Sun Slayer's radiance

Rain pelted the window to Fluttershy’s bedroom, where Yoriichi had been resting for the past two days. He tossed and turned restlessly on the soft sheets of the bed. Even if the sickness was almost gone, Yoriichi couldn’t rest until he’d repaid the shy mare's kindness. The feeling of taking something without payment bothered him greatly.

The stallion stopped moving when a soft knock came from his door. “Yoriichi, are you awake?” Fluttershy’s muffled voice asked.

“Yes, you may enter.” He said.

The door opened to reveal the mare in question poking her head in with a fin frown across her muzzle. “I hate to ask you this while you're still recovering, but can you accompany me to the market?”

Yoriichi nodded in acceptance. Getting up from the bed, he realized that his clothes were still on from three days ago. It was obvious that they needed a wash. So inwardly sighing, Yoriichi looked at Fluttershy, “Do you have a bathroom and any spare clothes I may use?” He asked politely.

Fluttershy smiled and nodded. “I have a shower to the left of this room,” She pointed a hoof to a door Yoriichi noticed for the first time. “But I don’t have any spare clothes to wear. Most ponies don’t even use clothes, at least in this town.” Fluttershy opened the door the rest of the way and walked over to the swords pony, a glass of water in her wings. Yoriichi nodded thanks and took the glass cup in his hooves, knowing how to grapes objects with help from the shy mare, and took a gulp of water.

The glass cup was placed on the nightstand as Yoriichi got up and walked to the bathroom door. Before he entered, he turned around to look at Fluttershy with a small bow.

“Thank you.” He said as he entered and closed the bathroom door. Fluttershy giggled a little as she shut the door and quickly walked downstairs.

The stallion gazed at the sight of the unfamiliar room to him. Something inside of Yoriichi knew this was going to be complicated. To the left was a large wooden container with metal poles erecting from the back, two knobs with red and blue circles painted on them. On the right was a similar contraption except for a smaller container with metal poles running under it with a singular one on top with handles on each side, something Fluttershy called a “sink”. Yoriichi steeled his nerves and removed his clothes. Approaching the large wooden tub, he climbed inside and inspected the red and blue knobs with intrigue.

A hoof touched the red knob and slowly turned it to the left. Without warning, water rained down on the stallion, causing the calm stallion to jolt in surprise. After a couple of seconds, the cold water warmed up, spraying Yoriichi with a gentle stream of warm water.

“Amazing, water that appears out of thin air AND heats up.” The stallion stared at the tub's shower head, careful not to get water in his eyes. But his wonder was shaken away as his calm maroon eyes wandered for soap.

For the next several minutes, Yoriichi bathed in the warm water, scrubbing his coat with lavender-scented soap. He soon turned out of the shower and stepped out with a pink towel wrapped around his soaked form. The stallion considered using the water to clean his clothing, but Fluttershy was probably sick of waiting, so he decided to wash them later.

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

Fluttershy sat patiently in the living room as she waited for the stallion. The feelings of worry and guilt filled her mind at asking the sick stallion to come with her. Initially, Fluttershy planned to go by herself, but over the past few days, her guest had some problems. A day after she forced Yoriichi to stay in bed, she brought in one of those new radios that came out recently. It took her about 2 hours to fully explain to the stallion what it was with the limited knowledge she had of it.

Other incidents included explaining that the toaster didn’t shoot semi-burnt bread, how sleep medication wasn’t candy, and that the ‘Magical heat box’ didn’t use magic to cook food.

It was evident that Yoriichi didn’t know a lot about simple technology. So since he was feeling better, Fluttershy thought it would be a great idea to bring him along into town to the market and for a quick visit to Prince- her friend Twilight Sparkle.

The sound of hoofsteps caused Fluttershy to perk up. She looked towards the stars where they came from and couldn’t help but gain a small blush. At the bottom of the wooden stairs was a clean Yoriichi, toned muscles making themselves known behind the stallion's even, rosey red fur fully on display. It took all the pegasus’s willpower not to let her wings jet out. Fluttershy didn’t realize that the stoic stallion was staring at her with his even expression.

