A World Like No Other

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 2

Prologue

The moon and stars illuminated the sky as the lanterns in a kingdom slowly dimmed. A king stands at the edge of his balcony, his hands gripping the railing tight. His queen lay in bed, a book in hand, she called to her husband who turned and went back inside.

..............................

A man lay on a roof of stone, his cloak acting as a sheet in the cool night breeze. He stared into the moon, a smile on his face. He reached a hand out as if to grab the moon out of the sky, but to no avail, he was trapped on the ground, sort of. His eyes never left the moon as his ears picked up the sound of metal clinking together as a patrol drew near. He shouldn't be noticeable as this very same patrol had already gone past twice tonight,

"HEY YOU! IT'S PAST CURFEW, WHAT ARE-"

"Wait, wait, this isn't a normal violater," a patrolman with a spear said, he had a red armband around his armor, meaning he was the one in charge of the patrol. The guard looked at the man on the roof,

"SORRY ABOUT MY MEN, THEY ARE ROOKIES, NOW HOW ABOUT WE GET YOU A DRINK AS AN APOLOGY!" The guard said with grin. The man looked at them as he stood, his cloak hiding his identity. He jumped down and looked at the patrol,

"I'm not sure you want me as a friend," he said reaching his hand into his cloak and slowly pulled a shortsword from its sheathe, the sound catching the guards' attention. They readied themselves,

"Its him, The Spark," a guard said, drawing his own sword, the spearman looked at the cloaked man,

"Stand strong men, we've heard the stories, but we are better than those who fell," he charged at The Spark and thrust the spear forward. The Spark out of surprise jumped back, the spear grazing his leather armor underneath. He took this opportunity to fully draw his sword and danced away as a great sword swung past his waist.

"You're outnumbered Spark, surrender now, and your hanging will be quick,"

"No thanks, I like my life," the Spark replied and pointed his blade down and to his left as a sword came towards him. The blades collided for a split second leaving sparks and pushing both wielders' arms back, making them stumble,

"That was a lot of force," The Spark told himself as he stared at the small group of five.

He looked at them and took realization of the situation, he was dead either way, the only safe way was to run. He took two steps back and turned away from the armed guards, his escape route open. He sprinted towards an alley, the darkness was his only ally at this point and he needed it at the moment. He could hear the guards behind him as he turned the corner and jumped behind a sealed crate. The guards turned the same corner and looked around,

"Find him, he couldn't have gone far," the spearman said as the Spark let out a defeated sigh, they would find him and his only way out would be to fight an uneven battle. He waited for the right moment and put his leg out, tripping a guard. He then jumped the crate and found himself surrounded by the patrol, two behind him, three blocking the only exit. He looked around,

Damn it, come on. the Spark kept looking around as the guards stepped closer,

"Aww what's a matter, has the Spark gone out," the spearman mocked.

"No...just distracting," he replied as a figure appeared behind the three.

The Spark smirked,

"SIR! BEHIND-" they didn't get to finish as the figure raised a hand and pointed their own weapons against them, the blades at their chests,

"You're a coward Spark," the spearman growled,

"I'm not a coward, I stood my ground when I needed to, which is why you are not dead yet, you are brave and show promise, which is why I'm giving you a choice, join the rebellion against the king, or die a pawn in his army," the spearman glared at the man under the cloak.

"As if, the king already has another patrol on its way," he said with compassion.

"That's what you think, but you already know the crimes the king has committed, don't you, that's why you all joined his army...to do his bidding, that is why I am giving you a chance to-"

"Shut up," a guard told him,

"We will die honorably for the king," another replied,

"Is that the same for you two," the Spark asked the two beside the spearman,

"I...I..."

"We only joined because he threatened our families, but only if you promise the protection of our families will we join you," the spearman gasped.

"TRAITORS! YOU WILL DIE A-" his voice was cut off by a bloodied grunt as the spear went through him. His corpse collapsed pushing the weapon the rest of the way through.

The Spark looked at the two,

"We have a safe haven, but we need your trust and your faith," he told them.

The two looked at each other and nodded,

"We're in," their weapons turned away from them and fell. The Spark looked at the other two behind them,

"Final-"

"Do it," they both interrupted in unison.

With a flick of the figure's wrist the weapons slit their throats and fell to the ground. The Spark faced the figure,

"Thanks again," he said with a slight bow.

There was a flash of blue light and the figure was gone. The Spark held out both hands and smiled,

"Welcome to the Flames of Justice!"

He let them pick up their weapons before reaching into his cloak and pulling out two parchments,

"Head straight to the forest south of here with your families, hold these parchments up high and someone will be there for you, now hurry, I am sad to say our friend's light may have alerted another patrol, go quickly, I'll lead them away," the ex-guards left quickly almost running, but not quite.

The Spark sighed and stepped into the open and waved his hands at the incoming patrol. They took notice and charged at him, they had recognized him instantly, something he took notice of as well. He ran towards the market place, which also counted as the plaza, it wasn't far from where they were at, so the Spark had little time to lose them. He turned a corner and used a few crates full of vegetables as an obstacle, throwing them on the ground. He still heard the guards behind him, but this next corner provided something that would help a lot. He turned and then jumped to the side, over a cart. He then rolled underneath it and pushed him self up through a small trap door, the cart was filled with old quilts and sheets and now he was underneath them. The old woman who owned the cart, and her husband were a part of the rebellion and were willing to let the Flames use their shop as a hideout. He sighed as his pursuers passed by, their muffled footsteps getting quieter by the second. Once they were gone he used his foot to open the door and he fell to the ground with a thud,

"Ok, now that I have done my job, time to lay low for the rest of the night," he whispered as he slid out from underneath the cart. He continued towards the plaza, staying in the shadows and listening carefully and after a few turns he was there. The plaza was a just a clearing, and in the middle was a statue of the king. He stood with one foot on a headless corpse, an evil smile on his face as his helmet covered his nose, the pointed horn had blood on it, in one hand he held a sword, in the other the head of the corpse. The Spark looked at the words engraved on the middle of the statue,

"Obey or die." Rather corny, but the sculpters were forced into the job of making such a monstrosity, so it made sense. The bottom of the statue was just a cubic pillar, tall enough for a person, but it was meant to be that way for one purpose. The Spark looked left and right, it was a straight path to the statue, but there was no place to hide in between so he had to chance it. He made a run for it and about halfway there, he could hear the footsteps of a patrol. He jumped for the closest cover, a stand that held fruit on it. He rolled and landed on his butt, but was hidden from the patrol, he held his breath as they passed and then looked ahead, nine feet in front of him was the statue. He let out the air he was holding and sprinted towards the statue and the moment he touched the stone he went through it. The man felt his body change and reshape itself into a four legged creature, a pony.

When he emerged he was in a castle, his cloak was gone and he was now covered in dark blue fur, his hair was now a short, white mane, with orange tips. He was covered with scars and had a permanent mark on his chest, a upside down crescent moon with flames licking the tips of it, it was silver so it stood out like a shining diamond. His flank was blank and his eyes were a deep blue hazel that would swoon many women back in his home.

