//------------------------------// // When A Black Heart Is Cleansed By Kindness // Story: Visual Prowess // by UgalaaWriter //------------------------------// It had been a day since Celestia had asked to see what his life story was, basically. It had also been a day since Celestia had screamed, loudly, in the middle of Ponyville. Then she’d nearly broken down before murmuring something to Sasuke- something that he hadn’t been able to hear, but nonetheless, he assumed it was some sort of apology- before she barely managed to give what could be considered an acceptable exit before flying back swiftly to what he’d learned was called Canterlot. At first, the attention had been negative, but after she’d said something about his courage when leaving- she’d been stuttering the entire time, but still- they forgave him, and he could walk the streets of Ponyville without everypony staring at him. Sasuke still suffered from the voices- and they seemed louder than ever, lately. He noticed that he was covering his ears even more often- even in public- in an attempt to get them to just shut up. It was a manageable pain, but it was one that he’d wished would go away. Plus, Sasuke was bored. He still visited Zecora every day, and he tried to work on the farm with Applejack sometimes, but besides that, there wasn’t anything to do. He didn’t really have anyone to talk to, or anything to do. Sasuke didn’t bother training, either; he knew that he wasn’t going to get into any serious fights soon- at least, he hoped that he wasn’t. Most of the day, he ended up waiting in the apple orchard in Applejack’s farm, sitting under a certain tree. He probably could’ve been the poster child for depression, but Sasuke didn’t care about that. It was like there was something that he couldn’t realize- and until he found out whatever it was that he was missing, he couldn’t be happy. It had been this way for a few days, and he didn’t know what to do. In the end, he sat at the base of that tree in the apple orchard, and he tried to think. Think of what it was that he was missing. He didn’t know that someone was watching him. Applejack watched from far away as Sasuke sat under the tree, arms crossed and head resting on them. She frowned. While she had to get to work, she felt bad for Sasuke. She had inferred from both his demeanor and what others had said that he didn’t have a good past… but she didn’t know what to do about that. In her mind, it was either something that he had to get past himself or something that somepony had to help him with, but she didn’t know what to say. She brushed at the grass with a hoof before finally walking over. She adjusted her hat with her hoof to block the sun some more as she walked up to Sasuke. For a few seconds, the shade passed over his eyes, and he turned them to her. What she saw surprised her. From far away, she knew that he’d seemed sad- he practically oozed his depression that it was so obvious he was in. Up closer though, if anything, it was a lot, lot worse. She could see it in his eyes- it was like he was dead inside. There was no life in them. Empty black eyes stared back at her, and she found herself retreating a step or two before Sasuke finally spoke up. He tapped the side of the tree as he spoke to her, bored. “What do you want?” “Ya don’t look right.” “I’m glad there’s a way I should look, but I don’t really care about the rules around here, as you might’ve imagined. If that’s all you have to say, you might as well leave now.” “Ya know what I meant! Not like that. Ya look real sad, Sasuke. Why?” “Oh, there are plenty of reasons. My sad fucking life, for one. It’s not really your business, though. Just go back to apple bucking, or whatever.” Sasuke rested his head back against the bark of the tree and stared at her with those dead, empty eyes, and Applejack shuddered and turned away. If Twilight was here, she could ask her what to do, but she wasn’t, somepony else would have to help her with it. She wondered who would have the best advice for Sasuke- or, at the very least, have something that would stop him from moping around for at least a little while. Applejack thought that she was going to be depressed too, soon, if this didn’t stop. Leaving Sasuke alone to his misery, she returned to her work- apple bucking and the good, but monotonous cycle of it all. She worked hard for most of the day- Celestia’s sun still shining brightly down on her as she busted her flank working on the farm. Mac was alongside her for the first time in a while since he was injured, and it was more than good to have her brother back at her side while they carted apples to the barn in the hot sun. Every so often, while working, she would toss a long, far off glance towards where Sasuke was resting- and not once, did she see the boy move. She had a nearly perpetual frown throughout the day because of this, and Mac asked her more than once if anything was wrong, and she answered the same thing every time, which was