Friends to the End – Twilight vs Rainbow
Duelists of the Autumn Crown
Friends to the End – Twilight vs Rainbow
Applejack and Rarity pulled Flash to his feet, his arms over their shoulders. Sunset tossed her hair and spun on her heel to walk away. Twilight glared at her and then looked over to Flash as the girls helped him off the field.
Celestia’s voice crackled over the speakers. “In spite of the dramatic end to the duel, the tournament will continue. Will the next two duelists please take their places in the dueling booths?”
Twilight looked up at the monitors rising over the arena and saw them resetting; her portrait and Rainbow’s flickering into place.
“Well, let’s do this.”
Twilight turned at the voice and saw Rainbow tossing her duel disk to the ground with her deck in her hand. “I’ll take the far one.” Rainbow ran around the arena leaving Twilight to look at the blue platform lowering before her eyes. When it reached the bottom she took a breath, removed her cards from her duel disk, and set it on the ground.
I can’t let Sunset Shimmer’s win freak me out. I have to stay focused and win. Twilight pulled the railing on the duel booth back and stepped inside. She saw a control panel on one of the poles and pressed the button with an upwards arrow. The platform jerked and began to rise. Against her will Twilight found herself looking over the edge at the grass below. She gulped and turned forward as the booth stopped.
“Will the duelists please place their decks into the auto-shuffler.” Twilight stepped up to the dueling field display. It was a large grid with a holographic display for Rainbow’s field mirrored against hers. A slot for her deck emerged from a steel protrusion on the right-hand side. Twilight set her deck in it and her deck was accepted, retracting inside slightly and rapidly shuffling. A touch screen monitor on the left side of the field displayed the backs of her cards in a circle.
“Ready for this, Twilight?” Rainbow’s voice came from a small speaker mounted on the top of the displays.
“I hope so.” Twilight took a breath.
“Let the duel begin!”
-Twilight Life Points: 8000-
-Rainbow Life Points: 8000-
On the monitors to her right, Twilight’s portrait lit up. “Twilight Sparkle will take the first turn.”
Her deck shuffler beeped and ejected six cards. Twilight drew them and fanned them out in her hand. She bit her lip and raised her eyes to look at Rainbow as she also got her opening hand. Judging from her duel with Applejack, Rainbow relies on overwhelming offense to attack, then switches her monsters out for hard defense on my turn. She looked back at her hand. I can’t do anything about her defenses until she plays them, so I have to be conservative for now.
“I’ll begin with this, ‘Harmony Fusion’!” Twilight placed her Spell on the display in front of her, circuitry lines around it lighting up. “From my hand, I fuse ‘Harmony Spirit Gracia’ and ‘Harmony Spirit Malus’!” On Twilight’s field in front of her booth, a yellow-skinned fairy in a pale yellow and green gown rose onto her field, kneeling with her arms crossed. Her hair was wild and streamed past her shoulders, and a large pair of pink butterfly wings spread on her back. “I Fusion Summon ‘Harmony Spirit Gracia Natura’ (1200/2500) in defense mode!”
Twilight lowered her hand and took a breath. “I end my turn.”
“You got it!” Rainbow drew and held out her card. “I activate ‘U.A. Signing Deal’!” A large sports banner appeared on Rainbow’s field, and Twilight saw a holographic copy of the card blip into focus on her display. “Now I can summon any U.A. monster from my deck.” Rainbow tapped on the touchscreen next to her and lifted her card as it ejected. “I summon ‘U.A Midfielder’!” The sports banner tore apart as a figure in cybernetic football pads ran through it, taking a ready position on Rainbow’s field. (1200/1000)
Rainbow shuddered as sparks flew from her booth. “Midfielder is level four, so by the secondary effect of Signing Deal, I lose three hundred Life Points times my monster’s level.”
-Rainbow Life Points: 6800-
“But it’ll be worth it. I return Midfielder to my hand to Special Summon ‘U.A. Dreadnought Dunker’!” Midfielder vanished in a plume of smoke. An athlete in streamlined white and blue basketball pads leapt up into the air from the smoke, an orb of blue energy in his palms. (2500/1800) “Next I normal summon Midfielder, and return it back to my hand to summon ‘U.A. Playmaker’!” A third athlete, clad in black and silver football armor with glowing yellow circuitry, ran out to Rainbow’s field and knelt down. (2600/2000)
Rainbow grinned and pointed across the field. “Dreadnought Dunker, attack Gracia Natura!” The blue energy orb in Dunker’s hands sparked and began to bounce between its palms. “At this time I activate the ability of Playmaker and lower its attack power by 800 points to power up Dunker by the same amount!” Playmaker (2600 → 1800) held out its hands and tendrils of orange energy flowed around Dunker’s orb. Dunker (2500 → 3300) hefted the ball back in the air and flung it forward.
