Swords, Sorcery and Shenanigans- Hymn for the missing
Inside Canterlots local medical clinic, doctors were beginning to assess the extent of both Applejack’s and Amy’s injuries. Nicko, Applebloom, Scootaloo and Eris waited patiently while they operated on the two of them and worked on making sure they were stable before they had any visitors. Out of both of them, the hardest to operate on was Amy. She had two jagged Shard pierce through her upper and lower chest, which required not only careful precision for when they removed them but also used up a lot of Light Spellshards in order to effectively close her wounds. Applejacks injuries just required a couple of Spellshards and bandages around her lower chest. A lot easier and less time consuming.
After almost two hours, the doctors allowed Applebloom and the other to be able to come visit them. They entered the room and saw that both girls were on opposite sides of the room, facing each other by the window in the back. Amy was silent, but Applejack was just waking up and laid her eyes on the sight of Applebloom, Scootaloo and Nicko. Eris decided to reside back inside the Rune Slayer’s head for right now since she thought it would be easier if Applejack didn’t have too many people visiting her.
“Sis!” Applebloom was first to speak as she ran over to her older sister, careful not to hug her due to the extent of her injuries. “Are you okay?”
“Applebloom? Is that you? …… You look…… different.”
“Yeah, that might take a little bit to explain.” Scootaloo said. Applejack now noticed that the young Pegasus was wearing Amy’s clothes now. The white coat, the black shorts and also the long claymore. The earth pony mare was now really puzzled by what was going on.
“Uhh, Scoot? Why do ya look just like Amy?”
“Like I said, it’ll take a bit to explain.”
“Ah got time. Doctors say that ah won't be going anywhere for a while and that ah need to rest tonight before ah can go anywhere.”
“Well, remember how Scootaloo became a Pyro Knight when Amy gave her the Determination Badge?” Applebloom asked. Her sister nodded; recalling the events from yesterday before they began to go around Canterlot with Amy & Rainbow and accidently get themselves in trouble. “Well while Scootaloo was training with Nicko and Amy, ah found a strange textbook along with a small crossbow. Later, when it looked like Eric was going to finish you off, the book glowed and gave me some strange; but cool powers. They became pretty useful since a lot of it was based off of all the times I’ve been helping on the farm with Applebucking.”
Applejack just chuckled. “Really now. And ah thought ah never live to see the day that you decided to wear a dress like that.” Applebloom wasn’t always the one to wear fancy clothes like her friends or her sister sometimes. In fact, she sometimes despised dresses because they got in the way of her legs when working on the farm. The clothes of the Wind Sneaker though was not exactly the case though.
Scootaloo chuckled as her earth pony friend blushed a little. Nicko himself grinned a little, liking the fact that both Applebloom and Scootaloo right now were happy. But now, his attention was now focused on Amy. She just laid on the bed there. Almost like a lifeless body, despite the machines saying she had a pulse.
“Did the Doctors say anything about Amy?”
“All ah heard was that she’s in a coma right now.” The Earth pony replied as Nicko looked at the human girl that laid in the hospital bed. “Nopony knows how long it’ll be until she wakes up.”
As Nicko looked at her, he noticed the heartbeat that the pulse machine was reading beating normally. Amy was VERY lucky that the crystal that hit her did not strike her in the heart. If so, she would’ve been killed on the spot. Nicko knew that too. Both of them knew the risk of putting themselves in harms way. Though, the Rune Slayer really didn’t think that this would actually happen to her.
‘Something’s not right…’ Eris told him inside his head as he outside to see the moon’s light shine brightly into the room.
‘Not right? What do you mean by that?’ The confused teen asked.
‘I always had an odd feeling about Amy ever since we first saw her, but now I know the reason why. I feel another soul besides her own inside of her.’
‘Another Soul?’ Nicko asked mentally. ‘What the hell is that suppose to mean?’
‘Remember when I always stay inside your body? Think that, but with Amy and somepony else that’s not me or daddy.’
‘What about your little brother?’
‘Chaotic?’ Eris asked, then sighed to herself. ‘He’s way too young to know that. Besides, he’s only three.’
‘Hey, I was just allowing for the possibility.’ Nicko replied sarcastically. ‘It seems like a habit that runs in the family. Does your mom happen to do it as well-?’
