Swords, Sorcery and Shenanigans- Old Friends
The ride to the small town called Ponyville gave Nicko some anxiety. The human wasn’t normally use to talking about himself, but tried the best he could. After all, he didn’t want to be rude to either Vinyl or Octavia. Hell, they were the reason why he was able to get on the train. Security had supposedly tightened in a lot of major towns since what happened in Ponyville with the changelings the day before. But at least the worst part was already over.
Right now, Nicko was just getting himself adjusted to the quarters he and the two musicians were resting in. It was a first class cabin on the right hand side of the train when somepony would be facing towards the engine room with adjustable seats that reminded the teen of a living room couch because of how spacious and comfy it was. Both mares he was were sitting across from him. There was a table in between for if somepony had work to do or if they brought food back from the dining car. It also served as a good place to set something down for if you wanted to get to it later. Right now though, Nicko was trying to stay engaged in a conversation taking place.
“So, Nicko. Would you care to tell us about yourself?”
The teen personally groaned at the statement. The first question Octavia asked now reminded him of the first day of Social Therapy. ‘Oh the memories that I rather not remember.’ He told himself.
“Could you please clarify a little? I don’t mean to be rude, but the question sounds… Vague.”
“How so?”
“Well, what exactly do you want to know?” The human asked. It was a reasonable question by any means. “I usually do better if someone- I mean somepony, asked me for specific things in conversations.”
“Well, how about you tell us how old you are?” Vinyl suggested, resisting the temptation to be listening to music. “You know, just for starters?”
“Well, I was 17 yesterday-.”
“Was?”
“Yeah. I’m 18 today so-.” Nicko had tried to help clear up the Unicorn’s confusion. But all his reply did though was have the mares jaw drop a little and her eyes widen. The same happened with Octavia as they tried to process what the human said. For a minute, he thought he caused the two of them to freeze up on him and crash like a blue screened computer. Nicko even thought that he had to break them out of the small trance like he did with Vinyl earlier that day. Fortunately, none of that was actually necessary since they snapped back to reality a few seconds afterwards, followed by a question from the White Unicorn.
“So does that makes today your…… Birthday?” She asked. The nodding of Nicko’s head was all that Vinyl needed to see before her face lit up like a christmas tree. “Happy Birthday man!! I did not expect that at all!”
“Thanks. I really appreciate it.” The human told her, trying his best to crack a smile. Facial expressions were another thing that wasn’t the teen’s strong suite. Either it came out all kinky or it looked like he was trying to do Troy Baker’s best Joker impersonation. ‘Just stay calm and try to act normal.’
Nicko now decided to attend to something inside his bag since both Vinyl and Octavia went on another conversation involving a “project” they were working on. He thought it would be the best time to look at one thing. That thing was none other than his skill book. Thinking back to the letter, he was concerned on E’s “cheerful” message in the letter’s bonus statement. Now would be best for him to crack open the pages and take a look.
Right away, he was greeted by a bunch of symbols and images. But what was first a page of symbols soon shifted into words he could read. As for the images, Nicko recognized them off the bat. They were abilities and skills he could unlock. He remembered them as four different types; Passive, Active, Special Active and Hyperactive. Plus, judging from the looks of things, some images were colored while others were multiple shades of grey. It could only mean that some skills were already unlocked. Moving his finger over them, he began to read the names.
-Basic/Intermediate Magic Training (Increased Magical Attack power and Magical defense power. Intermediate just increases attack power.) [Passive]
-Enhanced Fireball (Increases Damage done by projectiles.) [Passive]
-Splash Explosion (Summon a rune in front of you and explode it, launching enemies into the air while dealing damage to them) [Special Active- Vitality]
Then there was one other thing. Something that was called “The Way of the Sword.” It was a fight style that focused on the type of attacks and abilities Nicko could use. Through different attack combinations, he could get one of two aura’s for a limited amount of time.
The first one was known as the Aura of Vitality. When the Rune slayer gains this enchantment, Nicko was able to react and move faster along with having Vitality related skills use up less energy and can also help him restore his energy. The second Aura was called the Spirit of Destruction. As in the name, this form allowed Nicko to deal more damage to his opponents. But there was an additional bonus too. Getting hit makes Nicko howl like a wolf, making any attackers in his immediate surroundings stagger and knocked back while the Rune Slayer remained stoic for a short amount of time.
