The train was halfway to Ponyville when Twilight spoke up.

"Um, Phonyyx, why did you bring eight ex-convicts and criminal gang members with us to Ponyville?" Twilight looked awkwardly at the hooded pony.

"You'll see," Phonyyx replied. "First, time for introductions. This is Bralen, Cathin, Maryl, Selena, Cobalt, Hilda, Cerant, and Arnold." Phonyyx pointed to each pony respectively.

"What do you mean by, You'll see?" Rarity asked while trying to not make eye contact with any of the ponies. Difficult since they wouldn't stop staring at her, Twilight, Starlight, and Spike, who had his eyes narrowed into slits.

"Yeah, you still haven't even told us what you want from us." Maryl turned to face Phonyyx.

"It's not what I want from you, it's what I'm going to do for you." Phonyyx was staring out of a window. "How much longer till we get there?"

"We're only half-way there," Starlight responded. "Where are they going to stay?"

"At my house." Phonyyx yawned. I'll need to expand on the house to make their rooms and rooms for the equipment I need. Phonyyx drifted off into his mind thinking of how to make the extra rooms appear. He could easily do it himself but, it would be tiring and require time. Time he didn't have much of.

"Phonyyx."

"Hm?" Phonyyx turned to see every pony looking at him. "What?"

"You want something to eat?" Starlight nodded over to a waiter.

"Salad." The waiter pulled out a salad and handed it to him.

"Thank you." Phonyyx plunged his head into the salad. He finished it and looked up to see Ponyville not far in the distance. "We're almost there." The train came to a full stop soon and the ponies exited. Phonyyx told the recruits to follow him. He went to his house and quickly counted the number of rooms and beds. Just enough if he gave up his room and Bralen and Cathin doubled up in the same room. "Alright if would all choose a room, but Bralen and Cathin, the two of you will have to double up." The two brothers nodded in agreement, they had done this sort of thing before. "Put everything in your rooms and meet me outside in about 10-15 minutes.

All the ponies stood in a line facing Phonyyx.

"Alright, I brought you all to here to train you to be Princess Twilight's royal guard. I have thought hard about these decisions. You all have the potential to be guards, but first, you'll need training. First, what is the best weapon? Is it A, a sword, B, magic spells, C, war axe, D, gauntlets for punching, E, Daggers, or F, all of the above and more?" Each pony answered with the weapon that they personally liked the most. "Wrong, its F, all of the above and more." The ponies looked confused. "A good warrior knows not one weapon, a good warrior knows all weapons. A warrior should know how to adapt and change, especially in the middle of combat. Now, I have seen all of you fight individually, but I need to know how you all fight together. So, you all fight me. If any of you can land a hit on me, then you're ready. Also-" Phonyyx removed all the weapons they had and his own sword and cloak, "-no weapons, but you can use anything you find here. Now, begin." All of the ponies first tried to dogpile Phonyyx but found he had moved back a few steps. Selena grabbed a rock and threw it at him with deadly precision, but Phonyyx was faster. He flattened down to the ground allowing the rock to sail harmlessly above him. Selena picked up more rocks and continually threw them at Phonyyx. While distracted by an assault of rocks, Phonyyx didn't see Bralen sneak up behind him and try to grab him; shouting while doing so.

"Surprise!" Bralen yelled as he jumped Phonyyx. Phonyyx sidestepped the attack.

"A sneak attack doesn't work if you announce yourself." Phonyyx sensed the magic build up and jumped back as Bralen released a blast of magic. Maryl flew towards Phonyyx, intending to knock him down. Phonyyx saw her out of the corner of his eye. Phonyyx dropped down and gave a quick uppercut to her in the chest. Maryl dropped and wrapped her hooves around her stomach.

"I think I'm going to hurl," was all she said before she lied down. Arnold charged Phonyyx, only to trip over Maryl.

Either not very observant of his environment or not caring at all. Probably a bit of both.

