Of Magic and Machines- Double Trouble
Ponyville
When Nicko returned back to his world, his first major priority was to check on Eris and Moondancer. After some searching, he was able to find them back in the home that they stayed in and followed up by apologizing for missing out on the doctor's appointment they had. Turns out, part of what Max told him was right. Eris was having Twins. But also there was Moondancer, who she herself was also pregnant. It was too early to tell the baby’s genders as of yet, but he thought that with time, they could find out later if it was a boy or girl. The one thing though that they mentioned to him though was that the only other person who knows about this besides Luke and Ciela was Anson since he had to help them get to the appointment.
Which turned out to be awkward when they asked him not to tell Faith about it as she was walking in the door. “Uhh, what are you guys talking about?”
“Just… you know… important things…” Moondancer replied, embarrassed a little as Nicko facepalmed himself. The Rune Slayer quickly had to change the conversation so they could not all act awkward around Faith at the same time. In fact, Glave mentioned something important that he needed to address.
“Right… Faith, can you sit down for a minute. I need to talk to you about something.” He said, Eris and Moondancer taking up seats on a nearby couch as the Rune Slayer began to speak.
“Sure, Uncle Nicko. What is it?”
The Rune Slayer thought of it for a few minutes, but then sighed. “Can we talk to your friend?” He first asked. “You don’t need to hide it Faith. I know that you have a spirit of sorts with you like I have Eris sometimes.”
“Y-you do?”
“I am very skilled with magic, meaning I can do lots of things.” Nicko sighed. “So, can we please be able to meet them?” Faith looked nervous, almost shaking a little. But soon she stopped as a shadow of a body on the wall began to form.
“It’s okay, Faith. You can tell them.” The wraith said, barely being seen by Eris and Moondancer. Both of them stared at the wraith in confusion as they tried to make sense of what was going on. But Nicko just remained composed. Showing fear and/or worry would not help him as of right now. Instead, being strong and brave would show how serious you are. Which actually got the wraith to grin a little as Faith began to speak. “This is my friend, Sombra. He’s done some bad things in the past, but now has been helping me try to do my best so he can one day be able to forgive himself. He hasn’t done anything bad like possessed me or anything, but he’s actually had me figure out to what extent that I can be able to channel my powers. Like switching my source code.”
“I see… Though, I have heard that name before.” Nicko replied to her. “I had heard of his old deeds, yes. But I have also heard that a demon king possessed him all that time ago. Would you care to clarify on this matter, Sombra?”
“If you are referring to the bastard named Ran that corrupted me, then yes. However, it wasn’t as much of a possession as you would think. He didn’t neccessarily control my body, but his power and influence controlled my mind, leading me to make horrible choices and decisions at the expense of my kingdom and family. Something I regret to this day.”
“Woah, hold on… Are you saying that the reason why the old you almost went to war with the princesses was because this Ran’s guys power warped your mind into doing so?” Moondancer asked. It was then that Sombra nodded his head, looking at Moondancer from his position in the room. However, there was something about the unicorn that he noticed that stood out immediately. Just from first glance.
“Indeed… Nicko, right? I would assume by that mare’s blade that she is an apprentice to you?” The wraith asked, where Nicko’s only reply was a nod of the head. “Well, that is ironic… Barely anypony besides Starswirl the Bearded could know that… However…”
“However what?” Eris asked, a bit tense by the way things are turning around.
“The ability to read runes for Starswirl got to the point for him to where either he would teach somepony how to use them or the gift of using that kind of magic was passed along his family tree…” Sombra replied, before stopping a minute. He sniffed something in the air before looking back at Nicko and Faith. “I’m sorry, I’m getting sidetracked. Why do you mention Ran? Last I heard, he was in Tartarus.”
“He’s trying to get out. He’s influenced a Chaser named Arma to try and find the keys used to lock him up so he can return to this world.” Nicko explained. “I want to make sure I stop him before he does anything major.”
“You can’t do anything with him in Tartarus. That place nullifies all magic the moment you walk into the prison.” Sombra said, causing Nicko to curse under his breath. “Your only way of hurting him is to attack him once he’s out. I feel that you have the magic to do so, but you need to prepare yourself for him in more ways than one.”
“More ways than one?”
“Do you honestly think that it’s just that Chaser you mentioned that is doing this. Ran has soldiers and generals in parts of the world that Celestia hadn’t noticed or went into hiding. Two of them are a set of twins that forced me to give into him.” Sombra explained, slowing a transparent image of the twins. “They are the ones in charge of his army and the Steel Lava battalion that lurks in the badlands. Once Ran is free, they would follow whatever he orders them to do.”
Nicko groaned to himself. Added on top of what Glave had already said, this was just insult added to injury. It was really not the best time to add salt in the wound, so to speak. But things just kept on coming at them. Even when Nicko and everypony inside had two abrupt guests burst through the door.
“Sup losers! Guess who’s back?!”
“Amy, I’ve been only gone for one evening and you’re giving the exact same response that you gave when coming back from vacation,” Nicko deadpanned, only to notice someone behind her. “Who’s your friend? … Or should I say partner in crime? She looks mischevious.”
“F*** you Nicko, and as for my friend. Meet Umbra Tundra.”
“Let me just say that the next time you judge a pony by the way he or she looks. Be prepare to have something happen to you in your sleep little boy.”
“Need I let you know, I’m 25 and in a few months, will be a married man-.” However, what Nicko said was on deaf ears as Amy’s friend noticed Sombra next to Faith, which in turn caused her eyes to twitch. “Uh… are you okay-?”
“YOU SON OF A B*TCH!!!” Umbra screamed, causing Faith to look at her with a confused glance.
“Umm… who are you talking to?” Faith asked, pointing at Sombra. “Me or him?”
“I’m pretty sure she means the thing next to you Faith.” Amy said as Umbra’s horn started to glow sickly purple. “And something tells me she know who the wraith is.”
“How dare you show your face or presence around me you heartless monster!!” She screamed, firing a blast of magic at the wraith, only for it to slip through him and hit the wall on the other side. However, Sombra just blankly stared at her, only able to form a few words.
“U-umbra?” He said, almost heartbroken. “Oh Artemis, what have I done…” These weren’t the words of a madman anymore. No, these were the words of a man trying to reform, only for the past to come back to haunt him in the form of his own daughter.
“Oh I’ve been waiting for one thousand years to meet you again. It’s payback time for what you did to me, and those you took away from me!” It was only then though that the unexpected thing happened. Faith, being next to him, put herself in between the wraith and the madpony that was his daughter.
“I don’t know what you have been through, but this is not the Sombra you know anymore. He lost his physical body and with it, the powers that were plaguing his mind. He’s just a wraith trying to reform his ways… and if you dare try to harm him…” She snarled, all six nasod blades forming around her, aimed at vital points along Umbra’s body. “Than be ready for a world of hurt!!”
“Kid, you better get the hell out of my way. I been wait far too long to get revenge on that thing for what he did to me and the Crystal Empire. You think something like that will kill me?”
“It’s true, Celestia tried it before and….it didn’t go so well for me when she almost cut my head off.” Amy said slightly shivering from the experience.
“Look, what I did then is my biggest regrets now and Faith is speaking the truth,” Sombra spoke “What I did was wrong, I will not deny it. But if I told you what was happening to me then, you wouldn’t believe me for a second. If it weren’t for Faith… I would’ve disappeared from the world without having to apologize to my daughter.”