“Are you ready to head out?”

His voice snapped Fluttershy out of her thoughts, and she nodded. Fluttershy got up and walked to and opened the front door, not without her saddle bags and grabbing an umbrella with her wing. As they left and walked down the muddy path to ponyville, the shy mare couldn’t help but shift awkwardly under the umbrella, being so close to Yoriichi.

To calm herself, Fluttershy brainstormed ideas on how she can help her indefinite house guest adjust to ponyville. It was obvious that he was from somewhere farther away, maybe japony, if the clothes were anything to go by. Should she see her friend Rarity about getting new clothes for him? What about a job, perhaps? Heck, she thinks he couldn’t even read equish! The constant stream of problems hurt the shy mare's brain, making her let out a quiet whimper of displeasure.

“Are you okay?”

Once again, Yoriichi’s voice brought Fluttershy out of her thoughts. She faced him with a small smile. “I’m fine, just… thinking about things.” An almost look of suspicion appeared on Yoriichis's face, but he didn't speak as the town peered over the horizon. As they got closer, they both spotted a small cream-coated, brown-maned colt with buck teeth shouting something under his umbrella, a stack of newspapers by his hooves.

“Read all about, Read all about, Mysterious disappearances plague southern Equestria!” The small colt shouted. As the pair approached, he noticed and greeted them with a hearty smile. “Hi, Miss Fluttershy! Are you interested in today’s paper?” He asked, grabbing a newspaper from the pile with his teeth.

A confused Fluttershy took the paper from the colt's muzzle. “It sounds like something terrible is happening. Do you know featherweight?” She said with a saddened frown.

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t be able to explain it properly miss shy. You have to read it to believe it.” Featherweight said. He noticed the stallion next to her and eyed him weary under the stoic stallion's gaze.

Fluttershy said her thanks. She and Yoriichi left the young colt and were now in Ponyville's marketplace. Wanting to read the newspaper before shopping, Fluttershy held it in front of herself. The headline read, in all bold letters-

“Mysterious disappearances have been reported all across the southern region of Equestria!”

Under the headline, the article went on to say, “For the past three days, ponies reported strange happening during the night. Blood-curdling screams suddenly go silent, ponies being dragged into allies and vanishing in the darkness, and reports of terrifying creatures appearing in the streets. Princess Celestia and Luna have issued an investigation on these incidents, but so far, nothing has yet to be revealed.”

The article continues with eyewitness accounts of survivors and on-lookers describing what, they thought, were mutated ponies prowling every corner at night. As she moved on, Fluttershy became fearful and trembled at every word. How did she not hear of this sooner? The shy mare turned to look at Yoriichi for his reaction but was surprised to see a hint of an angry scowl on his face.

“Y-Yoriichi, is something the matter?” She nervously asked. The stallion noticed her look, and his features returned to their usual calmness.

“Yes, something about this is bothering me. The newspaper is bringing up old memories.” He said, a grim tone in his voice. Fluttershy wanted to push her question further, but a bolt of lightning booming in the distance reminded her to keep moving. She told the stallion that they should hurry, and they both wandered into the crowded streets of the market.

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

“STUPID, Twilight! STUPID, Elements! When I get my hooves on that mare, I’m going to-” A quiet hissing sound stopped the soaked angry mare from her rant as small drops of rain snuffed out her fire.

“AAAAARRRRRRGGGHHH!!!”

A loud bang of an explosion made the surrounding wildlife run in fear as the furious mare stood before a crater where the fire was seconds ago. The mare had a light purple coat and a rich purple mane with blue highlights. On her flank was a purple star with a singular blue stream of mist rising from it.

“I FINALLY HAD A HOME WHERE NOPONY FELT INFERIOR AND COULD LIVE PERFECTLY! I HAD EVERYTHING UNTIL THOSE MARES SHOWED UP AND RUINED EVERYTHING; HOW DARE THEY TURN MY FOLLOWERS AGAINST ME!” She screamed into the rainy sky, tears of frustration pouring down her cheeks as she collapsed to the ground.

