The train car rattled as it rode on the tracks, Yoriichi staring out of the window at the vast southern desert. Last night after his and Michikatsu’s talk, Yoriichi regained enough of his composure to listen to Celestia’s request. The elements and him were tasked with investigating the disappearances, starting with a little desert town called Appaloosa.

Initially, Michikatsu wanted to accompany the group as backup after Yoriichi discussed it with him. The doctor didn’t take it well, saying he’d make Michikatsu worse than he already was if he did such a thing. But Celestia's sister, Princess Luna, was made aware of the existence of the two brothers and gained a fascination with Michikatsu, rather than his younger brother. Yoriichi was just hoping his brother was doing well.

The train slid to a stop, letting out a hiss of steam. The gang stepped out of the train and into the dirt streets of the small desert town.

“Well, howdy there, partner. I hope you’re havin’ a swell mornin’!” Yoriichi was caught off guard by a yellow-coated, light-orange maned stallion wearing a brown vest and hat.

“I am, thank you, sir.” Yoriichi removed the stallion's hoof from his shoulder. “I guess you are Braeburn Princess Celestia was speaking of? He asked with usual evenness.

Braeburn pointed a hoof at the stoic stallion, “Ya darn right I am!” He looked over the swords pony’s shoulder to see Applejack and the elements walk up. “OH! I see ya brought my cousin and her friends along as well.” He said joyfully.

When Applejack and the rest met with the two, the farm mare waved a greeting, “Hey, no time long see, Braeburn. How’s the town comin’ along?”

“It’s been fine since you and your friends came along.” Braeburns then frowned, “But due to ponies vanishin’ on us, the bison aren’t comin’ around as much, says it’s too dangerous to come around here.” The cow-pony put on his previous smile and walked to applejack, putting a hoof around her neck. “Now that you’re all here, I’m sure you will solve this in no time!”

As the two cousins were talking, Fluttershy walked next to Yoriichi. “S-So, what do you think?” Yoriichi looked at her with a sense of confusion, “About the town, I-I mean.” She said, looking away with a faint blush.

Yoriichi looked away from the shy mare to the busy streets of Appaloosa, “It reminds me of the many villages I visited while in the corps. So I find it to be quite pleasant.” He said with a ghost of a smile. Before Fluttershy could say anything, Braeburn walked into view with a grin. “If ya want a tour, I can show ya around!” Yoriichi and Fluttershy were grabbed by the enthusiastic cow-pony and dragged off and lost in the sea of town ponies.

“Do you think we should help them?” Twilight asked with concern.

Pinkie pie walked past her with a freshly baked apple pie from in hoof, chunks of the pastry on her face. “Nah, they’ll be fine!”

Applejack just rolled her eyes, sighed, and walked off, following the direction of her cousin and the filly-napped friends.

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

Night soon came to the small desert town; Ponies were heading into their homes and businesses were closing up. Except for the local watering hole, still lively with tipsy patrons, dancing mares, and piano music courtesy of Pinkie pie.

At the bar, Yoriichi sat alone with a glass of apple cider in his hoof, which he found refreshing. The entire day consisted of Braeburn pushing Fluttershy and Yoriichi around town and showing them their attractions. During their tour, Braeburn pointed out a new ranch they’d built for dairy products and eggs. Fluttershy was infatuated by it, bringing Yoriichi along to visit and feed the livestock.

Let’s say that Yoriichi would never look at a cow the same way again.

Another event during their tour was the wild and mild dances. Once again, Fluttershy thought it would be a good idea to join in, eventually slow dancing with Yoriichi under the setting sun. The swords pony had trouble dancing at first, but eventually got the hang of it. In the middle of their slow dance, Fluttershy had tripped on a rock and was about to hit the ground before Yoriichi caught her with a hoof around her midsection. Yoriichi immediately helped Fluttershy to her hoofs, as it appeared to him that the sun was getting to her due to the shy mare's heavy blush.

So now, he, Fluttershy, and the rest of the gang met up at the watering hole, somehow getting roped into a late-night party not long after. Yoriichi turned his head to the side to see Bareburn sitting next to him with a smile on his face.

“Evnin’ sir, how do you like your visit so far?” The cow-pony asked.

Yoriichi took a sip from his mug and put it back on the counter. “Have you ever wronged somebody before… even if it wasn’t your fault?” He asked in a somber tone.

Braeburn looked confused for a second before chuckling. “I don’t exactly know what you’re talkin’ about. But yeah, I’ve had my fair share of bad moments.” He said, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish grin.

