(Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony or Yu-Gi-Oh! All credit goes to the original creators at Hasbro and Kazuki Takahashi. Please support the official release)
Chapter 4:
It was a beautiful sunny day as Marik walked through the streets of PonyVille. It had surprised him how quickly the weather had changed, but then again, Twilight did explain that it was the Pegasi's task of controlling the weather. After half an hour, he finally arrived at the colorful bakery known as SugarCube Corner; I really should try to find a faster mode of transportation, he thought as he knocked on the door. He was greeted by the smiling face of Pinkie Pie as she excitedly opened the door and let him in, "Marik! I'm so glad you're here. I'd like to introduce you to my employers- Mr. and Mrs. Cake, and their twins- Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake", she said. She was gesturing to the other four ponies in the room; Mr. Cake was a light orange Earth Pony with a dark orange mane while Mrs. Cake was a light blue Earth Pony with a dark pink mane. Their foals were a light grayish gold Pegasus with a brown mane and a light yellow Unicorn with a light brilliant orange mane. Marik had never seen babies before, so his first basic response was to bend down to their level and gently ruffle their manes with his hands, "Oh My Ra, you are just the cutest little fillies I have ever seen. Yes you are, yes you are!" he said earning him some playful cooing noises from the two foals. Mrs. Cake giggled as she talked with Pinkie Pie, "My goodness Pinkie, your friend really seems to like our babies. Now are you sure you can handle running the bakery while we're gone?" she said. Pinkie nodded and said, "Don't worry about a thing, Mr. and Mrs. Cake. I Pinkie Promise to keep watch over SugarCube Corner cross my heart and hope to fly, and stick a cupcake in my eye. And I'll have my new friend Marik here to help me; he did say he wanted to learn how to make cupcakes". Mr. and Mrs. Cake smiled as the gathered their luggage and their twins and headed for the door, "We'll see you two in two weeks, take care now", said Mr. Cake as they left for the train station.
After they were gone, Marik took the time to admire how nice the inner interior of the bakery was, he had never seen one and it amazed him. In fact, there were a lot of things he had never seen or done, but now that he was going to be living in PonyVille, that was going to change. "So Pinkie Pie, how exactly do you make cupcakes?" he asked. Pinkie Pie moved towards the counter and gathered all of her baking material, "Well Marik it's real easy. Listen carefully…" as Pinkie started preparing a batch, she unexpectedly broke out in song.
Pinkie Pie: All you have to do is take a cup of flour!
Add it to the mix!
Now just take a little something sweet, not sour!
A bit of salt, just a pinch!
Baking these treats is such a cinch!
Add a teaspoon of vanilla!
Add a little more, and you count to four,
And you never get your fill of...
Cupcakes! So sweet and tasty!
Cupcakes! Don't be too hasty!
Cupcakes! Cupcakes, cupcakes, CUPCAKES!
As soon she was done singing, Pinkie pulled a batch of freshly baked cupcakes out of the oven. She frosted each one, topped them with sprinkles and presented them to Marik. "And that is how you make cupcakes. If you just remember my song, you can make as many as you want", she said. Just then, the door opened and a random pony walked in, "Ooh a customer! Marik, I have to take this so why don't you help yourself to a cupcake. It's totally complimentary", said Pinkie. As Pinkie Pie went to fill out the customers' order, Marik picked up one of the cupcakes from the tray. He smelled it slightly and took a bite; his eyes widened, never in his life had he tasted something so delicious. It felt like fireworks had exploded inside his mouth, when Pinkie finished, she turned towards him to get his feedback. "This…is by far the best thing I have ever eaten. You are an amazing baker, Pinkie Pie", he said. Pinkie blushed slightly as she gave him a hug of gratitude, "Aww, thanks Marik. And you're an amazing best friend", she said. That made Marik remember what he had wanted to ask Pinkie as well as the rest of the Mane Six, "Pinkie Pie, I've got a question to ask you. If I ever did anything bad, would you still be my friend?" he asked. Pinkie smiled and said, "Of course because no matter what you do, we'll always be friends. And besides, I know you'd never do anything bad, at least, not on purpose".
Just then, Rarity walked in through the front door, "Hi Rarity, how are you doing today?" Pinkie asked happily. Rarity smiled and said, "Oh just fine, darling. I wanted to ask if you could make a dozen of your finest cupcakes for me. I'm heading over to my favorite spa today, and I wanted to give those girls a gift to show my appreciation towards them". Pinkie Pie nodded and got to work making a batch of strawberry shortcake cupcakes, they were her best recipe. Rarity looked towards Marik and smiled, "Well hello there Marik, it's nice to see you again darling. I can see that you're sporting some of the clothes I made for you; I thought they were my best work, but seeing them on you, they look better than I thought", she said. Marik blushed at the compliment, "You know, I was going over to the spa today. How would you like to join me?" asked Rarity. "That sounds like a superb idea, Rarity. He'll get to know what it feels like to be at a spa. Don't worry about a thing Marik, I can run the bakery by myself. I have done it before", said Pinkie as she finished Rarity's order. Marik also thought it would be a good idea, so he followed Rarity to the spa. As they walked in, Rarity gave the spa ponies her gift. "This is for you all; I just wanted to let you know how grateful I am towards all of you for your hard work. Now, today I'll take the usual and for my friend", she gestured towards Marik who was slightly nervous, "He'll have the full spa experience. It's his first time in a spa, so I want to make sure he enjoys his trip". A few ponies got to work on Rarity while another group worked on Marik; to say they were excited about having a non-pony client was an understatement, they were as giddy as a group of teenage girls. They gave Marik every treatment they knew-Massage, Facial, Body Treatments, a Pedicure, which was different for someone who didn't have hooves, a Manicure, for the first time they had a client with hands, Mud baths, and Seaweed Bath Wraps. He finally met up with Rarity in the Steam Room, Rarity giggled at the content smile on his face. "I take it you enjoyed yourself darling" she said. "Yes I did, I have never felt this pampered in my life. I guess now I know what it felt like to be a Pharaoh", he said.