However, even though these are helpful for him, he still needed the skills in order for him to acquire such strength or speed. But his attention was focused elsewhere when he heard somepony ask him a question.
“Hey man, what are you up to?”
Nicko looked up to see that it was just Vinyl across from him now. Octavia wasn’t in the cabin. Strange enough because he didn’t hear anything that sounded like the doors opened or anything like that. Raising an eyebrow, he asked “Where’s Octavia?”
“Heading to the dining car. She said that she needed some fresh air after we couldn’t agree on what to do for a project we are working on.”
“I’m taking a guess that it relates to music?” Nicko asked. The DJ nodded her head, answering Nicko’s question. She explained a little on how somepony specific asked for them to combine their talents with both the Cello and Electronic music into a bone chilling trac to induce suspense. That’s when Nicko had a suggestion.
“Have you thought of combining more than just the Cello? Like Orchestral, Electronic and trailer music?” He asked. “You know, to combine your talents and make it dramatic and suspenseful?”
“…… Actually, now that you mentioned it… that actually sound like it might work.” Vinyl told him. “You seem like you know a thing about music making.”
“Nah, it isn’t that. I just like to listen a lot to different songs. Have you heard of Varien or Two steps from Hell by any chance?” The DJ shook her head. In a way, Nicko kind of expected this. Different worlds mean different music artist and styles. Some that the locals were probably not familiar with or give the elderly a heart attack. So, setting down his skill book, he handed one of his earbuds to Vinyl and played a song from Varien and Two steps from Hell called Sindicrat.
Needless to say, the musician definitely liked it. Moments into the song, the grin of satisfaction on her face told Nicko that he hit the nail right on the head. The Unicorn softly nodded her head and also moved her fingers on the table like she was hitting keys on a keyboard. By the time the song finished, Vinyl couldn’t get the sounds out of her head. “Dude, that is one hell of a song. Thanks.”
“You’re wel-.”
“Still though, we kind of got off track. You still haven’t answered my question from earlier.” She told him, pointing at the book Nicko set down. “What were you doing just now?”
“Reading.” Nicko was quick to answer that question. “It’s a skill book that allows me to learn new abilities and attacks with my magic. I’m just making sure I have everything I need, just in case if something happens.” Vinyl looked at the human, chuckling a little as she tried to make sense of what he was talking about. She even tried going as far as trying to read the book herself. However, unlike normal spell books (in which Unicorns can read the written syllables that represented magic), the white mare could not read anything on the page.
“How can you read any of this dude?” She asked him, returning the book.
“Somehow, when I read it, the symbols change into words I can read,” The Rune Slayer replied. “Maybe since this is considered mine, no one- I mean nopony else can read it.”
“Well, that does seem to make sense.” The conversation between the two and the chance for the human to get back to what he was previously doing were interrupted abruptly by the sound of hunger that came as a grumble from Nicko’s chest. That reminded the human that he had not eaten anything since he had arrived in Equestria. No breakfast and now going on lunch? Seemed like the best time out of any to go ahead and fuel up on some food. After all, it’s not a good idea to go on an empty stomach.
“Guess I’m going to the dining car. Would you like anything?” Nicko offered politely to the unicorn mare. She shook her head, insisting for him to take the chance to explore the train and also get something to eat. Putting his skill book back away, the human put his bag on his shoulder and began to walk towards the middle of the railed convoy. The car structure of the train itself was a bit different from how he remembered they were like back home. In the front was the engine room and the tender car, which held all the coal and water on the caravan. After those two, the cars were organized by class and quality from highest to lowest.
Nicko was in a first class cabin with Vinyl and Octavia, but that actually wasn’t the highest quality seats on the train. The highest quality seats were known as “Royal class” since only the rich and wealthy in Canterlot most of the time were able to afford it. Following that was first class, business class, the dining car, the guard quarters (for the royal guard that are asked to help escort somepony) second class and commoner class. After that was few flatbed cars used for delivering goods and carrying supplies, but were mostly empty except for a few wooden crates. As Nicko made his way through the cars, he could tell that there was quite a difference between each of them and the ponies in the cars that were taking the train. He didn’t notice the biggest change until after moving past the business class car.
