Eater Of Sin And Magic

A lot of things where going through Aku’s mind as he approached the entrance of the town while being escorted by a group of guards. But nothing in his mind prepared him for just how many of the ponies knew of his arrive. For as he made his way into the city, a crowd of very upset ponies watched him with gazes of hate and anger. Apparently the news of what had happened at the local apple farm had gotten around. And likely because of over exaggerated rumors, the townsfo;l have had a demonized image of this human form in their minds. If it wasn’t for the group of guards that surrounded him, he could only imagine what would have happened to him if he came here on his own. One of the guards to his left whispered to him.

“By the sun, you must have done something to really piss these ponies off. We were made aware of your situation by the captain. But still…”

“Oh, I am quite certain that they won’t let me forget it judging by those faces…”

He responded as he remained alert. His sky blue eyes gazing left and right at the ponies still. He suddenly feels a blunt pain in his back which makes him stumble forward slightly. He turns to see one of the ponies had thrown a rock at him with quite a bit of force. He narrowed his eyes at the pony, knowing full well the guard wasn’t going to do much about it since they were only ordered to prevent any pony getting close to him. The guard up front looked back at him as they continued to walk.

“You must have a lot of patience to not lash out at them for that. I commend you for that. We are almost there though. Just hang in there.”

“Not like I can do anything anyway. Should I retaliate I can just end up back in the same cell I was in just one day ago. And I’d rather not go back there if I can help it.”

“Smart.”

Soon enough, they came upon the Golden Oak Library where a lavender colored unicorn mare stood outside waiting for them. Aku looked her up and down, getting in as much detail as he could. White short sleeve shirt, black skirt and stockings and to top it all off, a pair of reading glasses in her front shirt pocket. Definitely signs of a bookworm.

“Thank you, sirs. I will take it from here. The princess had told me everything about him and I will have my assistant send word if things get out of hand.”

“Very well ma’am. He’s all yours.”

She looks over at Aku and examines him thoroughly as he did with her. Immediately, she took notice of the shroud he wore around his face. And then took a look at his long white hair which went all the way down to his lower back, then focused on his face once more. She lets out a slight ‘hmmm’ and shakes her head.

“You certainly don’t look like some kind of magic eating monster. But, Applejack was pretty clear on what had happened. ANd she isn’t really one to lie. Please, come in.”

Aku nods before making his way into the library. He immediately looks around at all the books on the shelves and immediately gets that warm fuzzy feeling in his body when the smell of books and the quietness of the whole place hits his senses. It definitely reminded him of his childhood when he went to his own library at school. As he looked around, a short purple dragon watched the human from around the corner in the kitchen, hios green eyes locked onto Aku like and artillery strike painting it’s target. Aku took notice right away and blinks a few times.

“Hey look, a dragon. Pretty sweet.”

Before he made his way into the next room. When he got there though, he stops dead in his tracks and suddenly wonders if he should take his chances outside with the angry mob or the five ponies sitting in the room he just entered which included the orange and cyan pony he had encountered the day before. He gives a nervous smile under his shroud and thinks about diving out the window next to him, but doesn’t want to pay any fees. Not like he has money for it.

“Ah. Hmmmm. This is a bit awkward…”

He said as his eyes fall to the orange pony first. He did feel quite a bit of remorse for what had happened between them his first day here. He lifts a hand up to speak. He may as well attempt some kind of apology. After all, what he did wasn’t intentional.

“I uh..I am sorry about what happened. I don’t even know what I did. I only ran so I could not do it again. It seemed that whenever you or your brother got closer, it just…”

The farm pony gets up and walks over to him. Aku expecting a form of physical retribution closed one eye to prepare for it. But, to his surprise, she just leans in and stares at him right in the face. He opens up his other eye before their gazes meet. Silence filled the room for a few moments before she leans back and 'hmphs' and walks back over to sit with her friends.

“Well, he seems to be telling the truth. But I have met some pretty good liars…”

“Hey, that’s the same guy who I found snooping around with his face covered!”

