//------------------------------//
// #35 - A Jaded Blade 
// Story: Techorse Short Stories 
// by Spirals95 
//------------------------------//


A Jaded Blade


Techorse Series: #35


By Spirals95






Captain Arbiter Axechop believed he had everything a stallion could ever want. Not only was he a high-ranking officer in service to the princesses, but he also had saved millions of bits worth of cash in bank accounts from his earlier stint as the "lord" of Mineland. With his past thoroughly behind him, his missing eye avenged, and what used to be his enemy now one of his friends, Arbiter felt as if he truly could not ask for more. After having a very rough week as the Captain of the Guard, he decided to take the weekend off and spend some time outside of Ponyville in a comfortable vacation home up in the eastern mountain range. He had purchased the home from Derpy Hooves, who had received the vacation home earlier as a gift from Princess Celestia. The mailmare had elected to sell the home in order to continue an "ordinary" life back in Ponyville where she believed she belonged, although the sale of the home had netted her enough to retire comfortably when the time came.

Arbiter had decorated his new vacation home, which he had hoped to make his permanent residence if he ever decided to leave his officer's quarters in the Canterlot Barracks. The living room was a wide open area, with glass windows on the walls that allowed ample light in, and provided a good look over Ponyville. The hardwood floor had been covered in throw rugs of various materials and craftsmanship, and well-made couches of various felt colors surrounded a glass coffee table. For a hardened stallion like Arbiter, this might have seemed strange, had not the art gallery that used to be in the room had been replaced with a large glass casing. The display case contained dozens of swords from various ages, materials, and size from history, the white pegasus' prize collection he had accumulated since the loss of his eye. There were claymores and scimitars, rapiers and broadswords, even a few daggers and short swords in the case, polished and kept safe from dust and moisture. In the very front of the collection, a glass box with an upright metal holding frame sat, a container for the sword Arbiter wielded at the moment: his prized longsword given to him by Techorse for his birthday. The blade sat in its case, upright, the blue hilt with Arbiter's cutie mark in the center waited patiently for the return of its master.

Wanting to try and have a guest over for a few hours, Arbiter had left the home and went to Greasy Bob's diner in town in hopes of finding Limpwing, whose company he highly enjoyed. He sat at the counter in the restaurant, and was holding a conversation with the azure pegasus.

"I was rather shocked to see him try and run with such a heavy piece of stolen gold." he said, recounting a tale of how he took down a "ruthless" criminal, "When I tackled him he wasn't able to get up again because of the weight."

Limpwing wasn't buying any of the story and said to him while she poured a glass of water for another customer, "Oh, would this be the time you tackled the museum curator moving a gold artifact?"

Arbiter tried not to turn red and grunted, "No, this was a different incident."

"Arbiter, you don't have to try and impress me with stories of you muscling ponies, monsters, or whatever. Just talk to me normally," she said, laughing.

The captain shifted on his seat and continued, "I'm taking a short vacation for the weekend up in the mountains. I purchased that vacation home that was for sale."

"Oh, really?" she asked, "Nice! I've been too busy to really hunt for a permanent home right now."

"I don't know how you manage to both do this job and take care of Darkmatter's Domain for him," he asked, grumbling.

"I think I'd get bored if I didn't have two jobs," answered Limpwing, turning around to take the last order of the day to another table.

Arbiter watched her place the plate of fresh grilled carrots on her customer's table. He smiled at the way she looked and moved, and thought a few personal things to himself, before her return snapped him out of it.

"Anyways, how's that house?" she asked, now face to face with him.

"It's simply wonderful," he answered, "three floors, heated pool, a view of Ponyville, and plenty of room for my sword collection."

"Sounds great! Don't think I could live in a place like that though," she said smugly, "it'd get creepy at night in a big open house like that."

"Perhaps you'd like to see it?" he asked, moving in.

Limpwing answered, "I'm sorry, but I really have to get back to The Domain for the weekend. The prince has been sending back some letters recently that seem to mean he's discovered something important."

"Well, your duty is more important then," he said, dropping down from the stool, "I'll just be retiring for the night then. Thank you."

He then paid his bill, left a tip for the mare, and exited the building without saying another word.
Greasy Bob, somewhat less greasy from a healthier lifestyle, but still rather pudgy for his size, emerged from behind the cash register, an eyebrow raised.

"That Arbiter stallion's really been talking you up every time he comes to Ponyville," he said, "Limpwing, you going to tell Arbiter to buzz off yet?"

"Bob, this has nothing to do with..." she said angrily, trying to defend herself, "look, he's just like any other customer to you. Can we leave it at that?"

