Sun Slayer's radiance

A miner stallion walks down the streets of Appaloosa early in the morning, a lit lantern in his mouth. He hadn’t gotten much in terms of bits. With ponies disappearing suddenly, all business owners started cutting work time so their workers could go home early before dark. This stallion didn’t think it was all that scary; Pa never taught his son to crack under fear. As the stallion turned a corner into the packed part of town, a silhouette made itself known. Due to the darkness and his lantern not reaching it, all the stallion could make out that it was the outline of a filly. He placed the lantern at his hooves and took a deep breath.

“Hey, little fella, what are ya doin’ out so late?” He called out. The filly didn’t react, so the stallion picked up his lantern to approach the filly. Before he took a step, the filly ran off into an ally with a creepy giggle.

An uneasy feeling came over the stallion. But that filly was going to get hurt if they didn’t get home. So the stallion stuffed his anxiety away and steeled his nerves, as he walked over to the alley where the filly vanished. When he peered inside, his lantern barely lit anything past five hoofs in front of him. The stallion took careful steps into the darkness, avoiding boxes and bags resting on the ground.

“Kid, are ya there?!” He yelled. A giggle came from the darkness and, getting closer, the filly was visible, but something made the stallion stop in confusion and fear.

This “Filly” wasn’t…right. There were no eyes, mouth, nose, or even hair. Its entire body was composed of a pink and red flesh-like substance in the crude shape of a filly but looked completely normal in pitch darkness. The stallion's eyes went wide looking behind the “filly”, a thin string of the fleshy substance connected to its back, curving back into the darkness. The lantern was raised with a shaky jaw but dropped to the ground immediately as the stallion screamed in horror.

The silence was deafening as the sun slowly peaked out of the horizon.

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

A sleepy Twilight slumps over and rests her head on the now-clothed Yoriichi's shoulder as the train rattles on the tracks. It was early morning and the elements and swords pony decided to get ready ahead of schedule.

“Yoriichi?” The stallion looked at the next seat over to see Fluttershy offering him some daisies in a small paper bag. “You can have some if you’re hungry.”

Yoriichi held up a hoof and went back to looking out the window, not before Spike rose from the seat in front of him. “I guess what Fluttershy said about you was true, you got some insane energy, man!” Spike said. The swords pony raised an eyebrow at the small drake's choice of words.

Last night before Fluttershy and Yoriichi left, Twilight had woken up and stopped the two from leaving; practically begging for the swords pony not to go just yet. Apparently, the studious mare wanted to run a “few” experiments with Yoriichis sun breathing for a few hours. Fluttershy tried saying no, but Yoriichi nodded and accepted Twilight's request, making the alicorn overjoyed. For the next 12 hours, a cycle of hooking Yoriichi up to strange machines he’d never seen before, telling him to perform his techniques, and Twilight getting frustrated when no magical signatures results came back. This continued until the sun came up, and the alicorn mare had to use a ‘wide awake’ spell to keep herself from falling asleep standing up. Spike had volunteered to come along to keep an eye on Twilight just in case.

Rainbow dash flew from her seat over to join in on the conversation, “Yeah, and you gotta teach me those moves!” She smirked.

“Maybe in the future, but as it is now, we have more important things to worry about.” Yoriichi closed his eyes and faced down. “I’m worried about all of your well-being. The best course of action is to rest while we can.” The stallion went quiet, a soft snore coming from him soon after.

The prismatic mare groaned and threw her hooves up. “Oh, come on!” She complained with pout.

“Don’t be like that, Dashie! I’m sure Yory is going to teach ya in no time at all!” Pinkie pie said as she appeared behind Rainbow dash. “Think of all the fun party tricks he can do! Speaking Of parties,
doyouknowwhathemightlikebecauseIhaven’tfoundthetimetoaskhimsincehewasbusywithTwilightandIwaslike“OHNO”becauseIwouldn’tbeabletohavehiswelcomepartydoneintimebeforewehadtoleavebutthenIjustdecidedtoholdthepartyoffuntilwecomebackandhaveanapologysorry-I-was-latepartyafterward and-” Pinkies mouth was stuffed by an orange hoof, stopping her from rambling on.

“It’s too early in the morin’, Pinkie. Ya can worry about that when we leave Canterlot.” The farm mare said tiredly.

As the rest of the elements, minus Twilight, talked, Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel a little jealous seeing Twilight's head resting on Yoriichi’s shoulder. She quickly shook off the feeling and went back to nibbling on her snack.

Rarity, who was sitting next to the shy mare, noticed her friend's mood and rested a comforting hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Fluttershy, darling, is something bothering you?” She asked with a concerned frown.

The shy mare stayed quiet for a few moments before sighing. “I don’t know if you want to hear it, Rarity. It’s probably nothing.” She then finished her snack and crumbled the small paper bag.

“Nonsense, dear. As your friend, It is my job to help with any problem that troubles you.” Rarity wrapped a foreleg around Fluttershy and dragged the shy mare closer. “Now, tell Rarity what is troubling you.”

Fluttershy stole a glance at the sleeping Yoriichi, a blush of embarrassment on her face. “W-Well, ever since Yoriichi saved me from those Timberwolves, I’ve had a strange feeling in my chest. Even though his face is so flat and stoic, I can tell he is a passionate stallion. And whenever I see him, my heart cannot help but flutter. I don’t know what-” The shy mare was interrupted when Rarity suddenly let out a whispered squee of joy and looked at her with a happy expression.

“OH, Fluttershy, darling. This is absolutely adorable!” The fashionista said with joy.

“W-What?” Fluttershy asked nervously.

