"So what is so important that we have to go towards the enemy?" Blueblitz questioned with a hoof in the air.

"You'll see when we get there, trust me if we try to make the journey without them, we can call ourselves an easy meal." Blackheart told us, a brown cloak covering most of his body now. He had the thing on when we had finally caught up to him at the doors of my home, now we were mere minutes from entering the Everfree Forest. Blueblitz snorted in response to Blackheart's vague answer. I glared at him and then turned my attention back to Blackheart.

"Can you be more specific of what is among these supplies?" Emeraldlight asked. Blackheart looked at Emeraldlight,

"You will see when we get there, once again I'm going to ask all of you to trust me." He repeated back to the stallion behind him before turning to focus on the road ahead.

"Kinda hard to trust a pony we don't know!" Silvermelody said. I sighed, she wasn't wrong, we barely knew this pony and he was being very vague, but my dad trusted him, so I had some faith. Blackheart stopped and turned around to face us, still showing no emotion.

"You are correct, you should never trust a pony you do not know. In fact for all you know I could be a changeling acting like the real Blackheart," he said taking two steps toward us. "but let me tell you something that only Blackheart would know about you, Silvermelody, daughter of Fluttershy, your silver mane and tail are quite unusual because neither of your parents have silver in their manes...but when in labor, your mother started to have complications. The doctor then cast a medical spell to help with said complication, the side effect, your mane turned silver after you were born with a pink and blue mane. I watched your mane change color in the first few hours of your life, quite remarkable." He told the mare who fell onto her haunches immediately. She had only told us and her dad only knew about it because well he was there.

"How did...how did you know, I thought only my dad saw it happen?" She questioned.

"Let's just say the Elements of Harmony helped me, a lot." Blackheart answered. "Now come, we must hurry." he turned back to the path ahead and started to trot forward.

I helped Silvermelody up and we followed in silence. I could tell that none of us still trusted him, or liked him as a matter of fact, but we had learned something. Blackheart knew my mom and the moms of my friends, and they helped him, or tried to, that was still up in the air. I looked at my friends,

hopefully you all know too, so maybe we can get some information out of Blackheart. I thought as I turned back around to look at the stallion in front of me with a smile as I formed a plan in my head.

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

We all stopped at the entrance to the Everfree Forest, Blackheart looking from left to right. I guessed he was looking and listening for anything dangerous, but there seemed to be nothing as he turned to face us.

"Stay close, we are not going to be on the path you are used to and I do not want to waste time searching for a lost pony, so do as I say. Now once we get to cabin there should be a magical field around it that shouldn't let anything in unless it is an actual pony," he told us.

"Actual pony?" Neo raised an eyebrow. Blackheart nodded in response.

"Yes an actual pony, changelings have a specific type of magic that lets them change their form to match a pony, the difference is their genetic make up is still a changeling so the spell around my cabin can pick that up. I will explain more on the way, come," he finished before leading us into the forest. We stayed on the main path for a small amount of time until Blackheart moved a bush to the side to reveal a hidden path. We then continued on this path for the remainder, but something seemed off. The Everfree Forest was known for having everlasting darkness, but the trees here let in small rays of sunlight, it was kind of pretty.

"Wait," Blackheart hissed, stopping me with his tail. He looked left and right and adjusted his ears. I turned my attention to a tree close by rustling and felt my body freeze. "We are being followed." Blackheart whispered to us, his horn glowing slightly. "Listen, whatever happens don't leave the path, my cabin is up ahead, get through the field and inside immediately," he directed his attention to us, his eyes moving left and right.

"But-" Blueblitz started,

"Just do as I say, no more no less, otherwise we may end up losing a pony, understood," Blackheart interrupted as another tree rustled. Everything went quiet soon after and soon we were having a stand off with whatever was in the trees. It was almost like time stopped, the only evidence that it hadn't was the blinking from our eyes and the restless rustling in the trees.

"Five, six," Blackheart whispered to himself as none of us really knew what he was counting, but there was some guesses. All of a sudden a black and green blur flew from one of the trees and towards Blackheart's right flank. I went to call out the movement, but he was already a step ahead. He turned quickly and I watched something made of steel fly from his cloak and towards the blur, revealing why his horn was glowing. I heard a loud CLING as his sword met another sword, this one much more jagged and covered in a green magic.

The owner of the sword hovered inches from the two blades, it's body riddled with holes, its wings transparent like bug's. It grit it's teeth, revealing sharp fangs. I looked at Blackheart a new expression on his face, one of anger and struggle. His teeth were also clenched and his muzzle wrinkled with anger. He pushed against his attacker and threw the creature and its blade back with a grunt.

