After having left Twilight's room, Ken met up with the captain of her guard. The mare had been appointed a few weeks after Ken had arrived. It didn't take long for the two of them to become friends. Aria Spring was a relatively tall mare with a light brown coat and a medium length, indigo mane, and tail. Her rare red eyes were some of the fiercest he had ever seen, even among all the other guards that Ken had encountered.

The two of them had met up just as Ken was leaving the castle to make use of the rest of his day like he usually had, performing street magic to try and earn some money. The mare had called out for him to stop, much to his chagrin. He had obliged and now the two of them were walking through the center of town towards a local eatery. The captain had suggested it and offered to pay for lunch, despite Ken's complaints about not wanted to make her spend on him.

"So, the princess didn't tell me much about the cards when she said that she wanted me to help you figure out what they do." The unicorn said idly as they sat down at a table. The two made their orders before she continued. "Mind telling me some more?"

"Yeah," He pulled the cards from his pocket and laid them on the table between them, "Twilight said they have magic in them. Wants to see what kind of magic is in them. Fuck if I know what that means, but whatever." Ken shrugged and picked the cards back up.

"I can tell that they've got some kind of magic in them too..." Aria trailed off as she focused on the cards that Ken was shuffling in his hands. He shuffled them for a few minutes, getting them mixed well before stopping and rifling through to find the jokers. After removing them, he began dealing the cards to both of them.

Aria blinked and looked down at them before picking them up and looking them over. Ken pulled the top card off the deck and laid it to the side, using it as a discard pile.

The two played rummy for what seemed like an hour, Ken usually being the one to come out on top. They laughed, sipping the drinks they had ordered here and there. After about the twenty-fifth game Aria set the cards down and huffed.

"It doesn't look like I'm going to be able to win this one either." She said with a hearty chuckle. She laid the cards face up so he could see them. He gave her a small smile and laid his hand down, picking up the discard pile and deck before their respective hands.

"So they obviously don't do anything special when you use them normally," Aria said between a sip of her tea, "What about with your magic?"

Ken gave her a shrug and started to perform one of his normal tricks, where he pulled shuffled the cards and pulled the top two off without showing the viewer. Once he had finished the trick, nothing spectacular happened. Ken sighed at the cards in front of him, having already given up on them.

"Maybe they don't do anything at all." He said to his companion.

"That is most certainly a lie, Master Ken." A voice said, one that was neither Arias nor Ken's. Both of them looked at each other with confusion written all over their faces. "My strength lies in combat, though it seems you have forgotten this."

Ken looked down at the cards where the voice seemed to be coming from. His eyes widened and his brows drew down in realization, the cards were speaking. And it wasn't just Aria and him that were hearing it. As he looked around, some of the ponies that were close by looked at them in surprise.

Once more, Ken looked down at the cards. There were face up and the top card showed the seven of spades. He turned them over and seemed to come face to face with the dragon depicted on the back. Instead of the dragon being wrapped around the sword, it was just gone. As if the design had been erased from it.

"It has been a while, Master." Ken looked up to see the black scaled dragon floating there above the center of the table. Its' magenta eyes glowed fiercely, seeming to look into his soul. He blinked a few times to see if it would go away. After taking note that it didn't go away, he responded.

"And just who the hell are you?" He asked, suspicion rising in his voice, "And how do you know my name?"

"When I was created, I was given the name Rascideel or 'A Dragon of Many Faces' in dragon tongue. Though when you discovered me and began to use my power, you gave me the name Izanagi, after our Godesses' father." It said. The dragon seemed to be speaking seriously, as Ken didn't feel as if he was being cheated.

"As for how I know you, that is a very long story. One that I could not tell you in your current state. The warp in dimensions went awry, and you, Thunder Edge, and I were separated and it seems you developed amnesia as a result. I would prefer that you realize who you were on your own." Ken's eyebrows drew down in anger and confusion. He wanted to know who he was before he had arrived here, and why he was sent here in the first place.

