> Masters of Magic: The Gathering
>  by Mod On Death
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Time to Draw
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Recess; a time of day where everypony goes out to play and have fun with friends.  Normally everypony would be on the playground equipment or running around. Today, however, was different. Not too long ago word about this card game called "Magic: The Gathering" was spread around the class. Nopony knew who had first started talking about it, but it didn't matter. Somehow the entire class was compelled to buy the cards. Soon, everypony in the class knew how to play. Recess was no longer just about exercise and running around, but now included cards.
"I just got my first deck a week ago," Sweetie Belle told her two friends, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. "I haven't won yet, but I think that'll change soon." 
"What deck did you get? Mine's the 'Fire Surge' Deck. Smoke my rivals out!" Scootaloo declared. 
"I got that 'Psychic Labyrinth' Deck. It looked really neat with that snake on the front, but now I see other decks that have stronger monsters." She looked glumly at her deck, feeling like she may have made a mistake.
"Well, I got that 'Death Reaper' Deck and I later realized that I can't just depend on my creatures. I have to use my spell cards with it as well. That's what you need to do," explained Apple Bloom.
"Oh. You mind if I try it out with you?" she asked.
"Sure!" Apple Bloom took out her deck and the two took a seat and started playing. "I'll go first." She played one of her Swamps and said, "Your turn!"
"Okay." Sweetie Belle drew a card and played an Island. It was Apple Bloom's turn then. During that turn she played another Land and summoned Gnawing Zombie. It then went back to Sweetie Belle, who managed to summon Coral Merfolk that turn.
"While you guys are playing, I'll be on the swings," Scootaloo told them. While she did enjoy the new card game, she felt like the class had started to spend most of their recesses playing that game. She passed by a group of students who had grouped around another game that was going on.
"Woah! I didn't even know you could do that," one of her classmates remarked. Scootaloo thought of passing by, but decided to give a quick glance at what was going on.
"Now, I cast Volcanic Hammer. Game over." The crowd was astonished by how quickly Truffle Shuffle had been defeated. Everypony thought he was the best player in the class. Obviously, that wasn't the case. Scootaloo pushed past her classmates to get a look at the pony who'd won.
"Diamond Tiara?" she asked, not believing her eyes. The class bully had somehow become the master of the new card game. Nothing was safe in this world.
"I admit that you lasted longer than most ponies. After all, you managed to actually get more than one creature on the field before I defeated you," she told him in a manner that nopony could tell whether it was an insult or compliment. Maybe it was both. "Now, who else wants to try?" Scootaloo felt like stepping up and trying her skills against her, hoping to knock her down a peg. She was about to pull out her deck and challenge her when the school bell finally rang. Everypony gathered up their stuff and went inside. Diamond Tiara strode through the group of students, head held up high. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle approached Scootaloo who was just standing there.
"You okay, Scootaloo?" Apple Bloom asked.
"I just saw Diamond Tiara destroy Truffle Shuffle at Magic," she told them. 
"Wait, Diamond Tiara managed to beat Truffle Shuffle?" the two asked. 
"Yeah. Not only that, but she used cards that I haven't seen in any of the other starter decks. I think she might have bought some extra cards to help her get stronger."
"Seriously?" Apple Bloom asked. "We all just get started with this game and she goes and spends her pa's money just so she can have better cards than the rest of us? We don't have that many yet."
"It's like she has to be better than everypony with everything she does," Sweetie Belle said angrily. "We can't let her be the best player or else she'll never let it down."
"What can we do? Truffle Shuffle was the best player we knew? Do you want to face her on your own?" Apple Bloom had a point. None of them were that great at the game.
"It doesn't matter! I'll try my best and defeat her." Cheerilee stood behind the group, tapping her hoof impatiently as she waited. "Right after class, of course." The three went to their seats, Scootaloo ready for a battle.





During class, the only thing that Scootaloo could truly focus on was defeating Diamond Tiara. She wasn't about to let the meanest mare who'd ever lived beat everypony at their new favorite hobby. They knew that she'd constantly lord it over them. It was time to stand up to her.
Diamond Tiara's mood seemed to be the exact opposite of Scootaloo's. Every time the teacher asked a question she was the first to raise her hoof and answer. In fact, she seemed to grin more as well. Obviously this was the result of crushing several ponies at card games.
After the final bell rang everypony started to leave. When Diamond Tiara reached the exit, Scootaloo put a hoof up, blocking the doorway.
"Um, what exactly are you doing?" she asked, trying to get through.
"I'm challenging you to a duel." Everypony heard this and immediately stopped what they were doing. Ponies who were originally heading home stopped and went back to see what would happen.
"Really? After I beat Truffle Shuffle? You need to get better before I consider," Diamond Tiara told her.
"Are you sure you're not chicken?" Scootaloo started making clucking noises, trying to force her to play. 
Instead of being agitated, Diamond tiara let out a sigh and said, "Fine. I'll use the same deck I used with him. Just don't cry when I've beaten you, alright?"
"Don't worry about that. Just get ready." The two chose one of the park tables outside to play their game, the entire class watching them. They got into position and shuffled, ready to begin.
"Play, or draw?" Diamond Tiara asked.
"Draw," she replied. With that, the game had begun. Diamond Tiara was the first to play, placing cards down while announcing their titles.
"Flagstones of Trokair" she announced, placing down the unfamiliar Land card. "I tap that and summon Icatian Javelineers. Your move."
"I play a Mountain Land and that's my turn," Scootaloo told her, frustrated that diamond Tiara already had a creature out on the field.
"I play a Mountain as well. I also attack with my creature." Great. Now Scootaloo had taken damage early on. Hopefully this wouldn't be a trend. She drew her card and saw something that could be useful.
"I play an Island and end my turn," she declared.
"I play another Mountain and tap that to play Rift Bolt in Suspend. I also attack" She placed a card to the side and ended her turn.
"I play another Island and tap these three to play Phantom Warrior!" Scootaloo felt confident now. She had a creature out on the field that not even Diamond Tiara could block.
"Very well. I play Godless Shrine and activate my Rift Bolt, destroying your Phantom Warrior."
"What?!" Scootaloo exclaimed, forgetting that Tiara had put one of her cards in Suspend, meaning it would activate later on.
"I also tap and summon Savannah Lions. Lastly, I attack with my available creature." With that, Scootaloo was now down to 17 health.
"Come on," Scoots said to herself as she drew a new card. She looked at it and exclaimed, "Yes! I play a Mountain and tap to summon Regathan Firecat. Now I can take out your guy or do some damage to you."
Diamond Tiara blew some air out of her mouth and said, "Now I play another Mountain, tap all my lands to summon Giant Solifuge, and then activate Icatian Javelineers' ability to take out your cat." Scoot's expression of joy faded as she realized that the Javelin guy had the ability to do one damage to a selected creature when tapped, meaning that her cat, who had one life, was now destroyed. "I also attack with Savannah Lions and Giant Solifuge, doing a total of six damage to you. You're now at 11 health"
"But how can-" Scootaloo silenced herself and finally bothered to read her opponent's cards, realizing that the Solifuge guy (which was apparently a big spider) could attack right after being summoned. It also couldn't be targeted by spells or abilities and didn't even need to attack Scoots directly to do damage with its Trample ability. "Alright. I draw, play a Mountain and tap these to summon Chandra's Phoenix." Scootaloo realized that she had managed to summon a creature that could actually do some damage now. It had both Flying and Haste, so it could avoid her creatures and attack after being summoned. "I attack with it!" she declared, finally managing to do some damage. The class cheered when they saw this.
"I assume that was the rest of your turn then," Tiara replied coldly. "I play a Plains and use Seal of Fire to destroy your Phoenix. I also tap and summon Knight of the Holy Nimbus. I also attack with Savannah Lions, Giant Solifuge, and Icatian Javelineers, reducing you to 4 health." Scootaloo didn't even react to this. It was starting to feel too common to her. "Your move."
"Um," she said, looking through her hand nervously. She drew a card and hoped that it would be some kind of miracle card. She needed one now. Instead, she decided to go for a tactical approach. "I play a Mountain and tap to summon two Dragon Hatchling's. That's my turn." She knew that if she might as well try to lessen the blow, but realized that it didn't matter at this point. She knew what was coming.
"Hmm," Diamond Tiara said to herself, contemplating. "I'm not sure if you have something up your sleeve, but I'll play a Plains and tap all my cards to cast Demonfire directly at you. With all my tapped cards, it does a total of six damage. Unless you have something, you lose." Scootaloo checked her hand over and over to find that she had no cards that would save her.
"I....I...lose," she said, placing her hand down.
"Alright," Diamond Tiara said, collecting her cards and leaving without another word. The students looked on with awe to see how efficiently she had defeated her opponent. Scootaloo slowly collected her cards and got up from her seat.
"Alright," she said, her voice filled with energy. "We WILL defeat you and your deck, no matter what! Sweetie Belle! Apple Bloom! We must find a way to defeat Diamond Tiara and save the world!"
"Really? I mean, it's just a card game," replied Sweetie Belle.
"It's not just a card game! It's a way of life!" Scootaloo was not handling defeat well. "We have to find somepony who can help us train better and, if needed, get better cards. We must do this, or else we can only imagine the horrors that await us."
"Um, okay?" Apple Bloom replied hesitantly. "Where do you suppose we go to learn more?"
"The nerdiest, most-"
"Let me guess; Twilight's place." Apple Bloom knew that 'nerd' was synonymous with 'Twilight' when it came to Scootaloo.
"Yes. Hopefully she knows this game. Alright! Let's go!" And with that, the three embarked on what would hopefully be the journey to defeat the evil bully and her unstoppable army of cards.
> Summon the Master
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The three girls galloped as fast as they could over to the library in the hopes of finding Twilight. If there was anypony in town that knew how to play a card game, it would probably be her. Unless she didn't play it. Then they were doomed. At least they had a plan and decided to follow it.
"Excuse me," Sweetie Belle called out, hoping she was there. At first there was nothing. Soon, however, they heard steps.
"Hey girls!" Spike called out, wearing his apron. "Sorry, but I'm gonna have to ask you three to quiet down. Twilight's in her study right now and she's going over some serious stuff apparently. She told me not to come in under any circumstances."
"Really? That's a bummer. We were hoping she could give us some information."
"What kind of information?" Spike asked. He couldn't help but feel like this was some kind of deja vu.
"We're trying to learn how to play Magic: The Gathering better! We need to destroy somepony!" Sccotaloo yelled out, forgetting the part about them being quiet. 
"Did you just say," he stopped for a moment, then said, "Magic?"
"Yeah? Do you know anything about it?" It looked like the three would get their information after all.
"Of course I do. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It took so many years of my life. Years that I wouldn't trade for the entire world."
"Um, we are talking about a card game, right?" Apple Bloom just didn't get it.
"Silence!" Scootaloo corrected. 
"I'd won so many games. Made so many decks. I thought there was nothing better than victory. That is," He paused and put his arm against the wall, leaning against it. "That is until the day I left Canterlot. You see, there were lots of ponies who played the game there. I could find a willing player pretty much any place I went while I was staying there. When I came to Ponyville I stopped playing for a bit in an attempt to not only broaden my horizons, but find other players as well. After several years here I had decided that if I couldn't find anypony who played the game already that I would make one. Deciding to give it a shot, I tried to convert Rarity over to Magic and had even prepared a custom deck for her as well. I taught her the rules and we played a match. I ended up crushing her so badly that she never wanted to play again."
"Just because she lost once doesn't mean she should give up. I love my first game and used that as motivation. You shouldn't feel bad just because the first pony you attempted to teach ended up hating it." Scootaloo hoped that her words of sympathy would reach through to him.
"It's more than that. See, in that deck I prepared for her I gave her a card. A very special, very valuable card. It's called the Black Lotus. It's considered by many to be the single most effective card in the entire game. Instead of playing it she said that she would actually keep it in a little frame because she thought it looked pretty." Those last couple of lines seemed to be said through grit teeth. "Also, it's REALLY valuable as well, so there's that."
"My sister has a Magic Deck?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Yeah. It's a really good starter deck as well. Hoped that she would use it and get interested in the game as a result. Doesn't look like that ever happened though."
"I'm surprised she didn't tell me about it when we went shopping for the cards. I hope she didn't forget." Her words made Spike feel even worse about the situation.
"Doesn't matter. After that I gave all my cards over to Twilight and told her to do whatever she wanted with them. Knowing her attitude for those games I assume that she sold them a long time ago."
"Is there any possible way you can help us? We don't even know what cards she has. They don't look like anything we encountered in the Starter Decks."
"I assume that she must've bought some extra ones from a store nearby. It's not cheating to do that. That's exactly how you play the game in the first place." The girls knew Spike was right about that, but they couldn't help but feel bummed.
"It's just that we're all a bit new to all of this and she has to go and buy all these really powerful cards just to beat us. I mean, it's not like we're all made of money that we can suddenly afford to buy these super awesome cards." Scootaloo was annoyed by the idea that somepony else could win something just by having spent more money than others.
"It's not just buying awesome cards. It's about finding the right cards to deal with a deal like that. It's about putting the proper cards in to develop an effective strategy and sticking to it. You guys have starter decks, meaning that there aren't many ways you can go about it. I guess you could buy more cards if you'd like and try to develop a strategy. After all, that's what I do. Or did." Spike was heading upstairs for Apple Bloom called him back.
"Wait! Could you at least explain how to use these decks we've got? After all, if this is all we have, then at least we should know how to really use them." 
Spike stopped moving and told them, "Sure. Let me see what you've got." The three handed over each of their decks, Spike thoroughly examining them. He mumbled to himself while he was doing this and finally came to his conclusions. "Alright. Sweetie Belle. Your deck seems to rely on making the other guy tap cards and making helping yourself find the right cards to cast with. With a good combination of these spells you can easily crush anypony. Scootaloo. Your deck seems to be focused on doing as much damage as quickly as possible. You'll focus less on protecting yourself and destroying the other guy before they can retaliate. Apple Bloom. Your deck is made to deal damage directly to the enemy player's creatures and to sacrifice some of your characters to make your other creatures stronger. Take a good look at your creature's abilities to gain an idea of when to play and sacrifice certain guys. Hopefully that'll be enough for you guys to win."
"Thanks Spike. Hope things get better for you," Apple Bloom said as they were walking out the door. 
"Same here." He went up to Twilight's door and started knocking. "Hey Twilight. I know you said that you didn't wanna be bothered, but I was wondering if you needed anything."
"I'm good! Thanks for asking," she yelled through her door.
"Alright. I'll be going out for a bit. I'll let you know when I'm back." Spike was feeling nostalgic about his card playing past and decided to pay the game shop a little visit, just for old time's sake. His love for the game vanished with his cards. He now regrets giving those cards over to hid friends.
"Alright. Now let's get back to business." In her room, Twilight was doing studies, but not the kind you'd expect of her. When Spike handed Twilight those cards several months back, she decided to check them out and see what was so interesting about them. After going through each of the cards, she suddenly had an urge to play the game and create decks with certain themes and strategies. She'd been facing against another pony who kept on defeating her somehow and Twilight was determined to create a deck that could not lose in any possible way. "Let's see her counter this strategy!" she yelled out, certain that she would win next duel. 
> Flanking Attack
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom spent the night looking over their decks and figuring out the best tactics. They play tested their decks over and over again until they came up with what they believed was the perfect strategy to defeating Diamond Tiara. Simply put, their decks did not seem like they would work well on their own, so the only real way to defeat her would be to work together and play her at the same time. They weren't really sure if this was fair, but it seemed like the only way that they'd be able to defeat her. 
The next day when they got to school they approached Diamond Tiara while she was talking to Silver Spoon.
"Diamond Tiara! We're calling you out!" the three yelled. 
"Huh?" She had no idea what they were talking about.
"The three of us challenge you to a fight at the same time!" Sweetie Belle yelled out, drawing the attention of the students already there.
"You mean it's going to take three of you to try and defeat me? I think you guys forgot your original goal of proving I wasn't the best player here. I mean, it isn't exactly fair." The three didn't want to admit that Diamond Tiara had a point, but it really was obvious.
"Yeah! Well...um...if you're really that good it shouldn't be too difficult, right?" Scootaloo was trying to create a good excuse to have three-on-one, and that was the closest she could manage.
Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes back and said, "Fine. Just make sure to have your decks ready and we'll play right as recess starts. It might take longer than usual." She walked away with her friend and took her seat, waiting for class to start.
"Alright. Now all we have to do is remember what each of our decks are good at and we'll win for sure." Apple Bloom was sure that they'd win. The combined power of three decks would be able to crush anything that Diamond Tiara was able to summon. They gave each other a high hoof and proceeded to their seats, awaiting the game they would take part in.





It seemed like forever until recess began. The girls had a hard time focusing on schoolwork and were barely concentrating on what was going on in class. Diamond Tiara had no trouble doing any of that, acting as if she were the teacher's pet with how well she was answering all those questions. When the bell finally rung the students poured out and waited around the park table, hoping to see how this card battle would go.
The first ones to show up were the CMC. They each took a seat around the table and awaited their opponent. While waiting they shuffled their decks, wondering if Tiara had decided to play chicken.
Their suspicions were soon put to rest as she came out, her deck in her carrying pack. She took the cards and and started shuffling them. In the time it took the CMC to shuffle theirs with a head start, Tiara did hers in half of that.
"Now, since the three of you are playing against me, I think it's a bit unfair that I start with almost nothing. After all, don't we want to at least attempt to be fair?" The CMC knew that Diamond Tiara had a point.
"Alright. What would you like to equal things out?" Scootaloo hoped that whatever she asked for wasn't too much.
"I would like to start the game with just one Land in play. Does that sound fair?"
"Sure. Choose one from your deck and shuffle." Tiara did just that, playing a Plains land from her deck and then doing a quick shuffle. "Since you're the one being challenged, do you want to go first?" 
"Sure. We go clockwise from there. First it's me, then Apple Bloom, then Scootaloo, and finally Sweetie Belle before starting over." Diamond Tiara seemed incredible comfortable doing all of this. "Now, let's play. I play a Plains card and end my turn."
"I draw and play a Swamp. That'll be my turn," Apple Bloom said.
"I draw and play an Island and that's it." 
"I draw and...uh, I discard." The group looked at Sweetie Belle, who apparently had no Lands to play. "What? I didn't want to draw again. It'd take too long." Her friends facehoofed at that, the audience groaning as well.
