• Published 7th Jan 2012
  • 14,200 Views, 248 Comments

My Little Pony: Dueling is Magic! - Wolfgang



Yusei Fudo appears in Equestria and is given the task of saving it from an ancient enemy!

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Master of the Citadel

Authors Note: Like I said last time, this duel is pretty long. It actually goes for fourteen turns: Seven for Twilight, and seven for Yusei. As I write this, I have no clue how long this chapter will get since I ended the last chapter after only three turns had passed. And if you noticed, both of Twilight’s turns had some pretty elaborate moves in them. She’s going to be doing more of that as the duel progresses.

In the meanwhile, I’ll be trying to add more descriptions to what’s going on, but don’t expect me to repeat myself if something happens that’s already happened in the duel. As much fun as I had writing the duel, I really want to get the meat of the story. I’ll still be applying “show vs. tell” as much as I can figure out, but only when I haven’t done so already.

Also, I'm really afraid that all the gameplay terminology might turn you guys off from the story, so please let me know if you have trouble keeping up with it. I really don't want to sacrifice the duels, though.

Also, crud. This chapter went over 4000 words, so I'll have to finish the duel in the next chapter. I might actually be able to do it since the turns won't be nearly as complex as they were earlier in the game.

Also, regarding the poll I created... I've actually considered another possibility. I don't think Rainbow Dash dueling is essential to the story, so I'll skip it for now. Once the story itself is finished, I'll write it as a bonus chapter. This will also give me ample time to figure out just what the hay Dash would actually run.

/*********************\

The afternoon sun hung in the sky and was sinking slowly at an angle behind Sugarcube Corner. It was warm that day, but the shadow cast by the building gave the promise of cool air. Yusei felt the heat leave as the shadow crept over him.

“My turn!” said Yusei as he drew a card. He turned it over in his hand and glanced at it. All right! Go time! he thought.

“By sending a monster in my hand to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon the Tuner Monster ‘Quickdraw Synchron’ from my hand,” said Yusei. “Come on out, Quickdraw!” A little blue robot wearing boots, a red cape, and a stetson hat appeared. It threw the cape behind its back and quickly drew two tiny pistols from their holsters and fired them. One round eye was visible beneath the brim of the hat.

“Next I Normal Summon another Tuner, 'Junk Synchron',” said Yusei. Another short robot, this one orange, appeared before Yusei. “When Junk Synchron is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a Level Two or below monster from my Graveyard with its effects negated. Come back, 'Quillbolt Hedgehog'!” Junk Synchron held its hand out beside it and a blue ring opened next to it. Out of the ring bounced a brown hedgehog with several bolts sticking out of its back.

“Oh, he’s adorable!” said Fluttershy. She flew over to the creature, though it took no notice of her. When she tried to pet it, her hoof went through it. Her face set into a look of confusion.

“It’s not really there, Fluttershy,” said Yusei. “It’s just a picture made out of light.”

“Oh, um... what does that mean, exactly?” she asked.

“Well, have you ever seen a beam of light pass between the branches of a tree?” said Yusei.

“Yes.”

“And you know how you can disrupt it by passing your hand- er, hoof through it?” he continued.

“Yes,” Fluttershy replied.

“A hologram is basically that: A beam of light, but manipulated so that it looks like something, like Quillbolt Hedgehog,” he finished.

“Oh. That makes sense,” Fluttershy said. She hovered over next to Yusei, landed and sat down.

“Okay, Twilight,” said Yusei. “Someone might want to get Rainbow Dash back out here, because this duel’s about to go into overdrive!”

“I’ll get her!” shouted Pinkie Pie before running inside the shop. While she was fetching Rainbow Dash, Yusei continued with his turn.

