Yu-Gi-Oh! Equus

by moviemaster8510

Chapter 6: Inclusion

Everyone came back into the house after Reese’s breakdown. No one except Reese (and possibly Emma) knew what was happening and why Reese, who was so full of fury and anger just minutes ago was reduced to tears just now.

“What in tarnation just happened?” asked Applejack.

“How come he just turned into a huge crybaby?” questioned Rainbow Dash.

“Rainbow!” scolded Twilight. She walked up to Reese. “Reese, what happened to you to make you so protective of your sister? I have a brother myself, and he would never treat anyone the way you just did, even if it was in a protective gesture.”

“Until you’ve walked a mile in my shoes,” choked Reese. “You cannot judge me.”

“You shouldn’t have treated Tom or talked to Alex that way. They were only trying to help her.”

“That’s what I thought with Kyle.”

“Kyle? Who’s Kyle?”

Reese had said too much. He bolted off of the couch and into a random room in the house. Thankfully, he found the bathroom.

“Reese! Come back!” called Twilight.

“Don’t bother,” said Emma. “He won’t talk now. But seeing as you have been very helpful in explaining everything to me, it’s fair for me to tell you what happened to him.”

Reese came back out of the bathroom and walked over to Emma.

“Emma, you will not tell them what happened. I’m warning you Emma…”

“They deserve to know, Reese. They were the ones trying to help me, and you were the one who attacked them.”

“Enough. Emma, let’s go.”

“No.” Reese spun on his heel.

“What?”

“I’m not going with you like this. Reese, I know your life has been filled with lies and mistrust-”

“Emma…”

“-and I know that you’ve found it hard to make close friends-”

“Emma!”

“-but these people and these creatures really want to help us.”

“Emma, please stop…”

“Just let them in, Reese. Stop running.” Reese fell to his knees again, but he did not cry this time.

“Fine,” he silently relented. “I’ll tell you everything you want to know.” Everyone listened in.

“When me and Emma were young teenagers, we were sent to a private dueling academy in the city. I remember it solely because they were some of the best days of my life. But it was also the setting for the worst day of my life.”

“But why?” asked Fluttershy.

“One day, a new student by the name of Kyle Penn arrived at the school. He suddenly built a reputation for being one of the best students in the school. He passed every exam with flying colors, he won every duel that he was faced with. He was in essence the perfect pupil in the eyes of students and teachers alike.

“Being the most popular and talented duelist in the school until Kyle’s arrival, I felt betrayed when the people that I considered my friends flocked to Kyle like flies to rotten meat. I really had only one person who stuck by me through the thick and the thin of it all.”

“Your sister,” answered Rarity. Reese nodded.

“I eventually warmed up to him too. We even became dueling partners at one point in the school year. We were unbeatable, and the teamwork and friendship that we shared made them some of the best days of my life.”

“What happened then?” asked Sarah.

“My sister was still loyal to me and not Kyle. This angered Kyle heavily. One night, he convinced my sister he could give her some private dueling lessons, so she met him in the park a few blocks from the school. There were never any lessons. The only thing he was giving her was a merciless duel. He mercilessly beat her again, and again, and again. I was taking a stroll down the street when I heard Kyle’s voice, so I rushed right there. Upon coming to the fields, I saw him finishing her off for the fifth time.”

“Dear Lord,” commented Carolyn.

“I asked him what the meaning of this was, and he told me that he was putting the “dog” in its rightful place. After telling him that he had no right treating my sister that way, I asked him why he would do this to me, his friend. Kyle just laughed.

“He told me that he let me join him so he could remain stronger in the eyes of his peers. He said I meant less than nothing to him and that he was easily the greatest duelist in the school. I challenged him right then and there to prove him wrong. I couldn’t. He mercilessly beat me like he beat my sister.

“I was ashamed that I couldn’t protect her, so I wept. Kyle took my deck from my wrist dealer with minimal struggle. He then doused it in a liquid and set a match to it. He said that amateur duelists such as myself shouldn’t deserve to duel with any deck. He walked away laughing as I watched my own deck burn. The man whom I considered my friend used me, beat me and my sister, laughed in my face and destroyed my own deck."

Twilight and her friends were getting teary eyed from the story while the humans started feeling a lot more sympathetic for him, including Tom.

