Chapter 48: The Swordspony of Insanity: Kukoo

Mat woke up from his small nap in an abandoned store. He looked around before peeking out the window and spotting more ponies fighting each other. He sighed and rested down against the wall. He looked around admiring the small shop full of wooden toys. Getting up from the ground he walked down an aisle with shelves standing on both sides, full of toys. A toy behind him from the top shelf fell down, causing him to jump and look back. He sighed seeing that it was only a wooden pony, but he soon narrowed his eyes noticing a large marking engraved on the piece of wood's head. Walking up to it, he picked it up and began examining it.

'Weird, all the other toys like this don't have scratches.' He thought before he jumped from another toy falling down to the ground from the shelf opposite of him. He turned around and spotted the same carved marking on that toy. His ears twitched as he turned around slowly before his eyes widened. He ducked an incoming sickle that flew over his head and as he looked back and saw the carved blade pinned into the wall. He looked ahead and spotted a dark figure looking at him with a sick, twisted grin.

"Well, well, well, we have another playmate today in the fantastic shop of toys! We can all have fun! You and I, and all the fillies and colts that rest here!" He said laughing.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" Mat yelled dropping the toy from his hoof and getting to a battle stance. The pony came out of the darkness revealing himself to be none other than Kukoo. Blood dripped from his lips as some specks of flesh were spotted stuck in his teeth as he continued grinning at him.

"It's so great today, you know? Everypony's out there are having fun! Why aren't you?!" Kukoo asked walking towards him, but with each step, Mat backed away. "Aren't you going to have fun with them?" He asked, looking at him confused.

"W-what faction are you from?" Mat asked hesitantly.

"Faction? What factions are you speaking of? A faction of fun is what I would like to be in. That way, we all can share the fun this world can offer." He said standing on his two hind legs with his forelegs out. "We can all enjoy ourselves!" He laughed before going back on all fours.

"Fun? You think killing is fun?!" Mat yelled looking at the pony shocked.

"It is. It's what brings a smile to their faces. It's what makes them giggle and yell whenever I'm there to have fun with them. We play a lot you know. All sorts of ponies enjoy playing with me…and these lovely ones do, too." He said sitting down in the middle of the aisle as Mat was at the end of it.

Mat was afraid to ask what the stallion meant by "lovely ones" and swallowed his spit as his tail searched for the sickle stuck to the wall, "Why are you here? What do you want with me?" He asked after he felt the handle. His tail wrapped around the handle and started tugging it, but the small blade did not budge.

Kukoo rubbed his chin with his right hoof while staring at the ceiling as if he was thinking of an answer. But when he looked at Mat, his grin came back making it obvious. "Well...do you want to know why I'm here? I shall tell you then, umm, what's your name?" Kukoo asked looking at him confused.

"Mat." He answered sweating. The sickle was still not coming out of the wall. 'Just my luck. Why am I even trying? I need to get away from this pony.' He thought.

"Well, Matty-Mat-Matt-Mattibar! I'm here to put a smile on your face. Weird..." He looked around freaked out. "I feel like some odd mare made that quote before. Oh well." He said shrugging his shoulders. When he put his hooves on the ground. He glanced around happily. "Nopony should be left out from the fun the others are having outside."

"Well...I decided not to be part of that fun. I'm having fun already. Staying away from them, whoever you are." Mat said earning a soft chuckle from the maniac.

Kukoo flipped his mane to the side after it started blocking some parts of his eyes. "Well, I've never seen a pony have fun like that. Then again, I've never seen a pony try to use my sickle against me." He said narrowing his eyes still smiling. Mat froze in place as his tail released the handle.

"Look, I don't want any trouble from you. Just turn around and leave." He said hoping reason would work.

"Trouble? How can fun be trouble?!" He yelled laughing before getting up and walking towards him. "Fun isn't trouble, but maybe it is. Oh well, we're going to have fun either way." He said as his tail moved to the right holding the handle of another sickle.

"Two!" Mat said shocked, looking left and right for an escape route.

"I am Kukoo; the sixth most powerful swordspony of the Seven Swords." He said laughing before he tossed his sickle up in the air, catching it with his mouth. It started to glow yellow as it took the form of a large scythe. The rod was black while the sharp blade was now longer. Kukoo grabbed it with both of his hooves and stabbed it hard in the ground before using it to support him as he stood on his twos. "Let us have fun now, what you say, Matty-Mat-Matt-Mattibar!?"

"Damn it!" Mat yelled when Kukoo twisted the scythe back, dragging the sharpened edge across the wooden floor, tearing it apart. When he held it back in the air, he swung it forward sending a crescent beam straight towards him. Mat ran to his right and ducked with his hooves over his head as the beam carved through the shelves destroying the wall behind him. The place started to shake, warning the two that it was going to collapse.

