The Fires of Friendship
Duelists of the Autumn Crown
The Fires of Friendship
Sitting on the stairs just inside one of the doors to Canterlot High, Twilight’s deck was laid out on the landing, her cards organized into types and copies. In her hand she looked down at six new cards she had pulled from her duel disk where the Extra Deck would go.
I know I didn’t have these cards before. I would have tried to use them if I did. Twilight had looked over her deck carefully before and now there were new cards in it. She reached down to her main deck and picked up one of them. Harmony Fusion. A Spell card to let me summon Fusion Monsters. Twilight looked back at the six Fusion cards in her hand. Where did these come from? “Spike, you were watching. What happened?”
Sitting at her feet, Spike shook his head. “I don’t know, Twilight. You went into a kind of trance, your eyes glowed purple, and you just sort of created that card from nothing.”
“Right.” Twilight picked up the card in question, Honestas Silva. “I did the same thing when I dueled Rarity and played Harmony Castle. I don’t remember having that card before, either.”
“What do you think it means?” Spike hopped up the stairs and walked around Twilight’s cards.
“I don’t know. But I’m certain it has to do with the rules of magic in this world. Sunset Shimmer said that magical objects in this world obey the strongest duelists. So, maybe whatever magic I have inside of me awakens when I’m in danger to save me by creating powerful new cards.” She frowned. “Which, if that’s true, is unfortunate because I don’t know how to control it. Not to mention it’s more than a little unfair to opponents, though I suppose that’s beside the point.”
“So what do we do?”
Twilight folded her Fusion cards up and slid them into her duel disk. “I have to try and master this magic of mine. Snips and Snails were definitely influenced by some sort of dark magic and I just know Sunset is to blame for it. If we duel her and she has access to magic that can manipulate her deck, we need to know how to match it.” Twilight sighed and looked down at Spike. “What was I like in that state?”
Spike thought. “Your eyes were glowing purple and you got really serious. But like, not mean. Just really confident and direct.” His face brightened. “You know that feeling when you just know you’re gonna win the game and you’re making the plays to make it happen? You kinda talked like that.”
“Well, not really, I don’t know that feeling. But I’ll take your word for it.” Twilight smiled and ruffled his hair. She stood up and stretched. “We’ll have to try and figure it out tonight. We have the whole evening before the finals tomorrow. For now, we have an hour to go to clinch any last few wins.” She looked at the doors back outside and took a breath.
“It’s time to duel!”
Twilight flipped her card in her hand to show it. “I activate ‘Harmony Fusion’! I use this card’s effect to fuse ‘Harmony Spirit Risus’ and ‘Harmony Spirit Pietus’ from my hand.” Twilight held her arm up as a swirling vortex appeared in the air above her. A pale blue fairy with blue gloves and boots descended from it. Lightning bolt patterns ran up her clothing and a circular storm cloud hovered in the air behind her, lightning crackling through the center. “I Fusion Summon ‘Harmony Spirit Pietas Fulmen’ (2300/1500)! Then I activate the effect of ‘Harmony Spirit Magia’ and discard it to copy the ‘Shrink’ card in your Graveyard, targeting ‘Victory Viper XX03’! Its attack power is halved for the rest of the turn.”
Twilight’s opponent, a dark-skinned boy with red hair and a helicopter hat, tensed as a giant silver spaceship in front of him glowed and grew smaller. “Oh no!”
“During the turn I discard a Harmony Spirit from my hand, Pietas Fulmen is able to attack all monsters you control once each.” Twilight smiled. “So not only can I attack your Victory Viper, I can also attack all your other ships as well!” Twilight held her hand out to point to the monsters in turn. “Pietas Fulmen, attack Victory Viper, Jade Knight, Gradius, and Delta Tri!” Pietas Fulmen held up her hands and jolts of lightning came from the cloud behind her to form crackling orbs of energy.
“Moooom!” Twilight’s opponent cried out as the lightning orbs shot across the field.
