> Mlp Yu-Gi-Oh! Shining Gem
>  by Blaze-saber
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: Dream of Awakenin
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dark clouds covered the sky as thunderclashed and lightning came down. Monsters that seem to be facing each other on a battlefield roared into the heavens as two figures stood behind these five monsters on both sides of the field. One has its entire body covered in shadows with glowing red eyes and the other was wearing a cloak with a hood up and has a pure white diamond wrapped around a string tied around his neck. This stallion faced this dark entity with a smile on his face as he let out a chuckle. "You think you may have me on the ropes, but let me tell you something!" This stallion shouted at the dark entity with confidence. "This Shadow Game is just getting started!"

The gym around his neck shined bright when he declared that. "For my soul is shining bright as a gem in the starry night!" The stallion jumped high as he charged towards the dark entity with his five monsters.





A colt hit his head on the roof of the train cart and startled his own mom. The colt is a light blue earth pony with a white mane and tail with a few blue streaks. He wore a blue jacket with a white V in the middle pointing down with matching pants and has a blue T-shirt with a white V pointing up. Around his neck is the same gem the stallion in his dream was wearing as he fell to the floor of the train cart and had swirls in his eyes. "DS! Are you okay?!" His mother asked with concern. His mother had the same coat as her son while her mane and tail is yellow with orange streaks. She is wearing a yellow top with a pink skirt that had a paintbrush painting a dragon head printed on it.

"Yeah...my soul is shining like the starry night." DS said as he was dizzy from hitting his head.

"Oh Duelist Striker, did you have that dream again?" She asked as DS shook his head and quickly jumped up from the floor.

"I can't help it, because I'm so excited about this new school!" DS exclaimed before he sat next to his mom. "I mean, I heard that the princess of friendship opened the school not just to ponies, but to changelings, dragons, yaks, hippogriffs, and even griffins. Six different races of Equestria gathered together to learn about friendship!" He then had a smug smile on his face as he placed his thumb and finger under his chin. "I wonder what kind of Duel Monster cards they have?"

"Right when you think about others, your mind quickly switches to duel monsters." His mom replied with a slight chuckle. "That's just like you, DS." They then saw Ponyville coming into view as the train was coming close to its station. "You better get ready for our new home."





Once they arrived, they started to move into their new home which is a card shop that sells Duel Monster cards. "I can't believe, the creator of Duel Monsters are letting you open your own card shop!" DS said as he was carrying a few boxes into the shop part of their home.

"I know." His mother grunted before setting down a table with duel mats on it. "Card Streak wanted to expand the game, so why not places where royalty is?" DS place down a few more boxes before opening them up and pull out some Duel Monsters packs before placing them in the shelves next to him. "Why don't you go check out your new school? I can take care of everything else here."

"Really?" DS asked and the moment she gave a nod in response, a bright smile appeared on his face before he jumped up high. "ALL RIGHT!!!" He shouted with excitement before started to he out. His hooves were moving but he wasn't going anywhere until he looked back and saw his mom holding him by his jacket.

"Hold on, you're forgetting a couple of things." She told before he stopped and looked at her. She then held up a rectangular case that is blue and white while holding a rectangular Gauntlet that is white with a light blue diamond on top of it. "Your Gem Dragon Knights deck and your duel disk."

"Oh right, thanks mom." DS said when he took the items and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Love you Mom." With that, he ran out the door as fast as he could to the school of friendship. He was running fast as he could as he left a trail of dust as he ran. "I can't wait to see my school, it's going to be so awesome!!" He was running so fast that he passed by a pony who was just minding her own business until he ran past her and made her spin around.

This pony fell to the ground once she stopped spinning and revealed to be a teen unicorn mare with a bright yellow coat and her mane and tail are bright green with yellow streaks. She is wearing a black jacket with yellow lightning bolts with small streaks of green on the side of them while she wore torn jeans. "HEY DON'T YOU WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING?!" She shouted at DS as sparks of electricity came from her horn.

DS continued to run until the school was right in his sights. "All right, full speed!!" He shouted as he increased his own speed and ran faster. He had his eyes closed tight as he ran and he didn't even see Princess Celestia, Thorax, Ember, Rutherford, Seaspray, Gruff, Starlight Glimmer, Spike, Flash Sentry, and both the Mane and Young Six up ahead. The moment he opened his eyes again to get another look at the school, he saw them and freaked out as he tried to stop himself. But he ran too fast that his hooves were skidding across the ground. "LOOK OUT!! I CAN'T STOP!!"

The entire group saw him coming and passed the leaders before crashing into the Young Six. The impact made his deck box fly out and his cards flew out of the box. "Oh, that's got to hurt!" Spike remarked as he winced at that crash while DS and the Young Six were in a pile on the ground.

"Somepony got the number of that wagon...?" Sandbar asked as they were completely dizzy from that crash.

"Are you all okay?!" Twilight asked with concern for her students and DS.

"Yeah...ground isn't that hard..." DS said before he shook his head and saw who he crashed into. "Wow! A yak!" As Yona shook her head to snap out of her dizziness, DS looked down to see Gallus on the bottom of Silverstream. He looked before he blushed hard when he saw up her skirt before looking away. "A griffin and a hippogriff!" As she sat up without her knowing he saw up her skirt, he turned to Ocellus. "A Changeling!" Ocellus held her hands down on her skirt as to hope he didn't see anything before he turned to Smolder. "And a drago--" He noticed one of his cards on the ground next to her as she shook her head and let out a puff of smoke through her nostrils. "My cards!"

He quickly got off them and gathering up his cards from the ground. For each one he picked up, he wiped or blew away the dust on his cards. "Sorry for the crash!" He quickly told the six students before returning back to gathering his cards up.

"You really need to watch where you're going." Gallus complained as the others got up and dust themselves off. "What were you doing running here anyway?"

"What else? I'm here to attend the school of friendship, like the six of you." DS answered him as he continued to pick up his cards before Ember walked up to him.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but the school is closed." She told DS as she pointed to the deal on the door. "You can't even get in."

"What?!" DS shouted in shock as to what he just heard before all of his cards were lifted up in the air with a magenta aura covering them before they're placed back in his deck box and handed to him by Twilight. Twilight then took aim to the seal on the door before unleashed a burst of magic, hitting the padlock sealing the building up until it completely shattered. As it did this, the magic covering the school faded away and she turned to smile at them all.

"School is back in session!" Twilight declared as the students cheered and DS was relieved to hear, but that joy quickly vanished when a familiar looking portal appeared in front of the door.

Twilight stepped back as Chancellor Neighsay trotted out of it, the unicorn turning to the remains of his magical seal. He glared at the non-ponies, "Who dared remove my seal?!"

"I did, Chancellor Neighsay!" He shot a glare at the alicorn, but Twilight didn't even flinch and gave him her own stern expression while Flash and the others stood behind her in a united front. "And I respectfully ask you to step aside, or classes will start late."

"Classes won't start at all! The EEA has spoken, and none shall pass!" He slammed his hoof into the ground, actually causing a shockwave.

Yona growled back at him, "Yak pass if yak say! Hmph!" She tried to charge at him, but Sandbar stopped her.

"This is for the greater good!" Neighsay yelled before pointing at Twilight, "The school was disorganised, the teachers unqualified! And those dangerous and unpredictable 'students' put ponies' lives in danger!" He pointed to the still destroyed tower while the leaders all glared at him.

DS didn't know what's going on, but he didn't like what's this Chancellor Neighsay and what's he saying. He was just as upset as the leaders are. "I'll show you unpredictable!" Ember hissed before all of them marched up, Neighsay flinching from the 'deadly monsters' until Celestia stepped between them.

"Hold on, please!" They all stopped and turned to her, "I'm sure Princess Twilight Sparkle has a good explanation for all of this."

"I do!" Twilight assured her, "It's true that my School of Friendship is EEA-unaccredited-"

"Look!" Spike cheered, "She said it without doing the eye thing!"

"Then it is not a school!" Neighsay got right in her face, but Twilight just smiled and pushed him back.

"It's not an EEA school. It's a friendship school with its own rules. I should know. I wrote the book!" In a flash of light, a giant purple book three times the size of the EEA Guidebook appeared at Neighsay's hooves. The unicorn gasped at this, Twilight then turning to the others. "These students reminded me that every friendship is special, so the way we teach it has to be just as unique." The students all smiled at this as their leaders looked down at them with pride, "My school is going to do things differently."

Neighsay still looked un-stirred by Twilight speech. "Allowing all of these creatures to attend your school, changing the rules for them...it simply won't work!"

"You're being such a hypocrite right now!" DS spoke up and getting everycreatures attention. "It's not cool for saying that sharing our friendship with other creatures won't work!"

"A colt like you should stay out of grown ups businesses!" Neighsay told DS. "And just what do you mean when you said I'm being a hypocrite?!"

"For a chancellor, you really forget your history so easily." DS remarked. "Did you really forget that long ago as ponies didn't get along either? We didn't trust one another and that only brought the windigos and an internal winter. And with that, that only brought more distrust and hatred. But when Equestria was founded by friendship, the wendigos went away." Princess Celestia, Twilight, and her friends gave a smile at what he was trying to make a point out of. "I mean sure there is probably some ponies who thought we wouldn't get along with one another, but in the end we did."

"What's your point?" Neighsay asked.

"My point is that if we just close ourselves off to other creatures like them, it's only going to create chaos and distrust." DS said before he gave a bright smile. "But these leaders of the different creatures are willing to let their young come to the school and learn about friendship. We used to be in fear of the dragons, but now the dragons are willing to be friends with us if they're letting one of their young go to the school. The changelings used to be to drain love from others when Queen Chrysalis ruled over them, but now they share their love and is ruled by King Thorax. So my point is if they're willing to learn about friendship, then I say we let them learn about it! And besides, Princess Twilight doesn't have to take orders from you, it's actually the other way around."

"What?!" Neighsay growled, but DS didn't flinch.

"Last time I checked, she's the princess of friendship and you're not." DS reminded. "She's royalty, so you have to do what she says. I don't even know why she went to the EEA in the first place when she could have just done all this herself beforehand."

"He makes a good point." Flash whispered to Rainbow Dash who nodded in agreement.

"And how can you be sure they won't use what they learn against us?!" Neighsay shouted at him. "Dragons used to rated our village for gems, changelings used to drain our love and make us weaker, and Griffins are nothing more than selfish creatures that only care for money! None of them can be trusted and this is none of your business!"

"I'm making it my business because I was transferred to this school!" DS shouted before he pointed to himself. "The name's Duel Striker, DS for short and if my words don't get through to you then I'll let my actions speak louder for them." He then reached into his jacket and pulled out his duel disk. "Neighsay, I challenge you to a duel!" Everycreature was shocked that he challenged Neighsay to a duel.

"A duel?" Neighsay asked.

"What's a duel?" Smolder asked as she tilted her head.

"He's talking about a game of Duel Monsters." Sandbar told her.

"That's right, and if I win you have to let Princess Twilight run her school her way and never bother us again!" DS stated.

"Very well, but if I win, this school will stay open but it will have qualified teachers, follow the EEA rules, and only allow ponies to attend!" Neighsay told his demands before Princess Celestia pulled DS aside.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" She asked him. "The EEA don't just teach things about Equestria and everything else, it also teaches their students how to duel. And Chancellor Neighsay is a very strong duelist."

