A powerful sword falls into the hooves of a young fencing student
Princess Celestia summons the Mane 6 to track down a powerful sword that could spell the end of Equestria. Meanwhile, a young fencing prodigy uncovers an unknown relic in his fathers collection...
Celestia paced nervously around the entrance hall of the palace. She hadn’t been this nervous since the last time she had called on Twilight Sparkle and her friends, when Discord returned. She hoped her message hadn’t gotten Twilight or her friends worried. She had tried to send a calm, casual sounding letter to her faithful student, despite the grave danger they were all in. But when Twilight and her arrived, the princess could see that they were clearly worried anyway.
Twilight could see that the princess was also worried about something. The letter had sounded urgent enough, but the look in the princess’s eyes made Twilight certain that something was up.
“Princess Celestia,” Twilight addressed the white alicorn. “We came as soon as we got your letter. What’s going on? Is someone in danger?”
The princess motioned for the six friends to follow her. “All of Equestria may be in danger. A young colt in Ponyville, a fencing student by the name of Sabre, has recently come into possession of a very powerful weapon called the Sword of Discord. According to legend, the Sword of Discord is supposed to have the power to both summon and defeat Discord. It should have never fallen into his possession. Whenever he feels challenged, the sword fills him with a powerful combat rage that makes him a very formidable opponent, and he is too young to know how to properly control that kind of power. He has already bested two royal guard stallions single handedly.”
Celestia then gave the six friends their Elements of Harmony. “I have placed a temporary enchantment on your elements that should give you the combat skills necessary to defeat Sabre before the power of the sword overwhelms him. Now you will each need to choose a sword of your own.” Celestia used her magic to open a large wooden cabinet. Inside was a selection of fine swords.
Twilight chose a simple, basic, mid evil style sword. Rainbow Dash chose a similar sword, but hers lacked the cross-guard. Pinkie Pie chose a sword with blades on both ends of the handle that could detach and become two separate swords. Rarity chose a black katana because it looked “elegant” to her. Applejack took the long, heavy sword because it took all of the strength she had gained working on the farm to lift it. Fluttershy had chosen a simple, grey cutlass.
"One last word of advice," Celestia addressed the group a final time, "Only use your swords as a last resort. Do not engage in combat unless he challenges you first. He is a vary well trained fencing student, and he will most likely rely to his training in order to defeat you. But he is also very adaptable, especially with the powers of the sword. If you must fight him, fight with great caution."
"It may be best if we travel in pairs," Applejack proposed. "That way, it'll be two to one and that might convince him not to fight us."
"But what if being outnumbered only compels him to attack?" Rainbow Dash objected. "If we go alone, maybe he won't feel as threatened."
"I like Applejack's idea better," Fluttershy said softly. All the talk about fighting was obviously getting to her.
"Both are really good ideas," Twilight said. "I think that some of us should go together and then split up later so that we can fan out and cover more ground." AJ and Rainbow both nodded in agreement.
Applejack then turned to look at Fluttershy, who was obviously very nervous. "Y'all can come with me if you want."
With their plan in place the six friends, armed with their Elements of Harmony and their swords, then decided to split up and try to locate Sabre and the Sword of Discord.
Sabre looked at the sword. The sword appeared to be looking at Sabre. From it's place on the wall, the blade's sheath shone and made it seem as if there were two yellow eyes staring out at whatever happened to be in the room. Sabre wasn't sure why, but for one reason or another the sword captured him. He could almost feel it calling out to him. It had started out as a soft whisper, but it was steadily growing into a strangely familiar sounding call. Saber could swear he had heard that voice before.
The voice was telling him to take the sword to Canterlot. And without a second thought he stood up, removed the sword from the wall, and strapped it onto his belt. He didn't know what was telling him to go to Canterlot, but being the superstitious person he was he didn't want to risk being cursed or haunted because of the sword. It had just appeared one day in his father's collection of artifacts and Sabre was pretty sure that it wasn't there before. Wherever it had come from, it seemed that taking it to Canterlot was the best option.
