Sun Slayer's radiance

"Idiot," Muzan growled as he glared at the vast forest outside the newly built study of his bed chambers. " My forces are growing by the day. But that won’t matter if all of my upper ranks aren’t alive when the day arrives." Taking a sip from a half-full wine glass, he turned his gaze to the kneeling bored demon. "To rise to the top, I must trim the fat. Don't you agree?" He asked with a quizzical glance.

"You are right as always, my lord." The bored demon said, then looking up at Muzan with its signature indifferent expression. "But, if I may be so bold to ask, what should we do about our newest addition?"

"It seems she has gotten into trouble yet again." The demon lord sighed, "But It was a mistake of mine recruiting such a pathetic pony." Turning in his rotating leather chair, he looked down at the bored demon with a hardened glare. "Nevertheless, I want you to keep an eye on her; lest she cause another accident. We can not afford to lose an asset such as herself. If anything is to happen, It will be on your head, foal." Muzan sneered.

The bored demon lowered his head into a bow before disappearing in a flash. When Muzan was sure the room was vacant, he got up from the leather chair and left his room. As he walked down the halls, changeling demons bowed to him, only to be ignored outright. A nagging feeling was itching Muzan’s mind, only serving to aggravate him more.

And it had to do with that...mare.

Starburst.

No matter what, that mare never left his head, like a permanent tattoo on his mind that can never be removed. Ever since he found the pathetic creature wallowing in her own self-pity, it had been nothing but a nightmare for him, almost as bad as...him.

Even when she spoke out of line or made a mistake that enraged him, a strange feeling stopped him from killing her off. Her memories were a prime suspect. But for whatever reason, he also found himself getting glimpses of her past life. From each glimpse he saw, it was almost like he feeling-

Muzan's eyes widened slightly, but the demons around him were too weary to address him. But, Muzan finally knew what that feeling was. A feeling he hadn't experienced for hundreds of years.

Pity.

In short, Muzan had found the emotion of pity to be a sign of weakness. Only when he allowed Guytaro and his useless sister to become demons, did he feel some semblance of pity and fondness. He had killed and maimed countless before, demon and mortal alike, without any hesitation or remorse. So why was this mare so different?

Even now, he questioned himself as to why he was heading toward Starburst's chambers—not even remembering the real reason why he left his room. Muzan grunted in frustration and was about to turn the other way when that same feeling screamed at his limbs to keep marching forward. Sighing internally, he reluctantly continued his trek down the rocky hallways with a deep scowl. Time seemed to flow by as Muzan found himself standing before Starburt's door with his hoof mid-knock.

Wait. Why was he going to knock? He was the demon lord; this entire base and everything in it was his. So why did he feel the need to act polite?!

Muzan roared and reeled his hoof back, punching the door. The solid wooden barrier flew off its hinges, shattering into splinters, followed closely by a surprised yelp. Muzan huffed as he walked past the damaged doorway, scanning the room and quickly finding a large lump covered by bed sheets.

"If this is how one of my upper-ranked demons acts when getting ambushed, you severely disappointed me." Muzan scoffed, looking at the head of a panicked Starburst emerging from the sheets.

"M-My lord!" Starburst shouted as she tried her best to release herself from her cotton prison. Unfortunately, her wild movement had gotten one of her hoofs tangled in the sheets, making the demon mare scream as she fell off the bed and onto her head.

"Owww." She moaned.

Usually, Muzan would scold or punish such idiotic behavior from one of his demons, especially one of her rank. But to his surprise, he noticed a bubbly pressure rising in his throat that threatened to escape. He quickly got rid of it by coughing into his hoof. Starburst must have heard it, because the bewildered mare managed to untangle herself and bow deeply to Muzan, her body slightly trembling.

"M-My deepest apologies, Lord Muzan." She apologized, "I didn't expect you to come in here, so I-"

Starburst was cut off by her being surrounded by a blood-red aura and lifted onto her bed. She looked at Muzan with fear and confusion at the sight of his stoic expression.

Muzan sighed as he pinched the bridge of his muzzle with a hoof, "You are excused. I find myself having a hard time. Getting that new recruit under control is paining me." He scoffed.

"New...recruit?" Starburst asked confusingly.

