Upon looking down the alleyway I was forced to stand in, I begin to notice how dark this part of Canterlot is.

Seems like a normal city in my world. Shady deals, back alley prostitution, defacing of public property, drugs.

I notice ponies in one part of the alley exchanging bits for a bag of white crystals. I sigh at this and shake my head.

At least here it's just concentrated sugar crystals with cider infusion. Jeez, even the shady deals here are somewhat innocent. I wonder where Echo went off to. He told me to wait here for him, and It's been a while.

As if thinking about him also summoned him, he seems to materialize in front of me with a newly acquired bag. He nods at me and smiles before handing me the bag.

"What's this? Why'd you make me wait here?" I say with an inquiring tone.

"Peer into the bag strange one. Then you'll know your answer." Echo replies with a smirk.

I look inside and freeze. Then look back up at him.

"How much do I owe you?" I say, gulping hard.

"Nothing. You've done plenty by capturing the evil one when I was away. You deserve a secondary reward as well as the Princesses reward. After all, because of you I get a reward so great as well with little work put in." says Echo with a wave of his hand, walking towards the castle.

Wow... Finally.. I'm going to use that reward from them as well on this. What great timing!

——————————————————————————————————

As we return to the castle I see the guards taking the chained and sealed mare off to the prison. She cannot move, nor cast magic of any kind.

She deserves worse, but I imagine that harsh punishment is illegal here. Then again, being locked up and sealed like that until she passes is pretty horrible. A fate that is perhaps worse than death.

After walking further in the castle and arriving at the throne room once again this day, Celestia and Luna look upon me with a smile.

"Hello Devan. I am happy to see you again today. Though when I asked what you wished for before, you said you needed time before it could be granted. Did that change?" Celestia says with the same old regal tone.

"Actually yeah. I got what I needed and am ready to ask for my reward to be granted." I say with as cheeky and excited of a smile as I can make.

"Well, it seems you are indeed ready. So what do you want done? Remember, anything within reason is allowed. You protected the inhabitants in this land from further strife. It is tragic and sad that some were taken from this world, but it won't happen again because of the mare." Celestia replies with a somber look and tone.

I think back to the victims and sigh with guilt.

If only we were faster.... But it's true. She is sealed completely to the point of immobilization. They were avenged. I've done what I could.

"I want you to enchant something for me. I don't know how to do something that complex, and this necklace you gave me is very useful so I trust in your skill." I say before pulling out what was in the bag.

Celestia looks at the object and then back at me with some concern before replying. "This would be better done by my sister, though I hope you have a reason to get this enchanted?"

"Yes, I want to be able to protect your citizens better. If I had a way to defend myself in a more efficient and variable way, then I could do much more." I say truthfully.

"Then your wish will be granted. What of yours Echo? Have you decided?" Celestia asks him with another smile.

"I will discuss that with you when the strange one is gone. It is a private matter." he says with a gentle voice.

Luna nods and motions for me to follow her. As I pass Echo I nod at him as well, which he returns. We arrive in a side room that contains many different gems of many kinds in multiple glass cases.

"How would you like to enchant such a weapon?" Luna says while inspecting it.

"Well, I'd actually like some recommendations first if you don't mind." I say while nervously scratching the back of my head.

"I assume that you have other ideas but yes, I have a few thoughts if you choose to use such a weapon. A golden sword is quite rare for good reason. Gold is a softer metal, not used much for combat due to that reason. Overuse would cause dents and dull the blade much quicker than other swords. I think a hardening and protective enchantment is a good start. Keep in mind that those are passive enchantments, and therefore won't require anything past the initial enchantment. Active enchantments will require either a storage of magical essence or your own feeding into it. Other than that, I would recommend fusing the sword back together as well. It is strange that you brought such a broken weapon to enchant." Luna says while sporting a confused face.

"Actually I have a reason for that." I say with a smug smile.

"Really? What would that be?" Luna says while tilting her head and looking at me with intrigue.

"I would like you to put multiple commands into the hilt. I want it to be able to pull these pieces back to it, while also be able to release them. I also want it to have a way to connect each piece to it no matter the distance. Obviously I would require it to have the ability to only call certain pieces back if needed. Said pieces I also want enchanted to morph into certain shapes I wish for them to have." I say before looking up at her surprised face.

