I yawned and stretched as I woke up, heading downstairs once again to the bottom floor of the barn at Sweet Apple Acres. Nabbing an apple muffin off the table on my way out the door, I made a beeline straight for the nearest tree to begin work for the day.
After a few hours of punching trees right in the knot, I heard a bunch of odd noises coming from the nearby Everfree. I looked between the apple trees and the Everfree for a bit before shrugging and deciding to investigate, I was sure Applejack wouldn’t get too upset at me for taking a five-minute break.
I took off at a run, my Kaiju-enhanced speed getting me to the edge of the forest within a couple minutes. I peered inside for a bit, trying to figure out what had made the sounds. After a few minutes of fruitless searching I shrugged and walked in, keeping an eye out for any of those twig dogs or other dangerous wildlife.
Another few minutes of travel later and I began hearing the sound of breaking branches and leafy canine growls. I also heard what sounded like someone talking. I walked through the foliage to get closer, figuring that I would never really find anything out by just waiting around.
Once I managed to get through the foliage, I heard a loud shout. One that didn’t sound like a wooden wolf at all. “SWORD FIRE!!”
The next moment, a powerful fire filled shock-wave went off, sending a few Timberwolves (Ooo~, I like that one! From now on, I'm going to call them Timberwolves. Wonder what their actual names are though...) flying several feet behind me and one that would have nearly hit me if I hadn’t moved at the last second. “Woah, that was awesome!” I exclaimed with a grin, “Wonder what threw those things away?”
I began moving forward again, eager to find out who had shouted. After another few minutes, I found the source of the voice and the flying Timberwolves. As another two of them sprung forth, a young warrior in a Red cloak used what seemed to be magic to hold off his attackers as a rune in his hands exploded, throwing the beasts into a nearby tree. Before long though, one last Timberwolf came at him and with it, the warrior swung at him like his sword was a baseball bat.
Sending the wolf into my face. I blinked when the Timberwolf exploded on contact with my head, the pieces flying off somewhere behind me as I thanked my awesome half-kaiju durability(My scales rock!). I whistled slightly, looking around at all of the Timberwolf pieces littering the clearing. “Wow, they really picked a bad fight, huh?” I joked, walking over to the somewhat shorter person.
Nicko was surprised to see the other human like individual as he dismissed his sword with his magic. “You can say that. Not to be rude, but who are you exactly?” He asked, folding his arms.
I put one of his hands out with a smile, “Duncan Rosenblatt at your service, nice to meet you.” I greeted with a friendly tone. “What’s your name?”
“Nicko. Nicko Nocte.” He replied, offering a hand to shake.
I firmly shook the offered hand, “Nice to meet you little guy.” I said, looking down a bit to meet the warrior’s eyes. What I didn’t realize was that the comment I'd made caused Nicko’s ears to twitch. To my surprise, the Rune Slayer soon tightened his grip and then pulled me towards him before throwing me with enough force to cause the ground to shake.
“Next time, pick your words a little more carefully.” He said, cleaning a little bit of dirt from his clothes.
I got off of the tree that had broken my fall (and just broke) popping my back as I stretched. “Got it.” I replied, checking my coat over for any damage and sighing with relief when I found none. “So what are you doing here anyways?” I asked curiously.
Nicko sighed, going into one of his pockets. “Well, that’s sort of complicated. I’m assuming that you are a Displaced?” When he finished the sentence, he pulled out the jewel that I immediately recognized. A copy of the gem I had received seconds before ending up in Equestria.
I grinned as I recognized it, “Oh, yeah. That’s mine, I just made it yesterday in fact.” I replied. “Cool that someone’s already gotten hold of one.”
Nicko grinned a little, partially showing his teeth. “Well, I guess that answers my question.” However, one thing that distracted me was that while looking at Nicko, I could see a silhouette of another being. One that looked almost like him. But he had blue hair, a serious expression and a different set of clothes along with a Katana blade. “You know, you sort of make me think of my teacher actually.”
