Nightmare Moon vs Sombra) part 2

It was about an hour and half later before Luna’s car entered the faculty parking lot, coming to a screeching halt as it did so. Normally, the blue skinned woman was more of a stickler for the rules of the road having never been pulled over once in her life. Today, however, she didn’t care if she broke every rule there was out there. Opening her door with a fury, she quickly got out and slammed it behind with enough force to almost break the window. Muttering random curses under her breath, Luna moved to the back of the car where she quickly popped the truck. Looking down, she saw her old unused duel disk laying there along with her old deck. It, of course, wasn’t the duel disk she had used when she was younger for that wouldn’t fit her anymore. Instead this was her first ever duel disk which had an adjustable arm holder so that she could use it even to this day.

When she saw it, she reached out to take a hold of it before suddenly pulling her hand back. With quickening breath her head began to move back and forth as if expecting someone to jump out from behind one of the dozens of parked cars there. But that didn’t happen. No one was there expect for her.

“Get a hold of yourself Luna,” the woman said to herself as she picked up the duel disk. “Starswirl isn’t here. He’s in Florida enjoying his retirement. He’s not here.” For several long seconds, Luna stood there holding her duel disk as she did her best to get her heart rate under control. Not that it was easy for she could hear his voice in her heard. That she wasn’t good enough to succeed on her own. That she would never be as talented as Celestia and to accept it. That her dreams were childish and she shouldn’t even bother. Why waste your time doing something when you know you’re going to fail? Only he knew what was right for someone like her. As these voices echoed in her head, Luna did her best to take long drawn out breathes. Slowly her heart rate began to return to something closer to normal while the voices began to fade.

She shut her trunk one-handed before making her way to the front entrance. More students had gathered to watch, forgetting their classes for the day just to watch. Many were standing in the courtyard while others had taken to bringing chairs and desks from inside the school. Those who had not left the building, she couldn’t help but note, were crowding the windows or were up on the roof somehow. Then there were the teachers who were going along with their students rather than keeping them under control. It was utter madness. When this duel was over she would have a talk with her sister about a suitable punishment for all of these rule breakers.

Students parted as she made her way to where the duel was to happen, cameras following her as she did so. Sombra had not moved from his spot, hunched in front of where the school’s statue once was. As she took the spot several feet from the stairs, Luna noticed that Sunset Shimmer and her friends were all there as well. They stood in front of the crowd almost directly in between where Luna and Sombra were. Luna also noticed another familiar face in the crowd: Pip. He was standing close to her with excitement in his eyes, ready to watch her duel in person. The blue skinned woman’s eyes hardened a bit when she saw him, promising herself that when this was over he would have detention for the rest of his life if she could manage it. Or see if she could get him expelled for the invasion of her privacy.

It was, however, odd that she didn’t see her sister anywhere in the crowd. She should have been easy to spot, standing taller than most students. Perhaps she was trying to call the school board to get them to call this off or something.

“Are you ready,” asked Sombra, getting Luna’s attention. Rather than respond to him and risk saying something she might regret Luna simply equipped the duel disk to her arm in front of him. “I see. Very well then. I’ll make this as fair as possible and allow you to decide who goes first.”

Luna looked down at her duel disk as she bit her lower lip. Back in the day she would have wanted to go first no matter what. Now, she was no longer that girl. She’d play this smart. She knew what his deck could do to her if she went first and she had to avoid that. Meaning…

“You’ll go first,” said Luna, hearing a gasp from Pip nearby. She did not look at the boy, instead keeping her eyes fixed on Sombra. The man’s eyes had narrowed considerably before tightening up his red tie. How that man could breathe like that she had no idea.

“Very well,” said Sombra as he inserted his deck. Luna mirrored his actions causing their life points to appear as 8000. Five cards were ejected from their deck slots with both duelists taking them. Looking down at her hand she saw that she had a good balance of monsters, spell cards, and a trap. Enough for her to make plenty of moves.

“Draw!” said the hunched man as he drew his sixth card. He glanced at it before putting it back into his hand before taking another card and placing it into one of his duel disk’s spell slots. “If your plan was to slow me down it didn’t work. I play the spell card El Shaddoll Fusion to fuse together the Shaddoll Hedgehog and Shaddoll Beast from my hand to create El Shaddoll Winda!” With a frown on his face, Sombra showed Luna the two cards in his hand before sending them to the graveyard. As he did this, a swirling mass of dark clouds appeared above his side of the field. “The dark strings of fate empowered by the shadows. Corrupted champions come to my aid! Fusion Summon: El Shaddoll Winda!” From the clouds came a woman riding on the back of a purple dragon with 2200 attack point. Or perhaps, giving the purple threads attached to the two, they were simply marionettes being lowered to the ground. When they got closer to the ground, Luna thought it might be the latter given the joints and the wooden look of the two. The woman was wearing a mostly purple attire with a staff in her hand. The dragon reminded the blue skinned woman of an Asian dragon, except with a large beak like mouth and overly large yellow eyes.

“El Shaddoll Winda prevents either of us from special summoning more than one monster per turn once she is on the field,” said Sombra as he gestured to his monstrosity. “So that means I can still special summon one more monster this turn which I shall do. Since my Shaddoll Hedgehog was sent to the grave due to an effect I get to add one Shaddoll monster to my hand. For that I will choose my Shaddoll Falco. As for the Beast I sent to the grave, his effect allows me to draw one card.” Sombra’s duel disk shot out a card from the middle which he revealed to be Falco as the cards were shuffled. Once it was done, Sombra drew another card. “Now, I will normal summon my Thunder King Rai-Oh in attack mode.” Appearing now on Sombra’s side of the field was a blue humanoid looking machine with his arms held in a Y position. Thunder King was made of mostly blue metal while his silver ‘arms’ were like electrical coils that sent electricity flying through the air to a disk on both sides of it before the energy went to its feet. Its attack points were 1900.

That’s strange, thought Luna as she looked at the field in front of her. Sombra had everything he needed to create his best fusion monster El Shaddoll Construct. But he didn’t do it. Why?

“With that I end my turn,” said Sombra as he brought his hands behind his back.

“Very well,” said Luna. “I draw.” The Vice-Principal looked at the card she just drew before adding it with the other five. “First I’ll play the spell card Constellar Star Chart. This continuous spell card will allow me to draw a card once per turn each time I Xyz summon a Constellar monster. Next I’ll summon my Constellar Pollux in attack mode.” As Luna placed the card on her duel disk, a star began to twinkle above her before a light crashed down on the ground in front of her. When the smoke cleared there stood a man in silver and gold armor along with a white cape. He wore a helmet which kept his face hidden and on the right leg were large spikes. Held with both hands was a sword with two separate blades that shined in the light of the day. His attack points were 1700.

“My monster has a powerful effect which allows me to normal summon another monster this turn,” said Luna. “So now I summon Constellar Kaus to the field as well.” Another twinkle of light above their heads followed by an explosion brought Kaus to the field. This time Luna’s monster was a centaur wearing silver armor along with a matching cape. He too wore a helmet which hid his face and not even his eyes could be seen through the eye visor like eye hole. In his grasp he held a bow made of gold whose bow string seemed to be made out of energy. This monster’s attack points were 1800.

“Since I have two level four monsters on the field I can Xyz summon a monster,” announced Luna as spiral vortex appeared on the ground in front of her. Barely noticing Sombra’s frown, both of Luna’s monsters were turned into lights that were sucked in. “Steel and circuits built by the stars themselves, bring down a mighty fist like no other. Xyz Summon Rank 4. Constellar Praesepe.” Exploding upwards from the vortex appeared a monster of white metal and golden trimming. Looking like a space aged knight, Praesepe was equipped with twin golden cannons on his back as well as a cape that was gold on the back but red on the inside. One of his hands was a golden pincer that hummed with red energy inside of it while the other was a hand with a claw built into its backhand. Larger than either of Luna’s previous two monsters, he stood there sporting a decent 2400 attack points along with two golden orbs orbiting around him.

