Dueling Fates (Luna/Nightmare Moon vs Sombra) part 1
The final bell of the day had rung only minutes ago, its siren song telling the students of Canterlot High that their day was done. All throughout the hallways, students were heading to the lockers to drop off what books they no longer needed and to get what was stored there before heading out. Some would head off home or else meet up with friends before that. Others would stay behind to practice with their sports teams, attend after school clubs, or any other after-school activity.
While all this was going on, one lone figure sat by himself in an isolated room. Here, the only light that shined came from the laptop he used, as all of the windows had been covered up by old posters of a single attractive sixteen year old girl wearing armor. Briefly, the figure would glance at these pictures with a small smile on his face before returning to his work. Old videos streamed across the screen before him as other programs went to work. Programs working on voice recognition, profiles, and other such similar things that the teen had bought online.
Soon he would be the one to find her.
-x-
Elsewhere in the school, Sunset Shimmer moved along with the crowd towards the exit. Her head was down, finger scrolling down her phone’s screen as her eyes roomed over the article on display. On any other given day, Sunset would most likely be reading a review on some up-and-coming game or checking for leaks on the newest Duel Monster’s cards coming soon. But today was a bit different. The article she was reading came from a website that tracked strange sightings of the unexplained all over the country. From ghost to alien sightings, updates come in on a somewhat regular basis. Normally, most of this stuff could easily be explained by Sunset as humans allowing their imagination to run away with them. Or perhaps even making stuff up just to get a little attention.
Yet the article she was currently reading was different. According to it, in a town called Sire’s Hollow, several people were reported to become possessed. These people, two teachers and several students at the local high school, were spotted shuffling aimlessly out of the school grounds after classes had ended. They moved with no real purpose, bumping into walls and almost into incoming traffic all while wearing large unnatural smiles on their faces. When called out, the victims did not respond in the slightest or showed any signs that they were aware of the world around them. Eventually, the people seemed to snap out of it seemingly all on their own without any memories of what had happened.
While normally Sunset would have written something like this off as an attention grabbing story, something about it felt…familiar. Perhaps it was the actions of people, having read about it in a text book or something. Or maybe it was because it happened at a school and all of those there had been wearing their duel disks. Or maybe it was something else. Whatever the case, there was a chance this might be a case of Equestrian magic. Cinch had been able to find magic beyond the borders of Canterlot and used it against them. If she was right, then the magic might have found someone to use it and, if that was the case, had become a target for Cinch to drain. More than that, the magic could have overtaken its host by this point. She had to do something.
Scrolling down the article again, she saw that it was a week old. Nothing else had been reported about the incident. Not another incident similar to that nor anything else from the town. Could this have been a one-time event? There was the chance that, whoever had used the magic, had become fearful of it and was resisting the urge to use it again. There was also the chance that Cinch had already gotten there and stolen the magic for herself. Or, perhaps the most frightening of all, that person had learned how to control the magic so well that no one was noticing. If that were the case, whoever had this magic was extremely dangerous.
“Sunset Shimmer!” came a familiar shout up ahead. Looking up from her phone, Sunset saw Pinkie Pie waving at her normal hyper pace while surrounded by the rest of her friends. smiling Sunset pocketed her phone before grabbing both straps of her backpack with her hands. As she picked up her pace a bit to get to her friends faster, Sunset decided that she should ask them what they thought about this. Maybe convince a few of them into going on a road trip with her to this Sire’s Hollow. That is if Twilight had managed to make the new magic tracker and the-
“Sunset,” came a familiar voice behind her, breaking Sunset’s thoughts. The flame haired girl turned around to see Wallflower Blush standing there, looking slightly uneasy as she stood there.
“What’s up?” asked Sunset, noting that Wallflower had in one hand a pair of thick gloves that she used in her gardening. Most likely she was heading to her gardening club behind the school before she had called out to her.
“There’s, ah, sort of been a formal complaint about the yearbook,” said Wallflower as she looked ever more uneasy. She then let out a sigh. “A club is claiming that they weren’t represented. At all.”
At this, Sunset was taken aback. Both she and Wallflower had worked hard to make sure that everything from the school year was in the yearbook. Every student got at least one picture and every club was properly listed as well as having pictures in the book. Even Wallflower’s club was in there along with its new members. How could they have both missed one? Plus a formal complaint? That meant whoever this was went straight to Principal Celestia with their problem!
