Time to Duel
“And now,” declared Pinkie Pie as she pointed at a finger at her opponent Applejack, “I will attack you directly with my Toon Dark Magician and win the duel!” Pinkie’s monster began to twirl his staff around above his head until he became visibly dizzy as indicated by the spirals in his eyes. It ended when the staff hit the back of the young wizard’s head, knocking him forwards a bit but still managing to point it at Applejack. The staff fired an orb of darkness which oddly, had a big pink smiley face on it. It bypassed Applejack’s monsters and hit her, causing her life points to drop to zero.
“Dang it,” groaned Applejack as she dusted herself off. “Thought I had it that time. Still, good match Pinkie.”
The girl with the large, puffy hair jumped up with a big smile on her face. From off to the side, Rarity and Fluttershy had gotten off their park bench to congratulate the two on a well played duel. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, hadn’t really been paying attention. Instead, her focus had been on the remaining two members of their group: Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle. The two former evil magical girls were walking through the park with Spike in tow, Sunset holding up the journal that allowed her to communicate to the other Twilight. The Twilight of this world was looking at it in amazement, doing her best to comprehend how it worked. If Rainbow knew Sunset, she was probably giving a lengthy and complicated speech on how it worked.
“Hey girls,” said Rainbow aloud as her eyes remained fixed on Twilight. “Have you ever wondered why our Twilight has glasses?”
“What?” asked Rarity as she and the others looked at their rainbow haired friend.
“Why does our Twilight wear glasses?” repeated Rainbow as she turned to look at her friends. They were all staring at her now, confusion clear on their faces.
“Because she has poor eyesight?” suggested Fluttershy in a questioning voice.
“Then why doesn’t the other Twilight wear them?” asked Rainbow loudly as she stood up. “Doesn’t that seem odd? One wears glasses while the other doesn’t?”
“Oh it’s just a way for the animators to help the audience tell them apart in case they ever meet,” said Pinkie as she waved it off. The others, however, looked at her in with more confusion than they gave for Rainbow’s question.
“Don’t mind her,” said Rarity as she rolled her eyes. “It’s probably nothing.” She then brought a hand to her chin. “I guess it could be one of those little differences that comes from them living in different worlds. Maybe the other Twilight had bad eyesight when she was a child, er, foal and corrected it with magic. Or maybe our Twilight hurt her eyes from staring at a computer screen for too long or reading in improper light. Anyone of the little differences that make our worlds different could have an impact on how their lives are different.”
“I guess,” said Rainbow as she crossed her arms, nodding her head.
“Why do you want know?” asked Fluttershy as she approached her friend.
Rainbow shrugged. “I was just thinking that it was weird,” she commented. “But it does make me wonder what else is different between them. Well, besides one being a pony princess and the other being a former shut-in nerd. I kind of want to find out.”
“Well if you’re curious we could ask Sunset to write to the princess and ask her if she could visit,” suggested Fluttershy.
“And then we get them to duel!” exclaimed Pinkie as she bounced up and down.
“Well, actually, I was thinking we could have tea and a nice chat,” said Fluttershy softly, looking down at her feet.
“Ah, why a duel sugarcube?” asked Applejack as she pulled off her duel disk and put her deck in a deck protector that rested on her belt.
“Because a duel is how we solve everything, duh,” exclaimed Pinkie. “Two people want cake and there is only one slice? Duel for it! Having an argument? Duel to see who’s right! The worlds in danger by some super bad guy with a god complex? Duel to save the world and hopefully show the villain the error of his ways!” Pinkie then paused as a thought look appeared on her face. “Wish we could have done that with the Sirens. I’m sure that would have been a lot more fun.”
“Pinkie,” said Rarity as she pointed at her pink friend. She looked like she was about to scold her, but then a thoughtful look appeared on her face as she pulled herself back. “That’s…not a bad idea at all.”
“Pardon?” said Applejack, an eyebrow raised.
“Well darling,” began Rarity as she placed her hand on her hip. “I think it would be better than inviting Twilight back to Canterlot High to interrogate the poor dear. Not after everything she has done for us. This way we might overtly see the differences between the two and allow them to have a little fun with neither one realizing what we are doing.”
“Well, when you put it that way it doesn’t sound so bad,” said Fluttershy thoughtfully.
“I guess,” said Applejack with a hit of uncertainty in her voice. “But, are we even sure they even have Duel Monsters in Equestria. Ah mean, they don’t even have hands!”
“Silly Applejack, of course they have Duel Monsters,” exclaimed Pinkie Pie. “Every universe has Duel Monsters! Haven’t you read all the crossover fanfiction?”
“Wait what…?”
“Great,” said Rainbow who ignored this, pumping her fist into the air. “Let’s find Sunset and see when Twilight can get over here!”
-x-
“Come on Spike,” said Twilight as she quickly walked across campus the next day, looking down at her smartphone as she reread a text from her friends.
“I’m coming,” said Spike in-between a loud yawn.
The two had been in the school’s science lab, Twilight working on a new project while Spike peacefully napped, when her phone rang to indicate she had a text. Since what she was working on wasn’t at all dangerous, Twilight was able to pause for a moment and read the message. Whatever it said caused her eyes to widen followed by her running out of the science room with her white lab coat still on. Underneath it she wore a dark blue shirt that had her cutie mark in the middle and a matching plaid skirt that went down to her knees.
Together, Twilight and Spike made their way through the hallways while doing their best not to run and be caught by Principal Celestia. She had been kind enough to allow Twilight to bring Spike into school as long as he didn’t disrupt the other students and it would be a poor way to repay her by breaking a different, more basic rule. Even if there was an emergency.
Maybe.
Even as Twilight exited the building, she still had no idea what was going on. The only thing the text told her was that she was needed down at the football field as soon as possible. With each step she took, a new possibility of what was so urgent entered her mind. Could they have found a new magical item that gave their magical forms a power boost? Was it the Sirens she had heard so much about coming back to seek revenge? Could it be Midnight Sparkle, somehow separated from her mind and in a new body so that she could wreak havoc upon an unsuspecting world?
All of these thoughts caused Twilight to panic more as sweat began to appear on her brow. She wished that she had more information so that she could focus on one possibility rather than a hundred. But, then again knowing herself, Twilight knew she would probably be reacting the same way.
Finally she got to the field to see the one thing she hadn’t expected: herself standing at the other end of the field looking just as bewildered as she was. Twilight’s eyes widened upon seeing the other Twilight with her own Spike sitting next to her. The Twilight who had come to this school before she had. The Twilight who had united this school and was friends with almost everyone there, so much so that when she had first arrived here with the others from Crystal Prep she had been met with warm welcomes. The Twilight who had come here twice before to help stop evil while she on the other hand had given in to evil. The Twilight who had become a princess in a world full of magic while she was just a lowly nerd who had been blackmailed easily. The Twilight who her friends made a connection with while she was just the stand in.
