//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 - Shocking Soul // Story: Absence of Friendship // by MangaKamen //------------------------------// Chapter 8 Shocking Soul TTT – TTT “Pardon me, dear, but did you actually mean to say… Demon?” Twilight sighed as she used her magic to reorganize some of the dress forms that Mao had knocked over, “Yes Rarity, Mao is actually a Demon. Demon Overlord to be exact…” “Sweet heavens!” Rarity gasped as she ran to the window to see that Sweetie Belle was outside with a rather bored Mao, the young filly attempting to take his measurements for a Cutie Mark Crusader cape… Only to get pushed away gently. “I have to get Sweetie Belle away from him!” “Actually Rarity, Mao saved Sweetie Belle and her friends,” Twilight stated, a little hard for her to swallow the truth concerning the transformed Demon Overlord. “In fact, he also prevented that giant tree monster from attacking Ponyville yesterday.” “Really? Hard to believe somepony would be like that,” Rarity muttered, keeping an eye on Mao and Sweetie Belle outside. “I did see the monster and I was wondering what knocked it away…” “Well, to be fair, it was technically Mao and Pinkie Pie who sent it flying,” Twilight answered, recalling the rather odd manner in how the Wood Golem was defeated. “Oh, and how did the two of them manage that, if you don’t mind me asking?” Rarity questioned as she turned from the window. “You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you,” Twilight sighed under her breath. “In any case, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna asked us to make sure that he doesn’t attempt anything, and have even provided us with the Elements of Harmony that have a cloaking spell on them.” Twilight horn lit up and from her saddlebags a golden necklace floated out with her purple aura around it, at the end of the necklace was a blue jewel that resembled Rarity’s Cutie Mark. Rarity mused as her own horn lit up to take the element. “Hmm, I suppose it would be wise to keep them on hoof. Still, is it okay for him to be near Sweetie Belle?” “Well, from what I’ve seen,” Twilight stated as the light of her horn disappeared. “He’s not so much of a demon as he is a delinquent… Although he’s apparently an educator.” Rarity turned back to the window and then back to Twilight, “Darling, I find that hard to believe that a stallion like that could be an educator – Then again, appearances could be deceiving.” “Oh, that reminds me,” Twilight mused as her horn lit up once more, this time from her saddle bags, Mao’s ripped clothes flew up into the air. “Do you think you could repair these clothes?” Rarity watched as Twilight placed the clothes on the nearby table, and gasped at the sight of the rips, tears, and splotches of who knows what on the fabric. “Good heavens! What travesty! What happened to these poor clothes?!” As Rarity observed the clothes, making sure to keep touching the clothes to a bare minimum, her eyes narrowed down and her brow furrowed at it, she lifted her hoof up to Twilight. “No, don’t tell me, better I don’t know. Unfortunately, Twilight, I am no miracle worker, there’s no saving these clothes… I’d have to suggest getting new clothes for Mister Mao. “And while I’m not too pleased to have this stallion mess up my boutique, I have no qualms about helping him with an outfit.” “Thank you Rarity,” Twilight said with a slight bow of her head. “I’ll make sure to pay you, I know that…” “Oh, perish the thought, dear,” Rarity answered with a warm smile. “I’m more than willing to do this, but would you please be a dear and bring Mister Mao inside? I need to take some measurements.” “Of course,” Twilight stated before she trotted off. When Twilight exited the boutique to get Mao, Rarity turned back to the ragged remains of Mao’s clothes. ‘This fabric… I’ve never seen this kind of material before…’ Meanwhile outside Carousel Boutique… “KNOCK IT OFF!” “But Mister Mao, the Cutie Mark Crusaders can help you get your Cutie Mark,” Sweetie Belle offered as she trotted around the black stallion. “Scootaloo and Apple Bloom would think it would be great if you joined the group. We’re always willing to have other ponies who don’t have their Cutie Mark…” “How many times do I have to say that I’m not interested?” Mao spat back at the young mare. “I’ve got my own agendas to deal with…” “Well, okay, but I’ve never seen a pony your age without a Cutie Mark,” Sweetie Belle stated as she sat down, her ears drooped slightly. “Oh, and just how old do you think I am?” Mao questioned with a smirk. “Uh, well, Rarity says that you shouldn’t ask a pony their age,” Sweetie Belle replied as she looked away. “It’s supposed to be rude…” “Feel free to guess, I promote rudeness,” Mao chuckled waving a hoof in front of him a few times. “It is my job to promote such behavior.” “Okay,” Sweetie Belle muttered, her hoof tapped against her chin a couple times. “Um, well, you’re bigger than my sister Rarity, and you’ve got your hooves exposed like Apple Bloom’s big brother, so, are you older than twenty?” “Heh, not even close!” Mao laughed with his tongue stuck out. “I happen to be fifteen hundred and seventy-eight years old.” Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened, “Wow! You look really young!” “Of course, every demon has longevity,” Mao cackled with a smug look on his face. “One of the perks of being an A-Class Demon.” “I didn’t know that longevity was a trait of demons.” Mao craned his head about to see Twilight was behind him, and a creepy smile on his face aimed at the purple mare. “Oh my, eavesdropping? Perhaps you’re not the straight arrow I pegged you for.” “It’s not considered eavesdropping when you yell out everything,” Twilight pointed out. “But I find it hard to believe that you’re over fifteen hundred years old.” “Whether you believe it or not, that’s your choice,” Mao cackled with a shrug of his shoulders. “So, Little Miss Deliquent, you must’ve come out here for a reason – We going to run some more errands or something that’ll try to instill your world’s sickeningly cutesy morals and sweets?” Twilight sighed under her breath, “Actually, Rarity needs to take your measurements for your clothes…” “Very well, whatever,” Mao huffed before he walked towards the door to the boutique. “Let’s get this over with, I’m starting to get hungry… Maybe we can snatch something from that Pinkie’s place.” “I’m surprised you can remember her name,” Twilight stated as she followed the demon-turned pony. “That’s cause she’s color-coordinated. I can only guess that the one you just introduced to me is named Marshmallow for all I know.” “It’s Rarity…” Sweetie Belle giggled under her breath as the two older ponies retreated back into the large building. “Sweetie Belle! Sweetie Belle!” When the small mare turned her head to follow the source of her name, she smiled and saw her fellow crusaders galloping towards her. “Girls!” Both Scootaloo and Apple Bloom skidded to a halt before the unicorn, with their faces adorned with smiles. Apple Bloom stepped up first, “Sweetie Belle! Ya won’t believe what’s going on down town!” “And you won’t believe what I just found out,” Sweetie Belle replied. “It’s about Mister Mao!” “He’s around here?” Scootaloo asked as she looked about. “He’s inside,” Sweetie Belle stated as she gestured with her head. “But what I found out is that Mister Mao – Doesn’t have a Cutie Mark!” Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked at each other before they leered at Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo spoke up, “No way. How could he do all that stuff and not have a cutie mark?” “If you don’t believe me,” Sweetie Belle sighed as she walked over to the nearby window of the boutique. “See for yourself.” In a few moments, the two fillies were at the window – Watching as Mao was getting fitted for his new clothes. And indeed, his flank was completely blank. “Wow…” “No way…” “See, I told you,” Sweetie Belle stated with her chest puffed out slightly. “We should see if Mistah Mao wants to join the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” Apple Bloom stated as she leapt from the window. “I tried, but he says he’s not interested in joining,” Sweetie Belle sighed loudly. “But what were you girls talking about?” “Oh, there’s this huge concert going on,” Scootaloo answered. “There’s a ton of stands selling food and there are games, it’s like a carnival! There are even penguins running the stands!” “Penguins?” Sweetie Belle questioned. “Why would there be penguins in Ponyville?” “Exactly!” Scootaloo retorted with a large smile on her face. “There’s gotta be something big behind that! We could get our cutie marks in discovering why there are penguins!” “We could get our cutie marks as ornithologists?” Sweetie Belle stated with a dulled look in her eyes. “Orni-what now?” Apple Bloom questioned. “It’s what you call ponies who study birds,” Sweetie Belle explained. “Ah’ll never understand how ya know all them fancy words,” Apple Bloom sighed. “But anyway, we should still go! It could be fun at least.” “Sure,” Sweetie Belle replied. TTT – TTT ♪Boil the black blood, hot burning fire in my heart! ♪ ♪That name is also the DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARK HERO!!! ♪ ♪Appearing suddenly through a white cloud of smoke…♪ ♪SHOW ME BABY!! ♪ ♪A hero who doesn’t waste his breath! ♪ ♪There’s no regrets in the past you threw away, SAY GOODBYE! ♪ ♪The road of stallions soaked in the BAD END! ♪ As that music echoed through the air, all of Ponyville