//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3: Light 'em up! 
// Story: Swords, Sorcery and Shenanigans 
// by FrostTheWolf 
//------------------------------//


Swords, Sorcery, and Shenanigans- Light ‘em up




        About two hours before dawn was going to come, Nicko’s eyes began to open. The human couldn’t sleep anymore and when he woke up, he noticed that something was off.. He remembered falling asleep back in his seat with Vinyl and Octavia, but right now found himself lying across on an open bench seat in the commoner class cabin. Not only that, but Leo was on the seat on the opposite side, sleeping in a crossed arms, leaned back position. The other thing that caught his attention that there were no guards in the vicinity. Just the children from yesterday and their teacher along with a few other ponies here and there. Before even thinking about moving an inch though, he began hearing a voice. 

        ‘Hello? … *Mic tap* Is this thing on? Alright, it’s working.’ 

        “What the-?”

        ‘Ah ah ah… No talking young one.’ The voice spoke again. ‘I’m talking to you telepathically right now so if you want to chat… you better think it through.’

        ‘Think it through?’ Nicko thought.

        ‘Exactly, like that!’ The voice now sounded cheerier and Nicko could hear clapping in the background. 

        ‘Okay, this is going to be painful.’ Nicko thought in his head. ‘Just who the heck are you and why are you talking inside my head?’

        ‘Right to asking the important questions, are we Nicky?’ The voice teased. Nicko sighed as he just stared at the ceiling. ‘Now, don’t you remember the letter you received earlier today?’

        He did. The Letter from E that had his bag inside. ‘That wouldn’t happen to be you now, would it? Just guessing.’

        ‘Ding ding ding!! We have a winner! Why my friend, you are absolutely right!’ It congratulated the teen. “Now, close your eyes and you’ll receive a prize!” Having no idea what the hell this person was talking about, but not having any choice in the matter either, Nicko shut his eyes. When he opened them again, he found himself in somewhere that was definitely not the train that he was on.

        “Okay, what the f-?”

        “Welcome to your subconscious, my human friend.” 

        The Rune Slayer was quite spellbound by the feat that was pulled off. He was now in a place that reminded him of what it looked like inside Emmet’s mind when he watched The LEGO movie a few months back. Nicko was standing on a long ever extending grid of a surface while everything else around him seemed like a starry night sky that was a shade of dark navy blue and the stars were shining bright like diamonds. Almost like he was in a dreamscape of sorts. It wasn’t until turning around that he encountered the creature that brought him here. 

        The creature strangely reminded Nicko of Sally from Nightmare before Christmas. A being with multiple different body parts all mixed together and strangely made him think that they were all sewn in place. A bat and pegasus wing, two different horns, lion paw, eagle talon, dragon like body, pony like face with a grey mane and red and yellow eyes.  It looked like a girl based on body structure and her voice from when she was playing around inside Nicko’s head. Well, technically, she still would be playing around because they were inside his head.

        “I’m pleased to finally meet you face to face,” The creature acknowledged as she stuck out her eagle talon, offering a handshake. “My name is Eris. daughter of Discord.”

        Shaking the offered talon, Nicko’s reply was honestly the first thing that came to his head. “I honestly have no idea what that means… but what the hell? Nice to meet you, Eris.”

        “You to.” She told the human. “Forgive me a bit, but I had to clear up a bunch of things that were littered inside your head.”

        “And those things are?”

        “Just simple thoughts. Like the one inside your head about how you were going to pull off your spells. Don’t worry, I didn’t erase your memories. I just moved everything to the back of your mind.”

        ‘And here come the memory jokes.’ The Rune Slayer  predicted. “So… may I asked why did you bring me here?”

        “I just thought it would be a bit easier on the brain if you and I just talked normally. Didn’t want to wake anypony up on the train ride to Ponyville.” Eris giggled a little as she stretched out her lion paw. “I would’ve had daddy come meet you as well, but he said that he had an important meeting to attend.”

        “Do you know the reason why?”



Canterlot, Royal Meeting Chamber

        “Thank you everypony for accepting my invitation.”

        “Yes, Captain Gleaming Shield. We like to thank you for bringing Mr. Discord along as well. This, I guarantee you, is important to address.”

        “Now, why exactly am I asked to be here? Armor Flank told me that there wasn’t a reason why I was asked to come. It is a budget meeting after all.” The Chaos spirit asked.

        “Which brings me to my point.” The captain of the guard addressed. “Before we begin, I was under the impression that our budget was being handled directly by Prince Artemis.”

        “Yes it is, but we are a having a distinctly difficult time looking at the list of expenses over the last few days. Mostly under the name… Eris?”



Back in Nicko’s head

        “Nope. No idea at all.” Nicko had serious doubts about that. If Social Therapy ever taught him anything important, it was that tone in voice, body posture, and someones actions could show if they were stressed, lying or hiding something. Still though, it would be rude to point these out so he kept them to himself. 

        “Okay then… So… Are you like a chimera with all the different… limbs and stuff?”

        “Oh no. I’m a Draconequus.”

        “First time I’ve heard of it.” The teen answered honestly. “Do you use some kind of magic? I’m still trying to figure out how you put the letter in my pocket and what not.”