"Sure, sure," the earth pony said, taking a breath, "I was just making sure you were doing fine. Don't want anypony treating my waitresses like filth."

"He's not so bad once you get past the hard hooved nature," she answered, tilting her head and smirking, "I'm just wishing he'd stop trying to impress ponies with stories and actually let some of his character show through first."

"It'd help if he didn't intimidate them," Bob said, picking up a glass and placing it on a shelf, "I've seen him stare down quite a few troublemakers in town before."

"Nopony's perfect," said Limpwing.

"Yeah, that's true," agreed the manager gruffly, still a bit corpulent from his bad eating habits from earlier.

Limpwing left the diner and went to put on her flight goggles to fly for The Domain. It was dark out already, and the street lights of Ponyville had lit up to illuminate the town for ponies caught outside. The pegasus mare wanted to go back to The Domain straight away, but the thought of Arbiter's disappointment had made her curious.

"What does Arbiter do in his spare time anyways?" she asked herself, looking up at the mountains.

She then flapped her wings, her damaged one causing a staggering motion in the air, and then she flew for the mansion in the mountain range.

"Only one way to find out!"





Arbiter carefully turned on the tap to his bathtub, a large double-sized marble bath, perfect for relaxation after a hard day. In his mind, it was exactly what he needed to get over his disappointment that he did not get to spend any time with Limpwing.

"I have never seen a mare so appreciative of her own strength," he thought to himself as he watched the bath fill with hot water, "before she was just another mare I wanted to show my sword collection to. Now I really want to get to know her."

"Hmmm, perhaps Rainbow Dash is right, I am going soft," he said, becoming bitter as he removed his black cape and dropped it on the floor before climbing into the water.

"Who needs her? I'll just find a mare a lot more interested in me than that workaholic Limpwin,." he said, chuckling to himself confidently.

Limpwing had heard every word from the other side of the bathroom wall, and removed her ear from it, trying not to snicker. She was standing on the outside of the fancy home, hoping to practice her favorite art of "harmless" espionage.

"Wow, he's saddle sore about me saying no to a visit," she said quietly to herself, trying not to snicker, "there's no way he's going soft either, with what I've heard about how he treated those colts who broke one of the castle windows on accident."

Once she heard the sloshing of water as he left the bath inside, Limpwing tracked his movements out to his living room, and watched from a nearby bush as Arbiter sat down in one of the sofas and picked up a military history book to read. He spent a good quarter of an hour finishing a chapter he had started the day before, likely trying to get his mind off things. Arbiter finished his reading, and then decided to head for bed early, since he did not have anything else to accomplish that evening.
Limpwing observed the rather sad look on the Captain's face as he headed into his bedroom, and closed the curtains. Thankfully for Limpwing, there was still a small area that she could peek in.

Arbiter changed into his red pajamas and night cap with a silver poof ball, then got into his quilted king-sized bed. The large stallion took a look at the empty spot and pillow next to him, and then sighed, before rolling over and turning the light off.

"Arbiter's finally thinking about the consequences of treating mares poorly. This sure isn't his academy days anymore!" thought Limpwing with a smile, trotting off in pride, "Maybe tomorrow after work I'll go see how he's doing. This time he won't bother telling me those stories."

She stopped back at the living room window, and looked at the various collections of weapons, feeling a bit of envy. Limpwing hadn't chosen a self-defense weapon despite her rank as Lieutenant of Darkmatter's guard, and looked through the glass, her nose pressed against it as she tried to get a better look at the swords.

"Oh wow," she said at the size of the collection, "I really have to get something like that! Maybe a curved one like what the eastern ponies use. Those things can cut through logs! If only I could try one of those out."

She then realized what she was going to need to do in order to actually get a chance to try the weapon in her teeth, and understood that perhaps Arbiter's hobby really was something she was interested in. Limpwing had always led other troops, but she wanted to be able to do well with a sword herself. She was talented with martial arts, but the blade seemed like the perfect defense against monsters, balanced in weight and power.

"I guess tomorrow I can spend time with Arbiter, and then go buy a sword of my own once I've made my choice," she said, mulling it over, "he'll certainly like that, and I've always wanted to learn how to use a blade. Then after, I'll just go back to the blacksmith in The Domain and have him build me my own."

Limpwing settled on her plan, and was about to leave the mansion for the night, when she noticed something peculiar. The box containing Arbiter's main longsword was glowing a soft green. She looked again through the outside window, and saw the sword open its own case by cutting a small hole through the glass. The blade, glowing and hovering along as if being controlled by some kind of invisible force, moved towards Arbiter's room.

