> Scarfaced Stallion > by KarasAdamas > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue. That Man, Hanayama > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the middle of the Shinjuku red-light district called Kabukicho, an intense battle between history's greatest swordsman and history's strongest street brawler, was being observed by both the japanese police, mafia and civilians. On one side was the Musashi Miyamoto, cloned and brought back from the dead thanks to modern science. Musashi is a tall well-built man with scars on his body and extremely thick wrists for a man his size. Standing at about 180 cm (5'11") and is a master of the Niten Ichi-ryuu. He acquired a new scar on his mouth from his fight with the Master of the old Japanese jujutsu, Izou Motobe. He has wild black shoulder length hair, his eyes look nearly feline-like and he has facial hair. His face looks like a cross between a lion and human, especially when he's positioned sideways. He has a constant dead-eyed look and he wears a blue Gi with leather sandals. On the other side stands the strongest yakuza Kaoru Hanayama. Kaoru is incredibly large for his age, being only 20 years old and standing around 203.2cm (6'8") in height and weighing well over 166 kg (366 lbs). He is very muscular for his age, he specializes in classical Street Fighting and knows no other type of martial art, prefering to just overwhelm his foes with brute strength. He has well-combed short black hair and many scars across his face and body. Kaoru has a full back tattoo named the "Standing Man" (侠客立ち, Otokodachi), that is given to each member of the Hanayama family in honor of the man who saved the life of their great ancestor, Kaoru looks like a jigsaw puzzle due to the many scars covering his back. Currently, he is fighting naked. Wearing nothing more than a fundoshi (ふんどし/褌) to hide his privates and sarashi (晒し, "bleached cloth") around his waist. There are three reasons to wear a sarashi, it can protect your stomach against unskilled swordsmen, it will stem bleeding, and it stops organs from falling out once you've been cut. "GAHHH!!!" Kaoru moves towards his enemy with great force. Prepared to deliver the devastating swing that strikes with such force that it garantees a knock-out. The same punch that previously sent Musashi flying ten meters away from the yakuza. But... *Shwp* Musashi easily dodges the devastating punch by swiftly moving to his left and cuts Kaoru horizontally across the face, right under both his eyes and across his nose bridge. Kaoru however ignores the pain, thanks to the adrenaline pumping through his veins and swings with his entire body after Musashi, attacking with his left arm this time instead. But... "Yes... Those are the devil's eyes." Musashi mumbles as he swings his right blade diagonally across the left side of Kaoru's face. *CHAK* Cleaving Kaoru's left eye in half. The force from Kaoru's swings causes his attack to follow, missing Musashi and leaving Kaoru in a wobbly standing state. Loosing the sight in his left eye causes Kaoru to lose focus and exhaustion from the fight quickly follows. But despite the seriousness of the situation, Kaoru's thought are right now on the person that he made a promise to. 'Mr. Utsumi...... Are you having a stiff drink...?' were his thoughts as Musashi delivers one more swing with his sword. *WUSHAAH!!!* Musashi strikes with a straight downwards slash that goes down the center of Kaoru's back, cutting into his spine and spraying blood into the air. Both the brawler and the swordsman remain in their respective positions for a short while, with Kaoru standing and Musashi crouching after his mighty swing. Silence covers the entire district, no one dares to utter a word. Until... 'I knew it...' Musashi thought as he stood up and looked upon Kaoru battle scarred back. 'From the ten slashes that I landed on his body... With the exception of that one attack from when I was on the floor... None of them got through.' Musashi sheaves his sword with an audible *shik* sound, and looks up in at the sky deep in thought. Kaoru on the other hand, falls onto his rump with his legs crossed, gasping for air. Blood runs down from all the attacks that Musashi landed on him. From his face, his left fist and all over his back, his entire body was saoking in the mix of blood and sweat. Suddenly, someone sits down in seiza (正座 or 正坐, literally "proper sitting"), right in front of the yakuza leader. It was an old man wearing an official business suit, with greying brown hair on his head and a pair of glasses on his face. This was the Police Superintendent Inspector General, Shunzou Utsumi. "H-Hey..." a police officer stutters. "Inspector General!!?" another shouts. "Why is he here!!?" Kizaki, Kaoru's right-hand man and bodyguard, asked out loud. Kaoru slowly raises his head to look at the one in front of him. With half his vision gone, it takes him some time to adjust and realise who is in front of him. But when he knows who it is, his thoughts are filled with guilt and disappointment in himself. "Mr. Utsumi..." he begins weakly, meeting the eyes of the old man. "I promised you I'd do it, but... I did everything I could..." he sighs. Kaoru Hanayama reason for fighting against Musashi Miyamoto, was because he had agreed on taking down the samurai for the police, so that they could apprehend him. He held no grudge against Musashi, it was only to keep his trade's sense of honor. Or that was what he was trying to convince himself and those around him. Kaoru did have another reason for fighting the samurai. It was because just a couple of hours prior, Kaoru had found out that Musashi had cut down one of the greatest fighters he knew, someone that he considered to be a close friend. This did not make him feel better. "I watched the battle from start to finish." Utsumi says sternly. "Compare to me, getting comfortable with a strong drink at home... You went above and beyond the call of duty trying to fulfill your promise." Utsumi stares into Kaoru's eyes, who huffs and puffs from exhaustion, looking into his soul as if trying to reawaken the burning fighting spirit within. But Kaoru breaks eye contact with a smirk and chuckles. "Heh, that's not true." he says while chuckling weakly. "Mr. Hanayama." Utsumi says as he shifts in his position, placing both of his hands on the ground in front of him. "Thank you very mu-" Kaoru stops what the old man is about to do by gently placing his hands on his shoulder and says: "Uh, no, no, no... Stand tall mr. Utsumi." he says in between his breaths. "People are looking at us. These actions aren't suited for men like us." Kaoru looks behind him, with Utsumi following his gaze, both of them now looking towards Musashi. "The invincible warrior under the heavens." Kaoru speaks with a smile. "I knew about him... Ever since I was little. He was strong then. He is strong still." Kaoru moves his gaze back to Utsumi, before looking down to the ground. "I am not the person suited to defeat him..." he sighs in defeat. "Mr. Utsumi. My part of the deal ends here." Silence, Utsumi is silent as he takes in Kaoru's words. The battle scarred yakuza continues to breath heavily, while the Inpector General remains silent. Until suddenly. "Ah!" Utsumi quickly lets out as he points behind Kaoru. The yakuza foolishly turns around, falling for the oldest trick in the book, turns back around and sees the Inspector General in a dogeza (土下座) pose, right in front of the eyes of everyone. "I thank you from the bottom of my heart." Inspector General of the Police force speaks loudly. "Mr. Hanayama." "*Sigh* After I told you not to do it..." Kaoru breaths out. At the same time, while the yakuza and the inspector general were having a moment together. Musashi Miyamoto's mind went far back. Thinking of all the achievements he's done through history with a sword. 'I thoroughly slashed "eight bodies" at once...' 'I perfectly split a hardened stone pot.' 'I slashed a heavy tomb stone.' 'And those modern guns too...' ... 'There is nothing I can't cut from this world... I claimed that once...' ... 'But now, I'm not so sure... This is a big world with a long history... Beyond the borders of my imagination... There is actually a man like him...' Musashi's gaze goes towards Kaoru, looking straight at him and taking in every detail about his body. 'Moreover... Even though it seems that he has admitted he can't beat me. He courageously shows me his back.' Musashi's hand twitches with excitement, slowly moving towards his swords. 'There's an unearthly iron castle that, even though I can't see it, is always protecting something beneath the injured skin.' Suddenly, while no one else could see it, from Musashi's perspective it was like Kaoru's body began to glow in a brilliant light. Revealing the thick fortress hidden underneath his skin. 