        “Oh no, Nicky…” She playfully teased. “My magic is quite… different. Magic like the Unicorns and the Princesses of the world are bound by different rules like how much magic to put into a spell or how far you can teleport.” The Draconequus then snapped her finger with the eagle talon hand and created a pink cloud to leisurely lean on. She smiled a little as she got in a comfortable position.

        “My magic goes beyond rules. Beyond understanding. That’s why it’s “Chao’s magic” after all. It’s also how I put your messenger bag in that piece of parchment for you.” 

        “Well, that’s… awesome.” Nicko commented. ‘Note to self, never ask Eris to explain how anything she does works.’

        “Indeed it is. Even that crazy Alicorn in the letter can’t understand it someti-.”

        “Wait a minute, I thought the letter said Unicorn.” Nicko mentioned, not intending to interrupt. The Draconequus, now wondering herself, snapped her finger and what appeared to be a makeshift desk with a laptop and printer appeared floating in midair. With a few clicks, her eyes soon widened at what she found. 

        “Stupid autocorrect!” She blurted out, dismissing the desk in an explosive bang! “I knew I should’ve checked that for spelling errors. Anyways, I can inform you more about that later my friend. We got a situation..”

        Now Nicko knew she wasn’t trying to play around with him. Her tone had shifted immensely from the playful self that she was before. “Let me guess, not enough chaos?”

        “Even though that in itself is tempting, no. We have a different situation.” Eris retorted, trying to dismiss the joke. “Remember the train you were on and your friend, Lauren Order? Well, it’s getting hijacked. Hijacked by a group of criminals that are steaming ticked at her for sending their boss to Tartarus a few years ago.”

        “Crap.” The Rune Slayer cursed. “So, that’s the reason why the guards were missing inside the cars.” 

        “Bingo!” She said, having mini fireworks pop out of her paw. “They’re planning on killing her unless the Royal Guards do what they want. What they don’t know though  is about what you and your friend Leo are capable of. You’ll be waking up soon, so the two of you will need to get to work, pronto. As for me, I’ll give you a freebie.” Before the teen even got the chance to ask, Eris disappeared into a puff of smoke. For a moment, he thought that she disappeared. But that wasn’t until Nicko heard her again inside his head. 

        “Right now, I’ll be helping you by watching your every move and assisting you in your progress. Consider me as like an extra pair of eyes and ears.”

        “So I wake up and you’ll be inside my head again. What happens after that?”

        “Oh silly Nicky… Why spoil the fun? I’m just helping you after all.” Those were the Chaos spirit’s final words before a bright light flashed before the teen, blinding him immensely.



Back on the train car

        When Nicko was beginning to snap back to reality, he could hear the whimpering of children and feel something poking his face. That something felt like the cold end of a steel pipe. He could also hear the pony poking him sound frustrated.

        “How in Tartarus can a kid sleep through all of this?” 

        The voice sounded like a male. Mid forties, probably a Unicorn since he heard the sound of pony magic pick something up off the table. Turns out, that something was a stein of Apple Cider which was used to splash Nicko’s face. Guess he had to add alcoholic to the list of traits.

        “Hey, wake up… Kid, wake up! Oh for the love of…” Also has a temper.

        “Can you believe this little pipsqueak!? He’s freaking asleep in the middle of all this?!” Nicko’s anger now began to boil a little. In his mind, this guy had just signed the warrant to allow the teenager to beat the crap out of him. As his eyes snapped open, he remembered that he needed to be aware of a few… things. 

        ‘Eris? You there?’ 

        ‘Yeah I am. What’s up?’

        ‘It’s time to go to work. Be ready.’ Moments afterwards, Nicko rose from his seat. The look on his face matched his feelings. Wrath… He was now in front of the same stallion who had the nerve to make him ticked off. The Rune Slayer also noticed that his Reckless Fist companion was awake, but still in his folded arms position. Probably to make the crooks think that he too was also asleep. 

        Two thugs. One in front of me and the other to the left with his back turned to Leo. Yeah, this is going to be a piece of cake.

        “What’s the matter kid? You got something to say?”

        Not responding to the spellcaster making the threats, the Rune Slayer lifted his right hand and placed it behind his head. The act was suppose to be that he was still waking up, but the plan was to wait for the right moment. It happened once the Unicorn looked at his Gryphon partner that was facing away from Leo and pointed his gun away from him too.

        “You seeing this? This short stack here-.”

        POW!!! Nicko made the first move as his right hand was now balled up into a fist and right-hooked the unicorn, making him drop his gun and fall unconscious. Before the nearby Gryphon pulled out his handgun, the human’s hand pressed on the Unicorn’s rifle and let his magic melted the weapon into a pile of liquid metal with the fire that emitted from his hand. 

        “Don’t you-!” Before the gryphon could even fire his weapon, Nicko moved forward in a rush and struck his sword down by his feet, knocking the weapon to the floor and breaking it in half. Still, without a weapon, the gryphon swung at the human with it’s talons. Now would be a good chance to try a new skill. First, the Rune Slayer planted his feet and swung a heavy slash. Despite the gryphon dodging it, it was what came after that Nicko wanted to happen.