“Which club?” asked Sunset, eager to find out who they had missed.
Wallflower shook her head. “Pip’s club,” was all she said. And nothing more needed to be said as Sunset’s expression changed from worry to annoyance. This wasn’t the first time Pip’s club had come up on her yearbook radar. It also now made so much more sense why the complaint went the Principal Celestia instead of coming to them. Seriously, how many times did they have to go through this?
“Principal Celestia flagged me down in the hallway not too long ago,” continued Wallflower as Sunset placed a hand on her head. “She didn’t know about the issue we’ve been having with him so I had to explain it. She understands why we didn’t include Pip’s club in the yearbook, but wants us to talk to him one more time. Good news is that if he complains to us again we can send him to Principal Celestia’s office and she’ll take care of it.” Wallflower then paused, peeking around Sunset’s shoulder for a moment. Sunset turned her head as well to see that her friends were all staring at the two. None of them were saying anything, not ever to each other, as they watched the two girls.
“I was going ask you if you wanted to handle this,” continued Wallflower as she tried to hide her gloves behind her back. “But it looks like you’re busy. Don’t worry, I can handle it.”
Sunset shook her head, stopping Wallflower before she could turn and walk away. “I got this,” she said to her green skinned friend. “All part of the job I signed up for. Besides, all I was going to be doing tonight was hanging out. Nothing I can’t put off for a bit. I can always catch up with my friends later.”
“A-Are you sure?” asked Wallflower.
“You just go on to your gardening club,” said Sunset in a confident tone. “I’m sure there are plenty of people waiting for you.” Wallflower smiled, nodding at Sunset before dashing off in the opposite direction. As she quickly vanished from sight, Sunset let out a sigh. “Good thing is, this’ll be the last time I have to deal with the Nightmare Moon Fan Club.”
-x-
Several minutes later, Sunset found herself standing in front of one of the study rooms of the library. There were several of these rooms running alongside one of the walls of the library, roomed off by glass walls. Each room was bare to help avoid distractions with a table inside large enough to seat about six people without the room feeling too cramped. The glass walls also served a few different purposes. Firstly, it allowed students and the librarian to more easily see if a room was available without needing to knock on the door. It also helped show if students were fooling around instead of working on a project in a group or studying together. The glass also helped dampen the noise inside so that no one there could disturb the rest of the library.
Only one of these rooms was any different from the others…and it wasn’t because it was special or the like. Whoever was inside right now had clearly covered with interior with posters, the backs of which being the only things to be seen. There was also a sign on the door, made from a single sheet of white paper and decorated with marker drawings of stars as well as the moon. The only words on it were: Nightmare Moon Fan Club. Why the librarian hadn’t kicked Pip out for doing all of this, Sunset had no idea. All Sunset really cared about was dealing with this mess one last time before heading out to catch up with her friends.
So without knocking on the door, Sunset entered the room.
“GAH!” came a cry from the table from surprise. Sitting at the middle of the table was Pip, the smallest boy in the school. At a height several inches smaller than Sweetie Belle, he wore jeans along with a white shirt and brown sweater vest. His complexion was a mix of white and brown while his brown hair was combed over. Before him was his laptop along with several other papers sprawled across the table. Sighing, Sunset leaned against the open door as she waited for him to adjust to the sudden surprise and calm down.
While she waited, Sunset’s gaze turned to look around the room at all of the old posters Pip had placed on the glass walls. They showed a girl no older than she was with, strangely, more clothing on than most posters that guys collected. Instead of wearing a skimpy swimsuit or something skintight that left nothing to the imagination, she wore full-body silver armor that conformed perfectly to her figure with a matching helmet along with a black cloak. Attached to one of her gauntlets was a duel disk that shined as brightly as the rest of her armor. While most of her face was hidden, Sunset could see the she had confident eyes that matched her stance. Each poster had her in a different pose, but all of them said the same thing: “The Stars Shall Aid Me in This Duel!”
“Pip, we need to talk,” said Sunset as she shifted her gaze back to Pip.
