//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: The Rune Slayer and the Summoners // Story: Brave Frontier Equestria // by Titan Commander Sebaste //------------------------------// Crossover with "Magic and Machines" by Frost The Wolf “So wait… you two were beings called 'Humans’?” Rainbow asked after Mira had finished telling her story. The former human nodded in response while she cleared her throat before coming up with a proper response.  “It was quite a shock when Discord turned us into ponies. We… still have a lot to learn about our new bodies.” she replied, “But it hasn't changed our powers or abilities.”   “You said you two were thunder and light type units… What exactly are you able to do? And what exactly are 'units’?” Twilight asked, her curiosity piqued.   “In the game our characters are from, There are six elements, Light, Dark, Thunder, Earth, Water and Fire. Each affects another, so if I was going against an Earth unit, I would be very weak against it.” Cassie explained, “And units are the creatures/team members that decide to follow you or that you summon from certain gates.” As she said this, she suddenly felt something strike the back of her head. “Ow! Okay, who threw that!?” She growled, turning to the guards behind her.   They shook their heads, confused looks on their faces. Mira looked down to see a single flat stone with what appeared to be an unusual marking on it. As she picked it up with a hoof, she suddenly heard a single voice ring out in her mind. “I am Nicko. The Rune Slayer with a kind heart. The power that's in my grasp and that you control will become the power that the darkness will fear. May there be light on the roads that you travel.”   She dropped the stone in shock, stepping back while Cassie turned to her with a worried look on her face. “Mira? What happened?”  “I… I just heard a voice from that rock… Someone named Nicko and something about a Rune Slayer…” Mira said, her voice shaking a bit and causing Cassie to arch an eyebrow while looking at her..  “You mean from Elsword? Please, that's impossible. There no way there's someone that's from that game here. It's probably just a prank.” She then picked up the stone and said, “Nicko, or whoever you are, mind dropping in for a sec? I need to have a few words with you…” At that exact moment, Pinkie yelped, “TWITCHY TAIL!” The two mares looked at the others as they suddenly backed up several feet away from Cassie in the process. Making her confused as to what was actually going on and why were they looking at her like she just did something wrong. “Um… What's going on?” She asked in confusion, while Mira just shrugged her shoulders, just as confused as her friend. “A-anytime that Pinkie says that, s-something always falls.” Spike told them as he looked up at the sky and around him before looking back at them. “If I were you Cassie… I would probably move from where you are right now…” Cassie snorted. “Seriously? That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever hear-!” She didn't get the chance to finish before something did actually crash on top of her. Coughing up a cloud of dust as they heard a new voice speak up.  “Oww… J-just what the hell did I land on top of-?” This was an immediate surprise for not just Cassie and Mira, but also the ponies, including the princesses and the baby dragon that were with them. First off, the voice that they heard was that of a male. Second… when the cloud of dust began to subside… who they saw immediately caught their attention.  “Vargas?! I… I thought Cassie and I were the only Brave Frontier characters here…” Mira said in a shocked voice. “But since when did you shrink?”  “Uhh… Who the hell is Vargas?” The figure first asked, before realizing the second statement that was said and gritting his teeth, trying to compose himself. “Would you care to repeat that last remark… I did not quite catch that…” Sensing that repeating the statement would only anger him more, Mira decided to change tactics and say something different to ease any tensions. “I'm sorry, I wasn't meaning to anger you-.”  “You sure? Because it sounded like you called him short!” Pinkie shouted out, only to receive glares from her friends and Mira… that only seemed to just confuse her. “What? I was just telling the truth? What’s wrong with that?” What was wrong with it of course was seen once the figure deeply growled a bit. “Great, first I get summoned and end up flat on my ass with god knows what breaking my fall and now I’m being insulted…” He spoke before getting off of whatever he was on and straightening himself up. One thing that Mira could tell right away from this guy was that his hair matched that of the actual Rune Slayer class from Elsword. Even if he did remind the two of them of Vargas. “What a day I’m having so far.”  “Owwwww…. That hurt….” Cassie groaned as she scrambled up and flared her wings to get rid of any aches in her body from the impact. She then noticed the new figure next to her. “Who’s the Edward Elric impersonator with red hair?”  “I have a name...” He deadpanned, looking back at the Pegasus. “Besides, wouldn’t you know that since you summoned me here in the first place?”  “Summoned? But you're not from the Brave Frontier world… where exactly are you from?” Mira asked, a confused look on her face before she shook her head. “I'm sorry, I'm being rude, what is your name?” She thought that by asking for his name, it could help clarify some things and answer some questions that were inside her head.  Unfortunately, all that did was have more questions begin to form inside her head instead of less. “My name is Nicko Nocte… May I ask for your name, miss?”         “Miriam, Miriam Dragos. And that Pegasus you landed on is Cassandra Dayros.” She replied, stepping forward so that Nicko could see her clearly. She then realized something. “Wait, that was your voice that came from that stone??  “Well, you did use my summoning token to bring me here in the first place.” The Rune Slayer did mention to her, thinking that they had some sort of idea as to what a displaced was.  “Not to mention that you did ask for him to drop on in.” Rainbow snickered, only leading to Pinkie sighing deeply as she turned to face her friend.  “Leave humor to the professionals, Dashie.” Pinkie Pie told her before bouncing around a little to try and get a better angle at the Rune Slayer himself. He was directly facing Mira and Cassie, meaning that the only thing that the earth pony could see was the back of his cloak. “Token? What are you even talking about?” Cassie asked. That soon caused Nicko to sigh as he looked back at the two of them. He personally had thought that they had met another displaced before… but as it turned out, they had no prior experience whatsoever… just the perfect position to be placed in. “You two have no idea at all about the Displaced, do you?” He asked them, knowing personally that they were going to shake their heads no.  “Never heard of them, and we still need to catch up on what’s happening after being turned to stone to help stop Discord…” Mira said, “Not to mention we need to find a way to change back into our original bodies…”  “Well, let me make this quick… I’m going to take a very wild guess that you were originally humans and that through some random series of unfortunate events, you’re now here.” The Rune slayer guessed as he waited for the response that followed. “We were sent here after Mira picked up a battle crystal and it started glowing. After that, we had to avoid some of the creatures while we learned about our powers. We met Celestia and Luna a few weeks after, they had just suffered a defeat from Discord, we had our own encounter with him a week before and we barely managed to defeat him before he retreated. A month later, Celestia, Luna, Mira and I fought him at a ruined town. It was there-” Cassie managed to explain before Mira interrupted.  “Wait, How do you know about us originally being humans?”  “Two things… First, you did say you were trying to find a way to change back into your original bodies like five minutes ago,” Nicko pointed out to them. “Second, the same thing ended up to me… just with different circumstances and in a different Equestria… and before you ask, yes… The Multiverse is real.”         Those four words only had one proper reaction from a particular unicorn that was listening as Twilight almost fainted from her brain overloading from all the information she was trying to process.  The two former humans looked at Nicko in shock. “So there are other Equestrias? That's… that's impossible!” Mira stammered.  “You may think that, but I’m telling you two the truth.” Nicko told them, shrugging his shoulders. “However, what you think about it isn’t really up to me… Both of you are Displaced… or dimensionally misplaced for short. So am I and almost the hundred to possibly thousands of other people out there that have also been displaced. Hell, some people aren’t even displaced as humans.”         “We didn't ask to get turned into ponies, that was Discord that turned us into them.” Cassie growled. Nicko sighed, walking over to them and getting down on their level.  “Let me fix that… fair warning though, this may sting.” Nicko told them, before having magic form in his right hand as he delivered a quick backhand smack to the two of them “Enchant Break!”  It may have hurt temporarily, but there was a reason Nicko did the ability in the first place. Enchant Break was a skill that removed any elemental buffs in exchange for damage. But Nicko had went a little further with experimenting when it came to this skill so it would also work against status effects and with the extra magic that was applied… included transformations as well… at least, that’s what he thought. When he saw the magic he applied did work though, he breathed out a sigh of relief. “ Oh thank Artemis that actually worked.”   Lying on the ground were now two human females wearing light armor and skirts. But the big surprise was that one of them had wings that were pure electricity. Cassie groaned before she saw that her hoof was now a hand. She leapt into the air in shock and surprise, and quickly felt her face. “I'm… human again…” She whispered. She then landed and saw that her blade was sheathed at her side. Pulling it out, she saw that it crackled with the same energy her wings were made of. Pure electricity like that from a thunderstorm. Mira meanwhile had also gotten up, and while she was also shocked, she controlled it better than her friend. She then closed her eyes before the air around her shimmered and eight swords appeared around her. With a quick wave of her hands, she then caused them to vanish.  “Well that’s something you don’t see everyday.” Nicko smirked. “And I thought you hit them because you were still a bit mad at when they called you short.” Applejack spoke up.  “Yeah……. That’s just a small bonus.”  Cassie snorted and rolled her eyes. “Seriously, has anyone told you that you have a temperament like Edward Elric every time someone called you short?” She asked as she sheathed her blade. “Because you acted just like him when you got mad, minus the anime signs of anger.” “Try being in a home for adopted children for 12 years and having all of your talents and skills overlooked because of your height,” The Rune Slayer told her. “Then you would know how I feel.”         Mira winced. “I can understand that. I was teased in school because I was born with white hair, among other things. It… wasn't a good time for me.” She said, rubbing her left arm.   Hearing this made Nicko think of something before speaking again. “Then I think you would love meeting my niece, Faith. She has white hair as well and is a Code Queen. Has two nasod drones with her wherever she goes.”  Cassie chuckled before she replied, “It’s honestly been awhile since Mira and I have played Elsword back on Earth. So sorry if we confused you with someone else earlier.” “Nah it’s alright… In fact, now that you mention it… you two look a lot like some characters from a game I used to play myself… I think the name of it was Brave Frontier if I remember correctly. Sorry, my memory’s a bit shaky… Especially when I accidentally got turned to stone by the elements sometime back.” The Rune Slayer replied, scratching the back of his head. “It’s a long story and it involves a psychotic Diabolic Esper who went mad with power.” “We just got free of being statues ourselves. We still have 10,000 years of history to catch up on, but sacrificing yourself to stop Discord will do that to you…” Mira chuckled. “Yeah it does… Good thing I still have my magic and don’t have to start from scratch,” He replied, having a rune form in his hands before dismissing it. “That would suck if I had to start over-.” “What the hay was that!?” Twilight asked, shocked to see the new figure that had arrived only seconds ago being able to perform magic… and high level magic no less.  “That’s my power. I have control over Rune Magic and where I’m from, only my friend Moondancer and myself have control over it. The only other pony that was capable of doing it was Starswirl the Bearded and he died before being able to complete his research on Rune magic. Plus, I’m the only one that can read his notes.”  Celestia then cleared her throat. “The reason I had brought the Element bearers here is because last night, both Luna and I had the same dream. Ponies under attack by creatures we saw back in Discord’s time, but controlled by an unknown enemy. And just recently I received news of an attack on a town near Fillydelphia, two survivors were found on the outskirts of the city. From what they described, the town was attacked by a group of four legged creatures that spat out fire.”  “And these creatures aren’t dragons at all?” Nicko then asked, folding his arms. “Because some dragons don’t need to have wings, but can be just as deadly on all four legs.” Scratching his chin, he thought of something for a moment before looking back at the two princesses. “Did the two survivors give a description of the beasts themselves? Like help the guards compose a rough sketch?”  “They mentioned that every time the creatures breathed fire, their whole body would go up in flames also. They were a dark red with glowing yellow eyes and a crocodile like mouth.” At this, both Mira and Cassie looked at Celestia in shock. While Nicko himself could only think of one thing in his head when he looked back at the two princesses.  “Salamanders…” He said before looking at Mira and Cassie. “You two thinking what I’m thinking?”  They nodded before Cassie said, “I think so, but where are we gonna get a pool table at this time?” That just caused Nicko to look back at her before facepalming himself and then turning his gaze towards Mira. He adjusted his gear and then summoned one of his own weapons as it released a warm red glow from it as he looked back at both of them.  “Something tells me we got a lot of work to do first before you get that.” Nicko mentioned. “I may have other objectives to do back home, but I can’t just leave when you guys are in need of help.”   