Sun Slayer's radiance

For the first time in his new life, The stallion had a visible scowl of annoyance on his face as he walked through the forest.

From when he first awoke till now, it had been a full day’s worth of time as the sun poked out from the horizon. During this, the stallion had been subjugated to non-stop assaults from the forest’s beats made of flesh, bark, and rock. They’d “ambush” the stallion with hope and hunger in their eye, to being nothing but worm food in half a second.

This might not have been irritating to him if they’d stopped appearing every five minutes. It would be worse since the predators' bloodlust were weaker than a demon’s, so it was a while before he eventually got used to the sensation.

A tired sigh escaped his lips as the stallion stopped walking to look around, only stopping when he saw a faint light between the trees. The stoic stallion reached the location in no time, only to find a large lake with water reflected like a clear crystal. As the stallion approached, a sudden thought came to him.

‘I still don’t know what my form looks like.’ He thought. Sitting on his haunches by the edge of the lake and facing the water’s surface, the stallion couldn’t help but smile, even if it was a ghost of a smile.

When the stallion first saw his horse-like body, the thought of his head being just like that of an equine wasn’t that absurd to him. Instead, the head shape was rounded, with more fur fluff than fat. The muzzle was short and stumpy like the head. And the eyes were larger than the stallion thought was physically possible. The only similarities were his dark red hair, Hanafuda earrings, and the birthmark running down his forehead.

The stallion's smile grew a bit as he looked. ”I can only imagine what Uta would say right now.” He said while gently touching his cheek with a hoof. The stallion's smile disappeared as he lowered his head to the water, only reaching until he could drink from the strangely sweet lake. His relaxation stopped as a scream echoed from deep into the forest.

He didn’t want to waste time, so the stallion stepped back and fully flexed the muscles in his legs. With a grunt, the stallion kicked off the ground and soared in the air, landing on the other side of the lake. He quickly recovered and started to sprint through the forest, following the sounds of the distress cry. As the stallion got closer to the noise, he'd found it was coming from the tree line. So picking up the pace, he busted out of the trees into a wide flower field. All was ignored as his eye locked onto a smaller horse surrounded by a pack of wooden wolves.

The mare tried to crawl away from the wooden wolves, but her body was stiff with fright and refused to move as they advanced. The front wolf got into a low stance and pounced at the mare, who closed her eyes, waiting for her death. But the sound of pain-filled yelps made her look to see all the wooden wolves recoiling in pain with their bodies set ablaze with a bright fire.

“Third form, raging sun.” The stallion had slashed at the wolves' bodies, finding out hours ago that his sun breathing caused them to burn like regular wood. He sheathed his sword and turned to look at the mare. She had a butter-colored coat, a bright pink mane, and deep blue eyes that looked at him with a mix of awe and fear. “Are you ok, madam?”

The mare seemed to snap out of her stupor; noticing the stallion talking to her, she made an ‘eep’ noise and hid her face behind her mane. “I-I’m f-fine.” She meekly replied. The shy mare flinched when the stallion came to her and bent down to her eye level.

“I don’t mean to intrude, but what is a horse like you doing near these woods.” He said in an even tone.

The shy mare was silent for a moment until she revealed a portion of her face. “I was out collecting herbs for my animals, but those Timberwolves came out of nowhere and were about to…hurt me. Also, I’m a pony, not a horse.” She quietly said, being near silent at the end. She nervously played with her hair as her eyes filled with sadness. “Why did you… kill them?”

The stallion gave a confused look to the mare, ”They were about to harm you; I had to put them down before they could do so.” He held out a hoof, which the shy mare cautiously took.

“I could have talked to them.” She looked at the stallion, and even though his face showed no emotion, she could tell he was confused. “It’s what my Cuite mark means, see?” The mare smiled as she showed a picture of three butterflies on her flank.

The stoic stallion was intrigued by this and decided to lift his haori to discover that his ‘Cutie mark’ was an image of a rising sun. Letting his haori fall, the stallion turned around, only facing the mare with a side glance. “I’ll escort you back to your home, miss...?”

“Oh, I-It’s Fluttershy.” She said with a faint blush. “What’s your name?” the shy mare asked with a head tilt.

“Yoriichi Tsugikuni”

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In the hive of the changelings, the insectoid ponies were nowhere to be seen in the large, unlit throne room. Four unconscious changelings sat on the floor, stuck in place by a hardened green substance. That was until one of them jerked awake with a gasp and cold sweat going down their injured exoskeleton body.

“W-What?! I thought we got away!” He shouted in disbelief. “Brothers, sister, are you up?” They said, looking side to side at their now awoken ‘family’.

