Unnoticed Threats

by smirker

Cursed Bloodline

Doctor Whooves was walking around and he saw Twilight Sparkle with Shining Armor, Night Light, Twilight Velvet, Princess Cadence, and Flurry Heart, he smiled and kept walking, he soon saw Applejack with Apple Bloom, Big Macintosh, Sugar Belle, Granny Smith, Grand Pear, and Goldie Delicious, he kept walking and saw Pinkie Pie with Carrot Cake, Cup Cake, Pound Cake, and Pumpkin Cake, Pinkie Pie waved at him and he waved back, Doctor Whooves went into his home and sat. Doctor Whooves waited for his patient and she soon arrived, it was an earth pony, Doctor Whooves' attention was caught at her outfit, she was wearing a suit of armor that resembled a pony's skeleton, it covered her entire body except for her abdomen, mid and lower-back, her spine was covered with armor, and there were spaces between the armor on her chest since it resembled a rib cage, her skeletal-like armor was dark gold while the one-piece suit she wore under it was dark red, she also had on a cape that was dark gold on the outside and dark red on the inside. Doctor Whooves watched the mare walk forward and looked at her helmet, it covered her entire head and was shaped like a pony's skull, the eyes of the helmet also glowed dark red, the mare sat in front of Doctor Whooves,

"Good afternoon, Doctor." the mare said in a muffled voice,

"Um, what are you wearing?" Doctor Whooves asked,

"This is a magically enchanted armor passed down throughout my family, we have two, my brother has the other one." the mare replied,

"Well, take the helmet off, it's making me uncomfortable." Doctor Whooves said, and she did, Doctor Whooves was caught off-guard for a second at her appearance, she had a dark yellow coat, a long and flowing bright yellow mane, and gold eyes,

"Wow, you're beautiful." Doctor Whooves said,

"Thank you." the mare replied with a heartfelt smile,

"Anyway, state your name and occupation." Doctor Whooves said,

"Kinkaku, I'm a farmer." the mare replied,

"A farmer?" Doctor Whooves asked while he looked at her suspiciously,

"Yeah, my family bloodline is cursed." Kinkaku replied,

"Cursed? With what?" Doctor Whooves asked,

"Unicorns cast a curse on my ancestors, their spirits are unable to pass to the afterlife, they were bad ponies when they were alive, and they haunt the living, well, used to haunt." Kinkaku replied,

"Well, go on." Doctor Whooves said, and Kinkaku began her tale.

---

Kinkaku lived on a farm and had no neighbors, she lived with her parents and older brother, her mother's name was Golden Light, her father's name was Gray Silver, and her brother's name was Ginkaku, Golden Light had a bright yellow coat, long dark yellow mane and tail, and gold eyes, her cutie mark was a gold helmet and a sabre with a gold handle and silver blade, Gray Silver had a whitish-gray coat, short black mane and tail, and silver eyes, his cutie mark was a silver suit of armor with a big double-bladed broadsword that was black with white edges and a silver handle, and Ginkaku had a dark gray coat, short white mane and tail, and silver eyes, his cutie mark was a silver tragedy mask.

---

"Hold on, what does your cutie mark look like?" Doctor Whooves asked, Kinkaku takes her outfit off and Doctor Whooves sees it, it was a gold comedy mask,

"What do they represent?" Doctor Whooves asked,

"Apparently, our special talents are in how we make others feel, I bring people up while my brother brings them down." Kinkaku replied,

"Uh... okay, I don't understand." Doctor Whooves said,

"My brother and I behave in almost opposite ways." Kinkaku replied,

"Oh, well, go on, then." Doctor Whooves said, and Kinkaku continued her tale.

---

Kinkaku trained in sword combat with her brother and parents, she used a sabre that had a gold handle and hoof guard, its blade was silver, and Ginkaku used a double-edged broadsword that had a silver handle, and a black blade with white edges, Kinkaku was trained by Golden Light while Ginkaku was trained by Gray Silver,

"Okay, Kinkaku, you must know your strengths and weaknesses, that sabre is a family heirloom, so is that armor, you'll learn your strengths and weaknesses through doing." Golden Light said, and Kinkaku was already distracted and chased butterflies that flew around,

"KINKAKU!!" Golden Light yelled, Kinkaku became startled and ran back to her,

"Focus! If you keep acting like that, you're going to fail your training." Golden Light said, Kinkaku looked down,

"*sigh* Anyway, let's get started." Golden Light said, and they began training. Kinkaku swung the sabre around while Golden Light blocked each hit with a wooden sabre,

"*gasp* Wow, I'm fast in this outfit, I feel like a cheetah." Kinkaku said,

"Focus on your training." Golden Light said in a stern tone, and Kinkaku got back to it, she swung her sabre around and Golden Light blocked and dodged them all easily, Kinkaku growled since she kept missing, Golden Light sidestepped to Kinkaku's right and hit her in her front right leg. Kinkaku screamed loudly from the hit,

"That hurt!" Kinkaku said,

"Well, get used to it." Golden Light replied, and the two continued training. Kinkaku looked and saw Gray Silver and Ginkaku training, Ginkaku had a double-edged broadsword as big as he was while Gray Silver had a wooden sword that looked like the broadsword,

"*pant* *pant* This armor's heavy, dad." Ginkaku said, Kinkaku saw Ginkaku's armor looked just like hers, but his skeletal armor was a grayish-silver, and his one-piece suit was blue, his cape was silver on the outside and blue on the inside,

"Quit your whining, keep training." Gray Silver said, and the two swung their weapons around, Kinkaku got hit in her back and she exclaimed and fell,

"Focus on me, you idiot, you'll die in a real battle if you get distracted like that." Golden Light said, and the two continued training. Kinkaku and Ginkaku trained everyday, the two also had to work on the farm,

"Big brother, look." Kinkaku said, Ginkaku looked up and saw Kinkaku balancing vegetable seeds on her sabre,

"Focus on your work, Kinkaku." Ginkaku said,

"But it's so boring, I wanna make farming fun." Kinkaku replied,

"I doubt the plants would be entertained." Ginkaku said,

"Come on, Ginkaku, join me." Kinkaku said,

"I will after I'm buried in the ground." Ginkaku replied,

"Big brother!" Kinkaku said,

"We've got gardening to do, Kinkaku, you need to help before your procrastinating causes a famine and makes us all starve to death." Ginkaku replied, Kinkaku whined but helped him with the chores. Kinkaku and Ginkaku planted the seeds by hoof, Ginkaku planted the seeds in a straight line and far apart while Kinkaku planted the seeds to make pictures, she made a pony's head, a skull, a sword, and a timberwolf's head,

"Brother, look, I'm making art." Kinkaku said,

"I did not notice." Ginkaku replied in a dry tone,

"Come on, Ginkaku, it'll make our garden look more interesting." Kinkaku said,

"For now, but not later." Ginkaku replied, Kinkaku frowned and they continued their chores. Kinkaku and Ginkaku began going to school shortly afterwards, the two came home with their report cards one day and Golden Light and Gray Silver looked at them, Kinkaku sweated a lot because she had all F's,

"It's alright, you two, we won't punish you two for doing bad in school." Golden Light said,

"Huh?" Kinkaku asked while Ginkaku's eyes' widened, the two look at each other's report cards and Kinkaku sees Ginkaku had all F's as well, even though his scores were just a little higher than hers,