'The bones and organs of this outstanding man!!!' One step. Two steps. Three steps. Musashi began to slowly move towards the unsuspecting yakuza. With his arm slowly but swiftly moving to grab the hilt, or Koshirae (拵え), of his sword. "Wha...!" Utsumi stares wide eyed from what he sees behind the young yakuza that he thanked not even a minute ago. Musashi is standing ready to draw his blade, with clear killing intent in his eyes. "I will deal one last slash on the crown to you and your spirit protector." Musashi says with a smile. "Survive it if you can." "No, this is enough!!!" Utsumi screams with all his might. What should have happened after Inspector General Utsumi shouted "No, this is enough!!!" is that Baki Hanma, the Son of the Ogre, would have jumped in and stopped the ancient samurai from drawing his blade. But what happened instead was, for the first time in his life, Baki Hanma was too slow. Following after the imaginary blade that Kaoru could sense cut him, the real blade soon followed and sliced his head and upper torso cleanly in half diagonally. Covering Mr. Utsumi in the blood of the now dead yakuza. The civilians screamed and vomited in horror, the police men alongside the members of the Hanayama family drew their weapons, and Baki's face went from wide eyed shock too a mix between roaring rage and wailing sorrow for losing another one of his closest friends. All while the now split apart body of the one that held the title as history's strongest yakuza now lay dead on the concrete of Kabukicho. Location: ??? Kaoru POV 'What happened? Everything is dark, I can't see or hear anything.' I tried to move my body, since I am clearly conscious in some weird way, I thought that would be possible. But I can't feel anything. It's different from that time when I fell into a coma after getting shot in the head. When I was in a coma, I could still hear what was happening around me, but now... there's nothing. 'Did... Did I die?... Damn...' Suddenly, a small green flame that seemed to spark with purple lighting appeared. It was an odd sight, and a bit blinding since I was surrounded by nothing but darkness until now. "Well that wasn't suppose to happen. Weird how messing around with the strings of fate can alter a timeline so drastically." A voice is suddenly emitted from the flame. As it speaks, the sparks and the flame grows stronger each time the pitch grow. Judging by the sound of it, whoever is talking through the flame is somehow responsible for why I'm here right now. "You'd be right in assuming that Kaoru-kun~" '... Great it's one of these guys.' "HEY! What's that suppose to mean?! You should be thankful that I even bother talking to you at this moment." the voice grumbled the last part. 'Who are you? More over, how am I talking? I can't feel my mouth.' "Well for now, you can call me God and the reason you can't feel your mouth or the rest of your body is because you are indeed dead. We are currently in limbo and are talking telepathically." 'Damn, Kizaki must be so mad at me.' "It's been a couple of hours since your death, the Hanayama Group are all currently planning out your funeral and your friend Baki is invited of course. As for Kizaki, he feels like he lost a son more than he lost a Boss." '...' "Honestly, you lived a pretty short and careless life. You became the leader of the Hanayama group at 14, in which you, immediatelly after getting your tattoo, took out a rival group just to get your body covered in scars." 'Shut up' "Four years later and after the Maximum Tournament, which was a martial arts tournament were everything was allowed, you decide to fight a deathrow inmate and nearly lost your jaw." 'Shut up!' "I mean, you only just reached 20 and you thought it was a good idéa to have a 'fist vs sword' fight against the most famous samurai in your country's history without knowing any martial art. Which ultimately led to your death." 'SHUT UP!!' "Yeesh, no wonder you listen more than you talk when you were alive. So you lost a fight, big deal!" 'It's not the fight.' "Oh, then what's the matter?" '... It's not just that I lost the fight. It's that I failed to take revenge for the death of both Utsumi's friend and Retsu. And I just died in front of the ones that I considered my closest friends. Kizaki was like a second father to me, he practically raised me after my father died and my mother went to the hospital.' "..." 'I just wished I could have told him just how much I appreciated him.' "..." '...' "... He knows." 'What?' "He knows, you don't need to tell him. When I said that he felt like he lost a son more than a boss, I was being serious." '...' "..." '... Thanks.' "Your welcome. Now enough sappy stuff, let's get down to business." 'What do you mean?' "To tell you the truth, you were not supposed to die in that fight and because fate made a mistake, I must now give you a new life." 'I can go back?!' "No, the one known as Kaoru Hanayama is dead. What I mean is that your going to be reincarnated in a different world." 'Does that mean... I will forget... everything?' "Yes, you will forget everyone you've known through your life, including this entire conversation. However, you will not forget the impact those people had in your life. As a foal, you will be smarter than average, your personality will mostly stay the same and you will keep some of the traits from your previous life. Like your insane strength, near invincible body and kindness that you show to those that deserve it." 'So... It's like a New Game+, basically.' "Didn't take you for a gamer." 'Blame Doppo Orochi for that one.' "Well, let's get this show on the road." The green flame that made up God's body started to move in a circle before it began spinning faster and faster, glowing brighter and brighter. A new world huh? This might be fun. Kinda reminds of those isekai mangas, only I didn't get killed by a truck, that would have been embarrasing. Wonder if there will be magic in that world? Suddenly, a thought came to mind as I remembered what he said. 'Wait a second, did you say foal?' The light flashed into a bright, blinding light before darkness once more covered everything. Location: Equestria, unnamed village 3rd Person POV Late at night within a small village near the countryside of Equestra, inside the hospital house and laying on a bed, a mare was giving birth. Her stallion, together with her herd sisters, were all nervous over the situation. The mares were doing everything they could to keep their stallion calm so that he wouldn't pass out. For the fourth time since they arrived in the hospital. That's not to say that the others weren't nervous as well, this was the birth of the first foal in their family after all, and all five of them were about to become parents. "Ohhh, I can't take it anymore!" a lemon yellow unicorn mare, with a lime green mane, orange eyes and a cutiemark of three citrus fruits, shrieked. "I feel like I'm going to have a panic attack!" "Calm down and help us over here." a forest green earth pony mare, with a brown mane, brown eyes and cutiemark of a dirty shovel, hissed. "The foal will be here any minute now and we can't have him unconscious when she arrives." "If you're this nervous for Kaika's foal, I don't want to imagine how you'll be when it's your turn." a white pegasus mare said with an annoyed tone. She had an dark orange mane with black and red streaks and a cutie mark of three balls, one baseball, one hoof ball and one basket ball. Both she and the previous mare were doing their best to calm down the light gray stallion with blond mane and blue eyes, who was breathing into a paper bag and sweating bullet. His cutie mark, ironically, had a paper bag on it. Suddenly, the sign over the door blinked in green light and the doctor walked out. The doctor was a light purple mare with green eyes and a red mane, wearing a white hospital coat with a stethoscope around her neck. Her gaze turned to the group with a neutral expression that shifted to a wide smile. The yellow mare wasted no time to turn into a blur and reappear in front of the doctor, who was slightly startled by the mares speed. "Is the filly okay!? Is Kaika okay!? AM I OKAY!?!?!?" The doctor laughed heartly and said with a smile: "The colt and miss Mountainflower are both just fine." Everpony gave an audible sigh before flinching and stared wide eyed over what the doctor just said. "Wait a minute," the white mare said, "did you say colt?" After the doctor gave a nod, they all shared a wide smile and walked in with excitement. In front of them, on a hospital bed, layed a beach pink mare covered in sweat and looked tired out of her mind. Her long mane was rose magenta with pink streaks and her cutie mark was a camera taking a picture of a purple mountain flower. "Hey everpony," Kaika Mountainflower said while breathing heavily, "come meet Kaoru." All gathered around to see the small colt wrapped in a blanket, held in Kaika's front hooves and sleeping peacefully. His coat was light silver grey and his mane was a dark violet that looked almost black in the shade. "Awww, wook at the wittle cutie wootie~." the yellow mare trying not to squeel. "He's so tiny." the green mare commented mystified. "Why did you decide on Kaoru?" the white mare asked curious. "I'm not sure," Kaika began, "the name just came to me when I realised it was a colt and I just thought it would be fitting. Since my name is neighponese, a neighponese name for my foal just made sense." The stallion, who had been quiet until now, nervously approached the bed as Kaika opened the blanket slightly to reveal the small little colt. The stallion began to tear up as it was now official that he was a father, and he would make sure to be the best father figure he could be for his little Kaoru. He reached forward with his hoof and gently let the foal know that his father was here. The foal slowly opened it's eyes and revealed the beautiful magenta eyes that were previously hidden from sight. He reach out and grabbed the hoof with both of his. The doctor