"Now, it's my turn." Phonyyx bolted forward to Arnold, knocking him down and picked up a stick; spun around and blocked Hilda. She tried to karate-chop him but he jumped back, leaving the strike to hit Arnold. Phonyyx dashed forward and clotheslined Hilda with an outstretched wing. Cathin picked up a branch and swung at Phonyyx. The branch was stopped by Phonyyx grabbing it and began a tug-o-war with Cathin to see who would get the weapon. Cathin forced his end down and hit himself in the top of his head, causing the other end to jerk up and nail Phonyyx in the bottom of his jaw, but Phonyyx remained unfazed. Cobalt charged towards Phonyyx. Phonyyx moved slightly, but not enough to completely avoid him. Cobalt bumped him slightly. Phonyyx used the force of the hit to his advantage, spinning around to swipe Cobalt's feet. Phonyyx felt a small rush of wind past his neck and the blast followed soon. Phonyyx put up a shield of magic to block the brunt of Cerant's blast, but he still got hit by the edges. Dropping the shield, Phonyyx teleported behind Cerant and sent a wave of shadows towards him, knocking him down, but not too powerful to hurt him. Phonyyx didn't want to break him, or any of them. But Cerant was actually tougher than he seemed. He stood back up quickly and sent another blast at Phonyyx. Phonyyx deflected it with a shadow shield. Phonyyx felt a tiny scratch on his back and spun to find a flurry of rocks heading towards him. He repositioned his shield to block the rocks, leaving him open to attack from the back. Arnold grabbed Phonyyx and pile-drove him to the ground. Phonyyx grabbed Arnold's head and pulled forward, using the momentum of the fall to slip Arnold's footing.

"Now, Cathin!"

Phonyyx turned to find Bralen being magically propelled into the air towards him. Bralen grabbed Phonyyx and rolled along the ground with him. Phonyyx shot out his wings. Bralen was sent tumbling forward while Phonyyx was freed from the grasp. Hilda bolted past Phonyyx, clotheslining him in the back of his head. Phonyyx was slightly disoriented. Maryl, seeing an opportunity, jumped to land a hit, but found Phonyyx had recovered and was above her in a second.

Not again. Maryl thought, remembering the first time Phonyyx got there and history repeated itself. Once again Maryl was forced to the ground. She punched the ground and jumped at Phonyyx. He put up a shield to block her attacks, but it didn't do much good. Maryl was pissed, she punched the shield again and again. Her hooves glowed slightly and cracks grew into the shield as it resounded with every hit it took until finally shattering, leaving Phonyyx open to one furious left hook from Maryl. Phonyyx felt the full force of the punch as it connected with his cheek and jaw, sending him sprawling to the ground.

"That hurt-" Phonyyx forced himself up and steadied as the pain from the blow began to fade away "-good. You were all able to get a hit in on me."

"What?" all, sans Phonyyx, said simultaneously.

"Why didn't you tell us when one of us hit you?" Bralen asked.

"Multiple reasons. Your enemies are not going to tell you when you've won, that's for you to find out. And you all need to pay attention to every little detail," Phonyyx told them. They had to admit, Phonyyx was right. Their opponents weren't going to likely give them luxuries. "Now, each of you go and get some rest. Tomorrow early morning. Out here. Tomorrow the true training begins." with that, Phonyyx gave them back their weapons and re-sheathed his sword and put his cloak back on.

"What time do you want us to be out here?" Selena asked.

Phonyyx thought about it for a moment. "Sunrise." As the group returned into the house Phonyyx looked around him, thinking of how they handled themselves fighting him. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't perfect either. Sigh. They were going to need more than just his training. Well, maybe Yee will train them.

Whoosh!

Phonyyx pulled his cloak tighter around himself, blocking the winds from knocking him down. "What is going on?" The winds finally died down and Phonyyx looked up to see a shadowy figure staring him down. "What are you?" Phonyyx didn't get an answer. Instead, the creature lunged at him.

The night was cool. It was dark. It was beautiful. Starlight, still asleep, rose herself out of her bed. She opened her eyes, but they weren't her natural color. No instead they were blue. She walked over to her desk and pulled out a piece of paper. On it she wrote a letter, addressed to the Crystal Eyes. She slipped out of her room and into the hallway. She wandered for a few minutes, searching for an unused room. She passed by one door and stopped. Phonyyx's room. Perfect. She entered and set to work. She opened a drawer etched a small magical rune on the bottom. She placed the letter in the center and whispered to it. "Tes." The rune glowed and the letter was gone. Satisfied. Starlight closed the drawer, returned to her room, and went back to sleep.

