> Dueling for a Chance
>  by Darthvalgaav
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Enter the new filly
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I’m so late,” complained Sweetie Belle as she galloped as fast as she could. As she sped by, ponies of all ages jumped out of her way, narrowing missing being hit by the young filly. She wished that she knew how to teleport or that she knew a spell that would make the Duel Disk strapped to her chest a bit lighter. Anything to help her get to Twilight’s place just a bit faster.


Of all the days to be late to her Dueling Class, it had to be today! Then again, maybe it was partly because of what was happening today that was reason for her lateness. After their last class, Twilight had announced that the three of them would be dueling other ponies instead of each other and herself. That they couldn’t grow as good duelists if they only dueled the same opponents time after time and needed to learn how to adapt to new situations. So, to help with that, Twilight had enlisted the help of several others whose skills were around their own. Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had perked up at the news while Sweetie’s ears flattened against her skull. It was easy to see why her friends would get excited by this news; they were almost tied for the amount of times they had won duels. As for Sweetie Belle, well, she could count the number of times she had won on one of Spike’s claws. As a result, she had stayed up a few extra hours going over her deck to see if there was any way of improving it. That, followed by relentless nightmares of her probable failure, had caused her to sleep in and thus the reason she was now late.


As she drew closer to her destination, the sounds of a commotion could be heard by the unicorn filly. As she round the corner of the castle, she spotted a large group of ponies. They were in a tight knit large circle, watching whatever was going on in the center with absolute focus. Ponies farthest from the center (who could not fly) struggled to peek over the shoulders of those in front of them. Sweetie Belle walked around the circle until she found the narrowest of cracks in the crowd which she pushed through, apologizing to everypony along the way as she did so.


Sweetie Belle stopped when she got a clear view of what was happening. Standing there in the center was Spike and Scootaloo in the middle of a duel. The duel seemed like it had just started as neither of them had lost any life points. Scootaloo had a single monster on the field: Gusto Egul, a small green bird with a finned helmet on. The monster was in defense mode with a tiny 400 defense points to protect itself with. Behind it was a single face down card. On the other side with Spike was a monster, a large stallion with the build of Rockhoof. Around the monster’s neck was a necklace of small white stones and on his bronze fur were red tribal markings. His black mane was tied back into a ponytail, probably designed that way so when he swung his oversized sword his mane would not get in his eyes.


“Already getting sick on your defenses Scootaloo,” said Spike as he drew a card from his deck. He looked at it and smiled. “But too bad for you, I know how to make them worthless! I play my spell card: Polymerization! With this card I fuse the Elemental Hero Wildheart on my field with the Bladedge in my claw to bring out Elemental Hero Wildedge!” As Spike said this, a spiraling vortex of energy appeared above him. The crowd watched with bated breath as Spike’s two monsters flew into it, their bodies twisting around until they formed a new being that landed in front of Spike. This new monster looked like Wildheart but with more armor. A golden helmet rested on his head and his left hind leg was armored similarly. His right front leg was armored as well, but in addition to the gold were several silver blades sticking out of the side. Finally, on its back was an even larger sword. It’s attack points were 2600.


Scootaloo looked at this monster with a smirk on her lips. “You think that will help you?” she asked. “All that card does is attack every monster on my side of the field once. You’re going to need a lot more than that to defeat me!”


“Then it’s a good thing I’m not done with my turn,” retorted Spike as he held up another card. “Because in addition to summoning him, I’ll equip my monster with Big Bang Shot! Not only does this card give my monster 400 extra attack point, but it ALSO allows him to deal piercing damage.” As Spike played the card, a flaming red aura surrounded Wildedge. The warrior let loose a savage roar as his attack points went up to 3000. “Now Elemental Hero Wildedge, attack Scootaloo’s monster!” Wildedge didn’t need to be told twice, kicking up dirt as he leapt over to Scootaloo’s side of the field. As he neared, the warrior drew his sword before swinging it down upon the scared helpless bird.


As for Scootaloo, the force of the magically generated image pushed her back several inches as her life points dropped to 5400. “I activate my Egul’s effect which lets me summon a level 4 or lower non-tuner Gusto monster from my deck to the field. So let's welcome out Winda, Priestess of Gusto in defense mode!” A whirlwind appeared in front of Scootaloo and when it faded there was a young green pegasus mare wearing a brown coat. Her lighter green mane was tied in a ponytail and under one of her small wings was a silver staff. Her defense points was only 400.


“Fine by me,” said Spike with a shrug. “All you did was give me another target for an attack!” Wildedge let out another roar before slamming his blade down on Winda, dirt flying everywhere as the Priestess was destroyed.


“I activate her effect to let me summon a Gusto tuner monster from my deck,” stated Scootaloo as her life points fell yet again, stopping at 2800. “So this time I’ll summon my Gusto Squirro.”


“Scootaloo DON’T!” screamed Sweetie Belle. “He’ll just attack and destroy it! You’re only hurting yourself!” But it was too late. On Scootaloo’s side of the field appeared a small green squirrel that Fluttershy would love to take care of. This monster thankfully had more defense points: 1800.


“Don’t worry. She knows what she’s doing,” said an unfamiliar next to her. Sweetie turned towards the face and found herself looking at a bat pony filly. Her coat was somewhere between being grey and a light purple while her short mane was defiantly purple. The filly was watching the match, smiling a little with her tiny fangs poking past her lips. Sweetie couldn’t help but notice past her leathery wings was a thread and needle cutie mark.


“Doesn’t look that way to me,” replied Sweetie as she watched Scootaloo’s monster get destroyed, leaving the flightless pegasus with only 1600 life points. “She shouldn’t have activated her monsters effect.”


“Look at her face,” said the bat filly gentle, stretching out a wing to point at Scootaloo. “See how calm she looks?” Sweetie Belle looked at her friend. The orange pegasus was panting, but there was the sings of a half smile on her face. But why would she be smiling now? “Don’t worry, she has a plan.”


“Guess you can’t summon anything else,” said Spike as his monster returned to his side. “Looks like I end my turn.”


“Well before you do that, I activate my trap card!” announced Scootaloo proudly as she pressed a button on her duel disk. “Blessings for Gusto! Here’s how it works: I target two Gusto monsters in my graveyard followed by a third one. The first two are sent back to my deck and the last one I picked gets special summoned. So I’ll be sending both my Egul and Winda back to my deck to summon Squirro to the field again!” As Scootaloo took the cards out of her graveyard, another whirlwind appeared in front of her. When it ended, her green squirrel was back on the field.


Spike looked unimpressed. “Fine then,” he said as he crossed his arms. “Go. It's your turn.”


“I will,” said Scootaloo as she drew her card. She looked at it for a moment before placing it in her hoof while her gaze turned to look at Spike. “Spike, thanks for attacking my monsters. Wasn’t expecting to lose so many life points, but it was worth it so I could play this new combo. I summon Mariamune, the True Dracophoenix. By DESTROYING two cards in either my hoof and/or the field, and as long as at least one of them is a wind type, I can special summon him to the field! So I’ll destroy the Squirros in both my hoof and field to bring him out!” A cry that sounded like a mix of a dragon and a large roc could be heard echoing across the land. From the sky above came a large creature with six beautiful white wings and a long neck with a flowing mane of gold. This monster with 2700 attack points was so massive that when it landed on the field it did so behind Scootaloo, casting a shadow that stretched across the field.


“Since I used two wind types, his other special ability to remove from play the top four cards in your deck,” continued Scootaloo. Spike’s eyes narrowed at this but complied all the same. He quickly drew them before pausing to look at them…and grimaced. Sweetie guessed they were probably really good ones. As he put them in the banished zone he, along with everyone else there, noticed two whirlwinds on either side of Scootaloo.


“What’s going on?” demanded Spike.


“The effects of my Gusto Squirro,” replied Scootaloo with a grin. “When they are destroyed by a card effect they can special summon a Gusto monster to the field as long as they are level five or lower. So now it's time to bring out Caam, Serenity of Gusto and Gusto Gulldo!” As Scootaloo finished talking, the whirlwinds faded revealing two more monsters. On one side was another green bird wearing a helmet covered in spikes while on the other was another green pegasus mare with a silver staff. Caam, unlike Winda looked a few years older and had 1700 attack points. Also, while Winda had had a cheerful expression on her face Caam seemed either disinterested or just plain tired. “Now, before I do anything else, I’m going to use Caam’s effect which lets her send two Gusto monsters from my graveyard back into my deck and then I can draw a card.” Sweetie watched as both of Scootaloo’s Squirro cards were removed from her friend’s graveyard before being added back into the deck. After the auto-shuffler finished shuffling the deck, Scootaloo drew her card.


“Perfect,” said Scootaloo with a grin. “Now, before I use this card, it’s time for a synchro summon. I tune my level three Gulldo with my level four Caam to summon the level seven Diagusto Eguls!” At once both of Scootaloo’s monsters shot into the sky, Gulldo transforming into three green rings while Caam became four brilliant stars. The circle formed a tube leading up towards the sky as the stars moved in the middle. There was a sudden crash of light and, when it faded a giant, armored green eagle with a pegasus stallion riding on its back appeared. With each beat of its wings, Sweetie Belle and the others felt themselves being pushed back my the wind it generated. Its attack points were 2600.


“If you think that’s all I’m doing guess again,” continued Scootaloo excitedly as she placed a card into the spell/trap card slot. “Because I activate the spell card Emergency Teleport which lets me summon one psychic monster from my deck as long as its level three or lower. Also, it gets banished at the end of my turn. I summon Pilica, Descendant of Gusto in attack position!” A portal appeared on the field and what came out was another green pegasus holding a brown staff topped with a bird of some kind. This young filly was young; probably a year or three younger than Scootaloo was with a mane that started out green only to turn red halfway. “Now her ability activates which lets me summon a wind tuner from my graveyard in face up defense position, but its effects are negated. So I’ll bring back Gulldo!” And just like that, Gulldo was on the field again. “But both of these monsters won’t be on the field for long because I tune my level three Gulldo with my level three Pilica to synchro summon the level six Diagusto Sphreez!” Both monsters vanished, turning into stars and glowing green circles, before another pillar of light struck the ground to reveal Sphreez. This 2000 attack point monster was another green pegasus mare appearing to have the same build as Princess Cadence. Her long mane started out green but gave way to red half way through, looking wild as she stared at Spike’s monster with her ruby colored eyes. Around her head was a golden circlet that held a gem inside and she carried a staff that looked like it ended in a long ball of cotton. “When Sphreez is summoned successfully, I can add one card from my graveyard to my hoof. So I’ll take my Pilica back.”


As Sweetie Belle watched Scootaloo take back her card, she had to admit that she was envious of her friend’s skill. In one turn she had gotten three powerful monsters onto the field without wasting every card in her hoof. However, there was one glaring issue.


“Not bad,” said Spike as he calmly looked at the three monsters standing across the field. Sweetie could tell that he was thinking the same thing she was. “But not good enough. Not one of those monsters can take down my Elemental Hero. When my turn comes I’ll be able to do some serious damage.”


“She’s not done yet,” whispered the bat filly. Probably more to herself than anyone else there.


“Whoever said I was done?” asked Scootaloo with a smirk as she held up a card. “I know your equip card gives your monster the extra edge it needs, but it also has a glaring flaw. If it’s destroyed then the equipped monster is banished from play!” Both Spike’s and Sweetie’s eyes widened as she said that. “So I’ll play my spell card: Contact with Gusto! I’ll shuffle two of my Gusto monsters in my graveyard back into my deck before I can then target and destroy one card on the field. So say goodbye to Big Bang Shot!” Sweetie watched along with everypony else as green lightning fell from the sky to destroy Spike’s spell card. The glow around Wildedge faded as the warrior began to wither away, turning him from a strong stallion into nothing but skin and bones with his armor weighing him down. Moments later the stallion turned to dust that blew away in the wind followed by the armor exploding as it hit the ground.


“Now I attack with all three of my monsters!” declared Scootaloo as she pointed a hoof at Spike. Mariamune, the True Dracophoenix attacked first, opening its mouth to unleash a torrent of gold colored flames down upon Spike. Diagusto Eguls attacked next, beating its wings hard against the ground until it somehow formed two small twisters that moved towards Spike. Finally Sphreez attacked, making a slashing motion with her staff which created a blade of wind that hit Spike in the chest. Panting, Spike took a knee as his life points dropped to 700. “With that I end my turn.”


As Spike drew his next card with a shaky claw, Sweetie turned to look over at the bat filly. She wanted to know how she knew Scootaloo could pull off such an offset. She wanted to know if she thought Spike could make a comeback. A hundred different questions were moving through her head, each one trying to get to the forefront of her mind. But, much to her surprise, the filly was gone. Shocked by this, Sweetie Belle turned her head just in time to see Spike place his claw over his deck in surrender.