“Since I successfully Xyz summoned him I can now-”

“I’m afraid not,” interrupted Sombra as he brought his arms in front of him again. “I activate the effect of my Thunder King. By sending it to the graveyard I can negate the special summoning of your monster and destroy it.” Luna’s eyes widened in shock as Sombra removed his monster from his disk. At once a powerful current flew from his monster and hit hers, destroying it in a large explosion which she needed to raised both arms to defend herself. As the dust settled, Sombra brought his arms back behind him once again. “Since your monster was not successfully summoned, you will not be able to draw a card. Is there anything else you’d like to do?”

“I,” began Luna but stopped herself as she looked down at her hand. Her eyes fell upon her trap card before looking downcast. What was the point? He’d probably destroy that as well before she could activate it. “I end my turn.”

“Hmp,” grunted Sombra as he drew his fifth card. After adding it to his hand, the man paused to tighten up his tie. “I summon my Mathematician in attack mode.” Appearing before him was a wizard with a long white beard and a graduation hat on her head with 1500 attack points. “When this card is summoned to the field, I can send one card in my deck to the graveyard. So I will be sending my Eclipse Wyvern to the grave when his effect will activate. Now I can banish one dark dragon monster that is level seven or higher from the game. Then if my Eclipse Wyvern is removed from the graveyard I can add that monster to my hand. Now, the monster I will be banishing will be my Dark Armed Dragon.

“Now for my attack,” said Sombra after he had sent his monster to the grave and removed another. “Both monsters attack you directly!” El Shaddoll Winda went first, opening the dragon’s mouth to unleash a stream of purple smoke towards Luna. The blue skinned woman inhaled some of it before quickly bringing a hand to her mouth as she began to cough wildly. As her life points dropped to 5800, the Mathematician raised his wand. From it came a beam of pink energy with purple numbers and mathematical signs in them that stuck Luna. Knocked onto the ground her life points fell even more only to stop when they reached 4300.

“Nightmare Moon!” shouted Pip as Luna hit the ground. As for the rest of the student, she could hear their muttering. Words that she had heard before. That she was no good. That she should just give up. Slowly, Luna got back to her feet albeit on shaky legs.

“I end my turn,” said Sombra, his voice a growl of irritation as he put his hands behind his back.

“I draw then,” said Luna as she added another card to her hand, giving her a total of four cards. “I summon Constellar Algiedi in attack mode.” Appearing on Luna’s side of the field in another explosion was woman in whitish silver armor and a blue cape. In one hand was a mace which she held on one side. Her attack points were 1600. “Now I will destroy your Mathematician!” On her command, Algiedi leapt into the air with her mace raised above her. Sombra’s spellcaster looked up just in time to see Algiedi’s mace slam down on his head before being destroyed.

“When Mathematician is destroyed I can draw a card,” said Sombra as his life points dropped to 7900.

“Now that that’s done,” began Luna as she looked at her hand again. “I, uh, end my turn.”

“I…see,” said Sombra, irritation and boredom in his voice. After adding his fifth card to his hand he tightened up his tie yet again. “So very disappointing. I will remove my Eclipse Wyvern from my graveyard in order to special summon my Black Dragon Collapserpent to the field in attack mode.” As Sombra removed the card from his graveyard, a large winged reptile like creature appeared next to him. Its scales were grayish black except her its under bellow which had an orange tint to it. The dragon lacked any arms or legs, only large webbed wings with white spikes on both. After being there for a moment, its chest seemed to open up revealing a black sphere like a black hole. Its attack points were 1800.

“Since I removed my Wyvern, I can now take the banished Black Armed Dragon and add it back to my hand,” continued Sombra as he did just that. People around were clapping and cheering for him, but Sombra seemed to ignore it. He just continued to look dully at Luna. “Now, I will attack with El Shaddoll Winda and destroy that pitiful excuse of a monster.” Winda’s dragon opened its mouth again to unleash the purple smoke. Algiedi tried to wave it off with her mace only to have it melt before her eyes. Once her weapon was gone, the smoke began to eat away and melt Algiedi whole until there was nothing left while Luna’s life points dropped to 3700. “Now I attack you directly with my Collapserpent.” Luna suddenly felt like a thousand pounds had been added to her body, causing her to call to her hands and knees. She cried while her life points fell even more only to stop when they hit 1900.

“You’re not Nightmare Moon,” said Sombra coldly as Luna panted, trying to get up. “You might be the right age. You might use similar cards as her. But you lack both her spirit and her skill.” As he placed his hands behind his back, Sombra spat on the field in-between both of them. “I finally thought I had found her after all these years, only to have this happen. What a disappointment.”

Luna’s eyes widened at that before narrowing dangerously. As her hands clenched into fists, her bare fingers rubbing against the pavement, she looked at Sombra with all the hate she could muster. “You’re not the only one who’s been disappointed,” said Luna as several nearby students backed away. “You were always so uptight, but I never thought in a million years you’d ever stoop to that level.”

-Flashback-

Sixteen year old Luna stood in front of a mirror in the changing room she had been, making sure her costume was in order. Normally, duelists would be given sitting rooms where they could relax in comfy chairs with dividers separating them from the others. There were, however, a few exceptions to this. People like Luna who wanted to change into something special when they dueled could request a locker. Of course it wasn’t all that big. By her side there were only ten small lockers lining the walls of the small room she was in along with a bench dividing the room in half. She had heard that some pros get their own private rooms, but that was only for the truly elite.

As Luna stood there admiring herself she couldn’t help but think back to how her look had evolved. Back when she had first took to the stage as Nightmare Moon, she had worn a cheap plastic knight costume that she had gotten on discount from a Halloween store. Now black spandex hugged her body from her neckline to her feet with the faux metal on top of it. It shined brightly in the light coming from the ceiling and her cape looked perfect. Under one arm was her helmet while the other held on it her specially commission duel disk with her deck already in it. Once she put on her helmet and walked out that door, she would be Nightmare Moon ready for the match of her life.

Despite her heart pounding like mad from excitement, she found herself smiling brightly. She had gone farther than anyone might of expected. Now, with just one duel left before officially making it into the pros, she was going to put it all on the line. If she lost, she would know that she had done her best.

The rustling of the door behind caught her attention as normally the staff here would knock before entering. Before Luna could turn around the door swung open with Luna seeing her intruder in the reflection. Her heart seemed to stop for a moment, the helmet in her grasp falling to the floor and rolling around as she saw Starswirl looking at her with disgust. Her legal guardian after the death of hers and Celestia parents deaths; he was an elderly man with a long white beard and bluish grey skin. As usual he wore his signature blue suit which was dotted by small white and yellow stars. Yet his cold, indifferent eyes were not there this night. Instead they seemed to blaze with a furry Luna had seen only a few times in her life.

“So it’s true,” whispered Starswirl angrily as Luna turned around. As she pressed her back to the mirror Starswirl closed the gap between them, grabbing her arm once he was close enough. “When I received that letter I didn’t think it was possible. I never thought you’d do something this foolish. But here you are.” Roughly, Starswirl pulled on Luna’s arm forcing her towards the open door. “We are leaving this place right now.”

“No!” shouted Luna as she tried to hold her ground. However, her strength was no match for his as Luna’s feet dragged across the floor. “Please, I’m so close. This is my big match, my big night. You can’t take this away from me.”

