Chapter one: The heart of the cards
“Please...save us...”
In the middle of Canterlot City a teenage girl awoke from her slumber with a deeply rooted sense of fear following her now forgotten dream; a dream involving herself, five other faceless girls and a shadow dripping in venomous anguish.
This girl is none other then top student at the prestigious ‘Canterlot Academy for Gifted and Elite Duelists’ (or C.A.G.E.D for short) and prodigy under the guidence of the worlds number one duelist, the one and only “Princess” Celestia (so called after winning the title of ‘Princess of Games’ for a full 27 years in a row before eventually retiring as reigning champion).
This girl is Twilight Sparkle.
~~~~~~~
“GAHH!” Twilight announced as she shot straight up in her bed; wide awake, full of adrenaline and drenched in sweat as her eyes darted back and forth scanning for any signs of... of... whatever it was that was making her this anxious.
As Twilight started to calm down and focused on her breathing techniques she attempted to think back upon her nightmare, only to come up short as the entirety of it had left her mind, leaving behind only niggling sensations and the vague impression that it was something important; eventually frustration kicked in as she gave up in her endeavour to remember and instead checked her watch to see what time it was, letting out a groan as she realised that it was still far too early to get up, she resigned herself to the fact that she was most likely never going to fall back to sleep at this point and would just have to make do with resting her eyes.
~~~~~~~
“MOVE, MOVE MOVE!!!” Twilight screamed as she barrelled down the streets in an attempt to make up for lost time on route to the train station, “I can’t believe I’m going to be late” she muttered to herself as she finally reached the platform, “stupid dreams, stupid circadian rhythm, stupid alarm, stupid, stupid, stupid...”
“Woah there Twilight, calm down a bit before you go full meltdown would you.” Twilight spun around to find the source of the voice and the person talking to her, to find her class mates Lyra and Minuette standing there with slightly amused smiles upon their faces.
“Hey girls, look it’s really great to see you and all but I’m kind of in a hurry and I really don’t have time to converse with you two right now” She said, hopping from one foot to another impatiently.
“Yeah we figured as much, is it safe to assume you’re going to see Celestia for some coaching?” Lyra asked, to which she got a quick nod from the still bobbing Twilight as confirmation, “well lucky you I guess, although you might want to clean yourself up a bit first before seeing her.” She said, punctuating her sentence as she gestured up and down Twilights body.
Twilight looked down to assess the damage of her rushed morning rituals; her shoes were untied, her shirt was partially untucked and was buttoned up incorrectly leaving one side shorter than the other, one of her socks was inside out, her hair was a mess and she was covered in crumbs from the toast she had in her mouth as she ran out of the house which had also left a smear of slime toad™ brand jam on the corner of her mouth. “I guess I’m a bit of a mess right now” she said before quickly shaking her head “it’s fine, I’ll fix my clothes on the ride there; now is there anything else, because I don’t want to get too distracted and miss my train by accident.”
“Well there’s is one thing” Minuette said, “have you gotten a present for-“ Minuette got interrupted by the load speakers as they signal the arrival of a new trains it pulls up in front of the platform where the three girls are located.
“Sorry to cut it short, but I have to get going now, see you two in on Tuesday” Twilight announces as she abandons her classmates to board her train.
Minuette frowns, “wait, what about tomorrow at Moo-“ was all she was able to get out before the mechanical doors automatically close behind Twilight, blocking out the rest of what Minuette was saying, although enough did get through for Twilight to check her phones diary for any noteworthy events taking place on the following day as she quickly grabbed herself a seat in a vacant compartment, “huh, nothing out of the usual tomorrow” she said to herself as she pocketed her phone, “it’s probably nothing to worry about.” Twilight then proceeded to spend the rest of her trip towards her final destination within the Castle district in relative silence, as she gazed out of her compartments window and down towards the sprawling metropolis below, fantasising about what her mentor and idol might have in store for her.
~~~~~~~
“Now Black Luster soldier, attack my student with chaos blade!”