        “SPLASH EXPLOSION!!” A normal sized rune was conjured right in front of his attackers chest and with a twist of his wrist, it detonated and sent the gryphon flying into the wall, not hitting anypony that was seated. Turning to everypony else, he sighed a little as he assured them. “It’s okay, you’re safe now.”

        “Yeah…” He heard his friend Leo talk behind him sarcastically. The Reckless Fist was now looking at the partially dazed gryphon on the floor. “Nice job. Perfect way to not endanger any innocent lives.”

        “Don’t thank me.” Nicko chuckled, “Thank Eris.”

        “Who’s Eris?”

        “The Chaos spirit that’s living inside my head.”

        “...Wonderful.” came the reply of Nicko’s confused friend. He now noticed that the supply cabinet was left ajar and inside it was some brown rope and elastic cables used for holding down shipping crates. Getting to work, he tied up both of the criminals in restraints so they couldn’t use their arms or hooves (Back-legs for the gryphon.)

        Nicko left Leo to do the interrogating with the Gryphon. Having a mechanical Nasod arm does have it’s advantages for this kind of work. As for him though, the children that he saw the day before were now talking to each other. But it wasn’t until one of the kids got up from his seat that actually shocked everypony there. That one from before was the orange colored girl with a small pair of wings. She seemed nervous at first, but then asked something.

        “A-are you two… human?” 

        Nicko nodded as he placed a hand on her left shoulder. “Yeah, but we’re the good guys. You and your friends were very brave just now.”

        “T-thank you.” She told the teen. “But, what’s your name?”

        “Nicko.” Leo’s voice caught his attention, distracting him for a moment. The Reckless Fist walked on over to where his Rune Slayer companion was and shared him the news. “I got our tough nut over here to finally crack.”

        “One, please don’t use that analogy again.” Nicko told him in a serious tone. “Two, what did you find?” He didn’t move from where he was because he didn’t want to ignore the child he was talking to. 

        “There’s twenty-three of them in total. Two more are in the engine room, four are in the guards quarters, leaving three left for second class, the dining hall, business class, first class and royal class; where they’re holding both Mayor Lauren Order and her niece. That’s all I can get.”

        Sighing, Nicko looked at the young girl again. “What’s your name?”

        “Scootaloo.”

        “Scootaloo… Can you do something for me?” Nicko asked. “Can you be brave for me?”

        “B-be brave?” The filly questioned. “Why do you want me to be brave?”

        “Because I want you to help keep everypony you know calm. Panic is not good and doesn’t help me or my friend Leo. We want to make sure everypony arrives safely, but I can only do that if everypony remains calm. Can you and your friends do that?” Looking at her friends, the young girl nodded softly and smiled. She went to her friends as they came up with a plan and then shouted out something about being “Cutie mark Crusaders” with something being the task. Honestly, Nicko couldn’t remember right now because his mind was focused elsewhere. It was focused on a plan of attack. 

        “Leo. I got a plan.”

        “Okay, enlighten me.” The Reckless Fist answered.

        “How good are you of a grip with that new arm?”

        He looked at his Mechanical Hand and stretched it out a while before looking back at Nicko. “Very good. Why do you ask?”

        Nicko grinned a little, not in a mischievous way, but he knew that Leo was going to get a kick out of this. “Remember when you told me that you always wanted to go Train Surfing?”

        Upon hearing the question, Leo felt overjoyed. “Oh… hell yes!”

        ‘Okay, just where are you exactly going with this?’ Eris asked inside Nicko’s head.

        ‘You’ll see.’ was all the Rune slayer said before focusing on his friend again. “Get up top and go for the crooks in the engine room. I rather not have this train be controlled by psychopaths. Afterwards, meet me up in the guards quarters. I’ll be making my way there through second class and the dining hall.”

        “What happens then?” Leo asked eagerly as he was getting ready to go up top using the maintenance hatch. 

        “That’s when we’ll evaluate and plan part two.” came Nicko’s reply. “Right now, lets stay focused.” ‘That includes you to, Eris.’

        ‘Silly Nicky. I’ve been ready all this time. I was just waiting on you.’

        Nicko smiled as he left the commoner class cabin and made his way to the door for second class. He wanted to peek in and see what he was dealing with, but he had a suspicion that one of the guards would be by the door and see his head if he tried. He tried to listen in, but forgot that the doors to second class and every other car were air sealed so he couldn’t hear anything. Plus, he had no magic abilities that worked as a way to see through walls.

        ‘Hey Eris?’

        ‘Yes, my little human?’

        ‘Are you saying that as an insult or to playfully tease?’

        ‘To tease. How can I be of assistance?’ Eris asked. Nicko told her that he needed to know the locations of where each of the thugs were so he could figure out a plan of attack. ‘Certainly. One is in the far back and slouched over. The other two are in the middle of the car talking to each other’

        ‘How equipped are they?’

        ‘I would say moderate. They’re armed, but not well armed. They just have a couple of hand cannons, pistols and short swords.’