I scratched the side of my face in confusion, “Why’s that?” I asked. “Did he act kind of like me or something?”
“He’s a dragon. He has a human appearance, but can take on multiple forms and also become a dragon.” Nicko replied.
I nodded, “Yeah, that does kinda sound like me. Except the dragon part…” I grinned, “I met a few dragons when I got here though. They were being a bunch of jerks, so I hit them with a tree.”
“Well, sorry to disappoint you on that part, but Ryu’s a jerk. But it’s for a reason. He’s been alive for a LONG time and is also Applejack’s uncle in his world.” Nicko told me. “But he’s the one who actually taught me how to fight better and how to use my spells in different ways. Ryu isn’t the only dragon I met though. There is one other one that I know who also has a lot of weight on his shoulders…”
I scratched my head, “Applejack’s uncle?” He asked, “Is he like a really small dragon, or is it an honorary thing?”
“He’s taller than me, lived over 1000 years and is referred to as a Elder Dragon. He prefers to go by the title of Kaiser though.” Nicko replied. “Let’s just say he’s very… blunt in terms of speaking. How he teaches his lessons is not through telling you how to do things, but by having you figure it out while he’s attacking you. Not to mention he can combine his spells together to form new powers.”
“Woah..” I blinked, “That sounds like pretty tough training… I just kinda experiment with my powers and stuff.” I added thoughtfully.
“Experimentation is one thing. Actually getting it to where you find out what works for you is another thing. Neltharion though, he’s different.” Nicko said, remembering the Earth-Warden.
“Different how?” I asked curiously.
“He’s the size of a freaking mountain. The Avatar of the world. The World Given form. The Cataclysm. Those are only some of the names he has. One though, might cause a chill to go down your spine and I had his token be socketed in my sword, Rovaniik.” He said. Rovaniik was only one of two swords he had. In the dragon language, it meant Wanderer. But thanks to Neltharion's token, the earth and nature around him could bend to his will.
“And that name is…?” I prompted.
“Deathwing.”
I did indeed shudder slightly. I wonder what kind of thing that Neltharion could’ve done to earn that name. Nicko soon threw an index card the size of a piece of paper. On it was the dragon he was referring to.
“Have a look for yourself.”
I caught the card, looking at it carefully. “Well, he’s definitely intimidating.” I agreed with wide eyes.
“Once you get to know him though, he’s quite interesting. And that’s just only two of the Displaced that I’ve met. Besides having to take a temporary break when I got myself turned to stone briefly.”
I nodded for a bit until the last sentence caught up with me, “Wait what?”
“Long story short, a psychotic Esper that wanted to take revenge on the Royal Siblings deflected a blast from the elements of harmony towards my brother, I took the hit instead, and I wake up seven years later. Ironically, the one who got me out of stone was my brother’s daughter, so now I’m an uncle. Other then that, I met some… interesting people.”
“Cool.” I replied, “Hey you wanna move this discussion out of the Everfree?” He asked, looking around.
“If you want. Lead the way I guess.”
I grinned before walking back the way I had come from, towards Sweet Apple Acres. On the way back, I could see Applejack, who seemed to be looking for me. “There you are, Duncan-. Who or what in tarnation is that?” She asked, pointing a finger at Nicko.
“Hey Applejack, sorry for leaving the field during work-hours, but I found somebody fighting those twig dogs in the Everfree. His name is Nicko!” I replied, introducing my new friend. Nicko did a simple wave with his hand, following that up by saying, “Hello there.”
“Howdy, nice to meet a friend of Duncan’s ah guess. Though ah gotta ask why you were in the Everfree, if ya don’t mind explaining.” She replied, raising a brow curiously as she waved back.
“Let’s just say I was traveling and ended up landing on top of a timberwolf. Had to fight the rest of the pack and teach old dogs new tricks. Specifically, rolling over and playing dead.”
Applejack blinked, “Ah guess that makes sense.” She replied, scratching her head. “How were ya able to defend yourself though?”
“Oh I used my magic… and one of my swords.”