‘My mother is Celestia, you twit!!’ Eris snapped, then gasped like it was a secret that she wasn’t suppose to say. Nicko himself was also quite shocked by this reveal too. But in a way, he was also confused. Eris was a Draconequus. So was her father and possibly her little brother. So how exactly could an Alicorn like Princess Celestia be her mother. She seemed to be the opposite of Discord’s type in every possible way. Then, Eris began to explain what she meant.
‘Well, I didn’t have a birth mother, but Celestia is Chaotic’s birth mother. My father and her are married, but not many ponies actually know that. Now you’re the first human that knows.’
‘So that means that Chaotic is… Half Draconequus and Half Alicorn?’
‘Exactly.’ Eris stated. ‘Now back to what we were talking about, I believe Amy has a spirit or another soul of some kind that’s helping her in her recovery process. It’s probably the only reason why her heartbeat and condition is stable.’
Now this had Nicko wonder a few things. First, who could this spirit possibly be? Second, what was it exactly doing right around now? Third… Could there be a possible way for him to communicate with it? He wanted to talk to it so he could find out more about them and how exactly they were helping Amy. The Teen had an idea, but it sounded like an invasion of privacy.
‘Hey Eris?’
‘Yes, Nicko?’
‘Remember when you brought me inside my conscience? Well, is there possibly a way you can bring me into her conscience. That way, I can talk to her little “Friend”.’
Now Eris was surprised by his question. How could she not think of something like that? ‘It’s possible. But if we do try this, there is a few things that you need to be aware of.’
‘Okay, tell me.’
‘First off, your plan is insane. Second, it would require you and I to use a LOT of magic. Third, you can only be in there for a certain amount of time.’
‘Okay, how long exactly?’
‘Fifteen minutes at most give or take.’
Nicko grinned a little to himself as he took a seat on the empty bed that was next to Amy. It was all the time he needed. Despite the circumstances, the teen still prepared himself as he noticed Scootaloo leave the room and Applebloom turn towards him and ask a question. “Nicko, what the hay are you doing?”
He looked at the young earth pony as he positioned his feet in a criss-cross format, smiling at the youngster. “Something complicated. Can you do me a favor and watch my body for a while? I’m going to be somewhere.” Before even hearing Applebloom ask, Nicko told Eris to cast the spell and he was off. His body now stood as an asleep shell that was deeply focused. Nothing could disturb him now.
For a moment, Nicko felt calm. But then again, he was going inside someone’s head. Matter of fact, the head of one of his friends. Still though, he didn’t have time to waste though since he was on a fifteen minute clock and it was slowly beginning to tick.
When he opened his eyes again, he didn’t find himself in the hospital room. Nor did he find himself in a vast expanse of emptiness like when he was inside his own conscience. Instead, he found what looked to be an old and worn castle. The moon was full and it was shining brightly; however, the castle itself looked very grim. Like dark ages grim. Just the feeling of this entire place was starting to make Nicko feel nervous.
Then he heard a voice. A demonic like voice that sounded feminine. “WHO DARES ENTER MY DOMAIN!?” Nicko turned around to see a huge cloud of mist that looked exactly like the night sky mixed with a demonic blue. Then, the mist took form into a creature. An Alicorn with dark colored skin, wore black garments that almost looked like armor and had her magic pulse around her like it was a living flame. The mark on her clothes resembled a crescent moon and so was the scythe that she conjured using her magic.
“Holy Sh*t!” Nicko cursed.
“STATE YOUR BUSINESS OR-. Wait… you sound familiar…” The Alicorn said as she dismissed her weapon and moved in closer. “Would we have happened to have met before?”
“Uhh… I remember meeting Amy. She is a good friend of mine.” The Rune Slayer replied honestly, swallowing his nervousness down his throat. The Alicorn herself began to think a little, wondering who this boy was. But then, a thought came into her mind.
“Would you happen to be the boy who punched Amy aboard the Friendship Express?”
“That was an accident.”
“How so?” She asked, folding her arms.
“It was dark, I couldn’t see anything, and Amy did the one mistake that she shouldn’t have done by calling me short. So I presumed that she was one of the thugs that was hijacking the train, but didn’t find out it was her until after she used one of her techniques to yank me towards her.”
“What about the duel with the boy and the two swords where you had us “Step Aside”?”
“Have you not seen Amy? She’s the hotheaded kind of person who doesn’t back down from a challenge. Plus, for your information, that boy is my brother and he’s always the guy who gets extremely hyper when you give him a challenge.” The Alicorn now took this thoughts into account as she sighed a little and began to think.
