> Dueling for Dessert
>  by Darthvalgaav
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not again, thought Luna as she looked down at her plate. In front of her was a large piece of strawberry cake with perfectly whipped vanilla frosting, plump strawberries, and extra moist cake. Normally, Princess Luna’s mouth would be watering at the sight of this delicious looking confection. However, she had been served the same dessert for the last three weeks!

Looking up at her sister, Luna saw that Celestia was licking her lips as she levitated her fork down towards her plate. Cutting into the cake, Celestia brought some up to her mouth and took a bite, causing a look of ecstasy to appear on her face.

“Sister,” said Luna, interrupting Celestia as she was about to take another bite. “There is something I need to talk to you about.”

“Of course,” replied Celestia as she set down her fork so that she could give her little sister her undivided attention. “What seems to be the problem?”

“Well,” began Luna but was interrupted as the door to the royal dining room opened. Luna shot a glare at the light brown unicorn stallion wearing a chef's hat, he walked over to Princess Celestia and bowed.

“I trust everything has been to your satisfaction this evening Princess Celestia?” he asked.

“Yes, as always Chief Sea Ram,” replied Celestia. “I trust you didn’t make many of your assistants cry this time?”

“Only once,” he replied.

“I see,” said Celestia. “You may go.”

“As you wish,” replied Sea Raw as he turned away.

“Oh, but before you go,” said Celestia, causing the stallion to stop. “We would like another strawberry cake for dessert tomorrow, if you wouldn’t mind.”

“It would be my pleasure,” replied Sea Raw before making his way out of the dining room.

“Now then,” said Celestia as she turned her attention back towards Luna. “What was it you...” Celestia stopped herself as she looked at Luna’s face. Luna was gritting her teeth so hard it looked like sparks were going to start coming between them. Her eyes were narrow and she was pressing her hooves so hard against the table that she could break it at any moment. “Luna, whatever has made you so upset?”

“That!” yelled Luna as she pointed at her sister. “You did it again! Ordering for the both of us without asking me!”

Celestia blinked. “But I thought you liked strawberry,” she said.

“I do but-” began Luna.

“Then I don’t see what the problem is,” responded Celestia as she picked up her fork. “Now then, what was it you wanted to talk about earlier?”

Luna stood up. “Never mind,” she said as she headed towards the door. “It’s clearly not important.”

-x-

Later on in the night, Luna was doing her best to keep herself busy in an attempt to keep her mind off of the evening’s events. This, however, proved to be difficult seeing as it was such a slow night. There were no colts or fillies that needed her help in their dreams and the monsters were not in such high numbers that her assistance was needed. In the end, all she could do was go over her decks to see if they needed any fine tuning.

A smile crossed her lips as she remembered how she got into the card game called Yu-Gi-Oh, back when she had first returned after being gone for a thousand years. She had spotted a few of her guards playing it with those devices called duel disks during their off hours. The duel disk was an odd contraption, with the bulk of it attached to a pony’s chest like armor but with a white crystal in the middle and a slot to draw cards. Also attached to it was something that resembled a curved blade which was where the cards were placed upon. At first she believed that that were some sort of weapon until she saw them project images via magic crystals. Intrigued, she asked about the rules and then how to play. Several ponies helped her out, including Shining Armor who also introduced her to the anime. Now she was a big fan with dozens of different decks as well as owning the entire series.

“If only we could settle things with a duel,” said Luna aloud as glanced at the last card in her deck. Her eyes suddenly widened as she stood up. Slowly, a smile crept onto her face.

-x-

The sun was just rising as Celestia walked down the corridors of the castle, a mug of coffee hovering next to her. As she walked, she looked around for her sister who should have been there to inform her of anything that happened the previous night. Or, at the very least, to wish her a good morning.

Perhaps she’s waiting for me in the dining room, thought Celestia as she took a sip of her scalding hot drink. With her destination set, Celestia made her way to the aforementioned room. When she entered, however, she was surprised to see that the grand table had been pushed to the side and Luna was standing in the middle of the room wearing a foal’s plaything. A duel disk if she recalled correctly. Also in the room were two groups of guards, one belonging to Celestia and the other belonging to Luna.

“Sister,” said Celestia looked around the room. “What is going on here?”

Luna grinned as she pointed a hoof at her sister. “Celestia, I challenge you to a duel!” announced Luna.

“What?” stated a deadpanned Celestia as she did her best to try and comprehend what was happening. She wasn’t the only one surprised by this. The guards couldn’t hide the shock of this announcement before leaning in a bit closer in excitement.

“The rules are simple,” continued Luna, head held high. “We shall play one round of Yu-Gi-Oh with our own decks. No pre-made ones allowed. Winner gets to decide what we will have for dessert tonight. The guards gathered today shall act as our witnesses.”

Celestia blinked. “You want to play me in a foal’s card game over…dessert?” she said slowly. When Luna nodded, Celestia let out a scowl. “I don’t have time for this foalish behavior. Clean up this room before you leave.” With that, Celestia turned around and headed for the door.

Luna, however, hadn’t lost her smile. “I see,” she said slowly. “You’re afraid.”

Upon hearing that, Celestia stopped in mid step before she spun around. As she did, she noticed that the guards were already whispering to each other.

“I am not afraid,” said Celestia.

“Then why not take me up on my challenge?” asked Luna as she took a step forward. “Surely you can handle yourself in this little game. And it’s not like I’m asking to rule over the day court. All I’m asking for is the right to pick dessert for one day. So what seems to be the problem? Afraid to lose at a simple foal’s card game?”

“Oh,” said Celestia as her eyes narrowed. “It is on! I’ll be back in an hour!”

With that said, Celestia teleported out of the room and into the shopping district of Canterlot. Moving quickly she went into the nearest game shop that was open and began to look around at the individual cards as well as a large assortment of duel disks. Eventually she began to pick out forty cards that she felt would be good in a duel, and a gold plated duel disk which she intended on donating to charity once she put Luna in her place. Once everything had been billed to the castle, Celestia teleported back to the dining room where Luna and the guards were still waiting.

“Alright, let’s get this over with,” said Celestia as she strapped on the duel disk and put the cards in the card holder. As soon as she did, the cards began to shuffle around on their own. Once they were done, Celestia took five of them out with her magic and held them up to face level.

“Try to make this interesting sister,” replied Luna as she got into the spirit, also drawing five cards. Once they had both done this, their duel disks began to display their life point count of 8000 apiece. “And to show you I’m a good sport, I’ll let you have the first move.”

“Fine,” said Celestia as she drew the first card, giving her a grand total of six. She scanned her cards before letting a smile appear on her face. “This will be a simple matter. I’ll play my Wave-Motion Cannon and end my turn.” As Celestia set the card in the spell/trap card zone of her duel disk a large, green cannon appeared to her side that looked almost like a clay pot with gauges and whistles sticking out of it.

“Then I guess it’s my turn,” said Luna as she drew a card. She then looked over her six cards, frowning in thought. After several moments of going over her pros and cons a smile appeared on her face as she looked up, picking up a single card with her magic.