"Nice, this building is having a lot of fun like me!" Kukoo said laughing while dancing around with his scythe, as the staff was stabbed straight in the ground. Mat got up and leaped through the window. He rolled on the ground and flipped back to his hooves, skidding back on the cobblestone ground. The toy store collapsed with Kukoo in it sending a large dust cloud towards him. Mat covered his face from the incoming cloud. When it was blown away with the wind, he looked at the devastated store that was in ruins.

"I need to get-" He paused and gasped when he saw Kukoo covered in scratches and splinters while still holding on to his scythe, licking the black staff up and down, slowly drooling. His eyes were shrunk to pencil dot sizes as red veins sprouted from their white surface. His tail held the sickle stuck to the wall and was swaying left and right. "H-how?!" Mat muttered, backing away frightened. Kukoo stopped licking his scythe and stared at Mat with his tongue still out dripping saliva.

"Can you see them, Matty-Mat-Matt-Mattibar? Look at all of them having fun. It is so pleasant, beautiful, sexy, lovely, FUNNY!" He laughed. "Tell me! How much fun are you having right now?!" He asked before stopping with his body bent back while still holding the scythe. He had his eyes closed with his tongue rolled out on the side.

"You're a sick freak." Mat said glaring angrily at Kukoo.

"Funny, Raijin called me that." He muttered looking at Mat happily. "Oh well, maybe I am, whatever that means…come on, let's have fun! You and I! Let's kill! Friends, enemies, everypony and everyone alike! LET'S ALL HAVE FUNNNNNN!" He yelled laughing before flipping back, taking his scythe and leaping towards Mat, swinging it at ferocious speed. Mat gasped, ducking from the swing and rolling to the side. He ran into an alley escaping from the insane pony.

He looked back seeing that Kukoo was not on his tail, but that soon changed when a large shadow hovered over him. He looked up and spotted Kukoo crawling on the sides of the left building's wall with a small sickle being held in his mouth and a large scythe being dragged across the walls by his tail. The building behind them started to collapse into rubble, shocking Mat and making Kukoo laugh. "Come on, Matty-Mat-Matt-Mattibar! Even the buildings are having more fun than us! Let's join them! Let's be part of their party!" He laughed before leaping towards him. Mat spotted a puddle in time and stepped on it. He smirked swiping the water to create a shield. But Kukoo's headbutt shattered the shield, blowing Mat back, out of the alley and into the streets.

Kukoo got up from the ground as pieces of the buildings he destroyed fell behind him. Kukoo laughed walking towards him as the scythe carved across the ground, sending sparks left and right. Mat struggled, getting up rubbing his forehead. "Damn it." He muttered before looking up at Kukoo. He got up and looked left and right before spotting a pond under a bridge. He smirked and runs to his right. Kukoo chuckles and goes after him while happily dragging his scythe across the ground.

"You know, I, out of the others, enjoy using a scythe instead of a sword. Swords are meant to be pins on a donkey, scythes are meant to be showstoppers of fun! Everypony needs something new to see and scythes are the next big thing to fun! SECOND FROM A RAPIER!" He yelled laughing before slinging his sickle straight at Mat. The hydromancer quickly leaped into the water and turned back before aiming both his foreleg's hooves forward. The sickle flew over the water as Kukoo leaped above it laughing. Mat launched a dragon made of water at the insane pony knocking him backwards before having the dragon hit him from the left and right. Kukoo started to fall down only to get blasted into the Mayor's building causing it to tumble down. Mat came out of the water with the dragon by his side glaring at the rubble.

"He's still alive." He muttered as he readied his water dragon to attack by raising his right hoof to the air.

Mat was right, for Kukoo was still standing up on his two hind legs, holding the staff of his scythe. "Life is so fun, but death is better. It's like an appetite never gone un-served. Don't you agree? We're having a lot of fun right now you know?" He asked calmly walking towards him as his scythe morphed into a sickle being clutched in his mouth.

"You're sick." He muttered before pointing his hoof launching the water dragon straight at him. Kukoo stopped and grinned as the water dragon hissed and launched straight at him. Kukoo slings his sickle straight towards the water dragon's mouth. Once it slashed through its mouth, it exploded shocking Mat which caused Kukoo to laugh again.

"SEE MATTY-MAT-MATT-MATTIBAR!?" Kukoo shouted, catching his sickle that came back at him like a boomerang. "Watch how much fun these beauties can do!" He yelled as his second sickle came back around before his tail clutched it tightly by the handle. His sickles glowed black causing Mat to back away as the maniac slung them over the trees.

"What are you doing?" Mat asked looking back at the direction the sickles went.

"My pretty little foals can make a lot of big explosions; they are so pretty when they do that. BIG!" He yelled. "They travel at the speed I prefer them to fly at." He said sitting down.

"Wait, you control those sickles' speed?" Mat asked shocked.

