Hye hye hye hye!~ Now dis is a predy lil' t'ing! Tasteh lil' ring! C'mon off dis finagh' now!"
Dio blinked a few times as he felt great pain all over his body. It was hard to breathe and hard to remember what had happened. All he knew for sure was the owner of that sniveling voice.
"Where's tha' no god lay about bastard...! Bah, whatever, more food fer me! As well as a few pints..."
Dario Brando. His worthless father, looting the bodies of gang crossfire, a deal gone wrong. Dio himself had began to remember as he pushed himself up and saw a small girl with her arms tied with rope.
Even in all the filth and bruises, it was clear she was blessed with an uncanny beauty. Perhaps, she was apart of this deal. Before he could think any further, Dario stepped down on Dio's head.
"There ya ar'! Liddle' bastard jus' lazin' about, git up an' git me some booze if yer gonna both'r livin' any further!"
Dario cackled grossly as he began to kick his own son in a drunken stupor. One kick to the side forced a gas out of Dio as he rolled off the girl. Dario stopped his heckling as he took notice of the other child.
"A-Ah! I knew Jones' slave trade wa goin' good but, dis is ridiculus! Ta t'ink he 'ad a girl dis fine and young! Dio! Git me sum rope!
"W-What...?! Why, old man, she's dea-"
The girl coughed with a pained whine as she squirmed in the dirt. Dario's already cruel smile only grew as he rubbed his filthy hands.
"Kids like dese only come ev'ry once in a lifedime offer!~ She ain't just alive, but still kickin', liderally!"
Dario stepped on the girl's leg to get a reaction and was pleased with the pained grunt as a response. She curled up into a ball and began to sob quietly.
"I might even throw you in dere fer a sweet deal! Two bastards of th' world no one cares about! Jus' steppin stones fer me! Hye hye hye hye!~ Life sure is great!"
Dio looked up to the cloudless sky with few visible stars in his blurry vision. The full moon being the one thing he could make out. The moon being the one thing that seemed beautiful in this depraved world. Like a shining beacon in Heaven, he admired the beauty of it's light, and yearned to be with it as it was far from here. Far from this hell in the maggot filled mud.
He turned his head to the girl who cried out weakly as Dario pulled her up by her hair. Her eyes opened and looked into Dio's, eyes not of a slave, but frightened child who fought with what little life she had. The vulgar old man snickered in delight as he reached for her legs.
"Now I ain't a kiddie diddler, but it'd be bad bizness ta sell soiled goo-"
Dario stumbled back from a savage punch thrown by his own son. His whole head turned to the side as his jaw nearly unhinged from his skull, his grip on the girl grew weak, and even his footing gave way as he fell to his rear then on his back in shock.
Dio was not enraged, and he was far from an upstanding citizen, yet he found himself desiring something. It was some as if by some otherworldly calling, or perhaps it was strictly a form of primal instincts, no matter how much he thought on it his action simply didn't make sense. Was it the rage against his father or the abuse of this girl? It was something, something that told him to protect her, to save her from this vile man who spawned him.
"U-Uhn! D-Dio! Wha' in da 'Ell?!"
Dario stood up, but was kicked in the gut immediately, forced back down with little wind in his body. Now seeing this man who has taken everything from him, and yet is deigned the title of the man who brought him into this world, Dio had found his father in a new light. A grand light, under the light of the moon, he found what he felt was the truth.
He was above this wrinkled sewer rat who loved to squirm in the maggot filled mud. He'd rise from this filth, and become the first man to reach the top of society, and then soar higher. Dio turned to the girl who kept her eyes on him while Dario whined from the assault.
"... Come with me."
Dio woke up from his flashback as he stared up at the moon. On that night was the moment he decided he'd enact his plan. On that night he met a girl that was no better than he, yet he saw in her great potential, potential he had himself. On that night he took the first step to his ambitions of becoming the top man of society. And now all his progress, and the progress yet made, could be thrown away if he did not get his act together.