“I suggest you keep quiet unless you want your death to be much more painful.”
All the changeling's faces contorted into fear at the furious-sounding voice. The same voice that belongs to that…THING… they captured a day ago. The cavern was suddenly illuminated by a bright and ominous red light, only to reveal something that filled the captured insects with dread and sadness. On the wall behind Queen Chrysalis's old throne, was the buggy monarch herself, nailed to the surface by her hooves and belly sliced open, leaving the guts to spill out. Atop the throne was the pony himself, Muzan Kibutsuji.

A purple and black changeling among the four sneered at the pony stallion, “YOU BASTARD! ONCE I GET OUT, I’M GONNA RIP-” His yelling was cut short when Muzan pointed a hoof at him and a giant mass of flesh dotted with eyeballs smashed the aggressive changeling into a puddle of green blood.

The mass of flesh transformed back into the stallion's foreleg as he glared down at the remaining 3. “Do any of you want to speak without permission?” He was met with silence as his glare softened. “You all consider yourselves lucky. I’m feeling merciful today, so I'll make you three an offer. Take some of my blood and join my ranks, or be squashed like the filth you are.”

Not to Muzans surprise, a timid-looking changeling managed to break free of his bindings and attempted to flee. In the blink of an eye, the changeling's decapitated body fell to the floor with a wet splat, his head held in Muzan's mouth by the horn.

Muzan spat the head, making it tumble down the stairs of the throne till it slowly rolled and stopped in front of the 2 trembling insect ponies.

The sound of buzzing reached the ears of the 2, making them look around to see, much to their horror, that their brothers and sister morphed and changed into abominations. Limbs were different sizes; fangs, teeth, and eyes grew in unnatural places, their bodies colored with blood red instead of the usual green.

“Now, any answer?” Muzan said with a raised eyebrow.

The changeling on the left looked at him with a pleading expression, “I don’t want your stupid blood! Please let me go; I won't bother you, I swear!” He cried out, going dead silent seeing the stallion's furious gaze.

“You would refuse my generous offer? To do such is a crime deserving of death.”

“NO, THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT! PLEASE NO, I JUST WANT TO LEAVE!” The changeling attempted to free itself, but the substance was too solid to break.

“So now you are telling me that I am wrong? the last to say the same thing ended up just like you.” A long, sharp stinger of bone attached to a black tube emerged from his back and lunged at the terrified insect. The stinger stabbed through the changeling's mouth and out the back of the skull, only dislodging itself after a moment and letting the lifeless head dangle backward.

The last changeling sat looking at the floor as their body trembled. ”Just kill me, I beg of you.” They whimpered in defeat.

The demon stallion's muzzle scrunched in anger as a stinger appeared once again. ”Even in a different realm, these fools don't understand.” Before the changeling could even understand what he said, the stinger stabbed them in the side of the neck, a hot liquid floating into their bloodstream. The insect writhed in pain, as their screams bounced off the cavern wall as the changeling's body started to melt into a pile of black and red sludge until the screams fell silent. Muzan scoffed and sat back on the throne, resting his head on a hoof.

“You can clean the mess” He commanded with a flick of the hoof. The mutated changelings hissed in excitement, all unlatching from the walls and diving for their old comrades' remains.

Muzan sighed, looking at the ceiling with a sinister smirk. “That’s the rest of the filth finished off. I was surprised their leader was so weak,” Muzan looked back at Chrysalis's displayed corpse. “For how much boasting she did. Now that I have a sizable army, it’s time to find this Celestia person.”

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Animals of all shapes and sizes scurried and ran when Yoriichi and Fluttershy arrived at a small two-story house with a roof covered in solid moss. When the two walked on the first path leading to the front door, The stoic stallion stopped as Fluttershy continued, only for her to stop as well and look back at him.

“You can come in if you want, mister.” She said with a smile but frowned when Yoriichi shook his head.

“I’ve escorted you back to your home, I do not wish to be a burden to you by staying around.” Yoriichi bowed deeply and turned to walk away before a hoof touching his shoulder made him stop.

He looked back to see Fluttershy with a grateful smile on her face that made the stallion inwardly wince at its familiarity. “You wouldn’t be one at all. Besides, I have to thank the stallion who saved my life.” She giggled cutely.

Yoriichi faced Fluttershy with his usual calmness. “I assure you that I am-” A loud rumbling sound made itself known from the stallion's stomach, making the timid pegasus look at him with a sheepish smile. “Are you sure I wouldn’t be a bother to you?” He asked, Fluttershy sensing a bit of embarrassment from Yoriichi.

Fluttershy walked back to her front door and opened it with her wing, “Nope.” The stallion reluctantly complied and entered the pegasus's home.