-x-


“That was so amazing!” cried an adrenaline fueled Scootaloo as the filly trio walked through Ponyville. Sweetie Belle forced a smile on her face as she looked over at her friends. Both of them had on genuine smiles as they walked.


“Ah know,” said an almost giddy Apple Bloom, looking like she could start skipping for joy at any moment. “If it weren’t for my Naturia Beast as quick as ah had then that spell counter deck would have ended me. Just wish she hadn’t been such a sore loser. Saying ah just got lucky.” Sweetie Belle’s smile felt more strained as Apple Bloom spoke. She had been right, getting her best monster out onto the field as quickly as did had allowed her to win. By preventing her opponent from playing any spell cards, she had essentially shut down the deck while barely losings any life points. Her match had taken longer than Scootaloo’s, but she had suffered less life point loss.


“You both did great,” said Sweetie as she thought to her own duel. Her opponent had used a Volcanic deck, burning her life points away while also clearing her side of the field. To make matters worse, her opponent had managed to summon two Solar Flare Dragons on his first turn which prevented Sweetie from attacking while dealing 1000 points of damage each turn.


As the words left her lips, she was only slightly aware of the slight irritation that escaped her lips. Without looking up, Sweetie Belle knew what was going on with her friends. They had probably turned to look at each other, biting their lower lips as they did so, before turning to look at her. Knowing that they were doing that, being brought down from their victory highs, made Sweetie Belle feel all the worse. They should be happy that they had done so well. Slowly Sweetie raised her head to see that she was right. She could also see the slight teeth marks on their lips.


“Hey now, don’t ya go an worry about nothing,” said Apple Bloom quickly as she moved closer to her friend. “It’s just a game.”


“I know,” sighed Sweetie Belle. “Maybe it's just not my game. Maybe I should just give up.”


“No way,” snapped Scootaloo as she moved in front of Sweetie before stopping abruptly. “There will be none of that quitter talk as long as I’m around. You can’t just throw away everything you’ve worked hard for just because you lost a few matches.”


“Scootaloo, it’s been a lot more than a few,” deadpanned Sweetie.


“Ah…,” said Scootaloo as the white filly’s words sunk in. For a while, Scootaloo stood there while tapping her chin with her hoof. As Sweetie was about to tell her friend to forget it and just move on, Scootaloo’s eyes widened. “I got it! What you need is some pressure!”


Both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom looked at each other in confusion before returning to look at the flightless pegasus. “I need…pressure?” repeated Sweetie Belle uncertainly.


“Yeah,” said Scootaloo with a nod. “You know, set yourself a penalty or something if you don’t do so well. I heard about this from Bulk a while back when I was first trying to jump a ramp on my scooter. He told me back when he started lifting weights; he set himself goals and penalties for failing to achieve them. Like if he hadn’t increased his weight limit by ten pounds in a month then he would give up going to his arts and crafts class for a week. He said it helped him stay focused.”


“Huh,” said Apple Bloom. “That sounds like a mighty good idea.” She then gave her friend a sly look. “Let me guess: your penalty had something to do with Rainbow Dash.” Scootaloo looked away as her cheeks began to burn. Apparently Apple Bloom hit the nail on the head.


“I don’t know,” said Sweetie Belle in a defeated tone. “Doing something like that…I don’t know how it can affect how I plan the game. In the end, I’ll still have the same cards in my hoof.”


“Because it’s all in here,” said Scootaloo as she tapped her forehead with her hoof. “Remember, Twilight’s always telling us that we need to think of every possible way we can use our cards before we make a move. Maybe if you could-”


“Look, there’s Rarity’s,” said Sweetie as she pointed to a very familiar building, wanting to drop the topic as well as something else. “I’m going to drop my stuff off at her place. I’m staying over there again for the weekend.”


“Your parents sure do go on a lot of trips,” observed Apple Bloom.


As they made their way to Rarity’s there was not a single mention of card games. Not because they didn’t want to talk about it anymore, but because they were trying to consider Sweetie Belle’s feelings. Instead the two talked about what they could do for the rest of the day. Apple Bloom wanted to go see Zecora, suggesting that their zebra friend might need help gathering herbs and flowers. Scootaloo suggested that they head over to Sugarcube Corner for a shake or something, relaxing for the rest of the day. Sweetie Belle, however, didn’t feel like giving her input out of fear that they would do whatever she wanted just to make her feel better. It just sucked so much that she was dragging them down because of her poor skills.


As they entered the boutique, Sweetie began to worry that soon they might start tip-toeing around her more often. Could this become the norm? The two of them avoiding talking about Duel Monsters whenever she was around? Would they start going easier on her when they played or even letting her win? No, Sweetie Belle didn’t want any of those things to happen. If it did, then her friends might come to resent her and want to be around her less.


“Welcome to Carousel Boutique,” said a voice that Sweetie barely registered. “Where every garment is chic, unique, and magnifique.”


“Rarity it’s just…” began Sweetie Belle, but stopped when she realized that the pony who had spoke wasn’t her sister. She looked around and spotted the bat filly from before, standing on top of a stool next to a workbench. As the filly jumped off, Sweetie noticed that she had on a saddle bag that had various pockets on it for didn’t colored spools of thread. “Wait, you’re not Rarity. You’re that filly who was watching Scootaloo’s duel earlier.”


“Yep,” said the filly with a nod as she looked behind Sweetie. The white unicorn filly turned her head to see that her two friends had only taken a few steps inside and were now staring at the bat filly in amazement. “So,” said the filly after a moment’s pause, getting Sweetie’s attention back. “Are you here looking for a dress for some special occasion? Miss Rarity has a wonderful selection for fillies.”


“Night Stitch, dear, do we have another customer?” asked Rarity as she came walking down the stairs, levitating several boxes with her magic. Smiling, the elder white unicorn set down the boxes as she came to the end of the stairs, piling them neatly. Her smile didn’t fade when she saw who it was, merely shaking her head slightly. “Oh, Sweetie Belle it’s you. How was your duel today?”


“…I’d rather not talk about it,” replied Sweetie glumly. She then pointed a hoof at the bat filly who was still watching her. “Ah, who is she?”


“Oh where are my manners,” said Rarity as she moved to stand next to the bat filly. “This is Night Stitch. She recently came all the way from Manehatten to become my apprentice.” As Rarity said this, Night Stitch grimaced a tad before looking away.


“Really?” asked Sweetie as she saw this.


Rarity nodded with a large smile on her face. “Not only that, but while she is training under me she’s taking over repairing garments for my customers.” Horn now lit, Rarity levitated something off the workbench Night Stitch had been working on before to show it to the younger unicorn. It was a bright yellow dress with a small rip at the end. “When the client came in earlier today with this, the rip went halfway through. But now due to the excellent skills of Night Stitch, even I can barely tell how far up it went. Truly she has a magnificent talent.”


“It’s nothing special,” said Night Stitch as she covered her face with her wings.


“Darling,” said Rarity gently as she placed a hoof on the filly’s back, causing her wings to open up a tad. “Even when I was your age I didn’t have such amazing talent with the thread. So believe me when I say that you do have an amazing talent, one that I am proud to help nurture.” Rarity’s face brightened. “Plus, with you doing this, it freeing me up to work on my latest fashion line for the next season!”


As Rarity continued to talk, Sweetie watched Night Stitch with some confusion. Her expression could have been taken as embarrassment, but to Sweetie it looked more like shame. As if every word of praise that Rarity gave the filly was like a needle being jammed into her fur for some reason. But…why? Was Night Stitch doing something like passing the work onto somepony else and was now feeling guilty? No, Rarity would have spotted something like that plus Night Stitch was working on it right in the open. Maybe it was just Sweetie’s imagination.


“Well I guess I should welcome you to Ponyville,” said Sweetie after Rarity had finished. “Maybe when you’re not working we could hang out for a bit.” Despite how genuine Sweetie said this, Night just seemed to flinch slightly.


“I…really don’t think that’s a good idea,” the filly muttered. “You wouldn’t want to be my friend.” Sweetie opened her mouth to disagree with that, but Night Stitch had already turned around. “I’d better get back to work,” she said with a very forced laugh. “Got three more dresses to fix up.”


As Night Stitch walked back to her work station, surprising both Rarity and Sweetie at the same time, Sweetie turned around to look at her friends. Neither of them had moved from the spot with their mouths hanging open. Surprised by this, Sweetie tilted her head. “What’s up with you two?”


At once the two charged up at her. “Dont’cha ya know who that is?” asked Apple Bloom in a low voice.


“She’s the Manehatten Duel Monsters champion three years running!” said Scootaloo quickly, before Sweetie could say that she was just the filly she had met earlier that day. “Dueling Filly’s Magazine said that she was a shoe in last year for the Nationals Tournament.” Now Scootaloo tilted her head. “But it was weird how she never showed up, right?”


“Yeah, it was,” agreed Apple Bloom.


Sweetie Belle digested this new information that not only did Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle read the same magazine but also the fact that a famous duelist was working for Rarity. Slowly, Sweetie turned her head to look at the filly who was now hard at work. With a needle in her mouth, Night Stitch seemed to lost herself in her work. She no longer seemed nervous, embarrassed, or whatever it was that she felt earlier. Instead she was focused only on fixing that dress to the best of her abilities as Rarity looked on with glee. She seemed to be happy, content on what she was doing instead of being in the light of dueling fame.


As Sweetie watched her work, she began to think about what Night Stitch had said not too long ago. That Sweetie wouldn’t want to be her friend. Was it because she was so good she made all of her friends hate her? Well, that certainly was possible. Could it be that she came to Ponyville, not just to work with Rarity, but also to get a fresh start? Had she sworn off dueling, afraid that it might lead her to a life of solitude? Well, it sounded more logical than forming a freaking cult and brainwashing ponies.


The sound of the doors opening again caught the attention of everypony there. Sweetie saw her sister turn her head, looking ready to greet the newcomer, but her smile turned into a scowl instantly. Curious, Sweetie turned her head to look at who had arrived. Her eyes widened as she realized that Suri Polomare walked in with a smile aimed at Rarity. As the earth pony approached, Sweetie noticed out of the corner of her eye Night Stitch trying to make herself seem smaller. Had she worked for Suri or had known her?


“Rarity, how are you?” asked Suri with such fake sweetness that it would give Pinkie Pie a toothache. “It’s been such a long time!”


“What do you want Suri?” asked Rarity with her flattest voice and most deadpanned expression.


“What?” asked Suri, placing a hoof over her heart and looking hurt. “Can’t a mare travel hundreds of miles to see an old friend and-” Suri stopped talking as Rarity’s expression didn’t waver in the slightest. With a sigh, she dropped the false act at once. “Fine, fine. I came by because I need a favor.”


“The last time I did you a favor, you ended up stealing my fabric to create your own designer line,” said Rarity with no emotion, something that scared Sweetie so much that she took several steps back. She knew Rarity well enough to know how emotional she could be. She rarely ever kept up a mask of indifference this long except if she was really, really mad. And when the mask broke she doubted if even Discord could stand a chance against her.


“Yes well, funny how you should bring that up,” said Suri calmly as she walked around the store. No longer looking at Rarity, instead her focus was on all of Rarity’s outfits on display as she circled the room. “See, ever since the show I’ve had clients who have been simply dying to get their hooves on those gowns. But, alas, I haven’t been able to make more of that fabric. I’ve been able to stall them for the time being, but they are getting a bit…testy with me. So I was hoping you’d sell me the process to make that fabric?”


“The answer is no,” said Rarity at once, a slight edge to her voice that made all members of the CMC duck for cover. “Perhaps you should have thought about this before you lied to me and tried to pass off my fabric as your own.”


“Oh come now Rarity,” said Suri as she turned around, looking directly at Rarity now. “It’s not like you’ll ever be able to use it since the world believes I made it. You might as well make some profit! I’ll pay you whatever you want…within reason of course.” The deadpanned look Rarity had on faded, her eyes narrowing on Suri.


“You are the last pony I would ever sell that to!” snapped Rarity. “You made your bed with its cheap, single bit store blankets and tacky design so you will lay in it. hopefully it will teach you a lesson on working hard in order to achieve success rather than by taking it from others!”


Suri said nothing, just giving a slight nod and a smile. As she turned around, Sweetie saw her eyes fall onto Night Stitch where she paused for a fraction of a second. The young unicorn could see Night Stitch cringe as she tried to make herself seem even smaller than before. The older earth mare then continued to turn and walk out of the building, pushing past Scootaloo and Apple Bloom without a single word. When she finally passed through the door, she slammed it shut so hard that it made them all flinch.