"So nice to see you again, Blackheart," a feminine voice hissed through the creature's mouth. The way she said his name sounded like pure hatred. Blackheart moved his sword in front of him as five more creatures landed next to the other one. They all looked fairly different, mainly in the color of their wings and spines, but they all had holes in them. My eyes widened as I made a quick realization,

"These things look like the creature from my dream!" I told everyone loudly. The creatures moved quickly and surrounded us, hissing and snarling.

"Things, did you hear that Gaster, the pony called us things," one of the said as they started to circle us. Blackheart looked at the green creature who still stood in front of him.

"How kind of a pony to call us such a name," she replied with a hiss.

"Leave them out of this Gaster, this is between you and me," Blackheart pointed the tip of his sword towards Gaster, giving me a better look at the sword. His sword was rather short and the blade curved inward towards the hilt but outwards toward the tip. The hilt itself was circular and wooden with a brown leather wrap around it.

"Although yes usually I would be here to finish what we started, but the Queen has ordered the deaths of the six ponies behind you. You see, we know who they are and why you protect them, but how about we stray from-"

"Over my dead body, you forget who I am changeling! I am a slayer of your kind and will hunt every single one of you creatures down until you all are extinct!" Blackheart yelled, an angry fire in his eyes. The changeling shook her head and smirked.

"Your wish is my command, kill them," she commanded as the creatures revealed their own weapons, all jagged and covered in green aura.

"Run!" Blackheart cried out as he cast a teleportation spell on us and put himself between us and the changelings. Gaster turned to face Blackheart and with a hiss swung her blade at the stallion, he ripped another sword from his cloak and caught the blade with it.

"You 'eard 'im let's git outta 'ere!" Pippin yelled as he took off on the path. We followed quickly after, but I looked back to see Blackheart ducking under the blade of another changeling as the others pursued us. I followed the others and realized the battle was all around us, catching glimpes of Blackheart and the changelings attacks on each other. I could see sparks and hear metal hit metal along with my blood pumping in my ears. A changeling appeared in front of us, his sword raised over his head, he hissed. Pippin wasn't going to be able to stop in time, he was done for.

SHLINK. I watched as a blade slid across the changeling's throat and a green liquid sprayed from the wound, covering Pippin. I heard Silvermelody screech in fear as she sped up, I felt my own heart drop and felt my stomach churn. I had just witnessed the death of a creature, and even though it was trying to kill us, it still wasn't the best thing to see. I heard a screech soon after and turned my head to see a changeling pounce towards me, a spear pointed at my back. My eyes widened, the fear of pain and death sinking into me. I felt my heart leap in relief when a brown cloak appeared and Blackheart's sword hit the spear to the side while his other sword pointed at the creature's chest.

I turned away so I didn't have to experience another death, but felt something warm hit my back. I didn't look, already knowing what was on me, I continued forward. It wasn't long until I saw a wooden building and gasped in relief as I felt my body go through the field of magic the encircled the cabin. I noticed that Pippin had stopped and was vomiting on the grass beneath him while everyone else was inside the dark cabin. I slowed to a stop outside the door and helped a still somewhat sickened Pippin through the door and slammed the door shut behind us.

I looked around and saw all of my friends gasping for air, Blue was the only one not tired, as he was used to it. Neo looked ok, but I could see the sweat trickling down her muzzle. Emerald looked pretty bad, his mane was thrown around and he was sweating and shaking profusely. Silvermelody was gripping her chest with her hoof and like the rest was sweating. Pippin was still covered in green blood, but he looked ok for the most part. I was shaking and sweating and my back had some green on it, but I could still tell I was out of shape.

I went to sit down but decided against it and instead made my way to the window that was letting light come into the cabin. I looked for Blackheart, but from what I could hear there was no longer the sounds of battle outside. I felt my heart drop once more as I found myself worrying about our guide. He had protected us without a thought and took on odds that I figured most ponies couldn't win against. I looked down when I heard a grunt outside along with metal hitting metal. I looked out the window again and saw Blackheart slowly backing towards the field, he was blocking two swords at once with his own swords. I could makeout two figures in front of him, both of which didn't look like changelings.

They were ponies, and one figure I recognized as my father, and the other was a pony I had never seen before, but they were ponies, not changelings. I went to the door and tried to pull it open when Emeraldlight held the door with his magic, which was blue like his eyes.

"Wait, Dusk, remember changelings can change their form to match ponies, they are not real ponies." He reminded me as he walked towards me. I sighed and backed away.