“I summon Constellar Sheratan in attack position!” declared Luna as she slapped the monster on her duel disk. Above the two of them, a star twinkled as it shot down to the ground in an explosion of white light. When it cleared, Celestia saw a pony in white armor and cape, hiding its gender. The sun princess noticed that on the monster’s chest was an eight point golden star with a small circle behind it. On the helmet were two curved back horns and a gun floating next to it, its attack was 700 and its defense was 1900.

But Luna wasn’t done. “Now that I have successfully summoned it, I can activate its special ability which allows me to add one Constellar monster to my hoof,” announced Luna in a dramatic fashion, clearly enjoying herself as a card flew out of her deck to join the others. “Now I’ll set one card face down and attack you directly!” Luna placed her face down card into her duel disk as her monster fired its gun at Celestia. The white princess winced as her life points dropped to 7200. “I end my turn.”

“Not a very impressive move,” said Celestia as she drew a card. As she did, the gauge on her cannon went up to 1 while letting out steam. “First my Wave-Motion Cannon gains a counter. Then I’ll play Misfortune before I end my turn.” Celestia played the card she announced, sending a beam of light shooting at Luna’s monster, passed through it, and finally hitting Luna bringing her life points down to 7650.

“All Right,” said Luna as she drew a card. “I think I’ll start by playing the card I drew last round. I summon Constellar Leonis!” Once more a bright star began to shine above them before crashing to ground revealing another armored pony in a cape. This one’s helmet looked like it had a blue mane styled like a lion's, while claws of blue energy emitted from its hooves. Just like the first one, this monster also had the eight pointed star symbol on its chest. This monster's attack was 1000 with a defense of 1800. “Now to activate its special ability: once per turn I can normal summon one more monster, so I will summon Constellar Pollux!” Another explosion of light fell from the sky revealing a much larger pony in white armor with the same golden symbol on it. Floating next to it was a double bladed sword. Celestia’s eyes widened when she saw its 1700 attack points and 600 defense points. “But I’m not done! This monster lets me normal summon again when he is summoned to the field. So now I summon Constellar Kaus!” Celestia’s eyes were beginning to hurt from all the explosions this round. Now a new monster stood before her, but this time it wasn’t a pony but a centaur in the same white armor and gold symbol carrying a bow and arrow. Its attack points were 1800 and defense points were 700.

“H-How could you summon three monsters in one turn?” demanded Celestia as she stomped a hoof against the ground. “That has to be against the rules!”

“No it’s not,” replied Luna smugly. “It’s called a special ability. Now all my monsters will attack you directly!” Sheratan moved first, raising his gun and firing at Celestia causing her to take a step back. Next came Leonis who jumped into the air, energy claws extended as he came down to slash at the solar princess. Before Celestia could recover from the shock of the last attack, she saw Pollux rushing towards her  swinging his double bladed sword, the force knocking her on her flank. Finally it all ended as Kaus shot her with an arrow which resulted in Celestia letting out a shocked cry while her life points dropped down to 2000. “I end my turn,” said Luna calmly.

Slowly, Celestia got on her hooves, worry clearly visible on her face. How can this be? she thought. I-I lost so many life points in this one round. My cannon doesn’t have enough counters and if Luna attacks me again I’m finished! I really need a good card to stay in this. Taking a deep breath, Celestia drew a card from her deck.

“My turn,” Celestia declared as she looked at the card she just drew. Alright, this should at least give me another turn, she thought as she looked up. “First, my cannon will get another counter! Then I’ll play The Dark Door! With this card you will only be able to attack with one monster pre turn. Now I end my turn.”

“Very well,” said Luna as she drew a card. “First off I’ll use the special ability of Constellar Kaus to raise the level of Constellar Leonis by 1 moving it up to level 4. Now I’ll overlay Leonis, Pollux, and Kaus to Xyz summon Number 102: Star Seraph Sentry!” To Celestia’s horror, the three monsters vanished to reveal an orange armored alicorn with massive blade like wings with the number 102 etched on the right wing. Levitating next to it was a massive bow and arrow, the arrow made of brilliant golden light. Orbiting around this monster with 2500 attack were three spheres of the same colored light.

“I-It can’t be!” cried Celestia, her mouth hanging open.

“Oh it can,” said Luna with grin, knowing her victory was at hoof. She pointed at her sister. “Star Seraph Sentry, attack Celestia directly with your Solar Flare Arrow and end this!” Immediately Luna’s monster pointed its weapon at Celestia, glowing brighter until the arrow was released. It flew forwards with incredible force knocking Celestia to the ground as her life points reached 0.

With a satisfied smile, Luna returned her cards back to her deck while walking towards to kitchen. “Now to claim my prize,” she said happily. “I’m thinking of chocolate fudge cake tonight.” Luna paused and turned to look at Celestia. “We should really do this again.”

-x-

“And that’s how it’s been for the last two weeks,” said Celestia with her head hanging low. Currently, the eldest princess of Equestria was in the Crystal Empire sitting across from her niece. Cadence sat there, calming drinking tea while she listened to Celestia’s story.

“It can’t be that bad,” said Cadence as she set down her drink. “I mean, all that has happened is that Aunt Luna is picking dessert. It’s not like she’s changing laws, lengthening the night, or making a new holiday dedicated to herself.”

Celestia let out a sigh. “I guess that’s something to be thankful for,” she said. “But I am getting so sick of chocolate. Every night it’s the same: chocolate fudge cake, chocolate strawberry cake, dark chocolate cake, germane chocolate cake. I am so tired of it. I need to find a way to beat her and get things back to normal.”

“Well,” said Cadence, biting her lower lip slightly. “I guess there is a couple of things you could do. If you want I could help you improve a bit on your game play. Or you could-”

“You know how to play?” asked Celestia, interrupting Cadence and startling her a bit.

“Y-Yes,” said Cadence as she took a breath to calm down a bit. “Me and Shiny play from time to time. I might not be as good as he is, but I do win every once and awhile. We could play a round or two so I can evaluate your skill and give you advice.”

Celestia brought a hoof to her chin as she thought about it. While she believed that she had picked some very good cards, the last two weeks had proven otherwise. Since this would be a training match with nothing on the line it could only help her when she returned to Canterlot. The absolute worst that would happen would be some humiliation at the hooves of her niece. In the end, Celestia nodded.

Twenty minutes later found the two in one of the larger rooms in the crystal castle. Both mares placed their decks into their duel disks which began to automatically shuffle them. Once done they both pulled out five cards.

“I’ll make the first move,” said Celestia as she drew another card. She scanned her hand and saw that she had two cards that she believed would help her out greatly. “I’ll start by playing the Dark Door which will make this a one on one battle as long as it’s on the field. Then I’ll play my Jam Breeding Machine before ending my turn!” As Celestia played her second card, a dome shaped machine appeared next to her that had a small hole at the top.

This is perfect, thought Celestia as she watched Cadence blink. Now every stand-by phase I’ll get a slime token for some extra protection. Add in the fact that the both of us can’t attack with more than one monster, I’m sure I’ll last longer than I do against Luna. I might actually win!