couldn't help but smile from the doorway, while she had witnessed moments like this before, it always caused her to tear up no matter how many times she saw a family's first foal. She shared a quick glance with Kaika, a nodded as if signaling 'a job well done'. She was about leave the room until the stallion began to speak with his soft and gentle voice. "Hey there little one, my names-" *CRUSH* The heartwarming moment was broken by the very loud sound of a hoof being crushed under unimaginable pressure. Yellow was no longer close to squeeling, green became pale, white's jaw hit the floor, the doctor dropped her glasses and Kaika was frozen in place. Everypony stared with eyes the size of dinner plates and pupils the size of pinpricks. Completely horrified as blood and hoof fragments now covered the foal who stared at the stallion with what could only be described as annoyance for having been woken up. The stallion lost all colour from the pain and promptly passed out on the floor, everypony else were still so deep in shock that they didn't even bother to try and catch him. Little Kaoru grabbed the edge of his blanket, pulled it closer and went back to sleep. > Chapter 1. Mother and Son > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Location: Ponyville, Trainstation 3rd Person POV Closing in on Ponyville's trainstation was a pink engine-powered train pulling on equally colorful wagons. The Friendship Express was used by ponies and other races to travel all over Equestria and was currently being occupied by both ponies coming to Ponyville for official business, but also ponies that were hoping to settle down and live in the not so small town. "Arriving at Ponyville in five minutes!" a yellow stallion with a train conductor uniform, yelled through the com-radio. Catching the passengers attention and either drawing them away from looking through the window, reading a book or taking a nap, they all grab their luggage and prepare to leave the train. All except one, who was sitting in a corner in the back of the wagon, covered in a large blanket that hid his body. The stallion was so deep in his slumber that the middle aged unicorn mare next to him had to wake him up. The mare in question was beach pink, with a long rose magenta mane with pink streaks done up in a pony tail that hung down to her right. Her tail was long and flowing, she wore makeup to make herself look younger, she had a pair of violet glasses on her muzzle that drew attention to her violet eyes and she wore a purple sweater with flower patterns sewed into the fabric that stopped just before her cutie mark, which was of a camera taking a picture of a flower. "Kaoru, sweety, we're here now." Kaika Mountainflower said as she shook the stallion violently, causing others around her to shoot glares at her for how rough she was being to the poor stallion. But she knew him better than they did, she was his mother after all and she knew that he could sleep outside during a thunderstorm and still not wake up. She took a deep breath and: "WAKE UP!!!" She yelled loudly, causing others on the train to cringe from the volume and those that were still sleeping to jump off their seats and fall to the floor. The stallion only grunted in respond and slowly opened his magenta eyes, the left one being slightly paler in colour compare to the right one. He looked towards Kaika with an annoyed look, but not in a threatening manner, more of a 'stop being so loud' manner. "We already bought the house, now we just need to move in," Kaika told her son pleadingly, "I know you're tired honey, but can you please help me carry our luggage." The other passengers started murmuring and wispering after she made that request. With hushed and quiet voices, they asked questions like: How could a mare be so cruel and force a stallion to lift her luggage? How heartless can she be? Who does she think she is? That poor dear just wanted to sleep and she had to wake up the little- *CREEEEAAAAAKKKKK* The planked floor of the train made a very audible noise of something heavy moving around, it became quite obvious what caused that noise as the stallion stood up and became taller and taller and taller, until the ones nearby began to feel pain in their necks from the strain of keeping their eyes on his face. Once he was up and standing on all four, the entire wagon was filled with slackjawed ponies. With some help from his mother, he put on the three large and heavy saddle bags without trouble, showing no issue whatsoever in having to carry all that weight on his back. Kaika used her telekinesis to drag the two wheeled luggage bags that were left, one being pink with purple markings and the other being silver with violet markings. Guess which one belongs to who? Ponies began making their way off the train, some reuniting with friends and family while others met up with acquaintances. The conductor stallion watch them all leave with a smile, but his eyes suddenly widened when he saw the last two that were about to leave. The unicorn mare made it past no problem, even with her luggage, but it was the stallion behind her that forced the conductor to leave the train for him to get out. As the conductor got out to stand at the side, the creaking noises of the floor board caught the attention from all the other ponies near the station. Talks about catching up with family reunions or friendly gatherings, stopped as the one taking those heavy hoofstep finally revealed themself in the sunlight. The one behind the noise turned out to be an earth pony stallion, wearing a white suit covered in lavender patterns shaped like exotic flowers, a purple dress shirt underneath the jacket that went far back, covering his cutiemark, and a white tie covered in similar flower patterns as the jacket, but violet instead. The stallion had a light silver grey coat with a well-combed neck length mane that, at first glance, looked to be pitch black. But with the sunlight shining down on him, the mane turned out to be a dark violet colour that almost looked like it shimmered under the sunlight. The stallions eyes were a beautiful magenta colour, but the left eye seemed paler compare to the right. The cause of this became obvious once you notice the scar that went across the eye from his forhead and down to his cheek. Another scar crossed over the first and went down from the top left of his head, across his nosebridge, past the right of his lower jaw and down his neck. Then there was a third scar that crossed with the second on the right side of his face, it went down the side, missed his right eye and stopped at his jaw, creating an X on the right side of his face. But what stood out about the stallion more than the scars, was his size. Compare to the other ponies on the station, the stallion was a giant, with the other adult ponies only reaching up to his chest. The stallion is without a doubt bigger than the other larger than average stallion that lives in Ponyville named Big Macintosh, and might just be taller than the recently returned Princess of the Night. Once he was completely out through the doorway, he squinted his eyes as if he had difficulty taking in his surroundings. "Here are your glasses sweety." Kaika said with a sweet motherly smile as she floated a pair of golden framed glasses with her magenta aura and gently placed them on his muzzle. Kaoru Mountainflower smoothly with a single motion, lightly tapped the glasses with his right hoof and firmly planted them on his face and said with his deep baritone voice. "Thanks Mom." he said with a light smile. The mares and teenage fillies around the station could not stop themselves from gaining deep red blushes on their muzzle when they heard his voice. Even some of the few stallions on the station, including the conductor, couldn't help but blush once they heard him. All of them sharing the same two thoughts about the two new ponies that were moving in. The first thought was that, despite the nasty scars that covered the poor stallions face, he had to be the most handsome and beautiful stallion any of them had ever seen. With beauty that easily rivaled most noble stallions in Canterlot and combined it with the more muscular frame similar to those from places like Appleloosa. The other thought that they all shared, only registered to them once they got over the initial shock of hearing his voice. "That's his MOM!!!" Around an hour later. Kaika Mountainflower's POV "Thanks for the help with everything Mayor and Ms. Inkwell," I said to the two ponies gratefully as I walked outside, "it's been a while since I had to do so much paperwork." I finished a little sheepishly. The Mayor of the town was an earth mare with a light grayish amber coat, dyed light bluish gray mane with lighter gray streaks and moderate phthalo blue eyes. Her cutie mark is that of a scroll. Her assistant is another earth mare named Raven Inkwell. She has a whitish light gray coat, a dark brownish gray mane and moderate orange eyes. She wears black framed glasses and her cutiemark is of a pencil and an inkwell. "Oh it was no problem at all," Mayor Mare said with a smile, "it's always nice when new ponies move into town. Since new houses are built almost every month or so." "Out of curiosity," I said with some hesitation, "Is Mayor Mare your actual name? It sounds more like a title." "That's because it is a title," Mayor Mare said with some pride, "but it's basically become like a second name for me. My actual name is Ivory Scroll." "Well, it's nice to meet you officially then Ivory Scroll." I look over at her assistant, who seems to be zoned out at the moment. "Erm, is she okay?" The Mayor turns and looks towards her assistant and frowns slightly at seeing her with wide, zoned out eyes and some drops of drool falling from her mouth. "Raven, what are you doing? You're drooling." she said sternly. "W-W-Wh-ho i-is t-t-that?" Raven said with what I could best described sounded like... hunger? Both me and the Mayor follow her gaze and I couldn't help but sigh in dissapointment from what caused her to drool. Kaoru was sitting under a tree, hunched over and sleeping peacefully. Birds and small animals had begun to surround him and place themselves on him for security, he was also being surrounded by seven foals, three colts and four fillies, who were looking at him in a state of awe. A bit farther away from his sleeping form were more than a dozen of mares that stared at him with hungry eyes similar to Raven, as if he was a buffet of carrots just waiting to be eaten. "That would be my son." I said with clenched teeth. Both Raven and Mayor seem to shake themselves out of their trance and looked towards me with wide eyes, then back to Kaoru and back to me. "YOUR SON!" both said loudly. "But he is-" Mayor began but I cut her off. "Huge, I know." I said unamused. "What were you feeding him?" Raven asked with both curiosity and concern. "Nothing that wasn't from a normal pony's diet, honestly I'm not sure why he grew to be so big since neither me or his father were like that or had relatives with similar physique." I said with a shrug. "I believe the doctors from back home said that he might have a case of muscle hypertrophy. Which is a rare condition were body fat is reduced and muscle size is increased by twice or more the usual amount of muscle mass." "Does he suffer any from it?" Mayor asked with clear concern. I smile at her concern and shake my head. "There's nothing to worry about, Kaoru's completely healthy, more than healthy in fact." My words seem to calm them down slightly. "Well, I'm glad to hear that, would be a shame otherwise." Mayor said with a smile, though I could sense a bit of hidden meaning behind her words which brought some concern. "Hope the both of you will remain as respected townsponies of Ponyville." "I hope so too," I said with a satisfied smile, "thanks again, Mayor Mare." "Oh please, call me Ivory Scroll," Ivory said with a wave of her hoof, "Celestia knows not enough ponies do that." With that said, I began making my way towards Kaoru to wake him up for the second time today. So far I have to say that this town seems promising compare to previous ones we've been too. Ponyville seems to be the best option for both me and Kaoru in terms of careers. My mainline of work is being a nature photographer, specifically taking photos of exotic flowers, which the Everfree Forest is filled with. In fact, many of the flowers in the Everfree are still unnamed which means I can possibly discover and take photographic samples of something new and make a name for myself with it. My second line of work is being a part-time fashion designer, I actually designed both mine and Kaoru's outfit for today and I'm hoping to show it off for the local boutique in town so I can get hired. Earning bits from taking photos of flowers can only get me so far after all. As for Kaoru, he can easily use that big body of his to get work as a construction worker or work at the local Applefarm. I know it's more of a mares job to do those kinds of things, but they are honestly the best options for the simple life that Kaoru seems to want. It's not that he's dumb and can't do other lines of work, he's actually above average in terms of intelligence, at least according to the IQ test we took. The problem lies in his social skills, since he isn't the most talkative pony around. He can also help me when I want to explore the wildlife like I usually do, it is partially my fault that he's gotten some of his scars. But it's not like I'm forcing him, he seems to actually get a kick out of fighting beasts and monsters across the country. This of course doesn't make me any less worried for his health, but at least I know he can defend himself. I still can't believe he took down that bugbear, I'll never get used to seeing him fight. I was about 2/3rds near Kaoru when suddenly a butterfly landed on his muzzle and tickled him. He began taking some rapid breathe ins, signifying that he was about to sneeze. I got a sudden feeling of dread as I remembered the last time he sneezed. The foals began to approach him instead of running away and my motherly instincts kicked in at full force. With adrenaline pumping through my veins, making the world around me slow down to a standstill, I quickly expanded my telekinesis and grabbed all seven foals, pulling them away from the shooting range that was about to explode. Which it did. "ACHOOO!!!" It was less like a sneeze and more like a sudden hurricane just appeared out of nowhere. The birds and squirrels were sent flying, turning into blurs and dissappearing beyond the horizon. The dust cloud that formed was so strong that it felt like running into a cardboard wall, not necessarily painful, but definently disorienting. The grass around Kaoru was torn from the ground, leaving a half-circle crater of dirt in front of him. I'm pretty sure the butterfly on his muzzle was reduced to nothing but atoms. While me and the foals were sent flying and landed in a pile, with me at the bottom of course because that's just my luck today. Grunting from under the pile of children, I asked. "You kids okay?" "That...was...AWESOME!" one little orange filly with a purple mane shouted and began bouncing with joy on top of the pile. "Well, I'm glad you're okay." I grumbled, still under the rest of the foals that were getting off of me and followed the fillies example with similar comments. The noise of heavy hoofsteps aproaching drew me out of my grumbling fit as I saw the outline of the colt me and my herd sisters raised into a monster of a stallion. "Are you wide awake now?" I asked, still lying on my back. "...Yes." Kaoru answered with his usual deep voice that transforms a pony's legs into wet noodles. "Good." I said with an amused tone. "Now help me up." He does as I say and proceeds to grab my hoof with his, but I give him a knowing smile and he does the same. Now, a normal pony would help another get back on their hooves by gently helping them stand. But my son, my Kaoru, is anything but normal. He proceeds to quickly raise his hoof and launching me skywards, causing the others around us to gasp in shock. Again, a normal pony would in this situation panic, but like my son, I'm anything but normal and this experience does nothing but give me an adrenaline rush. Deciding to put on a bit of a show, I begin to spin mid-air and do back flips, before beginning my decent back down. Kaoru meanwhile just simply sits down and reach out with both his front hooves, waiting for me to come back down. I do so and he gently catches me princess style without either of us getting hurt from our little show. Our stunt cause the foals to cheer and stomp their hoofs in joy while the adults stared slackjawed, not sure if it was because of my sick moves or because of Kaoru's strength. Maybe both. Kaoru places me back on the ground and we both give a quick bow before I turn to address him. "Come now son," I say loudly with the intent of others to hear, "let's go and look for work." "Yes mom." Kaoru say, simple and straightforward like always. Judging by everypony's wide eyed reaction, our quick conversation seemed to have the wanted effect as they realised our relation to eachother. Which is good, since neither me or Kaoru would want another missunderstanding like what happened in Manehattan. "Wow, that was impressive. If not a bit over the top." Ivory Scroll commented about the new townresidents. "Yeah." Raven said simply. "That Mrs. Mountainflower seemed like an intresting, yet serious mare, if not a bit of a thrill seeker judging by the stunt she just pulled. I can hardly wait for the 'Welcome to Ponyville Party' that Pinkie Pie will without a doubt throw for the both of them." "Yeah." Raven said again. "She's kind of like an odd combination between Rainbow Dash and Rarity now when I think about it. A thrill seeker with a sense of fashion, what a wierd combo. Though I can't help but feel like I've seen her somewhere before." Ivory Scroll pondered as she scratched her chin. "Yeah." "..." "..." "Oh would you stop being such a virgin and slurp up that drool already! If you want a chance with a stallion like that, you need to get your act together girl." The Mayor's outburst seemed to finally shake Raven out of her trance that she returned to after seeing Kaoru's display of strength and she quickly cleaned her mouth with her legs while gaining a deep red blush from realising just how much she must have lost it. She also realised that she got a bit excited, as she could feel some moisture between her legs, making her even more embarassed and praying to both Princesses that others around did not notice. Unknown to anypony, a pair of magenta eyes had seen the display and was more than impressed at seeing a stallion with that amount of strength and a mare that seemed so prim and proper being able to pull off moves like that without ruining her outfit. From a cloud above Ponyville, a pegasus mare with a sky blue coat, rainbow colored mane, stared with newfound energy and could not help but get excited over the idéa that there exists a stallion like that in Equestria. "Hmmm, might have to reconsider forming a herd with Spitfire and Soarin," Rainbow Dash pondered, "because I like what I see.~" > Chapter 2. Beautiful > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Location: Ponyville, Town Square 3rd person POV The town of Ponyville is a rural town with the typical houses being timber-framed with distinct thatched roofs and overhanging upper floors. The architecture makes it look like a medieval village, mostly. There are some building that stand out amongs the town's infrastructure, such as Town Hall, Sugarcube Corner, Day Spa, Golden Oak Library and some others. The townsponies were going about their day like always, but a certain somepony was going to attract the eyes of every single denizens of the town simply by trotting. Near a flowerstand at the side of the road, a trio of earth ponies were standing, one of them being in a sour mood. The mare had a very pale yellow coat, moderate raspberry mane with light raspberry streaks and pale chartreuse green eyes. The mare let out a sad, yet clearly frustrated sigh, which caught the attention of the other two mares. "Are you still upset over the stallion that rejected you Rose?" the mare with a light raspberry coat, light amber mane and pale gold eyes, asked her sister. "Yeeeess," Roseluck groaned,"can you blame me?" Lily Valley shot a quick look towards her other sister, before looking back at Roseluck, smiling sheepishly and said: "Well, you did come off as a teeny-tiny bit forceful." "I was following what you two told me!" Roseluck accused. "We told you to go strong, to prove that you are a mare that can protect and satify him, not rub your entire being on him and practically force feed him your lust." the third mare said back with a scowl, she had a pale magenta coat, light lime green mane and spring green eyes. "Again, can you blame me? He was sooo cute, I really liked him, I just had to pounce on him. I don't want to spend another estrus with toys." Rose whined dramatically. "I understand how you feel, really I do. But what Daisy says is true, soooo you only have yourself to blame." Lily reasoned. "Aren't you suppose to make me feel better?" "Usually, yes we would." Daisy stated matter of factly. "But this is like, what? The 6th time and we still haven't formed an official herd yet." "Well how is it going on your side on the dating spectrum, or did you just waste away at the local brothel or something? Found yourself a little sugar daddy that you aren't sharing?" Rose accused. "Hey, I've been on dates as well," Daisy defended, not realising she didn't deny Rose's accusation, "it's just... been going a bit slow as of late." "How many?" "What?" "How many stallions have you dated?" Rose sneered with suspicion towards Daisy. "...Eleven..." "A little louder please." Rose deadpanned. "Eleven..." "C'mon, you're starting to sound like Fluttershy, speak up!" "ELEVEN!" Daisy suddenly shouted, drawing unwanted attention from the crowd. "And you call me pathetic!" Rose yelled angrily. "I didn't say that!" Daisy yelled back. "You might as well have! You've dated eleven stallions and non of them accepted you! That means you've already dated roughly a fourth of all stallions in Ponyville!" "*Groan* Lily, would you help me here... Lily?" Daisy's attention is drawn towards her suddenly quiet sister, who seem to be somewhere else in both mind and spirit, as she is staring in the opposite direction from them, shuddering and drowling. "Lily, what are looking... at..." Daisy's question dies in her throat as she to is reduced to a shuddering mess. "Hey!" Roseluck tries to get their attention. "Don't try and change the subject by acting like bunch of hungry... whorses." Roseluck attention was pulled away from her sister, as she felt the entire world disappear in heavenly light as all that she now saw in front of her was the most beautiful creature in the world. A stallion unlike any that they've ever seen before. A towering giant of beauty and strength walking amongs peasants while wearing a stylish, well made suit with flower pattern, covering the well toned muscles hiding underneath but still visible through the fabric. A dark well combed mane that blew in the wind, shimmering in the sunlight. And expensive looking, golden framed glasses that covered eyes that did not show that of a weak willed colt that needs protection, but a battle scarred warrior who will show you just how weak you really are. His eyes were focused, not like that of a herbivore or herd animal like ponies, but a predator. And yet, there was also a clear warmth within those different shaded eyes, a warmth of somepony that could and will protect you. The stallion was trotting by amongst the populus and stood out like a sunflower in a rosefield. Drawing attention from all around him, as if one of the princesses were walking in town. Which is more of an accurate statement thanks to the fact that the stallion is pretty close to the princess' height, towering over both mares and stallions in town. The stallion had an unreadable and almost emotionless expression, as if he wasn't thinking of anything particular at the moment. He wasn't bothered by the stares he received, whether or not he was aware was questionable, or maybe he just didn't care. It wasn't anything he wasn't used too. He cast a sideways glance and out of pure coincidence, happen to meet the eyes of the Flower Sisters. For a short instance, it was as if the world had stopped for just a moment. The stallion stared towards the mares with eyes of both curiousity and indifference, it was as if his different shaded eyes held two different emotions within them. One showing clear interest and the other couldn't care less. At least that's what it felt like for Roseluck, Lily Valley and Daisy. Reality finally began moving again, the stallion turned his gaze away and continued to wherever he was going. Him releasing eye contact was the trigger for the mares to take action, and like the responsible and grown up mares that they were, they acted rationally and gentlemarely. "I CALL-!" "DIBS!" "OH HAY NO!" *Angry cat noises* ... Nevermind... Kaoru Mountainflower POV "Are there cats fighting nearby?" I thought to myself while taking in my surroundings. This town is pretty nice if I have to say anything about it, maybe more than nice in fact. Perfect job opportunities for both me and mom, not to small and not to big in terms of population, close to wildlife and only a train ride away from the main capital of Equestria, Canterlot. Just like everywhere else we've been however, mares just can't seem to take their eyes off me. There are even stallions watching me, not out of jealousy, but out of interest. Judging by their blushes. As if the mares weren't already bothersome. Despite what my mom and herd-mothers think, I've never really been that disturbed by ponies who show interest in me. Though I'm not exactly flattered either, personally I couldn't care less what type of mares show interest in me. But, it is my duty as a stallion to form a herd eventually. Which is one of the reasons why mom refuses to allow me to travel alone, she doesn't want me to be taken advantage of, or end up in a relationship with "bad mares". The reason why I wanted to move was because I was getting bored within the safety of my home town, it was as if something inside me wanted to challange the world, but lacked the opportunity to do so. Like a bird, stuck in a cage... No... Not a bird... A beast. So when our house got destroyed because of an Ursa Minor, it was the perfect moment for me to finally leave the boring town that I once called home. But, mother used her career as an excuse to travel with me, while the rest of the family moved to another town. Can't complain too much however, since mom's work as a photographer and fashion designer made sure we had plenty of bits while traveling. Not that I needed the bits that much, I could walk miles without taking a break, but taking a one day journey with a train does beat taking a one week journey on hooves. Only downside is that trains don't offer that much action, compare to when we traveled near the borders of Equestria. My special talent don't offer me a lot of job opportunies. In fact, the only job I ever had that lasted me for more than a couple of months, was when I worked at a Rockfarm. I even manage to meet a kindred spirit there that also felt like they didn't really fit in with other ponies. She even had the same blank expression like me, only her's was closer to looking completely emotionless, making it hard to read her. But I spent enough time on the farm and with her to become familiar and learn to read her body language. The trick was to look at her ears. Her sisters were a bit creepy however, one of them was always stalking me and I'm pretty certain the other one wanted me dead. Why though? I'm not certain. But, around the time were things seemed to be going smoothly, her parents began complaining to her that she was going too slow with me and almost forced her to "take me for herself", that did not sit well with my mother and she practically broke several laws to get us as far away from that farm as possible. Which is sad, considering