Princess Twilight seemed to be nervous about something, weakly waving at her as the Twilight of this world took in more of her surroundings. The bleachers were full of students that, somehow, Twilight had missed until just this moment. All of them looked as if they were waiting for something to begin, eating popcorn and hotdogs that Pinkie Pie was passing out.
“Twilight,” called out Sunset who came running from behind the other side of the field looking concerned. “I’m so sorry,” she said when she was close enough. “I literally just found out what was going on. You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”
“W-What IS going on?” asked Twilight.
“Welcome!” boomed Rainbow Dash’s voice from all directions. Both Twilight and Sunset began to look around, eventually spotting her sitting at a table in front of the stands with a microphone in hand. “Today we are here to watch the duel of the century as Twilight battles, ah, Twilight? Hmm, maybe I should have planned this out.”
“What?” came other Twilight’s voice from across the field. Just by looking at her face, everyone could see that she hadn’t been informed about this either. Just what she had been told, the human Twilight had no idea.
“Oooh, let me! Let me,” said Pinkie as she tossed away the remaining snacks she had been carrying, landing on Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. She then seemed to vanish and reappear next to Rainbow only to take the microphone away from her. With a wild grin, she took a deep breath before bringing the device close to her lips. “Today only!” she explained, adding an echo at the end of her sentence for an added effect. “Here live at Canterlot High! Princess Twilight Sparkle of the magical pony filled land of Equestria faces off against the super scientific Twilight Sparkle of our own school to see who is the better duelist! Be there or be square!” With that done, Pinkie handed the microphone back to Rainbow.
“Ah, Pinkie, you know everyone is already here,” deadpanned Rainbow.
“W-W-What?” stammered Twilight as she looked around, feeling like the eyes of the entire student body were upon her. She could feel her body beginning to tremble as Pinkie’s words began to sink. The better duelist. The better Twilight. Already Twilight could feel a cold pit of unease growing inside of her as she fought not to take a step back. She could almost see Princess Twilight as she pointed a finger at her while declaring that she would prove her to be a phony after losing this duel. Desperately she racked her brain to think of some way out of this mess without appearing weak in front of the entire student body.
“I…I would,” stammered Twilight. “But I, ah, don’t have my deck with me. I think it’s back at home.”
“And I didn’t bring my duel disk,” said the princess from the other side of the field as she looked over at Pinkie. “I don’t even know if it’ll work in this world since it runs on magic!”
“Well,” said Twilight, clapping her hands together as a small amount of relief began to run through her. “Looks like we can’t duel then. Guess we’ll have to-”
“Actually Twilight, your deck is in your locker,” said a bouncing Pinkie Pie. “It’s in the way back hidden behind several large books with titles written in another language. I saw you put it there when you transferred. You can go get it while we show Princess Twilight how to use one of our duel disks.”
“Great,” muttered both Twilight’s at the same time, looking away from Pinkie Pie.
Before the human Twilight could do or say another, however, Sunset had reached out a hand and placed it on her shoulder. “You know you don’t have to do this,” she said in a reassuring tone. “Not if you don’t want to.”
In that moment, Twilight wanted nothing more than to agree with Sunset. To tell everyone here that she didn’t want to duel like this. But as she turned her head over to the crowd, her gaze fell on the rest of her friends. Most of them were looking on with smiling faces, either with pride of what they had put together in such a short amount of time or wanting to cheer her on. How could she let them let them down?
“I-It’ll be fine,” said Twilight, flinching at how unconvincing her tone was.
“Twilight,” Sunset began, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow. “You shouldn’t let them pressure you into doing something you’re uncomfortable with. Don’t you remember what happened in the Friendship Games?”
“Really, it’s no trouble,” said Twilight with a bit more conviction in her voice. “Since there’s no magic involved there’s no chance that I-I’ll turn into M-Midnight Sparkle again. I’ll just go and see if my deck is in my locker then I’ll be back in a jiffy.” Without waiting for Sunset’s reply, Twilight ran as quickly as she could back into the school while fighting the ever growing possibility that she might suffer a panic attack.
When she got to her locker, Twilight slowly opened it, hoping beyond hope that her deck wasn’t there. That Pinkie Pie, as well as her own memory, were wrong and she had placed something else back there instead. That way, when she walked out of the school building, she could tell her friends truthfully that she couldn’t duel. Maybe then they would forget about this crazy scheme.
Sadly, Pinkie Pie was correct for her deck was in the back of her locker. Slowly Twilight pulled out the pile of trading cards and brought them into the light. Looking down, she saw that her absolute favorite card was face up and looking directly at her. Seeing it brought back such wonderful memories that were tied to this deck.
-x-Flashback-x-
It was late in the day as a five year old Twilight walked across her family’s home in her footie pajamas. The moon was shining brightly through the windows and she knew she would be in trouble if she was out of bed this late into the night. However, for some reason, tonight she couldn’t get to sleep as well as she normally did. Rather than remaining in bed, she had decided to sneak downstairs for a glass of water in the hopes that it might help her get to sleep.
As she entered the kitchen, Twilight heard rapid clicking noises coming from the family room next to it. Looking over, Twilight saw Shining Armor sitting crossed legged in front of the large family TV whose volume had been almost completely turned off. The small girl could see her big brother holding a retro game controller in his hands, loudly pushing the buttons in a frantic attempt to stay alive in the game he was playing. For a moment, Twilight watched as the pixelated character on the TV screen jumped up and down to avoid the bad guys attack before she found herself walking towards her brother.
“Shining Armor,” Twilight said in what she hoped was a soft whisper. She watched as her BBBFF jerked before quickly turned around, both surprise and fright filled his face.
“Twily,” he said quickly. “You should be in-” Shining never finished that sentence, the noise from the TV caught his attention by playing the music that only sounded when the hero was dead. Shining Armor’s shoulders sank as he looked back at the screen to confirm that he was, indeed, dead.
“I’m sorry,” said Twilight. “Couldn’t sleep.”
“Gotcha,” replied Shining as he began to start over again. But, just as he was about to press the start button, he paused and looked at his little sister with a smile. “Well, since you can’t sleep, want to waste some time playing with me.”
“But you said it’s a one player game,” stated Twilight.
Shining Armor dismissed this with a quick gesture and invited Twilight to sit next to him. “We can still play together,” he explained as Twilight sat down. “We’ll just take turns. See, you play until you die or defeat a boss. Then I’ll take a turn and we’ll see who does better until we get tired. Sound like fun?”
