An Absolute Duo

Alright. I'm dead. I'm dead. I'm... dead. I opened my eyes. I'm not dead. Amazing. My eyes immediately went shut when I felt the blinding sensation of a bright light. Slowly, I opened my eyes again and adjusted to the bright light.

I still have hooves. I sighed. If only I was back in my human form again. It took me a second to realize that there was somepony talking.

"Now fight, ponies who are chosen by the sky! You've gained the power, manifestation of the soul, Blaze, to grasp your own future!"

What? Fight? Blaze? What is going on?

The ponies around me were stunned for a few seconds. Then I saw the ponies around me hop off their chairs and faced the pony next to them. A partner duel? The stallion to my left hopped off his chair and faced me. All the ponies around me put their hoof to their chest, and with one word, all hell broke loose.

Everypony put their hooves on their chests and yelled that one word. "Blaze!" Fire appeared from their hooves with weapons that followed shortly after. If this is another universe of Equestria, then Twilight and her friends must be here somewhere! But where? Then the realization hit me. They... won't know who... I am. It's as if I was just forgotten. But I still must confirm this!

I looked around for them but I could only find Fluttershy hiding from the battle, behind the grand marble pillars. During my quick search, I had let my guard down and soon enough I turned to find a spear headed towards my chest. No way. I'm dead already? It felt like an anvil hit my chest and the pain of the blade going from my chest to my heart.

Covering my chest with my hooves, I slowly stood up. When I looked down, I found no blood on my clothes. How? I wondered as I glanced at my opponent.

He stared at me. "Your soul would have taken much damage from that. Surrender."

I shook my head and backed up, towards two chairs. "Sorry. Not my style." My opponent pointed the tip at my chest once again. I had already realized that I had no hidden blades, just a sword sheathe and what I would presume to be my sword.

Since these weapons don't actually deal physical damage, I don't think I should use my sword right now. I wanted to see what would happen if I did the whole Blaze thing too, but if it was a bad weapon, I didn't want anyone to see it.

As my opponent lunged towards me, I brought the two chairs closer. When he was close enough, I used a hoof to kick the bottom of a chair which sent the spear up and over my opponent's head.

This chair is so light! I noticed as I grabbed the leg of the other chair to trip my enemy. I kept the chair in my hoof and slammed it into my opponent. I released the chair and it lay besides him as I took in my surroundings. Nopony seems to be engaging me, perhaps you don't switch partners.

Where the hell is Twilight? Applejack? Rarity? Rainbow Dash? The dust had not cleared and it actually seemed to be spreading even farther, obscuring my line of sight. Some got in my throat and I coughed.

A loud bang to my right startled me and I heard a faint bit of dialogue. Time's up? What is the pony on the stage saying? Everything went quiet and yet I still couldn't hear a thing the mare onstage was saying. Absolute... duo?

The ponies who were still conscious took a moment to catch their breath and they all walked out of the room. I followed them outside to what I assumed was the entrance, which past it was a road with beautiful cherry blossom trees. Where have I seen these before?

I shook my head. I shouldn't be concerned about the trees. How did I get here? Again? Nopony knows me anymore... I leaned on a tree, falling asleep and awakening in a few hours. Just in time too. Ponies are going into that building again. I followed the crowd inside the building and I followed a large group of ponies into a room.

Everypony sat in a seat and I found myself an empty seat. I hope the seats aren't chosen already. I closed my eyes and concentrating on using my Eagle Vision ability. In a second, it felt as if my mind expanded, covering the entirety of the place. It marked a few ponies who I assumed were guards, but not hostile. Wait, but who's that? I wondered in my mind as I watched somepony through the wall. That pony was marked yellow.

Weird. That only happened when- I gasped. Is that somepony I know? I disabled the Eagle Vision ability and I watched the yellow marked pony walk down the hallway. Only when the pony came in that I found out that she was a mare.

"But why? Why are some ponies marked yellow?" I muttered to myself. The stallions went deadly quiet while the mares most likely started talking about the newcomer. I placed my muzzle to the desk. You stallions are so weak to a pretty face.

The mare stood in the front of the room. "My name's Silva, Silva Milta. I hope we can all get along." At this, I smiled. Just a new classmate. Seems friendly. The stallions started to approach her they started ogling the new mare. With my muzzle still on the desk, I brought my hoof to my forehead. Males. It takes one to know one.

"The stallions here are going crazy over the new mare, Silva wasn't it?" A mare said, watching the commotion. "If I heard her name correctly the-" I started to say before immediately stopping the minute I looking to the mare speaking to me. Twilight!? Or is this some other identical looking mare? "Then yes, her name is Silva. I would agree with you though, the stallions are indeed going crazy. It's such a shame to see this." I resumed, making it seem that I never paused at all.

"You're certainly different from the others. My name is Twilight Sparkle. What's yours?"

"Ray, Ray Longfellow, nice meeting you." I said and shook her hoof. Still has wings.

"Likewise."

"I hope being different in this way isn't a bad thing." I said, watching Silva nervously make her way through the crowd. I shook my head. Wait... what am I wearing? I looked at my new clothing and it wasn't my Assassin outfit. Why am I so surprised? I looked at my clothes during that fight before.

A black suit with a white v-neck under it. Added with a nice blue tie. It felt unnatural and different for the sudden change of clothing. I felt as though my hooves were restrained.

I watched Silva finally free herself from the crowd and walk down the classroom before taking a seat next to me. From a reflection, I could see that she was a bit embarrassed and nervous from the attention.

I introduced myself to her, making her smile. "I'm Silva Milta, if you hadn't heard me say in front of the room, I'm new in this school."

"As am I, I somehow managed to make my way through the battle. It was insane." I said. "I feel bad having to fight ponies that I didn't know. It felt so wrong." I said, not actually feeling bad at all.

"I know how you feel. I felt the exact same way the minute the fighting broke through." Silva agreed and I saw another pony walk in. I couldn't speak when she walked in. How do you respond to this?

"Hello! Hello!" I heard before witnessing a mare land on a windowsill and jump again, doing a variety of stunts before finally landing on the desk upfront. "Nice to meet you! I'm your homeroom teacher, Rito Tsukimi! Oh but call me Professor Bunbun!"

...

"Dear me! What could be the problem?"

...

"Oh! Are you perhaps dazzled by how gosh-darn cute I am?" Rito said, a wide smile appearing on her face. What the buck? Her clothing is... unusual.

"Goodness me!"

While everypony sat in silence and shock, I couldn't help but bring my hoof to my forehead. Again. This is going to be interesting.

"Okay, your turn! Introduce yourse-" Rito started to say before I quietly slipped away. With my back against the wall, I slid down against the wall slowly. What is this? I want to just go back to my regular life.

Through the wall, I listened in, hearing about some student I.D. used as a source of bits. I managed to sneak myself back into my seat without a problem. I don't care much about the introductions. Nopony needs to know who I am.

Soon enough, Professor B- or Rito, wrote something on the board. Duo. We have a special Duo system here, it boils down to students pairing up and living with partners. So basically like a roommate who is also a teammate? I think I get it.

Deep within my thoughts, I was caught off guard when it was stated that the pony next to me was my duo. Many were caught off surprise with this statement, including me. I heard ponies utter words of shock.

"You're my Duo?!"

"How can this be?!"

I turned to Silva with all the commotion and chatter going on. Smiling, I said to her, "So we're a Duo huh?" She smiled back, "I guess we are." I turned to Twilight. Wait... who's that? It took a few seconds but I managed to identify Twilight's duo. She seemed happy and I could tell why. Twilight's duo was Applejack. What would their Blaze's be? I wonder...