Chapter 36: B.A.R.
Mat was in a bathroom, looking at a dirty mirror. The entire bathroom had trash scattered in some places, the doors were messed up, and graffiti was all over the walls. Mat was washing his hooves in the sink. After he cleaned his hooves, he turned the faucet off and dried them with a towel. Looking back at the mirror, he could see how his mane was messy. He looked at his right hoof and encased it with water. He then brushed his mane back with his watery hoof and his hoof drains the water into his coat.
When Mat left the bathroom, he looked around and headed over to the counter. Mat was in a bar, about to get a drink. "Can I get a drink please, just water?" Mat asked the bartender.
The bartender looked at him and noticed how stressed he was. "Are you sure, you look exhausted?" He asked.
Mat nods his head and says, "Yeah, water makes me feel relaxed." He smiled softly. Mat was tired from the all the work he been through. The bartender shrugs his shoulders and heads off to get him a drink of water.
"You look down, what's weighing down on your shoulders?" Mat's ears perked up after he turned towards to his left, spotting the pony that talked to him. It was Psionic, drinking a small cup of water.
"Nothing, I'm just trying to relax that's all." Mat said. Soon the bartender came back, giving him his cup of water. He smirked softly and paid the bartender. "What about you? If you don't mind me asking." He asked.
"I'm just here on a mission." Psionic said, calmly sipping his cup of water.
"What kind of mission?" Mat asked, taking a sip of his drink.
"A searching kind of mission, I need answers from a pony, that's all." Psionic said.
"Oh, well good luck with that." Mat said, calmly.
Psionic nods his head and says, "Thank you." Psionic glanced at Mat. Mat couldn't help but glance a little at Psionic. He was wondering why he wore that blindfold.
"Are you from the royal guard?" Psionic asked curiously.
"Umm, yeah, I'm a lieutenant." Mat answered with pride, smiling.
"If you're part of the guard, then you must already know how the princess is doing." Psionic said, finishing his cup of water.
"She's doing fine, the doctor and nurses are treating her sever wounds. When she is all patched up, she'll soon be able to lower the moon and lift up the sun. The attacker that attempted to kill her was captured and thrown into the dungeon. Princess Celestia will deal with him later." Mat said sighing in relief. Celestia was safe and Skoll was dealt with. He was at least relieved of that.
"That's nice to hear." Psionic said with a hint of sarcasm, earning a stern look from Mat.
"What's with the sarcastic attitude?" Mat asked.
Psionic looks at Mat and chuckles lightly. "I'm not very fond of the princesses. I kind of hoped they were killed." He said smiling.
"You realize that I'm a royal guard, I can arrest you for saying that-" "No, you really can't. I'm only speaking what I wish to happen. I never said I will do it, silly guard." Psionic interrupted him, not letting his glare down.
"I'm an Azazelist after all." Psionic said, causing Mat's eyes to widen in disbelief. Psionic smirked, turning towards the shocked hydromancer. "What's the matter, cat got your tongue Mat?" He asked.
"How do you know my name?" Mat asked, becoming tense.
"I know a lot of names, yet yours comes to the list a lot." Psionic said, grinning. "Now before you say anything else, Caracterem bestiæ." He said shocking Mat. "I am not going to be arrested so easily, not until I find my little sister and kill the ones that took her." He said, calmly.
"Your little sister, how was she taken and how do you know about me?" Mat asked looking at Psionic sternly.
"I don't know, ponies, wearing hooded cloaks that ambushed us and took her away. Those bastards beat me senseless and took out both of my eyes. I was found by a mare that practiced necromancy and treated my wounds. Now I'm out for blood, looking for my little sister out in this fucked up world that you and I live in." Psionic said, causing the whole bar to go silent. All the ponies looked at the two. He turned towards Mat and smiled softly. "Now, how do I know, well, every Azazelists knows you. You're our martyr, well theirs. I am not much into their beliefs since I have other things to worry about." He said, slowly glancing towards the quiet crowd of ponies. They had death glares on their faces.
"Martyr, how am I a martyr for you sick bastards?" Mat asked angrily.
"Because, not only Dream Phobic is the star of Azazel, you are the Mark of the Beast. Lord Azazel has his eyes mostly set on you, but I have different plans for you than he does." Psionic said.
"What kind of plans?" Mat asked, glancing at the ponies, nervously.
"I will tell you after we deal with the pests that dare slander their hooves in this nice bar." Psionic said, calmly, looking at the bartender. He nodded his head, signaling the bartender to take cover under the counter.
"Samuelnists…" Mat gasped, getting ready to fight. "How would I know that you won't back stab me after this?" He asked, glancing at him.
"Because, you are the only hope that I have left to save my sister." Psionic said, holding up his hooves. The Unicorn Samuelnists started charging up their magic, while the earth and pegasi readied their daggers. Psionic chuckled, and waited from to make their first move.
