Abiyoyo

by Matthew Penn

Abiyoyo

A long time ago, in a small town in the heartland of Equestria, there lived a little zebra who love to play the ukulele. It was a gift from his parents, who loved music as much as he did. Unfortunately they died when he was very young, and the little zebra was sent to an orphanage. Everyday when the sun rose he’d jump out of bed, go outside, pluck the strings on his little instrument and sing with a loud voice all over town. From the top of his head he’d make a song about anything. He’ll sing about the sing, sing about the birds flying over his head, the trees and the earth, the wind blowing on his little face full of stripes. He played music everyday because wanted to put smiles on the faces of every pony he sees.

The townsfolk didn’t like it much. Instead of hearing wonderful music all they heard was dreadful noise. Ponies covered their ears whenever the little zebra came around with his ukulele. Not even the children of the orphanage liked his music. When he went for his daily strolls they hoped he never come back, but he always did, and he continued to play music well into evening.

On the other side of town lived a unicorn named Trixie. While most unicorns used their magic to do work and study, Trixie used her abilities to pull pranks and play tricks on unsuspecting ponies. If she saw a carpenter using any of their tools, she will aim her horn and make them disappear before their eyes. Someone wants a cold, refreshing glass of something? The next moment, either lemonade or water, all of it splashed on their faces. An old stallion wanted to sit down after a day of hard work? He’d fall on his rump when a spark of magic made his chair vanish in thin air. There was a time the townsfolk thought Trixie’s antics were amusing, but grew annoyed when she wouldn’t stop.

Trixie and the little zebra were known as the oddballs of the town, as neither of them didn’t quite fit in. With time their presence became too great for them to bear. The townsfolk decided they can do without the lousy music and the cruel pranks. One day the mayor of the town called for a secret meeting, inviting everyone but the zebra and the unicorn, and the whole town voted to kick them out. So just as the little zebra prepared to sing a happy song he just wrote and Trixie was getting ready to pull another prank on someone, the ponies quickly chased them across town until they reached entrance. “Get out of here! Take your tricks and your darn ukulele with you! We don’t want them anymore!” they yelled. Once they were gone, the ponies held a huge celebration.

The little zebra was only confused after all that has happened. He thought everyone liked his music. He didn’t mean to make ponies angry. The only thing he wanted to do was to spread joy make their day brighter. The zebra never would have thought they’d be so heartless enough to tell someone as young as him he wasn’t allowed to live with them anymore. He hung his head to the ground, distraught from the day’s events. For the first time in his life he was too sad to play the ukulele.

Trixie took note of how depressed the young zebra was. “This isn’t the first time I’ve been rejected by the masses. They couldn’t handle our uniqueness, so they cast us out. We didn’t belong there anyway,” she said, trying to cheer him up. The little zebra said nothing, only sighing in defeat. They stopped walking when the sunset arrived, and Trixie set up a tent under the trees. She invited the zebra to stay with her, which he accepted. Unfortunately there was no food for them to eat, but decided they will venture to the next town by dawn.

To forget about their troubles they told each other stories. Trixie told the young zebra of how she used to be a stage magician. She performed amazing tricks and illusions to a large audience whom were dazzled by what they’ve seen. One night during a show a heckler was being disruptive. The heckler wouldn’t be quiet, which put Trixie at her wits end. Without thinking she pulled a prank on him by making his mouth disappear, causing the audience to burst into laughter. That’s when she realized she had more fun playing tricks on other ponies for her own amusement. She kept doing it until it annoyed the townsfolk, but she didn’t care. She was having fun. The little zebra told her how he was an orphan, and the ukulele is the only item he had that’s a reminder of her parents. He played music to not only make himself happy, but others happy. Those days are over it seemed. Trixie sensed the sadness in his voice.

The moon shined down on the two souls camped out in the forest. Trixie and the zebra told each other more stories. Soon the zebra forgot about what happened earlier that day, as found Trixie to be great company. As soon as Trixie told about the time she tamed a rampaging Ursa Minor (with a little bit of help from another unicorn, but the day was saved solely by Trixie), the zebra thought of another story he heard when was very young. He picked up his ukulele and ran his hoof through the strings, and sang about a giant monster named Abiyoyo; a creature so fearsome and terrible, even saying his name out loud sent shivers down your spine. He was as tall as a house, according to the zebra, and when you hear him roar, that’s when it’s time to run for your life. He had long fingernails because he never cut them. He had slobbery teeth because he never brush them, stinking feet because he never wash them, matted hair because he never comb it. He’ll eat anything in his path, ponies too. The zebra used the strings to make a simple melody, and this is what he sang -

When he reached the end, all Trixie could do was laugh. “This Abiyoyo will be no match for the Great and Powerful Trixie, the one who conquered the Ursa Minor! Why, I can make him disappear in a blink of an eye!” she boasted.

The little zebra chuckled. Although he knew Abiyoyo wasn’t real, he sure would love to see Trixie do that. The two misfits drift off to sleep, hoping tomorrow will be a better day.

Now that the two misfits were kicked out of town, the townsfolk decided to put a ban on magic and music. They were no longer in the mood for tomfoolery. For the time in a who knows when they slept peacefully, thankful that Trixie and the little zebra were gone.

