All was quiet in the Royal Medical wing in Canterlot Castle. Princess Luna laid in the room ,a medical bed covered in head to toe with bandages which included where her horn and wings used to be. The mare slumbered, albeit rather roughly as Celestia opened the door closed it behind her as she walked over to her younger sister’s side and gently shook her await. The younger sister immediately shot up with bloodshot eyes and a cold sweat dripping down her face “N-No please, not my wings!!!” she screamed in absolute horror before realizing where she was now. She looks up to see her sister standing by her side before wrapping her arms around her tightly.

“Sister! I am so glad that you came to rescue me!” Luna cried out with tears of happiness. However, that moment wasn’t meant to last as Celestia placed her hands upon her sister’s shoulders “Dear sister..do you realize what you have done..?” she asked in a rather somber tone. She pushes Luna back lightly as she gazes down into her eyes “You went and attacked an enemy nation out of a fit of rage for Aku? You should have known what he would have done. Despite how evil and cruel he seems, he has shown that he cares a great deal for the nation he now rules.”.

Luna’s eyes widen as she leans away from her sister’s touch before looking out the window of the clear afternoon sky “You are taking his side now..? After what he did to me-?”. Celestia closed her eyes and raised her tone rather harshly “Wake up, Luna! You went and attacked an unprovoked nation! Aku was well within his right to do what he did to you! Had I not shown up to bring you back home, there would have been nothing left of you!”. It was clear that what Aku had done to Luna tore Celestia up inside. Her eyes both filled with anger and sadness for her younger sister. But, as much as she wanted to, she couldn’t blame the Oni King.

Celestia walked over to the window with her left hand squeezing her upper right arm “You are lucky to be alive..he would have devoured you without a second thought.” she said as the gruesome image in her mind played out, making her shudder in terror. “At least he was compassionate enough to let me leave with you. You need to remember that he has the distinct advantage of siphoning our magic away. And Unlike Tirek, there is no way to retrieve it from him. Once he swallows all your magic, there is no getting it back.”. However, this talk was being wasted upon the former alicorn. For without her wings and horn, she might as well be an earth pony.

Luna, being the younger sister, wanted to protest against her elder. She wanted to tell her that everything was his fault. The protests, their citizens leaving, everything. But deep down, she knew that she was the one who made the mistake of doing what she did. She looked down at her hands and began to sob quietly “He took my magic from me..not just my wings and horn. The way he did it was so brutal. He had this..mouth in the middle of his left palm. It tore at my face and I could feel my magic literally being torn from me. It hurt so much. Not only that, but I felt whatever presence of Nightmare Moon I had left within me get ripped from me as well. If he can do that…there is no telling what else that monster is capable of.”

Celestia listened as her sister described in detail of what had happened. It made her shudder in horror for sure. But, that didn’t make her stance on the matter change. Her sister did what she did. And now, it may cause issues for both of them and their kingdom down the road sooner or later. There was only one thing to do and hope that it will cool things down between Equestria and Aku’s nation. “We have no choice, Luna. We must send the elements on our behalf to negotiate peace. I know that if either you or I show up there, they will not give us a chance. I hate to do this to Twilight and her friends. But they are the only ones who are on somewhat decent ground with Aku.”

Celestia walks away from her sister and sits down at a table as a paper and quill appear in front of her. As she began writing, Luna looked down at her hands which rested in her lap. She didn’t like the idea, not one bit. BNut, it was the logical thing to do after her irrational decision. It was a risk to send them to Aku. But, with everything going on now, their choices were running low. However, would this choice be a costly one?

–Outside Of Kazoku–

The sounds of construction could be heard as a team of builders were busy putting together a small village that surrounded a well with a shrine sitting at the top of the village. Aku stood there in dirty work clothing, not wanting to have his people work on it all by themselves without his guidance and support. Not to mention, it was an excuse to get away from his new ruler position, even if for a little while. He didn’t mind the work anyway. “So, these plans follow the golden ratio quiote nicely. And the buildings are looking just as they did back in the feudal era where I come from. You are all doing extremely well.” he said as he looked over the blueprints which sat on a workbench with the leaders of the teams standing next to him.

“What are we building this village for, Aku?” asked one of the leaders. Even though he was their ruler now, he didn’t really care for formalities unless they weren’t his citizens. They didn’t deserve that right. Aku smiles as his gaze turns to the leader”This is for an experiment I will be conducting soon. Rest assured, nothing negative will come of it. You have my word, as do the rest of you and all the citizens. If anything, this may help us all in the long run. Now then, make sure this goes here, and that there…” he said as he continued to instruct the building.

–A Few Hours Later–

Twilight and her friends ventured down the stone brick path that led to Kazoku. She was the first one to notice the tori gates every now and then that stood over the as they grew closer and closer to the capital of the nation and that the road splits off into others which lead to the smaller cities. As they came to the main gate of the city, a group of samurai who were stationed to guard the entrance moved closer together in front of the gate with their hands on their sword hilts. “Your faces aren’t familiar here. State your names and business here.”

The six mares stopped in their tracks as the guards stood in their way. Rainbow Dash, being the hot head she was, flew right up into the first guard’s face and glared as she spoke. “You listen here, buddy. We are here to speak with Aku, not you. So you better let us through if you know what’s good for-Woooah!” she screamed as she was pushed away and then thrown to the ground with a quick and simple aikido throw from the guard who in fact was a mare. And a very strong one at that. “First off, you WILL refer to him as the Oni King. Second of all, this isn’t YOUR homeland. So you and your friends will follow the rules just as every new face does here.” She then turned to one of the guards behind her”Go and retrieve General Tempest. We have a group of ponies here who say they need to speak with the Oni King.”

