Sun Slayer's radiance

Starlight, now Stardust Comet, was livid. How can these damn mares think that they can stand up to her power?! She was faster, stronger, and more agile than the rest, yet they still persisted. Even the coward of the group grew a pair and just tackled her, outrageous! With a roar of anger, Stardust lunged at the mare and felt pride at seeing the yellow mare's scared face.

“SURPRISE!”

A load of confetti, streamers, and glitter impacted Stardust’s side, making her cough up blood and sending her tumbling to the ground.

“Pinkie pie! Where were you?” Fluttershy asked with a sigh of relief.

The pink party mare wrapped a foreleg around Fluttershy. “Oh, you know, just helping a few folks here and there, picking up a snack on my way to join you girls, getting distracted by a pretty bird I saw, and-” As Pinkie continued to ramble on, Stardust shook herself out of her daze and snarled at the two elements. But her sights were changed upon seeing Michikatsu trying to help his injured brother up.

“Shit, he’s out cold. What was with that explosion?!” Michikatsu frantically thought. Somehow, Stardust was able to create an explosion, most likely from the blood demon art, but something about it wasn’t right. His eyes widened in shock when the scent of blood filled his nose again. “Hey, get out of here!” He wiped around to face Fluttershy and Pinkie just in time for Stardust to charge her horn.

“Meteor shower!” The demon mare once again launched her assault on astral space rocks. Michikatsu’s body moved on its own as he grabbed Yoriichi, dashed toward the two mares, and tackled them and himself out of the way just in time.

The older swords pony recovered from the fall and charged Stardust with his sword, not noticing it turning a deep red. “Moon breathing, first form: Dark Moon, Evening Palace!” Michikatsu slashed his blade and sent the crescent-shaped projectiles at Stardust. To his shock, Stardust easily dodged them and appeared in front of him in a flash of white.

Michikatsu shut his eyes to shield them from the bright light, but they shot open when the demon mare’s hoof slammed into his chest. Blood escaped his mouth as Michikatsu’s ribs made a sickening cracking sound. The two stayed like that for a single second until Stardust's punch sent the older swords pony flying to the wrecked rollercoaster.

“No!” Twilight shouted as Rarity ran over to help him out. “This isn't looking good. Yoriichi and Michikatsu are down, and you have a broken wing.” She said to the recovering Rainbow dash. “If we don’t find out her weakness and defeat her soon, I don’t know what we can do.” Twilight started to breathe heavily, and her vision became blurry with tears of fear.

Fortunately, Rainbow got to her hooves and slapped the panicking mare. “Get a hold of yourself!” She yelled in Twilight's face. “This isn’t like you, Twi! I know things aren’t looking too great, but that doesn’t mean we should just give up!” She held out a hoof with a determined glare. “Now get up; we got a demon that needs a good kick in the flank.”

Over by Fluttershy, she got up from the ground and gasped at seeing Yoriichi’s body. She scrambled over to him and gently rolled him off his burnt and charred back. Thankfully Pinkie was brave enough to distract Stardust with her non-stop talking. Every time the demon mare tried to hit Pinkie, she’d disappear and pop out of nowhere to keep annoying stardust.

It didn’t last long as Stardust finally got a hold of Pinkie by wrapping a hoof around her neck, which made a rubber chicken sound on contact. Starlight grinned widely and was about to finish Pinke when her foreleg was shot off by Twilight's magic, causing her to drop Pinkie pie.

“ARGH! You’ll pay for that, you worm!” Stardust growled as she pointed her head at the approaching alicorn. Suddenly, a rope was tightened around her neck, and yanked her head. Applejack grunted as she tried to keep the demon mare back and looked at Twilight circling Stardust.

“Go on, Twi!” She shouted through her clenched teeth.

Twilight smirked, planting her hooves into the ground, and lit her horn, surrounding Stardust in a lavender aura and restraining her movement. Grunting and thrashing about, Stardust panicked internally. Just barely creeping out of the horizon was Celestia's sun. This was bad for two reasons, one, it meant the distraction at the castle was wiped out somehow, and two, she would burn up if she didn't act fast.

