Where did you come from?

by Jeweled Pen

Chapter 24: Card games

Sweetie, Silverbelle, Claw, Scootaloo, Applebloom, Diamond and Silver Spoon gulped as they came to the castle, looking up at the small battalion of soldiers standing guard outside the door. As they came closer the ponies looked down at them. “State your business.” One of the unicorns said.

“We're here to see Miss Cheerilee and Val,” Scootaloo said nervously as she stared into the stony eyes of the guard. He gazed down at her for a few moments before... smiling and moving aside, pulling the door open.

“Well, you kids have fun. They're on the second floor, third door on the right.”

“Oh, ummm, thank yah kindly,” Applebloom said and the ponies started walking, giving each other curious glances before shrugging. They soon came to the door and paused as it opened.

Cheerilee was sitting on one end of the bed with Val in her lap, gently pointing over his shoulder towards the cards held in his hooves. “Okay. You can place this one since you have three of them and use it as a resource. Then bring out this guy. Remember his effect?”

“Yeah! He has three power, I know.” Val nodded quickly and put his cards down, before grinning. “Okay, Mask, now you're going to lose, again!”

“Oh ho ho ho ho!” Flash said. At least, it looked like Flash. He was wearing the... strangest mask any of them had ever seen. “None can defeat... the Mask! But summon another soldier if you think you can!”

“I will beat you!” Val yelped, his voice getting high pitched. He then pointed forward. “I attack with my pegasus cloud maker!”

“Ugh! A powerful strike!” the Mask said, recoiling back slightly. “I take the hit and draw an armor card.”

“Good, I end my turn!” Val said proudly, smirking. He was winning, crushing this silly pony. Did he really think he could defeat the great and powerful Val?

… Well, defeat him again. But the first time was just a fluke! And the time before that. He'd won before that, of course. Cheerilee was helping him with the big words on the cards, too. He could do this. He would do this. He was the greatest commander of all time.

“I draw!” the Mask said, drawing a card dramatically.

Cheerilee rolled her eyes. She wished that Flash would knock it off, but on the other hoof Val seemed to be having a lot of fun as he tried playing with the cards. It would help with his reading and math skills too, probably. Most importantly, he was using his hooves to hold the cards and not even noticing. As long as Flash kept him distracted, he might never notice. She hoped.

“Wow...” Sweetie said softly as she stared in wonderment. “Who is that masked pony?”

“I think it's just one of the guards,” Scootaloo said with a roll of her eyes. “Hey, Val!”

The unicorn glanced up and frowned. “Ugh, y--” The words locked in his throat when he saw Sweetie. A little red went into his cheeks and he jumped to the ground, sending the cards scattering.

“Eek, my cards!” the Mask cried out.

“Hey, what are you all doing here?” Val asked before puffing out his chest. “Come to watch me demonstrate my skill as a general? I must warn you, I am pretty amazing at it. But then, what else could you expect from a true warlock of the--?”

“What's yah playin'?” Applebloom asked as she trotted up, peering over the bed at the cards. “Ohhh, they look fancy! Is that a dragon on that one?”

“Mmmm hmm,” the Mask said. “Have you too come to challenge the great Mask as well? Beware, for-- hey!” Flash let out a shriek as his mask was gripped in magic and pulled back, revealing him for what he truly was.

Sweetie gasped and let the mask fall away from her grip as Val turned and stared. “Y-you're... you're... you're that stupid pony!” he said, pointing a hoof accusingly. “H-how? When? When did this happen? What are you...” His eyes went even wider. “Y-you're a... master of disguise...”

Flash blinked and then stared for a moment. He then looked to Cheerilee with one eye cocked. She merely shrugged. “Errr... yes?”

“W-wow,” Val said softly, his voice in awe. “That's... kind of awesome.”

Flash nodded and smirked, posing dramatically. “Well, I am pretty awe--” He tried to spread out his wings to punctuate the last word, but instead let out a his of pain when he tried. “Ow, bad idea.”

“Aaaand you lost it.”

“So, what is this?” Applebloom asked as she nudged the fancy cards around.

“Armies of Equestria. It's a card game,” Flash said with a grin. “I play it with my little brother all the time, so I figured Val might like it.”

“B-but you said the fate of the world was at stake if I didn't beat you!” Val whined.

“... I may have exaggerated a teensy, tiny bit.”

Val glared. “I was totally kicking your flank, too.”

Flash chuckled. “Well, kids, if the rest of you want to play, I can teach you the rules too.” He paused and looked between them... “Eight of you... huh. I'll need both core sets for that then. I'll be right back.” He trotted out from the room, humming softly.