“I’ll say,” said Pip as he stood up, rubbing his eyes as he did. “Have you ever heard of knocking? I’m working on club activities right now and-”
“Pip, you don’t have a club,” interrupted Sunset with clear annoyance in her voice. “That’s the reason you can’t be in the yearbook.” Pip slowly lowered his hands from his eyes, causing Sunset to wince a bit. It was clear by the look in his eyes that he wasn’t willing to accept this.
“Of course I have a club,” stated Pip, shaking his head as he did. “Didn’t you see the sign outside?”
“But you don’t have any members!” snapped Sunset as she gestured to the empty room. “A club has to have at least three members to be featured in the yearbook. Or has to do something on a regular basis. Sitting in the dark by yourself doesn’t make it a club.” Sunset then took a breath to try and get herself more in control. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. But we’ve been over this plenty of times. If you want this club to be in the yearbook then you should put a bit more effort into finding more members. Not going to complain to Principal Celestia!”
“I tried that though,” said Pip while throwing up his hands. “Everybody is either on the dueling team or in the Sombra Fan Club. Nobody even wants to listen when I talk about one of the greatest duelists who ever lived!”
“Couldn’t have been that good,” said Sunset as she looked around the room. “Never even heard of her.”
“She was that good! Back when she was dueling, she was one of the most popular duelists trying to get into the pros,” said Pip as he gestured to a picture of Nightmare Moon. “She was famous for making a spectacle with her duels, lots of gestures and playing up to the crowd. Plus there was the mystery of who she really was. No one knew anything about her except for her alias Nightmare Moon. There were even a few VHS tapes of her best duels which sadly never made it to DVD or Blu-ray. I managed to track all of them down and she has this…energy to her that just compelled you to watch her. Others felt the same way because she her duels almost always sold out.”
As Pip spoke, Sunset couldn’t help but feel curious about this girl. Looking at the picture again, she could tell that the teen there did have a whole lot of energy just by the way she held herself. That she was putting her whole heart and soul into it. Sunset couldn’t help but muse that if Pip tried explaining his passion like this then maybe he could get more people interested long enough to hear him out. Still…
“So what happened to her?” asked Sunset as she turned to look back at Pip. “If she was so great then why hasn’t anybody heard about her? Why isn’t she in the pros making tons of money?”
“That’s the thing: no one knows!” said Pip excitedly as he moved back to his chair. As he spoke, Pips fingers raced across the keys as he typed away. “I learned about Nightmare Moon back when I was in the Sombra Fan Club. Apparently, she was his biggest rival back then as they competed for the very top. While they never officially dueled their personalities were completely different! Sombra, even back then, was the more serious duelist compared to how Nightmare Moon was. Well, when it was announced that the two of them would be dueling to see who got to enter the pros it caused a stir. Fans of both duelists traveled for miles to see them finally throw down with everything on the line. People were speculating, putting up bets, and so much more from everything I’ve been able to dig up. I even talked to a few people who were there at the stadium that night who said it was a crazy time. But when the time came, Sombra was there but not Nightmare Moon.” Pip paused to look up from his screen. “They waited an hour for her to show up and, when they checked the locker room, all they found was her helmet on the floor.
“Naturally, people suspected that Sombra might have had a hand in her disappearance. He had a lot to lose if he failed and the pressure was high. But after several months of police investigation, they came to the conclusion that he had nothing to do with her vanishing. The pro league declared him the winner of the match and he was allowed to advance up. Well, they may have declared him innocent but that doesn’t mean he didn’t do it. His entire early career is full of people accusing him of foul play with nothing ever proven.”
Sunset hummed as she thought of Sombra. It was impossible for any duelist to have not heard of Sombra since he was one of the highest ranking duelists in the world. Not only was he skilled, but he also had an extremely rare archetype that allowed him to dominate most of his duels. While there were those who complained that it wasn’t fair to use such cards, Sunset had always shaken her head at that. Sombra had worked to track down each and every card he had while also building the rest of the deck. Plus, as was proven from time to time, just having a rare archetype didn’t always guarantee victory. Beyond his dueling career, he had used the money gained from that to make a killing in the stock market. By all accounts, he was the man who seemed to have it all.