“Oh I bet you’re sorry, just like all the other times when you said it while experimenting on me with that stupid book me and mother told you throw away.” Umbra said as a dark aura appeared around her from anger. “I bet you’re sorry when you killed mother when she and I were trying to escape. I bet you’re sorry that you sealed me away after your so called “better the crystal empire plan” did work. Well you know what I have to say about that?”
“Oh I’m hoping this doesn’t turn south.” Amy thought.
“Experimenting? Why the hell would I do that to my daughter!?”
“Oh that would be me…” A mysterious voice echoed, causing all of them turned to see a shadowy figure in the back corner. Sombra’s eyes widened as the pony resembled his tyrant self. The self that he wanted to forget. But the voice belonged to someone else as it transformed into a white haired figure with horns on his head.
“You bastard...” He snarled.
“You see, out of everything I could do, I wasn’t able to get this poor excuse of a king to harm his family. So, instead I just used my magic to copy his form and perform the so called experiments myself… Oh and I’m Ran by the way.”
“What the hell!? How are you here?!” Moondancer shouted, throwing a rune at the figure, only for it to phase right through him.
“I’m not actually here. This is merely a mirage of who I used to be,” The demon snickered. “And look at this, a wonderful family reunion. The misguided daughter and the father that could never be loved. I love it when I put a twist in people’s stories.”
“....Who’s the emo looking mother****er that looks like he’s from some kind of rejected emo band?” Amy asked.
“Need you know that I’m the one, and excuse my french, f***ed up Umbra’s life. If it weren’t for that damned Starswirl, I would have gone for Selena and those royal siblings next.” He growled. “I’m just here to let you all know of… well… your imminent demise.”
“.......Oh I’m sorry, I kinda lost my train of thought when you were talking. What were you saying again?”
“... I’m going to enjoy making your life a living hell… After all, your father has told me a lot about you… Amy.” He growled with a sinister look on his face.
“Join the f**king club. You think you’re the only one that’s been trying to kill for the past seven years?”
“I know… but unlike all the others…” He said, holding out a hand that glowed purple, causing Amy to float aimlessly. “I know a lot of your insecurities… As for Umbra… Sombra might not know this… but I was the one that murdered your mother.” With it, he tossed Amy out the window, sending her several feet into the everfree.
“You son of a b*tch…” Sombra snarled. “How dare you do that to Amethyst!!”
“Oh it wasn’t me… It was just me looking like you… How’s that for publicity?”
“Damn, talk about adding insult to injury.” Amy said as she walked back inside the house.
“Well, I must be off… but beforehand… maybe Umbra would like to explain to daddy how he forced himself onto her-.”
“Hey Ran, I have question to ask you?”
“Sorry Ms. Anderson, but I know you have an antic of surprises. After all, you did destroy half of Canterlot-.” But it was when Amy tried to strike him that Ran was able to harm the Crimson Avenger more than she thought.
“Eat this you child molesting freak-!” It was then that Amy felt all the air get blown out of her, causing something from her pockets to drop as Ran threw her into Twilight’s castle.
“Well, what do we have here? Something from the sister of that Diabolic Esper?” He said, picking up the void like shard. “This shall be quite… useful with breaking me out of Tartarus. I’ll just have to… borrow it for the time being.” With that, he was gone, leaving Amy still recovering in the snow and everyone in a state of shock.
“Oh Amelia and Amy are going to be pissed.” Eris cursed as things began to settle down.
“Oh you have no idea sister.” Umbra said as she had a scared expression on her face. “Oh dear Celestia.”
“Umbra… are you okay?” Nicko asked, trying to go to the unicorn to see if she was okay or not.
“I-I gotta go.” Tears began to flow down Umbra face, as began to make her way out of the house. “I-I...Oh dear Celestia.”
Everyone else just stared in shock, but for Faith. She remained unphased. Slowly though, Sombra began to disappear into her as she began to walk outside. Nicko wasn’t even able to ask what she was doing as she went into the snow. It was a few minutes later that she found the unicorn, who was sick to her stomach and throwing up in a trash can. After a few moments though, Umbra noticed Faith not far from her.
“What do you want?” Umbra asked. “Can’t you see I’m *ulp* busy at the moment?”
“I can wait…” She said, looking at her. “You can’t go through something like this on your own. Trust me… I know myself that you need someone to talk too.”
“I don’t need help with my personal problems kid. All I need is some apple cider and some candy and I’ll be set for a while.”
“I have candy, but not the other… And I’m not letting you drink. I may be young, but I have seen someone that has gone through the same position before.” The Code Nemesis said, looking back at the Unicorn as she offered her some chocolate.
“Oh really? Care to tell me who then? Because right now I don’t see any other pony that have gone through the hell I been through.”
“My father…” The girl explained. “When the news came that my mother had passed, there were many times I saw him drink his sobers away. He told me that my mother died due to a car crash, but I know that was just to hide the truth from me. I may be young, but I’m not stupid…” Faith herself just set the chocolate by Umbra’s hooves as she walked over to her, sitting next to her in the snow.
“Explain, because you’re not making that much sense to me kid.”
“Before she was killed in that crash, she went through the same thing that you went through. She was raped, lost on a saturday night and trying to find a way home before being brutally beaten and messed with. It was only when she tried to escape by taking a bus that someone slammed into it, killing everyone on board in exchange for his own life. My father had the best intentions. He thinks I still have my child like innocence, but that’s where he’s wrong too.” Faith told Umbra. “I’ve seen how screwed up the world is back in my world. And personally, I prefer being here instead of anywhere else. But I don’t want you to go through this alone, like he once did.” To Umbra, it looked like Faith was actually crying because of the snow falling down the side of her face, making it look like she was shedding tears.
“......Come here kid.” Umbra said as she offered Faith a hug. Faith, in looking at Umbra, took the hug as she held onto her.
“T-thank you…” She said as her tears became visible now.
“Don’t mention it.” Umbra said her body started to fade. “Dammit, still haven’t enough magic to keep a physical form for long.” Faith turned, now just staring at her.
“Please don’t go… You’re like an older sister to me. I never had one, but you’ve been the only one I have been able to share how I feel to.”
Umbra had a deadpanned expression on her face as she summoned a toy hammer and bopped Faith on the head with it playfully. “I’m dying, just returning to Amy for a refill on magic.”
“Can’t you stay with me? I have mana if that’s what you need.”
“It’s complicated. Normally that would help Selena, but seeing how you’re not evil or anything on the borderline of….well Amy. That would pretty much cause some problems for me.”
“I have infinite energy. I’m pretty much part machine.” Faith deadpanned.
“True, but you don’t have the same kind of destructive taste like Amy does.” Umbra said as she begun to drool a bit. “I mean the way she destroys buildings, piss off Celestia, and the way she does it with RD in bed…..Don’t give me that judging look on me. Have you not seen the videos of Amy wrecking the place?”
“...... Give me a second.” Faith replied, looking at the Everfree in the distance. “Moby, Remy. Seek targets.”
“Acquired 35 possible targets, my lady.” Moby proclaimed. “What are your orders?”
“Lunatic Scud.”
“As you command, lady Faith.” All around Faith, hundreds of mechs and heavy weapons were armed and primed for action, even surprising Umbra.
“Targets locked.”
“Fire.” she said simply. All the weapons and heavy ammunition exploded, racing towards the targets as it created an explosion that reached towards the sky. And all Faith did was smile a little at the destruction that was in front of her. “Heh… I love the smell of napalm in the morning.”