In the Crystal Empire an underground, buzzing, society of thugs, cutthroats, and thieves congregated; the Crystal Eyes. In the center of the leader's office, a letter popped into existence in front of Aren, the leader. He was taken aback at first. Nopony used a letter rune anymore. There were more conventional methods of delivering news. It floated in the air, waiting to be read. Rolling his eye's he opened it.

Phonyyx has been poisoned, now all he needs is the catalyst. He is currently in Ponyville. Act fast, he won't stay in one place for long.

Aren blinked once. Then twice. And a third time just to be sure. Somepony had poisoned Phonyyx? He knew Phonyyx had been spotted in the Crystal Empire recently, but Aren didn't know that somehow Phonyyx had been poisoned. This was excellent news. "Guards!" Aren barked. The guards outside his office glanced at him, signifying their attention. "Bring me Yorlet. Now!" The guards left and returned five minutes later with another unicorn. She was young, just barely into her adulthood. Aren nodded to the guards. They let go of Yorlet and left.

"Yes?" Yorlet asked.

"I have a mission for you. It isn't like any of the ones you've done before. This one will be difficult. I want you to poison a target-" Aren revealed a small vile of green and purple liquid, "-with this."

"Who is the target?"

"Phonyyx. We have intel that suggests that he is currently in Ponyville. Now, you need to apply the poison to your blade and go for his neck. That is the only way for the poison to work. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir!" Yorlet saluted Aren.

"Good. Now go." Yorlet took the vial and left.

The sun rose in the distance. Bralen, Cathin, Selena, Maryl, Cobalt, Hilda, Cerant, and Arnold all stood outside the house. Phonyyx wasn't anywhere in sight.

"Where is he! He told us to wake up this early and he doesn't even show up at the time he set!" Maryl groaned aloud.

"Maybe he wants us to find him?" Cathin suggested. A shadow flew overhead past the nine ponies.

"That better not be him," Maryl said through gritted teeth, she took to the skies.

"Maryl! Wait!" Cobalt shouted, but it was no use. Maryl was already high in the sky, chasing after Phonyyx. "Somepony go get her before she gets hurt or worse.

"Okay," Hilda said taking off after Maryl. Maryl was further ahead but Hilda was a faster flyer. Hilda caught up to Maryl and grabbed her. Maryl was jerked back and looked back to see what stopped her.

"What do you think you're doing!" Maryl yelled to Hilda.

"Cobalt told you to stop. When you didn't listen, he told me to come get you."

"Well, he's" -Maryl pointed to Phonyyx- "being a dick."

"Maybe he's testing us. Trying to see if any of us won't listen to each other? Look, just come back to the others." Hilda turned and flew back to the rest of the group with Maryl grumpily following. When the two pegasi finally got in eyesight of the others, they saw them looking at something on the ground. Hilda and Maryl landed in front of them. "What are all of you looking at?" Hilda stepped forward to get a closer look. It was Phonyyx's cloak and sword.

"You two remember Phonyyx getting these back off the ground yesterday, right?" Arnold asked.

"Yeah, what are they doing here?" Hilda asked.

"And not on Phonyyx?"

"Did something happen to him yesterday after the fight?" Selena proposed.

"It's possible, but no way to tell for certain," Cathin picked up the sword and inspected it closely, hoping to find something that could tell them what happened.

"Maybe there is. Cathin, the memory spell," Bralen spoke up.

"What! I can't do that. You remember what to me happened last time!" Cathin dropped the sword, his knees shaking and his body felt a cold shiver all over.

"Bralen, what is this memory spell?" Cobalt asked.

"Well, the spell can be either performed on a pony, allowing you to see that pony's memories, or an object, allowing you to see the objects memories. Like, when it was created, and more recent or more prominent memories. Cathin has done it before, but refused to do it ever again."

"I won't do it!" Cathin stated vehemently.