Mira nodded before her blades appeared around her. She then turned to Celestia and Luna and asked, “Where exactly is this town?”         “I do not know, but one of the survivors, a unicorn named Bird Seeker can lead you to it. But be warned, she’s still traumatized by what happened to it.” Luna answered.   “And what of the other survivor? Are they still recovering?” Nicko then asked them.  “Yes, the filly is still recovering, but it will take a long time before she can talk about this without going into a panic attack.”  “Well, maybe we should start with the filly,” He suggested. “Don’t worry… I have an idea that can work. Just let me try it and see what I can find.”  Celestia nodded. “Very well. I wish you three luck.” With that, Nicko let both Mira and Cassie guide him to where they needed to go before having the princesses help them out. He believed that since they knew more about their world then he did, the Rune Slayer would let them guide him to where they needed to go first.  After getting directions from a guard, the three stopped at a small building where the two were staying. Mira then knocked on the door and stepped back. After a few minutes, the door opened and a timid mare peeked out. “Yes? May I help you?” She asked in a shaky voice “Would you happen to be Bird Seeker by any chance?” Nicko asked the mare, making sure to do it softly and not try to intimidate the mare accidently. “We wanted to talk to you about something. Can we come in please?”  She nodded hesitantly before she opened the door wider to allow the three inside. The room itself looked to be a small home that had a big living room and kitchen area. One in with the mare guided them too and asked if they could have a seat at the table. Nicko himself dismissed his weapon so that way he didn’t give off a bad and intimidating impression to the pony that he was trying to help. As Mira sat down, she saw a filly peeking out from the hallway, peering nervously at her and her companions. Nicko noticed the young filly as well, but shortly after seeing her, the filly scurried off down the hall and into her room, closing the door behind her. He was wanting to ask Bird Seeker about it, but held off in doing so. Thinking that Mira or Cassie could help by starting off the conversation.         “We… heard of what happened to your town… and… well… we wanted to try and help you somehow… Can you try and tell us what exactly happened?” Mira asked. “We’re not asking for much. Just only what you can remember… if that’s okay with you, Ms. Seeker.” Bird Seeker nodded before she began to explain, “I was on my way home after visiting a friend a few blocks down. After a few miles I suddenly heard screaming, and as I ran up to where it was coming from, I saw the entire south side on fire. Ponies were running for their lives from the blaze, and what had caused the blaze was stalking up behind them. They were these big dark red lizard like creatures with yellow glowing eyes and a crocodile like mouth. They spat jets of flame, and any pony or anything that was caught in those flames…” She shuddered in fear. “I saw Little Leaf, the filly you just saw, looking for her parents. Unfortunately, her parents were killed when a burning building collapsed on them as they ran through the town. Both she and I were the only ones to make it out alive.” She then fell silent. Both Mira and Cassie looked at her with horrified eyes, Mira holding a hand to her mouth. “Dear god, that sounds horrible…” Nicko commented. “I… I’m so sorry….” Mira whispered, her voice sounding shaken. Her mind flashed back to a memory she could never forget, the cries of people trapped in a burning building, her crying out for her parents in a strange room. Cassie noticed her adopted sister starting to freeze up and knew what exactly was happening. “Mira, snap out of it. That happened a long time ago.” She said gently, while putting a hand on her shoulder. “You had no control over those events.” Seeing that Cassie was tending to Mira, Nicko thought of something and decided to speak up and ask her something. “What was the name of the town where this took place?” “Sun’s Hollow.” Bird Seeker replied. “Why did you want to know?” “Well… My first thought would be if there was anything the town that might’ve attracted the monsters to attack in the first place. From my experience, some monsters don’t attack unless otherwise provoked so if there was something there that was luring them in the first place, maybe that might explain why they came to the town in the first place.” He explained, looking at Cassie afterwards. “It’s just a thought, but right now, it’s the only thing we got. I would only think that by going there would we find out why they attacked in the first place.” “You… You want me to take you three to where the town was?” She asked nervously. “Not exactly take, but maybe tell… do you have a map of sorts?” Nicko asked. She nodded and said, “I do, it’ll take some time to find it.” before leaving the room.  Mira then slumped in her chair and groaned. “I’m sorry for freezing up like that, hearing what Ms. Seeker just described brought back some bad memories…” she said.  “Nah, it’s alright.” Nicko insisted. “I understand what you mean. I met some people that have had that happen to them and early on when I was displaced, I had to go through something like that myself. Why do you think that before I was displaced, my brother and I were in an orphanage for roughly twelve years?” Both of them were silent at that for a moment and Nicko himself was quiet. Trying to not interrupt their thought process. But by the time they were going to say something, Bird Seeker had returned with the map that was requested. “The best way to get to Sun’s Hollow is from the train station near Fillydelphia. There should be a path leading to it, but… please be careful. Bandits hide in the woods near it.” She said as she handed the map to Nicko. He noticed some of the scribbles that were on it and also looked at where she circled the town itself… and placed x marks on other locations that she determined as danger zones. However, there was one zone in mind that was close to the mountain range nearby that was relatively close to the town itself. And if that was not relatively off putting… the name was. Firelight Ridge “Thanks Bird Seeker. This will help us a lot.” He thanked her, letting Cassie and Mira examine the map themselves. “You’re welcome. And… I hope you avenge the lives lost there.” She replied. “None of this should have happened…” “We will make sure to get to the bottom of this, I promise you that.” Nicko replied to her as he put a hand on one of her hooves to comfort her. “Whatever it takes, we will make sure to find out why they came, avenge the fallen and help those souls be at peace.” With that, he stepped out of the room, taking the chance to get some fresh air and allowing for both Cassie and Mira to process the map a little bit longer. The sound of hooves suddenly made him turn around and he saw Little Leaf hesitantly walk up to him. “Is it true you’re going to my home?” She asked, her voice squeaking.  “Y-yeah it is…” He said briefly. The Rune Slayer was unsure if the young filly overheard their conversation at all, but he did not want to make things sound overly complicated. Especially when telling a young filly who basically lost everything. Including her friends, family… and her home.  “So you and the Blade Queen and the Thunder Phoenix are gonna fight those monsters?”  “Yes we are” He answered, not trying to go too much into detail. He was talking to a child after all and long explanations would either not make sense or bore her unintentionally. “Hang on… Blade Queen and Thunder Phoenix? Are you referring to Cassie and Mira?” She nodded. “The Blade Queen is known for wielding eight floating blades while the Thunder Phoenix has wings made of lightning that disappear after she makes her attacks but return afterwards. Most ponies know about this!” She said. “Well, I’m not like most ponies,” He mentioned, which was true. “In fact, some may just consider me as a traveler here… I’m capable of many great things, but I’m not from here. I come from somewhere far… different to put it simply.” He honestly thought of continuing, but at this point, he thought that he had already spoken enough. Didn’t exactly want to tell a little filly about the multiverse… course she probably wouldn’t understand it either but it wasn’t his job to try and complicate things.  “How exactly are you not like most ponies?” “Well… that’s not so easy to explain…” Nicko replied. “But to make things simple, I’m just as good with a sword as I am with sorcery.” To demonstrate, he showed her one of the simple runes he could form from an outstretched hand as he had it disperse a few moments later and had the magic scatter like dust. Before she could ask more, Bird Seeker’s voice called out from the house. “Little Leaf, it’s time for dinner! Come back inside!” The sound of footsteps was then heard as Cassie and Mira walked out, followed by the unicorn mare herself. She chuckled as she looked at Nicko and the filly. “I should have warned you, she has quite an inquisitive mind.” She remarked. “It’s never wrong to be curious,” He replied. “She looks to be pretty… interested in some of my magic.” He looked to Cassie and Mira shortly before asking them something. “Do we have everything that we need?” They nodded. “Ready when you are.” Cassie said, holding up the map. “Let’s go then… I’m following you guys since you may know more about this place then I do.” He admitted, scratching the back of his head in a bit of embarrassment. “If it’s any comfort to you, we’re pretty much going in blind also. We still don't know many of the places here or what’s changed in 10,000 years.” Mira replied. He nodded his head while the two of them walked, acknowledging everything they said while they made their way to Canterlot’s gate.  “To be fair, the Equestria I’m familiar with is a lot different from yours… and not just by landmarks either.” The Rune Slayer told them. “Come on though, let’s get going before Pinkie Pie tries to throw us a going away party.” Cassie landed next them and nodded in agreement. “To be honest, she creeps me out…” She said, shuddering. “If she’s that hyper, I don't want to know how much sugar she inhales on a daily basis…” “She works at a bakery… I think that pretty much tells you how much.” Nicko told her as they went outside the gate to the Canterlot Train Station.         Cassie groaned and said, “Forget I said anything…” Mira giggled at that as they arrived on the platform before turning serious. “Hopefully we’re dealing with just Salamanders and bandits… If not, we may be getting in over our heads…” She said. “Trust me, you don’t know the kind of things I have to put up with on a regular basis.” Nicko mumbled, reflecting on all the challenges that he had to overcome over the years from the people he met to the monsters he had to defeat. Yup, there was definitely a lot. “What kinds of things?” Cassie asked, looking over at Nicko. “Well… let’s just say that a friend of mine is a Crimson Avenger who thinks the best way to get ponies attention is to make it look like blood is dripping from the walls and shouting “HEY KIDS, WANNA SEE A DEAD BODY!?!” to scare anypony, A lot of my family members ended up as other Elsword Displaced, my teacher is a Kaiser dragon who thinks the best way to train you by almost killing you, a lot of the displaced I met are good friends that can drive you nuts and back home, I need to fight back against a series of demons that are trying to control my home… Care for me to explain more?” The two looked at him in disbelief. “That’s… a bit disturbing with what your friend did…. And you have a teacher that’s a dragon?! And I thought Sasha didn't make sense with his talk about a game called Warhammer 40,000… Wait, you said there were more of these ‘displaced’!?” Mira asked in shock. Cassie rolled her eyes, knowing that her sister had a small crush on the guy after they had met him and two of his friends back on earth. “Trust me. There’s a LOT more. Some of them play the role of the hero, some play the role of the bad guy and sometimes, some displaced are like ‘screw the rules, I do what I want and I’m having fun while doing it’. It just honestly depends on not just what they are displaced as, but where they end up,” The Rune Slayer told them as the train soon arrived to go to Fillydelphia station. Once they were all on board, he soon picked up where they left off. “For my world, all the ponies and other creatures are anthropomorphic and Celestia has a brother named Artemis instead of a sister and for a friend of mine I know named Lance, Twilight and her friends in that universe are superheroes in a city called Maretropolis… and that’s only the tip of the iceberg.”  “How exactly did you encounter all of them? There must be like millions of Equestrias!” Cassie said, ignoring the surprised and amazed looks she was getting from the ponies nearby. “Unless they suddenly appeared in your Equestria, I’m finding it hard to believe that you’ve met all of those displaced in a day.” “You summon them,” Nicko replied, pointing at the mark that was his token. “Each Displaced has a summoning token unique to them and by calling upon them, they can come to you. However, it works two ways and a displaced you try to summon can end up resisting and bring you to them instead. We can make you two a token later though. Right now, let’s focus on the task at hand.”  Mira nodded, the minute wings on her back shifting and causing her hair to shift with them. “Cassie and I have encountered Salamanders before, back in Discord’s time. They’re very territorial, but… I’ve never heard of them banding together and suddenly torching a town. They usually stay in their own territories.” She said, tapping her chin in thought.  “It’s almost like someone took over their minds…” “I have a feeling that might be what happened.”  Cassie frowned. “But the only one that could do that was Discord, and he’s sealed in stone!” She said. “So there’s no way someone else could have done it!” “You do realize that there are more possible threats than just Discord himself right?” Nicko replied back, looking at them. “Remember when you mistaked me as Vargas? Maybe there’s someone from wherever you guys are that’s pulling the strings this time.” Before being Displaced, Nicko liked playing Brave Frontier on an old Google Nexus Tablet he used to have, so he had some knowledge of it. But it was only a small amount compared to what Cassie and Mira might’ve known. The three of them rode the train all the way to Fillydelphia Station before getting off of it and scanning the area. They were warned about the possibility of bandits attacking them, but the three of them stuck to the path and Nicko did not feel the presence of any bandits in the vicinity. But he did smell the scent of something burning in the area… and from looking at an old wooden signpost and seeing the words Sun’s Hollow across the front of a sign pointing to the left, they all began to hurry. The three crested the hill and stopped as they looked on in disbelief at what used to be a town, but was now a burnt shell. Mira gagged as she spotted the scorched skeletons of the ponies, Stallions, mares and foals, that never had a chance to escape lying in the streets. She turned her head as tears welled up in her eyes. Cassie had a hand to her mouth, her eyes wide with horror. “My god….” She whispered as she grasped her sister's hand.  