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Tear Jerker / Yugioh EQG

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     Yugioh EQG 
  • Flash is establish as being an anti-social teen in the beginning of the story, a far cry from the cheerful guy he was in canon. He has no friends in the beginning and threw out all of his Duel Monster cards years ago because he kept losing. This isolation only made his classmates afraid of him, with there even being rumors the teacher were scared of him too. Though he quickly shows he still has his nice side here, making him a Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold.
  • It is revealed that Flash is Scootaloo's big brother, but the he never mentions her at all to anyone. Scootaloo claims that after they moved to Canterlot, Flash told her to never acknowledge him outside of their home, driving a wedge between them. It turns out this was all a misguided attempt by Flash to protect her, since in their old neighborhood, before he quit, Flash kept losing duels and became a target to local bullies, and Scootaloo was targeted too due to being his sister, so he tried to distance himself from her to make sure that never happened again.
  • When Flash confronts Cold Steel again he jumps the gun trying to get answers out of him and prove how strong he is and accepts Cold's bet that if he loses their duel he needs to give Cold his deck. Flash loses the duel, and Cold declares that even though the deck is officially his now he is leaving it in Flash's care for now.
  • Gizmo Poindexter has apparently had a bad history of being bullied, and when Flash accidentally bumps into him before their duel, Gizmo ends up thinking Flash is a bully based on his appearance and lashes out at him during their duel. Twilight herself talks about how she has had a history being bullied, and it got so bad her parents had her transferred CHS.
  • Seeing Lyra and Bon Bon's friendship damaged by Lyra's attitude and new play style of stealing her opponent's monsters during the duel. Bon Bon claims she is destroying the bond between players and their monsters, but Lyra doesn't care, thinking the cards are nothing but ink and paper. After Flash defeats Lyra, and emphasizes his bond with Flash Heart Dragon, as both a partner and a friend, Lyra apologizes to Bon Bon and breaks down crying.
  • Spike's backstory and reason for entering the Micro Tournament. Spike was adopted by Twilight's family and never felt like he was really part of the family. This wasn't helped by his classmates talking about him behind his back, saying he wasn't Shining Armor's real little brother and was just a nobody his family took in and didn't have the same dueling skills as the rest of his family. So he made Flash his goal to beat if he was going to improve himself.
  • Flash gets his points stolen by Garble after the Survival Duel event in an attempt to have revenge on him. Cold Steel arrives and Curb Stomps Garble and his two goons, but instead of giving Flash his points back says they are now his since he won them and Flash doesn't deserve them for being so careless with them. This leaves Flash with no points at all and effectively eliminates him from the tournament, even if it turned out to only be temporarily. Even Grand Hoof, who was in on the scheme meant to test Flash, thought that Cold was pushing Flash too hard and Flash has already gone as far as he can.
  • Twilight enters into a massive Heroic BSoD after Flash goes off on his own to get back the points he lost faster and having no way of finding him, afraid that he night not make it to the finals on his own or that she might not even see him again. She ends up so out of it that when Trixie returns for a rematch she barley puts any effort into the duel until Trixie nearly calls the duel off completely because of it.
  • Shining Spoon, a fan of Flash's, tries too hard to duel just like him instead of using what he has himself and loses a lot of duel because of it. When he is backed into a corner by Pipsqueak during a duel, he nearly gives up because he doesn't think he can win at all. Luckily, Flash just happened to be passing by and gives him some encouragement to get back up and win his own way, cueing a Heroic Second Wind.
  • It is revealed that the Dazzlings are responsible for Lyra's change in personality previously. It turns out Sombra gave them what they always desired, to be adored. He gave them the power to make anyone they defeat completely obsessed with them, and after Adagio beat Lyra she became so obsessed with them she actually tried to copy their play style of stealing monsters to use against their users. Only when she sees them again she is now ashamed of how she acted and the Dazzlings mock her for having lost to them previously.

     Yugioh EQG: Shadow Gates 
  • Prince Thorax is shown to be pretty miserable and lonely a lot. He claims he has constantly been prepared to take to take the thrown of his country one day, but hasn't gotten to do any of the fun stuff kids his age do, like eat pizza or duel an actual person. He needs to sneak out of his apartment to get away from his mother for awhile, and while watching the duels in the Double X finals he constantly needs to restrain himself from showing too much emotion around his mother Queen Chrysalis. It only gets worse for him from there.
  • Due to Adagio and Shadow constantly hurting their opponents in their matches, Shining Armor is worried for Twilight and tells her to forfeit the third round, out of fear that she will face one of them. Twilight refuses, and the two siblings duel to determine if she will stay in the tournament or not.