In a desperate attempt to get free, Stardust tensed all her muscles and aimed her horn at the ground. “Meteor shower!” A hoofball size astral meteor shot from her horn and into the ground, creating a big explosion. The rope Applejack had gone loose, and the magic surrounding her dispersed, with Twilight yelping in surprise.

When the smoke cleared, Stardust was heavily damaged with a missing foreleg, jaw, and most of her front skin, only leaving charged flesh and bone that quickly healed. She attempted to make a getaway, but a sudden purple and blue blur charged at Stardust, stabbing and grappling her in place. Michikatsu was equally damaged, as evident by the multiple gashes and the subtraction of a left foreleg. Sweat dripped down his pained face as he held desperately to his sword with his right hoof.

“Rainbow, don’t you dare let go!” He commanded, only getting an affirmative grunt from the injured pegasus.

Stardust had enough, she opened her sharp-toothed maw and chomped down on Michikatsu’s neck. He screamed in pain but overwise didn’t let go. To make matters worse for her, another pony joined the freaky as Yoriichi stabbed the side of her neck.

“You don’t get to go after what you did.” Yoriichi sneered. The burning from his blade caused agonizing pain to Stardust.

She saw the sun was now beginning to truly show itself with its light rays creeping towards her. Stardust felt tears of fear well up in her eyes. In a final desperate act, her body vibrated roughly to the point the ground was starting to shake. And with a defiant roar, her horn let out a powerful shockwave.

The force overwhelmed the three ponies and made Yoriichi and Michikatsu release their sword's grip and sent Rainbow dash and the others flying back. Taking the opportunity, Stardust pulled the swords out of her body and ran away from the sun as fast as she could. Yoriichi saw this and was about to give chase when, out of the corner of his eye, Fluttershy was lying in a destroyed building with a destroyed front. Above her, a portion of the second floor crumbled and threatened to crush the dazed pegasus.

Said shy mare was shaking the blurriness from her head when the sound of breaking brick made her look up. Her eyes widened in horror when a large chunk of the building. It broke off and Fluttershy’s body was too terrified to move. Covering her head, Fluttershy waited for the pain of breaking bones and the oncoming darkness. Only, it never came. She was puzzled at the fact she wasn’t dead, and slowly moved her forelegs. She immediately regretted it as she gasped at the sight of Yoriichi standing over her.

His body was holding up the rubble, his trembling legs looked like they could give out any second. Blood sputtered out of his mouth and nose with each pained cough from his broken ribs. And despite that, he gave her a sweet and comforting smile that did little to calm her down.

“Don’t…fear, you’re safe…now.” Yoriichi mumbled out as his eyes glossed over and became dull.

Fluttershy’s muffled cries for him to not go went unheard, as darkness crept at the edge of his vision. And for the briefest of seconds, Yoriichi could have sworn Uta and an unknown child sat behind the crying Fluttershy.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Inside Muzans hideout, the demon king himself was at a table using complicated chemistry set on it filled with colored liquids. Accompanying the set were different types of plant and biological life from the surrounding forest encased in glass tubes or jars.

Muzan himself, however, grinned widely as he looked closely at a vial full of a sea-blue-colored liquid with a hint of pride. That grin turned into an annoyed frown when the sound of hooves impacted the floor behind him followed by heavy breathing. Turning around, he saw Stardust comet kneeling on the ground, her astral mane unkempt, an uneasy look in the eyes that were looking right at him.

“M-Master M-Muzan, the o-operation was a success.” She huffed out. Muzan placed the vail on a metal rack and fully turned to face Stardust.

“Show me.” He bluntly said.

Stardust sat on her haunches and clapped her front hooves together. A second later, two demon changelings flew down from the ceiling carrying a large wooden box with gold trim. They set it down in front of Muzan and backed away quickly. The demon king smiled and grabbed hold of the locked latch of the box and forced it open by ripping out the lock.

