Chapter Two
The three began to laugh, pointing their hooves at the shocked Vinyl, who sported a red hoof mark on her cheek. When sounds of machine gears moving started, the laughing instantly stopped, and Vinyl turned to the rock. To her shock, Kharion slowly stood up with lights blinking all over his armor, eyes glowing red.
He pointed his instrument, which had thinned out and now created a barrel, at the three stallions. "It's about to get loud now!" Kharion yelled, voice suddenly echoing, before pulling the trigger of his weapon.
Not even a second later, the weapon's barrel released a loud shockwave and sent the three flying away from Vinyl! Kharion stepped past the mare, his helmeted gaze locked on to Low Melody. "What in Celestia is that thing!?" The stallion yelled, trying to crawl away from the Astartes.
Kharion aimed the barrel at him, laughing some while the weapon itself actually started to charge a blast. "Your nightmare!" He replied, the weapon preparing to fire.
"No, stop!" Vinyl screamed, using her hooves to grasp Kharion's greaves. He looked down at her, staring into those pleading, crimson, eyes of hers… They were pleading for him to stop, not wanting him to actually do it. "Please, don't do it… He isn't worth it." Kharion just continued to look into those crimson orbs of hers, soon finding himself lowering the weapon within his clawed grasp. There was no way he could explain it, but the Astartes wanted to do what she asked of him.
Kharion slowly lowered his hand to her cheek, lightly placing it there. With a nod, the barrel was now pointing at The ground. "As you wish, Vinyl… I couldn't stop myself after-AGH!" He couldn't finish the sentence, for a lavender bolt of magic blasted him straight into the rock.
"Vinyl! Quickly, get away from that thing!" The voice of a mare yelled, making the DJ turn to see Twilight, and her friends, rushing over.
When Vinyl saw Twilight charging another spell, she looked back at the injured Kharion, who was scratching at the burn mark over his chest. "Get out of here! I'll hold them off!" She yelled, making the Astartes look towards her, holding his chest, in time to watch the mare send a spell to force the Mane Six back.
"And leave you here!? The others hit you, what makes those six any different!" He argued, unable to explain why he was so protective over her, and held up the sonic weapon. A surge of pain rushed through his body, making Kharion cry out in agony.
"I'll be fine! Just get out of here!" Vinyl yelled, keeping her gaze on the recovering Mane Six. "Twilight obviously hurt you, despite the armor. So, you need to get out of here!"
Kharion just stared at her, holding his chest. He hated this, traitor or not, the Astartes don't run from battle. Grinding his teeth, Kharion grabbed the neck of his weapon, then leapt over the rock! He sprinted into the Everfree Forest, free hand over his injury. This caused Vinyl to sigh with relief, taking a less aggressive stance. When Twilight flew up, the alicorn mare was frantic. "Vinyl! What were you doing, protecting that thing! When we saw him blow those other ponies away, and knelt down to strangle you, we came to-?"
"You idiots!" Vinyl yelled, angeredly, and glared at the Mane Six with her exposed red eyes. "He wasn't trying to strangle me; he was trying to protect me from them!" She pointed to the still laying Low Melody, and his friends. "Though, he was going to kill them, but I stopped him!"
The Mane Six looked at their DJ friend, confused by what she said. "Mind runnin' that by us again, sugercube?" Applejack asked, with a raised brow.
Vinyl pointed to her cheek, the hoof print left by Low Melody's slap. "That scumbag, Low Melody, struck me during an argument. When the big guy saw it, he overreacted, I'll admit. But, before he could kill those low lives, I was able to stop him." She explained to the group, Low Melody's ears falling the moment he was spotted by the mares.
Twilight looked back at Vinyl, frowning. "I'm sorry, Vinyl… Let's see if we can find him and apologize. We jumped the gun on this."
The DJ shook her head, looking back at Twilight. "No way, Princess. That spell you hit him with, did something major. Looked like it really hurt. I doubt he'll react kindly; the moment he sees you six." Vinyl looked back at the wood line. "I'll go find him."
"Darling, are you crazy? Everfree Forest is dangerous, especially at night!" Rarity said, staring at Vinyl with concern.
"Yeah, there's no telling what you'll run into in there! Plus, what if he doesn't react all that nice to you?" Rainbow Dash said, flying over to the DJ. "He could easily mistake you for one of us. And that's if you can find him!"
Vinyl smirked, turning to the Everfree Forest. "Big metal guy, leaving big foot prints, and probably yelling in pain… That'll be hard to find." She said, using her magic to place the destroyed sunglasses behind her horn, then held out her MP3 Player. "Plus, I have an idea to let him know it's me."
Without letting the Mane Six say another word, Vinyl galloped after Kharion. Once passed the wood line, she started to play her beats, loudly… Really hoping he'll hear it before a Manticore or a Timberwolf does.
-Everfree Forest Lake-
Kharion didn't run for very long, before the pain forced him to actually stop and fall on to his knees. He could feel almost every bone in his body cracking, ever muscle tearing. Each new break, and tear, caused him to let out an agonizing roar of pain.
"W-What is… Happening t-to me!?" He yelled, falling on to his forearms, while the painful cries left his helmet. Kharion's claws started to rip at the ground, as if it was going to stop the pain. "How could such a small… Attack, do so much pain!?"
With his senses being flooded by pain, Kharion didn't hear the hoof steops slowly making their way over to him. "B-Big guy?" Vinyl said, stopping her music to hear the bone cracking noise and painfilled cries. "A-Are you ok-!"
In a blind fury, caused by the pain, Kharion grabbed Vinyl by the throat, and slammed her against a tree! He held the sonic weapon in his free hand, ready to slam it into her skull.
"Whoa! WHOA! Calm down, big guy, it's me! Vinyl!" She scramed, trying to use her magic to turn her MP3 player back on… But the initial shock caused her to drop it and couldn't concentrate at all. All she could do, was look up at him, hoping he'll snap out of it.
Kharion's eyes just glared down at her, his grip not releasing for a second. Though, his weapon didn't move after she announced herself, and looked up at him. The mare kept her eyes locked on Kharion's emotionless helmet, but when that horrible cracking sound started again? She felt like vomiting right then and there.
He instantly dropped her, and the weapon, quickly grabbing his body once more. Kharion fell to his side, rocking side to side at the pain. "Gah! Make it stop, damnit! MAKE IT STOP!" Kharion cried, obviously pleading for something to end the pain.
Vinyl quickly rushed over to the fallen Astartes, her eyes trying to figure out what was wrong with him. "What in Equestria did Twilight do to him!?" She mentally screamed, not seeing even a scratch on his armor anymore. "I can't imagine Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, casting something so twisted!" The moment Kharion's claed gauntlet went for his helmet, Vinyl freaked and scent a bolt of magenta magic to prevent the Astartes from hurting himself.
"GAH!" Kharion cried, his body floating up into the air while he flailed about. Vinyl didn't know what she had done, and things became even stranger when his weapon floated up to him, being forced into its instrument form. "What… Is… Happening… To me!" The Astartes managed to say, before a flash of white light blinded the unshielded Vinyl.
When the mare was finally able to open her eyes, she got quite the surprise of her life. "Sweet Celestia…" Her mouth dropped, as Kharion stood back up.
"Finally… I thought that spell was going to kill me-?" Kharion stopped, noticing Vinyl, and how shocked she was looking at him. "Vinyl? When did you get here and… Why are you staring at me like that?" All she could do, was point a hoof at the lake, blushing. Kharion raised an eyebrow, and walked over to the water, which felt weird for some reason. The moment he saw his reflection, Kharion about lost it! "What in the warp!?"
Staring back at him, was no longer a powerful, demi-god, Astartes; but a decently built unicorn stallion! His coat was jet black, like his armor was, while his mane and tail were both a polished silver, with white streaks. His horn was much longer than Vinyl's, like it was meant as a display of power. His eyes, much like Vinyl's, were a bloody crimson color. What weirded Kharion out the most, was the cutie mark on his flank, a stereo speaker with silver circkles which represented sound waves.
Both ponies had thoughts on their minds. Kharion's being "what did that pony do to me!?" While Vinyl's was much different, being. "Scratch that, really got to thank Twilight… Talk about one muscle bound hunk of a stallion!"
Vinyl suddenly snapped out of her thoughts. "Whoa! I have to admit; whatever Princess Twilight did to you… You look great, uh." She said, walking up to the taller stallion, with a raised brow. "You never did tell me your name."
Kharion snapped out of his thoughts, looking down at Vinyl. "Kharion… At least, it was." He looked back down at his reflection. "Doubt I can use it, now, with a body like this."
Vinyl punched his shoulder, smiling up at him. "Don't sweat it, man! I'm sure we can think of something for you!" She said, returning to her old self, while tapping her chin. "Somehow…"
"How does naming usually go for your people?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"W-Well…" Vinyl thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain it. "Usually, it deals with the parents themselves, and later down the road, a pony's name has something to do with their cutie mark and special talent."
Kharion raised an eyebrow. "What is a cutie mark?" He asked, trying to learn what he can.
"It is a mark that appears when one finds their special talent. It'll appear on their flank." Vinyl pointed at his own mark. "Like yours is a stereo speaker with sound waves."
Kharion thought about it for a moment, trying to figure it out himself… Not easy, as it sounds. "So… Stereo Sound?" He asked, causing Vinyl to go into a fit of laughter, falling backwards, while he gave her a deadpanned look.
"Bwahahaha!" Vinyl couldn't help herself, such a name was hilarious! "I-I'm sorry, man, but really? Stereo Sound?" She asked, slowly standing herself back up. "I don't think anypony would name their foal that."
Kharion rolled his eyes at her comment. "Don't' think you could do anything better." He noted, causing Vinyl to stop laughing, and think.
"What is your special talent?" Vinyl asked, receiving a raised brow for an answer. "Like, what are you good at? What makes you, well, you? Surely, you had something."
The stallion thought about it, for a moment, looking at his instrument. "Well… My weapon, and instrument, was able to turn sound waves into Sonic Blasts… Along with unbelievable tunes. All of that, was something I created with trial and error." He looked back down at her. "But it's still just a tool. It was able to do all that, because of me."
Vinyl thought about it for a moment, trying to decipher what he just told her. "An instrument that uses sound waves for powerful sonic blasts." She said, out loud, and the moment she did… An idea popped into her mind, like a light bulb turning on. "How about…" Vinyl smirked up at him, giving a teasing nudge. "Sonic Wave?"
"Sonic Wave, huh?" Kharion thought about it for a moment, before flashing her a smirk. "I like it, has a ring to it."
"Heh, made you eat your own words, didn't I?" Vinyl asked, 'Sonic Wave' giving her a defeated nod. "Now then! It's getting late, and this forest gets dangerous for us ponies. Let's sneak back into Ponyville, you can crash at my apartment."
Sonic Wave gave a nod. "Sounds like a plan… And you sure that one, who blasted me, won't notice?"
Vinyl gave him a playful smirk. "I spent most of my filly days sneaking out of my house… Sneaking past Twilight, and her friends, will be easy." She assured, watching the stallion try to pick up the instrument with his hoof, and walk… Only to end up looking like he had a limp. "Uh, let me handle that."
The instrument suddenly gained a magenta aura, before floating out of his hoof. Sonic gave a sigh, looking at himself. "Guess being a unicorn, I'll have to learn how to use that sort of stuff, just to fit in."
Vinyl walked over, the instrument floating over them both, and nudged his shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll show you the basics tomorrow, after work… We'll have you fitting in with the crowd in no time at all!" She assured, the two walking towards Ponyville… Away from where the mare left the Mane Six.