He sighed as he realized it was night in Equestria as well, meaning nobody would be awake at this time. He looked at his surroundings, they were different, this wasn't Canterlot that was for sure. He noticed all shelves had books on them and when he looked at the mirror, it was hooked up to a machine of sorts,

"Strange, things have changed, hopefully no one goes through the portal at all," the Spark said before laying down, he wouldn't sleep but when the sun started to rise he would head back through. The only difference would be instead of leaving the portal alone, he would have to watch and make sure no one would come through, as the location would stay the same until a day had passed, then it would go back to the previous location, as it was apart of the original spell that the sorcerer had cast on the mirrior, unless the device now hooked to the mirror changed that. The Spark sighed and sat in wait for the morming.

................................................

The morning had come quick for Twilight Sparkle, her dreams were nice and let her brain relax from the previous day's activities. She stretched her wings and hooves and yawned, a tired smile formed on her lips as she got out of her bed, ready for the new day. She slowly and quietly passed Spike, who was still snoring quietly in his own bed and left her room, closing the door behind her. She wasn't really hungry at the moment and decided to go to her study, where she would check to see if Sunset Shimmer had written anything and then either help or just read the letter before moving on to other activities. She passed Starlight's room and after turning a corner, entered the doors to her study. She scanned the shelves and saw the journal, which was glowing and vibrating today. She lifted the book with her magic and lowered it down to the table in the middle of the room and opened it to the latest entry as she sat down on her chair. She read the entry rather quickly,

"Dear Twilight, today had nothing exciting today, which was rather relaxing,
no friendship issues or major villain to be stopped, now I can only hope that tomorrow is the same, as its my Birthday, hooray, can't wait to spend it with the girls and I hope to recieve a B-day message from you. "

"Birthday huh," suddenly an idea popped into the alicorn's head. She smiled,

"When was the last time I visited her, back when the Sirens were issue? That was ages ago, so the best gift would be to go tell her happy birthday in person," she clapped her hooves excitedly,

"Yes that would be..." She frowned,

"...bad, the other me is around, it could affect our universes negatively,"

She hopped down from her chair and started to pace,

"But I would only being going for a while, that shouldn't affect anything, right?" She put a hoof to her chin, and started to think of all the pros and cons. It felt like hours to her but it was only a few minutes until she had decided to go,

"I mean what's the worst that can happen, if anything I can treat this as an experiment to see if anything happens at all," she packed a few bags and left a note on the map table and another in front of Spike before heading to the room where the mirror sat. She stared at the mirror for a moment and took a deep breath,

"Here I go," she told herself before stepping into the mirror.

............................................

Twilight groaned and opened her eyes. She was human, but something was off. The people here were dressed in different clothes and there were actual guards walking around, the school wasn't present either, she stood and walked over to a person trying to sell fruit. Her skin was a light green and her hair was long and orange, she wore a worn down brown shirt and had dirt on her arms,

"ANYBODY WANT AN APPLE, ONE COIN FOR ONE APPLE," she called out, almost in a begging tone. Twilight tapped her shoulder, causing the woman to turn around. Her mouth dropped and her skin became pale, as if she had seen a ghost,

"Ummm...do you know where I am," Twilight asked, looking around. The girl just stared in awe before dropping the apple in her hand, screaming in terror and running away. Twilight watched her run and raised an eyebrow as people turned and looked at her, their gazes matching the screaming woman. They all started whispering to each other and started to crowd around her. Twilight just looked around, still confused about everything.

..........................................

When Twilight came through the portal, the Spark almost completely panicked,

"Out of all the ponies in that universe it had to be her," he whispered to himself as he started to push his way through the crowd. He wasn't wearing his cloak, he didn't need to, no body knew he was the Spark, they all just knew him as Crossblade, the son of a retired guard and a dress creator. His name was the best of both his parent's worlds, Cross as in Cross stitch and blade as in a sword, it suited him well though. He pushed past another person, he was closer to the statue now, but he couldn't see over anyone. He took notice of a few guards that had took notice of the commotion and were yelling and pushing through the crowd as well. He kept at his own pace, not wanting to draw attention to himself, he would beat them there. When he finally made it to the front, his face turned white, no one was there. He looked around for a moment seeing if she had hopefully gone through the portal again, but there was one sign that she hadn't, her footprints. There were two pairs of them, which meant someone had taken her, he followed the prints with his eyes and looked in the direction where they went, there was no other sign.

He noticed the guards were still pushing through and realized who had taken the Princess. He decided to help them, not wanting them to get caught, he moved closer to the guards and waited for them to get close. When they did, he tripped the one in front and watched him fall on the prints, the others followed and dirt and dust was thrown into the air, covering the prints. Crossblade sighed and walked away, knowing he would have to report this later on.

................................................

Twilight was still confused when a hand reached out and grabbed her arm,

"Hey! What're you-"

"Shhh be quiet and follow me," the owner of the arm whispered to her. She couldn't make out who it was as they were hidden behind a cloak and mask, but the voice was feminine. She had no other choice but to follow when she noticed the guards coming towards her. They went through the crowd and about half way through the person she was following gave her a brown cloak to put on,

"Quickly now, we don't want to be caught by them, now do we?" The girl told her as they got out of the crowd. She let go of her arm and beckoned to Twilight,

"Follow me...and whatever you do, don't take the cloak off, its what is keeping us from being seen," Twilight nodded and followed her.

She was wary of the girl, but had no choice but to trust her, as she didn't know what was going on. She followed her into an alley and stopped, it was dead end,

"Ummm, unless there is a secret passage we are kind of stuck," Twilight said, looking around. The girl turned to a wall on the right and pushed in four different bricks. There was a quiet cracking noise and the wall split, a dimmly lit staircase was inside the hidden door. The girl went in and Twilight followed, the door closing behind them,

"So, where are we exactly?" She asked the stranger, who started down the stairs,

"Every thing will be explained once we meet up with the others,"

"Others?" The girl smirked behind her mask,

"You'll see it soon enough,"

They walked down the staircase in complete silence after a few minutes of Twilight asking questions that all remained unanswered. Finally they reached the bottom where another door sat, it was wooden with a steel handle. The stranger opened the door and waved a hand,

"You first," Twilight crossed her arms,

"What? I'm not going to rob you dear, now go on before I have to shove you in," the girl said. Twilight sighed and stepped inside.

This room had a lot more light, and was mainly empty, except a table that had several chairs, all were filled with a person in a cloak, but one person stood out. His hair was white and messy, he had a goatee and his left eye was red while the right was purple and one arm was covered in scales. His grin was one that Twilight recognized instantly,

"Welcome, Twilight Sparkle, to the Masks of Chaos!" Discord said excitedly.

Author's Note

And that was the prologue, I'm hoping that I will have the cover art up soon, but until then I hope you enjoyed the prologue to my new story.