"Why not Cathin?" Cobalt asked Bralen.

"The first time he did it, he was left mentally scarred from it. He's refused to tell anypony what it was he saw," Bralen answered.

"What if he shared the memory with us. Not have to do it on his own?" Hilda suggested.

"It's possible." Bralen turned to his younger brother. "What do you say Cathin?"

Cathin turned back to face them. He looked from one face to another. Sigh. Finally, Cathin spoke. "O-okay."

Cathin put the sword down on the ground. "Everypony, form a circle around the sword." Bralen, Cerant, and Cobalt sat around the sword. "I said everypony."

"But, we can't perform magic," Maryl told him confused.

"None of you will need to. I'll perform the spell and cast the first part on all of us, then on the sword. The first part will select the ponies to see the memories, the second is of whose or what's memories will be viewed." Selena, Maryl, Hilda, and Arnold sat down around the sword with the others. Cathin focused his magic and glowing tendrils warped from his horn to the heads of all seven others. The tendrils crawled towards the sword. Each of their eyes flashed a brilliant white once the tendrils reached the sword.

It was hot. Hotter than the hottest summer days in the desert above an active volcano. A cold and metallic taste tinged their tongues. Great sparks of fire sprouted up in a rush and slowly drifted back down. It felt as if a great hammer was pounded down on their backs. With every strike, more sparks flew upwards. The heat grew more and more until finally, it felt as if they were on fire. The metal appeared to morph itself into the shape of a blade. A seed was placed on the smaller end and a miniature tree grew up the handle of the sword, stopping right at the hilt. A knife carved off most of the tree, leaving a handle for the blade. It gleamed in the light of crystals. A single, final touch was added. A blue crystal was placed on the crossguards and shone brightly.

A new sight formed in their minds. A small silver colt was playing under a bed. A door swung open and the colt fell silent. Hoofsteps filled the room. The colt stifled his own giggles and laughs. Whoever he was hiding from shrugged and turned to leave. The colt heard more hoofsteps and the door close. Giggling, he crawled out from under the bed and tiptoed over to the door. But he was grabbed in a field of magic. "Aaahhh!" He was flown to the edge of the room where the other pony stood. He was tall, with a longhorn, a well-groomed mane, and wore a royal cape on his back.

"I thought you'd hide somewhere in here," the unicorn said affectionately nuzzling the much smaller colt.

"How'd you know dad?" The colt asked.

"I heard you giggling."

"Darn it." The unicorn chuckled.

"Phonyyx, I have something for you." Phonyyx's face lite up like the sun when he heard those words.

"What is it?"

"You'll see. Follow me." The unicorn placed Phonyyx down and walked out the door. Phonyyx quickly bounded down beside his father. Phonyyx's father opened a door and inside was a table. On the table was a tightly wrapped gift. Phonyyx looked up to his father gasping in joy. "Go on. Get it." Phonyyx grabbed his father's hoof and pulled him along. "Whoa!" Phonyyx stopped in front of the table and climbed up. He picked up the brown object and unwrapped it. It was his sword.

"Wow." Phonyyx looked over at his dad and smiled, who smiled back in return.

"Phonyyx, this sword has been in our family for generations. The old says that it was made by the elder gods. My father gave it to me when I was about your age, and now, now it's yours. And this-" his father picked up the cloth that wrapped the sword and placed it on Phonyyx's back "-is a cloak. You said you wanted one, here it is." Phonyyx pulled his hood off and put the sword down. He turned to his father and jumped at him. He grabbed his father in a tight hug.

"Thank you, dad," Phonyyx said holding his father in the hug. His father gave a loving look and returned the hug to his son.

"Come on now. You'd better learn how to use that," the father told Phonyyx.

Finally, the memory they were looking for appeared. A dark shadow held Phonyyx in a black, oily, grasp. Blood poured down from Phonyyx's neck and he was struggling to breathe. Not just him, all of them. They all felt the same grasp on their necks and the feeling of blood seeped down their necks. The sword laid on the ground along with Phonyyx's cloak and the creature crackled. A flash of black and both the creature and Phonyyx were gone.

"Aahh!" all of them yelled once the spell ended. Cathin rubbed his neck, making sure it was still attached.