“I tried reporting this to the school’s administrators, but it seemed that Kyle was nowhere to be found. I couldn’t help but seethe at his cowardice. I couldn’t stand to be with anyone anymore and consider them my friend. The only one I could trust was Emma, who stood by me despite everything. We soon escaped the academy and enrolled at North, where I obviously met you. But from that one day, I promised myself that Emma would never be put in harm's way again.

“When she told me that you were bringing her to your house, I assumed the worst. The last time Emma was approached by a stranger, he beat the two of us and left us broken and battered. I wasn’t going to let that happen to her again, so I attacked you and your family, and for that… I’m sorry.”

Alex and Tom almost recoiled at Reese’s words of remorse. Tom especially could totally feel with him. If his sister was treated like that, he’d be wary around anyone that approached her either. He was the first to speak.

“It’s okay, Reese. I forgive you.”

Reese was equally surprised at Tom’s forgiveness.

“Even…” he began, “even though I attacked you and your friends, you still stand by my side?”

“Of course,” said Twilight, putting his hoof on Reese’s shoulder. “Your friends may have abandoned you and tossed you aside, but I say with a solemn promise that my friends and I will never do that to you.”

Twilight wrapped her arms around Reese’s back and rested her head on his shoulder. Reese couldn’t believe what he was feeling. Not even when he had friends back at the academy would they hug him like that. Soon, the other ponies joined in the hug.

“I’ll always be your friend,” squealed Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie promise.” She hugged Reese.

“That’s a Pinkie promise from me too, handsome,” cooed Applejack, hugging him. Rainbow Dash joined in wordlessly.

“We’ll be there for you,” said Rarity, hugging Reese.

“Um…” whispered Fluttershy timidly. “Never mind.” She flew up to Reese and hugged him. Reese could only shed a single tear as he was feeling real support from real friends.

After the breaking of the hug, Tom held his hand out to Reese.

“We hold the Stones of Equus,” Tom stated, pulling him up. “We stick together through good and bad.”

“Yeah,” agreed Reese with a genuine smile. “By the way, you actually dueled very well against me.”

“It’s just that luck was in your favor, right?” questioned Tom.

“Sure.”

“Say, while you’re here, why don’t you and your sister have dinner with us?” Pinkie began gasping. Clearly she was about to say something.

“That sounds great!” she yelled. “It will be like the first official meeting of the Stone of Equus holders. We’ll be like superheroes! Fighting crime and saving the world! It’s going to be awesome!” Pinkie’s enthusiasm got the best of Reese.

“Alright, we can stay,” he relented.

“Let me just call Mom,” Emma replied. She dialed her cell phone and waited for an answer. Alex could tell by their conversation that the person on the other line was delighted that Reese would be spending time with other people. Emma hung up.

“So I take it you’re available?” asked Tom.

“Yes,” responded Emma. “Mom is more than happy with us staying.”

“Excellent,” said Twilight. “What are we having?”
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy stood with Sarah who was cooking filets of mahi-mahi on the grill with some spices rubbed on them. Upon hearing the inclusion of Reese, and Emma to the dinner table, Carolyn went to the store to get a couple of more filets (plus some peppers for the ponies) while Sarah started the coals.

“If you don’t mind my asking,” said Applejack, “what are y’all cookin’?”

“Fish tacos,” said Sarah. “Mom figured that you don’t eat meat, so she got me some peppers to grill up for you guys instead, plus some more. I suppose you don’t know that human’s are omnivores, right?”

“Actually,” Twilight replied, “Claude explained a lot of that stuff to us, but don’t worry. As long as you don’t have a hankering for pony, we’ll be quite alright with you eating meat.”

“I mean,” included Fluttershy, “many of the animals I tend to at my cottage require meat in their diet, so I’m more than comfortable with that.”

“That’s good,” Sarah responded.

“What ever yer makin’,” continued Applejack, “it sure smells tasty.”

“Thanks. In fact, I never really considered myself too much of a duelist, but I’ve always found joys in cooking. When I grow up in fact, I wish to open my own restaurant.”

“That sounds great.”

“My dad especially loves my cooking. When he comes back from his business trip in Seoul this Monday, I’m going to bake him a big cake for his return.”

“I’m sure Pinkie Pie can help you out there. She runs a bakery with her two parental figures Mr. and Mrs. Cake in Ponyville where we live.”