The next morning, the sun rose blood red over the hills. The first ponies woke up and looked out the window. They saw a great shadow in front of the sun, a terrifying image if there was one. The stomping of feet shook the earth beneath them. What is happening? The great shadow let out a roar so loud it split the sky like a crack of thunder.

Mares screamed. Strong stallions fainted. “Run for your lives! Abiyoyo’s coming!” everyone yelled. “Grab your most precious possessions and run!” Mothers ran off with their little ones, the elderly hid indoors, stallions searched for any weapons to fight him off.

The giant monster made his way toward the town, and boy was he hungry. He is ready to swipe the first thing he can get his filthy claws on. He came to the sheep pasture and grabbed a whole sheep. Yeowp! He moves to the cow pasture and grabs a whole cow. Yunk!

Ponies on the ground threw large rocks at it, and tried to beat it with clubs and bats and pitchforks. Pegasi flew from above to knock him on the head, but both were met with a swipe of his large, dirty claws. A young mare tried to reason with him, to convince him to cease terrifying the poor ponies. Abiyoyo picked her off the ground and ate her in one gulp.

Abiyoyo’s attack on the town was loud enough to reach the center of the forest. The little zebra and Trixie woke to sound of screaming and cries for help far off in the distance. The little zebra wondered what in the wide world of Equestria is going on until he heard the roar of a monster.

“Was that a manticore?” asked Trixie.

The zebra knew it wasn’t a manticore. This roar had a distinct sound to it, something otherworldly and not at all natural. The monster roared again, and he knew who it belonged to. The little zebra jumped out of the tent to run back to the direction they came the night before. Trixie seen him go, then went after him. They ran across the fields into town, back to the entrance, and were met with ponies big and small scrambling in all directions, screaming and crying, the same ponies who only a day before had cast them out to the wilderness.

And that was when they saw him… the giant monster himself, Abiyoyo. Trixie and the little zebra stood there, shaking and trembling with fear that crawled from their backs to their souls. The unicorn especially never seen any living creature this huge before, besides the occasional dragon, and even then they were not as terrifying as Abiyoyo, a bipedal monster, the rarest of them all. The monster occupied himself by destroying a building when the zebra decided to get closer. He tried to drag Trixie along, but she stood as firm as a stone on the ground. To his surprise he found the look of fear on the unicorn’s face. Her blue skin grew a little pale when he edged her on. He can hear the townsfolk yelling for them to get away or the monster will eat them up.

The zebra had a good look at him from a safe distance, and realized the stories were true all along. He was as tall as the town hall building, gray skin and an ugly face to match. And just like the stories he had long, dirty fingers, matted hair, stinking feet, slobbery teeth. Abiyoyo looked down at the two ponies by his feet, licking his lips, surely thinking they’re his next meal.

“Go on, Trixie! Make him disappear!” the zebra said.

Trixie tried to back away and run, although she became too frightened to do anything to save herself. She berated herself inwardly. The zebra must have had that story of the Ursa Minor rampage in his thoughts when he saw Abiyoyo attacking the town. This was nothing like the Ursa Minor attack from some time ago. If she can find her voice she’d tell the zebra it was a big lie. Two idiots had awoken the Ursa Minor by mistake, and that one unicorn… she can’t think of her name, put it back to sleep with ease. All Trixie had done was run away. Why did she had to lie?

The zebra waited for Trixie to make Abiyoyo disappear, only to see her shivering all over and chattering her teeth. He looked back at the giant, who raised his claws to swipe them off the ground and into his mouth. The zebra slowly reached for his ukulele, and before Abiyoyo picked him and Trixie off the ground he plucked the strings of his small instrument.

The giant stopped, focusing his attention on the little zebra. The zebra played the melody again and repeated the words. Come to think of it, Abiyoyo had never heard a song about himself before. A foolish grin spread over his ugly gray face.

Trixie snapped out of her frightened trance, then raised her eyebrow. What on earth was that zebra doing? Why is he singing in a time like this? This was her only chance to run away, but looked closely at what the zebra was doing. He never let his hooves rest as the happy melody diminished the silence of the cold morning. The little zebra ran his hoof on the strings faster, singing out loud:

Neither Trixie nor the townsfolk believe what they saw. The monster danced around like a foolish child. He must really like that song. The zebra played the ukulele faster, and the monster tried his best to follow the beat. Both Trixie and the zebra realized he was out of breath, but the zebra kept on. The giant staggered and stumbled, and a moment later he fell down flat on the ground. He was knocked out.

Now it was up to Trixie. Normally she made small objects, and that one heckler’s mouth, disappear. Never before had she used her magic to make a living giant creature vanish. Trixie grew nervous, fear gripping her being. She didn’t want a repeat of the Ursa Minor situation, but the town and the young zebra counted on her to finish the job. Trixie closed her eyes and silently prayed, aimed her horn at the monster.

A powerful beam of magic shot out.

Zoop!

Ponies looked out their windows. “He’s gone! Abiyoyo has disappeared!” they all cheered.

For the first time since yesterday, the townsfolk were happy to see the two misfits they’ve kicked out for being annoying. They gathered around and lifted them up in the air in a celebratory fashion. Even the mayor came forth and apologized for treating them so poorly. “Come back to town! Bring your darn ukulele and your magic tricks! We don’t care anymore!” they happily yelled.

With the monster defeated, the day was saved. The whole town gathered around the little zebra and they all sang together: