Chapter 4: Distortion
Dueling is Magic! Return to Equestria Chapter 4: Distortion
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Yusei and the ponies begin the search for Paradox! But as they traverse the fields near Ponyville, strange happenings divide the group, sending them into unfamiliar territory with strangely familiar traits. What is happening to Equestria? Can Yusei and the Elements of Harmony stop it in time?
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Author’s Note: And this is where I start having more fun with time travel than the Joker has with Batman on a regular basis.
Yeah, this is gonna get weird. Hold on to your thinking caps, folks, because you’re gonna need at least two braincells to rub together for this one! Time Travel is a funny little thing and you can do all kinds of awesome, disturbing and downright weird things with it.
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Everypony in town had gathered inside of City Hall. The crowd murmured, mostly about Yusei’s presence. Though glad to see him, they still remembered what had happened the last time he showed up. Mayor Mare stepped up to the podium and gave Yusei a concerned look before facing the crowd.
“Everypony,” she said, “ we have a situation. Strange events are occurring here in Ponyville. I will allow Miss Twilight Sparkle to explain what she knows.”
The mayor stepped down and Twilight took the podium. “Thank you, Mayor,” said the lavender unicorn. “Everypony, a dimensional rip has appeared in the park. For those of you who don’t know, a dimension rip is exactly what it sounds like: A rip in fabric of this dimension. Reality in that area has been torn, and the wall between Equestria and Yusei’s world has been broken through. I advise you all to stay as far away from the rip as you can. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo- this goes triple for the three of you.”
Three voices in the crowd cried out: “Awwwww!”
“I’ve sent a letter to Princess Celestia asking that she and Discord return here as soon as possible,” Twilight continued. “They, Yusei and myself will work to close the rip and to keep it from spreading. For now, though, please steer clear of it. Yusei will explain what he knows.”
Yusei pushed himself off of the wall he was leaning against and walked onto the stage.
“Hello again, everypony,” said Yusei. “I’m sorry to say that I’m not here to visit. Another threat has come from my world and invaded Equestria: A man named Paradox. He’s riding a very large, silver D-Wheel. If you see him, inform someone as quickly as possible. Try not to let him spot you as he’s very dangerous. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, don’t try to take him on either. If you see him, let one of us know as soon as possible, then get to safety.”
“That concludes our meeting,” said the mayor. “Everypony is dismissed. Please be safe and inform Yusei, Twilight or their friends if you sight Paradox.”
*****
“Everypony ready?” asked Yusei as he slid his helmet over his head and lowered the visor.
Twilight looked back at her friends, then at Yusei. “Ready!” she said. Yusei nodded and revved the engine of his D-Wheel, then sped off. Four ponies galloped behind him. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flew overhead.
“Say, where are we going?” came another voice. Yusei looked up and saw Discord hovering above him.
“To find the man who created that rift in the fields,” said Yusei.
“The rift?” said Discord. “Why do we need to find the one who created it? The rip was made using energy from your world. Shouldn’t you be able to close it?”
“It’s not just that, Discord,” said Yusei. “Paradox is a determined and destructive man. He destroyed large parts of Venice just to get Jaden out of his way, and destroyed several buildings to kill Maximillion Pegasus, killing a lot of others in the process.” Yusei narrowed his eyes. “We can’t let that happen here! Whatever damage he might do... we have to find him before that happens!”
“How are we supposed to fight him?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Beating him in a duel might be the only way,” said Yusei. “He’s not some supernatural power like Darkness was; he’s an android sent from the future by Z-one.”
“What’s an android?” asked Twilight. “And who is ‘Zone’?”
“An android is a thinking machine,” said Yusei. “It can be made to look like a person, and it can even think and act like one.
“As for Z-one, he was a man who survived the total extinction of humanity. He tried to save the future by changing it, but all of his actions were destructive. He sent Paradox back in time to kill Pegasus, hoping his death would halt the development of Duel Monsters.”
“But why would he want that?” asked Rarity.
“Because of Momentum and Synchro Monsters,” said Yusei. “Synchros were the symbols of human evolution. Momentum isn’t just a reactor; it’s a living energy that can be made to do just about anything, even fueling human evolution. Whenever a Synchro is played, Momentum would spin faster, giving off more energy, which caused humanity to evolve faster.”
“Your people evolved out of control, didn’t they?” asked Discord.