As Rarity began to go on a tangent about Suri, Sweetie looked back at the bat filly. Her whole body was now shaking, eyes wide with fear.
> Night Flight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun had set some time ago, blanketing Equestria in darkness this night. Tonight was a new moon, meaning that Luna’s light was absent to those who sought it. To make matters worse, a memo had gotten lost within the weather team causing a thick blanket of dark clouds to hang over the town of Ponyville. There was no wind blowing in the trees nor was there a single light coming from any of the many homes and business. There was something uncomfortable about this dark stillness, like an emptiness that chilled the soul of anypony who might be out on a night like this. Right now there were only two such ponies who were not in the warmth and safety of their beds, instead across the street from the business of one of the Elements of Harmony.


“It should be late enough,” said Suri, causing the bat filly next to her to flinch. The elder mare hadn’t said much for a long time, her words breaking the stillness of the night. “Are you sure you know where she keeps the process?”


Gulping, Night Stitch nodded. “Y-Yeah,” she stuttered. Unlike earlier, she had on normal saddle bags instead on the ones holding spools of thread. Yet despite her skills, these bags were in horrible condition with various mismatched patches covering the grimy material. She was also wearing her duel disk which looked like it had seen better days. “She keeps all of her plans and stuff in the backroom. She showed me…” Night Stitch paused to wipe a tear from her eye while also taking several deep breaths. “She showed me earlier today when she was training me.”


“Excellent,” beamed Suri as she ignored the distress of the younger pony, her eyes glinting as she stared at Rarity’s home. “Then this should be simple. Just use the key that trusting fool gave you and grab the process for making her special fabric. Once you have it, met me at the train station before the midnight express to Manehatten leaves. If everything goes to plan, she won’t know she’s been robbed until it’s too late!”


“But,” began Night Stitch, her heart pounding so fast in her chest that it threatened to explode at any moment. “What happens if-” She got no further as Suri rounded on the small filly. She was not frowning and she did not appear angry. There was a smile on her face that did nothing to comfort the filly, only making her shirk more.


“Is this too difficult for you?” asked Suri with fake sweetness and concern as she towered over the filly. “Perhaps you should have tried harder to get Rarity in a good mood before I arrived. If you had managed to do that, then this wouldn’t have been necessary.” She then let out a sigh. “I suppose then if you’re not going to hold up your end of the deal then I don’t see why I should either. And it was so difficult to get my hooves on it too.”


“NO!” screamed the filly, her voice echoing through the town. Her body was still shaking like mad and tears were running down her face as she frantically moved in front of Suri. Her heart began to beat faster than ever while fear fueled adrenaline shot through her entire tiny body. “Please, I’ll do it. You promised!”


“Keep your voice down!” snapped Suri, her face morphing to match the bite in her words. “I don’t see why I should give you another chance. You’ll probably mess up again and then expect me to give it to you anyways.” Her words had the desired effect on the filly. Instantly, Night Stitch was shaking her head as tears continued to flow down her face. Her words were a jumble, making it sound like she was fighting a panic attack that would overtake her at any moment. Suri watched this, doing her best to keep a smile from forming on her muzzle. She knew she had this filly right where she wanted her. Willing to do anything she wanted no matter what.


“Very well,” said Suri after a good minute of pleading. A small smile graced her lips. “But I’m going to need some extra insurance on your part.”


“L-Like what?” asked Night Stitch as Suri began to circle her like how a shark circles its prey.


“Well, you told me you have two decks,” said Suri as she looked down upon the filly. “Give me the one you used to win those championships and-” Before Suri could finish, Night Stitch had already reached into her bag to pull out her deck before presenting it to the older mare. Suri calmly took the deck, fanning it out to make sure it was the real deal while also estimating its potential worth for later. Once it checked out she put it back in her bag. “Very well then. Remember to meet me at the train station with the process. If you’re not there when the train leaves then the deal is off.” Night Stitch nodded frantically before rushing towards the building, Suri smirking as she turned around to head to the train station.


-x-


Meanwhile, up in the room she used whenever she spent the night at her sister’s, Sweetie Belle was wide awake. Normally she wouldn’t be up as late as it was right now unless there was a slumber party…which could have happened tonight. Before the store closed, Rarity had asked Night Stitch if she wanted to stay for dinner as well as spending the night with Sweetie Belle. It was most likely a plan to help the two fillies become friends, something that the unicorn filly didn’t mind at all. She had never spent time with a bat filly before, her only real exposure to their tribe being that one Nightmare Night when Princess Luna visited. She was curious to find out more about Night Stitch like what she used to do for fun in Manehatten or if she knew Babs. Sweetie could also help Night Stitch make more friends by introducing her other fillies (and maybe a few colts) from school.


There was something else and Sweetie had to admit it was a bit selfish. She had hoped that maybe Night Stitch could give her a few pointers to becoming a better duelist. Twilight was a good teacher; there was no doubt about that. However, Night was the closest thing to a pro that Sweetie had ever come across. Perhaps she could help Sweetie figure out what she was doing wrong or give her some insight on how to improve.


Sadly this was not meant to be. Night Stitch politely refused the offer, saying she had to be home tonight. She never gave any reason beyond that and looked relieved when Rarity dropped the subject. Sweetie Belle, on the other hoof, thought that if it was a family matter they could have gone over to Night Stitch’s home and asked her parents if it was ok. It wouldn’t take too long. But she never voiced this, allowing Night Stitch to leave.


So now here she was, up late at night with her duel disk on practicing by herself. One of the neat features of the duel disks were their practice modes, each one having several saved decks to practice your skill. Right now she was playing on easy mode which was just a step above beginner, staring down a mean looking Vorse Raider in attack mode that had just destroyed her monster. With a frown on her face, Sweetie looked at the cards held in her magic. Scootaloo’s words came back to her about giving herself a penalty if she lost. Maybe she could give it a try and see if it worked. A small one like only having one scoop of sugar in her oatmeal instead of two.


“Ok,” said Sweetie. “I dra-” A clang from downstairs interrupted the filly, causing her ears to twitch. Slowly she moved over to the door and opened it a tiny crack. Once open, Sweetie closed her eyes to listen. The first thing she heard loud and clear was the snoring coming down the hallway from Rarity’s room followed by the sounds of hoofsteps across the floor downstairs. Eyes opened wide, Sweetie wondered who it could be. It couldn’t be a burglar because Rarity had gotten special alarms that would sound if anypony tried to open the lock with magic, teleport in, or break down the door. If any of those things happened, Ponyville police would be here in time to see Rarity blasting whoever it was with her magic. The only way whoever was down there could get in without setting it off was if they had a key. Was it Pinkie Pie setting up some sort of party? Curious, Sweetie Belle left the safety of her room and walked down to the main floor.


At first, the place looked void of anything out of the ordinary. There were no streamers or party balloons to be seen. There were no animals meaning that Fluttershy wasn’t here to ask them to look after one of her furry friends. Rainbow Dash, well, she would have knocked loudly or crashed through a window. Applejack would have-


A noise interrupted Sweetie’s thought, coming from behind her in Rarity’s workshop! Springing into action on instinct the young unicorn raced towards the veil that separated it from the main room, her horn lit brightly to see who it was. There she discovered to her great shock Night Stitch with a scroll in her mouth and Rarity’s secret hiding hole next to the safe uncovered. Sweetie stood there looking at the other filly with both shock and betrayal. She couldn’t believe it! Why in the wide world of Equestria would Night Stitch steal from Rarity? It just didn’t make any sense. She had seemed so happy to be working for Rarity so why was she throwing it all away to steal from her? Had she expected not to be caught? Her shock quickly turned to confusion as she realized something. Night Stitch looked like she had been crying, perhaps she was still crying, as her body continued to tremble. Her eyes no longer contained the same warmth filled joy that they held when Night had when she had been helping Rarity. Instead the pupils seemed smaller as they trembled along with her body.


Sweetie opened her mouth, but before she could utter a sound, Night Stitch opened her wings. With a single powerful beat she rose into the air and soared through the air, over Sweetie’s head, and out the door. Sweetie shouted after her as she raced after the bat filly as she flew through the dead streets. Thankfully, Night Stitch was weighed down by her saddle bags and duel disk. It looked like perhaps she had planned on leaving town tonight after this heist. If this was the case, the added weight allowed for Sweetie to keep up on hoof.


As she followed Night Stitch through the marketplace, Sweetie began to feel her legs grow weary ever so slightly. She knew she was not an athlete like Scootaloo and that sooner or later she would begin to slow down. The filly also knew that there was a better way to handle this. All she had to do was start yelling at the top of her lungs and/or starting firing magical blasts into the air until somepony woke up. Heck, it might even get the attention of whatever officer was on patrol tonight. What kept her from doing that, however, was the look in Night Stitch had given her. She was clearly scared out of her mind for some reason. In fact, she had looked similarly like this back when Suri had shown up! Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened as she realized this thinking that there must be some connection. Problem was, with all this running, Sweetie was having a hard time thinking about what it could be.


Suddenly, Night Stitch took a sharp turn down an alley. Reacting more than thinking, Sweetie used her magic to grab hold of the other filly’s leg. It worked, acting like a magical rope connecting the bat filly’s leg to Sweetie’s horn. Sweetie felt a tug that nearly sent her face down into the pavement and causing her to cry out in surprise. Thankfully she managed to dig in her hooves just in time. Slowly, Sweetie was dragged forwards down the alley as she fought to keep Night Stitch from running away. So that they could talk and maybe find a way to help her. But Night Stitch seemed determined to fly away and was getting more frantic with every second she was chained down.


“Let me go!” cried the flying filly as she swerved from one wall to the next in the hopes that Sweetie’s hold would break.


“I’m not going to let you steal from my sister!” stated Sweetie.


“I have to do this!” pleaded Night as she turned her head to shout at Sweetie, the fearful look more intense than ever. “Please, just pretend you never saw me.”


“I can’t do that,” grunted Sweetie as Night Stitch tried to tug even harder, dragging the unicorn filly ever so slightly.


“I don’t have time. I don’t have time,” repeated Night Stitch as she tried to fly forward, seemingly with all her might in an attempt to free herself. All it did however, was cause Sweetie to cry out in pain as more pressure was put on her horn while dragging her several feet. After this failure, Night Stitch landed on the ground before spinning around to look at Sweetie while dropping the scroll next to her. “Fine then, I challenge you to a duel! If I win you let me go!”


Sweetie opened her mouth, ready to say no. Night Stitch was a former pro after all. She had a better chance of defeating Tirek without any of her magic than defeating her in a duel. Yet as she looked at the filly again, her body shaking and tears still rolling down her eyes, made her reconsider.


“Alright,” said Sweetie as she activated her duel disk. “But if I win, you have to return what you stole.” Night Stitch didn’t reply, just closing her eyes as she nodded as if doing so was causing her unimaginable pain. Sweetie Belle then watched as her opponent reached into her saddle bag and pulled out a deck with she then inserted into her duel disk.


Once both of their auto shufflers began, a double sided holographic picture appeared in the air between them. Quickly it began to flash between Sweetie Belle’s picture to Night Stitch’s in order to determine who would go first. As it did, Sweetie stared at her opponent as she dried her eyes. With Night Stitch in such a frantic state, there was a good chance her game play would be sloppy and give the unicorn the edge she needed. But more than that, this duel could keep them in place to allow Sweetie to talk to Night. The longer this duel went on, the greater the chance she would have to get through to Night. To find out what was wrong while offering her hoof in friendship.


Hearing her duel disk beep caused Sweetie to raise her eyes upwards. The holographic picture had finally stopped on her portrait. Gulping, Sweetie drew her six cards and looked them over.


“O-Ok,” said Sweetie nervously. “I’ll start with a couple of spell cards: Supply Squad and Backup Squad!” As she said this, two spell cards appeared on either side of her. “I’ll then place one card face down and a monster face down. That’ll end my turn.”


“I draw!” yelled Night Stitch. She took only a moment to look at the new card she drew, panting in a desperate attempt to keep herself under control, before putting it with the other five cards she had. With her hoof still shaking she then took one card in the middle and held it up. “I’ll start by playing Terraforming which lets me add any field spell in my deck to my hoof. I pick The Hidden City and then play it.” As Night Stitch set her field spell in its slot, the ground around the two began to shake violently until cracks appeared in the street. Once the cracks formed a very jagged circle around them the ground seemed to give way and began to sink down into the earth. What waited below them was not a sewer, but a massive cave that looking like it could fit a hundred Former Fire Lord Torch’s with plenty of room to easily move about. Lower and lower they sank as glowing green rock and a castle made of stone came into view. Eventually they landed on the ground with the image of the castle behind Night and the green glow illuminating Night’s frame. “Now that it has been successfully activated, I can add one Subterror monster to my hoof. So I’ll add Subterror Fiendess and then summon her.” A bat pony much like Night appeared in front of her, only this mare had an almost neon purple mane with two curved horns stick out and her wings were mostly red with hints of both green as well as black. “Next, I’ll activate her effect and flip her face down.”


“B-But why would you do that?” asked Sweetie Belle, her voice echoing all around her. She shuttered a bit because of this. She knew that it was because of the magical holograms making everything seem real, but this was an added effect that made it feel…too real her tastes. It made the place feel so eerie.