“I activate the effect of ‘Harmony Spirit Magnanimity’ from my hand!” Twilight shouted and swung the card towards the field. Magnanimity appeared on the field, her arms held out. “I reveal the top card of my deck, and if it’s a Spell card, I can add it to my hand!” Twilight flipped up her card. “It’s ‘Harmony Gem’, so it goes to my hand. Further, since I discarded Magnanimity, the effect of Gracia Natura activates. For the rest of the turn all of my Harmony Spirit monsters cannot be destroyed, or targeted by card effects.” Gracia’s wings glowed and grew larger, and it wrapped them around itself.
“Fine with me. Dunker’s got a special ability too. When he attacks a defending monster, he pierces its defenses to deal damage to you!” Dunker’s orb struck Gracia and bounced off, curving through the air to slam into a holographic shield over Twilight’s booth.
-Twilight Life Points: 7200-
“I return Playmaker to my hand to summon Midfielder in defense mode, and then set one card to end my turn.” Rainbow’s second monster appeared kneeling with a hand on the ground.
“My move.” Twilight drew and looked at the field display. Why would she summon back Midfielder, she needs it to make her plays since it’s one of her few low-level monsters. She’s putting it at risk now. Unless of course she has another monster she can use. Or maybe Midfielder has a special ability? She reached over to tap on her booth’s touchscreen, but Midfielder’s abilities were still locked since Rainbow hadn’t used them yet. She might just think that saving Playmaker is worth it. With 1800 points she knows I could take it out easily enough. But on her next turn she could summon it again and power up another monster to take out anything I use to beat Midfielder. Is that her play, set the bait and hit me back harder than I can hit her?
“She could win, you know.”
Twilight paused at the sound of Rainbow’s voice. “What?”
“Sunset Shimmer. She could totally beat you. In fact she probably will.” Rainbow crossed her arms and shook her head. “Might as well just surrender now, I’ve got a better shot at winning against her than you do.”
Twilight’s confusion quickly turned to anger. “What’s gotten into you?”
“What’s gotten into you is what I’m worried about!” Rainbow snapped back. “If you’re gonna start hesitating and second-guessing yourself now, at this stage? You really don’t have it in you to beat her after all.” Twilight paused as she took in her friend’s words. “I get it, you’ve seen her in action, you’re worried now, and for good reason; she kicked Flash’s ass good. But you know what? We said we’re all together in this, and we’re throwing our support behind you all the way. No doubts, no hesitations. That means you too. You want us to believe in you? Show me you believe in yourself.”
“I do…” Twilight took a breath. “I’m not hesitating. I’m strategizing.”
“Really?” Rainbow grinned. “Then show me the difference, Twilight! If you’ve got what it takes to beat Sunset, prove it by beating me!”
“I will!” Twilight returned the smile and held out her cards. “I activate Harmony Gem by discarding ‘Harmony Spirit Draco’ from my hand. I can now draw two cards.” Twilight drew and smiled as she saw the two cards in her hand. “I activate the Field Spell ‘Harmony Castle’!” The arena shook as spires of purple and blue crystal rose around them, a central tower with an eight-pointed star behind Twilight. “With my Field Spell’s effect, I’ll shuffle Harmony Spirits Gracia and Draco into the deck, to summon a Harmony Spirit directly from the deck.” Twilight tapped her touchscreen and her card ejected.
“I summon ‘Harmony Spirit Helios’!” Rays of light shone down on Twilight’s field as her new monster rose in a swirl of yellow magic, pale pink skin clad in gold and white armor. Her wings spread as she raised her head, her horn gleaming in the light. (2700/2400) Twilight pointed across the field. “Helios, attack U.A. Midfielder!” Helios held up its palms and formed an orb of light.
“I activate Midfielder’s ability!” Rainbow reached to her hand. “During either of our turns, I can return another U.A. monster I control to the hand and summon something different.” Rainbow slapped her card down. “I return U.A. Dreadnought Dunker to my hand and summon ‘U.A. Rival Rebounder’!” Another monster in cybernetic white and orange basketball pads jumped onto Rainbow’s field, arms crossed over its chest. (2200/2300) “Since I summoned Rival Rebounder on your turn, his effect triggers, letting me summon a U.A. monster from my hand or graveyard. Come on back, U.A. Dreadnought Dunker!” The original monster rose on the field next to Rival Rebounder, smiling.
