matter to me whether I actually defeat Midnight or die in the process, if I’m going down, I’m going down knowing I am doing the right thing…” Twilight just frowned. “Is this what the Great and Powerful Trixie really wants?” The unicorn just nodded. “Yes, it is…” She slowly turned back to look at Midnight. “If I fail here, it’s up to you and the others Twilight. I am sure if you and the Pharaoh team up you will be able to take her out once and for all…” “Already giving in to your fate traitor?” Midnight sneered. Trixie snickered in response. “Of course not, especially when Trixie has you right where she wants you…” “Huh?” Suddenly a portal opened up in front of her and a trap came out. “I activate the trap card Magician Wormhole from my banished zone!” “WHAT!?” “Remember that card Trixie banished for Magician Gal’s effect? Well, it was a very special card, it may not do much on its own but if the card is banished then at the end of my turn, I can set any ‘Magic’ trap card from my deck directly to the field and the card I choose is Magic Cylinder!” With the card in hoof, she threw it into her duel disk making it appear face-down. “And with that, my turn comes to an end and Luna returns to your field.” Luna vanished from the field again and reappeared back on Midnight’s field. “Not much of a trap when I know what it is.” Midnight smirked. “Once I declare an attack, Magic Cylinder will reflect the attack back at my Life Points. All I have to do is get rid of it and you’re finished!” Trixie smirked back. “Don’t think it will be that easy. You seem to have forgotten Luna’s special ability.” “What about Luna’s special ability…?” Midnight stood clueless for a few moments until… “OH NO!” “That’s right; Luna has a little passive ability you seem to have forgotten about. As long as she remains on the field, all face-down cards cannot be destroyed by card effects. You said it yourself; all your Equestrian cards have the power of their living counterparts and Luna’s job is to protect the dreams of her subject so all inactive cards are untouchable while she is in play…” “Incredible…” Celestia commented. “She is using Midnight’s own cards against her, now if she wants to get anywhere, he has to destroy her own card…” “Yep, that’s my Trixie!” Starshine cheered. Midnight was growing more and more frustrated with the unicorn and her growling was starting to get louder. “Alright, that… is… IT!” She suddenly roared with power and a black aura shrouded her. “MY TURN! I DRAAAAAAW!” As Midnight drew her card, it left a flaming black trail behind it. “Your pain and sorrow have only been that of a mortal… I will make sure you feel true suffering like I had experienced many years ago!” Midnight held the card she drew up high and the field was suddenly engulfed in a dark light making the room almost entirely black. “The time for games is over, no more holding back!” She suddenly lowered her front leg to show the card. “Rank-Up-Magic Nightmare Force!” Trixie suddenly stepped back. “What the…? Rank-Up-Magic?” “This card ranks up my Xyz Monster into another more powerful DARK Xyz Monster that is one rank higher! I rebuild the Overlay Network with Rank 4 Princess Luna!” Luna suddenly changed into purple-colored energy like the monsters before her, shooting into the air. “Go, Rank-Up Xyz Evolution!” As the Overlay Network formed on the ceiling, Luna swerved back and forth flying into it causing a black explosion. “Forgotten Queen of the night, break your shackles and engulf the world in your eternal darkness!” From the network came a pitch-black sphere that roared with red energy. The sphere was covered in thick chains and had 3 purple Overlay Units orbiting it. Inside, eyes suddenly opening up to reveal cat-like blue eyes and her teeth growing out sharp. Suddenly, the chains lit up bright red and shattered with clang, revealing the silhouette of an alicorn. Purple grid lines formed all over the sphere until it was glowing with a bright purple color. “BEHOLD! Equestrian Nightmare Moon!” Finally, the sphere exploded with energy releasing the black creature inside with a dark starry mane and blue armor. The group of unicorns and alicorns all stood speechless at the familiar black alicorn. “N-No…” Celestia muttered quietly with tears dripping from her eyes. Meanwhile, Midnight could only laugh.