“I am sparing you from your own inevitable failure,” said Starswirl as he continued to pull her move and move out of the room. “I will not let you waste your time any more on something so foolish that will result in nothing!”

“But I’m good at this!” insisted Luna as she pulled back with all her might. As she did, she felt her hand slip out of his grasp. However, her freedom lasted only a moment as he quickly took her by the arm again with a much tighter grip.

“You’ve been lucky,” he said as he pulled her out the door. “But sooner or later you will fail just like you always do. Haven’t I told you time and time again that I know what you are capable of? What your limits are? I’m sparing you from yourself.” With that, Luna was pulled down the empty hallways while fighting the entire way. She struggled to get out of his grip, using her free hand to try and pry herself free. Sadly, nothing seemed to work. Soon they were in his car which was parked in the back. Then they were gone leaving behind her helmet…and her big match.

-End Flashback-

Back in the present, Luna slammed her fist on the cement. “I don’t know how you found out, but you had to be the one to send that letter!” accused the Vice-Principal as she remained on the ground. “You were the only one to benefit from that! You ruined my life!”

“Benefit?” echoed Sombra in a growl as he stood there, casting a dirty look at Luna. “That night was what almost ruined me! My integrity was called into question, people assuming the worst of me. Even after they found no evidence that I was involved with Nightmare Moon’s disappearance, do you really think anyone trusted me? Every time I defeated someone I was accused of tampering with their deck. Whenever a match had to be postponed, duelists wondered if I had hired some goon to try and eliminate my opponent. Even to this day I have to bare that. I have been forever branded a criminal.

“But that’s not what hurts the most,” said Sombra as he pointed a finger at Luna. “No, what’s worse is not knowing if I could have beaten you back then. Back then, you were the only one I ever considered my equal. The one duelist I respected more than any other. Finding out you were to be my opponent to see if I would be able to enter the pros was a dream come true. A true test of my skills. Defeating you was the only way I could be worthy of becoming a pro. For days I would lie awake in my bed as I wondered how the match would go. And what happened? I won by default?!? That wasn’t how it was suppose to happen! I may be a high ranking duelist, but was that supposed to happen? Am I only in the position I am in now because of luck? There is not a day that goes by where I do no wonder such things.

“That is why I have tried to find Nightmare Moon. I want that duel I was denied if only I could gain some piece of mind. But it seems fate is denying me once again. I’m going home.”

As Sombra began to turn his back to her, Luna felt her heart beginning to beat faster. Around her, she could see students beginning to disperse as the duel was pretty much finished. She had lost, failed like so many other times. Perhaps Starswirl had been right all along. That she was-

“No, Nightmare Moon can still win this!” screamed Pip, causing Luna to look up and Sombra to pause. The older man turned again to look at the smaller boy who was not standing out from the crowd with both hand clenched tightly. Those who had been around were beginning to distance themselves from him, leaving the boy to stand on his own. “She’s been put in tighter situations before. I’ve watched them myself. She never gives up!”

Sombra looked at Pip for a moment, studying him for a moment. “That she did,” he admitted before shaking his head. Calmly he tightened up his tie even more. “But that woman is no longer here. The person we both admired is dead. Perhaps it is time to simply move on.”

I’m pathetic, thought Luna as Sombra began to turn around again, almost in slow motion. I don’t want to be though. But what can I do? That person I was, she was so much stronger than me. I couldn’t even stop Starswirl from destroying everything I worked for! Why can’t I be strong like she was?

Have you forgotten? Luna’s eyes widened as she heard another voice echoing all around her. While she could not recall who the voice belonged to, it was familiar as if she had heard him somewhere before. Like a friend from long ago. Nightmare Moon and you are the same person, the same soul. You lost confidence in yourself through your stumbles in life. That man’s words filled you with fear and doubt. But now the chance to reclaim it all that you lost is right before you. Remember, even during the cloudiest of nights the stars shall still be shining waiting to be seen. We are waiting for you to seize it again! Now stand and fight with us AGAIN!

As the words echoed in Luna’s head and heart, the woman stood up. “Where are you going Serious Sombra?” she asked as she held her duel disk at the ready. Sombra almost stumbled at the sound of her voice. When he turned his head around again it was more cautious than anything else as if he were afraid to get his hopes up. A hand rose up to his tie but barely touched it this time, tracing it as he stared back at Luna’s smiling face. “You came here for a duel. It would be a shame for you to leave before either of our life points hit zero.”

Sombra didn’t say anything at first, but the students who remained certainly were. All of them whispering how their Vice-Principal had lost her mind. She had only 1900 life points left with no monsters. El Shaddoll Winda was on the field meaning she could only special summon one monster per turn while also having nearly full life points. Not to mention he had Dark Armed Dragon waiting in the wings ready to crush her at any time. She had to have lost it to believe she could win under these conditions.

“It…seems rather pointless,” said Sombra who sounded puzzled by Luna’s sudden change.

In response, Luna brought her heels together clicking them loudly before pointing at Sombra. “Come now Serious Sombra? Let's let this next turn play out. After all, you think your victory is assured. Or are afraid I might turn it around?”

At that moment, something odd happened with Sombra. His free hand suddenly shot under his suit jacket to where his heart was located. Those around could tell he was clenching at the fabric of his shirt as he continued to stare at Luna’s smiling face. Then there were his eyes. No longer looking dull, they held within them the look of someone who had seen a ghost. Yet just as quickly as this happened Sombra seemed to compose himself. His hand returned from under his suit jacket to tighten his tie once more before returning to where he had been standing.

“Very well, I’ll humor you,” said Sombra as he brought his hands behind his back. “It’s your turn I believe.”

“It is! I draw!” declared Luna as she drew her card is a wide arch. As she did, she briefly noticed Twilight and Sunset staring at in shock while at the same time she felt a hand resting on her shoulder. Energy she had not felt from her youth coursed through her. This match would be an uphill battle. The best kind!

She then looked at her forth card and smiled. “The stars will aid me in my victory!” she shouted causing Pip to jump into the air, pumping his fist. “This is where the real duel begins Serious Sombra! I’ll summon Constellar Sombre in attack mode!” Appearing in another light that shot down in front of Luna appeared a monster with 1550 attack points. It worn the same silver armor with gold trimming as well as a helmet which concealed her face. On her helmet were two golden horns that curved backwards and she had wings like that of a butterfly floating a few inches from her back. Around her, floating separate from her body was a mint green ribbon with symbols for Gemini, Cancer, Virgo, and several others that moved around like on a electronic dashboard.

“This monster is very special,” continued Luna. “By removing one of my Constellar monsters in my graveyard, I can add one other Constellar monster from my grave to my hand. So I’ll remove my Praesepe to add Kaus to my hand. Now the other effect of Sombre activates allowing me to normal summon again! So please, lets welcome back Constellar Kaus!” Another explosion on Luna’s side of the field and Kaus was there. “Now I activate the effect of Kaus. Up to twice per turn I can either raise the level of a Constellar monster by one or lower it by one.”

“So, you’re going to raise their levels by one to bring out a rank five monster,” said Sombra.

“No,” replied Luna causing Sombra to take a step back. “I’m going to lower both of their levels by one so I can bring out a rank three!” Everyone there looked confused as both of Luna’s level four monsters had their levels dropped to three. “Now everything is set for me to build the Overlay Network! Heed me beast-warrior of the stars! Cut through the darkness with mighty blade forged by the heavens themselves! Xyz Summon Rank Three: Constellar Hyades!” From out of the vortex created when Luna began her chant came a humanoid warrior wearing black armor with the white armor with golden trimming on top of it. Hyades had golden horns on his head which pointed directly in front of him, looking sharp enough to be used as weapons themselves. Lines of red energy seemed to glow on the cracks in his breastplate and along its arms leading all the way to its twin swords which the monster held upside down. As the twin material orbs orbited around the monster everyone could see that it had 1900 attack points.