that was the closest I've ever gotten to finding my special somepony... "Why did I just get a sudden chill down my spine?" I thought deeply, not looking were I was going. "Kaoru sweety, your about to walk into a-!" Mom never finished her sentence since I promtly walked right into a random pole with an audible *CLONK* causing it to shake and rattle as I heard several gasps of worry coming from all around us, not that they needed to worry but flattering. To make it worse, I also dropped my glasses. "*Giggle* You need to watch where you're going silly-billy." an awfully cheerful voice said while giggle. "You dropped these!" I could make out a nauseously pink pony shape through my blurry vision. It wasn't completely blurry, since only my left eye was injured. But, losing half my eyesight really messed up my depth perception, like I was repeatedly losing focus, making it quite difficult to pick things up. I reach out with my hoof but completely missed where the mares hoof was, causing her to hum before she somehow managed to reach up and place the glasses back on my muzzle, despite the fact that I tower over her. Is she made of rubber or something? "There you go!" "Thank you miss" I say as I lightly press the glasses in place on my muzzle. "Wow what a voice," I barely heard her whisper, "You're welcome handsome! I'm Pinkamena Diane Pie, but everypony calls me Pinkie Pie!" "Kaoru Mountainflower," I introduce myself while shaking her hoof, my action seem to suprised her slightly as she immediately froze and became wide eyed as she looks down at my hoof. Deep within the head of Pinkie Pie, these were her thoughts as she gained a dreamy look. "His hoofs are huge! Like super duper hooper snooper huge! Feels like he could easily crush me right here, right now! And yet, there is something oddly appealing about it. Those big bulky, yet firm muscles pressing me against his body, smothering and crushing me into submission, wispering 'Ara Ara~' as he takes me as his own, right here on the stree-" "Ahem!" Pinkie's mind does a record scratch, like there was an actual audible sound that caused both me and mom to look around confused and wondering where it came from. Pinkie Pie quickly retracts her hoof and gives an embarrassed chuckle while smiling sheepishly. She quickly places her hoof on her chest trying to calm down before giving mom a wide smile, returning to her previously cheerful self and takes a deep breath. "Hi!I'mPinkiePie,butyoualreadyknewthat!It'ssonicetomeetyou!What'syourname!?Areyouhismare!?CanIjoinyourherd!?" she spoke almost to fast to follow. "Greetings miss Pinkie Pie, I'm Kaika Mountainflower and no, I'm not his mare, I'm his mother." Mom greeted courtly, trying to keep her composure near the touchy mare. Pinkie Pie goes wide eyed at this fact and seem to be brimming with happiness before she starts rambling. "OHMYGOSH! TWO NEW PONIES IN PONYVILLE AND THEIR BOTH BEAUTIFUL! ONE'S A MILF AND THE OTHER IS A SUPERSEXYGIGAHUNKOFACOLT! *GASP* I NEED TO GO AND PREPARE!" She jumps straight up into the air zooms off in a pink blur, leaving the two of us bewildered and confused. Both me and mom stood their for probably more than 5 minutes before what she said registered in my head. "Did she just call you a milf and me a 'Super Sexy Giga Hunk of a Colt'?" "Out of everything about that mare, that is what you ask?" Mom says bewildered before sighing. "Let's just keep going, we should be close to that boutique." ... ... ... "Wait, did she just say her last name was Pie!?" "Well, that explains the chill." I thought to myself. Sometime later, we finally arrived at the place mom had heard about, Carousel Boutique, this is the place which mom will be working from now on. She had seen an add in a News Paper when we decided to move after living in Manehattan for a while, apparently this place gained a lot of popularity after an event at the Grand Galloping Gala. Which had resulted in the store gaining a lot of money, but also much more orders, too many for one mare to run all on her own. Her name is apparently Rarity Belle, Bearer of the Element of Generosity and she also happens to be the oldest daughter of Hondo Flanks, who's well known for being the only stallion in modern time to have entered the championships in hoof-ball, he goes by the stage name Magnum when he plays. He hasn't won any official games but it is still impressive for a stallion to make it that far in sports. Sadly however, he went into an early retirement after hurting his back and later married a mare named Cookie Crumbles. Why do I know so much about this particular stallion? Well, because I might have considered him a bit of an idol when I was a colt, back in my hometown I would watch his matches through the television and always keep my hopes up that he would score a touchdown. There aren't that many stallions which I would consider role models in my life. My father, Paper Bag, is practically scared of his own shadow and was all about looking pretty with frilly dresses and socks. My herd mothers were the ones that helped train me and make me who I am now, mostly it was the pegasus Sucker Ball and earth pony Working Heart that helped me the most. Mama Sucker was a gym coach and Mother Working was a construction worker. There was also my other unicorn mom named Citrus Smile, who comes from a family of Citrus Fruit Farmers. They grow every type of citrus fruits on their farms, oranges, lemons, lime and grapefruits, they have them all. Despite the fact that she was a unicorn, she was a farm pony through and through, and could grow plants just as good as any earth pony. Back to the present, mom just opened the door to the boutique, causing a bell to ring and a posh, high class sounding voice to answer from another room. "Give me a minute!" we heard some hoofsteps from upstairs and soon saw a unicorn mare come down. Her coat was white like marshmallows, her mane was moderate indigo and styled up in curls, her eyes were moderate azure and her cutiemark was that of three blue diamonds. "Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where every garment is chic, unique and magnifique." she said cheerfully with a sense of pride. "Catchy slogan." I thought to myself. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Kaika Mountainflower, I'm here for the job application." Mom introduced herself. "Really?!" Rarity seemed relieved, "I was starting to think no one would come. There's not that many mares who are into sewing." "Understandable, sewing kinda started off as a hobby for me, but I later found great use for it alongside my talent with photography. I actually made these cloths I'm wearing right now." "*GASP* My goodness darling, that sweater is absolutely marvelous! This material, those flower patterns... wait, Mountainflower?" she let's out another gasp as she seems to recognise who my mother is. "Are you THE Miss Mountainflower, who's famous for taking photos, discovering new plants and then uses them as inspiration for clothing!?" "That would me." Mom says with a mature smile. "My main line of work has always been documentation, but designing and sewing cloths has always been more of a passion of mine." "Oh my goodness, I can't believe somepony as popular as you wants to work in my boutique." she looks like she's about to faint. "I was hoping to show off my sweater along with my sons suit, to get me hired, but it seems that wasn't all that necessary." At the mention of son, Miss Rarity seem to finally notice my presence. I was standing still as a statue this entire time and didn't say a word, so I can't be mad at her for not noticing me. In fact, it's actually kind of refreshing. Her eyes widen as her gaze lands on my suit, at first she seem completely absorbed by mom's work, but then her eyes keeps going up and up and up, until she's finally making eye contact with me. She stands there silent with pupils the size of pinpricks and doesn't say a word, she seems to be in a state of shock and questioning wether or not she should run. But once we makes eye contact with me for no more than three seconds, she gasps and looks at me with concern. "My goodness! What happened to your eye?" she drags my face closer to hers with telekinesis and looks at me like I was an abandoned kitten. "It's an old wound, nothing to worry about," I say calmly as I raise my head and hold out my hoof, "Kaoru Mountainflower, it's nice to meet you." She seems slightly caught off guard with my introduction. Most stallions would love to get attention the way I just did and just rejoice in it. She shakes her head and takes my hoof. "Rarity Belle," she kisses my hoof, "it's a pleasure to meet you." I give her a gentle smile, which rewards me with her white face turning bright red as a tomato, before I feel an ominous presence. I look to my right and see mom staring at Rarity like she just stole dad from her. For a second, I saw moms eyes turn red and her magic beginning to shape into a dagger. She is literally staring daggers at Rarity! I retract my hoof and cough loudly into it, which results in both Rarity coming down from the clouds and mother to snap out of her bloodlust. Rarity gets rid of her blush by shaking her head and seems to go back to her cheerful business mode. "W-Well, now that introductions are finished." she turns and trots to another room, "let's discuss your position in Carousel Boutique." I shoot mom a quick dissapproval glare and shake my head, before