"What?" thought Limpwing, shocked at what she had seen.

Captain Arbiter tried to drift off to sleep in the darkness of his room, his eye shut. Unfortunately, he was having problems keeping his remaining eye closed, as there appeared to be some kind of light source entering the room. He got himself up from his bed, and looked for the source of light, noticing the soft glowing under the door.

"Ah, I left the refridgerator open I suppose," he reasoned, going over to the door. He opened it with his front hoof, and then, he saw his sword glowing and hovering in front of him.

"What in the name of?"

The sword took a wild mid-air swing at Arbiter, who shouted and ducked, rolling under his blade. The sword re-oriented itself downwards and dropped, and the captain barely had time to run away before the blade embedded itself in the ground.

"My own sword!" he shouted angrily, running for the living room, "Not even my own sword likes me!"

Captain Arbiter seemed to believe that he was in a nightmare, and not really experiencing his own blade attacking him like a ghost. He spread his wings and flew into the middle of his living room, staying well above the case the sword had left through. The pegasus turned to face his weapon, his gray mane leaking out of the back of the pajamas he was in.

"I'll just grab it. This is all just a dream," he said, reassuring himself.

Arbiter dove through the air down for his weapon, which eagerly started rotating quickly, chopping the stallion's nightcap off and shredding it to pieces. Arbiter growled and grabbed the hilt with his teeth. The sword immediately took advantage of this and flew around the room rapidly, taking the Captain for a ride in an effort to get him to let go. It smashed into the ceiling and floor of the living room, knocking Arbiter off and leaving him on the floor of his home. With the wind knocked out of him, his blue hilted sword rose into the air, and then dove with its blade down.

Limpwing burst through the glass windows, shattering them loudly as she flew directly into the rouge longsword. She pinned it to the hardwood floor, using her hooves to keep the blade and hilt down at the same time. The sword angrily vibrated for several seconds, and then, the green glow vanished, leaving the sword inert.

"Lieutenant?" asked Arbiter, standing up, "What are you doing here? Can I not take a break from rejection during my dreams even?"

"This isn't a dream," stated Limpwing, swinging a hoof at him into his sternum.

Arbiter grunted at the minor blow, and then he realized that he had just told Limpwing how he felt. He never wanted to reveal his feelings as part of the tough outside he wanted to maintain, and now felt rather ashamed.

"I wasn't trying to be rejecting." said Limpwing, defending herself, "I really was just busy."

"Can we focus on the fact that my own weapon tried to slice me?" asked Arbiter, hoping to get around the subject, "Or have you lost track of that?"

Limpwing removed her hooves from the longsword, and stared at her reflection in the blade.

"I'm not sure what it was that caused that to happen," she said, scratching her head with her good wing, "I do know this though, there's no such things as floating swords normally."

"Meaning..." droned Captain Arbiter, turning his head slightly.

"Meaning that it has to be some kind of magic," she answered, "rouge magic. We'll need to get Twilight Sparkle here tomorrow to inspect the sword and help us figure out why it attacked you."

"Why her?" he asked, not wanting to put up with her.

"Because she's quite familiar with rouge enchantments," answered Limpwing, "the nearest sword enchanter is miles away. I'm sure Twilight can help us much sooner, unless of course, you want to spend more nights with this thing trying to hurt you."

Arbiter rolled his eye and knew she was right, "All right, tomorrow morning we'll meet back here with Miss Sparkle and see if we can figure out why this is happening. Until then, I'm chaining this weapon down to the floor."

"That sounds like a plan," said Limpwing, nodding at her victory, "I'll be back at ten tomorrow with Twilight following me. Please don't let this thing escape."

She then left him through the window she had broken, which Arbiter scowled at, knowing he'd have to pay to fix it. He then turned back to his favorite weapon, and looked at it with a rather disappointed expression. It was true that he didn't want to rely on Twilight's help to fix his sword, but not for the reason Limpwing thought he didn't. Arbiter believed that a pony should be able to control and take care of his blade without accepting help from others. A sword was more personal of an item than even a toothbrush in some cases. However, it was apparent that for some reason, his own weapon wanted to turn against him, and he knew he'd have to accept help in order to keep a terrible accident from happening.

Arbiter looked at his new favorite blade, and said, "I thought I could count on you..."





The captain didn't get much sleep that night, somewhat out of fear of the sword rising to attack him again, but also because of his thoughts racing on various issues. When morning finally broke, Arbiter waited patiently for Limpwing to return with Twilight, hoping that the whole incident would be simple to fix and he could go back to a normal life again.