"It's okay, you two don't have to do your homework, either." Gray Silver said,

"Why not?" Kinkaku asked,

"Because school is full of stupid ponies who try to think they're smart by brainwashing you two, so if you don't want to do your homework, don't do it." Golden Light replied, Kinkaku smiled while Ginkaku's expression remained the same,

"Well, go on and do what you two want to do, we train again tomorrow." Golden Light said, and Kinkaku and Ginkaku go to their room, the two shared it together, Ginkaku's side was clean and organized while Kinkaku's side was messy,

"Have you ever thought about cleaning your side, Kinkaku?" Ginkaku asked,

"No way, it's fun being able to play with all of my toys on the spot." Kinkaku replied,

"I bet you also have fun stepping on them in the morning." Ginkaku said,

"Come on, big brother, let's go to sleep, so we can be replenished for tomorrow's training." Kinkaku replied,

"I bet you're going to oversleep again." Ginkaku said, Kinkaku let out an annoyed groan while Ginkaku chuckled and the two slept. Kinkaku and Ginkaku trained and worked,

"Very good, Ginkaku, you'll be a good warrior in no time." Gray Silver said,

"Focus, Kinkaku, try to hit the targets with the sabre." Golden Light said,

"Look, mommy, no hoofs." Kinkaku said while she balanced her sabre on her snout, Golden Light groaned loudly while slapping her own face with her front left hoof, she looked down and shook her head in the process. A few days passed and Kinkaku saw her classmates doing theater arts,

"I wanna try." Kinkaku said as she trotted to them, the foals let her join,

"I am Kinkaku, daughter of Golden Light and Gray Silver, student at school, farmer at home." Kinkaku said,

"No, add some adjectives in, put emphasis on your words, too." a filly said,

"I am... Kinkaku! Precious daughter of the great and magnificent Golden Light and the fair and honorable Gray Silver. Glorious student at school, hard working and playful farmer at home." Kinkaku said, the foals clapped,

"Not bad, but we need to work on a few parts." a colt said, Kinkaku smiled and continued to practice. A few days passed and Kinkaku practiced theater arts in her and Ginkaku's room,

"And the pony SLAIN the dragon with its shiny, silver sword as it reflected in the holy sun of light. The sword PIERCED the dragon's red, still beating heart, the heroic pony jumped in the sky! And he cut the dragon's head off with its sharp, shiny, bloodstained sword of justice. The pony..." Kinkaku said,

"Can the chatter! You're being annoying." Golden Light said from another room, Kinkaku slouched her head for a second but looked up again,

"The pony stood..." Kinkaku said,

"Enough, Kinkaku, save that stupid acting for school." Gray Silver said from another room,

"The pony..." Kinkaku said,

"I wonder how you have any breath left, Kinkaku." Ginkaku said from outside, Kinkaku growled and stomped outside and went elsewhere to practice. A few days passed and Kinkaku and Ginkaku were together, Golden Light and Gray Silver stood together,

"Okay, now that you two have grown accustomed to your weapons and armor, you two will start training together." Gray Silver said, and the two got ready,

"From now on, all four of us train together, so, Ginkaku, good luck, Kinkaku, focus." Golden Light said,

"Ooh, this is so exciting, Ginkaku, we're finally training together." Kinkaku said,

"Keep acting like that and it'll be just me training and you dead on the ground." Ginkaku replied,

"Enough, you two, let's get started, you two are to work together." Golden Light said, and the training began. Kinkaku ran to Gray Silver while unsheathing her sabre while Ginkaku watched the two carefully, Kinkaku tried to slash Gray Silver with her sabre, but he hit her on her head with his wooden broadsword and Kinkaku screamed as she fell,

"You idiot, you're supposed to work with your brother, not face us on your own." Gray Silver said, Kinkaku panted heavily and soon stood up,

"Alright, let's get started, we've wasted enough time." Golden Light said,

"Sis, I'll go after mom, I leave dad to you." Ginkaku said,

"Okay." Kinkaku replied, and the two ran to them. Kinkaku took her sabre out and tried to land a hit on Gray Silver, he blocked every hit with his wooden broadsword, Kinkaku let out several annoyed grunts and eventually stepped to Gray Silver's right, she entered his blind spot and was about to strike, but he swung the broadsword from left to right and hit her, Kinkaku screamed and fell, she looked and saw Ginkaku tried swinging his broadsword around and Golden Light dodged each hit easily, she hit Ginkaku on his legs and he grunted a little and fell,

"Pathetic, you two are supposed to work together, not attack us one at a time." Gray Silver said, Kinkaku and Ginkaku looked down,

"*sigh* We'll try again tomorrow, training's done for today." Golden Light said, and the two went into the house. A few weeks passed and Kinkaku and Ginkaku worked together against Golden Light and Gray Silver, Ginkaku entered a deadlock with Gray Silver and Kinkaku slashed his hind legs, he grunts and falls, Kinkaku entered a fencing fight with Golden Light and Ginkaku hit Golden Light on the back of her neck with his sword and she fell,

"Good, you two are improving, that's all for today." Golden Light said, and they entered the house. Three weeks passed and the plants Kinkaku and Ginkaku planted began to grow, Ginkaku looked at the plants he planted and picked the vegetables while Kinkaku ran around and looked at hers,

"No, don't overlap like that, come on, grow and spread." Kinkaku said, the plants she planted soon fell over,

"Aw." Kinkaku said while she looked down,

"That's why you have to space them out a bit, Kinkaku." Ginkaku said, Kinkaku whined a little as she looked at her fallen plants while Ginkaku continued to pick the vegetables. Five years passed and Kinkaku and Ginkaku were under the house with Golden Light and Gray Silver, they were at a dark blue double gate,

"This gate contains the souls of our ancestors, unicorns cursed our family so we cannot pass into the afterlife, some of our ancestors are genuinely malevolent, if they break out, it is our jobs to stop them." Golden Light said,

"What will happen to you two?" Kinkaku asked,

"Our souls will be sucked into the gate after our deaths, it will close when we are in, but no matter the circumstances, you two must not open the gate." Gray Silver replied,

"How is it opened?" Ginkaku asked,

"Those swords of yours are the keys, they and the armors are magically enchanted to harm and defend against ghosts, they originally belonged to the unicorns until our ancestors stole them, if they break out of this gate, you two are to hunt them down and destroy their souls." Golden Light replied,

"Wait, I don't see any keyholes." Kinkaku said,

"You have to stick the swords in between the gates." Gray Silver replied,

"Are both swords required?" Ginkaku replied,

"No." Golden Light replied,

"When will our training be done?" Kinkaku asked,

"It'll never be done, it is family tradition to train for life." Golden Light replied, Kinkaku groaned while she slouched,

"That's enough, let's get back to training." Gray Silver said, and they went outside. Kinkaku was in school one day and it was lunchtime, Kinkaku was standing in the hallway,

"Kinkaku." a mare said,

"Huh?" Kinkaku asked, she saw three of her female classmates coming to her,

"Have you ever thought about pursuing any feminine hobbies?" the mare in the center asked,

"Like what?" Kinkaku asked,

"Well, I'm doing cooking and knitting." the mare to the left replied,

"I'm doing jewelry making, flower arranging, and ballroom dancing." the mare to the right said,

"And I'm doing singing and gardening." the mare in the center said,

"Oh, I do gardening, too." Kinkaku said,

"What do you grow?" the mare in the center asked,

"Vegetables." Kinkaku replied,

"Oh, no, Kinkaku, a proper lady would grow flowers." the mare in the center said,

"Flowers?" Kinkaku asked,

"Uh-huh, it makes the yard pretty." the mare in the center replied,

"Huh." Kinkaku said, the mare to the right gasped,

"What?" Kinkaku asked,

"You have blackheads in your snout." the mare to the right replied,

"So?" Kinkaku asked,

"You have to get rid of it, you should wear some makeup, too." the mare to the left replied,

"Sorry, but my mom and I don't have any makeup." Kinkaku said,

"Have you ever wore a dress?" the mare to the right asked,

"No." Kinkaku replied,

"What about jewelry?" the mare in the center asked,

"Nope." Kinkaku replied,

"How about styling your mane?" the mare to the left asked,

"Never done it." Kinkaku replied,

"You should give it a try, Kinkaku, maybe you'll like it, we got guides to help." the mare to the right said,

"Alright, I'll give it a try." Kinkaku replied, and the three left and gave her books.