“Impressive, but not on the same level as Amy.” Umbra pulled out a video card and handed it to Faith. “Have a look at these and you’ll see what I mean.”
“Oh I know, that’s why I was only using 25% of my power. If I go 100%, I’m on the same level as her.”
“......Yeah let’s go with that.”
“My uncle is another story, but let’s save that for another day.” Faith suggested, looking back at Umbra. “Hey, if you want to talk about anything at all or just need some time to… you know… get away from the craziness… I can hang out with you.”
“I’ll allow it.”
“Alright…” Faith said. But before the Code Nemesis could walk back to where the rest of her family was, she heard Umbra speak up again.
“Hey, mind if you can relay a message to my dad?”
Faith turned around, sighing and smiling a little. “You know…” She started to speak as Sombra formed in his shadow like form against a wall. “Since he doesn’t have a physical body, he can’t last forever on his own. He’s helped me so many times, so I wouldn’t mind helping him instead.” Looking at the former king, Faith looked back at Umbra. “What would you like for me to tell him?”
“If he wants to talk to me, you can find me in a house made of clouds above Sweet Apple Acres if he wants to talk to me.”
Faith nodded her head, turning her head to Sombra and seeing him nod his. “Message received.”
“Good, now if you’ll excuse me I’ll be inside Amy for the next few days.” Umbra said as she turned into a wisp and floated to where Amy is. “Oh and you might want to head back. Amelia is about to yell at Amy and Nicko.”
“Right… Given what’s been happening lately, I think I should stay clear of that.” She smirked, choosing the better option of going to Sugarcube Corner to get herself a bite to eat.
“You dumbass’ had one job, one f**king job and you f**ked all up! Nice going captain idiot and short temper kid.” Amelia said as she glared at Nicko and Amy.
“Hey, neither of us were expecting a HOME INVASION to happen at that point in time. Plus, it was Amy who actually attacked him and paid the price for it.” The Rune Slayer told her. “Speaking of which, what the hell was that item he stole? Ran said it had something to do with you.”
“You didn’t tell him didn’t you Amy?”
“It’s kinda hard to tell the guy when he pretty much goes off to different worlds.” Amy said. “Might as well tell him now anyway.”
“For the record, the worlds part only happens when I am summoned. Now can we please get back on topic?” Eris groaned. “You sound like my mother when she stretches out conversations.”
“I’ll talk how ever I damn please. Right now I am pissed off to levels I have never been since the time Luna and Celestia trapped me for their personal plans. Anyway, if you must know, Eric is my little brother.”
“I know that,” The Rune Slayer replied, remembering his encounter with her at Celestia’s school for Gifted Unicorns. “I remember you saying that before.”
“And as for that little el shard you let Ran get his hands on, belong to Eric. I had Amy hold onto it until I was finished making a special little device for her.”
Moondancer though, groaned a bit. “I don’t mean to be rude when I say this, but could you do us all a favor and GET TO THE F**KING POINT!!”
“Oooh,” Eris chuckled. “Feisty.”
“.........” Amelia didn’t say anything , but levitated Moondancer and Eris and threw them out the window. “I am not in the mood to deal with you two sh*theads at the moment. Right now I want to know where the damn dark el shard is.”
It was a few seconds later that Eris soon teleported back in, holding Moondancer. “Ran mentioned Tartarus because he was trying to get out… Also, next time you should think twice before throwing a pair of pregnant mares out the window.”
“Wait you two are preggers?” Amy asked.
Nicko just sighed a little, looking back at her. “Yes. Both of them are my fiance’s now and we will be getting married in a few months. Eris even has twins…… And I’m starting to think this is the reason that you and Rainbow aren’t ready for parenthood yet.”
“......At least I have my emotions in check unlike you get’s angry whenever someone calls you short.”
“Coming from the one who destroyed half of Canterlot,” Eris mumbled. “Oh yeah… Lyra told me that one.”
“This coming from the draconequus who’s been in stone for the past seven years. So unless you could take down a guy who could wreck your sh*t, then I wouldn’t be talking smack about how I defended equestria during you and Nicko’s stone slumber.”
“I had to fight two of you at one point as a test from a god with a twisted sense of humor.” Nicko sighed. “Plus, what you saw as seven years felt like seven hours to us.”
It was then though that a certain spacial tear opened by it opening up like a zipper. Out stepped out the man that Nicko knew as Glave, who the Rune Slayer had believed that he was listening in on their conversation for the last few minutes and was personally tired of the bickering between everypony. “You aren’t wrong on that Nicko… Why, hello again Ms. Anderson. It has been quite some time since I last saw you…”
“Oh great you’re here. What the hell do want this time mister I have to get someone else to fix my problems Glave?”
“You know… when I said it had seen you before, it was for a different reason,” he said as he snapped his fingers, turning himself into what resembled Ariel, an NPC in Elsword. “When was the last time that you saw this?”
“You can thank Amelia for that.” She said as she pointed at the female esper.
“Actually, like Nicko… I displaced you. Both of you were at the same store on the same day you got displaced… Did you not get any of the signs?”
Amelia’s left eye twitch. “So you’re the jackass that sent me to that hell hole of a world called Equestria?”
“More or less… I sent Amy and Nicko… the previous owner of Henir’s Realm, Luto, sent you. Trust me, he’s insane. But that doesn’t mean that Amelia didn’t send Amy… She just sent a different version. One that had not lost her original powers and is in a different timeline unlike ours.” Glave explained, holding up a hand as it showed an image of Amy in a blazing heart outfit fighting against Luna, the female counterpart to Artemis. “However, that is not the reason why I am here.”
“Okay, then please clarify why you’re here then.” Nicko replied.
“Simple… You lost a Dark El Shard… but I know a place to find another…” Glave replied. “But to do that, you guys need to go traveling… To the same place where Amelia displaced the Amy she remembered.”
“Wait… So let me get this straight… You want us to go to the world of another Amy?” The Rune Slayer asked. “Of course, no one would actually agree to do something like that-.”
“Oh hell yes!! Take me there please!!” The Crimson Avenger shouted, causing Nicko to facepalm himself.
“Oh god no…” He groaned, looking back at her. “Please tell me there is at LEAST a way to keep her from doing anything stupid.”
“I make no promises on that one.” Amy smirked menacingly. All this did was cause Amelia to groan a little as she looked back at Glave.
“Glave…”
“Yes?”
“When we make it out of this… I’m going to go back in time… and slap myself for even considering this idea.” She deadpanned, only getting a surprise response from Eris nearby.
“Can I come?”
“That sounds tempting, but remember. Doctors orders said that you need to cut back on the void travel in order to have a healthy child.” Nicko replied to them, looking back at Amy and Amelia. “So, where to from here?”
“Simple my short friend, I’ll just teleport us to the other Amy’s world via our Amy.” Amelia said as she cracked her neck. “Been 500 years since I’ve done something like this, so forgive me if we appear over a lake or something.” She said as she placed a hand on Amy’s shoulder. “Fair warning, you might want to turn your head to the left.”
“Any reason why?” Nicko asked as he followed Amelia’s request.
“Oh, it’s because of the side effect from teleporting another version of the same person… let’s just say you’re gonna be sick and throwing up rainbows when we appear.” With that, Nicko rolled his eyes, but also swallowed the lump in his throat as he looked back at them. With that, Amelia used her powers to send the three of them off on their way to the realm of the other Amy.