“You… have a good point. Tell me, what is your name?”
“Nicko. Nicko Nocte.”
“And how did you get inside Amy’s mind, “Nicko”?”
That’s where the teen began to tell the Alicorn everything. About how Scootaloo and the others were worried for her condition, how Eirs felt another soul inside Amy’s body and his plan on going to see who was the lucky fellow that was inside. The Alicorn herself personally smirked a little by the time he was done talking. “So, Eris was the one that brought you inside here?”
“Yeah, but only for a limited amount of time. She said I had about fifteen minutes at most, give or take.”
“Pfft… And Discord’s daughter actually thought that she sent you inside her mind? Oh, that's hilarious!!” The Night Alicorn laughed to herself, not having any limit on how loud it was. However, all this did was leave Nicko a bit puzzled. Seeing this, the Alicorn soon clarified things for The Rune Slayer.
“My friend, you’re not inside Amy’s mind. You’re in her dreams. Only two ponies have ever been able to do that and one of them is Artemis.”
Nicko himself was surprised by the recent turn of events. But some questions still lingered in the back of his mind. Very important question that had answers he would like to know. “And who would the other pony be?”
“Why Artemis’s other half exactly. I think you referred to it once in a conversation with your spirit friend as “She who wanted to be free”.”
Then, the puzzle pieces were slowly starting to reform. “Okay, and who are you?”
“That other half.”
Now, the pieces fully clicked into place. “You’re Nightmare Moon.”
“Indeed I am,” The Alicorn replied. “Although; I would prefer to be called Selena if that’s okay with you. Being called Nightmare feels a little unsettling at times. Makes me look on the mistakes I’ve made in the past.”
“Okay then, it’s nice to meet you Selena.” Nicko and Selena shook hands as a friendly gesture of kindness, before moving inside the worn castle. They moved into a room that would resemble a private study or an office. Selena used her magic to close the doors behind them as she straightened herself and sat down. She used her index finger to pull up a chair for Nicko as well, offering for the teen to sit down. He complied so he wouldn’t be rude or offending her on accident.
“So, I believe you have some question that you would like to ask?”
Nicko nodded in response. But before he could say anything, Selena spoke ahead of him.
“Well, I have some questions for you two that I think you can answer. So, we’ll take turns. You first, then me. Sound fair enough?”
“I believe that works out,” Nicko said. “For my first question, how is Amy?”
“Well, after getting surprised by the cursed Eric, I brought Amy’s soul here to the dream realm so both her and her body could recuperate. It’s going well, but she can’t see anyone from outside her dreams due to the fact that it can disrupt the healing process.”
Selena was taking off the bracers that were on her wrists and straightening her mane when she began to speak again. “Now though. I have a question for you.”
“Sure. Ask away.”
“During the healing process, I wasn’t able to feel Amy’s mana. It’s the source of magic that she needs in order for her to perform her abilities as a Blazing Heart. Would you possibly happen to know why that is?”
Nicko grimaced at the thought. Eris was in a lot of pain when she felt what happened. Maybe he should take this a bit slowly. “Remember when Amy got attacked? Well, how I found out about it was because Eris flinched for a moment in agony before coming back to her senses. After that, she said that she felt her magic rupture and thought that she was possibly dead.”
When he said Rupture, Selena’s eyes widened a little. “Oh dear…… If what you said is true then…”
“Then what?” Nicko asked, not worrying if that actually counted as a question or not.
“Amy is completely cut off from her magic. She can’t become The Burning Crusader ever again.”
Selena’s words struck Nicko like a dagger to the heart. Her not being able to use magic again? Not only did that suck, but he could not really picture Amy being… well normal.
Before Nicko could even ask, the Alicorn began to explain by conjuring up a few “When it comes to magic users, if a powerful sorcerer or sorceress is killed, gravely disrupted from their magic, or gravely wounded in battle, other powerful conjurers in magic feel the backlash in an outward explosion of the targets original element. Eris must’ve felt some sort of hot burning pain when this happened and was affected by it.”
“My god.” Nicko cursed. He didn’t think that it would be this bad.
“Now though, what Amy last saw was her handing her pendant to Scootaloo. Did anything happen to her?”
“She’s the new Blazing heart,” Nicko told her. “I saw her going out at Eric in an assault of fire and fury before I arrived. Still though, even though with the new skills and her control over it, she let her emotions and anger affect her and lost focus.”