Kinkaku went home later that day and tried cooking, she cooked the vegetables while her family went on with their days, it was dinner by the time she finished and her family sat at the table,

"Dinner is served." Kinkaku said as she put her cooked food down, her family looked and saw most of it was burned. Golden Light, Gray Silver, and Ginkaku tasted Kinkaku's food while she smiled,

"This tastes horrible." Golden Light said, Kinkaku frowned,

"Disgusting." Gray Silver said, Kinkaku frowned even more,

"Starving would be preferable." Ginkaku said, Kinkaku's frown deepened,

"But... I made that with all of my love." Kinkaku said,

"Well, put less love in it next time." Gray Silver replied, Kinkaku groaned, she ate with her family and managed to swallow her own cooking. Kinkaku tried ballroom dancing in her room, she moved her toy weapons aside and tried to dance,

"Ginkaku, can you help me?" Kinkaku asked, Ginkaku walked over to her,

"What is it?" Ginkaku asked,

"Can you help me with trying to waltz dance?" Kinkaku asked,

"What got you interested all of a sudden?" Ginkaku asked,

"Well, my classmates said I should try to expand my horizons and be more feminine." Kinkaku replied, Ginkaku just looked at her,

"Let's get this over with." Ginkaku said, and the two started dancing. Kinkaku and Ginkaku stood up straight and held each other's front hoofs, the two tried to dance, Kinkaku kept getting her steps wrong while Ginkaku kept stepping on her hind hoofs,

"Ow." Kinkaku said each time her hind hoofs got stepped on, the two kept trying and eventually stopped,

"I don't think I'm going to get the hang of this." Kinkaku said,

"What else are you planning to try?" Ginkaku asked,

"Knitting, painting, growing and arranging flowers, singing, and making jewelry." Kinkaku replied,

"I'll be surprised if those flowers don't die when you touch them." Ginkaku said,

"Hey!" Kinkaku said,

"Well, go on and do what you wish, I'll be available to help." Ginkaku said, Kinkaku frowned and left the bedroom. Kinkaku went to the store and bought needles and thread to knit, she tried but failed,

"Ow." Kinkaku said as she cut her own front left hoof with the needle,

"Need a hoof?" Ginkaku asked,

"No." Kinkaku replied, and she kept trying and could not get it, Kinkaku growled and threw the needles across the room,

"I give up." Kinkaku said, and she and Ginkaku headed to school. Kinkaku tried painting a few days later and could not get it,

"No, that's not the color I wanted." Kinkaku grumbled while pulling her own mane,

"You're putting snowflakes in your painting, Kinkaku." Ginkaku said, Kinkaku stopped pulling her mane and looked, she saw white flakes on her painting, she realized she had dandruff, Kinkaku scratched her own mane a little more,

"What do you know." Kinkaku said, and she went to go see Golden Light and Gray Silver, the two were sitting and reading newspapers,

"Mommy, daddy, I have dandruff." Kinkaku said,

"You'll be fine, just don't get it on your food." Golden Light replied,

"But what if the kids at school make fun of me?" Kinkaku asked,

"Beat them to a pulp." Gray Silver replied, Kinkaku was speechless but left the room. Kinkaku tried singing a few days later but her voice was scratchy,

"You sound like a cat choking on a furball, Kinkaku, please stop, I'm trying to meditate." Ginkaku said, Kinkaku went outside and walked into town, she tried to practice her own singing and the ponies booed her,

"Oh, come on, I just started today." Kinkaku said,

"Well, your singing is terrible." a male pony replied, Kinkaku glared and went home. Two days passed and Kinkaku tried arranging flowers that she picked from around the house, she found herself disliking the activity, so she stopped, she trained with her family afterwards,

"Mommy, daddy, can I try jewelry making?" Kinkaku asked,

"No." Golden Light replied,

"Why not?" Kinkaku asked,

"You have more important things to do, like your training." Gray Silver replied, Kinkaku looked down,

"Well, go ahead and take a break, we'll continue training tomorrow." Golden Light said, and Kinkaku and Ginkaku went into the house. Kinkaku was in school the next day and saw the three mares from before,

"Hey, I tried your things, I failed, I didn't like the flower thing, and my parents said no to making jewelry." Kinkaku said,

"That's why you need to keep practicing, Kinkaku." the mare in the center replied,

"I'll just stick to theatre arts." Kinkaku said,

"Theater arts is a masculine hobby." the mare to the left replied,

"What? It looks feminine to me." Kinkaku said,

"It isn't, a long time ago, all actors in theatre arts were males." the mare to the right replied,

"What about female characters?" Kinkaku asked,

"They were played by male actors." the mare in the center replied, Kinkaku became speechless,

"I'll just stick to what I'm good at." Kinkaku finally said, and she walked away.

---

"Phew, now that's out of the way, I can start on the important part." Kinkaku said,

"You're not going to talk about school?" Doctor Whooves asked,

"No, it was boring, I fell asleep a lot, too." Kinkaku replied,

"But did you improve your grades?" Doctor Whooves asked,

"No, Ginkaku and I both dropped out when we turned sixteen." Kinkaku replied,

"So what do you two do for a living?" Doctor Whooves asked,

"We're farmers, I'm still practicing theatre arts in hopes of becoming an actress." Kinkaku replied,

"Well, good luck with that, continue." Doctor Whooves said, and Kinkaku continued her tale.

---

Kinkaku and Ginkaku trained one day and the two fought Golden Light and Gray Silver, Kinkaku blocked all of Golden Light's hits with her sabre while Ginkaku entered a deadlock with Gray Silver with his broadsword, the two ran to their parents' blind spots, Kinkaku went to Golden Light's left blind spot while Ginkaku went to Gray Silver's right blind spot, they hit the two in their front legs' and they grunt and fall, the two then hit their parents' on the back of their heads. Golden Light and Gray Silver stood up,

"You two have completed your training, but remember, we train for life, so make sure you two keep training so your skills don't get rusty." Golden Light said,

"*gasp* Our swords." Kinkaku said, everypony saw a gold aura around the blade of Kinkaku's sabre and a silver aura around the blade of Ginkaku's broadsword,

"You two are determined individuals, the swords are powered through the willpower and determination of the individual who wields it, the stronger their will, the brighter the aura, and the more powerful your strikes will be." Golden Light said,

"My teacher said friendship conquers all." Kinkaku said,

"What are you getting at now, Kinkaku?" Gray Silver asked,

"Shortly before I dropped out, one of my teachers talked about how friendship is the most powerful thing there is." Kinkaku replied,

"Your teacher's an idiot." Golden Light said, Kinkaku became speechless,

"Friendship is not powerful, it means you're only powerful when you work together, but when you have to do things alone, you are weak, that is why the swords are powered by willpower, not friendship, if our ancestors break out of that gate, you two will be alone, there will be nopony to help you two, and you two must be able to endure being injured and keep going, that is why our family chose willpower over friendship." Golden Light said, Kinkaku continued to look on with a dropped jaw,

"Anyway, training is over for today, let's go back into the house." Golden Light said, and the four did.

