Shadow Equestria: The Poisoned Curse

Lyra

Two things woke me up this morning... And no, it wasn't me actually laying in my bed with a human... First was a rather loud knock at my front door and the second was actually how Hikaru stank of sweat, I also could've sworn I smelled blood... which I remembered why as soon as I looked at his vest that still had HIS blood on it.

"I swear to Celestia that you are taking a bath today... I don't care what the customs are in your country Hiruko... But you WILL be taking a bath. I thought with a small irritated growl as I got out of bed to answer the door.

"If whoever is at my door doesn't stop pounding on it soon I'm gonna have to get crazy!" I was half-stomping through the house by the time I reached the door. Now, I probably shouldn't have done what I did, I threw the door open with a scowl on my face to meet the pony who so rudely interrupted my beautiful fantasy dreams that concerned the relationship between Hiruko and I... At least, I had the scowl on my face until I saw who was at the door, my look changed immediately to surprise when I saw that pompous, prissy, self-gratifying ass of a mare at my door.

Needless to say, the entire experience was quite awkward.

"Hi..."

"... Hi..."

"...So, Rarity, What brings you here so early?"

"Oh, Nothing much really... And it's not really early, it's about eleven in the morning... I had stopped by Fluttershy's house this morning and she told me about how you have a new pet, so I was thinking that you and I could bring our pets to the park and let them play together while we caught up... I mean... I never really apologized about the way I acted when I heard you moved from Canterlot."

"It's fine... and sure, I'd love to bring Hikaru to the park... But I really need to give him a bath so you'll have to give me some time..." I thought for a few moments before I finally had an idea. "How about you meet me at Sugar Cube Corner in an hour? That way I can clean Hikaru and make sure he's okay with going outside."

"Ok... But... Oh it just hurts to keep the knowledge locked away..." I tilted my head in confusion as she let out the most dramatic sigh I had seen to date, "... Fluttershy told me that Hikaru is blind... It's just so much of a pity that he can't see how beautiful the world is!"

"I really bet that after he meets you he's going to actually wish he was..." I couldn't help but stifle a chuckle as I thought. "Well... As you can tell I'm going to be busy, so... Goodbye." She recovered as quickly as I knew she would and gave the biggest flourish of her prench accent as she said goodbye, I didn't even know that you could drag out the word goodbye for that long... even with that accent.

I unceremoniously closed the door and went to get Hikaru, I saw him sitting up and putting on the same clothes THAT WERE STILL COVERED IN HIS BLOOD I MIGHT ADD! so I did the only logical thing a mare in my position would do when they were faced with an idea so disgusting as putting dirty clothes back on... I shouted at him. "OH NO! You are NOT gonna do that! You are going to march right to the bathroom and clean yourself up while I throw that bloodstained mess out! ... Or set it on fire, whichever keeps bloody clothes out of my house."

"you will do no such thing to my ONLY set of clothes... Because, if you haven't noticed already, there's a reason why I wear them... I wear clothes because where I come from, walking around naked is an offensive way to show your openness to sexuality." For some unexplained reason I began to feel much more self-conscious now that I found out why he wore clothes... But that didn't matter, what did matter was getting him clean.

"Well that doesn't matter right now, what I want you to do is get cleaned up!"

"Unless you know someone around here that is proficient in making human clothes... I have to get this set cleaned. Unfortunately, my vest can't be cleaned right now... at least... until I move its contents to an inventory scroll, so if you would be so kind as to step out of the room for a minute, I shall make the transfer then you can take me to where your bathroom is so that I may clean myself and my clothes." I obliged, without another word I left the room and waited for him to call out to me.

Exactly three point two seconds after I heard an odd *Poof* sound he called out to me, he opened the door and followed me to the bathroom. After a little chit-chat and an embarrassed flush from him after I wondered why he would have a problem with me washing up with him I finally decided to take my shower this afternoon and went off to my room to get ready.

"Jeez... Humans seemed so much cooler in the movies... With their chiseled features... And amazing muscles... and..." I cut myself off mid-thought as my brush caught on a particularly annoying tangle, "OH YOU ARE GOING TO SUFFER FOR THIS! I WILL MAKE SURE YOU PLAGUE ME NO LONGER!"

