1. Awakening of the original.

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Kazuki was walking around the convention looking for something to do since he and his sister came here to have some fun with their friends. This was a small convention so it didn't have as many people as a really big one, but it was still fun to hang out with his friends here, they went to different places to see what they could find. He was cosplaying as an OC from the Ōtsutsuki clan from the anime Naruto, he already had a slender figure thanks to years in his school's swimming club, good thing he was thinking of becoming a professional swimmer.

Kazuki's cosplay consisted of a traditional white kariginu(狩衣, hunting robe) with a row of tomoe(巴) running down the centre, around the collar and near the edges of the sleeves that were adorned with intricate gold and purple lines, white baggy pants with a vertical row of tomoe(巴) on each side, a pair of black tall geta(下駄, wooden sandals) with two ha (歯, teeth), a pair of white tabi(足袋, socks), and a pair of black gloves on each hand for clothes a white wig for his hair, makeup to make look like he had white skin with a third eye on his forehead and colored contact lenses to make his eyes look like the Byakugan (白眼, White Eye). Also, he chose to not have horns because it would cause too much trouble.

As Kazuki walked he spotted a stall with someone cosplaying as the Merchant from Resident Evil 4, the stall itself had many items of many franchises and they are all surprisingly well made and accurate. So he approached and greeted the Merchant.

“Welcome Lord Ōtsutsuki,” said the Merchant as he recognized Kazuki's attire.

“I must say it’s a very good costume you have and all those items are very well made,” said Kazuki as he saw the items on sale.

“Thank you, I made everything that is for sale here,” said the Merchant with pride in his voice.

“So you make props, do you have a studio or something like that? Because those items are too well made to sell on a small convention like this one,” said Kazuki as he assumed that the Merchant was an artisan or something similar.

“Well I just like to pay attention to the details, besides any convention is a good place to sell my ware,” said the Merchant as he tried to downplay his role in the creation of the items, so he asked, “So who are you anyway? I can tell that you are a Ōtsutsuki, but that’s it.”

“Oh, that is an original character. He is a Ōtsutsuki that bothered to train and is a capable warrior instead of just rely on his overwhelming power and chakra, but I have to admit that I used Kaguya and Momoshiki as templates,” said Kazuki a little embarrassed at his lack of creativity in the design, but it was to be expected since they all of them seem only to used mostly white traditional Japanese clothing.

“So, is there anything you would like to buy?” asked the Merchant curious.

As Kazuki looked at the items he saw many things he wanted to buy but also remembered the rumors about cosplay disappearing in conventions but he thought that they were just rumors.

“Do you have anything from Hunter x Hunter and Type-Moon?” asked Kazuki unexpectedly.

“Not something from Naruto,” said the Merchant in surprise.

“Well these are among my favorite animes, I especially like the Mahō (魔法, Magic/Sorcery) and Majutsu (魔術, Magecraft) in the Nasuverse and the Nen (念, Mind Force) abilities in the Hunterverse,” said Kazuki as he looked for items to buy, but then he got a idea so he asked, “Would be awesome if you had a book with many forms of energy manipulation, functional magic, technology and other forms of information all written in the language that could only be read by the user of a Rinnegan (輪廻眼, Saṃsāra Eye) and Byakugan (白眼, White Eye)?”

“Wait here for a moment,” said the Merchant before he went to the back to look for something, only to come back about ten minutes later with a book.

Kazuki looked at the white book and he got a “Tome of Eldritch Lore” vibe from the leather bound book with an unreadable title, the sealing like inscriptions on the edges and different cursed seals in the free spaces.

“What is this?” asked Kazuki.

“Ironically, exactly what you asked for. It was made for another client but he doesn't want to purchase it anymore,” said the Merchant as he placed the book on the counter.

“May I?” asked Kazuki and the Merchant nodded.

Kazuki opened the book and all the pages were filled with the same unreadable language from the title that he recognized from the movie. The only reason he knew that it had information beyond the Narutoverse was that he also recognized the diagrams from other mangas and animes explaining different powers.

“You are so lucky that had this on storage. What are the chances?” asked the Merchant as he made sure to not give away that he just made the book.

“How much?” asked Kazuki as he closed the book.

“A 100 bucks,” said the Merchant.

“Well, it’s really well made. Sure,” said Kazuki as he paid the Merchant.

“Thank you, have a nice trip,” said the Merchant as he waved at Kazuki.

“Wha-” started Kazuki before everything went blank.

Thousands of years later

Ōtsutsuki Kazuki was fly over Canterlot and landed on the Castle's garden in front of a statue of him, or more specifically his original body turned into stone, luckily he could leave his body at will since the soul of a Ōtsutsuki was capable of existing without a body. His body was just standing straight with a stoic look while his arms were hidden by the sleeves of his kariginu.

Kazuki, unfortunately, had a misunderstanding with the princesses a few years after he arrived, which resulted in a battle where he was defeated and sealed. The worst part was that at one point in time he called them his friends. Worst still they took his book and even after millennia they haven't found a way to read it, all those that went mad trying didn't favor his reputation and neither did those that died.

Fortunately, after few months, Kazuki learned how to leave his body and later possess the body of others but he wasn't cruel enough to just assume control of the body of another without a good reason. Inspired by Kurama from Yu Yu Hakusho, he instead possessed a young female and waited without taking over for her to conceive a child so he could create a body without developing a soul.

It wasn't easy to create a less volatile version of Reika no Jutsu(霊化の術, Spiritualisation Technique) to not kill either his surrogate mothers or new bodies. However, he managed to do just that and thus he created another method to body jump.

The result of body jumping was that he lived many lifetimes as many different species and he learned much in these years, the only thing he didn't manage to accomplish was getting his book back.

Unfortunately none of his subsequent bodies were as strong as his Ōtsutsuki one, at least they were similar enough to him seeing that this world was of the anthro variety, some came close but not quite there yet and because of that he had to seal most of his power every time he reincarnated, at least he learned how to control most of his powers.

Kazuki managed to read a few pages of the book before he was sealed so he developed nen and magic circuits as well and in the time between incarnations, he would integrate and modified these powers. He can't wait to test them once he was freed.

Yesterday he saw Twilight and Spike leave to oversee the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville, good thing he watched MLP:FIM. He never thought that what he remembered from the show would be useful like this. The return of Nightmare Moon is a good opportunity to free himself if he miss this opportunity the next one will only present itself on Discord’s return.

Kazuki, in spiritual form, sat in lotus position he floated in front of his statue and waited. He didn't have to wait longer than a few hours before he felt the Natural Energy (自然エネルギー) of the world shift slightly, so he looked at the moon and saw four stars glow brighter for a moment before the mare’s silhouette disappeared from the moon.

Using this shift in the Natural Energy he entered his body and not long after cracks started to form. Soon after he moved, which caused flakes of stone to fall and not long after he was freed. And for the first time in millennia, he opened his three eyes and looked at the night sky.

“Who is there?” asked a guard as he walked into the garden.

Immediately Kazuki turned to look at the surprised guard that just walked into the garden before he activated his Sharingan (写輪眼, Copy Wheel Eye) and used a simple Genjutsu(幻術, Illusionary Techniques) to freeze the guard in place and erased the last few seconds of his memory.

“The wonders of Genjutsu,” said Kazuki to himself, the first time in millennia that he heard his own voice, the original one. His voice after his displacement was similar to Senju Hashirama the Shodai Hokage.

“Yōton: Gomunawa(熔遁護謨縄, Lava Release: Rubber Rope),” said Kazuki as he created a very small and thin rope of rubber in his mouth before melting the ends together creating a rubber band, which he used to tie his long, almost touching the ground if it wasn't for his geta, hair into a bun with the rest becoming a ponytail that reached just past his shoulders.

After tying his hair he looked at the pieces of stone, then he used Doton(土遁, Earth Release) and Onmyōton(陰陽遁, Yin–Yang Release) to reassemble the pieces into a statue of him before he fused and reinforced the pieces.

He made sure the statue was in perfect condition before he used the Meisaigakure no Jutsu(迷彩隠れの術, Chameleon Jutsu) to become invisible and the Doton: Keijūgan no Jutsu(土遁軽重岩の術, Earth Style: Lightened Boulder Jutsu) to float without activating his high-level Dōjutsu (瞳術, Eye Techniques).

After he was off the ground he released the Genjutsu(幻術, Illusionary Techniques) from the guard, he looked around confused before he set his eyes on Kazuki's statue before carefully and cautiously poked it with the blunt end of his spear.

“I must be tired. Maybe I should request a leave of absence,” the guard said to himself when he saw no reaction from the statue.

With that taken care of Kazuki activated his Byakugan to investigate the castle and not long after he found the hidden vault where Celestia keeps the important artifacts. So he floated to that floor height before activating his Mangekyō Sharingan (万華鏡写輪眼, Kaleidoscope Copy Wheel Eye) and used Kamui(神威, Authority of the Gods) to phase through the wall.

Once inside Kazuki deactivated the technique and his eyes to the vault hidden behind the throne and used to look at the door protected by magic as he walked toward it.

Chakra(チャクラ) was made of Spiritual Energy (精神エネルギー) and Physical Energy (身体エネルギー) combined and in balance. Magic –at least the style/form used and understood by ponies– was made mostly of Spiritual Energy and was called Mana or Maryoku(魔力, Magical Energy). Aura (オーラ) was made mostly of Physical Energy and was called Seimeiryoku(生命力, Life Force). So it was possible to use one of these three types of energy manipulation to affect the other two forms. Technically Nen and Ninjutsu (忍術, Ninja Techniques) could simply be considered different styles or systems of magic.

Kazuki activated the Byakugan and the Rinne Sharingan (輪廻写輪眼, Saṃsāra Copy Wheel Eye) to see the inside of the vault and the flow of magic on the door, then he activated the Yomotsu Hirasaka(黄泉比良坂, Underworld Slope Hill) to create a window from the outside to the inside of the vault by connecting to points in space on the same dimension, essentially a portal.

The Ōtsutsuki reached into the black abyss and saw his arm come out inside the vault from a similar window, then he reached out, grabbed and pulled out his book from the vault. Then he closed the window inside the vault. And once the book was in his hands he jumped into the window like portal and came out outside of the castle and deactivated his Rinne Sharingan. Still in the air, he used his Byakugan to look at the Castle of the Two Sisters only to see the mane six confronting Nightmare Moon.

Kazuki kept watching until Celestia was freed and the sun was raised, seeing that Nightmare Moon was defeated he was about to deactivated his Byakugan when he saw that Celestia was looking for something.

“Is something wrong Princess?” said Twilight in concern, the only reason Kazuki knew was that he was reading her lips.

Instead of answering Celestia briefly looked in his direction and Kazuki smile, it seemed that peace didn't dull her instincts. He deactivated his Byakugan, activated his Mangekyo and used Kamui to go into one of his pocket dimensions.

“I can't wait to see both of you again,” said Kazuki before he disappeared in a vortex coming from his right eye, he always liked a challenge.

Somewhere in the Everfree Forest

Kazuki appeared from a vortex before he deactivated his Mangekyo and he stood in front of the Castle of the Two Sisters, now empty. He jumped into the ravine and at the entrance of a cave.

Kazuki entered the cave and saw the Tree of Harmony. He stopped, closed his eyes and stood completely still to gather Natural Energy. After he gathered and balanced the Natural Energy, Spiritual Energy and Physical Energy red marks appeared around his three eyes connected by curving lines.

Now in Sage Mode(仙人モード) his consciousness meld with the forest and more importantly with the nexus of Natural Energy in front of him. The Tree of Harmony was the closest thing to a Shinju(神樹, God Tree) but in harmony, pun intended, with the world instead of just suck the Natural Energy of the world like a parasite to make a “Chakra Fruit" (チャクラの実).

It was not that surprising when you considered that the Tree of Harmony grew from a seed created by his chakra, in a sense, it was an extension of him, like the Everfree Forest that also grew from his chakra.

“Welcome back,” said Kazuki with a sense of belonging as he felt every part of the forest as if it was part of himself.

Kazuki opened his three eyes and saw the Tree of Harmony glow with different colors and hum a calm and relaxing tone, it was a melody of nature, and that made him smile.

He stopped smiling when he saw the marks of the royal sisters, he didn't have a problem with Twilight's mark. Actually, it was the opposite, Twilight has the mark of the tree, but the tree was marked by the energy of the royal sisters when they stole its fruits and that filled him with a sense of anger.

He touched the Tree of Harmony with his right hand and filled the tree with his chakra and purged the remnants of Celestia and Luna’s Magic from the tree. With that done he floated up to the castle’s entrance after he got out of the cave and entered the castle.

Once inside he used his chakra and his magic to carefully remodel and restore the whole castle. In the end, the outside looked just like when the castle was in its prime, but inside he changed the decorations to be more eastern and the banners the once depicted the crest of the royal sister now depicted the Mon (紋, Crest) of the Ōtsutsuki.

After that he used Senjutsu (仙術, Sage Techniques) to create a barrier around the castle, the barrier was made of Senjutsu Chakra to subtly dissuade anyone from approaching the castle and to show an illusion of the still-ruined castle on the outside.

After the redecoration was done Kazuki turned his attention to the small pile of black fur and blue armor, be extended his hands and focused yin chakra on his left and yang chakra on his right.

They manifested as a red flame on his left hand and a blue flames on his right before he combined them over the pile of fur and created a purple 5ft 6in sphere, the diameter being more or less the same as his height without his 4in takai geta(高い下駄, tall wood sandals), with the fur inside while armor remained on the floor beneath the sphere.

With that done he went to the library and places his grimoire on the table before he concentrated a bit of chakra on the tip of his index finger before he touched the cursed seal on the cover.

While he went to look for something to read on the library the cursed seal spread throughout the cover before the title was replaced by a silhouette of a mask, the white was replaced by a gray color.

The eyes of the mask on the cover of the book looked around before it settled on Kazuki, who chose a book and was sitting on another chair.

“Kazu!!” shouted the book with an almost childlike voice as the mask changed to a happy face before it floated off the table and went to be near Kazuki.

“Good morning Hon-chan,” said Kazuki to his friend.

“What are you reading?” asked Hon with curiosity while she floated behind Kazuki and looked over his shoulder. Her mask changed to a question mark.

“Just something to pass the time since I still getting used to my connection to the surrounding forest,” said Kazuki as he turned the page of the book he was holding.

“Ok,” said Hon before she looked around, now with a neutral mask and asked, “where are we anyway?”

“We are in the former castle of the princesses,” said Kazuki as he put the book on the table beside him.

After Hon heard that her mask changed into an angry red oni mask at the thought of those that took her away from her friend, tried to use her before they locked her away when couldn't.

“Where are those hussies?” asked Hon her voice became not only more adult-like but also distorted and more inhuman.

“There is no need to get angry about it,” said Kazuki in a calm manner as he motioned for Hon to come closer.

“Why are you not angry? They kept you prisoner for millennia, they separated us and they stole the fruits of your chakra,” said Hon angry at Kazuki lack of reaction.

“I see no point in hold a grudge against them, it was just a millennium and besides we are free now. While I’m angry that they didn't return the fruits after using them the fruits chose their hosts and I will respect their decision,” said Kazuki in a calm manner but with a bit of annoyance in his voice.

“Why?” asked Hon back to her childlike voice but with a mask that expressed her confusion.

“The Tree, and by extension the Elements, may be an extension of myself but they are also an extension of the land, so if they feel the necessity to chose new hosts then I will accept it,” explained Kazuki to Hon before he added, “Although I’m a bit peeved by the fact that they tainted the Tree of Harmony, it wasn't like they knew about it.”

*Sigh* “Ok, I trust you but if I see them again don't expect me to be friendly with them,” said Hon while her mask changed again this time to show a childish face pouting.

“I know you probably want some time to think about this, so I going for a walk to both relax and to get to know the terrain,” said Kazuki as he got up and did a hand seal.

A puff of smoke later he is wearing a brown traveling cloak with a high collar and a concealed hood, similar to an Akatsuki cloak but plain brown instead of black with red clouds, navy blue baggy pant, black sandals similar to the ones in Naruto and he kept his black gloves. He was shirtless beneath the cloak but had two pouches affixed to his belt, one on each side, with some shinobi supplies.

“Ok, I will summon you if I need. Have a nice walk,” said Hon as she floated off to explore their new home/base of operations.

Kazuki walked out of the castle and headed west to where he felt a large and powerful life form, he kept walking until he reached the entrance of a cave and as he walked in he saw a pair of slitted yellow eyes on the dark background of the cave looking at him.

“Who dares enter my cave?” asked a deep voice from the darkness.

Kazuki's eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness of the cave and he saw a green-scaled dragon with yellow underbelly, the body type was that of a western dragon with four legs in a semi-quadruped configuration, two green wings with yellow membrane on the back near the shoulder blades, a long neck and muzzle, sharp claws and row of teeth, line of spikes from the head to the tail along the spine that were a few shades lighter, two fin-like ears on each side of the head that matched the color of the wings and yellow slitted eyes typical of a reptile.

“Greetings dragon, I was just passing by, I will be on my way,” said Kazuki trying to be diplomatic.

“As if I would believe in such words, especially coming from a pony,” said the dragon with distaste having assumed that Kazuki was a pony from the town near the forest and that he wanted the gold and gems of the hoard.

“I’m not a pony and if you won't let me pass, then you leave me no choice,” said Kazuki as he released a portion of his Sakki(殺気, Killing/Murderous Intent).

Instead of cowering like most being would the dragon saw this as a challenge, an invader trying to usurp the territory he just came into. So in response, the dragon growled and let smoke and fire slowly escape from its mouth. Both of them took a deep breath.

“Katon: Karyū Endan(火遁火龍炎弾, Fire Style: Dragon's Flame),” said Kazuki after he ended a sequence of hand seals in the tiger seal and exhaled a torrent of flames while the dragon used the flames infused with magic. The two fires collided and pushed against each other. Every time one of them started to gain advantage the other would pour more energy into the technique.

At one point the orange flames of Kazuki became brighter and pushed back the dragon's flames. The dragon felt the flames of the invader wash over its scales, at first the flames were not a problem since dragons were fireproof and the only way to burn a dragon was to saturate the flames with enough heat and/or magic to overcome the species natural resistance that would only become stronger with age, but only an alicorn or an elder dragon can do that.

But then the flames became almost white, which caused the dragon to feel the heat and after that came the pain. Kazuki stopped when he heard the roar of pain over the flames and saw that the walls of the cave, the gold and gems were starting to melt but most of the heat was focused on the dragon.

Kazuki coated his sandals in chakra and walked on the hot floor until he reached the thrashing dragon. The dragon stopped when a sandal touched its sensitive skin and looked at the victor of this dispute.

“You know what that means, right?” asked Kazuki to the defeated dragon.

“Yes, by right of conquest all that belongs to me is now yours, even my life,” said the dragon in a defeated tone for the first time seeing the face of the intruder, now without the sage marks, the hood must have been knocked back by the wind.

“Good,” said Kazuki as he took off his traveling cloak and activated his Chakra Mode(チャクラモード) or Chakra Cloak(チャクラの衣) that it took the form of white flame like energy over his body.

The dragon saw the energy cloak and thought that Kazuki was going to deal the final blow on the loser of this duel. Kazuki saw the dragon with the eyes closed but he had no intention to kill a potential ally, so he made multiple arms of chakra to reach all the burned areas of the giant reptile's body.

“Why are you healing me? You could either leave me or kill me,” said the dragon as the pain faded when Kazuki used Shōsen Jutsu(掌仙術, Mystical Palm Technique) to heal the burns.

“I know the Dragon Code, besides it would be a waste to just let you die, now be quiet and let me heal you,” said Kazuki with a firm tone and the dragon just nodded.

By the time that the walls cooled the dragon was healed and Kazuki was without his Chakra Cloak. The dragon started to shrink until it was in a 11ft tall biped shape, dragons on this world can shift between a giant beast form and a smaller biped form, not unlike a transformer or a Jinchūriki (人柱力, Power of Human Sacrifice) in full control of his Bijū(尾獣, Tailed Beasts).

The anthro dragon was female, now evident by her figure, and was kneeling before Kazuki. She kept her green scales and yellow eyes, now she had a very athletic physique that didn't detract from her feminine figure that showed her wide child-bearing hips and big E-cup breasts, proportional to her height, her muzzle was shorter but the head kept more or less the same shape, her hands with three fingers and a thumb, her legs were saurian in shape with three claw on the front on one on the back and on her back was her two wings still in the same place but smaller to match her new proportions.

“My name is Achuak Anhew, my life and hoard are now yours to do what you will,” said the dragon as she acknowledged her new master.

“A fitting name, 'Green Jewel’. It matches the color of your scales, so I going to call you Jewel from now on. Any objections?” asked Kazuki.

“None,” said Jewel after recovered from the shock of learning that her master knows draconic, not many outside of dragonkind know the language and to her it only showed that her master was powerful, knowledgeable and most of all worthy of her loyalty. A dragon will refuse to obey a weak master because they respect above all strength, but to them, strength came in many forms and so long it was acknowledged by a dragon you will have its respect.

“Good. I’m Ōtsutsuki Kazuki, ‘Ōtsutsuki’(大筒木) being the name of my clan and meaning 'great bamboo tree’ and ‘Kazuki’(和樹) being my given name and meaning ‘harmonious or peaceful tree’. It's a pleasure to meet you,” said Kazuki.

“My grandfather told me stories of a Ōtsutsuki when I was a hatchling. He said he saw a white being that fought against both Royal Sisters in the same year the queen passed away. A feat only matched by the dark usurper in the north and the dreaded centaur invader as well as the chaos serpent here on Equestria many centuries later. Are you perhaps related to him?” asked Jewel as she tried to remember more of her grandfather's stories.

“No, I’m not related to him. The one that fought the sisters was me, but they were too soft to kill me, so they sealed me instead. I managed to free myself recently,” explained Kazuki.

Jewel was stunned before her was the oldest enemy of the Royal Sisters, the thought that he could easily kill her if he wanted only made him more impressive in her eyes.

“Thank you for accepting me. What now?” asked Jewel as she got up.

“You can remain in this cave if you wish. Later I will give you my mark, but for now, I have to get used to the forest,” said Kazuki as he turned around and put his traveling cloak back on before walking outside, but he added before leaving, “you can find me in the former Castle of the Two Sisters.”

After that Kazuki continued to explore the Everfree Forest, by the end of the day he established himself as the top of the food chain by intimidating every being that mistook him for prey, everyone on this forest that came across him acknowledged him as the apex predator.

So Kazuki returned to his castle by the time the sun was setting, Hon calmed down and was more accepting to the idea of not killing the sisters, it might take a while for her to forgive them. Then Kazuki went to the master bedroom to rest after he established this entire forest as his territory and making that known to almost every being living here.

Canterlot Castle

Celestia was looking at the moon that was recently raised, this was the first night without the silhouette of her sister on the moon.

“Are you alright sister?” asked Luna as she entered in Celestia’s chamber to wish her goodnight before assuming her role as the guardian of dreams after a thousand years, but saw her sister with a worried look.

“Yes Luna I’m fine, it’s just that I feel as if I missed something important, like something happened recently that will have consequences later,” said Celestia before she sighed.

“Maybe you are just stressed, you should get some rest,” suggested Luna.

“Maybe you are right. Goodnight sister,” said Celestia as she went to her bed.

“Goodnight sister,” said Luna as she went to her on room to later enter the dreamscape.

2. Looking after a nightmare.

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Kazuki's Castle, the next morning

Kazuki woke up when the light of the sun was over his closed eyes, he sat up before he opened his three eyes, then he got out of the bed and went to the bathroom. Once there he he simply used Yomotsu Hirasaka to open a small portal above his head that was connected to a dimension with only fresh water.

The Ōtsutsuki let the cold water wash over his naked body, his skin was white, as was his hair and eyebrow. With the exception of his head his entire body was completely free of hair and the iris of his three eyes without any Dōjutsu activated and his hair are white with a hint of lilac. His body had a muscular and yet slender figure similar to a well trained swimmer.

The only hint of color on Kazuki's body was his nails, carefully done and painted purple, eight Magatama (勾玉) tattooed just below his collarbone with four on each side, two on the underside of each forearm with one on the wrist and one in the middle of the forearm, a row of three from his shoulders to just above his elbow, a vertical row of four more Tomoe on the middle of his chest, a circle of ten on his abdomen around the center of his belly, twelve on his back with six on each side, three on the outside of each thigh and two on each shin.

Each one of these 54 Magatama on Kazuki's body was a seal made to refine and control his power, they were made using a combination of Fūinjutsu(封印術, Sealing Techniques) and Majutsu. They were normally black, but could change color depending on the power that was used and now they were purple with golden outline.

Kazuki closed the portal and proceeded to pull a small tray with many herbs and small rocks he collected yesterday after his encounter with Jewel. Using his chakra he extract the oils and salts to be used as soap and shampoo to clean himself. After he was done he reopened the portal and let the water wash over him again.

With his bath done Kazuki raised the temperature of his body to evaporate the remaining water on his skin and hair. With that done he made a hand seal while he was walking toward the door and a puff of smoke later he was wearing black pants and a long-sleeved fishnet shirt.

Kazuki walked out of the master bedroom and went to the throne room to check on the progress of his “guest”. Once he arrived on the throne room he saw the purple sphere now double the size it was yesterday, but what mattered was the the black alicorn floating inside.

She had black coat and feathered wings on her back, her mane and tail were like the night sky full of stars, she was about 9ft tall, as tall as Celestia, had G-cup breasts, wide hips with a light blue crescent moon on a dark purple background on her cheeks and a muscular physique that didn't hide her womanly figure.

(Without the armor)

The one inside was Nightmare Moon, initially a piece of Luna but now it was a separate entity and Kazuki was giving her a new body. A body similar to that of a alicorn but also with properties of a Black Zetsu.

Kazuki activated the magic circuits around his eyes so he could do a Structural Analysis spell on her body and he could tell that she would wake up in a few hours. With that done he turned around and walked to the library.

“Good morning Kazu,” said Hon as she floated near Kazuki as soon as he entered the library and she showed the mask of a smiling child.

“Good morning Hon, how are you today?” asked Kazuki as he greeted Hon with a smile.

“Much better, thank you for asking,” said Hon.

Kazuki remained in the library until noon, when he felt the sphere of chakra cracking, so he put down book he was reading and went to the throne room

Once there he witnessed sphere of chakra slowly fade, leaving Nightmare Moon behind and Kazuki caught her before she could reach the ground by using his own telekinesis. Once he did that he teleported both of them to the master bedroom using magic instead of chakra and laid her on the bed.

Then he picked a chair, sat beside the bed and summoned the book he was reading before being interrupted. Half an hour later he finished the book, so he reverse summoned it back to the library and summoned Hon to him.

Hon looked around before her eyes settled on Nightmare Moon, seeing that she was out of the cocoon of chakra she turned to Kazuki and showed him a confused mask.

“I just wanted to read something while we wait,” said Kazuki.

“I'm happy to oblige,” said Hon with a happy mask before she settled in Kazuki’s left hand and opened herself to him.

Kazuki activated the Rinnen Sharingan on his forehead to read Hon’s content, it was late afternoon when Nightmare Moon started to stir. She opened her eyes, which showed her slitted pupil, cyan colored iris and sclera. She looked around until her eyes landed on Kazuki. Abruptly she tried to sit up, but suddenly felt weak.

“Easy there Moon, I just made a body for you. It might take a while for you to recover all your energy,” said Kazuki as he deactivated his Dōjutsu and closed his third eye.

“Kazuki...” said Moon as she tried to remember what happened to her, she trapped her sister in the sun and destroyed the Elements…

“The Elements!” said Moon as she tried to sit up again only to be gently push back.

“It's ok. Now you have a new body independent of Luna's,” said Kazuki but he saw that she was still confused so he activated his Sharingan on both eyes while he looked into her eyes and said, “sleep.”

“Are you sure it was a good idea?” asked Hon as she floated beside Kazuki and observed Moon. She didn't have an opinion about Moon yet and as far as she was concerned Moon and Luna were to different people.

“She still adapting to her new body,” said Kazuki as looked at the sleeping alicorn.

“Well, at least it won't be as boring as I thought it would be,” said Hon as she showed a mask with an interesting expression.

A month later

Moon recovered in two weeks after she emerged from the cocoon of chakra, she was quite surprised when she saw not only Kazuki but also that she had her own body. During the last month Kazuki would occasionally use the Byakugan to see how things were on Ponyville, the show didn't tell all about the normal days, the ones without a adventure or a friendship lessons.

So far Kazuki witnessed “The Ticket Master”, “Applebuck Season”, “Griffon the Brush Off” and “Boast Busters” occur on the last month, he also met Zecora while he was on a morning walk, coincidentally on the same day Moon woke up from her coma, the zebra was surprised when the timberwolves managed to corner her since she was usually able to avoid them, but in the last month the timberwolves changed.

They no longer were made of mostly rotten wood that was animated by the magic of the forest, now they looked like true wolves but green and brown, clearly still made of plant matter. His connection to the Everfree caused the wolves to become more like the White Zetsu and they were under his complete control since they were an extension of the forest.

Kazuki stopped the wolves from killing Zecora, who immediately noted he was a sage by the Natural Energy around him, and ended up inviting her for some tea at his castle.

Kazuki took his time to inspect the zebra, she was a bit taller than himself, had a muscular yet feminine figure that was almost completely exposed since she was wearing only wrappings on her chest and a loincloth, clearly not ashamed of her tribal origin and lastly she had a staff/walking stick to defend herself with.

On the way to the castle the zebra asked if Kazuki was a sage, which made Kazuki ask her how she knew about it in the first place and she answered by saying that she was a shaman trained to feel the flow of Natural Energy even if she couldn't use it directly. Interestingly she only spoke in rhymes.

Zecora's reaction was quite amusing when she saw Jewel and Moon on the table having lunch, which lead an interesting discussion where one would question the other about their “relationship” with Kazuki.

Jewel was quite possessive, like most dragons, and didn't want to “share” her master with anyone. Moon still had the memories of Luna until she was hit and separated by the Elements, but she suspected that Luna's memories as Nightmare Moon were fragmented. And Zecora was fascinated by the existence of a sage since they were extremely rare.

Kazuki defused the situation when he explained how he met each one of them, but of course that didn't stop the animosity between the three or Moon’s smug attitude since she technically met him thousands of years ago. At the least Zecora was the most reasonable of the trio since she just met him today and wasn't interested in him as a “master”, for now.

The tea was served by a diamond dog that was acting as a butler. Kazuki found out a week after Jewel started to serve him that she controlled a pack of diamond dogs, she apparently ate the last alpha when he tried to steal from her.

Jewel saw an opportunity and offered protection as long as the pack regularly brought gems to her. Now they were under Kazuki's command, so he taught them what they need to know to better serve him, in this case how to be a butler. He knew they couldn't learn everything so he taught just the basics.

At least he made sure to pay them for their services, it was easy for him to use Shōton(晶遁, Crystal Release) to provide gems for them, gem that were now part of their diet and in their own words “the tastiest gems they have ever eaten”, a opinion that Jewel agreed with.

Kazuki also made sure to teach all pack members what he felt it was necessary. On a side note some of them were very intelligent but uneducated and they ended up as his assistants on the lab he set up on the basement. It was quite fortuitous that this pack kept the "runts" of their litters instead of either killing or leave them behind like many other packs did, since they were born with smaller paws they were ideal to do works that required a greater degree of dexterity and fine motor skills –bigger paws was a highly sought after trait that helped them excel in fighting and digging.

Given this facts it was no wonder that the runts gladly accepted the opportunity to prove themselves useful to the pack by learning mechanical, medical and similar skills that would help Kazuki greatly in the future. Everyone had the potential to be useful, in the end it was a smart move that Kazuki approved of. Otherwise he had to spend even more time reeducating the older members of the pack since one of the things that he found to be a grave sin was to waste resources.

Kazuki was always a curious person, so when he was Displaced, a fact he discovered by watching other dimensions/universes with his Rinnen Sharingan, he did many experiments to learn more about his powers. One of his favorite archetypes was the “mad scientist”, granted he still had some lines he wasn't planning on crossing but as they say “no plan survives contact with the enemy”.

Unfortunately for Kazuki it was this very reason that led Celestia, Luna and Discord to jump to conclusions about his experiments and his intentions. At first Discord didn't want to help the two sisters, but in the end, he gave in. The trio not only fought him but also managed to set up the trap that weakened Kazuki just enough for the sisters to imprison him.

Kazuki saw how bad Discord felt about betraying him, so much so he broke any ties he had with the sisters only to come back years later and usurp their rule to make Equestria into his playground.

Anyway, with the help of his new assistants, he was attempting to recreate a portal to his old fortress, it used to be on the Badlands before it was a desert but it was no longer there. Kazuki hoped that the fortress was moved from there since he built that to be a flying fortress like the Ō no Miyako no Toride (王の都の砦, Fortress of the Empire) from Sora no Kuni(空の国, Land of the Sky) and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon: Aerial Garden of Vanity ( 虚栄の空中庭園, Kyoei no Kūchū Teien).

Unfortunately Kazuki never had the opportunity to test it and he also made a barrier to hide it even from all his Dōjutsu combined since there was a remote possibility of another Ōtsutsuki coming to this planet, so he wanted to be ready, just in case.

Because of that Kazuki was unable to find the place, but his old lab in the fortress had a portal there, so if he could recreate that same portal he would be able to connect both ends. Luckily the schematics of the portal were on Hon along with his notes.

Anyway, after the meal was finished Zecora stayed for a few hours to have a friendly conversation with Kazuki, who much to the delight of the zebra was capable of speaking zabrican since he lived as a zebra on few reincarnations, he spoke a older dialect but he was able to have a conversation with the shaman. He learned that her rhymes were an unfortunate quirk of the translation spell she used.

Since then Zecora would come to visit Kazuki occasionally over the course of those two weeks to drink some tea and talk. While there was still some animosity between Jewel, Moon and Zecora, they were at least civil with each other. Especially since Jewel moved in and brought her former hoard with her saying that it should stay here since it was Kazuki's.

Kazuki also spent a lot of time with Moon teaching her about chakra, her body converted her magic into chakra, which was just the addition of Physical Energy, but that unfortunately messed up her control and she had to relearn how to do many spells. However now she was able to use chakra as well as magic and she had an affinity for Inton(陰遁, Yin/Dark Release), no surprise there since she is associated with the moon and dreams.

That would further develop her original abilities since Inton was about “the spiritual energy that governs imagination that could be used to create form out of nothingness” in other words shaping illusions. Unfortunately, she liked the Teacher-student relationship a bit too much for his liking, sometimes he cursed his ability to feel the emotions of others since he can feel her lust.

These private lessons interfered with his time in the lab and the lesson he was giving to the diamond dogs under his command, but he was immortal and patient, so he was in no hurry to complete the portal, for now. On a side note, most of the warrior diamond dogs were somewhere between genin and chūnin level ninjas, it might take almost a year for some to reach jōnin.

Currently, Kazuki and Moon were on an isolated part of the Astral Plane, not too “far”, for lack of a better word since physical measures had no meaning in this plane of existence, from the dreamscape that Luna patrolled regularly. The “place” they where took the form of a sky “above” them being reflected by the calm surface of the water “beneath” them.

Kazuki was wearing a full-length high-collared plain white kimono(着物) and black pants, he was also without his shoes and gloves. He was floating above the water in lotus position while 12 Gudōdama(求道玉, Truth-Seeking Balls/Orbs) floated behind him in a circle, in the center of the circle was two Shakujō(錫杖, Sounding Staff or Monk Staff) rotating counterclockwise and clockwise.

The one spinning clockwise had a circle with six rings on one end and a plain ringless circle on the other while the one floating counterclockwise had a cross on one end and two crescent moons back-to-back on the other.

In front of him was Nightmare Moon, also floating in the same position, was wearing a short light blue kimono, biker shorts and like Kazuki was without shoes or gloves. She was trying to meditate here in order to better use and understand her chakra, but she would open one of her eyes to peek on Kazuki.

*whack*

“Ouch!” shouted Moon as she held her head after being hit by one of the Shakujō.

“Concentrate,” said Kazuki not having moved from his position while the ringed Shakujō was floating beside Moon.

“Why are you so mean to me Kazu?” asked Moon as she made a cute face, only to be hit again.

“During the lesson I’m your sensei. Now focus or you won't be able to master your chakra,” said Kazuki as the Shakujō went back to its original position behind him.

After what seemed hours, again time much like space had no meaning there, and a few more whacks on Moon’s head they left the Astral Plane and returned to their bodies on the castle. They were meditating on one of the rooms that Kazuki converted into a dojo.

“That will be all for today. If you need anything I will be on the library,” said Kazuki as he got up.

“Before you go can I ask you something?” asked Moon.

“Of course,” answered Kazuki as he stopped at the door.

“Why do you used so many neighponese decorations on the castle?” asked Moon referring to the nation on the other side of the world.

“Have you ever wondered who taught them this style in the first placed?” asked back Kazuki before leaving the dojo, not even staying to see the confused and later shocked look on her face.

On the way to the library he was stopped by Jewel and a diamond dog, by the dirty jacket he was wearing he was a simple miner or scout.

“Master/Boss!” said both of them at the same time, only for Kazuki to motion for them to stop.

“You first,” said Kazuki as he pointed to the diamond dog.

“Boss, there is another pack encroaching on your territory, for now they stopped on a rock plain just east of the forest. They may invade our tunnels soon,” said the diamond dog with urgency in his tone.

“I see. Just reinforce the patrols there, wait for now, but inform Rex that he is allowed take any additional measure he finds necessary,” said Kazuki.

“I will inform Rex immediately,” said the diamond dog as he left to inform Rex, the former second, now third since he his under Kazuki and Jewel, in command of the pack.

“And you?” asked Kazuki as looked at Jewel, who waited patiently despite the fact she wanted to speak urgently as well.

“Master, another dragon settled in your territory. He or she took up residence on the cave of the mountain on the northwest edge of the forest,” said Jewel.

Kazuki wanted to confirm his suspicions so he activated his Byakugan and looked at the mountain Jewel spoke of. There he saw a familiar trail of smoke coming out of a familiar cave and at the base of the mountain was Twilight and her friends climbing up to confront the dragon preparing for a nap. It was the events of the episode “Dragonshy”.

*Sigh*“Let’s deal with the dragon first,” said Kazuki before he made a cross hand seal and created a single Kage Bunshin(影分身, Shadow Clone) in a puff of white smoke.

Jewel was surprised by this technique since she never saw anything like it before, while she was surprised the clone went to the library and the original made another hand seal. Another puff of white smoke later Kazuki was wearing his travelling cloak, sandals and gloves.

“Let's go,” said Kazuki as he walked toward the castle’s gate followed by Jewel close behind.

“Master, what was that? That double, I mean,” asked Jewel curious about that peculiar technique.

“That was a Kage Bunshin or Shadow Clone. It is a corporeal copy of the user, in this case me, that has a portion of the original's power and is capable of transferring it’s memories back to the original once is dispelled,” explained Kazuki.

“Really? That sound like a useful ability,” said Jewel as imagined all the uses of such technique, some uses were more kinkier them others, noted by her perverted giggle and slightly nosebleed.

“This makes the technique ideal for spying, since the user can simply send a clone to spy on a target, then have the clone disperse itself without having to return physically and pass the information back to the user. Unfortunately they can usually be dispelled by hitting them with enough force and the chakra will be lost but if they or the original release the technique almost all the chakra used will return,” explained Kazuki as his right eyebrow twitched when he felt a spike of lust.

The explanation brought Jewel back to reality and out of her fantasy, which was good since they arrived at the gate. Kazuki then jumped sat on her right shoulder, she unconsciously used her right hand to make sure he wouldn't fall.

“Doton: Keijūgan no Jutsu,” said Kazuki as he placed his right hand on his own chest and his left on Jewel’s shoulder he was sitting on.

Jewel felt strange when she moved, so she did a few small jumps to discern what was the difference, when she noticed what it was she asked, “Am I lighter?”

“I just reduced mine and your weight. Now it will be easier to fly and harder to be detected,” said Kazuki.

“Remind me to kiss you after this,” said Jewel as she looked at Kazuki, then she asked, “do you know how much a girl would like to be able to just lose weight like this?”

“Yes I do, but this is only temporary,” said Kazuki much to the disappointment of Jewel.

The dragoness jumped and manage to lift herself a significant distance with a single beat of her wings, it took some concentration but she manage to find a comfortable rhythm with her new weight.

“Meisaigakure no Jutsu,” said Kazuki as he made both him and Jewel invisible about halfway to their destination.

Once they arrived they landed above the entrance of the cave, just in time to see the mane six arrive as well and take off their respective backpacks.

Fluttershy was a 5ft 7in tall pegasus pony mare with a butter yellow coat, a light pink mane and tail both slightly longer than the average pony and teal eyes, she was quite voluptuous, which was rare for a pegasus, she was wearing a light brown sweater, light blue pants and light green sandal like shoes.

Applejack was a 5ft 9in tall earth pony mare with a light orange coat and a blonde mane tied by a red ribbon near its end, a similar ribbon of the same color at the near end of her tail as well, like Fluttershy she had a voluptuous figure but more muscular, which was more common in earth ponies, she had forest green eyes, was wearing a light brown stetson hat on her head, loose overalls, a flannel shirt and boots.

Rarity was a elegant 5ft 7in tall unicorn mare with marshmallow white coat, azure eyes and well kept and stylised purple mane and tail in vertical curls, her figure was more modest but still beautiful, she was wearing a green and brown camouflage jacket, long pants, shoes and a hat that were quite elegant, which told Kazuki that they were more for fashion the functionality.

Rainbow Dash was a athletic 5ft 6in tall pegasus mare with light blue coat and a rainbow colored unkempt mane and tail, which gave her a more wild and careless look, and magenta eyes, she had a lithe physique, was wearing a black sports bra, shorts, fingerless gloves, bracers on her elbows and knees, and lastly simple sneaker like shoes.

Pinkie Pie was 5ft 6in tall earth pony with light blue eyes, a pink coat and darker but still pink cotton candy like mane and tail, her figure was similar to Applejack's but more on the chubby side of the spectrum, she was wearing a white t-shirt with many splashes of color, yellow shorts and sandal like shoes.

Twilight Sparkle was a 5ft 5in tall unicorn mare with a violet coat, purple eyes, her mane and tail were dark blue with a purple and a pink streaks, she had a modest figure but it was easy to tell that she didn't get out much, she was wearing a simple blue sweatshirt and dark almost black purple pants, both with stars on it, and sneaker like shoes.

All in all, a group of six young beautiful mares in their own way that were late-teens to early-twenties.

“What we should do master?” whispered Jewel as she tried to not be noticed by the ponies below.

“Let's wait and see,” whispered Kazuki before he activated his Byakugan to see what was going on inside the cave, but became intrigued by few facts he noticed.

“Oh, that's interesting,” said Kazuki.

3. A interesting pair of eyes and a sister.

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WARNING – some graphical descriptions on this chapter.

“Oh, that's interesting,” said Kazuki.

“What?” asked Jewel curiously.

“The dragoness in the cave is similar to you, aside from the color of her magic and scales. Would you know a red dragoness very similar to you body wise?” asked Kazuki as he witnessed the group find out the Fluttershy was afraid of dragons. Jewel facepalmed and groaned when she heard that description.

“That's probably my sister, Charir Miirik is a bit difficult to deal with, but we always got along,” said Jewel with a bit of nostalgia on her tone.

“Are you close?” asked Kazuki as he saw Twilight's negotiation fail.

“As close as two clutch-mates could be. She is a bit vain though,” commented Jewel ironically just as Rarity tried to charm the dragoness into leaving.

“Anything else to add?” asked Kazuki as Pinkie was about to enter and try to make the red dragoness leave.

“She really doesn't like to be confused for a guy in her beast form?” said Jewel referring to the fact that all dragons regardless of gender have a deep and rumbling voice due to the thicker vocal cords in their bigger beast form than in their smaller anthro form.

Not long after Pinkie's failure Rainbow got impatient and tried to get the dragoness to leave by kicking her in the face. Needless to say that the Element of Loyalty failed and only got a angry dragoness to deal with.

“Be prepared to intervene,” said Kazuki as he got off Jewel's shoulder.

“Why?” asked Jewel just before she shifted into her beast form and because of the reduced weight and invisibility she dug her claw on the mountain and was sticking on its surface almost like a gecko.

“They are the bearers of my fruits,” said Kazuki but the way he phrased it caused her eyebrow to twitch and her claw to tighten unconsciously. Kazuki saw this and said, “I will explain later, also the techniques will be dispelled the moment you jump so be careful.”

Jewel decided to trust her master, so she just got ready to intervene if things went south. Both her and Kazuki focused on the Element of Kindness, who just came out of her hiding place and started to scold Miirik.

“How dare you... How dare you! Listen here. Just because you're big doesn't mean you get to be a bully! You may have huge teeth, and sharp scales, and snore smoke, and breathe fire. But you do not- I repeat- You do not! Hurt! My! Friends! You got that?” said Fluttershy firmly.

“Oh, it seems Fluttershy has a natural pair of Magan(魔眼, Mystic Eyes) with two effects, mainly Anji(暗示, Suggestion/Whisper) and a minor Sokubaku(束縛, Binding). If wasn't for the fact that she bears the Shinsetsu no Mi(親切の実, Fruit of Kindness) I would be tempted to do a few experiments on her,” thought Kazuki when he saw the effects of the “Stare” on the dragoness’ brain with his Byakugan.

“But that rainbow one kicked me,” whispered Miirik with the deep voice associated with that form.

“And I am very sorry about that. But you're bigger than she is, and you should know better. You should also know better than to take a nap where your snoring can become a health hazard to other creatures,” said Fluttershy as she kept herself in the air just at eye level, Miirik’s eyes that was.

“But I-” started Miriik only to be interrupted when Fluttershy said, “Don't you 'but I' me, mister. Now-” but the pegasus was interrupted when Miirik caught the pegasus with her right claw and asked in a rather angry tone, “what did you call me?”

“Oh boy, the anger was enough to release herself from Fluttershy's ‘Stare’. She really doesn't like to be called 'Mister’ or anything similar,” thought Kazuki before he turned slightly to the left to face Jewel, or more specifically her right eye, and nodded.

“‘Mister’, I called you mister,” said Fluttershy meekly once again overwhelmed by her fear.

Miirik was about to say something but Jewel chose this moment to jump on her sister, the surprise caused her to release the pegasus, who went back to her friends that just saw a equally huge green dragon appear out of nowhere and tackled the red one.

“Anhew!!” shouted Miirik as she was pushed to the ground, her sister on her back immobilizing her wings, her own body was over her left claw while her right was being held by Jewel's right while the left was holding her head down.

“Hello sister,” said Jewel calmly in an equally deep voice, almost identical to her sister’s.

“Wait, that's a girl!” shouted Rainbow and AJ, rather loudly, much to the ire of Miirik but luckily for the mane six Jewel pushed her sister down, which caused the stone beneath them to crack.

“You will not harm those ponies,” said Jewel while she held down her sister.

“Since when do you care so much about ponies, sister?” asked Miirik.

“Wait that's another girl!” shouted RD and AJ, again but not as loud as before.

“I could care less about them Miirik, but my master wants them to live for some reason. That's the only reason I’m stopping you,” said Jewel.

“Master? Who is the lucky Drake that managed to dominate you?” asked Miirik, the way it was worded caused Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow to blush unlike Twilight who was more interested in the information she was gathering from this exchange and Pinkie who was being Pinkie.

“Who said my master was a dragon,” said Jewel and this caused smoke to come out of Miirik's mouth.

“How could you let yourself be humiliated by losing to a non-dragon?” asked Miirik indignantly.

“You should know better then judge strength by species Miirik,” said Jewel as she tried not to hurt her sister for insulting Kazuki.

“Indeed you shouldn't,” said Kazuki as he landed silently in front of the sisters with his Byakugan deactivated.

“Master,” said Jewel, which caught the attention of the mane six. They saw the cloaked figure, at first they imagined it to be male, but did that with caution since the recent experience with the dragons was still fresh in their mind, by the size they guessed that he was most likely a pony since he was more or less about the average size of a pony and because Rarity and Twilight, more so Twilight than Rarity, could few a great deal of magic from the one in front of them.

“Before we talk,” said Kazuki as he turned his head to look at the mane six, while the shadow of the hood obscured his face, and activated his Sharingan. All they saw before their minds went blank was his red eyes almost glowing in the shadow of the hood.

“There, they won't interrupt us and I also put a barrier around us so the alicorn sisters won't interfere either,” said Kazuki before he directed his attention to Jewel and ordered, “make sure they are safe while I deal with Red here.”

Jewel unceremoniously got off of her sister before she shifted back into her anthro form and approached the mane six. She took note of their eyes, red with three comma like marks on the iris swirling around the pupil, while they were frozen in their position like statues, the only indication that they were alive was the movement of their chest as they breathed. So she sat cross legged in front of the group facing her sister and her master.

“Would you like to change forms?” asked Kazuki politely only to receive a growl as an answer, so he added, “very well then.”

“What do you want?” asked Miirik, who didn't believe that her sister would bow to such a seemingly weak creature, he demonstrate some skills and tricks but nothing to gain her respect, yet.

“I want you to leave my territory,” said Kazuki in a serious tone while he released some of his Sakki.

“And if I refuse?” asked Miirik as she felt Kazuki's bloodlust and while that was enough for her to take him seriously it still wasn't enough for her to just accept his word.

“I will either kill, mutilate or make you submit to me,” answered Kazuki plainly only for a claw to seemingly crush him.

“Then I refuse,” said Miirik before she turned to her sister and asked, “honestly, how could you lose to him?”

“Because she underestimated me,” answered Kazuki as he had his left leg over his right while he sat on the edge above the cave’s entrance as he looked at Miirik with a bored expression.

“How?” asked Miirik as she lifted her claw only to see that she crushed a few rocks.

“Just a simple Kawarimi(変わり身, Substitution),” answered Kazuki before he looked at the rock that were under her claw, so he asked, “is that your final answer?”

“Very well then,” said Kazuki since her response was a glare and a growl. So he just looked at the red dragoness in the eye with his still active Sharingan and she froze.

From Miiriki’s perspective rods of metal were piercing her body in multiple places also pinning her on the ground and keeping her in the same position while heavy spiked chains were tightly wrapped around her. From Jewel’s perspective she just saw the same red eye pattern appear on her sister's eyes.

“What did you do?” asked Miirik with great effort as the red dragoness felt chains around her muzzle, much to the surprise of Jewel since she thought that Kazuki did to her sister what he did to the mane six.

“I just put you under an illusion,” explained Kazuki as he let a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

“Impossible,” said Miirik in disbelief since this was far from a illusion as she understood it.

“No it isn't. My brand of illusion works by manipulating the energy inside your brain and by extension all your senses. That's why you are not feeling the pain of the illusion you are in, it’s because I don't want to. Here let me show you,” said Kazuki as he did a hand seal with his right hand.

Suddenly Miirik was overwhelmed by pain and when she instinctively tried to escape and roar it only got worse as the spikes dug further into her flesh, she felt them pull and press against her bones and organs, it was the most painful experience of her life. Just as suddenly the pain disappeared along with the chains and rods, so she fell on the ground mentally exhausted from the ordeal.

Jewel got worried when she saw her sister thrash around and roar in pain, but she refrained from leaving her position because she trusted her master, but she also knew how merciless he can be since she spent time with him this last month.

Kazuki jumped of the edge and landed on the ground below, but the moment his sandal made contact with the rock he sent a pulse of chakra, which caused a giant hand of stone to come out the ground and hold Miirik’s neck.

“Since you attacked now you have two options Ms Song, submission or death. Choose,” ordered the Ōtsutsuki as he approached her head and looked directly in her eyes.

“Submission,” said Miirik in a tired tone, not even questioning the fact he called her by the translation of her name, which was Red Song.

“Tch, I was hoping you would choose death, it’s been a while since I tasted the meat of a dragon,” said Kazuki, much to the alarm of the sisters. He summoned a scroll, went inside the cave and sealed the hoard on the scroll. When he came out of the cave he saw Song in her anthro form passed out and being held by Jewel. She was almost identical to her sister, if wasn't for that fact that her scales were red instead of green, her breasts were slightly smaller and her hips slightly wider.

“Did you had to be so rough with her?” asked Jewel worried about her sister.

“This coming from the one that got most of her body burned because she refused to be civil,” argued Kazuki as he approached the sisters before he placed his right hand on Jewel's shoulder.

“Touché,” said Jewel as the trio was teleported back to the castle by the use of the Hiraishin no Jutsu (飛雷神の術, Flying Thunder God Technique) since he tagged the castle. He made sure to release the mane six from the Genjutsu and alter their memories slightly just before he left the six confused mares.

Castle’s Library few minutes prior

Kazuki's Kage Bunshin was looking at a small crystal ball on the center of the small table, in front of him on the other side of the table was Nightmare Moon, who just witnessed what a Genjutsu was capable of through the Tōmegane no Jutsu(遠眼鏡の術, Telescope Technique).

“And I can do the same thing?” asked Moon just as the original Kazuki released the Genjutsu on the dragoness.

“With practice,” pointed out Kazuki's Kage Bunshin.

“I see,” said Moon as she contemplated the potential of chakra since she knew how powerful it was but not how versatile.

Her introspection was broken when she hear static noise similar to a teleportation spell but not exactly the same. She looked at the source and saw Kazuki with a hand on Jewel's shoulder, who was kneeling while she held her unconscious sister.

The Bunshin nodded before he dispelled himself and sent his memories back to the original Kazuki.

“Master, may I take care of my sister?” requested Jewel and Kazuki nodded, so she with the help of Moon took her sister to her room while Kazuki remained in the library.

With Moon, Jewel and Song on Jewel’s room.

Jewel and Moon laid Song on the bed to let her rest, after that Jewel motioned for Moon to sit on a nearby chair since she wanted to talk. The chair was bigger than Moon needed since Kazuki remade the furniture to match Jewel’s usual size in her anthro form, which was little more than double of the average pony.

But that different wasn't as massive because of the height of the alicorn, while Jewel was 11ft Moon was 9ft. Dragons weren't known for their hospitality but she made some tea for her and Moon, like Kazuki and Zecora –much to her chagrin– taught her.

“So what you wanted to talk about?” asked Moon while she took a sip of her tea, a little bitter without sugar since it was done eastern style.

“When we confronted my sister master Kazuki said that if she died he would eat her. That was the first time I heard something like that,” said Jewel as she looked at her tea.

“So what? It’s not like dragons or other carnivores haven't tasted the flesh of a dragon before,” asked Moon.

“Yeah, but on those cases only a dragon would kill another and they never did so for just food and while other carnivores would sometimes find a dead dragon, both cases are very rare, but the way master worded for the first time in my life I felt like a prey,” explained Jewel before she took a sip of her tea.

“Did he ever tell you about his clan?” asked Moon and the Jewel shook her head so she started to explain, “Ok, first thing to get out of the way, he is an alien.”

*Cough* *cough* “A alien? As in out of this world alien?” asked Jewel in disbelief after she choked on her tea when she heard that fact and Moon just nodded.

“He once told Luna that the Ōtsutsuki is a clan of god-like beings that travel through time and space searching for suitable world to plant a Shinju or God Tree, once they find such a world and the tree is planted it starts to drain the life of the world to grow a fruit every few millennia or so, so the Ōtsutsuki remain in that world until it becomes a barren wasteland,” explained Moon before she took another sip of her tea.

“So he...” started Jewel but let the question unasked.

“No, he actually likes this world and he is pretty content just living here. But his mentality is very alien, even when Luna and Celestia met him for the first time back when they were just children and our mother still ruled over the land. To him, it makes no difference if he eats the fruits or the ones that will die and become the fruits, to him everyone is prey. Also, we never managed to determine his age, we managed to estimate between older than Equus and slightly younger than Luna,” explained Moon.

“That's not what I expected,” commented Jewel as she reflected on what she learned before she motioned for Moon to continue.

“As far as I know he doesn't need to eat, drink or sleep unless he spent a great deal of energy. He is somewhat detached, prideful but also pragmatic and sometimes mischievous, so don't worry since it’s actually pretty hard to anger him. Unfortunately, he has an almost amoral point of view and curiosity that drove the royal sisters to betray him after the death of our mother,” Moon finished the explanation.

After that Jewel and Moon spent the rest of the afternoon talking about themselves and that brought them closer as friends, with Moon sharing stories about her and Luna's youth with Kazuki and Jewel doing the same about herself and her sister.

“By the way, I know dragons don't have a problem when it comes to nudity, but don't you want to wear some clothes just to look good for Kazuki?” asked Moon and this caused Jewel to contemplate.

A month later

On the last month Kazuki had a far easier time teaching Moon how to use her chakra, luckily her control over her own magic was being recovered and it translated well into chakra control, so there was no need for more regular lessons for her. He was thinking on teaching her how to use nen in the future.

That gave Kazuki more free time, time that was unfortunately taken up by more private lessons, this time teaching the dragon sisters about chakra, whatever freed time he had between these private lessons and the ones directed at the pack was mostly spent in the lab recreating the portal. On a side note the sisters main affinity was, unsurprisingly, Katon.

Zecora also visited and informed him that she managed to befriend the inhabitants of Ponyville, that plus a really bad storm in the previous week told him that the events of “Look Before You Sleep” and “Bridle Gossip” transpired. At least Zecora was polite and didn't reveal his existence to the mane six.

Also Song woke up the day after her defeat and much like her sister she was so smitten by his strength that she eagerly became part of his hoard. The sisters also decided to wear clothes to look more appealing to him. Jewel and Song tried many different clothes, they didn't like anything tight pressing against their scales, so in the end they opted for simple yukata (浴衣) without sandals and undergarment because it was easy to wear.

Song preferred the female yukata because it was more elaborate, but Kazuki saw no problem in letting her be a little vain. Jewel on the other hand preferred the male yukata because it was more practical. Funnily enough more often than not Song would wear shades of green while her sister would wear shades of red.

Incidentally last week Kazuki noted an increase in parasprite’s population, probably courtesy of the events of “Swarm of the Century”, but it gave him something to do while he waited for the diamond dogs under his command to find the specific gems and ore he needed for the portal. Gem and ore that he unfortunately couldn't synthetase.

The parasprite were annoying, but their magical properties and rapid asexual reproduction made them ideal for his genetic experiments. He even managed to recreate the kikaichū (寄壊蟲, Parasitic Mysterious Insects) from the Aburame clan by slicing a few modified genes from parasprites into other insects –mainly small beetles. Who knew one of Discord's creations would become this useful to him.

Speaking of Discord's creations, there was another here in the Everfree, the Poison Joke. While the blue flower didn't affect Kazuki for multiple reasons it was still fun to mess with it in his lab, unfortunately he had to stop because he didn't want that to infect his assistants, especially after the first few accidents, while funny hindered the portal’s construction.

During those experiments Kazuki also used his nen, chakra and magic to create living creatures made of energy that mimic flesh not unlike Nen beast (念獣, Nen-jū) or Chakra beast(チャクラ獣, Chakura-jū). They were like the kikaichū, just small creatures with rudimentary intelligence.

Kazuki was in the basement of the castle where his lab was located, he was observing the kikaichū while they buzzed around in their vivarium and the chakra-creatures who took the forms of snakes, leeches, worms, slugs and similar creatures while they swam in their aquarium filled with chakra rich water.

For the Ōtsutsuki the only dilemma now was if he should let them bond with him, he can easily modify his own body to accommodate them, but he wasn't sure if he should, then his contemplation was interrupted by a knock on the door that lead outside of the basement.

Today Kazuki was in typical scientist attire, he was wearing a white lab coat, gray shirt, black pants, white socks, black sandals and a pair of safety glasses while his hair was tied in a single brand that reached his waist. He answered since he was alone today in the lab and on the other side of the door was Moon, Song and Jewel while a rock was floating behind them being held by Moon’s magic.

“Yes?” asked Kazuki.

“I brought the ore you were looking for,” said Moon as she pointed to the rock behind her. Then Kazuki looked the dragonesses.

“We were bored,” they spoke at the same time.

Kazuki just sighed and motioned them to come in. Moon recoil when she saw the myriad of insects but otherwise remained quiet. Song and Jewel didn't react to the kikaichū and just followed Kazuki into another room.

“What are those? The things in the tanks I mean,” asked Moon as she put the stone on the ground of a storage room, she noticed many long boxes of thick wood with different symbols on all facets forming a network like pattern and a bigger symbol on the center. They were neatly organized with the smaller boxes above the bigger ones giving a pyramid like shape to the rows of piles of four or five boxes.

“The kikaichū and the kiseibutsu(寄生物, Parasitic Object/Construct) you mean? They are symbiotic creatures that feed on energy, more specifically chakra but they can survive on magic and aura as well, they obey the host and refine energy in exchange for food and shelter,” explained Kazuki as he examined the stone with his Byakugan.

“Wait 'host’, ‘food’, ‘shelter’, but that means...Eww!!EwwEwwEww” thought Moon as she realized what Kazuki meant.

“What are those? They kinda remind me of the marks you placed on me and my sister,” asked Song as carefully traced the lines of Fūinjutsu and ignored Moon’s freak out episode while she recalled the day Kazuki placed his mark on her and her sister, for dragons to receive a mark like this meant that they now belonged to their new master and were part of his or her hoard, it didn't matter if the master was another dragon or not.

“Those are seals made to preserve the contents inside these containers,” answered Kazuki as he deactivated his Byakugan and placed his hand on the stone before he let a pulse of magic, aura and chakra to build a 3D image of the interior, similar to a MRI.

“What's inside?” asked Jewel out of curiosity.

“Go ahead. You can open it, just don't damage the content and close the lid afterward,” said Kazuki without interrupting the scanning process.

Curious to see what was inside the dragon sisters choose a box that was next to them, they carefully removed the lid of the top box, but their eyes widen when they saw what was inside. It was a body, those were not simple boxes they were coffins.

The body they were looking at was that of a diamond dog, although it's features were more wolf like than dog like. The coat was white like snow, but had many intricate red curved lines that were seemingly draw by a brush all over its body, the tip of the ears and tail however were black as if dipped in black ink.

In sum it was the body of a very exceptional diamond dog specimen. At this point Moon recovered and also had a surprised look on her face when she saw the body, then she looked at the other coffins on this storage room. This was one of the many rooms that Kazuki shaped by manipulating the earth beneath the castle. While the castle remained the same he built a large and complex underground facility connected to the tunnels dug by the diamond dogs.

“Kazuki, who is this?” asked Moon with apprehensive tone.

“Um, that's me,” answered Kazuki without looking and just as he finished the scanning process.

"Eh?" responded the trio.

4. Reminiscing and a dog's day.

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“That is one of my bodies. More specifically the body of one of my past lives,” clarified Kazuki.