He had to make amends for his actions against JoJo and Twilight. He did not have to win them over, but he did have to tolerate them as equals, even as a façade.
"How troublesome..."
The morning hour came and the sun began to rise as the household awoke with the servants arriving at the manor. Twilight always woke up early and today decided to drag JoJo out of bed. She entered his room and used her magic to lift him into the air.
"Good Morning, Jonathan Joestar!~"
"UWAH!?"
JoJo flailed in the air in fear while Twilight chuckled at his reaction.
"I wanted to make sure I had your full attention! I was thinking of a new study activity, so we're not being left behind, and I wanted your opinion on it!"
She had JoJo float closer to her, yet still above the ground as she held up her personal journal, opened with a number of listed activities.
"We could attempt cramming, but I find that effectively ineffective!"
"T-Twilight that sentence is effectively ineffective..."
"Don't try to sound smart!"
"I'm only relaying what you said yourself...!"
Twilight narrowed her eyes at JoJo who smiled nervously as a response. She lowered him to the ground with a roll of her eyes.
"Well talking is much different than writing, so there's little need for such critique!"
"But couldn't someone argue that proper grammar should be exercise in our speech as much as it should be in our writing?"
Twilight blinked before her eyes widened at JoJo. She never heard him speak to her in such a way.
"... When and where did you learn this...?!"
JoJo frowned as he walked pass Twilight rubbing his arm.
"Just because I don't understand the complex questions Father asks you, doesn't mean I don't think overall Twilight."
Twilight followed after him closely as she looked off to the side.
"I-I, didn't mean it like that... Ah!"
Both stopped at the main hall stairway as Dio awaited them at the end of the first flight. Dio glanced to the side and saw George enter the scene as planned before he proclaimed loudly as he approached the two. Trixie watched from behind the stair railing.
"I'm sorry, what I did was incomprehensibly sinful, it was putrid and wrong. We could've hurt each other far worse than we had due to my actions. So please, though I know it may be hard to do so, I ask that you consider forgiving me, JoJo!"
Dio bowed in front of JoJo in the main hall. It was a public move, a start to win back the masses and even JoJo himself. He looked back without raising his head at Trixie. She wasn't told of this beforehand, thus the surprise on her face was genuine, as he planned himself. He glanced up at Twilight at his side, the girl clearly didn't believe him, she would be his most troubling obstacle after all. However he noticed the glance to Trixie, and found conflict in her eyes.
Dio didn't need her approval. He only needed to get close to the Joestars and secure his hold within the family. Many of the servants had heard what had happened and were surprised by Dio's act of being the first one to apologize. He had pulled a knife out on Master Joestar's son. JoJo was taken aback by the action before he offered a reluctant hand.
"W-We've all made mistakes before, so we shouldn't hold any grudges if we're to move forward, I apologize myself...!"
JoJo found himself to be the one lying now. The two locked eyes as they shook hands. Neither aware of the scorn they held behind their false smiles, yet both felt it in the strong grip they shared, crushing handshakes that lasted longer than either intended.
Trixie ran from her cover to George's side. An approving nod and smile on the gentleman's face as he held Trixie close. JoJo and Dio released each their strict grips and went their separate ways. Twilight stepped in Dio's way with a glare.
"I know you didn't mean it... And I'll be sure to expose you for what you really are."
Dio sneered as his eyes moved over to George.
"I could use that against you right now, at this very moment, but today's been such a good day and it's only about to get better."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
A loud shriek sounded outside of the mansion before a servant ran inside with a petrified face.
"Oh Dear God! I'm so sorry Master Joestar! I-It's Danny!"
Outside lied the charred corpse of JoJo's beloved pet dog. The servant kept shaking as he attempted to calm himself down at the horrid sight.
"I passed by the incinerator...! I-It was on but I began to hear something inside! After hearing whines and the door be pounded on from the other side, I had to open the door! I-If I knew it was Danny, I would have opened it sooner! He ran out like a mad dog and fell limp after I got the water to put out the flames...! I-I'm, so sorry, Master Joestar!"