Twilight nodded eagerly as Shining gave her the controller.
-x-End Flashback-x-
Twilight had loved that old game ever since, collecting the entire series on every system that it came out in. Every series that featured any character from it she owned as well as all of the comics. And when Duel monsters came out with an arc type featuring monsters that were very similar to the characters found in that old game, Twilight knew she had to have them. It became her secret passion that she told no one else about. Well, not that there were many people she talked to before coming to Canterlot High.
It had been awhile since she had played with this deck, however. Crystal Prep had been all about being the best, about winning at everything. And while she loved these cards, working hard to find the best support she could, her fellow students sneered at her deck. Some had delighted in mocking her and it while others had cruelly tried to throw it in the trash, claiming that it belonged there. So, in order to protect the cards that connected her to her brother, Twilight had hidden them away and had not played the game.
Until now.
“Hey guys,” said Twilight as she looked down at her deck, fanning the cards out so that she could see as many of the monsters as possible. Slowly she leaned her back against the locker next to hers as she smiled at her monsters. “I…I know it’s been awhile since we’ve dueled together. But I’m going to need your help today to defeat another Twilight. I really can’t afford to lose this duel, I just can’t.”
“Twilight,” said Spike as he raised an eyebrow at his master. “You know you’re talking to a bunch of cards, right? They’re nothing but paper and ink. They can’t hear you.”
A small chuckled escaped Twilight’s mouth as she looked down at her talking dog. “Stranger things have happened,” she replied.
-x-
A short time later, Twilight returned to the field with her duel disk on her arm and Spike at her heels. No one had left, all of them glued to their seats as they waited for the duel to begin with much eagerness. Across from her, Princess Twilight was doing some practice draws and playing the cards in their proper spot. From what Twilight knew of the Princess she wasn’t fully used to the idea of using hands but instead using the levitation magic that human Twilight had gained during her trip to Camp Everfree.
“I’m telling you, I can help.” The sound of Spike’s voice over the loud speakers drew Twilight’s attention. First she looked downward and seeing that her Spike was indeed sitting next to her. She then turned her head to see the Spike from Equestria was sitting next to Rainbow Dash, trying his best to pick up the microphone in his paws.
“Maybe some other time little guy,” replied Rainbow as she picked up the device. “Besides, a job like this is for someone with experience.”
“But I have experience,” said Spike firmly. “I helped Pinkie Pie with commentary during the Running of the Leaves! Besides, I know my Twilight’s playing style.”
Rainbow sighed and did her best not to roll her eyes. “Fine, you can help,” she said at last. She then noticed that the Twilight of this world had arrived causing her to grin. “Alright folks, looks like both the duelists are here and ready to duel!”
“Well…I guess we’re doing this,” said Princess Twilight as she held up her duel disk which the other Twilight mirrored. In both their duel disks, their decks were being shuffled by the device so there was no need for the other to cut them. “So, ah, good luck to…you?”
“Ah, thanks,” said Twilight as she mirrored her mirror self’s awkward smile. “I guess I’ll go first.” As Princess Twilight nodded affirmative, Twilight drew her six cards and studied them for a moment. Looking at her options, she knew what her first move would be. “I’ll place one card face down in defense mode and end my turn.”
“Ok,” said Rainbow Dash as she pumped her first into the air. “Looks like Canterlot High Twilight is starting with a defensive opening. But let’s see how Princess Twilight will handle it with what I am sure is a deck full of powerful spellcasters and magic cards.”
“Oh are you in for a surprise,” commented Spike, a slight smirk on his face.
“I draw,” announced Princess Twilight. “I’ll start out by playing Armed Dragon LV3!” With that, Princess Twilight slapped her monster card onto her duel disk which, in turn, caused a three foot dragon to appear in front of her. The dragon had bright silver armor on its chest, shoulders, back, knuckles, neck, and the top of its head leaving the rest of its bright orange body completely exposed.
“But…But I thought…” Rainbow’s words seemed to trail off as she gapped at the odd choice of monster that the Princess had summoned. Many in the stands seemed to share this, expecting Princess Twilight to have a spellcaster deck of some kind. The only one not surprised was the Spike from Equestria, looking around him with a smug expression on his face.
“See here’s the thing,” said Princess Twilight after reading everyone’s confusion. “While it is true that I once wielded the Element of Magic and went to the best school for gifted unicorns, there is something that not a lot of ponies know. I know how to raise dragons! And I’m going to do that right now by playing the spell card: Level Up! This card will allow me to send one face up level monster on the field to the graveyard and then I can special summon the next level of that monster while ignoring the normal summoning conditions. So now my dragon grows up into Armed Dragon LV5!” Princess Twilight’s small dragon vanished and a new monster took its place. This one was larger with red scale underneath dull grey armor with rows of blades coming out of his chest armor. There were also a total of four drills coming out of his kneecaps and elbows. “Now, I will attack your monster!” Armed Dragon LV5 wasted no time raising a fist and smashing Twilight’s monster easily due to its 2400 attack points, revealing its target in the process. It looked like a banged up, humanoid robot that was in desperate need of repair.
“You just destroyed my Genex Searcher!” exclaimed Twilight as she took her deck out. “When he is destroyed in battle, I can special summon one monster with ‘Genex’ in its name onto my side of the field in attack position. And the monster I choose is Genex Ally Crusher!” Now, appearing in front of Twilight was another humanoid looking machine with dirty yellow heavy duty plating that only partially concealed a system of gears inside of it. To make it look even more run down, one of its eyes was red while the other was replaced with an old style scope. Crusher had 1000 attack points and 2000 defense points.
The crowd began to whisper to each other at the sight of the monster. Some had thought that it would be possible that Twilight would have a machine deck, but many had never heard of Genex archetype. Those that had were quick to tell others about its major flaws.
“It’s far too slow for competitive play,” whispered someone in the crowd loud enough for Twilight to hear. “They also lack any real synergy.”
“I’ve heard that most of the Genex Ally monsters have 1700 attack points,” said another. “And that they have horrible effects. Here I thought Twilight would be smart enough not to waste her time with them.”
“I wish Twilight could have picked a monster that looked less…rustic,” Rarity said.
“Well, at the very least it has some decent defense points,” said Applejack next to her. “Thinkin’ maybe she brought that monster out to either build up a powerful defense or she plans on xyz summoning something that might help her out.”