As the guard went off to get Shadow Tempest, Twilight placed a palm on her face before walking over to help Rainbow up from the ground “You know, that isn’t going to look good when and if we get to see him, RD. I know you still carry a grudge against him. But, if we are to succeed here, you will need to reign in your teper. She is right, we are in his domain now. And we need to be respectful if we want this peace talk to go well.” After an hour, Tempest Shadow comes to the gate with Aku next to her. He was dressed in his usual ruler attire after he had cleaned up and finished his business on the outskirts of the city. His eyes widened for a moment before narrowing at the group of familiar faces “You six…” he simply stated in a rather harsh tone.

Twilight takes a step toward him with a hopeful smile before he puts a hand out in front of him to make sure she stays back “Your time may have expired from being banned here. But that doesn’t mean you are on friendly terms with me, Twilight. Fluttershy is the only exception to that. Now then, I take it you are here to speak with me about some kind of peace talk with your leaders. No doubt you know what one of them did here, and what I did to them in return.”

Twilight stopped in mid step as Aku spoke to her. Her ears and tail dropped as he prevented her from getting closer “Y-yes. They made it clear to us that you forbade them from ever stepping hoof into your nation. So they sent us in their place.” Aku looked down at Tempest with a nod “They are here on royal business. So see to it they are given the finest hospitality we have. I mean it.” He said as he turned away to head back to city hall. Tempest nodded and motioned for the guards to let them pass and follow her.

As they walked through the city, Tempest spoke to them “You know, if he was still a general, he would have denied all of you entry right away. I know what some of you think of him. You see him as a ruthless monster. But, take a look around this city, and you will find he is a better ruler than your two princesses could ever be.”. And look around they did. Not only did they see ponies, but gryphons and hippogryphs too. All coexisting happily within this nation peacefully and happily with one another. Guard and citizens speaking to each other as equals on the streets. Shops and businesses thriving greatly, and all around peace. The six mares could hardly believe what they were seeing. Expecting a kingdom full of sadden faces and poverty, now finding it happy and affluent.

Once they had settled into their room, the six of them gathered around on the couches. “Okay, this city is certainly what I wasn’t expecting. It seems that all the creatures here are doing just fine. I even saw some familiar faces in town who had moved away from Canterlot and Ponyville. It would seem that the rumors of ponies leaving Equestria to come make a life here are true.” Twilight said as she rubbed her chin in thought, genuinely surprised at this. “And did you see the style of clothing that was in the shops?! So many exotic and beautiful designs! I am most certainly inspired to create more whenever we return home~.” Beamed Rarity as new ideas swirled around in ehr ever creative mind.

“And did you smell all the wonderful foods we passed on the way here? They have just about everything here! And new foods I have never ever seen before.” pinkie said as she bounced excitedly in her seat. Applejack and Rainbow however, sat there with their arms crossed. Both were unimpressed at what Aku had helped create. Of course those two would still be holding a grudge against him. Fluttershy remained speechless as she sat there in ehr own thoughts. She had her own plan in mind after everyone had gone to sleep for the night.

It was late in the evening. Aku sat at his desk filling out requests and important paperwork that had been sent to him over the past few days. As he was focusing on his work, he heard a knock on the window behind him which made him jump slightly before grabbing his sword that sat next to him, getting ready to pull it out before seeing Fluttershy peering in at him. She gave a light squeak as she saw him grab his sword and flew back a bit. He sighed before placing the sword back down against his desk and opened the window to allow her to come in.

She cautiously makes her way into the room after he closes the window behind her before landing on her hooves. “You know you could have come through the front, right?” said Aku as he turned to face her. “I…I don’t think they would have let me in to see you, Aku..” she said as she swirled one of ehr hooves on the ground while she looked at him from behind her hair. “I…I wanted to see you so badly, I just couldn’t help myself. I really, really mi-..eep!” She lets out before she is cut off by Aku embracing her into a warm and tight hug.His chin rested atop her head between her ears as his hands ran up and down her back, a shaky breath escaping his lips as he spoke to her “I have missed you too, Shy. So, so very much. More than you will ever know in fact.”

As Fluttershy was being held by Aku like this, a fear had finally been lifted from her shoulders. The little yellow pegasus had feared that he had lost all affection for her. Her arms slowly wrap around Aku’s back and grip his robe firmly as soft little sobs and whimpers come from her as she buried her face into his chest staining his clothes with her tears, the mare shaking hard as she tries to find the right words to say to him after all this time. “When I first saw you at the gates, I wanted to hold you just like this right away. But..I couldn’t.”

Fluttershy understood why he acted the way he did. But here and now, he was showing that side of himself that she had missed while he was living back in Ponyville, that sweet and loving side she had come to love about him. After a few more minutes, she looked up at him before saying “I…I have thought about this long and hard since the last time I saw you, Aku. The others don’t know about this. But I have come to a final decision on the offer you made to me last time. I want to come and live here in this nation. I want to experience what this nation has to offer and support you in any way I can…”. The room fell silent for what felt like an eternity. Did he hear her right? She wanted to leave Equestria…?

Author's Note

And so it begins. The separation of the elements is only step one.

May the darkness grant you peace.