“So all of these…” started Jewel as she motioned to all the coffins in the room and Kazuki just nodded at the unspoken question.

The trio let this sank in for a moment, each pile had between three and five coffins of increasing size from top to bottom, there were at least twenty piles, distributed in a five by five configuration with only the middle of the front row now being occupied by the rock that Moon brought. In sum the trio could estimate at the very minimum sixty past lives for Kazuki and by the varying sizes of the coffin many different species.

“Are those, all your past lives?” asked Moon as she realized what he meant, since she knew he was the first enemy that Celestia and Luna fought as rulers and depending on when he started to reincarnate there might be more than just this room.

“No,” answered Kazuki much to the shock of the trio and he elaborated not long after, “those are just the bodies that I was thinking on using on some experiments.”

“There are more?” asked Song in disbelief, she knew her master was old but neither she nor her sister knew about the reincarnation bit. They had their suspicions because he knew about things that only happened or were invented/created after his sealing.

“Yes, there is a subterranean warehouse with the rest,” said Kazuki nonchalantly as he closed the lid of the open coffin before he motioned for the trio to follow him as he left the room.

They did so and Kazuki closed the door. He intended to refine the ore later but for now he was done for the day, so he went to the library with the still shocked trio following him. Not long after he entered the library Hon approached him.

“Kazu!” shouted Hon with the mask of a happy child as she floated closer to her friend and owner.

“Hello Hon-chan,” said Kazuki as he sat on one the chairs.

Hon looked at the trio and saw how unresponsive they were and they only reacted when she was floating right in front of their faces.

“What happened?” asked Hon with a confused mask.

“They just saw the storage room with a few of my spare bodies,” said Kazuki as he started to read a book he selected.

“Really? Which one they saw?” asked Hon with a curious mask that was a little tilted, mimicking the reaction of child.

“Wait, you knew?” asked Moon when she heard the sentient book.

“Well duh, of course I knew,” said Hon as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

“Why haven't you told us then?” asked Jewel.

“You never asked,” answered Kazuki as he turned the page.

“Well, it not a question we would have asked normally, 'hey master have you ever reincarnated before?’ just like that,” said Song.

“Sometimes it's the weird and unexpected question that are the most enlightening,” said Kazuki in a almost lecturing tone with a hint of a smile on his face.

“Oh, which one they saw? I bet it was one of the breezies? It was one of the breezies, wasn't it? Wasn't it? Wasn't it?” asked Hon excitedly as she darted from one placed to the next to direct each question at a different person.

“Breezies? Those tiny and fragile little things that can barely survive a strong wing?” asked Jewel in disbelief.

“In my defense they were far stronger back than. Despite their fragility they still have potential,” said Kazuki as he turned the page.

“So it wasn't a breezie, which one was it then?” asked Hon with a disappointed tone.

“It was a diamond dog,” answered Song.

“Eeeeeh, that's boring,” said Hon before she floated to another part of the castle to do something else, maybe tell a story or two to the diamond dog puppies.

*Snort*

Kazuki and the dragon sisters looked at the origin of the sound and saw Moon as she tried and failed not to laugh.

“What's so funny?” asked Jewel curiously.

“I’m just imagining Kazuki as a tiny breezie,” said Moon and not long after the sisters joined her when they imagined their master as a tiny breezie.

That didn't bother the Ōtsutsuki, it was pretty funny all things considered. He let them have their fun, he would be busy in the next few days refining the ore for the portal.

Two months later

It took longer than Kazuki expected to gather the necessary ore to finish the portal. Two months were needed, months that left him with a lot of free time to use on the lab to create many interesting experiments –some of which were more successful than others– and to keep teaching his pack.

One of the things Kazuki always liked was anime, so he also spent a lot of time recreating many techniques and powers from anime in general, but the most eventful of his reincarnations was the last one before he returned to his original body. He witnessed the reinvention of anime on Equus, and he had no shame in admitting –although he wouldn't never say aloud– he was still an otaku, an alien–god–ninja–mage–mad scientist–martial artist–brony–otaku, he also remembered being a pirate in one or two lives. But he was proud of the fact he introduced anime to the pups and Moon, the adult diamond dogs also liked, but more as a pass time and the dragon sister thought it was childish.

Anyway, during those two months Moon finally reached the same level of power and control that she had when she returned from the moon, plus a equally huge reserve of chakra. Kazuki even planned on teaching her about nen on a later date, but he wanted to acquire a second student before then and he already had one in mind.

Another thing that happened was that the dragon sisters and Moon became quite curious about Kazuki's past lives. After an entire week they convinced him to let them see the other bodies in the storage room and they were very surprised by some of the bodies. Jewel and Song by the fact that they found at least three dragons in there, two males and one female, while Moon found two female alicorns. They seemed more shocked by the fact that he was female in some past lives, as if gender played a role in reincarnation.

Also during this time the timberwolves became fully sentient White Zetsu under Kazuki's command. It was hilarious when the diamond dogs started to report to Jewel that they heard timberwolves talk and she dismissed these reports only to find out herself that it was true. Granted to the dragoness it didn't matter if they could talk or not, to her they burned all the same. The ponies probably didn't pay much attention to these changes and just thought that it was another case of “unnatural” occurrence in the Everfree.

Sometimes ponies’ ability to ignore what didn't affect them impressed even Kazuki. Fortunately Zecora wasn't that oblivious, she didn't mind the changes since he ordered the wolves to leave her alone. But the most important feature of the timberwolves now was the ability to unweave their bodies into many plant like tendrils and envelop another living body. At this point they could act as armor or use the body inside as a battery and/or hostage. The former was what Kazuki found to be more useful, it meant armor for the warriors of the pack under his command.

The progression of the show was kinda slow, recently Kazuki saw the CMC on Ponyville so he can assume the events of “Call of the Cutie” have already transpired. He also managed to witness the events of “Suited For Success” and “Feeling Pinkie Keen”, he also heard a familiar explosion like sound followed by a rainbow colored ring in the sky, so the meant that “Sonic Rainboom” happened as well and lastly he once found Twilight Sparkle petrified in the forest so that also meant that “Stare Master” was out of the way.

Now Kazuki only had to wait for the opportunity to use the portal, but unfortunately he had one objective he intented to accomplish before he attempted to activate the portal. The ideal time to pull it off would be at the night of the Grand Galloping Gala.

Today the Ōtsutsuki was sitting on the top of the tallest tower of his castle in the Everfree while wearing his white kariginu, he was looking at the night sky filled with stars. When he looked up he wondered if there was other Ōtsutsuki out there, he hoped that it was just his paranoia talking. Then he looked at Ponyville and noticed that it was more active than usual, especially this late.

“Oh,” said Kazuki as he used his Byakugan to look at a stage on the town near the school, with the foals performing.

It was somewhat entertaining to see those ponies, so ignorant of the horrors that exist outside of this dimension. Sometimes Kazuki wondered if his eyes and immortality were curses but he supposed that was the price for the power he wanted. It was times like these he missed Faust and Starswirl, they were the only ones he could talk to about this since they too were aware of the horrors that exist “outside”, Faust more so than Starswirl.

Right now Kazuki was witnessing the events of “The Show Stoppers”. The evening proceeded without trouble, but he could sense that the rival pack of diamond dogs was more active this night as well. There have been many altercations between members of his pack and this rival pack, where his pack had more skills the other had numbers. If things were to escalate any further a fight for dominance would be inevitable.

With nothing else to do Kazuki went back to the lab and he stayed there until morning, when a diamond dog with a Zetsu as armor just barged in.

“Boss!” shouted the diamond dog just as his helmet split open into three pieces along two vertical lines above the eye holes revealing his worried face.

“What?” asked Kazuki as he looked away from the microscope he was using.

“Boss, it’s that other pack. They started a large attack on all the tunnels that were near their territory. We managed to push them back but it seems that they are preparing for another attack according to the intel gathered by the Zetsu and they seemed to have called other packs for help,” reported the dog.

Kazuki sighed, he wanted to avoid a needless fight, but it seemed that was impossible now and he had to deal with this personally. By the looks of it he was dealing not with a simple pack but a clan. A clan of diamond dogs consisted of multiple packs that were closely related but all the rules still applied, he just had to deal with the alphas and the clan leader.

“Kuchiyose no Jutsu(口寄せの術, Summoning Technique),” said Kazuki after he quickly did a series of hand seals and placed his hand on the floor. A puff of smoke came out of the seals that appeared beneath his hand, so he stood up and when the smoke dissipated it revealed Jewel and Song.

They looked around confused before they spotted Kazuki and knelt. If they were summoned like this then it meant he has a mission for them.

“Master!” said the sisters at the same time.

“Song, Jewel, I have a mission for you. Both of you are in charge of defending the tunnels with a small squad while I deal with the enemies’ leader,” said Kazuki with a firm almost cold tone.

Kazuki went into the tunnels followed by the diamond dog, Jewel and Song. When he arrived at the border of his territory he saw that most diamond dogs were on guard and wearing Zetsu while the ones that were wounded were receiving first aid by the few pack members he taught medicine. The medicine in question was mostly how to use herbs and traditional medicine, they had a long way before he could teach them Iryō Ninjutsu(医療忍術, Medical Ninja Techniques).

It didn't take long for Kazuki to spot Rex on the crowd while he was giving orders to other pack members. He was quite big for a diamond dog being 7ft, he looked like a anthro Akita with light brown fur, his paws were quite big, which was expected from a diamond dog, he had blue eyes, a balanced but muscular physique that was built for fighting, but his most noticeable feature were his scars, claw marks all over his body. The scars were from the times he fought against the former alpha before he was eaten by Jewel.

The Zetsu armor he worn took the form spirals around his arms and legs, the torso was covered by a root like pattern, three plates hanging from his waist covering his front and sides like a samurai armor, but he had his paws uncovered to facilitate the use of his claws for fighting and digging. Currently his helmet was unweaved, which gave him a high collar similar to a venus flytrap around his head.

“Boss!” said Rex as he saw Kazuki approached.

“Was there any casualty?” asked Kazuki immediately and without hesitation.

“No boss, but few pack members suffered some injuries,” reported Rex.

“I see, Song and Jewel will guard the tunnels with a small squad. With the exception of the medics, the injured and the squad originally assigned to these tunnels everyone will accompany me. Our mission is to reach the leaders of the enemy pack,” said Kazuki.

“Yes sir!” said Rex as he saluted.

“When this mission over you can request a reward so long it doesn't cause trouble in the future,” said Kazuki and the sisters eyes widen before they grinned. Kazuki's eyebrow twitched when he felt a spike of lust, he had a pretty good idea what they were going to ask for.

The Ōtsutsuki activated his Byakugan to map the tunnels of the enemy when he saw a familiar white unicorn being held hostage by three diamond dogs, he could also see other prisoners on another part of the tunnel system, they consisted of few ponies but most of them were diamond dogs.

With Rarity, a few minutes prior

Rarity wearing casual but still elegant clothes that consisted of a long sleeved blue shirt and long brown pants was near a mine wagon after being kidnapped by a trio of diamond dogs and brought to their den.

“Oh please, diamond dogs. Please let me go,” begged Rarity in a somewhat over dramatic but believable tone.

“No!” shouted Spot. He was the small, light yellow bulldog-like diamond dog with yellow eyes wearing a gray jacket and a spiked collar.

“You're our precious little pony,” said Fido. He was the bluish and rather large diamond dog with floppy ears and yellow eyes wearing a gray jacket and a spiked collar.

“Forever! Muhahahaha!” shouted Rover. He was the gray medium-sized diamond dog with green eyes wearing a red jacket and a spiked collar with a golden dog tag.

“But whatever do you want from me?” asked Rarity in a fearful tone.

“Gemsss!” said Rover with a dreamy look on his face as he imagined amount the gems he would have, maybe the clan leader will reward him.

“Yes! The gems. The jewels,” said Spot as he too imagined a similar scenario.

“Find them! Find them all!” said Fido wanting to get this over with as soon as possible.

“Oh! Is that all?” said Rarity relieved that it was just a simple task so she just did the Gem Detection Spell and found a stash nearby, which she marked with a X with the a stick she floated with her magic, so she said thinking that her task was complete, “There. A lovely pocket of jewels are right there. Now, if you'd be so kind as to show me the exit?”

“Good!” said Fido as he saw the spell in action, then he ordered, “Now, dig them up, pony.”

“What? But you said you wanted me to find the gems,” said Rarity under the impression that she was free to go after she did what they asked. But she was stopped by a brown diamond dog with a armor pointing a spear at her.

“Yes! Find and then dig,” said Spot clarifying what they wanted.

“Dig?” asked Rarity expressing her disbelief in a ladylike manner.

“Yes. Dig,” said Fido and he and the other two pointed at the X, only for Rarity to look at the ground in distaste before using her hoof to move some dirt.

Rarity kept grunting as she continued with her rather pathetic attempt at digging.

“What are you doing? We said dig!” shouted Fido as looked at Rarity.

“Forgive me, but prior to you so rudely dragging me into your dirt pit, I had a manicure and a hooficure. I refuse to chip a hoof and especially a nail because you dislike my style of digging,” said Rarity before she inclined her head a little to show her dissatisfaction in a ladylike manner.

“Oh, for goodness— Fine! Just stop. Stop!” said Rover losing his patience at Rarity's “digging”, so he commanded other members of the pack nearby, “Dig, dogs! Dig! And fast.”

“She won't dig, she pulls,” said Fido as he Spot chained Rarity to the mine wagon.

“I beg your pardon, but what, pray tell, are you doing?” asked Rarity after she was chained to the mine wagon with a harness on her torso and shackles.

“Others will dig. You will haul the wagon,” Fido started to explain and Spot finished, “Yes! Hooves and nails won't chip.”

“Well, somebody certainly needs proper nail care. When was the last time you two had a manicure?” asked Rarity as she saw and felt their claws, then she shouted when she saw the damage on her coat and clothes, “You're scratched up my coat and clothes with those jagged things!”

“Be quiet!” shouted Rover getting tired of Rarity's complaining.

“Good heavens, what is that smell?” asked Rarity as she covered her nose.

“Smeeeeeell?” asked Rover as he got closer to Rarity.

“Ah, mystery solved. It's your breath,” said Rarity in a matter of fact tone, which prompted Rover to smell his own breath and it wasn't pleasant.

“Enough! Search, pony!” ordered Rover.

“Well, since you insist... But I must say the working conditions in here are simply dreadful. Musty and damp, it's going to wreak havoc on my mane. And this air is stifling, suffocating. And when I try to take a deep breath, the stench of all you dogs makes me nauseated,” complained Rarity as she marked places for the dogs to dig using a stick she was levitating with her magic and pulled the wagon. Funnily a pair of dogs dug under a very thin pillar of rock, which caused a boulder to fall on then.

“You look and smell like you haven't bathed in weeks. Have you never heard of soap? You could all do with a good round of soap and water. Oh water, oh water, I'm terribly thirsty. Could I please have some water?” Rarity continued her complaining, with caused to noticed how bad they smelled for the first time.

“Good gracious, I can't take this anymore. Be quiet, pony!” shouted Spot holding his ears.

“And that's another thing. I would appreciate if you stopped calling me ‘pony’. I am a lady and I wish to be addressed as such. So you may call me ‘Miss’ or ‘Rarity’ or ‘Miss Rarity’,” Rarity continued complaining, which was starting to hurt the dog’s sensitive ears.

“Enough! Your whining! It-it-it hurts!” shouted Rover as he held his ears trying to make the fashionista stop.

“Whining? I am not whining. I am complaining. Do you want to hear whining?” asked Rarity in challenging tone before she started whining in even higher voice that hurt the dog's ears even more, “Thiiis iiis whiiining! Oooh, this harness and shackles are too tiiight! It's going to chafe. Can't you loosen it? Oooh, it hurts and it's sooo ruuusty! Why didn't you clean it first? It's gonna leave a staaain! And the wagon iss getting sooo heeeavy, why do I have to pull it?!”

“Aaah! Make it stop!” shouted Spot trying in vain to block the sound.

“Make all the noises you want. But move while you make them. Hyah, mule!” shouted Rover and while it hurt his ears he was willing to endure it so long he got the gems to the clan leader.

“Did you just call me a... mule?” asked Rarity as her eyes are starting to water and Rover gave her a uncertain look. Then she asked, “Mules are ugly. Are you saying that I too am ugly?”

“What are these noises?” asked Spot as Rarity cried.

“He called me ugly!” shouted a distraught Rarity.

“No! Mule! I said mule!” said Rover firmly in an attempt to mitigate situation.

“An old ugly mule! And it's true! Just look at me. I used to be beautiful, but, but nooow…” Rarity trailed off as she cried.

“Enough!!” shouted Rover as losing his patience. Then he ordered the guards, “put her in a cell, maybe she will cooperate after she has some time to think.”

“Nononono, wait don't put me in a cell, please!” pleaded Rarity as two guards took off her harness, she tried to use some magic but one of the guard flick her horn. It hurt a little but it had the desired effect of disrupting whatever spell she intended to use.

Just as Rarity was about to be dragged to her cell, a squad of Kazuki's pack arrived. The fashionista saw a group of diamond dogs wearing a different armor suddenly appear from the ground. Their armor was a shade either brown or green, sometime a mixture, they had a more disciplined posture and weapons.

“Are those made of wood?” asked Rarity in her mind as her trained eye saw the material that made up the weapons and armor of these dogs and by the way the guards holding her and all others present growled, they were not friends.

Just after the analysis Rarity saw the biggest dog so far emerge from the ground, he –Rarity assume it was a he– was even bigger than even Fido and the guards holding her, he had a samurai like armor –also made of wood– with spirals on the limbs that ended just before reaching his paws, a helmet that was also similar to that of a samurai, a Kabuto (兜, 冑) combat helmet that had a mask covering the eyes but leaving his muzzle free and also with plates hanging and covering the back and sides of his head and neck that somehow were fused with the armor but somehow didn't restrict his movements.

“Are you the alpha of this pack?” asked Rex while Rarity took note of his tone that was similar to a soldier.

“So what?” asked Rover not letting himself to be intimidated by these invaders.

“I see,” said Rex before he jumped at Rover while his pack did the same and attacked the others.

Kazuki's pack was outnumbered 2 to 1 but thanks to their training the easily dispatched multiple opponents, they were not killed just immobilized or knocked out. Rarity tried to use this opportunity to escape, but she was stopped by one of the warriors, at least he had a far more pleasant smell than the previous ones. Then without warning he looped a thread of thin but resistant Ninja Ito(忍者の糸, Ninja string/wire/thread) around her horn to prevent her from using magic and around her arms.

Rex was holding down Rover, who was on the ground, by taking advantage of his bigger size by placing one of his paws on Rover’s back. Not long after a group of four diamond dogs from Kazuki's pack came out of one of the tunnels with the rest of the mane six and Spike.

All six of them were tied by Ninja Wire connected to the paws of the four guards, Rainbow and Applejack had a few cuts on their clothes from trying to break the wire, Twilight had some of it looped around her horn as well, Pinkie and Fluttershy were tied as well but they didn't resist much, Spike had a few cuts as well but only on the surface of the scales. All six had their legs free but their arms were tied against their torso, the same applied to the wings of the pegasi.

“Rarity!” shouted Spike as he, Rainbow and Applejack tried to get free.

“Stop struggling,” said the guard that was holding Applejack, but AJ only stopped when she felt the wire dig on her skin. The guard holding her had black fur on the exposed parts and if the voice was any indication it was he.

“You better stop or otherwise you can cause permanent damage to your wings,” said the one holding Rainbow, which caused her to stop and look behind her only to notice that the wire was starting to dig on her feathers as well as her skin, which was starting to bleed. The guard holding her was smaller and had a slender figure and if the voice was any indication it was a she.

The guard holding Twilight and Spike was similar to the one holding Applejack and he didn't even bothered to speak, so he just lifted one of his fingers, which caused the wire around Spike to tighten to uncomfortable levels, still not enough to break his scales though.

“Stop! You are hurting him!” shouted Twilight and Fluttershy when they saw Spike fall on his knees.

“A dragon should be far more resilient than that, It seems that you ponies cuddle him too much,” said the guard holding Pinkie and Fluttershy, who didn't struggle any further. This guard was just slightly less bulky than the first, but had a higher voice, so they assumed it was a she.

“Enough!” shouted Rex as he extended his free arm and a blade made of wood came out from the back of his paw. He swiped at a nearby rock before pointing the blade at Rover. At first they thought that the blade did nothing, but then they saw the upper part of rock slide from the lower part, the cut was perfectly smooth.

“Are you the clan head?” asked Rex getting the blade closer to Rover.

“No! Just the alpha of this small pack. I swear,” said Rover not wanting to die.

“I see,” said Rex as the Zetsu he was wearing retracted the blade, then he got up and tied Rover and sat down.

“Um, can you please let us go mister diamond dog? If you don't mind,” said Fluttershy rather quietly, but normal volume for her. Luckily it was loud enough for the dogs to hear.

Rex motioned for the one holding Fluttershy to stop before she did anything. She nodded before she and the other guards brought the captives closer to Rex. The mane six were reunited, it would have been a happy occasion if they weren't tied before a rather large and intimidating diamond dog.

“Apologies, but I can't do that yet,” said Rex in a neutral and non-threatening tone.

The group of six mares and a hatchling shifted nervously at Rex’s gaze.

5. The consequences of a foolish decision.

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“What do you mean by that, pal?” asked Rainbow in a rather rude and challenging tone.

“She is not very smart, isn’t she?” asked a different voice coming from Rex, but he didn't move his muzzle.

The Mane Six plus Spike looked at the other dogs to make sure if one of them was the one that spoke.

“See, I told you,” said that voice again and after that the root like markings on Rex’s breastplate moved until formed the silhouette of a wolf like face. That face then said, “Yo.”

“What in tarnation is that?!!” shouted AJ when she saw that, Fluttershy squeak in surprise and fear, Twilight and Rainbow's eye widen in surprise, Rarity fainted, but luckily she had Pinkie to lean against, who just tilted her head to the side a bit.

“Not now Zetsu,” said Rex looking down.

“You're no fun,” said Zetsu’s face before it retreated and disappeared, but not before sending a look of distaste at AJ that went unnoticed by the ponies and hatchling, however, the dogs noticed but chose to not question it.

“Anyway ignore him. And to answer your previous question I will only let you go after the territorial dispute that we are having is settled,” explained Rex to the shocked mares and hatchling. They were too shocked to react, but Rex ignored their shock and continued, “Besides my boss went through the trouble to save you all on that mountain.”

This caused Twilight to remember the day a mysterious pony –at least she thought it was a pony since the figure was somehow obscured in her memories– that came with a green dragoness and subsided the red dragoness. She didn't know what he did, but he –again she assumed it was a he– took the hoard and the dragoness with him, the fact he also controlled this pack of diamond dogs was alarming.

“What you mean by that?” asked Twilight only for Rex to remain in silence.

With Kazuki, just before Rex confrontation with Rover

Kazuki just sent Rex to rescue the Element of Generosity when he noticed that the scenario deviated from the show. He tried to keep deviations of the “Prime Timeline” from the show until he could acquire another apprentice and possibly reach his fortress, preferably in that order.

But it seemed that while Kazuki managed to keep the changes minimal on Equestria some changes were inevitable, he wouldn't be able to rely on his knowledge of MLP:FIM cannon completely. Pity he wanted to remain on the background until the end of season 2, just to be sure he kept watching with his Byakugan.

“Sometimes I wonder why the Tree of Harmony chose them, but it's not like I don't know about their hidden potential. At least the bearer of of the Kandai no Mi(寛大の実, Fruit of Generosity) is safe,” thought Kazuki as he saw Rex subside Rover and his squad subside the rest of that group that apparently were Rover’s pack, which meant that he was not the clan leader, then Kazuki sighed.

“Is something wrong, boss?” asked a female diamond dog accompanying him. She was a akita like Rex but smaller being around 6ft tall, gray and with just a few scars on her arms; she had a very athletic figure, which was expected since she was one of the best warriors of the pack just below Rex. Like all warrior she also was wearing a White Zetsu as armor that was similar to Rex’s, the only difference was the shape of breastplate for obvious reasons.

“No Lexi, I’m just thinking about the future,” said Kazuki as he and Lexi were followed by a squad of warriors, with some breaking off from the main group and entering the adjacent tunnels when Kazuki motioned for them to advance with his hands. While they continued Kazuki noticed Lexi’s nervousness, so he added, “Don't worry, Rex is fine.”

“I know boss, I trust and have faith in my mate, but I still worry about him,” answered Lexi just as Kazuki saw the rest of the mane six and Spike being captured.

“This might complicate some of my plans. This incident will without a doubt catch the attention of the Royal Sisters,” thought Kazuki as he saw the Mane Six and Spike's reunion with Rarity. He could change their memories, but if that was done then eventually Luna would notice the discrepancy on their memories. The only reason that didn't happen before is because he just obscured himself in their memories, they probably just passed off as a mage that wanted to study in privacy and didn't want to deal with other ponies.

“Ma, there is nothing I can do about now, I just have to adapt to the new situation,” thought Kazuki as he searched the tunnels for the leaders of the enemy pack.

Eventually Kazuki found them, at least he assumed its them because he saw a group of three diamond dogs shouting at each other with a group of guards not far from them and since there wasn't any cells he assumed that at least they were not prisoners.

“Zetsu have you or any of your brethren located the cells holding any prisoners?” asked Kazuki looking at Lexi, or more specifically at the Zetsu she was wearing.

“Yeah, they are further away. You can just beat up their bosses and be done with it,” said the Zetsu being worn by Lexi after the image of a muzzle formed on her left vambrace. After his report he paused for a while before asking Kazuki, “Can I eat them?”

“We will see,” said Kazuki as he looked at the direction Zetsu pointed and sure enough he found the prisoners. He could see diamond dogs, ponies, some minotaurs and gryphons but one species in particular was the most interesting. Then Kazuki said, “Thank you Zetsu that will be all.”

That was another reason he found a army of Zetsu to be useful, the Zetsu without a partner served as spies and sent information to other Zetsu, so long they were within range and on the ground since Zetsu communicate “through the land” and only those that can “merge with nature” can notice this phenomena.

It was always fascinating to “hear” their conversation, Kazuki couldn't describe in words that could be understood with just the normal five senses he once had as a human or even the sharper senses –by human standards– of some species he reincarnated as over the ages.

“You all know what to do,” said Kazuki to the ones following him just as they were about to reach the entrance of the chamber where the three supposed leaders were and after deactivating his Byakugan. They all nodded and did a Rat Hand Seal before slowly fading using the Meisaigakure no Jutsu, with the exception of Lexi who remained beside Kazuki.

After that Kazuki and Lexi entered the chamber without even trying to hide, especially with his geta hitting the ground making a clanking sound that got the attention of all those present while the diamond dogs under Kazuki's command used the basic Chakra Control techniques to walk on the walls of the cave quietly.

The guards immediately turned to face the duo and growled while pointing their spears at them, the three diamond dogs that were on a heated debate stopped and looked at the intruders as well. Kazuki looked at the guards and noticed that they had slightly better armor than Rover’s pack, but considering that Rover’s pack was very small they were probably not very high on the clan’s hierarchy it wasn't unexpected.

The first leader was similar to a anthro male Doberman a little taller than Kazuki without his geta, he had large paws that were average for diamond dogs, he was wearing a brown vest with small metal plates and he had a spiked collar with a golden tag.

The second leader was similar to a anthro male Black and Tan Hound very similar to the first leader, probably a close relative, he even worn a similar brown vest with small metal plates but his collar was without spikes.

The third leader however was more like a female anthro wolf, which was rare —at least on this continent— as far as Kazuki could remember. Anyway, she was just as tall as Rex, had a gray coat and few scars on her arms and legs, her yellow vest was closed halfway, which showed her cleavage and on her neck was a black collar with a golden tag.

“Who are you?” growled the female wolf.

“I’m the alpha of the pack you are attacking,” said Kazuki.

“Ha! You a alpha, you look and dress like a pony,” said the Doberman as he saw Kazuki's “dress”, but then something else caught his attention, so he said, “Look, he even paint his nails.”

“Are you the clan head?” asked Kazuki as he looked at the Doberman, looking at those whitish lilac eyes he stopped laughing when all of his instincts told him that whatever was in front of him was dangerous.

“Don’t pay attention to him, he is a idiot sometimes. I'm the clan head and I didn't approve of this attack,” said the female wolf the last part growling as she glaced at the other two.

“But boss, there are many gem deposits on the outskirts of the forest, so surely there a more beneath it. Beside his pack is small we can defeat them,” said the hound speaking for the first time.

“Not now! I did everything to keep this clan safe and fed and this is how you two repay me! By going behind my back and attacked a neighboring pack! Especially when I told you not to! What do you have to say for yourselves?!” shouted the female wolf.

“It matters not who ordered, your clan attacked my pack in my territory,” said Kazuki firmly before the two could answer.

“What are your demands?” asked the female wolf wanting to avoid a fight.

“Leave this territory and don't come back,” said Kazuki.

“What?! We can't do that, this place is rich in gems and right now we have many young pups, a journey to find a new territory won't be easy. Is there nothing else you want?” asked the female wolf clearly wanting to avoid a battle for dominance with Kazuki’s pack, especially now that that her territory was invaded and especially if her comment about pups were anything to go by.

“I don't care. You attacked those under my care, personally I am not the type that seeks retribution, but I won't let others just walk into my home and take what they want. That is a invitation for others to do the same and I take care of what I consider mine,” said Kazuki with conviction.

“I see, you are a good alpha, but I too must take care of my clan,” said the female wolf.

“Guards!” shouted the Doberman, but immediately after that he heard many thuds when the guards were pushed to the ground as if something heavy suddenly dropped on them.

Then the air above the guard started to distort until it revealed members of Kazuki's pack holding the guards down, some of the more uncooperative guards were either knocked out or had a blade on their throats in order to not struggle.

“Now you can either submit or pay the price,” said Kazuki to the trio.

“Will you spare them?” asked the female wolf trying not to growl.

“Of course, killing without a good reason would be a waste,” said Kazuki and without hesitation the female wolf knelt down before bowing, looking down and placing her paws in front of her facing up, a sign of submission. He could easily damage her neck or paws like this.

“No big sis! We can still fight!” said the hound. The paws of the wolf twitched wanting to berate them, but she resisted the urge, she didn't want to show any sign of resistance when the lives of her pack were on the line.

“You two are still willing to fight? Even now?” asked Kazuki and their response was a growl from both of them. So he said, “Very well, it seems you fools need to be taught a lesson. Lexi keep an eye on her.”

Kazuki moved back before moving his hand in a circular motion, using his aura he carved a circle around himself. The circle itself was just a step from the center where he stood, then he challenged, “If you two can make me step out of this circle I will leave, but if you don't then there will be consequences. I won't even use magic, you have fifteen minutes. To make even easier I am only going to defend for the first five minutes.”

They looked at each other before they jumped at Kazuki, who didn't move. When their claws got closer to him he masterfully and gracefully used the back of his hands to gently redirect their claws away from him, which caused the two of them to lean forward and fall face first.

“We barely started and you are already face first on the ground,” said Kazuki just stating a fact as he lowered his arms and let his aura permeate the air around him, but without leaving the circle, an advanced technique of nen called En(圓, Circle) using the basic Ren(練,Refine/Enhance) and Ten(纒, Envelop/Shroud) to create an invisible bubble where he felt everything inside, even if he shut down his five senses he would still be able to feel what was inside his aura.

“You said you would not attack us,” growled the Doberman.

“And I didn't, I only redirected your attack. Fourteen minutes left,” said Kazuki as he turned to face them.

Then this cycle repeated itself, Lexi and the female wolf were in awe at Kazuki's mastery of martial arts. Lexi in particular remembered many of his lessons, in which he was teaching the pack how to fight properly, he knew many different styles that he was teaching to the pack, granted they had to learn one style at the time and no one became a master yet.

Just as Lexi finished her introspection she hear two yowls of pain, then she saw the two diamond dogs each holding a paw in pain.

“Ten minutes remaining,” said Kazuki with the index and middle finger of both hands extended. Then he lowered his arms before asking, “Do you want to keep trying?”

They growled and attacked again, which cause Kazuki to sigh at their stubbornness. So he kept using the modified Jūken(柔拳, Gentle Fist) since most creatures on this planet don't have a proper Chakra Network, but they still have something similar that allowed the flow of magic and aura, he could affect the nervous system directly though.

Kazuki wanting to just end this just hit them on the back of their necks after another attempt, this paralyzed them from the neck down and he managed to hit that spot after evading another failed attack from the two diamond dogs.

“It seems you can no longer attack and we still have seven minutes left,” said Kazuki as he looked at the two dogs laying on the ground. Then he asked, “Do you want to wait for the time to finish?”

The two downed dogs didn't even answered Kazuki's question, so out of courtesy he waited for the remaining seven minutes. After that he dragged their unresponsive bodies until they were beside their surrendered leader before undoing the paralysis and let them get up. For a moment they seemed to want to attack him again, but they knelt and showed their paws like the female wolf.

“Please, just promise to take care of the clan,” said the female wolf.

“I see no point in needlessly mistreating them. You three will remain the alphas of your packs, but the clan now belongs to me. You all will be treated the same as the pack under my command, just follow the same rules and everything will be fine, I also expect your packs to follow the same training regime as my pack,” said Kazuki with a firm tone that left no room for argument.

“Are you sure, boss?” asked Lexi.

“Yes, this might sound cold, but it would be a waste to just eliminate them and I don't like to waste what can be useful,” said Kazuki in a matter of fact tone, this caused some of the former enemies to flinch. Then he asked his new subordinates, “What are your names? And the name of this clan?”

“My name is Duke,” said the Doberman in a defeated tone.

“My name is Alan,” said the hound in a equally defeated tone.

“I am Gard leader… former leader of this clan and we don't have a name,” said the female wolf.

Kazuki motioned for the warrior to get off of the guards and also for the ones that were hidden to show themselves before asking, “Do you use slave labor?”

“Yes,” answered Gard.

“Then, take me to where you keep them so I can decide what to do with them,” said Kazuki after the confirmation that the prisoners he saw were slaves.

“Speaking of prisoners, what Rex should do with the ones he captured?” asked Lexi.

After doing some thinking Kazuki answered “Tell him to…”

With Rex and the Mane six plus Spike

“... then I was like *GASP* before running and making a super-duper surprise party, and let me tell you she was very surprised. And that's how I met each one of them,” said Pinkie Pie finishing her story.

Rex’s eyebrow was twitching at the sound of Pinkie’s ceaseless chatter, luckily all the dogs trained by Kazuki learned how to meditate and ignore distractions and their training was being put the test by trying to keep their focus near the pink menace. Even the Zetsu worn by the group were annoyed. And before Pinkie's storytelling it was Twilight firing questions, it took a while but at least she stopped when they refused to answer any of her questions.

The Mane Six had more experience and managed to tune out Pinkie Pie, Rainbow even tried to escape twice when she thought no one was paying attention on her and twice she felt the wire tying her being tugged, showing that the warriors were still paying attention. The same happened once with Rarity and AJ when they tried to escape, Spike tried to fight when he saw Rarity being threatened and Fluttershy didn't try to do anything.

“Is this what you feel when we don't shut up?” asked the Zetsu being worn by Rex.

“By the Maker! Make her stop!” shouted the Zetsu being worn by the one holding Pinkie and Fluttershy since he was the closest to the pony in question.

“Not so fun when you are on the other end, isn't it?” asked the guard holding Pinkie and Fluttershy with a smug tone and smile on her exposed muzzle directed at the Zetsu she was wearing.

The Zetsu from the one holding Pinkie and Fluttershy was about to say something, but stopped when he and the others received information from Lexi’s Zetsu. Then the face reappeared on Rex’s breastplate and looked up.

“The boss said to let them go, but you are allowed to hurt them in self-defense,” said Rex’s Zetsu in a serious tone.

“They will probably report this to the army or even directly to their princess,” said Rex simply.

“The boss doesn't mind, besides their princess has no reason to sent her guards down here. It would be far too much trouble compared to the fact that we didn't attack any of her ponies unless they invaded our den,” Rex’s Zetsu said to his partner before he looked at the prisoners and said just as Rex motioned for them to be released, “and before you ask we captured you during a territorial dispute, so by all intents and purposes we kept you away from the fight. Unlike them we don't go after ponies, so you have no reason to bother us.”

After that Rex’s Zetsu retreated, then Rex said to the guards, “At least one of you will accompany them to the surface and after that come back here.”

“Hai!” said the warriors before the ones that held Applejack, Twilight and Spike stepped forward.

“Are you two volunteering for this mission, Rocky, Riley?” asked Rex.

“Yes sir,” said Riley, the one that was holding AJ. He was the same height as AJ, had black fur on the exposed parts of his armor and blue eyes behind his helmet.

“Just to clarify. Only self-defense, right?” asked Rocky, the one that was holding Twilight and Spike. He was just two or three inches shorter than Rex, he had brown and black fur on the parts that were exposed and he had light brown eyes behind his helmet.

Rex just nodded, but then Rex’s Zetsu said, “Yes, even so the boss doesn't want them killed or even crippled.”

Rocky and Riley nodded before Riley motioned for the Mane Six to follow. Soon the group reluctantly followed Riley into the tunnels with Rocky following behind the group.

With Kazuki

Kazuki followed the trio into the tunnels, he also activated his Byakugan and was mapping the underground network of his new territory. On the way he saw that all diamond dogs were worried, it was natural since their leaders were defeated and they feared for their future.

It didn't take long for him to reach the chamber where the prisoners were kept. The chamber had cells on the walls and inside them many prisoners. They seemed to be relatively healthy all things considered, they didn't show many signs of abuse and were separated by species, mostly.

The few guards that stayed here and all the prisoners immediately looked at Kazuki as he walked into the chamber, the guards were about to attack, but stopped when they saw Gard with her head lowered and following Kazuki. That fact alone told them what they needed to know about the new status quo.

It was also possible to hear the whispers of the older prisoners quietly explaining what was going on since they probably have been with the pack long enough for them to pick up some of the unspoken rules and signs, but the whispers died when Kazuki approached a cell that had a group of diamond dogs, but most of them seemed to be around their teenage years.

“Those don't seem to be like the other prisoners,” said Kazuki.

“No boss, those are pack members that broke some minor rules, they would stay here for a while before being released,” said Gard confirming that Kazuki was the new clan head when she called him “boss” and she did that before anyone could said something stupid.

“I see,” said Kazuki as he slowly walked over to the other cells. Then he stopped in front of a cell with a group of zebras wearing rags and asked, “how did you acquired these group?”

“Some were sold to us during our travels by other packs while others by slavers from Zabrica in the black market. Almost every group has a similar story just in a different place,” said Gard.

Kazuki just tapped the lock with his right index finger, which caused it to click and unlock itself, courtesy of a simple Unlocking Spell. He approached the group, which caused some of them to recoil fearfully. Not bothered by their reaction he grabbed a nearby zebra stallion by the chin.

The stallion had some muscles, probably the result of hard labor, had a black mane and brown eyes along with the typical black and white stripes. Kazuki gently moved his head to the right and then the left to see his face. Then he noticed scars on the arms, shoulder and probably on his back as well, but they seemed to be old, which meant that he wasn't on the receiving end of a whip recently.

“Gard, do you or any of the Taskmasters use a whip?” asked Kazuki.

“No, we don't. Those scars are from the previous pack he belonged to,” answered Gard.

Kazuki let go of the stallion before looking at the group, then he grabbed another stallion's arm and pulled him out of the cell, then he asked for Lexi to keep an eye on him. Then he inspected the other cells, soon enough he had two gryphonesses, a minotaur, an earth pony mare and a thestral mare along with the zebra stallion.

“You can stop now,” said Kazuki simply to the group in the center of the chamber.

“W- wh- what do you mean by that master?” asked the zebra stallion.

“You all can drop the act now,” said Kazuki only for them to act confused despite the barely noticeable hints of distress on them. He sighed and snapped his fingers and a magic circle appeared beneath them. They screamed when they noticed that their skin was peeling of, which caused those around Kazuki to look horrified at what was happening.

“Boss! Please, don't hurt them,” begged Gard and that was the final piece of the puzzle that Kazuki needed.

“I see. The fact that the slaves are relatively well cared and your sympathy for them, the fact that the packs while related are not that closely related since your smells are too different and lastly the fact that this clan has no name. This is a group formed mostly by outcasts, is it not?” asked Kazuki, but he didn't need a answer. His conclusion came from the fact that a pack would either be against or in favor of slave labor –usually against– and they rarely show sympathy when they were in favor, the fact that they use slave labor despite being against it told him that they were desperate for resources.

But before anyone could answer they all noticed that instead of showing red flesh beneath the skin of the ones inside of the circle it showed black chitin.

“I gave the chance to show yourselves willingly changelings,” said Kazuki returning his attention to the group in the circle just as their disguises were removed completely, showing their black skin like chitin, insect-like wings and bladed tails or stingers, the only differences were their fin/mane and the color of their second eyelid, that was covering their eyes and making them appeared one solid color. Then Kazuki contemplated aloud as he looked at the fearful changelings, “Now what should I do with you?”

With Celestia

Celestia was having dinner with her sister Luna, dinner and breakfast being the only two meals they normally shared since they have opposite schedules. Luckily because of their alicorn physiology they could take a day or two without sleeping to spent some time together without consequences.

It was after Celestia and Luna's meal and during one of their conversations that a scroll materialized in front of the older princess.

“Is this another friendship lesson from Twilight Sparkle?” asked Luna.

“Most likely,” said Celestia, then she looked at the window. So she turned to Luna and said, “Well, it's getting late. I am going to retire for the night, good luck with the Night Court Luna.”

“Great, another night of me mostly doing nothing before patrolling the dreamscape,” said Luna to herself.

“Don't worry Luna, I am sure soon enough more and more ponies will come. Besides you can use that time to acclimate yourself with the modern days,” said Celestia.

*sigh* “You are right sister, at least I got some petitioners schedule for tonight, but still most of the time it's just me sitting there and it's boring,” said Luna almost like a child, which caused Celestia to giggle.

“Don't be such a foal. Goodnight Luna,” said Celestia before exiting the dining room.

“Goodnight sister,” said Luna as she too left the dining room before heading to the throne room while Celestia went to her room.

Now wearing a comfortable nightgown Celestia sat near the fireplace and opened the scroll to read what she presumed to be a weekly friendship lesson of her faithful student.

Dear Princess Celestia,
Today Rarity was ponynapped by a group of Diamond Dogs, don't worry she's fine now. But when we went underground to rescue her we were captured by another pack.
Apparently they were in the middle of a territorial dispute. We found out that the mage that rescue us from the red dragoness is also the leader of this other pack.
They released us when the fight was over and by the time we returned to Ponyville it the sun was already setting. However the most worrying fact is that they had strange seemingly sentient armor made of wood. It could be a very advanced and wearable golem, but I'm not sure, they also had training.
They said that it didn't matter if you knew or not about their existence and that it would be far too much trouble to go after them since they don't plan to cause trouble for Ponyville.
I’m worried and in need of advice. What should I and the others do?
Your faithful student Twilight Sparkle.

Celestia finished reading the letter and was relieved that her student and her friends were safe. While the news about the diamond dogs were somewhat worrying Celestia saw no problem in letting them live peacefully so long they didn't cause trouble. Despite the fact that they were captured she was glad that they were kept away from the fight, a pack war could be pretty brutal and she didn't want the Elements to be in such a dangerous situation.

The news that a mage might have set up a workshop in the Everfree Forest while interesting was not unheard of. Mages could be very secretive when it came to their research, they however loved to brag about the results once the research was done. So long there was no indication of any unethical research occurring there Celestia was willing to leave a mage to its solitude.

“Talking armor of wood. Where have I heard that before?” wondered Celestia to herself. Then she thought, “It’s probably nothing.”

Then Celestia summoned a scroll and quill before she started to write a letter, "Dear Twilight..."

6. Otherworldly experiences and perspective.

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As Kazuki approached the tunnel connecting to the edge of the forest he could hear the voices of Song, Jewel and Moon chatting, which stopped when the trio heard the clanking of his geta against the floor. When he entered the tunnel that was being guarded by the dragon sisters he also spotted Moon sitting on a rock with her right leg over her left, arms crossed and a somewhat bored look on her face she was beside the entrance while not far from her position Song and Jewel sat cross legged on the floor, their attention on the entrance.

The new clan head came out of the tunnel followed by the three new alphas under his command, they tensed when they saw the two dragonesses, they smelled the two before they saw the pair but it was still a shock for them to know that their new clan head had not one but two dragons under his command. They came out of their shock when they noticed another scent, which caused them to look to their left and see the black alicorn.

The name Nightmare Moon might have been just a legend for ponies, but the stories of the black alicorn that tried to enshroud the world in everlasting night was still recorded by other nations and stories were passed down through the generations. Diamond Dogs might not have a written language but almost all packs knew the story of the black alicorn in front of them.

“Are they the enemy leaders?” asked Moon as she saw the three dogs following Kazuki.

“Not anymore, now they are under my command as well. Now we just need to wait for Rex,” said Kazuki as he sat on another rock on the right side of the entrance, opposite from Moon.

“Eh, we were so bored just sitting here,” whined Song.

*Sigh*“In the end our assistance wasn't needed,” said Jewel.

“Ma, 'prepare for the worst and hope for the best’ is my usual philosophy for most scenarios,” said Kazuki.

“We still get our reward, right master?” asked Song confirming the suspicions of the three alphas.

“Hai, so long it isn't unreasonable and don't cause too much trouble,” said Kazuki as he leaned back a bit, closed his eyes and relaxed. Incidentally the three alphas came out of their shock and just sat near Kazuki, instinctively seeking his protection from threats and showing their submission.

“You always had a habit of collecting strays,” said Moon as she observed the diamond dogs, which were trembling under her gaze. At least they had good instincts, but they should get used to her presence in a few days.

“They have their uses, besides almost everything can be summarized as a ‘give and take’. Case and point they obey me and in exchange they get education, shelter and food,” said Kazuki casually and without opening his eyes.

“That's cold,” said Moon and despite being a criticism her teasing tone and smile told him another story, he didn't need to look at her to notice this.

“That may be so, but it's a fact,” said Kazuki simply.

While Kazuki and Moon were talking the dragon sisters seemed to have reached some sort of agreement by the way they nodded to each other.

“Master, can we request our reward on a later date?” asked Jewel.

“Yeah, we want to discuss something before that,” said Song.

“I see no problem in that, we can discuss this after the new packs get settled,” said Kazuki before sighing, he had to identify the combatants and noncombatants, give new assignments, do medical check ups on all pack members to be sure they were healthy, give all pack members the basic training and education that he gave his original pack and do all these for the slaves as well.

Speaking of slaves, Kazuki decided to keep them for now and since the changelings might be useful in the future he intended to keep them as well, he just needed to confirm their allegiances. However he wasn't doing this out of the goodness of his hearts, to him this was a investment to make a more organized work and combat force and as far as he was concerned this was a mutually beneficial trade.

Then Kazuki opened his eyes and got up when he felt Rex and Rover approaching, he stood in front of the entrance and not long after Rex and Rover arrived.

“Rex,” said Kazuki.

“Boss, there is something I need to discuss with you,” said Rex before looking at Rover who had a look of resignation.

“I suppose it has something to do with him,” said Kazuki.

“Yes, I want to merge his pack and the original pack,” said Rex.

“For what reason?” asked Kazuki.

“One: I was the one that defeated Rover and it was my squad that subsided his pack; Two: both of our packs are small compared to the other three if the information that the Zetsu collected about the clan is anything to go by,” explained Rex, which caused Kazuki to clap.

“Good, very good,” said Kazuki while he clapped. Then he stopped before saying to Rex, “I was going to do something similar anyway. I approve of the merger since this will give me four packs of similar size and will help balance things out, but they will have to train just as hard as the others, there will be no special treatment just because they came in after. Don't worry all of them will undergo training to catch-up.”

Rex and Rover nodded in agreement.

“Good, let’s start then,” said Kazuki.

A week later

It took a week but Kazuki organize the new clan, all pack members regardless of being combatants or noncombatants were undergoing basic training and education, most of the former enemy packs were healthy but a little malnourished, thankfully Gard prioritized the well being of the pups and the pregnant females. While some of them had to be put on quarantine it was just a precaution and they should be out in a few days.

The food problem was easily fixed by the large reserves of gems beneath the forest, the creatures living on its surface and the special gems from his Shōton that were capable of growing by absorbing energy and water in a similar and almost identical manner to plants. It would be a while before they became combat ready at genin level, but then again he was in no hurry and at least now he could go back to his experiments and leave the more experienced members of the clan to teach the less experienced ones.

Kazuki informed Song, Jewel and Moon this morning that they could have that conversation he promised a week ago tonight and he spent the early afternoon with the pups. It was a good way to bond with his clan, not only it decreased the chance of betrayal but it was also a good way to pass the time. That time was spend in one of the underground oases, there were two or three naturally occurring ones but he and Moon made some more so that the whole clan could use them, at least he made sure that the diamond dogs bathed often.

The Ōtsutsuki was supervising the pups as they played in the water, they were on a shallow pool in one of the artificially made springs that were used for communal baths by the clan. That was to be expected since the diamond dogs were a very pack oriented species, besides it wasn't like they didn't usually saw each other naked. Diamond dogs much like dragons don't have a nudity taboo –actually most sentient species on Equus were more relaxed than humans when it came to nudity– but unlike dragons they tend to be more practical when it comes to their clothes, besides their jackets/vests and tagged collars that was used for identification all other clothes were used mostly for protection.

A moment of noticed today was when Kazuki took off his kimono and hakama(袴) to enter the pool to help the caretakers to bath the young ones, he actually felt his right eyebrow twitch when they pointed at his fundoshi(褌) –a undergarment somewhere between a thong and a loincloth– and didn't know what it was, specially when the pups confused it for a diaper, but he let that slide since they were just pups, so he just explained to them what a fundoshi was.

Aside from that it was actually an enjoyable afternoon, especially when some of the pups were fascinated by his long white hair, some of them ended up tangled on his hair –luckily he could easily manipulate each strand of his hair and untangle them from the pups before anything serious could happen– while others got curious about the seals on his skin.

Anyway, because of the increased population of diamond dogs under Kazuki's command he made sure that the underground facilities were expanded, at this point it was the size of a small settlement somewhere between a village and a town, it could technically be considered his own Hidden Village. Just to be sure he also designated some tunnels that if they were to find a certain white pony and/or dragon hatchling they were to be ignored as long as they didn't venture too deep, those tunnels were the ones that the citizens of Ponyville –mostly Rarity– collected her gems, he even asked Zecora to inform the fashionista that she was free to collect gems without worrying about being abducted again.

Speaking of increased population, some diamond dogs tried to rebel against Kazuki and in the end they were punished, some were actually killed and because of the practical mindset of the packs that was nomadic until recently they didn't have a problem if he took the bodies to his lab for studies, still close family and friends had the right to request a funeral if they wanted, which they did. In the end he kept the bodies of those without close family and friends.

Also, Kazuki made sure to inform the slaves that in the end it didn't matter to him if they were slaves or not and as a test he offered them their freedom back. Because slavery still existed and was quite prominent on Zebrica, Dragon Lands, Griffonia –nowadays renamed Griffonstone– and many other nations further east, most of the slaves had no home to come back to for various reasons and some gave up on freedom entirely. However few of them express the desire to go back home, all of them recently abducted ponies, so Kazuki “edited” their memories when it concerned him before releasing them near the places they requested.

It was a sad reality that was confirmed by Zecora when she met the slaves, she wasn't angry or indignant like most equestrians would be, she was just sad. The fact that she was a shaman helped to ease the minds of those that came from Zabrica, but still she kept silent about it since it wasn't her secret or story to reveal. By now the Mane Six found out that Zecora knew who Kazuki was, but she informed them that it wasn't her story to tell, however she expressed every visit that the Mane Six requested a meeting, obviously Kazuki refused so far. It was getting harder to remain hidden without being too suspicious.

Now it was time for dinner and Kazuki was waiting for Song, Jewel and Moon so he could have the conversation he promised to the dragon sisters. Currently he was in the dining room and he was bored, at this point he read all the books in the library and he would be reading Hon, but she said she didn't want to interrupt his “date”. Thankfully he had impressive visualization skills –a requirement for illusionist– and was running some simulations on his mind –thanks to his highly developed, far more efficient and literally otherworldly brains, yes he had more them one– concerning some of his plans and experiments.

It didn't take long for the trio to show up.

“Good evening master,” said Song in a rather suggestive manner, tonight wearing a yukata with a more elaborate leaf like pattern on the sleeves.

“Good evening,” said Jewel in her usual almost laid back tone, tonight wearing her usual and plain red male yukata.

“Hi,” said Moon with a tired tone wearing her normal blue and black short kimono and with shorts under the "skirt".

“Before anything else, do you all want to eat here or in a more exotic setting?” asked Kazuki, while it didn't particularly matter to him he felt it was a rare opportunity, besides it was good to change things up once in awhile.

“Um, I don't particularly mind,” said Jewel.

“I kinda want to get out a little,” said Song.

“Yeah, I agree with Song, especially after the last few days,” said Moon for the first time understanding Kazuki's frustration with students that didn't pay attention to your lessons. Why did she agree to help teach the dogs again?

“I see,” said Kazuki as he got up from the chair he was sitting on. Then he made the familiar cross hand seal to create two clones, then he opened the eye on his forehead after activating the Rinne Sharingan. As the red eye with ripple like and with three tomoe on the concentric rings opened he said, “Amenominaka(天之御中, Heavenly Originator in the Universe's Heart)”

As soon as Kazuki finished saying the name of the technique the trio felt a rush of cold wind, but what caught their attention was the glow coming from above them. The three immediately realized that they were outside, but their minds came to a halt when they looked up. It was not the night sky filled with stars nor the fact that the stars were on strange places or the lights that reminded them of a aurora in the far north beyond the Crystal Mountains, what blew their minds was the broken moon in the middle of the sky.

“Beautiful, isn't it?” asked Kazuki bringing the trio out of their shock.

“Where are we?” asked Moon as she looked at Kazuki.

“We are in one of my personal dimensions?” answered Kazuki before doing a Snake Hand Seal to use Dōton in order to make a table and chairs of stone from the ground they were standing on, then he made a Dragon Hand Seal to create a invisible barrier around the area they were in.

“‘Personal dimensions’ as in more than one,” pointed out Jewel.

“Indeed. Each one is a dimension with at least one planet and they each serve a different purpose,” explained Kazuki and once he finished sculpting the table and chair he added, “This one for example, it was used by me to test some of my experiments that dealt with evolution and mutations.”

After that revelation they looked around and saw they were on a flat terrain, more specifically on the top of a plateau and around the plateau was a dense jungle, but what mesmerized them was the fact that the leaves of the trees were glowing mirroring the sky, it was like being surrounded by a sea of stars.

“Wait! You did this?!” asked Moon as she gestured to the jungle.

“Indeed, this planet used to be a barren world,” answered Kazuki.

“You seeded this world with… life,” said Jewel incredulous.

“It's not that surprising, especially when you consider that understanding the process to create organic compounds its possible with enough means and knowledge. When you take that conclusion to its logical extreme, the possibility of a being or group of beings advanced and powerful enough to seed a world with life is almost a certainty,” answered Kazuki.

"What about the moon?" asked Song.

"I don't want to talk about it," said Kazuki in a almost grumpy tone of voice.

“Can we change the subject? I think anymore of this will just cause headache,” request Moon.

“And they wondered why I sometimes called them 'primitives’,” thought Kazuki before asking, “Do you have any particular request for dinner?”

“I kinda miss meat,” said Song automatically, still mesmerized by her surroundings.

“Yeah,” said Jewel in the same state as her sister.

“Fruits,” said Moon not much better.

“Ok, be back in a minute,” said Kazuki before disappearing into the window like opening on the air beside him that was his Yomotsu Hirasaka.

It took more than a minute but that time was enough for the trio to regain their bearings, that and the lightning that they saw in the distance. Not long after that another Yomotsu Hirasaka opened above them and dropped a massive creature in front of the group before Kazuki came out of the opening and landed near the table and he was holding a assortment of strange fruits, some looked familiar while others looked almost alien.

The creature was a reptile, as noted by the red scales covering its body and two rows of yellow spikes, it had eight paws and had the general shape of a alligator but near the size of the beast form of the sisters. They also noticed that some of its scales were burned in a branching pattern, later they realized that these were burn marks of a lightning.

“We can have this conversation while I cook dinner,” said Kazuki before making a clone, who sat on the table while the original tied his hair before tying a bandana around his forehead and using a tasuki (襷, cord) to tie the sleeves of his kimono out of the way. Then he summoned a outdoor kitchen and grabbed two knives.

“You can cook?” asked Moon as she saw the original starting to cut the fruits.

“Yes I can. Does that surprise you?” asked the clone as he leaned on the chair.

“Actually yes, I never expected you to do something so… domestic,” said Moon. Jewel and Song didn't care much about that particular fact.

“Two things: One, I lived many lives some of them were quite mundane and simple. Two, cooking is not that different from doing experiments, autopsies or even vivisections the difference is that instead looking for knowledge you look for the tastiest and/or most nutritious parts of a body. Besides cooking is both a art and science to me,” answered Kazuki.

“Nevermind,” said Moon to herself when she heard his logic.

“While I don't mind continuing this conversation it wasn't the reason we came here,” said Kazuki.

“Yeah, about that master. Can you just give us a honest answered?” asked Song.

“I see no reasons to lie,” answered Kazuki.

“Do you find us attractive?” asked Jewel.

“Is it because I have made no attempt to mate with either one of you?” asked Kazuki. Jewel’s question made sense, most dragons when they have another dragon as part of their hoard –especially if it's a dragon of the opposite gender– would more often than not mate almost immediately.

Jewel and Song looked at each other before nodding at Kazuki and Moon too was curious to know the reason, even as Luna back before his sealing she was curious why he never attempted to form a relationship to either Luna, Celestia or even Faust beyond friendship. He never even had a “friend with benefits” as far as Moon knew.

“Multiple reasons, but almost all of them can be boil down to one fact: species,” said Kazuki, which caused the sisters and Moon to feel a little hurt.

“Is it because we are dragons?” asked Song.

“No it's not, and I can say without doubt that the three of you are very attractive. It's because I'm a Ōtsutsuki,” said Kazuki. He also added before they could say anything else, “And before you ask it's not because I think myself superior or because I’m against interspecies relationships since I have been on many of them across my lifetimes.”

“Then, why?” asked Moon.

“It's because my brain chemistry works differently. Do you think a normal brain would be able to handle eyes capable of seeing through different dimensions at once, a hearing capable of hearing everything around me for miles, skin capable of constantly read mnemonic data through psychometry, a tongue capable of telling the molecular composition of chemicals and a sense of smell equally advance. And that's without counting the fact that I have more than five senses and the synesthesia that I have came to experience,” said Kazuki listing how powerful his senses were and for the first time Moon understood why he once described the world as “overwhelmingly real”.

Even so Kazuki continued “I almost went mad with this senses, but luckily my brains were designed to handle this level of sensorial input. Besides, when a races is able to travel across time and space like the Ōtsutsuki we somewhat evolved to be detached from our own emotions. I can still feel emotions but their interference is minimal and I can only be overcome by them if they are very strong, I mean you have to be logical when you travel through time and space.”

“Is this the reason you didn't attempt to make a move on us?” said Song and Kazuki nodded while the trio missed the fact that he mentioned brains instead of just brain.

“So you have no sex drive,” said Moon disappointed as she pointed out that fact in a rather crude way.

“I actually have one, I’m just not affected by it on this body. If you want a relationship with me you will have to bluntly ask me because I don't plan on pursuing one anytime soon,” said Kazuki which caused them to think but he added before they gave their answer, “Before you ask me anything, think carefully what you want from me. If you want just a ‘roll in the hay’, emotional investment or offsprings.”

“I don't know about them,” said Moon while pointing at the dragon sisters before continuing, “but before I give you my answer can you answer a few more questions?”

Kazuki looked at the original and saw that he managed to completely skin the giant alligator like creature and take the meat off of the bones. The bones and scales were separated while the meat was being cooked and he also was preparing the fruits.

“Well, it might take a while for the original to finish,” said Kazuki before returning his attention to Moon and say, “Sure, but don't expect a sugar-coated answer.”

“I would expect nothing less. Ok, first: it would even be physically possible to have a ‘roll in the hay’ with you?” asked Moon catching the attention of the two sisters.

“If needed I have spare bodies of many species, besides I can shape shift and size shift. So you being twice my size is not a problem,” answered Kazuki, which caused the three to blush at the implications of what was revealed, luckily for them their scales and fur hide that blush, unluckily for them Kazuki could detect such small changes in a multitude of ways.

Kazuki could see the change through infrared or heat, which was visible to his eyes; he could smell the small change in their biochemistry; he could perceive the increased activity in their brain, which was possible since he was able to perceive energy fields, a by-product of his sensor type skills; he could hear their heart rate increase and the tensing of their muscles among other small details.

It took awhile for them to recover, but eventually Moon asked another question, “Ok... Anyway, is it even possible for you to give us foals?”

“Again, spare bodies and shape shift. In this case my genetic flexibility is such that it's possible for me to reproduce with most creatures so long they are mostly compatible,” answered Kazuki, which made the trio think a bit more.

Not long after a group of clones came with many dishes of meat and fruits for dinner, then the clones dispelled themselves after setting the table.

“Well, my task is done,” said the clone after the table was set, then he dispelled himself giving his memories to the original. Then the original sat on the clone’s place before saying, “Let’s enjoy the meal.”

Kazuki didn't need to eat but he still enjoyed the taste, besides he was curious to see how the three will react to his cooking. They each took a bit of everything, Song and Jewel didn't mind the pieces of fruit on some dishes and Moon didn't mind the meat. But it was amusing when Jewel took the first bite and moaned at the taste, rather loudly and suggestively while squirming on her chair.

“It can't be that good,” said Song before she too took a bite, only to be proven wrong when she had the same reaction as her sister.

Moon just looked between the food and the dragonesses several times before hesitantly taking her first bite. The moment the meat touched her tongue it was a shock of indescribable flavor that seemed to fill her mouth, the juice came out as she almost effortlessly chewed on it, she had no room to speak about Song and Jewel if they were tasting something similar.

Then Moon looked at her glass and noticed that it had a multicolored liquid, curious she took a sip and her mind was completely blown by its flavor. She could taste multiple fruits, but they were intertwined so well with one another that she almost missed the subtle and gradual changes in the flavor.

Needless to say that this was the most enjoyable dinner of their lives so far.

“If you can cook like this everyday then I don't care about the sex anymore,” said Moon after she ate her fill as she leaned on her chair with a satisfied look on her face. Song just lazily nodded in agreement.