I chuckled, “Yeah he was sending those things flying all over the place. One of those twig dogs smashed right into my head, even.”
Applejack shook her head, “Somehow, ah don’t think I really wanna know anymore. Ain’t worth the headache.” She sighed, “Just make sure ya get your work done for the day Duncan.”
I snapped a mock salute, “Will do!”
Applejack walked back towards the field, only to soon see Nicko mess with his magic by briefly channeling a small rune before dismissing it. Looking at it, she soon thought that the moment Twilight saw him, she would be all over him about what he was capable of. Nicko soon walked over to the bottom of a tree and cracked open a book he had on him. His spellbook. The Rune Slayer was taking the time to look over some of his skills and refresh his memory. Still though, this didn’t come without anypony not noticing. Soon though, Applejack soon noticed a familiar face. She personally cursed her timing on thinking about Twilight. For she was walking down the road towards the Orchard’s entrance.
Twilight hummed a bit as she walked towards Sweet Apple Acres, a quill and several stacks of parchment following along in the grip of her magic. She figured that it would be best to learn as much about Duncan as possible, seeing as he was quite possibly a new species of some sort. Besides, she wanted to send Princess Celestia a letter with more than ‘an unknown hybrid saved me and my friends by smacking dragons with a tree.’.
She walked through the gate, looking around for any sign of Duncan or Applejack. Noticing Applejack over in the fields, she started heading towards her orange friend while giving a wave in greeting and calling out her name. “Hey Applejack!”
“Howdy Twilight!” the Earth Pony replied. “What brings you to Sweet Apple Acres?” She personally already knew the answer, but asked anyways.
“Well I figured I would check to see how Duncan was settling in and maybe ask a few questions. You know, figure out a bit more on his capabilities and personality.”
“There may be a bit more to figure out than you might think. Duncan happened to make a friend this morning.” Applejack told her, nodding her head in Nicko’s direction.
“Do you think he might be a ‘Half-Kaiju’ like Duncan?” Twilight questioned curiously, looking over at the reading Rune Slayer.
“No. He’s a different case. Especially if he, from what he told me, took on a pack of timberwolves and lived to tell the tale.” As Applejack spoke, Nicko turned another page in the book. Now at the section with the notes from Starswirl the Bearded on Runic Magic. Notes that only he and one other pony back in his world could read.
“Did he say how he did that?” The purple unicorn asked, looking at Applejack.
“He said he used his magic and a sword. But I don’t-.” At that second, Nicko summoned the sword that he used earlier to inspect it after reviewing some attacks involving the use of his weapon. “-Okay, ah take that back. He does have a sword.”
Twilight looked at the newly materialized sword with a critical eye, already attemtping to decipher what sort of spell he could’ve used. “Maybe some sort of pocket dimension spell? no, no…” After about five minutes of muttering to herself, she decided to just go over and ask.
Walking up to Nicko, she cleared her throat slightly. “Excuse me?” She asked politely.
Nicko looked up, closing the book and dismissing the blade. “Yes, Miss? How can I help you?”
“I was wondering how you managed to simply vanish and rematerialize your sword. What kind of spell do you use?” She asked eagerly.
“Honestly, I just summoned them. They are enchanted swords.” Nicko said back. This though, didn’t satisfy Twilight’s curiosity.
“Well I suppose that would make sense..” Twilight replied with a nod, “But what kind of enchantments are on them?”
“I wouldn’t know. I just summon them by calling their name. Then again, Dyntos did reforge my main sword and allowed me to keep the blade I used during his trials.” He said to himself. The name he mentioned peaked the pony’s attention. Curious to find out who’s this Dyntos person he mentioned.
“Dyntos?” Twilight asked, “Is he some sort of unicorn blacksmith?”
“You’re a little off. He’s the god of the forge and maker of all weapons.” He told her. The sound of the word god cause Twilight’s eyes to widen. For a moment, she just stared at him in shock. Nicko honestly thought that he caused her to crash.
