Heart of the Cards

by AspirantWriter

Episode 6 [Part 2] - Boastful Performance

“You got to be kidding me?”

In the library, Dusk and Twilight were reading the same book, which the latter was about to grab before the former arrived.

After easing Twilight’s worries that came during Trixie’s show, Dusk asked her for any details regarding ursa majors. He knows of the name from a constellation back on Earth, but he never heard of such a bear-like creature before in he few wildlife books he read in his free time.

Much to his surprise, Twilight doesn’t know anything about ursa majors and was about to read up about them. Became her reading partner, Dusk learned about the creature along with Twilight and the details surprised the stallion greatly.

“To think these ursas could be so large...”

From what he read from the book, ursas are semi-translucent bears and were massive when compared to ponies. However, a fully-grown ursa was titanic in size and provoking it would be the last mistake anypony would ever make.

At the same time, Dusk recalled Trixie’s claim of defeating an ursa major and now saw it was far-fetched to the highest level.

“I know. Its fascinating.” Twilight said as she put a hoof on her chin. “But the way Trixie bragged...”

“About defeating one? I don’t believe that one bit...” Dusk stated in an annoyed tone as he turned to her. “Tell me Twilight. Now you know what ursa majors are, would you dare to pick a fight one despite your talent in magic?”

“Of course not!” She quickly replied. “No pony would ever be brave enough to face one.”

“Which is a good indication that Trixie was lying about that the whole time.” The stallion shook his head. “And I don’t like those who lie to just to make themselves look good. Not one bit...”

“Dusk...” Twilight was worried that he was going to do something rash to Trixie. “Tell me you are not...”

“Not to worry. I’m not going to trouble Trixie in anyway.” Dusk assured the concerned unicorn. “I am not that sort of pony.”

The rest of the afternoon was the usual routine for Twilight; reading through the many books in the library. The only difference was that Dusk decided to joined in the reading, who seen it as good way to keep the matter with Trixie out of his mind.

It wasn’t meant to last when Spike returned to the library and was trying to get Twilight to use her magic.

“Twilight, would you put down that book and just listen to me?”

Spike said as he stood near the same chart that he used in the morning. However, Twilight was adamant on her refusal to show off.

“No Spike.”

‘Still reluctant eh?’

Despite his assurance that her friends will not look down on her, Dusk saw his previous talk with Twilight has to yet taken root in her.

“Come on Twilight, you'll be using your magic to stand up for your friends!”

“Now is not the time.”

“Come on, Twilight, any one of these tricks, even the teeniest, would be enough to show up Trixie.”

“I said no.”

Twilight then used her magic to create an blue door in front of Spike and slammed it shut.

“Woah...” Dusk knew Twilight was skilled in magic, but the last thing he would except was for her to create an real door out of nothing.

Spike wasn’t deterred as he reopened the door. “But you're the best!”

“Spike, I know how you feel.” The stallion then intervened for the exasperated unicorn, which give her some relief. “But you can’t just force Twilight. It is her choice to show off her magic or not.”

Dusk knew Spike would be disappointed that he was taking Twilight’s side, but he felt it was the best choice.

“If that's the way it has to be, then fine.” Spike sighed out as he slammed shut the door Twilight created, which Dusk raised in eyebrow.

Moments later, the baby dragon then reopened it and then left the library through the actual door.

After that, Twilight then looked down on the ground with a depressed look on her face.

“Dusk, do you think I’m making the right choice?” Twilight said. “I know what you said to me before, but...”

“You said you were feeling better...” Dusk was worried upon seeing her expression.

“I did, but I just find it hard to shake off Trixie’s bragging. The thought of losing my friends is...”

“Twilight.” Dusk exclaimed as he placed his hoof on her back. “Forget about her bragging. If you have to use magic, you don’t actually need to show it off. Again, your friends will not be bothered if you used your magic in front of them in any way.”

