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Chapter 1: Dream of Awakenin6,926 words
Chapter 2: New Friends and a New Beginning8,744 words
Chapter 3: Spark the Road to Victory3,505 words

Chapter 3: Spark the Road to Victory

Author's Note:

Here's a little image for the duel disk so that you'll get better look at what it looks like:

And here's a familiar necklace an OC will be wearing at the end of this chapter:

Another day has gone by at the School of Friendship and DS seems to enjoy this school very much. Loved the way each of the Mane Six taught each class like how Fluttershy always bought in an animal and explained how to care for them to show kindness. Pinkie is always fun whenever she teaches her class while Applejack shows how to be honest to others. Rarity used her sense of fashion to explain generosity in her classes and Twilight shows and explains everything there is to know about friendship in her class.

However, Rainbow Dash was always encouraging others to think competitively in her classes. Allowing her students to not only challenge themselves, but others to keep class participation up and to engage them in a new style of learning. The different style of teaching the professors had, also seemed to represent their element of friendship they taught.

"Oh man, I gotta say that Professor RD can really make you get real competitive in class." DS mentioned as he walked with Ocellus and Sandbar. "But it's really fun too!"

"Yeah, and each class has their own style of learning and teaching, sort of like a duel." Ocellus compared. The past few days she, Smolder and Silverstream have gotten good at playing duel monsters and modified their decks. "It's really exciting if you think about it."

"Speaking of dueling, it was pretty awesome for Headmare Twilight to allow students to duel in the school yard in the center of the school. Smolder and Silverstream have been practicing every chance they get when they're not in class." Sandbar spoke up with his hands in his pockets, a soft smile on his face. "They desperately want to climb the ranks, especially Smolder. She gets pretty serious when she starts getting into a duel."

"I've seen them practicing as well." Ocellus places her hand over her mouth as she begins to chuckle. "Silverstream gets way too excited while watching Smolder's turn that she sometimes forgets to activate her trap cards."

"Well Smolder did say that dragons do get very competitive." DS recalled as he placed his hands behind his head. "As for Silverstream, she really needs to focus on the duel instead of the action that goes on in the duel."

"HEY DS!!" A loud voice called out to him and made them jump before they turned to see Sparks with a determined look on her face. "LET'S RUSH DUEL!!"

"Geez Spark, don't scare us like that!" DS complained, holding his hand to his chest like he just had a heart attack. Sparks just smiled wide and began to laugh.

"Sorry DS. It's been a few days, and I still gotta show a lot of you what a Rush Duel is!" Sparks exclaimed as she punched the palm of her hand, a large excited smirk on her face.

"Oh yeah, I remember now." Said Ocellus after controlling her breathing. "After DS beat that Night Aura guy you said something about showing us a Rush Duel sometime."

"Yeah! And I want you to be my opponent DS!" Sparks said while pointing at DS as she placed her other hand on her hip.

"Actually, I ended up in a tie with Night Aura instead of winning." DS corrected before he looked at Sparks. "As for that Rush Duel, I never turned down a challenge when it comes to dueling." Just when he took out his dual disk, the school bell rang for the next period. "Oh man, talk about bad timing."

"Ah! We better get to class quickly!" Ocellus exclaimed before she grabbed DS and Sandbar by the arms. "Come on!"

"Wait, what about our duel?!" Sparks called out.

"It looks like we're going to have to postpone our duel until then!" DS told her as he looked back. "I promise that we will have our duel!"

The past few hours was spent with Sparks trying to rush duel DS but there's something getting in the way. After class, he had to do a study session with Ocellus and Gallus and after that was lunch. DS set his lunch tray down onto the table where his other six friends were at and sat down. They were all talking amongst themselves when a lunch tray was loudly slammed onto the table across from DS. He looks up to see who it belongs to and sees Sparks. She sits across from him and crosses her arms, she had an annoyed expression on her face.

"Are you dodging me on purpose DS?" She questioned as she narrowed her eyes at DS. "You still owe me a Rush Duel."

"Oh right, I almost forgot about that." DS mentioned as he rubbed the back of his head. "Maybe we could have our Rush duel during recess later. Because you can't duel on an empty stomach."

"Fine, even I know not to duel on empty." Sparks said as she started to eat her lunch.

"I really want to see a Rush Duel!" Silverstream exclaimed with a sparkle in her eyes.

"So, what exactly is the difference between a rush duel and a normal duel?" Smolder asked them.