A few years passed and Kinkaku was twenty and Ginkaku was twenty one, and their parents have passed away recently, the two buried them and Kinkaku had tears roll down her face while Ginkaku had an expressionless face,

"They were my light and happiness combined into one, they were hard, but they loved us beneath their rough and mean exteriors because they did not know how to show it. Their presence will always be remembered and felt, even though it may feel harsh, we must remember the love behind the mean facade they put up. Their names shall go down in history as Golden Light and Gray Silver, they shall live on in our memories and hearts as memories and spirits of the past that has already passed. Though they cannot go to the afterlife, they will remain as ghosts in our home with our ancestors, their everlasting love will be felt from beyond the grave and they will possess us in our times of despair to make us happy and let us know we are not alone. The light they give in the darkness shall..." Kinkaku said,

"That's enough, Kinkaku." Ginkaku said,

"Oh, come on, big brother, I'm practicing my words for theatre arts, I want their spirits to hear it." Kinkaku replied,

"I think their bodies are going to dig themselves up and run away if the rest of your eulogy is that bad." Ginkaku said, Kinkaku glared at him, the two stood and bowed their heads down in a moment of silence,

"Come on, Kinkaku, mom and dad left a document of our family's history for us to read." Ginkaku said after several minutes of silence,

"Oh, come on, big brother, we've training all of our lives, let's have some fun." Kinkaku replied,

"Do what you wish, but I'm going to continue training." Ginkaku said, and he entered the house. Kinkaku went to the town and decided to try wearing a dress for the first time, she headed home and tried it on, she tried walking but she stepped on the dress and fell over, she tried walking and practicing theatre arts and kept falling,

"Grr, I hate this!" Kinkaku said as she took her dress off and threw it across the room,

"I'm never wearing a dress ever again!" Kinkaku said, and she stomped over to her side of the room and slept on the floor. Kinkaku woke up later that afternoon and walked to a couch while drinking cider, she sat on the couch and looked at a paper on the table that contained her family tree. Kinkaku sat and read her family history, she saw her first two ancestors were a stallion named Argenti and a mare named Aurum, Argenti had a dark gray coat, short black mane, and light gray eyes, and Aurum had a bright yellow coat, long dark orange mane, and yellow eyes, she read that Argenti and Aurum were twins with Argenti as the older twin, the two were farmers in the earth pony tribe, the two disliked the other two tribes, so they began a conquest and began attacking and destroying unicorn and Pegasus based areas and earth ponies settled in, the two continued until the unicorns one day had enough and cast a spell on them, it cursed them with them and their family being unable to pass to the afterlife after death, and are forced to stay in Equestria for all eternity. Kinkaku looked at the next generation, she saw a stallion named Silver Sword and a mare named Golden Sword, Silver Sword and Golden Sword looked the same, they both had long manes, only their colors were different, Silver Sword was all silver while Golden Sword was all gold,

"Ugh!" Kinkaku said as she saw how her family created children, she continued to read and read that Silver Sword and Golden Sword fought Aurum and Argenti and killed them in battle, the two atoned for what they did but were never accepted. Kinkaku yawned and looked at the next generation, she only saw the names Gray Stallion, Silver Horse, and Yellow Lightning before falling asleep and fell onto the floor. Kinkaku snored while she laid on the floor,

"Hey." Ginkaku said,

"Huh?" Kinkaku asked as she opened her eyes,

"I figured you would fall asleep, finish reading our family's history, I highlighted the interesting parts for you." Ginkaku said, and he walked away, Kinkaku looked and saw the parts in yellow highlight, she read the first part, it was on a stallion named Gin and a mare named Kin, Gin had a light gray coat, black mane, and black eyes, and Kin had a light yellow coat, dark orange mane, and dark orange eyes, she read and Gin was a brute and bully who beat up others with his strength while Kin played on others' feelings and made them break, the two were imprisoned when they turned eighteen and remained there for the rest of their lives. Kinkaku read the next highlighted part about a stallion named Silver King, he had a gray coat, light silver mane, and black eyes, she read that he was a battle strategist and known for being a cruel pony, she browsed over it and went to the next highlighted part, it was about a mare named Golden Queen, she had a yellow coat, dark gold mane, and orange eyes, she read that Golden Queen was a mad magic user who tried to create spells that violated the laws of magic, Kinkaku looked at the rest of the highlighted parts and decided to take a break, she put the sheet of paper down and walked outside.

Kinkaku arrived outside and began to swing her sabre around,

"And there she goes! With her swift and elegant slashes, she brought the dragon down to its knees. Everypony looked on in awe at her grace and beauty in combat. The knight STRUCK the dragon and he never terrorized the village ever again. The knight in golden shining armor took her place as the captain of the Equestrian guard and..." Kinkaku said,

"Lost her armor and got fired on her first day." Ginkaku from inside the house, Kinkaku exclaimed and looked at the house with disapproval since he messed her up, she sighed and tended the farm since she could not remember where she was at. Kinkaku watered the plants and picked whatever vegetables that were already ripe, a bright glow appeared under the house and Kinkaku ran into the house. Kinkaku ran into the home and the bright white glow disappeared, she heard Ginkaku panting heavily under the house, she ran to him, he came up while sweating and his mane was unkempt,

"Big brother? You okay?" Kinkaku asked,

"That gate that contains our ancestors has to stay closed." Ginkaku said while trembling,

"What do you mean? What was in there?" Kinkaku asked,

"It's pitch black, full of our ancestors, they tried to attack me." Ginkaku replied,

"I wanna see." Kinkaku said,

"No, I barely escaped on my own, I almost got sucked in." Ginkaku replied,

"I wanna see." Kinkaku said,

"No, it's too dangerous." Ginkaku replied, and he panted a bit more, Kinkaku saw how tired and scared Ginkaku was,

"Well, judging by the way you look, big brother, I'm going to have to assume you're right, come on, relax, I'll cook you a meal." Kinkaku said, and he sat.

Kinkaku cooked the vegetables and Ginkaku sat at the table and meditated, Kinkaku finished cooking after twenty minutes and walked to Ginkaku,

"It's ready." Kinkaku said as she put the food on the table, Ginkaku smelled the food and its scent was putrid,

"What spoiled vegetables are you serving me this time?" Ginkaku asked,

"Hey! I put all of my love and all of my heart into that dish." Kinkaku replied,

"Well, your love and heart have rotted it." Ginkaku said, Kinkaku seethed and growled while her face turned red, Ginkaku tried to eat and swallow Kinkaku's cooking, he struggled but finished the meal,

"I'm done, Kinkaku." Ginkaku said,

"No, you do the dishes." Kinkaku replied, and Ginkaku carried the dish into the kitchen and washed it.

A year passed and Kinkaku and Ginkaku were selling their vegetables that they grew, Kinkaku yawned and almost fell asleep while Ginkaku watched and waited, customers came quite often,

"Here, go on and take it, don't want my sister making another burned and spoiled meal." Ginkaku said,

"Hey!" Kinkaku said,

"Anyway, price for each vegetable is five bits." Ginkaku said, and the ponies bought them and the two began paying the house bills.