“Because of this!” announced Night Stitch as she revealed a card from her hoof. “When a monster I control is flipped face down and there are no other face up monsters, I can then special summon my Subterror Behemoth Dragossuary in face up defense position!” The rocky ground behind Night Stitch opened up as a giant skeleton of a dragon erupted upwards. Standing up on two legs, it towards over the two fillies with its black wings outstretched while a red glow filled the gaps between its bones. It’s defense points were 1600, but had 2400 attack points. “Now I’ll use it’s special ability to flip it face down so I can special summon another Subterror Behemoth! So I’ll pick my Stalagmo!” Dragossuary sank back into the earth, leaving only a mound of rubble to indicate where he was on the field before the ground cracked open again. Another creature erupted upwards to dwarf both fillies. Only this creature seemed to be made of rock, standing on two legs with a massive set on wings. Sweetie was glad it was in defense mode with 2100 points, because its massive fists that could dish out 2800 points of damage looked like they would hurt.


Night Stitch took a deep breath before continuing. “Before I end my turn, I will activate Stalagmo’s effect so it can be flipped face down.” Like the bone dragon, Stalagmo sank into the earth leaving only a pile of rubble. “Finally, I’ll active the spell card Shifting Shadows! Once per turn I can pay 300 life points to rearrange all my face down cards which I’ll do right now.” A black, shadow like mist swept across Night Stitch’s side of the field only to leave just as quickly. “I end my turn.”


“Ok,” said Sweetie, trying her best to sound confident. As she drew her third card, Sweetie knew she was at a huge disadvantage. All of her opponent’s monsters were in defense mode meaning she couldn’t deal any damage nor did she know which monster was where. She had to play this carefully and not attack with a monster with anything less than 2100 attack points. If she did, then it might be bad news for her life points. It seemed like that pressure thing Scootaloo had mentioned was working for her. Seeing no other option at the moment, Sweetie did the only thing she could do. “I end my turn.”


“F-Fine then,” said Night Stitch as she quickly drew her card. “I now flip both my Dragossuary and Stalagmo into face up attack position.” Both monsters shot up from the ground, roaring so loudly that it rattled Sweetie Belle’s teeth. “Since I flipped Stalagmo, I will use his ability to discard one Subterror monster from my hoof and then draw two cards.” Night Stitch almost seemed to jam her discarded card into the graveyard slot before taking her two new cards. “Now Dragossuary, attack her face down card!” Dragossuary opened its mouth to launch hundreds of spikes that look like they were made from bones with enough force that they pierced the ground where they struck. When they hit Sweetie’s face down card a snowpony appeared in its place as it too was impaled.


“You destroyed my Snowpony Eater,” said Sweetie as her card exploded. “Now the effect of my Supply Squad activates, allowing me to draw a card every time a monster on my side of the field is destroyed.”


“Stalagmo, attacked!” shouted Night Stitch as Sweetie drew her card. The rocky giant did not swing down at Sweetie but instead punched the roof of the cave. As the entire cave seemed to shake, large rocks fell down where the white filly was standing. Seeing them, Sweetie jumped to the side just before they hit her but the force from the impact sent her flying farther than she intended, stopping when she hit the wall that the holograms covered.


“Backup Squad now activates,” breathed Sweetie as she got to her hooves and her life points dropped to 5200. “Every time I lose life points, for every thousand I lose I get to draw a card. Since I lost 2800 I can draw two cards.” Sweetie swiftly drew her cards before activating her last one. “I also activate my face down card: Damage Condenser! Thanks to this card, I can discard one card from my hoof and then summon a monster from my deck that has less attack points than the damage I just took. So I’ll discard my Cold Enchanter to special summon my Ice Master!” In front of Sweetie grew large, spiky ice crystals. Once they were double the size of the filly they shattered to reveal a unicorn mare standing in the middle. Ice Master wore clothing of white and pale blue that Rarity would have loved to create. Her mouth was covered with a similar pale blue cloth and had a headdress that had dozens of ice crystals sticking out. Floating next to her in her icy blue magical aura was a staff that was topped with a four point snowflake. Her attack points were 2500


As Night Stitch looked over Ice Master, Sweetie spoke up. “Night Stitch, please don’t do this,” she pleaded. “I know you don’t really want to steal from my sister.”


“Of course I don’t want to steal from Miss Rarity,” cried Night Stitch as she jerked her head to look at Sweetie. “You have no idea how this is making me feel right now. Every part of me hurts. I feel like I’m fighting to keep from throwing up. I don’t want to be a bad pony and hurt Miss Rarity after she was so nice to me. But I have to!”


“Night, I know Suri is behind this,” pressured Sweetie as she took a small step forwards. “Whatever she has on you to force you-”


“No, that’s not it at all,” yelled Night Stitch as she stomped a hoof onto the ground. “M-Miss Suri is helping me.”


Sweetie frowned at this. “Night, my sister told me all about Suri. She uses ponies so she can get ahead.”


Night Stitch shook her head while closing her eyes tightly. “Maybe she is using me…but that’s okay as long as she keeps her promise.” Night then opened her blood shot eyes, her pupils trembling slightly. “She promised to help me if I helped her. N-Nopony else would even lift a hoof no matter how hard I begged. B-But it’s my fault it came to t-this. I was s-supposed to get her in a g-good mood before Miss Suri came by.” Night Stitch paused to take several deep breaths. “Maybe if I had, then I could have stayed with Miss Rarity after-” Again, Night Stitch shut her eyes tight as another tremble raced down her body. “B-But I failed. If I don’t do this or mess this up then I’ll lose everything.”


“Night,” began Sweetie only to stop when Night Stitch gave her a piercing look.


“No more wasting time!” the bat filly shouted. “I flip Dragossuary face down and then I’ll do the same for Stalagmo. Then I can special summon Subterror Behemoth Stygokraken in defense mode!” The ground cracked once again and, with a slash of water, arose a massive snake like creature that reminded Sweetie of the sea serpent that lived in the Everfree Forest. Only this one had black scales and massive glowing red tusks. Its defense points where 2600. “I then activate his effect to flip him face down so I can then summon my Subterror Behemoth Ultramafus!” As Stygokraken sank back into the earth the ground began to shake until lava erupted onto the field. However, the lava took form into a long neck while the earth around it became a shell. Sweetie watched in amazement as a long neck turtle with 3000 attack points and 1600 defense points towered over her. “I then activate his effect to flip him face down. Then, before I end my turn, I activate the effect of Shifting Shadows. I’ll give up 300 life points to move around my face downs.” As Night Stitch’s life points dropped to 7400, another shadow like most swept over her side of the field swiftly before vanishing.


“Ok then,” said Sweetie as she drew her sixth card. She knew she had to go on the attack right now. Stalling wouldn’t help her right now. Thankfully, she had all the cards she needed in her hoof right now for a great move. One that was sure to put the tide of this duel in her favor. “First I’ll play the spell card Monster Reborn to bring back my Cold Enchanter to the field.” Ice began to form once more in front of Sweetie, shattering to reveal a less elaborately dressed unicorn holding a smaller staff than Ice Master. “But she won’t be on the field for long because I’m going to tribute her to bring out my all time favorite card: Blizzard Princess!” Ice reformed around Cold Enchanter, encasing the spellcaster completely. It then exploded revealing a young looking alicorn with a like blue mane and wearing a white dress. There was a crown upon her head while a staff was held in her magical hold ending with a massive ice ball and chain. Her attack points were 2800. “Normally a monster with this high of a level would need two tributes, but her special ability allows me to normal summon her by tributing one spellcaster. And when she is summoned this way, for the rest of the turn, you can’t activate any spell or trap cards!


“Next I’ll play Double Summon which lets me normal summon again,” continued Sweetie. “So I’ll summon my Tin Goldfish.” A small red fish appeared on the field. “This card allows me to special summon one card from my hoof. So I’ll use it to bring out my Snowpony Creator!” A blue machine shaped like a snowpony appeared on the field. It had a red flashing light on the side of its head like a hat and teeth that were like jagged fangs. “When this card is summoned I can add one Ice Counter to any monster or monsters on the field equal to the amount of water monsters I control. As you can see, I have four! So I’m placing them all on my Ice Master!” As Sweetie spoke, a conveyor belt appeared in front of Snowpony Creature and soon four snowponies were rolling along it. All four of them then transformed into ice gems which flew towards Ice Master, resting on her chest like metals. “Also, if I create three or more ice counters this way; I can destroy one card on the field. So say goodbye to The Hidden City!” Snowpony let out a flash and when it faded both fillies found themselves back in the alleyway.


“Lastly, I’ll build the Overlay Network,” announced Sweetie as a dark vortex appeared between the two. “I overlay my two level four monsters to create Snowdust Giant!” Both of Sweetie’s weaker monsters were sucked into the vortex followed by a massive ice spike shooting out of its center. It then shattered to reveal a large blue dragon like creature with no wings holding a spiked club made of ice. This 2200 attack point creature roared as two orbs of light circled it in orbit. “As long as this monster is out on the field, all non water monsters lose 200 attack points for every counter. Right now there are four counters, but I’ll activate Ice Master’s effect to add another counter on her bringing it to five!” Ice Master’s staff flashed light blue before another gem appeared on her chest.


“Now onto my battle phase! Blizzard Princess, attack the face down card to the far right!” Blizzard Princess grinned, swinging her weapon as she flew through the air before smashing the ground where Sweetie had indicated. As the weapon hit the ground Subterror Fiendess was revealed, screaming before it vanished. “Ok then. Ice Master attack the middle card!” Ice Master lifted her staff in order to create dozens of large snowflakes the size of pancakes, each looking razor sharp. With a wave of her staff, Ice Master sent them flying in the desired direction and hitting the earth to reveal Ultramafus who was destroyed.


“You activated my monster’s flip effect,” announced Night Stitch. “All other monsters on the field are now flipped face down in defense mode.” Sweetie’s eyes widened as her monster where flipped over, showing only the back of the cards.


“I…guess I end my turn,” said Sweetie. She knew she was in a bad position as all of her monsters were going to be destroyed. The only positives were that she was going to get to draw three more cards as well as knowing her life point damage would be minimal. After all, all of Night’s best monsters had to be special summoned in defense mode.


“Then I draw,” said Night Stitch as she drew her card. “Time to finish this. First, I flip both Dragossuary and Stalagmo face up in attack position!” Both monsters erupted from the street behind Night Stitch, peering down at them above the buildings. “Next I flip my Stygokraken to activate his flip effect. I can target all set cards on the field equal to the number of Subterror Behemoths on my side of the field and destroy them. That means I can destroy all three of your monsters!”


“What?!” shouted Sweetie as Stygokraken too appeared above her. The sea serpent opened its mouth as a green mist poured out to cover the field. As the mist touched her cards they exploded leaving Sweetie Belle defenseless to the three monsters that would surely end the duel with this next attack.


“Night, I know you’re a good pony,” shouted Sweetie in one last attempt. “There are ponies out there who will help you without making you do things you don’t want to do! We can go back to Rarity’s and wake her up. You could tell her what’s wrong and I know she’ll help you.” At that, Sweetie saw Night Stitch stop her shaking. “Or…Or we could talk to Princess Twilight. She’s always willing to help ponies in need. All you have to do is stop this before it's too late!”


“They…would help me? Just like that?” The way Night Stitch said this was almost heartbreaking. Like it had been so long since something like this had been offered to her that it had become a foreign concept. Yet even in the low light, Sweetie Belle could see a change in the filly. Her pupils had widened as they filled with hope. Night’s body was no longer shaking as much while a small smile appeared on her face. Sweetie could tell her words were having an effect. Even if they carried on the duel, the outcome didn’t matter. Night Stitch was going to do the right thing and get the help she needed. She-


Suddenly, Night looked nervous. She placed a hood on the side of her head as she began to shake it around, as if there was some sort of thought she was trying to get rid of. The shaking had started up again and when Night opened her eyes they were once more filled with terror.


“I-I can’t risk it,” said Night with a shutter. “What if Miss Rarity is too angry to want to help me? W-What if it takes too long for them to get it? Time m-might run out! Miss Suri already has it. I can get it tonight.”


“Night,” began Sweetie, but Night Stitch wasn’t listening. Her free shaky hoof hit a button on her duel disk before she pointed it at Sweetie and ordered her monsters to attack. Bone spikes, boulders, and a jet of green mist hit Sweetie Belle all at once. Only the impact was far stronger than it normally was, sending the filly flying backwards and rolling as she hit the road. Her entire body hurt, so much so that it was hard to think anymore. She could feel her eyelids growing heavy.


“I told you that you wouldn’t want to be my friend,” she heard Night sob. “I wouldn’t even want to be my friend.” And with that, Sweetie drifted off to the realm of dreams.