"I hate to interrupt, but you said something about combat? I believe you said your name was Izanagi?" Aria interjected as she leaned to gain the dragon's attention. "What kind of combat do you mean?"

"What else could I mean? I am used as a tool for destruction among other things. In the right hands, I was able to level mountains." The dragon said proudly. Aria smiled wryly at Ken, and the man blinked a few times. He only had a split second before he, the cards, and Aria were all teleported to the castle training grounds.

Once he had his bearings, Ken held the cards up, which were now in his hands, and found that they glowed a gentle magenta aura. He looked to the unicorn that was several feet away from him. She had levitated a wooden practice sword over to her. It wasn't like Ken to fight, but he was doing this so he could truly find out what the cards could do. Besides, Twilight was going to nag him about it until he did if he refused.

With a casual slip of the cards into his pocket and another sigh, he readied himself to fight. He denied the sword he had been offered and instead took up a melee stance. A small chuckle came from the cards as he finished preparing himself. Ken sighed, beginning to shuffle forward. Aria lashed out with the sword, hitting Ken's arm with the flat of the blade. He inhaled sharply and rubbed his arm.

After the first smack came many more, leaving red marks all over Ken's body. His limbs hurt, he was sweating profusely, and he was running out of energy. He was trying desperately now to get the cards to work, moving them around in his hands. With each passing second came the slap of the blade as it hit his flesh.

A cry of anger and a flinging of the cards was what it took, as the cards were thrown into the air, and instead of floating to the ground, they began levitating around Ken. The four of hearts glowed, and he no longer felt pain. The red marks across his body vanished, along with the hearts on the card. After a minute or so, one of them appeared again.

'So, they're on a timer.' He thought to himself. He also noticed that the cards had formed a barrier around him while he looked at them. Aria was swinging away at it with the practice sword but to no avail. With an angry grunt, she cast it aside, her horn glowing. Ken could tell that she was casting a strong magic attack, his first instinct to get out of the way. At that moment, he could feel his body get lighter as the three of spades glowed and lost its design.

"Unfortunately, I cannot give you too much power. Your body would not be able to handle all of it, not to mention you have little to no Mana to cast a spell. I will lend you what you need to help you through this." Izanagi said. There was a seriousness to his tone, and Ken drew his brow down in confusion.

Aria had stopped casting now, apparently having canceled the spell. The barrier around Ken vanished and the cards returned to his hand. With it gone, Aria trotted to stand beside him and look at the cards. Again he flung the cards out and they began to float. Within a few seconds, they returned to his hand without prompt. He still felt lighter than before, and the two cards that had been used regained their respective designs.

"That's kinda cool. So the hearts can heal, obviously. What happened with the other one? I sensed a second spell being cast. What was that?" Aria asked Ken. He shrugged his shoulders at her before slipping the cards back into his pocket. He tested his shoe by tapping in on the ground behind him, before jogging for a moment. In doing so, he almost fell flat on his face due to the sudden stop he made. When he looked back, he was all the way across the dirt field, Aria staring in shock at the speed he had just been traveling.

Ken looked down at his feet in surprise. He could see where he would have landed if he hadn't gotten his footing in time. There was a cobblestone path there. Nothing would have been able to stop him if he had kept going.

"What the fuck?" He asked no one in particular.

"I guess spades make you speed up," Aria said surprisedly. It was almost a question, though a hesitant one.

"I will explain what my suits do more in-depth at a later date. For now, I must rest." The dragon in the cards said. Ken blinked a few times, holding perfectly still. He could hear Aria approaching him from behind and he didn't really care. Their sparring match was over now, and Ken was still unsure of himself. Even though he no longer felt as light as he had, he didn't trust it.

"I think we need to let the Princess know what we found out," Aria said, and Ken nodded in agreement.

Author's Note

Alright, this one's done. I hope all of you enjoyed, and that you will look forward to the next chapter. A small reminder that constructive criticism is welcome.

May inspiration light your path,
Leon