Another year passed and Ginkaku was still uneasy thinking about what he saw through the gate, Kinkaku saw him sitting at the table in the kitchen and walked to him,

"Ginkaku." Kinkaku said as she walked to him, Ginkaku looked at her,

"I think it's time you told me what was inside that gate." Kinkaku said,

"I'm not comfortable looking back." Ginkaku replied,

"Come on, big brother, I think I have a right to know." Kinkaku said, Ginkaku froze in place and became speechless,

"Come on, Ginkaku, tell me, it's my family, too." Kinkaku said in a very annoyed tone, Ginkaku still remained frozen in place and did not speak,

"Oh, fine, I'll go take a look, myself." Kinkaku said, and she got her sabre and put her armor on and headed into the basement. Kinkaku entered the basement and went to the gate, she sighed and stuck her sabre between the two doors, they opened and a bright white light came out, Kinkaku looked and saw the spirits of her dead family members, she saw them fighting one another and torturing the weak willed family members, she also heard screams of agony and tried to block them out. Kinkaku's vision adjusted and she saw skeleton ponies laying everywhere, her ancestors grabbed her and tried to pull her in, Kinkaku screamed and tried to fend them off with her sabre. Kinkaku swung her sabre around and the ponies winced in pain when they got hit, Kinkaku continued to get pulled in by an invisible force until Ginkaku grabbed her and pulled her out, the souls escaped in the process and entered the world of the living,

"I told you not to open the gate." Ginkaku said,

"I'm sorry, Ginkaku, I really wanted to see what was in there." Kinkaku replied,

"And you unleashed the souls." Golden Light said, Kinkaku turned around and saw her and Gray Silver walking to them,

"First, our son, now, our daughter, both of you are idiots." Gray Silver said,

"Hey! I wanted to see what was inside." Kinkaku said,

"I was curious as well." Ginkaku said,

"Well, look at what your curiosities did, you two are on your own, undo what you two did, you brought them out, you destroy them, especially you, Kinkaku." Golden Light replied, and she and Gray Silver walked away.

Kinkaku and Ginkaku walked to the kitchen and Kinkaku sat at the table with her head down and her front hoofs around her head,

"What have I done?" Kinkaku asked,

"It's not your fault, Kinkaku, I was curious as well." Ginkaku replied,

"But they got out because of me." Kinkaku said,

"And you went in because I went in, and you wanted to see what was there, so part of it's my fault, too." Ginkaku replied, Kinkaku looked to her left and at her brother,

"We are free at last, now, to conquer all of Equestria." a female voice said outside, Kinkaku and Ginkaku looked out a window and saw Argenti, Aurum, Gin, Kin, Silver King, and Golden Queen,

"Our time is now, we shall all now go out and conquer Equestria, and remember, our family values individual willpower, not friendship, so we all act individually." Aurum said, they cheered and their turned into mist and floated away,

"Well, I guess three for each." Ginkaku said, Kinkaku nodded in agreement,

"I'll handle the girls, I leave the guys to you." Kinkaku said,

"Alright, let's go." Ginkaku replied, and the two went outside. Kinkaku and Ginkaku looked around and wondered where their targets were, they heard screaming in the town and ran there. Kinkaku and Ginkaku ran to the town and saw ponies being attacked and everything being destroyed,

"What is going on?" a mare asked,

"Everything just destroyed on their own." a stallion said, Kinkaku and Ginkaku realized the others could not see the ghosts,

"Alright, that's enough, onto the next area." Golden Queen said,

"No way, I wanna cause more destruction." Gin said,

"Me too, I wanna see more tears fall." Kin said,

"Alright, go on, then, just make sure you two catch up later." Silver King replied, and the two floated away. Gin begun punching other ponies and they exclaimed as they fell,

"You shouldn't love her, she's garbage and is full of crud, you should tell her that she'd have better luck dating a tree." Kin said to a stallion,

"I can't do it!" the stallion said and he ran away crying. Kinkaku walked to Kin while Ginkaku went to Gin,

"Well, well, well, well, well. The next wielder of the sabre, I was a better sword fighter than you ever were." Kin said,

"Oh, really? I'd want you to prove it." Kinkaku said, and Kin unsheathed her sabre,

"En garde." Kin said, and Kinkaku took out her sabre. Kinkaku stepped around on her hind hoofs methodically while she watched Kin do the same thing,

"Come on, rookie, I'm not scared of you." Kin said, and Kinkaku tried to slash Kin, she jumped back and then dashed forward and tried to stab her sabre into Kinkaku's abdomen, Kinkaku blocked it with her sabre and the two entered a deadlock, the two tried to overpower one another while they growled at one another. A gold aura appeared around Kin's sabre and Kinkaku felt Kin's sabre pushing against hers harder,

"What?" Kinkaku asked, Kin swung her sabre and knocked the sabre out of Kinkaku's hoof, she did a horizontal slash and Kinkaku jumped back, but the tip of the sabre still cut her abdomen, Kinkaku exclaimed in pain and there was black smoke coming out of the wound,

"Don't tell me you didn't know that willpower makes your weapon stronger, you really are a pathetic loser, do you even have any willpower, or do you rely on friendship to get you out of sticky situations because you're too mentally fragile to handle problems on your own?" Kin asked, Kinkaku growled, she ran to get her sabre but Kin teleported to it and got it first. Kin begun thrusting the two sabres forward while laughing, Kinkaku moved to her sides and backwards to dodge the sabres,

"You're a pathetic successor to me." Kin said, Kinkaku continued dodging while sweating and panting, she soon grabbed Kin's front left hoof and went to Kin's left blind spot and wrestled her sabre back. the two hit each other's sabre and Kinkaku saw Ginkaku and Gin fighting one another out of the corner of her left eye, she saw the two swing their swords around and there were silver auras around their swords, the two entered a deadlock and Ginkaku focused while Gin chuckled with a smile on his face, Kinkaku is slashed from behind and she screams when she felt the cut across the back of her hind knees,

"Stupid girl, distracted over something so trivial, you could use some discipline on that as well." Kin said, Kinkaku growled a little and lunged towards her while letting out a snarl, Kin jumped back but Kinkaku slashed her chest with the tip of her sabre, Kin screamed in pain from the slash,

"It hurts." Kin said, Kinkaku's sabre had a gold aura appear around it,

"Wait, your willpower went up? How?" Kin asked,

"I'm tired of your rambling, I'm now determined to silence you." Kinkaku replied, and Kin focused and tried to slash Kinkaku diagonally, the two entered a deadlock and they tried to overpower one another. Kinkaku focused and her determination to win grew, the gold aura glowed brighter and she let out a grunt and hit Kin's sabre out of her hoof, she slashed her and Kin screamed while she caught on fire, the gold flames engulfed her until she disappeared, her sabre also disappeared. Kinkaku looked and saw Ginkaku do a horizontal slash on Gin, silver flames engulfed him and he screamed until he disappeared, he walked over to Kinkaku,

"You alright?" Kinkaku asked,

"Yeah, Gin proved to be a bit tough." Ginkaku replied,

"What now?" Kinkaku asked,

"We need to find a way to track down the others." Ginkaku replied,

"How?" Kinkaku asked, their swords glowed and it shot out beams at where the other four were at,

"Let's go." Ginkaku said, and the two headed north.