Train Ride (Domain of the Blazing Heart)
“It would seems we have reached the finale of our little fight, Amy and Applejack.” Eric said as he summon a void like spear aim at them both. “Though I have to say, you two did really well. Especially having my void spears impale you both.”
“Asshole, what did I ever do to you to begin with?” Amy asked as she threw up a small amount of blood, while Applejack tried to get the blazing heart away from Eric.
“Nothing really, but I need that flame of yours.” He said as the spear pierced through Amy’s left shoulder. “Now be a good little girl and die for me.”
“Over my dead body!” Applejack said as she fired a shotgun shell at the male esper, but deflected of him.
“You really never learn do you? Well you can learn in the afterlife!” Eric yelled as he fired two more spears at them both.
“Guess this is the end huh Applejack? Well at least we didn’t go down without a fight.”
“Amy…… before we die… I have something I want to tell you…” Amy turned her head to the country pony as she saw tears flowed down her face. “I-.”
Just as the earth pony was going to say something, a tear in the void opened from behind them as it spat out three figures. One in which stopped the spears that were flying towards them with two strange projectiles followed up by smashing his foot in Eric’s face as it sent him flying backwards. All while two other figures landed next to them as they proceeded to get the spheres out of them.
“......Okay I’m still a bit on death’s door so mind telling me what just happen?” Amy asked as she started coughing up blood. “Are we dead?”
Nicko turned around, looking back at Amy and Applejack before sighing a little. “Wow… talk about flashbacks… Hey Amelia, can you get those spears out of her?”
“If they were normal yes, but these are void induced spears so we need to get them to the hospital asap.” Amelia said as she placed the two injured beings in a purple clear sphere. “The sphere they’re in will stop the poison, but we need to get them medical help.”
“Let’s hurry and do so then. Rather not have them die on us the moment we got here.” He said as he walked over to where Amelia and them were before she teleported them to the Ponyville Hospital.
“I feel like we’re forgetting something…..Oh wait.” Amy said as she notice a pissed off Esper standing behind them. “Didn’t I kill you before, or was it a fake clone of yours?”
“......I’m going to enjoy killing you…… again.” Eric said as he summoned a void sphere into his hand.
“Nicko, mind helping CA Amy out with my.... d*ck of a brother? Fair warning, don’t get hit by that void spear.” Amelia said as she enters the hospital with the other Amy and Applejack. “Don’t be afraid to kill him.”
“Oh trust me… I’m not.” Nicko snarled, unsheathing his blade as he stared his opponent down. But what he heard next was strange. Even for him.
“It’s been 7 long years you little punk.” Eric said as he took a fighting stance. “I’ve been waiting along time for what your family did to me.”
“This is going to be a pain in the ass to deal with.” Amy said as she pulled her claymore out of her chest. “What’s even more annoying is that this isn’t the real Eric.”
“If that’s the case, then why is he acting like he knows us?” Nicko asked, conjuring a rune in his hand.
“Because during the past 7 years you been in stone, he’s been powering himself up by collecting data on other displaced humans. Kat Shifter, Saber, Nobunaga, etc, etc. He even collected data on you and your family over the years, and when you broke out of your stone prison.” She said as she looked at the cloned Eric. “This type of clone is a pain in the ass.”
“...... You sure do know a lot about him.” Nicko replied sarcastically. “Now let’s get this over with.”
“I been fighting him for the past 7 years, of course I know a lot about him.” Amy said as she drew her sword out in front of Nicko. “You just sit back and collect data on him so you’ll know what clone L can do.”
“What do I look like? A robot?” He growled, looking back at the other Amy. “Oh come on!”
“No but this will give you some info on how Eric is now. Plus you been in stone for the past 7 years so a lot has change. Now watch the L clone carefully while I inform you about it.” Amy said as she lifted her sword to block the clone’s lance while looking at Nicko. “Because I prefer not to have you mom lecture me because of you acting before thinking.” Nicko just rolled his eyes, not taking Amy seriously, but still paying attention to this Eric as he began cracking his knuckles.
“I’m so sorry that I’m not actually there in order to kill you two in person,” One of the clones mocked. “I deeply apologize for the inconvience… Sick’em!”
“With pleasure.” said the clone as his spear began to glow. “Gae Bolg!”
“Fate Stay/Night? Wow… Shows how much originality Eric tries with his tricks.” Nicko mocked, taking out one of his swords as he blocked it and countered the clones attacks with a few of his own. Unaware that the clones were basically turning Amy into an abused pin cushion with the amount of times that she was getting shanked.
“Seriously? What the **** man!” Amy yelled as she glared at Nicko in annoyance.
“Why are you standing there then!?” He shouted back, only noticing that this Amy was angrier than ever and allowing her space to lash out her anger at Eric’s Doppelgangers.
“That’s why captain numb nutts! Now stand back and watch like I told you to do and let me deal with them, got it!? God your personality was the one thing I didn’t miss.”
“I have enough magic to annhilate you ten times over if it weren’t for your abilities. Just go for it then,” He said, just watching this time as he saw Amy fight off Eric’s clones.
“Okay I’m back from the hosptial, what did I miss?” Amelia said only for her question to be answered by the fight Amy was having. “Well that answers two of my questions.”
Nicko just watched as the other Amy walked over to where he was and looked in his direction. He sighed a little, watching the Crimson Avenger version of her execute Blood Cutter to tear apart the clones… and part of the train cabin with it.
“It’s a good thing you’re not fighting Nicko.” Amelia said as she summon a bag popcorn. “That thing might be a bit difficult for BH Amy later on.”
“That’s technically why we’re here right?” He asked, raising an eyebrow in the process.
“If you were to use one of you new skill or something along those lines.” Amelia said as she pointed at a one of Eric dynamo’s. “He would’ve copy it and make a clone of you to fight BH Amy during the final battle with her.”
“Isn’t that suppose to be labeled for spoilers?” Nicko chuckled a little. “But in all seriousness, Amy went all Texas Chainsaw Massacre on those guys and almost annihilated the train in the process. Hopefully she doesn’t go all cannibal in the process.”
“Guess she’s still not over what happen to RD three years ago.”
Nicko was going to ask, but decided to save it when he felt the train slowing down on the tracks and an all too familiar scream in the distance. “AMY ANDERSON!!!” It was BH Amy’s Celestia and she was as furious as the burning sun.
“Not in the mood sunbutt, go complain to someone else about the damage.” The other Amy said as she weakly pointed at the Crimson Avenger. “Unless you wanna deal with her, then be my guess.”
“And who… is she?” The Alicorn asked, then noticing Nicko, but not Amelia after she disappeared in the blink of an eye. “Matter of fact, who are you?”
“An alternate version of your Amy.” She said as she notice that her own arm was missing. “Hold on a second.” Amy said as her blood form into an arm. Causing the Alicorn to become sick to her stomach as she teleported off in a flash, just leaving Luna there to watch
“Much better.”
“Trust me, this is normal for my Amy,” Nicko sighed, looking back at all the chaos around them. “Be thankful she’s on our side.”
“If the girls were here they would find that kinda cool on so many levels.” The Blazing Heart version of Amy smiled, only causing Nicko to sigh as she actually noticed him nearby. “Who are you, her boyfriend?”
“Oh no… Definitely not. She just came with me. Names Nicko and… well, I already know who you are… Amy.” He said, catching her attention.
“I’m pretty sure you don’t know me that well.”
“Amy Anderson III, Daughter of Jane Anderson, Older sister of Molly Anderson IV, and a normal nuisance for Yuri Watanabe… Need I say more?” Nicko said, “Besides, whatever the case may be, we’re finally back at your Ponyville so we should get off the train.”