When they finally arrived and rang the doorbell, the guard opened the door, to find that Techorse had also chosen to tag along with Limpwing and Twilight.

"Hey Arby!" greeted Techorse, smiling.

"Don't call me that," he answered gruffly.

Techorse's ears drooped, "Oh... Ok."

He let the three of them inside, and pointed them to the sword, which was now restrained by a somewhat thin metal chain and a padlock. Twilight bent down and took a close look at the weapon, but couldn't seem to see anything wrong on the surface.

"I'll need to do some tests," she said, "Luckily, I brought some books with me to try and help identify the enchantment that's infected your sword."

Twilight opened up her saddle bags, and four volumes on enchantments spilled out onto the floor, which the lavender mare immediately set to reading while observing the sword. While she was busy working on a fix for the ill-mannered blade, Arbiter confronted Limpwing on Techorse's presence.

"So why is Techorse here?" he asked, "I thought you said we needed Twilight."

"Tech is going to fill out your insurance forms for the window I... I mean, the incident last night broke," she said sheepishly, "he understands that most home insurance covers some forms of magical incidents, and thinks he can help you get the window fixed for free."

"Without raising the premium," added Techorse, smiling.

Arbiter continued to act in a rather rude manner, "So, I suppose we have both the nerds here now. We might as well make the best of it."

"Arbiter, stop being so rude!" said Limpwing, pushing him with a hoof, "They've both agreed to help you. You should be more thankful."

The inventor's mechanical saddle opened up with an electric buzz, and his mechanical arms emerged, one hand carrying a pen, the other the insurance form printed on business paper. Arbiter didn't really want to be mean twoards the others, he was only upset that his sword had tried to attack him. So, he did his best to fight against being rude, and to interact with Techorse and Twilight more politely.

Arbiter sighed, "All right, Techorse, go ahead and write out the form. I'm surprised you could be bothered to help out like that."

"Of course, it's what friends do," he answered, "honestly, I'd think being attacked by a cursed blade would tire someone out too much to do something as boring as an insurance form, so I'm glad to handle it for you."

"Need I remind you that it's your cursed blade that attacked me." he grunted, staring at him.

Techorse answered with slight remorse, "Hey... I didn't know this was going to happen. Limpwing even checked with the blacksmith at The Domain that I got that sword from. There wasn't any risk of enchantment there."

"I suppose I have nothing to gain by not believing you," he answered.

Techorse pushed past Arbiter and headed for the window to begin work on filing a claim. 

Limpwing turned to Arbiter and said to him somewhat angrily,"Hey, don't blame Techorse for this. He's trying to help you."

"Isn't it a little weird that he gave me that sword in the first place, and now it does this to me?" asked Arbiter, frustrated.

"So you're going to blame him for this?" she asked, "And you wonder why nopony wants to spend time with you."

Arbiter simply turned away and stated, "Maybe. I'm just quite disappointed that all of this has happened. I was trying to take a short vacation and it's turned into quite the nightmare."

"Well, I guess there is that," admitted Limpwing, shaking her head at the ground sadly, "I would probably be a bit grumpy too if I had my vacation ruined like this."

"Needless to say I don't actually think Techorse did this," finished Arbiter, turning his head back at her.

He then looked forward at the green earth pony inspecting the damaged window and said, "I just wonder if there's not something he secretly thinks about me. That he still doesn't see me as a changed stallion."

"I think he knows you've changed. I mean, you're not trying to lop off his head anymore," Limpwing said carelessly.

Arbiter turned around and gave her a nasty look, to which Limpwing smiled timidly.

"What, too soon?" she asked, laughing nervously.





She went to go help Techorse inspect the broken glass of the window, while Arbiter sat back down on his couch. He simply stared at Twilight, who scanned over his sword thoroughly, trying to decipher what enchantment it must have contained within. The unicorn looked over the blade, and then back at her book, trying to figure out the issue in vain.

"I can't tell what's going on with this sword at all!" she thought, "There's no glow I can see, it doesn't respond to the touch, it doesn't even change the temperature of the air around the blade!"

Twilight's horn glowed, and she removed the chains and padlock from the sword, lifting it up into the air to inspect it further.

"Nothing wrong with the hilt... nothing! What is wrong with this thing?" she asked herself angrily before setting it back down.

Twilight Sparkle then stood up and walked over past Arbiter to enter the home's kitchen. Captain Arbiter noticed her intense frustration with figuring out what the problem with his sword might be, and offered her a chance for a break.

"If you need to take a break, please, do so. There's no sense in all of us getting angry about this." he said.

"I just need a glass of water," she grumbled, frustrated at her books not helping her.