Twilight: 0000LP
Celestia: 8000LP
WINNER - CELESTIA
“So now, was that win number 4987 or 4988, see I’m not sure if I should count the ojama mirror duel since that was solely for teaching about ‘troll’ decks.” Celestia said to herself with a slight chuckle as she walked over to her prone student before proceeding to reach out her hand to aid in Twilights rising, to which Twilight only responded with silence as she stared up towards the ceiling and it’s many murals depicting the battle between the monsters of the Lightsworn archetype and those of the Darkworld archetype, as was told in the card lore between the two. The silence persisted until Celestia finally broke it, “Twilight? What’s the matter?”
“....I’m never going to beat you am I...” Twilight said, crestfallen
“Twilight, you are already a fine duelist, you just need to trust a bit more in your deck is all”
“How? I’ve done my best for years now, constantly changing tactics, keeping up with the meta and the best decks: trickstars, monarchs, SPYrals, heck I even ran madolche at one point. Yet I’ve never even come close to winning against you, so what am I missing here?” Twilight asked, not really to her mentor, and more so to herself.
“Twilight...” The silence decided to rear its ugly head again, and Celestia decided to lie down next to Twilight and gaze up towards the ceiling with her.
Several minutes pass before Celestia speaks up and says, “Twilight, have I ever told you about ‘The Heart of the Cards’?”
“I’ve heard you mention it a few times, but from what I can gather it just boils down to praying for a good draw.”
Celestia chuckled slightly at Twilight’s response, “in a way it might seem that way, but no, the heart of the cards is something completely different. You see Twilight, our decks as duelists are an extension of our minds and our wills, through the plays we make and the decks we build, through which we forge a bond with our decks that can never be broken; and from that bond a spark is made, a spark that ignites to become a unique heart and soul independent of our own that resides within our decks. Twilight, to master a deck you must become it’s friend, and by doing so it will become your friend, and together you will help each other get stronger; you will learn to utilise it to its fullest potential, and it will in turn aid you by helping you draw the cards you need to succeed.” Celestia then turns her head to see Twilight looking back at her with stars in her eyes, transfixed by what she was just told. “Do you think you understand what I’m saying to you?”
“I think so, so you’re saying I should just build a new deck and then practice until I’m perfect with any possible hand?”
Celestia just sighed and said, “that is the opposite of what I’m saying, except the practicing part, that parts good.”
“Oh...”
“Twilight, I know you can learn and master the heart of the cards, but you must realise that there is more to duelling than books and deck building, you just need the proper push in the right direction and so I shall do just that.” Celestia said, before sitting up and continuing, “now Twilight I have a gift for you to help you on your journey to surpass me, hold out your hands and close your eyes.”
Twilight did just that, and in the darkness she felt her teacher place something rectangular in her open hand.
“Alright, now open up.”
It was a deck of duel monster cards.
“This is my own personal deck Twilight, I now entrust it to you, please flip it over.”
Twilight did so and on the bottom to great her was none other than Celestia’s signature card, the ritual monster ‘Black Luster Soldier’.
“Oh please Celestia no, no I can’t take this.” Twilight said, flabbergasted at what she had just received.
“Oh, and why not? It is mine after all, so I should be allowed to do what I want with it, and I choose to pass it on to my successor.”
“But this is too much, this is the deck that kept you as ‘Princess’ for all of your career, it should be in a museum, not in my possession!”
“A museum now Twilight? Really, I’m not that old am I?” Celestia said with a smirk.
“But Celestia!”
“Nope, this is my final decision and I won’t take no for an answer; besides, I’m retired from duelling competitively, it would see much more use under your care.” She said, before thinking for a second and continuing, “however, if you truly want to earn the right to use it to its fullest, then master the heart of the cards and use it to win this years ‘Summer Sun’ tournament and take my place as ‘Princess of Games’, I hear it’s being held in a lovely town called ‘Ponyville’ this year.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Oh go on now you know you’ll have fun, besides, you might even make some new friends while you’re there.”
Twilight just scowls at Celestia.
“Fine, how about this, you enter the tournament and if you haven’t learnt anything about the heart of the cards be the time you finish, then I will donate this deck to a museum like you want, deal?” Celestia extends her arm out
“This is as close as I’m going to get isn’t it?” Celestia nods in agreement, Twilight sighs in discontent, “deal.”
The student and the teacher shake hands and solidify their deal.
“Now then, how about a quick ojama mirror match before you leave for old times sake?”