“Ok,” said Cadence sounding a bit unsure as she looked at the cards her aunt played. “If you’re sure that’s what you want to play then I guess I’ll go.” With that, she drew a card from her deck. “I’ll start by playing my Crystal Tree spell card.” A bare tree grew next to the alicorn of love. “Next I’ll play my Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat in attack mode!” A moment later a large pink panther like creature appeared on the field with 1200 attack points. Celestia also noted that on the Crystal Tree a shining fruit appeared. “Next I’ll equip my monster with the equip card Crystal Release which will give my Amethyst Cat 800 more attack points bringing its total to 2000! Now I’ll attack you directly before ending my turn.” Celestia braced herself as the cat pounced on her, clawing at her chest and bringing her life points down to 6000.

“My turn,” said Celestia as she drew a card. “First, my Jam Breeding Machine will give me a Slime Token.” As she said this, Celestia’s spell card shot out a ball of blue goo which landed in front of her before a face formed within it. However, it had only 500 attack points and it was in attack mode. What the?! thought Celestia as she looked at her spell card and then at the monster. I thought I could change its position. This…this is bad.

“O-Ok,” stammered Celestia as she looked at her hand. “I’ll play my Goblin Thief card which will take 500 of your life points and give them to me. Then I will end my turn.”

This is…sad, thought Cadence as he life points dropped to 7500. But maybe she has some strategy in mind that I just don’t see.

“My turn,” said Cadence aloud. “I’ll summon my Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle in attack mode.” A moment later, a small blue creature with four ears and a red sphere on its tail appeared next to the pink cat. Another fruit appeared on the tree when the creature was summon. “Now I’ll play one card face down and attack you directly with my Amethyst Cat!”

“But I have a monster on the field!” declared Celestia as Cadence’s monster jumped into the air. “You can’t attack me directly!”

“My monster has a special ability,” explained Cadence in a calm tone. “By cutting her attack points in half she can bypass your monsters for a direct assault.” And with that, the Crystal Beast’s claws struck Celestia and her life points dropped to 5500. “And that ends my turn.”

As Celestia drew her next card and gained another token, Cadence glanced at the two cards she had placed during her turn. Alright auntie, I know you are smart enough to realize such obvious bait for a trap. Even a beginner would be able to see that something was up.

“I attack your Ruby Carbuncle with my Slime token!” declared Celestia, nearly causing Cadence to face hoof.

“You activated my trap: Crystal Pair,” said Cadence with a small sigh. “Thanks to this trap card I’ll take no damage this turn and I get to place a Crystal Beast monster in my spell and trap card zone.”

“You can what?” said a shocked Celestia as a chunk of a green and a red crystal appeared besides Cadence. “I guess that’s how you use those cards.”

Cadence felt her eye begin to twitch. S-She’s been playing for two weeks and she doesn’t know how to use trap cards?!

“I guess I’ll play my Swords of Revealing Light and end my turn,” said Celestia as several sword shaped light sources began floating in between them.

“I guess it’s my turn,” said Cadence as she drew a card, glancing at it. “I suppose I’ll end my turn.”

“My turn,” said Celestia as she felt her confidence grow. “I’ll play Tribute to the Doomed. By discarding one card from my hoof I can destroy one monster on your field and I choose your cat!” The moment the card was played, bandages wrapped around Cadence’s monster, squeezing it until it exploded leaving behind a purple crystal in Cadence’s spell and trap card zone.

“You activated the effect of my spell card,” said Cadence as she pulled out her deck and began to search it. “When Crystal Release card is sent from the field to the graveyard, I can put one of my Crystal Beast monsters from my deck into in my spell and trap as a continuous spell card.” As she finished saying this a dark blue crystal appeared on her field.

However this is a slight problem, thought Cadence as she looked over her side of the field. If I send my Tree to the graveyard, I’ll waste two of the counters. Also, right now, I won’t be able to use anymore trap or spell cards.

“Alright then,” said Celestia. “Now that your side of the field is clear, I’ll attack you directly with one of my Slime Tokens and end my turn.” After being tackled by one of the Slimes, Cadence’s life points dropped to 7000.

Calmly, Cadence drew her next card. “My turn,” she said, studying the card. “I’ll play the field card Ancient City- Rainbow Ruins!” As Cadence placed this card in its appropriate slot, the area they were dueling on changed to resemble the ancient ruins of Rome. “Now I can use the affects of this card. First off, since I have 4+ Crystal Beast cards in my spell and trap zone, I can draw a card.” Cadence drew a card, looked at it and smiled. “Next I’ll send my Crystal Tree to the graveyard and use its effect to gain another Crystal Beast in my spell and trap card zone.” Celestia watched as the tree vanished and was replaced with a piece of topaz. “Next I’ll use my field spell cards power again. Since I have 5+ Crystal Beasts in my spell and trap card zone I can summon one of them to the field once per turn. So I’ll pick my Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus!” The dark blue gem began to glow before exploding into a large white pegasus with a large blue horn. Flapping its large wings it flew right in front of Cadence, displaying its 1800 attack points.

Celestia blinked. “But it’s an alicorn,” she said.

“What?” said a confused Cadence.

“It has wings and a horn,” replied Celestia as she pointed a hoof at the monster. “Therefore it’s an alicorn. So why is it called Sapphire Pegasus?”

“I…don’t know,” replied Cadence. “Maybe because the horn is fake?” She then shook her head. “Anyways, I now activate the effect of my monster to summon one Crystal Beast from my deck to my spell and trap card zone.” With that, a piece of amber took the place of  the sapphire. “Now I end my turn.”

“I draw,” said Celestia getting another Slime Token in the process. “I’ll play the card Ookazi dealing 800 damage to your life points directly before I end my turn.”

“Alright,” said Cadence as she drew a card. “I’ll activate the effect of my Rainbow Ruins to draw another card.” Cadence did this, looked at the card, and smiled. “I summon my Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle!” A large eagle like creature appeared on the field. “And now that I have seven different Crystal Beasts on the field I can summon the Rainbow Dragon from my hoof!” As she spoke, a giant white serpent like dragon with different colored gems along its sides appeared on the field. As Celestia looked into its gold colored eyes, she noticed its 4000 attack points. “And now I end my turn.”

I should have saved Tribute to the Doomed for this monster, thought Celestia as she drew a card. She then looked at the cards in her hoof and played another Ookazi before ending her turn. As she did, her Swords vanished.

“I draw,” said Cadence, knowing that the duel was almost over. “Now I activate the effect of my dragon: by sending all of the Crystal Beasts that I have on the field to the graveyard I can increase my monsters attack by 1000 for each one!” Celestia stood, watching in horror as her niece’s monsters were sucked into the gems of the Rainbow Dragon as its attack points reached 11000. “Now I attack your Slime Token and win!” The Rainbow Dragon opened its mouth and send a rainbow colored explosion of energy at Celestia’s token with enough force to knock the white alicorn against the wall as her life points dropped to zero.

“S-So how can I improve?” asked Celestia, slowly getting up. She watched as Cadence scratched the back of her mane and looked away.