Twilight didn’t say a word as Dusk hoped that his words would actually have an effect on her this time.

“Now then, are you feeling better this time?”

Once more, the unicorn was quiet for a few moments before she finally made a reply.

“Yes.” Twilight then made a grateful smile. “I appreciate you being so supportive.”

“I’m just doing what I need to do.” Dusk said as he moved towards the stairs. “If you need anything, just know on my door.”

---

After going upstairs and returning to his room, Dusk spend the time by looking through his cards and preparing out a rough sketch of the card holders which Applejack and Pinkie would use. He even played Duel Monsters by himself using decks made from random cards.

He hasn’t notice how much time have passed until he looked through his window. “Nighttime already?”

Gazing upon the moon in the sky, Dusk is reminded of Princess Luna. Ever since the incident with Nightmare Moon, he hasn’t heard anything about her since then.

‘I should ask about her if I need to send another report to Celestia in the future...’

Dusk was then interrupted when he heard a commotion downstairs. Upon going downstairs, he saw it was Spike and he was in a state of panic.

“Twilight! You've gotta come! Quick!” The baby dragon hastily said to Twilight, but she refused once again.

“I already told you, Spike, I don't wanna show up Trixie!”

“No, you don't understand, it's...”

“Calm down Spike. What is going on?” Dusk soon got his answer when he heard as loud roar from outside the library. “Wha...?!”

“Uh, is that what I think it is?” Twilight worriedly asked her assistant.

“Majorly.” Spike quickly replied as they soon heard the same roar again and it was louder than before.

“You two check it out.” Dusk said to the unicorn and baby dragon. “I’ll meet up after I get my cards. There is no telling if a Number is involved.”

The two agreed with the stallion and wasted no time in leaving the library. After rushing back to his room to get his decks, Dusk then left the library as well and ran as fast as he could to where the roar came from.

On the way there, he saw that the whole town was in state of panic as everypony were alerted to the roar. Upon seeing groups of ponies running pass him in fear, Dusk knew he was going in the right direction.

He also came across Trixie carriage, which was mostly flattened and was practically now a pile of scrap. Much to his relief, there was no sighs that Trixie was inside when it was destroyed.

Soon, he finally regrouped Twilight and Spike. Along with the two were Snips, Snails and Trixie.

“Twilight, do you know what is going on?!”

“There is an ursa in the town!”

“What?!” Dusk was in disbelief to hear that the beast he read back in the library was somehow now in Ponyville. “How did it get here?!”

“It’s because of those two!” Spike then pointed to Snips and Snails. “They brought it here!”

“You two did what?!” Dusk couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Are you two out of your minds?!”

“Fear not. We have Trixie.”

“Don't worry, the Great and Powerful Trixie will vanquish it.”

Snips and Snails said as they placed all their faith in Trixie, who was rather nervous and became more so when Dusk glared at her.

“I can't...” She stated without hesitation as she hung her head in defeat.

“What?!” The two colts cried out in shock.

“Oh, I can't, I never have...” Trixie confessed. “No one can vanquish an ursa major. I just made the whole story up to make me look better.”

“I knew it...” Dusk muttered just as he heard loud stomps accompanied with a growl.

He and the others turned to see a giant semi-translucent blue bear standing on its hind legs; its size surpassing all the houses in Ponyville.

“An real-life ursa...” Dusk muttered out as he tried to keep himself calm.

“From its size, its...” He took note of its size and appearance, but was quickly interrupted as the ursa made a loud roar.

Everypony in the area were shaking in utter fear at the towering beast, including Rarity, Dash and Applejack.

It was in that very moment, Spike desperately gestured Twilight to use her magic on the ursa. The unicorn showed her reluctance until Dusk patted her back.

“You have to... All of Ponyville is at stake.” Dusk whispered to her as he lightly smiled. “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”

After pausing a few moments, Twilight took a deep gulp before she made a brave face and march towards the approaching ursa.