Yoriichi sighed and turned to the cow-pony, “What do you do to make amends? The per-pony I wronged doesn’t want me to, but I still feel like I have to make it up to him.”

“Well, my advice is to have a good time with ‘em” Yoriichi raised an eyebrow at this, so Braeburn continued. “What ah mean is, take him somewhere nice, have fun, talk out your problems, and just have some quality time together. At least that’s what ah think.” Braeburn tapped the bar top and a mug of cider slid over to him.

The sword-pony was deep in thought. It couldn’t have been that easy… could it? They haven’t spent much family time, even after Michikatsu joined the corps.

suddenly, the smell of smoke filled Yoriichi’s nose. Braeburn must have also smelt it because he had an irritated scowl and was looking around the (totally not alcoholic) bar. It didn’t take long before the origin of the smell was found, as Braeburn and Yoriichi saw small smoke trails coming from a hooded figure in the corner of the bar.

“Sorry Yoriichi-” Braeburn scoffed as he got off his seat. “HEY! Ya know smokin’ ain’t allowed in here!” The cow-pony shouted. The hooded figure didn’t react, even when Braeburn put a hoof on their shoulder. “Didn’t ya hear me?!”

A Sudden sense of urgency filled Yoriichis's mind, making him quickly get out of his seat and approach Braeburn.

“Demon blood art…”

Yoriichi’s eyes widened when the whispered words reached his ears. Swiftly biting the handle of his sword, Yoriichi dashed for the cowpony.

“DESTRUCTIVE TIDAL WAVE!”

Time seemed to slow down as Yoriichis's blade swung down at the figure. Under the hooded figure's cloak, a massive amount of blood headed for Braeburns face. Luckily, the sword blocked the attack, reflecting it through the upper floor and out the roof of the watering hole. Everyone in the bar was stuck in fear-filled shock and the air was still with heavy tension.

“Sun breathing, first form: Dance” A slash of sun fire cut the hooded figure's cloak, sending them flying through a nearby window. Everyone snapped out of their shock and screamed in horror, breaking the doors to the bar as the wave of terrified ponies ran out.

Yoriichi jumped out of the window he sent the hooded figure through just in time to see the revealed demon underneath.

The thing was repulsive to look at. The body resembled a bison, except it was air-less and malnourished looking, with barely any muscle around the skin-covered bones. The hind legs had normal hooves, while the front pair sported a set of razor-sharp claws. Patterns ran from the hind legs to its midsection in the form of sea plants, and it had the head of an angular fish with an esca in the middle.

The demon covered its sharp, toothy maw with a hoof and cackled madly. “You’ve got guts, pony.” The demon said with a shrill voice. “I don’t know how a weakling like you did that, but you’ll be dead long before you can answer that!” The demon got into a low defensive stance and opened its jaw widely. A bubble shape made of blood formed and grew to the size of a beach ball.

A fast stream of blood rushed out of the bubble at a high rate towards the sword's pony. Yoriichi redirected the stream again away from himself. Not wasting this chance, Yoriichi went in for the kill as sun fire spread across his blade. He was close to cutting the demon's head off when Esca, with a crying foal in its fleshy grasp, blocked the demon’s head and neck. The sword was inches away from the terrified foal when the air in Yoriichi’s lungs was knocked out by the demon hitting him in the face, launching the stallion into the bar's wall.

“HA HA HA! THAT’S THE THING WITH YOU PONIES, NEVER WILLING TO MAKE SACRIFICES TO WIN! HA HA HA!” The demon howled with laughter. His crazed cackling stopped as another bubble formed in its mouth. “DIE!”

Before the demon fired its attack, a rainbow blur hit the demon over the head, causing it to drop the foal and fall onto the ground with a thud.

“That’s what you get, creep!” Rainbow dash angrily yelled as she quickly changed her flight path and grabbed the foal. She set the foal down, and they ran away while calling for their parents.

The demon was back on its hooves again and growling in anger, Rainbow dash recoiled in disgust at the monster's caved-in skull slowly healing. “You damn pony! I’ll rip you limb from limb!” With a snarl, the demon dashed towards Rainbow. She backed away, and before the demon could reach her, a purple aura wrapped around it and held it in place. Twilight grunted as the levitation spell barely held back the beast, even with her alicorn magic.

Yoriichi groaned as he pushed himself out of the broken wall and fell to the ground. His head was spinning and a nauseating feeling filled his stomach. Out of the corner of his eye, Fluttershy, rarity, and pinkie rushed towards him. “Are you ok?” Fluttershy crouched down and inspected the sword stallion's body.

