Aku and the royal sisters now sat across from one another on large, plush pillows within the side room they had gone into. The ticking of the clock that hung on the wall was the only thing filling the silence as there were no windows to provide sound from the outside. “Alright, so why am I in here with you two again?”asked Aku as he sat there with his arms folded. The sisters looked at each other before nodding, then Celestia spoke “We need your help, Aku. According to Twilight and a few other sources, you have this strange ability to smell and taste one’s magic. If this is the case, that would be very helpful in this royal wedding. As I am sure you have heard that a threat has been placed on this kingdom.”.

Aku arched a brow as he thought back to what he had smelled in the main room. But should he tell her right away that something just wasn’t right with the princess whom he had just met? Or wait until he had a better verdict to go and accuse her in front of everyone? “Well, I do owe you for making sure I didn’t die from before. Normally I wouldn’t care since it is none of my business. But I will help you out this time. I have noticed...something here. But for now, I will keep it to myself as I need more proof. Then I will give you my findings.”.

They both nod and offer him a smile with a slight bow of their heads. “Thank you, Aku. It would most certainly benefit us all to have somepony with such a...unique talent as yours. By the way, my elder sister and I were wondering. What kind of scents do we give off according to you?”. They both look at him with baited breath, awaiting his answer. Aku gives a light laugh and concentrates on Celestia at first”Hmmm, your older sister’s magic smells quite nice. Like a fresh cake that was just pulled out of the oven and the icing was JUST put on top of it. Warm and fluffy. As for yours, it smells of fresh blueberries and lilacs. A surprisingly pleasing scent to be sure. It compliments your seriousness quite well.”.

Luna and Celestia nodded and actually smiled when he told them that their magical scent was pleasant. “It is quite strange. Unicorns are the only ones I see outside of here performing magic with their horns. But, it seems that every single pony in this world has magic within them. And it smells differently in each one.” Aku explained as he rubbed his chin in thought. Celestia gave another nod”You’d be correct in assuming that every pony in this world has magic within them. That explains where their cutie marks come from.”. Aku nodded before getting to his feet Well, if that is all you wanted to ask of me. Mind if I go exploring around this place? Never got the chance to go looking around a castle in my life before.”. Celestia nodded and looked to her sister”Would you like to be the one to show him around?”. Luna nodded with a smile, trying to contain her excitement as it was normally her older sister who did that kind of thing. Without hesitation, Luna took hold of Aku's hand and nearly dragged him out of the room “Come on! I will show you my favorite places!”. Celestia giggled to herself as she had never seen her sister so happy before. Perhaps it was Aku’s words of her before that made the alicorn feel all warm inside.

As the two of them explored the castle together, Luna kept shifting her eyes toward Aku over and over again. It was quiet between them for a while as they walked through the castle hallways until Luna finally spoke up “So...Aku. Would it be okay if I slipped into your dreams ever so often? I would like to see the world you came from again. What I saw before..it was amazing. I would...like to see the places you have gone to and the things you have done back where you are from.”. Aku looked back at her with a knowing smile “Let me guess, being the younger princess, you have been confined to stay here whenever your sister goes on her duties outside of the kingdom? Sounds like something that went on back in the feudal era back in my world. The younger royal member of the family hardly got to explore the outside of the castle walls. Unless they disobeyed, of course.”.

Aku nodded to her “You are more than welcome to come visit me in my dreams should I relieve the ones that involve my world. Perhaps if you help me maintain the dream, we could make it a little date if you want. The town I lived in has all kinds of fun spots I can show you.”. Luna’s face turned bright red as she became flustered “A d-d-date?! I have never ever really been on one before! But...that sounds really nice. Then..I look forward to entering your dream very soon then..”. Aku smiled again and looked forward as they walked. His eyes closed for a moment before speaking to her again “I know your story, Luna.”

When he said that to her, her ears immediately dropped and her gaze fell to the floor. “You fought with your sister over a thousand years ago. And you became the one known as Nightmare Moon. If you ask me, I feel like what you were upset with her for was justified, however. But that being said, I believe you two could have worked it out without altercations of violence. You could have listened to what she had to say. But you let the bitterness and loneliness poison your heart. Believe me, as a kid I didn’t have any friends and my family was too busy to really pay me any attention. So I know where you are coming from…” he said before he came to a stop then turned to face her fully.