"Alright. I draw, play an Island, and tap to summon Voiceless Spirit. That's it." Things were already looking bad for the group. Diamond Tiara already had a creature on the field. Not only that, but it could both fly and could attack first.
"Okay then. I draw, play a Swamp and summon Child of the Night."
"My turn!" Scootloo yelled. "I draw, play an Mountain, and I summon Dragon Hatchling!"
"I draw and...discard." The group was starting to get annoyed with Sweetie Belle's terrible hand.
"Draw, play Island, tap to summon Moon Heron." The group was starting to see a common theme with Diamond Tiara's cards. They seemed to be Flying and Spirit types. This might be a bad sign for them. 
"I draw, play a Mountain, and I tap to summon Tenacious Dead." Diamond Tiara's eyes arched as she looked at the creature's ability. If she defeated the creature, Apple Bloom could tap a Swamp and another Land and keep it on the field. She'd have to find a way to deal with that.
"I draw, play a Mountain, and summon Goblin Shortcutter. I use his ability to make Moon Heron unable to block and tap a Mountain to activate Dragon Hatchling's ability to gain 1 attack damage. Go draggy!"
"I block with Voiceless Spirit. It has First Strike, meaning your creature gets damaged before mine." Scootaloo couldn't believe that she made a mistake like that again. She had to stop and actually read the creature's descriptions of abilities before doing stuff like that."
"My turn!" Sweetie Belle told them, drawing and hoping that she'd get something good. "I finally got an Island!" The group cheered and Sweetie Belle declared her turn over.
"I draw, play an Island, and tap to summon Gallows Warden. It's ability grants my Spirit creatures +1 to health. I now attack Apple Bloom with both Moon Heron and Voiceless Spirit." Apple Bloom couldn't block any of the flying creatures, resulting in 5 damage and her life points being reduced to 15.
"My turn," Apple Bloom said as she drew her card. "I draw, play a Swamp and summon Bogbrew Witch. I also attack with both Child of the Night and Tenacious Dead."
"I block Tenacious Dead with my Gallows Warden. I take two damage and you gain two life." Diamond Tiara knew she'd rather get rid of the regenerating creature before anything else. Apple Bloom now had 17 health while Tiara was at 18.
"Awesome! I can attack as well! I'll use my Goblin Shortcutter to attack and end my turn!" Tiara was now down to 16 health, but she considered it good fortune that Scootaloo was so hyped that she ended her turn early.
"Okay!" Sweetie Belle yelled, feeling like her luck had just begun. "I draw and play another Island! I tap those and summon Coral Merfolk."
"I draw, play Island, tap and summon Waxmane Baku and Azorius Herald. Waxmane Baku gains a counter for every Spirit or Arcane spell that is activated, which I can then use to tap a creature. Azorius Herald grants me 4 life upon being summoned, bringing me back to 20 health and giving me a counter. Also, it's unblockable." Diamond Tiara considered the field before making her next move. "I attack Apple Bloom with Azorius Herald and Gallows Warden, doing 5 damage and reducing your life to 12." Apple Bloom seemed like she could gain steam quickly.
"I draw, play a Swamp and tap to summon Bubbling Cauldron. I then tap Bogbrew Witch and summon Festering Newt. After that, I tap my Bubbling Cauldron and activate it's special ability by sacrificing the Newt to deal 4 damage to you and, uh, apparently you two as well." Apple Bloom motioned over to her two friends who were both surprised. 
"Wait, seriously?" Scootaloo couldn't believe that her friend just did that.
"Sorry. Technically it affects all the other players that aren't me. Good news is that I gain 12 health as well." 
"Awesome! Is that your turn?"
"Eeyup! Go ahead!"
"Right!" Scootaloo was feeling pumped after that last blow to Tiara. "I draw, play a Mountain, and tap all these lands to summon Nephalia Seakite! Your move, Sweetie Belle."
"On it. I draw and play an Island. I tap to summon Scroll Thief. That's it!" she said cheerfully.
"Well, you're certainly improving. I can say that at least. I draw a card and summon Lantern Spirit, providing a second counter for Waxmane Baku. I also tap and use Frozen Solid on Bogbrew Witch. This card prevents your creature from untapping. I also attack Sweetie Belle with Azorius Herald and Gallows Warden."
"Really?" Sweetie Belle was surprised by this. She couldn't block and was down to 11 health.
"My turn." Apple Bloom drew her card and declared, "I summon Sengir Vampire and end my turn."
"Okay. I play Disperse and use that to return Gallows Warden to your hand. Now, Nephalia Seakite and Goblin Shortcutter, attack!"
"I block the goblin with Voiceless Spirit and bird with my Lantern Spirit." The goblin was destroyed, but so was Diamond Tiara's Lantern Spirit." The crowd cheered as they saw one of her creatures finally get defeated.
"Is it my turn?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Go ahead."
"Alright! I draw and summon Seacoast Drake. That'll be my turn."
"My turn," Diamond Tiara said, agitated. She silently drew and said, "I play an Island and tap to cast Peel From Reality at the Sengir Vampire, meaning that that card returns to your hand. I have to do the same as well and choose Azorius Herald and summon Gallows Warden back. That's all."
"Okay. I draw and summon Sengir Vampire back. That'll be my turn," said Apple Bloom.
"I draw and summon Regathan Firecat. I also attack with my Nephalia Seakite." Scootaloo only just realized her mistake as she did just that.
"I block with Moon Heron. That might've worked had my Gallows Warden not been summoned again." Diamond Tiara smiled gently as her foe discarded the card into her graveyard. "Is that it?"
"Sure."
"My turn." Sweetie Belle drew and played an Island then summoned Water Servant, ending her turn. Diamond Tiara was starting to feel the heat.
"Okay." She drew a card and then said, "I summon Battlefield Geist to the field, granting me not only another token, but all Spirit Creatures +1 to attack. I tap one of my lands and use a token to tap Seacoast Drake and attack with Gallows Warden, Moon Heron, and Voiceless Spirit. dealing a total of 11 damage to Sweetie Belle directly." Tiara stopped talking for a moment to let that sink in. She then remembered that that was exactly how much life she had left, meaning she had lost. "Your turn Apple Bloom."
"I draw and play a Swamp. I then attack with-"
"I tap my land and use a counter to tap your Sengir Vampire," Diamond Tiara said, interrupting her plan. "Well, what were you going to attack with?"
"Uh, nothing." Apple Bloom's strategy was ruined. "I end my turn."
"Oh yeah? I attack with my cat!" Scootaloo yelled out."
"Alright. I lose 4 life," Tiara said calmly. "Is that your turn?" 
"Sure. Whatever. And-wait!" 
"Too late. You said you ended your turn." Scootaloo and Apple Bloom realized they had just dropped the ball on that one. They totally could have done more those turns. Instead, they acted irrationally and gave up their advantage. "Now, first thing is that draw, then I summon Azorius Herald back to the field, granting my 4 life again and boosting me to 16 health. Next, I tap a land, use a counter on Regathan Firecat, and I think I'll attack Scootaloo using Battleground Geist, Waxmane Baku, Gallows Warden, Moon Heron, and Voiceless Spirit. With the buff that Battleground Geist grants, that's a total of 17 damage, enough to destroy you."
"Oh yeah? Well here's my Chandra's Outrage!" Scootaloo tapped all her lands and cast the instant spell, attempting to save her hide. "This'll deal 4 damage to a selected creature AND 2 damage to you. I think that your Geist has lived long enough." The crowd cheered as Scootaloo announced this, but Diamond Tiara put her hoof up to silence them.
"Normally that'd work, but I cast Remand, so, nope." Scootaloo looked at Diamond Tiara's card and analyzed it. Apparently what it does is counter her spell and Tiara in return draws a card. With her saving card rebounded, Scootaloo faced her destruction. "Now, just one left."
"I won't go down easily! Apple Bloom said, drawing her card. "I summon Deathgaze Cockatrice and another Child of the Night! I now attack with-" 
"Tap," Diamond Tiara said, tapping her last available land. "Now I place a token on your vampire. Anything else?"
"Gah!" Apple Bloom screamed out at her plans being foiled.
"Since you have no more mana, it's my turn." Tiara drew her card and giggled. "Looks like I was lucky to draw two of the same card in a row. I tap and play two Midnight Haunting's, granting me four Spirits with 1 attack and 1 health. With the buffs, each is doubled. Now, I attack with Moon Heron, Voiceless Spirit, and Azorius Herald."
"I block Moon Heron with my Deathgaze Cockatrice, destroying it." Apple Bloom could do nothing else as the other creatures did 6 damage to her directly. She was now at 23 health. She lost her own creature as well. "Now I'll draw and summon another Sengir Vampire and attack with...yeah, I know what you'll do."
"Exactly." Diamond Tiara tapped her last available land and put a token on the vampire. "Now, is that all?" 
"I guess." Apple Bloom couldn't think of anything else she could do to save herself.
"Alright. I'll summon Chapel Geist, gain another token, use that token on your vampire, and attack with all my creatures doing a total of 24 damage, enough to defeat you." Diamond Tiara smiled lightly as she said this, Apple Bloom shocked at what had just happened. Even with the combined efforts of her friends, Diamond Tiara could not be defeated.
"Wow! She really is the best player around," somepony in the crowd said. Diamond Tiara picked up her cards just as the school bell rang.
"That was interesting," she told the three as she went into the schoolhouse, her classmates making way for her.
"Let's just go inside," Apple Bloom said, mortified at the fact that three ponies could not defeat her. Now things would probably be worse when she eventually started teasing them.
"So, what now?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"We need somepony with even greater skill than us."
"Or some dragon," Scootaloo said. "Think about it-Spike's had years of experience. All we need to do is get him a new deck and he'll be able to stand up to her."
"Alright. Our new mission will be to convince Spike to take up the Deck once more. Who's with me?"
"They can be with you after class," Cheerilee interrupted, sending the three inside. The battle may have been lost, but they would soon unleash a fearsome warrior.
> What a Kicker
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The three avoided Diamond Tiara's gaze for the entire day, knowing that they'd only feel shame from earlier that day. They somehow managed to do so with ease and decided that the only way to handle this situation would be to head back over Spike and convince him to play for them. They'd need to gather bits to pay for a good deck that he could use, but they didn't even know where to start with it. Spike would need to be consulted before they bought anything new.
"So you think he'll go for our idea?" Scootaloo asked.
"He better. Otherwise we won't have any other way to beat Diamond Tiara," replied Apple Bloom.
"Are you sure this is worth all this effort? I mean, it's just a card game." Sweetie Belle was attempting to be the voice of reason in the group, but that didn't seem to work well.
"Sweetie Belle, we NEED for her to lose. If she doesn't, horrible things will happen!" Apple Bloom was waving her hooves wildly in the air when she said that.
"But she doesn't even seem like she's trying to bully anypony. All she's doing is winning. That's not bullying. That's just being good at what you do."
"Sweetie Belle, do you think that with her record that that's all she'll do?" Scootaloo had a point. Diamond Tiara normally made fun of them for no reason. She might not do so right then, but she certainly would do so at some time.
"Alright. Let's at least consult Spike before we do anything crazy. He'll know what to do." 
After reaching their destination, the girls entered the library and found nopony inside.
"Huh. They must be out now," Apple Bloom said to herself as she checked around the library.
"Or they're in a different part of the library. Let's at least check of anypony's here first." Scootaloo checked upstairs and the rest checked out the main floor, hoping that there was some sign of life around. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle found nothing interesting in their search, but Scootaloo came across a locked door. Deciding that their was nothing to lose, she knocked on it and heard rustling, followed by a familiar voice.
"Oh! Spike, is that you?" Twilight asked.
"No. It's actually Scootaloo. You know where Spike is?"
"I'm sorry, but I've been so busy with my studies that I haven't been able to leave the room. I'm not very sure of where he's gone."
"Alright. Sorry for bothering you." Scootaloo, feeling curious, decided to ask, "Hey, what are you studying that you're cooped up in there?"
"Oh. Um, different combinations of spells and artifacts. It's very dangerous stuff for anypony who doesn't know much about magic to get involved in."
"Just hope nopony has a card that destroys all your artifacts," Scootaloo said, forgetting that Twilight was probably talking about a different kind of magic.
"Well that's when you learn how to build up a collection of counter spells for your de-" Twilight stopped talking and Scootaloo suddenly realized that she may have been more correct about the conversation than she originally thought.
"Wait, are you talking about Magic: The Gathering?" Scootaloo wanted to know if her outburst was actually correct.
"No! I'm not making decks! I'm studying spells and stuff! Where'd I even get all those cards?" Twilight was not very good at lying.
"You mind if I come in?" 
"Yes! Right now it's, um, TOXIC! Yeah! Can't let this stuff out. Might kill you."
"If you're working with toxic stuff, then shouldn't you be dead? Or not in a tree?" Scootaloo could tell that Twilight did not have much experience with fibs.
"Well, it's magically toxic. Totally different stuff. Only creatures that can cast magic can survive it. Too bad you're a pegasus."
"So can you exit the place without spreading the stuff all around?" Scootaloo was about to have some fun.
"Sure! I'll just teleport out of the room and that's that! No need to open the door and let it all out." Twilight suddenly appeared right next to Scootalooo in a flash of bright light. "See? No harm done. Watch me teleport back into the room." Seeing her chance, Scootaloo quickly grabbed onto Twilight as she teleported back into her room. When they both got into the room, Scootaloo was shocked by what she saw; chalkboard after chalkboard of meticulous card information, statistics for drawing certain cards, combinations for the most effective deck, and counters for almost every kind of card.
"Woah," she said in awe of the scene.
"It's not what it looks like!" Twilight tried to come up with something else to add, but couldn't figure out any other way to explain it. "Well, it actually is what it looks like. I've been trying to develop a strategy that could defeat my mortal Magic enemy. Every time I play against her I end up somehow getting defeated, even after I develop dozens of counter strategies. Using these old cards I hope to finally win."
"Hold on just a sec; are these Spike's old cards?" Scootaloo saw Twilight rub her forearms as she tried to come up with another word for 'yes' that wouldn't sound guilty. She decided just to nod with a grin plastered against her face.
"Look. He told me to do whatever I wanted with them, so I gave the game a try with checking out decks and strategies and I just got sucked into it. Honestly, I have no idea why I'd never tried it before. I mean, my cutie mark is for magic, so who's to say it doesn't include this game?"
"My guess is whoever it is that keeps on beating you." Twilight's brow dropped upon hearing that comment, knowing that it was true.
"While I haven't won a game yet, I'm certain that I'm close to it. I think I've come up with the perfect combination of cards that'll keep her from even trying to play cards!" Twilight started to maniacally laugh, scaring the poor filly. "Anyway, I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell Spike about what I was doing. After all, I've been trying to create these decks and don't want anypony else bothering my progress." Upon hearing that she'd spent several weeks with these cards, Scootaloo sniffed the air in the room and retched a little.
"Twilight," she said, holding her nose, "How many times have you left this room for a shower or to eat?"
"Oh, I don't think I really have. I can't tell." Scootaloo hadn't noticed it before, but she now realized that Twilight had bags under her eyes. Her hair was a mess as well. It looked as if she hadn't slept for a long time. "I mean, if I can't be good at a game that's literally called 'Magic', then how can I even consider my special talent magic?"
"What's going on in here?" Spike asked, followed by Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. They saw the scribbling on the chalkboards and were horrified to find Twilight in her current condition. "Twilight? Why is your study area filled with stuff for Magic: The Gathering?"
"I'm trying to beat somepony and just can't manage it!" she yelled out in frustration pulling her hair out. "MY CUTIE MARK IS MAGIC! I SHOULD BE GOOD AT A GAME THAT'S CALLED 'MAGIC'!"
"Twi, I think you've gone a bit crazy," Spike told her, not knowing that calling somepony in the middle of a breakdown 'crazy' was not a very good idea.
"I'll show you who's really crazy! I'll conquer the world! With a children's playing card game!" The group gasped at that statement. All except for Sweetie Belle who was currently wondering how that would work.
"Okay. That is it!" he yelled out, gaining the mad mare's attention. "Twilight, I challenge you to a match! Whoever wins not only gets to keep my deck, but also the privilege of playing the game!"
"Ha! This'll be the perfect opportunity for me to test out my new deck. Bring it, Spike!" Twilight levitated her new deck and shuffled it within the span of seconds. 
"Before we begin, I'll need to collect the cards I'll be using in my deck, They're probably not together still," he told her. Spike checked around the room and found himself the box he'd given her full of his Magic cards. Looking closer, he found the container that contained most of the cards he'd be using in this duel. He checked with other cards  he might wanna try out with it and shuffled his deck. He then put on his red gloves, signalling that this was serious.
At the same time, the two of them yelled out, "Let's duel!"
> Silence is Golden (and OP)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight and Spike flipped a coin. Spike called Heads while Twilight Tails. Whoever won the toss would go first. As the coin fell, they let it land on the table, waiting for it to stop its bouncing and see who'd won. When it finally finished, Spike was the victor.
"My play." Spike was feeling nervous as he drew his seven cards. It'd been a while since he'd played anypony that really knew the game well. He swore that he wouldn't play again, but he knew that if he didn't Twilight would become hopelessly addicted. Also, it's still pretty fun to play if you manage to find somepony.
He looked at his hand and decided that it was a good start. For this duel he decided to go and use his favorite deck combination. It was a Red-White Deck that had served him well many times. Not only that, but he was certain that it would come in use for whatever card combination Twilight had in store. From the way she was acting she had probably created a deck that works less on dealing damage and more on winning the game through technicality. That's the kind of strategist Twilight is; find the rules and use them to your advantage.
"I play Forgotten Cave and end my turn."
"Alright. I draw and play an Island, ending my turn." Twilight looked like she was starting to glow with a disturbing aura. Spike had never seen this side of her before and didn't know what to expect. He was sure that he needed to defeat Twilight, lest he lose her to card games.
"I draw and play a Plains and end my turn."
"I draw and play Hallowed Fountain, ending my turn." Spike was sure that Twilight was intending to use spells to defeat his creatures now more than ever. He looked at the creatures in his hand and worried about being able to play them before she enacted her finishing moves.
"I'll draw and play a Mountain and tap to summon Lightning Rift. Whenever a player Cycles a card, I can tap a land to deal 2 damage to a creature or player," Spike explained. the CMC watched the game carefully, hoping to learn from this game. 