“That sounds great. The more the merrier.”
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Soon, dinner was served and everyone was constructing their tacos, complete with cheese, sour cream, lettuce, the who nine yards. Reese was the last to construct his tacos, as he seemed very particular about the placement of each ingredient. Eventually, he took a bite. He savored it emotionlessly.

“And?” asked Sarah. Reese swallowed.

“It’s good,” he smiled.

“These peppers are the bee’s knees,” said Applejack. “I’m surprised you don’t run a restaurant already with your cooking skills.” Sarah blushed.

“Oh my,” spoke Alex mid-chew, swallowing before looking any more rude than he was. “I amost forgot. I still need to teach Twilight and the others how to duel. Would you be interested in helping them Reese?”

“I suppose I could try. I did go to the top dueling academy in Illino-”

His sentence was cut off by a shattering of glass from the dining room window. Everyone rushed out of the way of the broken shards before they saw the object that struck the window. It was a red delicious apple with a flag inside. On it read: Come outside.

Alex and his friends and family did just that. When they came outside, they found two equine figures standing on the sidewalk in front of their house. They were nearly identical to one another in clothes, which consisted of white shirts, blue and white-striped vests, black ties, and straw skimmer hats with blue bands. They also had the same size (larger than the other ponies), color (a light yellow), and mane and tail style (red and white streaks). The only thing that separated them was that one of the ponies had a red moustache and the mark on his flank was an apple with a slice missing while the other pony’s mark was the missing slice. They also each had a bright green D-Pad on their arms.

“Oh brother,” stammered Applejack.

“Who are they?” asked Carolyn.

“They’re the Flim Flam brothers. Those two good-for-nothings tried running my family barn out of business with their fourth rate apple cider.”

“You remember us well,” said Flam, the mustached one. “Of course, that’s all water under the bridge-”

“Cut the crap,” called Alex. “You come to our home and vandalize it? That certainly doesn’t sound like someone who doesn’t harbor a grudge.”

“We are far past that little incident,” said Flim, the “shaven” one. “Right now, we have bigger fish to fry. Or should I say, apples to pick.”

“What are you on about?” Reese yelled. “Why are you doing this?”

“Isn’t it obvious? You hold something that our… employer greatly desires.”

“What employer?”

“That is irrelevant,” spoke up Flam. “The only thing that you should be concerned about is getting your Stone of Equus taken away from you.”

“How do you know about the Stones of Equus?” asked Alex. “And how do you think you’re going to take them away from us?” Flim and Flam smiled.

They shot out two red beam like spells from their horns, one was aimed at Alex, the other was aimed at Applejack. The beam coming towards Alex made its target, the beam wrapping itself around Alex’s wrist like a rope. Applejack tried shielding herself with her arms, but she didn’t feel the beam hit her. She looked out to see Reese with a red beam around his wrist.

“Reese,” said Applejack, “you… saved me.”

“Like Tom said,” answered Reese, “we holders of the Stones of Equus stick together. Now run inside and grab our D-Pad’s.”

Applejack, her morale heightened by Reese’s bravery, ran back inside to do what Reese asked.

“You bastards,” grunted Alex. “She doesn’t even know how to duel yet.”

“Well fiddlesticks,” moaned Flam sarcastically. “That would have made things so much easier.” Flim and Flim laughed.

“Alex! Reese!” called Applejack. She tossed Alex and Reese their already constructed silver and black D-Pads (respectively). Alex and Reese caught them and fastened them to their arms.

“Now you’ve got yourself a fair fight!” cried Alex. “Let’s duel!”

Alex, Reese, Flim, and Flam unsheathed their duel disks.

“So,” asked Rainbow Dash to Tom, “they’re doing two on two? They can do that?”

“Yes to both questions,” answered Tom. “Just watch.”

“Duel detected,” called the intercom’s voice, followed by the holographic aura. All four duelists drew five cards from their decks.

“DUEL!” they all yelled.

Comments

[JustForgetMe]

The Flim-Flam brothers?
That's an out of the box choice of recurring antagonist. Either way can't wait, Tag duels are best duels.

[Morgie93]

Flim and Flam... perfect replacement for the Paradox brothers. They sing, but at least they don't rhyme all the time. Right?

[JustForgetMe]

I used to wonder what Reese meant by saying that he was mercilessly beaten and why that would affect him so much, but I now remember some duels where I've been absolutely helpless and all of my strategies were ripped to shreds. And then after the duel the person would message "GG noob." I now understand just how much that can and does hurt.