"That is a lot of commands Devan. I can do much more of course, but such a request is one I haven't seen in a while. What you are wanting reminds me of a weapon I crafted for one of my warriors a long time ago however. It is interesting, considering he was a martial genius and did very well. Your version improves upon his in every way. Not even he thought of this, nor I." Luna says in amazement before grabbing multiple gems from each case.

"Well.. Thank you! That pretty much is it. If it is able to do what I asked, then I can do much more to defend myself and others." I say with a determined tone and most likely facial expression as well.

"I am glad a being such as you arrived here. We are better off for it. Now, in order to do such an enchantment to your golden sword, I will need silence. This will be a delicate spell that you will need to be around for. I need to link your magical essence to the sword. It will also take some time, though you aren't required to be awake for this." Luna says before using a simple spell to create emplacements for the gems in the hilt and the other five pieces of the sword.

I look around for a chair and use it to sit down on the other side of the table she put the sword on to begin working on it.

"No thanks, I'd like to watch you do this so I may attempt it myself in the future. Spells are easy enough but enchanting is a whole new field I want to involve myself in. Learning about magic and what it can do is obviously more helpful than allowing others to do it for you. I actually find it strange that you don't teach it to ones that normally wouldn't have it as a way of making life easier." I say while staring at the spells Luna is casting.

"You are a clever being. Magic is what links us all together and yes, it would make many of our citizens have easier lives. That is however, making them more susceptible to evil. Magic gives power and most beings do not know how to handle it well. Some might hurt themselves while others would do risky spells to get more power, corrupting themselves and the ones around them. The only reason you were taught was because you needed to be trained properly due to your alignment. We believe the lack of training and conditioning of the gryphon Adriohan caused him to seek other ways to gain power and corrupted his soul." Luna replies while concentrating on her spells. "Now quiet, I need to focus."

I do as she asks and keep what I want to say hidden in my thoughts.

They are still scared I will do something so evil? Maybe not, considering that they are helping me here. I wonder what they think, though I will need to wait. I'm sure Luna is too blunt to try and divert that question somewhere else. For now, I need to learn.

——————————————————————————————————

After what felt like a few hours of intricate spells being woven into the gems, her weaving my magical essence into the gems, and them being fused into the sword pieces and hilt, she finishes it all off with two overall enchantments.

"Alright, I am finished. I feel a bit drained honestly, but perhaps that is due to the fact I feel a bit rusty at this. If you need any repairs to this weapon, return to me." Luna says with a surprising smile.

"What were the last two enchantments you did? They were much quicker than the other ones you wove into the gems." I ask, confounded.

"One was a strong hardening enchantment. That shouldn't require any sort of upkeep in the future. It was simple enough so it took me almost no time at all. The second one... Well you will find out, once you give this weapon a name." Luna replies while waiting for me.

A name? Jeez, I never thought I'd have to name this thing... I could use the nordic language, though I didn't really learn too much in my phase of being way, way too into it. Let's see..

I think for a few moments, remembering certain words before putting together a ramshackle name.

"How about... Skipansverð?" I say, hoping I pronounced that correctly.

"Strange, that is a language I don't believe I know. Then again, you are from another world. Say it again while I use a spell to translate it and engrave it onto the sword hilt along with a spell to finish the last enchantment off." Luna says while channeling the spell she described.

I simply say it again and watch in amazement as the name is engraved into the guard of the sword and each gem lights up before dimming again soon afterwards.

"It is done. Now, let me show you what I've done." states Luna, before she throws the weapon pieces across the room. "Think of the name or say it aloud, either will work."

Really? Well let's see... Skipansverð?

A split second later, the sword piece come together and form a complete sword before it flies towards my hand, hilt first. I flinch, thinking it was going to slam into it and break it. Instead, it stops instantly in front my hand, floating. I grab it in amazement, looking up at Luna who is giving me a satisfied and somewhat smug smile. The weight of the sword is no where near as much as I thought, it being a golden greatsword.

"Happy with what I've done?" Luna says before sitting down.

"I believe so.. I have to test it more so though." I say while staring at the sword in my hand.

The gems on the sword are light green with speckles of brown in color. From the knowledge I have, this means that they are earth based. This makes sense considering the colors of the gem also tell the alignment compatibility for the gem. Brown and light green mean Earth and Air. This means the enchantments placed on them will be better if related to those alignments. Energy provides the controlling of the sword with magic and earth provides an increased hardening than normal.