-x-


Suri paced back and forth as she waited for Night Stitch. Besides her was the train, refueling before heading off to its next destination. While this was happening, the few ponies who were up right now at the station were slowly boarding the train. As for Suri, her luggage was already on the train even though it wouldn’t leave for another half hour. She just stood there waiting for the filly to arrive.


Thankfully she did not have to wait long as she heard a flutter of leathery wings in the night behind her. Turning around she saw Night Stitch with a scroll in her mouth while still crying. Doing her best not to sigh in irritation she approached the filly.


“It’s about time,” she said. “I was about ready to think that you failed. Is that the scroll?”


“Y-Yes,” said Night Stitch as she dropped the rolled up paper. Suri wasted no time and snatching it up with her hooves. Without a care about the world around her she greedily opened it up, her eyes widening in delight as she saw that this was the scroll she wanted. Night Stitch had succeeded! Every detail was elegantly written and easy to make out. Rarity had also gone through the trouble of making drawings depicting each and every step!


“So what took you so long?” demanded Suri, forcing herself to frown as she rolled it up. She glared down with at the filly with well practiced eyes causing Night to flinch.


“Well Sweetie Belle was still awake so I had to-” Night Stitch stopped talking, cowering under the intensified.


“She was awake?” hissed Suri.


“I didn’t know,” pleaded the filly loudly, her voice filled with panic. “She tried to stop me, but I beat her in a duel with the holographic safeties off. I d-don’t think she’ll be up for a while.” As the filly spoke, Suri gritted her teeth. This was a sad turn of events. Suri knew there was no way that either of them could have known that Rarity’s bratty sister would still have been awake. But now, because of this, Suri was on a tighter deadline than before. It would only be a matter of time before Rarity came knocking at her door since she was the only one who would want that fabric. Hopefully she could learn or copy the process in time.


Still glaring at Night Stitch, Suri pondered what to do with her. She considered not giving the filly what she had promised. Perhaps making her work for Suri a bit longer. However, the last thing she needed right now was for the little cryfilly to make a big scene. Plus, they were both on their own deadlines. There was no point in keeping her any longer.


“I don’t think you deserve this for your utter incompetence,” sneered Suri as she pulled out an orange bottle with a white cap on top. The filly’s eyes became fixated on it, the rest of the world forgotten. “But I suppose a promise is a promise. However I will be keeping that deck-” Suri got no further as Night Stitch sprang forwards to take the plastic bottle in her teeth. Without any argument she flew off into the night towards Manehatten as fast as her wings could take her.
> Not all Monsters Have Fangs
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Of all the indignant things,” growled Rarity as she stormed her way through the busy streets of Manehatten. All around her were ponies on the sidewalks as they went to and fro on their daily business. The weather was pleasant, neither too hot nor too cold making this an excellent day for a casual stroll. Perhaps some of these ponies were doing that, pausing to look at the displays of the many shops that the white unicorn passed by. They might be on their way to work or perhaps visiting a friend. Whatever the reason, all of them moved out of the way as Rarity marched down the street. Not even the dirtiest peddler trying to sell his wares would approach the white unicorn as she snorted steam out from her nostrils in a most unladylike manner.


This had been the mood she had been in since leaving the train station with her friends. A mood that had only grown worse over the last day and a half when the police brought an unconscious Sweetie Belle to her doorstep. It had started out as fear, closing the shop for the day to make sure nothing bad would happen to her. She had even sent a message to Twilight, requesting the unicorn’s assistance in trying to make sure the young filly would be alright. Thankfully, Sweetie awoke before the purple alicorn could arrive.


That relief quickly turned into anger as Sweetie told Rarity about the events that brought her to that street. Enraged, Rarity galloped out of the house to where Night Stitch had written down as her home address to get an explanation. The address turned out to belong to Berry Punch who had no idea who Rarity was talking about. Furious Rarity went to the mayor’s office to see if any new ponies had moved into town only to find that none had in the last few months. This meant that the only place left to search for the filly was her last known place of residence, the same one as the mare who had been pulling the strings: Manehatten.


During the train ride, Rarity’s anger festered and boiled to the point where not even Pinkie Pie tried to cheer her up. While it was low of Suri to use a filly like this, she was positively furious at Night Stitch for the betrayal. She had invited the filly into her business, nay her home. She was going to teach the filly everything she knew about the trade. And who was she repaid? Not just stealing from her but also leaving her sister out in the streets alone for who know how long?! What if something had happened to poor Sweetie Belle? How could she live with herself if she had gotten sick or been kidnapped? How would she explain this to her parents?


“Rarity, please don’t be angry with her,” Sweetie had said when Rarity voiced her anger when it had threatened to drown the mare. Rarity could remember Sweetie Belle clearly, staring at her with those big pleading eyes. “You didn’t see her! She was scared out of her mind. It was like she thought she had to do this or else!”


Rarity, however, had not been swayed. “Sweetie Belle, Night Stitch had a choice,” she had said. “She could have done the right thing and not stolen from me. She could have confided in me with whatever it was that was troubling her. But she didn’t, instead choosing to be a bad pony. Even when you followed her and gave her another chance to do the right thing, providing her with options, she refused. No matter the reason, there is no excuse for hurting other ponies like she had.”


Rarity’s friends had said little about the matter, coming along to help find the filly and get some answers from her in pony. With no idea where she lived, they were going to search the streets of Manehatten along with Sweetie Belle starting at the local card shops. It seemed that that might be the best place to look for a former pro duelist. Well, that suited Rarity just fine for she was heading down to see Suri in pony. And when she got there she would rather not have her friends there in case her temper blew, causing her to act un-lady like in front of them.


Unlike with Night Stitch, Rarity knew exactly where Suri had set up shop. It was in the lower end of Manehatten on one of the…cheaper streets. That wasn’t to say that it was a bad neighborhood or anything like that, however it was far removed from the busier section of the city. Here there were smaller stores that sold much cheaper products as well as a few old ‘ma and pop’ stores like in Ponyville. There were also plenty of gaudy stories that offended Rarity’s senses with their cheap neon lights.


Suri’s store was simply called Polomare. It was a decent looking two-story building, nestled between two cheaper looking stores. Rarity was impressed that Suri had managed to refrain from placing her face on the window or anything like that. Instead she had several mannequins dressed in her gowns, none of them in the way of the elegantly written Polomare in the middle of the window. What ruined it for Rarity was that she recognized those outfits as the ones Suri had made Coco make back when she had tricked Rarity into giving up the fabric! It was a reminder that just boiled her insides up even more than they already were as she stormed into the store.


There was no chime of bells when she entered nor any other indication that would let the owner know somepony had entered. Looking around the store, Rarity spotted several mannequins in various poses in what might be the latest in Suri’s line. Whether the mare had made them herself, had an employee do it while she took the credit, or simply stolen them from somepony new to the world of fashion was anypony’s guess. At the opposite end of the store was a doorway leading into the back room, separated by a long counter with a bell on it. Frowning, Rarity moved towards the counter as her horn lit up to ring the bell.


“Coming,” Rarity heard Suri say. A moment or two later Suri entered through the doorway, her smile fading instantly when she saw who it was. “Oh, Rarity. What a surprise.”


“You know what I’m here for Suri,” said Rarity, her voice dead of all emotions. “I want the scroll your little thief took from me.”


Suri gave Rarity a scandalized look as she placed a hoof over where her heart should be. “Rarity, was something stolen from you? How dreadful. I guess you should be more careful with who you hire. This world just isn’t…” Suri’s words trailed off as Rarity’s blue magic glowed brightly as a scroll began floating in from the backroom. The other fashion pony looked at it for a moment before grabbing it with her hooves. “This is mine!”


“Really?” asked Rarity as she cocked an eyebrow. Before Suri could deny it, Rarity pointed a hoof at the scroll. Specifically the emblem on it: a fancy R with an eye in the loop along with eyelashes, the symbol for Rarity’s line. “Care to explain why my logo is on that scroll? One that you are claiming belongs to you?”


“You could have put that on there with your magic!” shouted Suri as she pulled the scroll closer to herself.


“Very well then,” said Rarity as she cut her magic off. Taken off guard, Suri tumbled backwards without the pull of Rarity’s magic. “I had hoped you would at least been mare enough to know when you were caught, but if you insist on lying like a filly caught with her hoof in the cookie jar than I shall treat you as such. We shall simply get the police involved. I am sure that once they examine the scroll they will find trace amounts of MY magic within the lettering.” Suri opened her mouth, but Rarity silenced her by rapidly bringing her hoof to her neck and then making a quickly slashing motion. “Oh, and if you think you can get away with the claim that you made these dresses from the fabric described in the scroll then I will simply direct them to Miss Coco. I am sure she would love to tell them how you obtained the material to make these dresses.”


Seeing the dumbfounded look on Suri’s face, Rarity turned to leave. In all honestly, she knew she could have done something like this back when Suri first tricked her. However there was the matter of the time crunch and she had not wanted to miss her big chance. After words she had decided to settle on not pursuing Suri about the matter. She knew Suri could never replicate the process on her own. But she had never expected Suri to go this far to get it! Now she would pay, even if Rarity had to go before Princess Celestia herself.


“Wait,” cried Suri as she ran if front of Rarity. There was an oddly calm smile upon her face. “You don’t want to bring the police into this. Think of the scandal, the bad press.”


“Perhaps more towards you,” said Rarity sternly as she tried to pass Suri. Suri, however, was determined to remain in front of Rarity.


“How about we settle this like mares with a duel?” she asked. “You do have a deck, right?”


“Of course I do,” said Rarity, frowning a bit. She had hoped that this would be a duel with fencing swords so she could stab Suri repeatedly. “But why should I do this?”


“Because if you win, I’ll hoof over the scroll,” said Suri slyly. “No police investigation. No bad press for either of us. No waiting for the courts. Just a simple and straightforward duel. That is, if you think you have the skills to beat me.”


“I suppose then that if you win you get to keep it?” asked Rarity. Suri’s smile seemed to widen before nodding. Frowning, Rarity’s horn lit up. There was a blinding flash and, when it faded, her duel disk was on with her deck in its slot. “Very well then. But, I must insist that when I win you are never to come near me or my friends ever again. And, should I find out you copied it already and are making more of those gowns then I shall go see all the princesses about this. Is that clear?”


“Hmm,” went Suri as her smile faded a tad. Rarity could almost tell that Suri had believed her to be stupid enough not to have considered this. That she would have left, believing that Suri hadn’t copied it or memorized the process. “Very well then.”


-x-


Several minutes later found the two mares up on the roof. Both had agreed that the shop, while less breezy, was simply too cramped for a proper duel. Not wanting an audience, the two had decided that the roof was the best choice rather than the park. So now here Rarity stood with her flank facing the streets while Suri was positioned on the opposite side. Already, the duel disks had decided who would go first as the image of Rarity shining between them.


“Looks like I go first,” announced the white unicorn as she drew her first card. She paused to look at all six cards floating in her magic before picking one out. “I’ll start by summoning Vylon Vanguard in attack position!” Descending from above appeared an odd looking creature. It had no legs, just a spike on its mostly white body with golden shoulder pads that swung back to almost appear as wings. It reached out with its hands as it appeared on the field, showing off its 1400 attack points.


Suri gave a laugh. “Vylons? Doesn’t seem like your style.”


“How could they not be?” asked Rarity. “These monsters are like works of art made from gold and ivory. Aesthetically pleasing instead of all those garish monsters so many others play with. But the best part about them is that they know how to accessorize! So I’ll do that now by playing the spell card Vylon Material and equipping it to Vanguard.” A golden weapon materialized next to Vanguard, looking almost like a snail's shell which ended with a crystal that glowed bright yellow. Once equipped, Vanguard’s attack points rose to 2000. “I’ll also play the spell card Vylon Element.” Above Rarity appeared a series of golden rings. They hovered there, filling with a multicolored glow that caught the attention of anypony who looked at it. “I believe that will be all for now.”


“Then I draw!” yelled Suri with a grin. She looked at her hoof for only a moment before pulling out a card. “I think I’ll start with Polymerization. With it I fuse my Edge Imp Chain and my Fluffal Penguin in order to Fusion Summon Frightfur Sheep!” A vortex appeared above Suri, sucking up her two monsters before a pillar of hit the ground in front of her. What came out was so disturbing that Rarity almost took a step backwards. It was stuffed sheep that had its limbs replaced with by weapons. For example, its front legs were a hook while the other was a buzz saw. It was held in the air by two golden disks that Rarity was sure was another type of weapon. Oddly, its attack points weren’t very high; only 2000.


“Do you like it?” asked Suri calmly. “This deck was…a parting gift of sorts from Night Stitch. Her prize winning deck that allowed her to several championships. I highly doubt your deck stands a chance.”


Rarity glared back. “Figures that filly would have such a deck,” she muttered to herself.