*Burp*

Came the sound followed by flames from Jewel's mouth as she and Song were on a similar situation.

However because of the creature's size there still a lot of food left and Kazuki refused to waste food. So he decided to seal the feast and offer some for the diamond dogs after going back to the castle. He also sealed the parts he didn't use on the cooking process like the bones and scales.

“I hope dinner was of your liking,” said Kazuki in a teasing tone to the trio, which blushed at the memories of both the taste and their reaction to it.

“On a more serious note, there is something else I would like to inform you three,” said Kazuki with a serious tone, which caught the attention of the trio. Then he continued, “In little over a month the Grand Galloping Gala will happen and I intend to conduct multiple missions on Canterlot at the same time. One will be more of a set up for future plans while the other is a heist and recruitment.”

“A heist? Couldn't you just open one of those window-thingies and take what you wanted at anytime?” asked Song.

“Yes I could, if wasn't for the fact that what I want to steal isn't a item, but a pony,” said Kazuki.

“So it's a ponynapping then,” said Jewel.

“While I don't agree with it you must have a pretty good reason to do this,” said Moon before sighing.

“Well, it's less of a ponynapping and more of a rescue that will also help in the recruitment part,” clarified Kazuki.

“Then, who are we rescuing?” asked Moon.

“Your sister,” answered Kazuki looking at Moon.

“Eh?” said the trio at the same time.

Author's Notes:

I based Kazuki's mentally on both the archetype of the "mad scientist" and the Vulcans from Star Trek –more specifically Spock– as way to explain his somewhat detached emotions. Also the multiple brains thing is a idea based on Fantomex from Marvel Comic, he has three interconnected brains that can work independently.

Yes, that underground oasis is Maud future residence on the show. Now it's a resort for the Diamond Dog clan under Kazuki's command.

Kazuki, similar to Kaguya, has multiple personal dimensions and the one from this chapter in particular is a place where he tested many biological weapons, mutagenic agents among other things, the result is a highly complex and diverse ecosystem with many vicious predators.

Incidentally the ecosystem is a fusion between Pandora from the movie Avatar, the Gourmet World from the anime Toriko(トリコ) and a JRPG like Monster Hunter. Kazuki’s cooking is combination from Food Wars!(食戟のソーマ, Shokugeki no Soma) and Toriko, which are two animes I like despite the exaggerated –in my opinion– amount of fanservise on the former, well it's also a ecchi so it's ok.

Kazuki just recreated the Gourmet World not the Gourmet Cells, so don't expect something like the spirits and demons from Toriko nor the use of Gourmet Energy, just the creatures and it won't be that often.
The creature was a Galala Gator and the wine was made of Rainbow Fruit.

For those that are curious here are the standard/basic Inzō(印相, Hand Seal)

For more information click here and here.

I might post smaller intermissions/interludes between chapters and I might try to write a sex/clop scenes in those intermissions/interludes, but no promises.

Anyway, I would like suggestions for a name for the clan of Diamond Dogs under Kazuki's command, put the suggestions on the comments below. If I see a I name that I like and found fitting I will mention it on the author's note of the next chapter, but you have to explain the reason and meaning behind the name. Please, prioritize either Japanese or English names, but it can be any language and no inappropriate or insulting names.

6.1. Tea and Magic.

View Online

Note: Reading this chapter is optional and you can continue the story without this chapter.

Day after their "date" on the "Gourmet" Dimension

Moon was walking back and forth in front of the door to Kazuki's lab, she felt guilty about the argument she had with Kazuki yesterday after they came back from the dinner he made. In her need to win an argument she brought up a subject that she probably shouldn't have and she may have upset him. So she came here to apologise since Kazuki left to cook a bit more for those that arrived late at the feast he brought to the clan and she didn't know how to apologise to him.

Moon spent the rest of the night and most of today's morning and afternoon thinking on what to do while Kazuki spend most of that time reading Hon before going to the lab, he might not display it but he was capable of feeling hurt. She stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath, but before she could knock the door opened.

Kazuki was standing in the middle of the lab with his arms crossed as his assistants seemed to be keeping an eye on some ongoing experiments, some were simply keeping an eye on some of the creatures on the tanks, others were taking notes while looking at some machines and others were just transporting items of different nature from one place to another.

“So, have you finished organizing your thoughts?” asked Kazuki.

“Yeah, can I talk to you in private?” asked Moon and Kazuki sighed before taking off his lab coat, gloves and safety glasses showing his white kimono with the sleeves tied. Then he gave the items to an assistant that was waiting beside him before untying his hair and the sleeves of his kimono.

Then Kazuki offered a hand to Moon as the diamond dog went to put the items back into storage after they were washed/decontaminated/sterilized, then Moon touched the hand and they were teleported to Kazuki's room through the Hiraishin no Jutsu, the room happened to be the master bedroom –not that Kazuki used the room that much.

The place was japanese –neighpanese in this world– style room, it was big with a futon(布団) big enough to hold two dragons in their anthro form that were bigger than Song or Jewel –the futon was of that size to ensure that if he needed he would be able to rest while using a spare body, more specifically any of the dragon ones– and with pillows of many sizes on it, the futon was on the left side of the room from the entrance on a low frame made of dark wood and the entire floor was covered in tatami(疊, straw matting).

Directly on the left of the entrance was a wardrobe, on both sides of the bed a small bedside table with a traditional Rikka (立花 standing flowers) could be seen and on the furthest left corner was a shelf with scrolls and books. Directly in front of the entrance hidden by two layers of curtains, one to keep the lights from entering completely and another to just partially stop the lights, was a double door made of glass framed by dark wood that led to the balcony.

Directly on the right of the entrance was another door –this one leading to the bathroom– and after that in the middle was a study cabinet with many compartments while on the furthest right corner from the entrance was a smaller square pillow like seat –zabuton(座布団, sitting futon)– and a small round cushion –zafu(座蒲, sewn/cattail seat)– not far from where the walls met, which was a place where a shelf with many types of incense boats and burners could be seen, Moon also assumed that additional incenses and herbs were in the cabinet.

As Moon looked at the room she took note of the colors in its interior, which were white, green, orange, red, yellow or multiple shades of brown, the white was from the sheets and curtains as well as the decorative lanterns hanging from the ceiling emanating a soft light, the green were from the plants and the borders of the open scrolls, the fiery colors were from the paintings in said scrolls and the light brown tones were from the wood on the walls and ceiling as well as the tatami while the dark brown tones were from the wood of the doors, doorframes and bedframe. Also there were two really big scrolls that occupied the spaces beside the bed and almost went from the floor to the ceiling, on them were to ideograms that were so masterfully written/painted that they almost seemed gracefully otherworldly.

While Moon was observing the room that once belonged to Celestia Kazuki went to the wardrobe and took another zabuton and a scroll, then he placed the zabuton in front of Moon before placing the zabuton that was in the corner not too far in front of Moon and sat on it in kiza(跪座 / 跪坐, kneeling) before assuming seiza(正座 / 正坐, proper sitting), then he placed the scroll between them and opened showing a seal and a puff of smoke later a small low wooden table –chabudai(卓袱台 or 茶袱台 or 茶部台)– appeared before and in-between the two, then he motioned for Moon to sit.

“Would you like some tea?” asked Kazuki as Moon sat on her zabuton just like Kazuki and nodded. So Kazuki created a Kage Bushin that went to the cabinet to choose a blend of tea.

Moon looked at Kazuki and noticed that he was without his geta, then she looked at her hooves and saw that she was without her sandals. She looked at the entrance, more specifically at a square in front of the door that was a section without tatami showing the stone floor below, just before the step to the tatami floor was her sandals and Kazuki's geta. Then she looked at Kazuki and raised a eyebrow silently asking why was that, his answer was simply, "No shoes inside."

“Why do you place so much emphasis on these neighpanese traditions, especially considering that you pride yourself of being efficient? Traditions that you taught them in the first place,” asked Moon as they waited for the tea, with Moon occasionally fidgeting since she wasn't used in sitting in seiza position.

“You can sit however you like,” said Kazuki and Moon sighed in relief before sitting in anza or agura(胡座, cross-legged/barbarian sitting), which annoyed Kazuki a bit, but he let that slide and answered, “Those traditions serve a purpose, you can tell so much about one's body, mind and spirit if you observe carefully. Also it's less about priding myself of being efficient and more about really disliking needless waste of anything. Besides I like to relax and appreciate art from time to time.”

After Kazuki answered Moon there was a awkward silence while she tried to find the right words to say, luckily after a while the silence was interrupted by Kazuki's clone as he placed two yunomi(湯のみ, teacup) made of ceramic in front of them, the one that Kazuki was using had a white upper part with gray and brown shapes at the bottom creating a picture of snowy mountains, the one offered to Moon had a dark blue background with white dots and a moon creating a image of the night sky.

“Let us drink and relax first, then we can talk about what troubles you,” said Kazuki before placing his hands together and say, “Itadakimasu.”

Kazuki gracefully picked the cup with his right hand making sure that his fingers didn't touch the rim, then he immediately placed his left hand below the cup before bringing it to his mouth and then drinking the blend of tea, all that made with a grace and fluidity befitting of a member of nobility.

Moon followed Kazuki’s example and drank her tea, it was hot and bitter without sugar but as she slowly drank it helped her relax and warm her body. She paused when she noticed a curious smell and didn't take long for her to notice that the clone placed some incense on the burner. Both of them enjoyed the tea in comfortable silence before finishing the tea and placing the cup back on the table.

“Gochisousama deshita,” said Kazuki after he placed his hand together as he did before drinking and Moon awkwardly follow his example, then the clone came and took the cups back before placing them on the desk part of the cabinet and soon after he dispelled himself.

Kazuki remained silently and patiently waiting for Moon to talk. Moon who despite being more relaxed was still somewhat nervous, so she tried to delay the conversation by asking another question, “How come you got such a nice room?”

“I made all the decorations myself. The place has good fūsui(風水, wind-water), the building not so much,” answered Kazuki not even commenting on her obviously trying to delay whatever she wanted to say.

“Fūsui?” asked Moon confused.

“Fūsui or fēngshuǐ is a way to structure any kind of construction in a way to achieve spiritual balance and flow of natural energy, the fact that you don't know isn't all that surprising considering how narrow-minded you equestrians are when it comes to magic,” said Kazuki before placing his hand on the table and summoned a chessboard, a game to help taking Moon’s mind off of whatever was on her mind. Then he started by moving one of his pieces since he chose the white ones.

“What do you mean by ‘considering how narrow-minded you equestrians are’?” asked Moon feeling a little offended –she was a equestrian after all– as she made her first move.

“What you define as magic?” asked Kazuki as he made another move.

Moon raised an eyebrow but answered anyway after moving her piece, “It's the manipulation of one's –almost always a unicorn– internal reservoir of energy that we call mana, a spiritual energy we gather passively from the environment, to affect the physical world.”

While Moon was explaining Kazuki made a move and Moon made another, so Kazuki asked another question as he made another move, “And what about Ninjutsu?”

Moon raised an eyebrow once again but she still answered, “It's the manipulation of one's internal reservoir of energy that we call chakra, a energy made of the combination of physical energy and… spiritual…energy…” Moon trailed off as she stopped to think about the similarities between Ninjutsu and Equestrian Magic.

“So you finally noticed, the reason your control translates well into chakra is because half of its foundations is based on the same foundations as Equestrian Magic. A whole new style of magic with the simple addition of physical energy, it makes you wonder how many more are out there doesn't it?” asked Kazuki as he move another piece.

“Is there a way to used just the physical energy? And how many styles are there?” asked Moon.

“Yes there are multiple just as there are multiple for the use of spiritual energy. Trying to understand every form of magic using just Equestrian Magic as a base is foolish, something that even Starswirl failed to understand when he tried to translate my abilities into Equestrian Magic,” said Kazuki answering the first question. Then he paused to make his move before answering the second one, “Not even I know how many styles are, but even then everything I mentioned to you falls under a single category or branch of the greater scope that is magic itself.”

“Really?” asked Moon no longer paying attention on the match.

“Hai, everything I told you falls under egocentric –I know, the name can be misleading– magic, which is the manipulation of internal energies,” said Kazuki before getting up and carefully putting the board away without disturbing the pieces, he placed the board on the desk part of the cabinet since he doubted that Moon would finish the match now.

“How many more categories or branches are there?” asked Moon excitedly.

“Oh, it seems you have the same curiosity that Luna had when learning magic from Starswirl, it was cute how you and Celestia would come and ask me for hints for 'Old Swirly's boring lessons’,” said Kazuki, which caused Moon to blush at the comment, but then he said as he leaned on the cabinet and crossed his arms, “Anyway, that is a lesson I intend to teach you after rescuing your potential new sister and giving her a new body.”

That caused Moon to pout childishly, but her pout disappeared when Kazuki asked, “I think we delayed it enough. So what do you want to talk to me about?”

“I…I wanted to apologise for what I said yesterday, I didn't mean to bring out painful memories,” said Moon as she turned to her left to face Kazuki, then she lowered her head until she was facing the floor, then she faintly heard Kazuki’s steps as he approached and she felt like a filly that was about to be punished. However Kazuki just stood on her left before he placed his right hand on Moon's head and as she looked up with tears in her eyes she felt Kaziki hug her head against his chest despite her being seated since she was almost twice Kazuki's size, of course being careful with her horn –not that being stabbed by it would kill him– as she pressed her ear against him.

“There is no need to apologise, I made peace with what happened long ago, besides they got what they deserved,” said Kazuki with the last part said in a rather sinister tone, but after that he just kept running his hand over Moon's mane, eventually she calmed down since she had her left ear placed on his chest and heard the strangely comforting heartbeats of his alien hearts.

“Kazuki,” said Moon as she looked up at Kazuki's lilac pupil-less eyes before pausing for a moment. Then she said, “Yesterday you asked what kind of relationship I wanted to have with you."

"Indeed," said Kazuki.

"This is my answer,” said Moon before she kissed him.

Author's Notes:

Futon(布団) – is a traditional Japanese bedding set consisting of both a shikibuton(敷き布団, spreading futon) or mattress and a kakebuton(掛け布団, covering futon) or duvet.

Tatami(疊, straw matting) – is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Traditionally made using rice straw to form the core, but nowadays is composed of boards made of compressed wood chips or polystyrene foam, and with a covering of woven soft rush straw.

Rikka (立花 standing flowers) – a Buddhist expression of the beauty of landscapes in nature through a specific style flower arrangement. The key to this style are nine branches that represent elements of nature, this is a style of Ikebana (生け花, living flowers) or kadō(華道, the way of flowers), which is the Japanese art of flower arrangement.

Zabuton(座布団, sitting futon) – a normally square cushion about 20 to 30in especially made to be used on the foor, but it can be used on a chair as well.

Zafu(座蒲, sewn/cattail seat) – a normally round cushion about 14in in diameter and 8in high when fluffed. Normal placed on the zabuton and is used as a utilitarian accessory or for zen meditation.

Seiza(正座 / 正坐, proper sitting) – A position where you fold your legs underneath your thighs, sit on your heels with your ankles turned outward as the tops of your feet lowered in a slight "V" shape and the tops of your feet resting flat on the floor sometimes with your big toes touching or overlapping.

Kiza(跪座 / 跪坐, kneeling) – A position where you fold your legs underneath your thighs, sit on your heels with the balls of your feet touching the floor and toes flexed forward. (A position impossible for ponies and other hooved anthros because of their hard hooves)

Chabudai(卓袱台 or 茶袱台 or 茶部台) – is a short-legged table used in traditional Japanese homes. The traditional chabudai ranges in height from just 15 cm to a maximum height of 30 cm. People seated at a chabudai may sit on zabuton or tatami rather than on chairs.

Anza or agura(胡座, cross-legged/barbarian sitting) – is the Japanese term for the position normally referred to as sitting cross-legged where you sit on the floor or cushion set on the floor with your legs out in front of you, with the knees bent and each foot crossed beneath the other leg. It is generally considered unfeminine and uncouth for women to sit in the agura or anza position. It's also rude and uncouth in general depending on the situation.

Yunomi(湯のみ, teacup) – a form of teacup, typically made from a ceramic material, being taller than wide, with a trimmed or turned foot. The yunomi is made for daily or informal tea drinking.

Fūsui or fēngshuǐ(風水, wind-water) – Chinese philosophical system of harmonizing everyone with the surrounding environment. It is closely linked to Taoism.(fūsui is the Japanese reading while fēngshuǐ is the Chinese reading)

If you are curious about the styles of magic that were mentioned this chapter click here.
I already have a name in mind for the Kazuki's clan, but I might change if I find a better suggestion.

6.2. Over the Moon.(CLOP)

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Author's Notes:

Reading this chapter is optional, it has only the sex/clop scene. If you don't like it then don't read it, you can continue the story without this chapter. This and the previous side-chapter were supposed to be one, but I decided to split it and place just the sex/clop here.

I might write more of this in the future. I'm going to do my best to write in a way that lets me keep the clop chapters separated from the main story so you all can skip them if you want. Anyway, tell me how I did in the comments below.

Warning, this chapter has Male on female, blowjob, cunnilingus, multiple orgasms, humanoid penis, cumshot (on face and breasts), nipple pinch, nipple sucking, breast fondling, ball fondling, squirting, multi mouths, French kiss and size difference(larger female, smaller male).

Instead of freezing or rejecting Moon Kazuki returned the kiss, their tongues intertwining and fighting for dominance, under normal circumstances Kazuki would be at the disadvantage since ponies had longer tongues than humans and Moon was almost twice the size of an average pony, but Kazuki happened to know the Nan no Kaizō no Jutsu(軟の改造の術, Malleable Physique Modification Technique), the same technique that allowed Orochimaru and Mitsuki to elongate any body part at will.

So it was quite easy for Kazuki to turn the tables as he used his elongated tongue to win their battle for dominance and leave Moon moaning as his tongue slowly explored the black alicorn's mouth at his own pace. Moon was on the losing side complied and by her moans, she was enjoying it, but eventually, Moon pulled back and Kazuki made a point in letting her see his elongated tongue as he slowly retracted it into his mouth.

“Wow,” said Moon, which made Kazuki feel pride, he might not let his emotions get in the way but he was still a male —currently— and he was allowed to feel pride in leaving a lover speechless. Then Moon said, “That was amazing.”

“Before we go any further, let's clarified some things,” said Kazuki and Moon nodded, so he continued, “This might be rude but I'm going to ask anyway. Did Luna had any experience when it comes to relationships?”

Kazuki asked about Luna because until recently her and Moon shared a body, so all the experiences Luna had were shared with Moon, although he suspected that Luna's time as Nightmare Moon was a little blurred.

Moon was a little taken aback by the question and had it been anyone else she might have done something drastic, but it was Kazuki who asked so she answered, “Um, yes both the physical ones and romantic ones she also–” Moon stopped when Kazuki motioned for her to stop.

“Good,” said Kazuki surprising Moon because in her(as Luna) experience males generally don't like to hear that their lovers were experient in the bed, although she remembered hearing some of the maids back then –in this same castle– talk about stallions that preferred mares with more experience. Moon came out of her introspection when Kazuki asked another question, “With just stallions? Or with mares as well?”

“Both,” answered Moon figuring it was best to just give the information he wanted since he must have a reason.

“Other species?” asked Kazuki and he could tell that Moon was getting a little annoyed.

“Just a gryphon and a minotaur on different occasions,” answered Moon.

“Very well, I'm willing to proceed but don't expect me to do what's expected of a stallion in a relationship. I might have experience as one but in the end, I'm essentially an alien, so if you want anything just ask. Given the time period, you came from you won't have a problem being part of a herd ” –Moon nodded while Kazuki talked and used pony terminology to make things clear– “and I might switch bodies for whatever reasons and you probably will have to deal with another female and from another species. I'm also pretty open when it comes to 'experimenting’, so considering all that I said, what do you want to do?” asked Kazuki after he explained some of what to expect in the future.

“Um, tonight let's just enjoy ourselves. We can ‘experiment’ later,” said Moon, which caused Kazuki to raise an eyebrow. Then Moon just let her kimono fall before undoing the bindings on her breasts letting them bounce freely, they were quite big even in proportion to her height, she bind them more to keep them out of the way when training than hide them, which was borderline impossible without magic, not that she wanted to hide them anyway.

Kazuki looked at the pair of round orbs of soft flesh with a purple nipple each, still impressed with the average chest size of most beings in this world, granted almost all of them were stronger than humans so they rarely have back pains. He actually could confirm that since he knew personally, they still get in the way when training though.

Moon unconsciously put her left arm and wing to cover her chest as she looked at Kazuki.

“You are staring,” said Moon bringing Kazuki out of his introspection.

“Sorry, just remembering how those can get in the way,” said Kazuki pointing to Moon’s breasts.

“It still weird to hear a stalli– I mean male to say that,” said Moon correcting herself when she remembered that it actually annoyed him a little when she referred to him as a stallion.

“As I said before, gender is irrelevant in reincarnation,” said Kazuki as he moved his shoulders back and down a bit to let his kimono fall around his waist showing his tattooed upper body before undoing his obi(帯, sash/belt) and let his kimono fall on the floor leaving him only with his light gray hakama(袴). Then he asked, “Any requests for tonight?”

Moon also undid her obi and that left her with only her biker shorts and she also stopped covering herself thinking it was silly at this point. Then she said, “For you to remain your current size, I kinda want to just enjoy our time together as we are.”

Moon then got up and removed her shorts and panties on her way to the bed before laying on it and give Kazuki the bedroom eyes. Kazuki accepted the invitation and undid the himo(紐, strap/string) of his hakama and let it fall on the way leaving him only in his fudoshi, which he undid as well leaving him completely nude. Then he used his chakra to change the length of his hair, so now instead of being as long as he was tall, it would instead be about shoulder length.

As Kazuki was disrobing himself he took in the image of Moon laying on his bed, she was laying on her left side with her right leg in front of her and upper torso propped up by her left arm, also her right wing was covering her torso as she motioned for Kazuki to come with her right hand.

Moon took in the image of Kazuki’s naked body, he was muscular and yet slender, his white skin was completely free of fur with the exception of his mane, or hair as he called it, and eyebrows that were just dots near the center of his face just above his eyes, his nails were carefully done and painted red and there were many tattoos all over his body. All of that combined with his rather androgynous figure and silk-like hair made him quite beautiful yet handsome.

Moon, however, was a little disappointed when she saw Kazuki's tool, it was hanging covered by foreskin instead of being inside of a sheath and was white like the rest of his body with only the tip of the mushroom-like head having a hint of pink being visible while behind it was a sack holding a pair of balls, all in all, it was more normal looking than she expected.

“You know, with any other guy that kind of disappointment would have killed the mood. Was I not up to your expectations?” asked Kazuki as he placed his hands on his hips.

Moon was about to come up with an excuse, but then she remembered that he can feel the emotions of others, so she just answered honestly, “Well, it's not about the size I assure you,” said Moon, which caused Kazuki to raise an eyebrow as she continued, “Let's just say that Luna's imagination, and recently mine as well, have been a little active. I was kinda expecting something more alien looking.”

“How would you even know what an alien’s penis looks like?” asked Kazuki.

“Touché,” answered Moon before noticing something, so she said, “I know you are partially disconnected from your own emotions, but I didn't even make it stand a little, it's almost disheartening.”

“I can control the blood flow throughout my body, very useful skill in combat, so I can get ready anytime. Do you want to get me ready the natural way or you just want to go straight into the action?” asked Kazuki.

Moon just motioned for Kazuki to lay beside her on the bed and he did. Then she grabbed his balls with her left hand and gently started to fondle them as she moved down until she was over his hardening member.

“Just relaxed for now and let me do the work,” said Moon before she slowly coiled her long tongue around Kazuki's member and brought it into her mouth. As she used her tongue and sucked she felt it slowly swell until it was almost hitting the back of her mouth, then she pulled back to see what it was like when erect.

The mushroom-like head was light pink and it had an almost crown-like shape where it met the shaft, from there it slowly faded into white until it reached the base, the white part of the shaft being the foreskin now with visible veins pulsing, all that in an 8in long 2in thick meat rod. Moon grabbed it with her right hand, which managed to cover almost all its length, as she moved her hand up and down she looked at Kazuki, he was just laying on the bed relaxing with his hands behind his head.

“You don't seem impressed. Is it too small for you? I can make it bigger if you want,” said Kazuki, he was aware his current size might not satisfy Moon since she was almost twice his size and he knew from experience that his dick was around the average size for a stallion.

“No, I want our first time to be with your natural size, besides I got used to sleeping with stallions smaller than me anyway. They would be even smaller now that I think about it,” said Moon wondering if that was how Celestia felt since she was the same height as her. Then she remarked, “It's going to be difficult with me on the top.”

Moon stopped what she was doing, looked up at Kazuki before moving up until she was just over Kazuki, then she rolled them both and now Kazuki was straddling Moon’s stomach, so she said, “Here, you can use my breasts as you want.”

Accepting the invitation Kazuki moved up until he was just below Moon's breasts, then a slit appeared on each palm before opening revealing two additional mouths, this was Deidara’s kinjutsu and since its name was never revealed he decided to name it Busshitsu Hōwa no Jutsu(物質飽和の術, Substance Saturation Technique) because of its ability to infuse chakra into substances. So, he grabbed Moon's breast and as she felt his hands squeeze her breasts she also felt something starting to suck and bite on her nipple as he pressed her breasts together and around his cock.

“They are soft but also firm, not to mention quite big,” said Kazuki as he tit fucked using Moon's breast, which she helped by placing her hand the sides of her own breasts and pushing them together.

Despite being a bit rough for her taste Moon was actually enjoying the way she felt Kazuki's member between her tits and her nipples being suck on and/or being played with by a tongue each. This continued for a while until Kazuki started to speed up and eventually, he came. The white cream of his climax landing on Moon's face but most of it landed in her open mouth and as she swallowed she noticed that it had an unusual taste that she couldn't place. Then Kazuki got off of Moon as she sat up and scooped the rest of the cum on her chest with her hands and brought it to her mouth.

“It's strange, it sweet and salty at the same time in a way I like,” said Moon as she finished cleaning herself.

“Glad *pant* you liked *pant*,” said Kazuki while he tried to get his breathing under control, he was not exhausted but his body still had the same physiological response as any other when it came to an orgasm.

Moon looked at Kazuki, his skin glistening with sweat as he recovered the control over his breathing, then she looked down and felt somewhat prideful that her lover was still hard and ready for another round, it was more than she could say for most of her(Luna's) previous lovers.

“Well, now it's my turn to make you feel good,” said Kazuki as he sat up and motioned for Moon to lay down.

Moon just observed Kazuki as he moved until he was between her legs after spreading said legs gently, then he moved his left hand to her pussy and it was at that moment she saw the mouth on its palm, while she was surprised she kept quiet since she trusted Kazuki. Then she felt his left palm, thus the extra mouth, touch her pussy and insert its tongue in her tunnel. In an incredible display of dexterity Kazuki managed to use his fingers to stimulate Moon’s clit and outer lips while the mouth continued to eat her out in his own version of cunnilingus, she moaned at the stimuli and moved her hands to fondle her own breasts and pinch her own nipples.

“The advantage of having more than one mouth, it's very convenient. Isn't it?” asked Kazuki and Moon just nodded as she approached her orgasm. Eventually, she couldn't hold back anymore and came, her own fluids being tasted by Kazuki’s extra mouth, then Kazuki pulled his hand back when Moon's orgasm finished, as he let her recover he closed the extra mouths.

“Now we're even,” said Kazuki.

“One for each before the main event,” said Moon in anticipation as she saw Kazuki line his member with her entrance, then he slowly moved forward inserting his cock on the warm and wet cave of flesh. She moaned as Kazuki slowly entered her, despite his size she was feeling the penetration with far more intensity then she should, why was that?

“If you are asking yourself why it is so intense, the answer is quite simple,” said Kazuki as he hilted himself inside Moon and lifted his right hand for her to see as he reopened the mouth on its right palm, however that proved to be difficult because she was more focused on not screaming by biting her lower lip and closing her eyes.

Moon eventually got herself under control –barely– and looked at Kazuki. She saw the somewhat grotesque but arousing display of that extra mouth licking its lips with its long tongue before smiling, which showed its white teeth with their form and configuration being similar to the ones in Kazuki’s normal mouth.

Luna, and by extension Moon, were dreamwalkers and because of that, they had quite an active imagination, that plus the fact that Moon also had almost all of Luna's repressed desires only made her more excited at the sight of something so unusual, so alien.

“Oh, you like the unusual more than you let on,” said Kazuki teasingly, which caused Moon to blush and try to hide behind her wings, which was pretty much useless since Kazuki was fucking her. This caused Kazuki to laugh, but not long after he calmed down and waited for Moon to look at him. So, to give Moon some incentive Kazuki lowered his right hand until it was just above her pubic area, then he let his long snake-like tongue lick and tease her clit. At that action, Moon immediately felt a jolt of pleasure climb her spine and hit her brain like an electric shock, so she moved her wings out of the way to see what was going on.

Moon witnessed that the tongue of the right hand stopped touching Moon's clit but remained just shy of touching it again but leaving a string of saliva connecting its tip to her clit, she could practically feel the heat from the wet and slimy snake-like appendage. Then Kazuki said, “Good, I have your attention. Do you know what is fascinating and useful about this technique?”

Moon just shook her head, she was still panting and sweating from the jolt earlier, why did she felt so hot all of a sudden?

“It's the fact that I can infuse chakra with these tongue(s). Such as explosion or poisonous chakra into ordinary substances, or in this case elemental chakra into the body of another. Aren't you all hot and bothered all of a sudden? Almost like when you are in heat/estrus?” asked Kazuki.

“What…*moan* did you...*moan* do?” asked Moon as her voice sometimes switching between low moans and a whining tone.

“The tongue and saliva, just had a minor charge of passive fire chakra that acts as an aphrodisiac on your body, just like this,” said Kazuki as the tip of the tongue of his right hand touched Moon's clit again, causing another jolt of pleasure and this time she screamed –good thing the walls of the room were soundproof because it wasn't exactly easy to hide a Royal Canterlot Voice level scream– and he waited for the feeling to pass before speaking, “And it also increases sensitivity, very useful in BDSM, don't you think so?”

“That's unfair,” whined Moon trying and failing to get herself under control, but she managed to speak, “I said to not use your powers.”

“No my dear, you said ‘I want our first time to be with your natural size’, you didn't say anything about my other powers. Besides, it's something my body can do naturally,” said Kazuki as he pulled back his hips until just the tip of his dick was inside the black alicorn's entrance before ramming back in, which caused Moon’s tunnel to contract around Kazuki’s tool. Then he said to himself, “You came already? Note to self: decreased the concentration of fire chakra.”

“Still *pant* not *pant* fair,” said Moon while breathing heavily.

“Well, considering our size difference I compensated by increasing your sensitivity. Either way, I only intend to stop when I'm satisfied, of course making sure that you are satisfied as well,” said Kazuki with a sweet yet sinister grin.

“I regret nothing!” shouted Moon rather melodramatically.

Kazuki just kept smiling as he resumed his activities, he pulled back out before ramming in and he kept that pattern in a comfortable but fast rhythm. Eventually, Moon just held him with her legs as he fucked her sensitive lips and tunnel while at the same time licking both her pussy and occasionally his own dick as it went in and out.

Both of them lost count of the number of orgasms, they were only sure that Moon came almost twice as much as Kazuki and every time she was about to pass out he would infuse passive lightning chakra to wake her up, it was almost like a shot of adrenaline. All that Moon remembered was that her vision was getting blurry by the time they finished, probably the high levels of adrenaline and endorphin affecting her brain.

When Kazuki pulled out he laid on top of Moon and used her breasts as pillows, she just hugged him before turning to lay on her left side after moving her wings to be extended outward behind her. As she laid there spooning with Kazuki she fell asleep soon after she placed her head on the pillow and got comfortable, she was exhausted. Kazuki just used Moon's left arm as a pillow as he felt her breasts against his back and her breathing over his head, he too closed his eyes and let himself fall asleep.

6.3. Fires of passion.(CLOP)

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Author's Notes:

Reading this chapter is optional, it has only the sex/clop scene. If you don't like it then don't read it, you can continue the story without this chapter. I might write more of this in the future. I'm going to do my best to write in a way that lets me keep the clop chapters separated from the main story so you all can skip them if you want. Anyway, tell me how I did in the comments below.

Warning, this chapter has: Male on female(s), female on female, transformation, muscular growth, blowjob, cunnilingus, multiple orgasms, cumshot (on face, breasts, back and wings), squirting, multiple orgasms, threesome, BDSM, power play, sex toys (nipple chains, clamps and weights), vaginal penetration, cervical penetration, abdominal bulge, incest, excessive cum and psychic link or mind meld.

Kazuki woke up first, almost instantaneously his senses were on alert, a product of millennia of experience to minimize the time it took to come in and out of his sleep cycle. He didn't even try to move because he felt Moon hug him against her breasts, so he made a single Kage Bushin without seals and used a Kawarimi to trade places with him. He looked outside with his Byakugan and saw that the sun had yet to rise, so he opened his third eye and activate his Mangekyou Sharingan before using Kamui but at the same time connecting it with one of his personal dimensions, then he disappeared in a spiral distortion centered around his eye while he deactivated his Byakugan.

An hour later

Kazuki returned in another spiral distortion, but he was carrying a tray with a cloche covering the plate and a glass of juice beside it. He looked at the clone that was with his eye closed meditating, then the clone opened his eyes and nodded before dispelling himself while Kazuki placed the tray on the bedside table before moving to the curtains and opening them, which let the light of the morning sun enter the previously dark room.

The cloud of smoke didn't wake Moon as well as the lack of a warm body against her own but the sunlight did, even if it didn't shine directly over her eyes. As she groggily opened her eyes and sat up before looking at the source of light. She saw that the sun was shining through the glass door and beyond it, she could see a small garden on its edges with small plants, the leaves of some of them still with the morning dew reflecting and refracting small rays of light.

“I hope you had a good night of sleep?” asked Kazuki as he placed the tray before Moon after setting its foldable legs to turn it into a small table.

“Breakfast on the bed, you’ll spoil me,” said Moon in a teasing tone as she felt a bit light-headed and somewhat sore from yesterday, she also appreciated the fact that Kazuki didn't even bother to cover himself.

“I'm just being a good host,” said Kazuki before he laid beside Moon and placed his hands behind his head.

After Moon enjoyed her breakfast Kazuki applied his knowledge of anatomy by massaging Moon and needless to say that she melted under his expert hands, the fact that he could apply his knowledge of Juken as well only made the experience indescribably good. Kazuki let Moon just laze around in his room after they took a bath together, they didn't have sex they just relaxed a bit in the water, then he returned to his lab, on the way almost everyone could detect the subtle smell of Moon on him, besides he didn't bother hiding it anyway.

Four days later, earlier afternoon

Today Kazuki was once again in his lab, more especially in the section that was converted into a forge where he was creating more weapons for the clan, he wanted to make sure that they had proper weapons, besides it was also a lesson in creating and maintaining weapons for his clan. Right now he was holding a rod of glowing hot metal with his left hand that was coated in chakra to reduce the effects of extreme heat while he used the hammer he was holding in his right hand to hit and shape the rod.

Those that expressed the desire to either learn or improve the skills for this craft were here, some were using tools to hold the pieces they were working on while others were using their own hands/paws coated in chakra. Most diamond dogs were already acquired with metalwork so it was just a matter of improving their skills and even some of the former slaves were here learning, but most of them had to learn from the scratch. Also, Jewel and Song volunteered to help this lesson by keeping the fire going, some of them took the initiative and were keeping the fire by themselves using either wind and/or fire techniques.

Kazuki ended the lesson by sunset and both Jewel and Song asked if they could spend some time together since he already mated with Moon. The agreement between the three females and later Zecora and Gard was that Moon had some degree of precedence since she knew Kazuki the longest –by a technicality– and in most equine cultures the first to mate was normally the lead mare. While Jewel and Song didn't particularly care about that they respected Moon enough to concede.

Dragons didn't have much when it came to attracting mates, just defeat your rivals by showing off your hoard and strength if the hoard or strength was the most important requirement it was up to the individual's opinion and if they wanted something else as well, that was something that affected both genders. In Jewel and Song’s case, they preferred strength and the fact that Kazuki basically owned them as far as dragon culture was concerned didn't help either, so needless to say that Kazuki brought them to his room after the lesson.

“So what you two want to do?” asked Kazuki as he was about to set up a table when he heard the rustling of clothes as the sisters undid their obi and let their yukata fall on the ground.

“We don't mind, we can do whatever you want,” said Song eagerly.

Kazuki sighed at their eagerness before asking, “Want me to be bigger? Moon seems to enjoy smaller and more delicate looking partners.”

“I don't really mind,” said Jewel.

“I want that, no offenses master, but I never saw the point in trying with smaller partners,” said Song.

“Remind me to prove you wrong,” said Kazuki as he too took off his clothes with the exception of his fudoshi, then he started to stretch his muscles.

“Gladly,” said Song accepting the challenge.

“Anyway, do you want me to just grow or do you want me to use the body of a dragon?” asked as he stopped his stretching and undid his fudoshi.

“Just the size change is fine,” said Jewel.

“Besides we already know what’s like to be with a dragon, so let's try something different,” said Song.

Kazuki nodded before turning around, closing his eyes and let all the restraints on his body loosen, while he could just increase in size he preferred to just let his body return to his original state. His bones lengthen and his muscles bulged as he slowly grown in size eventually he reached a size similar to the sisters, but he kept growing eventually reaching 16ft 5in in height, his figure before was slender and androgynous with tight muscles but now he was very masculine with wide shoulders and bulging muscles underneath his skin, even his facial features remained somewhat familiar but more masculine and prominent than before.

“This should do, I really don't like using my real size since it's too cumbersome,” said Kazuki with a deeper and stronger voice while he moved a bit after he released his aura. The size he was now was the result of his many improvements made through modifications and training, unfortunately, he had to use the same body transformation as Biscuit Krueger from HxH to keep himself in a more manageable sized. Then he asked as he walked to the bed, “Are you two ready?”

When Kazuki didn't receive any answers he looked behind and saw the sisters in the middle of the room looking at him starry-eyed. Deciding to exercise his authority he created two seal tags with his aura before throwing them up, which caused them to stick on the ceiling and from them, chains with shackles shot out down to the unsuspecting and dazed dragonesses.

From each tag two chains came out and they clamped around their wrists, this made the two eep in surprise before they were hoisted up by the chain until their feet left the floor. Kazuki placed his hands behind his back and approached the two struggling dragonesses, as he did so the chains fused leaving on a few links to connect the shackles to each other and with the central link connected to the chain coming from the tags.

“I'm disappointed,” said Kazuki to the squirming sisters, which caused them to stop and look at him, so he continued, “You were the ones that insisted we do this and when I invited you two to come you just stood there dumbfounded. Next time I expect an answer, but for now, it seems both of you need to be... disciplined.”

The way Kazuki spoke sent shivers down their spines, this was what they were waiting for, the chance to feel their master’s dominance over them and it was no doubt in their minds he was responsible for the invisible –to them since they don't know Nen– shackles that were holding them up.

“I'm sorry master I–” started Song only for her mouth to clamp down against her will.

Both Song and Jewel noticed a Chakra Thread coming from the tip of Kazuki’s index finger to Song’s lower jaw indicating that he was the one that assumed control of the red dragoness mouth, the fact that he could assume control of any body part at any time only excited them further.

“I don't remember giving you permission to speak,” said Kazuki before walking to the bed and sit on its edge while looking at the sisters, then he said, “It seems you need a lesson in patience.”

Then Kazuki lifted his right hand in front of him before snapped his fingers, this was just for show since the sisters couldn't see the chains of Nen, and Jewel's chain loosen. Once she was once on her feet she moved her arms a bit, she could feel the shackles around her wrists but she could move them without problems, however unseen to her the chains that lengthening to allow her free movement started to shrink after pulling her arms behind her back, in the end she had her shackles locked against each other with just a few links to connect them and with her hands pointed down, essentially handcuffing her.

“Jewel, come here,” said Kazuki as he motioned for Jewel to come closer and she approached him before kneeling down. Then Kazuki placed his left hand on her cheek and she nuzzled his palm when she heard him ask, “How about you get me ready?”

Jewel nodded before trailing down from Kazuki's face to his pecs, then down his abdominals and finally to his manhood. She couldn't help it but compare it to what she was used to, his member was hanging outside instead of being hidden inside the body and because of that, he didn't have a genital slit, his fist-sized cum factories that were also external, unlike dragons.

“I'm waiting,” said Kazuki.

Jewel opened her mouth and extended her long forked tongue before coiling around Kazuki's member and bringing it inside her mouth. She closed her lips around the soft manhood, as she sucked and rubbed with her tongue she felt it swell and harden inside her mouth, of course, she was careful with her sharp teeth. Eventually, she felt it reach the back of her throat, so she slowly slid up and let it slide out of her mouth for her to see what looked like. It still looked the same as before just bigger being around 2ft long and 4.5in thick, which caused her to lick her lips in anticipation.

The green dragoness nuzzled the rod of flesh and as she did so she also used her reptilian tongue to lick and fondle his sack to please her master but mostly out of curiosity since it was the first time she was the first time she was looking at a mammal’s package, at least she assumed so since her master looked like a mammal. Then she felt Kazuki place his left hand on her head just beside the line of spikes on its center, she appreciated this gesture as she continued her work in pleasing her master.

Kazuki looked at Song as she was hanging from the chain, she was squirming and pressing her legs together, probably imagining herself in her sister's place. Getting an idea he lowered Song back on the ground until her wrists were about eye level, then he created one more tag before placing it on the ground and from it, one more chain came out connected to a spreader bar with a shackle on each end. The shackles on the bar clamped around her legs just before her heels, thus making impossible for her to rub her legs together.

“If I remember correctly you needed a lesson in patience,” said Kazuki firmly to Song as he kept caressing Jewel's head. However he decided to be a bit lenient, so he made their restraints visible.

Song noticed a shimmer around her wrist and slowly shackles and chains faded into existence, then she looked up and saw the tags on the ceiling, she even saw the chain connecting to her sister's shackles, then she looked down and saw another tag and the bar keeping her legs spread. She actually gulped nervously as she thought about the implications of Kazuki being able to create tools out of his own aura –not that she knew what aura was.

Jewel eventually pulled back before engulfing Kazuki's member with her mouth, she didn't stop when she felt it fill her mouth completely instead she let it go down further until she reached the base of the cock. Once there she proceeded to move up and down, not long after Kazuki placed his right hand on her head as well and proceeded to help her.

Song felt the result of her arousal run down her legs as she watched her sister please their master, she could even see that her sister was just as aroused as her. Eventually, she saw Kazuki increase the pace as he held Jewel's head, she saw her sister shudder as Kazuki face fucked the green dragoness and from her angle, she could also see Kazuki's member stretch her sister's throat, the bulge moving up and down her throat as her eyes rolled from the pleasure.

It was very fortunate that dragons could breathe independently from their nose and mouth –very useful in fanning/fueling their flames for long periods of time– otherwise, she would have thought that Jewel might be into erotic asphyxiation, well she might be into it for all Song knew. Eventually, Kazuki pushed Jewel's head hard and kept her there as he came, the green dragoness had a look of ecstasy as she came twice during that rough face fucking, and his now unrestrained and enhanced body blasted his seed directly into the dragoness' esophagus.

Jewel almost panicked when she felt him fill her stomach to the brim but luckily its flow lessen before Kazuki pulled out and shot the last few spurts on the green dragoness’ face and breasts. Jewel was left panting from the experience before she used her tongue to lick whatever cum she could reach, then Kazuki scooped a bit of his own cum from Jewel's body before presenting his fingers to her, which she accepted gladly. The red dragoness was also panting, but with need instead of tiredness since she was so aroused by the sight of her sister being used by their master before being showered in his seed that she would stick her ass up training to get some stimulus and it was quite a sight.

“Look at your sister, so horny that she’s just begging for her pussy to be touched,” said Kazuki before he made a motion with his index finger, which caused the tags on the ceiling and floor to slide toward Kazuki, which forced Song to awkwardly walk toward Kazuki as well. Then Kazuki motioned for Jewel to move aside so Song could stand in front of him before he asked, “Tell me Song, do you want to cum? Do you want me to let you touch yourself?”

Song meekly nodded not used to being controlled like this. Then Kazuki said, “I can't hear you Song unless you say it loudly.”

“Yes, please let me touch myself. Please let me cum!” shouted Song.

“No,” said Kazuki, much to the horror of the red dragoness, but then he asked in a sweet but dangerous tone of voice, “but I think you learned your lesson, have you not?”

“Yes!” shouted Song desperately.

“Then, what you learned?” asked Kazuki.

“Not to be impatient and wait for my turn,” answered Song.

“And...” said Kazuki purposefully trailing off.

Song almost panicked when he asked that, but he alleviated her fears when she heard him say, “Well, one of two lessons isn't that bad, so I'll let that slide for now.”

Kazuki snapped his fingers and another chain came from the tag above Song and it wrapped around her tail before lifting it completely exposing her drooling slit and back door. Then Kazuki created two small marbles in his left hand, which he extended and showed the marbles to Song, then he tilted his hand and let the marbles roll and fall off. But not long after they left his hand and before they reached the ground a small clamp attached to a small chain shot out from each marble and suddenly clamped hard on her nipples, which caused her to cum and at the same time lean forward as much as she could in a futile effort to alleviate the weight tugging her nipples.

The red dragoness was lewdly leaning forward until her spine was almost parallel to the floor, her nipples being pulled by the two small yet heavy marbles attached to small chains, her arms held up by chains and her legs spread by a metal bar. All that combined with the look of ecstasy from her last orgasm made this an incredibly erotic image.

So, Kazuki pointed with his index and middle fingers at Song, then two chakra threads shot from Kazuki’s finger and they went around Song before attaching themselves to her lower lips. Then he spread his fingers, which caused Song's pussy lips to be spread as well and as her lips were pulled apart her still spasming tunnel of flesh was exposed.

“Jewel, would you like to help your sister?” asked Kazuki but it was clear that it wasn't a question.

Jewel obediently got up and walked before she knelt down behind her sister, then she opened her muzzle before inserting her tongue into the red dragoness vagina, from then on Kazuki just watched as Song would thrust her backside against her sister's face in an attempt to coax her to go deeper and faster, which tugged the weights on Song’s nipple clamps. Then Kazuki looked at Song’s vacant stare and wordlessly pointed at his own cock and Song seemed to understand what he wanted.

Without hesitation, the red dragoness lowered her head until it reached Kazuki’s cock and like Jewel before her, she used her tongue to pull it into her mouth. Even with her mind covered by a fog of lust she did what she could to please her master, this continued for a while and in that meantime Song came three more times before Kazuki grabbed a spike from Song’s head crest and pulled her from his cock, she didn't seem to get the message since she continued trying to pull it back into her mouth. In response to that, Kazuki changed some of his aura into electricity and channeled through the weights shocking her nipples, this caused Song to pull her head and scream as she came again.

“You can stop now, Jewel,” said Kazuki as he got up and stood beside the green dragoness as she eagerly drank her sister's pussy juice once again before pulling back and show that her lower face and neck was drenched.

Kazuki snapped his finger and the chains on Jewel disappeared, then he motioned for her to stand beside the bed before making a Kage Bunshin and following Jewel. Once on the bed Kazuki sat cross-legged and motioning for her to sit on his lap, she turned around and with his help slowly let his member penetrate her, her tail moved to the side and eventually she felt the head of his member hit the entrance of her womb, then he pulled her and hilted himself completely.

Song just hang there as the clone kneaded the soft flesh of her behind and she was witnessing the original penetrating her sister from behind. The original positioned himself in a way that let Song see the outline of his member on her sister's belly as she leaned back on his chest not caring about the sharp spikes on her back, both of them facing the still chained red dragoness.

*SLAP*

A wet smack was heard by everyone in the room when the clone slapped Song’s ass, despite being soft and jiggling with the slap her scales absorbed most of the impact, while she did felt something it was not different than a gentle pat.

“Your ass is bigger than your sister’s,” commented Kazuki and while normally Song would love to be complemented –specially when she was told she was better than her sister in something, dragons were a competitive bunch after all– she was too eager to receive her master's seed to care.

“But don't worry, you have bigger breasts,” whispered the original to Jewel as she bounced on his lap taking his member in and out of her womb while he fondled her breasts to demonstrate that fact, but much like her sister, she was feeling too much pleasure to care.

*SLAP*

The clone slapped Song's butt again but this time she felt a jolt of pain and pleasure climb her spine, she looked behind her and saw his hand glowing with chakra similar to the technique used by the medics that learned how to use it, but it was orange and with small sparks on it.

“If you are wondering, it's a modified version of Shōsen Jutsu. It has passive fire chakra increase sensitivity and a little bit of lightning chakra for an extra kick,” explained Kazuki before bringing down his hand again with enough force to break bones of lesser beings and when it made contact Song roared in pleasure.

For an unknown amount of time the clone kept spanking Song’s ass cheeks, each time increasing the sensitivity and shocking her at the same time, but eventually, he stopped using fire chakra and just used lightning chakra. If Song had skin instead of scales her ass would be red from all the slaps, then the clone dispelled himself when his job was done.

While this was going on Jewel was on all fours facing her sister as Kazuki fucked her from behind, her eyes rolled up as her tongue was hanging outside of her mouth as she drooled slightly and the original kept pounding her regardless, he only slowed down to avoid his own orgasm before resuming his pace. Eventually, he stopped holding back and pounded her until he came, he hilted himself inside the green dragoness before pumping his baby batter inside her.

Jewel was so lost in her own pleasure that didn't even noticed that he came until she felt a pressure on her lower belly, her womb was completely filled and more kept coming, most of it escaped around Kazuki’s cock and he unceremoniously pulled out before finishing, thus he covered Jewel’s back and wings in his seed, it was when he received the memories of the clone.

Kazuki noticed that Jewel passed out, so he used his chakra to collect all the cum that escaped into a bubble floating just above his left hand before disintegrating it and despite that climax, he was still hard and throbbing with need, sometimes his regeneration could be such a hindrance. Anyway, Kazuki got up and moved to be beside Song, the red dragoness eagerly following his every move, then he placed a hand on her cheek and like a loyal pet, she nuzzled his hand. After that, he moved behind her and she flinched when he touched her sensitive backside, but the sudden movement tugged her nipple clamps, she moaned but noticed that no sound came out of her mouth.

“It would be terribly rude to wake your sister, so I temporarily stopped the impulses from your nerves from reaching your voice box,” said Kazuki voice inside Song’s head, she looked at Kazuki and saw a chakra thread coming from the back of his head to her own.

Song didn't have time to reply as Kazuki inserted his throbbing hard rod of flesh past her wet lips, she could literally feel the warm tunnel squeeze that hard member as if it was her own and Kazuki could feel the delightful mixture of pleasure and pain from his hips pressing against Song’s abused butt cheeks.

“Pretty nifty, don't you think? The ability to share sensorial input I mean, granted I had to tone down my input to not overload your brain. So how does it feel to fuck your own pussy?” asked Kazuki in Song's mind as he started to move and he was feeling everything Song was feeling herself.

Song stopped focusing on the questions and just revelled in the sensations coming from her own body and the ones coming from Kazuki, she didn't know for how long that lasted, the spikes of pleasure that came and went, the uncertainty of not knowing where your body started and your beloved's ended, but alas all things must end. Kazuki came and Song felt his seed fill her womb, both of them felt as the pressure on Song's womb grew within the chamber of flesh in an effort to contain her master's precious seed, which was futile since most of it escaped and around his member and run down her legs before pooling on the floor.

When Kazuki stopped he dispelled the chains holding Song and managed to bring her to the bed without pulling out, he was about to pull out and return to his usual size when he heard Song through their shared mental link, “Wait! Can we stay like this?”

Kazuki mentally nodded and hugged Song from behind as both of them laid on their side. Song pulled her sister into a hug before falling asleep leaving Kazuki to look over the two sisters as they embraced each other, he broke the connection as he felt Song started to dream, he pulled her closer before placing his hand over her womb and closing his eyes as well.

Despite cutting the connection Kazuki saw the start of Song’s dream, it was him, her and her sister near a clutch of eggs.

6.4. Head of the pack. (CLOP)

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Jewel was the first to wake up and her vision was immediately filled with red, she pulled back a little and saw that it was actually her sister hugging her head against her breasts. Then she felt something press against her belly, so she looked down to see what it was.

Song’s tail was poking Jewel's belly as it moved, Song was probably having a good dream, over the red dragoness’ belly was a white arm and following that arm Jewel eventually saw the body of their master holding Song’s body as he rubbed her belly and by the content smile on her sister's muzzle she was enjoying this.

Jewel managed to disentangle from her sister and red dragoness reached out for Jewel, it seemed she was about to wake up, however she settled down when Kazuki placed a pillow in front of Song, a pillow she hugged.

“She is kinda adorable like this, isn't she?” asked Kazuki in Jewel’s mind.

“What–” started Jewel only to notice that no sound came out of her mouth, instead of panicking she immediately started to look around for the possible source of this phenomenon until she spotted a chakra thread coming from Kazuki and when she followed the thread it led to the back of her neck.

“That's for us to communicate without making a sound, I don't want to wake her after all,” said Kazuki telepathically to Jewel, just projecting his surface thoughts instead of sharing sensorial input.

“Really?” asked Jewel to herself.

“Indeed,” answered Kazuki confirming his previous statement.

From there they both just stayed there for a while looking at Song's content expression.

“Did you know that she enjoyed being like this?” asked Kazuki as he rubbed Song's belly, which caused her to moan.

“I figured as much, she kinda wanted to have a clutch for a while now,” said Jewel.

“Maybe I will give one to her one a later date,” said Kazuki.

“Well, with how much seed she has in her womb I find it hard to believe that you didn't give her one already,” said Jewel.

“I can control every biological process in my body including those happening in the reproductive system, so, for now, I'm ‘shooting blanks’. Unplanned offsprings can be very detrimental when you have many plans in motion,” said Kazuki.

“I see,” said Jewel in a disappointed tone.

“Why the disappointment?” asked Kazuki.

“Well, I would be lying if I said that the thought of having your clutch haven't crossed my mind,” said Jewel, then she felt a hand on her cheek and she nuzzled her master's hand.

After that, they just enjoyed the silence for a while, but unfortunately, the silence was interrupted by Moon who just entered the room.

”Kazuki I th–” started Moon only to stop when she saw the three of them on the bed, but what surprised her more was Kazuki’s new size.

The noise managed to wake Song, she was held down by Kazuki's arm and she immediately noticed that warmness in her belly and something hard stretching her tunnel. She looked behind her and saw Kazuki, not fully awake yet she thought it was a dream and just kissed him.

Moon recovered from her shock as Kazuki and Song were making out, then she contemplated the idea of having a bigger mate, she had always been the bigger one in a relationship the only exception being the one time she(Luna) spent with a minotaur, they were around the same size. As Moon was thinking Song pulled back and was fully awake, so she asked, “Um, can I use your bathroom?”

Kazuki nodded before pulling out his cock and Song clenched her muscles to hold as much of her master's seed as she could, however, that didn't stop a few drops from escaping on her way to the bathroom’ door.

“You know that it's rude to just enter someone else's room like that, right?” asked Kazuki as steam started to come out of his body as it shrunk back to his usual size.

“Yeah, I kinda forgot,” said Moon embarrassingly as she placed one her hands on the back of her head.

Kazuki then got up, walked to the bathroom's door and he knocked on it before asking, “May I come in?”

Instead of answering the door was open by Jewel and he could see that Song was taking a shower.

“Wanna take a bath together?” asked Kazuki and Moon's answer was her undoing her obi and taking off her kimono, shorts, panties and chest binding. While Moon joined Song and Jewel Kazuki went to prepare the bathtub –more like small pool– for the four of them and by the time it was ready the three finished their shower.

“You can enter and enjoy the warm water while I take a shower,” said Kazuki as he started to shower.

Not long after Kazuki finished his shower and joined the three and he was immediately pulled to Moon's lap as the alicorn hugged him from behind, which caused the dragonesses to giggle. Jewel also noticed that her sister would occasionally rub her belly and when asked why the red dragoness said she kinda missed the feeling and the connection she had with Kazuki. From there the four of them enjoyed the warm water for a while before coming out and resuming their routine.

Three days later, afternoon

Kazuki was without experiments to do today and Moon expressed the desire to have some “girl time” with the two dragonesses and the zebra shaman, so he was once again spending time with the younglings. Currently, a zebra filly wearing a loincloth and a blouse was sitting in his lap as he brushed her white and black mane while she played with a doll he made.

Another activity that Moon, and this time Jewel and Song as well, found to be too domestic, thus unexpected, for Kazuki to know such a thing. And again he explained that sewing, stitching and weaving were not that different if they were done with pieces of fabric of living tissue, needless to say, the three were kinda afraid to ask what other domestic skills he developed from more nefarious activities. Anyway, the mother of the filly was sitting beside Kazuki and she was relatively young, probably just reached her twenties and she was currently only wearing a loincloth because she breastfeeding another zebra foal.

“Thank you for the help, Chieftain,” said the young mother in Low Zebrican, a more simplified form of the language learning by most zebras with only a few different dialects depending on the tribe.

“It was nothing, besides I had free time,” said Kazuki in Modern Zebrican, a more educated form of the language used mostly by zebras with important positions in their community. He was also observing Gard as she played with the pups.

“You seem to be rather fond of foals,” said the young mother.

“I just find it fascinating to ponder on the potential of these younglings,” said Kazuki before returning his attention to the filly in his lap and say, “There, now your mane is perfectly done.”

“What do you say now, Desta?” asked the young mother as she burped the foal before gently offering it to Kazuki so she could put on her top.

“Th…thank y…you,” said Desta in Equestrian with some difficulty.

“Your pronunciation needs work, but not bad,” said Kazuki before the young mother took the foal back into her arms after getting up, while she held the foal with her right arm she extended her left.

“Come let's see your father,” said the young mother as Desta got up and held her mom's hand before leaving, however, they stopped at the cave’s entrance and the filly turned to face Kazuki.

“Bye bye, chief,” said Desta as she let go of her mother's hand and used her hand to wave at Kazuki, then he gently waved back and the filly smiled before leaving.

“You really have a soft spot for pups,” said Gard as she sat beside Kazuki and the pups immediately gathering around them. Today there weren't many younglings here on the daycare since he let most of the clan free of training at least once a week, of course not all of them at the same time.

“Are they yours?” asked Kazuki noticing a group of twenty trying to get Gard’s attention and they seemed to be equivalent to toddlers, he could tell that they were her pups because their smells were very similar.

“Yeah, three litters,” said Gard as she laid on the ground and used Kazuki’s lap as a pillow, he just raised an eyebrow but didn't protest. He saw that some of the pups started to climb on her while others leaned on her, one, however, climbed on Kazuki's lap as well and look at the alien before snuggling against her mother's head and leaning against Kazuki, so Gard said, “She likes you.”

Kazuki placed his right hand on the pup's head before running it over her back and he also noticed the ones that didn't find a place to snuggle against their mother decided to snuggle against Kazuki, the result was that he was surrounded by sleeping pups leaning against him and Gard.

“And their father or fathers?” asked Kazuki after connecting a chakra thread to Gard and while she was surprise connecting minds was something that Kazuki trained his clan for.

“Dead, the first died during an attack and the second died on an accident,” thought Gard with sadness and fondness in her mind, but she already moved on from their deaths.

“I see,” said Kazuki through their connection.

The two of them stayed like this for an hour before the caretakers came and the pups started to wake up, most of them didn't waste any time before waking their siblings to play with the caretakers, the only exception being the one on Kazuki's lap.

“C’mon Bryn don't you want to play with your brothers and sisters?” asked Gard as she looked at one of her pups.

“No, stay with daddy,” said Bryn as clung to Kazuki's kimono.

“She really likes you. I'm sorry boss I–” started Gard but Kazuki motioned for her to stop.

“I don't mind,” said Kazuki before he did a Narikawari no Jutsu(成りかわりの術, Body Substitution Jutsu), which was an advanced version of the Henge no Jutsu(変化の術, Transformation Technique) that allowed him to disguise himself down to the cellular level, it was also the technique used by the army of Zetsu to fool the Shinobi Rengōgun(忍連合軍, Allied Shinobi Forces) in the Fourth War. He did this technique to assume the form of the body he had a Diamond Dog and after he was done he teleported his clothes off of his body and looked at the pup that was looking at him starry-eyed and said, “How about we play, then?”

From there Kazuki, Gard and the other caretakers played with the pups for the rest of the afternoon, of course, the pups focused mostly on Kazuki as he played with them or when he laid on the ground and they would climb on his back. It was an afternoon that Gard and the caretakers appreciated immensely, mainly because of his help but also because he was very handsome like a Diamond Dog and spending a few hours with him was a bonus.

“Thank you for helping me with the pups. You seem to like spending time with them when you aren't doing experiments,” said Gard as she leaned against Kazuki.

Instead of answering Kazuki just placed his right hand on Gard's head, started to gently scratch her ears and he was rewarded with a grumble-like sound from the she-wolf. Then she licked his face, he didn't protest since he knew how important it was for Diamond Dogs to bond with their pack members, especially those that were intended as mates, then Gard just kept nuzzling him.

A day later

Kazuki —who was back at his human-like form— and Gard were on one of the private springs that were artificially created, both were naked and right now they were just relaxing before entering the water. The place was a small chamber with a crystal on the ceiling that mimicked the light of the sky, the pool was carved into the rocky floor and from one of the walls came a small waterfall that constantly supplied fresh water.

Gard was laying on a stone table not too far from the pool while Kazuki was massaging her back and she was feeling like she died and went to heaven with the way he could use his experience to carefully knead the muscles and release all the tension in them. The massage plus the light and warmth of the morning sun were proving to be very effective in relieving her stress and one could say it was actually therapeutic.

The she-wolf have been feeling stressed lately, she had three litters and a pack to take care plus the training and the occasional patrolling. Her siblings did help a lot when it came to her pups and nowadays she just had to manage the resources within her pack, however, the training was something she had to deal with. And because of that training Gard's skills expanded considerably before she just knew how to dig, brawl and the basic stuff needed to keep the clan safe, now she could read and write as well as fight properly using both her body and chakra. But she wasn't immune to stress and she was actually glad that her boss offered her the chance to just spend a day with her and relax.

“Thank you, boss, I really needed that,” said Gard as Kazuki disappeared in a puff of smoke revealing that it was a clone. The original was stretching his muscles near the pool showing his impressive flexibility, the way he managed to use his hands to grab his right leg over his back creating an arc, his head was even touching the sole of his right feet while his left leg was bent in front of him and even the way he breathed was in perfect harmony, this was the Eka Pada Raja Kapotasana(एकपदराजकपोतासन, One-Legged King Pigeon/Dove Pose/Posture).