Kinkaku and Ginkaku walked together and kept their guards up,

"What do you think of hunting down our family members, Ginkaku?" Kinkaku asked,

"It's our duty to prevent them from destroying Equestria, so it has to be done." Ginkaku replied,

"Well, I do wonder what we should do with that gate after we destroy them." Kinkaku said,

"Maybe I'll lock you in there so you don't torment Equestria while you're alive." Ginkaku replied,

"Hey!" Kinkaku said,

"Relax, of course I wouldn't do that, but I don't know what to do with the gate, either." Ginkaku said,

"Maybe we'll just leave it." Kinkaku said,

"Probably have to, there's not much we can do, anyway." Ginkaku replied, and the two kept walking through the woods. Ginkaku and Kinkaku walked through the woods and Kinkaku began to pant and sweat,

"You never did train much after mom and dad died." Ginkaku said,

"Yeah, I have to use the bathroom, too." Kinkaku replied, Ginkaku looked at the sun and saw it was setting,

"It's almost dark, we'll have to rest soon, just hang in there a little longer, Kinkaku." Ginkaku said,

"Okay." Kinkaku replied, and Kinkaku panted as she walked slowly. The sun set and Kinkaku and Ginkaku rested a bit, the two sat together,

"Ginkaku." Kinkaku said, Ginkaku looked at her,

"What do you want to do with your life?" Kinkaku asked,

"I haven't thought about it, I just work on the family farm as a living." Ginkaku replied,

"Really? I want to be an actress." Kinkaku said,

"That'll be the day." Ginkaku replied,

"Ginkaku, I'm serious, I want to be a theater actress." Kinkaku said,

"You would have a bigger audience in the cemetery than on the stage." Ginkaku replied,

"Is my acting really that bad?" Kinkaku asked,

"Your voice can use some work." Ginkaku replied,

"I am working on it, *yawn* I need to rest, goodnight, big brother." Kinkaku said,

"Goodnight." Ginkaku replied, and Kinkaku fell asleep. Kinkaku woke up the next morning and yawned, she saw Ginkaku was nowhere to be found,

"Ginkaku?" Kinkaku asked, she heard walking and quickly unsheathed her sabre, but she saw Ginkaku emerge,

"Don't wander off without me." Kinkaku said,

"I didn't, I'm just gathering things to eat." Ginkaku replied, and Kinkaku saw the plants and berries,

"You sure these are okay to eat?" Kinkaku asked,

"Yes, I remember my teachers talking about them, it's probably the only thing I remember from class." Ginkaku replied, the two ate the plants and berries,

"Bleh! These taste horrible!" Kinkaku said,

"It's better than nothing." Ginkaku replied, and the two endured the bitter and sour tastes and stood up, their swords still glowed,

"You ready?" Ginkaku asked,

"Yeah, let's go." Kinkaku replied, and the two walked together. Kinkaku and Ginkaku walked through the forest and their swords glowed brighter as they walked through the forest,

"How much more?" Kinkaku asked,

"I don't know." Ginkaku replied, and the two kept walking, they soon made it out of the forest,

"Oh, a clearing already? That was fast." Kinkaku said,

"Let's keep going, we still have a ways to go." Ginkaku replied, and they walked together. Kinkaku and Ginkaku walked and their swords glowed brightly, they looked forward and saw a building up ahead,

"I don't recall that being there." Kinkaku said,

"How? We never traveled out here before." Ginkaku replied,

"Yeah, but I think we would've saw it from back there." Kinkaku said,

"You might be right, well, we should examine it a bit." Ginkaku replied, and the two went to the building. Kinkaku and Ginkaku entered the building and saw many stone-cut statues of ponies, the stallions were to the left while the mares were to the right,

"It looks like our ancestors." Ginkaku said,

"Wow, I didn't know we had so many." Kinkaku said,

"That's because you didn't read our family tree." Ginkaku replied,

"It was boring." Kinkaku said, her sabre glowed brightly while Ginkaku's broadsword glowed a little dim, he looked to his left and his sword glowed brighter, he walked forward and saw a doorway,

"My target's this way." Ginkaku said,

"Okay, good luck." Kinkaku replied, and Ginkaku left the room. Kinkaku walked forward and the lights went out,

"What the?" Kinkaku asked, a spotlight appeared and Golden Queen was in it,

"Well, well, well, well, well. Look who is here, the current wielder of thy sabre, she may have friendship, but does she have the willpower to win against me?" Golden Queen asked, the spotlight turned off and one appeared on Kinkaku,

"Oh, I know that I do, I have slashed and destroyed the one named Kin, for her form was DESTROYED by the sharpness of my blade." Kinkaku said, the spotlight turned off and appeared on Golden Queen, she had unicorn horns around her,

"Yes, but Kin was but a FOOL!! She only understood willpower and not... actual... magic, magic that the unicorns have, magic that can bring together the unicorns, Pegasi, and earth ponies and form a land called Equestria. I... need... that... POWER... so... I... can... EVOLVE!!" Golden Queen said as thunder appeared when she shouted, the spotlight turned off and appeared on Kinkaku, she was sitting with her hind legs crossed,

"What is this? A pony in my family tree unsure of her own strength? 'Tis UNACCEPTABLE, for I have trained and fought ever since I was a filly to be where I stand now, confident in my own abilities, and do not need the magic of unicorns to hide my insecurity of weakness." Kinkaku said, the spotlight turned off and it appeared on Golden Queen,

"*gasp* How dare you! You insult my abilities as a sword fighter when you yourself uses one as dull as a straight palette knife! I am an ACCOMPLISHED sword fighter, and only using magic to IMPROVE what already masterful skills! I! Will! Show! You! That! I! Am! SUPERIOR!!" Golden Queen said as she swung her sabre around at the end and stabbed it into the floor as she said the last word, it broke part of the floor and sent debris flying, the spotlight turned off and then appeared on Kinkaku, who had her sabre unsheathed,

"Well! Let me say that it is an honor for me to be here, in all of the land and history of Equestria, to meet a person as delusional as you, and to slash you with my sabre and knock your head back into reality." Kinkaku said, and she got ready to fight Golden Queen.

Golden Queen made the gold aura appear around her sabre and Kinkaku made the gold aura appear around her sabre, Golden Light stabbed her sabre a few times and it made the unicorn horns around her shoot beams out,

"What the?" Kinkaku asked,

"I found a way to make the severed horns obey my sword through enchanting them through magical artifacts, something your feeble mind will never understand." Golden Queen said, and she swung her sabre around and made beams shoot out of the horns in the same directions she swung her sabre. Kinkaku turned her body left and right to dodge the horn beams, they stopped and Kinkaku ran to Golden Queen and tried to slash her, but she blocked Kinkaku's sabre with her own and the horns made a shield appear around her, Kinkaku tried to slash through the shield but could not, Kinkaku growled while she caught her breath. Golden Queen held her sabre up and the unicorn horns began flying around in the air, they flew around Kinkaku in a spherical pattern and they began shooting zaps at Kinkaku, she grunted and fell from each hit, she growled as she got up. Kinkaku lunged herself towards Golden Queen and tried to slash her with her sabre, but Golden Queen blocked it again, a unicorn horn to Kinkaku's left shot a zap and Kinkaku and she grunted as she was shot away. Kinkaku growled loudly as she stood up, she looked at the horns flying around her and she tried to slash them with her sabre, but they moved away from her when she tried to hit them, she growled, the gold aura on her sabre glowed brighter. Golden Queen commanded the horns with her sabre and they moved around Kinkaku and began shooting at her multiple times, Kinkaku spun around while holding her sabre out, a gold wave came out of her sabre and it went out,

