Longing for a loved one

The sky above was dark with the night, the only light shining down was a faint moonlight which, like most light, didn't come close to breaching the darkness of the everfree forest.

Switchblade stood at the entrance to the forest and took a deep breath "I have to go in there; I have to find her." he said to himself, as he entered the forest. He walked deeper and deeper into the forest until he heard a noise up ahead, he immediately fell silent, his keen eyes scanning the horizon.

DJay lay in the forest, her wing broken and she was all scratched up. She muttered a curse as she looked at the hill she fell. She had slipped when she was walking along and had stretched out her wings to stop from falling so fast but had landed on it. She had gotten scratched by the pebbles and branches along the way. "Stupid rocks... I need to get out of here. How did I get in here?" She said. She remembered talking to some pony then she was here. 'He's mine.' She remember the mare said then it went black. She put a hoof to her head and shook her head.

Switchblade walked along the path, scanning for movement with his eyes while trying to keep aware in case any creatures showed up "DJay?!" he called through the dark "It's me, Switchblade, can you hear me?!" he called out "Or is there anypony that could help me?!"

DJay heard yelling and started limping that was due to her scratches. "Hello!?" She yelled. She limped but heard whispers. "Stop going." "He's mine." "Stop." "Just give up." She heard all in the mares voice and wherever she looked, the mare was there.// A mare stepped out of the shadows in front of Switchblade. She was pure white with a light cloudy blue mane and tail. They were flowy and her eyes were dark blue, almost black. Her cutie mark was a mask smiling, with a frown behind it. "Please help me." She whispered and fell. She was covered in scratches.

Switchblade drew his sword as he saw the mare approaching, as she fell, he quickly ran over to her "What in blasted blue blazes did this to you and why?" he asked, looking around the area as he was sure he heard another voice, surprisingly enough, the mare's beauty did not seem to phase him.

"I was walking and a bat pony attacked me. She hit me with her wings and shoved me into brambles....." The mare said shuddering in pain.// DJay was walking and vines stretched up in front of her and she stopped looking through and seeing the mare and Switchblade. She tried to scream but her voice wasn't there.

Switchblade shrugged "You probably just startled the mare; the everfree forest has a way of raising tension." Switchblade helped the mare up "Probably best you take this to protect yourself." he said, handing the mare a knife "Now you should head back to where you're from; I need to find my love and I don't need to be slowed down." he said, sternly, clearly focused.

"Don't go in there! You could get killed. Come back to my place for the night, then we can search for her!" She said.// DJay shook the thorns but they made no noise and looked to make no movement either. 'Darn forest.' She thought. "SWITCHBLADE!" She yelled but it came out as a whisper only she could hear.

Switchblade shook his head "This forest isn't the most dangerous thing I've faced, besides, going to a mare's house for the night so that I can search for my marefriend in the morning? Not gonna happen, now you should go home; I can't promise that I can protect you."

"What is?" She asked him. She saw DJay again and grinned then thought. She stomped her hoof and DJay soon felt the hot breath of a Timeberwolf on her neck. She turned and screamed, this time is wasn't shielded by the thorns. The wolf howled and the mare attached herself to Switchblade looking frightened. DJay kicked the wolf and shook the thorns and they rustled. "Help!" She cried and then dodged as the timber wolf snapped at her. It broke the thorns and DJay kicked it again, trying to move it but it only got angrier. DJay looked through the hole at Switchblade for a brief second, when the wolf snapped again and she turned and ran. "That was the bat-pony that attacked me!" The mare said in a frightened voice.

Switchblade was about to answer the mare's question as he heard DJay scream, he drew his sword and sprinted in her direction, teleporting through the hole and leading with a forward rolling dodge, slicing the head off the creature's body, he then used his blacksmithing magic to crush the wood into powder and burn the powder in the air. He chased after DJay, attempting to catch up with her.

DJay heard something following her and she took a sharp turn portaging to another part of the forest. She heard the thing off in a distance and sat down and lay down to fall asleep. It started to rain and she whimpered in the cold and curled herself up tighter. The mare sighed and walked through the portal and appeared running at Switchblades side. "What's going on?" She cried as the rain pelted her pelt.