no. “Yer still frownin’. Is some-“ “For the last darn time, no, Big Mac!” Big Mac only snorted and continued bucking apples. Applejack stopped working and tossed what was a much more than obvious glare at her brother. He snorted at her again, and she only glared harder. He stopped bucking apples, and gathered up a huge basket of them, and carried them to the barn, shrinking under her glare the entire time. After he deposited them inside the barn, he turned, and asked her. “Why are ya starin’ at me, like that?” “Why won’t ya stop asking me what’s wrong?” He snorted again and rubbed the ground with his hoof, then continued. “The boy’s too much trouble for my tastes, even though he’s a good worker. Ya think I haven’t noticed you tossin’ glances over there the entire day? I ain’t stupid, sis. If ya need to talk to him about somethin’, then talk to him about somethin’. But for Celestia’s sake, do not do nothin’ and sit there wishin’ that ya could the entire dang day.” “But I don’t know what ta do! Ya gotta help!” “If I were ya, I’d start where he started, with Fluttershy- that is, if ya know where she is. I haven’t seen that mare in days. Anyway, the day’s almost over as it is. Ya may as well go look around town for her to see if she can help. I’ll clean up back here.” “Uh, thanks Big Mac. I’m sure he’ll be-“ “You and me both know he won’t be thankful. It ain’t in his nature. Nah, I’m doing this because I can’t stand to see mah sister sad over somepony else like that, not if I can do somethin’ about it. Now get goin’. It’s gettin’ darker and darker.” Applejack tilted her head and her hat towards Big Mac and started off, leaving Apple Acres- but as she was, she tossed one more look towards the tree- where Sasuke was still sitting. She sighed and shook her head, and then kept walking on the path. The sun was setting, but it would be more than a little while before it was fully below the horizon, and so, Applejack figured she still had the time to visit town and try to find Fluttershy. She walked for a while, and eventually arrived in Ponyville’s town square. She glanced down the streets, across the square, and even visited some buildings, like the Library, Sugarcube Corner, and the Boutique, but she didn’t find her. She decided to check the hospital, but Nurse Redheart just told her that Fluttershy had checked out four or five days ago. With that in mind, Applejack was fairly sure that Fluttershy would just be at her home- had been at her cottage, the whole time. She sighed, thanked the nurse, and turned and promptly left the building, quickly making her way out of Ponyville and down another road- one that led to Fluttershy’s cottage. It was a few minutes of silent canter until Applejack arrived at Flutteshy’s cottage. The birds and rabbits outside were playing, but it seemed more than oddly silent around the home, and even inside, even though she hadn’t even checked for Fluttershy yet. She was almost scared of what she’d see when she went in there. She hadn’t seen Fluttershy’s melted wing ina while, and she wondered if they’d managed to fix it somehow. She hoped so. She knocked on the door firmly a few times with one hoof, but wasn’t answered. She knocked again. The rabbits and birds outside kept playing, and there was no answer. She knocked a third time. No answer, again. Applejack frowned. Now she was getting more than annoyed. She raised her hoof and knocked hard, three times, extremely loud on purpose. It was less like knocking and more like pounding or slamming on the door. Finally, she heard a small noise, as if something like a mouse had spoken, and she waited patiently as Fluttershy finally opened the door. It was dark inside the cottage, and she couldn’t see much more than Fluttershy’s face. She motioned with her hoof for Fluttershy to come on out, but she shook her head and moved slightly further back into the darkness. Applejack finally said something. “C’mon, up an at ‘em! Come on out!” “No.” “Why?” “No.” “That’s not even an answer!” “G-go away! Please!” Applejack cocked a brow at that one. If Fluttershy thought that she was ugly or something, that didn’t make any sense. Everypony had already seen her how she was, so it didn’t make any sense to sit there and hide from everypony in the darkness like that. She rolled her eyes and opened the door further- and, as she did, Fluttershy shied away further, back into the darker corners of the room where the light didn’t yet reach. “Yer bein’ ridiculous! Everypony already saw your wing; it’s fine! You look… okay.” “I just… don’t want to talk to anypony.” “But why, though? You won’t tell me. I can’t help ya if you won’t tell me.” “I-I don’t need anypony’s help. I just want to be l-left alone.” “Poor thing,” Applejack said, shaking her head before stepping forward. “What?” Fluttershy replied, unsure of what she meant. Applejack saw her cowering and quivering in one corner of the room, and she sighed, and shook her head, before walking slowly towards Fluttershy. She squeaked and put her head between her hooves, but did nothing to move away until Applejack got closer to her, and then she scrabbled to her hooves and tried to get away- but Applejack was faster, and caught up to her. She gave her a strong embrace, and the hug started to calm Fluttershy down, but she still verbally protested. Her small, weak voice tugged at AJ’s heartstrings. “N-no, I’m ugly and nopony will like me and my wing won’t ever be the same-“ “No, no. It’s not like that,” Applejack said. “How did you even get everypony else to go away? How long has it been since you talked to anypony?” “T-three or four days. I just told them what I told you and they left me alone. I-it’s just…a few days ago, the doctor told me it wasn’t going to ever be the same and then I looked at it in the mirror for the first real time after it had healed- and I saw it differently, I don’t know, I…” She fell silent and tears soaked Applejack’s coat liker rain. She whispered to Fluttershy for the next few minutes, reassuring her and calming her down. Eventually, Fluttershy stopped crying and, hesitantly, she turned the lights on. “I-it looks terrible.” It did look pretty terrible. Her once-yellow wing, beautiful and flawless, had now been permanently scarred. The feathers were melted and stuck together unnaturally- painfully, too, it seemed, as Applejack looked at it. They were discolored and in general looked like they couldn’t be fixed. It looked like her wing was made out of wax and it had been put in the sun and melted some, and then had been saved before it could be completely destroyed. It took Applejack a minute to recover from looking at it- it did really look horrible, but she still wasn’t going to tell Fluttershy that. It was still really sad that Fluttershy was never going to fly again, and all because of that stupid dragon. She knew that the doctors and nurses at Ponyville General had done their best, and that the wing was likely unfixable by any sort of magic- otherwise, they would’ve already started fixing it by now. “Y-you see? It’s terrible,” Fluttershy whispered. “No, no. It uh… it shows yer bravery!” Applejack offered, but it was the hesitation in her voice and the sentence that hurt Fluttershy the most. She turned away with tears in her eyes. “It shows my stupidity for trying to tame a dragon,” she said, and Applejack’s eyes widened before Fluttershy plopped herself back down on the floor. She seemed hopeless. Applejack didn’t want to leave Fluttershy, but she couldn’t cheer her up. It was like she was refusing the help. She tried to get closer, but Fluttershy flailed her hooves and shouted, trying to make Applejack go away. She shrunk back, confused and stuck. She wanted to help both Sasuke, but she knew that Sasuke could wait, while Fluttershy seemed to be something that she had to take care of immediately. She needed the help of someone else. She left the house quickly, leaving Fluttershy in the darkness- and raced back to Ponyville as fast as she could. Once she’d arrived- and it was still getting darker, at the end of the day- she hurried as fast as she could to Rarity’s Boutique. Applejack didn’t even bother knocking. She just rushed inside, heedless of whatever Rarity might be doing at the moment. She didn’t see her in the living room or the kitchen or upstairs- she knew that Sweetie Belle wouldn’t be here either, probably still off playing with her sister and Scootaloo. It took Applejack a few moments to realize that Rarity was probably working right now. She tried to find her room- her inspiration room, or whatever she called it. She opened the door the second she could, and interrupted a working, humming Rarity, who turned and looked at her in surprise. She nodded to her as she cut fabrics. “Darling, how’s it going,” Rarity said, making polite conversation as she worked, “is work at the farm hard?” Applejack nodded but walked closer and started explaining the situation. “Yeah yeah Rares, but that’s not the problem right now! Fluttershy is over at her house cryin’ and she won’t listen ta me! I keep tellin’ her that it doesn’t matter that her wing is burnt, but… she won’t accept it. I need someone else to help me make her realize that she’s just as good as she ever was, burnt wing or no burnt wing.” Rarity nodded and set her dress, half finished, to the side, before she followed Applejack, who practically galloped out of the building and back to Fluttershy’s house. It took them a few minutes to get there, but when they did, they slipped inside. She probably hadn’t even gotten up to bother to lock the door again. She still sat in the same place that she had before, and her animal friends looked to Applejack and Rarity desperately. They’d already obviously tried and failed- now it was up to them. “Fluttershy, you’re being ridiculous, honey,” Rarity said, “you look fine, darling. Why-“ “Oh, Rarity,” Fluttershy said- laughing, as if the entire situation was hilarious to her, “you brought her? Applejack, are you serious? I guess you are as dumb as you look. Bringing the paragon of beauty to talk about problems with my appearance. You’re both horrible. Go away,” she said. Fluttershy hid her head under her one, good, working wing. Unfortunately for her, both Applejack and Rarity realized what she was doing very early on. Despite the fact that the words they heard were incredibly cruel, Fluttershy had the kindest heart that they’d ever known. They knew she was just saying it to make them go away. What proved this was the soft sobbing that echoed throughout the house moments later. Applejack sighed, and took her hat off, lying in on the ground beside her. She ran a hoof through her blond mane, trying to make the stress go away. Rarity figured that she should try again- and, bouncing her purple curls in one ivory-colored hoof, she approached the sorrow-filled Fluttershy. Her good wing was wet with tears, and Rarity couldn’t help but feel sorry for her- it didn’t seem fair to Rarity that a pony with such natural beauty and grace had to lose it in such a tragic manner. She walked up to Fluttershy and started hugging her. It was the only thing that she could think of right now, but she thought that it would work. Fluttershy, even while crying, hide her face with her good wing, and pushed weakly against Rarity’s stomach with her hooves, as she was hugging Rarity back. “Go…a-away. Go… a-away,” she mumbled, contionously, but Rarity wasn’t having any of it. Eventually, Fluttershy quieted, and hugged Rarity back, but she didn’t stop hugging her. Applejack looked on and shook her head. Such a simple gesture had fixed the problem. “Fluttershy, nopony is going to hate ya because you have a melted wing. If anything, it shows yer loyalty to Equestria- following the Princess’ orders even when it was dangerous.” Fluttershy sniffled, but she didn’t say anything else. For a few more moments, Fluttershy was held by Rarity, and then Rarity let go, and looked down at Fluttershy, who was still picking herself up- literally, and figuratively. Her tear-streaked face had a smile on it instead of the terrible, depressed frown that had seemed stuck there forever, before. Rarity smiled at her, even with her soaked coat- wet from all of Fluttershy’s tears. “Really, darling, and I’m supposed to be the drama queen,” Rarity said, and Fluttershy smiled before looking down onto the ground. Rarity patted her on the back with a hoof, and Applejack sighed. She was glad that was over. She was happy that Rarity had known what to do- because she hadn’t been able to get through to Fluttershy. She wondered what Fluttershy would’ve done if she had kept being stuck in that depression. Wrinkling her nose at the possibities, she decided to put it out of her mind. She knew that it didn’t really matter anymore, anyway. Fluttershy was feeling better, and that was all that mattered. She was surprised that it was Fluttershy that was affected so much- she never had been a huge drama queen about her appearance like Rarity. She’d never expect Fluttershy to be so worried about it like that, but… Applejack guessed that everypony had a breaking point, and everypony cared about it to some extent, at least. It was never good for self-esteem for something like that to happen. After Fluttershy had recovered some more, Applejack decided to bring up her original point- helping Sasuke. Fluttershy listened while Applejack explained the situation. “He jus’ sits out there, under that tree. Hasn’t done nothin’ for a while. I think we need to talk to him about it. I figured you would be really good for that, Fluttershy.” “It’s getting late. We should probably do it now,” Fluttershy said. “Well, basically Fluttershy, Sasuke doesn’t look… good,” Applejack said, feeling awkward, realizing how hard it was to describe Sasuke’s condition. “What’s that mean?” Fluttershy asked. “I don’t really understand.” “It’s probably better if ya jus’ come see him anyway. Ya’ll get then.” Fluttershy and Rarity nodded agreeably. They followed Applejack, out of the cottage, and onto the path, as the sun set. They took their time, but didn’t dawdle, either. It was early evening by the time they got to Ponyville. While they walked from there to Applejack’s farm, Rarity and Fluttershy questioned her about Sasuke. “What’s wrong with him?” Fluttershy asked as they walked. “He jus’ sits there… and doesn’t do anything. It don’t look healthy, is all.” “I guess I could talk to him… but he’s never seemed like one that needed help with those kinds of things,” Fluttershy said, and Rarity nodded, before adding something. “I never even expected him to talk to Sweetie Belle about what he did.” “Wait, when did that happen? And what did he talk to her about?” Fluttershy asked, and Rarity winced, before throwing a hoof to her forehead and sighing. “Oh, you should’ve seen my sister, Fluttershy, the poor dear! All she’d do is sit in her room, and cry. He told her that he saw… he saw his entire family killed when he was