"Did you not hear me?" Muzan snapped, causing Starburst to flinch and rapidly shake her head. "But to answer your question, yes, the newest addition to my army. Some homeless mare I happened to come across, and merely caught my eye. What she lacks in mental fortitude, she makes up for with her unpredictability and speed." Muzan shifted his eyes over at something from the corner of his eye. "What is that?" He pointed out.

Starburst looked confused before following his hoof until her eyes laid on a small mound of dug-up rock and dirt in the corner of her room. A look of sorrow and anxiety crossed her face. "I-Its nothing, sir." She mumbled quietly.

Suddenly, a magical aura tightly gripped her throat, making her sputter and gag for air as she slammed against the wall. Muzan stomped close to her and glared at the demon mare with irritation.

“I don’t appreciate when a pathetic mongrel like you lies to me.” He growled, but a sickly feeling appeared in Muzan’s stomach, making him dissipate his magic. Starburst fell to the floor hacking and coughing while holding her neck. “But it is of little concern to me. Continue your recovery, and prepare for when our rising starts. Do. not. disappoint. me.”

Muzan then turned, not even bothering to look back at the recovering Starburst. The sickening sensation made itself known again to the demon king as he walked down the rocky halls. And to say he was tired of these troublesome emotions popping up would be an understatement. He felt…

Disgusted.

Not in the sense of something or someone being repulsive to be around. It was the kind of disgust a good-mannered child would feel when they knew that they have done something wrong, knowing of the punishment yet to come. Of course, Muzan knew no punishment could, or ever would, befall him. But the more…concerning aspect was that he was feeling bad about his treatment of HER. Why the hell should he care!? That pathetic mare couldn’t even handle one fight before getting bedridden for MONTHS. She should be DEAD!

Muzan punched his hoof into the wall, causing the hall he was in to momentarily shake as a large crack formed upwards. “Damn this realm. And the maggots that infest it.” He cursed as he continued his trek as the startled changeling demon’s stepped out of the way.

This was exhausting

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The streets of Manehatten were just alive as ever with ponies going about their night. That was until the middle of the street exploded and sent chunks of rock and concrete flying in every direction. Luckily nopony got hurt, but after so, the ponies just stared in shock.

Sparks flew as a frightening-looking mare faced off a colorful pegasus as hardened bone collided with steel. Both of their movements were too fast for the regular ponies, coming off as blurs and momentary after-images to them. Rainbow dash swung at the demon mare, but as the demon went to block, Rainbow bucked the demon in the muzzle, causing the demon to stumble back. Then, she roared as she brought down her sword, only to be stunned when the demon bit down on it, holding the weapon mid-strike.

“Ah, crap!” Rainbow shouted, using every fiber of her muscles to pull the sword out. But the demon didn’t let up, as it raised a hoof and pointed it at Rainbow. Sensing danger, Rainbow took a deep breath and let her pegasus magic flow through her body.

“Storm breathing, form 3: Typhoon!”

Rainbow tensed all the muscles in her body to their absolute limit and twisted her body. The demon tried its best to hold its ground but quickly found itself being launched into the side of a building with its jaw completely sliced off. Ponies scream and fled in terror once the demon got back on its hoof and glared at Rainbow dash with a crazed look. It growled angrily before launching another spike at Rainbow.

She smirked and rolled out of the way, but didn’t see the other one flanking her right and she jumped out of the way. Unfortunately, Rainbow didn’t react in time, and the spike stabbed into her right hindleg, electing a pained scream from Rainbow.

“Blood demon art,” Rainbow’s eyes widened when she heard the demon muttering, “Ribbed caged!”

To Rainbow dashes disgust, the ribs of the demon burst from her chest and grew, resembling the maw of a dangerous beast. But her stunned silence was killed off when she saw the crazed demon slowly approaching her. She went to stand, but yelped in pain and looked back to see the boney spike still embedded into her hindleg. No matter how hard Rainbow pulled, her leg was stuck there unless she risked damaging it further. Her breathing became erratic as the demon mare was not right in front of her, smiling wickedly with tears still rolling down her face.

“Please be silent.” The demon mare's monstrous ribs opened wide to engulf the down pegasus. Rainbow closed her eyes and braced for the oncoming pain. But a gargling noise and the sound of metal cutting through flesh made Rainbow open her eyes to see the demon mare holding her bleeding neck.