"What?!" Golden Queen asked, the gold wave hit her unicorn horns and disintegrated them. Golden Queen growled and the gold aura on her sabre glowed brighter, she did two diagonal slashes, a horizontal slash from her right to her left, and vertical slash that went down, Kinkaku jumped to her left and got on her stomach and dodged all four waves, Golden Queen did another horizontal slash while she faced downwards and sent a gold wave at Kinkaku, she jumped and dodged it, she did a horizontal slash while in midair and sent a wave at Golden Queen, she got on her stomach and dodged it. Kinkaku landed on the floor and Golden Queen stood up and jumped, she spun counterclockwise in the air and swung her sabre around, several circular gold waves came out and Kinkaku jumped back while the gold waves cut the floor and walls, Kinkaku saw an opening when Golden Queen landed and she did a diagonal slash and the wave hit the left side of Golden Queen's neck and her face, the wave burned her and she screamed, she growled and her sabre's aura glowed even brighter. Golden Queen swung her sabre diagonally as fast as she could and sent out gold flames, Kinkaku got on her stomach and waited for Golden Queen to stop, she stopped after ten seconds and panted, Kinkaku slashed her sabre vertically and the wave hit Golden Queen, she screamed and almost fell, she panted and tried to move, Kinkaku rolled her eyes and stood up, she ran to her and slashed her chest with her sabre, Golden Queen screamed and fell to the floor.

Golden Queen looked up and saw Kinkaku walking to her,

"NOOOOOOOO!! How can this BEEEEEE?! My magic! My research! Gone! Is friendship really magic rather than willpower?!" Golden Queen asked,

"'Tis not friendship that made me won, it was my willpower and determination to win, and my pride of my heritage, the sun, moon, and stars are smiling upon my victory." Kinkaku said,

"How? How is your willpower stronger than mine?!" Golden Queen asked,

"You wanna know? Train harder and experience more failures." Kinkaku replied, and she slashed Golden Queen's neck, gold flames began to engulf her,

"NOOOOOOO!!" Golden Queen said, and she disappeared,

"And the rest is silence." Kinkaku said, and she sheathed her sabre.

Kinkaku walked to the doorway to her left and saw a trapdoor to her right, she heard the door in front of her open and Ginkaku came out while panting,

"Ginkaku! You okay?" Kinkaku asked,

"Yeah, Silver King was in that room, I just beat him." Ginkaku replied,

"I just beat Golden Queen, she somehow was able to command unicorn horns with her sword." Kinkaku said,

"That's weird, Silver King put some shards of his sword into the back of pony heads, and he was able to mind control them." Ginkaku replied,

"What? Golden Queen achieved control over the unicorn horns by using magic artifacts." Kinkaku said,

"We'll worry about those later, let's look for our last targets." Ginkaku replied, and their swords glowed again, they looked to the trapdoor and their swords glowed brighter,

"I guess they're down there." Kinkaku said, a gold flame flew out of the room Kinkaku was just in and a silver flame came out of the room Ginkaku was just in, they go to the trapdoor and the left half of it became silver while the right half became gold, the trapdoor opened on its own,

"Let's go." Ginkaku said, and they went down the trapdoor. Kinkaku and Ginkaku went downstars and entered a swamp of black tar, Kinkaku exclaimed while she and Ginkaku got stuck and had to walk slowly, the two pushed forward through the swamp and they struggled with each step,

"*pant* *pant* Ginkaku... how much longer?" Kinkaku asked,

"I don't know." Ginkaku replied, and the two kept walking forward. Kinkaku and Ginkaku pushed through the swamp and Kinkaku panted while Ginkaku looked back, she was about to fall over, but Ginkaku grabbed her and put her on his back, he walked through the swamps while Kinkaku panted,

"Thanks, big brother, I do wish mom and dad could've told us about this." Kinkaku said,

"I don't think they predicted us going through something like this, I'm losing my energy, too." Ginkaku replied,

"What do you want to do after we get out of here?" Kinkaku asked,

"Well, I hope we can find some solid ground and rest, my hoofs feel stuck in this water." Ginkaku replied,

"Okay, I'm going to try to rest, let me know when you get tired." Kinkaku said,

"Alright." Ginkaku replied, and Kinkaku rested her eyes while Ginkaku walked through the swamp. Kinkaku opened her eyes and heard Ginkaku grunting, he walked through the swamp slowly and fell to his knees, Kinkaku got off of his back and let him grab her back, he got on her back and Kinkaku grunted loudly,

"You're really heavy, Ginkaku." Kinkaku said,

"Sorry about that, my sword's bigger than yours, and my armor is heavy, yours is light." Ginkaku replied, Kinkaku sighed and walked through the swamp. Kinkaku grunted and sweated as she walked since Ginkaku's sword and armor were heavy, she pushed through while Ginkaku caught his breath,

"How are you feeling, Kinkaku?" Ginkaku asked,

"Not all of my energy's back, but I can push through a bit." Kinkaku replied, and she walked through the swamp while she grunted since it was thick and dense to walk through, she walked a bit and panted heavily after about a minute, she fell to her knees and panted heavily,

"Want me off?" Ginkaku asked,

"Yes, please." Kinkaku replied, and Ginkaku got off her back and the two rested in the swamp. Kinkaku and Ginkaku caught their breaths and panted as they recovered,

"How much more, Ginkaku?" Kinkaku asked, Ginkaku looked forward,

"I don't know." Ginkaku replied, and Kinkaku looked forward and saw nothing but more swamp, Kinkaku groaned and looked down, Ginkaku stood up,

"How are you feeling?" Ginkaku asked,

"I need to rest a little longer." Kinkaku replied, and Ginkaku waited, Kinkaku stood up a few seconds later and the two walked together. Kinkaku and Ginkaku pushed themselves through the swamp and they saw a light up ahead,

"Is that it? Is that it?!" Kinkaku asked, the two walked together and saw solid ground,

"*gasp* It is!" Kinkaku said happily, she and Ginkaku pushed themselves to walk faster and made it out of the swamp,

"Oh, thank you, I'm never going into a swamp ever again." Kinkaku said and she then began kissing the ground, their swords glowed and they saw Argenti and Aurum up ahead,

"Let's rest, we should catch our breaths before we confront them." Ginkaku said, Kinkaku nodded and the two sat together and soon fell asleep. Kinkaku slept a bit and woke up, she yawned and stretched and saw Ginkaku meditating, he opened his eyes and looked at her,

"You're finally awake." Ginkaku said,

"When did you wake up?" Kinkaku asked,

"Long before you did." Ginkaku replied, Kinkaku stretched a bit,

"You ready?" Ginkaku asked, Kinkaku stretched a little more,

"Yeah." Kinkaku replied, and she went to confront Aurum while Ginkaku went to Argenti. Aurum was looking at a map of Equestria and deciding where to attack next, she heard walking behind her and saw Kinkaku coming,

"So, you've made it this far, I thought Kin and Golden Queen would be too hard for you." Aurum said,

"They were tough, but I managed to beat them." Kinkaku replied, Aurum glared and summoned her sabre in her front right hoof, a gold aura appeared around it,

"No speech like Golden Queen?" Kinkaku asked,

"Golden Queen was a time waster, and Kin was an idiot, I'll just deal with you, myself." Aurum replied, and she pointed her sabre at Kinkaku.