“You really need to ask me before you go assuming that you know me. First off that is my name, but I do not know who Yuri Watanabe is. Second, just because I look like your Amy doesn’t mean we have the same history.”
“Well, the only difference that I see is that my Eric almost killed my Amy and took away her powers as a Blazing Heart, so now she is a Crimson Avenger… But she’s probably just as reckless as you are.” He pointed out as he got off the train. Luna looking like she was taking a bit of interest in him.
“What part of assuming did I not make myself clear?” Amy said in annoyance. “Not every Amy is as reckless as she is.”
“Hey! I take offense to that!” Amy said as she notice Luna looking at Nicko. “What’s up with you, Luna?”
“Well, remember when you taught me how to become a Rune Slayer a month ago? Well, I feel the same kind of magic radiating from him. But a LOT stronger. He’s even stronger than you.” The Lunar Princess replied, surprising the Blazing Heart. Nicko though never exactly heard the princesses comments, but he did hear what Amy then said next.
“Your point?”
“Well… He’s just as strong as myself, Celestia, Twilight and you… combined.” Luna replied, making the Blazing Heart not even think for a second that the short stack she was seeing had that much power.
“Huh, well that’s something you don’t see everyday. Then again it comes to no surprise when you think about it. Hell I got a goddess of chaos in my head so meh.”
That was when Nicko looked back and smirked. “I’m engaged to Discord’s daughter. Nuff said.”
“Who’s Discord?”
“Spirit of Chaos back in my world and a bit of a weird one. Likes to prank the royal siblings any second he gets,” Nicko replied sighing a little as he looked back at them. “His daughter is named Eris. Now what exactly is the plan now since Eric nearly butchered you six ways from Sunday.”
“Beats me. Sooner or later he’ll probably make some kind of stupid machine to try to take over the world or something along those lines. When that comes, we’ll just wing it.” The Blazing Heart just shrugged as she looked back at Nicko. The Rune Slayer was going to say something, until he heard a familiar voice from a familiar farm mare that was coming towards this Amy.
“Amy, thank Celestia you’re okay.” Applejack said as she notice Nicko next to her. “Who’s the adult midget beside you?” That… did not go down so well with the Rune Slayer as he gritted his teeth. Magic forming around his hands as Luna and Amy could feel the amount of power coursing from him. Almost strong enough to compare him to Starswirl the Bearded or Clover the Clever. Perhaps a demigod even.
“Easy Nicko,” The Crimson Avenger said as she appeared next to him. “You know letting your anger get the better of you will label you as a bad guy if you attack them for making a mistake. Plus Amelia would kick both our asses if you wreck the place.” Nicko sighed, calming down a little as his magic began to retreat back into his body. Applejack then noticed the other Amy and then raised an eyebrow.
“Is this a born again thing or something?”
“No, she’s basically Alternate Amy.” Nicko sighed.
“Yeah...hey do you have a version of our mother and sister?” Amy asked only for the Blazing Heart’s facial expression to go dark.
“They’re dead, you’re looking at the only member of the Anderson family that’s still alive.”
“Well… that’s new. Back where we are, Molly is a Mastermind and Jane is a Noblesses.” The Rune Slayer spoke up. “And Artemis might have a liking for Jane if I remember correctly.”
“Does it look like I care?” Amy said as she walked over to Applejack. “Take me to the farm, I’m not in the mood to talk now.”
“Yeah… about that…” Nicko said, noticing Amy and also one other thing that caught his attention. “Why is there smoke coming from Sweet Apple Acres?”
“Five bits says Applebloom figured out how to do use fire magic.” Amy said as they saw a pillar of fire appearing in the air.
“Consarnit, I told her not to practice that fire magic around the farm.” Applejack snapped. Before she could say anything else though, Nicko took off. Bolting into a head start while using Splash Explosion on his feet to gain speed as he raced over there. Finding something that he honestly never expected. Like with Scootaloo back in his world, Amy here made Applebloom a Pyro Knight. Only this time though, she needed a LOT more practice with her newfound powers given that Earth Ponies aren’t as accustomed to magic as Unicorns and Pegasi.
“Uh… Hi?” Applebloom squeaked. “W-who are you?”
“I’m Nicko… I could see the smoke coming from a mile away.” The Rune Slayer replied as Amy soon showed up right behind him.
“Have to admit, that was a pretty impressive fire display you did there, Applebloom. But next time try doing that in an open field away from the farm. We don’t want the apple trees to catch on fire.”
“Amy brings up a good point,” Nicko replied. “Besides, we still have to figure out some things while we’re at it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, we still need to find out where that jerk Eric scurried off too and from the fact that Amy almost died because of him, it seems like Amy here needs some serious training.” The Rune Slayer added on, causing the Blazing Heart to raise an eyebrow as she looked back at him.
“First off, I don’t need training from you mister quick to assume and easily tempered boy. Second, the training I’ve been doing it working well for me so far. Despite having to help Luna to some degree.” Amy said, looking at the princess, who looked away sheepishly.
“Says the fact that we saved your ass from becoming a torn up pin cushion. Plus, I hate it whenever someone refers to my height. Mostly because the Amy I know pestered me about it til no end. Not to mention that we have one thing that you don’t have.” The last statement caught the Blazing Heart’s attention as she folded her arms and looked back at the Rune Slayer.
“Forgive if I’m a bit skeptical, but wasn’t Amy that pretty much took care of those carbon copies of that Eric person. Also, you should be careful with your problem about people calling you short. It’ll end up getting you or someone else hurt.” Amy said as she glared at the Rune Slayer. “Don’t think I forgot what you were about to do to Applejack.”
“I wasn’t going to do anything. Besides, you don’t have experience like we do and if you even tried to fight me, I’ll have you collide into your marefriend faster than Amy’s face is when someone brings up her relationship with Rainbow Dash… No offense.” He said as he looked back at the Crimson Avenger.
“Okay one, don’t use me as a reference for stuff like this. Two, if you even think of attack my alternate self then I’ll tell my mother about that. And believe me when it comes to something like this… you really don’t want to piss her off.” The Crimson Avenger said as she walked next to her alternate self. “Give me like 10 minutes with my other self hothead, and things will be a little different.”
“Sure. Wasn’t planning on angering anypony today.” The Rune Slayer sighed deeply as he leaned back against a nearby tree. He took a moment to think about Eris and Moondancer, wondering about how they would be doing while he was gone. That moment though… was very short lived.
“Oh...almost forgot that you were still here.” Applejack said with a bit malice in her voice.
“Hey, if it means anything, I’m sorry about before. Old habits die hard for me.” He replied as he looked at the farm mare and chuckled. “Plus, I had a feeling that you and Amy were close here, so I decided to not accidently hurt her Marefriend for my sake and my friend.”
“W-we are not marefriends! And don’t expect me to trust you after almost hitting a mare mister.”
“I understand… I know that you care for her and I can tell that more than just by the fact that you blush if I mention it.” Nicko smiled. “Aren’t you suppose to be the Element of Honesty? Because from I know with my Applejack, she is never a good liar. Can’t lie to save her own flank.” That, caused AJ to raise an eyebrow before sighing deeply. The Rune Slayer was right… partially. But he still had caught her by surprise with his observations.
“If you don’t mind I have some important stuff to do around the farm.” Applejack said as she tilted her and began to walk off.