Twilight blinked, her mouth opening and closing on occasion but no sound escaped. After a few minutes, she managed to gather her thoughts and ask an actual question. “A god!?” Though it wasn’t the most intelligent question she’s ever asked.
“Yeah. That only happened yesterday for me, so I don’t really remember all the details.” He turned to his right, noticing me. While Twilight was stuck in thought, he walked over to me. “Duncan, I think I caused your Twilight to flip out.”
I waved a hand in front of Twilight’s face, taking note of her expression of shock, “I think you broke her Nicko.”
“Well, great. All she did was ask me who made my weapons and now she crashed like a computer on windows vista. Perfect…” He sighed. I, personally, was curious about what exactly Nicko said to Twilight to cause her to shut down.
“So what did you say to her?” I asked, poking Twilight’s shoulder in an effort to get a response.
“I told her that Dyntos made my weapons and when I told her who he was, she flipped. That’s what I get for telling her about the God of the Forge.”
“A god, huh?” I replied, putting a hand to my chin, “Yeah, I guess that’d be pretty surprising for just about anybody.”
“Yeah. I had to pass his trials in order to get my stuff.” Nicko said. “Three, hard, trials. Not to mention the third trial involved fighting my parents… Yeah, my parents are actually Displaced as well.”
I nodded, “Cool. Well… Not cool that you had to fight them, but pretty cool that your parents are Displaced.” I blinked as I remembered something, “Oh hey, speaking of which… If you ever meet someone name Tony or Dante, their actual names not their Displaced names, could you let me know? They’re like my best friends, and I’m pretty sure that at least Tony got Displaced too.”
“Sure, if I come across them. Otherwise then that, I’m not sure where they might be. Besides, like I said before, I met a LOT of Displaced. One of them that happens to be Handsome Jack.”
I shrugged, “That’s all I can really ask, the whole ‘if you come across them’ thing, ya know? Anyways, Handsome Jack huh? I sorta remember him, I didn’t really play Borderlands much before getting Displaced though. It was a fun game, but it was just a bit lower on my list since I prefer Fantasy over Sci-fi.”
“Wait till you meet Loki. He’ll definitely make your head spin.”
I blinked, “Literally or Figuratively?” I asked curiously. “Because I’m pretty sure Loki is the name of some sort of… What was it, Norse? Norse trickster god.”
“He’s a Displaced Discord. A Draconequus… You weren’t told about him now were you?”
“Wait, what’s a Draconequus?” I wondered, scratching my head.
“Spirit of Chaos. He has the talon of a hawk, paw of a lion and other numerous animals parts that are part of his body. Since he controls chaos, logic doesn’t apply to him. One time, I heard he made it rain chocolate.”
I grinned, “That sounds awesome! Do you think he could make it rain Chocolate Muffins instead?” I asked, drooling slightly, imagining the skies filling with clouds that would rain chocolate muffins upon the world.
“The only limit he has is his imagination-. Oh hey, Twilight’s back.” Nicko said, the Rune Slayer pointing at the Unicorn. “You might want to wait a bit before mentioning Discord though. He’s… thrown this world into chaos before. Something tells me that with time, he’ll be reformed. Let’s keep that between us for now.”
I nodded, “No problem dude, my lips are sealed.” I then turned and waved at Twilight, “Hey Twilight, welcome back from… Wherever it is you just went.”
Twilight groaned, “Duncan, in the three days I’ve known you, you’ve already proven to be able to cause nearly as many headaches as Pinkie…”
I shrugged, “I didn’t even know she caused headaches, she seemed nice enough to me.”
The unicorn sighed, shaking her head and deciding not to bother with that. “Forget it.”
“Be thankful you haven’t met Amy.” Nicko muttered. “She’s a bit… Reckless. Think Deadpool, but different.”
I blinked in confusion, “Different how? Like, less violent or just more random?”
“Think her making the walls of a classroom look like blood is dripping down and her pretending to stick herself in a wall, asking ‘Hey kids! Wanna see a dead body!?’. That’s only the tip of the Iceberg.”
“Okay…” I shook my head, “That’s.. Well, I’ll definitely agree that it’s different.”