"Interesting. Luckily I have no need for that in this deck. I draw and play a Plains. I now tap and summon Chromatic Lantern. This grants my lands the ability to generate mana of any color, as well as being able to be tapped and do the same as well." Twilight already had a powerful artifact out on the field. Hopefully Spike could come up with a good combo fast.
"I draw and play Secluded Steppe. I tap and cast another Lightning Rift as well, ending my turn."
"Alrighty! I draw and tap to summon Wall of Frost. I end my turn." Twilight smiled as she placed the powerful Defender spell down, Spike groaning as he saw it played.
"What's wrong?" Apple Bloom asked in response to the guttural noise the dragon was making. 
"Wall of Frost has a ton of health. I'll need to find some way to destroy it or else I won't be able to do much directly against her life points," he explained. "Anyway, my turn. I draw and play a Plains. I then summon Silver Knight to the field."
"Nice card. Too bad it won't be able to do much. I draw and play an Island and then play another Wall of Frost. That's all." Twilight was certainly building up her defenses.
"I draw and play a Plains. I also tap and summon another Silver Knight, ending my turn."
"Okay then. I draw, play a Plains, and summon Elite Arcanist to the field." Spike knew it had begun. "With his ability, I Exile the Instant Silence. Next turn I'll be able to activate his ability and there's nothing you can do about it." Twilight started to cackle as she believed that she had just won the game. She stopped doing so when she saw Spike unmoved. "Anyway, I end my-"
"I tap a Mountain and cast Shock, dealing 2 damage to your Elite Arcanist." Twilight's eye twitched for a moment as Spike said this. She thought she could counter it, but then realized that she didn't have enough mana. "Now, it's my turn. I draw and summon another Lightning Rift. I end my turn."
"Hmm. I think I see a problem here," Twilight said to herself. She looked at her field and saw Spike sitting at his spot, feeling big at that moment. Soon he'd be out of cards in his hand however, giving Twilight the opportunity to strike. "Well, I draw a card and play Hallowed Fountain. I then end my turn."
"I draw a card and end my turn," Spike replied. He didn't want to have no cards in his hand. Otherwise Twilight might develop a new strategy that'd leave him without any plans to block her attempts at Lockdown (a term used to describe when a character is unable to play any new cards).
"If you say so. I draw, play an Island and cast Divination. I draw two cards and end my turn." Twilight now saw her perfect opportunity to win. She'd simply need to wait until Spike was finished his turn.
"I draw and end my turn."
"Now," Twilight grinned, "I draw and play a Plains card. I now tap and summon Elite Arcanist to the field, Exiling Silence with it."
"Too bad it won't survive another Shock!" Spike tapped his Mountain and played the card, but Twilight laughed as soon as he did that.
"Silly Spike. I knew you might try that, so here you go." Twilight tapped several cards on her side of the field and played Render Silent. "Now you won't be able to counter with any other spells for the rest of my turn. I also doubt that you happen to have another Shock on hand so soon."
"Drats," Spike mumbled to himself.
"Anyway, that's my turn. Your move." 
"Very well. I draw and end my turn." Neither Twilight nor the the CMC could believe what Spike had just said. 
"Spike! If you don't summon anything or cast anything she'll defeat you next turn!" Apple Bloom thought Spike had lost it. "You won't be able to do anything else the entire game!"
"I know," he replied solemnly.
"It doesn't matter anyway. He just said that he ended his turn. Now it's mine." Twilight's evil laugh echoed around the room. "I now draw and tap to summon Azor's Elocutors! In five turns, you will automatically lose!"
"You know what my favorite thing about Lockdown decks is?" Spike asked. "The pony playing them always assumes they've already won."
"What're you talking about?" Twilight asked. "No. I don't think you really can do much at this point. I end my turn and tap my Elite Arcanist to activate Silence for your turn."
"Okay then. I draw a card and then I Cycle Renewed Faith from my hand, drawing another card and gaining two life as well, making my total hit points 22."
"Wait, what?" Twilight had not expected such thing to happen.
"Yeah. Don't you know that Cycling doesn't actually count as a spell, but as an ability? I can Cycle and not worry about Silence. Also, remember several cards that would activate when I Cycled?" Spike was now the one with a smile as he saw Twilight understand what was about to happen. "Now, I use one of my Lighting Rifts to destroy your Elite Arcanist and use the other two to do a total of 4 damage directly to your life points, taking you down to 16."
"Well, at least my other creatures are safe. I honestly doubt that you'll be able to penetrate through two of my Defenders. Anyway, my turn. I draw and tap to summon Jace, the Mind Sculptor! I tap him to use his ability to look at the first card of your library and place it on the bottom of your deck."
"Hey! You can't do that with a creature you just summoned!" Sweetie Belle yelled out.
"She actually can. See, that card is what's called a 'Planeswalker'. It has a bunch of special abilities and doesn't count as an actual creature, but more of a sorcery." Spike explained this as Twilight revealed the top card of his library and then placed it on the bottom of library. "Also, he gains points that not only determine the abilities he can cast, but also their hit points."
"When I reach 12 points with him, I'll activate his ultimate ability and Exile your entire library! My Defenders will defend from your attacks while I wait to win." Twilight once again showed flaws in her strategy. "Also, I'm finished for this turn."
"Very well." Spike drew from his deck and smiled when he saw how fortunate he was that Twilight used her ability to save him.  "I think I need to thank you, Twilight." He flipped the card he just drew to reveal that it was another Renewed Faith. " First play a Mountain and then I Cycle this card, gain 2 life for a total of 24, and with my Lightning Rifts I target your Planeswalker directly, dealing 6 damage and destroying it!"
"No!" Twilight yelled out as she once again tasted failure. It seemed like nothing she did was good enough. "Wait a moment. I still have my Azor's Elocutors card counting down with the tokens. While you did manage to get rid of one when you directly damaged me, I only need 3 more turns and I'll be the victor!" Spike knew this as well and knew that he had one shot. He'd have to wait until it was his turn however.
"Now, I draw and end my turn. Only two turns left," Twilight teased.
"I draw," Spike said, slowly reaching his hand over his deck and lifting up the card, "and play a Plains, ending my turn."
"I draw as well!" Twilight said, certain that she'd win soon. "I'll also play another Island and that's all."
With sweat on his brow, Spike drew the last card he needed and said, "I now play another Plains. And now," Twilight's expression of certain victory was shot down, "I tap all lands to cast Starstorm, dealing a total of 7 points of damage to each of your creatures! They're all gone!"
"No! I thought I had won! So close!" Twilight's hooves were pressed against her face as she witnessed her defense be annihilated.
"And now, Silver Knights, attack her directly!" Spike declared his attack and, with no defense left, she took 4 damage, reducing her health down to 12. "That'll be my turn."
"I need to do something. Anything." Twilight started freaking out, her hair somehow becoming more frizzled as she scanned her hand for anything that could help. "Oh right. I need to draw. I do that and-" She stopped talking as soon as she witnessed the card in her hand. She giggled just a little bit and then grew to full on laughter. She soon realized what she was doing and stopped. "I just remembered a funny joke is all. Anyway, that's my turn."
"Okay? I guess I'll draw a card and then summon Akroma, The Angel of Wrath." Spike tapped all his cards as his new creature entered the field. The CMC saw the shiny card as it was played and were sure that Spike would win now. "Since she has Haste, I can attack right now. All units, attack!"
"Not so fast! Quicken and Supreme Verdict!" Twilight quickly tapped her lands and slammed the card down. "Now you lose all your creatures!"
"Uh oh," he replied.
"Exactly. Now that it's my turn, I draw and summon Elite Arcanist with Exiled Silence!" Twilight's smile became horribly wide as she announced that. Spike realized that he was in a bit of a bind then. He could only hope that his next card let him deal directly with that creature, or else he was doomed. He reached his hand toward his library and reached out. When he drew the card, he knew that it was his only hope.
"I draw and Cycle Decree of Annihilation. Because I Cycled a card I choose one Lightning Rift to destroy the creature while the another to deal damage directly to you, reducing your health to 10. As a result of me Cycling this card as well, we both lose all of our lands." Spike cleared his side while Twilight did the same. The difference with Twilight's side is that she had her artifact Chromatic Lantern to give her a head start with mana.
"I draw and end my turn," she said, her face crumpled up out of anger and being so close to victory several times now.
"I draw and play a Plains," Spike declared, knowing that he was now running on luck.
"I draw and play an Island," Twilight told him. It was now a race to see who could draw the most lands and play them before the other player could manage to summon something.
"I draw and end my turn." Spike had managed to pick up another one of his Akroma, The Angel of Wrath cards that he had in his deck. If only he'd gotten it a bit sooner.
"I draw and summon Judge's Familiar." Twilight now had a creature out on the field. Not only that, but if she sacrificed it she could prevent one of Spike's Instants or Sorceries. To override it he'd just need to pay one mana, but right now that was one too much.
"I draw." Eternal Dragon. Normally Spike would be excited to draw this card, but not under these circumstances. Too much to cast. However, Spike just noticed something that could save his hide. He remembered that with 2 mana you could Cycle the dragon and search for a Plains card. All he needed now was one more Land and he'd cast that. However, he realized that he'd need some more mana first if he want to activate his Rifts. "That's all".
"I draw and play another Island. Also, I attack." Spike lost only 1 life point from that, so it didn't hurt much. He was at 23, so things could be worse. "That's my turn."
"Alright." Spike silently picked up the next card on the top of his library and hoped it could help him. Temple of the False God. It was a land card that could only be used if he had five other lands on the field. Useless. "Your move."
"Thank you," she said sarcastically. "I draw and play a Plains. I also attack." Down to 22. His move.
"Okay." This time he picked up his last Lightning Rift. He'd never realized how much he depended on that card until now. He also realized that with this last card he could win the game. First he'd need to get some mana first however.
"My go." Twilight picked up a card and played the Plains. She now had a total of 4 possible mana on the field. "I attack once more." 
"Don't get too excited," Spike told her. "Let's see what we've got." He picked up his next card and found it to be another Silver Knight. "Go ahead."
"Thanks." Twilight picked up her next card and then attacked once more. Spike remained cool while this was all happening. He looked to his left and saw that Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle we absolutely quiet. They were too intent on watching this game unfold that they hadn't noticed that the room around them had gotten darker. Spike didn't care about that as much right now.
"I draw," he said confidently. He looked and saw that he'd managed to get it; a Mountain. "I play my Mountain and tap to summon-"
"I play Render Silent," she interjected. "It's not gonna happen." Spike grit his teeth as he lost his Lightning Rift. "Now I'll draw and play another Island. Attack as well." 
"I'm at 19. Hope you remember that," Spike told her as he drew his next card. It was a Mountain. Just what he needed. "I now Cycle my Eternal Dragon and tap one land, not only dealing 2 damage to you, but also letting me search my deck for a Plains card. You're now at 6 health." The room seemed to darken as Twilight's expression became more intense. It was almost too difficult to read the cards now. 
"My move," Twilight ripped the next card from her deck and said, "I attack. Your move."
"Didn't even bother to see if I could counter, huh?" He got nothing out of her. "Very well." Spike drew and hoped that he could find something to else to Cycle. Spike recalled that he had another card, Decree of Justice  He felt as if he had forgotten it until then. The card he drew that turn however what another Mountain. Things were looking good.
"Now I'll draw." Twilight was becoming more impatient."I summon Elite Arcanist and Exile Silence. I also with my bird." Not only was Spike at 18 now, but also he was wondering exactly how many of those cards Twilight had in that deck.
"Okay. I draw now," Spike saw his fifth land, a Plains, "and also summon Silver Knight."
"I draw and summon Nightveil Specter. I also attack. Looks like you're at 17 now." Twilight was starting to get on a roll. Hopefully that was about to end.
"Come on, cards." Spike carefully drew his next card and felt like it was a miracle. The card he picked up was his last Renewed Faith. "Now, I Cycle Renewed Faith and activate three Lightning Rifts, dealing 6 damage to you. Twilight, you lose."
"NO!" She yelled out, shaking the entire library.The room had officially become pitch black before a giant light shot right out of Twilight. It burst an opening into the sky and lit up all of Ponyville. As quickly as it began, the room returned to normal, light once again restored.
"What just happened?" Apple Bloom asked. As if to complicate the matter even more, Princess Celestia suddenly burst into the room.
"Twilight! Are you alright?" she asked, seeing the frazzled pony. "I saw the bright beam of light and instantly knew what had happened. I feared that you had succumbed to the same corrupting force as my sister had and become a creature of absolute darkness."
"I...I think I did," Twilight said, regaining her balance. "I think I became so determined to be the best at the game that I became corrupted. I think I would have tried to take over the world!"
"Yes. It makes complete sense. After all, what you were just playing right now was not any normal game, but a Darkness Game. Had Spike lost, his soul would have been forfeit to the Dark Realm."
"Are you serious?!" Sweetie Belle asked, the only pony there who seemed to realize how ridiculous this was. "It's a card game! How could somepony's soul be on the line just because of some trading cards?"
"Some say that this game is based off of an ancient card game in an ancient faraway land that-" 
"What?" Sweetie Belle interrupted. "No it isn't! You can actually see the copyright date of when the card was made and who illustrated the artwork! Somepony named 'Sound Barrier' drew this card," Sweetie Belle said as she pointed to Terra; The Awesome Wolf. "This is not ancient!"
"Well, yes, you're right." Sweetie Belle thought that Celestia was about to say something else, but she suddenly flew away, leaving the five of them wondering what had just happened.
"Anyway, I think I need a shower. I smell like death and feel like it as well," Twilight said as she went to the bathroom. "Also, Spike, you can have those cards back. I think I may have gotten a bit carried away with them."
"No problem, Twi. Just one question though. Who was it that kept on defeating you at Magic that you went crazy?"
"Oh. That's simple." Twilight rested on the doorway before telling him, "It was Rarity."
> Flash-Back
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight was sipping her tea in the kitchen, a bath towel wrapped around her mane. The CMC were sitting with Spike as they awaited Twilight's tale of Magic and Rarity. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle helped themselves to some soda while Scootaloo got herself some milk. Spike was waiting for Twilight to talk, patiently tapping the table. She soon finished up her cup and began to recant her story.
"See, when Spike gave me his cards I decided to check them out. It seemed interesting the more I studied them, but I didn't actually know how the game was played. Seeing that Rarity had learned about the game recently I decided to check with her. We met up and she taught me what Spike had told her about the game. After that I asked if she'd like to play with me, but she said that she didn't really want to play since she didn't like her cards." Spike's face became a rock when he heard this, Twilight forgetting that he was the one that had prepared her deck. "Um, what I mean is that she didn't like all the bug creatures and stuff in it."
"Really? That was a good Green deck for her to play with." Spike thought of the time he had spent creating that meticulously crafted deck. He cringed when he remembered that he had also placed his Black Lotus in it as well.
"Well, with that I suggested that she should check out someplace that sells these cards and buy something that doesn't have bugs in them. We went over to that shopping area and found this place called The Dragon's Laboratory that sold the cards." Twilight started to remember the scene clearly and explained it to them.





"I don't know, dear. Maybe we should find someplace less...nerdy," Rarity said, looking at the collection of strange figurines on the wall. "I feel like we may be getting into something we'll regret."
"Oh come on, Rarity," Twilight said, perusing the aisles in the store. "It's just a card game. What's the worst that could possibly happen?"
"I suppose you're right. Still, I wonder how on Earth I'd be able to create a deck that doesn't have any of those icky creatures in them. After all, most of those creatures seem to look like that."
"Wow, Rarity. You kinda sound shallow when you say things like that," her friend pointed out.
"Excuse me for not enjoying the Puss Spewer or Gross Crawler." Rarity didn't know if those were the names of any actual cards. They might as well have been in her opinion. "I would prefer cards that just looked, I don't know, much less gross? I know it'll sound silly, but it'd be marvelous if I could do a gem motif or something that dealt with sleek and shiny creatures. Feels like a fitting theme."
"You really think they have cards like that?" Twilight was genuinely curious to learn if there really were any cards like that which Rarity was so confident were real. "I mean, I think we should ask somepony who knows about this sort of stuff then. We won't get anywhere if we don't."
"Good idea. Excuse me, kind sir," Rarity addressed the pony at the register. "Do you know much about this game called 'Magic: The Gathering'?" 
"Sure! We're actually going to set up a tournament event here within the next several months. We'll hopefully find a good amount of ponies who play the game to come."
"Good! Do you happen to have any cards where the creatures aren't icky?"
"Uh, what?"
"She's asking about creature artwork where the thing isn't oozing or something," explained Twilight. "We're both new to it, so excuse our lack of knowledge on the subject."
"No problem. I can help your friend build a deck if she's willing to pay per card," the manager told them.
"Very well. Would you mind if I looked at the cards before selecting? After all, I don't know know if you're familiar with my standards." The manager left and came back with a large binder of cards. Rarity opened it up and Twilight looked on in awe at how organized the binder was. The cards were organized by mana color, then type of card, then mana cost and finally alphabetical order.
"It's beautiful." Twilight gazed at the impeccably organized binder as Rarity flipped through the pages, considering the cards she could be interested in and then moving on.
"Nope. Nada. Ew." She said this as she came across the Swamp creatures. "Hope I'm getting somewhere soon. Otherwise I might think that-ooh! What's this?"
"Oh. That card's an Artifact creature. It doesn't require a specific color of mana to summon it," the manager explained. 
"It doesn't look like any of the other creatures I've seen," Rarity commented as she looked at Platinum Emperion and loved the design. "Tell me; are there many other kinds of creatures such as this?"
"Absolutely! We have a whole bunch of them. You wanna check out the rest?"
"That would be most pleasant." Rarity looked through the binder while Twilight checked out the rest of the store. The walls were lined with comic books and other collectibles, such as Science Fiction novels. She was happy to see all these wonderful books, but then looked at the prices.
"Wow. They sell things at sale price." She looked into her wallet and found about a dozen bits; chump change in comparison to what these items costs. "I wonder what I could buy with just this amount." She checked out some of the stuff in the bargain bin area. She saw older comics of series she'd never even heard of. Knowing that just because something is unpopular doesn't make it bad, she decided to check out some of them.
"I think I may need to check in the back," the manager said, passing Twilight by as she scanned through the boxes.
"This is interesting," she said as she picked up a comic titled "Bolt and Key". Opening up the cover, she found that this was part of a Horror/Suspense series involving a house that uses keys for magic. Only the foals in the house seem to know about them and must stop this evil force that wants to use the keys to invade the world. She felt really interested in this story and wanted to find more about it. "Wonder if they have a trade issue. Might be interesting to have in the library." Twilight's phrase of saying something would be good "for the library" was just another way for her to say "I want it."