"Rush duels are far more intense than a normal duel." Sparks began to explain with a smirk. "You can draw more than one card during your turn, and you can summon more than one powerful monster in a turn! It's fast paced and exciting!"

"Fast and exciting huh? Well that certainty sounds right up my alley." Smolder smirked back at Sparks. "I definitely want to see one of those!"

"I'm with dragon breath here. A new way to experience the game sounds interesting." Gallus stated, earning him a side glare from Smolder.

"Well then, meet us in the courtyard during recess and we'll show you how it's done." DS told them with a smirk on his face.

"Yona can't wait to see Rush Duel!" Yona cheered. "Yak never Rush Duel, but yak would like to learn how!"

"Well if we watch their duel, you're definitely going to see how it's done." Sandbar assured her with a smile.

When it was time for recess, the six students walked out into the courtyard and saw Sparks and DS standing across from each other. DS was smiling with his arms at his sides, while Sparks was smirking with her hands on her hips.

"Wow, Sparks looks pumped." Ocellus stated as she quickly analyzed both DS and Sparks.

"Hmm, I wonder who will win." Sandbar pondered as he held his thumb and index finger to his chin.

"Wanna bet on it, Sandbar?" Gallus smirked, nudging Sandbar with his elbow. "5 bits if Sparks wins."

"You're on! 5 bits if DS wins!" Sandbar challenged back.

"Are you ready for the rush, DS?!" Sparks exclaimed as she pulled out her yellow duel disk. "Because I'm really sparked up for this Rush Duel!"

"You bet I am!" DS responded as he pulled out his duel disk just as Twilight, Flash and Spike entered the courtyard.

"Looks like we walked in on them about to start a duel." Flash mentioned with a smile.

"The only question is, which one of them is going to win?" Twilight asked just as DS tossed his duel disk in the air.

"Get ready, because my soul is about to shine!" He declared as he jumped up and put on his Duel Disk before his Duel Shades popped out. He quickly grabbed them and put them on, just as Sparks put on hers.

Rush Duel, engaged.

Both of their duel disks lit up before the blade of each of them formed. Except the blade looked to be forming a seven just as a couple of rings expanded out from the two Duelists and the world around them went dark. "LET'S RUSH DUEL!" Both of them exclaimed as they drew out their four cards.

DS L.P.: 4000
Sparks L.P.: 4000

"I'll start things off!" Sparks exclaims as she draws one card. "First I'll summon Sevens Road Wiz, and my Sevens Road Mage!"

Sevens Road Wiz
Level 1
1000atk./0def.

Sevens Road Mage
Level 2
800atk./800def.

"Whoa! You can summon more than one monster during your turn!?" Smolder exclaimed, her eyes widened in surprise.

"Yeah, in a rush duel, the Duelist can summon up to three monsters on their field considering there are only three monster zones and three spell/trap zones." Twilight explained the basics of Rush Duels. "But in a Rush Duel, there is no main phase 2 so you'll have to plan out your strategy very well."

"Got to say, you have some nice monsters." DS complimented. "But I bet that's not all you're going to do!"

"Oh, I'm just getting started, DS!" Sparks smirked wide enough to show her teeth. "Next, I activate the spell Armaments of Ascension! This card's requirement is that I equip it to one of my face up monsters, then it increases their level by two, and their attack and defense by 200! I will equip this to my Sevens Road mage!"

Sevens Road Mage
Level 4
1000atk./1000def.

"I'll end there by placing one card face down. Beat that DS!" Sparks quipped as she placed both hands on her hips.

"Alright, I draw!" DS drew a card from his deck before he looked at his hand. "I'll start my move off by summoning Gem Dragon Knight: Ruby Archerd, Pearl Defender, and Pebble Paladin!" He placed his cards on the three slots of the blade before his monsters appeared by bursting out of the ground. One of his monsters is a small little dragon with deep gray scales and armor that looks to be made out of pebbles while it carries a small stone sword.

Ruby Archerd:
Level 4
1500atk./1000def.

Pearl Defender:
Level 4
300atk./2400def.

Pebble Paladin:
Level 2
300atk./300def.

"Now Ruby Archerd's effect activates!" DS declared as his monster pulled out three arrows before spitting fires on the arrowheads. "You get dealt with 500 points of damage for each Gem Dragon Knight on my field!" It soon fired the arrows and struck Sparks as she grunted and stepped back a bit.

Sparks L.P.:2500

"Next I'll sacrifice the Pebble Paladin to tribute summon Level 5 Gem Dragon Knight: Jade Assassin!" His monster was sent to the graveyard before a dragon with bright green scales, a mask over its mouth, holding two daggers and wearing jade armor appeared in its place.