The teen continued on to explain a bit that her actions was a Passing of the Torch as humans would call it. Amy was passing on the legacy of the Blazing Heart to Scootaloo, her apprentice. She would be proud of the pegasus right now, he thought.
“Now to my question though. Could there be a possible way to restore her Mana?”
Selena just shook her head. The Alicorn continued to explain how that the only possible way for someponies magic to be restored was for another Magic user to give up theirs. Additionally, they could not have the same skills or expertise that they once had before. Which meant that Amy would not control her Fire powers again.
For a moment, Selena winced a moment in pain before focusing her attention back to Nicko again. He noticed this and was a little worried for her, asking her if their was anything he could do.
“No, it’s fine. It’s just a drawback to this whole process. I use more magic the longer I have Amy recover and sometimes it hurts. But it’s for a good cause. I am a spirit after all.”
That got Nicko thinking. Spirits don’t have physical forms, but they do have magic. Amy has a physical form, but doesn’t have magic. “Why don’t you give her your magic?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Well, if the pain from this operation is hurting you, couldn’t you just give your magic to Amy and have her become full again?”
“I don’t think she would want my magic. It’s stained with the mistakes I’ve made and the ponies that died because of it. It’s stained with their blood.”
“It’s just an idea. I think you should ask her.” Nicko told her before standing up. “Because from what I remember; if you can’t defend them, then you can damn well avenge them. I should get going though before everypony back in the real world worries about me being asleep or possibly dead.” Selena agreed with the human on that statement and used her powers to help send the boy back. But now, the boys words echoed in her mind. Maybe what he said didn't sound like a bad idea after all. Still though, she had to wait for when the time was right.
Back in the hospital room, Nicko reopened his eyes and found himself in the same position that he left himself in. Criss-crossed legs and his arms were at his side, hands in his lap with his fists together like he was pulling off the meditation pose in The Legend of Korra. A good sign for him was not just being in his body again, but also hearing and seeing Eris again. This time though, she seemed a little more confused than thankful by the fact that he was back.
“Welcome back.”
“Thanks.” Nicko checked his watch for a moment. Fifteen minutes have passed from when he first came into the dream realm and now, he was back out. Probably due to the Draconequus thinking that he was actually in Amy’s mind. But the teen was forgetting about one important thing.
“Just out of curiosity, how did you get back? I didn’t even cast the return spell.”
And now here comes the explanations. Not just for Eris, but also for Applejack. Her little sister had already left and she was still awake and talking with the Draconequus by the time he got back. The Rune Slayer began to explain everything surely and slowly. From the fact that he was actually in Amy’s dream to what was going on. Both of them were surprised to hear that the pony keeping her alive was actually Nightmare Moon. They didn’t really think that the mare that wanted to cast Equus into an eternal night was not only helping her, but also being sympathetic. Additionally, they never really thought that Amy actually lost her powers. It was quite a lot to take in.
But soon, Nicko and Eris had to leave. It was around the time that Anson would probably be worried about his safety. Especially since he was seeing Flash Sentry walk towards the clinic. “Well, I hope you have a speedy recovery Applejack. See you tomorrow.”
“See ya tomorrow, Sugarcube.”
Meanwhile,
It took a long while to get the city of Canterlot settled, to have everypony return to their homes and to bring the wounded and injured to the infirmary. Anson right now was with Pinkie Pie, Molly, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders inside Canterlot Castle. The Infinity Sword, The Mastermind and the party pony were shocked to hear about the attack by Eric and how Applejack and Amy were caught in the psychopath’s crosshairs, but also surprised to see that Scootaloo had become the new Blazing Heart and how Applebloom had become a Wind Sneaker. Anson himself even offered to help them get use to her new powers by having them do some sparring tomorrow morning after breakfast while Molly promised to help teach Sweetie Belle and Babs Seed. Soon though, all of them heard footsteps in the hallway and the knocking on the door to their room.
“May I come in?”
Anson recognized the voice of his brother and proceeded to opening the door. “Welcome back, bro.”
“Thanks man. I just had an... interesting experience recently.” Nicko told them as he entered the room and laid his sword against the wall. The Rune Slayer then sat down next to Scootaloo so he could keep her company. He thought that she needed someone to be by since her mentor was right now in a hospital bed in a coma.
“Ooooh!! What kind of super duper experience, Nicky!?!”