“Yeah, and you are the one who attacked me. And I fought back in self defense. I don’t care if I was from here or not. It’s rude to attack people simply because they look ‘suspicious’. Crazy ass bitch…”

He mutters that last part under his breath and crosses his arms over his chest as he narrows his eyes at the cyan pegasus who may have caught what he had muttered under his breath. She stands up and gets in his face with a death glare, he returns one back. The tension was so thick in the air you could cut it with a knife.

“WHat are you gonna do, Skittles? You make the first move, I will defend myself. And I don’t need magic eating to do that.”

Just as things were about to get heated up between them, Twilight pushes herself between both of them and pushes the cyan mare back away from him. It was clear that if things got too rough between them, it would result in the destruction of multiple objects in the room.

“Dash, that’s enough! He is a guest in my home and I will not allow you to treat him in such a rude manner. He already apologized for what he did to Applejack and her family!”

Dash pushes Twilight’s hands away from her and points at Aku.

“I don’t care! If that..’thing’ has been brought here by Discord, he shouldn’t even be standing here! He should either be turned into a statue or at least put back in prison!”

Aku clenched his fists hard enough to where his knuckles cracked audibly in the ears of all the ponies in the room. He lowers his head before he suddenly stares back in anger, gritting his teeth before speaking.

“Shut. The. Fuck. UP! I didn’t want to be here in the first place! I was taken from my own world which I had a life I loved living and all the sudden some fucking villain from your world decides to pluck me from my comfy life as a god damned ramen chef then drops me from your fucking sky! To add to that I have some kind of magic eating thing I have to deal with now and suddenly I am being judged for something I didn’t do on purpose that I have NO control over. And to make matters worse, I can never go back home! So give me a [i[FUCKING break!”

All went quiet except for the heavy breathing coming from Aku. Apparently all the bad mouthing of him finally made him speak his mind about the whole situation. All six of the ponies stared back at him with eyes as wide as saucers and their pupils shrink as well. One of them, a yellow pegasus mare seemed to shrink back into the couch she sat on visibly shaking from the face he had made even though half of it was covered. He gives one last heavy sigh and calms down before leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed.

“Where can I find the room you will have me staying in? I don’t really have the patience to deal with...I am assuming these are your friends, at the moment.”

“O-Of course. It’s the room upstairs down the hall and the room on the right. Please, make yourself at home.”

Aku pushes himself off the wall and makes his way up the stairs quickly brushing past the little dragon who had been eavesdropping on the whole conversation. He makes his way up the stairs quickly not wanting to have to deal with any more of this nonsense for the rest of the day. He was most certainly done with the day.

“Let me know if you need any-!”

SLAM!!! She was cut off by the slam of the door which made her ears fold back and wince at the force of the door. She turns to look at Dash with a very upset face and crosses her arms in annoyance. The cyan pegasus sat back down on her seat as she knew that she was about to get an ear full.

“Really, Dash? Really? I told you to go into this with an open mind. And you went ahead and needlessly escalated the situation?! What in Celestia’s name were you thinking?!”

“I was..but he...! Gaah!”

She screams as she throws her hands up in the air and crosses her arms as she pouts. Applejack on the other hand having gotten the story straight from him was feeling rather bad that she had judged him so quickly. And that wasn’t like her at all. She sighs lightly.

“Golly. Poor fella has been through a lot in just the first couple of days he’s been here. Had I known all that happened, I wouldn’t have said what I had to him. He didn’t deserve that.”

“Honestly Dash. Twilight is right. That was a really mean-meanie pants thing to say to him! Especially to someone you tackled in the first place! I didn’t even get to give him his welcome cake!”

Said the rather bouncy pink earth pony mare who gave a pouty face as well. However, she was determined. She’d find a way to make him feel welcomed if it took her months. That’s the kind of pony she is after all. Then, the white unicorn finally says her piece on the matter.

“And that think he wore to cover his face, so plain and boring! He needs one in the same color, but with some kind of..regal design or something. It would at least make him look a bit better than just regular grey. But I agree. We can’t simply condemn him for something that was forced upon him. It just wouldn’t be right.”