“Well, to be honest, I think I might not be the best pony to help you out,” said Cadence. “There is just so much that you need to learn and, as much as I want to help you, I don’t have the time. But I do know a pony who has taught a lot of ponies how to play and has helped improve their decks.”

Celestia nodded, curious to hear who Cadence had in mind.

-x-

Celestia let out a sigh as her chariot pulled by four white pegasi flew towards Ponyville. Specifically, Twilight’s castle. It was slightly embarrassing for her. Twilight had been her student and now she was going to her to become a student. But it would be worth any embarrassment if it meant getting to pick dessert once more! And defeating Luna would be the icing on her cake.

As they neared the crystal tree castle, a giant monster appeared behind it. Celestia’s eyes widened at the sheer size of the beast. It looked like a lion made of stone, equal in size to the castle. This monster also had various plant life growing out of it and its mane was made out of rose petals. The princess watched as it lifted a leg before slamming down causing the ground below them to shake.

Celestia motioned her guards to fly to the side of the castle and to land behind the monster. Once they were on the ground, Celestia raced out of the chariot to confront the monster. Discord must have created this creature for she had never seen anything like it before. If that was the case, she would help Twilight and her friends vanquish the beast before dealing with the Spirit of Chaos herself. 

However, this line of thinking ended very quickly. Standing in front of the monster was Apple Bloom with a duel disk strapped to her foreleg. Her two friends were there as well, both with duel disks. Scootaloo had several monsters, two small green birds and two green pegasi mares, wearing brown robes and carrying staves under their wings, in defense mode guarding her 400 life points. Sweetie Belle, however, had no monsters nor life points. In fact, she looked like she was about to cry. And moving towards the small unicorn was Twilight, who also wore a duel disk.

“Sorry Sweetie Belle,” Celestia heard Twilight say in a comforting tone. “You did the best you could. But next time you shouldn’t leave all your monsters in attack mode like that.”

“I know,” said Sweetie Belle. “But I thought my trap card would protect me!”

“Normally I would understand,” said Twilight. “However, a Naturia deck can lock down cards like that. And the card, Naturia Gaiastrio, can negate and destroy cards that try to destroy it.”

“An it looks like ah’m gonna win,” said Apple Bloom with a grin. “Then ah get ta be the one to duel Twilight!”

“This duel isn’t over yet,” said Scootaloo as she drew a card. She looked at it and then frowned. “Oh come on! I was hoping for Musto or Caam so I could do a kick flank synchro summon.”

“Hold on Scootaloo,” said Twilight as she flew over to the young filly. When she landed, she looked over at the cards in Scootaloo’s hoof. “Ok Scootaloo, I want you to look over your cards and think very carefully.”

Scootaloo scrunched up her face, but did as Twilight suggested. She looked over each card in her hoof three times, rereading what each card could do. She was going to tell Twilight that there wasn’t anything she could do before an idea popped into her head. She stared at her cards as the gears in her head turned while Twilight stood above her smiling at the filly.

“Alright, I’ll start by sacrificing my Winda, Priestess of Gusto to summon for Reeze, Whirlwind of Gusto,” announced Scootaloo. After saying so, one of her pegasi was consumed by a powerful twister. Once it cleared, a new pegasus mare stood in its place. This one was larger than the previous one with her mane, which was green with red tips, tied into pigtails. She carried a large staff with a large green crystal in it. “Next I switch my Gusto Falco into attack position before I activate Reeze’s special ability!” Now two whirlwinds appeared on the field. The first surrounded one of the small green birds on Scootaloo’s side of the field while the second targeted Apple Bloom’s.

“Ya can’t!” cried Apple Bloom. “My monster’s special ability-”

“Prevents it from being destroyed,” said Scootaloo, finishing what Apple Bloom was going to say. “But that’s not what I’m doing. By sending one card from my hoof to the bottom of my deck, I can switch one of my Gusto monsters with one of yours!” As Scootaloo spoke, both monsters were lifted into the air. When they landed, Apple Bloom had Gusto Falco on her side while Scootaloo had Naturia Gaiastrio. “Now, Naturia Gaiastrio, attack Gusto Falco!”

“No don’t!” shouted Apple Bloom as her former monster lifted one of its massive paws into the air before stomping upon the small bird. The ground shook as Apple Bloom’s life points took a serious drop.

“Now I’ll attack directly with Reeze, Whirlwind of Gusto for the win!” declared Scootaloo. Reeze lifted her staff, the gem glowing before sending a blast of wind directly at Apple Bloom, knocking the earth filly back several feet.

“And it look’s like Scootaloo is the winner of this free for all dual,” said Twilight happily as she watched the filly jump up and down happily.

Apple Bloom approached her celebrating friend, looking a bit disappointed but she smiled, “It was still a great game yall. Even if ah didn’t win ah still had fun,” she raised her hoof for a hoof bump. Scootaloo returned the gesture with a grin as Sweetie Belle trotted over. Twilight smiled as the three friends hugged, good sportsmanship was a key part of the card game being fun.

“Now I get to duel you, right Twilight?” asked Scootaloo as she put all of her cards back into her deck.

The purple alicorn nodded. “That’s right,” said Twilight as she moved across from Scootaloo while the other fillies moved out of the way. “Now I can see just how much you’ve learned.”

“Alright lets duel,” said Scootaloo as Celestia watched them both draw five cards.

“You can go first Scoots,” said Twilight with a nod.

“Then I draw,” said Scootaloo as she drew her sixth card. “I’ll start by playing Serene Psychic Witch in defense mode!” She set her monster on the duel disk causing the monster to appear in front of her. It was a pink unicorn with a swirly red mane. She seemed to have several odd metal devices attached to her body. One of them was a belt with two cords coming out of it which were connected to two hoof held devices. “With that I end my turn.”

“Now I draw,” said Twilight as she drew. Celestia watched with great interest to see what kind of deck her former student used. Most likely she would take after her teacher and use powerful spell cards to defeat her opponent.

“Ok,” said Twilight after a moment. “I’ll start by playing my Red Eyes Black Chic!” Celestia’s eyes widened in surprise as a small red egg appeared in front of the alicorn of magic containing a small black dragon trying to get out. “Next I’ll activate its special ability: by sending my chick to the graveyard I can summon a Red Eyes Black Dragon from my hoof!” Twilight’s small dragon bust into black flames. From those flames grew a enormous black dragon with large wings and red eyes staring intently at Scootaloo’s monster.

“I guess you’re going to attack now, right?” asked Scootaloo who didn’t appear to be worried.

“No,” said Twilight as she set down a spell card. “I activate the spell card Inferno Fire Blast. Since I have a Red Eyes Black Dragon on the field, this card allows me to inflict damage directly to your life points equal to his original attack points.” As Scootaloo’s eyes widened, the dragon opened its mouth to shot a red and black orb directly at her. When the smoke cleared her life points dropped to 5600. “And now I end my turn.”

“I draw,” said Scootaloo, appearing to be a little shaken. “For now I’ll just add to my defenses and play Gusto Falco in defense mode. Then I’ll play one card face down and end my turn.”