Wow… Pinkie was now only the second person ever that actually called Nicko “Nicky”. The first one being Eris, which had the Spirit of Chaos emerge from Nicko again to the point where she was holding the teen tightly against her. “Only I have the authority to call him that!”
“Uhh… Eris? It’s fine.”
“Yeah, Eris! Besides, it fits well since Nicky and Sonny are brothers!!”
“Sonny?” Nicko asked, looking at his twin brother as he chuckled.
“One of a couple of nicknames that Pinkie has come up for me.”
“One of a couple?”
“It’s better if you don’t ask.” Anson warned him before changing the flow of the conversation back to the original topic. That’s when Nicko gave them the lowdown and caught everypony up to speed. About how he entered Amy’s dreams, meeting Selena and the conversation that followed after that. Despite the circumstances, everypony took it quite well considering that mostly everypony except Anson had heard of or met Selena before. But what really shocked them was actually when I told them the situation with Amy and her powers. There wasn’t a point in sugar coating anything since Applebloom and Scootaloo had already see the state in which she was in. But her young apprentice was still shocked by the fact that she could no longer become the figure that was her idol. It hit the Pegasus hard. Like getting hit with a sledgehammer hard.
Still though, all of us as a group were able to cheer up the little Pyro Knight with enough encouragement and telling her that she was Amy’s successor. It made her think that she had big horseshoes to fill with the amount of responsibility a position like this would hold. Nicko agreed with her on that point. But everypony’s attention was focused elsewhere when they were called to the dining room for tonights dinner. Something that almost everypony in the room was looking forward to (considering that Applejack probably either already ate or was fast asleep right now).
Dinner was a tomato soup with a side salad and fresh bread. Simple, yet just as filling and effective as last nights meal. Nicko and Scootaloo sat next to each other in the middle of the table across from Celestia, Twilight, Cadence, and Artemis. Luke and Ciela were by Anson along with most of the other human guests. This included Yuri and also her sister Jade; which by her personality and by the way she behaves made Nicko hope that she was somehow not insane. Still though, one guest made him feel very uncomfortable.
As it turns out, Prince Blueblood actually decided to try and eat with humans at the table. Though, tension still lurked from the other night when he offended Molly’s mother. He tried to show himself as proper while Molly looked at him with an evil look of “Don’t you even think about it” when it came to conversations. The fact that Rarity was sitting next to her didn’t help the tension either because the fashionista still remembered the actions the Prince did during the Grand Galloping Gala. Gleaming Shield made sure though that Blueblood was on his best behavior as the night progressed.
After dinner, everypony proceeded to leave the room. But Nicko decided to stay behind. When Scootaloo and Applebloom noticed him staying, they turned towards their friends and sisters. “You girls go on ahead, we’ll catch up with you later.”
Soon, the only ones in the room were the two Cutie Mark Crusaders, The Rune Slayer, and the Royal pony siblings. Celestia and Artemis were actually confused when they saw the three of them still here. “Nicko? Girls? I thought you would be going with the others.”
“Actually, there’s something I think the three of us need to talk to you about.”
When Nicko said three, he truly meant three this time. Eris had left the room with her father and brother earlier. So it left the human and the two youngsters with Celestia and Artemis.
“You do?” Celestia asked. Her voice hinted a little sign of concern as she and her brother looked at each other with puzzled expressions.
“Do you remember the events from earlier? Something like an explosion going off in the middle of the Mane Square?”
“Indeed. It is why thousands of civilians had to take refuge inside the castle. The guards are calling it an accident, but some believe that it was an attack by a terrorist.” Nicko was surprised. He honestly did not expect for either of them to say that word. Vandal more likely, but terrorist was a bit extreme.
“Well, we know who’s responsible.” Nicko told them as he used a new trick he learned with his rune magic as he conjured a piece of paper and used another kind of rune to draw out who was responsible. Both brother and sister were shocked by who Nicko had put on the paper. Either because it brought back bad memories or something worse.
“This is the same guy who was the reason why there were dead members of the White Talon cartel on the Friendship express. I saw him kill them myself.”
“Ya! And he’s the reason why Applejack is in the hospital!!”
“How did this happen?!” Celestia now asked.
“Ah bumped into him on accident and he thought that ah would lead him to Amy, so my best guess was that he wanted me as a hostage.” Applebloom replied. “However, Sis threw an apple in order to distract him and thats when… He began to tear her apart. She’s now in the hospital and lucky to not be dead because ah stopped him at the last second.”