"I'll join you," said Arbiter, following her.

Out of forgetfulness with what they were dealing with, the sword had been left unattended. As if it somehow knew about the lack of ponies in the room, the blade began to glow a soft green, and then its blade stretched and retracted as if it were an inchworm, pulling it out of the room. It hid in wait in a nearby doorway, hoping to catch the ponies off guard and spring a trap on them when they least expected it. When Twilight and Captain Arbiter returned with their throats no longer dry, they saw the blade had left the room, leaving a trail of scratch marks on the hardwood floor where the cutting edge had touched the ground.

"Miss Sparkle, where did my sword go?" asked Arbiter with a bit of shock, "You did remember to chain it back up after inspecting it, right?"

Twilight Sparkle swallowed hard and admitted sheepishly, "I may have... forgotten to tie it back down because I was a bit frustrated."

She turned her head away from Arbiter to avoid eye contact, as he furiously rushed forward to try and figure out which way the blade had went. It was dangerous to leave it unattended, and now it was loose in his home again. If the sword managed to hurt anyone, there was no way that he was going to escape feeling as if he were responsible for it.

"Help me find it!" he said, calling back to Twilight, "We can't let it stay out of our sights for long."

"Well, at least we know now that the sword's enchantment really does allow for movement," she said, "it brings us one step closer to cracking its mystery!"

Suddenly, there was a loud male scream from the area near the window, and Twilight and Arbiter dashed over to find Techorse with the sword a mere inches away from his face. The blade had startled him, causing him to shout and drop the insurance form. Limpwing tried to aid Techorse by grabbing a newspaper off a nearby wood table in her teeth, and swung at the blade in an attempt to swat it. The sword reacted by slashing through the newspaper, swiping it from Limpwing's jaw. Bits of newspaper swirled around the four ponies as they watched the sword turn the newspaper into a set of paper dolls, each doll a small unicorn pony complete with a horn.

The four ponies in the kitchen watched as the sword floated towards them menacingly.

"Well, now what?" asked Limpwing, irritated.

"Run away?" suggested Twilight.

"Probably not a bad idea," answered Limpwing.

The four dashed away from the sword, desperate to keep from getting chopped up. They fled down the hallway, and dove into Arbiter's bedroom, slamming the door as the sword jabbed quickly down the open space and stabbed into the door.

"Great!" shouted Captain Arbiter, turning to Twilight, "This is all your fault for letting it loose."

"Hey, you're the one who wanted me to try and figure out the enchantment because you were too lazy to find a real enchanter!" defended Twilight, stomping her hoof.

Techorse watched the bottom of the door as he saw the sword wiggle its way underneath, the green glow pulsing.

"Twilight, Arby, look!" he said, pointing at the door, "It's going to get in here. We need a plan to take care of that sword."

Limpwing smiled and suggested, "Once the sword gets in, we'll have Twilight blast it with a magic missile. Then, Arbiter can pounce on it and hold it down until we can re-chain it."

"I won't be able to use a magic missile, we'll get caught in the blast." said Twilight, "I'll have to use a weaker magic bolt."

The sword finished getting through the door frame, and lifted up into the air in front of them.

"Just do it now!" cried Limpwing, her wings flapping in instinctive fear to get her off the ground.

Twilight took aim with her horn, and fired off a small purple bolt of energy, striking the blade in the middle. The blast disappeared inside of the weapon, and then it returned the blast at Twilight, impacting her and sending her backwards. The unicorn pony screamed as her own attack sent her into the floor, and she moaned in pain softly.

Techorse had lost all patience with the sword, and gave it a cross look before drawing his twin laser cannons and opening fire. Yellow laser bolts streamed towards the sword, and it twisted around in the air, skillfully reflecting each bolt. Laser blasts hit the walls and ceiling, exploding and leaving small burning holes in the drywall. Eventually, two blasts smacked into Techorse's cannons, destroying them both with a sharp crackle of electricity and slagged metal. The earth pony retracted the destroyed guns back into his gadget, and backed up slowly just as Twilight got up from the ground.

Twilight observed the happenings, and wondered, "Why is that sword absorbing our attacks and using them against us? Could it be...?"

Twilight's horn glowed again, and this time, she released a small beam designed to reveal hidden messages on paper. The sword accepted the blast, and then released it back onto the ground, revealing a splotch of spilled wine that had stained into the very bottom of the carpet.

"What did you do?" asked Limpwing, curious.

"I was testing to see if the sword was absorbing magic and energy, and I was correct!" she answered cheerfully, "Now I just have to know why it's decided to go rouge."