Still, as she thought of the few times she had seen him dueling, Sunset could see him doing something like that. He just always seemed…angry despite having everything he could ever want. He always looked at people with that glare like he was about to punch them, even while attending a fundraiser or something like that. There was just something dark about him that gave her the shivers.
“Since then, people have been trying to find her,” continued Pip. “There are websites were her still loyal fans are trying to see if she’s still out there while others continue to talk theory of what happened that night. That’s part of what the Nightmare Moon Fan Club is all about, trying to find her. And I think I might have finally done that!”
“But you’re still not a club,” said Sunset firmly. “This all sounds interesting, but if you can’t get at least two more people to join you in talking about a duelist who hasn’t been seen in years then I can’t put you in the yearbook. And just having your name added there won’t help with your lack of members. I’m sorry.”
“But,” began Pip in a desperate tone. Sunset raised a hand to get his attention, ready to tell him that if he continued to bring with up he’d have to have a very different talk with Principal Celestia. But before the words could leave her lips, a window popped up on Pips laptop followed by a computerized voice saying ‘Voice match confirmed’.
The room was silent except for the computerized voice repeating the message over and over again. Slowly, Pip turned to look at the screen with his eyes wide with disbelief. As he stared forward at the open file his expression shifted into pure joy. He let out a sudden sheer as he hopped onto his feet which startled Sunset. But Pip paid her no mind. In fact he seemed to have forgotten all about her as he raced towards one of the walls, quickly took down one of the posters, and ran out the door.
“I knew it! I knew her voice sounded familiar!” the boy shouted as he sprinted into the library, leaving Sunset alone in the room looking very confused.
-x-
At the same time, Vice-Principal Luna was sitting behind her desk in the dark filling out one of the many forms on it when a knock was heard at the door. Lifting her head, she saw that the door opened before she could give permission to enter revealing her sister.
“I was about to head out,” said Celestia as she ran a hand through her hair. “But I was wondering if you had any plans for next weekend.”
Luna fought hard not to roll her eyes. “Nothing as usual,” she said while putting her pen down. “Not unless we get some weekend detentions for me to supervise. If not, they it’s just me and the PlayStable 4 for the weekend. Same as usual.”
“Well, would you like to do something different?” asked Celestia as she moved into the room and closed the door behind her. Luna then watched as Celestia pressed her back to the door, as if making sure no one else would enter unannounced. There was barely restrained excitement in the older woman’s voice, clear enough to peak Luna’s interest as she leaned back into her chair.
“What did you have in mind?” asked Luna calmly.
“There is going to be a reunion of ‘Rainbow House’,” said Celestia causing a pit to instantly grow in Luna’s stomach. ‘Rainbow House’ had been a somewhat popular family sitcom that had lasted four seasons on primetime where Celestia had been a child actor on. For four years, Celestia had played the lead’s daughter and had loved every moment of it. After the show had been canceled, Celestia had tried to find other work but had never been able to secure anything beyond minor roles here and there. While she had moved on with her life, Celestia still kept in touch with her the other actors on the show and was (from time to time) asked to make guest appearances on other shows.
Something that Luna had never gotten the chance to do. Not for a lack of wanting. Not for a lack of trying!
“It’s just the cast and a few people from the network that still remember us,” continued Celestia with a smile on her face. “Nothing too special. There might be a camera crew there to do a ‘where are they now’ segment, but I’m not too sure. I’ve also heard that the studio is thinking of restarting the show like with a few other shows are doing right now.” Celestia then shrugged. “Personally, I’m not planning on accepting if that is true. But you could come along and I could help you make a few contacts. It might lead to something.”
Luna sat there as she looked at her sister, doing her best to keep her breathing steady. She’s just trying to be nice, thought Luna as she pushed away painful memories. She’s not trying to rub her former fame in your face. She’s not reminding you of how she was famous like she used to do. You’ve both moved past that point. All she wants to do is help you and spend time with you. That’s all.
“It’s a nice offer,” said Luna after a moment. Slowly she leaned forward in her chair and picked up her pen again. “But I’ve had enough rejections to last me a lifetime. It’s your night and you should enjoy it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to get this work done before I leave.”
Celestia, however, did not leave. Instead she slowly approached her sister’s desk. “Luna, you could still come to spend some time with me out of work,” said Celestia. “I’m sure it’ll be fun.”