seemed to be filled cheer and glee, with ponies lined up at the stands or in front of the large stage where the Pegasus named Axel sang and played a large purple and white guitar. On the stage, several Prinnies danced about while the ponies in front of the stage moved in rhythm with the tunes. Axel flew about the air before he continued to sing. ♪… Even knowing the love you can forgive, More than times of injury, I want you with me, ♪ ♪Boil the black blood! Hot burning fire in my heart! ♪ ♪The solitary lone wolf who engraves a new history…♪ ♪And lives on with dandyism♪ ♪An awkward White Tiger…♪ ♪That name is also the DARK HERO…♪ ♪AXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!! ♪ The front of the stage erupted into colorful plumes of purple sparks and flames that accented the ending and Axel’s glorious landing on the stage. “LADIES AND GENTLE-STALLIONS! I hope you’re all enjoying the action!” Axel lifted his hoof up to one of his ears to hear the cheers from all the ponies, and a large smile appeared on his face. “That’s great to hear! We’ll be taking a few minutes before the next show, till then, here come the Mighty Morphin’ Prinny Ranger!” With his guitar slung over his back, the blonde pegasus playfully trotted back stage as five brightly colored Prinnies leapt onto the stage, their sharp black shades glistened in the light. ♪Go Go Prinny Rangers! DOOD!♪ Backstage, Axel sighed as he took a seat. “Ah… This is going swimmingly. Or in this case, flyingly.” A nearby Prinny sighed as he uncapped a bottle of water and gave it to Axel, the blonde stallion grabbed it with his wing. After a few gulps, Axel tossed the empty water bottle into a nearby trashcan, “So, tell me Prinny number seventeen, how are the stands doing?” Prinny number seventeen reached into the knapsack and pulled out a clipboard, “Well, sir dood. So far, a ton of food and trinkets have been sold, we’ve already broke even, dood.” “So it’s all profit from here,” Axel chuckled with a wave of his hoof. “I may be stuck like this, but with all the cash we’re making here, we’ll be able to live the sweet life.” ‘And any extra of these little golden ‘bits’ I can pawn for some HL back home.’ Axel shooed the Prinny away and leaned back in the seat, the tunes from the colorful Prinnies out on the stage echoed into his ears. ‘Ah, now this is the time that one would say that nothing can possibly go wrong… But last time I thought that, I got punched in the face by that Red-Haired Forest Maniac. ‘Still, I doubt that anything bad like that’ll happen again – Hell, this place is pretty peaceful. Almost reminds me of the human world, except without the pollution and technology.’ The Dark Hero chuckled slightly before he threw his front hooves behind his head, ‘Maybe when I get my old body back, I’ll find a way back here and set up a summer home – Certainly would be good to retain my fans in all worlds…’ “Boss Axel, DOOD!” Another Prinny quickly ran up towards Axel, stumbling over his peg legs in the process. “We got major problems, dood!” “Hey, don’t say that, you’re harshen my buzz here,” Axel chuckled under his breath. “Besides, what’s the worst that could happen? We run out of food? Sold out all of the bobble heads or T-Shirts?” “W-Worse, d-d-d-dood!” The prinny squawked as he flapped his flippers about. “I heard from a bunch of ponies about how last night there was this giant tree monster, and it sounded like a Wood Golem, dood!” “A Wood Golem?” Axel muttered. “So, there are demons here? That’s not so bad, I doubt any demons out here would’ve heard of me – They’ll be fans in no time.” “B-But it wasn’t that, dood!” The prinny squeaked. “It’s that the Wood Golem got sent flying, dood! And it was by a pony who had wild white hair, large glasses and a red school uniform jacket wrapped around his neck, dood!” Axel’s eyes widened slightly, but then he chuckled with a wave of his hoof. “Oh come on now, there’s no way someone like that would be here – Besides, you said he was a pony and that’s impossible for a demon like that to be…” “But you’re a pony too, dood,” The prinny pointed out. “If you were turned into one, then wouldn’t he become one too, dood?” “GAH!” Axel yelped loudly. “S-Still! It could be possible that there’s a pony that looks like him…” “It’s him, dood,” The prinny stated bluntly. “He was able to turn a pony into a cannon – Isn’t that what magichange can do, dood?” Axel’s face contorted in sheer terror. There’s no way a pony could transform into a cannon – Magichange wasn’t supposed to be possible by the inhabitants here in Equestria. If this was true, then… Then… “NO!” Axel yelled out with his hooves brought to the side of his head. “If ‘he’ is really here, then that’s not good! He knows about me! He knows my reputation! He’ll