young, in front of him, and that you can’t cry forever. I never expected anything resembling sympathy from him, and certainly not to any of us- he barely knows us, at least, time-wise.” “Entire family killed? That’s terrible.” Fluttershy whispered. “Dreadful, yes. I think that’s one of the reasons he’s so cold.” “Really, Rares? I wouldn’t have guessed that in a million years,” Applejack drawled. “I was merely giving my opinion, Applejack!” Before any more words could be thrown around, they reached the outskirts of the farm. Not far off, even in the darkness, Sasuke could be seen- with eyes that could be described as dead and listless- with his back against the tree, breathing quietly into the night air. He didn’t seem as if he was actually even there. They approached him silently, the three of them, and soon they were sitting down in front of Sasuke, in the middle of a group of apple trees- nothing special about this tree, but it was where he had decided to sit, and he hadn’t moved from there in hours and hours. Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy looked at each other hesitantly, and then, gradually, their gazes focused onto Fluttershy. She cleared her throat and gathered her voice, then spoke. “Sasuke, you don’t… look well.” He let out a dead laugh- barked it out, a chuckle that fit someone dark-hearted. His eyes were cold and emotionless- he gazed back at them, and they flinched, but did nothing else. “Of course I don’t. I’m in incredible pain.” “Oh, no! Is there anything we can do to help?” Fluttershy said. “Not unless you know to combat voices in my head, no. They don’t go away,” he said. They were at a loss of words for that. “I never expected to go crazy, either. The last thing I expected to lose was my sanity. Maybe this entire world was created by my mind. As far as I know, you’re all imaginary. The other shinobi, imaginary. The huge-star bear things, imaginary. Everything.” “Star-bears? Do you mean an Ursa Minor?” Fluttershy asked. “No, probably larger than anything called ‘minor’ can be called.” “We aren’t imaginary, Sasuke,” Rarity said. “What will prove to you that we’re imaginary?” She hoped that she could help Sasuke. While she hadn’t cared for him originally, she still was a bit grateful to him for talking to Sweetie Belle- who’d mostly gotten over what she’d seen, even if she still looked a little off some days. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore. My life’s been one big disaster after another. With me stuck here, the Uchiha will die out and the name will be forgotten from history. Maybe it’s for the best. All we ever did is cause problems, anyway.” “What do you mean by that?” Fluttershy said, eager to see his past. “Uchiha have always been… prideful. Maybe too prideful. Perhaps it was our arrogance that was our downfall. I’m the last of us, anyway. Everyone else is dead.” “They were your family, right?” Fluttershy asked. “Yeah. Until they all died.” They all winced at that, but Fluttershy pressed on. “What happened? How’d they die?” “It doesn’t even matter anymore, anyway.” “No, tell us,” Rarity said, trying to force it, “what happened?” “Was it that thing you said to Sweetie Belle about your family being killed in front of you?” At Sasuke’s immediate stare of horrible hatred, she realized how tactless she had just been. Rarity smiled, nervous and looked at her hooves on the ground. Sasuke looked down, and turned away, and didn’t say anything for a moment. “It was that. I was surprised that I didn’t notice you.” “Maybe I’m just so light on my hooves that-“ “No way. You’re as obvious as a bull in a china shop. My skills are slipping.” Rarity huffed, but Sasuke ignored her, and sighed, and then continued. “Yes, it was that. It’s hard for me to talk about… I only realized in the past few months that since that day, I’d been lied to for the next half of my life, all the way since I was around eight years old. I only discovered the truth after I killed my brother in a fight to the death.” “Your brother,” Applejack said, surprised, thinking of Big Mac, “Why would you ever do that?” “Because, he was the one who killed my entire clan. Well, him and Obito, but that’s not the point. I’d been lied to. At that point, I didn’t know that he had done it because he had to- and that he was actually a loyal shinobi to the Leaf. After that, I fell so deep into my hatred that… I couldn’t come out of it. I wanted to kill everyone in the Leaf so much- I still do. They all get to live happy lives, and my clan is destroyed- ruins, that’ll be forgotten when I die.” Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy had nothing to say to that. It was too terrible, and too saddening- why should anyone even have to consider killing their own brother? Applejack didn’t understand how he was able to do it- then again, he came from a much tougher world than they did. She lost her parents when she was young, but not in such a tragic way, and she still had a good portion of her family left- the Apple clan, scattered across Equestria. Rarity, on the other hand, couldn’t imagine doing such a thing to a younger sibling- imagine, the very thought of it, corrupting and twisting Sweetie Belle’s mind at such a young age. Killing her own parents, as the older sibling- oh, dreadful! She couldn’t imagine having to do that- not even doing it of her own accord, which was already horrible enough, but being ordered to do it- Rarity shivered, and it wasn’t from the cold night air. While Applejack and Rarity were thinking based on their own experiences as sisters, Fluttershy trembled at the sheer cruelty of it. She had no idea about this- for a good portion of things, she’d been shacked up in the hospital. Then, she’d been depressed for a while. She was still struggling to get over the idea that she wasn’t a freak right now- she had never had the best self esteem- but somepony else was suffering right now, and Fluttershy was paying attention to him. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes, as she was filled with sorrow, at the terrible ignorance and hate of all of it. “Maybe it’d make more sense if I showed all of you,” Sasuke said. “What?” They said in unison, and Sasuke sighed, and then elaborated. “I can show you what happened, if you want to see it. I doubt you would, though.” There was silence as the three considered the proposal. They’d probably see terrible things, but they’d all understand Sasuke better, by the end of it all. Surprising, the least courageous of the three said yes first. “I-I’ll… do it,” Fluttershy said, voice softer than silk, and Sasuke nodded. After a few moments, Rarity and Applejack agreed as well. “I can only show it to one of you at once, but… I should be able to do it fast enough.” Tsukuyomi worked strangely- it could only work on one person at once, but it happened so quickly that it could be used again- if one had the energy and skill to do it. Sasuke thought he could probably manage it, though it would be easier, since he wasn’t torturing, but just showing memories. He almost wished he was a Yamanaka for a second, before locking eyes with Fluttershy as she gazed into crimson, intricate designs that spun strangely, and then- Fluttershy gasped as she was in the middle of… some place. She saw a boy walking down the road to his home. Was that how Sasuke looked when he was younger? He was so cute and innocent, then. Fluttershy followed behind him, and then was surprised as Sasuke, older, appeared beside her. They followed the younger version of himself as he walked into the clan grounds- and discovered the first murders, at the age of eight years old. Fluttershy could only cover her mouth with her hoof in horror as Old Sasuke started to speak, and in a way, narrated his fall from innocence, to the depths of hatred he’d descended to. “This was the first night,” he said. It skipped- along, she guessed, since she didn’t need to see every single corpse, though she’d already seen enough for a lifetime. She screamed- as Young Sasuke screamed- as Itachi stood over his mother and father’s dead body right in front of him. “DON’T FUCK WITH ME!” Young Sasuke yelled, but was hit in the stomach, and Itachi continued talking throughout it- telling him how weak he was, and so on. Skip, again. “I’ll never forget this part,” Older Sasuke whispered. “If you truly wish to kill me, hate me, despise me… run, run, and survive in an unsightly way. Then, when you finally possess the same eyes as me, come before me.” Skip, again. Small flashes of his life- alone, growing up in the Leaf. “I trained harder than ever. Met up with Naruto.” A flash of another human, dressed in a garish orange outfit. Skips and flashes, as Sasuke told her more and more. “Abandoned Konoha. Killed my brother. The War.” These details were both elaborated on in detail as Sasuke told and showed her the most important points of his life, and then he turned to her and looked her in the eyes again and- Fluttershy screamed in real life and breathed heavily as they returned to reality. She only gazed at Sasuke’s dead, cold, red eyes with the most sympathy and pity she could muster- but already, in the same second, he was turning to another. He showed the same thing to Applejack, and to Rarity. By the end of it, he was fairly exhausted- and so were they, and filled to the brim with pity and sympathy for Sasuke. “So there, now you know. Go away.” They only shook their heads- and, in the end, it really was what Fluttershy said that made him react- as she stepped forward and hugged Sasuke deeply, embracing him fully around the chest. She breathed deeply and spoke as she did so. “It’s not your fault.” “G-get, get away…” Rarity and Applejack did the same thing, and soon they were all muttering similar reassuring statements- showing their kindess to Sasuke. And it was a dark, silent night, and there was no noise, and Sasuke’s eyes watered. For the first time, in a long, long, long time, Sasuke Uchiha cried. TO BE CONTINUED