"You're right, but why would they take the shape of my father? Especially since Blackheart knows they aren't ponies." I asked myself out loud.

"Maybe they were trying to catch him off guard, remember your dad called Blackheart an old friend." Blue answered as he finally sat down. I shrugged,

"I guess that makes sense." I replied. Soon the fighting outside stopped and I quickly ran to the window, I could see a corpse on the ground and a changeling flying away. The corpse had a sword sticking out of it and I could see Blackheart walking over to it. He ripped the sword out and wiped his blades on the grass in the magic field before sheathing his swords and letting the cloak fall over his body again. He then disappeared out of view as he made his way towards the door. I walked away from the window and to my friends who were still recovering.

The door opened and Blackheart limped into the cabin, closing the door behind him he limped his way to room close by. We waited for a few minutes until he reappeared, walking as if nothing had happened and several bags floating in his magic. He placed them down on the wooden floor and moved them towards us.

"Each bag is filled with the basic necessities and few other items to help all of you on the journey. Canteens for water, bread for food, climbing gear, coats for cold weather, and a weapon." We all looked up at the mention of weapons. I opened my bag and looked inside, everything he had mentioned was there.

"Your weapons all accommodate to your physical prowess and for what I believe is suited for you." Blackheart added as Silvermelody pulled a bow out of her bag. There was a loud bang as Pippin revealed a war hammer. I looked up at him, how did I not see that before.

"There is a spell on bags that shrink most of the items in the bag to make for better carrying, luckily the second the item is out of the bag it returns to it's full size and weight." Blackheart added as I pulled out a sword in my magic. It was very basic compared to other swords I had seen in books. A wooden hilt that was in the basic shape of a T and a steel blade that was straight until it formed the tip. Then again all of our weapons were basic all except Emeraldlight's which was a sword that extended into a whip.

"Your weapons are only to be used in lethal situations and for training until your real weapons appear." Blackheart told us as we placed our own weapons back in the bags.

"Real weapons? What ever do you mean?" Emerald asked as he placed the bag on his flank and clipped the strap in the front of his chest. He had already figured out how the bag was meant to be held.

"Yes, real weapons, or Charms as their true title. These weapons are kind of like your own personalized weapons that hide within your soul, and only appear when called to or when you are close to death. Many believe every creature has a Charm which has been proven true so far. For instance Starswirl the Bearded, had a charm that represented a star, although it couldn't be used to attack or defend it could be used to strengthen his magical capabilities." He told us as he levitated his own bag on to his body and strapped it down. Blackheart beckoned us to follow him as he left the cabin. As we grabbed our bags and prepared to leave, a bright flash of light illuminated the inside of the cabin from the windows near the door.

My heart rate picked up again as the thought of being attacked entered my brain. I pulled the door open and ran outside and was astonished by the sight in front of me. Blackheart was crouched in a stance that reminded me of the body of the scorpion. Above him sat one long chain that wrapped around a sword on one end and on the end an identical sword to the other. The chains clinked together as they floated above Blackheart in a shape that looked like the tail of a scorpion.

"This, is a Charm!" He told us as the everypony gathered outside. The blades then moved around Blackheart and the chain encircled around him with blades on both sides of his face. "I call them Twin Wolves, they act on my mental command and move with me."

He jumped and they stayed next to him, but when he landed on his two back hooves and extended out his left forehoof the blades moved. The blade snaked it's way on his leg and hoof and flew straight towards me. I watched the tip stop right in front of my neck and then fly back towards him as he spun around and threw the other blade into a tree close to him. He then gripped the chain with his hooves and kicked the other blade into the air and used the momentum from the moving chain to fly into the air. The other blade came out of the tree and joined him in the air where everything seemed to slow down. He used his hooves to point the blades straight towards the ground and then flung them down at the same time. I watched as he wrapped the chain around one hoof and came down with them until they hit the ground. He stood in between them and unwrapped his hoof.

His chest heaved as he took a deep breath and released. Afterwards, the chain blades disappeared, leaving all of us amazed.

"That, is what it is like to have a Charm." Blackheart said as he walked back over to us. "A Charm is not only a weapon, but a defense mechanism that increases your strength and agility and over all durability. As you can see, I was high enough in the air that the fall could have broken my legs and more so with the speed I came back down, but with my Charm I could withstand all of it, but it is limited. Too much use of your Charm could not only exhaust you, but injure you if you exceed its capabilities. It is a part of your body, your mind and your soul, you must train it and your own body to wield it for longer times, and learn new abilities." He taught us and then sat down and smiled. I couldn't tell if I was amazed by the new expression, or weirded out by it.