“When a monster is Special Summoned from my Graveyard, I can Special Summon this card from my hand,” said Yusei, placing another card on his Duel Disk. “I summon 'Doppelwarrior'!” Another human appeared next to Quillbolt Hedgehog. He was dressed in a black uniform and helmet and was holding a gun of sorts in his hand (though Yusei hoped the ponies didn’t know what it was, and that he wouldn’t have to answer). A faint, orange shadow seemed to trail right behind the man.

Just then, Pinkie Pie reappeared, pushing Rainbow Dash from behind. “Come on, Pinkie! I told you I’m not interested!” Dash protested.

“You will be after this, Dash,” said Yusei. “If I use Quickdraw Synchron for a Synchro Summon, I can substitute it for any other Tuner Monster with ‘Synchron’ in its name.” A large number of cards appeared in a circle in the middle of the field and began to spin rapidly. The blue robot grabbed one of its pistols in the blink of an eye and fired it. The wheel stopped and one of the cards had a hole through the middle- it was Road Synchron’s card.

“Level Five Quickdraw Synchron, let’s give Level Two Doppelwarrior and Level One Unicycular a tune up!” Both monsters leaped into the air. Quickdraw Synchron’s body vanished and five stars appeared in its place. These stars formed a line and moved in a circle, drawing several green rings before vanishing themselves. The other two monsters moved through these rings and their bodies also vanished, replaced by three more stars.

“Hope comes together to evoke a new horizon,” said Yusei. “Become the path its light shines upon!” A beam of light shot through the stars in the rings and quickly grew to envelope the rings themselves. “Synchro Summon! Drive onward, 'Road Warrior'!”

A human-shaped shadow appeared in the light. It swing its arms outward and the light vanished. Yusei’s new monster stood tall and wore shining, gold armor. A helmet with a tall, flat crest hid its face.

Road Warrior
ATK/3000
LV 8

“Doppelwarrior’s effect activates,” said Yusei. “When I use it for a Synchro Summon, I can Special Summon a 'Doppel Token' to the field.” Doppelwarrior briefly reappeared. its orange shadow shrank down to the size of a filly and jumped away from it before the taller original vanished.

“I activate Road Warrior’s effect,” said Yusei. “Once per turn, I can summon a Level Two or lower Warrior or Machine-Type monster from my deck. I summon 'Tuningware' to the field!” Road Warrior reached behind it and took hold of two rods on its back. It lifted them over its head and pulled a giant blade out in front of it. A wide beam of light shot forth from the blade and a tiny robot wearing a yellow scarf (and a helmet that looked like a frying pan) emerged from it.

“Okay, that’s kind of cool, I guess,” said Dash. “But it’s still not that great.”

“Just wait, Dash,” said Yusei. “Tuningware is normally a Level One monster, but I can treat it as Level Two for a Synchro Summon! I tune my Level One Doppel Token, and my Level Two Quillbolt Hedgehog and Tuningware with my Level Three Junk Synchron!” Junk Synchron grabbed the handle of a cord hidden under its breastplate and pulled it. The motor on its back roared to life as its body vanished and three green rings encircled Yusei’s remaining monsters.

“Souls clash and merge together to awaken a dark raging spirit! Become the path its light shines upon!” Another pillar of light appeared before Yusei and a massive shadow appeared within. “Synchro Summon! Obliterate, 'Junk Destroyer'!” The light vanished and a giant, four-armed warrior appeared from within. It was black with gold trimming and had four blade-like wings. Its eyes flashed and glowed bright red.

Junk Destroyer
ATK/2600
LV 8

“Tuningware’s effect activates,” said Yusei. “When it’s sent to the Graveyard for a Synchro Summon, I draw one card from my deck. Next, Junk Destroyer’s effect activates! For every non-Tuner monster I used to summon it, I can destroy one card on the field! Junk Destroyer, destroy Twilight’s Set cards! Tidal Energy!” The four green orbs on Junk Destroyer’s chest lit up, and a wave of water-like energy erupted from them, surging forward to Twilight’s cards.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Yusei!” said Twilight. “I activate one of my Traps, ‘Card of Sacrifice’! If the combined Attack Points of my Attack Mode monsters is less than the attack strength of your weakest monster, I can draw two cards.”