Upon opening it the artifact radiated a sinister aura that made Muzan regain his wicked grin. It was mostly black with the only colors being the eyes of a unicorn head, the top of a pair of wings, and the shining gem that was placed in the middle of the artifact. Muzan could tell without wearing it that the alicorn amulet held great power, the power that was in his hooves.

“Uh, Lord Muzan?” He looked up away from the amulet to see a confused Stardust. “Not to question your intelligence, but how are you going to use it? I mean, you don’t have a horn so-” Her question when she blinked and her head was staring back at her decapitated body.

“Do not mistake me for a fool, no matter how you phrase it.” Muzan spat, throwing her head to the ground as it rolled back to her body. “As for your question, I can alter my body's structure to whatever I desire, that is my blood demon art.”

As Stardust reattached her head, her eyes widened. The areas on Muzans shoulders and forehead started to bubble and instantly grew a set of powerful wings and a long sharp horn. Never once had she ever seen something so jaw-dropping. In a matter of two seconds, this earth pony became an alicorn right in front of her eyes.

“It will take time adjusting to the magic flowing through my body,” Muzan closed his eyes in concentration and soon his horn glowed a faint red as the amulet was surrounded by the same aura. “But with this, I will no longer have to be afraid. No longer will the sun trap me in its shadows, and no longer with HE plague my memories!” The amulet wrapped around Muzan's barrel and clicked in place.

“Watch yourself, Yoriichi, for you will soon meet your fate once more!”

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘Beep…Beep…Beep’

Yoriichi slowly opened his eyes and immediately shut them as a bright light stung his vision. Taking more caution, he opened his eyes again and was rewarded by not being blinded, and the blank ceiling facing him. The sword pony attempted to sit up, but pain shot up his back and forced him to lay back down.

He had no choice but to use his head to look around, which wasn’t much better than sitting up. To his right, there were weird beeping machines that had tubes and wires connecting his bandaged body. To the left, a window was covered by light green shades, the lack of light coming through indicated that it was most likely night. Along the wall were a few chairs, one of which had a sleeping Fluttershy with bandages around her right foreleg and midsection.

Yoriichi stretched a hoof at the sleeping Fluttershy, but the pain started to flare up again, so he put his hoof back and returned his gaze to the ceiling. A wall clock ticked as the seconds went by, Yoriichi taking long and deep recovering breaths to heal what damage he could mend.

Saliva got stuck in his windpipe by accident and made Yoriichi cough, bringing more pain to his body. Gasps made him stop coughing, and he shifted his view to Fluttershy now wide awake with a shocked expression.

It didn’t take long before the shy mare was latching on to the bandaged Yoriichi, crying tears of joy. “Thank Celestia you’re alive! Y-You took so long, I was scared that you wouldn’t w-wake up!” She managed to say between sobs. Yoriichi recovered from the surprise bear hug and lightly patted her back, his expression softening.

“I’m glad to see you are fine as well.” He said with a ruff and raspy voice. Fluttershy took notice and let go of Yoriichi, walking into a bathroom out of Yoriichi’s line of sight, and coming back with a glass of water. She offered it to him, which he gratefully took in his hooves and guzzled back. Once he removed the glass from his lips and hoofed it back to Fluttershy, he asked,” How long have I been out?”

This made the shy mare stiffen as she looked away, a sad expression on her face. “Y-You’ve been asleep for almost three weeks.” Yoriichi’s expression turned to mild shock, but Fluttershy continued. “Most of your ribs were broken, along with fractures in your skull and legs. The doctor said it was a miracle that you were alive because one of your ribs pierced your lungs. Any longer and you would have…d-died.” She whimpered a little and tried to put on a smile. “But I-Its ok now, y-you are better, right?”

It was no use, her smile faded as tears started to pour down her face. Yoriichi forced his aching body to sit up and hold the crying mare in a warm embrace. “I-I’m so sorry! If I wasn’t so weak, you wouldn’t be like this. I almost got you killed because of my stupid self!” She shouted, voice muffled by Yoriichis's bandaged chest.