“I activate the effect of ‘Harmony Spirit Gracia’ to discard it and prevent my ‘Harmony Spirit Magnanimity Crustallum’ from being destroyed this turn.” On Twilight’s field, a fairy in a pale blue dress, gloves, and boots lit up in green light. (2100/1500) “Discarding Gracia activates the effect of ‘Harmony Castle’, letting me revive Gracia. Then the effect of Magnanimity Crustallum lets me look at the top two cards of my deck and add one of them to my hand.” Twilight picked her cards up and held one of them out. “I add ‘Harmony Spirit Pietas’ to my hand and then discard it, activating its effect. Magnanimity Crustallum can bypass your Elemental Heroes and attack directly this turn!”
Magnanimity Crustallum held its hands forward. Twin rings of gemstones encircling its torso across either shoulder began to spin around. Across the field, a purple-skinned girl with green hair grimaced. “Not good!” A flurry of gem shards shot from the rings and the girl’s superheroes pulled out of the way as they bombarded her.
“Fifteen minutes,” Twilight whispered. The clock in front of CHS edged ever closer to the tournament’s end. She looked at her duel disk display. 10 wins and no losses. This is the best I can do; I don’t think I have time for another duel. Twilight heard whispering and raised her head to see two passing students quickly turn their heads away. She scrunched her face. I guess I’m sort of getting a reputation here. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.
“Think we’re okay to get into the finals?” Spike asked.
Twilight nodded. “I think so. We’ve been doing pretty well all day.” She looked at her duel disk and gave a small smile. “You know, I have to admit, I’m starting to have fun with this. I mean, yeah, of course we need to stop Sunset Shimmer. But once you get the hang of it, the game is pretty cool.”
“Cool?” Spike snorted. “I didn’t think you knew that word.”
Pouting and crossing her arms, Twilight said, “Why wouldn’t I? And it is. It’s strategic, it keeps you on your toes, there’s all kinds of different cards you can use.” She held up her duel disk and smiled. “I’m just getting the idea now of why this game is so popular in this world. It’s fun.”
“Well, well, well!”
Twilight paused at the familiar voice. She noticed students moving and turned to see why. A clearing had formed in the crowds and two very familiar faces were standing at either end.
Applejack crossed her arms and smirked. “So, little Dashie’s here again. Plannin’ to make it to the finals so Ah can whup you again?”
Rainbow Dash snorted. “No. I’m gonna whip you in the semi-finals and beat Sunset in the finals. You’re just small fry compared to her.”
“You keep tellin’ yourself that, hun. Keep the dream alive an’ all.”
“Oh yeah?” Rainbow held up her arm and activated her duel disk. “Let’s settle it right here, you smug hick! I don’t need to wait until the finals to beat you.”
“That right?” Applejack activated her own duel disk, colored red and green. “Well, there’s fifteen minutes left. Ah reckon that’s enough time to win and still go get a drink before they announce the standings.”
Twilight gritted her teeth and pushed the students in front of her out of the way to run into the clearing. “Hey!” Applejack and Rainbow turned her way. “What do you think you two are doing?”
“Putting this chump jock in her place,” Applejack replied.
“That’s my line you yokel!”
“Enough!” Twilight looked between the two of them, her eyes narrowed. “You two used to be friends with each other! And now you’re insulting each other like you hate each other?”
“There’s no room for mercy in this tournament.” Rainbow Dash snapped. “If you wanna be a bleeding heart, go find Rarity or something. I’m here to win.”
“Same here.” Applejack hovered her hand over her duel disk. “Now, are we gonna talk or are we gonna duel?”
“Bring it!” Rainbow turned away from Twilight and slapped her hand on her duel disk.
“Wait!” Twilight stopped as Rainbow’s duel disk announced the duel beginning. The crowd began to murmur and cheer. Twilight looked at her own disk. I can’t risk dueling one of them just to break up a fight. If I lose and don’t make the finals… “Stop it.” Twilight lowered her arm and ran up to Rainbow. “This is stupid, you’re fighting over…” She trailed off as she made eye contact behind Rainbow. At the front of the crowd, Scootaloo closed her eyes and shook her head.
“Commence duel?”
Applejack wagged her finger. “This is the biggest mistake you’ve ever made in this game, Rainbow.”
Rainbow moved her hand to her duel disk. “The only thing big about this is the win I’m gonna pull!” The two reached down and pressed the glowing buttons on their duel disks.
“Game start!”