“Hmm,” went Suri as she smiled calmly. “Now I activate the effects of the monsters that were sent to the graveyard. When Fluffal Penguin is sent to the graveyard as part of a fusion summon, I can draw two cards and then discard one.” Calmly, Suri drew and discarded. “Next, my Edge Imp Chain allows me to add any Frightfur card from my deck to my hoof. So I’ll be adding my Frightfur Fusion. Now Frightfur Sheep, attack her Vanguard!”


“But both monsters have the same attack points!” yelled Rarity in surprise. Suri grinned as she tilted her head, Frightfur Sheep flying through the air to claw into Vylon Vanguard who aimed his equipped weapon at it. Both monsters exploded before her eyes, but as the dust settled she noted that there were patches of fur everywhere. “Well, since my equip card was sent from the field to the graveyard I can add another Vylon equip card to my hoof. So I’ll choose Vylon Segment.”


Suri shrugged. “Fine by me,” she said as the fur on the field began to stir. “Take your useless accessory. My monsters don’t need them to be good! Now then, since my Frightfur Sheep was destroy in battle, I can special summon it from the graveyard with 800 more attack points!” Rarity watched in horror as the fur and bits of metal began to fly around the field back towards the spot where the sheep had first appeared. They connected together, reforming the nightmare creature. “Let’s try this again, shall we? Frightfur Sheep attack Rarity directly!” Frightfur Sheep made a demented baaing noise as it flew towards Rarity where it proceeded to slash at her. The unicorn screamed as her life points dropped to 5200. “I believe that will do for this turn. Do try to put up a little bit of a fight Rarity.”


“Believe me, I will,” snarled Rarity as she drew a card, making the total five. As she looked over her cards, she contemplated how much trouble she was in. The white mare had hoped Vanguard would have either lasted longer or been destroyed by a card effect so she could have used his ability. Heck, she would have settled for having her equip card being destroyed so she could have used her Element. With no monsters on the field and her life points down, she knew she was in trouble. Thankfully, there was something she could do with the card in front of her. It wasn’t an ideal move but it was better than nothing.


“I’ll start by summoning my Vylon Ohm in attack mode,” announced Rarity as she placed her card on her duel disk. Descending from above once again was gold and white creature with a spike instead of legs. Its two front arms had no visible fingers, instead looking more like giant oversized flashlights. “When Ohm is summoned to the field, I can take one equip card in my graveyard and remove it from play. Then, at the start of my next turn, it is added to my hoof. The card I choose is my Vylon Material.”


“Fat lot of good that will do you Rarity,” sneered Suri as she fanned herself with her cards.


“Oh, you’ll be surprised,” replied Rarity as she took another card from her magical hold. “Next I’ll equip my monster with Vylon Component.” Around one of Ohm’s arms, a bracelet slide on with two large crystal spears pointing out of it. “But it won’t be equipped for long because now I use my Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy it!”


“Are you trying to throw the match now?” demanded Suri as she watched the equip card be destroyed before her very eyes. But before she could say anymore, the multicolored lights inside of Vylon Element began to ripple.


“Hardly,” said Rarity. “When a Vylon equip card is destroyed outside of the battle phase, I can summon an equal or lesser number of Vylon tuner monsters from my deck for each that was destroyed. So, since Component was destroyed I get to add another Vylon equip card to my hoof while summoning Vylon Cube to the field!” As Rarity went to take another equip card from her deck, a white box floated out of Element and slowly lowered itself to the field. This monster had two thin looking arms while a golden light shined from its chest. “Now everything is set. I tune my level three Vylon Cube with my level four Vylon Ohm to Synchro Summon my level seven Vylon Delta!” Both of Rarity’s monsters rose high into the sky, with Cube becoming three rings while Ohm became four bright golden stars. As a green pillar of light formed on the field, a pair of massive white wings erupted out of it. As the light faded, Delta could be seen in all of its glory. It had no legs, only a long, sharp red crystal in the middle of three golden rings. Its upper body was like that of a Minatare with large arms with golden rings running down them, stopping just before its powerful hands that were clenched into fists. Delta’s head, however, was small lacking any horns or even a face; just a glowing red light. Floating behind this creature was a massive golden triangle the same size as it. Its defense points were 2800.


“Since Vylon Cube was used as a Synchro material, I can now add any equip card from my deck to my hoof,” continued Rarity. “So I’ll choose my Rod of Silence – Kay’est.” The card shot out of Rarity’s deck before she added it to her hoof. “Now, since my monster is in defense mode, I’ll equip him with Vylon Segment before ending my turn. This allows me to activate his special ability to add another equip card to my hoof. This time I’ll pick Mage Power.” As Rarity added another card to her hoof, a golden device that looked almost like an oyster shell appeared on Delta’s arm.


“Really Rarity?” asked Suri as she drew her sixth card, a smirk placed upon her lips. “Taking a defensive stand already while trying to build up you hoof with equip cards? It’s so pathetic. Sure your monster has a decent defense points, but it’s no match for me! So I’ll start out by summoning my Fluffal Owl!” Appearing on Suri’s side of the field was a brown owl with small glasses. It turned its head to look at Frightfur Sheep before cringing. “I’ll use his effect to add another Polymerization to my hoof. Then I’ll fuse my Fluffal Owl on the field with the Edge Imp Saw in my hoof to create my Frightfur Leo!” Another portal appeared in the sky, sucking up the owl that looked like he was desperately trying to keep out of it and failing, as well as some sort of bladed monstrosity. After a flash of light, Frightfur Leo appeared looking like a stuffed lion that had been thrown into a saw mill.  Its teeth looked like a red bear trap and its mane looked like a buzz saw as well as its chest. It had three clawed fingers that looked very much like red daggers, sporting 2400 attack points.


“Now I can use my monster’s special effect!” announced Suri as she pointed a hoof at Vylon Delta. “I can target one monster you control and destroy it! Not only that, you take damage equal to the destroyed monster’s attack points. So say goodbye to your defenses!” With that, Frightfur Leo’s stomach blade began to spin. Faster and faster it went until a yellow energy disk went soaring out towards Delta. Suri grinned, her eyes glued to the destruction that would soon befall before her. As the disk neared, however, Delta moved the arm holding Vylon Segment up a bit like a shield before a web of purple energy formed in front of him. The blade impacted the web as it tried to cut through it only to shatter after a moment. “I-I… WHAT HAPPENED?!?”


“Suri, did you really think I would summon Vylon Delta without some additional protection?” asked Rarity. “Delta was protected by the equip card I placed on him.”


Suri gritted her teeth as she looked down at the card in her hoof. “Since neither of my monsters have enough attack points to get over yours, I’ll end my turn.”


“Very wise,” said Rarity as she drew her card so that she now had six. “Now that my turn has begun, I can bring back my Vylon Material to my hoof. I will now summon my Vylon Sphere to the field.” A small white orb with bright blue eyes and two arms descended from the sky until it was floated next to Vylon Delta. “Now I will tune my level one tuner Vylon Sphere with my Vylon Delta to Synchro Summon Vylon Epsilon!” Another pillar of green light appeared before Rarity before another one of her heavily war machines appeared on the field. Epsilon did not have a spike for a lower body; instead it was long and trailed behind him almost like a snake’s while two engines beneath it kept him afloat. Its upper body was tall with wings on his back as well as a golden circle with thorns on it. This Vylon had 2800 attack points. “Now, since Sphere was sent to the graveyard, I will use his effect to turn him into an equip card at the cost of 500 of my life points.” After saying this, Sphere appeared on the field again, flying up and attaching itself to Epsilon’s head while Rarity’s life points dropped to 4700.


“But don’t think that’s all I’m doing,” said Rarity as her Element began to ripple once again. “Since the Vylon Segment was destroyed when I summoned Epsilon, I can use my Vylon Element to bring out a Vylon tuner from my deck. So clear the stage for Vylon Tetra!” From Element came a white creature that looked very much like a triangle. Or perhaps a pyramid seen from above with arms. Slowly in floated down onto the field. “Next I’ll use the spell card Monster Reborn to bring back Vylon Delta. Sadly, the poor dear won’t be gracing us with his elegant appearance for long. Instead I’ll be tuning Tetra with him to Synchro Summon Vylon Alpha!” For a third time in this duel another green pillar of light appeared before Rarity’s monster appeared. Alpha was mostly white with black and golden trimming. Its body was smooth and egg shaped with the largest wings seen so far. Its attack points were a bit low for a level nine monster however, only 2200. “Now, like with Sphere, I will give up 500 of my life points to equip Tetra to Alpha.” As Rarity’s life points fell to 4200, Tetra floated up to the back of one of Alpha’s hands where it attached itself to. Golden light began to shoot out of one of Tetra’s edges, forming a long blade.


“When Alpha is summoned, I can equip him with one card from my graveyard,” continued Rarity as she closed her eyes. “So I’ll bring back my Vylon Component. I’ll also equip each of my two monsters with a Vylon Material each!” Both monsters received their crystal equip cards, Alpha’s attack rising up to 2800 and Epsilon’s becoming 3400. “Now then, before I attack, I’ll activate the special ability of Epsilon: by sending one equip card to the graveyard I can destroy one card of the field. So I’ll send my Sphere to the graveyard to be rid of that vile sheep of yours.” As Rarity paid the cost, Sphere floated downwards towards Epsilon’s outstretched hand. Once there, golden energy began to pour from Epsilon into the tiny tuner until it became a miniature sun. Then, without warning, Sphere rocketed downwards towards Frightfur Sheep where it exploded in a massive ball of flames.


“You fool!” shouted Suri as Vylon Element produced another Vylon Sphere which landed in defense mode. “My monster will just come back!”


“That’s true,” replied Rarity as Frightfur Sheep began to pull itself back together. “However, it can only do that once per turn and its 800 attack point gain doesn’t stack. Epsilon, attack Frightfur Sheep so we can be rid of it once and for all!” Epsilon raised the arm which Vylon Material was attached to. Particles of light could be seen gathering into it before firing a condensed beam of light into Sheep, burning a hole through it effortlessly. With a final demented baa, Frightfur Sheep burned in gold colored flames as Suri’s life points fell to 7400. “Next Alpha will attack your Leo!” Like Epsilon, Alpha raised the arm which contained the Vylon Material and pointed it at Frightfur Leo. It too blasted a beam of light into its target, destroying it as Suri’s life points became 7000. “With that I end my turn.”


“That’s it?” asked Suri as she drew her forth card. “All that work and all you were able to do was a mere thousand points of damage? This will be easier than I thought.”


“Not as easy as you think,” counter Rarity. “Part of Epsilon’s effect is that you can’t destroy any of the equip spells equipped to him. Also, as long as Alpha is equipped with an equip card, he can’t be destroyed by spell or trap cards.”


“So what?” sneered Suri as she held up a card in her hoof. “Remember this card? It’s Frightfur Fusion! I was saving it just in case you managed to destroy one of my monsters. With it, I can fusion summon one Frightfur monster from my extra deck by banishing monsters from either my hoof or the graveyard. So I’ll be banishing my Frightfur Leo, Fluffal Owl, and Fluffal Penguin in order to bring out Frightfur Saber-Tooth!” A dark portal opened up from the ground to reveal a stuffed cat with purple fur. For the briefest of moments, Rarity thought that this monster wouldn’t be another bladed horror. But she was wrong. Before her eyes sword blades began to stick out of this feline as parts of its body were stretched out, held together only by a series of now visible threads. Frightfur Saber-Tooth’s mouth opened unnaturally wide to reveal a pair of glowing red eyes. Its attack points were 2400. “This monster has a special ability that trumps anything you have. Since I used three monsters to create it, it can’t be destroyed by battle or card effects. As if that weren’t enough, it also gives all my Frightfur monsters an extra 400 attack points as well as reviving one Frightfur monster in my grave. Three guesses who I’m bringing back.” Rarity didn’t say anything as another portal in the ground opened up allowing Frightfur Sheep to appear on the field again. As it floated next to Saber-Tooth, Sheep’s attack points rose to 2400 while its feline ally’s attack points became 2800.


“If you think that’s all I’m going to do than guess again,” continued Suri as she played another spell card. “I activate my Frightfur Factory. With this card, I can banish any Polymerization or Fusion card in my grave to fuse monsters either in my hoof or my field. Oh, and this card won’t be going out of style anytime soon since it’s a continuous spell card! So I’ll banish my Frightfur Fusion spell card in order to fuse both the Edge Imp Sabers and Fluffal Dog in my hoof in order to summon my Frightfur Tiger!” Another portal in the sky opened up, sucking in another bladed field as well as a stuffed dog with cute wings on its back. What came out of the portal was a light greenish blue stuffed tiger whose upper limbs were connected to its body by a pair of scissors on each side. There was also another scissor that looked like it had just cut through the monster while its mouth was opened wide to allow another set of glowing red eyes to stare at Rarity. Its attack points started at 1900 but rose to 2300 thanks to the effect of Saber-Tooth. “Now, let’s start off with some attack point numbers. My Tiger gives all of my Frightfur monsters 300 attack points for each Frightfur monster on the field. That’s a total 900 each.” Rarity watched in utter horror as the Frightfur monsters seemed to grow in size as they each gained more attack points. Saber-Tooth went from 2800 to 3700 while Sheep became 3300. As for Tiger its attack points jumped to 3200.