Chapter 1

Twilight glared the human in front of her,

"Discord,"

"Twilight Sparkle, I presume, but not of this universe...correct," Discord lifted an eyebrow,

"How do y-"

"Well, for one, your face is one of annoyance, and two, the Twilight of this realm is well...dead," he answered her question before she could finish it. Her mouth dropped and her face turned pale,

"D...dead?" She stuttered. Discord nodded, his smile now a saddened frown,

"Yes she....she was beheaded in front of the whole kingdom, by Sombra himself, an example to those who opposed him. She is the reason we exist, the reason that everyone here is fighting to overthrow the Shadow King himself, well him and his traitor of a wife, 'Queen' Luna," Twilight gasped,

"Luna? No she wouldn't do that, Celestia is her sister and I...I was her friend, she must have been-"

"Forced? Well if she was its quite the show she's putting on for the kingdom, with her erotic screams erupting throughout the kingdom and not to mention killing innocent people that have helped us," Discord growled angrily, slamming his scaled fist down.

"But that is beside the point, right now I must know how you came here and if you are willing to help the Masks in our quest to annihilate the corrupt royalty in the Celestial Castle," he said, placing his elbows on the table and intertwining his fingers. Twilight looked at the other cloaked figures,

"How can I even answer that when I only know ONE of you, it's kind of hard trusting them even when the one in charge is a reformed bad guy in my universe," he smiled,

"Same old Twilight, always thinking about the negative consequences instead of the positive ones...girls, reveal yourselves for our friend here," the figures moved their gloved hands up to the hoods and slid them off, revealing themselves to the cautious and confused princess Twilight. She held her hands to her mouth and felt tears come to her eyes,

"Girls?"

...............................................

Crossblade sat in his parents' home, which lay outside the gates to the City of Shadows, the capital of the vast Kingdom of Equus and where the earlier events of today took place. His father was outside tending to the crops, while his mother was in the main hall, knitting a new dress for some girl that was the daughter of a royal advisor for the Queen. He sighed,

"Mother why do you stress yourself with such ignorant people, they are foolish to be apart of that royalty why help them become even more corrupt," he questioned, leaning against the wall, his arms crossed.

"And why do you not have a wife and child by now my dear son, I had married your father and had you when I was but only nineteen, you are twenty-three now and still have yet to find a woman worth being with, I'm starting to wonder if you even have a heart at all," his mother said, pointing her needle at her son with a sly smile.

"I told you, I don't have time for romance," he reminded her.

"But dear, you must know that you have to continue our family name, we can't just have it die," his mother told him once again. He rolled his eyes, not impressed,

"Okay mother, I promise to find a girl to marry after all of my important issues have been solved," she smiled,

"Good, now you must go, the king will be arriving to check on your father's health, if he believes he is healthy he might let him be apart of his counsel, that or he may come out of retirement to fight in what could be the next big war, this time with those two rebellions...I have never liked them you know, they are causing unnecessary conflict with our king," she told her son. He sighed,

"Mother, if you could just see what he has done you'd understand why the Flames of Justice are fighting with him, he's a criminal, but of course you don't remember what he has done, your memory is fading," she glared at him,

"No need to rub it in, Crossblade," she scolded him.

"Now go, I'm sure that you have other events to attend," Crossblade nodded and kissed his mother on the cheek,

"Stay safe mother,"

"You too," he smiled and opened the door but found an obstacle in front of him,

"Your majesty! You're...you're early," Crossblade's mother said, standing and bowing to him. Crossblade stepped back and did the same,

"Your majesty, I apologize for my clumsiness," he lied.

"Your apology is accepted," a female voice said behind the king,

"Thank you my queen, please excuse me I am on my way to a gathering in the plaza," He said, still staring at the floor.

Sombra smiled,

"I see your mother has taught you some type of manners, I applaud you for using them, now both of you rise and I hope to see you again soon Crossblade, maybe in my army for the upcoming war," he hinted at Crossblade who bit his tongue.

"Maybe, but until then, I bid you well," Crossblade stood tall once more and looked at his 'king'.

Sombra stood tall, his body embroidered with black armor, the same color of his skin. A helmet sat comfortably on his head a bright red horn on the front of it. His jet black hair was long and ended past his shoulders. His body was muscular and a sword sat on his right hip while a dagger hung on his left calf. His eyes looked almost as if there was a continuous fire in them, a flame that could be stowed with rage and hatred. Sombra and Luna stepped to the side and let the man through, Luna watched him go,

"He is strange one isn't he love," she told her husband,

"Yes, but he would make a fine addition in my army," Sombra replied before turning and heading inside. Luna followed after him, closing the door behind them.

............................................

Twilight stared at her friends who had just recently revealed themselves. Rarity walked past her to join the other three girls there, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie pie. She took notice of Pinkie first, her hair was straightened down, and her eyes looked like they had seen some horrible things, she had a long scar that went across her mouth, making a smile. Rainbow Dash looked the worst, scars lined every part of her and hair only remained on the left side of her head, and on the right, a large scar. Applejack was missing an eye, only a scar and her eyelid remained, her hair was cut short and her nose was slightly crooked, recently broken. Rarity had her hair tied in a bun, a scar went diagonal across her face, starting on the right side of her forehead and ending at the bottom left of her chin. Her eyes were underlined with bags and the bottom of her left earlobe was sewn together. Twilight could only cry, the sight of her injured friends would forever haunt her, but one thing stood out, they were all smiling.

They all took a step towards her,

"Ah know you ain't our Twilight, but even so, you...are one of our friends," Applejack said, tears streaming down her face. The rest joined her, sobbing loudly. Twilight took a step forward,

"Where...where's Fluttershy?" She asked, a little worried.

"She betrayed us," Discord answered with a growl.

Twilight's eyes widened,

"She's with Sombra!" She said.

Rainbow Dash shook her head,

"No! She's with the other rebellion, the Flames of Justice," she said, almost hissing the name. Twilight crossed her arms,

"Who are they?"

"Another rebellion, but as their name states, they want to destroy Sombra and all of his followers and will kill anyone who gets in their way," Rarity explained,

"They're monsters, Twi," Applejack added.

"But that doesn't explain why Fluttershy would join them, she is kind," Twilight told them.

"We don't get it either, but they can't be trusted, we don't even know who most of them are, only her, and they only attack when there is a big event, we tried capturing one, but lost a member during the attempt, they are the reason a war has been considered, and we are caught in the middle of it," Discord explained further, rising from his chair and placing his hands behind his back.

Twilight looked at all of them,

"But if that's their cause, what is your reason to fight back?" She questioned.

Discord looked at her,

"We only have one thing in common with the Flames, we want Sombra destroyed, but instead of killing all of his followers and killing innocents we want to fix everything, give the counsel back to the remaining Elements of Harmony, and restore peace to Equus," he said humbly.