Inside the dining car, the human was greeted by many tables that were set up like one of those fancy restaurants that were too expensive for normal civilians to afford. On his left hand side, he saw a bunch of kids that were close to his age all gathered around a group of tables put together. The most recognizable of the bunch were four girls. One with a bow in her hair and possibly her friends. Across from them was a couple of boys. One that had purple scales and a purple jacket while another boy had a pinwheel hat, t-shirt and shorts. The kid looked like he was holding some sort of handheld gaming device in his hands, but had it on pause for the time being. It must’ve been a class field trip of sorts with this many kids. The only adult with them was a berry colored woman wearing a teachers outfit and the hair reminded Nicko of Japanese cherry blossoms that were in the orphanages garden back home.
As Nicko looked to his right, he recognized a familiar face. Octavia was sitting at a two person table close to the far right corner of the cabin with another mare. This other mare had a long Hazelnut like hair with emerald eyes and fur that resembled the color of fresh wood in a courtroom. She wore a business suit with a patch of a balancing scale laced in gold. By appearance, it reminded the human of a chief prosecutor. Maybe some kind of background in criminal justice? He didn’t really know.
Nicko decided to take up a seat in the middle of the car at a two person table like the one Octavia was sitting in. He was by himself, so there technically wasn’t a need to sit at a four person table. When Nicko set his bag down and began to look at the fold out menu, he could hear the group of fillies from the other side of the room.
“So which one of the girls did you think was cool, Spike?”
“Oh come on, Sweetie Belle.” The boy replied. “I was able to catch a break from Twilight to have fun with you guys. Not talk about the one thing that has been driving her crazy. Besides, I’ve had… a bad experience with Amy… I rather not talk about it.”
“Just to be clear, Amy is the one with the red hair, white coat and fire powers right?”
“Yes Button. That’s her.” The orange mare with wings answered the pinwheel kid’s question. “Come to think of it, doesn’t that guy over there look sort of like Amy?”
‘Crap,’ Nicko cursed mentally. He honestly didn’t expect to be pointed out that fast. But it did make sense. Nicko felt like a black sheep. He felt like he stood out amongst everypony else in the room.
“Don’t presume yet, Scootaloo.” The girl with the bow answered her friends question. “We don’t know a thing about him. He did just walk in here.”
“What I’m curious about is that marking on his shoulder. Could that be his cutie mark?”
“That wouldn’t make any sense,” The one called Button replied. “Cutie marks are on the flank, not the shoulder.” What the kids were talking about now were the two tattoo’s Nicko had. There was one on each shoulder and they were markings representing his Runes. The first one was the same rune symbol that was on his sword while the other one was a wingless dragon looking like it was biting it’s own tail in a circling motion. They were painted in red.
“If they’re on the flank, then what’s up with him?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Ah don’t know, but ah’m going to have to agree with Scoot on this one. He does remind me of Amy. The colors of the clothes he’s wearing definitely remind me of her.”
From what Nicko could tell, the girls words made him think that the “Amy” figure they mentioned was a Blazing Heart. With the kid named Button saying that she had red hair, a white cloak and fire powers; it was the best guess he had. He couldn’t tell originally what she was from the image from the paper since the fire she was using covered most of her body. The same thing went for the two other girls in the image. The white haired one had Nicko think of either a genderbent Mastermind or Eve’s Code: Battle Seraph with a different color set of clothes. But upon further inspection, he saw the girls dynamo weapons and dismissed the thought. As for the third one, Nicko could tell that she was a Sakra Devanam because of her combat stance and using the “Eight Trigram Palm” technique. Now though, his attention had to be focused elsewhere as he saw a Unicorn stallion trot over to his table. From his appearance, Nicko could tell that he was a waiter as he pulled out a small notebook and pen that was commonly used to write down the orders of the customers on-board.
“Hello, Sir. Would you be eating by yourself today?” Before Nicko could speak, he noticed a new figure walk to his table and sit down across from him. Nicko was personally shocked and a bit surprised about this guy. Why? He knew him from back home.
“Actually, he’s eating with a friend today.” The black and partially white haired human told the stallion waiter. “Can we have two glasses of water to start please?”
“Certainly.” As the waiter trotted away, Nicko looked back at the human. He was surprised, but glad that he found someone that he knew.
“Leo? Holy crap, am I glad to see you!”
“Same here, Nicko. For a moment, I didn’t recognize you with your new look.” Leo chuckled. Nicko had to agree on that point. Speaking of looks, he now noticed that there was something different with his friend. His entire left arm was now… Mechanical.
“You look quite different yourself. If that arm really…?”