"If you wish to test this weapon, I can help. It has been a while since I've been in combat so I think this is a decent time to do so." Luna says with a smirk.

"Me? Spar with you?... Alright then.. I kinda really want to actually, to test how far I've come." I say with a small bit of nervousness and yet, confidence.

Luna laughs a bit before she channels a spell and teleports us to another room in the castle. This one is much bigger and there seems to be magical runes on the walls.

"In this room we can train without worrying about wounds. It heals you almost instantly, but it cannot heal death. For that reason I will provide barriers for us both to prevent such fatal wounds." she explains before doing what was said. "Get a feel for you weapon, and when you are ready you may attack at any time. I forgot to mention that the enchantment that allows you to call back your weapon can be given instruction as well. Such commands as 'blade first' or 'only certain pieces' can be made."

Wow, what a great job she did on this sword! Though she may have caused herself to lose this sparring match automatically...

Looking at the weapon once again I give it a command to release the pieces. Instantly, the pieces fall off the sword. I give it a command to reassemble and it does. Another command is given to release them but keep a connection between them. This time the pieces fall off but are held together by a magical tether in between them.

Good.. This is definitely working as intended.. Now..

I smile at Luna, dropping the weapon completely. She looks at the weapon fall to the ground, completely ignoring my movement right after I dropped it. I fling my arm upwards, sending a high pressure air wave towards her. Being completely focused on my weapon and surprised by my attack, she still simply waves her wing upward and it's thrown aside. At this point I called out to my sword and gave it another command. The magical tether stretches forward towards Luna, bringing the sword pieces with it. It slams against her barrier, causing her to flinch slightly. She responds by putting her hoof on the edge piece and holding it down onto the ground. I attempt to pull the pieces back but the first one stays stuck underneath her hoof. I shrug and begin channeling a spell in my other hand while pointing Skipansverð towards her, once again stretching the tether out. She blocks the attack with her wings, scattering my blades around her. I smile, confusing her, before I give a command to each piece to point towards her and morph into a thin and sharpened point. This suprises Luna once again, so she puts her wings around her as protection as well as casting a spell to form a small dome of water around her to slow the blades force.

Bad choice to use water. My intention wasn't to hurt you using the blades themselves Luna...

"I believe this is the end of our sparring match, but maybe that's because you're rusty. Or just didn't predict this next attack." I say while running towards her, she keeps up her water dome and looks at me and then looks around as if trying to guess what I'm going to do.

I grin and release the spell I've been charging up in my hand, aiming it towards the piece underneath her foot which I simultaneously gave a command to stretch to touch every other piece that is sticking into her dome. Lightning flies into it, traveling through that piece like a conductor and spreading through each other piece due to the connection. Luna realizes her mistake, but is too late to put down her water dome before it shocks it and her as well. The barrier protecting her sustains itself, but the fatigue of keeping it up shows on her face as well as a bit of pain. I stop the spell after a second of channeling it and recall the weapon back to my hand. She gets up and looks at me with frustration before charging up a spell on her horn. I use telekinesis to fly around the room, dodging each dark laser that is launched towards me. She seems annoyed by this and decides to turn her lasers into homing ones. This somewhat surprises me, but I react accordingly. The
second blade piece from the base of the sword receives a simple command and morphs into a wide plate that is curved outwards. I block each laser with it easily using the floating shield.

I chose a sword like this for a reason. It's not a small sword. It's quite thick as well. This in turn makes it amazing for such defending! As long as I can change each part of the sword, I'll always have a weapon or shield that I can use!

While defending each magical laser coming towards me, I give a few commands to each piece of the blade. They morph into different things. The one at the base of the blade forms into a rapier that is connected to the hilt tightly. The edge at the tip turns into a needle-like spike. The second one from the tip simply turns into a hammer head while the third floats above me, charging up energy. Luna stares at me in both amazement and horror as I grin down at her. She instantly charges a spell and an ethereal scythe appears next to her as well as a shield of her own. Her mane color starts to get darker as well.

Seems she's getting serious. I suppose I shouldn't be so liberal with my attacks then.

I send the needle and hammerhead towards her to attack autonomously. The needle focuses any weak points she leaves open while the hammerhead just keeps swinging at her. She continues to block the hammer strikes and parries the needle attacks with her scythe. I fly towards her, boosting my speed with the same spell that Echo showed me, and strike at her with the rapier.