---

Digging her hooves to the ground, Twilight’s horn glowed purple as she begun to channel her magic as the rest of the ponies watched on.

Dusk wasn’t sure what she has planned, but was amazed that the unicorn was able to manipulate the wind with her magic.

He couldn’t see it, but Twilight was using the wind to blow through a patch of cattails at the outskirts of town to play a lullaby. Upon hearing the lullaby, the ursa calmed down as its body begun to sway.

“Nice use of number sixteen.” Spike noted.

“It wasn’t over yet.” Dusk said as he watches Twilight channel more of her magic as the purple aura around her horn grew in size.

The unicorn then begun to levitate the town’s water tower much to everypony’s awe. After unscrewing the top and pouring the water out, she then moved the container into a barn.

From what Dusk could make out from the noise coming from the barn, it was full of cows and was very surprised to see the container was now filled with milk.

“Wha? How?” He never expected the unicorn to multitask like that.

“That's new.” Spike merely said as Twilight screw back on the top of the water tower.

The ursa however begun to fall asleep and was about to topple onto Trixie. She would have been crushed if not for Twilight, who caught with her magic and begun to levitate the bear-like creature into the air.

Dusk and the others looked at the sight with their eyes wide open as Twilight shifted the ursa onto its back. Seconds later, the water tower flew into the ursa’s paws, who then sucked it like a baby bottle.

Using every bit of willpower she has, Twilight focused all her magic into moving the ursa away from Ponyville and back to its cave within the Everfree Forest.

Seeing how much Twilight is pushing herself, Dusk slowly approached her in case she faints from exhaustion in the end. It wasn’t the case when she was still on her hooves when she stopped channeling her magic.

“Are you okay Twilight?” Dusk asked her, who was breathing hard from her ordeal.

“Yeah... I’m fine.” Remarkably, she manages to recover quickly.

It was then they heard a loud cheer coming from the crowd and it was all directed at Twilight.

“Heavens to Betsy!” Applejack joyously exclaimed, which was shared by Dash and Rarity. “We knew you had ability, but not that much!”

“I'm sorry. Please, please don't hate me...” Twilight said with fear and uncertainty in her voice.

“Twilight.” Dusk then lightly whacked the back of the unicorn’s head. “Did you forget what I told you? Your friends will not hate you for using magic.”

“But Dusk...” She tried to talk back to the stallion, but was interrupted by her friends.

“Hate you?” Dash, Applejack, and Rarity said at the same time. Rarity then questioned Dusk on what Twilight meant.

“Dusk, whatever does Twilight mean?”

Taking a deep breath, Dusk begun to explain. “After seeing how you three hated Trixie’s showing off her magic, Twilight here felt...”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Dash quickly cut him off. “Magic's got nothing to do with it. Trixie's just a loudmouth.”

“Most unpleasant.”

“All hat and no cattle.”

Both Rarity and Applejack quickly agreed with her and spoke their own thoughts on Trixie.

“So, you don't mind my magic tricks?” Twilight asked her friends.

“Your magic is a part of who you are, sugarcube...” Applejack stated. “And we like who you are. We're proud to have such a powerful, talented unicorn as our friend.”

“And after whuppin' that ursa's hindquarters, we're even prouder.” Dash followed up.

After hearing their words, Twilight smiled as her previous fears and anxiety were quickly going away.

“You are?” She asked once more, which Dash, Applejack and Rarity nodded their heads with bright smiles on their faces.

“I told you Twilight. Your friends will not shun you for being talented in magic.” Dusk said to her with a smile of his own.

“You were right.” Twilight smiled back. “Thank you for being there for me.”

“Wow!” Spike cried out from the crowd. “Twilight, how'd you know what to do with that ursa major?”

“That's what I was doing when you came looking for me.” She explained. “I was so intrigued by Trixie's bragging that I was compelled to do a little reading up on them. Dusk was interested as well, so we both read about the ursas together.”