“..But look at you now. You have overcome such things and you have more friends than you have before. And you have a sister who loves you more than anyone in this whole wide world. Cherish those things and never ever let them go. You do that, and you will be just fine. I promise you.”. Luna listened closely to Aku. He was absolutely right in his words. Ever since she came back from being Nightmare Moon, things have gotten better for her as a whole. Unlike Aku’s situation where he was still being treated like an outcast by most of the population because of what he is and what power he was burdened with.

“And what about you, Aku?” ask Luna as she came up beside him turning her head slightly to look over at him. “You don’t have very many ponies here who understand that you aren’t a bad stallion. And yet, no matter how many good deeds you do, most don’t see it as redemption. You have been a pariah in this kingdom for quite some time. And while my sister and I would love to help clear your name, we admit that we aren’t sure about you still. Even your name and reputation has gotten around with the nobles. And they are always spreading unsavory rumors about you.”

Aku made his way over to the railing that overlooked the lower level of where they had been walking. He places his hands upon it as he watches both guards and staff run back and forth with all manners of decor for the upcoming wedding. He gives a light ‘tch’ before smirking. “You know what this reminds me of? A light novel I read back in my world called “Rise Of The Shield Hero’. Except, he had full control of his abilities. But the story goes that he was summoned with three other heros who wielded weapons of legend. And he was burdened with the shield. And as we all know, the shield isn’t much of a weapon. And right from the get go, the king and the nobles treated the shield hero like garbage and even framed him with a false accusation of rape. They even stole his armor and money from him to leave him with absolutely nothing. They also continued to tarnish his name further and further into the story simply because he was the shield hero.”.

Aku went on and on, explaining the story to the princess as he continued to watch the ponies from above. “And you know what? In the end, he turned out to be the most powerful out of all of the four heroes because he had true friends and was actually quite a nice guy even though he never showed it openly. But me? I wasn’t even brought here as a hero. I was brought here to become a villain out of someone's revenge. Who knows if I will actually become a villain or a hero. Maybe neither. As of right now, I am so indifferent about this world that I don’t really care what happens to it.”.

Luna blinks a few times before thinking back on what he had said before “Someone’s revenge? Who’s?”. Aku blinks a few times before answering her “Oh, I don’t know who exactly. But he said something about you killing him off and that he’d send me to this world thinking I’d become a villain for his sake or something. In fact. He said it was you and your sister who did it. He seemed pretty pissed off about it. His tone seemed awfully arrogant. Like he couldn’t be touched and he could do what he wanted. Luna’s eyes widened in disbelief as she knew exactly who Aku was talking about from that description right away. “Discord. Even in death...you cause trouble for others. Damn you…” she whispered to herself as she clenched her fists tightly. She looks back at Aku with newly gained sympathy. She now knew what had brought him to their world or, rather who.

“Aku...with what you have just told me, I need to report this to my sister as soon as possible. I shall escort you to the wing you will be staying at with Twilight and the others. I will be happy to show you the rest of the castle another time.”. Aku put two and two together and simply nodded”So, this must be someone who you and your sister decided was not quite the nice person to have in your kingdom. Must have been a real asshole huh?” Luna gave a light ‘tch’ before answering “That’s definitely the case. I am happy you said it that way. As a princess, we can’t say things so crudely even though we wish to.”. Aku let out a laugh and gave a thumbs up “I got your back.”.

--Later That Night--

As Aku had finally settled down after a nice hot shower, he slides into his second set of sleeping pants he had brought with him on the trip and climbs into bed before slowly drifting off into sleep. Hours go by, his sleep undisturbed until he is snapped awake by a knock at his door. He gets out of the bed and makes his way over to the door before calling out “Who is it?”. “It’s me, Twilight. Could I come in?” she asked. Aku opened the door to see that it was Twilight but, there was that foul magical odor once more. Aku played it off and motioned for her to come in. Once the door was closed and she was in the room. Aku turned to face her with his arms crossed. “So, what did you want to see me for?” Twilight moved in closer as she dropped the robe that she was wearing, revealing her fully naked body as she swayed her hips, a seductive and needy expression on her face along with her sensual movements. “I..was wondering if I could share your bed tonight~. I am in dire need of a strong-...”