Suddenly there was a huge roar that pierced the air, causing my eyes to widen. “Oh you have got to be kidding me.”
Nicko, hearing that, summoned his second blade Ebalon and turned around. “Friends of yours?”
I shook my head, “No, definitely not. Not if that was what I think it is.”
“Well, whatever it is- OH SH*T!” Now what I was thinking about was coming into view. “Is THAT what you think it is?”
I looked at the approaching creature with a frown, shrugging off my jacket and placing it on a nearby tree branch. “Unfortunately, yes.”
“Well, I was getting a little bored standing around.” Nicko smirked, two runes glowing at the bottom of his shoes before launching forth in a burst of speed.
“Right behind ya on that one!” I replied, shifting into my second form with a grin and running towards the Kaiju. Nicko watched the beast burst forth from the ground and jumped to the side as it’s tail slammed down. As it turned, the tail smacked me into a mountainside.
Nicko, seeing this, moved forward, placing a rune on the ground where the tail then landed. On contact, the back end of it froze. A trick with Nicko’s Ice Rune that he used to hinder an opponent's mobility. Now, he just hoped that Duncan could get back up from being knocked back.
I pulled myself out of the crater I had made on impact, shaking my head with a frown. I quickly ran back down towards the Kaiju, my enhanced speed getting me there just after it’s tail had been frozen, “TAKE THIS YOU JERK!” I shouted, smashing into the frozen tail at full speed, shattering it.
The Kaiju roared in pain and anger, swiping at the me and Nicko. I quickly back-flipped away, clearing a fairly large distance before blasting the creature with my flames. However, one second later, the monster that was there disappeared.
“Ah great. It’s a burrower.” Nicko growled to himself, calling the monster the nickname he thought of after thinking about Rek’Sai from League of Legends. Before even getting the chance to think, he felt the ground rumble beneath them. “It’s under you-!”
Before I could hear my new friend’s response, the Kaiju burst from the ground underneath my feet, grabbing hold of me. Nicko, thinking quickly, focused his next spell towards the monster’s claws that held his friend and fellow Displaced. Casting Wind Blade, a huge astral sword sprung forth, cutting off the Kaiju’s claw and freeing him.
The Kaiju roared in pain, stumbling back as it held the stump that used to hold it’s claw.
“You alright?”
“Yeah, I’m good.” I replied, “I was going to break his fingers, but now I think I’m just gonna make him hit himself.” I grinned, picking up the now detached limb and rushing at the burrowing annoyance.
“You do that, I got an idea to deal with this jerk once you stagger him.” The Rune Slayer shouted back, channeling his mana into his sword as he let me throw the Kaiju claw at the creature’s face. “I’m just going to need a bit of fire.”
I jumped at the Kaiju’s head, “Hey ugly, I think this is yours!” I shouted as I swung the claw straight into the side of it’s head, making the monster jerk to the the side and stumble from the impact. I landed next to Nicko, using the beast’s neck as a springboard. “You need fire, you’ve got it!”
My flames had Nicko’s blade heat up like it had come straight out of the forge. Just the way he needed it. Thanks to me, the Kaiju’s neck was exposed. That was a weak point if anyone had ever seen one, that's for sure. Launching himself forth again, he swung downward, delivering the killing blow as the hot metal sliced the head of the monster clean off. “Well, no need to call Pest Control now. Let’s just hope this guy doesn’t have any… friends.”
I sighed, “Unfortunately, he probably does. If there’s one Kaiju here, I’m willing to bet the others are somewhere too.”
“You think that any of them could be on your side?” Nicko asked. “Surely, some of them have the will to make their own choices and not be mindless drones.”
I shrugged, “Well if Beloc is here, he might be on my side. Aside from that, I have no idea.”
“You mean him?” The Rune Slayer asked. Dismissing his blade and pointing behind somewhere behind me.
I spun around, looking where Nicko indicated. Though I guess I didn’t really need to be exact, it was pretty hard to to miss that giant behemoth. “Yeah… That’s Beloc alright. Though I guess I should be calling him ‘Dad’ now.”