        ‘Well, looks like the odds are in our favor.’ Nicko said, gripping his weapon. On the mental count of three, The Rune Slayer bursted through the door and caught the attention of the three criminals at once. Grabbing a mug on a nearby table, he chucked the wooden cup like a baseball and hit the Earth pony in the back of the car along it’s forehead. As for the other two, they drew their swords, but Nicko was quick to disarm them of their weapons by using his hands and his greatsword. Shortly afterwards, Nicko used the belts along the criminals pants to use as a way to tie them down to a pole that was connected to one of the tables in the middle of the car. The strategy was to use as little magic as possible. Like Energy, it would take some time to recharge. 

        ‘Anything that I should worry about so far?’

        ‘Just keep moving. Next car has a lot more space, but the ones holding down the fort have heavy weaponry.’

        ‘Define “heavy weaponry” Eris.’

        ‘A cannon and some sawed off shotguns.’

        ‘Holy crap, are you serious!?’ The Rune Slayer asked, approaching the next door in a ninja crouch like movement. An actual cannon inside the dining car could definitely mean trouble. Seems like these guys spent hours preparing for this siege to occur.

        ‘Normally I’m not, but right now I am. Plus, these guys have nasty trigger fingers.’

        ‘And how do you know that?’

        ‘Ever heard of Mind-reading?’

        ‘ … Good point. Got any suggestions for how to proceed?’

        ‘Do you have any spells that can get them from underneath their hooves?’ Eris’s question actually reminded Nicko of a spell he learned yesterday while practicing his other abilities. One that came out from under his attackers feet and can strike them for a serious amount of damage if done quickly enough. He also personally considered it one of a few “Key Spells” needed to get out of sticky situations. Flipping his sword to where he was holding it backwards in his right hand, he prepared his other hand to hold his magic that he needed for the skill. 

        Using his sword to get the handle of the door, the teen yanked the door open and caught the cannoneer and the two unicorns with the Shotguns by surprise. Nicko moved forward and slid underneath the shots fired by the sawed off weapons, kicking the face of the cannon upward to the ceiling. When it went off, the cannonball bursted through the roof and not at the door of the previous cars. While all three ponies fiddled to reload their weapons, the Rune Slayer used this time to act. In his crouched position, he swung his left arm filled with magic vertically across his body and let the spell do the rest.

        “RISING WAVE!!”

        The attack conjured blades of Magic that spawned from the floor, destroying the weapons they carried and knocking the two unicorns back. The earth pony that was minding the cannon though only suffered minimal damaged due to his bulking size and strength. It lashed one at the human, flipping tables over and breaking chairs as Nicko tried to dodge roll out of the way.

        The Stallion now grabbed the door that the human came through and tore it off the hinges, using it as a makeshift shield with a pipe as a weapon. 

        ‘You really made him mad.’

        ‘You think!?’ Nicko retorted before almost getting hit in the face with the steel bludgeon. He wasn’t the best in counters though. Only thing he could do right now was block and dodge until he had an opening. However, Eris noticed one before he did when the earth pony raised the pipe above his head.

        ‘Let him slam that pipe down!’

        ‘Are you insane!? The force of that will crack my head open-!’

        ‘Just trust me!!’

        Nicko did. Sliding backwards, he let the pipe come down. Looking at the stallion now, he saw him struggle to pull the pipe out of the floor. Too much force caused it to get stuck in the floor. Now, the Rune Slayer saw opportunity once again as he moved towards the opponent.

        “SPLASH EXPLOSION!!” Using the same technique from the commoners car, the teen detonated a rune in front of the criminal and had him pass out on the floor. “Well, I’m glad that was dealt with. Doesn’t look like there’s anymore trouble-.”

        However, there was one thing that Eris did not see upon entering the room. Someone from behind the barkeep’s desk. However, it did not make it’s move until when the train went into a tunnel, where the light was very limited. That’s when it came out from behind the desk and went towards Nicko in a forward lung.

        ‘Nicko, look out! There’s a fox chick behind you!!’

        Nicko turned at the last possible second to hear the sound of a weapon go past him. It wasn’t the click of a gun or the swipe of a sword. Instead, it sounded like a long swift stick like weapon with a sharp edge. Halberd maybe or a-.

        That’s when Nicko saw a tint of light reflect off the blade and shaft of the weapon. “Dammit Eris, why do you always keep jinxing sh*t!” He cursed out loud. The attacker was going to go forth towards him until they heard Nicko speak.

        “Wait… are you one of those bandits that stormed in here about fifteen minutes ago?” 

        “Are you talking about the guys I just kicked the crap out of?” Nicko asked. Light returned to the car as Nicko finally saw who the speaker was. It was a girl. Probably a couple of years older than he was. But he recognized her from the newspaper Vinyl showed him yesterday.



        “Wait a minute… You’re the human girl that won in a duel against a princess yesterday!” 

        “Well, I guess I’ve gained a bit of a reputation.” She said. “Who are you? Are you one of those pony passengers by any chance?”

        “Do I look like a pony?” Nicko questioned her. He was beginning to see a resemblance of the figure with someone he had seen before or previously heard of. But before he could process anything, he heard his phone go off and Leo on speaker.