"Now, if you're going to be buying cards like this then I'd suggest you buy sleeves as well," the manager said as he exited out of the back carrying a box. "I think that you would also do well with something to keep them in as well."
"Hmm. Guess he's trying to milk her for all her money," Twilight said to herself as she heard him trying a sales pitch. "Doubt she'd just buy something like that." She spent the next hour checking out the other comic books, making note of what titles to look up later on.
"Twilight, are you ready?" Rarity came up to her carrying a large bag with the shop's logo imprinted on it.
"Sure. You got what you wanted?"
"Oh, most definitely. I even got some interesting cards for some other ponies who might be interested." She pulled a box out of the bag with 'Pinkie Pie' written on it. "Don't know if she'd play it, but they seemed like cards she'd find funny."
"I bet she'd somehow be the best player if she tried." The two laughed at how much that would be true as they left the place.
"So. would you mind playing a game when we got home? I'd like to try out these new cards against your collection." Rarity looked excited to try out her new purchase.
"Sure! I'll get my decks together and we'll try it out. Don't worry; I won't be like Spike when I play against you." Twilight was sure that she'd have great fun playing with her new card buddy.





Twilight refilled her cup with hot water and placed a new tea bag into it and then returned to her seat. Sweetie Belle was looking at the clock since she was certain that they'd been there for several hours now, at least with the way Twilight went into detail with her story.
"Did you really need to tell us about each and every comic book you checked out while waiting?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Sorry. I just wanted to establish the atmosphere of the place. Guess I'm a better reader then a story teller. Anyway, when we got back we played a game of Magic. That was the first time she beat me with her deck. We played two more games before I gave up. Since then I've tried over a dozen deck combinations to defeat her and her cards, but none have worked."
"So she uses an Artifact deck then. Huh. That'd explain how she'd be able to win. Artifacts are pretty powerful cards, so from what it sounds like she was able to purchase each card she desired." Spike thought about the times he had wanted to make a deck like that, but then saw how expensive the cards were and resigned to making decks the old fashioned way.
"Anyway, the deck I faced you with was actually designed to take her on. After all, she was able to make her creatures Indestructible with that deck."
"Ah. I know exactly what you're talking about." Spike had heard about it, but never seen the maligned Darksteel Forge card. Using it would make all artifacts that the player controlled Indestructible, possibly winning the game the moment it was played. 
"Wait, did you say that Rarity also bought cards for Pinkie Pie? Does that mean she plays now?" Scootaloo asked. The ponies didn't know where she was heading with this.
"Actually, yeah. I haven't played her yet, but from what I hear she's somehow done really well for herself. I think she's beaten most of the ponies that've challenged her."
"Okay then. Spike, I think you're going to need to play Pinkie Pie next," Apple Bloom told him.
"Wait, why?" Spike didn't know why he'd suddenly need to play Pinkie Pie when the three of them had originally come to him to defeat Diamond Tiara.
"Practice. We want to make sure you're ready to defeat Diamond Tiara in the first game you play. Otherwise we'll be the laughing stock of the entire school."
"Well, it would be good experience for me to play other ponies. After all, it's been a while for me. I'll try out one of my other decks against Pinkie Pie. See what kind of player she is." The three cheered as Spike agreed to play. Hopefully he wasn't getting himself into anything too insane.
> I'm Rubber and You're Unglued
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The next day at school was easier for the three girls. They now had a plan and hoped to have Spike face Diamond Tiara after he had had more practice playing against other ponies first. They knew that he was going to challenge Pinkie Pie later that day after school and really wanted to watch it play out. They were surprised when they'd heard that Pinkie Pie was pretty good at the game. After all, this game required strategy and calm thinking; not things she was known for. They decided to not focus on that, but rather turn their minds to school for once.





After school had ended the three of them went over to the library to check on Spike's progress. He decided to try out one of his other decks with Pinkie Pie to see how well it'd work against other players. It felt like a long time since he'd done that, but he was glad to be doing it again.
"Hey Spike!" Apple Bloom called when they entered the library. They saw him at a table playtesting the deck he'd made, drawing and playing cards as quickly as he drew them. He then collected the cards he played, put them back in his deck, and then shuffled then all in five seconds flat. He repeated this process three times before acknowledging the girls in the room.
"Oh. Hey, Apple Bloom. Guess you guys are ready, huh?" Spike placed his deck in one of his personal carriers and took off his red gloves. He only wore them while he played the game.
"Sure are! We know that Pinkie Pie'll be be at Sugar Cube Corner today, so let's head over there fast."
"Alright then. Let's head out." The group of players left the library, Spike explaining his new deck on the way there. He told the girls that he intended to use a Cipher deck that would copy spells onto his creatures. He had tried to create a deck like this before, but always felt like it wouldn't work out. He told them about several of his Sorceries that he'd cast and then copy onto his creatures and they were sure that Spike would soon win with his deck. When they reached their destination, they opened up the door to find Pinkie Pie surrounded by other players, each of whom had just lost to her.
"Wow! That was fun!" she exclaimed, not noticing the players' shocked expressions. "Anypony else wanna play?"
"I do," Spike said in his most dramatic voice. The players all turned their heads towards him and started whispering among themselves. "I heard you're pretty good, Pinkie Pie. I'm here to test that out."
"Hey, Spike! I'll be happy to play you. Wanna cut my deck?" Pinkie pushed her deck towards Spike as he sat down at her table.
"Sure." Spike took Pinkie's deck and shuffled it, then quickly cut it. Pinkie on the other hoof took out a large knife and, in some way Spike couldn't even explain, shuffled the cards around. "Um, okay. You wanna play or draw?" he then asked.
"How about both?" She took a box of crayons out from her hair along with some paper and placed it on the table. "Also, do you wanna have the first turn? I like it when I can pick cards from the top of my deck."
"Okay." Spike knew that this was probably going to be more than he bargained for. Each of them drew their seven cards and then began their game. "I play an Island and end my turn."
"I draw and play a Mountain. That's it!" she said, ending her turn in a cheery voice.
"I draw, play a Swamp, and end my turn."
"Hmm." Pinkie Pie rubbed her chin, something in her head. "You know what? Why don't we try something out?"
"What do you mean?" Spike had no idea what Pinkie Pie could be talking about.
"What I mean is that why don't we make this more fun and restart this game with some Lands already out? Nopony likes to wait for all their stuff to come out, right?" Spike thought this idea over and tried to figure out how it could play out. Thinking that it could help him win quickly, he decided to accept.
"Sure. How many would you want to start with?"
"How about five!" Spike smiled when he thought that idea over after all, he was about to have a whole lot of mana on the field.
"Alright then." The two searched they're libraries for Lands and placed them on the field. "I play four Dimir Guildgates and an Island." The other players saw this and started whispering to themselves. Spike definitely had a big boost with those Lands being played.
"Wowie! Haven't seen that before. These are my lands." Pinkie Pie suddenly laid down one of each color of Land. "I couldn't figure out which ones to use, so I decided 'Hey! Why not all?'" Spike saw this combination and had no idea what Pinkie Pie could be up to with all colors of lands. "Now, I play first. The first thing I'll do is tap 3 and play Charm School." Pinkie Pie showed Spike the card and he couldn't believe the text.
"You declare a color and you can't be damaged by it as long as you balance the card on top of your head?"
"Exactly." She flipped the card directly on top of the poof on her hair, the card bounding a little as it landed. "I really don't like the color Black, so how about that? Also, I tap to summon Chicken Egg. I'll end my turn, but first," she grabbed a die out of her bag and said, "I need to roll to see if my chicken transforms." She rolled, the die showing a 4 at the top. "Guess not. You're turn!"
"Great," Spike said as he looked over his cards. Most of the creatures he had were Black, so that might not work. However, if he could enchant them, then he might figure something out. Spike drew and saw something he liked. "I play a Swamp and tap to play Sage's Row Denizen, causing you to discard the top two cards of your library. I then play Jace's Phantasm and also cast Paranoid Delusions, making you discard the top three cards of your library. I then use the Cipher on Paranoid Delusions and attach it to Jace's Phantasm. I then end my turn."
"Cool!" Pinkie Pie flipped off the top five cards of her deck, revealing Double Dip, Team Spirit, a Plains and Swamp, and The Cheese Stands Alone. My turn!" She drew and declared, "I play an Island and tap to play Frankie Peanuts! Now you have to answer my yes-no questions truthfully and keep to them until the end of turn. That'll be all." Pinkie Pie hummed to herself while all the players looked at her, waiting. It took her a moment before she realized what she was supposed to do and said, "Oh yeah! Gotta roll." She rolled her die and found that it landed on 1. "That didn't work out. Now, onto the questioning."
"Uh, what're going to ask?" Spike asked nervously. He was already playing this game in a bizarre way and knew that adding Pinkie Pie to the mix was going to make things worse.
"Do you have a crush on anypony currently in this room?"
"No," he answered truthfully. "Now it's my turn. I draw and play Dinrova Horror, causing you to-"
"Remand!" she declared, placing down the counter spell. Spike was surprised to find that in her chaotic deck that Pinkie Pie had an ounce of strategy. She drew a card as a side effect of the spell and Spike declared his turn over. Unlike previous duels, the two didn't constantly announce each time they drew. It was usually a given. That didn't stop Pinkie from yelling it sometimes though.
"Yay! Thanks for not attacking me that turn. Would've been awful for me." Spike totally realized his mistake as Pinkie told him this. He couldn't believe that he could ignore a detail like that. Playing with Pinkie was obviously messing with his mind. "Now, I draw, play a Forest, and tap to summon Our Market Research Shows That Players Like Really Long Card Names So We Made this Card to Have the Absolute Longest Card Name Ever Elemental."
"I'm sorry. What was that?" Scootaloo asked.
"Our Market Research Shows That Players Like Really Long Card Names So We Made this Card to Have the Absolute Longest Card Name Ever Elemental. It's the name of the card," Pinkie explained as she played it. "I also tap to enchant it with Wordmail. For every word in the creature's name it gains plus 1 to power and toughness. Meaning that Our Market Research Shows That Players Like Really Long Card Names So We Made this Card to Have the Absolute Longest Card Name Ever Elemental becomes a 27/27 creature." Anypony who was currently drinking anything in the shop immediately spat it out. Pinkie Pie, within a couple of turns, had managed to cast an extremely powerful combo. "Now onto my Upkeep. First I'll roll to see what happens." She rolled her die and was happy when she saw it land on a 6. "Yay! My chicken now becomes a 4/4 creature as a result. And now time for another round of questions!"
"Bring it," Spike said enthusiastically. 
"Alrighty then. Spike, it's time for your second question." For some reason Pinkie had a lamplight with her and shone it in Spike's face. "Last week when I made Twilight that cake shaped like a book, you said that Gummy was the one that ate the biggest piece intended for Twilight. Tell me honestly; was it you that ate the piece of cake?"
"Is this real?" Sweetie Belle asked her friends. They didn't respond, as the two were too engrossed with the question to be distracted.
"I....I...YES! I confess! I ate the piece of cake and blamed it on Gummy! It was just so good. Not only that, but Twilight kept on hiding in her room during that time, so I didn't want that really big piece to go to waste if she didn't finish it. You can't just eat part of a piece and put it away for later! That's a disgrace." Spike was sweating when he confessed this. He was worried about the consequences of lying to Pinkie Pie.
"Really? You didn't want my cake to be wasted?"Pinkie was actually pretty calm about this.
"Well, yes. I always like your cake and didn't want it to get stale or just partially eaten. It's always weird when you just eat part of a cake and then save it, you know? Plus, I actually did give Gummy some of it as well, so i wasn't a complete lie." Spike was feeling better now that he'd revealed his terrible secret to the world. "Anyway, it's my turn. I draw and play Dinrova Horror. With it's effect, I return your, uh, hold on." Spike took a deep breath and said, "Our Market Research Shows That Players Like Really Long Card Names So We Made this Card to Have the Absolute Longest Card Name Ever Elemental to your hand. You also discard a card." The onlookers cheered as the uber-powerful creature was removed from the battlefield.
"Wow. Should've seen that coming. I'll discard that instead of returning it to my hand. Don't really need it now without Wordmail." Pinkie seemed entirely unfazed by the loss of her card. "Is that it?"
"Nope. I also attack with Jace's Phantasm, bypassing your creatures without Flight and dealing damage directly to you. Not only are you now at 19, but you also discard 3 cards from your library as well. With my creature's special ability, it's now a 5/5 creature because you have more than ten cards in your graveyard." Spike was now regaining his cool as his game was coming together.
"Awesome! I draw and play Spatula of the Ages along with Eye to Eye/ With the second spell, I target your ghostie and challenge you to a staring contest. If I win, that card gets destroyed." Pinkie Pie started staring sharply at Spike, the challenge apparently begun.
"You can do this," Spike said to himself in his head. "I know you can. All you have to do is not bli-" He blinked.
"Woohoo!" Pinkie cheered as Spike discarded his winning card. "I end my turn, but have one other question to ask you now."
"What is it?" Spike asked, looking over his hand.
"Did you know that I'm about to give you a really big hug because you're such a sweet dragon for appreciating my baking?"
"No, I-" Spike was interrupted as Pinkie Pie crushed him with an enormous hug. He was started to feel lightheaded until Pinkie finally relented. 
"That's all. Your turn."
"Very well," Spike said, catching his breath. "I draw and play a Swamp and summon Crypt Ghast. That's all for me." Spike knew that he wouldn't be able to do much, if any damage as long as Pinkie Pie had that Enchantment of hers in play. He'd need to do something, or else he had no hope. He somehow needed to remove the card from her head. "Actually, Pinkie, you mind if I ask you something quickly?"
"Sure! Whatever you want."
"I was just wondering how you've managed to keep that card on top of your head all this time. Seems pretty difficult to continually do."
"It's simple. i just need to really concentrate on keeping it up there and that's all. I mean, I could focus on cupcakes, or balloons, or ninjas, or pies, or books, or shops, or-" As if it were jealous, the card suddenly fell off her head. "Huh. Guess I stopped."
"You sure that isn't cheating?" Sweetie Belle whispered to Spike.
"To be honest, I didn't even try to remove it through that," he confessed.
"Okay then. My turn! I draw and tap Spatula of the Ages, sacrificing it, in order to summon, *BUM BUM BUMMM*, BFM!" Pinkie placed two cards down, something Spike hadn't ever seen, and looked at the cards she played.
"Let's see here." He looked at the cards and analyzed their text. Apparently this creature required two parts to be summoned. One of the cards had the ridiculous cost of 15 Swamps, but Spatula of the Ages allowed it to be summoned for free. While this was surprising on it's own, another thing on the card sent Spike into a wide-eyed gaze. "Does this actually say that this creature has 99 Power and 99 Toughness?"
"Eeyup!" Pinkie smiled while the players around Spike started to look down in gloom. Spike, already feeling like he was playing a game that was beyond understanding, felt like folding and giving the game up. Just as he was about to out his hand down, a hoof stuck out, stopping him.
"Come on, Spike. You can do it," Scootaloo told him. "We believe in you."
"Yeah. You've been playing this game for a long time. Show this fool that you mean business. No offense, Pinkie," apologized Apple Bloom.
"No problem."
"You know what? I'll continue." The group cheered as they saw him soldier on. "Come on, Pinkie. Is that the end of your turn?"
"Nope! I now attack with my chicken."
"Very well. I accept the damage." Spike went down to 16 life, hoping that his deck would serve him well.
"Okay! I'll just ask my question and that's that." Pinkie started thinking over what she could ask and said, "Do you think that the Cutie Mark Crusaders  are super-un not really cute?"
"Um," Spike tried to figure out how to answer that question, deciding to say, "Yes?" Pinkie laughed as he answered this way. He turned his head to the girls, seeing if they knew what was going on. They each shrugged and decided to continue. "Alright. Cards, don't fail me now." Spike drew and saw just what he needed to win, smiling as he did so. "I know just what to do. I play a Swamp and cast two spells, Soul Ransom and Stolen Identity/ With my Crypt Ghast, the mana for the Swamp doubles, allowing me to afford both spells. Using them, I take control of the left portion of BFM while making a copy of the other half. Since you lose one of the sides, the creature becomes sacrificed, and I have my own copy of Big Furry Monster now." Everypony cheered as they saw this combination in action, Pinkie Pie's face in shock at losing her best creature. "Also, that'll end my turn."
"Very well." Pinkie drew and said, "I play and sacrifice Ashnod's Coupon using that, I ask Spike to get me a milkshake from the counter. Just tell Mr. Cake who it's for and he'll give it to you." Seeing how this game had already been going, Spike accepted whatever she said and went over to the counter, picking up the drink. He brought it back to her and she downed it in one giant gulp, letting out a gasp as she finished it. "I'll end my turn, but ask one last question."
"Ask away," Spike said, ready for whatever Pinkie could ask.
"Are you going to win this game?" Pinkie's question confused Spike for a moment. It seemed like a trick. After all, this was Pinkie who we were talking about.After looking her in the eyes, however, he knew just how to respond."
"Yes."  The room grew absolutely quiet as his turn began. The customers who didn't even know the game were now paying attention, feeling that they were about to witness something that they would later on realize that they still didn't understand, seeing as they didn't play the game. "I draw and tap to cast Way of the Thief onto BFM, making it unblockable and giving it an additional plus 2 to strength and toughness with my Gates on the field. Now, using my newly gained creature, I attack you directly, dealing a total of 101 points, ending this game!" The onlookers roared in applause as they saw this incredible victory. Spike smiled and handed back Pinkie's card, her expression of joy still there (along with a milk mustache).
"Congrats, Spike! That was so awesome!" Scootaloo told him. 
"It really was. Thought that things were gonna go bad quickly." Apple Bloom added.
"Yeah. Surprised that the game actually went fast. Felt like forever." Spike wiped the sweat away from his brow. "To be honest, it was pretty fun to play against a deck than had Unhinged and Unglued types of cards. After all, they're normally impossible to find somebody to play that with, seeing as those cards are technically illegal to play."
"Really? Why is that?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Because they're insane." The four of them laughed as they reveled in their victory. Spike was one step closer to his ultimate duel. He didn't know that the insanity had just began.