“Alright then,” said Princess Twilight. “I’m going to end my turn. And, as I do, my monster’s effect activates. Since he destroyed one of your monsters in battle, I can now send him to the grave so that I can bring out Armed Dragon LV7!” Armed Dragon LV5 smirked before it vanished from the field before the ground behind Princess Twilight erupted. Coming out from the ground was the largest dragon that the Equestrian had summoned yet. It towered over the princess with larger spikes and drills than before. There was even a drill at the end of its tail, spinning madly as the creature slammed it against the ground! Not only that, Twilight saw that its wings were more like blades than anything that would allow it flight. And to top it all off, Armed Dragon LV7 had a total of 2700 attack points.
“Ok then, my draw,” announced Twilight as she drew a card. She gave the card a solid look before placing it in her hand and taking a different one. “First off, I’m going to play the spell card: Machina Armored Unit!” Once Twilight put her spell card on the field a giant copy of the card appeared next to her, floating in the air. “Now, whenever you destroy one of my machine type monsters in battle, I can special summon one monster per turn as long as it has the same attribute and less attack points. Next I’ll summon Genex Ally Birdman in attack mode!” Twilight’s new monster appeared next to Crusher, looking like a green humanoid parrot with an oversized beak. Unlike Crusher, Birdman’s body was smoother and more rounded out. This monster had 1400 attack points.
“Now I activate the effect of Genex Ally Crusher,” declared Twilight proudly. “Whenever a monster with the same attribute as him is normal summoned to my side of the field, I can destroy one card you control!”
“But the only card I control is-” began Princess Twilight as she quickly looked behind her. Her dragon, despite knowing it was about to be destroyed, let out a defiant snort. Crusher, meanwhile, opened up a compartment on one of its arms and took out a small sphere. Once the object was in its grasp, the machine wound up like a pitcher in a baseball game before throwing it at Armed Dragon. Once the dragon was hit, it was sucked into the smaller sphere which then fell to the ground and exploded. The Spike from Equestria whimpered in horror at its destruction.
“With your dragon gone, I can attack you directly,” said Twilight. “But before that, I am going to switch Genex Ally Crusher into defense mode.” As Twilight said this, Crusher took a knee and crossed its arms in order to defend itself. “Now, Genex Ally Birdman, attack the princess directly!” Birdman nodded as its wings began to glow. It then took to the air and flew at the other Twilight, slashing her side as he passed her. Princess Twilight held onto her side as she cried out, but didn’t fall.
“That was a good move,” said the princess as her life points dropped to 6600.
“Um, thanks,” replied Twilight, feeling a little embarrassed. It had been awhile since she had heard someone tell her something like that. “I mean, it’s nothing compared to what you did. Summoning a monster that powerful and not from your extra deck that quickly is impressive.”
“I just had the right cards at the right time,” said Princess Twilight. “But you got what you needed quickly in order to destroy it on your very next turn. And you have it set up so that if I destroy a monster on your field you can get something to replace it quickly.”
“Hey what’s going on?” shouted Rainbow Dash. “This is a duel! This isn’t the time or place to be complimenting each other! You should be trash talking each other, talking about how the other stands no chance and stuff like that!”
“Really?” asked both Twilight’s at the same time.
As Rainbow went on a long rant about how trash talk worked, Twilight looked down at her hand to get a better idea of her options. Right now she had four cards in her hand: two monsters and two traps. Calmly she looked over at the Princess whose field was bare at the moment. She had the advantage right now and she knew she couldn’t afford to lose it.
“I’ll end my turn by placing two cards face down,” announced Twilight, interrupting Rainbow’s tirade as two holographic cards appeared in front of her. “Your turn.”
“Ok, I draw,” said Princess Twilight as she drew her fifth card. She gave it a look and then nodded. “I’ll play the spell card Cards of the Red Stone! This card allows me to send one Red Eyes card from my hand to the graveyard and then I get to draw two more cards as well as sending one level seven Red Eyes monster from my deck to the graveyard. So I’ll send my Red Eyes Black Flare Dragon to the graveyard to draw two cards.” Twilight watched as the Princess discarded her card before drawing two cards, her eyes widening slightly when she saw one of them. She then pulled out her deck and sent a normal Red Eyes Black Dragon to the grave. “Now I’ll summon Red Eyes Black Dragon Chic.” Before the Princess appeared an egg that instantly hatched allowing the face of a cute, black baby dragon. Many of the girls watching couldn’t contain a squee as it looked around curiously.
“Next I will remove it from play so that I can bring out Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon!” announced the Princess proudly as her tiny dragon vanished. A moment later, a creature made of shiny black metal appeared behind the Princess. It floated on wings that looked like they were made of multiple sleek curved daggers that had a thin red glowing line on each one of them and a red at the top of each wing. Its neck was long and its snout was pointed, staring at Twilight with unfeeling red eyes. Twilight could see that its attack points matched its fierce appearance, a total of 2800. “Next I will use its special ability to special summon my Red Eyes Black Flare Dragon from my graveyard!” The ground in front of the Princess now exploded, causing many spectators to scream in fear and surprise. When the dust cleared, there appeared a black dragon with four wings that looked like they had been set aflame. Its attack points were 2400.
“Now, I begin my battle phase,” continued the Princess as she pointed at Crusher. “Darkness Metal Dragon, attack Crusher with Darkness Inferno Fire Blast!”
As the dragon opened its mouth, Twilight held up a hand. “I activate my trap card: Scrap Iron Scarecrow!” she yelled as metal scarecrow wearing an old war helmet and a blow dryer for a hand appeared in front of Crusher. The black flames shooting out of the metallic dragon’s mouth collided with it, but did not pass it. “This card will block one attack pre turn and then returns to a face down position. This means I can stop one attack pre turn!”
“Well lucky for me I have another monster,” said the Princess with a grin. “Red Eyes Black Flare Dragon, finish what Darkness started and destroy Crusher! Rapid Fire Inferno Blast!” Princess’s second dragon opened its mouth to unleash a volley of fiery spheres at Genex Ally Crusher. Twilight’s machine didn’t stand a chance, exploding as the attack made contact with it.
“That was so awesome,” explained Rainbow Dash to the crowd before a thoughtful look appeared on her face. “But, why didn’t she attack Birdman? That would have done damage at least.”
“Simple,” replied Equestria’s Spike as he looked out at the field. “My Twilight knew that as long as Crusher remained on the field, her monsters would just get destroyed every time your Twilight summoned a monster.”
“Since you destroyed my Genex Ally Crusher, the effect of my spell card activates,” shouted Twilight before going through her deck. “Now, thanks to the power of Machina Armored Unit, I can summon my Genex Ally Remote from my deck to the field in defense mode!” When Twilight finished saying this, a new machine appeared on her side of the field where her Crusher had been. Remote was a small, mostly white robot with a spherical body. It had two feet and a hand, but the other hand had been replaced with an over sized remote controller. Its attack points were 800 while its defense points were 1800.