“I draw,” declared Twilight. She looked at the field with a discerning eye, paying close attention to the face down card. Everypony there could tell by the look in her eyes that she was considering her options very carefully. “Alright, I’ll attack your witch and that will be all.” At Twilight’s command, her Red Eyes shot another burning red orb at Scootaloo’s monster. The explosion it caused was massive forcing all ponies in the area to cover their eyes.

“Well by destroying my monster you activated its effect,” shouted Scootaloo with a smile. “I can now remove one psychic monster from my deck with 2000 or less attack points and then summon it to the field during my standby phase. Which is coming up right after I draw!” Scootaloo drew a card. “Now I can bring out Musto, Oracle of Gusto in attack mode!” Appearing in a whirlwind in front of Scootaloo was a green pegasus stallion wearing heavy green and white robes carrying a wooden staff under one of his wings. “Now I will tune my Falco with my Musto in order to synchro summon Daigusto Sphreez in defense mode!” The two monsters combined in a brilliant flash of light, once it cleared there was a single pegasus mare standing there. Her mane’s color was like Reeze’s, except straight. Around her head was a large golden headband with a bright blue gem in the middle, leaning next to her was a staff with what looked like a ball of cotton at the top.

But that monster has only 2000 attack points and 1300 defense points, thought Celestia as she looked on in confusion. What could she possibly do with a monster like that?

Twilight, however, had a different opinion. “Good job Scootaloo,” she said with a nod. “Not only do you get to add a Gusto monster from your graveyard to your hoof thanks to Shreez’s affect, but it can’t be destroy in battle and I’ll take all the damage that would normally go to you. Or at least battle damage involving a Gusto monster.”

“And thanks to that effect, I’m bringing Gusto Falco back to my hoof so that I can summon it again!” declared Scootaloo as her monster reappeared on the field. “Now attack Twilight’s Red Eyes!” With that, Gusto Falco flew towards the large dragon only to get swatted away by one of its claws destroying it. As the monster vanished from the field, Shreez’s staff began to glow green, the same green glow surrounded Twilight as her life points dropped to 6200. “And with that I’ll end my turn.”

“Now I draw,” exclaimed Twilight as she added another card to her magical grasp. She looked at the card she had just drawn and smirked. “I’ll place one card face down, then play Armed Dragon Lv3 in attack mode!” Next to the large black dragon appeared a smaller orange dragon with silver along its lower jaw, going down its spine, and around its fists. It had several small spikes on its shoulders and other parts of its body. Celestia raised an eyebrow upon seeing that it had only 1200 attack points. “And I think that’ll do it.”

“Oh no,” said Scootaloo as she eyed the small dragon while drawing a card. “You’re going to upgrade it to lv5 next turn so you can destroy my Shreez with its effect.”

“That’s a possible plan,” replied Twilight with a slight smirk.

Scootaloo, on the other hoof, frowned as she examined her cards. “Ok! Might as well make the most of Shreez while I have it! I summon Gusto Squirro in attack mode!” Now appearing on the field was a green squirrel like creature that had red eyes and 0 attack points. Even Celestia could figure out what Scootaloo had planned long before the small flightless filly ordered her newest monster to attack Twilight’s larger dragon. It almost seemed cruel to watch as Squirro raced to attack Red Eyes only to be stomped on by the dragon. Once more, Scootaloo’s life points remained untouched while Twilight’s dropped to 3800 as Scootaloo ended her turn.

“My turn,” said Twilight. “Now my Armed Dragon lv3 becomes Armed Dragon lv5!” Celestia watched with an open jaw as the small dragon grew almost to the same size as the black one. As it grew, its orange parts turned red and the silver parts turned black. The number of spikes grew greatly becoming bigger and sharper in the process. Its attack points jumped to 2400. Once the change was over Twilight drew a card with a grin.

“I didn’t want to do this, but I activate my trap card: Torrential Tribute,” said an unhappy Scootaloo as she activated her trap card. Once the card became face up it shot water at all the monsters on the field, destroying them.

“A good move Scootaloo,” said Twilight with a nod. “If you hadn’t done that, I could have destroyed your Shreez and attack you with two monsters each with 2400 attack points. But I also have a face down card. I activate my trap card: Red-Eyes Spirit!” As she called out its name, the Red Eyes Dragon reappeared on the field glaring at Scootaloo. “Now I attack you directly!” The dragon opened its mouth to shoot another red and black orb at Scootaloo, causing her life points to drop to 3200.

“My…My turn!” said Scootaloo as she coughed while drawing her next card. “Ok, I’ll place one card face down and end my turn.” The image of a face down defense position appeared in front of her.

“I draw,” said Twilight. “I’ll play the spell card Ancient Rules which will allow me to special summon one level five or higher normal monster. And the monster I choose is another Red Eyes Black Dragon!” As she said this, Celestia watched as Scootaloo stared down two identical dragons alone with nothing but a single monster to protect her. “But I’m not done. I use my two level seven monsters to xyz summon Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon!” The two black dragons vanished as a single, far more fearsome dragon took its place. A hoof flew to cover the white princess’ mouth. Its form was very similar to the first two but its scales looked like they were made of slick, shiny metal. On its wings were a couple of mufflers that were constantly shooting out flames. The same thing was going on at the end of its heavily spiky tail. Celestia noticed that its attack points were 2800.

“Now I attack your face down monster!” Twilight yelled while pointing a hoof at said card. A massive stream of black and red flames shot out of the Red Eyes mouth flipping over the card to reveal a green bird like monster.

“You destroyed by Gusto Egul,” said Scootaloo, a small smile appearing on her face. “Thanks to its effect I can special summon one level four Gusto monster from my deck. And I pick Winda, Priestess of Gusto.” A small green pegasus filly wearing a brown coat with a tiny green bird on her shoulder appeared on the field. But something else happened that confused Celestia. Scootaloo’s body began to glow black as her life points dropped to 2700.

“Because you used a card effect and my monster still has material you lose 500 life points,” explained Twilight. “And I end my turn.”

“Ok, I draw,” said Scootaloo. “I’ll play the spell card Contact with Gusto! I return two Gusto monsters from my graveyard to my deck to destroy your dragon!” As the two cards returned to her deck, her body began to glow once more, dropping her life points to 2200. However, the Red Eyes remained intact. “Hey, what gives?!”

“My card's effect protects it,” said Twilight calmly.

“O-Ok,” said the frowning filly. “I’ll place a card face down and end my turn.” As she said this, a card appeared in the spell and trap card zone.

“I draw,” said Twilight. “I’ll start by playing my spell card: Foolish Burial. This card allows me to send one monster from my deck to my graveyard. So I choose my last Red Eyes Black Dragon! Next I’ll be activating the effect of my Red-Eyes Flares Metal Dragon: by using one of its materials I can summon one Red Eyes Dragon from my graveyard except for my chick. And the one I pick is the one I just sent to the graveyard: Red Eyes Black Dragon!” Celestia watched as a familiar looking dragon appeared on the field. “Now I finish this duel with the spell card Inferno Fire Blast!” That did it. Celestia watched in amazement as a blast hit the small filly causing her life points dropped to zero.

