//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Can't Look Away // Story: Hades Is Such A Great Neighbor // by RainbowBob //------------------------------// "Um... I think it's time for less pudding," Pinkie remarked, never in her whole life thinking she'd utter those words. But after seeing what she just saw, you'd agree. There was Hades, Lord of the Dead, stuffing his face with every treat, sweet, snack, and sugary morsel in Sugarcube Corner. Everything was up for grabs. "Mmm, this sure beats the Underworld grub any day!" Hades shouted, before gulping down six donuts at once. It seemed that his shape shifting ability was being put to good use as he enlarged his mouth to sizes that would put even Pinkie to shame, shoving as much food as possible and then some into his gullet. A gullet that belonged to a God, which technically made it bottomless. "It's like a watching two ponies run smack into each other, headfirst," Rainbow Dash quipped in, a hoof held up to her mouth in a mix of shock and nausea. "You know it's awful, but you can't look away." "I think I'm gonna be sick," Spike moaned, his face a sickly green after watching Hades dig into yet another cake. The God of the Underworld then melted an entire quadruple-decker sundae and began to guzzle it down. Seconds later Spike could be heard barfing in the bathroom. "Hades, maybe you should tone it down a little," Twilight spoke up, worried that her friends and herself would be the next up over the toilet. And there's also the fact nearly all the food was gone. Hades' smoky robes formed into a napkin and wiped some icing off his face. "What? And miss more of this stuff? I think not!" he yelled, moving onto a mountain of cupcakes that was quickly being depleted to a molehill. Just then the door opened, revealing the familiar yellow pegasus, Fluttershy. "Hello everyone. I just came over because I was in the mood for s—s—some..." Fluttershy's eyes bulged out at the sight of all three of her friends' green faces and the intimidating stranger with the blue flamed hair currently smacking down on the last remaining cupcakes in the bakery. "... cupcakes." She squeaked in fright and rushed to the nearest table, cowering under it with her hooves protecting her head. Pinkie just continued to stare at Hades in awe, Dash face hoofed at Fluttershy's fearfulness, and Twilight trotted over to her friend, worried. "Fluttershy, there's no reason to hide. He's not dangerous." "I beg to differ," Rainbow Dash muttered under her breath, only for Hades to appear beside her with an icing covered smile. "And I beg to agree," he laughed, licking his fingers to collect the last traces of sweet, sweet icing and sprinkles. "So, ya know who McCowering is?" "You mean Fluttershy? She's just shy is all," Dash said with a wave of her hoof. "And she probably got scared from your appearance." Hades scratched his inferno-engulfed head in confusion. "Wonder why. Didn't even say a word to her..." A light bulb suddenly appeared over his head as realization hit him, along with the light bulb melting into a puddle of glass on the ground due to his flames. With a snap of his fingers he disappeared and promptly reappeared in smoky explosion next to the trembling Fluttershy. Bending down under the table, he held his hand out and said, "Hello, Hades, Lord of the Dead and God of the Underworld here. How ya doin'?" "AH!" Fluttershy screeched, or attempted to. All that came out of her mouth was the faintest of screams. Hades, his hand still held out, frowned. "Hey, are you just gonna leave your mouth open so a bug can fly in or are you gonna shake my hand?" She shook her head and scooted away, wrapping her hooves around Twilight's foreleg. Twilight face hoofed and sighed in disappointment. "Like I said before, Hades, some ponies like Fluttershy are... put off by your appearance." "Well, what do you want me to do about it?" he yelled, a faint hint of red emerging in his gray skin tone. "I am Hades, God of the Underworld! Of course I look like this!" "Maybe you can..." Twilight brightened up and gave him a wide grin when the idea finally hit her. "Change your appearance! Make yourself less intimidating with your powers. Turn yourself into a pony even? How does that sound?" The Lord of the Dead rubbed his chin in thought for a good ten seconds, only to break out laughing soon afterward. "Me, less intimidating? And actually degrade myself into looking like one of you candy colored freaks? No thank you!" Twilight rolled her eyes. "It was only a suggestion." "And my suggestion to you is jump off a cliff," he teased, pinching her cheek. Once her hoof shoved his hand away, he bent down to Fluttershy's level and tugged at her tail. "So, ya gonna talk or what?" The pink maned pegasus instantly blushed when she felt her tail being pulled. Scrunching her eyes, she said, "Hello! Goodbye!" And with that she shoved her face deeper into Twilight's leg. Unfortunately for her, a glow of magic from Twilight's horn pulled her off and laid her on the ground. "Fluttershy, Hades just wants to talk. Just try," Twilight encouraged her friend. The God of the Underworld impatiently tapped his foot as Fluttershy got to her hooves, shaking like a mobile home in the middle of a tornado. Finally, after a few tense seconds of silence while Hades looked at a watch that somehow appeared on his wrist, Fluttershy whispered, "Hello, I'm Fluttershy." Hades cupped a hand to his ear and leaned closer. "Say that again. Didn't quite catch that." "Hello, I'm Fluttershy," she repeated herself while trying to hide behind her mane. "Hmm, I'm catching the hello part, but not the name. Now was it... Buttershy? Or Flutterbutt? Can't decide," he teased, a lewd smile on his face. "No, it's Fluttershy," she said more forcibly, her face reddening at the rude use of her name. "Well now, finally upped the volume past one, eh?" he chuckled, dissolving into his smoke form once more. This caused the pegasus to jump up in terror, only to be caught in a one armed hug by Hades as he laughed merrily. "Ha! You mortals are so easy to mess with!" Fluttershy struggled in his arm, wanting to get as far as possible from the sharp-toothed smile of the God of the Underworld. Rainbow Dash took note of this and yelled, "Yo, hothead, let her go already!" "Right after I ask her a question!" Hades replied, one finger pointed upward in a sign of waiting. "So, Fluttershy," he said, squeezing her cheeks together in his hand. "What was it that brought you here today? I believe you said something about...?" "Cupcakes," she blurted out, shaking her head to dislodge his hand. "I felt like buying a cupcake from Sugarcube Corner." "Cupcake you say? Like... this one?" he asked, a red icing cupcake appearing in his hand in a plume of smoke. "Oh yes!" Fluttershy agreed, her mouth watering at the sight of the delicious treat. Hades wasn't paying attention, as he had just popped the cupcake in his mouth and was smacking his red icing covered lips with a content sigh. "Hey, that was the last one!" Pinkie shouted, pointing to the last remaining crumbs of the once glorious cupcake mountain. "That was a very rude thing to do, Hades. You should've shared with Fluttershy," Twilight said, giving the God a disapproving stare. Hades scoffed and waved his hand off at her. "Ah, big deal. She didn't get her treat. Whoopty doo." "B—But I wanted one," Fluttershy said, tears beginning to form in her eyes. Just then the doors of the sweet shop opened yet again. This time it revealed Rarity and Applejack, the purple maned unicorn and orange coated earth pony stopping in their tracks at the sight of the room. There was both Twilight and Rainbow Dash giving disapproving, or in Dash's case, evil glares at a tall, dark, and flame-headed figure with his arm currently wrapped around Fluttershy. And there was red stuff smeared all over his face and pointy teeth. And to complete this context is needed scene, Spike walked out of the bathroom wiping his mouth, just noticing Applejack and Rarity with their mouths open staring at Hades in shock while a silence hung over the room. "Um... did I miss something?"