“That monster…do you plan on destroying my dragon?” asked a confused Sombra.

“No,” answered Luna with a smirk. “I’m planning on destroying your Winda. But that will have to wait a moment. First, since I successfully summoned a Constellar xyz monster my spell card allows me to draw a card.” With that she took a step forward while drawing her card, looked at it, and smiled as it was added to her hand. “Now I will use the effect of my Hyades. By detaching one of its materials, I can force all your monsters into defense mode.” One of the material orbs orbiting Hyades suddenly flew into its blade causing it to glow brightly. The monster then slammed it into the ground, sending a shock wave to Sombra’s side of the field. It was then that El Shaddoll Winda crossed her arms while the dragon she rode upon curled around itself. As for Collapserpent, it brought its wings in close while the black hole in its chest was concealed again.

“Now to be rid of Winda,” said Luna as she trusted out her hand at the El Shaddoll Winda. “Constellar Hyades, attack it with Piercing Shooting Star!” Hyades turned to look at Luna, nod, and then charge at Winda with the force of a charging bull. Once he was directly in front of Winda, Hyades leapt into the air high above it before bringing down both blades. Sombra’s fusion monster exploded as Hyades leapt back to Luna.

“When El Shaddoll Winda is destroyed I can return one Shaddoll spell or trap card from my graveyard back to my hand,” informed Sombra as he took back his El Shaddoll Fusion. He then looked at Luna curiously. “Now that Winda is in the graveyard I now have all I need to summon Dark Armed Dragon. Not only that, we can both special summon more monsters pre turn. On my next turn I will be able to completely destroy you. But you knew that. So…why? Are you giving up and just wanted to go down swinging?”

“No,” replied Luna as she placed a hand on her hip, face full of confidence. “I want you to bring out your dragon and everything else you’ve got. Show me your best Sombra so I can take them all down.” Luna then held up two cards. “I’ll let you get to that after placing these two cards face down and ending my turn.”

Sombra watched as the two cards materialized on Luna’s field. “So that’s it,” he said softly. “A trap nicely set up with your monster as the cheese. Or…is it a bluff to buy yourself more time.” Sombra then raised a hand to his tie only for it to pause there seeming to tremble as he looked at Luna’s expression. His eyes scanned the field before looking at his hand, as if he were considering his options. Trying his best to determine if it was worth the risk. Then he lowered his hand to his deal disk to draw his card.

“I will do as you asked and end this duel,” said Sombra as he held seventh cards. “Since I now have a total of three, and only three, dark monsters in my graveyard I can special summon Dark Armed Dragon from my hand in attack mode.” As Sombra placed his card on the duel disk a loud roar was heard echoing across the campus as his monster rose from the ground. Unlike the regular Armed Dragon, this monster had green scaly skin instead of red under its black armor. Long spikes and blades decorated said armor as well has having a drill at the end of its tail. Its attack points were an impressive 2800. “Now I will use his effect. But removing one dark monster from my graveyard I can target one monster you control and destroy it. I will remove my Hedgehog to destroy Hyades. So say goodbye to your only monster.”

As the drill on Dark Armed Dragon’s tail began to spin, Luna threw out her hand. “Not so fast,” she yelled as the dragon’s drill shot towards Hyades. “I activate my trap card: Xyz Veil!” Dark Armed Dragon’s effect was suddenly halted as a barrier appeared around Hyades, causing the dragon to retract its tail. “This effect card prevents my Xyz monsters from being targeted by effects as long as I have material attached to them. Meaning you just wasted your monster’s effect!”

“A minor inconvenience, I assure you,” replied Sombra as he held up another card. “If you thought that was the only dragon in my hand then allow me to correct that misconception. I remove my Shaddoll Beast, El Shaddoll Winda, and Thunder King Rai-Oh to special summon Chaos Dragon Levianeer in attack mode.” A portal appeared over the field, allowing a massive white dragon that cast a shadow over the entire school to appear above their heads. It floated there, with mint green energy growing in the middle of its wings, in stomach, and its unicorn like horn. Everything about seemed so jagged, from its wings to the ‘hair’ on its head as well as its beak like mouth. Above it, between the dragon’s wings, was a small black orb no bigger than a baseball. Its attack points were 3000. “Sadly, this monster can’t attack the turn it was summoned. But it is interesting in that it has three effects. One if I remove all dark monsters to summon it. One if I use all light monsters. But the one you used be worried about is if I use any combination of both which allows me to destroy any two cards on the field. So I’ll be getting rid of your Veil and face down.”

As Luna’s cards were destroyed via a laser beam from Levianeer’s head, Sombra held up another card. “Now, since you have a monster from your extra deck on the field, I can play Shaddoll Fusion to its full effect: allowing me to fuse monsters in my deck. So I’ll send another Shaddoll Beast and Mathematician to the grave in order to fusion summon another one of my El Shaddoll monsters.” As Sombra played his card, clouds began to swirl above the two duelists. “Four pillars binding you with your own power. Yet the shadows will never truly vanish. Fusion summon El Shaddoll Shekhinaga!” From the clouds came four curved pillars, two white with black criss-cross markings while the other two were the opposite. Like the two giant dragons, they towered over the field in frightening scale. Then, a figure of a marionette woman appeared in the middle of the four with half of her body white while the other half was purplish. On her back on the white side was an angelic looking wing while on the other side was bat like one. Shortly after she appeared, purple threads began to shoot out from the pillars to bind the woman leaving her captured within. Her attack points were 2600.

“With this, my victory is assured,” announced Sombra as his three giant monsters loamed over Luna. “My El Shaddoll Shekhinaga has the power to negate the activation of any of your special summoned monsters and destroy them simply by discarding a Shaddoll card from my hand. Not only that, because I sent my Beast to the graveyard I am allowed to draw another card to my hand.” Sombra then drew a card, giving him a total of five. “Finally, I will change my Collapserpent to attack mode.”

“Then go ahead,” said Luna as she gestured to Sombra to come to her. “End this duel…if you can.” Sombra at once began to raise his hand to point at her, mouth open ready to give the verbal command…but he stopped himself. His eyes scanned the field once again as if looking for something. Anything to explain why Luna wasn’t scared. Then he shook her head, several stray hairs standing up in the process.

“Dark Armed Dragon, finish what you started earlier and end that monster!” shouted Sombra. Dark Armed Dragon responded by raising both clawed hands as black energy began to collect into spheres in both. Without any mercy it flung them at Hyades, creating a massive explosion that shook the field. “Now with that you-” Sombra stopped as light suddenly cut through the explosion, illuminating Hyades for all to see. He was there, whole and undamaged, with angelic wings of gold on his back. What’s more his attack points had risen to 4700! “What trick is this?”

“No trick,” responded Luna with a grin while holding up a card. “You were so focused on my field, you never realized that the real trap was in my hand: Honest! By discarding this card, I can target one of my light monsters and it will gain attack points equal to the monster attacking it until the end of the turn. And you know what that means.” Sombra gulped right before Hyades took off into the air thanks to its new set of wings. He then landed on the chest of Dark Armed Dragon who started to swat off the Constellar monster but stopped when Hyades jammed both blades into the dragon. Armed Dragon screamed in pain before exploding into light, knocking back Sombra a bit as his life points dropped to 6000.

“Care to continue attack me?” asked Luna as she crossed her arms.

Sombra only responded by staggering forward a bit only to catch himself on his knees. There he stayed for a moment, panting hard for some reason while more of his hair could be seen standing up. Dust had now settled on his suit coat, giving him a dirtier appearance than anyone had ever seen. As he remained there, students were whispering to each other. From what Luna could hear, they were all surprised by this sudden turn. No one had expected her to survive such an overkill like move. Well, all but one.