“A mechanical one? Yeah it is.” His friend answered. “Takes a little bit to get used to at first. But after a while, it feels quite normal.” Nicko had the same feeling. It took him a while to get use to his new outfit and also the runes he could conjure. It felt weird when he first got here, but he adjusted over time. Now though, it seemed like the perfect time to ask his friend a few questions. Most importantly, how did he get here in the first place?
“So, Leo? May I ask you something?”
“Go ahead. I’m all ears.”
“How exactly did you end up here in Equestria?”
The question made the Reckless Fist sigh as he set his one handed blade to lean against the table. Leo used the chance to get himself in a more relaxed sitting position. This would take some time to explain and no matter how he said it, the story would be very hard to believe.
“Alright… Well, it all started when I was asked to meet Jane Anderson-.”
“Wait, as in the lady who funds the orphanage?” Leo’s friend asked him. The Reckless Fist’s reply was a nod and a reminder to try and not interrupt him while he was explaining this to him. Around now was also when the waiter returned with the glasses of water that they asked for.
“Are you two ready to order?”
“Yes, I have your alfredo pasta please.” Nicko calmly and politely replied to the stallion, folding the menu that he was looking at. “What about you, Leo?”
“I’ll just have the same thing as you. Make it simple.”
“Okay, two alfredo pasta’s. I’ll have that ready for you in about ten minutes.” The Waiter told them as he left the two of them alone at the table they were at.
“Alright, now where was I before we were so… rudely interrupted?”
“You said you were meeting Jane… Anderson?” Nicko repeated, unsure of how the last name went.
“Right, so heres how it played out...”
Yesterday, Anderson Abode Orphanage (Leo’s P.O.V.)
“Mr. Chase. You have been working quite exceptionally well over the past few years that you’ve been here.”
“Well, thank you for the kind words, Mr. Anderson. I really appreciate it.” Leo replied. When he remembered the conversation, his appearance was not like the look of the Reckless Fist. Instead, he was a little more… proper. For one thing, his hair was neatly combed and he wore a collared t-shirt and khakis. He was standing in a small office that either Jane Anderson or her husband James would occupy once every few weeks to check on the children. Mostly, either the oldest of the children or hired maids would be taking care of the kids. But since one of the maids had been fired around almost a week ago, Leo had a bit more work on his shoulders.
“I’m glad to hear that, Leo. But may I ask you something out of curiosity?”
Raising an eyebrow, he slowly nodded. “Sure… what is it?”
“Have you considered using any of your vacation days?”
“I have vacation days!?” The young adult said. “The only time I mentioned that was near Yuri and she got mad at me because she thought I was trying to be lazy. She scares me sometimes when she’s angry.”
“I see… You should take some time off and are allowed to go anywhere that you wish. But I recommend that you don’t go to extreme lengths with your time off. Yuri used most of her time to try and form some kind of investigation that involved trying to find my two daughters. I know she cares for them, but devoting that much time into something that happened a few years ago puts a bad image on the family. I believe you understand, right Leo?”
“… Dibs on taking the Cadillac in the driveway!!!”
Present day, Equestria
“After that, I went out to the Hobby store I heard you found your costume just to check it out. When I was there, I bought the Reckless Fist outfit and the Sword and they threw in the Nasod Arm for free since it was a buy two, get one free on any cosplay outfits and accessories. Went right back to the Abode to try it on and see what it felt like on the rooftops of the building as the sun was setting. Then, the light from the sun got too bright and next thing I know, I was on the rooftop of a building inside Los Pegasus or whatever that place was called. Looks like something that came out of a Fisher-Price playset if you ask me-.”
“Okay, back up a sec.” Nicko told his friend. “How the hell am I suppose to believe that you drove a freaking Cadillac?”
“I took a selfie of me holding the keys in front of the car.” His friend told him, showing him the photo of himself with his Samsung Galaxy.
“…… Okay, just how exactly does your mind function?”
“Like any normal person would.”
“Really dude? You really make me think you're acting like Deadpool right now.”
“So I can’t say the K word on camera-?”
“I was being hypothetical.” Nicko retorted, smacking himself in the face with the palm of his hand. The thing with Leo was that he sometimes took certain things a little too far. This could be shown through his actions, his speech and through his thinking. Still though, despite this, Leo was still a good friend. He just had a weird way of showing it.
“So, how did you exactly find me Leo?”