Twilight frowned and looked down at the holographic recreation of Rainbow’s card field above hers. So, that’s what she was after. She went from two monsters to three. Now it doesn’t matter what I attack, next turn she’ll use Playmaker’s effect to power up whichever monster survives my turn. She nodded. I can work with that. For now… “I continue my attack with Helios, targeting Rival Rebounder!” Helios fired its orb of magic, incinerating Rival Rebounder. “When Helios destroys a monster in battle, I can add a Harmony Spirit monster from my deck to my hand.” Twilight held up her card. “I choose this, ‘Harmony Spirit Cantus’. With that I end my turn.”
“You got it!” Rainbow grinned and drew. “I return Midfielder to my hand and summon ‘U.A Blockbacker’.” A monster in thick white and black football armor knelt on Rainbow’s field, beating its hands against its helmet. (1600/2700) “Then I normal summon Midfielder and return it to my hand to summon U.A. Playmaker.”
“Battle time!” Rainbow pumped her fist. “Dreadnought Dunker attacks Helios, and at this time I’ll use Playmaker’s ability to power it up again!” Dunker (2500 → 3300) hefted its basketball orb back and threw it at Helios.
“From my hand I activate the effect of Harmony Spirit Cantus!” A pale white fairy with curled pink and blue hair appeared on Twilight’s field and swung its hand out, trails of green magic in its wake. “By discarding Cantus I can summon a Harmony Spirit monster from my deck. I summon ‘Harmony Spirit Honestas’ in attack mode!” The green magic swirled and exploded in the shape of an apple, and a muscular orange fairy stepped out of it as though it were a portal. (1800/300) “Discarding Cantus triggers the effect of Gracia Natura, preventing my Harmony Spirit monsters from being destroyed this turn.”
Rainbow Dash slammed a fist in an open palm. “I can’t destroy your monsters, but I’ll do the next best thing. Since you special summoned a monster, the effect of Blockbacker activates, letting me change that monster’s battle position. I’ll switch Honestas to defense mode!” Blockbacker held its hands out and a beam of light shot towards Honestas. It grimaced and knelt in place. Rainbow grinned and swept her hand in the air. “And once again Dreadnought Dunker’s ability activates! I’ll pierce Honestas’ defense and deal battle damage to you!” Dunker’s orb changed course as it neared Helios and slammed into Honestas, sending the holographic monster tumbling over the field.
-Twilight Life Points: 4200-
“I return Playmaker to my hand to summon back U.A. Midfielder in defense mode, and end my turn.”
Twilight picked up the card that ejected from her deck and looked at the display boards. That was a heavy hit, I can’t let her get in another shot like that. I have to get rid of Dreadnought Dunker now. Not just it, but Playmaker too, or she’ll keep using it to power up her monsters. She tapped her touchscreen to display the graphic of Rainbow’s hand. She’s got three cards in her hand, and I know one of them is Playmaker. Then there’s that face-down card she hasn’t used yet. Not to mention I haven’t even scratched her Life Points. She took a breath. I’m keeping up but I don’t have the advantage yet.
“I activate the effect of Harmony Fusion in the graveyard. I return Malus in the graveyard to the deck to add Harmony Fusion to my hand.” Twilight placed her card on the display. “Then I activate Harmony Fusion, and fuse Honestas with ‘Harmony Spirit Risus’ in my hand!” Twilight held out her hand as a flurry of blue and yellow balloons spewed from her field. In their wake a fairy in a pink and blue dress with balloons rising from her back and a cannon barrel on her shoulder appeared in a flurry of pink sparkles. “I Fusion Summon ‘Harmony Spirit Risus Fera’. (2000/1200)”
“I activate Blockbacker’s ability!” Rainbow snapped her fingers. Blockbacker held up its hands and send a beam of energy at Risus Fera. “Risus Fera is changed to defense!”
“Right.” Twilight reached to her display. “Next I activate the effect of Harmony Castle. I shuffle Honestas and Risus in the graveyard into the deck and summon ‘Harmony Spirit Selena’!” A shaft of silver light heralded the arrival of Twilight’s monster, blue and black armored dress fluttering in the wind around it as it spread its wings. (2600/2300)
“Battle phase! Helios attacks Midfielder!” Helios raised its arms and fired a blast of yellow fire.