> On a Rampage
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The next day was pretty exciting for Spike. After beating Pinkie Pie, Spike gained a bit of popularity among the players who'd watched his game. While he didn't actually know any of them by name, it was pretty neat to be recognized by other ponies around his age. He entered Sugar Cube Corner and sat down at the table where the Cutie Mark Crusaders were. Today they were going to celebrate his victory and talk about what to do now that he'd beaten Pinkie.
"A cupcake, please," Spike ordered. 
"What kind?" Mr. Cake asked.
"Um, whatever the daily special is?" Spike never went out to places to eat, so he wasn't always sure of what to order. One time he spent a good five minutes asking for 'soda' without specifying which one. Took him a while before he understood that there were other kinds other than the one he was used to. Anyway, Mr. Cake went away, leaving the four of them to talk.
"So, now that you've beaten Pinkie Pie, you think you'll take on Rarity?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Well, the general idea was to practice other decks and see which ones worked against other opponents, so I might try out other players as well." Spike looked around the room and saw the other ponies who had Magic cards with them, most being students from the CMC's class. "However, from what it sounds like your classmates aren't that great. I feel like I might end up getting cocky if I challenge somepony who hasn't played for too long and end up beating them."
"That kinda sounds cocky on its own," Sweetie Belle commented.
"It does, but then again most of your classmates lost to somepony that normally shows other ponies her hand while playing 'Go Fish'." The three knew that Spike was right. After all, they weren't exactly skilled at the game. "Actually, now that I think of it, what if Diamond Tiara isn't actually some super-great player with a super awesome chocolaty coated super deck and you guys just haven't had too much experience yet?"
The three looked at Spike confused before parroting, "Super awesome what?"
"It's a thing," he replied, looking slightly embarrassed. "Anyway, I think you guys may have exaggerated how good she was. I mean, yeah, she beat the three of you at once, but I don't know if you guys played well either."
"Come on, Spike. Now you're just being mean." Sweetie Belle looked sad as Spike put her and her friends down. He looked at them and realized that he had just said something really, really mean.
"Wow. It really did sound bad, didn't it? I’m just saying that maybe I won't need to practice too much to defeat her." As he said this, Silver Spoon entered the bakery and looked around, spotting the four sitting at the table. Surprisingly, Diamond Tiara wasn't following her.
"Say, do any of you know the Magic player who's been beating most of the players here?" she asked them.
"Yeah. That'd be Pinkie Pie." Scootaloo pointed over to the pink pony as she played another game. She was cheering as they looked at her, suggesting that she'd just won the game.
"Very well." Without another word she walked away from them and exited the shop.
"Wow. That seemed to be random," Apple Bloom told them.
"Yeah." Mr. Cake finally arrived with Spike's cupcake, a Yellow Cake kind, and Spike took a bite out of it. "Say, does Silver Spoon play the game at all?"
"I don't think so. Haven't seen her with cards or anything. I think she just acts as Diamond Tiara's lackey," Scootaloo informed him. "Besides, why're you interested in her?"
"I dunno. Something just seems-"
"Shush!" Apple Bloom yelled at them as they saw Diamond Tiara enter. She looked around the room and focused her gaze on Pinkie Pie.
"What's she doing here?" Scootaloo asked.
"Getting something to eat? After all, this is a bakery." Sweetie Belle's input was ignored as they watched her carefully, hoping to avoid their classmate's gaze.
"Excuse me, girls. I have to use the little dragon's room." Spike got up from his seat and left, hoping that nopony would touch the rest of his cupcake while he was gone.
"Hey, do you girls think that maybe we're starting to get a little obsessive about all of this?" Sweetie Belle tried to ask her friends, believing that maybe they were putting too much thought into their plan. "After all, this is still just a card game."
"We know that it's a card game, but it's also a matter of pride," Scootaloo explained. After all, if Diamond Tiara isn't stopped here, who knows what could happen to her ego?"
"True, but I actually don't want to worry about that as much as something else I've been thinking about."
"Really?" Apple Bloom's tone changed from aggressive to caring. "What's been bothering you?"
"Well, recently I've been having these odd feelings of-"
"Hold!" Apple Bloom yelled out as Diamond Tiara passed the three of them, leaving the bakery. "Huh. Guess she didn't have any reason to come here after all." Apple Bloom looked at the direction from where Diamond Tiara left and saw the group of Magic players suddenly acting silent. Pinkie Pie, previously ecstatic while playing, now had her hair down, her facial expression looking gloomy. The group, seeing this strange site, decided to see what had happened.
"Pinkie Pie?" Apple Bloom asked, getting her attention.
"Oh. Hey girls," she greeted them, no joy in her voice. "What's up?"
"What just happened? You look like somepony just told you that you can't eat sugar anymore." Sweetie Belle told her.
"WHAT?!" she yelled out, jumping straight up into the ceiling. "Oh. That's just a simile. Anyway, I just lost a match," she told them.
"So? You lost a match to Spike yesterday and were fine," Sweetie Belle reminded her.
"He didn't beat me in three turns," she explained, plopping her head down onto the table.
"What? How could she win in just three turns?" Scootaloo genuinely did not know how somepony could win in such a short time.
"She played with a bunch of Infect creatures. They only need to get you to ten counters and then you lose," Truffle Shuffle explained. "I never saw somepony play them so quickly though." As the group talked among themselves, Spike exited the bathroom and saw the crowd.
"Huh. What happened?"
"Diamond tiara challenged Pinkie Pie and beat her in three turns using Infect creatures," Sweetie Belle explained.
"She beat Pinkie Pie in the time I went to the bathroom?" Spike, who had just believed himself adequate enough to take on Diamond Tiara then and there, suddenly started to rethink his plan. "Alright. I think I'd like to practice with some other ponies a bit more before facing her. Sweetie Belle, you know where Rarity is?"
"Yeah. She's out of town right now. Checking out a potential buyer." This news did not sit well with Spike. He needed to find ponies who knew the game and weren't confined to the basic starter decks.
"Alright. I need to find somepony else to try out. Any ideas?" 
"Well," Apple Bloom seemed like she was about to say something, but then said, "I don't think I should say it." 
"Come on, Apple Bloom. You can tell us." Apple Bloom looked at Scoots and looked like she would tell them.
"I know that Fluttershy plays it." The group looked at her, surprised at such news.
"Really? Why does that make sense?" Spike asked. 
"I have no idea, but we should check her out as soon as possible. Spike, you prepare a deck to use while the three of use let Fluttershy know that you'll be playing with her soon. After all, she'd hate for it to be a surprise."
"Right!" The four followed Scootaloo's orders and went out to set up their next Magic game. 





"Hello, Mr. Squirrel! Have you had any nuts today?" Fluttershy asked her furry little friend. He shook his head and she gave him his nut, smiling as he scampered away. "That's a good boy."
"Fluttershy!" Apple Bloom yelled out as she and her friends galloped toward her.
"Oh hi, girls! How may I help you?" she asked in her gentlest voice.
"You remember how you told me that you used to play Magic all the time before you stopped because you didn't find anypony else to play with? Well, I finally found somepony else who'd really like to play with you." 
"Oh, Apple Bloom! That sounds wonderful! Who is it?"
"It's Spike, actually. He's played the game for a while and would like to practice against you."
"That's sounds fun! Oh, but first I'll need to get my deck ready. Hopefully I'll be completely prepared by tomorrow. You tell him I'll be right here and we'll have so much fun!" The three trotted away from Fluttershy's house, hoping to deliver the message to Spike soon. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were looking at Apple Bloom intensely however.
"What?" she asked in reply of her friend's scowls.
"The two of us just realized that you knew Fluttershy played the game, but when we first asked about who could help us you didn't speak up about her," Sweetie Belle told her. "We were just wondering why that is."
"Well, Fluttershy told me to never tell anypony about her Magic past unless it was because somepony wanted to really play a game. She made me do a Pinkie Pie Swear and all that. Also, I kinda went and forgot about it until now," Apple Bloom explained.
"Oh. Alright." Satisfied, the three went off to Spike's place to let him know of the coming battle. What neither of them knew were the effects of playing Fluttershy in a card game.

> Reach Out to Somepony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Spike had been trying to figure out what kind of deck he should use against Fluttershy. He had no idea of what kind of player she was, so he couldn't come up with a counter deck. He thought that maybe she'd choose creatures that looked soft and cuddly. After all, this was Fluttershy he was dealing with. She was probably like Rarity when it came to cards. The only difference was that Fluttershy was into animals, so maybe she'd focus on non-threatening creatures. That, or Spike had no real idea what he was talking about and was making random guesses. While looking through his box of cards, Twilight passed by, giving him a glass of orange juice.
"Saw you were busy and thought you might like something to drink," she told him.
"Thanks!" Spike was actually surprised by the gesture. Normally he was the one who needed to get ponies drinks, so this was something of a treat to him. "Say, you have any suggestions on how I could deal with Fluttershy? I have no idea how she plays and I'm trying out a new deck."
"Well, maybe you should try a deck that's made specifically for taking out lots of small creatures. Perhaps she'll try to swarm you," Twilight offered. "I'm just guessing that she wouldn't try to play-"
"Gross creatures? I thought the same to." Spike pondered this idea and said, "You know what? Sure. After all, this is all about experimentation. I think I'll go red with some blue as well, just to see how it works out."
"Sounds interesting." Twilight said as she walked away. Ever since her incident she'd been trying to get away from the game as much as she could. She was worried she could go into relapse and didn't know if she'd be able to block it out easily. "Oh! One other thing; Shining Armor will be here later on tonight."
"Wait, really?" Spike was surprised by this news. This was the first time he'd been told about this.
"Yeah. I guess I forgot after dealing with that whole Magic fiasco. Anyway, would you mind cleaning up before going out to challenge Fluttershy?  It'd be really helpful."
"Fine," he said, resentment in his voice. He'd enjoyed playing his game so much that he'd actually forgotten about most of his chores. Twilight had gone easy on him since this was the first time she'd really seen him interacting with other kids his age, but now she needed help to get things ready for company. "Say, is Cadance joining him?"
"Nah. He says that he wants some alone time with me. Seems like forever since we could hang out without some big disaster happening."
"Cool. So what needs to be done?"
"Well, it'd be great if you could sweep around the house, do the wash, clean the dishes, and I think that'll be all. I need to run some errands before he gets here. You think you can do that?"
"Obviously." Twilight left and Spike started to put aside his box of cards. "Hope I can get this done quickly. Wanna play-test this thing before I head over." He got out the broom and started sweeping when there was a knocking at the door. "Twilight, did you forget your keys?" Spike opened the door to find that it was Apple Bloom, followed by her two other friends.
"Hey Spike! You ready for your next match?"
"Not right now. I have to do some chores." He sighed at that last word. "Wish I didn't though."
"What's the hold up?" Sweetie Belle asked, not hearing what he just said.
"He's busy with chores," Apple Bloom explained. "Looks like we won't be going for a while."
"What? No!" Scootaloo bellowed out. "Spike, what needs doing?"
"Well, there's sweeping, then washing, then cleaning the dishes, and that should be it."
"Alright then. Come on, girls! Nopony wants to do chores forever!"
"Wait, you'll be helping me out?" Spike was so happy to have somepony that would actually help him out around the place. Felt like it never happened to him. This was turning out to be a unique day.
"Sure. Everypony take a chore and get going. Spike, make your deck. The longer you take the longer we wait." Without hesitation the three went to the broom closet and grabbed whatever they needed to get the chores done. Scootaloo decided to sweep, moving the broom back and forth, spreading dirt everywhere. Sweetie Belle decided she would wash the dishes and started grabbing them all from the sink and dumping them into the dishwasher.
"I'm not sure where I'm supposed to place this stuff," she said as she examined the soap bottle, "but I think the more the better." She poured the soap over the dishes and turned the knob all the way to the right, assuming that longer they washed the better. Apple Bloom took on the wash, gathering what little clothes were worn by them. Doing it the way her family taught her, she got a nearby bucket, an old washing board (somehow laying around), and decided to scrub them with her bare hooves. She then hung them up outside on one of the nearby tree branches. Satisfied, she went back inside to report her job finished.
"Clothes are drying," she told them.
"Floor's spotless," Scootaloo told them, coughing a little.
"Dishes are being done as we speak," said Sweetie Belle.
"What?" her two friends asked, trying to hear her over the washing machine as is started to grow louder and louder.
"They're getting done!" she yelled back. "Anyway, let's see how Spike's doing." They went over to Spike as he was picking up the cards he had just played. He was also putting them into one of his deck holsters. It looked like he was ready.
"Let's go," he said in his most intimidating voice. Instead of coming off as a strong loner however, the girls thought it was funny how was acting tough and giggled. Seeing as he couldn't just recover from that, he decided to head off to Fluttershy's to play card games.





"Now, how does this work again?" Fluttershy said to herself as she looked at her old cards. It'd been so long since she played and she could barely recall the game. In fact, she really didn't remember why she'd stopped playing in the first place. What she can remember was having lots of fun, but everything also being very loud. It was a very odd memory for her to have, but as she remembered it she noticed that her hooves moved on their own, flipping through her pile of cards.
"What's going on?" she asked, noticing herself glance at cards and set them aside while creating a neat pile. "Am I...making a deck?" Fluttershy felt herself going through motions she hadn't performed in years. What felt like long-lost knowledge a few moments ago now felt like information she'd known all her life.
"Guess I still have it," she told Angel, who was currently watching Fluttershy with disinterest. "Now I just need to wait for Spike and then we can play. Oooh, this will be so exciting!" She went outside and set up a table for them to place their cards, along with mats on opposite sides to keep them clean. While waiting she practiced her shuffling techniques, enjoying the unique ways she could get the cards in different orders. When she finally saw Spike arrive, she felt something change inside of her.
"Hey Fluttershy. You ready to play?" asked Spike. 
"I sure am! I have everything set up right here. Let's cut our cards and begin," she told him. The two exchanged decks and started cutting, Fluttershy moving cards around like a card dealer. Spike saw this and sighed, knowing that it was probably gonna be one of those duels.
"The more I play these ponies, the more I think I should've just played against one of the girls' classmates," Spike mumbled to himself as he wondered what kind of odd twist he'd be dealing with now. "Alright. You wanna play or draw?"
"I'd like to draw," she told him. The two of them drew their seven cards, Spike taking the lead.
"I play Izzet Guildgate and end my turn."
"I draw and play a Forest. I then tap to summon Scute Mob, ending my turn."
"What did you play?" Scootaloo asked.
"I played a Scute Mob. Whenever I control five or more lands at the beginning of my turn, I can put four +1/+1 counters on it." Fluttershy explained.
"Oh. Thought you said something else," Scootaloo admitted.
"Alright then. I draw and play an Island, followed by Stream Hopper. I then end my turn," Spike told her.
"Okay then." Fluttershy drew and said, "I play a Forest, followed by Deadly Recluse. This creature has Deathtouch, meaning any amount of damage it deals is enough to destroy a creature, along with Reach, meaning that it can block flying creatures as well. That ends my turn."
"Darn," Spike mumbled. His Stream Hopper actually had the ability to fly if he tapped one his his lands, but didn't stand a chance against that flying creature. "I'll draw and play a Mountain. I then summon Goblin Electromancer to the field. While this creature is on the field, all Sorceries and Instants cost 1 mana less to cast. That'll be all."
"Oh. That does look like trouble," Fluttershy commented. "I guess I'll just have to do more then. I draw and play a Forest. Tapping two of them, I play Explore, allowing me to play an additional Land and draw a card." Fluttershy then placed the Land down, bringing her total to four. Spike did not like the looks of things. Once she got to five Lands, her Scute Mob would start to become a real powerhouse.
"Guess I need to play fast. I draw and play a Mountain. I then cast Flame Slash against your Scute Mob, not having to pay anything thanks to my Goblin Electromancer. Also, I tap to summon Crackleburr and end my turn." Spike was feeling good thanks to that draw. He'd eliminated that annoying creature and summoned his own that had the abilities to deal damage to a creature or return creatures to their hand. Looked like an early win.
"Well, that does suck," Fluttershy said, shocking the others. "Oh, did I say that? Sorry. Anyway, I cast Khalni Heart Expedition, along with Rampant Growth, allowing me to play a Land from my Library. I then play a Forest from my hand, putting two tokens on my Khalni Heart Expedition. When I get to three counters, I can play two Lands from my Library tapped. Your move." Fluttershy noticed that she was not only feeling more confident as she played, but a bit more aggressive.
"Okay. I draw and tap my creatures to allow Crackleburr to deal 3 damage to your Deadly Recluse, destroying it." Spike said, noticing Fluttershy grumbling as she placed it in her graveyard. "That's my turn."
"Okay. I draw and play another Forest, placing the third and final counter on my Khalni Heart Expedition, allowing me to play an additional two lands tapped. Tapping my available lands, I cast Howl of the Night Pack. This spell gives me a 2/2 Green Wolf for each Forest I control. Since I have nine Forests on the field, I get nine Wolves." She placed down nine tokens, smiling insanely as she placed them down. "That's all for now. What've you got?"
"Um, well, I draw and play an Island. I also tap to place the Enchantment Clout of the Dominus on Stream Hopper and Goblin Electromancer, ending my turn." Spike had to play on the defensive. He was quickly being overrun my creatures and needed a miracle to happen fast.
"Well, if that's all, I think I'll just move onto my Attack Phase," Fluttershy said in a creepy manner. "Wolves, attack!" Swiping her hoof across her side of the field, she tapped all her tokens. "Choose your defenders. It won't matter for long."
"I block two of your wolves with my Stream Hopper and Goblin Electromancer." Fluttershy discarded two of her tokens while the rest went to deal damage straight to him, dealing a total of 14 damage to him, reducing his Life Points to 6. "Is that the end of your turn?"
"Yeah. I think we know how this is gonna end." Fluttershy was now leaning back in her chair, placing her hind legs on the table.
"Alright. I draw and, woah. I totally forgot this card. Oh well. I cast Volcanic Fallout, dealing two damage to each creature on the field."
"WHAT?!" she yelled, falling back in her chair. "No! Shut up! I'll win this game you little punk!" Everypony there was scared of how Fluttershy was reacting. Spike was starting to wonder if her should throw the game just so Fluttershy didn't go on some sort of rampage later on.
"Hey! You leave him alone," demanded Sweetie Belle.
"Yeah. You can't just bully somepony while you play. That's just wrong," Apple Bloom added.
"Pfft. Whatever. You're still gonna be dead meat when I'm through. Oh, and your Crackleburr gets destroyed as well."