While Mira and Cassie were horrified by what they saw, Nicko was all too familiar with it. He did feel sorry for those that lost their lives, but thought that something was… off. For one thing, why would skeletons be laying around outside in particular. He only had one thought as to why… and if that was they were undead. “It’s not pretty, is it?” A voice spoke up behind them, causing them to spin around to see a young human male wearing blue clothing and silver armor. But what caught their eye was the massive halberd he was holding in one hand. “They were caught out in the open when those Salamanders attacked, they never stood a chance against that fire breath.” “And who would you happen to be? You got some nerve to try and approach us from a possible blindspot,” Nicko pointed out, summoning one of his blades known as Ebalon.  “The name’s Karl, a summoner from Grand Gaia. And who are you? You look like Vargas, but a bit more on the small side.” The stranger replied. “Me and another colleague managed to drive the Salamanders off, but we were too late to save the rest of this village.” The Rune Slayer remembered the name, but twitched a little in irritation once he heard him call him small. Cassie rolled her eyes before she  then realized something. “Wait, you said ‘Grand Gaia’, how did you end up in Equestria?” “Let me take a wild guess then,” Nicko replied, folding his arms before saying what was on his mind. “You were summoned here… Better yet, you mentioned another colleague, so it’s best to assume that right now you are not alone.” He had a feeling of this because if this were true, this colleague could be hiding somewhere else or viewing Karl from a possible vantage point if it were an archer. “Tilith said that a world needed our help, but we weren't expecting a world filled with sentient equines.” Karl replied. That had Nicko think back to when he used to play Brave Frontier with the names that we’re being mentioned. But he still felt that he needed to investigate around the village to look for clues. At that moment, a human female came running up and stopped next to Karl. “Karl, what do you think you’re doing?! We’re supposed to be watching these three, not interact with them!” She growled. She was dressed in red light armor and wielding a massive great sword that glowed with fiery runes. “Honestly, and I thought you wanting to help save that village was bad enough!” Now that was a lot different than what Karl originally said… and Nicko was honestly expecting this. There seemed to be more to this summoner that meets the eye and now was when more details were coming to light. “Seria, what was I supposed to do, not try and save those villagers? We may not have been able to stop the Salamanders, but at least we drove them back!” Karl snapped. Seria snorted before she turned to the three. “So you two are the new summoners here? I’m not impressed.” She said, looking at Mira and Cassie before addressing Nicko, “And who are you suppose to be, Vargas the Midget?” She asked Nicko grit his teeth, gripping his blade. “Do I look like him to you? Besides, if I tried explaining it to you, you’ll be too confused to understand.” Seria snorted. “I know a rookie summoner when I see one. And I doubt you’ve seen combat. So leave the fighting to the real summoners, short stuff.” At this, both Cassie and Mira winced. Nicko was really beginning to not like how she was pulling the short card on him. “Are you just trying to provoke me based on appearance?” Nicko replied, looking at her as they saw some of his magic radiating from him. It was strong and very dense as she looked back at him. “Because we have a job to do and all you’re doing is preventing us from doing the right thing, lady.”  Karl gave Seria a warning look before he said, “We won’t get involved in your mission, but a word of warning. It’s not just Salamanders that are around, I saw a few Slyphs also.” Cassie nodded before she leapt into the air and hovered above them. While the two summoners were walking and leaving the area, Nicko soon got to work on examining some of the homes that had been burned down as well as some of the other building too. He was doing this on his own because he thought that Mira needed a little bit of time to process everything before pitching in. Soon though, when Nicko was examining what remained out of the building that were left, he soon came across something after having to remove a fallen bookcase. Some of the debris from it fell on something that was metal in nature. Metal? That was… unexpected for most common homes… unless there was some sort of basement. He soon pulled out his sword and removed some of the debris that was there before looking at his discovery. “Son of a b*tch…” “Nicko? Did you find something?” Mira asked as she walked up to him. “Oh it’s more than something alright,” Nicko told them as he showed the two of them what he found. “It’s the door to a storm cellar. Locked. And judging from it’s appearance… it can only be locked from the inside.” Telling them this, he looked back at the two of them as he prepared some of his magic just in case. “What do you think it means?” She asked. [         “Well, if there weren’t actually any survivors… this would be unlocked… somepony must’ve ran and hid in here because right now, the door is locked.” He explained to them. “And with the debris that was originally on top of it, it would be impossible for anypony to get out with that much weight against the door.”  Just as he finished talking, all three of them heard a click! go off as what was around the door began to loosen. Soon, they saw the door lift up and what they saw come out surprised them. It was a young pegasus and a pair of unicorn twins. All of them around the same age as Little Leaf and they were at first scared to see them. “D-don’t be scared… We’re here to help you.” Nicko told them, shortly before the pegasus began to speak. “D...do you know what happened to our parents? They had us hide in here before the monsters attacked… We… We heard their screams….” She began to break down. Nicko placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort them in the process. “I… don’t know. I’m sorry… Out of everyone in the town, you three, Bird Seeker and another filly named Little Leaf are the only ones who weren’t harmed. Are you three harmed at all? How long were you in that cellar for?” He asked them. Trying to help the fillies required for him to know this because he didn’t know if they had food or water in the cellar or how long they were in there for. “Eighteen hours.” the colt replied shakily. “Bright Day has a sprained wing from tripping on the cellar step.” Nicko noticed the bandaged wing upon looking at the pegasus before turning to Mira and Cassie. “Mira, Cassie, look around and try to see if you can find anything that we can use to help them. We need to get them back to Canterlot and fast.” The Rune Slayer told both of them before looking back at them and telling them to stay close to them and make sure to stay close to him no matter what happened. The two summoners nodded before they searched through the ruined buildings for anything that would help them and the foals. Mira then noticed what looked like four green bottles and picked them up. Her eyes widened as she realized what they were. “Cassie, I found four Cure bottles!” She called out. “Great! I just found a few Tonics!” Cassie replied. That was a good sign if Nicko ever heard of one. Not only did it mean that there was something to heal them in the meantime, but also they had a few extra on hand just in case But as Mira headed back to the house that Nicko was in, she heard the sound of wings and a female voice said, “Well well well, what do we have here? A summoner that lost its way?” Mira then turned to see a green skinned winged human female with hair that waved in the wind the wings created as they flapped. Three others like her looked on in amusement. “I had a bad feeling that our luck would run out soon,” He groaned, looking back at them. “What do you want?”  “Our boss wanted us to make sure there weren't any survivors, and to take out anyone that tried to make any kind of rescue attempt.” One of the other Slyphs replied with a smirk. “Oh really? Is that so?” Nicko replied, looking back at them with his weapon in hand. “And what makes you think I’m going to let that happen?” A sudden growl was heard as a pair of humanoid figures with bull heads wielding massive one handed axes that glowed with electrical runes flanked by three of the creatures that Bird Watcher had described stomped towards the two. “Please, like a stunted Vargas and a poor excuse for Blade Queen Sefia is gonna do much against us.” The lead Sylph chuckled nastily. “Then how about we even up the odds?” Cassie’s voice said as she landed in front of them and drew her sword, Mira summoning hers as well.         “Please… what are you going to do? Get another stunted friend like this pipsqueak over here?” One of the Sylph taunted, causing the rest of them to laugh in response. That was… until a rune blew up in its face and caused the monster to drop to the ground. “Say… that… again…” Nicko growled. “I dare you! Say… THAT… AGAIN!!!” “Quiet you runt! No one hurts my sisters and gets away with it!” The lead Sylph snarled as her hand crackled with electrical energy. She then looked over at the Minotaurs and Salamanders. “Kill them! Their heads will please the boss!” Now that was when NNicko got extremely pissed off. He had just about HAD it with everyone calling him short or runt to the point that his blood began to boil. “Cassie… Mira… get down.” He warned, shortly before having a rune be thrown above his head. It looked ordinary in scope, but it soon turned into a black hole that pulled all the monsters in as several runes imprisoned the enemies inside and massive swords made of pure magic soon took form “Shining… Rune… BUSTER!!!” He shouted, causing the swords to converge on their targets and for everything to explode. Defeating all the opponents standing there… and leaving the one sylph that was talking smack about them earlier. “You… YOU WILL PAY!!!” She screeched before Mira charged forward and slammed her swords into the Sylph, the blades suddenly flashing and both burning and blinding the thunder type unit and draining her power in the process. Severely weakened, the Sylph fell to the ground and looked up at Mira. “What are you waiting for? End me….” She muttered.         “We have a few questions we’d like to ask you first.” Cassie growled as she grabbed the creature by the neck and lifting her up. “Why was this town attacked and most of the inhabitants killed?” “Our master… She wanted to let the rulers of this world know that she will show no mercy to those beneath her!” The Sylph gasped. “So she had this town attacked as a warning!” “Who is this ‘master’ you speak of?” Mira spoke up. “Maxwell… She has fallen and is now hell bent on conquering this new world with the other three fallen Gods…” The Sylph said before Cassie tossed her to the ground. Looking at where the other creatures had fallen, Mira saw what looked blue crystals floating on the ground near the unconscious forms. Stretching out her hand, many of the crystals flew over to her before being absorbed. All but one, which she held in her hand and gazed at, her thoughts churning. Nicko had a feeling that this was going to get ugly, so he had the kids follow him out of the room while Mira was interrogating the Sylph. Besides, after something like that, they must’ve been shaken a bit after almost having monsters try to harm them. “If the four Fallen Gods are trying to invade Equestria, then they chose the wrong universe to invade.” Mira said, looking up from the crystal in her hand to the quaking Sylph. “Tell your master that the Blade Queen and Phoenix Thunder will stop at nothing to defeat her.” Her blue eyes flashed in anger as she finished, “And that she will pay for her crimes.” “I can’t! She’ll kill me if I tell her that we failed to kill you!” The Sylph sobbed. “Take me with you, but I beg you, don’t send me back to Maxwell!” That was when Nicko remembered something. In the original Brave Frontier, some monsters you can encounter can also become units that you can add in your party. This Sylph was asking for her to join, even though of the wrongdoings that she might’ve committed. “Why should we, after what you and your friends did to these ponies?” Cassie growled. “You cut them down without mercy, even going so far as to kill children!”  The Sylph bent her head in shame. “I never took part in the violence! I was just giving orders!!” She pleaded. “Please, help me…” Mira sighed. “Very well, but you will serve time for what you have done by helping us stop Maxwell and the three other fallen gods.” She said. The Sylph sighed in relief. “Oh thank Lord Lucius…” She sighed. “I won’t let you down.” That had Nicko relieved, but also made him wonder if either Cassie or Mira was going to remind her about what… irritates him. Cassie then looked over at Nicko before saying, “Let’s get these three to Canterlot. And we need to let Celestia and Luna know what we just learned.” She then turned to the Sylph. “Do you have a name?” “Serinisa, or Serine for short.” Serin replied. Nicko acknowledged what he was told, but upon turning around was when he noticed that the children had actually found an old wagon that was still functional and big enough for Bright day because of her injuries. “Heh… smart kids.” Cassie noticed that Mira was still holding the battle crystal and asked, “Everything okay?” Mira nodded. “Yeah, just remembering when we first arrived here in Equestria. Who knew that the replica of this would send us to this world…” She replied, looking at the ruins. That part got Nicko to think of something. If that crystal sent them there in the first place… then there was the possibility that the crystal was indeed their token. Cassie chuckled and ruffled her sister's hair. “Even though we got turned into ponies and stoned by six gems?” She asked, getting a small laugh from Mira. “At least it’s not as bad as it was back home. I was getting tired of being teased about my hair.” Mira said. “Hey, are you two ready to get back to Canterlot?” Nicko then asked. “Yeah, we’re coming!” Cassie retorted good naturedly. That was a good sign as they began the long journey back to the royal city. It had taken a long time and some changes to be made once they got to the train station, but everything was able to hold out for the most part. “Hey, Mister?” One of the children asked Nicko once they were on the train back. “Where’s that Serine lady?” “Oh her? I think she’s in the last car on the train.” Nicko answered honestly as he looked back at Mira and Cassie… until Bright Day asked one particular question. “Isn’t that the cargo hold?”  “I HAVE A FEAR OF TRAVELING IN CRATES IN TIGHT SPACES!!!” The Rune Slayer himself was unsure of what to say and just shrugged his shoulders as he looked back at them. “To be honest, I’m not quite too familiar with what certain cars on this train are. Only been on some a couple of times and haven’t really had much time to look around to tell you the truth.”         “What happened the first time you were on a train?” Cassie asked while Mira sat nearby, her thoughts wandering as she stared at the crystal in her hand.         “Do you honestly want to know? For me, that was seven years ago and most of the train ride turned into a hostage crisis.” Nicko sighed, looking back at Cassie and Mira. “That and it involved a draconequus that was helping me at the time who had a weird sense of humor.” “Another Draconequus? There’s more of Discord’s kind?” Mira asked, looking up. “Depends on the world you end up,” Nicko explained. “For me, that was the first time I met Eris, Discord’s daughter… It’s a lot to explain but right now, she’s pretty important with how things are going for me back home.” “Important how?” Cassie asked, her eyes curious. “Well for one thing, she’s my fiance… second, she’s been there through every challenge I had gone through and we worked together as a team. She hasn’t been with me lately due to… reasons, but I care for her as much as she cares for me.” That… surprised both Cassie and Mira. But this made them also a little more curious as to what happened to Discord in particular. “What happened to Discord?” Mira asked. “That… well, that in itself is a little funny… but I’m not sure if I should say it because technically for me… what happens to him hasn’t happened yet.” The spellsword told them, which in turn, surprised both of them. Mira then asked the question that had been on her mind for a while now, “How many displaced have you met or encountered?” “A lot, that’s for sure. Kind of lost track after a while though.” He admitted, scratching the back of his head. “But out of some of the displaced I did meet, I met other magic users, a quincy from Bleach along with a Soul Reaper, quite a few dragons and even some guy that was Handsome Jack. Just to name a few.” Cassie noticed the light in Mira’s eyes and sighed. “Cassie, there is no way Sasha could be in another Equestria. For all we know, he could still be somewhere on earth.” She said. “The last time I heard from him, he and two of his friends were going to some Comic-con. A few days after that, I heard from another friend of his that they had disappeared after visiting this weird vendor…” “That’s… actually what happens in most cases with Displaced.” Nicko replied, looking back at them and sighing a bit. “But I do know someone that might be able to help you guys if you have the time. I know that you’re new to this and a lot of Displaced are when they first get sent to their worlds. Fortunately, my friend Sun Wukong is doing something about it.” “The faunus from RWBY?” Cassie asked. “Yeah. A lot of the displaced in his world are based on RWBY and he’s actually set up a Beacon Academy in his world. The only difference is that this beacon is for newly displaced.” Nicko told them, smirking a little. “In fact, once I’m done with some of the things in my world, I’ll begin teaching classes there.”  “Hmm… Sounds like something for us to check out.” Cassie chuckled. She then frowned and asked, “Except how exactly does one enter this academy?”  “To do that, you need to meet Sun himself,” Nicko said as he took a gold medallion out of his pocket and duplicated it using his powers. “And the best way to do that is with his token. Once you are familiar with how to go to other worlds, you can use this to get to his. He’ll be sure to let you in if you tell him that you talked to me.” Cassie nodded as she took the token. Mira then spoke up, “How exactly do you make a token?” Nicko sighed a little, looking back at them for a moment before taking out his own token as an example. “Well, normally, you would pick something that represents you two, channel your energy into it and then say something. Normally, when you get other tokens, you hear who the token belongs too and how you summon them. Those other displaced say that before letting that token go into the void… don’t worry, you’ll still be allowed to keep your own token. It’ll send copies of your token into the void in which someone else will find and call upon you in times of need.” “That sounds kinda complicated,” Bright Day commented. “It’s actually a lot easier to show you rather than tell you, but we’ll have to make it once we’re back in Canterlot since that’s where they’ll be enough space to do this.” The Rune Slayer added on to what he originally said. The two summoners nodded before Cassie turned to look out the window while Mira went back to looking at the crystal. She continued to focus on it for the rest of the train ride to the point that when the train did stop, she didn’t even seem to notice personally until the train moved to a complete stop and almost threw her onto Nicko in the process, hitting him on the forehead.  “O-oww…” Nicko groaned, rubbing his forehead. “That’s going to leave me with a headache… no pun intended.” "Oh geez, I’m so sorry!” Mira gasped, only for Nicko to wave it off as he got up. “It’s alright… though, I wouldn’t think of the same thing for Serine. Should one of us go check on her?” He asked. “I’ll do it.” Cassie said as she walked out of the train. Only when they did arrive at the cargo hold, they saw her fall out with all the other packages that were in the back falling on top of her. “Who’s idea was it to have her be in the back again?” Nicko asked. “I think she was the one who wanted to be in the back.” Cassie replied. Which caused Nicko to roll his eyes. He was pretty sure that when she meant that she wanted to sit in the back, she didn’t mean all the way in the back like they assumed. But by the time the Sylph was able to regain her senses and the ponies they rescued soon came off the train, the Rune Slayer soon saw Twilight nearby… with Little Leaf. It looked like the Unicorn was trying to comfort the filly, but when they saw them come back… and the filly saw her friends… tears soon filled her eyes. “Bright, Star, Shade, you survived!” She cried before the three ran up to where she was and hugged her. Of course, all three of them were happy to see Little Leaf again. But it was Twilight who was surprised that they actually were still able to find some more survivors. Looking at Cassie and Mira, she then asked them the question that was on her mind. “How did you find more survivors? I thought that based on the guards reports that Little Leaf and Bird Seeker were the only ones that made it out of there alive.” “Apparently these three were in a basement, their parents had them hide in there before….” Cassie said with a sad look towards the foals.  “Oh… I see,” Twilight sighed, looking at them herself before looking back towards them as she noticed Nicko offering a hand to assist Serine. “And just what in Equestria is that?” “A creature known as a Sylph. They’re thunder type units that can call down a single bolt of lightning on their foes.” Mira replied. “Her name’s Serine.” “Hunh… Interesting… And just when I thought that was the third strangest thing I had seen all day,” Twilight replied, looking back towards Cassie and Mira. “First being you summoning Nicko… Second being the group that was in town earlier and now this. What a day.” “Group?! What group?” Cassie asked in shock. “Well, it consisted of a male and two females. For a moment, when I thought it would be you guys, they turned out to be carrying different weapons, were way different in appearance and referred to Nicko as “The pipsqueak with the attitude problem”. They wanted to see if things were okay after the monster incident and said they were from some… Akras thing.” “Akras Summoner’s Guild… This got a whole lot more complicated…” Cassie said. She then remembered what they were also there for. “We have something to tell Celestia. We know who ordered that attack on Sun’s Hollow.” Twilight blinked a couple of times, trying to process what she just said. “O-okay, what?!” That was when Nicko decided to speak up. “You heard her right. We found out who did it, but that’s something I should leave to you guys. I’ll wait out here with the foals while you guys go on inside.” With that, a nervous Serine flew over and joined them while the Rune Slayer watched over the foals. Both of them were talking for the princess for quite a while, but around thirty minutes later, things have seemed to settled down. Though Serine didn’t look too… happy to say the least. “How did it go?”  “Well, Serine told us everything she knew…” Twilight first told him before she then spoke up. “And not only are Cassie and Mira living with me, but Serine was told to either stay with us until she could be proven trustworthy to the princess… or get banished to the sun.” The last one caught Nicko by surprise. He had heard of those who got banished to the moon, but how the actual hell would someone survive by being banished to the sun? That’s like the equivalent of the death penalty. “She may not have been in the actual fighting, but she’s still responsible for killing innocent ponies.” Cassie said, glaring back at the Sylph before tracing her gaze back to him. “What Celestia is have us do is playing watch dog to make sure she doesn't step out of line.” “Well, if she was really desperate in order to live, then I would think that she would take any offer that gives her a chance to survive without getting hurt,” Nicko replied, before looking at them. “So, I’m going to take a guess that you two got this and don’t need my help anymore?”  They nodded before Mira asked, “Before you leave, can you show us how to make a token?” “Certainly. Just remember the instructions I told you on the train earlier with the crystal you have on you.” He informed them, pointing out the shard as a reminder. Mira held up the Battle Crystal while Cassie put her hand on it also. After a minute of thinking of what to say, they spoke with one voice, “To those who are not afraid to see the light and rise like a phoenix to stop those who will harm others, use this crystal to summon us, the Blade Queen and Thunder Phoenix, and a brave new frontier will be opened, but for those who wish us to do harm to others that don’t deserve it, beware…” The crystal then glowed as the two put some of their power in it.  Cassie then took her hand off as Mira tossed the crystal up in the air and it vanished in a flash of light. Shortly before one of them dropped into Nicko’s hand. “That’s step one done… now to send it out into the void.” He replied back to them. “How exactly do we do that?” Cassie asked. Nicko smiled a little, taking a bit of the energy and magic he had to summon a sword that was different from the other two he had before. This one had a void colored crystal attached to the grip of the blade and with a single slash, tore open a small pocket in the void. Tossing in the crystal for a brief second, both Cassie and Mira looked in shock and wonder as the single token that they had soon began to split apart and multiple in the void before Nicko closed the pocket. Taking out two crystals… one for himself and one for them as he lightly tossed it to them. “And… done.” Cassie caught the crystal before looking over at Twilight and bursting into laughter at her shocked expression. The Unicorn’s mouth was nearly touching the ground while her eyes were blankly staring at where the void tear had been. “If you’re going to ask how that happened, this sword was a gift from another Displaced by the name of Void Edge. It was given to me so that way I can make sure to go to and from my own world safely without getting pulled into another one on accident. I don’t use it for combat like my other two blades since it’s only for transportational purposes.” The Rune Slayer explained, hoping to clear things up as a small tug on Twilight’s jaw caused it to snap back upwards like a window cover… or Genie's mouth in Aladdin. “Uh… is she going to be okay?” “Of course, silly!” Pinkie said from behind him. “She just gets overwhelmed by new things!” Now Nicko would normally get startled by her just appearing out of nowhere… but given the fact that his brother was in a relationship back with his Pinkie Pie… he was kind of used to it by now. Especially with the random silliness you would normally expect from her. Then again, not everything you would expect from her is normal. She then pulled a flat rectangular shaped device that both Mira and Cassie recognized as a tablet from earth out of her mane and began tapping at it. “Horsefeathers, I just can't beat this one boss in Trial 03! Curse you Abbadon!” This just made the two even more confused, Twilight even more so. “Pinkie, what exactly are you talking about?” She asked. “Oh, just a boss in this game on this tablet Company Master Sebaste left around his place.” She replied before stuffing it back in her mane. Twilight sighed, knowing that Pinkie was just being Pinkie. Nicko himself rolled his eyes as well, not even questioning what the mare was talking about because he rather not drive himself crazy. Serine slowly backed away from the pink mare while Cassie shook her head. ‘I have a feeling I’m gonna be dealing with this mare  a lot…’ She thought to herself, sighing deeply and regaining her composure. “I’m sure we’ve held you up long enough Nicko. It… It was nice meeting you.” She said, giving him a small smile. “I hope we’ll see each other again sometime.” “Same here, feel free to call on me if you need help with anything,” He told her, shortly before using Void Edge once again to open a doorway home before having it close behind him. Twilight then looked over at Cassie, Mira and Serine. “Let’s get these four to Bird Seeker and then head to Ponyville. I think we had enough craziness for one day-.” “Hey look! It’s those two rookies we ran into earlier!!” Cassie sighed. ‘I have a feeling that this world is gonna be full of surprises after 10,000 years…” She thought as she saw Seria, Karl and a new figure with them, giving them a wave. “Oh hey look, it’s that goddess NPC lady!” Pinkie Pie cheered, bouncing in place and causing Mira to facepalm herself in response to what she said. Twilight shook her head before saying, “You’ll get used to this. Let’s go.” She then began walking towards where Bird Seeker lived, the four foals and the other three following her. Mira looked up into the sky and thought, ‘I wonder what other displaced are out there… And who we’ll meet…’ before she sighed and walked on… to an unknown future.