“Seems you have a problem, dear. But I may have a solution to that.”

The mare went wide-eyed at the sudden voice and quickly turned around with her horn glowing brightly. Behind her was a regular-sized mare under a japony-style umbrella with flawless white fur, a long tied-back black mane, and makeup outlining her crimson dragon-like eyes. The mare also had a plain black robe on with a white undershirt.

The purple mare's magic didn’t soften as she kept a glare at the strange white mare. “W-Who are you?!” She demanded.

The white mare giggled and slowly approached the purple mare. “I’m just somepony that needs help as well. I just so happen to-” The white was cut off when the purple mare fired a powerful bolt of magic at her, blasting off chunks of flesh in the process.

A spike of fear and guilt stabbed the purple mare's heart, seeing what she accidentally did. But her eyes widened in horror when the white mare's exposed muscle and bone began to heal, quickly finishing fixing the now scowling mare's face. “Don’t you know it’s rude to interrupt somepony while they are speaking?”

The purple mare fell on her haunches and tried to back away, but the muddy ground caused her front hooves to slip. “W-What are you!” She demanded.

“That isn’t important at the moment. What is important is that I have a problem that keeps rearing its ugly head. It just so happens that you also have issues, and I’m willing to make a deal. Join me, and you will be able to enact your revenge.” A sinister smile crossed the white mare's lips as she held out a hoof.

The purple mare stopped trying to run and stared at the hoof for a few moments. Should she trust this strange white mare? The vibes from her sent chills down the purple mare's spine. But was swiftly ignored as images of Twilight and her insufferable friends getting what they deserved played in her mind. She stood up, mud covering her backside, and took the white mare hoof with a sadistic grin.

“I’m all out of options right now, but I’ll go along with you for now.” She said with a dark tone.

The white mare chuckled, “That’s good to hear, miss…” She trailed off with a playful eye raise.

“Starlight, Starlight Glimmer.”

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

Fluttershy waved the stallion working the stand goodbye with a smile as she approached Yoriichi, who had the umbrella in his mouth.

“I finally got the rest of the stuff on our list.” She opened a saddle bag, stuffed the small burlap bag into it, then turned back and grabbed the umbrella from the stoic stallion. “Ok, let's head back-”

“Hey, Flutters!” A raspy voice called out from the crowd.

She looked and spotted her rainbow-maned friend, rainbow dash, walking toward her with a neutral expression. “Good, you’re here. I need you to-'' The rainbow pegasus noticed Yoriichi looking at her, and Rainbow Dash gave Fluttershy a questioning look. “Uuuuh, who is that?” She said with a hoof pointed at the stoic stallion.

Fluttershy smiled softly, “I haven’t introduced you to him yet. He’s Yoriichi, a stallion that saved my life a few days ago. Unfortunately, he was sick, and I’ve been treating him.” Rainbow dash gave Yoriichi a thankful smirk, and he nodded. “Now, what was it you needed me for?”

Rainbow dash rubbed a hoof behind her head, a confused look across her face. “Well, all Twilight said was that she got a letter from the princess and that it was urgent. So she tracked me down to get the girls together to gather in the castle.”

“That doesn’t sound good.” She said with a frown. “I’ll be there right away!” Fluttershy looked back at Yoriichi, “Do you want to come with me?” The shy mare asked. Yoriichi simply nodded. Rainbow took off in a seemingly random direction as the pair swiftly made their way to the towering crystal castle. Once there, Fluttershy knocked on the door and waited a few seconds. Finally, the door opened to reveal Twilight's small assistant, Spike as he opened the door, prompting the two to walk in.

“Before you ask, Twilight’s in the map room.” Spike said abruptly, pointing a claw up the stairs. Fluttershy only nodded and made her way to Twilight with Yoriich close behind her.

A set of large doors blocked the pair's path, but a purple aura encased them after the shy mare had knocked on them. Yoriichi was stunned as the doors opened on their own to reveal a velvet alicorn mare with a horn.

