Pucci (3rd person)

Stunned, the only thing Pucci could give as a response for the ex-princess of Equestria was to open and close his mouth uselessly, unable to get his words out.

What was one to do in the presence of a legend?

Despite her shortcomings, Celestia was an excellent ruler in Pucci's eyes, as well as her younger sister, Luna. Her everpresent calmness and tranquility inspired Pucci when he started his astronomy career; how she could handle intense meetings and the like with profound professionalism. Although, in the end, it turned out to be more stoicism than peaceful calmness when he attempted to copy the alicorn. And while Twilight was a great leader herself, Celestia and Luna had a more refined quality in their leadership- not that Twilight had anything wrong with her.

And now, she was here in the flesh and standing less than a meter away from his bed, smiling down at the injured astronomer. It was almost suffocating in a way. There could be a million ways this could go wrong, and Pucci hadn't forgotten his recent streak of bad luck these past few days.

"Is everything okay, my little pony?" Celestia asked, a hint of concern adorning her face and tone.

Snapping out of his stupor, Pucci blinked a couple of times before nodding, "Yes…your majesty." He responded, a faint blush of embarrassment appearing on his cheeks. "I apologize…i-it's not every day you g-get an audience w-with… an a-alicorn." Pucci chuckled weakly, coughing due to his hoarse throat.

Celestia looked at Pucci with a thoughtful expression as her horn activated, a golden aura surrounding her sharp, lengthy appendage. The golden light then surrounded Pucci's throat, followed by a cool and refreshing feeling washing over a second later. "There, that should help." As the light disappeared from Pucci's throat and her horn, Celestia smiled politely before sitting on the floor. "That was a small healing spell that should help with your vocal cords." She giggled, seeing the shock on Pucci's face.

"Your majesty," Pucci said, thankful that his throat felt good as new, true to Celestia's word. "You didn't have to waste your magic on me, but I am thankful for your assistance." He bowed his head as much as he could in his position before resting his head.

The ex-princess playfully rolled her eyes at Pucci, "There's no need to be so thankful, Mister Star Ray; It was nothing. And you don't have to call me by my former titles, I insist." She then turned to Vinyl, who was lying halfway off her hospital bed with her hind legs keeping her from falling off. "Commander Vinyl Scratch. I hope you're doing well today." she called out expectantly.

Noticing the ex-princess looking at her, Vinyl scrambled the rest of herself onto the bed and into a sitting position. She responded with a groan before letting herself fall back onto the mattress, "I'm feelin' fine, boss. But I'm bored as Tartarus! I want to get to training, so I can be ready to beat the crap out of that minotaur guy the next time I see him!" She said, smacking one hoof into the other.

After the commander's crude response, Celestia sighed in disappointment. "The only reason I'm keeping you here is to help me inform Mister Star Ray of his situation. And out of every pony, I expected you to know not to take on a Tierra muerta general all by your lonesome." She chastised.

"But the guy was a total idiot with an ego so big you could see the crystal empire from here if you stood on top of it." Vinyl complained, furrowing her brow as she raised her head to look at Celestia. "Besides, I had to get this idiot out of there before he became diamond dog chow." She said while pointing at an offended Pucci. Just because it was true doesn't mean you need to point it out!

Celestia's eyes narrowed dangerously with a disapproving gaze, to which Vinyl's mouth clamped shut and made her stiffen up. "I know you might be bitter or disappointed about your fight, but that doesn't mean you can insult a friend of my fellow princess, Commander!" She rebuked, "Now you can act decent for once as a high-ranking pony should, or I can put you on temporary suspension until you write me a thousand-word paper on the history of pastries. Do I make myself clear?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, ma'am." Vinyl meekly nodded

With a satisfied smile- a bit disappointed at the lack of a future pastry-related essay -she switched to Pucci with her usual smile, completely negating her previous attitude. "Now that's out of the way. I would like to ask you a question before we start."

Pucci, having recovered from the surprise of seeing Celestia scolding a grown mare like a foal- a Commander, no less, nodded again. "I…would like to hear it." Pucci swallowed a lump in his throat, the air around him taking on a heavier feeling as the ex-princesses gained an unreadable expression that mirrored the sudden tension.

"Why were you in my old room?" Celestia spoke after moments of tense silence; her voice devoided of any care or warmth it once had, now replaced by a cold, harsh tone bordering on anger- all of it directed towards Pucci. "I had placed several charms and wards on the tower's indoor entrance to keep out intruders. Imagine my surprise when I suddenly felt it shatter into several pieces."

Not responding immediately to the irritated alicorn, Pucci wracked his brain for how she could have known about him breaking into her room. That's when it hit him. "Shattered into several pieces." she had said, referring to a commonly invisible spell like it was a physical object. There had only been two times he intentionally broke something intensionally in the old castle. And what the enchantments were on only made the conclusion hit him like a pillowcase full of bricks.

-"Alright, you want to play that way?" Pucci asked the door with an angered look.

-Summoning Made in Heaven, his stand reeled back its left hoof and shot it forward, easily punching the door into splitters.

-After a small huff of satisfaction with his small victory, Pucci stepped over the scattered splinters and rusty hinges and made his way up the spiral staircase.

Pucci outwardly cringed with realization at what he had done. It was strange that the door was more stubborn compared to the other one at the top of the stairs- at least he got the answer as to why that was. Still, that doesn't explain how that minotaur got in there in the first place. "He must have gone through the window." Pucci guessed. He knew the window seal was too clean in that dusty riddled room. But that wasn't the problem. The current concern was how Pucci was going to mention Dio and all that he had done up until now without seeming like a liar or insane. Pucci wasn't a good liar in the first place; this morning's encounter with Moondancer proved that. So there wasn't a possibility that Pucci could lie and get out of this. At the most, he would serve jail time and pay a fine for trespassing on private property.

Taking a deep breath, Pucci hardened his expression and decided to come clean and tell the truth- even if Celestia wouldn't believe it. "Your high- I mean -Celestia. For the past few days I have been stalked by a pony named Dio Morningstar. I know little of his intent and even less about who he is. He had mentioned something of a book in your old castle, and due to…recent events, I went in search of it when I went to your room to investigate. That was when the minotaur attacked me- I'm sure Vinyl knows the rest after that." Finishing his explanation, Pucci lowered his head in wait for the barrage of accusations of his words and inevitable punishment.

Only that never happened.

He waited and waited for the longest time, cold air blowing out of a vent near the upper left corner of the room, and the eerie silence was his only response. Pucci thought they may be waiting for more or were trying their best to hold back laughter. To Pucci, his story sounded ridiculous when said aloud. It was on par with a weak fib a child would spew after getting caught with their hoof in the cookie jar- it was truly ridiculous with no further context.

And yet, as he raised his head, Pucci's heart nearly jumped out of his chest as he saw Celestia's expression. Her eyes were wider than diner plates, and her lower jaw hung open, an expression that was the textbook definition of pure shock. It looked like Celestia just saw Pucci kick a dog in the face. But her eyes were different. They held an unspeakable fear that only made Pucci wonder the reason for such. Had it been something he said?

"That…name," Celestia spoke, making Pucci flinch at the sudden sound, "What was the name you just said?" She asked, voice audibly quaking with fear.

Yep…it was.

"It was…Dio Morningstar, your highness." He said, forgetting what Celestia said about titles. However, it seemed she didn't notice or care as her mouth wordlessly closed, but her eyes maintained their fearful gaze.

Pucci was unsure of what to do in this situation. It was apparent that Dio and Celestia had some form of connection between themselves, but what was it? Not pleasant, that was for sure. In a way, Celestia's reaction to Dio's name almost comforted Pucci, knowing his suspicions of the stallion were valid. Still, seeing the ex-princess in front of him looking like she was about to have a full-on panic attack didn't help in the slightest to negate his fear.

Suddenly, Pucci felt hooves grab his shoulder before being roughly pulled into a sitting position and turned to look at the hooves' owner, Vinyl scratch. "Hey, dude, you can't go around and make jokes like that, ya know?!" She shouted in his face.

And like Celestia, she had the same fear in her eyes, but Vinyl's expression was more subtle with the addition of seriousness. Pucci shook his head, wincing as a dull pain shocked his body, "No, I'm afraid not." He answered unwaveringly. Vinyl continued to stare at Pucci, most like to see if he was bluffing, and stayed like that until she scoffed, letting go of Pucci before sitting back on her bed. "Which bring's me to MY first question. Who is this Dio character? And if you know him, why would he need a book?" He asked.

By now, Celestia had visibly calmed down, her features were relaxed, and the fear she held was gone, but Pucci could notice her chest shudder with every breath. "This isn't good." She said with a grim tone, "Mister Star Ray, the only way I can say this is that your life and everypony close to you…are in danger." Celestia's eyes winced, seeing Pucci looking at her with poorly masked horror as his eyes widened for a split second.

"I…already guessed that, ma'am." Pucci half-lied, feeling his jaw tighten with a bead of sweat rolling down his temple, "But what do you mean by…everypony close to me?" He reluctantly asked.

Celestia sighed, stood up, and walked over to a window on the left side of Pucci's bed. She drew the curtains with her magic, allowing warm light to wash over her body as she gazed into the distance with an equally distant look.

"To answer your first question, He is one of the four leaders of an organization called Tierra muerta, dead land in equish, and, in short, is one of three leaders of the large cult of evil stand users." Celestia took a deep breath, "To answer your second and third questions: Dio is a parasite of a pony." She spat the stallion's name with distant, "The only thing he cares about is power and status, always taking and taking without a care for the consequences. He'll use anything or anypony to get a pony or possession he has his sights on in his hooves. He'll use tactics like blackmail, ransoms, foalnapping, and murder to get his wicked points across. Nothing is beneath this vile creature."

The ex-princess gave a tired sigh, turning back to Pucci with a stern expression. "You said you've met him in pony before, right?" She asked, sounding like she was interrogating him than asking a general question. "And if so, I would like to make a proposition."

Pucci nodded, "Yes, on two different occasions. Once here in Canterlot and another in Ponyville." He answered. Pucci then raised an eyebrow in confusion, "And what proposition?" He asked.

Without warning, Celestia's horn sparked to life with a brilliant glow that shined a blinding light on every corner of the room, startling and partially blinding Pucci. As the light dissipated and his vision returned, Pucci could make out that his surroundings were entirely different than before, much to his shock. Instead of his hospital room in Canterlot Castle's Medical Wing, he found himself surrounded by a seemingly endless, black void with little in sight besides stars twinkling high above him. The only things that weren't gone were his hospital bed and the two mares, Celestia looking as calm as ever, and Vinyl grumbling as she rubbed her eyes.

"Argh, you could have at least warned us, boss!" She complained as she re-equipped her purple-tinted glasses.

"I'm sorry, Commander, but the last few minutes have made this visit a bit more…urgent, but I am sorry." Celestia apologized before turning her attention back to Pucci. "Likewise with you too, Pucci. What I'm about to say is highly confidential. What you see is an illusion spell my sister had made centuries ago, mutes any noises within and keeps outsiders from peaking in. I hope you understand my reluctance to speak out in the open." Celestia smiled apologetically.

Rubbing the dark spot out of his vision, Pucci waved a dismissive hoof. "No need to apologize, Ma'am. I somewhat understand." He chuckled but frowned as he placed a hoof on the bed's railing. "But I must ask once more. What proposition?"

Celestia went silent again, looking to the reflective floor with contemplation as a figure of her size stared back from under her, its form made of dark-golden flames with piercing white eyes that looked into Celestia's. Pucci watched the mirror figure with wonder and confusion. Wonder: because the dancing inferno that was its form enticed him, like a hypnotic spell stealing every second of his attention as it cavorted. But it was the subject of Confusion as well: why was it there? Looking over to Vinyl scratch, her reflection was similarly strange to Celestia's.

The tom-colt mare began to perform several warm-up stretches, but her reflection was all but gone, only two pairs of sleeves where her forelegs and hindlegs should be remained. Sleek in design, they were made of several panels with wires and tubes running up and down the mechanical-looking contraptions. There was also something akin to a speaker placed under the hoof, Pucci seeing the detail as Vinyl did a one foreleg push-up.

It reminded Pucci of something the comic-book character, Iron Mare, would make, having seen a similar design between the character's suit and Vinyl's sleeves from the stories that filly and colts would read back in his younger days.

"I would like you to join E.S.S.U."

Pucci was snapped out of his observations and back to reality at the sound of Celestia's voice, looking back to the ex-princess, seeing that her unreadable look had returned. "E-Excuse me, what did you say?" Pucci asked innocently.

"Equestrian Secret Stand Unit, or E.S.S.U, is the organization I want you to join; an organization dedicated to keeping the peace of Equestria and its allies from the forces of ponies like Dio; stand users who use their power to enact harm onto others." She explained. "And as the title implies, E.S.S.U is made up of stand users such as yourself and its Commander, Vinyl Scratch." She said, motioning to the mare doing intense sit-ups.

"I see," Pucci hummed before gaining a confused look, "If they are all stand users like me, what about you?" Pucci asked, pointing a hoof at the golden reflection under Celestia.

The ex-princess followed Pucci's hoof, the reflection doing the same, and looked at it for a moment before returning to Pucci. "When my sister originally created this spell, she had the intention of using it to talk with ponies she met during her dream walks, ponies that had mental conditions like depression. To prevent secrets from being hidden during these sessions, she had the floor enchanted to reveal the feeling of one's inner self: their soul, essentially. What you see beneath me is due to my lack of a stand, my pure soul." She sighed, deciding to look at the sky and gaze at the stars.

"So, is Vinyl's reflection…?" Pucci said. Thinking back, Dio had mentioned something about stands being the 'reflection of the soul.'. But thinking about that bastard only served to anger Pucci, so he dropped the thought.

Hearing herself getting mentioned, Vinyl halted her plank position and stood up with a smirk. "That, my good sir, is my stand. I won't go into full detail here, but all you need to know is that I call it 'Beat It!'." Vinyl said, tilting her head to the side and hugging her chest with her left foreleg.

"Creative." Pucci said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Thank you, dude!" Vinyl thanked, chuckling pridefully with a gleam in her eye.

Celestia giggled at the small scene before her as she sat down, a rippling effect shooting across the floor when her rump touched the ground. "While I enjoy a bit of banter, I suggest you make a choice, Mister Star Ray." Celestia said, gaining back Pucci's focus.

"I'll join."

Her eyes widened in shock, and Celestia was taken aback by the lack of hesitation in Pucci's response. "A-Are you sure?" She questioned.

Pucci didn't answer immediately, letting his gaze drift to the sheets covering him as the comforting warmth of the mattress under him weighted his eyelids with sleep. His injuries were catching up with him, and his mind was exhausted, but he pushed on. "The whole reason I went out to that old castle was to take revenge on Dio for messing with my assistant. And in my moment of recklessness, I ended up like this. I would like nothing more than to return to the way things were before, my assistant and I in Canterlot studying the heavens above." Pucci released a shuddering breath, clenching his hooves as a snarl formed on his muzzle, "But I'm too far into this to back out, inadvertently bringing my assistant into this as well. The moment you laid out the cards in front of me, I made my choice. So, to fulfill my desire, I will use whatever is given to me to make sure Dio is rid of this world!" He shouted definitely.

Celestia, masking her shock with a casual smile, looked at Pucci with a raised brow. "I take it your fully prepared for what lies ahead?" She chuckled.

Not looking up, Pucci nodded," I'll have to talk with my assistant about this matter, seeing as she is in the same boat as I am. But-"

"-Where do I sign?"