Then Kazuki slowly straightened himself before getting up and answer, “It was nothing, besides less stress means more productivity.”

“Always the logical one,” said Gard before entering the pool, the water reaching her waist after walking down the steps beneath the water surface on the closest side to the entrance, then she sat and let herself to relax with the water now reached her shoulders, she even lowered her head to completely submerge herself before coming back to the surface.

Kazuki just sat on the edge of the pool and let his feet and lower leg into the water, he wanted to enjoy the warm sunlight against his skin, a fact that some would probably consider ironic thanks to his stark white skin. He just opened his eyes when he felt Gard approach him and started to lick his dick.

“What are you doing?” asked Kazuki as he placed a hand on Gard’s head and started to scratch her ears.

“Just showing how much I appreciate this opportunity, boss,” said Gard before resuming her work and soon enough she felt Kazuki’s hard tool hit the back of her mouth, she was thankful for her wolf-like muzzle while being careful with her teeth. Then she pulled back to look at her boss’ tool and she wasn't disappointed, it was roughly the size she expected but unlike a diamond dog it was thicker, lacked the knot at its base and it had a mushroom-like head.

“Does it meet your expectations?” asked Kazuki.

“It sure does boss, but the shape is a little… different,” said Gard as she got up and started to lick his neck and cheek.

“Well, we are different species after all,” said Kazuki as he guided to the taller she-wolf further into the pool while he had to float to keep her at his eye level. Eventually, they reached the reached the wall of the alcove and Kazuki stopped floating and Gard just looked at Kazuki before turning around and placing her hands on the wall and lift her tail.

“No foreplay?” asked Kazuki and Gard just shook her head, then he asked, “Any request?”

“Could you turn into a Diamond Dog like before?” asked Gard and Kazuki just started to shift from his hand and feet as they grew up his limbs torso and finally his head.

Now being taller than Gard he hugged her from behind and gently nipped her neck with his fangs as he gently and carefully brushed his claws on her breasts. As he circulated her nipples with the tip of his claw he slowly inserted his now canine cock into her pussy. She just grumbled to express her pleasure as she felt her boss tool stretch her, considering that he was taller than her then his tools would be a bit bigger than before and it was her first time taking one of this size.

Kazuki thrust and pulled back repeatedly while Gard met his movements, just as they found a comfortable rhythm Kazuki connected his brain with hers using a Chakra Thread and both of them almost climaxed but Kazuki used his willpower to push back their combined climax. Gard could feel her boss halt her climax as the pleasure kept building up and she could also feel her own pussy squeeze his tool as if was her own, that feedback only increased the build up.

Gard felt her arms being pulled back while being held by the wrists, she saw through Kazuki’s eye her own body being pulled toward her boss as he thrust forward hard. The sight of her own ass smacking against her boss’ pelvis was kinda hot and they kept doing that for a while. Eventually, Kazuki let go of his restraint and they both climaxed, both of them felt the base of Kazuki’s cock swell and stretch the base of her vagina just past her lips to its limit as he released his blank cum in Gard’s womb.

Both of them felt Gard womb being filled with the warm and thick cream until it reached its limit, however, that didn’t stop their shared orgasm and in the end her overstuffed womb started to show on the outside but it was almost unnoticeable and she only looked like she indulged a bit too much on food. Now that they were knotted Kazuki just pulled Gard down with him as he sat down and after feeling the warm water over most of their bodies allowed them to relax.

*sigh* “Mating as a Diamond Dog is such a hassle,” said Kazuki as he hugged Gard.

*pant*“How s-*pant* how so?” asked Gard as she recovered her breathe after one of the most intense climaxes of her life.

“Because of this,” said Kazuki as he moved his hips causing Gard’s stretched lips to be pulled along and she groaned as her pussy strained to contain her boss’ knot. Then he said, “It makes difficult to get more than one round done, so I have to prolong the first round as much as possible.”

A silence followed Kazuki’s answer and Gard just shrugged before leaning back on her boss’ muscular torso, then he said as he nuzzled Gard’s neck, “It’s great for cuddles though.”

They stayed like this until both of them felt Kazuki’s knot deflate and Kazuki just asked Gard as she looked at him, “Ready for a round two?”

Gard just smiled and licked her mate’s cheek.

“Of course, boss,” said Gard as she nuzzled her mate, then she asked, “Boss, can I ask something?”

“You already did,” said Kazuki and the she-wolf just pouted, so Kazuki just licked her cheek to appease her before saying, “Sure, so long it isn’t unreasonable.”

“Can I have your pups?” asked Gard, her instincts to proving to be rather difficult to ignore with such a strong and powerful alpha like Kazuki.

“I would rather avoid it for now, are you sure?” asked Kazuki and Gard nodded, so Kazuki sighed before saying, “Very well, but that won’t be an excuse for you slacking off.”

“Thanks, boss,” said Gard as nuzzled Kazuki.

“But since you asked, I better make sure I get the job done, so we won’t be leaving until I’m certain you are with a litter or two,” said Kazuki with a rather wicked smiled as he commanded his body to produce sperm as fast as biologically possible.

Gard gulped as she felt Kazuki move his hips and thought, “Well, I did ask for it.”

7. Finishing touches and perfect opportunity.

View Online

WARNING: MINOR SPOILERS FOR SEASON 7 FINALE!!!!

A month after that dinner, morning, Canterlot

Tonight was the night of the gala, important ponies from all over Equestria and beyond, even some dignitaries from foreign nations were gathering here and right now Kazuki was in the city setting up the last preparation for his plans. Currently he was walking around Canterlot as a pony, more specifically a unicorn mare with light yellow coat, orange mane done in a bun, her cutie mark was a book and her nails were painted red. She had quite a youthful look while wearing plain light blue button-up shirt with the top two buttons undone showing a bit of cleavage from her not too big yet not too small breasts, long dark blue skirt and blue sandal like shoes, all that plus the glasses gave a air of a somewhat nerdy student.

There was a small illusion placed on the glasses to hide the true color of her eyes, which were a familiar solid greyish purple with ripples coming out of the pupil, the Rinnegan. That plus the book she was carrying by hugging it against her chest sold the image of a student and no one paid attention to her. However her serious and confident face along with her well-groomed appearance gave her the air of a noble, a minor noble by the simpler clothes of higher quality than normal but a noble nonetheless.

This was Kazuki controlling one of his spare bodies with the Gedō no Jutsu(外道術, Outer Path Technique) or simply Gedō(外道, Outer Path), it was the same as the Pein Rikudō(ペイン六道, Six Paths of Pain) used by Pain but more refined. Kazuki could control any number of bodies, the only limitations being his chakra, radius and ability to multitask, his radius covered most of Equestria with him in the Everfree Forest, chakra wasn't a problem and with his current level of multitasking he might be able to control up to twelve bodies in a combat situation.

Also unlike Pain’s version of the technique, Kazuki was far more subtle when it came to using the Kuroi Jushinki(黒い受信機, Black Receiver), instead of crudely stabbing them into corpses like Pain did Kazuki prefered to surgically implant them in his spare bodies since as far as the technique was concerned a corpse and a soulless but still living body made no difference.

Kazuki tested many methods of implantation to find the ones that worked best with which species and sometimes body parts, it would after all be a waste to impair the body’s natural ability with the improper placement of black receivers. Of course he never used his spare bodies on the process of trial and error to find the best implantation methods and placement rather he used some “reluctant volunteers” for that, granted almost all of them deserved that in Kazuki's opinion, at least the live ones did.

From the three subspecies or tribes of ponies unicorns were the easiest to implant the black receiver since almost all of their magic was channelled through their horn while earth ponies and pegasi were the hardest since they rely more on their physical attributes. Currently he had two main methods of implantation, his preferred one was to weave very thin wires around the bones and while it was the most optimal it was also very time consuming, his secondary method was faster but less effective and it involved just coating the bones with the black receivers, the second method may cause the loss of some of the natural properties of the bones.

Besides to Kazuki using living bodies was more useful in most cases them corpses, like infiltration for example. These also eliminated almost completely the instinctive response from bystanders, that nagging feeling in the back of your mind that something might be wrong.

Anyway Kazuki's “puppet”, going by the name Sky Glow, was walking around the shopping district, she just looked like a student browsing through some of the stores, but as she passed certain spots she would pull a seal tag disguised as a bookmarker and drop it, which would disappear by sinking into the floor, or place it on a wall discreetly. As she did so she recalled the conversation Kazuki had with the trio concerning the plan.

A month ago, in Kazuki's “Gourmet” Dimension

“Sister?” asked Moon with a look of disbelief, Kazuki wasn't referring to Celestia or Luna was he?

“I'm not talking about Celestia or Luna,” said Kazuki answering the obvious question that formed on Moon’s mind.

“Then who are you referring to, master?” asked Jewel.

“Yeah, as far as I know there is only three alicorns in Equestrian Royalty and I doubt you are talking about the pink one,” said Song not even acknowledging Cadence since as far as the dragons were concerned she didn't prove herself yet, to dragons in general she was just a little better than the average ponies.

“Moon, you gestated inside of Luna's mind until you became strong enough to manifest yourself on the outside world,” said Kazuki hoping that the hint was enough for her to reach the right conclusion.

“So? You make it seem like she is my mother,” said Moon now pondering her relationship with Luna.

“Technically she is your mother since you were born from her, but physically and mentally she would be more akin to a twin sister. However it's neither here nor there,” explained Kazuki.

“Well, it's not like it matters anyway,” said Moon.

“Actually it does, since Luna never solved those issues her repressed feelings will start to gather again and in about another millennia another Nightmare Moon might manifest,” said Kazuki shocking the trio. However seeing that Moon focused on another aspect of his statement than the one he intended he asked, “Do you really think that Celestia could last centuries without something similar happening? Especially considering the emotional baggage she had and probably still has.”

This caused the eyes of the trio to widen in alarm.

“Then..” started Jewel.

“…Sunbringer has a...” continued Song.

“…Nightmare version of herself,” concluded Moon not knowing how to feel about this. She still loved and missed her older sister, but at the same time Moon was angry at her for the suffering that the alicorn of the sun made her go through, in sum Moon still felt betrayed by Celestia.

“Despite the inaccurate name, yes she does,” said Kazuki as he drank a sip of wine, he poured a glass while they were shocked and still processing the recently revealed information.

“How?!” shouted Moon as she smashed her fist on the table in frustration, the stone table cracked. A alicorn had the magic of the three pony tribes, so she had the equivalent strength of multiple ponies.

Kazuki looked at the crack before tapping the table with his left index finger, sending a pulse of chakra to repair it while he held his wine glass with his right hand. Then he asked, “How long do you think you existed inside Luna's mind before manifesting?”

“I don't know, maybe five or six years,” guessed Moon only for Kazuki to shake his head.

“No, it was centuries,” said Kazuki much to the shock of the black alicorn. Seeing her reaction he explained, “You only started to gain a semblance of consciousness about seven years before manifesting, you started to form much sooner than that. I would say when Luna started to suppress and reject parts of herself she didn't like around her teenage years.”

“How?” asked Moon in disbelief while the dragonesses just remained quiet.

“Magic,” answered Kazuki before taking another sip of his Rainbow Fruit wine. Then he continued, “Magic can manifest suppressed traits and/or emotions, this normally occurs in the form of bursts of energy or your magic acting up without you meaning to. You became a collection of emotions and memories that started to act on its own, then started to reflect Luna's suppress feelings and finally you develop sentience.”

“That still doesn't explain how Celestia has a darker version of herself.” said Moon after a long pause to process what she heard from Kazuki.

“She started to develop one about the same time as Luna. This process can happen to anyone with sufficiently strong magic. However most beings don't reach the necessary age and power for it to become a fully incorporeal and sentient entity. What puzzles me is how Celestia managed to avoid the manifestation of her darker side,” said Kazuki with a thoughtful look, however he was also smiling since this presented a unique scenario and that peaked his curiosity.

“How can you even know about that?” asked Song.

“Does that mean that you also have a dark side?” asked Jewel and that possibility sent shivers down the spines of the trio.

“I can detect small fluctuations on Celestia's magic that were similar to Luna's starting around the same time but weaker. No I do not, I don't repress my emotions or memories, I sometimes repress my impulses but sometimes I also would go to one of my dimensions and just let it loose, plus my constant meditation lets me be constantly aware of my mind, that's why I'm strategic and blunt. It's not impossible, just unlikely,” explained Kazuki as he answered the two questions from the sisters.

Then Kazuki thought about that one part of his power that was semi-independent, if things continue like that them it might become independent in the future, that wouldn't be the first time something like this happened. What will he do? Only time will tell.

“Soooo, what’s your plan? It's not like we can just break into Celestia's mind and 'rescue' her darker side,” said Moon sarcastically.

“That's precisely the plan,” said Kazuki causing Moon to facepalm regretting her questions.

Canterlot, present

Those tags would be useful for tonight, however the last place Sky Glow needed to place them was on the red light district and she could feel that it would be troublesome, so she just sighed hoping to not run into trouble but knowing karma it would probably not be the case.

Beneath the Everfree Forest

Kazuki’s original/main body was sitting cross legged on the floor on one of the chambers that acted as a daycare, Moon, Jewel and Song were here with him and they were playing with the pups, all of them had a soft spot for kids in general not just foals and hatchlings, while Gard was laying beside him and resting her head on Kazuki's lap as he petted her head, the four of them seemed to be happier after they made clear what kind of relationships they wanted to have with him.

Gard was currently taking a nap with some pups leaning against her, some were adopted but others were actually from her own litters. She was actually younger than she looked, besides considering that she was the former clan head she probably adopted many abandoned and astray diamond dogs, so the fact that she had at least a litter wasn't that surprising. Diamond Dogs rarely keep a detailed track of their age, but if Kazuki had to guess he would place Gard around her early twenties.

It wasn't unusual for a diamond dog to have at least three or four litters, which had between three and six pups on average, by the time they reach their twenties, especially considering how hazardous their lifestyles were, so their mortality rate was quite high. They actually have a lifespan similar to humans, but they rarely die of old age, however they grow faster than humans, being adults around fifteen.

On a side note, Kazuki chose the new name for his clan, he chose the name based on an old legend from Earth that supposedly contribute to not only the development of Ninjutsu or Ninpō(忍法) but also to many other orders/cults throughout Asia like the al-Hashāshīn(ٱلْحَشَّاشِين‎‎) from Persia –incidentally this was the original for the english word “assassin”– the Sicarii(סיקריים) from Judea and many more, that end the fact that they live in a forest seemed to fit with the name he chose, the name was Forest Ghosts.

Anyway, Kazuki could easily spent time with his clan while preparing for tonight's missions, so he just relaxed while his spare body placed the tags on the red light district. As he looked at Jewel and Song he could see some of the more adventurous pups trying to climb the dragonesses, it wasn't much of a problem because of their scales, so the pups could easily use their claws on them to climb, Song tended to be the playful of the two, but Jewel seemed to gather more pups around her, much to Song’s chagrin.

Looking closely it was possible to see, zebra and pony foals, gryphon chicks/cubs and deer fawns, calves and kids from many different bovids, most of which came from the continent east of Equestria beyond the Celestial Sea, not that uncommon since there was many interactions between the two continents, unlike the continent to the west beyond the Lunar Sea, which remained mostly isolated from the other three landmasses but still traded occasionally –this made hard to get new animes– and the frozen continent in the north beyond the Crystal Mountains, which was a dead and frozen wasteland and curiously the former home of the ponies before spreading to the other continents.

Anyway, these were all offsprings from the former slaves that were now part of Kazuki’s clan, they tried to hide the young ones the first time he visited them, but of course Kazuki noticed all of them regardless of their attempts. However deciding what to do with the children of the former slaves was an inevitability and personally he didn't like separating families, besides willing followers were far more useful than unwilling slaves. He actually had some suspicious when it came to his diamond dogs heritage and he might run some tests later.

Kazuki came back from his introspection when he felt that trouble found him, despite him hoping that karma would let him proceed without trouble, but apparently that was wishful thinking.

*Sigh*

Kazuki sighing caught the attention of the dragon sisters and the black alicorn as well as the recently awaken Gard.

“Is it something wrong boss?” asked Gard as she sat up beside Kazuki, being careful to not wake the pups.

“No, just some nuisances,” said Kazuki with an annoyed tone before saying, “I will deal with them, just carry on.”

Canterlot on some dark alley, just a few moments ago

Sky Glow was on a dark alley on the red light district, why did the last spot had to be in here? Anyway, she inevitably attracted unwanted attention and was approached by some prostitutes of both genders for their services, which Sky refused with cold indifference. They left and she managed to place all the seals but one and of course that was when problems started because just as she entered the alleyway she was surrounded by four stallions wearing jackets and long pants.

“Boys, look what we have here, a young mare all by herself,” said a brutish unicorn with red coat and blue mane and eyes.

“Look at her clothes, she must be a noble,” said another, this one being a pegasus with green coat and eyes with yellow mane.

“Indeed, miss I hope you don't mind if we can escort you back, for a price of course,” said a earth pony with a plain gray coat and eyes with black mane.

“You are in my way, move,” said Sky coldly.

“Yeah, definitely a noble,” said the gray one.

“Well she won't pay us, so we might as well get our reward another way,” said the red one in a lecherous tone.

“C’mon guys, can't we just ask for a ransom from her family,” said the one behind Sky, he was a unicorn with a white coat and light brown mane and blue eyes.

“Don't be a wimp Dark Silver, besides we can just sell her if we don't get enough bits,” said the green.

“Also we get to sample the merchandise before selling,” said the gray one also with a lustful look.

“An underground slave ring then. I'm in a hurry, so if you excuse me,” said Sky taking off the glasses with her right hand and making a Hand Seal with her left. Then she said just as she showed her Rinnegan, “Amaterasu(天照, Heavenly Illumination).”

Suddenly black flames burst into existence and engulfed the green one. That startled the other three and despite his screams no one outside of the alleyway could hear the commotion because of the barrier that Sky sat up when she cast Amaterasu, then Sky said, “Kagutsuchi(加具土命, Additional Tool of the Living Earth).”

The black flame became spikes and pierced the arms and legs of all four of them, this had a unfortunate –to them– side effect of burning them horribly before Sky extinguished the flames, leaving four stallions in a state of shock because of all the pain they were feeling.

“Ningendō(人間道, Human Path),” said Sky as she placed her hand on the head of two of them before pulling out their soul and absorbing their knowledge, then he did the same with another and leaving only the white unicorn.

Instead Sky healed him and erased his memories since he was just trying to enter the gang that the three were a part of, let's hope he will make better decisions in the future. She placed a Genjutsu on him to keep him from wake up until she left this place, then she looked at the three corpses, while she dislike wasting fresh meat she was in a hurry and every second here was a risk of being found, so she burned the corpses into nothing using Amaterasu before walking to the end of the alley and placing a seal tag on the wall.

However instead of leaving Sky looked at her left with those rippled eyes, then suddenly her arm shot up and grabbed something, then the air started to distort until it revealed a blue unicorn with very light blue grayish almost white mane and purple eyes wearing a dark blue long sleeved shirt, dark almost black pants and white shoes, but what caught Sky's attention was the wide hat with a pointed tip and a cape with a light blue gem holding it in place, both of them with blue and yellow stars decorating their surface.

“What are you doing here Trixie Lunamoon?” asked Sky, which caused Trixie to panic since she probably saw what Sky did to those stallions and the fact that the showmare was being held by the neck while looking at those rippled eyes didn't help it either. Trixie glanced at the stallions and it became clear, so Sky said, “I see, you were hiding from them. However that doesn't answer my question.”

Then both of them hear the distinct clicking noise of coins hitting the ground, Sky looked at the sack with coins that hit the ground, then back at the blue unicorn and she took noticed of that her clothes were quite dirty, it was easy to guess that she was performing on the streets for money. So Sky said before releasing Trixie, “I see.”

Trixie immediately picked up the money pouch and started to run.

“That won't be enough to defeat Twilight Sparkle,” said Sky, which caused Trixie to stop and look back at Sky despite her instincts telling her to run.

“How do you know that?” asked Trixie nervously.

“She has a great potential and was taught by Celestia herself. Even if you boost your power she will find a way around that,” said Sky as she approach the nervous unicorn. Then she said when she was within arm's reach of Trixie, “However I can see a hidden potential in you as well. You saw what I did, let me give you the opportunity to reach it.”

That caught Trixie’s attention, her hurt pride still being the driving force behind most of her actions, so she asked in a less nervous tone, “What's the catch?”

“Stop seeking revenge,” said Sky.

“What?!” shouted Trixie angrily before noticing what she did and feared Sky’s reaction.

“I didn't say to give up on it, just don't make it your only priority,” said Sky before offering her hand.

Trixie was torn, the humiliation she suffered on Ponyville was what motivated most of her actions, the reason it was taking so long was because she was saving what little money she acquired to buy the Alicorn Amulet, but she had to spend most of it on food and her time on the streets constantly being on guard to not become another victim or be captured by some gang and used by them was slowly eroding her resolve.

Tired of sleeping with one eye open she lifted her hand and was about to grab Sky's hand, but she stopped and asked, “How can Trixie know she can trust you?”

“At the moment you can't, but if I wanted I could easily capture or kill you,” said Sky which caused Trixie to flinch, but Sky continued without pause, “Besides I know what it's like to want revenge, I know what it's like to be humiliated and worst of all I know what it's like to be hopeless.”

“Did you get it in the end?” asked Trixie.

“No I did not, at least not completely, but I didn't give up on it, I just didn't let it be my only motivation. If the opportunity presents itself I will take it, if not I will just live my life and move forward without being weighted down by my past,” said Sky but Trixie was still a bit hesitant so Sky said to convince her to give up her quest for the amulet that she probably had an idea of where it was, “ Where I'm from I heard once that ‘the ones who seeks revenge has to dig two graves, one for themselves and one for their enemy’ and it doesn't have to be literal. Are you willing to lose yourself to achieve that goal?”

After hearing that Trixie accepted the offer from Sky.

Beneath the Everfree Forest

Kazuki got up, which caught the attention of everyone, but he ignored and placed his hands on the ground and said, “Kuchiyose no Jutsu.”

Kazuki made two summons at the same time, he summoned his current Ningendō and its container. Two puffs of smoke later and at his right was Sky and Trixie while a coffin was on his left.

“You made a wise choice Trixie,” said Kazuki catching Trixie's attention. Meanwhile the new arrivals made the younglings curious, but they kept their distance.

Trixie looked at the strange being that just talked, then she looked around and saw all the younglings and the adult diamond dogs, but what caught her attention was the dragons and the black alicorn.

“Who… are… you?” asked Trixie trying not to panic.

“Ara, we just met…” started Sky.

“...and you already forgot…” continued Kazuki flawlessly before stopping.

“…about me,” finished Sky without any problem or hesitation.

Then Trixie noticed that both of them had the same eyes, even their presence felt the same, although Sky's was a fraction of Kazuki’s. It didn't take long for her to reach the conclusion that Kazuki was the one controlling the mare she was talking to.

“Moon, come meet your new student,” said Kazuki to Moon, who had a annoyed look when she heard that.

Trixie also heard a rustling of clothes and when she looked she saw Sky taking off her shirt, then she shouted, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?”

The shout scared some of the younglings, which in turn caused the adult diamond dogs to growl at her, Sky/Kazuki however ignored and the moment Sky’s back was exposed Kazuki placed his hand on a seal covering her shoulder blades and the space between them. Then the seal disappeared and two wings bursted out.

“Aaaa, much better,” said Sky and Kazuki at the same time with relief in their voices, although it was more noticeable on Sky’s voice than Kazuki's. Then Sky entered the coffin and Kazuki deactivated the Rinnegan and released the Gedō no Jutsu before returning the spare body to its storage in another puff of smoke.

“You can explain everything to her, I’ll be in the lab if you need anything. Also her training starts after the mission,” said Kazuki before he walked away. Then Moon groaned before looking at Trixie who was frozen, probably from the shock of seeing two alicorns.

On the way to his lab Kazuki he passed a few thestrals that were patrolling the tunnels while he reflected on what happened today and this in turn made him think about another conversation he had with the trio plus Zecora after they came back from dinner, incidentally he also thought about when Kazuki found a hidden thestral community.

A month ago, Kazuki's hideout beneath the Everfree

Kazuki used Amenominaka to bring the trio along with himself back to the castle and once there he called some clan members that didn't have dinner yet. They all gathered in the underground village that Kazuki built with the help of the diamond dogs that learned Doton, during the expansion they stumbled upon another large chamber with a village of thestrals.

Apparently unlike in the Prime Timeline, Luna's/Moon’s conflict with Celestia wasn't a simple fight, in this Timeline Luna/Moon actually managed to gather followers and changed most of them to have nocturnal attributes. That and she planned more carefully her eventual confrontation with Celestia, so when she lost not only Luna/Moon was banished but also their followers, however the worst was that Celestia was unaware of the secondary effect of the Elements when she foolishly tried to use them, sometimes he regretted giving Starswirl the seed he created.

The reason that Kazuki didn't detect this village was because the magic of the Elements kept it hidden, he saw a small distortion with his Sharingan not far from where the diamond dogs found a entrance to their village but he couldn't see the village itself, he suspected that nothing short of a Rinnegan would have detected that thestral community.

Kazuki feared that another conflict would be inevitable, but karma seemed to be on his side, because they all immediately knelt when they saw Moon, their faith on the black alicorn was just as strong as their ancestors since they were the descendents of the ponies that sided with Nightmare Moon back before her banishment, they were mostly thestrals, but they have members of the other three tribes that also sided with Moon as well. After that they joined Kazuki’s clan, it was a win-win for them, they got their freedom and goddess back while Kazuki expanded his ranks.

Anyway, Kazuki entered one of the cantinas and unsealed the feast from just a few minutes ago, incidentally Zecora was here since she was helping the former slaves to get settled with their new found freedom while Gard was accompanying the zebra as her escort, they might no longer be slaves but they were expected to train and contribute like any other clan member.

Kazuki sat with Moon, Jewel, Song, Zecora and Gard while he watched the diamond dogs, thestrals, zebras, ponies, antelopes, minotaurs, goats and gryphons serve themselves and enjoy the food, even the changelings were here since they could feed passively from the emotions in the air. Kazuki no longer had to worry about their loyalty since at this point their Hives(s) would considered them to be either dead or traitors for leaving their posts.

“They are quite content, it was like their prayers were answered when you came and told them that they were no longer slaves,” said Zecora in Modern Zebrican.

“At least you are not using that atrocious translation spell,” replied Kazuki using a more archaic yet more noble high zebrican, fortunately Zecora could understand it perfectly but not speak it herself.

“It would have been very rude if wasn't for the fact we can understand you two,” remarked Jewel.

“Yeah,” said Song agreeing with her sister.

After a moment of silence Zecora decided to ask, “Honorable Sage, may I ask something?”

“Must you call me that every time? Besides you can ask me anything,” said Kazuki this time in Modern Equestrian, which Zecora understood perfectly even without the translation spell.

“Do you approve of slavery?” asked Zecora.

“Do you?” asked Kazuki.

“I never liked it myself, but is something I grew up with. It was normal to enslave a defeated tribe, but even we had some rules unlike some of the nations that consider slavery legal,” said Zecora remembering the childhood she spent on the plains of Zebrica with her tribe.

“I see. Well, I'm neither against nor in favour, slavery has its uses, but what matters to me is how someone can contribute. However I'm against unjustified prejudice, especially those based on gender and race and me being on both sides of many different situations only reinforced that notion,” answered Kazuki.

“I personally don't like it at all,” said Moon while the sisters just shrugged since servitude to the strongest was something normal in dragon society.

“That's ironic,” said Kazuki as he raised an eyebrow.

“Why?” asked Moon.

“You would have ruled with an iron fist had you defeated the Elements and I wasn't here,” said Kazuki.

“So?” asked Moon.

“That's almost the same thing as slavery,” pointed out Kazuki.

“No, they would have been my subjects,” said Moon.

“Would you not have given orders that they couldn't disobey because of their fear?” asked Kazuki and Moon nodded. Then he asked, “To the core, how is that different from slavery?”

Moon was about to answer but she stopped to think about it and it wasn't that different, then she remembered how Kazuki said that almost everything can be boil down to “give and take”. Not willing to concede she asked, “How can you know that I would ‘rule with an iron fist’ as you put it?”

Instead of answering Kazuki pointed at his forehead as he opened his third eye, this caused Moon to remember the first time Kazuki showed his third eye to her(as Luna), Celestia, Faust and Starswirl. Faust showed no reaction and Starswirl became fascinated while herself and Celestia freaked out, not one of her brightest moments.

“I can see different Timelines and I saw a few where you won,” said Kazuki and at this point it didn't surprise them that much.

Refusing to lose this argument Moon remembered how Kazuki mentioned that he had been on “both sides of many different situations” so she asked, “Aren't you on the receiving end of slavery before? Then how can you not be against it?”

“Hai, I particularly remember two lives, one when the Caribou Empire was in its period of expansion and one when it was fractured, not good times to be a female reindeer,” said Kazuki with cold indifference, much to the shock of the sisters, Moon and Zecora, the Caribou Empire to this day was known for their extremely misogynistic views. However he said before getting up, “Let's not spoil the mood, that's a story for another day.”

Beneath the Everfree Forest, back to the present

Kazuki sighed as he entered the lab, he planned to do some experiments to relax, some people like to sleep, some people like to play games, some people like to read and so on, well Kazuki liked to read and do experiments, but Hon was busy telling some stories for the younglings since it was their nap time, so that left one option to Kazuki.

“Something wrong boss?” asked one of Kazuki’s new assistants, a thestral, with dark blue coat yellow eyes and almost black bat wings wearing a pair of glasses and a lab coat. He had quite a youthful appearance and a boyish charm with nerdy look, his name was Wild Night.

“It's nothing Night, just passing time until tonight,” said Kazuki.

Author's Notes:

Well here is the chapter, sorry if the story didn't progress much.

Here and here are my inspirations for Trixie.

Anyway, for the clan name, Forest Ghosts comes from 林鬼.
林 – means something like woods, forest or grove
鬼 – means something like ghost, devil, demon, apparition, spirit, stealthy or furtive.
The Japanese reading would be Rinki, but the Chinese ones would be Lin Gui, Lin Goei, Lam Gwai, Lem Guei however it's most known for the reading Lin Kuei, yes the very same ones that were the inspiration for Sub-Zero's clan in Mortal Kombat and it's an actual Chinese legend.

The al-Hashāshīn(ٱلْحَشَّاشِين‎‎) from Persia is the order that inspired the assassins from Assassin's Creed and Servant Assassin from Fate, but only the ones based on Hassan-i-Sabbah on the latter case.

I decided to include some aspects of the Fall of Equestria Timeline, but don't worry I don't have plans for the Caribous to conquer Equestria, they were once a mighty empire, but that was a long time ago and it has already fallen.

Just for reference, I will base the World around this map. The world has –so far– four continents and also the reason it's called Equus is that equines, in general, were the earliest species to develop sentience and magic (as far as history is concerned anyway) as well as the most numerous.

I'm imagining Equestria to be around the US in size or a bit bigger, culture-wise it would be a combination of US and UK, with the continent to the east being the equivalent to Central and Minor Asia along with Africa and Europa while the west is the equivalent to South, East and Southeast Asia plus Oceania and the rest of America. Also much like the real world, their equivalent of the IDL(International Date Line) is west of Equestria so the day "starts" at the continent west of Equestria.

Yes, Kazuki saw the Timeline that would be, or was/is, visited by Twilight during her confrontation(s) with Starlight.

Also, I kinda missed the bat-ponies soooo…

Anyway, I would like suggestions for these continents' names, for now, I'm using Zebrica and Neighsia as place holders. Just like before suggesting a name and explain why and like before no inappropriate or insulting names. Also note that Zebrica can be both the continent's name, which might change, and Zecora's home country, which will remain unchanged in this story.
If you are curious about the styles of magic that were mentioned this chapter click here.

8. Soul searching under the sun.

View Online

Kazuki entered the dojo where Moon was waiting for him after informing Song and Jewel that this mission shouldn't take more than a few hours and leaving them in charge while he was out. He entered the dojo and saw that Moon was sitting on her zabuton and ready to go, so he sat on his zabuton, looked at her and nodded. Both of them took a deep breath and allowed their minds to slowly disconnect from their bodies.

Canterlot Castle

Kazuki and Moon appeared on the tallest tower of the Castle, they looked exactly like they look normally except they were slightly see through. This was their astral projection and they were observing as the guests were arriving, nobles and dignitaries of Equestria and beyond.

“So what we should do?” asked Moon using a voice that couldn't be heard by normal beings.

“I will activate the tags I placed all over Canterlot and that will cause their sleep cycle to become more intense and it will also muddle the Dreamscape, just enough for us to move undetected,” explained Kazuki.

“So you will basically give nightmares to everyone in the city to distract Luna,” said Moon.

“No, just increased the intensity of their dreams no matter the type. Besides this also has the secondary effect of placing a hypnotic suggestion deep within their minds that could be used on a later date,” said Kazuki as he observed with amusement the events happening on the entrance.

Moon saw the smile of amusement on Kazuki's face and she almost did a facepalm when she looked at what was so amusing to him, on the entrance was the Mane Six, but that's not what embarrassed her, no what embarrassed her was the fact that the ponies below started to sing and dance as if they were in a perfectly choreographed musical. This was one of the most embarrassing traits of her kind in her opinion, their propensity to suddenly burst into songs and dances.

“It's always amusing to see the way their inner magic and herd mentality interacts. Don't you think so?” asked Kazuki and his only answer was a groan. They stayed there until the musical number was over and when it came to an end Kazuki said, “Ok, that’s enough stalling. We must go to the Shadow Realm.”

Moon nodded and they disappeared from there, at least that was what seemed to have happened from the perspective of those that were capable of seeing them –not that there was anyone capable of seeing them there at the moment– because from Moon and Kazuki's perspective the world around them changed.

Their surroundings still looked like Canterlot but with the colors faded and drifting out of their respective objects like something between oil or ink in the water or smoke in the air and the guests now looking just as faded but with their outlines surrounded by a glowing smoke/oil like aura the left a faint trail, that was another layer of the Mindscape known as Shadow Realm or Shadowscape, the “shadow” of the physical realm.

Kazuki went through a sequence of hand seals before ending in the Dragon Seal and say, “Musōinjin(六蒼陰陣, Six Blue Yin Formation).”

A blue hexagonal barrier was erected around Canterlot, however it was only visible in the Shadowscape and thus went unnoticed by the inhabitants and visitors in the city. This was a technique he made based on another barrier, the Musekiyōjin(六赤陽陣, Six Red Yang Formation) but as a spiritual barrier instead of a physical one.

After setting the barrier Kazuki jumped from the tower and Moon wordlessly followed him. They phased through the ceiling and the rooms below until they landed on a hallway and from there they walked to the ballroom. They passed a few guards that were patrolling the halls, however they were not in the physical plane, so they went mostly undetected, but few of them seemed to have good instincts and felt that something was there even if they couldn't see the invaders, so just to be sure Kazuki and Moon hid anyway.

“It still amazes me how much there was to the Dreamscape that I didn't know,” said Moon as she and Kazuki walked on the ceiling toward the ball room, then she stopped when she saw a shadow near one of the corners and asked, “What was that?”

Kazuki looked around before activating his Rinnegan, the he reached out and grabbed something, then the air started to distort until a grotesque creature made of shadows with multiple eyes glared at Kazuki as it trashed the surroundings only for it to be back to normal a moment later, then Kazuki released the creature and it darted to another dark corner and disappeared.

“Let's go,” said Kazuki as he continued to walk as if nothing was wrong, but kept his Rinnegan activated just in case.

“What about that creature?” asked Moon still looking at the corner that it disappeared.

“It's just a natural inhabitant of this layer, a shade born out of negative emotion(s) left behind by someone. The closest equivalent would be the nightmares in the Dreamscape,” said Kazuki and Moon nodded wanting to focus on the mission for now.

When they arrived on the ballroom they saw the glowing silhouettes of the guests, most of them were ponies but it was possible to see few minotaurs, gryphons, goats and zebras, but the brightest silhouettes were the Mane Six. Despite that fact they almost missed Twilight since she was standing beside an even brighter silhouette, this was Celestia.

“To think those six had such potential,” said Moon understanding the significance of their brighter auras.

Ignoring Moon’s statement Kazuki carefully weaved around the room to reach Celestia, Moon would have questioned his paranoia since they could just phase through the guests, but then she saw some guests look around in search for something before briefly stopping on them. Seeing that some of the guests had affinity for mind magics be they minor or greater she conceded and just followed his lead.

Eventually they arrived on the center of the staircase where Celestia was greeting the guests and Twilight was beside her looking bored, they slowly circled around the two ponies, but suddenly Kazuki motioned for them to stop.

“Is it something wrong my faithful student?” asked Celestia, her voice a little distorted by the “air” of the Shadowscape, probably sensing something, but it was more out of instinct than affinity for mind magics since her affinity was to the sun and thus Yōton(陽遁, Yang Release), which was associated more with the physical realm instead of the spiritual.

“Nothing, I just thought I saw something in the corner of my eye,” said Twilight as she unknowingly stared into Kazuki's Rinnegan and was none the wiser.

Kazuki offered his right hand to Moon and placed his left index finger over his lips, after realizing what he meant she grabbed his right hand with her left. Then he slowly reached out to Celestia from behind freezing every time he saw Twilight's eye twitched at his direction, the shadows one could see on the corner of one's eye were more often than not brief glimpses into the Shadowscape after all.

When Kazuki managed to touch the back of Celestia's head he fell forward as of Celestia suddenly became a hole in reality and Moon was pulled with him. Now they found themselves falling into what seemed an endless abyss and it was this moment Moon let go of Kazuki's hand.

Both of them did a flip and landed on the surface of wherever they were, then Moon looked around and saw the ballroom. Indeed they landed in a exact replica of the ballroom but with normal colors indicating that they were back into the real world, however the place was empty.

“Wha-” started Moon but she was cut off by Kazuki raising his hand in a clear sign for her to stop talking. Then he deactivated his Rinnegan and activated his Byakugan to look around them.

“It's safe to speak,” said Kazuki as he deactivated his Byakugan, however he activated his Rinnegan again but this time on his third eye, which left his normal eyes free to use the Byakugan if needed. Using two Dōjutsu on the same eye could be quite straining and using just one Byakugan would only widen the blind spot on his vision.

“I thought we would invade Celestia's mind, why are we back into the real world?” asked Moon no longer bothered by Kazuki's third eye looking around the room independently from his main eyes.

“Look closer,” said Kazuki and Moon did so. The first thing she noticed was that it was day instead of night, at first she thought it was just her eyes still getting used to the light of the real world, then she saw that the room was without any decorations both the usual ones and the ones placed for the Gala. However the most telling fact was when she looked out the window she saw the sky like it was in the day, but when she looked down she saw a huge jungle and the castle was on a floating island.

“We are in Celestia's mind, it's just that it took the form of a place she is familiar with and considering that she lived in this castle for millennia…” said Kazuki before trailing off and letting Moon filled the gaps herself.

“I see,” said Moon as she followed Kazuki as he entered the hallway.

“Anyway, we have a few hours to accomplish our objective since this place works with a similar logic to dreams,” said Kazuki and Moon nodded.

“So, were to?” asked Moon.

“Probably the dungeon since this place is more metaphorical than real so everything here is up to Celestia's own interpretation, so we–” Kazuki was started to explain but stopped turned around and activate his Byakugan. Immediately he jumped up and used his hair to wrap around Moon waist pulling her with him, the moment she opened her mouth to express her surprise some of the free hair wrapped around her lower face.

Moon struggled and glared at her captor that was crouching on the ceiling and looking “up” with his Byakugan, he placed his right index finger over his lips before pointing “up”. When she looked down she saw a pair of guards walking down the hallway and the two infiltrators stayed silent until the patrols passed, then Kazuki jumped down and gently lowered Moon before unwrapping his hair.

“Did you really have to go all tentacle on me?” asked a little annoyed and bit curious about the possibilities that presented for their “activities” in the bedroom. Then she asked, “Who are those guards anyway?”

“They are kinda like constructs, not unlike in a dream. They are projections of Celestia's experience and defenses, if anyone sound the alarm then Celestia will immediately be aware of our presence. However their presence is a good sign, the more well guarded a location or item is the more important it's for Celestia,” explained Kazuki before doing a hand seal and be engulfed buy a puff of smoke.

When the smoke cleared Kazuki was wearing somewhat loose black clothes with the end of the sleeves wrapped and tucked inside a pair of black vambrace or arm guards, the cuffs of his pants were tucked inside his Jika-tabi(地下足袋, tabi boots) and his head covered by a mask with a opening only for his three eyes showing his still active Rinnegan and Byakugan and on the back of the head for his hair, which was done in three braids with a kunai on the end of each braid that were also strapped onto his belt, a belt that had two ninja pouches on each side. All in all what you would think a shinobi shōzoku(忍び裝束, shinobi attire).

“You should change to your infiltrator gear,” said Kazuki and Moon just reached into her pouch on the right side of her belt and took out two vambrace, then she just rolled the sleeves of her kimono around her forearm before placing and strapping the vambrace over it. Kazuki just raised an eyebrow and commented, “That's very practical of you.”

“This coming from someone who wears expensive clothes most of the time,” snorted Moon as she turned her mist like mane into a bun and doing the same with her tail as they proceeded to the dungeon through the seemingly deserted hallways.

“And as I said before, I appreciate art and that also includes clothing and it so happens that all clothes I use were made by my own hands,” said Kazuki in a almost indignant tone.

“It still amazes me how many domestic skills you have and how frivolous they are, despite their more nefarious origins,” said Moon shivering in the end.

“And as I said before sewing, stitching and weaving can work as easily with living tissue as they do with fabric,” said Kazuki casually, which once again caused Moon to feel shivers running down her spine.

Kazuki motioned for her to stop before they silently climbed on the walls and reached the ceiling where they saw two guards on each side of the entrance to the dungeon. Moon nodded and pulled a face mask that was hidden around her neck over her lower face before crawling along the ceiling keeping herself there using the tips of her fingers and tip of her hooves like Kazuki taught her, while at first she found somewhat humiliating to crawl like this she couldn't deny its effectiveness.

Moon moved until she was right over the guards, the she extended her mane down and like a snake she coiled it around their mouth and neck before constricting it until a sickening crack was heard. Just as their limp bodies were hanging they slowly started to fade until they disappeared, then Moon retracted her mane and remade it into a bun before coming down and met Kazuki in front of the door.

“Is it really ok to kill them?” asked Moon as she checked the door for traps.

“Hai, most of the projections anyway. They are kinda like the nameless faces in the crowd and she would only noticed that something was wrong if she was either meditating or if she wasn't distracted, however we have to avoid contact with the more important ones, the ones she knows and has a personal connection with,” said Kazuki and Moon nodded before giving a ok.

They opened the heavy door and looked at the dark corridor with empty prison cells on both sides and Kazuki said, “Ok, that's unexpected.”

Real World, a few minutes later(many hours later in the Shadowscape)

Celestia was entering the donut shop to have a snack with the Mane Six and Spike after the Gala, which the young mares made more interesting in Celestia's opinion, since they had a little bit of time before returning to Ponyville and before she would retire for the night, for some reason she felt a little more tired than she expected but she just brushed that off.

“That was the best Grand Galloping Gala ever!” said Celestia enthusiastically as she sat on a free seat on the big table.

“Princess Celestia!” shouted everyone in surprise.

“Pardon me, Princess, but tonight was just awful,” said Twilight with sadness evident on both her tone and face thinking she disappointed her mentor.

“Oh, Twilight. The Grand Galloping Gala is always awful,” said Celestia as she thought on the yearly event she participated for millennia since the founding of this city.

“It is?” asked Twilight just as confused as everypony, Spike on the other hand was just enjoying his donuts.

“That is why I was thrilled you were all attending. I was hoping you could liven things up a bit. And while the evening may not have gone as you planned, I'm sure you'll agree that in the end it didn't turn out so bad for this group of friends,” said Celestia as she clapped her hands together and smile, but on the inside she remembered the few beings she truly called friends over the ages.

“You're right, Princess. Friends have a way of making even the worst of times into something pretty great,” said Twilight phrasing in the same way she did her friendship reports.

“Yeah!” shouted Rainbow before placing her hands on the table and getting up of her chair, then she continued, “Hanging out with friends!”

“Talking!” shouted Fluttershy, which was normal volume for everyone else.

“Laughing!” shouted Pinkie as she got up on the table not bothered by her stained dress.

“You mean doing exactly what I wanted to do the whole time?” asked Spike with a smug tone after swallowing the donut he was eating.

“Yes, Spike. You were right,” said Twilight rolling her eyes but smiling at her little brother/assistant.

“As horrible as our night was…” started AJ.

“...being together here has made it all better,” finished Rarity without being bothered by her strained dress as well.

“In fact, it's made it…” started Pinkie back on her chair.

“...the best night ever!” finished the Mane Six getting up and toasting with their glasses of soda.

Celestia just watched as her pupil and her friends laughed together and that made the princess think about ages long gone when she did the same or when she watched her own mother and her mentors do the same in ancient times.

“Are you alright, Princess?” asked Spike noticing that Celestia was zoning out.

“Yes Spike, just old memories,” said Celestia to the baby dragon in a tuxedo before addressing her pupil and ask, “So, how is your stay in Ponyville treating you, my faithful student?”

“Well…” started Twilight a little embarrassed but she immediately started talking about all the excitement that she experienced over her stay in the small town.

Celestia listened to her pupil’s tales with comments by the rest of the Mane Six and Spike, but eventually she had to ask, “Have any of you made contact with the mage that set up shop in the Everfree Forest?”

“No, but I met some of the diamond dogs in the tunnels and they just made sure that I wouldn't enter the tunnels that led to their den, aside from that they let me and Spike collect gems in peace. I even managed to have a civilized conversation with some of them, and let me say that they are far more educated and well-mannered them those brutes that foalnapped me,” said Rarity after a while.

“Mah sister also said that Zecora knows whoever is there,” said AJ.

“He also has two dra– dragons, huge, gigantic, terrifying, enormous, teeth-gnashing, sharp-scale having, horn-wearing, smoke-snoring, could eat a pony in one bite, totally all grown-up dragons,” whispered Fluttershy as she trembled and tried to hide under the table as she listed the features of the dragons.

The group got apprehensive and Rarity comforted the fearful pegasus before mentioning, “Also Sweetie mentioned that Zecora calls him ‘Honorable Sage’.”

“Honorable my flank,” mumbled Rainbow still annoyed at the diamond dogs and whoever was commanding them.

“A Sage!” shouted Twilight after doing a spit take with her soda all over Pinkie, who just used her mane as a windscreen wiper on her eyes and stood there as if nothing was wrong. Then Twilight continued, “Why nopony told me he was a sage?!”

“What's the big deal egghead?” asked Rainbow.

“A Sage is someone who managed to achieve 'balance and oneness with nature’ and they used not only their internal reserves of magic but also magic from the environment directly and they are incredibly rare,” said Twilight before going on and on about everything she read about sages.

“At least this explains his reclusiveness,” said Celestia and seeing the look of confusion on everyone, except Pinkie, she explained, “Sages are more often than not hermits preferring to be in constant contact with nature. Then it's no wonder he wants to remain isolated.”

Rarity looked at a clock on the wall of the store and saw how late it was, so she said, “I hate to interrupt you Princess, but we better go now if we want to catch the last train to Ponyville.”

After that the Mane Six said their farewells to the Princess and Donut Joe, also thanking the stallion for allowing them to stay that late in his shop. Celestia also said her farewell to the stallion before heading to the castle to retire for the night, she might catch her sister before her nightly patrol on the Dreamscape and after her court –more like free time to practice modern equestrian.

Celestia's Mindscape, few more hours later(few more minutes on the real world)

Moon was groaning in frustration as she paced around the library of the castle. Then she said, “It has been a day, more than a entire day in fact! We checked the dungeon only to find it empty, then we checked the vault only to find some secrets but nothing major, then we checked the kitchen and found a secret passage with only a few embarrassed and/or kinky memories and fantasies involving cake, then we checked the towers, the barracks, the armory and lastly the library!”

Moon threw a book in frustration but Kazuki, who was without his mask, caught before it could hit anything and placed it back on the shelf while Moon continued, “We found some secret passages that led to memories and similar things, but still no sign of the darker side! You even had to use that dōjutsu after we managed to avoid the guards!” then Moon sighed and took a few deep breaths to calm down before asking, “Where is she?”

Kazuki looked around to make sure there was nothing hidden before moving on, the eye on his forehead still supporting the Rinnegan but his normal eyes were no longer lilac colored with bulging veins around its sockets and instead were very normal looking but the iris was a solid almost glowing cyan color, this was the Jōgan(浄眼, Pure Eye) a evolution of the Byakugan and capable of everything its predecessor could do plus the ability to “search for the flaw in everything”.

“Indeed, we checked everything that was heavily guarded. I'm seriously considering in declaring this mission a failure, but at least we accomplished the side-objectives,” said Kazuki before he placed his right index finger on his chin while having a thoughtful look, “It's unlikely that she managed to balance herself with her darker side, so it means it's locked in a placed that there is no need for guards. Where in this castle she could hide something and be able to easily check it and also be sure that it won't escape?”

After some thought Kazuki managed to reach a conclusion, so he informed Moon after putting his mask back on, “There is one last place we can check, if it's not there we consider this retrieval mission a failure.”

“Were to?” asked Moon as she followed Kazuki out of the library.

“Celestia's room,” answered Kazuki.

From there they proceeded through the hallways and sure enough they noticed a increasing number of guards the closer they got to the wing where Celestia's room was located, it was easy to avoid them but they had to kill two guards on the door of the room. They died when Kazuki fixed one of his braids on the ceiling before coiling it around one of his legs and like a acrobat of a circus he lowered himself, then he stabbed the guards in the heart from behind with the kunai on the tip of each of the remaining braids.

From there Moon proceeded to temporarily disarm the spells present on the door, which took another hour, before opening and entering. The place was a big room, very similar to Kazuki’s own room in his castle, but Celestia's room had a custom made four-poster bed, on the right side was a fireplace and left side was a desk and shelves with books and scrolls.

In front of the fireplace was a purple carpet with some cushions, on the right of the fireplace was a window, after the entrance was a tapestry depicting Luna and Celestia and seemed to be from before her banishment, after the desk and shelves was a vanity mirror and beside it a door that probably led to a bathroom and lastly after the bed was another door but this one leading to a balcony.

They search every nook and cranny of the room and unlike before they didn't find anything not even with Kazuki's Jōgan. They were about to give up when they felt and saw the world around them shimmer for a brief moment.

“What was that?” asked Moon.

“Celestia is asleep, now if we were to be found out we would have to deal with both Celestia and Luna,” answered Kazuki.

“We better cut our losses,” suggested Moon.

Kazuki was about to agree but a second shimmer passed indicating that Celestia’s mind was starting to connect with the Dreamscape and soon she would start dreaming, but that might take a few hours in the Shadowscape’s time, however as he was turning he noticed something near his blind spot the moment the second shimmer happened. Instead of answering Moon he crouched down beside the bed and reach into its shadow managing to go past the floor.

“It seems we found it,” said Kazuki before laying on the ground, grabbing the edge of the shadow and pull himself under the bed.

Moon went to the other side and did the same with a bit more difficulty since her breasts were pressing on the ground and she felt her butt brush against the frame of the bed.

Once they were both under the bed they were both hanging from the edge of the square opening under the bed, they looked down and saw a black abyss, then they look at each other and nodded before letting go of the edge. They fell, but not long after they landed on the floor and by the sound end feeling they landed on a platform of stone. The place was pitch black outside of the square illuminated by the light coming from the entrance, them the entrance closed.

Torches started to light up revealing a hexagonal room with a prison cell on each facet, there was also two more levels above them, apparently with six more cells, with one cell on each facet.

“Well well well, look what we have here,” said a voice from one of the cells.

“So that's how she managed to keep her darker side under control,” thought Kazuki to himself.

Both Moon and Kazuki looked at the source of the voice and from the darkness of the cell a pair of yellow slitted eyes with a dark red almost black sclera could be seen staring at them.

9. Sunlight reflected, refracted and distorted.

View Online

WARNING: Some swearing on this chapter.

Kazuki and Moon looked at the glowing eyes in the darkness of the cell and he created a Rasengan(螺旋丸, Spiralling Sphere) with his white chakra, not strong enough to use as an attack but bright enough to illuminate the place. Then he encased the Rasengan inside as sphere of magic –he would have used aura but life-force based energies didn't work that well in a astral realm without the real body and his chakra was seriously weakened and unbalanced here– before letting it float in the center of the prison illuminating all the cells, including the one in front of them.

In the cell in front of them was Celestia but her mane and tail were like fire, her coat was still white but the one could see a hint of “warmer colors” in it and her exposed cutie mark was like Celestia's but with a orange background similar to Moon's blue moon with a dark purple background. She was wearing essentially only a bikini and boots with a crown/helmet, her top covering her breast and the bottom only covering what was necessary to be considered clothes, all in all showing her slender figure.

“What is up with female darksiders being borderline exhibitionists?” asked Kazuki aloud as he placed his hand on his face doing a facepalm, of course being careful with his third eye.

Moon raised an eyebrow just before she heard the figure in front of her say, “What? If you don't like it, well that's your problem.”

“See, I told you to wear less revealing clothes, but instead you thought it was better to wear that. At least it's not as bad as that bimbo,” commented another voice, this one coming from the neighboring cell on the right of the one Moon was looking at.

”What–” said Moon in surprise when she looked at the cell, there she saw another Celestia, she was identical to the real Celestia but she was wearing a golden armor, her arms were covered by golden plates, on her shoulders had golden pauldrons and her sides were covered by golden armor, her wings and her front were relatively exposed from her neck to her waist but with the armor on the side covering her nipples and wearing black pants.

“Shut the fuck up you cunts! I'm trying to sleep!” shouted another voice this one beside Moon, the cell at the right to the one with the armored Celestia.

Moon turned and saw another Celestia, similar to the first but her slitted eyes were deep purple iris and normal sclera, her mane was a blue flame like energy that reminded Moon of the plasma contained in a star. She was laying on the bed inside the cell, Moon briefly saw her eyes when she sat up and yelled before laying back down.

“No, you shut up! Don't you see we have guests!” shouted another voice from the cell beside the plasma maned one.

“What are you yapping about?” asked the plasma maned one before looking at Moon and Kazuki, then her eyes widen before becoming more focused, then she threw her blanket showing a bikini similar to the first Celestia they saw but blue and silver instead of red and gold, then she run to the bars before shouting in a angry tone while trying to reach Kazuki with her arms, “Kazuki!”

*Roar*

Everyone present heard a roar followed by heavy thuds of someone hitting the metal bars, they looked at the source and saw another Celestia with her mane like fire, however she was more muscular, had black coat made of black stone with orange and yellow cracks, her eyes glowing solid orange like the molten magma under her skin and her cutie mark seemed to be made and blend with the cracks on her skin.

“Enough!” shouted Kazuki before letting loose his chakra causing the place shake, fortunately this prison was isolated from the rest of Celestia's mind, originally this separation was to keep Celestia's darkness from escaping and take over but that also meant Kazuki could let loose his power without worrying about being detected.

Then Kazuki asked, “Now that we’re all calm –” then he looked at the black and orange Celestia and said, “– somewhat, we can have a civilized conversation.”

“What's going on? I thought there we were supposed to find only one prisoner,” asked Moon.

“Normally you would be right, but Celestia not only isolated her darker side but she also fragmented it. So instead of dealing with one powerful entity she imprisoned many weaker entities,” explained Kazuki to Moon before he asked loudly, “Why don't you all introduce yourselves?”

“I'm Daybreaker and I represent Celestia's urge to just bathe the world in glorious sunlight,” Daybreaker introduced herself in a regal manner but her speech slowly assumed a more dreamy tone in the end as she smiled showing her sharp teeth similar to Moon's.

“I'm Tyrant and I represent Celestia's desire to dominate what rightfully belonged to her with an iron fist,” said Tyrant with conviction while her armor reflected the light of Kazuki's floating rasengan, which gave her a more regal and imposing look.

“I'm Solar Flare, I'm all of that stuck-up cunt’s anger,” said Flare as her mane output increased at the mention of Celestia, more or less. Then she futilely tried to reach Kazuki again, she probably had Celestia's anger towards Kazuki as well.

Then all of them heard another voice coming from the cell whose occupant they haven't seen yet and it was in a sultry and sweet tone, “I'm that*moan* beautiful and*moan* bountiful mare’s hedonistic side.”

They saw another Celestia but with a light gray somewhat pinkish mane that was glittering, this one with bigger breast and wider hips, even her butt was bigger, rounder and softer if the ripples that could be seen on it by the way she moved was any indication, she was wearing a very skimpy bikini that barely covered her nipples, in fact it was possible to see the edges of her areolas, and seemed to be a size or two too small for her and was about to snap, that along with a G-string. One hand was being licked by her while the other was inside her G-string, she even pressed her breasts against the bars while she was standing her, masturbating and giving the bedroom eyes to both Kazuki and Moon.

“You forgot your name, you dumb bimbo,” said the inmate inside the cell at the right of Flare’s.

“I did?” asked the masturbating mare with a confused look before smiling again and her default expression seemed to be that of a ahegao(アヘ顔, panting/orgasm face), then she said with a trembling voice that was practically dripping with need, “Well… I don't really have a name, but everyone here calls me Molestia.”

“At least your visit is a good distraction from that,” said the inmate inside the cell at the right of Flare’s as she pointed at Molestia with her thumb as she sat in on her bed with her legs crossed. Then she say, “My name is Holocaust by the way, I'm the urge of our host to destroy everything.”

This Celestia had a black and wavy mane with red lines halfway through the end, it wasn't possible to see her body because she was wearing a cloak, however it was possible to see her legs covered by loose gray pants. Her eyes were blood red like the tips of her mane, in fact if you look closer it looked like blood running down her mane that gave a feeling of black smoke, not too dissimilar to what you would see when burning corpses.

“The one in the cell on my left represents our host irrationality, more accurately one you would expect when blind by strong and basic emotions. Don't worry she is just a dumb brute we call her Monlestia,” said Holocaust.

“Me… not… dumb. Me…Nova… not easy… speak,” said Nova in response to Holocaust statement clearly struggling to hold herself and even more so to speak.

“Oh, so you are not just a brute,” said Holocaust in amusement.

Kazuki looked at the six inmates of the lowest level of the prison before looking up and wondering why the inmates of the higher level didn't react.

“If you are wondering why they didn't say anything it's because there is a spell that doesn't allow the higher levels to interact with the lower ones,” explained Tyrant.

“We can still hear them when they speak though,” commented Holocaust.

“I see. I'm going to speak with them first, then I will tell why I came,” said Kazuki to Holocaust before turning to Moon and say, “Let's go.”

Moon nodded, then they both jumped and when they reached the second floor Kazuki shot out multiple chakra threads to the handrail in front of the circular walkway on the edges of the room and in front of the cells. Then he created another Rasengan to illuminate this level as well.

“Oh, it's you,” said a sad voice and the two intruders looked at its source while they stood on the strings.

The source was a Celestia sloped against the back wall, she had black lines on her mane that was straight and spilling on all directions, she was wearing a short black dress with a veil over her face but that didn't hide her face stained with black tears, a result of crying and the make-up she was wearing, she was also wearing pants, gloves and boots.

“Don't mind her Kazuki dear, she is always like this,” said another voice behind them.

Moon turned to see a Celestia sitting in front of a vanity mirror with her mane carefully done in curls while she worn a golden head piece with many gemstones and her tail had a gold ring at its end, also her mane and tail were deep red, blue and green instead of light pink, green, and blue and lastly she was wearing a purple see through nightgown and purple panties, garter belt, stockings and opera or full-length gloves. She had a fuller figure than the others but not as endowed as Molestia and her clothing allowed her to show her cutie mark that had a sun with a black center.

“Be silent, thine unworthy voices are hurting my ears,” said another voice at Kazuki's right, then Moon turned to see this version of Celestia that was beside the one in front of the mirror.

This version of Celestia had a golden coat, her mane and tail were somewhat similar to the original but with hints of gold, she was wearing a royal blue and purple victorian dress, which was the same color as her eyes that were covered by a pair of victorian glasses –her right one being royal blue and her left being royal purple– as she sat on a armchair reading a book. Then she looked at Kazuki and said with a fond smile, “It certainly hath been a long time since we last saw each other. Thou art a sight for sore eyes and thine presence is as magnificent as ever.”

“Ha! Who knew that stuck-up bitch could show respect to anyone? Yo Kaz, fight me!” said another voice, this one to the right of the depressed Celestia.

This version of Celestia was identical to the original Celestia if wasn't for the somewhat lewd yet bloodthirsty smile on her face and the savage hunger on her eyes. She was wearing a black and golden battle dress, the breastplate had a stylized sun, her thighs were exposed by the slits on the “skirt” and her biceps were just as exposed, but after the knees and elbows they were covered by her black and gold boots and gloves respectively.

“Maybe later, why don't you all introduce yourselves, then I will make an offer for you all,” said Kazuki as he looked at the bloodthirsty and fighting junky version of Celestia.

“I'm Sunstorm and I'm the warrior side of our… gracious host,” said Sunstorm before saying the last part in a sarcastic tone.

“Incandescent Luminosity is the one that stands before thine presence as all the superior aspects of our original as well as her admiration for thine glorious existence,” said Luminosity as she got up and bowed slight while keeping proper posture and lifting the edges of her dress slightly to compensate for her bow.

“We just call her Lumi and she is like, Celly’s arrogance,” said a tired voice to the left of the depressed Celestia.

This version had a unkempt mane and tail, was wearing a gray hoodie and sweatpants while she laid on the bed and looked at the ceiling.

“Huh! I never conceded to the usage of such moniker to address to my person,” said Lumi indignantly.

“Whatever. I'm Sunspot, I'm laziness,” said Sunspot before yawning and she didn't even bothered to move her head. Then she said, “The one on my left is Corona, Celestia's greed.”

They looked at Sunspot left and saw a Celestia with that had an unkempt mane and a golden metal bikini surrounded by statues and gold, she was gently caressing a small statue of Kazuki and whispering sweet words while having a almost maddening look on her face. She looked at the intruders but she didn't see Kazuki because Moon was between her and the alien.

“Mine, mine,” said Corona repeatedly between prizes and that she would do anything for him.

“Don't worry about her hearing you, she tends to ignore everyone. However I can't say the same if she actually sees you Kazuki dear,” said the Celestia with the curly mane and purple nightgown before getting up and stand in front of the bars, then she said, “I'm Radiant Dawn by the way and I'm all the beauty of our host.”

“Van– *yawn* vanity more like it,” said Sunspot lazily but Dawn ignored her.

“And the sad one?” asked Moon.

“Oh, that's Mourning Star, she is Celestia's depression,” said Dawn.

“I came with a offer and I intend to make it to all of you. Let's just introduce ourselves to the ones on the top level, then I will announce my offer,” said Kazuki before he and Moon jumped up and like before he made chakra strings for them to stand on as well as a new Rasengan to illuminate the third floor.

Unfortunately Corona caught a glimpse of Kazuki when he jumped and she immediately reached out to him, but it was impossible for him to hear her since he was on the top level. Despite Kazuki's inability to hear her she kept calling out for him and prophesying her devotation to him.

Unlike the two lower levels there was only three cells, the first cell was holding a younger looking Celestia with pink mane and tail wearing a simple sundress, currently she was sitting on a stool as she worked on a painting.

The one behind them and slightly to the right was a version of Celestia just as endowed as Molestia but unlike her this version was wearing a victorian dress similar to Lumi's, but hers was more simple and less elaborate. Currently she was knitting with a content and serene smile on her face, this gave her a caring and motherly aura.

The last cell was occupied by a Celestia kneeling in front of a knight’s armor, her silver eyes showing conviction and an indomitable will, her mane and tail each done in a single braid with a single ring holding it on its end. The armor she was facing seemed to fit her, it was simple yet elegant with silver and white plates, the only other color present was a pink gem in it breastplate.

The silver eyed one was the first to notice the visitors, so she said, “Lord Kazuki, it's a honor to be in your presence once again.”

That caught the attention of the other two.

“Kazu!” shouted the young Celestia.

“Don't shout, it's unbecoming of a young lady,” said the motherly Celestia.

“Sorry Mom,” said the young Celestia.

“It is good to see you again Mister Kazuki, Miss Moon,” said the motherly Celestia warmly.

“It's also a pleasure to meet you three, could you introduce yourselves?” requested Kazuki.

“It shall be done mine lord. I'm Sword Dusk and I'm Celestia's protectiveness and sense of duty,” said Dusk now wearing her armor and kneeling as a knight.

“I'm Sunshine, as for what I represent… um, I forgot,” said Sunshine.

“She represents Celestia's childishness. Initially I was referred to as Momlestia, nowadays my name is Nurturing Nature and I represent Celestia's maternal instincts,” said Nature.

“I see,” said Kazuki before pulling two strings with his right hand and not long after the sound of glass shattering was heard twice, then all of them could hear the mad and obsessive words of Corona.

While all fragments of Celestia's darkside were introducing themselves he studied the barrier between the levels and came to the conclusion that each floor represented a level of connection and influence they had on Celestia's current personality.

Kazuki let loose his chakra and on all three levels to get their attention, Corona, Molestia and Sunstorm revelled in the feeling of his chakra washing over them, although they did so for different reasons.

“I have a offer to all of you, freedom from this place and a new body independent from Celestia,” said Kazuki.

“What's the catch shithead?!” shouted Flare.

“Such a crass language, no wonder we were separated by levels,” said Lumi indignantly

“Indeed, a lady shouldn't use such language especially with children present,” said Nature.

“C'mon Kazuki, come down here and play with me,” said Molestia in a sultry tone ignoring everything else.

Ignoring the bickering Kazuki answered Flare’s question, “There are two, first is that you will have to become my student and follower,” some like Flare, Holocaust, Sunspot and Sunstorm protested before Kazuki had to once again use his chakra to re-establish order and continue, “The second is that all of you have to become one.”

Again Kazuki was met with protests and Moon was wondering if this was a lost cause. After what felt like hours they calmed down, somewhat, so Kazuki explained, “All of you represent traits that Celestia repressed for one reason or another. The ones in the top are partially repressed, the ones in the middle are almost completely repressed and the ones in the bottom are completely repressed. All of you were intended to become a single entity but Celestia fragmented you before you achieve sentience and now that I shattered the barriers there are only three possible outcomes: freedom, insanity or death.”

Seeing that Kazuki still had their attention he continued his explanation, “With the barriers gone your influence will slowly seep into Celestia's personality and soon she will be taken over, however there are fifteen personalities here and all of them unbalanced and narrow minded, this will lead you and Celestia to either insanity or death. However if you choose freedom all of you will become what you were meant to be and will survive that fate.”

“So we either become free as one or remain here divided,” said Dusk and Kazuki nodded before creating fifteen Gudōdama like orbs, then each orb went inside a cell.

“If you touch the orb I will take you out of this place,” said Kazuki.

Corona, Molestia, Dusk, Dawn, Star, Lumi and Nova touched the orbs immediately since they trusted Kazuki, plus they craved freedom no matter the cost, if merging with the others was the price to pay them so be it. They slowly started to dissolve into dust and be absorbed by the sphere that took on the colors of their passengers.

“Do I get to fight against strong foes?” asked Sunstorm and Kazuki nodded.

“Do I get to destroy whatever and whoever stands before me?” asked Holocaust and Kazuki nodded.

“Will I be able to play with new friends?” asked Sunshine and Kazuki nodded.

“Will I be able to rule as I please?” asked Tyrant.

“Within reason,” answered Kazuki and Tyrant nodded while Daybreaker silently agreed.

Sunstorm, Holocaust, Tyrant, Daybreaker and Sunshine touched the orbs and like before the orbs absorbed their targets, now only Sunspot, Nature and Flare remained.

Kazuki jumped down and landed in front of Flare’s cells, once there he looked at the manifestation of anger.

“Why should I trust you?” asked Flare as she glared at Kazuki with her purple slitted eyes, then she add, “Especially after what you did?”

“‘What I did’, if I remember correctly you(Celestia) never stopped to ask why I did what I did. That perceived betrayal only happened because you(Celestia) refused to see past my 'vile and despicable experiments’. *Sigh* Let me show you that there was more to it. If nothing else at least you will get piece of mind,” said Kazuki and Flare hesitantly reached to the orb.

Then Kazuki jumped up and landed in front of Sunspot and asked, “Do I even need to convince you?”

“Whatever,” said Sunspot as she sat up and reached out for the orb, now that left only one fragment, so he jumped and landed in front of Nature's cell and Moon was there as well.

“You can just ask, Miss Moon,” said Nature as she got up and placed the fabric and needles on the chair and walked to the bars.

“I can kinda understand the prisoner on the lower levels, but not the three on the top level,” said Moon.

“It's simple really, sometimes our host can't let her motherly love and protectiveness get in the way of decision that are necessary for the good of the kingdom. As a way to satisfy some of those urges she founded a school of magic,” said Nature before turning to Kazuki and say, “But she still have that yearning to hold her own foal in her arms, she even took two pupils recently, however she failed the older one. You are aware of what means for all of us to become one, aren't you Kazuki?”

“Yes I'm,” said Kazuki.

“It won't easy, but I have faith in you. We are entrusting ourselves to you and we hope you can guide whoever we shall become,” said Nature before leaning forward to show respect, then she straightened her posture and reached out to the sphere.

Now with all pieces gathered, all the orbs floated in front of Kazuki forming a ring before moving towards the center of the ring, they phased through each other until a single orb was left. Kazuki grabbed the softball sized orb and placed in the empty pouch before saying, “Let's go.”

Celestia's room, Shadowscape, a hour later

Celestia was sleeping soundly on her bed when suddenly a hand came out of her and like before it was as if she was a hole in reality, Kazuki and Moon climbed out before flying to the tallest tower of the castle. Once there he took out the sphere containing his –hopefully– new student.

“We did it,” said Kazuki before doing a hand seal with his free hand, “Kai!”

The barrier around the city shattered like glass before disappearing and the tags burning out.

“Mission accomplished,” said Moon and Kazuki nodded before the two faded from the Mindscape.

Everfree Castle, dojo

As they opened their eyes Kazuki made sure to deactivate the Jōgan and Rinnegan as he looked at the sphere floating just above his right palm. Holding it with both hands he concentrated on the yin and yang chakras, which caused a familiar purple flame to encase the orb before expanding into a sphere as wide as he was tall just like before and he could see the orb slowly dissolve before taking a new shape.

“Now we wait,” said Kazuki and they both waited, they stayed there the rest of the night and they saw a new alicorn slowly take shape inside the sphere of energy.

The new alicorn fur coat was white with a hint of gold, her mane and tail were like the fires of a star in white, light blue, light orange and yellow colors constantly shifting, her feathers seemed to gain a hint of orange on their tips, her cutie mark was a stylized sun with a orange background much like Daybreaker's but had some black spots similar to the black sun in Nova's mark as well as Dawn's mark.

The new alicorn had a muscular yet feminine body like an amazonian warrior, she was just as endowed as Moon if not a bit more when it came to her chest, her butt however was noticeably bigger, probably she gained from Celestia after her many years indulging in cake. Then she opened her eyes, showing a golden slitted eyes with silver edges and a amethyst sclera before the sphere shattered.

“Sleep,” said Kazuki as he activated his Sharingan and looked into the new alicorn's eyes before Moon caught her, then he said, “It will take about a month before her mind can acclimate itself.”

Moon nodded before taking her sister to Kazuki's room to rest since he didn't used it that much anyway.

Kazuki then felt ripples from The Void, he clapped his hands together and as they came apart a scroll was revealed. He opened the scroll and passed a series of seals that contained the tokens of other Displaced individuals. Then he reached a new seal, pulled its content and a silver ring came out.

Phantom Ring

“Interesting,” said Kazuki before contemplating, “Maybe I should make my token soon.”

A month later

Kazuki and Moon were in his room and sitting beside the bed where the new alicorn was drinking a cup of warm tea.

“So how do you feel sister?” asked Moon.

“I…I feel better than ever actually, just a bit confused though,” said the new alicorn.

“Why are you confused?” asked Kazuki as he took the empty cup from the new alicorn.

“What's my name?” asked the new alicorn.

“That's something you have to discover yourself,” said Kazuki then he asked, “Have you thought about my offer?”

“I will become your student, but I want a favour in return. Do this favour and I will gladly follow your orders,” said the new alicorn.

“If it's within my power to grant it then so be it. Name the favour,” said Kazuki.

“I want Sunset Shimmer back,” said the nameless alicorn.

10. Songs and Sunset amidst the ruins of fallen world.

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WARNING: Some gore and cannibalism in this chapter.

Unknown world in an unknown dimension

Sunset Shimmer sighed as she walked, it felt like an eternity since she came into this world through the mirror, even if it was three years ago, in this world at least since she didn't know how long it had been in Equus. She came here hoping to get the power she deserved to fulfill her destiny, what a joke. Why did she thought it was a good idea to go through the mirror in the first place?

Because of her reckless attitude Sunset ended in a world without magic and without friends or help, all because Celestia failed to stop her childish decision. But holding a grudge wouldn't help so she came to terms with what happened, she supposed that it was the consequences of her actions and at this point she just missed seeing familiar faces, even her own.

Sunset changed to match the dominant species of this world, at least that was what she thought. She became a human, her hooves turned into soft feet and her fur coat became exposed tan skin, currently she was wearing a coat with metal plates over a shirt and torn jeans that had knee protectors along with boots with steel covering the front, lastly she also had a pistol in a holster on her right hip as well as a knife on her left and a scarf around her neck.

At the moment Sunset was carrying food back to her home that she shared with her companions. The food in question was a giant insect of some kind, her old self would have scoffed at the notion of eating insects, but she learned the hard way what was like to starve and she would not waste what was given to her by nature ever again. Well, whatever was left of nature in this forsaken wasteland filled with ruins that she now lived in and she had to admit that this experience humbled her to no end.

As Sunset made her way through the ruined settlement she approached the somewhat isolated building that she would meet her companions in. However as she approached her instincts honed through years of surviving in this place and through many near death experiences told that something was wrong.

The former unicorn made sure that the bag was firmly strapped on her back, it wouldn't do any good to lose her dinner, especially if her friends didn't managed to get anything. She took out a gun from the holster on her belt and made sure it was loaded, then she entered the house with its ceiling caved in. She moved as silently as she could and when she reached a room on the center of the building she saw the light of a fire, it was much easier to see it because it was cloudy today.

Sunset pulled back the hammer of her gun and carefully looked inside the room, her eyes widen in surprise. Inside she saw many bandits and raiders dead, but that wasn't what surprised her, what surprised her was the pale white human with a fine kimono seating on a rock near the fire. However his pure white color only made the red from the blood stand out even more, especially considering that he was holding the heart of one of the bandits and if the red on his lips were any indication he was eating it.

“I was expecting you,” said the being.

With the element of surprise ruined she got up and pointed her pistol at him, the being seemed unfazed by Sunset's presence and he just took another bite on the heart he was holding.

“Who are you?” asked Sunset trying not to pay attention to the ripping sounds she heard when she saw the being bite on the raw human heart.

“There is no need for such hostility Sunset Shimmer,” said the being after chewing and swallowing the piece of meat.

“How do you know my name?” asked Sunset in a dangerous tone.

“To answer your questions at the same time, My name is Ōtsutsuki Kazuki and I came here to take you back to Equus,” said Kazuki and that made Sunset freeze, could she truly go back? She dared not to hope, especially after all that she went through only to have that hope crushed, how was this even possible in the first place?

Equus, Everfree Castle, Kazuki's room, few hours ago

“Sunset Shimmer? Wasn't her your(Celestia's) former student?” asked Kazuki to the still unnamed alicorn and she nodded, so he asked since he wasn't familiar with the Equestria Girls Movies, “What happened to her?”

“She's no longer in this world,” said the unnamed alicorn.

“Ok, I'm going to need a living sacrifice, preferably one from the same species, and some of her DNA, unless you have her body, then the process is going to be a lot easier,” said Kazuki ignoring the baffling look they had as he finished the list of requirements for bringing Sunset back.

“What?!” shouted Moon and the nameless alicorn.

“‘Living sacrifice’, wha– ho–” started the nameless alicorn not knowing what to say before taking a deep breath and said, “She isn't dead, she is just in another world!”

“How was I supposed to know it wasn't a figure of speech?" asked Kazuki as he raised a eyebrow. Then he added, "It's not like you ponies leave Equus regularly.”

“You can revive the dead?” asked Moon coming out of her shock.

“Yes, and?” asked Kazuki.

“That's too much! Even for me,” said Moon getting a little agitated.

“Why? It's not that different from moving in-between the layers of reality like we did before,” said Kazuki.

“You know what? Nevermind," said Moon as she got up. Then she said before leaving the room, "I'm going for a walk, just don't mention your use of necromancy near me."

“If she is anything like Luna, then she is not very fond of the notion of disturbing the dead,” said Nameless.

“And you?” asked Kazuki.

“I'm not either, but after what I(Celestia) saw in your lab back then it doesn't surprise me anymore, still disturbing though,” said Nameless.

“I see,” said Kazuki before getting closer to Nameless by sitting on the edge of the bed, then he said, “Anyway, back to the matter at hand. You said Sunset is not on Equus anymore, how?”

“She used the Crystal Mirror, an artifact created by Starswirl to observe and explore other worlds,” said Nameless.

“Starswirl, you idiot,” thought Kazuki before saying, “Then it's probably an artifact powered by a specific event because it would be very difficult to gather the necessary energy to establish a connection to a new dimension, however it would be easier and less energy consuming to just keep the connection stable than creating a new one every time.”

“I don't know the specifics and I don't care. Can you bring her back or not?” asked Nameless.

“It depends, I need to see this mirror first. Do you know where it is?” asked Kazuki.

“Canterlot,” answered Nameless.

“Of course,” said Kazuki sarcastically before sighing, then he looked at the wall in front of Nameless and activated his Byakugan to look beyond the walls, beyond the forest until his vision reached the castle on the side of the mountain, so he asked, “Do you know where exactly it is? If not, then described it to me and I can search for it myself.”

“It's in her study room,” said Nameless and Kazuki's vision zoomed on Celestia's study room and thankfully no one was there, there he found not one but two mirrors and he would have made a comment about Celestia's vanity –which he met personally– until he noticed small distortions on the space-time around the mirrors.

“Yomotsu Hirasaka,” said Kazuki as a window like opening appeared in front of the two, and it happened just as his third eye opened revealing a familiar red rippled eye with nine comma like marks. One mirror appeared as an ordinary standing mirror with a horseshoe-shaped rim lined with pink gems while the standing base was also lined with horseshoes, and attached to the top was a smaller window with a depiction of a pony’s silhouette, the second mirror was simpler in design, with a tan-colored rim instead of purple and it was overall less elaborate in design, then he said, “I can see faint trails leading outside of this dimension.”

“You can open a portal to Canterlot Palace at any time?” asked Nameless in disbelief, that meant he could have either stolen the Elements or even killed Celestia.

“Yes,” answered Kazuki as he carefully analyzed the creations of Starswirl, probably based on Kazuki's own dōjutsu and it was impressive, even in his opinion, since that stubborn unicorn used only equestrian magic in their construction, he might have being narrow-minded and full of himself but his achievements were nothing to short of amazing, especially if you considered his limitations —from Kazuki's perspective. Anyway, the alien sent more chakra into his eyes, which allowed him to see more details of the mirrors in multiple layers and now he could see the faint trails in more details.

“Then?” asked Nameless with hope in her voice.

“A moment,” said Kazuki as he traced the trails from the mirror to their destinations and to make sure he had enough information he did something he might regret later, he sent even more chakra into his eyes until they were throbbing almost painfully with each heartbeat of his hearts. Eventually his eyes assume a lighter almost silvery shade near its pupil with the glowing outline of an eight petaled flower, then he said, “Tenseigan (転生眼, Reincarnation Eye).”

“I have good and bad news. Good news: I managed to map the dimensions connected to the mirror. Bad news: I mapped at least sixty different dimensions. Good news: most of them are alternative timelines and I managed to narrow down to eight dimensions. Bad news: I don't know which one has your Sunset Shimmer. Good news: from those eight four had at least one version of Sunset Shimmer that came from a similar Equus to this one. Bad news: there is no guarantee that one of those four is the one you're looking for unless I managed to trace a direct connection,” explained Kazuki as he closed the Yomotsu Hirasaka but kept his dōjutsu active as he observed the four dimensions he found.

This caused Nameless' hope to waver, but then she remembered a magical journal she hopefully kept, so she said, “There is a magical journal in Celestia's book shelf connected to another journal that Sunset probably still has.”

“Yomotsu Hirasaka,” said Kazuki as he opened another window, this time to Celestia's room facing her bookshelf and then he asked as he felt sweat starting to run down his face, “Which one?”

“The brown one with golden rings on the third shelf from the top,” said Nameless as she noticed that Kazuki was starting to show signs of fatigue.

“Found it,” said Kazuki after his eyes zoomed on the book Nameless pointed and he found another trail, following that trail eventually led to one of the dimensions he narrowed down. With the destination found he undid the Yomotsu Hirasaka and deactivated his Rinne Sharingan and Tenseigan, in the end, he was breathing heavily and had sweat running down his face.

“Are you alright?” asked Nameless.

“Just strained my brains calculating the dimensional routes and sustaining two high-level dōjutsu at the same time,” said Kazuki as his breathing slowly returned to normal.

“‘Brains’, as in more than one?” asked Nameless and Kazuki held up three fingers, so Nameless asked, “Three, but ho— You know what, nevermind. Can you bring back Sunset or not?”

“Yes I can, but the world she ended up in is not a kind one. Would you like me to bring her back even if it's as a corpse?” asked Kazuki, that possibility made Nameless lower her head and her hands to tighten her grip on the covers. Then Kazuki placed his hand on her left shoulder and said as she looked into his eyes, “It's just a possibility, if she is anything like you told me then she certainly survived on that place.”

Nameless nodded before placing her right hand over his, however the moment was interrupted by a growl coming from Nameless and this caused her to blush. Then Kazuki created a kage bunshin before saying, “Just enjoy your first meal while I go there.”

Kazuki then activated his Rinne Sharingan and opened a Yomotsu Hirasaka before jumping through it while the clone went on a little hunt on his Gourmet Dimension to make Nameless’ first meal.

Unknown world in an unknown dimension, present time

“How did you get here in the first place? It obviously wasn't through the mirror,” asked Sunset without lowering her gun.

“Starswirl's mirror is horribly wasteful and specific, no I came here under my own power,” said Kazuki before taking another bite of his meal, which caused Sunset to cringe, before swallowing it and say, “Especially because of that species changing spell used for disguise.”

“Impossible, not even Princess Celestia can jump dimensions like that and Starswirl only accomplished that feat using a artifact on a specific event in a specific time to gather the necessary magical energy,” said Sunset in disbelief.

“Your belief isn't required, although jumping this ‘far’ from Equus cost me a lot of energy,” said Kazuki before eating the last piece of the heart, then he unceremoniously used his telekinesis to lift the body of the bandit near him before thrusting his hand on the hole on the corpse chest and pull out a lung, which he proceeded to bite before frowning and say, “Terrible, but beggars can't be choosers.”

“Stop doing that!” shouted Sunset.

“Why? I need to replenish my energy, besides they had less than stellar intentions when they discovered that you and your little group would be meeting here. I don't need to describe what they would most likely do to a young woman like you, besides meat is meat,” said Kazuki as he ate the lung of the dead bandit.

“Isn't that cannibalism?” asked Sunset still on edge.

“It's cannibalism only if I'm eating a member of my species,” said Kazuki before finishing the lung and grab the right arm and shoulder of the corpse, then with a sickly ripping sounds he torn the arm of the torso, then he said, “And I'm not even human to begin with.”

Seeing that Kazuki wasn't hostile toward her so far Sunset decided to lower her gun, but still kept ready to aim and fire if he did anything suspicious… more suspicious.

“You were lucky, you know?” said Kazuki as he bit onto the arm.

“How s–” started Sunset sarcastically but stopped and cringed when she heard Kazuki’s teeth grind the bones of the bandit, so she asked anyway but without the sarcastic tone, “How so?”

“You just ended on a post-apocalyptic world affected by nuclear fallout, there are infinitely worsts worlds to end up in,” said Kazuki before taking a few more bites of the arm.

“Tell me about it,” said Sunset as she leaned against the wall.

“Well,” said Kazuki before swallowing the last bit of flesh and bone from the hand, then he continued, “You could have ended up in a world similar to this one but in the middle of the war that ended the civilization(s) that caused the war in the first place, you could have ended up in a dying world without any way to keep yourself alive or you could have ended in a world without death and spend the rest of eternity in agony and madness while at the mercy of unknowable horrors. Want me to continue?”

“No, you can stop,” said Sunset after realizing that despite what she went through it could have been infinitely worse. Then she asked, “Why did you came to take me back anyway?”

“I was aske–” started Kazuki but he was interrupted by a familiar noise.

*click* *BANG*

Faster than eyes could see Kazuki raised his left arm until his forearm was between his head and the upcoming bullet, acting on instinct born from the myriad of near death experiences and through millennia of perfecting his mind and body through study and practice. Then his forearm slowly —in this compressed perception of time— darkened as he compressed pure physical energy into the area between his wrist and elbow, that caused the piece of metal to bounced off and hit the rubble behind him.

Before anyone could even react to that situation Kazuki extended his left arm toward the place where the bullet came from and his eyes became a familiar grayish metallic purple with ripples. Without turning his head he said the name of the technique, “Banshō Ten'in(万象天引, Heavenly Attraction of All Creation).”

From the shadows of the door came a figure and the moment that person was close enough Kazuki gripped the neck of the figure obscured by a travelling cloak, but that didn't hide the identity of the figure from Kazuki.

“Yo, it's been a while Adagio Dazzle,” said Kazuki as his arm returned to its natural white color and he looked at the human with peach colored skin, raspberry colored eyes as well as orange and yellow curly hair. Quite interesting really, despite this world being a variation of the Fallout World it operated on the anime logic when it came to eye and hair color, thus the vibrant colors on Sunset and Adagio.

Sunset eyes widen when she saw Adagio struggling as Kazuki held her by the neck and in response she raised her gun.

“Let go of her,” said Sunset.

*click* *click*

From the door came two more figures in traveling cloaks, however their hoods were pulled back showing their faces, both were human with the same skin color as Adagio. One had cerulean eyes as well as straight arctic blue hair with two persian blue streaks done in a high ponytail while the other had mulberry colored eyes as well as purple straight hair with aquamarine streaks done in high pigtails.

“You too, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk,” said Kazuki continuing as if nothing was wrong.

“Let go of Adagio, Kaz,” said Aria, which caused Kazuki to raise a eyebrow.

“Interesting, in the past you wouldn't even bat an eye if I threaten to crush her neck, but now you point a gun at me to save her,” commented Kazuki with hints of interest.

“Let’s just say we came to an agreement,” said Aria and Sunset took note of the fact that her three companions seemed to know Kazuki.

“I supposed relying on each other to survive can do that to you. Still, what's stopping me from ripping your heads and take back the bloodstones you stole from me?” asked Kazuki and the trio flinched knowing that he could do just that.

“Here,” said Sonata before lowering her gun and opening her cloak, then she grabbed her shirt’s collar with her free hand before pulling it down showing her necklace and a bit of cleavage. At first Sunset thought Sonata was willing to trade something else but that suspicious was crushed when Sonata begged, “You can have these stones back, but please don't kill Adagio.”

“Sonata…no…” said Adagio struggling, then Kazuki sighed before letting go of Adagio. She fell backward on her bottom while coughing and Aria without pause grabbed Adagio and pulled her away from Kazuki.

“Always the emotional one, Sonata. I told you your empathy would never allow you to fully immerse yourself in Strife Magic,” said Kazuki before ripping the other arm of the corpse, which cause all four of them to flinch and was especially bad for Sonata but the other three kept their guns aimed at him. Then he said, “I told you three you had potential for so much more, it's actually fitting you four ended up together.”

“What do you mean?” asked Sunset.

“I'm referring to the reason Starswirl banished those three in the first place,” said Kazuki before biting the arm he was holding. The he noticed the look of confusion on her face, so he said, “Oh, they didn't tell you, did they?”

“They only told me they were from Equestria and that they lived during Starswirl's time,” said Sunset cringing every time she heard Kazuki crush bones between his teeth.

“Do you even know what they were in Equestria? Or did you just assumed they were ponies?” asked Kazuki and by Sunset's look she didn't even bothered to think about that. Then Kazuki chuckled before answering, “That's racist of you, or was it specieist? Anyhow, they were sirens that Starswirl banished for causing strife and feed on that strife.”

This caused Sunset to look at her companions warily and soon after slowly backing away from them.

“Sunset we–” started Sonata but she stopped when Sunset reach for another holster on her back and pulled a second pistol before pointing at the trio.

“Did you feed off of us?” asked Sunset.

“What?” asked Sonata feeling hurt by Sunset's question as did Aria and Adagio but the latter two managed to hide it, the trio knew deep down that this moment was inevitable.

“Did you feed off of me and the others back at the hideout?! Is that all we are to you, food?!” asked Sunset with tears in her eyes and both hands trembling, as she finally recalled were she heard that story before, the story of how the Pillars of Equestria, more specifically Starswirl the Bearded, banished the sirens from the land even if the specifics of the banishment weren't known.

The three sirens foolishly hoped this day would never come, because of the sparse population on this wasteland the three soon learned that causing strife only left the people a much easier target, which in turn caused the three to be targeted as well and considering how casually humans killed each other it left them with barely enough to survive. So they stopped relying on strife and slowly transitioned back to food, it was a rough time for them, but they still fed on strife whenever they could, however strife for some reason here wasn't as “filling” or “potent” as in Equestria so it didn't help much either way.

“It wouldn't do them any good anyway,” said Kazuki as he finished eating the left arm. Then he clarified, “Strife in a world without or with little magic carries little energy compared to a world were magic is abundant and nothing sort of a full scale war would satisfied them. Especially in advanced civilization like this one where killing is exceedingly easy, quick and efficient, not enough time to gather much strife.”

“So you never considered us just food?” asked Sunset.

“No Sunset, despite everything we do care about you,” said Aria.

“It was the first time we had friends outside of our little group,” said Adagio.

“Yeah, we are family no matter what,” said Sonata before approaching Sunset, who lowered her guns and hugged Sonata.

*Clap* *clap*

The four turned and saw Kazuki slowly clapping his hands, then he said, “Very touching, but I came here only for Sunset Shimmer.”

As Kazuki extended his left arm toward Sunset she looked into those cold rippled eyes and knew what he planned, however before he could do it the three sirens put themselves between Kazuki and Sunset before pointing their guns at him. At this point they knew it wouldn't do anything against Kazuki but if they were going to die, then they would die protecting their sister in all but blood.

“We won't let you hurt her,” said Aria and Sonata nodded.

“Especially considering that we know what you can do in your experiments,” added Adagio as shivers run down her spine.

“Oh, you three really have come a long way from the uncaring sirens that learned Strife Magic from me,” said Kazuki with amusement in his voice. Then he added, “Especially considering you three fail to change in most timelines.”

“You taught them Strife Magic?” asked Sunset choosing to focus on the first statement.

“Indeed, but they much like you refused to finish their studies, refused to learn what I had to offer thinking that Strife Magic would be the end-all and be-all of magic. After all, if you could make your enemies fight amongst themselves and grow stronger from it why learn anything else?” said Kazuki and the sirens flinched at their own foolishness. However that didn't stop Kazuki’s retelling, “They even broke into my lab and stole three bloodstones to act as foci for their magic before going out and cause strife. The rest as they say, is history.”

“You never told us it could have ended like this, you jerk,” said Aria.

“Would you have listened?” asked Kazuki and the way they looked away from him only confirmed his answer. So he said, “Anyway, I better get who I came here for.”

Kazuki got up before slowly and gracefully yet menacingly walk toward them with a extended left arm and they could see a horizontal slit forming on the palm of his extended hand.

“Wait! Can't we make a deal?” asked Sunset before Kazuki revealed what was behind the slit, this caused the slit to disappear as he stopped.

“Sure, why not?” said Kazuki casually before lowering his hand after a moment, it made little difference in the end but if it helped her cooperate then he was willing to put some effort in a compromise.

Four girls sighed in relief glad that he was agreeable, for now.

11. Meeting amidst ruins of a beacon of knowledge.

View Online

WARNING: Some gore and cannibalism in this chapter.

“Can't we at least talk about this somewhere else? Like, our hideout,” suggested Sunset.

“Are you crazy?!” asked Adagio and Aria at the same time.

“Would it really matter to him if he knew where we live or not?” asked Sunset.

“No,” said Adagio and Aria begrudgingly knowing that Kazuki could have found their hideout and taken Sunset by force if he wanted.

“Besides it's getting darker,” added Sonata pointing at the sky.

“Maa, better eat this meat then,” said Kazuki as he let his kimono slide from his shoulders and hang around his waist, then a vertical slit appeared on the middle of his back, from which red tentacles made of flesh burst out from that opening and once they were out they formed in a grotesque mess of eyes and drooling mouths on hollow centipede-like extensions.

“You can turn around if you want,” said Kazuki as he used the power of Gakidō(餓鬼道, Preta Path) and his hemokinesis or Ketton(血遁, Blood Release), the same blood manipulation that devolved and mutated into the power of the Chinoike clan, their kekkei genkai and the rather superfluous —in his opinion— dōjutsu known as Ketsuryūgan(血流眼, Blood Dragon eye). The six path technique was far more diverse and complex than Pain or Madara ever demonstrated, so long it revolved around the core concept of their “paths” they could do almost anything.

However that required great in-depth knowledge of said concepts, in this case Kazuki was using the “hunger” of Petra(प्रेत, Hungry Ghost) to recreate the sac-like organs that were the Kakuhou(赫包, Red Wrapping) as well as the structure that came from them, the Kagune (赫子, Red Child). It was a useful trait from the Kushu(喰種, eater/devourer species) or Ghouls from the Tokyo Ghoul (東京喰種) Universe and Kazuki planned to use to its fullest extent here.

The four young women closed their eyes and turned around just in time to stop the image of teeth sinking into flesh, bones being crushed and muscles being torn from reaching them. To avoid most of the carnage they also placed their hands over their ears, then they waited.

Eventually the noise stopped, so Adagio turned around and she saw that the floor and walls were soaked in blood, worse still was that from the mess of mouths came long tongues that were licking said blood, they, however, stopped before disappearing as the tentacles retreated back into Kazuki's back after most of the blood was gone.

Kazuki just casually put back his kimono and Adagio motioned for the other three that it was safe. Then Kazuki said when he noticed that the four took their hands off their ears, “Lead the way.”

They were about to say something until they noticed that the blood was moving toward Kazuki and when they looked down they saw the last bit of blood be absorbed by his skin after climbing his geta and pass through his tabi. This time he used the hunger of Petra to replicate the hunger of a vampire, it was far more useful than the blood manipulation based on iron.

The four shook their heads to make sure they weren't seeing things before motioning for Kazuki to follow, he followed the quartet after deactivating his Rinnegan and from there it was relatively uneventful.

“What was that?” asked Adagio trying to start a conversation with her old teacher.

“You have to be more specific,” said Kazuki as he walked, which caused his geta to noisily clank against the pavemented ground.

“You know, those red tentacles,” said Aria.

“Yeah, they were like, super creepy and scary,” added Sonata.

“Ah, that was a kagune, a structure built by specialized cells that can change according to my needs and it comes from a kakuho, a sac-like organ that stores those cells, they come from a carnivorous species specialized on hunting and devouring exclusively humans. Note to self, harvest my kakuhou after getting back home,” said Kazuki not wanting to tell them that the species in question was named ghoul to not confuse them with the ghouls from this world.

“Soooo, who are you anyway? I mean, the fact that you know them says that you are from Starswirl's time, but I don't remember seeing anything like you before in any books,” inquired Sunset breaking the tense silence after Kazuki's explanation and wanting to know more about him since he was planning to take her back to Equestria, she just hoped that he would listen to her request.

“Really?” asked Kazuki to Sunset, but then he talked to himself “Well, Celestia does have the habit of hiding what she doesn't like from the public. That or the fact that they didn't even bother to write about me on the history books,” then he asked Sunset, “Have you ever seen a statue on the garden beside Discord’s?”

Sunset stopped to think about it, then a memory of her walking through the gardens came to the forefront of her mind, among the statues there were two from the enemies that Celestia faced. One was the draconequus known as Discord and the other was…

“You are the Deceiver!” shouted Sunset.

“'Deceiver’, really? I would have thought she would have come up with a better name,” said Kazuki, then Adagio and Aria snorted.

“Unimaginative? Yes,” said Aria.

“Inaccurate? Not so much,” said Adagio.

“Since when I'm a deceiver?” asked Kazuki with a raised eyebrow.

“From all the times when people kinda don't get what you're saying,” said Sonata.

“It's not my fault that most fail to grasp the bigger picture,” said Kazuki with a shrug.

“You are the first enemy that Celestia faced as a ruler after her mother's death,” said Sunset.

“I'm surprised, I thought Equestria forgot that they ever had a queen. Tell me Sunset Shimmer, how did you come across that information?” asked Kazuki with curiosity showing in his voice.

“I read some journals from the forbidden section of the library, they always reference a 'Deceiver’ or 'Betrayer’ after Queen Faust’s passing. Did you really take her body?” asked Sunset and that caused Kazuki to stop.

“It was the only way to save her, but Celestia and Luna interfered. I really don't want to talk about it,” said Kazuki and from there they continued to walk despite the tense and awkward atmosphere. Eventually, they reached a familiar high school, but its windows were blocked and it had many barricades.

Kazuki activated his Byakugan and scanned the building, he noticed that many rooms were fortified but most of them were unused. He noticed that the place was converted in a way to limit access from the outside and could easily be defended by few people. Also on the garden was a familiar statue of a horse on a base with four facets and lastly he noticed some people living inside the building.

“Good location, easily defended by few people and it's also possible to see enemies approaching from all directions. The only issues would be food and water supply,” remarked Kazuki as he approached the place that was once Canterlot High.

“Thanks, I guess,” said Sonata with an uncertain tone.

As the group was getting closer Kazuki noticed a person on the roof, a woman with a makeshift mask that was actually a scarf covering her face, wearing a cowboy hat over her long red hair tied in a ponytail, wearing goggles over her green eyes, a long-sleeved gray shirt and pants along with boots. Currently, she was hiding behind the parapet with only her head and arms visible —for those that couldn't see through walls that is— because she was holding a rifle currently pointed at him, more specifically his head. He just lifted his right arm and waved at the sniper on the roof before smiling.

*BANG*

A bullet sailed past were his head was moments ago if not for the fact that he, fortunately, tilted his head to the left, otherwise the bullet would have gone through his right eye socket, the only noticeable damage were few strands of his hair that were torn by the passing projectile. That wouldn’t kill him but it would take a lot of energy to regenerate one of his brains and he would have to unlock his dōjutsu on the newly recreated eye all over again, all in all, it was easier and less costly in a long run to just defend or dodge.

*BANG* *BANG*

Kazuki dodged two more bullets, the first by leaning back and the second by sidestepping to the right.

“Either make her cease firing at me or I will do more than dodge the bullets, and it won’t end well for your friend on the roof,” said Kazuki calmly as the sniper was reloading her semi-automatic rifle. By the time she finished reloading and was ready to shot again Sunset, Sonata, Aria and Adagio waved both arms signaling for the sniper to stop shooting.

The sniper stopped but kept her rifle pointed at Kazuki, after making sure he wouldn't be shot at again he followed the four and eventually they reached the entrance of the school. Once they were at the door Sunset knocked in a specific pattern and it didn't take long for another person to open the reinforced door, she had a fair complexion, green eyes as well as blonde hair with pink, light purple and green highlight carefully done and stylized in a mohawk, currently she was wearing a pair of jeans and a short-sleeved jacket-like top with a simple shirt underneath.

Sunset just showed her bag and the sirens did the same with the bags they were carrying, however, as soon as Kazuki passed through the door he heard a familiar and at this point annoying sound, however, he noticed that the sound was fundamentally different for some reason.

*click* *hum*

At Kazuki’s right was a girl, a pre-teen with bright red hair being held by a bow, she was wearing goggles on her forehead, overalls, gloves and boots, all in all, she looked like a mini mechanic. Anyway, she was pointing a gun at him, it looked like a miniature engine with a handle, as he looked at the coils of copper and the green power cells Kazuki recognized it as a plasma pistol.

It was fascinating how technology progressed in this world, especially considering that humans invented the transistor much later in this alternative universe and yet they managed to develop energy weapons, something that normally happened only after humans became a space-faring civilization. Dodging bullets at supersonic speeds was easier than dodge plasma charges moving at hypersonic speeds, still, it was better than lasers.

“Ah don’t know why big sis shot at you but she wouldn't do so without a reason,” said the girl as she looked at Kazuki.

“Lily! He came with Sunset and the others,” said the woman that opened the door.

“And yet big sis shot at him, he is dangerous, Haven,” said Lily.

“Lily! Put that gun down, he is a guest,” said Sunset.

“Yeah, we don’t want to give him a reason to be a danger to us,” said Adagio.

“But you are not wrong, little one,” said Kazuki as he approached Lily and knelt down in front of her, which had the effect of pressing the plasma gun against his forehead. Then he looked into Lily’s eyes and said without a hint of worry, “Choose now, either pull the trigger or not. But know that there will be consequences to everyone present in this building.”

Lily eventually powered down the plasma pistol before lowering it, then Kazuki said, “Wise choice little human.”

Sunset and the sirens sighed in relief, they knew that Lily meant well but they didn't need to give a reason for Kazuki to just kill them and take Sunset.

“I assume you are going to stay with us for a while mister…” started Haven.

“Kazuki,” answered the alien.

Haven nodded before locking the door, then the seven of them went to one of the empty classrooms that was converted into a shelter and there Kazuki saw that most of the inhabitants were women and children. They were all wearing either some form of improvised armor or clothes that were typical of the Fallout World and with his sensing abilities he noticed that the counterparts of the Elements of Harmony were here as well, in fact, if what he was feeling was right, then Haven was actually Rarity’s counterpart on this world, Lily was Applebloom’s counterpart and most likely the sniper on the roof was Applejack’s counterpart.

Kazuki observed the rest of the Elements’ counterparts, Fluttershy’s counterpart had a minty green colored hair and forest green eyes, she was wearing a simple dress, currently, she was kneeling down and placing a wet cloth on another person. The person under Fluttershy’s counterpart’s care was Rainbow’s counterpart, currently she was laying on a mattress wearing shorts and a shirt, she had blue hair, however, it wasn’t possible to see her eyes since they were closed at the moment, she had bandages around her left arm and right leg.

Pinkie’s counterpart was the most similar to her equestrian version, although her cotton candy-like hair was swept to her left side in a similar manner to the version of herself from the timeline were Sombra waged war on Equestria and she had brownish almost orange eyes instead of blue.

Twilight’s counterpart had a pink, purple and blue hair done in stripes, frankly it reminded Kazuki more of Twilight Velvet instead of Twilight Sparkle but with three colors instead of two and it was short and swept forward giving her a more "punk" look much like Haven, however, her eyes were the same shade of purple as her equestrian version, currently she was reading a book with Pinkie’s counterpart beside her.

Kazuki also noticed the two other CMC and Spike’s counterpart in the room as well, Sweetie Belle’s counterpart much like her sister had a blonde and pink hair and was wearing a simple dress with a dull red jacket. Scootaloo's counterpart had a dark bluish purple hair and blue eyes, also she was wearing a biker’s outfit. Spike’s counterpart had brown hair and green eyes, he was wearing a simple shirt and long pants, both articles of clothes had some scrap metal acting as armor. Kazuki also noticed a few more individuals but he paid them no mind, for now.

The alien walked into the room, everyone looked when they heard his geta clanking noisily against the floor and Lily kept an eye on him. Eventually he was standing beside Rainbow’s counterpart and Fluttershy’s counterpart regarded him nervously, evidently, she still had a somewhat similar personality to her equestrian version.

*click*

Kazuki resisted the urge to twitch his eyebrow, the number of guns being pointed at him was getting annoying.

“Step away from Firefly, slowly,” said the sniper that shot at him earlier, he noticed the same southern accent in her voice as Lily.

“You know that I could just dodge the bullets, right?” asked Kazuki just before looking behind himself, then he saw the sniper with a rifle against the wall and she was now pointing a pistol at him, more specifically a western revolver. An awkward silence followed their standoff, eventually Sunset and the sirens managed to reason with the sniper, whose name he learned was River Vale, and so he decided to ask, “Why did you shot at me?”

“Gut feeling,” said Vale simply and Kazuki just raised an eyebrow but didn’t inquire further, but when she saw the look of confusion on the others she decided to elaborate, “Ah don’t know who or what you are but you clearly ain’t human. Ah have the feeling that if given the opportunity you would kill everyone in this building.”

Vale’s comment caused everyone to be on edge, most were discreetly reaching for their weapons but Kazuki paid them no mind.

“Oh, what gave me away?” asked Kuzuki out of curiosity.

“The way you move is too… perfect, almost mechanical but graceful and it feels unnatural, at first I thought you were a synth,” said Vale.

“Well, you're not wrong except for the last one, but I don’t intend to kill anyone, so long you don’t give me a reason to, besides I only came to take Sunset Shimmer back,” answered Kazuki.

“So, you are an alien,” said Twilight’s counterpart as she closed the book, which caused Kazuki to raise an eyebrow.

“Interesting, none of you seem to be surprised by that fact,” said Kazuki.

“Duh, it’s pretty hard to not be, especially when most of us saw Sunset appear from the statue,” said Pinkie’s counterpart.

“Plus we encountered aliens before, granted they looked nothin’ like you,” said Vale.

“Really?” asked Kazuki.

“Yeah, Firefly even brought those weird alien guns,” said Scootaloo's counterpart.

“Bee!” shouted Lily and Sweetie Belle’s counterpart at the same time while Spike’s just facepalmed. Then Sweetie Belle’s counterpart continued, “It was supposed to be a secret!”

“Sorry Sugar,” said Bee in an apologetic tone.

“Oh, would you mind showing me this gun?” asked Kazuki as he suddenly appeared beside Bee and Sugar, startling them.

“Ok, let’s all calm down,” said Sonata before anything bad could happen.

“We brought dinner, how about we eat, then we can talk, ok?” asked Adagio.

“I’m not hungry right now, so you don’t need to worry about me,” said Kazuki as he sat on a free spot an leaned against the wall.

Sunset, Pinkie’s counterpart and Fluttershy’s counterpart along with most of those present in the room that Kazuki disregarded at the moment went to the kitchen to prepare dinner or wait for it, probably in the cafeteria, with the meat that the hunting parties brought back, plus the fruits and vegetable that the others managed to acquire on nearby settlements or passing traders. Vale, the sirens, Lily, Bee, Twilight’s counterpart and a man and two women remained to keep an eye on Kazuki.

“My name is Kazuki by the way,” said Kazuki.

“River Vale’,” said Vale before motioning for her little sister and say, “That’s mah little sister, River Lily.”

“Howdy,” said Lily but still kept a serious look as she watched Kazuki, it was adorable really.

“Dawn Star,” said Twilight’s counterpart.

“We already know each other,” said Aria while Adagio and Sonata nodded.

“Indeed, my former students,” said Kazuki before looking at Firefly, the wet cloth on her forehead been placed back by Bee.

“That’s mah brother, Michael,” said Vale pointing to the only human male that remained in the room, it was clearly Big McIntosh’s counterpart. He was a redhead like his sisters and was wearing a shirt with an open jacket over it and long pants, he simply nodded but otherwise didn’t react.

“That’s my sister, Alexis and Penny’s sister, Hild,” said Dawn as she pointed at the woman with blue and purple hair as well as purple eyes that were similar to Dawn herself and later the latter who had dark gray hair and gray eyes. The latter was clearly Maud’s counterpart and it wasn’t that farfetched to assume that Penny was the name of Pinkie’s counterpart, however that interesting fact was that Shining Armor’s counterpart was female and Maud's counterpart lacked one arm, the left arm to be exact. Well it’s not like gender is consistent across the multiverse.

“That’s Firefly and her little sister Bumblebee,” said Adagio soon after, unaware of Kazuki’s introspection.

“We call her ‘Bee’ though,” interjected Sonata and this cause Kazuki to chuckle, which caused the others to look at him strangely.

“Nothing, it just reminded me of someone else,” said Kazuki as he remembered a certain Hachibi Jinchūriki that was a rapper and swordsman, a very unorthodox one on both accounts. However, he continued, “Anyway, you have no less than 24 hours to convince me to not rip those bloodstones from your chests and take Sunset back to Equus by force.”

“You know? Threats ain’t the best way to start a negotiation,” said Vale.

“I know, but I don’t particularly care at the moment, besides I want the stones those three stole from me millennia ago,” said Kazuki.

“Darn, you four are old,” said Lily.

“Lily!” said Vale in a serious tone directed at her little sister, scolding her sister for either interjecting after a threat from Kazuki or for commenting about their age, it wasn’t clear.

“Yeah, we kinda expected that,” said Aria ignoring Lily’s comment about her age.

“Has it really been thousands of years since our banishment?” asked Sonata and Kazuki nodded.

*sigh* “Less than a century in this place and we lost thousands of years back home, at least that old bastard is certainly dead,” said Adagio.

“Starswirl? As far as I know, he mysteriously disappeared not long after banishing you three,” said Kazuki and after that, the group fell into silence.

“Serves him right,” muttered Aria under her breath.

Not long after Haven and Fluttershy’s counterpart came back with trays of food, then they gave each person a bowl of thick soup.

“Thanks, Windy/Haven,” said everyone as they receive a bowl. After everyone was served Windy offered the last bowl to Kazuki, who raised an eyebrow.

“There is no need to waste your resources on me since I don’t need to eat at the moment,” said Kazuki.

“Um, but that would be terribly rude, so we made one for you as well… um, if you don’t mind that is,” said Windy in a tone similar to her Equestrian counterpart.

“Very well,” said Kazuki before accepting the bowl with both hands and leaning forward. Then he said, “I accept your generous offer.”

“Oh, you don't need to thank me, you are a guest here,” said Windy as she smiled. Then she added, “I’m Wind Weaver by the way.”

“Guest or not, it’s no excuse for poor manners,” said Kazuki before holding the bowl in his right hand, then a purple flame appeared on his left hand before disappearing, showing a pair of hashi(箸, chopstick) and from there they ate in silence despite his earlier threat, Windy went back to Firefly’s side.

A while later the others came back and Sugar was carrying something wrapped in cloth. She sat near Bee and Lily followed by Spike’s counterpart before huddling together to talk about something, Kazuki could hear them just fine.

The CMC’s counterparts were discussing if it was a good idea to show him the alien gun they had, Lily argue that it could be dangerous to give him a gun while Sugar argued that he might know more about it than they did while Bee agreed with Sugar, Spike’s counterpart, which Kazuki learned was named Oscar or Oz as they called him, was undecided as of yet, so in the end the came to a conclusion.

Sugar approached Kazuki and carefully unwrapped the cloth, which revealed a red and chrome colored round gun that was a rather stereotypical space gun —especially considering the retro-futuristic style from the Fallout Verse— and being careful to not set it off.

“Oh,” said Kazuki as he lifted his right hand and the gun started to float above Sugar’s hand, then he moved the weapon to be in front of him. Ignoring the look of surprise on the faces of most humans present —excluding the sirens and Penny— that saw the demonstration of his telekinesis he activated his Byakugan.

They expressed further surprise and alarm when they saw veins become more prominent on his forehead at the same time he opened his third eye and activate the Byakugan on it since the blind spot wouldn’t matter at the moment. Then he added, “So, this is a Zetan Blaster.”

“Zetan?” asked Sugar being the first to get over her surprise. However, instead of answering her Kazuki extended his other hand and a magic circle appeared in front of his palm, which projected a image of a diminutive —for a adult— hairless, yellowish-green-skinned humanoid with short, wiry limbs as well as a disproportionately large head with round, heavy-lidded and solid black eyeballs with no discernible iris or pupil; a thin mouth that hid a green tongue as well as sharp teeth, and two pairs of small holes where ears and nostrils would be. The creature had no opposable thumbs, instead each hand had three long tentacle-like fingers with large suction cups at each fingertip, all in all, something that made the girl squeak in surprise —along with many others— before she hid behind her older sister, then she peaked and saw the unmoving projection as Kazuki rotated the gun in the air slowly.

“This is a Zetan,” said Kazuki as he studied the alien gun, then he paused and looked at Vale, “Was this the alien you saw, Ms River?”

“Darn right it was,” said Vale as she looked at the projection right after putting herself in front of her little sister that hid behind her.

The only ones that didn’t hide were Bee and Oz, who tried to kick and punch the projection respectively, they phased through and fell on the floor. Windy saw this, so she ignored her fear and she threw caution to the wind and went to make sure that Bee and Oz were alright. Dawn and Sunset looked at the projection with curiosity, albeit for different reasons, while Penny didn’t react outwardly, however, if it wasn't for the fact that Kazuki could see the synapses being fired in her brain he would have thought she didn’t notice the projection.

“What a ghastly attire,” commented Haven as she looked at the space suit after getting over her shock, she might prioritize functionality but she at least made an effort to look good, especially considering the fact that she read any pre-war magazine she could find about fashion. Everyone just looked at her with the “are you serious?” look before rolling their eyes and calmly study the projection.

“Is this a hologram?” asked Dawn as she saw the three younger girls and her little brother trying and failing to touch the lifelike projection of the alien, of course, after Windy made sure that Bee was alright.

“Close enough,” answered Kazuki.

“How can you use magic here?” asked Sonata as she looked at the circle of light floating in front of Kazuki’s palm. Adagio and Aria also became curious about that little fact, Sunset overheard the question and it also peaked her curiosity.

“The same way you four can, speaking of which, why haven't you four returned to your original forms yet?” asked Kazuki as he looked at the Equestrian-turned-humans with his three eyes, figuring that they should have at least partial access to their magic by now. Then he glanced at the injured and ill Firefly on the mattress with his Byakugan and commented, “By the way she doesn’t have much longer to live.”

“Eh?” responded everyone present when they processed Kazuki's words.

Author's Notes:

Something I forgot to mention a few chapters ago, a headcanon of mine about the Byakugan's blind spot and it hasn't been disproven so far:
I believe the blind spot is behind the eye, right where the optical nerve is connected to the eyeball. Each eye covers almost all the area that isn't covered by the other, except by a minuscule spot at the back of the neck above the first thoracic vertebra. The blind spot could either shift or move if they move their eyes, but for whatever reason, the Hyūga and Ōtsutsuki clan members always keep them "locked" forward, now if it's because of habit or some biological limitation I don't know.

Also, you can find the reference to Kazuki's kagune here.

Anyway, here are the names of the counterparts of the MLP characters that I came up with.
Twilight's counterpart -> Dawn Star
Rarity's counterpart -> Haven Melody
Fluttershy's counterpart -> Wind "Windy" Drifter
Rainbow's counterpart -> Firefly
Applejack's counterpart -> River "Val" Vale
Pinkie's counterpart -> Penny
Sweetie Bell's counterpart -> Sugar Song
Scootaloo's counterpart -> Bumblebee
Applebloom's counterpart -> River Lily
Spike's counterpart -> Oscar
Big mac's counterpart -> Michael "Mike"
Shining Armor's counterpart -> Alexis
Maud Pie's counterpart -> Hild

Thanks to Jet Storm, febnic16 and beirirangu for helping me with the names.

12. Return and glimpse of hidden truths

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Warning: some graphical descriptions in this chapter.

“What you mean sis doesn’t have much longer to live!!” shouted Bee as she gripped the hem of Kazuki’s kimono and looked at those impassive lilac eyes as tears started to well up on her own eyes, then she shouted, “No! You’re lying!”

Bee and the others look as Kazuki’s third eye kept its attention on Firefly without blinking, then Kazuki said, “I can see many micro fractures that have healed improperly and are being aggravated by radiation poisoning, her internal organs are on the verge shutting down, her brain activity is erratic because she spent too much time with a higher body temperature than normal thanks to her fever and that’s not mentioning that you should have amputated her left arm and right leg.”

Each one of them paled as Kazuki list the problem that their friend was facing, but each one of those was like a stab in the heart for Bee, to now that her sister was dying and she couldn’t do anything about it was a heavy blow.

“Can you save her?” asked Bee almost whispering but despite the volume, the despair was evident in her voice.

“Yes,” said Kazuki plainly.

Bee’s eyes along with most occupants in the room widen in surprise with renewed hope, except for the sirens and Sunset, the sirens were not even surprised by the fact that their former teacher could save their friend, however, the four of them knew that Kazuki wouldn’t do so for free.

“Please, save her,” begged Bee.

“Why should I?” asked Kazuki as he turned his attention back to the disassembled blaster, while he already memorized the shape and function of the pieces now he was analyzing the metal that the weapon was made of. Bee released the kimono in shock and that wasn’t even acknowledged by the alien.

“Please I will do anything!” shouted Bee as she got on her knees beside Kazuki and he didn’t even look at her. The kneeling girl’s mind was going into overdrive trying to think of something, so she asked with a trembling voice, “We can give you that gun, how about it?”

“I already memorized all its pieces, their functions and their composition,” said Kazuki as he resembled the blaster and placed in front of Bee, then he added, “I could just build my own version.”

“We have caps,” said Bee.

“Useless,” said Kazuki as he just rested against the wall.

“We have rations and water,” said Bee.

“I already have those,” said Kazuki.

“We other weapons and ammo,” said Bee.

“Primitive weapons,” said Kazuki.

“You… you can have me as a slave,” said Bee with a defeated tone.

“Bee! That’s enough!” shouted Haven as she knelt down beside the girl and glared at Kazuki.

The others finally found came out of their shock when and they immediately went to Bee’s side to comfort the distraught girl. Alexis, Hild and Michael were ready to attack at the mere thought of him accepting such an offer.

“I refuse,” said Kazuki with distaste evident in his voice and noble features.

“Why? Raiders like young girls an-” started Bee but whatever she was about to say was cut off by the immense feeling of dread that washed over the occupants of the room. Bloodlust flooded the place and suddenly it was as if they forgot how to breath, it was especially worst for the siren and Sunset since the prey instincts of their original forms broke through every layer of their minds and reached the surface while screaming so loudly that their bodies were on the verge of shutting down out of fear.

“Don’t ever compare me with that filth, otherwise, I might as well take what I came for with extreme prejudice and leave. Am I clear mortal?” said Kazuki calmly but his voice sounded inhuman and unrecognizable to their ears. When Kazuki didn’t receive an answer he asked calmly but with a voice more inhuman than before, “Ā̺̗̻̥̫̣̲̖ͪ͞m̸̨̰̭̖͛͋̋̊́̄̂̅ ̶̣̠̺͎̹̆̈İ̞̿ͣ͆ͬ͛ ̵̺͈̳͔̓ͭ́ͅͅc̵̯͈͈̖̼̗̹͆ͯ̏̐̀̾ͅL̨̥̳̭̼̻̘̳̉͌͋ͮ͊e̛ͧ̇̿҉̭̬̹̫ͅͅA̜̜͚͍̙͎̘ͩͮ͡͡r̴͈͈ͮ́?̷̛͚̣̣̗̦̍͋̃̔͒ͤͫ”

Every single conceivable instinct forced the young girl to nodded to placate the wrathful god that was directing his fury at her. As human beings, the inhabitants of the Narutoverse deserve far more credit than people give them, even if they were somewhat desensitized to the truth that was a Harvester of Worlds from the Ōtsutsuki clan.

They had chakra, which made them “closer to the gods” even if just a little bit and they dealt with the Bijuu, which were themselves monstrous existences even if they operate it with a somewhat human logic. However, they also dealt with the Juubi, which was in on itself a alien force of nature without human logic and thus far more monstrous, later they fought against its Jinchuuriki and considering that such an existence could give mind to what they consider to be a mindless mass of power it became an approximation of what a Ōtsutsuki would be.

Then they saw Kaguya, anyone with any measure of sensing ability could tell that she was utterly terrifying, however, throughout the war the shinobi have acclimated themselves to the point where they could stand in the presence of such monstrosity. Naruto and Sasuke didn't count because at that point they were practically demigods, more like a quarter god than half god but that was just a technicality.

The most inhuman part of all this was that Kazuki was not even upset that he was compared to the scum that rapes and pillages, he had long since stared at the ugliness and evil that mortals were capable of and the sad part was that gods were not much better. It was like constantly staring at the black mud of Angra Mainyu( 𐬀𐬢𐬭𐬀 𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬎‎) —in Avestan— or Ahriman(اهریمن) —in Persian— you either go mad or stop caring at all, in the second you become desensitised to the atrocities committed by mankind and most mortal races in general, the fact that a Shinju only grew in a “blood-stained soil” didn’t help either.

However one of the few things that Kazuki despised to this day was the “denial of reason”, in his eyes everyone was entitled to the fruits of their own labor, even slaves and he doesn’t have a problem with slavery itself so long the “relationship” was balanced, if others were to think about it his views of slaves were similar to pets and so long there was a “give and take” it was fine.

What angered Kazuki the most was the fact that Raiders didn’t even bothered to try bettering themselves and stole from others, worst still, they believe that they were entitled to that which they did not earn and their slaves were just properties to them, and to not recognize the capacity for thought was the greatest sin to Kazuki, thus the reason he disliked the Ōtsutsuki clan and the only reason he didn’t outright hate them was because of their difference in magnitude when compared to mortals.

Unfortunately, in a world without chakra, a Ōtsutsuki might as well be an eldritch abomination and because of that it was not much of a surprise that all humans present felt a paralyzing sense of fear, however, that same fear also made the hearts of the sirens and Sunset to stop.

Kazuki just looked at the four of them with indifference before stretching out his hand and send threads of chakra from his fingertips. Each string managed to reach each one of them, then once contact was made with their bodies the energy phased through their flesh and bone to grasp their heart. After that was done it was a simple matter of sending a very minute charge of electricity through the string to restart their hearts and they didn't even notice that they almost went into a cardiac arrest.

Seen that Kazuki already bothered to save them he decided that he might as well help them with their current predicament and he was willing to do that now only because it would help him later on when it would be the time to bring back Sunset Shimmer. With his chakra, he reached into their spirits and as its threads managed to weave themselves and spread, much like the web of a spider, until they manage to find and grasp the spell that was constricting their magic and denying them their true forms.

Kazuki pulled his hand back and like paper wrapping around an object it was ripped apart and removed. That caused the four Equestrians to suddenly feel pain as their bodies started to distort, the magic that was bound for years was now free and the first thing it did was to “fix” their bodies.

The four of them fell on their knees as they fell their bones cracked and their muscles stretched to their limit, every single fiber of their being was being rearranged to their original forms. At this point on the outside it only looked like they grew a few inches in size, however, everyone's attention was captured with a very loud crack was heard and it was coming from Sunset and the sirens, more specifically from their legs.

It was to be expected, after all, out of all different anatomical aspects between Equestrians and humans the most different was the structure and shape of their legs. At the same time that the bones of their toes were fusing together to become hooves and bones of their feet elongating to compensate for the differences their coat of a fur started to grow from their skin and the lower half of their face started to protrude forward, if a reference was needed it was like those movies where the human is turned into a werewolf.

“It seems you three have acclimated yourselves to this world a little bit too much,” set Kazuki casually not even bothered by their transformation. Right as the transformation finished he added, “And that's not good, after all, you three were able to handle being in my presence whenever I released my bloodlust.”

The four Equestrians, however, didn't acknowledge his words since they are still recovering their breath from the massive discharge of adrenaline, which was a product both from the transformation as well as their fear. Once they were no longer gasping for air they looked at their hands and for the first time in many years they saw their fur coat and in Sunset’s case, her hands immediately went to her forehead where she felt her horn.

“How?” asked Adagio as her hands traced her face, more specifically her muzzle.

“I just ripped the spell that was keeping you in human form,” said Kazuki flatly. Then he added, “By the way, I also prevented you from having a cardiac arrest, so you're welcome.”

Despite her startled look Sunset immediately remembered what happened previously, so she asked Kazuki, “If I asked for you to heal Firefly, would you do it?”

“What reason could you give me to heal this mortal? never mind the fact that she's a stranger to me,” said Kazuki without changing his expression.

“Even if we promise to cooperate with you and don't complain when you take us back?” asked Aria both wanting to save Firefly and return to Equestria.

“By ‘we’ are you referring to just you three or are you including Sunset Shimmer as well?” asked Kazuki.

“They are including me as well,” said Sunset without hesitation.

“Very well, I will save this human,” said Kazuki as he got up and tied his hair into a braid. Then as he knelt down beside his new patient he said, “Unless you want to be a witness to a surgery you better leave this room, besides that, I think all of you had something to talk about, however, you are free to check at any time if you want.”