“Mind if I help? It’ll probably be a while until both Amy’s are done talking and with Applebloom practicing her newfound Fire Magic, you might need an extra hand around the farm.” He offered, catching her attention for a brief second.
“Big Mac is helping me out, and I don’t need help from somepony like you.” She said as she walked off. “Here’s a bit of an old saying. Trust is earned, not given.”
“I know. Trust me when I say that I would give my life to do the right thing. I would die before letting any harm come to anypony I just met or know.” He said, turning back around as he walked over to where Applebloom was. To Applejack’s surprise, the kid was conjuring some magic between his fingers as he restored life to the grass that was burned to cinders just moments ago by her little sister. As she returned back to work, the Rune Slayer himself just rested by himself… until he felt a familiar presence above him.
“Okay, you can come out now.” He said, smiling a little. He had a feeling that someone familiar was hiding there. It just felt… familiar.
“Man you just as worse as Celestia, always telling me to stop being invisible.” Eris said as she made herself known.
“Honestly, I could just tell that you were there. My Eris would do the exact same thing and we’ve been together for quite some time.” He smiled, looking back at the Spirit of Chaos.
“Her marrying you?” Eris said as she begun to laugh. “Why would a goddess of chaos marry a short guy with a temper problem that even he can’t keep under control?” She said snapping her fingers to have Nicko in a napoleon costume.
“Hell, she’s saved my ass just as much as I saved hers. Plus, she’s honestly the first person to actually understand where I come from and help me understand things I couldn’t understand on my own.” The Rune Slayer replied, looking back at her. “Not to mention that she’s going to be a mother in a few short months.”
“Seriously? Oh this is just too much to bare.” Eris said as she wiped away the tears from her eyes.
“Why are you crying?” He asked, noticing the tears.
“These are tears of laughter, boy. I can’t believe that this goddess of chaos would throw away her freedom for something like this.”
“She’s just as free as I am. You may not be like her, but I see similarities between you two.” The Rune Slayer added on. “Besides, you look cute when you’re not expecting it.”
“I doubt we’re the same seeing how we’re from different worlds.”
“You wouldn’t believe how much you two are similar,” Nicko said as he looked back at her. “If you want, look at my memories and that’s all the proof you need to see.”
“Fine mister high and mighty.” Eris said as she phased her claw into his head. “.......Yep we’re different in many ways. But I do have to admit, she is quite… kinky at times.”
“Yup, that’s only the tip of the iceberg,” He replied, looking back to notice Amy and Applejack heading back in their direction. “Oh hey, there's Amy.”
“Ah if it isn’t my favorite pyromancer human.” Eris said as she wrapped her tail around her. “How’s my favorite little girl doing?”
“Hey Eris, mind putting me down for a bit?” Amy said as the goddess released her. “Thanks, I’m gonna take a nap for a while.”
“Go for it. We’re not stopping you.” Nicko chuckled as he leaped back up on his feet.
“Whatever.” The Blazing Heart said as she walked off to Applejack’s room.
“Poor girl, still not over what happen to her before I sent her here.” Eris said landing on top of Nicko’s head.
“Care to explain?” He asked.
“Well I could tell you…..but I won’t, you have to gather info from the mane six or other random ponies mister detective~”
“Pfft, I was just curious.” He replied, looking back to notice that Applejack was still in the vicinity. “Oh hey there… How can I help you?” He asked politely.
“Granny Smith told me that she wants to talk to you.” That caught the Rune Slayers attention as his expression was not a little more serious.
“Anything specific? Or is it just a general conversation?” He asked, wanting to see if he could know a bit about what exactly he was getting into first before diving headfirst into this conversation.
“Something about my Amy, I don’t know she wasn’t very clear about it. Look just get over there and see what Granny Smith wants from you, okay?” The farm pony said as she had a few words for the Rune Slayer. “If you dare hurt Amy in anyway, you’re gonna regret it shorty.”
“I’m not planning on it,” He sternly replied back with a serious edge in his voice. “Lead the way.”
(Smith resident)
“So you must be this Nicko fella Applebloom mentioned?” Granny Smith asked looking the Rune Slayer up and down.
“Yes ma’am. That’s me,” He replied, stretching out a hand for her to shake. The Elderly mare took the hand and shook it before Nicko then sat down across from her. “How can I help you?”
“It’s more like I need you to help Amy. I don’t know if you notice it, but she’s been kinda depressed and harsh towards certain humans.”
“Depressed?” He asked, thinking back to when he remembered her mentioning that she was the only family member of her family alive. “Who exactly? I didn’t unintentionally do anything now, did I?”
“Possibly thinking that your Amy was the same as ours mister quick to judge shorty.” Applejack mumbled only for her to look away when Granny Smith glanced at her.
“Anyway, I figure you might be able to do something about it. You know talk to her seeing how you seem like a gentlecolt.” She said as Applejack snickered at her comment for a second.
“I can do that. I can tell right away that she’s not like the Amy that I know though, so it might take a minute or two. But I’ll see what I can do.” That surprise was not what Applejack was expecting. At all. But still, Granny Smith was pleased with his answer.
“Glad to hear that, Applejack could you show Nicko to your room please?”
“........Follow me.” Applejack said as she lead the Rune Slayer to her room. Nicko himself focused on breathing calmly as he followed the Earth Pony upstairs to where he heard Amy up there. And it sounded like she was… upset.
“She’s inside….you better not try anything funny or else.” Applejack said as she made him notice the handgun on her hip. “You’re gonna be limping back to where ever you came from.”
“Not planning on it.” He replied, letting Applejack knock on the door.
“If it’s Applejack or the others you can come in, anyone else. LEAVE ME ALONE!” With it, Nicko looked back at AJ, letting her step in first before he followed up. Only getting a few feet through the door when Amy threw a throwing knife at his head. “Oh… it’s you… sorry about that.”
“It’s alright. Mistakes happen,” He replied, looking back at her. “Are you okay? You look a little… stressed.”
“Stress would be the understatement of the situation… but yeah you’re pretty much accurate on how I feel.”
“Would you like to talk about it? AJ and the others are concerned about you Amy… they care for you like family and your really making them worried like this.” He insisted, hoping to get her to open up a little.
“I know and think of them as family as well….but.” Amy clenched the pillow she was holding.
“You’re just concerned about getting them hurt?” He asked, recognizing the way she was acting.
“More like losing another family… again.”
“I know how you feel… my teacher himself was the same way once. He was trying to run from his problems, ignoring the fact that they were a burden that only he could bear… But to me… I’m worried about losing my own family… and the one I’m trying to start. I’m scared Amy, but I don’t let that affect me. You have a strong sense of will… Don’t let your fears wither and break it apart.” He said to him, trying his best to sound understanding.
“It not that. It’s just every time I’m either adopted into a family… something bad always happens to them whenever I get adopted… this happens eight times.”
“But you are luckier than I am… My brother and I were never adopted into a family… and we never knew why. We were just like any other kid, but were always ignored in the process. Coming here, to our Equestria, changed that for us. Unlike back home, we had powers and skills now that we could only dream ourselves of having. You have that too with your flames.” He said to her, opening his hand as he conjured something that surprised her. One of the runic symbols that a Pyro Knight would use.
“Never expected you to use Pyro Knight Magic. Then again.” Amy raised her hand as a blue runic symbols appeared in her hand and began to cover the room. “But you’re only scratching the tip of the iceberg for fire rune magic.”