“I’m not so sure,” said Luna as she focused on the paper in front of her. Without looking up, she took a deep breath before exhaling slowly. Then, when she spoke next, she did so in her most final tone she could muster. The same tone that she used when there were to be no more arguments with students and parents. “I understand that you are trying to be nice, sister. But going there might not be the best thing for me. Starswirl was right that I shouldn’t set my sights any higher than they are now. This is the only place I belong. Doing anything else will just end in failure.”
“Luna,” said Celestia in a shaky voice while taking a step back. “We’re adults now. If this is something that you want, you should try without worrying what he thinks. He can’t make your decisions for you anymore.”
“He was right! Everything I ever tried to do on my own failed!” shouted Luna as she slammed her pen on the desk. Looking up, she saw that her sister had taken a few more steps back. A look of shock and fear was on the older woman’s face, causing Luna’s own frustration at all of this to soften. While taking another deep breath, Luna took hold of the papers in front of them before tapping them on her desk. “I’m sorry about that, but my mind is made up. Just…have fun and don’t worry about me.”
“Luna,” began Celestia before a sudden, rapid series of knocks on the door was heard. Before either woman could respond the door burst open and in came a student they knew as Pipsqueak. In one of his hands was a large, rolled up piece of paper or something like it. Perhaps something from the art class?
“Vice-Principal Luna, can I talk to you for a moment?” he asked between heavy pants, as if he had raced to her room.
“Of course you can,” said Luna as she shot a look at her sister. “Me and Principal Celestia just finished and she was leaving. Right?”
For a moment, Celestia stood there with her arms crossed as she looked at Luna. It was clear from the look on her face that she wanted to counter what Luna said. To say they were not finished and continue where they left off. To get Luna to go with her no matter what happened, even if it ended with them screaming at each other and digging up old wounds. Honestly, Luna didn’t know why this mattered so much to Celestia. It was just better to let go and move on. It hurt so much less that way.
Thankfully, Celestia didn’t press the issue. Without saying a word to either of them, she walked out of the room while gently closing the door behind her. Hopefully she would also realize that Luna was not interested in pursuing old dreams that would never be.
“Now, what can I do for you today Pip?” asked Luna as she addressed the small student before her.
Pip rushed to the desk with a wild smile on his face. “I have so many questions for you,” he said as he began to unroll the paper onto her desk. “Firstly, could you sign this?” Luna’s eyes widened as she saw what was on her desk, the image it held. Without realizing what she was doing the Vice-Principal had leapt from her seat as if Pip had dropped a rattlesnake there. Quickly, she pressed herself against the wall behind her.
“Where…Where did you get that?” she demanded, her eyes never leaving the image of Nightmare Moon. Tears threatened to appear in her eyes as memories began to surface from her past. Painful ones that she had hoped would never surface again, made all the worse by the conversation she had just finished with her sister.
“I knew it was you,” said Pip excitedly. So excited, it seemed, that he was unaware of the state Luna was in. “I heard your voice in the hallways so many times and it always sounded similar to the one in your old videos. So I recorded it and then got this program that compared them. It was a match! I can’t believe Nightmare Moon is my Vice-Principal! I-I have so many questions like what happened to you and-”
“Does anyone else know?” demanded Luna interrupting Pip. At that, Pip seemed to lose some of his stride and excitement. His shoulders slumped a bit causing Luna’s heavy breathing to lessen.
“No,” he said in a dejected tone. “No one to tell really.” Then, suddenly, he brightened. “At least here. I’m on all of your fan sites. I can’t wait to tell them that you’re-” Luna never let him finish. As he spoke, the blue skinned woman quickly moved around her desk before grabbing his shoulder in a vice like grip that instantly silenced him.
“You will do no such thing,” she hissed as she began to push Pip towards the door with her shaking hand. “Now, I want you to forget about all of this. I am not Nightmare Moon nor have been her. Don’t ever bring this up with me again! Is that clear?!?”
“But I don’t understand,” stammered Pip as the door opened. Luna looked into his eyes, seeing the confusion and hurt in them. For a moment, Luna felt for the small child before her. He had looked so excited not too long ago and now she was dashing whatever expectations he might have had upon meeting her. She thought that, instead, she could sit him down and explain herself. Maybe get him to understand. But that would mean reliving those old memories, the old hurts that she had suffered through. Something she wasn’t strong enough to do.