“So it is possible to vanquish an ursa major all by yourself?”

Spike asked, but saw Dusk shook his head in response.

“You be surprised Spike, but that wasn't an ursa major. From what me and Twilight read up at the library, that was actually an ursa minor; a baby.”

“That was just a baby?” Trixie exclaimed in shock.

“And it wasn't rampaging.” Twilight followed up Dusk’s statement. “It was just cranky because someone woke it up.”

She gave Snips and Snails a disapproving look and some of the ponies did the same to the two colts.

“Well, if that was an ursa minor, then what's an ursa major like?” Spike asked as he made a fearful expression.

“Well Spike...” Dusk turned his gaze to Twilight, who shook her head. “I think it would best that you don’t know.”

“Huh. You may have vanquished an ursa minor...” Trixie said as she approached Twilight. “But you will never have the amazing, show-stopping ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

Before anypony could react, the blue unicorn then disappeared in a cloud of magical smoke. They thought she teleported away, but saw it was just a poorly-prepared smokescreen for it failed to conceal Trixie as she quickly departed from Ponyville.

“Why, that little...” Dash took to the sky to chase after the unicorn, but Twilight stopped her.

“Just let her go. Maybe someday she'll learn her lesson.”

“I hope so.” Dusk muttered to himself, but he had a good feeling that Trixie wasn’t the type to admit her own faults so easily. Despite that, he was nevertheless relieved that everything is now back to normal.

His relief however was short-lived when he felt his senses suddenly flare up. It was a feeling he was all to familiar with.

‘No... At a time like this....’

---

Everypony was talking about what Twilight did to the ursa when they heard something akin to hitting pieces of wood to each other.

The ponies all turned to the remains of Trixie carriage and were shocked to see that the pieces of wood were piled together by a black aura. The wood bended in such a way that wasn’t naturally possible as they merged together. In less than a minute, a faceless humanoid figure emerged from the leftover scraps.

“You... Just when I was enjoying the fear and panic that these ponies were emitting, you had to interfere!” The figure said in an angry tone as hit pointed its figure at Twilight. “Everything was going my way and you just ruined it in instant!”

“A Number!” Dusk yelled out as the crowd gasped in shock and tried to run away.

The Number however anticipated this and raising both its arms, a black dome soon emerged and covered the area. As a result, the ponies in front ending up bumping into the barrier while those behind crashed into them.

Since the dome was somewhat transparent, those outside the barrier could see what was happening. However, they are unable be of any help to those trapped inside.

Soon, a set of black tendrils appeared beneath Twilight and swiftly entangled her. She tried to use her magic, but one of the tendrils wrapped around her horn and stopped her.

“Twilight!” Dash, Applejack and Rarity cried out as another tendril wrapped around the unicorn’s mouth, preventing her from speaking.

Dusk however was rather surprised though that he wasn’t entangled as well despite standing beside Twilight. He then notices the Number picked up one of the wheels from the ruined carriage.

“No so great without your magic huh?”

Everypony look on in horror as the Number threw the wheel at Twilight, which was aimed for her head.

Spinning like a frisbee, the wheel quickly closes the distance towards the entangled unicorn as she begun to panic and tears begun to pour from her eyes.

“No!”

Without thinking or hesitation, Dusk quickly got in front of Twilight, who was horrified of the thought of the stallion taking the blow for her. Twilight cried out to him to stop, but her pleas was muffled.

Dusk bravely stood his ground as he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He knew that was no way he could survive taking a blow like that, but he was resolved to defend Twilight at any cost.

‘This is the end? Isn’t it?’ Dusk tightly closed his eyes as he braced for the wheel to strike him down.

However, it was then he felt a strange yet warm feeling all across his body just as he heard the sound of the spinning projectile finally making impact. At the same time, he heard everypony gasp in shock.