“If I’m understanding all of this correctly, the Attack Points of Twilight’s monsters adds up to two-thousand one-hundred points,” said Rarity.

“And Yusei’s weakest monster only has twenty-six hundred points,” said Pinkie Pie. “That means Twilight gets some new cards!”

Twilight grinned as she added two new cards to her hand from her deck. “Glad you took the bait, Yusei, but I wasn’t expecting to lose those other cards,” she said. “Still, better than losing all my monsters, right?”

“You’re gonna lose them anyway, Twilight,” said Yusei. “Road Warrior, attack Magical Exemplar!” The gold warrior jumped into the air and threw its fist forward as it came down. The clawed knuckles resting atop its hand struck the green-clad spellcaster and she was destroyed. The Spell Counters floating above her flew off to the Citadel’s central tower. Twilight briefly explained that Spell Counters from destroyed cards would be transferred to the Citadel. Yusei nodded in acknowledgement before continuing.

“Now Junk Destroyer, attack Card Ejector!” ordered Yusei. “Destroyer Knuckle!” Junk Destroyer punched in front of it once with each of its four arms, sending four balls of energy flying towards the tiny magician. She squeaked and hid beneath her large hat before vanishing in the explosion.

Life Point Count
Twilight: 500

“I’m not done yet either,” said Yusei. “I activate my own Trap, 'Synchro Overlimit'! When a Synchro Monster I control destroys a monster in battle, it can attack one more time! Go, Junk Destroyer, attack Royal Magical Library!” Junk Destroyer’s eyes flashed as it launched another energy attack at Twilight’s library, destroying it as well. Twilight looked on in anguish as the library was torn to shreds.

“If a monster attacks with Synchro Overlimit’s effect, it’s destroyed immediately afterwards,” said Yusei. Bright beams of light emerged from the joints and orbs on Junk Destroyer’s body, followed by the monster itself exploding. “I Set one card face-down and end my turn.”

Yusei turned to Rainbow Dash. “So, Dash, what’d you think of that?” he asked her. He noticed the look on her face and laughed; her jaw had dropped completely. Pinkie Pie poked Dash in the shoulder with her hoof. Dash shook her head rapidly.

Yusei turned back to the duel. Two orbs of light were moving around the Citadel’s tower. Yusei noticed that three more had appeared around the Arcane Barrier card that Twilight had played on her first turn.

“Arcane Barrier gains Spell Counters too?” he asked.

“That’s right,” said Twilight in a serious tone. Yusei was caught off guard. “Each time a Spellcaster is destroyed, Arcane Barrier gets one Spell Counter. My turn!” Twilight said, drawing a card from her deck.

“I summon 'Apprentice Magician'!” she said. A young man with yellow hair and wearing a red band around his head appeared. He was dressed in purple clothing and held in one hand a long, green staff with a round jewel on the end. “When Apprentice Magician is summoned, he puts a Spell Counter on one card on the field. I’ll give it to Arcane Barrier.” Twilight’s new servant pointed his staff at the Arcane Barrier card. A fourth orb of light appeared above it.

“Next, I activate Arcane Barrier’s effect,” Twilight said. “By sending it and a Spellcaster on my field to the Graveyard, I can daw one card for each of the Barrier’s Spell Counters.” The Apprentice Magician raised his staff above his head. Dark green circles inscribed with mysterious runes appeared above him, spinning slowly. A dome of light formed around him. In a flash, the Apprentice Magician, the dome and the runed circles were gone. Twilight drew four cards.