"Yes, I control every single part of them. Is it not fun? I could have killed you already, but what fun would that be? Stallions, mares, colts, and fillies all alike. We all had fun at this fucked up party!" He laughed. "Now, the show is about to begin, the main event will soon be brought to a finale! FUN! FUN! FUNNN!" Kukoo yelled smiling as a loud explosion was heard. A large mushroom cloud made its way up into the sky. Mat saw it in-between two mountains before covering his face from the wave that blew leaves, dust, dirt, and pieces of broken wood by him. When the blast wave settled down, Mat uncovered his eyes and looked with a face of horror when he spotted the large mushroom cloud. Kukoo continued to laugh as his sickles came back into his mouth and tail. "Can you hear them, so many ponies having a blast!?"

"You...piece of shit!" Mat yelled launching a large wave of water towards Kukoo. They swept him away until he came crashing into a stone wall cracking its surface. Mat dashed towards him, using the water as a surfboard and leaped up, hoofing him in the face with his right foreleg. Kukoo flew through two of the buildings before smacking into a lamb post and coming to a stop on a street. Kukoo got up, laughing still, as blood dripped from his mouth. Mat leaped onto the rooftop of the building facing Kukoo and glared at the pony angrily.

"That's the spirit! Aren't we both having fun or what?!" He asked before his sickles were touching blades against each other forming a cross. They both glowed yellow fusing and forming into one large scythe with two blades instead of one. "You hack and slash, you hack and slash, and until the sadness is swept away. Happiness, happiness is what it will give today. Like candy, and ice cream, all of your flavors. You hack and slash, you hack and slash, until the moon rises up and you must repeat this later." He said lifting his scythe onto his right shoulder while holding it with his right hoof. "Can you hear it? The laughing? CAN YOU HEAR IT?!" He yelled smiling as he looked around him happily. "I can hear them all laughing, having fun, they're all having fun!"

'This guy...he's never learned how to feel what others felt when he killed them. It's like he's immune to pain, sadness, anger, but out of everything else, he's always happy. It's like he was raised to be happy and have fun like this. Killing. I can't win this battle, he can kill me and he knows it. This battle is a losing situation for me and I need to avoid fighting him from now on.' Mat thought getting to a running stance.

"You're about to run away?" Kukoo asked looking at him.

"Well, pretty much leap down and run away from you, so yeah." He answered.

"Well...maybe we could have some more fun." He said twirling his scythe in the air. It started to glow black causing Mat to become confused and cautious. "The party is almost over after all. We just need to unwrap the gifts!" He said pointing his scythe at the building. The building Mat was on started to shake causing him to leap off it and onto the ground, glaring at the insane pony. Suddenly, the building collapsed and burst into flames. "I can cause an atomic blast the size of a pebble or the size of a ship if I wanted to. You should stay away from those flames, you know, they can cause some unintended radiation poisoning." He said dragging his scythe towards him. Mat backed away before looking around for any water source to defend himself, but he didn't find any. He gritted his teeth and resorted to plan B. He held out his hooves and narrowed his eyes at Kukoo who just stopped and looked at him oddly. Mat started to sweat and looked at him shocked.

"How?" He muttered.

"Hmm? Is this charades?" He asked, smiling foolishly.

"I can't control your muscles. That's...impossible." He muttered backing away.

"Oh, I have something that others can't guess easily." Kukoo said, pointing his scythe that started to glow black again at Mat. Mat was too afraid to move. This pony was clearly, as he admitted, impossible to defeat. "Can you guess this?!" He yelled, laughing as he fired a dark beam at Mat. Suddenly, a large griffin with dark feathers and a mustache who wore an officer hat appeared in front of Mat by a gust of wind and proceeded to grab the beam before slinging it back at Kukoo.

It exploded on impact while Kukoo laughed through the explosion. A large crater with debris surrounding it stood in front of the griffin wielding a sword holstered in its scabbard strapped to his back.

"By the order of King Tidus of The Griffin Kingdom, I hereby put you, Mat, under arrest." The griffin said sounding old and stern.

"What?" Mat asked looking at him confused and shocked.

"You heard me!" The griffin said looking at him. "I am Head Warden, Raijin, of the griffin prison Talos. You're being sent there for interrogation after the death of our previous king." He said.

"Raijin! So glad of you to join us! We're having a lot of fun! We were just playing charades!" Kukoo said laughing as he got out of the hole covered in burnt marks and scratches. Raijin appeared next to the pony and hit the back of his neck with the end of his blade. Kukoo fell unconscious, shocking Mat.

"He...just knocked him out...like tha-ugh!" He was cut off when Raijin did the same to him. Raijin sighed, picking up the two and tossing them over his shoulder before flapping his wings. "The griffin kingdom will get answers, if we receive none, war will be brought about and Celestia will pay for attacking us." He said before flying up into the sky and heading north.

-To be continued-

Author's Note

I'm only scratching out small mistakes for the second arc for this. Any errors spotted shall be handle some other time when I get the chance. Thank you for reading.