Twilight smiled,

"Well thank Celestia that you got to me first," everyone smiled,

"Good ta know you're joining us Twilight, 'cause we can use your help ta get ourselves out there to the public, and with you looking like our Twilight," Applejack said.

"you can play that role and bring hope back to Equus and when the war comes, we may have enough people and weapons to take on both the Flames and Sombra," Discord finished, an excited gleam in his eyes.

Twilight looked at the group of people who looked like her friends,

"Hold...hold on, you seem to forget that I don't belong in this universe, everyone in my universe will be worried sick about me...I...I can't stay here, I need to get home," she told them.

"But you are able to return here, correct?" Discord said.

"Yeah I...I think so,"

"Well then why not leave a note to your friends in your universe and let them know you are going to be gone for awhile," Applejack said.

"That depends on how long awhile is, if it's more than a few days then I can't stay," Twilight exclaimed.

Discord stroked his goatee, thinking of ways to keep Twilight here. Finally after a few minutes, he thought of something and snapped his fingers,

"I got it!" He snapped his scaled fingers this time and with a flash a hand mirror appeared into his hand.

Twilight jumped back,

"There's Equestrian magic here!" She cried out.

"There has always been magic here, but here we call Spirit, its like a fire inside us that if we use too much, it will extinguish and will weaken us. We won't be able to use it, everyone has it, but only a few have enough to use it as a lethal and non lethal form. Someone may not have alot of it though and can train it to become strong enough to use it, like Applejack here. Her Spirit was in the middle, only being truly awakened when Twilight would use hers, but after some training, she can now use it at will and control it. You have a lot of Spirit, Twilight, I can feel it, but this was the same as this realm's Twilight, but the question is, can you use it and maintain control of it?" He then looked at the mirrior and held it out to her,

"But first take this, you'll be able to communicate with your universe with it, just say a name and they will appear in the mirror, another form of the mirror will pop up and show itself to the person you called, at least this way you can check in with them, make sure they are ok and they can know the same about you," Twilight took the mirror and looked at it. It was oval shaped and had a brown frame, it fit perfectly in the palm of her hand,

"Can I use it now?" She asked, wanting to test it.

"Go ahead but make it quick, Pinkie wants to give you a tour of your new home," Discord said before turning and leaving the room the others followed. Pinkie stopped at the door,

"I'll be waiting on the other side of the door, just knock when you're ready for the tour," she started to close the door,

"Oh and Twilight, thank you, for staying I mean, and I don't think Fluttershy went to the Flames because she wanted to, I think she went because she needed to," she then closed the door and left Twilight alone in the room with the mirror.

She stared at the mirror, looking at her reflection, was she really about to do this for a universe that wasn't her own. She took a deep breath, she had to, it wasn't like her to leave a problem unsolved. Twilight put on her best smile,

"Applejack," the mirror flashed and swirled until an orange pony appeared on the glass, her hat sat proudly on her head. The mare turned to buck a tree but then stopped and looked at the mirror,

"Uhhhh Twilight, is that you 'n there?" She asked her accent strong.

"Yes Applejack, um can you pass this message on to the others for me please," the mare nodded.

"So I'm not gonna be back for awhile, could be a few months or even a few years, but I ended up in another world, one led by King Sombra...its bad and I can't just sit back and let him destroy this place, don't even try to follow me, you'd end up somewhere else, probably where Sunset is...plus I need you five there to know that you're safe, don't worry I will try to keep in contact with you all, but if I miss a day don't think the worst of things, if more than a year passes then worry, but until then make sure Equestria is safe, now I gotta go, I will talk to you again soon," she watched the mirror fade back to her reflection and felt tears run down her face. Twilight leaned forward in the chair and sobbed for a few minutes, knowing she wouldn't see her friends for a very long time, at least not the ones she knew. She finally stood and made her way to the door, knocked three times and stepped inside the door.

Author's Note

I know these two chapters are back to back, but I had these two planned out, now I will slow down. Anyways I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, it ended up being shorter after I did some editing but otherwise it went well. Cover art is in the works, see you guys and gals soon...PEACE OUT!

Chapter 3

Twilight grunted as she blocked an incoming right hook before trying to throw a left hook. Her opponent, Rainbow Dash, smiled as she did the same block.

"Better, but-" Twilight didn't let her finish as she grabbed Rainbow Dash's armor with her right hand and threw herself at her, tackling her into the ground with a thud and pinning her.

Rainbow Dash laughed,

"You have definitely gotten better over the past few weeks," she said as Twilight smiled and pushed herself up. Rainbow Dash used her Spirit to lift herself and put her hands on her hips. It had been a few weeks since the training had begun and Twilight was a quick learner, spending a lot of time with Rarity to work on her balance, and Applejack to work on hand-to-hand combat. Rainbow was the weapons expert, but she wanted to test her hand-to-hand first.

Twilight pushed the hair out of her face and lifted her arm aiming it straight at Rainbow. Her hand glowed a violet color and her swordstaff appeared in her hand the strength of her spirit slightly pushed her hair back as if a gust of wind had done it. Rainbow Dash smiled, a proud sparkle in her eyes,

"Awesome," she said, clapping her hands together and using her spirit to make her hands glow. She slowly pulled them apart, two blades formed in her hands. Short swords, but their blades curved as if they were to outline the outer portion of pegasus wings, the grips were covered in crimson red binding and at the bottom a smaller blade shaped like a lightning bolt. She flipped one around to face her elbow,

"Are you ready for this," she said as her spirit flowed throughout her body, making it shimmer in a golden light. Twilight smirked,

"Bring it!" She yelled and prepared herself. Rainbow Dash smirked and started to spin,

"Spirit Move, C.O.H!" She yelled as her body turned into a tornado and flew towards Twilight. Twilight prepped herself, this was the third time she'd seen the attack, but this time she knew how to deal with it. She let her spirit flow through her and stabbed her swordstaff into the ground and placed her hands over the other blade. She closed her eyes and focused all of her Spirit into the blade, she felt her spirit slowly grow around the blade and cover the room from wall to wall, protecting her.

"Shield of Dawn!" She opened her eyes and watched as her spirit revealed itself as a wall of purple light. There was a loud clash of metal as the tornado collided with the wall. Twilight grunted as she felt the force of her opponent's spirit push against hers.

I can do this she thought as she held her ground. The forces continued to clash for seconds, with neither of the girls giving in. Beads of sweat formed on Twilight's forehead as the tornado pushed harder. She watched as her wall started to crack from the pressure and she started to panic.

"Relax Twilight, take a deep breath and strategize," Discord advised as he closed the door behind him. Twilight nodded and exhaled, maintaining her focus. She looked around, taking notes of every thing as her wall slowly cracked more and more. She looked at the tornado and noticed the angle it was at and even listened to the rhythm of the clashes of the blades inside. She would have to move quick but if she could let her wall go at the right time and flip her blade out of the ground, she could stop Rainbow's attack. She waited and used her spirit to slowly pull the blade from the ground as the wall cracked more and more.