“You still got a lot to learn, kid.” Said a familiar voice. Rainbow followed it to see Michikatsu standing a few meters away with a strange sword in his mouth. “But you have potential, I can see that.” He said, turning around and allowing Rainbow to get a better look at the strange sword.

It was the normal shape of one, but beyond that was where the similarities ended. The purple blade was lined with eyes similar to Michikatsu’s with…veins connecting them. It was the same story for the rest of the weapon, with eyes on the pink and purple-lined hoof guard, and in between the dark-turquoise handle wrapping. Even the flesh-colored scabbard hand eyes go vertically down. Rainbow thought she saw some of the eyes blinking.

“What are you doing?! You’re supposed to be on our side!” The demon mare yelled. Instead of waiting for an answer, she turned her body to face Michikatsu and sent her sharp ribs at the demon slayer.

Michikatsu stood in place, even when the spike stabbed through his head, torso, and legs, he barely flinched or showed any signs of pain. In one swift motion, Michikatsu severed all the boney spikes, making the demon mare screech in pain and hold her head. He then scoffed as he got into an offensive stance, wounds healing,

“I gave up that life a long time ago.” Michikatsu said with a grimace,” It’s a shame, for a poor soul like you to turn into a monster.” He muttered to himself.

Michikatsu shook off the pity for the pony-eating creature and charged at it. But he scoffed as the demon’s jaw unhinged as it prepared for the same attack that downed the two guards. He quickly shifted his weight to one side and landed on the ground. Before the demon mare had time to move her head, in a burst of speed, Michikatsu swung at her with all his might. To his surprise, the demon mare bent backward under the attack, causing Michikatsu's attack to fly over her. A painful grimace enveloped the mare's face as she swung her left hoof in the air.

A sharp pain stabbed into his side when a spiked rib impaled the demon sword's pony in the stomach. And with a mighty screech, the demon mare swung Michikatsu above her head and tossed him away, sending him face-first into the side of a building. The brick wall collapsed and glass windows shattered at the impact, and ponies screamed and ran away from the collapsed building face. Michikatsu, laying bloody and broken in the crater, coughed up blood and got it over his tattered Haori.

“H-How? I put all my leg strength into that dash. So why didn’t it hit?” He questioned internally but held back a grunt as a shock of pain shot through his spine.

“MICHIKATSU!” Rainbow shouted with her hoof stretched out at him.

Her gaze was then changed to the demon mare, who was now slowly walking towards Michikatsu. Rainbow snarled at the demon. She bit down on her sword’s handle and tried to stand, but her back leg buckled under the intense pain.

“If I don’t get to her now, Michikatsu is toast!”

Then an idea struck her that made the prismatic mare smirk. Unfurling her wings, Rainbow dash did a few test flaps and found that, even with the sword's added weight, she felt lighter than air. “Thanks, Yoriichi, Michikatsu .” She remarked. Looking back at the demon mare, Rainbow flapped her wing hard and shot forth with a muffled BOOM in the air.

Hearing this noise, the demon mare turned to see a glimpse of a colorful blur before the feeling of steel slicing into its neck, making it look down. In front of her was the same pesky pegasus with her sword embedded in her throat, but unmoving. This shocked the pegasus apparently, going off her shocked expression, as the weapon barely scratched the demon's bone. “W-What?!” Was the only thing the pegasus could say before the demon mare kicked her into the window of a coffee shop.

The demon shuffled as she looked to where the pegasus landed. “You poor thing. My demon blood art allows me to manipulate my bone structure in any way I like. You didn’t know that, but even so, you're still too weak. *Sniffle*. There isn’t anything you can do to stop me, I pity you.” She cried out.

Michikatsu pulled himself from the crater, landing hard on the ground with a thud, and forced himself to his hooves. Breathing in deeply, He hardened his stance.

“Moon Breathing, Seventh forth: Mirror of Misfortune, moonlit”

Veins bulged on Michikatsu’s sword and slowly started to grow. His connection to his sword strengthened as the blade grew to nearly twice its original length, sporting new craved blades across its length. With a single swing, a barrage of downward crescent slashes rushed toward the unsuspecting demon, creating clean cuts into the road.

The demon turned around at the barreling noise and went wide-eyed at the razor-sharp attacks. They quickly tried to get out of the way, but the attack was too fast, and managed to sever the mare in half. With a pained yell and a wet thud, the two halves fell to the ground, as the bottom half fell to the ground.