“She did it!” cheered Pip as he bounced up and down. “I knew she was Nightmare Moon and this proves it! She’s got to be the real deal!”

“She is,” said Sombra as he began to laugh. “She really is Nightmare Moon!” With that, Sombra began to laugh even harder as he straightened himself up. His eyes were now ablaze with life and energy, almost looking maniac as he smiled broadly. His free hand went to his red tie only to loosen it while taking a step forward. “I fell right into that trap. Yes! This is the feeling I was expecting! This is the excitement I was denied all those years ago!” Still smiling madly, Sombra separated two cards from his hand before holding them up. “I’ll you everything I’ve got Nightmare. Starting with these two face downs as I end my turn!”

“And I’ll show you everything I’ve got!” declared Luna as she too was smiling. “I draw!”

-x-

“Sunset, what’s going on?” asked Twilight causing Sunset to blink. For a moment, she wondered what her purple friend was talking about until she noticed who Twilight was looking at. Herself. Or, rather, she was looking at the pendent around her neck which now seemed to be glowing. Taking her own eyes off the duel, Sunset looked down and touched her pendent to find it warm as well as radiating magical energy like nothing she had ever seen before. Light from the pendent began to glow brighter and brighter until it blinded the three.

When they opened their eyes the three saw that everything around them had changed. They were no longer in the school yard but instead a professional dueling arena, sitting in the stands. Sunset looked around to see if the other people around her were her fellow students, perhaps sharing in that…whatever it was. However, few lights seemed situated in the stand making everything appear darker and harder to see. The lights seemed focused in front of her where the duel was happening. Standing there were Luna and Sombra, but not the way they were looking a moment ago. Sombra looked younger, about their age now with his shirt slightly unbuttoned and his tie hanging loosely around his neck. Luna was her younger self as well; dressed up in her Nightmare Moon armor with her eyes clearly visible.

“What’s going on?” asked Sonata.

Sunset didn’t answer right away, instead looking at her pendent which continued to glow in her hand. She knew what her power was: mind reading. The ability to hear people’s thoughts and sometimes see their memories. One time she was even able to see how trippy the world appeared for Pinkie Pie. Perhaps this was something like that. Both Vice-Principal Luna and Sombra were getting really into this duel, a duel for which she knew they were supposed to have back when they were younger. Was this how they were seeing this moment, their feelings so intense that her pendent reacted to it? It was possible. The girls still didn’t know everything about how their magic worked.

“I’ll now play the spell card I just drew,” declared Luna as she held up one of her two cards. Or, rather, Nightmare Moon at this moment as she held up a card. “It’s another Constellar Star Chart. Meaning that whenever I Xyz summon a monster I can draw another card. So why don’t I do that now with an advanced Xyz summon?” In front of her, the overlay vortex appeared to suck up Hyades. “The coldness of steel and space combine themselves to forge a new weapon. Roar, mighty dragon, with a might to shake worlds apart. Xyz Summon Rank 6. Constellar Ptolemy M7!” Coming up from the vortex was a dragon like monster made of metal as large as Sombra’s own monsters. It stood there on its hind legs, white and gold plated armor protecting it. The monster’s wings were not on its back, but on its head as if there were ears showing not skin or anything like that but instead the cosmos. At the end of its tail was an edge of golden light that hummed with power. Around it were two material orbs orbiting around the dragon’s body. Its attack points were 2700.

“This monster can be Xyz summoned by using any Constellar Xyz monster I control and the monster used as well as all the material on it becomes Ptolemys,” explained Nightmare Moon. “Now, since I Xyz summoned a monster I can now draw two cards thanks to my spell cards. Then I will summon one of the monster’s I drew: Constellar Leonis!” Another star or beam of light hit the ground causing the crowd to go wild. Leaping out of the dust cloud was a figure who looked a bit different from the others used before. Its armor was white with hits of grey here and there. There were also blue spikes of energy on its shoulder and on the sides of its ankles while that same energy was slicked back on its helmet to create the appearance of a lion’s mane. As this 1000 attack point monster stood there, it swiped at the air around it producing blue energy blades from its fingers. “I hope you are enjoying this star shower Serious Sombra because it isn’t ending anytime soon! Now that Leonis is on the field I can normal summon once more. So please, lets welcome to the field Constellar Algiedi once again!”

“You may have gotten two more monsters on the field, but they won’t do you any good,” said Sombra as Algiedi appeared on the field. “Leonis is level three and Algiedi is level four. There is no way you can use them for another of your Xyz summons!”

“Oh, poor Serious Sombra,” said Nightmare Moon in mock concern while holding up a card. “Always so quick to judge. You are right, as they are now I can’t Xyz summon anything. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have a way to change that. I play the spell card Constellar Twinkle which allows me target one of my Constellar monsters and raise its level by one or two. I choose to raise Leonis up by one level so that it matches Algiedi. Then I build the overlay network to create another Constellar Praesepe.” Sombra pulled down on his tie more as Luna’s monster appeared on the field. “Now, Ptolemy M7, destroy El Shaddoll Shekhinaga!” Ptolemy let out a roar before opening its mouth wide to fire out thousand if not millions of tiny golden star-like objects into Sombra’s monster.

“When my monster is destroyed I get one of my Shaddoll spell or trap cards back,” said Sombra as his life points dropped to 5900. “So I’ll add Shaddoll Fusion to my hand.”

“Too bad the rest of your monsters can’t do that for you,” announced Nightmare Moon as she pointed to Collapserpent. “Praesepe, take down the tiny dragon!” From the cannons on Praesepe’s back shot two red orbs of light that clashed into Collapserpent, causing it to cry out before being destroyed.

“I may not get a card from my graveyard, but my Collapserpent doesn’t leave without giving me a parting gift,” said Sombra as his life points dropped to 5300. “When he leaves the field I can add one White Dragon Wyverbuster from my deck to my hand. You’ll have to do better than that if you wish to defeat me.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Nightmare Moon in a smug tone. “But for now I’ll end my turn.”

“Then I draw!” shouted Sombra as he drew his card. He then added it to his hand before looking at his five cards carefully. “I will remove my Dark Armed Dragon from my graveyard in order to summon my White Dragon Wyverbuster in defense mode.” With that a new dragon appeared on Sombra’s side of the field, one with blue skin with white scales on parts of his body like the back of its neck and chest which functioned like armor. With 1800 defense points it sat there with its wings covering its chest in order to better protect itself. “Then I will normal summon one monster in face down defense mode before I attack Ptolemy M7 with my Chaos Dragon Levianeer!” The horn of Levianeer’s head began to glow brighter and brighter, forcing Sunset to cover her eyes with her hands. Then it fired a beam much like how a unicorn would with the force of Tirek behind it.

“That won’t work,” shouted Nightmare Moon as she shot a hand into the air, her cape billowing behind her. “I activate Praesepe’s effect: when a Constellar monster I control is attacking or being attacked I can detach one of the material on him to raise that monsters attack points by 1000. More than enough to take down your dragon!” One of the material orbs flew into Praesepe’s pincer, red lightning sparkling around it as the monster turned to look at its ally. It then fired the orb at Ptolemy causing its attack points to raise to 3700. More than enough to survive and counter attack with its own power, dropping Sombra’s life points to 4600.

“Then it looks like I have no other choice but to end my turn,” said Sombra with a smirk.

“Then I draw,” said Nightmare Moon. She then looked at the only card she had for a moment before looking up at Sombra. “I’ll save this for later. For now, Praesepe will attack your Wyverbuster and Ptolemy M7 will attack your face down!” As Nightmare Moon pointed at her opponent, both monsters charged their attacks. Praesepe’s cannons fired first to destroy the white dragon. As for Ptolemy, his attack caused Sombra’s face down to be revealed as a small purple puppet of a bird that was easily destroyed.