"Who cares if he's strong duelist?" DS said in a unimpressed tone. "He wants to make this Friendship School an EEA school and won't let us make any peace with the other creatures. I'm going to dueling him not just for the school..." He looked back at the Young Six before he looked at Celestia with a bright smile. "I'm dueling him for all." The moment he said that, Celestia remember back when a stallion used to say that when she was just a filly and Luna was a foal.





Meanwhile, the unicorn mare that DS pass earlier was marching in the direction he was heading. "You don't just make somepony spin around and keep going like that." She grumbled as more electric sparks came out of her horn. "I swear when I see him I'm gonna--" She stopped when she saw DS and Neighsay standing a few feet away from each other while they faced each other and the others standing on the sidelines. "Hey, what's going on here?"

"Get ready, because my soul is about to shine!" DS declared as he threw the gauntlet up in the air before jumping high and thrusting his fist into the hole of the gauntlet to put it on his arm and his hand is covered in a black glove with a white spot on the top. Once he landed on the ground, he took his deck box and inserted in the rectangular hole above his wrist and the blue part of the box folded into show his cards.

Once his deck was in, the diamond-shaped screen lit up before a golden yellow V shape blade appeared in front of the gauntlet with five slots going around it and two slots hovering just on the ends of it. On one side of it, a pair of goggles with blue lenses popped out and DS put them on. Neighsay had one similar, only it was dark red. The area around them turned dark as a ring spread out from both sides of the field. Both of them then drew five cards from their decks and were prepared to start. "Let's duel!" They both declared as a holographic screen appeared in front of them and showed their life points.


DS L.P.: 4,000
Neighsay L.P.: 4,000


"Yeah, go DS!" Silverstream cheered before she turned to the others. "By the way, what kind of duel are they doing?"

"Yeah, I asked that like five minutes ago." Smolder complained.

"They called a 'Duel Monsters', but what exactly is that?" Ember asked Spike, who looked really excited for what's about to happen.

"Only the most greatest card game ever made!" Spike shouted, only for Ember, Smolder, Sliverstream, and Seaspray to still not get it.

"Anypony want to explain it to them?" Applejack remarked before Twilight stepped up.

"I allow me." She spoke before before she pointed towards the two duelist. "You see, Duel Monsters is a card game where you have to get your opponent's life points down to zero. Both players have to start out with 4,000 life points and the five cards in hand."

"And right now, the first turn is mine!" DS declared as he reached for his deck. "I draw!" After he drew a single card out of his deck, he looked at his hand and ground a monster card that looked like a buff dragon with orange scales and armor made out of gems. "I summon level 5 Gem Dragon Knight: Jasper Basher!" He took the card and placed it on the slot on his blade. The ground started to shank before the exact same dragon on the card burst out of the ground and roared before he pounded his fists.


Gem Dragon Knight: Jasper Basher
Atk/2,200
Def:2,000


"WOW!! WHAT IS THAT?!?!?" Sliverstream asked excitedly when she saw his monster appear.

"That's a Duel Monster." Twilight answered. "Each monster has attack points and defense points, as well as levels. But he can only summon monsters that are Level 1 or 4. To summon a level 5 or 6 monster, you have to tribute summon it by sacrificing one monster on the field. If you want to summon a level 7 or above monster, you've had to sacrifice two or more. Not only that, you can only summon once per turn."

"Yeah, but I can special summon Gem Dragon Knight: Jasper Basher when I have no monsters on my field." DS explained. "The downside is I have to reduce its attack points to 1,500. But since I special summon him to the field, I can special summon Gem Dragon Knight: Pearl Defender to the field." He took another card from his hand and placed it sideways on one of the slots on the blade and a white dragon with arm shields and armor made of pearls appeared on the field.


Gem Dragon Knight: Pearl Defender
Level 4
Def/2,400
Atk/300


"Next, I summon level 3 Gem Dragon Knight: Ruby Archer to the field!" DS declared as he took another card from his hand and placed it on the slot on his blade. Then in burst of flames, a red dragon with a hood over its head along with a bag of arrows on its back while it hold a bow appeared on the field.


Gem Dragon Knight: Ruby Archer
Atk/1,400
Def/600


"Would you get on with it?!" Neighsay demanded impatiently. "Honestly, you're taking too long with your turn!"

"You really need to learn patience!" DS remarked. "If you're not liking the way I duel, then you're definitely not going to like Ruby Archer's special ability." They saw the monster he just play take out three arrows before spitting flames on the arrowheads. "He deals you 500 points of damage for each Gem Dragon Knight on my field." Ruby Archer then took aim at Neighsay before firing the three arrows. All three arrows struck him and he lost 1,500 lifepoints.


Neighsay L.P: 2,500


"And since this is my first turn, I'm not allowed to attack." DS said before he took a card in his hand and placed it in the slot in the gauntlet. "So, I place one card face down and end my turn." A card behind the three monsters appeared before it became Neighsay's turn.

Neighsay clutches his eyes tight as his eyes tight as he was struck by the first arrow, then stumbling backwards as the next two arrows hit. He opens his eyes to glare at DS.

"You most certainly pay for that!" Yelled Neighsay as he drew his card. He looks over his hand closely before picking one of them up. "I start my turn by activating the continuous spell Ancient Gear Castle!" A large stone castle with many turning gears slowly rises up behind Neighsay. The castle reaches the same height as the school as loud steam sprays out from many cracks of the castle. "This card increases the attack of all my Ancient Gear monsters by 300, it also gains one counter for each Ancient Gear I successfully normal or special summon. Now I summon my Ancient Gear Soldier to the field!" The castle whirls loudly as the front gate opens and a robotic soldier slowly steps out and takes it's place in front of Neighsay.


Ancient Gear Soldier
Atk/1300
Def/1300


"Now watch closely colt, my soldier now increases its attack to 1600 thanks to my castle, and my castle gains a counter for my successful normal summon of my soldier. But my turn is far from done, as I now activate the equip spell Ancient Gear Tank!" A large gun turret is summoned next to the soldier who then slowly climbs inside it and turns the gun directly at DS. "This equip spell increases my monster's attack by 600, making his final attack points 2200! Far stronger than your pathetic monster! Speaking of which, to prevent you from using your Archer's effect next turn, I will be taking him out right now! Ancient Gear Soldier, destroy Ruby Archer!" Neighsay shouted as his command as the soldier shifted the cannon at the archer. It fires its massive gun, and strikes the archer, exploding it in a huge fireball.


DS L.P: 3,200


"I have just performed a flawless counter to your floodgate of monsters. Try topping that colt, your move." Neighsay taunted.

"Ha! That's all you got?!" Rainbow Dash shouted from the sidelines. "He brought your life points down to 2,500 while you only brought his down to 3,200!"

"If anything, you only managed to put a dent in his life points!" Gallus added.

"Still, he did manage to deal me damage." DS told them. "But that doesn't mean I'm out!" He then drew a card out of his deck. "It's my turn, I draw." He then looked at the card he just drew and smiled. "I play the spell card known as Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two new cards in my deck." After playing it, he drew two new cards and looked at them. "I now play the spell known as Card of Sanctity." A card that showed two warriors gathering gold coins that are raining from the sky was shown on the field.

"Now both of us have to draw until we have six cards in our hands." DS explain before they both did that. "I now play my face down, Dragon Knights Retreatment!" He pressed the card on the diamond screen and the card on the field flipped up to revealed to be a trap card. "By sending two cards in my hand to the graveyard, I can revive my Ruby Archer from it." His monster then reappeared back onto the field. "I now sacrifice both him and my Jasper Basher so I can tribute summon my own soldier to the field, my level seven Gem Dragon Knight: Garnet Soldier!" Both monsters vanished before the ground rubble and a pinkish red dragon with Garnet armor while wielding a sword burst out.


Gem Dragon Knight: Garnet Soldier
Atk/2,300
Def/1,900


"With her on the field, I can play my spell Garnet Magma Sword which destroys your monster and deals you half of its original attack points as damage." DS explain before Garnet's sword burned bright as she slashed the Ancient Gear Soldier before it exploded and dealt him some damage.


Neighsay L.P.: 850


Neighsay shields his eyes from the explosion with his arm. He grits his teeth and clutches his fist seeing that his whole field is empty. He looks down at his hand however, full of cards from Card of Sanctity. Slowly he smirks as he begins to form a strategy. “Is that all you’ve got, colt?”

"Unfortunately, it is." DS admitted. "Due to the sword's effect, Garnet can't attack until my next turn." He then took two cards from his hand and placed them face down on the field. "So I'll just place two cards face down and end my turn."

"Finally, I draw." Said Neighsay drawing from his deck. "Now I activate the spell card Ancient Gear Catapult. I can only activate this card when I control no monsters on the field. I target one card on my field and then I destroy it. I chose to destroy my own Ancient Gear Castle." The castle behind Neighsay began to crumble before finally collapsing on itself. This move caused a few confused looks from the group as they wondered why Neighsay would willingly destroy his castle. "Now that I have fulfilled the cost I can now unleash one of the many destructive monsters inside my deck. As after I destroy one of my own cards, I can now special summon one Ancient Gear monster from my deck, completely ignoring any summoning requirements or conditions!"

Twilight gave a worried look, she knew what card he was about to summon. She had seen Neighsay use this card before to bring out his ace card. "DS! Watch out! he is about to summon one of his best monsters!"

"Right you are, Princess! I summon to the field, the Level 8 Ancient Gear Golem!" Yelled Neighsay as his golem slowly arose from the ground and stood tall. The Golem was just as tall as the school, just like the castle. Neighsay had an enormous smirk across his face. "Now is your time to back out now colt to spare yourself a humiliating defeat! My Ancient Gear Golem is one of my best monsters! I'd like to see you beat over this giant!"


Ancient Gear Golem
Atk/3000
Def/3000


"That..is one big golem..." Ocellus remarked when they all laid eyes on the Ancient Gear Golem.

"It's got 3000 attack points, but it won't do any good." DS said with confidence. "Because Garnet has 2,300 attack points and my Pearl has 2,400 defense points. Even if you destroy one of them, I won't take that much damage or won't take any damage at all!"

"Oh ho! Right you are, colt! But you are unaware of my Golem's special ability! If he attacks a monster in defense position, he inflicts piercing damage!" Said Neighsay. His eyes glared at DS as his smirk grew larger. "After I destroy one of your monsters, on my next turn I will decimate the other, and it doesn't matter if they're in defense mode, you will still lose your life points! Now Let's see which of your monsters I want to destroy first." Neighsay puts his finger and his thumb onto his chin as he examines the battlefield. "Your Garnet has the lowest points, she will be the one to taste the might of my Golem! Ancient Gear Golem, Attack his Garnet with your Mechanized Melee!"

"I activate my trap card, Gem Defender Half Break!" DS declared as one of his face downs flipped up and it had a picture of his Pearl Defender with a half broken shield on it. "Thanks to this, I'll only take half damage for the rest of this turn!" When Garnet was destroyed, he was sent flying back and lay on the ground.

"Golem smash hard." Yona remarked as DS's lifepoints dropped.


DS L.P.: 2850


"You may have saved a majority of your lifepoints, but I am the one who still controls the strongest monster on the field!" Said Neighsay, obviously a bit annoyed he wasn't able to inflict a lot of damage this turn. "Since you plan on dragging this duel out as long as you can, I will enter main phase 2 to set one card face down. My turn is over, make your move colt, I ain't getting any younger."