  • Flash, who is normally calm and friendly to all his friends and monsters, loses his cool when he is ganged up on by Garble and his two goons and is only one turn away from losing. When he gets his usual vision before one of his blank cards becomes a monster card, he demands Flash Heart and Destiny Bound Dragon show themselves and take him to the next statue. They reluctantly obey, and as soon as Flash sees the statue of his next monster, he angrily demands it wake up immediately and begins hitting it to make it listen. Seeing Nice Guy Flash reduced to shouting and insults is just as bad as it was in My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks
  • The Dazzlings might have been working for Sombra, but it is shown that they still cared about each other since they were all they had. Aria and Sonata were punished off-screen for having lost to Rarity and Pinkie earlier, and thus Adagio is told she can only have them back by accomplishing her mission in the finals. After she fails due to losing to Twilight, she is cornered by Shadow and is told she will now suffer the same fate as her sisters.
  • The reveal that Shadow was a robot the whole time, and that he wishes to become human. He even claims that he dreamed about it for years as he waited to be of use. Although this doe not excuse his actions while working for Sombra, his uncaring attitude toward others, or his ultimate end, it does give a bit more meaning to his motivations and makes him a Tragic Villain who was manipulated by Sombra for his own purposes, even when Shadow viewed him as his father.
  • It is shown what happens to Sombra's followers when they fail him. The Dazzlings are all brainwashed by him and robbed of their free-will for their failures. The same thing also happened to Thorax when he was captured by Chrysalis after infiltrating Sombra's base.
    • When Cold, Flash, and the others raid Sombra's base they manage to defeat and rescue Aria, Sonata, and Thorax, but Adagio escapes with the rest of Sombra and his followers. Meaning the three sisters are still separated.
  • Sombra betraying Trail Blazer and Misty Vail to use them as sacrifices for the Doom-Vaders, even though they both saw him as a friend of theirs.
  • Twilight going through another Heroic BSoD when Flash falls into a coma after the failed raid on Sombra's base. She blames herself for his state, due to all of them being separated and Adagio holding her up. Although Cadance assures her it isn't her fault she doesn't listen so easily.
  • Thorax's breakdown over his mother's actions and how he doesn't want anything to do with her anymore, out of fear of becoming just like her, a monster. He doesn't even want the Changeling Drone monster card in his deck, despite Cold and Grand telling him that it is a part of him now due to its connection to him, essentially meaning it is him, because it was made by evil people, and he views it as an evil card.
  • The flashback of Trail and Misty sending an infant Flash Sentry through a breech to the Human world to live with his grandfather, since they wanted him to live a normal life. Saying goodbye to your child is hard enough, made even harder when it's a baby, but while Misty is saying goodbye to Flash she says that she wouldn't be surprised if he hates them both for what will happen to him.
  • After Twilight defeats Adagio in the Crystal Tower and frees her from Sombra's brainwashing, before Adagio disappears due to the tower's effects, she just asks Twilight to tell her sisters she's sorry and she hopes they both live a good life. Everyone there is understandably horrified and saddened by this, especially Flash, who also had his family separated due to Sombra.
    Flash: SOMBRA! How many more people do you have to hurt? How many more families do you have to tear apart in the name of your perfect future?

     Yugioh EQG: XX 
  • In the beginning, Flash has slowly started to become bored with Duel Monsters, the thing he loves most and has brought joy to his life, because there has been no real challenge ever since beating Sombra a year ago. It gets to the points where his family and his girlfriend Twilight notice something his wrong with him. Luckily things quickly turn around for him after he ends up losing to Tempest Shadow and learning about the Double X, reigniting his enthusiasm.
  • Twilight mourning the sudden death of her new friend Moondancer. Despite only knowing her for two days, she takes the loss of Moondancer really hard. Whenever she sees the card Moondancer gave her, Magic Tome of Starswirl, originally meant to be a symbol of their new friendship, it only fills her with sadness and she is unable to duel. She even declines an incoming call from Flash, not wanting to talk to anyone and shutting the world out. Tidal helps her get back on her feet and move forward, but she still has a long way to go before she is fully recovered.
  • Sunburst's inferiority complex with his dueling abilities. It is clear every time he loses early on that something is bothering him, more so than usual when someone loses a duel. It gets to the point where he outright forfeits a duel against Shining Armor before it is finished because it looks like he is going to lose anyway. Afterwards he walks out on the rest of the event taking place, telling Flash and Spike that he doesn't deserve to be on the same team as them and is holding them back.
  • Sunburst's confidence issues begin to affect his friends too. First, walking out on the Double X qualifier event disqualified Flash and Spike as well, and his absence from several card shop tournaments cause the same thing until there is only one chance left for the team to qualify for the Double X.