“I activate 'Field Barrier',” said Twilight. A dome of green light appeared over the bell tower and another Spell Counter appeared as well. “This card will protect my Citadel from being destroyed, and prevents both of us from playing a new Field Spell. Since it’s a Continuous Spell, the Citadel also gains a Spell Counter from it. Then I’ll play my final Spell Power Grasp to add two Spell Counters to the Citadel. And last, I play the Spell Card ‘Assault Teleport’. By shuffling a monster with ‘Assault Mode’ in its name from my hand into my deck, I can draw two cards.” Twilight briefly revealed a monster card in her hand before returning it to her deck. The deck shuffled itself and Twilight drew two new cards.

Assault Teleport? thought Yusei. She’s got an Assault Mode monster. That can’t be good, and if it’s the one I think it is...

“Perfect,” she said, interrupting Yusei’s thoughts. “Let’s see how you handle a master magic user! I remove all six Spell Counters from the Citadel to summon its steward: 'Endymion, the Master Magician'!” The six Spell Counters moving around the tower of the Citadel stopped suddenly, then rushed toward the duel field. They formed a vertical line and a yellowish light enveloped them. When the light faded, a new magician appeared. He was dressed entirely in black robes outlined with gold. A purple cape fluttered behind him and a giant metal ring rested on his back. In his hand he held a staff with a large hook on the end. At the base of the hook was a large, perfectly round amethyst.

Endymion, the Master Magician
ATK/2700
LV 7

“Oh my goodness,” said Rarity. “I’ve never seen such an elaborate outfit before! ...paper! I need paper!” With that, she dashed toward Sugarcube Corner, but was knocked over when she bumped into another pony. Yusei looked over to where Rarity fell and saw that nearly everyone in the shop was now standing outside, watching the duel.

“Seems we’ve drawn a crowd,” said Yusei.

“Yep yep yep!” said Pinkie Pie exuberantly. “They heard the loud BOOM BOOM BOOMs outside and I told them you and Twilight were playing a card game with magic and stuff and they wanted to come watch!”

“Aw man!” cried Dash. “How come I can’t get ponies out in the park like this to watch me? No fair!”

“That’s probably ‘cause you ain’t mastered the fine art of spontaneous explosions, Sugarcube,” said Applejack. Applejack just leaned against a wall with her front legs crossed in front of her chest and snorted.

“Endymion’s effect activates,” said Twilight suddenly. “When I summon him by removing Spell Counters from his Citadel, I can add a Spell Card in my Graveyard to my hand.”

“So which card are you getting?” asked Yusei.

“Doesn’t matter,” said Twilight, “because I’m discarding it to activate Endymion’s effect! This lets me destroy one card on the field. Road Warrior is toast!” Endymion aimed his hooked staff at Yusei’s gold-clad warrior and fired a burst of purple energy at him. Road Warrior vanished in the ensuing explosion.

“Endymion, attack Yusei directly!” said Twilight. “Dark Magic Mastery!” Endymion gripped the the staff with both hands and held it above his head. A black and purple beam of light shone from the jewel on the end and raced toward Yusei.

“I activate 'Scrap-Iron Scarecrow'!” said Yusei. His face-down card flipped up and a scarecrow made of metal rods, wires, and a broken helmet emerged from the picture. The light struck the metal scarecrow and dissipated. Then the scarecrow moved back into the picture and the card turned face-down again. “Scrap-Iron Scarecrow negates one attack and then flips face-down so I can use it again later,” Yusei explained. Twilight ended her turn.

Yusei looked at the one card in his hand, Double Cyclone. It wouldn’t do him any good now, and he needed a way to protect his Scrap-Iron Scarecrow. Come on, deck, don’t fail me now! “I draw!” Yusei glanced at his new card and his eyes widened. Yes! “I summon the Tuner monster ‘Debris Dragon’!” he said. A white dragon appeared before him, standing only a few inches shorter than Yusei. It had jewel-like orange armor plates on its chest and shoulder. The back of its head ended in three long prongs that stuck out behind it, while its nose extended in a thin, arrow-like point. It flapped its wings and roared.