-Applejack Life Points: 4000-
-Rainbow Life Points: 4000-
Twilight watched the hologram display on Rainbow’s duel disk flash and stop on her portrait. “I’ll take the first move!” Rainbow drew her opening hand with a flourish and looked down at it. “I summon ‘U.A. Midfielder’!” Rainbow’s monster, a humanoid figure in streamlined cybernetic soccer armor, rose onto her field, light pulsing along its equipment. (1200/1000). “Then I return Midfielder to my hand to Special Summon ‘U.A. Goalkeeper’ in defense mode!” Rainbow’s monster jumped up into a vortex that appeared above it and another monster jumped out. Clad in bulky white and green soccer armor, it knelt down and held its hands out defensively. (1000/2800).
“How did she do that?” Twilight whispered.”
“That’s how Rainbow’s Ultra Athletes work.”
Twilight turned her head to see Sweetie Belle beside her. She knelt down. “Ultra Athletes?”
Sweetie Belle nodded and held up her duel disk. “Here, activate observer mode.” She pressed a button on her duel disk touch screen and then another. The image of Rainbow’s and Applejack’s dueling fields appeared. Twilight looked at her own disk and copied the actions to get her own feed. Sweetie Belle pointed at the hologram of Rainbow’s monster. “Ultra Athlete, U.A. They tag in each other to best suit the flow of the duel. They can return a teammate on the field to the hand to summon themselves and they each have effects that let Rainbow attack or defend in various different ways.”
Twilight looked back at the duel. “So Rainbow’s going to be able to change her monsters on the field every turn and adapt to anything Applejack throws at her.”
“That’s the plan.”
Rainbow held up a card in her hand. “I set one card face-down and end my turn.” She grinned and leaned forward. “First turn and my field is set to victory. You don’t stand a chance against me this time.”
“Y’all talk a good game.” Applejack drew her card and added it to her hand. “Too bad for you this is a game o’ skill, not words. Ah activate ‘Foolish Burial’!” Applejack pressed her fingers to her duel disk display. “This lets me send any monster from mah deck to the Graveyard. Ah choose ‘Dandylion’. And that happens to trigger its effect. When Dandylion is sent to the Graveyard, Ah summon two ‘Fluff Tokens’.” Two holograms of pale white orbs of fluff sprang from Applejack’s duel disk and floated to rest in front of her. (0/0)
Sweetie Belle nudged Twilight. “Here we go.” Twilight watched as Applejack lifted her next card.
“Ah activate the Continuous Spell ‘Super Solar Nutrient’. This lets me tribute one of mah Fluff Tokens, then any Plant monster Level 4 or less can be called from mah deck. Ah summon ‘Lonefire Blossom’ in defense mode!” The Fluff Token exploded and lit up yellow. The particles combined and grew, reforming into a series of vines twisting around each other and blooming into a rounded yellow and red bulb. (500/1400). “Ah activate Lonefire Blossom’s ability and sacrifice mah other Fluff Token to it in order to summon a Plant monster from mah deck.” Wind picked up and pulled the Fluff Token into the narrow opening at the tip of the bulb. Lonefire Blossom lit up in red light and its flower opened, an array of red petals. It turned and fired a beam of light at the ground. “Ah Special Summon ‘Talaya, Princess of Cherry Blossoms’!”
A flurry of pink petals exploded from the spot where Lonefire Blossom had cast its light. Rising amid the flurry was a single massive cherry blossom. In its center was a woman’s torso clad in ornate blue robes with pink trim. As she finished rising, she spread her arms out and dispersed the petals swirling around her. (2800/1200) Applejack held up another Spell card. “And now for one last little treat. Ah activate the Continuous Spell ‘Miracle Fertilizer’. This lets me revive a Plant monster in mah Graveyard once every turn. Ah’ll use its effect now to revive Dandylion.” A small plant in the shape of a quadrupedal animal appeared on Applejack’s field, its face looking out from a mane of dandelion fluff. (300/300)
“Amazing.” As Twilight spoke, she noticed another duelist step to the front of the crowd behind Applejack: Apple Bloom. Twilight looked across the field and saw Scootaloo watching Rainbow Dash.
Applejack smiled. “Talaya gets another 100 attack points for every Plant Ah control. Ah know you’re not that bright, Rainbow, so here’s some basic math. 2800 plus 300 is 3100, which is higher than Goalkeeper’s defense.” She pointed across the field. “So take a guess what comes next! Talaya, attack Goalkeeper!” The plant princess held up her hand and sent a storm of cherry blossom petals across the field.