“I activate Midfielder’s effect! I return Blockbacker to my hand and summon a second copy of Rival Rebounder to the field!” Light particles rained on Rainbow’s monster as it flashed out of existence to be replaced by a second Rival Rebounder. “Rival Rebounder’s effect now lets me summon Blockbacker to the field again!” Rainbow slapped her card on her field, a ring of light forming for her monster to appear from.
Twilight nodded. “I choose to continue my attack!” Helios’ fire struck Midfielder, and it exploded in a shockwave of yellow light. “Since it destroyed a monster, Helios lets me add a Harmony Spirit from my deck to my hand.” Twilight held up her card. “I’ll take ‘Harmony Spirit Pietas’. Then I attack Rival Rebounder with Harmony Spirit Selena!” Selena’s horn lit up in silver blue light and sent energy streams into her hands. She flung her arms up and fired twin rays of light across the field. Rival Rebounder was engulfed and exploded. “Selena’s effect now lets me add a ‘Harmony’ Spell or Trap card from my deck to my hand.”
Twilight took her card as it ejected and flipped it over. “I choose this, ‘Harmony Song’. Then I set two cards and end my turn.” She looked at the holograms of her cards. This is it.
“My draw!” Rainbow grinned and snatched her card up. She looked at it and laughed. “I activate the Spell card ‘U.A. Powered Jersey’!”
Twilight gasped. That’s the card she used to beat Applejack!
An armored sports jersey in red and black colors with silver spikes appeared on Rainbow’s field and gravitated to clamp onto Dreadnought Dunker in a field of electricity. The jersey lit up as Dunker posed in it. “Now my Dreadnought Dunker gains 1000 attack and defense points, any battle damage it deals to you is doubled, and if it destroys something in battle it can conduct a second attack. Not that I’ll need it.” Rainbow shook her head. “Sorry, Twilight, but I’m not gonna go easy on you, not if you wanna beat Sunset. So here I come! Dreadnought Dunker, attack Harmony Spirit Risus Fera!” Dunker’s new armor sent streams of lightning into its orb, and it threw the supercharged ball forward. (3300 → 4300)
“Not this time!” Twilight reached to her field and held her card up. “I activate my Trap Harmony Song!” The card flipped up and sent a melodic soundwave over the field. “Thanks to this card, you’re forbidden from Special Summoning monsters this turn!”
“What!?” Rainbow’s jaw dropped and she hurriedly looked over her hand. “But…”
“To use Harmony Song, I need to discard Harmony Spirit Pietas from my hand. This activates the effects of Risus Fera and Gracia Natura. Risus Fera negates the effect of Dreadnought Dunker, and if it leaves the field this turn, it returns to the deck. Then of course, Gracia Natura prevents my Harmony Spirits from being destroyed.” Twilight smiled. “With its effects negated, Dunker can’t pierce my defending monsters anymore. Your attack does nothing!” Dunker’s orb fizzled and grew dimmer, the electrical field around it sparking into nothingness. The orb slammed into Risus Fera and bounced off harmlessly, the fairy giggling.
“No way…” Rainbow fell forward, bracing her arms on her dueling booth. “That’s one of my best combos, and you shrugged it off like it was nothing…” She lifted her hand to look at her cards. “I…” She turned them over and set them down. “There’s nothing left I can play now. I end my turn.”
Twilight felt a pang of guilt seeing her friend and opponent in her current state. “I’m sorry, Rainbow.” Twilight drew her card and looked down at it. She sighed and set it on the field. “I shuffle Harmony Spirit Pietas into the deck to return Harmony Fusion to my hand. Then I equip Harmony Spirit Helios with the equip Spell ‘Harmony Crown’ to give it 800 extra attack points.” A golden crown with a pink gem appeared on Helios’ forehead, magic pouring from it down into the wearer. (2700 → 3500) “Helios attacks Blockbacker.” Helios fired a beam of yellow and purple magic across the field. Blockbacker groaned and shattered. “The effects of both Helios and Harmony Crown now activate.” Twilight drew her cards from her deck. “I add Harmony Spirit Magnanimity and Harmony Spirit Cantus from my deck to my hand. Then I end my turn.”
Rainbow slowly reached a hand to her deck. “I draw…” She picked up her card and looked out over the field. Dreadnought Dunker’s jersey lit up in red light and contracted around it. The monster groaned and stumbled, falling to a knee. “The second effect of Powered Jersey activates during my standby phase. The monster wearing it is banished.” Dunker cracked apart and dissolved into light, the jersey fading away around it
Twilight’s eyes widened. She has to swap out the monster using Powered Jersey once it gets its attack off, or she loses it entirely. With my Trap sealing her summons on her last turn...