“There is a bit more you should know,” continued Suri, catching Rarity’s attention. “Frightfur Tiger also allows me to destroy cards on the field equal to the number of card used in its creation. So, since I used two, that means I get to destroy two of your cards. So those monsters you worked so hard to get onto the field, they’re going to the grave where they belong!” Rarity’s eyes went wide as the scissors in Tiger’s chest area began to glow bright blue before blades launched forwards towards Alpha and Epsilon. When the attack hit, it seemed like nothing happened. At first. It was only after a moment that their body parts began to slide against each other, a delayed reaction before they exploded into thousands of golden lights.


“You may have destroyed my monsters, but the effects of my other cards still go off!” announced Rarity as her Vylon Element began to ripple. “First off, since you destroyed three of my Vylon equip spells; I am allowed to bring three to my hoof. So I’ll be added my last Material, a Segment, and finally a Component. Next, since four Vylon equip cards were destroyed outside of the battle phase, my Vylon Element allows me to special summon four tuner monsters from my deck to the field in defense mode. So grace the field Vylon Sphere, Vylon Tetra, Vylon Stella, and Vylon Prism!” One by one, Rarity’s monsters floated out of Element and onto the field. Stella was a white, six pointed star like monster with two arms and golden rings around the points above its arms as well as around the point where its legs should have been. Prism looked like a crystal with the Vylon monster wrapped around it like armor. The shining blue crystal was visible on the creature’s lower body as well as parts of the creature’s chest and shoulders. But beyond that Prism had on the same white metal with golden trim. Now Rarity had a total of five monsters to protect herself with. However, none of them had the defense points or a special ability to survive this onslaught.


“Ah, your fashion disasters,” mocked Suri. “All lined up for me to destroy. Frightfur Saber-Tooth, destroy that one right there.” As she pointed to Prism, Saber-Tooth charged forwards and ran past the Vylon. Moments later Vylon Prism fell to pieces before exploding. “Frightfur Tiger, pounce on that stupid Sphere!” Tiger did as commanded, jumping into the air and landing in front of Vylon Sphere. It swatted at the smaller monster, its paw missing it so that instead Sphere was it by its scissor legs which sliced it in two. “Finally, Frightfur Sheep will destroy the other Sphere.” One demented baa later and the other Vylon Sphere was stabbed by Suri’s monster. “That’ll do for now. Your move Rarity. Do try to make it count.”


“Believe me, I will,” said Rarity as she drew her card. She looked at it for a moment, biting her lower lip before raising her eyes to look at the three monsters in front of her. She knew she had only one monster that could stand up to them. The trick was getting it onto the field. Hopefully, this card would give her that chance. “I play the spell card Vylon Matter. I return my two Vylon Materials and one Component in my grave back to my deck. Then I draw one card.” The cards she announced were ejected from the graveyard slot and quickly placed into her deck which automatically shuffled them. When it finished, Rarity drew another card…and slumped. “I play One Day of Piece. We both get to draw one card and neither of us can deal damage to the other until the end of your next turn.” Both mares drew their cards, Rarity still looking despondent as she saw what she had drawn. “I end my turn.”


“Looks like your generosity failed you yet again,” laughed Suri as she drew a card.


“I’ll still have another turn,” stated Rarity as she tried to look strong. However, she was worried. All of the cards in her hoof were equip cards. If she wanted to make her big play and get her best card onto the field, she needed to draw a level four monster next or else she would lose!


Suri, meanwhile, was shaking her head. “I would have thought you would have learned your lesson the last time we met,” she said as she stood there, seeming to savor the victory that was within her hooves. “In this world, in this town, and especially in this business its every mare for herself. You need to take every chance you get, use everypony you meet until you find something better or they outlive their usefulness. That willingness of yours to give others a chance, to help them make it in warfront of fashion is what caused you to end up where you are now. Guess I should be grateful. Had you done what I would have and used Night Stitch only as free labor without really showing her anything, then it would have made things far more difficult for me.”


As Suri threw back her head to laugh, Rarity frowned. “Just make your move already,” she snapped. “I don’t want to hear anymore about that tratorious filly anymore.”


That stopped Suri in her tracks as she lowered her head to look at Rarity in the eyes. “Oh?” she said with an odd smile. “Feeling betrayed are we? Would it make you feel any better if you knew why Night Stitch helped me? Why she didn’t go to you for help or any other pony? Well, it's actually very simple. I was the only pony in this city to offer that little piece of street trash any hope.”


Rarity’s eyes widened at that. “W-What did you say?” demanded Rarity.


“Hmm, yes,” went Suri, looking as if she were remembering something truly sweet. “I found her less than a week ago, homeless and looking through my trash for stuff she could exchange for money. Little thing was desperate for money since her mommy was sick.” These last words were said mockingly as she took delight at the sight of Rarity’s stunned and horrified expression. “Nopony would see her, not for free at least. Nopony would hire a filly, let alone a homeless one who would be more likely to steal from you. I had thought about throwing water on her and being done with her when the greatest idea I ever had popped into my head. I made a deal with her, help me get the process to making Rarity’s special fabric and I’ll get your mommy the medicine she needed to feel all better.” Suri threw back her head and laughed even harder.


“Y-You could do that?” asked Rarity.


“Come on Rarity,” sneered Suri. “Use your head. Of course I couldn’t do that! I had never seen her mother and I certainly wasn’t going to waste what little bits I have left on her homeless flank! I’m sure anypony with a brain could have figured that out. But, then again, Night Stitch was so desperate and so scared that she agreed on the spot. And believe me, I kept her like that. I knew no matter how much she buttered you up you’d never sell me the process. Still I acted like she had failed me, driving her further into a state of fear. So much so that she gave me her best deck when I wanted.” Suri grinned wickedly. “Then, after she came back to me crying like a little foal, I gave her a bottle filled with breath mints!”


As Suri laughed again, Rarity clenched her teeth so hard she thought them might break. “How could you do something so cruel?!” yelled Rarity.


“Please, what I did was no different than recycling,” said Suri. “I saw some trash in this town and found a use for it. Then, when I was done with it, I tossed it away!” Then, as she saw the look of outrage on Rarity’s face, she rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t give me that look. You’re no better than I am. How many streets have you walked down and averted your eyes from looking at some homeless bum? How many ponies have you personally put out of business due to your own success? How many times did you use your Princess friend to help you promote your tacky work? Let me tell you something you should have figured out by now: the world isn’t like Ponyville. It’s a harsh and cruel place where hundreds of ponies everyday are put on the street. It’s survival of the fittest and if you don’t learn that quickly you’re on the streets. That’s the reality of it. Princess Celestia wastes her time and bits trying to help these poor fools who society at large doesn’t care about. The only reason you even care right now is because she has a sad backstory and looks cute. Now, enough of this. Time to destroy your remaining monster!”


As the field cleared of all her monsters, Rarity stood there breathing hard. She was angry. Angry at the things that Suri was saying for sure. For using and manipulating that poor filly. But she was also angry at herself. Angry for not listening to what Sweetie Belle had told her. For not wanting to find out why Night Stitch had stolen from her because of hurt feelings. For thinking such horrible things. Well no more.


“You’re a monster Suri,” stated Rarity coldly as she glared at her opponent.


“Call me whatever you want,” replied Suri as she rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t matter as long as I stay on top and off the streets. Now make your last move so I can get back to work.”


Rarity didn’t draw her card right away, instead looking at the monsters staring back at her. “I’m glad this vile deck is no longer in that filly’s hooves. It’s better suited for you. You take the innocent ponies around them and try to inject them with your line of thinking. Coco was able to walk away from you before turning into a monster and I’ll make sure that filly doesn’t either.”


“Spare me from the cheesy speech and just draw already,” said Suri as she pretended to yawn.


“I draw,” said Rarity as she drew. She looked at what she had…and smiled. “I summon to the field Vylon Stigma in attack mode.” Rarity’s new monster looked a lot like a snake made of gold and black metal, descended down onto the field with its long claw like arms. “Next, I’ll equip him with the spell card Rod of Silence – Kay’est!” In front of Stigma appeared a clear crystal with a staff in its center. The crystal shattered, allowing Stigma to take a hold of it with its twin claws.


“So what?” asked Suri, her voice holding large amounts of annoyance. “That card’s worthless. All it does is raise a monsters defense points by 500.”


“That’s not entirely true,” said Rarity. “It also destroys any spell card that targets the equipped monster. So, if I were to equip another equip card to it, it would be destroyed on the spot.” As Rarity said this, she played her Vylon Component card. The weapon approached Stigma, ready to attach itself to it when a beam of water shot at the Component and destroyed it. “Now, since it was destroyed, I can add another equip card to my hoof: Vylon Filament. Also, Vylon Element activates allowing me to special summon another tuner monster. I choose Vylon Prism. Then, I will repeat the process by equipping Filament so I will be getting a Material added to my hoof and then another Prism onto the field.” As Rarity said this, Prism came out of Element and onto the field. As the next equip card was played, it too was destroyed allowing for the second Prism to appear on the field.


“Now it’s all set, darling,” said Rarity. “I will now tune both my level four tuners with my level four Stigma to Synchro Summon my best monster: the level twelve VYLON OMEGA!”


“Two tuners?” echoed Suri as Rarity’s monsters ascended into the sky. Again there was a pillar of green light but, as it faded, nothing happened. It looked like Rarity had screwed up or something. Yet, the odd thing was that Rarity didn’t look worried. Suri opened her mouth in preparation to ask where her monster was when it happened. In the sky above them appeared a massive golden omega symbol. As it lowered onto the field, its white body began to phase in around the symbol taking an almost dragon like appearance. White, spiked circles appeared around the upper part of the omega before arms became attached to them. More and more body appeared until, finally, its four black tattered wings phased in. Vylon Omega let out a roar that shook the roof as it displayed its 3200 attack points.


“In addition to summoning Vylon Omega, I will give 1000 of my life points to equip my two Vylon Prisms to it,” said Rarity as her two tuner’s began to circle around Omega, her life points dropping to 3700. “Also, when Omega can equip one Vylon monster in the grave to itself once per turn. So I think I’ll equip the last Prism.” Another Prism appeared and joined the other two circling Omega. Then, all at once, they drew closer. Two attached themselves to Omega’s sides fusing onto its body like power cells while the third attached itself to the monster’s chest. “Next, I’ll play this equip card you might remember: Mage Power. For every spell or trap card on my side of the field, Omega will gain 500 attack points.” Omega let out a roar as it’s power rose to 5700.


As Suri took an instinctive step back, Rarity pointed at Frightfur Tiger. “Now, Vylon Omega, attack with Divine Impact!” The golden omega symbol began to glow brightly to an almost blinding level. Rarity watched as Suri raised a hoof to shield her eyes before her jaw dropped.


“You’re monster!” screamed Suri. “It’s attack points rose to 8700! How is that possible?”


“It’s Vylon Prism,” explained Rarity coldly. “You see, each one of them raises the attack points of the monster they are equipped to by 1000 during the damage step.” The light continued to shine brighter and brighter until Frightfur Tiger burned away in the divine light. As for Suri, her life points took a massive drop to 1500. And that wasn’t the only drop. All of her monsters lost their 900 attack point boost. “That ends my turn.”


Suri gritted her teeth as she drew her card. “You must think you won, right?” she growled. “So you got a big, bad monster on the field. Big deal! The deck I have is a champions deck and its power belongs to me! Your monster is yesterday’s fashion compared to the creatures at my disposal and I’m about to prove it! I use my second copy of Frightfur Fusion to remove Fluffal Dog and Edge Imp Saw from my grave to summon another Frightfur Leo!” Like that, a new Frightfur Leo appeared on the field. “And now I use his special ability to-” Suri was cut off as the omega sign began to glow once more. “What are you doing?”


“Whenever you use a monster’s effect, I can negate and destroy it by removing one equip card attached to Omega,” exclaimed Rarity as she removed a Prism. Frightfur Leo let out a cry of pain, raising its paws in a vain effort to protect itself from the light before it burned him away as well.


“Fine, whatever,” growled Suri as she changed her monsters to defense position. “Sooner or later I’ll get around that dumb monster of yours. Until then, my cards will keep me safe. Fightfur Saber-Tooth can’t be destroyed by battle or card efforts, remember? And when you destroy Frightfur Sheep, it’ll just return to the field. So go and take your turn. It won’t matter!”


“But it will,” replied Rarity as she drew another card. “Because I now play my last equip card for this duel: Vylon Component! This card allows my monster to deal piercing damage when it attacks. I’m sure you know what that means.”