JoJo stared down intently at the corpse of his only other friend. Tears streamed down his cheeks as his fist were clenched tightly. Twilight glanced in Dio's direction and noted the amount of pleasure behind his neutral expression. The light in his eyes, the darkness in his pupils, he leaned into her ear and whispered.
"Now be the good model child that you are, and learn your place."
Twilight was speechless and frozen as Dio walked passed her and over to George's side, the elder gentleman comforting his son.
"We'll bury him right away... Come now, we haven't even had breakfast."
Trixie took JoJo's hand pulling him away from the corpse of his beloved friend. Twilight shook under the crackles of dying embers from the charred dog. Her eyes frozen on the horrid scene before her.
"Twilight. I know, it's horrid."
George placed a hand on her shoulders. His face wrinkled in a frustrated frown.
"Whoever did it will not get away with this."
"... N-No. They won't, sir."
"Last night taught me something. I was worried Jonathan wouldn't grow up to be a man, and that you were coddling him, after all I do know you sneak him chocolate when he's in trouble."
Twilight tensed up as she snapped her head up to George in surprise.
"You and he are the only real friends you both have. For the longest time I thought that was hindering you both, but instead it's made you stronger in the face of adversity."
He smiled down at her with a soft chuckle.
"I will be leaving the next day to meet a friend about a proposition in our business. I'd like it if you were to come along."
"...! M-Master Joestar...!"
Twilight was surprised she could even utter his name out. This was a step closer to one of her dreams. She nodded repeatedly. George ruffled her violet hair.
"Atta girl, Twilight! We'll be off first thing in the morning."
She squealed with a beaming smile as she ran off for the day. Trixie and JoJo watched her go as he sighed wistfully. Trixie pouted, but inwardly smiled as she pulled away at him further, her free hand held up to his face.
"JoJo? Is everything alright? I know your best friend has gone but, you still have others"
"Danny died, and now Twilight is going on trips with Father, I'll be all alone."
"I will be here."
"... Really?"
"You can always rely on me from now on! We will look after each other."
"O-Okay..."
Dio watched the two from afar. His sneer grew ever so wider as he immediately saw Trixie's plan.
"Insurance... In the slums of London you were mocked for your lack of an education, but you always proved yourself to be of a higher intelligence, now we must play the long game and wait..."
There for any and all unfortunate souls to bear witness to a desolate place. A dismal sight of a Gothic Kingdom gnarled in thorns and vines black as night. From the sky fell searing embers and ash like gentle snow on the hollow winds of emptiness.
There in turn were denizens. Citizens of this hellscape that resembled dregs as the shuffled about without so much a simple grunt. Ghastly expressions with solid color eyes filled terror, discolored veins that all originated from odd shrapnels of what looked to be obsidian. Some had wings, others horns, all were forced this putrid mineral against and in their bodies. All were forced to suffer as they moved in stagnant despair. All were forced to bow to the King of this Land.
He turned with an inhuman reverb to his unholy decree. The sinister intentions he had were made clear as he reached out and seized what he had sought after for so long. The one that got away.
"AAIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!"
Twilight Sparkle jumped out her bed and ran to her door in terror. Like a leaf caught in the howling winds of a violent storm, she shook horribly as she fumbled with the door, too frightened to open it properly.
"Twilight! I'm coming!"
JoJo shouted from the other side before he broke through the door with his shoulder. He was surprised for a moment as she threw herself at him, as her tears continued to flow she could only stammer in her state, stupefied by the lucid nightmare still fresh in her mind. This only consecrated JoJo's determination to console his friend as he hugged her.
"I'm here! It'll all be fine now! J-Just, take deep breaths. You'll be fine... I'm here for you."
"I-I-I-I... I hu-hi-had te-tu-the dream again...! Th-The people... Th-The castle... All over again...!"