Scootaloo looked devastated as she looked down at her duel disk. Celestia was about to step forward but her two friends beat her to it. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom ran over to their friend cheering loudly.

“You did great!” yelled Apple Bloom. “You almost did it!”

“You did,” said Twilight as she walked over to the filly with a warm smile on her face. “That was your best one-on-one match with me yet. Keep practicing and I’m sure you’ll defeat me soon.”

“I know,” muttered Scootaloo. “But I-” The sound of hooves walking to them caused the filly aand every other pony to turn and look. Four sets of eyes widened upon seeing Celestia walking forwards.

“Princess!” cried Twilight happily as the three fillies bowed. “What are you doing here?”

“I am here to see you,” replied Celestia warmly as she gestured to the fillies to rise. Taking a deep breath she launched into her story. About her bet with Luna and her loses. About her duel with Cadence and her suggestion to seek out Twilight for help.

“I see,” said Twilight. “Well, I’m sure I can help out. First, can I see your deck, I think that’s the best place to start.”

Nodding, Celestia levitated her deck towards her former. Twilight accepted the cards and began to look through them with a smile on her face. The smile, however, did not last past the fourth card. Card by card, the look of worry grew larger and larger. When she finished, Twilight looked at Celestia with wide eyes and mouth open.

“P-Princess, all you have are spell cards,” said Twilight in a loud voice, she was trying to keep herself from yelling. “There’s no way you can win with this deck.”

“Really? But…But isn’t magic...” began Celestia but stopped when she saw Twilight shake her head. “I see. So I guess I need to remake my deck?”

“Yes,” said Twilight with a slight sigh.

-x-

“This is starting to get tiresome,” said Luna to herself as she slowly levitated her fork down to her plate which held a barely eaten chocolate cake. Everything had started out fine. Ever since she starting dueling against Celestia she was finally getting her say in something, even if it was just dessert. Now she was getting chocolate cake every day in any variation she desired. Yet now it didn’t taste as sweet as it used to.

Perhaps it was time to change things up a bit. She called out for the chef who quickly appeared before her.

“Princess, is there something wrong with the cake?” asked Chef Sea Ram spotting the barely eaten cake.

“No,” answered Luna while shaking her head. “As always you have done a marvelous job. However I fear I have had too much chocolate cake lately and have begun to lose my taste for it. Perhaps you could recommend something new?”

Sea Ram brought a hoof to his chin in thought. “Well I have been working on a new flavor: orange creamsicle. Perhaps I can interest you in a slice Princess?”

Luna hummed as she too brought a hoof up to her chin. She had had the ice cream a few times since her return and found it satisfying. However having it cake form…she didn’t know how to feel about that.

“I think…I’ll give it a try,” Luna said evenly. “Make sure the cake is small, however. If I don’t like it I don’t want any more to go to waste than necessary.”

“As you-” The doors to the dining room opened loudly, cutting off Sea Ram and causing the two to turn to look at the intruder. It was Celestia who hadn’t been seen in the castle for a week now. Her coat looked a little rugged as if she hadn’t gotten the usual amount of care and pampering.

“Sister, I challenge you to a duel for dessert!” yelled Celestia as she pointed a hoof at her younger sister.

An amused look crossed the night princess’ face as she got up. “Very well, I accept. But, sister, are you sure? I don’t want to embarrass you after you just got back from…wherever you went.”

“Oh,” said Celestia with a smirk as her magic began to move the table to the side. “Don’t worry about me. I wish to have my cake back as soon as possible.”

“All right,” said Luna, smirking as her horn lit up. A moment later her duel disk, her deck already in the deck holder, appeared on her body. “I’ll allow you the first move, dear sister.”

“As you wish,” said Celestia with a sly grin as she drew six cards. She eyed them for a moment before two cards were enveloped in her golden magic. “I’ll place one card face down in defense position and then set one card in my spell/trap card zone. That’ll end my turn.”

That was different, thought Luna as she drew her card. Has she improved her deck? Better test the water to be sure.

“I summon Constellar Leonis,” declared Luna as her monster appeared in front of her. “Now attack that face down monster!” Leonis instantly leapt into the air and before it landed it extended its claws into Celestia’s card revealing a white dog like creature.

“You just destroyed my Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter!” said Celestia happily. “Once you flip it I get to destroy one of your cards on the field, followed by sending the top three cards from my deck to the graveyard. So say goodbye to Leonis!”

“I see,” said Luna as she watched her monster blow up while Celestia sent her cards to her graveyard. “Very dangerous for both me as well as you. You do know the downside to those monsters, correct?”

“I do,” said Celestia with a nod. “Lightsworn monsters have a cost of sending cards from my deck to the graveyard at the end of my turn. Meaning the longer this duel continues and the more Lightsworn on the field, the quicker I’ll run out of cards. But don’t worry, I promise this won’t take long.”

“You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep sister,” said Luna levitating a single card. “I’ll set one card down and end my turn.”

“I draw,” said Celestia. “Let’s see. I’ll play Goroth, Lightsworn Warrior!” There was a sudden burst of golden light on the field, when it faded a unicorn with 1850 attack points remained. Most of its body was covered with white armor with gold trims, but its face was left uncovered to show its bronze colored coat and short, spiky blue mane. Hovering next to it, in its magical grasp, was a two handed battle axe whose blade glowed gold. “Attack her life points directly!”

Luna’s face hardened as Goroth charged at her, axe ready to swing at her chest. “I activate my trap card,” she said simply. Around her chains appeared out of the shadows and wrapped around the Lightsworn monster.

“W-What did you do?” demanded Celestia as her monster’s attack points dropped to 1150.

“Shadow Spell is a trap card the stops your monster from attacking and lowers its attack points by 700,” explained Luna, her face serious.

“I end my turn,” said Celestia, looking disappointed.

“My turn and I draw,” said Luna. “I play Constellar Pollux and then use his special ability to summon Constellar Algiedi.” Two monster fell from the sky, landing in front of Luna. Next to Pollux was Algiedi, a unicorn wearing white armor and silver trim as well as a blue cloak with 1600 attack points. In her hoof was a staff. “Constellar Algiedi has a special ability that lets me special summon a level 4 Constellar monster from my hoof. So I will summon Constellar Kaus! Now Pollux, ATTACK!”

“I activate my trap card: Lightsworn Barrier!” said Celestia as a barrier appeared around her monster. “At the cost of two cards from the top of my deck to my graveyard, I can negate any attack against my Lightsworn monsters.”

“I see,” said Luna as she watched Celestia discard two cards. “I will now attack with Algiedi!” Celestia responded by discarding two cards and negating the attack. “Now I finish with Kaus!” Once again, Celestia discarded two more cards to stop the attack. However, this time something else happened. There was another bright light that brought forth another Lightsworn monster. This one was an earth pony, wearing similar armor as Goroth but with a wolf’s head styled helm. In addition, it had golden glowing claws coming out of both if its forehooves and carried another two handed battle axe. Its attack points were 2100.