Aurum swung her sabre three times and sent three gold waves after Kinkaku, Kinkaku stepped to her right to dodge the first two waves and rolled to her left to dodge the third one, Kinkaku got on her hoofs and lunged towards Aurum, she tried to slash her with her sabre but Aurum moved to her sides and dodged each hit easily, Kinkaku tried to do a horizontal slash to Aurum's neck, but she ducked and slashed Kinkaku across her chest, Kinkaku tried to do a diagonal slash downwards from her right shoulder to her left side, Aurum stepped to Kinkaku's left blind spot and tried to stab her sabre into the left side of Kinkaku's head, Kinkaku ducked and faced Aurum, she tried to stab her sabre into her heart, Aurum turned ninety degrees to her left and then slashed Kinkaku's spine, she grunted loudly,

"How? It's almost like she knows my every move." Kinkaku said,

"Don't you remember? I'm the one who came up with the sabre fighting style, so I know all of its strengths and weaknesses." Aurum said, Kinkaku focused and watched Aurum. Aurum stabbed the ground with her sabre and sent five gold waves out that cut the ground, they homed on Kinkaku and she jumped back, the waves continued to go to her and they hit her and exploded on impact, Kinkaku grunted from the hit, Aurum did more slashes with her sabre and sent more waves out. Kinkaku got ready to dodge them but she saw the waves change trajectory in midair and homed on her, they cut Kinkaku and she screamed as she fell. Kinkaku growled and stood up while looking at Aurum angrily, her sabre's aura glowed brighter, she tried to slash Aurum and she moved to her sides and did a back flip to dodge the last wave Kinkaku sent out by doing a horizontal slash, Kinkaku growled and her sabre's aura glowed brighter, she did more slashes and Aurum began running around. The waves from Kinkaku's sabre began homing on Aurum, she jumped over one and spun counterclockwise in midair, Aurum held her sabre out and sent out circular waves, Kinkaku grunted as the waves hit her and cut the one-piece suit she wore under her armor. Aurum propelled herself into the air with her hind legs and was about to stab her sabre into Kinkaku's head, she jumped back and dodged it. Aurum jumped and did a back flip and sent out a vertical wave to Kinkaku, she ran around while the wave homed on her, Aurum slashed her front right leg from Kinkaku's right blind spot, she gruntted loudly and fell, the wave then hit her and Kinkaku screamed as it cut her. Kinkaku panted and tried to stand up, but Aurum stomped onto the back of Kinkaku's head with her front left leg, she fell and Aurum got ready to stab her sabre into Kinkaku's head, Kinkaku rolled over and blocked her sabre with her own, Kinkaku and Aurum get into a deadlock and Kinkaku forced the sabre out of Aurum's hoof and stood up. Kinkaku panted and smiled under her helmet,

"I won." Kinkaku said, Aurum punched her in her left cheek with her front right hoof, Kinkaku grunted and fell,

"No, you haven't, that's one thing that made me mad about you and my descendants, while you all practice with the sword, none of you practice hoof-to-hoof combat." Aurum said, Kinkaku stood up and got ready to fight while Aurum reeled up on her hind legs and raised her front legs over her own face. Kinkaku readied her sabre and tried to slash Aurum, she ducked under the horizontal slash and then rose up and punched Kinkaku's helmet with her front left hoof, Kinkaku tried to do a diagonal slash from her left shoulder to her right side, Aurum went to her right and ducked under the wave and punched Kinkaku in her heart with her front right hoof, Kinkaku exhaled sharply for a brief second through her snout, Aurum grabbed Kinkaku's shoulders and moved her down, she hit Kinkaku in her abdomen with her hind right knee, Kinkaku grunted and the aura around her sabre glowed brighter. Kinkaku hit Aurum in her face with the handle of sabre and Aurum grunted, Kinkaku did slashes with her sabre and gold fire came out instead of gold waves, they homed on Aurum and she ran around to outrun them, she grabbed Kinkaku's sabre and tried to snatch it from her. Kinkaku wrestled with Aurum to have the sabre, Kinkaku got on her back and kicked Aurum in the face with her hind legs, Aurum landed on her feet and Kinkaku got up. Aurum ran to Kinkaku and jumped again, she does a spinning kick with her hind left leg while in midair, Kinkaku jumped back and Aurum landed on the ground, Aurum did a somersault while jumping into the air again, she unfolded her body and was about to hit Kinkaku with the back of her right hind hoof, Kinkaku did a horizontal slash and the gold fire hit Aurum, she screamed and fell to the ground while on fire, she stood up and lunged towards Kinkaku while snarling and Kinkaku slashed her throat on impulse, but she still grabbed Kinkaku's neck and began to strangle her while growling. Kinkaku tried to grab her sabre but it was out of her reach, so she began punching Aurum in the face with her front hoofs, Aurum continued to strangle Kinkaku and would not let go, so Kinkaku moved her left hind leg up and kicked Aurum in the abdomen, she grunted and fell on Kinkaku. Kinkaku rolls over while panting, she reached for her sabre and grabbed it, she slashed Aurum across her forehead and more gold flames engulfed her, she screamed and disappeared.

Kinkaku fell to the ground and panted heavily, she sweated and she heard sword clashes to her left, she realized Ginkaku and Argenti were still fighting, she heard a scream and somepony disappearing, she heard walking and saw Ginkaku come to her, he was panting heavily,

"Oh, good, you won, too, I was worried you lost." Ginkaku said,

"I just won my battle." Kinkaku replied,

"Me too." Ginkaku said, Kinkaku smiled,

"Come on, let's rest." Ginkaku said, and the two did. Kinkaku and Ginkaku slept and recovered their energies, they woke up and yawned and stretched, the two went through the swamp again and rested when they got tired, they got out of the swamp and left the building, they looked and it disappeared,

"Let's go under the house." Kinkaku said, Ginkaku nodded and the two headed home. Kinkaku and Ginkaku went under their home and Golden Light and Gray Silver glared at them,

"You idiots, part of Equestria got damaged by our ancestors, you two are lucky you two stopped them before they did any real damage." Golden Light said,

"What's going to happen now?" Kinkaku asked,

"We'll remain in the gate, those six souls are gone forever, don't open the gate again." Gray Silver replied,

"Do you want us to have children?" Ginkaku asked,

"That is your choice, we won't force you two, goodbye now." Golden Light replied, and the two walked into the gate and it closed,

"Let's not have any kids." Ginkaku said,

"Good idea, it might create more bad ponies, let's make us two the last of our bloodline." Kinkaku replied, and the two walked away.

---

Doctor Whooves and Kinkaku sat across from one another,

"I was fine with what happened af first, but after a week, I began having nightmares about my experiences, so Ginkaku suggested that I see you." Kinkaku said,

"Well, it's good you came now instead of after your nightmares developed, that is all the time I have today, price is ten bits." Doctor Whooves replied, and Kinkaku paid him and she put her outfit back on and left.

Kinkaku arrived outside while putting her helmet on and looked around, she heard Rarity scream to her right and looked, Rarity dashed to her,

"What is this ridiculous outfit?!" Rarity asked,

"It's armor passed down throughout my family." Kinkaku replied,

"Family outfit? It looks like a skeleton, you should wear a different outfit, if you don't have one, come to my shop, and I'll get you something more fashionable." Rarity said, and she left, Kinkaku sighed and walked home.