The blade didn't give her a moments' thought as it descended, swinging at her hair. Twilight saw several locks of her mane fall to the floor before she screamed. The friends retreated to the bathroom, shutting the door behind them, and stuffing towels underneath the doorway before jumping into the dry bathtub to hide from the sword.

"Ok, if we're quiet," she said, panting from the strain of moving so quickly, "maybe... we'll have a few minutes to think things over."

Arbiter, still a bit startled from how quickly things were playing out, tried to start, "We know my sword can absorb magical energy for some reason, but we're unsure as to what actually causes it to attack."

"So maybe something cursed it!" suggested Limpwing, "It's not exactly common to have a sword that steals magical energy like that!"

"Wait a minute Limpwing..." said Twilight, putting a hoof in the air, "Say that again!"

"What, that someone cursed it?" she asked, "Or the part about having a sword like this being uncommon?"

"No, what you said it did!" demanded Twilight, pacing around, "Did you say that it's stealing magical energy? As opposed to just absorbing it?"

"Well yeah, because it's returned exactly the same shots that you and Techorse have directed at it!" explained the blue colored pegasus, tilting her head, "It seems to steal individual attacks and return them."

Arbiter believed that he had caught on to the conversation and said, "This sounds exactly like what Malthus was capable of doing as a wraith. Since my sword was used to take him down, I wonder if he didn't curse it..."

"That's exactly what I was about to say!" answered Twilight, smiling, "I think we've figured it out! Arbiter's sword is now enchanted with wraith magic, the ability to mirror your opponent's attacks one for one."

"Yeah, but that wouldn't make the sword up and attack us! Something has to be wrong here," said Techorse.

The sword was beginning to chop away slowly at the towels underneath the door, so that it could once again slip underneath of the crack under the door frame and enter the room.

"We need to figure out why the sword is acting so strangely. Wraith essence alone isn't enough to make it act like this," said Twilight, getting desperate.

Limpwing asked, "What would cause it to act like this? Did it absorb some kind of magic that makes it go berserk?"

"I don't know!" answered Twilight honestly, leaning against an air jet in the large luxury tub, "Arbiter's the only one who could tell us where that blade has been."

Arbiter did know where the blade had been, and immediately thought up a theory as to why the blade was acting up. But he didn't want to admit to Techorse and Twilight that he had been up to violence again, as he wanted to maintain his image of no longer being a threat to them. It was hard balancing the image of being a tough guy, and also no longer wanting to bring harm to Techorse! Somehow, he'd just have to put off telling them the truth. Now that Arbiter was aware of his sword's wraith-like ability, he knew that the recent event of lopping off Discord's head had likely infected his sword with Discord's magic. Telling Twilight and Techorse this, though, would certainly make them go back on their new opinion of him! They'd be right back to wanting him in jail, or worse. He'd just have to take care of the sword himself, if he could figure it out.





The sword gave up on moving the towels out of the way, and instead hacked the doorknob off in one swing, before bashing open the door. Twilight and Techorse screamed, and the sword moved over to a bright purple bottle of bubble bath, knocking it into the tub. It then turned on both taps, filling the bathtub rapidly with water and flooding the bathroom with soap bubbles. To aid in their escape, Limpwing pushed open one of the bathroom windows, and urged everyone to leave the room.

"Come on, we need to climb to the roof!" she said, pointing at the window with her good wing, "It'll give us a little more time."

The ponies scrambled out through the window and made their way to the roof. Twilight had to teleport herself being the only one without an alternate means of flying. They were now sitting on the roof, watching a stream of bubble bath flow out of the window.

"Hey, wait a minute, Arbiter uses bubble bath?" giggled Limpwing, watching the soap pour out.

Arbiter blushed and stuttered, "Hey, it's not bubble bath, it's therapeutic soap."

"Let's focus on the sword and stopping it," said Techorse, trying to be reasonable, "we don't have long before it gets out of there."

"So, we're still no closer to figuring out what magic is causing it to act this way?" asked Twilight.

Arbiter gave a guilty look at the ground, but refused to say anything.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," he answered.

Limpwing rolled her eyes and said, "Arbiter, if you know something we don't, you need to tell us."

"I can't..." he answered, "If I tell you what I did... those two will think differently of me again."

Techorse and Twilight looked at each other, frowned, and refocused on Arbiter.

"What do you mean?" asked Techorse, concerned.

The captain frowned and answered, "Once I had heard from Twilight Sparkle that the sword had been enchanted with Wraith energy, I realized that it had absorbed a large amount of a specific kind of magic."