DS still laid on the ground and didn't move, causing the others to worry a bit. "Oh dear, I think that last attack might have shock him." Fluttershy said in a worried tone.

"Hey dude, are you going to be okay?" Sandbar asked before they noticed him chuckling a bit before that chuckling turned into laughter.

"Are you alright?" Rarity asked before DS jumped off the ground and had a bright smile on his face.

"Of course I am! This is the most exciting duel I'm having!" DS declared with an exciting tone in his voice.

Neighsay's smirk slowly faded seeing DS start to laugh. His smirk turned into frown, and then he gritted his teeth. "Is he really having fun?" Neighsay thought to himself. "This is supposed to be a serious duel! Is he mocking me!?" Neighsay started to grind his teeth together, that thought making him angry. He refused to be shown up by the overly confident colt who was standing up for those…non ponies. Those creatures. Oh how he was going to enjoy mopping the floor with him for mocking him.

"Uh, did you hit your head or something?" Smolder asked him in confusion. "He's got a very powerful monster on his side of the field and you only got one that doesn't have enough to take it out!"

"Yeah I know that!" DS replied but still had a smile on his face. "But who cares about what's on the field or who's winning? As long as I'm having fun, this duel is just getting started! Get ready Neighsay, because my soul..." He then ran forward before jumping high. "...will shine bright as a diamond in the starry night!!" Celestia let out a gasp as she heard those words before very, very long ago before the diamond he is wearing around his neck started to blow bright. "It's my turn, I draw!" He drew his card before landing on the ground and seeing what card he got. "All right!"

"Did you get the card you need?" Gallus asked as DS gave a nod in response.

"But first, I activate my face down!" He declared as his other face down card flipped up and revealed to be another Card of Sanctity spell.

"Another Card of Sanctity?" Ocellus asked as the two duelists drew their cards.

"What can I say? I'm a generous colt." DS remarked before he held up a card. "Now I play the ritual spell known as Hymn of Light!" A card then was shown on the field that looked like a church with the stained glass windows shutting down in the form of a circle. "With this, I offer up my level 4 Gem Dragon Knight: Pearl Defender and my Level 2 Gem Dragon Knight: Pebble Squire that's in my hand!" Both monsters were offered up as a light shined up to the heavens. 

Neighsay rolls his eyes at DS's catchphrase, brushing it off as overconfidence. However he then raises an eyebrow seeing his necklace light up. When DS played the ritual card, neighsay became intrigued as he examined the card art. "What in Equestria is that? I am not familiar with that card. What exactly are you doing Colt? What monster does that card summon?" Demanded Neighsay, shifting his eyes from the card to DS.

"May the light shine down on this duel as the queen of the light arrives! I ritual summon Saffira, Queen of Dragons!" DS declared as he placed a blue card with a monster on it whose beauty can shine like the sun from above.





"Wow, she's really beautiful!" Spike shouted at the site of Saffira.

Even Neighsay had to admit to how graceful Saffira was, his jaw partially gapped. His amazement soon turned into confidence as he began to chuckle, and then his chuckle turned into a mocking laughter. "And here I was almost impressed by your monster. She only has 2500 attack points! She is still weaker than my Golem, how do you plan on winning with that?" Neighsay taunted as he crossed his arms. Ancient Gear Golem slowly and stiffly shifts his head downward to look at Saffira, steam ejecting around his neck as he did.

"Maybe for now, but first let's take care of your face down with the spell Stamping Destruction!" DS declared as he placed a card in his gauntlet and it looked like a dragon's foot stomping on a building. "This card not only destroys your face down, but deals you 500 points of damage!" The card then let out a powerful pulse that destroyed his face down and dealt some damage.


Neighsay L.P.: 350


"No!" Neighsay yelled as he watched his card get destroyed. "No...No matter! I still have some life points left, and I still have faith in my Golem to achieve victory for me!"

Before he was going to make his next move, he looked at Saffira who had a warm smile on her face before she gave a nod. "This is for my new school." He thought before he took another card in his hand and played it. "From my hand, I play the continuous spell known as Solidarity! With it, Saffira games 800 attack points for each of the same type monster that's in my graveyard."

"Awesome!" Pinkie Pie cheered before she realized something. "How many dragons are in his graveyard again?

Neighsay began to count the number of dragons he had summoned that were in the grave. His eyes widened in horror as he realized the final amount. "Four... you have four dragons in the grave.... Th-That's 3200! Making your monster 5700!!!" Neighsay shiver as he adds up the final attack number of his monster.

"You got that right!" DS shouted as Solidarity made Saffira glow bright as she started to grow in size until she was bigger than the Ancient Gear Golem. "Saffira, let's end this together!" Saffira then flew high into the sky as she held up her arms and a ball of light energy formed. "Serrated Light." She then threw the ball of light right at the Golem and destroyed as the whole field was covered in its light. The impact was so great that Neighsay was sent flying back and the moment he hint the ground, his life points dropped to zero.


Neighsay L.P.: 0

Winner, DS.


With the duel over, Saffira vanished when the world around them return to normal and DS gave a thumbs up to his soon-to-be classmates and friends. Neighsay lands hard on his back and closes his eyes tight. "I... lost?... I LOST!?" Neighsay shouts in his head as he slowly sits up, still on the ground with a very angry expression, seeing DS standing triumphantly as the students standing behind him begin to cheer for him.

"Yeah! You showed him up! How do you like them apples Chancellor!" Yelled Gallus.

"That was so amazing!!" Sliverstream shouted excitedly.

"That was like, the greatest duel I've ever seen!" Sandbar complimented.

"You have got to teach me how to use those cards!" Smolder demanded with a bright smile.

"And maybe new friend can take on Yona and her Super Heavy Samurais!" Yona shouted.

"And you not only did it for us, you also did it for our school!" Ocellus pointed out in a impressed tone. Twilight then walked over to Neighsay with a smug smile on her face.

"He won, now you have to hold up your end of the bargain and let us run our school our way." Twilight reminded him. "And I promise you, my school will bring all of Equestria's creatures together."

Neighsay shot Twilight a very angry look. He slowly stood and got in her face. "You can have this victory Princess, but I will not fully bend my knee to you! I will uphold my end of the bargain, but one slip up, and I mean even the slightest slip up that would jeopardize the safety of ponies, I will throw the entirety of the EEA book at you, and you will face the consequences!" Neighsay turns around before pulling out his medallion around his neck from under his robe. With a light tap of it he opens a portal and walks towards it. He pauses and he looks back over at DS. "And as for you colt, don't assume that this is our only conflict, as that threat is extended to you as well!" Neighsay then steps through the portal before it closes.

"I'll admit that was a pretty nice duel." The mare complimented as she walked up to them.

"Thanks." DS said before he realized who said that. "Wait, who are you?"

"Oh right, the name is Sparks, Sparks Surge." She introduced herself. "And I originally came here to chew you out for making me spin when you ran past me earlier. But after seeing that awesome duel of yours, I've decided to also come to the school as well."

"Really, that's great!" Sliverstream cheered as she pulled Sparks in the group hug. But the moment she made contact, they except her got electrocuted.

"Whoops, I guess I still had a little charging me." Sparks said with a blush as she rubbed the back of her head.

"You don't say..." DS remarked as all seven of them coughed up puffs of smoke.

Sandbar's mane stood on end from the shock, he quickly used his hands to fix it back into his original mane style. "What was that all about Sparks? How come you shocked us just now?" Asked Sandbar.

"And are you a duelist as well?" Asked Gallus. Sandbar's eyes widened a bit as he noticed one of Gallus's feathers had a small flame on them from the shock. He licks his thumb and finger and pinches it to snuff it out.

"You see I was born with this special kind of magic whenever I get a little upset, I kind of charge up my own electric charge." Sparks admitted before her small blush turned into a confident smile. "I just hope you guys can handle my electric charge as well as handle me in a Rush Duel."

"What's a Rush Duel?" Both Smolder and Sliverstream asked, causing Sparks to fall back to the ground.

"What's a Rush Duel?!?!?" Sparks shouted as sparks of electricity came out of her horn when she jumped back up. "What, do you live in an igloo or something?!?!?"

"I've lived under the ocean half my life." Silverstream admitted.

"And we don't have card shops in the Dragonlands." Smolder pointed out.

"Then I'll bring you both to my mom's card shop." DS spoke up. "She's probably done setting up and she can hook you both up with duel disks and starter decks."

"Yeah! That sounds awesome! I can't wait to get a deck of my own!" Gallus excitedly said as he pumped his fist.

"And maybe after that you can give some of us a quick tutorial on how to duel DS, and then you can show us a Rush Duel Sparks." Said Ocellus with an adorable smile. "This game looks fun and I wanna learn how to play!"

"Me too! This game looks very competitive, and we dragons love to get competitive." Said Smolder with a smirk as she put her hands on her hips.

"All right, let's go!" DS declared as he ran past and spin Sparks around again before she fell to the ground.

"You did that on purpose!" She shouted at him before chasing after him with the Young Six following behind. The leaders, Princess Celestia, and the Mane Six watched as the group headed towards the card shop. Twilight had a warm smile on her face before Flash walked up to her.

"You know, I have a feeling this is going to be one interesting school year." Flash remarked as she nodded in agreement.
> Chapter 2: New Friends and a New Beginning
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the card shop, DS's mom was wiping the sweat from her brow as she was done stacking the cards, booster packs, starter decks call and duel disks on the shelves and had placed the Duel tables in the back for a nice game for anyone to play. "All right, that's everything." She said as she is proud with her work. "I wonder if DS had made any new friends at that school." As if on cue, the doors to the shop first open and her son along with Sparks and the Young Six tumbled in.

"You guys complained about me about not stopping on time!" DS complained as he was on the bottom of the pile.

"Oof!... Well at least give us a warning you are stopping next time!" Said Gallus as he had Silverstream and Smolder laying on his back. Smolder puts hand on her head and begins to gently rub it as Silverstream has spirals over her eyes.

"Whoooooa..." Said Sandbar, as he was on top of everyone in the pile. He was scanning the area, looking at all of the display cases housing all the different card packs and dueling gear. "Dude, this is gnarly!"

"Sandbar! Could you please get off me and look later!" Whined Ocellus who was being crushed under the weight.

"Yona don't like being in a pile after crash..." Yona whined before DS's mother's shadow cast over the pile.

"Are you all okay?!" She asked with concern as they were getting up from the ground.

"Yeah, we're fine." Sparks replied as she dust herself off. "You must be DS's mom, right? I'm Sparks."

"Oh DS, is that your mom!? She is so pretty!" Exclaimed Silverstream as she was dusting herself off.

"And this is really her card shop? This place looks incredible!" Said Sandbar as he approaches one of the display cases that has duel disks inside. Sandbar presses his face and stares at them in amazement.

"Yeah, these are like top of the line." Gallus agreed as he looked at the duel disks in the display cases with Sandbar.

"Mom, meet my new friends I've made at school." DS said as he pointed to each one. "Sandbar, Gallus, Sliverstream, Smolder, Yona, and Ocellus."

"Well, it's very nice to meet all of you." She said with a warm smile. "My best guess is you brought them here, not only to show where we live, but to give them some cards?"