Val glared as he left, before his eyes fell on Diamond. She looked at him for a moment before turning away. “I think I'd best go home,” she said softly.

“What? Noooo! Diamond pony stays!” Claw said with a whine, before giving her another lick.

She cringed. “Stop that!”

Val let out a yipe as Cheerilee moved up behind him and gently pushed him towards the filly. “Val, I think you need to say something to Diamond.”

“Hey! What? Like what?” he asked, looking in confusion. The filly eeped and tried to move back, but Claw blocked her way. All the other fillies just glared at Val. What did he need to say to her? He didn't even know who she was! She was just a little pink pony with a tiara and... oh. Oh. Ohhhhhh! “Errrr... sorry for lighting you on fire?” He glanced back and got a nod from Cheerilee. Well, he was on the right track at least. He looked back to the filly. “Also, sorry you have to wear that stupid tiara everywhere. And you're pink.” Hey, saying sorry was easy! Why did everypony simultaneously face hoof?

Diamond blinked, her mouth falling open. She then glared. “Hey, listen here, blank flank. My tiara is awesome! And my coat is the best pink of all!”

“... What's a blank flank? Is that like calling somepony a stupid head? Well, you're a stupid head too!” he said defensively.

“W-what? No! A blank flank is somepony who doesn't have a cutie mark yet!” Diamond snapped, slightly taken aback. “S-so, you!”

“... Oh. Okay. Is that supposed to be an insult?” So many face hoofs. “If it is, well... you're one too! A double one!” So many, many face hoofs.

“No, I... it... I...” Diamond just stared at him before looking towards the crusaders. “I don't... even... fine!” she snapped, shaking her head in frustration. “Apology accepted! Geez!”

“Good, we're all friends now,” Cheerilee said with an exasperated sigh. She couldn't believe she wasn't even getting paid for this. Or maybe she was, the princess hadn't been very clear on what this protection thing would be like. Was she getting a government stipend? Oh well. The two weren't trying to kill each other anymore, so that was at least a step in the right direction. “Now, how about we play some games.”

“Yayyy, games!” Claw said, before pouncing on Val and licking his face.

“Gahhhh! Get off me you scaled... scaled blank flank!”

Cheerilee sighed and face hoofed. She just had to teach him that word, didn't she?

“Okay everypony, I've got the games!” Flash said as he stepped inside, holding two boxes. “Now, how about I explain the rules and we can get to making your decks.”

------

Flash nodded. “Okay, so Val and Scootaloo are going dragon, Claw and Applebloom are going earth pony, Silverbelle and Silver Spoon are going unicorn and...” Flash gave a shudder. “Diamond and Sweetie are going pegasus. Girls, are you sure you want to? I mean, there are plenty of the... other... cards...”

Sweetie looked up at him. “Is something wrong with the pegasi cards?”

“No... nothing is... wrong with them,” he muttered, before grumbling under his breath. “Bunch of cheap tempo breaking... grumble grumble... darn you Deckflipper...”

“What was that?” Diamond asked, staring up at him.

“Nothing, nothing at all,” Flash said with a fake grin. “Enjoy your... pegasus... decks. Here, just choose your cards. Remember, just need forty of them. Max of three of each.”

------

“Err... Val, honey, are you sure you want to use that card? I mean, you already have a... lot of powerful cards,” Cheerilee said softly as she read through his selection.

“Of course,” he said with a smirk. “I'm going to have all the toughest, strongest, bestest cards in the game!”

“But didn't Flash say you should make your deck with cheap and strong monsters?” Cheerilee asked with a sigh.

“Bah, who cares what he thinks? No pony likes him anyway. He just doesn't understand the... ummm... cool things. Like dragons.”

Cheerilee sighed and shook her head. He'd understand eventually. One day. Maybe.

“Miss Cheerilee, what does this card say?” Silverbelle asked softly, holding up one of the cards.

“Hmmm? Oh, swarm. It gives it more power for each creature you have,” Cheerilee said softly.

“Ummm, Mister Flash?” Sweetie asked as she looked up.

“Yes?” the pegasus asked.

“Do you have any cards that let you draw more cards?”

The pegasus shuddered. “And you're using a pegasus deck... the horror... hold on. The drawing cards are mercenary faction. Just make sure not to use too many of them, you can't use them as resources,” he said before pulling out another stack of cards. He then yelped. “Claw, don't chew on the cards!”

“But the sleeves taste like sapphires!” he whined.

“That's because they're sapphire omega sleeves,” Flash said proudly. “Very expensive.”

Diamond cocked an eye. “You play this game way too much, don't you?”

He cringed. “N-not at all. I just... errr... used to play in tournaments when I was a kid. All the time. Eh... heh heh heh...”