Slowly opening his eyes, the stallion saw there was a golden aura shaped like enclosed wings in front of him, which apparently shielded him from the wheel. Near his hooves were the remains of the wheel, which struck the aura instead of him.

Upon closer inspection, he soon recognized the design of the wings and realized who shielded him from harm. “Light Wing Shield...”

Despite Utopia being with him for almost a month now, he never seen anything like this before.

As he stood bewildered on what happened, the protective aura slowly vanishes as the ponies made a deep sigh of relief that Dusk was unharmed. Twilight in the other hoof shed a few tears in relief instead.

“Number 39... You and your pawn had to interfere as well...” The Number growled as he walked towards the stallion.

The crowd were confused what happened to Dusk and what the Number meant by Number 39. Only Twilight, Dash, Applejack and Rarity knew the truth.

Regaining his composure, Dusk then stepped towards the Number as he glared at its featureless face.

“You have a lot of nerve attacking my friend.”

“She ruined my plan. Those who ruined my plans will pay dearly.”

“Plan? Explain yourself!” Dusk demanded.

“I was wandering around this Everfree Forest when I notice those two enter a cave.” The Number explained as it pointed to Snips and Snails. “I was curious what they were doing, so I followed them in secret.”

“What!?” The two colts yelped in fear.

“When I saw those two woke that ursa up, I suddenly had a brilliant idea.”

“What do you mean?” Dusk wasn’t sure what it was getting at and neither did the other ponies. When it came to evil Numbers though, nothing good ever comes from their meddling.

“While I feed on one’s fears, I prefer despair over everything else. I’ve imagined what would happen if that very ursa chased those fools back their town. The despair that all these ponies would be filled with when their homes are nothing but ruins...”

Everypony were horrified to hear such words from the Number. They never thought they would meet one that desire to see their homes destroyed.

“Initially, the ursa didn’t give chase when the two left the cave, so I had to “motivate” it to go after them. I observed as it finally reached the town and when I thought everything was going as planned...”

The Number turned to Twilight and if it had a face, it would be showing an expression of utmost anger.

“That idiotic unicorn had to use her magic and ruin everything! Oh, I am going to make that stupid...”

“Enough!” Dash yelled out as she lands near Twilight. She was then accompanied by Applejack and Rarity who glared at the Number.

“I had enough of you badmouthing my friend! Pummel this Number Dusk!”

“You don’t need to tell me Dash.” Dusk then raised his left hoof up. “Duel Disk on!”

As his duel disk materialized on his left hoof, he placed one of his decks into it. For trying to harm Twilight, Dusk intends not to show any mercy to the Number.

“A duel eh? Very well.”

The Number waved his left arm as a duel disk appeared on its forearm. Despite appearing to be made of wood, its glowing outlines showed it functions just like any other duel disk.

“I am Number 72. When I’m done with you and Number 39, that unicorn is next on my list.”

“Not while I’m still standing.”

The two then activated the holographic systems of their respective Duel Dusks.

“Solid Reality Vision Link established.”

The computerized voice echoed throughout the black dome as the holographic screens then appeared.

Dusk and Number 72 then drew their cards as they shouted the word that starts all duels.

“DUEL!”

Comments

[Windy0]

So Shogi Rook makes its appearance now? Okay, though I thought Twilight would be dueling it and then getting her own number?

[AspirantWriter]

8261645

Twilight will eventually obtain her respective Number, but it will not be in this episode I'm afraid. If you are wondering when this will happen, I assure you it will be in the near future.

[Windy0]

8262223
Have all of the Main 6 been assigned a Number yet? This is a simple yes or no question.

[AspirantWriter]

8273056

Yes, all of the Main Six have their designated Numbers, which Rarity and Fluttershy would be using your OC Numbers. Unless you want to make more OC Numbers for the rest of the Main Six, they would using the Numbers that I've chosen for them.

If you are wondering, the next update will occur tomorrow morning.

[Windy0]

8273384
It's morning for me now. I thought you said there would be an update by now?