"Well yeah!" Said Smolder approaching DS and his mom, giving him a firm and almost painful slap on the shoulder. "We saw him duel, and it looked awesome! Now we all want to give this game a try. You should have seen him, we were locked out of the school by this punk called Chancellor Neighsay. DS challenged him to a duel and gave him a certified butt kicking!"

"Nasty Pony closed down school and said Yona and Friends were not allowed. New Friend DS Stood up to Nasty Pony and got school to open back up!" Said Yona with a huge grin on her face.

"Really, you dualed against a s-rank dualist?" His mother asked in surprised as he blushed a little and nodded yes in response.

"What do you mean 's-rank', what's it mean?" Sliverstream asked with curiosity as his mother gave a smile in intriguement.

"Oh, some of you don't know about the duelist system." She said before walking over to the counter. "Well, why don't we tell you all about it."

"That sounds good, because two of them don't even know about Rush Duels!" Sparks said as she glared at Smolder and Sliverstream.

Smolder sticks her tongue out a Sparks playfully as the others get in closer to hear DS's mom explain ranks. Gallus leans his back against one the shelves as he crosses his arms. Ocellus leaned forward on one of the counters, putting her hands underneath her chin. Sandbar gets down on his knees and joins in with Ocellus leaning on the counter.

"You see, the duelist system works sort of like a role playing game." She began. "Only it works with how well you play the game. You see duelist who's just started to play the game, starts out in e-rank then they work their way up to s-rank." She then pointed to her son. "DS for example is a c-rank duelist."

"C-rank, huh?" Sparks asked before holding up her own Duel Disk which is bright yellow. "I'm a b ranked duelist."

"I'm d-rank so I'm behind both of you." Sandbar admitted as he rubbed the back of his head.

"When Yakyakistan opened up back to ponies, Yaks were given gift of Dual Monsters." Yona spoke up as she brought out a light brown Duel Disk. "Yona is c-rank too."

Smolder huffs a little as smoke bellows out of her nostrils. "So I would be at the very bottom at e-rank when I get my own deck. That's lame." Smolder then crosses her arms.

"Don't worry about it Smolder, the more you win, the faster you will excel in rank." Sandbar assured her. "I'd be happy to be one of your first opponents."

"Hold on for a second, DS, if you are a c-rank, and you beat an S rank who is practically the best of the best, wouldn't that cause you to rank up?" Asked Ocellus looking at DS.

"All thanks to me and my dueling practice." His mother answered her with a smug smile. "I practically worked for the company that makes the cards and when you work for a company that makes the cards, you practically pick up a thing or two."

"Yeah, and it thanks to her company that my deck was made." DS said before he took out his deck box. "You see, when I was little I always thought about how cool it would be if Dragons could wear armors made of the gems that they always eat. You know like a knight in shining armor. I drew some drawings and show them to my mom and she in return show them to her boss which made the cards."

"Wow... that's amazing!" Said Silverstream as she looks at his cards in his box.

"But that's when the strangest thing happened when they were all finished." His mother spoke up. "The cards themselves sort of sealed themselves in some sort of magical crystallized casing." The others were shocked to hear something like that. "We had the top spellbinders in all of Equestria to try and break the casing, but nothing worked. That wasn't up until DS walked up to one of the cards and the casing just vanished.

"You mean like some sort of cocoon? Asked Ocellus, interested in the story. "But why did the cards seal themselves away? And how come only DS freed them? I never heard of anything like that."

"We don't know." His mother answered. "We even showed them to Princess Celestia and even she couldn't figure it out. As for why they only been freed when DS was near, we have no idea either."

"But I think it has to do something with my dream." DS said as he remembers a occurring dream. "You see in my dream, I saw a stallion with the exact same monsters standing behind him. The ones that are my Gem Dragon Knights. Plus when my mom took me to her work one day, I could hear voices coming from the sealed cards. I didn't know why, but they sounded familiar and well they said that my destiny was coming."

"Thats super weird..." Said Gallus taking a few steps back from the card box. 

"Destiny huh?" Said Sandbar standing up and placing his finger and thumb to his chin. "I for one think that sounds interesting. Have you looked into whatever that could mean? Have you heard voices from them once you finally broke the seal?"

"Wait, what about your Saffira, Queen of Dragons card?" Ocellus spoke up in curiosity. "Was she one of the cards sealed away too?"

"Well no." DS answered. "When the creator of the game saw me unseal those cards, he was impressed by it. Even though I didn't use any special magic to do so and just touch them. He brought me to his office with my mom and he gave me Saffira. He said that I was meant to have her."

"All right, that's enough storytelling for now." His mother spoke up before she walked over to Smolder. "Let's get you few your starter decks so we can get started on your training." She then narrowed her eyes as she looked over Smolder before snapping her fingers. "You...like a deck that can get with the competitive spirit of both the game and you."

Smolder stepped closer, making sure she got a good look at her. "Yeah I want something strong, reliable, and very competitive! There is nothing we dragons like more than being tough and ruthless!" Said Smolder as shoved her fist into her hand and began to rub her knuckles into her palm. "We like competing against each other and showing off who is the strongest! Whatever deck matches that description, I'm all for it!"

"I think I have something in mind." She said as she walked over to a cabinet with see-through doors and open it up. She then looked around before picking up one of the decks inside and walking back to Smolder. "This is the Rise of the Dragon Lords deck. I think you'll find it'll fit your description very well."

Smolder looks at the deck pack before taking a hold of it and looking at it. "Wow! Thank you so much!"

"Pshh, Hehehe." Chuckled Gallus. "A starter deck? Everyone knows that starter decks are for noobs." Teased Gallus. Smolder glares back at him, he could practically see the fire in her eyes. Gallus gulps hard. "Kidding! Just kidding!"

"Nothing is wrong with having a starter deck Smolder!" Said Sandbar as he wraps his arm around Smolder's neck. "After a while and getting some dueling experience under your belt, you can customize your deck however you want, adding and taking out whatever cards you want. Though I do recommend you keep the deck how it is so you can familiarize yourself with the game first." Smolder nodded as she took the cards out and began to look through them.

"Oh, oh, me next!" Sliverstream shouted with excitement. "I want to deck that can really make a big splash and wash away the competition. You know, like bang and kapow!"

"Hmmm..." DS's mom looked over Silverstream as well. She gave a slight chuckle at her bubbly personality. "You like the ocean huh? I think I have the perfect deck for you that will have the perfect amount of bite for you." She said as turned and began looking for the deck she was thinking about. "Ah-ha! There it is." She then turned around and handed Silverstream a deck. "This deck was structured around a single archetype, Sharks."

"EEEEE!!!" Silverstream squealed as she was unable to contain her excitement. "Sharks! That is so awesome! Thank you so much Miss DS!" Silverstream took the deck and began to look over the cards immediately.

DS's mom then turned to Ocellus and looked her over. Ocellus gave a nervous smile before DS's mom returned it with a warm smile. "You may have heard about Duel Monsters but never played it and you are very curious to learn how to play." She said as Ocellus gave a nod in response.

"That's right Ma'am. Just like Smolder, there really aren't any card shops close by. I've always been interested in the game though." Said Ocellus. She blinks a few times.

DS's mom gives her a warm smile as she knew exactly what kind of deck was perfect for her. This time she reaches under the counter and pulls out a more advanced deck. "Since you already have some knowledge about the game, and you seem like a pretty smart ling, I'll give you a more challenging deck. You may have heard of the Dark Magician deck right? Well did you know that Dark Magician's understudy, the Dark Magician Girl, has her own archetype as well? I think it will suit you perfectly." She then slid the deck towards her.

"Wow, I'm really flattered ma'am." Ocellus said as she picked up the deck. "So, what's next? Does Gallus get one?"

"I've already got my deck." Gallus said as he pulled out one from his jacket. "Sometimes in Griffin Stone, travelers would trade us rare cards if they don't have any money with them. So, I built myself a Raidraptors deck from those trades."

"Yeah, same here!" Said Sandbar pulling out his own deck. "A while ago I was with my folks in Manehattan. Since I was getting older they let me get any deck I wanted, so we went to the big card shop that was there and we looked around for a bit. It didn't take me long to find myself a deck, Elemental Heros! I'm a huge comic book fan, so it was an easy choice."

"And Yona has a deck too!" Exclaimed Yona, pulling out her own deck. "Like Yona said, Duel Monsters were introduced to yaks by ponies, Yona got Super Heavy Samurais!"

"And I have my Sevens Road deck, miss..." Sparks said before she realized something. "Uh, what's your name?"

"It's Golden Aurora." She answered before she cracked her knuckles. "Now, prepare yourselves. Because thanks to my duel training, you'll be ranking up in a matter of hours." The others looked excited before they noticed DS hiding behind a shelf.

"Good luck, guys." He said nervously.

"Whats wrong with you DS?" Asked Gallus crossing his arms. "You don't want to come with us?"

"Yeah, you are our friend now, no reason to be shy." Said Sandbar.

"It's not that." DS told them. "It's just when my mom gets into a duel training mood, let's just say things get intense."

"What do you mean by 'intense'." Smolder asked before they a firing aura in the air before they looked at Golden Aurora and could feel something different emanating from her.

"Get ready, because starting...YOUR DUEL TRAINING STARTS!!!" Aurora shouted, like a mountain lion roaring. Ocellus instinctively hides behind Smolder, getting startled by Golden Aurora's new demeanor. Smolder looks at Ocellus and rolls her eyes with a chuckle.

"Oh Yeah! Yona likes the sound of that!" Said Yona getting pumped up.

Over the next few hours, Aurora started to teach Smolder, Sliverstream, and Ocellus how to play Duel Monsters. She taught them spell cards, trap cards, monster cards and how many different types there are. She taught them how to shuffle their decks and the many ways to summon a monster onto the field.

Smolder, Silverstream, and Ocellus were able to follow along decently well, about as well as you would expect from some who had never picked up a deck before. Ocellus raises her hand high in the air as she had a question for Golden Aurora.

"Oo! oo! Miss Aurora, I have a question!" Said Silverstream enthusiastically. "I understand we get to one normal summon per turn, but how many times can we special summon a turn?"

"Excellent question Silverstream, there is no limit." Said Golden Aurora as a huge smile began to form on Silver's face. "If you have the right materials on the field, in your hand, and even in your graveyard, you can special summon as many times as you want in a single turn.”

"But in a Rush Duel, you can summon as many monsters as you want." Sparks told them. "But in Rush Duels, you can only have three monstersomes as well as three spell/trap card zones. Plus you have to start out with four cards in your hand and not five. But you get to draw multiple cards until you have five in your hand when your turn rolls around."

"Just how many different types of duels are there?" Ocellus asked.

Golden Aurora Thinks for a minute before answering. "Let's see... there are Normal Duels, Rush Duels, Tag Duels, Speed Duels, and Turbo Duels"

"How can a single card game be played in so many ways!? That's nuts!" Said Smolder as Golden Aurora chuckles at her.

"That's what makes the game so fun." DS spoke up. "The many different type of duels that can happen and everything."

"No matter what, it's just the same game with a few different rules." Sparks added.

"Well I can't wait to play it in every way possible!" Said Silverstream with a huge smile on her face.

"I just want to start ranking up. I wanna be the first dragon to ever become a s-rank duelist." Said Smolder confidently.

"Well if you want to start to rank up, then the real training begins." Aurora told them as she cracked her knuckles before walking to a display case and grabbed three duel disks. She gave Smolder a light orange duel disk, Sliverstream a pink duel disk, and Ocellus a light blue duel disk. "Now, join me in the back and we'll begin the real training. The rest of you stay out here and wait."