“Thank you for that,” said Sombra. “You activated both of my monster’s effects. First, my Wyverbuster allows me to add another Collapserpent to my hand. As for the monster you destroyed, it was my Shaddoll Falco. Its flip effect allows me to set one of my Shaddoll monsters in my graveyard onto the field in face down defense mode. So I’ll set El Shaddoll Shekhinaga.”

“I thought that’s what you were planning,” said Nightmare Moon as she reached for her duel disk. “That’s why I saved something just in case I was right! I activate the effect of my Ptolemy M7: once per turn I can detach one of its material in order to send one monster on the field or graveyard back to the owner's hand. Or, if it was an extra deck monster, back to the extra deck. So I’ll detach the material to send your face down card back to the extra deck where it came from!” Instantly one of the material orbs hit Ptolemy in the chest, causing the wing-ears to grow larger. Once they stopped growing, the arena became something like a wind tunnel as papers, popcorn bags, and other such things went flying around. Sombra was bracing himself as he watched his face down card get sucked into the void within the wings of the metal dragon. Once gone, the wind vanished while the ears-wings returned to normal. “That ends my turn.”

“And begins mine!” shouted Sombra as he drew his card. He then looked at the five cards in his hand and grinned broadly. “I now have everything I need to turn this duel around. First I will remove my Chaos Dragon Levianeer and my White Dragon Wyverbuster from my graveyard in order to special summon Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning in attack mode!” In a flash there appeared a warrior with 3000 attack points wearing blue armor with gold trimming. He held in one hand a large curved sword while the other held a shield.

“I activate my monster’s special ability,” announced Nightmare Moon as she held up a hand. “By removing the last material on my Constellar Ptolemy M7, I can send your Black Luster Soldier back to your hand!” Once more one of Sombra’s monster’s was sucked into the void and brought back to his hand.

“A worthy, but futile attempt. Next I’ll play my Shaddoll Fusion,” continued Sombra proudly as he held up the card. “I will send my Shaddoll Dragon and my other Thunder King Rai-Oh to the grave in order to summon the headliner of my deck.” Two cards were slipped out of Sombra’s deck as the fusion vortex above their heads. “Threads of fear and fate, bind yourselves to this champions body, mind, and soul. Create the ultimate weapon like nothing ever seen before. Fusion Summon: EL SHADDOLL CONSTRUCT!” From the vortex, another marionette descended to the ground that was so huge that Sunset pushed herself back in her seat to try and get farther away from it. This monster was mostly purple with a mournful white face. It’s attire looked like a dress with the bottom part floating a few dozen feet away from the main body while the ends of its sleeves looked more like the ends of blades. Thousands upon thousands of purple threads were extending out from its body and moving out into the crowd. It’s attack points were 2800. “Now the effect of my Shaddoll Dragon activates, destroying one of your Star Charts!” With that, the shadowy image of a purple dragon puppet appeared on the field right before flying towards Nightmare’s side. It then collided with one of her spell cards, destroying it on the spot.

“Now, I remove my Shaddoll Dragon and my Thunder King in order to bring back the Black Luster Soldier you sent back to my hand,” announced Sombra as his monster returned. “Now I will use his effect to banish your Ptolemy M7 from the game.” Black Luster Soldier tightened his grip on its weapon as a chaotic rainbow of colors began to merge around it. Screaming out something completely unrecognizable, the warrior swung its weapon at Ptolemy sending the energy straight to it. When the energy touched the Constellar monster, it did not explode but rather seemed to vanish as the wave passed through it.

“Seems odd he did that,” said Twilight as she looked onto the field.

“Yeah,” agreed Sonata, bouncing her hair around as she nodded. “Even I know that that monster can’t attack when he uses that ability. But he also has another ability which lets him attack again when he destroys a monster. With Vice-Principal Luna’s life points as low as they care, he could have won if he did an all out attack!”

Sunset hummed to herself as she placed a hand on her chin. Sonata…was right! Leaning forward a bit in her chair, she could easily see how it would all play just like her blue skinned friend said. Vice-Principal Luna had no traps on her side of the field and her only spell card left was for drawing power. So why-

“Her hand,” said Sunset suddenly causing her friend to look at her. “Earlier in the duel, she used Honest to start her big comeback. If he attacked with Black Luster Soldier and she had another copy of that card in her hand, she would have destroyed it while also dealing massive damage to his life points. It's just not worth the risk. So he’s playing it safe.”

“My Construct also has another ability when she is summoned,” continued Sombra, gaining back the girls attention. “I can now send one of my Shaddoll cards to the grave. So I choose another Hedgehog whose effect allows me to add one Shaddoll monster to my hand. And the one I want is Shaddoll Squamata which I will now summon!” Appearing on the field was a puppet of a lizard-like creature, purple threads of energy attached to its limbs and head. Its main body was purple with golden segments separating each body part. As purple mist began to escape it and hiss as it melted the ground its attack points were revealed to be 1800.

“Now for the battle phase,” announced Sombra as the crowd cheered. “I attack your Praesepe with Construct!” Sombra’s marionette took a step forward, the ground shaking as it moved while the creaking of its joints deafening. It then held out both arms as threads moved out to wrap themselves around Nightmare Moon’s monster. Then, Construct lowered its arms to pull on the strings causing Praesepe to be sliced into pieces that exploded when they hit the ground. “Since it was destroyed by effect you naturally don’t take any damage. But the same can’t be said with this next attack.” Squamata didn’t need to be told twice, hissing right before it sent a stream of purple fluid onto Nightmare Moon. The now teenage girl took hold of her cape, holding it in front of her as a barrier to keep her safe. While it looked like her cape got drenched, her life points were reduced to 100.

“That is all for now,” said Sombra, barely holding back his giddiness. “You have put up an excellent fight up till now. But next turn, it will be my victory.”

“Think again Serious Sombra,” said Nightmare Moon as she drew her card. She didn’t look at it, instead holding out her hand in a way that looked like she was pointing the card at him. “Me and my stars will continue to shine on until victory is ours.” She then brought back her arm and held the two cards in her hand. “Now, I will play the spell card: Constellar Star Cradle! This card lets me bring back two of my Constellar monsters in my graveyard back to my hand. The only cost is that I can’t attack this turn. I’ll bring back my noble Constellar Sombre and Kaus to my hand. Then I will summon Sombre and use her effect: removing my Praesepe in my graveyard in order to add another card from my graveyard to my hand. I will choose Constellar Pollux. Now, Sombre allows me to special summon again so I’ll summon my Kaus before bringing both their levels up by one.” Nightmare Moon paused for a moment as she spread her arms out and looked up towards the ceiling. “The stage is now set to build the overlay network and summon my most loyal of stars! Brilliantly shining, giving light in the darkness of space. Shoot through the heavens to here, my heart and soul! Xyz Summon Rank 5: Constellar Pleiades!” Everyone became deathly silent as the overlay network was created again. When Nightmare Moon’s monster emerged it was a knight that seemed to give off its own glow. Like monsters before it Pleiades had its white armor with gold trimmings, but with golden spiked shoulder pads. In one had in held a sword with a large golden knuckle guard upside-down. Its cape, from what Sunset could see, seemed to show the cosmos slowly moving through it. His attack points were 2500.

As Nightmare Moon drew a card thanks to her remaining Star Chart, Pleiades did something unexpected. He turned so that he was now facing his summoner, looking down at her. For several long moments they remained like this before he suddenly, without warming, slammed his blade into the ground before taking a knee. Nightmare Moon placed a hand over her heart as the monster dipped his head down in a sign of respect.