Gem Dragon Knight: Jade Assassin
Level 5
2000atk./1800def.

"I now activate her effect!" DS declared before he picked up his Pearl Defender card. "By returning one Gem Dragon Knight to my hand, I can target one spell or trap card on your field and destroy it. I think I'll get rid of that equip spell you have on Sevens Road Mage." Jade Assassin suddenly vanished before suddenly appearing up in the sky in front of Sparks before she threw her daggers right at her equip spell.

"Whoa, he was able to destroy her equip spell with ease!" Ocellus said with an impressed tone.

"Now I set a monster and set a card." DS added as he placed a monster in a face down defense position and one card face down. "Now I'll attack your monsters with my two Gem Dragon Knights!" Both his monsters charged in to attack her monsters while she had a smirk on her face.

"Sorry DS, but you're not gonna remain unscathed from this attack of yours! Instead of my Equip spell, you should have destroyed my Face down, to which I now activate!" Sparks points to her face down as it flips face up. "Curtain of Sparks! When you declare an attack, your monsters lose 500 attack points! Your Jade Assassin now has 1500, which is still enough to beat my mage, But now your archer has 1000! Meaning when it attacks my Sevens Road Wiz, they are both destroyed!"

DS watches as the trap card drains his monster's attack. Jade Assassin easily cuts through Sevens Road Mage, but now watches his Ruby Archer go for Sevens Road Wiz which now were equal in attack points. Sevens Road Mage, Sevens Road Wiz and Jade Assassin were destroyed and sent to the graveyard.

Sparks L.P.:1800

"I guess I'll end my turn, your turn." DS told her with a smile.

"Then it's my turn, I draw!" Sparks declared as she drew five cards from her deck.

"Why did she draw five cards?" Ocellus asked. "Isn't she supposed to draw a single card on her next turn?"

"Not in a Rush Duel." Flash spoke up. "In a Rush Duel, you can draw cards until you have five in your hand."

"You got some serious skills DS, you're definitely the best C-rank duelist I've ever met. That means I'm not gonna hold back on ya!" Sparks began to smirk again "First, I'll summon three new monsters to the field. But they won't be here for long because I sacrifice them to tribute summon a new monster! A wall, a Mountain, not even a planet can stop me from achieving the road to victory! I summon the Sevens Road Magician!"

Sevens Road Magician
Level 7
2100atk./1500def.

"Next up, I play Pot of Greed to draw new cards for my deck!" Sparks played the card before drawing her two cards. "Next I summon a new monster before I tribute two of them so I can summon the Swordsman of Roadstar!"

Swordsman of Roadstar
Level 3
1200atk./500def.

"Like the look of my magician DS? Well unfortunately he isn't sticking around, as I activate the spell card Sevens Wonder Fusion!" Sparks exclaimed loudly as she activated the spell card. "By shuffling My Magician and my Swordsman back into my deck, I can fusion summon! The monster I summon is Sevens Paladin!"

Sevens Paladin
Level 9
2900atk./2400def.

"Whoa, that looks like one powerful paladin!" DS complimented. "I have a feeling it has a few tricks up its sleeve!"

"Oh, it's got a fantastic trick DS!" Sparks pumps her fist for emphasis. "He gains 400 attack points for each different attribute of monsters in both of our graveyards! I count both Light, Dark, Fire, and Earth that means he gets 1600 extra attack points, giving him a total of 4500 attack points!"

"Whoa! Now that is a monster!" Smolder exclaimed excitedly. She and the other students were impressed by Sparks' monster, its strength could easily overpower any opponent. Twilight, however, looks at Flash and smiles.

"Strength and power isn't everything. I wonder what DS's response will be." Twilight Whispers.

"Now my Paladin will attack your Jade Assassin." Sparks held her hand forward as she shouted her attack command.

"I activate the trap card known as Half Un-Break!" DS declared as his face down card flipped up. "This will protect my monster from being destroyed and cut the damage I take in half!" Bubbles started to form around his monster before Sevens Paladin swung its blade addict. Sparks flew as the bubbles protected his monster from being destroyed but he still took damage.

DS L.P.: 2750

"Nice counter DS. Even though you saved your monster, my paladin is still the strongest monster on the field, and the more monsters you send to the grave with a different attribute, makes him stronger! I'd like to see you beat him over. I will end my turn." Sparks had her arms crossed and she was smirking at DS. He had to pull off something amazing to beat her monster.