Rainbow laughed and held her hand out. “I don’t think so! Activate Trap, ‘U.A, Penalty Box’!” Four wooden walls in white and red paint rose around Talaya up to her waist and a field of electrical blue energy snapped up from them and rose to create a dome covering her. The chamber then lowered into the ground taking Talaya with it. “Since you just attacked a U.A. monster, I get to banish your monster until the end of your next turn.” Rainbow tapped the side of her head. “Strategy beyond ‘attack and beat my monsters’ is a bit tricky for you, huh? Gonna have to get over that.”
Twilight flinched at the insult. She looked at Sweetie Belle. “Are they always like this?” Sweetie Belle just nodded.
“Yeah, yeah, ya held out one more round. Ah set two cards and end mah turn.” Applejack crossed her arms. “Ya get one shot at me to make yer mark, Rainbow. Make it count.”
“I will!” Rainbow drew her card and looked at it. “I return U.A. Goalkeeper to my hand in order to Special Summon ‘U.A. Playmaker’!” Goalkeeper was drawn into a portal above Rainbow and her new monster leapt out, a figure in silver and black football armor with glowing orange details. It beat its hands on its helmet and kneeled, ready to charge. (2600/2000)
“Ah don’t think so. Activate Trap, ‘Pollinosis’! By tributin’ mah Dandylion, that summon is negated and Playmaker is destroyed!” Dandylion burst into more dandylion fluff and swirled towards Playmaker. It groaned and collapsed, dispersing into light. “Since a monster it summoned left the field, mah Miracle Fertilizer card is destroyed. But then, since Dandylion was sent to the graveyard again, Ah summon two more Fluff Tokens.” Applejack’s tokens reformed from the remains of Dandylion as her Spell card shattered behind them.
“And as always, you fall for the easy trap.” Rainbow snorted. “I summon U.A. Midfielder again and return him to my hand to summon ‘U.A. Dreadnought Dunker’!” A new athlete jumped onto the field, wearing sunglasses with an armored blue and silver basketball uniform and helmet. Red lines lit up on its armor and it stood up and flexed its muscles. “Dreadnought Dunker, put that upstart farmer out to pasture! Attack one of the Fluff Tokens!” A glowing ball of blue light manifested in Dunker’s hands and it rapidly bounced it on the ground, the orb accelerating. “Time for some bad news, AJ. When Dreadnought Dunker attacks a defending monster, he pierces it to deal battle damage. And that Fluff Token has no defense, so you’re taking the full force!”
Dreadnought Dunker swung around and flung its ball across the field at lightning speed. Applejack raised her arms to shield herself as it hit a Fluff Token and exploded in a flash of light.
-Applejack Life Points: 1500-
“Applejack!” Apple Bloom ran onto the field and put her hand on Applejack’s arm. Applejack shrugged her away and stood, glaring at Rainbow.
“Is that all you got?” She yelled.
“Not yet. I return Dreadnought Dunker to my hand and summon back my U.A. Goalkeeper to defend.” As her replacement monster kneeled in front of her, Rainbow tossed her hair and crossed her arms. “I think I’ve done enough damage for now. I end my turn.” The crowd behind Rainbow began to cheer, a chant of her name eventually rising.
“About time.” Applejack snatched her card from her deck and reached to the buttons on her duel disk. “Ah tribute Lonefire Blossom itself to activate its effect.” A card ejected from her deck. “Ah summon ‘Gigaplant’ from mah deck!” The ground in front of Applejack split open. A massively thick vine rose from it, tentacles hanging off it and digging into the ground. A large red mouth on the top split open, revealing several rows of teeth as it roared. (2400/1200). “Ah now normal summon Gigaplant again, triggering its Gemini ability.”
“Gemini ability?” Twilight thought aloud.
Sweetie Belle nodded. “Gigaplant can’t use its ability normally, but Applejack can summon it a second time on the field to do it. And it’s a doozy.”