“It…has been so long my queen,” said Pleiades.

Nightmare Moon remained silent for a moment before moving closer. While Pleiades was bowed before her, she still struggled a bit to place her hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry for making you wait so long,” she said. “I shall never let this happen again. Let us finish this.”

Pleiades stood up straight, quickly spinning around with his cape flowing around him. “Yes, my queen!” he declared as he took hold of his sword.

Nightmare Moon nodded, wiping away a tear under her helmet before focusing back on Sombra. “I activate the effect of Pleiades. This might seem familiar to you: by detaching one material from my monster I can send a card you control back to your hand. So say goodbye to your Soldier again.” Pleiades stood his ground as his cape began to grow, sucking in everything like before. Black Luster Soldier tried to hold his ground but it was no use. All too quickly he was pulled into the space within Pleiades cape and returned to Sombra’s hand. “And with no more light monsters in your graveyard you won’t be able to summon him. Now I’ll play one card face down and end my turn.”

“I still have Construct,” said Sombra as he drew.

“Not for long,” replied Nightmare Moon as she detached the other material from her monster. “I now use my monsters effect to send that doll right back to your hand. Or, rather, back to the extra deck where you will have to resummon it. And since it wasn’t destroyed, you don’t get your spell card back!”

“But I have other spell cards, or don’t you remember?” asked Sombra after Construct was suck away. “I activate my face downs El Shaddoll Fusion and Shaddoll Core. Shaddoll Core becomes a monster when activated which I can use for any of my fusions. As for El Shaddoll Fusion, well, it’s a quick play fusion card. So I’ll fuse my Core and Squamata to resummon El Shaddoll Construct!” Just like that, Sombra’s monster was back on the field as if it had never left. “I use her ability to send my last Beast to the graveyard, allowing me to draw a card. Also when Shaddoll Core is sent to the graveyard due to an effect, I can add one Shaddoll spell/trap card to my hand from the graveyard. It won’t really matter so I’ll take my Shaddoll Fusion back. Then I will play the spell card: Dark Magic Veil! By giving up a thousand life points I can special summon any dark spellcaster I want from my hand or graveyard. So I’ll use its power to summon Shaddoll Beast to the field.” Instantly dark flames appeared on the field, moving about on their own until they created a magical circle. As Sombra’s life points dropped to 3600, a puppet looking like a purple saber tooth tiger with 2200 attack points appeared on the field.

“This is the most fitting way I could end you at this moment,” said Sombra. “I could have brought out my Falco since your life points are so low, but you deserve better than to be pecked into defeat. El Shaddoll Construct, destroy her monster!” Once more, El Shaddoll Construct took a step forward shaking the ground as she did. Raising her arms dark threads of energy shot out and wrapped themselves around Pleiades who raised his blade to keep the attack from wrapping around his neck. Pleiades struggled for as long as he could but eventually the cords cut through his weapon before cutting through his body.

At the sight of this, Sombra reached for his tie and pulled it completely off. More hair began to rise up as he stared at the now defenseless Nightmare Moon with glee. “Now for the moment I have longed for! Shaddoll Beast, END THIS DUEL NOW!”

“I don’t think so,” said Nightmare as Shaddoll Beast leapt into the air. “I activate my trap card: Xyz Reborn! This trap card allows me to select one Xyz monster in my graveyard and summon it to the field. And, as an added bonus, this trap card becomes a material for my monster. So let's let this star shine once again: Constellar Pleiades!” With that, Nightmare Moon’s monster rose from the ground in a golden light while she also was able to draw another card thanks to her spell card.

“STOP THE ATTACK!” shouted Sombra. Luckily he was just in time, Beast landing on the ground in front of Pleiades before turning back to its master. Sombra looked at Nightmare Moon with a grin. “That move…I had forgotten you had that card. But I’m not done. Not by a long shot. I’ll end my turn and defeat you on the next one.”

“I draw,” said Nightmare Moon as she took her forth card. She looked at it for a moment before putting with the rest of her hand. “Pleiades, please send Construct back to his hand once more.” Just like that, Pleiades used his power so that Shaddoll Beast was the last card on Sombra’s side of the field. “Now for a star shower! I summon my Constellar Pollux to the field who will allow me an additional normal summon. So now I summon Constellar Algiedi whose effect allows me to special summon a level four monster from my hand when she is summoned. So let's give a warm welcome to Constellar Sombre!” Multiple lights crashed down unto the field, filling up most of Nightmare Moon’s field. All of her monsters held their weapons at the ready.

“Pleiades, destroy Beast!” commanded Nightmare Moon as she point at Sombra’s monster. Pleiades held his sword up, the knuckle guard glowing brightly as he did so before a ball of that same golden energy flew up into the sky. Above their heads the orb arced and fell down upon Beast, destroying it as well as lowering Sombra’s life points to 4300. “Now all together, attack his life points directly!” At once the three monsters attacked Sombra. As Sombre’s chest piece began to glow, Pollux ran in front of the teenage boy to slash him and bring his life points down to 2600. As Sombra held the side where the blade had hit him Algiedi fell down from the sky to strike his head with her mace to further lower his life points to 1000. Staggering, Sombra managed to stand up just in time to see a beam of whitish blue light coming out of Sombre to hit him square on. Knocked on his ass, his life points hit zero.

The crowd around them went wild as electronic boards showed a picture of Nightmare Moon with the word winner next to it before the world began to fade. Soon, Sunset found herself back at Canterlot High along with her friends. Students around them were cheering not only for Vice Principal Luna but also for the great match they had just seen. But none seemed to cheer more loudly than Pip who seemed to be in his own world of never ending joy.

Back with the adults, Luna was panting as the holograms faded away. Sombra had his back to the base of the statue as he looked up at the sky with a smile on his face. Then, for some reason, he began to laugh. Sunset was surprised by this and even more so when Luna joined him. Both were laughing hard holding their sides as tears fell down their faces.

-x-

“Sorry we don’t have anything better,” said Luna as she approached Sombra with a paper plate in each hand. Sombra, who was laying on the grass under the shade of a tree, looked up at her and smiled in thanks as she handed him a hot dog with chips on the side.

It was sometime after the duel between the two had ended. Perhaps a hour and a half or so. The students were back in the building, hopefully trying to catch up what they had missed thanks to Sombra’s stunt. It might have gone faster if she had found Celestia who was still nowhere to be seen. Of all the times for her sister to be elsewhere, this was one of the worst.

“I remember eating this crap when I was in school,” laughed Sombra as he took a bite. “Hmm, I’ve missed this.”

“Yeah, lucky me getting to eat it everyday for lunch,” laughed Luna as she picked up a chip.

Sombra chuckled at that, seeming to have lost much of her seriousness and anger. His face looked brighter, happier even. It reminded Luna of how he used to be back before he was in the pros. Back before that day…

“So,” began Sombra as some ketchup fell on his jacket. With a shrug, he took it off and laid it next to him. “Do you have any idea who could have sent the letter?”

“For years I thought you did,” replied Luna with a sigh. “We lost so much because of that.”

“You could have returned,” pointed Sombra. “At anytime.”

Luna shook her head. “I didn’t have the strength to,” she admitted. She then sat down her plate and looked up at the branches of the tree above then that blocked out the sun. “Before I was a duelist, I wanted to be an actress like my sister. But nobody wanted me. I wasn’t pretty enough or I couldn’t sing or I could do this or that. It was always the same. Eventually, Starswirl stopped taking me to auditions saying it was a waste of time for me to try anymore. Then when we were home he would always compare my grades with Celestia’s. No matter how hard I tried my best was never good enough for him. That her grades were better than mine both at the time and back when she was my age. That I would never have the potential she had. Then, when I found I had a talent for dueling, he dismissed it as meaningless dibble. That it served no real function and so many people fail at it that it wasn’t worth me getting into it. Still, I snuck out of the house to duel whenever I could. When I decided to try for the pros I was worried that he might find out so I made a disguise. Well, you know how well that worked out.