"Yeah! Finally!" Said Smolder as she slid on her duel disk.

"Wait... Are we going to duel now? B-B-But we only just now started learning!" Panicked Ocellus.

"Oh yeah! I can't wait! Come on, you guys!" Said Silverstream as after putting on her duel disk, grabs both of their wrists and pulls them both to follow Golden Aurora.





Hours later as the sun was setting, the three of them looked tired as they mean their way back to school. "You weren't kidding when you said that your mom can be intense when it comes to duel monster training..." Smolder huffed as DS put his hands behind his head with a wide grin.

"I tried to warn you." He said with a small chuckle.

"My wrists hurt from drawing so much." Said Ocellus as she rubbed her wrist and had a tired expression. "I think I have memorized every card in my deck by all the drawing we had to do."

"That... was... Fantastic!" Yelled Silverstream. She didn't seem as worn out as the others. All the more proof that she was just a big ball of energy.

"You are something, Sliverstream." Gallus commented as they walked. "At least you got the basics down."

"Yeah, all you need to do now is to win a few duels and then you'll rank up a bit." Sandbar added as DS came to a halt and looked in a different direction.

"I can't wait, let's make it a competition between us. Let's see who can become an s-rank duelist first out of us 8." Said Smolder with a smirk.

"Huh? Friend DS, you ok? What's wrong?" Asked Yona. The rest of them stopped before looking at DS and wondered what got his attention. DS then started running in the direction he was looking before they were running after him.

"Yo DS, why are we running?!" Sparks called out as they ran.

"There's some duel action going on right now!" DS answered as they were running torrents would look to be a large arena. That's when everyone came to a screeching halt. They looked over the arena with amazement.

"Whoa... Is this for duel monsters?" Asked Ocellus asked.

"Dude, no way! We are actually getting an Arena in Ponyville! Sweet!" Said Sandbar as he started to grin from ear to ear. Nearby are a couple of unicorn stallions talking to each other while one other with a gray coat, navy blue eyes, dark red mane and tail with a jacket vest that is red with a black line in the middle. He also wore a dark black T-shirt with red long pants as he was checking out his duel monsters deck.

"You practically feel it in the air!" DS told them as he took in a deep breath. He then went over to the two unicorns stallions and held up his deck. "Hey! Do one of you want to have a duel?"

"Hey, it's you." The unicorn in yellow said when he saw DS. "You're that colt who beat Chancellor Neighsay." What the unicorn said surprised both DS and the group except for Sparks. The unicorn in the stands looking at his deck perked up when he heard that.

"Well yeah, but how did you know that?" He asked before Sparks walked up.

"I probably forgot to mention that I streamed your duel with him when I saw the action." She confessed as she rubbed the back of her head.

"You streamed it, Sparks? HA! Dude, that means DS humiliated Neighsay for the entire internet!" Said Gallus. Smolder snickers at that as she and gallus then fist bump each other.

"Yeah, we saw your duel with Neighsay online. It's starting to become popular." Said the Unicorn in yellow. "Neighsay is a S-rank duelist, so it's rare to seem him lose, especially when he gets Ancient Gear Golem on the field. Very few can say that they have."

"Well what can I say, I just really love the game." DS said with a smile on his face.

"Hey Night Aura, it really is that colt from that school the princess of friendship opened up." The light green unicorn told the one in the stadium. He just let out a scoffed before he stood up.

"You ask me, it was only a fluke that he was able to beat our Chancellor." Night Aura said in a smug tone.

"A fluke!? A FLUKE!? What makes you say that!?" Said Silverstream, getting offended for DS. Her feathers puff up showing that she was mad.

"Yeah, what Silverstream said! It was no fluke, DS kicked Neighsay in his rear end, and he'll do it to you too!" Said Smolder crossing her arms.

"His a C-rank duelist and our Chancellor was probably off his game." Night Aura said.

"You keep on saying 'our Chancellor', does that mean you go to an EEA School?" DS asked.

"Look at that, the C-rank is smarter than he looks." Aura said before looking at Smolder. "Although he looks way smarter than that dragon."

"What did you say?!" Smolder shouted as flames came out of her nostrils. She looks ready to count on him before Yona grabbed her tight.

"Calm down, Smolder!" Ocellus told as Smolder struggled to get free.

"Didn't you hear what he said?! He's asking for it!" Smolder growled.

"What's your deal dude?" Said Sandbar. "You need to back off."

"Quiet D-rank, the big kids are talking. You're not worth my time." Said Night Aura sharply. "I'm pretty sure there is a kindergarten around here, their dueling skills sound like they’re the same as yours."

"Oh, this chump is asking for it now!" Said Gallus as he digs his fist into his palm.

"Whoa guys, don't let this guy get to you!" DS quickly told them before Aura walked down the steps and over to the other two stallions. "Where are you going?"

"Out of here if a bunch of kitties are playing around here." Aura answered before his horn lit up and the three teleported away.

"Not three minutes in and already I don't like that guy." Sparks growled as her horn sparked.

"Come on, we better get back to school and help out." DS suggested as they made their way out of the arena.





School has started back up for the first time since Neighsay had it shut down. He remained true to his word and allowed the school to continue operations without following EEA Guidelines. It was early in the morning and the group decided to meet up a bit before classes started so that they could give DS and Sparks a quick tour since they were new.

"I understand you guys wanted to show them around the school, but did we had get up so early?" Asked Gallus. He had bags under his eyes and he yawned quite loudly.

"It's only to show thanks for what he did." Ocellus remarked with a cute smile.

"Plus, I never been here before and you guys have." Sparks reminded.

"Yeah, they have no idea where to go, this is this the least we could do for them." Said Sandbar.

"I understand... you could have at least wait till we got some coffee first." Said Smolder. 

"Coffee? What's coffee?" asked Silverstream. 

"Uh, I'll tell you later Silverstream." Said Sandbar. He shudders at the thought of Silverstream all hyped up on caffeine. "Anyway, What's your guy's first class? We can show you where it is."

"Well--" DS was about to say before he heard his Duel Disk ringing. He took it out and saw he got a video message. "Somepony sent me a message?"

"Who could be sending you one this late?" Sparks asked. DS shrugged his shoulders, he pressed a button on his duel disk to see the message. He was met with the face of Night Aura.

"Hey you, C-rank, or whatever your name is. I'm getting pretty sick of all the people talking about the video of beating Neighsay. I know for a fact you're just a hasbeen, so I challenge you to a duel. Once I beat you, everyone will realize the truth, that your duel was dumb luck, and you are nothing special! Meet me at the arena, and you will see what a real duelist looks like." Night Aura ranted as he then ended the message.

"That guy is challenging you to a duel?" Smolder asked. "I could take him on!!"

"But he's an A-rank duelist and you're still a E-rank." Sandbar reminded her.

"And who's to say that I'm going to turn it down." DS told them which nearly made them tumble to the ground. "Who knows, it could be lots of fun."

"Are you really sure you want to accept his challenge DS? Sandbar just said he is an A-rank, he won't be just some push over." said Ocellus.

"If friend DS can beat Nasty S-rank unicorn, then friend DS can beat nasty A-rank unicorn! Yona has faith He'll win." Said Yona.

"Thanks, now let's get going!" DS said as he was already on the move. The others followed behind as Ocellus had a worried look on his face.

"I just hope this isn't a trap. We don't know him and he could be up to no good." She thought to herself as they made their way to arena. Night Aura was standing on one side of the arena shuffling his deck. His two friends from yesterday sat in the stands on his side. Night looked up as he saw the group approaching. He slid his deck into the holder on his duel disk and then crossed his arms.

"About time you showed up, I was starting to think you would have wussed out on me." Said Night Aura. There were a decent amount of ponies in the stands, it looked as if Night wanted to humiliate DS in front of a crowd.

"I never turn down a challenge before." DS told him as his friends were sitting on the sidelines. "I hope you're ready to have fun because I know I am!" He tossed up his duel disk before jumping up and sliding his arm through the hole to put it on. Once he landed on the ground, he placed his deck box in the slot above his wrist and his dual disc activated as the blade appeared. The goggles popped out and he quickly put them on. 

Night Aura placed his dual disc on which is a dark gray before he placed his deck in it as well. Soon the world around them went dark as to white rings expanded everywhere as the two duelist drew five cards from their decks. "Let's duel!" They both shouted as the duel began.


DS L.P.: 4000
Night Aura L.P.: 4000


"I'll let you take the first turn." Aura told DS after seeing what's in his hand.

"Oh how kind of you." DS said as drew a card from his deck. "By the way, my name is Duelist Striker. DS for short and I'll start off by summoning my Gem Dragon Knight: Jasper Basher to the field in attack mode." He placed a card on the blade and his monster appeared.


Gem Dragon Knight: Jasper Basher
Atk/2,200
Def:2,000


"I can special summon this monster when I have no other monsters on my field." DS explained. "The only downside is, it's attack points have to go down to 1500. But he won't be alone be I summon Gem Dragon Knight: Ruby Archer to the field." His second monster appeared once he lay down his card.


Gem Dragon Knight: Ruby Archer
Atk/1,400
Def/600


"And due to his special ability, you take 500 points of damage for each Gem Dragon Knight on my field." DS told Aura as Ruby Archer bit flames on two arrowheads and aimed right towards him before firing. Aura grunted after the two arrows hit him and his life points went down.


Night Aura: 3,000


"Next I'll place two cards face down and end my turn." DS said he placed down two cards on the field and they appeared behind his two monsters.

Night Aura's eyes widened as he was hit by Ruby Archer's effect. He was annoyed how his life points were hit on the very first turn. "Is that the best you got? I can handle that!" Said Night as he drew his card for the turn. "While you control monsters while my own field is empty, I'm able to special summon my Cyber Dragon to the field!"


Cyber Dragon
Atk/2,100
Def/1,600


"Fear my Cyber Dragon! Not many have stared down my beasts and have walked away victoriously! As that was just a special summon, watch as I now normal summon my Cyber Valley!" Yelled Night Aura 


Cyber Valley
Atk/0
Def/0


"I think it's high time you pay for striking my life points with your card's effect! Cyber Dragon, Attack his Ruby Archer!" Commanded Night Aura. Cyber Dragon reels its head back, powering up its attack.

"I activate my trap card!" DS declared as one of his face downs flipped up to be a trap. "Rising Energy! Now I discard my Gem Dragon Knight: Lapis Mage from my hand to the graveyard so that Ruby Archer gets an extra 1500 attack points until the end of the turn!" He discarded his card and his monster had a fiery aura around it as its attack points went up from 1400 to 2900. Night Aura's eyes widened, with the monster's attack boost, it will destroy his dragon.

"Gah! No! I won't let you destroy my Cyber Dragon! I activate the quick play Spell Cybernetic Zone! This card banishes any machine monster on my side of the field until the end phase, in which it returns! I use this card to banish my own Cyber Dragon before it can attack your Ruby!" Yelled Night Aura. Before Cyber Dragon could attack, it slowly dissipates from the field. "Now I will enter my end phase, now my cyber Dragon returns to my side of the field and it's attack is doubled!" As Night Aura ends his turn, his Cyber Dragon rematerialized, but this time with 4200 attack points. "Lucky for you, when it becomes my next standby phase, my Cyber Dragon will destroy itself before I can attack you, but he will shield me from any attack, now make take your turn C-Rank!"