        “Hey Nicko!”



Near the Engine Room (Leo’s POV)

        “I’m coming upon the engine room right now. Give me five minutes and no maniacs will be driving this train.”

        Before he heard Nicko say anything, The Reckless Fist put his caller on hold. He was on the right side of the Tender Car now with a clear shot of the open window for the Engine Room. Peaking in, Leo could see the two criminals guarding the workers. They were watching them supply coal for the train, but had their backs turned away from the window. Now, it was go time.

        Snapping forward, Leo went through the window feet first and landed inside the car. Before the criminals could even make a move, he struck them both in one fatal attack.

        “WILD CHARGE!!”

        The charged nasod arm shot forward like a rocket, colliding with the two hijackers and sending them into the wall. With them knocked out, the two workers showed much thanks for his help. “Is there anything we can do to repay you?”

        Leo chuckled at the statement as he held down the two pegasus hijackers with some rope he brought with him from the commoner class car. “Just drive safely and make sure they stay unconscious.”

        “I believe we can do that.” Making sure they stayed asleep for a while, both workers smacked the two of them using their shovels. Leo grimaced a little, partially feeling sorry for them. That was really going to hurt when they woke up.

        Climbing out of the car again, Leo got back to his phone as he continued to move along the top of the train car. “Okay, Engine room is good-.”

        “What the hell was that Leo?!” He heard a female voice now get under his skin. He knew that voice and could hear it for miles.

        “Yuri!? Where the hell is Nicko?” 

        “Right here, numbnuts.” Nicko returned to the call line, easing Leo’s presumptuous feelings. “I was talking to her while you were dealing with the engine room. She’s agreed to help us.”

        “Help? How exactly-?” 

        “I’m getting there…” He heard a frustrated Nicko over the phone. “You and I are still going to get the drop on the guys on the guard quarters. Their should be a maintenance hatch up there. Do you see it?”

        Leo looked forward as he jumped onto the Business class car and made his way across. “Found it.”

        “You’re coming in from up top while I’m coming in from the door. An assault on two fronts.” The Rune Slayer instructed him. “As for Yuri, she’ll come in once we recapture the car-.” Around now was when the Reckless Fist saw something crash into the commoners car and a Rainbow Wisp follow shortly afterwards. 

        “Uh Nicko? We might want to do this right now. I have a bad feeling that we’re going to be having company very soon.”

        “Okay, on my mark… One… Two…”



Guards Quarters (Nicko’s POV)

        “THREE!!” 

        The Rune Slayer bursted through the door of the Guards Quarters with a Loud BANG! and caught the gryphons inside by surprise. Nicko’s vision saw them going for the Long Swords that were on the Weapons rack and immediately focused on countering the incoming attacks. Around the same time as well was when Leo came in… In style of course.

        “HELL DIVE!!”

        The Reckless Fist’s move was a drop down crash that struck the two guards on the back end of the caravan, knocking them out. One of the two Gryphons attacking Nicko redirected his attention to Leo and charged. But with the remaining criminals not far from each other, it put Leo in a position where he and Nicko could possibly combine their attacks. Nicko saw this too. Detonating a medium sized rune in front of his opponents, the Teen sent the Two gryphons flying to Leo. 

        “Hey Leo, looks like your batting clean up!”

        “Yeah yeah, whatever…” Leo ignored the comment. He now executed his next attack that crossed the two attackers in a X shape strike, knocking them out and leaving serious cuts and scrapes on their chest feathers.

        “X CRASH!!!.”

        With the threat taken care of in the room, Nicko now wondered something. Where the hell were the guards kept prisoner? There were lockers in here but… Wait… Lockers?

        Investigating one of them, Nicko clipped it open only to find a White guard pegasus stuffed in like a victim of bullying. He was beaten and bruised badly, like straight out of a torture scene in a movie.

        “Jesus christ!” Leo cursed. The older human now focused on getting the other lockers open and to their surprise, five separate lockers had five separate guards. Two were white, one was orange, another was light cyan with the last one being a mid-brown tone. The first white one and the orange one were pegasi, the other white one and light cyan one were Unicorn and the mid-brown one was an earth pony. All their manes and tails were scraggy possibly to the surprise hijacking and most of them were still in their leather trousers and rest clothes

        “Oh Celestia, thank you!” The white Pegasus Nicko found showed his praise for the two human’s actions. “We didn’t know how long we would be stuck in here for.”

        “What happened?” Leo asked.

        “We were F***king ambushed, that’s what happened.” The earth pony cursed. “Caught us off guard while the train was stopping to restock the tender car with coal and water. They killed most of our battalion and stuffed us in our own lockers as a way to keep us quiet. We couldn’t even move and we could barely breath in there.”

        ‘My god… I didn’t think it was this bad.’

        ‘Ask them what their ranks are and positions.’ Eris spoke inside Nicko’s mind again. ‘Maybe one of them is a doctor.’

        ‘Good point’ Nicko thought. He then proceeded to state the question. “What are your names?”

