kaytlyn sanders

cotton candy (my little pony) and magic cards

OK, so I will admit to two things.

I still enjoy My Little Ponies and playing Magic.

There, it’s out. I feel so much better now.

So I guess they are two different stories, but they came together on a uncommon day of February 29th. I guess I need to explain a little bit.

Myk and his friends taught me how to play magic about a year or so ago and I have been hooked ever since. Each new set of cards comes out four times a year with lead to new combinations of play tactics and new amounts of whoop-ass. I guess I can’t say now that I only play because of the art, right? Well, the art is astounding. The progression through the years when you look at the old cards compared to the new ones is amazing. When I first heard of the game during high school, I quickly dismissed it. Part of the D&D crowd. I was a geek during high school, but not that much.

So when Myk picked it up a couple years ago, I absolutely made fun of him every chance I could. As Jeannine would say, “Do you need to go play with your guilds?” And at that time yes. That’s exactly what kind of cards where out. They would sit around, read all the cards and make decks based on a combination of colors and that would determine which guild you were in. I didn’t get it, so of course I rolled my eyes when Myk brought a whole box of magic cards on a trip to Portland. “You need to bring the whole box?” and of course he did.

Then when he allowed me to play a game, he was sitting next to me telling me how to play (it takes a while to learn all the rules) and I think I won the first game. I didn’t know what I was doing. Myk had built the deck, so it was his mad Magic skills that won. The thing is, he remembers almost every magic card and how they work. He reads one and it’s permanently logged into his mental library. He is very good at making decks and doesn’t want to do what everyone else has done.

So slowly over time, I learned how to play. I would use his cards at first, but I realized after a while I had to get my own library. I even started ordering “rares” online (the cards that are expensive and are the most über). Soon I was taking on the best of them.

And the My Little Pony? I think this one was my sister’s orginally and I got Moonbeam or something. It was a white unicorn one. We had tons and had a portable stable to carry some of them around. We also had seahorse ones and teenage Flutterby ponies. Oh yes, my sister and I loved horses. Why in the world do girls like horses that much?

So on this leap day of 2008, I decided to bring out my Cotton Candy My Little Pony as a kind of scare tactic, I guess. I had built a pony deck of magic cards (yes, it can be done) and was famous for it. Eric loved it. I don’t think I did too well that evening, but it was memorable.

Jason brought these cute small bottles of beer that really were only two ounces smaller than a regular sized one, but everyone (except myself, I don’t like beer) seemed to have twice as many that night.

Oh, and Jason ate some hot sauce that made his face turn red and he couldn’t stop sweating.