“Yeah,” said Yusei. “Humans became subconsciously obsessed with Synchros, and very greedy. Momentum then rebelled because of that. The network of reactors gained sentience and created massive robots to wage war against the human race, wiping them out. Z-one was one of only four survivors. When the others died, he created androids with their minds and sent them to the past to try and stop the disaster by eliminating the things that caused it: Synchros and Momentum.”
“None of this really explains what Paradox is doing in Equestria, though,” said Twilight.
“Whatever he’s doing here, we have to find him and get him out of here,” Yusei replied. “My friends and I can handle him, so we need to get him back to the rift.”
“You don’t honestly expect it to be that easy, do you?” asked Discord.
“No,” said Yusei. “But we have to try!”
Yusei looked up ahead and saw a flash and a shimmer.
“Did you guys see that?” he asked. He sped up his D-Wheel, then slowed to a halt when he came close to the shimmer. The ponies and Discord stopped behind him.
“What is it?” asked Fluttershy.
“I don’t know,” said Twilight. Yusei got off his D-Wheel and reached a hand out to the shimmering air. His hand passed into it, sending ripples through it like water. Yusei pulled his hand out and examined it.
“Doesn’t seem to be harmful...” he muttered.
“Let me see if I can analyze it,” said Twilight. Her horn lit up and a wide, pink ray was projected from the end. She waved the ray back and forth across the shimmering air, then let it fade. “I can’t really tell what it is. It seems to be a kind of distortion, but I don’t know what kind.”
A pony began walking on the other side of the shimmer. However, the clothes it wore were very old and worn.
“What on earth is she wearing?” said Rarity.
“It looks familiar,” said Twilight.
“I know! I know what it is!” said Pinkie Pie as the pony disappeared from view. “Aw, she’s gone!”
“What is it, Pinkie?” asked Yusei.
“She was wearing one of the costumes from the Hearth’s Warming Pageant!”
“The what pageant?” asked Yusei.
“It’s a play that we ponies put on every year that tells the story of how Equestria was... founded... oh no,” said Twilight. “Now I know what kind of distortion this is: Temporal.” She quickly scanned it again. “That’s why I didn’t recognize it before. I’ve never encountered a time rift before. Everypony, we’re looking at Equestria’s distant past.”
“I had no idea those dreadful costumes were... historically accurate,” said Rarity. “Oh, I feel so sorry for the poor dears!”
“Well, we can’t risk changing a thing, so helping them is out of the question,” said Discord. “I rather like how things ended up, so let’s not go sending ripples of change through the timeline, shall we?”
Just then, a long, silver object sped past in front of them. Yusei gasped.
“Paradox!”
“That was him?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Mighty impressive vehicle he’s got there,” said Applejack.
“Come on, after him!” said Yusei, revving his engine.
“Yusei, wait!” Twilight cried, but it was too late. Yusei had sped through the rippling distortion. There was a flash and the distortion changed. It began to sink in on itself, forming a tunnel. Wind kicked up around them as the tunnel grew and twisted into the sky.
“Oh, this is bad,” said Twilight. “Very, very bad!”
“Twilight!” cried Pinkie Pie. “What’s going on?”
“The time rift has turned into a wormhole!” Twilight yelled over the wind. “I should have told Yusei that the whole thing was unstable!”
“It’s too late for ‘should haves’, Twilight,” said Discord. “For now, we must retreat!” Discord snapped his fingers and the seven of them were teleported to the library.
“Hey, guys!” said Spike. “Glad you’re back, I was just about to make some lunch! Anypony want to help? We can have a picnic!”
“No time, Spike!” said Twilight. “This is an emergency! Take a letter and send it to the princess immediately! Tell her that Yusei went through an unstable temporal rift and that it’s changed into a wormhole.”
“Whoa! That sounds bad,” said Spike.
“It is, now hurry!” Twilight urged. Spike ran off to find some paper and a quill.
“Um, pardon me, Twilight,” said Rarity, “but wouldn’t it be faster to simply send Discord?”
“It would, but we need him here,” said Twilight.
“You do?” asked Discord.
“Yes. We need you to protect Ponyville from whatever’s happening, and I need your help tracking Yusei.”
“Blocking magic-based temporal waves I can handle, but this isn’t just magic; it’s also Momentum, as you said. And tracking an extra dimensional being through time... just how do you plan to do that?”
“I... I don’t know. But we’ll have to try something!” Twilight turned around when she heard Spike’s scratching with the quill cease. He rolled it up and doused it in emerald flame.
“Okay, I sent the letter, Twilight!” said Spike. “Now what-” Spike was interrupted by a burst of green flame and a loud belch that accompanied it. A letter emerged from the fire and fell to the floor. Twilight opened it.