“Just imagine, The damsel in distress is being attacked by horrible monsters. Then a gorgeous warrior comes in the nick of time and saves his beloved. They slowly start to fall in love until they both get married and have a bunch of foals, and EEEHHH!” Rarity squeed again, a dreamy look on her face.

Fluttershy looked around nervously as her blush began to darken. “I-I d-don’t know what you’re implying, Rarity.”

The shy mare muffled a yelp as both of her shoulders were grabbed by Rarity. “You, darling, are in love!”

Alarms began to go off in the shy mare’s head. “W-What!” She reeled away, waving her hooves in front of herself with a deep blush. “No, no, no, It’s not like that! We just met only four days ago. I don’t LIKE him like that; I like him as a friend, even if he’s super nice, caring, and…cute.” She looked away, mumbling the last part.

As the two mares talked back and forth, nopony noticed Yoriichis narrowed eye, watching them as they talked. The stallion huffed in amusement and closed his eye as he drifted back to sleep.

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

“Enough already. I hate you.”

The memories of that fateful night played in his head. The environment around him was blurred as his sight was on a small wooden flute that had been chopped in half by his blade. Tears ran down his six-eyed face as his body slowly disintegrated, only leaving a pile of clothes and the same wooden flute pieces to remain.

“Why could I not leave anything behind? Why could I not become someone? Why are we so different?”

“Why in the world was I ever born? Tell me…”

“Yori-ichi.”

The last bit of light left the demon's nonexistent eyes, as a pulling sensation dragged his soul far away.

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

The train finally pulled into Canterlot station. The elements and Yoriichi stepped out onto the streets of Canterlot, the large town alive with the crowd of well-dressed nobles.

“Alright, gang, just*yawn*follow me.” Twilight slurred. She began to walk forward before collapsing to the ground. Applejack rolled her eyes playfully and placed the sleepy alicorn on her back. They asked Spike to lead the group, which he proudly accepted with a puffed-out chest.

As the group walked the streets of the mountain city, Yoriichi couldn’t help but notice the looks of the nobles. Some looked at him with interest, eyeing his clothing and looks. Some looked at his sword with caution and disgust. The swords pony ignored their stares as he and the group soon arrived at the gates of Celestia's castle. A pair of guards noticed them coming closer, and moved to the large gate doors and opened them. The element and Yoriich nodded their thanks to the guards and continued to walk. But the Yoriichi was stopped by one of the guards who put a hoof on his chest to stop the swords pony from walking further.

“Hey bud, the princess didn’t ask for you. So get lost.” The guard spat. Before Yoriichi got a word out, Fluttershy walked next to the guard with a pleasant smile.

“He’s with us, so don’t worry about it, sir.” She said, placing a hoof over the guards. The guard looked flustered for a moment before lowering his hoof and nodding his head to the side, indicating for them to move on.

The inside of the castle was the most wonderful thing Yoriichi laid eyes on. The walls were constructed of stainless marble, the floor made of a soft red carpet, and golden accents and designs covered each wall he saw. To say the palace had time and care put into it was an understatement in Yoriichi’s opinion. The group shortly arrived at a set of large ornate doors guarded by two golden armored stallions. Applejack explained their situation to them, and the guards nodded as they opened the doors to the throne room.

“How are you all fairing this afternoon?” An elegant voice greeted. The voice belonged to a tall, elegant alicorn with white fur, golden accessories, and a multi-hued mane that flowed in a non-existent breeze. The alicorn sat upon a platform situated on a golden throne with red carpet-covered stairs leading up to it. She saw Twilight resting away on Applejack's back and giggled, “I see my ex-student had a rough night sleeping?”

Rainbow dash chuckled, “Yeah, the egghead was up all night studying with him.” She said with a hoof pointed behind her to Yoriichi.

The alicorn mare’s soft purple eyes met equally soft maroon eyes, as the two had a mini staring contest. Then, the elegant alicorn cracked a kind smile, “So, you’re the one I’ve been wondering about?” She said. Before anyone could ask what she’d meant, a panicked guard busted into the throne room. Everyone looked to the guard as he huffed and puffed heavily.

“Princess Celestia! Somepony is causing trouble at the front gates and attacking any guards that get near. The troublemaker has a sword and we can’t get close, what should we do?” He asked.

Celestia’s face turned to one of seriousness as she stood up and moved to the throne room door. “I shall handle this, you get some rest soldier.” The princess left as the guard fell on his flank.

Yoriichi shortly followed her with the rest of the elements close behind. Once outside, a large circle formation of guards surrounded someone, a couple of them on the ground with minor wounds. Noble ponies screamed in terror as another guard nearly got killed by a sword-wielding pegasus. The pegasus in question looked similar to Yoriichi, except for a few details. His long black mane was tangled and matted, his forehead mark was slightly different, the stallion's light purple fur was a mess, and his eyes were pink instead of maroon. His clothing was different as well with him sporting a purple-and-black bee-hive patterned kimono, and black hakama pants, with a white uwa-obi around his waist. All looking disheveled and torn.

The stallion had a regular sword in his muzzle as he swung his head in multiple directions. The guards tried to get close, but the stallion would barely miss them with a slash and stagger a bit in visible exhaustion.

“My word, he looks absolutely horrid!” Rarity gasped in horror, not for the stallion's well-being, but more for his clothing.

Yoriichi’s eyes were wide and brimming with tears as he looked at the crazed stallion. The light purple stallion finally noticed him too and stopped swinging, dropping his blade, staring slack-jawed at Yoriichi.

“Michikatsu…” was the last thing the crazed stallion heard before blacking out from exhaustion.