The demon looked to her missing section, then to Michikatsu, then back to herself with fear and bewilderment. Its breathing turned labored and its eyes became unfocused as it continued to look at its lower half, now slowly reforming.

“No…No No No No No No…” The demon mare repeated while clutching the side of her head. “Shut up! I-I didn’t fail. This is only a setback!” It shouted. But the whispers got louder, filling the mare's head with thoughts of her internal punishment inside her mind, never to go away due to her uselessness. Over and Over again, they berated the ex-mare with taunts and haunting laughter that seem to circle her in all directions possible. Those children. The adults in white. They played with her fractured mind like some toy, trying to pry into it with no concern for her feelings. The pain. The pain. The pain…That damn clock never stopped ticking in her mind. Over and over it ticked and tocked.

All the demon mare could see was blurry red with a figure standing in the middle. A muffled scream came from her throat as the ticking became louder. To stop the damn noise, she had to dig it out. By force.

Michikatsu watched in shock as his body slowly regenerated. The demon mare was violently seizing on the ground, even though its body was fully reformed, it still writhed on the ground and foamed at the mouth.

His shock turned to horror when the demon started to bash its head with a hoof repeatedly. Loud crunches and cracks came from its bleeding head. Blood and bone fragments scattered the ground, barely being drowned out by the demon's screeches of genuine fear and pain. Was this some form of sick punishment from Muzan? Though the ex-mare was a demon, Michikatsu couldn’t help but feel sad at the pathetic site.

But what the demon said next shook him to his very core.

“Muzan! Please, help m-me!” It begged helplessly, its voice heavily slurred and garbled from the blood in its mouth.

“Please make the ticking stop! Muzan Kibutsuji, I beg of you!”

Time seemed to slow for the demon slayer as his eyes widened and jaw dropped. Maybe he hit his head a little too hard. Did she just say his full name? Michikatsu knew of the curse that every demon would receive upon turning, and what happened if it worked. Seconds felt like hours to him, yet, the demon mare was still screaming and crying out to him, full name and all.

Michikatsu suddenly discovered that his legs were moving toward the suffering demon, but he didn’t object. He needed to know more about this demon. There was no way a demon uttered Muzan’s full name and lived afterward. Michikatsu had seen a Mrs. Tamayo from Muzan’s cells before that had done the same thing. But to see it in the flesh was-

“WATCH OUT!”

He was then abruptly tackled out of the way by a Rainbow blur as a shadowed figure fell from the sky and landed on the ground away from the pair. Michikatsu coughed into his hoof as he pushed himself up to see Rainbow dash already in a defensive stance, glaring at the giant dust cloud.

As the cloud started to settle, he could make out a large figure almost twice as big as him that was standing atop something. That something became apparent as he saw the demon mare laying in a shallow crater, a giant sword running through her newly reformed midsection. The sword itself couldn’t even be called that, it was more of a large hunk of iron with a handle at the end. Gripping onto that “sword” was the second most grotesque being he’d seen in his life, the first being uppermoon 6, with a bored expression on its pony face.

“It’s a shame, really.” The demon said while looking down at the crushed demon mare. “You might have had my interest if you didn’t suck so much.” It then twisted the sword, electing a pained shriek from the demon mare. “But orders are orders.”

The demon pulled its sword from the demon mare, gripped the handle with a second claw, and raised the hefty weapon over its small head. No words were said as it brought down the iron chunk. Its bored expression showed some form of minor surprise when a flesh and purple-colored sword struck against it, knocking the weapon away from the downed demon mare.

“Hold on, you’re…” The bored demon said before getting bucked in the chest. It slid across the rocky surface, kicking up chunks of rock along the way, and stopping a few meters away. “What’s your name again…Kokushibo, right?” It asked innocently, showing no signs of pain.

Michikatsu Scoffed angrily as he got into a defensive stance in front of the demon mare. His stance and scowl only hardened at the name.

“You keep that name out your mouth, he doesn’t exist anymore.” He growled. “And you’re about to join him!”

The bored demon, for the first time since he could remember, felt the corners of his mouth stretch into a wide, unsettling grin. “Oh, you are definitely worthy of playing with.” He chuckled. “Since we’re going with new titles then, I guess you can call me…

“Ember.”