“Wulf, Lightsworn Beast can only be special summoned when it is sent from the deck to the graveyard,” said Celestia.

Luna nodded. “I end my turn,” she said.

“Now I draw,” said Celestia. “I summon my Jain, Lightsworn Paladin!” There was another burst of golden light, when it faded there was another unicorn in white armor on the field. This one had a red cloak but its face was visible, revealing its white coat and mane. In its magical grasp were a sword and shield. Its attack points was 1800. “Now Jain, attack Pollux!” Jain charged at Pollux, swinging his sword at Luna’s monster who tried to strike back. Jain blocked the attack with his shield, as he did, his attack points rose to 2100 thanks to his special ability. He then buried his sword into Pollux’s chest, destroying it and dropping Luna’s life points to 7600. “Now Wulf, attack Algiedi!” Wulf wasted no time, charging at top speed towards Algiedi while swinging its axe. As Luna’s monster exploded her life points dropped to 7100.

“Now I end my turn,” said Celestia as she discarded four cards due to the effects of both Goroth and Jain.

“I draw,” said Luna, bringing the amount of cards in her hoof to three. “First I’ll play my Constellar Star Chart. Each time I summon a Constellar xyz monster I get to draw one card. Next I’ll summon another Constellar Kaus. Now, I will use their special ability to rise both of their levels by one making them both level five. Then I will overlay them to xyz summon Constellar Pleiades!” A star shined above them before falling in front of Luna as she drew a card, but this time its landing nearly blew Celestia back. This Constellar monster had golden spiked shoulder pads and a cloak that looked like Luna’s astral mane. Floating around it were two orbs of light and its attack points were 2500. “Now I will use one of Pleiades’ material to send Wulf back to your hoof.” Celestia’s eyes widened as Pleiades cloak began to grow. After growing triple its original length it began to suck everything on the field into it. Wulf tried with all of his might to hold his ground, but eventually lost his grip and flew into the starry cloak.

“Now, Constellar Pleiades, attack Goroth!” declared Luna. Pleiades lifted its weapon, sending golden lighting at Goroth destroying him and dropping Celestia’s life points to 6650. “I end my turn.”

Great, thought Celestia with a frown as she drew a card. I can’t summon Wulf again thanks to its special ability. Maybe I should have used my trap card to save Goroth, but with its attack point lowered like it was and unable to attack it wasn’t very useful to me. Not worth two card from my deck. This card however…

“I place one card face down and place Jain into defense position,” said Celestia as she made her move. “Then I end my turn.” As she said this, she sent two more cards to her graveyard.

“I draw,” said Luna. “I will summon another Leonis and use his special ability to summon Constellar Aldebaran.” Along with Leonis there fell another armored pony with bull like horns on his helm. This monster was bulky with a red cloak and a chakram that seemed to be made of red energy. Its attack points were 1300. “Now I overlay them to xyz summon Constellar Hyades!” As Luna drew another card, there was another massive explosion revealing a monster with 1900 attack points. This one had golden horns as well as two heavy looking blades that had red threads of energy attached to its back. “Now I will attack your face down monster with Hyades!” At its master’s command, Hyades’ blades began to glow red before the monster swung both weapons at the face down card sending the collected energy towards it. When the attack impacted, the card was revealed to be another Ryko.

“Say goodbye to Constellar Pleiades!” shouted Celestia as she discarded three more cards from her deck. There was a flash of light that caused a smile to appear on Celestia’s face for another Wulf appeared on her side of the field. “Looks like I have the field advantage now sister.”

“I wouldn’t count on it,” replied Luna with a frown. “I overlay my Constellar Hyades in order to bring out one of my mightiest monsters: Constellar Ptolemy M7!” Hyades vanished from the field right before another star seemed to fall from the sky, exploding behind Luna while she drew another card. When the smoke cleared there stood a metal dragon unlike anything Celestia had ever seen before. Like the warriors who had come before it, its armored hide was made of white metal trimmed with gold. The blade at the end of its tail looked like it was made of golden energy and its massive wings looked like they were made of the night sky. Its attack points were 2700.

“Well,” gulped Celestia as she did her best not to back up. “This is unsettling.”

“Because of the way he was summoned I can’t use his special ability,” commented Luna as she looked at the three cards floating in her magic. “I’ll set two cards face down and end my turn.”

“Ok then,” said Celestia as she drew a card. Her eyes widened when she saw the card. While it wasn’t the card she needed to win, it would help her destroy Luna’s dragon. “I will sacrifice Jain to summon Gragonith, Lightsworn Dragon!” Jain vanished in a pillar of golden light, when it faded a different monster had taken its place. This dragon was white with a long neck, long golden mane, and feathered wings like a pegasus. Its attack points was 2000 when it first appeared but rose to 3800 due to its special ability.

“I activate my trap card,” said Luna with a smile. “Forced Back! This card activates when you summon and a monster, sending it back to your hoof!”

“NO!” shouted Celestia as her monster returned to her hoof. “I…I end my turn.”

“I draw,” said Luna before looking at her newest card. “I’ll play the spell card Constellar Star Cradle! With this card, I can add two Constellar monsters to my hoof from my graveyard. However, the only downside is I can’t attack this turn. But I think that is a small price to pay in order to get back Pollux and Algiedi.”

“So, does that mean you’ll be ending your turn?” asked Celestia as Luna added two the two cards to her hoof.

“Not yet,” said Luna as she eyed Wulf. “I will use my monster’s special ability to detach one of my monsters material and send Wulf back your hoof.” One of the three orbs that had been orbiting around Luna’s dragon since it had been summoned vanished after the night princess finished speaking. Constellar Ptolemy M7’s wings raised slightly and gravity around Wulf seemed to cease to exist. Wulf flailed his limbs, trying to keep on the ground yet failed as he was sucked into the metal dragon’s wings. “Now I end my turn.”

“Then it’s my turn,” said Celestia as she added a card to his hoof. She looked at it for a moment before placing it in the spell and trap card zone. “I’ll play the Magical Mallet. I’ll send the two Wulf’s in my hoof back to my deck so that I can draw two new cards.”

Not a bad move, thought Luna. She couldn’t summon them from her hoof so she did the next best thing.

“Now, since I have four monsters of light in my graveyard, I can special summon Lightray Daedalus to the field in attack mode!” exclaimed Celestia as a large white serpent like dragon appeared on her side of the field. “But he won’t be here for long because I sacrifice him to bring back my Gragonith, Lightsworn Dragon!”

To Celestia’s surprise, Luna didn’t seem at all worried as one of  her best monsters retook the field. In fact, the night princess was smiling confidently as Gragonith roared in her direction.

“I activate my trap card,” announced Luna. “Compulsory Evacuation Device!” Celestia couldn’t hide her shock as her monster once again left the field.

“O-Ok,” she said as she looked at the cards in her hoof. “I can’t do anything so I’ll end my turn.”

“I’ll draw,” said Luna with a grin. “Then I’ll attack you directly!” Luna’s metal dragon let out a roar before firing a massive stream of white energy at Celestia as her life points dropped down to 3950. “That’ll do for now. I end my turn.”