Just as Sabre opened his door to leave, he saw a bright flash of purple light. When the light went away the figure standing in front of him was someone instantly recognizable to any citizen of Ponyville: Princess Celestia's faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. Her sudden appearance wasn't especially startling to Sabre. What was surprising was that she was carrying... a sword. It was a simple sword very much like his own, but with a slightly shorter blade and no jewels adorning the sheath. Suddenly, she spoke.
"Sabre," Twilight began, "by royal decree of Princess Celestia I must ask that you hand over the Sword of Discord to me so that it may be returned the royal archives where it belongs." The heavy tone of her voice made her mission seem that much more serious.
Suddenly, Sabre heard the sword at his side speak to him again. "Don't listen to her," the sword would say. "She just wants to prevent you from returning the sword and lifting your curse. You don't want to be hearing voices forever, do you?"
As if by instinct, Sabre answered both Twilight and the voice by drawing his sword and simply saying the word, "No." Suddenly, an unknown force began to creep into his body, giving him the urge to attack. It was only by sheer willpower that he didn't.
"I do not want to fight you," Twilight said drawing her sword. "But I will if I must." Sabre could feel himself becoming completely engulfed by the power, which seemed to flow from the sword in his hand. It soon began to cloud his mind. His logic and reasoning were thrown out, and a carnal rage took over. Soon every fiber of his being was ready for a fight. It didn't help that Twilight drawing her sword was translated as an invitation. A battle was inevitable.
The tension was so strong, you could have reached out and touched it. Both Sabre and Twilight had their swords drawn and were staring each other down. Twilight knew that Sabre hadn't tapped into the sword's power yet, which meant there was still a chance to get him to back down. Bit when she looked into his eyes, it was like there was nothing there. His eyes seemed empty. He just stood there, motionlessly. Then, as if out of nowhere, his eyes turned a bright fiery orange. He lunged at screaming at Twilight. Twilight had barely managed to dodge when Sabre turned around to attack again. Twilight barely was able to block.
At the same time, Sabre didn't even know what was happening to him. Or to Twilight. Or at all for that matter. He had blacked out not long after drawing his sword. There was a new presence in his mind. Whoever or whatever it was that was controlling Sabre had somehow been able to tap into his fencing talents. Sabre was putting up a very good fight despite being unconscious.
As the two were going back and forth, blocking each other's attacks with incredible skill, Twilight began to notice something about her opponent. His eyes had gone completely green, even his pupils. She could also feel a strange aura around him. It was very week; she could only detect it because of her magic. But it was still there, and she could sense that it was somehow connected to the Sword of Discord. Had he been able to tap into it's powers without her noticing? Or was the sword controlling him? The more Twilight thought about it, the more she began to question other things.
Twilight broke away from the battle just long enough to cast a teleportation spell. As soon as she had gone, Sabre could feel the other presence leaving his mind. He dropped the sword, fell to his knees, and grasped the sides of his head. What the hell happened to me?! One minute I'm preparing to got to Canterlot, the next I find myself tired and covered in dirt like I've been in a fight.
Twilight appeared at the door to Princess Celestia's throne room. She just had to see the princess now. It could not wait. Twilight barged rather suddenly into the throne room. "Princess Celestia," she called to her mentor. "I need to speak with you. It's important."
"Yes, Twilight," Celestia said from atop her throne. She motioned for her guards to leave them in privacy.
"How is it that Sabre could be able to use the power of the Sword of Discord with out me being able to detect it?" Twilight asked.
"I...I don't know," Celestia responded. "The powers of the Sword of Discord are difficult to predict, just as Discord himself was. It's possible that the sword adapted to be able to use Sabre instead of Sabre using it."
"Well, he's on his way here," Twilight informed Celestia. "When I got to his house, he was just leaving."
"Then it is up to you and your friends to stop him from reaching the palace," Celestia decreed. "If not, then he will most certainly use the sword to awaken Discord."
Twilight ran from the throne room. She knew that if Discord was freed, all of Equestria would be doomed.