Hikaru

I settle in the tub and let the warm water soothe my aching body. "Wow, not even the best noble has a spa this relaxing... I don't know what these ponies can do with keeping water perfect... But whatever it is, they should keep it up. I begin to let my thoughts and body wander without conscious direction. My attention is finally caught as I notice my right hand on the mark that resided on the base of my neck.

"I've had this mark since the day I was born... Actually, all the elite members of the academy had Orochimaru's blessing since the day they were born... I never really thought about it before, but... Out of all the students that used its sickeningly sweet power, I'm the only one who has had the most difficulty regarding how to strengthen it." My thoughts force my eyes to move to the scroll I had recently started filling, the one thing that was so important... yet so dangerous... that I had to make sure that Lyra wouldn't see it.

The small black pill sets my mind on a cruise to when I had finished my chunin exam...

I took a knee, as did both of my allies... A fair skinned male with short hair that had slightly longer bangs in the front, I could still see the sharingan glare in his eyes... as if he expected more enemies. to my other side was my cousin, Emiko, she was kind, yet fierce, if she had a problem with someone she was willing to beat the guy's face in over it. Her hair fell down just past her shoulders, she looked at me with a sense of pride before I took one last look over the battlefield.

The broken corpses of all the other squads that dared challenge us lay in bloody heaps all around the arena, my chest swelled in pride as I silently thanked them for their strength. We stood at the same time, even if we wobbled with exhaustion at the exertion, the crowd roared in ecstacy as we lifted our bloodied kunai to the air.

Once the roar began to fade we helped each other walk over to the exit of the arena, we had finally managed to suceed where others had failed. When the shadow of the prep room was finally bathing us in the cool darkness our squad leader approached us.

"You have proven youselves to the Dokukage as well as Orochimaru, add in the fact that you all carry Orochimaru's blessing I'm proud to give you these..." He held out his palm, we saw the little black pills and each took one.

"What are they?" Asked my friend and rival, Fukon Uchiha, our squadmaster gave a small chuckle as he began to explain.

"They are Death God Pills, they are only given to the most worthy of Orochimaru's chosen... For they unlock the second stage of the cursemark. They are very deadly, however, so you must inform the Dokukage before undergoing the process because without a proper medical team... there's a good chance that the change would drive you insane."

With this information it was incredibly obvious what to say.

"Tell him we wish to undergo the process immediately!" My allies who had spoken in an eerie unison looked at me in confusion.

I stood in complete silence the entire time, it was still several seconds before I gave him my answer.

"I want time to think about this... I'm honored obviously but this seems like so much to give to just chunins..." fortunately my entire squad had gathered enough strength to be able to stand on their own.

Fukon stared at me incredulously, "What do you mean you want to think about it? This little pill is the key to increasing your strength almost tenfold!"

I couldn't look him in the eye, I couldn't even think of an answer to give him, something about it just... hadn't felt right.

My thoughts quickly returned with a cold pang in my chest despite the warm water, I quickly got out of the tub and proceeded to clean my clothes... Nothing a little soap and water couldn't fix. There was something that still kept me from attaining the second level of His blessing... moreso than the lack of a full medical team, it was something that just... made me feel like I'd be giving up something that was a part of me in turn. All the times I had used my cursemark I felt the strength flow through my limbs, but there was something small... like a voice in the back of my head... It felt like something that had latched on to my mind. When I had noticed it in others who used the mark I realized that the mark was a double-edged sword, it would give strength while reducing the bearer's strength after everything was all said and done.

I vowed to make it a last-resort option, which I fortunately never often needed to use.

I took my clothes out of the water and used one of my wind jutsu's to dry them. I finished putting on my vest as Lyra walked in, I swear... If that mare had a shred of dignity she would've at least checked to make sure I wasn't naked before entering the room... then a thought struck me.

"Wait... The flushed cheeks... The cooing at my touch... The eagerness to get me to sleep in the same bed as her... She couldn't possibly... Could she?" My thoughts began to travel to the darkest part of my mind that I only dared to go when I was sure that noone could see me, "NAH! She couldn't possibly be like that... I mean c'mon, We're not even the same species." I mentally sighed before turning back to Lyra who had just told me something I had completely ignored except the part where I had to disguise myself again, so I proceeded with my cat disguise.

We got everything that she needed for a day at the park, which I knew meant I would have to find a few spots to become 'invisible' otherwise I would be expending far more chakra than was efficient. With a short stop to lock the door we left to go meet a pony that I assumed Lyra didn't actually like simply based on the body language that she was shouting.