Now it was Nicko’s turn to react to that last comment. “Wait, what?”
I laughed at that, “Yeah, that’s Duncan’s dad. My dad now, I guess.” I gave a little shrug, “Don’t ask how the whole ‘Kaiju + Human’ thing works though, I never found out but I don’t really think I want to know either.”
“Why do I have the feeling that we’re in trouble?”
“Well the show’s Beloc was pretty set on testing Duncan and making him stronger.” I explained, “So who knows what he might do, he even threw Duncan into lava after all.”
“ … Okay, I’m just going to only ask questions when necessary. It’ll save us a LOT of time.” Nicko replied as Beloc landed in front of the two Displaced.
“Duncan…” Beloc rumbled out, bringing his currently draconic head down to examine the Firebreather. “You are stronger than I expected, but you aren’t strong enough. You should have been able to handle him alone.”
I rolled my eyes, “See what I mean?” I said to Nicko.
“Point taken. It doesn’t hurt to have a helping hand sometimes.” The Rune Slayer shrugged, sitting down and using the dead Kaiju’s head as a chair.
Beloc growled, “Duncan needs to be able to show the Kaiju that he is strong enough on his own, if they are to ever accept him as my Heir.” He smirked slightly though, looking at the Rune Slayer. “Isn’t that chair a bit big for you, little one?”
Nicko’s ears twitched again. Now he was getting irritated. He got off the 'chair' that he was sitting on before sending it flying to where it was pierced on top of a tree like a spike. All that with just a single kick. “I would like to warn you, the past few times someone referred to my height, I had to teach them a lesson in pain. Ask Duncan, he learned the hard way.”
I pounded a fist into my hand, my eyes lighting up in realization. “Oh so that’s why you threw me into that tree…”
Beloc laughed, “Well at least you have strength. Size matters little when you have enough power.”
“That and my teacher was a Kaiser who’s version of training involved almost killing me.” Nicko replied.
The Kaiju’s King nodded, “That sounds like a proper training session to me.” He rumbled.
Nicko himself smiled. “Nothing better than the feeling you get when you feel alive, that’s for sure. Especially since I don’t have any healing magic.” Turning his head, he soon noticed that what was going on had attracted some attention. And by that, it included Applejack, Twilight, and the rest of her friends. Even the Princesses had just arrived by the time he noticed. “Duncan, were you planning on having an audience?”
“No, not really. Wh-...” I cut myself off as I looked over at the gathered crowd. “Oh.”
Nicko sighed. “Yeah. My thoughts exactly.”
Twilight teleported up to me, “What is that!?” She asked, pointing at the dead creature and Beloc.
I scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, “Well that-” I pointed at the dead creature, “-Is a dead Kaiju. And that-” here I pointed at Beloc, “Is my Father, Beloc.”
Twilight stared, “Uh…” She looked between Duncan and Beloc a few times, “How the hay does that work?”
I sighed, “Don’t ask… Seriously, just… Don’t.” Though now I'm hoping I don't have to worry about bringing any potential girlfriends to his house when I start dating. Having a dad who could just as easily squish someone as he could roast them would probably send them packing, if my looks don't do it first.
“I don’t think she would want to know anyway.” Nicko snickered. “If she couldn’t handle what I told her, I’m not quite sure if she could handle what you had said. I would pay a little more attention to the others though. Royalty is coming.”
The two Alicorns in the vicinity made their way over, prompted Twilight to bow. “Princesss Celestia! Princess Luna!” She exclaimed in surprise, “I hadn’t known you were coming.”
Princess Celestia patted Twilight on the back gently, “It’s quite all right Twilight, we hadn’t expected to have to make a sudden trip to Ponyville either, to be honest.”
“What brings you to Ponyville?” The purple unicorn questioned. In response, the Alicorn raised a brow, a nod of her head indicating the two Kaiju (And the one half-Kaiju, AKA me.). “Oh… Right..” Twilight giggled nervously.