    • When Flash and Spike finally confront him on what the big deal is he admits that he flunked out of Duel Academy because he could never win any duels. He actually vowed to never pick up his deck again because of the experience, until recently.
  • The finals of the Double X Qualifying Micro Tournament end up being Team V-Fighters and Team Crusaders. Despite both teams preparing for the Double X and making massive improvements to enter, only one of them can make it and the other will need to wait until next year to try again. The final tie breaking duel comes down to Flash and Scootaloo, with one sibling needing to defeat the other and put an end to their goal themselves. This realization finally dawns on Flash just as he is about to make the winning attack against Scootaloo, causing him to momentarily hesitate.
  • Twilight and Spike are forced to duel each other early in round one of the Double X. Both of them also have a lot on the line, with Spike needing to win a duel to get Sunburst out of the Graveyard, and Twilight feeling the need to prove herself to make up for losing to Tempest Shadow earlier and honor Moondancer. Meanwhile Shining Armor can only watch from the sidelines as his two younger siblings duel it out.
  • Rainbow cheering for Applejack against her teammate Soarin, especially since Soarin had constantly been trying to improve himself to give Rainbow the kind of duel she loves.
  • Marble having a Soulink forced on her, being imprisoned in her own mind and lose control of her body.
  • After Spike loses to Rainbow towards the end of round one, all he can do is cry Tears of Remorse, since he cost his team an opportunity to get to the next round and now there is only one slot left. Even if it was his first loss in the tournament up to that point he still takes it very hard.
  • At the end of the first round, Marble, who is still being controlled by a duel spirit, leaves Pinkie and Maud behind saying she is going somewhere else. They offer to come with her, only for her to tell them that where she is going is no place for weaklings like them, with a smile on her face. The two are left in shock at the words from their youngest sister, not knowing it isn't actually her speaking.
  • Sombra explains the concept of Soulinks, a concept where a duelist and duel spirit can share a body if they have a strong bond. But some duel spirits have corrupted it to forcibly take full control over the body instead. This corrupted form is called a "Dominate", and it has happened to not just Marble, but every member of Team Dominator. Sombra also reveals that they were possessed during the Shadow Gate incident a year ago, meaning they have been trapped in their own bodies for a year now.
  • It is revealed that Tempest's ace monster, Tempest Scarvolt, is not the monster that is Dominating her. Scarvolt actually appears before the group while they are meeting with Sombra and gets on her knees, begging them to save her partner.
  • The Dominators go on a major winning streak at the start of the second round, which lasts for several chapters. This includes Starlight swiftly defeating Spike early in the round, Heath Burns defeating Twilight while firmly stating his belief that humans are weak and worthless, and Tempest goes on a rampage defeating duelist after duelist, including Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Sunset, with the latter losing at the same time as Twilight and thus eliminating Team Tidal Maidens.
  • Sunburst reunites with his childhood friend Starlight, ready to fulfill his promise to her when they were kids, to duel on a pro stage together. But what he doesn't know is that this isn't the real Starlight, since she has been Dominated by an evil duel spirit. Throughout their duel, "Starlight" continuously insults and talks down to Sunburst, reminding him of how he flunked out of Duel Academy and how he embarrassed his entire family, until she makes her winning move against him while telling him to never show his face to her again. All the while Sunburst believes that all this is coming from his old childhood friend he hasn't seen in years.
  • During Flash's rematch with "Tempest", after finding out that the spirit controlling her is Storm King Dominator, Storm King quickly puts an end to the duel by combining his ability and Puppeteer Dominator's ability to Dominate all of Flash's monsters before changing them back and taking control of them to force them to attack and finish Flash for him. The last monster to attack Flash is his ace monster, Flash Heart Dragon X, who visibly tries to stop himself from hurting his partner and friend. Unfortunately, it can't hold on and eventually throws the winning attack, crying as it does so.
  • Despite their efforts in the semi-finals, The Wonderbolts are defeated by the Dominators, putting the Dominators in the finals and one step closer to winning the whole tournament. Though they are at least compensated by having the audience cheer for them instead of the winners.
  • Starlight and Tempest's pasts are shown via flashbacks and they are both victims of Kids Are Cruel. Starlight had no friends after Sunburst left for Duel Academy and nobody wanted to be friends with her because she beat them in duels. Tempest got her scar when she got hit by a car after running into the street to get the ball she and her friends were playing with, and her scar ended up scaring away all her friends. It is implied that they were both alone for years and that this loneliness made it easier for them both to be Dominated.

     Yugioh EQG: Ω Zenith 
  • Everyone learning too late that Flash was taken by the Zealots, and being unable to do anything to help him.