"Whatever it was, it had to be fairly violent magic," figured Limpwing, "maybe sparring too much with it caused it to get sick and tired of its treatment?"

"I actually do not think the sword can think without the particular magic it absorbed," disagreed Arbiter, "you see, a short while ago, when Discord returned... I kind of ran short on self-control."

"Uh oh..." said Limpwing teasingly, trying not to laugh.

Arbiter sighed and continued, "I ended up slicing his head clean off his body. Which of course, did not do all that much to him. He was easily able to re-attach it."

Twilight Sparkle's ears perked up as she understood that the answer Arbiter had just given her was correct. The sword wasn't really trying to inflict harm on them. It was playing games of hide and go seek, making paper dolls, flooding the house with bubble bath, and in general just doing things that wouldn't make sense for a curse. Discord's magic had to be what was infecting the blade.

"Arbiter..." she said, stepping up to him, "Why wouldn't you tell us this earlier?"

He answered truthfully while sitting down on the roof, "I thought that if I told you I had attacked Discord, you would see me as a dangerous pony again. I've been trying to be a better stallion recently because of the genuine concern my own former enemy, Techorse, had showed to me in the past. He taught me that I was worth saving, and that I was worth something as a friend."

"So you thought you'd lose that from me if you admitted to attacking Discord?" asked Techorse, "Arbiter, defending the princesses is still your duty. I wouldn't stop being your friend just because you chose to try and defend yourself or someone else. I know you're not purposefully trying to harm others anymore."

"That's all I really needed to hear," he answered, his heart warmed slightly by the sentiment.

His sword had caught up to them, this time carrying a piece of cargo. The blade was carefully balancing a delicious banana crème pie on its hilt, carrying it while pointing its blade towards Techorse.

He noticed a slightly worried look on his friends' faces, and slowly turned around to face the cursed weapon. It then took no pause, and catapulted the pie straight into Techorse's face, splattering him with whipped cream and knocking him on the ground.

Limpwing couldn't help but laugh at the inventor's misfortune, even as the sword lifted over him, and faced the three remaining friends.

"Arbiter, do something! My books told me that only a sword's owner can stop a rogue enchantment." whimpered Twilight.

"Limpwing, get the others out of here!" demanded Arbiter, looking back at her, "I'll hold the sword off so you can get away!"

"I'm not running away from this," said Limpwing, standing firm, "we're not going to leave you here, either."

Arbiter watched as the blade moved closer to his face, and he thought deeply as to how he could stop Discord's magic and flush it from the blade. After a moment of pondering that the sword wasn't making any sense, the answer struck Arbiter hard. His sword was supposed to be a tool of self-defense, not a toy for making jokes. Arbiter figured that he had one shot at telling his weapon what it was really for, and made his move.

"Hold on, what kind of a cursed blade hits ponies with pies?" shouted Arbiter, walking up to his weapon and reaching underneath his cape.

The twin metal enchanted gauntlets he used to hold his sword dropped from underneath and activated, floating at his sides. They grabbed the sword by the hilt, which didn't seem to struggle very much from its masters' grasp.

"Are you a sword or a kitchen knife?" he asked it, holding it with one hand and pointing at it with another finger, "I thought I'd have taken better care of you than for you to run around scaring us, giving Twilight a bad haircut, and wasting perfectly good food."

"Even though it was pretty funny," admitted Techorse as he finished wiping whipped topping off of his face.

The sword, as if "ashamed" of itself, wilted over in Arbiter's hands. He then grinned, and stroked the metal gently with the gauntlet.

"Now easy there girl. I'm sure you didn't mean this. We're going to figure out how to get you back to normal," he said, and the blade straightened up in his grasp.

Arbiter then sheathed the weapon back into the blue wooden one he kept at his side, and the green glow dissipated.

"Arbiter, you did it!" beamed Twilight, "You tamed it!"

"Any good swordspony should know control over his weapon," stated Arbiter.

"Maybe, but I've never seen a cursed item come under control by another pony quite like that before!" said Twilight with a hint of awe, "Most enchantments of that strength are almost impossible to stop once they get going."

"How'd you do it?" asked Techorse curiously, "I thought you'd need Twilight to take away Discord's magic from the sword."

Arbiter shook his head, "It seems that once the blade absorbs magic, it only can use so much of it before running out. It wasn't able to use Twilight's spells more than once after all.  So I figured I just had to seize my blade, and make it dissipate all the chaos magic left. It's my blade, so it has to answer to me!"

Limpwing stomped her hooves on the ground in applause, "Ha ha! Even a blade made with Discord's magic has to listen to you, because your its master! That's genius."