“‘I know, Twilight,’” she read. “‘I saw it in the distance. It’s splitting, and the branches are moving to different locations. I am coming with the Elements of Harmony. Stay there until my arrival. Do not leave the library unless it becomes unsafe.’ Good. Maybe we can fix... whatever it is that’s happening here!”
“But don’t you remember what Yusei said?” said Applejack. “Paradox ain’t a supernatural being like Discord here. He’s just a machine. And we don’t even know if the Elements o’ Harmony can fix all this timey-wimey stuff goin’ on!”
“I know,” said Twilight. “But we can’t give up. We have to keep hoping that we can fix this.”
“Hope may be all we have,” said Discord. “There’s no guarantee that Celestia will make it here safely if more temporal portals start opening.”
“Couldn’t she just teleport here?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Rainbow Dash, Celestia would not dare take that risk,” said Discord. “I teleported us here on the assumption that the time portal Yusei rode into was the only one at the time. If the library becomes enclosed in a bubble and the rest of Equestria outside is of a different era, then the results of teleportation into the distortion could be disastrous.”
“What do you mean, Discord?” asked Twilight.
“Do you know why he was called Star Swirl ‘the bearded’? It is because of an accident that occurred during one of his experiments. He enclosed a small area in a time bubble and then tried teleporting into it. Had he simply walked through, he would have found himself twenty years in the past. Teleporting into that location, however, caused him to age twenty years. When he removed the bubble, he was bearded and shaky around the legs.”
“But the princesses are immortal. Wouldn’t that make them immune to the aging effect if that happened?”
“Their immortality stems from the purest of magic, but it can be extremely fragile. There’s a reason that I never distorted the timeline with my own powers. I could have lost my dominion over chaos or transformed into something far more hideous. Such a fate might befall Celestia if she tried that.”
“What about the letter that Spike got?” Twilight asked. She picked it up with her magic and floated it over to Discord. Discord took it carefully into his eagle claw, stroking his short beard with his lion paw as he examined it.
“This letter couldn’t have been written in a mere five seconds,” said Discord. “Celestia’s not that fast. Which means...” Discord dropped the letter and moved to the door. As he opened it, the six ponies behind him gasped. The air shimmered and waved like water.
“Just as I feared,” said Discord. “The library has become enclosed in a time bubble.”
“What do we do, Twilight?” asked Spike.
Twilight was silent for a long time before finally replying, “I don’t know, Spike.”
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sweet, I have been wating for this story to come out.
A Yu-Gi-Oh crossover? You got my attention
hey nice story
Ah man i was thinking about typing this anyway
I sure hope there's a duel in our future.
CARD GAMES ON MOTERBIKES!
(syrus fail)
942224 I think someone has been taking some storytelling advice from Christopher Nolan.
The Doctor would have a field day with all of this.
Oh my God, an isolated time bubble? that sounds worse than the world of Darkness.
BTW: lol Venice
942405 Paradox of course, and did you know that his English voice actor was none other than Sean Schemmel the voice of Adult Son Goku, Nail, and King Kai in Dragon Ball/Z/GT/Kai?
942432 And Dr. Crowler in GX.
942432 Exactly! Paradox! The concept of an infinite loop caused by time travel! and we have a dude named after the concept, so why should what he's doing here make any sense?
Please tell me you're not going to do the same thing here that you did in the first, where all of the Equestrian heroes get defeated and have to be saved by Yusei. Come on, that was exactly what was wrong with Yusei in the actual series: he never lost. Yes, if he had finished his first duel with Kallin, he would have lost, but he got off on a technicality by the duel ending ahead of time. Other than that and one duel he had in a flashback (which they only showed the end of), he never lost a single duel. I get that he's the hero and isn't supposed to lose when he's going up against the major villains or other critical duels, but he's not supposed to be flawless. Even the final duel in the series against Jack, Yusei still won, even though there were no lives at stake and they weren't in any sort of tournament. Look at Pokemon; Ash is the established hero and he loses all the time, at least one gym battle every region.
So please, don't just have Yusei be the one to save all of the Equestrians after all of them fail; let it be a team effort where at least some of them are still there up to the start of and through the whole process of the final duel.
I'll say this much: The duel will be 1-on-1 between Yusei and Paradox. But the ponies will have a much more important role to play than mere motivation this time.
you see! THIS IS WHY I DONT DO TIME TRAVEL MISSIONS!
THIS IS WHY WE NEED THE DOCTOR