following Miss Rarity. Mom sighs and begins to grumble about: "Flirty mares laying their dirty hooves on my son without my permission." I have a feeling that this day is going to be suprisingly long. ... ... "There's that chill again." > Chapter 3. Welcome to Ponyville > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Location: Ponyville Kaika Mountainflower POV "Are you serious?!" Rarity asked in shock. "Kaoru idolized my father!" After a long and very throughout discussing about my schedule, pay and other boring details that I've heard a million times before. Rarity decided that as a way to establish a friendly start of our professional relationship, she would invite me and Kaoru to a place called Sugarcube Corner. I think I saw it on a brochure for Ponyville down in Manehattan. "That's right," I say with a nod, "Kaoru was born with muscle hypertrophy, which made it so that despite him being a tiny foal when he was born, he was much heavier and stronger than other foals his age. Thanks to Mr. Magnum's achievements in hoofball, Kaoru didn't feel so alien as he first thought he was. Oh, and when I say he was tiny, I'm talking 'wittle cutie wootie' tiny. As my herdsister described him." "Wow." Rarity said in amazement before shooting a quick glance at Kaoru, who was walking behind us, and whispered. "He doesn't suffer any from it, does he?" I could see the clear worry in her eyes as she asked that question. I'll admit, I might have overreacted when Rarity kissed Kaoru on the hoof. She's proven to me today that she is just being a classy gentlemare and is being polite while showing some interest in single stallions. Who knows? If she proves just to be what she has shown so far, I might just give her a chance with Kaoru... Maybe. "There's nothing to worry about, Kaoru's completely healthy." I said to her reassuringly. "The only suffering his strength has ever caused him was that he had difficulty controlling it when he was younger. He would always crush or break any toys we gave him and most parents that witnessed his strength didn't want their foals anywhere near him." 'She doesn't need to know that he crushed his father's hoof when he was born.' "Aww, that poor dear. He must've been so lonely back then." Rarity said teary eyed. "Not really, he would still hang around and play with fillies around his age, since they were all so much braver than most colts and were into lots of physical activity. That might actuelly be the reason why Kaoru has never really been bothered when it comes to mares. Except for his father, all other interactions he's had throughout his life has been with fillies and mares." 'But that is exactly why I'm so worried about what type of mares he ends up with, he's just too approachable. Not because he isn't careful, but because he doesn't care enough!' "Oh! I just remembered what I was going to ask earlier." Rarity suddenly announced, breaking my previous thoughts. "You didn't happen to meet a pink mare that smelled of cupcakes and looks like she's on a constant sugarrush?" Both me and Kaoru pause midstep and shoot eachother a glance, a sudden feeling of dread shooting up both our spines as we return our gazes to my new boss. "We did," I said with slight worry. "Why do you ask?" "Well," Rarity says as she smiles sheepishly, "you might want to prepare yourself then, just in case." Well, that's not reasuring at all. With nothing else to say, we continued our walk through town, but I began to notice something very unsettling. There are no ponies out on the streets, non at all. As if the entire town had been abandoned and turned into a ghost town. Rarity didn't seem bothered however so maybe this was just a thing that happened in town from time to time. Maybe it was a special day were all shops closed early and everypony went back home? We continued our walk and after some time, finally made it to the Sugarcube Corner, which looks like a gingerbread house with white frosting and a cupcake sign to the side. It's the towns most popular local bakery and confectionery, it's apparently owned by a married couple named Mr. Carrot Cake and Mrs. Cup Cake. A really interesting fact about those two is that apparently their relationship is monogamous, rather than polygamous. Or in other words, they don't have a herd. Which is really rare and frowned upon for obvious reasons. I'm not sure why, but the building suddenly feels more and more ominous the closer we get to it. It kinda reminds me of that one time we nearly ran into an Ursa Major, had Kaoru not pulled me into a nearby bush just in time. Luckily, we manage to avoid it and I found a new species of monkey faced orchids I named 'Staring Smiles', because of the way the flower looks like it was smiling at you... Yeah, I didn't sleep well that night. I quickly look towards my son to see if he's reacting, but he just keeps that perfect pokerface of his like always. 'Seriously, which side of the family did he get that from?' When we finally stood in front of the door of the towns local bakery, Rarity opened the door and went inside without a word. But me and Kaoru were hesitent because of the fact that it was pitch black inside. Was this place even open for business? "Well," I began unsure, "let's go inside. I suppose?" 3rd Person POV Kaika and Kaoru stepped hoof into Sugarcube Corner with slight hesitation. Like previously mentioned, the inside was completely shrouded in darkness, making it impossible for the Mountainflowers to take in their surrounding. "Rarity, are you sure this place is open?" Kaika asked as she tried to look past the darkness. "Where's the light switch?" As if she said the magic word, the lights turn on and both Kaika and Kaoru only have a second to take in their surrounding. Sugarcube Corner was filled to the brim with ponies. In fact, there were so many ponies around them, that it looked like Sugarcube Corner was bigger on the inside than the outside. The walls and ceiling were covered in obvious party decorations, with party streamers and confetti everywhere in a almost childlike manner, and a huge banner hanging from the ceiling, were it read: "Welcome to Ponyville." Barely a second later after the lights were turned on, party poppers exploded around them and a giant confetti ball opened above Kaika before- SURPRISE-!!! *Crash* All ponies at once yelled out, but quickly flinch as a loud crashing sound followed by everypony looking upwards, and then a heavy *thud* behind Kaika. Turning around quickly after her jump of surprise, Kaika sees Kaoru crouched down slightly and rubbing his head with a hoof as his previously well-combed mane is now covered in splinters and sawdust. She looks up and sees a hole in Sugarcube Corner's ceiling, and quickly put two and two together. Apparently, Kaoru had gotten so surprised that he put too much force into his jump and decided to give the bakery a new skylight. "Ohmygosh!Ohmygosh!Ohmygosh!" Pinkie Pie panics. "Areyouokay!?Ididn'tthinkthatwouldhappen!Pleasebeokay!" Kaika was starting to get extremely ticked off at the mares constant jabbering, to the point were left eye started twitching. Not only was she talking too fast for her to follow, she was also all over Kaoru dusting him off and even climbing onto his back. But, just as Kaika was about to give the mare a piece of her mind, the pink party pony was stopped in her tracks by Kaoru gently placing his hoof on top of her head, causing her to stand still in front of him and look up timidly. Pinkie was expecting to get scolded for getting a stallion injured, her mane had even started to flatten and hang down slightly, but what she got instead was a gently smile and Kaoru looking at her directly in her eyes. "Thanks." was all he said with his smooth and deep voice. All was quiet, Kaoru's smile and voice working as flame that lit the fuse and causing all the mares, and a few stallions, to blush brightly. All giving the mental image of a ticking time bomb before Pinkie's mane return to it's poofy cotton candy appearance, and the pink party mare smiling so brightly that it makes one shield their eyes. "You're super duper welcome!" She shouts in excitement, with a hint of arousal. "Now let's get this party started!" After the quick little new renovation job in Sugar Cube Corners ceiling, the party was back in full swing. Where Pinkie Pie was quick to inform both Kaoru and his mother about the snacks and drinks that were at the party, somehow the pink party mare had manage to find out that Kaoru's favorite desert is Baileys ice cream from the country of Chapaillín, so she and the Cakes had made an Baileys Ice Cream Cake. After taking a slice each on a plate, Pinkie proceeded to give each of them a quick introduction to everypony in town, EVERY SINGLE PONY. Safe to say, they are probably not going to remember all of them but the townsfolk are certainly going to remember them. Afterwards, Pinkie Pie reunited with Rarity and they proceeded to form a circle with their other friends to discuss something “important”, while Kaoru and Kaika split up to mingle with some of the ponies on their own. Kaoru was pulled into a gathering of stallions, while Kaika ran into the familiar faces of Ivory Scroll and Raven Inkwell, along with a two new middle aged mares. The first was an earth mare with a moderate cerise coat and two toned light rose mane; named Cheerilee, the towns school teacher, and the second was another earth pony mare but with a rounder build, a