“Well, I overheard two ladies talking while at the bookstore in Los Pegasus and they mentioned your name so I followed them. I followed by rooftop since following them on the ground would make me look like a stalker. As for getting on the train… I have a ticket, but let’s just say I took a raincheck when I came to security. Reminds me too much of Airport security back home.”
“So you basically acted like a hitchhiker?”
“To put it in simple terms, yes.” Leo said as he got out a series of four books from a bag similar to Nicko’s. All of them were labeled “Daring Do” on the seams and made Nicko feel like it was this world's version of Indiana Jones. Inspecting the book at the bottom of the stack, the Rune Slayer noticed something with the book.
“Daring Do and the Arctic Archives. Reserved for… Rainbow Dash? Leo… this belonged to somebody else.”
“What? It was a buy three, get the fourth one free special. I’m sure they got more copies on sale.”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’RE SOLD OUT!!?”
Back to the train-ride
“Riiiight… Somehow, I doubt that. Whoever this belonged to, you just pulled a five finger discount on them.” Nicko sighed. The human now noticed that the waiter from a few minutes ago had just returned and set their dishes on the table. Thanking the stallion, Nicko held his fork in his right hand and began to enjoy his pasta and Leo did the same. Due to Nicko’s hunger, he was able to consume the dish in less than ten minutes. It finally felt good to have some food in his system, even though the dish didn’t have any meat or protein.
The Reckless Fist chuckled to himself as his friend was about to drink some water. “It’s only been three days and it seems like you two only disappeared yesterday-.”
The comment almost made Nicko choke on his water as he swallowed it down carefully. “Hold on a second!? Three days!!? But I’ve only been here for like almost two hours… and what the hell do you mean by you two?”
“Well, isn’t Anson with you?”
“No, last time I saw him was the day before the party where he suggested the costume idea. When I got back, I was told that he had left only fifteen minutes ago.”
“Well, News Flash dude.” Leo told him with an edge in his voice. “Both you and your brother disappeared on the same day.” This came as a huge surprise to Nicko. He had no idea that both he and Anson were now stuck in god knows where. He began to worry about him. But not for his safety though. Two words basically described Anson in the Rune Slayer’s mind. Energetic and Egotistical. He was also headstrong, sarcastic, brutally honest and had a weird way to show how he cares for people or trusts them.
Putting his bag over his shoulder and grabbing his greatsword, Nicko got up from the table and pushed the chair back in. “I need some air. Thanks for catching me up.” The Human left the Dining car and made it all the way to the back of the commoner’s car, where there was a balcony and flatbed supply cars. The fresh forest air and the smell of Pine needles filled his nose as he tried to unwind. No wonder everything so far had been stressful. Trying to keep his mind off things, the Rune Slayer finally had time to invest into his skillbook.
Twenty minutes soon went by very quickly after he first cracked open the book and now, he had finally finished getting all the necessary skills he needed. Four Vitality based skills, Three Destruction based skills, all the passive upgrades he needed and his hyperactive skill just in case for emergencies. The Rune Slayer was now even thinking about trying to practice his skills on the empty platform in front of him so he could get a good feel of the skills he could perform.
That was, until the door creaked open and someone… or somepony new to be precise, came on out and faced Nicko. “Oh… I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
Nicko turned around to face whoever was talking to him. He was thrown completely off guard when he saw the mare that was with Octavia just moments ago now standing right in front of him. “Oh uh… no. I just… came to get some fresh air.” He nervously replied.
“It’s alright. I just wanted to have a chance to talk to you. After all, it is a rare opportunity to be able to talk to a human like yourself.”
“Wait a minute… How do you-?”
“It’s alright. Octavia told me while we were having lunch.” The mare told him, trying to ease his tensions a little. “I’m Lauren… Lauren Order. You’re Nicko I presume?”
“Yes, Ms. Order-.”
The mare chuckled a little to herself when the Human tried to address her professionally. “Lauren’s fine. Normally, only my servant or other members on Celestia’s Court address me like that.”
“So you’re a lawyer?”
“Use to be one. I was Chief Prosecutor for the city of Los Pegasus. But that was a few years ago. Now I’m the Mayor of the city.”
‘Called it!!.’ Nicko thought. He definitely thought that with the name and scale that she would be a lawyer. Especially with her name sounding similar to the phrase “Law and Order.” But still though, why would the mayor of a city be on board a train like this one. Normally, he thought that somehow of her position would have private transport like a carriage or something.