When Rarity asked what a Pharaoh was, Marik explained that they were the rulers of a place known as Egypt. It was silent for a while before Marik spoke, "Rarity can I ask you a question? If I ever did anything wrong, would you still be my friend?" he asked. Rarity smiled and said, "Oh of course I would darling. I know that you're a nice young…um man and you would never try to hurt anypony. Plus your fashion sense is so divine". Marik giggled to himself as he and Rarity took their leave, he could hear the spa ponies calling out to him, saying to come back soon.
They stopped in front of Carousel Boutique, Rarity's home and place of business, "Now Marik, there are some orders that I need to fill out for some clients of mine. Will you be alright by yourself for the rest of the day, darling?" she said. Marik smiled and said, "Don't worry about me Rarity, I'll be fine. Plus I won't exactly be alone for the rest of the day". And with that, he set off to find the rest of the Mane Six and with each one he did a different activity with. He had lunch with Applejack and her family and he even got buck…or one should say kick some apples, he went for a nature walk with Fluttershy, watched Rainbow Dash perform breathing taking and depth defying aerial stunts and he joined up with Twilight so he could answer any other questions she had about Human Beings. Each time he was with them, Marik asked them all the same question and they all gave the same answer-"Of course I'd still be your friend because I know you would never hurt anypony on purpose. You're too sweet and kind". As he walked home, Marik thought about how much he had changed. Some time ago, he had been an evil darker half of a young tomb keeper, completely bent on vanquishing the Pharaoh and robbing him of his power and the three Egyptian God Cards. Now, he lived in PonyVille and had seven friends who saw that he wanted to change his ways and give him a chance; if he was given the chance to return to the Human World, he would immediately decline. All Marik wanted was to live in PonyVille with his new friends forever.
He came back home, utterly exhausted from the busy day he had with his friends. Marik was so tired that he didn't even bother going upstairs to his bedroom and just threw himself on his living room couch. He pulled off his new shoes, which Rarity had given him earlier after apologizing for forgetting to make them, and rubbed the soles of his feet. "Dear Ra, my feet are killing me! I wish I had some way to get around without having to make my feet sore. Kind of like how Rainbow Dash can fly, but something that can help me on the ground", he said. Just then, his vision went dark and his mind went blank. He was being pulled into another vision of the past, but unlike the first two, this one wasn't painful. He opened his eyes and saw a young Malik sitting on a stone outside of his home; he was holding a picture of a motorcycle as he sat deep in thought. "One day I'll ride one of these, I'll ride right out of the darkness forever", then the image changed. Marik stood in a field and in front of him was a long stretch of road with another field on the other side of it. He heard the sound of an engine revving, and saw a teenage Malik riding on a motorcycle with a smile on his face. "I'll go wherever I want and no one will stop me. Not my father, not some stupid Pharaoh; I'll have the power to shape my own destiny!" Marik awoke with a gasp as the vision ended; he sat up on the couch as he thought it over. "Princess Luna told me that every time I have a vision, it has a meaning. The first vision I had because my defeat was like that of Nightmare Moon, the second vision was because I needed to know if I would be capable of accepting forgiveness. This third one…I had when I was thinking of finding myself a mode of transportation", he said. Marik had then put two and two together.
He then remember that Applejack gave him thirty bits as a way of saying "Thank You" for helping her finish her chores; he hurriedly ran to the nearest marketplace and bought a gallon of vegetable oil and wielding oil. Then he went to a junkyard and asked if he could take whatever parts he needed. When the junkyard owner said he couldn't just take anything, Marik gave him the rest of his money and he changed his mind. Of course, Marik had to make trips carrying all those heavy pieces of metal and cans of paint, but when he finally had everything he needed in his garage, he got to work. Marik stayed up all night hammering, bolting, screwing, wielding, oiling, polishing and painting; at around the crack of dawn, he finally finished. He covered his creation under a tarp and walked back to his living room, he had planned to invite the girls and Spike over to see what he made. Marik's clothes were covered in oil spots and they smelled of blow-torch heat, but since he was even more exhausted than when he first came home, Marik collapsed onto his couch and fell fast asleep.
That's it for Chapter 4. Come back next time for Chapter 5 and don't forget to send reviews.
Until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!