light cerulean coat and two toned light crimson mane. She happens to be one of the owners of Sugar Cube Corner, Mrs. Cup Cake; though her friends call her by her birth name, Chiffon Swirl. “Pleasure to meet you in a more official manner Mrs. Cup Cake, you as well Miss Cheerilee.” Kaika said in a polite manner. “Oh please, call me Chiffon,” Chiffon Swirl said with a mature motherly chuckle, “it’s nice to have another mother in town around my age. I hope we’ll become good friends.” “Same here with me.” Cheerilee followed up. “With pleasure.” Kaika said with a smile. “Honestly, I was a bit worried that Ivory and Raven would be the only mares around my age here.” “Haha, there are plenty of more adults here.” Ivory Scroll chuckled. “Erm, I’m actuelly 27.” Raven mumble but was not heard. “I’ve got to say, you certaintly raised one shire of a stallion.” Chiffon commented while looking towards the group of stallions Kaoru was a part of and just so happen to also include the baker mares husband, Carrot Cake. Other stallions amongs the group that had formed around Kaoru, that Kaika could recall the names of at least, were Caramel, Thunderlane, Davenport, Time Turner, Filthy Rich and Lucky Clover. However, the two that stood out were the stallions that right now stood face to face with Kaoru. Those being the above average in height earth stallion with a radical red coat, orange mane, and sap green eyes; named Big McIntosh (aka. Big Mac), and the other was an extraordinarily muscular pegasus with a white coat, a dirty-blond mane, and intense red eyes; named Bulk Biceps. Though some say his name is actuelly Snowflake. Kaika was honestly shocked to find out that there lived at least two other large and muscular stallions in town, especially a pegasus since they tend to have a bit more lean build. The reason why muscular stallions were so rare, and I mean really really rare, was because of two reasons. One being that stallions are naturally weaker than mares and tend to have a hard time building muscles; and number two being that stallions have horrible stamina and cannot train long enough to properly gain any muscles from workouts like weight lifting. This of course just makes their forms all the more impressive. Big McIntosh’s build is obviously a result from a hard working lifestyle on his family’s farm, but Bulk Biceps form clearly shows that he has dedicated a large amount of time in his life to gain the body he has now. Apparently he’s related to the famous body builder; Mama Biceps, which would explain a lot since she is well-known for not discriminating towards anypony who wants to build muscles. Of course, neither of the two were close to Kaoru in height. But that didn’t take away the impressive musculature of the other two stallions. Who, as previously mentioned, seem to be having a staring contest with Kaoru. “What are they doing?” Cheerilee questioned in a worried tone. Kaika did notice that the mare was looking at Big Mac more than Kaoru, which did fill her with some relief that not all the mares were after her son. Kaika gaze went back to the stallions to see that Kaoru now held out his right hoof towards Big Mac in an inviting manner of sorts. The red stallion looks at it curiously before lifting his own right hoof and delivers a gentle hoof bump towards Kaoru’s, only to suddenly look like he’s straining. Kaika noticed that her son had begun lightly pushing towards Big Mac while also twisting his hoof clockwise. Big Mac seem to finally register the challenge and began pushing back while twisting his hoof in the opposite direction. He seemed to be doing pretty good, until Kaoru lightly smirked and started using more strength. Now it seemed almost unfair as Big Mac started to sweat, gritt his teeth and even use his other hoofs to push off the ground. It was now that Kaika recognised Kaoru’s little party trick and knew exactly what was coming next. Without any warning, Kaoru proceeded to twist his hoof counter clockwise at the same time as he lifted it slightly upwards. The combined force of this; along with the farm stallions own strength, resulted in Big Mac to be lifted into the air and spin around rapidly. “Wowowowow~!” Big Mac yelped out in surprise, which also caught the attention of everypony else in the building, who looked on it wide eyed shock. Some mares, especially Cheerilee, gasp in worry as it looked like Big Mac was going to hit the ground hard. But the show was not over; as Kaoru grabbed one of Big Mac’s hooves and followed with it gently to slow him down, before gently stopping and placing the red stallion back on the ground as if he was handling a foal. The farm stallion was shocked and for some reason did not feel dizzy at all thanks to the way Kaoru had stopped him. He looked up to Kaoru in what Kaika could only describe bewilderment mixed with admiration. Kaoru gave a gentle smile and said with his deep gentle voice. “You’re pretty strong.” Big Mac could not help but smile with a slight hint of bashfullness, as it felt like he just managed to impress sompony amazing. “YEAH!” Bulk Biceps shouted suddenly. Kaoru slowly turned to face the snow white pegasus, as the tiny winged janefilly held out his hoof over a table in a challenging manner. It was now that practically everypony’s attention was focused towards the muscle stallions and some even started taking bets, whistling and chanting “Hot Colt Hoof Wrestling”. The scarfaced stallion smoothly and in a lazy fashion placed his knee on the table while grabbing Bulk’s hoof with a clap. A rainbow maned pegasus mare with a sky blue coat came up and placed her hoof on top the two stallion and began the countdown. The moment she said “GO!”, Bulk’s muscles seem to bulge in such a manner that Kaika was honestly worried that they might explode. The white pegasus seemed to be using all of his strength and was slowly making progress as Kaoru’s hoof was getting closer to the table. But one look towards the extra large earth stallion made it clear that he was only taking this lightly seriously as to test just how strong the physically weaker tribe was. Seemingly thinking he had enough, Kaoru’s hoof stopped moving while being a centimeter above the table. The crowd went wild and kept chanting for Bulk over how close he is and that he only needed one more push. Well, one push was indeed all that was needed but it wasn’t Bulk that pushed. Without warning and almost looking like he dislocated his opponents joints, Kaoru slammed Bulk’s hoof towards the wooden table with so much force that it practically exploded. With splinter flying through the air together with a roided out pegasus, the crowd was speechless over what they were seeing as the world seemed to slow. Bulk managed to land on his back hooves, only to slip and plummet towards the ground. He closed his eyes, expecting pain in the back of his head, only to feel sompony locking hooves with him and stopping his fall. He opens one eye and sees Kaoru holding him a milimeter from the ground and smiling towards Bulk with what could only be described as slight astonishment. “You’re pretty good too.” He said before lifting Bulk back up without breaking a sweat. The white pegasus smiled like a colt that achieved something amazing and got praised by his parents. “YEAH-HE!” He shouts while flexing his muscles as the crowd cheers. “Aw, that’s sweet. In a weird janefilly way.” Chiffon Swirl said as she smiled at the three bonding stallions. “Sweet indeed.” Kaika said, happy that her son was making friends. “Though I feel like I should ask what most likely everypony’s thinking.” Cheerilee said with a tone that Kaika wasn’t sure of. “How did Kaoru end up with those scars? Especially the one that’s left him half-blind.” She wasn’t sure why, but for some reason Kaika felt slightly threatend by Cheerilee’s tone. Almost like she was accusing her of a crime. At first, Kaika was about to reply with an equally threatening tone, until she remembered what she’d learned from Pinkie Pie’s rapid fire introduction to everypony in town. Cheerilee is a teacher, a teacher for foals of varying ages, and she most likely feels especially protective over foals and judgemental towards parents that might be mistreating or even abusing them. That’s not even mentioning the idéa of it being a colt. While this would usually piss her off, that somepony would accuse her of abusing Kaoru, her son, Kaika felt an odd sense of familiarity and respect towards the educated mare. “I would rather fight the daemons of Tartarus before abusing Kaoru or forcing him to do something that he doesn’t want.” Kaika growled with a glare that sent a shiver down the backs of the three spectating mares. “Then explain why he looks like that.” Cheerilee challenged. One could practicly feel the temperature drop and see sparks between the mature mares. They were in a stand off that would make the sheriff of Appleloosa shiver and hide herself in a barrel. If the staredown had lasted any longer, ponies would expect them to actuelly start throwing hooves. Thankfully, that didn’t happen. Since Kaika took a deep breath and sighed, and then she let out a sentence that would become the talk of the town for months to come. “He was attacked by an Ursa Minor.” *Record Scratch* It suddenly got very quiet withing Sugar Cube Corner, the bopping party music that was being performed by the towns own famous DJ PON3, was quite literally and ironically silenced by her name sake.