"Those 5 bits are mine Sandbar, Sparks has the strongest monster on the field." Gallus boasted, nudging Sandbar with his elbow again.

"DS still has more lifepoints. So keep boasting, bird brains. DS still has some fight in him." Sandbar chuckled, sliding his hands into his pockets.

"It's my turn, I draw!" DS declared as he drew his five cards from his deck. Once they were in his hand, he got a good look at them and smiled. "You know, your Sevens Road Paladin may be the strongest monster, but its attack points only go up when you activate it's a fact on your turn. Now that it's my turn, it went back down to its original total and there's a chance I might turn this around!"

"Then let's see what you got!" Sparks taunted with a smile.

"Oh I will!" DS responded as he readied his cards. "First, I'll start off by summoning Gem Dragon Knight Lapis Mage to the field! Now that I have a water attribute monster out, I can play the spell card Aqua Chain! This spell card locks your monster into place and decreases it by 800 points." He inserted a spell card into his Duel Disk before it appeared on the field and chains made of water wrapped around Sevens Road Paladin as its attack points went down to 2100.

"He managed to weaken her monster!" Silverstream exclaimed.

"And that's not all, I sacrificed both her and my Pearl Defender to Tribute Summon a new monster!" DS declared as his two monsters went to the graveyard before he held up a card. "Born from the earth, forged with the power of the flaming light, this monster will incinerate all of its enemies! Here's Gem Dragon Knight: Sunstone Guardian!" He placed his card on his dual disc before a new monster burst out of the ground. This monster had reddish orange scales and held its club in its right claw while its armor looked to be made of sunstone.

Gem Dragon Knight: Sunstone Guardian
Level 8
2700atk/2400def.

"Wow, that's one powerful monster!" Smolder pointed out. However, Sparks didn't look impressed. Still smirking, and keeping her arms crossed.

"Cool monster DS, but my paladin is still the strongest monster. Not to mention, he still has his effect. All I have to do is send the top card of my deck to the grave, and my Paladin is back up to 4500. You gotta play better than that if you hope to win this." Sparks taunted, hoping to light a spark in DS.

"I now activate Sunstone Guardian's effect!" DS continued before he was ready to draw cards from his deck. "I send the two cards from my deck to the graveyard and if either one of them are Gem Dragon Knight monsters, Sunstone Guardian will gain 700 more attack points!" They watched in anticipation as he drew the two cards from his deck. He then flipped them over to see one card was a spell card but the other was a copy of Gem Dragon Knight: Pearl Defender.

"Alright, that's a Gem Dragon Knight: Pearl Defender!" Sandbar cheered as DS sent the two cards to his graveyard and his monster powered up 3400.

"Oh boy…" Sparks said as she felt a little nervous.

"Now go, Gem Dragon Knight: Sunstone Guardian, attack Sevens Road Paladin!" DS command as the club in its claws glowed bright when it charged forward. "Shining Sun Club Strike!" It swung the club and struck Sparks' monster before it was destroyed in her life points took a dive.

Sparks L.P.: 500

"Now go Jade Assassin! Attack her life points directly and end this duel!" DS commanded as his second monster charged forward. "Jade Dagger Slash!" After his monster slashed its daggers right at her, the impact sent her flying back from that final attack.

Sparks L.P.: 0
Winner: DS

The rest of the gang cheered while Gallus paid up his bits for the bet with Sandbar. Sparks got up from the ground when the door was over and looked at DS with a smile on her face. "That was a really fun Rush Duel!" She complimented as she walked over and shook hands with him. "But don't get too comfortable, because I might challenge you again and win our next duel."

"I'm looking forward to that match." DS said with a smile on his face just as Twilight walked up to them.

"Well, I think now is a good time to tell you about what I have in store for all of you." She spoke up as they listened closely to what she had to say. "I'm having a special Dual Arc system here at this school so you'll be able to Action Duel!"

"No way, really?!" DS, Sparks, Sandbar, and Gallus exclaimed excitedly.

"What's an Action Duel?" Smolder, Ocellus, Yona, and Silverstream asked as they tilted their heads in confusion.

A train was moving on the tracks as in one of the cars is a red fur female Abyssinian wearing a white cloak and a red vest while she was wearing a necklace around her neck with a blue crystal at the end of it. She was watching a video of DS dueling against Chancellor Neighsay and smiled as she watched it. Soon as she looked up from her duel disk and saw Ponyville just on the horizon. "There it is, the place where my journey begins." She said to herself before she took out a card and looked at it. "Are you ready for it, my old friend?"