Now! she yelled in her head and let her spirit fall back into her. The tornado raged towards her as she placed the blade down at the tip of the tornado. The blue force vanished all of a sudden and Rainbow Dash fell to the ground rolling to a complete stop in front of Twilight, her swords disappeared and the room fell silent. The battle wasn't over though as Rainbow Dash went to sweep Twilight off her feet. The girl wasn't prepared but out of reflex jumped over the attacker and grabbed her weapon. Rainbow ran towards her with her fists ready to swing, giving Twilight the advantage of surprise. Twilight spun around and stabbed her weapon into the ground. With a smirk she created the wall once again, making it alittle smaller to focus more energy into her new attack,

"Wind Tunnel!" The wall thrust forward quickly and sped into Rainbow Dash sending her flying back into the wall and holding her there.

"Pinned!" Twilight yelled proud as she gasped for air. She stood slowly and pulled her weapon with her from the ground. Discord clapped as she dragged herself to Rainbow Dash and placed her sword against the wall,

"I...finally...beat you," she said, letting her wall and swordstaff disappear. Rainbow Dash fell to the ground on one knee,

"Ya got me," she said happily before rising to face Twilight. Twilight sighed in relief and wiped the sweat off her forehead, her hair was a slight mess, but she did her best to fix it. Discord took a few steps forward,

"Excellent, you are slowly figuring things out Princess, but you are far from done," he said, snapping his fingers. A long black flame ran up his hand and past his fingers towards the ceiling creating a greatsword with several points and edges. The flames extinguished and revealed a long silver blade with a scaled hilt that ended with a jester head and on the guard two curved bars that ended with balls, one end was curved up, the other down.

"This...is Laughing Chaos, my spiritual sword, only I can wield it as you can only wield yours," Twilight rolled her eyes,

"I think I figured that out," she sassed. Discord smirked,

"Oh have you now, well then would you mind a duel?" Twilight summoned her weapon,

"Does that answer your question," she said with confidence. Discord nodded to Rainbow Dash who nodded in return and ran to the center of the room. Discord walked past her and turned, standing in his own fighting stance. Twilight walked to her side and turned, raising an eyebrow at her opponents stance. Discord was standing on one leg, hold his sword over his head with both hands and pointing the blade at Twilight. Rainbow Dash looked at the two duelists,

"Are both of you ready?" She asked both of them. Twilight readied herself,

"Yes," Discord nodded,

"Ready," Rainbow Dash jumped back,

"Begin!" The two didn't move, their eyes locked on each other and nothing else. Rainbow Dash looked between the two and smiled.

studying each other huh, well I have bad news for ya Twi, you've already lost. Rainbow thought as she looked at Twilight who braced herself. Discord jumped slightly and spun swinging his sword around and throwing it towards Twilight at high speeds. Twilight ran towards the blade and slid underneath it, quickly getting back to her feet, she swung her own weapon ready to hit her leader with full force. She froze meer inches from Discord's neck, she felt as if something had changed and before she knew it she felt a slight pain on the back of her neck and another on her stomach. Discord leaned forward towards her ear,

"Pinned," he whispered, as both of their weapons disappeared. Twilight's eyes widened,

"But how did-" he stopped her as he stepped to the side and walked away,

"Simple, our spiritual weapons are also a physical representation of our Spirit, which gives them their own little...quirks," he explained.

"Although you didn't see it, my weapon used two of them...one of them being 'Boomerang' my sword came back to me, the second one was 'Secondary Defense' it left me a smaller blade in its place, so you don't know everything my dear princess so please try not to rush into things next time hmm," he finished as he opened the door and left the room. Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash,

"He...he is scary," she told her friend who nodded in agreement,

"You're lucky he didn't leave a mark," she then turned and opened the door,

"We both need rest so, I'll talk to you when I wake up in the next couple of hours," she closed the door behind her and left Twilight alone with a bunch of mannequins.

...............................................

Crossblade jumped to the side as a beam of energy flew past him and hit a tree behind him. He'd been practicing for hours, only taking small breaks for Trxie to rest and for his spirit to not break. He had yet to unlock his Spiritual Weapon but he had faith it would eventually, even if it happened randomly. There were two ways that Spiritual Weapons could be unlocked that people know of. One was if someone unlocked it for you with a specific ability, two was when you knew you were going to die.

Trixie was the closest thing Cross would get without it failing, all he had to do was piss her off. A long time ago Trixie had been possessed by an amulet, now destroyed, that had made her a wicked and evil monstrosity. After the amulet was destroyed, she had returned to normal, but some of the power had stayed with her, only being useful when she was angry.

"Come on Trix, are you that weak that you can't hit a defenseless soldier," he mocked as he dodged another beam.

"Quiet peasant!" She screeched and sent a flurry of beams his way.

"Too far!" He yelled as he dodged his way around every beam. He stopped and stared at a tree that had a big black mark on it,

"Yeah definitely too-" he was interrupted by a red beam of light hitting him and throwing him into a tree. He grunted and fell to the ground trying to catch his breath as a slight burn formed on his chest. Trixie looked at her hand and brought it down before running to her lover,

"Dammit Cross, you took it too far with that thing," she said, trying to use her magic to heal the wound. He pushed her hands away,

"I'll...be fine..." He gasped, gripping his chest tighter. Trixie stood up and raised a hand over him,

"Levitate," she said, her magic obeyed and lifted him up. She pushed him to a tree and used her magic to tie him to it. When it came to certain spells she had to speak, but some spells didn't require much Spirit and magic to use. She placed her hands over his chest and continued to heal Crossblade who looked at the ground his hair covering his face.

"You're stubborn, you know that," she added alittle burn to the healing,

"Ow, ok, ok, you win, I'll shut up," she smirked.

When did you become so dominant all of a sudden? he thought as she finished up. She let the binding spell fade and Cross fell to the ground face first.

"Ow...really," he said as he pushed himself up off the ground. He dusted himself off.

"So round two?" He questioned with a nervous smile. Trixie glared at him her eyes back to their normal color.

"As if, I need rest and so do you," she turned away and started to walk off. Crossblade ran after her,

"Fine, but only for the rest of the night," she raised a brow at him.

"Two nights?" She didn't respond. He sighed,

"Really?" He groaned.

"Give me one week to rest up and we will be back at it." She told him.

"Deal!" He said and raised his fist in the air.

"I think I over did it with the healing," Trixie said placing a hand over her head as they walked through the trees back to their camp. Crossblade put his hands on the back of his head and relaxed his shoulders abit. The forest was quiet, the only sound being the clink of the two rebels' light armor and their breathing. The night wasn't particularly cold but it was also the beginning of summer. They traveled in silence for the next couple of minutes, a slight breeze whistling in their ears being the only bit of sound they could hear.