Switchblade shrugged as he searched frantically for DJay "That batpony is the one I am in love with. I need to find her quickly; it's cold and wet and neither me or her want to be here, it seems like her wing is broken otherwise she would have flown off, so she has to be near."

The mares expression darkens and she huffs and brambles shoot up in front of Switchblade, covered in huge thorns and they seem to reach the sky. The mare slows to a stop as the brambles circle him. "I'm sorry but I can't let you get to her. You are MINE! You don't deserve her." The mare said brightly. DJay heard them talking and crept around, her eyes helping her navigate. She stopped just behind a wide tree and stared, gritting her teeth.

Switchblade whirled around, his scimitar humming with energy as he sliced clean through one of the brambles with ease, his face grew cold as he saw the mare, his horn glowed and the knife he gave her faded in a bright light "You think you have the right to choose who falls in love with who, nay I say, for my freedom is my right and I exercise my every right, including my right to tell you that you have the right to remain silent; compared to me, your magic is like that which is cast by clowns. So go ahead and underestimate me, but remember that doing that was everypony else's downfall, for I own rage beyond that of nightmare moon herself!" he shouted, slicing through another and using his magic to make his armor glow so he could see.

The mare didn't look the least bit phased. She laughed and her horn glowed. She was behind him and whispered. "I don't care about your rights, or your power, I just want you." She whispered and more brambles shot up from the ground grabbing his legs and she leapt up on top of him. She walked over to his horn and tapped on it and gave a half smile. She whispered something and then disappeared for a second and came back with the poison joke plant. She rubbed it all over his horn and it soon set to work and his horn flopped. "There we go!" She said clapping her hooves together happily. DJay muttered a curse and launched at the mare tackling her to the ground.

Switchblade was angry now; this mare thought that she could just have him to herself, as the poison joke took effect, his armor stopped glowing, plunging him into darkness, he opened a compartment in his armor and took out a small vial full of liquid, using his mouth to pull the cork out and throw it onto his horn. As the remedy took effect, he unleashed a wide beam of light, ripping the brambles out of the ground and burning them. He saw day tackle the mare and went to help her,.as he drew near, he tilted his head to the side, creating a cracking sound "Perhaps you truly did make the biggest mistake; ponies always think that I am alone."

"Alright you win! Just put an end to my misery, or leave me to live to keep messing with people. Especially, those you love." She said with a grin and a mocking tone at her last sentence. DJay watched inching closer but not making any noise. She stopped and decided to leave Switchblade to finish it.

Switchblade walked forwards, sheathing his scimitar "No, you shall not die today, but remember this; I will never love you after what you have done today and if you ever try this again, then I will end you." he said, walking over to day "You alright?" he asked, offering her some bandages.

"I'm fine." She says and sighs. She looks at her hooves. They are getting white. "What the..?" She says then she's trapped under the vines. "Why thank you for bandaging me! So many cuts and bruises." She says looking up. It's the white mare and DJay is under the vines. "You know. I never told you two my name! Tricked Mask. I love to call myself the Trickster of the Masked Beauty but most friends call me Tricksy." She said with a giggle.

Switchblade looked at the mare "Why me then? Why would you willingly get on the bad side of me; entire gangs and cults have fallen to me, are you stupid or just that amoral?" he said, drawing his scimitar again and preparing for combat "If you release her now then I might spare you." he advised.

"Please don't hurt me! Fine I will let her go! Wait, no I won't. You can kill me, fine, but I don't go down without a fight." She said with a giggle. "So, why don't we get this show on the road. Bat baby over there can watch." She said with a laugh and stood still. "I'm ready."

Switchblade looked at her "You gonna try and fight me without a weapon? You truly are giving me all the aces in your deck." he said, energy coursing through his weapon.

"I'm good." She said. She stood there waiting then a vine came around and tripped him, knocking him over and she leapt at him. A thorn sword appeared and she slashed at his armor, breaking the fasteners.

Switchblade got back up, casting his helmet off his head as it didn't look like it would be strong enough, he looked for his sword but couldn't find it, so picked up his scabbard and swinging it in an arc, teleporting to a different side of the mare, meaning that the single swing landed at least seven blows, he then reappeared directly in front of her, putting his hoof on her forehead and making a burst of energy plume through his hoof, aiming to send her flying into a tree.