"Then I draw!" DS declared as drew a card from his deck and his Archer's attack points return to normal. "First, I play my face down, Compulsory Evacuation Device! I can use this to take your Cyber Valley and send it right back to your hand." A large device rose up from the ground and sucked up Cyber Valley before firing it from the top and sending the card back to Aura's hand. "Next I play, the spell known as Card Destruction! Now we both have to send the cards in our hands to the graveyard and draw the same amount cards we had!"

"No! I need my Cyber Valley!" Night Aura grits his teeth as he begrudgingly sends his hand to the grave, 4 in total. He draws three cards and looks at them, actually, it wasn't too bad of a draw. He looks back at DS before standing up straighter. "Alright C-Rank, you had your fun getting around my Cyber Valley, but I'm far from done with you!"

"Well if you're feeling that down about it, the I play my spell Card of Sanctity." He held up the spell card before playing it. "Now we both draw until we have six cards in our hands." Both Duelists did just that. "Next, I play my polymerization card and use my Ruby Archer with my Jasper Basher to Fusion summon my level eight Gem Dragon Knight: Fire Jasper Slasher!" The moment he played the card, both his monsters merge together before forming a bigger version of his Jasper but with claws on his knuckles and his scales looking like flames while armor of both ruby and jasper on.


Gem Dragon Knight: Fire Jasper Slasher.
Atk: 2800
Def: 2200


Night Aura drew two more cards, he raised his eyebrows upon seeing what he drew. He then looks towards DS's new monster. He looked unfazed as he shifted his eyes back to DS. "Impressive attack, but not impressive enough. My Cyber Dragon still has 4200 attack, I'm safe this turn." He said as he crossed his arms.

"You really should worry about its special ability." DS told him. "When I use Jasper and a fire attribute monster to summon him, your monster loses attack points equal to Jasper's original attack points. Her attack points were 2200 and that means..."

"His dragon is weaker than DS's!" Ocellus said as Fire Jasper breathe flames around Cyber Dragon and its attack points went down. Night Aura's eyes widened as he watched his dragon get powered down to 1900.

"You... you dare disrespect my Cyber Dragon!?" Yelled Night Aura yelled, balling his hands into fist.

"You should be more worried about your life points! Go Fire Jasper Slasher!" DS commanded as his dragon launched forward and pulled its fist back as flames lit up on the claws. "Flame uppercut!" After delivering a punch that send Cyber Dragon flying, it then burst into flames and exploded. "How's that for C-rank?"


Night Aura: 2,100


Night Aura shields his face from the explosion. He was feeling absolutely humiliated. He grits his teeth and balls his hands into fists. "...You done yet!?" He yelled, giving him an angry expression.

"Yeah, after I place three cards face down and end my turn." DS answered after placing them down.

"DS is dueling like a pro!" Smolder cheered. "How do you think this'll end?"

Night Aura drew his seventh card and added it to his hand. "You messed up C-rank! Time for some payback! Since you control a monster, And I don't, I special summon my second Cyber Dragon from my hand!" 


Cyber Dragon
Atk/2,100
Def1,600


"Now I activate the spell card Cyber Revsystem! This allows me to special summon the Cyber Dragon from my graveyard back to the field, and now he can't be destroyed by card effects! Now I activate the spell card Photon Generator Unit! This card makes me tribute the two Cyber Dragons on my field so that I can special summon from my deck Cyber Laser Dragon!"


Cyber Laser Dragon
Atk/2,400
Def/1,800


"It looks tough, but not strong enough to beat Fire Jasper!" Smolder shouted.

"Don't be so sure about that." Sparks told her. "In a duel, anything goes."

"Just like your monster, it has more than just it's attack, it has a special ability!" Said Night Aura. "Once per turn, this card can instantly destroy one monster on the field that has an Atk or Def equal to or more than this card's own Atk and Def! Since your monster has 2800 attack, that makes it a target for this effect! Say bye bye to your monster!" Cyber Laser Dragon looks at Fire jasper, the laser on its tail then begins to power up.

"I won't let you do that, so I activate defusion!" DS declared as one of his face Downs flipped up to reveal it to be a quick play spell card. "Not only does it save my monster from yours, but it also brings back the two materials I used to summon it." Just as the laser fired, Fire Jasper split into Ruby Archer and Jasper basher, both in defense mode.

The laser powered down, as both monsters do not have an attack or defense stronger than Cyber Laser Dragon's. Night Aura gives a slight smirk. "Man you're predictable. I saw that coming. Now that you have your two weaker monsters on the field, I activate this spell card, Stop Defense! I change one of your defense position monsters back into attack mode. Your Ruby Archer is the weakest, So I'm switching him into attack!" Ruby Archer is forced into attack positon and Night aura only chuckles to himself. "Cyber Laser Dragon, Destroy Ruby Archer!" Once again, Cyber Laser Dragon began to power up its laser.

"I activate my Gem Jamming trap!" DS declared as another face down flipped up to show a cracked gem on it. "Now by discarding one Monster card from my hand to the graveyard, your Cyber Laser Dragon loses attack points equal to the monster I just discarded. So, I send my Gem Dragon Knight: Garnet Soldier to the graveyard that has 2300 attack points." When he sent it to the discard pile, Night Aura's dragon lost its attack points thanks to the trap.

Night Aura watched on as he couldn't do anything his dragon dropped down to just 500 life points. He kept on getting around his best strategies, and it was making him very, very angry. That wasn't even the worst part, DS was smiling, and standing confidently, like he wasn't even trying his hardest yet. "I place three cards face down and end my turn, you're up C-rank." He told DS.

"Then let's do this!" DS declared as drew a card from his deck. One look at the card he drew made him smile bright. "Get ready, because things are about to shine bright! I play my rituals spell Hymn of Light and I offer up my two dragons on the field so then I can ritual summon!" His two dragons on the field then shot up into the sky as a beam of light king down. "May the light shine down on this due as the queen of the light arrives! I ritual summon Saffira, Queen of Dragons!" His favorite monster appeared on the field as he placed his card down.


Saffira, Queen of Dragons.
Atk: 2500
Def: 2400


"So that's the card that beat Neighsay." Aura said when he saw Saffira.

"Yeah and now it's going to be beat you!" Smolder shouted.

"She must really what he said get her bad." Ocellus commented as she scooted away a little.

"Go Saffira, end this duel!" DS declared as Saffira ready a serrated light attack.

"Thanks, I was hoping you would attack." Aura said, which made DS baffled. "I activate my trap, Draining Shield!" One of his face downs flipped up to reveal itself. "Now I don't take any damage from your monster's attack and I gain life points equals your monster's attack points." The moment Saffira launched her attack, he was protected by a barrier from his trap and his life points went back up.


Night Aura L.P.: 3000


"Ah dude, he's back to square one." Sandbar complain when they saw his life points went up.

"Oh boy." DS said before he took one of his monsters and place it on the field. "I place a monster face down in defense mode. That's all I can do for now."

"My move, I draw!" Said Night Aura. "Since my Laser dragon is useless to me at the moment, I will use it as tribute to summon my third Cyber Dragon!" Night Aura's third Cyber Dragon was summoned, taking the place of his weaker one. "Now I activate the spell Cyber Repair Plant. This card has two effects that I can choose from, I can either add a light machine monster from my deck to my hand, or I can send a light machine monster from my grave to my deck. Since I have 3 Cyber Dragons in my grave, I'm actually allowed to activate both effects."

"Wait a minute." Said DS. "You have one of your Cyber Dragons on the field right now? How can you have three?"

"Simple, during the turn you made us discard our whole hands, you made me discard my Cyber Dragon Zwei, while in the grave, it's name changes to Cyber Dragon. Now I add a monster to my hand, and one monster to my deck and now I shuffle." His duel disk shuffles his deck for him. "You're Saffira is a bit too strong for me at the moment, so I will end right there."

"What's he talking about?" Sliverstream asked. "His Cyber Dragon has less attack points than Saffira." It was then Sparks figured out what's Aura up to, and it made her worry.

"By themselves they are, but combined they form something much more powerful." She told the group.

"What does that mean?" Smolder asked as Aura had a grin on his face.

"Then it's my go!" DS declared as drew a new card. "Okay, if I know anything about Cyber Dragons is that they're stronger together they are alone." He thought. "I could try attack his Cyber Dragon on the field, but one of his two face downs might be anthro trap. So, I got to play it safe." He then took one of his monsters and place it on the field. "I place one monster face down in defense mode and end my turn with a face down."

"I draw." Night Aura smirks at his hand, as he has all the cards he needed for his ultimate move. No one has ever beaten him once he has a certain card on the field, and he was about to summon it. "I activated the spell Cyber Emergency! This card allows me to add 1 Cyber Dragon from my deck to my hand!" The cyber he put into his deck just the turn before was added to his hand. "Thats two. Now I activate the spell Monster Reincarnation! By discarding one card, add one from my graveyard to my hand, I add my third Cyber Dragon!"

"No! He got all three of his Cyber Dragons!" Said Sparks getting a bit worried.

"If you think your card is impressive C-rank, then you haven't seen true greatness!" Said Night Aura with a smirk. "I activate the spell card Polymerization! By fusing the Cyber Dragon on my field, with the two in my hand, I fusion summon my ultimate monster! Cyber End Dragon!"


Cyber End Dragon
Atk/ 4,000
Def/2,800


"That thing has 4000 attack points!" Gallus shouted when they saw the three-headed dragon appeared on the field.

"That's not all it has." Sparks told him. "When Cyber End Dragon attacks a monster in defense mode, it can deal damage in the difference in the attack and the defense points of the two."

"That's right, and now it's time to put you in your place!" Aura declared as his End Dragon looked ready to attack. "Cyber End Dragon, attack that face down!" All three heads of the dragon powered up as DS's face down monster flipped face up and revealed to be his Pearl Defender. "Only 2400 attack points? My End Dragon is about to take it out, no problem!"

"I activate my trap card, Half Un-Break!" DS declared as one of his face down cards flipped up. "This protects Pearl Defender from being destroyed and cuts the damage I take in half!" Bubbles emerged from the trap and formed around Pearl Defender. Cyber End Dragon fires three separate electric blasts from its heads, the three beams forming into one as they strike the bubbles around Pearl Defender. One spark of electricity breaks through, just grazing the monster, but doesn't destroy it.


DS L.P.: 3,200


"Still finding ways to weasel out ain't ya?" Said Night Aura Crossing his arms. "At least you finally took some damage C-rank. But your end is near, no one, and I mean absolutely no one has ever beaten my Cyber End Dragon. You might as well accept defeat now. I end my turn." DS hang his head down as his mane covered his eyes. "Aw what's wrong C-rank? Feel hurt because I finally delt damage to your life points? Don't worry, the pain will end--" He stops when started to hear chuckling from DS before that chuckle became laughter.

"I got to say, I've always wanted to see Cyber End Dragon!" DS said with a bright smile. "But it actually face it in a duel is even better!"

"Wow, nothing keeps pony friend down." Yona commented as the others nod in agreement.

"DS is laughing? Wow, he is either brave, or crazy... or both." Said Sandbar.

"How? How are you unfazed by my dragon!? Aren't you scared at all? Aren't you worried that this monster has the potential to destroy you with one single attack!?" Yelled Night Aura. He was getting angry how DS wasn't taking his best monster seriously. "It doesn't matter any way. Because thanks to my trap card, Grand Horn of Heaven, if he special summons a monster, I can use this to banish it from play."