“He...he made such a scary face when he got upset. Especially his eyes. They made my spine shiver and I felt my body go cold..”

Twilight shakes her head and sits down with her friends while Spike came in with tea and snacks for the group. He takes his places next to Twilight before she started speaking to them all as a whole group.

“Look, I am not saying that we have to automatically trust him. But look at the facts. Where in Equis, let alone Equestria have you ever seen somepony like him? And if he wanted to, he could have saved us all of our magic right then and there when he came in. And he covers his face with that shroud so it doesn’t happen. And all those ponies out there see him as some kind of magic stealing creature who wants to rob them of their magic completely. I even saw one of them throw a rock at him. And all he did was just look back at them. Not an ounce of hostility. The point is, we should try to befriend him so he doesn’t feel alone here. And may in time the pony in town won’t see him the way they do now.”

They all agree on this, even Rainbow Dash does. But for now, they had other business to talk about since they were all gathered there.

--A Few Hours Later--

Aku laid in bed after having just stared up at the ceiling in thought. His mind racing about what was going on while he was away from home. He was happy he didn’t leave any pets behind for sure. But what about his family? His dad and his restaurant? His mother who loved him so much is probably freaking out and calling his phone nonstop and had surely used her spare key he had given her to check up on him in his home. It broke Aku’s heart to know that he will never, ever see them again. Not to mention all the contests he had worked so hard to train for, his winning streaks, all gone.

Another thing that pained him, was the girl who had looked up to him whom he had met in the restaurant. WHat will she think of him now that he is no longer going to be competing in those very contests she’d watch him outeat everyone else? All he could really hope for is that she becomes a better legend than him or find something else to strive for. The sound of knocking interrupted his train of thought. He gazes over at the door and calls out.

“Who is it?”

“It’s just me! I was wondering if you are hungry. I assume you haven’t eaten since you left the castle today. Would..you like me to make you something?”

He stands up and makes his way to the door and opens it, gazing at the purple unicorn for a moment than shook his head. He was hungry for sure, but he wasn’t going to let her make him food. Chef’s habit and all.

“I’ll go down and make something myself. I am not about to have you waiting on me hands and fo-...hoof.”

He said as he made his way passed her down the stairs and into the kitchen. Night had already came, and so he flipped on the lights and began familiarizing himself with the kitchen and where everything was. He had decided on breakfast for dinner. Pancakes with maple syrup and butter along with hashbrowns and eggs, seeing that there was no bacon or sausage in sight in this kitchen.

He grabs a hair tie from his pocket and ties it up into a ponytail before getting to work. As he makes his food, Twilight watching him whisk the ingredients into pancake mix and cut up the potatoes into fine thin pieces and toss both of them into their respective frying pans. The mare had to catch herself from drooling as the smell certainly got to her.

“By the look on your face and the sound of your stomach, you haven’t eaten either. #What about the little dragon?”

“O-Oh, he has already eaten and gone to bed. I came up to check on you while taking a break from my studies. You don’t have to worry about me though!”

“Well too bad. I am making you dinner. It’s the least I can do for you taking me in when you didn’t have to. So sit down and get comfortable. It will be ready soon.”

Twilight nodded and sat at the table on his orders. She continued to watch him before he finally brought her plate. It wasn’t anything fancy, but the food looked amazing and smelled amazing. She smiled and clapped her hands happily. But, frowned as he took a seat on the other side of the room on one of the chairs against the wall.

“I don’t mind sharing my table with you…”

“You know I can’t when i have my mouth uncovered. Otherwise it will cause trouble for the both of us.”

“Oh...right. Sorry.”

The rest of the time was spent eating quietly with Twilight glancing at him every now and then. Once he had finished, he washed all the dishes including hers once she had finished and started his way back up the stairs without a word. She watches him leave and simply gives a sad sigh before returning to her studies. She felt sad for the human. She’d try her best to get him to feel better. And the first thing on her list? TO find a way to help him control the triggering of his magic consumption.