Crossblade looked at Trixie who was more tense than usual, she hated using that dark magic, she felt like someone else every time she used it. He lowered his hands and grabbed her right hand with his left, giving it a squeeze to let her know he was there. Her shoulders relaxed and her eyes softened, and with a sigh she gave Cross a smile. This was what made him happy, a girl who he understood and a girl who understood him, it was home to him. They continued walking, never parting their hands as they did, they were almost to camp when Cross felt the wind change.

The invisible barrier that hid the camp was right here and only certain people could get it. But something felt off, the wind usually shifted to the left, not the right like it was doing right now. He moved his hand to his sword and watched Trixie summon hers. They looked at each other and turned around, they were being followed.

"Show yourself!" Cross called out, unsheathing his sword and letting go of Trixie's hand. Trixie drew her blade and aimed it towards a tree. She whispered a word Cross didn't understand and a fireball appeared at her blade's tip. She jabbed her blade forward and the ball of fire flew towards the tree. An arrow made of water came from the left and hit the ball, extinguishing the flame before hitting the ground and dissolving into a puddle. There was a thud as a figure jumped from the tree that the arrow came from. Another figure stepped away from the tree that the fireball was heading towards.

"Bounty hunters," Crossblade hissed, as the two figures stepped into the light. The one on the left held a type of bow, it glistened in the moonlight and was transparent. Both figures were cloaked so their features were hidden but their weapons not so much. The other figure was carrying a dagger and a short sword, although they did their best to hide the dagger.

"We perfer the term mercenaries, Flame" he said in an accent that could only say he was wealthy. They knew that the two people in front of them were Flames of Justice, and Sombra had hired them to track down the organization and report back. He also told both of them he would add gold to every head they brought back with them.

"You wanna handle Waterboy or Dualblade?" Cross asked, dubbing the two unknown mercenaries nicknames. Trixie answered by jumping at Dualblade, firing two fireballs and then swinging her sword at the them. Crossblade jumped in between Waterboy and his lover as he went to extinguish her magic.

"Bad move trying to save your partner," Cross told the mercenary before punching the man in the gut. The man hunched over and groaned, his eyes still open. Cross jumped back as Waterboy rose up a dagger coming up with him. The mercenary laughed manically,

"You really are weak Flame, that punch felt like a pinch!" He leaned back slightly his hood falling off, revealing his face. He was gray, his mustache and short hair a bright white. Cross recognized him instantly, he was a famous water mage by the name of Seawave, he was amazingly skilled and was wealthy because of his skills in battle. Of course his partner in crime was his wife, Treehugger, who had mastered the art of camouflage and was skilled in stealth. Which meant Trixie was fighting her.

Cross dodged an incoming slash aimed towards his neck before boiling water flew over his head. Seawave cackled and continued to launch more boiling water at him, forcing Crossblade to retreat further away.

"Dance for me Flame, Dance!" The mercenary cried out with joy. Trixie on the other hand was having little trouble with Treehugger who was now pinned against a tree. Crossblade decided to go on the offensive finally as the mage felt his spirit drain a little too low.

"Should've killed me when you had the chance Asshole!" Crossblade cried out, slashing to and fro and forcing Seawave to back away, ducking, strafing, and even jumping over Cross' blades. Finally he had no where to go and was against a tree a blade against his throat. There was silence as the four people caught their breath, Crossblade and Trixe still had the two mercenaries against the trees as the silence was finally broken by Trixie.

"Why? Why would you even work the man that took you wealth?" Trixie asked their attackers. Crossblade stared at Seawave who started to chuckle.

"You seem to forget, he is the KING of this land and he may have taken it away, but he can give it back to us, as long as we take the Flames of Justice out with him!" The man said as his chuckle turned into a laugh. Trixie looked at Treehugger, a green women who wore a blood red bandana.

"What do you see in him, if I remember correctly you loved nature, you were friends with Fluttershy, what changed?" Treehugger stared at her blankly before a shade of light blue washed over her eyes for a moment. Trixie looked at Seawave,

"You put a spell on her, how long has she been this way?" Trixie yelled at the mercenary, who smirked in defiance.

"Five years my dear girl, and you shall be under that spell too, once I get rid of him," he replied before moving his hand towards Crossblade's stomach.

"No!" Trixie cried out as she watched the dagger head straight towards her lover's stomach. Cross felt the tip of the blade as his spirit built up in his hands. He jumped back as the blade pierced his armor and drew a small amount of blood. He looked at his hands as a three section staff formed in them, two small, curved blades finished the weapon at the ends of it. They looked like miniature scythes connected to a staff. Crossblade smiled,

"Finally, now about your utterly stupid laugh, I think it's time I shut you up," although Crossblade didn't know how to use his weapon really, but he did know he caught Seawave off guard. Cross jumped towards him and sliced once at the man's throat. He watched the metal meet flesh as blood poured from the wound quickly. Seawave tried to speak but all that came out was a gurgle as he slid to the ground, crying out in pain as he let out his final breaths.

"Good riddance," Cross said as the dead mercenary sat still. Trixie smiled at the sight of Cross finally getting his Spiritual weapon but her smile got even bigger as Treehugger broke away from the spell.

"What...what happened, it feels like I just went through tartaurus and back again," she groaned as Trixie stepped away from the girl who was looking around cluelessly.

"It's a very long story Treehugger, welcome back!"

Author's Note

and that's chapter 3...I know it has been awhile but holy buck has it taken me forever to get this done...ive had a lot of major events happening in my life such as getting engaged and even finally starting a youtube channel that should have an audio book reading of Imploding Colon's story, Austraeoh part 1 up in about a month or so, but anyways this is Silvermoon, signing off...PEACE OUT!

P.S. thanks for reading Chapter 3, and also Chapter 4 is in the works so be ready.

Chapter 4

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 2

Crossblade ducked under an incoming cutlass, the blade grazing his hair, he swung his own blade towards his attacker's left hip and stopped about an inch away,

"Better, but you forget," he felt something hit his ankles and making him cartwheel on to his side. He rolled on to his back and looked at his opponent,

"I am as much a spiritual enemy as I am a physical one," she finished, sliding her cutlass into its sheathe, the item that had knocked him off his feet. Crossblade took notice of the hilt, the knuckle guard was meant to be a crescent moon while the hand grip was meant to be a magic wand, the bottom of the hilt was a star. The girl it belonged to was slim, her light blue hair shined in the moon light along with her blue skin. She clipped the weapon to her hip and pushed her bangs out of her right eye,

"No wonder our fearless leader wanted me to train with you, you are just as reckless as I had been," she smirked and held out a hand to help Crossblade up. He took her hand and pulled himself up,

"Thanks, now what's your next 'great and powerful' trick," she glared at him and tried to push him, but he was expecting this and pushed back, making her stumble. Her face turned red as anger rose through her body,

"Trixie will make you pay for that," she clenched her fists and threw a right hook, forcing him to duck again. She then used her left to uppercut his stomach making his gasp for air and picking him up slightly. He fell to the ground and caught himself,

"So you wanna play that way huh," he said and swung his legs around, sweeping Trixie off her feet. She grunted as she hit the ground,

"That...hurt," she managed to get out as she tried to catch her breath. Crossblade lifted his head up,

"Had enough," he mocked with a toothy grin. She responded with a hand motion that forced his hood over his eyes,

"Oh shi-" he didn't get to finish as the breath was knocked out of him from something heavy landing on his stomach. He pulled the hood back to see Trixie's foot on him,

"That was dirty, even for you," he looked up at her, a triumphant smile on her face.