“After that, well, life became more hellish for me. Starswirl cracked down on me more than ever. I tried to do other things but nothing ever seemed to work out for me. It always ended in failure. The only thing I ever got out to the public after my dueling days as a video I’m not too proud of.”

“A video,” hummed Sombra as he scratched his chin. Before he knew it, Luna had playfully punched his shoulder.

“Sorry, but not that type of video,” she said. She then let out a sigh before continuing. “I guess, after a while I just gave in. Let Starswirl tell me what I could and couldn’t do. Didn’t even make a fuss when he choose my major in college. Whenever I went to do something I wanted I would always hear him in the back of my mind.” Luna then shook her head. “Anyways, enough about that. How’s Hope these days?”

“I…don’t know,” said Sombra as some of his good humor vanished on the spot. “We, well, broke up shortly after you vanished. She didn’t believe at first that I was capable of doing anything illegal to win. At least, at first. But after a couple of years of non-stop controversy we just split. Same with a lot of my friends from back then. They only came back when I was making the real money but I didn’t want anything to do with them.”

Luna shook her head sadly. “Looks like that day messed with both of our lives,” she said.

“Things would have been different,” agreed Sombra as he stood up straight, tossing his jacket over his shoulder. “But this is the hand we have been dealt and we have to live with it. Make the most of it. I’m just glad I finally got that second chance.”

“Same here,” agreed Luna.

“You know, I could help get you into the pros,” said Sombra seriously as he looked at her. “With the right backing and a few good words, you would be there in about a year. Maybe less if you duel the way you did today.” Luna smiled at him as she stood up. Without saying a work she walked over to the grey man to kiss his cheek.

“Thank you for the offer,” she said softly as she pulled away. “But, right now, I can’t give you an answer. I need to think about things.”

Sombra nodded. “I understand,” he said. “If you find out if it is what you want please don’t hesitate to call. Or, well, just call if you ever want to catch up or something.” With that said, Sombra waved as he began to walk back to his car with neither person realizing that they were being watched by a woman on the roof.

-x-

“Sir, you don’t have to worry about a thing,” said Boot Licker as Sombra entered his limo, closing the door behind him. “We were planning on downloading it to the web later during prime time. Obviously with your loss we won’t do that. It might hurt your image to be defeated by a nobody and-”

“Download it,” said Sombra in a calm tone. “It happened. I would be doing her a huge disservice by pretending it didn’t. Also make sure that the school gets everything I promised and the very finest at that.”

“B-But your image,” stammered Boot Licker as he looked at Sombra as if he had lost his mind. Sombra, however, just seemed to shrug it off with a laugh.

“Yes, my image,” he said. “Then it looks like I’ll be doing more hospital visits for a while. Make sure all those kids have their decks so I can give them some pointers.” The limo became dead silent for several long moments. Sombra noticed that Boot wasn’t even blinking as he stared at him with mouth left hanging open. His skin also seemed to pale a bit.

“Sir,” said Boot after they turned a corner. “Are…you dying?”

At that, Sombra through back his head and laughed causing his assistant to look even more worried than before. “No Boot,” he said after a moment. “In fact, I feel better than I have in a long, long time.”

-x-

“You wanted to see me Vice-Principal Luna,” said Pip after he opened the door to the woman’s office. It was dark in there, barely any light to stream through the windows giving it a darker impression than any other room. Even with the students behind him on the move to head home of the day it felt eerily quiet.

“Yes,” said Vice-Principal Luna without looking up from writing something on her deck. She then pointed to the spot directly in front of her on the opposite side of the desk. “Shut the door and stand there. This will only take a moment.”

Feeling his palms begin to sweat a bit, Pip did as instructed. After shutting the surprisingly silent door Pip moved across the room while wondering what was going on. He hadn’t done anything wrong. Well, maybe posting his conclusions online. But hadn’t he made up for that by cheering loudly for her? For believing in her to be THE Nightmare Moon?

“Pipsqueak,” said Luna as soon as he was where she wanted him, setting down her pen before folding his fingers together. “I find it hard to believe that it is just a coniciende that Sombra just happened to show up the day after we spoke. So, I want you to tell me honestly, did you tell anyone I was Nightmare Moon?”

Pip felt his throat go dry at this moment. She was mad at him. But could she prove it for sure? She was asking him right now so there was a chance this was just a hunch. He could lie and maybe get out of trouble. That was certainly something he could do. But, he knew it was the wrong choice. If he lied and she found out, he would only get into more trouble later. Then she would probably be mad at him forever. Something he didn’t want.

“I did,” he said.

Vice-Principal Luna nodded. “Thank you for being honest,” she said before picking up a piece of paper and an envelope. “You will report to detention this weekend at 8 a.m. until noon. This will continue for the next two months. That note is to inform your parents of what you did.”

“Yes ma’am,” said Pip as he lowered his head. Under any other situation, the idea of being alone with Nightmare Moon for several hours would have been a dream come true. However, this wasn’t one of them. There would be no talking meaning he wouldn’t be allowed to ask her all the questions he wanted. It would be just him sitting there with his angry hero. Plus, he was sure that when his parents saw this note, he would be grounded as well.

As he turned around to leave, Pip realized that the envelope felt odd. Whatever was in it, it felt hard and rectangular. Deciding to open it up, Pip’s eyes widened at what Luna had given him. It was a card: Starleige Paladynamo! It was encased in a hard plastic sleeve in order to better protect it. What’s more Luna had written on the sleeve in non smearing marker. ‘To my biggest fan, Thank You. Nightmare Moon.’ Pip looked up at the Vice-Principal to see her smiling at him.

“One more thing before you go,” she said. “If you want, you can bring your duel disk along so after detention we can see how good you are.”

Author's Note:

I decided to use the Legends of Equestria versions of young Luna, Celestia, and Starswirl. Basically he was hard on a filly Luna who was trying her best to keep up with a teenage Celestia, not mincing words when he said that Celestia was frustrated that Luna was holding her back. Will we see the old grouch? Maybeeeeeee.

Will we see Pip and Luna dueling in the future? Will we find out who messed with Luna's dueling career? Will I ever write a shorter chapter? Stayed turned. Like and review

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ArcanaMaverick7

ArcanaMaverick7 #1 · Mar 30th, 2019 · · ·

Great work with this chapter! That duel was intense! I'd love to see what happens next.

Speculore

Speculore #2 · Mar 30th, 2019 · · ·

You damn tease. How dare you not tell us right away who blabbed to Starswirl?!

Mr-Astounding

Mr-Astounding #3 · Mar 30th, 2019 · · ·

so Sombra runs a Shaddoll deck and Luna/Nightmare Moon a Constellar; ...yeah, I can see it; also, nice touch in how you gave the latter a Duel Monster Spirit in the form of Constellar Pleiades

ArcanaMaverick7

ArcanaMaverick7 #4 · Mar 30th, 2019 · · ·

9536336
I believe the term used in the shows is "Duel Monster Spirit".

Mr-Astounding

Mr-Astounding #5 · Mar 30th, 2019 · 1 · ·

9536487
(face palm) HOW did I forget about that!?
I know, right? That was a thing since the series first started!
(blinks) That's...right: I didn't take you for a fan, Pinkie.
A show where you save the world by playing a card game and generally having fun? How could I NOT be a fan?!
Eh, touche...and in any case, it should be fixed by now...