“I am not Nightmare Moon,” Luna repeated as she forced him out of her office. Then without saying another word Luna closed the door, almost slamming it, before falling to her knees with her head pressed against the door.
-x-
Pip strode back to the area he had marked as his clubroom as if in a daze, finding it to be empty. No one had taken the posters off the walls nor had anyone tampered with his stuff. It was all there, still running like normal. He should have been glad for that. So many times he had left it here only to find someone had messed with his laptop or taken down all of his posters. One time he had even come back to see everything had been taken down and left outside the room so that another group of students using the area he had claimed. It should have been nice to know all his stuff was ok.
Then again, it should have felt great to finally meet THE Nightmare Moon. To finally get to meet her, talk to the girl he admired, perhaps even get some tips on his own dueling. To get an autograph from her. Only none of that happened. Could he have been wrong? The software he used had been the cheapest he could find so that was possible.
Shaking his head, Pip went to his laptop. He needed a second or third opinion on this matter. And he knew just where to go for help.
-x-
“What else is on the agenda for this week?” growled Sombra as he walked down the halls of the office building he owned. He was a grey skinned man with a long flowing black hair that shined while being neatly tied in the back. While not being past thirty years old, he was hunched over slightly with both his hands behind his back. The man wore a black, pinstripe suit with a bright red tie that looked like it was on a bit too tight while the three men behind him wore standard black suits with matching black ties.
“Well sir,” began Boot Licker, his personal aid, as he walked while scrolling down a hand held device. “Mayfield Hospital was wondering if you could make an appearance to their children’s ward in attrition the donation you made.”
Sombra grunted at this, his gaze lingering for a moment to the nearby window they passed seeing the starry sky beyond it. “You told them no, right?” He was eager to call this a day and go home. While there was no one who wasn’t anyone there waiting for him, the grey skinned man wanted to be there more than anything. Just sit there at his table, eat a hot meal, and be alone for a while. And the sooner he got to the elevator the sooner he could leave these useless fools behind.
“Actually, I said you’d think about it,” replied Boot Licker in a nervous tone. “It’s good PR to been seen like that. Plus, plenty of those kids are fans and would love to-”
“They can have either my money or my time,” grunted Sombra as he moved a little bit faster down the halls. “Not both. Never both. I have explained that to you plenty of times. If I have to say it again, it will be the last time we ever speak. Is that clear?”
Boot Licker gulped. “Ah, yes sir,” he said quickly. “I understand sir.”
“Anything else?!” barked Sombra as they stopped in front of an elevator. “Is my limo here?”
“It’s been waiting for you for the last three minutes according to my watch,” said Boot Licker quickly. “Ah, there is a request from the charity-”
“No,” growled Sombra as he tapped his foot. “I’ve given away plenty of money already this year. If they want another free handout then they can go somewhere else! Anything else?”
“Ah, well,” began Boot Licker as the doors opened in front of them. Instantly Sombra stepped in and turned to look at them, annoyance clear in his expression. “We did get a request for an interview. An author named Quick Quills is doing a book on dueling controversy and would like to dedicate a chapter to you. I could put him down for the end of the week if you’d like.”
As the door began to close, Sombra closed his eyes while at the same time pressing the button to keep them open. Always the same thing, no matter how many years passed. “Have him call me in the morning,” said Sombra as he opened his eyes to glare at Boot Licker. “I want to ask him some questions about the book before we do anything.”
“Yes sir,” said Boot Licker as he tapped on his device. Feeling like they were done, Sombra released the button holding the door open. Closing his eyes, he listened to the sweet sound of doors shutting on annoying fools he had to put up with. At least now he was finally getting a break so he could-
“One more thing,” said Boot Locker quickly. “It’s about your pet project!” Eyes opening quickly, Sombra shot a hand out to stop the door from closing. Without waiting for the door to fully open he slid back into the hall where he looked at Boot Licker with blazing eyes.
“You found her?” he asked.