Yoriichi laid a gentle hoof on her mane and began stroking it, “You’re not weak,” Fluttershy ceased her sobbing and her blue eyes stared up at him. “When you stood up to that demon, most new slayer recruits from where I come from would have been frozen in fear. Instead, you fought back, and I’m proud of you for that.” Yoriichi held Fluttershy closer as his voice lowered to a whisper. “You may not be as strong or brave as others, but you have the potential to be a great pony. Don’t compare yourself to others; only focus on your strength and use it to help the weak.” Silence flooded the room as the two felt each other's warm embrace.

Then, Fluttershy pulled away from Yoriichi with a small smile, tears still rolling down her face. Suddenly, the shy mare leaned forward and pressed her lips into Yoriichi’s. This surprised the sword pony, causing him to mentally do a double take. Fluttershy broke the kiss, a heavy blush on her face.

“I-I’ll get the others.” She said simply before dashing out the door.

When the door closed, Yoriichi sat staring dumbfounded at it. He brought a hoof up to his muzzle and looked down, not seeing the faint blush on his face.

“What?”

Over the course of an hour and a half, Yoriichi was assaulted by hugs and relieved compliments from the other elements. Applejack and Rainbow were the only two that were bandaged up, with the rainbow pegasus’s wing in a cast. The rest, Twilight, Pinkie, and Rarity, were mostly unharmed with only a couple of bandages covering scratches and minor cuts.

Celestia soon joined in just as Pinkie had set up a mini party in the hospital to make up for Yoriichi's “welcome to ponyville” party. Despite Pinkie insisting it was an ‘emergency party pack’ she had stashed away in her main, he still thought it was a sort of magic.

During the party, the elements explained what happened when Yorrichi was asleep. Not long after the fight, the royal guard swooped in and got to work cleaning up and pulling any ponies out from the rubble.

They’d also retrieved him from the rubble, but Fluttershy supposedly wouldn’t let go and had to be pulled off him, much to her distress. More alarmingly, Twilight said the castle was attacked and heavily damaged, which Celestia looked away with a guilty look, and that something from its secret vault had been stolen.

“The alicorn amulet?” Yorrichi asked, taking a bite from his slice of chocolate cake.

Celestia turned to him with a serious look, “To make a long story short, it is a powerful artifact that can grant the user a magic boost that heightens their magical abilities. But it comes at the price of the user slowly falling under its effects and turning insane with power.” Twilight grimaced at Celestia's description, a memory of a blue show mare and her temporary takeover of Ponyville. “And we believe that it was stolen during the attack.”

Yoriichi looked down in thought. He didn’t think Muzan would go this far to gain power, but it was predictable considering the type of person he is. All that death and carnage just so his underlings could snatch an artifact. The very thought of it made Yoriichi’s blood boil, but he managed to not let it show. Suddenly, a thought came to his mind.

“What about Michikatsu? Is he well?” He asked calmly. As the question left his mouth, the room was filled with an awkward and uneasy tension as everyone averted their gazes, except for Twilight.

“Well…” She scratched the back of her head,” He did come with us.” She smiled awkwardly at Yoriichi, making him raise an eyebrow at her mannerisms.

“Then why isn’t he here?” Yorrichi had a worrying feeling in his chest at the thought of his brother being gravely injured, or possibly dead.

Twilight sighed and got off her chair, “It’s…best if I showed you.” The young alicorn made her way to the door of the room, cracked it open, and stuck her head outside. After a few long seconds of muffled chatter, Twilight brought her head back and walked away from the door. “He says he’ll come in. But also said to not freak out.” She warned.

The door creaked open as Michikatsu’s silhouette appeared in the doorway. Yoriichi was confused at first, but when the older brother walked closer, his face became a mix of anguish and horror. Michikatsu’s previously missing arm was back again as if nothing happened to it, the sword he’d lost was returned to his hip, and the stallion didn’t have any visible injuries to speak of.

What made Yoriichi's heart hurt with grief was the addition of six red and yellow eyes on his older brother's face.