Cobalt ran through the halls of the capitol, taking out any foot soldier that he came across. His halberd was getting bloodier by the second. Cobalt knew that without his mystical powers, he would be at a disadvantage against any one he came across. He had no healing factor, no copy ability..., and no last stand. Without anything to enhance his abilities, he'll find himself in a possible grave on this battlefield.

What am I to do against Brisk. I barely survived my first duel, let alone the one that got me into this mess. And that was with my powers, without them... I'll probably just end up dying here today...

Cobalt looked ahead towards the end of the hall. It was a large door, "Is that it?" He began sprinting towards the door. He approached it ever so closely. He burst through it to see Brisk standing with his dual-sword in hand.

Brisk turned around and chuckled, "Ah, Cobalt, it's about time you showed up!"

"Can't you villains say anything else? It's been the same thing each time I enter a new room! Get some new material!" Cobalt jammed his halberd into the ground, causing the room to shake.

"Oh, you want to fight me?"

"Where's Rarity?"

"Ha, that's what you're here for? I thought you were here for redemption. I didn't expect you to be here for her. You must love her a lot."

"She's my friend, and I'll do anything to save her! So where is she?!"

"Well, sorry burst your bubble Cobalt, but she's not here," Cobalt's eyes slowly shot opened as he gritted his teeth, "She's possible already on Earth, and I do believe the bidding has started..."

"Bidding?"

"You still don't know? Oh that's right, you never knew the truth behind this. You see Cobalt, I'm not marrying Rarity, I'm selling her!" Cobalt was speechless when he heard this news. Not only was she not here, but she's close to being sold...

"No..."

"I'm afraid I can't stay here Cobalt. I must attend my own bidding to see who she gets sold to. However, there is someone here to keep you company while I'm gone. Have fun with her...," Brisk teleported away, but Cobalt tried to stop him. However, he was just too slow to catch him.

"Who is she...?"

"Mr. Cobalt...," Cobalt turned around to see Lightning walking up to him. She had new, more extravagant armor that looked light, yet looked heavy in its looks. Kind of contradicting, but that's how it looked. She still used her same twin swords, but her hair was shorter than it was the last time he had saw her.

"Lightning?"

"I hope you enjoyed your time away from that skank Rarity."

"You, you're the reason I'm in this situation. If I had never taken that sword from you, I wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Exactly, this isn't my fault. You took that sword out of your own good nature. If you had still shown at least some type of hostile reaction towards me, you wouldn't have used that sword. That's why I started hating you. You used to give zero-shits about anyone before those girls got here. Ever since they got here, you got soft, and for what reason? You never showed mercy, and you had never lost. Well, before your lost to Brisk. You may be number one now, but that was an obvious fluke. He gave you that win to give you a false sense of security. You were foolish enough to accept his challenge again..."

"I... didn't want to accept it..."

"Oh, was it that skank? Ha, look at how she gives you trouble, and yet, you don't punish her. Again, that's you being soft. Not showing any discipline to anyone. Look at where it got you. Rarity got you killed when you lost that duel. You're... a disgrace to all mystics..."

Cobalt gripped his halberd with a vice grip. He quickly turned around, and slashed the air in front of him, "Cut your bullshit!" A large beam shot from the slash, but Lightning barely dodged it, "If you don't tell me where they're bringing Rarity, I'll make you regret everything that you've ever done!"

Lightning smirked as her swords began to glow red, "This is what I wanted..."

"Hmph, you'll regret your decision...," Cobalt closed his eyes, and opened them again. His pupils lost their color. His eyes were just plain white. His hair began to change color as well. It went from red, to plain white as well. Soon, his veins began protruding from his body, glowing red. They began pulsating, much to Lightning's disgust. Cobalt began to cackle lightly. It was demonic, sending fear through Lightning. On the outside, a thunderstorm began forming over the capitol building.

From a distance on the ship, Rarity saw what was happening, as did the others on the ship.

Oh no... that can't be what I think it is... Cobalt... no...

"What is...?"

Cobalt then began speaking again. Only this time, is was deep, and demonic, "It's about time... you brought me back...," Lightning stepped back in fear, "Now, for your punishment!"

Meanwhile, all of Cobalt's friends began clenching their chests in pain. However, it wasn't only the girls, but everyone in the surrounding area. The capitol started rumbling fiercely, sending everyone into panic.

Lightning couldn't react due to the fear she was having. Due to this, Cobalt grabbed her by the collar, and stared into her eyes. She soon started foaming from the mouth, and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Cobalt dropped her, and laughed manically, "What a disappointment. I hope your comrades aren't the same," Before Cobalt moved on, he looked at his Halberd, and snapped it in half. He then held his hand above the ground, and a serrated sword appeared from the ground, "Let's go have some fun..."

Cobalt then went into the ground just as he used to do. Only this time, there was dark aura that emanated from him as he did so. No one expected this... Dark Cobalt... has returned...

Author's Note

Oh no, Dark Cobalt has returned! Can they break Cobalt out of this dark persona's grasp? Will they get Rarity back? Well, you know they're going to do both, but how will they do both of it. Anyway, I hope all of you enjoyed this short arc, and I hope you look forward to Dark Cobalt's return, and Brisk's comeuppance! So long!