The Princess nodded. “I’ll end my turn then,” she said.
“Then it’s my draw,” said Twilight while removing the top card from her deck and placing it in her hand. “Now I’ll summon Genex Ally Changer to the field in attack position!” As Twilight set the card on her duel disk, a new android appeared in front of her. This one was mostly white with green bits on its arms and legs. In addition, it also had a yellow visor in place of a face. Its attack points were 1200.
“That doesn’t look very impressive,” commented Rainbow Dash as she pulled out her smart phone to look up any information she could on this monster.
“Now I’m going to use his special ability which allows me to change the attribute of any monster on field to whatever I want,” said Twilight before pointing to Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon. “So I’m going to turn that dragon from a dark monster to a light one!” As soon as she said this, Changer lifted a hand towards the assigned target before a beam of white light shot out of it. When it hit Darkness Metal Dragon it seemed to wrap around it, almost like a bubble or a force field.
“But what’s the point?” asked the Princess as she stared at her dragon in confusion. It hadn’t lost its effect or its attack points. It was just a light monster now.
“I’ll get to that soon,” said Twilight as she adjusted her glasses. “But first I need to activate the effect of Genex Ally Remote, which allows me to change the name of any monster on my side of the field to Genex Controller. And the monster I choose is Genex Ally Birdman!” As she explained this, Remote pointed its namesake at Birdman. A red beam shot out of it and then…nothing else happened. At least not on the field. Yet if either Twilight or the Princess looked at their duel disks they would see that Birdman’s name had indeed been changed.
“Ok I’m lost,” said Rainbow Dash as she crossed her arms. “What’s the point of all of this?”
“To get out a specific monster,” said Twilight. “You see, the monster I am about to summon requires the use of a specific tuner monster called Genex Controller. I don’t have that card in my deck nor do I need it when I have Remote. Now that I have everything set up, I tune my level 3 Genex Controller with my Genex Ally Changer to synchro summon the level 6 Genex Ally Triarm!” As Twilight finished saying this, she thrust her hand into the air and pointed towards the heavens. At the same time, Remote jumped into the air and became three green rings which Changer jumped into. Once inside of the rings Changer turned into three stars before a bright light engulfed them. Then, jumping out of the light, was Genex Ally Triarm.
Genex Ally Triarm was a mostly black android with glowing green bits decorating his armor. His body was a bit rounded and smooth with his feet looking a little on the heavy side. Like Remote, Triarm had only one hand which gave Twilight a thumbs up when it landed on the ground. Where it was different from Remote was that in place of its other hand was a large, three part blaster cannon with a tube running from it to the monster’s back. In place of its face was a blue colored visor.
“Now that my monster has been successfully summoned I can use its effect,” continued Twilight with a grin. “This monster’s effect is based on the attribute of the non-tuner monster used to summon him. Since Changer was a dark type, I can discard one card from my hand to destroy one light monster you control. Then, after it’s destroyed, I get to draw a card!”
The Princess’ eyes widened as she looked over at her dragon. “So that’s why you changed him to a light attribute!”
Twilight nodded as she discarded one card from her hand. Instantly, the blue visor on her monster began to glow brightly as he pointed his weapon at Darkness Metal Dragon. The weapon began to spin around rapidly before it fired three beams on energy which began to intertwine like thread. The blast pierced Darkness Metal Dragon, who cried out in pain right before it vanished. Yet, as soon as it was gone, another card took its place! It looked like a mix between an old man and a horned dragon, sitting in front of the Princess crossed legged with 2100 defense points.
“When a face up dragon monster I control is sent to the graveyard due to monster effect or battle, I am able to special summon Keeper of the Shrine from either my hand or my graveyard,” exclaimed the Princess.
“Well then,” said Twilight as she drew her new card and looked at it. “Seeing as Triarm has the same number of attack points as your dragon, I’m going to end my turn.”
“Then I draw,” exclaimed the Princess as she drew her card and looked at it. “Ok, I’ll use the card I just drew to gain the advantage: Raigeki!”
“Wow, what a great draw!” announced Rainbow as she stood up. “With this move, Princess Twilight will be able to get rid of all of her opponent’s monsters! And because they were destroyed with a card effect Machina Armored Unit won’t activate leaving our Twilight with nothing!”
“That will also make it harder for her to make a comeback,” added the dragon turned dog as he wagged his tail excitedly. “With only two cards in her hand, it’ll be slow work to try and build up her attack again!”
Above the field, thunder clouds began to form with lightning dancing around them. Looking up while taking a step back, Twilight gritted her teeth. “I activate my trap card: Solemn Judgment! This card allows me to negate the activation of your spell card for the mere cost of half of my life points.” As Twilight’s life points went down to 4000, an old man in robes appeared in front of her with his hand stretched up towards the heavens. Instantly the clouds began to disperse while the Princess sent her spell card to the graveyard.
I wanted to save that card in case Princess Twilight used one of her fusion spell, thought the nerdy human girl to herself. But at least this allows me to make this play sooner!
“Since I negated a spell card of yours, the effect of the Genex Ally Reliever in my hand activates,” said Twilight as she held up the card so the Princess could see it. “Now I can special summon it to the field in attack position!” As Twilight slapped the card onto her duel disk, the sound of a jet could be heard flying overhead. Looking up, everyone saw a shiny silver looking android shooting down towards them with flames coming out of its feet and back. As it neared the ground behind Twilight, Reliever began to adjust its course so that it missed the ground at the last moment and flew past Twilight while creating a powerful wind that caused Twilight’s lab coat to press against her body. The silver robot then flew around the field once before it landed on the ground, making the V for victory sign when it did.
“I end my turn,” said the Princess with a frown.
“Ok then,” replied Twilight as she drew a card and looked at it. It wasn’t what she was hoping for, but she could still make all of this work. “First, I’ll summon Genex Neutron in attack position!” When Twilight set this card on her duel disk, a wormhole opened up on the field to reveal a new monster with 1800 attack points. This monster was also an android, but looked more alien than the others. It’s fingers were long and pointy and it seemed to have a single glowing orange eye. Color wise it was all over the map with mostly black armor, but red feet and belly with orange areas as well as similar colored wires.