Rarity could see Suri’s eyes widening, implying that she did understand the meaning. Vylon Omega attacked once more, the attack going through Sheep and straight to Suri who screamed in defeat while her life points dropped to zero. As the holograms faded away, Rarity walked over to the other mare while using her magic to take a hold of the scroll she had fought so hard to get. Meanwhile, Suri was pounding at the ground with her hoof.


“You won,” hissed Suri as Rarity approached. “Now get out of my store.”


“It would be my pleasure,” Rarity said coldly as she looked down at the mare. “But, before I do, I want to know where I can find Night Stitch.” Suri looked at Rarity for a moment with a puzzled expression. Like she had never expected Rarity to ask her this. The puzzled expression didn’t last however as she got up, a smug look overtaking her features.


“Well I could tell you,” she said while eyeing the scroll. “But what’s in it for me?” Without a word or ever looking at it, Rarity levitated the scroll over to the other mare.


-x-


Not too long afterwards, Rarity found herself manueving through an old abandoned apartment complex. The walls were lined with graffiti, vile phrases assaulting her at every turn. Some of them were better than others as she did her best to avoid puddles of liquid that she was sure weren’t water. But then there were very…graphic depictions of a mare and a stallion doing things that she was glad Sweetie wasn’t here to see. The air was horrid towards the mare’s senses, but she pressed on in an effort to find Night Stitch.


After climbing three floors, Rarity was beginning to think that Suri lied to her. Again. The only ponies she had found in here were some stallions who were protecting what little they owned with the fury of a dragon. None of them would talk to her, not even when she offered them several bits for information. If Suri had lied to her than she would not wait to see the Princesses in order to make sure Suri paid.


While passing by another room, Rarity could hear something. Pausing, she perked her ears in order to listen better. After several hearts beats, she recognized that voice. As well as what she was saying.


“Mommy, please wake up.”


Fear and panic overtook Rarity as she ran down the hall towards where she heard the voice. As it got louder, she could better make out the panic in her words. She could almost hear the tears running down the filly’s face as she cried out for her mother. Rarity no longer cared what she stepped in or what she ran through, her only prayer being that she hoped she wasn’t too late.


Eventually she found who she was looking for in a room at the end of the hall. There was Night Stitch, an open medicine bottle next to her with the ‘pills’ she had worked so hard to get. Her tiny hooves where pressed again the body of a mare that had to be her mother as she laid on an old, dirty mattress. While the older mare’s eyes were closed, her mouth was open and Rarity could tell the body had grown still. As Rarity entered the room, Night turned to look at Rarity almost causing the grown mare to gasp. Night’s eyes were bloodshot while also appearing…broken. Rarity had no better word for it. It was as if all the life and energy that those eyes had once held was gone.


“Mommy won’t wake up,” said Night Stitch before she turned to look at her mother again. “I got her the medicine. Why won’t she wake up?”


Rarity said nothing as she walked over to the filly and sat down. Slowly, she wrapped her hooves around the filly who still tried to wake her dead mother from the grave.
> Their Due
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The funeral was held a few days later, paid for by Rarity. While both Night Stitch and her mother had lived in Manehatten for their entire lives the service was held in Ponyville followed by the burial. Rarity had felt this best since Manehatten probably contained too many painful memories for the poor dear, both good and bad. The less time she spent there, the better off she would be.


The service was lovely with ponies from all across town coming to pay their respects. Pinkie Pie showed a shocking level of understanding as she did not once send confetti flying across the room in an attempt to liven the atmosphere. She simply brought with her plates of food without any of the usual fanfare that accompanied her. Along with her were the Cakes, who wanted to help cheer the poor filly up. Twilight came, as did the rest of Rarity’s friends. Like Pinkie, they were completely sober during the event. They were so used to coming together to celebrate some great victory or special occasion that none of them knew how to act in a situation like this. So they mingled around quietly, talking to whoever wanted to talk.


The CMC also attended, coming in a vain attempt to cheer Night Stitch up. The bat filly, sadly, was mostly not responsive during the entire ordeal. Ever since her mother’s body was moved, Night Stitch just seemed to be in a complete daze as the world moved around her. It was like she was broken inside. Something that Rarity could understand. She had gone so far, doing things that she knew weren’t right, all in an attempt to save the life of somepony she held dear only to fail. She had stolen, hurt somepony who was trying to stop her…and for what?


Rarity frowned as she thought about the mare who had done this. The mare who had given this filly false hope just to use her. Naturally she had told her friends about this leading to a variety of reactions. Unsurprisingly, Rainbow Dash wanted to give Suri a Sonic Rainboom at point blank range to the gut while Fluttershy (very surprisingly) offered to hold her in place. Twilight said that she would check with the other Princesses to see if there was anything they could do without any hard evidence. Pinkie Pie said Suri would make an awful cupcake before walking away, surprising everypony there with how random that was. Yet, despite not knowing what she was talking about, all of them suddenly had a case of the shivers. As for AJ, her contribution was to tell them all to leave Suri be.


“What she done ain’t right,” she had said. “Nopony here will deny that fact. But right now we got a bigger issue on our hooves than making that snake pay. Little Night Stitch is all by her lonesome right now and needs us.”


As much as Rarity didn’t want it to be so, she knew that Applejack was right. Suri wasn’t the real issue here. As enjoyable as it would be to make sure she learned her lesson in a very…creative way, Night Stitch had to be their focus for the time being.


So now, with the service over and the body buried, Rarity stood besides the grave with two other ponies when all other ponies had left. Sweetie Belle had a hoof placed on the shoulder of Night Stitch who was now staring at the freshly dug grave with her lifeless eyes.


“Well,” said Rarity after a while of standing there. “I suppose we’d better get going.”


“Are you taking me to jail now?” asked Night Stitch, speaking for the first time since Rarity had found her in Manehatten. Her voice was hoarse and hollow, strained from all the crying she had done while lacking any emotion. Rarity saw Sweetie tense at those words before looking over at her older sister as if to see her reaction.


“No darling,” responded Rarity gently as she moved a bit closer to the filly. “You’re not going to jail.” She noticed Night Stitch’s wings twitch at this while her front hooves dug a little deeper into the ground.


“Are you going to yell at me before you take me to jail?” asked Night Stitch in the same tone.


“Of course not,” answered Rarity.


“Why not?” asked Night Stitch with a bit more emotion in her voice. It was louder now while her head was sinking lower to the ground.


“Because you did nothing wrong,” replied Rarity as she reached out her hoof. But at that moment, Night Stitch had spun around surprising everypony there with her sudden action. Tears looked like they were starting to form again as the dam she had set up inside herself threatened to burst at any moment.


“Yes I did!” shouted Night Stitch. “I lied and stole from you.” She turned her head to look at Sweetie Belle. “I hurt you when you were trying to help me.” Slowly the mare turned to look at the grave now. “M-Mommy told me never to steal. That no matter what the reason was it was never the right thing to do. She told me never to hurt others on purpose because only bad ponies did that.” Night Stitch fell to the ground with a thud, her eyes closed tightly. “But I did all that anyways! Mommy would hate me now because I’m a bad pony!”


“No she wouldn’t,” said Sweetie Belle firmly. “She could never hate you.”


Night Stitch shook her head. “But I hate myself! After everything I did it hurts to even look at myself in the mirror. If…If mommy had ever found out what I did, if she had looked at me the same way I did then…” Night Stitch’s words trailed off as she choked back a sob.


“Night, Sweetie Belle is right,” said Rarity gently causing the bat filly to look up. “I don’t think that she would hate you.”


“But-”


“She might have been disappointed if she found out,” interrupted Rarity quickly. “Yes, you did things that weren’t right. But I am sure she would have understood given the circumstances you were both in. She might have talked to you about what you did and how to make it right.”


“Besides, you’re not a bad pony,” said Sweetie Belle. “A bad pony wouldn’t be acting this way or even caring what others thought of her. They would have just shrugged it off and not let it bother them. We know you’re sorry for what you did so I’m sure your mom would have known as well.”


“But…I still let her die,” sobbed Night Stitch. “I couldn’t save her in time.”


“Oh darling,” said Rarity as she scooped the filly up with her hooves and brought her in close. “I don’t think there was anything you could have done to avoid this. Your mother was very sick for so long. I don’t think that things would have been any different even if you had gotten every princess on the planet to come see your mother. It was simply outside of your control.” Rarity could feel Night Stitch opening and closing her mouth, feeling the filly wordlessly say the name Suri against her coat. “As for that…mare, the things she put into your head were simply awful. I don’t know what she actually said to you and, frankly, I don’t want to know since they were all vile lies. You need to understand this.”


“It hurts so much,” breathed the filly in Rarity’s chest.


“Don’t worry,” said Sweetie. “The whole of the CMC will be here to help. So if you want to talk about it or anything, we’ll be there for you.” At that, Night Stitch turned to look at Sweetie. Both mares could see the confusion on her face.


“Even after everything I did?” she asked. Sweetie nodded. “Why?”


“Because that what friends do,” replied Sweetie in a matter of fact tone. “They help each other out when they really need it.” Night shook her head.


“That’s not what my friends did,” she replied. “When…When me and mommy lost everything we asked around for a place to stay, nopony would help. Not my friends. Not mommy’s friends. When we saw them on the streets they pretended like they didn’t know us.”


“Well that just means they weren’t really good friends,” said Sweetie. “But don’t worry; I’ll introduce you to plenty of nice ponies who will want to be your friend when school begins.”


“School?” echoed Night as she tilted her head.


“You didn’t think I’d just throw you back to the streets, did you?” asked Rarity with a hint of a smile. “I’ve worked it all out with the mayor and Princess Twilight. Assuming there are no further complications, you’ll be staying with me and sharing a room with Sweetie Belle when she comes over. As for your apprenticeship with me well that will simply have to wait until after school. Perhaps even a little bit later so you can go out and spend time with ponies your own age?” As Rarity spoke, she noticed something in the eyes of Night Stitch. They looked a tad brighter than before. They had more life and joy in them. Still, Night Stitch wept but her tears were of a different nature.


As she held onto the filly, waiting for her to calm down, Rarity thought back to Suri’s unfortunate truths. Yes, there were plenty of homeless ponies out there and she could not help them all. But she could help and guide this one. But not because she was cute or had a sad back-story. No, on that, Suri was so very wrong. It was because this filly had walked into her life, becoming a part of it. She could do more to help her and she was here now. Perhaps later she could contact Coco to see if they could start doing things to help more of the homeless ponies of Manehatten. Perhaps using extra fabrics and such to make blankets or clothing for them. But that would have to wait just a little bit longer.


-x-


Meanwhile, Suri walked out of her store with a smile on her face. Life was simply perfect right now. Despite costing nearly every bit she had, Suri had managed to make enough of the fabric in order to fill out all of her overdue orders. She had been working around the clock to get the ones to her more prominent clients done first since their influence would help word of her work spread. Right now several were ready to be picked up and letters to their owners had been sent. Within the next couple of days, some of the most important ponies in all of Manehatten would be showing up to her store before walking out while wearing her finest dresses.


While at the moment Suri had only a few bits left to her name, she knew in her heart that it would change soon. Once ponies saw her amazing dresses worn by the rich and famous, she could begin her climb to the top. As long as she had this amazing fabric she knew she could do it. There was no other like it and it was all hers! Sure she would need to figure out how to create more color variations (which could end up costing her both time and money from experimentation) but it would be worth it! Perhaps she could find some unicorn out there in the city and get her to work as an assistant. Somepony gullible enough to think working for her for free would help her get a hoof in the door.


But that could wait until after lunch. Today she felt like celebrating her great success.


After walking several feet, Suri stopped as her eyes twitched. “What’s that noise?” she said while she and everypony in the area looked around. It was a strange whistling noise that seemed to be getting louder by the second. She turned her head to look upwards and her eyes grew several times in size at what she beheld. Shooting down from the sky was a large flaming rock, heading towards the city. Specifically her shop!


Suri turned around, ready to run into her store to save her work but it was too late. Before her very eyes as well as many of the onlookers, the large rock slammed into her store. Bricks and shards of glass went flying in all directions as smoke and flames rose into the air. Suri sat there, her mouth wide open in amazement while sirens filled the air. Yet, the odd thing was that none of the other shops in the area had been damaged. Just hers.


As Suri began to process this information the being known as Discord appeared above the rubble with a massive tennis racket on his shoulder. “Geez Karma,” he shouted to the sky. “You hit that one way out of bounds. It’s like you’re trying to lose on purpose!” Ignoring everypony around him, Discord levitated the rock up into the air before swinging his racket at it to send it flying upwards. As the rock flew out of sight Discord vanished, not repairing any of the damages done to Suri’s store.


“Celestia, I wish I still had insurance,” said Suri in a feeble voice before she began to laugh hysterically.