He looked at all of us and sighed.

"I believe that all of you have the ability to release your Charm and learn how to wield it, just like your mothers, and fathers, before you. But, until that happens, we must start our quest to find your mothers and bring them back before our enemy makes it to Ponyville. From what Flash's scout has told us, we have two weeks until they are at the shields that Flash has placed over Ponyville, and depending of their power, a day to another week until they break those shields and take over Ponyville." Blackheart explained our deadline, his smile replaced with a focused frown.

"So we have a minimum of two weeks to find our mothers and a maximum of three weeks if we are lucky, great!" Neo summed up happily.

"That is not alotta time if ya think about it. Ah mean, we only have a small idea where one of 'em is, an' if we keep havin' to deal with these things, it will shorten our time." Pippin told Neo. He wasn't wrong, we spent all day just trying to get here thanks to the changelings and the sun was starting to set from what I could see of it.

"Which is why we have a train to catch in the next couple of hours, it'll take us all the way to our first location, if that is where Fluttershy is staying of course, so let's get moving, if we miss that train we will have lost a day." Blackheart said, turning and starting back down the path we came in from.

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

The path back to Ponyville was short, Blackheart had moved further ahead of us to move the corpses of the dead changelings before regrouping with us back on the main path. Once we had gotten to the train station the sun could no longer be seen and the moon had started its ascension. Now, we were all on the train, everypony was fast asleep, except for Blackheart and I. Blackheart was traversing throughout our car looking out of every window, his magic glowing enough to light up his path. I was reading a book, my brain not letting me sleep in fear of those nightmares returning.

I had eventually dozed off into a dreamless sleep and found myself waking up to the sun in my eyes and a new found blanket over me. I pushed the blanket off of me and looked outside the window, it was mid day from what I could tell, and ponies were moving to and from our car. Blackheart was nowhere to be seen, but I could see the silver mane of Silvermelody in front of me so I moved to her seat and sat next to her.

"You're awake," she stated as she turned and looked at me. I smiled,

"Yeah what did I miss?" Silvermelody shrugged in response.

"All I know is that Blackheart had moved into another car a few minutes ago." She said. She shifted her wings slightly, "from what I can see though, there is a storm heading this way. Maybe he is going to see if the staff of the train knows anything about it." I looked out her window, there was definitely some sort of storm forming out there. I sat back in the seat and looked for the others. Pippin and Blueblitz were talking to each other while Neo was helping Emeraldlight with some sort of tear in his tie that he had received during the chase in the Everfree Forest. It was calm, a big difference from what had happened yesterday, but that calmness was about to be shattered.

"Get your bags!" Blackheart yelled as he ran back into our car. "We are getting off!"

"Why? What's going on?" Blueblitz asked, slinging the bag over his wings and back. Blackheart finished clipping his bag to him.

"We are being followed and not just by a small group this time. It seems that Gaster has brought a small army with her." Blackheart told us as he moved to the front of the car.

"Now follow me!" He waited for us to line up at the door before leading us to the top of the train. "Listen! Silvermelody and Blueblitz grab Neo and Emeraldlight and fly towards the storm clouds. Duskshine and Pippin you two are going to head that way on hoof! I'm going to follow and cover our tracks! Until I catch up, head into the forest and find shelter in those trees! We will continue once we regroup!" Blackheart yelled his orders above the sounds of the train and the wind hitting our ears. We all nodded and Blueblitz grabbed Emeraldlight while Silvermelody wrapped her hooves around Neo.

"On three you two are going to jump!" Blackheart told Pippin and I as the others flew away.

"Wait! Are ya serious?" Pippin cried out. Pippin had a fear of heights, a really big fear of heights. Blackheart nodded.

"Three!" I jumped and watched as Blackheart kicked Pippin off the train and jumped. I yelled as I landed and rolled to the ground. Pippin followed and landed next to me while Blackheart rolled and landed on his hooves on my right. I felt blood roll down my shoulder as I stood up and noticed Pippin was bleeding from his nose, he had landed on his face. Blackheart looked at us,

"Go!" I ran for it with Pippin on my tail and the other four flying in front of us. The journey had just begun.

Author's Note

And that's chapter 2. Rewriting these chapters is proving to be a worthy adversary as I had intended for this chapter to be out the same day as the first. Unfortunately that's not how it turned out, I have also been studying the map of Equestria to help lay out the path I want the characters to take. Otherwise I hope you enjoyed chapter 2, thanks for reading.