“My turn then,” said Celestia as she drew a card. She looked at it…and grinned. “I play my spell card: Foolish Burial! With this, I can send any monster in my deck to the graveyard. I send my Wulf which means, due to his effect, he is then special summed to my side of the field!” Luna frowned slightly as a very familiar monster appeared on the field. “But he won’t be here for long because I am going to use him to summon my Gragonith, Lightsworn Dragon one more time!” Again, Celestia’s dragon took the field. But, with the addition of Wulf in the graveyard, Gragonith’s attack points became 4100. “With no more trap cards, my monster is here to stay and attack!” The Gragonith opened its mouth and it fired a burst of golden fire like a flamethrower. Luna’s monster exploded as her life points went down to 5700.

“Not bad,” said Luna. “Your determination to get that monster on the field really paid off.”

Celestia smirked, she was enjoying this duel more than any other. “I think that’ll do for now. Your move.”

“As you wish,” said Luna as she drew her fifth card. “I will summon Constellar Pollux then I will use his special ability to summon Constellar Algiedi. As you remember, her special ability allows me another summon so I will use it to bring Constellar Kaus to the field. Now I will overlay all of them to summon Number 102: Star Seraph Sentry!”

That’s the card Luna used to beat me in our first duel, thought Celestia as she watched Luna’s monster appear on the field while her sister drew another card.

“Now I will detach one of my monster’s material to use his special ability,” said Luna as one of the three orbs orbiting the monster vanished. Celestia watched as Star Seraph fired an arrow at Gragonith, bringing the dragon's attack points down to 1000.

“B-But how?” demanded Celestia, her jaw dropped.

“His effect not only negates your monster's special ability but also cuts your monster’s attack points in half,” explained Luna. “Now, I’ll attack your dragon!” Star Seraph fired another arrow, destroying Gragonith and lowering Celestia’s life points to 2450. “To finish my move I’ll place two cards face down.”

“Ok, time to turn this around,” said Celestia as she drew. “And I know just how I’m going to do this! Since I have four or more Lightsworn monsters with different names in my graveyard, I can special summon my best monster: JUDGMENT DRAGON!” Above Celestia, a giant orb of light appeared. And from that light came a massive giant that looked like it could gobble up both sisters with little effort. In some ways, it looked more wolf like with the addition of white, feathery wings and red dipped claws.

“I was wondering when you were going to pull that monster out,” said Luna as she eyed the monsters 3000 attack points.

“I take it you know Judgment Dragon,” said Celestia with a grin. “That means you know its effect! By giving up 1000 life points I can destroy all other cards on the field.” At that moment Celestia’s life points dropped to 1450. Judgment Dragon let out a massive, ear splitting roar that destroyed both of Luna’s face down. Star Seraph was a different story. It stayed on the field, but the orbs vanished. “I guess it has another special ability?”

“Yes,” said Luna. “An effect that would destroy it instead destroys all of the material on the monster.”

“Well then I’ll have to destroy it the normal way then,” said Celestia as she pointed at Star Seraph Sentry. Judgment Dragon let out a growl as it lifted one of its paws and slashed at Luna’s monster to destroy it. As Luna’s life points dropped to 5200 Celestia sent four cards from her deck to the graveyard and, due to its effect, brought Wulf back to the field.

“This is it sister,” said Celestia before Luna drew her next card. “There is no move you can make to defeat me. There is no shame in surrendering. We can go back to the way things were before.”

“NO!” shouted Luna angrily, her nostrils flaring slightly as she did. “I will not go back to having you dictate everything without any consult from me!”

“Are you talking about when the kingdom is in danger? I can’t send somepony to go wake you. Especially when time-”

“And I don’t expect you to,” interrupted Luna, surprising Celestia. “I understand that there will be times when you can’t wait for me. If you wasted time trying to rouse me from my slumber and ponies got hurt as you tried to get me up to speed, I could never forgive myself. But when I am right there, even over something as simple as dessert, then I hope you could at least ask my opinion. But because you won’t do that, I have to resort to this!”

“Luna, all you would have to do is say something,” said Celestia.

“But I did,” snapped Luna. “Or at least I tried.” Celestia blinked at this. She opened her mouth to deny this, yet stopped herself as she remembered a conversation they had before all this began. When Luna had tried to talk to her, got interrupted, and then stormed off in anger.

Oh Luna, thought Celestia as she lowered her head a bit. You just wanted to give me your input. If I had just let you speak and let you feel like you were being heard, then maybe none of this would have happened.

While Celestia was in deep thought, Luna stared at the card she had just drawn. She looked up from it to observe the field as well as her sister before looking back down at her card. The night princess licked her lips as she thought about her options.

“I’ll set one card face down and end my turn,” declared Luna.

“M-My turn,” said Celestia as she was snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the field. Ok, first I’ll win this duel, then I’ll apologize to Luna. I can get rid of that card if I use my dragon’s special ability. However, if I do that I’ll lose my other monster. Maybe I should risk it and just summon another monster to finish this. Celestia lifted a hoof and was about to declare her attack, but stopped when she saw Luna’s expression. She was smiling confidently. M-Maybe I should rethink this. That face down could be Mirror Force or Magical Cylinder. If it’s the second, attacking her will finish me. I…I can’t risk it!

“I’ll give up a 1000 life points to destroy all other cards on the field,” stated Celestia as her life points dropped to 450. Both Wulf and Luna’s trap card vanished, but something was added to the field. It was some kind of red orb with antenna on the side. The orb shot towards Judgment Dragon and exploded, destroying them both. “WHAT?”

“Security Orb,” said Luna with a grin. “I don’t know why I don’t see this card more often, but I find it far too useful not to put it in my deck. If you had attacked, it would have put your monster in defense mode. However, since you destroyed it via effect, its secondary effect activates which destroys your monster.”

“But…,” began Celestia before she looked at her hoof. “I-I place one card in defense mode and end my turn.”

Luna smirked. “I draw and end my turn.”

“Ok, then I...” began Celestia but stopped when she saw that she had no more cards to draw. “I-I can’t draw. This means…I lose.”

“That you do,” said Luna as she walked towards her sister. “But you should rejoice. This is the best I have ever seen you play.”

“Thank you,” replied a humbled Celestia. “And about…before. I-”

“It’s alright,” interrupted Luna as she shook her head. “Maybe I should have tried to voice my frustration better.”

“But I’m older,” insisted Celestia. “I should have seen something was wrong and done something before things got out of hoof. Just like...last time...” she looked down in shame.

“I guess we are both at fault,” said Luna, equally ashamed of her past actions. “We both still have a lot to learn about communicating with each other. Maybe we could talk about it over dessert. Chef is making a special orange creamsicle cake tonight.”

“Well, at least it’s not chocolate,” smiled Celestia. “But tomorrow, could I…”

“Of course,” said Luna. “ There’s no reason why we both have to have the same cake each night. I’m sure chef Sea Ram will enjoy the challenge.  Next time we duel, we’ll just do it for fun.”