Rainbow looked at her newly drawn card and slid it on the field. “I summon U.A. Midfielder in defense mode and end my turn.”
No… Twilight cupped her hands to her face. “Rainbow… I’m sorry.” Rainbow didn’t respond. Twilight’s booth beeped and her card ejected for her draw. She ignored it and instead moved to the cards in her hand. “I activate the effect of Harmony Spirit Cantus and discard it to summon Harmony Spirit Pietas from the deck.” A dull hum and a portal of blue energy were the only signs of Twilight’s monster taking the field, rainbow hair streaming between its wings. (1600/800) “Then I switch Risus Fera to attack mode.”
“Battle phase.” Twilight sighed and pointed. “Risus, destroy Midfielder!” Risus’s cannon glowed and fired a shot of pink energy. Midfielder exploded in a shower of confetti. “Helios, Selena, direct attack!” The two spirits held their hands together and sent a twin stream of yellow and blue magic at Rainbow.
-Rainbow Life Points: 3300-
-Rainbow Life Points: 700-
“One attack left…” Twilight looked down at the Pietas card on her field. “I’m sorry, Rainbow.”
She heard a snort. “Sorry?” Rainbow raised her head. Twilight stared; her friend’s face was covered in a wide grin even as sadness reflected in her eyes. “Are you kidding me?” Rainbow laughed. “I hit you with everything I had, my best combos, and you took it and hit back harder than any duelist I’ve ever seen!” Rainbow stopped laughing and fell forward again.
“You’re… happy?” Twilight whispered, disbelieving.
“Damn right.” Rainbow shook her head. “You were right, Twilight. It has to be you that faces Sunset Shimmer… not because it’s your destiny, or because of her magic, or whatever.” She raised her head again. “It’s because I figure you’re just about the best duelist this school has seen in years! If anyone can take Sunset down at last, it’s you or no one.”
Twilight smiled softly. “Thank you, Rainbow.”
“You wanna thank me.” Rainbow stepped back and braced herself, looking up in the air. “Then give me a send-off worth the semi-finals!”
“If that’s what you want!” Twilight finally returned Rainbow’s grin and held out her hand. “It’s been an honor and a pleasure to duel you! Harmony Spirit Pietas, attack Rainbow Dash directly!”
Pietas rose up into the air, its arms held out. It then dove forward, a fist outstretched as it aimed for Rainbow’s dueling booth. Rainbow laughed and stretched her arm out. The hologram of Pietas reached her booth and its fist passed through Rainbow’s hand, an aura of blue light where the two met.
-Rainbow Life Points: 0-
At the side of the arena, Celestia stood up.
“Students, our final duel has been decided! In one hour tonight, Twilight Sparkle will face Sunset Shimmer, to be crowned winner of the Autumn Crown Tournament!”
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Good duel. Nice to see Rainbow is a graceful loser.
Good luck Twilight.
Gala Fluttershy: nice
*looks at the comment section* I am dissappointed in all of you.
This shjould've been the first song and comment on this chapter!!! It was begging for it
*froths at the mouth internally*
I get it, it's there to build dramatic tension, but not being allowed to read your opponent's cards until you blunder into them just feels wrong.
Still, a great duel, especially the final fistbump.
8329968
I know. At least I haven’t gone full anime yet - I’ve yet to have a character activate a card without announcing it.
Best music choice for this duel:
Playmaker!? Crap, everyone start looking for the Knights of Hanoi!
8329506
watch her only attack be screaming "LOVE ME!"
8330678
I always hear this in my head during a Duel
You know, I always saw Rainbow as a Turbo Duelist myself
But that's probably just more of my 5D's nostalgia talking
8329506
just thought of something else:
did...did Rainbow just "bro-fist" her "duel monster" counterpart?
i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/399/774/e4e.png
8329976
Now tell me. What does Pot of Greed do?
This is where the trouble starts. At this point, Playmaker is already in the hand. The only monster other than Midfielder on Rainbow's field is Dreadnaught Dunker. That mixup here then leads to messed-up ATK and damage numbers further down, since returning Dunker instead would reset his ATK.
Also, for Twilight's following thought process to make sense, Rainbow would need to resummon Dunker, not Playmaker, afterwards.
Though from the looks of it, adjusting that paragraph and a few numbers is miraculously all that's needed here.
I love the story so far, but stuff like that irks me.
8639224
Thanks for the catch again
8562688
It allows you to draw two cards from your deck.