ruin everything!” “So, what ya going to do, dood?” The Prinny asked with a shrug. Although Axel dashed about the back stage with tan feathers flying out through the air, the blonde stallion took a deep breath and sighed loudly. Then with a large smirk on his face, the Dark Hero turned back to the Prinny, “There’s no need to panic!” ‘You were the one panicking, dood,’ The Prinny thought to himself. “We’ll just have to make sure he doesn’t see me,” Axel chuckled with a wave of his hoof. “So, I want you to send the Prinny Rangers out to make sure that they distract him until we’re done with the show!” “Shouldn’t we just pack up and leave, dood?” The Prinny questioned. “Nah man,” Axel chuckled as the crowds outside roared loudly. “Can’t ya hear them? They love us! We’ll milk all we can here, and then we’ll get out of here in a flash! It’s practically foolproof!” ‘Except the plan was made by a fool, dood,’ the Prinny thought to himself. “Now, if you excuse me, I hear the stage a calling!” Axel called out as he used his tail to grab his guitar. As the blonde stallion trotted back towards the stage, another Prinny walked up to the original, this one had a long scar racing down the side of his face, “… Does he know, dood?” “Nope, dood,” the regular Prinny answered back. “But we may have another pain to deal with, dood.” “It won’t matter, dood,” the scarred Prinny replied. “With the abundance of mana in this world, soon, it’ll be ready, dood. It’s strength is on par with any demon overlord, not even the supposed ‘Dark Hero’ would be able to face against this force, dood.” Both Prinnies chuckled to themselves as Axel began to sing once more, a pair of sharp red eyes glowed brightly from the shadows as several clicks and beeps echoed slightly backstage. PRINNGER X… Dood… TTT – TTT “… GAGH! How long is this going to take?!” “Well, if you stop moving… About ten minutes ago.” “DAMN IT!” “Hush now,” Rarity stated, more preoccupied with using her magic to lift the measuring tape around Mao’s body. “Just be grateful that Twilight and I didn’t use magic to bind you.” “Yeah, the magic you horses use on me tend to make me mad,” Mao growled. “I’d rather listen to the Prinnies’ work labor complaints than get levitated or teleported.” “I thought you wanted to learn about our magic?” Twilight countered. “Wouldn’t it be better for you to experience first hoof?” “Ugh, those horse puns are grating on the nerves,” Mao sighed with a dulled look in his eyes. “I’ve already experienced your unicorn magic, now I just want to study it! Such amazing force that the blue pegicorn showed…” “How many times are you going to keep using that term?” Twilight questioned with a raised brow. “… I can only imagine the implications of harnessing such magic!” Mao cackled with a diabolic smile on his face. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” Rarity sighed as she pulled the measuring tape away. “But only unicorns and alicorns are capable of using magic… And I don’t see a horn in that mane of yours.” “I’ve got my ways,” Mao chuckled. “Besides, I’ve got my own brand of magical abilities that I rightfully call my own here.” “Well, good for you,” Rarity replied with a warm smile. “But in any case, I’ve got your measurements, sir. I should have your clothes done by the end of the day.” “Heh, that long?” Mao cackled as he leapt off of the modeling tail and whipped his tail about. “I guess that means I can practice my streaking skills! I always heard that indecent exposure was all the rave in…” “Alright, well then Mao,” Twilight interrupted as she quickly ran over to Mao and placed her hoof over the demon lord’s face. “We should be going now – We need to meet with Applejack and…” Mao slapped Twilight’s hoof away and narrowed his eyes, “Whatever, let’s just get this over with – The sooner I get back to that basement lab of yours, the sooner I can get out of this hoof-given form.” And with that, Mao trotted over to the door and opened it, “I’ll be outside – The amount of colors and all the fabric here… Unless you’re planning on cosplaying, then I’d rather stick outside where I don’t have to deal with all of this fru-fru junk!” The moment that Mao exited the boutique and closed the door behind him, Rarity sighed, “Demon or not, that stallion is quite intolerable. You have the patience of a saint, Twilight.” “Well, its only his words that we need to worry about,” Twilight replied. “And his threats of experimentation, and his weird demonic powers – But, he shouldn’t get out of control as long as we have the elements of…” “PRINNY POWER – DOOD!” A loud explosion echoed through the air outside the boutique, with enough force to make the entire building shake. Both Twilight and Rarity turned towards the door and then towards each other… TBC