“Next, I’m going to synchro summon once again,” continued Twilight. “I’ll tune my level three Genex Ally Remote with my level five Genex Ally Reliever in order to bring out Genex Ally Axel!” While Twilight was talking, the two monsters she mentioned jumped into the air. Remote turned into three green rings while Reliever turned into five bright stars that moved into the rings. There was then a flash of light and when it faded Genex Ally Axel appeared on the field. This was the strongest monster Twilight had summoned thus far with 2600 attack points. Like all of Twilight’s monsters it had a humanoid appearance, but there were wheels where its feet should have been which it used to zoom around the field as if it were skating at ninety miles per hour. When it got to its summoner, Axel shot one of its legs forwards while the other bent low so it could twirl around in place before standing with a fist pump toward the sky. Everyone there looked at the now still robot with its white steel coat, purple visor, odd looking hoop attached to its back, and what looked like a card launcher attached to one of its arms.
“Now to show you what this monster can do,” said Twilight with a smile as she discarded the last card in her hand. “By discarding a card from my hand, I can summon any machine type monster that is level four or lower from my graveyard to the field. The monster summoned this way will lose its effects, will be unable to attack you directly, and will be removed from play at the end of this turn. However, its attack points will be doubled during that time. So let’s welcome back Genex Searcher one last time!” A card shot out of Axel’s card launcher which he caught and held up in front of him. The hoop attached to his back began to fill with a golden light before there was a sudden flash and, when it cleared, Searcher was back on the field with 3200 attack points.
“This isn’t good,” gasped Rainbow.
“Twilight, hold on,” cried Spike the dragon puppy.
“Now for the attack,” said Twilight. “Searcher, attack Red Eyes Black Flare Dragon!” Searcher let out several sparks before it waddled over to Twilight’s dragon and grabbed it. From its damaged body, currently of electricity began to run down its arms and into the dragon which cried out in pain until it exploded. The Princess cried out as her life points dropped to 5800. “Next, Triarm will attack Keeper of the Shine!” Nodding, Genex Ally Triarm raised its weapon which began to spin around rapidly before firing a volley of black spheres at the withered old dragon.
“Since you destroyed my Keeper of the Shrine, I get to bring a normal monster from the graveyard back to my hand,” said the Princess. “And the card I choose is Red Eyes Black Dragon!”
“Ok then,” said Twilight calmly. “Now Genex Ally Axel, attack her directly!” Axel gave Twilight a thumbs up before leaning in so low that it needed to put a hand down to keep itself from falling down flat on the ground. Its wheels began to spin rapidly, creating a screeching noise until it shot towards the Princess and body slammed her. The force of the impact knocked Princess Twilight onto her back, her life points dropping to 3200, as Axel speed back to its owner. “Now Genex Neutron, your turn to attack!” Neutron raised one of its hands and, as it did, a wormhole appeared which the machine reached into. At the same time, the other end of the wormhole opened up right behind the Princess’ head who was now standing up. Neutron’s hand grabbed her head, causing the pony princess to cry out if both shock and fright as her life points dropped further down to 1400.
“With that, I end my turn,” said Twilight as another wormhole appeared next to her. “And when I do, the effect of Genex Neutron activates letting me add any machine type tuner to my hand. And the one I choose is Genex Ally Chemistrer.” Twilight then reached into the wormhole and pulled out a card which she showed to the Princess so she would know it was the card picked.
“Well, here I go,” said Princess Twilight as she drew a card and looked at it. “I’ll set this card and then end my turn.” The hologram of a card appeared in the Princess’ spell and trap card zone right after she inserted the card into her duel disk.
Ok, that has to be a trap, thought Twilight as she drew a card. Might offer her some protection, destroy my monsters, or just something to bluff with and give her another turn. But, thankfully, I have just the monster to finish this.
“Princess,” said Twilight as she looked at her opponent. “I want you to know that I have really enjoyed this duel with you.”
“I’ve been enjoying this duel as well,” said the Princess, both of them smiling the same knowing smile at each other. “But if you think I’m going to let this be the end, you’d better think again.”
“We’ll see,” said Twilight as she discarded a card from her hand. “First, I’ll discard a card so Axel can bring back Genex Ally Birdman! He’ll lose his effect, but he’s still a tuner monster!” Once again, Axel drew a card from the card shooter and held it up before summoning Birdman from the grave. “Next I’ll activate the effect of Genex Ally Chemistrer which will allow me to change the attribute of any monster on my side of the field. So now Genex Neutron will become an earth type monster instead of light. Now I’ll tune my level three Birdman with my level four Neutron to create my last synchro monster: Genex Ally Triforce!” Both monsters leapt into the air, but only one came down. Genex Ally Triforce looked a lot like Triarm, except Triforce was white and had 2500 attack point. “Now since I used an earth type monster as a non-tuner material, his effect is that when he attacks you can’t use any traps!”
“Then I better activate my trap now!” declared the Princess as her trap card sprung up. “Red Eyes Spirit allows me to summon any Red Eyes monster from the graveyard and onto the field. And the Red Eyes monster I choose is Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon!” The earth erupted from behind the Princess as her fallen dragon returned, letting out a deafening roar as it did.
Oh no! thought Twilight as both she and her monsters all took a step back. I can’t do anything now! I have no cards left in my hand and, even if I did, I already used Axel’s special ability! I’m going to lose! Closing her eyes, Twilight lifted her hand to place it over her deck in order to signal her surrender. Yet the feel of a hand on her shoulder caused her to stop and open her eyes. To Twilight’s surprise, it was Genex Ally Axel. Behind him were Triarm and Triforce, all three of them looking at her as if to say ‘don’t give up hope’. In the background, she could hear the crowd muttering in confusion as to why holograms were behaving in such a way but Twilight paid them no mind as she nodded to Axel with a smile. We might still be able to do this. I still have my trap and spell card so there is still a chance. Together, we’ll fight to the very end and show them just what we’re made of! To her surprise, Axel, Triarm, and Triforce all nodded in unison as if they read her thoughts before turning around to face the Princess.
Continuing to ignore everyone’s confusion as to what was going on, Twilight took a deep breath. “Good move,” said. “Looks like this duel will be going on a bit longer. I end my turn.”
“Looks like,” agreed the Princess as she drew a card while also eyeing Twilight’s monsters. “I’m going to activate the card Red Eyes Fusion! With this card I can fuse together monsters in my hand, field, or deck in order to create a fusion monster. So now I fuse the Red Eyes Black Dragon in my hand with the Meteor Dragon Red-Eyes Impact in my deck to create Meteor Black Comet Dragon!” The area above the Princess’ head began to swirl and distort as images of the first two monsters she named were sucked into it. Not even a second later, a much larger black dragon who seemed to be covered from head to tail with red flames emerged onto the field. It let out an ear splitting roar as it beat its wings, proudly displaying its 3500 attack points. “Since Red Eyes Fusion was used to create this monster, its name is changed to Red Eyes Black Dragon and I’m not allowed to special or normal summon the rest of this turn.