        The white pegasus coughed a little before asking. “Well, my name is Tailchaser. I’m the one in charge of this squad.” He then began to point out each one of them using his right hand. “The earth pony is Broadsword, new recruit but has determination. The Unicorn right here in the light blue is our medic, Field Breeze. The White unicorn getting his armor on right now is Nobleheart. Second in command of the royal guard only to Gleaming Shield. Most of his unit had been killed by these cartel bastards except for the pegasus right next to him. Captain Flash Sentry. Brave, Honorable, and willing to take risks in order to protect our home and it’s inhabitants.” Leo himself gave a smirk, commenting on how he’s starting to like the last one that Tailchaser mentioned a few moments ago.

        “Pardon me,” Flash Sentry asked calmly. “But would you two happen to be humans?”

        Nicko nodded his head. “Don’t worry though, we’re the good guys and have been dealing with most of the criminals in the car. The only cars left that haven’t been dealt with yet are the cars leading to royal class. Engine room has been recaptured courtesy of my friend Leo, and dining car and second class have been knocked unconscious and tied up. All the passengers so far that have been in the other cars have been moved to the Commoner class. My concern right now is that there might be wounded in the last car.”

        “Then we should divide the forces in two-.” Tailchaser said.

        “No, that wouldn’t be helpful.” Captain Sentry interjected. “If they catch wind of there being resistance in the back cars, then they’ll send more crooks to investigate. An old quote from Commander Hurricane was ‘United we stand, divided we fall’ so therefore, we should all move as one and have one of you come with us.” The last part was referring to Nicko and Leo. 

        “Leo, you should go. You and Yuri can help them get to the ponies in the back-.”

        “Are you insane? I rather not be left alone with Yuri for 5 seconds before she gets under my skin-.”

        “I’m not asking you. I’m telling you.” Nicko told him sternly. “You and Yuri are their best chance for protection for if things go wrong.” Leo sighed a little, thinking it over in his head. Then he agreed. On his way out with the guards, Leo told Nicko something that was suppose to encourage him, but didn’t come out that way and sounded like Leo was trying to jinx something.

        “You better not get yourself killed out there. If you do, I’m not writing your eulogy.”

        “Gee… Thanks.” Nicko answered sarcastically as he closed the door to the guards cabin and slowly made way to the next car. ‘Jerk.’

        ‘You made a good choice.’ Eris told him. ‘Besides, it allows me to have more fun with you! Hehe…’

        ‘Hey Eris? Can I ask you something?’

        ‘Sure Nicky. What is it?’

        ‘How come you were able to know where the crooks on the train were and you got caught off guard by Yuri earlier?’

        Eris sighed a little inside Nicko’s head. ‘Have you ever heard of Magic Signatures before?’

        ‘No. First time actually.’

        ‘Well, no two sources of magic are the same. Different ponies as well as different creatures use different kinds of magic. All Unicorns can use Levitation and Illumination, but what magic they specialize in is based off of their talents and their cutie mark. It’s like a blueprint of sorts.’

        ‘I heard that term yesterday. Just what exactly does it mean?’

        ‘I’ll give you a lecture once we’re not in a near death situation.’ Eris promised as Nicko kicked the door in and made his way inside. Nicko’s sword continued to slice through his opponents weapons and his magic took care of the rest. Then, he heard Eris warn him of something. ‘Tunnel up ahead. Prepare for this hall to get pitch black.’

        ‘Wait wha-?’ Nicko thought, cut off when the cabin was covered in complete darkness. Nicko tried to make the best out of his situation, conjuring a rune to use as a light. He was forced to dismiss it when he heard a second pair of feet walk into the room. With there being no light, the teen couldn’t make out who it was. But he heard the steps come closer. Almost sounding like whoever was here was wearing heels.

        “Okay, I don’t have all day, so where are you shorty? I know you’re in here.”

        The Rune Slayer now had a feeling that this… individual… was a crook that caught wind of what was going on in the previous cars. It sounded like a woman, so now Nicko was going to teach this lady a lesson. “Mind repeating that last part? I did not quite catch that…”

        “What short-?”

        SMACK!!! Despite it being dark, Nicko knew that he hit his target and sent it moving back a few feet using his Burning Fist attack (The one he called his FALCON PUNCH!!). Light came back to the cabin a few seconds later and he didn’t give himself a moment to look at what he hit because he needed to keep moving. But that plan was interrupted when a fireball almost struck his hands when trying to grab the door.

        “What the-!?”

        “YOU’RE DEAD NOW, KID!!!”

        It was a split second, but Nicko was ambushed by more fiery projectiles. He deflected most of them using his blade, but then one attack struck him while the flames blocked his vision. 

        “SCARLET ROSE!!”

        The Fireball did more than strike Nicko, but also grabbed hold of him. With a loud shout, he thought he heard his attacker yell “GET OVER HERE!!” Around now though was when he was able to see his attacker.



        “Holy Sh-!” Now Nicko mind was syncing into Overdrive as he was being pulled towards the Pissed off Pyromancer with a Freaking oversized claymore. He had an idea, but needed to be pulled in closer. Once at the right range, He placed his left arm in front of his and focused. Remembering when Leo was playing Skyrim and he was looking through the official guide, he said the only word that he remembered from the dragon language.