“I’m beginning to think that I’m one of those reasons now, aren’t I?” Nicko asked, sarcastically.
“Indeed.” the second alicorn spoke up, “Thou art a curiosity, just as much as those creatures.”
“Which one? The one standing there or the one whose head I kicked into a tree?” Nicko asked, honestly this time.
“Both.” Princess Celestia spoke once again. “Both of those creatures are unknown to us, and to Equestria as a whole. As such, they are a curiosity.” She explained, “And your ability to perform magic without being a unicorn is a second, and no less important, curiosity.”
“Hmm… Which one were you planning on finding about first? Because I believe Beloc might be losing his patience.” Nicko had noticed that the Kaiju King had been… irritated… for the past few moments and he’d rather not try to get on his bad side.
Beloc stood, shifting from a quadruped to a more bipedal form as he did so. “Indeed. I grow weary of being spoken of as though I were either mindless or absent.” He rumbled ominously, towering over everyone and everything.
“Go ahead then, I can wait.” Nicko offered. He then sat down on the ground, summoning Rovaniik to lean himself against. The Kaiju King took this as a sign for him to now speak. And speak he did.
Beloc looked down at the two creatures that he assumed to rule the rest, as made obvious by their brief interaction. “I am Beloc! King of the Kaiju.” He began, reaching down and picking up Duncan. “And this is Duncan, my Heir.” He looked at the small gathering of creatures for a moment, deciding what to say next.
“The Kaiju are an ancient race, lost to Fairytales and Legends, until even those had forgotten about us.” Beloc explained slowly. “Many of us are now waking after a long sleep, finding that the world is not as we had left it. That it has been overrun by new species.”
“Many of my kind are angry, and see you all as invaders. I have forbidden them from attacking many of the new species of this planet, but I do not know how many will obey.” Here he sighed, “Many who disagree will likely come after Duncan, seeking to challenge him for the right to succeed me. Any can challenge him at any time, as decreed by our laws. Should any of the Kaiju manage to kill him, it will be unlikely that your races will survive for long.”
Princess Celestia flew up to his head, hovering as she looked at him. “Are you not the invaders then?” She asked, “If you are as ancient as you say, would you not have given up your rights to it by leaving the world for so long?”
“You are wise; but that is not how the Kaiju see it.” Beloc rumbled with a small smile. “It is still our world. And our kind are split on how we should see it. There are those who would prefer to live peacefully, attempting to co-exist with the creatures who have claimed it.” He frowned. “And then there are those who would prefer to see it all destroyed, and to have our world reclaimed through force.”
Beloc gestured to the corpse behind him, “That is Felinon. He was of the War Faction. Unfortunately, any fight between my kind is a fight that leads to death.” He told the two pony rulers, “I know your kind detests killing, but for my kind it is nearly a necessity. I ask that you not look at my son harshly for doing what is necessary.”
The Sun Goddess fixed him with a hard look, but nodded. “Very well. But we will discuss this later. I have a feeling I will need to learn more of your kind, should they end up threatening my little ponies.” Soon, Celestia redirected her gaze back at Nicko. “For now, I have a few things to ask of you though, Mr…?”
“Nicko Nocte, your highness.” He replied, greeting her with a friendly bow after getting off of the ground and dismissing his sword. “What questions do you have for me?”
“I suppose the most obvious question, is the question of how you are able to perform magic without a horn.” Celestia replied.
“Ah the most common, yet tricky one,” Nicko started to speak. “I’m a Rune Slayer. Runic Magic is my specialty and also, like Duncan, I’m a Displaced.” Nicko then noticed a very puzzled look from Luna, who followed up with a question to his statement.
“What is this… Displaced… That thou speakest of?” The Moon Princess asked, testing the odd word.
“Displaced is short for Dimensionally Misplaced. There’s a scientific theory involving the possibility of many versions of different worlds. I just happened to be from one of them. Because where I’m from… things are quite different.”
“The Multiverse Theory?” Twilight asked eagerly. “That’s real?”