“Now, since my new dragon here was fusion summoned, I can use his special ability which lets me send one Red Eyes monster from my hand or deck to the graveyard and you will take damage equal to half of that monster's attack points. And the monster I choose is Red Eyes Archfiend of Lightning. So you’ll lose 1250 life points!” As she finished this sentence, the pony princess pointed at Twilight while her monster began to flap its massive wings sending molten fireballs in her direction. As they landed on the ground around her and exploded, Twilight cried out while raising her hand on instinct. When it finally ended her life points dropped to 2750.
“Now for the real attack,” continued the Princess. “Meteor Black Comet Dragon, attack Genex Ally Axel with Scorching Scales!” The dragon let out a soft growl as it began to flap its wings causing various flaming scales on its body to fly towards Axel.
“I activate Scrap Iron Scarecrow to block the attack!” announced Twilight as her scarecrow appeared on the field between the attack and Axel. The scales cut into the scarecrow, denting and singeing it horribly. But, in the end, Axel remained standing.
“I knew that would happen,” said the Princess. “But you won’t be able to use that card again this turn. So now Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon will attack Axel!” Darkness Metal let out a roar right before it opened its mouth to unleash a massive wave of black flames. Twilight, who was right behind Axel, raised her arms as she prepared to brace herself for the impact. But…something unexpected happened. Axel looked at her before he spun around and moved in close to her. He draped over her as if to create a barrier right at the moment the attack hit him. Twilight could only stare helplessly into his visor as he protected her from the shockwave of the attack.
When the attack was over, Twilight’s body was shaking as her life points dropped to 2550. She could hear the muttering and whispering of the crowd who were again confused by her holograms behavior. But Twilight ignored them as slowly got up and saw, to her horror, that the entire backside of Axel had melted away and his internal circuitry was destroyed. Just beyond him were Triarm and Triforce with their heads down in a somber like pose.
“Axel,” whispered Twilight right before her monster exploded in a burst of light. I’ll keep going and win this!
“Was that Equestrian magic?” asked the Princess, looking concerned. “Or was it something else?” In the crowd, unknown to either of the Twilight’s, Sunset Shimmer was having similar thoughts. Part of her was worried what would happen if the duel continued, but Canterlot High Twilight stepped forwards and told herself she could share her concerns with her friends latter.
“My spell card activates,” said Twilight, ignoring what the Princess said. “Since you destroyed Genex Ally Axel in battle, Machina Armored Unit allows me to summon to the field any dark type monster with fewer attack points. And I know just the one! I summon Genex Ally Duradark!” Appearing on her side of the field was a black android with blue circuitry glowing all over its body and a red visor with computer code running across it. When this 1800 attack point monster arrived, its arms were crossed and poised in an ‘I’m a bad-ass’ kind of manner.
“He kind of looks like Megaman,” said Rainbow Dash, voicing what nearly everyone else was thinking.
“I end my turn,” said the Princess, still looking slightly concerned.
“I draw,” said Twilight. “And I’ll play a second Machina Armored Unit before activating my Duradark’s special ability. Once per turn, I can select one monster you control with the same attribute as Duradark’s and destroy it! And the monster I choose is Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon!” Duradark nodded as more code ran across his visor. He lifted a hand towards Darkness Metal as a hole opened up in the middle. The moment it did that, it was like there was a wind tunnel sucking everything towards it. Darkness Metal dug its heels in to stay on the field, but eventually it was sucked towards Duradark where it shrank before being sucked into its hand.
“Since a monster was destroyed via card effect, Keeper of the Shrine returns from my graveyard,” said the Princess as the withered old dragon appeared back on the field.
Twilight nodded. “Well, since there’s nothing else I can do for now I’ll end my turn.”
Ok, I’m all set for my next move, thought Twilight as the Princess drew her next card. If Princess Twilight is unable to summon a monster then Duradark will destroy her only monster and I’ll close in for the win. If she does and manages to destroy Duradark, I’ll just use my spell cards to summon another Crusher and Changer from my deck so that no matter what I draw. I should be good.
“This has been a good duel,” said the Princess, getting Twilight’s attention. “But I’m ending it now by playing my spell card Level Modulation. For the price of allowing you to draw two cards, I’m allowed to special summon one Lvl monster from my graveyard. However, that monster will be unable to attack and will have its effects negated until my next turn. And the monster I choose is Armed Dragon Lvl 7!”
“But what’s the point?” asked Twilight as she drew her cards while at the same time the drill covered dragon appeared on the Princess’ side of the field.
“I need him so I can summon his final, adult form,” said the Princess as she held up a card. “Now, by sacrificing Armed Dragon Lvl 7 I can bring out the Armed Dragon Lvl 10 from my hand.” As she said this, a new and more brutal looking dragon appeared on the field in place of the old Armed Dragon. This new one stood on its hind legs which had massive drills on its knee caps. Its wings were massive blades that touched the ground, looking sharp enough to cut you just by looking at them. Covering the head all the way down to the torso was shiny black armor that protected its red scaled body. To top it all off, this version of Armed Dragon had 3000 attack points. “And now I will use his effect: by discarding the last card in my hand, I can destroy all of your face up monsters. Since they won’t be destroyed in battle then the effect of Machina Armored Unit won’t activate.”
“You can’t!” shouted Twilight. But it was too late as Armed Dragon Lvl 10 smashed the ground with one of his massive fists. Large cracks raced towards Twilight’s monsters, ending at their feet right before massive drills shot out of the ground and pierced them all at once. Twilight watched helplessly as they all exploded right before her very eyes, unable to do anything to save them.
She was now alone.
“Should have seen that coming,” said somebody in the crowd. “Knew those Genex monsters were worthless.”
“Twilight should have been smart enough not to use them,” agreed another student.
“Now, Armed Dragon Lvl 10, attack her life points directly,” said the Princess. The armored dragon opened its mouth and let loose a blast of air that looked like it was comprised of millions of razors, ready to rip apart anything it came in contact with. Twilight could have used her trap card to protect herself, to block the attack. But what was the point? Her monsters were gone and the Princess had another monster on the field. Seeing that there was no point in delaying it and looking like a bigger fool, she allowed the attack to hit her.
As her life points dropped to zero, she did her best to look at the Princess while tears ran down her face. “Looks like w-we know who t-the better T-Twilight is,” she said while trying to wipe the tears from her face. “I-I’ll get my things.” And with that, Twilight sprinted off and leaving behind a very surprised looking version of herself behind.