“Possibly,” replied Boot Licker as he handed Sombra his device. “One of the websites we created got a new post. A young boy claims he might have proof that Nightmare Moon is living there.” As he spoke, Sombra stared at the device which had been opened to a web site. There, at the top, were two pictures side by side. One was of Nightmare Moon and next to it was an attractive blue skinned woman. The person who posted this was asking others to look at the evidence he had collected and wanted their opinions.
“Have you checked her out?” asked Sombra as he stared at the woman’s picture as if to commit it to memory.
“In the process right now,” replied Boot Licker. “But the boy’s evidence is promising and the woman is in the right age group along with the right skin color.”
Sombra licked his lips as he continued to stare at the device. “Cancel all my plans tomorrow,” he said with a slight smile.
-x-
“SUNSET!” shouted a voice behind the flame-haired girl. She stopped in her tracks, turning her head while at the same time raising a hand (the one not holding her coffee) to block the morning light from shining into her eyes. Squinting, she could just make out Twilight and Sonata as the pair rushed to Sunset.
“Morning girls,” said Sunset as they moved to her sides. Sonata took the spot on her left, eating a breakfast burrito as she walked with a content expression on her face. On her left was Twilight, a to-go cup held in her own hand. “So, Twilight, did you go over that article I sent you?”
“I did,” said Twilight after taking a sip of her drink as she looked thoughtful. “Not completely sold on the idea that Equestrian magic is involved. For all we know, it could be someone out there trying to get their ten seconds of attention. Maybe if there had been some pictures or something.” She then looked at Sunset and gave her a nudge. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t check it out.”
Sonata quickly gobbled up the rest of her food, swallowing it loudly. “Yeah, please, Twilight can try out the new magic finding thingy she’s been working on!” she said excitedly.
“It’s only a test model,” said Twilight as she ran a free hand through her hair. “I decided against putting a containment unit on it like I did the first one so it’ll only help us find whoever has the magic. If there is any. But the problem with this new model is that its range isn’t that great and it seems to only be able to detect magic when it's being used.”
Sunset raised an eyebrow. “You tested it?” she asked curiously.
“On myself,” said Twilight as she pointed to her pendent. “When I first activated it, it just sat there doing nothing. However, when I started to levitate things using my Equestrian magic the device went off. So I decided to do a few more tests. Like seeing if the signal would be stronger if I used more magic and things like that.”
“I got to fly a few blocks away thanks to Twilight,” said Sonata in a chipper tone while pumping a fist into the air. “I even got to punch that seagull that stole my food a few days ago. At least, I think it was the right seagull. They all look the same to me.”
“While we were doing that, Spike was back in my lab watching the device,” continued Twilight. “I gave him a walkie talkie and told him to…”
“Twilight are you ok?” asked Sunset as she stared at her friend. She was standing perfectly still now, her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide. Something that worried Sunset. She knew Twilight, or at least this Twilight, well enough to know that whenever she got on one of her scientific talks very little could get her to stop until she finished.
Turning her head to look in front of her, Sunset saw that they were several yards away from the school entrance. To her shock, camera crews were stationed there while students milled around them. Several people with cameras were all about the place, one of them even standing on top of where the horse statue used to be. There were also students who seemed transfixed by all of this, watching everything that was happening as they stood there.
Without needing to say another to each other, the three girls hurried forward to see what was going on. In her mind, Sunset worried about what this could mean. Had some scientist figured out about the portal leading to Equestria? Had some creature from Equestria appeared in this world, unchanged for some reason? Whatever was going on was certainly big enough to catch this much attention.
As the three rounded the corner, they saw someone they never expected to be there: Sombra! He stood there hunched over with his hands behind his back while staring at the entrance to the school. Students were being kept back by men in black suits, making sure he had an unobstructed view of the front entrance. Looking around, Sunset saw that there were several vans with large cameras on them and filming everything that happened.
It was at that moment, Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna came walking through the main entrance. Judging by their frowns as well as the way they stormed in, neither had authorized this and had just been told what was going on. However, Sunset couldn’t help but notice something odd with the Vice-Principal. Luna’s anger expression morphed rapidly to confusion followed by wide eyed shock or fear as soon as she saw who was outside. She also seemed to move behind her older sister a little as if to put Celestia front and center of this confrontation.
“What is going on here?” demanded Principal Celestia as she crossed her arms, scowling at Sombra as she remained at the top of the steps.
