The Harmonizers: Twin Origins

After a moment, Twilight's gaze landed on an ornate looking bow with strange markings carved into it that she couldn't recognize. She suddenly felt curious and went over to examine it, grabbing it and looking it over.

"Oh, so you're into bows, are you?" Twilight's hand stopped just as she was about to pick it up as she heard Starlight's voice from beside her. "Good choice."

"Well, I wouldn't really say I'm into them, but the markings on it seemed interesting, so I got curious." Twilight answered with a blush, embarrassed that she had to admit to being a bit of a nerd.

"Oh, so that's it? You've got a good eye, newbie. That marking is our symbol. All the Harmonizers weapons are marked like that. It helps us recognize each other in undercover missions. It's also made with special thread that helps us channel magic through our weapons. May I?" Starlight asked as she held out her hand to briefly take the weapon.

"Oh, yes, of course. Here." Twilight said as she handed her the weapon. She watched as the more experienced unicorn knocked an arrow, and drew back the bowstring. Before she fired however, a surge of magical energy enveloped the arrow in a lavender glow. She then fired off the weapon, and Twilight once again watched as the target burst into lavender flames upon impact, which dissipated in mere moments, leaving the target singed and slightly melted.

"Wow..." Twilight said as she stared in awe at what used to be the target in question. "So that's the power of a magical weapon. I read about them in some of the books in Celestia's library, but I've never seen it in person until now."

"Be sure to remember it well then, Twilight. Because you'll be doing it too, soon enough."

With her demonstration over, Starlight stepped away, leaving Twilight to stare Slack-Jawed at the weapon in front of her.

"I...can do that?" She takes the bow into her hands and gets a better look at it. She smiled, determination welling up inside her as she became even more invested in this new world she had stepped into.

Meanwhile, on Sunset's end, she was having trouble finding a proper weapon. They all looked good and useful, and she couldn't choose one over the other. On top of that they all looked so cool. Watching Starlight use that bow had made her want to be able to do something like that herself.

"Having trouble over here?" Trixie said as she walked up to Sunset, a knowing smile on her face.

Sunset sighed in defeat as she turned to her. "Yeah... Everything's just so flashy and awe-inspiring that I can't choose."

Trixie chuckled as she heard this, unable to stop herself from laughing just a little, which caused Sunset to feel a little insulted.

"Hey I'm trying my best over here! Don't laugh at me."

"Sorry, sorry, I just couldn't help it. It's just... you remind me a lot of myself when I was a newbie. I always wanted the biggest, most amazing looking weapons. I was like a foal in a candy store when Starlight first showed me this place."

"Wait, really? You?" Sunset said in mild shock, not having expected such a powerful harmonizer to have lived anything other than the most extraordinary of lives.

"Yep. I was just like you when I showed up. But here's the thing, Sunset. It's perfectly find to want the coolest looking weapon. Its perfectly fine to want the most powerful, and eye-catching thing you can think of. I mean, look at what i'm wearing. But the most important thing is that you choose from your heart. Let your feelings guide your choice, and you'll never go wrong. At least, not in this case."

Sunset took a moment to think about what Trixie said, then turned back to the weapons on the counter. "The weapon my heart wants..."

For a moment, Sunset was stuck on just where to start looking. Each of them all called to her in different ways. One glowed, One was lined with intricate designs, and the other looked like it came straight out of a movie. But strangely, the one that caught her attention, was just a normal blade. At least, it looked that way on the outside. For some reason, Sunset could feel a strong desire to grab it and hold it in her hands. And so she acted on it, taking it into her hands and holding it up like a trophy.

The blade then proceeded to burst into flames from the hilt upwards, and Sunset was spellbound by the beauty of the magical fire.

"Wow..." Sunset said, her eyes fixed on the embers that occasionally flew free of the flame.

"Looks like you found what you were looking for." Trixie said from beside her, her hands on her hips.

"Oh, most definitely." Sunset said, finally lowering the sword and letting the flames subside.

"That was...amazing!" Twilight said from a few feet away. She had been watching her as well, it seemed. The two shared an excited grin as they showed off their weapons to each other.

"I know right? If this is what it's like to train here, then this is gonna be tons of fun."

The two shared a high five while their mentors looked on with smiles of approval.

"Now, now, don't get your hopes up too high!" Trixie called out from behind them, breaking the girls free of their revelry.

"Trixie's right. There's more to being a Harmonizer than just a fancy weapon and a few years of training. We're hunters, girls. And Hunters have to know their prey almost as well as they know themselves." came Starlight's voice right after. "Pop quiz! What is a TImberwolf's weakness?"

Twilight was quick to respond, having studied up quite thoroughly the night before. "Fire, Ma'am."

"Correct. And why do we have to be careful how we use it?"

Sunset was up next. She wasn't going to let Twilight hog all the questions for herself. "Because we could start a forest fire, ma'am."

"Yes, that's correct, though not quite what she meant. Glad to know you two have common sense. But there's actually another reason why we can't just use fire against it." Trixie said, walking up beside Starlight to join in the conversation.

Both girl's went quiet, interested in what this other reason could be.

"The Timberwolf has a magical core. It's similar to a pony's heart, and is what keeps the Timberwolf alive. If you don't destroy it, then it doesn't matter how many times you burn it, or crush it, or slice it up. It will reassemble and attack again."

The girls were in awe at this information. "So...to kill a Timberwolf outright...we have to blow it up?" Sunset asked, curious as to just what methods could be used.

"Not exactly, Sunset. You just have to use an attack with a decent amount of force. And make sure to lace it with Magic, or you aren't going to get anywhere."

"I see..." Came Twilight's voice, as she was lost in thought. But she was soon ripped from those thoughts as she heard Starlight saying,

"Well then, there's one last thing we need to do before you can go, girls." Starlight spoke up once more.

"What's that?" Sunset and Twilight said in unison, giving each other a smile at at their little moment before turning back to her.

"We need to take some blood samples." she said, while taking out a syringe.

Sunset took one look at the tip of the needle and promptly....passed out.