  • Starlight explains to Twilight that she has been having nightmares from the time she was Dominated. She is clearly suffering from PTSD. Twilight does her best to comfort her, suggesting she talk to someone about it, but Starlight says that nobody would believe her story.
  • Spike is unable to concentrate in school due to panicking over the Zealot situation and what they might be doing to Flash. Immediately after he is called out by his teacher on this, he is excused from school due to "family matters", which he immediately realizes means Something happened to Twilight.
  • Maud begins to question how she and Pinkie are supposed to help the others save Marble, since the only way to save her is to beat her in a duel. She remembers the tough time Flash had dealing with Storm King during the Double X and even then Flash still lost to Marble, so what chance do the two of them have against any of the Zealots?
  • When the heroes are finally rescuing the candidates from Void, though it is mostly an epic moment for nearly everyone, showing their determination to defeat the Zealots, save the world, and get back their friends, the only one the moment isn't so great for is Flash. When he ends up getting into a duel with Draconequus, the leader of the Omega Zealots, he begins to blame himself for what's happening, since the Zealots ended up coming to Earth through the Shadow Gate after he told the world to use the power of the Shadow Gate to help him stop Sombra, and now he and his friends are in danger because of it, including Twilight. It hurts to see Flash blame himself for something he truly had no part in and slowly gets closer to being Dominated by Zeronull because of his guilt. Luckily, the timely arrival of Flash Heart Dragon saves Flash just in time.
  • Despite everyone's efforts to stop the Zealots, they successfully manage to use one of the candidates as Zeronull's vessel. The unfortunate candidate is none other than than Twilight Sparkle.
  • Flash's attempts to save Twilight are in vain. Despite his best efforts, including going against the pleas of Vail Pixie and his other monsters and using The Darkness Zenith Dragon, Flash couldn't defeat Midnight. Meaning not only is Twilight still Zeronull's vessel, he betrayed his monsters for nothing and got his entire deck destroyed.
  • Flash suffers a Heroic BSoD after his duel with Midnight, believing that everything that is happening is his fault, and that things would have been better if he never even picked up his deck when he first saw it in his locker at school and never got involved in Twilight's life. This includes a short montage of hypothetical memories, where after ignoring his deck he doesn't help Spike when Garble was bullying him, and later when he bumps into Twilight and her friends, the two of them just continue on, with Twilight and her friends forgetting about Flash's existence the moment he's out of sight. Though thankfully Twilight's family helps get him out of this by telling him how much better Twilight has become thanks to him.
  • Ouravas finally reveals his backstory during his rematch against Rainbow. It is just like the story from The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone. Ouravas was once friends with King Guto, who planned to promote him to sky commander. But then The Fiend of the Dark Abyss, Arimaspi, attacked their kingdom, killed King Guto, and The Idol of Boreas was lost in the insuring conflict. The kingdom fell into ruin afterwards, with everyone fighting over everything and riots breaking out until only Ouravas was left alive. Even Rainbow was saddened when she first hears this, even if she said it does not excuse his actions.
  • Flash telling his family how he feels he doesn't want to face his duel spirits after the way he betrayed them, blaming himself for throwing them all away and putting them in danger despite their pleas.
  • Glorianna's backstory is eventually revealed. She was once an apprentice of Starswirl, but was impatient with doing menial chores instead of learning powerful spells. She resorts to stealing his spell book one day, with the intent of learning a spell from it to prove herself. However, the school she was at was attacked by an army of archfiends that day, and Starswirl was killed in the battle because he didn't have access to his spell book, making Glorianna indirectly responsible for his death. To twist the knife further, Starswirl finally gave her her own staff before the battle as a reward for her "patience", meaning her theft was completely unnecessary. Twilight Warlock later discovers Glorianna's theft and she is exiled from the school, which eventually led to her joining the Omega Zealots.
  • Flash travels to the Spirit World in an attempt to reclaim his deck. He ends up encountering the Spirit of Hatred there, previously seen in Shadow Gates, only now he is born from the feelings of Flash's entire deck instead of just Chaos Command Dragon. It really shows how hurt his monsters were by his actions.
  • Gaia-Maiden Lady Marble's full past is finally revealed. It turns out she didn't actually trick her husband and sent him to his death for her own amusement like Queen Amphitrite described. She loved him and was pregnant with their child. However, she got very sick while in the final stages of her pregnancy, and her husband went to retrieve a herb that would help her and the baby. He ended up getting mauled by a Hunter Dragon but managed to crawl back and give Gaia-Maiden the herb. Unfortunately, he succumbed to his injuries and died on the floor shortly afterwards, and Gaia-Maiden's baby died shortly after being born.

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