"I know," Spike said, his confidence returning thanks to his friends. He discarded the card while Fluttershy cleared her field of the tokens. "Oh, I also attack with my Stream Hopper and Goblin Electromancer, dealing 7 damage to you."
"I know how to count, Bucker," Fluttershy mumbled. The four were shocked to hear such language from Fluttershy. Apple Bloom couldn't help but giggle though. 
"Yeah. I'm just saying this out so everypony else know that you're at 13. Anyway, your move."
"Alright. I draw and...prepare to cry. I tap to summon Spearbreaker Behemoth, along with the Enchantment, Canopy Cover! Not only is he Indestructible, but this Enchantment prevents abilities and spells from affecting him! You wanna quit?"
"Not so fast!" Spike through down a card and said, "Swerve! This spell directs one spell you cast to a new target of my choice, this situation being the Goblin Electromancer." Fluttershy seemed to make a noise that sounded like 'Nyargh' when he said this. "Is that your turn?"
"Sure."
"Very well. I draw and play a Mountain. Tapping all my lands, I summon Mindwrack Liege, granting my Red/Blue creature +2/+2. Looks like I won't have to worry about your Indestructible creature now."
"Don't worry. There's plenty more where that came from. I draw and play Terra Stomper! That's all for now." Fluttershy was now waiting to gain her most powerful creatures. If she managed to draw her Wolfbriar Elemental, the game was as good as over.
"Okay." Spike drew and struggled to keep his smile to himself when he saw his card. "I summon Dominus of Fealty and end my turn."
"Alright. I draw and attack with Spearbreaker Behemoth and Terra Stomper." Fluttershy was beginning her final strike against Spike.
"I block your Behemoth with my Goblin Electromancer and your other creature with Stream Hopper. Since Stream Hopper has 5/5 for stats, it gets destroyed, along with myself receiving 3 damage directly because it has Trample." Spike was now down to 3 Life Points. If he didn't finish this quickly he knew he'd lose. "Is that your turn?"
"Yes. Yes it is. Just try and beat me."
"I will, seeing as I'll be taking that Terra Stomper of your thanks to my Dominus of Fealty." Fluttershy's eyes opened up when she heard this. She hadn't bothered to check the ability of that card. With it, he could choose any card during his Upkeep and control it for his turn. Spike then drew his card and knew that the game was over. "I tap to summon Hypersonic Dragon! Now, Hypersonic Dragon, Goblin Electromancer, and Terra Stomper, attack!"
"Wait!" Fluttershy screamed out. "You just summoned that creature!" she said in response to the dragon attacking.
"He has Haste, so that doesn't matter. Also, your Behemoth won't be able to block the first two creatures since my dragon has flying and Goblin Electromancer has that Enchantment of yours.
"Then I"ll block my Terra Stomper then!"
"Okay. With the buff my Mindwrack Liege gives my two creatures, along with my goblin's Clout of the Dominus, both deal 6 damage each. Along with Terra Stomper's Trample ability, even with your Spearbreaker Behemoth blocking, I do 3 damage to you directly, making a total of 15 damage. With that attack, Fluttershy, you lose."
"NO! You @## lizard! I don't lose! I never lose! I-" Fluttershy's rage suddenly stopped right as she was about to flip over the table. She calmly returned to her seat and said, "I think I remember why I stopped playing this game. Spike, I'm so sorry for my language. Please, accept my apology."
"Okay," Spike replied quickly, still a bit in shock of what he had just been called. Apple Bloom and the others had moved a good three feet away from them to avoid getting in the way of her rampage.
"No! It's not okay. Here," she said, pulling something from her bag. "I've had this card for a while now and never used it. Didn't want to ruin it's value, but I think it fits you're theme." Spike took the card from Fluttershy and  saw that it was the Planeswalker Nicol Bolas. 
"Wow! This is a really good card! Thanks alot, Fluttershy!"
"No problem. Now, if you don't mind, I've got some animals to feed. Take care!" She trotted away from the table, her deck in her pack. The four others took a moment to recover from that scene before leaving.





The four decided to go back to Twilight's Library, surprised at the duel today. 
"Can't believe that Fluttershy was a trash-talker," Sweetie Belle told them.
"Yeah. Glad you finished it before she got into some really gross stuff," Scootaloo said, thinking about how her own experience on the playground had resulted in her learning a couple new phrases.
"I haven't dealt with players that bad before. Surprised Fluttershy would take the cake."
"Well, since she's normally so calm, makes sense her actions would have the most impact," Apple Bloom told them. 
"That is true. Anyway, I should see if Shining Armor is here yet. Wanna greet him and relax after that game."
"Can we say 'hi' as well? We haven't seen him since the Wedding," Apple Bloom asked.
"Sure. He'd like to see you girls again." Spike opened the door to find Shining Armor already there with his luggage. "Hey, Shining! You need help?"
"Hey, Spike! Sure! Just grab whatever you can." Spike went and grabbed the nearest bag while the three girls entered the library. "Hey, are you three who I think you are?" 
"Yeah! I'm Apple Bloom. This is Scootaloo, and the other one is Sweetie Belle. We were the Flower Girls at your wedding," she reminded him.
"Wow. Didn't expect to find you guys here. You want to stay here or head on out? Twilight apparently had to leave right as I got here. Something about needing to find a Dishwasher Repair Pony fast. Apparently she shielded it off since now it's literally bouncing around the kitchen." Spike gave Sweetie Belle a glare as she tried to whistle innocently. "Anyway, I'm just setting up for now. I don't have that much, so I guess we can kill some time with talk."
"I'd like that. After all, I just spent my afternoon playing this really intense Magic: The Gathering game."
"Oh, really?" Shining Armor asked, his eyebrow arching.
"Yeah! You should have seen him! He was just one step ahead of her and managed to win by controlling her creature," Apple Bloom said excitedly. "She even gave him this really cool card after he won."
"Oh. So it sounds like you've got experience with the game then, huh?" Shining Armor asked this as he rummaged around in his luggage.
"Yeah. I've had several years of experience. I hope to say that I'm good," Spike said, grinning at the thought of his recent victories.
"So," Shining said, throwing his deck holder with pinpoint accuracy on the table, "you think you can take on Dauntless Defender, Number 5 in the world?" 
> Master and Defender
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Spike looked through his cards, trying to figure out what kind of deck to play while Shining Armor waited. The young dragon was nervous about his next duel, going up against a top world player. After all, he must've had years of experience with building decks and defeating countless players. He had no idea what he was going up against.
"Spike, you alright?" Sweetie Belle asked, noticing that Spike was sweating.
"Maybe. I'm just worried about this next one," he confessed. "After all, this guy is the 5th greatest player in the world according to last year's championship."
"Really? So who was the top player then?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Can't remember right now. They all use aliases when playing, so nopony actually knows they're real identities. They usually have a badge or something to confirm their position." Spike picked up when he remembered this and said, "Hey, Shining, if you really are Number Five, can I see-"
"My badge? Sure." He pulled out a small badge with the title Number 5: Dauntless Defender etched into it. "By the way, I'm hoping to try out a new deck, so make sure to not kill me immediately, alright?"
"You know, I'm pretty sure I won't need to worry about that." Shining Armor laughed at the joke while Spike tried to come up with a deck idea. He thought back to his duel with Fluttershy and remembered how several of those spells had saved his hide and decided that he should try something like that. Since Shining Armor's theme always seemed to be Defenders, Spike decided that he should try to build a Mana Burn Deck. Try and destroy him indirectly.
"Hey, Spike, I was wondering how long it's been since you've gotten any new cards?" Shining Armor asked.
"Well, I just got the new release not too long ago, so I've built my own deck with them. You mind if I try out a new deck as well? Seems like now would be the perfect time."
"As you wish," Shining Armor told him. "You three wanna watch?"
"Sure!" The CMC took their seats next to the table and waited while Spike took out the cards he'd be using for his deck. He used a couple of the cards from his previous deck, his Electromancer Goblins, and would build something new built around Sorceries and Instants.
"Hey, Mr. Armor sir, how long have you been playing?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Well, I've been playing ever since 5th Edition came out, so a while now," he informed them. "What about you three?"
"We've just started playing not too long ago. We got those Starter Decks and use them for our games," Scootaloo explained. "Right now we're having Spike practice to take out this one classmate who keeps on destroying all of us. She's beaten every single one of us, even when the three of us teamed up to take her down."
"Wow. Sounds like somepony is pretty skilled."
"Yeah. What's even worse is that she uses cards we've never seen before either. Things like Knight of the Holy Nimbus and Icatian Javileneers," Apple Bloom added, remembering the fight against Scootaloo.
"Huh. Those are some pretty old cards," Shining Armor said to himself. "I wonder-"
"Alright, I've got my deck ready. Prepared to duel?" Spike put his gloves on and placed the deck down on the table.
"I sure am." The two swapped decks and cut. Spike worried about what he remembered was the Dauntless Defender's strategy; keep the enemy from attacking while he won with game-ending cards that depended on him gaining enough life. He couldn't remember the exact cards for that combo, but knew that he could win the game within a couple turns of summoning that card.
"Play or draw?" Shining asked.
"Draw," Spike replied, looking at his hand. He wanted to get his other cards quickly in order to make his combo and was just hoping that whatever he drew would be good.
"Alright then. I start by playing a Plains and end my turn." Shining Armor looked intently at his hand, mentally playing out how his next move would be.
"I draw and play an Island," Spike said, happy with what he got. "That's all."
"Okay then. I draw, play an Island, and tap these two to summon Fog Bank. This Defender card not only has Flying, but also can't be dealt damage. That's my turn." Shining Armor was feeling pretty good about that early summon. Seems like it would put Spike in a tough position having a damage negating card on the field this early.
"I now draw and play a Mountain. I then tap to summon Omenspeaker. When she enters the field, I get to Scry, a term meaning that I look at the top cards of the library," he said, directing his attention to the CMC, "the top two cards of my library and place them in any order on top or bottom of said library." Spike took a look at the two cards and, after looking at his hand, placed them both on the bottom. "That's my turn."
"I draw and play a Mountain, ending my turn." Shining Armor's 3 Color Deck was now ready to summon any kind of creature he had, regardless of color.
"Three types of Lands, huh? Anyway, I draw and play an Island. Then, I tap to summon Burnished Hart to the field. That's all." 
"I draw and play Kabira Crossroads, gaining 2 life as a result. I then tap to summon Rage Nimbus. That's my turn." Shining Armor was sure that this game was as good as over thanks to that one card of his.
"Nice Defender. Anyway, I draw and play an Island. I then tap 3 and sacrifice Burnished Hart, using it's ability to search my library for two Lands tapped." Spike searched his library and placed two Mountains tapped onto the field, shuffling afterward. "That'll be my turn."
"My turn," Shining Armor said, delight in his voice. "I draw and play an Island. Then, I tap and summon Perimeter Captain. This cards ability grants me 2 life each time a creature of mine with Defender blocks another one of yours. That'll be my turn." Shining Armor told him.
"I draw and tap to summon Burnished Hart. Then, I tap 3 more Lands to sacrifice it and search my deck for two other Lands." Spike searched and placed an Island and a Mountain on the field before shuffling his deck.
"I tap to activate my Rage Nimbus' ability of making a target creature attack this turn if able. I use this against your Omenspeaker, forcing it to attack and be blocked by my Rage Nimbus, not only destroying it but granting me 2 life," Shining Armor declared. Spike knew as long as he kept his field clear of creatures he would't need to immediately worry about that cloud of Armor's. 
"Okay. Anyway, that's my turn."
"I draw and play an Island, ending my turn," Shining Armor told them.
"I draw and tap to play Melek, Izzet Paragon! With this card on the field, I reveal the top card of my library at all times," Spike flipped the top card of his library, revealing Colossal Whale, "and can cast Instants and Sorceries right from the top of it. When they are cast from there I also have the ability to copy it and choose new targets. That is my turn."
"Well, that is impressive. I think you forgot about my Rage Nimbus however. I draw and tap to summon Vent Sentinel. Since you're new creature has Summoning Sickness I won't be able to make him attack this turn, so that's all for me." Shining Armor was sure that it was all a matter of time and drawing the correct cards and he'd win. Too bad Spike was no dummy.
"I draw my Colossal Whale and play an Island. Oh," Spike said, turning over the top of his library to reveal that the next card he would draw would be Horizon Scholar, then saying, "I tap to play said whale."
"And I use my Nimbus Cloud's ability to make your Izzet Paragon attack me." Shining Armor was happy to get rid of that card, but Spike was ready.
"Not so fast! Voyage's End. I return that cloud of yours to your hand, so you can't make my creature attack it," Spike declared.
"Alright," Shining Armor said, returning the card to his hand. "I still activated my ability, so it attacks anyway. I can't kill it, so I'll just block it with my Fog Bank. I gain 2 life as well, making my total 26. Is that your turn?"
"Yep."
"Alright then. I draw and tap to summon Rage Nimbus and Vent Sentinel. That'll be all." Shining Armor couldn't continue with his strategy with that whale out there exiling his cards. He knew that he'd have to deal with it, and he knew just how to do so.
"I draw the Horizon Scholar and tap to play him, allowing me to Scry two of my cards." Spike took the top two cards of his library and rearranged them, the top of his library now Ordeal of Thassa. Most likely it would be combined with Colossal Whale to give it an advantage. "I also tap to summon Spellheart Chimera. This creature has both Flying and Trample, and it's power is equal to the number of Instants and Soreceries in my graveyard. Right now it's just 1. I also attack with my Colossal Whale. With his ability, I decide to exile your Rage Nimbus."
"Very well. I can't block your whale because of Islandwalk, so I take 5 damage, making my total life value 21. Is that all?" Shining Armor asked.
"Yes. That'll be it." '
"Alright. I draw and cast both Flame Slash and Lightning Bolt at Colossal Whale, dealing 7 damage to it, destroying it and returning my Rage Nimbus to the field. That's all." Spike was shocked to see his whale defeated. It was his greatest weapon so far against these Defenders. He'd need to come up with something quick.
"I draw Ordeal of Thassa and reveal the next card on the top of my library," Spike flipped the card to reveal one of his Opaline Unicorns. He then had an idea as to how he'd be able to save his hide. "I tap to play Ordeal of Thassa on my Izzet Paragon. That's my turn." 
"I know you're trying to defend your creature, but I'm willing to defeat it anyway," Shining Armor warned.
"I'll call your bluff and attack with Horizon Scholar and Melek." Spike tapped those two cards, surprising Shining Armor.
"Well, that's interesting. I'll counter Melek with Rage Nimbus and Horizon Scholar with Fog Bank. I'll lose my cloud thanks to that Enchantment, but you'll lose your wizard."
"I don't think so. I cast Voyage's End and return that Rage Nimbus to your hand. With my Enchantment, Melek deals 3 damage to you directly, but you regain 2 health for blocking my Horizon Scholar. You're now at 20 health." Spike was happy when he saw Shining's expression of disbelief. He knew that if he was able to distract with an attack like that he wouldn't think that Spike had any other intentions then to get rid of the Rage Nimbus. Thanks to Ordeal of Thassa as well, that wizard creature now had a +1/+1 counter on it and would get another if he was forced to attack again, letting it survive the next attack. "Anyway, that's my turn."
"Well, this is actually pretty interesting," Shining Armor confessed. "I'll draw and tap to summon Wall of Reverence and Rage Nimbus. I end my turn and use my Wall of Reverence's ability to gain life equal to the power of a creature I control. I target my Rage Nimbus, gaining 5 life to get myself to 25 health. That's all." Spike suddenly remembered the strategy that the Dauntless Defender had used before. He was beginning his endgame.
"I draw my Opaline Unicorn and reveal my next card." Spike flipped the top of his library and found that the next card in his library was Meletis Charlatan. Once he got that creature on the field, he'd be able to make his combo. "I tap and summon Opaline Unicorn, ending my turn."
"I draw and play Kabira Crossroads, gaining 2 health upon being played. I end my turn, gaining 5 more health, making my total 32. That's all." Shining was so close to his goal. All he needed was to draw one more and he'd feel safe.
"I draw my Meletis Charlatan and flip my top card over." Spike flipped the top card and found, to his delight, that he'd finally managed to get a Sorcery on the top. "I tap to summon Meletis Charlatan, then, using Melek, Izzet Paragon's ability, cast and copy the top revealed Sorcery on my library, the card being Divination. Since it's copied, I draw four cards instead of the regular two." Spike drew his cards and was pleased with what he saw. "I tap and play Goblin Electromancer. I then use my second Main Phase to play a Mountain and tap the rest of them to summon Opaline Unicorn. That's all. Also," Spike flipped the top card of his library, revealing the next one to be Spellheart Chimera."
"Seeing as all your lands are tapped, this is my chance. First, I draw. Then, I tap six of my Lands to summon my favorite creature, Felidar Sovereign!" Shining Armor yelled as he declared that summon, causing the quiet audience to ask questions.
"What does that card do?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Well, thanks to this little guy, I win the game automatically once I reach 40 life. At least during my Upkeep, that is," Shining Armor explained. "This is how I've won so many of my matches. Anyway, that's it for me. Oh, I also gain 5 more life, making my total now 37."
"Drats," Spike said under his breath. If only his combo was fully ready. He hadn't come across many of his red spells yet and was close to being defeated. "Very well. I draw my Spellheart Chimera and flip the top card." Spike flipped it to reveal that it was another Opaline Unicorn. There was only one hope for him now. "I cast Psychic Intrusion and tap to use Meletis Charlatan's ability to copy the spell. What this card does is that I can choose to search your hand or graveyard and exile it, allowing me to cast it while it remains exiled. The first target I'll choose are the cards in your hand. Let me see them." Shining Armor, his face now pale, showed Spike his hand, the two cards in it a surprise. The first one was an additional copy of Felidar Sovereign, the second one another Wall of Reverence. Spike, deciding that it might be an issue, exiled the first creature. "Now, my copied version of the spell will be used in your graveyard." He searched Shining's graveyard and selected Lightning Bolt with that, he could cast the spell while it remained exiled. "Now, I cast your Lightning Bolt while it remains exiled and use my own Instant, Carbonize, against your Felidar Sovereign, destroying it. Lastly, I tap to summon Spellheart Chimera. That's my turn."
"What?" Shining said, looking at the lone card in his hand. His game-ending combo had been interrupted in that one move. Slowly, he reached forward and grabbed the top card of his deck and drew it. When he saw what he got, his eyes lit up and he laughed. "Guess what I just got?" He showed the card that he just drew, shocking the four of them. It was another Felidar Sovereign. "Did you really think that the game-ending creature of my entire deck wouldn't have some sort of insurance in case the others were destroyed? Anyway, I tap to summon it back, ending my turn with a total of 42 health."
"Oh come on!" the four of them yelled. Spike was running out of options. The only thing he could do right then was draw his card and hope for the best.
"Well, I guess for now all I can do is draw my Opaline Unicorn and flip the top card of my library."
"Wait, what?!" Shining Armor exclaimed. In his excitement, he'd forgotten about dealing with the wizard. He soon regretted doing so, as the next card that was shown was a Sorcery.
"Aw yeah! First, I tap to summon Opaline Unicorn. Then, thanks to Melek, Izzet Paragon and Goblin Electromancer, I cast the top card of my library, Concussive Bolt, for 4 mana. Alone it deals 4 damage to you, but it then gets copied, dealing 8 damage to you, reducing you to 34. Also, it has a feature called 'Metalcraft', meaning that if I have three or more artifacts on the field, in this case my Opaline Unicorns, your creatures cannot block this turn." He then flipped over the next card of his, revealing it to be Act of Treason. "I now cast this spell and decide to take over your precious Felidar Sovereign. Then, using the copies spell, I target my own Opaline Unicorn, allowing it to use it's ability this turn. Let's see what's next."
The next spell was Forked Bolt. After that was a series of three Lightning Strikes. With Goblin Electromancer keeping the spell cost down and the wizard copying them, those series of spells did a total of 22 damage to Shining directly. He was now down to 12 health.
"Oh, remember all my creatures?" Spike said, pointing to his side of the field. "All creatures, ATTACK!" Spike tapped all of his units on his side of the field, dealing enough damage that no one there needed to calculate the exact amount to know that it was over.
"No!" Shining Armor yelled out, his head falling flat on the table. "I can't believe it. All because I got caught up and forgot that stupid wizard. It's always the wizard." He kept banging his head on the table until Apple Bloom approached, tapping him on the shoulder.
"There there," she told him. "You were pretty good. Thought you were gonna win for a moment."
"I know, right? Spike just won cause you went and just had to grab the Idiot Ball," Scootaloo added, her compliment not sounding very nice. "Anyway, I'd have to say that you really are something when it comes to the game."
"Well, I should. I've been playing longer than I've been a Royal Guard. If I didn't gain some sorta skill then I really wouldn't be considered the 5th best player in the world." He said that to himself and then said, "Well, it looks like I won't be anymore."
"Nah. Don't worry. This wasn't an official tournament, so I'm not gonna go and say, 'Hey everypony! I'm the new awesome guy around'. Besides, you said that this was a bit of a new combination for you. Bet you would've beaten me faster with one of your Official Tournament Decks."
"Probably," Shining remarked. "Still, you've got some pretty good moves, Spike. Guess the way I cut those cards worked in your favor then, huh?"
"Yeah. Remind me to ask for your help next game. I'll probably end up getting cards that I never even owned." The two laughed at this as they cleaned up the table. Today, Spike had shown that he had the real potential to be a Master of Magic.
> Avoiding Triggers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Spike, Shining Armor, and the CMC all decided to have dinner after cleaning up. Shining Armor made a lasagna while the rest set up the table. When it was time to eat, Shining Armor lifted the lasagna to the table and cut it evenly with his magic. After sitting down and eating, the four were amazed by how good it was.
"Wow!" Applebloom said as she took her first bite. "This is really good! Mr. Armor, how did you get so good at cooking?"
"When you're a soldier and living with a bunch of other guys, you better learn how to make something good. Otherwise you eat what's essentially cardboard rations," Shining Armor explained.
"I didn't even know Twilight had the stuff to make lasagna," Spike commented.
"Yeah. Kinda had to substitute some things. Really reminds me of the days in the days in the barracks." The four stopped eating when they heard this, Shining Armor eating without a care. Right as they were about to ask what the substitutes were, Twilight burst through the door, carrying a new washer behind her.
"Hey, Twily!" Shining Armor called out. "You're just in time for dinner! I made lasagna."
"No thanks, Shining Armor. I can't even look at it after learning how you create your substitute dishes." The four spat out their food after  hearing Twilight, deciding not to take any chances on what it could be. "Besides, I need to get this new washer set up. Spike, how the hay did you manage to mess up washing a single load so badly that the machine needed to be replaced?" Spike didn't know how to answer that. He didn't want to say that he'd let somepony else do his chores, fearing that the punishment from that would be much worse.
"Sorry, Twilight. I ended up messing with it," Sweetie Belle confessed before Spike could say anything. "Wanted to try doing the wash and, well, sorry."
"Oh, Sweetie Belle. Don't worry. Spike should have been paying attention instead of focusing on his card game," she replied, staring daggers at the dragon. "Well, at least this new one is environmentally friendly, so there's that." 
"Hey, Twily, why didn't you tell me that Spike played Magic before?" Shining Armor asked. "You knew that I've been a long-time player."
"Oh really," Spike and the crew said, looking at Twilight's direction.
"Yeah. I even taught her some of the game stuff, but she said she wasn't interested. I remember the first deck I ever helped her make was a conditional win deck. She always loved it when I won through conditions instead of brute force," Shining added. "She's the reason why I built my deck like it is today."
"Wow! Sounds like Twilight was a player even before she knew it," Scootaloo commented. "Actually, the way you said you usually won sounds just like how Twilight played. Remember?" The group thought back to several days ago when Spike had faced Twilight in a duel. Instead of trying to defeat Spike with big monsters, her plan was to lock him in the game while she used her Azor's Elecutors to win. Too bad Spike didn't want to go down."
"Well, it sounds like somepony learned something from her older brother," Shining said, a smile on his face. "I'm guessing she used that Silence-Elite Arcanist combo. Seems like something her style."
"Eeyup. Luckily I had cards that could deal direct damage to them the moment they entered the field. She would've been devastating  to any other player," Spike let him know. "She was actually gearing up for a duel against Rarity. Apparently she's built this really powerful Artifact Deck that's beaten her over and over. I think I'm gonna try and face her next."
"Cool. If that's the case, mind me helping you in building your anti-artifact deck?" Shining Armor's request was met with squealing from the dragon. Having one of the top players in the world help him construct a deck was certainly something worth getting excited about.
"I think Spike accepts your proposal," Twilight said, Spike still incapacitated from joy. "Anyway, I think I need to get away from all this Magic talk. It's making me a bit antsy. Don't wanna fall into that trap again." Shining was about to ask what his sister was talking about before Scootaloo put a hoof over his mouth. He decided to leave it alone.
"Hey, Mr. Armor, while you're helping Spike build his deck, would you mind helping us as well?" Apple Bloom asked. "We really would like to get better in general."
"Sure! I'll try to find some time after helping Spike to get to you three," he told them, patting the filly's head. "By the way, where would I find this classmate of yours that beat you guys? Judging from today's experience, I think I've learned that I should give everypony a chance, even fillies like yourself."
"Hey yeah! Maybe Shining could take on Diamond Tiara and win for us. That'd save us time," Scootaloo said, the two other's staring at her for suggesting they leave Spike behind. "Just sayin'."
"I'd just play her for fun. And, just maybe, use one of my real Tournament Decks to show her how a strong player plays. Hopefully she'll be humbled a bit after facing a pro."
"Shining, please don't start challenging foals to card games and crushing them. Act like an adult," his sister chided. 
"Come on. I bet kids would love to play me, even if they knew they'd lose. Everypony would have some fun, and they'd all get to say they at least played a pro  at the game."
"Whatever," Twilight set, walking away while rolling her eyes at that idea.
"Anyway, I'll get you set up right after we clean up dinner. Twilight's probably angry enough about the washer to deal with a mess like this." Agreeing with Shining Armor, the four gathered up their plates (and partially eaten meals) and got cleaned up. The next hour was Spike and Shining Armor going through potential combinations and deck ideas while the CMC observed. When they'd finally set up what kind of cards they'd use to combat the Artifact deck Rarity used.
"You sure we should go with this strategy?" Spike asked, not sure how it would work against the power of a fully-operational Artifact deck.
"You know how strong those creatures can get, right? Not only that, but that Darksteel Forge would make things particularly difficult to deal with as well. This deck gives you a fighting chance in case that happens," Shining Armor informed him. "Hopefully this won't be a quick match. I really hate those."
"Really? I always thought that the faster the game ended, the more fun it was for the winner," Sweetie Belle said, confused by Shining Armor's statement.
"Not really. Just because you build a super-fast deck with quick ways to end the game doesn't mean it's fun. I mean, how angry and annoyed would you have been if you hadn't been able to counter Twilight's lock during your fight? The thing would have pretty much ended with there for you. That, or you're just trying to make the game fun or interesting with a new deck combo."
"Like you did with Spike?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Exactly. The thing I really hate is when I'll try to make a deck and I have other players over my shoulder trying to give me all these deck ideas. One guy will say, 'go cipher' or Dimir or whatever while other people will be like, 'Oh, you're using THAT deck? I guess that's alright, even though MY deck would easily crush that.' I mean, one of the reasons why I make decks like that is for the thrill of the game and the possibility of a close game. If you were an onlooker, would you prefer nail-biting action or a quick, 'I play this card, followed by this combination, and this deals a ton of damage and you lose' within the first couple of turns? It'd be kinda boring from the perspective of the onlooker, that's for sure. Don't criticize me for making the decks something a little more fun, you know?" Shining Armor finished his tangent, the four looking at him as if he'd grown a second head. "Sorry. Just something I needed to get off my chest. It's hard enough building decks without everypony commenting on how puny it is compared to theirs."
"We can sympathize," Scootaloo told him.
"Alright. Oh! Spike, I almost forgot to give you this card." Shining then took a card out of his pack and handed it over to him. "Make sure to make the game exciting with this one. Don't show anypony else it until you use it against Rarity, alright?"
"I promise," Spike said, looking at the card and seeing how it might just save his tail. "Wait, are you heading someplace?"
"Yeah. I think I'll look around town and see if anypony else would mind playing a pro. Just don't tell my sis, alright?"
"Alright. Just make sure to be careful not to emotionally scar them," Spike said as he walked out the door.
"So, you gonna tell us what you got?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Nope. Gonna keep it a secret. Anyway, you guys should head home. I'm gonna check on Twi and see how that washer's doing."
"Okay. See ya!" they called out. Spike went down into the basement to see Twilight laying on the newly installed washer, snoring as she slept. 
"Well, guess you had a busy day." Spike grabbed a blanket and covered the pony, making sure it wasn't covering her face by accident. "Sometimes I end up feeling like the grownup." Spike himself decided to go to bed, dreaming of the future duel he'd have against his beloved.
> Token of Appreciation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Spike got up early the next day and got all his chores finished before Twilight could wake. He didn't want a replay of yesterday's events where the CMC volunteered to help him out and end up destroying their appliances. While working, he thought of his future duel with Rarity and wondered how it would go. She wasn't only his crush, but she was also the first pony he taught Magic to. It'd be Master against Student. He wondered how things would be after the duel; whether they would be awkward or okay. Twilight had waken up at that point and saw Spike diligently working around the library.
"Well, you're certainly busy," she commented while grabbing herself the pot for tea. "You want any?"
"Sure," Spike said, not looking up from the floor he was sweeping. Twilight grabbed two mugs and put the stove on for the pot. She looked over her own list of activities for the day, half asleep while doing so.
"So, you're challenging Rarity today, correct?" she asked.
"Yeah. From what you've told me she's built a pretty powerful deck. Not only that, I just wonder if it'll be awkward," he confessed.
"Oh, Spike, don't worry about that. I'm sure that whatever happens, the two of you will be fine. Besides, if she did lose to you it wouldn't be anything to be ashamed about. After all, you did beat one of the world's best players."
"True. I guess what I'm nervous about more than anything is if I lose. After all, I've spent all this time training and building decks all in preparation to fight Diamond Tiara. If I lose against Rarity, then I'm afraid that the girls will want her to play for them instead." Spike finally let the truth out, feeling silly in the process. "I know it sounds dumb, but this is one of the things I'm really good at, and I don't want it to just go away, you know?"
"I know, Spike. And don't worry about those three. If they're your real friends, then they'll stick by your side no matter what happens," explained Twilight. "Besides, I know you'll win. I believe in you."
"Thanks, Twi," he said, putting down the broom and giving her a hug. "Means a lot to hear that from you."
"Aww shucks," she said, blushing. "So, you think that your strategy will work against Rarity?"
"Yeah. I know it sounds risky, but knowing artifact decks, it's almost a given," Spike explained. "Besides, the riskier the play, the more exciting the outcome, you know?"
"Yeah." Twilight then stopped talking and suddenly asked, "Say, why exactly are those three making you play again?"
"They want me to play against Diamond Tiara. Apparently she's a really good player and they don't want her to tease them about it later on, so they're having me duel her to put her in her place or something like that. Right now I really don't care except for the fact that I play card games. Anyway, I'm gonna meet up with them after they're classes are done and head on over to Carousel Boutique."
"Alright," Twilight said, understanding his plan. For the next several hours they did their normal routine until Shining Armor woke up. After that the three hung out until it was Spike's time to leave. With Shining Armor's blessing, he went off to defeat Rarity.





"Alright. That should take care of that," Rarity said as she finished the last touched on her new piece. "Now, what else do I have to finish up?" she asked as she looked at her list. Checking off her recent creation, she noticed that there was nothing else that she needed to do today. "Well, I guess I don't have anything else to do for the day, Wonder what I could do." 
As if to answer her, Spike burst through Rarity's front door, screaming, "Rarity! I challenge you to a Magic: The Gathering Duel!"
"Oh, really? That sounds delightful. I've actually been training and getting new cards since the last time we played," she explained. "Why, I've even played against Twilight and won."
"Yeah, I know," Spike said, flashing back to that really weird duel. "Anyway, I'm ready to face you. Get your cards and let's see how well you've done."
"Alright. I'll just be a moment." She hummed as she went upstairs, Spike choosing to sit in one of the frilly chairs in front of the coffee table. He took this time to look through his cards and to hope that his gambit would pay off when it came time. Shuffling it one last time, he saw Rarity come down with a fancy looking box.
"I decided to get some protection for my cards. After all, don't want to damage them from something foolish," she said as she took them out. The cards were in sleeves of what looked almost like miniature picture frames, each one guaranteed to keep the card from being ruined in any way."
"Uh, Rarity? How much have you spent on all of this?"
"I'm not quite certain. I think after buying several Guilded Lotuses, I just stopped counting." Spike never knew that Rarity was that rich. Hopefully the amount of money she poured into the deck wasn't a direct output with damage. "Anyway, would you like to go first?"
"Sure. Let's cut and begin." The two swapped decks, Spike feeling the odd sleeves that Rarity used. He'd definitely ask her where she got these from after their game.
"Okay. Your move," Rarity told him.
"Alright. I play Watery Grave and end my turn. Your move, Rarity."
"Alright. I draw and play Seat of the Synod and tap to play Sol Ring, ending my turn." Rarity now had 3 mana potential on the field, all on the first turn.
"Okay. I draw a card and play Blood Crypt tapped, ending my turn." Spike was sure that his strategy would work. He just hoped that Rarity-
"I draw and play Tolarian Academy. Then, I tap my lands to produce 5 mana. I then play Sensei's Divining Top and Tinker. I use my Tinker to search my library," she looked through her deck, "and play Darksteel Colossus. I end my turn." And now she did it.
"Okay. I draw and play Temple of Deceit tapped, ending my turn." Spike had no idea that Rarity could bring out a card like that so quickly. He'd rarely seen something to quick and aggressive.
"Alright. I draw and tap to play Jester's Cap. I then attack with Darksteel Colossus, ending my turn." Spike seemed like he was already going to lose. He needed to draw something that could counter an Indestructible creature.
"Come on deck," Spike said as he drew his card. "Awesome. I play an Island and summon Master Thief. When this card enters the battlefield, I get to take control of one of your artifacts. Namely, I'll be taking your Darksteel Colossus."
"Gasp!" Rarity said out loud.
"Yeah. Anyway, I take that and end my turn. Go ahead."
"Very well. I draw and tap to sacrifice Jester's Cap. I get to search your library for three cards and exile them." Spike handed over his deck and let Rarity have a look at it. She hummed while she considered her options, finally deciding on exiling three Elite Arcanists in Spike's deck. "Don't want you to lock me out now, do I? I'll figure out a way to deal with my Colossus soon."
"Okay," Spike said, knowing the bait had been taken. 
"Anyway, I tap my Sensei's Divining Top to reorder the top three cards of my library." She then looked through her library and checked out what she would draw. The expression on her face spoke volume. A very annoyed volume.
"I draw and play a Swamp. I then attack with Darksteel Colossus and end my turn." Rarity was now down to 9 life. She was hoping that her next attempt to save her hide would work.
"I draw and play Shimmering Grotto. I then tap to play March of Souls, thus destroying your-"
"I play Counter," Spike replied calmly.
"Oh great. I tap my Top and end my turn," Rarity said, annoyed at her current situation. She wasn't certain at how she could win now.
"Okay. I draw and attack with Darksteel Colossus," Spike said, waiting for Rarity to reply. "It does 11 damage to you. You have  9 life. You realize that means you'll lose, right?"
"Yes, I know," she said, pouting as she told him this.
"Oh. Huh. I guess that means I win," Spike said matter-of-factly. "I'm not gonna lie. I was thinking this would be an epic duel to the end. Shining Armor even gave me this card combo in order to get rid of your Indestructible creatures. I'd play a couple cards to Exile all our creatures and then use some Goblins with Haste to take you out quickly. Guess that wasn't necessary."
"Yes. I know. I was expecting more as well. Thought I might win against you this time."
"Well, at least you lost to the same guy who taught you the game in the first place." Spike hoped this would cheer her up. Rarity just sighed and cleaned up her cards in response.
"Well, maybe," she finally replied. "Anyway, I don't have much to do now. You mind just staying around to hang out?"
"Sure!" Spike replied enthusiastically. 





For the next several hours, the two hung out, doing small things here and there. Eventually they went out to get something at Sugar Cube Corner, coming across a crowd.
"Huh. What's this?" Rarity asked upon seeing the ponies gathering at one table.
"Oh. That's probably Pinkie Pie playing against somepony. She really took a liking to the cards you gave her," Spike explained. "Let's see how she's doing." The two went over to see Pinkie playing and were surprised to see somepony else sitting in her place.