“Stopped him?”
“Remember when I got these powers from Amy yesterday?” Scootaloo now joined in. “The same thing happened with Applebloom after she found a book while looking around finding a way to cure her boredom.”
“Anyways, Ah held my own against him for a while, then Leo and ah teamed up against him, and Amy and Scootaloo showed up. But then… Eric struck Amy.”
Both siblings were now confused again. That was until they explained the gruesome and graphic details. Scootaloo finished up with saying that she fought Eric for a bit and when Nicko showed up, the Esper ran away. Nicko then picked up the ball from that point and continued.
“When we got to the hospital, Applejack was doing fine. But we found out that Amy was still stable and just in a coma.”
“How long?”
“I don’t know.” Nicko told them.
“But how is she in a coma. Something as graphic as what you said would normally kill somepony.”
“That’s the thing… Another soul is making sure her soul is still in her body as it recovers. In fact, I had a talk with her earlier today inside Amy’s Dreams.”
That’s when the room went partially quiet. “Her… dreams?”
“Yes, your highness. That is correct.”
“And who is this Other Soul that you mentioned?”
“Her name is Selena.” Nicko calmly swallowed the doubt in his throat before continuing. “But you might know her by a different name. Nightmare Moon.”
“THAT FIEND!!?!” Artemis hollered in the Royal Canterlot voice. It almost caused Nicko to lose his footing due to how loud it was and the fact that Artemis was tempted to draw his sword. “HOW IN MY SISTER’S MANE IS SHE STILL ALIVE!!!?! THAT DEMON SHOULD BE GONE!! DISPOSED OF BY THE ELEMENTS!!!”
“God damn, you’re loud.” Nicko cursed. He made a mental note to never try and piss off Artemis anytime he felt like pranking somepony. “All she is now is just a spirit that Amy had helped before in the past. Now she is helping make sure that Amy is completely recovered. She is also tormented by her past mistakes and wanted to do what she can to help Amy so she can forget about the past. But Amy’s recovery is not going well despite all she is doing.”
“OBVIOUSLY BECAUSE OF THAT-.”
“Calm yourself, brother.” Celestia preached to Artemis. “If Discord could be reformed, then I believe that Selena could be as well because of Amy.”
“CALM!?” Artemis snarled back. “DO YOU NOT REMEMBER WHAT THE BUCK SHE IS CAPABLE OF?!! SHE POSSESSED ME!! MATTER OF FACT, SHE COULD BE POSSESSING HIM!!”
In a quick instant, Artemis’s sword became unsheathed as he dashed towards the unarmed Nicko. The Rune Slayer had made the mistake of leaving his sword back in Anson’s room and now was unarmed against a Pissed off Prince. Scootaloo herself also left her claymore back in the room too and so did Applebloom. But out of all three of them, the earth pony did not require a weapon to pull off the new techniques that she was capable of.
Moving lightly across the floor, the Wind Sneaker caught Artemis by surprise. She placed a swift kick that was meant to try and hit his hands to disarm the prince. But instead, it hit somewhere else. Somewhere much lower.
“Uh oh…” Applebloom spoke softly. All color drained from Artemis’s face as he passed out, quivering in pain on the ground. Celestia herself just chuckled a little bit. She watched as Artemis laid on the floor. “I-i’m sorry! I didn’t mean-.”
“It’s quite fine actually. Artemis was out of line and needed to calm down. I just did not expect it to happen like that though.” Celestia couldn’t stop herself from chuckling at her unconscious brother as she zapped him with a teleportation spell so the night prince would end up in his room. Now it was just the princess and the three other individuals. “Now, you were saying her recover was not going well. Why is that?”
“Because she’s been disconnected from her magic. She can’t cast or use her powers anymore because of the damage Eric has done to her.” Nicko explained. “Selena is healing her as I speak; but to make sure she’s okay, Selena is using a lot of magic just to keep her stable right now.”
“Yeah, and we need Amy’s help after what Leo told me.”
Now Nicko, Scootaloo and Celestia were all looking at Applebloom. “What exactly did Leo tell you?”
“Earlier today, he figured out where the changelings were hidden.”
“HE WHAT!!?!” The three of them said to the Wind Sneaker in unison. Even the guards that were positioned outside the door were startled by their collective screech.
“Yeah and he thought it was the reason why Eric attacked. Because it was a secret anypony would kill in order to keep a secret.”