After hearing Kazuki’s warning Sunset and the sirens look at their human companions and reluctantly motioned for them to go outside the room, especially the children who were already very shaken by this experience. Despite their young age, they lived in a harsh world where it was not uncommon for them to see blood and death, however, they were not prepared to see their friend, in this case of Bee her big sister, be cut open by an alien that wore a human face.

Even as some of the humans remaining by the door looking inside Kazuki activated his Nen and an invisible steam-like energy surrounded his body, but he focused most of the aura on his braid. The Equestrians and humans at the door witness it as it started to lengthen, however, instead of hair it was slowly turning into metal and eventually irregular rings started to appear around the bundle of cables.

It was only when Kazuki's braid became twice the original length it dawned on them that the form it was taking was that on my spinal cord and from it, the upper half of a skeleton was being formed. The rib cage was very human-like, however, from its shoulders, two pairs of arms started to form that were inhumanly long while smaller more human-like arms started to grow on the sides and front of the rib cage. Once the eight arms were done growing hands formed at their ends with a surgical tool merged with each finger as was the inhumanly long head with its back reaching half way down its spine it the monstrosity was to look up.

On its face, six eyes in a circular formation were formed with a bigger eye in the center of the circle surrounded by the six smaller ones and lastly, tendrils of an unknown substance started to grow from its joints and connecting themselves halfway through the bones creating a biomechanical crude muscular system.

“Dr. Frankenstein(創案破壊変形, ドクターフランケンシュタイン, Creator and Destroyer of Monstrosities),” said Kazuki announcing the name of his Hatsu (発, Release/Act), a product of his Specialization-type Nen with Materialization and Manipulation attributes. This particular Hatsu was made by him based on Neferpitou’s own Hatsu, Doctor Blythe (玩具修理者, ドクターブライス, Toy Repair) and it allowed Kazuki to repair/heal, modify and destroy living tissue at will.

A line appeared on the top of Frankenstein’s elongated skull and from its flesh many long and thin mechanical tentacle-like arms came out, the ones near the face held lenses of different tints that were placed in front of the seven roaming eyes that moved independently while the ones further away from the face held dish like devices to pick any imaginable frequency. From the opening on the underside of the rib cage, a multitude of mechanical tentacle-like arms came out and neared Firefly who was breathing heavily, one with an oxygen mask placed itself on her face covering her nose and mouth.

Once Firefly's breathing became stable tentacles with a beak on its end sprayed a brown liquid on her abdomen while others with scissors and scalpels cut her clothes and bandages, completely exposing her wounded body, and the same brown spray was applied on different parts of her body, including the infected wounds that had acquired a yellowish color at this point. Then the scalpels started to cut open the places that the spray was applied, however, almost no blood came out and after tiny hook-like tools pulled the skin and muscles apart her organs and bones were exposed.

Using his Byakugan Kazuki could see that the humans and Equestrians were no longer looking, but they still remained in the hallway probably heading the faint sounds of their friends being cut as well as the mechanical wheezing of Frankenstein’s servos.

“It will be done in a little over two hours,” said Kazuki loud enough for them to hear, now all they could do was wait and hope for the best, not that they needed since Kazuki has unparalleled knowledge in the field of medicine anyway.

Two and half hour later

It was done, Kazuki finished the myriad of surgical procedures that corrected all the damage and ailments that afflicted the blue-haired young woman and as she laid naked on the mattress Kazuki’s eyes took in all the details of her body without a hint of lust as he used his Byakugan to observe her organs and bones. She was lacking some nutrition but considering her living conditions it was to be expected, and the only scars that remained were the ones she had before the surgery. Seeing that everything in Firefly's body was in optimal condition Frankenstein withdraw all the servos and tools before dematerializing, then Kazuki said, “You can come in now.”

From the corner, Sunset peeked and once she saw that Frankenstein was no longer there she entered the room followed by the rest of the group. Kazuki noticed that Sunset, Adagio, Aria and Sonata were without shoes, not surprising since their boots would be very uncomfortable to their original anatomy. Anyway, Sunset, Bee and Windy were the first to arrive and immediately after Sunset used a simple spell to conjure a blanket to cover Firefly.

“I assume you all talked,” said Kazuki and Sunset nodded.

“Yeah, we did,” said Sunset.

“Good, then gather anything you want to bring with you and don't want to left it behind in absolutely any circumstance, it will be a simple matter of opening a portal to Equestria for me and the four of you to go through,” said Kazuki.

“Can… can we make another request?” Sonata asked reluctantly.

“You four are testing my patience but I will humor you, what is your request?” asked Kazuki.

“Can they come with us?” asked Aria pointing at the humans as they surrounded Firefly to make sure she was ok.

“Bringing humans to Equestria can have unforeseen consequences,” said Kazuki.

“Can’t you just turn them into ponies?” asked Adagio.

“Why are you so insistent on remained with that group?” asked Kazuki.

“They have nothing left here, all of their families have either died or abandoned them,” said Aria with disgust in her voice at the mention of being abandoned.

“Besides we have been through so much together and they even accept us as we are now we…” started Adagio but her voice trailed off in the end as if she couldn't bring herself to continue just yet.

“We are family,” said Sonata finishing what Adagio wanted to saw.

“Good answer,” said Kazuki with a proud smile on his face seeing how much they have changed.

“We also want to be your students again,” said Aria.

“If you have us back that is,” said Sonata shyly.

“Very well, but don't expect special treatment,” said Kazuki and the three sirens nodded.

“Why you are in such a hurry to leave?” asked Sunset.

“Let’s just say that my arrival was noticed and I would rather avoid a conflict with the one who noticed my arrival,” said Kazuki and this caused the four Equestrian to look confused, however, that didn’t stop his vision that gazed beyond the physical realm and into the mass of writhing tentacles, blinking eyes and gaping mouths that had its attention and most of its eyes focused on him. Without words he spoke to the entity and communicated his intention to leave soon and that he would be taking this group of humans, luckily for him the entity didn’t care and didn’t have plans for this group of humans so it just let it slide. This whole exchange happening in a section of time so small that it might not exist at all, with the Equestrians completely unaware of what transpired he asked, “Will more humans be joining us?”

Two days after Kazuki’s departure, Equus

Jewel, Song, Moon and Nameless —she had yet to find a fitting name but she was certain that it would come to her sooner or later— were currently in the underground village, Moon had time to calm down and she was willing to admit that she overreacted, however, when she went back to apologise she was informed by her sister —technically cousin if Moon was considered Luna’s daughter— that he departed to another dimension to bring back a former student of Celestia, Sunset Shimmer. The reason she came to the underground was to spend time with the thestral that descended from her followers and her sisters —blood/magic sister as well as her herd/hoard sister— elected to accompany her as they waited for the original Kazuki to return, besides they used that opportunity to show Nameless around and introduce her to the rest of the clan.

It was quite a sight to see the intimidating alicorn with a fiery mane to be fawning and playing with the little ones, good thing that her mane only burned only what she wanted to burn, it seemed that Nurturing Nature and Sunshine were showing through her personality. Still, it was time well spent in Nameless’ opinion, and they did that before showing the rest of the partially restored castle and underground facilities, and as they did so Moon reflected o her relationship with Celestia and Nameless.

Contrary to popular belief she(Luna) didn’t rebel because her(Luna’s) subjects didn’t appreciate the night sky, at least not completely. She rebelled initially because Celestia’s attitude and sense of entitlement, she still acted as the motherly figured and leader she was today. Back then, however, she did mostly just for show and she was a very controlling pony, especially after their mother died. Luna felt so caged that she and the few ponies that appreciate her more than her sister decided to rebel, she just wanted to give her sister a wake-up call by showing that Luna wouldn't just submit to her sister every whim.

Unfortunately, instead of backing down after Luna blocked the sun to negotiate Celestia used the Elements on Luna who just accessed Moon’s powers and personality, which resulted in their banishment as well as their allied forces, luckily not all thestrals followed Luna and the ones that remained on the surface were mostly extended family from Moon’s followers that received her blessing but opted to not fight for various reasons. That banishment destroyed any chance that Luna and Moon ever becoming one complete being, the initial cooperation that the two achieved was undone by Luna’s regret clashing against Moon’s antipathy toward Celestia.

According to Nameless, it was during Luna and Moon’s banishment that Celestia became aware of Nameless and fearing that she would end up like her sister she shattered and imprisoned Nameless. While looking inward and without the company of another immortal Celestia was forced to reevaluate her attitude and actions, everything about herself really, especially after her mother’s death and Kazuki’s betrayal. Needless to say that she didn’t like what she saw and through the millennia she managed to correct her mentality, mostly.

Currently, the four of them were in a small coffee shop in the underground village drinking some tea, it helped them to relax and they also used that time to just gossip in general. It was particularly freeing for Nameless to just be another pony enjoying a snack with her friends and family instead of a ruler with the crushing weight of responsibility, even the depression that Celestia felt for millennia was slowly diminishing in Nameless as Mourning Star was being assimilated into her personality.

Their time was interrupted by a young thestral stallion with a lab coat landing near the balcony that they were, from the balcony it was possible to see a bit of the underground ecosystem, a bioluminescent forest of mushrooms that served like camouflage for the small animals that lived there, luckily said ecosystem plus the Everfree Forest were more than enough to sustain the clan. Once the stallion landed he bowed and said, “My ladies.”

“Wild Night, right?” said Moon as she looked at one of Kazuki’s assistants.

“It’s an honor that you remembered my name, Lady Moon,” said Night as he stood up and informed the two alicorns and two dragonesses, “Lord Kazuki is back from his expedition.”

“Is he alone or accompanied by a pony with yellow coat and as well as yellow and red mane?” asked Nameless with hope in her voice.

“There's indeed a mare with that description in the group that was following him,” said Night politely as he looked at the fiery alicorn, while she wasn’t that tyrant that imprisoned his ancestors it was going to take a while for the thestral population to accept her.

“Group?” asked two dragonesses at the same time.

“Yes, they are in the decontamination chamber in the lab. Whatever world they came from it must have been dangerous if he felt it was necessary for them to appear there in the first place,” said Night and by the time he finished the four of them got up and motioned for him to lead the way.

It didn’t take long for the group to arrive at the lab with the decontamination chamber, standing before the one-way mirror that allowed the scientists to see inside was Kazuki —the clone he left behind— while few other assistants were monitoring the ones inside. The chamber was wide but didn’t have much depth, on the back of the chamber the wall curved to make a bench for the ones being decontaminated to wait. Inside the chamber was Kazuki naked and sitting in the lotus position while he waited for the chamber to accomplish its function, not far from him was a group of ponies that were uncannily similar to the Elements of Harmony.

Nameless, on the other hand, cried at the sight of Sunset Shimmer, almost everyone was unbothered by their state of undress, not surprising since modesty was one of the first things to be considered useless while surviving. However her happiness was short lived and her eyes widen in surprise and alarm as did Moon’s at the sight of three familiar ponies, or better yet, at the three creatures masquerading as ponies, the sirens.

Author's Notes:

The eldritch horror that Kazuki saw was Ug-Qualtoth from Fallout 3, which is speculated by the fandom to either be an alternative name or based on Yog-Sothoth from Cthulhu Mythos.

If you are having difficulty imagining Frankenstein, just imagine a xenomorph queen without a mouth and head-crest with an additional pair of arms as well as a smaller more human-like beneath the two pair of inhumanly long ones while the ones on the front remain the same, the eyes are in a six-pointed star formation with one in the center and the whole body is metallic gray.

The Nen as said in the chapter was based on Neferpitou's ability from Hunter x Hunter, the name is made using the same naming convention from the show, at least as I understand it. First, you have the actual name of the technique, which is more often than not an English name but it can be in any languages, then we have a name in kanji that disregards the pronunciation and focus exclusively on the meaning of the kanji themselves, then we have how the Japanese would pronounce that English name in the first place, the famous Engrish if you will, and lastly we have the rough translation of the kanji that made the name of the technique.

Togashi is crazy when it comes to naming the techniques, sorry if the explanation was confusing but if you use both translations it reveals a lot about the character as well as the ability, here are two examples from Hisoka:

1.Bungee Gum(伸縮自在の愛, バンジーガム, Elastic Love) - allows Hisoka aura to acquire the properties of both gum and rubber.

Bungee Gum - no surprises here since that is the English name.
伸縮自在の愛 - "伸" means 'contract' while "縮" means 'expand' and together "伸縮" they can be read as elasticity; "自" means 'I' or 'self' while "在" means 'to be' and together "自在" they can be read as 'universal' or 'freedom'; "の" means 'of' and "愛" means 'love'.
バンジーガム - how they would have pronounced in Japan, it reads 'Banji gamu'.
Elastic Love - a very open and rough translation of the kanji.

2.Texture Surprise (薄っぺらな嘘, ドッキリテクスチャ, Flimsy Lies) - allows Hisoka to change any thin surface (such as paper or cloth) and manifests his thoughts onto it as a new appearance.

Texture Surprise - no surprises here since that is the English name.
薄っぺらな嘘 - "薄っぺら" means something like 'superficial', 'shallow' or 'flimsy'; "な" is a particle that doesn't have an exact translation while "嘘" means something like 'lie', 'falsehood' or 'fallacy'.
ドッキリテクスチャ - how they would have pronounced in Japan, it reads 'Dokkiri Tekusucha' with 'Dokkiri' meaning surprise in Japanese and 'Tekusucha' coming from Texture.
Flimsy Lies - a very open and rough translation of the kanji

13. Guests that are invited yet uninvited and welcome yet unwelcome.

View Online

Few hours before the inter-dimensional jump, Fallout-like Earth

Kazuki stood on the roof of the abandoned school, currently, he stood on a towel that was on the floor, his posture straight as he placed his hands together, he breathed in and out the cold night air. He was topless exposing his white skin with black tattoos and was only wearing simple dark gray yoga pants. He stood absolutely still and let the natural energy of this planet enter his body, he felt its anger at the scars that inflicted by the humans from two centuries ago, but that was just one of many turbulent times in the long memory of this world and from its perspective, the wound was still fresh.

The alien just smiled as he spread his feet and slowly extended his arms before lowering them along with his body, thus beginning a sequence of Tai chi chuan or Taijiquan (太极拳) and as he moved slowly and in sync with the energies and memories of this world. He saw and felt the beginning when heaven and earth were one, he felt the pull when the planet took shape, he felt the surface hardening and separating its molten body from the cosmos, he felt the tears of the sky come and flood the land, he felt life grow and spread from a single cell all the way to the humans that lived to this day and so much more. He returned to the beginning after going through all one hundred and eight forms and thus he closed this cycles, then he breathed out as the sun appeared on the horizon.

“That’s some fancy moves yah got there pal,” said Vale as she stood beside the door that was used to exit the building.

“It helps both the body and the mind,” said Kazuki as he lifted his arms as high as he could keeping his palms together and fingers pointing upward assuming the Urdhva Vrikshasana(ऊर्ध्व वृक्षासन, Upward Tree Position), then he asked Vale, “Wanna try?”

“I don't know,” said Vale with uncertainty in her voice as Kazuki arced his back until his hands touched the towel covered floor, thus he assumed the Urdhva Dhanurasana(ऊर्ध्व धनुरासन, Upward Bow Position).

“Suit yourself,” said Kazuki as he lifted his legs from the ground and straightened his posture while doing a handstand, this entering in the Adho Mukha Vrksasana(अधो मुख व्र्क्ससन, Face Downward Tree), then in a impressive show of balance he moved his legs in a upside down V before placing them on his arms and as he assumed the Tittibhasana(तित्तिभसन, Firefly Position) he asked, “Why up so earlier?”

“Lookout,” said Vale as she placed her sniper rifle beside her as she used a pair of binocular not even looking at Kazuki's feats of balance and flexibility.

“I see,” said Kazuki as he hooked his feet together and pressed his shoulders assuming the Bhujapidasana(भुजपिदसन, Shoulder Pressing Posture), then he let his bottom rest on the floor before lifting his hands and place their palms together as well as crossing his legs with the sole of his feet pointing up, thus assuming the Padmasana(पद्मासन, Lotus Posture) before saying, “A small group of humans is heading in the direction of this building straight ahead.”

Vale just pointed her binocular at the direction and sure enough, she managed to see three people heading their way.

“Hopefully the humans I agreed to take with me in addition to the others in this building,” said Kazuki as he got up and did a hand seal, then in a poof of smoke he was back in his kimono.

An hour later

Kazuki stood on the roof in seiza as he felt the sunlight against his skin, he could feel the presence of three additional human and they were probably talking about what happened. He “looked” at the eldritch abomination that was staring at him with a myriad of eyes and its tentacles just moved between the space between spaces as it “spoke” with Kazuki.

“It's not like it will bother your connection to your artifacts that much,” said Kazuki to Ug-Qualtoth and the Outer God replied in an unknowable way, which caused Kazuki to answer, “I see what I can do, but sometimes humans can be annoying and stubborn.”

After his brief conversation with the Outer God Kazuki turned “away” from the eldritch abomination and returned his attention back to the humans below. It seemed that they were done talking and were climbing the stairs, soon all of them were on the roof.

“Kaz…” started Aria as she looked at Kazuki’s back.

Kazuki just got up gracefully and turned around, then his lilac pupilless eyes gazed at the new arrivals. The first was a red-haired woman with green eyes and she was wearing a simple dress and a jacket and in her arms was a blonde kid with the same green eyes not older than two years if what Kazuki was seeing was right. Besides the mother and child was another woman with cerulean colored hair and azure eyes, this one with rust pieces of armor, clearly, scraps and leather put together. Kazuki sighed, he really didn’t want to just take in a bunch of kids but he made a promise and he will fulfill it. However, his caught something that he barely noticed at first glance, so he just walked toward the redhead but the one with cerulean hair got between Kazuki and the redhead.

“Um, fascinating,” said Kazuki as he phased through the startled woman with cerulean colored hair and looked directly at the paralyzed redhead. Then he just commented to himself, “Who knew I would come across such as rare finding?”

The woman with cerulean colored hair just jumped to the side and aimed her gun at Kazuki’s head while the redhead remained frozen while looking at the red eyes with spiral pattern that Kazuki now possessed, however, she came back to reality after the child extended her arms and tried to touch his face, her failure to touch him seemed to be more amusing than anything. That caused the redhead to came back to reality and take a step back, clearly in fear at the display of his Kamui.

“You really need to work on your first impression,” said Sunset as she placed a hand on the redhead’s shoulder to reassure her that everything was fine.

“So, who I’m transporting today?” asked Kazuki while he ignored Sunset's jab/advice.

“That’s Juniper Montage,” said Aria pointing at the woman with cerulean colored hair, then she pointed at the redhead and said, “That's Gloriosa Daisy and her daughter Gloriosa Lily.”

Kazuki just nodded and opened his third eye with the Rinne Sharingan and opened a Yomotsu Hirasaka before saying, “Now take off your clothes.”

“What?!” shouted Juniper in disbelief.

“Have you not explained the situation to them?” asked Kazuki.

“I have but I don’t remember you mentioning anything about removing our clothing,” said Adagio as she approached Kazuki.

“I said ‘gather anything you want to bring with you and don't want to left it behind in absolutely any circumstance’ and clothing isn’t that essential,” commented Kazuki before he continued, “Anything you take with you will have to undergo decontamination, so fabric will most likely just be burned in an incineration chamber.”

Sunset sighed before she and the sirens took off their clothes, the others did so with many degrees of resistance but eventually, they just took off their clothes, the only exceptions where River Lily’s bow and River Vale’s cowboy hat, those items were placed in their bags.

“No weapons either, I can make replacements later,” said Kazuki and everyone just dropped their weapons, the one that did it with the most hesitation was Vale not wanting to part with her sniper rifle. Eventually they all stepped through the portal, however, Kazuki stopped Gloriosa Daisy and said, “Leave you necklace behind.”

“Bu-but it’s the last thing I had to remember my brother,” pleaded Daisy and Kazuki just sighed.

“That crystal can’t leave this planet, unfortunately, you will have to choose between the memory of your brother and a possible future far from this forsaken land,” said Kazuki coldly and Daisy just looked at her daughter before taking her necklace off and giving it to Kazuki and stepping through the portal. Kazuki just dropped the crystal and stepped through the Yomotsu Hirasaka and he closed the window leaving the group in an endless dark void.

The window opened in front of the group and Kazuki disintegrated his clothes as he stepped into a white and sterile chamber, then he did some gestures and a shimmer passed over the window before he motioned for them to come. Sunset and the sirens were the first to walk through, however, as soon as Dawn walked out her form changed and a clopping sound was heard, when she looked down she saw that she turned into an anthropomorphic pony like Sunset and the sirens, she looked mostly the same but she could see the tip of her new muzzle, hooves and light pink coat of fur.

Dawn stumbled not used to her new body but luckily Sunset caught her and helped her walk to a nearby bench, Firefly and Penny went after Dawn and the moment they crossed they acquired the same light pink fur coat. Haven, Sugar and Alexis walked out and they all acquired a white coat of fur, then Daisy and her daughter went next acquiring a pale amaranth coat. Michael, Vale, Lily and Windy went next, Michael acquired a light orange fur while Vale gained a light yellow coat, then Lily and Windy gained a light green coat. Oz became a dragon hatching with purple scales and eyes along with golden spines and horns while Bee gained a dark yellow coat, lastly, Hild acquired a dull gray coat.

Kazuki just took their bags and placed in a container that would be taken to a different chamber where would be sorted and decontaminated before sitting on the bench and close his eyes before waiting, he was rather disappointed that all of them turned into the same species as their counterpart while Juniper, Daisy and her daughter became earth ponies, but considering Daisy's potential it was to be expected.

Decontamination chamber, present time

“Kazuki, what are those three doing here?” asked Nameless through the intercom and he immediately knew who she was referring to.

“We happen to cross paths and I decided to bring them with me,” said Kazuki casually and while the others were surprised they figure that they were being observed.

“Do you even know what those three did?” asked Moon through the intercom.

“Of course, I was the one that though Strife Magic to them in the first placed,” said Kazuki and an awkward silence followed.

“We will talk about this later,” said Moon with a serious tone and Kazuki just shrugged.

A few hours later, early afternoon

Kazuki was wearing a tight fishnet shirt, black pants and blue sandals as he made some Japanese clothing for the newly arrived guests and ordered some thestrals to arrange some rooms for the new guests. Sunset was with Nameless and the alicorn teleported them to Kazuki’s room where they are probably talking, Moon and the dragon sisters decided to accompany the guests to their rooms. By the way they all tensed, except for Sunset, they were probably expecting a fight when they saw Nameless, Moon, Song and Jewel, probably because the only beings they had any experience in dealing with that were that massive compared to them were Super Mutants, although the sirens were expecting a fight for a different reason.

Even after sorting out that simple misunderstanding Sunset and the sirens expressed their confusion at the alicorns, Sunset because she only knew about Celestia and Cadence who was a recently ascended and adopted into the royal family not long before her departure while the sirens because they only knew Celestia and Luna before the “Nightmare Moon Incident” and while they knew of Faust she was already dead by the time they started to spread and feed on strife on Equestria.

Kazuki summoned a scroll with the schematics that he managed to acquire from the various factions and organizations in that version of the Fallout Universe and was ready to catalog them before relaxing, that and the fact that he no longer had an eldritch abomination over his metaphorical shoulder. Since he probably will have a serious conversation with Moon and Nameless tonight. He just picked his lab coat and headed for the archive he built underground while his guests settle down and have their first decent meal in years, or their lives really, after their transformations into native species he observed that they had great potential and it would be fun to train them in the future.

Kazuki’s room, the night of the same day

“So, what exactly is there to talk about?” asked Kazuki as he sat cross-legged assuming the Padmasana only wearing his dark gray yoga pants —a different pair from the ones he desintegrated— while his hands were on Dhyana Mudra(ध्यान मुद्रा, Seal/Gesture of meditation) by resting his hands, palm facing upward, at his navel with the right hand on top. His question was directed at the two alicorns that were sitting cross-legged in front of him on his bed, it would have been awkward if it wasn’t for the fact that they wore biker shorts under their short kimonos and if Kazuki cared at all about the awkwardness of the situation.

“Man, I can’t believe I missed this,” said Aria, which caused the eyebrows of the alicorns to twitch, then they looked behind them and saw the sirens and Sunset sitting around the chabudai that Kazuki normally used to serve tea and snacks for guests.

“Yeah, who knew that those boring games that Kazuki taught us would be this entertaining?” said Sonata in a happy and jovial tone that exuded her natural bubbly and seemingly naive personality before popping some snacks in her mouth.

“Not to mention useful, it was because of these strategy games that we managed to survive through many complicated situations,” said Adagio as she placed another piece on the board.

“Such a fascinating game,” said Sunset as she looked at the board, a variant of a game that Kazuki taught them that was meant to be played by two players, of course, this variant was meant for four players and the game was called Go.

“Isn’t it? Kaz taught us a bunch of different games and their variations,” said Sonata after swallowing her sweet snack and place another piece on the board.

“Why are they here?” asked Moon as she pointed to the four mares in kimonos playing board games.

“They are guests and this is about them anyway,” answered Kazuki who still with his eyes closed and in a meditative position.

“But we are here to talk about them,” argued Nameless.

“Exactly,” said Kazuki simply and Nameless just sighed at Kazuki’s attitude but Moon just placed a hand on the shoulder of her sister since she was, at this point, used to Kazuki strange attitude. Then Kazuki said to them, “Besides, it’s not like they won’t ask about it.”

“You know what those monsters are, right?” asked Nameless bluntly and that caused the sirens to stiffen, Sunset to frown and Kazuki to open his eyes.

“That was terribly rude, besides being a monster is relative but yes, I know what they are, it is the whole reason I brought them back in the first place,” said Kazuki just as bluntly as Nameless.

“They almost plunged Equestria into an Age of Strife and they probably planned to do the same with the rest of Equus,” said Moon.

“Plus, Starswirl disappeared not long after they did and I still think they had something to do with it, that and the repercussions of their influenced could still be felt many years after they were banished,” said Nameless.

Each comment affected the sirens, while they didn't exactly regret their actions they were simply more aware and had more sympathy than before. Sunset, on the other hand, just frowned at the comments directed at her friends and while she knew and understood that Nameless was a more emotional and somewhat brutal version of her former mentor it was still jarring to compare Nameless with the mental image she had of Princess Celestia. However, Sunset could appreciate Nameless far more than Celestia for the simple fact that Nameless cared enough to try and bring Sunset back while Celestia decided to just forget about her, move own and hope she was ok.

“You know that I'm an existence far more monstrous than them, right?” asked Kazuki and the sisters just looked at each other with uncertainty, then Kazuki added, “Besides, do you even know what a siren is?”

That question caught those present off guard and the quartet stopped their game to look at the trio.

“Obviously, they are equine-like sea monsters that wear the shape of a pony not unlike a changeling and use their song to cause and spread strife so they can feed,” said Nameless bluntly and Sunset had to place a hand on Aria’s to not just go up to the fiery alicorn and either give a slap on the face or a piece of her mind.

“Thank you for your opinion,” said Kazuki plainly and that hurt the three a bit but that changed when he added, “Despite being factually wrong and filled with prejudice based on ignorance and/or misinformation.”

“And what is wrong with it?” asked Moon.

“For one, siren is not even a species its a condition and my students are not sea monsters they are a very rare type of sea pony,” said Kazuki and that honestly shocked the sister but he didn't stop, “If you want to just eliminate the sirens them you would have to kill a few ponies as well.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Nameless as she clenched her fists at the idea of killing her own little ponies.

“Exactly what I said, being a siren is a condition and some ponies regardless of tribe are born as sirens, those that can infuse their magic into their voice and sing melodies that stir the heart of those who hear it, all that instinctively, I would say there are more than a few famous ponies that are sirens but don’t know it,” explained Kazuki as he looked at the two alicorns.

“Even if what you say is true, how come none of them reached remotely close levels of power as those three?” asked Nameless as she pointed to the three behind her.

“Because none of them have foci that were made to amplify Song Magic, even if the ones that my students stole after advancing in Strife Magic weren’t specifically made for that type of magic they are still far more powerful than what the average pony has access to,” said Kazuki to the two alicorns and their eyes widen in surprise when they processed what he said but he ignored them in favor of looking to the three sirens and say, “Which reminds me, tomorrow morning I want the three of you in my lab to do a check up and see what I can do about those bloodstones.”

“They were your students?” asked Nameless but it clearly more of a statement than a question.

“Indeed, three rebellious and ambitious students that left my tutelage to search for ‘power that was rightfully theirs’ or ‘their true destiny’ because in their mind I was holding them back. Sounds familiar doesn’t?” asked Kazuki as he focused on Sunset for a moment before focusing on Nameless.

*groan* “Fine, I won’t complain about their presence anymore but don’t expect me to be too friendly with those three until they prove to me that they aren’t a threat,” said Nameless.

“Agreed,” said Moon reluctantly.

An awkward silence followed and Adagio looked at the window, where she saw the dark sky before saying, “Look at the time, I think it's better for us to go and get some rest since we have an appointment first thing in the morning, right girls?”

“Yeah, appointment,” said Aria as she got up and followed Adagio out of the room.

“Night Kaz,” said Sonata before leaving the room.

“Well, I better go as well, it’s been years since I slept on a proper bed,” said Sunset before leaving the room as well.

Nameless and Moon just wished a good night and left Kazuki alone, he laid down on his bed and closed his eye because he figured that since he was here he might as well get some sleep, besides a rest would do wonders for his mind.

Next morning, Kazuki’s lab

Kazuki woke just before the sunrise and like always he headed to his lab, more specifically the archives, where he started to take notes of the information he got from that version of the Fallout Universe and he remained like this until the sirens arrived.

“Take off your clothes and lay down on the tables, also assume your true forms,” said Kazuki as he pointed at three long tables that he prepared for them. Then he asked just as they finished taking off their clothes, “Do you want me to use my Hatsu or traditional tools? The former will be quicker but the latter will probably be more comfortable.”

“Your Hatsu is that gross looking thing that healed Firefly, right?” asked Aria and Kazuki nodded, the sirens shivered at the thought of that thing hovering over them but they wanted to get this over with as soon as possible, so Aria simply said, “The former.”

“Former,” said Adagio and Sonata nodded before the three laid on the table and assumed their true form.

Their coat of fur gave way to small scales but kept their color, however, their legs fused and became beautiful fish tails that shared the color of their manes and was covered in darker scales, thin wing-like fins that grew on their back that possessed membranes with the same shade as their lower bodies and lastly small fins on their forearms, back of lower body and sides of their head.

“Can you please hurry up we don’t want our scales to dry,” said Aria and Kazuki just tied his hair into three braids.

“Dr Frankenstein,” said Kazuki as each braid became a Nen Beast that represented that particular Hatsu.

Each siren squirmed uncomfortably as that faceless monstrosities hovered over their vulnerable and exposed forms, it became increasingly more uncomfortable when it opened its seven eyes as it approached their chest to inspect the gems embedded there. However, they sighed in relief when many of the mechanical appendages started to spray salt water on their scales and it was around that time that Kazuki spoke, “It appears that the stones have merged with your bodies but it seems that their composition changed from the original makeup, fascinating.”

“So, are you going to take them off?” asked Sonata.

“At this point, it would be more advantageous to keep them in your bodies since they seem to have adapted, however, I will be taking a sample,” said Kazuki as each Frankenstein approached a tentacle with a serrated disc that started to spin and another tentacle with surgical pincers approached as well.

It left a rather uncomfortable feeling on them as the saw’s teeth scraped against the bloodstone on their chest, had they been acquaintance with modern medicine they would have probably compared the sound and the feeling to a dental drill of a dentist scraping against their teeth. Their torment was ended when a pieced the size and shape similar to a splinter was taken, then another tentacle with an opening approach before releasing a cool gel on the crack part of the gem.

“Now just rest and the gems should be healed by tomorrow morning, also don't use the stone during that time unless you want to damage it,” said Kazuki as he stopped beside Sonata and used his right hand to spread the gel over the gem while his left picked a petri dish from his pocket. The Frankenstein just placed the shard on the dish before sealing it and disappear.

Ignoring Sonata's moans Kazuki repeated this process with Aria and Adagio. While they did a better job at hiding their reaction when Kazuki made contact with the sensitive crystal that was part of their bodies the results was still evident by the blushes on their faces. They sat up and their tails split into three parts forming a pair of legs with hooves while the third part remained a fish-like tail with fins but smaller almost touching the floor. Once they were off of the wet table they returned to their pony form and put on their kimonos.

“Is that all?” asked Aria as she adjusted her green kimono.

“Yes, that will be all,” said Kazuki as he stored the Petri dishes in the cabinet.

“Um, Kaz, is there someplace where we can swim? I kinda miss the feeling of water on my scales and fins,” asked Sonata after she put on her pink kimono.

“It doesn't need to be salt water it can be just a freshwater lake for us to swim, while we prefer salt water we have to make due with what we have,” said Adagio as she finished adjusting the obi of her purple kimono.

“There are some lakes in the surface and underground springs, just ask one of my assistants,” said Kazuki and the sirens nodded before leaving.

After making sure that everything was in place Kazuki used fire chakra to dry the tables before moving them to the storage room, he left that lab and headed for the underground village, time to do some recruitment for a mission he to fo in a long time.

Underground hangar where the portal is located, noon

Kazuki stood before the finished portal that will be used to attempt a connection to the other portal in his workshop, the one in his flying fortress if it still intact. If not, then his fortress didn't survive and/or the original portal was badly damaged, either way, he will have to reassume searching for his original base the hard way.

The portal itself was a ring of crystal with many runes and seals carved and painted on its surface while having cables and wires of different metals weaved around it in spiral patterns, the structure remained in a vertical position because of metal supports on the ground that created a base for the ring. In front of the ring was a small but wide ramp to allow access when its open and on the right side of the ramp was a console made of the same materials as the rings connected by some of the cables and wires that were weaved around the structure, essentially Kazuki just made a Stargate.

“So, what's the plan boss?” asked Rex wearing his Zetsu as he stood behind Kazuki with a squad of Diamond Dogs and thestrals as well as some of the former slaves that were at an acceptable level to take this mission, at least Kazuki hoped so, along with Song and Jewel. Nameless was still adapting to her new body and Moon was helping her, the other pack leaders wanted to come but Kazuki reasoned that it wouldn't be wise to leave with all pack leaders, especially if something went wrong on this mission.

“First we activate the Gate, if the connection is established I will send a clone to check the other side, then we move in if its safe and secure the facility, if a connection cannot be established then we will connect the Gate with one of the other Gates that I built throughout the millennia and start connecting all my scattered bases and followers,” Kazuki verified those present and they all nodded with a loud “hai”.

Kazuki made two clones, one moved to the console and started to type the codes and calculation necessary to create a stable connection. The glyphs started to glow and move as a small marble sized ball of black substance with blue watery edges, the moving glyphs moved in all directions in different speeds until eventually, some of them started to cluster on the right side of the ring into the shape of an arrowhead and from its tip that was pointing inward a light shot in the direction of the small rear into the fabric space-time. The same process repeated itself from the top, bottom, between the left and bottom, left, between the right and top, between the right and bottom as well as the between the left and top, in the end, the eight beams disappeared and left the tear that expanded quickly like a explosion but was contained by the ring.

The second clone walked forward and once he was in front of the black and oily-like veil that looked like a starless void he stepped forward and was engulfed by the portal like he would if he sunk into a vat of black oil. A tense silence followed the departure of the second clone, however, that changed when the original Kazuki motioned for them to advance and follow him through the portal. Passing through the portal was interesting, it felt like they were falling while inside a tunnel made of dark blue particles of light that were moving so fast and disappearing that they looked like small lines of see-through distortions in the air. Then that disappeared when their feet touched the ground on the other side.

Kazuki and his forces emerged from the portal in a dark place where visibility was almost zero but their training took over and they kept walking to not impede the forces that were behind them while channeling chakra to their eyes to enhance their vision enough to allow them to see Kazuki and some of the place they emerged, the only exceptions were the dragon sisters since they had natural night vision. When the small platoon crossed the portal completely the portal was closed and they stopped by Kazuki’s hand sign as he used his Byakugan to navigate the placed, his geta clanking against the floor until he reached the wall, more specifically the panel on the wall that he opened showing an electric panel and from there he just flipped the switch.

The neon lights of the place came to life bathing it in white light, that caused the troops to cover their eyes as they slowly adapted to the sudden change in brightness and when they could see their vision was filled with white. The floor and walls were white and made of unknown material, many mechanical cylinders and arms came down from the ceiling and many computers were placed against the walls with many screens that looked panels made of either plastic or glass on the walls as well as some colored cylinders filled with an unknown liquid.

*whistle* “Damn, you weren't kidding about these place,” said Song as she looked around.

“Prepare for battle,” said Kazuki simply as he jumped back to his place in front of the troops while facing the sliding doors that were not far from the electric panel.

“Why? This place looks empty,” said Song.

“And clean,” interjected Jewel as she knelt down and rubbed her claw on the floor.

“Exactly, who cleaned and fixed a lab that was supposedly abandoned for thousands of years?” asked Kazuki and Song’s eyes widen just as his troops got into fighting position.

*ALARM* “Intruder alert! Intruder alert!” *ALARM*

As the alarms blared and some red lights blinked while synthetic voice informed his probable enemy of the situation the doors slide open and a squad of humanoid figures with silver skin and armor that seemed to be part of their bodies, visors covering the two glowing eyes that were clearly optical sensors while the little bit of fur that was exposed was similar to natural fur but Kazuki could see that was made of synthetic fiber and their mane and was made of very thin optic fiber. The ponies that stood in the doorway were clearly of artificial origin and their armor had chakra being conducted in its plates, which interfered with his Byakugan and didn’t allow to see their internal working without using his Jōgan but what he was seeing made Kazuki compare them to either synthezoids, synthoid or reploids.

“Identify yourselves and state your purpose,” ordered the one in the middle as he or she —Kazuki couldn’t tell at the moment— aimed an advanced assault rifle at Kazuki and his troops.

“I’m the owner of this lab,” said Kazuki as he started to channel chakra into his fingers.

“Impossible,” said the enemy soldier as he or she activated something on their guns, evident by the whirring noise that was probably charging so form of energy.

“How did you invade our base without being detected?” asked another soldier, one that was at the right of the one that started the conversation.

“Through the Gate behind me,” answered Kazuki and that caused the enemy soldiers to look at each other with uncertainty and they seemed to stop and hear something in the distance probably from a hidden communicator. Then the noise from their guns stopped but they kept their weapons at Kazuki and his troops that were ready to fight, after an intense and silent standoff something was heard from the hallway.

*thud* *thud* *thud* *thud*

The sound of something heavy hitting the ground was heard and by its repeating pattern and steadiness it was the sound of steps, then eventually a very tall figure appeared behind the enemy soldiers and Kazuki’s eyes in surprise and disbelief.

The figure was that of tall and proud mare over 10ft tall, almost the size of the dragon sister, not counting her long and sharp horn, her long and silk red mane and tail, her beautiful marble colored wing wider than she was tall, she was wearing a white and golden skin tight bodysuit with armor on her arms, shoulders, thighs and shins that had red glowing lines. That fact, of course, left nothing for the imagination from her bountiful bosom, her wide child-bearing hips, her round and soft behind as well as her strong looking muscles beneath the tight suit, on her hooves were a pair of gold-plated shoes with hook-like blades that were folded. The mare that had a body that even Celestia and Luna, probably Moon and Nameless as well, would envy and it was understandable since it was their mother, Queen Faust.

“Hello Kaz,” said Faust as she placed her right hand on her hips, however, Kazuki immediately knew that something was wrong the moment he met her stunning light blue eyes, enough for him to activate his Jōgan and that only caused further disbelief, which was confirmed by the Rinnegan on his third eye.

“Faust, what have you done?” asked Kazuki with undeniable incredulity in his voice.

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the wait, at first I decided to wait and see what new information we could get about the Ōtsutsuki clan in the Boruto anime but since it was taking too long I decided to continued writing. Also, if you need a reference for the portal it looks similar to a Realm Tear from the new God of War(2018) and the particle effect in the tunnel between portals are like the lights from the Bifrost. And for those that don't know Reploids and Synthezoids are artificial life forms from Megaman X and Marvel Comics respectively while Synthoid is basically the same thing but from multiple other media such as Transformers/G.I. Joe and DC, for more information click HERE, HERE and HERE.

Anyway, the inspiration for Sunset and the sirens' clothing is HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

The inspiration for the sirens true form is HERE.

The inspiration for the laboratories(the ones in his old base) are HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE. Also if you are having dificulty picturing the underground labs just imagine something similar to Orochimaru's labs.

The inspiration for the enemy soldiers are HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE but with Megaman style helmets.

Lastly, inspirations for Faust's suit HERE but with the teal/blue replaced by yellow and the yellow lines replaced by red.

14. Truth behind a unexpected reunion.

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“Whatever do you mean Kaz,” said Faust with a coy tone as she walked forward, the enemy soldier reluctantly moved aside and let the alicorn through.

“Which one did you use?” asked Kazuki as he approached the alicorn and met her in the middle after signaling for his troops to stand down but stay alert. Once they were about a foot from each other Kazuki started to float until he was at eye-level with Faust and as his own glowing pale blue Jōgan and metallic purple Rinnegan gazed into the glowing blue optics of the alicorn, then he asked before she could deflect his question, “Did you use the Fabricator of Composer?”

*Sigh* “I used both,” said Faust as her tone shifted to a more serious one.

“Do you have any idea of how close you were of destroying yourself?” asked Kazuki as placed a hand on her cheek.

“I was dying, I had nothing to lose,” said Faust as she leaned on Kazuki’s hand before adding, “The procedure would have worked or I would have died anyway.”

Faust basked in the warmth of Kazuki's hand and they stay like this for a while.

“I’m sure you could have brought me back, you didn’t have to bother in trying to save me back then,” said Faust and that cause Kazuki to chuckle but it was possible to feel some form of bitterness behind that smile.

“‘Ignorance is a bliss’ they say but it’s also a poison, you and your daughters seem to think there are no limits to my powers, contrary to that I actually have limits. One of the said limits is that I can’t revive a Deva(देव, god), Devi(देवी, goddess) or Tennin(天人, celestial being) that is too close of my own existence, a Devata(देवता, lesser god) or lesser Kami(神, deity) maybe. Either way, you are no lesser deity, my dear,” said Kazuki as he looked at the surprised alicorn before glancing at his own troops and Faust’s soldiers, “We can talk about these later, for now, we better focus on what we came here to do.”

Faust nodded before taking a step back and ask, “Anything else before I show you around the remodeled base?”

“Open it,” said Kazuki with a serious tone.

“Oh my, we barely see each other and when we do you want me to strip in front of our children, so naughty of your part,” said Faust as she placed her hands on her cheeks and feigning embarrassment while Kazuki just rolled his eyes.

“I’m not even going to question your logic or how you reached such a conclusion,” said Kazuki as he tangentially noticed that Faust’s soldiers seemed to get a bit more nervous.

“Spoilsport,” said Faust as she placed her arms on her hips and a single vertical line appeared on her front from the top of her chest to her crotch, then a few more lines appeared along the muscle fibers before small plates pop out and slid to the sides, even around her breasts, then two line divided Faust face into four sections before the upper plates slid to the side revealing the frame beneath and leaving only her muzzle intact. In the end, Kazuki saw the silvery fibers acting as muscles as well as the dull colored bones that served the same function as their organic counterpart. Then she asked, “Want to see my limbs too? Or is my torso enough?”

“Just the torso is fine,” said Kazuki as he traced the edge of her eye socket just around the optics, paying attention as the micro servos moved the parts that corresponded to the many small muscles on the face as well as the ones that corresponded to the iris in her optic giving a look similar to the lenses of a camera. Then he moved down just past her ribs where he could see a glowing sphere instead of a heart, her reactor core, beneath that he could see the wires and components that replicated the many organs in an organic body. He commented as he brushed the tip of his finger on the wires, “These are my designs.”

“Yes,” said Faust as Kazuki took a step back and she slid the plates back into their respective places before looking at Kazuki’s forces, as she looked at the two dragonesses and the diamond dogs she commented, “You always had a habit of collecting strays.”

That statement earned a chuckled from Kazuki before saying, “Your daughter said the same thing when I arrived with a pack of diamond dogs.”

“My darlings, time to help your father and his troops get settle,” said Faust with a smile on her face as she clapped her hands while facing her soldier, some actually a little embarrassed while other just nodded before folding their weapons and placing them on their backs, Kazuki was contemplating what was Faust's logic for these synthetics to be considered their children.

“Are you alright?” asked Kazuki as he deactivated his Jōgan as well as his Rinnegan and he noticed that his troops seemed a little more nervous than usual as he approached.

“It’s nothing, boss, it’s just that the ground feels strange,” said Rex and Kazuki remembered that he still didn’t know their location current location.

“Faust, where are we?” asked Kazuki and Faust placed her right hand on her chin with a thoughtful expression.

“Why not use your eyes to see outside the station?” asked Faust.

“I built this place to block most Dōjutsu,” said Kazuki with a matter-of-fact tone and Faust nodded.

“I think it’s better to show you,” said Faust as she motioned for Kazuki to follow as the soldiers activated the Gate they walked outside of the lab and into the hallway, however, all became clear when she added as she and Kazuki looked through the window, “The view is great though.”

“I see,” said Kazuki as he looked at the window.

Kazuki took in the view of the world below he saw many time thousands of years ago, it was rather nostalgic but unfortunately, his reincarnated bodies weren’t able to withstand the void of outer space, at least not long enough for him to meditate under the stars without enhancing it with chakra. He simply asked without turning away from the view, “Coordinates?”

“We are at the top of the Magnetic Pole of Equus just above the frozen continent that is infested with Windigos, so we don’t have to worry about anyone finding our land outpost just below us,” said Faust and Kazuki just nodded, then Faust motioned for him to follow until they arrived in a little room with an elevated floor and walls of wood, a window showing the starry void and in front of the window was a shelf with two incense burners as well as a statue on gold showing an alicorn with four arms, two clasped together in front of her chest and two on her lap facing up, then Faust opened a cabinet and took out two pillows, “Shoes off, I’m sure you have questions.”

Kazuki took off his geta before climbing on the wood floor and sitting in Padmasana/Lotus Position while Faust sat in front of him in Seiza while facing him before extending her right arm and making a fist.

“Just like I taught you,” said Kazuki and Faust nodded before smiling before fist bumping Faust with his right, then they closed their eyes and let the memories and feelings flow.

Thousands of years ago, Canterlot

Kazuki had his right geta buried on the floor and its teeth had the right arm of the struggling figure beneath him trapped. His hair had stabbed the other arm, legs and wings of the stallion pegasus that still clung to the bloodied dagger in his right hand. Then Kazuki while slowing activation his Byakugan before asking, “Do you have any idea who you just attacked?”

“Who else but that false Queen, abomination?” said the stallion before spitting on Kazuki’s kimono, all Kazuki did was kick the cheek of the stallion with his left geta. Then the trapped stallion just said while smiling with blood escaping from his mouth, “Pain means nothing to me, freak, you will die just like that mixed-blood pegacorn.”

That earned another kick of Kazuki before he stabbed the right arm of the stallion with his long white hair, which caused the stallion to release the dagger. For an alicorn “pegacorn” and “mixed blood” were among the most offensive insults they could receive, an insult that became quite popular with the pureblood member of the three tribes that had no desire whatsoever of coexistence between the tribes aside from what was strictly necessary and they did the latter with great reluctance. Why Faust bothered to help these ungrateful mortals that fell prey to the Windigos he will never understand... actually he could understand he just didn’t care. So, without bothering to ask any more questions to the uncooperative stallion he just lowered himself as grabbed the stallion’s face while he activated his Rinnegan on his forehead.

“Ningendō,” said Kazuki as he scanned the mind of the stallion that just attacked Faust and his eyes widen when he discovered what that dagger was made off. He removed the hair stabbing the stallion and picked the dagger as he looked at it with both his Byakugan and Rinnegan.

The downed assassin started to laugh at Kazuki’s response, he couldn’t get up because Kazuki made sure to paralyze all the limbs but he knew that Kazuki just discovered what that dagger was made off, he couldn’t help but taunt, “Soon that mixed blood will be dead, you might kill me but I know that I have earned my place in the Elysian Fields.”

“You called me an abomination, I won’t deny it but you should know that this abomination can eat souls,” said Kazuki as a bloodthirsty smile appeared on his face and it only widened at the look of fear of the stallion.

“No, you’re lying,” said assassin with fear as he tried to move his useless limbs, the convictions of zealots was so fleeting when confronted with the denial of their afterlife.

“It seems you superiors just sent you not only to your death but also to you eternal punishment, but first,” said Kazuki as he looked into the fearful eyes of the assassin that just stabbed his dear friend and uttered one word, “Saṃsāra(संसार, Wheel of Existence).”

The stallion world seemed to melt and he drifted in this emptiness for what it felt like an eternity.

Unknown location

The assassin was jolted awake when he scrambled to get on his hooves the first thing he noticed was the heat and when he looked around he was greeted by something that could only exist in Tartarus. The orange and red skies were filled with smoke from volcanos in this hellish place while giants shambled lifelessly over the cracked landscape.

“Where in Tartarus am I?” asked the assassin in disbelief.

“Oh, you actually got the name of the place right on the first try,” said Kazuki as he sat on a rock not far from the assassin, his white clothing and skin standing out on this place.

“What?” asked the assassin still disbelief.

“At first I was planning to just rip out your soul and deny you your paradise but I didn’t feel like keeping it, so I decided to send it to one of the many hellish dimensions I know, but which one? Then it hit me, I just going to send you to the one place all ponies fear: Tartarus,” explained Kazuki as all the while the assassin was paralyzed at the thought that he was actually in Tartarus. Just as Kazuki got up and opened a Yomotsu Hirasaka behind him the assassin felt something hot sear his leg and he fell forward. When he looked behind he saw something that could only come out of his nightmares, a skeletal body with partially melted flesh dragging him to a river of boiling blood.

Kazuki just ignored the stallions screams as more hands seared his flesh and dragged him to his terrible fate, then Kazuki made a point to slowly close the Yomotsu Hirasaka slowly so that the last thing the assassin saw before being immersed in boiling blood was Kazuki saying, “Enjoy an eternity in the river Phlegethon.”

Canterlot, infirmary

Kazuki emerged from the Yomotsu Hirasaka on the infirmary as he dragged the body of the assassin. In front of him was Faust in an operating table being tended to by the doctors and not far from them were Celestia and Luna with a downcast look being told something by the doctors.

“Don’t bother, he used an orichalcum knife, we need to remove the poison,” said Kazuki as he threw the soulless husk that was the assassin on the floor, that caught the attention of the sisters and doctors.

“Lord Kazuki, it's too late and there is nothing we can do, I think it’s better to say your farewells,” said one of the doctors and by the look of things Celestia and Luna already said goodbye to their mother.

“What are you talking about? All we have to do is remove the poison,” said Kazuki in a matter of fact tone.

“I know its difficult to accept Lord Kazuki but orichalcum nullifies magic making impossible to extract the poison,” said the doctor and Kazuki rolled his eyes, how dare this mortal assume that was no other way simply because their magic was useless in this case.

“I can still save her, out of my way,” said Kazuki with annoyance directed at the unicorn doctor, damn those privileged few that could get any form of formal education in this medieval society.

“I can't let you do that Lord Kazuki let the Queen have her final moments in peace,” said the doctor with a somewhat forceful tone.

“Out of my way mortal,” said Kazuki as he activated his Byakugan, which made all those present tense, and when said mortal refused to move Kazuki couldn’t help but rant, which was rare in of itself, with a cold and almost distasteful look that wouldn't look out of place in a Ōtsutsuki, “Narrow-minded primitive/mortals.”

Kazuki opened his third eye and activated his Mangekyō Sharingan before using Kamui to walk through the doctor, the others tried to stop him but he kept walking uninterrupted, even the princesses tried to stop him, and the moment he was close enough to touch Faust’s body he used the Kamui to take her to his pocket dimension, then he said while disappearing in a spiral centered on his forehead, “You will thank me later.”

Vale of Golden Lotus (Modern day Badlands), fortress Tenteienkyū(天庭園宮, Heavenly Garden Palace)

Kazuki placed Faust’s body on the operating table as he appeared in his lab, he could see that her vitals were very weak but still there, so much so that if she was a member of any of the three tribes they would consider her a lost cause but she was an alicorn and there was still a chance to save her. So, once her body was on the table he went to a nearby terminal and typed all the needed commands before creating a clone to get a dialysis machine, a mechanical arm lowered itself above Faust and as the clone placed a dialysis machine near the table while the original connect the cables on the machine before piercing the arteries and veins to filter that anti-magic metal after he disintegrated her hospital gown.

That process repeated itself and in the end Faust had many dialysis machine hooked all over her major veins and arteries to filter her blood as quickly as possible, with the machines set up he opened his kimono and let it hang around his waist while he used his aura around his torso, arms, hands and face to simulate the gloves, scrubs, mask and glasses while he tied his hair in a ponytail before unleashing his Hatsu. His hair turned into a braid that gave way to the spine of a metallic human-like skeleton with four inhumanly long arms and a blank featureless metallic skull, then he announced the name of the Hatsu, “Dr. Frankenstein.”

Kazuki using his Hatsu in combination with his Byakugan and Chakura no Mesu(チャクラのメス, Chakra Scalpel) he managed to separate the cells that were beyond repair. Tangentially he noticed that the clone followed his mental instructions and made four more clones and these four placed their hands on the ground to create a seal array around the table, as they performed the Chikatsu Saisei no Jutsu(治活再生の術, Healing Resuscitation Regeneration Technique) to regenerate the lost parts as well as to preserve the living parts the clone he created originally brought two big bowls filled with serum. The original placed his hands on the serum after creating a fine layer of chakra over the aura on his hands and when he lifted his hands the serum clung to his hands like a bubble.

Carefully placing the bubble on the small incision Kazuki used his Chakra control to pour the serum in and spreading inside her body to collect all the dead and contaminated cells, then he connected the two bubbles and moved the now free hand to another incision. Kazuki spend hours forcefully removing the poison and the metal out of Faust’s body with the Saikan Chūshutsu no Jutsu(細患抽出の術, Poison Extraction Technique), at some point all of her vitals stopped but thanks to her alicorn physiology he knew that they were extremely close to zero but not actually zero, essentially a healing coma. Once done Kazuki healed all the cuts, wounds and dispelled his Hatsu, now he had to wait for the machines to finish filtering her blood before he could restart her heart.

However, Kazuki’s introspection was interrupted by the facility shaking, so without hesitation, he summoned a crystal ball and used Tōmegane no Jutsu to see what was going on outside. He saw the Celestia, Luna and Discord attacking the barrier surrounding his fortress while troops were leading the inhabitants of the vale away from his fortress. Seeing no other choice he made another two clones, one to keep monitoring Faust and another to help discreetly evacuate the workers from the station/fortress before he opened another Yomotsu Hirasaka.

Outside of the Tenteienkyū

Celestia, Luna and Discord stopped their attacks as they saw a black “window” open in midair and from it came out a familiar alien.

“May I inquire why are you assaulting my research station?” asked Kazuki as if nothing was wrong.

“Don’t play dumb with us you took Big sis’ body for some reason and we all know about your… flexible morals,” said Discord, the draconequus was as tall as Celestia and had a muscular and slender frame covered by a black jacket with feathered collar, red shirt, brown pants, the sleeves were ripped showing a bit of his brown fur that ended just after his elbow on his left arm that had a avian talon as well as his light yellow fur on the right arm that had feline-like paw/hand. The leg of his pants were ripped at the shins showing the light green-scaled reptilian clawed right leg as well as the light brown furred right leg that ended in a hoof while the back had an opening for his red snake tail with a tuft of white fur similar to his eyebrows and beard, which didn’t match his black mane done in a mohawk-like cut that started just after his left goat horn and right deer antler. Then he lowered his sunglasses and looked at Kazuki directly with his red eyes with yellow sclera before saying, “C’mon Kaz, I’m sure we can figure things out.”

“There is nothing to figure out, you couldn’t help Faust but I can. If you excuse me I have a patient to attend to,” said Kazuki as he turned around and floated toward the still open Yomotsu Hirasaka, however, he shut it close when he felt energy built up behind him, good thing he did because not a moment after a beam of magic hit his right shoulder, had that beam missed it might have hit something important in his lab, so he turned with Byakugan activated as he glared at Celestia, her horn still shimmering, before saying, “I hope you were merely feeling trigger happy today.”

“It’s clear what your true intentions were from the beginning and we won’t let you use our mother’s body on your twisted experiments,” said Celestia clad in her golden and white armor and wielding a staff and a sword, just like her sister clad in her black and blue armor and also wielding a staff and sword.

(Just the armor but on anthro versions of the princesses)

“Yet you fight just like I taught you,” said Kazuki as observed how the Royal Sister adapted his teachings about using polearms and swords, however, that seemed to be the wrong thing to say because the two sisters charged at their former teacher who summoned a pair of Gudōdama before turning them into the two Shakujō he used before and use them to block the staffs and swords of the Royal Sisters. Good thing he didn't brought out the fact that the armor and weapons they were using were also forged by him, otherwise, it would probably antagonize them further.

“Discord! Quickly, while he is distracted,” said Luna and Kazuki just created a shockwave with his chakra to push the sisters away, then he gathered Yin and Yang Chakra on his right hand after letting go of the ringed Shakujō, then he snapped his finger and the wave of Yin-Yang Chakra neutralized the wave Chaos Magic.

“What?” asked Discord in disbelief at the fact his Chaos magic was negated, the Royal Sisters too were in disbelief and that split second was all Kazuki needed to open a Yomotsu Hirasaka in order to return his more pressing issue at the moment.

“No!” shouted the sisters as they tried to grab the edge of the closing window but they weren’t fast enough and all they grabbed was air.

Inside of the Tenteienkyū, medical center

Kazuki immediately dispelled the clone he left monitoring Faust and the one he instructed to start the evacuation protocols while he deactivated his Byakugan, then he looked at the four clones keeping Faust alive and bit his lip in frustration before making a clapping his hands and intertwining his finger, forming the Snake Seal.

“Tajū Mokuton Bunshin no Jutsu(多重木遁分身の術, Multiple Wood Clone Technique),” said Kazuki as multiple branches started to grow from his upper torso before said branches took his shape, wood clones were sturdier than shadow clones after all. Then he ordered the small squad of clones he created, “The barrier won’t hold them off forever, initiate the lockdown, disengage Tenteienkyū from Meidoseikon(冥土星根, dark root of the underworld) and prepare to engage thrusters as well as the spacial jump mechanism.”

Without hesitation all of them moved to initiate the lockdown of the research station and disconnect it from the expansion subterranean facility before taking off, unfortunately Kazuki never had the chance to test neither its flying nor its teleportation capabilities but had to ensure that Faust would make a full recovery and her daughters and Discord weren’t making this any easier. Suddenly he felt a large built up of Chaos Magic and he cursed his luck.

*BOOM*

*Alarm* “Barrier breached! Barrier breached!” *Alarm*

“Damn, it’s too soon,” thought Kazuki as he went to the terminal to check on the machines’ progress and they were going slowly because of Faust’s drastically reduced vitals.

*CRACK* *THUD*

A section on one of the was cracked open before falling and from it came the two sisters.

“Give up Kazuki you… won’… t…” started Celestia but she stopped when her eye spotted her mother hook up to many machines that were, apparently, draining her blood while Kazuki was typing on a nearby terminal, Luna was not much better.

Celestia was the first to recover and she jumped toward one of the clones maintaining the seal array ready to stab him with her sword. Kazuki opened a Yomotsu Hirasaka behind Luna as he launched Hakke Kūshō(八卦空掌, Eight Trigrams Air/Vacuum Palm) from his right palm before moving between the charging Celestia and the clone. The directional air cannon hit the still shocked Luna and sent her through the portal before closing it, while he sent the younger sister to the other side of the continent he placed himself between his clone and Celestia before bringing his left arm up and used Doton: Domu(土遁・土矛, Earth Release: Earth Spear) to harden his skin before creating a thick layer of chakra around his arm before using Iwa no Yoroi(岩の鎧, Rock Armour) which caused his arm and part of his chest to assume a more geometric and rock-like shape.

However, Kazuki underestimated Celestia's blade and magic as evident by the fact that she cracked his armor and pierced his arms but his armor and hardened flesh managed to slow the considerable speed of the blade that was now heading for his chest. Acting quickly he used Kōton: Kongōkai(金遁・金剛鎧, Metal Release: Adamantine Armor) on his right hand and proceeded to grab the blade, sparks flew as the edge of the blade scrapped against his fingers but unlike his left arm, it managed to stop the blade just shy of touching his chest. With her blade stopped Celestia used the bladed part of her staff that was similar to the end of a Getsugasan(月牙鏟, Moon Tooth Spade) with a crescent moon-like blade. However, Kazuki used Kōton again to protect his ribs, then Celestia said, “You will pay for this Kazuki.”

“Kami Kūgeki(一神空撃, Divine Empty/Vacuum Strike/Fist),” answered Kazuki as a giant fist made of chakra hit Celestia and sending her toward another Yomotsu Hirasaka, however, she flapped her wings and that was enough to change her trajectory and avoid the portal. In the time it took to recover her bearings Kazuki’s wound was already healed and he was upon her ready to strike with his hands, “Hakke Sanbyakurokujū Isshiki (八卦三百六十一式, Eight Trigrams: Formula Three Hundred Sixty-One).”

Kazuki hit a Tenketsu(点穴, Pressure Point) on each shoulder, the armor disrupted the chakra being fired from the tip of his fingers and it was just enough for the points in Celestia’s body to not close, however, she still felt numbness around the area as well as pins and needles on her skin beneath the armor. Kazuki broke the distal phalanges of his index and middle finger on that enchanted armor but as he pulled his hands back his regeneration healed the fractures and he continued to attack relentlessly, hitting the general area that corresponded to the three hundred sixty-one pressure points in the —human— chakra system, since most sentient creatures on Equus were humanoids their system was similar enough for his techniques to work and he just had to occasionally add or subtract the number of points based on anatomical differences. Good thing because if it wasn’t for those differences Celestia would be hard-pressed to survive this otherwise fatal technique, armor notwithstanding, and that was without even mentioning their effect on the six hundred and seventy nodes that let the Chi/Ki(氣/気, Vital Energy) flow.

*cough*

Celestia coughed blood as she fell on her knees before Kazuki, she tried to move her numb body but it failed to respond and she just glared at the alien she trusted as a friend and mentor, the blood splattered on his face and topless torso, the deep red contrasting greatly against his white skin, which complemented his wickedness in Celestia's eyes.

“You won’t get away with this,” said Celestia with some difficulty.