        “Diin!”

        The word meant “Freeze” in the Dragon language and it worked well with Nicko’s Ice Rune that he casted. It struck the Blazing Heart, knocking her backwards and slowing her movement. This was shown when she tried to send another fireball, but was way off on targeting.

        “Hey, Dandy chick!” Nicko taunted as he opened the door to get out of the room. “You missed!!” Slamming the door, it proved as a perfect cover for the incoming projectiles that followed suite as he ran to the first class door.

        ‘Eris, how long will that door hold her?’

        ‘Given her and how angry you made her…”  BOOOM!!!  “Not long…” 

        Nicko hated it when Eris was right. Not even thinking through on what to expect from his foes inside, Nicko rushed in and used his Rising Wave spell to catch his three opponents off guard. This was followed by jumping in the air to slam the third guy into the floor since the first two were already out for the count. Remembering which room the girls and her were in the other day, he yanked the door off the hinges.

        “Ahh!!”

        “Tavi, don’t! It’s Nicko!!”

        “Nicko?” Octavia paused, setting down a wine bottle that rolled into their cabin earlier. “Oh thank Celestia you’re here!” 

        “It’s okay girls. You can come out now.” He told them as they got out of the cabin. “Sorry if I made you two worry-.”

        “Hehe… You should’ve seen Octavia’s face earlier. She was more worried than I was.”

        “Vinyl!!” 

        Nicko chuckled a little before remembering that he still had Fire Lady possibly on his tail and probably burning everything in sight. ‘Eris, I’m going to need a favor that involves you not being in my head.’

        ‘Aww… But you're so cuddly and warm up here...’ Eris pouted like a filly who was told that they aren’t having desert. ‘Uhh… Fine. What do you need?’

        ‘Can you teleport Vinyl and Octavia back to commoner class? I rather not have them be in the way when Ms. Armageddon tries to burn the doors down.’

        ‘That I can do.’ Eris said. She soon appeared in her physical form out of the Dragon rune on Nicko’s right shoulder. Before the two musicians could say anything, the Rune Slayer assured that she was a friend that was going to help them. After saying that, Eris did what she did best and made all three of the girls disappear. Seconds later, Eris returned back at Nicko’s side. “Well, at least I was able to stretch out my muscles a bit.”

        “Ready to get back to work? We got one last car and-”

        “AGGHHH!!”

        “Okay, what the f-?”

        “We should hurry.” Eris ushered before returning inside Nicko’s body and having the Rune Slayer burst forward. The scream sounded of a Gryphon’s high pitched wail and the shouts of a mare. He could tell that it was a bad sight when he even saw blood on the window of the last car. Fearing that the screams were from the Mayor, he ran in and was greeted by a totally different scene. Out of the three crooks in the room, two of them laid dead and the third was pinned in the ground. Pinned by what appeared to be… a human? Nicko first thought that there was some kind of mistake. But that’s when it turned to see him coming through the door.



        “Good lord...” Nicko cursed. All the human did was give a small pout as it looked at the supposed leader of the operation. “Just what the hell are you?”

        “Why hello there… I’m Eric der Vogelweide. I’m the one who doesn’t judge people by their appearance.”

        “Says the guy who just murdered two people?”

        “Two criminals.”

        “Touche.” Nicko commented. “Still, ever heard of due process? They have a right to a trial.”

        “I am that trial… And I find this one-.” Before the demon like human could even do anything, Nicko have blue energy glow from his hands. The Diabolic Esper saw the spell and chuckled menacingly.

        “Do you really think you can hurt me?” Eric taunted.

        “Won’t know unless I try.” Nicko shot back. “LUNA BLADE!!”

        The cobalt magic Nicko was controlling formed a sword overhead that struck Eric’s body dead-on. The Diabolic Esper tried to counterattack with one of his powerful spells, but realized one thing… What he tried to call upon didn’t work.

        “What the hell did you do!?”

        “Heh… Luna Blade does a lot of damage yes, but it also drains a targets mana. Since you must’ve used a lot of it to kill the other two in here, you would only have a third of your total mana left.” The Rune Slayer told him. Moment’s later, the door exploded behind them as the Blazing Heart from before had now smashed through.

        “There you ar-! Oh God, what sort of hell was let loose in here!?”

        “One courtesy of this jackass.” Nicko said, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb at Eric.

        “Oh so you two met?” The Blazing heart asked sarcastically. 

        “What do you think?” Nicko replied to the question. Before long though, he saw the Diabolic Esper create a Rift behind him by tearing open space itself.

        “So the Burning Crusader has caught up to me… Too bad you weren’t able to beat me this time… I’ll leave you to deal with… other issues.” By then, Eric disappeared. Nicko looked back at the now unconscious leader and the hostages. They looked scared, but relieved now that help was finally here. That’s when the Teen looked back at the Blazing Heart in the room and felt that the train was beginning to slow down and come to a complete stop.

        “Wait… what did he mean by-?”

        “AMY ANDERSON!!!”

        The Blazing Heart tensed up at her name being called. “Something tells me I’m going to get blamed for this.”