"I know all that, but I'm having lots of fun to even be scared." DS admitted as he still had a smile on his face. "After all, dueling is all about fun no matter the situation. It's my turn now, I draw!" He drew a card from his deck and saw it was the quick play spell Mystical Space Typhoon. "All right! I play the spell Mystical Space Typhoon! And I'll use it to destroy your face down!" A giant gust of winds blew from the card and destroyed his Grand Horn of Heaven trap.

"No!" Aura growled as his trap was gone.

"Next I play my face down known as Monster Reborn!" DS declared as he played another spell card that's on his field. "I can use this spell to bring back a monster from my graveyard! You remember Lapis Mage, the card I discarded before, right?" The ground shook before a new dragon appeared on the field. It was a light blue water dragon with lapis armor and holding a staff in one hand while a white cape was down its back.


Gem Dragon Knight: Lapis Mage
Level: 4
Atk: 2000
Def: 1700


"And her special ability kicks in!" DS declared as Lapis Mage held up her staff and the gem on the end of it glowed bright. "You see, when she's special summoned to the field, I can bring back one spell for my graveyard and added to my hand. And I choose my Polymerization card! But I'm not done because I use polymerization to fuse together Pearl Defender and Lapis Mage!" Both dragons flew up into the air as their bodies merged and a bright light shine down. "Get ready, because I Fusion Summon Gem Dragon Knight: Ocean Quartz Magician!" His new monster had a pattern of light blue and white scales along its body while it was wearing a robe and holding a staff.


Gem Dragon Knight: Ocean Quartz Magician
Level: 8
Atk: 2800
Def: 2500


Night Aura took a few steps back after seeing the monster. He had been underestimating DS this entire time, but he knew this time, this monster had to have a devastating effect if DS took the time to summon it while he had Cyber End Dragon out. "What... What does that monster do!?"

"Glad you ask! When Ocean Quartz Magician is summoned to the field, her special ability allows me to take one spell for my deck and added to my hand." His deck glowed when Ocean Quartz Magician turned and fired a magic beam at his deck. A card then glowed when the light died down before it slide out from his deck and he took it. "Get ready, because my soul is about to shine like a diamond in the starry night! I play The Continuous spell known as Solidarity! Now my two dragon type monsters gain 800 attack for every dragon in my graveyard!"

Night Aura began to count. He counted three. "You have three in your grave, that means they gain 2400... NO!" Shouted Night Aura as he came to that realization.

"That's right! meaning Saffira has 4900, and Quartz Magician has 5300!" Said DS as he fist pumped the air. "Now it's time to end this! Go Quartz Magician, attack Cyber End Dragon!" His dragon held up her staff and a giant tidal wave appeared behind her. "Gem Tsunami Strike!"

"This duel is in the bag!" Smolder cheered as it looks like DS is going to win.

"For me that is!" Aura shouted. "I activate my trap card, Ring Of Destruction!" One of his two-facedowns flipped up to reveal a ring with flames around it before the card itself transformed into it. "Now this card will attach itself to your Quartz Magician and we both take damage equal to her attack points!" The ring itself flew out and wrapped itself around Quartz Magician's neck as the different orbs around it glowed red.

"But why would he do that?" Ocellus asked. "This will end in a tie if that ring blows up."

"No, I will win this duel." Aura corrected. "Cuz now I activate my other face down, Ring Of Defense." His other face down card revealed to be a quick play spell card. "Now thanks to this spell, you're the only one that will take the blow."

"No I won't!" DS shouted as he had a look of determination. "Because I activate my countertrap, Dark Bribe!" His final face down flipped up and shot a beam at Aura's spell card. "Thanks to this trap, your spell is negated and destroyed, plus you get one card out of it!" This shocked Aura as his spell was sent to the graveyard.

"But, that means--" Aura was about to say before the Ring Of Destruction exploded and both him and DS were sent flying back. The moment the two crashed on the ground, both their life points went down to zero as color returned to the world around them.


DS L.P.: 0
Night Aura L.P.: 0
Draw.


Night Aura's friends in the stands quickly stood up and ran towards him. DS's friends did the same for him. "DS, you ok man? Here let me help you." Asked Sandbar offering him a hand to help him up.

"Dude Night, are you ok?" Asked the Yellow stallion. 

Night just swats his hand away. "I'm fine!" He said angrily as he stood up and dusted himself off.

"Hey!" DS called out to get Night Aura's attention. "This was fun, we should do this again sometime."

"Hey!" DS called out to get Night Aura's attention. "This was fun, we should do this again sometime."

"You just got lucky." Night Aura replied. He then looked to his friends. "Come on, let's get out of here. This place is getting lame." Night Aura then used his magic to teleport him and his friends away.

"What a sore loser... or drawer or whatever he is!" Said Silverstream with a huff.

"Yeah seriously, I wonder what his problem is." Said Sandbar before turning to DS. "Forget him though, you did amazing DS. I can't believe you're only a C-rank, you dueled like an S-rank against him!"

"Well, either way I had fun." DS told them. "I can't wait to duel him again."

Gallus gave him a bump on his shoulder. "You're really are something else, aren't you?" He retorted.

"Come on guys, let's head back to school." Sparks told them before she a had a grin on her face. "And maybe tomorrow, I can show you how to Rush Duel."
> Chapter 3: Spark the Road to Victory
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another day has gone by at the School of Friendship and DS seems to enjoy this school very much. Loved the way each of the Mane Six taught each class like how Fluttershy always bought in an animal and explained how to care for them to show kindness. Pinkie is always fun whenever she teaches her class while Applejack shows how to be honest to others. Rarity used her sense of fashion to explain generosity in her classes and Twilight shows and explains everything there is to know about friendship in her class.

However, Rainbow Dash was always encouraging others to think competitively in her classes. Allowing her students to not only challenge themselves, but others to keep class participation up and to engage them in a new style of learning. The different style of teaching the professors had, also seemed to represent their element of friendship they taught.

"Oh man, I gotta say that Professor RD can really make you get real competitive in class." DS mentioned as he walked with Ocellus and Sandbar. "But it's really fun too!"

"Yeah, and each class has their own style of learning and teaching, sort of like a duel." Ocellus compared. The past few days she, Smolder and Silverstream have gotten good at playing duel monsters and modified their decks. "It's really exciting if you think about it."

"Speaking of dueling, it was pretty awesome for Headmare Twilight to allow students to duel in the school yard in the center of the school. Smolder and Silverstream have been practicing every chance they get when they're not in class." Sandbar spoke up with his hands in his pockets, a soft smile on his face. "They desperately want to climb the ranks, especially Smolder. She gets pretty serious when she starts getting into a duel."

"I've seen them practicing as well." Ocellus places her hand over her mouth as she begins to chuckle. "Silverstream gets way too excited while watching Smolder's turn that she sometimes forgets to activate her trap cards."

"Well Smolder did say that dragons do get very competitive." DS recalled as he placed his hands behind his head. "As for Silverstream, she really needs to focus on the duel instead of the action that goes on in the duel."

"HEY DS!!" A loud voice called out to him and made them jump before they turned to see Sparks with a determined look on her face. "LET'S RUSH DUEL!!"

"Geez Spark, don't scare us like that!" DS complained, holding his hand to his chest like he just had a heart attack. Sparks just smiled wide and began to laugh.

"Sorry DS. It's been a few days, and I still gotta show a lot of you what a Rush Duel is!" Sparks exclaimed as she punched the palm of her hand, a large excited smirk on her face.

"Oh yeah, I remember now." Said Ocellus after controlling her breathing. "After DS beat that Night Aura guy you said something about showing us a Rush Duel sometime."

"Yeah! And I want you to be my opponent DS!" Sparks said while pointing at DS as she placed her other hand on her hip.

"Actually, I ended up in a tie with Night Aura instead of winning." DS corrected before he looked at Sparks. "As for that Rush Duel, I never turned down a challenge when it comes to dueling." Just when he took out his dual disk, the school bell rang for the next period. "Oh man, talk about bad timing."

"Ah! We better get to class quickly!" Ocellus exclaimed before she grabbed DS and Sandbar by the arms. "Come on!"

"Wait, what about our duel?!" Sparks called out.

"It looks like we're going to have to postpone our duel until then!" DS told her as he looked back. "I promise that we will have our duel!"





The past few hours was spent with Sparks trying to rush duel DS but there's something getting in the way. After class, he had to do a study session with Ocellus and Gallus and after that was lunch. DS set his lunch tray down onto the table where his other six friends were at and sat down. They were all talking amongst themselves when a lunch tray was loudly slammed onto the table across from DS. He looks up to see who it belongs to and sees Sparks. She sits across from him and crosses her arms, she had an annoyed expression on her face.

"Are you dodging me on purpose DS?" She questioned as she narrowed her eyes at DS. "You still owe me a Rush Duel."

"Oh right, I almost forgot about that." DS mentioned as he rubbed the back of his head. "Maybe we could have our Rush duel during recess later. Because you can't duel on an empty stomach."

"Fine, even I know not to duel on empty." Sparks said as she started to eat her lunch.

"I really want to see a Rush Duel!" Silverstream exclaimed with a sparkle in her eyes.

"So, what exactly is the difference between a rush duel and a normal duel?" Smolder asked them.

"Rush duels are far more intense than a normal duel." Sparks began to explain with a smirk. "You can draw more than one card during your turn, and you can summon more than one powerful monster in a turn! It's fast paced and exciting!"

"Fast and exciting huh? Well that certainty sounds right up my alley." Smolder smirked back at Sparks. "I definitely want to see one of those!"

"I'm with dragon breath here. A new way to experience the game sounds interesting." Gallus stated, earning him a side glare from Smolder.

"Well then, meet us in the courtyard during recess and we'll show you how it's done." DS told them with a smirk on his face.

"Yona can't wait to see Rush Duel!" Yona cheered. "Yak never Rush Duel, but yak would like to learn how!"

"Well if we watch their duel, you're definitely going to see how it's done." Sandbar assured her with a smile.





When it was time for recess, the six students walked out into the courtyard and saw Sparks and DS standing across from each other. DS was smiling with his arms at his sides, while Sparks was smirking with her hands on her hips.

"Wow, Sparks looks pumped." Ocellus stated as she quickly analyzed both DS and Sparks.

"Hmm, I wonder who will win." Sandbar pondered as he held his thumb and index finger to his chin.

"Wanna bet on it, Sandbar?" Gallus smirked, nudging Sandbar with his elbow. "5 bits if Sparks wins."

"You're on! 5 bits if DS wins!" Sandbar challenged back.

"Are you ready for the rush, DS?!" Sparks exclaimed as she pulled out her yellow duel disk. "Because I'm really sparked up for this Rush Duel!"

"You bet I am!" DS responded as he pulled out his duel disk just as Twilight, Flash and Spike entered the courtyard.

"Looks like we walked in on them about to start a duel." Flash mentioned with a smile.

"The only question is, which one of them is going to win?" Twilight asked just as DS tossed his duel disk in the air.

"Get ready, because my soul is about to shine!" He declared as he jumped up and put on his Duel Disk before his Duel Shades popped out. He quickly grabbed them and put them on, just as Sparks put on hers.


Rush Duel, engaged.