Aku put his hand up before crossing his arms again “First off. Who are you? Twilight’s magic has a rather pleasing scent of lavender and fresh book pages. You on the other hand smell quite foul. Second, Twilight would never ever see me as a potential intimate partner. No pony here would. So, you may as well turn around and leave my room right now.”. Twilight lets out a growl before a green light fills the room and she changes into a tall and curvy changeling queen. Her true form is now shown to Aku as she tries to stand over him in a menacing manner, her wings buzzing and her toxic green eyes staring him down. Aku merely looks up at her”What? Did you expect me to react in fear or something? This explains why your magical scent is so disgusting.”.

Chrysalis let out a quiet hiss and grabbed at Aku as quick as she could, with one swift motion, he pushed the hand away and takes hold of her wrist and squeezes it as hard as he could before spinning around her and kicking the back of her knee, causing her to collapse down to his level. He places a foot on top of her bent lower leg and squeezes her wrist even harder while he pulls her arm up into the submission position to bring ehr greater pain. “Gah! How dare you…!” she hiss loudly but not overly so to attract attention to his room. She suddenly casts a spell from her horn which makes a flaming green circle appear around Aku, but is immediately negated as soon as the magic touches his body..

“W-What the..? But how?! You should be gone by now, just like the bride’s maids!”. Aku continued to pull her arm up more to intensify the pain. Chrysalis lets out a growl and whimper of pain as she was now at the mercy of Aku. “Now...what is to stop me from breaking your arm and beating you to a bloody mess and dragging you before the princesses and your ‘fiance’? I am quite sure he wouldn’t be too happy to find out that she was an oversized bug. And the fact that I have seen you change into different forms has led me to believe you have done something with the real princess who’s special day you are trying to ruin. Now, once again. You can leave my room and act like this never happened and think on your next move carefully. Or you can abandon this plan of yours. Depending on what you do on the wedding day, it may be your undoing.”

Aku suddenly felt a rather wicked urge swell up in his heart. He had a queen here in such a position that was utterly humiliating. He leans in and gives a rather wicked chuckle before reaching around with his free hand and begins to fondle one of her breasts firmly and roughly. His sclera slowly fading to black as his voice now goes to a deeper, sinister tone. “I could very well have my way with you first. Break you and show you who is really in charge. After all, someone like you needs to learn their place. You are nothing but a toy to be used over and over until you are no longer useful. Tossed aside and abandoned as scraps. And I would love to be the one to break you…”

Aku’s grip on her wrist remained painfully tight as he slowly lifted her arm up higher to the point where slight popping could be heard. His hand continued to roughly squeeze and fondle her large breasts one at a time. In the queen’s mind, she was absolutely terrified of this creature who had her in this position. Especially with his hands violating her in such a manner. Is this the fear her victims felt when she did this to them to steal their love? Aku suddenly pushed her to the floor and placed his knee on her arm while still holding her wrist high up in the air. “Now then, call me your master. And tell me that you are my toy and that you belong to me…” He said as he awaited a response. “Y-Y-You are my ma-...ma…”. A quick slap to her face was delivered as she hesitated.”Say it, toy.” Chrysalis lets out a whimper of pain as she looks up at him with one eye open “You are my master...and I belong to you..please…”

Aku gets off her and kicks her robe on her body”Good. Now get the fuck out. You miserable bug. And remember my warning.” Chrysalis gave a rather submissive nod before she ran out of the room. He stood there for a moment before his eyes turned back to normal and he placed a hand upon his forehead while letting out an exhausted sigh. “What...just happened there? I have never in my life ever been like that before..so..” He shook it off and went straight back to bed. For some reason, that whole ordeal just made him super tired. He’d worry about it tomorrow, however.

Author's Note

Well, we all knew it was gonna happen eventually...

May the darkness grant you peace.