"Do you expect Sombra or his guards to fight clean," she questioned him.

"Not really," he answered grabbing her ankle and trying to push it off of him. She tried to balance herself and maintain that same weight on him, but he used his own Spirit to help him push. It sent her downward again, except this time it would hurt both of them as their foreheads collided. They groaned at the throbbing pain,

"That didn't work out the way I hoped," Crossblade said, dazed.

"Ya think," she retorted, lifting herself up into a sitting position. It took her a moment to realize she was straddling his stomach. He wiggled his eyebrows at her, making her blush and react with eye roll. She put her hand on his head and pushed herself up,

"You...are such a perverted dunce," she scolded him. Foolishly she tried to help him up again, only this time he pulled her down on top of him,

"You're one to talk," he said inches away from her face.

"I didn't know we bathed in the same lake, its not my fault I saw you with no clothes on," he raised an eyebrow,

"But it is your fault for staring, and then attacking me a few nights later," he said pushing a strand of hair away from face. She blushed again and let their lips meet as their night continued.

.................................................

Crossblade snapped out of the memory from eight months ago, his eyes planted on the girl he loved. She was at a stand in the busy market, one that sold some type of vegetable. She smiled and thanked the man behind the counter, dropping a bag of gems on it and waved bye as she made her way to Crossblade. He smiled, they had come a long way from before Sombra's take over. Back then, Crossblade had been a bully, thinking himself mightier than everyone else because his father was a respected knight. He wore only the best and was extremely spoiled, bragging about everything he would accomplish, but after Sombra's brutal take over, he started to despise himself as he did the king's bidding, realizing that he had acted the exact same way, just not as evil. Trixie had been a liar, a bully, and had some type of rivalry with Princess Twilight, throwing herself recklessly into duels against the much more powerful princess and always losing due to her lack of Spirit and her attitude, and then Sombra took the princess and killed her like she was nothing to him at all. This changed Trixie, she joined the Flames of Justice about two months before Crossblade did and with some training and some fixing, she was much nicer and a lot calmer, her attitude changed and she vowed to get revenge for her rival, who she considered to be one of her only friends.

When Crossblade had met Trixie, they had never actually talked, they just insulted each other and tried to best each other in every competition that came up, that is until their leader had enough of their antics and paired them together to train, Trixie was the mentor and Crossblade was the student. She trained him new attacks and how to control his emotions and they quickly bonded leading to their relationship now, one they kept secret,

"Hey, you ready to get going," she said, tossing him a cob of corn. He caught it and looked at it,

"Yeah," today was different for them, usually they would be looking for new members but today, they were on the hunt. This hunt would last a few weeks, as their leader had been informed about the newcomer from Crossblade himself. She wanted Twilight with Flames, but she also knew that the Masks had her from what Cross had told her about the princess' disappearance that day, so she tasked him and Trixie on finding her. Crossblade glanced at a few guards as they walked,

"They are everywhere today," he told her.

"Well of course, that damned tournament is coming up," she replied.

"The Champion's Tournament? I thought Sombra only held those when a war was upon us," Crossblade questioned, watching as a few more guards walked by, their armor clanking with every step.

"Well with the Masks and the Flames causing an issue and the people of Yakistan accusing Sombra of making their traders disappear, there may very well be a war," she said, holding up a few fingers.

"Right, that means another attack is in the works back at camp," Crossblade sighed.

"We better find her before that tournament, or shit is gonna go down...quick," Crossblade looked at Trixie worryingly.

"Yep, so the best thing we can do is prepare and find Twilight before that tournament," Trixie made a fist,

"I'm not going to let those bastards ruin everything we have worked towards, especially when we are so close to ending this," she whispered through gritted teeth. Crossblade nodded and the two continued on their search.

................................................

"So, what you're saying is, that where you come from, we are ponies an' have destroyed Sombra," Applejack said crossing her arms.

"Well yes, but we also defeated him with friendship," Twilight told them. Rainbow Dash snorted in response while Rarity looked at Twilight,

"We have already tried that approach, darling, but instead it ended with Twilight dying and Sombra taking control," She said woefully. Twilight snapped her fingers,

"We also couldn't do it without Spike," Twilight said excitedly,

"Is there a Spike in this place?" she said looking around the room.

The room was like a cafeteria of sorts, there were tables everywhere and they were filled with other people, who sat and ate their lunch casually. Discord had already informed them of everything while Pinkie had been giving Twilight the tour of her temporary home. Twilight's friends had all sat with her and had been asking questions about Twilight's universe, all eager to know what it was like,

"Spike? He was the first to go Twilight, he was thrown off the castle while trying to attack Sombra," Pinkie said looking down at the table. Twilight felt tears run down her cheeks,

"He was a good dragon," Rarity said, gripping a necklace around her neck, it had three scales, two purple one green. Twilight felt a wave a sadness come over her,

"How...how do you cope with it...death I mean, in my world, death isn't a common thing," Applejack clenched her fists at her side,

"We get over it, use them as a reason to be happy and in some cases fight, like ah'm doing now." She told Twilight, placing a hand on her closed eye,

"We don't just fight for freedom, we fight to stop any more families and friends from losing each other," Rainbow Dash added. Everyone nodded in agreement, other than Twilight who was still confused about something. She looked at her friends,

"In our world, Discord is the 'god' of chaos and although it never happened, it was believed he could take on Sombra and win, I'm guessing he is different here though too," she sighed.

"Well on the contrary Twilight, I may not be a god, but I am one of three people that can control chaos magic," Discord replied from behind her, a green, purple, and black flame sat in his hand.

"What happened to the other two?" Twilight asked.