“Well… That was… enlightening.” Celestia told them. “It’s getting late though. I’ll make sure to talk to Leo about this issue in the morning.” As the two crusaders and the teenager left the room, the two guards that were on duty stood and watched as they saw them leave through the doors on the other end of the hall.
“Hey, what do you think of those guys?”
“Hell if I know. The pink pony was already complicated enough, I rather not try to figure out what’s going inside their heads.”
Next Morning,
Anson was up bright and early as the crack of dawn came with a party pony using her party cannon as an early morning wake up call. It was almost a test of reflexes to the Infinity Sword. One that would involve her not getting a table cloth and confetti to smash his face. Though, he personally challenged the reason why she would use a freaking cannon as a wake up call when it could wake up everypony else in the castle despite the fact that he didn’t mind.
“Good Morning, Sonny!!”
“M-morning Pinkie.” Anson stuttered as he wiped a few pieces of Confetti off his face. “I guess you’re ready to help with breakfast?”
“Oh that I’ve already taken care of. Today, were doing something special as a “Hope you Get well really soon!!” surprise for Applejack since she’s in the hospital.” Like the others, everypony at this rate heard about the farm pony ending up in the hospital. So it would make sense to come up with something special and encouraging for Pinkie’s best friend/sort of sister. They had a lot to do.
To start, Pinkie wanted to prepare a special breakfast. All Apple themed because it was for Applejack. Apple Pancakes, Fresh Apple Slices, Apple Oatmeal and even a few Apple Fritters (Since Pinkie had mysteriously had obtained the Apple Family’s special recipe). To add to it, she pulled a special “Get Well” card out of plain air like how would she would basically get out everything else. The two of them then went into the marketplace in order to get a few more things, including a bouquet of flowers for her nightstand and also a Ursa Minor “Get Well” teddy bear.
Now Pinkie was being her usual self as they made her way to the front day to the front of the clinic. “Hello? We’re here to visit Applejack.”
“Down the hall, second to last room on the left.”
“Thank you so much!!!” Pinkie happily expressed her gratitude by stretching over the counter and hugged the mare at the counter to where she was just staring in disbelief by the time she looked at Anson before the party pony shot down the hall like the Looney Toons Roadrunner.
“Trust me, that’s normal for her.” Anson said as he followed his companion and saw the earth pony back up. Something told the teenager that she was going to make a dramatic entrance and lo and behold, she bursted the door a few minutes later with confetti in her hands.
“It’s morning… It’s morning…… it’s MORNING!!!”
“What the hay-!?”
Anson walked into the room to find that Pinkie Pie had decided to wake up Applejack the same way she woke him up. Without the party cannon of course. “We thought that we would treat you to a little bit of breakfast in bed since you weren’t feeling so well. We even got you a card and a teddy bear.”
“Why thank you, sugarcube. Ah’m surprised that you did all of this for me. Both you and Anson.” The Element of Honesty told her friends. “Ah’m very grateful.”
“I’m glad you like it.” Anson replied back with a smile on his face. “How are you feeling today?”
“Almost as good as new. Doc says I can leave the hospital, but not do any physical activity for another day so the bandages don’t come undone.”
“That’s great news!”
“Indeed. Ah just wish that it was a different story for Amy.”
Both Pinkie and Anson turned around to see the red haired girl lying on the bed. They were told about everything last night, but never expected to see her look like this. Even Pinkie herself was shocked at this and thought that the extra pancakes she had made would somehow make Amy wake up because of the smell. But after a while, it seemed silly. Even by Pinkie standards.
Soon, Applejack was able to get up on her own two hooves and move around comfortably. The doctors checked her out and gave her a clean bill of health before the three of them were able to walk on over to the royal barracks. Why? So that was Applejack could see her sister and her best friend train with both Nicko and Anson. That way, the Element of Honesty could see what her sister’s skills were and how she herself had matured over the past few days.
When they arrived, Applejack was surprised to see that her sister was actually practicing against Nicko. He stood there with his hands behind his back as Applebloom tried her best to hit him. However, every time she tried to land a hit, the teenager just simply dodged or moved his body out of the way. Then, at one moment, Applejack thought that her sister had got Nicko when she tried to get him around the upper arm. However, what had resulted was him catching Applebloom mid-strike, but then her sister knocking him down afterwards with the other leg.