He looked down at her wistfully as she let out all she could. Hyperventilating still as she remembered it all too well.
"He was there again...! He reached for me but, I could feel him this time...! I could feel his cold breath on my face, hatred in his eyes burned me, and his horrible claws..."
She placed a hand on the shoulder that stung. It ached as if she had been wounded.
"They dug into my skin! I could feel it all...! Each finger...!"
"Twilight."
He placed his hand over hers and used the other cup a cheek. He guided her face up to his as he put on a smile.
"I refuse to let anything happen to you for so long as I breathe life in this body. You can rely on me."
"...!"
Her breathing began to regulate as she laid her head in his chest. The warmth and safety she felt with JoJo grew as they did over the years. Seven years since Dio and Trixie had come into their lives, and for Twilight so much has changed. JoJo pulled away from her.
"I have to tell someone about the doo-"
"Don't go!"
She snatched his wrist with a frightened yelp as what little color her face had flushed away.
"I-I... I can't be alone, in the dark... Not again."
"Then there's no way around it. I'm sorry."
He gently took her hand off of him with a sigh as he stepped away from her. She was distraught, but looked to the doors, they were nearly broken in two. She nodded silently as she turned around before he swept her off her feet. A gasp escaped her as she clung onto him tightly.
"JoJo...?!"
"I'll stay with you for the rest of the night. Even if you have a that awful dream again, I'll be right there with you this time."
"T-Then why did you apologize?"
Because this isn't the first time you've had this experience, but I won't let you cry anymore."
The terror in her body fallen away as he carried to bed. Inwardly she prayed that if this was a dream she did not want to wake up. She frowned as they laid in her bed and she noticed the engagement ring on his finger.
"... But...? What if Trixie sees us? Won't she get jealous?"
He shook his head with a chuckle.
"She'll have to understand! You're the one who taught me friendship was magic. You are my best friend."
His small smile grew wider as he saw her violet eyes glimmer radiantly. The bond they shared, there was an unspoken attachment, something they felt in secret that they never dared to mention.
Though they barely saw each other since his engagement, only with each other did they feel whole. It was this fondness, the company they cherished with each other, it allowed Twilight to drift soundly back to sleep.
JoJo brushed a lock of hair from her face.
"Twilight... I..."
He stopped himself as he looked to the ring on his finger and sighed. In silence he had to restrain himself no matter how powerful his feelings were... He'd settle for moments like these. With a kiss to her head he watched her closely until he too fell asleep.
Tomorrow was the last day of college for the senior year. A rugby tournament had been held between rival schools in tradition. It was the final play, and at the start, the ball was thrown into the air. The announcer commented in great excitement as the audience cheered their teams.
"THERE IT GOES! A SPIRAL IN THE AIR, A PASS TO JONATHAN JOESTAR, CAN HE CATCH IT!?"
JoJo leapt up in the air and caught it in the nick of time. He then charged his way to the other side with a mighty roar.
"THERE HE GOES! THE USUALLY MILD MANNERED GIANT IS SCREAMING HIS LUNGS OFF AS HE DASHES FOR VICTORY! CAN HE BE STOPPED!? AH! TWO PLAYERS COME FROM FRONT! BJT HE WEAVES PAST THEM, ATTA BOY JOJO!"
His feetwork, his breathing, even his basic pacing had all been more than anyone could have guessed. It seemed victory was well within grasp.
"O-OH NO! JOJO'S BEEN TACKLED FROM BEHIND! BUT WHAT'S THIS?"
JoJo smirked despite the other player's attempt, and continue to run as the young man around his own size hung onto him.
"HE STILL GOES ON! I DON'T THINK HE EVEN LOST MOMENTUM! BUT ANOTHER COMES TO WEIGH HIM DOWN!"
JoJo fell still as the second player latched onto him, yet he still shuffled on without so much faltering.