Once Outside

        Once outside, all the attention of the Guard ponies that were waiting for the train to stop at the Ponyville station was focused on Amy. In fact, even Princess Celestia and Prince Artemis were there to assess the situation (and potential damages). However, with all the attention (and blame) being focused on her, nopony even saw Nicko come out with Mayor Lauren Order, Diamond Tiara and the unconscious leader of the hijacking on the wooden floor of the station. It got to the point where the ensuing argument could be heard from quite a ways away.

        “I told you, I did not cause this!!”

        “Oh really? I honestly can’t believe you after saying this entire charade started because of somepony teleporting you and Rainbow onto the top of the Friendship Express.”

        “Don’t believe me then. Yuri was there to! Ask her and she’ll back up my story. Hell, even ask the new guy!”

        Both the Prince and Princess looked at each other for a few seconds in confusion. They did not get what she said and neither did her little sister when she showed up a few moments later. It wasn’t until they saw Leo run over to Nicko’s current position that they saw the two newcomers. “There you are! I was beginning to wonder where you were after we freed Tailchaser and the others.”

        “Are they okay?”

        “Some extra men tried to get us while we were in the second class car, but Yuri and I were able to handle them. Who knew this Nasod arm really can come in handy when you need it.” Leo told his friend. 

        “What about the other hijackers?”

        “All secured by what remains of Nobleheart’s and Tailchaser’s squads, including the leader. Say, wasn’t he with two others?”

        “He was…” Nicko told him. “However, they’re nothing but a dead corpse. Someone else got to them before us-.”

        “Pardon me…” The interruption from Ms. Order, who was standing next to the two of them. “But I think the topic of the conversation is a little too… gruesome, to be saying around children.” She was right on that point. Leo and Nicko almost forgot about her niece being with her the whole time. 

        “My apologies. Would you two be able to handle yourselves?” Nicko asked, trying to see if they need anymore help.

        “I believe so, thanks again for coming to rescue us and dealing with those vile… barbarians.” Lauren’s Niece thanked as they left to go into the town. However, the comment didn’t go unnoticed as the Prince of the Night overheard the child’s worlds and decided to walk on over while Celestia was still talking with Amy, Yuri and Rainbow Dash. The Princesses student even noticed the new arrivals and decided to come over to the two of them as well. 

        “Excuse my rudeness, but I believed I heard that you dealt with a group of “Barbarians” aboard this train. Is that right?” 

        “Yeah that’s correct.” Leo replied. “Who’s asking?”

        “My apologies. My name is Artemis. Brother of Princess Celestia and Prince of the night.” He told the two of them as Twilight Sparkle now stood next to the Prince. “Why were they on the train to begin with?”

        Nicko sighed a little. The human began to explain everything in detail. Despite the fact that he didn’t want to go off on a tangent in conversations about different topics, he thought it would be best for the “Prince” to hear the whole story. It took ten minutes to explain everything about the events on the train and even about the encounter with Amy. Upon asking if this was true, Nicko told them about Eris and had her come out to verify her “being in his head.” 

        “I see…” Twilight retorted, trying to record everything through a paper pad, ink and a quill. “May I ask you two another question?”

        “Sure I guess.” Leo replied. 

        “Would you two happen to be-.”

        “OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!” All four of them heard Amy in another outburst. She was talking with her little sister and a mint Unicorn with a Cutie Mark of a Lyre on her flank. “Would you just shut up and let me speak!?”

        “I’m sorry Amy, but I just couldn’t help that another human was able to get the upper hand on you. Matter of fact, almost look similar to you.”

        “I’m telling you Molly, it happened. If that pipsqueak were still here, I would be able to wipe the floor with him if he-.” The Blazing Heart continued to mouth off about Nicko, not noticing that he was nearby the whole time. Having his anger almost blow through the roof, Nicko looked towards the three individuals nearby.

        “Excuse me for a minute, I have a issue that I need to deal with.” Walking on down, he approached the small group from behind and startled them with his next sentence. “Hey lady, who the hell are you calling a pipsqueak!?”

        “Oh goddess,  you do have a look alike!” The mint unicorn squealed happily.

        “Lyra, not now…” Amy retorted, looking back at the Unicorn. 

        “Besides, I heard you just boasting just now about wanting to beat me in a fight…” Nicko said. Putting his sword on his shoulder with his right arm and conjuring a Rune in his left hand. “If that’s a request for a duel, then I’ll be glad to take you on and make you eat those words!”

        Twilight, Celestia and Artemis just stared at the human now. Not because of his words, but because of the magic he was conjuring. According to the ancient textbooks, no one had seen this kind of magic before in over a thousand years. Not only that, but the last Magus who was able to successfully use it was one whose name forever went down in history as the best wizard in Equestria.

        Grand Magus Starswirl the Bearded.

        All The Blazing Heart did was just smile devilishly and laughed. “You got guts, I’ll give you that. We’ll settle it tomorrow then.”

        “Fine by me.”

        Hearts of two different emotions have now agreed to clash on the fields of battle. The heart of Fire and Recklessness vs. the heart of Sorcery and Courage. Who will become the strongest in the end as the wheel of fate begins to turn for all of us?




End Chapter 3