“Very good.” The Rune Slayer said. “Catching your opponents off guard is a tactic that comes in many forms. For you, it’s all in how you use your kicks. It’s very important to have a plan no matter how quick your enemy can move or dodge out of the way.”
Ciela was there as well along with Scootaloo and Molly as they saw the two of them turn towards Anson, Pinkie, and Applejack. Applebloom was overjoyed to see her sister again and she wanted to hug her, but didn’t because she didn’t want to hurt her or undo her bandages. “Sis!”
“It’s good to see you, Applebloom. You seem to be quite fond of those skills of yours.”
“We’ve been helping her a lot with basic training.” Ciela replied. “Mostly, Nicko has been helping her out, but now I think it’s my turn to help pitch in and help both her and Scootaloo.”
“Me?” The Blazing Heart asked. “Why do I need help?”
“Because while I watched both of you spar against each other for practice, Nicko told me that you needed more control in your abilities.”
“Oh yeah… Right…” Scootaloo replied sarcastically, duly remembering the brief encounter she had with Eric before he ran off. “So, when do we-.”
Before Scootaloo could even fully answer her question, Ciela’s gauntlets came to life as she lunged at the young Pyro Knight. “We start now.”
Nicko, Anson, Pinkie and Applejack had mere seconds to get out of the way before the royal barracks training yard became a battlefield. Punches and Kicks were thrown as claymore and crossbow clashed with Ciela’s gauntlets. The two sons of the Chiliarch were glad to find cover because of the amount of power that was exchanged between the three combatants. So were the two earth ponies.
This continued on for quite some time. Almost an hour or two. That was until the seven of them got a surprise visitor.
“Hello, Everypony.”
It was Caliburn. The Blade Master was an unexpected arrival that no one ever expected. Well, to be fair, he didn’t expect them to be here either. What he was here for though was to make sure and pass along a message. “Princess Celestia wanted me to inform you about the train she requested so it can take all of you back to Ponyville when you are ready.”
“What about Amy? She’s still in recovery.” Scootaloo asked.
“She’s being airlifted to the hospital in Ponyville right now by carriage with some of our best trained medical staff. The guards even made sure that the human you would refer to as “Jade” did not disguise herself as part of the medical team.”
“Who?” Anson asked as he and Nicko looked at each other with puzzled expressions.
“Yuri’s sister.” Molly told the brothers. “She’s basically the one woman Amy Stalker Squad.” Anson himself just snickered at what Molly said and Nicko facepalmed. Having a psycho on the team felt just as bad as having to fight one.
“On that note, how long until the train leaves?”
“Forty minutes. We already made sure precautions were taken so we don’t have a repeat incident of what happened earlier this week.”
“Wait… Earlier in the week?”
“I’ll explain later mom.” Nicko assured his mom as they left the training yard. It took them ten to fifteen minutes to find everypony they knew before being able to safely board the train. It seemed like almost everyone Nicko knew at the time was either with a pony (Except for Yuri keeping a VERY short leash on Jade). Leo was with Fluttershy, Anson was with Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Applebloom, Rainbow Dash, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were with Molly, and his father was actually starting up a conversation with Rarity after she complimented him on his coat. Which left him with his mother, and it felt like he was with someone who looked more like a sister than a mom. Especially by her height. Which of course, Nicko made sure not to say anything that could set her off.
Later though, he was met by someone who he had only seen yesterday.
“Hey there man. Is this seat taken?” Yep. Equestria’s one and only DJ-PON3 was also on board this train. Nicko allowed for her to sit next to him, which felt like a bad decision when his mother came back from getting a few treats from Pinkie to see them sitting next to each other.
“Oh… Well, this is a surprise.” The Chiliarch commented as she looked at the two of them. “Nicko, would you care to introduce me to your… friend?”
“Oh yeah. Vinyl, this is my mom Ciela. Mom, this is my friend Vinyl Scratch.”
“Nice to meet you.” Vinyl commented. “You look badass for being Nicko’s mother. I see where you get a lot of your traits from, man.” She continued on to explain about Nicko’s heroics on board this train four days ago. His mom was actually quite surprised by some of the things Nicko did to save the lives of many ponies. She chuckled at the part where it all started when a drunk unicorn called him “short” and he punched them. Yep, that was her son.
“So Nicko… I was wondering… when did you two first meet?”
Nicko sighed. “Maybe I should say this one…… It started when Vinyl found me in Applewood…”
End Chapter 9