“Once per turn now, Gigaplant lets me summon any Plant monster in mah hand or graveyard.” Applejack tapped her duel disk screen and a card slotted out of her graveyard. “Ah revive Lonefire Blossom. And now that it’s back, Ah can use its effect a second time. Ah tribute mah Fluff Token to summon from mah deck ‘Tytannial, Princess of Camellias’!” A massive red blossom with green leaves sprouted on Applejack’s field. A woman in a pink dress with red and green details like flower petals emerged from the blossom and crossed her arms. (2800/2600).
“Ah ain’t done yet. Ah activate the Spell ‘Advance Draw’ and tribute mah Level 8 Tytannial to draw two more cards.” The flower blossom closed as swiftly as it had bloomed and withdrew into the ground as Applejack drew. She looked at her cards and grinned. “And they’re just what Ah need! Ah banish Tytannial in the graveyard and ‘Chirubimé, Princess of Autumn Leaves’ from mah hand and Special Summon ‘Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel’!” A column of light expanded out from behind Applejack. Four wings, two red and two black, extended from it, flower petals falling from them. The light receded to reveal a tall humanoid figure in shining white armor, golden bands over its wrists and ankles. (2900/2400).
Applejack held out her hand. “Ah activate Rosaria’s special ability! Once per turn, Ah can negate the effects of all other cards on the field!” Rosaria held its hands out and fired rays of light across the field.
“What!?” Rainbow stepped back. The rays of light struck Goalkeeper and the hologram of the U.A. Penalty Box card. They sparked and their colors dulled.
“Now that your little Trap is outta the way…” Applejack punched her fist into the air at Rainbow. “Rosaria, attack Goalkeeper!” Rosaria flapped all four of its wings at once, sending a massive wind storm across the field. Goalkeeper groaned and shattered as it braced against the gale. Rainbow growled as Applejack grinned. “Now y’all are wide open! Gigaplant, direct attack!” Gigaplant roared and snapped several vines out from its body and across the field. The vines struck the ground around Rainbow sending sparks flying. She fell to her knees, gritting her teeth.
-Rainbow Life Points: 1600-
Twilight saw Scootaloo run out of the crowd and knelt next to Rainbow. “Don’t give up, Rainbow!” Scootaloo put a hand on Rainbow’s shoulder, but the other girl stood up to step forward, ignoring her.
“Come on!” she snarled. “I’m just getting warmed up!”
“Same here, hun. Ah set two cards and end mah turn. Now the effect of U.A. Penalty box ends and Talaya returns to mah field.” Applejack idly tapped through her duel disk tooltips. “Well lookie here, Ah got four monsters out includin’ three of mah best and you’ve got nothin’. Some things never change, huh?” Hoots and shouts of encouragement came from the crowd behind her.
“Shut up!” Rainbow put her hand on her deck. “I’m not out of this yet!” Her supporters grew louder in response.
Twilight turned her head back and forth. Glares full of spite and anger were exchanged between the players as the crowd cheered for their respective sides. Standing next to Applejack, Apple Bloom clutched at her leg, while Scootaloo tugged on Rainbow Dash’s shirt to no response. Twilight glanced down at Sweetie Belle; she was staring at the ground, her hands balled into fists.
Fluttershy is right. Twilight looked back at the field, her face pained. This isn’t what dueling is supposed to be…
“I draw!” Rainbow drew her card and looked down at it. She laughed and flipped it over, revealing a Spell card. “I think this duel just ended.” Applejack tensed. Rainbow smirked and reached to her hand. “I summon U.A. Midfielder and return it to my hand to summon ‘U.A. Mighty Slugger’!” A slim warrior in streamlined silver and red baseball armor and a horned helmet jumped on the field. It held out a silver rod in its hand and a red laser emerged from it, forming the shape of a baseball bat. (2300/700) “Then I equip Mighty Slugger with the Equip Spell ‘U.A. Powered Jersey’!” With a flash of light, a suit of white, black, and red armor appeared in the air and gravitated to latch onto Mighty Slugger. A crest of spikes emerged from its back and shoulders, sparks of red energy flying from them.
Rainbow held up her duel disk. “Now not only does Mighty Slugger get 1000 extra attack and defense points, but any damage it deals to your Life Points is doubled.” Her eyes narrowed. “Oh, and I hope you aren’t relying on those two set cards to protect you, because when Mighty Slugger attacks, you can’t activate cards or effects!” Rainbow frowned and scratched her head. “Hm, let’s see…” She pretended to count on her fingers. “Gigaplant has 2400 points… I’ve got 3300… and I deal double damage.” She faked a gasp of surprise. “Well, look at that! It looks like I win.”