"Shining Armor?" the two asked, seeing somepony walk away with their head down.
"Hey guys!" he replied. "I'm just having some fun playing against these players. Let them know I was the 5th best player in the world and they just lined up to play."
"Really? It doesn't seem that fair for somepony of your skill to fight them all," Rarity let him know.
"They all know what they're getting into. Besides, it's fun to at least try, isn't it?"
"I guess." As the three discussed this, Silver Spoon passed by and went straight to Shining Armor.
"So you're the 5th best player in world, correct?" she asked.
"That's correct, little girl. You interested in playing?" Shining Armor's affectionate attitude to the filly was not returned. Instead, she motioned her head over to his direction, somehow summoning Diamond Tiara from the crowd. She suddenly sat down at the table and was handed her deck by her accomplice.
"I'll be playing, DD," Diamond Tiara said, referring to Shining Armor's Alias Initials. Initially shocked by the outright bluntness of this child, he regained face and started to talk normally.
"Alright then. Let's cut." The two handed each other their decks, cutting them and handing them back. After drawing their hands, he then asked, "Play, or draw?"
"Play," she responded."
"Alright. Make your move."
"Very well." Clearing her voice, she declared, "I first cast Chrome Mox with the card Burning Wish, granting me the ability to tap it for red mana. I tap it and cast Rite of Flame, granting me 2 red in my mana pool. With that, I cast Desperate Ritual granting me 3 red in my pool. I then use that to cast Seething Song, making my mana pool 5 red. I then use 3 red to cast another Seething Song, making my pool 7 red. I use 4 to play Gobling Charbelcher, then tap that and use the other 3 in my pool to activate it's ability. This card deals damage equal to nonland cards I reveal to you." Diamond Tiara then proceeded to flip the cards off of her library, revealing Instants and Creatures all designed to giver her mana. She eventually reached 20 cards and stopped flipping them off of her library asking," do you have anything to counter this? Otherwise, I've dealt exactly 20 damage to you, ending the game."
Shining Armor, in absolute disbelief, replied, "No."
"Very well. I finish up," she said, showing the rest of her cards, revealing that she had no Lands, "and deal sufficient amount of damage to you to end the game." She gathered her cards in one fell swoop, placed them back into her library, and quietly trotted away. Everypony silenced at what they saw.
"Did she just win on her very first turn?" Rarity asked.
"Yes," Shining Armor silently responded, still shocked at his sudden defeat.
"Spike!" Apple Bloom called out from the crowd. "Did you see that?"
"Yeah. I've heard of that card combo, but have never seen it. You three were right about Diamond Tiara. Something's off about how well she plays."
"Well duh! That's what we've been saying all along," Scootaloo reminded him. "Say, have you challenged Rarity yet?"
"Yes. We dueled. It wasn't anything to be excited about," she told them. "I don't think we should let Twilight know that, however. She might go a bit crazy at the prospect of losing against me several times and you defeating me so easily. No offense, Shining dear." He didn't reply, not even with a physical sign that he understood that somepony was talking to him.
"Anyway, that combo was insane. We need to create something that can resist something that destroys that quickly," Spike explained. "Shining Armor, Rarity, I'll need the two of you to join cards with me and find a way to defeat Diamond Tiara once and for all." 
"Right!" the two declared, Shining Armor coming out of his shock. The six rushed out back to the Library, hoping to create a deck that would be able to stand up to the wrath of Diamond Tiara. 
> Shuffling Fates
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Spike had gone home with Shining Armor and Rarity to create a fine deck that would be able to defeat Diamond Tiara. They decided to look at each of their decks and figure out which combination would eventually work against her and her instant win decks. The actual structure of the deck was left up to debate however.
"I say we construct a deck that builds up after we take out her instant-win combinations," Shining Armor suggested.
"That would only work if we could manage to get that deck built before she took us down in the first turn," replied Rarity. "What we need is something as swift as her deck."
"If we do that we also run the risk of being countered and destroyed," explained Shining Armor. "We should figure out how to repel her main combos and then build a way to win that no other quick combo could undo."
"Look, we could argue forever about what cards to include, but I think we should all come to the same conclusion on one thing though," Spike told the two of them.
"What?" they asked.
"We need four Force of Will cards for this deck." The two agreed to this sentiment. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle watched the two get their deck ready, Sweetie Belle noticing that Scootaloo was in a corner with Spike's box of other cards. She went over to her friend, trying to see what she was up to.
"Hey, Scootaloo. What're you doing?"
"Trying to build a good deck to go up against Diamond Tiara," she replied.
"Really? I thought the entire purpose of this thing was to have Spike go up against her so we wouldn't have to go and lose against her again."
"Sweetie Belle, listen." Scootaloo's attitude took a turn. "I've already lost against her twice now, one of those times with the two of you helping me out. I can't just let her win like this and expect Spike to win for us. I need to prepare to face her myself if needed. I mean, if we haven't been learning from these duels, then what the hay have we been doing here?" She then turned back to shuffle through the cards, laying them out on her table. Sweetie Belle decided to leave her to her work, deciding that she was essentially going to be sitting around for the next several hours watching them work with cards. 
"Hey, you guys mind if I head out?" she asked them.
"Sure. We'll show you what we built later on," Spike said, waiting for Shining Armor to pick which of the two artifacts he should consider putting in there. 
Sweetie Belle left the library and went over to her usual spot at Sugarcube Corner she took a seat, ordered her usual, and began drinking it before seeing a familiar face.
"Hey, Silver Spoon," she greeted, motioning to the empty seat. None of the two knew why, but when they weren't part of their usual groups they could actually hang out together in peace. Silver Spoon sat down on the empty seat and ordered her own usual.
"So, I assume you're here alone since the rest of your friends are busy doing something with Magic, correct?" she asked.
"Yeah. They're trying to build a new deck to finally face Diamond Tiara," Sweetie Belle explained. "You won't tell her, will you?"
"Nah. And besides, it's not like just telling me that they're building a deck will reveal much. Seems like a bunch of ponies have been really into it lately, huh?"
"Yeah. I think I'd play it more if those two weren't so serious about it though. I mean, most of their matches they treat as if the fate of the world depends on them winning, you know?"
"That's true," agreed Silver Spoon. "Thing is, winning is always something fun, even if that means making the game end really fast. After all, there's nothing like beating somepony before the game really begins, you know?"
"Not really. Haven't won a match like that before. What about you?"
"Not always a fan, but I see why ponies go for that. Winning isn't everything, but it's the vast majority." Silver Spoon took a drink from her milkshake while Sweetie Belle thought this over. She remembered how Scootaloo had become obsessed with defeating DT, along with Spike and the rest. To them, victory was all they could accept.
"To be honest, I just wish some ponies would just have more fun with it, you know? Scootaloo's going bananas over beating her and it doesn't seem like it'll end well for her if she loses."
"Well, place yourself in Scootaloo's hooves," told Silver Spoon. "Most of the time she doesn't really have much to her name, so beating DT at something will at least give her some pride." Sweetie Belle thought about how Scootaloo was acting and remembered that she hadn't won much in life. She was a pegasus that couldn't fly, a pony without a cutie mark, and now a player without a victory. If she could change one of those things she was going to use all her might to do so.
"You know what? You're right. I should at least help them out with their cards. Maybe I have several ideas that might just work. Thanks, SS," Sweetie Belle said, leaving her table. She went back to the library, thinking up ways she could help her friends win. When she got back, she was surprised to find that both of them had completed their decks.
"Yeah. Turns out that working together made it go faster for everypony," Shining Armor explained. "Now all we have to do is wait for tomorrow and try it out on her."
"Don't worry guys. I'll do my very best," Spike promised.
"And even if that's not enough, I'll be there to help out," added Scootaloo, her new deck in a pouch.
"Alright, dears. I believe we should declare a victory cry on the count of three," Rarity declared. "You ready?"
"Ready!" they all said.
"One..two...three!" When she finished, the cry was a jumbled mash of different victory cries. Each one, however, would motivate each other during tomorrow's duel against Diamond Tiara.
> Facing the Annihilator
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It was recess at the school. Everypony was playing around, swinging and chasing each other. A couple of ponies were playing the card game, each player avoiding Diamond Tiara's gaze. Unlike most days, however, Diamond Tiara would meet her match.
"Diamond Tiara!" a voice yelled across the playground. The students turned to see that it was Spike, followed by the CMC, Shining Armor, and Rarity. "I challenge you to a game of Magic: The Gathering!"
"Alright," she replied swiftly. "Any rules on what cards can and can't be played?"
"Nope. We're doing this without any restrictions." Spike knew that if he were to make his combo work, he couldn't have any restrictions on cards.
"Alright. Let's do it over on that table," she said, pointing to an empty picnic table. The challengers, along with their entourage of onlookers, went over to it and set up a mat. Silver Spoon handed Diamond Tiara one of her decks while Rarity did the same with Spike. The two cut each other's decks and began.
"So, you wanna play, or draw?" Spike asked. 
"I'll draw," she replied, unexpectedly. Spike was sure she'd pick play so she could try her one-shot win maneuver.
"Very well. I-"
"Hold on." Diamond Tiara suddenly placed two cards from her hand on the battlefield. "Gemstone Caverns can be played immediately before anyone's turn if I'm not playing first." Interesting start. Hopefully Spike's combo would work.
"Alright. I start by playing an Island, then," he paused for a second, grabbing one of the cards in his hand, "I play Black Lotus!" Spike noticed Diamond Tiara's eyes arch when that spell was played. "Using it, I-"
"I exile one blue card and pay 1 life to cast Force of Will, stopping your combo," declared DT.
"Hah! I counter your counter with my own Force of Will, paying 1 life and exiling one blue card to....to...uh oh." Spike looked at his hand and then at his battlefield. He had suddenly realized that he played the only card that could even be considered a blue card onto the field. "I guess I don't."
"Alright. Anything else?" she asked, teasing him a little.
"No. That's my turn."
"Spike! Why?" Shining Armor screamed, grabbing his mane out of frustration.
"I overlooked that! I just needed 1 more mana to complete the combo!" he responded.
"It doesn't matter now. My turn," she told her opponent. "First, I draw a card. I then cast Summoner's Flash to search my Library for a green creature." She took a moment and looked through her cards, revealing Protean Hulk. "I then tap my two Gemstone Caverns to cast Flash with my Protean Hulk. Since I don't pay the full cost I then sacrifice it. Once it's sacrificed it's ability becomes activated, allowing me to search my library for creatures with converted mana total 6 or less." She started searching her deck again, grabbing a whole bunch of cards from it. "I first cast four Disciple of the Vault creatures. These cards deal 1 damage to target opponent's life for each artifact placed in a graveyard. I then play four Phyrexian Marauders for 0 mana, making them 0/0 creatures, meaning they go into my graveyard. Since these are artifact creatures, each Disciple of the Vault deals 1 damage per creature placed in the graveyard, equaling 16 damage. However, I also play Shifting Wall for 0 mana, sacrificing it as well. Since it's also an artifact, I deal 4 more damage to you, making your total 0 life. Game over."
"Woah," the ponies said quietly, reeling from that display of destruction. Spike was silent as he saw this occur. All those duels. All that practice. All that time was gone.
"I...can't believe it," he finally said, putting his face to the table. "I lost, and after all this time."
"Don't worry, Spike. I'll handle this." Scootaloo told him, pulling out a deck of her own. "I just need to borrow a couple of cards from your deck and I'll be set."
"Alright," he said, tears on his cheeks. "You can do it, Scoots."
"Thanks. I know we haven't really done that much, but the three of us have been learning from you this entire time. We know just what to do now. Just let me have those cards and I'll show her what it means to play Magic!"
The match started and ended quickly, the details of the match resembling almost to the exact letter the previous one. The only difference was Scootaloo managing to actually counter Diamond Tiara's counter, which was then ironically countered by Pact of Negation. She quickly lost, her combo barely starting before being destroyed.
"Alright. Is that it?" Diamond Tiara asked, looking around to see if there were any other players that would step up. "Very well. Good game," she said, gathering up her cards.
"Hold it!" Sweetie Belle yelled, surprising everypony. "What was that? You essentially did that exact same thing with Scoots that you did with Spike. That's not really creative."
"Why be creative when you can just win?" she replied.
"Hold on a sec," Shining Armor said, his mind finally putting the pieces together. "I know that phrase! It's a particular pony's tagline for the World Magic Tournament. Specifically, it's the tagline for Number 2 World Player, Diamond Destroyer." The onlookers gasped as he revealed this bit of information. "So, Diamond Tiara, by the guidelines of the World Magic Confederation, I hereby show my status of Number 5 World Player, Dauntless Defender," he said as he showed her his badge. "You are now required, if your status is legitimate, to reveal your own status, along with alias, in proof of identification."
"Wait, 'World Player Confederation'? That's a thing?" Sweetie Belle asked, noticing how ridiculous things were getting. While she stated this, Diamond Tiara slowly reached into her bag and revealed a badge, identifying herself as Diamond Destroyer. Everypony, even Shining Armor, was surprised to see this.
"Very well. You know it's me," she finally admitted. 
"Wait a minute," Apple Bloom said, trying to understand all of this. "How is it that she's a top player in the entire world?"
"Allow me to explain," Diamond Tiara said, finally revealing her motives. "See, my dad always went on these business trips when I was younger and would always get me something. One day, when I was really young, he got me this pack of Magic cards. I apparently liked them so much that he always got me new packs whenever he went out. At one point, when he was gone for an entire month, even missing my birthday, he sent me a whole box of Rare and Mythic Rare cards, apparently getting them for a good deal. Eventually I ended up making several kinds of decks with them and got really good at the game. I also convinced him to allow me to enter the World Magic Tournament when I was just six, winning my first real tournament and establishing myself as one of the  Top World Players."
"Huh. So that explains all those really good cards I heard about earlier," Shining Armor commented. "But the main question is why you're challenging all these new players."
"Well, to be completely honest, I could never find anypony in Ponyville who played the game, so what I did was that I started rumors around the school about Magic being a big thing, convincing other classmates to finally buy the cards without them knowing it was me. I just really wanted to find other ponies to play against. After all, the same couple of ponies over and over can get really boring, especially when they know all of your moves." The group was surprised by this answer. All along, Diamond Tiara was just looking for other ponies to play against.
"Okay. Anyway, this is just getting really crazy," Sweetie Belle told everypony. "Scootaloo and Apple Bloom declared a vendetta against you to try and fight you, Spike's been training for over a week, Twilight went insane trying to make a good deck, Rarity spent an actual fortune building her own deck, and Fluttershy apparently goes berserk while playing. And in all this time, literally the only full match I've played of this game has been against you that one time the three of us teamed up! So, now that everypony is satisfied, I'll play one more match against you and that's that. No more revenge or getting even. Just playing a card game. Alright?"
"Sure. You have a deck you wanna play?"
"Yeah. I just need to make it quick. You guys mind," Sweetie Belle asked her friends.
"No. Help yourself." In just a minute, Sweetie Belle had gathered the cards she needed to play and was ready.
"Okay. Can I go first?" Sweetie Belle asked before she'd even drawn her first hand. 
"Yeah. I can wait," DT replied.
"Okay. I first play a Plains, then I cast Chrome Mox by removing Auriok Salvagers from the game. Then, I cast Black Lotus and-"
"Force of Will," interrupted Diamond Tiara.
"Pact of Negation," replied Sweetie Belle, countering Diamond Tiara's counter. The crowd looked at Diamond Tiara, expecting her to play some other card. To their surprise, she didn't. "Anyway, I use Black Lotus with my land to cast Auriok Slavagers. I then play Lotus Petal to give my Auriok Salvagers just the right amount of mana to activate it's ability, allowing me to search my graveyard for an artifact of 1 or less mana and return it to my hand. I do this with Black Lotus and cast it again for 3 white mana and place it in my graveyard. I then use the 3 white mana in my pool to activate the ability again, leaving 1 white left in my pool. I do this again...,"
Sweetie Belle continued the same pattern for a full two minutes straight, the crowd starting to get bored. Acting as a judge, Shining Armor decided to simply declare that, for all intents and purposes (and saving time), Sweetie Belle had infinite mana of infinite color in her pool.
"Okay. Anyway, I then cast Blaze, using all the mana I ever need to, dealing whatever amount of damage I need to cast in order to win," declared Sweetie Belle. "So, I guess I win. Alright. Good game! I can see why everypony enjoys it." She gathered up the cards and handed them back to Spike, the crowd looking shocked as they saw the little filly win without even recognizing her achievement.
"Wow. I lost," Diamond Tiara finally said, knowing that her reign of the playground was finally over. The crowd cheered as they realized this, finally free to play their card game with the knowledge that nopony was truly invincible. The CMC, along with everypony else, rushed over to Sweetie Belle and lifted her into the air, surprising her as well.
"Congrats, Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo said as she hugged her friend.
"Thanks. I'm sorry that I took your victory away from you. Know that you would've liked to beat her and all."
"Are you kidding? That was awesome! I mean, I was totally gonna do something cool as well, but she totally blocked me. That fact that you managed to do your thing was totally epic! Besides, now I can finally stop worrying about trying to beat her and just enjoy the game."
The crowd moved away, leaving Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon alone.
"So, guess that there was at least one pony that was good enough to beat you," Silver Spoon told her friend.
"Yeah. Surprised at how quickly she came up with that deck." Diamond Tiara was placing her cards in her pack when she said, "So I guess she's at least somepony else to consider when playing, huh?"
"I guess." Silver Spoon was awkward as she said this. "Well, to be honest, I kinda just miss playing with you. It was sorta our thing and all. Now it's everypony's."
"Well, think about it from my perspective," DT told her. "At least when I played against these ponies I actually got to be the winner."
"What else do you ever expect when you play against me?" her friend teased. "It's not like I got to be Number 1 World Champion by losing."
"Well excuse me, Miss Silver Sliver," she replied, using her friend's alias. "Anyway, thanks for holding onto my cards while I looked around. Was nice not knowing what deck of mine I'd be using."
"Yeah. I personally liked it when I messed with them and made my own for you to use."
"Ah. That explains a whole lot. Anyway, we've got about ten minutes before the bell rings. Anything you wanna do?"
"Oh, yes there is." Silver Spoon opened her bag and took out a deck holder, along with two white gloves she placed on her hooves. "You ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," she replied, pulling out a random deck of her own.
At the same time, the two top players of the world looked at each other and yelled, "Let's Duel!"