Debris Dragon
ATK/1000
LV 4

“When Debris Dragon is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a monster with five hundred or fewer Attack Points from my Graveyard in Attack Mode,” said Yusei as the orange armor plates on his monster began to glow. “Come on back, Bicular!” A blue ring appeared before the dragon and the two-wheeled robot emerged from it.

“Next, if I have a Tuner monster in play, I can also bring back Quillbolt Hedgehog from my Graveyard,” said Yusei as the brown ball of fur and bolts appeared once again. Several ponies in the audience cooed.

“I’m tuning my Level Two Quillbolt Hedgehog and Bicular with my Level Four Debris Dragon,” said Yusei. The dragon flapped its wings and roared before vanishing. Four green rings flew away from it and encircled Quillbolt Hedgehog and Bicular. They two vanished and were replaced by two stars each.

“Gathering wishes will become a bright new star,” said Yusei. “Become the path its light shines upon!” The familiar pillar of light appeared, engulfing the rings and the stars they contained. “I Synchro Summon 'Stardust Dragon'! Stardust, take flight!”

A massive white dragon emerged from the pillar, shooting into the air like a rocket, spinning before coming to rest with its wings extended and its claws ready to tear an opponent to shreds. It resembled Debris Dragon, but was much, much larger and the armor plates on its chest and shoulders were purple instead of orange. It roared loudly to announce its arrival. Its yellow eyes flashed for a brief second.

Spike stood in awe of the great dragon hovering above Yusei. Several other ponies began to whisper; Yusei was worried that they might be scared of the dragon, but then he noticed that several were smiling. Fluttershy, however, was cowering behind him, her head buried underneath her hooves. He turned around and knelt down, putting his hand on her back.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked.

Fluttershy mumbled something.

“What’s that?” Yusei asked.

“...scared of...”

“A little louder, Fluttershy,” said Yusei gently.

“I’m scared of dragons! Eep!”

Yusei smiled at her. “You don’t have to be scared of this dragon, Fluttershy,” said Yusei. “It’s one of my dearest friends, and it’ll do anything to protect its friends.” Fluttershy looked out from beneath her forelegs and stared at the dragon. It growled softly, but not in a menacing way. It was almost comforting. She stood up and smiled at the dragon.

“Isn’t that the card that was stolen from you?” asked Twilight.

“Yeah, it is,” said Yusei. “And now I’ve got it back, and I can duel at full power! I end my turn!”

Twilight announced the start of her turn, but recovered Magical Blast from her Graveyard instead of drawing. “I don’t know what your dragon does, Yusei,” she said, “but with only twenty-five hundred Attack Points, it doesn’t hold a candle to my Master Magician! I activate Endymion’s effect! By discarding Magical Blast from my hand, I can have Endymion destroy your Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!” Endymion aimed his staff at Yusei’s face-down card and fired a burst of magical energy.

“I activate Stardust Dragon’s effect: Victim Sanctuary!” said Yusei. “If an effect is activated that would destroy a card on the field, Stardust can sacrifice itself to negate that activation and destroy that card!” Stardust held out its clawed hand and flew forward. The blast of energy collided with the palm of its hand and the dragon pushed it back until it reached the magician. Once it was close enough, Stardust Dragon grabbed the jewel on Endymion’s staff and wrapped its wings around both of them. The jewel exploded and both monsters were hidden by a curtain of smoke.

“Don’t count me out just yet, Yusei!” said Twilight. The smoke cleared and Yusei saw the edges of a cube formed by metal rods. Chains connected the corners of the cube to a coffin-like object in the center. The front was split by a beam of light and it opened as two doors. A humanoid marionette wearing a red cape and hood emerged from the coffin.

Magical Marionette
ATK/2000
LV 5

“What the... but how?!” said Yusei.

“Just before Stardust could destroy Endymion, I activated the Quick-Play Spell ‘Magical Dimension’,” said Twilight. “If I have a Spellcaster in play, I can Tribute one of my monsters and Special Summon a Spellcaster from my hand, so I summoned 'Magical Marionette'! And since Magical Dimension was a Spell Card, Endymion’s Citadel gains a Spell Counter.