Applejack glared. “Get on with it already, ya egomaniac!”
“I will!” Rainbow laughed and pumped her fist. “I’ve been waiting for this for months! I wanted it to be in the finals, but I’ll settle for doing it here and now!”
“Stop it!”
The two turned as Twilight ran out to them. “How can you talk to each other like that? You’re supposed to be friends!”
“As if! Ah’d never be friends with some cocky little punk like her that doesn’t care about nothin’ but herself!”
“I’ve got plenty of other friends, ones that aren’t hick redneck farmers and don’t think they’re better than me.” Rainbow growled and drew her hand back over her shoulder. “Time to put you in your place for the last time! U.A. Mighty Slugger, end this duel! Attack Gig—”
“Shut up, Rainbow!”
The crowd fell silent and Rainbow stilled. Twilight gasped and looked at the sound of the voice. Rainbow slowly turned her head.
“Scootaloo?”
Glaring up at her, Scootaloo clenched her fists at her side and held Rainbow’s gaze.
“Do you even hear what the hell you’re saying!? What you sound like?” She screamed. “I hate seeing you play! You’re always like this!” She looked around at the crowd before going back to Rainbow. “You’re all like this! This is exactly why I told you I didn’t want to sign up! Players like you are the reason this game sucks now!” Before Rainbow could respond Scootaloo shoved her to the ground, then turned and ran, pushing her way through the crowd.
Rainbow came to her senses as she vanished from sight. “Scootaloo!” She stood and began to run after her.
“Hold up!” Applejack’s voice stopped her and Rainbow looked over her shoulder. Applejack held up her duel disk. “We’re in the middle of a duel here! If y’all back out now, it’s a forfeit!”
“Applejack…” Apple Bloom’s voice cut the air like a blade and her sister looked down. “Just… stop. Please. No more.” Apple Bloom shook her head and walked away.
“H-hey! Apple Bloom!” Applejack reached her hand out but Apple Bloom kept walking.
Twilight felt a hand on her waist and looked to see Sweetie Belle staring up at her.
“Now you know why we play alone.”
Twilight simply nodded and saw Spike do the same on the other side of her.
The sound of a bell filled the air. Twilight heard a beeping shortly after and looked at her duel disk. Five. An electrical chime from the school’s PA system sounded.
“Attention, students.” Celestia’s voice came over the loudspeakers around the school. “It is now five o’clock. We will tally the results and announce finalist standings shortly. Duelists in the middle of a game may finish, but any duels in progress as of this moment no longer count towards official standings. The top sixteen round will begin in one hour.” The voice fell silent. The crowd began to talk among themselves and wandered off, leaving Applejack and Rainbow facing each other, the holograms of their monsters standing silently.
Applejack looked behind her but Apple Bloom was nowhere in sight. She hung her head. “Well, go on. You earned this win.”
Rainbow looked at her evenly for a moment and then reached down to her duel disk. The lights on the disk deactivated and the holograms of her cards flittered out and vanished. Without a word, she turned and jogged away. Applejack spared Twilight and Sweetie Belle a glance before doing the same.
Sweetie Belle withdrew her hands. “I’m gonna find Rarity.” She waved at Twilight and walked in a separate direction.
Alone in the field, Twilight let out a breath. “I hate to think what’s going to happen if those two are matched again in the finals.”
“Yeah.” Spike shook his head. “That was something else.”
Another chime from the PA came. “Students, finalist standings have been tallied. You all performed admirably, but I am afraid that only the top sixteen ranking students will advance. These sixteen duelists, in no particular order of importance, are as follows: Rarity Belle. Pinkamena Pie. Ember Draconia…”
Here we go… Twilight tensely waited for her name as Celestia keep reading.
“Rainbow Dash. Sunset Shimmer.”
Of course she made it.
“Twilight Sparkle.”
“Yes!” Twilight cheered loudly and scooped Spike up in her arms to hug him. “We made it, Spike!”
Spike barked happily. “I knew you could do it!”