The smell of wild animals was the first thing to hit Yoriichi’s nose, the animals in the main room being the obvious origin of it. Even though they were animals, Yoriichi could tell that they had wariness on their faces as they stared at the stoic stallion. He was never the animal type, not because he hated animals, but because Yoriichi never saw an interest in owning/taking care of one when not needed. A hard tap caused him to look down and see a small white bunny glaring up at him with a carrot in its paws.

“Angel! You know better than to hit ponies.” Fluttershy berated, to Yoriichi’s mild surprise, the bunny seemed to roll its eyes and hop away with the carrot in its mouth. “Sorry, he can be a hoof full sometimes. Why don’t you take a seat while I make us some food?” Fluttershy smiled and walked off towards the kitchen.

Yoriichi walked over and took a seat on the main room's couch which was extremely comfy. As he sat in place, the stoic stallion, lost in his thoughts once more, reviewed the last couple of hours with an inward grimace. During his walk, it never occurred to the ex-demon slayer that not a single demon tried to kill him, even during the dead of night. If he was right, then he would be filled with joy but also worry. If he was in a realm where HE didn’t exist, Yoriichi could finally live a life of peace that he’d worked so hard for. At the same time, He was left without purpose now: no demons meant no demon slayers. Combine that with the fact he knew little of this realm; it would be near impossible to find something to make himself useful.

The last fact angered the stallion a little.

“Here you go, I hope you enjoy it.” Fluttershy’s voice snapped Yoriichi snapped him out of his thoughts as the mare placed a plate of…something in front of him and two cups of tea.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but can you tell me what those are?” He asked, pointing to the plate of unknown confectionaries.

It took Fluttershy a second to figure out what he meant, but when she realized, another cute giggle came from her. “Did you not have these before?” Yoriichi shook his head slowly. So Fluttershy picked one up with her wing and presented it to the stoic stallion. “They’re called cookies. My friend Discord had some leftovers from last time, he won’t mind if we take a few.”

Yoriichi almost gave the shy mare a quizzical look at the mention of a per- pony named ‘Discord’. Inwardly shrugging it off, the swords pony took the treat in his hoofs and took a small bite from it. He had to admit that these cookies were flavorful with a bitter-sweet taste to them.

The stallion placed the cookie down on the plate and bowed in front of Fluttershy, making her blush in surprise. “I thank you for the meal.”

Fluttershy’s blush went away as she smiled, “It’s not a problem.” She used her wings to lift a teacup to her lips, take a sip, and then lowered it back onto the table. The room was filled with awkward tension as both reserved ponies sat in silence, so Fluttershy decided to ask a question to break it up. “If you don’t mind me asking, do you have a place to stay?”

Yoriichi looked at the shy mare, “Why do you ask?” He asked bluntly.

“Well, I noticed you came from the Everfree forest all by yourself. So I wanted to know why and if you have a home to go back to.” She said with an innocent smile on her face.

“No, No I do not.” He answered somberly.

Fluttershy frowned at his tone before perking up with a small smile. “You can stay with me.”

Yoriichi almost seemed shocked by her response and immediately shook his head. “I am grateful for your offer, but I have already overstayed my welcome.” He tried to stand but instantly fell back into the seat. ‘Seems all that walk and being reborn took a lot of energy out of me’ he thought with a slight grimace.

“Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked with concern.

The stoic stallion held up a hoof to stop her from speaking. “I’m fine Mrs. Fluttershy. It seems I’ve exhausted myself.”

Fluttershy stood up and held a hoof to his head, reeling away immediately upon contact. “That’s not good; you’re burning up!” An expression of concern was replaced with one of determination as she picked up the stallion with surprising strength for her size and placed him on her back. “I will not allow somepony to be sick in my own home.”

The swordspony tried to escape her grasp, and a hint of embarrassment crossed his face for being so weak at the moment. Fluttershy slowly carried the stallion upstairs and down a hall until they reached a door that Fluttershy opened with her hoof. The room was standard with a large bed, some bookshelves, a desk, and two windows. Walking over, Fluttershy gently placed the sick Yoriichi on the bed as well as pulled the bed covers over him.

“You don’t need to do this Mrs. Fluttershy, I’m fin-” Yoriichi tried to sit up, but the stern look from the shy mare made him stop for some reason.

“I don’t want to hear it, mister. You helped me when I was in danger, now it’s my turn. So you need to get some rest.” She stated, her cheeks puffing out slightly.

It might have been Yoriichi’s imagination or the sickness, but for a split second, Uta was standing before him with the same expression. Although, the image disappeared when the stallion blinked. Yoriichi showed a small smile as he laid back in bed.
“Alright then.” He simply said, closing his eyes and falling asleep not long after.

Fluttershy kindly smiled at the sleeping swords pony, quietly leaving the room and shutting the door.