"What was that thing?" Hilda asked, looking around to make sure that thing wasn't watching them.

"I don't know," Cathin answered. "Nor do I know where it went with Phonyyx."

"I have an idea," Cerant spoke up. "Magic leaves an imprint whenever and wherever it is used. A teleport spell can be redone, allowing one to go where the original spell did."

"Can you do that Cerant?" Arnold asked the elder unicorn.

"Maybe. But first, we need to find the exact spot that the teleport spell was performed." Everypony spread out, searching for a slight shimmer in the air. That's where the spell was performed.

"Here!" Bralen called out to the others. In front of him was a shimmering thing. Everypony gathered around it in a circle.

"Okay. Here it goes," Cerant said, bowing his head to perform the teleport spell. The shimmer pulsated in and out, encompassing each of the ponies and receded, only to expand again. Cerant focused on the magic in the shimmer. There was a short blinding light and the world around each of them twisted and distorted into one that was unfamiliar.

It was cold, damp, and dark. Phonyyx's cloak and sword laid on the stony ground. A chilling howl whispered throughout the cavern. "Ow." Cerant rubbed his head. "Where are we?" Cathin produced a ball of light from his horn and illuminated the mysterious surroundings. Cerant, Bralen, and Cobalt formed their own balls of light as well.

"We're in a cave," Cathin announced, surprised.

"Well, thank you captain obvious!" Maryl retorted to Cathin.

The cave walls were covered with a sickly, oily substance that seemed to breathe. Slow, long-drawn-out pulsating blobs of black stuff. The cavern led down two opposite directions. "How are we gonna find out which way Phonyyx is?" Arnold asked.

"I might be able to find him," Selena murmured weakly.

"How, Selena?" Maryl asked her friend.

"Just, could everypony be quiet for a minute, please?" Everypony fell silent at the request. Sighing, Selena closed her eyes and focused her ears. The cave came alive in her ears. Every faint whisper of air, the scampering of every miniature creature roaming throughout, running water, and the slow breathing of another pony. "I found him. Down that way." Selena pointed a hoof at one of the winding tunnels.

"Okay, let's go." Cobalt picked up Phonyyx's sword and cloak and led the way down the winding cave tunnel. Selena directed them through the winding tunnels. They had been walking for half an hour when the tunnels opened up to reveal a large cavern. The cavern ceiling was probably sixty or seventy feet above them. A small plane of green grass was in the center, surrounded by a river on all sides. A waterfall from the ceiling fell down to the feed the rivers.

Phonyyx sat calmly in the center of the grass with closed eyes. Sensing he was not alone, he opened his eyes and was surprised to see the eight ponies. "You eight are early."

"What?" Cobalt put a hoof up to his ear.

"What?"

"Did you say something?"

"Huh." Phonyyx shook his head and teleported to the ponies.

"What did you say?" Cobalt asked once more.

"I said that you eight are here early. I wasn't expecting you guys to figure it all out until at least the end of the day, and longer to find me."

"What do you mean?" Cathin asked.

"Wait, how did you all find me?"

"We found your sword and cloak and, well Cathin here was able to perform a memory spell on it," Cobalt answered, handing Phonyyx his sword and cloak.

"Hmm," Phonyyx said curiously. "Did any of you notice a black pony-like creature flying over you earlier?"

"Yeah! I went after it, but Hilda stopped me from following it. Why?" Maryl spoke up.

"That was me. I used an illusion spell. What you guys were supposed to do was find out what that creature was, and if you'd look in the right places, discover that this is the rumored home of the creature. But instead, you guys found a different way to pass the test, impressive. I guess I'll have to devise a different way of testing all of you."

"This was a test?" Bralen asked, confused.

"Yes, to see how you guys work together as a team. But, how did you guys make it here so quickly?" Phonyyx asked.

"We performed a teleport spell at the spot that the creature teleported you at," Cerant answered.

"Well, time to head back to the house. Might want to bunch up." Phonyyx's horn lit up and a circle on the ground around them appeared. The world twisted and distorted, reshaped itself. When reality reappeared, they were back in front of the house.