Discord frowned,

"That's the issue, Twilight, Sombra is the only other user of it, while the third, is deceased," he told her, extinguishing the flame. He wrapped his arms behind his back and came to the table, staring specifically at Twilight,

"Then why not train other ponies to wield it?" She asked. He shook his head,

"It's not the simple...it takes time and after using it for so long...it changes you, mentally-" he tapped his temple with a finger,

"-and physically," he held out his scaled arm and pointed at his eyes. Twilight sighed,

"Well then, what DO we do?" She questioned with a frustrated look. Discord smirked and held out his hand, a paper appeared in it,

"Well at first it was going to take maybe years for us to stop Sombra and his army but with you here the time has shortened-" he put the paper down on the table,

"You see this, it's an announcement for the Champion's Tournament, everyone will be there, mainly because they are forced to be there, but that's beside the point. Anyways, the plan is to make this the start of our major plan...first, we sneak into the arena, Twilight, you will be with us but under a specific spell to keep you hidden from Sombra. Second, we have you reveal yourself to the public and with some hope we gain some new followers. Third, we make a quick and easy escape, that is the outline for the plan but we have a few weeks, so we will make a full fledged plan as the days progress, but right now our main task is to train you the skills you need to survive against Sombra and whoever decides to attack-"

"Train me?" Discord nodded,

"You're going to need to defend yourself, this isn't your world where magic is used for fun and games, it is used for attacking and defending, and I can promise you, there will be blood spilled and death will always be around, waiting for its next victim, and you do not want it to be you, now, do you?" He told her. She was silent and in her thoughts, she could only think of what she could do. Discord wasn't wrong, most of the people here would try to kill her and she needed to defend herself, but did she have to kill them? She looked at Discord,

"Do I have to kill them?" He sighed,

"I would say no, but we are supposed to stay hidden Twilight, and as of the moment we don't exactly have a spell that makes you forget things, so yes you will have to kill them," he said casually. Twilight sighed,

"Ok...so...when...when do we begin," Discord looked at Rainbow Dash,

"She is yours Rainbow," the girl nodded and shook her head towards the door,

"Come on, we gotta get you a weapon," Rainbow said, a glint in her eye.

...............................................

Crossblade punched a wall,

"Dammit! Where the hell could they be," he growled quietly. He looked up at the sky and sighed,

"Time to regroup," he told himself as he rubbed his knuckles. He and Trixie had decided to split up for awhile and they would rendezvous in the market when mid-day came around. He turned and started to make his way to the market, trying to think of places where the Masks would hide. He thought of alleys, hidden temples, and other things, but had to stop when he realized he was in the market. He looked around, Trixie was no where to be seen. Crossblade shrugged and waited for a few minutes before he started to worry. He looked around once more but didn't see anything, he felt his heart start to be faster and his hands started to shake. He felt a hand on his shoulder and did a quick turn, readying himself for an attack, he threw a blind punch. Trixie caught it and stared concerningly at Cross,

"You good?" She asked, letting go.

"Um...not really, I was just a little worried is all, but at least I know you're ok," he answered quickly. She sighed and nodded,

"I couldn't find anything, they must be hiding her, that not only makes it harder, but also annoying," she changed the subject. Crossblade sighed as well,

"At least we know they have her and not Sombra," he added to her sentence. They looked around for a moment,

"We better split...see ya tonight?" He said, nodding towards a few guards staring at them. She glanced over and nodded before turning away and saying bye. It took everything for them to not express their feelings, but they couldn't chance it. Crossblade sighed and watched her go.

____________________________

"WAAAH OOF," Twilight fell to the ground with the very large hammer that Rainbow had given her. Rainbow sighed and picked it up with ease,

"You are definitely not our Twilight," she said making the hammer erode in her hands.

"Sorry, I'm not the best with hands," Twilight apologized. Rainbow Dash pushed her hands down and walked closer, only a few inches away,

"Time for plan B," she said, grabbing Twilight's head.

"What're you-"

"Shush and relax your mind for me," Rainbow interrupted and closed her eyes, Twilight followed her lead.

In mere moments Twilight felt a surge of energy flow through her, making her feel light headed, but powerful. Soon Rainbow Dash's hands were gone and Twilight opened her eyes. In her friend's hands was a swordstaff, a staff with two blades, one on each end. Rainbow stared heavenly at the weapon and moved her right hand to the center of it. She let go with her left and spun the weapon around, moving it behind her back and switching to her left hand she did a quick spin and with both hands thrust one of the blades into the target now in front of her,

"Awesome," she fangirled, yanking the staff out of the target and facing Twilight. Twilight looked at the weapon, it was beautiful, long and slender but when it came to the blades, it was sharp to the tip. She looked at the blades worryingly,

"I guess this means I will have to...kill someone," she said shakingly. Rainbow Dash sighed,

"I get that from your world you don't kill, but here, killing is surviving and mercy is another word for death," she told her, holding out the weapon for Twilight to grab. Twilight hesitated for a moment, and then came to a realization,

"Is that how you got injured, you tried to be merciful," Rainbow Dash sighed,

"No...but Applejack and Fluttershy both paid the price for trying to be merciful, Applejack lost her eye and Fluttershy...she lost more," Rainbow looked down,

"She lost more than any of us, and when it came down to a choice she went with The Flames, but that is besides the point," Rainbow Dash changed her tone along with the subject,

"Right now all that matters is we get you prepared to deal with whatever enemies come after you," Rainbow clenched her fists and smirked,

"Now lets get started!"

__________________________

The night had come quickly for Crossblade, he was ready for another session with his mentor. She had been training him to unlock his soul, and tonight would be the night that she did it. He kept to the shadows of the kingdom, the forest only a small distance away from the outer walls. He smiled as he nodded towards a guard, one of their spies. The guard nodded back and opened the gate just enough to let Cross through before waving and closing it again. Crossblade did a quick sprint to the right and could make out the silhouettes of the trees ahead, tonight was going to be a bright one.

____________________________

Discord sat in a chair and watched the Twilight's training making notes as to what she would need to work on, balance would definitely need to be worked on. Twilight tried to spin the blade in both hands and was almost successful until Rainbow Dash blocked the speeding blade and made the staff bounce out of Twilight's hands. Rainbow looked at Discord who nodded in approval, she smirked and punched Twilight in the stomach making the girl fall to her knees and hold her stomach. Rainbow Dash crouched and lifted Twilight's head,

"You'll either learn to defend yourself or get beaten to a pulp until you do!" Rainbow Dash told her before grabbing Twilight's hair and shoving her face into the ground, making the girl groan in pain. Rainbow wiped away her tears and stood up. She sniffed and placed a foot on Twilight's back,

"I will teach you how to fight so I don't have to watch my friend die again, but that doesn't mean I won't hurt you to do so," she took her foot off of Twilight and looked at her,

"Now get up, we have work to do," Discord smiled at Rainbow Dash, her strength and will doubled her power, making her a stronger opponent in battle and a better friend at heart. He watched the two try over and over and over, their grunts and heavy breathing along with their weapons clashing were the new noises of the night. Discord eventually went to his quarters as the two were going to train all night and his eyelids were heavy. He sat on his makeshift hammock and looked at the picture the was in front of him. He was a young boy, his hair brown and short, his body was normal. Next to him sat a figure he knew all too well, a man of light grey color and short white hair. They were smiling as a figure in the middle had his hands on their shoulders, the hands were gloves and the figure wore a cloak, but her face could be seen. She was smiling wide with her eyes closed and she was an adult. Her long hair was silver. The picture was of course a painting, but it looked so real to Discord. He stared at it for one last second before shedding his clothing and going to sleep.

Author's Note

And that's chapter 2 hope you enjoyed and I will return for Chapter 3