"Mat, pay attention to the unicorns, they have magic that can prevent my powers from being used. I can handle the earth and pegasi, okay?" Psionic asked in a whispered tone.
"Yeah, let's do this." Mat said launching water balls at the unicorns. Five unicorns casted fire balls at him. He smirks and says, "Really, you brought fire to a water fight, how stupid!" He watches as the fire balls and the water balls collided with one another, turning into mist that engulfed the room.
Psionic was still in a quiet stance. He didn't react to the events occurring with Mat and the unicorns; instead he was busy concentrating on the other ponies that went towards them. Psionic smirks as he moved his left hoof left. An earth pony behind him that was about to stab his back froze in his place, unable to move. "I got you all trapped in my strings. Now all of you are all my puppets." He said, laughing sadistically.
The mist cleared up into a small ball cloud, floating over Mat's hoof. He was grinning at the unicorns charging up another magic spell. This was too easy for Mat and he knew it. "So, again, you're all going to use pyro magic?" He asked pointing his hoof towards them. Suddenly, Mat's eyes widen, he started remembering the things Strife told him about Paradise. He gritted his teeth in anger. 'I can't kill them; they might have a family, a love one, somepony that is hoping to see them come back home safe.' He thought.
Mat glances towards Psionic, watching him force other Samuelnists ponies kill one another, with his motor skill manipulating powers. When he looked at Psionic, he couldn't help, but see himself. That was him, the one killing ponies left and right, young and old just for one thing. Psionic kills to save his little sister while he killed to protect Equestria. But, now realizing what this world was coming to, Mat couldn't help but agree with Psionic. This world was fucked up. Even if you're trying to protect it, you are still killing. You're still taking away lives that others cherish. Even for the right cause or the wrong, you're still a killer.
The unicorns launched their spell attacks. Mat growls slamming the cloud of fog on the wooden floor and summoned a water shield. The fire hit the shield, but instead of it turning into a vapor cloud of smoke like before, Mat punched the shield causing a water dragon to blast out of the water, extinguishing the flames and headed straight towards the unicorns. They had no time to cast a shield and were swept away out of the bar. 'I didn't kill them, but with the amount of water I used, they will be heading away from this place as far as the water can take them.' Mat thought, smiling in relief.
Psionic finished his sadistic puppet killing spree. The bartender got out from under the counter and looked at Psionic shocked. "Don't worry; I will pay for the damage." Psionic said, giving the Bartender an insurance card.
"Sogeking and Franky: SUPA Shop and Repair Service?" The Bartender asked, after reading the title of the card.
"Best technicians and repairmen in all of the Grand Line." Psionic said, walking towards Mat.
"The Grand Line…where the hell is that?" The bartender wondered.
"So, you didn't kill them?" Psionic asked, stopping next to Mat.
"Yeah, I sent them away, but I couldn't kill them. I decided that I'm not going to kill anymore." Mat said, looking at him with a confident look.
"I see; something must have made you want to stop killing. Figures why you would want to go here. You didn't want to just go here and relax; you wanted to also forget about the problems you were going through recently." Psionic said, sitting down.
"Well…yeah…pretty much." Mat said, frowning. Looking at Psionic, Mat asks, "So, what do you want me for again?"
"I need you to assist me. I want you to speak to the princess, the guards, and any royal family if they are aware about the cult of Sasora. You see, the only ones who know of this cult are the higher ups in this world. Ones who are friends or work partners with the Princess are part of this cult or do business with one another. They know where my sister is, well that is all that I was informed of." Psionic said, in a concerned tone.
"I never heard of that cult before nor had any information from Celestia about her cult partnership." Mat said, becoming shocked.
"Well now you know, now, Marked Beast, are you willing to help?" Psionic asked.
Mat looked down frowning and asks, "I'm not going to kill alright?"
"You don't have to, just tell me the information about this cult and I will handle the rest."
Psionic said.
Mat looks at him and nods his head. "Alright then, I'll do it." He said.
"Make sure your friends are not aware of your communications with me, I will have Insane keep an eye on you, recording everything that you do." Psionic said, walking towards the door. "Goodbye Mat, I hope you stay safe on your missions. Oh, thank you for helping. You don't know how much it means to me that you're helping me." He said.
"Yeah, no problem, but I want to ask you a question. How did you learn those powers?" Mat asked.
"I was trained to wield these malevolent powers of death, by the mare that founded me." Psionic said. With that done and said, Psionic left the bar, closing the door behind him.
Mat sighs and looks at a puddle of water, seeing his own reflection. "Great, now my cover of being the Mark of the Beast is blown…at least he didn't act hostile towards me." He said. "Not like I choose to be a mark, or even be worshipped." He said, frowning.
To Be Continued.
(My Little Pony Is owned by Hasbro and Lauren Faust. Mat is owned by Bahamut-Crisis Core and the rest of the OCs is mine. Thank you for reading.)