I might not be good at swordplay, but I'm sure a high speed thrust should be decent enough to not fuck up!

Luna blocks both attacks with her scythe as I grin. Her expression shows confusion but she pushes me back easily, slashing at me with her scythe quickly. My shield blocks it as the hammerhead slams against the shield hard enough to push it away. The needle thrusts at her, stabbing her barrier which causes another flinch. She tries to back away but the third piece finishes collecting energy for the spell I commanded it to perform and launches another bout of lightning at Luna. Due to the fact it wasn't me charging it however, the spell seemed quite a bit weaker but still hit her barrier. She staggers and looks at me with legitimate anger before chanting a spell. The room fills with darkness, practically making me blind. A strike comes from behind me a moment later and strikes my barrier. It drains a portion of my magical essence and I quickly command the shield to form around me. I also command each piece other piece of the sword to float around me, morphed into edged blades and told to guard each incoming attack and counter them. Luna tries for a full ten seconds to strike me with either her scythe or spells. Some of them almost hit me but all are parried either by a blade piece or blocked by the shield that surrounds me. My blades even counter her and a yelp is heard twice from the counter.

"Come on Luna, I know you're taking it easy on me. You should try a bit harder!" I say, taunting her to attack and make a mistake.

Luna replies to my words with something I've never seen before. She shapeshifts into an armored beast of unknown origin to me. It looks like a wolf, but has much longer ears, claws, tail and fangs. This surprises me completely and she catches me off guard, biting into my shield which heavily drains my essence that is being used to support the shield. In my panic I command each other piece to form into a large spike and send it at a high speed towards her while also causing the floor to shoot up towards her as a pillar. She dodges the spike with ease, letting go of me, but proceeds to get slammed into by the pillar. This doesn't faze her however as she breathes what seems to be a crystalline breath at me, covering my body with it. The crystals harden up and prevent my limbs from moving. Luna growls and runs at me again, but this time I'm prepared even in this state.

Using crystals huh? Earth element with water... Should still be changeable for someone like me!

I cause spikes to shoot out from the crystal I'm covered with using a simple spell. She dodges the spikes by jumping backwards but is stabbed by the spike that missed her before, which came from behind her. She falls to the ground, obviously exhausted. I use another spell to remove the crystal from me, taking longer than I thought, before recalling the pieces back to the hilt. I reach a hand towards her, she grabs it with her hoof and stands back up.

"Well done Devan. You have grown so much since the first time you came to our world. I was indeed holding back, but only because you haven't dealt with certain magics yet." Luna says in a tired voice before channeling what seems to be a simple spell.

I tilt my head at her in confusion before everything goes black. I can't hear anything, see anything, smell anything or even feel anything. This causes my body to panic as I reach out for something I can't even feel or see. After an agonizing few seconds everything is returned to me, and I feel that my whole body broke into a sweat.

"Mental spells like those aren't too common but are used enough to warrant protections. I am sorry to put you through that, but you needed to know what I could have done. Other than that however, your combat performance is amazing. You would make a fantastic guard one day." she says before using a spell to calm my nerves.

"Dont... Do that again. Not unless I'm training to stop that from happening." I say while shaking slightly.

"I promise you Devan, I will not." Luna replies before teleporting us back to the gem room. "To make it up to you, I will give you a gift."

Luna goes to a more intricate case and levitates a gem that seems to shine with every color.

"This is a gem that you can use to enhance every type of enchantment. I know not what you will use it for, but I trust you to use it with caution and good reason. I apologize once again." she explains before kneeling before me quickly.

"I accept your apology, just give me a second.. I need to take a break from that sparring match." I say before I sit down and take more than a few deep breaths.

Luna nods and walks out of the room leaving me there alone. I look down at my new sword and can't help but smile even while feeling exhausted and spooked out of my mind from her spell.

To think that gems could make such a formidable weapon.. Kinda makes me wonder what other outrageous things I can do with the one she gave me. For now, I need to rest.

I take out the sheath from the bag I left here and put the assembled weapon into it after morphing everything back to how it was.

It's probably been a while since you were last in a sheath huh? Welcome back to being a useful weapon Skipansverð.

Author's Note

A lot sooner than I thought I'd get to doing this chapter. But I was too excited to write this one, so here ya go! Also, who can guess what the name of the weapon means? Don't cheat now!