“You’re in a world of magic? The line between real and not real is pretty thin. Especially since in my world, Luna is a guy. Gonna have to tell Artemis about that next time I see him...”
I laughed at Twilight’s sheepish expression, and Luna’s fish impression. “Yeah, I’m surprised you really manage to doubt much of anything!” I yelled before jumping off of my dad’s hand (Wow, I've accepted that surprisingly fast... Meh, oh well. Is what it is). “I mean, Magic. That’s pretty much already able to bend the rules of like… Everything, right?”
“Magic has limits depending on the type.” Nicko replied. “Mine though is different because I am pretty much the only one who can channel it. The only other pony who could conjure it is dead.”
“Well even if each type has their limitations; in general Magic can pretty much do anything, right?” I prodded curiously. I mean, if that one guy can make chocolate rain, than what's the true limit of magic?
“Wait…” Twilight said, pushing my question to the side. “Who was the other pony who used your type of magic?” She asked Nicko.
“Starswirl the Bearded. In fact, my spellbook has what remains of his notes.” Nicko replied. “However, since it’s written in Runic, only I can read it.”
Twilight joined Luna in her imitations of a fish, looking at him in shock.
I waved a hand in front of her face, getting no response. Then I looked at my fellow Displaced with a raised brow. “You broke her again Nicko.”
“Dang it. That’s twice today.” Hearing that, Nicko noticed a certain cyan pegasus uncontrollably laughing her flank off as she looked at the expressions of both the Unicorn and Alicorn. “Well, someone finds it hilarious.”
I chuckled, “You do have to admit that ‘Imitation fish’ is a pretty funny look for them.” I said with a grin. Only to realize that one other princess was in the vicinity. I looked over at Celestia quickly, “Er… No offense.”
The white Alicorn waved it off, “It has been quite a while since I have seen my little sister bear a look of shock. I’ll agree that it is quite amusing.”
“Yeah… Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to break them like that. Plus, there’s a lot of things that might break almost everypony. Including you I think.” Nicko was unsure about saying the last part, but to his surprise, Celestia was curious.
“I highly doubt that.” Celestia told him, “Though I would like to know what sort of things you think could possibly shock me that much.”
“Well… you are married and have two kids.”
“Married? Married to who, exactly?” The Sun Goddess asked.
“Discord.”
And so Celestia joined her sister and student in imitating a fish.
“Well, I broke three ponies. That’s a new record.” Nicko said, sighing to himself. Shifting in his pockets, he pulled out his own token. A Rune Slayer’s mark. “Hey Duncan, I think I’m going to have to take my leave. Keep this.”
When I turned around, quick reflexes was all I needed in order to catch the token that was tossed my way. “It’s my token. If you need me or anything like that, just use it and I’ll come on by. Now… if you would excuse me, I need to talk to my Discord about something important.” With that, Nicko used his token to tear a brief hole in the void before stepping in and disappearing. As he left, Pinkie Pie soon walked over, looking at the three fish faced ponies with overwhelming curiosity.
“Oooh. I wonder what’s gotten the Princesses and Twilight so puffered up.” she giggled to herself at the pun as she examined the three ponies. “Any ideas, Duncan?”
I thought about it for a bit, “Well when I’m in shock, I know a good muffin or a hug snaps me right out of it! Usually anyways.” So saying, I went over and pulled Twilight into a hug.
“Hmm… oh I know!! GROUP HUG!!” Pinkie exclaimed, stretching out to hug both Twilight and me at the same time.
I laughed, managing to free one of my arms to wrap around Pinkie as well. “Group hugs are always a good idea!”
“Oh… My head… Hunh?” Twilight snapped out of her shocked trance, seeing that the Rune Slayer was gone. “Where did he go? I had more questions for him!!”
I chuckled as I continued to hug both Twilight and Pinkie, “He went back to his dimension.” I answered easily, “Though I think the more important question is which tree I hung my jacket on…” I continued, a breeze against my back causing me to realize that I was pretty much half-naked.
“Or for that matter, how to wake up the Princesses.”