“Runic magic itself is a rare and incomplete form of magic. Only Starswirl the Bearded himself knew how to use it, but died before discovering it’s full potential.” He said, dismissing the rune. “I’m always trying to do new things with it and come up with new combinations. In doing so, I stay ahead of the pack. You don’t need to be bound by rules when it comes to magic… Sometimes you just need to break a few.”
“Basic magic 101. Question, why is Applejack pissed off towards you?”
“She thinks that when she called me short and I got a little… mad that somehow I was going to hurt you.” Nicko replied back, motioning his head towards the holster at Applejack’s hip. “See what I mean?”
“Well you were about to attack her if my other self didn’t stop you. So you can understand how Applejack feels at that moment… it kinda makes you a bit untrustworthy at times.”
“I noticed. Still, it doesn’t mean that I would be pulling off any stupid sh*t anytime soon. I know better than to do that.”
“Dude you almost hit a girl, that pretty much say something. Not that I wouldn’t do that same in your shoes, but you need to get that temper of yours under control.”
“Right… You familiar with Fullmetal Alchemist? Well, I’m like my own version of Edward Elric. It’s a given.” He replied, straightening up a little. “Still though, you seem pretty confident in your powers now, are you?”
“To some degree, but be over confident is something I’m not trying to be like a certain other red head… how are you friends with her without trying to kill her?”
“Because I feel like I’m the voice of reason at times. Back home, she’s banned from Canterlot.” That part… got the Blazing Heart a little curious as she raised an eyebrow.
“What, did she blow the place up?” Amy said jokingly, only to notice his facial expression. “Oh god, how is she not in jail for doing something like that?”
“Technically, it happened while fighting her undead asshole of a father and her hyperactive skill did the rest.” Nicko replied. “Let me ask you something… are you familiar with Hellsing Ultimate Abridged?”
“Say no more. You pretty much answer twenty of my questions about her.”
“She’s basically Alucard. She even did the emerging from the wall trick during a presentation that Twilight was holding, shouting out HEY KIDS, WANNA SEE A DEAD BODY! I’m just surprised that she hasn’t tried doing that on the townsfolk here yet.”
“...I’m not gonna lie but that’s kinda funny.”
Nicko chuckled at that, looking back at her as something else came to mind. But first, he wanted to ask something. “Feeling a little better?” He asked her, waiting to hear out her response before asking the next question.
“Surprisingly yes.”
“Well, I wanted to ask you something then. I was curious to see what you were capable of, so I was going to ask if you wanted to do a small practice spar. Maybe we can learn a few tricks from one another.” He suggested, looking back at her and waiting for her answer.
“Hm… okay, I’m up for a little sparring match. It even help me with test drive Azure Mode after meeting Eris.”
“Alright, I’m good for that… If it’s okay with Applejack of course.” He said, remembering that she was still in the room with them.
“I’ll allow it seeing how it would be interesting see you flank getting handed to you little man.” The mare said, causing Nicko to chuckle a little. Funny thing was, he wasn’t as angry as normal with being referred to his height anymore. Mostly because he was saving that anger for when the sparring was to begin. Besides, he was a bit curious to see this… azure mode that Amy had spoken about. Possibly find a way to counter it using the [Examine] ability from his teacher Ryu. Many possibilities were at play here, but for right now, as Cell from Dragon Ball Z would say… it was time for him to warm up.
“Oh trust me, I’m not going down so easy. A kaiser taught me how to fight. Now, shall we take this outside?” He asked, preparing to walk downstairs and off of the orchard so none of the Apple Trees would end up as collateral damage in the process.
“Pretty much… in an open field would do.”
“Alright, I’m guessing you have a perfect idea for where the field is?” Nicko asked. His question was answered five minutes after they stepped out of the barn, walking towards the nearest open field on the opposite side of town. Of course, this one was close to the nearby lake that Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash liked to swim in on occasion during the summer. Now it served as a perfect sparring ground for both of them. “Well, this is going to work out nicely.”
“This should be interesting.” Eris said as she summoned a bag of popcorn. “I wonder how this will turn out?” Applejack took up a seat right next to the chaos spirit as the two of them watched Amy prepare herself. That was when Nicko said something that made him almost sound like he was overconfident.
“Alright… So here’s the deal… I want you to hit me as hard as you can.”
“Okay-.”
“No no… I think you might’ve misheard me… Not half as hard or a certain percentage… I want you… to hit me… as hard as you can…” That got Amy to feel a little annoyed, but also curious as to what exactly was this kid trying to do.
“And if I don’t play along?”
“Well, I guess Eris was right about you-.”
“Fine I’ll play along, mister hot head.” Amy said as she cracked her neck and place a runic symbol on her arms and legs. “Let’s get a good feel at how hard your defenses are.” Amy said as she launched herself at Nicko, readying a haymaker upside his head. Only when she made contact that Nicko didn’t move at all. Instead, he just shrugged it off and looked back at her.
“Okay… I know what you said wasn’t suppose to sound sexual… but it’s going to take a lot more then that to break me.” With it, he disappeared right in front of Amy’s eyes as he then caught her off guard with a well placed Splash Explosion that sent her skidding a few feet before she jumped back up. The amount of power in just a simple spell… and how fast he was on his feet caught both Applejack and Eris’ attention as Amy adopted another stance..
“Great, I’m dealing with those type of people. As if fighting against Silver wasn’t bad enough.” Amy said as she looked at the fire rune symbols on her body. “Guess I’ll have to take this serious then. Eris!”
“You called?” Eris asked appearing in next to the blazing heart.
“Auto pilot.”
“You sure? You remember what happened the last time when I did that against that Eric person?”
“Normally I wouldn’t do something like this, but seeing how I’m dealing with someone like Nicko. Then yeah.” Eris looked at Nicko for a moment before entering into Amy’s head. At first there was moment of silence, that is until Amy opened her eyes and glanced at the Rune Slayer. “Alright, don’t blame me if you feel sore in the morning Amy.”
“This must be Azure Mode.” Nicko thought to himself, preparing for what came next by summoning the blade Rovaniik. The one that had Neltharion’s token infused into it and also allowed for him to bend the earth to his will. “Well, better safe than sorry. She might be unpredictable in this form.”
“For the record, this isn’t Azure Mode.” Amy said as she shot a concentrated beam of fire past Nicko’s face, only to slightly burn his cheek.
“Well, then time to switch it up.” He said, dismissing Rovaniik as he then proceeded to summon Ebalon instead, followed by casting Critical Sword. “Show me what you can do.”
“With pleasure.” She said as a blade of fire shot from her hand and landed next to Nicko. The Rune Slayer smirked, using his foot to kick the blade back towards Amy as he ran forward and clashed his sword the moment that Amy had a firm grip on her weapon. “Don’t think that’s going to work on me.” Amy said as she sword flew through her. “Master of fire, which means I can do this.” With a snap of her finger, an explosion set off on Nicko’s left leg. “I give you credit on having a good outer defense but internal defense is a different story.”
“Heh… Your point?” He said, catching Eris by surprise by headbutting her and following up with a fist full of fire. “I’ve dealt with that kind of damage before. It’s not new to me.”
“Cute, but I doubt you can keep up the tough act with multiple damage to your internal organs.” She said, setting of a small chain of explosions in his chest. “Even you have your limits.”
“True… but there’s a catch… I’m not using full strength… To be fair… it’s only 15 percent.” He smirked, grabbing her by the shoulder. “Plus, I have you right where I want you.” With that, Eris watched as with a snap of his finger, the Rune Slayer cast Storm Blade as a whirling tower of blades caught her by surprise, causing her to escape backwards and separate herself from the Rune Slayer as now more of his magic began to radiate from him, healing some of his scars.