“Oh? Really?” Cheerilee asked, smiling at him. “I had no idea they had tournaments for this kind of thing.”

“Yeah. I used to be pretty good, won a few,” he said proudly. “I stopped after they released the spirit and changeling boxes, though. Discord and Chrysalis cards were just sooooo over powered. Completely broke the balance of the game.”

There was a light snicker from Diamond. “I thought you said you played when you were a kid?”

“I... errr... I did,” Flash said nervously, shuffling a little in place.

“But didn't Discord appear just a few years ago? Were you a kid then?”

Every eye fell on Flash and his cheeks turned bright red. “W-w-w-well, errr, I mean, I-I errr... m-my little brother would... errrr... look, do you want to play with my fancy cards or not?” he asked with a little squeak.

The ponies all snickered, but didn't say another word. Cheerilee reached out and gently gave him a pat on the back.

------

“And I attack you with all three of my creatures, wiping out the rest of your armor,” Scootaloo said with a smirk.

Val stared. “Impossible! How do you keep beating me? How? Howwwwww? It's not fairrrrr! I have all the strongest dragons in the world in my deck! How come I keep losing?” He threw down his cards.

Flash sighed and slowly scooped them up. “Here, let me take a look at your deck and...” He face hoofed. “Val, you have nothing but high cost cards in here.”

“Yeah!” Val said with a nod. “I put all the most powerful cards in there! With all the counters and things! So much power!”

The pegasus shook his head. “That's why you keep losing. You're not even able to get anything out for four or five turns...”

“But they're so strooooooooong,” Val whined.

“Yeah, but you need some weak monsters too,” he said with a sigh. “Want me to help you build your deck?”

“No! My army is perfect, these cards are just... just defective!” He then glowered at Scootaloo. “I challenge you again! And this time you won't get so lucky!”

She chuckled and gave a nod. “Well... if you want.”

------

“And then I spend this to get this out, and then this, and then this, and now my berserker pony is super duper strong and I attack again with it,” Claw said happily as he nibbled on the edges of one of his cards.

Applebloom just stared in bewilderment. How. The buck. Was. She. Losing? Claw was a... well... he was kinda... he had a few lights off in the attic. At least, she thought he did. He kept getting distracted by shiny things. Yet he only took about two seconds for each of his moves and just... it wasn't... howwwww?

“Ah... ah block with... both mah monsters. No armor damage.”

“Okay, I end my turn,” Claw said, before looking back and a paw batting at his tail. As she watched, he started chasing it.

Okay. It was all just a fluke. Ain't no way he was beatin' her again. Nuh uh. Three for zero jus'... no.

------

“Ummm, and I, ummmm... I-I bring out another impenetrable shielding unicorn...” Silverbelle whispered as she played her card.

“I... do too,” Silver Spoon said. They'd been playing for ages and the two had barely even started. Could these matches even GET any slower?

“Okay, and I ummmm... play my blacksmith spell, I get another card in my armor deck.”

Silver Spoon let out a sigh. Yes, this was going to go on for a loooooooong time.

------

“And I draw three and we both discard one,” Sweetie said before placing another card down. “Your turn.”

“O-okay,” Diamond said softly as she drew another card. Her now only card. How had it come to this? She had one creature and two resources. Sweetie had three creatures, the full six resources and four cards in her hand. She sighed and played her card down as a resource. “I-I end my turn.” And only three cards in her armor deck. Not that they'd do any good, with the way the other filly was making her discard over. And over. And over. She thought these pegasus cards were supposed to be about dodging things and going around them, why hadn't she chosen some of those 'discard everything' cards too?

------

Flash nodded as he watched the eight. “Okay, I think thats enough mirror matches. How about we all have a nice little-- Claw stop chewing on the sleeves!”

“Sorry...”

“Now, how about we mix it up a bit.”

“Ummm, we're not done yet,” Silver Spoon said softly. “I still have seventeen cards in my armor deck and Silverbelle has nineteen.”

The stallion paused. “Errrr... I forgot to mention that rule. If a player gets up to fifteen cards in their armor deck, they win.” He cringed as both fillies just turned and glared at him, their eyes filled with fury. “S-sorry...” he said with a squeak. “Now, let's have a little tournament.”

Val smirked. Fine, he may have lost to Scootaloo every time, but she was just lucky. Now that he got to play against somepony else, surely he'd win every game!

------

Val glowered darkly, a cloud over his head. How had he lost to EVERYPONY? He just had to be super duper unlucky! Sure, he understood losing to Sweetie, she was smart and awesome and pretty and brilliant. But how did he lose to CLAW?