"I DON'T BELIEVE MY EYES! THOUGH THEY'VE SLOWED HIM DOWN, HE STILL DRAGS THEM ALONG FOR THE RIDE! GO, GO, GO JOJO!"
A third player threw himself onto JoJo. Finally he began to stumble as he lowered himself.
"Guh! IS THIS IT!? COULD THE GAME END HERE?! WAIT, JOJO AIMS FOR A PASS, HE'S MADE GOOD GROUND BUT WHO WILL FINISH THE JOB!?"
JoJo threw the ball. It flew across the field and into the hands of Dio.
"THERE HE IS! OUR PRIDE AND JOY, DIO BRANDO THE UNDER DOG, WILL HE MAKE IT PASS THE OTHERS?!"
Dio sped through the other players like a gazelle in the wilds. For him, it was all but simple child's play.
"HE DODGES! DODGES! ANOTHER DODGE AND...! AH! IT'S A HIT, THAT'S THE LAST SCORE OF THE GAME, AND DIO WINS IT FOR THE TEAM!"
The crowd erupts into boisterous cheers as the team held Dio up chanting his name. JoJo made his way past his fellow students, but let out a yelp of surprise as two slender arms wrapped around his neck. He caught the woman who jumped at him and spun her around as they laughed. She kissed him deeply, the rings shone on their fingers as Dio whistled slyly.
"There they go again! Trixie, let him up for air already! You'll suffocate him if you kiss him that long!"
She parted it with a scoff.
"You both did so well, I can't help myself!~"
JoJo chuckled with his cheeks flushed red. He glanced around and saw Twilight making her way over as well. He reached out to her, and she to him, pulled together as she adjusted the glasses on her face.
"We were able to make it in time! Master Joestar watched from the horse carriage, but I saw you both up close, what a way to end the year! I'm so proud of you all."
Trixie played with her hair, her arm still wrapped around JoJo.
"Well... Without your tutoring, I never would've made it this far!"
Dio nodded as he offered JoJo a hand.
"It took some time, but as a team, there's nothing me and JoJo can't accomplish!"
JoJo nodded as he took the hand firmly. Not a word said... For he had nothing good to say, nothing that wouldn't be a lie. To this day he couldn't see Dio as a brother. Even after all their reconciliations, the times each one came to the aid of the other without seeking a reward, no matter how close they grew he simply couldn't accept Dio.
He felt awful inside. Unaware that as they locked eyes that Dio felt all the same about JoJo. He still hated him, still toyed with him, and still planned his demise.
Twilight and Trixie smiled at each other, but the same negativity lived between them as well. Trixie knew all about Twilight's nightmares, her feelings for JoJo, and with Dio she planned a fitting end for the Equestrian.
Twilight treated Trixie much like a sister, she practically raised her for the past few years, and yet she thought nothing but uneasiness from the girl.
George watched his children all make their way to the carriage he sat in. Illness and old age had taken a toll on his body, but he'd be damned if he didn't witness such a beautiful family. Oblivious to the darkness that seeped within for his focus was on that on the darkness that was reached out.
He brought a hand up to his chest, an Element of Harmony hung from his chest on a golden necklace. Though he smiled at the young adults, he spoke a low hate-filled whisper.
"You will not touch her, Sombra..."
Beside him, within the darkness of the carriage, two eyes that bled of murderous intent glared death at the old man.
"I've taken Canterlot. I've taken the Crystal Heart. I've taken Equestria. I've taken your wife. I will take this world, and when I do, there will be no one left to stop me from taking her."
"I will always be there to stop you, no matter what form you take or how you plan, I will always be there..."
"No. You won't. You are running out of time, and I only have to wait."
He turned away to look back at the eyes with a simple smile.
"We'll see, old friend."
The eyes and blackness vanished when carriage doors opened as the party entered. The three graduates sat by each other as Twilight sat by George. She shivered slightly and turned to him.
"Master Joestar? Was it always this cold?"
"Ho ho ho!~ Winter is coming, that's all."