"Now that I've put it back in its place, the chaos magic will likely leave the blade shortly," said Arbiter, confident in his answer, "However, now that I know it absorbs energy like this, it does mean I will need to be more careful in the future as to what I actually strike with my sword. From now on, I'll call it Wraithbane."

"Wow, that's a really creepy name!" teased Limpwing before dodging a playful swat from the Captain.

"It did stop that wraith from taking over Equestria," he said, "and I want to remind myself of what it is capable of. Maybe I am more prone to using force to try and protect Equestria, but I want to make sure that when I do use force, I make it count instead of jumping to conclusions. Just as I should stop jumping to conclusions about how others will feel about me when I act."

"Of course!" said Techorse happily, "We're still your friends."

Limpwing felt as if Arbiter was making better choices without really sacrificing his character, the sort of quality she valued in others. Her thoughts were interrupted however, by Twilight, who seemed to be very happy with Arbiter's decision as well.

"I'm just glad we finally figured out what's wrong with the sword!" answered Twilight.

She then looked up at her destroyed hair and said, "I might need to go to a salon now and get this fixed though..."

Later on, Techorse got Arbiter to sign his insurance form to have the window replaced, while Limpwing and Twilight waited patiently in the kitchen, discussing how things were going for themselves. Once the paperwork had finally been completed, Techorse met up with Twilight to take her to have her hair fixed. Before they could leave, Arbiter opened up a cabinet next to his couch, and removed a small blue package.

"I'd like us all to celebrate with a little something I've been saving for a while now," he said, grinning at Techorse.

He then unwrapped the blue package to reveal a pure white salt lick, and he set it down on the counter on a small orange colored plate.

"This is a vintage salt lick, aged for ten years. It's rather expensive, but I feel like this is a good occasion for us to all try a small piece," he said, "I'll go get a knife."

Techorse and Twilight looked at the block of salt, and really didn't want to participate in altering their minds via dehydration.

Twilight took the initiative and said, "Maybe some other time, Arbiter. I appreciate it, but I'd like to get back to town."

"Some other time then," he said, a bit disappointed, but understanding.





Arbiter saw them both to the front door, expecting everyone to leave him alone again for the night. To his surprise, however, Limpwing wanted to stay behind with him.

"I don't really need to get back to The Domain until tomorrow," she admitted, dragging a hoof on the ground, "I think maybe I'll spend a few minutes with you... y'know..."

Arbiter understood what she was trying to say, and hid a smile, before saying to Techorse and Twilight, "I'm... sorry I called you nerds earlier."

"That's ok, we are nerds!" said Techorse cheerfully.

Twilight also joined in and laughed with him.

"I don't think it's that bad," said Arbiter, "but I thank you for taking a joke."

"That's what friends are supposed to be able to do!" said Twilight, swishing her tail, "We'll probably come up with something to tease you with later, trust us!"

Arbiter chuckled, and bid his friends farewell as they turned around to leave down the mountainside for Ponyville. He then turned to Limpwing and said,
"So, shall we have any of the salt lick, Limpwing? I guess it's just the two of us."
Limpwing batted her eyelashes at him and said lovingly, "Weeeeell, I was actually hoping... since I'd recently taken interest in learning how to use weapons... that you'd... show me that sword collection of yours."

She approached him, intent in her eyes, and Captain Arbiter simply stood there, his heart rate rising rapidly.

"I've been thinking Techorse," said Twilight, "maybe I should write a letter to Princess Celestia about Arbiter's progress. He learned that if you're friends with someone, it's ok to do something you think is the right thing to do. If they're really your friends, they'll either accept what you do, or forgive you for it."

"I think you're right Twilight," he answered, before stopping as his ear perked up, picking up a curious noise.

"Do you hear that?" he asked, getting Twilight to stop.

She stopped to listen in with her coltfriend, and indeed could hear something coming from the house a few feet behind them. Techorse and Twilight could hear funny noises coming from the inside of the home, growing louder with each moment. It sounded like Arbiter and Limpwing were making giggling and sighs of an impressed nature. Concerned, they both crept back to the house, and looked through the broken window carefully.

Limpwing had a curved sword in her teeth, and she was blocking small, careful blows from Arbiter's now inert again sword, learning how to deflect blows and counter with her own. The sparring was helping her to determine just what kind of a sword she wanted, and Arbiter's collection case was wide upon, several swords lined up in a queue for her to try.

Techorse and Twilight looked at each other, then shook their heads as they once again headed back for town, leaving the two to continue their training session. It took a rogue enchantment, but at last, Captain Arbiter had gotten closer to the mare he'd been hoping to get to know.