“Now I summon 'Arcane Apprentice'.” A short wizard appeared, completely wrapped in purple and brown robes. A purple hat concealed his face. Two red eyes shone out from the shadows between his hat and robes.

“A Tuner monster!” said Yusei.

“You Synchro Summoned three times in this game,” said Twilight, “so I figured I should get in on the fun. Level 2 Arcane Apprentice, tune with Level 5 Marionette! The apprentice learns and the apprentice grows, becoming a master of magic! Synchro Summon! Adept of the arcane arts, rise! 'Arcanite Magician'!” Emerging from the pillar of light before Twilight Sparkle was a magician dressed in white robes and holding a green staff in his hand. Black armor rimmed with red gleamed beneath the robes. A black belt with several silver studs was wrapped around his waste. He looked solemnly at Yusei from beneath his three-pronged hood.

Arcanite Magician
ATK/400
LV 7

“If Arcane Apprentice is used for a Synchro Summon, I can add ‘Assault Mode Activate’ from my deck to my hand,” said Twilight. She revealed the card that slid out of her deck with her magic. Yusei’s eyes widened.

I knew it! he thought. This is not good. I don’t even have my own Assault Mode cards with me!

“Arcanite Magician’s effect also activates. When he’s Synchro Summoned, he gains two Spell Counters,” said Twilight as two of the studs on the magician’s belt lit up. “Plus, he gets a thousand extra Attack Points for every Spell Counter that he has!”

“So how much is that, Rarity?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“That’s two-thousand and four-hundred points, Rainbow Dash,” said Rarity.

Applejack whistled. “Twi’s really on a roll here,” she said with a smile.

“Yeah, but Yusei still has that metal scarecrow thingy,” said Pinkie Pie, “so Twilight won’t be able to attack because Yusei can just stop it!”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Pinkie,” said Twilight with a mischievous grin. “I activate Arcanite Magician’s effect! By removing a Spell Counter from one of my cards, I can destroy one card on the field. I’ll remove the Citadel’s Spell Counter and destroy Scrap-Iron Scarecrow once and for all!” Twilight’s newest magician aimed his staff at the Spell Counter floating around the bell tower and it froze in place. Then he aimed his staff at Yusei’s face-down card. The ball of light slammed into the card and destroyed it.

“Arcanite Magician, direct attack!” said Twilight. “Arcane Blast!” The Arcanite Magician pointed the jeweled end of his staff at Yusei. Three rings of runes written in light appeared around it. The larger rings moved forward, the largest moving to the front, and a ball of green energy appeared within. It blasted forward, causing the rings to break apart, and struck Yusei in the chest. He stumbled backward a bit.

Life Point Count
Twilight: 500
Yusei: 800

“Ah-ha! That’s our Twilight! Resourceful as ever!” laughed Rarity.

“They’re only three-hundred points apart!” said Pinkie. Though they didn’t quite understand the game being played, they saw that Twilight had landed a hit and cheered loudly for her, stomping their hooves on the ground in applause. Fluttershy looked up at Yusei with a concerned expression.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” said Yusei. He looked down at Fluttershy with a smile. “I’m having fun.”

“I'll place a card face-down and end my turn,” said Twilight.

“During the End Phase of the turn that it negated an effect, Stardust Dragon is Special Summoned back to the field,” said Yusei. “Return to my side, Stardust!” A blue circle appeared in the ground and Yusei’s Stardust Dragon flew out of it, roaring and extending its wings.

“That’s the thing about Stardust Dragon, Fluttershy,” said Yusei. “It’s willing to sacrifice itself to save others, but it won’t abandon its friends, so it’s never gone for long.” Fluttershy looked up in wonder at the sparkling white dragon.

“I wasn’t expecting that,” said Twilight. “I guess this is where the game gets interesting!”

To be continued...