“These are your sixteen finalists. Duels will begin in one hour at six o’clock. Your designated opponent has been chosen randomly. Access your duel disk’s server link to view who they are. Please be sure you locate your opponent and are ready to duel at your designated duel field by six or you may be disqualified.”
“Sounds easy enough.” Twilight activated her duel disk and pressed the touchscreen prompt to access its settings. “Okay, server link… here we go, CHS Autumn Crown Tournament. View finalist match-up.” Twilight pressed the prompt and waited for the data to load. A holographic display of her and her opponent’s portraits popped up into the air. Twilight looked at it and paled. “Spike…?”
“Yeah?”
Twilight knelt down so Spike could see the display. Spike read it and his jaw dropped at the name next to Twilight’s.
“… Trixie Lulamoon?”
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I hope applebloom and scootaloo cries knock some sense in those two.
And I am not surprised to see who Twilight dueling next in the final.
I'm suprised to see Ember, but looking forward to her.
But who are the remaining finalists? Even assuming Flash and AJ made it there are still seven left.
This was... Well it was a great read as always. AJ and RD may need to think about what just happened, I seen people like that and they can ruin a game (thank you Scoots for pointing that out) I oddly hope that the reason that the human five (is that still what their called?) isn't over a email or text... Like really -_-
Anyway, my only nitpick is that Twilight has 10 wins and zero loses... You would think that she lose maybe once or something. Oh well it's just a nitpick and a small one.
Another small nitpick is that now Twilight has new cards and has an extra deck and no one going to question why since she came with only a single deck? Well she could get away with it since Twi's deck is made out of magic and no one can check on it... I'm looking at this too much.
Trixie vs Twilight! I knew that it was going to happen but still I get pumped. Who's betting she's using a magic theme deck
I get the feeling that Sunset's gotta use her magic on Rainbow and AJ and Twilight's gotta save them.
Well. Those two have a lot to think about, and an hour to think. I wonder what conclusions they'll come to.
As for Twilight, I'm going to have to echo others' concerns. Magically synthesizing unregistered cards definitely seems like grounds for disqualification... provded that Sunset doesn't do the same thing and put an exception in the rules for it.
In any case, looking forward to more.
Well that was something else. Those two need to put whatever bad blood they have behind them. So Twilight faces Trixie in the first round, I should have seen that coming. I can't wait to see Ember in action, she must be good. My guess is that Twilight will probably end up facing Flash in the semi-finals before facing Sunset in the finals.
Two things:
1. Nice use of Button Mash here.
2. I actually had to google to see if that was a real card or just a Konami shout-out on your part. I...should be more surprised that Konami uses ships from Gradius as Yugioh cards. I really should. But somehow I'm not.
Poor Crusaders...that was painful to read, seeing them so hurt by all that garbage between RD and AJ.
YUSSSS.
But of course.
I enjoy this chapter, however I can't help feeling that RD and AJ were big jerks, and I feel very bad for the CMC
YES!!!! Behold the power of the Great and Powerful TRIXIE!!!!!!!!
This almost broke my brain:
It took an entire re-read of Applejack's turn to figure out that 1) Lonefire Blossom didn't tribute itself for its ability, and 2) Talaya's ability counts itself towards the Plant monster count.
Awesome chapter my friend and I can't wait for the next upload for this story I'll be waiting my friend and keep me posted on the story thanks
Ah, Twilight has discovered her main character ability to make up convenient new cards when needed (I expect a Celestia analogue summon against Sunset). I wonder if Applejack made it in or not (and I expect Twilight to duel Pinkie during the finals), and of course Sunset will probably e in the far opposite bracket from Twilight. And didn't expect Ember, though slightly annoyed that she gets to be human while Spike is a dog, but that does fit in with the canon EQ world unfortunately (Zecora, Diamond Dogs, etc.).
Glad to see the CMC call out their sisters (figure). I wish the derby episode had done it sooner. And Trixie should be extra hammy as a duelist- for glory and peanut butter crackers!
*sniffs the air* Do I smell a dragon somewhere?
7900692 Yeah, didn't they have to register their decks before the start? Might have been better if Twilight didn't open her fusion card slot and had no idea what Harmony Fusion really did.
Here's hoping Trixie uses a Performage deck.