“Why won’t you listen? I’m t-” started Kazuki but he stopped speaking as his eyes widen when he noticed a rapidly approaching presence, so he launched a Hakke Kūshō at the hole on the wall, a small explosion was heard as Luna crashed on the floor before hitting the far wall of the lab. Without pause, Kazuki jumped in Luna’s direction just as the younger alicorn jumped toward the machines hooked up to Faust, with a kick he managed to lock her sword and staff on the teeth of his geta before doing a side flip and kick her with his other leg so she landed near Celestia.

“Sister!” shouted Luna as she was about to jump but her body suddenly froze and as she looked around for the cause she saw a black line connected with her shadow, following that line she saw that it was coming from Kazuki’s shadow.

“Since neither of you two are willing to listen I think its better to incapacitate you two for now,” said Kazuki as he approached Luna and was ready to paralyze the younger alicorn, he also used Kamui to warp their swords and staffs to his pocket dimension, when he felt a surge of magic coming from Celestia as she forced her mana through her body to flow so she could move, it was like stabbing her spine with a hot iron rod but she powered through the pain, then she proceeded to use her newfound mobility to tackled Kazuki through the walls and beyond, stabbing him with her horn in the process and Kazuki felt her horn scrap against his spine before coming out on his back.

After they hit something sturdier than the walls they crashed through Kazuki kneeled Celestia in the gut, seeing that his normally subtle styles would not work he decided to use the more straightforward ones. As Celestia was coughing he proceeded to grab her head and headbutt her after hardening his skin with Kōton, by the crack that followed his just broke her nose and as she clutched her broken nose he launched her at her sister with another Kami Kūgeki. Then he looked behind himself to make sure that they didn’t break anything important on the base, however, his luck didn’t help.

*Alarm* “Reactor has been breached! Meltdown eminent!” *Alarm* “Reactor has been breached! Meltdown eminent!” *Alarm*

“Dammit! We hit one of the reactors,” thought Kazuki he activated his Rinnegan and used the Shuradō(修羅道, Asura Path) to create some metallic tentacles capable of connection with the terminal near the reactor, then he proceeded to stabilize the rector as well as he could before decoupling from the terminal and look at Celestia and Luna who were taking the tubes hooked on Faust’s comatose body off before using Amenotejikara(天手力, Heavenly Hand of Power) to switch places with a pebble between the sisters. The two alicorns barely had time to react as Kazuki appeared between them just after they eliminated the four clones and destroy the machines that were draining their mother’s blood —in their perspective.

Kazuki released a burst of Fūton(風遁, Wind Release) chakra from his right ankle, the effect was similar to a jet that accelerated his kick to the point that would have broken his and Luna's bones if it wasn't for the fact he just Reinforced said bone with his Prana and the moment his shin made contact with Luna's armor he used Bakuton(爆遁, Explosion Release) where they met, the explosion plus the force of the kick was enough to send Luna flying out of the facility. With Luna out he used the shockwave of the explosion to reverse his spin with he used Senninka(仙人化, Sage Transformation) and his left hand doubled in size before darkening, his nails became claws and many tubes appeared all over his forearm, then those tubes opened as they pointed back before unleashing a jet of blue flames, a product of Katon(Flame Release) being enhanced by Fūton(Wind Release), the result, Kazuki punched Celestia in the gut at almost supersonic speed.

Once Kazuki sent the Royal Sisters flying he just put he kimono back on before cleaning the blood, he needed to distract the sisters long enough for his Wood Clones to finish detaching Tenteienkyū from Meidoseikon, so he went over the terminal and typed the automated sequence. Almost all the poison was taken out of Faust’s body and he would like to have filtered everything before forcefully jump-starting her vitals but it was necessary to do so for her healing factor to replenish her lost blood. Just as he finished typing that sequence and activating the automated defences he turned around and used Jinton(迅遁, Swift Release) to fly and catch up with the sisters, the moment he was outside he activated his Byakugan and he spotted Discord sitting with his back against a rock, probably tired from using a great deal of magic to break his barrier earlier and was waiting to recover enough to help in some way. To prevent him from taking Faust or damaging the facility further Kazuki opened a Yomotsu Hirasaka beneath the surprised draconequus, just as the tired Discord fell into the window/portal that led to the somewhere in Zebrica.

As Kazuki moved at great speed and nullified the wind resistance he passed Celestia and Luna who were desperately trying to use their wings to righten themselves in the air and maybe take advantage of their current speed, their pegasus magic protecting from the brunt of the damage that their bodies would be experiencing otherwise. Kazuki stopped in their path with his right leg lifted until it was pointing up, then he reinforced his bones and muscles before applying Kōton: Kongōkai on his leg. With all the preparations done he brought his leg down in a brutal and ruthless supersonic axe kick on Luna’s back, unfortunately she was flapping her wings so his kick managed to pin her left wings against her back and the Radius and Ulna of her wing didn’t stand a chance as they were crushed between the back of her armor and Kazuki’s leg.

A shockwave became visible as Luna’s trajectory was changed from an arc to a straight line, just as a small explosion was heard and a crater was formed on the plains below Kazuki took advantage of his momentum by turning around so that he was upside down when Celestia approached him. He saw in slow motion and in vivid details as the mare’s eyes widen when she spotted him, her brain having barely received and processed what her eyes saw when Kazuki performed Roundhouse kick that nailed the older alicorn, however, her luck was better than her sister —depending on one’s perspective— since the kick nailed her on the stomach and her enchanted armor protected her torso, which resulted in another shockwave and a crater near the first one.

“I’m disappointed in both of you, my faithful students,” said Kazuki as he landed between the craters and his answer came in the form of a golden beam of magic, he dodged but it singed his kimono.

“Don’t call us that,” said Celestia as she got up with great difficulty and she was in a better state than her sister who landed on her broken wing.

“You lost the right to call us that when you betrayed us,” said Luna as she too got up, however, her left wing hung uselessly.

“‘Betrayed’, it seems those fools influenced you a bit too much. No matter, since you are unwilling to listen I won’t waste my breath trying to convince you otherwise,” said Kazuki as he reverse-summoned his kimono and summoned his kariginu. Just as he did that he sidestepped to dodge Celestia flying kick, then her hooves touched the ground she turned and used a flurry of punches and kicks, which was somewhat awkward since she was over three feet taller than Kazuki but she was used to that size difference.

Kazuki defended himself from Celestia’s using Ryu(流, Flow), he expertly relocated his aura to the areas of impact, however, she always made sure to keep herself between Kazuki and Luna while the younger used her telekinesis to place the fragment of bones in their proper place so that her healing factor could mend her broken wing. However, deciding to not waste any time Kazuki use Amenotejikara and switch places with a pebble behind Luna and before she could react Kazuki grabbed the back of her neck with his right hand as well as the broken wing with his left before squeezing it painfully.

“Luna!” shouted Celestia as she heard the pained grunt of her little sister as she tried to not scream. Celestia glared at Kazuki and screamed with rage, “Have you no honor?! Have you no shame?!”

“Honor is useless when confronted with an opponent that does not care about it, at least in a fight, or if said enemy has a different definition of honor,” said Kazuki as he looked at Celestia impassively with his Byakugan and he just frowned at Celestia statement before saying to himself, “Damn Starswirl, you idiot.”

“Don’t speak about him, you have no right to speak about him and he was more of a stallion than you will ever be! Especially with those monstrosities that I saw while in your fortress!” shouted Celestia as she tried to think about a way to save her sister.

“You’ll have to be more specific,” said Kazuki as he tilted his head to the side to express his confusion and Luna tried to gather magic to teleport out of Kazuki’s hold, however, Kazuki tighten his grip on her wing when he felt magic built up.

“Those vile and despicable experiments, the deformed bodies floating in those tubes,” hissed Celestia and it took a while for Kazuki to get what to she was referring to.

“Ah, my failed experiments dealing with evolution and natural energy,” said Kazuki nonchalantly, which further increased their disbelief and anger at his disregard for the natural laws as well as the lives he violated —in their eyes that is since they don’t know the whole story— in his pursuit of knowledge. However, before he could speak any further his instincts screamed for him to dodge but if he did whatever was going to hit him would hit Luna, so he just reinforced his back and pooled the entirety of his aura there using Ko(硬, Temper).

Kazuki felt a spell hitting the middle of his back, which proved to be a distraction and that was enough for Luna to wrestle herself from his hold and jump forward, however, that ended up ripping out a few of her feathers and pulling on her broken bones. Kazuki turned his head to the side slightly and that allowed him to see that either by design or coincidence Discord manage to teleport himself to Kazuki’s blindspot. Not being able to afford any more distractions Kazuki clapped his hands together and intertwined his fingers while red markings appeared on his face around his eyes before announcing a technique that would have repercussions for the millennia to come, “Senpō: Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kōtan(仙法・木遁秘術・樹界降誕, Sage Art: Wood Release Secret Technique: Nativity of a World of Trees)”

The ground started to rumble before roots broke through and attempted to ensnare the alicorns and draconequus. They kept dodging but more and more roots would grow from the ground and eventually, Luna was captured by one of them while Discord and Celestia kept dodging and escaping from the roots and branches until for miles around them a vast forest was born, just south of Canterlot and connecting with the swamp on the Eastern Coast a reaching near the south border of Equestria, luckily, most pony settlements where located north of the capital and ponies were colonizing this land from north to south, so Kazuki didn't have to worry about accidentally destroying a house or a village nearby.

With his opponents distracted Kazuki took his time to analyze this spell he was hit with by using Structural Analysis on himself, during the process, he noticed that his body felt heavier and sluggish. Apparently, he took more time than he realized because Luna, Celestia and Discord landed in front of him by the time he finished his analysis, he was hit by a power Petrification Spell. The three of them shot magic at Kazuki, probably trying to apply more Petrification Spells on the top of the one that he was already trying to delay, he tried to move but his body wasn't responding correctly, he tried to use his Rinnegan but the petrification process disrupted his chakra, so all he could do was use his own magic to fight off the effect and he was losing. Then a massive explosion was seen on the horizon, for a moment it was like a second sun appeared in the south, having no other choice he rejected his own Hitodama (人魂, spiritual orb) from his body, which took the form of a small see-through ball with a flame-like or smoke-like top.

Kazuki used his magic to transport his spirit to the location of his base and when he arrived all he saw was a burned wasteland where a blooming vale once resided. Not knowing if his base managed to jump or not or even if Faust managed to survive Kazuki expanded his senses as much as he could, then not far from the Eastern shores beyond the mountains surrounding the vale he felt someone approached, so he teleported near the location of the individual. Once there he found a gryphon flying toward the vale, needing to rest he shot his soul at the gryphon and once he was possession the gryphon he let himself sleep. Once he woke up sometime later in Gryphonia he learned that his body was moved to Canterlot, the forest he created was named Everfree and the Vale of Golden Lotus was renamed Badlands but luckily no one managed to find the subterranean facility that was still buried there.

The first thing he did was trying to recover his body but unfortunately, the natural energy he gathered before his petrification ended up feeding the spells and he wouldn't be able to break them with the help of some massive event that was capable of causing “ripples” through nature itself. After that he went back to Gryphonia in order to find suitable candidates to make a body for him, a suitable mother wasn't that hard to find but she was stubborn and picky as hell so it took a while before she found a mate, regardless his first reincarnation was a gryphoness and all Kazuki had to do was wait and see.

Inside of the Tenteienkyū, medical center, a few moments after Kazuki went after the Royal Sisters

A mechanical arm inserted four needles into Faust's chest and delivered a shock directly into Faust's heart, her body convulsed before staying still, then she opened her eyes.

Immediately after her eyes were opened she almost panicked because the last memory she had was that of an assassin stabbing her with an orichalcum dagger and the sharp pain on her chest didn't help. Her body felt heavy and weak but she felt the needles that were stabbing her slowly be removed and as she looked around she recognized as Kazuki’s lab, more specifically the medical center. She forced her body to sit and when she did she also took note of the pool of blood around her —her own blood— as well as the destroyed machines and walls, however, the most telling sign was the leftover magic from her daughters.

“Celly, Lulu, what did you do?” asked Faust as she got on her hooves but slipped on the blood, however, she managed to righten herself before following a trail of destruction leading further into the facility and eventually, she came across one of the furnaces that supplied the base with energy that he referred to as “reactor”, then she noticed a red light blinking.

“Faust, what are you doing here?! You should be resting!” said Kazuki alarmed when he came in from the hallway, then he looked at the path of destruction before spotting the red light and say to himself, “Damn it.”

“Kaz?” asked Faust as she leaned against the wall.

“Not the original, just a clone,” said Kazuki as he started typing on the terminal.

*Alarm* “Core meltdown imminent! Critical failure!” *Alarm* “Core meltdown imminent! Critical failure!” *Alarm*

“Damn it, it's no use. The original’s patchwork managed to delay the meltdown enough for us to jump but we have to leave this reactor behind,” said Kazuki as he helped Faust walk out of the reactor chamber by placing an arm around his shoulder and floating at the appropriate height.

*Crack*

Kazuki heard a cracking sound coming from the rector and he immediately hit the emergency button on the hallway, however, the door didn't shut fast enough and some of its energy hit Faust and Kazuki. The wood clone placed himself between the reactor and Faust, thus taking the brunt of the damage before becoming a wood statue and fall on the floor, without support Faust fell on the cold floor as well and her vision was starting to get blurry.

“Faust wha-” started another Kazuki before he spotted the shut door and the clone not far from the naked alicorn, he connected the dots and immediately used his Byakugan to see what was the damage. He couldn't help but say, “Dammit, Faust, are you trying to get yourself killed?!”

Faust tried to say something but she was still weak and before she could say anything this Kazuki used his telekinesis to lift her body before racing back to the medical center. Once there he activated the emergency protocol and the walls were sealed as he placed Faust back on the operation table and placed an oxygen mask on her face.

“Faust, I have bad news,” said Kazuki with a grim tone before continuing, “Your body is too weak to fight off the radiation and the poison at the same time, plus you are still suffering from blood loss. There nothing I can't do and my chakra will be over soon and the medical robots don't have the necessary knowledge to operate you on their own, I’m sorry.”

“So, I'm going to die?” asked Faust with surprising calmness and Kazuki nodded, then she asked, “What about the M.O.F Project?”

“All tests have resulted in failure, are you sure?” asked Kazuki as his eyes widen in surprise.

“I'm going to die anyway, so let's at least try,” said Faust calmly, it was so strange, she was about to die but her mind was surprisingly clear, maybe she was in shock and it hadn't sunk in yet, either way, it was far better than the panic and betrayal she felt when one of her subjects tried to kill her.

“Very well,” said Kazuki before leaving in order to bring the relevant items, which left Faust alone with her thoughts. She reflected on her actions and inactions, it seemed that she gave too much freedom to the three tribes after their exodus, she chose to not interfere in their lives since she reasoned that a relic of a bygone era like herself shouldn't control their future. Evidently, that only allowed old grudges and bigotry to fester like an infection on an open wound, she knew that it would take time but she should have ruled with a firmer hand and she could only hope that her daughters and Discord didn't make the same mistakes as her.

Celestia and Luna, the most precious treasures that Faust gained when she agreed to protect the three tribes, it seemed so long ago that she met their fathers. Her time with each stallion was brief —to her— and she feared that she would never found a mate to spend eternity with, the only one that would be beside her was Discord but little Dissy always felt like a little brother to her, however, that mattered little to an immortal. Then one day she met him, the curious being that came from beyond the stars, he was powerful and wise but also had a childish curiosity as well as a burning desire for knowledge the drew her. The way he bonded with her daughters and taught them only made him more desirable in her eyes.

“I'm back,” said Kazuki as he walked in with two devices, the one in his right hand looked like an arrowhead with glowing circuitry and the one in his left hand looked like a crystal ball with black flame-like lines all over its surface, “Which one do you want to use?”

“Explain to me what each one can do?” asked Faust as she looked at the two devices.

“The Composer will, in theory, record everything about yourself before converting it into data and pull all the energy in your body into a digital space,” said Kazuki presenting the sphere floating just above his left palm. Then he presented the arrowhead floating above his right palm, “The Fabricator will, in theory, convert every molecule in your body into inorganic components with analog functions to their organic counterpart.”

“Both,” answered Faust and Kazuki nodded, he wanted to protest but he was out of time so he activated both devices, then Faust started to say, “Kazuki I…”

“Don’t, I’m just a clone and my memories won’t reach the original. He will not give up in finding this place, it may take a long time but I’m sure he will come back, so conserve your strength,” said Kazuki and Faust nodded before closing her eyes, as she did so Kazuki looked at all the blood on the floor. Not wanting to waste it he used his Onmyōton(Yin–Yang Release) to filter all the blood before placing them in a cabinet with preservation seal. Then he said just as he was turning to wood, “Good luck.”

Inside of the Tenteienkyū, meditation room, present time

Kazuki and Faust opened their eyes before lowering their hands.

“After a while, I woke inside the Cyberspace and it took me years to leaner how to ‘live’ as a being of pure information, my body was cyberformed successfully and I just upgraded it when I felt I needed. It also took a while to learn everything that was necessary to repair and keep this place running,” said Faust and Kazuki nodded.

“I see,” said Kazuki still recovering from the connection.

“Sometimes, I managed to track you over the years but I suspect that I missed quite a few of your reincarnations, in the end, I decided to wait for you to recover your original body,” said Faust with a smile.

“Just out of curiosity, earlier you called those synthetics ‘our children’, why?” asked Kazuki.

“Well, you provided the blueprints and I built them, at its core it wasn’t that far off from actual reproduction,” said Faust with an innocent yet mischievous smile and Kazuki just groaned but he couldn’t help but smile as well.

“You daughters are going to be happy that they have little siblings,” said Kazuki.

“Isn’t it?” asked Faust and she was just giddy with joy.

“I wasn’t talking about Celestia or Luna,” said Kazuki with a smirk.

“What?” asked Faust out of reflex.

“See, that’s what feels like to be on the other end,” said Kazuki before laughing and soon Faust followed suit after they stopped laughing he extended his first and said, “I wasn’t kidding though, let me show you.”

Faust didn’t know how she could have children that she didn’t know about but knowing Kazuki he would have found a way —if he hasn’t already— for that to happen, either way, she was intrigued so her fist met his.

The cybernetic alicorn was in for a surprise.

Author's Notes:

Sorry, the chapter ended up a bit longer than intended because of the fight.

Most of the references as well as his powers and limitations are from Asian Mythology, mainly Buddhist Cosmology. I made so that he is a very specific type of Deva/Kami/god and can only revive and interfere with the souls of entities "bellow" him, Faust is on the same level as him and Discord and the Royal Sisters are one level "below". If you are curious Kazuki and Faust are Parinirmita-vaśavartin/Paranimmita-vasavatti(देवनागरीः परनिमित्त-वशवती) in Sanskrit or Takejizai-ten(他化自在天), also know as "Devas/Kamis 'with power over (others') creations'", while the Royal Sisters and Discord would be Nirmāṇarati/Nimmānaratī(देवनागरीः निम्मरथी / निम्मरती) or Keraku-ten(化楽天), or "Devas/Kamis 'delighting in their creations'".

Faust robotic body was inspired by the technology used on Metal Gear(4 and Revengeance timeframe) and Ghost in the Shell, more specifically the full body models.

Because of the Greek influences present in the show, so I decided to base some of their beliefs in the Greek afterlife.

Phlegethon is one of the rivers of the underworld in Greek/Roman Mythology as well as some interpretations of the Christian Hell, the name means "Flaming" and it was described by Plato as "a stream of fire, which coils around the earth and flows into the depths of Tartarus" while Dante described it as "a river of blood that boils souls in the Seventh Circle of Hell(Circle of Violence), which punishes those who committed crimes of violence against their fellow men", I thought it was fitting. The image might be of God of War's Hades but the place resembles the 3rd Ring of the Seventh Circle, a wasteland with raining fire near the margins of Phlegethon, a place reserved for those that committed blasphemy(violence against God, in this case, goddess), sodomy(violence against nature) and usury(violent against Art).

If you are curious about Discord's look the inspiration is here.

Before anyone points out "Prana" is not an error, it's the energy that flows in and around the individuals and the universe itself in Hindu Philosophy, Tradicional Medicine and Martial Arts. Prana, in this case, is used in the same context as the Nasuverse, it the refined Mana or Od after passing through a Magus' Magic Circuits. In the Nasuverse Humans have a tiny reserve of energy called Od and Mana comes from their surroundings, regardless of the source both energy are conducted and refined by the Magic Circuits. However, some nature spirits have an "organ", for lack of a better word, that can store Mana from the surroundings, ponies are similar, so they have an internal reservoir of Mana to use that is conducted by their bodies(Earth ponies), hooves and wings(Pegasus) as well as being focused by their horns(Unicorn) while an alicorn can do all the above but this is instinctual so they don't refine the energy to become more potent. That comes from the fact that Equus is rich in Mana unlike the Nasuverse's Earth where they had to make due with what they had.

The Composer is based on the artifact of the same name from the Halo franchise while the Fabricator is based on the Key to Vector Sigma from Transformers and the combination of those two process is basically robotization like in the Archie Comics Sonic and Sonic SatAm.

15. Downtime and sparring match.

View Online

“So, why do you think he called us here?” asked Nameless as she came out from the Portal/Gate.

“I don't know but I trust Kazuki, if he called us then he has a good reason,” commented Moon as she followed her sister.

Both alicorns were quite surprised when they saw an army of strange individuals walk through the portal, however, their alarm subsided when they notice that they were accompanied by Kazuki's troops. Song came soon after and an informed the two sisters that Kazuki wanted to see them, then she just went to her room to take a nap.

Currently, that was where the two sisters found themselves, navigating through the hallways of Kazuki's old base after asking for directions from the ponies that worked here. As they walked they couldn't help but noticed that most inhabitants of this place felt strange in a way that they couldn't describe, something about the magic and life force felt off.

Anyway, the two alicorns stopped before a door, then they glanced at each other briefly and nodded before Nameless knocked on the door.

“Kaz, we are here,” said Nameless as she knocked.

Soon the door opened and Kazuki stood before the two, then he motioned for them to enter before saying, “No shoes.”

Both alicorns nodded before taking off their shoes and they were about to ask what was going on when something caught their attention, whatever it was it stood out against the wood of the floor and walls. However, their eyes widen and their hearts seemed to stop when they realized who they were looking at, an alicorn with deep red mane and tail with blue eyes as well as a marble colored coat wearing an earth brown and green kimono, it was Faust.

“Mother…” started Nameless only to trail off as she was unable to find the right words.

Faust just smiled warmly like in some many distant memories of the stunned pair as she extended her arms and said to the younger alicorns, “It has been a long time my little sun and moon.”

“Mother!” shouted the pair as they almost tackled their mother, luckily, Faust used her magic to slow them down. The pair just cried as they felt the arms of their mother embrace them for the first time in thousands of years.

“Is that really you, mother?” Moon managed to ask as her tear-filled eyes gazed into Faust optics, under normal circumstances she might have questioned who would dare use the likeness of her mother but even if her mother's body felt different and somewhat unnatural her magic, her soul still felt the same and to Moon there was no doubt that this being was her mother in some way.

“Yes, my little moon, it is I,” said Faust as she leaned down and kissed Moon near the base of her horn.

Kazuki just smiled at the heartfelt reunion between mother and daughters before putting on his geta and leave the room, better give them some privacy. His time would be better used to familiarize himself if the new layout of Tenteienkyū because he was going to revisit his other hideouts as well as start Moon and Nameless’ training, from there it was just a matter of time to reveal himself to the world. As he entered his lab and approached his workbench he noticed many blueprints and other schematics, the ones that Faust based her own body as well as their “children’s”, he remembered something he had yet to do.

After opening one of the drawers and taking out blank scroll Kazuki summoned a sumi(墨, Inkstick), a suzuri(硯, Inkstone) and a small case. He opened the small case to show a collection of different types of fude(筆, painting/writing brush), then he tapped the suzuri with his right hand and filled the small well with water by using a simple conjuration spell, then while picking a medium length medium sized soft brush, ideal for both calligraphy and Fūinjutsu, with his left hand he picked the sumi made with a special ink for Fūinjutsu. Once the preparations were done he started to grind the sumi on the suzuri, it was a somewhat slow but relaxing process as the water slowly became darker and thicker, it could be considered a form of meditation. With the ink done, Kazuki picked the brush with his left hand and after dipping it in the ink he started to draw/write the seals on the blank scroll.

Next morning

Kazuki finished the last line before sending his chakra into the ink, the result, the seals started to move through the surface of the paper until they became so small that it looked like curved lines that made a fractal. He rolled up the scroll before drawing his Mon on the sides and on the front before holding it between his hands and pour all of his energies into the item.

“To the one that is hearing my voice, I am Ōtsutsuki Kazuki and if you are in need of my services sign this contract and summon me. We can negotiate the conditions of our contract after my summoning, I don’t care about morals and so long our contract is upheld you have my loyalty. Call out my full name in order to summon me,” said Kazuki and soon after the scroll finished absorbing his Void Energy, the spellwork and seals would make sure that the token would be essentially indestructible but only a Displaced would be able to hear his message and read the message written on the paper.

With his token done Kazuki opened a Yomotsu Hirasaka directly to The Void just beside him before throwing the sealed scroll, he saw as it divided countless times as it headed to the many worlds/universes where the Displaced resided. Just before he closed the portal the “original” flew back to his hand, then he clapped his hands and summon the storage scroll with the tokens from other Displaced before storing his summoning contract there.

“What was that?” asked Nameless as she approached Kazuki from behind.

“A contract,” answered Kazuki simply and by the silence that followed Nameless was expecting some kind of elaboration to his answer.

Nameless just shrugged at his response and to be frank she didn’t care that much, so she just stood behind Kazuki and leaned forward before hugging him and say, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, but I would have searched, either way, she is a dear friend, after all,” said Kazuki as he placed one hand over the arm that was around his neck and leaned back letting his head rest on the soft orbs that were Nameless’ breasts. After a while in this comfortable silence, he said, “I hope we can start your training soon enough.”

“Of course, besides I can’t wait to teach my ‘original’ a lesson for what she did,” said Nameless as a very lewd and bloodthirsty grin stretched her face, then she just placed her head beside Kazuki’s and practically purred as she licked his ear before saying in a sultry and inviting tone, “Master~.”

“It seems your personality needs some time to stabilize completely,” said Kazuki and this caused Nameless to pout.

“That’s so boring, a little instability is good to shake things up,” whined Nameless before just smiling and nuzzle Kazuki, who just sighed before smiling and pat Nameless on the head with his free hand. The moment was interrupted a clicking sound and when they looked they saw Faust and Moon standing not too far from them, the latter was holding a small camera while the former just smiled warmly at the scene before her.

Kazuki got up after Nameless let go of him, he too smiled since it had been a long time since he had moments like those, especially with Faust who was one of his oldest friends here with him again.

“I take it you already had your little family reunion?” asked Kazuki as approached the two alicorns while Nameless followed him.

“Yeah, and I must say that finding out about two daughters that I didn’t know I had was a new experience,” said Faust as she smiled, her motherly aura only made such a simple smile even more beautiful. Then she asked aloud, “I wonder if that’s what a stallion feels when that happened?”

“I hope you don’t expect such an experience to be repeated, especially after the bombshell you dropped,” said Kazuki as he and the trio walked toward the portal.

“Aww, but liked your reaction, plus if the information I gathered over the years are any indication you had some children, so being either a father or mother is nothing new to you,” said Faust and that little tidbit of information surprised the sisters greatly.

“You had children?” asked both Nameless and Moon as Kazuki activated the Gate.

“There is only so much one can do over the millennia, besides heat season can be quite overwhelming for some species,” said Kazuki with a matter of fact tone.

“So, what happened to your children?” asked Moon after they arrived at the underground base in Equestria.

“Um, they lived, loved, had their own family and died, I do keep track of their descendants but with few exceptions, they all lived and died like any other being,” said Kazuki with a touch of nostalgia in his voice.

“Well, it is to be expected, you had many reincarnations over the years, after all,” said Faust as the group headed to the underground village, all the ponies that saw them bowed when they saw the four of them before returning to whatever they were doing.

“Speaking of children, what you two think about your new ‘siblings’?” asked Kazuki as he looked at Moon and Nameless.

“Well, we’re kinda still on the fence about that,” said Moon with a shrug.

“But so far, we see them like ponies in general when mother ruled, they are kinda like younger siblings or children to us even without being directly related,” continued Nameless.

“Well, you are not wrong since most of them were made in the factories and assembly lines of Tenteienkyū but I did give birth to some of them directly, after all, this body has a fabricator unit capable of constructing a smaller unit, both of synthetic and organic nature,” said Faust as she placed her hand on her lower belly, more specifically where her artificial womb was located.

“Really?” asked Nameless and Faust nodded.

“Is there any difference between those you...um, gave birth and the ones made in an assembly line?” asked Moon out of curiosity.

“No, not really, unless I used a more specialized ‘blueprint’ than the standard ones. In this case my body is like any fabricator unit in Tenteienkyū, but I did write all the lines of code from the templates used in every A.I. before they were uploaded on the synthetic bodies, I even transferred some organic minds to synthetic bodies I created myself,” explained Faust and that caused Kazuki to raise an eyebrow.

As the alicorn trio chatted Kazuki thought about all the bases he had to reconnect using the Gate, there were four bases aside from this one in Equestria and the Tenteienkyū, which included the Meidoseikon somewhere beneath the Badlands, and he planned to reconnect with them as well as train Nameless and Moon to an acceptable level —by his standards— before they reveal themselves to the world. The quartet arrived at small coffee shop in the underground village, the same one that the alicorn sisters and the dragon sisters visited before Kazuki’s arrive from the Fallout-like Earth. Faust sat in front of Kazuki while the sisters sat in front of each other, Moon was at Kazuki's right and Nameless was at his left. They just ordered some snacks for breakfast, another interesting fact that they discovered, Faust and the other synthetics were able to eat normal food as well as taste it and they could get roughly the same benefits as any pony, the perks of being a highly advanced synthezoids/synthoids. From there they had a relatively peaceful breakfast and the three alicorns and the alien just chatted amicably.

“So, what was like, having a child I mean?” Nameless asked shyly, which caused Kazuki to raise an eyebrow at the sudden question, and Moon also looked at her curiously.

“It wonderful, for me at least, the feeling of a foal growing inside my belly, the weight resting on my hips, the feeling of every little movement as the foal kicks and shifts,” said Faust with a dreamy expression and that made both sisters blush as they imagined what was like to be pregnant, then their mother continued, “My only complains are the morning sickness, which contrary to popular belief can happen at any time of the day, the mood swings, your fathers would also complain about them half of the time while the other half they were busy 'distracting’ my incredible horny self, the cravings, which only added to the mood swings, the feeling of being bloated and the increased sensitivity, which were not half bad especially when I had my breasts milked, plus it made things interesting in the bedroom.”

As Faust offhandedly listed her complains, the sisters proceed to blush at the images they conjured in their minds.

“What about labor?” wondered Moon aloud and by the way, her eyes widened she didn't mean to ask that question aloud.

“Oh, it can be painful but it's worth it in the end, although, I heard that it can be pleasurable to the point of orgasm in some cases,” said Faust and while she said the second part more to herself she didn't mind in saying it to her daughters.

"Careful, people might think you have a fetish for pregnancy," said Kazuki before taking a sip of his tea.

"Oh, I assure you, Kaz, I have no shame in admitting that I have, as they say, 'a healthy appreciation' for being pregnant," said Faust with a smile as she placed her arms on the table, which caused the sisters to choke. Faust was unphased by her daughters' reaction and simply added "innocently", "If you are so curious I'm sure Kaz can help you with that."

Nameless and Moon looked an each other nervously and somewhat embarrassed, it wasn't the subject itself but the fact they were talking about it with their mother about, after all, some things never change. Meanwhile, Faust herself just her usual motherly smile while watching her daughters squirm for a bit and probably thinking she was about to gush like one of those mothers that wanted for her children to give her some grandkids already, which she did but she was immortal and had all the time in the world, she could wait.

"He has many ways to simulate a convincing pregnancy, he created a few of those over the years as a disguise, after all, a young soon-to-be-mother was almost always overlooked when it came to assassins and spies. That and children were a remarkable way to avoid unwanted suitors, it was quite fun to watch the drama unfold through the spy cameras before TV was a thing, along with soap opera," explained Faust as she looked at Kazuki, who was not even bothered by cyber alicorn's admission, and just gave her usual warm smile before adding, "Plus I have some methods on my own. Wanna try?"

Moon and Nameless were too curiosity to outwardly refuse but were to embarrassed to accept, mostly because it was their mother teasing them, and Moon was having a bit of a flashback to not long after she gained her new body. She might have experienced some of these methods first-hand during her unexpected heat but every time she tried to recall if she did she also recalled the lengthy "marathon" she had with Kazuki, which made her squirm on her chair. Despite her somewhat hazy memories she could tell that she liked the feeling, plus she also knew the feeling from visiting expecting mothers in their dreams.

“Why the sudden question?” asked Kazuki to Nameless and completely ignoring Faust's question.

“Well, Celestia wondered many times what would be like to have a foal over the years,” said Nameless nervously and inwardly thanking Kazuki for his intervention.

“Luna also wondered the same thing before her banishment,” interjected Moon coming back from her little flashback and trying to resume the conversation.

“Yeah, that and the fact that you mentioned children just a while ago made me wonder again, and also remember some of the mixed but mostly positive responses that Celestia got when she asked some of her friends over the years, plus with mother back I was curious about her opinion,” said the still blushing Nameless, luckily, her fur hid her blush, unluckily, both Kazuki and Faust could see Infrared.

“Aww, there is no need to feel embarrassed about my little sun, it's perfectly natural for you to think about having a foal. The thought of having a foal safely curled in the confines of your womb can be a great source of comfort,” said Faust as she leaned closer to Nameless before hugging her daughter with her right arm and wing while placing her left hand over Nameless’ belly, Faust just giggled at her blushing daughter.

“It quite boring though,” said Kazuki as he was reading a book he summoned to read.

“How so? Mother makes it seem like the best thing in the world,” asked Moon while Faust let go of the blushing Nameless and both of them leaned closer to her his response.

“Not for the mother,” said Kazuki simply and it took a while for them to realize what he meant but before they could ask anything he just continue and ignored the coy smile of the cyber alicorn and the wide eyes of the sisters, “I mean, its dark and wet in there and all you can do is sit and enjoy the ride, and its even more boring when you have to wait inside of an egg.”

“You remember what it's like to be inside the womb,” said Moon in disbelief.

“I couldn't exactly leave my body as I waited for it to come out, doing so could damage the developing connection between body and soul,” said Kazuki with a deadpan expression. Then he added, “Worst case scenario could result in a stillborn.”

“Your childhoods must have been pretty awkward,” commented Faust trying to mention something embarrassing to get away from the dark mood that settled just now.

“Diapers are the worst,” commented Kazuki with a twitch on his right eyebrow, his speech just now reminding him how a certain siren talked. Kazuki's answer earned giggles from the three alicorns and since they saw many of his bodies they tried to imagine a baby version of them.

“Which one of these childhoods were the most awkward in your opinion?” asked Moon while Nameless and Faust were too distracted by the mental image of a grumpy baby Kazuki to ask anything. Seeing that he wouldn't be left alone anytime soon Kazuki reverse summoned the book he was reading back to its place in the library before adopting a thoughtful expression as he recalled his many lifetimes.

“I can remember two in particular where I had to reveal my existence on the last trimester before I was born. Afterward I proceeded to have telepathic conversations with my mothers until I relearn to speak, and no matter what anyone says I consider being able to keep a straight face while having a conversation as my diapers are being changed to be a feat worthy of praise,” said Kazuki and the mental image of grumpy baby Kazuki complaining while his diapers were being changed was too much for the sisters, so they just laughed while their mother giggled.

“By the gods, that's funny,” said Nameless as she slowly regained her composure.

“In one of those lifetimes I reincarnated my mother as my daughter, so the situation was reversed a few years later, you could say I got my revenge as petty as it may be,” added Kazuki.

“Oh, you can reincarnate others as well,” said Faust and Kazuki nodded.

“Hai, I can either create a new body using my powers and/or knowledge,” said Kazuki as he glanced at the sisters before adding, “Or I can just do it naturally by simply putting the soul in the right place and waiting for nature to take its course, however, both methods have their own weakness and limitations.”

“Out of curiosity, why did you reincarnated your mother? And what was her and your species?” asked Nameless.

“We made a promise and it took more than one life to accomplish. And we were reindeer,” answered Kazuki.

“I see,” said Moon and she had a pretty good idea of when that particular lifetime(s) happen considering a conversation she had with him previously. From there the conversation descended back into chatter between friends and at some point Hon was mentioned, so Kazuki summoned her to join the conversation and it was quite entertaining to watch the childish and sentient book shout “Fa-chan!” when she spotted Faust.

“There there Hon-chan,” said Faust as she hugged the sentient book her cover showing a crying childish mask.

“Fa-chan, Seri-chan and Ruru-chan were mean to me and Kazu,” said Hon as she buried her cover on Faust soft chest, just appreciating the presence of the dear friend she missed.

“So I have heard,” said Faust and she hugged Hon, then she added, “Don’t worry, it seems my daughters are in need of a lesson.”

“Oh, it seems things are going to get more erratic than anticipated,” thought Kazuki as he witnessed Hon and Faust reunion.

Next morning, one of Kazuki’s personal dimensions

Nameless looked around at the barren wasteland around her, the rocky desert reminding her of the Badlands, however, the physical reminder that she was not in the Badlands or even in Equus was in the sky, two suns.

It was so strange to see and feel two suns, how they revolve around each other in an endless waltz in the darkness of the cosmos, so different from the sun of Equus that was smaller and needed a “push” every twelve hours or so to rotate around the planet, here the suns felt older and more independent, they acknowledge Nameless' presence and power but paid no mind to it or the planets that circulate around the pair. It was so different yet familiar, so alien, to witness such an event that started so long ago and will go on for countless more years to come.

“Put things into perspective, doesn’t it?” asked Kazuki standing behind Nameless.

“Yeah,” said Nameless as she turned to face her teacher, then she asked, “Was this how you felt the first time you landed on another world?”

“It’s hard to tell, it was so long ago, but I like to think so,” said Kazuki with nostalgia in his voice.

“Is this why a thousand years of imprisonment doesn’t phase you?” asked Nameless and Kazuki sighed.

“You have to understand that my lifespan is measured in billions of years, a few millennia might as well be a blink of an eye,” said Kazuki as spread his leg and face one palm upward with his arm extended while the other was facing forward with his arm bent near his face. Then he asked, “Are you ready?”

“Why are we doing this, again?” asked Nameless as she spread her legs and bent her arms while making a fist with both hands.

“I want you to delve deep into your own being in order to find balance, only after that our lessons can begin,” said Kazuki before taking a deep breath.

“I see,” said Nameless.

Equus, Castle’s living room

“Mother, could you pass the popcorn?” asked Moon as she observed her sister and teacher.

“Here, dear,” said Faust passing a bucket of popcorn.

“Oh, I can’t wait to see Kaz fighting,” said Sonata as she ate her tacos.

“Yeah, finally we get to see what’s so special about that guy,” said Firefly as she sat cross-legged on the ground.

“Shush, it's about to start,” said Hild’s monotone voice while her sister was beside her just vibrating with excitement.

Currently the sirens, the alternative mane seven, the alternative CMC, Juniper, Mike, Hild, Alexis, Zecora, Song, Jewel, Moon and Faust were gathered in the living room to watch the sparring session between Nameless and Kazuki that was being projected on the wall by a clone of Kazuki, the projection coming out of his third eye. All in all, it was like a large family gathering to watch a movie.

“Has it started yet?” said Daisy as she entered the living room while holding her baby daughter.

“They are about to start,” said Sugar as Daisy sat beside Juniper.

“That guy still scares me,” commented Bee as she shivered at the memory of Kazuki’s anger.

"As it should, hatchling, to not fear his power is just foolishness," said Jewel as she recalled her own defeat.

"The wrath of a sage is a terrible thing, to reshape the world as easily as a pendulum swing," said Zecora as she observed with curiosity, she knew of the sage's power over nature and even shamans respect such power, however, the knowledge of how to reach that power was lost long ago and whoever managed to reach such a power was very secretive about it. The fact that Kazuki was a god only made this difference even more evident.

Back to Kazuki’s desert dimensions

Kazuki activated his Byakugan and activated a Rinnegan on his third eyes, then two slits made themselves known in the center of his palms and they opened revealing a Rinnegan on each palm.

Nameless cringed at the somewhat grotesque sight of eyes suddenly appearing in Kazuki’s palms but as she prepared for the battle she couldn’t help but show a bloodthirsty smile, the thought of trading blows with Kazuki sending shivers down her spine, it seemed that some of the darker aspects of her personality were showing.

The wind blew and at some invisible signal both of them disappeared, then their right legs met in the middle followed by a shockwave.

16. Training and a surprise visit

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Magic flowed through Kazuki’s circuits and build up at the point where his right leg was making contact with Nameless’ right leg, as his prana and her mana clashed and build up more force was applied, which would lead to the only logical outcome.

*BOOM*

Both combatants were thrown back by the explosion but they recovered mid-air before dashing toward the other, where their fists met and another shockwave was caused, then they started to exchange a flurry of punches and kicks at impressive speeds before jumping back.

“So, how is that body of yours responding?” asked Kazuki coyly.

Nameless just shook her throbbing arms before resuming her stance before responding, “Well enough but the way you fight is a bitch to deal with?”

“Isn't that offensive to the Diamond Dogs?” asked Kazuki with a raised eyebrow.

“No really, they can be pretty hard to deal with,” said Nameless before charging mana on her horn and launching a beam of magic at Kazuki, but the Ōtsutsuki just raised his right hand up and the Rinnegan absorbed the beam of magic, which caused Nameless to commented, “That's new.”

Kazuki just smiled before extending his left hand and shot the same beam he just absorbed but stronger, Nameless jumped out of the way but before she could react the same beam slammed on her from above. Behind her an Yomotsu Hirasaka was open and another one was above her current position, it didn't take a genius to guess what happened.

“I hope it wasn't too much for you,” said Kazuki as he looked down at the pit that was created, at its bottom was Nameless planted on the ground face first, the walls were made of glass and melted rock that was cooling down.

“Damn you little…” grumbled Nameless as she got up and spit some molten rock that was on her mouth before disappearing in a flash. Kazuki barely had time to turn and raise his arms to defend himself from the hoof that was intended to hit his spine, where she got the idea to use the Spartan Kick he didn't know but it seemed rather fitting because he would have fallen into the pit if it wasn't for the fact that he could fly.

“Really?” asked Kazuki with a deadpan expression and tone.

“I still remember you blindspot,” said Nameless with a smirk and Kazuki just smiled back before they dashed at each other again.

Back at the castle

Everyone was transfixed by the action on the screen, it was like watching one of those action-packed cartoons or superhero movies.

“Damn,” said Firefly as she watched.

"Trixie agrees," said Trixie as she observed the fight.

“Less eloquent than I would have put it, but I agree,” said Dawn as she adjusted her new glasses.

The younger members of the audience were just looking in awe not even caring about the conversation, all they need now was cool background music. (I'm playing Limit Break X Survivor as I write this)

*whistle* “Think I could join in that training of your?” asked Alexis to Moon who just shrugged.

“I must admit, it's quite a spectacle to see our master fighting like this, isn't that right sister?” asked Jewel and Song just nodded, her red scales concealing the blush she was supporting at the sight of her master's power and skill.

Then all of them noticed something and Mike commented, “Ok, that was unexpected.”

Back to the fight, a few moments earlier

The two combatants managed to lock each other's arms and were staring at each other's eyes, Kazuki’s reflected calm amusement while Nameless reflected savage ecstasy, both of them enjoying this little exchange, although Nameless seemed to enjoy it a little more than she should.

“Really? Getting off while we fight, shame on you,” accused Kazuki but his tone was more of a light teasing than anything.

“Why shouldn't I? The adrenaline, the throbbing sensation of our limbs hitting each other, the show of skill and strength to challenge and overcome the other. What's not to enjoy?” said Nameless with a bloodthirsty smile, clearly affected by the fragments that were part of her. It was a good sign, it meant that they were being integrated into her main personality. Nameless then leaned forward and licked Kazuki’s cheek before saying, “The only way to make it better is if we tore each other's clothes and started fucking right here right now.”

“Oh, I have to deal with such a naughty student, whatever shall I do?” asked Kazuki in a dramatic tone before saying, “Amenominaka.”

The world around them changed and the pair appeared on the air above a river of magma, having lost her footing Nameless was pushed back and was defenseless, so Kazuki kicked her to the pool of molten rock below. He watched as she smashed on the surface of the viscous superheated liquid and sunk, silence followed before it was broken by a blob of magma flying toward Kazuki and smashed him onto a platform of solid rock. Lava slowly dripping from the blob to reveal an unharmed Nameless as straddling Kazuki as she held his arms by the wrist beside his head.

“If you wanted to get me naked all you had to do was ask, there was no need to burn my clothes,” said Nameless in a sultry tone as the lava slid off of her body to reveal her white gold fur coat, her clothes being made of normal fabric didn't stand a chance against the lava, unlike Kazuki's clothes.

“Oh, I actually forgot that your clothes were normal,” commented Kazuki, his eyes never leaving Nameless’ golden ones, not that he needed since he had almost three hundred and sixty degrees of vision and could see her orangish nipples and pussy quite clearly, plus her fiery mane contrasted wonderfully against the dark and smoke/ash filled sky.

“I would call that BS but I know better,” said Nameless as she leaned forward making sure to use her own magic to disrupt Kazuki's and she also made sure to press her palms against his to cover the eyes on his palms and make impossible for him to use hand seals by interlocking her fingers with his. As her face got closer to his she teasingly licked his cheek and lips before asking, “What can you do now?”

“A few things, for example: λάβα λεπίδες,” said Kazuki and just as she said something that Nameless couldn't understand blades made of molten rock shot from the pool around the platform and attempted to pierce the alicorn, however, her affinity with the sun made her immune to heat and since the blades where not that sharp or hard they just pushed her off of Kazuki. Then Kazuki said just before the blades started to lose their shape, “Στερεοποιώ.”

“Whata hell was that?” asked Nameless as she was stuck in a ring of rock, the blades easily bent around her waist before becoming solid.

“It's just a little thing called ‘Divine Words’, an incantation that called upon by divine power to enact a spell. Had you gagged me you might have won our little sparring session,” commented Kazuki.

“So kinky,” commented Nameless coyly as she expelled mana from her body while adding fire attribute to melt her prison, unknowingly using a skill called 'Mana Burst(Fire)’ in the process.

“Good use of Mana Burst(Fire),” commented Kazuki but Nameless just looked at him confused by the term he used, so he explained, “The ability to expel mana in a single burst with fire attribute in this case.”

“There’s was a name for that?” asked Nameless confused.

“Of course, many of the simple and 'useless’ skills that Equestrians can use not only have names but also more advanced and specialized forms. Remember that I came from a world where magic was far more advanced and mana was far more scarce,” commented Kazuki and Nameless just shrugged before using her telekinesis to lift a glob of lava and splash it on her back. Then she used her magic to mold it into armor, covering her breasts, crotch, shoulders, thighs, hooves and hands.

Wasting no time Nameless leaped forward with a punch ready and Kazuki raise his right arm to block it, that proved to be a mistake because he felt his radius and ulna crack under the pressure.

“Looking forward to those lessons,” said Nameless with anticipation, despite Kazuki not showing it she felt and heard his bones crack just now.

“Amenominaka,” answered Kazuki and suddenly the pair found themselves inside a block of ice, then Kazuki used Kamui to phase out of the ice and leave a perfect cavity with his body shape along with the pieces of rock that were previously semisolid and were stuck on his kimono. Kazuki just watched in amusement as Nameless's followed his form as he exited the cold trap, and he couldn't help but comment, “That will help you cool off a little.”

By the roll of her eyes Nameless wasn't amused and started to release superheated mana to raise the pressure inside the ice, cracks formed as her armor started to glow orange before the block shattered. Kazuki back away from the mountainside as that event caused an avalanche and just watched from the distance. Predictably, Nameless charged at him with her fists lightened and this time he reinforced his arms and legs with both prana and aura before exchanging blows with the rather crossed lava armored alicorn, she didn't seem to appreciate the cold.

Kazuki sighed, this was going to be a long day.

About an hour later, another dimension

“Damn you and your weird magic,” said Nameless as she struggled to remain standing as she panted heavily, she could barely do so because of the exhaustion and the increased gravity of this place. Both combatants were standing on a simple plain field with some mountains in the distance. Nameless just looked at her opponent, he was breathing heavily but not as bad as her and he seemed unbothered by the gravity, so she asked, “You weren't this strong when we(Kazuki and Celestia) fought. What changed?”

“Back then I was merely stalling so that Faust could be healed, my overconfidence ended with my imprisonment and Faust almost didn't make it. Now, I'm actively pushing you back every time you attack to test your limits, which seemed to have been reached,” said Kazuki and he was about to end this long sparring session when Nameless growled.

“I'm not done yet,” said Nameless as she refused to lose without giving her all and she decided to resort to something that Celestia discovered and kept secret from everyone. She focused mana on her right hand and reached deep into herself and willed a secondary source of energy to her left hand, then with a smirk she clapped and a bright light engulfed the alicorn. When the light subsided she seemed to have recovered and her body glowed golden with power as she was ready to fight another round, so she commented, “You're pretty amazing for making me resort to this technique. Celestia discovered after Moon’s banishment and she trained with it whenever she could, just in case her strength was needed. I pull a still unnamed energy before combining it with my magic, this move doesn't have a name yet. Pretty amazing, isn't it?”

Kazuki's expression remained neutral as he observed Nameless demonstrate her new technique, then he simply lifted his hands and much to the surprise of the alicorn proceeded to do the same as she just did.

“You're wrong, that energy you just said was unnamed is called Ki/Chi or Aura depending on the style/school you use while the technique itself is called Kankahou or Xiánguàfǎ(咸卦法, The Law of the Divination Sign of All) and is but the foundation for the use of the body and spirit,” said Kazuki as he glowed with a white outline. Then he asked, “Do you still want to fight?”

“Hell yeah!” shouted Nameless before charging for one last clash while Kazuki did the same.

*BOOM*

A shockwave akin to a great explosion was heard and felt by no one besides the ones that caused it in the first place and a cloud of dust followed by silence was all that remained. When the dust dissipated Nameless could be seen panting on the ground as she looked up at the green sky, once again she was naked without her magic keeping her armor together while Kazuki's kimono was torn, which left him only wearing rags that he proceeded to rip off before sitting beside the downed alicorn.

“That was fun,” commented Kazuki with a smile, it was rare for him to fight like this.

“Yeah,” said Nameless before enjoying the comfortable silence. Then she said, “Passion Sol.”

“Pardon?” asked Kazuki.

“My name, it's Passion Sol. It just came to me during our fight,” commented Sol with a somewhat peaceful expression on her face as she gazed at the alien sky.

“Congratulations, then,” said Kazuki before picked the bigger mare bridal style and opened a Yomotsu Hirasaka and carried her through.

Back at the castle, Kazuki's room

“How about a cold and relaxing bath?” asked Kazuki as he arrived through his Yomotsu Hirasaka.

“That sounds wonderful, and it would be even better if you joined,” said Sol as she hugged Kazuki, it was a bit awkward because of the size difference but she didn't care. From there the two enjoyed a nice and relaxing bath before spending the rest of the day together.

A week later, dojo

“... now reach for it and bring it out,” instructed Kazuki as he sat in the Padmasana or Lotus Position in front of his class as his students did the same. Right now they were practicing their Nen, more specifically the Ten, by letting their aura flow out in a controlled manner. Then he added, “Now hold it.”

Moon, Sol, Jewel and Song sat on the back since they were the tallest ones, Dawn, Alexis, Haven and Sugar were still getting used to the fact that they had magic while Firefly, Windy, Bee and Oz were getting used to their new wings and their ability to fly, on the other hand, thing didn’t change that much to Mike, Hild, Lily, Val, Penny, Juniper and Daisy aside from their greater strength. The sirens and Sunset got used to their old bodies pretty quickly and had no problem whatsoever, so they had more time to learn martial arts and Nen, plus Trixie was happy to finally be able to learn directly from Kazuki.

“Oooh,” said the childish voice of Gloriosa Lily as she sat on Faust’s lap, the mechanical alicorn was sitting on the side as she observed the lesson and took care of the foal while her mother was occupied.

“Yes, little one, that’s very fascinating,“ said Faust as she observed her daughters and because of her mechanical body she was unable to use Nen, however, she had plans to implement an approximation if needed.

After a few minutes, Kazuki's students were starting to sweat and breath heavily as they held their Ten. Thinking they had enough for today Kazuki said, “That's enough.”

No sooner than Kazuki said that everyone collapsed on their back panting.

“Damn… that looked so easy when you did it,” commented Firefly as she rolled to her side because of the awkward position of her wings, sometimes she forgot that they were there. Something similar happened to Bee, ironically out of them the ones that learned about Nen more easily were Daisy and Windy while Sol and Moon were the ones that were having more difficulties, apparently they were too used to channeling magic. The two alicorns’ chakra control was only good because it also used their spiritual energy, aka mana, but now that they were dealing with pure physical energy, aka aura, their mentality was getting in the way. Sol was doing marginally better simply because she learned how to draw out her aura, crudely done but it was something.

Speaking of Daisy and Winry, Kazuki was pleasantly surprised with Windy willingness and aptitude for medical ninjutsu but with her caring nature it was to be expected, which was complemented by her affinity for both Inton(Yin Release) and Yoton(Yang Release)as well as minor Raiton(Lightning Release), however, Daisy had Mokuton(Wood Release) just like Kazuki predicted and while she didn’t have much combat experience or inclination she could still help in other ways. All the others had simple elemental affinities with some surprising elemental kekkei genkai but otherwise nothing as surprising as Daisy’s Mokuton(Wood Release).

Val, her little sister and Penny possessed Bakuton(Explosion Release), additionally Penny also possessed Ranton(嵐遁, Storm Release) while Firefly and Bee had Jinton(Swift Release), which suited them fine, lastly, Oz had Shakuton(灼遁, Scorch Release) and Shōton(漿遁, Plasma Release), while Mike had Kōton(Metal Release). Aside from them only Haven, Sugar and Juniper had kekkei genkai while the rest had simple elemental affinities, Haven had Jiton(磁遁, Magnet Release), which she shared with her sister, as well as, much to her delight, Shōton(Crystal Release) while Juniper had Meiton(冥遁, Dark Release).

However, the most surprising fact was the fact that Sol and Moon had not one, not two but three kekkei genkai, he supposed that only the strongest would survive in that harsh world and as such some combat-related traits, as well as the ability to learn quickly, would be desirable traits while alicorn had a far more “complex” spirit and physical energy, so them having three kekkei genkai was a possibility. Sol had Futton(Boil/Steam Release), Yoton(Lava Release) and Kōton(Metal Release) while Moon had Hyoton(氷遁, Ice Release), Jiton(Magnet Release) and Shōton(Crystal Release). With all that, Kazuki was eager to see what their Nen Types were and he was curious to see how they would develop from now on.

“That’s all, for now. You all have reached an acceptable level of proficiency with Aura to undergo water divination, so we are going to take a break before doing that,” said Kazuki to his tired students and they groaned in agreement. After about an hour of resting and eating some snacks, they sat back on their previous places, however, before them was a small foldable table with a goblet of crystal filled to the brim with clear water with a small leaf floating on its surface. With all of them in their positions, he started to explain, “Now, I’m sure everyone here is aware of the four basic principles of Nen: Ten, Ren, Zetsu(絶, Suppress/Null) and Hatsu.”

All of the students present nodded and Kazuki summoned a giant scroll before lifting it with his telekinesis and unroll it behind him showing a diagram.

“These are the six types of Nen one can have, notice their position. You can have only one type and you can only use abilities of your on Nen Type with 100% efficiency, the further you stray from your category the more difficult it will be to use said ability but not impossible. The adjacent categories can be used with 80% efficiency, while the opposite can be used with 40% and the in between can be used with 60%, the only exception are the specialists with somewhere between 1% and 0% depending how close your category is to it,” explained Kazuki and not long after Penny, Dawn and Trixie raised their hands, so he pointed at Penny.

“How do we know our type?” asked Penny excitedly.

“As I said before, it's through a ritual called ‘Water Divination’ and that's the purpose of the cup in front of each of you. I going to accompany each one of you individually to determine your Nen Type, normally even knowing another's Nen Type is considered measure of great trust because its the knowledge of one's foundation, this normally only happened between master and student as well as between fellow students of the same master,” said Kazuki as got up and walked from one side to the other as he explained. Then he added, “So, only reveal your Nen Type to someone you trust with your life. Now, we can do the ritual privately, just you and me, or it can be done here with everyone witnessing, I'll leave that choice to each one of you. So, are you all ready to start?”

They nodded and Kazuki approached the sirens, who were sitting in the first row, and asked, “Well, since you three were my students before I'll start with you three. So, openly or privately?”

“We don't mind,” said Adagio and Sonata nodded.

“What she said,” said Aria with her usual tone before asking, “So, who's first?”

“Oh oh oh, pick me, pick me,” said Sonata excitedly as she stretched her hand up.

“Very well,” said Kazuki and Sonata clapped her hands before composing herself and focus on the cup. Seeing that she was focused Kazuki started, “Place your hands on either side of the cup, breath in and out just like I thought, then start using Ten.”

Sonata did as instructed and as Kazuki used Gyo(凝, Focus), which in on itself could be considered a localized and advance version of Ren, he saw as the whitish vapor like substance that was Aura slowly increasing in intensity. Between her hands, a change started to occur, at least to Kazuki, and after a while, he said, “That's enough Sonata.”

Sonata stopped before looking at Kazuki confused before saying, “But nothing changed.”

“Taste it,” suggested Kazuki and Sonata placed the tip of her finger on the water before bringing it to her mouth, then she hummed in approval.

“Taste like sauce,” commented Sonata happy.

“Really?” asked Aria before doing the same, which ended up with her gagging and coughing, after which she said, “Yeah, taste like her favorite sauce. I still don't know how you can eat that.”

“What does that mean, Sensei?” asked Adagio and making sure to use the proper title in the classroom.

“It means that she is a Transmuter,” explained Kazuki.

“Neat,” said Sonata and she was pretty happy with herself since she could make her sauce for her tacos, well, water that tasted like sauce.

“I'm next, I suppose,” said Aria and Adagio just shrugged as the purple siren took a deep breath as Kazuki repeated his instructions. Like before he used Gyo to observe as Aria used her Ten, however, this time a visible change started to appear as the water started to slowly acquired a purple misty aspect and Kazuki told her to stop. Out of curiosity, she tasted the water as she did with Sonata’s glass, who was occasionally dipping the tip of her finger in her cup and tasting her water, before committing, “Still tastes the same.”

“That means you are an Emitter,” said Kazuki.

“Cool,” said Aria with her usual disposition.

“The best for last,” said Adagio before pulling the sleeves of her kimono back and follow Kazuki's and instructions. The effect was immediate, the leaf started to shake and cause ripples, she raised an eyebrow but her hands recoiled when the glass cracked.

“Oh, that's interesting,” commented Kazuki as he observed the cracked glass.

“So, what type am I?” asked Adagio as she thanked the fact that the foldable table had raised edges and didn't allow the water to fall on her kimono.

“Inconclusive, movements would suggest a Manipulator but that was more like a vibration than movement, any non-standard effect would suggest a Specialist. We need to do more tests later,” said Kazuki and Adagio nodded before he moved to Sunset before asking, “Are you ready?”

“Yes,” said Sunset as she took a deep breath, out of instincts she tried to bring out her magic but instead she was forced to rein it in as she brought out her Aura. Because she was with her eyes closed she didn't see the effect she was having but by the murmur she was hearing it was visible to the others, so when she opened her eyes she saw that the leaf was moving around the surface of the water and remembering what Kazuki mentioned she concluded, “So, I'm a Manipulator.”

“Yes, that's a textbook case of a Manipulator type Nen,” said Kazuki.

“I'm actually surprised that none us is a Manipulator,” commented Adagio and Aria agreed with her.

“The manipulation aspect comes from your mana, not your aura,” explained Kazuki before moving down the line to Penny and Hild before saying, “Let's see what you two have to offer.”

The two earth ponies, like the sirens before them, did as instructed and while Penny's didn't show any visible change Hild's leaf started to move in a similar manner to Sunset's.

“A Transmuter and a Manipulator,” commented Kazuki, Penny he expected since she was very whimsical like Pinkie Pie, on the other hand, Hild was very stoic and hard to judge at first but she was mostly logical in her thinking process and tended to do things at her own pace, both were characteristics of a Manipulator but they were kinda hard to spot with her deadpan attitude.

“An Emitter and an Enhancer,” commented Kazuki as he said the results from Bee and Firefly, who was sitting behind her little sister on the back row, the two pegasi did the ritual and Bee's water changed to orange hue while Firefly's started to overflow from the cup. Interestingly enough, Lily and Val ended up with the same result, Lily was an Emitter while Val was Enhancer, and if their counterparts had the same affinity then it was no wonder their personalities clashed so much. With these four done he moved to Sugar and Haven, which resulted in something new since Kazuki started this whole thing, specs of some unknown substance started to appear in their water cups and as time passed it started to coalesce into bigger lumps, so Kazuki commented, “Finally, I would be disappointed if we didn't get at least one Conjurer, now we got two.”

Considering the CMC's counterparts’ types it was no wonder they got into so much trouble, two Emitters bouncing ideas is rarely a good thing since they tend to be impatient, reckless, impulsive and not very detail oriented while Conjurer was good at analyzing things as well as the situation their willingness to speak tended to be 50/50. At least such a combination rarely made the day boring and those traits were more obvious since they were kids. Despite their age, they were pretty good at setting up traps and scouting the area, but considering the world they used to live in, it wasn't a surprise, however, since they were free to be childish without fear of being killed they developed quite a taste for pranks.

Anyway, after testing the sisters he moved to the only male dragon present and his sisters, Nen came easily to Oz and he only lost to the dragon sisters when it came to his learning curve, Dawn, Alexis and Oscar did the water divination like the others and since all five usual categories already appeared they were bound to fall in one of them, the only exception was if Kazuki found a Specialist but such likelihood was very low. Dawn ended up being a Manipulator and Alexis ended up being an Enhancer, however, much to his surprise Oz's leaf started to fold into itself and Kazuki just showed a rather wicked smile as he said, “Hoo, a Specialist, possibly two if Adagio is confirmed to be one. Karma truly comes around.”

“Um, Sensei, could you stop looking at me like that, it's kinda creepy,” said Oz as he started to fidget a little bit.