-x-
It wasn’t until Twilight was on the other side of the school when she finally stopped running and collapsed onto her knees. For some time, she remained like this as she cried. None of it seemed fair. She thought she had finally found what she was looking for, had finally gotten herself friends. Only for them to lose them. She didn’t blame the other Twilight since there was no way she could have cheated. The move she had done was fair. The only one Twilight could blame right now was herself for not playing harder and not updating her deck in so long.
Slowly, Twilight wondered what she was going to do now. Surely there wouldn’t be any need for her to stay here at Canterlot High anymore. Would she return to Crystal Prep?
Suddenly, Twilight felt a hand gently touch her shoulder. She turned and looked into her own face smiling kindly at her, the Princess lowered herself to Twilight level.
“Hey,” she began before looking like she trying to decide what to say next. “Are…Are you ok?” Twilight shook her head. “I figured. So, do you mind telling me what all that was about? I want to help you but I can’t unless I know what’s going on.”
Twilight gulped before she spoke. “They…They wanted to find out who was the better Twilight,” she said. “Now they know I’m the inferior version between us.”
“Ah…what?” was the Princess’ response.
“That’s how duels work,” stated Twilight, sounding a little hysterical. “The loser is the fake, the phony! I should have known I was just the more convenient Twilight since I’m always here! But why should they settle with me, the one who went insane after taking in so much magical energy and became Midnight Sparkle!? Next to you, an actual princess who has saved not one but two worlds multiple times from evil magic I’m just the girl who was willing to rip apart this world just to get what I wanted. How…How can no one see who the better Twilight is?”
For a moment, everything was silent as Twilight cried some more. The Princess didn’t say anything. Twilight knew that she must, on some level at least, agree with her. She wasn’t a screw up like Twilight was. She was a-
“I turned my parents into potted plants by accident,” said the Princess suddenly, cutting off Twilight’s thought train. Twilight whipped her head around to see that her counterpart was now sitting next to her as she spoke. “It was the day of the entrance exam for Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns and, well, it didn’t look like I was going to pass. Just after I admitted defeat there was an explosion that scared me so badly that I lost control of my magic. Turned the instructors into various objects, my parents into potted plants, Spike into an adult dragon, and so much more before Princess Celestia stopped me.”
“I…” began Twilight, but she didn’t know what to say to that. Princess Twilight had allowed her magic to overtake her as well?
“Then there was the time I sent Ponyville into a panic over my doll,” continued the Princess, looking a little ashamed at herself. “I thought I needed to send Princess Celestia weekly reports on what I learned about friendship and one week I found myself unable to. I was so afraid of what might happen that I ended up enchanting my Smarty Pants doll with the want it need it spell to create a friendship problem. The entire town ended up fighting over her and I lost control of the situation all together. If Spike hadn’t contacted the Princess, I don’t know what would have happened.
“Then there was the time I tried to stop an insect swarm with my magic…and only made it worse when they began eating pony’s homes instead of their food. Then there was the time I thought that if I showed everypony my magic they would turn against me.”
“Wait, hold on,” said Twilight as she looked at the Princess. “I thought…I mean the way everyone talks about you makes it sound like you’re some sort of magical savior!”
“Well I wouldn’t go that far,” said the Princess earnestly. “I mean, yes I have helped save my world and yours a few times, but I rarely ever did it on my own. That also doesn’t mean I’m better than you or I don’t make similar mistakes. If anything, when I make a mistake, there tends to be big consequences for everypony involved.” The Princess then placed a hand back on Twilight’s shoulder. “What I want you to know is that no one here will think of you as an inferior model. Winning or losing in a foals card game can’t determine anypony’s worth. And a real friend would never judge you like that.”
“But then, why did they want us to duel like that?” asked Twilight. “Pitting us against each other for everyone to see?”
“Because they weren’t thinking,” said the voice of Sunset Shimmer behind them. Both Twilights looked around to see a very annoyed Sunset tugging on Rainbow Dash’s ear while the others stood behind her with their heads down.
“Sunset, what’s going on?” asked Twilight as she and her mirror double stood up.
“Well,” began Sunset as she tugged harder on Rainbow’s ear, causing said girl to cry out. “Apparently someone wanted to know how different the two of you were and they all decided that a duel OUT OF THE BLUE was a good idea!”
Both Twilights blinked. “You know you could have just asked me over tea or something,” they both said in unison.
“That’s what I wanted,” muttered Fluttershy, looking away slightly to the left as she did.
“Well we thought this would be less invasive, darlings,” said Rarity with a weak smile.
“And fun!” said Pinkie with a bigger smile that quickly faded. “But when it ended, it didn’t look like either Twilight had any fun.”
“Yeah,” agreed Applejack. “Ah reckon we should have told ya both what was going on. Or at least made it more private.”
“Yeah, we’re sorry,” added Rainbow Dash. “Now will you please let go of my ear! It feels like you’re going to rip it off.” Sunset let out a sigh, rolling her eyes as she did so before letting go of Rainbow’s ear.
“So, you all still want me as your friend?” asked Twilight, wanting to clarify things.
“Of course we do,” said all of the Rainbooms together.
“Twilight, this isn’t like Crystal Prep where everything was about winning,” said Sunset as she walked over to her purple friend and placed a hand on her shoulder. “And this isn’t like one of those silly animes where we’ll think any less of you if you lose.”
“Yeah, none of us have the weird hairdos to pull that off,” Rainbow chimed in while the others nodded.
“The point is, you’re our friend and nothing is going to change that,” continued Sunset. “And even if the other Twilight could be here whenever, we would still want you here. Because, this is where you belong.”
Instantly, Twilight felt her body relax a bit. It was like a weight she had no idea she had been carrying had been lifted off her shoulders. She looked from Sunset to the Princess before wrapping them both up in a big hug, pressing them tightly against her body as she smiled broadly.
“Thank you,” she said happily.
“No problem,” said Sunset as Twilight let her go. Taking a step back, Sunset brought a hand to her chin as she looked at Twilight’s duel disk. “And now that that’s been taken care of, I think we should take a look at your deck. The holograms were acting different than how they should have been. I think maybe some of Equestria’s magic got infused in the cards.”
“And while we’re doing that, we can help you update your deck,” said Pinkie Pie. “If you hadn’t used Solemn Judgment and instead used one of the more recent cards, you might have lasted another turn or two and won! Oh this is going to be super fun!”
“And, since I’m here, we can go over the differences between our worlds,” added Princess Twilight, who sounded excited. “This will make a fascinating research topic for the Princess. How many chances does a pony get to meet her alternate self?”
“I know,” said an equally excited Twilight with a new sparkle in her eyes as she thought about what they could learn. She could tell that the rest of the day was going to be amazing.