..... GOD this broke my heart..... and I feel slightly miffed the Blue Eyes is tossed to the side for Rainbow but her current deck fits.
nicely done; also:
let's see: "Fulmen" is Latin for "Lightning"...
she Fusion Summoned "Zapp" from "Power Ponies"?
I'm okay with this...
th01.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2014/024/2/3/zapp_by_90sigma-d73jktl.png
I honestly was hoping to see how twilight would have done in a WHOLE E-Hero deck dual but meh, what can you do, it's still go to see a cameo
"Watch in awe, as Trixie summons the greatest, most powerful spellcaster of them all! Trixie special summons, Dark Magician!"
I can’t help but feel that there’s going to be a reference to Shark’s (AKA Reginald Kastle) tournament disqualification backstory coming up soon in the near future. Seeing as Twilight used cards that were unregistered in her last few duels. Thus, braking the tournament’s rules. Twilight’s going to need to pick up the pace and get the others to stop fighting and become friends again before that happens.
Honestly, sense Luna is the one that ran registration, I’m a bit surprised that she didn’t notice all those new cards add to Twilight's never before seen deck and disqualify her. Instead she let Twilight advance to the next round. Go figure.
7900880 One question remains
Red Eyes or Blue Eyes... *Starts praying for Blue Eyes*
I say both RD and AJ deserved that. Sure they're both highly competitive girls; but that was just..... wow
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Nice chapter. Really intense duel between Dash and Applejack. Though I wonder what effect Scootaloo and Applebloom's response will have on them. Personally would have liked to hear the entire sixteen spots. I know it doesn't matter but I'm meticulous that way. nice to see Ember and Trixie in the running.
7901615 Actually; Shark's opponent, Quattro on-purposely left his deck out for him to sneak a peek at.
No wonder Quattro possesses a Gimmick Puppet archetype: it defines how much he likes to pull the strings of anyone who stands in his way of victory. That's all kinds of messed up if you ask me
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7904135
You say that like the outcome would be any different. No one forced Shark to go look at his opponent's deck (which was against the rules to do). Twilight was told that no other cards would be allowed in their decks after their cards have been registered, but now she's using unregistered cards to win. No one is forcing Twilight to use them, yet she’s using them anyways. Seeing as Twilight is using cards that no one has seen before, I’m expecting someone in charge to eventually look at Twilight’s registered deck list and then spot that she’s using new cards that aren’t registered. Causing whatever duel she’s in to suddenly stop in Twilight's disqualification.
See what I’m saying? Both Shark and Twilight were/are in an important tournament and they both willingly broke the tournament rules to try and win. All that’s left is for Twilight to get disqualified and they’ll be a matching set of “Unfortunate Circumstances”. However, unlike Shark, Twilight has (or will have) friends that will help her take down Sunset and help her retrieve her crown. It’s like Twilight said in the beginning; She doesn't need to win the tournament. She just needs her crown back and her friend’s mirror counterparts can help her do that.
7904215 Oh, okay. Guess I missed out on that fact by mistake
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7904215 I agree. I'm actually surprised Twilight has lasted as long as she has while cheating. You would think someone would have noticed her extra/new cards or tired looking them up online by now
7908141 You guys are actually all missing a little quirk with Twilight's deck - and for that matter, with Sunset's. More will be revealed soon.
7908144 I get that it's magical, but I'm thinking about the rules of the tournament
Oh this going to be fun. Trixie vs twilight. Game On!
7908201 "That's no fair! You can't just add cards to your Extra Deck in the middle of the Tournament!"
"Tell it to the writing staff!"
But yeah, bending the rules is a Yu-Gi-Oh protagonist tradition. *cough* Shining Draw *cough*
7908144 is it bullshit main character powers? i hope its bullshit main character powers.
“Ember Draconia”
Dogs playing cards
7901063
a bit late for this, but I just thought of something else:
(remembering a few videos I've seen) ...you know something? this doesn't really surprise me all that much: both the deck and the one who's using it make perfect sense all things considered
The fight with Rainbow and Applejack was great. Highlighting their two differing stlyes and a broken friendship
8803224
a bit late for this, but I just thought of one other thing:
Mane-iac with a HERO deck...did NOT see that coming; in other words:
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8885905