The other ponies watched with breathless anticipation as, surprisingly, Claw and Sweetie were the last ones standing. Claw had only one card in his hand, but there was no chance of him actually playing it. It was shiny and he was having too much fun twirling it around on the ground to put it into play. That, and his field was filled with cards already, all three creature slots filled and a spell card in its slot.

Sweetie frowned as she looked at her full hand. She had two creatures, but nothing strong enough to defeat Claw's. She frowned when she drew her card. She really might have to concede against--

And suddenly his shiny card flicked over her head and Claw darted after it. She barely had time to get out of the way as he tore through the field, scattering the cards everywhere.

“My babies!” Flash cried out in anguish.

“Gahhh!” Val cried out as Claw landed on him, the card in his mouth. “Get off me!”

“Sowwy,” Claw said sheepishly before turning back towards the board and cringing. “Oops.”

“I... I think we can just call that one a tie,” Sweetie said nervously before looking to Flash, who was in the midst of trying desperately to pick up all the cards.

“That was... quite interesting,” Cheerilee said with a smile. “Claw, Sweetie, how ever did you come up with decks like those?”

“Math is fun!” Claw said happily, before tossing the card. He then looked down at the pinned Val and grinned.

“Don't you da-- GAHHHH! Stop licking me!”

“O-oh, well, I ummm...” Sweetie smiled nervously. “I-I just realized the pegasus cards had a lot of...cards that made both of us discard cards. I thought if I had a bunch of draw cards, I could take away the other player's cards and then have a bunch of extra ones so I'd have more options than they did.”

Flash let out another shudder. “She truly is a... pegasus player... ughhh...”

Cheerilee stared at Claw and Sweetie. Okay, Sweetie was... err... Claw was... well... she'd never have imagined either of them were... She had been sure they were both very smart in their own way. Claw always paid attention in class and seemed to follow really well. But he was also distracted by shiny things so easily. Sweetie, on the other hoof... Sweetie was very sweet. Had passable grades and such. But... err...

She then looked to the other children. Had she really out smarted all of them? Well, it was just one game, she supposed. But... but Sweetie. She then looked to Flash, who was trying to unsleeve some of the cards. “Are any of them damaged?”

“No, thank goodness,” he said with a relaxed sigh. Then replaced the cards in new sleeves. How many of them did he have? She'd have never pegged him for such a... well...

He flicked one of the damaged sleeves into the air and Claw jumped, catching it in mid air... before crashing into Diamond. She let out a shriek as he proceeded to hug her, still chewing on the sleeve.

“Ughhhhhh. Get offfff!”

“Diamond pony is best Diamond pony,” Claw said happily, before licking her and gasping. “Diamonds AND sapphires.”

“Offfff!”

Cheerilee couldn't help it, she burst into a fit of giggles to join the children's. It was nice seeing Val so happy and relaxed, playing with the other children. Not so scared.

Author's Note:

Okay, for those curious what the game they're playing is, well... it's actually something I made up. The niece and nephews have been expressing interest in card games but are a bit too destructive with stuff, so I ended up making up a little card game for them to play. I spent a week or two making it, but it was a lot of fun and I did it on the side after my writing was done. I put the rules and such on my main page, but I'll put them here as well.
The idea is a 'make your own cards' game, so you can use whatever images/names you like(one of the nephews has a full race car themed deck), so lots of fun. There are pre generated cards(With stats and such I have listed), but you can make just about any card you like once you know the rules since they're all(hopefully) balanced. At least balanced as far as I could make them for now without more play testing. I'd love to hear anypony's stores about them and if they liked them. :)
For those curious about the jokes... most of them are based on yugioh series and the hilarity that is that series.
So, without further ado, here's a little Thanksgiving treat for my fans. :)
Blog post
Build your own cards rules
Build your own cards point costs
Build your own cards examples

Comments

[RazDelacroix]

I kept having flashbacks to losing so much in Magic the Gathering. Hmm... Now I have no idea what's precisely coming in this story, yet a part of me is holding out hope for Flash & Twilight bonding over tabletop games. After all, Shining Armor probably introduced/inducted Twilight into Ogres & Oubliettes! My inner geek, at least, would be happy.

Anywho, a good breather episode!

[Hillbe]

orig05.deviantart.net/2adf/f/2015/329/3/6/skate_date_by_hillbe-d9i1whq.jpg

Happy Turkey Day unless you're the terkey

[steel soul]

I find this story well done. Keep up the good work!

[catfire13]

“That's because they're sapphire omega sleeves,” Flash said proudly. “Very expensive.”

Hahahahahahahahaha, I see what you did there. :3