Both of their duel disks lit up before the blade of each of them formed. Except the blade looked to be forming a seven just as a couple of rings expanded out from the two Duelists and the world around them went dark. "LET'S RUSH DUEL!" Both of them exclaimed as they drew out their four cards.


DS L.P.: 4000
Sparks L.P.: 4000


"I'll start things off!" Sparks exclaims as she draws one card. "First I'll summon Sevens Road Wiz, and my Sevens Road Mage!"


Sevens Road Wiz
Level 1
1000atk./0def.



Sevens Road Mage
Level 2
800atk./800def.


"Whoa! You can summon more than one monster during your turn!?" Smolder exclaimed, her eyes widened in surprise.

"Yeah, in a rush duel, the Duelist can summon up to three monsters on their field considering there are only three monster zones and three spell/trap zones." Twilight explained the basics of Rush Duels. "But in a Rush Duel, there is no main phase 2 so you'll have to plan out your strategy very well."

"Got to say, you have some nice monsters." DS complimented. "But I bet that's not all you're going to do!"

"Oh, I'm just getting started, DS!" Sparks smirked wide enough to show her teeth. "Next, I activate the spell Armaments of Ascension! This card's requirement is that I equip it to one of my face up monsters, then it increases their level by two, and their attack and defense by 200! I will equip this to my Sevens Road mage!"


Sevens Road Mage
Level 4
1000atk./1000def.


"I'll end there by placing one card face down. Beat that DS!" Sparks quipped as she placed both hands on her hips.

"Alright, I draw!" DS drew a card from his deck before he looked at his hand. "I'll start my move off by summoning Gem Dragon Knight: Ruby Archerd, Pearl Defender, and Pebble Paladin!" He placed his cards on the three slots of the blade before his monsters appeared by bursting out of the ground. One of his monsters is a small little dragon with deep gray scales and armor that looks to be made out of pebbles while it carries a small stone sword.


Ruby Archerd: 
Level 4
1500atk./1000def.

Pearl Defender:
Level 4
300atk./2400def.

Pebble Paladin:
Level 2
300atk./300def.


"Now Ruby Archerd's effect activates!" DS declared as his monster pulled out three arrows before spitting fires on the arrowheads. "You get dealt with 500 points of damage for each Gem Dragon Knight on my field!" It soon fired the arrows and struck Sparks as she grunted and stepped back a bit.


Sparks L.P.:2500


"Next I'll sacrifice the Pebble Paladin to tribute summon Level 5 Gem Dragon Knight: Jade Assassin!" His monster was sent to the graveyard before a dragon with bright green scales, a mask over its mouth, holding two daggers and wearing jade armor appeared in its place.


Gem Dragon Knight: Jade Assassin
Level 5
2000atk./1800def.


"I now activate her effect!" DS declared before he picked up his Pearl Defender card. "By returning one Gem Dragon Knight to my hand, I can target one spell or trap card on your field and destroy it. I think I'll get rid of that equip spell you have on Sevens Road Mage." Jade Assassin suddenly vanished before suddenly appearing up in the sky in front of Sparks before she threw her daggers right at her equip spell.

"Whoa, he was able to destroy her equip spell with ease!" Ocellus said with an impressed tone.

"Now I set a monster and set a card." DS added as he placed a monster in a face down defense position and one card face down. "Now I'll attack your monsters with my two Gem Dragon Knights!" Both his monsters charged in to attack her monsters while she had a smirk on her face.

"Sorry DS, but you're not gonna remain unscathed from this attack of yours! Instead of my Equip spell, you should have destroyed my Face down, to which I now activate!" Sparks points to her face down as it flips face up. "Curtain of Sparks! When you declare an attack, your monsters lose 500 attack points! Your Jade Assassin now has 1500, which is still enough to beat my mage, But now your archer has 1000! Meaning when it attacks my Sevens Road Wiz, they are both destroyed!"

DS watches as the trap card drains his monster's attack. Jade Assassin easily cuts through Sevens Road Mage, but now watches his Ruby Archer go for Sevens Road Wiz which now were equal in attack points. Sevens Road Mage, Sevens Road Wiz and Jade Assassin were destroyed and sent to the graveyard.


Sparks L.P.:1800


"I guess I'll end my turn, your turn." DS told her with a smile.

"Then it's my turn, I draw!" Sparks declared as she drew five cards from her deck.

"Why did she draw five cards?" Ocellus asked. "Isn't she supposed to draw a single card on her next turn?"

"Not in a Rush Duel." Flash spoke up. "In a Rush Duel, you can draw cards until you have five in your hand."

"You got some serious skills DS, you're definitely the best C-rank duelist I've ever met. That means I'm not gonna hold back on ya!" Sparks began to smirk again "First, I'll summon three new monsters to the field. But they won't be here for long because I sacrifice them to tribute summon a new monster! A wall, a Mountain, not even a planet can stop me from achieving the road to victory!  I summon the Sevens Road Magician!"


Sevens Road Magician
Level 7
2100atk./1500def.


"Next up, I play Pot of Greed to draw new cards for my deck!" Sparks played the card before drawing her two cards. "Next I summon a new monster before I tribute two of them so I can summon the Swordsman of Roadstar!"


Swordsman of Roadstar
Level 3
1200atk./500def.


"Like the look of my magician DS? Well unfortunately he isn't sticking around, as I activate the spell card Sevens Wonder Fusion!" Sparks exclaimed loudly as she activated the spell card. "By shuffling My Magician and my Swordsman back into my deck, I can fusion summon! The monster I summon is Sevens Paladin!"


Sevens Paladin
Level 9
2900atk./2400def.


"Whoa, that looks like one powerful paladin!" DS complimented. "I have a feeling it has a few tricks up its sleeve!"

"Oh, it's got a fantastic trick DS!" Sparks pumps her fist for emphasis. "He gains 400 attack points for each different attribute of monsters in both of our graveyards! I count both Light, Dark, Fire, and Earth that means he gets 1600 extra attack points, giving him a total of 4500 attack points!"

"Whoa! Now that is a monster!" Smolder exclaimed excitedly. She and the other students were impressed by Sparks' monster, its strength could easily overpower any opponent. Twilight, however, looks at Flash and smiles.

"Strength and power isn't everything. I wonder what DS's response will be." Twilight Whispers.

"Now my Paladin will attack your Jade Assassin." Sparks held her hand forward as she shouted her attack command.

"I activate the trap card known as Half Un-Break!" DS declared as his face down card flipped up. "This will protect my monster from being destroyed and cut the damage I take in half!" Bubbles started to form around his monster before Sevens Paladin swung its blade addict. Sparks flew as the bubbles protected his monster from being destroyed but he still took damage.


DS L.P.: 2750


"Nice counter DS. Even though you saved your monster, my paladin is still the strongest monster on the field, and the more monsters you send to the grave with a different attribute, makes him stronger! I'd like to see you beat him over. I will end my turn." Sparks had her arms crossed and she was smirking at DS. He had to pull off something amazing to beat her monster.

"Those 5 bits are mine Sandbar, Sparks has the strongest monster on the field." Gallus boasted, nudging Sandbar with his elbow again.

"DS still has more lifepoints. So keep boasting, bird brains. DS still has some fight in him." Sandbar chuckled, sliding his hands into his pockets.

"It's my turn, I draw!" DS declared as he drew his five cards from his deck. Once they were in his hand, he got a good look at them and smiled. "You know, your Sevens Road Paladin may be the strongest monster, but its attack points only go up when you activate it's a fact on your turn. Now that it's my turn, it went back down to its original total and there's a chance I might turn this around!"

"Then let's see what you got!" Sparks taunted with a smile.

"Oh I will!" DS responded as he readied his cards. "First, I'll start off by summoning Gem Dragon Knight Lapis Mage to the field! Now that I have a water attribute monster out, I can play the spell card Aqua Chain! This spell card locks your monster into place and decreases it by 800 points." He inserted a spell card into his Duel Disk before it appeared on the field and chains made of water wrapped around Sevens Road Paladin as its attack points went down to 2100.

"He managed to weaken her monster!" Silverstream exclaimed.

"And that's not all, I sacrificed both her and my Pearl Defender to Tribute Summon a new monster!" DS declared as his two monsters went to the graveyard before he held up a card. "Born from the earth, forged with the power of the flaming light, this monster will incinerate all of its enemies! Here's Gem Dragon Knight: Sunstone Guardian!" He placed his card on his dual disc before a new monster burst out of the ground. This monster had reddish orange scales and held its club in its right claw while its armor looked to be made of sunstone.


Gem Dragon Knight: Sunstone Guardian
Level 8
2700atk/2400def.


"Wow, that's one powerful monster!" Smolder pointed out. However, Sparks didn't look impressed. Still smirking, and keeping her arms crossed.

"Cool monster DS, but my paladin is still the strongest monster. Not to mention, he still has his effect. All I have to do is send the top card of my deck to the grave, and my Paladin is back up to 4500. You gotta play better than that if you hope to win this." Sparks taunted, hoping to light a spark in DS.

"I now activate Sunstone Guardian's effect!" DS continued before he was ready to draw cards from his deck. "I send the two cards from my deck to the graveyard and if either one of them are Gem Dragon Knight monsters, Sunstone Guardian will gain 700 more attack points!" They watched in anticipation as he drew the two cards from his deck. He then flipped them over to see one card was a spell card but the other was a copy of Gem Dragon Knight: Pearl Defender.

"Alright, that's a Gem Dragon Knight: Pearl Defender!" Sandbar cheered as DS sent the two cards to his graveyard and his monster powered up 3400.

"Oh boy…" Sparks said as she felt a little nervous.

"Now go, Gem Dragon Knight: Sunstone Guardian, attack Sevens Road Paladin!" DS command as the club in its claws glowed bright when it charged forward. "Shining Sun Club Strike!" It swung the club and struck Sparks' monster before it was destroyed in her life points took a dive.


Sparks L.P.: 500


"Now go Jade Assassin! Attack her life points directly and end this duel!" DS commanded as his second monster charged forward. "Jade Dagger Slash!" After his monster slashed its daggers right at her, the impact sent her flying back from that final attack.


Sparks L.P.: 0
Winner: DS


The rest of the gang cheered while Gallus paid up his bits for the bet with Sandbar. Sparks got up from the ground when the door was over and looked at DS with a smile on her face. "That was a really fun Rush Duel!" She complimented as she walked over and shook hands with him. "But don't get too comfortable, because I might challenge you again and win our next duel."

"I'm looking forward to that match." DS said with a smile on his face just as Twilight walked up to them.

"Well, I think now is a good time to tell you about what I have in store for all of you." She spoke up as they listened closely to what she had to say. "I'm having a special Dual Arc system here at this school so you'll be able to Action Duel!"

"No way, really?!" DS, Sparks, Sandbar, and Gallus exclaimed excitedly.

"What's an Action Duel?" Smolder, Ocellus, Yona, and Silverstream asked as they tilted their heads in confusion.





A train was moving on the tracks as in one of the cars is a red fur female Abyssinian wearing a white cloak and a red vest while she was wearing a necklace around her neck with a blue crystal at the end of it. She was watching a video of DS dueling against Chancellor Neighsay and smiled as she watched it. Soon as she looked up from her duel disk and saw Ponyville just on the horizon. "There it is, the place where my journey begins." She said to herself before she took out a card and looked at it. "Are you ready for it, my old friend?"