'Would you like to try again?' Twilight scoffed at the comment that Misako had made a day ago. Somehow, she had yet to touch the reynard, and the next day Misako had decided to make practice outside behind the house, in the small backyard. She had never come out here, but now that she was able to take a look at her surroundings she definitely saw the light beauty in it. The soft but coarse grass as it ran past her hooves. Today happened to be one of the sunny days, the sun breaking past the restless clouds as it beat down upon the pair in the noon heat.

Of course, she had yet to grasp what Misako was teaching her, but then again, she didn't expect to have to fight a seemingly "old" reynard. "Old" her flank! Misako had shown she was perfectly capable of moving around, and had even bopped Twilight a couple of times, putting just enough force into her blows to tip her over, which was needless to say, barely if anything. She wasn't built to fight, she was built to do magic! Maybe if she were a particular prismatic mare, it'd be a different story.

"Do you want to try again?"

Twilight's eyes narrowed in on the speaker, taking caution at the words. Every time Misako said that, she had proceeded to move swifter than before, and even though it was sunny outside, it still felt like there was a mist everywhere. She guessed that this town just had a natural waterfall somewhere nearby that was large enough to produce large amounts of gas. This time she would get Misako, even if it was just slightly.

"Do you want to try again?"

Misako felt that she should laugh at this. Training Twilight reminded her of her youth! When she would dash around quicker than the eye could see, and taking down enemies before they could even sound the alarm. The terran's look made it even funnier to her, as she looked absolutely feed up with her saying the comment. It reminded her of back when she fought.

Shaking off the thoughts, she decided to focus on her opponent. When taking another look at the purple equine, she noticed that she was eyeing her cautiously. It seemed that there would be hope as of yet that Twilight would be special. No point in not getting her there either way, Misako thought as she watched Twilight rush forward, and she swiftly made her move, rushing towards her left side, to give her a soft boop.

Wait.

Misako had noticed it too late. While Twilight had rushed forward, Misako hadn't noticed that her movement was counter intuitive. She was waiting till she closed in to hit her! A smile graced the reynard's muzzle as a hoof graced her right side, going down her side. It looked like that hope would be solidified. Twilight had the knowledge of fighting, and could observe fighting properly, she just needed a solid catalyst.

Misako willingly took the blow, even if it was a small one. As she mock-fell to the ground, she eyed Twilight, the giant shit-eating grin as she had managed to connect with the reynard.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Finally! I was starting to think that I'd never get you!"

Misako slowly got up, brushing the dirt off of her coat as she began to speak:
"Alright, Alright. Settle down Twilight. That was once out of how many times?"

Twilight's grin immediately slid off of her. Misako couldn't hold back her laughter this time as she erupted into soft cackles.
"Don't worry Twilight. I'm sure that you will get better with practice, which is what we're doing now. I won't let you leave until you at least have the basics of fighting down.

Time passes by, minutes spin to hours, hours to days. Time since banishment:1 Year, 4 Months, 2 Days

Twilight stood at the edge of the town, looking out at the road as it led out of the town and eventually out of site. She never thought she'd come to this day. She was finally going to get to explore the country, and hopefully find some interesting books. Misako had manage to teach her the "basics" which were her version of basics. Twilight spent the whole first month trying to increase her speed to keep up with other creatures, considering that Misako had said that half of the country could move quite fast, even the Mylodons, which were bigger than the other creatures here. That meant that bandits also would be capable of fighting at a speed higher than her.

"You're not planning to leave without saying goodbye are you?"

Twilight turned towards the speaker, smiling at the black reynard as she made her way towards the mare. Misako was also carrying a pack on her back, and Twilight knew even though she was old, she certainly would slap whoever so said otherwise.

"No I wasn't. I knew you'd come before I decided to leave, but you didn't have to go out of your way to give me a pack."

"Now Twilight, you would expect me to let you leave without giving you anything. Here, I have this for you as well." She said as she dug something out of the pack, and placing it over Twilight.

Looking down, she saw a necklace, that slowly went into the center of what looked to be a coin. it's shimmering gold sides glowing in the daylight as it slowly trickled into a ring of copper, before bottoming out in the center with a gem of jade. What surprised Twilight the most was how the gem of jade seemed to be two different gems, Jade and Ruby. Overall it looked expensive, no less it probably was. Twilight knew a certain purple haired mare would love to get her hooves on this.

"I-I can't take this. It looks incredibly expensive, where did you get this?" She said trying to understand the gift.

"It's a heirloom. Passed down throughout my family, usually given to the firstborn son. I was the only child born, so it belongs to me, and... and now it belongs to you."

Twilight knew what Misako was implying by her pause. She had never had children, or if she did, something happened to them. She had to accept it.

"Thank you. I-I don't know what to say." She was swiftly wrapped by paws and fur, the latter being extremely soft.

"There is nothing to say. It's said that the amulet there was capable of providing great miracles, and great luck. Ever since it was passed down from my great-great grandfather down through the ages, and finally to you. While it hasn't produced any so-called miracles, it has given relatively good luck. I've no need for it and you, young one, would need it more."

Twilight swiftly wrapped Misako up in a hug again, tears threatening to break through. She would hold onto it for a long time, and never let go of it, or Misako.

"Now. I think while it's still relatively morning you should get going Twilight. The nearest town is after all, one of the capital's subsidiaries. It's dangerous out there, be careful Twilight. And I expect you to write when you get there! Find a Ashinin by the name of Daichi. He's notable by his rustic fur and he is a dothar-ashina. Now, get going young lady!"

And with that, Twilight was off. Into the unknown once again.

Author's Note

And that marks the end of Twilight's time at the small quaint town on the outer regions of the country. Just a heads up, I start a new job soon, so I won't know what changes will be made to my upload schedule, but since it's in the morning, it shouldn't change anything. Another note, the chapter XIV will be a special chapter, and it may end up being a lot larger than the others, meaning it'll take awhile. Does anybody know what the necklace is based off of? Hint, Hint: It uses two different things, One is a coin, the other is an amulet.

"A true friend's silence hurts more than an Enemy's rough words."-?

Also, thought I'd recap what Ashina are. They are wolf-like jackals who value traditions and are more "mystically" in tune than the other species of Cyrolia.