Sombra, Sunset noticed, wasn’t paying attention to her in the slightest. Instead, his focus was on Luna. “I finally found you,” he said with a slight smile. “After all these years, this is where you’ve been hiding. I must say, it is nice to finally see the woman behind the armor with my own eyes. You’re even more attractive than I thought you would be Luna. Or, would you prefer it if I called you…Nightmare Moon?”
“I am not Nightmare Moon!” shouted Luna, her face burning red and clearly flustered as she stepped forward an inch or so pushing into Celestia. “This is school property and you must leave this instant!” At that, all of the students gather began to whisper to each other. Who was Nightmare Moon? What was going on?
Sombra chuckled. “I will not be doing that,” he said. “You see, I have waited a very long time for our match. The one you ran away from. And I refuse to leave until we have our duel.”
Sunset looked back at Luna…and almost took a step back which would have knocked Twilight to the ground. Luna suddenly looked livid. More so than anything she had ever seen before during her time at this school. She stepped forward, shoving her sister aside without a second thought. Speaking of Celestia, she looked both alarmed and confused at the same time. Clearly, Celestia had never seen her sister this angry before either.
“Ran away?!?” she roared. “Oh, you have some nerve to say that. After what you did, don’t pretend like it was anything like that. I was forced out because of you! To think you would stoop that low just to ensure you would win!”
“I…have no idea what you are talking about,” said Sombra. And, in all honesty, Sunset believed him when he said that. There was clear confusion in his voice and his expression matched his tone perfectly. Either he had hidden acting skills or he was telling the truth.
“Of course you would say that,” growled Luna as she crossed her arms and looked away. “Not like you would admit anything with all these people and cameras around.”
“In any event,” continued Sombra as he snapped his fingers. At one, a man carrying a briefcase approached him. Once he was close enough, the man opened the case which Sombra reached in to pull out a black duel disk and deck. “I have come all this way to have our fated duel. The school board and the mayor of this charming town have already been contacted. If you agree to duel me and win, I will donate to this school a top of the line dueling stadium for the dueling team as well as all new equipment for your sports teams. Naturally, they have accepted these terms. All we are needing is your participation.”
This had an instantaneous effect on all the students gathered there. No longer whispering in confusion, many of the began to talk loudly and excitedly. Some even began to cheer loudly. From what Sunset could make out, no one really expected Luna to win so they could get any of the promised stuff from Sombra. After all, he was a pro duelist so you’d have a better chance getting a natural tan in the middle of winter than defeating someone like him. Yet the chance to watch him duel here, without paying a cent, was just too exciting for those who were gathered.
Luna gritted her teeth. “You really want to rub the salt in my wounds that badly, don’t you?” she asked as she clenched her fists. Sunset watched, noticing as blood began to drip from both hands. “Since the school board already agreed, I guess I have no choice. Just promise me you’ll stay out of my life when this is finished.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.045 seconds
Total duration
832 users online
1,229,549 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Yeah, Pip is going to look forward to a lot of detentions after this.
9520841
True but there is a part of me that understands why Pip did what he did. There are plenty of fans out there you will ignore the personal boundaries for the people they admire. Let's just be glad he did this to check his theory instead of just announcing Luna is Nightmare Moon
9520996 Personal space exists for a reason. And while Pip had the best intentions he should have kept the theory to himself, hell he could've challenged Luna to a duel to further build his theory but he went straight to her.
9521011
Hey I said I understand why he did what he did not that I approve. I agree dueling her to test his theory would have been smarter...but we can chalk up his decision to part excitement and part confusion along with teenage stupidity. Plus I have heard of fans who will break into a stars dressing room just to go through their trash and riffle through there things so take that how you want.
Still this is an interesting take on both Simbra and Nightmare Moon. Most stories I've read have them evil because a Number card is possessing them so it's nice to read something different
This setup not only gets us ready for the next chapter, but shows off quite a few other potential ideas for chapters as well. I'd love to see what's up at Sire's Hollow (maybe meet the versions of Starlight and Sunburst from there), check out Wallflower in a duel (I bet that she uses a pretty good Plant deck), and we have more possibilities with Equestrian Magic that could happen. I can see that last one affecting duels at times.
XD ^^^^