“Twilight, I came as quickly as I could.” Fluttershy walked through the door, the swords pony taking a few moments to catch up. Inside, the rest of her friends sat in their seats, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie, who sat upside down. Rainbow dash entered the window and took her seat as Fluttershy did the same.

“Good, you’re all here. The princess sent an urgent letter requesting our assistance in the recent disappearances and wanted us to visit her up in Canterlot.” She spoke with seriousness in her tone. “Also, she mentioned a disturbance a few days ago but says not to worry about it.” The room was silent as everyone processed the information. Yoriichi took this time to walk over and take a seat next to Fluttershy, which Applejack immediately noticed.

“Fluttershy, mind tellin’ us who that is?” She asked while pointing a hoof at the stallion in question.

The shy mare looked puzzled for a second before she saw what Applejack was talking about and forced herself not to jump in surprise when she saw Yoriichi sitting next to her. “O-Oh, it’s a friend I met a few days ago. You probably don’t want to hear about how we met, it’s a long story.” She looked away awkwardly, but Rainbow spoke up.

“We got time, Fluttershy. I don’t think the princess would mind…right.” Rainbow looked at Twilight waiting for an answer.

Twilight nodded. So Fluttershy began to retell her story of the day she met Yoriichi. The part where she went near the Everfree and was about to be attacked by timberwolves and him coming out at the last second using strange magic. How Yoriichi said that he walked through the Everfree forest for almost an entire day. And that he was from a faraway land for unknown reasons he had yet to tell her. Her friends stayed silent as they listened, with looks of awe and dropped jaws at the shy mare's description of Yoriichi’s “Sun breathing” in action. When the story ended, most of the mares were stunned, except for Applejack, who had a suspecting look on her face.

“Ah don’t buy it.” Everypony, except Yoriichi, stared at her with bewildered expressions. “Ah mean, somepony can’t walk an entire day without a break. Even then, he’s walkin’ in THE Everfree forest, one of the most dangerous places in Equestria. Plus we all know earth ponies can’t do magic, so unless I see it for myself, I ain’t buyin’ it!” Applejack argued with her forelegs crossed.

Twilight sighed and teleported the princess's letter away, “I have to agree with Applejack on this one. Yoriichi couldn’t possibly perform magic.”

Yoriichi then stood up and walked far away enough to be a safe distance from the mares. They all looked confused; but became nervous when he drew his blade from his sheath. Suddenly, a faint whistle noise came from the sword's pony as he sucked in a breath of air and swung his blade. Yoriichi displayed his techniques in a way that almost seemed like a dance of sorts, causing the mares to watch on with shocked expressions. The sword came down, a trail of sun fire following, and stopped before hitting the ground and the flame going out. Yoriichi stood tall and sheathed his sword, now facing the slack-jawed mares with his usual stone face expression.

“Was that enough to satisfy you?” He asked. The stoic stallion almost fell backward when Twilight teleported in front of him with stars in her eyes.

“THAT WAS SIMPLY AMAZING! YOU GOT TO TEACH ME HOW YOU DID THAT! HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE, I MEAN, EARTH PONIES CAN BARELY CHANNEL THEIR BASE MAGIC. BUT YOU-” Twilight’s excited and foalish ramblings rapidly became a mess of intelligible babble and random words as the sound of a braking engine played in her head. The mares and Yoriichi watched as the studious alicorn fell to the ground and passed out.

“I think you broke her.” Pinkie blurted out, a hoof on her chin.

Yoriichi picked up the still-mumbling mare onto his back. ‘It wasn’t that impressive.’ He thought to himself, sweet memories of when Suyako and Sumiyoshi watched him do a similar act all those years ago. How he felt embarrassed by Suyako’s joy. The way Sumiyoshi proclaimed to keep his technique alive for future generations. Despite their praises of his strength, he never considered himself greater than anyone else, just another soul who lived and died. A warm smile spread across his muzzle, “Do any of you know where this mare room is?”

Some things never change.