“Now, Applejack!” Twilight yelled from the watering holes deck, her voice strained.

Applejack ran past the alicorn with a rope in her mouth. The farm mare swung her head in a circle and threw a rope loop over the demon, tightening it. “Hold it there Twi!” Her muffled voice shouted. “Fluttershy, we need ya stare!”

Fluttershy turned away from Yoriichi and nodded at her farm friend and flew in front of the demon. It could smell the fear coming from the shy mare and let out a mocking laugh. “Come closer, pony, I don’t bite~” It taunted. But Fluttershy didn’t give in and closed her eyes and opened them with a hardened stare. An intense feeling of fear overwhelmed the demon, seemingly making it shake in fear.

During this, Yoriichi got up onto his hooves with his sword in his muzzle. ‘There is no way they are going to last long…’ Yoriichi looked to the sky, only to find the moon not even at its peak. ‘It will break out at any moment, I need to-’ The swords pony’s thoughts were halted when the demon suddenly broke out of the rope, at the same time, Twilight’s magic finally gave out, as the beast made a mad dash at Fluttershy. She yelped in pain as the demon nearly slit her throat but her foreleg covered it, making Fluttershy fall to the dirt.

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

In the medical wing of Canterlot castle, Michikatsu and Luna were talking to one another. It had been like this for the past few hours, discussing past stories, sharing interests, and the works. Michikatsu placed his cup on a nightstand and looked down with a thoughtful look on his face.

“Is something the matter?” Luna asked worryingly, placing her cup next to the older stallion’s.

Michikatsu stayed silent for a moment before closing his eyes and sighing. ”Yes, Luna, Something is indeed troubling me.” He replied in a somber tone. “It’s… about my brother.”

“What about him?” The lunar princess asked.

Michikatsu’s eyes opened, and he looked at Luna with worry. “It is just… he seems more… expressive… than the last time I saw him. Ever since we were young, my brother barely showed any signs of emotion to the point my family believed he was deaf. I’ve only seen him express emotion a ha- hoofull of times, but ever since I’ve appeared in this realm and met him again.” Michikatsu clenched his hoof as his body began to shake. “It’s like something in him has changed… and there is one thing about that idea that terrifies me to my core…”

Luna put a hoof on the older stallion's back, “What is it?” She asked curiously.

“With Yoriichi’s inhuman-like strength and sun breathing, I pray no being evokes his wrath.”

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

“You think that idiotic look frightens me?!” The demon raised a claw into the air, its sharp edges shining in the moonlight. “Fat chance!”

Fluttershy clenched her eyes shut as she awaited her inevitable demise. After a gargled yelp and the absence of sliced flesh, she slowly opened her eyes to see the demon with a shocked expression. Then she noticed black smoke coming from its joints and neck, and with a choked gasp from the demon, its head fell to the ground with a wet splat, and the rest of it soon followed.

The now sickened and horrified Fluttershy whimpered slightly at the display of brutal death. A subtle sound of heavy sighing drew her sight to Yoriichi standing and facing away from the burning demon corpse. He turned around and looked down the street as distant screams of pain and fear filled the night sky. But Fluttershy shivered at the sight of his face, which barely changed besides his eyes. The pupils were shrunk to almost pin prick with a bulging vein on the side of his forehead.

“Y-Y-Yoriichi?” Fluttershy cautiously said.

Yoriichi didn’t look at her, only tightening his jaw grip around his sword. “Are you alright?” He asked in a low and bizarrely calm tone. Despite not knowing if he saw her, Fluttershy slowly nodded. “Good.” He muttered as the handle of his sword nearly splintered from his grip.

The shaking mare couldn’t help but sit in fear, it was all she could do. She had never seen Yoriichi like this before, not even when an angel or a rude pony would try to antagonize him. He was always calm and gentle no matter what. But now… it was like sitting next to somebody completely different. Fluttershy’s eyes widened when Yoriichi got into a running stance and she tried to crawl as fast as her shaking legs could carry her.

“Wait, Yorii-” It was too late, the swords pony bolted down the dirt path in the blink of an eye. Fluttershy unfurled her wings to chase after him, but an orange hoof placed itself on her shoulder and stopped her.

“Ah think we should sit this one out, sugarcube.” Applejack said, also looking down the dirt road with a troubled expression.

Fluttershy faced away from the farm mare and looked down. “Yoriichi…”

Author's Note

Fun fact: The country with the most bikes per capita is the Netherlands, 23 million in total, with 1 million bikes sold annually.