Upon asking her though, the Rune Slayer found out that Lauren’s reason for being onboard the train had nothing to do with her career or politics. Instead, the Mare told her that she was going to Ponyville to spend some much needed time with her family. Ironically, her niece named Diamond Tiara was aboard this train as well since she and a few other were on a school field trip to Los Pegasus to tour the Mayor’s office as well as other attractions around the city. Nicko understood her reasons why.
“I guess your family is important to you?”
“Why yes it is,” The mare told Nicko as she straightened herself up. “Family is important to almost everypony. I’m sure it’s important to you too, right?”
“Well… that’s the thing.” Nicko explained “The only family I have is my twin brother and right now, I have no freaking clue where he could be.”
“Your brother? Don’t you have parents?” The mayor asked him out of curiosity. The reply she got was Nicko shaking his head side to side. Her question must’ve made him feel down because his facial expression changed from calm to partially depressed. “I… I’m sorry. I didn’t know-.”
“It’s alright. It happens quite a lot actually.” Nicko told her. Right now, he looked at the window that was by the door and noticed the heads of a few of the kids from the dining room car looking through the window like they were spying on them. “Something tells me though that we’ve attracted some attention.”
“Quite… Well, I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip Nicko.” The Mayor of Los Pegasus said before going inside. “Oh and I hope you find your brother soon!”
“Thanks for the encouragement.” came the humans reply as the mare walked on back inside the car. Shortly afterwards, Nicko got on the platform supply car attached to the back of the train. He was about to get started with practicing a few of his skills. But then, a thought came across his mind. How the hell was he going to do this?
Then the thought came across his mind of concentrating like the mini rune he can do with his fingers, but picturing it in his mind so he could channel the proper amount of energy needed to do certain abilities. Nicko tested this theory by concentrating his strenght and having his sword strike the ground just close to where his feet was. A red rune began to float around him afterwards that looked almost like a miniature dagger. Testing one of his powers was successful.
“Well sweet. That was awesome!” He told himself happily. “Now, let’s try something a little… stronger.” Concentrating a little more on his posture and his feet, his goal now was to perform a three strike combination that focused on one heavy swing, casting a rune in front of him and detonating it shortly afterwards. The key here was to make sure he still could properly balance himself after the first attack and with wielding a two handed great sword, this was easier said than done. But hey, it was only about a half hour after One o’clock. He had some time time to kill. Despite the thought in his head that the Rune Slayer was being watched by someone, he dismissed it because he thought it would distract his concentration. He had a feeling that something might go wrong.
Turns out, somepony was watching him. It was a creature that most ponies can’t always see with the naked eye. It chuckled a little as it watched the human practice it’s powers for another couple of hours. It seemed she made the right decision to write that letter to him after all.
Next Morning, Royal Class Car
It was the dead early hours of morning, but something did not feel right. For one thing, the royal guards that were assigned to protect the cars were not at their posts. But in each of the cars right now was some “new” travelers. A bunch of light and dark brown ponies and a couple of gryphons all began to get ready as each of them took position inside the cars behind this one. The only ones that were left in the Royal car now were an earth pony mare with a tattoo of a claw in white on her shoulder, a gryphon with a metal beak, and a Unicorn stallion with a scar above it’s right eye and a White Claw on it’s shoulder.
“Boss… All the cars have been secured.”
“And the guards?”
“Either dead or tied up in the guards quarters. We got the entire train on lockdown.”
“Good,” The unicorn said, seeing the sun begin to rise. “Let’s give the mayor a warm welcome.” With a clenched fist, he banged on the door loudly. When Lauren opened the door, the mayor of Los Pegasus was greeted with a Silver handgun aimed at her head.
“What in-!?”
“Hello, Lauren Order. Remember when you threw our boss into Tartarus a few years ago? Well...... today’s payback day.” Lauren remembered it well. Her biggest case back in the glory days of being a prosecutor was with locking up the leader of the White Talon Cartel for shipping illegal spices and drugs made from some of the rarest and most harmful plants in Equestria. The Stallion now noticed the small filly that was awake and right next to her. He smiled menacingly as he looked at the two of them, pointing at his forehead.
“Now then, I want you two to behave nicely or else everypony on this caravan will get a big red mark right here.” He now turned to the gryphon next to him with a evil cowl on his face.
“Tell everypony else to give the train a wake up call. It’s showtime.”
End Chapter 2