“Well, I guess that’s enough for a warm up.” He smirked, cracking his knuckles.
“Come on Amy! Knock that little punk off his feet!” yelled Applejack.
Nicko himself ignored Applejack’s taunts as he looked back at Amy, adopting a new stance as he prepared himself in wait for Amy’s next move. “Whenever you’re ready…” He said eagerly.
Amy snapped her finger as her claymore changed into an Azure colored katana. “Single Sword Style.” She said closing her eyes and placing a hand on her sword.
“Here it comes…” Nicko grinned, resummoning Rovaniik and dismissing Ebalon. With a single step, both parties advanced forward as their blades collided with one another. Nicko noticed though that there was more force behind Amy’s counterattacks than before and with that, he needed to be cautious.
“Return of the Swallow!” Amy yelled as three blades appeared from out of nowhere and headed toward the Rune Slayer, only for him barely parry away two of the unexpected blades while the third grazed past his forehead. The Rune Slayer skidded backwards, but he had his own surprise for Amy.
“Rising Slash!” He spoke, just as a series of blades materialized from the ground, striking Amy and causing her to lose balance.
“Not over yet.” She said as she shook her head as red flakes appeared around them. All Nicko did was cross his arms, with an expression of him not being amused as he pointed upward… to the huge Luna Blade that he had formed above them during the course of the fight. He was charging it throughout the entire match like a spirit bomb and now, it was gunning towards Amy. “Don’t think that’s going to stop me. I got you right where I want you. ”
It was then that he noticed the petals around him… and how they smelled like they were burning. “Ah son of a taint…”
“Teostra Fangs!” Amy yelled as she bit on of the fire flakes, causing a huge explosion the engulfed both of them. As the smoke covered the field though, Amy felt a stone slab slam her around her ribcage, causing her to stagger. Nicko himself was still standing… but most of his sleeveless shirt was just about gone and he left his jacket back at the orchard.
“Really? You had to just annihilate my shirt? Thank god you didn’t go overboard and burned my pants off while you were at it.”
“Had I use orange flakes then yeah.” Amy said as she felt Eris appear from out of herself. Nicko sighed a little, dismissing his blade as he looked back at Applejack before looking back at Amy.
“So… guess we’ll call this a draw?”
“Pretty much yeah seeing how I’m sure you don’t have an extra pair of clothing on you at the moment?”
“I left my coat back at the barn. It should help me once we get back.” Nicko shrugged. “Speaking of which, hopefully my Amy and Amelia had found what they were looking for so we can get back home. We… kind of have our hands full.”
“We have returned with the item in question.” Amelia said as she and Amy appeared half beat up… well Amy at least.
“And why does Amy looked like a beat up punching bag again? Did you use her as bait?” The Rune Slayer asked the Diabolic Esper.
“More or less but we got the El Shard that we need.” Amy said as she tossed Nicko’s coat to him, with he caught and soon put back on.
“Alright… guess there’s only one thing left before we gotta go back home.” He said, taking out a Rune Slayer’s mark as he handed it to the Blazing Heart. “This is my summoning token. If you need me, just use it and I’ll come. Amy has one as well that she can give to you to.”
“She already gave me her’s a few minutes ago.”
“Ah alright… Did she help you make yours by any chance?” He then asked her, looking back at the Crimson Avenger for a moment.
“No, other displaced appeared before you three came here that taught me how to make it.” The Rune Slayer breathed a sigh of relief, seconds before he caught something that the Blazing Heart threw at him with an open hand.
“Here’s my token if you need my assistance.”
“Thanks again for everything,” Nicko complimented her as he summoned Void Edge and used one slice to tear a hole in the void as he turned towards his Amy and Amelia. “Ready to go back home?”
“Thank Celestia that he’s leaving.” Applejack said as she helped the Blazing Heart up.
“I’m standing right here,” he deadpanned, looking back at his friends. “I’ll tell my AJ you said hello.”
“Oh I forgot you were there due to your size. Almost made me mistaken you as a small scarecrow.”
“Oh ha ha… very funny there, AJ.” Nicko chuckled. “You’re the only pony that can call me little that I can actually tolerate. Which is a first.” With that, he soon leaped through the tear in the void as his Amy and Amelia soon followed after them as they went back home.
“Hey Nicko, do you smell something?” Amy asked as she sniffed the air around her. The Rune Slayer shook his head for a moment, sniffing the air as they stepped out into the living room of his home.
“Not exactly… why, do you smell something?”
“I don’t know.” She said as she notice his pants were on fire. “Why don’t you tell me hot pants?” Looking down, he then groaned as he used his magic to conjure the fire before dismissing it. Only problem though was that shortly afterwards, Eris wandered over to see that Nicko and Amy had returned… in the most surprising of fashions.
“So… is this what happens when another Amy tries to go after you?” She asked. “Just wait until the twins come.”
“Wait… TWINS!?”
“... Apparently somepony didn’t get the Memo… you’re going to be auntie for three kids Amy,” The Rune Slayer informed her, looking back and noticing her blush a little. “Welcome to parenthood.”
“.......I’m out.” Amy said as she walked towards the door. But the second she tried to open it, Rainbow Dash bolted in and slammed the door against the wall, flattening the Crimson Avenger like she was a door sandwich.
“Well now… there’s the new couple… Congratulations on having kids… But where’s Amy?”
Nicko facepalmed as the door slowly closed behind, looking at a defeated Amy as he deadpanned to the pegasus. “... You are not exactly the best Role Model now, aren’t you?”
“Said the boy who almost attacked a mare because she called you short.”
“It was a mistake… you slammed Amy into a door… but now is my turn to ask something… why do you smell odd Rainbow?” His question only caused the pegasi’s wings to flare out on their own as she looked back at the Rune Slayer, blushing a little.
“N-None of your business!”
“Come on Rainbow, we’re family here and sometimes, we can be concerned…” It was then that Eris whispered in Nicko’s ear just as Amy was coming back around. “Oh I see… Amy… you might want to hear this…”
“And what would that be?”
“Your marefriend here is in heat.” Eris replied, chuckling a little as she watched the Pegasi’s reaction as the blush on her face grew a bright red. “And her reaction is just adorable…”
“...... Be back in a few days.” Amy said as she grabbed Rainbow Dash and rushed off to their home in the clouds. “OUT OF MY JERKASSES!”
Nicko and Eris just watched as they stampeded back into the clouds as Amy tried to use Rainbow Dash as a battering ram it break into their own home. “Something tells me that we’re not going to sleep peacefully for the next few days… especially since their house is almost directly above ours.”
“More like weeks but I’ll place soundproof bubble over their house later.” Amelia said as she eyed Nicko. “Anyway, back to important matters.”
“Right… We now have the Dark El Shard, but it’ll still be almost a few weeks before Ran is out… Glave told me one thing that we needed to do though in order to get ready and that is to meet other Displaced and gain allies to prepare for war.” The Rune Slayer replied, noticing a scroll on the table with a familiar monkey insignia on it as he walked over to pick it up. “And I think I just found the perfect place to start.”
“Sun and Weiss huh, been keeping my eyes on them for sometime now.”
“Well, it seems like more than that… Check this out.” He replied, turning the letter around as a few words stood out amongst the rest of the text.
You are invited to come and see the first school for Dimensionally Misplaced… Beacon Academy.
End Log 21