“Sorry,” said Kazuki as he schooled his features before moving to the others, Mike, Daisy, Jewel and Sol were Enhancers, Juniper and Song were Transmuters while Moon was a Conjurer and Trixie was a Enhancer, the latter was interesting case considering her previous occupation but he supposed that was where her stubbornness and selfishness came from, however, he was surprised once again by Windy of all ponies when he saw the Petiole of her leaf started to lengthen and absorbing some of the water eventually turning into a seedling.

Kazuki had to resist the urge to smirk as he explained some exercises for each type as well as offering some advice to help them start developing their Hatsu, two confirmed Specialist and a possible one, the fact that he found three students like himself was just astonishing. Technically speaking, he started as a Manipulator but because of his extremely long life, his Aura slowly changed to something similar to a Specialist, which was an extremely rare event. Either way, he was going to have fun teaching his students and he was looking forward to it.

A week later, morning

Kazuki was just meditating in his room, today was a day off and only Windy, Val and Firefly were training, the latter two were sparring while Windy was helping around in the nursery and/or infirmary. The two that were sparring focused on their combat capabilities while Windy was leaning more toward support, she was focusing on medical ninjutsu and was asking for tips in developing a Hatsu similar to Dr. Frankenstein, however, unlike her counterpart she had no qualms in using her knowledge to safeguard those she cared by making poisons to be used, she didn't like to make her target suffer so she tended to make either non-lethal poisons or one that would short the target suffering as much as possible. Dawn and Sunset were studying in the library and Sunset was helping Dawn with her magic while the sirens were relaxing in one of the underground lakes, the younger ones were probably up to one of their mischievous schemes and over the weeks they earned nickname Rascal Ranger Squad or RRS for short. As far as Kazuki was concerned their pranks were a good training method and he wouldn't be stopping them so long they follow the guidelines he gave them.

*knock* *knock* *knock*

“It’s unlocked,” said Kazuki, his eyes closed as he breathed in and out while facing the open door that led to the balcony, his aura pulsing in sync with his breathing as the rays of sunlight bathed the white exposed skin of his topless torso.

“So, you were here,” said Gard as she entered the room, as she entered she was wearing only her jacket, which was not unusual, however, that was negligible compared to her most obvious change, she was pregnant. Her round belly went past her knees and it made it difficult for her to walk on two legs, so she had had to walk on all fours, the fact that Diamond Dogs’ gestation lasted a third of human ones and the fact that they had litter of anywhere between four to ten on average didn’t help her situation. Behind and beside her came the cute yelps and barks of her pups as they entered the room while shouting “daddy!”, “da!”, “pa!”, “papa!” or something similar and Kazuki just sighed as he was dogpiled by excited pups, thus interrupting his meditation, Gard just sat beside Kazuki and leaned on the smaller humanoid’s left side and hugged him while saying, “Sorry, boss, but we missed you.”

“No, it’s fine, today is a day off anyway,” said Kazuki before he patted some of the puppies and once they got their attention some of them went to explore Kazuki’s room, being careful with the delicate decoration because they didn’t want to be scolded by Kazuki again, which ended with many of them climbing and jumping on his bed. Some pups remained with Kazuki as he returned his attention to Gard as he used his Sensor Type abilities to look at her newest litter, he managed to count around 18 and they would be born soon. They were conceived after Gard got particularly insistent and wouldn’t take no for an answer, while he wanted to avoid having children it wouldn’t be much of a problem from now own, besides with the number of new clan members it wouldn’t much of a change. So, he just placed his left arm around Gard and let his left hand rest on the taut skin of her belly before saying, “They developing nicely.”

“Yeah,” said Gard as she placed her bigger paw over Kazuki’s hand, which seemed to cause the puppies to become more active, “Um, they know their father is here.”

“Maybe they are Sensor Types,” contemplated Kazuki before looking at Gard, despite her happy and pleased look she seemed to be rather tired. So, he asked, “Have you been keeping up with the diet and exercises I gave you, Gard?”

“Um… yes,” said Gard trying to look innocent but hear ears dropped as Kazuki frowned.

“Gard, I told you to not skip either one. They would make sure you get all the energy you and the pups needs, no wonder you looked tired,” said Kazuki with somewhat disappointed tone and that affected Gard if the sad whine was any indication. He sighed before saying, “After they are born you're going to train extra hard, no excuse. Am I clear?”

Gard just nodded and Kazuki's attention was caught by one of the puppies tugging his yoga pants, when he looked down the pup asked, “Mommy in trouble?”

“The correct phrase is 'Is mommy in trouble?’, little one,” said Kazuki as he picked the pup up and placed her on his lap, then he said, “But yes, she is. She has been lazy and now she is lacking the energy to feed your new siblings properly and do her daily activities.”

*gasp* “But puppies need lots of energy to grow strong,” said the pup as if it was the most obvious things in the world before moving closer to Gard's belly and hugged it while asking, “Can Roxie help?”

“I'm afraid not now, little one, however, you and your siblings can make sure your mom eats her food at the right time and do her exercises,” said Kazuki and the pups that were paying attention nodded vigorously and Gard just looked at him as if saying “traitor”, so he just faced her and said, “Don't give me that look, it was you who insisted on having another litter. I know it's not fun going on a diet and do the exercises but it's healthy, plus I speak from experience.”

“Ok, I get it. Still, many would think that being pregnant is more than enough reason to relax a little,” grumbled Gard in defeat.

“Not really,” said Kazuki as he looked at the tired looking Gard before offering, “I can help you by either sharing or taking on your precious cargo for a day or two. Interested?”

“Can you do that?” asked Gard in surprise and Kazuki just gave her a deadpan look, which caused her to chuckle nervously. However, that did cause her to think about it and while she enjoyed being pregnant her rather sizeable litter was proving difficult to deal with, plus it was the first time someone ever offered a break from her condition and while it was weird it was tempting, plus she trusted Kazuki, which caused her to comment, “A break would be nice.”

Kazuki nodded before doing some hand seals and place his hand on the floor as he activated the Rinnegan on his third eye. The seal array appeared briefly before a puff of smoke burst from it and engulfed the room. The smoke disappeared in no time and a coffin was revealed, the lid slid to the side to reveal a female diamond dog with the same markings as the one male dog they saw before. The white dog opened her to show beautiful sapphire blue eyes as well as the third eye on her forehead with the Rinnegan. The female dog walked out of the coffin before it disappeared in another puff of smoke and back to the storage.

“Take off your jacket and collar before standing up, I will take care of the rest,” said Kazuki through the female diamond dog, her voice sounding both caring yet commanding.

Gard just took in the image of the fine example of a female of her own species, the white fur with black tips on the ears and tail with red markings all over her body accentuated her womanly curves. The red lines around her eyes, the swirling marks around her breasts that were bigger then Gard's, the circles on her belly, the wind like fractal spirals on her shoulder blades and butt cheeks. Aside from the red and black mentioned, her fur was as white as freshly fallen snow and despite being fluffy and soft looking her coat didn't conceal the well developed and define musculature she possessed. All in all, a fine example of an alpha female and Gard did as she was asked without a fuss.

“Good girl,” whispered Kazuki using the female body after it walked around Gard and hug her from behind, then she added after licking Gard’s cheek, “My name in this body was Tera, feel free to use it. Now, raise your arms until they are parallel to the floor with your paws facing forward.”

Tera placed her own bigger paws over Gard’s and as the bigger female leaned forward she pressed her breasts on Gard’s back before saying, “This might feel weird but just relax.”

Gard felt a strange warmth spread around her paws, arms and back. When she looked at her sides she saw her paws and arms slowly sinking into Tera’s flesh, plus if the same warmth spreading through her back was any indication she was literally sinking into Tera’s body. She felt the same warmth travel up her legs as Tera stepped forward and placed their legs in the same space. Soon enough Gard was just a gray head below Tera’s head, Gard’s gray belly was slowly replaced by a white fur coat. This was an application of the original form of Ukon and Sakon’s kekkei genkai as well as the Kimera no Jutsu(鬼芽羅の術, Demon Bud Capture Net Technique) into a kekkei tōta called Kūton(肉遁, Flesh Release), in fact because of his kekkei mōra he had every possible kekkei genkai in the Narutoverse.

“Um, I almost forgot how good it feels,” said Tera as she placed her paws on her belly, which caused a shiver to run their shared spine. Then Tera locked down at the head that was sticking out of her chest and rested her chin on top of Gard’s head before rumbling, the vibrations proving to be very relaxing to the gray wolf, then she asked, “So, wanna share custody or want me to babysit them for a day or two.”

“Could you give me some time to think, I’m kind of enjoying this new arrangement,” said Gard with a smile and almost dopey tone.

“Of course, dear,” said Tera as she kissed the top of Gard’s head, then she slowly moved her own head a bit to the right side while also moving Gard’s head to be at her left, then the white fur on the left side of their shared body was slowly being replaced by gray fur. In the end, the result was that their shared body had the right side looking like Tera and the left looking like Gard with a perfect vertical line on the middle of their body showing this arbitrary separation, even their tail was perfectly split in the middle. Tera assumed the control of their shared body and the conjoined couple moved to the bed where they sat cross-legged, Tera humming and Gard moaning as they felt the weight of their unborn pups rest on their hips and legs.

“Mommy?” asked Roxie as she climbed on the bed with most of the pups, who were curious at the strange fusion that just occurred.

“Oh, baby, its me,” cooed Gard and Tera gave control over the body to the grey she-wolf as she used both arms to pick two of the worried and curious pups and hug them, it didn’t take long for most of the others to gather around and poke the two-headed anthro canine, clearly being affected by her hormones.

Kazuki just shrug off the feedback he was feeling from the spare body he was sharing with Gard, this was not the first time he was sharing a body with someone else during pregnancy and just paid attention to the few pups that stayed with him. It wasn’t exactly easy to appease twenty energetic pups that like to play around, he was almost regretting the fact that he helped to double their numbers, almost.

“You and mama, one now?” asked Bryn as she rested on Kazuki’s lap, she and all the pups understood that the white Diamond Dog was also Kazuki and that he was able to be in many places at once as well as look different if he wanted, plus he had many strange powers.

“In a way, yes,” said Kazuki and Bryn just nodded.

The unconventional family just spend most of the morning together, Tera and Gard just enjoying their shared body and fawning over the pups.

“So, have you decided?” asked Tera and it took a while for Gard to remember what her mate was referring to, as much as she loved their new condition she already made her decision but it was so tempting to remain like this.

“Babysit, please. I kinda miss being able to see my own feet,” said Gard and Tera nodded before slowly moving Gard’s head further to the left side, then Gard slowly slid out of Tera’s body and once more the half of her body came out of Tera’s left side she fell on the mattress. She looked just as she did before getting pregnant and as she sat up she noticed that she was actually heavier, sure enough, she looked a little chubbier, then she looked at Tera and paid no mind to the pups gathering around her curiously before poking her belly in curiosity. Then Gard commented, “So, that’s what you meant.”

“Indeed, I just took the pup in your womb and left the added weight where it was. The weight you will be losing once either I or you give birth to our pups here,” commented Tera as she patted her belly.

“And you could start your training and dietary regime right now if you wanted,” commented Kazuki from where he was sitting while his other body played the role of loving mother to the pups.

“Yeah yeah,” said Gard dismissively before she placed her own paws on Tera’s belly, still finding it hard to believe that the pups she was carrying just a few moments ago were no longer in her own belly, however, the emptiness and lack of weight resting on her pelvis told her otherwise. So, she did something she remembered her previous mates do, she placed her ear on Tera’s belly and listened, the moment she felt a kick she was filled with a different sort of happiness and just nuzzled her expecting mate, the knowledge that these pups were hers filled her with a strange and new sort of pride as she looked at Tera.

Kazuki was jolted out of this loving scene when he felt ripples of magic, immediately he opened himself to the Natural Energy and entered Sage Mode before “looking” at the source of the ripples.

“Tch, out of all possible days you had to choose when I wanted to relax. Typical,” snorted Kazuki as he got up summoned his kimono and hakama before saying to Gard through his second body, Tera, “Stay here, things might get ugly.”

Kazuki used Kamui to disappear in a spiral pattern with his third eye as the center.

Top of the castle

Kazuki emerged just above the castle with his Byakugan activated and in the distance, he could see some familiar pink clouds but his vision was focused on the empty stone base where a statue used to be.

“So, you moved to Celly and Lulu’s former place, huh?” asked a voice behind Kazuki and he knew that voice.

“It was build in a forest I grew in the first place,” said Kazuki before turning around and face a familiar humanoid chimera with a leather jacket and pants, then Kazuki added, “Discord.”

“‘Sup Kaz, miss me?” asked Discord as he held a literal bucket of, as in made of, popcorn that was filled with chocolate. Then he took a bite of the strange snack before offering it to Kazuki while asking, “Want some?”

“Sure,” said Kazuki with a shrug.

Author's Notes:

Just to summarize:

Trixie Lulamoon - [Futon(Wind Release)] [Inton(Yin Release)] [Suiton(Water Release)] - Enhancer
Sunset Shimmer - [Futon(Wind Release)] [Katon(Fire Release)] [Yoton(Yang Release] - Manipulator
Sonata Dusk - [Suiton(Water Release)] [Futon(Wind Release)] [Inton(Yin Release)] - Transmuter
Adagio Dazzle - [Suiton(Water Release)] [Raiton(Lightning Release)] [Yoton(Yang Release] - Specialist
Aria Blaze - [Suiton(Water Release)] [Katon(Fire Release)] [Inton(Yin Release)] - Emitter
Gloriosa Daisy - [Doton(Earth Release)] {Mokuton(Wood Release)} [Suiton(Water Release)] - Enhancer
Juniper Montage - [Inton(Yin Release)] {Meiton(Shade/Shadow Release)} [Raiton(Lightning Release)] - Transmuter
Twilight Sparkle's counterpart => Dawn Star - [Suiton(Water Release)] [Futon(Wind Release)] [Katon(Fire Release)] - Manipulator
Rarity's counterpart => Haven Melody - [Inton(Yin Release)] {Shōton(Crystal Release)} [Doton(Earth Release)] {Jiton(Magnet Release)} [Futon(Wind Release)] - Conjurer
Sweetie Belle's counterpart => Sugar Song - [Doton(Earth Release)] {Jiton(Magnet Release)} [Futon(Wind Release)] - Conjurer
Applejack's counterpart => River "Val" Vale - [Doton(Earth Release)] {Bakuton(Explosion Release)} [Raiton(Lightning Release)] - Enhancer
Pinkie Pie's counterpart => Penny - [Doton(Earth Release)] {Bakuton(Explosion Release)} [Raiton(Lightning Release)] {Ranton(Storm Release)} [Suiton(Water Release)] - Transmuter
Apple Bloom's counterpart => River Lilly - [Doton(Earth Release)] {Bakuton(Explosion Release)} [Raiton(Lightning Release)] - Emitter
Fluttershy's counterpart => Wind Weaver - [Inton(Yin Release)] [Raiton(Lightning Release)] [Yoton(Yang Release)] - Specialist
Rainbow Dash's counterpart => Firefly - [Futon(Wind Release)] {Jinton(Swift Release)} [Raiton(Lightning Release)] - Enhancer
Scootaloo's counterpart => Bumblebee "Bee" - [Futon(Wind Release)] {Jinton(Swift Release)} [Raiton(Lightning Release)] - Emitter
Spike's counterpart's counterpart => Oscar "Oz" -[Futon(Wind Release)] {Shakuton(Scorch Release)} [Katon(Fire Release)] {Shōton(Plasma Release)} [Raiton(Lightning Release)] - Specialist
Big mac's counterpart's counterpart => Michael "Mike" - [Doton(Earth Release)] {Koton(Metal Release)} [Yoton(Yang Release)] - Enhancer
Shining Armor's counterpart's counterpart => Alexis - [Katon(Fire Release)] [Doton(Earth Release)] - Enhancer
Maud Pie's counterpart's counterpart => Hild - [Inton(Yin Release)] {Shōton(Crystal Release)} [Doton(Earth Release)] - Manipulator

17. Surprise of a unexpected return.

View Online

“Still, its a nice place you got here,” commented Discord as Kazuki took a bit of the bucket of popcorn. Then he commented, “Too much harmony in the air for my taste though.”

“I'm surprised you aren't trying to pick a fight with me considering how our last meeting went,” commented Kazuki as he contemplated informing Discord that Faust was alive.

“Yeah… about that,” said Discord nervously before pausing to drink a cup of chocolate milk and throw the chocolate milk when he was done.

Kazuki just rolled his eyes before opening a portal and the chocolate milk pass through, the faint sound of an explosion was heard in the distance outside of the forest before he said to Discord with a sigh, “Please, keep your chaos outside of my forest.”

“Sorry,” said Discord as he glowed from embarrassment, literally, since it suddenly became night and he was glowing in the dark. Then the sun was suddenly up as he said, “I figured we could start over since both of us had to fight with Celly and Lulu.”

“I'm not against it but you know they will try to put you back in stone, right?” asked Kazuki as he started to float while crossing his legs.

“Please, I felt their connection to the Elements weaken over time, how do you think I got free in the first place?” said Discord sarcastically in the beginning before asking the question as he suddenly appeared behind Kazuki and whispered on his ear, “Plus, I know about their little fight, the one that ended with Lulu in the time-out corner.”

Kazuki wasn't even fazed by the sudden appearance of the draconequus and just asked, “Did you know that the Elements have chosen new hosts?”

“Really?” asked Discord in a coy tone as he stretched his torso and coiled around Kazuki as a snake, the alien didn't even blink as he ended face to face with those yellow and red eyes, which only made Discord to smile from ear to ear, literally. The draconequus always liked Kazuki because the alien never had a problem with his chaos and always took it with either a smile or indifference, Kazuki and Faust were the only ones that took him seriously when required but were more than happy to put up with his playfulness.

To answer Discord's question Kazuki just tapped on the draconequus’ forehead and transmitted all the information on the current bearers/hosts of the Elements of Harmony. The draconequus was engulfed by a poof of smoke, when the smoke disappeared it revealed Discord in the form of a younger looking female with combed white mane wearing a school uniform as she swooned, “Wow, senpai is so smart and cool!”

“Nope,” said Kazuki simply as he picked the teenage looking female draconequus by the back of her shirt as he would a kitten or puppy, with the girl no longer sitting on his lap he simply dropped her from the tower.

Discord popped into existence beside Kazuki while puffing her cheeks while lightly hitting him with her fists and saying, “Mo, that was mean, Kazu-senpai.”

Kazuki just did his best impression of Spock.

“Please, don't be mean to Tōsō-chan, onī-chan,” said a loli version of Discord that appeared on the other side, which Kazuki responded with a light karate chop of the head of the loli looking Discord and she responded, “Itai! Why onī-chan is so mean to Fuwa-chan?”

“Seriously?” asked Kazuki in disbelief as he looked unfazed at the sad chibi Discord, even the names Tōsō(闘争, Strife) and Fuwa(不和, Discord) were rather “in your face” on Kazuki's opinion. Then he thought, “Why do I have a feeling that he'll be using many anime tropes to annoy me? Knowing him he will probably take this as a challenge.”

Discord in chibi form just kept crying anime tears as Kazuki looked at the duo.

“Ara ara, Kazuki-sama, there’s no need to get violent,” said another female Discord that was hugging from behind and gently placing her rather a sizeable asset against the back of his head.

“And here it’s the Boob-Gag/Fanservice Trope,” thought Kazuki as the two previous versions of Discord disappeared as the one behind him nuzzled his hair. After a while, he asked, “Are you done?”

“Yeah, I’m done, but your hair is so soft, I couldn’t help myself,” said Discord as she floated around Kazuki before “sitting” on the air in front of him in seiza. Then she added with a cute smile, “And you can call me Eris in this form, or Eri-chan if you prefer.”

“So, anything in particular that you wanted to talk about before going on your merry and chaotic way?” asked Kazuki after looking at the female draconequus for a bit and just shrug.

At Kazuki’s question, Discord —or Eris, for now— just glanced at the castle and at the presences inside and below the structure, however, what caught her attention was a presence that felt just like Kazuki’s but smaller that seemed to envelop a group of smaller presences. Eris looked at Kazuki and the presence of the “Kazuki yet smaller” below several times trying to piece together what she was sensing.

“What’s up with the presences in and below the castle?” asked Eris curiously.

“I suppose you could call them my clan, beings that came to be under my protection for one reason or another,” explained Kazuki.

“I see,” said Eris as she crossed her arms beneath her breasts, making appear that her leather jacket was about to burst open in the effort of trying to contain the two soft orbs. At the same time, Eris also noticed that there were a few ponies down there and she didn’t even question why she was feeling two presences extremely similar to Celly and Lulu but “darker”, for lack of a better word, and figured Kazuki would tell her about them later, however, there was one presence that she was curious about, so she asked Kazuki, “Hey, Kazu, why do I feel a presence like yours but smaller down there?”

“Tell you later, you better deal with the Elements before they gathered and are used against you,” said Kazuki as he felt the Mane Six moving from Ponyville toward Canterlot, then he added, “Oh, and keep your mess out of my territory.”

“Sure thing, I won’t throw my toys in your garden,” said Eris as she got up and stretched her arms before turning back into his male form and say to Kazuki, “I got a lot of chaos to spread, I’ll visit when I get it out of my system. Bye Bye.”

*snap*

And with a single snap of his fingers Discord was gone. Kazuki glanced at his side before extending his hand and grab the air.

*rip*

Kazuki pulled and space was torn revealing a small temporary pocket dimension, however, his focus was on the being that was spying on his meeting with Discord, so he looked at cybernetics alicorn and said, “You know that it’s rude to spy on others, right?”

“That’s rich coming from someone that trains spies and assassins,” snorted Faust as space reformed behind her and the gaping hole in the air closed itself.

“I said it was rude, not that I wouldn’t do it,” commented Kazuki as he got up from his sitting position and stood beside the alicorn, noticing that the center of the feathers on her wings was glowing as she floated in mid-air.

“Even so, isn’t natural for a big sister to worry about her little brother?” asked Faust with a knowing tone.

“The fact that he had an argument with your daughter make things complicated, doesn’t it?” asked Kazuki and Faust just sighed.

“They are still young, disagreements are inevitable,” said Faust with sighed, after all, they were not even five thousand years old. After a moment of silence she looked at the extension of Kazuki’s presence that controlling a spare body in his room, her eyes flickered as she switched through some visions and saw Kazuki’s spare body playing with some pups, plus Gard was nearby, which caused her to comment, “My my, when did you get pregnant?”

“I didn’t, it’s Gard’s litter and I’m just babysitting them to give her a break,” answered Kazuki as he opened a portal back to his room and Faust followed him.

“Um, that would have been such a life-saver if I met you while I was carrying either Tia or Lulu,” said Faust as she looked at Tera and her voice caught the attention of the pups.

“Aunty!” shouted the pups as they gathered around Faust.

“Hello, little ones,” said Faust as she knelt down and greeted the excited pups while Kazuki went back to his meditations. After greeting the pups she climbed on the bed and laid at Tera's right, the white she-wolf was just leaning back on the headboard with Gard just nuzzling the white-furred dome, which caused Faust to comment, “She seems to be having fun.”

“Yeah, she has been quite giddy since she wrapped one's mind around the fact that I’m carrying our pups,” said Tera as she placed her left paw on Gard’s head gently rubbed the gray she-wolf’s head.

Faust just hummed as she placed her head on her left hand and used her right index finger to trace the red circles on Tera’s fur, occasionally feeling the little kicks from the unborn pups.

“You know? I seeing you like this it kind of makes me miss this,” said Faust as she switched through some visions and until she was able to see the unborn pups snuggled against each other inside their limited but comfortable space, then she commented when she noticed a particular detail, “Oh, you even changed the position of the cords to not endanger their lives, the cabling is too organized to be natural.”

“What?” asked Gard as she registered the word “danger”.

“There's nothing to worry about, Gard, aside from the normal risks involved with pregnancy. Besides, the little ones here,” said said Faust as she patted Tera's belly, which caused some of the pups to shift, as she continued, “Have a strong life-force, not a surprise considering who their father is, so I'm sure all of them will be able to survive without medical assistance.”

“Oh, thank you for explaining, Bosslady. Um, I'm not good at understanding complicated stuff, but I'm just happy that the pups are strong and healthy,” said Gard without lifting her head of the form she was rather enamored with or displacing the paw that was petting her.

“Please, just Faust is fine. After all, we're one big family,” said Faust before leaning closer and kiss the she-wolf on the forehead, as far as she was concerned everyone living under Kazuki's protection here in the Everfree Forest was of her herd, regardless of species. With Gard reassured she turned her attention back to Tera and asked, “Where were we?”

“You were considering 'going through it again’ because of my condition,” said Tera as she hugged Gard and the grey she-wolf responded by encircling her arms around Tera’s distended middle.

“Oh yeah, there are some prototypes I was thinking of producing before we met. I want you to take a look,” said Faust as she moved and sat beside Tera.

“Sure thing,” said Tera and Faust just answered by placing her head on Tera’s right shoulder, from the right eye of the cyber alicorn a holographic 3D model was projected in front of Tera before it disassembled into smaller pieces. From there Tera and Faust just brainstormed on how to change the model that was presented, Tera just used her right hand/paw to move, change and remove components —kinda like MCU Tony Stark’s Holographic Interface— while using her left to caress Gard and the pups that ended snuggling with her.

*knock* *knock*

Around noon someone knocked on the door, so Tera and Kazuki just said at the same time and in the same tone, “Come in, it’s unlocked.”

This was the scene that Zecora saw when she brought Gard’s lunch along with Sol and Moon, who were bringing many lunch boxes for the pups.

“Are we interrupting something?” asked Zecora as she saw Faust in casual clothes and a pair of naked female wolf-like diamond dogs on the bed, the white one and Faust seemed to be going over some schematics while Gard was sleeping. What throw Zecora for a loop was that Gard was lacking the most prominent feature she had in the past month, however, it didn’t take long for the zebra to spot the familiar metallic grey purplish eye with concentric rings on the white she-wolf’s forehead, so she just asked, “Mwalimu?”

Sol’s reaction, on the other hand, was less thoughtful and more of knee-jerk/foot-in-mouth.

“Whata f-” started Sol but the moment she started, two pairs of blue eyes, one of which was artificial, a pair of featureless lilac ones, a pair of eyes yellow eyes that were previously closed but were now alert, two pair of cyan eyes, one of which was slitted like Sol’s own eyes and a two metallic grey purplish eyes glared at her with various degree of intensity because of the many innocent and curious ones that were now focused on her. So, either out of instinct or some quick thinking she completed her phrase almost without hesitation, “-udge is going on?!”

*whistle*

Moon was the one to catch the attention of the occupants of the room with a whistle before saying while presenting the stack of bento boxes she brought, “C’mon, little ones, it’s time for lunch.”

“Yay!” came the excited shout of almost two dozen of hungry pups that gathered around Moon and Sol. While the two sisters were handing a box to each little one Kazuki got up and started to set up some small tables and cushions for the ones that already got their bento, it kinda looked like a kindergarten. Either way, once he was done setting up the tables he opened a portal and walked through while Faust deactivated the holographic interface

“Mwalimu, what happened?” asked Zecora as she placed the tray of food on the nightstand.

“Nothing, I’m just babysitting them for Gard over here,” said Tera as she sat up and Gard did the same, however, Tera said to Gard as she was reaching for the tray, “Not so fast, Gard, we will be sharing that tray but you’ll slowly change your diet to the one I recommended before.”

“But…” Gard started but at this moment Kazuki came back with two trays of food, the ones he recommended, for Tera and Gard. So, with no argument, the two she-wolves got up and joined the pups on one of the tables as well as Zecora, Sol and Moon, who brought their own lunch.

“I almost forgot how annoying it was to use hashi with these big paws,” complained Tera as she managed to use the chopsticks with some difficulty.

“Want me to get a knife and fork for you, Mwalimu?” asked Zecora as she looked at Tera.

“No need, I just out of practice with this body,” commented Tera before returning her attention to her meal.

“So, how that happened?” asked Sol as she pointed at Tera’s belly.

“I’m curious about that as well,” commented Moon.

“I just used flesh manipulation to temporarily merge with Gard before separating while taking our litter,” answered Kazuki since his main body was closer to Sol and Moon, plus he didn’t need to eat and he was just sitting near the balcony as he fed Bryn, who was sitting contently on his lap.

“Yeah, just that,” said Moon sarcastically.

“Could you not do that?” groaned Sol before continuing, “It’s creepy when we ask something to one and the other answers.”

“Yeah, but that way my spare body can eat while I answer the questions,” countered Kazuki before returning his attention to Roxie and say, “Say ‘aah’.”

“Aah…” said Bryn cutely as she opened her mouth and Kazuki fed her a piece of meat. Their meal progressed as they chatted and once they were done all pups, Gard and Tera went to Kazuki’s spacious bed to take a nap, except for Bryn was in Kazuki’s arms.

“I’m going to upload this blueprint on the mainframe in Tenteienkyū, see you later,” said Faust before leaving the room.

“So, are you going to do something about Discord?” asked Sol as she focused on the familiar feeling of Chaos Magic being used in the distance.

“Not at all, I predict that he will not take his opponents seriously and will end up in the receiving end of the Elements, again,” commented Kazuki as he carefully placed the youngest of Gard’s pups, for now, between Tera and Gard.

“That does sound like Discord,” commented Moon before looking at Tera and Gard, then she commented, “Um, I know you told us you were a mother before but seeing in front of my eyes really is something different.”

Kazuki didn’t say anything and just placed a spell around the bed to muffle noise from the outside to let Gard, the pups and his spare body get some rest.

“Yo, Kaz, can I ask you something?” asked Sol with an uncharacteristically serious tone.

“You already did,” commented Kazuki as he reversed summoned the tables back to storage but left one for him, Moon and Sol.

“You know what I meant, you jerk,” said Sol before just asking anyway, “Are any one of your children still alive?”

“Sol!” said Moon thinking that it was best not to pry in such matters.

“At the moment, I think, just one,” answered Kazuki seeing nothing wrong with the question. Then he added, “After all, he was the one to kill my last incarnation before I recovered my original body.”

The eyes of the two alicorns widen in surprise and Moon was the first to recover, so she asked, “Where is this son of yours? And who is he?”

“Probably sitting on what used to be my throne,” added Kazuki, which left the sisters confused before continuing, "As for who he is, well…"

Later that day, afternoon, Ponyville

Kazuki used the Meisaigakure no Jutsu to remain invisible as he floated above the “chaos capital of the world”, as Discord put it, and observed the confrontation between the Mane Six and Discord. Kazuki had to resist the urge to facepalm at Discord’s cockiness, he didn't even notice that the colorful ponies were not grayed/discorded or the patch of grass that was underneath them instead of the pink tiles he made.

“Yare yare daze, cocky as ever,” commented Kazuki as he made a portal that led to somewhere in the Everfree Forest and used his telekinesis to pick a boulder before reshaping it like a statue of Discord showing surprise and horror before bringing it to his side.

“NOOooo…” Discord started to shout but his voice was drowned by the “friendship beam”, which Kazuki had to resist the urge to just criticize, seriously, they were just wasting too much power and just smashing the problem with it and hoping it would work.

“Amenotejikara,” said Kazuki quietly as his third eye focused on Discord and just as the rainbow was millimeters away from touching the draconequus he swapped places with the statue that Kazuki made and before Discord could process what happened Kazuki just placed his hand on the back of the taller hybrid before disappearing in a blur of white static while muttering, “Hiraishin.”

The sound of static went unheard as the arc of colorful energy of the Elements slipt and turned into a sphere before expanding and undo all the chaos that Discord caused.

Kazuki’s castle

Kazuki and Discord reappeared in Kazuki’s lab, Discord just felt on his knees breathing heavily while processing the fact that he was saved from yet another millennia-long imprisonment in stone. Kazuki just walked away, Discord barely hearing the clanking of the alien’s geta or the heavy footsteps that approached the shocked draconequus until he saw a pair of cream colored legs in front of him. Out of reflex, his eyes looked up and his mind immediately recognized who was in front of him despite feeling different from what he remembered, even when he looked at those blue optics instead of eyes.

“Sis…” whispered Discord as he looked at Faust, who just knelt down and hugged the draconequus.

“Hi there, Dissy,” said Faust softly and for the first time in millennia, Discord cried.

“Sis! You’re alive,” said Discord as he hugged the alicorn and felt her warmth.

A tearful reunion later, underground village

Discord held his cup as the animated teapot poured tea for him, he was with Kazuki, Faust, Moon and Sol in the same cafe they were when Kazuki returned from the Fallout-like Earth.

“So, you survived,” said Discord as he looked at Faust after she gave a brief explanation of the events that led to her transformation.

“Technically yes,” added Faust before taking a sip of her tea.

“You two are Celly and Lulu ‘dark side’,” said Discord as he looked at Sol and Moon, the former looked bored while the latter looked somewhat apprehensive.

“Pretty much,” said Moon with a shrug.

“Wow, not even I see that coming,” Discord muttered to himself.

“Tch, that’s rich coming from a walking modern art project,” snorted Sol.

“Man, you’re so much more expressive and honest them Sunbutt,” commented Discord before a thought came to his mind, so he added, “Wait, doesn’t that make you also Sunbutt?”

“And it’s an amazing butt, way better than that fat sugar-themed cougar,” said Sol shamelessly.

“You know I’m technically your adopted uncle, right?” asked Discord and Sol just shrugged not caring at all about that fact. Either way, Discord turned to face Kazuki as the alien took a sip of his tea, the draconequus had a serious expression after taking a sip of his own tea, then he said, “Lastly, you were not only free for the last millennia but you also left me there to suffer!”

“Let me remind you that you caused me to petrify myself, so I will only say this: Karma's a bitch,” said Kazuki with a grin at the end, it was petty of him but he didn’t care.

“Touché,” said Discord grumpily as he drank his tea. Then he asked, “What now? I wouldn’t mind hanging out you with you all here but I’m not exactly subtle and I won’t stop my chaos just because you asked.”

“Give me your hands,” asked Kazuki and Discord hands just popped off and “walked” toward Kazuki. Aside from a raised eyebrow from Moon, no one reacted, so when the two hands were close enough —it was like a scene out of the Addams Family— Kazuki just picked the lion paws by the wrist and summoned a brush on his other hand before starting to draw on it.

*giggle*

“Don’t squirm, I can’t draw the seals if you keep moving,” said Kazuki before he resumed his task but Discord keep squirming, so Kazuki just used Juken and poked the hand/paw on the side.

“Ouch,” said Discord as he felt a small shock before he started giggling again as Kazuki started to draw, however, he noticed that he couldn’t move his lion paw.

“Oh, I didn’t know you’re this ticklish,” commented Moon with a smile.

“I knew,” added Faust as she took a sip of her tea.

“Sis! Help!” pleaded Discord between while laughing.

“Don’t be a baby, Dissy, it will be over soon,” said Faust, which caused Discord to look to his “nieces” for help but Sol had a particularly vindictive smile as she looked at him.

“Consider this revenge for the pranks you pulled on us(Celestia and Luna) before being stoned,” said Sol as she smiled almost sadistically at the struggling Discord.

“I hate you,” mumbled Discord in between his fits of laughter. After a session of “torture”, Discord looked at the drawing on his palms, back of the hand, fingers and wrist before asking, “So what’s this exactly?”

“These are contract seals, they will allow us to summon each other and communicate with each other,” explained Kazuki and Discord raised an eyebrow.

“Why? I thought you would ask me to stay?” asked Discord.

“We both know you would eventually run off to do something else, so I’m just going to make a suggestion: why not go on a road trip through the Multiverse?” asked Kazuki.

“What?” asked Sol, Moon and Discord while Faust just raised an eyebrow.

“You get to be in new places, do new things and you might even meet other draconequi,” explained Kazuki, which caused Discord to blink in surprise as he processed what his friend just said before looking thoughtful and it didn't take long for Discord to reach a conclusion.

Night of the same day, underground

“I'm going to miss you sis!” said Discord as he cried a river of tears, literally, while hugging Faust.

The draconequus spend the rest of the day with the alicorns and Kazuki, it was fun, but he was already feeling the urge to go out and do something, it was simply his nature. So, in the end, Discord accepted that Kazuki's idea would be the one that would give him the most freedom to do what he wanted. Those were the events that led to the current scene, Discord using a shirt with floral pattern hugging Faust while crying not too far from the cliff that overlooked the underground ecosystem. Kazuki's was off to the side observing the scene, the fact that Discord's tears were pouring on Sol and Moon was kinda funny though.

“Oh, don't worry about it, Dissy, you can visit and/or call us anytime,” said Faust as she patted the back of the childish draconequus. Behind her, her drenched daughters just had their eyebrows twitching at Discord antics, in Sol's case the wetness just evaporated as her temperature raised with her internal rage.

”I know, *sniff* sis, it's just… we just met again and I'm already leaving. Maybe I should stay for a few days,” said Discord, which caused the alicorn sisters to glare at him but he just ignored them.

“Oh, Dissy, we both know that would only make things worse. Besides, this little journey might be what you need to finally gain some maturity,” said Faust with a smile.

“You wish,” snorted Discord before leaning down and picking two suitcases out of nowhere before saying, “Maybe I will, maybe I won't, who knows? I don't know what this little trip has in store for me but that's what it's exciting about it.”

*Air horn*

Just to complete the scene the sound of an air horn was heard as a ramp came out of nowhere along with a floating boat, so Discord just nodded before climbing on the small private yacht and wave at them as the ship disappeared through a portal.

“Did he really need to make it so clichê?” asked Moon as she finished drying her mane.

“Who cares? He was annoying but fun to have around and I'm going to miss him, even if he was too noisy sometimes,” commented Sol before stretching her arms up and said, “I'm beat, gonna catch some z's.”

“I'm going to do some reading,” commented Moon.

“Don't stay up too late, you're gonna need your energy for what's gonna go down tomorrow,” commented Sol and Moon just rolled her eyes at her sister but didn't say anything as she walked away. Sol just placed her hands on Kazuki's shoulders and letting some of her weight rest on them she said, “Come to bed, Kaz, we're going to have our hands full tomorrow and I want some alone time with you.”

Then Sol looked at her mother and asked, “Wanna join?”

“While I wouldn't mind, I plan on going over some blueprints that Kaz and I worked on earlier today, it will most likely take all night,” explained Faust.

“Meh, your loss,” said Sol with a shrug before teleporting herself and Kazuki to his room.

Kazuki's room

Sol just let herself fall on Kazuki's bed while hugging the owner of the bed like a teddy bear.

“I don't remember agreeing with this little setup,” commented Kazuki.

“You can get out anytime, so I take you at the very least don't mind,” commented Sol and in response, Kazuki just reverse summoned his kimono and hakama before summoning a jinbei(甚平) to be used as his nightwear. Sol just smiled and kissed the smaller alien before saying, “Goodnight, Kaz.”

Kazuki decided to just enjoy the warmth so he just said to the alicorn as she closed her eyes, “Goodnight, Sol.”

Canterlot, throne room, next morning

A crowd was gathered in the throne room, the Elements of Harmony stood before Celestia as the trumpet sounded in the background. Spike stook to the side not too far from the group as Celestia spoke, “We are gathered here today to once again honor the heroism of these six friends who stood up to the villain Discord and saved Equestria from eternal chaos.”

“If only they knew,” thought Kazuki, who was invisible and intangible as he observed Celestia unveil a new glass mural depicting Discord’s defeat, as he watched the ceremony. Deciding it was time, he undid his invisibility and intangibility as he sat on the throne with Hon-chan in his left hand while his right elbow rested on the armchair, his right hand on his right cheek as he read Hon-chan with a bored look, it was this moment he spoke, “Now now, Celestia, you’re just being overdramatic.”

*GASP*

The collective gasp of the crowd and the Elements was expected since they just saw a being clad in white sitting on Celestia’s throne that wasn’t there before, Spike's girly scream before stumbling back was kinda funny, all the guards immediately pointed their weapons at Kazuki and Celestia turned around with a feeling of dread as she recognized that voice. The princess’ eyes widen as saw Kazuki but at the same time, she used her magic to sent a message to Luna asking the lunar alicorn to get the Elements and bring them to the throne room just before her eyes landed on Kazuki.

“Hello there, my faithful student,” said Kazuki as his lilac eyes met the magenta colored eyes of the shocked princess.

18. Walking on shards of flowering glass in the moon's gaze.

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An awkward silence followed Kazuki's declaration, however, that was broken by a group of royal guards charging at the alien, which included the ones that were hiding on the wall behind the throne.

“No don-” shouted Celestia but it was too late.

“Rimbo: Hengoku(輪墓・辺獄, Wheel Grave: Border Jail)”, whispered Kazuki and all the guards were flung back as if they were struck by some invisible force. Kazuki's eyes never left Celestia as he said, “That's quite hypocritical of you, my faithful student, you condemned me for my actions yet you are still making use of my teachings.”

Panic erupted and the ponies present started to scream as they run for the exit. Celestia just kept glaring at Kazuki and just replied almost snarling when most of the crown was gone, “Don't call me that.”

It was this moment that Luna teleported in and as she appeared the Elements were immediately placed on their respective hosts/users.

“Sister, wh-” Luna started but stopped when her eyes landed on Kazuki, she gritted her teeth and her eyes became dragon-like before she leaped forward while shouting, “Kazuki!!”

Kazuki simply grabbed the hoof that was aimed at his face with his right hand before using Shinra Tensei(神羅天征, Heavenly Subjugation of the Omnipresent God) of moderate strength to launch her backward. The lunar alicorn just flipped midair and landed on her hooves while still glaring at him.

“Impulse as ever, Ru-chan,” said Kazuki with an amused smile.

“Hey, who do you think you are to talk to the princesses like that?!” shouted Rainbow remaining the godly trio that there were others in here besides themselves.

“That doesn’t concern you, Bearer of Loyalty,” said Kazuki dismissively, much to Rainbow's irritation, before adding offhandedly, “But if you insist, I'm their former teacher.”

“We refused to acknowledge you as such, fiend,” said Celestia with venom in her voice, much to the surprise of the Elements since this was the first time they ever heard Celestia speak like that. Either way, she said in a whisper, “Girls, prepare the Elements, Luna and I will distract him.”

Twilight and the other nodded before closing their eyes in concentration while Kazuki just rolled his since he heard what was said.

“When did you free yourself from your prison? Was it Discord who freed you?” asked Celestia as her horn started to glow, her sister doing the same.

“Out of order: Discord wasn't responsible for my prison's destruction, it was Nightmare Moon. As for when I freed myself, well, my body was encased in stone for millennia but my mind has been switching bodies ever since our little scuffle,” said Kazuki to the sisters while he projected his thoughts to Hon-chan, “Just wait a little longer, I want to see how far they have progress.”

Hon-chan's response was sending Kazuki a pout, both mentally and physically, as he closed the book and as soon as he did that Celestia and Luna were engulfed by a flash of light that soon disappeared and revealed that they were wearing their armor. However, instead of attacking they just stood ready to defend the Elements, they probably thought or hoped that Kazuki was uninformed about the Elements or just arrogant enough to give them a shot, which he was willing to give but not out of arrogance. In no time at all, the six mares were lifted in the air by their combined magic and when they opened their eyes they were glowing with power, which was followed by the “friendship cannon”. The beam hit Kazuki and the princesses had to shield their eyes but relaxed in the knowledge of their victory, or so they thought.

The light slowly subsided and when the light no longer hurt their eyes Celestia and Luna opened them only to witness something they thought impossible, Kazuki was still sitting on the throne just as bored as before but with his right palm facing forward, however, the horror came from the fact that the being was absorbed by his hand. When the beam stopped and the six mares were lowered on the floor where they stumbled for a moment since their magic subsided and they were a bit dizzy, which revealed a familiar ripple patterned metallic gray purplish eye but with each section flashing different colors briefly before returning to the normal color. He brought his hand closer and looked at the eye on his palm before thinking as he felt the energy he just absorbed, “They have matured quite nicely, still not quite there yet.”

“Did we win?” asked Rainbow as she shook her head, the others doing the same.

“Such potential, wasted,” commented Kazuki with disappointment and disdain as his Rinnegan moved from each mare to the other, all of them frozen at the impossibility that just happened, so he continued, “You are like younglings with a new toy, just battering your foe with your power and hoping that it would be enough to defeat it. Such uncivilized and primitive brutes. Oh, Seri-chan, if you let them keep the foci and practice a little they wouldn’t be so bad.”

“Excuse me, I refused to be called uncivilized, primitive, brute or any combination of those three. Who in Equestria do you think you are, mister?” asked Rarity with an indignant tone but as soon as she finished her question Celestia recovered and placed herself in front of the unicorn as she glared at Kazuki.

“I already answered your question, Bearer of Generosity,” said Kazuki as if he was speaking to a child just as he extended his right hand and the gemstones that represented the Elements of Harmony started to shake before removing themselves from the necklaces and tiara they occupied. The gemstones floated toward Kazuki before settling in a small orbit just above his right palm as he continued, “I’m their former teacher.”

“Impossible,” said Twilight and the princesses in disbelief at the same time, the former at the statement and the former at the situation most likely.

“Your belief isn’t required, Bearer of Magic,” said Kazuki as he inspected the gems, then he just nodded and the gems just turned into streaks of light that moved from the place they were floating back to the jewelry that they came from.

“How?!” shouted Luna both in anger and fear, her eyes and horn glowing with magic ready to be used.

“Oh, Ru-chan, why wouldn’t I know how to control and counter my own power, which reminds me,” said Kazuki as a portal opened above and behind him from were four blurs were shot before embedding themselves on the floor cracking the stone and spreading a cloud of dust. When the cloud settled it revealed two sets of familiar weapons, one golden and one black, and Kazuki spoke, “Pick them up, I want to see how much you two have progressed.”

“We refuse to play your games,” said Celestia with conviction as she glanced at their former weapons trying to discern if there was some kind of trap, after all, they were in possession of their most devious enemy for thousands of years.

“Is that so,” said Kazuki as two portals opened behind the group.

Out of instinct, the sisters reached for the weapons before teleporting in front of one of a portal each just a barrage of kunai and shuriken came through. Using all their martial prowess they deflected and blocked each projectile with their staff and sword combo, at one point they tried to make a shield but the moment the projectile touched the barrier they passed through as runes of some kind lightened up.

Not wanting to get in the way, Twilight tried to gather her magic to teleport herself and her friends out of the throne room but the moment she tried to do so one of the portals changed its angle and aimed at the purple unicorn. She barely had time to notice the sharp blade approaching her before Celestia got in the way and blocked them while shouting, “Don’t move!”

Kazuki’s amusement turned into disappointment as he saw his former students’ performance, at first it looked they were blocking every projectile but some were slipping past their defense and hitting their armor. After he saw enough he stopped the barrage and closed the portals, which caused the sisters to briefly look around to make sure the none of the guards were injured and there were no more portals before once again place themselves between their subjects and their former teacher.

“I’m disappointed with your performance,” said Kazuki flatly before continuing, “Perhaps, you two need more motivation.”

Kazuki snapped his fingers for dramatic effect and to catch their attention, which caused six small portals to open behind the six mares behind the princesses.

*shnk* *shnk* *shnk* *shnk* *shnk* *shnk* *shnk*

Celestia and Luna turned to face the origin of the sound and their eyes widened.

”Prin…cess…” whispered Twilight before a trail of blood escaped from her lips, coming out of her chest was a blood soaked blade. Not only from the purple unicorn but also from the other Elements as well as Spike who was in the middle of the group.

The blades retreat rather roughly and a sickening wet tearing was head before drops of blood landed on Celestia's right cheek. The seven fell like puppets without strings as a pool of blood just widened.

“Twilight! Hang in there!” shouted Celestia as she dropped her weapons and knew down beside her injured student, she tried to stop the bleeding and heal Twilight but it wasn’t working. Celestia could do nothing as she felt Twilight’s life-force diminish like a candle just moments before being snuffed out, she just looked at those purple lifeless eyes and asked weakly, “Twilight?”

“More often than not, death comes either too quickly or too slowly,” commented Kazuki as he placed Hon-chan on the armrest of the throne and got up before waking to the base of the dais.

*ROAR*

The awkward silence was broken by a wave of magic, raw and primal. Kazuki was about to make a comment when Luna rushed at him at incredible speed and slashed with her sword, he barely had time to raise his arm and reinforced it as the blade bit into his flesh down to the bone before launching him through one of the murals.

*crack*

The glass shattered as Kazuki was flung out of the palace and sensing that words would no longer reach the alicorns he created a hanbō(半棒, half-staff) of about 3ft in each hand out of pure chakra using the Dōgu Sōzō no Jutsu(道具創造の術, Tool Creation Technique). Just as he finished forming his weapons his geta make contact with the stone from the settlement around the castle and left a trail as his feet dug into the ground to decelerate. He activated his Byakugan just before he stopped and he saw two flashes of light on either side of him and he placed the batons to block Luna’s staff at his right and Celestia’s sword at his left, seeing that their attacks failed they tried again with the other weapon. Celestia’s sword was stuck on the baton as it lengthened until it was a bō(棒, staff) to block her staff while he kicked Luna with his right leg, when his right baton was freed he pointed it forward before extending the opposite end enough to hit Celestia in the gut, thus sending the sisters in opposite directions. All of that happened in less than a second and it took a while for the crowd to process what happened, which resulted in mass panic but he ignored the panicking ponies as he shrunk his weapons back to their original length as he looked at the two alicorns buried beneath the rubble.

Luna was the first to get up, so Kazuki pointed his index finger at her and on its tip, a small Rasengan began to form, then it increased in size to the point it became bigger than him. Just as Luna regained her bearing she saw the sphere of energy being thrown at her by Kazuki’s telekinesis and was about to dodge when she heard him say, “Are you sure you want to dodge?”

Luna was about to ignore the question but a shift of the rubble behind her caught her attention, she glanced behind her and saw an unconscious but still living mare behind her. She cursed Kazuki and her luck as she dropped her weapons and placed her hands in front of her to brace for impact.

*thud*

“Oh, let's see how long you can hold that Chōōdama Rasengan(超大玉螺旋丸, Ultra-Big Ball Spiralling Sphere),” commented Kazuki as he let go of his batons and moved his arms out of his kimono to let it hang from his obi before taking hold of his floating weapons.

“Damn you!” shouted Luna as she struggled to hold the spiraling sphere of energy as it kept grinding against her gloves and pushing her back little by little.

“Ha!” shouted Celestia as she jumped toward Kazuki with her staff and sword ready to strike while Kazuki's head was facing Luna.

“Shuradō,” thought Kazuki and Celestia's blows didn’t make it as two arms burst out of his left shoulder and each hand took hold of one of her arms, then the wrist split open and unfolded before metallic tentacles emerged and immobilized her arms, wings and wrapped around her neck.

“Huh?!” Celestia barely had time to make a muffled exclamation as the mechanical tendrils silenced her.

“Haven’t I thought you to not give away your position to the enemy?” asked Kazuki as he turned to face Celestia and all she could do was glare at the alien since a tendril was wrapped around her muzzle. Then the two hands detached from the extra left arms and the metallic tendrils held Celestia’s arms and wings tightly as the princess fell on the ground while the two extra arms became chakra cannons, which were pointed at the downed princess as they were charging, ad he said, “I expected more from you two.”

“Aaaaahhhh!” screamed Luna as she managed to push back the swirling sphere of energy, which caused Kazuki to extend his right hand and open a Rinnegan on the palm after dispelling one of his batons and absorb the Chōōdama Rasengan that was sent in his direction. However, just as she finished absorbing the technique Luna teleported in front of him and blasted a beam from her horn on his chest, which sent him flying.

Once Kazuki was launched Luna summoned her staff and sword back to her hands before cutting her sister free from the metallic tendrils, however, before she could smash the pair of left hands they jumped before flying toward Kazuki, who was floating above the sisters.

Kazuki didn't even acknowledge the sisters as Luna helped Celestia up and just dispelled the remaining baton as the two left hands connected back to their respective arms and two right arms appeared from his right shoulder. Each pair of hand was clapped together before forming three seals —Ram, Snake and Bird— as he spoke calmly, “Tengai Shinsei(天碍震星, Heavenly Obstacle Quaking Star).”

The sisters just kept their eyes on Kazuki and prepared for whatever he was doing since they knew the type of magic he was using was made with hand gestures. However, they become confused as nothing was happening but an eerie silence followed as the packing ponies seemed to stop what they were doing, which was followed by the area slowly becoming darker. The sky was supposed to be clear today so there shouldn't be shadows, so they looked up while keeping their enemy in the peripheral vision. Their minds stopped at what they saw and their knees trembled as their mouths seemed to dry in disbelief, a meteor the size of a mountain.

“Was he always this powerful?” thought Celestia and Luna as they watched the meteor approached the city of Canterlot. Their line of thought was interrupted by the sound of the ponies around them falling to their knees in despair at the sight of the meteor coming while other resort to the thing that all mortals who believe in higher powers do, praying. Seeing their little ponies needing more than ever the princess shook their heads and hardened their resolve before flying up toward the instrument of their imminent doom in order to stop it.

“Give everything you got sister!” shouted Luna as her eyes and horn glowed with as much power as she could muster, and more than it was safe to wield, but even as she felt like a rod of hot iron was driven into her spine she poured more into her weapons, which caused them to glow as well.

“You don’t need to tell me,” said Celestia in a menacing tone as she did the same as her sisters, for the first time in their long lives they pushed themselves past their limits before unleashing the accumulated mana in order to push back or destroy the meteor.

“Aren't you going a bit overboard?” asked Hon-chan as she floated beside Kazuki where the alien and the sentient grimoire witness the desperate struggle of the two alicorns.

“I thought you hated them?” asked Kazuki with an eyebrow raised and not at all bothered by the devastation was about to cause.

“I do, but I don't think it was necessary to just drop a meteor on them like that,” said Hon before shaking for a bit while bobbing down and up, her version of a shrug, and say with a dismissive tone, “Ma, it's not like it matter anyway.”

“AAAAHHHH!!!!” screamed the sisters and Kazuki was about to make a clinical remark but stopped as he saw cracks started to form on the meteor as the sisters did their beam struggle with the meteor.

“It kinda reminds me of Dragon Ball Z,” commented Kazuki as he looked at the cracks widened, which caused him to add, “Oh, bad move.”

“Oh no,” thought the sisters as they saw the meteor crack and split into smaller pieces instead of being completely destroyed, they watched in horror as the pieces fell all around Canterlot and devastated the surrounding area.

*clap*

“Congratulations, you two saved Canterlot. But about half of the country ended either in or near a crater,” commented Kazuki as he clapped slowly, then he stopped clapping before lifting his left hand as a Rinnegan opened in its palm. A blue sphere of energy formed on Kazuki’s palm before growing in size and as it grew a group of familiar looking whirling spheres started to form inside the see-through sphere.

“Wait, something is not right,” thought Luna as she looked around at all the devastation caused by their battle. Her sister on the other hand just saw another threat and her tired mind and protective instinct just reacted to what she saw, which caused Luna to shout, “No, sister, wait!”

“Rimbo: Hengoku,” said Kazuki without even glancing at the charging alicorn and because she couldn’t see the clone moving in the invisible world that coexists with the physical world, however, its movement affected the mana on the air but Celestia was too far gone to notice this and just ended up receiving a punch on the face that sent her back to the ground. Then he just said with amusement before throwing the sphere that resembled a planetarium in a not so dissimilar way to a certain galactic tyrant from the show he was just remained of, “Let’s see how you deal with this one. Ōamenomihashira(大天御柱, Great Pillar of Heaven).”

Seeing no other choice Luna used the same spell that the Captain of the Royal Guard was entrusted to use in order to protect the capital, she might not be as good as him but she was far more powerful. As a blue barrier formed around Canterlot Luna looked around and thought, “Speaking of which, where is Captain Armor? Unless-”

The alicorn’s question was interrupted by the sphere of chakra pressed against the barrier she created, which brought her to her knee. Then, on the corner of her vision, she saw her sister and called out, “Sister! I can’t hold this alone!”

Celestia shook her head as she got up, then she heard her sister and ignoring the taste of her own blood in her mouth she looked up and saw the barrier was cracking. So, to help she did the same spell and merged her magic with Luna, which caused the barrier to recover and expand as it acquired a golden hue while pushing back the chakra sphere.

“Um, at least they can cooperate when push comes to shove,” commented Kazuki before chuckling at the pun he just made and said with his left hand still extended toward the sphere, “I wonder if they noticed already. Ma, either way, Takamimusubinokami(高皇産霊尊, High and Exalted Creator of the Universe).”

The sphere halted before trembling before expanding in bursts until it was just as big as the meteor that was destroyed, Kazuki actually had to put some effort into breaking that barrier.

*CRACK*

A loud and horrible cracking was heard as the sphere grinding against the barrier, however, it was not the barrier that was giving in it was the rock on which Canterlot was built upon. Little by little the city was pushed against the rock and by the time that the mountain started to crumble the outer shell of the Ōamenomihashira exploded and showered the rest of the country, and beyond its borders, in Rasengan-like orbs that exploded upon impact, the result was a wasteland with only Canterlot remaining amongst what was once the mountain that stood at the center of their nation.

*clank*

Kazuki’s geta clanked against the stone floor as he stood beside the tired Celestia and all he did was sight before making a Gudōdama in his right hand and turning it into a black katana.

“Any last words?” asked Kazuki as he held the sword with both hands and got ready to decapitate the kneeling alicorn with an overhead strike. The response came in the form a Celestia spitting on Kazuki’s face but he didn’t even blink as the mixture of saliva and blood slashed on his left cheek, he just raised an eyebrow and said with a disappointed tone, “Really, that’s so petty of you?”

*slash*

The edge of Kazuki’s katana would disintegrate the flesh it came in contact making death quick and painless, so Celestia closed her eyes and accepted her death. Luna was witnessing all this from where she was laying on the ground, just gathered all the magic she had left on her horn and thought, “Gods, I hope I’m right.”

From Luna’s perspective, the world slowed down until it stopped, Kazuki’s katana just touching Celestia's neck, and the only thing that was still moving in the world was Luna.

*CRACK*

The air cracked the point of origin being the tip of Luna’s horn.

*CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK*

Soon reality itself became like a broken mirror and when the pieces fell they were back in the throne room, the sisters were holding their weapons as they stood between Kazuki and the mane six.

“What-” Celestia started to question but immediately dropped her sword and moved her free hand to the back of her neck where she felt the tip of the sword starting to cut into her flesh, then she asked, “How?”

“Princess?” asked Twilight in confusion at how the princess was acting.

Celestia turned at the sound of Twilight’s voice and when her eyes saw that her faithful student was alive along with the rest of the Elements, the guards and likely all the citizens that died in the recent battle, she almost cried.

“An illusion,” concluded Luna as she used her spear/staff to help her stand, she used this time to feel how much magic she had left and she was surprised that she only lost the energy she used to break the illusion, the mental exhaustion of the battle was still with her though, and by the look of things with Celestia as well. She didn't get distracted by the shift in reality and kept her eyes on Kazuki as she asked, “Twilight Sparkles, how long have we been standing between you and him?”

“Just a few moments ago he snapped his fingers and all of sudden you looked tired for some reason,” explained Twilight, much to the disbelief of the Royal Sisters.

“What?” asked Luna out of reflex.

“But we have been fighting for almost an hour,” commented Celestia as she returned her attention to Kazuki, who was still sitting on the throne and calmly reading Hon-chan.

“No that can’t be right,” said Luna and Kazuki just scoffed at that statement.

“But you’re right, Ru-chan, that was just a simple illusion,” commented Kazuki with amusement.

“Impossible, there has to be more than being a ‘simple illusion’, it felt so real,” said Celestia to herself.

“‘Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one’, ‘Reality is that part of the imagination we all agree on’, ‘A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality’. These are some of my favorite quotes about reality, thus I ask, ‘What is reality?’” cited Kazuki as he flipped a page before continuing, “If you answer ‘its what I can see, smell, touch, taste and hear’ then how that’s different than the illusion I just showed you? If I can trick all of your senses in every conceivable way, stretch your perception of time where you live a full life and dies happily, so convinced your mind is that was reality that your body simply wills itself to stop living. Was that, illusion or reality?”

That made the alicorns and Twilight pale at such implication, while the rest looked either confused or uninterested.

“I’m surprised you would question the power of the mind and dreams in general, Ru-chan,” said Kazuki ignoring the responses of the group before closing the book and say, “Maybe I placed too much faith on them. What do you think, Hon-chan?”

“This guy is nuts, he talking to a book,” whispered Rainbow.

“I reckon he ain't right in the head when he tried to kill us,” whispered AJ.

“Now, that was just rude,” said Hon as she appeared floating near Rainbow and AJ, which caused the duo to jump in surprise and everyone turned to the book that had a mask for on the cover. Hon herself just kept showing a pouting face as she continued, “I’m quite capable of holding a conversation, thank you very much.”

“A talking book…” whispered Twilight, Rainbow and Spike, the first with stars in her eyes and the last with two with disbelief and dread.

*slash*

“Begone, you foul grimoire! You will not taint their minds with madness like you did so many other before!” said Celestia as she tried to hit Hon with her sword but the sentient book simply teleported back to Kazuki.

“Those meanie mean pants got what they deserved,” said Hon childishly.

“Oh, that makes sense,” commented Pinkie Pie as she nodded to herself like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Indeed, not only they tried to attain knowledge that was not mean for them they also did so against Hon’s wishes. As far as I’m concerned they paid the price for the knowledge they sought,” commented Kazuki as Hon floated beside him.

“Uh-huh,” said Hon she bobbed up and down, nodding.

“Still, you two could have done better on your little test,” said Kazuki with a shrug before getting up and say, “Either way, time to see how the Elements hold up.”

The ponies tensed and Kazuki snapped his fingers.

Balancing Forces

by Scorpion1313

1. Awakening of the original.

2. Looking after a nightmare.

3. A interesting pair of eyes and a sister.

4. Reminiscing and a dog's day.

5. The consequences of a foolish decision.

6. Otherworldly experiences and perspective.

6.1. Tea and Magic.

6.2. Over the Moon.(CLOP)

6.3. Fires of passion.(CLOP)

6.4. Head of the pack. (CLOP)

7. Finishing touches and perfect opportunity.

8. Soul searching under the sun.

9. Sunlight reflected, refracted and distorted.

10. Songs and Sunset amidst the ruins of fallen world.

11. Meeting amidst ruins of a beacon of knowledge.

12. Return and glimpse of hidden truths

13. Guests that are invited yet uninvited and welcome yet unwelcome.

14. Truth behind a unexpected reunion.

15. Downtime and sparring match.

16. Training and a surprise visit

17. Surprise of a unexpected return.

18. Walking on shards of flowering glass in the moon's gaze.